A Breezing Proof of the KMW Bound

In their seminal paper from 2004, Kuhn, Moscibroda, and Wattenhofer (KMW) proved a hardness result for several fundamental graph problems in the LOCAL model: For any (randomized) algorithm, there are input graphs with $n$ nodes and maximum degree $\Delta$ on which $\Omega(\min\{\sqrt{\log n/\log \log n},\log \Delta/\log \log \Delta\})$ (expected) communication rounds are required to obtain polylogarithmic approximations to a minimum vertex cover, minimum dominating set, or maximum matching. Via reduction, this hardness extends to symmetry breaking tasks like finding maximal independent sets or maximal matchings. Today, more than $15$ years later, there is still no proof of this result that is easy on the reader. Setting out to change this, in this work, we provide a fully self-contained and $\mathit{simple}$ proof of the KMW lower bound. The key argument is algorithmic, and it relies on an invariant that can be readily verified from the generation rules of the lower bound graphs.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

[Review of] Michael Eric Dyson. I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King Jr.

Michael Eric Dyson\u27s approach to his biography of Dr. Martin Luther King entitled I May Not Get There With You : The True martin Luther King Jr. is unlike the numerous other biographies of King in that the method he employs in recasting the life of Dr. King is described as Bio-criticism

King, Kingship

Biblical films make use of several different images and related perceptions of kingship that are found throughout both Testaments: 1) king as absolute tyrant, 2) king as disapproved servant of God, 3) king as ideal head of the nation, 4) king as ironically subversive clown, and 5) God (or Christ) as ultimate king of kings in the universe. Films have been quick to adopt and depict these five images following biblical accounts and through creative imagination. First and foremost, the concept of a king as an absolute tyrant is the earliest overture image of king in the OT/HB, particularly in Exodus. The Pharaoh as king of Egypt, self-declared god-king, appears as the ruthless oppressor of Israelites and stiff-necked opponent of YHWH God (Exod 1–14). When his kingship is threatened by the high birth rate among enslaved Israelites, the Pharaoh is quick to kill all newborn boys among them. The Ten Commandments (dir. Cecil B. DeMille, 1956, US) and Exodus: Gods and Kings (dir. Ridley Scott, 2014, US) adroitly project this dual conception of king as violent tyrant and opponent of God onto their depictions of the Pharaoh. In the latter, the Pharaoh’s arrogance culminates when pitted against Moses, who represents God. He declares, “I’m a god, I’m a god!” This image of human kings as absolute tyrants sets up the ultimate negative background against which the Bible’s other images of kingship are better understood

Using 'The Apprentice' to Teach a Managerial Economics Course

This paper describes a game based on a television show known as "The Apprentice" that can be used in a managerial economics course. After assigning students to teams and giving them tasks to complete, students are able to experience first-hand what it is like to make real-world business decisions and to face the consequences of their actions. In addition, students have the opportunity to apply what they learn in the game to many course related topics. The main goal of this activity is to create an active learning environment that is conducive to helping students develop analytical skills.

Stephen King

Stephen King, popularly known as “The King of Horror,” is one of the more prolific and successful writers of the twentieth century. Despite a reputation for writing only horror and gore, however, King has written works that do not qualify as either horror or supernatural but rather are thoughtful, intricate slices of human experience that often cause us to reflect on our own childhoods, not always with fond nostalgia. He encourages his readers to get in touch with their own memories of what being a child really means, and innocence has little to do with King\u27s version of childhood. Believing that most adults have lost touch with their imaginations and a sense of the mythic, King constantly challenges his readers to expand their concepts of memory and experience

Background of King\u27s Preaching Theology (Chapter One of King\u27s Speech: Preaching Reconciliation in a World of Violence and Chasm)

Excerpt: From birth, King was surrounded and influenced by the black faith community. Both his maternal grandfather and his father were successful African-American Baptist preachers in Atlanta, Georgia. Put simply, King was a product of the black church in America: How exactly, then, did the black Baptist church-or the black church in general-influence King\u27s reconciliatory preaching theology? There are at least three significant elements of the black church tradition that influenced King: the freedom tradition, open-ended Christian practices, and the particular interpretative tools of allegory and typology

The Role of the Government in the Abdication Crisis of 1936

The death of King George V on 20 January 1936 propelled the British nation into a tumultuous predicament that would threaten the stability of the monarchy and its adherence to tradition. When King Edward VIII ascended the throne, his differences from his paternal predecessor were made manifest in his pursuit to marry a twice-divorced American woman, Wallis Simpson. This paper examines the National Government’s role in preventing Mrs. Simpson from becoming queen and in facilitating the abdication of King Edward. The Government had been predisposed to disfavoring the king and viewed his marriage plan as an extension of his disregard of traditional monarchical values. The Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin was the principal agent of opposition throughout the abdication crisis. He gave the king an ultimatum in which he offered the choice between the throne and the divorcée. Through Baldwin’s communication with the House of Commons and the governments of the Dominions, his influence over the British press, and his manipulation of information, he created a climate in which King Edward VIII’s abdication was inevitable

[Review of] Adam Fairclough. To Redeem the Soul of America: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Following David J. Garrow\u27s 1986 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Bearing the Cross, Adam Fairclough makes extensive use of information gleaned from FBI wiretaps as well as other sources in an effort to peruse the soul of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and its president, Martin Luther King, Jr. Fairclough\u27s subtitle is no accident, for he focuses at least as much on the SCLC as he does on King. Significantly, this emphasis causes him to add a chapter about the SCLC after King\u27s death, a postscript not available in other books about King