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[effingbillgates]

I like to see you point out some scriptures from your research proving how allegry the predictions are & how flawed they come out to be.

What? What does "proving how allegry the predictions are" even mean? Do you know what allegories are?

Nonstradamus is just a created counterfit of John in revelatons therefore can't be compared to the bible that's been around before him.

Nothing. No evidence for Nostradamus being a "counterfeit". Coming later in a timeline doesn't make someone a counterfeit. I made the point I wanted to make about the nature of indeterminacy, and you've turned it into gibberish yet again. I don't know why I wasted my time.

Once again putting words in my mouth that I never said. I never tryed to make you accept anyting but your trying to make me accept your belief system. I ask you just as you asked me for proof regardless of how you think I didn't give you evidence you should of countered with some of your own proves to me that you can't prove how wrong you think I am. If I'm wrong then your wrong as well because you fail to prove your right.

You only assume I'm uneducated because I read the bible & believe in it from multiple experience is straight ignorance. I gave you scriptures explaining a portion of current events taking place. Your reply is that its not evidence. Prove to me why the bible is NOT truly the word of God after al my attempts but if your so right then an educated person like you shouldn't hesitate with no problems to disaprove my blind belief so you can enlighten me with your own doctrines.

Okay, I'm not getting sucked into this again; I hoped that last post would sink in somehow, but no, it hasn't.

You didn't say the exact words "my book is the word of God and you are wrong for not believing me" but I was paraphrasing the various sentiments you've expressed throughout this discussion (I thought this would be fairly obvious, actually). You insist (like most Christians) that your book is the word of God ("You must be stupid if you can't figure out the bible is Gods word" are your own gentle words), and you use this to assume you have some kind of authority that raises you above the processes of debating that everybody else has to go through.

This has been your whole stance in this discussion from the beginning. You post gibberish and then tell people they're wrong unless they can disprove the rantings that you received from somebody similar to you on the internet. These things do not constitute proof. And saying that some vague writings from years ago managed to remind you of present day events is not proof of anything, especially not that God was involved with writing them. Be open-minded enough (you like saying this to people who don't believe the bible) and you'll see that you can do this with countless other texts - this is what allegories do; it's not unique to the bible!

If you're going to say the bible is the word of God, and use this assumption to raise yourself above any number of philosophers (or whomever) that you turn your nose up at, then you need to provide proof that the bible is the word of God. This has to be the most straightforward point ever, but still you keep insisting that you have to be proven wrong first.

You have provided no proof, alright? And until you grasp this, and appreciate that the onus is on you to provide evidence for the authority you claim your book has, I do not need to enter a debate on your terms.



This is elementary stuff, and if you don't get it you're either wasting my time by trolling or so lacking in wits that you're not worth my time. That really is it from me until you realise your responsibility, as I'm not going to go around in circles with your madness.

[Mudofale]

Is it hard to prove me wrong without aspersions from you? Your question is like asking me to prove that oxygen & air is real but you cant visually see it. I cant make you visually see that the bible is true only give you facts of accurate occurences predicted that was mentioned before it happened.

If you fly into the 2nd most atmosphere (I think, channeling 5th grade science here) and took a jar that was a vacuum and filled it with air from our O zone (the area in the atmosphere made up of Oxygen molecules, impossible to breathe without your lungs collapsing. Now, take that to a lab, and lower the temperate and condense the jar until it forms a visible drop of frozen oxygen. There you have it, Oxygen really does exist WOW who knew making ice cubes or drinking water also proved that oxygen exist. Go get some table salt, boom, Sodium and Chlorine, oh wait THERES OXYGEN IN THERE TOO. Shall I go on or do you understand (to a 5th graders level) how molecules and atoms can be proven? Or do you want me to break it down to how you can distinguish them by the atom it's self, I can go all day if you have the brain capacity to actually understand it. Let me know, ill bust out my 7th grade chemistry book and quote it all day. (If I can find it somewhere on one of these book shelves)

[1313Jr.1313]

Why would I make something up that's been discovered by Alberto? Is Alberto lying about this & if he is can you help me by proving it? Its funny you call me dumb, stupid, etc yet you can't provide any real proof from your own research because your to busy trying to research me that has nothing to do with the subject at hand. Stop focusing on me & prove the subject at hand otherwise you mudo, splat, & eff are just ranting diatribes. Leave Bertrand Russell out of it

i provided my facts. YOU now need to prove that the sun is not hotter than pluto, pluto is not colder than the sun, and ice is not colder than warm milk. you haven't disproved what i said therefore my conclusion that YOU ARE WRONG is still valid. stop focusing on me and prove that what i say is false, otherwise you are false.

and to effing, come on... you know how absurd this is getting. honestly though, how much can possibly go over somebody's head?

[gemiwine]

How do we know the bible is true? http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t003.html Preview link:
Fullfilled prophecies:
The remarkable evidence of fulfilled*prophecy is just one case in point. Hundreds of Bible prophecies have been fulfilled, specifically and meticulously, often long after the*prophetic writer had passed away. For example,*Daniel the prophet predicted in about 538 BC (Daniel 9:24-27) that*Christ
*would come as Israel's*promised*Savior *and Prince 483 years after the Persian emperor would give the Jews authority to rebuild*Jerusalem, which was then in ruins. This was clearly and definitely fulfilled, hundreds of years later. There are extensive*prophecies dealing with individual nations and cities and with the course of history in general, all of which have been literally fulfilled. More than 300*prophecies were fulfilled by Christ Himself at His first coming. Other prophecies deal with the spread of Christianity, as well as various false religions, and many other subjects. There is no other book, ancient or modern, like this. The vague, and usually erroneous, prophecies of people like Jeanne Dixon, Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce, and others like them are not in the same category at all, and neither are other religious books such as the Koran, the Confucian Analects, and similar religious writings. Only the Bible manifests this remarkable prophetic evidence, and it does so on such a tremendous scale as to render completely absurd any explanation other than divine revelation.

Unique & Historical Accuracy: The*historical accuracy of the Scriptures is likewise in a class by itself, far superior to the written records of*Egypt,*Assyria, and other early nations.*Archeological confirmations of the Biblical record have been almost innumerable in the last century. Dr. Nelson Glueck, probably the greatest modern authority on Israeli archeology, has said:
""No archeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries.""

Scientific Accuracy: Another striking evidence of divine inspiration is found in the fact that many of the principles of modern science were recorded as facts of nature in the Bible long before scientist confirmed them experimentally. A sampling of these would include:

Roundness of the earth (Isaiah 40:22)

Almost infinite extent of the sidereal universe (Isaiah 55:9)

Law of conservation of mass and energy (II Peter 3:7)

Hydrologic cycle (Ecclesiastes 1:7)

Vast number of stars (Jeremiah 33:22)

Law of increasing entropy (Psalm 102:25-27)

Paramount importance of blood in life processes (Leviticus 17:11)

Atmospheric circulation (Ecclesiastes 1:6)

Gravitational field (Job 26:7) and many others.
These are not stated in the technical jargon of modern science, of course, but in terms of the basic world of man's everyday experience; nevertheless, they are completely in accord with the most modern scientific facts.

[effingbillgates]

Trousers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the clothing item. For the implementation of the TCG Software Stack, see Trusted Computing Group.
"Pants" redirects here. For styles of undergarments sometimes called "pants", see Underpants and Undergarment.

A pair of trousers
Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles, covering both legs separately (rather than with cloth stretching across both as in skirts and dresses). The word trousers is used in the UK and Ireland, but some other English-speaking countries such as Canada, South Africa, and the United States can also refer to such items of clothing as pants. Additional synonyms include slacks, strides, kegs or kex, breeches (sometimes britches /ˈbrɪtʃɨz/), or breeks. Shorts are similar to trousers, but with legs that come down only to around the area of the knee, higher or lower than the knee depending on the style of the garment.

In most of the Western world, trousers have been worn since ancient times and throughout the Medieval period, becoming the most common form of lower body clothing for males in the modern period, although shorts are also widely worn, and kilts and other garments may be worn in various regions and cultures. Shorts are often preferred in hot weather or for some sports, and also often by children. Since the late 20th century, trousers have become prevalent for females as well. Trousers are worn at the hips or waist, and may be held up by their own fastenings, a belt, or suspenders (braces). Leggings are form-fitting trousers of a clingy material, often knitted cotton and lycra.

In North America pants is the general category term (though Ambrose Bierce found the word "vulgar exceedingly" and recommended trousers), whereas trousers (sometimes slacks in Australia, the United States and, due to a recent resurgence, the United Kingdom) refers, often more formally, to tailored garments with a waistband and (typically) belt-loops and a fly-front. For instance, informal elastic-waist knitted garments would be called pants, but not slacks.

North Americans call undergarments underwear, underpants, "long johns" or panties (the last are women's garments specifically) to distinguish them from other pants that are worn on the outside. The term drawers normally refers to undergarments, but in some dialects, may be found as a synonym for "breeches", that is, trousers. In these dialects, the term underdrawers is used for undergarments. In Australia, men's undergarments are called underwear, underpants, undies, under-dacks, dacks or jocks.

Most speakers in the United Kingdom use trousers (sometimes slacks) as the general category term; pants often refers to underwear and is rarely used interchangeably with trousers, in some Northern dialects. In some parts of Scotland, trousers are known as trews, from which the word Trousers itself comes. whilst in Scots, trousers are known as breeks. The singular form of the word is used in some compound words, such as trouser-leg, trouser-press and trouser-bottoms.
Various people in the fashion industry use the word pant instead of pants. This is nonstandard usage. The word "pants" is a plurale tantum, always in plural form—much like the words "scissors" and "tongs".

Medieval Europe
Trousers of various design were worn throughout the Middles Ages in Europe, especially by males. Loose fitting trousers were worn in Byzantium under long tunics, and were worn by many of the barbarian tribes specially Xiongnu Hun that migrated through Europe in the Early Middle Ages, as evidenced by both artistic sources and the such relics as the Fourth Century costumes recovered from the Thorsberg bog. Trousers in this period, generally called brais, varied in length and were often closed at the cuff or even have attached feet covering, although open legged pants were also seen.

By the Eighth Century there is evidence of the wearing in Europe of two layers of trousers, especially among upper class males. This under layer is today referred to by costume historians as “drawers,” although that usage did not emerge until the late 16th Century. Over the drawers were worn trousers of wool or linen, which in the 10th Century began to be referred to as breeches in many places. Tightness of fit and length of leg varied by period, class, and geography. (Open legged trousers can be seen on the Norman soldiers of the Bayeux Tapestry.)

Although Charlemagne (742–814) is recorded to have habitually worn his trousers, donning the Byzantine tunic only for ceremonial occasions, the influence of the Roman past and the example of Byzantium led to the increasing use of long tunics by men, hiding most of the trousers from view and eventually rendering it an undergarment for many. As undergarments, these trousers became briefer or longer as the length of the various medieval outer-garments changed and were met by, and usually attached to another garment variously called hose or stockings.

In the 14th Century it became common among the men of the noble and knightly classes to connect the hose directly to their pourpoints (the padded under jacket worn with armored breastplates that would later evolve into the doublet) rather than to their drawers. In the 15th Century, rising hemlines led to ever briefer drawers until they were dispensed with altogether by the most fashionable elites who joined their skin tight hose back into trousers. These trousers, which we would today call tights but which were still called hose or sometimes joined hose at the time, emerged late in the 15th Century and were conspicuous by their open crotch which was covered by an independently fastening front panel, the codpiece. The exposure of the hose to the waist was consistent with 15th Century trends which also brought pourpoint/doublet and the shirt, previous undergarments, into view, but the most revealing of these fashions were only ever adopted at court and not by the general population.
Men's clothes in Hungary in the 15th century consisted of a shirt and trousers as underwear, and a dolman worn over them, as well as a short fur-lined or sheepskin coat. Hungarians generally wore simple trousers, only their colour being unusual; the dolman covered the greater part of the trousers.

Modern Europe
Around the turn of the turn of the 16th century it became convention to separate hose into two pieces, one from the waist to the crotch which fastened around the top of the legs, called Trunk Hose, and the other running beneath it to the foot. The trunk hose soon reach down the thigh to fasten below the knee and were now usually called "breeches" to distinguish them from the lower leg coverings still called hose or, sometimes stockings. By the end of the 16th century, the codpiece had also been incorporated into breeches which featured a fly or fall front opening.

During the French Revolution, the male citizens of France adopted a working-class costume including ankle-length trousers, or pantaloons, (from a Commedia dell'Arte character named Pantalone)[30] in place of the aristocratic knee-breeches. The new garment of the revolutionaries differed from that of the ancien regime upper classes in three ways: It was loose where the style for breeches had most recently been form-fitting, it was ankle length where breeches had generally been knee-length for more than two centuries, and they were open at the bottom while breeches were fastened. This style was introduced to England in the early 19th century, possibly[original research?] by Beau Brummell, and by mid-century had supplanted breeches as fashionable street wear. At this point, even knee length pants adopted the open bottoms of trousers (See Shorts) and were worn by young boys, for sports, and in tropical climates. Breeches proper survived into the 20th century as Court Dress, and also in baggy mid-calf (or three-quarter length) version known as plus-fours or knickers worn for active sports and by young school-boys. Types of breeches are still worn today by baseball and American football players.

Sailors may have played a role in the worldwide dissemination of trousers as a fashion. In the 17th and 18th centuries, sailors wore baggy trousers known as galligaskins. Sailors also pioneered the wearing of jeans, trousers made of denim.[citation needed] These became more popular in the late 19th century in the American West because of their ruggedness and durability.

Fly
Main article: Fly (clothing)
A fly is a covering over an opening join concealing the mechanism, such as a zipper, velcro or buttons, used to join the opening. In trousers, this is most commonly an opening covering the groin, which makes the pants easier to put on or take off. The opening also allows men to urinate without lowering their pants.

Trousers have varied historically in whether or not they have a fly. Originally, hose did not cover the area between the legs. This was instead covered by a doublet or by a codpiece. When breeches were worn, during the Regency period for example, they were fall-fronted (or broad fall). Later, after trousers (pantaloons) were invented, the fly-front (split fall) emerged.

Trouser support
At present, most trousers are held up through the assistance of a belt which is passed through the belt loops on the waistband of the trousers. However, this was traditionally a style acceptable only for casual trousers and work trousers; suit trousers and formal trousers were suspended by the use of braces (suspenders in American English) attached to buttons located on the interior or exterior of the waistband. Today, this remains the preferred method of trouser support amongst adherents of classical British tailoring. Many men claim this method is more effective and more comfortable because it requires no cinching of the waist or periodic adjustment.

[1313Jr.1313]

is it sad that effing's post was more relevant to this than gemi's? i kind of think it is.

and gemi, you claim to be speaking fact but you have not disproved pluto being colder than the sun, the sun being hotter than pluto, or warm milk being warmer than ice.

[gemiwine]

is it sad that effing's post was more relevant to this than gemi's? i kind of think it is.

and gemi, you claim to be speaking fact but you have not disproved pluto being colder than the sun, the sun being hotter than pluto, or warm milk being warmer than ice.

You haven't disaproved freemasonry not being a cult.

[gemiwine]

Credits to Ninja Iga Iga-Rya Museum

What are Ninjutsu & Ninja?

A person who uses Ninjutsu is a ninja. Ninjutsu is not a martial art. Ninjutsu is an independent art of warfare that developed mainly in the regions of Iga in Mie Prefecture, and Koka in Shiga Prefecture, Japan.*
So, do you know what kind of job ninja were doing?
Most people imagine that ninjas flew through the sky and disappeared, like Superman, waving ninja swords around, sneaking into the enemy ranks and assassinating generals... This is a mistaken image of the ninja introduced by movies and comic books.
The jobs of a ninja are divided into the two main categories of performing espionage and strategy. The methodology for performing espionage and strategy is Ninjutsu. Espionage is similar to the job of modern spies, wherein one carefully gathers intelligence about the enemy and analyzes its military strength.*
Strategic activities are skills that reduce the enemy’s military power. Ninja did not fight strong enemies by themselves. Ninja fought enemies after they had reduced the enemies’ military power. In times of peace, Ninjutsu was called an art of “entering from afar”, while in times of war, Ninjutsu was called an art of “entering from “nearby”, wherein ninja would constantly gather intelligence concerning the enemy, thinking of ways to beat the enemy, but not fighting the enemy directly. Ninja who thought rationally thought of war by intellect as great, and war by military strength (weapons) as foolish. Therefore, ninja who swing their ninja swords about can be called the lowest of the ninja.
The Ninjutsu of Iga-ryu and Koga-ryu stem from the same source, and are said to be the highest of the Ninjutsu.

Origins of Iga-ryu Ninjutsu & the history of Iga

From when did Ninja, who worked in the world of shadows, exist? Those roots are found in the “art of warfare” that began around 4000 B.C. in Indian culture, was passed to the Chinese mainland, and around the 6th century, passed through the Korean peninsula and crossed over to Japan.
In that period, a man name Otomono Sahito, who was used by ruler Shotoku Taishi, is said to be the root of the Ninja.
Have you ever heard something like this? "Shotoku Taishi could hear the words of ten people at once." Actually, there is also a theory that he used ninja to obtain intelligence beforehand. However, it is still amazing that Shotoku Taishi could remember all that intelligence...
The continental military strategy that was brought from China was developed in conjunction with shugendo, a practice involving mountain training, and adapted to Japan’s extremely hilly, narrow geography, becoming unique Japanese strategy. From this body of strategy emerged Ninjutsu. There were shugen studios in the Iga and Koka regions. Also, the houses of Todaiji and Kofukuji in the Iga region had most of the country’s warriors, and the lords of these houses adopted guerilla-like tactics, and kept the peace by containing one another. From this, Ninjutsu was developed.

Iga Ninja Republic "Iga Sokoku Ikki"

In Iga of the manorial system period, rulers and lords (guardians) did not last long. Because the people of Iga created living areas by manor in units of clans, formed an organized party of landowning farmers, and did not defer to the control of central regimes, an important 12-member council (representatives) was chosen from among the 50-60 members of the party in Iga, and they maintained safety in Iga by cooperation. This is called the “Iga Sokoku Ikki”.

The “Tensei Iga War” that crippled the ninja

In the 6th year of Tensei (1578), the ruler of Ise, Kitabatake Nobukatsu (the second son of Oda Nobunaga was adopted by Kitabatake and inherited the reins of the family) planned to attack Iga with Maruyama Castle as base, but retreated in the face of an attack from the troops of Iga. In the 7th year of Tensei (1579), Kitabatake Nobukatsu regrouped and again attacked Iga, but was defeated by the resistance of Iga’s troops. Upon hearing of this (the First Tensei Iga War), Oda Nobunaga was sorely angry, and decided to go to battle himself. In the 9th year of Tensei (1581), he led his 50,000 troops to Iga, burning all of its lands and repeatedly slaughtering adults and children alike. The Iga troops resisted to the end, but a compromise was made, and they submitted. This is the only war in which the Iga region was crippled by attack, and the 800-year manorial system of Iga region was finished, and the ninja were scattered among all lands thereafter (Second Tensei Iga War).

The three Iga Ninja Grandmasters (Hattori Hanzo, Momochi Tambanokami, Fujibayashi Nagatonokami)

The most famous group of Iga ninja is Hattori, Momochi, and Fujibayashi. Hattori Hanzo, Momochi Tambanokami, and Fujibayashi Nagatonokami are the three Iga Ninja Grandmasters.
Hattori controlled western Iga. There is a famous person who supported Tokugawa Ieyasu, named Hattori Hanzo Masanari. The Hanzo name was inherited.
Momochi controlled southern Iga. The Oe party had originally prospered in the south, and Momochi was one of the supporting families to it, but joining forces with Hattori and riding its wave of strength, Momochi was able to keep its position until the Edo period.
Fujibayashi controlled northeastern Iga. Fujibayashi Yasutake, the author of traditional Ninjutsu text “Mansen Shukai” was of this group.

The Three Great Books of Ninjutsu

Among existing traditional Ninjutsu books, “Mansen Shukai”, “Shoninki”, and “Shinobi Hiden” are called the Three Great Books of Ninjutsu.
Many traditional books were written in the Edo Period, and before that traditions were oral. It is assumed that they were written to pass on traditions and commit them to record. The are traditional texts in which the words “there is an oral tradition” stand out, and this may indicate that oral tradition was of greater importance.

Mansen Shukai, by Fujibayashi Yasutake, integrated Iga and Koka Ninjutsu, and a few types of copies are passed down in both Iga and Koka.
Shoninki, by Fujibayashi Masatake, is a traditional text of the Kishu-ryu.
Shinobi Hiden, by Hattori Hanzo is a traditional text of Iga and Koka.

How Ninja are Called

We now use the unified term “ninja”, but did you know that they were not called “ninja” in the past? Depending on the era and region, there were many different ways to call them. Let’s introduce some of those here.

The era

Asuka Era － 志能便（Shinobi）
Nara Era － 伺見（Ukami）
Sengoku Era － 間者（Kanja）・乱破（Rappa）
Edo Era － 隠密（Onmitsu）
Taisho Era － 忍術者（Ninjyutsusha）・忍者（Ninsya）

The region

Kyoto ・Nara － 水破（Suppa）・伺見（Ukami）・奪口（Dakkou）
Yamanashi － 透破（Suppa）・透波（Suppa）・三ツの者（Mitsu-no-mono）・出抜（Suppa）
Niigata・Toyama － 軒猿（Nokizaru）・間士（Kanshi）・聞者役（Kikimonoyaku）
Miyagi － 黒はばき（Kurohabaki）
Aomori － 早道の者（Hayamichi-no-mono）・陰術（Shinobi）
Kanagawa － 草（Kusa）・物見（Monomi）・乱破（Rappa）
Fukui － 隠忍術（Shinobi）

There are many other names in the different regions, but the above are the most representative.
There are various ways to call ninja, depending on their relation to being secretive, the jobs they performed, and the reading of the Chinese characters with which their names are written.

[effingbillgates]

What does a window cleaner do?

Window cleaner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the occupation. For the chemical, see hard surface cleaner.

A window cleaner (American English: window washer) is a person who maintains the cleanliness of windows, mirrors and other glass surfaces as a profession.

Window washers make about $25 dollars a day starting out and the maximum they can make is $400 in a day.[citation needed] Professional window cleaning requires mastery of special techniques using tools, most notably a squeegee. The use of proper window cleaning tools and utensils results in a better cleaning compared to home methods, such as rubbing windows with newspaper or a wet rag, using common household window cleaners such as Windex. However, some readily available household chemicals such as ammonia, vinegar (light acid), and dish detergent may be just as effective as commercial window cleaning products, which often contain these things as ingredients. Rubbing a pane of glass with a cloth can result in "stroke" marks that are visible in sunlight due to the residue left behind. Squeegees run the majority of the water off the window and leave a small amount behind which evaporates quickly. Using a squeegee for interior window cleaning may be undesirable for the excess water it gets on the sill if the mop was too wet. Licenses and a large amount of general liability insurance coverage with worker's compensation, and often an employer liability policy, is required for big window cleaning companies or those that do specialty work such as working at great heights with potentially dangerous equipment such as large scaffolds. Individuals who do basic residential or storefront window cleaning may or may not have insurance.

Window cleaners must form contracts with commercial property managers, and the selection of contractors is often carried out using a procurement system, especially for municipalities such as the city or county. This is a screening process for the organization to try to get the best service for the best price. Contractors on the list must bid on jobs independently from one another and avoid bid rigging. This becomes an extensive, complicated process, and sometimes leads to a neglect or infrequency of window cleaning and related exterior maintenance due to the high cost of window cleaning on large or tall buildings. Windows that have not been cleaned for years may not appear to be exceptionally dirty but they will be nearly permanently stained and may not come clean without harsh acids or grinding.

On tall buildings where any type of exterior descent system is used, most of the time spent by the window cleaners is sometimes the initial rigging, carrying stuff to the elevator, riding in the elevator, preparing for each descent, and navigating various other building obstacles, not actually cleaning the windows.

Depending on the type of window cleaning, different equipment is used. The most common tools are a microfiber cloth on a T handle and a squeegee. The microfiber is used to wash the window and the squeegee is used to run the water off. Household dish soap is often used for window cleaning, espeically interior, but it does not perform as well as other harsher chemicals such as ammonia or acidic glass cleaners. Dish soap is sometimes just used to soften the water before other chemicals are added. Ladders are also very common to reach windows more conveniently than using extension poles and to do skylights. Ground lifts are often used to do large, relatively low buildings which would require as many descents or more than a tall building if a rope or scaffold system was used, but to do very few windows with each descent.

For high rise window cleaning, on the exterior of tall buildings that are too high for ladders or ground lifts, or extension poles, some method of suspending from the roof must be used. But early skyscrapers did not have flat roofs so lugs or eye bolts were embedded in the building on each side of the windows and the early window cleaners wore a stout safety belt similar to those worn by electrical linemen. The windows in these types of buildings open and require the cleaner to cimb out of each one and attach to the hooks. The Empire State Building in New York City is an example of a building where this method has been used even into the 21st century. This method was extremely labour intensive and created problems as the windows became larger in width and height. But for future super high buildings with large, flat façades, it is the most convenient to use a large suspended scaffold, which are able to cover a large amount of the façade in one pass and which can hold several window cleaners. Scaffolds are also used nearly exclusively for more intensive work such as pressure washing, caulking, repairs, and other exterior building maintenance. Also very common is using a rope descent system and bosun's chair, a method of abseiling, which is more versatile but only suits one person each. Buckets are clipped onto the side of the chair and the user is seated in the chair and wears a full body harness attached to a separate line with an elastic lanyard and a device known as a rope grab should the user fall out of the chair or the primary line break. Much of this equipment was adopted from or is identical to equipment used in mountain climbing and rescue operations. Much of this equipment is not optimal though, for example, industrial rope is usually thicker and less elastic and the friction descent devices are often a different, more complex type than the simple rack and bar descender.

To attach to the roof, the window cleaner must use either a good attachment point such as a structural beam or hook, or use an independent, counterweighted roof rig or parapet clamp. Both of these are portable from building to building and are most suitable to rope descent cleaning. Permanent davits, capable of handling much more weight are often included on large buildings to suspend the much heavier window cleaning/exterior maintenance scaffolds from. Most buildings and rooftops were not designed with the window cleaner in mind, and it is not always possible to find suitable anchor points other than the parapet wall or a railing to attach the safety line to. In this case some sort of counterweight sturdy enough to be used as an anchor point, other than the roof rig or parapet clamp, must be used.

Risks include slipping on water or soap, and falling from heights. Unlike in Scotland, there is no government licensing in The United States, England or Wales - this means anyone can claim to be a window cleaner. Window cleaning is considered the most dangerous job in the UK. Several window cleaners die each year, and many are injured.

According to the IWCA training manual, the most dangerous tool in the industry is the ladder. This is because there is no protection from falling should the ladder slip or the user lose their balance. It is also because ladder use is so common in almost all forms of window cleaning.

Many window cleaning businesses are claiming that laws are about to come into force due to European Directive 2001/45/EC that will make ladders illegal for window cleaners.. However, the government denies this stipulation, as ladder use for window cleaning is "low risk and short duration":
To clarify the situation HSE is not attempting to ban ladders or stepladders, but ladders should not be the automatic first choice of access. They should only be used after a suitable assessment of the alternatives and the prevailing site conditions. The selection process for access equipment is coming under increasing scrutiny at HSE inspections. This guidance clarifies that for short duration work like window cleaning, provided a number of well-recognised precautions are taken, ladders will remain a common tool for many jobs.

During the September 11, 2001 attacks, window washer Jan Demczur used a squeegee to free himself and five others from an elevator shaft in the World Trade Center by hacking at drywall where the elevator had stopped in front of a false wall at the 50th floor.

Accidents involving falling or dropping things from great heights off the side of buildings are extremely rare due to the extensive safety measures taken and the following of strict procedures. However, when they do happen, they are often fatal. Those who use the bosun's chair method are always in a full body harness and have two separate ropes tied to separate anchor points, and all of their tools are usually tethered to the chair so even if dropped, they would not fall to the ground below. Large scaffolds tend to be more dangerous, as a trade-off to their convenience on large façades, as they are much heavier and have a tendency to swing and lose control in high winds. They have also been known to buckle and break in half, as they are often long and only supported from the ends by wire ropes, as well as relying on electric motors.

On December 7, 2007, two New York City window cleaners fell 47 stories when their scaffold gave way. Of the two brothers, 37 year old Alcides Moreno survived the incident, which made worldwide coverage. Moreno suffered serious injuries, but was able to talk within one day.

Another issue is how "green" window cleaning companies are seen to be. During the spring of 2006 Defra considered banning the non-essential use of water and extending their already tight restrictions to prevent the use of water-fed safer which reach up to 60 ft. Window cleaners could return to the bucket-and-mop method, because Health and Safety Working at Heights allows such for temporary access,. Many window cleaners and window cleaning companies argue that their usage of water is minimal in comparison with water usages of large industry and energy companies, and that their water usage accounts for a small percentage of overall water consumption in developed countries.

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Credit to New World Encyclopedia

Age Of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment, sometimes called the Age of Reason, refers to the time of the guiding intellectual movement, called The Enlightenment. It covers about a century and a half in Europe, beginning with the publication of Francis Bacon's "Novum Organum" (1620) and ending with*Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" (1781). From the perspective of socio-political phenomena, the period is considered to have begun with the close of the Thirty Years' War (1648) and ended with the French Revolution (1789). The Enlightenment advocated reason as a means to establishing an authoritative system of aesthetics, ethics, government, and even religion, which would allow human beings to obtain objective truth about the whole of reality. Emboldened by the revolution in physics commenced by Newtonian kinematics, Enlightenment thinkers argued that reason could free humankind from superstition and religious authoritarianism that had brought suffering and death to millions in religious wars. Also, the wide availability of knowledge was made possible through the production of encyclopedias, serving the Enlightenment cause of educating the human race.
The intellectual leaders of the Enlightenment regarded themselves as a courageous elite who would lead the world into progress from a long period of doubtful tradition and ecclesiastical tyranny, which had resulted in the bloody Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and the*English Civil War (1642-1651). This dogmatism took three forms:

Protestant scholasticism by Lutheran and Calvinist divines,[1]

"Jesuit scholasticism" (sometimes called the "second scholasticism") by the Counter-Reformation, and the theory of the divine right of kings in the Church of England. (A later, religious reaction against the church's dogmatic outlook was the Pietist movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.)
Enlightenment thinkers reduced religion to those essentials which could only be "rationally" defended, i.e., certain basic moral principles and a few universally held beliefs about God. Aside from these universal principles and beliefs, religions in their particularity were largely banished from the public square. Taken to its logical extreme, the Enlightenment resulted in atheism. The age of Enlightenment is considered to have ended with the French Revolution, which had a violent aspect that discredited it in the eyes of many. Also, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), who referred to "Sapere aude!" (Dare to know!) as the motto of the Enlightenment, ended up criticizing the Enlightenment confidence on the power of reason. Romanticism, with its emphasis upon imagination, spontaneity, and passion, emerged also as a reaction against the dry intellectualism of rationalists. Criticism of the Enlightenment has expressed itself in a variety of forms, such as religious conservatism, postmodernism, and feminism. The legacy of the Enlightenment has been of enormous consequence for the modern world. The general decline of the church, the growth of secular humanism and political and economic liberalism, the belief in progress, and the development of science are among its fruits. Its political thought developed by Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), John Locke (1632-1704), Voltaire (1694-1778) and Rousseau (1712-1788) created the modern world. It helped create the intellectual framework not only for the*American Revolutionary War and liberalism, democracy and capitalism but also the French Revolution, racism, nationalism, secularism, fascism and communism.