The Paradox of the Self and its Implications for Concepts of Personhood: Contrasting Contemporary Theological and Psychological Approaches to an Old Problem

It is a widely accepted principle in both theology and the human sciences that the self, though each person perceives him- or herself as a singularity, is also characterized by multiplicity. The author analyzes this apparent paradox as it appears in contemporary social cognitive psychology and in Christian theological models of the person that are grounded in the doctrine of imago Dei. He argues that, whereas there are evident differences in the psychological and theological conceptions of the nature of persons, both disciplines endorse concepts of personhood that are characterized by a dynamic process of self-unification. Thus, the conceptual divide alleged to exist between theological and secular scientific models of the person may not be as pronounced as many suppose

The Cepheid Impostor HD 18391 and its Anonymous Parent Cluster

New and existing photometry for the G0 Ia supergiant HD 18391 is analyzed in order to confirm the nature of the variablity previously detected in the star, which lies off the hot edge of the Cepheid instability strip. Small-amplitude variability at a level of \Delta V = 0.016+-0.002 is indicated, with a period of P=123.04+-0.06 d. A weaker second signal may be present at P=177.84+-0.18 with \Delta V = 0.007+-0.002, likely corresponding to fundamental mode pulsation if the primary signal represents overtone pulsation (123.04/177.84 = 0.69). The star, with a spectroscopic reddening of E(B-V) = 1.02, is associated with heavily-reddened B-type stars in its immediate vicinity that appear to be outlying members of an anonymous young cluster centered ~10 arcmin to the west and 1661+-73 pc distant. The cluster has nuclear and coronal radii of r_n=3.5 arcmin and R_c=14 arcmin, respectively, while the parameters for HD 18391 derived from membership in the cluster with its outlying B stars are consistent with those implied by its Cepheid-like pulsation, provided that it follows the semi-period-luminosity relation expected of such objects. Its inferred luminosity as a cluster member is M_V=-7.76+-0.10, its age (9+-1)x10^6 years, and its evolutionary mass ~19 M_{\sun}. HD 18391 is not a classical Cepheid, yet it follows the Cepheid period-luminosity relation closely, much like another Cepheid impostor, V810 Cen.Comment: Accepted for Publication (Astronomische Nachrichten

Democracy, Prison, and Public Safety Realignment: Renewing Our Imagination

The American carceral condition has waged a 200-year-old struggle where the lives of the guilty, the innocent, and the victimized have taken center stage in a debate centered on rehabilitation, reformation, and revenge. The drama has undergone a number of revisions from great scholarly authors, multidisciplinary intellectuals, and literary muses. Despite a number of new renderings, the central themes of the American prison have remained constant, and just as there have been builders of prisons, there have been forces intent on their destruction. The current state of the American carceral condition has burgeoned since the neoliberal political and economic shift began in 1980. The State of California enjoys a political reputation as a socially liberal blue state, yet it is one of the national leaders in prison expansion, penal conservatism, and punitive excess. In 2011, California began the prison realignment system that includes sentencing restructuring and housing long- term felons in local county jails, thus shifting the financial burden and supervised release of inmates to local county Sheriff’s offices. The realignment is but one layer of the state’s response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that California prisons violated the Eighth Amendment, in part, to overcrowding. The system is too young to reach definitive conclusions, but is at a crossroads. Either realignment will serve as another model for prison reformation and possibly prison abolition, or it will extend the carceral reach of the state into “free” space, essentially eliminating the wall, both literally and figuratively, that separates free souls from those held captive

Using process mapping software to redesign a management system

Management Systems are becoming de rigueur for Organisations, but many with existing Management Systems are finding that they are creaking at the seams. Changes to Standards, Regulations, Business Practices, Organisation structures and Products mean that Organisations have be flexible and their Management Systems also. With Management Systems based on those written in the 1990s, companies are realising that they need to make a step change in order to maintain their competitive advantage. This Management Summary will discuss why Process Mapping should be considered as a method for this improvement, what to consider when choosing a Process Mapping tool and how the change should be planned. It uses experience from several companies with which the author has been involved