Absent certainty about the source, it is almost impossible to mount a counterattack.
In a world where the BBC and even Al Jazeera English have shown that state funding is not necessarily a bar to quality journalism - and at a time when public funding mechanisms can give medium-term certainty of income totally absent from the commercial world - it seems more striking than ever that America has outsourced its collective voice to the commercial sector.
While certainty and speed are absent from this debate, there is some sort of momentum.
(Absent the certainty of detection and penalties which is an improbably difficult hurdle).
The risk may take a value from zero to one depending on the degree of certainty that the hazard will be absent or that it will be present.
Van Gerwen's complete absence of false modesty is refreshing, and he talks with the absent-minded certainty of someone confirming that, yes, of course, two plus two equals four.
And absent confidence and the sense of certainty which comes with it, they will, as the article notes, continue to "grow by slashing", slashing their capital spending with one hand and their payrolls with the other.
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The physician will take a thorough history from the patient and indicate their certainty about each possible diagnosis (certain the diagnosis is absent, present or requires further testing).
Absent a major disruption, it's a virtual certainty that China will, over the next five to ten years, become a larger export destination than either Mexico or Canada.
To which extent these two paradigms – patient-centred medicine and evidence-based medicine – have influenced the communication process itself cannot be stated with certainty, as empirical evidence about historical shifts in actual physician behaviour in medical encounters is largely absent.
