Difference between "was seated" and "was sitting"

Question: What is the difference between below sentences.

He was seated in front of me.

and

He was sitting in front of me.
Answer: "Sitting" is dubiously "an activity", so the distinction is pretty much non-existent, but if you're splitting hair, seated is a passive form, used in context of state, as opposed to activity. There is no practical difference although you'd rather write about lazy, comfortable way of sitting as "being seated", and attentive, firm, active as "sitting".
There is a significant difference though, if "he was seated by someone". That means he sat down there following someone's direction. You could say:

"We were seated in the first row of the theater by the usher"

It means the usher guided you to these chairs and asked you to sit there.

"We were sitting in the first row of the theater by the usher"

means the usher was sitting in another chair, next to yours.
The person may be implied. That means the original sentence still may imply someone seating "him".

He was led to the front row and seated in front of me.

And yes, it does create an ambiguity.

"You were seated by the exit"

doesn't mean the exit told you to sit, but that someone told you to sit next to the exit (or that you were just sitting there). And if instead of "exit" that will be "the guy selling pop-corn" it becomes quite unclear, whether someone told you to sit next to that guy, or that guy found you a place to sit.
Answer: If you are seated somewhere, it has the implication that you are sitting in a place where you were assigned to sit in some way.  For example, at a dinner you were seated next to Viscount Grenobles.  However, you may go to a restaurant and see a sign to please seat yourself, and you may find in a church that you will be told to please be seated from time to time.  So, it isn't necessarily that someone has told you where to sit, so much as that there is an implication of assigned seating at some level.  You may walk up onto a porch where people are sitting and be invited to "have a seat."  This would mean to find an empty chair and sit down.
On the other hand, sitting is simply the process of bending the knees and parking the posterior somewhere.

Difference between “was seated” and “was sitting”


Running PEX lines

Question: My floor joists do have pre-cut knockouts - however the joists are not all lined up so the holes vary.  I need to run a few lines perpendicular to my joists.  I am thinking about drilling holes near each other 1/4" larger than my pex to run my lines.  The alternative is to install them just below the joists.  I am unsure of my future basement ceiling.  Is it worth fighting the holes and trying to get holes drilled in a straight path for the pex to snake through or better to just clip it on the bottom of the joists?
Comment: It's PEX, so I'm not sure why (other than sloppy workmanship on the part of the framing crew) it concerns you that the knockout holes don't exactly line up. PEX wiggles really well. Knock out the ones nearest the line you want to follow, and wiggle away.
Comment: True, but each knockout is 20 or 24" apart. To run hot and cold would be a mess.  No matter what, a hole must be drilled for one of the lines.  I can wiggle it through, but I think it would look like poor workmanship and also get in the way of drains or other objects.
Answer: Just line up the holes and run the line.  You are thinking about this too much.  The last thing you want to do is put these below the joists.

if you have people in your basement this would make it really easy to just reach up and hang on or whatever.
if you move these in the future it will assuredly be harder - and why set yourself up to move something.
the PEX could even get in the way of a drop ceiling.
the PEX is more secure in the joists
Answer: You said "I am unsure of my future basement ceiling."
If that is the case you may want to put them up in the joists in case usually want to out in a hard ceiling (something I would recommend against).
Otherwise just run them on the bottom of the joists and plan on a drop ceiling if you want one later.
Comment: I have 8'8" of clearance...I am thinking a drop ceiling is a good plan - but this is in the bathroom/utility room so perhaps it would have moisture issues with a conventional drop ceiling.
Comment: Which is why I think drop ceiling wouldn't work out. Guess I will see if there are moisture resistant tiles.  The simple option could be just to fur out the ceiling a couple inches and install rock on that...but it's permanent.
Comment: Interior bathrooms without a window require an exhaust fan by code. And if you have a family member that likes long showers you will want a high volume exhaust fan. You may need ceiling panels that are moisture resistant or look at a different style of ceiling.

Running PEX lines


Mounting something to stud-less plaster exterior wall

Question: I have a wood cabinet that I am redoing (painting and changing door hardware and removed interior shelving) to use as a TV enclosure in my family room. The house was built in 1940 and has plaster walls. My plan was to mount the cabinet into the wall stud and then mount the TV (20 lbs) to the back of the cabinet which is 1/2 inch VC plywood. However I cannot find a stud in this small section of wall. I've read that sometimes small wall sections against a masonry exterior might not have a stud. I'm using a magnetic studfinder (studpop) and I can't find any stud.  What's an alternative way to do this?
Answer: There are probably king/jack studs on each side of the window plus a sill and a header. Your magnetic stud finder might not be strong enough to go through the plaster. They're good for finding drywall screws covered by joint compound but that's about it. So you either buy a more expensive stud finder or start drilling really small holes hoping to find the studs.
Will the cabinet only be supported by the screws into the wall or will it also have legs? You can always use toggle bolts through the cabinet and through your wall.
Comment: Thanks for the help. To answer the previous question, the cabinet is freestanding on legs. I just feel it will be a more secure setup with the TV mounted inside on a pull out mount for it to be securely attached to the wall behind.
Comment: No matter what my stud finder says, I always drill pilot holes or use a finishing nail to make sure I'm near the center of the stud if I'm going to hang anything with some weight to it.
Answer: A magnetic stud finder will do good on metal framing, but not wood framing unless you happen to find the occasional nail that holds the wood lath o that is part of the makeup of plaster walls in that time frame. There may be rock lath instead but the nails will so far under the plaster it is highly unlikely to find them still.
The most effective way to find the framing with no cost, other than a large nail (2-3" long) and poke the nail through the plaster to hopefully hit a stud. Look in the most obvious places first. That is the area under the window, under either side of the window, typically, there is framing that runs floor to ceiling that is on either side of the window.
Lay out where you cabinet will be and probe in those ares covered by the cabinet.
There is a chance there are firing strips not studs if the masonry walls are 8" thick. There is a chance the walls are rock lath and plaster instead of wood lath and plaster. If the walls are rock lath and plaster and you miss the stud, the probe (nail if you choose) will go in quite difficult for about 1/2" then go into a hollow spot quite deep maybe over 3". If it is firring strips over full masonry, it will only go in 3/4" into the hollow space. If it is wood lath and plaster, and you miss the stud and the wood lath, it will do the same. There is a very good chance you will it the wood lath since it covers better than 80% of the walls. If you it that, the wood will spring back on you after you go in about 3/8" . If you hit a stud in either case, rock or wood lath, you will hit a solid object that the nail will penetrate in, but with only real solid hits with a hammer.

Another way is to look for the minute "dimples" where the nails are that hold the trim onto the wall.
Comment: So when I try using a long nail to probe, how will I know I've hit a stud? Will the nail stop? There's no plumbing for sure on this wall but is there anything else I need to worry about hitting or that I would hit that might not be a stud? The exterior side of the wall is brick.
Comment: I edited the answer, since it would not let me have that many words in the comments. Try looking for the recesses left by the nail heads as mentioned in the answer under the picture I posted
Comment: @Jack - what do you mean by "rock lathe"?  Is that like a cement board with the plaster on top of it?
Comment: @SteveSh It's part of the evolution of plaster/drywall. Around the 1920s, maybe later, wood lath was starting to be replaced by sheets of material that measured 16"X48"x3/8" thick. That is the forerunner of drywall, AKA rock lath, but not cement board. It had a gypsum center too, just like drywall.
Comment: @Jack - I still have some remnants from when I demo'd the original furnace room.  3 layers, including the plaster top coat.  This is from a house built in 1956.  I'll take some pictures.
Comment: @SteveSh yes it is typically 3 layers, rock lath, brown coat and white coat. In the days of wood lath, it was, wood lath, scratch coat, then brown coat and finally white coat


Examples of Varna migration in Hindu mythology?

Question: Is migration between Varna really allowed in Hinduism? If yes, please give examples along with reference.
Comment: There are plenty of examples of this in the Puranas, but most are from Kshatriyas to Brahmanas.
Comment: There is only one instance of viswamitra. No other migrations.
Comment: @Surya, any reference for Shudra to Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya?
Comment: @Surya Please share examples.
Comment: [Related] [Can a person change his caste in Hinduism?](https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/q/4089)
Comment: These mixing of castes is called varna-sankara. And it usually leads to problems in society since people are torn between choosing their hereditary occupation or their natural urges. Arjuna, in Gita, says he fears this might happen in Kali Yuga if all warriors are killed in war, then their wives will be without protection and if non-warrior men abduct them and beget children, the progeny will have blood/dna/gunas of both mother and father who are of different varnas, which causes confusion in their minds.
Comment: unless you are extremely passionate like Koushika/Vishvamitra, it is near impossible to upgrade varna within same birth. But it is very easy to downgrade varna by not following rules e.g. most people today who claim to be brahmins cannot be called so since they eat and do whatever they please, let alone chant vedas and perform sandhya, agnihotra, aupasana etc. The name for it is 'brahmana-bandhu' meaning, relatives of people who were once brahmins.
Answer: Yes Varna migration is possible.
Change of Varna

Narada said, 'If in members born in a certain Varna the qualities
  pertaining to another Varna are seen, they (the former) are to be
  classified as belonging to the latter Varna.'

Srimad Bhagavata Purana VII.11.35
Sage Pulastya's views on how to become a Brahmana

Sage Pulastya said,"..by vows, by investiture of the sacred, by fasts,
  by rites, and by Mantras, one becometh a Brahmana."

(Mahabharata, Aranya Parva LXXXIII)
I am supplementing my answer with actual examples of persons who have changed Varna.
Examples of Change of Varna in Hindu scripture

Bhagavan Rishabha, realising that the region of his advent was a place
  dominated by Vedic rituals, adopted the life of a religious student
  under a teacher with gifts, came back home with his blessings. He
  adopted the householder's station of life in order to teach the world
  about the duties of that order, observed all the ceremonials and
  duties laid down in the scriptures, married a girl named Jayanti given
  to him by Indra, and begot by her a hundred sons equal to himself in
  all respects. Of all these sons, Bharata was the eldest and noblest.
  This Ajanabha Varsha came to be known after him as Bharatavarsha. Next
  to him, the eldest nine other sons ….. were elder to the remaining
  ninety. Among these ninety, another nine … became great devotees and
  teachers of the Bhakti cult. ….. The remaining eighty one of the
  brothers, who were humble in nature, learned in the Vedas, adepts in
  sacrificial rites, and extremely pure through their observances,
  became Brahmanas according to their father's instruction.

Srimad Bhagavata Purana, V.4.8-13

At Kamyaka, Kusika's son had quaffed the Soma juice with Indra. Then
  abandoning the Kshatriya order, he began to say,''I am a Brahmana'.

Mahabharata, Vana Parva, Section LXXXVII
Comment: Both the caste (jati) system and the Varna system are based on birth. The difference is that the caste system is based on your last name while Varna is based on your karma and guna acquired in your last birth. So Varna depends on conduct and can be changed while the caste system can only be changed by changing your last name. If you see any contradiction then you should use reason to decide which side you support.
Comment: Many people hope that dropping or changing their last names will help them escape from the caste system.  Caste and Varna are two different things..In Bengal many groups with Shudra last names have gone up the caste ladder. Vivekananda is a prime example. He is really from a Shudra background but by the time he was born his group has moved up to Kshatriya caste.
Comment: Caste cannot be changed by changing last name.  Varna is just a superset of caste. For e.g., there are different sects of brahmins (rig vedis, yajur vedis, srouta, smartha etc.), kshatriyas (surya, chandra vamsi), different sudra castes.
Comment: @Ajay, there are other examples of changes in caste status. In 1905 people of Vaidya caste tired of being called Shudras in Bengal stopped medical treatment of Brahmins. After a few months Brahmins caved in and declared Vaidyas as second only to Brahmins. The  fact is that in Bengal there were only 2 castes, Shudras and Brahimns imported from UP in the 11th century. Of course Kings 'converted' some local shudras to Brahmins as well.
Comment: @sv I do not take any of these stories literally. I look at the spirit of these stories.
Comment: @ pradip Swami Vivekananda was a shudra? Really?
Comment: You can read Muktipada Behara's post here: https://www.quora.com/Was-Swami-Vivekananda-a-Dalit
Comment: "begot by her a hundred sons" - how can a lady deliver 100 sons in a single lifetime? You really take this story seriously?
Answer: Is migration between Varna really allowed in Hinduism ?
Yes , the migration between Varnas are allowed in Hinduism and the topic is  discussed in Mahabharata  - Book 13: Anusasana Parva   SECTION CXLIII
through conversation between Devi Uma & Lord Mahadeva.
Here are the excerpts-:

The boon-giving Brahma, while he created all creatures, himself said
  that the distribution of human beings into the four orders dependent
  on birth is only for purposes of classification.
section 306
By these good acts, again, O goddess, when performed, a Sudra becomes
  a Brahmana, and a Vaisya becomes a Kshatriya.
section 304
A pious Kshatriya, by his own acts, becomes a Brahmana. It is with the
  aid of these acts, O goddess, that a person who has sprung from a
  degraded order, viz., a Sudra, may become a Brahmana refined of all
  stains and possessed of Vedic lore,
Even a Sudra, O goddess, that has purified his soul by pure deeds and
  that has subjugated all his senses, deserves to be waited upon and
  served with reverence as a Brahmana.
section 305
Sudra, if he is established on good conduct, is regarded as possessed
  of the status of a Brahmana.
section 306
Footnote -: 304.1
The sense seems to be this: a Vaisya ultimately becomes a Brahmans by
  observing the duties indicated in verses 30 to 33. As the immediate
  reward, however, of his observance of these duties, he becomes a great
  Kshatriya. What he should next do in order to become a Brahmana is
  said in the verses that follow.

Although this section is mainly  talking about the birth one gets by following his own dharma /  duties in next life , the points mentioned above  hints us towards allowance of varna migration in Hinduism.
Comment: that last line - "in next life" - is very important :) , because OP is probably asking about migration in same birth
Comment: Yes , this sections is mainly about next life.But there also are some Verses which i quoted are talking about this life. So the verses above are discussing this life itself.
Answer: I don't know whether Varna migration is really allowed in Hinduism or not, but one such example of Varna migration is mentioned in Mahabharata Anusasana Parva chapter 30. The story explains how a Kshatriya king named Vitahavya obtained the status of a Brahmana.

Yudhishthira said, 'I have heard this great narrative, O perpetuator
  of Kuru's race. Thou, O foremost of eloquent men, hast said that the
  status of a Brahmana is exceedingly difficult of acquisition. It is
  heard, however, that in former times the status of a Brahmana had been
  acquired by Viswamitra. Thou, however, O best of men, tellest us that
  status is incapable of being acquired. I have also heard that king
  Vitahavya in ancient times succeeded in obtaining the status of a
  Brahmana. I desire to hear, O puissant son of Ganga, the story of
  Vitahavya's promotion. By what acts did that best of kings succeed in
  acquiring the status of a Brahmana? Was it through some boon (obtained
  from some one of great puissance) or was it through the virtue of
  penances? It behoveth thee to tell me everything.'

"Bhishma said, 'Hear, O monarch, how the royal sage Vitahavya of great
  celebrity succeeded in ancient times in acquiring the status of a
  Brahmana that is so difficult to attain and that is held in such high
  reverence by all the world. While the high-souled Manu in days of yore
  was employed in righteously ruling his subjects, he obtained a son of
  righteous soul who became celebrated under the name of Saryati. In
  Saryati's, race, O monarch, two kings took their birth, viz., Haihaya
  and Talajangha. Both of them were sons of Vatsa, O foremost of
  victorious kings. Haihaya, O monarch, had ten wives. Upon them he
  begot, O Bharata, a century of sons all of whom were highly inclined
  to fighting. All of them resembled one another in features and
  prowess. All of them were endued with great strength and all of them
  were possessed of great skill in battle. They all studied the Vedas
  and the science of weapons thoroughly. In Kasi also, O monarch, there
  was a king who was the grandfather of Divodasa. The foremost of
  victorious men, he was known by the name of Haryyaswa. The sons of
  king Haihaya, O chief of men (who was otherwise known by the name of
  Vitahavya), invaded the kingdom of Kasi and advancing to the country
  that lies between the rivers Ganga and Yamuna, fought a battle with
  king Haryyaswa and also slew him in it. Having slain king Haryyaswa in
  this way, the sons of Haihaya, those great car-warriors, fearlessly
  went back to their own delightful city in the country of the Vatsas.
  Meanwhile Haryyaswa's son Sudeva, who looked like a deity in splendour
  and who was a second god of righteousness, was installed on the throne
  of Kasi as its ruler. The delighter of Kasi, that righteous-souled
  prince ruled his kingdom for sometime, when the hundred sons of
  Vitahavya once more invaded his dominions and defeated him in battle.
  Having vanquished king Sudeva thus, the victors returned to their own
  city. After that Divodasa, the son of Sudeva, became installed on the
  throne of Kasi as its ruler. Realising the prowess of those
  high-souled princes, viz., the sons of Vitahavya, king Divodasa,
  endued with great energy, rebuilt and fortified the city of Baranasi
  at the command of Indra.
The territories of Divodasa were full of Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, and
  abounded with Vaisyas and Sudras. And they teemed with articles and
  provisions of every kind, and were adorned with shops and marts
  swelling with prosperity. Those territories, O best of kings,
  stretched northwards from the banks of Ganga to the southern banks of
  Gomati, and resembled a second Amravati (the city of Indra). The
  Haihayas once again, O Bharata, attacked that tiger among kings, as he
  ruled his kingdom. The mighty king Divodasa endued with great
  splendour, issuing out of his capital, gave them battle. The
  engagement between the two parties proved so fierce as to resemble the
  encounter in days of old between the deities and the Asuras. King
  Divodasa fought the enemy for a thousand days at the end of which,
  having lost a number of followers and animals, he became exceedingly
  distressed. King Divodasa, O monarch, having lost his army and
  seeing his treasury exhausted, left his capital and fled away.
  Repairing to the delightful retreat of Bhardwaja endued with great
  wisdom the king, O chastiser of foes joining his hands in reverence,
  sought the Rishi's protection. Beholding King Divodasa before him, the
  eldest son of Vrihaspati, viz., Bharadwaja of excellent conduct, who
  was the monarch's priest, said unto him, What is the reason of thy
  coming here? Tell me everything, O king. I shall do that which is
  agreeable to thee, without any scruple.'
"The king said, 'O holy one, the sons of Vitahavya have slain all the
  children and men of my house. I only have escaped with life, totally
  discomfited by the foe. I seek thy protection. It behoveth thee, O
  holy one, to protect me with such affection as thou hast for a
  disciple. Those princes of sinful deeds have slaughtered my whole
  race, leaving myself only alive.'

"Bhishma continued, 'Unto him who pleaded so piteously, Bharadwaja of
  great energy said, Do not fear! Do not fear! O son of Sudeva, let thy
  fears be dispelled. I shall perform a sacrifice, O monarch, in order
  that thou mayst have a son through whom thou shalt be able to smite
  thousands upon thousands of Vitahavya's party. After this, the Rishi
  performed a sacrifice with the object of bestowing a son on Divodasa.
  As the result thereof, unto Divodasa was born a son named Pratarddana.
  Immediately on his birth he grew up like a boy of full three and ten
  years and quickly mastered the entire Vedas and the whole of arms.
  Aided by his Yoga powers, Bharadwaja of great intelligence had entered
  into the prince. Indeed, collecting all the energy that occurs in the
  object of the universe, Bharadwaja put them together in the body of
  prince Pratarddana. Put on shining mail on his person and armed with
  the bow, Pratarddana, his praises sung by bards and the celestial
  Rishis, shone resplendent like the risen star of day. Mounted on his
  car and with the scimitar tied to his belt, he shone like a blazing
  fire. With scimitar and shield and whirling
  his shield as he went, he proceeded to the presence of his sire.
  Beholding the prince, the son of Sudeva, viz., king Divodasa, became
  filled with joy. Indeed, the old king thought the sons of his enemy
  Vitahavya as already slain. Divodasa then installed his son
  Pratarddana as Yuvaraja, and regarding himself crowned with success
  became exceedingly happy. After this, the old king commanded that
  chastiser of foes, viz., prince Pratarddana to march against the sons
  of Vitahavya and slay them in battle. Endued with great powers.
  Pratarddana, that subjugator of hostile cities speedily crossed Ganga
  on his car and proceeded against the city of the Vitahavyas. Hearing
  the clatter produced by the wheels of his car, the sons of Vitahavya,
  riding on their own cars that looked like fortified citadels and that
  were capable of destroying hostile vehicles, issued out of their city.
  Issuing out of their capital, those tigers among men, viz., the sons
  of Vitahavya, who were all skilful warriors cased in mail, rushed with
  uplifted weapons towards Pratarddana, covering him with showers of
  arrows. Encompassing him with innumerable cars, O Yudhisthira, the
  Vitahavyas poured upon Pratarddana showers of weapons of various kinds
  like clouds pouring torrents of rain on the breast of Himavat.
  Baffling their weapons with his own, prince Pratarddana endued with
  mighty energy slew them all with his shafts that resembled the
  lighting fire of Indra. Their heads struck off, O king, with hundreds
  and thousands of broad-headed arrows, the warriors of Vitahavya fell
  down with blood-dyed bodies like Kinsuka trees felled by woodmen with
  their axes on every side. After all his warriors and sons had fallen
  in battle, king Vitahavya fled away from his capital to the retreat of
  Bhrigu. Indeed, arrived there, the royal fugitive sought the
  protection of Bhrigu. The Rishi Bhrigu, O monarch, assured the
  defeated king of his protection. Pratarddana followed in the footsteps
  of Vitahavya. Arrived at the Rishi's retreat, the son of Divodasa said
  in a loud voice.--Ho, listen ye disciples of the high souled Bhrigu
  that may happen to be present, I wish to see the sage. Go and inform
  him of this. Recognising that it was Pratarddana who had come, the
  Rishi Bhrigu himself came out of his retreat and worshiped that best
  of kings according to due rites. Addressing him then, the Rishi
  said, Tell me, O king, what is thy business. The king, at this,
  informed the Rishi of the reason of his presence.'

"The king said, 'King Vitahavya has come here, O Brahmana. Do thou
  give him up. His sons, O Brahmana, had destroyed my race. They had
  laid waste the territories and the wealth of the kingdom of Kasi.
  Hundred sons, however, of this king proud of his might, have all been
  slain by me. By slaying that king himself I shall today pay off the
  debt I owe to my father. Unto him that foremost of righteous men,
  viz., the Rishi Bhrigu, penetrated with compassion, replied by
  saying, There is no Kshatriya in this retreat. They that are here are
  all Brahmanas. Hearing these words of Bhrigu that must accord he
  thought with truth, Pratarddana touched the Rishi's feet slowly and,
  filled with delight, said, By this, O holy one, I am without doubt,
  crowned with success, since this king becomes abandoned by the very order of his birth
  in consequence of my prowess. Give me thy permission, O Brahmana, to
  leave thee, and let me solicit thee to pray for my welfare. This king,
  O founder of the race that goes by the name, has been compelled to
  leave of the very community of his birth, in consequence of my might.
  Dismissed by the Rishi Bhrigu, king Pratarddana then departed from
  that retreat, having even as a snake vomits forth its real poison and
  repaired to the place he had come from. Meanwhile, king Vitahavya attained to the status of a Brahmana sage by virtue of the words only of Bhrigu. And he acquired also a complete mastery over all the Vedas through the same cause.

Summary

Bhishma narrated the story of Vitahavya, who a Kshatriya then later obtained a status of a Brahmana.
In the race of Saryati, a king named Haihaya (who was otherwise called as Vitahavya), took birth. He had ten wives from whom he begot hundred sons.
At the time, Kasi was ruled by a king named Haryyaswa. The sons of Vitahvya invaded kasi and defeated him. After this, Haryyaswa's son Sudeva became king of Kasi. Thereafter, even Sudeva was defeated by those hundred sons. After this, the grandson of Haryyaswa, named Divodasa ruled Kasi.
The sons of Vitahavya once more invaded Kasi and killed all of his army and plundered the treasuries of Kasi. Because of this, Divodasa became very sad and went to the hermitage of Bharadwaja.
Bharadwaja upon hearing this incident, performed a sacrifice with the object of bestowing a son on Divodasa. Because of which he bestowed a son, named Pratarddana. When Pratarddana born, he resembled like a 13 years old boy.
Then Bharadwaja collected all the energies of the universe and put them into the body of Pratarddana. Then Pratarddana marched against the sons of Vitahavya, and killed them.
After the sons of Vitahavya were killed in the battle, he sought refuge in the hermitage of Rishi Bhrigu. Pratarddana also went to Bhrigu after knowing that Vitahavya went there. Pratarddana said to Bhrigu that the sons of Vitahavya destroyed his race, so that only he killed the sons. He also said he wanted to kill Vitahavya too.
Bhrigu said, there is no need to kill Vitahavya, as he was a Brahmana. Then king Pratarddana said to Bhrigu that as Vitahavya abandoned his very birth order (i.e., Kshatriya Varna), he crowned with success in battle with Vitahavya. Thereafter he left Bhrigu's place.
Thus, simply by the words of sage Bhrigu, king Vitahavya became a Brahmana along with his descendants. (He may begot sons after this incident).
Answer: Swami Vivekananda writes (Complete Works, V4, pp 469-70, and available here under the heading Translation: Prose, sub-heading Modern India - http://cwsv.belurmath.org/volume_4/vol_4_frame.htm):

In spite of the spread of education in the West, there is a great hindrance in the way of the rising of the Shudra class, and that is the recognition of caste as determined by the inherence of more or less good or bad qualities. By this very qualitative caste system which obtained in India in ancient days, the Shudra class was kept down, bound hand and foot. In the first place, scarcely any opportunity was given to the Shudra for the accumulation of wealth or the earning of proper knowledge and education; to add to this disadvantage, if ever a man of extraordinary parts and genius were born of the Shudra class, the influential higher sections of the society forthwith showered titular honours on him and lifted him up to their own circle. His wealth and the power of his wisdom were employed for the benefit of an alien caste — and his own caste-people reaped no benefits of his attainments; and not only so, the good-for-nothing people, the scum and refuse of the higher castes, were cast off and thrown into the Shudra class to swell their number. Vasishtha, Nârada, Satyakâma Jâbâla, Vyâsa, Kripa, Drona, Karna, and others of questionable parentage* [footnote 1] were raised to the position of a Brahmin or a Kshatriya, in virtue of their superior learning or valour; but it remains to be seen how the prostitute, maidservant, fisherman, or the charioteer* [footnote 2] class was benefited by these upliftings. Again, on the other hand, the fallen from the Brahmin, the Kshatriya, or the Vaishya class were always brought down to fill the ranks of the Shudras.
*footnote 1: (1) Vasishtha's father was Brahmâ and mother unknown. (2) Narada's mother was a maidservant and father unknown. (3) Satyakama Jabala's mother was a maidservant, by name Jabâlâ, and father unknown. (4) Vyasa's father was a Brahmin sage Parâshara, and mother Matsyagandhâ, the virgin daughter of a fisherman. (5) Kripa s father was a Brahmin sage, Sharadvân Gautama, and mother the goddess Jânapadi. (6) Drona's father was the Brahmin sage, Bharadvâja, and mother the goddess Ghritâchi. (7) Karna's mother was Kunti, who conceived during her maidenhood, and father the god sun. For detailed information vide the accounts of their births: for (1), see chapter 174, Âdiparva, Mahabharata, or in Rigveda, 7, 33, 11-13; for (2), chapter 6, Skandha I, Srimad Bhagavata, for (3) section 4 Prapâthaka iv, Chhândogya Upanishad; for (4), (5), (6) and (7) chapters 105, 130, 130 and 111, respectively of the Âdiparva of the Mahabharata.
*footnote 2: In her anxiety to save her reputation, Kunti threw the newborn child Karna, into water. A charioteer found the child in his pitiable condition and adopted him as his son.
Comment: Does not answer the question. Promotes a personal bias
Answer: Varna migration is in the Vedas. There are countless examples in Itihasas and Puraans but I'll stick to Vedas only. Rig Veda 9.63 says:

इन्द्रं वर्धन्तो अप्तुर: कृण्वन्तो विश्वमार्यम् । अपघ्नन्तो अराव्णः ॥

This is a prayer to make all humans Aryas. So when Krishna Yajurveda is making a distinction between Shudra & Arya it means bad people and noble people. Of course, birth is as per karma but this is a very clear message from the Veda itself that Varna can be changed! Now if we see Upanishads or Brahmanas we almost always get the same picture. Look at Chandogya Upanishad talks about the initiation story of another Upanishad's author:

Gautama asked him, 'O Somya, what is your lineage?' Satyakāma said: 'Sir, I do not know what my lineage is. When I asked my mother, she said to me: "I was very busy serving many people when I was young, and I had you. As this was the situation, I know nothing about your lineage. My name is Jabālā, and your name is Satyakāma." So, sir, I am Satyakāma Jābāla'.  Gautama said to him: 'No non-brāhmin could speak like this.

So the son of a highly impure shudra woman and unknown man was declared Brahmin. Now look at the story of Vedic author Vatsa found in Tandya Brahmana 14.6.6, Jaiminiya Brahmana 3.234:

The two sons of Kanva, Medhatithi and Trioka, contended about the sacred lore (brahman). They said : ' Come, let us cross the flaming fire'. They crossed the flaming fire. Tris'oka crossed over it (unharmed), but of the other it scorched the eye-lashes. Ho (Trisoka) said to him (to Medhatithi) : ' I have vanquished thee '. ' No ', said he, 'thou art the son of an Asura-mother ; even the deities have not wished to touch thee'. Then, they (said): 'Come, let us cross the water'. They crossed the flowing Rathaspa. Tris'oka crossed over it (unharmed), but of the other the rims of his cart were moistened by the water of the Rathaspa (translation uncertain, text corrupted !). He (TriSoka) said to him (to Medhatithi): 'I have vanquished thee'.

let us walk according to the rite through fire (to decide) which of us two is the better brahmin

Agni preferred Shudra's son. Shudra's son was a superior Brahmin compared to birth-Brahmin. Another example from the Brahmanas is in Kausitaki Brāhmana 12.3 and Aitareya Brāhmana 8.19

"You are the son of a female slave. We will not eat with you" (dāsya vai tvam putro si na vayam tvaya saha bhaksayisyama iti). Kavasa became angry and ran away. He recited a hymn of praise to Sarasvati, who then followed after him: sarasvatim etena suktena tustava tam heyam iyaya. Realizing what had happened, the surprised seers hurried to him to express their reverence: "0 seer, homage be to you. Do not harm us. You indeed are the best of us...

Saraswati considers a Shudra's son superior to all birth-Brahmins combined at being a Brahmin. The birth-Brahmins also accept they are inferior to him. He authored a part of Rig Veda. There are 108 canonical Upanishads as per Muktika Upanishad. One of them is Vajrasuchika Upanishad which says

It is said that a Brahmana is so because of his caste. This is not acceptable because there are diverse communities in the world... ...Among these many have attained the highest rank, despite of their lower birth and given proof of their wisdom. Therefore a Brahmana is not so because of his community.

Self-explanatory. I have given examples from 7 Vedic texts.
Comment: Sir I have a doubt
Answer: All enlightened people other than Brahmin born are examples of Varna migration. Because only Brahmin is capable to become enlightened. One takes many birth to become Brahmin, some (however few) become Brahmin in single birth.
One must have these qualities to become enlightened.

The actions of a brahmana arising from his own nature are serenity, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge of the Vedas, wisdom and firm faith. BG 18.42.

Same concept is beautifully expressed in the commentary of Yathartha Geeta.

Ancient  sages  divided  the  travellers  on  the  eternal  path  of  the Self  into  four  classes,  Shudr,  Vaishya,  Kshatriy,  and  Brahmin,  according to  their  innate  abilities.  In  the  primary  stage  of  accomplishment  every seeker  is  a  Shudr,  meaning  one  who  is  deficient  in  knowledge.  He spends  hours  on  worship  and  adoration  of  God,  and  yet  fails  to  render even  ten  minutes  of  his  time  truly  beneficial  to  his  spiritual  quest.  He  is unable  to  cut  through  the  illusory  facade  of  the  material  world.  Sitting devoutly  at  the  feet  of  a  realized  Sage,  an  accomplished  teacher,  at  this stage  helps  in  the  cultivation  of  virtues  in  his  nature.  With  this  he  is promoted  to  the  level  of  a  seeker  of  the  Vaishya  class.  Gradually realizing  that  accomplishments  of  the  Self  are  the  only  true accomplishments,  he  becomes  adept  in  seizing  and  protecting  his senses.  Passion  and  wrath  are  fatal  to  the  senses,  whereas discrimination  and  renunciation  protect  them,  but  they  are  by  themselves incapable  of  annihilating  seeds  of  the  material  world.  Gradually,  then,  as the  worshipper  progresses  further,  his  heart  and  mind  grow  strong enough  to  carve  their  way  through  the  three  properties  of  nature.  This  is the  inborn  quality  of  a  Kshatriy.  At  this  point  the  worshipper  acquires  the ability  to  destroy  the  world  of  nature  and  its  perversions.  So  this  is  the point  of  commencement  of  the  war.  By  further  refinement  after  this,  the worshipper  is  slowly  elevated  to  the  category  of  a  Brahmin.  Some  of  the virtues  that  now  grow  in  the  seeker  are  control  of  the  mind  and  senses, incessant  contemplation,  simplicity,  perception,  and  knowledge.  By slowly  perfecting  these  qualities,  then,  he  ultimately  attains  to  God,  and at  this  stage  he  ceases  to  be even  a Brahmin.
  Krishn  lays  down  that  even  if  the  inherent  ability,  by  which  a  man participates  in  this  dharm,  is  of  the  unmeritorious  and  ignorant  Shudr level,  it  is  beneficial  in  the  highest  sense,  because  it  is  the  starting  point from  where  he  can  set  out  on  the  path  of  Self-cultivation.  However,  the worshipper  is  destroyed  if  he  imitates  the  manner  of  higher  classes.

Conclusion- Order of progress to become one with ultimate reality is: Shudra -> Vaishya -> Kshatriya -> Brahmin -> Beyond 3 Gunas.
Many take many births to go beyond 3 Gunas from Shudra, some can go beyond 3 Gunas from Sudra in single life as well via dedicated intense Spirituality & devotion.
Answer: No, it is not.
According to Krishna in the Gita, one's varNa is a consequence of his innate guNas (pre-natal qualities attached to the soul or AtmA), which are determined by his actions in past births (karmas), over millions of past births. The guNas that a person possesses at the time of his death determine his varNa in the next birth - if he is dominated by sattva (goodness), then he is born as a Brahmana; if he is dominated by rajas (passion, activity), then he is reborn as a Kshatriya; if he has a mixture of rajas and tamas (darkness, ignorance, laziness, superstition), but with rajas dominating, he is reborn as a Vaishya; and if he has a dominance of tamas with some rajas, then he is born as a Shudra. If his soul is completely enveloped in tamas, he will be reborn as an animal.
This is done so that in his next birth, his AtmA is born into an environment which matches the guNas he possesses. According to Krishna's teaching, Brahmanas possess sattva in abundance, and therefore a soul that dies with sattva as dominant will be born into a family of Brahmanas. Kshatriyas possess rajas in abundance, and so an AtmA dying in the mode of rajas is reborn as a Kshatriya, to provide a proper match for its guNas; and so on.
A change in varNa is only possible on rebirth. One cannot short-circuit this process. This is illustrated very well by the story of Matanga, mentioned in the Mahabharata. Matanga was born a Chandala and abandoned as a baby. A childless Rishi adopted the abandoned newborn and raised him as his own child. As a teenager, he learned the truth of his low birth, and resolved that he would correct it. He performed intense penance again and again and invoked Indra, the king of the Gods, and asked him for a boon that he would be converted to a Brahmana. Indra said this was absolutely impossible, and told him he would have to go through trillions and quadrillions of births in other varNas before he could become a Brahmana, even though Matanga was by now a purified soul because of all the penance he had done, and had achieved complete mastery over his senses.
Read about the story here: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m13/m13a027.htm
The other examples people will give you, such as Parashurama, Vishwamitra, etc., are all special cases, and do not represent the standard rule. You can read about those here: http://www.leftbrainwave.com/2017/01/the-scriptural-sanction-for-caste-based.html#TOC5c2f
I hope that answers your question.
Comment: No, it doesn't. Look at this site for example which talks about shlOka 4-13 of the Gita. The opinion of the great saints is unanimous that karma refers to actions of previous births. An example is what Ramanuja says in his commentary.

"The wonderful variety of creation from demigods, humans, animal etc. are beings created by the effects of their own karma or present reactions to previous actions either by merits or demerits. In as much as one's own activities determines their karma activating what reward or punishment one will receive."

http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/verse-04-13.html
Comment: I am going by what is in Gita, not Bhagavatam.
Comment: This is why I like to use commentaries to interpret these verses. Karma can mean ordinary action; it can also mean reactions to actions in previous lives. Which meaning is used depends on the context, and one cannot use a dictionary meaning. The interpretations of the Acharyas at the site I have quoted above make it clear that the more loaded meaning of karma is being used. I have already quoted what Ramanuja has said about 4-13. Keshava Kashmiri also implies the same thing.
Comment: This is what Keshava Kashmiri says:

Although Lord Krishna is the originator of these four orders, He is not to be held accountable for the imbalance in society, as this is due to the prenatal disposition of all beings, based on their activities and subsequent reactions in each life.

Clearly, Keshava Kashmiri is interpreting karma as "activities and subsequent reactions in each life."


Unlock door with no knob

Question: Any suggestions for how to unlock and open a door with this type of lock? A video on YouTube showed me how to remove the knobs since the push button lock would not release. I have tried using scissors to turn the latch, as well as a hanger to see if it could be jimmied, and small screwdrivers to see if the lock itself could be released. No luck. It does not pull left toward the hinges and only pushes a half centimeter toward the door jam.
Answer: I would remove the hinge pins and unmount the door. Once removed, the hardware should be visible to remove the bolt assembly.
Comment: ...but given the direction of the strike plate, they are on this side, this time.
Comment: ...then you ( @Janie ) should "accept" this answer, not mine. (The green checkmark, and yes, you can change it.) Lord knows I don't need the points, and this was the one that actually worked for you.
Comment: That works 50% of the time. The other 50% has the hinges on the other side of the door
Comment: Removing the door hinges worked. Problem solved! Thank you!!
Comment: @Janie Great work!  What was the root cause ?  was the mechanism stuck ?
Comment: @Janie you should change the accepted answer
Answer: Unless your house is abnormally well built, a prybar applied at the strike plate will find enough flex in the frame to pop the door open. Otherwise see @mikes answer.
Answer: Sliding a cake knife, piece of plastic (credit card or similar) down at a 45 or 60 degree angle in the gap where the strike plate is, start above, while pushing gently on the door is usually enough to slide the plunger back and allow the door to open.
Comment: I suspect the mechanism completely rusted and seized up. Otherwise this would work.
Comment: @Nelson It's always worth a shot, especially after a round or two of WD40. I've seen rusted parts move that I never thought I'd see moving again after that.
Comment: In this case, the slanted side of the plunger is pointed away from us, but you can still get around that using a piece of stiff wire (the handle from a typical Chinese takeout container works very well for this) and looping around the plunger while pulling both the wire and door towards you.  I've done the same trick with a piece of string or ribbon, but wire is much easier since you can make a stiff loop with it.
Answer: This looks like the sort of latch which is activated by pressing the end of the piston-like piece towards the strike plate.  If it's not sticking this can be done with your fingers, otherwise MacGyver some sort of prying scheme.

Unlock door with no knob


Small amount of water in chimney after rain

Question: This morning I woke up to find water in the bottom of our chimney.
We have no fire, the gas cowl is still in place, the flaunching and flashing are quite new. It's a metal cowl that is a cylinder with horizontal slots.
I looked up into the fire place and can see water in the ledge at the bend and I'm firmly sure I saw a drop come down from above onto that ledge.
I can't see anything else inside the house and having seen the drip come down it seems to be inside the fireplace.
The amount of water at the bottom is quite small, about a spoonful.
Any ideas what I need to check?
Answer: As long as your chimney cap (I assume that's what you describe as a 'cowl'?) is in place, you are probably fine.
Although chimney caps are designed to keep out rain and critters, they can't fight the occasional sideways rain drop. The little amount of water that enters the chimney from those atmospheric anomalies won't hurt a thing. Short of completely blocking off the chimney with a weathertight cap (not possible if you use it with gas appliances, as you stated), just keep truckin.
Comment: I agree it is tough to keep all water out and still have good draft a little water is not a problem.


Second Navigation on the left side

Question: How do I add a second navigation on the left side of my page below the quick launch?
Our company is in the process of implementing the new version of sharepoint (2013 foundation) and they would like to add a secondary "quick launch" type navigation under the current one that mirrors/builds on the global navigation. Is there any way to do this? Also they would like to have some of our logos run down the side of our page that link to our external website if possible, which I don't know how to do either. I'm pretty new to SharePoint.
Answer: You can edit the master page and use Designer Manager to create snippets (Left navigation or Global navigation).
Then put the snippet on your master page (Your desired location)
Comment: We are using sharepoint 2013 foundation so design manager is not available to us.

Second Navigation on the left side


How can binaural beats change mental state?

Question: Can anyone tell me how binaural beats of 10 Hz can cause a person to calm down and one of 40 Hz to cause someone to heighten their attention. All I know is that they work on the principal of Brainwave Entrainment. I am confused as to how can a 10-Hz difference in 2 sounds cause the brain to change its state of mind! A detailed but simple explanation would be great.
Answer: It is thought that binaural beats entrain the brain in the frequency of the binaural beat. These beat frequencies show up in the EEG.
The EEG in turn represents synchronous activity in the cerebral cortex (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. EEG frequency bands and their associate mental states. source: Conor Russomanno
Now if you look at where 10 Hz EEG waves show up it is in the alpha frequency band associated with a relaxed mental state. The 40 Hz band on the other hand is associated with beta activity associated with an alert state.
Indeed, presentation of beta-frequency binaural beats have shown to improve the performance on psychophysical tasks and performances were better than when binaural beats were presented in the theta-delta range (Lane et al., 1998).
Reference
- Lane et al., Physiol Behav (1998); 63(2): 249–52
Answer: I will put here a link that I think explained this phenomenon more fully by looking at a huge number of different scientific studies done on the matter...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4428073/#!po=11.3861
If you find the article too long, read the last paragraphs to find their conclusions.
Comment: Please summarize the major points of the link here. It's also good to provide a citation in your answer. Both ensure that your answer remains useful in the future if your link dies. Thanks


Bluetooth keyboard security

Question: Suppose there is a computer with a Bluetooth keyboard linked to it. The keyboard uses a simple 4-digit PIN. Now, I am able to crack the PIN and then program my own keyboard to use the same PIN. Would it be possible for me to gain access to the computer by impersonating the legitimate keyboard in some way?
Comment: It has been done.  Do some Google searches and you can find examples.
Comment: This depends on what version of Bluetooth it uses. If it uses anything older than BR/EDR version 2.1, than the encryption will be _really_ weak, requiring nothing more than brute forcing that 4-digit PIN.
Answer:
Would it be possible for me to gain access to the computer by impersonating the legitimate keyboard in some way?

Probably.
But there are a few question you need to ask yourself here:

Is the computer generating the PIN or is the keyboard?
Does the PIN change? If yes, how often?

If the PIN does not change, it doesn't really matter what device generates the PIN and all you have to do is obtain/crack it.
After you obtained the PIN you will need to knock the other keyboard offline (or when the user is not in the room) in order for the PC to connect to your keyboard.
Comment: would the PC automatically connect to my keyboard? Also, how would I knock the other keyboard offline?
Comment: Those are two questions.  If your signal overpowers the keyboard (or mouse) then it is possible to both make it connect and to knock the other offline.  Keep in mind that this stackexchange is not intended to encourage lawbreakers of any kind, so I will assume you are asking an academic question.  If you really want to know the answer, try it out in a lab environment.
Comment: This is only true for very old versions of Bluetooth (prior to 2.1). For anything newer, the PIN itself is not used directly for encryption, only authentication. So I think this answer is wrong.

Bluetooth keyboard security


What do you call those small wooden footbridges over water?

Question: Those planks or bamboo bridges you see in some resorts and some sea settlements in Asia?
Comment: You should include an image in your question, and if you know its name in your mother tongue you should be able to find its translation.
Comment: This might not be what you're after, but a bridge made of simple planks of wood (or metal) which cross the water with no extra support is called a **beam bridge**.
Comment: A [garden bridge](http://www.gazebocreations.com/spl/category/garden-bridges/256), perhaps.
Comment: A 'plank bridge' or a 'bamboo bridge' perhaps?
Answer: These are often called puncheons in the outdoor rec. field.

PUNCHEON
  Puncheon is an effective way to cross some types of bogs, shallow marshes, and
  wooded wetlands. It uses sawed, treated lumber or native logs to elevate the trail tread
  above wet areas that are not feasible to drain. It provides a hardened surface that lasts
  for many years depending on the material used. The walking surface is parallel to the
  direction of the trail, and the support structures (sills) rest directly on the ground. The
  use of puncheon is strongly recommended since a wet, muddy trail and the damage
  caused from hiking directly through wetlands are undesirable. A puncheon bridge
  can range from as little as 10 feet to hundreds of feet long for crossing a swamp.
Puncheon can be constructed using either native or milled materials
  and often is a combination of the two. Most typically, the sill logs
  are made of long lasting native material (such as cedar, tamarack,
  locust, etc.) and the walking surface is made of heavy, treated
  planks. The determination of the material depends on a number of
  factors—the distance from an access point, ability to haul materials
  to the site, the availability of native materials, the skills
  available for the difficult job of hewing native puncheon, the desired
  length of time between replacement, and the ROS setting

https://www.nps.gov/noco/learn/management/upload/nct_ch5.pdf
While puncheon properly refers to an elevated walkway where the treadway supports are merely sills or sleepers laid on the ground, the terms puncheon  bridge and bog bridge are well understood to mean an actual bridge, usually non-compiant wrt ADA and best practices, but still found in abundance in the backcountry. Pretty much any other terms you find imply proper engineering and standards compliance suitable for developed recreational sites.

Elevated bog bridge on the Appalachian Trail in Carrying Place
  Township – Maine. Walkway is supported by cedar posts driven to
  refusal by a people powered pile driver.

http://www.trailservices.com/gallery3.html
Answer: These open, narrow footbridges are catwalks.
ODO:

catwalk
NOUN
2 A narrow walkway or open bridge, especially in an industrial installation.
'Most people find these narrow catwalks to be the most frightening
  part of the tour.'
Answer: I have seen them referred to as
yatsuhashi
Literally meaning eight bridges in Japanese, they typically have a zig-zag pattern and cross marshy areas often planted with bearded irises. Designers of gardens in the West will often use the term when creating so-called "Zen" gardens.


Travelling to Russia with Refugee Travel document issued in USA

Question: I have a refugee travel document issued in the USA and need to travel to Russia. Can I apply for a Russian visa?
Comment: Are you a refugee _from Russia?_  If so, you would be placing your refugee status in danger by going to Russia.
Comment: No, I have an asylum from another country
Comment: You can always apply. Approval is a different story. Are you from Belarus? To give you an answer, it is important to know your country of origin, and if you have any other travel documents, like a passport?
Comment: In general then, yes, you can apply for visas for any country other than your country of origin using the US refugee document, but I don't know the specifics of applying for a Russian visa with one, so I will leave it to someone else to answer.
Answer: I emailed my local Russian consulate in Houston and the Vice Consul there replied to me that you would need a valid tourist visa on your US Refugee travel document.
Currently (04/28/2021) the Russian consulates in the United States are NOT issuing tourist visas in US travel documents. You may qualify for a different type of visa, as an "emergency situation" due to your refugee status (I do not know your details).
You also may qualify for a Russian tourist visa from your country of origin and can use your old passport to enter with that, if you still have it. If you forfeited your old passport from your home country, you are out of luck.
It is unclear what nationality or country of origin you have, or whether you have a valid passport or any other travel documents that could complicate (or help?) your situation. For instance, if you are from Belarus, and you visit Russia on US refugee travel document, you could be denied re-entry into the USA because the border crossing between Belarus and Russia is minimal, and you could be accused of returning home, and ultimately voiding your refugee travel document.
To re-iterate:

Russia will accept your US travel document, as long as you have a Russian visa on it
Russia will also accept your native passport, with a Russian travel visa, if you have one
Russia is not issuing tourist visas for US travel documents at the moment

You should contact the Russian Embassy in Washington DC with your missing details provided and see if you meet their requirements.
It is very difficult, but not impossible, to contact them because they are overwhelmed with calls and emails. We had to call them repeatedly (hang up, redial, hang up, redial, etc.) for almost two hours before we finally spoke to a Russian speaking person on the line. They are only open for phone calls two hours a day at our local Russian consulate (Houston). They respond to emails within 24-48 hours.
Also, this similar question was asked a few years ago, and is unanswered, yet relevant.
Comment: "can use your old passport to enter with that, if you still have it": in principle this will cause the refugee to lose refugee status and be deported to the country where his or her life is in danger.  It's generally a bad idea.
Comment: @phoog Are there any cases where the US has determined that the mere act, by a refugee, of travelling to a third country using a passport from their country of nationality constitutes reavailment? I don't think they're that strict.
Comment: @Brian I know of no such cases, which is why I said "in principle."  Immigration lawyers fairly universally mention this on their websites, however.  I certainly would not want to risk it.  I tried searching for some cases, but mostly I found it next to impossible to filter through all the Canadian cases; it seems at least that Canada is rather more active in pursuing such claims than is the US.


How to prevent my cat from stealing my glasses

Question: While I have quality time (laying on bed and petting, them grooming me etc.) with my kittens one of them attempts to steal glasses out of my face and chew on them. She is very persistent but she doesn't seem to car in other situations - for example when glasses just lie on night table - at least for now. From what I understand that is sign of affection as glasses have a strong smell of daddy but I'm afraid as they are relatively valuable and hard to replace item. How can I redirect that behavior (I don't mind her playing with my hair for example).
Comment: buy him his own glasses!
Answer: Kittens won't learn if they don't have boundaries. Playing with people's heads is a risky business – maybe not now when she is a kitten, but certainly when she gets older. It's all fun and games until she gets a bit overexcited and bites your face, or scratches your eye. I don't think you will be successful in training her to not play with your glasses if you continue to let her play with your hair, or any other part of your face.
Play with her in other ways instead, such as with toys. Reward her when she does not play with your face. Turn away and ignore her when she tries to play with your face. Basically, set some boundaries. Ignoring a kitten can be punishment enough when she misbehaves.
Answer: Make a loop of tape, stick it to your glasses (the part they like to chew on), and leave it on the night table while you observe. Chances are that once a kitten gets stuck on the tape, it will never go near your glasses again. Repeat the process until all kittens have learned the lesson.
Only do this when you're around to help free the kittens from the tape. (Getting something stuck in their fur really upsets cats.)


Would the Fiat Shamir identification scheme be more secure if I design it with an exponents higher than 2?

Question: Let's say both Prover and Verifier would use nth power instead of 2nd when creating public keys and when verifying. I know it would slow it down but would that cause the protocol to be more secure?
Answer: No, it wouldn't.
Very simply put: If you can compute square roots wrt. a composite modulus, then you can calculate other fixed roots, too. This is based on the fact, that being able to compute square roots allows you to factor the modulus:

Choose random $x$.
Compute $x^2$.
apply your square root algorithm to $x^2$.
The result $y$ will be a different square root than $x$ with probability 3 out of 4. And 2 out of 4 will allow you to directly factor the modulus.

When  you know the factorization, calculating any arbitrary root higher than 2 is easy.
The other way around is not known: When you can calculate roots for any degree with injective functions, then you can break the RSA assumption. But it is unknown, if that allows you to factorize the modulus or allow the computation of square roots.
Comment: But in the FS identication protocol, the factorisation of modulus is kept secret for both the proover and the challenger. The secret is composed by k secret numbers which are stored in an Smart Card and allow the proover to identicate himself with a high level of probability.
Otherwise I suggested in that time to take a look to the GQ identication protocol wich was introduced to reduce the number of interactive exchange steps, from which the security level can be adapted.
Answer: In this case, take a look to the GQ identication scheme, from Guillou and Quisquater.


How do you make sure that yor medication is legal to travel with?

Question: I have certain medication I have to drink every night, if I where to travel overseas how would I insure that if my bags are searched and they find the pills they dont decide it is drugs?
Answer: Put on your carry on baggage (if it is allowed for the quantity). Keep always a doctor prescription.
Remember to check if the medication are allowed on the traveling country (there are some restriction on some kind of medications [mostly on opiate], and quantity (keep some extra in case of delays, but not too much). Having original packing and somewhere the active matter (so the original medicament notice sheet) helps a lot.
If you have too much liquids, there are several options:

On checked baggage, on original packing, and better it these are sealed. From package, and quantity, the custom should understand that it is a medicament.  Note: there are two checks: one for security (so without you). But custom check is done with you, after baggage claim, so you can explain.
You buy on the destination country the extra medications. In general it is good to pre-check the name of the medication on destination country (checked baggage are lost, ...). Because of different names, do not assume that in pharmacy they will know what it is the prescribed medicament (a copy of the medicament notice will help, usually there are some indication of makers, patent holder, linked authorization numbers, and active matter, so that pharmacy can find out the name used on destination country. Sometime it is easier (especially on long travel) to buy the medicament on destination country.
You may contact your air carrier. They could make exceptions and help. OTOH this requires a lot more paperwork, and discussion. For a private person often this is not a good option. But this help you to have better documentation, not to pass the custom.
Comment: What to do if you don't have prescription?
Comment: It depends. If it can have side effect (or dangerous), probably it should have a prescription, so better to check if the prescription is needed on destination country, or getting one prescription from own country (pharmacy could write something, if it is not mandatory). If it is not dangerous, you may see it as health food, and not as medicament, so check regular food restriction.  Note: prescriptions are not much about health effects, but if taking medicament should be controlled (for health reason), dangerous (e.g. addictive, or just good for some people) or for insurance reasons.
Comment: Medications are specifically exempted from carry-on luggage liquid rules, although you will need to show the prescription.  TSA: https://www.tsa.gov/blog/2013/09/24/tsa-travel-tips-tuesday-traveling-medication
Comment: A real case are prescription-free influenza drugs containing ephedrine, which is forbidden drug in some countries. In Poland you can buy them in groceries...
Comment: *Keep always a doctor prescription.*  But I gave the prescription to the pharmacist so that they could fill the prescription.
Comment: @RonJohn: ask then to make a copy (it is marked as copy, so you cannot use twice), but it shows that you also brought the medicament. You can ask also later. They should keep the prescription for some time. I really recommend always to have it, also in case you forgot some medicament.
Answer: If you have to take medicine regularly then you must have doctors prescription. Therefore, you carry your pills then you must carry the prescription. This would not be a problem if you carry a valid document(prescription).
Comment: And what with drugs available without prescription?
Comment: @Rg7xgW6acQ3g Keep it in the original bottle.
Comment: *Keep always a doctor prescription.*  But I gave the prescription to the pharmacist so that they could fill the prescription.


Is it possible to use Polymer inside of React?

Question: I have been using React and look to use Polymer tags inside of React.  React does not recognize Polymer tags as React only handles basic DOM tags.  Is there a way to add the Polymer tags to React DOM library?
Comment: There are definitely people exploring web components (like Polymer) inside React. Stumbled across http://2015.jsday.it/talk/you-can-have-it-both-ways-using-web-components-in-a-react-ui/ -- see the slide ~2/3 in, titled "solution: a custom react class". No code there, but lays out the basic approach.
Comment: Also see https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/2746
Comment: Vu Dang, maybe consider accepting a more updated answer?
a.k.a - @FakeRainBrigand 's answer
Answer: Yes, it is possible.

Create a polymer element.
<link rel="import" href="../../bower_components/polymer/polymer.html">

Polymer({
    is: 'calender-element',
    ready: function(){
        this.textContent = "I am a calender";
    }
});

Make the polymer component a html tag by importing it in a html page. E.g. import it in the index.html of your react application.
<link rel="import" href="./src/polymer-components/calender-element.html">

Use that element in the jsx file.
'use strict';

import React from 'react';

class MyComponent extends React.Component{
    render(){
        return (
            <calender-element></calender-element>
        );
    }
}

export default MyComponent;

Comment: This is a better answer. The OP was looking for the ability to use Polymer tags inside React components.  Here is a clear example of doing just not that.
Answer: Is it possible to use Polymer inside of React?
Short answer: not really.
Long answer: kinda.  You have to create components which directly create the nodes and manipulate attributes.  There are also other considerations for children of the element, etc.
Is it possible to use React inside of Polymer?
It's pretty much the same answer this way, you'd have to wrap a React component in a polymer element.
Why?
Polymer (based on web components), and React (a ui component library), are both based on 'components'.  Because there's no single way to express a component in web, you'll need to bridge between the various libraries.  The same holds true for questions about 'react in angular', 'jquery plugin in react', 'knockout in jquery plugin', 'react in backbone', 'angular with polymer elements which use backbone and react with polymer elements which use angular', etc.
In a case like angular with polymer, you might think it's very simple, but polymer doesn't know about evaluating angular expressions, or any kind of declarative callbacks.  You need a bridge in nearly every case, and they're never pretty.
Comment: "polymer doesn't have the concept of data binding" - Is this a typo? Polymer totally has data binding https://www.polymer-project.org/docs/polymer/databinding.html
Comment: WebComponents (i.e. like in Polymer) can be treated in ReactJS just like any other HTML element is. So React and Polymer can work well together. Polymer and WebComponents is just a standardized way of creating new HTML Tags, but those tags, once defined, are recognized at the Browser Level (albeit using polyfills currently), and so WebComponents can coexist with any and all web frameworks perfectly well. So to repeat, any WebComponent can be used just as if it were a native HTML tag, and do anything any other TAG does. It truly IS a new tag as far as the browser code can tell.
Answer: this is a fairly old question but how about https://www.npmjs.com/package/react-polymer ? isn't this a support of polymer components for react?
import reactPolymer from 'react-polymer'; //IMPORTANT: Must be imported before React.
import React from 'react';

reactPolymer.registerAttribute('raised');
reactPolymer.registerAttribute('url');
reactPolymer.registerEvent('response', 'onResponse');

<paper-button raised>another button</paper-button>
<iron-ajax url="http://example.com/" onResponse={this.handleResponse} />

Answer: Answer according to current stages of react and polymer
Since this question was asked a while ago and a lot has changed since then, I'd like to add that you can now use polymer elements in react directly but for your custom attributes and events it causes problem it can easily be handle by using react-polymer, It has support for almost all elements, with exception of gold-* elements.
Why would you want to use Polymer with react?

It can further simplify your development process or make it a big mess. It depends on how you use it
Speed of development and ease of use offered by polymer components is unrivaled.
React can further break down your components comprising of polymer components, into manageable pieces.
Simply because, react and JSX is love.
Hey why the hell not??
Answer: The answer is YES. But it is not straight forward. So, I tried following some documentations which are around in fact even the official one but the best was this: https://medium.com/jens-jansson/start-using-web-components-in-react-6ccca2ca21f9
I followed the steps mentioned and it worked! I am also mentioning the github repo wherein I tried to integrate the vaadin datepicker and also one of the polymer element paper-input. https://github.com/manit815/react-with-webcomponent
Comment: Inside the JSX, the class attribute of web-components is somehow ignored. @MKant I have opened an issue https://github.com/manit815/react-with-webcomponent/issues/1 regarding thsi problem.
Answer: Yes, you can use Polymer element inside react.

Create Polymer element
import { LitElement, html } from 'lit-element';
export class CustomButton extends LitElement {
static get properties() {
    return {
        isDisabled : { type: Boolean },
        buttonType: { type: String },
    };
}

constructor() {
    super();
    this.isDisabled = false;
    this.button = 'button';
}

render() {
    return html`
        <button>
            <slot></slot>
        </button>
    `;
   }
}

customElements.define('polymer-button', CustomButton);

Import the element into an HTML file using


Which anomalies are easy to replicate in an event study?

Question: In order to examine different approaches to event studies, I am looking for a market anomaly which is simple to replicate in an event study for demonstration purposes. For example, post-earnings-announcemet drift is made tricky by the different points in time over the year at which companies disclose their earnings. I am thus looking for an anomaly based on a stock characteristic that is available at a frequency common for price data (i.e. daily, monthly etc.).
Answer: The January effect is easy to demonstrate. Always the same dates for multiple shares.


Add the same content to multiple pages

Question: I have a website with over 500 pages. Dont ask why but none of these pages have any content in them. I have created a page layout to be added as a single wp bakery block and want to add this same block to all pages but I cant see a way of doing this without going through everypage and doing it manually. Am I missing something?
Answer: You can do it with WP-CLI. wp post create will create a post.
wp post create ./file.txt --post_status=Publish
where file.txt contains the content you want to add (in HTML format).
To post it multiple time use a for loop.
You can use wp post update if you want to update existing post.
First step check your post ID using
wp post list

Now update the post
wp post update <ID_1> --status=Publish --from-post=<ID_2>

Where ID_1 is the ID of the page you want to copy TO and ID_2 is the id of the page you want to duplicate from.
Comment: This is really interesting, thanks. So if I have a post, call it id 1, with the correct content and I want to apply that to 760 other pages how would I do that? And would it replace advanced custom fields or just the text content?
Comment: to clarify, the only part I want to change on each part is to add the wpbakery part in

Add the same content to multiple pages


How to make water wall effect?

Question: Go you have any ideas how to make this sort of an effect? I've tried to achieve this using water simulation, but it didn't turned out well. Using a texture looks like rational, but I have no idea how to make one. I'm concerned that buying Flip Fluids is my only option.
Comment: Possibly need to render a smoke effect? Then post process it to get harder edges and use it as a normal displace?
Comment: Do you it for animation or still image?
Comment: I was wondering about quick camera zoom animation, but still image is fine
Comment: I have personally found fluid simulations to be poor at this. I think it would ideally use a glass BSDF with an animated displacement/normal map... but I don't know how to generate that map. Footage of the effect would be useful, and I haven't had much luck finding any.
Comment: Also, the nearest thing I've come across for creating this kind of effect is this After Effects tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLwpCNil3XE
It relies heavily on proprietary filters, but the general idea of making a black and white animation of the water's displacement seems like the right approach.
Comment: Sorry, but I have no idea how this workflow should look like, could you please give me some more directions?
Answer: This is possible using a Fluid simulation - although it does take a bit of trial and error to get the settings right whilst still being able to keep the simulation resolution low enough to make it practical.

To set up the scene you need the Fluid domain and the 'nozzles' to spray the water. The fluid domain should be kept as small as possible to reduce the computation for the simulation. Note that if you resize the domain you should always 'Apply Scale' for the resizing to take effect on the simulation cells (otherwise the simulation will be distorted).
I used the 'Shell' setting for the Inflow nozzles. This allows them to be defined as simple plane faces rather than a volume within the simulation. The sizing and orientation of the nozzles is quite significant - they need to be big enough in relation to the fluid 'resolution' and the direction of the 'Inflow' should approximately match the orientation of those faces.

The higher the Resolution of the fluid simulation the better - although larger values will significantly affect the simulation bake time. However, the resolution must be high enough in relation to your inflow nozzles so that each contributes a solid stream of fluid. If the inflow is intermittent, try larger nozzles, reorient the nozzles to match the flow direction, or increase the resolution.
Once you have the general flow working you will likely need to adjust the Inflow speed and direction (by changing the X,Y,Z Velocity settings) to adjust the flow. This needs to be high enough to produce enough fluid to cover the surface without being too high to cause splashing (which will hit the edges of your domain and look ugly). One trick to prevent splashing is to increase the compressibility of the fluid, allowing the fluid to spread into an area rather than bounce off the existing fluid (technically not physically accurate for water but produces better effects without having to drastically increase the domain resolution).

For simplicity I used the back face of the domain as the 'surface' for the water wall rather than a fluid Obstacle. I added the 'fake' glass pane behind the domain for the final render - it doesn't interact with the simulation. This simplifies the simulation as there are no complications of the collision surface not aligning with the cells of the simulation. Add an Outflow mesh to the bottom of the domain to drain away the fluid. Don't forget to set your domain mesh to 'Smooth' (or you'll get angular fluid).

Bake the simulation and assign suitable fluid material (essentially just slightly coloured glass).
Here's the final result baked with a resolution of 300 :

Blend file included

How to make water wall effect?


my article has been evaluated since 17 months. what do you think about this situation?

Question: I submitted my article to a journal on 12.01.2016. I asked many times about status of my paper. I have not received a reply from the editor even though my article has been evaluated since 17 months. what do you think about unethical situation?
Comment: Have you contacted your editor solely? What about contacting the Editor-in-Chief? How is the  reputation of the journal? I would say you haven't provided enough information. I would suggest you give more details about the situation.
Comment: Need not be unethical.  Maybe they're having a huge problem finding reviewers.
Comment: Similar case: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/66219/what-should-i-do-as-my-submitted-paper-is-still-under-review-after-1-year
Comment: Journal is abstracted/indexed in Social Science Citation Index. Impact factor of journal is 0,5. I contacted editorial assistants that cover education journals. but I have not received a reply from the editor.
Comment: I wrote editor in chief too. but I have not received a reply from the editor.
Comment: The length of time may be highly dependent on the area.  You say "social science" and I have no knowledge of the times common for that area.
Answer: If they're not answering emails, that is a very worrying sign. I would suggest sending an email to the editor (cc'ing the editor-in-chief and any other relevant people at the journal) saying that you are very concerned that they are not answering your emails, and that if they don't answer this email, you intend to withdraw the paper.
Then, if they don't answer the email within a reasonable time, send them another email withdrawing the paper.
Comment: "if they don't answer the email within a reasonable time": I think the best is to point out in the initial email which delay you are giving them, because standards for "reasonable time" tend to vary. Make it clear that this is about getting back in touch with you about some status update, not about finishing the review. E.g., "If I do not hear back from you within three weeks (or: by DATE) with information about the status of the submission, I will have to assume that something is wrong, and will have to withdraw the submission".
Answer: While the course of action suggested by Peter is certainly correct and appropriate after a long wait, I don't think it's appropriate in your situation.
You said you have asked the editor many times and never heard back for 17 months (even if they have difficulty finding reviewers, they can at least let you know). That's utterly unaccaptable and never occurs with any good journal. Therefore, I suggest to without further delay withdraw your paper and re-submit to a good journal instead.


is the shared link between two hubs (communication node) considered multipoint?

Question: is the link between two hubs or (communication nodes)connected together is considered multipoint and each hub connected to many devices as the data of many users are shared either spatially or temporally on this link ?
Comment: It's a point to point link unless it's an archaic technology like [10Base2](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/10BASE2) or [10base5](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/10BASE5)
Comment: although this link share data between many users not dedicated for only two users
Comment: Did any answer help you? if so, you should accept the answer so that the question doesn't keep popping up forever, looking for an answer. Alternatively, you could provide and accept your own answer.
Answer: This is mostly a semantic problem. From a physical point of view, most connections you will see are point to point -- there are very few physical multipoint media types (I would propose they are all obsolete).  From a logical point of view, however, many technologies act a a multipoint networks, where any endpoint can directly address another at the data link level.
Answer: It is a point-to-point link. As Ron pointed out, logically it is a semantic problem and physically a media issue which does turn out to be a logical issue in the case of a bus network, as explained by Mike Pennington♦.
However, point-to-point and point-to-multipoint are not obsolete terms when it comes to telephony. P2P connects the gateway to a single telephony system and P2MP to one or many phones. Why do I mention this? Because a gateway having more than one voice port logically acts as a hub, if it is set to forward inbound calls to each port (hunt group / ring call). Physically it does not.
With regards to your comment at Mar 31 at 15:48, yes, the link is not dedicated to a single device connected to a hub. But this is not a criterion for calling the link P2P or P2MP. A hub regenerates the incoming signal on each port, one incoming signal at a time. There is no multiple signaling at a time on the same link. In short, it's P2P, both physically and logically.


2 year wont tell me when he needs to pee or poo anymore

Question: My 2 year old used to tell me he needs to go to bathroom in beginning then he stop why did he stopped help
Comment: Does he still use (sleeping) diapers? What do you do when he poops/pees his pants? The more information you give the better others can help you :)
Answer: I'll just throw in that we also had such backslide during potty training and from what I understand it's super common. I think an initial success can often be explained by the fact that the potty training itself is still novel and interesting to the child. It's one thing to be conscious that you need to go when you're constantly thinking about it. As the child tries to automate the behavior and turn it into an acquired ability that requires no conscious thought, a period of many accidents is unsurprising.
Answer: Is he hiding when he poops/pees?
About 74% of children who struggle to potty train have been found to hide when they poop (Schonwald et al., Factors Associated with Difficult Toilet Training, Jun 2004). This behavior can occur before, during, or after potty training. It is hypothesised to be to do with the child feeling embarrassed (Klassen et al., The Effectiveness of Different Methods of Toilet Training for Bowel and Bladder Control, Dec 2006). Many children do not see, or hear about, other people going for a poo. I have heard anecdotes of children who though they were the only ones who pooped, but more common is the fact that children pick up on the fact that adults poo in private, so think they should do the same.
Although it may seem weird, the solution to this is to help him realise that there is nothing to be ashamed of. It might be helpful to announce when you are going to the toilet (and say which you will be doing) and to leave the door open or pushed closed so that he could open it. Additionally, keep anyone who is squeamish about human waste (likely older children) away when he is using the potty or having an accident cleaned up. If you or another caregiver has negative reactions to it, such as wrinkling your nose, try your best to avoid this.
Comment: Hi DarkSeren, thanks for the answer.  Can you back up your claim of 75% specifically, and the bit after that "it is believed"?  If not, can you remove the statistic and generalize that part of the answer to make it clear that it's your opinion?  The answer is good either way, but we want to avoid making claims that appear to be backed with data or expertise that aren't.  Thanks!
Comment: Hi Joe - I've added in the references. Thanks
Comment: Thanks.  Can you elaborate a bit on the second source - I read the paper and don't see a mention of embarrassment; there is a link out to another paper by Taubmann et al. that may contain that information, but that's not in a journal I have access to.


How do I relight the pilot light on my Magic Chef stove?

Question: I have a Magic Chef stove (model: 31203KAW) which is not lighting/igniting.  We're using a butane lighter to light the stove-top burners (the gas still flows) but I'm nervous about turning on the oven "just to check" (visions of suicidal housewives are dancing in my head).  How do I relight the pilot light... if that's even what I need to do?  Help please.
Comment: I think Michael's answer is a good one: if this is a spark ignition system, there is no pilot and there is (probably) nothing to worry about. Modern stoves do not use pilot lights because of the risk of fire. Pilots are notorious for going out, and leaking gas into the kitchen. While a small amount, it can be dangerous. Modern stoves use sparks to ignite burners, and a glow plug to ignite the oven. If your stove is old enough to have pilot lights and is having issues lighting, then it might be worth investing in a new stove.
Comment: Is this problem particular to the Magic Chef gas range, or do other gas ranges have this same problem?
Comment: thank you there was a pilot in the drawer on the bottom for the oven. your answers saved me a service charge, thank you.
Answer: Do you have the manual for the thing? I've done a little poking around (I even found a bunch of parts diagrams at Sears website), and I'm getting the impression that it's got a spark ignition system, not a pilot. Is the range plugged in? Is there any chance that the circuit it's on has tripped it's breaker? I've got a cooktop with a spark ignition system, and it has a special 'light' setting on the gas control - you turn it to 'light', which turns on the gas and starts the sparker. Once it ignites you turn it further to whatever setting you want. Does yours have anything similar? Does it make a 'clicking' noise when you start the gas?
Also, has it ever worked? If so, when did it stop working? Did you make any changes to the kitchen at that time?
Comment: yep, Agree. Unless this is a very old range, it should have electronic ignition, one igniter per burner usually.
Answer: Courtesy of a Google image search, I found the wiring diagram for your stove (see below).
It shows that your stove-top burners are lit by spark ignitors and that your oven is also run by an electric ignition system. It's most likely that the oven is done with a hot coil resistor. If you look under the oven, you'll see it glowing while you've got a rolling flame next to it.
Just in case somebody does have one that has a pilot light, the complicated part is that pilot light systems come with safety valves. If the flame is out then the gas valve will close because the thermocouple / thermopile won't be generating any electricity to hold it open. You need to find the system that allows you to let gas flow without the flame and hold it open for a few seconds after the flame has started.
.
Answer: Open the drawer under the oven. Inside towards the back near the center along the top there is a metal prong sticking out - like a mini-sprinkler pipe. At the end of the pipe is something that looks like a sprinkler head. This is where the pilot light is located and where it must be lit.  Set the oven's temperature to "Off", remove the stove's oven control knob, and push in on the metal control rod there while holding a lighter under that sprinkler head— this should cause the pilot to light.  Hold the control rod in for a few seconds to allow the pilot to warm up the oven's thermocouple, then release it.  If the pilot stays lit, you are all set!  If not, try again and hold the control rod down longer. All the other answers on here are wrong: lots of stoves in modern apartments still have pilot lights.  They are no big deal and are very common and safe except in certain very rare situations. It is true that a lot of new stoves have spark systems but pilot light set-ups are still very common.
Comment: Is this in reference to the Magic Chef 31203KAW, or stoves in general? Many of those answering before have been researching which type of ignition system this stove has before posting their answer.
Answer: Here's what worked for me.   The manual says to push in the oven knob while applying flame to the thermocouple.  That hasn't worked so well for me, so following up on someone else's suggestion, I took the knob off and pushed in the control rod while applying flame to the thermocouple.  It worked like a charm!  Apparently just pushing in on the knob doesn't get the gas flowing to the thermocouple.


Can the Supreme Court declare an impeachment unconstitutional?

Question: Somebody asked:Why is the Senate, and not the Supreme Court, deciding whether the current impeachment is constitutional?
As an Australian lawyer, I was thinking the same way. If a valid impeachment is on foot, only the Senate can resolve it.  But the question here is whether the Constitution allows the impeachment AT ALL, once the person is out of office.  If that question is one for the Chamber, every impeachment can be thrown out by the majority party?
Comment: The answer to your last question in the body (which is substantially different than the one in the title) is trivially yes, at least in theory. It actually took a fairly long time for the House to decide to proceed with Nixon's impeachment. You'll want to read up on the history of that. I've voted to close this q until it's made more clear what the focus really is here.
Comment: John Roberts appears to have no interest in wading into politics and further jeopardizing the court's legitimacy by deciding whether the impeachment is unconstitutional. He knows that the Court if ruled that it was, the Democrats would view it is illegitimate and renew calls to expand the size of the Court and fill it with their nominees, and that if the Court ruled that it was not, Republicans would declare all the justices anathema and there could be riots. Since the impeachment would fail in the Senate because of Republican partisanship, he probably sees no need to take any case.
Comment: Most of this question is answered at [Can the Supreme Court overturn an impeachment?](https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/39748/can-the-supreme-court-overturn-an-impeachment?rq=1) and [Why isn't the constitutionality of Trump's 2nd impeachment decided by the supreme court?](https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/62173/why-isnt-the-constitutionality-of-trumps-2nd-impeachment-decided-by-the-suprem). However, `If that question is one for the Chamber, every impeachment can be thrown out by the majority party?` appears to be a new question.
Answer: It is absolutely true that every impeachment can be throw out by the majority party.  This is not so unusual, in Australia, as long as the government represents the majority party, the majority party can throw out every vote of no-confidence.
In fact, except in the historically rare case of a 2/3 senate supermajority, every impeachment can be throw out by the minority party.
The constitution makes it hard to impeach a President. The process requires a bipartisan agreement that the President should be impeached. This is because the President has a source of Legitimacy independent from Congress (the Electoral College, and ultimately Election by the people). While the President carries the support of even a minority in the Senate he/she may continue in the role.
It seems that the Constitutional question can be decided by the Supreme Court, but only if there is a case before them.  If the Senate convicts Trump and disqualifies him. Then if Trump files, and a state refuses to let him run, citing the Senate disqualification. And if Trump sues the state arguing the disqualification was unconstitutional, such a case could end up in the Supreme Court. But courts can't decide hypothetical cases. There has to be a litigant who has been harmed.
Comment: "The constitution makes it hard to impeach a President. The process requires a bipartisan agreement that the President should be impeached." - Though as I keep reading, there weren't supposed to actually be any parties in congress, let alone partisanship.
Comment: @Jontia that's the most egregious mistake the founding fathers make, expecting people with similar political beliefs to not work together against people with different political beliefs.  Amazingly naive considering how smart they were about pretty much everything else.
Comment: @Ryan_L  it is subordinate to the assumption that each state would represent itself.  Compare with the EU.  At least in the council of ministers it is clear that each minister represents the interests of their own government.  It was thought that the differences between Virgina, Caroliana,  New York and New Hampshire (etc) would keep the factions from forming into parties, and it was only the rise of Democratic Republicanism that broke this model.
Comment: Impeachment requires a majority in the house, conviction is what the senate can control.
Comment: @JoeW, indeed, which is why I was careful in my phrasing,  the impeachment sent by the House can be thrown out by 34 vote minority in the Senate trial.
Comment: That is not my understanding as the Senate is just voting to convict or not for the purposes of removal from office and ability to hold office in the future. Even if they do not convict the impeachment still stands.


GDALWarp and Target Aligned Pixels Not Effective

Question: I have two sets of TIFFs of different resolutions (100m and 1000m),  different alignment, and varying data types with corresponding no data values.  I need to downsample the 100m TIFFs to match the resolution and alignment of the 1000m TIFFs.  I also need to preserve no data values in each TIFF.
I am having a heck of a time accomplishing all three objectives in a straight forward manner without using multiple tools with repetitive resampling degrading the information.  Ideally, I would like to be able to accomplish all three objectives from the command line via batch, stand alone Python, or the Python window.
I have been able to achieve the correct cell size, no data value, and alignment, but by using awkward combinations of

GDAL_Translate

From inside QGIS and from a batch file running
c:\OSGeo4W64\bin\GDAL_Translate.exe;

Align Rasters

Only from inside QGIS where the menu does not allow the specification of no data values for both the source and reference TIFFs leading to edge-effects as 100m TIFF no data values are included in averaging during resampling.  Will work only if 100m raster has already been resampled to 1000m and is then resampled again by Align Rasters.  I have not been able to run Align Rasters from any sort of command line in batch or Python.  I have not even found Align Rasters on my computer as Python nor as executable.

GDALWarp

Documentation seems to suggest that I could use GDALWarp specifying Target Aligned Pixels (-tap) to accomplish all three in one go.  I can run
c:\OSGeo4W64\bin\gdalwarp.exe
from a simple batch file, but the -tap parameter is ineffective at aligning the result.
What I have tried is,
C:\OSGeo4W64\bin\GDALWarp -tr 1000 -1000 -tap ..\ROMS\BottomSalinity_max.tif -r average -srcnodata -32768 -dstnodata -32768 -of GTiff -overwrite bathy.tif bath_1000m_ROMS.tif
Can anyone see what I would need to change here?
I have to confess I am not sure I properly understand the single sentence in the documentation describing the purpose of the -tap parameter.
"-tap:  (GDAL >= 1.8.0) (target aligned pixels) align the coordinates of the extent of the output file to the values of the -tr, such that the aligned extent includes the minimum extent."
Other threads (and I have read a lot of them recently) suggest that -tap is the way to align rasters.  Am I just failing to supply the correct parameters or, is -tap not the way to align rastes?
Is there a way to access Align Rasters from the command line avoiding gdalwarp?  I do not need to warp -- just downsample and align.  I am only looking at gdalwarp as a tool through which I can successfully set the parameters for downsampling and aligning.
Comment: Could you  add the extent of `bath_1000m_ROMS.tif` from gdalinfo? Coordinates of all corners should be even thousand meters.
Answer: Not sure if you are still working on this but I had the same issue with -tap.  For some reason, and maybe this is a bug, but the '-tap' doesn't work unless there is a space removed between the -tap and previous switch.
For example, I'm calling gdalwarp from a python script and this is an example of how I'm using it.  I have to remove the space after -t_srs EPSG:26918-tap.  Weird.  Full disclosure, I'm running an older version 1.9.2 so again may just a bug in the older version. I'm about to upgrade and test.
<code>warpImage = ("C:\\GDAL\\gdalwarp.exe -ot UInt16 -of GTIFF -tr 1.0 1.0 -s_srs EPSG:32618 -t_srs EPSG:26918-tap -cutline %s -cwhere %s -crop_to_cutline -co TILED=YES -co COPY_SRC_OVERVIEWS=YES -co COMPRESS=LZW %s\\%s %s")%(fn, sql, cwd, infile, outTiff))
</code>
Comment: Heath,

I finished this project last Spring and have not worked GDAL again since.  Thanks for the note about spaces;  I will file that one away.

Odd though, in my experience parsing parameters on a command line uses a specific syntax.  Of course, you are using  cutline where I was trying to align to an existing raster.  That and you are using the %s token to substitute parameters where my quick-and-dirty early example used hard-coded pathnames.

Good luck.

Regards,

Doug.