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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Infallible Authority, Chapter Five

Like the Nephites of Old
by J.J. Dewey
( To read the previous chapter, click hereTo start this series at the beginning, click here.)

The Council of Fifty was to consist of as many as 53 members, and membership in the Church was not a qualification for being called into the Council. Joseph Smith had several non-members in it.

What was the purpose of the Council of Fifty? The purpose was to govern the dominions in the Kingdom of God in all areas of life, allowing the individual maximum use of his agency.

The number 53 is a composite of three other numbers: 49, 3, and 1. The number 49 is created out of seven sevens, signifying perfection and the end of spiritual evolution in this system. The Council of Forty-nine is composed of seven smaller councils which preside over seven different areas of human endeavor which include, but are not limited to:

(1) politics and defense
(2) philosophy
(3) education
(4) the arts
(5) science
(6) religion
(7) finance and business

The “three” may or may not be positions held by the presidency of the Church to preside over spiritual affairs.

The one is a position held by he who holds the keys of the priesthood or the key to the knowledge of God. This person may or may not be president of the Church. When the Kingdom is fully established, he generally will not be; however, Joseph Smith, through necessity, temporarily held both positions. This person would guide (not dictate to) the whole Kingdom and set in order the lower councils; yet he, himself, could be reproved by the councils, for every man is subject to error as well as checks and balances.

While it is true that God will not let the Kingdom of God fail, this is no guarantee for the success of the Church; for God can shift the Kingdom from people to people according to their worthiness. Each time there is a shift, the faithful few in the former organization become leaders in the next. For instance, the twelve apostles of Jesus were the faithful of the Jews and they became the leaders when the Gospel was given to the Gentiles. In our day, Joseph warned the church that God could pass them by “and bestow these blessings upon another people.” (DHC 5:427 If the Church cannot fail, then why did Joseph say this?

Why did the Lord say, “Beware of pride lest ye become as the Nephites of old”? (D&C 38:39) Are church members becoming as the Nephites of old? Are they full of pride? What did the Lord mean by this? To find out, let us see what happened to the Nephites.

The Nephites lived in peace and harmony for over 200 years - something we have not duplicated. We are told that there was not “any manner of ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the Kingdom of God.” (4Nephi 18) Finally, “they had become exceedingly rich, because of their prosperity in Christ.” (v.23)

At this time, the people made their fatal mistake: “There began to be among them those who were lifted up in pride, such as the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine pearls, and the fine things of the world. And from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them.” (verses 24-25)

Is the church following in their footsteps? Do the rich among them take pride in having more than his neighbor? Do they not boast of their fine homes and cars and their jewelry and their cabin in the hills? Do they not feel that they are more blessed of God because of their righteousness and hard work, and that if a man is poor, it is because he is lazy, or has not paid a full tithe, or is lessor than the rich in some way?

Have the Saints not ceased to even experiment with equality in the material world as the Nephites did? Is this not because members treasure the riches of this world more than the Kingdom of God? Is the church making any attempt to live the United Order today? Nay. The members shrink from it and hope that they will not live to see the day when they will be asked to sacrifice.

They forget that the purpose of the true United Order is not to make the rich poor, but to make all people rich and each man is to be equal in earthly things that he can also be equal in heavenly things; but the rich in their pride want to be above the poor, and even many of the poor want to be rich so they can be above their fellow men.

Today many make excuses for not living the foundation principles by saying that it is not practical in today’s society - that they will not have to live it until the Prophet commands them to go back to Jackson County. These are words whispered into members’ ears by the adversary to “lull us into carnal security” so we will not live the commandments, for the “tomorrow” (when all are supposed to live by that which was written) never comes to the unbelievers, whereas it is always “today” for the righteous.

It is indeed true that many early attempts to live the United Order failed. This was largely due to the “unrighteous dominion” of authority and the lack of free agency to the members of the orders. It is obvious that God is not going to come down here and show us all the details that will make it work. What is needed is experimentation through free will participation. Then when orders are set up that
actually create more wealth and freedom for the individuals as well as the whole, this should then be pursued.

Instead of doing many things of our own free will to bring to pass much righteousness the church has been burying its talent in the ground for over 100 years and waiting for some thunderbolt of a revelation before moving ahead. Alas, the wait will be forever unless the church acts upon what it has already received.

The next thing that happened to the Nephite church was that “they began to be divided into classes.” (Verse 26) Some in the church may say that the doctor and the lawyer are in the same class as the janitor, but if you ask the janitor you will get a different view.

Next, “they began to build up churches unto themselves to get gain, and began to deny the true Church of Christ… there were many churches which professed to know the Christ, and yet they did deny the more parts of His gospel.” (verses 26-27)

The Nephites built up churches “unto themselves.” Is this happening among the LDS today? What does this mean? Basically, it means teaching the doctrines of men and to drift from the revelations of God to relying on the wisdom of men or the “arm of flesh.” The authorities have put away the more precious parts of the gospel and now rely on the wisdom of men for guidance instead of revelation. The principle of revelation has been dropped from the church. No one has presented a new one for generations.
What does this leave us with? It leaves us with the doctrines of men and a church built toward the gain of the men involved.

How does one “build up churches unto themselves to get gain?” Does this mean to use religion to get money? It does, but this is not all. It also means to build up churches to get gain and praise from the world. When the world applauds the church for the beautiful buildings and temples and schools and engraven images, murals, the Olympics, etc, while at the same time the cries of the humble in spirit who walk “in low places unnoticed” ascend up to the Lord of the Sabaoth for spiritual deliverance, then we have the building up churches unto ourselves to get gain.

In the days of Brigham Young, tithing went into a “Common Fund.” If a man was poor and wanted to start up a business, he could borrow from this fund and pay it back later when he was successful. Brigham Young planned on running the entire state of Deseret from the tithing money and he actually took steps to do away with all taxes so he could run the entire kingdom from the common fund. Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if he could have succeeded? How would you like to have as your only tax today that of voluntary tithes and offerings?

However, if the church used more tithing money for the benefit of the members today, then they would receive less praise from the world, and besides it would be “inconvenient” for they are in need of large and spacious buildings, and schools, and parks, and apartment complexes, and insurance companies, and orchards, and sugar trusts and hotels and on and on.

Where does all the tithing and donation money go? Not even the press can find it all out. What salaries do the general authorities receive? The salaries of our public servants are published; then why not church leaders? We are told that “it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another; wherefore the world lieth in sin.” (D&C 49:20) Thus, all their salaries should be the same, yet they are not. As one progresses higher in position, he receives more pay. This is the practice of the world, but it should not be in the church.

Can you think of a more comfortable position financially than being an authority in the Church? You are guaranteed a substantial salary until you die. No discipline is necessary to pay tithing for it is already taken out of the paycheck, but not to worry for your income rises far enough above average so you will not miss it.

How can one without a financial care in the world have sufficient empathy to help those who are living from paycheck to paycheck?

Alas, the Assyrian (authorities) takes from the innocent and gathers from “all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.” (Isa. 10:14) As prophesied, the lowly members do not raise a peep at any move taken by the authorities, just or unjust, for fear of their eternal soul.

The only one getting any blame in the church is the humble members at the bottom of the totem pole. But does the Lord blame the lowly member? Nay:
“Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; As I live saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them”. (Ezek 34:7-10)
This scripture applies to the shepherds today as much as any period in history, except they repent. Why, O why do people in every age think that they are somehow different from the past and that this time round they can trust their souls to the integrity of their leaders rather than in the hands of God through his Spirit?

“The more things change the more they remain the same” comes to mind.
Copyright J.J. Dewey, used with permission.
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Anonymous said...

I have always wondered why the G.A.'s receive a salary. For don't our scriptures teach that our Church should have no paid ministry?

We say we don't pay our ministers but then we do, for so many G.A.'s are paid so well, even though many were very successful in their careers & probably could have easily supported themselves.

I see so many widows & fatherless in the Church struggling financially & suffering greatly, who, the scriptures teach, are supposed to come very 1st, even before healthy male church leaders.

True religion is caring for the widows & the fatherless & the poor.

Did Joseph Smith completely expect the Church to support him & his family & all the Apostles & their families too?

I do not believe it was at all right for leaders to keep collecting wives & expect the Church to provide for them all & the man not have to do that himself.

Didn't King Benjamin in the BoM teach that even the Prophet should work with his own hands & support himself & not expect others to support him?

I have never understood why healthy able bodied male leaders with successful careers receive money before, & instead of, the widows & the fatherless, who then are made to suffer.

Jon said...

I thought the scriptures said that paying ministry is OK. I thought it was false doctrine saying they shouldn't be paid. Can't remember where those scriptures are at the moment, otherwise I would site them.

Either way, it has disturbed me that it is a teaching in the church but once you get in the higher ups it's not adhered to anymore.

Tyler said...

Paid or not paid isn't really important to me as much as the following:

1)The church doesn't call it a salary, they call it a stipend so that the general membership can be told that our clergy are volunteers. That, to me, seems completely dishonest. I remember telling people on my mission that our church leadership was a volunteer force. I lied.

2)I'd like to know how many of the apostles, actually refuse their "stipend". After all, you'd expect that since many of them did come from successful careers, where they responsible saved for retirement, that they wouldn't really need the stipend. Assuming the church pays for their travel expenses etc etc, there is no reason why many of them couldn't simple say they don't need the stipend. Overall the concept that the stipend itself is a fixed amount simple suggests that just like the world the leadership of our church views their salary as a indication of the value of the position they hold.

Dead Poet said...

Wasn't the Law of Consecration removed as a commandment from the church because of the failure to live it correctly and replaced with the Law of Tithing?

Anonymous said...

Dead Poet-

The United Order fell apart, which was a system designed to get the people to live the law of consecration. The Law of consecration is eternal. The only place that tithing replaces consecration is mentioned, is in the heading of section 119 and the heading is a contemporary addition that is not scripture. We still covenant to live the law of consecration in the Temple.

“In your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld” (D&C 70:14; see also D&C 49:20; 78:5–7).

Basically, we can’t be saints; we can’t be who we are supposed to be unless we are in Zion, living the law of consecration. Many people have covenanted to do so as they went through a temple, but don’t live up to those covenants made that day.

Tyler said...

The united order was an implementation of the law of consecration and it is my personal belief that it was wrong. I believe that the is a very large misunderstanding surrounding the law of consecration, how it is to be properly implemented and how because of it there will "No poor among them"

While in liberty jail Joseph wrote this.

Again, we would suggest to the brethren, that there be no organization of large bodies upon common stock principles, until the Lord shall signify it in a proper manner. (Millennial Star, 5:69.)

As far as I know Joseph made no other major discussion around the Law of Consecration and based on that quote it seems to me, that the Lord has not revealed the means by which the law of consecration is to be lived. Which means that any organization (including the church) that implements a system intent on living the law consecration is basing those mechanics on the "arm of flesh"

This is made clear if you read a bit more about how the United Order was run.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the law of consecration isn't complete without the inclusion of the term "stewardship".

This is essential to the law. The law of consecration is not intended to protect the weak from failure, it is not intended to "redistribute wealth". It is intended to outline the placement of stewardship over a domain and thereby place responsibility of that domain to he who have said stewardship.

Much like the parable of the talents. The Lord expects that when we are entrusted with a stewardship that we improve it, that we take what has been given and through our effort return more then we were given.

I find it interesting that there is no case in the parable of the talents for the servant who tries and returns less then he was given. There is only 5 returns 10, 2 returns 4 and the servant who returns the same as he was given. He is called slothful and what he is given is taken from him and given to him who has 5.

This is interesting because the scriptural account ultimately states.

"each according to his ability" mat 25:14

there is another famous quote that warps the above statement.

"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."

In my opinion communism is a great evil. I find it difficult to believe that we as saints will one day be living "communism" and it won't be evil. Which suggests to me that I've made a grave error in understanding the law of consecration and stewardship.

Andy said...

"The law of consecration is not intended to protect the weak from failure."

Hmmm...someone desperately needs to read King Benjamin's sermon, particularly Mosiah 4:16-26. Without Christ's atonement we are all weak failures destined for a unpleasant after-life in hell.

Stewardship plays a vital part in the Lord's plan for His children, for sure. But stewardship means we do what He wants us to do with His stuff. And His way always includes love, not casual dismissal of the poor as weak failures.

Oh, and they should probably also read Jacob 4:12-21.

Anonymous said...

I agree that we can only trust the things that we can 'prove' Joseph Smith really taught about principles pertaining to things like the Law of Consecration.

If polygamy was evil, as Joseph said it was, then we can't go by anything any leader says or taught who came after Joseph.

Even the temple ordinances & teachings are all very suspect if they can't be proven to be completely from Joseph Smith or the scriptures.

We now need to just wait on understanding things like the 'Law of Consecration', etc., until Joseph & Christ returns & cleanses or restores the Church again with it's true doctrines.

In the meantime we can still do all we can to financially support all the widows & the fatherless (single mothers) around us, so they don't have to go to work & leave their children & homes.

Tyler said...

The purpose of the law of consecration is not to protect the weak from failure. It is not to redistribute wealth. The relationship between this statement and my own personal relationship with charity and "protecting" the weak are highly irrelevant.

I don't think the bible could, however, be less clear.

"And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" mat 25:28

No where did I say that the poor are weak failures. I said, let me repeat it again. The law of consecration is not intended to protect the weak from failure. This means if and when a man given a stewardship has proven himself unable to successfully produce from this stewardship his stewardship should be removed and given to one who can. Further more it is clear that once he has proven his failure (according to his ability) he should be cast out, despite his protests.

Of course we can, and we should. Again the parable , clearly says "according to his ability". Supporting and helping those in need I believe is a separate principle, linked solely on the fact that we are responsible for making some type of intelligent decision as to whether someone is truly outside their realm of ability. A very hard decision to make in some cases and very easy to make in others.

Anonymous said...

I agree that the United Order wasn't a good idea. It was done with good intentions but was set up for failure. It was trying to create a Gentile solution to a Zion system. Consecration can only be done out of desire. Those who have had the change of heart and desire to truly follow Christ all the way, will want to do what they can and in so doing it will naturally live the law of consecration.

Brokenbyclouds said...

An excellent example of the nature of parables: doctrinal and spiritual truths disguised by allegory and metaphor so that the spiritually insensitive can't figure out what they're about.

But no, I'm sure it was meant as a literal economics lesson and not about something else altogether.

Jon said...

I think following the Law of Consecration will be similar to anarcho-capitalism. I think people will have more than another person, but that person that will have more, will hold it in common with the people, e.g., Let's say George has a boat, Jon doesn't want a boat but enjoys going out with George on occasion. George has just lived the Law by sharing what is his. I may have other things that I enjoy and share with others, thereby I live it also.

Living the LoC is different than living in Zion, Zion will have other things attached to it also, that will make it more like a cooperative, where you pay into a central fund, voluntarily of your excess wealth, to help the poor and people that have fallen on bad times, e.g., George's house burns down and he uses the funds in the coop to rebuild, which, one day, he repays. This will be done is small groups, not large groups.

Now excess of wealth doesn't mean that you don't save for a rainy day or use funds to expand your business from monies you earn, excess, means the same wealth that we would give to charitable offerings like most of us already do today (at least I hope so).

At least that's how I see it.

Alan Rock Waterman said...

Jon said,

"excess of wealth...means the same wealth that we would give to charitable offerings like most of us already do today."

I think you nailed it, Jon. The term "excess wealth has been a sticking point for many of us because we have interpreted it to mean "everything we own other than what we require for our basic subsistence." That idea scares us, because if feels like we will end up with next to nothing.

The key word is "wealth." We would be permitted (and "permitted" itself is not the right word because the system would be voluntary) to keep as much of our wealth as we felt to. Each individual would merely donate whatever HE considers excess; pretty much the same, as you say, those of us who tend to be charitable already normally do.

Andy said...

I apologize for misunderstanding your comment and for being snippy. I had a recent conversation with someone who basically dismissed the principle of caring for the poor. So when I saw the line "the law of consecration is not intended to protect the weak from failure" followed by "it is not intended to 'redistribute wealth'" I took it to mean "screw the poor." Because my associate basically says "screw the poor" despite all that scripture says on the topic and because he often uses the term "redistribute wealth" as a kind of arrow to shoot down the Lord's commands I mistakenly projected his attitude onto you. So again I apologize.

Dead Poet said...

goingtozion, thank you. I have gone through the temple and made those covenants, and it has always been confusing to me, because I was taught when I first joined that the law of consecration is not required right now.

Now, a lot of people equate the law of consecration with communism. What about socialism? I don't understand a lot about either form of government, other than that they are apparent swear words and you are a bad person and not a true American if you like the idea of them. But in socialism, is it not possible to have more worldly goods than someone else, yet everyone still has their basic needs met? Everyone has a place to live, everyone has clothes to wear, everyone has food eat, everyone has access to medical care. But someone who makes more money than me is able to buy a bigger house, better clothes, and fancier food, plus maybe an Xbox if they want it. I know that in socialism that all these things are paid for by taxes, and taxes are not voluntary, but is this a better way of looking at it? Not perfect, but better?

P.S. I do NOT want to turn this into a political discussion.

Gary said...

Dead Poet:

"Now, a lot of people equate the law of consecration with communism. What about socialism?"

I would amend your statement with ...erroneously equate the law...

Communism and socialism and most all other "isms" are counterfeits of God's truths. The law of consecration is the truth...communism is the error. Capitalism itself was a word coined by Marx to disparage free enterprise and give it a stigma with the people. I won’t try to go into the whole history, but suffice it to say that most everything God has given man has been corrupted either by Satan or man in its implementation at one time or another.

Tyler said...

I understand and felt no ill will toward your response.

In fact your response made me ponder the usage of the phrase "weak from failure". I think I should have written to "protect anyone from failure", weak or strong.

Protecting from failure comes in a much different principle. Which is the principle of repentance.

Anonymous said...

Dead Poet-

I was at the SLC Temple for a sealing this summer and my wife and I spoke with the second counselor in the presidency while we were there. I told him that in the temple interview questions we are asked if we keep the 5 covenants we make in the temple. I told him that if we didn’t keep the law of chastity we wouldn’t get the renewal but no one keeps the law of consecration. How does that work. He said that it was ended (or removed, I forget which). I asked where it said that in the scriptures. He said he didn’t know because he wasn’t a historian. I couldn’t believe he said that. I have taken the opportunities to speak with several temple presidents and they in my experience have been well learned in the scriptures and other good works. How could he not know such an essential and basic principle and part of the temple?

The truth is, it is still in effect. The Lord is waiting for us. What is everyone’s game plan? Wait for Monson or Packer or Perry? It will not happen that way. The scriptures…especially the Book of Mormon and D&C are clear and direct. The Gentiles(adopted into Ephraim for the most part) are to gather the Lamanites who will build Zion. They will take the lead, not us. The law of consecration and inheritance are essential commandments and resultant states of those who go and follow the Savior.

Anonymous said...

an interesting read--

Nobody knows how much general authorities receive? That protects the best and the worst among them, then, doesn't it?

However, those who had humbler positions would need more money, so those who turn down the stipend would be those who succeeded best in Babylon. What a mess.

The church has become highly stratified, of course, whatever stipend general authorities do or do not receive. It is seen as easily on a ward and stake level as on a "general" level. Level. Should be no levels.

Council of 50. Fascinating. Where does one read about that?

Micah said...

He says the press can't figure out where tithing goes and that we don't know what the "stipend" is to the GA's but then assumes he knows and they have more based on their position. I don't understand this logic. Loved it other than this.

Pepper Davis said...

Tyler; I agree with your assessment because really that is what I have always understood about it as well.

My thoughts:

I loved this chapter as I have been contemplating everything he touched on for months and months now.

As I stated in another comment in chapter 4 the whole last chapters of 3N and 4N had given me a lot tonojndet this last week these chapters have confirmed what the spirit taught me. I love that second witness

I no longer feel anxiety about the church leadership because I realize now that since I see it, the lord has trusted me enough and given me enough experiences that has allowed that veil of trust to be removed.

Now truly I can see myself as the zoramites who was cast out and prepared to hear the word of god. While I have not been cast out of the church yet, I feel spiritually like I have been cast out. I don't belong because I can't stomach the idol worshipping.

I am looking forward to all the miracle that will come as a result of a people being prepared to have a kingdom of God prepared for them. No wonder how it will be possible for the US/world to fail while at the same time the US will be a land for the righteous forever. Wow oh wow!

Those chapters also give hint that those who reject the 3 Nephites and John will be as sons of perdition. What I am seeing is that maybe there will be leaders who reject them and cause many to reject them also. Sad day indeed

Pepper Davis said...

One last thing: when he mentioned how BY wanted to help members set businesses in reminded me of how I felt and suggested on a news blog regarding the new stadium being built. The money that they used to bid that could have gone into a perpetual business fund for members to start up businesses and pay back as they prospered

How many members lives would be better and how many more people put to work through this effort

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eleicoes-brasil-dilma-turno2-20141007-002-size-598Q24N (Prensa Latina) The plenary of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil is scheduled to resume today the debates on the admission of the request of impeachment against President Dilma Rousseff, accused of an alleged crime of responsibility.

At least 249 of the 513 legislators of the Chamber registered to speak in the sessiontoday, each of them with the right to three minutes, which would mean nearly 13 hours of discussion.

However, the Brazil Agency predicted that it may take longer, as at the end of each session (of four or five hours), the leaders of the 25 political parties represented in the Chamber also have the right to speak.

The voting on the admission of the impeachment request has been scheduled for tomorrow, and official sources hope the process could be checked by then.

In remarks made yesterday night and published by on-line Brazil 247 newspaper, the Chief of Staff, Jaques Wagner, said they have already the support from 200 legislators to check the impeachment, for which the votes of 172 legislators are needed.

According to Wagner, the increase in support stems mainly from the work of allied governors, one of whom, Flavio Dino (from the Communist Party) of Maranhao, comented that “the alleged avalanche towards supporting the impeachment was not verified.”

Yesterday, the vice president of the Chamber of Deputies, Waldir Maranhao (Progressive Party) announced that he would vote against the impeachment while Clarissa Garotinho (Party of the Republic), who favored the proceeding, asked for maternity leave and will not vote. The newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo acknowledged yesterday night on its on-line version that the opposition did not have the 342 votes needed for the request to go to the Senate, which would be in fact the one in charge of accepting or not to go on with the impeachment.

Also on Friday, Dilma Rousseff got support form the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Luis almagro, highlighted the political nature of the impeachment, its lack of legal certainty and said it sows distrust in OAS.


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The Dark Knight and Game Theory

If you have not already seen The Dark Knight, then you should read this post at a later time as to avoid spoilers after the jump.  Otherwise, follow the jump for a game theoretic discussion derived from the movie that has already broken two box office records for both best midnight opening and top first day revenue.  I personally enjoyed the movie immensely, but that discussion does not follow.

So, officially, consider this a spoiler alert for what follows.

I am sure there were plenty of other individuals who immediately conceptualized parts of the movie in game theoretic terms as one’s mind is prone to do after sufficient indoctrination; however, after discussing the scenario with Julie for a bit, it seemed to be appropriate blog material and worth formalizing. Without further introduction (as I am assuming you have already seen the movie), we can begin:

The Story

The Joker’s final act as criminal mastermind and agent of nihilism (or, seemingly, to show Gotham city that we are all Homo Economicus when the structure of the game forces us to be) involves two ferries filled with people.  The first ferry is filled with normal, law abiding citizens while the second ferry is filled with the population of Gotham Prison.  The Joker, doing so without prior knowledge of the passengers and city officials, wired the ships with powerful explosives such that their explosion would destroy the entire ship and everyone aboard.  No single individual is allowed to escape.  Each ship is given a detonator for the other ferry.  The use of the detonator saves the ship while killing everyone aboard the opposing ship.  Thus, if any member of Ship A pushes the detonator, then Ship B is destroyed and all of Ship A is saved.  Additionally, if either ship fails to use the detonator to destroy its opponent, then both ships will be destroyed by the Joker.  Assuming that the actors must make their decision simultaneously, this would lead to the following game:

Solving this game is pretty straightforward and (detonation, detonation) becomes the dominant strategy as, at best, cooperation is weakly dominated. Thus, homo economicus and politicus have a very clear strategy to, without fail, destroy their opponents, and in so doing, both will ships will be destroyed.

However, in Gotham City, this does not happen – nor would it necessarily happen in a laboratory experiment either as a few more complications are introduced into the game.  First, the game appears to be pseudo-sequential or, perhaps, a series of simultaneous game with a finite end.  The Joker gives both ferries 30 minutes in which they can detonate the other side.  Even with this complication, the outcome should be the same and both actors ought to choose detonation at the first node (that is, t =1 or when the first move is available).  Using backwards deduction, both players recognize that their opponent will choose to detonate in the final iteration even if there are some gains to short-term cooperation.  This effect cascades backwards to the initial decision node and mutual detonation occurs to prevent receiving the sucker’s payout of cooperating while the opponent defects.

Decision Rules

Beyond this, it appears that the decision making process for both ships is different.  In the ship containing prisoners, the decision to detonate becomes decentralized and any one actor willing to grab the detonator could do so.  While the armed guards gives the opposite impression of clear authoritarianism, Decentralization becomes apparent as the time moves on. Thus, decentralized decision making should lead to the optimal play as any single individual among the 500 or more sub-actors should have a preference for survival.

On the civilian ship, the decision mechanism becomes a simple majority vote.  When the votes are aggregated, the decision to detonate the other ferry is chosen at a rate of almost 3 to 1.  Yet, there is no executive to carry out the decision and the majority will does not prevail as no single sub-actor is willing to push the button.  This psychological separation between deference of active responsibility (voting to kill others) versus carrying out the task, has been illuminated in some experimental settings as shown in the video Julie blogged about previously.

The civilians act rationally as long as they, individually, are not too involved in carrying out a potentially morally reprehensible act.

Perhaps social norms mattered for the actors in the game?  In the second game, we can assume that there are some social benefits from being a moral agent; however, being moral is not as beneficial as being alive.  Since survival trumps morality, we get the second game:

As Yev Kirpichevsky notes in his comment, the pure strategy equilibria are {cooperate-detonate} and {detonate-cooperate} with a Mixed Nash Equilibrium of playing cooperation and detonation with a probability of .5 for both players with this specification (this would change depending on how we parametrize the value for being moral and the value for surviving).  Perhaps, then, we saw the cooperate, cooperate cell (with probability .25) in the movie and if we watched the movie infinite more times, we would see a nice distribution where cooperate-cooperate occurs 25% of the time, both ships defect 25% of the time, and only one ship explodes 50% of the time.  I plan on seeing the movie again, and I will let you know if the outcome of this scene changes.

However, this is not the full specification of the game, let’s assume that the parameters allow for morality to trump survival:

The pure strategy Nash equilibrium is to never detonate as cooperation is always more beneficial than destroying the other ship.  While both specifications may be able to explain the movie, I think there might be a fourth game that explains the game the best.

The Joker Misspecified his Game?

While not the moral of the story that Batman wants the Joker or Gotham City to learn (he tells the audience and the Joker that people are not all evil – there is some good in Gotham), adding an additional parameter to the game can easily induce a cooperation solution.  If the people aboard both ships believe that the cost of dying is probabilistic, then they would cooperate as long as the benefit to cooperating trumped both the probabilistic chance of punishment and the likelihood that the other ship decides to detonate.  Thus, each ship has to calculate the value for morality (m) minus the cost of punishment P(c) and the cost of the other ship defecting P(dx)(d) where x is the other actor.  The cost of opponent defection and punishment are the same (the value of survival), so the equation reduces to:

U(Ship A) = M – (Pc + P(dB))*(S)

U(Ship B) = M – (Pc + P(dA))*(S)

Each equation must still be greater than the value of Survival Minus the Cost of morality such that for Ship A (or B with appropriate substitution):

S – M < M – (Pc + P(dB))*S

If M = S, then the joint probability of punishment and opponent detonation must be less than 1 for cooperation to be preferred, else defection dominates.  As M and S vary in relation to each then, the threshold for the joint probabilities to make a preference in strategy changes.  Note, if the value for M is zero for the observed actor and survival is infinitesimal greater than 0, detonation dominates.  Likewise, if we build in opponent morality into the probability of opponent detonation, and opponent morality is zero, then the cost of morality becomes too high.  Obviously, the game becomes increasingly complicated as parameters are made endogenous.

The actors must determine a subjective probability of the game being false: that is, the probability of punishment is not 1.  The probability of punishment could go down from 100% if the passengers believe that the Joker is lying about the deadline, if they think there is a chance of technological failure, that their detonator may indeed destroy their own ship (adding a hidden cost to detonation), or if they live in a world with Batman.  I would venture forth the assumption that the probability of punishment is inversely proportional to the probability that Batman exists with some modification based on his likelihood of failing to save people — but that is just me.

There are a few other situations in this movie that are prone to game theoretic applications and I have not exhausted the ways in which this game could be modeled.  However, I think this calls for a new villian in the third movie of the trilogy: The Game Theorist.  Much like the riddler, but deadlier and requiring Batman to use mathematics to fight crime.

Michael A. Allen

About Michael A. Allen

Michael is an Assistant Professor in Political Science at Boise State University with a focus in International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Methodology (quantitative and formal). His work includes issues related to military basing abroad, asymmetric relations, cooperation, and conflict. He received his Ph.D from Binghamton University in 2011.

48 Replies to “The Dark Knight and Game Theory”

  1. As Mike noted above, we had a lengthy conversation about this scene in the movie. Some points that I thought were particularly interesting:
    1. From an institutionalist’s point of view, I liked that the decision rule that determined whether they would push the detonator was different in each ferry. It played on the notion of trust. In the prisoner ferry, you had a group of people who previously had broken society’s rules. It was hard for them to trust each other not to take the detonator and simply blow up the other ship even if the majority did not agree with the decision. So not only did they centralize authority by giving the guards sole control over the detonator and the choice to use it, at the very end the one prisoner threw the detonator out the window, making it impossible for anyone to blow up the other ship. While in one sense it appears killing oneself is irrational, centralizing authority to ensure the outcome you want is realized is strategic and rational in that situation.
    In the civilian ship, there was a completely different situation. It appears as though everyone trusted one another, so if they had a majority rule vote, they had no reason to believe anyone would disobey the result. Although in the end no one could take personal responsibility for blowing up the other ship (I discuss more about that below), they all trusted each other enough to believe they would abide by the rule.
    The lesson: a group of people must trust one another in order for them to choose democratic decision rules; otherwise, they will centralize and let others make the decision for them.
    2. It was particularly interesting that the civilians on the ferry felt comfortable to vote to blow up the prisoner ferry, but no one would take personal responsibility for it. This reminds me of Congress, where members diffuse responsibility amongst themselves so that none of them can take personal responsibility for a piece of legislation. As stated in Fareed Zakaria’s “The Future of Freedom”, Robert Packwood comment’s on his Senate career demonstrate this point perfectly: “When an interest group came in, you would say, “Gosh darn, I tried to support you. I really did. The chairman bent my arm.” Then, to protect yourself, you would tell the chairman that when those guys came in, to tell them you really fought hard on the issue.”

  2. First of all, I would like to propose something: There should be special movie screenings for political scientists. I say this because there were 10 of us from our department in our group, and we had a tough time not geeking out immediately afterward about the game theoretical and otherwise perhaps-more-interesting-to-political-scientists aspects of this film. I saw a few grad students from the Math department at the showing we went to, as well, so maybe they could join us in the special academia-centered screenings of future movies.
    This is an excellent post, and as you mention, there are plenty of things for political scientists and game theorists of all stripes to think about in The Dark Knight. My favorite aspect of the movie was more generally that the Joker’s (and later Two-Face’s) MO was to inject a good helping of randomness into his villainy. I couldn’t help but think of Schelling and the effect that taking the control over the decision to act can affect bargaining. I think that the Batman series has an incipient Game Theoretician, though–if the Joker was a little too unrefined to be our game theory villain in the next installment, The Riddler is nearly a ready-made villainous version of John Nash. He could easily be portrayed as someone who manipulates the information available to actors to alter the results of the game. I would argue that he’s been kind of dumbed down in the Batman movies of the 1990’s, but the Joker’s interesting brand of chaos in this film sets up the Riddler perfectly to become the master game theoretician for the next film. We can all hope, at least… And if he does represent the villainous uses of game theory in the next film, I would hope that the costume is a little cooler than it was in the 1990’s, too.

  3. The Prisoners’ Dilemma in The Dark Knight

    One of my favorite parts of The Dark Knight was the skillfully arranged Prisoners’ Dilemma situation presented by the two ferries. A quick re-cap. The Joker has been managed to force Gotham authorities to load two ferries – one with

  4. Great movie, great topic. Two comments:
    1. The game in figure does have pure strategy Nash equilibria: CD and DC. There is a mixed eq in this game, but it’d never get played — it’s clearly pareto-suboptimal. So you really have to value morality more than survival, it seems.
    2. It’s a good point that it’s actually a repeated game, since they have 30 min to make their decision, and the equilibrium involves detonation at the first node. Now the interesting question is: what happens after the first minute when no detonation takes place? Anything can happen off the equilibrium path… But, anyway, I think this is best modeled as a game of incomplete info about the probability of dying.

  5. Elsewhere on the Interweb (7/22/08)

    We were discussing game theory and the Dark Knight. Mike at The Quantitative Peace has an excellent post that discusses all the possible iterations: I think this calls for a new villian in the third movie of the trilogy: The…

  6. I like the discussion on this site. I admit that when I was watching the movie it wasn’t immediately obvious that game theory can be applied there. This is mainly due to how biased the film would end up being. Naturally, Batman would win out in the end and the people would be saved. Thus, thinking about the results of the game are irrelevant in terms of the movie. It’s a great mental exercise though.
    I do expect that the next villain will be the Riddler and I hope they do make the movie more like a mystery thriller. That would be nice but considering what makes money (action, explosions, etc…) I doubt it will happen.
    It was a great flick and this is a great discussion on game theory.

  7. Late but additional thought: It is important to realize that the people have no reason (and perhaps specific reason not to) trust the Joker. His shooting his own men (which the criminals/cops would probably know about), burning his own money (irrational!), etc. means that the actual payouts (indeed the game’s structure) have incredible uncertainty about them..

  8. Don’t know if this got my response I just typed: Julie, they all did! That’s why they were on the boat fleeing Gotham, because the Joker declared war on the city.
    At a baseline, anyone there knew about the Joker’s fake-batmen torture video, the assassinations (attempts and successes) of high-ranking public figures, and his blowing up a hospital. The cops/criminals would have known about him betraying their own men during the bank robbery. (The cops may have known that he switched the addresses of the targets during his previous ‘game’, breaking his own rule-making.) Note that the cops/criminals weren’t energetic about playing the Joker’s game – for all they suspected, turning the switch would have blown up their own boat.
    Can’t play a game if you don’t trust the rules…

  9. Perhaps the cops and criminals associated with the Joker were aware of his tricks- but they were not playing the ferry game. The players in the aforementioned ferry game were civilians and prisoners, not people with personal contact with the Joker. Further, what the civilians and prisoners did know was that he was capable of murdering people. The fake batman torture video- he killed the guy. His promise to blow up a hospital- he followed through. Killing high ranking officials- from all of this it is obvious he was willing to take human life in sadistic ways. The civilians and prisoners had no reason to believe he would not go through with it.

  10. I think there’s more room for an analysis of the game as a repeated game. Assume a series of simultaneous games with a finite end. In the standard analysis, both players choose detonation in the first node (T = 1), because they’ve worked out the backwards induction and realized they’ll get killed sooner or later if they don’t detonate.
    However, given that time is discretized to small enough chunks (to model continuity) and that the players are subject to bounded rationality (none of the people involved can instantly think through the situation they’re in… probably not enough game theorists on board), several nodes go by with no detonation from either side. This serves to build up trust (updates a player’s prior belief about the other’s players morality).
    In fact, I think the movie encourages this analysis. I believe one of the civilians states (a few minutes into the game), “After all, we’re still here, aren’t we?”
    The tensest moments on the ferries are near the end of the 30-minute game. Now the players have had time to think through the backwards induction, and the number of remaining game nodes are quickly decreasing. I think in the end what saves them is that the game can’t be perfectly modeled as a series of discrete games, as time is continues. This is helped by the fact that the ferries have analog clocks, not digital clocks. (One can imagine a 24-style nerve wracking countdown. In such a psychological scenario, detonation might well have happened.) Since the clock is analog, it’s hard to know when the last node of the game is, which makes it psychologically possible to delay detonation, until it’s clear that the deadline has passed and everyone is still alive.

  11. “The civilians and prisoners had no reason to believe he would not go through with it.”
    Really? If you were on that ferry would you think (as I did as an audience member) that if they turned the switch, their own ship would go up? We don’t, in fact, know this one way or the other; we can assume that the rules were true (as Batman did when he went to get Rachel and found Dent), but given that the Joker made a deal in his public appearances as being some sort of agent of chaos. One can’t simply assume a sociopath is going to keep his word, as these models do.
    (Obviously we haven’t touched on the notion of these people resisting even playing the game the Joker wants to play. It’s folded under ‘morality’, but I think it’s an even more interesting dynamic.)

  12. Based on the information they had, as I stated above, they had no reason to believe the Joker would not kill them. He had a reputation of killing people and following through with his plans, such as blowing up the hospital. Further, we can’t simply assume that the average person knows what a sociopath exactly is, let alone be able to diagnose them as such. All those people knew was that the Joker was capable of promising to end human life and following through with it.

  13. It was never stated or shown, but I assumed the Joker switched the rules like he did with Rachel and Dent. I assumed that whoever pushed the button would blow up their own boat. That uncertainty would surely have been present for the persons on the boat (were it real and they actually possessed concerns), mitigating any inclination to actually press the button, regardless of the threats.

  14. However, I think this calls for a new villian in the third movie of the trilogy: The Game Theorist. Much like the riddler, but deadlier and requiring Batman to use mathematics to fight crime.
    The joker is already this villain:
    1) dog-eat-dog, profit-maximizing-with-limited-information bank heist (simultaneously, the chaotic, ignorant henchmen vs the mob bank)
    2) one spot: one pool q; or, three black dude’s thugs vs two joker’s thugs with guns
    3) Kill Reese (the one, direct responsibility) vs Have Patients Die (the many, diffuse responsibility)
    4) The Girl Vs The White Knight (individual vs collective good)
    5) the ferries, as explicated.
    I would add that it takes a good actor to make the long, expository lines of the “game theorist”/Joker’s seem like credible drama. thank you, Mr. Ledger.
    Remember the Architect scene from the second Matrix flick (or don’t!).

  15. @Chaos Motor
    The possibility that Joker switched the rules of the game actually sounds very plausible to me, and it makes the game much more interesting, I think.
    If the detonator blows up your own boat, and if both blow up at the end of 30 minutes after no decision is made, then how would the game turn out? If self-preservation were the only imperative, then the result should be that both boats blow up, but morality also seems to come into play, in which case, the end-result would seem to be less obvious.

  16. @DavidChoi,
    For me the whole point is that only a madman like the Joker could think “self-preservation” was or is or could be the only imperative. First off, it isn’t self-preservation that serves species survival, it’s that set of available self-preservation decisions which increases species adaptation to the species’ environment (e.g., it’s not enough that a biological unit preserve its own life if doing so comes at the expense of the next generation). Second, at any given moment, each individual is navigating a large number of concurrent game spaces, and behavior is determined by a weighing, partly conscious, largely unconscious, of the payoff estimates across all such spaces. Which is to say, self-preservation in one game space might be self-destruction in another, as shown by Batman’s self-destructively Christlike preservation of self in the taking on of Dent’s sins.
    As for the ferry game, you’re gonna believe the Joker? I’d assume my boat was going to blow whether I hit the detonator or not, and likewise, I’d have no reason to believe the detonator wouldn’t really just blow up my ship. The madman might just get a laugh out of me blowing myself up thinking I was saving myself, and self-proclaimed agents of chaos aren’t any too good at following rules, not even their own. Nope, what with the unreliability of the rule-giver/rule-reporter there really wasn’t any rational choice but to wait and pray for a miracle (or a reprieve from writer.)

  17. I have to agree with RL — My first thought was — why is everyone trusting what this madman (the Joker) is saying. I would tend to believe, knowing the Joker, that the detonator would more likely blow up my own ship. The writers don’t even introduce this possibility, maybe since it removes the dilemma as stated. However, I would think someone would raise the issue — my choice would be the prisoner who is given the detonator. He states, “Did any of you happen to think this just might blow up OUR boat — you’re a bunch of idiots.” Then he tosses it out the window.
    Of course, maybe the writers wanted to point out what a bunch of sheep most of us are — believing not only the lies of our leaders, but also those of a certified madman.

  18. I’m with rl/Charlie on this one, you make the assumption that indeed each boat had the detonator of the other boat. I was so waiting for the “normal” people to hit the detonator and blow themselves up.
    How does this effect the game? Do you actually believe the Joker or is their a 50% chance you could blow up yourself?

  19. The classic prisoner’s dilemma is based on knowing the “truth” (crime was committed by you and another — do you “sell out” or keep quiet — will your buddy do the same.) Once there is no truth, the PD is out the window. Oh, I guess you could form a strategy based on conditional probabilities (there is a 20% chance we believe the Joker, etc), but in my mind, at that point, you are really betting on how much you believe the Joker (a known madman), so I think your best policy is to do as the convict did, and toss the detonator and hope Batman will save you (which, of course, he will:-)

  20. Thank you for the discussion about the passenger’s dilemma in the two boats from The Dark Knight.
    What would happen if the Joker was dishonest?
    By activating the detonator, the passengers would destroy their own boat and kill themselves.
    The Joker has shown several times during The Dark Knight that he is untruthful.
    How does the Joker’s dishonesty play in your game?

  21. Here are some further complications to consider.
    The audience actually has a lot more information at hand than any of the individuals on either boat, and most of the rest of the cast of the movie period.
    It is important to note that the outcome of the Joker’s actions appeared to be pre-set. By that, I mean to say that the Joker’s plans were designed to be carried out in a specific way regardless of what actions were taken by any of his games’ “players”.
    Consider first the dilemma he sets up with Dent and Dawes. The two are placed in separate places and their demise is set to a timer. The Joker wouldn’t have a reasonable way to know that the police force would recognize Dent’s or Dawes’ disappearance before that timer blew up. (In fact, through context you can see that they didn’t even realize Dawes was missing.) The timer was set to blow that very night, which really didn’t give the police much time to realize Dent and Dawes as missing. The Joker clearly didn’t volunteer the information until he was questioned by Gordon and later Batman. So, had Dent’s status not become readily apparent, neither Gordon nor Batman would have ever questioned him and both Dent and Dawes would have died.
    Now look at the dilemma he presents with the hospital and Reese. The Joker gave a 60-minute time frame for this dilemma and had no clear feedback mechanism to determine whether or not Reese had been killed. He could have potentially used the news, but such a short time frame doesn’t really allow for a robust feedback loop. Second, the level of destruction the Joker caused to the hospital requires significant prior planning, planning which undoubtedly occured long before Reese made his statement on the news. This would indicate that the Joker had every intention to blow that particular hospital apart regardless of Reese, and simply used his already laid plan to destroy the hospital in such a way that it would cause additional chaos, not to mention keep the police sufficiently busy to aid in his continued evasion of them.
    So, where does this leave us when examining the Joker? I would argue that the Joker is not actually making any attempt to create a closed-system moral dilemma. Rather, much like the opening moves in a chess game, he creates conditions that give him as many options as possible to impose false dilemmas onto Gotham in order to force the citizens into actions they would ordinarilly find repugnant (” . . .they’ll eat each other.”)
    So, if he follows a similar pattern with the boats, then he has again created a false dilemma. It is false in that he may very well destroy both boats regardless of the decisions of their passengers. Although, due to excellent acting on his part, Ledger does display a genuine, if fleeting, sign of disappointment when the passengers do not “eat each other”.

  22. I immediately assumed it was a test of morality as the Joker had commented earlier in the movie: “You’ll see, I’ll show you, that when the chips are down, these uh… civilized people, they’ll eat each other.” So, as soon as I heard the “rules” to the game, I also assumed that as punishment for failing the test (pushing the detonator), it would actually blow up their own ship.
    Unfortunately, I wrongly assumed that one of the ships would push the detonator. I was sure that the ferry with the “good citizens” would be the one to fail the test, and thus they would die. When no one did, I almost immediately cried foul and figured the studio had edited the film because perhaps test audiences had found it too grim (for an entire ferry of “good people” to have died…and by actually “killing” themselves with their own detonator). In any case, including that ending to the “game” would have been so fitting.

  23. I stumbled upon this post while idly googling for the dark knight ferry scene. This is very very well explained from all sides of motivation and a great thought exercise for anyone who has learned about the game theory. Great post 🙂

  24. Another factor which plays here (kinda destroys the dilemma) is that if you are blown you might not get the chance to blow the other. IT is not like the prisoner’s dilemma where you can defect, if the other defected). The blow could be fast enough for you to die before you could trigger the detonator. Also the dilemma in the movie was not a dilemma as such as the Joker said that you will die by midnight anyway, so there was no benefit by not exploding the other boat (no benefit to cooperate).

  25. Correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t the payoff for the player who dies be negative infinity, as opposed to just 0? I realize a dominated strategy is a dominated strategy, but when you start getting into equations that might allow for morality to outweigh death, I think the value for death becomes quite a bit more important.
    I suppose this is akin to the prisoner’s dilemma, but in the nuclear war application. The classic prisoner’s dilemma I learned in game theory class had significantly different payouts compared with the nuclear war game I learned in poli sci class. When we stop talking increased prison sentences and bring the discussion round to life or death, I’m not sure that 0 payout holds anymore.
    Side note – I understand some people are willing to die for their beliefs, and that this would change the payouts somehow, but I’m not sure I not see how this would play out mathematically. Furthermore, wouldn’t just one person’s “infinite” loss due to death outweigh the entire boat’s moral preferences? Any clarification on all that would be helpful.

  26. Im a 17 year old who’s just been introduced to the game theory. im not all that good at it.
    so people are not allowed to jump off the boat – then the boat explodes.
    but does throwing the detonators away influence our result in anyway?
    ofcourse – if both the boats don’t explode, then they will explode together ..

  27. It becomes way too complicated, because the Joker could make each detonator blow up both boats as well, just because he feels like it.

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Sharing my Stash

Last week I switched my sewing room with my oldest daughter's room. I have been slowly moving my stuff back in. I am sorting through everything and getting rid of anything I don't need, want, or haven't seen in years. Half finished projects, cheap fabric from when I started quilting, books- it all went in to a donate box.

I have to say that it feels pretty good. This is my fabric shelf, considerably more organized. The second shelf down is my stash fabrics.
Scraps went in to a large bin (not in the picture) and if it was large enough to fold it went on the shelf. I used a piece of card stock to fold over so each piece was the same shape. You would think I like black by the height of its pile but I rarely sew with it.

The top shelf is all my home dec and clothing fabric. The bottom pink milk crate is to be quilted quilts. Other bits and bobs fill out the rest, kits, UFOs (I do have another area for the bigger UFOs), and about 25 Toms flags. My mom wants me to put together a quilt but I am not sure what I am doing yet.
Oh yah, and I have 2 bins of precuts and fat quarter (third shelf right).

I hope it stays this way for a little while.  I have been without a sewing space for a while so I am eager to get back to it.  Is your space organized? Tara

Free Image Hosting at www.picturetrail.com

  1. I spy......to the left of your iron, a miniature sewing machine...... i think we need a close up picture of it.....i have a fascination for those little creations.
    my fabric stash and quilting room is NOT quite as organized as it should be...
    love your blog..

  2. Piękna półka! Piękny składzik :)

  3. I will take a picture of the mini sewing machine and post a pic. It was my mom's.


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Posts tagged " David ben-Gurion "

Miracles Happen

May 2nd, 2017 Posted by On Our Mind 1 comment

Sixty-nine years ago, the modern state of Israel was born. The first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, not an overtly religious man said:  “In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.”  This is as true today as it was in 1948.

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Posts tagged " Tisha B’Av "

Why not Israel?

July 19th, 2018 Posted by Susan's Musings 27 comments

I love puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, acrostics, Sudoku, logic puzzles…a book full of puzzles even keeps me somewhat content on a cross-country flight. I am telling you this to put into perspective my answer to a question that came to our Ask the Rabbi column.

Matt asked, “I’m always wondering why your family never moved to Israel?”

While my husband and I always answer the Ask the Rabbi questions as a team, I’m going to make an exception for this one and let my husband answer in that venue while presenting my own answer here. You see, my husband and I received very different upbringings with regard to the modern State of Israel. While the land of Israel is unquestionably precious and special to all Jews and has been since the days of Abraham, how love for the land translates into action is a different matter.

Summer in The City

July 16th, 2018 Posted by Thought Tools 14 comments

It was on a clear but cold winter afternoon that I landed at JFK Airport on my first visit to the United States.  After clearing customs and immigration and being granted a three week tourist visa, I climbed into a taxi on my way to my Manhattan hotel.  Half an hour later, as the sun was starting to set, the cab swept around a curve in the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and for the first time in my life my eyes fell upon a sight of which I have never tired.  The towering skyscrapers of lower Manhattan silhouetted against the still blue sky took my breath away.  I found myself silently mouthing these words, “How great are your works, Oh Lord!” (Psalms 92:5) as tears started up in my eyes.  It was then, only a couple of hours after first setting foot upon the continent of North America while driving up the East River towards the Brooklyn Bridge that I resolved to stay.  And, though no longer on a tourist visa, I’m still here.

Why did this sight move me so deeply?  Because the Grand Canyon, Mount Rainier, and the giant redwood trees overlooking San Francisco Bay might all have conceivably come into being as the result of a lengthy process of random, unaided materialistic evolution.  Primeval winds and wild rivers might have shaped canyons and mountains while undisturbed saplings grew and grew.  But a colossal hub of millions of human beings all cooperating to build and maintain Manhattan with its buildings and bridges, its streets and subways and its unimaginably vast system of human enterprise could only have been built by creatures touched by the finger of God.  I was immeasurably moved realizing that I was gazing upon the proof of God’s goodness.

The Night Is Dark

July 31st, 2017 Posted by Thought Tools 62 comments

It is helpful to discover that the child who seems irrationally scared of dogs was once bitten by a snarling mongrel. Knowing that Moslem forces were defeated when their siege of Vienna was repulsed on September 11th, 1683, helps make sense of their September 11, 2001 attack on the United States.  The past should not provide an excuse but it does provide insight.

After inconceivably vast numbers of casualties, Europe’s first Thirty Years War (1618—1648) ended with the Peace of Westphalia, the foundation of a fierce and formidable nation, Germany.  After even more unimaginable horror, Europe’s second Thirty Years War (1914—1945) ended with a remarkable and enduring peace.

Along with many knowledgeable professional historians, I view World War Two (1939-1945) not as a stand-alone event, but as the continuation of World War One.  Presciently, the great French military leader Marshal Ferdinand Foch who was present at the signing of the peace Treaty of Versailles, called it not a peace but a temporary twenty year cease-fire.  World War Two broke out twenty years and two months later.

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Nutritional Supplements

botox info

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Radiance Skin Therapy & Laser Center carries Viviscal® Professional dietary supplements. These supplements are scientifically formulated with the exclusive marine complex AminoMar®. The combination of AminoMar®, Vitamin C, Biotin, Calcium, and Apple Extract helps to promote existing healthy hair growth from within.

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May the Forces Be With You

Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 16:00

Think you have it together? Then, you'll want to thank the four fundamental forces of nature. They hold the universe together, govern everything that happens, and generally make it what it is today. Discover their universal properties and how they're in action all around us. From the gravitational pull that with may cause an errant asteroid to wallop Mars, to the electromagnetic phenomena that make asteroid showers an impressive sight. Also, physicist Freeman Dyson makes the case for spacecraft propelled by nuclear bombs.

Plus - the four forces are governed by fundamental laws, but are these laws made to be broken? Find out whether you could zip through space at faster than light speed.

  • Freeman Dyson - Professor Emeritus, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University
  • Andrew Fraknoi - Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, Trustee at the SETI Institute, and author of Wonderful World of Space
  • Peter Jenniskens - Meteor expert/astronomer at the SETI Institute
  • David Morrison - senior scientist at NASA Ames Research Center


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Saturday, June 03, 2006

AR Rahman Scores For Inside Man

Saw the Hollywood flick Inside Man recently and was mildly surprised to hear AR Rahman's score duirng the opening and closing. There is absolutely no connection between the song 'Chaiya chaiya' from Dil Se and the movie but Spike Lee liked it and decided to use in his film. This what he said to the Empire Magazine
What about the music sequence at the beginning and at the end of the movie? Why that choice?
Well here’s the great thing about New York and all types of music. I’m a professor at New York University’s graduate film school; I’ve been a professor for the last eight years. One class we were talking about musicals, and one of my students suggested I see some Bollywood. I knew about it but I had never seen a Bollywood film. So I said, “Name one!” She said, “Dil Se.” Next class she gave me the DVD, I liked the movie very much. That song, ‘Changa Changa’, is in Dil Se. So, I made a promise with myself that one day I’d like to use it –so one day we did a song with Terence Blanchard, our composer, then we got MC Punjabi to do the rap, so that’s how that happened.
The movie starts from the original Dil Se song and ends with a remix version of the same song. I enjoyed it even though it was absolutely out of place. That's perhaps the attraction to it I guess.

Related Links
Inside Man Reviews


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Genghis 2003

Via Rey:
So, for all those wondering “where is that sexy hunk of man that goes by the name of Rey?”….
Email me here.
For those wondering where “that other guest writer is?”: I’ve been at Genghis Con, Denver’s largest gaming convention in Colorado.
Man, am I wiped out.
Nevertheless, here are some six word reviews.
Living Greyhawk: Almost died way too many times.
Living Force: Man, do they need new writers.
Serial Pulp Adventures: Serial Pulp kicks a$$! For shizzi…
Being RPG Coordinator at Tacticon: What the hell was I thinking?
As a warm-up before my stint as RPG Coordinator for Tacticon, I did (just about) all the RPG mustering, lots of packet scoring and a variety of other jobs, while still playing and judging.
As I said, wiped out.
The convention was quite a bit of fun, as always, though the experience was slightly diminished with the main group of people I hang out with at these things in another country. Which means I got to hang out with some other people. I’ve now confirmed some things I already knew:
1. Rules lawyers interrupting games suck.
2. A good judge can make a bad scenario good.
3. A bad judge can’t help but make a scenario bad.
4. Some times, the only way to get people what they want is to be an a$$hole.
5. I will never play in another Greyhawk interactive. I may help run them, but I really have no desire to play in another one.
6. I really love my wife and son.
Anyhow, I now have to prepare for the mayoral campaign of my Greyhawk character. I have so much RPG-related work to do, it’s silly.


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HarperCollins Canada Launch In-Store Augmented Reality Experience at Indigo Bookstores

HarperCollins and Indigo Books Host In-Store AR Experience for The Dark EndeavorHarperCollins Canada has launched an augmented reality experience in conjunction with the launch of Kenneth Oppel’s latest young adult novel ‘This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frakenstein’.

The large bookshelf installation pictured here can be found at Indigo locations in Toronto (Eaton’s Centre), Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary and Ottawa. Android users can use the ‘This Dark Endeavor’ app to scan the shelves looking for the mystery book that will bring the animated secrets to life. Smaller posters and bookmarks that also trigger the AR experience can be found at more than 300 other locations of Indigo, Chapters and Coles Bookstores across Canada.

When I visited the installation at the Indigo Books store at the Eaton’s Centre in downtown Toronto, I was disappointed that the two available Android phones were out of commission. One was waiting for a software update and the other had been unplugged and the battery was dead (I own an iPhone and I was without my Android toting friends). Thankfully, I was able to experience the AR on Kenneth Hoppel’s web site using my laptop’s webcam and a printed marker.

The project was brought to life by the Toronto office of Dentsu.

The ‘Dark Endeavor‘ app is available as a free download in the Android app Market.


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Executive Education - Customised - 2011

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Rank '11
Rank' 10[1]
Rank '09[1]
3 yr. rank[2]
Programme design[4]
Aims achieved[9]
Value for money[11]
Future use[12]
Int. clients[13]
Intl. part.[14]
Intl. progs[15]
Fac. diversity[17]
Total Responses[18]
Revenue ($m)[19]
1111Duke Corporate EducationU.S.A. / South Africa / U.K. / India111351431175810241430 (3)39.3
2222HEC ParisFeatured business schoolFrance222111114142011269555 (3)-
38169Fundação Dom CabralBrazil335832722349415073733 (3)48.1
4333Harvard Business SchoolU.S.A.563222723410131247122844 (3)121.1***
5385Esade Business SchoolFeatured business schoolSpain94741512912967613133131 (3)19.1*
5545IMDSwitzerland6136711206612111043239139 (3)-
71569Iese Business SchoolFeatured business schoolSpain101513181981671982953260 (3)-
8173219Boston University: QuestromU.S.A.45457168431213856202323 (3)-
9857InseadFeatured business schoolFrance / Singapore1519141618301320271938161333 (3)-
1061410Center for Creative LeadershipU.S.A. / Belgium / Singapore212611910284113750230114230 (3)-
111069University of Pennsylvania: WhartonU.S.A.111117176175191113142120144027 (3)-
1271311Cranfield School of ManagementFeatured business schoolU.K.17212120281321352416161121755 (3)-
13111011Ipade Business SchoolMexico8121014422119612194859485530 (3)-
14131514Essec Business SchoolFrance / Singapore23232022125122518202822651524 (3)9.5*
15121113Babson Executive EducationU.S.A.16108682510161015354322484128 (3)-
16291721University of North Carolina: Kenan-FlaglerU.S.A.789101623155518643125483624 (3)-
17252823Columbia Business SchoolU.S.A.127181392114411632114235481921 (3)-
17213223University of Oxford: SaïdFeatured business schoolU.K.191419191391729202912268273539 (3)13.5**
19182822IE Business SchoolFeatured business schoolSpain1417242417318301417473621231072 (3)9*
20161116Ashridge Executive Education at HultU.K.26161623251519263127385722740 (3)35**
21242423Thunderbird School of Global ManagementU.S.A.18242212296525288331473730831 (3)-
22221921University of Chicago: BoothU.S.A. / U.K. / Singapore32312828221924171722151340305126 (3)5.7*
23344434ESMT BerlinFeatured business schoolGermany28182627441128213328432328481638 (3)7.7*
2418--IAE Business SchoolArgentina202812252655268214562548173830 (2)3.8*
24132721InsperBrazil1329253020452710232316244485823 (3)-
26-19-Wisconsin School of BusinessU.S.A.229151514622132664636043395411 (2)-
27272125Western University: IveyCanada / China33272311394729153223453559483025 (3)-
28252626Kelley Executive Partners at Indiana UniversityU.S.A.343229324343624283653202493321 (3)-
29302528London Business SchoolFeatured business schoolU.K.433843383857304048144144231128 (3)21.1
29503538University of Virginia: DardenU.S.A.3137302131292018304859739306020 (3)14**
31354738AGSM at UNSW Business SchoolFeatured business schoolAustralia2740272635343223355052533836921 (3)-
3227--ESCP EuropeFeatured business schoolFrance / U.K. / Germany / Spain / Italy2433423723513427474632331181335 (2)-
3218819Northwestern University: KelloggU.S.A.30223139215035362240562941482739 (3)-
32423035Stanford Graduate School of BusinessU.S.A.38203431335923314630303346391826 (3)-
35383737EMLyon Business SchoolFrance2541333637424357392637179391225 (3)-
3657--UCLA: AndersonU.S.A.37353833243341321554233426392010 (2)-
37231826SDA BocconiItaly40394445341046603625263029142452 (3)17.6*
38402233Stockholm School of EconomicsSweden / Russia / Latvia4444464448184033374439191785946 (3)7.6
39---Fundação Instituto de AdministraçãoBrazil35253741302648582541246459486213 (3)14*
40---Politecnico di Milano School of ManagementFeatured business schoolItaly2943394327733374053335249306118 (2)7.1
41535249York University: SchulichCanada3934363447484551384348635536429 (3)-
42324038Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus UniversityFeatured business schoolNetherlands48473249414044494538181522234539 (3)-
43455447Warwick Business SchoolFeatured business schoolU.K.41364140363647435124515559392919 (3)6.4**
4446--Henley Business SchoolU.K.46303535402438504960274518484322 (2)-
45433842Católica Lisbon School of Business and EconomicsPortugal4249454850394238419354659484948 (3)4.1
46473643Tias Business SchoolNetherlands45425050423552473431602414364743 (3)-
46525150Queen's University: SmithCanada51524042513251342947444451302219 (3)-
48403240University of St GallenSwitzerland36484846554950225435423710483442 (3)5.8
49514147Vlerick Business SchoolBelgium50464751466137444234401615483243 (3)6.5*
50-22-University of Michigan: RossU.S.A.5254512945443142596394944395712 (2)-
51364544Melbourne Business School, Mt ElizaAustralia5453524753373955523755503362538 (3)19.3*
51474347University of Texas at Austin: McCombsU.S.A.53504955325453395039225441233919 (3)-
5349--University of Cape Town GSBSouth Africa49455552544655654321293212204426 (3)-
54333139MIT: SloanU.S.A.4756565452585459635551811394816 (3)19**
55565355Aalto UniversityFinland / S. Korea / Singapore5957535749624953445154273485631 (3)3.8
56596560CeibsChina5858575659525654584217565727625 (3)-
57586460Irish Management InstituteIreland55556158564359565656572834484531 (3)3.1**
58655961Macquarie Graduate School of ManagementAustralia62515453625658525357255754486428 (3)-
5955--Grenoble Ecole de ManagementFrance57636359605357456162463919192619 (2)2.4*
60595759Eada Business School BarcelonaFeatured business schoolSpain61616062614164636049414059162143 (3)2.2
61615860BI Norwegian Business SchoolNorway60605861586361465752615836275244 (3)17.6
62544754University of Toronto: RotmanCanada65625960576060486259575152305019 (3)-
63626363USB Executive DevelopmentSouth Africa56596563643863615558346559396320 (3)-
64635962Nyenrode Business UniversiteitNetherlands63646265633162646461626158485327 (3)9.1**
65---Porto Business SchoolPortugal64656464656465626565655953486510 (1)2.7*
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Table notesAlthough the headline ranking figures show changes in the data year to year, the pattern of clustering among the schools is equally significant. Some 365 points separate the top school, Duke Corporate Education, from the school ranked number 65. The top 15 business schools, from Duke CE to Babson Executive Education, form the top group of custom providers. The second group is lead by UNC:Kenan-Flager and the third by York University:Schulich. The top and bottom schools in the second group are separated by 92 points; in the third group there is a 183 point gap between top and bottom.

1. These data are provided for information only and do not form part of the 2011 ranking.

2. These data are included for information only and do not form part of the final ranking.

3. The level of interaction with the business school, the extent to which purchasers’ ideas were integrated into the programme, and the effectiveness of the business school in integrating its latest research into the programme.

4. The flexibility of the course and the willingness of business schools to complement their own faculty with specialists and practitioners.

5. Contemporary and appropriate teaching materials and a suitable mix of academic rigour and practical relevance.

6. The quality of the teaching and the extent to which teaching staff worked together to present a coherent programme.

7. The relevance of new skills to the workplace, the ease with which they were implemented and the extent to which the course encouraged new ways of thinking.

8. The level of follow-up offered after the course participants returned to their workplaces.

9. The degree to which academic and business expectations were met, and the feedback from individual participants.

10. The quality of the teaching, accommodation, IT and library facilities.

11. Purchasers’ rating, in terms of value for money, of the course design, teaching materials and food and accommodation.

12. Purchasers were asked to rate the likelihood that they would use the same business school again, and whether they would use that business school to do the same programme again.

13. This criterion amalgamates the percentage of clients with headquarters outside the business school’s base country and region (for example, North America, Europe or Latin America).

14. Customised programmes with participants from more than one country.

15. Customised programmes that have been taught in more than one country.

16. Customised programmes developed or taught in conjunction with other business schools.

17. The mix of faculty by nationality and gender.

18. The number of individual surveys completed by clients of the business school. Figures in brackets indicate the total number of years of survey data included in the ranking.
These data are provided for information only.

19. Income from customised programmes in 2010 in $m. Figures are based on average dollar currency exchange rates for 2010.
These data are provided for information only.

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The Top Benefits of Slate Roofing

Considering a slate roof for your home? Here are the top benefits and/or features of a slate roof that will help you decide if slate is right for your roof! Many homeowners have questions when it comes to picking a material to put on their roof. Slate is a unique roofing material that
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