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Symposium Is One of the Most Critically Essay Excerpt from Essay : Symposium is one of the most critically analyzed pieces of ancient literature, because it expresses in a fascinating format the lifestyle of the Athenian elite, as well as the intellectual maturity of the philosopher Socrates. While studying the nature of love may be a discussion of low importance to modern philosophers, an emotional reaction so strong as love is to human nature has always been a remarkable aspect of human life. In addition, in the time of the Symposium, Greek mythology had largely avoided the topic of an emotional love, in favor of violence, war, and lust. Therefore, the topic of love was not only one which could be shared within a room of men, but was actually a rather progressive topic which was understood in incredibly different ways than the modern concept of love. To better understand the lessons of the Symposium, one must study the nature of love from the two most prominent speakers on the topic, as well as come to a determination as to why Socrates' opinion was considered superior enough to bring an end to the debate on the nature of love. The subject of love in the ancient world is an interesting one, because generally, marriage and procreation was about power and property, not love. Love is a relational property because Love does not have any properties of its own. Rather, it connects someone who desires something with the thing they desire. Thus, Love is not wise nor rich nor beautiful nor any of the other things we might ascribe to an object of desire. Rather, Love is that desire which finds itself in the absence of all these praiseworthy qualities. Presenting Love as a relation clarifies its position and identifies the flaws in the earlier speeches given. But in treating this relation as a thing with a nature and properties of its own, Plato is inching toward philosophically dangerous ground. Agathon's speech on love, and the God of love, Eros, is generally well received by the audience, who enjoy the passion brought to Agathon's comments on the subject. Agathon believes that, "Eros is the best of the gods, young and good looking, with supreme strength and ultimately bearing good intentions for mankind" (Symposium, 193), an important distinction in a mythology filled with anti-human deities and supreme beings. This view is in opposition to Phaedrus' claim that Eros is old. Agathon continues by describing how Eros does not simply interact with humans' physical forms, but also their emotions and feelings, proving just how powerful and unique of a god that Eros is. Eros also had a positive effect on the Gods on Mount Olympus, who governed the world with less rage and chaos because of the influence that Eros had brought to the gods. Socrates' complaint with Agathon's conception of love sweeps the Symposium's prior stories and philosophies aside, due in part to Plato's favoritism for his teacher, and part because of Socrates' immense abilities to whittle away at non-truths in the pursuit of logic. Finding the cause for why something is as it is, rather than simply suggesting a list of non-well reasoned guesses as the party had done. Socrates begins his critique of the Symposium's speeches thus far by noting how absolutely no form of logical argument can be made to support the claims by any of the participants. Indeed, the flowery stories woven so exquisitely only served to hide the truth of the subject under a weight of expectation. Socrates focuses on Agathon's claim that Eros does not seek out what he requires, but rather spreads joy and happiness with no restraint. Socrates sees a flaw in this logic; if Love only wishes to spread love, then is the act of Eros spreading love not a selfish gesture? When one desires above all else love, then that becomes their necessity, thus proving that Eros is indeed a god simply acting out of his own wishes and desires, and therefore is not the selfless being that Agathon had described. Socrates continues his speech by discussing the woman Diotima, and her lessons for Socrates. She says, "that above all else one must have a justified opinion" (Symposium, 201). If one simply holds a "true opinion" which is offered without justification, then it could be said that it is not a wise position to hold, even if it is true, because the holder of that opinion does not have a grasp of the wisdom of such an opinion. Diotima explains that love is neither good nor bad, but rather simply an intermediary between gods and mortals. Diotima believes that beauty and pleasure are the things that we love, but Eros himself is not the same, as he is the cross between Resource and Poverty, and therefore is always in conflict. The "last word" by Socrates is the realizations that while all humans seek what they find beautiful, and in this effort discover what they love, when one looks hard enough, they will realize that what they love is beauty itself. This idea speaks to the Athenians powerfully, as they find pleasure in the pursuit of knowledge, and in this pursuit, find exceptional truths in math, architecture, art, and love. This pronouncement by Socrates not only impresses on his audience the high quality of his philosophical thought, but also teaches us through the ages in modern times just how far ahead Athenian society was compared to the contemporary civilizations at the time, best represented by Sparta, the war faring city-state which exists in opposition to the majesty of Athens. Socrates is given the last word in order to stress the significance of his contributions. As the greatest philosopher of the time, Socrates is said to be "always searching for Wisdom" rather than being wise himself. Even after Agathon steps out of the debate, Socrates continues his lesson through dialogue with a person not even present in the room, allowing Socrates to continue with his analogy without having to create predictable outcomes for the questions he poses to Diotima, despite her not being present in the Symposium. The symposium is ended when Alcibiades enters the room, drunk and with a musician girl, and therefore Socrates is given the last word, without a formal conclusion to the Symposium. The story ends with Alcibiades in the symbolic role of Dionysus, god of alcohol and festivities, arriving to celebrate Socrates just as the man has delivered another rhetorical triumph. The way that Plato wrote his piece, it would appear as if social events like this were very common, and it is easy to see why Athens developed to become such a progressive society for the time, due to the openness to honest debate. This is a far cry from the absolute word of Xerxes or the Spartans, the flexibility of the Athenian mind is epitomized in Socrates, and it is the greatest gift to man that Plato's writings happened to last through the millennia. Interestingly, Agathon describes Eros as fickly and beautiful, without responsibility and without a destination, much like himself, Socrates, on the other hand, describes Eros as being wise and tough, poor yet wise, much like Socrates himself. In this way, love is relational; entirely dependent on the situation that one seeking love is presently faced with. Also, bringing in a woman's opinion to the discussion, even if her presence is not at the symposium, is an interesting twist from Socrates. The Greek culture was incredibly male-oriented, and this is present in the story as the women are told to leave at the beginning of the conversation between the men. Removing the gender bias is a way for Socrates to discuss the idea of pregnancy from the perspective of a woman, and Socrates uses Diotima's opinions of love to suggest that males are far more satisfied by sharing ideas between each other than in a sexual manner, as ideas last longer and are thus more powerful interactions. In the Apology, Socrates' unsuccessful self-defense in the championing of independent thought is his last stand against the close-minded forces of a militarized Athens who see Socrates as a corrupting individual to society. Socrates' understanding that the gods are simply "rhetorical tools developed to explain the various aspects of Greek life" (Apology, Part One), Not as actual present beings, is dangerous to the Athenian state. Socrates' views directly competed with the goals of Pericles and Thucydides, who saw Athens as a regional leader, with various sub-states which all required management. Arts, Philosophy, and Mathematics simply were not useful in a city-state that was always under the threat of war by outside forces. Socrates is an incredibly stubborn man, however, and could not back down from a challenge even from the state itself, resulting in his forced suicide, despite the pleas of his followers that they should accept exile from Athens and escape to live on another day. The Apology is both an oral vindication of Socrates and his revolutionary ideas, as well as a testament to the lasting virtues of… Cite This Essay: "Symposium Is One Of The Most Critically" (2011, December 09) Retrieved June 24, 2017, from "Symposium Is One Of The Most Critically" 09 December 2011. Web.24 June. 2017. <> "Symposium Is One Of The Most Critically", 09 December 2011, Accessed.24 June. 2017,
Emergency Care for Dogs Source: PetWave, Updated on April 10, 2017 Emergency Care for Dogs Emergency Care for Dogs Guide: Approaching an Injured Animal Injured animals have a strong instinct to leave the area of the accident and to hide in order to protect their selves. In nature, this instinct serves to keep injured animals safe from predators that may exploit an animal’s injury for their own gain. Keeping this instinct in mind, it is important to approach an injured animal slowly while talking to the animal in a calm and non-threatening voice. What To Do First Once an emergency has occurred, the first thing to do is to check the dog’s ABC’s: airway, breathing, and circulation. If the dog is not breathing and the airway seems obstructed, visually check for any obstruction that could be blocking the dog’s airway and if necessary perform the canine Heimlich maneuver. If the airway is open but the dog is not breathing, canine CPR should be carried out at once. Once the dog’s ABC’s have been checked, look for any signs of bleeding, broken bones, swelling, bruising of the skin or limbs, or any objects which have hurt the dog (gunshot wound, knives, glass, and other foreign objects). If the dog is bleeding, control bleeding by applying direct pressure to the wound. If a foreign object has broken the dog’s skin never remove the object, and instead try to control bleeding around the object. Once any life threatening bleeding is addressed, stabilize any injured areas and prepare the dog for immediate transport. If there are no signs of injury to the dog, quickly check the dog’s temperature for any signs of heat stroke (hyperthermia) or extreme cold (hypothermia) before beginning transport. If the dog is suffering from these conditions, cool the dog down (or warm the dog up in the event of hypothermia) before beginning transport. How to Identify and Manage the Dog’s Pain Most dogs will show some symptoms if they are in severe pain, but this is not always the case. Certain breeds of dogs have an extremely high tolerance to pain, and they may not show any symptoms even if they have severe injuries such as a broken bones. This is why it is so important to have a dog thoroughly checked by a veterinarian after an accident even if no symptoms of an injury are apparent. When an emergency has occurred and the dog seems injured but there is no sign of injury, you can gently palpate the dog’s body and limbs to check for any areas where pain is present. Once painful areas have been identified, these areas need to be stabilized as quickly as possible to prepare the dog for transport. While a dog in an emergency may be in extreme pain, it is important to realize that the pain cannot truly be managed until the dog has received professional medical attention. However, you can help to reduce the dog’s pain by stabilizing the injury, keeping the dog warm in the event of shock with a blanket, and staying calm with the dog (if dog’s sense that their owners or people around them are upset they will pick up on those emotions and become further distressed). Transporting an Injured Animal Keep the injured animal from moving as much as possible and try to stabilize any injuries before transport. Stabilize any injured areas by wrapping the injured areas in any type of cloth. Stabilize broken limbs with cloth, newspaper, cardboard, or whatever is handy at the time. Once the injured area has been stabilized, use a large towel or blanket to move the dog. Gently scoot the dog onto the towel or blanket, have two people pick up each corner of the towel or blanket, and lift the dog into the vehicle. If a dog tries to bite or snap during the transport, it may be necessary to muzzle the dog with a strip of material.
You are here Detection of short dispered pulse signals Technology Number: Principal Investigator Particle Physics A new signal processing tool for the detection of pulses travelling through media with complex or unknown dispersion properties was developed by the group of Prof. Gal-Yam, originally for detecting radio bursts in astronomical observations. Pulses are applied in various fields such as oil & gas exploration, detection (e.g. sonar, lidar and radar) and communication. When pulses pass through dispersive media, the arrival times at the detector of different frequency components may differ, and as a result the pulse may become degraded (e.g. transformed to a longer pulse with reduced intensity), even to the level of becoming indistinguishable in terms of signal to noise. This problem becomes even more challenging when detecting short pulses that travel through complex or unknown media. The new method presented here provides a proven and efficient solution that can be applied for different scenarios where short pulses dispersed by complex media are used. • Detection and surveying technologies- sonar, lidar, radar etc • Efficient, requires limited computational resources • Generic, can be applied to various setups • Easily implementable into existing systems Technology's Essence The method includes obtaining an input array of cells, each indicating an intensity of a frequency component of the signal at a representative time. A fast dispersion measure transform (FDMT) is applied to concurrently sum the cells of the input array that lie along different dispersion curves, each curve defined by a known non-linear functional form and being uniquely characterized by a time coordinate and by a value of the dispersion measure. Application of FDMT includes initially generating a plurality of sub-arrays, each representing a frequency sub-band and iteratively combining pairs of adjacent sub-arrays in accordance with an addition rule until all of the initially generated plurality of sub-arrays are combined into an output array of the sums, in which a cell of the output array that is indicative of a transmitted pulse is identified. More technologies in Mathematics and Computer Science
NRSC - Exam 2 Flashcards.txt Home > Preview The flashcards below were created by user Anonymous on FreezingBlue Flashcards. 1. What are the three main components of language? • phonology - rules governing the sounds of language • semantics - meaning of words and word combinations • syntax - how words are put together in a sentence 2. What is the difference between anterior and posterior aphasias? • anterior - speech output. syntactic processing • posterior - speech comprehension, semantic processing. 3. aggramatic aphasia problems with producing and comprehending grammatical aspects of language, patients with anterior lesions 4. agraphia loss of ability to write 5. alexia inability to read as a consequence of brain damage 6. aprosodic speech at one pitch, due to brain damage to anterior regions of right hemisphere. 7. attentional dyslexia can recognize a single letter or a single word, but cannot if it's in a string of letters or words. 8. Broca's aphasia (disordered speech output) patients have difficulty producing words, but it was not because of difficutly with the muscles. Lesion to frontal region, just anterior to, but not in, the section of the motor strip responsible for control of the face. 9. conduction aphasia caused by severing connection between Wernickes and Brocas areas, characterized by difficulty repeating what was just heard. Sound images received by W would not be conducted forward to Bs to be produced. 10. crossed aphasia aphasia resulting from right-hemisphere lesion in right-hander... doesn't occur often 11. deep alexia phonological alexia plus semantic paralexias and difficulty reading abstract words. 12. direct route to reading print directly associated with meaning. Must be used with irregular words. 13. dysprosodic disordered intonation, due to damage to left hemisphere. 14. echolalia compulsive repetition of what someone has said 15. global aphasia inability to comprehend language or produce it. Caused by extensive damage to multiple parts of system (eg output center and sound image center). 16. grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence rules how each grapheme should sound, and how they should be combined. 17. inference • ability to fill in the blanks and make assumptions about material that is not explicitly stated. • Difficulty with inference = difficulty using what was previously said to interpret whats going on. • Difficulty with nonliteral aspects of language 18. irregular words do not follow grapheme-to-phoneme rules, impossible to sound out correctly. 19. letter-by-letter reading spelling dyslexia or pure alexia, individual letters can be identified but cannot be integrated to form a word. 20. lexical agraphia • reasonable spelling (manually and verbally) for regular and nonwords, but perform poorly with irregular words. • narrative 21. neglect dyslexia individual consistently misreads beginning or end of a word. 22. neologisms 'nonsense words', follow the rules by which a language combines its sounds yet are not words 23. paraphasias errors in producing specific words, manifest in many ways 24. Peripheral alexia inability to process more than one letter at a time, read all letters in a word, or appreciate overall form of a group of letters 25. attentional dyslexia 26. Neglect dyslexia individual consistently misreads beginning or end of a word. 27. Letter-by-letter reading 28. Phoneme smallest unit of sound that can signal meaning (ex. C and b do not mean anything in themselves, but change the meaning from cat to bat) 29. phonemic paraphasia substituted word has similar sound to intended one. ex. table --> trable 30. phonological alexia disrupted phonological route, but intact direct route. No problem reading previously learned words, but difficulty reading nonwords or unfamiliar words. Lesion to posterior left hemisphere. Perhaps a milder form of deep alexia? 31. phonological agraphia can manually or orally spell regular and irregular words, but perform poorly with nonwords. Lesion to left supramarginal gyrus (parietal above posterior sylvian fissure) 32. phonological route to reading 33. Phonological alexia 34. phonology sounds that compose language and rules that govern their combination 35. phonetics the way in which a phoneme is articulated/produced in particular contexts (anterior/Broca's problems) 36. place of articulation location in the vocal tract where airflow is obstructed 37. prosody intonation pattern, or sound envelope, of an utterance. Ex. Distinguishing a statement from a question by noting the rise or fall of tone of voice. Right hemisphere is better at interpreting these cues 38. semantic paralexias word is misread as a word with similar meaning. ex. reading forest and saying 'woods' Difficulty reading abstract words. ex. sympathy vs basket 39. semantic paraphasia substituted word has similar meaning to intended one ex. 40. semantics meaning of language, patients with posterior aphasia have most problems with this. Written and spoken 41. surface alexia have trouble linking surface information (visual form of word) directly to meaning. Disruption in direct route but not phonological route... cannot read irregular words. 42. syntax rules of grammar 43. telegraphic speech words produced tend to be only content words, not function words or word endings 44. transcortial motor aphasia same deficits as Brocas aphasia, but can repeat. Often do so compulsively echolalia. 45. transcortical sensory aphasia disconnection between region processing sound images of words and the concept center. Symptoms similar to Wernickes, except can repeat words and also exhibit echolalia. 46. voicing timing between release of air for the stop consonant and vibration of vocal cords 47. wernicke's aphasia disrupted speech comprehension along with fluent (but nonsensical) speech output. Fluent = not disjointed, jumble of words word salad 48. What are the 6 parts of the brain important to attention? • 1. reticular activating system (RAS) • 2. superior colliculus • 3. thalamus • 4. parietal lobe • 5. anterior cingulate nucleus • 6. frontal lobe 49. What role does the RAS play in attention? alerts brain to be aroused and pay attention, keeps brain in attentive state 50. What role does the superior colliculus play in attention? allocates attention by controlling eye movements - saccades 51. What role does the thalamus play in attention? early gating of sensory information, receiving information from RAS... selective attention 52. What role does the parietal lobe play in attention? fine-grain selection of sensory information, allocation of attentional resources to specific stimulus or task 53. What role does the anterior cingulate nucleus play in attention? selecting response - ex. stroop effect 54. What is the stroop test? ex. name the color that the word is printed in when the word is the name of another color. 55. What role does the frontal lobe play in attention? selecting, initiating and inhibiting motor responses 56. alertness and arousal basic levels of attention, allows us to be responsive to the world around us. 57. altitudinal neglect • vertical plane neglect; turns out is also related to near-far neglect • -bottom neglecting patient would bisect lines closer to top than she should have; she would neglect the near part of space • -top neglecting patient would bisect lines closer to bottom than he should have; he would neglect the far part of space 58. attention selecting specific information for further processing 59. caloric stimulation pouring water at least 7 degrees C cooler than body temperature into the ear canal induces motion in semicircular canals. May increase brain activation in temporal parietal region 60. chronic vegetative state person does not regain consciousness though bodily functions can be maintained. Have primitive reflexes, follow people with their eyes, but have no additional awareness of outside world. 61. cingulate cortex selection of appropriate response to stimuli 62. coma unresponsive to most external stimuli 63. contingent negative variation slow-going negative shift in brain's electrical activity in response to warning signal about imperative stimulus. 64. double simultaneous stimuation technique person is confronted with two similar items simultaneously, one on each side of space. Used to determine hemi-neglect. 65. early-selection viewpoint theory that attention is selected early in processing, before items are identified 66. hemineglect • Individual ignores, or does not pay attention to, the side of space contralateral to the lesion • Inattention not dependent on modality of information presented • More severe after right hemisphere lesions 67. intralaminar nucleus of the thalamus helps to keep us awake by modulating levels of arousal in the cortex. Works along with medial dorsal and reticular nuclei 68. late-selection viewpoint theory that attention selected after sensory processing is complete, and items have been identified and categorized. 69. multiple-resource theory there are limited number and types of resources that can only be used for certain types of processes. 70. object-based viewpoint of attention • item attributes or object. ex. Finding a person according to what they said theyd be wearing (a green jacket with white stripes) • Object-based attentional modulation 250-300 ms after stimulus presentation • Corbetta et al. 1991 study: are the two clips of moving colored shapes identical or not? Pay attention to rate of motion, color, or shape and ignore the other two aspects. If attending to color, V4 most active. Shape, more active ventral visual stream. Motion, area MT. 71. pulvinar within the thalamus, selective attention 72. resource effort required to process information 73. reticular activating system • in the brain stem • Alerts brain to be aroused and pay attention keeps brain in constant attentive state • Controls sleep-wake cycles • Connects to most regions of cortex • Bilateral damage results in coma 74. saccade • eye movement jump from one position to the next with no processing of intervening visual information. • Express saccade 120 ms, reflexive, triggered by novel stimuli in the periphery, disrupted by damage to S.C. • regular saccades 200-300 ms, disrupted by damage to frontal eye field 75. selective attention selection of information (sensory information, possible responses) essential to a task. 76. somatoparaphrenia denying ownership of a limb 77. space-based viewpoint of attention • ex. Finding a person according to where they said they might be (in arrivals, under the Lufthansa sign) • Space-based attentional modulation 100 ms after stimulus presentation • Greater response when item appears in attended location vs unattended location. 78. stupor state in which a person can be aroused when shaken vigorously or called by name but cannot speak rationally and fall back into unconsciousness quickly 79. superior colliculus • Flexibly allocates attention by controlling eye movements - saccades • Usually responsible for bringing peripheral stimuli into foveal vision • supranuclear palsy degeneration of superior colliculus and parts of basal ganglia. Renders a person basically blind by inability to move attention from one thing to another. 80. Thalamus • (subcortical) • Early gating of sensory information • Parts receive information from RAS • Medial dorsal, intralaminar, and reticular nuclei modulate level of arousal in cortex • Pulvinar nucleus selective attention. 81. vigilance sustained attention, ability to maintain alertness continuously over time. Card Set Information NRSC - Exam 2 Flashcards.txt 2013-10-29 07:45:32 neuroscience attention language CU Boulder Fall 2013 Cognitive Neuroscience Exam 2: attention and language Show Answers: What would you like to do? Home > Flashcards > Print Preview
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 A guide to financial numbers Thanks to Hugh Richards, a veteran antinuclear campaigner, for this What's the difference between a million, a billion, a trillion? A million seconds is 11.57 days. A billion seconds is 31 years. A trillion seconds is 31,688 years. Western civilization has not been around a trillion seconds. One trillion seconds ago - 31,688 years was well before the peak of the last ice age (20,000 years ago). A million minutes ago was - 1 year, 329 days, 10 hours and 40 minutes ago. A billion minutes ago was just after the time of Christ. A trillion minutes ago was 1,901,280 years ago, Homo Erectus was just emerging, and lasted a further 1,500,000 years Homo Sapiens started to develop about 100,000 years ago. A trillion pounds is so large a number that only politicians can use the term in conversation... probably because they seldom think about what they are really saying. If they start using the T word, we are in very deep trouble No comments:
Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Nobel Laureate: Harald zur Hausen The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008 "for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer" Harald zur Hausen (1936 - ) won the Noble Prize in 2008 for discovering that a virus, human papilloma virus, causes cervical cancer. He also won a Gairdner Award in 2008. Zur Hausen's discovery led eventually to the development of an HPV vaccine. Gardasil is the best known of the two vaccines on the market. Most doctors recommend that young girls be vaccinated. Here's the 2008 press release on Zur Hausen. Nobel Laureates Discovery of human papilloma virus causing cervical cancer Importance of the HPV discovery [Photo Credit: IBMLive] 1 comment : 1. Dr Hausen, with the discovery of HPV as agent responsible for Cervical cancer, open the possibilities to explore the various other cancers in which infectious organism may have a role to play. The days are nor far off when either we will able to screen all those who are susceptible to cancer but also protect the at risk individuals by vaccination.
Armadillo is a Spanish word that means "little armored one." 3 banded armadillo Area: Eastern Bolivia, southwestern Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina Habitat: Dry grassland and forest Food: Ants, termites, beetle larvae Size: 8 1/2 to 10 3/4 inches long Babies: A single pup is born after 120 days. Mammal with a Shell Armadillos are the only mammals covered by a shell. But it’s different than a seashell or a tortoise shell. An armadillo’s shell is made up of bony plates covered by thick, hard skin. The “armor” isn’t the only protection this armadillo has from predators. When a frightened three-banded armadillo curls up into a ball, it often leaves a space open. If a predator puts a paw or nose into that space to try to pry the armadillo open, the little animal slams its shell shut—ouch! A three-banded armadillo uses its long, sharp front claws to dig into termite mounds to feast on the insects inside. It also uses them to break open tree bark to snack on beetle larvae hiding inside. Those claws are terrific tools! Blog Archive About Me My photo
Monday, October 10, 2016 dissecting pledge There have been many postings on Facebook about the Pledge of Allegiance being mandatory in schools. Pledges are fine if people including children know what they are pledging. Let's look at the Pledge of Allegiance. Here's a bit of its history • Written by Colonel George Balch in 1887. • Revised by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, revised it in 1892 • Adopted by Congress in 1942 • Amended with the words "under God" in 1954 on Flag Day has more of the history including debates, why word changes were made and challenges. If one is going to do something as serious as make a pledge to a nation of 323 million people, they should know what they are promising and why. Let's analyze it I pledge allegiance • A pledge is a serious promise • Allegiance is loyalty to a group, person, country If you believe that promises are serious and if you believe loyalty is important saying it is a commitment. To the flag of the United States of America A flag is a piece of cloth of various shapes and colors. • Flags can be patriotic symbols • Flags often have military associations based on their use going back to ancient times • Flags were often heraldic in nature helping soldiers find their leaders • National flags were more or less derived from ship flags which helped identify the country of origin of a ship And to the Republic for which it stands Merriam Webster defines a Republic as: Much has been written that the US is now an oligarchy which Merriam Webster defines as • "a country, business, etc., that is controlled by a small group of people • : the people that control a country, business, etc. • : government or control by a small group of people" When we are looking at things like Citizens United, the bought and paid for congress maybe the wording should be changes to "and to the oligarchy for which it stands." One nation indivisible Technically the US is one nation comprised of many different demographical groups. When a person makes a pledge to the US do they know: • All the states, the capitals, the products, the problems, the strengths • The makeup of their government including the names of the major office holders • How local, state and national governments function • The foreign policy of the country and why including the other countries point of view The last item is especially important because part of the pledge means giving approval to good and bad activities. It could mean sacrificing one's life. Under God These words were added supposedly in reaction to Communism. Does that mean atheists, Muslims, Hindus, etc. cannot promise their loyalty to the US? With liberty and justice for all What a wonderful concept, but the US falls far short here. Judges who get kickbacks for sending people to prison, trials where evidence that would free the plaintiff is held back by the court, police forces threatening witnesses into perjury, etc. The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Being a citizen is serious. It implies a deep commitment to the country one lives in. Pledging loyalty to a country is a good thing, but unless one understands all the implications, mouthing the words of the pledge is mere gobblygook. Children should not be allowed to recite the pledge until they have a knowledge of their country's history, government, policies etc. They are too young to know what they are doing. If they are to become productive, responsible citizens they need this understanding. When they have the knowledge and perhaps after an indepth exam than they can be allowed to make the pledge and the first time should be a ceremonial much like a First Communion or a wedding. No comments:
Strategy. Innovation. Brand. predicting the future Innovating The Innovations It's a mashup! It’s a mashup! Liar, Liar, Confabulator Uh oh. His lips are moving. Uh oh. His lips are moving. How can you tell when humans are lying? Their lips move. It’s not necessarily the case that we lie with the intent to deceive or defraud. It’s just that many of the stories that come out of our mouths simply aren’t true. You can call it non-malicious fabricated storytelling. More generally, it’s called confabulation. Neurologists originally thought confabulation resulted from mental deficits caused by injuries or strokes or dementia. People with such deficits might tell entirely cohesive stores that were simply not true. Some people might recall old memories and assume that they were fresh and current. Others might invent stories to explain their physical limitations like blindness or paralysis. In Oliver Sack’s well-known book, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, the man in question mis-identified not only his wife but most everyone he met. The more we study confabulation, the more we recognize that “normal” people do it as well. We all have an innate desire to connect the dots. We want to explain how things happen and why. We want to be able to say that X caused Y and – if it was true in the past – it should also be true in the future. The more we can construct effective stories about the past, the more we believe we can control the future. This gives us a sense of confidence and security. But, of course, we can’t predict the future. (Experts are especially bad at it). I wonder if our inability to predict the future doesn’t result from confabulation. We confabulate the past and, therefore, the future. Here’s a little thought experiment. If you see five similar objects arrayed left to right, which one do you prefer? In the absence of distinguishing information, people tend to pick the object on the right. Richard Nisbett and Timothy Wilson used this bias in an early study of “normal” confabulation. The study simulated a consumer survey and asked subjects to pick an item of apparel from a left-to-right array of four items that were essentially the same. Nisbett and Wilson noted that, “… the right-most object in the array was heavily over chosen.” This was expected; it’s normal behavior. However, when the researchers asked people why they chose a particular object, they gave all kinds of answers that had nothing to do with position. In other words, they were confabulating even under perfectly normal conditions. Similarly, I have a story that explains my career. I have an explanation for why I was promoted in a certain case and not in another. I can explain how I got from Job A to Job G in a very linear, logical fashion. But do I really know these things? Am I really sure what caused what? Do I really know why the boss made a given decision? No, I don’t. But I can make up a good story. The only way to prove cause-and-effect is through an experiment. I would have to replicate myself and run the two versions of me in parallel. I obviously can’t do that, so I’ve made up a convenient story. It seems plausible; it works for me. But is it true? Even I don’t know. Confabulation happens before and beneath our consciousness. Nisbett and Wilson cite George Miller: “It is the result of thinking, not the process of thinking, that appears spontaneously in our consciousness.” We can’t readily control confabulation because we don’t know it’s happening. We only see the results. When you ask someone a question like, Why did you choose your career? (or your spouse, or your suit, etc.), you’ll likely get a plausible answer. But is it true? Even the speaker can’t know for sure. Can it help us understand the past and predict the future? Probably not. For a good overview of confabulation, see Helen Phillips’ article in New Scientist. The Structure of Predictions The cost of my services may go down. The cost of my services may go down. I like to think about the future. So, in the past, I’ve written about scenario planning, prediction markets, resilience, and expert predictors. What have I learned in all this? Mainly, that experts regularly get it wrong. Also, that experts move in herds — one expert influences another and they begin to mutually reinforce each other. In the worst cases, we get manias, whether it’s tulip mania in 17th century Holland or mortgage mania in 21st century America. Paying ten times your annual income for a tulip bulb in 1637 is really not that different from Bank of America paying $4 billion for Countrywide. I’ve also learned that you can (sometimes) make a lot of money by betting against the experts. The clearest description of “shorting” the experts is probably The Big Short by Michael Lewis. I’m also forming the opinion that the reason we call people “experts” is because they study problems closely. They’re analysts; they study the details. Like college professors, they know a lot about a little. That may make them interesting dinner partners (or not) but does it make them better predictors of the future? I’m thinking that the experts’ “close read” makes them worse predictors of the future, not better. Why? Because they go inside the frame of the problems. They pursue the internal logic of the story. Studying the internal logic of a situation can be useful but, as I pointed out in a recent article, it can also lead you astray. In addition to the internal logic, you need to step outside the frame and study the structure of the problem. If you stay inside the frame, you may well understand the internal dynamics of the issue. But, in many cases, the external dynamics are more important. The case that I’ve been following is the cost of healthcare in the United States. The experts all seem to be pointing in the same direction: healthcare costs will continue to skyrocket and ultimately bankrupt the country. The experts are pointing in one direction so, as in the past, I think it’s useful to look in the other direction and predict that healthcare costs won’t climb as rapidly as in the past or may even go down. Here are two interesting pieces of evidence that suggest that the experts may be wrong. The first is a report from the Altarum Institute which notes that 2012 represented the “…fourth consecutive year of record-low growth [in healthcare spending] compared to all previous years in the 50-plus years of official health spending data.” Granted, there’s a debate as to whether the slowing growth is caused by the recession or by structural changes but the experts (yikes!) suggest that at least some of the shift is structural. The second piece of evidence is a report by Matthew Yglesias in Slate that documents the dramatic decline in spending for healthcare construction. Spending to construct new hospitals dropped precipitously in 2008 and has stayed low, even during the recovery. As Yglesias points out, construction spending is “the closest thing we have to a real-time forecast of what the future is going to look like.” So, are the experts wrong? As Chou En Lai liked to say, it’s too soon to tell. But let’s keep an eye on them. Otherwise, we could be framed. Strategy: What If Health Care Costs Go Down? The telegraph will generate millions of jobs. In the early 1990s, call centers were popping up around the United States like mushrooms on a dewy morning. Companies invested millions of dollars to improve customer service via well-trained, professional operators in automated centers. Several prognosticators suggested that the segment was growing so quickly that every man, woman, and child in the United States would be working in a call center by, oh say, 2010. Of course, it didn’t happen. The Internet arrived and millions of customers chose to serve themselves. Telecommunication costs plummeted and many companies moved their call centers offshore. Call centers are still important but not nearly as pervasive in the United States as they were projected to be. Now we’re faced with similar projections for health care costs. If current trends continue, prognosticators say, health care will consume an ever increasing portion of the American budget until everything simply falls apart. Given our experience with other “obvious trends”, I think it behooves us to ask the opposite question, what if health care costs go down? Why would health care costs go down? Simply put — we may just cure a few diseases. Why am I optimistic about potential cures? Because we’re making progress on many different fronts. For instance, what if obesity isn’t a social/cultural issue but a bacteriological issue? That’s the upshot of a recent article published in The ISME Journal. To quote: “Gram-negative opportunistic pathogens in the gut may be pivotal in obesity…” (For the original article, click here. For a summary in layman’s terms, click here). In other words, having the wrong bacteria in your gut could make you fat. Neutralizing those bacteria could slim down the whole country and reduce our health care costs dramatically. And what about cancer? Apparently, we’re learning how to “persuade” cancer cells to kill themselves. I’ve spotted several articles on this — click here, herehere, here, and here for samples. Researchers hope that training cancer cells to commit suicide could cure many cancers in one fell swoop rather than trying to knock them off one at a time. Of course, I’m not a medical doctor and it’s exceedingly hard to predict whether or when these findings might be transformed into real solutions. But I am old enough to know that “obvious predictions” often turn out to be dead wrong. In the late 1980s, experts predicted that our crime rate would spike to new highs in the 1990s. Instead, it did exactly the opposite. Similarly, we expected Japan to dominate the world economy. That didn’t happen either. We expected call centers to dominate the labor market. Instead, demand shifted to the Internet. In the case of health care, it’s hard to make specific predictions. But a good strategist will always ask the “opposite” question. If the whole world is predicting that X will grow in significance, the strategist will always ask, “what if the reverse is true?” You may not be able to predict the future but you can certainly prepare for it. The Art of the Wrong View In one of my classes at the University of Denver, I try to teach my students how to manage technologies that constantly morph and change. They’re unpredictable, they’re slippery, and managing them effectively can make the difference between success and failure. The students, of course, want to predict the future so they can prepare for it. I try to convince them that predicting the future is impossible. But they’re young. They can explain the past, so why can’t they predict the future? To help them prepare for the future — though not predict it — I often teach the techniques of scenario planning. You tell structured stories about the future and then work through them logically to understand which way the world might tilt. The technique has common building blocks, often referred to as PESTLE. Your stories need to incorporate political, economic, societal, technical, legal, and environmental frameworks. This helps ensure that you don’t overlook anything. I’ve used scenario planning a number of times and it has always helped me think through situations in creative ways – so it seems reasonable to teach it. To prepare for a recent class, I re-read The Art of the Long View by Peter Schwartz. I found it on one of my dustier bookshelves and discovered it was the 1991 edition. While I remembered many of the main points, I was surprised to find a long chapter titled, “The World in 2005: Three Scenarios”. Here was a chance to see how well the inventor of scenario planning could prepare us for the future. In sum, I was quite disappointed. The main error was that each scenario vastly overestimated the importance of Japan on the world stage in 2005. In a way, it all makes sense. The author was writing in 1991, when we all believed that Japan might just surpass every other economy on earth. Of course, he would assume that Japan would still dominate in 2005. Of course, he was wrong. So what can we learn from this? Two things, I think: 1. Always remember to ask the reverse question. If it’s “obvious” that a trend will continue (e.g. Japan will dominate) always remember to ask the non-obvious question: what if it doesn’t? Today, it seems obvious that health care costs will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. But what if we make a medical breakthrough and costs plummet? 2. Remember that resilience is better than prediction. We’ll never be able to predict the future — partially because we can’t really explain the past. But we can be prepared by building flexible systems that can respond to unexpected jolts. The human immune is probably a good model. This means building systems and organizations where information flows easily, creativity is valued, and leaders can emerge from anywhere. I’ll continue to teach scenario planning in the future. After all, it’s a good template for thinking and planning. I’ll also be able to provide a very good example of how it can all go wrong. 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God's Bits of Wood Test \| Mid-Book Test - Easy Buy the God's Bits of Wood Lesson Plans Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________ Multiple Choice Questions 1. Where does N'Deye Touti go after leaving the police in "Chapter 9"? (a) To her mother's house. (b) To the river. (c) To Beaugosse's office. (d) To the compound. 2. Why does Beaugosse want to know how N'Deye Touti feels about Bakayoko? (a) Because she keeps talking about Bakayoko. (b) Because he doesn't like her anymore. (c) Because she spends a lot of time with Bakayoko. (d) Because Bakayoko wanted him to ask her. 3. In "Chapter 10", how does Sounkare describe the strikers? (a) Fearsome. (b) Powerful. (c) Proud. (d) Foolish. 4. In "Chapter 11", what do Penda and Maimouna discuss? (a) If people are sinners. (b) If women are warriors. (c) If men are dogs. (d) If children are saints. 5. In "Chapter 9", why do the women patrol the streets? (a) They don't patrol the streets. (b) In response to the attack on the women. (c) To protect the injured people in town. (d) As a show of support for the union. 6. In "Chapter 9", where is Beaugosse told to travel? (a) Bamko. (b) France. (c) The river. (d) Union headquarters. 7. At the end of "Chapter 3", how much time passes? (a) Months. (b) One night. (c) Years. (d) Days. 8. In "Chapter 11", how does Penda feel about sharing her bed? (a) It reminds her of what is important. (b) It makes her angry. (c) It makes her feel proud. (d) She doesn't care about sharing her bed. 9. What does Ramatoulaye's brother keep as a pet? (a) A dog. (b) A horse. (c) A ram. (d) A bird. 10. At Diara's trial, why is it suggested that he be flogged? (a) Because that's what the Koran dictates. (b) Because it's French law. (c) Because all the other workers were beaten. (d) Because Diara is widely disliked. 11. When Diara returns to work, how does Tiemoko try to track him down? (a) Following the train tracks. (b) Bribing people in the marketplace. (c) By following his wife. (d) Through his son. 12. Why do the women of Thies gather at Dieynaba's? (a) They are entertained by her stories. (b) They all owe her money. (c) They are inspired by her strength. (d) They enjoy her cooking. 13. How many deputies visit with Dejean in "Chapter 3"? (a) Four. (b) Five. (c) Two. (d) Three. 14. In "Chapter 9", why does the Imam negotiate with the police? (a) To end the strike. (b) He doesn't negotiate with the police. (c) To free Ramatoulaye. (d) To spy on the police. 15. How many siblings does Strike have? (a) Six. (b) Seven. (c) Nine. (d) Eight. Short Answer Questions 1. What angers Niakoro about speaking with Ad'jibid'ji in "Chapter 1"? 2. Why do the women overturn trucks in "Chapter 9"? 3. What do the women in the cart do when their horse gets stuck in "Chapter 4"? 4. What does Tiemoko do when he realizes Diara returned to work? 5. Why do Bakayoko's co-leaders call off the striking action in "Chapter 3"? (see the answer keys) This section contains 519 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) Buy the God's Bits of Wood Lesson Plans God's Bits of Wood from BookRags. (c)2017 BookRags, Inc. All rights reserved. Follow Us on Facebook
Troilus and Criseyde Quiz \| Eight Week Quiz E Buy the Troilus and Criseyde Lesson Plans Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________ This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Book IV. Multiple Choice Questions 1. What is at the beginning of Book III? (a) A legend. (b) An ode. (c) A poem. (d) A diagram. 2. Pandarus says that he is ashamed of which of the following? (a) Ignoring his gut feelings. (b) Betraying his niece. (c) Scheming in love. (d) Helping Troilus. 3. Which of the following does Troilus say that he will never lose sleep over in Book I? (a) Poverty. (b) Unfairness. (c) Women. (d) War. 4. What does Troilus say that he would rather do than disgrace Criseyde? (a) Fight another war. (b) Suffer through a real sickness. (c) Be locked in prison. (d) Die. 5. Why does Pandarus want to arrange a last meeting between Troilus and Criseyde? (a) So that he can ask her to run away. (b) So that they can bid farewell to each other. (c) So that they can agree on a plan. (d) So that they can be wed. Short Answer Questions 1. How does Criseyde hear about the prisoner trade? 2. What is Calkas' occupation? 3. How does Criseyde feel about her father? 4. Why does Criseyde always wear one color? 5. Who protects Criseyde when the people want to kill her? (see the answer key) This section contains 222 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) Buy the Troilus and Criseyde Lesson Plans Follow Us on Facebook
• Join over 1.2 million students every month • Accelerate your learning by 29% • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month Say how far you agree with the views that Drummer Hodge is presented in a romantic, idealised way, and that Graves(TM) German soldier is presented with stark realism. Extracts from this document... 1 A) Write a comparison of the ways the writers describe the death of a soldier. Say how far you agree with the views that Drummer Hodge is presented in a romantic, idealised way, and that Graves' German soldier is presented with stark realism. Opinions expressed through poetry differ hugely and have always done so throughout history. The opinions and experiences of the writers are the main factors, which affect the content and messages that the poems portray. War poetry such as that of Thomas Hardy and Robert Graves hold opinions, which coincide with their own feelings and emotions on the subject of War. In 'Drummer Hodge' Hardy shows the tragedy and waste of war but no direct criticism is implied. Indeed, 'Drummer Hodge' is presented in a holy, romantic way that is arguably presenting War as a glorious and romantic affair engaged in to protect us from evil. 'A Dead Boche' is far more realistic and Graves seems to use his poem to show how war can be so dehumanising that the dead soldiers can be viewed as symbols rather than people. ...read more. Graves understood that the people back home, indirectly involved in the War, saw little of the true horrors and perceived the War to be glamorous and heroic. He creates this poem, with it's sickly language and synesthesia, in an attempt to shock people into reconsidering their opinions on the war as a whole. 'Drummer Hodge' is a completely different poem, from a completely different perspective. Hardy did not directly experience War, unlike Graves, and only wrote the poem 'Drummer Hodge' having read about the young boy's death in a newspaper and therefore because of this, the language in 'A Dead Boche' contrasts hugely with the soft, romantic and natural language in 'Drummer Hodge.' Furthermore this is partly because Graves aims to shock and disgust the reader whilst Hardy aims to glorify and commend in order to increase a feeling of national pride. 'His homely Northern breast and brain Grow to some southern tree, And strange-eyed constellations reign His stars eternally.' The place in which this drummer boy is buried is peaceful and beautiful and in a sense this poem seeks to comfort the British public with the fact that although many will die abroad defending the ...read more. This deliberate use of rhythm is also seen in 'A Dead Boche' as the rhythm is regular and constant but this seems to end on the last two lines, stopped dead, just as the German soldier was. Also Graves deliberately rhymes certain woods for increased effect. 'Wood/Blood' - Used, as the wood itself would be covered with blood from the battle. 'Green/Unclean - The colour green is the colour of infection, bile and other disgusting things and so their rhyme is perfect especially when placed in context with a dead, decomposing body. Both poems hold their separate views and opinions, Graves anger and despair at the War is openly apparent in 'A Dead Boche' and there is a sense of despair in 'Drummer Hodge' too, as the boy is buried in a foreign land, far from his place of birth, seemingly left; uncared for by his countrymen without even a gravestone to mark his grave. At the same time Hardy seems to celebrate this as being naturalistic and spiritual. There is nothing soft in 'A Dead Boche' and this is intended, at least Hodge was buried underground and laid 'to rest' whilst the German soldier is simply propped against a shattered tree trunk. ...read more. The above preview is unformatted text Found what you're looking for? • Start learning 29% faster today • 150,000+ documents available • Just £6.99 a month Not the one? Search for your essay title... • Join over 1.2 million students every month • Accelerate your learning by 29% • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month See related essaysSee related essays Related AS and A Level Comparative Essays essays 1. Thomas hardy poem - neutral tones One of the poems in the 1912-13 collection is the poem 'The Going' Hardy feels anger towards Emma. Although she has passed, Hardy still blames her for disappearing without saying good-bye, 'why did you give no hint that night? Never to bid good-bye', like she used to do when she was alive. 2. Compare the way Larkin and Plath present human relationships in their poems. This suggests that the husbands and wives don't feel fulfilled by their marriage which is similar to Plath's idea of artificial marriage in The Applicant. Afternoons shows what marriage has become after time, whereas Plath's The Applicant discusses what marriage is likely to become, in terms of the stereotypes created by society. 1. The Historyof War Poetry and the works of Wilfred Owen " Nevertheless, they are the poems by which he is most likely to be remembered and honoured.(8) Bibliograghy 1) Philip R. Liebson, How Sweet It Is, The Chicago Liberary Club, 28 Fabruary 2000, p. 21. 2) Margaret Drabble, The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 6th Ed, 2000, p. 877 3) 2. Is Thomas hardy obsessed with the past In contradiction to these claims, we do also see many other Hardy poems that speak of the present and the future. While it appears that the majority of Hardy's work is based on his past, a man who is completely obsessed by this would not possess the capacity to write about the future. 1. How Do These Poems Reveal Shelley(TM)s Views About The Role Of The Poet?(TM) Discuss. By doing so and then comparing himself to this element he hints that poets, such as himself, are as powerful as the wind and can bring sweeping changes to society and people across the globe. Shelley also points out that without the help of nature, poets can do nothing and 2. Nature is not just a matter of presenting landscapes, scenes and creatures; it is ... The 'black'ning church' and 'midnight streets' give a repressing feeling with an implication of despair. Light is a source given by nature, the lack of it in 'London' emphasises the lack of nature through out the city. In 'To Autumn' the sun is personified and is the giver of life to natures plants, ripening them and creating perfect form. 1. The Colour Purple and Margeret Atwood Herself. "And us feel so happy. Matter of fact I think this the youngest I ever felt!" What the novel asserts is that people can be weak or strong and gender should not dictate perceptions of qualities that are essentially human. Margaret Atwood's poetry is often symbolic. 2. Women are dismissed as insignificant in both the poetry of Larkin and Eliot. How ... In The Wasteland, A Game of Chess, Eliot illustrates this with a reference from Ovid?s Metamorphoses; a painting depicting ?The change of Philomel? stands on the ?antique mantel? a picture of violence, rape and mutilation. Violence is emphasised throughout this section, starting with blank verse, the meter becomes increasingly irregular • Over 160,000 pieces of student written work • Annotated by experienced teachers • Ideas and feedback to improve your own work
updated 4/19/2006 3:18:41 PM ET 2006-04-19T19:18:41 A woman is in stable condition with bubonic plague, the first confirmed human case in Los Angeles County since 1984, health officials said Tuesday. 1. Don't miss these Health stories 1. Splash News More women opting for preventive mastectomy - but should they be? 3. Report questioning salt guidelines riles heart experts 5. What stresses moms most? Themselves, survey says The woman, who was not identified, was admitted to a hospital April 13 with a fever, swollen lymph nodes and other symptoms. A blood test confirmed the bacterial disease, and she was given antibiotics, officials said. Bubonic plague is not contagious, but if left untreated it can morph into pneumonic plague, which is. Bubonic plague is usually transmitted to humans from the bites of fleas infected by rodents. Health officials said they suspect the woman was exposed by fleas in her home and that there was no cause for alarm. An estimated 10 to 20 Americans contract plague each year, mostly in rural communities. Bubonic plague is believed to have been the "Black Death" that killed 25 million people in Europe between 1346 and 1351. Discussion comments Most active discussions 1. votes comments 2. votes comments 3. votes comments 4. votes comments
5 health tips for the New Year We look at the top five healthy resolves, the potential obstacles and how to reach your goals in 2015. The New Year really could see in a 'new you'. Roughly every seven years most of the trillion cells in our bodies are replaced, which physically means we start all over again. Research in Stockholm's Karolinska Institute suggests that the average age of all the cells in an adult's body may turn out to be as young as 7 to 10 years. 'Different cells are replaced at different rates,' says Dr Jonas Frisen, who led the research. 'The fastest turning over cells are, for example, some white blood cells, which live only a few days. Other cells, for example most nerve cells and many heart muscle cells, are never replaced.' It's good news for those thinking of New Year resolutions, because if our bodies can start afresh, then why not our habits? Stop smoking Quitting smoking is one of the most common resolutions every year. However, only a fraction of smokers ever succeed, mostly due to the fact that many aren't prepared and are not sure how they are going to do it. The good news is that studies of smokers, who successfully quit, show that having a plan is crucial to success. You are four times more likely to quit successfully if you ask for help along the way. This means you should look at the following. • Sign up with your local stop smoking service for face-to-face support and advice. • Call the Smokefree charity on 0800 0224 332. • Ask your doctor for help if you're finding it hard to manage your cravings. • Look at what can help aside from patches and gum. For instance you could double your chances of quitting with stop-smoking medication. Lose weight After the excesses of Christmas who doesn't want to lose a few pounds? The problem is most people fail at weight loss because they expect to see an instant result and become discouraged when they don't. 'The key to successful and permanent weight loss is to understand that healthy eating is something you have to do for life and that you need to allow your body and mind time to get used to it,' says nutritionist Hannah Saunders. 'This often takes around two weeks to kick in.' To lose weight effectively, follow these tips. • Get the right type of support. Studies show those who get support via friends or weight loss groups lose weight more successfully. • Bear in mind that a realistic weight-loss goal is losing one to two pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) per week. • Choose a healthy eating plan with emphasis on lean protein, healthy fats and vegetables. Drink less After the hangovers of January 1st, it's not surprising most people resolve to drink less. The problem is many people don't achieve it because they don't realise how much they're drinking, and they keep putting themselves in environments where it's difficult to drink less. The first step is to look honestly at how much you drink so you have an understanding of how your drinking compares to the recommended daily guidelines. Once you've done this, Drinkaware, the charity for sensible drinking, suggests the following. • Consider how much you drink at home and try to buy smaller glasses. • When you're out, choose more diluted alcoholic drinks, such as white wine spritzers. • Learn to read and understand labels on drink bottles for unit value and alcohol strength, so you know exactly what you're consuming. Get fit 'The problem with getting fit is that it takes time and hard work. People don't want to admit that when they take it on,' says personal trainer Leigh Adams. 'It basically means you have to do it regularly, forgo unhealthy habits, and be committed at least three to four times a week. 'This is why 60 per cent of gym memberships lie wasted for the whole year.' The trick to making it work says Gillian Reeves, group exercise manager at Virgin Active Health Clubs, is to look at the following. • Choose something that you enjoy. Why not try walking, running, Zumba or aerobics? • Set short, medium and long-term goals to keep you motivated and committed. • Seek professional advice. Fitness professionals will be able to point you in the right direction, design a programme specifically for you, track your progress and help you to achieve your goals. Get more sleep While most of us yearn for more sleep, when it comes to going to bed early and cutting out bad habits that work against sleep, such as using televisions and computers just before bed, we're not so keen. The solution to better sleep, advises Dr James B. Maas, author of 'Sleep for success', is to establish a regular sleep schedule. This means you should try to do the following. • Do not try to catch up on lost weekday sleep by sleeping in on the weekends. If you sleep late on Sunday, your internal clock will be off and you will be sleepy when it's time to be refreshed and alert. • Switch off televisions and computers 40 minutes before bed so your body clock knows it's time to sleep. Other people read: Healthy resolutions for 2015: get advice on how to be healthier and happier. Do I drink too much alcohol? What is the present advice on safe drinking? Smoking – cutting down or quitting: two parts to addiction. Running for beginners: fancy running, but aren't sure how to progress? Last updated More from Netdoctor: Hour glass with red sand There's 'no limit' to human life span say some scientists But would you want to live forever? Man on smartphone Smartphones are making us stupid, according to this study Even when they're switched off Herbs in test tubes - herbal medicine The stamp you need to look for if you take herbal remedies Sexual health Signs you've got bacterial vaginosis There's a lesser-known infection than cystitis or thrush, and here's everything you need to know about it... Painkiller addiction is becoming a huge problem in the UK Dr Roger Henderson reveals the signs you need to watch out for Britain's doctors say abortion should not be a crime Woman cycling to work Mental Health Cycling to work could be a great way to combat stress Another excuse to get on your bike Couple lying in bed, feet sticking out of covers Regular sex could be good for your heart But only if you're male, apparently Woman taking contraceptive pill Sexual health The retailer says its availability will give women more choice Pregnant woman Live near a noisy road? It could affect your pregnancy chances New research suggests your home might have a surprising influence
What Is Pix2Pix, and How Do You Use It? Artificial intelligence has made significant strides in recent years. And now, with help from machine learning, it's becoming more intelligent by the day. It's against that backdrop that a new solution called Pix2Pix, from Dutch public broadcasting network NPO, is now making its rounds on the web. Pix2Pix creations can have uneven results, even if you supply a lot of detail. Original Image If you don't know much about Pix2Pix, there's a good reason for that: It's in its fledgling stages and relies on technology that still needs some polishing. However, by relying on a neural network and using machine learning, it can generate some rather interesting creations. Using a simple line drawing as its reference point, Pix2Pix converts it into an oil painting based on its understanding of shapes, human drawings and the real world. And if you're an accomplished artist, it might actually spit out something interesting. Read on to learn more about Pix2Pix, how it works and whether it's something you should try out. What is Pix2Pix? Pix2Pix is the brainchild of the Dutch public broadcasting network NPO. It was developed as part of the NPO's desire to create its own artificial intelligence system and see how well machines would do at analyzing human creations and turning them into lifelike paintings. Pix2Pix uses a range of features, including an algorithm to interpret information, a discriminator that can analyze both the original and the output when it's created, and a neural network that it relies on to guess what the image should look like. In other words, your creations are tossed around inside a computer's brain to spit out an image that hopefully looks realistic. MORE: Best Camera Phone - Top-Rated Smartphone Cameras What can Pix2Pix do, exactly? Pix2Pix is a service that can instantly convert your drawings and illustrations into paintings. It uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and conditional adversarial networks (more on these below), among other features, to create the picture. You can try out Pix2Pix and either submit a drawing or create your own quick drawing in the small white box on the dedicated site. From there, you can click to convert the image into a painting and spit out something that hopefully looks like your original. What is a conditional adversarial network, and why should I care? At the heart of the Pix2Pix technology is something called a conditional adversarial network (CAN). Despite its nebulous name, CAN can be boiled down rather simply. The technology takes an image that you want to create and delivers what it believes is the best result, based on its understanding of what the image should look like. It then uses artificial intelligence to determine how accurate the depiction is and uses that information to create more images. The hope is that as time goes on, and the system learns more about the user's desires and accuracy requirements, CAN will create better-looking pictures. However, it's important to note that, for CAN to work, users around the world need to submit images to the system. Generally speaking, the more opportunities Pix2Pix has to analyze and create pictures, the more opportunities it has to learn what works and what doesn't. And that, of course, should translate to better pictures. MORE: 6 Pro Tips for Taking Better Pictures With Your iPhone 7 Plus Where can I try it out? Pix2Pix itself can be accessed here. As you can see, it features two boxes: one for the input, or what you would draw, and another for the output, or what the system creates. If you want to try it out, clear the box on the left, and use your mouse to draw the image of your choice. Make a face, draw an object or create whatever else you want. When you're ready, click rocess. Your output box will be populated automatically with the Pix2Pix creation. If you like what you see, you can keep your creation by clicking the Save button. It will immediately download a PNG file both of your input and your output. When you use the service, you might be surprised by how fast it is. That's an accomplishment of artificial intelligence and machine learning that shouldn't be overlooked. Credit: GitHub Original Image Can I submit my own professional drawings? Yes, you can! In fact, it might get you better results. The more detail there is in your drawing, the more likely it is that Pix2Pix will identify different features within your creation and output what you hope might be an accurate painting. MORE: The Best Photo Editing Software and Apps - Beginner to Pro How much does it cost? Here's the best part: Pix2Pix is free to use. And you can submit as many pictures as you want without fear of incurring a charge. This thing doesn't look right. What gives? Well, that's part of the problem with artificial intelligence today. And it also goes back to what we said about conditional adversarial networks. The more inputs, or drawings, Pix2Pix gets and can process through its servers, the more accurate it'll become. But right now, its ability to deliver accurate results is rather minimal. Although the examples provided by the creators show exceedingly sophisticated images, or outputs, I spent considerable time trying to create something (anything!) that would resemble a real person, and I didn't have much luck. But if you keep trying (and your friends keep trying), there's a possibility that Pix2Pix will improve and deliver better results. Can I do more than portraits? If you were to ask most industry experts, they'd say the future of artificial intelligence and machine learning is bright. They'd say that as computers become more sophisticated — and therefore, more intelligent — services like Pix2Pix will only get better. But it's not just portraits that you can expect to look better in the future. Credit: Christopher Hesse/Image-to-Image Demo Original Image The same Pix2Pix technology model has been used in other tools to allow computers to create drawings. For instance, a developer named Christopher Hesse created a service that lets you create a wide array of paintings. In one of his tools, called Facades, you can create walls, doors, windows and more. Then, based on your creations, the service spits out what looks like a real building. MORE: 12 Tips for Taking Amazing Landscape Photos And if you're a cat lover, you can use the same site to draw a cat sketch and have the service create your real-world version. Hesse's tool even lets you create shoes and handbags. According to Hesse, its tools were developed by using reference images of cats, shoes, handbags and buildings. The service evaluates what a person draws, tries to compare that to the reference images and then creates its own. But much like the human portraits, the cat, shoe and handbag models I created left much to be desired. Loading ...
Research, Development, and Hot Topic Research of anthropology here at Michigan State University not only takes place in the Great Lakes region, but worldwide in places like Australia, Belize, South Africa, Greece, and Israel. One of the leading researchers here is Gabriel Wrobel, who also leads study abroad programs in Belize, has focused his research on studying ancient Mayan culture and daily life. One of his papers, entitled “Ancient Maya Stone Tools and Ritual Use of Deep Valley Rockshelter, Belize” focuses on the Mayans use of stone tools in their religious endeavors, such as sacrificing(human, animal, spiritual, etc.) as well as the different rock formations in Belize that were utilized by them. Why did you decide to focus your research on Belize? I did a field school there as a student and fell in love with the country and the people, including the archaeological community working there I read that you help lead study abroad programs in Belize for anthropology students, what kind of work do these students do while there? Each student is rotated through a series of sub-projects on which they assist project leaders with various tasks and in the process acquire skills related to basic archaeological methods, such as survey, lab analysis, bioarchaeology, speleo archaeology, etc What was your goal in publishing this paper about the ancient Mayan tools and the Deep Valley Rockshelter? We were trying to understand how the Maya were using these rockshelter sites. Was it just a shelter that they camped at occasionally? Were they religious sites used as shrines or the focus of ritual? If so, what kind of ritual? So, we took the data from one of these sites (DVR) and tried to see which of these the stone tools were most consistent with. Example of an ancient Mayan Rockshelter Hot Topics • Linguistic anthropologists were able to use technology to better understand the migrations made into the Americas, while also understanding Isolates(languages with no connection to any others) better. This article can be found here. • New research shows how heavy rainfall in East Asia, specifically China, was more than 400 km more north in the past then in present times, and how this rainfall altered the culture of China today. This article can be found here. • In the Baltic Region, it has been discovered that the Baltic hunter-gatherers were not taught agriculture from peoples from the Middle East as with the rest of Western and Central Europe, but acquired this knowledge through the interactions between them and other communities, not through the sharing of genes as it was thought before. This article can be found here. Undergraduate Experiences and Professional Goals Image result for Michigan State University Undergraduate Experiences My interest in anthropology was sparked at an early age as I have always been interested in learning about different cultures, societies, and what really makes us who we are. Do we learn more from our biology or through our environment. In Anthropology we study the environmental aspect of this topic, but also how the environments came to be. At Michigan State University, where I am currently a freshman, the degree program is more generalized, so that when we leave we have many different options to look at in relation to our future goals. The curriculum here has us study not just cultural anthropology, but also physical anthropology, as well as introducing us to archeology, as many people with degrees in anthropology work as archaeologists, doing field work, later on. Most Undergraduate students will take courses in their first year dealing with introducing basic topics in anthropology, archaeology, culture and human behavior. With the second year comes a more broad learning experience where students can choose what region of the world to focus their degrees on, such as Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia. During the third and fourth years, most students will begin to take courses in method and theory, as well as seminar courses. Professional Goals One of the first job prospectives that anthropology majors think of is in the archeology field, where the median pay is around $61,000. This field is growing more every year, and it is estimated to grow 4% over the course of 2014-2024. Not only do anthropologists work in archeology fields though, but many will work for governments, in academia, for non-profit organizations, as well as in the business world. One of the largest employer fields for anthropologists today is through the government. Anthropologists help with researching the effects on many government funded policies, and the effects, they help with forensics through police departments, as well as with the defense department helping to analyze data. Anthropologists also help in the business world, as their ability to do research helps them to take a business, or product, and they are able to help target the prime group of people to market a product or service towards. The largest employer of anthropologists however, remains in the academic field, with many finding work as professors, researchers, as well as publishing papers, and applying for grants. I was able to interview Gabriel Worbel, a professor at MSU, and ask him about his reasonings for studying anthropology and his choice to become a professor. What made you decide to study anthropology when you went to college? An interest in understanding all the diversity I was being exposed to in college. People from different cultures, different parts of the world. And then seeing how that had been happening throughout human history. What led you to become a professor? Any tips for students who someday want to become a professor? I liked the idea of staying in college forever! Plus getting to do research for a living. The path is really difficult. Most people who begin it don’t finish. So, make sure you understand what you are getting into. What type of research are you currently apart of here at MSU? Have you completed research at other institutions as well? I taught at Ole Miss for 10 years before I came here. I run an archaeological project in belize during the summers focusing on mortuary cave ritual of the Maya. I am also beginning a project studying the history of Papua New Guinea with colleagues from Australia. For more information about job perspectives for people with an anthropology degree, you can find out more here, and for a more detailed look at information there is a mass amount of information through the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, which can be found here.
The Land of Karl Marx and Home of Communism? However, most forget or don’t even know the specific policies that Marx advocated. Within his 1848 Communist Manifesto, Marx outlined a list of ten short-term demands. These, he thought, would be the precursor to the ideal stateless, classless communist society. Ironically in today’s world, Marx’s demands look pretty much mainstream. That is because nearly every single item on the list has been implemented to varying degrees in the United States. Think that couldn’t be possible in the Land of the Free? Just take a look. Topping Marx’s list is the abolition of private property. True, private property exists, but only until the state wants to take it. With its powers of eminent domain, the government can and does confiscate people’s property when it wants for public use. Your property isn’t unconditionally yours. Just think of property taxes, for example. If it’s actually YOUR private property, then why would you need to pay tax on it? And why do they have the authority to take it from you if you don’t pay? Likewise, while we haven’t seen the complete abolition of inheritance (another Marx demand), the government can take up to 40% of your estate when you die. So ultimately your estate is not your own. You don’t get to control what happens to your wealth and possessions when you die. It’s just a matter of proportion. Marx also demanded the centralization of transportation and communication. Check, and check. Try broadcasting over the airwaves in the Land of the Free without a license and special permission. Practically the entire electromagnetic spectrum is tightly controlled by the state, centralized by a handful of government agencies. Same with the network of roads and highways. Because, after all, without government, who would build the roads… Another point of Marx is state-guided agricultural production and combination of agriculture and manufacturing. And the Land of the Free does not disappoint. Though its activities may not be as prominent in the news, the US Department of Agriculture is easily one of the busiest government departments. With a budget of $146 billion a year, and much more for subsidies, USDA tirelessly works to dictate every major and miniscule activity in the sector. Next on the list, is equal liability of all to labor. If you have at any point wondered, as I have, why politicians are always pushing jobs for the sake of jobs, rather than value and wealth creation—now you know why. Between minimum wage laws and the constant stream of legislation that promises jobs for all, it is clear that politicians have wholly internalized this Marxian ideal. Now, you might think that this is just a fluke, just a coincidence that some US policies resemble what’s on Marx’s list of demands. But then you see these demands, which have not only been fully implemented in the US already, but are thoroughly entrenched in the national psyche: First, there’s free education for all children, to enable the uniformity of thought. Check. Then there’s a heavy progressive income tax. Yep, I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with this one, which has actually become so mainstream, that to have any system other than this would be considered revolutionary. Check. Third, is the confiscation of the property of emigrants (expatriates) and rebels. Between the IRS bullying of political opposition groups and the imposition of exit taxes for those that renounce their citizenship, the United States is firmly set up to discourage dissent and escape. Check. And last but not least, the centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank. Check. Remember, Karl Marx thought central banking was a great idea—the same guy who thought that individual success and private property were evil. Think about that the next time the Federal Reserve comes up with a plan to help businesses and fix the economy. So now you know, America isn’t communist. It’s only about 70% communist. No reason to worry. This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Ethernet Fundamentals Developed in the early 1970's, Ethernet has proven to be one of the most simple, reliable, and long-lived networking protocols ever designed. The high speed and simplicity of the protocol has resulted in its widespread use. Although Ethernet works across a variety of layer one media, the three most popular forms are 10BaseT, 10Base2, and 10BaseF, which use unshielded twisted pair (UTP), coaxial, and fiber optic cables respectively. UTP is used in a "star" configuration, in which all nodes connect to a central hub. 10Base2 uses a single coaxial cable to connect all workstations together in a "bus" configuration, and does not require a hub. 10BaseF uses fiber optics, which, though expensive, can travel long distances (2km) and through electrically noisy areas. An interesting difference between coaxial Ethernet and other types is that coax Ethernet is truly a one-to-many (or, 'point-to-multipoint') connection; fiber and UTP connections are, from a layer one perspective, one-to-one (or, 'point-to-point') connections, and require an additional networking device (typically, a repeater, or Ethernet hub) to connect to multiple other workstations. This is why coax Ethernet does not require a hub, and Ethernet over other media typically does. Ethernet Topologies Pro Con Typical Use 10BaseT Very reliable- one fault usually doesn't affect entire network. Relatively short distance from hub to workstation (100m). Requires a lot of wiring (a separate link for each workstation.) Offices and home networks. 10Base2 Cheap- no hub required, no wiring except from station to station. Well shielded against electrical interference. Can transmit longer distances (200m). Any break in connectivity disrupts entire network segment. Problems can be very difficult to troubleshoot. Small or home networks, hub to hub links. 10BaseF Long distance networking (2000m). Immune to electrical interference. Very expensive to install. Long distance hub-to-hub or switch-to-hub links. Ethernet is like a bunch of loud people in an unmoderated meeting room. Only one person can talk at a time, because communication consists of standing up and yelling at the top of your lungs. People are allowed to start communicating whenever there is silence in the room. If two people stand up and start yelling at the same time, they wind up garbling each others' attempt at communication, an event known as a "collision." In the event of a collision, the two offending parties sit back down for a semi-random period of time, then one of them stands up and starts yelling again. Because it's unmoderated, the likelihood of collisions occurring increases geometrically as the number of talkers and the amount of stuff they talk about increases. In fact, networks with many workstations are generally considered to be overloaded if the segment utilization exceeds 30-40%. If the collision light on your hubs is lit more often than not, you probably need to segment your network. Consider the purchase of a switch, described below. Ethernet hubs are used in 10BaseT networks. A standard hub is just a dumb repeater-- anything it hears on one port, it repeats to all of its other ports. Although 10BaseT is usually wired with eight wire jacks (known as RJ45 connectors), only four wires are used-- one pair to transmit data, and another pair to receive data. While transmitting, an Ethernet card will listen to its receive pair to see if it hears anyone else talking at the same time. These two behaviors (listen for silence before talking, and detect other people talking at the same time) are described by the as CSMA/CD, or "Carrier Sense Multiple Access, Collision Detection." One hundred megabit Ethernet (100BaseTX) works just like ten megabit Ethernet, only ten times faster. On high-quality copper (known as Category 5, or CAT 5 UTP), 100BaseTX uses the same two pair of copper to communicate. If you have standard network-quality copper, an alternative is to use 100BaseT4, which uses all four pairs, but can communicate at 100Mbps on CAT 3 UTP. Gigabit Ethernet works just like hundred megabit Ethernet, only ten times faster (1000Mbps, or 1Gbps.) There are some Gigabit Ethernet devices floating around out there, but it's unlikely that you'll find such devices on the small LANs that you'd find on the "Near Side of the 'Net." If your conference room gets too busy, you may consider splitting them into two groups by putting a partition wall with a door between the halves, and putting a person in the doorway. This person would listen to the conversations in both rooms, memorize the names (Ethernet card addresses) of everyone in each room, and forward messages from room to room when necessary. A device to do this is called a "transparent bridge." It's called "transparent" because it's smart enough to learn the Ethernet addresses on its own without the workstations suspecting anything is going on. ["Source-route bridges" are uncommonly used so I'm not going to discuss them.] Ethernet switches are little more than high-speed, multi-port bridges. They learn the Ethernet addresses of everyone attached to each port, and make intelligent forwarding decisions based on Ethernet card address (aka MAC address.) Because communication between 100Mbps and 10Mbps networks requires buffering, Ethernet switches are often used for this purpose. Many inexpensive switches have many 10Mbps ports and one or two 100Mbps ports. Typically, you would connect your server(s) to the 100Mbps port(s), and workstations or entire hubs to the 10Mbps ports. The buffering and intelligent forwarding allows another interesting feature to exist-- "full-duplex" Ethernet. "Half-duplex" means you can either talk or listen, but not both, at a given time, such as when using a radio. "Full-duplex" communication means you can talk and listen at the same time, such as when on the phone. Since 10BaseT uses separate pairs of copper for sending and receiving, it's physically possible to do both if there are no other workstations on your network segment-- which is the case if you are directly attached to a switch. Note that both the switch port and your network card must be configured for full duplex operation for this to work, but the result is worth it: a full 20Mbps for "regular" Ethernet and a whopping 200Mbps of bandwidth available for full-duplex fast Ethernet. Since collisions are eliminated, the 30% rule does not apply. When considering the purchase of a switch, there are a few important considerations, not all of which may apply to your requirements: • Does the switch support 100Mbps on any ports? How many, and will it autodetect 10/100BaseT? • Does the switch support full duplex? Even on the 100Mbps ports? • How many MAC (Ethernet card) addresses does it store? 500? 5000? "Unlimited" is not a rational answer. • Some "workgroup" switches only allow one MAC address per port, so these would not be suitable if you plan to connect hubs to switch ports. • You tend to get what you pay for. If a switch seems unreasonably inexpensive compared to other switches that appear to have similar specs, look closer, or check the detailed specs on the manufacturer's web site. Often, you'll find that a cheap switch either isn't a switch at all (see last item) or only allows one workstation per port (see item above last item.)
What is Fiat Money? — by James Jaeger The term “fiat money” − more correctly “fiat currency” − is becoming more wide-spread than it was seven years ago when we put out a movie called FIAT EMPIRE. I certainly didn’t invent the term, so I am just going along with the economic jargon as best I can. But for anyone that doesn’t understand what fiat currency is, it’s reasonably simple. Here’s a primer. Fiat currency is PAPER currency that is issued by government “fiat” or decree. The reason it’s issued by government decree, or fiat, is because ordinarily no one would accept or use it because it can no longer be REDEEMED for gold or silver. After all, it’s just PAPER. “Redeem” simply means the act of taking your PAPER currency into your local bank and having them give you GOLD or SILVER in exchange for it. In other words, the bank will redeem specie as evidenced by your paper. They will give you the amount of gold or silver specie written on the FACE of your paper bill (its “face value”). If the face of your paper bill says “$10 Silver Certificate” (instead of 10 dollars or 10Federal Reserve Notes) the bank will give you 10 “dollars” worth of silver. So how much silver is this? Well, it depends on the current definition of the “dollar” when you try to redeem your silver. What most people don’t understand is a “dollar” is a unit of WEIGHT. So, once a “dollar” is defined (by some authority or the free market), the bank knows how much silver to trade/give/redeem you for your $10 Silver Certificate. Pursuant to the Coinage Act of 1792, a dollar is defined as 371.25 grains of pure silver. Since 1 ounce = 437.5 grains, a dollar contains exactly .849 ounces of pure silver. Thus when you go to the bank with your ten dollar ($10) Silver Certificate, the teller will give you 8.49 ounces of silver in COIN form. Since silver is a soft metal (gold as well) the coins are never 100% pure silver. So a COIN’S weight is always a composite of silver and some other hardening metal, as in this example. Thus the bank would redeem the $10 Silver Certificate most likely with a $10 Eagle, two Half Eagles or ten silver dollar coins. But if any of this has confused you, the good news is this: YOU DON’T HAVE TO GET LOST IN ANY OF THESE DETAILS. You can define a “DOLLAR” as whatever you want. The government can define a “DOLLAR” as whatever it wants. The free market can define a “DOLLAR” as whatever it wants. That last – the free market − is the ONLY valid definition. But when we go back onto a Gold Standard (as many say we will), we will probably have a new Coinage Act passed by Congress to get things started. Just as there have been two other Federal Reserve Systems (central banks) over the years, there have been about six Coinage Acts. The earliest one I am aware of was the Coinage Act of 1792 and the most recent one was the Coinage Act of 1965. The Coinage Act of 1792 established the original definition of what a dollar was to be, how much silver there was supposed to be IN a dollar COIN or redeemed for a PAPER dollar certificate. This is what we could go back to when the Gold Standard is reinstated. But we all remember the infamous Coinage Act of 1965. At least, we should. That was the Act of a misguided Congress that turned our quarters, dimes and half dollars into clad tokens. On 23 July 1965 the Congress, operating in its own interest and in the interest of greedy New York bankers against the interest of WE THE PEOPLE, removed all the silver from DIMES and QUARTERS and debased the silver content in the HALF DOLLARS down to 40% from 90%. They then made up the weight and size of the coins with copper. Remember that ugly copper sandwich that suddenly appeared in the middle of all coins starting in 1965? It alarmed me. That VERY day I KNEW something was wrong in America. Just like the JFK assassination, I remember the exact place I was when I first saw the new quarters. I thought to myself: “What the hell? They took the silver out of these. Who did this? Who gave them permission to cheapen the quarters we all use?” Well, the answer to this question is: the elite banks and the U.S. Congress. These two entities conspired to debase the currency, not only by lowering and removing the silver content, but by making none of the paper Silver Certificates redeemable in silver. They had already accomplished this with Gold Certificates long ago; now they were robbing U.S. citizens of their silver. Why were they doing this? If you go Wikipedia − which has become a dictionary of establishment propaganda − it says: “This act (the Coinage Act of 1965) was in response to coin shortages caused by the rising price of silver.” The rising price of silver, eh? What a bunch of horse. How can silver rise in “price” when “price” is DEFINED in silver. Point one. Point two: As G. Edward Griffin explains on page 141 of his book, The Creature from Jekyll Island, Wiki has used the old fallacy known as “the misleading theory of quantity” again. Thus, if there is NOTHING else you take away from reading these words, PLEASE come away with at least this one thing: The fallacy of QUANTITY is the NUMBER ONE way apologists for FIAT CURRENCY (money NOT redeemable in silver or gold) attempt to INVALIDATE the Gold Standard. It’s the number one way they attempt to BRAINWASH you into using PAPER currency, i.e., fiat currency. The reason is simple. These people (elite bankers and corrupt congressmen) want us all using PAPER money BECAUSE THEY CAN ENDLESSLY PRINT PAPER MONEY − BUT THEY CAN’T PRINT UP GOLD OR SILVER. By getting gold and silver out of the picture any way they can − removing it from coins, not redeeming paper bills for it, blatantly confiscating it as they did in 1934, defaulting on foreign redemptions as Nixon did in 1971, AND by making the false claim of “shortages” − they can literally print up (known as “monetizing debt” or “quantitative easing”) as much currency as they want to expand the WELFARE-WARFARE state. Again, the reason the QUANTITY of silver or gold available is of no concern is explained on page 141 of Mr. Griffin’s book. If there is ever a shortage of silver, the definition of a silver dollar can be REDEFINED by Congress in the full light of day and after sufficient public debate (unlike the way the Federal Reserve Act was passed). For instance, I said above that, pursuant to the Coinage Act of 1792, a dollar is defined as 371.25 grains of pure silver. Well, if there were to be a “shortage” of silver and everyone was freaking out, a dollar COULD be redefined by an act of Congress as 300.00 grains of pure silver instead of 371.25 grains. BUT this would not even be necessary, for the market would automatically redefine the ratio of silver by weight to the number of paper certificates representing each ounce. Thus, when one sees what is really going on, statements like − “This act was in response to coin shortages caused by the rising price of silver.” – are revealed for what they are: ignorant or misleading pronouncements that serve the interests of a partnership between the banking elite and a rogue Congress that’s attempting to confiscate the value of the nation’s money supply. Thus, what an ignoramus of a statement like this is essentially saying is: “Oh, we can’t make any more silver coins because the price of silver is too high.” This may sound reasonable to the general public, but what the banking frauds who say things like this have failed to mention is: no more silver coins SHOULD be made. Why would anyone WANT to make more silver coins than the number of silver coins that have already established themselves in market circulation? Bear in mind that using silver coins PREVENTS fraudulent bankers and their rogue accomplices in Congress from INCREASING the money supply. Think about it. When the money supply is INCREASED, WHO GETS THE INCREASE OF MONEY? Well, that should not be hard to figure out. The GOVERNMENT and the BANKS get the increase. That’s WHY they conspire to get control over coinage and printing of the nation’s currency and eliminate GOLD and SILVER with whatever excuses they can dream up. This is also WHY the Framers of the U.S. Constitution stated in Article I, Sections 8 & 10 that money must be GOLD or SILVER COIN and no BILLS OF CREDIT are permitted. What’s a BILL OF CREDIT? It’s essentially a Federal Reserve Note − what we use as “money” now that the banking frauds have extracted all the silver and gold out of our money supply. So technically, the “money” we are now using is illegal (unconstitutional), and the congressmen that played a part in effectuating the overt or covert transition to it are actually partners with the elite New York banks in a long-term criminal conspiracy. See the movie FIAT EMPIRE for details (http://www.MoviePubs.Net/singles). Given these considerations − and the idea that you can fool some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time − is it any wonder millions are protesting (both through the Tea Partydemonstrations and now the Occupy Wall Street Movement) across the country, and even the world, as fiat currency is also the source of the European debt crises as well? The reason for the mass protests is because millions of people have had the VALUE sucked out of their lives in exactly the same way the Federal Reserve System and its rogue congressional partners sucked the SILVER out of our quarters back in 1965. Wake up. It’s time to put value back into our money and remove from power the bankers and government officials that played a part in this worldwide monetary scam. It’s also time to end the unjust enrichment of the corporations that surround these banks, as Jefferson once warned there would be. This entry was posted in Federal Reserve, Gold/Silver, Investment/Financial and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 4 Responses to What is Fiat Money? — by James Jaeger 1. stan says: Under our current system, the only way money comes into existence is when it is borrowed. When you go to a bank for a loan, say $100,000, you pledge (promissory note, usually in addition to collateral) to REPAY the loan according to the terms of the loan document. The bank accepts your pledge and lists it as a $100,000 bank asset (electronic “credit” entry) then gives you worthless printed paper currency whose only backing is your pledge to repay. At that moment, the money supply of the United States increases by $100,000; the money has been created out of thin air (normally the bank doesn’t actually give you the currency but, instead, transfers the credit entry to a bank account in your name or transfers it directly to a third party, as is the case in a mortgage loan scenario). The same thing is done with the Congress, only the Congress does not sign pledges that IT will repay loans….it signs pledges that YOU and I will repay the loans (“the good faith and credit of the United Let’s say the Congress “appropriates” $10 Billion in a bill to provide free school lunches for the students of selected schools, or for selected students in a list of named schools. $10 Billion immediately goes into circulation when it is paid to the schools, and the Federal Reserve adds $10 Billion to the mythical “national debt” list. The Fed has printed 100,000 one-hundred-dollar bills, at a total cost of less than $0.02 per bill ($2,000) and, in exchange for that “generosity,” the American people are “obligated” to “repay” both the mythical $10 Billion “debt” PLUS INTEREST on the created-out-of-thin-air $10 Billion. How would you like to have a printing press and a deal like that? You would print up currency and, instead of being owed for your printing, you would be “owed” based upon the face amounts of the bills you printed. Not only would you be entitled to be “repaid” money you never had or lent, but you would be entitled to interest on it for every day it remained unpaid. How long would it take you, “lending” money to the drunken-sailor Congress, to amass a fortune? Wouldn’t you be satisfied if no one ever paid anything to you on the principal, so long as they perpetually paid you a percentage of their incomes toward the ever-accruing INTEREST? The families who own the Federal Reserve are satisfied with that arrangement too, and there is nothing they won’t do to protect and preserve it. NOTHING! I’ve mentioned the Rockefellers. Let’s look a moment at the Rothschilds. Perhaps you’ve heard of the House of Rothschild. The House of Rothschild controls wealth of approximately $450 TRILLION. Imagine that in comparison to the mythical “national debt” of six to eight TRILLION….a single family dynasty worth 65 times as much as the entire United States government has accumulated in “debt” over a period of 75 years. The Rockefeller family controls wealth of approximately $125 TRILLION. Together the two families control about 70% of the wealth in the entire world, and both are stockholders of the Federal Reserve. No presidential candidate has been elected as president of the United States, since William Howard Taft, without the personal blessing of Lord Rothschild (whoever is head of the Rothschild family at any given time). The Rothschild dynasty is the most powerful institution on earth, and it unmistakably runs the Federal Reserve (and with it, the United States) with an iron fist. 2. stan says: Federal Reserve operatives (CIA, et al) manipulate politicians and heads of state into committing their troops to fight wars all around the globe. Nations at war must purchase weapons, ammunition, armaments, and equipment. To do that, they have to borrow money. The Fed lends “money” (don’t forget, it creates it out of thin air) to both sides, and its stockholders profit from their enterprises in the so-called “gun trade” (which includes airplanes, ships, aircraft carriers, submarines, tanks, trucks, all the tools and armaments of war). War is a very profitable racket, plain and simple, fought by the poor and enjoyed by the profiteers. The United States currently has a military presence in 130 of the world’s 245 countries. Do you suppose that’s because “We the People” want them there? Or could it be that what “We the People” want matters not, but that what the money powers want is what counts? believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.” – Smedley D. Butler (1881-1940) Major General, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired “I spent 33 years and 4 months in active service as a member of our country’s most agile military force- -the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from second lieutenant to Major General. And during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism. I suspected I was part of a racket all the time. Now I am sure of it. Like most members of the military profession I never had an original thought until I left the service.” – Smedley Corps, Retired 3. stan says: How far will the international bankers go to protect their money, their investments, their POWER, and their anonymity? Earlier I said there is NOTHING they won’t do. Let’s look a little more closely at that issue. Andrew Jackson was a populist who bitterly opposed the banking industry and fought the central bankers tooth and nail. In 1835, Richard Lawrence (“a crazed lone gunman”) attempted to shoot President Andrew Jackson. Both his revolvers miraculously failed to fire and he was arrested. He was acquitted on temporary insanity grounds. He later confessed that wealthy men from Europe had paid him to kill Jackson and promised to get him off if he were caught. Abraham Lincoln needed money to fund the war and he refused to borrow from the banks, which demanded interest ranging from 24% to 36%. He elected instead to print and issue $450 million in U.S. Treasury Notes (in accordance with the Constitution), in 1862 and 1863, and no interest was paid to anybody. He denied the bankers the profit they had expected to reap as a result of the war they very likely Lincoln said, “The money powers prey upon the nation in times of peace, and conspire against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, and more selfish than bureaucracy.” Shortly after that public statement, he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, “a crazed lone After Lincoln’s death, Otto Von Bismarck made the following statement: “The death of Lincoln was a disaster for Christendom. There was no man in the United States great enough to wear his boots. I fear that foreign bankers with their craftiness and tortuous tricks will entirely control the exuberant riches of America, and use it systematically to corrupt modern civilization. They will not hesitate to plunge the whole of Christendom into wars and chaos in order that the earth shall become their families’ inheritance.” President James A. Garfield opposed central banking and fiat currency, and he was assassinated by “a disappointed office seeker” Charles Julius Guiteau on July 2, 1881. William McKinley condemned the central banking trusts as “dangerous conspiracies against the public good.” He was assassinated in 1901 by a “crazed lone On June 4, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 11110, that resurrected the Government’s power to issue and coin its own currency, bypassing the Federal Reserve, and paying no Message Page 9 of 12 4/8/2007 interest on money it “borrowed” (printed) from itself. Pursuant to this Executive Order, more than $4.3 billion in “United States Notes” were brought into circulation, as an interest-free and debt-free currency backed by silver reserves in the U.S. Treasury, in $2 and $5 denominations. $10 and $20 United States Notes were never circulated but were being printed by the Treasury Department when Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. It is obvious that President Kennedy knew the Federal Reserve Notes being used as the purported legal currency were contrary to the Constitution of the United States of America, and that he intended to put the illegal and unconstitutional Federal Reserve out of business. John F. Kennedy vs The Federal Reserve Also on November 22, 1963, on the tarmac at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, the new President Lyndon B. Johnson signed orders to immediately withdraw the $4.3 billion in United States Notes that had been issued by Kennedy. No one would suggest that Lee Harvey Oswald notified Johnson’s staff in advance to prepare such an order and have it on the plane in Dallas for him to sign. Who could have known LBJ would become president on that date? As has become the preferred method of assassinations orchestrated by the banking cartel, “a crazed lone gunman” was set up as the patsy. Executive Order 11110 has not been repealed, rescinded, or amended. Yet no president has since used it in any attempt to restore Constitutional government to the United States of America. It’s safe to conclude they have been more devoted to remaining alive than to resurrecting the defunct Constitution. In 1968, Robert F. Kennedy ran in the Democratic Primaries as a candidate for President. He was winning and there could be no question that he would handily defeat LBJ to become the next president. Having served as his brother’s Attorney General and close personal confidant, there could be little doubt that he would likely resume JFK’s quest to rout out the firmly entrenched banking cartel, as Andrew Jackson had successfully done, though the resulting national stability was short-lived. So, RFK had to be eliminated too, there seemed to be no other way to avert another confrontation. Once more a mind-controlled robot (Sirhan-Sirhan), who had been indoctrinated and just waiting to be used, was planted in the Ambassador Hotel at RFK’s last political rally and “armed” with a pistol loaded with blanks. As television cameras watched, he fired upon RFK at point-blank range, directly from his front, and RFK collapsed and was immediately killed, though the autopsy report shows the two bullets which killed him entered from behind his right ear and just beneath his right shoulder blade, both leaving powder burns on his skin and clothing. Sirhan-Sirhan, another “crazed lone gunman” was convicted and imprisoned with little fanfare, appeasing a gullible, grief-stricken populace, eager to believe most anything they were fed by the government and the media. President Ronald Reagan opposed the Federal Reserve and spoke against the Income Tax System publicly until he was shot, but not killed, by a “crazed lone gunman” named John Hinckley, a patsy said to be obsessed over actress Jodi Foster, and the official cover story claimed he shot Reagan to impress her. Reagan, apparently understanding how easily he could join Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and JFK, remained surprisingly silent on banking matters thereafter. Then there was Congressman Louis T. McFadden (quoted above) who survived two assassination attempts. His voice opposing the Federal Reserve was loud, and somebody wanted him silenced. Huey Long, Governor of Louisiana and U.S. Senator for Louisiana, was a champion of the people and a vocal opponent of the Federal Reserve and FDR’s New Deal, was assassinated in 1935 by “a crazed lone gunman” named Dr. Carl Weiss, conveniently the son-in-law of a judge who opposed Long. Father Charles Edward Coughlin, a Michigan Catholic priest, was very vocal about eliminating the Federal Reserve as the best way of ending the Great Depression, and his voice was loud. He was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience, as more than forty million….then estimated to be a third of the nation….tuned to his weekly broadcasts during the 1930s. He received 80,000 letters weekly from listeners. The FDR administration, puppet of the Federal Reserve, passed legislation requiring licenses for radio broadcasters and denied Father Coughlin’s application. Not to be silenced, he began publishing a newsletter and reached a huge following until the FDR administration withdrew his access to Message Page 10 of 12 4/8/2007 the U.S. Postal system. He was effectively silenced and was reduced to being only a parish priest in Michigan until his death in 1979 at the age of 88. Had they not been able to silence him, would they have killed him? Who knows? Four American Presidents have been assassinated. The major thing they all had in common was their opposition to central banking and the issue of worthless fiat currency which enslaves the American people. All actively worked against the international bankers and all were killed. Though Reagan survived, banking was the thread that linked him with the four who did not survive to complete their elected terms. Andrew Jackson was the only one who fought the banks, survived an assassination attempt, and won. His tombstone reads “I killed the banks,” but doesn’t mention he was ever President of the United States. • straydog01 says: Very interesting and very in-depth response. It seems that you have done your homework on this matter. I find this topic very interesting in great part to the details you outline above. It’s not hard to tie everything together if you just follow the money. I see that you mentioned Smedley Butler in one of your responses….I just posted “War is a Racket” on here a couple of weeks ago. If people would just read that they would see and understand that not just war, but everything in the political realm is unfortunately only about money. Thanks for the history lesson and the in-depth response….I invite you continue following my blog and please continue to comment on my other posts. Take care and DOWN WITH THE FED! Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
The Psychology of Method Acting by Circle of Insight, 11 months ago Join Carlos as explores the psychology of method acting with Dr. Beguiristain. Theatrical Realism was an American film movement of the 1950s noted for its high aspirations to create a significant 'art' cinema. Ironically, the films that comprise this movement are virtually forgotten today. As Hollywood's continuation of the Italian Neo-Realist movement, Theatrical Realism was a direct result of the confluence of "Method Acting" as taught by Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, the screen adaptations of the plays of Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, William Inge and Truman Capote, as well as the teleplays of the Golden Age of Television by Paddy Chayefsky, Rod Serling, Horton Foote and Robert Alan Aurthur, among others. What is method acting? What is sense memory? What are the benefits of improvisation? How does out of character development work? What are some examples of the animal exercises and what are the benefits? Does an actor have to be emotionally healthy to do method acting? Dr. Mario Beguiristain joined the full-time faculty at Miami Dade College's School of Entertainment and Design Technology after thirty years of experience in the fields of film production, advertising, broadcasting, and television program production.Mario has created, written, produced and/or directed hundreds of television and radio commercials and over forty television special programs in English, Spanish and French for the NBC, Univision, CBC and Telemundo television networks Post comment as a guest • No comments found For monthly newsletter on the newest and popular psychology content! * indicates required
Monday, August 10, 2015 History as Remembering Can you remember something that happened before you were born? An event at which you were not present? Scholars sometimes call this ‘historical memory’ or ‘collective memory.’ It is a powerful societal force. Imagine three different people living in the United States: their various ancestors didn’t enter the country until after 1835. One is an African-American, one is an Asian-American, and one is a European-American. Yet all three can say that “we” rebelled against British tyranny in 1776. While “historical memory” empowers individual citizens to use the ‘we’ in this way, it does not require them to abandon their own particular ethnic heritage. This acquisition of historical memory is only one of many important reasons for studying history, as historian Wilfred McClay notes: The study of the past makes the most sense when it is connected to a larger, public purpose, and is thereby woven into the warp and woof of our common life. The chief purpose of a high school education in American history is not the development of critical thinking and analytic skills, although the acquisition of such skills is vitally important; nor is it the mastery of facts, although a solid grasp of the factual basis of American history is surely essential; nor is it the acquisition of a genuine historical consciousness, although that certainly would be nice to have too, particularly under the present circumstances, in which historical memory seems to run at about 15 minutes, especially with the young. The etymological meaning of ‘remember’ is to become part of something. By learning, rehearsing, and internalizing the country’s story, a citizen becomes part of the country, and the country becomes part of the citizen. The success or failure of the effort to instill a collective memory into students, while retaining and celebrating their peculiar ethnic heritages, will ultimately be the success or failure of the country, and of civilization. Not only knowing, but also perceiving one’s self to be a part of, the national narrative empowers the individual to see himself as heir to grand notions like rights and privileges, but also as inheriting duties, obligations, and responsibilities. This collective memory is necessary to human society. The chief purpose of a high school education in American history is as a rite of civic membership, an act of inculcation and formation, a way in which the young are introduced to the fullness of their political and cultural inheritance as Americans, enabling them to become literate and conversant in its many features, and to appropriate fully all that it has to offer them, both its privileges and its burdens. To make its stories theirs, and thereby let them come into possession of the common treasure of its cultural life. In that sense, the study of history is different from any other academic subject. It is not merely a body of knowledge. It also ushers the individual person into membership in a common world, and situates them in space and time. One cause, then, for an individual’s feeling of alienation is the failure of the educational system to help him overcome distances, not only of time and space, but also of race and gender, to identify with the national narrative. It is possible, desirable, and necessary for social well-being that the ‘we’ of collective memory cross lines of race and gender: an African-American can look at a portrait of the Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence and say ‘we.’ A European-American can look at Frederick Douglas or W.E.B. DuBois and say ‘we.’ A woman can look at George Patton or Douglas MacArthur and say ‘we.’ A man can look at Amelia Earhart or Susan B. Anthony and say ‘we.’ Yet the educational system cannot instill this historical memory alone. This is a larger project, requiring intentional participation of parents, neighborhoods, clubs, teams, performing arts groups, etc. It is a grand task, requiring society’s various networks. Saturday, August 1, 2015 America's Schizophrenic China Policy Starting in the 1920s, China was engaged in a civil war. Mao’s communists hoped to gain control of the country from the nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek. (‘Mao Zedong’ is sometimes transliterated as ‘Mao Tse-tung’ and ‘Chiang Kai-shek’ is sometimes rendered as ‘Jiang Jieshi.’) Between 1927 and 1937, the nationalists introduced democratic reforms to increase political liberty in China. Free and fair elections made Chiang president. For this reason, the United States and other western allies were inclined to support the nationalists during China’s civil war. The USSR, however, supported Mao. If the communists took control of China, it would work with the Soviet Union to intimidate and dominate smaller regional powers, and impose communism on those weaker countries. Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader, found a way to decrease American support for Chiang. A network of communist agents, operating inside the United States, could disseminate misinformation about the situation in China, and influence both policymakers and public opinion against Chiang. This espionage network operated behind the cover of a ‘front’ organization - a group with a seemingly innocent purpose, hiding the real activity of its members. This organization was the Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR). Allegedly a think-tank of academics and journalists, it connected Soviet operatives. Historian Willmoore Kendall writes: The IPR was in considerable part responsible for the proposal, finally put forward by the United States, that Chiang Kai-shek form a United Front coalition government with the Communists. Chiang, to be sure, knew from the first that the coalition in question would be only a first stage in an eventual Communist takeover of China: he resisted the proposal at every turn, and only under constant pressure from Washington officials, who were in turn being prodded by the IPR, was in induced to yield, little by little, on first one point of substance, then another. During the celebrated China civil war truce engineered by ambassador George Marshall, for example, Chiang found himself stripped of nearly all forms of military assistance (he was refused ammunition for the very weapons the United States had placed in his hands). “I was informed by the Chinese Government officials that they had ceased to receive war equipment manufactured in the United States,” General Chennault subsequently testified. “When I inquired why, they said that General Marshall had forbidden its shipment from American-held islands and from the United States.” The Chinese Communists, of course, made the most of the truce - to built up their army with equipment that the Soviets had captured from the Japanese-Manchurian army and turned over to them. The results of the IPR’s influence were inconsistent and contradictory policies. The United States, supporting Chiang, gave him weapons, but then later refused to give him the ammunition for those weapons. To defend China, the United States sent General Claire Chennault and his famous Flying Tiger group of fighter pilots; some of the most skilled air combat specialists, they fought for China starting in 1941. Yet American policy was soon content to allow China to fall into the hands of the communists, who executed millions of Chinese and subjugated the rest under a harsh tyranny. The Soviets succeeded, therefore, in using the IPR as a tool to weaken American support for Chiang, and to eventually ensure Mao’s victory and the establishment of a bloody dictatorship in China.
Contact Us Digestive and Intestinal Health Screening Digestion and Intestinal Health The saying “Death begins in the colon” has long been bandied around and is ascribed to either Nobel laureate Elie Metchnikoff (who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on intestinal milieu) or the chiropractor Bernard Jensen, D.C., the ‘Father of Colonics’ but recognition of bowel health and its importance to health can be dated back to Hippocrates who told us 2000 years ago that “bad digestion is the root of all evil.” Digestion begins in the mouth with chewing (which triggers the production of stomach acid, digestive enzymes movement in the gut ) and the production of saliva with its own enzymes. Swallowed food is then churned up with acid in the stomach and passes into the small intestine to be acted upon by digestive enzymes made in the pancreas and also bile from the liver. The bowel bacteria in both the small and large intestine break food down which releases essential nutrients, provides particular vitamins such as B12, absorbs and destroys toxins. Some specific bacteria species stick to the bowel wall creating a protective barrier. Without all these different aspects bowel health deteriorates and we risk running into deficiencies, inflammatory bowel conditions, the leaky gut syndrome (increased intestinal permeability), food allergy and intolerances, irregular bowel movements – constipation and/or frequent movements. The gut has a very important role in immunity generally and the ‘gut-brain axis’ controls to a great extent our emotional well-being. Recognition of abnormalities in our gut can lead to lifestyle and dietetic changes and guide us to optimal supplementation to ensure that digestion, this most important of processes, works as smoothly as possible. Recommended Home Tests 1. Salivary VEGF testing for stomach acid production assessment (£175) Salivary vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a simple saliva test. VEGF correlates with the production of stomach acid, which is often a cause of digestive issues, reflux and Gastro oesophageal reflux disease (GORD). Low levels can lead to sub optimal digestive and therefore deficiencies. Order this Test 1 1. Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis (£325) This extensive test measures, inflammatory markers, levels of good bowel bacteria, the presence of bad bacteria, yeasts, fungi and parasites and gives indication of both acid production, digestive enzyme levels and many other useful parameters in understanding how the gut works. Order this Test 1 3. Stool for Calprotectin (£102) Calprotectin is a conventional test of a protein found in stool when a gut is inflamed. It is recommended by NICE as a non-invasive investigation to distinguish between inflammatory disease such as Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis, and even cancer, and irritable bowel syndrome Order this Test 1 4. Stool test for Eosinophil Protein X (EPX) to identify possible food allergy (an add-on to the above calprotectin test). (£127) Eosinophils are white blood cells that increasing number and become active in the presence of allergy. EPX is a non-invasive stool test that clinical research indicates has a significant correlation to those who have food allergy. Order this Test 1 5. Leaky Gut Syndrome (£164) The test for a leaky gut (increased intestinal permeability) is very simple to perform. You are sent a solution of inert (indigestible and unusable) molecules which you drink after emptying your bladder. You are sent a suitable container in which you collect all urine that you pass over the next 6 hours. After this time you give the urine a gentle swill in the container to ensure a good mix and then pour a portion of the collected urine into a supplied specimen pot. This you then return in the SAE to the lab. There it is analysed for the presence of two non-metabolized sugars, lactulose and mannitol or an indigestible plastic, PEG. If any is found over and above an expected amount this is indicative of a leaky gut. Order this Test 1 FHS test info Do You Need More Advice Consult Dr Sharma If you have a specific problem and would like to book a consultation with Dr Sharma, please use this link Book Your Appointment Ask The Team Not sure which test you need or need more advice? Book a chat with a member of the team Book A Confidential Chat Order a Test If you would like to book a screening test or a blood test, please use this link Find Out More
Use noises in a sentence This page helps answer: how do I use the word noises in a sentence? How do you use noises in a sentence? Can you give me a sentence for the word noises? It may also be related to teaching resource, worksheet, school supplies schooling, tuition, kindergarten, education resources, school district, and learn. Example sentences with the word noises, a sentence example for noises, and noises in sample sentence.
Kid's Corner Archive Sept.-Oct. Rabies Awareness Rabies is a disease that affects the brain. It´s usually passed from animal to animal but it can be passed from animals to people. It´s caused by a virus. A virus is a very tiny germ, and you can only see that germ if you have a special microscope. Any mammal can get rabies. Do you remember what a mammal is? Mammals are warm-blooded animals with fur. We´re mammals, and so are most of our pets like cats and dogs. Lots of farm animals like cows and horses are mammals, and so are wild animals like foxes and skunks. We can all get rabies. Even bats can get rabies! Get the Facts People and Rabies Animals and Rabies Can Bats give you Rabies? Test Your Memory aaaaaaaaaaaaa Vaccinating Your Dog Coloring Sheets World Rabies Day is September 28th, 2011
Escalante Canyons Canyons of the Escalante The Escalante Canyons include some of the most remote, wild, and beautiful country in the Southwest. The Escalante, the last river in the continental United States to be named, meanders slowly between towering canyon walls. Its tributaries, also deeply entrenched in sandstone, contain arches, natural bridges, and waterfalls. The area is reminiscent of Glen Canyon before Lake Powell and offers some of the finest opportunities for desert hiking on the Colorado Plateau. Various cultures have utilized area resources for thousands of years. The Ancestral Puebloan (“anasazi”) culture is the most conspicuous, but evidence of other cultures, including Paleo-Indian, Fremont and Paiute are present. [NPS] Canyons of the Escalante is located in Garfield and Kane Counties in south-central Utah, partially inside Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and partially inside the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument - one of the three major sections of the Monument. Canyons of the Escalante, as the name in the plural (Canyons) implies, is more than just Escalante Canyon - it includes canyons and other geological formations created by the Escalante River and its tributaries in the Escalante River Basin. There are high vertical canyon walls, water pockets, narrow slot canyons, domes, pedestals, arches, and natural bridges, all carved out of the sandstone, with elevations varying from 3,600 to more than 11,000 feet (1,100 to 3,350 m). Escalante River is formed west of the town of Escalante by the merging of Birch and North Creeks. Canyons of the Escalante begins at the eastern edge of town and include tributaries with many gulches and side canyons. The major tributaries are Harris Wash, Twentyfive Mile Creek, Coyote Gulch, Fortymile Gulch, and Fiftymile Creek, along with smaller tributaries. Dry Fork and Coyote Gulch are two favorites. The sandy stream bed of Coyote Gulch has water generally a couple of inches deep allowing easy scenic hiking for most of its length. Dry Fork, off Coyote Gulch, has three exciting, narrow tributaries - Peekaboo, Spooky and Brimstone Gulches.
2005 Flash Flood Flash Floods in the Southwestern US Deserts On September 9, 2014, a flash flood wiped out a section of I-15 in a remote area between St George, Utah, and Las Vegas, Nevada, causing an up-to-ten-hour-200-mile detour on the direct route from Denver, Salt Lake City, and other points north and east, to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, and other points south and west, in this rugged mountainous area where very few roads exist. A midnight flash flood on Autust 4, 2014, pinned a family of 13 from Las Vegas against a southern Utah canyon wall over the weekend as rushing water pulled their tents, minivan, and two other cars downstream. On August 2, 2013, two simultaneous flash floods at Page, Arizona - one washed out chunks of payment and piled up to two feet of mud on US89, while about 3 miles east a second flash flood washed through upper Antelope Canyon. In 2010, several tourists were stranded on a ledge when two flash floods occurred at Upper Antelope Canyon. On August 12, 1997, eleven tourists were killed in Lower Antelope Canyon by a flash flood. On April 12, 1995, heavy rains triggered a landslide that blocked the Virgin River in Zion Canyon; over a period of two hours, the river carved away part of the only exit road from the canyon, trapping 450 guests and employees at the Zion Lodge. Why does this happen, what causes it? Water run-off from mountains and hills can aggregate quickly over the crunchy inorganic soil that has mineral and calcium carbonate content in the sparsely populated desert bereft of softer soils, vegetation, and storm sewers found in the more populous areas. This is an under-stated observation devoid of the necessary geology, but will suffice for the pupose of this article. An interesting fact about desert floods is that they can occur miles away from the storm - a photo of an Antelope Canyon flash flood under blue skies is in the gallery. Flash flood danger is inherent in southwestern US deserts between the Rocky Mountains on the east to the Pacific coastal ranges on the west from atorm cells with heavy rain and during the monsoon season.
Wednesday, 1 March 2006 Water, precious water EcoEarth - Environmental Sustainability Portal Armed forces are put on standby to tackle threat of wars over water Source: Copyright 2006, Independent Date: February 28, 2006 Byline: Ben Russell, and Nigel Morris Across the world, they are coming: the water wars. From Israel to India, from Turkey to Botswana, arguments are going on over disputed water supplies that may soon burst into open conflict. Yesterday, Britain's Defence Secretary, John Reid, pointed to the factor hastening the violent collision between a rising world population and a shrinking world water resource: global warming. In a grim first intervention in the climate-change debate, the Defence Secretary issued a bleak forecast that violence and political conflict would become more likely in the next 20 to 30 years as climate change turned land into desert, melted ice fields and poisoned water supplies. Climate campaigners echoed Mr Reid's warning, and demanded that ministers redouble their efforts to curb carbon emissions. Tony Blair will today host a crisis Downing Street summit to address what he called "the major long-term threat facing our planet", signalling alarm within Government at the political consequences of failing to deal with the spectre of global warming. Activists are modelling their campaign on last year's Make Poverty History movement in the hope of creating immense popular pressure for action on climate change. Mr Reid used a speech at Chatham House last night to deliver a stark assessment of the potential impact of rising temperatures on the political and human make-up of the world. He listed climate change alongside the major threats facing the world in future decades, including international terrorism, demographic changes and global energy demand. Mr Reid signalled Britain's armed forces would have to be prepared to tackle conflicts over dwindling resources. Military planners have already started considering the potential impact of global warming for Britain's armed forces over the next 20 to 30 years. They accept some climate change is inevitable, and warn Britain must be prepared for humanitarian disaster relief, peacekeeping and warfare to deal with the dramatic social and political consequences of climate change. Mr Reid warned of increasing uncertainty about the future of the countries least well equipped to deal with flooding, water shortages and valuable agricultural land turning to desert. He said climate change was already a contributory factor in conflicts in Africa. Mr Reid said: "As we look beyond the next decade, we see uncertainty growing; uncertainty about the geopolitical and human consequences of climate change. "Impacts such as flooding, melting permafrost and desertification could lead to loss of agricultural land, poisoning of water supplies and destruction of economic infrastructure. "More than 300 million people in Africa currently lack access to safe water; climate change will worsen this dire situation." He added: "These changes are not just of interest to the geographer or the demographer; they will make scarce resources, clean water, viable agricultural land even scarcer. "Such changes make the emergence of violent conflict more rather than less likely... The blunt truth is that the lack of water and agricultural land is a significant contributory factor to the tragic conflict we see unfolding in Darfur. We should see this as a warning sign." Tony Juniper, the executive director of Friends of the Earth, said: "The science of global warming is becoming ever more certain about the scale of the problem we have, and now the implications of that for security and politics is beginning to emerge." He said the problems could be most acute in the Middle East and North Africa. Charlie Kornick, head of climate campaigning at the pressure group Greenpeace, said billions of people faced pressure on water supplies due to climate change across Africa, Asia and South America. He said: "If politicians realise how serious the problems could be, why are British CO2 emissions still going up?" Tony Blair will be joined by the Chancellor Gordon Brown, the Environment Secretary, Margaret Beckett, and the International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, at today's talks in Downing Street. They will be meeting representatives of the recently created Stop Climate Chaos, an alliance of environmental groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Oxfam. It will also meet opposition parties. The alliance will call for the Government to commit itself to achieving a 3 per cent annual fall in carbon dioxide emissions. The facts * On our watery planet, 97.5 per cent of water is salt water, unfit for human use. * Most of the fresh water is locked in the ice caps. * The recommended basic water requirement per person per day is 50 litres. But people can get by with about 30 litres: 5 litres for food and drink and another 25 for hygiene. * Some countries use less than 10 litres per person per day. Gambia uses 4.5, Mali 8, Somalia 8.9, and Mozambique 9.3. * By contrast the average US citizen uses 500 litres per day, and the British average is 200. * In the West, it takes about eight litres to brush our teeth, 10 to 35 litres to flush a lavatory, and 100 to 200 litres to take a shower. * The litres of water needed to produce a kilo of: Potatoes 1,000 Maize 1,400 Wheat 1,450 Chicken 4,600 Beef 42,500 Originally posted at: EcoEarth users agree to the site disclaimer as a condition for use. Networked by EcoEarth, a project of Ecological Internet, Inc
Saturday, 19 May 2012 A Ship's Quarterdeck QUARTERDECK – the after weather deck. Literally a deck which ran 1/4th of the ships’ length from the stern. Traditionally, the position of command where the vessels’ master/captain would control the ship. He could best judge the wind and sea direction from there, adjusting his sails and course accordingly. Respect is always payed (salute or come briefly to attention/doff cap) to the quarterdeck when boarding or leaving a ship as an acknowledgment of the Captain’s authority (the Crown), however it has a more ancient history. Sailors are a superstitious lot, and the ocean is a dangerous place, so they would erect a shrine to whichever god they hoped would protect them. Of course, the most comfortable place on a sailing ship is at the stern, so that’s where they placed the shrine and would pay homage to it whenever they entered or left the ship. Interestingly, the vessel’s Master would also act as their god’s priest (mess with the Captain and you mess with god!) and this tradition has carried on to today. In particular, the performance of marriage or burial at sea. No comments:
Navigation Links Study by NTU professors provides important insight into apoptosis or programmed cell death A study by Nanyang Technological University (NTU)'s Assistant Professor Li Hoi Yeung, Assistant Professor Koh Cheng Gee and their team have made an important contribution to the understanding of the process that cells go through when they die. This process known as 'apoptosis' or programmed cell death, is a normal process in the human body which removes perhaps a million cells a second. According to Professor Li, they discovered that during apoptosis, the cell's rescue mechanism is inhibited when certain proteins (i.e. 'anti-factors' that are necessary to keep a cell alive) are no longer able to enter the cell's nucleus, thus stopping the cell's ability to initiate its self-repair process. In addition, they also discovered that the protein RanGTP, which is involved in the transportation of certain proteins into and out of the cell's nucleus, is reduced greatly during the early stages of apoptosis. Under normal circumstances, there is a high distribution of RanGTP in the nucleus and a low concentration of RanGTP in the cytoplasm (the body enveloping the cell's nucleus). It is this gradient of RanGTP that exist across the nuclear-cytoplasmic boundaries that serves as a track and directs the transport of proteins and other molecules into and out of the nucleus. Hence, when the concentration of RanGTP is reduced in the nucleus, the RanGTP gradient collapses and the nuclear transport machinery subsequently shuts down. Too little or too much apoptosis plays a role in a great many diseases. When programmed cell death does not work right, cells that should be eliminated may linger around and become immortal - for example, in cancer and leukemia. When apoptosis works overly well, it kills too many cells and inflicts grave tissue damage. This is the case in strokes and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer, Huntington and Parkinson diseases. While it is established that cells undergo apoptosis when they are damaged by mechanical injury, exposed to death stimuli, or under stress, the mechanism that initiates apoptosis has not been comprehensively resolved. Thus the study by Professor Li, Professor Koh and their team at NTU have provided new insights on the process that cells go through while experiencing apoptosis. Contact: Hisham Hambari Nanyang Technological University Related biology news : 1. Probiotics help gastric-bypass patients lose weight more quickly, Stanford study shows 2. New study ranks hotspots of human impact on coastal areas 3. Work in mice will contribute to the study of hereditary diseases that lead to blindness 4. UAB study reveals bone coupling factor key to skeletal health 5. Army study improves ability to predict drinking water needs 6. Plant protein doorkeepers block invading microbes, study finds 7. Study finds role for parasites in evolution of sex 8. Canadian researchers set to study impact of nanomaterials on aquatic ecosystems 9. MS study offers theory for why repair of brains wiring fails 10. Oscar Pistorius: Previously confidential study results released on amputee sprinter 11. NSF provides $3.4 million to study climatically important Agulhas Current Post Your Comments: Breaking Biology News(10 mins): Breaking Biology Technology:
4-Tooth Bridge Failure – Dental Implant Bridge Replacement A dental bridge is a fixed (non-removable) appliance and is an older way to replace missing teeth. There are several types of bridges. The “traditional bridge” is the most popular type and is usually made of porcelain fused to metal. This type of bridge consists to two crowns that go over two anchoring teeth and are attached to pontics (artificial teeth), filling the gap created by one or more missing teeth. My 83 year old patient from Hollywood had pain from a large bridge that spanned 4 teeth. When a bridge is that long, it flexes in the middle when you bite. It caused the front anchor tooth to split and cause a bone infection. That root canaled tooth had to be extracted. It also caused a bone pocket and bone loss on the back anchor tooth. It is very common for a bridge to get a cavity also! The bridge is so long it can only be seen on two x-rays! (see pictures below) X52388_1 X52388_8 The new three tooth implant bridge was designed with large implants to withstand his strong bite. It has been working great. You are never too old! Share Your Comments or Questions About This Article
What does Faculty mean? Definitions for Facultyˈfæk əl ti Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word Faculty. Princeton's WordNet 1. faculty, mental faculty, module(noun) one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind 2. staff, faculty(noun) the body of teachers and administrators at a school "the dean addressed the letter to the entire staff of the university" 1. faculty(Noun) The scholarly staff at colleges or universities, as opposed to the students or support staff. 2. faculty(Noun) A division of a university (e.g. a Faculty of Science or Faculty of Medicine). 3. faculty(Noun) An ability, skill, or power. He lived until he reached the age of 90 with most of his faculties intact. 4. Origin: From faculte, from faculte, from facultas, another form of facilitas, from facul, another form of facilis; see facile. Webster Dictionary 1. Faculty(noun) ability to act or perform, whether inborn or cultivated; capacity for any natural function; especially, an original mental power or capacity for any of the well-known classes of mental activity; psychical or soul capacity; capacity for any of the leading kinds of soul activity, as knowledge, feeling, volition; intellectual endowment or gift; power; as, faculties of the mind or the soul 2. Faculty(noun) special mental endowment; characteristic knack 3. Faculty(noun) power; prerogative or attribute of office 4. Faculty(noun) privilege or permission, granted by favor or indulgence, to do a particular thing; authority; license; dispensation 5. Faculty(noun) a body of a men to whom any specific right or privilege is granted; formerly, the graduates in any of the four departments of a university or college (Philosophy, Law, Medicine, or Theology), to whom was granted the right of teaching (profitendi or docendi) in the department in which they had studied; at present, the members of a profession itself; as, the medical faculty; the legal faculty, ect 6. Faculty(noun) the body of person to whom are intrusted the government and instruction of a college or university, or of one of its departments; the president, professors, and tutors in a college 1. Faculty A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas. In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges or schools, but may also mix terminology. The medieval University of Paris, which served as a model for most of the later medieval universities in Europe, had four faculties: the Faculties of Theology, Law, Medicine, and finally the Faculty of Arts, from which every student had to graduate in order to continue his training in one of the other three, sometimes known as the higher faculties. The privilege to establish these four faculties was usually part of all medieval charters for universities, but not every university could do so in practice. The Faculty of Arts took its name from the seven liberal arts: the trivium and the quadrivium. In German, Scandinavian, Slavic and other universities, the name for this faculty would more often literally translate as 'faculty of philosophy'. The degree of Magister Artium derives its name from the Faculty of Arts, while the degree of Doctor of Philosophy originates within German education and derives its name from the German name of the Arts faculty. Chambers 20th Century Dictionary 1. Faculty fak′ul-ti, n. facility or power to act: any particular ability or aptitude: an original power of the mind: any physical capability or function: personal quality or endowment: right, authority, or privilege to act: license: a department of learning at a university, or the professors constituting it: the members of a profession: executive ability.—adj. Fac′ultātive, optional: of or pertaining to a faculty.—Court of Faculties, a court established by Henry VIII., whereby authority is given to the Archbishop of Canterbury to grant dispensations and faculties. [Fr.,—L. facultatemfacilis, easy.] U.S. National Library of Medicine 1. Faculty The teaching staff and members of the administrative staff having academic rank in an educational institution. British National Corpus 1. Nouns Frequency Rank popularity for the word 'Faculty' in Nouns Frequency: #2122 1. Chaldean Numerology The numerical value of Faculty in Chaldean Numerology is: 8 2. Pythagorean Numerology The numerical value of Faculty in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7 Sample Sentences & Example Usage 1. Joseph Addison: 2. William James: 3. Mark Twain: 4. John McAdams: It would be odd to be charged with harassing someone by reporting something accurately on my blog, a lot of politically correct faculty have wanted my head on a pike. 5. Kathleen Plinske: We're willing to give things a try, our faculty ... are so very interested in providing the best learning experience, but very much in touch with the economic realities our students face. Images & Illustrations of Faculty Translations for Faculty From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary Get even more translations for Faculty » Find a translation for the Faculty definition in other languages: Select another language: Discuss these Faculty definitions with the community: Word of the Day Please enter your email address: Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography: "Faculty." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2017. Web. 29 Jun 2017. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/Faculty>. Are we missing a good definition for Faculty? Don't keep it to yourself... Nearby & related entries: Alternative searches for Faculty: Thanks for your vote! We truly appreciate your support.
What does active transport mean? Definitions for active transport Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word active transport. Princeton's WordNet 1. active transport(noun) transport of a substance (as a protein or drug) across a cell membrane against the concentration gradient; requires an expenditure of energy 1. Active transport Active transport is the movement of all types of molecules across a cell membrane against its concentration gradient. In all cells, this is usually concerned with accumulating high concentrations of molecules that the cell needs, such as ions, glucose and amino acids. If the process uses chemical energy, such as from adenosine triphosphate, it is termed primary active transport. Secondary active transport involves the use of an electrochemical gradient. Active transport uses cellular energy, unlike passive transport, which does not use cellular energy. Active transport is a good example of a process for which cells require energy. Examples of active transport include the uptake of glucose in the intestines in humans and the uptake of mineral ions into root hair cells of plants. 1. Chaldean Numerology The numerical value of active transport in Chaldean Numerology is: 2 2. Pythagorean Numerology The numerical value of active transport in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3 Images & Illustrations of active transport Translations for active transport From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary Get even more translations for active transport » Find a translation for the active transport definition in other languages: Select another language: Discuss these active transport definitions with the community: Word of the Day Please enter your email address: Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography: "active transport." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2017. Web. 29 Jun 2017. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/active transport>. Are we missing a good definition for active transport? Don't keep it to yourself... Nearby & related entries: Alternative searches for active transport: Thanks for your vote! We truly appreciate your support.
What does omni- mean? Definitions for omni- Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word omni-. 1. omni-(Prefix) a combining form meaning "all", used in the formation of compound words. 2. Origin: From Latin omnis "all" Chambers 20th Century Dictionary 1. Omni- om′ni, from L. omnis, all, a combining form, as in adjs. Omnifā′rious, of all varieties or kinds; Omnif′erous, bearing or producing all kinds; Omnif′ic, all-creating; Om′niform, of, or capable of, every form.—n. Omniform′ity.—v.t. Om′nify (rare), to make universal.—adj. Omnig′enous, consisting of all kinds.—n. Omnipar′ity, general equality.—adjs. Omnip′arous, producing all things; Omnipā′tient, enduring all things.—ns. Omnip′otence, Omnip′otency, unlimited power—an attribute of God.—adj. Omnip′otent, all-powerful, possessing unlimited power.—adv. Omnip′otently.—n. Omnipres′ence, quality of being present everywhere at the same time—an attribute of God.—adj. Omnipres′ent, present everywhere at the same time.—n. Omnisc′ience, knowledge of all things—an attribute of God.—adj. Omnisc′ient, all-knowing: all-seeing: infinitely wise.—adv. Omnisc′iently.—adj. Omniv′orous, all-devouring: (zool.) feeding on both animal and vegetable food.—The Omnipotent, God. 1. Chaldean Numerology The numerical value of omni- in Chaldean Numerology is: 8 2. Pythagorean Numerology The numerical value of omni- in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6 Sample Sentences & Example Usage 1. Deodatta V. Shenai-Khatkhate: 2. Mayor Glen Robertson: I have sent Mr. Loomis an email requesting that we remove the Arabic flag from the Omni building, that we take all steps necessary to secure the building and that Chief [Greg] Stevens notify the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and the Lubbock Sheriff’s Office, it is premature to come to conclusions before we can gather more facts but I believe that we must take this situation seriously in light of current national and international events. 3. Andrew Schneider: The fact that we don't know this man, isn't important really. Cause his experience is our experience, and his fate is our fate. Vani tass, vani tatum, et omni i vani tass, says the preacher. All is vanity I think that's a pretty good epitaph for all of us. When we're stripped of all our worldly possessions and all our fame, family, friends, we all face death alone. But it's that solitude in death that's our common bond in life. I know it's ironic, but that's just the way things are. Vani tass, vani tatum, et omni i vani tass. Only when we understand all is vanity, only then, it isn't. Images & Illustrations of omni- Find a translation for the omni- definition in other languages: Select another language: Discuss these omni- definitions with the community: Word of the Day Please enter your email address: Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography: "omni-." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2017. Web. 29 Jun 2017. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/omni->. Are we missing a good definition for omni-? Don't keep it to yourself... Nearby & related entries: Alternative searches for omni-: Thanks for your vote! We truly appreciate your support.
Survival in Aushwitz Summary Only available on StudyMode • Download(s) : 266 • Published : November 1, 2012 Open Document Text Preview Tyler Schmidt Survival in Auschwitz Summary Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi is a highly insightful book. It is his story of being persecuted and arrested in the Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz. It goes into great detail describing everyday life in the camp, from merely survival tactics all the way to the “economics” of the camp. His vivid details and metaphors give the reader very powerful images of what the hell inside the camp was like. I’ll start with his journey to Auschwitz, He started in an internment camp with other Jews at Fossoli. Here, they were treated okay and were able to eat decently and remain with their families. But then they were given word that they were to be transported elsewhere. This frightened everyone, as they had heard the stories of what was to come and Levi stated in the book that their last night in the internment camp was a strange one, some were drunk, some were with loved ones, others packed their things (unknowing what was to come). They were informed that roll call would be in the morning and that for every person missing, 10 would be shot. That morning, 650 Jews were crammed into cattle train cars for a two week journey to the camp. When they arrived there was mass confusion, 96 capable men were selected to work, the rest were never seen again. The first few days of the camp were an awkward and confusing time, prior to even mentioning the horrible conditions. The were to sleep in places called “huts” each of which were numbered and were crammed with bunks, and even more crammed with a stupid amount of people having to reside there. The “haftlinges” were given one ration of bread and watery soup per day (which is their only form of money). They were stripped naked and waiting for hours, waiting to shower and be shaved by one of the barbers. They took all of their clothes and belongings and gave them ratty pants, shirt, light jacket and beret; along with shoes with wooden soles that never fit right.... tracking img
Friday, March 28, 2008 This method measures the fluorescence of substances in solution and make this as a basis of determining the unknown concentration. This is done by measuring the electromagnetic radiation absorption of excited atoms when they return to a higher energy level than their original levels. The wavelength used will be longer to the excitation wavelength. Parts of a basic filter fluorometer: 1. Energy Source 2. Primary filter 3. cell or Sample holder 4. Attenuator 5. Secondary filter 6. Detector (Photomultiplier) 7. Readout No comments:
Explore BrainMass Gender Differences in Information Processing Do you agree that there are gender differences in the way we process information? Why or why not? Include examples from real life and/or your research to support your claims. Solution Preview There is a number of influences that could contribute to differences in information processing including genetic, neurological, environmental, and learned factors. However, the brain is the first stop in dealing with incoming information and, while there are many similarities between male and female brain, there are also several differences. Below, I will give you some general examples of this but it will be up to you to find and reference any specific research that talks about it. There is evidence that females have more sensitive senses (the 5 senses) than males, this is likely due to the fact that females need to be more aware of their environment to keep a pregnancy safe. This can affect info processing because pre-pubertal girls are ... Solution Summary The gender differences in information processing is examined. Examples for real life research to support your claims are determined.
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary Jump to: navigation, search clump +‎ -y clumpy (comparative clumpier, superlative clumpiest) 1. Forming or tending to form clumps. • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House 2. Resembling a clump. 3. Clompy; with heavy footfalls. • 1920, Eleanor H. Porter, Mary Marie Certainly it's lots easier to be Mary in a brown serge and clumpy boots than it is in the soft, fluffy things Marie used to wear.
Rwanda’s Genocide: The Untold Story Posted: October 8, 2010 in Genocide Denial Tags: , , , , , , , , , By ANNE JOLIS-Bisesero, Rwanda ’I tell you as I saw it,”says Fidéle Simugomwa, a former Hutu-extremist militia chief during the Rwandan genocide, as he sits for an interview with French documentary-maker Serge Farnel. ”The French soldiers were standing on the hill, and firing down at the Tutsi. . . . We had a sign so the French didn’t shoot at us—[we had] leaves on. “ One by one, the ex-génocidaires whom Mr. Farnel films tell the same story : Namely, that on May 13, 1994, small teams of white men they describe as “French soldiers,” clad in fatigues and riding in jeeps or trucks, gathered at lookout points in the backwoods of western Rwanda . They fired into the Bisesero hills, scaring the Tutsi out of hiding. They then aimed directly at the fleeing men, women and children. When the shooting stopped, the Hutu killers moved into the hills. Wielding machetes, lances, nail-spiked clubs and their own guns, they finished off the wounded. A score of survivors recounted the same version of events to me. On that day and the next, some 40,000 Tutsi were slaughtered. All told, an estimated 800,000 Tutsi and anti-genocide Hutu perished in the ghastly spring of 1994. * (…) In 1998, French journalist Patrick de Saint-Exupéry, who had visited with French soldiers during Operation Turquoise, wrote a series of articles in Le Figaro describing how France ’s “ humanitarian zones ” mainly served to protect Hutu killers as they retreated in the face of the RPF’s military advances. The articles created enough of a stir for the French parliament to form a committee of inquiry, which ultimately concluded that France bore no specific responsibility for the genocide and at worst had been the victim of honest misunderstandings. Enter Serge Farnel, a tall, rather hulking Parisian of 44 with a background in aeronautical engineering. Mr. Farnel’s curiosity about the genocide was piqued several years ago when he heard comparisons made between France ’s actions in Rwanda and the behavior of the Vichy regime during World War II. During a trip to Rwanda last April, he met a Tutsi survivor who insisted that French soldiers had been present in Rwanda in May 1994, when supposedly none were there. At first he assumed that her traumatized memory was playing tricks on her, but she clung to the account. So he began asking others, and he put their testimonies on film. The result is 100 hours of footage, which consists mainly of separate and group interviews with both victims and perpetrators of the slaughter, as well as detailed re-enactments of the killing fields. It’s difficult to overstate the rigor with which Mr. Farnel conducted the interviews : On tape, the interviewees sometimes become impatient when he calls them back for repeated questioning, like witnesses on the stand, seizing on any apparent discrepancies in their testimony. Not every survivor of the May 1994 massacres says he recalls the presence of French soldiers in Bisesero. But many say they do, and their stories are consistent. After watching the filmed testimonials, I decided to join Mr. Farnel in Rwanda to watch him at work and confirm these accounts for myself. * “ The whites were stationed at a height, and first they got us out of hiding with their shots. . . . They stopped when theInterahamwe [the Hutu militia] came, and started again when we resisted, ” says Sylvestre Niyakayiro, a Tutsi who was 22 at the time and recalls being chased from hill to hill in three attacks that day with whites at the helm. Mr. Farnel asks repeatedly if Mr. Niyakayiro isn’t confusing his dates, if the white men he remembers from mid-May weren’t actually the French soldiers who arrived at the end of June for Operation Turquoise, when another assault was launched against the few Tutsi who remained in the vicinity of Bisesero. “ The days of the 13th and 14th [of May] were days that are unforgettable, ” Mr. Niyakayiro replies. But who exactly were these “ whites ”—assuming they really were there ? “ Your information is not credible as it rests on no historical reality, ” Gen. Jean-Claude Lafourcade, who commanded Operation Turquoise and now runs an association of soldiers who served in Rwanda, wrote in an emailed response to my questions, adding that “ it seems you are being manipulated. ” Like the Elysée, the Association says “ there were no French soldiers in Rwanda in the month of May 1994. ” L’Institut François Mitterrand, led by the late president’s close adviser Hubert Védrine, declined to comment for this article. The Rwandans that Mr. Farnel and I interviewed insist the French military itself was involved in the massacres of mid-May. “ I know they were French military because I had been with them in Mutara in 1991, ” says Semi Bazimaziki, who was a corporal in the Rwandan military during the genocide. “ I knew very well their ways of operating. ” Another ex-génocidaire, Jean Ngarambe, reports that he was rejected as a guide for the visiting whites because “ I didn’t speak French. ” Instead, another man who did speak French was accepted. One incident, described by the perpetrators and victims alike, is particularly telling. Several of the ex-génocidaires recall that on May 12, the day before the butchery began, they were summoned to a village. They say a local Hutu official, a man named Charles Sikubwabo who is now a fugitive being sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , presented “ French soldiers ” who had come to serve as reinforcements. Mr. Sikubwabo instructed the assembled Rwandan killers to proceed along a certain route without attacking or approaching any Tutsi along the way. They came together again a few miles away at a place called Mumubuga, where they found more than 50 Tutsi. Flanked by the white men, Mr. Sikubwabo told the Tutsi not to be afraid, that the whites were there to help them, and that they should go back to the hills to await aid. “ We understood that it was a trick for the Tutsi, ” says Raphaël Mageza, Mr. Sikubwabo’s brother-in-law. The whites were acting as lures to gather information about where the Tutsi were hiding. Gudelieve Mukangamije, one of Mr. Mageza’s would-be victims, agrees : “ They [the whites] didn’t give us tarps [as promised]. They killed us. And they betrayed us to the Interahamwe. ” *** Yesterday, Nicolas Sarkozy became the first French president to set foot in Rwanda in a quarter century. “ What happened here forces the international community, including France , to reflect on the mistakes that prevented it from anticipating and stopping this terrible crime, ” he said. Mr. Sarkozy has previously suggested that a committee of historians look into what happened during the genocide. The French president, adds Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, “ is not opposed to having France look at its history. ” If that is so, France and its historians could make no better beginning than to look at the extraordinary testimonies assembled in Mr. Farnel’s massive documentary. Where its evidence leads, they have a moral and historical duty to follow. As Mr. Farnel says, “ No country can run from its history. ” Miss Jolis is an editorial page writer for the Wall Street Journal Europe. Comments are closed.
Workplace Collaborations Working with others is probably the only thing that follows us from kindergarten all the way to actual careers. No matter what field a person ends up in, nine times out of ten they are going to have to learn how to play well with others in order to get their job done to the greatest of their capabilities. While all students seem to know this, it doesn’t stop us from hating it. Group work is usually a synonym for one person slacking while another takes on too much work. According to a 2015 study, 57% of students did not like group work and did not see how it will correlate to their life outside of school. (Vittrup, 2015). So, collaborating in the workplace is going to become increasingly more difficult when a whole generation that is sick of dealing with working together are the ones who must do so. Work place collaboration is obviously very different than working on a singular project with s group of people for class. In the workplace it is constant, and there are no final projects or end of classes. AS soon as one project is finished another begins. It is for this reason that people in the work place choose their collaborators wisely, and why experience in same cases means more than a degree or GPA. “A college degree is helpful for understanding business theories, but the practical realities of working in a specific profession need to be learned on the job.” (Ashe-Edmunds, 2015) Today’s collaborations in the workplace rely heavily on what students learn from experience, but what they do not realize is that school work is a part of this experience. At least it should be. While it teaches students to work together, most in class collaborations forget that the team building skills are probably more important than the actual assignment. New technology is also being implemented into may different career options, meaning students must understand these things and take technology classes while in classes. Advances like Google drive and Skype allow collaborations to happen miles away, which would not have been possible even ten years ago. While this is a good thing it means work place communications are now more costly. What used to be done in a business meeting is now done over services which companies must pay to use premium features on. (Marlin Marketing, 2015). This means that students must apply what they have learned in school, but must do it in a professional setting that forces them to pay in order to work together. This may sound futuristic or like a negative, but it really ensures that the one thing any graduate does at their first job out of college is communicate well. Collaboration is essentially communication with a goal in mind. It is a technique that everyone must do in their lifetime, but not all do well. How one collaborates in the workplace can make or break any project or career. Let’s just hope that the group presentation you have to give in your geology class prepared you for it. Ashe-Edmunds, S. (2015) Education vs. job experience in the workplace. Demand Media. Retrieved from Marlin Marketing (2015) Do office technology advancements create workplace distractions? Retrieved from Vittrup, B. (2015) How to improve group work: Perspectives from students. Faculty Focus. Retrieved from SM Aftermath Since taking CAP 105 my view on social media has changed in a negative way. I used to think that it was primarily about normal people making connections and keeping in contact with those who may not be near anymore. However, I have come to realize that social media has expanded far beyond just personal communications and is now more about orchestrating a presence online in order to improve one’s brand or self-image. In fact most companies have even implemented tactics that aid users to make their platforms into integral points of their business plans. Twitter, for instance, made sure that advertisements are among the first to appear when someone searches anything when using their search engine. (Bernoff, 2010) Because of these additions Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have become prime sources of advertising right underneath people’s noses. It has made something personal into a business. Social media is not the personal communication sources that people like it believe. It is almost all pre-orchestrated, pre-planned, and analyzed in order to create shares, likes, and retweets. Almost nothing is truly genuine on social media. It is all analyzed on a scale and made into data in order to make the next post better and more efficient. This in itself is a problem because there is no definite way to measure if a post is successful or not. There are simply too many metrics and factors to consider (Baer, 2014). These metrics are what our social media lives are based on whether we realize it or not. It is not creativity or passion that determines what is in our social media feeds. It is numbers. The other major impact that social media has many had is the way in which it has changed how people get news. They do not check a newspaper, television, or websites anymore; they look at what is trending on Twitter. They don’t look in a magazine for articles, they share them on Facebook. Not only this, but it has changed who is writing the news and how stories are told, “Regardless of the outlet, the rise of technology in our society has allowed for voices of regular people to be heard by millions of people within seconds.” (Rong Lim, 2015). Because of this, news stories now have more human faces, and actual dialogue from those who experience them. But, it also means that stories are sometimes told before all the facts are in, leading to chaos. Overall, social media has become something in which professionals have used to make themselves seem more personal to clients and people use to make themselves feel more important. It is systems in which people throw their genuine selves out the window and make a better version appear on the screen. It is something our generation originated, but older ones have adapted, making us seem superficial while they are business savvy for using the same technique. Baer, J. (2014) The truth about social media metrics .Convince&convert Retrieved from Bernoff, J. (2010).Why you should embrace advertising on Twitter. Advertising Age, 81(16), 9. Retrieved from Rong, L. (2015) Everyone is a journalist: The truth about social media. The Wellesley News. Retrieved from Infographics are pictures used to inform, map out instructions, or compare easily. They are often used to teach new skills.This project was created using The content is shared via my this blog post, but could be placed onto any social media platform such as Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. Outlets are posting it to the internet,emails, prints, or newsletters. The following is an example.Untitled Infographic Social Media…What’s the Deal? The hardest thing about talking about social media is defining what it means, and how it changes the meaning of what it associates with. Does the work “like” actually mean that someone enjoys something, or is it now just a verb used when talking on Facebook? When people say retweet aloud in everyday conversation to something they agree with, does that count as being a part of the Twitter community? People my age have taken social media to the next level, incorporating it in “real life.” While most affiliate social media with the millennial age exposing themselves willingly online, networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, have all expanded their reach and made the networks a viable part of modern day business, and it’s sinking into everyday life. To really define what the term social media means, the ways in which people use the platforms along with if they are successful or not is critical. I personally use social media to make keep in contact with friends and family. Being two states away from my hometown, it’s the easiest way to stay in the know.The occasional post or Tweet makes users feel as though they are keeping others update on their lives. However, it has been shown that those who check and use social media sites on a regular basis tend to feel more down about themselves, saying that they are underachieving much more than those who claim to not be active on social media. This is claimed to be because social media makes people see others success, with favorites and likes, highlighting their own failures, and making themselves attempt to appear more successful on social media. (Fowler, 2015). This means that while many people only intend to use social media to keep in touch with one another, the statistics show that people actually use it in order to make themselves look better online than they are in person. However, social media is now evolving into even more than fake personas, “catfishing”, and being completely about people. Marketing on popular media sites is now a common part of any marketing plan. Whether it be through promoted posts or a verified account for a brand talking about themselves, companies are taking advantage of the social media revolution and making it into money. But, this is not an easy task. While saying something on Twitter or Facebook can be good because of the immediate views and feedback, when the feedback is negative it can be hard to control. For example, On October, 18 2015 IHOP tweeted an offensive comment about women’s breasts that received negative attention and became a national news story. (Valinsky, 2015). This controversy shows that while promotion on social media is very important, it is still something that is an entirely new process that changes every time a site or service changes its own features. However, it is the way in which the services get revenue and many “Instagram Famous” or verifies Twitter accounts have learned how to make having a presence on social media into a full blown career. There have been attempts to fully define what social media means with no luck at one true definition. The Web Analytics Association attempted to compile responses on what social media was in order to find what it meant. They ended up with four definitions. (Web Analytics Association, 2010). Social media is something that changes so much that it is hard to define. Because everyone uses it for different reasons, and with corresponding different success rates, it meaning changes based on the user. I personally think that it is at its core, the 21st century way of staying in contact with one another and expressing ourselves. It’s handwritten letters, public service announcements, news, and community all rolled into several different feeds. Social media is basically a digitized (and fantasized) version of life. Image by Jason Howie Image by Jason Howie Fowler, Ryan, (2015) Tech city news: Social media use leaves millennials feeling like ‘generation #fail’ Chatham: Newstex. Retrieved on Novenmber 10, 2015, from Web Analytics Association offers social media definitions for comment. (2010). Direct : Magazine of Direct Marketing, Retrieved from Valinsky, Jordan, (2015, Oct. 19) IHOP’s suggestive tweet about women’s breasts falls flat. Digiday. Retrieved November 11, 2015 from
Gender Neutral Object: the Pelvis Pictured here is a model of a human pelvis. When thinking of a gender neutral object, I immediately thought of something that we all have: a skeleton. This particular model is used by one of my friends who is a medical illustration student here at RIT. While we all know that everyone has a pelvis, there is the question of whether this object is truly neutral or if it has more masculine or feminine features. The truth is that this is a model of a female pelvis. While this may not be clear to most people, there’s two ways to tell. Firstly, and most obviously, the model is in fact labeled as a female pelvis. Secondly, this pelvis is wider than a male pelvis. If you were ever looking for an example of a male pelvis for comparison, most classroom skeletons use male pelvis’s, though some do use an “in between” version. To address the question of how I feel when someone does not appear to be distinctly male or female, this does not bother me at all. I am a firm believer that both gender and sexuality are on a spectrum and in no way binary. To me, to hold the belief that people must be confined to traditionally masculine and feminine roles is unfair and limiting to those who do not feel that they strictly fit into those categories. 5 thoughts on “Gender Neutral Object: the Pelvis 1. I think this was an interesting object to choose to photograph. While the pelvis itself isn’t particularly gender-neutral (it’s one of the most easily identified bones to determine sex), the skeleton is, since every gender has one. It’s an interesting perspective to show how no matter how hard we try to maintain neutrality in our lives, we can always push further and read a stereotype (or in this case, a gender) into something, even as ubiquitous as a bone. 2. To follow up on the last comment, this was a great object to pick for the fact that it proves we cannot escape the physical traits and hormones we have been assigned by genetics. In the context of this assignment I agree that unless you have a female and male pelvis side by side I cannot tell that this is a female pelvis. However, it is taught in all schools the anatomy and bone structure differences between females and males, and how the female body is designed for the miracle of child birth. Therefore, I would need to do a lot more research on the physical attributes of the brains to determine if in fact it is possible to distinguish any difference. Because if the brains all come the same, (software of a human), and the skeletal structures are different by design (the hardware), it begs the question how the feelings that we humans have come about. Because I do not have any issues with people wanting to do whatever makes them happy. As long as they do not try to press their beliefs onto anyone else. Everyone needs to just live and let live, there is no “right gender” or “right identification”. There is really not “gender suggesting” or “gender specific products” it is all based on the culture and beliefs the person has that is looking at the products. If you handed someone, who had no previous knowledge of condoms, a condom and told them it was a water balloon and explained to them how to use it as a water balloon, then they would not think of this product as a “man’s product”, but instead a toy that they would share with anyone who wanted to play. 3. We all have one ting in common, our skeleton. We all have a heart, a brain, ribs and so on. We may look different on the outside but on the inside we are the dame. Granted, there might different sizes that certain structure’s in our body take on but they are the same structures that we share. I saw a picture posted on Facebook of two graves one of a rich person and one of a poor person. The grave was the same because at the end of the day we all are going to die whether you are rich or poor. Its kind of like this picture, we are all human regardless of our skin color! I wish more people these days would notice that. 4. Anatomy on this level is seemingly unbiased. And while certainly their are exceptions and nuances to consider, there is certainly no definitive way to know by looking at this picture without a developed understanding of male versus female bone structures. When I looked at this picture for the first time my brain attempted to ascribe the label of male or female, and being unable to do so with certainty makes this a truly neutral image that is rare amongst provocative visuals. 5. I think when talking about gender and the gender binary, we should note that gender and sex are two different things that we often use interchangeably even though they aren’t. Correct me if I’m off, but i believe that sex refers to the biology of a living thing, specifically what genitals and hormones the living thing has. Gender on the other hand is a social construct. It is the ideals and roles that we place on people and things to categorize them into very specific binary/boolean categories. For example, if a person has a penis (is of the male sex) or a male pelvis, it does not necessarily mean that they identify their gender as a he/him. They could identify as female or even as gender neutral. They could prefer pronouns such as they/them or she/her, because like objects, people can be gender neutral as well. When we realize this disconnect we can see how silly it is that we place so much gender on ordinary objects. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Skip to main content - Smaller Text \| + Larger Text Veterans, Employers, and Service-connected Disabilities Printer icon • Synopsis: Published: 2011-12-10 (Rev. 2014-03-15) - Examines veterans with service connected injuries or disabilities and questions related to employers Americans with Disabilities Act reasonable accommodations and the processes involved. For further information pertaining to this article contact: Wendy Taormina-Weiss. Definition: Veterans A person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field. A person who has served or is serving in the armed forces, and has direct exposure to acts of military conflict, commonly known as war veterans (although not all military conflicts, or areas in which armed combat takes place, are necessarily referred to as "wars"). Main Document "Federal agencies may use specific rules and regulations referred to as, 'special hiring authorities,' to hire people with disabilities outside of the normal hiring process." One of the questions veterans with disabilities may have is whether or not an employer can hire someone else over them because of the service-connected disability they experience. Veterans with service-connected injuries or disabilities many times have questions related to employers they desire to approach. Veterans with disabilities may have questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), reasonable accommodations and the processes involved with them, the things employers can and cannot ask or do, and where they can find more information. Returning to civilian life is challenging enough; finding employment as a veteran with disabilities deserves some answers and assistance. One of the questions veterans with disabilities may have is whether or not an employer can hire someone else over them because of the service-connected disability they experience. The simple answer is that in the majority of cases employers cannot. The ADA protects veterans in this regard, prohibiting discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities due to the disabilities they have. What this means is if a person is qualified for the job, an employer can't refuse to hire you simply because you have a service-connected disability, or because you might need a reasonable accommodation to do your job. A person is considered to be qualified under the ADA if they are able to meet an employers requirements for the job. The requirements can include education, training, skills, experience, as well as any licenses. A person must be able to perform the essentials of the job or the fundamental duties - with or without reasonable accommodation. Even if a person is qualified for a job, an employer can still choose to hire someone without a disability if that other person is more qualified. While employers are not required to, they might decide to give a veteran with a service-connected disability preference in hiring. Federal agencies may use specific rules and regulations referred to as, 'special hiring authorities,' to hire people with disabilities outside of the normal hiring process. Sometimes they might be required to give veterans preferential treatment, to include veterans with disabilities, when making hiring, promotion, and additional employment determinations. Veterans with disabilities such as amputations, or those who use wheelchairs, sometimes wonder if an employer can ask about the loss of a limb, why they use a wheelchair, or how they sustained the injury they experience. The plain fact is that an employer cannot ask about a person's disability, whether the disability a person has is noticeable or not. An employer can; however, ask you if you need an accommodation, and if you do - what kind. If there is a particular task involved in the performance of the job you are applying for, an employer can ask whether you will need assistance in performing the task and ask you to demonstrate how you will perform it. Also, if you reveal the injury, illness, or disability you have to an employer and that employer believes you will require an accommodation, they might ask what accommodation you need in order to perform the job. Veterans who wonder if they have to disclose an injury, illness, or disability that is hidden or not obvious to an employer during the interview process, or indicate these on a job application have a two-letter answer to their question: No. The ADA doesn't require you to disclose a medical condition or disability during and interview or on a job application unless you need a reasonable accommodation during the application process. Reasonable accommodations during an application process might include additional time to take a test, or the ability to provide spoken instead of written responses. Veterans with service-connected disabilities might opt to disclose a medical condition such as a TBI or PTSD because of the symptoms they experience, or because of the need for a reasonable accommodation. After an employer has offered you a job, they can ask you questions about the medical conditions you experience and might require you to take a medical exam as long is they make everyone else in the same job answer the same questions, or take the same medical exam before they start working. Employers sometimes have applications asking if applicants to indicate whether or not they are a disabled veteran. Some veterans wonder if this is legal, and the simple answer is yes, it is if the information is being requested for affirmative action purposes. Employers can ask people applying for jobs to voluntarily self-identify as a person with disabilities or as a disabled veteran under certain circumstances which include: • Undertaking affirmative action because of a federal, state, or local law, including a veterans' preference law, that requires affirmative action for individuals with disabilities • Voluntarily using the information to benefit individuals with disabilities, including veterans with service-connected disabilities. If an employer does ask you to voluntarily identify yourself as a veteran with disabilities, they have to clearly inform you, in writing, or orally if a written questionnaire isn't used, that the information is being requested as part of their affirmative action program. The employer has to inform you that providing the information is indeed voluntary, that failure to provide it won't subject you to adverse treatment, and that the information will be kept confidential and will only be used in compliance with the ADA. There are various types of accommodations a person may need during the application process, or while they are on the job such as: • Access to a job coach • Ability to work from home • Additional time to complete a test • Modified or part-time work schedules • Ability to leave for treatment, recovery, or training • Modified equipment or devices; assistive technology • Modifications to workplaces; reconfiguring workspaces • Accessible locations for recruitment fairs, tests, interviews, and training • Written materials in accessible formats; large print, Braille, or on computer disks Another reasonable accommodation veterans might ask for is reassignment to a vacant position, where disability prevents performance of their current position, or where any reasonable accommodation in their current job would result in undue hardship such as significant expense of difficulty. Requesting a reasonable accommodation is simple enough; all you have to do is inform an employer, either through writing or a spoken request, that you need a change or adjustment in the application process or at your job for a reason related to a medical condition. If, for example, you experience a loss of hearing and are unable to hear people at work during meetings, you would need to inform your employer that you need an interpreter if you use ASL. You don't need to mention the ADA, or even use the words, 'reasonable accommodation.' Someone else can even make the request for you, such as a rehabilitation counselor, a family member, a health care professional, or another representative. Requesting a reasonable accommodation is the first step in an informal and interactive process between you and your employer. It is a process involving a determination of whether or not you have a disability as defined by the ADA, as well as identification of accommodations. Your employer might ask you if you know what accommodation you need to help you apply for a job or to help you do your job. If a veteran is unsure whether or not they need a reasonable accommodation, they can certainly ask for one later. You can ask for a reasonable accommodation at any time during the process of applying for a job or while at work. Usually, if a veteran is aware of a workplace barrier that prevents them from either competing for a job or performing the duties associated with their job, they should request a reasonable accommodation. It is better to request a reasonable accommodation before your job performance is affected. 1. Military Veterans Should Consider Federal Employment - When you decide that it is time to depart from the military and go back into the civilian world, you may want to think about getting a good Federal job. 2. US Nationwide Veterans Employment Campaign - HirePatriots, a national organization serving US Military members, veterans and their families through a unique community job board is launching a grassroots campaign to find jobs for veterans: Don't just thank a veteran, hire one. 3. Program Offers American Veterans With Disabilities Stable Employment and Independence - Established in 2010, as a division of Alorica, AloriCares recruits, trains, and hires disabled veterans to provide customer and technical support services. Comments and Discussion What will I receive? 1. Senate Health Bill Buries Biggest Medicaid Cuts Using Insufficient Inflation Adjustment 2. Wheelchair Revolution: Wheelchair Prototype Features Innovative Propulsion System 3. Probiotic Beer Boosts Immunity and Improves Gut Health 4. Aspirin Reduces Risk of Pre-Eclampsia in Pregnant Women
Writing an Executive Summary Every report, white paper, presentation, brochure or planning document has a one or two-page section summarising the contents. Although it's the first part of the index, it's usually the final pages developed and written. Why is It Important? Summary of the contentsPeople reading your plan will likely come from two different mindsets requiring two entirely different communication strategies. Some people like to know every little detail before they make any decisions. Others just need an overview before deciding whether to delve more into the detail. It's also the section that's referred to most often in later stages of discussions. Your readers may make additional notes to refer to at a later date. Together with the financial forecasts, this section is always the most referenced. Therefore, it's important to get it correctly structured and robust. If this section was only read by potential investors before they decided whether to read more detail, then it has to sell your ideas and have solid numbers. What are The Key Elements? Standard practice for small businesses is to have a one or two-page overview of the business. It should convey the company objectives, the investment required, and profit projections while highlighting your knowledge of the industry sector chosen. In those two pages there are usually seven paragraphs from the headings in your document as follows: • An overview of the business and mission statement. • The primary target customer, market environment and competitive landscape. • Core products and services offered. • Your sales and marketing strategy together with a pricing model. • An overall financial summary with top line numbers. • The personal profiles of the key players and senior staff. • The purpose of the plan (e.g.: to obtain finance) with an implementation timeline. Should You Write this First or Last? A skeleton outline developed before the main detail is fleshed out guides your summary and final plan. Use the headings described above to write a short paragraph from your initial ideas. Create the final summary pages once you've completed the main document. You can duplicate elements into this from pages contained in your plan as it's just a condensed version of your detailed document. As it's short, make every word count. Don't add in information that isn't pertinent to convince your reader of its worth. You can also use this summarised plan to send out to potential investors, suppliers, partners and even staff members. Many entrepreneurs use it as a reference point for the months after they start trading. Examples of Statements There are 16 different summaries in each of our sample plans you can read online for various industries with some available to download in MS Word. Here are six examples: Below are additional examples of what you could write for the above sections. Business Summary ABC Trading Limited are to take over the tenancy of a local corner shop from the existing owners. ABC has a franchise with Costcutter and will sell their full range of products. The ABC owners have both run successful stores over the past 14 years. Competition and Market The local area does not have any other convenience stores that sell branded products. There's just one local Aldi store and newsagent that sell a limited range of similar goods. The current owners produce an annual profit of £64,500 from their unbranded shop. We believe the opportunity for this franchise with lower prices enables us to compete well while improving the financial health of our company. Tips for Writing an Executive Summary • Keep it concise. As the entire premise is for these pages to be a summary, then yours should be just that. Take each part of your plan and condense those pages into paragraphs. • Use it as a selling tool. The introduction to your plan is the preface to the full detailed document. Whether you're targeting bank managers, investors, or colleagues, your summary should actively sell your business plan and encourage readers to delve into the detail. • Target your audience with different versions. Rather like a job application's cover letter or even a resume, you should tailor it to your specific audience. Investors may require a focus on your finances, whereas others may look more at your marketing plans. • Include all key points. Although it's a short version of your business plan, you need to summarise all sections outlined above. • Keep it jargon-free. The majority of people you present your plan to won't know your industry as well as you do. Keep jargon out of the summary and explain specific industry terms if required.
Netbooks: Another Revolution in Computers With the rapid development and ever-changing world of technology, computers were thought to be a revolution, but the demand for faster, cheaper and more efficient technologies gave birth to netbooks. Netbooks are smaller cousins of laptops. They are meant only for Internet services such as web browsing and e-mail, etc. They are lightweight, compact and easy to carry laptop computers are small and very energy-efficient laptops. netbooks further reduce the size of your computer. Pioneers first netbook ASUS has pushed the market in the name of the 2007.Model Asus Eee PC PC.Netbook smaller screen of 7 "-10" veličine.Netbook computers are smaller, but no optical drive and keyboard. Other hardware configuration includes 1 GB of RAM, 80 GB HDD, advanced configuration and power interface (ACPI ). Netbooks are developed consume less power and have longer battery life in this world devoid of energy. They can provide internet connectivity to almost any mjesta.Materijal used in the preparation of these netbooks is very light, which makes them even lighter than traditional laptop and in combination with elegant design, they work to move to the next level. netbooks come pre-loaded with Ubuntu Linux, but users can also install Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.Microsoft Office applications work very well so the main goal of these netbooks are business executives who do not have time to dive deeper into more sophisticated notebooks. They are actually looking for something simple to perform their daily work. Comparing the cost of traditional notebooks with new netbooks, netbooks are more economical option. As a normal laptop with the premium configuration will be used for well above $ 1000, however, a netbook with some basic configuration is available for $ 350. Although there were compromises in size, hardware and some applications, but in front of a rugged work, mobility and performance netbook result difficult. Over time, netbooks are bound to improve. They are a very good choice for students, entrepreneurs and executives. Recommended Posts :
Solution to 2008 Problem 93 The energy stored in a capacitor with capacitance C is \begin{align}\frac{1}{2}C V^2\end{align} where V is the voltage difference between the two plates. The effect of adding a dielectric with dielectric constant \kappa is to multiply the capacitance by \kappa. So, given that the voltage is fixed, the stored energy is increased by a factor of \kappa, becoming \kappa U_0. The electric field between the plates is V_0/d regardless of whether there is a dielectric between the plates or not. Therefore, answer (B) is correct. return to the 2008 problem list return to homepage Please send questions or comments to where X = physgre.
A blog by Paul Wallace • Local Pages • Quote of the month -- Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle • Facebook The joys of asymmetry Edward Hopper, Soir bleu, 1944 \| Whitney Museum of American Art \| www.whitney.org In a mathematically perfect universe, we would be less than dead; we would never have existed. According to the basic precepts of Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics, equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been created in the Big Bang and then immediately annihilated each other in a blaze of lethal energy, leaving a big fat goose egg with which to make stars, galaxies and us. And yet we exist, and physicists (among others) would dearly like to know why. Thus writes Dennis Overbye in today’s New York Times. What he is getting at is the strange fact that there is more matter in the universe than there is antimatter. Yes, antimatter is real, just as real as the stuff that you and I are made of: protons, neutrons, electrons. Each of these -ons have their corresponding anti-ons: the proton has the antiproton, the neutron has the antineutron, and the electron has the positron. Two things make a particle different than its antiparticle: (1) it has the opposite charge, and (2) it has the opposite spin. (Yes, spin. Just think of particles like little spinning tops. This isn’t technically correct but it will do.) We produce antiprotons, antineutrons, and positrons in laboratory experiments all the time, but they don’t live very long because once they meet up with one of their normal -ons, which are everywhere, they annihilate one another poof in a burst of light. We have even managed to build a few antihydrogen atoms: Antiproton nucleus, positron in orbit. Cool, huh? Oh, you know it’s cool. But the Big Bang theory (which, despite the claims of some, stands on better ground every day) says that there should have been equal numbers of particles and antiparticles in the early universe. But the problem is, we’re here. This is a problem because those equal numbers of -ons and anti-ons should have annihilated one another poof a long, long time ago. Therefore there should be nothing. So what gives? Why does the universe consist of matter? Where did all the antimatter go? The good folks at Fermilab think they have a clue, and it has to do with some rather exotic -ons known as muons and neutral B-mesons. Read about it here or, if you’re up to it, here. The point for us is: There exists a deep asymmetry in the universe that makes everything possible. Scientists call this a broken symmetry. Such imbalances help to keep the universe rolling. Asymmetries are good in art, too: see Edward Hopper‘s Soir bleu above. The dark guy on the left is in a symmetric relationship with the clown (math and physics nerds who read this will prefer to call the dark guy-clown relationship antisymmetric, but no matter). They even hang their cigarettes at the same angle. Now, here’s the great thing about the painting: It’s not the symmetry but the stark asymmetry introduced by the column (or whatever it is) that cuts the painting into two uneven frames and effectively isolates the dark guy. Try to imagine the painting without that vertical break; it would not be nearly so interesting. “Asymmetry creates interest.” Thus spake my art-major wife in our early years, and she’s right. What she didn’t know is that asymmetry is responsible for our very existence. And I think our existence is very interesting. Of course the Hopper makes for a pretty strained analogy, but I like it anyway. There are other asymmetries. For example, one may be tempted to think that science and theology create a nice Yin-Yang kind of symmetry, but they don’t. They don’t balance each other. They are not simply complementary ways of understanding the world. I have yet to formulate exactly what I mean here, but I have never liked the idea (rather, the cliché) that “science works with questions of fact and theology works with questions of meaning.” In particular I do not like Stephen Jay Gould‘s idea of “non-overlapping magesteria.” It just can’t be that way. Why? Because we live in one universe. And I can’t bring myself to divide it into neat boxes, asymmetrically or otherwise. Comment Pages There are 2 Comments to "The joys of asymmetry" • Todd says: You also gotta like how the two guys who appear to be facing each other are almost symmetric under a parity transformation, with the axis running through the clown. Plus the clown’s head is at the minimum of the sine wave thingy in the background. Here’s what I like about this discussion: appreciating the symmetry/antisymmetry/asymmetry of the painting makes me enjoy it more. I’m sure I don’t know what Hopper was thinking when he painted it, but in recognizing aspects of the symmetry of the painting I fell like I have “touched base” with Hopper on some level. In the same way, recognizing the symmetries/asymmetries in the universe makes me appreciate it more, on an aesthetic level. Draw theological conclusions if you will (I’m not sure that I am prepared to just yet). Anyway, I just wish my students (and Walt Whitman) felt the same way…. • […] of why the universe is made almost entirely of matter, and not an equal matter-antimatter mix. This obvious asymmetry is another of today’s major physics & cosmology […] Latest posts
Induction Vs Electric Cooktop induction vs electric cooktop Generally we are very choosy about the food we eat, its taste and its presentation. But most of us do not pay much heed to how the food is cooked. Well, going in this in detail and picking the right cooking technology can definitely add more taste to our food, not literally ofcourse but metaphorically. Methods of cooking our food have evolved considerably with time and availability of various options demands making choices about what we should opt for. Here I compare two different cooking equipment/ technologies to help us in making the right choice. Induction Cooktop: Working Principle They utilise electromagnetism to generate heat within the pan or cookware over its flat top. It has a coil placed beneath its cooking surface which generate oscillating magnetic field when electricity passes through it. When we place a conductive kitchenware or a pan over its top, the oscillating magnetic field induces an electric current in the pan. This current also known as Eddy Current flow in all directions and its flow in the pan generate heat. The heat thus generated in the pan is used for cooking. Electric Cooktop: Working Principle Like induction cooktop, they also have a coil beneath their cooking surface. When we switch on the cooker, current pass through these coils and this passage of current generate heat because of the inherent resistance of the coil. This heat flows toward the top and raise the temperature of the kitchenware or pan placed on its cooking zone. Here the heat generated in the coils is used for cooking. Both these technologies have different working principles and because of this inherent difference there are some relative advantages and disadvantages. Let’s first take up the advantages that Induction Cooktop over Electric Cooktop. Better Efficiency In an induction cooktop, the heat is generated within the pan or cookware being used for cooking. This proximity between the heat source and the food being cooked offer unparalleled advantages when it comes to energy losses. In an electrical cooktop, heat is generated in the coil beneath the ceramic top cover over which a cookware or pan is placed. This distance between the heat source and food directly increases energy losses. Further, considerable amount of energy is consumed in raising the temperature of the heating coil making the electric cooktop comparatively inefficient. Because of better energy concentration within the cooking pan, cooking on an induction cooktop is fairly quick which saves your considerable time which can be utilised for other endeavours. Better cooking control There is marked difference between the response times of the two equipments. You can change temperatures of an induction cooktop far more quickly than an electric cooktop as the coil in latter takes its own time to heat or cool. So if you require varying heat inputs during different stages of cooking, opting for induction cooktop will be far more rewarding. Safer and easy to use Electric cooktops have to produce a lot more heat than an induction cook top due to their low efficiencies. They retain this extra heat for some time even after the food is cooked and hence take more time to cool down. So for the time when their temperature is high they pose a potential hazards to kids as well as to ignorant adults. There is no such risk with induction cooktops. Modern induction cooktop are coming with features like memory sense where the cooker can itself switch between different temperatures for a given food item which makes the whole process a lot easier. They are also much easier to clean. Now let’s have a look on the disadvantages induction cooktop suffers from. Limited kitchen ware Only those kitchen wares made of material having iron or having a layer of magnetic material can be used for cooking on an induction cooktop. This restricts the use of kitchen wares made of Copper or Aluminium. However these days kitchenware manufacturers are adding additional layers of metal to the bottom of most of their products to make them induction compatible. Size requirement Based on size and configuration of the induction coil, each induction cooktop has a pre-defined cooking zone. It only works when the bottom of cooking ware is within that zone and there is not much difference in their sizes. Hence it is also possible that a small size pan might not work on induction cook top. Induction cooktops are generally more expensive than electric cooktops because they employ better and more efficient technology. I hope this article helps you to decide between an induction cooktop and an electric one.
North East Based Renewable Energy Specialists • Air Source Heat pumps Air source heat pumps absorb heat from the outside air. This heat can then be used to heat radiators, underfloor heating systems, or warm air convectors or a combination of all three as well as providing hot water. An air source heat pump extracts heat from the outside air in the same way that a fridge extracts heat from its inside. It can get heat from the air even when the temperature is as low as -15° C. Heat pumps have some impact on the environment as they need electricity to run, but the heat they extract from the ground, air, or water is constantly being renewed naturally. Heat pumps combined with solar PV (solar photovoltaics) are a good combination as the free electricity generated can be used to help power the heat pump thus lowering your energy costs and CO2 emissions further. No ground works Little space required Uses free sustainable energy from the air around your home Ends volatile gas or oil heating bills Provides heating and hot water all year round Tested to -15 degrees C Works with radiators and/or under-floor heating Expected life span of approx. 18 years Only 5% VAT retrofit domestic; 0% VAT new build Helps reach goals set out in Code for Sustainable Homes May increase the value of your property Flexible sizing Soft-start compressor reduces pressure on electrical supply No vent or flue required No carbon monoxide production; No risk of gas explosion or oil spills Electrically powered so no deliveries of oil or LPG. Domestically eligible for renewable heat payments Northburn Solar works with a range of heat pump manufacturers so we can find the best solution for you. We install both low temperature and high temperature heat pumps so can match you requirements what ever the application. Following on from our site assessment we can determine if a high or low temperature heat pump will be suitable for the application. A hybrid system is ideal if you want to reduce running costs and improve the energy efficiency of your current heating system, without replacing your boiler. Now it’s easier to have an energy saving home: by combining your existing fossil fuel boiler with a renewable energy heat pump to reduce your energy bills. For Further information Mitsubishi Electric has launched a comprehensive video guide for its domestic Ecodan range of air source heat pumps to ensure customers achieve maximum benefits from the system. The Homeowner Portal features several short films which explain the science behind the technology, detail the information required for initial set-up, and demonstrate quickly and simply how settings can be changed when needed. The portal covers FTC3, FTC4 and FTC5 Mitsubishi Electric controllers, as well as the FTC2 Danfoss controller found on many Kingspan and standalone cylinders. The portal also has a detailed FAQ section, where Ecodan Product Manager Max Halliwell gives us his insight into some of the more commonly asked questions from end users. Please click here for the videos For further information please contact us Tel 01670 336570 Skype Me™!
Top definition The effect of people either falling behind in school or getting killed by texting or using their digital devices instead of paying attention to the world around them. Digital Darwinism is when a driver runs off the road because they were texting. Digital Darwinism is when a student fails a test because they weren't paying attention in class, using their phone instead. by buzzworkz January 17, 2014 Mug icon The Urban Dictionary Mug Buy the mug
December 18 – Oh, Nuts! Today’s factismal: When the Nutcracker debuted on December 18, 1892, it was a flop. Ask someone about Christmas traditions today and odds are that they’ll mention going to see either a ballet of the Nutcracker or listening to a concert of it. Every tradition has a start, and the Nutcracker is no exception. However, unlike many other holiday traditions (wassailing, gift-giving, sodium bicarbonate), the Nutcracker wasn’t an immediate hit. As a matter of fact, it was a complete flop. The music was written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky when he was at the height of his popularity and was based on a well-known and loved children’s story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. In the story, a child named Clara falls asleep and dreams that her favorite Christmas toy does battle with the forces of the Mouse King; when she helps the toys win the battle, she is rewarded by being taken to the land of sweets where the various goodies dance for her before she eats them. (Lewis Carol must have been taking notes…) Tchaikovsky kept the story but phrased it as a ballet. He spent the better part of two years working on the score before it debuted in St. Petersburg, but was never happy with the final version. The Nutcracker being done by the ballet corp that made it popular (Image courtesy San Francisco Ballet) The Nutcracker being done by the ballet corp that made it popular (Image courtesy San Francisco Ballet) And neither was the audience at the debut performance. They found it confusing and boring and many left the theater. Tchaikovsky would later blame his co-worker Marius Petipa for many of the short-comings in the ballet. Petipa demanded that he have control over the music that Tchaikovsky wrote, down to the number of bars in each number and the tempo that they were performed. Tchaikovsky was crushed, but found some measure of content (and healthy music sales) in the response to a much-abridged suite that he extracted from the ballet. And there the music stayed for nearly fifty years. Though a few daring ballets did perform the entire piece, most considered it a minor work of a major composer and ignored it in favor of more modern productions. And most non-ballet music lovers only knew it through the excerpt that Tchaikovsky had promoted and that Disney used for his failure, Fantasia. But in 1944, the San Francisco Ballet revived the production and made it click. For the first time, the Nutcracker was popular. And ever since, it has been a part of the holiday. A large part of the reason that it has been so popular is that the music is undeniably catchy. Though it is not Tchaikovsky’s best work (I’d argue for Capriccio Italien), it is one of his most recognizable. Each act has a distinct musical signature that allows the audience to identify and enjoy it almost immediately; in the business, this is known as a hook. But what is interesting about hooks is that we still don’t know how they work and why they are so memorable. Fortunately, there is a group of scientists who are researching this very topic. Called logically enough #Hooked, they are trying to understand hooks so that they can be applied to other areas of our life. If you’d like to take part in their experiment, then swing on by: Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
U.S. Plan to Spread Cholera across Syria and Turkey May be Failing* By Gordon Duff They say an animal is most dangerous when cornered Last week two American F16s attacked the city of Aleppo in Syria, a city of 2.5 million people, one of the oldest inhabited cities on earth. Russia’s President Putin called the attack “strange” and questioned America’s motives. In the aftermath of the attack, the reasoning behind the seemingly bizarre assault has become clear, America is trying to bring down the Assad government using germ warfare. Syria’s natural water supply, the Euphrates River, carries cholera of course, but also dozens of waterborne illnesses totally resistant to antibiotics where even the best palliative care is unlikely to guarantee a favourable outcome. Back in 2013, Aleppo was under a similar assault, Sarin gas, blamed on the Damascus government, a “red line” that nearly brought on an American air assault against Syria. When it was discovered that the Sarin gas had been produced by an American research facility in Tbilisi, Georgia, later subject of a Russia Today documentary banned in the U.S., and smuggled into Syria witnessed by a Press TV film crew headed by Serena Shim (murdered in Turkey), America stood down. The current attack, coinciding with both the refugee crisis in Europe and the large scale military operations that are cleansing Aleppo Province of coalition backed “moderate terrorists,” is in all probability what brought the Pentagon to the point of taking out Aleppo’s water purification facilities. America’s goal was to start a cholera epidemic in one of the largest cities in the Middle East, driving tens of thousands of refugees into the middle of a massive military operation against terror groups the Pentagon has been playing with for some time. Thus far, however, the Pentagon plan has been a failure. Were it more successful, up to 100,000 refugees may have fled into Hatay Province, Turkey, infecting up to a million more there in a region clogged with refugees. You see, cholera is a “gift that keeps on giving,” a massively infectious disease. A dozen cholera patients can overburden any clinic or even regional hospital. A dozen cholera carriers can, within days and under the right conditions, war and refugees for instance, recreate conditions not seen since the Middle Ages. Coinciding with the America attack has been a total blackout of all reports from the region, including Twitter and Facebook postings, a total cleansing of all reports of the American bombing with the exception of Veterans Today, TASS and Russia Today. Even the statements of President Putin, and he mentions the American attack on 3 occasions, are banned from all western press and cleansed from the internet. The Pentagon plan is specifically biological warfare and not the first time it has been used in Syria. The Free Syrian Army, with both Israeli and American special operations advisors with every unit, has targeted water supplies across Syria, particularly Damascus. From EMedicine on biological warfare: Cholera is an acute and potentially severe gastrointestinal disease (stomach and intestines) caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae. This agent has been investigated in the past as a biological weapon. Cholera does not spread easily from human to human, so it appears that major drinking water supplies would have to be profusely contaminated for this agent to be effective as a biological weapon. Cholera normally can infect water or food that becomes contaminated by human bowel waste. The organism can survive for up to 24 hours in sewage and as long as six weeks in certain types of relatively impure water containing organic matter. It can withstand freezing for three to four days, but it is killed readily by dry heat, steam, boiling, short-term exposure to ordinary disinfectants, and chlorination of water. The toxin causes a person’s intestines to create massive amounts of fluid that then produces thin, grayish brown diarrhea. We know of the Pentagon plan to destroy Aleppo’s chlorination facility. The Euphrates River with its endless supply of human waste would do the rest. Anyone who doesn’t believe the Pentagon and CIA are capable of this is a fool. Related Topics: U.S. Coalition Attack Power Plant in Aleppo* When Man Thinks He’s God, he Releases GMO Cholera Bacteria into our Environment* Haitians Sue UN over Cholera Epidemic* Syrian Army Kills 80 Terrorists in Lattakia, destroys tunnel in Aleppo* Death by Vaccine: 34 Syrian Children Die* U.S. Dropped Insects Carrying Anthrax, Cholera, Encephalitis, and Bubonic Plague on North Korea*
1. What do you think regulation means? 2. Use regulation in a sentence. 3. Think of an example of regulation in current events: 4. Find an image of regulation: Fun Fact Regulation: A policy that encourages or discourages certain behavior by imposing a legally-binding rule. Rules are made through a long process that begins with an act of Congress and ends with issuance of a final rule. The United States discourages certain behaviors like smoking, using illegal drugs, polluting, and listening to Nelly by the use of regulations. Why We Should Say 'Protections' and Not 'Regulations' 1. What government entities create regulations? 2. What is one thing the US government has regulated in our country's history? 3. Do you think that regulations generally help or hurt countries? 4. What is one government regulation that you think isbeneficial? 5. President Trump has vowed to get rid of 75% of US government protections, or regulations. Do you think that would be a good idea?
Online Mind Mapping and Brainstorming Create your own awesome maps Online Mind Mapping and Brainstorming Even on the go with our free apps for iPhone, iPad and Android Get Started Already have an account? Log In How did WW1 start? by Mind Map: How did WW1 start? 0.0 stars - 0 reviews range from 0 to 5 How did WW1 start? Long term Germany wanted to increase their empire, make it as big as Britain's. France lost the reggions Alsace and Lorraine to Germany in 1871. Empire sizes of the great European Powers: Britain- 390 million people. Germany- 58 million people. France- 15 millian people. Short Term Germany invaded Belgium in 1914. The assasination of Arch Duke Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914. The inflence of popular press - "The remark ' England and Germany are bound to fight' Makes war a little more likley each time that it is made, and therefore made more often by the gutter press of each nation" - 1910.
In addition to regular words and phrases, language file strings may also use the following constructs within them: • Using named tags, like :page • Using variable names, like $price • Using %s for string replacements In the first two examples, WHMCS will substitute them into the final output for the string at the time it is used, so it is important to keep them intact and untranslated in your translations. So :page will always be page, and $price will always be $price. For the string replacement %s type, the number and order of %s should not be changed as the product will replace the %s values in order from beginning to end. $_LANG['examplestring'] = "The price you will pay today is :price"; Correct Translation = “ ‘ay’ yIbuS DaHjaj :price “ Incorrect Translation = “ ‘ay’ yIbuS DaHjaj :‘ay’ “ This would display :‘ay’ instead of the price on the translated page. $_LANG['examplestring'] = "Today is a good day to purchase your domain $domain for cheap!"; Correct Translation = “ DaHjaj QaQ jaj yer $domain je’ qutlh! “ Incorrect Translation = “ DaHjaj QaQ jaj yer $yer je’ qutlh! “ This would display everything but $yer: “DaHjaj QaQ jaj yer je’ qutlh!” $_LANG['examplestring'] = "Honor your house with a server for only %s a year! (%s a month) Correct Translation = “tuqwIj neH %s jabwI’ pop! (%s net jar)” Incorrect Translation 1 = “tuqwIj je jabwI’ pop! (%s net jar pagh %s)” Incorrect Translation 2 = “tuqwIj %s net jar jabwI’ pop!” In the first wrong translation, “net jar pagh” means “X a month, or Y a year”. Because WHMCS will be replacing these in the original order, you’ll end up showing the prices backwards. In the second wrong translation, we removed the part talking about the yearly price and only mention the monthly price. However, WHMCS will still replace the first %s it sees with the yearly price, so you’ll end up quoting the yearly price as monthly.
The Pessimist's Guide to History The Pessimist's Guide to History (third edition, 2008), by Doris Flexner and Stuart Berg Flexner, seeks to catalogue the worst disasters from history, and in the main it achieves this goal. The reader can learn about countless incidents that have occurred which really do add to the adage that "life isn't fair", as well as gather some ideas about places more susceptible to disasters than others. In Europe, Italy seems most affected by earthquakes and volcanoes, with Turkey also falling prey to the earthquake menace. Elsewhere around the world, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India are subject to major earthquakes, as is China (also the scene of calamatious flooding and ensuing famines), Bangladesh has been home to many of the worst cyclones, and Peru is another place to avoid if you don't like earthquakes. Despite achieving its aims of cataloguing disasters, there are two things that stand out negatively for this book. The first is the silly comments that follow many of the descriptions of a disaster, which do little to add anything of interest to preceding text. For example, for an entry regarding the eruption of Taal in the Philippines in 1591, we are met with "Mother Nature burps again". A second example relates to the 1864 Calcutta Cyclone - "Another washout in India". These comments are unfortunate, as they are ultimately pointless and distract from, and sometimes cheapen, the tale they relate to. The second negative mark against The Pessimist's... is the poor job at proof-reading that would seem to have occurred. Given that the book is in its third updated edition, this really is inexcusable. Several noticeable examples include "An A-4E Skyraider fighter plane preparing for lunch", "the fire probably burned from within their suits as well as without", "one of the worst disasters of modem times", "plans were made to demolish the bridge and replace it by a four-story structure" and "Almost all victims who remained inside where consumed in the flames of asphyxiated by the smoke". If these marks against do not grate too much, this is a very interesting book to read, easy to pick up and browse through for ten minutes or equally to sit down and plough through for an hour. Hopefully, the fourth edition, when updated and published, will at least correct the grammatical and spelling errors. In summary: Worth a read, but don't expect a masterpiece. Blogger Template
Wednesday, January 7, 2015 Artificial Telepathy System for producing artificial telepathy WO 2005055579 A1 A device is proposed which will provide the user with a form of artificial telepathy, namely the ability to communicate with others with no obvious signs of connection. The system comprises a mobile phone `engine' which interfaces to an existing or future public mobile telephony network. This device also contains a very low-power transponder, which is linked wirelessly to one or more corresponding transponders implanted in the body. Connected to these implanted transponders are implanted transducers, one placed in a position such that it picks up speech from the user and the other placed in a position such that it imparts speech and status signals audible to the user. The transducers may be connected acoustically, either through bone contact or contact with other tissue, or mioelectrically, through electrodes connected to tissue or nerves. In future telecommunications networks, when power level requirements are much lower, the whole device may be implanted and connected directly to a public mobile network. The system is further enhanced by the use of speech recognition technology, which makes operation of the device possible through voice or sound commands without the use of manual actions. A further enhancement of the system would be a capability for image transfer through a device connected visually or electrically to the eyes and a small camera to record what the eyes see. The characteristics of the device will emulate telepathy, in that it will give seemingly invisible voice and image communication with others connected to the network. Claims (OCR text may contain errors) The claims defining the invention are as follows: 1. A system for producing the effect of Artificial Telepathy comprising: a public mobile telephony/data network giving wireless connection for voice and data between a human or animal individual and one or a plurality of other human or animal individuals; a mobile device allowing connection to said network and which contains a low power transponder; an implanted device which provides a low power wireless connection to said mobile device through said transponder; implanted transducers connected to said implanted device which send and receive audio, oral and visual information between the individual and the implanted device; a speech recognition method which controls the system and a means of providing power to the implanted devices. 2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said public mobile telephony/data network may be terrestrial or satellite based. 3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said mobile device may be external to the body (such as a normal mobile station) or part of the implanted system. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein said implanted device includes a power source capable of being charged from inside or outside the body. 5. The system of claim 1 , wherein said implanted device includes a transmitter and a receiver which communicate data between it and said mobile device. 6. The system of claim 1 , wherein said implanted device includes input/output connections and signal processing means to process, send and receive signals to/from said transducers. 7. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said transducers is connected to the human aural system either by acoustic connection to tissue or bone or by mioelectric connection to tissue or nerve cells. 8. The system of claim 1 , wherein another of said transducers is connected to the human oral system either by acoustic connection to tissue or bone or by mioelectric connection to tissue or nerve cells. 9. The system of claim 1 , wherein another of said transducers is connected to the human visual system either by direct visual input or by mioelectric connection to tissue or nerve cells. 10. The system of claim 1 , wherein a camera is connected wirelessly to said mobile device. 11. The system of claim 1 , wherein a signal processing means is available to compensate for the effect of direct connection of aural, oral and video transducers, rather than through the air. 12. The system of claim 1 , wherein said mobile device sends messages through speech synthesis and status signals to the system of claim 7. 13. The system of claim 1 , wherein said mobile device is controlled through voice commands from the system of claim 8. 14. The system of claim 1 , wherein said mobile device sends messages through visual images to the system of claim 9. Description (OCR text may contain errors) The present invention relates generally to mobile telephony and active implanted devices and more particularly to the provision of mobile services to a human or animal in an invisible, unobtrusive and more convenient way for speech, audio and vision. BACKGROUND ART Telepathy is defined as 'the action of one mind on another without the aid of the senses', however, to most people, this means being able to communicate 'thoughts' or information between one person and another over a distance, without an apparent connection. The aim of the present invention is to produce an effect which simulates some of the characteristics of telepathy. This 'Artificial Telepathy' is limited to the ability to communicate audio and/or visual information between two or more people, animals or computers, with no obvious devices and in one embodiment, with no manual actions being required to initiate connection. Figure 1 shows one possible embodiment of the invention. Background art which is used in the invention includes mobile telephony, implantable devices such as pacemakers and speech recognition technology such as IBM ViaVoice. The means for mobile communication between individuals and computers virtually world-wide has been enabled by mobile network providers. Mobile telephony is now commonplace in most developed countries and is providing a means of communication in underdeveloped countries where wired networks do not exist. The first mobile phones weighed a number of kilograms and were about the size of a briefcase. Due to advances in computing, microelectronics and signal processing, the most modern mobile phones are based on circuitry which is no larger than a postage stamp and weighs less than thirty grams. The level of integration is such that mobile phones will soon be available on one microchip, small enough to be implanted in a human being or animal. Many network standards exist throughout the world, but virtually all are interconnected via the public telephone system, the Internet or satellites. This interconnectivity makes it possible to relay speech, video or data between users who are located within any one of these mobile networks across the world, using small hand-held devices called mobile stations. These mobile stations may be capable of relaying speech only or speech and data, including video information, personal information and data obtained through measurement and/or calculation. Most users of mobile phones would agree that the physical need to place the mobile phone near the mouth and ear to allow communications is distracting, can be dangerous when driving or operating machinery and can cause problems with external noise. So-called 'Hands Free Kits' are available, which allow communication with the mobile phone and the more modern of these are wirelessly connected (for example, the so-called 'Bluetooth Headsets'). These have the advantage that the mobile phone can be out of sight (in pocket or briefcase), however the headphones are still quite visible, uncomfortable, unsightly and not always available. Speech recognition and speech synthesis are becoming relatively mature technologies, with commercial systems being available on standard desktop and even palm-held computers. The accuracy of recognition can now be achieved above 98% under certain conditions and this is improving regularly. The quality of speech synthesis is already extremely good, producing natural sounding speech from text or stored messages. The operation of a mobile phone through speech commands is now feasible, allowing complete freedom of the hands while dialing or answering a call and the mobile phone is capable of delivering status messages in naturally sounding speech, such as reading menu items, phone numbers, short messages and call status. A partial solution to these problems is the implementation of a device which is similar to the 'Bluetooth Headset' but hidden within the body. This would produce a system which could function in a way which appeared to be 'Artificial Telepathy'. The person in whom the system is implanted would have no visible sign that they were connected to the mobile system. At least in the early stages, the connection to the mobile network would be through a small box hidden in a pocket or briefcase or under clothing. This would provide the high power connection to the network and eliminate any radiation dangers which may arise from having a high powered transmitter close to or in the head. In future systems, when mobile networks become denser and lower powers can be implemented, the whole system may be implanted. The implementation of the proposed invention presents certain challenges due to its implantation within the body: It would be desirable to control the system through voice commands so that the high-power transmitter could remain hidden and so that dialing and receiving calls could be made totally hands-free. This will require a sophisticated speech recognition and synthesis system to replace keypad operations and display feedback. Implanted audio transducers (microphones and speakers) behave differently if they do not operate through the air using normal sound pressure waves. Examples of such devices are throat microphones used by divers and bone transducers, sometimes used by the deaf when there is a problem with the ear canal. These are not presently implanted but would function similarly if they were. A further means of aural connection which is used for the profoundly deaf is through a Cochlear implant. Future research in this area may make this method available also for general users. These means of connection tend to produce signals which differ from the sound pressure signals we are used to hearing and would therefore need to be processed in a signal processing device to produce intelligible and natural sounding audio. In most present mobile networks, and ones which will be used for the foreseeable future, power levels are such that direct implantation within human tissue would cause two problems: The attenuation of the signals due to the tissue would require even higher transmitting powers than presently used and these higher transmitting powers would produce potential health risks due to absorption by the human tissue. The solution is a low-power, low-range link to an external high-power transmitter located externally to the body until public networks operate on lower powers. Providing power to the implanted devices is another challenge. Modern electronic circuits generally rely on a three-volt power supply. The short-range nature of the wireless link between the implanted devices and the high-powered transmitter means that only low power would be needed. Nevertheless, a means of wirelessly charging implanted batteries would have to be provided to eliminate the need for periodic excision of spent batteries and replacement with new ones. Typical methods of doing this are through induction coils or capacitive (electrostatic) connections through the skin, but other methods are by using micro-generators implanted in the device itself, which use the movements of the body to generate the necessary electricity, or heat converters, which use the temperature of the body as a source of energy. FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the invention for speech information; FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of this preferred embodiment; FIG. 3 shows a variation of this preferred embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 shows a further variation of this preferred embodiment of the invention; FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a fourth embodiment of the invention which also includes video information; MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION One embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 1 with a corresponding block diagram of the system shown in Figure 2. In this embodiment, oral transducer 1 and aural transducer 2 are implanted in the head/neck 3, in such a position that oral transducer 1 can receive speech from the mouth or throat of the host and aural transducer 2 can send speech to at least one ear of the host. Oral transducer 1 is directly coupled to a low-power radio transmitter 4 which sends speech information over radio link 5 to low-power transponder 6 mounted on or near the body 7. Aural transducer 2 is directly coupled to low-power receiver 8 which receives speech information over radio link 5 from low-power transponder 6. Low-power transponder 6 is connected to mobile phone engine 9 which is registered on mobile network 10. Mobile network 10 is in turn connected to the world-wide telephone system 11 and thence to other users 12. To facilitate speech control of the system, speech recogniser and synthesizer 13 interfaces to low-power transponder 6 and mobile phone engine 9 to translate oral signals into control signals and status signals into aural signals. A charging circuit 14 provides energy over magnetic or electrostatic link 15 to one or more power supplies 16 which supply power to implanted components 1, 2, 4 and 8. A second embodiment, shown in Figure 3, is to combine transmitter 4 and receiver 8 into one low-power transponder 17. This would require longer implanted connections to oral transducer 1 and aural transducer 2. A third embodiment, shown in Figure 4, is the removal of transponders 4, 8 (or 17) and 6 by directly implanting mobile phone engine 9 and speech recogniser and synthesizer 13 into head 3. A fourth embodiment, shown in Figure 5, is the addition of a video camera 18 and video display 19 connected to a low-power transponder 20 which communicates with mobile phone engine 9 through low-power transponder 6. The video camera 18 and video display 19 may be monovision or stereovision and may be external to the body (mounted in a set of spectacles for example) or may, in future embodiments, be implanted and mioelectrically connected through tissue or nerve cells. While the preferred embodiments have been herein described, it is acknowledged that variation and modification may be made without departing from the scope of the presently claimed invention. The invention is applicable to everyday communications between people. No comments:
Now scrolling: The Gettysburg Address Saturday, September 27, 2008 Lincoln and Douglas 150 years later The 150th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debates is still being celebrated in the seven Illinois cities where they originally took place. These debates, from August through October of 1858, targeted the expansion of slavery in the new territories and proved that you can win even when you lose. Though Lincoln lost the senatorial election, he gained so much public favor that he ultimately won the future presidential election. A few interesting quotations came from these debates. Lincoln called a self-evident truth "the electric cord ... that links the hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men together." But my favorite analogy of the expansion of slavery is still in his Hartford Connecticut speech of March 5, 1860, where he compared it to a "snake in the Union bed." Finding a snake on the road and killing it, he would be a hero. Finding a snake in his children's bed, he might not kill it for fear of inciting it to bite, but deliberatey tossing a snake into a perfectly safe bed (the new territories) would be foolish. That chilling image of tossing a snake into a place of safety always gets my attention. I wonder if he would have won that senate seat had he used this analogy in 1858. Then I wonder, if he had won that senate seat, might his career have taken a different path altogether less meaningful? Not if Mary had anything to say about it.
Vidiian skeletal system A holographic recreation of a Vidiian skeleton Hogans remains A Human skeleton The skeletal system is the bodily system that consists of the bones, cartilages, and joints. This system supports the body and produces blood cells. Data and Worf found at least two Human skeletal systems in defunctional cryogenic chambers aboard the cryonics satellite in late 2364. (TNG: "The Neutral Zone") Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge found a Human skeletal system in the nacelle tube of the USS Enterprise-D in 2370. (TNG: "Eye of the Beholder") In 2373 the Voth scientist Forra Gegen found evidence for his Distant Origin Theory by finding the skeletal remains of Hogan and examining his DNA. (VOY: "Distant Origin") Referenced parts of the system Edit See Category:Bones See also Edit External link Edit Ad blocker interference detected!
Sunday, August 30, 2009 Preschool-Swine flu Prep: Germs and health care I will post pics of what we do each day, but here is our plan for preschool this week. • Those Mean Nasty Dirty Downright Disgusting but... invisible Germs by Judith Anne Rice • A trip to the Doctor by Margot Linn • Germs are not for Sharing by Elizabeth Verdick • Germs make me Sick by Melvin Berger (this was a Reading Rainbow book) • Achoo! All about colds by Patricia Brennan Demuth • Germs by Judy Oetting • Going to the Dentist by Fred Rodgers • Bill Nye the Science Guy's Great Big Book of Tiny Germs as a reference book • Sneeze Experiment: Grab a spray bottle, fill it with water and food coloring. Use the spray bottle and tissues to "fake sneeze" and to show how germs spread. Explain the right way to sneeze, to prevent germs spread. • Heart rate activity: Feel your heartbeat at rest, dance to fast paced music, then feel your heartbeat again afterward. Exercise is a very important part of staying healthy, explain why it is important to get exercise each and every day. What types of activities will get your heart rate up? • September is Yoga Awareness month. Discuss how stress affects your health. Practice Yoga and deep breathing. • Talk about how nutrition and vitamins affects our health. • Grow germs to study them in "petri dishes": In a saucepan mix 1 bullion cube, 2 tsp sugar, 1 cup water, and 1 envelope of gelatin. Divide the mixture between little sauce cups, or foil muffin tins and let cool in refrigerator. Once they are cool and solid, touch one with your unwashed finger (make sure to label and keep track), one to a light switch, leave one out for 15 minutes, wash your hands and touch one, and leave one covered as your control dish. Observe what happens. Germs that land on the nutrients in the cups grow and multiply, they will make colonies big enough to see without a microscope. • Does washing hands work experiment: Tear a paper towel in half, get each piece wet and put each of the two pieces in a plastic ziploc bag. The take your hands outside and rub them in dirt, touch your dirty hands to a slice of bread. Put that slice in one of the ziploc bags with a paper towel in it. Then wash your hands thoroughly. Touch your clean hands to another slice of bread, put that slice in the other bag with a paper towel. What happened? You should see mold growing on the dirty bread after a few days. Washing your hands takes off all the microscopic germs • Use syringes with the needles removed to paint a picture. This is an especially good activity for kids who are nervous around needles. • How germs are spread: Have the children all use lotion on their hands, then put superfine glitter on their hands. Go about your day. Where does the glitter end up? That is where germs would be also. • Why do we keep food in the refridgerator?: Take two soda bottles, fill them halfway with warm water. Put a packet of yeast into each bottle, and 1 TBL sugar in each. Fit a balloon over the neck of each bottle. Place on bottle in a warm place, and the other in the fridge. Which balloon blows up, and why? • Make a stethescope from pipe cleaners, tin foil, and cotton balls. • Make a doctor bag . • Use cornstarch to show how germs are spread. • Discuss brushing teeth the right way. Use an empty egg carton for "alligator teeth" give children an old tooth brush, and white paint to "brush/paint" the alligator teeth right. Explain how we have to get between the teeth. Practice flossing. • Discuss first aid, what to do in various situations. • create a stuffed animal first aid station. Any bears who neeed "stiches"?, Use Plaster of paris and white gauze to cast an animal. • Finger cast finger puppets: Use plaster of paris and gauze to create a finger cast. let dry, then decorate the cast. • Use a paper plate to create Mr Yuk. Then go through your home and talk about all the items that are poisonous using Mr Yuk. Go to your local poinson control center and grab some Mr Yuk stickers, lable everything in the house that is hazardous with the stickers. Narnia wrap up: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe This post is linked to the Weekly Wrap up @ Weird, unsocialized, homeschoolers. The rest of the book went by in a blur. Once the action in the book really started moving, the kids didn't want to put the book down. I would never deny them books, so we made it through the last five chapters all in one sitting. Hence the "wrap up" title. So here are the discussion/narration questions for the last five chapters. • The petrification of the little party of animals having tea is really the first true tragedy we witness in the book? What does this make you think about the witch? Does this change how Edmund sees the witch? • Although Edmund has been feeling sorry for himself because of the change in how the witch was treating him, when the animals are petrified, it is the first time that Edmund has felt compassion for someone other than himself. Do you think that Edmund's ability to feel for others signals the beginning of his change and repentance? Discuss Compassion? • Why does Aslan have Peter fight the wolf? Couldn't Aslan have fought the wolf easily? Peter's fight with the wolf is his entrance from childhood to adulthood. • When Aslan sacrifices himself, the stone tablets break. Aslan's sacrifice of love breaks the witches unforgiving reign (remember she was the one to round up those who did wrong) and ushered in a new vibrant, forgiving era. Discuss how this mirrors what Jesus did. • The battle scenes after Aslan rises again show the struggle for good against evil. • In the battle scenes Edmund fights bravely. Why do you suppose that was important for Edmund? Do you think he had lingering guilt? In a sense, Edmund is redeeming himself in the same was Aslan redeemed him, but it is important that each person redeem themselves as well. • We watched two versions of the book. We watched the Disney version of the movie and the BBC version of the book. We all agreed that the BBC version was more accurate to the book, but the Disney movie was more fun to watch even though there were inaccuracies. In closing, we were all sad to see the end of this unit. We LOVED it. It was fun and the kids really extended what we did in class, into their imaginative play and their discussions. That for me is the surest sign that what I am doing is sparking the kids imaginations. The kids lobbied to read Prince Caspian instead of our next choice "Ramona the Pest". I think that we will go ahead with Ramona, and then we can read Prince Caspian next semester. These blogs show the past posts backwards, so just in case you are looking for the rest of the series here are the lessons in order.... Monday, August 24, 2009 Preschool Week 1: Handwashing Unit Study, Swine Flu Prep I am a bit of a germ/pandemic freak. Somewhere in Sugarland my parents are laughing hysterically. I have the reputation in the family as the person most likely to open doors with her elbows. So given the predicted surge in the swine flu epidemic, I thought it was the perfect time for us to have a "health and hygiene" unit for our preschooler. (and lets face it, the rest of us could use the reminder too). So we learned how to wash our hands: • warmish water • generous soap • lather the palms, tops of hands and in between fingers and nails while singing "happy birthday" song twice. • rinse • grab ONE paper towel (we are still working on this) • turn of faucet with used towel • throw towel in trash (another sticking point) Then we added bubbles to the sand and water table to wash off all our water toys and have some bubble playtime. The older girls enjoyed making little books that explain handwashing. Tomorrow we are going to do bubble painting! Friday, August 21, 2009 Lesson 6: TLTWTW Chapters 9 & 10 Chapter 9 summary: • The story shifts to Edmund, as he walks to the witch's castle he is debating with himself over the white witch. • He makes it to the White witch and tells her everything he knows. She is scared and orders her dwarf to bring her sledge Chapter 10 summary: • Meanwhile, the kids are making their way to the stone table. It is a long and tough journey. • Mr beaver finds them a cave where they can rest • They here bells and assume it is the white witch's sleigh, but its really father christmas. • Santa gives them all very useful tools • Describe Edmund's argument with himself on his way to see the white witch. This shows his downward spiral, he isn't being surprised... and he is plotting to lord it over his siblings, wants to get even with them. • Santa comes when Aslan comes to Narnia. What could this mean? Why do we celebrate Christmas? • make a lion mask • look on line for how beavers make dams • will Loew's cut wood for a shield like Peter's for me? • get wooden daggers/swords for the kids? • let the kids act out the scenes we read today • make jingle bell necklaces to mimic the sleigh bells. • make a candy sleigh Monday, August 17, 2009 Lesson 5: TLTWTW Chapters 7&8 Chapter 7 Summary: • The children come across Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, who assure them they are friends. • The Beavers tell the Children about Aslan, but won't say anymore, warning that the woods are alive with dryad spies. So they invite the children back to their house for dinner. • Edmund wants to run away to the White Witch, but instead goes with the others to the Beaver's home. • They prepare a feast of fish and potatoes Chapter 8 Summary: • Mr. Beaver tells the children that Mr. Tumnus has been taken away by the White Witch's secret police. • He tells the children about Aslan, the rightful King of Narnia and tells the children that they must go to Aslan. • Mr. Beaver explains that the children are to meet Aslan at the stone table to fulfill a prophecy. • He explains that the White witch is not human, but half Giant and half Jinn. Descended from Lilith on one side. • The children notice that Edmund is gone and want to mount a search party, but Mr. Beaver says not to waste the time, that Edmund had the look of a traitor and he ran off to join the White Witch. Everyone wonders how much of their plans Edmund heard. Questions/Discussion points: • Why do the children demand that Mr. Beaver show them a sign that he is a friend? Is that a smart thing for the children to do? Is it possible to be wise and smart while still having faith? • What do you think of the children's reaction to Aslan's name? Aslan is supposed to be a representation of Jesus, Lewis was trying to portray the power that is in Aslan's name, much like Jesus. • The meal that the children eat with Mr. and Mrs. Beaver is the total opposite of Edmund's encounter with the white witch. Lewis goes into great detail about this meal, and how satisfying it was. The children had an honest hunger, and the meal was satisfying to the children. • In this chapter we get a description of Aslan, what did you think of him? Is he friendly? is he good? • Make a lion craft here. • Beaver Toilet paper craft here. • Have whitefish and potatoes for dinner • What do you think a Dryad would look like? try to draw one. • Draw a contour tree Child originated learning Yesterday, even though it was Sunday, we were all set to do a full day of school. We had taken off a day to hang out with Daddy during the week, and I was anxious to complete everything I had scheduled for us this first week. But over the weekend I had cracked a tooth, and I had a headache, and a sore throat. Basically, I was a wreck.. I didn't have the patience I normally have and I just couldn't muster the will to get started. So I put school off a bit and got started on the kitchen. I felt so GUILTY for it. The whole time I was washing dishes I was beating myself up over it, I was so disappointed that we hadn't been able to put check marks next to everything I had planned. So I walked into the school room and I found this scene. These girls of mine were writing a story of Narnia, their very own creations all their own idea. I heard them arguing different parts of the story back and forth, trying to pick the direction they wanted their stories to go, choosing a setting for their stories and remembering details from the book. They were so insanely creative with these stories. I realized....I had been a fool standing at the sink beating myself up. Sure, I could have busted up all this natural learning they were doing to impose my ideas and my schedule on them. But frankly, I think they learned more all on their own inspiration then they would have with mine. Pictures of the White Queen These were our project with Narnia today. It was fun, but I had to draw the outlines for the queen. Yikes, thank goodness I wasn't interested in making her pretty. The kids had a blast making these. We still need to add the white fur trim, but I think they came out rather well. PS, it is rather difficult to get gluey glitter off your kitchen table. Next time we will put down newspaper. Thursday, August 13, 2009 Snow and floods Today we played with some fake snow I picked up at Mardel. It was the best we could do for our Narnia Winter here in Texas. This was a new brand, and I like it. It is dry like Styrofoam. The other kind I have is kinda wet and gelly, and makes a bigger mess. After reading our portion of Story of the world we made a mock up of the River Nile. We took aluminum pans, filled them with potting soil, made a river, sprinkled grass seed, and then flooded it the way the river Nile flooding watered the farmers plants. HUGE hit! The kids had a ball. I had to promise they could flood the river again soon. Wednesday, August 12, 2009 Through the magic Wardrobe Part of our Narnia Lessons includes Dramatic play. For us, this mostly means letting the kids act out the parts of the story we read each day. So since we are only a few chapters into the book, and the wardrobe still plays a critical role, I devised a way to make it more "fun" for the kids. We took a tension rod, suspended it in the hallway with a few clothes on it. This was such a hit, by their reaction you would think I just built an actual wardrobe by hand. They made me laugh. The best .99 I ever spent. Oh and I had to include this one... I think John might be thawing towards school. Here is playing "Mr Tumnus" with his umbrella. He cracks me up. Of course, two minutes later he was trying to whack his sisters over the head with it. That is definitely not very Tumnus-y. But those fauns can be unpredictable... Monday, August 10, 2009 A bumpy start, but a start none the less This morning was bumpy. It was our first day back to school. We have been doing school all summer, but in shorter bursts. This morning it was hard to get back into that routine, very very hard. But we had fun none the less. We managed to do all our subjects, and we did our Mr. Tumnus from Narnia pictures. When it was all said and done, we did a nice long recess time to clear our minds. Saturday, August 8, 2009 Week ONE The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe Unit Study This will cover Chapters 1-6 of the Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I am gearing this roughly for third grade. Because of that, I am ignoring some of the more theological or philosophical ideas put forth in the text. However, I have tried to introduce the concepts when it would be appropriate. I think If I was doing this for my kids when they were older (and I totally hope we do it again), we would be much more involved in the study of skepticism vs belief, and the deeper character studies and theological issues. So here are the links to a weeks worth of lessons I have written) or you could just scroll down.... Lesson 1: Intro to Narnia Lesson 2: Chapters 1 & 2 Lesson 3: Chapters 3 & 4 Lesson 4: Chapters 5 & 6 Vocabulary List Lesson 4: Narnia (TLTWTW) Chapter 5 & 6 Chapter 5 Summary: Lucy and Edmund come bursting out of the wardrobe. Lucy enthusiastically tells Peter and Susan about Narnia and wants Edmund to back up her story. When Lucy tells the story and looks to Edmund for verification, Edmund tells the others that he and Lucy were just playing a game. This gives him an opportunity to act superior to Lucy, but his plan backfires. Instead, Peter and Susan think he has been spitefully playing with Lucy's mind. Feeling that they are getting out of their league and fearing that Lucy is losing her mind, Peter and Susan decide to seek the advice of the Professor. When they speak to him, they are surprised to find that he appears to believe Lucy's story. He points out that they have never known her to lie, whereas Edmund has a history of lying. The Professor says that the rest of Lucy's behavior proves that she is not insane. He contends that Susan and Peter's views of the possible and impossible are narrow if they reject the possibility of "another world" such as Narnia. Furthermore, the Professor also concocts an ingenious theory to explain how Lucy was only gone for a second. He explains that a separate world would more likely have a separate time that would not correspond to our sense of time. Peter and Susan leave the Professor's room more confused than when they went entered, but with just enough doubt to become wary of the whole subject. They remain quiet about the issue and make sure that Edmund leaves Lucy alone, so the excitement seems to subside. One day, all four children are standing together in a hallway when they hear the housekeeper coming down the hall with a tour party. Fearful of being found in an awkward situation, they try to avoid the party, but the party seems to follow them everywhere, and they find themselves chased into the wardrobe room. Hearing people fumbling at the door, they all step into the wardrobe. Chapter 6 Summary: Once in the wardrobe, the Pevensie children notice almost immediately that they have entered the world of Narnia. Together they set out to explore the snowy wood. On the way, Edmund admits that he has been in Narnia before, and everyone is furious with him. Lucy leads the group to Tumnus's home, but when they get there, they find that it has been ransacked. A note on the floor informs all visitors that Tumnus has been taken away on charges of treason. Lucy understands immediately that this means the Witch has discovered that Tumnus spared her life. Lucy implores the others to help her rescue Tumnus, and everyone except Edmund agrees. Since Edmund is outvoted, they continue on to save the faun. They do not know where they are going, but a robin leads them to the middle of the wood. Peter, Susan, and Lucy believe that the robin is friendly, but Edmund whispers to Peter that the robin may be on the wrong side, and leading them into a trap. Edmund contends that they do not even know which is the wrong side and which is the right. He also points out that they now have no idea how to return home, which troubles Peter greatly. 1. Edmund is shown as a malicious, flawed boy. Edmund seems particularly spiteful because he deliberately refuses to support his sister, Lucy. Edmund's actions suggest that it is not just a desire for the enchanted Turkish Delight that motivates his treachery. Edmund's greed for power and superiority also prompts him to treat others with cruelty. How do you feel about Edmund? 2. Peter and Susan's response to Edmund's behavior reveals a great deal about their characters as well. Although Peter and Susan do not initially believe in the existence of another world, they immediately understand that Edmund is treating Lucy unkindly. Peter and Susan do not join Edmund when he taunts Lucy. Even though they don't necessarily believe her. What do you think about this choice? How do you feel about Peter and Susan? Have you ever not been believed, like Lucy? How did that feel? 3. Using the professor, Lewis puts forth an important lesson, We should trust a person not based on the probability their beliefs are true, but on their character. Lucy is a good, honest person, while Edmund is frequently dishonest. Lewis shows children how important it is to judge someone's character first, before you believe what they say. Is this true, Can you judge how responsible someone is by looking at their past actions? How do the siblings know that Lucy is more responsible than Edmund? What is it that responsible people DO? Can someone who has been irresponsible change? How does that happen? 4. How does this lesson apply to Edmund? Edmund does not properly evaluate the Witch's character. Instead, Edmund gets in trouble because he immediately trusts the Witch and believes her offers of power and luxury. 5. Edmund doubts that the robin is really out for their good. How can we know for sure whether the Witch is really evil and Tumnus really good? We do not really have any more evidence than the children, but we feel that we know intuitively who is good and who is evil. 6. If we have to follow our instincts, and if they lead us into trouble, we will be no worse off than if we had cowered on the sidelines. If the children had not followed the robin, they would still be standing in the wood, unable to commit to any plan of action. This applies to a person's faith in God. Blind faith is at the core of any fervent belief in God, even though there is no way to logically prove the existence of God. 7. Define responsibility: Being dependable in carrying out duties and obligations. Showing reliability and consistency in words and conduct. Being accountable for your own actions. Which of the Characters in the story so far have shown responsibility? Which haven't? 1. Draw a picture of all the kids in Narnia. Then create a wardrobe door overlay to glue around to frame the picture. 2. Play the Narnia Game online 3. Fold a paper into fourths, write the name of each sibling on the top, create a list of words that remind you of that character. Lesson Three: Narnia (TLTWTW) Chapters 3 & 4 Chapter Three Summary: Lucy runs out of Narnia through the wardrobe and is shocked when her siblings declare that she has only been gone for a few seconds. She brings them back to look in the wardrobe to show them the strange world of Narnia, but now it is just an ordinary wardrobe. Peter and Susan tolerantly assume that she is just making up stories, but Edmund spitefully torments her about her fantasy world. On the next rainy day, the children play a game of hide and seek. Edmund peers into the spare room and sees Lucy vanishing into the wardrobe. He follows her into the wardrobe, he finds himself in Narnia. Edmund sees no sign of Lucy and Edmund is unsure what to do. Suddenly, a deathly pale woman approaches on a sledge pulled by white reindeer. She is carrying a wand and wears a fur robe and a crown. The woman stops in front of Edmund, demanding to know what he is. Edmund introduces himself awkwardly. She sternly informs him that she is the Queen of Narnia and that he must address her appropriately. Edmund is puzzled, and stammers something incoherent. Chapter Four Summary: The Queen discovers that Edmund is a human child. Though she had looked stern and threatening to Edmund at first, when she hears that he is a human she suddenly becomes very attentive, and invites Edmund to sit in her sledge under her fur mantle and talk with her. Edmund does not dare disobey her orders. The Queen conjures up food and drink for him, which consists of a hot drink and a box of Turkish Delight (a type of chocolate). As he eats and drinks, the Queen asks him many questions. He is completely fixated on the sweet food. The narrator explains that the Turkish Delight is enchanted, causing whoever eats it to feel an insatiable greed for more. This chocolate compels the unfortunate eater to keep on eating it until he is prevented from doing so or until it kills him. Since Edmund is distracted by his desire, he does not notice the ominous signs when the Queen interrogates him sharply about his family, particularly his brothers and sisters. She seems intrigued to hear that there are four children in his family, two boys and two girls. Edmund also tells her that Lucy has been to Narnia and met a faun. When Edmund finishes the Turkish Delight, he desperately hopes that the Queen will offer him more, but she does not. Instead, she asks him to bring his brother and sisters to Narnia to meet her. The Queen sends him back to the lamppost. There he meets Lucy, who tells him she has been with Tumnus, who is well and has not been punished by the White Witch for his treachery. Edmund asks her for details about the White Witch, and he realizes that the Queen of Narnia is the same person. Edmund, however, is still obsessed with Turkish Delight and rationalizes that the Witch and the Queen are not the same entity. Edmund and Lucy go back into the wardrobe to the Professor's house. Although Lucy is ecstatic that now Edmund can support her story, Edmund is not eager to look like a fool because of his original skepticism. 1. define. greed: excessive desire to acquire or possess more (especially more material wealth) than one needs. Gluttony: overindulgence in food, drink or intoxicants. The Turkish delight represents greed. 2. The witch is mean when she first talks to Edmund. But after she gives him the turkish delight, he doesn't seem to be able to see it.. why do you suppose that could be? 3. The narrator was careful to say that the magical Turkish delight fed greed inside the eater, not that it blinds him. This means that Edmund is still responsible for his own actions, he has the choice whether to follow his gluttony or not. 4. It is a flaw in Edmund's character that his greed is stronger than his concern for his siblings. 5. Edmund allows his greed to get the better of him and it shuts his mind to the belief that the Queen is the white witch. This is an example of how making bad choices and choosing the wrong things can cloud your judgment and perceptions. It can inhibit your ability to make moral choices. 6. What do you think of the White Witch? The White Witch is, perhaps, your typical witch. The Witch is evil to the core, without even a hint of goodness within her, which we can attribute to her not being human. Although the Witch claims she is human, she is actually part giant and part Jinn. The Witch is merciless, cruel, power-hungry, and sadistic. The Witch claims the throne of Narnia by brute force. She enchants the land so it is always winter and never Christmas and so that the poor Narnians have no hope. The Witch sways many Narnians to her side out of fear or lust for power, so that the Narnians are divided and are completely terrified. The Witch carries a golden wand that she uses to turn living things into stone—she does this rather frequently when she is annoyed. The Witch is hated and feared throughout the land, but no one except Aslan has the power to stop her. 1. Make Turkish delight Here (or get peanut brittle or fudge and call it Turkish delight, cause the Turkish delight does not look gluttony inducing). Since its "enchanted" it can be whatever I like I suppose. 2. Make hot chocolate with lunch, like Edmund drank in the Witch's sleigh. 3. Edmund describes the White Witch as a great lady, taller than any woman he has ever seen. She is covered in white fur up to her throat, wears a golden crown, and holds a long golden wand in her right hand. Her face is white-like snow, or paper, or sugar icing-except for her very red mouth. Give the kids white yarn, white paper, and glitter to create the white witch. Then have them describe her appearance on a piece of paper with words. Here is our pics. 4. Put the tension rod back up and let the kids act out the scenes again. Read Chapters 5 and 6 for tomorrow. Lesson Two: Narnia (TLTWTW) Chapters 1 & 2 1. Review what was read yesterday Chapter One Summary: Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are four siblings who have been sent to the country to escape the air raids of World War II. They stay with Professor Kirke, an eccentric but kind old man, who resides in a house filled with twists, turns, and surprises. On their first day in the country it rains, so the Pevensies decide to explore the house. As they explore, they discover a spare room that is completely empty except for a large wardrobe. Peter, Susan, and Edmund leave the room, but Lucy stays behind to look inside the wardrobe. Surprised when the wardrobe door opens, Lucy steps inside the enormous closet to find a snowy wood at the back of it. Intrigued, she explores the wood, knowing that the safe wardrobe is still behind her. Eventually she meets a faun, a creature that is half goat and half man. The faun is carrying an umbrella and several parcels. When it sees Lucy, it is so startled that it drops all of its packages. Chapter Two Summary: After the faun recovers from the scare, it asks Lucy if she is a Daughter of Eve. Lucy does not understand this question, but she later realizes that the faun is asking whether Lucy is a human girl. Lucy replies that she is a girl, of course. The faun introduces himself as Tumnus, and asks Lucy how she has arrived in Narnia. Narnia, it turns out, is the name of this strange land that Lucy has entered. Lucy is confused and replies that she has come in through the wardrobe in the spare room. Tumnus misunderstands this, and thinks that Lucy comes from a city called War Drobe and a country called Spare Oom. Tumnus invites Lucy to his home for tea. Lucy agrees, on the condition that she does not stay for a long time, and they travel the path to Tumnus's house. Lucy has a delightful tea with Tumnus. Tumnus serves wonderful food and then plays beautiful music for her on a little flute. Finally Lucy shakes herself out of her reverie, or dream, and announces that she must go home. The faun sorrowfully tells her that she cannot go home. When Lucy asks why, the faun bursts into tears. Lucy comforts him as best she can, and Tumnus tells her that he is crying from guilt. He is a servant of the White Witch, the horrible ruler of Narnia, who has cast a spell over the land so that it is always winter and never Christmas. He has been enlisted to catch any humans he can find and bring them to her. Tumnus does not say what the witch will do with the humans, but we can assume that they will be killed. Lucy begs Tumnus to release her, and he agrees, saying that he had never met a human before and did not know what they were like. Tumnus walks Lucy back to the lamppost at the border between Narnia and the wardrobe door, and they say farewell. 1. Explain why the children were sent to live with the professor. Internet link about this. How would you feel if you were sent away to the country? Do you think this would make your sibling relationships more important? 2. The older children especially have more responsibilities. What is it like to be the eldest child? the middle child? the youngest child? What responsibilities do you have? 3. The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe are about 4 siblings who laugh together, struggle together, fight with each other, have adventures together. Each of the children brings something different to their siblings, look at each of the children, and their actions/choices and describe what they each contribute to the family. (ex=susan is kind to her siblings). 4. Describe Lucy's first adventure into the Wardrobe. 5. Narnia is experiencing only Winter because of the Witch's spell. If you could only have one season forever, which would it be? 6. The witch imposes an enchanted, eternal winter upon Narnia. Winter sounds pretty good to us here in Texas, and snow is fun to us, but that is only because we don't live with it every day. Remember how cold it was when it snowed last year? Winter is a dead, stagnant time of stasis. A time when things no longer grow, animals hibernate, people huddle up indoors. Normal humans tire of winter, and long for the break of Spring. An eternal winter would be oppressive. Lewis gives the overall impression of a barren empty land. The season of Winter represents that Narnia is under an evil regime. 7. There is an exchange in the first chapter when the children are anticipating getting to the professor's home and Peter is excited by the animals that might be there. He says, "Did you see those mountains?....there might be eagles, hawks!" ..."Badgers" says Lucy. "foxes" says Edmund. "Rabbits" says Susan. Have you noticed that each of the animals the children chose are a bit like them? Hawks are noble, strong birds. Badgers are loyal and faithful. Rabbits are shy and sweet. Foxes are cunning, and not wholly trustworthy. What animal would represent you if you were in the story and why? 8. The Faun Tumnus is ultimately good and kind. He may begin the story in the service of the white witch, but when he understand ultimately what his mission is, his decency and kindheartedness surface when he helps Lucy escape. 1. Draw a picture of Narnia in Winter. Cut out paper snowflakes and paste them on the sides of the paper as a frame for the picture. Go HERE for snowflake patterns. Discuss how each snowflake is different and unique. Here are our pics 2. Discuss seasons, especially winter. 3. Hydrate some of the fake snow, and play with it at the kitchen table. 4. Freeze containers full of ice in advance. Let the kids play with the ice (maybe color it too?) Talk about how cold it is. How long can you hold ice in your hand? 5. Hang a tension rod in the hallway with jackets or shirts on it, let the kids act out the first two chapter of going through the wardrobe. Here is our wardrobe 6. Make Ice Cream in a ziploc bag It will get VERY cold. Talk about how painfully cold it is. 7. Discuss how things freeze in winter, and how icecream freezes. 8. For Lunch, have a Mr. Tumnus Tea Party Read Chapters 3 &4 for tomorrow! Vocabulary List for Narnia Intro to Narnia: Lesson 1 The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis Book Summary: Four children are sent away to the countryside of England during the war to avoid the air raids. They go to the country to live with an old professor who has no wife, only a housekeeper in a large house. While there, the children find that walking through an old wardrobe in a forgotten room leads them to a magical place, the land of Narnia. A Magical Place where they have many adventures. About the Author: C.S. Lewis (Clive Staples) was a pseudonym used by Clive Hamilton when writing books. He was known as "Jack" to his friends. He was born November 29, 1898 in Belfast, Ireland. He married, but had no children. He taught at English Universities where he was a novelist, a scholar and critic of Literature. He won the Lewis Carrol Shelf Award in 1962 for the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Lewis and his good friend J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings, were part of the Inklings, an informal writers’ club that met at a local pub to discuss story ideas. Lewis’s fascination with fairy tales, myths, and ancient legends, coupled with inspiration drawn from his childhood, led him to write The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of the best-loved books of all times. During the Second World War, when children from London were being evacuated to the country, four youngsters were billeted at Lewis' home, the Kilns. Surprised to find how few imaginative stories his young guests seemed to know, he decided to write one for them and scribbled down the opening sentences of a story about four children -- then named Ann, Martin, Rose and Peter -- who were sent away from London because of the air raids, and went to stay with a very old professor who lived by himself in the country. That's all he wrote at the time, but, several years later, he returned to the story. The children (now named Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) found their way into another world -- a land he would eventually call Narnia. Introduction to the Book: The Title of the story is The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. What could a lion, a witch, and a wardrobe have in common? Read Chapters One and Two of the Text Thursday, August 6, 2009 A year (well, a semester) in literature.. In an effort to make language arts more fun then the curriculum I ran across, I decided to do my own literature units. I finally think I have worked out what we are using for literature for the first semester. Here is what it will look like. As I write the units I will post them here. • 3-8th Pizza the size sun • 10th-14th The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (CH 1-6) • 17th-21st The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (CH 7-12) • 24th-28th The Lion , the Witch and the Wardrobe (CH 8-17) • 1-4th Ramona the Pest • 7th-11th Ramona the Pest • 14th-18th Cloudy with a chance of meatballs (with field trip to the movie) • 21st – 25th The Secret Garden • 28th – 2nd The Secret Garden • 5th-9th Where the Wild Things are (with field trip to the movie) • 12th-16th Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH • 19th-23rd Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH • 26th – 30th The Hobbit • 2nd – 6th The Hobbit • 9th-13th The Story of Dr. Doolittle • 16th – 20th The Story of Dr. Doolittle • 23rd-27th The Wind in the Willows • 30-4th The Wind in the Willows • 7th-11th The Best Christmas Pageant Ever • 14th-18th The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Nutritional Analysis • Do you feel tired or lethargic? • Are you having trouble concentrating or remembering things? Seeing so many people struggling with low energy, inability to concentrate, insomnia, and poor resistance to getting sick, we feel it is important to find out the root cause of these problems. Chiropractic and nutrition seem to go hand-in-hand, when promoting healthy functioning of the whole body. Too Many Empty Calories The leading nutritional problem in Canada and the United States is "over consumptive undernutrition" or too many empty-calorie foods in the diet. Studies have shown that 2/3's of our population's diet is made up of fats and refined sugars that have low to no nutrient density. The remaining 1/3 of the diet is therefore counted on to get the essential nutrients that we need to maintain health. This problem is compounded by the fact that our soils and foods grown from this soil are very depleted of minerals compared to 30 - 60 years ago. Overprocessed Food Leads to Poor Nutrition If people aren't getting the nutrients because food is overprocessed and the food that used to be nutrient-rich but isn't anymore, where do they get it from? Well, this is where nutritional analysis, or "nutritional symptomatology" comes in. It has been found that certain physiological changes take place when a nutrient become deficient within the body. Nutritional symptomatology is a reliable way to determine the nutritional status of the individual. It pinpoints nutritional inadequacies as well as digestive deficiencies which can be corrected by changes in diet or food supplementation. By applying such measurements at intervals during a nutritional program, it can also be used to assess a person's progress. Nutritional Analysis At our clinic, we provide nutritional symptomatology services. This involves the completion of a Nutritional Questionnaire which helps us to determine deficiencies (or excesses) of specific vitamins, minerals, protein, etc. The clinic then offers a selection of nutritional supplements to facilitate reestablishing proper body function. ^ Top
Protected: Reflection: Problem Solving Case Study Three fundamental methods of making quick breads, cookies and muffins are demonstrated in these few weeks. If a biscuit is tough and misshapen we can analyze from ingredients and methods . Overmixing will develop high gluten that will make the biscuit become harder. Overbaking, too much flour or not enough liquid make the biscuit tough as well. Thus, using correct method to make biscuit is quite important, such as biscuit method (Mix just until the ingredients are combined and a soft dough is formed). To prevent this fault, just combine the dry ingredients and liquid ingredients until it looks lumpy not smooth. Also, put appropriate liquid or use honey molasses instead of sugar can make the biscuit soft and control baking time. If the oven temperature is too low or the product contains too much sugar it will cause an almond-honey-cranberry muffin spread too much during baking. Also, not enough leavening agent could not give muffins appropriate bulk. To prevent this fault by increasing oven temperature and using appropriate sugar. Cranberry muffin has flat top when all the cranberry assemble in the bottom, so we can mix some flour with cranberry to let the cranberry distribute all around the muffin. For the sour cheery pie, if we do not use high bottom heat that could cause soggy bottom. Also, pour hot filling into raw shell could cause soggy. To adviod this fault, we must use high bottom heat during baking and could not add hot fillings to unbreak crusts. We could put some cake crumbs to the bottom of pie that helps absorb liquid. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Pyro board visualizes song’s beats with dancing flames Idea based off Reuben’s Tube What’s cool about the project below is the fact that not only do you get a bit of visual entertainment, you also get some learning in, too. Per the science video blog Veritasium, the “Pyro Board” is a demonstration of what happens when sound waves travel through flammable gas set aflame. It’s all based on a Rubens’ Tube, which is basically a long tube that’s able to illustrate stationary sound waves (a.k.a.: “standing waves”). In using some songs as the source of the sound waves, the pressure variations caused by the sound waves affect the flow rate of the aforementioned gas from the holes in the pyro board. This results in not on the height of the flame being adjusted per the beat, but the color too, making the board an awesome visual display of a fairly simple project. The video runs six and a half minutes long because it goes into how everything works on a bit more of a granular level. If you just want to see some dancing flames, head to the three and a half minute mark. Headband acts as alternative to wearing ear buds Called the “VIBSO headphones”, this headband is actually meant to serve as an alternative to ear buds and headphones, even though they don’t actually go in the ear. Designed by Ecole Cantonale d’art de Lausanne student Renaud Defrancesco, the VIBSO is made of transparent acrylic glass and sends music vibrations across its surface to the user’s ears via a vibrating electromagnet. The magnet works, more or less, like a speaker, which has a connecting element that causes a membrane to vibrate and create sounds. In the case of VIBSO, the membrane is the glass, which transmits sound very well, and is also flexible and easy to form. The vibrations move down the membrane and over the surface that covers part of the ears. This allows the user to wear the headband without feeling the actual vibrations running across their noggin. The shape of the VIBSO directs the sound directly inward so that only the wearer hears the music. If need be, the headband can be covered for added comfort. Users can also share the music by letting someone put their ear up against the other side of the band. Personal space issues are up to the individuals. According to Defrancesco, the purpose of the VIBSO headphones is to allow the user to be “bathed in music without being isolated like with normal headphones, which can be dangerous because you don’t hear what’s around you.” New wetsuits make surfers invisible to sharks Two versions available depending on what you’re doing in water There are two things we love here — our surfer audience and mother f’ing science. That’s what makes this story so awesome: A group of ridiculously smart dudes and dudettes, including scientist from the University of Western Australia, researchers at Shark Attack Mitigation Systems, and Ray Smith, the former Quicksilver designer, have created wetsuits that are specifically made to deter shark attacks. Continue reading Riders can listen to different music at the same time with new audio system design Speaker system creates independent listening zones in same vehicle Catering to all the audiophiles out there, check this cool study out: researchers at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research have created an audio reproduction system that can generate separate audio zones, if you will, for the front and back seat areas of a car. Car music Specifically, the system isolates passengers in the back from hearing what those in the front are listening to by way of hitting certain frequencies and positioning the speakers in different spots throughout the car. Car dashboard The system uses normal car speakers, all set at low frequencies and placed in the car doors. Another set of small loudspeakers are added to the vehicle, and mounted to the four headrest spots to, more or less, drive the audio towards the passengers in the back and fence them off from hearing what’s being played up front. Speaker sound waves The system is still in development—researchers plan on next exploring the effect of the type of audio program on the system performance. You know, in case the driver up front wants to listen to Daft Punk’s Get Lucky up front but the country-loving folk in the back want to listen to some Blake Shelton instead. The audio system design is being formally presented at the 21st International Congress on Acoustics, which is taking place this week in Monteal. Ok, done geeking out now. Record Player plays music from a color wheel instead of an actual vinyl record Students from NYU create kick-ass audio gadget that blends colors with sound Color Play The device above is called “Color Play”, and while it looks like a record player, it doesn’t play vinyl; rather, it projects sound from a color wheel made up of variously sized and colored wedges. Color Play record The assortment of colors in the Color Play wedges represent different pitches, and the different widths represent rhythms. Color Play wedges Like all of our portable Bluetooth speakers, there’s a million different ways to use the Color Play. The wedges can be arranged in whatever way the user wants on a removable tray, and the spin of the “record” can be controlled via knob on the front panel. Color Play set up The genius of the device lies in the Color Play’s color sensor. It’s made from a photocell and an RGB LED. Color gets absorbed and reflected in different amounts of light and the sensor shines green, red, and blue light, then records the amount of light that returns. The sound the device makes is based on the values obtained by the sensor. Video below of the Color Play’s color wheel spinning: Want to learn more? Here’s how the color sensor was made:
Posted by: glue \| July 31, 2008 When Concepts Dream The dictionary of concepts compiled throughout the history of literacy becomes an acquifer for electracy. Conductive inference works across the categorial boundaries of essences, in the manner of dreamwork (condensation and displacement), following the track of encryption and its decipherment documented in the case of the Wolf Man’s magic word, and Derrida’s secret. The manner of inference undertaken spontaneously by neurotics (?) provides an outline for an imaging rhetoric. Gorgonzola, without the Zola Gorgonzola, without the Zola For example, why “Gorgonzola” for the picture in the emblem created for the Superfund model? The choice was generated using the anasemic escape from a crypt. 1. Name the value structuring the narrative version of the disaster (A Civil Action, starring John Travolta).— Perseverance (the lawyer sticks wth the case against the corporation). 2. Use a dictionary to inventory other terms in the neighborhood of “perseverance”.—A number of promising displacement lines offered themselves: persian carpet; Perseus as constellation, the Perseid (a shower of meteors appearing in August radiating from a point in the constellation Perseus); perse, a very deep shade of blue. Pick one: Perseus, slayer of Medusa. Medusa is one of the Gorgon sisters. 3. Use one of the defining properties of the neighbor word as the jump word, to leap to a different syllable system. Gorgon. 4. Select the emblem sign from a neighbor of the jump word. Gorgonzola. 5. Proof effect? (bonus). The materiality of Gorgonzola cheese not only manifested the structure of the “fold” as theorized by Gilles Deleuze, but also is within the image family of poros structures with karst limestone. There is an explicit resemblance between the acquifer material of the Superfund site and the cheese. The cheese may be used to allude, enigmatically, to the disaster. The implication is that the secret may be used also from the image side, to jump to anasemically related semantic domains. Image/text passages may be created either by using the dictionary jump (to find images) or image search to find concepts. 1. Constellation Another proof was available by following “Perseus” as constellation. “Constellation” provided a guiding image for some members of the Frankfurt School (Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno) in a method for using concepts expressively rather than as classifications. A method for getting a conceptual discourse to show more than it says is not through direct content or theme, but by means of the relationships created among the terms, the configuration that evokes a figure the way a group of stars suddenly form a shape (a story), such as “Perseus” or “Orion.” Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s %d bloggers like this:
Welcome sentient being! We appreciate you reading the site, but contributions are even better. To get started, simply create an account and make your first edit today! Neural lace From H+Pedia Jump to: navigation, search A neural lace is a proposed type of neural enhancement technology popularised by It was popularised by Elon Musk in the mid 2016, suggesting that even under a benevolence AI scenario, this could reduce the importance of humans to that of a house cat.. He argues that such technology is importance for human cognitive enchantment in order to keep up with the developments with AI. Building such a brain-to-computer interfaces has been compared to building a bridge to our existing digital personas such as email and social media. The proposed technology itself is based on a new nanoscale electronic mesh development.[1] In fiction The technology was coined in Iain M Banks's Culture novels providing a number of functions such as synthetic telepathy, neural biological control, computer network access and personality backups.[2] External links 1. A Flexible Circuit Has Been Injected Into Living Brains 2. Scientists Just Invented the Neural Lace
Simple project directory structure For small programs with only few source files there is no need to setup a directory structure. In case of medium and large project a proper directory structure is necessary to control project files, it also provides the means for dividing the project into smaller modules, which can be compiled separately and independent from other modules. Also running unit tests again after something goes wrong takes less time. I am not creating big projects, but lets start small. Below is a simple directory structure: I added two files (README and CMakeLists.txt). The README file contains a brief description what is the project and what it does, contains installation instruction and information about the author. The CMakeLists.txt is the cmake build automation tool configuration script, which contains all the rules to build, package and install the software. The inc folder holds all the header files (C/C++ header files), the src contains the source code. I also added the lib folder, because sometimes there is a need to include a library, which isn’t in the system. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Home \| Blog \| Truck Safety 101 for Truck Drivers and Passenger Vehicle Drivers Truck Safety 101 for Truck Drivers and Passenger Vehicle Drivers January 26, 2017\| 0 comments\| By admin US Highways see about 11 million tractor-trailers a year. These huge vehicles log a whopping 288 billion miles a year. As there are a significant number of tractor trailers on the road, they also take a huge part in highway accidents. Data from Tenge Law Firm’s Road Safety infographic states that in 2009 alone there were 286,000 crashes that resulted to 74,000 injuries and over 3,000 deaths. While road accidents are unavoidable, there are ways to minimize the risk both from tractor-trailer drivers and passenger vehicle drivers. As a passenger vehicle driver, it is important to know how to drive alongside trucks, especially as 76% of fatalities from tractor trailer collisions were the occupants of the passenger vehicle. Here are some ways you can minimize the risk of vehicular accidents among passenger vehicles and trailer-tractors: Do not change lanes abruptly Truck drivers have a different view and response time. You may be able to see more in your surroundings while the larger vehicle may have limited vision. Move predictably to give truck drivers ample time to read your intentions and respond properly. Beware of blind spots Like we mentioned previously, truck drivers have limited vision. These include blind spots called “no zones” these zones include the rear and side of the truck, and the connecting point between the truck and trailer. Driving near these areas are very dangerous as the truck driver will have difficulty seeing smaller cars. Try to avoid these areas as much as you can. Always use turn signals when passing Lights are helpful cues for any kind of vehicle behind you to understand your intentions. For trailer-tractor drivers who need extra time to maneuver their large bodies, this is especially helpful in maintaining road safety. Avoid getting squeezed At intersections, tractor-trailer drivers at many times need to make wide turns. Keep your distance and allow a wide berth to avoid getting caught in the “no zones”. A trailer-truck driver hold immense responsibility not just for the cargo they transport but also the welfare of other automobiles as they are the bigger and stronger vehicles on the road. Here are a few pointers for truckers on how to avoid accidents from mechanical failures: Maintain your trucks regularly Many truck crashes are due to mechanical failures. Most of which are progressive and are the result of wear and tear. Preventive maintenance recognizes potential road problems like brake pads that need to be replaced to ensure optimal response in high demand panic situations, repairing and replacing overused tires that can lead to tread detachments and loss of control, and many others Practice safe truck-weight driving practices A tractor-trailer can weigh anywhere between 12,100 to 80,000 pounds. That is 25 times heavier than the usual passenger vehicle. This means your truck takes longer to stop or maneuver. Keeping your mobility limitations in mind help you make better decisions while on the road. Do not tailgate According to studies, the trucks commonly hit the vehicles in front of them due to tailgating. Maintain proper space between you and the vehicle in front of you to give you ample time to stop or slow down when necessary. Use brake and signal lights early Many motorists are not aware how long it takes for a rig to come to a complete stop. Give your truck enough time and space to switch lanes, slow down or stop and inform those driving behind you ahead of time so they can react properly. Use flashers and reflective triangles when necessary If you’re driving below the speed limit for an extended period of time, make sure to use your truck’s flashers to alert other drivers. If you need to pull off to the side of the road or highway, always use flashers, reflective triangles, and road flares to notify incoming traffic of your position and situation. Do not go above the 11-hour driving restriction This limit is there for a reason: fatigue is your worst enemy in making good calls in road safety. Strictly adhere to this guideline and pull off the road whenever you feel sleepy or tired. Sharing the road between large trucks and smaller vehicles need not be a daunting experience if all motorists take precaution and take into consideration the driving limits and hazards for both any automobile size. Stay predictable on the road, avoid road rage and be cautious at all times. Refer to this infographic from Tenge Law for more tips on how to drive safely with trucks. Contact form
Sodas and Your Smile Did you know that enamel—the outer layer of your teeth—is harder than any other substance in your body. While fluoride can help keep your enamel strong and fight off decay, the foods we eat have the opposite effect. In fact, acids from food will weaken your enamel for about thirty minutes after you eat. Naturally, some foods are more acidic than others, including fruits and vegetables. This makes it difficult to completely avoid these foods. To make matters worse, sugars create an environment where acids and bacteria can thrive and damage your teeth. Fortunately there are some foods and drinks you can cut from your diet. If you are interested in learning more, please feel free to contact Smiles Dental at 253.358.2265 soon. Dr. Dr. Christian Weber and our team are eager to hear from you.
The Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB) briefing is very similar to the assessment centre you might have for any other job. The centre lasts for three days with the tests, known as the Army Officer Mental Aptitude Profile, given on the first day. The Army Officer aptitude test includes numerical, verbal and abstract reasoning sections. This article focuses on the aptitude testing section of the AOSB briefing. However, the centre also includes physical fitness tests, a planning exercise, group discussions and an interview. Why Aptitude Tests? The British army is looking for certain mental abilities in their potential officers and uses aptitude tests to determine whether or not you are up to par. Each of these tests examine a different skill set, such as logical thinking, understanding, analysis, and problem solving skills. Ideal officer candidates are able to generate a variety of ideas and find creative solutions to problems. They are able to focus on and identify what is relevant to their current task. These abilities are all examined through the aptitude tests. AOSB Aptitude Test The Army Officer aptitude test is comprised of three sections: numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning and abstract awareness. The entire test is made up of multiple choice questions completed on the computer. You are given paper to jot down any notes or rough-working necessary during the tests. Note that the tests are strictly timed and it is possible you will not finish all of the questions in the time allotted. Therefore it is necessary to work quickly and efficiently in order to answer as many questions as you can. Practice tests help you improve your time management skills. Numerical Reasoning This section contains 36 questions and lasts for 15 minutes. You are given numerical data, presented in a graph or table and asked four questions pertaining to the data. For each question you are given five answer options to choose from. You may not use a calculator during the test, as mental arithmetic is one of the abilities the assessors are on the lookout for. Verbal Reasoning The verbal section of the test involves 40 questions to answer in 15 minutes. You are presented with short passages to read and then four statements related to the text. Your task is to decide if the statement is true, false or you cannot say based on the information in the text. Careful reading is imperative here, as you need to fully understand the text. Abstract Reasoning This portion of the test contains 70 questions and is 12 minutes in length. Each question presents two sets of shapes, Set A and Set B. Your first task is to determine how the shapes in each set are related. You are then given five further shapes and must determine if they belong in Set A, Set B or neither. Prepare for the AOSB Tests The best way to prepare for the mental section of the AOSB briefing is with AOSB practice tests. Here at JobTestPrep we have designed a pack specific for Army Officer applicants taking the AOSB. These practice tests give you a feel of the question style and help practice your skills so you can manage your time wisely during the real test. What's Included • 8 Verbal reasoning tests • 7 Numerical reasoning tests • 5 Abstract reasoning tests • 2 RAF- style Memory practice tests • Personality test preparation • Extra practice drills • Video tutorials • Numerical study guides • Comprehensive explanations and solving tips • Secured payment • Over 1,000 Practice questions • Immediate online access, practice 24/7 Related PrepPacks™ that come with membership:
Rollingword: a website about words. For more words, see the search page. 英语解释:a short piece of music that introduces a longer piece of music; a short piece of music, often one that is played on the piano; a piece of music played before a ceremony in a church action or event indicating a more important action or event coming after it An event is a prelude to a more important event of the same type if the first event indicates the second event, and makes people expect it. A street fight between two individuals may be a prelude to a more serious fight between two groups, If the fight between the two leads to the fight between the groups. The resolution was the prelude to more drastic action.
First Human - Soram War Date January 16th, 2132 - July 30th, 2135 Location Mars Result Human Victory Alliance of Human Nations Soram Empire 7 Frigates 13 Corvettes 450 Armored Vehicles 20 Fighter Aircraft 15 Attack Helicopters 10,000 Soldiers 1 Destroyer 3 Frigates 2 Corvettes 32 Attack Saucers 2000 Soldiers Casualties and losses 2 Frigates 5 Corvettes 193 Armored Vehicles 1564 Soldiers 1 Frigate 15 Attack Saucers ~1450 Soldiers The First - Human Soram War was the first war in which the Human race was in contact with an Alien nation. Despite early reluctance to work together, the Human nations joined together and ultimately defeated the Soram Empire, gaining several valuable technologies along the way. Ad blocker interference detected!
line-height: 1.3em;">ur kidneys are particularly susceptible to damage from toxins in our bloodstream because they filter our blood. line-height: 1.3em;">Scientists have used a "kidney on a chip" device to mimic the flow of medication through human kidneys, a technique that may lead to more precise dosing of drugs, including some toxic medicines used in ICU. Precise dosing in intensive care units (ICU) is critical, as up to two-thirds of patients in the ICU experience serious kidney injury. Medications contribute to this injury in more than 20 per cent of cases, largely because many intensive care drugs are potentially dangerous to the kidneys. This is believed to be the first time such a device has been used to study how a medication behaves in the body over time, called its "pharmacokinetic profile," researchers said. "When you administer a drug, its concentration goes up quickly and it's gradually filtered out as it flows through the kidneys," said Shuichi Takayama, professor at the University of Michigan. "Even the same dose of the same drug can have very different effects on the kidneys and other organs, depending on how it's administered," said Sejoong Kim, an associate professor at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. "This device provides a uniform, inexpensive way to capture data that more accurately reflects actual human patients," said Kim, a former University of Michigan researcher. The team tested their approach by comparing two different dosing regimens for gentamicin, an antibiotic that is commonly used in ICUs. Researchers then measured damage to the kidney cells inside the device. The results of the test could help doctors better optimise dosing regimens for gentamicin in the future. The study was published in the journal Biofabrication.
Sunday, February 17, 2013 Are We There Yet?: Helps for Time Management The ability to conceptualize and manage time is a brain function. It is part of a larger ability called executive function (including abilities such as starting a task, sequencing through multiple steps of a task, attention to detail, organization). The center and front of the brain specializes in executive function, and everyone has strengths and weaknesses within this area. I started to use a visual timer with my son when he was 2 years old and LOVED it! It saved me much hassle and frustration, and cut down on the "is it time yet" conversation, which of course is never ending. Children often do best with a visual timer, and so do many adults. Without the visual aspect of the timer (the red section gradually gets smaller as time disappears, and some models have an audible timer that can go off as desired when the red is gone), time is completely conceptual. You have to somehow learn to associated a certain time with the feeling of time passing. Over time, you may learn what 5 minutes feels like, or you may not. Many adults love to use these timers too. I know many adults who use the timer to get out of the house on time in the morning. My son loved it, and would say "how much red until we need to go." I would also set it for taking turns during play (e.g., "You get to pick the game and play it until the red goes out, and then your friend gets to pick"). I am pretty efficient when it comes to time and don't typically run late; however, I also did well with the timer...usually to keep me on task before I started something else. Sometimes I multi-task too much, and don't just sit down and just focus on one thing. I would set the timer for my son to know how long I would sit on the floor and play with him, and the timer actually kept me on the floor without going to do something else. Good thing! The model in the picture above is called a "time timer" and we purchased ours at
Unprecedented scientific report says decline of pollinators a threat to food security Washington Post Around the world, the animals that pollinate our food crops - more than 20,000 species of bees, butterflies, bats and many others - are the subject of growing attention. An increasing number of pollinator species are thought to be in decline, threatened by a variety of mostly human pressures, and their struggles could pose significant risks for global food security and public health. Keeping agricultural production high enough to feed the world's ballooning human populations will depend in a big way on the insects and other animals that help them reproduce. The assessment reports that in the past 50 years alone, the volume of agricultural production that depends on animal pollination has increased by about 300 percent. "Our nutritional security is intimately linked to pollinators, with many of our vitamins derived from pollinated crops," Potts said. "So there is this kind of link between pollinators, crops and human diets and ultimately health." Some of the most widely enjoyed crops that heavily depend on animal pollination include apples, cocoa beans, coffee and almonds. And pollinators' importance to agriculture means there's a big economic factor to consider there as well. "The global market value linked to pollinators is huge," Potts noted. The assessment finds that anywhere from $235 billion to $577 billion worth of global food production every year relies on animal pollination. Additionally, many pollinator species have immense social and cultural value, Vera Imperatriz-Fonseca, co-chair of the assessment and an ecology professor at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, said at the briefing. She pointed out that many are "a source of inspiration for all of us in art, music, literature, religion and technology." So there are clear reasons to care about the fate of the world's pollinators. The problem is that in many places, they aren't doing so well. Using data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, the IPBES assessment points out that more than 16 percent of vertebrate pollinators on Earth - that's mainly bats and birds - are threatened with extinction. Insects are a little harder to assess because there tends to be less global data about them. But regional studies have shown widespread declines throughout many parts of the world, especially among bees and butterflies. "Using internationally accepted IUCN assessment criteria, there are some national red lists for bees which often have more than 40 percent of the species listed as threatened," Potts said. He also added that there's been only one continental assessment conducted, which studied bees and butterflies in Europe and found that 9 percent were threatened. Even this number is likely an underestimate, he added, given that approximately half the bee species on the continent could not be assessed due to a lack of data. The declines are a concern for both wild pollinators and managed ones, which are kept by humans, the researchers are careful to note. Honeybees are the most common managed pollinators. And while overall the number of honeybee hives throughout the world has doubled in the last 50 years, certain regions - most notably Europe and North America - have experienced significant declines as a result of colony collapse disorder. Intensive agriculture, which focuses on only a few crops at a time, can be a contributor to this issue. And the use of pesticides has demonstrated harmful effects as well - an issue that's recently come to the forefront of national attention in the United States. The Obama administration's National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators, released by the White House last year, called for better scrutiny of the effects of pesticides on pollinating insects. And last month, the Environmental Protection Agency released the first in a series of preliminary risk assessments of insecticides thought to be harmful to bees. The U.N.'s assessment notes that the effects of pesticides depend on the type of chemical being used, the amount in which it's applied and the type of pollinator that's been exposed. However, the assessment does report that research has found a variety of lethal and nonlethal (but still negative) consequences of pesticide exposure in insect pollinators, mainly bees. During Friday's press briefing, the authors were quick to clarify that the report is not meant to be taken as a blanket condemnation of pesticide use. "We don't provide recommendations," Potts said. "Just really high-quality evidence based on what the available data says." This kind of reaction is a concern because there's a possibility that, over time, pollinators could shift their ranges out of reach of the plants they usually pollinate. And this is just one effect we'll likely continue to see in the future. "One of the other things that's certainly an issue here in terms of individual species and the direct effect of climate on species . . . is the timing they have, or the phenology of these species - when they come out, when they do the things that they do," Kerr said. Climate change can cause some species to emerge at different times of the year than they used to, for instance, or reproduce at different times. These kinds of changes could disrupt their seasonal interactions with the plants they pollinate. With so many factors threatening the world's pollinators, the looming question is whether anything can be done to save them. According to the new assessment, there are actually a lot of opportunities on this front. "Hospitable landscapes are ones where there are suitable nesting habitats for diverse pollinator species, and where consistent forage resources are accessible (within the flight range) of the bees throughout their flight seasons," Neal Williams, an entomologist at the University of California Davis (who was also not an author on the new assessment), said by email. The assessment also recommends more diverse and sustainable forms of agriculture - for example, utilizing organic farming practices, conducting crop rotations and allowing diverse communities of plants to grow alongside traditional farmland in order to attract and maintain pollinator populations. And taking steps to minimize the introduction of invasive species, combat the spread of disease among pollinators and mitigate climate change are all crucial, as well. The biggest takeaway is that there are a huge variety of threats facing the world's pollinators, and so proportional action must be taken to address each of them as soon as possible. "The question for us as a society really, not just a science community, is can we walk and chew gum at the same time in terms of dealing with conservation solutions," said Kerr. "Are we really only capable of doing one thing at a time, or can we manage habitats better than we do now, can we control our pesticide use so we're just a little more careful than we are now?" The answer remains to be seen, and will likely depend on the coordinated actions of individual governments. But there's much to be optimistic about, according to the assessment's authors. The report was agreed upon by the more than 100 countries belonging to IPBES, which demonstrates an international concern for the issue, they pointed out at Friday's briefing. The role of IPBES, and its report, is to strengthen the dialogue between the scientific community and policymakers, said IPBES chair Zakri Abdul Hamid. "We wanted the government to be moved to take action, and that's what it's all about," he said. Copyright © 2017, Chicago Tribune
Pdf fan Tap here to download this LitChart! (PDF) Visions and Hallucinations Symbol Analysis Visions and Hallucinations Symbol Icon A number of times in Macbeth, Macbeth sees or hears strange things: the floating dagger, the voice that says he's murdering sleep, and Banquo's ghost. As Macbeth himself wonders about the dagger, are these sights and sounds supernatural visions or figments of his guilty imagination? The play contains no definitive answer, which is itself a kind of answer: they're both. Macbeth is a man at war with himself, his innate honor battling his ambition. Just as nature goes haywire when the normal natural order is ruptured, Macbeth's own mind does the same when it is forced to fight against itself. Visions and Hallucinations Quotes in Macbeth The Macbeth quotes below all refer to the symbol of Visions and Hallucinations. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one: Ambition Theme Icon ). Note: all page and citation info for the quotes below refers to the Simon & Schuster edition of Macbeth published in 2003. Act 1, scene 1 Quotes Fair is foul, and foul is fair; Hover through the fog and filthy air. Related Characters: Weird Sisters (speaker) Related Symbols: Visions and Hallucinations Page Number: 1.1.12-13 Explanation and Analysis: In the play’s opening scene, three witches gather in a storm and discuss their upcoming meeting with Macbeth. Together they chant these lines about the moral uncertainty and decay in Scotland. That “fair is foul” means that what seems genuine is in fact evil, while “foul is fair” inversely means that what appears negative is actually positive. Thus the witches point out the fickle quality of appearances—a recurring theme throughout the tragedy—contending that foul and fair things can easily be mistaken for each other. This line is an example of the rhetorical device chiasmus: when elements of a text are arranged in the form ABBA. Here, “A” is “fair” and “B” is “foul.” Chiasmus can have many different meanings depending on the circumstance, but here it gives a rhythmic quality to the text and points out a paradox between two terms. The image of “fog and filthy air” similarly foreshadows how the senses will be muddled in the text, preventing characters from accurately perceiving what would be fair or foul. More generally, this image showcases how symbols and ethics will become mixed up in the tragedy. As supernatural creatures, the witches themselves seem decrepit and “foul” at times—but their prophecies are also accurate, which would make them “fair.” Thus these lines do not only make a distinction between false appearance and honest reality, but rather question the very ability to determine the moral goodness of any such reality. Unlock explanations and citation info for this and every other Macbeth quote. Plus so much more... Get LitCharts A+ Already a LitCharts A+ member? Sign in! Act 2, scene 1 Quotes Is this a dagger which I see before me, I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw. Related Characters: Macbeth (speaker) Related Symbols: Visions and Hallucinations Page Number: 2.1.44-53 Explanation and Analysis: After discussing the witches with Banquo, Macbeth is left alone to contemplate his impending murder. He then sees a dagger in the air and wonders to what extent it is real or hallucinated. A primarily psychological analysis would see in these lines the first signs of Macbeth’s insanity. His inability to distinguish between a physical and imaginary dagger does not prevent him from hoping to “clutch” either one. When he can't clutch it, he notes that it is impossible to “have” the vision and yet that he can still “see” it, and is confused why his sense of touch and vision seem to inexplicably not accord. Characteristically, Macbeth remains acutely aware of the conditions of his sanity, observing that his “heat-oppressed brain” may be responsible for creating the illusion. Yet after noting how his mind may be addled, he once more reiterates the “palpable” quality of the dagger, comparing it to his own physical sword. Beyond introducing the idea that Macbeth may be acting out of madness, this passage develops the theme of appearance versus reality. Macbeth may be fixating on a false vision, but the vision actually reveals to him a truth—for it is a portent of the murder to come. In a sense, then, the “foul” vision is actually “fair” in that it is an accurate representation of reality. And when Macbeth does “draw” his own sword, he implies that even a hallucination may have a causal effect on his own actions. Shakespeare thus presents false visions not as figments of the imagination but as capable of inducing changes to reality itself. Get the entire Macbeth LitChart as a printable PDF. Visions and Hallucinations Symbol Timeline in Macbeth The timeline below shows where the symbol Visions and Hallucinations appears in Macbeth. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Act 2, scene 1 Ambition Theme Icon Fate Theme Icon Violence Theme Icon Nature and the Unnatural Theme Icon Alone, Macbeth sees a bloody dagger floating in the air. He can't grasp it, and can't decide whether it's a phantom... (full context) Act 3, scene 4 Fate Theme Icon Violence Theme Icon Nature and the Unnatural Theme Icon at the table. When Lennox gestures at a seat, saying it's empty, Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost sitting there. Macbeth alone can see the ghost. He astonishes the thanes by shouting at... (full context) Nature and the Unnatural Theme Icon The ghost reappears and Macbeth, terrified, starts shouting at it. Lady Macbeth tries to play down her husband's... (full context)
TPP, RCEP and FTAAP: How the trade deals differ A United States-led trade deal struck by 12 countries on the Pacific Rim, which together account for 40 per cent of the global economy. The TPP was signed last year, but before it can come into force, it has to be approved by the Parliaments of all 12 countries. If this is not done after two years, it could also become binding on all members if at least six countries - including the US and Japan - have successfully ratified it. As the US Congress will not pass it before US President-elect Donald Trump - who has consistently made known his opposition to it - takes office in January, the largest trade deal in more than a decade may very likely come to nothing. A free trade agreement first mooted in 2011 between the 10 Asean members and six other countries in the region - Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand. Negotiations are ongoing. Seven of these 16 countries are signatories to the TPP, but the United States is notably not included. One key difference between the RCEP and the TPP is that while the RCEP is expected to cover standard items such as trade in goods and services, investments and dispute settlements, it may not extend to areas such as the environment and labour and food safety standards - like with the TPP. A trade deal involving 21 economies that are part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec). Discussions began in 2006 and were championed by Beijing when it hosted Apec in 2014. The deal will build on existing frameworks, involving the myriad of regional and bilateral pacts signed by Apec members. It has been suggested that the RCEP and TPP could eventually be subsumed under it. A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 16, 2016, with the headline 'TPP, RCEP and FTAAP: How the trade deals differ'. Print Edition \| Subscribe
Search This Blog Sunday, 30 November 2014 DID YOU KNOW SERIES (24): A “Hundert Mark” (Hundred Mark) Reichsbanknote dated 1st November 1920 tells a tale of a time when hyperinflation was rampant in Germany after World War I : Reichsbank (meaning the “Empire’s Bank”): The Reichsbank was founded on 01.01.1876 shortly after the establishment of the German Empire in 1871. It was the Central Bank of Germany from 1876 to 1945. It was privately owned by the Central Bank of Prussia, functioning under the close control of the Reich Government. Prior to its establishment, there were 31 Central Banks or “Notenbanken” (Note Banks), functioning in each of the independent states which were issuing their own money. After the creation of the ReichsBank, four other “Notenbanken” still continued to function till the beginning of World War I, i.e. till 1914. These were Baden, Bavaria, Saxony and Wurttemberg. German “Goldmark” Currency (1873-1914): Until World War I, the Reichsbank issued a stable currency called the “Goldmark” (Between 1873 to 1914, the Mark was linked to gold with 2790 Mark being equal to I Kg. of pure gold or 1 Mark being equal to 358 mg. of pure gold). Thus, “Goldmarks” were adequately backed by gold reserves. When the World War I broke out, Germany delinked its currency convertibility from gold and funded the War entirely by borrowing which led to a decline in the exchange value of the Mark. The Mark which was earlier formally backed by gold now evolved into the Papiermark (paper Mark) backed by nothing. German “Papiermark” Currency (1914-1923): The term “Papiermark” (or “paper mark”) is used for German currency when the link between the Goldmark and gold standard was abandoned due to the outbreak of World War I. Just before the World War I, The State Loan Office began issuing paper money known as “Darlehnskassenscheine” (Loan Fund Notes). These circulated alongside the issues of the Reichsbank. Most were in the denominations of 1 and 2, but there were 5, 20, 50 and 100 Mark Notes also. In addition to the issues of the Government, emergency issues of tokens and paper money, known as “Kriegsgeld” (war money) and “Notgeld” (Emergency money) were produced by local authorities. Not” means “Emergency or necessity” while “geld” stands for “money”. During World War I, money was in short supply and there was rampant hoarding of gold and silver coins across the countries of the World involved in the War effort. Paper currency hoarding too added to the shortage of money in circulation. Eventually, to overcome this problem, the State Bank of Germany the “Reichsbank”) permitted towns, villages and municipalities to issue their own currency. These old Banknotes have over the years acquired a lot of collector interest. Interestingly, apart from metal issues, Notgeld was usually made of paper. Occasionally, it was issued in the form of card, silk, linen jute, chamois leather, leather, aluminium foil, envelopes, velvet, playing cards, compressed coal dust etc. Most Notgelds have the name of the town mentioned on them. If, however, a German Banknote had the word “Riechsbanknote” printed on it, then it was issued by the State and is not a "Notgeld". Grossgeld” are any piece of Notgeld having a face value of 1 Mark or more i.e. 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500 marks etc. The Grossgeld Banknotes are much larger than Serienscheine and Verkehrsausgaben issues but smaller than very large inflationary issues. Serienscheine (meaning “Series Notes”) are a sub-set of “Notgeld” and are the precursors to the famous German inflationary money of the early 1920s. These issues were beautiful, humorous and whimsical and conveyed a sense of hope and stoic optimism designed to take the minds of the users away from the miseries of the War they had gone through. The variety and beauty of these Banknotes made them a desirable commodity. Collectors collected them in sets which narrated stories and legends, which, in turn, led to the production of many different issues and designs. For example, in Hamburg town, there was a story of Klaus Stoertbeker which is narrated on two Banknotes: Klaus was a pirate in the late 1300s and he and his crew were captured and brought to Hamburg and sentenced to death by beheading. Before his execution, the story goes, that he asked to be beheaded standing upright facing his pirate crew and that after his head was cut off, as many of his pirate crew that his headless body walked past, should be spared capital punishment. It is said that his headless body walked past 12 of his crew and he only stopped walking because the executioner tripped him. It is another matter that his crew were executed anyway. Collectors are on the lookout for entire Series which narrate stories like this one. These are Notgeld issues that were put into circulation because of the shortage of small change (metal coinage). Weimar Republic (Weimarer Republik): This is the name given to the Federal Republic and semi-Presidential representative democracy established in 1919 in Germany to replace the Imperial form of Government after Germany’s defeat in World War I. It is named Weimar after the city where the National Assembly took place in 1919 which adopted a new constitution for the German Reich. However, most Germans continued to refer to their Nation the “Deutsches Reich”. In its 14 years of existence, the Weimar Republic faced numerous problems, including hyperinflation, political extremism and contentious relationships with the victors of World War I. Nevertheless, the Weimar Republic successfully reformed the currency, unified tax policies and the Railway system and met most of the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles, except for meeting the disarmament requirements and eventually paid a small portion of the total reparations required by the Treaty. Decline of the “Papiermark”: The Treaty of Versailles accelerated the decline of the Mark. By end 1919, around 6.7 Papiermarks were required to buy a US dollar. The Allied nations in World War I imposed heavy war reparation payments on Germany which were mentioned to be paid in “Goldmarks” in 1921, 1929 and 1931, as the Allies feared that a defeated Germany might try to pay off the obligation in Papiermark. Because reparations were required to be paid in hard currency and not the rapidly depreciating Papiermark, Germany adopted a strategy to bulk print Banknotes to buy foreign currency at any price, for paying out reparations, which led to a free fall in the value of the Papiermark and rampant inflation/hyperinflation and ultimate collapse of the German Mark. By the first half of 1921, the German Mark fell to about 60 to a US dollar. Despite this, the German industry was intact and there were indications that the German economy had withstood the effects of the War rather well. In May 1921, the “London Ultimatum” required Germany to pay reparations in gold or foreign currency in annual instalments of 2 billion goldmarks (total of 132 billion Goldmarks) along with 26% of the value of German exports. After making the first payment in June 1921, the Mark began its free fall with about 330 Marks being the exchange value to a US dollar. Hyperinflation followed and cart-fulls of money could hardly buy groceries Due to hyperinflation higher denominations of Banknotes were issued by the Reichsbank and other institutions like the Reichsbahn Railway Company in large numbers. Before the War, the highest denomination was 1000 Mark equivalent to about 50 British Pounds. In early 1922, 10000 Mark notes were circulated, followed by 100000 and 1 million Mark notes in February 1923. Later several denominations, the highest being 100 Trillion or 100,000 billion marks (Einhundert Billionen Mark) which were equivalent in value to about 100 Rentenmark (the currency which superseded the Papiermarks as a stop gap arrangement , in November 1923, to contain the hyperinflation) were issued. In January 1923, French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr, the industrial region of Germany the “Ruhrgebiet” (or the “Ruhr”) to ensure that the reparations were paid in goods, viz., coal etc., as the Mark had been rendered useless and Germany was in no position to pay its reparations because of the rampant inflation. The hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic lasted from June 1921 to January 1924. Introduction of the “Rentenmark” as a stop-gap currency (1923-1924): The hyperinflation was at its worst by November 1923. The inflation began to taper off only with the issue of the German Rentenmark printed by the Deutsche Rentenbank, which replaced the worthless papiermark on 16.11.1923. The currency was stabilised in November 1923 after the Rentenmark, was proposed to be issued, which came into circulation in 1924. The Rentenmark replaced the Papiermark at an exchange rate of 1 trillion Papiermarks to 1 Rentenmark. Rentenmarks were issued in the denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 dated 01.11.1923. Around 500 million Rentenmarks dated 16.11.1923 were put into circulation, with another 1 billion being circulated on 01.01.1924 and supplemented by 1.8 billion Rentenmarks being added into circulation in July 1924. The exchange value of the Rentenmarks was placed at 1 trillion Papiermark, which still continued to be in circulation. The hyperinflation of Germany is akin to the Hyperinflation faced by the Hungarian pengo and the Zimbabwean dollar which were even more inflated. I have come across a similar story when I was studying the currency of Zimbabwe which can be accessed at the following link:(How to join the super-rich Club? Own a Z$ 100 Trillion Banknote from Zimbabwe) The Reichsmark (1924-1948): On 30.08.1924, the Reichsbank began issuing the Reichsmark which served as the currency of Germany till 1948. This was meant to be a permanent replacement of the Papiermark. The exchange rate of the old Papiermark and the Reichsmark was set at 1 Reichsmark to 1 trillion Papiermark in UK and US English and 1 billion Papiermark in German and other European languages. The Machtergreifung (or the “seizure of power”) by the Nazis in 1933 during the Third Reich led to the Reichsbank falling under Government control in 1937, and in 1939, Adolf Hitler assumed direct control of the Bank and the Bank was renamed as the “Deutsche Reichsbank”. Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, payments of reparations were officially abandoned). The Deutsche Reichsbank ceased to exist in 1945 after the defeat of Nazi Germany and the last of the Reichsmarks ceased to be legal currency in 1948, when the Deutsche Mark was introduced in West Germany and the East German Mark in East Germany. In West Germany, the supervision of monetary policy fell upon the “Bank Deutscher Lander” (Bank of the German States) which, later, became the “Deutsche Bundesbank”, while the supervisory & control of monetary policy functions in East Germany fell upon the “Deutsche Notenbank, later the Staatsbank der DDR (State Bank of the German Democratic Republic). Description of the 100 Mark Banknote of the German Reich (Empire): On the Front of this 100 Mark Banknote one can see the following inscriptions in German: The meaning of the above inscriptions is: “Reichsbank note. One Hundred Mark. Reichsbank’s Head Cashier /Main Cash desk in Berlin will pay the Bearer value against this Banknote, the Consignor. The 1st November 1920. Reichsbank’s Governing Body”. On the upper and lower peripheries are mentioned “R.B.D.” (short for Reichsbank Directorium) and the Banknote’s Serial number: J7111289, both in red colour. Reichsbanknote” is mentioned on the upper and lower peripheries as well. On both sides of the Banknote is placed the Reichsbank Directorium’s seal bearing the Reichswappen (Reich Coat of Arms). On the left and right sides is shown the bust of a man facing right and left. This bust has been variously described as a) Obverse: “Links en rechts mannenhoofd met muts” (meaning “and right (noble) men, head with hat”. b) Obverse: “Der Bamberger Reiter” in German (meaning “The Bamberg Horseman”). An image of "Der Bamberger Reiter" or "Bamburg Horseman" The Bamberg Horseman: Der Bamberger Reiter” in German (meaning “The Bamburg Horseman”) is a life-size stone equestrian statue sculpted by an anonymous medieval sculptor in the Cathedral of Bamburg, Germany, which dates back to around 1225 AD, which places its creation to a period even before the Cathedral was consecrated in 1237. The statue is located on a console at the North pillar of the St. George’s choir and is that of a crowned, but unnamed man. It is believed to represent a particular King of that period, perhaps one who was also a Saint. Historians have narrowed down to Saint Henry II, who was a Holy Roman Emperor (973 to 1024 AD) and who was buried in the premises where the Cathedral was consecrated along with Pope Clement II, but if this was so, he would have been depicted in the imperial Regalia. Perhaps, because he was of a saintly disposition, he may have shunned Worldly trappings to be depicted in his statue which was being sculpted for posterity. Another person who this statue could represent was Holy King Stephen I of Hungary (975-1038 AD) who is portrayed as stopping by on his horse for looking towards the tomb of Saint Henry II. A third version suggests that this statue represents Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor at the time, who is said to have financed much of the rebuilding of the cathedral. A fourth version holds that the figure represents the Messiah according to the Book of Revelation. Anyone with any other “plausible” version is welcome to contribute his/her version. Interestingly, Adolf Hitler’s would-be assassin Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a member of the Bavarian Cavalry unit, the “Bamberger Reiter – und Kavallerieregiment 17” (meaning the “17th Cavalry regiment of the Bamberger Horsemen”). The 20th July 1943 plot known as “Operation Valkyrie” (a Hollywood movie was also made by that name) to assassinate Hitler was unsuccessful (four persons were killed and several injured), but Hitler got saved from the blast by a heavy solid oak conference table-leg which absorbed most of the splinters of the explosion near him. The Colonel was executed by a firing squad on 21st July 1943. On the Reverse of the Banknote, we find the value of the Banknote “100” mentioned in bold in the centre with the letters “R.B.D.” (initials for “Reichsbank Directorium”) mentioned on top and “Mark” mentioned below the figure. Around the oblong periphery of the inscription in the centre is mentioned in German, starting from the left, the inscription: “Wer Banknoten nachmacht oder verfalscht, oder nachgemachte oder verfalschte sich verschafft und in Verkehr bringt, wird mit Zuchthaus nicht unter zwei Jahren bestraft”. The meaning of the above inscription in German is: “Anyone who copies or counterfeits or obtains and puts into circulation copied or counterfeited banknotes will be punished with not less than two years of penitentiary (imprisonment)”. The figure “100” is mentioned in the four corners as well. The description of this face is “Waarde in Cijfer” (meaning “Value figure”). The Specifications of this Banknote are: Name of series: 70 Publisher: Reichsbank Hauptkasse Berlin; Authority: Reichsbank Direktorium, Berlin; Country: Germany; Denomination: 100; Currency: MARK; Type: Grossgeld; Material: Paper; Width: 107 mm; Length: 161 mm; Thickness (when placed flat on the table): 1 mm; Banknote issue date: 01.11.1920. Series Name: Weimar Republic 1920 issue. (The previously circulating 07.02.1908 Series, i.e. before World War I, had security threads in it, but this Series was issued on plain paper only because of the enormous volumes that it was printed in). The hyperinflated worthless papiermarks are a collector’s item today: Interestingly, even worn-out pieces of this Banknote are much sought after, as possessing each one of these pieces is like holding a valuable piece of history and time travelling back to the period in the aftermath of the World War I, in Germany. If only these pieces of Banknotes could talk and narrate a story what a fascinating tale that would be. Nevertheless, while holding this piece in my hand, I felt like I had, indeed, time travelled back and “visualised an exciting tale” which this Banknote had witnessed of German history being written first hand as it passed from hand to hand!! The Official Coat of Arms of Germany: The Republican Coat of Arms was based on the German crest established by the Paulskirche movement, using the same charge animal, an eagle, in the same colours (black, gold and red), but having one head instead of two. "Reichswappen" of Tobias Schwab There were two designs adopted in quick succession – one by Emil Doepler (12.11.1919), another official “Reichswappen” (Reich Coat of Arms) by Tobias Schwab (1928). "Reichsschild" of Emil Doepler Doepler’s design became the “Reichsschild” (Reich’s escutcheon) and was used as a pennant for government vehicles. In 1950, the Federal Republic of Germany adopted all the official symbols of the erstwhile Weimar Republic - the Reichswappen (Reich Coat of Arms), as well as, the Reichsschild (Reich’s Escutcheon) and, also, the Reichsflagge (Reich Flag). Image of the Eagle taken on the Governmental Flag The Coat of Arms of Germany displays a black eagle with red feet, beak and a tongue on a yellow field, blazoned: “Or, an eagle displayed sable armed beaked langued and membered gules”. This is the Bundesadler or “Federal Eagle”, formerly the Reichsadler or the “Imperial Eagle”. This is the same as the Coat of Arms of the Weimar Republic (in use from 1919-1935), which was adopted by the Federal Republic of Germany on 20.01.1950. The current official design is the one made by Tobias Schwab, introduced in 1928. (This Banknote has been contributed for my collection by Div Rakesh who was visiting Pune, India from Berlin last week. Seeing my interest in Currencies of the World, Div went out of his way, to an old currency/coinage market in Berlin to collect this piece for me. I will be putting up separate posts on some coins which Div has also brought for me). Monday, 24 November 2014 163)The “25 Euro Silver-Niobium Coin Series”: (vi): 2003 onwards minted by the Austrian Mint:The Sixth coin in the Series: “Fascinating light” (2008): 163)The “25 Euro Silver-Niobium Coin Series”: (Part vi): 2003 onwards minted by the Austrian Mint by using Niobium and Niobium metal insertion technology for the first time anywhere in the World of Numismatics: The Sixth coin in the Series: “Fascinating light” (2008): Baron Karl Auer von Welsbach or Carl Auer, Freiherr von Welsbach (01.09.1858 – 04.08.1929): Baron Karl Auer von Welsbach was an Austrian chemist and engineer who invented the gas mantle, which led to a greatly increased output of light by using Gas lamps. He was a brilliant chemist who was born in Vienna in 1858. He was a key figure in the development of gas lighting. The technology developed by Carl Auer van Welsbach is still in use in billions of light bulbs around the world today. In 1885, he discovered and isolated the elements Praseodymium (green) and Neodymium (pink) – both Lanthanides bearing the atomic numbers 59 and 60 respectively on the Periodic Table of Elements, from a mixture called Didymium which was hitherto itself considered to be an element. His interest in rare-earth elements led him to further discover that a fabric impregnated with a mixture of thorium nitrate and cerium nitrate could be made into a mantle that glowed brightly when heated by a gas flame. He patented the procedure and the resultant Welsbach gas mantle which he called “Auerlicht” and which was, in turn, developed by using a chemical mixture of 60% magnesium oxide, 20% yttrium oxide, which he called “Actinophor”, vastly improved gas lighting. To produce a mantle, guncotton is impregnated with a mixture of “Actinophor” and then heated, the cotton eventually burns away leaving a solid, though fragile, ash which glows brightly when heated. These original mantles gave off a green-tinted light but were not very successful. In 1889, Welsbach’s first Company formed to sell these mantles wound up due to the failure of these mantles to become popular. Not to be discouraged, in 1890, he introduced a new form of mantle based on a mixture of 99% thorium dioxide and 1% Cerium (IV) oxide. This mantle proved to be more robust and gave off a much whiter light. He successfully converted his advanced discovery into a commercially successful product and by 1891, his mantles were selling all over Europe. He then researched on the development of metal-filament mantles, first with platinum wiring and then with Osmium. He developed a new method which mixed Osmium oxide powder with rubber or sugar into a paste, which was then squeezed through a nozzle and fired. The paste burnt away, leaving a fine wire of Osmium. This was being positioned by him as the new mantle, but during this time electricity was introduced, therefore, Welsbach began to research methods to use the filaments as a replacement for the electric arc light. In 1898, he succeeded in producing a metal filament light bulb which was a huge improvement on the existing carbon filaments of the day and lasted much longer by using about half the electricity for the same amount of light. Welsbach, thus, introduced the first metallic filament for incandescent lamps. Although the Osmium (atomic numbers 76 on the Periodic Table of Elements) that he used was considered to be too rare for general use, Welsbach’s improvements led to the development of the tungsten filament and the modern light bulb. Today, although the incandescent lamp/bulb has greatly supplanted gas lighting, nevertheless, the gas mantle is still used widely in kerosene and other lanterns etc. Welsbach is particularly well known for the development of Misch metal, a mixture of Cerium and other rare earth elements, which he combined with iron to make Auer’s metal, the first improvement over flint and steel for making sparks since ancient times. In 1903, he registered another patent for a “fire striker” (Flint), having a composition named Ferrocerium, consisting of Pyrophoric alloys, i.e. 70% Cerium and 30% Iron which when scratched or struck would give off sparks. His advancement of the flint was used in modern cigarette lighters and, also, in strikers for lighting gas jets for the gas mantles which brought light to the streets of Europe in the late 19th century and led to the development of the filament light bulb. This system has remained in wide use in gas/petrol lighters today. In 1907, he registered a company “Treibacher Chemische Werke GesmbH” to build and market this device. For the rest of his life, he continued to publish a number of papers on chemical separation and spectroscopy which inspired several scientists to explore chemistry related solutions in various fields. In 1922, he presented a major paper on his work on the separation of Radioactive elements. The Silver-Niobium coin titled “Fascinating Light”: This coin issued in 2008, also commemorates the 150th Birth Anniversary of Carl Auer van Welsbach together with one of the earliest recognised energy sources – light. The Obverse of this coin shows a streetlight keeper involved in the maintenance/lighting up of a gas lamp/lantern outside Vienna’s neo-gothic city hall. He is shown as using a step-ladder which gives an impression of the considerable height at which the gas lantern is placed. The ladder and one foot of the light-keeper as well as a portion of the pillar on which the lamp is placed spills over from the Niobium core onto the outer silver ring of the coin. These lamps were in use since 1800s in Vienna. On the upper periphery of the coin is mentioned the name of the country “Republik Osterreich” (meaning the “Republic of Austria”). On the lower periphery is mentioned the denomination of the coin “25 Euro” and the year of issue “2008”. The Reverse of the coin is depicted the glowing Sun as the ultimate source of light, placed in the middle of this face of the coin and artificial light lamps placed in a manner which shows the evolution of lighting technology – several methods of illumination from the gas light to incandescent light bulbs and neon lamps to modern Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), with the engravings spilling into the outer silver ring. This face also depicts a partial portrait of Welsbach on the left hand side. The Niobium core on this coin has a green colour. This colour has been achieved by heat treating and oxidising the niobium core and applying an extra finish prior to its striking. The specifications of the coin are: Face value: 25 Euros; Metallic composition: Outer ring: Silver (Ag) 900 – 9 gms, Niobium 998 – 6.50 gms; Diameter: 34 mm; Weight: 16.50 gms; Edge: smooth. Incandescent light bulb/lamp: This is an electric light produced with a wire filament heated to a high temperature by an electric current passing through it, until it glows – incandescence. The hot filament is protected from oxidation with a glass or quartz bulb that is filled with inert gas or evacuated. In a halogen lamp, filament evaporation is prevented by a chemical process that redeposits metal vapour onto the filament, extending its life. The light bulb is supplied with electrical current by feed-through terminals or wires embedded in the glass. Most bulbs are used in a socket which provides mechanical support and electrical connections. Incandescent bulbs are manufactured in a wide range of sizes, light output and voltage ratings say from 1.5 volts to about 300 volts and are used as table lamps, car headlamps, flashlights, in households, decorative and advertising lighting etc. Incandescent bulbs are much less efficient than most other types of electric lighting. They convert less than 5% of the energy they use into visible light while the remaining energy is converted into heat. Neon Lamp: A neon lamp is a miniature gas discharge lamp which consists of a small glass capsule that contains a mixture of Neon and other gases at a low pressure and two electrodes (an anode and a cathode). When sufficient voltage is applied and sufficient current is supplied between the electrodes, the lamp produces an orange glow discharge. The glowing portion in the lamp is a thin region near the cathode. The larger and much longer neon signs are also glow discharges, but they use the positive column which is not present in the ordinary neon lamp. Neon glow lamps are widely used as indicator lamps in the displays of electronic instruments, appliances, advertisement hoardings etc. Light Emitting Diodes (LED): this is a two-lead semiconductor light source. It is a basic pn-junction diode (this is a boundary or interface between two types of semi-conductor material, p-type and n-type, inside a single crystal of semi-conductor) which emits light when activated. When a voltage is applied to the leads, electrons recombine with electron holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons creating an effect called “electroluminescence” and the colour of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photon) is determined by the energy band gap (this is an energy range in a solid where no electron states can exist) of the semi-conductor. The following coins have been issued in this Series: 2003 – 700 years old city hall in Tyrol or Tirol. 2004 – 150 years Semmering Alpine Railway 2005 – 50 years of Television 2006 – The European Satellite Navigation 2007 – Austrian Aviators 2008 – Fascinating light 2009 – Year of astronomy 2010 – Renewable Energy Sources. 2011 – Robotics 2012 – Bionics 2013 – Drilling tunnels
Java is the simplest Object Oriented Programming (OOP) language to learn. Compared to the other ,learning Java is simpler. Although Java shares much of Cs syntax, it is not C. Knowing how to program in C or, better yet, C, will certainly help you to learn Java more quickly, but you dont need to know C to learn Java .Most of the syntax used in Java comes from C. Java has so much advantages because: Small: The Java language is small. The number of keywords and language constructs is limited compared with other development languages Architecture Neutral: Java’s characteristics is absolutre across all platforms ,so it makes java as extreamely portable, Anyone who has had to architect and construct portable graphics code, even with a helper toolkit, will appreciate Java’s portability.The compiler generates an architecture-neutral object file format to enable a Java application to execute anywhere on the network and then the compiled code is executed on many processors. Secure: Built -in security features like absence of pointers and confinement of the java program within its runtime environment Robust: Java has the strong memory allocation and automatic garbage collection mechanism. It provides the powerful exception handling and type checking mechanism as compare to other programming languages.These are the some of Java’s elements make it one of the most robust languages ever developed. International: All character and string data types in Java are Unicode. Unicode is a standard that supports wide characters capableof representing any one of the natural languages . Byte Code:- Bytecode is the powerfull feature of Java, when you compile a Java code, it turns into Bytecode as a Class file.Bytecodes are the machine language of the Java virtual machine. When a JVM loads a class file, it gets one stream of bytecodes for each method in the class. The bytecodes streams are stored in the method area of the JVM. The bytecodes for a method are executed when thatmethod is invoked during the course of running the program. They canbe executed by intepretation, just-in-time compiling, or any other technique that was chosen by the designer of a particular JVM.Once the Bytecode is generated from code,it can be run in any platform .it supports all JVM versions.so Java is called as “write Once,Run anywhere”
First Haligonians Anyone who’s been to Halifax knows of Citadel Hill. Big, tall, right in the middle of downtown, surrounded by tall office buildings and hotels. To look at it now, it’s just part of the landscape, just a little bit of the make up of the city. You don’t get to see much now, the view is blocked by towers and construction cranes. But what did the first settlers think? What did they see coming off boats and ships to set up their colonies and build a life for themselves? Geologically, of course it was the perfect place for a military post, with a view for miles out to sea and westward toward aboriginal territory. Did they see it for the beauty it was or just for it’s potential. Did they relish the clear view towards the ocean and think of home. Did they appreciate the unobstructed view? Did they see the whales and seals and appreciate their majesty, their shear power and grace? Did they realize how small they were, looking out to the west and realizing their journey and the tale of the Canada as we know it was just beginning? Did they realize the aboriginal lives and the natural wonders they were going to destroy in the name of progress? Was anyone filled with the same awe and wonder I feel as I take the bus around the hill to get to the waterfront or play softball in its shadow on the Commons? What did they feel back then, those first Haligonians? Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
the-different-types-of-building-materialsBuilding materials include any material that is used in the construction process. These can be split between synthetic and natural materials and green materials which are good for the environmental. 8 types of building materials This is the one material people think of first. It is one of the longest standing building materials in the world and although it is very protective it suffers from being too heavy to carry and is not a very effective in keeping you warm. Thatch has been around since the late medieval times (1350-1600). Each type of hatch will have a different life span: rush; 3-5 years, bracken; 5-10 years, heather; 20-30 years, and reed; 30-50 years. Brush is made from plants found in rainforests and is mostly used in tropical and subtropical areas. Mostly, it is used with rocks where gaps between stones are filled with insulation and concrete. When you think of ice structures, you think of igloos and inuits. But much larger and detailed buildings can be made out of ice. There are also many ice hotels in Scandinavia. Rarely is earth applied by hand anymore but by machines, to make tightly packed walls with mud and planks. In many developing countries earth is still widely used. Remarkably, rammed earth can help a home stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer because soil and clay are good for maintaining a constant temperature. Of course, cement needs no introduction, a material that has been used in construction for centuries due to its long lasting nature. The structural framework of a building will often have metal parts. Steel is, of course, a metal alloy and commonly used in everything from small buildings to skyscrapers. A material that brightens up a building allowing light to enter the inside and in modern buildings they can be solar glass to absorb the energy from the sun. Green building materials greenConcrete has ruled the construction materials market for centuries. But what you might not know is that the production of commercial concrete materials releases tons of greenhouses gases into the atmosphere contributing to climate change. Here are five materials that have less impact on the environmental. The hemp fibers are bound with lime to create concrete similar shapes that are durable and light. HempCrete blocks are lightweight reducing the energy used to transport them, but hemp is also fast-growing and renewable. In many parts of the world, bamboo is seen as stylish but in Asia, it has long been a core part of construction. Its combination of high tensile strength and renewability make it a growing favourite for green building projects. Recycled plastic Modern concrete is being produced using plastics from trash, which reduce emissions and reduce the weight compared to standard concrete. This one is straight out of a sci-fi movie. Mycelium with the root structure of fungi and mushrooms can be used to grow around a composite of other natural materials like ground up straw, then air-dried to make lightweight and strong bricks. They have even made a house from mushrooms check it out here This is one that we will be hearing lots about in the future. Ferrock uses recycled materials from the steel industry to concrete a new material that is stronger than concrete and actually absorbs carbon dioxide making it carbon neutral.
Shannon and Weaver Communication Model Neither Shannon or Weaver originally started as communication experts, Shannon a mathematician and Weaver an Electronic Engineer. They produced an article in ‘Bell System Technical Journal’ named ‘A Mathematical Theory of Communication’, also known as ‘Shannon-Weaver model of Communication’. The theory recognises ‘the sender’ as the person formulating the message, and ‘the receiver’ the person receiving the message. Whilst the concept is easy-ish to grasp, there is the technical bit in the middle. Once a message has been conceived, it passes through an encoder. The encoder converts the message into a signal which can be transmitted. This is the same idea as a telephone line where sound is converted into sound waves. The waves are transmitted and received by the decoder. The decoder works in the same manor as the encoder only reverse, converting the signal back into something the receiver can understand. The major issue with this type of communication is something called Noise. This occurs in the transmission along the channel. Noise is as it suggest noise which interferes with the signal. This could be caused by thunder, crowd or traffic noise. This kind of interference can distort the message so it becomes confused, or distorted. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
The Emperor’s Babe and Druid Culture The Emperor’s Babe, by Bernardine Evaristo, is a tale of Londinium, 211 A.D. In this novel the main character, Zuleika, is married to a rich Roman man, Felix. To show his affection towards Zuleika, Felix buys two young women slaves for her. These two women are from a Druid tribe north of Londinium. During their time with Zuleika, they tell her about their lives and their culture. I decided to explore the Druid culture that, through these two women, is presented in the novel. The first description we get of the difference between the Londinium, Roman-influenced people and the Druids is in physical description. “Two ginger girls arrived, captured / up north, the freckled sort (typical / of Caledonians)” (Caledonia is a Latin name the Romans gave to the lands north of Hadrian’s wall). Zuleika finds the girls “fascinating” yet “vile”. The verses continue on to describe these women in barbaric ways. Zuleika finally forces them to be bathed, so she could bare to be around them with being “nauseous”. Very little is known about the day to day life of Druids but one can assume, based on similar cultures we know more about, that there was little to no sense of cleanliness and certainly no sense of sanitation. What we would understand as being barbaric also extends to the girls’ behavior. They “escaped / out the window and climbed / on to the roof, howling.” These stark cultural differences are too difficult for Zuleika to handle so she begins a process of forced assimilation. She even tries to make them look less alien by covering their freckles with white lead. Aemilia and Valeria, as Zuleika has named them, soon fall into step with their new roles in a Roman household but they like to tell Zuleika stories of their lives before being captured. Valeria says that their “Mammy and Faither were chieftens, ye ken.(‘ye ken’ means ‘you know’)” and their “granfaither / was chief Druid”. From my research of Druid culture I have learned that Druids were priests and that it could take up to twenty years of study and learning to become one. Once they had achieved this status, they had quite a bit of power among the tribes. They were pinnacles of wisdom and often acted as teachers and judges. A particularly interesting aspect of Druid culture was the prominence of women in all the roles of the tribe. At one point in the novel Valeria says “Mammy would leid de sodgers into battle, / hir lang heir flying behind like fire, / standing on hir chariot she was so ferox, / all in de scud, face pentit blue wi an owl / tattooed on it”. This is significantly different from the roles that women played in Londinium culture, this role is illustrated by Zuleika’s situation, in which she is so insignificant to her husband that he simply, and rather nonchalantly, disposes of her after she has an affair.Here is a link to an interesting website that goes into the specifics of women in Druid culture. In the previous quote, Valeria mentioned that her mother wore blue paint on her face. This is an ancient tradition in Celtic/Druid culture and is primarily worn as war paint for an upcoming battle. Most of us have probably seen this portrayed in television or movies but here’s an example anyway courtesy of the movie ‘Braveheart’. Screen shot 2013-07-25 at 11.15.35 AM In my research into the relationship between the Druids and the Romans during the time The Emperor’s Babe is set, I discovered that the native non-Druid Britons were quite afraid of the Druids because they believed that Druids had physic and possibly other mystical powers. One article I read (linked below) stated that the Romans “were happy to make a peaceful settlement with most tribes/groups in England, they had no intention of doing the same with the Druids”. Apparently, the Romans were horrified by the sacrificial rituals that Druids performed for their religion and simply massacred them. They then began a forced Christianization, or forced total assimilation of the land and what people were left just like Zuleika forced Aemilia and Valeria to assimilate. Link to short article about Roman-Druid relationship: How does this novel help me understand Englishness? Well, it’s been discussed in class that to determine Englishness, one must consider history. I think it is extremely important to know that London was created by the Romans, something I was not aware of until this book. We know that London’s influence on the rest of England is tremendous so the Roman influence on Englishness must be astounding. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Arctic Methane Scare Oversold While methane is a more powerful greenhouse gas in our atmosphere than carbon dioxide, its lifetime there is much shorter, even as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change can’t quite say how long the CO2 residence time actually is. This means that it is harder to build-up methane in the atmosphere and that methane releases are more a short-term issue than a long-term one. If the methane releases are addressed, their climate influence is quickly reduced. This is why methane emissions from fracking operations—mainly through leaks in the wells or in the natural gas delivery systems—really aren’t that big of a deal. If they can be identified, they can be fixed and the climate impact ends. Further, identifying such leaks are in the fracking industry’s best interest, because, in many cases, they represent lost profits. And while the industry says it has good control of the situation, the EPA isn’t so sure and has proposed regulations aimed at reducing methane emissions from new and existing fossil fuel enterprises. The recent scientific literature is somewhat split on who is right. A major paper recently published in Science magazine seemed to finger Asian agriculture as the primary suspect for recent increases in global methane emissions, while a couple of other recent studies seemed to suggest U.S. fracking operations as the cause (we reviewed those findings here). And as to the runaway positive feedback loop in the Arctic, a new paper basically scratches that pony. A research team led by University of Colorado’s Colm Sweeney set out to investigate the strength of the positive feedback between methane releases from Arctic soil and temperature (as permafrost thaws, it releases methane). To do this, they examined data on methane concentrations collected from a sampling station in Barrow, Alaska over the period 1986 through 2014. In addition to methane concentration, the dataset also included temperature and wind measurements. They found that when the wind was blowing in from over the ocean, the methane concentration of the air is relatively low, but when the wind blew from the land, methane concentration rose–at least during the summer/fall months, when the ground is free from snow and temperature is above freezing. When the researchers plotted the methane concentration (from winds blowing over land) with daily temperatures, they found a strong relationship. For every 1°C of temperature increase, the methane concentration increased by 5 ± 3.6 ppb (parts per billion)—indicating that higher daily temperatures promoted more soil methane release. However (and here is where things get real interesting), when the researchers plotted the change in methane concentration over the entire 29-yr period of record, despite an overall temperature increase in Barrow of 3.5°C, the average methane concentration increased by only about 4 ppm—yielding a statistically insignificant change of 1.1 ± 1.8 ppm/°C. The Sweeney and colleagues wrote: The small temperature response suggests that there are other processes at play in regulating the long-term [methane] emissions in the North Slope besides those observed in the short term. As for what this means for the methane/temperature feedback loop during a warming climate, the authors summarize [references omitted]: The short- and long-term surface air temperature sensitivity based on the 29 years of observed enhancements of CH4 [methane] in air masses coming from the North Slope provides an important basis for estimating the CH4 emission response to changing air temperatures in Arctic tundra. By 2080, autumn (and winter) temperatures in the Arctic are expected to change by an additional 3 to 6°C. Based on the long-term temperature sensitivity estimate made in this study, increases in the average enhancements on the North Slope will be only between -2 and 17 ppb (3 to 6°C x 1.1 ± 1.8 ppb of CH4/°C). Based on the short-term relationship calculated, the enhancements may be as large as 30 ppb. These two estimates translate to a -3 – 45% change in the mean (~65 ppb) CH4 enhancement observed at [Barrow] from July through December. Applying this enhancement to an Arctic-wide natural emissions rate estimate of 19 Tg/yr estimated during the 1990s and implies that tundra-based emissions might increase to as much as 28 Tg/yr by 2080. This amount represents a small increase (1.5%) relative to the global CH4 emissions of 553 Tg/yr that have been estimated based on atmospheric inversions. In other words, even if the poorly understood long-term processes aren’t sustained, the short term methane/temperature relationship itself doesn’t lead to climate catastrophe. The favorite thoroughbreds of the methane scare are proving to be little more than a bunch of claimers. Sweeney, C., et al., 2016. No significant increase in long-term CH4 emissions on North Slope of Alaska despite significant increase in air temperature. Geophysical Research Letters, doi: 10.1002/GRL.54541.
Do hydrogen fuel cells work? Drivers worldwide are excited for the prospect of utilizing hydrogen as fuel for vehicles, from the time that Honda announced its wants to produce its hydrogen fuel cell car. This frenzy is actually fueled (pardon the pun) through the ever increasing price of gasoline everywhere in the world. Fuel cell technologywould be the wave of the future. At the very least that is what many will need someone to believe. There is a point because a hydrogen fuel cell is often a novel method to power a car. The automobile would require no gasoline, are powered by hydrogen and it is only waste could be water, a great all natural and safe emission. However, it is really not the perfect science in any respect and many times there exists look at each of the advantages with no discussion in the disadvantages of hydrogen fuel cells. First - this is actually the simple science of hydrogen fuel cells. Keep in mind that neither gas nor diesel fuel burns "cleanly." The catalytic converter that you are probably needed to don your truck burns the "left over" fuel that your particular inefficient gas or diesel engine would certainly be dumping on the atmosphere. Not surprisingly, that "left over" gas or diesel fuel currently is costing over $4.00 per gallon! Hydrogen fuel cells provide the fact water is made of atoms of hydrogen and oxygen. An easy "converter" is included to your gas- or diesel-burning engine. A modest amount of electricity from your engine is shipped using a quart-size container water and even some baking soda (an every-day kitchen item). This causes water to remain separated into hydrogen and oxygen. The interaction in the separated hydrogen and oxygen atoms is powerful but safe - knowning that hydrogen-oxygen interaction greatly multiplies the electricity that your particular engine can deliver from the gallon of fuel. More power from a gallon of fuel means more miles from the gallon of fuel - this means you spend less at the gas pump! Second, hydrogen fuel cells is not going to harm the surroundings - in fact, they're going to actually lessen environmental damage! Unlike "dirty" gas or diesel fuels, hydrogen and oxygen burn cleanly. Only water is discharged on the atmosphere. Meaning a discount in the actual environment and greenhouse gases. Third, hydrogen fuel cells can dramatically eliminate gas or diesel bills. In the end you have got to put gas or diesel fuel for your car, your fuel offers you lot's more miles from each gallon. It's just like placing powerful genie in your gas or diesel engine - the identical engine will become considerably more powerful, efficiently burning more (and wasting less!) in the fuel you're already buying. A lot of people are convinced that adding a hydrogen fuel cell on their vehicle engine is saving half (or higher!) of the things their fuel bills were devoid of the fuel cell. Include a hydrogen fuel cell in your engine today, and spend less on your fuel bills tomorrow. Thousands have begun saving money by spending less on gas by using a hydrogen fuel cell kit on their own cars. There are numerous websites in existence offering guides to help you convert your car to operate on hydrogen fuel. Discover which is the better secrets for help make your own microbial fuel cell for the car and grab it today from hydrogen-fuelcells.com - Systems work efficiently hydrogen fuel cells work? In-deed. Posted in Automotive
Monday, September 28, 2009 Mario Vargas Llosa Since our LAST class is discussing a novel next week written by the famous peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, I began to read his biography and provided an excerpt below: Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmaɾjo ˈβarɣas ˈʎosa]) (born March 28, 1936) is a Peruvian writer, politician, journalist, and essayist. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation. Some critics consider him to have had a larger international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer of the Latin American Boom.[1] Vargas Llosa rose to fame in the 1960s with novels such as The Time of the Hero (La ciudad y los perros, 1963/1966[2]), The Green House (La casa verde, 1965/1968), and the monumental Conversation in the Cathedral (Conversación en la catedral, 1969/1975). He continues to write prolifically across an array of literary genres, including literary criticism and journalism. His novels include comedies, murder mysteries, historical novels, and political thrillers. Several, such as Captain Pantoja and the Special Service (1973/1978) and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (1977/1982), have been adapted as feature films. No comments:
a receptacle for trash. an object that holds something; container late 14c., from Old French receptacle (14c.) and directly from Latin receptaculum “place to receive and store things,” from receptare, frequentative of recipere “to hold, contain” (see receive). As an adjectival form, receptacular (1847) has been used. Read Also: • Reception centre noun (social welfare, in Britain) 1. a place to which distressed people, such as vagrants, addicts, victims of a disaster, refugees, etc, go pending more permanent arrangements 2. a local-authority home where children are looked after in a family crisis or where long-term placement is arranged for a child whose family cannot provide a home • Reception • Receptionism [ri-sep-shuh-niz-uh m] /rɪˈsɛp ʃəˌnɪz əm/ noun, Theology. 1. the doctrine that in the communion service the communicant receives the body and blood of Christ but that the bread and wine are not transubstantiated. • Reception-desk noun 1. a desk at which a receptionist works, as in an office. 2. a counter, as at a hotel, at which guests are registered.
How to Make Stirling Engine - Single Cylinder Tomato Can (Homemade/DIY) How to make a Stirling engine using a tomato paste can and other household items. This is a single cylinder design or beta configuration. I start out with an overview of the design and a quick explanation of how the Stirling engine works. Then I go step-by-step through its construction, followed by it running and then some construction tips. This one uses a balloon instead of a piston. It uses balsa wood for the displacer cylinder, coat hanger wire for the crankshaft along with a paperclip, a thread to connect the displacer to the paperclip, and a wooden flywheel. The connecting rods are attached to the diaphragm using thumbtacks. By: RimstarOrg Trendy belts from old bicycle tire Picture of trendy belts from old bicycle tires In my opinion developing this project is a must for any good ecologist as you. Indeed cycling around the city would further contribute to preserve environment if we find an alternative use of consumed or punctured tires. This is not an original idea, recently you can buy these belts in fairs and markets, and six years ago opendesignclub wrote how to make tread belts (you also could read his instructable). I used some thinner bicycle tires for my project, the one you use on your technical racing bicycle, or on your stylish fixed gear one. Usually these tires are also coloured and they could have stripes along all the tread, so you can obtain very trendy belts. Don't worry if the tread is not in good conditions, that's exactly the purpose of this project, and only if you're so lucky to cut your tire right away with a glass you will have a brand new belt. In this instructable I describe how I made four different belts from one very consumed coloured tire, two pierced black ones almost new, and a wrecked mountain bike tire.
How does the brain locate sound sources? The Auditory System: From Sound Waves to Brain Waves The amygdala: a full brain integrator in the face of fear LTP: When Neurons Make a Long-term Commitment Mitochondria: More Than Just a Powerhouse Brain Battery Continue reading A Close Look into the Alzheimer’s Brain Your brain is able to store massive amounts of memories throughout your lifetime. There are cases, however, in which this ability progressively degrades and eventually disappears, giving way to problems with thinking, reasoning, and remembering. When these symptoms occurs faster than normal aging, it is termed dementia. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of brain function loss, and its neuropathology are summarized here.Continue reading My, oh myelin! How many neural processes are going on within your body as you read this sentence? The answer to this question is hard to fathom, I know, but give it a shot. Try to imagine all the physiological events that are being controlled by your nervous system at this very moment. Our nervous systems control a dizzying array of sensory, motor, and cognitive processes simultaneously, without us granting them “permission” to do so. In fact, most of our neural functions require no mental energy on our part whatsoever! For this reason, it is extremely easy to take these basic processes for granted. However, if we were to witness the suffering of an individual with multiple sclerosis, we might begin to appreciate these things a little more.Continue reading
Does Methylmercury Occur Naturally? See this related seafood lobby fable: Fable: The mercury in ocean fish poses little risk because it occurs naturally Mercury is not a synthetic chemical; it’s a natural element. It enters the environment both from natural processes (volcanic activity, erosion of rocks containing mercury ores) and from human activities such as mining, coal combustion, industrial processes, and waste disposal. Geochemists are still debating how important natural versus human-made sources of mercury are; the current consensus is that human sources contribute more to total global emissions, with local variation. In aquatic environments and soils, natural bacterial processes convert inorganic mercury to the more toxic methylmercury, which enters food chains and accumulates in fish. One can debate whether a naturally-occurring substance made by bacteria from mercury of (largely) pollutant origin is truly a “natural” contaminant. But the critical question is, so what? This fable is sometimes spun by the seafood lobby: Fable: Mercury in ocean fish poses little risk because it occurs naturally.
Talk:Concurrent computing From Rosetta Code Random order?[edit] Is random order what is meant here, or is "any order" sufficient? --Short Circuit 00:16, 6 February 2007 (EST) Random order means that the order of output is not determined at compile time. The order of output may differ from one execution of the program to another due to differences in timing between the concurrent units providing the output. --Waldorf 11:47, 7 February 2007 (MST) "Undetermined" might be the more appropriate word. At least one of the programming examples attempts to enforce random behavior. --Short Circuit 14:17, 7 February 2007 (EST) Random is what I wanted. The Ada example I provided creates three separate tasks. Each one calculates a random number between 0.0 and 1.0. The task then delays the number of seconds corresponding to that random number. A delay of 0.5 lasts 0.5 seconds. There are two goals to "Simple concurrent actions". Those goals are to demonstrate the syntax for defining concurrent behavior within a single program, and the syntax for creating a random sleep or delay. --Waldorf 17:59, 7 February 2007 (MST) I see. You might want to explain that in the task; I thought the task's purpose was simply to demonstrate forking. --Short Circuit 20:33, 7 February 2007 (EST) What do you need to be clarified? I specified threads, tasks or co-routines. It can be argued that forking is a form of concurrency, which is why I specified threads, etc. Please let me know how you would like the task description to be clearer. There is currently a separate task to demonstrate forking. I have plans to explore more aspects of concurrency with tasks demonstrating synchronous and asynchonous communication between threads, etc. --Waldorf 19:27, 7 February, 2007 (MST) OK. I think I understand now. Your task description is probably fine. --Short Circuit 08:19, 8 February 2007 (EST) AFAIK Co-routines are deterministic because there is only one thread of execution at any point of time. (deterministic output). Rahul 14:48, 9 December 2008 (UTC) Race conditions?[edit] It seems to me that none of the examples so far make sure that there's no attempt to output two strings at the same time. Do all the languages have reentrant output routines, or are there examples with subtle bugs in here? --Ce 09:33, 28 February 2008 (MST) I'm 99% sure Java will not output two strings at once. The JVM handles it. I don't know enough about the other languages to answer for them. --Mwn3d 09:43, 28 February 2008 (MST) Interesting. I believe it is not an issue since writing to a stream should be atomically done, or done in a thread-safe way. The worst that can happen is messing up output, but race conditions or deadlocks or any other bad thing should not occur (at least, if messing up output is not a bad thing! EnRosejotCotayde?!) Consider that the same stream (stdout) can be transparently used by several processes (e.g. I am running Kate editor from the same shell I use to compile code, so sometimes stderr of Kate is intermixed with stdout and stderr of other tasks) --ShinTakezou 18:50, 17 December 2008 (UTC) Hm, maybe I am wrong, since for different processes the file descriptor is replicated; nonetheless they are always attached to the same terminal, and I am still thinking that race conditions are not possible. --ShinTakezou 19:01, 17 December 2008 (UTC) What are "concurrent threads"?[edit] Conceptually speaking, unless you have multiple CPUs, there can be only one "thread" that is executing at any one time. This suggests a possible approach for implementing this task in languages which do not "support threading": One could implement a simplistic thread scheduler, and then use that to implement the task. Consider also languages which support concurrent syntax without necessarily haven gotten around to implementing support for dispatching across multiple CPUs. This leaves me wondering, what does this task specification really mean, in a language agnostic sense? --Rdm 15:38, 24 November 2010 (UTC) "in a language agnostic sense" ... I don't know. I'd muse that it mostly means, "of minimally-synchronized execution contexts", but then we'd have to come up with a meaning for the constraint 'minimal'. --Michael Mol 18:40, 24 November 2010 (UTC) If the language/runtime supports executing over multiple CPUs, that's what should be done for this task. Otherwise, if the language/runtime conceptually supports concurrency but doesn't actually do so, it should be noted in the text for that solution that this is the case (probably along with a note as to what version of the lang/rtlib this is referring to, so that this is known to be an issue at that particular point in time instead of something that is an issue for all eternity). –Donal Fellows 16:42, 25 November 2010 (UTC) Ok, I have taken a stab at this... --Rdm 14:22, 26 November 2010 (UTC)
Home About us ERCS Facilities Queries Contact Cataract >>Causes Medical & Para Medical Staff Members School Health Programme About Us Staff & Infrastructure Patient Information _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Diabetic Retinopathy Refractive Errors Training Programs_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Fellowship Courses Course Descriptions Surgical Training Programs Related Links_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Ophthalmic Journals And Websites Listservs And Discussion Groups Exposure to microwave radiation can cause cataracts. Atopic or allergic conditions are also known to quicken the progression of cataracts, especially in children. Cataracts may be partial or complete, stationary or progressive, hard or soft. Some drugs can induce cataract development, such as Corticosteroids and Ezetimibe[citation needed] and Seroquel. There are various types of cataracts, e.g. nuclear, cortical, mature, and hypermature. Cataracts are also classified by their location, e.g. posterior (classically due to steroid use) and anterior (common (senile) cataract related to aging). As a cataract becomes more opaque, clear vision is compromised. A loss of visual acuity is noted. Contrast sensitivity is also lost, so that contours, shadows and color vision are less vivid. Veiling glare can be a problem as light is scattered by the cataract into the eye. A contrast sensitivity test should be performed and if a loss in contrast sensitivity is demonstrated an eye specialist consultation is recommended. In the developed world, certainly, and elsewhere that diabetes may be a cause, you may need to seek a medical opinion if - at night - your eyesight gives a 'halo' about street lights - especially if you look from eye to eye, and one eye does do this. 1 2 3 4 5 6
Cycling Orthotics Cyclists are renowned for having an unusually high threshold for pain. Whether its riding in challenging events and extreme conditions or suffering through hard workouts, cyclist that push past unbelievable discomfort, but you shouldn’t have to settle for uncomfortable or painful feet and knees. Like most endurance athletes, cycles are especially at risk for chronic injuries because of the repetitive nature of cycling. In an average ride a cyclist can pedal up to 6,000 revolutions per hour, a lot on its own, but when you multiply that by the an average training week, 8-12 hours, the toll cycling takes on your body really starts to add up. Understanding the repetitiveness of cycling it is easy to see why chronic injuries are so common. Injuries like: • Plantar Fasciitis • IT Band Syndrome • Patellatendonitis • Trochanteric Bursitis • Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome • Achilles Tendonitis • Parasthesia of the foot • Metatarsalgia Ideally your foot, knee and hip should all be on the same plane as you travel through you pedal stroke, but one of the greatest factors that contributes to the onset of an injury in cyclist is poor biomechanics and fit causing misalignment in the body. One of these flaws that can cause misalignment in the lower body is over pronation at the ankle, or collapse of the medial arch, causing excessive horizontal movement of the knee during the pedal stoke, putting immense pressure on an already sensitive structures. During short rides misalignment and poor biomechanics often isn’t problematic because most seasoned cyclists in good fitness and form have developed their musculature to compensate for the errors in their biomechanics. But when the miles start adding up day-to-day and week-to-week and fatigue starts to set in so that the muscles can no longer compensate for the flawed biomechanics, they can become problematic. Traditionally, orthotics have not been thought of as a solution to misalignment and flawed biomechanics in cycling. This is because the typical bike shoe puts the pedal under the ball of your foot, well in front of the support provided by the traditional orthotic which is only the rear 2/3 of your foot. Because the philosophy at THE CUSTOM FOOT is more holistic and believes in firm but flexible orthotics that do support the entire foot, we have found that we can construct a cycling specific orthotic that can be extremely effective in the cycling environment. Firstly by limiting the cyclists risk for chronic injuries by fixing flaws in biomechanics and secondly by creating better muscle utilization by aligning the skeletal structure. When an orthotic holds the skeletal structure in a more ideal biomechanical position the muscles, which had to compensate for the flaws, can switch their focus from providing support to the knee to providing power to drive the pedal creating a more efficient pedal stroke. Keeping with the fundamental features behind all of our orthotics we are able to create a cycling specific orthotic that accurately supports your foot, aligning your ankle, knee and hip in a biomechanically neutral position, and evenly distributing pressures, eliminating, hot spots and numbness. We are able to accomplish this by utilizing a material that is thin, so it doesn’t take up space in space limited cycling shoes, while maintaining accurate pressure distribution without breaking down prematurely. Then, as in the rest of our orthotics, we utilize a secondary material that is adhered to the underside of the first piece, providing structure and support to the orthotic.
Green Winged Macaw Citron Crested Cockatoo Scientific Name: Ara chloroptera Wild Status: Least Concern About Me: South America It is second only in size to the Hyacinth Macaw, the largest bird of the macaw family. The wingspan of the Red-and-green Macaw can be up to 49 inches (125 cm), with a total body length of 35-37 inches (90-95 cm). A healthy adult will weigh between 1,250 and 1,700 grams (2.7-3.7 lbs.). The Red-and-green Macaw has a very powerful beak which can generate an enormous amount of pressure. This powerful beak has evolved to crush or open even the hardest nuts and seeds.
Union flag Union flag "Union Flag" redirects here. For other uses of Union Flag, see Union flag (disambiguation). For other uses of Union Jack, see Union Jack (disambiguation). Union Flag Royal Union Flag Union Jack Use National flag Proportion 1:2 Adopted 1801 Design The Cross of Saint Andrew counterchanged with the Cross of Saint Patrick, over all the Cross of Saint George. The Union Flag, or Union Jack,[note 1][1][2] is the national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack flag also enjoys an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth realms; for example, it is known by law in Canada as the Royal Union Flag.[3] Further, it is used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas territories. The Union Jack also appears in the canton (upper left-hand quarter) of the flags of several nations and territories that were former British colonies. The claim that the term "Union Jack" properly refers only to naval usage has been disputed, following historical investigations by the The current design dates from a Royal Proclamation following the union of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.[5] The flag combines aspects of three older national flags: the red cross of St George for England and Wales, the white saltire of St Andrew for Scotland (which two were united in the first Union Flag), and the red saltire of St Patrick to represent Ireland. The terms Union Jack, Union Flag, British Flag are all historically correct for describing the de facto national flag of the United Kingdom. Whether to call it the "Union Jack" or the "Union Flag" is a matter of debate by many. According to the Flag Institute, the vexillological organisation for the United Kingdom, "the national flag of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories is the Union Flag, which may also be called the Union Jack."[6] The Institute also notes: Nevertheless, the term "Union Flag" is used in King Charles's 1634 proclamation: When the first flag representing Britain was introduced on the proclamation of King James I in 1606,[11] it became known simply as "the British flag" or "the flag of Britain". The royal proclamation gave no distinctive name to the new flag. The word "jack" was in use before 1600 to describe the maritime bow flag.[7] By 1627 a small Union Jack was commonly flown in this position. One theory goes that for some years it would have been called just "the Jack", or "Jack flag", or "the King's Jack", but by 1674, while formally referred to as "His Majesty's Jack", it was commonly called the Union Jack, and this was officially acknowledged.[5] The authoritative A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies uses the term Union Jack.[14] The Union Jack is normally twice as long as it is wide, a ratio of 1:2. In the United Kingdom, land flags are normally a ratio of 3:5; the Union Jack can also be made in this shape, but is 1:2 for most purposes. Flags that have the Union Jack in the canton should always be 1:2 to preserve the square fly area. • The red St George's Cross width is 15 of the flag's height with a 115 flag height fimbriation • The white diagonal St Andrew's Cross width is 115 of the flag's height and the broader white diagonal's width is 110 of the flag's height • The red diagonal St Patrick's Cross width is 115 of the flag's height and the narrow white diagonal's width is 130 of the flag's height Another way of looking at it is that the white diagonal St Andrew's Cross and the red diagonal St Patrick's Cross sit side-by-side along the centre-lines of the diagonals. They each have a width of 115 of the flag's height with a 130 flag height fimbriation. The crosses are slightly pinwheeled with St Andrew's Cross leading in the clockwise direction. The centre-lines of the diagonals must meet in the centre (as shown on the diagram). The three crosses retain their thickness whether they are shown with a ratio of 3:5 or 1:2 The colour specifications for the colours Union Jack (Royal) Blue, Union Flag Red and White are:[13] Scheme Blue (D) Red (H) White (J) General Note: The colour schemes are not all congruent. This is due to different specifications for different types of media (for example, screen and print) * Not official; these are Commons' own conversions of the Pantone. Pantone (paper) 280 C 186 C Safe Web-Safe Hex #003399 #CC0000 #FFFFFF 8711D 8711 8711J NSN 8305.99.130.4580 8305.99.130.4584 8305.99.130.4585 RGB (Hex)* 0, 36, 125 (#00247D) 207, 20, 43 (#CF142B) 255, 255, 255 (#FFFFFF) Hoist on the left Hoist on the right Correct way to fly the flag Hoist on the left Hoist on the right Wrong way to fly the flag The flag does not have reflection symmetry due to the slight pinwheeling of the St Patrick's and St Andrew's crosses, technically the counterchange of saltires. Thus, there is a right side up. Although the original specification of the Union Flag in the Royal Proclamation of 1 January 1801 did not contain a drawn pattern nor express which way the saltires should lie; they were simply "counterchanged" and the red saltire fimbriated, nevertheless, a convention was soon established which accords most closely with the description. Interestingly, the first drawn pattern for the flag was in a parallel Proclamation of 1 January 1801 concerning civil naval ensigns, which drawing shows the red ensign (also to be used as a red jack by privateers). As it appears in the London Gazette, the broad stripe is at the top of the saltires on both sides, hoist and fly. That is not in accordance with the specification "counterchanged" as heraldry understands it.[12] It is often stated that a flag upside down is a form of distress signal or even a deliberate insult. In the case of the Union Jack, the difference is subtle and is easily missed by the uninformed. It is often displayed upside down inadvertently—even on commercially-made hand waving flags.[15] In 1603, James VI of Scotland inherited the English and Irish thrones (as James I), thereby uniting the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland in a personal union (which remained separate states).[13] On 12 April 1606, a new flag to represent this regal union between England and Scotland was specified in a royal decree, according to which the flag of England (a red cross on a white background, known as St George's Cross), and the flag of Scotland (a white saltire on a blue background, known as the Saltire or St Andrew's Cross), would be joined together,[5] forming the flag of Great Britain and first union flag: Great Britain Name The King's Colours or "Union Jack" Use National flag Proportion 3:5 Adopted 1606–1801 (England) 1707–1801 (Scotland) Design The Cross of St George over the Cross of St Andrew. This royal flag was, at first, to be used only at sea on civil and military ships of both England and Scotland, whereas land forces continued to use their respective national banners.[18] In 1634, King Charles I restricted its use to the royal ships.[9] After the Acts of Union 1707, the flag gained a regularised status as "the ensign armorial of the Kingdom of Great Britain", the newly created state. It was then adopted by land forces as well, although the blue field used on land-based versions more closely resembled that of the blue of the flag of Scotland. A thin white stripe, or fimbriation, separates the red cross from the blue field, in accordance with heraldry's rule of tincture where colours (like red and blue) must be separated from each other by metals (like white, i.e. argent or silver). The blazon for the old union flag, to be compared with the current flag, is Azure, the Cross Saltire of St Andrew Argent surmounted by the Cross of St George Gules, fimbriated of the second. The Kingdom of Ireland, which had existed as a personal union with England since 1541, was likewise unrepresented in the original versions of the Union Jack.[18] However, the flag of The Protectorate from 1658 to 1660 was inescutcheoned with the arms of Ireland. These were removed after the Restoration, supposedly because Charles II disliked them. The original flag appears in the canton of the Commissioners' Ensign of the Northern Lighthouse Board. This is the only contemporary official representation of the pre-1801 Union Jack in the United Kingdom[19] and can be seen flying from their George Street headquarters in Edinburgh. This version of the Union Jack is also shown in the canton of the Grand Union Flag (also known as the Congress flag, the First Navy Ensign, the Cambridge Flag, and the Continental Colours), the first widely used flag of the United States, slowly phased out after 1777. Other proposed versions Various other designs for a common flag were drawn up following the union of the two Crowns in 1603, but were rarely, if ever, used.[22] One version showed St George's cross with St Andrew's cross in the canton, and another version placed the two crosses side by side. Scottish Union Flag On land, evidence suggesting use of this flag appears in the depiction of Edinburgh Castle by John Slezer, in his series of engravings entitled Theatrum Scotiae, c. 1693. Appearing in later editions of Theatrum Scotiae, the North East View of Edinburgh Castle engraving depicts the Scotch (to use the appropriate adjective of that period) version of the Union Flag flying from the Castle Clock Tower.[29] However, it is not shown on the North Prospect of the City of Edenburgh engraving.[30] A manuscript compiled in 1785 by William Fox and in possession of the Flag Research Center includes a full plate showing "the scoth [sic] union" flag. This could imply that there was still some insistence on a Scottish variant after the addition of the cross of St. Patrick to the Union Jack.[26] Since 1801 Flag of Scotland.svg St Andrew's Cross 16th c. (Scotland) Flag of England.svg St George's Cross 16th c. (England) Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg King's Colours, or Great Union Flag, of 1606 1707 (Great Britain) St Patrick's saltire.svg St Patrick's Cross Unknown origin (Ireland) Flag of the United Kingdom (3-5).svg Union Flag of 1801 1801 (United Kingdom) Evolution of the Union Jack. The current flag's design, in use since 1801, is blazoned Azure, the Crosses Saltire of St Andrew and St Patrick, quarterly per saltire, counterchanged Argent and Gules, the latter fimbriated of the second, surmounted by the Cross of St George of the third, fimbriated as the saltire. Flag speculation after Irish Independence However, the fact that it was likely that Northern Ireland would choose not to remain part of the Irish Free State after its foundation and remain in the United Kingdom, gave better grounds for keeping the cross of St. Patrick in the Union Jack. In this regard, Sir James Craig, the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland remarked in December 1921 that he and his government were "glad to think that our decision [to opt back into the United Kingdom] will obviate the necessity of mutilating the Union Jack."[35] Though remaining within the United Kingdom, the new Northern Irish government dispensed with the St Patrick's Saltire in favour of a new flag derived from the coat-of-arm of the Burkes, Earls of Ulster, and quite similar to England's St George's Cross. This state-sanctioned flag was abolished in 1973 with the reintroduction of direct-rule from London over Northern Ireland. Ultimately, when the British Home Secretary was asked on 7 December 1922 (the day after the Irish Free State was established) whether the Garter King-of-Arms was to issue any regulations with reference to the Union Jack, the response was no and the flag has never been changed.[36] A Dáil question in 1961 mooted raising the removal of the cross of St Patrick with the British government; Frank Aiken, the Irish Minister for External Affairs declined to "waste time on heraldic disputations".[37] Campaigns for a new Union Flag In 2003, a private individual started a campaign – dubbed "reflag" or "Union Black" – to interpret the Union Flag in a racial context, and introduce black stripes in it. The proposal was denounced by MSP Phil Gallie as "ridiculous tokenism [that] would do nothing to stamp out racism".[38] The campaign received little support from any quarter and is now defunct. Since there is no uniquely Welsh element in the Union Jack, Wrexham's Labour MP Ian Lucas proposed on 27 November 2007 in a House of Commons debate that the Union Flag be combined with the Welsh flag to reflect Wales's status within the UK, and that the Red Dragon be added to the Union Flag's red, white, and blue pattern.[39] He said the Union Jack currently only represented the other three UK nations, and Minister for Culture, Creative Industries and Tourism Margaret Hodge conceded that Mr. Lucas had raised a valid point for debate. She said "the Government is keen to make the Union Jack a positive symbol of Britishness reflecting the diversity of our country today and encouraging people to take pride in our flag". This development sparked design contests with entries from all over the world; some of the entries incorporated red dragons and even anime characters and leeks.[40][41] The historical reason for no Welsh symbol in the flag is that the principality of Wales was already a part of the Kingdom of England when the flag was created in 1606. The Union Jack is used as a jack by commissioned warships and submarines of the Royal Navy, such as HMS Victory, and by commissioned Army and Royal Air Force vessels. When at anchor or alongside, it is flown from the jackstaff at the bow of the ship. When a ship is underway, the Union Jack is only flown from the jackstaff when the ship is dressed for a special occasion, such as the Queen's official birthday. The Union Jack is worn at the masthead of a ship to indicate the presence of the Sovereign or an Admiral of the Fleet.[42] It is also worn at the masthead of Her Majesty's Canadian ships within Canadian territorial waters on certain days of the year, such as the Queen's official birthday and Commonwealth Day.[43] The Union Flag may also be flown from the yardarm to indicate that a court-martial is in progress, though these are now normally held at shore establishments. No law has been passed making the Union Jack the national flag of the United Kingdom: it has become one through precedent. Its first recorded recognition as a national flag came in 1908, when it was stated in Parliament that "the Union Jack should be regarded as the National flag". A more categorical statement was made by the Home Secretary, Sir John Gilmour, in 1933 when he stated that "the Union Jack is the National Flag."[44] But it is still officially a flag of the monarch, rather than the Union.[13][unreliable source?] Civilian use is permitted on land, but non-naval/military use at sea is prohibited. Unauthorised use of the flag in the 17th Century to avoid paying harbour duties – a privilege restricted to naval ships – caused James' successor, Charles I, to order that use of the flag on naval vessels be restricted to His Majesty's ships "upon pain of Our high displeasure." It remains a criminal offence under the Merchant Shipping (Registration, etc.) Act 1993 to display the Union Flag (other than the "Pilot Jack" – see below) from a British ship. Naval ships will fly the white ensign, merchant and private boats can fly the red ensign, others with special permission such as naval yacht clubs can fly the blue ensign. All of the coloured ensigns contain the union flag as part of the design. The Union Jack has been in use in Canada dating back to the Scottish settlement in Nova Scotia in 1621.[46] At the close of the Great Canadian Flag Debate of 1964, which resulted in the adoption of the Maple Leaf Flag as Canada's national flag in 1965, the Parliament of Canada voted to make the Union Flag the symbol of Canada's membership of the Commonwealth and its allegiance to the crown. The move was a concession given to conservatives who preferred to keep the old flag, with its Union Flag in the canton. The Royal Union Flag (as it is now known in Canada) is flown alongside the Maple-Leaf Flag on Commonwealth Day and other royal occasions and anniversaries.[46] The Union Flag was also the official flag of the Dominion of Newfoundland (1931–1949) and continued after Newfoundland became a Canadian province (now Newfoundland and Labrador) until 1980. Other ratios Proportions: 3:5 Use in other flags Other nations and regions Four former British colonies in Oceania which are now independent countries incorporate the Union Jack as part of their national flags: Australia, New Zealand, Tuvalu and Fiji, the last of which is no longer a Commonwealth realm. In former British colonies, the Union Jack was used semi-interchangeably with territorial flags for significant parts of their early history. This was the case in Canada until the introduction of the Maple Leaf Flag in 1965, but it is still used in the flags of a number of Canadian provinces such as British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario. Newfoundland and Labrador uses a modified version of the Union Flag, once the flag of the province. Canadian practice allows the flag, known in Canada as the Royal Union Flag, to be flown by private individuals and government agencies to show support for the Monarch and the Commonwealth. On some official occasions, the flag is always flown besides the Maple Leaf Flag, one such occasion is on the anniversary of the Statute of Westminster. Many Australian flags retain the use of the Union Jack, including the Royal Australian Navy Ensign (also known as the Australian White Ensign), the Royal Australian Air Force Ensign, the Australian Red Ensign (for use by merchant and private vessels) and the Australian Civil Aviation Ensign. The flags of all six Australian States retain the Union Jack in the canton, as do some regional flags such as the Upper and Lower Murray River Flags. The Vice-Regal flags of the State Governors also retain the use of the Union Jack. Also in the United States, the Union Flag of 1606 is incorporated into the flag of Baton Rouge, the capital city of Louisiana. Baton Rouge was a British colony from the time of the Seven Years' War until the end of the American Revolutionary War, when it was captured by Spanish and American forces. Symbols from the colonial powers France and Spain are also incorporated into the Baton Rouge flag. Taunton, Massachusetts, USA, has in recent years used a flag with the old style Union Flag. The flag of Pensacola, Florida, the "City of Five Flags", incorporates the five flags that flew over the city in its history, of which the old style Union Flag was one, the others being the old flags of France and Spain, the Confederacy and the USA. Likewise, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, has been known to fly a flag containing the King's Colours since 1973.[52] Main article: British ensigns The Union Flag can be found in the canton of several of the ensigns flown by vessels and aircraft of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. These are used in cases where it is illegal to fly the Union Flag, such as at sea from a ship other than a British warship. Normal practice for UK ships is to fly the White ensign (Royal Navy) or the Red ensign (Merchant and private boats). Similar ensigns are used by other countries (such as New Zealand and Australia) with the Union Flag in the canton. Other countries (such as India and Jamaica) follow similar ensign etiquette as the UK, replacing the Union Flag with their own national flag. Pilot or Civil Jack Flag days United Kingdom In July 2007, the British prime minister at the time, Gordon Brown, unveiled plans to have the Union Flag flown more often from government buildings.[54] While consultation on new guidelines is under way, the decision to fly the flag may be made by each government department.[old info] In Canada, the Royal Union Flag is flown from federal buildings, airports, warships, military bases, and other government buildings on the following days: The flag is only flown in addition to the Canadian national flag, where physical arrangements allow (e.g., when there is more than one flag pole). Usage and disposal In general, there are no prescriptions regarding the use and disposal of the flag in a manner akin to the United States Flag Code. This reflects its largely unofficial status as a national flag. There is no contemporary national concept of flag desecration. There is also no specific way in which the Union Flag should be folded as there is with the United States Flag. It should simply be folded ready for the next use.[59] Other names • In Canada the flag is officially called the Royal Union Flag. • In Hong Kong, the flag has the nickname Rice-Character Flag (米字旗; Cantonese Jyutping: mai5zi6kei4) in Chinese, since the pattern looks like the Chinese character for "rice" (米).[60] • The Butcher's Apron is a pejorative term for the flag, common among Irish republicans, referring to atrocities committed in Ireland and other countries under British colonial rule.[61][62] In 2006, Sandra White, a Member of the Scottish Parliament, caused a furore when the term was used in a press release under her name. It was later blamed on the actions of a researcher, who resigned yet claimed that the comment had been approved by White.[63] Fashion and other uses Commonly the Union Flag is used on computer software and Internet pages as an icon representing a choice of the English language where a choice among multiple languages may be presented to the user. The flag has been embroidered on various Reebok equipment as a mark of the brand's British origin,[65] and the Reebok Union Jack has been referred to as a brand icon.[66] Many music artists have used the Union flag ranging from rock artists The Who, Freddie Mercury, Morrissey, Oasis, Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, to the pop girl group the Spice Girls. The Union Flag in use Ensigns and other examples Union Flag variants 1606–1801 UK of GB & NI) Union Flag variants 1606–1801. See also Further reading External links External images cthonus Accessed 2009-12-30. Two Thumbs. Accessed 2009-12-30. boongiepam. Accessed 2009-12-16. By dr.nic. Accessed 2009-12-31. tim ellis. Accessed 2009-12-30. leegibb13. Accessed 2009-12-16. • Flags of the World • Monochrome Union Flag not flown to avoid controversy • British flags during external link • British Monarchy — Union Flag • BBC page for 400th anniversary of flag • How to draw the Union Jack • Union Jack Flag Infographic • History of the Union Jack video de:Union Jack eo:Union Jack id:Union Jack ms:Union Jack nl:Union Jack no:Union Jack ro:Union Jack ru:Union Jack fi:Union Jack sv:Unionsflagga (Storbritannien)
All My Sons Quiz \| Eight Week Quiz G Buy the All My Sons Lesson Plans Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________ Multiple Choice Questions 1. What is the significance of George's hat? (a) It is Steve's (b) It hides his eyes (c) He is balding (d) He bought it during the war 2. Who informed Steve Deever that the cylinder heads were cracked? (a) The night foreman (b) His assistant manager (c) Joe Keller (d) One of his part-time employees 3. Where is Ann at the beginning of Act 3? (a) Wandering the neighborhood (b) In the backyard (c) In her room (d) In the kitchen 4. Why could Larry not have been killed by a faulty part from Joe Keller's factory? (a) He was not a pilot (b) He never flew in a P-40 (c) He didn't fight in the Pacific (d) He died before the shipment of bad parts went out 5. How long has Joe put into the company? (a) Fifty years (b) Forty years (c) Fifteen years (d) Twenty years Short Answer Questions 1. How far ahead of the draft was Frank Lubey? 2. What skill did Steve Deever never learn in all the time Joe knew him? 3. What happens to big men who make mistakes, according to Joe? 4. How long ago did Chris return from the war? 5. Where does Joe Keller indicate he intends to go? (see the answer key) This section contains 228 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) Buy the All My Sons Lesson Plans Follow Us on Facebook
Stigma against mental illness Stigma against mental illness The Evolution of the Stigma Against Mental Illness My mind is sick. My thoughts need a transfusion and my dreams need open surgery. Try and tell me that the cure is to think positive thoughts and take deep breaths.Try to tell a leukemia patient that they are not trying hard enough and see how quickly your PhD becomes the laughing stock of your colleagues and her family files a multi-million dollar lawsuit against you for malpractice after her quick and painful death because positive thinking did not solve the rapid mitosis in her blood cells. If I die with a rope around my neck and oxycodone screaming throughout my veins, my family will ask why you did not cure me and you will say that I did not try to survive, that you can only encourage me, but ultimately it was my decision to die. So I ask you today, why do you say I am mentally ill if you do not treat my condition like an illness? Why not just tell me now that it is my choice? Let me write my will before I begin to try less and less, before I give up and choose to go to a death that I voluntarily came to you to prevent. The anecdote above depicts the frustration of the mentally ill with the stigma against their disorder and the ideology that it is their own fault. It describes the condition of a group of people continuously told that their ailment is inferior to that of a person with a physical disability and discusses the situation of these oppressed to people ignorant of the plight of the mentally impaired. When thinking of the stigma associated with individuals whose minds are “sick”, these individuals are seen as different from the norm. Stigma is defined as “an attempt to label a particular group of people as less worthy of respect than others.” Stigma against the mentally ill is not just a contemporary issue, it has been seen in the various civilizations around the world. Ancient Greece, one of the oldest societies known to mankind, has shown a multitude of signs of having stigma against... Similar Essays
A brief history of the IWPS What is the IWPS? It began in 1958 in the Compasses Inn, Holborn, London, with a somewhat radical agenda. Powerful minds in the Inland Waterways Association had clashed. A splinter group, containing two leading personalities, Bessie Bunker and L.A. "Teddy" Edwards, stopped for a drink. Many IWPS members have since wished they could have been a fly on the wall! Eitherway, another national society, dedicated to the preservation and development of the inland waterways of Great Britain, was born. Amongst early members were the writers L du Garde Peach and J.B. Priestley; while the engineering fraternity and other professions were well represented. Bessie, however, led from the front. She became famous for taking an uncompromising stance against any issue that crossed her path. "The Margaret Thatcher of waterways restoration", applied to her posthumously by one writer, was a nickname she would have loved. So what was the difference between the IWA and the IWPS; the former then only recently founded in 1946? With only an incomplete archive available some have speculated that problems arose over the exact balance between "preservation and development". Bessie, in single-minded style, always demanded a full national programme of waterways modernization. Major cities should be joined by waterways, equal in quality to the highest international standards. Bulk transportation of goods would thus be removed from the roads. Peaceful countryside apart, what then would have happened to classic and existing features, such as James Brindley's Bratch or the Oxford Canal, beloved of Aikman and Rolt? From the very beginning, Bessie, together with husband Percy John Bunker, and a loyal band of supporters, made engineering surveys of many canals. Initial campaigns targeted the Ernest Marples Transport Bill of 1963: "set to destroy the English canal system," as Bessie once said. Working in parallel, but still at variance with the IWA, an IWPS contribution helped to save parts of the Birmingham Canal Navigations; the Peak Forest, the Southern Stratford, and the Chesterfield canals. First, and even before the IWA became involved, the IWPS publicized the need to modernize the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation. Unfortunately, by the time such works took place, those heavy industries, which would have benefitted most from reduced transport costs, had all but disappeared. Sometime around 1958, the society found Bugsworth Basin, and ten years later (September 1968) received permission to begin restoration. This became Bessie's last work. In failing health, and supported by "PJB" as Honorary Site Manager, she came to the Basin almost every weekend for the remaining six years of her life. Meanwhile, inspired by her example, and using only the most basic equipment, IWPS volunteers had cleared the channel as far as the Middle Basin by 1972. Conflicts then arose, however, when it became clear that the IWPS leadership saw the future of the site as a hireboat marina. Following Bessie's death in 1974, project direction was transferred to Ian Edgar. Restoration resumed with an involvement of mechanical plant wherever possible. As such, Ian became a past master at making appeals for assistance from the commercial world; be it advice from the construction industry, or other help in kind. At the same time, too, historical information, such as maps, old photographs, and the personal reminiscences of elderly residents, combined to realize the historical significance of Bugsworth Basin: the largest and most important canal-tramway interchange port ever constructed on the narrow canal system. Ancient monument status followed in 1977. Politics aside, physical difficulties with the project occurred throughout the clearance process. Serious leaks regularly developed in the Entrance Canal and Entrance Basin. Bypass construction, adjacent to IWPS works, resulted in a large bank slippage, and permanent changes in the water table, which somehow exacerbated the leaks. In the meantime, volunteers continued restoring the fabric of the Basin: rebuilding wharves, collecting stone from elsewhere, and excavating all associated arms and boat-loading basins. Manpower Services Commission Community Task Force participation, and later related projects for the unemployed, were given the responsibility of reconstructing three bridges and the stonework of four tippler piers. Site clearance by the same personnel, and also by contractors employed under a Derelict Land Grant, resulted in the exposure of tramway trackbeds. Other contractors repaired a river wall, rebuilt part of a collapsed limekiln, and made good the effects of land subsidence near the terminus of the canal. Work continues (January 1998) under an English Partnership Grant to make the Entrance Canal watertight, and thus permit the entry of boats. Similarly, designs commissioned through the Local Authorities should result in toilet and refuse disposal facilities, and the development of an interpreted visitor trail. At all times, too, British Waterways, English Heritage, and the local authorities, whether at borough or county level, continue to give their fullest support: the ultimate aim being a museum to the limestone extractive industry, set within a conservation area based on Bugsworth Basin. As lessees of the site for fifty years, the IWPS retains its position as controller of the restoration, and likewise raises a team of volunteers for care and maintenance works. What then the plans of Bessie Bunker? By a curious twist of fate, the small scheme for the boatyard, which no doubt she saw as a side issue to her great national schemes, grew into the major endeavour of the IWPS. What then of the break with the IWA? In the fullness of time, the two organizations realized they still had much in common, culminating in re-affiliation in 1995. A "sharing" of volunteers, notably via the IWA Waterway Recovery Group, had cemented many friendships. Most importantly, the IWPS had benefitted for several years from favourable insurance rates, negotiated on behalf of British canal societies by the IWA. What would Bessie have made of it all? As one who knew her for the last five years of her life, I think she would have approved. The other side of her complex personality wrote learned studies of Anglian cruck buildings, and the history of her own Yorkshire region. Confronted with a wealth of similar material on Bugsworth Basin in the years after her death, we can be sure she would have given the new-style project her blessing. Martin Whalley, January 1998
Federal Internet Law & Policy An Educational Project Telegraph / Western Union Dont be a FOOL; The Law is Not DIY - Telephone - - AT&T History - - - Antitrust - - - Industry : AT&T - - CPE Carterfone - - ILECs - - BOCs - Universal Service - Timeline - Telegraph - Internet - - Computer Inquiries - - Info Services - Common Carrier - Telecom - VoIP - Comm Act 34 - Telecom Act 96 - FCC Chairs & Commissioners - Timeline - Internet History - - Prelude 1950-66 - - - Paul Baran - - ARPANET 1967-69 - - ARPANET 1970s - - - TCP/IP - - 1980s - - - NSFNET - - 1990s - - - CIX - - DNS - - World Wide Web - - Email - - VoIP - - Backbone - - Internet2 - - Reference - AT&T - Telephone - Telegraph - Wireless / Radio - Common Carrier - Mergers - - Communications Act - - Telecom Act - - Hush a Phone - - Computer Inquiries - - Universal Service "Throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century the telegraph became one of the most important factors in the development of social and commercial life of America." - Smithsonian (reflecting the importance of common carriers). The term "Telegraph" is derived from the greek "tele" which means far and "graphein" which means to write. [Telegraph and Beyond] [Standage 9] Optical Telegraph Source: Wikipedia 1791: Mar. 2: Claude Chappe demonstrates optical telegraph in Brulon France over a distance of 10 miles with message "If you succeed, you will bask in glory." [Standage 9] [Decker] 1793: July 12: Optical Telegraph network, sending a message between three towers, demonstrated 1794: Claude Chappe builds semaphore optical 'telegraph' system throughout France. Stations are located ~10 miles apart; signaling arms are used to to send signals visually to the next station. Network operated by government. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Decker] [Standage13] 1795: Britian initiates construction of optical telegraph service. 1799: Napoleon orders expansion of teleg raph network to support his military endeavors 1826 - 31: Optical telegraph lines operated in Europe, and in a few locations in the United States: New England, Philadelphia, and San Francisco [Starr p 157][Wired Prof] [Standage16] "In less than 50 years time the French built a national infrastructure with more than 530 towers and a total length of almost 5,000 kilometres. " [Decker] Electronic Telegraph 1837: Electronic Telegraph invented 1838: Morse files patent application 1848: Morse receives patent for telegraph 1832: Samuel FB Morse conceives of idea of electromagnetic telegraph. [Smithsonian][Starr p 158] "Samuel F. B. Morse , [Portrait to Morse] while a professor of arts and design at New York University in 1835, proved that signals could be transmitted by wire. He used pulses of current to deflect an electromagnet, which moved a marker to produce written codes on a strip of paper -the invention of Morse Code. The following year, the device was modified to emboss the paper with dots and dashes. 1838: Morse forms a company around his telegraph invention with Alfred Vail and Leonard Gale. [Smithsonian][Starr p 160] "He gave a public demonstration in 1838, but it was not until five years later that Congress -- reflecting public apathy -- funded $30,000 to construct an experimental telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore, a distance of 40 miles." Morse origianlly attempted to construct the lines underground using Ezra Cornell's trench digger invention. This proved unsuccessful, therefore Morse switched to installing telegraph poles. [Smithsonian] [Starr p 157] William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone initiate commercial electric telegraph service in England. [White] "Members of Congress witnessed the sending and receiving of messages over part of the telegraph line between two committee rooms. Congress appropriates $30,000 for Morse to build a telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Standage 46] Source: Library of Congress (large resolution) "The message, "What hath God wrought?" sent later by "Morse Code" from the old Supreme Court chamber in the United States Capitol to his partner in Baltimore, officially opened the completed line of May 24, 1844.[SI] [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] Morse's second transmission that day was "Have you any news?" [Hochfelder 310] "Three days later the Democratic National Convention was held in Baltimore. Van Buren seemed the likely choice, but his opponent, James K. Polk, won the nomination. This news was telegraphed to Washington, but skeptics refused to believe it. Only after persons arrived by train from Baltimore to confirm the reports were many convinced of the telegraph's value. 1851 - 51 telegraph companies [Alven] "Samuel Morse and his associates obtained private funds to extend their line to Philadelphia and New York. Small telegraph companies, meanwhile began functioning in the East, South, and Midwest. 1845: Morse and his partners form the Magnetic Telegraph Company. [Smithsonian][Standage 53] 1846: The Magnetic Telegraph Company constructs the first commercial telegraph line between Washington D.C. and New York City. [Smithsonian] Much of the telegraph lines are constructed along railway ROW. There is a strong symbiotic relationship. The telegraph operators gain access of long rights of way, that connect major population centers. The railroads gain use of the communications network, helping them coordinate train traffic and take advantage of single track lines - instead of two tracks, one for each direction - saving in capital costs. As a result, telegraph companies indirectly benefited from the land grants that the federal government gave to the railroads. Royal E House patented his printing telegraph, creating one of several rival telegraph technologies. [Image of House Telegraph]. The House Telegraph rights were held by Judge Samuel Selden. [Smithsonian] At some point Morse attempted to sell his patent to the USG for $100,000 (AT&T will try to do the same, offering to sell their patents to Western Union, because AT&T lacked capital to advance its inventions). Government Ownership of Electrical Means of Communication, S. DOC. NO. 399, 63d Cong., 2d Sess. 19 (1914). 1849: Selden and Hiram Sibley established the New York State Printing Telegraph Company. [Smithsonian] 1850 "Period of Wasteful Competition" [Hochfelder 310] Judge Samuel Selden and Hiram Sibley formed the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company (NY&MI) (aka Western Union) with the goal of acquiring and uniting otherwise non-interconnected rival telegraph companies. (See AT&T Vail and Universal Service). Sibley proceeded to acquire companies westard. [Smithsonian] Western Union would become the first nationwide monopoly. Over 50 telegraph companies in business. [Smithsnian] Dispatching trains by telegraph started O’Reilly v. Morse, 56 U.S. 62 (1852); see also Smith v. Downing, 22 F. Cas. 511, 513 (C.C.D. Mass. 1850) (No. 13,036). 1853: Electronic telegraph disrupted optical telegraph service. [Decker "The optical telegraph disappeared as fast as it came. This happened with the arrival of the electrical telegraph, fifty years later. The last optical line in France was stopped in 1853, in Sweden the technology was used up to 1880. The electrical telegraph was not hindered by mist, wind, heavy rainfall or low hanging clouds, and it could also be used at night."] 1856: NY&MI becomes Western Union. [Smithsonian] [Brooks p 62] 1860: The Pacific Telegraph Act is enacted authorizing the construction of a transcontinental telegraph. Western Union wins the contract. [Smithsonian] "Western Union built its first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861, mainly along railroad rights-of-way." Western Union becomes the United States first truly nationwide company. [Porticus] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treasury, under the direction of the President of the United States, is hereby authorized and directed to advertise for sealed proposals, to be received for sixty days after the passage of this act, (and the fulfillment of which shall be guaranteed by responsible parties, as in the case of bids for mail contracts,) for the use by the government of a line or lines of magnetic telegraph, to be constructed within two years from the thirty-first day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty, from some point or points on the west line of the State of Missouri, by any route or routes which the said contractors may select, (connecting at such point or points by telegraph with the cities of Washington, New Orleans, New York, Charleston, Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities in the Atlantic, Southern, and Western States, to the city of San Francisco, in the State of California, for a period of ten years, and shall award the contract to the lowest responsible bidder or bidders, provided such proffer does not require a larger amount per year from the United States than forty thousand dollars ; and permission is hereby granted to the said parties to whom said contract may be awarded, or a majority of them, and their assigns, to use until the end of said term, such unoccupied public lands of the United States as may be necessary for the right of way and for the purpose of establishing stations for repairs along said line, not exceeding at any station one-quarter section of land, such stations not to exceed one in fifteen miles on an average of the whole distance, unless said lands shall be required by the government of the United States for railroad or other purposes, and provided that no right to preempt any of said lands under the laws of the United States shall inure to said company, their agents or servants, or to any other person or persons whatsoever : Provided , That no such contract shall be made until the said line shall be in actual operation, and payments thereunder shall cease whenever the contractors fail to comply with their contract ; that the government shall at all times be entitled to priority in the use of the line or lines, and shall have the privilege, when authorized by law, of connecting said line or lines by telegraph with any military posts of the United States, and to use the same for government purposes : And provided , also, That said line or lines, except such as may be constructed by the government to connect said line or lines with the military posts of the United States, shall be open to the use of all citizens of the United States during the term of said contract, on payment of the regular charges for transmission of dispatches : And provided , also, That such charges shall not exceed three dollars for a single dispatch of ten words, with the usual proportionate reductions upon dispatches of greater length, provided that nothing herein contained shall confer upon the said parties any exclusive right to construct a telegraph to the Pacific., or debar the government of the United States from granting from time to time, similar franchises and privileges to other parties. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the said contractors, or their assigns, shall have the right to construct and maintain, through any of the territories of the United States, a branch line, so as to connect their said line or lines with Oregon ; and that they shall have the permanent right of way for said line or lines, under, or over, any unappropriated public lands and waters in the said territories, by any route or routes which the said contractors may select, with the free use during the said term of such lands as may be necessary for the purpose of establishing stations for repairs along said line or lines, not exceeding, at any station, one quarter-section of land, such stations not to exceed one in fifteen miles or an average of the whole distance ; but should any of said quarter-sections be deemed essential by the government, or any company acting under its authority, for railroad purposes, the said contractors shall relinquish the occupancy of so much as may be necessary for the railroad, receiving an equal amount of land for like use in its stead. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted , That if, in any year during the continuance of the said contract, the business done for the government, as hereinbefore mentioned, by such contractors or their assigns, shall, at the ordinary rate of charges for private messages, exceed the price contracted to be paid as aforesaid, the Secretary of the Treasury shall, upon said accounts being duly authenticated, certify the amount of such excess to Congress : Provided , That the use of the line be given, at any time, free of cost, to the Coast Survey, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Observatory, for scientific purposes : And Provided further , That messages received from any individual, company, or corporation, or from any telegraph lines connecting with this line at either of its termini, shall be impartially transmitted in the order of their reception, excepting that the dispatches of the government shall have priority : And provided further , That Congress shall at any time have the right to alter or amend this act. Approved, June 16, 1860. 36 Cong., 1 Sess., Chapter 137. Source: NPS Civil War "During the Civil War, Western Union's lines were primarily in the North. Carriers with lines in the South experienced substantial damage as a result of the war. Carriers with lines in both the North and the South saw their assets and their business split into two. During the war, the military constructed 15,000 miles of telegraph line - that was later ceded to Western Union as compensation for damages; Western Union experienced substantial profits as a result of wartime business. When the war stopped and demand for telegraph decreased sharply, smaller carriers went out of business. "After the Civil War, the three major telegraph companies were Western Union, American Telegraph and United States Telegraph. Through a series of stock swaps, Western Union acquired both of the other companies and established itself as a monopoly. See The Civil War Military Telegraph Service US Senate: Art & History Home: History Minutes > 1851-1877 > Telegraph 1866 "Telegraph" The Vatican fresco artist Constantino Brumidi came to the United States from Italy in 1852 looking for work. Brumidi had the good fortune of arriving in Washington just as the superintendent of the project to construct new wings for the Capitol was looking for skilled artists. From the mid 1850s until his death twenty-five years later, he earned the title "Michelangelo of the Capitol." His great contribution was to integrate American themes into the classical style of the Italian Renaissance. Some of Brumidi's best work exists in the second-floor room now named in honor of former Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson Brumidi took particular interest in that prime space, intended to serve as the Senate Library. To emphasize the theme of learning, he designed four semi-circular lunettes in the ceiling to represent major fields of knowledge-History, Geography, Philosophy, and-recognizing that era's technological expansion in the production of newspapers and journals-the field he called Print. He completed the first painting, Geography, in 1858. A year later, as the Senate moved into its newly completed chamber, members decided that they needed a conveniently located post office more than a library. As workmen installed individual mail boxes for each of the Senate's sixty-six members, Brumidi shifted his attention to other assignments. In 1866, with the war over, the artist returned to complete the room's decoration, including the remaining three ceiling lunettes. Originally, he had planned to decorate one of those spaces to honor the medium of Print. But the shift in the room's function from a library to a post office, along with the excitement surrounding the successful laying of a trans-Atlantic telegraph cable that year, changed the theme to Telegraph. (In this same spirit of scientific innovation, he also changed the Philosophy panel to Physics.) Intensely proud of his new country, the artist took a bit of patriotic license. Although the telegraph cable was laid from Europe to America -from Ireland to Newfoundland -he reversed the direction. At the center of the fresco appears a nymph, who is handing the telegraph wire to the allegorical figure for Europe on the left. With a grateful countenance, Europa looks up to a strong America surrounded by images that suggest the nation's natural abundance and its military might. In the year 1866, however, that image of America 's strength as a world power lay mostly within the colorful imagination of Constantino Brumidi 1870s - telegraph faces new competition - telephone. Until the turn of the century, however, telephone service struggled to provide long distance service. 1990s Western Union carried more than 90% domestic telegraph traffic. [Brands p 2] Associated Press Western Union was establishing its monopoly for telegraph; Associated Press was establishing its monopoly for news. In 1867 the two came to an agreement which strengthened their respective holds on their markets. Reformers would try to break the monopolistic hold of both companies for decades. A repeated argument was that the telegraph service should rightfully be made a part of the US Postal Service. [Ars Technica] [Hochfelder 310] According to Hochfelder, "Although reformers failed to reach their ultimate goal, the end of Western Union's monopoly over telegraphic communications, they achieved some lasting success. By calling for increased government involvement in economic affairs and in securing citizen's access to communications networks, they constructed an important part of Progressive economic thought. By the 1890s, their efforts helped to establish regulation as an acceptable middle ground between state ownership of a networked technology and its operation by untrammeled private capitalists. [Hochfelder 312] 1869: Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph Company enters into agreement with the Union and Central Pacific Railroad Companies to lease the railroad's telegraph poles to the telegraph company in exchange for stock in the telegraph company. [NYT April 5, 1880] The Telegraph Wars (Jay Gould) 1871: JB Stearns invents duplex telegraph, receives $250,000 from Western Union. [Coon 20] 1878: Western Union attempts to set up, with Elisha Gray, a rival telephone service to Bell Telephone. In 1879 the two companies settled their patent litigation out of court, with Western Union agreeing to stay out of the telephone business, and Bell Telephone agreeing to stay out of the telegraph business. See AT&T v Western Union. 1879: WU settles with Bell in order to focus on the attack from Gould. 1894: Western Union acquires The American Rapid Telegraph Company. [Smithsonian] Western Union Tel. Co. v. Call Publishing Co., 181 U.S. 92, 99-104 (1901) ("the Supreme Court ruled that telegraph companies had a duty – arising out of the common law – to serve all customers in a nondiscriminatory manner as a common carrier") Group of Western Union Messengers in Norfolk, Va. Lewis Wickes Hine, photographer, June 1911. National Child Labor Committee Collection. Prints & Photographs Division. "The original Morse telegraph printed code on tape. However, in the United States the operation developed into sending by key and receiving by ear. A trained Morse operator could transmit 40 to 50 words per minute. Automatic transmission, introduced in 1914, handled more than twice that number. "In a 1918 Joint Resolution, Congress authorized the President to assume control of any telegraph system in the United States and operate it as needed for the duration of World War I." [2009 Review] Western Union Teleprinter machines came into use about 1925. Varioplex, introduced in 1936, enabled a single wire to carry 72 transmissions at the same time (36 in each direction). Two years later Western Union introduced the first of its automatic facsimile devices. 1917: Jan. 19th: Zimmerman Telegram. Telegram between Foreign Secretary for the German Empire Arthur Zimmerman and German Ambassador to Mexico Heinrich von Eckardts proposing an alliance between Germany and Mexico if the USA were to enter WWI. Mexico would be given Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. 1945: Western Union merges with Postal Telegraph Company. [Smithsonian] 1959: Western Union inaugurated TELEX, which enables subscribers to the teleprinter service to dial each other directly. 1966: Western Union and Computer Inquiries In 1966, Western Union was offering a data processing service [U.Penn.L.R. 343 1969 (citing Western Union Telegraph Co. Prospectus, December 5, 1966, at 5, 6, 8-9)] [Irwin 1301 1967 ("Western Union already provides customized business information systems; it has established data processing service centers and computerized its switch- ing net. In the near future, besides its present job-finding services, the company will offer computerized credit and securities ratings, library bibliographies, and medical data.")] 2006: Last Telegram sent. 1851: Telegraph cable laid across the English Channel [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Alexander at 1] 1853: "USS Dolphin conducts soundings along the 1600-mile route between New Foundland and Ireland, discovering that a smooth plateau (soon dubbed the 'telegraph plateau') stretches across almost all of the distance." [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Alexander at 2] 1854: Cyrus Field, persuaded by the potential of a transatlantic cable, begins to pursue the project. The New York, New Foundland, and London Telegraph Company is formed. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Alexander at 1] 1855: August 7 attempt to lay transatlantic cable fails. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] 1856: Cable is laid between New York and New Foundland. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] March 3 Pres. Franklin Pierce signs Atlantic Cable Act, supporting transatlantic cable. August 5: The USS Niagara and the HMS Agamemnon begin attempt to install of the first transatlantic cable. "With capital obtained from private subscriptions in New York and London and, in part, appropriated by the British and United States governments, an attempt was made in 1857 to lay a cable under the Atlantic Ocean. The cable broke after 355 miles has been laid by a ship operating from Ireland." The cable could not be recovered and the effort was abandoned. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Alexander at 5] The cable consisted of seven copper wires, insulated with gutta-percha latex, wound with hemp, and then protected with a sheath of iron wire. The cable, too heavy to be carried by one ship, had to be cut in two, placed on two boats, and then spliced together at sea. As a massive spool of wound copper wire, the cable also disturbed the magnetic field around the ships, messing up their navigation; this problem was solved by having guide ships lead the cable ships. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Duncan Geere, How the First Cable was Laid Across the Atlantic, Wired 2011] [Alexander at 3] June 10th: The ships again attempt to lay the cable, this time meeting in the middle of the Atlantic. The attempt failed three times, before, on June 29th, the attempt was abandoned and the ships returned to Queenstown. [Alexander at 5] July 29: USS Niagara and HMS Agamemnon begin again their attempt to lay the transatalantic cable. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Alexander at 5] Aug. 4: USS Niagara reaches Newfoundland; next day HMS Agamemnon reaches Valentia Bay. The first transatlantic cable has been laid. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Alexander at 5] [Standage 80] Aug. 16: First telegraph message sent across the Atlantic: by the New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company. Queen Victoria responded with typical utopian sentiments that are met with any new communications era: stating that he hoped the cable would establish "an additional link between the nations whose friendship is founded on their common interest and reciprocal esteem." President Buchanan stated, "it is a triumph more glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by conqueror on the field of battle. May the Atlantic telegraph, under the blessing of heaven, prove to be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship between the kindred nations, and an instrument destined by Divine Providence to diffuse religion, civilization, liberty, and law throughout the world". This cable failed Sept. 3 due to the operator increasing the voltage, compromising the insulation. 271 messages had been transmitted over its short duration. [Duncan Geere, How the First Cable was Laid Across the Atlantic, Wired 2011] [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Alexander at 4] [Standage 84] The Civil War intervenes, but in a Cuban Missile Crisis moment, a US ship boards a British mail steamer in international waters and seizes two confederate diplomats, leading the US and Britian to the brink of war. Just as the Cuban Missile Crisis led to the installation of the "red phone" for improved communications between the White House and the Kremlin, this crisis was used for a renewed call for the transatlantic cable, in order to enable diplomatic resolution of incidents. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] 1865: Cyprus Field purchases the largest ship available, the SS Great Eastern, and attempts to lay a heavier gauge cable. The SS Great Eastern embarked on its attempt to lay the cable on July 23rd but abandons the attempt on August 2nd. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Alexander at 6] [Standage 88] 1866: "On July 27, 1866, the steamship "Great Eastern" completed laying a new cable from Ireland to Newfoundland. Returning to mid-Atlantic, the ship located and raised the cable used in a previous attempt, spliced it, and extended it to Newfoundland, where it was landed on September 8, 1866. Thus, America and Europe were linked by two cables and other ocean cables followed. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] [Alexander at 6] 1869: The Great Eastern lays a competing cable between France and St. Pierre. [PBS The Great Transatlantic Cable] "Ocean cables were operated by repeating the messages along the route. In 1921, "regenerators" were developed for direct transmission between terminals. Less than 300 single letters a minute could be sent over the original transatlantic cable. Later new "permalloy" cables raised that capacity to about 2,400 letters a minute. "Until 1877, all rapid long-distance communication depended upon the telegraph. That year, a rival technology developed that would again change the face of communication -- the telephone. By 1879, patent litigation between Western Union and the infant telephone system was ended in an agreement that largely separated the two services. . . . . . "Few radio broadcasts travel through the air exclusively, while many are sent over telephone wires. In the 1860s James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish physicist, predicted the existence of radio waves, and in 1886 Heinrich Rudolph Hertz, a German physicist, demonstrated that rapid variations of electric current could be projected into space in the form of radio waves similar to those of light and heat. "But it remained for Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor, to prove the feasibility of radio communication. He sent and received his first radio signal in Italy in 1895. By 1899 he flashed the first wireless signal across the English Channel and two years later received the letter "S", telegraphed from England to Newfoundland. This was the first successful transatlantic radiotelegraph message in 1902. "Wireless signals proved effective in communication for rescue work when a sea disaster occurred. Effective communication was able to exist between ships and ship to shore points. A number of ocean liners installed wireless equipment. In 1899 the United States Army established wireless communications with a lightship off Fire Island, New York. Two years later the Navy adopted a wireless system. Up to then, the Navy had been using visual signaling and homing pigeons for communication. "Overseas radiotelegraph service developed slowly, primarily because the initial radiotelegraph set discharged electricity within the circuit and between the electrodes was unstable causing a high amount of interference. The Alexanderson high-frequency alternator and the De Forest tube resolved many of these early technical problems. The Navy made major use of radio transmitters -- especially Alexanderson alternators, the only reliable long-distance wireless transmitters - for the duration. "During World War I, governments began using radiotelegraph to be alert of events and to instruct the movement of troops and supplies. World War II demonstrated the value of radio and spurred its development and later utilization for peacetime purposes. Radiotelegraph circuits to other countries enabled persons almost anywhere in the United States to communicate with practically any place on earth. "Since 1923, pictures have been transmitted by wire, when a photograph was sent from Washington to Baltimore in a test. The first transatlantic radiophoto relay came in 1924 when the Radio Corporation of America beamed a picture of Charles Evans Hughes from London to New York. RCA inaugurated regular radiophoto service in 1926. "Two radio communication companies once had domestic networks connecting certain large cities, but these were closed in World War II. However, microwave and other developments have made it possible for domestic telegraph communication to be carried largely in part over radio circuits. In 1945 Western Union established the first microwave beam system, connecting New York and Philadelphia. This has since been extended and is being developed into a coast-to-coast system. By 1988 Western Union could transmit about 2,000 telegrams simultaneously in each direction. [Feb 2006 Western Union Sends Its Last Telegram NPR Privacy and Wiretap As a message traveled through the network, every operator and transcriber in the route would know the contents of the message. The contents of the message would also naturally be revealed to the third-party recipient end user of the message. During the Civil War, intercepted telegrams were regularly provided to The North's leadership and to Pres. Lincoln. During WWI, the British intercepted the Zimmerman telegram, which proposed an alliegance between Germany and Mexico should the United States enter The War (when Secretary of State Henry L Stimson was presented with intercepted Japanese telegrams, he terminated the program infamously stating "Gentleman do not read each other's mail."). After WWII, the US implemented Operation Shamrock, delivering all telegrams to the NSA. Some telegraph companies required operators to sign confidentiality agreements. A popular method of end users to dprotect the privacy or confidentiality of a message was to encrypt the contents using a cipher. The ITU was formed in 1865 out of European initiatives to harmonize rules about the use of code in telegraph messages. [Standage 111] Code books emerged: The Secret Corresponding Vocabulary Adapted for Use to Morse's Electro-magnetic Telegraph and Also in Conducting Written Correspondence, Etc 1845; Law Enforcement Agents acquired copies of telegraphs using subpoena duces tecum. [Oliver, Privacy Advocates (''A subpoena duces tecum for telegrams provided the imprimatur of judicial authorization without any meaningful oversight of a court.")]. States had laws against disclosing the contents of telegrams, but these laws did not see much enforcement and there were not used to block government access to telegrams. Papers / Books © Cybertelecom ::
Thread: maths in a program 1. #1 Registered User Join Date Jan 2002 maths in a program Hi guys. I know this isn't code but maths to go into a program, I need to know which is right. I have a couple of formulae which need rearranging: 1) Make r the subject of. a = 2pi(r + h) first multiply out the bracket 2pir + 2pih = a then subtract 2pih from both sides 2pir = a - 2pih now divide both sides by 2pi r = a - 2pih / 2ip ( this is the answer that I have ). 2) make x the subject of. 5(x + 2) = y first multiply out the bracket 5x + 10 = y then subtract 10 from both sides 5x = y - 10 now divide both sides by 5 x = y - 10 / 5 ( stop here with this answer or do the maths on the right hand side giving x = y / 5 - 2 ) where do I stop with the answer. in question 1 I stopped as soon as the required subject was on its own but in question 2 i got the required subject on its own and then proceeded to simplify the maths on the rhs (which way is correct) THANKS for the help (learner wanting to be a master). 2. #2 Registered User Join Date Sep 2001 Firstly, you went the long way around to get 'r' and 'x' the subjects. a= 2pi(r + h) a/2pi = r+h r = a/2pi -h 5(x + 2) = y x + 2 = y/5 x = y/5 - 2 Simple. But if you understand the other way better stick to that. Second, if 'x' is the subject to be, go all the way, don't stop halfway through. 3. #3 kwigibo's answers are correct, whereas yours are missing parentheses. Your answers should be: r = (a - 2pih) / 2pi x = (y - 10) / 5, which are equal to kwigibo's. Popular pages Recent additions subscribe to a feed Similar Threads By tigerfansince84 in forum C++ Programming Replies: 9 By engstudent363 in forum C Programming Replies: 1 3. Replies: 4 4. Replies: 3 5. My program, anyhelp By @licomb in forum C Programming Replies: 14
Search This Blog Tuesday, 10 May 2011 10) The travels of a Mexican silver peso 1898 ; restruck in 1949 10) Un Peso (one peso) ,silver , 1898-1908, restruck in 1949 for the Chinese Nationalist Government: This is a very large, 'bold and beautiful' silver coin, and is quite popular among International collectors. Around 1898, when Mexico was undergoing a political transformation from a Republic (Republica Mexicana) to a United States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos), this coin was minted at the Mexico City mint (mint mark MO). In 1898, these silver pesos were being produced at four mints viz. Mexico City (mint mark ‘MO’), Culiacan (mint mark ‘CN’) , Guanajuato (mint mark ‘GO’), and Zacatecas (mint mark ‘ZS’), and their production continued till 1909. These coins are considered to be more valuable than coins from the United States of Mexico. There is some confusion as to which side is the “Obverse” and which one is the “Reverse “ between various catalogues of World Coins published by various authorities including the leading authority, Krause and Mishler (various catalogue numbers given to World coins by them are popularly known as “KM” numbers). Krause & Mishler, mention the "obverse" as the side with the Mexican eagle national emblem,and the "reverse" as the other side, for these coins the side with the liberty cap, whereas, other authorities have given this coin the conventional obverse "heads" (Liberty Cap) and reverse "tails" (Eagle) definitions. The normal practice for identifying the obverse side is, that, the side on which the coin issuing country's National emblem is engraved, that side is taken as the obverse side. Therefore, I am inclined to go with the Krause & Mishler version, because of this reason. One side of the coin has the Mexican Eagle National Emblem where the Eagle is holding a snake in it’s beak which it has seized apparently from the cactus- like plant below , there are two laurels at the base of the design , and the words “Republica Mexicana “ (Republic of Mexico) around the top of the coin. The other side of the coin shows a starburst with a 'Liberty Cap' in front of the starburst with the word “LIBERTAD” or “LIBERTY” written across the face of the cap. The Liberty cap design is an old one and was used on quite a few Latin American coins as well as some old USA coins and European coins. The French Revolutionaries of the Eighteenth century Revolution (that saw Napolean Bonaparte , a soldier from the ranks, become Emperor of France), wore similar caps and the style/design was probably inspired from the days of the French Revolution. Below the Liberty Cap are the words “UN PESO.Mo.1898.A.M. 902.7 “. At first, I had got very confused regarding the meaning of this terminology and whether 1898 was the year of minting of this coin, but now the details of this coin have become very clear to me. “ Un Peso” means “one Peso”, “Mo” is the mint mark of Mexico city mint where this coin has been minted and “A.M.902.7” is the Assayer Company’s and batch certification of the silver content of this coin ( Weight of the coin is normally 27.05 gms) . Notice that the “o” in “Mo” in my coin given here , is much smaller than the letter “M” . This is because, this coin is not an original strike from Mexico city mint in 1898. It has actually been re-struck in 1949 for the Republic of China. What a pity, that this coin is not an originally minted coin from 1898 in which strikes, the mint mark “MO” was given in capital letters. The mint mark was changed to a small “o” after the capital letter “M” and the “o” is placed somewhat higher than the capital “M”, as in my coin given here, to differentiate the 1949 restrikes from the original ones. Nevertheless, the following narration adds a kind of romantic tale to the “travels” of this coin. This peso’s story: In 1949, the Mexico city and the San Francisco(USA) mints brought out about restrikes of the original Mexican peso struck in 1898 for Chiang Kai –shek’s Nationalist Government in China , which was fighting the Communist forces , who controlled a very large part of China around this time. These silver coins were meant to be disbursed as salaries to the Nationalist Government soldiers fighting the Communists, their average salaries being very small, and not more than a few silver dollars. About 25,00,000 of these pesos arrived in China by ship, at about the time that the Nationalist Government’s leaders fled to Taiwan as China was overrun by Communists, and while fleeing took most of these coins with them, while quite a few fell in Communist hands. As the contract with the Nationalist Government was subsequently rendered defunct, the San Franciso restrikes of about 20.00 lac pesos never left the mint and were probably melted. It was later discovered by Mexican Authorities that the Mexican Monetary Law of 1905 did not permit restriking of these pesos in any form , including for exports to other countries, so almost half the number of the restrikes minted, did not leave the Mexican mint vaults. The coin in my collection appears to have been circulated, as such, I presume, that it must have been paid as “salary” to some Nationalist Government soldier, and somehow found it’s way to Indian coin dealers. I found this coin in a coin album which was being sold in a bookstore, and got curious about it’s unusually large size and bought it for my collection. These large silver coins are valued at about $ 15 for worn ones to about $ 125 for fully uncirculated ones for the originals, while the restrikes sell for much lesser, their “romantic/sentimental” value being the overriding factor. I wish my web site loaded up as quickly as yours Also visit my webpage -, , 1. Thank you. I am using Google's blogger. 2. Superb narration... what a tale! Funny why they did not create a separate design for this coin as it was never intended to circulate in Mexico? 1. Thank you Rahul. This is because the Mexican and Spanish silver coins were extremely popular all over China including in Hong Kong & Macau which were British/Portuguese Colonies. As such, the Chinese were familiar with the designs on these coins. 3. I have un peso 1898. Its worth to sell ? 4. Replies 1. Hello Al-TaMIMI liFe, Thank you for visiting the blog and for leaving a comment. Selling or keeping the Un Peso coin would be entirely your personal choice/decision. If you are getting an extremely good price for it, then you could consider the option to sell it, otherwise it denotes a very important part of history, so it would also be a good idea to have it in your collection. In any case you could visit an auction site like ebay and check out the latest prices being asked for by sellers and then take a view/decision in the matter. 5. can i sell my un peso Mo1898 am 902.7
New study confirms just how racially discriminatory voter ID laws truly are Voter ID: We’ve always suspected it, but now new academic research confirms it: Strict voter ID laws do indeed disproportionately lower turnout among Latino, black, and Asian voters compared to whites, which of course benefits conservatives and the Republican Party. The authors of this new study found that strict ID laws—where registered voters must show a photo ID to have their vote count, and no exceptions are permitted—depressed Latino turnout rates the most, followed by black and Asian-American turnout, yet white turnout was largely unaffected. Those findings held true even when researchers accounted for a variety of other factors, and they were even more acute in primaries. That latter point is critical because many states and cities hold elections for important races such as city council seats, judgeships, and even state constitutional amendments at times other than November general elections. It also means voter ID can make even Democratic primary electorates whiter. In sum, these effects yield electorates that are whiter and more conservative—and consequently more Republican-leaning. The study’s authors attempted to improve upon previous research that had generally been inconclusive. Among other things, this newer study used data from as recently as 2014. That date is crucial because many states only passed strict voter ID laws after Republicans took power following the 2010 elections. In addition, states like Texas were only able to implement their strict ID laws once the Supreme Court gutted an essential provision of the Voting Rights Act in 2013. As more detailed 2016 data becomes available, future scholarship should be able to more definitively quantify just how racially discriminatory voter ID laws truly are. Republicans always claim voter ID laws are meant to stamp out voter fraud, but a large body of research has already proven just how incredibly rare such fraud is. In fact, one review of votes cast in 2016 so far found only four cases of so-called “impersonation” fraud in an election in which nearly 140 million Americans cast ballots. This latest research further demonstrates just how, well, fraudulent Republican justifications for voter ID really are. In the end, they’re nothing more than an effort to suppress Latino, black, and Asian-American voters from casting ballots. Voter Suppression Iowa: Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate recently revealed that he was only aware of 10 potentially improper votes out of over 1.6 million cast in Iowa in 2016, a rate that is practically negligible and, needless to say, swung exactly zero elections. Furthermore, an Associated Press analysis concluded that most of those rare instances involved simple mistakes, such as election officials failing to disqualify an ineligible registration, rather than intentional fraud. Pate has been pushing for a voter ID bill that he says is intended to streamline election administration, and his rules wouldn’t require a photo and would also provide free IDs. But despite Pate’s evidence showing just how non-existent voter fraud is in the Hawkeye State, some Iowa Republicans are hoping to use the party’s first unified control over state government in nearly two decades to pass a stricter voter ID bill that would make a photo mandatory. As we noted in the item just above, there’s really only one reason why they’d do that. New Hampshire: Republicans won complete control over the Granite State’s government in 2016 for the first time in more than a decade, and they swiftly began contemplating a slew of different bills to make it more difficult to vote. Now it appears that the GOP is particularly keen on repealing same-day voter registration and changing residency requirements to exclude certain voters, the latter of which might violate past legal rulings. Donald Trump himself falsely claimed last week that he and former GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte only lost New Hampshire in 2016 because thousands of Massachusetts residents came by the busload to illegally vote. This accusation drew widespread rebuke, including from New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, who’s served in the post for four decades, and even from former state Republican Party chair Fergus Cullen. However, it echoes b.s. claims that new GOP Gov. Chris Sununu put forth without evidence just prior to the election. Republican legislators appear to be especially enthusiastic about changing residency requirements, which currently only require that voters live in the state. A variety of proposed bills would restrict eligibility to residents who intend to remain in New Hampshire indefinitely; have changed their car registry and driver’s license to New Hampshire; reside in the state for at least 210 days a year. They’d also impose a 13-day waiting period before new residents could even register to vote. These moves are squarely aimed at cutting off college students and young adults, who tend to come from out of state or move around frequently—and vote disproportionately Democratic. Such changes might even violate a 1989 Supreme Court ruling called Symm v. United States that held that resident college students could register at school or their previous home address. Another 1972 court ruling in New Hampshire said that citizens who planned to leave the state in the future were still entitled to vote. And the New Hampshire Supreme Court itself even struck down a previous GOP-initiated residency requirement law in 2015 and could potentially do the same with future changes. Unfortunately, new residency requirements and other voting changes might pass judicial muster on the federal level once Trump begins appointing new Supreme Court justices who will, without doubt, be implacably opposed to voting rights. Roughly 11 percent of all voters in New Hampshire used same-day registration, and about one percent of all voters were same-day registrants who used an out-of-state ID. While that number might seem small, Trump only lost New Hampshire by 0.4 points and Ayotte by a razor-thin 0.1 percent margin. So if Republicans get their way, they could easily wind up tipping close elections like these in their favor by suppressing the vote. North Carolina: After Democrat Roy Cooper ousted Republican Pat McCrory from the governor’s office in 2016, lame-duck Republican legislators rushed to pass a law that no longer gives the governor’s party a one-seat majority on all 101 state and county elections boards. Their new measure created a partisan deadlock, effectively giving Republicans veto power under a veneer of bipartisanship. This unprecedented power grab was an attempt to undermine democracy itself because the GOP had used its own majorities on these boards under McCrory’s tenure to implement voter suppression measures (such as limits on early voting) that Cooper would naturally want to reverse. Accordingly, Cooper sued to block the law, and last week the North Carolina Supreme Court reinstated a temporary stay barring the law from taking effect while the governor’s lawsuit proceeds. A trial court had originally blocked the law, but a recent appeals court decision in favor of the GOP let the law go into effect despite Cooper’s pending lawsuit. That appellate ruling has now been overturned by the state’s highest court. As for the ultimate question of whether the law itself is unconstitutional, that will almost certainly wind up before the state Supreme Court at some point in the coming months. And that’s why it’s so critical that Democrats gained a four-to-three majority on that court in 2016’s elections. Felony Disenfranchisement Virginia: In 2016, Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe took executive action to begin restoring the voting rights of roughly 200,000 people with felony convictions who had already served their sentences. GOP lawmakers vociferously opposed the governor’s efforts and unsuccessfully fought him in court. So what did they do next? Last week, Republicans used their one-seat majority in the state Senate to pass a constitutional amendment on a strictly party-line vote that would significantly constrain the governor’s authority to restore voting rights. Republicans claim that their amendment would streamline the process for those with nonviolent convictions by making it automatic rather than dependent on the governor’s actions. However, it would impose new impediments by requiring the payment of all fines, fees, or restitution, which opponents have argued would effectively constitute a poll tax—something forbidden by the 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Furthermore, the amendment would force those with violent felony convictions to wait five years not just from when their sentences ended but rather from that point at which they’ve paid off all fines or fees before they could apply to regain their rights. The felony disenfranchisement regime in Virginia prior to McAuliffe’s decisive action was of the harshest in the nationan explicit byproduct of white supremacy during Jim Crow. Before the governor’s executive orders, the state disenfranchised one in five black citizens, a rate that was five times higher than that of whites. Indeed, African-Americans constituted almost half of those whose voting rights McAuliffe began to restore, even though they only make up one-fifth of the state’s population. In order to actually become part of the state constitution, this amendment has several more hurdles to climb. It would need to pass the GOP-dominated state House this year (which should happen easily) and then pass again in both chambers in a legislative session after the 2017 state elections. After that, it would face a voter referendum for approval. However, with no state Senate elections in 2017, Democrats would have to flip the heavily gerrymandered state House this November to stop Republicans from putting this Trojan horse measure up to a future statewide vote. Mississippi: With near unanimous support, the Republican-controlled state House passed two bills that would allow limited online voter registration and set up a study committee on restoring voting rights for those with non-violent felony convictions. Mississippi disenfranchises one in 10 citizens, the second-highest rate of any state. It currently requires those seeking to regain their right to vote to attain approval from either the legislature or governor, an extremely burdensome process that leaves most people permanently disenfranchised even after parole or probation. Unfortunately, both bills face much steeper odds in the GOP-dominated state Senate. Key senators sound hostile to reform and had killed a previously House-approved online registration bill in 2016, but proponents remain hopeful for a different outcome this year. Electoral & Campaign Finance Reform Maine: Following a 2016 voter initiative, Maine became the first state in the country to adopt instant-runoff voting for Senate, House, gubernatorial, and state legislative races in an effort to reduce the chances of candidates winning with only a plurality rather than a majority. The new system lets voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If no one attains a majority in the first round, the last place candidate gets eliminated, and votes for that candidate shift to each voter’s second preference. That process repeats until one candidate achieves a majority. Opponents of the reform have promised to challenge the law in court. They argue that the state constitution requires the candidate who wins the most votes get elected, which in their eyes means the candidate who wins a simple plurality. Following a bipartisan request from Maine’s state Senate to review the law in advance of the 2018 elections, the state Supreme Court has now set a date of April 13 for when it will begin hearing arguments about the statute’s constitutionality. South Dakota: Republican legislators recently invoked an official “state of emergency” to repeal a law—approved by voters at the ballot box—called Measure 22 that created an independent ethics commission, established a public campaign finance system, and set forth new restrictions on lobbying. Now some of those those same legislators want to place new constraints on ballot measure campaigns themselves by limiting campaign committees to just $100,000 in out-of-state contributions, which likely would have crippled Measure 22’s fundraising in 2016. Such restrictions could run afoul of previous U.S. Supreme Court court rulings that deem campaign donations to be protected free speech, regardless of what state they come from, so it’s more than a little ironic that Republicans have finally found a campaign finance restriction that they can get on board with. However, with Gov. Dennis Daugaard and other top Republicans seemingly supportive of the proposals, it might soon become law, though a legal fight would be likely. Election Administration: Republicans on a key U.S. House committee voted to eliminate the Election Assistance Commission, which was created after the Florida recount debacle in 2000 to help states run their elections. Among other things, the commission is the only federal agency devoted to making sure a state’s aging election machines aren’t vulnerable to getting hacked or falling into disrepair. You mean to say the the GOP wants to make it easier for our elections to get hacked? No way! Republicans also moved to end the public-financing system for presidential elections, but ever since Barack Obama successfully eschewed public funding to dwarf John McCain’s fundraising in 2008 campaign spending, no major-party nominee has utilized public funding, since it effectively limits how much they can spend. It’s unclear what the full House and especially the Senate will do with these measures, but Republicans have long tried to get rid of the agency, because why should voting be run well? North Carolina: A federal court panel struck down many of North Carolina’s state legislative districts as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders last year, ordering new maps to be drawn and special elections to take place in the affected districts this November. However, the U.S. Supreme Court stayed that ruling in January pending an appeal. Since then, the court has taken no action and hasn’t even granted a petition to hear the full case. Election law expert Rick Hasen recently stated that he thinks special elections are quite unlikely in 2017 because the court is holding off on the North Carolina appeal until it resolves other major racial gerrymandering challenges that are coming up soon. That’s bad news for Democrats, who had hoped new lines would allow them to break the Republican supermajorities this year and, as a result, be able to sustain Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes. However, the case could still get resolved for the regularly scheduled 2018 elections. If new lines are in place by then, Democrats would have a good chance at unlocking the GOP’s stranglehold on the legislature. To advertise in the Voting Rights Roundup, please contact
• 03.23.16 How Inequality Freezes The Economy And Makes Us All Less Rich People on middle and lower incomes are vital for economic growth, and a new paper offers proof. How Inequality Freezes The Economy And Makes Us All Less Rich Inequality has a ripple effect on the economy. Even if you consider income inequality a natural function of people being different, and even if you don’t see anything abhorrent in vast differences of wealth accumulating around the world today, you might worry about inequality simply because it’s bad for the economy. If you have lots of people who aren’t earning decent amounts of money, it stands to reason that they’re not spending and boosting economic growth. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates that growing income gaps in the developed world killed 4.7% of GDP growth between 1990 and 2010–that’s a huge amount. A new paper shows how inequality “freezes” economic activity by placing constraints on people with less money. In other words, when your paycheck decreases, your ability to transact with others also decreases, and their economic activity in turn decreases as well. “The main result of this model is that the flow of goods among agents becomes more and more congested as inequality increases until it halts completely,” says the paper, from five European physicists. Flickr user Mike Roberts The researchers model the economy on a “Pareto curve” where most wealth is held at the top end, and they assume people will trade randomly with each other when their budget allows. As wealth concentrates, the model shows a reduction in liquidity because a few rich people can’t compensate for the transaction volume of many people. “As inequality in the wealth distribution increases, cash concentrates more and more on the wealthiest agents, thereby suppressing the probability of successful exchanges,” the paper says. “Therefore, the economy freezes because financial resources (i.e. cash) concentrates in the hands of few agents.” The paper offers more proof of what many economists have been saying for years: People on middle and lower incomes are vital for economic growth. It also adds to the case for so-called “helicopter money,” where instead of stimulating the economy through low interest rates and quantitative easing, central banks give money direct to consumers. Quantitative easing–the usual sort of policy to boost growth, which involves creating money to buy financial assets–has been great for the stock markets, some commentators argue. But it hasn’t revitalized the main economy as much as everyday consumers could. About the author

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