Abu Yahya's definitions
In order of population, the Lusophonic countries are Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Portugal, Guinea-Bissau, Timor-Leste, Macau S.A.R., and São Tomé e Príncipe.
by Abu Yahya May 18, 2010
Get the Lusophonicmug. Latin, "where is the benefit?" A type of logical fallacy in which one claims one didn't do something bad because it was not in one's interests to do so. An example would be, "Why would I steal from the cash register? It's going to hurt the business if I do, and then I might lose my job."
The argument is usually used on behalf of someone else: for example, Ludo Martens (1995) argues that Stalin could not possibly have massacred millions of Russians because he needed them to fight WW2; Fogel & Engermann claimed* that American slavery was not very bad because it was in the best interests of slaveowners to have content slaves.
The argument is a fallacy because it assumes that all relevant motives of the actor are well-established, and lead away from the act. It does not account for motives like personal hatred, shame, fear, spite, ideology, and so on.
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* In *Time on the Cross* (1971); the book was conclusively debunked by David & Stampp, *Reckoning with Slavery* (1976).
The argument is usually used on behalf of someone else: for example, Ludo Martens (1995) argues that Stalin could not possibly have massacred millions of Russians because he needed them to fight WW2; Fogel & Engermann claimed* that American slavery was not very bad because it was in the best interests of slaveowners to have content slaves.
The argument is a fallacy because it assumes that all relevant motives of the actor are well-established, and lead away from the act. It does not account for motives like personal hatred, shame, fear, spite, ideology, and so on.
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* In *Time on the Cross* (1971); the book was conclusively debunked by David & Stampp, *Reckoning with Slavery* (1976).
One frequently encounters *quis est beneficium?* arguments among Holocaust deniers of all stripes. Among such worthies it is claimed that Hitler/Stalin/Enver Pasha could not possibly have wanted to massacre all those millions because it was a nuisance to try.
by Abu Yahya February 14, 2009
Get the quis est beneficiummug. *noun*; term coined by Adam Smith (1723-1790) to refer to things used to produce other things. Usually people refer to four factors of production:
1.labor (not the same thing as workers); a worker can work more or less hours per week, and can exchange her labor for payment
2. capital; includes tools, machinery, plants and fixtures, seed corn, etc. Adam Smith distinguished between inventories, which he called circulating capital, and tools, which he called fixed capital;
3. land; understood as a specific area on the earth's surface, but sometimes incorporates the natural productivity or mineral resources as well;
4. entrepreneurship; sometimes lumped with capital. Includes the combination of skills required to start a business.
1.labor (not the same thing as workers); a worker can work more or less hours per week, and can exchange her labor for payment
2. capital; includes tools, machinery, plants and fixtures, seed corn, etc. Adam Smith distinguished between inventories, which he called circulating capital, and tools, which he called fixed capital;
3. land; understood as a specific area on the earth's surface, but sometimes incorporates the natural productivity or mineral resources as well;
4. entrepreneurship; sometimes lumped with capital. Includes the combination of skills required to start a business.
Different economic systems vary in their view of who should own the factors of production. In capitalism, this would be private individuals; in communism, it would be a collective. In the Marxist transition to communism, it would be the state.
by Abu Yahya March 3, 2009
Get the factors of productionmug. (MATHEMATICS) each positive number has another number that, when multiplied times itself, equals that number. So, for example, 4 has a square root of 2 (2 x 2 = 4).
The square root of a negative number is an imaginary number. Imaginary numbers are not, by themselves, useful solutions to math problems; but they can be used to find them.
The square root of a negative number is an imaginary number. Imaginary numbers are not, by themselves, useful solutions to math problems; but they can be used to find them.
BILL: Anna, we have a rectangle that's 3 x as long as it is wide, and it encloses an area of 300 square meters. What are the dimensions?
ANNA: Well, that's like 3 squares of 100 square meters. The square root of 100 is 10, so the rectangle is 10 by 30.
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The logarithm of a square root is one half the log of the number itself; hence, the natural log of 25 is 3.2189, while the natural log of 5 is 1.6094.
ANNA: Well, that's like 3 squares of 100 square meters. The square root of 100 is 10, so the rectangle is 10 by 30.
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The logarithm of a square root is one half the log of the number itself; hence, the natural log of 25 is 3.2189, while the natural log of 5 is 1.6094.
by Abu Yahya April 23, 2010
Get the square rootmug. (FINANCE) private equity fund; business entity formed to pool money provided by investors in order to buy majority stakes in existing companies. A common practice is to then "take the company private," so that it no longer has shares trading on the stock market. The company is then restructured, so that it has entirely different management practices, or a different business strategy. Afterward, the PE fund will most likely re-sell the company on the stock market in a sponsored IPO.
PE funds are usually limited partnerships (LPs), which gives them special privileges of nondisclosure; most are organized in the State of Delaware. PEF's have sponsors, or "principals," who are responsible for organizing the fund and recruiting other investors. They are never "limited liability partnerships" (LLP's); apologies to Urban Dictionary for erroneously mixing them up in my definition for "private equity fund" and "hedge fund." The difference between the two is explained there.
Among the best-known PE funds are Blackstone Group*, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR)*, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners*, Carlyle Group, Permira, Apollo Management, Providence Equity, TPG Capital, Warburg Pincus, and Cerberus. Companies marked with an asterisk (*) are publicly listed corporations; most PE funds are privately managed. The selection above includes the largest ones by capital under management.
PE funds are usually limited partnerships (LPs), which gives them special privileges of nondisclosure; most are organized in the State of Delaware. PEF's have sponsors, or "principals," who are responsible for organizing the fund and recruiting other investors. They are never "limited liability partnerships" (LLP's); apologies to Urban Dictionary for erroneously mixing them up in my definition for "private equity fund" and "hedge fund." The difference between the two is explained there.
Among the best-known PE funds are Blackstone Group*, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR)*, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners*, Carlyle Group, Permira, Apollo Management, Providence Equity, TPG Capital, Warburg Pincus, and Cerberus. Companies marked with an asterisk (*) are publicly listed corporations; most PE funds are privately managed. The selection above includes the largest ones by capital under management.
The PE fund first appeared in the 1970's as a result of changes to ERISA. Institutional investors, usually pension funds, could be legal partners in an LP; they also required a place to park assets with very high rates of return.
In the USA, PE funds have long been sinecures for the most powerful political dynasties: the Rockefellers, the Romneys, the Bushes, and others.
In the USA, PE funds have long been sinecures for the most powerful political dynasties: the Rockefellers, the Romneys, the Bushes, and others.
by Abu Yahya September 2, 2010
Get the PE fundmug. a{n alleged} miracle that serves no purpose or is actively evil. For example, in the Apocryphal New Testament, in the book *Protevangelion*, XI. Mary's immaculate conception has caused immense turmoil for Joseph and Mary, not merely because Joseph assumes Mary has conceived with another mortal, but also because she does so far too soon. This is therefore resolved by more miracles, that fail to convince anyone (xi.19). In XIII., Joseph has to get a midwife, and finds that time has stopped (so he can find her quickly?). But in the following chapter, the midwife is useless and Mary delivers miraculously too. So there was no point at all to the miracle.
Other examples: a story in the Talmud of a slain holy man's blood, which bubbled miraculously on the spot where he was killed. Nebuchadnezzar is said to arrive there after his conquest of Jerusalem and demand to know why the blood bubbles. When he finds out, he believes he has to appease the spirit of the holy man and so he "sacrifices" 80,000 people on the spot where the blood bubbles. Wouldn't God stop the bubbling just to get Nebuchadnezzar to stop murdering people there?
Other examples: a story in the Talmud of a slain holy man's blood, which bubbled miraculously on the spot where he was killed. Nebuchadnezzar is said to arrive there after his conquest of Jerusalem and demand to know why the blood bubbles. When he finds out, he believes he has to appease the spirit of the holy man and so he "sacrifices" 80,000 people on the spot where the blood bubbles. Wouldn't God stop the bubbling just to get Nebuchadnezzar to stop murdering people there?
If Bush was a perverse miracle sent from God to punish our nation for its wickedness, then would it not have been more godlike to make us less wicked--instead?
by Abu Yahya February 15, 2009
Get the perverse miraclemug. (IRANIAN HISTORY) Secret police of Iran during the reign of Shah Muhammad Reza (r.1941-1979); began operations in 1957, four years after Operation Ajax. Gen. Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf (father of Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf was a US Army liaison who trained SAVAK in intelligence tactics; additional training was provided by the Israeli military.
General Teymur Bakhtia, the main Iranian military officer involved in Operation Ajax, was rewarded with command of SAVAK; he was dismissed in 1961 because he was believed to be organizing a coup. Subsequently, the Shah had his own secret service to spy on the secret service.
SAVAK's activities to include gathering intelligence and neutralizing the regime's opponents. An elaborate system was created to monitor all facets of political life. For example, a censorship office was established to monitor journalists, literary figures, and academics throughout the country; it took appropriate measures against those who fell out of line. Universities, labor unions, and peasant organizations, among others, were all subjected to intense surveillance by SAVAK agents and paid informants. The agency was also active abroad, especially in monitoring Iranian students who publicly opposed Pahlavi rule.
General Teymur Bakhtia, the main Iranian military officer involved in Operation Ajax, was rewarded with command of SAVAK; he was dismissed in 1961 because he was believed to be organizing a coup. Subsequently, the Shah had his own secret service to spy on the secret service.
SAVAK's activities to include gathering intelligence and neutralizing the regime's opponents. An elaborate system was created to monitor all facets of political life. For example, a censorship office was established to monitor journalists, literary figures, and academics throughout the country; it took appropriate measures against those who fell out of line. Universities, labor unions, and peasant organizations, among others, were all subjected to intense surveillance by SAVAK agents and paid informants. The agency was also active abroad, especially in monitoring Iranian students who publicly opposed Pahlavi rule.
SAVAK mostly concentrated on Tudeh and populist organizations until the late 1960's, since the clergy was mostly aligned with the monarchy until 1964, when the regime started to redistribute endowments of land held by the religious orders.
by Abu Yahya July 19, 2010
Get the SAVAKmug.