Abundance Analysis of the J4 Equatorial Knot of the Born-again Planetary Nebula A30

A30 belongs to a class of planetary nebulae identified as “born-again”, containing dense, hydrogen-poor ejecta with extreme abundance discrepancy factors (ADFs), likely associated with a central binary system. We present intermediate-dispersion spectroscopy of one such feature—the J4 equatorial knot. We confirm the apparent physical and chemical segregation of the polar and equatorial knots observed in previous studies, and place an upper limit on the ADF for O2+ of 35, significantly lower than that of the polar knots. These findings further reinforce the theory that the equatorial and polar knots originate from different events.

Virgins: There Are No 72 Virgins Waiting for Anyone in Paradise

Verses referring to people having a “purified spouse” in heaven are usually assumed to be addressing men only because of a fundamentally incorrect association of purity with virginity, thereby attaching it to women. Yet the ubiquitous concept of “purity” in the Qur’an is the far broader one of righteousness and is never used to refer to virginity. Men and women are both promised “purified spouses/mates”, whether one’s righteous spouse from one’s time on earth or a spouse from among heavenly beings referred to as hoor or hooris. Virginity as relating to being born again and made equally and eternally young in Paradise applies to both women and men, who are said to be matching qualitatively as couples. Moreover, the myth of “72 virgins in Paradise” for a (presumably male) martyr is just that, appearing nowhere in the Qur’an.

From NAFTA to USMCA: Can a Good Idea that Came Too Late Be Born Again?

This article analyzes from the trade perspective the lower-than-expected growth dividends of the export-led strategy adopted by Mexico in the 1990s. Particular attention is given to employment, labor productivity, and regional outcomes. The North American Free Trade Agreement (nafta) caused Mexican exports to skyrocket in the first years of its implementation. This initial lift was quickly sapped by China’s emergence after its entry into the World Trade Organization (wto) in 2001. Recent years witnessed a renewed dynamism of Mexican presence in the U.S. market. In an international context marked by deglobalization and decoupling, this rebound is expected to continue under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (usmca). Yet, in order to deliver economic growth, Mexico needs to diversify the geographical location of its exporting industries. The analysis of Mexican exports shows also that idiosyncratic weaknesses, such as the low contribution of the business services sector or the deficient trade and transport infrastructure, must be addressed.

Calvin’s exposition of the sixth commandment as a trajectory in his catechetical works

In this article is explored the key theological and pedagogical trajectories which shaped Calvin’s teaching of the sixth commandment (‘You shall not kill’) in his catechetical publications. These include the Instruction of 1537/1538, l’Institution Puerile de la Doctrine Chrestienne (1538–1541), the 1542 and 1545 Catechismus, and La Maniere d’Interroguer les Enfans (1551). The overall objective is not only to depict the theological line of argumentation as a development, but also to map out Calvin’s pedagogy and teaching strategies. In Calvin research, this aspect of his teaching is undervalued. This was in particular illustrated by studying the relevant source texts in chronological order. The method employed in which the original texts were read, explicated and compared to contemporary texts (Luther, Jud and Bucer), confirmed that Calvin’s basic argument should indeed by explicated contextually, based on the original language of publication. This approach also provided the opportunity to identify patterns in Calvin’s exposition that normally remain beyond the interests of investigators. One of these was the underpinning pedagogy. The results indicated that Calvin’s teaching of the commandment was ingrained in the understanding and enduring meaning of the Law for the Christian church given in the words of Christ in Matthew 5:21, 22 and 22:39. The practical implications of the Command should not be attributed to the particular use of the Law as a rule of life in the born-again. Calvin’s underpinning pedagogy allowed not only for an envisioned transfer of knowledge, but also for the unpacking of that knowledge content in terms of practical competencies and skills to live a spontaneous Christian life. In this sense, a dynamic educational strategy guided the learner by challenging questions to consider and think, and then to respond independently.Contribution: This article employed a significant historical-chronological method for studying pre-1551 Calvin texts. An appraisal of the contextual development of his thinking on ‘You shall not kill’ was argued within the framework of teaching and learning. It also created the opportunity to ask new questions to the texts such as the pedagogy that underpinned the catechetical work of Calvin.

South African Airways – born again?

Study level/applicability MBA, Exec-ed. Case overview This case focuses on the business rescue of South African Airlines. SAA, four times rated the best airline in Africa (SAA, 2019), was already insolvent when in early 2020 COVID-19 decimated the world. The state-owned airline, which had last made profits in 2011, continued to lose millions of passengers to competitors over the next decade and, despite bailouts of more than R40bn, entered Business Rescue in December 2019, still owing creditors more than R26bn. To the surprise of many, Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan was determined to rescue the airline. In May 2021, the business rescue practitioners handed SAA back to the interim board and Thomas Kgokolo (CA) (MBA) was appointed interim CEO. In June 2021, Gordhan announced a “born again” SAA, “almost ready to take off” and promised no more bailouts. But, with several billion rand outstanding to complete the rescue plan, a grounded fleet, unresolved labour problems, an critical but unnamed “strategic-equity partner” and a largely unvaccinated country entering its third COVID wave – what were the chances? Expected learning outcomes Within the framework of a country desperately in need of jobs and short of capital, the case raises questions about ethics, accountability, responsibility, management, economics and strategy. Should retrenched workers in airlines feel the consequences of their unfortunate career choices? Ought government’s bail-out already failed industries? Should governments run airlines? What sources of funds are available? Have all the necessary requirements for “restructuring” to succeed been satisfied? Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 11: Strategy.

From discursive resistance to new genealogies: rethinking Israelite identities in Africa through the case of Nuer Christian Zionists

Scholars have commonly interpreted the emergence of claims of Israelite descent among African peoples as attempts of marginalized communities to construct empowering identities by drawing on biblical narratives. This article tries to make sense of such claims from a more emic perspective, not as an instrumental counter-discourse but as a genuine attempt to grapple with the nature of ethnic membership and the place of certain communities in relation to biblical genealogies, time and space. The article explores the claims of Nuer members of several Evangelical Zionist churches operating in western Ethiopia and South Sudan that the Nuer are among the ‘lost tribes’ of Israel. It demonstrates how Nuer Zionists have reinterpreted Nuer identity, known for its permeability and constructivist nature, in light of contemporary premillennialist Zionist notions of history and peoplehood, which emphasize ethnic fixity and focus on lineages, exclusive bloodlines and biological descent. The article offers a new perspective on Israelite identities in Africa and on the influence of born-again Christianity on the construction of ethnic identities.

FROM ‘POLITICAL ECONOMY’ TO ‘POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY’ OF THE CLIMATE CATASTROPHE: WHY THE ECONOMY NEEDS TO BE BLOWN UP TO BE BORN AGAIN?

The conceptual approach to real social phenomena and problems, as well as factors influencing and shaping them, although theoretical in nature, has momentous practical consequences. The issue of nature, and in a narrower sense of climate, constitutes a telling and representative example of the implications of the theoretical and methodological orientation adopted to study society and its relationship with the environment and its resources. This short paper aims to highlight the consequences of the shift in research perspective from ‘political economy’ to ‘political sociology’ in the context of climate change and its challenges. The article’s main argument is to outline the implications of the change of reference point for the conceptualisation and operationalisation of theoretical frameworks related to social problems and challenges, which, nota bene, are conditioned directly and indirectly by the state of the ecosystem. And the central thesis is that a fundamental reorientation towards nature and climate change within the dominant capitalist system will only be camouflaged maintenance of the status quo (accompanied noisily by a series of technological and fiscal solutions that solve nothing).

Spiritual Alchemy

This book reclaims the problematic term “spiritual alchemy” as a precisely definable category for historical research and documents for the first time that there was a continuous tradition of spiritual alchemy from around 1600 to 1910. At the turn of the seventeenth century, the confluence of two important currents—German mysticism and alchemical Paracelsianism—led to a new spiritual alchemy of rebirth that entailed the formation of a subtle body within born-again believers that provided the basis for their subsequent resurrection at the Last Judgment. Embryonic forms of spiritual alchemy in pseudepigraphic writings attributed to Valentin Weigel inspired Jacob Boehme’s description of rebirth. Although he initially knew little about alchemy, Boehme developed his own spiritual alchemy in a number of works written between 1619 and 1622. According to Boehme’s understanding, laboratory alchemy was but a lesser, grossly material reflection of spiritual alchemy. All of the later key figures—Abraham von Franckenberg, Georg Lorenz Seidenbecher, Friedrich Breckling, Dionysius Andreas Freher, Mary Anne Atwood (née South)—drew on Boehme’s spiritual alchemy and communicated it to their contemporaries. Drawing extensively on the manuscript record, this book shows that Boehme’s spiritual alchemy came to shape Mrs. Atwood’s Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery and thus had a decisive impact on modern conceptions, such as those of C. G. Jung and Mircea Eliade. Ultimately, spiritual alchemy gave rise to a bewildering variety of spiritual interpretations of alchemy.