title: The Human Condition

text: Arendt claims that her distinction between labor and work has been disregarded by philosophers throughout history even though it has been preserved in many European languages. Labor is human activity directed at meeting biological (and perhaps other) necessities for self-preservation and the reproduction of the species. Because these needs cannot be satisfied once and for all, labor never really reaches an end. Its fruits do not last long; they are quickly consumed, and more must always be produced. Labor is thus a cyclical, repeated process that carries with it a sense of futility. In the ancient world, Arendt asserts, labor was contemptible not because it was what slaves did; rather, slaves were contemptible because they performed labor, a futile but necessary activity. In the modern world, not just slaves, but everyone has come to be defined by their labor: We are job-holders, and we must perform our jobs to meet our needs. Marx registers this modern idea in his assertion that man is "animal laborans", a species that sets itself apart from the animals not by its thinking, but by its labor. But Marx then contradicts himself in foreseeing a day when production allows the proletariat to throw off the shackles of their oppressors and be free from labor entirely. By Marx's own lights, this would mean they cease to be human. Arendt worries that if automation were to allow us to free ourselves from labor, freedom would be meaningless to us without the contrast with futile necessity that labor provides. Because we define ourselves as job-holders and have relegated everything outside of labor to the category of play and mere hobbies, our lives would become trivial to us without labor. Meanwhile, advances in production and the transformation of work into labor means that many things that were once to be lasting works are now mere disposable objects of consumption, "The solution...consists in treating all use objects as though they were consumer goods, so that a chair or a table is now consumed as rapidly as a dress and a dress used up almost as quickly as food."


title: The Human Condition

text: Work, unlike labor, has a clearly defined beginning and end. It leaves behind a durable object, such as a tool, rather than an object for consumption. These durable objects become part of the world we live in. Work involves an element of violation or violence in which the worker interrupts nature in order to obtain and shape raw materials. For example, a tree is cut down to obtain wood, or the earth is mined to obtain metals. Work comprises the whole process, from the original idea for the object, to the obtaining of raw materials, to the finished product. The process of work is determined by the categories of means and end. Arendt thinks that thinking of ourselves primarily as workers leads to a sort of instrumental reasoning in which it is natural to think of everything as a potential means to some further end. Kant's claim that humanity is an end in itself shows just how much this instrumental conception of reason has dominated our thinking. Utilitarianism, Arendt claims, is based on a failure to distinguish between "in order to" and "for the sake of." The "homo faber" mentality is further evident in the substitution of the notion of "use value" for "worth" in economic discourse, which marks the beginning of the disappearance of a notion of a kind of worth that is intrinsic, as opposed to value, which is relative to human demand or need. Although use objects are good examples of the products of work, artworks are perhaps the best examples, since they have the greatest durability of all objects. Since they are never used for anything (least of all labor), they don't get worn down.


title: The Human Condition

text: The third type of activity, action (which includes both speech and action), is the means by which humans disclose themselves to others, not that action is always consciously guiding such disclosure. Indeed, the self revealed in action is more than likely concealed from the person acting, revealed only in the story of her action. Action is the means by which we distinguish ourselves from others as unique and unexchangeable beings. With humans, unlike with other beings, there is not just a generic question of what we are, but of who each is individually. Action and speech are always between humans and directed toward them, and it generates human relationships. Diversity among the humans that see the action makes possible a sort of objectivity by letting an action be witnessed from different perspectives. Action has boundless consequences, often going far beyond what we could anticipate. The Greeks thought of the polis as a place where free people could live together so as to act.


title: The Human Condition

text: Philosophers like Plato, disliking action's unpredictability, modeled the ideal polis on the household. In it, the philosopher king produces the lasting work of legislation, and the people labor under him. Against attempts to replace action with work and labor, Arendt offers two solutions to the two greatest problems action creates: forgiveness to temper action's irreversibility, and promises to mitigate its unpredictability.


title: The Human Condition

text: “Human plurality, the basic condition of both action and speech, has the twofold character of equality and distinction. If men were not equal, they could neither understand each other” (175)


title: The Human Condition

text: Arendt thinks that three great events determined the character of the modern age: "the discovery of America and the ensuing exploration of the whole earth; the Reformation, which by expropriating ecclesiastical and monastic possessions started the two-fold process of individual expropriation and the accumulation of social wealth; the invention of the telescope and the development of a new science that considers the nature of the earth from the viewpoint of the universe." None of these events could have been foreseen. They happened suddenly and had repercussions their instigators never intended. One effect of each of these events is to increase our alienation from the world, which Arendt thinks is far more characteristic of our age than alienation from the self (as Marx thought). The shrinking distances brought about by exploration and transportation technology makes us more an inhabitant of the Earth than of our particular place within it. The process of expropriation kicked off by the Reformation expropriated people from their land and place in the world. Galileo's discovery of the continuity between the earth and the universe alienates people from their world by showing that our earth-centered view of the world is illusory, that the sun does not rise and set as it appears to. What set Galileo apart from other heliocentric theorists is that he proved that heliocentric theories were not merely useful instruments for predicting/explaining data but proper descriptions of reality. Ironically, the outcome of the scientific revolution is that current theories have become so bizarre and that perhaps no one can grasp the world they describe. They have turned out to be useful primarily as instruments, after having shattered our previous understanding of the world. Meanwhile, science now further alienates us from the world by unleashing processes on earth that previously occurred only further out in the universe. We have found an archimedean point to move the world, but only by losing our place in it.


title: The Human Condition

text: The consequence of this world alienation for philosophy has been an intense focus on the self, the one remaining sphere of certainty and knowledge. The world described by science cannot be known, or not with certainty, but the self, Descartes and other moderns thought, could be known. Though his cogito ergo sum was anticipated by Augustine, his dubito ergo sum is original and a hallmark of modernity: beginning from doubt. The notion of common sense as a sense in which the other five were fitted to a common world ceded to a conception of common sense as an inner faculty with no relationship to the world, and the assumption that all humans had faculties like this in common became necessary to get theories going, but without the assumption of a common world, the assumption of faculties in common lost some warrant.


title: The Human Condition

text: Galileo's discoveries also have implications for the 'vita activa' and 'contemplativa'. That he made the discoveries with a telescope, with a product of human work, signals an important change in science. Knowledge is acquired not simply by thinking, but by making. Homo faber and the life of work were thus exalted over the life of contemplation. Indeed, the model of scientific inquiry, the experiment, is one in which the scientist unleashes a process by which the scientist produces results. This way of doing science is naturally understood in terms of work processes. The philosopher has consequently been relegated to a position of relative insignificance, merely puzzling over what the scientists have shown. But in the end, Homo faber ceded primacy to animal laborans. The life of labor became the central concern because all of these developments took place in a Christian society that valued life far more than others have. After secularization, this vestigial preoccupation with life as the central value dominates our activities. It has made us into a society of laborers. Judged by the historical significance of what they do, the people most capable of action now are perhaps the scientists, but unfortunately, they act into nature and not human relationships, and thus their action cannot be the source of meaningfulness that illuminates human existence. Action is still possible in free societies, but fragile.


title: XHTML

text: Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) is part of the family of XML markup languages. It mirrors or extends versions of the widely used HyperText Markup Language (HTML), the language in which Web pages are formulated.


title: XHTML

text: While HTML, prior to HTML5, was defined as an application of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), a flexible markup language framework, XHTML is an application of XML, a more restrictive subset of SGML. XHTML documents are well-formed and may therefore be parsed using standard XML parsers, unlike HTML, which requires a lenient HTML-specific parser.


title: XHTML

text: XHTML 1.0 became a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation on 26 January 2000. XHTML 1.1 became a W3C recommendation on 31 May 2001. The standard known as XHTML5 is being developed as an XML adaptation of the HTML5 specification.


title: XHTML

text: XHTML 1.0 is "a reformulation of the three HTML 4 document types as applications of XML 1.0". The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) also continues to maintain the HTML 4.01 Recommendation, and the specifications for HTML5 and XHTML5 are being actively developed. In the current XHTML 1.0 Recommendation document, as published and revised in August 2002, the W3C commented that "The XHTML family is the next step in the evolution of the Internet. By migrating to XHTML today, content developers can enter the XML world with all of its attendant benefits, while still remaining confident in their content's backward and future compatibility."


title: XHTML

text: However, in 2005, the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) formed, independently of the W3C, to work on advancing ordinary HTML not based on XHTML. The WHATWG eventually began working on a standard that supported both XML and non-XML serializations, HTML5, in parallel to W3C standards such as XHTML 2. In 2007, the W3C's HTML working group voted to officially recognize HTML5 and work on it as the next-generation HTML standard. In 2009, the W3C allowed the XHTML 2 Working Group's charter to expire, acknowledging that HTML5 would be the sole next-generation HTML standard, including both XML and non-XML serializations. Of the two serializations, the W3C suggests that most authors use the HTML syntax, rather than the XHTML syntax.


title: XHTML

text: XHTML was developed to make HTML more extensible and increase interoperability with other data formats. In addition, browsers were forgiving of errors in HTML, and most websites were displayed despite technical errors in the markup; XHTML introduced stricter error handling. HTML 4 was ostensibly an application of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML); however the specification for SGML was complex, and neither web browsers nor the HTML 4 Recommendation were fully conformant to it. The XML standard, approved in 1998, provided a simpler data format closer in simplicity to HTML 4. By shifting to an XML format, it was hoped HTML would become compatible with common XML tools; servers and proxies would be able to transform content, as necessary, for constrained devices such as mobile phones.


title: XHTML

text: By using namespaces, XHTML documents could provide extensibility by including fragments from other XML-based languages such as Scalable Vector Graphics and MathML. Finally, the renewed work would provide an opportunity to divide HTML into reusable components (XHTML Modularization) and clean up untidy parts of the language.


title: XHTML

text: There are various differences between XHTML and HTML. The Document Object Model (DOM) is a tree structure that represents the page internally in applications, and XHTML and HTML are two different ways of representing that in markup. Both are less expressive than the DOM – for example, "--" may be placed in comments in the DOM, but cannot be represented in a comment in either XHTML or HTML – and generally, XHTML's XML syntax is more expressive than HTML (for example, arbitrary namespaces are not allowed in HTML). XHTML uses an XML syntax, while HTML uses a pseudo-SGML syntax (officially SGML for HTML 4 and under, but never in practice, and standardized away from SGML in HTML5). Because the expressible contents of the DOM in syntax are slightly different, there are some changes in actual behavior between the two models. Syntax differences, however, can be overcome by implementing an alternate translational framework within the markup.


title: XHTML

text: In addition to the syntactical differences, there are some behavioral differences, mostly arising from the underlying differences in serialization. For example:


title: XHTML

text: The similarities between HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.0 led many websites and content management systems to adopt the initial W3C XHTML 1.0 Recommendation. To aid authors in the transition, the W3C provided guidance on how to publish XHTML 1.0 documents in an HTML-compatible manner, and serve them to browsers that were not designed for XHTML.


title: XHTML

text: Such "HTML-compatible" content is sent using the HTML media type (codice_3) rather than the official Internet media type for XHTML (codice_4). When measuring the adoption of XHTML to that of regular HTML, therefore, it is important to distinguish whether it is media type usage or actual document contents that are being compared.


title: XHTML

text: Most web browsers have mature support for all of the possible XHTML media types. The notable exception is Internet Explorer versions 8 and earlier by Microsoft; rather than rendering codice_4 content, a dialog box invites the user to save the content to disk instead. Both Internet Explorer 7 (released in 2006) and Internet Explorer 8 (released in March 2009) exhibit this behavior. Microsoft developer Chris Wilson explained in 2005 that IE7's priorities were improved browser security and CSS support, and that proper XHTML support would be difficult to graft onto IE's compatibility-oriented HTML parser; however, Microsoft added support for true XHTML in IE9.


title: XHTML

text: As long as support is not widespread, most web developers avoid using XHTML that is not HTML-compatible, so advantages of XML such as namespaces, faster parsing, and smaller-footprint browsers do not benefit the user.


title: XHTML

text: In the early 2000s, some Web developers began to question why Web authors ever made the leap into authoring in XHTML. Others countered that the problems ascribed to the use of XHTML could mostly be attributed to two main sources: the production of invalid XHTML documents by some Web authors and the lack of support for XHTML built into Internet Explorer 6. They went on to describe the benefits of XML-based Web documents (i.e. XHTML) regarding searching, indexing, and parsing as well as future-proofing the Web itself.


title: XHTML

text: In October 2006, HTML inventor and W3C chair Tim Berners-Lee, introducing a major W3C effort to develop a new HTML specification, posted in his blog that, "The attempt to get the world to switch to XML ... all at once didn't work. The large HTML-generating public did not move ... Some large communities did shift and are enjoying the fruits of well-formed systems ... The plan is to charter a completely new HTML group." The current HTML5 working draft says "special attention has been given to defining clear conformance criteria for user agents in an effort to improve interoperability ... while at the same time updating the HTML specifications to address issues raised in the past few years." Ian Hickson, editor of the HTML5 specification criticizing the improper use of XHTML in 2002, is a member of the group developing this specification and is listed as one of the co-editors of the current working draft.


title: XHTML

text: Simon Pieters researched the XML-compliance of mobile browsers and concluded "the claim that XHTML would be needed for mobile devices is simply a myth".


title: XHTML

text: December 1998 saw the publication of a W3C Working Draft entitled "Reformulating HTML in XML". This introduced Voyager, the codename for a new markup language based on HTML 4, but adhering to the stricter syntax rules of XML. By February 1999 the name of the specification had changed to "XHTML 1.0: The Extensible HyperText Markup Language", and in January 2000 it was officially adopted as a W3C Recommendation. There are three formal DTDs for XHTML 1.0, corresponding to the three different versions of HTML 4.01:


title: XHTML

text: Modularization provides an abstract collection of components through which XHTML can be subsetted and extended. The feature is intended to help XHTML extend its reach onto emerging platforms, such as mobile devices and Web-enabled televisions. The initial draft of "Modularization of XHTML" became available in April 1999, and reached Recommendation status in April 2001.


title: XHTML

text: In October 2008 "Modularization of XHTML" was superseded by "XHTML Modularization 1.1", which adds an XML Schema implementation. It was superseded by a second edition in July 2010.


title: XHTML

text: XHTML 1.1 evolved out of the work surrounding the initial "Modularization of XHTML" specification. The W3C released the first draft in September 1999; the Recommendation status was reached in May 2001. The modules combined within XHTML 1.1 effectively recreate XHTML 1.0 Strict, with the addition of ruby annotation elements (codice_9, codice_10, codice_11, codice_12, codice_13 and codice_14) to better support East-Asian languages. Other changes include the removal of the codice_15 attribute from the codice_16 and codice_17 elements, and (in the first edition of the language) the removal of the codice_18 attribute in favor of codice_19.


title: XHTML

text: Although XHTML 1.1 is largely compatible with XHTML 1.0 and HTML 4, in August 2002 the Working Group issued a formal Note advising that it should not be transmitted with the HTML media type. With limited browser support for the alternate codice_4 media type, XHTML 1.1 proved unable to gain widespread use. In January 2009 a second edition of the document ("XHTML Media Types – Second Edition") was issued, relaxing this restriction and allowing XHTML 1.1 to be served as codice_3.


title: XHTML

text: The second edition of XHTML 1.1 was issued on 23 November 2010, which addresses various errata and adds an XML Schema implementation not included in the original specification. (It was first released briefly on 7 May 2009 as a "Proposed Edited Recommendation" before being rescinded on 19 May due to unresolved issues.)


title: XHTML

text: Since information appliances may lack the system resources to implement all XHTML abstract modules, the W3C defined a feature-limited XHTML specification called XHTML Basic. It provides a minimal feature subset sufficient for the most common content-authoring. The specification became a W3C recommendation in December 2000.


title: XHTML

text: Of all the versions of XHTML, XHTML Basic 1.0 provides the fewest features. With XHTML 1.1, it is one of the two first implementations of modular XHTML. In addition to the Core Modules (Structure, Text, Hypertext, and List), it implements the following abstract modules: Base, Basic Forms, Basic Tables, Image, Link, Metainformation, Object, Style Sheet, and Target.


title: XHTML

text: XHTML Basic 1.1 replaces the Basic Forms Module with the Forms Module and adds the Intrinsic Events, Presentation, and Scripting modules. It also supports additional tags and attributes from other modules. This version became a W3C recommendation on 29 July 2008.


title: XHTML

text: The current version of XHTML Basic is 1.1 Second Edition (23 November 2010), in which the language is re-implemented in the W3C's XML Schema language. This version also supports the codice_18 attribute.


title: XHTML

text: XHTML-Print, which became a W3C Recommendation in September 2006, is a specialized version of XHTML Basic designed for documents printed from information appliances to low-end printers.


title: XHTML

text: XHTML Mobile Profile (abbreviated XHTML MP or XHTML-MP) is a third-party variant of the W3C's XHTML Basic specification. Like XHTML Basic, XHTML was developed for information appliances with limited system resources.


title: XHTML

text: In October 2001, a limited company called the Wireless Application Protocol Forum began adapting XHTML Basic for WAP 2.0, the second major version of the Wireless Application Protocol. WAP Forum based their DTD on the W3C's Modularization of XHTML, incorporating the same modules the W3C used in XHTML Basic 1.0—except for the Target Module. Starting with this foundation, the WAP Forum replaced the Basic Forms Module with a partial implementation of the Forms Module, added partial support for the Legacy and Presentation modules, and added full support for the Style Attribute Module.


title: XHTML

text: In 2002, the WAP Forum has subsumed into the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), which continued to develop XHTML Mobile Profile as a component of their OMA Browsing Specification.


title: XHTML

text: To this version, finalized in 2004, the OMA added partial support for the Scripting Module and partial support for Intrinsic Events. XHTML MP 1.1 is part of v2.1 of the OMA Browsing Specification (1 November 2002).


title: XHTML

text: This version, finalized on 27 February 2007, expands the capabilities of XHTML MP 1.1 with full support for the Forms Module and OMA Text Input Modes. XHTML MP 1.2 is part of v2.3 of the OMA Browsing Specification (13 March 2007).


title: XHTML

text: XHTML MP 1.3 (finalized on 23 September 2008) uses the XHTML Basic 1.1 document type definition, which includes the Target Module. Events in this version of the specification are updated to DOM Level 3 specifications (i.e., they are platform- and language-neutral).


title: XHTML

text: The XHTML 2 Working Group considered the creation of a new language based on XHTML 1.1. If XHTML 1.2 was created, it would include WAI-ARIA and codice_23 attributes to better support accessible web applications, and improved Semantic Web support through RDFa. The codice_24 attribute from XHTML Basic 1.1, along with the codice_25 attribute (for specifying frame targets) might also be present. The XHTML2 WG had not been chartered to carry out the development of XHTML1.2. Since the W3C announced that it does not intend to recharter the XHTML2 WG, and closed the WG in December 2010, this means that XHTML 1.2 proposal would not eventuate.


title: XHTML

text: Between August 2002 and July 2006, the W3C released eight Working Drafts of XHTML 2.0, a new version of XHTML able to make a clean break from the past by discarding the requirement of backward compatibility. This lack of compatibility with XHTML 1.x and HTML 4 caused some early controversy in the web developer community. Some parts of the language (such as the codice_23 and RDFa attributes) were subsequently split out of the specification and worked on as separate modules, partially to help make the transition from XHTML 1.x to XHTML 2.0 smoother. The ninth draft of XHTML 2.0 was expected to appear in 2009, but on 2 July 2009, the W3C decided to let the XHTML2 Working Group charter expire by that year's end, effectively halting any further development of the draft into a standard. Instead, XHTML 2.0 and its related documents were released as W3C Notes in 2010.


title: XHTML

text: HTML5 grew independently of the W3C, through a loose group of browser manufacturers and other interested parties calling themselves the WHATWG, or Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group. The key motive of the group was to create a platform for dynamic web applications; they considered XHTML 2.0 to be too document-centric, and not suitable for the creation of internet forum sites or online shops.


title: XHTML

text: HTML5 has both a regular codice_3 serialization and an XML serialization, which is also known as XHTML5. The language is more compatible with HTML 4 and XHTML 1.x than XHTML 2.0, due to the decision to keep the existing HTML form elements and events model. It adds many new elements not found in XHTML 1. x, however, such as codice_43 and codice_44 tags.


title: XHTML

text: The XHTML5 language, like HTML5, uses a DOCTYPE declaration without a DTD. Furthermore, the specification deprecates earlier XHTML DTDs by asking the browsers to replace them with one containing only entity definitions for named characters during parsing.


title: XHTML

text: XHTML+RDFa is an extended version of the XHTML markup language for supporting RDF through a collection of attributes and processing rules in the form of well-formed XML documents. This host language is one of the techniques used to develop Semantic Web content by embedding rich semantic markup.


title: XHTML

text: An XHTML document that conforms to an XHTML specification is said to be "valid". Validity assures consistency in document code, which in turn eases processing, but does not necessarily ensure consistent rendering by browsers. A document can be checked for validity with the W3C Markup Validation Service (for XHTML5, the Validator. nu Living Validator should be used instead). In practice, many web development programs provide code validation based on the W3C standards.


title: XHTML

text: The root element of an XHTML document must be codice_45, and must contain an codice_46 attribute to associate it with the XHTML namespace. The namespace URI for XHTML is codice_47. The example tag below additionally features an codice_48 attribute to identify the document with a natural language:


title: XHTML

text: In order to validate an XHTML document, a Document Type Declaration, or "DOCTYPE", may be used. A DOCTYPE declares to the browser the Document Type Definition (DTD) to which the document conforms. A Document Type Declaration should be placed before the root element.


title: XHTML

text: The system identifier part of the DOCTYPE, which in these examples is the URL that begins with codice_49, need only point to a copy of the DTD to use, if the validator cannot locate one based on the public identifier (the other quoted string). It does not need to be the specific URL that is in these examples; in fact, authors are encouraged to use local copies of the DTD files when possible. The public identifier, however, must be character-for-character the same as in the examples.


title: XHTML

text: A character encoding may be specified at the beginning of an XHTML document in the XML declaration when the document is served using the codice_4 MIME type. (If an XML document lacks encoding specification, an XML parser assumes that the encoding is UTF-8 or UTF-16, unless the encoding has already been determined by a higher protocol.)


title: XHTML

text: The declaration may be optionally omitted because it declares its encoding the default encoding. However, if the document instead makes use of XML 1.1 or another character encoding, a declaration is necessary. Internet Explorer prior to version 7 enters quirks mode, if it encounters an XML declaration in a document served as codice_3.


title: XHTML

text: XHTML 1.x documents are mostly backward compatible with HTML 4 user agents when the appropriate guidelines are followed. XHTML 1.1 is essentially compatible, although the elements for ruby annotation are not part of the HTML 4 specification and thus generally ignored by HTML 4 browsers. Later XHTML 1.x modules such as those for the codice_23 attribute, RDFa, and WAI-ARIA degrade gracefully in a similar manner.


title: XHTML

text: XHTML 2.0 is significantly less compatible, although this can be mitigated to some degree through the use of scripting. (This can be simple one-liners, such as the use of codice_53 to register a new HTML element within Internet Explorer, or complete JavaScript frameworks, such as the FormFaces implementation of XForms.)


title: XHTML

text: The following are examples of XHTML 1.0 Strict, with both having the same visual output. The former one follows the HTML Compatibility Guidelines of the XHTML Media Types Note while the latter one breaks backward compatibility, but provides cleaner markup.


title: XHTML

text: HTML5 and XHTML5 serializations are largely inter-compatible if adhering to the stricter XHTML5 syntax, but there are some cases in which XHTML will not work as valid HTML5 (e.g., processing instructions are deprecated in , are treated as comments, and close on the first ">", whereas they are fully allowed in XML, are treated as their own type, and close on codice_59).


title: Joe Riggs

text: Joseph Jonathan Riggs (born September 23, 1982) is an American professional bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2001, Riggs formerly competed for the UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, Bellator, ProElite, M-1 Global, and King of the Cage. Riggs is the former WEC Middleweight Champion.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Born in Sanford, Maine and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Riggs began boxing as a child with his father. Although Riggs is right handed, he was encouraged by his boxing coach to fight southpaw, making his power hand his left hand. Riggs began wrestling at Cactus High School in Glendale, Arizona. He followed in the footsteps of his hero, Randy Couture, and became an All-American twice, at Glendale Community College (Arizona), where he studied to get a Criminal Justice degree. Riggs has trained at Arizona Combat Sports under the Lally brothers, MMA Lab under John Crouch and TNT Training Center under Scott Tannenbaum.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2001 and compiled a record of 13–3 with one no contest before being signed by the WEC.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs made his WEC debut at WEC 9 against Alex Stiebling, in what was also his debut at Light Heavyweight. Riggs lost via triangle choke submission in the second round. But after the fight people started to take notice of Riggs. Although he lost the fight, he battered Stiebling so badly that after the fight he had to be helped out of the cage and taken to a hospital. Reports said that almost everyone at ring side had Stiebling's blood on both them and their paperwork. The promoter Scott Adams said the fight could and should have been stopped at several points in the fight, leading it to be known as one of the most brutal fights in WEC history. After that he went down to middle weight to fight Isidro Gonzalez in the WEC. Where Riggs finished the fight early in the 1st Round by TKO. After his impressive victory over Gonzalez the WEC gave him a shot at the vacant Middleweight Title against the undefeated Rob Kimmons. Riggs put on a very impressive performance by stopping Kimmons early in the 1st round, earning him the WEC world title, which he held for the next 2 years.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs' dream of fighting in the UFC materialized in 2004, in a winning bout against Canadian fighter Joe Doerksen. After that Riggs moved down to Welter Weight to fight veteran Chris "Lights Out" Lytle. Riggs went on to win the fight by 2nd-round TKO. And was the 1st and only man to ever stop the very popular battler Chris Lytle. Then after being named the UFCs number 1 Welter Weight contender. Riggs received his shot at the UFC Welterweight Championship at "UFC 56" in November 2005 against Matt Hughes. He was originally supposed to face the winner of the upcoming title fight. But got called to fight just a month after the defeating Lytle in UFC 55 to face long time champion Hughes for the UFC Welter Weight title.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Originally, the title shot was offered to Karo Parisyan, who had to withdraw due to a torn hamstring. When Riggs was contacted to take Parisyan's place he jumped at the chance, despite having fought at "UFC 55" just a month earlier. However, Riggs did not make the required weight and the fight was declared a non-title event, due to Hughes allowing Riggs to fight him (if a fighter does not make weight for a match, the match may still take place if their opponent allows it). Despite his efforts, Riggs could not mount a significant challenge; Hughes took him down and submitted him with a kimura from half-guard just minutes into the first round of the fight.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Following his loss to Hughes, Riggs rebounded to win against future longtime Strikeforce Welterweight Champion, Nick Diaz via decision at "UFC 57". In the hospital room after the fight, Diaz and Riggs got into a physical altercation where they had to be separated by police.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs then moved up to Middleweight to face "The Ultimate Fighter" alumnus Mike Swick. Early in the fight Riggs was caught in a guillotine choke and tapped out. Riggs then fought "The Ultimate Fighter 2's" Jason Von Flue, submitting him with a triangle choke.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs' last UFC bout was on December 13, 2006, against Welterweight contender Diego Sanchez at UFC Fight Night 7. Riggs lost the fight due to knockout from a hook followed by a knee in 1:45 of the first round.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Following the fight with Sanchez, Riggs chose to go to the WEC and compete for the vacant WEC Middleweight Championship, but had to pull out of the fight the day before because of a recurring back injury.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs was to return to action on , facing Jiujitsu specialist Luke Stewart. Riggs stepped in as a late replacement for Shonie Carter, who was injured in training. The fight was to be contested at a catchweight of 178 pounds. However, he was denied licensure by the California State Athletic Commission after disclosing his recent use of prescription medication during the licensing process. Riggs lost to Kazuo Misaki at Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion via controversial stoppage on September 20, 2008.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs won his next fight at on November 21, 2008, against Luke Stewart by TKO (Punches) in 2nd round 2:05. Riggs broke his hand throwing the first punch of the bout, but managed to rally in the second round, breaking Stewart's nose in the process.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs next fought on the card from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO on June 6, 2009, against Phil "The New York Badass" Baroni in a three-round welterweight bout that won him the interim Strike Force Welter Weight title and that was broadcast live on the Showtime cable network. In a performance that featured his versatile standup game, including several flying knees, Riggs won a unanimous decision over Baroni.


title: Joe Riggs

text: In his next fight, Riggs faced Jay Hieron on January 30, 2010, at . Riggs lost the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Joe Riggs

text: In the main event of , Riggs faced up and coming Middleweight Louis Taylor. "Diesel" won by submission due to strikes in the third round.


title: Joe Riggs

text: About a month later, on January 10, 2011, Riggs signed with Bellator to fight in its Middleweight division. Riggs made his Bellator debut against Season 2 Middleweight Tournament Finalist Bryan Baker at Bellator 43. After a back and forth fight, Baker knocked Riggs out with a left hook late in the second round.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Three months after his knockout loss to Baker at Bellator 43, In a rematch from their bout in 2004 Riggs fought The Ultimate Fighter 3 winner and fellow UFC veteran Kendall Grove. Grove quickly defeated Riggs by submission due to a guillotine choke, Thus avenging his previous loss to Riggs. For the first time in his ten-year career as a mixed martial artist Riggs has lost three straight fights.


title: Joe Riggs

text: On May 6, 2013, it was announced that Riggs would be featured as a participant on Bellator's reality TV show , competing as a Welterweight.


title: Joe Riggs

text: In his first fight to get into the house, Riggs defeated UK fighter Rob Mills via heel hook submission in the first round and subsequently chose to join Greg Jackson's team. In the preliminary round, Riggs defeated Eric Scallan via unanimous decision and went on to the quarterfinal round where he defeated Evan Cutts via unanimous decision. In the semifinal round, Riggs defeated number one seed Cole Williams in a three-round split decision victory. He made it to the tournament finals with Mike Bronzoulis.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs was set to face Mike Bronzoulis in the on September 7, 2013 at . However, on September 3, it was revealed Riggs has sustained a significant eye injury and the bout was postponed indefinitely. The bout took place on November 2, 2013 at . Riggs won the fight via unanimous decision to become the first winner of Fight Master.


title: Joe Riggs

text: After becoming the first winner of Fight Master, Riggs was expected to return to UFC and face Paulo Thiago at UFC Fight Night 51 on September 13, 2014, replacing an injured Mike Rhodes. However, Riggs was forced to pull out of the fight after accidentally shooting himself in the hand and leg while cleaning a pistol at his home.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs made his eventual return against Ben Saunders at on December 13, 2014 at US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Joe Riggs faced Patrick Côté on April 25, 2015 at UFC 186. Riggs lost the back-and-forth fight by unanimous decision.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs was expected to face Uriah Hall in a middleweight bout on August 8, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 73. However, Riggs pulled out of the fight in late July, citing an injury, and was replaced by promotional newcomer Oluwale Bamgbose.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Following a quick recovery, Riggs faced Ron Stallings on September 5, 2015 at UFC 191. Riggs won the bout via disqualification after Stallings landed an illegal upkick, which rendered Riggs unable to continue.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs faced Chris Camozzi on February 21, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 83. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round due a series of knees by Camozzi, which broke the right forearm of Riggs. On April 13, Riggs was released from the promotion.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs recently started competing in Bare Knuckle Boxing matches under the UK based BKB promotion. He won a championship fight against Christian “Fat Boy“ Evans, an experienced bare knuckle fighter who had also been featured in the documentary "Bare Knuckle Fight Club" from Channel 4 news, by unanimous decision at BKB 4. Riggs was deducted 1 point in the first round for shooting for a take-down and taking his opponent to the mat, and was warned again in the same round after throwing an illegal elbow.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs signed with the BKFC in 2018 and made his promotional debut against Brok Weaver at on October 20, 2018. He won the bout via unanimous decision.


title: Joe Riggs

text: He made his sophomore appearance in the promotion against Heriberto Tovar at on February 2, 2019. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs was expected to headline BKFC 10 against fellow UFC veteran Héctor Lombard in February 2020. However, in January, the company announced that Lombard will be facing David Mundell, with no further information.


title: Joe Riggs

text: Riggs then faced Héctor Lombard for the inaugural BKFC Cruiserweight Championship at BKFC 18 on June 26, 2021. He lost the fight via fourth-round technical knockout.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: From 14 June to October 2022, floods in Pakistan killed 1,739 people, and caused ₨ 3.2 trillion ($14.9 billion) of damage and ₨ 3.3 trillion ($15.2 billion) of economic losses. The immediate causes of the floods were heavier than usual monsoon rains and melting glaciers that followed a severe heat wave, both of which are linked to climate change.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: The flooding was the world's deadliest flood since the 2020 South Asian floods and described as the worst in the country's history. On 25 August, Pakistan declared a state of emergency because of the flooding.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: The minister of climate change of Pakistan, Sherry Rehman, said that the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan had received more rainfall than the August average, with 784% and 500% more, respectively. Higher than average monsoon rains were also recorded in India and Bangladesh. The Indian Ocean is one of the fastest warming oceans in the world, warming by an average of (while worldwide temperatures are now at above pre-industrial temperatures, oceans in general are at around ). The rise in sea surface temperatures is believed to increase monsoon rainfall. In addition, southern Pakistan experienced back-to-back heat waves in May and June, which were record-setting and themselves made more likely by climate change. These created a strong thermal low that brought heavier rains than usual. The heatwaves also triggered glacial flooding in Gilgit-Baltistan.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: Pakistan contributes less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but is one of the places most vulnerable to climate change. A study by an international team of climate scientists says that global heating made the flooding up to 50% worse and future floods more likely. However, some of the contributors to the severity of the flooding are local to the country. Deforestation in Pakistan has also been a factor worsening the floods.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: 1,739 people died, including 647 children, and an additional 12,867 were injured. Over 2.1 million people were left homeless because of the floods. These are the deadliest floods in Pakistan since 2010, when nearly 2,000 died in flooding, and the deadliest in the world since the 2020 South Asian floods. Around 10–12% of Pakistan was flooded; the total area of standing floodwaters peaked between July and August at approximately . Agricultural fields were also devastated by the flooding.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: The floods affected 33 million people in Pakistan and destroyed 897,014 houses and damaged another 1,391,467. 1,164,270 livestock have been killed, most of them in the province of Balochistan, while destruction to of roads and 439 bridges has impeded access across flood-affected areas. Over 22,000 schools were damaged or destroyed.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: Government officials estimated at least $30 billion of reconstruction costs and economic damage, equivalent to about 10% of GDP. A needs assessment led by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and conducted jointly with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Union (EU), the United Nations agencies with technical facilitation by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank concluded that damages exceed $14.9 billion. Economic losses were estimated to reach about $15.2 billion, and estimated needs for rehabilitation and reconstruction in a resilient way are at least $16.3 billion.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: Aid workers warned that lack of clean drinking water caused an increase in waterborne diseases, namely diarrhea, cholera, dengue, and malaria. Skin infections caused by wet conditions have also been widely reported.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: Floods in Sindh killed 799 people and injured 8,422. Among the 338 children killed were three who died when the roof of their house collapsed in Kandhkot. 10 million people have been displaced in Sindh and 57,496 houses were severely damaged or completely destroyed, mostly in the Hyderabad Division, and 830 cattle were killed. of farmland have been swept away by the floods.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: The Larkana and Sukkur divisions were severely affected by the floods; Thari Mirwah and Khairpur Nathan Shah were "inundated". The floods have turned the Indus River into a lake 100 km (62 mi) wide. The towns of Johi and Mehar were saved by their residents making ring bands around their towns.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: In Jacobabad, which has been called the world's hottest city, more than 40,000 people are living in temporary shelters with limited access to food, with 19 dead from the flooding as of 31 August.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: During the floods, Lake Manchar overflowed, and in September 2022 efforts were made to assist its drainage.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: The Sindh provincial government confirmed, on 16 September 2022, 588 cases of malaria, with a further 10,604 suspected cases, as well as 17,977 cases of diarrhea, and 20,064 of skin disease. Since 1 July, a total of 2,300,000 patients have been treated for malaria in field and mobile hospitals. A high of 90,000 cases of diarrhea were reported in a single day on 1 September.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: Flooding in Balochistan killed 336 people. In many areas, rainwater infiltrated many homes and made them uninhabitable. Many families were displaced. 426,897 houses have either been damaged or completely destroyed, and of crops were lost. An estimated half-million livestock have also been killed.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: According to the Relief Commissioner Provincial Disaster Management, Balochistan's capital Quetta has been declared a disaster area due to rains, and an emergency had been declared in the province.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: 309 people died and 600,000 others were displaced by floods. Among them were five children in Upper Dir District; they had been returning home from school before they were swept away by the floods and drowned. 326,897 houses were damaged due to floods and landslides, and 7,742 cattle died from collapsing sheds. In Swat District, a newly built hotel had collapsed due to excessive flooding. The southwestern part of the province was previously affected by the June 2022 Afghanistan earthquake.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: In Lower Kohistan District, 5 people stranded in a hill torrent were swept away; 4 of them were killed, while the other one was rescued. In Balakot, 8 nomads were killed due to flooding in a tributary of the Kunhar River. 12 people were also killed in flooding in different areas of Dera Ismail Khan due to flash floods from hill torrents.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: 23 people died, four are missing, and floods badly affected the Karakoram Highway. Roads were closed for traffic at several places due to landslides. The districts of Ghizer, Nagar, Diamer, Ghanche, and Astore were the worst affected. 420 homes were destroyed and 740 were damaged due to floods and landslides. Meanwhile, the S-1 Strategic Highway also suffered erosion due to high water flows in the Indus River. The Ishkoman Valley Road was cut off at Gutkash due to flooding in the Ishkoman River. A bridge at Chhorbat in Ghanche District was also flooded. Valley roads and two bridges in Nagar District were swept away by floods. There are also reports of damage in Khanar and Bonar in Diamer District. As of 26 August, most parts of the villages in Ghizer were destroyed by the flood. Among these are Buber Valley, Gahkuch, and Gulmuti. Residents were asked to evacuate the flood-affected areas. River levels are rising to an extremely dangerous height.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: In Punjab, 223 people died and 3,858 others suffered injuries. In Taunsa Sharif, many settlements were submerged in floodwater. In the historical town of Mangadotha, west of Taunsa Sharif, hundreds of houses and livestock were swept away by flood waters. of farmland were also lost. Residents of communities adjacent to flooded rivers began to evacuate, with most families moving away. Most of the families have moved to safer places on foot and camels while carrying only essential supplies as roads and bridges were washed away.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: 48 people died by flooding in Azad Kashmir. On 31 July, in Poonch District, ten people died and four were injured when a roof collapsed on top of them. Five tourists from Mianwali were swept away and later confirmed to have been killed in Neelum Valley on 19 August.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: The prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, who had decided to spearhead the relief operation in the wake of massive floods, met international partners on 25 August who pledged to provide $500 million to the country to mitigate the havoc wreaked by flooding.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: Army officers, federal cabinet members, and senators will donate their one-month salary for the flood relief fund. PTCL Group, Pakistan's largest telecom and internet services provider, announced ₨. 1.75 billion(or US$8 million) to support flood relief efforts and those affected by the floods.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: The chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and former prime minister, Imran Khan, held a 3-hour-long telethon to raise funds for flood victims and received ₨. 500 crores (or US$22.5 million) in pledges for flood relief.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: On 30 August, the Government of Pakistan announced $170 million allocation to flood victims, which will be disbursed through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) as part of Pakistan Flood Response Plan 2022. The Pakistani embassies in China and Turkey have also set up fundraisers requesting flood relief donations from locals.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) introduced the 9999 SMS code for flood relief donations to enable consumers to donate their funds through mobile phone text to support the flood victims. The consumers would be required to write "fund" and send it to the 9999 short code to donate ₨. 10 (or US ¢4.5) to contribute to the prime minister's floods relief fund.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: The government has been accused of inaction on relief and rescue operations, with local officials allegedly hoarding humanitarian aid. Incidents of looting due to lack of aid have emerged, with several NGOs halting relief operations after their trucks carrying relief goods were looted. In Sukkur, police booked 100 flood-affected persons under terrorism charges for protesting against the lack of food and relief when Shehbaz Sharif and foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto visited to assess flood damage on 26 August.


title: 2022 Pakistan floods

text: On 1 August 2022, a Pakistan Army Aviation helicopter on flood relief operations in the Lasbela area of Balochistan lost contact with air traffic control. The six military personnel on board, including the commander of the XII Corps, Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali, died in the crash. Reports from Pakistani authorities on their early investigations attributed the crash to poor weather conditions, whereas Reuters reported on unverified claims from the Baloch insurgent group "Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar" that they shot the helicopter down.


title: Scrupulosity

text: Scrupulosity is characterized by pathological guilt/anxiety about moral or religious issues. Although it can affect nonreligious people, it is usually related to religious beliefs. It is personally distressing, dysfunctional, and often accompanied by significant impairment in social functioning. It has not been proven to be an actual disorder by medical professionals, though it falls under the anxiety category. It is typically conceptualized as a moral or religious form of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), The term is derived from the Latin "scrupus", a sharp stone, implying a stabbing pain on the conscience. Scrupulosity was formerly called "scruples" in religious contexts, but the word "scruple" now commonly refers to a troubling of the conscience rather than to the disorder.


title: Scrupulosity

text: As a personality trait, scrupulosity is a recognized diagnostic criterion for obsessive–compulsive personality disorder. It is sometimes called "scrupulousness", but that word properly applies to the positive trait of having scruples.


title: Scrupulosity

text: In scrupulosity, a person's obsessions focus on moral or religious fears, such as the fear of being an evil person or the fear of divine retribution for sin. Although it can affect nonreligious people, it is usually related to religious beliefs. Not all obsessive–compulsive behaviors related to religion are instances of scrupulosity: strictly speaking, for example, scrupulosity is not present in people who repeat religious requirements merely to be sure that they were done properly. In addition, while religiosity may affect how OCD is manifested, there is no proven causality between the severity of OCD and religiosity, and only small associations between the latter and scrupulosity.


title: Scrupulosity

text: Treatment is similar to that for other forms of obsessive–compulsive disorder. Exposure and response prevention (ERP), a form of behavior therapy, is widely used for OCD in general and may be promising for scrupulosity in particular. ERP is based on the idea that deliberate repeated exposure to obsessional stimuli lessens anxiety, and that avoiding rituals lowers the urge to behave compulsively. For example, with ERP a person obsessed by blasphemous thoughts while reading the Bible would practice reading the Bible. However, ERP is considerably harder to implement than with other disorders, because scrupulosity often involves spiritual issues that are not specific situations and objects. For example, ERP is not appropriate for a man obsessed by feelings that God has rejected and is punishing him. Cognitive therapy may be appropriate when ERP is not feasible. Other therapy strategies include noting contradictions between the compulsive behaviors and moral or religious teachings, and informing individuals that for centuries religious figures have suggested strategies similar to ERP. Religious counseling may be an additional way to readjust beliefs associated with the disorder, though it may also stimulate greater anxiety.


title: Scrupulosity

text: Little evidence is available on the use of medications to treat scrupulosity. Although serotonergic medications are often used to treat OCD, studies of pharmacologic treatment of scrupulosity in particular have produced so few results that even tentative recommendations cannot be made.


title: Scrupulosity

text: Treatment of scrupulosity in children has not been investigated to the extent it has been studied in adults, and one of the factors that makes the treatment difficult is the fine line the therapist must walk between engaging and offending the client.


title: Scrupulosity

text: The prevalence of scrupulosity is speculative. Available data do not permit reliable estimates, and available analyses mostly disregard associations with age or with gender, and have not reliably addressed associations with geography or ethnicity. Available data suggest that the prevalence of obsessive–compulsive disorder does not differ by culture, except where prevalence rates differ for all psychiatric disorders. No association between OCD and depth of religious beliefs has been demonstrated, although data are scarce. There are large regional differences in the percentage of OCD patients who have religious obsessions or compulsions, ranging from 0–7% in countries like the U.K. and Singapore, to 40–60% in traditional Muslim and orthodox Jewish populations.


title: Scrupulosity

text: Scrupulosity is a modern-day psychological problem that echoes a traditional use of the term "scruples" in a religious context, e.g. by Catholics, to mean obsessive concern with one's own sins and compulsive performance of religious devotion. This use of the term dates to the 12th century. Several historical and religious figures suffered from doubts of sin, and expressed their pains. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, wrote "After I have trodden upon a cross formed by two straws ... there comes to me from without a thought that I have sinned ... this is probably a scruple and temptation suggested by the enemy." Alphonsus Liguori, the Redemptorists' founder, wrote of it as "groundless fear of sinning that arises from 'erroneous ideas'". Although the condition was lifelong for Loyola and Liguori, Thérèse of Lisieux stated that she recovered from her condition after 18 months, writing "One would have to pass through this martyrdom to understand it well, and for me to express what I experienced for a year and a half would be impossible." Martin Luther also suffered from obsessive doubts; in his mind, his omitting the word "enim" ("for") during the Eucharist was as horrible as laziness, divorce, or murdering one's parent.


title: Scrupulosity

text: Although historical religious figures such as Loyola, Luther and John Bunyan are commonly cited as examples of scrupulosity in modern self-help books, some of these retrospective diagnoses may be deeply ahistorical: these figures' obsession with salvation may have been excessive by modern standards, but that does not mean that it was pathological.


title: Scrupulosity

text: Scrupulosity's first known public description as a disorder was in 1691, by John Moore, who called it "religious melancholy" and said it made people "fear, that what they do, is so defective and unfit to be presented unto God, that he will not accept it". Loyola, Liguori, the French confessor R.P. Duguet, and other religious authorities and figures attempted to develop solutions and coping mechanisms; the monthly newsletter "Scrupulous Anonymous", published by the followers of Liguori, has been used as an adjunct to therapy. In the 19th century, Christian spiritual advisors in the U.S. and Britain became worried that scrupulosity was not only a sin in itself, but also led to sin, by attacking the virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Studies in the mid-20th century reported that scrupulosity was a major problem among American Catholics, with up to 25 per cent of high school students affected; commentators at the time asserted that this was an increase over previous levels.


title: Scrupulosity

text: Starting in the 20th century, individuals with scrupulosity in the U.S. and Britain increasingly began looking to psychiatrists, rather than to religious advisors, for help with the condition.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: "The Man" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, for her seventh studio album, "Lover" (2019). As the fourth track on "Lover", Swift wrote and produced the song with Joel Little. "The Man" is a synth-pop and electropop song with flashy harmonies, murky synths, and rumbling beats. Over an uptempo production, Swift imagines the media's treatment of her if she were a man. The song received a positive reception from critics, who praised its feminist message. The song impacted US adult contemporary and pop radio formats on January 27 and 28, 2020, as the fourth and final single from the album.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: "The Man" peaked at number 23 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming the fourth consecutive single from "Lover" to peak inside the top-forty of the chart. It entered the top-forty in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom. On February 7, 2020, an animated lyric video of the song was released on YouTube. On February 18, 2020, a live acoustic version of the song, titled "The Man (Live from Paris)", was released on all music platforms, accompanied by its live video.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: An official music video for "The Man" was released on February 27, 2020, directed by Swift herself, marking her solo directorial debut. The satirical video sees Swift in her theoretical male alter-ego named "Tyler Swift", voiced by Dwayne Johnson, presenting several prevalent examples of sexist double standards in society, including objectification, sexualization of women, toxic masculinity, and patriarchy. The video received critical acclaim for its concept and Swift's transformation into a man. It was nominated for the Video of the Year, Video for Good, and Best Direction at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, winning the latter, making Swift the first solo female director in VMA history to win the category.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: The recording process for Taylor Swift's seventh studio album "Lover" took under three months and concluded in February 2019. Joel Little was revealed as one of the producers for the album with the release of the lead single "Me!" in April. He co-wrote and co-produced four of the eighteen tracks for the album. The song title was revealed along with the lyrics "I'd be a fearless leader / I'd be an alpha type / When everyone believes ya— / What's that like?" in Swift's "Vogue" cover interview for the September 2019 issue.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: "The Man" is a synth-pop and electropop song that features flashy harmonies and a murky synthesizer. Swift imagines the media's treatment of her if she were a man, over an uptempo production. Swift challenges societal sexist double standards, with lyrics including a reference to American actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Swift uses the actor as an example to explain sexism, singing "And they would toast to me, oh, let the players play/I'd be just like Leo in Saint-Tropez". In outtakes from an interview with "Billboard" in December 2019, Swift said she wrote the song not only from personal experience, but also from hearing the general experiences of women working across all parts of the music industry.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: According to "Billboard" Gil Kaufman, "The Man" is a pointed statement about "how much harder women need to work than men to get to the same finish line". Jason Lipshutz of the same magazine described the song as a "biting look at gender dynamics within both the pop industry and celebrity-driven culture", noting that it is sonically composed of a rumbling beat and crackling synths and lyrically provides wry humor and an honest perspective. An animated lyric video for "The Man" was released on February 7, 2020.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: "The Man" received acclaim from music critics. "The Atlantic"s Spencer Kornhaber described "The Man" as "one of the most straightforwardly catchy songs" on "Lover", and further called it Swift's "most explicit musical statement on sexism". He opined that the Leonardo DiCaprio reference is the "most memorable" line of the song. Brittany Hodak of "Forbes" praised the song as "the most important song she's [Swift has] ever written". She also stated that the song is "a brilliant portrayal of the subtle and not-so-subtle sexism women face every day". "Time"s Raisa Bruner labeled the song as "a bombastic, empowering bop" that is "an anthem for anyone who's felt blocked by sexist double standards". Comparing the song to Swift's 2017 album, Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone" described "The Man" as "a righteous feminist bombshell "Reputation" could have used". "Slate"s Carl Wilson opined that the song "widens the lens and makes a more convincing case for her [Swift's] grievances than on any beefing track she's ever written". He further described the song as a "synth-strut mode very reminiscent of Haim" that "takes aim at sexist music industry and media double standards and just keeps firing bull's-eyes".


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: Writing for "Elite Daily", Sade Spence and Kristen Perrone stated that the lyrics of the song are "super bold and carry a powerful message about women". They further stated that the song is an addition to the "legendary canon of crafty takes on sexism" in music. Allie Gemmill of "Teen Vogue" stated that the song "gives women permission to keep challenging sexist double standards, and fans are here for it", adding that the "fierce" song includes "many incredibly good lyrics". Writing for "Billboard", Jason Lipshutz called it "a complete jam" and ranked it as the 12th best track on the album, and further expanded that it "will draw attention for its searing subject matter, but it's also one of "Lover"s most complete productions". The same magazine's Gab Ginsberg opined that "The Man" is "catchy-as-all-heck". Writing for "The New York Times", Jon Caramanica described the song as "excellent and pointed". Jordan Sargent of "Spin" negatively compared the song to "You Need to Calm Down", stating that the lyric "If I was a man, then I'd be the man" doesn't really offer much insight.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: On August 16, 2019, Swift announced the track listing of her seventh studio album, "Lover", where "The Man" was unveiled. One week later, the project was released, with "The Man" serving as the fourth track. Next year, the song was serviced to the US adult contemporary and pop radio formats on January 27 and 28, 2020, as the fourth single from "Lover". The following month, the track was issued by Universal Music Group to Italian radio airplay on February 14, whilst the live version was made available to digital download and streaming worldwide four days later.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: In the United States, following the release of its parent album "Lover", "The Man" debuted at number four on the "Billboard" Streaming Songs chart, number 23 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and number 32 on the "Billboard" Digital Song Sales chart, all dated September 7, 2019. "The Man" The song peaked at number 20 and 10 on "Billboard" Pop Songs and "Billboard" Adult Pop Songs charts. In Europe, "The Man" charted at number 16 in Ireland, 62 in the Netherlands, 24 in Norway, 82 in Scotland, 63 in Sweden and 80 in Switzerland. It reached number 21 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also commercially successful in Oceania, peaking at number 17 in Australia and 15 in New Zealand.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: On February 25, 2020, Swift announced via her social media accounts that the music video would be released in two days. The video was directed by Swift, making it her official solo directorial debut. Swift answered fan questions in the hour before the music video's premiere on YouTube on February 27, 2020. She stated that the entire preparation for the music video—including planning meetings, creating mood boards, scouting locations, and costume and set design—took several months. She also confirmed that there would be many of her trademark "easter eggs" in the video.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: The video features cameos from TikTok stars Loren Gray (the second most followed on the platform at the time) and Dominic Toliver, actress Jayden Bartels, and Swift's father Scott Swift; actor Dwayne Johnson appears in a brief voice role. The video's production team includes producer Jil Hardin, executive producer Rebecca Skinner, assistant director Joe Osborne, cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, production designer Ethan Tobman, and makeup artist Bill Corso. Swift's transformation involved a "muscle suit", prosthetic makeup, eyebrow wigs, and facial sculptures, which took between four and six hours to apply each day. She also worked with movement coaches Stephen Galloway and Spenser Theberge, as well as editor Chancler Haynes. Visual effects were handled by Ingenuity Studios.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: The satirical music video explores Swift's life as her theoretical male counterpart, an alter-ego named "Tyler Swift". The video presents numerous prevalent examples of double standards in society, and comments on the objectification and sexualization of women, toxic masculinity, patriarchy, as well as performative allyship. Throughout the video, the male version of Swift is seen rudely inconveniencing the people around him, leading a luxurious and promiscuous lifestyle, manspreading, receiving praise for the bare minimum, and throwing tantrums without consequences. It contains visual references to "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), a film involving the lyrically name-checked actor DiCaprio and cinematographer Prieto, and tennis player Serena Williams' match controversy with a chair umpire at the 2018 US Open Championships.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: The video has several easter eggs alluding to Swift's other work, including "Speak Now", "Red", "1989", and "Reputation" graffiti on a wall. "Fearless" is written backwards, while the title of her eponymous debut album appears in a sign saying "Missing: If Found Return to Taylor Swift". The "missing" sign, along with another wordless sign that appears to ban riding scooters, references her battle with Scooter Braun and Big Machine Records over the ownership of the master recordings of her first six studio albums. "Lover", the first album that Swift completely owns herself, is absent, but the word "karma" is written twice on the wall, a possible reference to Swift's plan to re-record her previous works thus lowering the value of the originals. The camera subsequently pans over a "Mr. Americana" poster for a film starring Tyler Swift, directed by Larry Wilson, and premiering at the 2020 Mandance Festival, a word play on Swift's Netflix documentary "Miss Americana" directed by Lana Wilson, which debuted at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Swift's alter-ego runs down a hallway giving high-fives to nineteen disembodied hands, alluding to double standards behind the walk of shame that women are often forced to take after a sexual encounter. The hands are said to be a reference to the 19th amendment of the United States Constitution, which granted women the right to vote in the country.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: In the final scene, Swift herself appears as the video's director to instruct her male alter-ego to be both "sexier" and "more likeable" in the next take—a subtle dig at the entertainment industry's objectification of and sexist treatment toward women. Ending on messages of female empowerment, Swift then turns to praise Loren Gray for her acting performance as a tennis ball girl, despite her role consisting of nothing more than an eye roll. The end credits list Swift as the director, writer, owner, and star of the music video, Johnson as the voice of "The Man", and shows photos of Swift's transformation process into the male lead of the video. It ends with a disclaimer stating "No men were harmed in the making of this video".


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: Bryan Rolli of "Forbes" highlighted that the video is characterized by an "exaggerated and cartoonish" attitude "in a self-aware way", typical of Swift's "most memorable videos". He further expanded that "obviously, not every man acts like her [Swift's] character; that's not the point. The point is to make a caricature of the buffoonish men who feel the need to criticize successful women like Swift for merely existing and dissect every public decision they make, whereas their male counterparts would receive praise for the same actions". Avery Blank, also writing for "Forbes", opined that the video is a "reminder that women continue to face challenges when it comes to owning their ideas and maintaining control over their own careers" and that the society "expects women to be team players and not worry about getting credit for their work". She further added that the video makes it clear to viewers that Swift "will not let people mess with her". "Glamour"'s Chloe Laws wrote that the "empowering" video "calls out sexism and the industry's double standards", which is "a small part of the bigger journey she's [Swift is] embarked on lately", by "refusing to let someone else control her narrative". "Vox" Constance Grady opined that Swift is "one of our great pop storytellers", proved by the video that becomes "the climax of her quest to own her voice".


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: "Billboard"s Rania Aniftos commended that Swift undergoes an "intense make-over" in the "visually stunning clip", to become a "bearded, belligerent corporate titan whose rocket fuel is non-stop high-fives, fist-pounds, empty praise and rounds of shots with his amped-up bros". "Vulture"'s Zoey Haylock commented that Swift as a man resembles Harry Styles, Jake Gyllenhaal and Joe Alwyn combined, appreciating the makeup and prosthetics as "award worthy". "Vogue"'s Hayley Maitland and Noami Pike described Swift's male alter ego as "the human embodiment of toxic masculinity". "Rolling Stone"'s Claire Shaffer stated that Swift "dons full drag to portray the worst of masculinity". "iHeartRadio" Paris Close commended that the video "does well to demonstrate how the hubris of male privilege plays out in the real world". CNN's Lisa France opined that Swift is "unrecognizable" in the video, that "brings to life Swift's lyrics about how differently the world views men and women". Writing for "The Washington Post", Katie Shepherd and Allyson Chiu pointed out that the video is Swift's "gender-bending takedown of the patriarchy", that "skewer toxic masculinity and double standards, while airing personal grievances with an industry that has often subjected her to intense scrutiny". They added that Swift takes aim at "the cultural norms that allow, and at times even encourage, men to develop overinflated egos". "Fast Company"'s Starr Rocque stated that Swift "examines the ridiculousness of gender roles and weaves that into a satirical spin on her own personal experiences and observations", adding that Swift "catches a lot of flack, but she's a fighter and always true to her brand of female empowerment". Swift's masculine appearance as "Tyler Swift" has been compared with that of Christian Bale, Harry Styles, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Joe Alwyn.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: An animated lyric video for the song was released on February 7, 2020, exploring visual themes of women empowerment, feminism, and workplace sexism.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: The video depicts a power suit-wearing woman, the only female figure in a maze-like city full of taller and larger corporate male drones, as she tries to navigate through staircases that lead to nowhere. She is forced to run past the sauntering men to avoid getting trampled. When the woman finally reaches the top of a building, symbolizing her climb up the corporate ladder, the male drones push her off and leave her to freefall to death; thankfully, she is caught by another, benevolent, giant woman and shown to a place where all the women walk together in solidarity towards the city. The ending of the video implies that the true key to success for women is to lift each other up.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: Some of the visuals featured in the video bear resemblance to those from the 2010 movie "Inception", which stars the actor name-checked in the song, Leonardo DiCaprio.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: At the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, Swift scored a win at Best Direction for "The Man" music video, and became the first solo female artist in VMA history to win that category.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: On September 9, 2019, Swift performed an acoustic version of the song at the "City of Lover" one-off concert in Paris, France. The acoustic version was also performed at a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music on October 11, 2019. During the 47th Annual American Music Awards, held on November 24, 2019, in Los Angeles, Swift performed a medley of her hits that included "The Man".


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: On February 17, 2020, Swift announced on her social media platforms the release of a live acoustic version of the song titled "The Man (Live from Paris)", recorded at her one-off "City of Lover" concert at L'Olympia in Paris, France on September 9, 2019. The song was released the next day along with the live video of its performance.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: "Billboard" commented that the "glorious" live video is a "work of beauty", that sees Swift playing acoustic guitar, with her looking "relaxed and confident as the audience sings back every word of the song". "E! News" stated that the video "will empower you to conquer all", where "the superstar once again proved her unbelievable talent". They added that Swift "lit up" the stage, with just a single spotlight, "as she plays the acoustic guitar, the audience cheers along to the feminist anthem". Calling the video "intimate yet grand", "Uproxx" opined that the song "retains its earworm qualities in the acoustic rendition", despite the original version being "a catchy, synth-led tune".


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: In honor of International Women's Day in 2020, "The Man" was added to playlists on streaming platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal. Public figures such as Malala Yousafzai and Kristin Chenoweth added the song to their International Women's Day playlists. Furthermore, Swift included the song in her Apple Music "Playlist by ME!", which was updated to spotlight songs from rising female artists such as Beabadoobee, Clairo, Phoebe Bridgers, Caroline Polachek, Celeste, Charli XCX, Daya, Grimes, Haim, Halsey, Léon, H.E.R., Kesha, King Princess, Marina Diamandis, MUNA, Oh Wonder, Brittany Howard, Margaret Glaspy, Princess Nokia, Selena Gomez, Låpsley, Yebba, and more.


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: In March 2020, British politician Liz Truss, the Secretary of State for International Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities of the United Kingdom, quoted the song's lyrics during a special International Women's Day debate in the British parliament, while talking about the need for gender equality across the workforce and greater protection for women against domestic violence. Truss stated: "And so that, in the words of the brilliant Taylor Swift in her new song, 'women are left running as fast as they can, wondering if they'd get there quicker if they were a man'."


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: American journalist Jody Rosen, writing for "The New York Times", listed "The Man" as one of the "25 songs that matter now". Describing Swift as "pop's best humblebraggart", Rosen termed "The Man" as a "sly protest song", explaining that Swift "has been pop's top bellyacher, turning a now-familiar set of grievances into great songs". He added that Swift "channels that indignation into a broader protest against the sexism and skepticism that all women face". Rosen also opined that the song's "most hard-hitting line is a plaintive rhetorical question that calls to mind a #MeToo movement slogan: #BelieveWomen".


title: The Man (Taylor Swift song)

text: Naming "The Man" as the "most important" song Swift has ever written, Brittany Hodak of "Forbes", commended that "the magic of "The Man" is not just that it captures a complex (and often misunderstood) issue so brilliantly and simply, but also that it conveys to Swift's female fans that even she isn't above the BS that so many of us are regularly subjected to". Hodak concluded that she is "hopeful that Swift's spotlight on the issue will spark a national conversation about sexism, power, and equality".


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: The term "Raja yoga" is not defined in the texts dealing with Hindu Predictive astrology. All such planetary situations and combinations that indicate good fortune, wealth, comforts, exercise of ruling power and political influence gained, either by way of inheritance or acquired through self-effort, are termed as Raja yogas. There are many varieties of "Raja yogas" but their formation generally involves the 9th, the 10th, the 2nd, the 11th house and the "lagna" ('Ascendant'), their respective house-lords and their exaltation signs and exaltation lords, which house-lords combining and giving rise to "Raja yogas" invariably tend to enhance the affairs of the house they occupy, aspect and rule.


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: In doing so they combine the influence of two types of houses - a) those governing personal initiatives and b) those that show good fortune. Therefore, "Raja yogas" are generally found in the horoscopes of leaders and famous people


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: The results of the "yoga" or "Raja yoga" formed owing to a lord of a "kendra" ('quadrant') (the lord of the 1st, the 4th, the 7th or the 10th counted from the "Lagna" ('Birth Ascendant') or Natal Moon) and a lord of a "trikona" ('trine') (the lord of the 1st, 5th or the 9th house) establishing mutual relationship become more pronounced if the lord of another "trikona" joins them or if their dispositor, preferably the lord of the Ascendant, finds its exaltation in a "kendra" or a "trikona". For any "yoga" or "Raja yoga" to produce more effective results the yoga-causing planets possessing requisite six kinds of strength ("Shadbala"), must form an immediate relationship with the "Lagna" ('Ascendant'), which is possible by any one of them occupying or aspecting the "lagna" or by directly associating with the lord of the "lagna" but without any one of them being afflicted by either natural or functional malefics, or by a lord of a "trikasthana" (the lord of the 6th, the 8th or the 12th house). Varaha Mihira states that the results of powerless planets are enjoyed in dreams and thoughts only. Moreover, if any planet occupying a particular sign as part of a yoga formation happens to be aspected by the lord of that sign and both occupy auspicious houses then alone a "Raja yoga" is formed. If the lord of the 9th or the lord of the 10th respectively own the 8th and the 11th, their association will not give rise to an effective yoga or "Raja yoga" or if they do not conjoin either in the 9th or 10th house. According to Parasara, the most powerful "Raja yoga" arises when the strong lord of the lagna is in the 5th house and the strong lord of the 5th house occupies the lagna-kendra or if the "Atmakaraka" ('the planet most advanced in the sign') and the "Putrakaraka" ("chara karaka") are jointly or severally in the lagna or in the 5th house or occupy their exaltation or own sign or navamsa in aspect to a benefic planet and adds that one will be a king if benefic planets occupy the kendras from the "Karakamsa" ('the navamsa occupied by the Atmakaraka') or if the "Arudha lagna" and the "Darapada" are in mutual "kendras" or "trikonas" or in the 3rd and the 11th from each other or if the lord of the 10th house placed in its own or exaltation sign aspects the "lagna" or if the "lagna" is aspected by the debilitated lord of the 6th, the 8th or the 12th house. If the dispositor of "Gulika" ("Māndi") is in a "kendra" or a "trikona" vested with requisite strength in own or exaltation or friendly sign then one possesses a pleasing personality, is popular and famous and enjoys the benefits of "Raja yoga", he becomes a powerful ruler.


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: Certain unique placements of planets/house-lords give rise to excellent and exceptional "Raja yogas". B. Suryanarain Rao writes that peculiar powers seem to characterise the angular positions of the planets which enable persons born under such combinations to become kings (i.e. acquire ruling powers). In all such cases the strength and the placement of the lord of the "Lagna" ('Ascendant') is of paramount importance, if it happens to be weak in strength or ill-placed or otherwise afflicted, then auspicious results of good yogas are not experienced. If the lord of the "Lagna" vested with requisite strength is situated either in a "kendra" or in the 9th house in its "Vargottama navamsa" and the lord of the 9th is also either exalted or situated in its own sign attaining "vargottama", then a powerful, wealthy and learned ruler is born; this "yoga" is also known as the "Lakshmi Yoga". Other few examples that can be cited under this category are a) the "Adhi yoga" that arises if benefic planets are situated in the 6th, in the 7th and in the 8th house from the Moon, b) the "Mahabhagya yoga" which is caused if a male born during day-time has the Sun, the Moon and the "Lagna", all three in odd signs or if a night-born female has these three in even signs, C) as Phaladeepika states – when a benefic sign is on the 10th house and the 10th house is occupied by a benefic planet and is aspected by a benefic or benefics and the lord of 10th not being combust occupies a benefic bhava in its own sign or exaltation sign the very favourable "Khyati yoga" arises making one adept, wealthy and achieve wide and lasting fame, who like a king will protect his subordinates and d) as Jataka Parijata states – if from the "bhava" occupied by the lord of the "lagna" the lord of the 4th, the planet occupying the 4th house, the lord of the 9th and the planet occupying the 9th house are all in "Shubhvargas", strong and associated with the "lagna" the person will certainly become a long-lived, mighty and wealthy ruler. This last mentioned "yoga" is a very rare "Raja yoga" which will not arise in case the planets causing it are not directly connected with the "lagna". Parashara states that if there be a malefic in the 10th house in "Sayana-avastha" or "Bhojana-avastha" the person will face many miseries on account of his own deeds but if the Moon is in the 10th in "Kautaka-avastha" or "Prakasana-avastha" there will undoubtedly be a "Raja yoga".


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: All planets occupying the "kendras" gain exceptional strength. Mars and Saturn are natural malefic but both situated in the kendras can confer advancement in life though tending to prove evil towards the end. Saturn in Cancer (when it becomes a temporary friend of Jupiter) and Mars in Capricorn produce prominent persons but not vice versa. Saturn in Libra in a "kendra" from the "Lagna" or the "Chandra-lagna" causing "Sasa yoga", a "Panch Mahapurusha yoga", gives wealth, status, fame and also ruling power but does not give a happy life because of its square aspect on Cancer and being in the 8th from Pisces the exaltation sign for its dispositor.


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: The directional strength gained by planets is a vital factor for it is seen that planets possessing "Digbala" giving rise to "yogas" and "Raja yogas" are more effective even if they do not combine well e.g. when Saturn is with the Sun and Mars in the 10th house and Venus is in the 4th there arises a significant "Raja yoga".


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: The "trikonas" are as sensitive as the "kendras" if not more; planets in mutual trikonas become effective co-workers. The "antra-dasha" of the planet situated in a "kendra" or in a "trikona" from the "dasha-lord" generally confers auspicious results. The Sun in the 4th, a retrograde Venus in the 5th with Jupiter situated in the "lagna", or Saturn in the 9th, Mars exalted, and Mercury, Venus and Jupiter combining in the 5th house give rise to powerful "Raja yogas" which "yogas" illustrate the importance and effectiveness of the trinal aspects of planets more particularly that of Jupiter. If the benefic sign rising in the "lagna" is occupied by a benefic planet and the lord of the "lagna" , also a natural benefic, occupies a benefic sign in the 9th house then they invariably make one fortunate, long-lived and enjoy "Raja yoga". But the "kendras" dominated by cruel malefic planets usually prove counter-productive, they prevent effective operation of "yogas" and "Raja yogas", which situation becomes worse with the lord of the "lagna" and the lord of the 9th afflicted and ill-placed, and not favourably influencing their own "bhavas".


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: "Simhasana yoga" arises if at the time of birth only the 2nd, the 6th, the 8th and the 12th houses counted from the lagna are occupied by planets; "Hansa yoga" arises if at that particular moment only the "lagna", the 5th, the 9th and the 7th houses are occupied by planets or if planets are situated only in Aries, Aquarius, Sagittarius, Libra and Scorpio (or Leo) signs; planets similarly occupying Cancer, Pisces, Gemini, Virgo and Sagittarius signs give rise to "Danda yoga"; these are all "Raja yogas". However, Simhasana yoga is most effective for persons born in Aries, Libra or Capricorn lagna; Hansa yoga is most effective for those born in Capricorn, Cancer, Aquarius or Gemini lagna, in which eventuality these stated yogas gain the more exalted status of "Chilhipuchccha yoga", also known as "Yogadhiyoga", and become powerful twice-over.


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: For a "Shuklapaksha" ('bright fortnight') day-time birth the exalted lord of the "navamsa" occupied by the Moon at the time of birth makes one a great orator, invincible, very powerful and highly influential, and enjoy "Raja yoga", but if the lords of the "navamsas", occupied by the lords of the 2nd, the 5th, the 9th and the 11th house, are all in their respective signs of exaltation then in addition to the enjoyment of "Raja yoga" one also gains world-wide fame as a great scholar.


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: There are some Raja yogas described by texts which simply cannot occur,e.g. Varahamihira states that if exalted Mercury occupies "lagna", Venus occupies the 10th, the Moon and Jupiter join in the 7th and Saturn and Mars occupy the 5th, the person becomes a ruler, this "yoga" cannot occur because Mercury cannot be in a kendra from Venus, certainly not 77 degrees apart for this yoga to arise, or if the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter are in the 10th, 11th and lagna respectively, Mercury and Mars in the 2nd and Venus and the Sun in the 4th, which event cannot take place because Mercury can never be in the 3rd house counted from the Sun.


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: "Sreenatha yoga" is caused when at the time of birth the lord of the 7th house is exalted and the lord of the 10th is with the lord of the 9th house. This is an important "Raja yoga". If at birth Mercury and the Sun conjoin in the 10th house and Mars is with Rahu in the 6th house, the person becomes chief among men, and if Venus is with Mars in the 2nd house, Jupiter is in Pisces and both Saturn and the Moon are in their respective signs of debilitation a "Raja yoga" is caused but the person will not be wealthy. The most powerful "Raja yoga" is produced when, free from the adverse influences of the "trika – lords", the lords of the 9th and the 10th or the lords of the 4th and the 5th conjoin in an auspicious sign and "bhava". Vide Bhavartha Ratnakara if at the time of birth Mercury, Venus and the Moon are in the 11th house, Jupiter is in Cancer "lagna" and the Sun occupies the 10th house, one becomes a ruler who is able, brave and famous. Ramanuja calls this the "Maharaja yoga" which yoga is also found described in Brihat Jataka but along with the mention of Saturn's and Mars' placement.


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: The lord of the 10th house counted from the stronger of the two, the "Lagna" or the "Chandra-lagna", occupying a "kendra" or a "trikona" or the 2nd house vested with required strength by itself gives rise to "Raja yoga" (Mansagari IV Raja yoga 4). If at the time of birth the Moon is in an "Upachayasthana", all benefic planets occupy their own signs and navamsas and all malefic planets are weak in strength the person will rise to be a ruler equal to Indra (Mansagari IV Raja yoga 16). Venus and Mars combining in the 2nd house with Jupiter situated in Pisces, Mercury and Saturn in Libra and the Moon occupying its debilitation sign give rise to "Raja yoga", in which event the person will be generous, wealthy, proud and famous ruling a vast territory (Mansagari IV Raja yoga 33). If the Moon combines with the Sun in the first half of Sagittarius sign, Saturn vested with strength is in the lagna and Mars is exalted a mighty much venerated ruler is born (Mansagari IV Raja yoga 65–66).


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: The conjunction of Jupiter with either Mars or the Moon giving rise to auspicious yogas also pave the ground for "Raja yoga"-formation, however, Ramanuja states that in these two events the person will be fortunate and prosperous in the "dashas" of Mars and the Moon but Jupiter's "dasha" will be ordinary. Saraswati yoga occurring for Gemini "lagna" involves the conjunction of the lord of the "lagna" and of the 4th house with the lords of the 5th, the 7th and the 10th occurring in a "trikona" from the "lagna-kendra" is a "Raja yoga".


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: Janardan Harji tells us that a famous and generous king is born if at birth Venus and Mars occupy the 2nd house, Jupiter is in Pisces, Mercury in Aquarius and the Sun in Scorpio sign is joined by the Moon or if Venus is in Pisces, the Sun is in the lagna, Mercury is in the 12th house, the Moon is in the 2nd and Rahu is in the 3rd house. A person gains a kingdom or power to rule if at the time of birth Jupiter, Venus and the Moon happen to combine in Pisces sign.


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: In most "Raja yoga" formations planets are seen to associate with each other i.e. they form a mutual relationship. Parashara states that a "Raja yoga" is certainly caused if the lords of the lagna, the 5th and the 9th combine or associate with the lords of the 4th and the 10th house or if the Moon and Venus aspect each other, or if Jupiter situated in its own sign in the 9th is conjoins Venus and is aspected by the Sun as the lord of the 5th house which yoga is possible for an Aries-born only. A person becomes a leader, gains great political power and mass following if Mercury situated in a "kendra" or a "trikona" happens to be aspected by the lord of the 9th house, and the person born with Saturn situated in an Aquarius has four planets occupying their exaltation sign becomes a powerful ruler. If the lord of the 4th house is in the 10th and the lord of the 10th is in the 4th house then a powerful but rare "Raja yoga" is caused. A very powerful "Raja yoga" is caused if the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter are in the 10th, 11th and 1st respectively, Mercury and Mars in the 2nd and Venus joins the Sun situated in the 4th house in which event the Full Moon in the 10th will be aspected by Mars and be in mutual aspectual relationship with Venus and the Sun. A powerful "Raja yoga" also arises if all major planets favourably disposed are in mutual "kendras". Thus, irrespective of the sign rising in the lagna if Saturn and Mars conjoin in the "lagna", the Moon is un the 4th, Jupiter in the 7th and the Sun in the 10th a person born in a royal family will certainly ascend the throne, if not so born will be very wealthy Saravali. Even though Venus and Jupiter are not mutual friends and Venus is not happily placed in a Martian sign Ramanuja states that Venus confers "Raja yoga" in its "dasha" if it is in conjunction with Jupiter in Scorpio.


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: Parasara calls the "kendras" the "Vishnusthanas" and the "trikonas", the "Lakshmisthanas"; their lords in mutual association become "yogakarakas" and "Rajayogakarakas" as in the case of "Dharma Karmadhipati yoga" and "Sankha yoga". These lords attaining "Parijatadi awastha" ('status') make one a ruler who takes care of and protects his subjects; attaining "Uttamadi awastha" they make one a wealthy ruler; attaining "Gopuradi awastha" they make one a ruler who is held in high esteem and venerated, and attaining "Simhasanadi awastha" they make one an all-conquering mighty ruler. Those born under the influence such strong "kendra" and "trikona" lords and the lord of the 2nd house, have emerged as great rulers; those blessed with these lords attaining "Simhasanasha" and "Gopuransha" have emerged as rulers and "Chakravarti Samrats" like Raja Harishchandra and Vaivasvata Manu. Yudhishthira was blessed with similarly strong lords as also Shalivahana. Person born with all these seven lords attaining "Devaloka awasthas" will be the "Avatar" of Lord Vishnu.


title: Raja yoga (Hindu astrology)

text: If Jupiter, the Moon and the "Lagna" are aspected by Saturn, and if Jupiter is in the 9th house, the person born would be a "Raja" who would write on "shastras" or sciences (Brihat Jataka XV.4). Bhattotpala records that Kanada, Buddha, Panchashikha, Varahamihira and Brahmagupta were blessed with this yoga. Mandavya states that if there is a "Raja yoga" along with this "yoga", then the person will not be a king but only a scientist, if there are two "Raja yogas" then he will be a ruling king and also a great writer on sciences like Jina, Kasiraja, Sphujidhvaja and Janaka were.