Gustavo Gutiérrez – Liberation Theology & Marxism

Since 1968, liberation theology has emerged as a prominent feature of religion and politics, particularly in South America. Originally stemming from the writings of Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutiérrez, this at-once theological and overtly political ideology decries the institutionalized violence of the world’s capitalist society on the poor and oppressed, and argues that God is particularly concerned with the plight of the suffering masses. Christians should therefore make assistance of these poor souls their highest priority, and advocate for any and all methods of alleviating suffering, especially those that work from the premise that society must be toppled and rebuilt for true change to occur. Shades of Marxism are evident throughout. As such, critics have derided liberation theology as nothing more than a radical wolf in pious sheep’s clothing since its inception, but have gone largely unheeded in the face of its emotional appeal. However, support for their contrasting position has come from an unlikely source. Ion Pacepa, formerly of Ceauşescu’s Romania, and the highest-ranking defector to come from the Soviet Bloc, writes in unexpected support of those who argue for excessive Marxist influence in the ideas of liberation theology. Pacepa’s 2013 book Disinformation was published to expert acclaim and contained a number of disturbing assertions, some of the most intriguing of which were in relation to liberation theology. Particularly, Pacepa alleges heavy Communist influence in both the origination and propagation of liberation theology, allegations that must be confronted to make an honest examination of the validity of this doctrine

Intracavity Dye-Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (IDLAS) for application to planetary molecules

Time-resolved, quasi-continuous wave, intracavity dye-laser absorption spectroscopy is applied to the investigation of absolute absorption coefficients for vibrational-rotational overtone bands of water at visible wavelengths. Emphasis is placed on critical factors affecting detection sensitivity and data analysis. Typical generation-time dependent absorption spectra are given

Computer program for off-design performance of radial inflow turbines

Computer program estimates off-design performance without making actual tests and design point performance. Turbine flow areas, diameters, and blade angles are required input information

Design and numerical evaluation of full-authority flight control systems for conventional and thruster-augmented helicopters employed in NOE operations

The development and methodology is presented for development of full-authority implicit model-following and explicit model-following optimal controllers for use on helicopters operating in the Nap-of-the Earth (NOE) environment. Pole placement, input-output frequency response, and step input response were used to evaluate handling qualities performance. The pilot was equipped with velocity-command inputs. A mathematical/computational trajectory optimization method was employed to evaluate the ability of each controller to fly NOE maneuvers. The method determines the optimal swashplate and thruster input histories from the helicopter's dynamics and the prescribed geometry and desired flying qualities of the maneuver. Three maneuvers were investigated for both the implicit and explicit controllers with and without auxiliary propulsion installed: pop-up/dash/descent, bob-up at 40 knots, and glideslope. The explicit controller proved to be superior to the implicit controller in performance and ease of design

Collaborative Opportunistic Navigation

Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanic

Jesus With a Kalashnikov: Examining Marxist Elements in Liberation Theology and Soviet Influence on its Origins

Liberation theology emerged as a prominent feature of religion and politics in the 1960s. Since the beginning, detractors have noted the overtly Marxist tendencies within this ideology. This thesis introduces the core concepts and presuppositions of liberation theology itself, and then focuses on specific and varied allegations concerning any influence the Soviet Union may have had on its formation and propagation. Particular weight is lent to the testimony of Lieutenant General Ion Mihai Pacepa, formerly the head of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu’s national intelligence service and the highest-ranking defector ever received from the Soviet Bloc. Pacepa has shared his insider knowledge at a variety of times and through a variety of mediums, and this thesis aims to collect and systematize all his allegations concerning liberation theology and the Soviet Union

Generic task problem solvers in Soar

Two trends can be discerned in research in problem solving architectures in the last few years. On one hand, interest in task-specific architectures has grown, wherein types of problems of general utility are identified, and special architectures that support the development of problem solving systems for those types of problems are proposed. These architectures help in the acquisition and specification of knowledge by providing inference methods that are appropriate for the type of problem. However, knowledge based systems which use only one type of problem solving method are very brittle, and adding more types of methods requires a principled approach to integrating them in a flexible way. Contrasting with this trend is the proposal for a flexible, general architecture contained in the work on Soar. Soar has features which make it attractive for flexible use of all potentially relevant knowledge or methods. But as the theory Soar does not make commitments to specific types of problem solvers or provide guidance for their construction. It was investigated how task-specific architectures can be constructed in Soar to retain as many of the advantages as possible of both approaches. Examples were used from the Generic Task approach for building knowledge based systems. Though this approach was developed and applied for a number of problems, the ideas are applicable to other task-specific approaches as well

Effects of feedlot runoff on free-living aquatic ciliated protozoa

Water samples and free-living and sessite ciliated protozoa were collected at various distances above and below a stream that received runoff from a feedlot. No correlation was found between the species of protozoa recovered, water chemistry, location in the stream, or time of collection.U.S. Department of the InteriorU.S. Geological SurveyOpe

Texas Landfills: The Need for Administrative Reform of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s Permitting Process

Abstract forthcomin

A Convention to Save America

Article V of the United States Constitution articulates the methods for amending the Constitution. Amendments are formally recommended by either a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress or by a vote of two-thirds of the state legislatures. This latter method is known as a Convention of States. Despite its inclusion in Article V, no amendment has yet been proposed for ratification by such a convention. This research aims to explain the history of Article V, the process for an Article V Convention, the current efforts to call such a convention, and amendments that should be considered at this convention. Also, this analysis seeks to disprove the notion that an Article V Convention could undermine the Constitution. The ultimate purpose of this analysis is to demonstrate that a Convention of States is necessary to protect economic stability and individual freedom throughout the United States