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In today's stressful modern living, incidence of Diabetes is definitely increasing. Every now and then we come across patients of Diabetes seeking Ayurvedic treatment and advice. Here is a brief description of Prameha (Diabetes) Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder in which the body is unable to make proper use of glucose resulting in hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) and glycosuria (sugar in urine). Poorly managed diabetes can lead to a host of long-term complications like :- • Heart attacks. • Strokes. • Blindness. • Nerve damage. • Amputation of Limb. • Impotence in men. • Pruritus (Itching) Recent studies in the USA have revealed that if we keep our 'blood sugar' close to normal, there is a chance to resist Diabetes and it's complications. Causes of diabetes – 2] Lack of exercise. 3] Mental stress and strain. 4] Excessive sleep etc. Diabetes According to Ayurveda Ayurveda can play an important role in curbing both these life threatening diseases if used in the right way. Diabetes is a disease in which the body's blood glucose (sugar) level is too high. Normally, the body breaks down food into glucose and carries it to cells throughout the body. The cells use a hormone called insulin to turn the glucose into energy. The two main types of diabetes are type 1 and type 2. In type 1 diabetes, the body doesn't make enough insulin. This causes the body's blood sugar level to rise. A diabetic should avoid eating Rice, Potato, Sweet fruits, Maida, Wheat, Deep fried foods, Red meat and Sabudana and should have more intake of protein rich foods like Chickpea, Moong, lentils, Masoor, Moong Daal, Soya bean products and Chana Daal. Vegetables like Palak (spinach), leafy greens, Dudhi (bottle gourd), Turai, Bhopla (white pumpkin), Padwal (snake gourd), Karela (bitter gourd), cereals like Green millet, Ragi, corn, Kulit (horsegram) and Barley (Jav).
Lesson 61 – Parts of Speech – Adverbs Since there has been some confusion about adverbs, I think we need a few more lessons about adverbs. We need to memorize what adverbs tell us and what they modify. We must always remember this basic information to handle them correctly. Adverbs are words that modify (1) verbs, (2) adjectives, and (3) other adverbs. They tell how (manner), when (time), where(place), how much (degree), and why (cause). Why is a common one-word adverb that tells why. Adverbs that tell us how, when, where, and why always modify the verb. Adverbs that tell us how muchmodify adjectives or other adverbs. These adverbs are also called qualifiersbecause they strengthen or weaken the words they modify. Examples: He kicked the ball solidly. (how); He kicked the ball immediately. (when); He kicked the ball forward. (where); He kicked the ball too hard. (how much). Instructions: The following sentences have adverbs that tell us how, and they modify the verb. Find the adverbs in these sentences and tell what they modify. 1. Joe was frantically mumbling to the 911 operator. 2. The message was secretly hidden in the cushion. 3. The room was decorated beautifully for the wedding. 4. The spy readily accepted the new assignment. 5. He was carefully disguised but captured quickly by police. –For answers scroll down. 1. frantically modifying the verb was mumbling 2. secretly modifying the verb was hidden 3. beautifully modifying the verb was decorated 4. readily modifying the verb accepted 5. carefully modifying the verb was disguised and quicklymodifying the verb was captured (was is a helping verb to both main verbs) from Daily Grammar Lessons Blog http://dailygrammarlessons.blogspot.com/2016/11/lesson-61-parts-of-speech-adverbs.html Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
What are DHA and ARA? DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is an omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA). ARA (arachidonic acid) is an omega-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA). Both are non-essential fatty acids because the human body has the capability of making them from other available fats already consumed. DHA is made from linolenic fatty acid and ARA is made from linoleic fatty acid. Linolenic and linoleic fatty acids are essential fatty acids meaning that the body cannot make them and they must be provided through the foods we eat. Food sources of DHA include cold water fish and their oils, egg yolks, and organ meats such as liver. ARA is found mostly in animal products, such as eggs, meat and some fish such as tilapia and catfish. Have more questions? Submit a request Powered by Zendesk
13 terms Chapter 12 This quantity can always be used in the same way as moles when interpreting balanced chemical equations number of molecules This is conserved only in reactions where the temperature is constant and the number of moles of gaseous reactants is the same as that of gaseous products This is conserved in every ordinary chemical reaction. the reactant that determines the amount of product that can be formed in a reaction limiting reagent the maximum amount of product that could be formed from given amounts of reactants theoretical yield the reactant that is not completely used up in a reaction excess reagent the amount of product formed when a reaction is carried out in the laboratory actual yield the ratio of the actual yield to the theorecitcal yield percent yield the calculation of quantities in chemical equations is called In every chemical reaction mass and atoms are conserved In a chemical reaction, the mass of the products is equal to the mass of the reactants What type of stoichiometric calculation does not require the use f the molar mass? volume-volume problems When two substances react to form products, the reactant which is used up is called the limiting reagent
Iraq Chlorine Attack (2007) BIOTERRORBIBLE.COM: Despite the number of high-profile bio-terror plots and patsies, the historical record indicates that 99% of all bio-terror plots, attacks, “tests”, “accidents” and drills are conducted by the government who has the means, the motive and the opportunity. Title: Chlorine Bombings In Iraq Date: February 21, 2007 Source: Wikipedia Abstract: Chlorine bombings in Iraq began as early as October 2006, when insurgents in Al Anbar province started using chlorine gas in conjunction with conventional vehicle-borne explosive devices. The inaugural chlorine attacks in Iraq were described as poorly executed, probably because much of the chemical agent was rendered nontoxic by the heat of the accompanying explosives. Subsequent, more refined, attacks resulted in hundreds of injuries, but have proven not to be a viable means of inflicting massive loss of life. Their primary impact has therefore been to cause widespread panic, with large numbers of civilians suffering non life-threatening, but nonetheless highly traumatic, injuries. Chlorine was used as a poison gas in World War I, but was delivered by artillery shell, unlike the modern stationary or car bombs. Still, its function as a weapon in both instances is similar. Low level exposure results in burning sensations to the eyes, nose and throat, usually accompanied by dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Higher levels of exposure can cause fatal lung damage; but because the gas is heavier than air it will not dissipate until well after an explosion, it is generally considered ineffective as an improvised chemical weapon. 1. October 21, 2006: A car bomb carrying 12 120 mm mortar shells and two 100-pound chlorine tanks detonated, wounding three Iraqi policemen and a civilian in Ramadi. January 28, 2007: A suicide bomber drove a dump truck carrying explosives and a chlorine tank into an emergency response unit compound in Ramadi. 16 people were killed by the explosives, but none by the chlorine. 3. February 19, 2007: A suicide bombing in Ramadi involving chlorine killed two Iraqi security forces and wounded 16 other people. 4. February 20, 2007: A bomb blew up a tanker carrying chlorine north of Baghdad, killing nine and emitting fumes that made 148 others ill, including 42 women and 52 children. 5. February 21, 2007: A pickup truck carrying chlorine gas cylinders exploded in Baghdad, killing at least five people and hospitalising over 50. 6. March 16, 2007: Three separate suicide attacks on this day used chlorine. The first attack occurred at a checkpoint northeast of Ramadi, when a truck bomb wounded one US service member and one Iraqi civilian. A second truck bomb detonated in Falluja, killing two policemen and leaving a hundred Iraqis showing signs of chlorine exposure. Forty minutes later, yet another chlorine-laden truck bomb exploded at the entrance to a housing estate south of Falluja, this time injuring 250 and according to some reports killing six. 7. March 28, 2007: Suicide bombers detonated a pair of truck bombs, one containing chlorine, as part of a sustained attack aimed at the Fallujah Government Center. The initial bombings along with a subsequent gun battle left 14 American forces and 57 Iraqi forces wounded. 8. April 6, 2007: A chlorine-laden suicide truck bomb detonated at a police checkpoint in Ramadi, leaving 27 dead. Thirty people were hospitalized with wounds from the explosion, while many more suffered breathing difficulties attributed to the chlorine gas. 9. April 25, 2007: A chlorine truck bomb detonated at a military checkpoint on the western outskirts of Baghdad, killing one Iraqi and wounding two others. 10. April 30, 2007: A tanker laden with chlorine exploded near a restaurant west of Ramadi, killing six people and wounding 10. 11. May 15, 2007: A chlorine bomb exploded in an open-air market in the village of Abu Sayda in Diyala province, killing 32 people and injuring 50. 12. May 20, 2007: A suicide truck bomber exploded his vehicle Sunday near an Iraqi police checkpoint outside Ramadi, Zangora district west of Ramadi, killing two police officers and wounding 11 others. 13. June 3, 2007: A car bomb exploded outside a U.S. military base in Diyala, unleashing a noxious cloud of chlorine gas that sickened at least 62 soldiers but caused no serious injuries (Wikipedia, 2012). Title: Scores Choke In Poison Gas Attack Date: February 21, 2007 Source: CNN Title: Iraqi Militants Use Chlorine In 3 Bombings Date: February 21, 2007 Source: New York Times Abstract: A truck bomb that combined explosives with chlorine gas blew up in southern Baghdad on Wednesday, and officials said it may represent a new and deadly tactic by insurgents against Iraqi civilians. It was at least the third truck bomb in a month to employ chlorine, a greenish gas also used in World War I, which burns the skin and can be fatal after only a few concentrated breaths. The bomb killed at least two people and injured 32 others, police and medical officials said. Iraqi and American officials said the use of chlorine seems aimed at bringing a new level of fear and havoc to Iraq as a new security plan for Baghdad takes shape. Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, an American military spokesman, said the attacks highlighted the evolving fluidity of insurgent tactics in Iraq, dominated by militant groups who often notice and mimic attacks that attract the most attention and cause the most suffering. Insurgents have shifted tactics to focus on helicopters, and on Wednesday one group forced down an American Black Hawk helicopter, the eight such incident since Jan. 20. Roadside bombs have been adapted to become deadlier, punching through heavily armored Humvees. Attacks on American soldiers also now include coordinated assaults from multiple locations, with a mix of weapons and in at least one case, counterfeit American uniforms and vehicles. “The enemy is adaptive,” Colonel Garver said. “The enemy wants to win.” The Black Hawk attacked on Wednesday was forced into a “hard landing” after taking fire from heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, the United States military said. There were no injuries. A Sunni insurgent group, the Mujahedeen Army, claimed credit for the attack in an Internet posting, according to the SITE Institute, which tracks postings by insurgent groups. The bombing involving chlorine gas on Wednesday followed an explosion on Tuesday north of Baghdad of a tanker filled with chlorine that had been rigged to explode, killing nine people and wounding 148, including 42 women and 52 children. At least one other attack with chlorine also took place on Jan. 28, according to the American military’s statements. Sixteen people were killed in that attack, in the Sunni-dominated Anbar Province, when a dump truck with explosives and a chlorine tank blew up in Ramadi. The attacks seem to have been poorly executed, burning the chemical agent rather than dispersing it, but more sophisticated weapons involving chlorine could injure hundreds and cause mass panic. Though it is widely used in water purification and sewage treatment, chlorine is dangerous because it reacts with water in moist tissue, such as eyes and the respiratory tract, to create acid, which essentially burns tissue. A few breaths of air containing chlorine at a thousand parts per million can be lethal. Nine people were killed and 250 injured in 2005 after a train crash in South Carolina in which 60 tons of liquefied chlorine was released — about six times more than what is contained in a home heating fuel truck like the one used in the attack on Tuesday. Exposures at far lower concentrations, down to two parts per million, cause coughing, shortness of breath, chest pain, burning in the throat, nose and eyes, nausea and swelling of the lungs. A few hours after the attack, American Humvees and an American military vehicle with a nozzle that appeared to be testing the air encircled the scene. Soldiers were not wearing masks, but officials at Yarmouk hospital said they determined through interviews and tests that chlorine was the chemical used in the attack. Brig. Qasim Atta, an Iraqi government spokesman for the new Baghdad security plan, described chlorine attacks as a “filthy way” to target vulnerable Iraqis, especially children. Colonel Garver said that the chemical attacks could soon appear again. “Its no surprise that anti-Iraqi forces or terrorists or whoever is doing this are trying to replicate this kind of attack,” he said. “They perceive that it’s working.” The attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday also indicated that the Baghdad security plan has pushed the violence beyond the city’s central neighborhoods, the focus of the new plan. Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, a United States military spokesman in Baghdad, said that the “belt around Baghdad” had experienced an increase in attacks as Iraqi and American forces concentrate on neighborhoods within. At a briefing in the Green Zone, he said that top commanders were considering assigning at least one brigade to the ring around the city, and perhaps another to Diyala Province, which has been the site of vicious battles between Sunni insurgents and American and Iraqi troops. The witnesses to the helicopter crash, also in Diyala Province, said that three helicopters, including a double-rotor Chinook, were flying at tree level, when gunmen began firing anti-aircraft machine guns from an area near an oil pipeline. A resident who would give his name only as Ali said the back of one helicopter burst into flame, leading the aircraft to turn sideways and plunge into the ground. Two other witnesses said they saw fire coming from the helicopter as it crashed around 1 p.m. local time. Violence broke out on Wednesday in the southern Shiite holy city of Najaf, when a suicide car bomber detonated his payload as Iraqi security forces checked the car for weapons at a checkpoint into the center of city. The explosion occurred about a half a mile from the Imam Ali mosque, one of Shiite Islam’s holiest shrines, and killed at least 11 people, the police said. Another 34 were wounded. The American military also said that a soldier was killed by gunfire in a northern neighborhood of Baghdad and that a marine died from combat in Anbar Province, where American troops have been battling Sunni insurgents for months. Both died Tuesday. Meanwhile, despite the increased military effort, 20 bodies were found Wednesday in the capital, an Interior Ministry official said. In addition to the chlorine attack, four bombs ripped through areas of the city, killing at least six people, while mortar shells rained down on a Sunni neighborhood of western Baghdad, leaving three people dead. The deadliest explosion occurred at about 5:30 p.m. local time, when an abandoned car exploded in Sadr City, the largest Shiite area of the capital, killing at least four people, witnesses said. It was the second car bomb inside the neighborhood since the Iraqi government announced the start of the security plan one week ago. Two others have exploded at checkpoints on its edge. Fatma al-Saiedi, 35, who was wounded in the explosion, said the attacks were a result of the new security plan, which has replaced the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia, with what she and some other residents say are incompetent Iraqi policemen and soldiers. “We trusted the Mahdi Army,” she said. “The Americans have arrested so many of them and now this happens — every day, another car bomb. We expect there to be more of them” (New York Times, 2007).
The Smaller British Birds with Descriptions of Their Nests, Eggs, Habits, Etc., Etc., Etc., Adams, H.G. & H.B. Adams London, England: George Bell and Sons, 1874. F . iv + 252 pages; useful index; illustrated with 32 coloured plates of birds and their eggs; "...a concise, yet sufficiently full description of the smaller British Birds; not a scientific book, but one essentially popular in its character, rendered attractive by life-like portraits of our feathered clients, drawn and coloured as closely to nature as the eye and hand of the artist can make them, and arranged in groups which shall at once show their relationships with each other, and affinities with the whole ornithological system..." (from the Introduction); approx. 7 1/4" x 10" size; endpaper with the bookplate of Dr. Bertel Bruun (1937 - 2011) Danish-American naturalist, international conservationist and neurologist, author of several birding guides; bound in the original publishers' decorative gilt & black green cloth; gilt & black spine titles & designs, top edge gilt; tissue guard and title page darkened, spotty; the rest of the contents including plates generally very clean and in very good condition. Very Good Hardcover (Item ID: 24352) Topic Notification Site by Bibliopolis
next up previous Next: Typing Up: Introduction to the Specification Previous: Introduction to the Specification What is in the specification The Astronomical Instrumentation Software Specification is intended to provide guidelines for the development of software for astronomical instruments. It is hoped that with this document instrumentation designers will be able to better unify the existing hardware to a point that hardware dependence is not a requirement for software. The specification takes advantage of the fact that software for astronomical instrumentation has to perform some rudimentary functions, and has to supply the results of these functions so that they are meaningful to the observer. The Specification outlines the data structures, and the functions to operate on those data structures. In order to quantify these structures the conventions of ANSI C will be used, however implementations are not limited to the C language. The specification also requires for each unique class of instrument a driver that can be made available, via static link or dynamic link, to any software program the user desires to build on top of it. This is a strict requirement of the specification. Aaron Smith 2004-03-04
Climate and Emissions Bioenergy has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but actual reductions depend on how much land and energy are used to produce bioenergy, whether process energy is generated from renewable resources and what co-products are to be included in the analysis. The following questions are posed to incite discussion and analysis on the potential climate impacts that bioenergy projects have. They are divided into two impact categories: Learn more
Friday, April 20, 2007 nuclear explosions A nuclear explosion occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from an uncontrolled nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission, nuclear fusion or a multistage cascading combination of the two, though to date all fusion based weapons have used a fission device to initiate fusion, and a pure fusion weapon remains a hypothetical device. Atmospheric nuclear explosions are associated with "mushroom clouds" although mushroom clouds can occur with large chemical explosions and it is possible to have an air burst nuclear explosion without these clouds. Atmospheric nuclear explosions produce large amounts of radiation and radioactive debris. In 1963, all nuclear and many non-nuclear states signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty, pledging to refrain from testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, or in outer space. The treaty permitted underground tests. The primary application to date has been military (i.e. nuclear weapons). However, there are other potential applications, which have not yet been explored, or have been considered all but abandoned. They include: No comments:
Friday, March 23, 2012 Technical Objectives while working as a Pilot: Continuation from a previous blog Technical Objectives while working as a Pilot: This topic throws light on liberties and assistance, "the privileges", a Pilot is logically entitled to in order to conduct his duties. The task of a Pilot begins with embarking the ship he has been tasked to bring to berth. This is the first and a biggest challenging job ahead of a Pilot. The freeboard of ship, that is, the height of ship's first continuous deck above water, is difficult to climb. The pilot ladders are piece of free suspending steps resting against a flat ship side. A good portion of weight of human body is borne by the arms of the climber. The legs need to be straightened. And a co-ordination has to be maintained between arms and legs so that one does not end up openings both his palms in the same movement. The shift of arm and leg is diagonally paired. A Pilot is privileged to climb not more than 9 meters. Considering the number of ships he has to climb each day, and in different environment conditions such as daylight hours, night hours, bad weather conditions, they all have potential to affect a Pilot's physical capacity. The job of ladder climbing bears some actual mortal risks. This job is often conducted when both, the Pilot vessel and the climbing ship are in motion; their propellers are running. The condition of maintenance of a ship and the limiting conditions on board ship can make the ladder faulty without anyone noticing the defect. Although pilot ladder is treated as a very special item of survey under all the international regulations for the above reasons, there is nothing which can gurantee the safety construction of the ladder. Accidents on the ladder still remain large in count. Then, the ship's own machinery, it's responses, the power of engines, the designed strength of machinery with respect to her size and load she is carrying, they each vary with each ship thereof increasing the challenge before the pilot. Pilot needs to adjust his prudence time-duration to operate each ship. In practise however, ships of a given type have same set characteristics homogeneously in its type-group. Pilot should have his initial training on each of this type-group. The use of tugs, the available pulling power( the Bollard Power) are another characteristics which a pilot depends on heavily. In a fantasy world, the operations a pilot does with the ship and tug boats, is like dancing on a revolving floor while also challenged to keep ship's body balance and position with respect to a ground audience. The water current and tides make for the revolving dance floor. Pilots also have to ensure the time management for the ship's transit through the shallow waters so that ship may reach her berth safely with maximum cargo permissible she can carry under best tidal conditions. This implies working under the high tide conditions but so as to ensure that tidal current help the ship to her best locations, not into danger areas. Engine responses are always better in the forward directions than the stern side due to the hull design. Therefore the tide current should be from the head of the vessel when the vessel is slow- speed so that the ship may counter back the effect of tide if tide is pushing her into dangers. That means that a ship should always be facing into the tide when she is just about to come to her berth. that will mean that a ship may have to be turned around in her heading directions before reaching the berth so that she may fight with the tide current more comfortably with the help of her engines. The challenge applies also when the ship is casting off. During all these the propellers have be kept clear of mooring ropes, and the tension on the mooring ropes/wires which connect a ship to her assisting tugs have be borne in mind, too. The maintenance of mooring ropes vary from ship to ship, and a very commonly known to break out. Pilots are required to plan the operations so that pulling by tugs is not used so much, and neither so urgently to ask for a heavy pull by the tug to bring the ship back to safety. Ship's operations, cargo on board, make a rare-occasion but often a critical impact on pilotage work. Sometimes the pilots are expected to operate the ship while the crane , the cargo hatch cover, and ship's preparedness for sea voyage is not completed. Accidents commonly happen when a ship has delayed such as to miss the pilots by whiskers in the given tidal time-slot. In order to make , the ship staff attempts to sail her out when she is still not prepared for the sea voyage, which included settling the cranes, closing the scuppers, cleaning away the deck, cargo stripping completes, paper works and documentation completed, hydraulics tried and tested. Pilots are often put into the position of doing fire fighting, then. The ship staff is not well rested, and the master secretly accounts for pilot as his navigation team member while the staff is not rested 'fit' enough to do their navigational duties. Ships have been reported, very commonly, to have suffered explosion, fire, or collision just when pilotage operation was about to start, had started, or the pilot about to be dis-embarked.
Solving the bottom layer yellow topYour cube should now look like the picture on the left. What we need to do next is flip it over so yellow is now the top and white is the bottom. Now when you look down at your cube you will be looking at yellow. The next step is getting the cross. The cross Look down at the top of your cube. You will see one of the following patterns. We are only concerned with the ones that are yellow in the pictures. The rest can be any color, marked with grey on the image. The first one is what we are looking for. See how it makes a cross shape. yellow cross on the top If you have any of the other three then hold your cube so that it is algined just like in the picture that matches yours. Do the following one time. Realign and do again if needed until yours looks like the cross. You may have to do this up to three times. f u r ui ri fi Aligning the corners When we have the cross we need to get the top corners put in the correct location to match the side center colors. We are not worried about the way the corners are sitting we will rotate them in the next step. We want to just get the corners so that the top green and red corner is over the bottom green and red corner and so on, all four lined up. You will either have two corners diagonal from each other or two corners next to each other that are where they need to be. So turn the top layer till you have two that align with the bottom corners. This is a little hard to spot but if everything was done correctly at least two corners will line up. If all four line up then do nothing and skip this step. If two corners align next to each other then hold those two corners in your left hand and do the move below one time and everything should be in place. If two corners diagonal from each other line up then hold the cube so one correct corner is in the left front position and do the move below. Have another look at your cube you should have two corners next to each other that line up. Then reposition as stated above and do the move again. l ui ri u li ui r Great we are down to just two more steps. All that’s left is to rotate corners and the finish the edge pieces.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Elizabeth Custer Laments Her Boy General Elizabeth Custer's Sorrow Lamenting The Loss Of General Custer By Dakota WInd Wednesday, April 20, 2011 War Correspondence from the Front Line: The Battle of the Rosebud "Sioux charging at Battle of Rosebud," by Charles St. G. Stanley. War Correspondence From The Front Line The Battle Of The Rosebud, 1876 By Dakota Wind Author and historian, Peter J. Powell collects the Cheyenne oral traditions about the Battle of the Rosebud in his resource "People of the Sacred Mountain." Therein is a story about how a Cheyenne maiden who witnessed her brother fall off his horse during the fight. She promptly jumped on a horse and rose into the crossfire to save him. The Cheyenne refer to the Battle of the Rosebud as "The Girl Who Saved Her Brother Fight." Author and historian, Jerome Greene also has a wonderful resource utilizing Lakota and Cheyenne oral traditions about the Rosebud, the Battle of the Little Bighorn and other fights in his resource "Lakota and Cheyenne: Indian Views of the Great Sioux War, 1876-1877." In 1890, Joseph F. Finerty a war correspondent for the Chicago Times, published a collection of his narratives from 1876 through 1879 titled “War-path and Bivouac, or the Conquest of the Sioux.” Here follows an excerpt: Dawn had not yet begun to tinge the horizon above the eastern bluffs, when every man of the expedition was astir. How it came about, I know not, but, I suppose, each company commander was quietly notified by the headquarter’s orderlies to get under arms. Low cooking fires were allowed to be kindled, so that the men might have coffee before moving farther down the cañon, and every horse and mule was saddled and loaded with military despatch. Finerty notes that the Indians had a feast the night before and that the following morning the Crow were reluctant to go forward to meet the Sioux and Cheyenne, the Shoshone, however, showed some “martial alacrity.” They [the Cavalry and Scouts] got their horses ready, looked to their arms, and, at last, in the dim morning light, a large party left camp and speedily disappeared over the crests of the northern bluffs. Finerty describes the Infantry moving out with their mules and other equipment. The Cavalry being generally bored and some even taking naps in the saddle until they all began with the “regularity of a machine complicated.” We marched in this fashion, the cavalry finally outstripping the infantry, halting occasionally, until the sun was well above the horizon. At about 8 o’clock, we halted in a valley, very similar in formation to the one in which we had pitched our camp the preceding night. Rosebud stream, indicated by the thick growth of wild roses, or sweet brier, from which its name is derived, flowed sluggishly through it, dividing it from south to north into almost equal parts. Our battalion (Mill’s) occupied the right bank of the creek, with the 2d Cavalry, while on the left bank were the infantry and Henry’s and Van Vliet’s battalions of the 3d Cavalry. The pack train was also on that side of the stream, together with such of the Indians as did not move out before daybreak to look for the Sioux, whom they were by no means anxious to find. The young warriors of the two tribes were running races with their ponies, and the soldiers in their vicinity were enjoying the sport hugely. At 8:30 o’clock, without any warning, we heard a few shots from behind the bluffs to the north. “They are shooting buffalo over there,” said the Captain [Sutorius]. Very soon we began to know, by the alternate rise and fall of the reports, that the shots were not all fired on one direction. Hardly had we reached this conclusion, when a score or two of our Indian scouts appeared upon the northern crest, and rode down the slopes with incredible speed. “Saddle up, there - saddle up, there, quick!” shouted Colonel Mills, and immediately all the cavalry within sight, without waiting for formal orders, were mounted and ready for action. General Crook, who appreciated the situation, had already ordered the companies of the 4th and 9th Infantry, posted at the foot of the northern slopes, to deploy as skirmishers, leaving their mules with the holders. Hardly had this precaution been taken, when the flying Crow and Snake [Shoshone] scouts, utterly panic stricken, came into camp shouting at the top of their voices, “Heap Sioux! Heap Sioux!” gesticulating wildly in the direction of the bluffs which they had abandoned in such haste. All looked in that direction, and there, sure enough, were the Sioux in goodly numbers, and in loose, but formidable array. The singing of the bullets above our heads speedily convinced us that they had called on business. Finerty doesn’t run out of adjectives to describe the bravery and fortitude of his company; Finerty never holds his callous estimation for the “inferior” race in check, clearly showing present day readers he was a man of his time. “Why the d---l don’t they order us to charge?” asked the brave Von Leutwitz. “Here comes Lemley (the regimental adjutant) now,” answered Sutorius. “How do you feel about it, eh?” he inquired, turning to me. “It is the anniversary of Bunker Hill,” was my answer. “The day of good omen.” “By Jove, I never thought of that,” cried Sutorius, and (loud enough for the soldiers to hear) “It is the anniversary of Bunker Hill, we’re in luck.” The men waved their carbines, but didn’t cheer. Lemley came bounding up on his horse. “The commanding officer’s compliments, Colonel Mill!” he yelled. “Your battalion will charge those bluffs on the center.” Mills shouted the charge, and Troops A, E, I, and M went to meet the Sioux on the bluff. At about fifty paces the Sioux line broke. When Mills and his troops reached the crest of the bluff, they immediately formed a line. General Crook ordered the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Cavalry under Col. Guy V. Henry to charge the right flank of the broken Sioux line. General Crook kept five troops of the 2d Cavalry, under Noyes, in reserve, and ordered Troops C and G of the 3d Cavalry, under Captain Van Vliet and Lieutenant Crawford, to occupy the bluffs on our left rear, so as to check any movement that might be made by the wily enemy from that direction. General Crook estimated that they faced a Sioux force of about 2,500 warriors. The Sioux reformed another line on the second line of heights from Rosebud Creek. Finerty suggests that it was likely Crazy Horse directing and signaling the Sioux with a pocket mirror. Under Crook’s orders, our whole line remounted, and, after another rapid charge, we became masters of the second crest. When we got there, another just like it rose on the other side of the valley. There, too, were the savages, as fresh, apparently, as ever. We dismounted accordingly, and the firing began again. Colonel Mills, who had active charge of our operations, wished to dislodge them. The firefight shifted from Mills’ position to Maj. Evan’s position to the left. Mills led a charge into the valley under cover of the rocky terrain there. The Crow and Shoshone joined the fight led by Maj. Randall. The two bodies of savages, all stripped to the breech-clout, moccasins, and war bonnet, came together in the trough of the valley, the Sioux having descended to meet our allies with right good will. They began a most exciting encounter. Our regulars did not fire because it would have been sure death to some of the friendly Indians, who were barely distinguishable by a red badge which they carried. An Infantryman, Sergeant Van Moll joined the fight. Finerty found it strange that casualties on both sides couldn’t have exceeded more than twenty-five; he also remarks that war cries were constant on both sides. Since this fight was an “Indian” fight, one could safely speculate that the warriors on both sides were fighting for war honors, such as counting coup. Sergeant Van Moll found himself fighting alone, when the Shoshone and Crow fled from the Sioux. A diminutive Crow scout, “Humpy,” made a bold rescue of Van Moll – and returned to the cheers of all the Cavalry and Scouts. In order to check the insolence of the Sioux, we were compelled to drive them from the ridge. Colonel Royall met with difficulty on his front. Captain Vroom was deceived by the terrain and became overwhelmed. Lieutenant Foster and Lieutenant Morton, and Captain Andrews (Troop I) extricated Vroom. In repelling the audacions [sic] charge of the Cheyennes upon his battalion, the undaunted Colonel Henry, one of the most accomplished officers in the army, was struck by a bullet, which passed through both cheek bones, broke the bridge of his nose and destroyed the optic nerve in one eye. His orderly, in attempting to assist him, was also wounded, but temporarily blinded as he was, and throwing blood from his mouth by the handful, Henry sat his horse for several minutes in front of the enemy. He finally fell to the ground, and, as that portion of our line, discouraged by the fall of so brave a chief, gave ground a little, the Sioux charged over his prostrate body, but were speedily repelled, and he was happily rescued by some soldiers of his command. As the day advanced, General Crook became tired of the indecisiveness of the action, and resolved to bring matters to a crisis. He rode up to where the officers of Mill’s battalion were standing, or sitting, behind their men, who were prone to skirmish line, and said, in effect, “It is time to stop this skirmishing, Colonel. You must take your battalion and go for their village away down the cañon.” “All right, sir,” replied Mills, and the order to retire and remount was given. The Indians, thinking we were retreating, became audacious, and fairly hailed bullets after us, wounding several soldiers. Our men, under the eyes of the officers, retired in orderly time, and the whistling of the bullets could not induce them to forget that they were American soldiers. Under such conditions, it was easy to understand how steady discipline can conquer mere numbers. The bluffs, on both sides of the ravine, were thickly covered with rocks and fir trees, thus affording ample protection to the enemy, and making it impossible for our cavalry to act as flankers. We began to think our force rather weak for so venturous an enterprise, but Lieutenant Bourke informed the colonel [Mills] that the five troops of the 2d Cavalry, under Major Noyes, were marching behind us. A slight rise in the valley enabled us to see the dust stirred up by the supporting columns some distance in the rear. The day had become absolutely perfect, and we all felt elated, exhilarated as we were by our morning’s experience. Nevertheless, some of the more thoughtful officers has their misgivings, because the cañon was certainly a most dangerous defile, where all the advantage would be on the side of the savages. Noyes, marching his battalion rapidly, soon overtook our rear guard, and the whole column increased its pace. Fresh signs of Indians began to appear in all directions, and we began to feel that the sighting of their village must be only a question of a few miles further on. We came to a halt in a kind of cross cañon, which had an opening toward the west, and there tightened up our horse girths, and got ready for what we believed must be a desperate fight. Finerty remarked that Gruard’s keen ears heard gunfire toward the “occident.” Major A. H. Nickerson raced to where Colonel Mills and other officers were on the bluffs. “Mills,”he [Maj. Nickerson] said,”Royall is hard pressed, and must be relieved. Henry is badly wounded, and Vroom’s troop is all cut up. The General orders that you and Noyes defile by your left flank out of this cañon and fall on the rear of the Indians who are pressing Royall.” This, then was the firing that Gruard had heard. Crook’s order was instantly obeyed, and we were fortunate enough to find a comparatively easy way out of the elongated trap into which duty had led us. We defiled as nearly as possible, by the heads of companies, in parallel columns, so as to carry out the order with greater celerity. They carefully moved around boulders and fallen timbers. When they crested the crown of the plateau, they could hear the attack on Royall’s troop. “Prepare to mount - mount!” shouted the officers, and we were again in the saddle. Then we urged our animals to their best pace, and speedily came in view of the contending parties. The Indians had their ponies, mostly guarded by mere boys, in rear of the low, rocky crest which they occupied. The position held by Royall rose somewhat higher, and both lines could be seen at a glance. There was very heavy firing, and the Sioux were evidently preparing to make an attack in force, as they were riding in by the score, especially from the point abandoned by Mill’s battalion in its movement down the cañon, and which was partially held thereafter by the friendly Indians, a few infantry and a body of sturdy mule packers, commanded by the brave Tom Moore, who fought on that day as if he had been private soldier. Suddenly the Sioux lookouts observed our unexpected approach, and gave the alarm to their friends. We dashed forward at a wild gallop, cheering as we went, and I am sure we were all anxious at that moment to avenge our comrades of Henry’s battalion. But the cunning savages did not wait for us. They picked up their wounded, all but thirteen of their dead, and broke away to the northwest on their fleet ponies, leaving us only the thirteen “scalps,” 150 dead horses and ponies and a few old blankets and war bonnets as trophies of the fray. Our losses, including the friendly Indians, amounted to about fifty, most of the casualties being the 3rd Cavalry, which bore the brunt of the fight on the Rosebud. Thus ended the engagement which was the prelude to the great tragedy that occurred eight days later in the neighboring valley of the Little Big Horn. According to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, Finerty was born in Galway, Ireland, 1846, immigrated to the United States in 1864 and immediately enlisted in the Ninety-Ninth Regiment of the New York State Militia. During the “Indian Wars,” Finerty corresponded with at least three newspapers, most often with the Chicago Times, during the “Indian Wars” from 1876-1881. He established his own weekly paper, the Citizen in 1882 and the following year was elected to the Forty-eighth Congress as an Independent Democrat. He died in June of 1908 and was interned in Cavalry Cemetery , Chicago, Ill. Wednesday, April 13, 2011 Catlin Secured the Trust of the Mandan "Catlin Painting the Portrait of Mah-To-Toh-Pa," George Catlin. George Catlin, Lawyer Turned Artist Secures Trust Of The Mandan Indians By Dakota Wind GREAT PLAINS - In the summer of 1833, George Catlin, after visiting tribes like the Blackfoot, Crow, and Assiniboine among others, descended the Missouri River to Fort Clark from Yellowstone country. His aim, to finally meet for himself the Mandan Indians of whom he had heard so much about from General William Clark. Catlin noted that the Mandan were very secure with little to fear with their fortifications at the edges of their two villages. When he got off the steamboat, he mentioned that hundreds of Mandan were standing about to greet the occupants as they disembarked. Catlin may have received a warm welcome to Fort Clark from the natives living in the fort’s proximity, but he had to do more to gain their trust and respect. He made his acquaintances with the two of the Mandans’ chiefs in one village and he did so by taking long the tools of his trade, his paints. Catlin painted the civil chief, or first chief, Ha-na-ta-nu-mauk, Wolf Chief, and didn’t necessarily walk away from this meeting with the trust he thought he could earn. When Catlin painted Mah-to-toh-pay, the popular Four Bears, the artist left the session greatly impressed by the grace and dignity of that mighty warrior. Catlin painted both men in the privacy of an improvised studio within the walls of Fort Clark. Catlin learned from his earlier experiences painting his Indian subjects that he would either be met with adulation for his craft or intense superstitious wariness. After the paintings were showcased to the Mandan, reactions were as Catlin expected, from wonder and praise to horror and disbelief. A tribal council was called and, as tribal councils go, they argued with all the seriousness as though they had convened to go to war. Eventually, they decided that Catlin was doing good work. With all due haste, the Mandan council smoked a pipe and slew a dog – whose remains they hung over Catlin’s door at the fort - in ceremony to Catlin’s continued good health. One tribal council dissenter, a medicine man named Mah-to-he-hah, Old Bear, went on strike outside Catlin’s makeshift studio and berated all who would have their portrait painted by the Anglo artist. Catlin approached art as a matter of the heart, as any artist might well tell you, but to American Indians, art is a matter of the spirit, and as such, art, ceremony, and religious study go hand in hand. For Catlin, art was a way to hold onto a moment. For the Mandan and the American Indian in general, art - and later photography - captured the living essence of a person forever - and, one could argue, that’s what art/photography is supposed to do. Regardless how one interprets art, Catlin casually disregards the native interpretation of his craft. In any event, Catlin held the steadfast support of two Mandan chiefs and the approval of the rest of the tribal council, but neglected to garner the support of the religious leader, until the day after the tribal council. He then stroked the ego of Old Bear, saying that he much admired the medicine man, and that the portraits of the two chiefs were merely practice so that he could do right by Old Bear’s portrait. Catlin’s strategy worked. Old Bear spent the better part of a morning preparing to pose for Catlin. He took himself to a steam bath, or sweat lodge. He painted himself in his medicine colors, and dressed in his finest. He wore his finest moccasins with fox tails attached the heels. Catlin observed that Old Bear brought with him two medicine pipes. However, on close inspection of the color plate of the image, it would seem Old Bear brought only the pipe stems. Old Bear also wears no headdress, but instead feathers indicating his valor as a warrior, counting coup, and protecting his people. It could be speculated that Old Bear wanted his image captured as he wanted to be remembered, a warrior, as a defender of his people. Catlin writes, “He took his position in the middle of the room, waving his eagle calumets in each hand and singing his medicine song ...looking me full in the face until I completed his picture, which I painted full length. His vanity was completely gratified by the operation. He lay for hours together, day after day in front of the picture, gazing upon it; lit my pipe for me as I was painting; shook my hands a dozen times each day; and enlarged upon my virtues and talents...and became my strongest supporter in the community.” A conjecture might be that the Mandan holy man wanted some of Catlin’s skill or craft to rub off onto him. Equal to securing the interest and any assistance from the Mandan was garnering favor with the second-chief, or war chief, Mah-to-toh-pay, Four Bears, the Mandan’s most beloved chief. Four Bears took a liking to Catlin, perhaps a brotherly connection that grew out of mutual fascination for the other’s foreign ways. Four Bears escorted Catlin arm-in-arm from his studio, through the village, to Four Bears’ family lodge, where a small feast was held in Catlin’s honor. Four Bears seated Catlin on a painted robe, a very high honor, and briefly smoked from Four Bears’ own pipe. Catlin enjoyed a three-course meal of bison ribs, ground prairie turnips, and pemmican. He ate alone, while Four Bears and his wives (perhaps wife and daughters) waited on him. Afterward, they enjoyed a smoke together again, “for a quarter of an hour,” Catlin estimates. After the feast and smoke were completed, Catlin was presented with Four Bears’ own exploit robe - the very robe on which he had Catlin sit on! The pipe from which they smoked together was also presented to Catlin. Then, the Mandan regarded Catlin as a great medicine painter. They still recall him so to this day. Thursday, April 7, 2011 The Code of the West, a Worthy Ideal "Assiniboine hunting buffalo," by Paul Kane The Code Of The West Worthy Ideals To Practice By Dakota Wind THE GREAT PLAINS - The following is a commentary about the American West and the ideals of the west at the turn of 1900. Zane Grey wrote about life in the American west at the end of the nineteenth century. Though his observations about life on the frontier were largely based on his Southwest experiences, his writings could easily have been about life anywhere in the American western frontier. There are various interpretations of his “Code of the West,” an unwritten code that frontier men and women lived by. This unwritten code, of necessity, applied to all races and both sexes living in the frontier era. If one were to carefully examine the origin of the cowboy culture one finds an interesting twist. The rodeo comes from the Mexican vaqueros and early American cowboys and began as an extension of everyday life for the cowboy such as branding, roping, racing, and general riding. Who made up the cowboy? According to Dee Brown's The American West, we see the cowboy population made up of about 1/3 white, 1/3 black, and the last 1/3 consisting of Mexicans and American Indians. Race had no impact on the job that needed to get done, but Hollywood and associated media have frozen the west as something between Cowboys and Indians, with cowboys almost exclusively being white. Were one to review the Bismarck Tribune of the 1870s and 1880s, one would find this to certainly be true, at least in Dakota Territory. Certainly movies are about heroes, villains, and motivations. And movies, especially movies about the West, have served to perpetuate the West as being about the cowboy against the Indian. Media about the Little Big Horn have gone from good guy vs. bad guy, to romantic reluctant soldier vs. going-down-with-a-fight, stoic, heroic underdog. One element remains missing from Raoul Walsh's They Died with their Boots On to Steven Spielberg's Into the West, and that is the simple fact that many American Indians were peaceful, and on their reservations; some were there by choice and others by force, though all practiced the unwritten code to some degree with their fellow frontiersman. A general etiquette practiced amongst code followers was never to pester people about where they came from, what they did, or what their names were. Given the backgrounds of many people (social, political, religious, ethnic, legal, etc.) who had left much, if not everything behind to go west, it was best to hold one's peace. There is nothing political, social, or racial about the code. It worked person to person then, and it works person to person today. Below is an interpretation of the code from Dakota Livesay's Chronicle of the Old West: 1. Respect yourself and others. 2. Accept responsibility for your life. 3. Be positive and cheerful. 4. Be a person of your word. 5. Go the distance. 6. Be fair in all your dealings. 7. Be a good friend and neighbor. Hopalong Cassidy's take on the code stressed humility, thrift, conservation, obedience to the law, and pride that one is born in America. Roy Rodgers mentions that one should protect the weak and offer assistance, a love for God, and American patriotism. Gene Autry includes all the above, and adds that a cowboy is free of racial and religious prejudice. Zane Grey in his Lone Star Ranger's Creed argues that we should live by the rule of what is the best for the greatest number. A logic that fits the times he lived in, where Manifest Destiny was the most true, righteous, and logical choice of action to pursue to make our country better. However, Grey continues, “That sooner or later…somewhere…somehow…we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.”
Excess rain in floodplains sets food-chain phenomenon in motion March 14, 2015 Updated: March 15, 2015 1:07am As a great egret stalks a meal, a great blue heron holds a crawfish it plucked from the temporary wetland habitat created by recent minor flooding along the San Jacinto River. Photo: Picasa Photo: Picasa The crawfish never saw it coming. All the big, red swamp crawfish knew - if, indeed, crustaceans operate on anything higher than simple instinct - was that one moment it was swimming/crawling in a newly created aquatic wonderland rich with the soft vegetation on which it and hundreds of others of its kind were gorging. The next, it was being jerked from the water, clasped firmly by the twin yellow spikes that are the bill of a great blue heron. The intersection of the heron and the crawfish's lives, which occurred this past week along the San Jacinto River, is just a part of the wide and complex natural drama triggered by an event playing out along scores of waterways, large and small, across eastern Texas. Runoff from heavy March rains has poured into streams and rivers and reservoirs, swelling those waterways beyond limits of their channels, spilling over the banks and inundating the adjacent floodplain. These natural pulses of water, usually but not always annual events associated with heavy rains from late winter through early summer, set in motion a series of interconnected phenomenon that are crucial to the health and even the survival of all life, aquatic and terrestrial, tied to those waterways. And the effects touch the humans whose lives are enriched by their interaction with that world, whether it's through a bond made using a fishing rod or simply by being amazed and enlightened by observing the intricacies and interconnections of nature. Crawfish are just one of those intricacies. The crawfish wildly but ineffectively snapping its pincers at the heron's bill owed its situation to the over-bank flooding. Just a day or two earlier, the crustacean had been in a kind of hibernation, snug in a burrow excavated in the soft alluvial soil of the forested floodplain and plugged with a dried clot of mud. But as the water rose and covered the burrow, the plug softened and the crawfish exited into the newly flooded world. It was not alone. Thousands of crawfish that had wintered in similar burrows swarmed from their burrow and began a ritual as old as their species. Food chain All around the crawfish was food, from soft, newly sprouted plants to the worms and insects flushed from their winter homes in the detritus. Crawfish thrive in this temporarily flooded terrestrial habitat, the adults growing fat and the year's crop of young crawfish growing fast. Without the annual flooding, the crawfish languish. With it, they thrive. And so do the creatures that feed on crawfish. That includes birds such as the herons - great blue, little blue, tricolored - and the egrets - great and snowy - I watched stalking the shallows of the flooded riverine forest along the San Jacinto this past week. The birds, desperately seeking nutrition after winter's lean season and needing to put on crucial reserves for the physically demanding nesting season just ahead, were gorging on crawfish and the occasional small fish - mostly catfish, but a few gizzard and threadfin shad - that had sought refuge from the river's roiling current by moving into the calmer backwaters. There were other fish in the flooded backwaters, too. Bigger fish. Hungry fish. Over-bank flooding allow fish access to areas they usually can't reach. For some, this means a welcomed buffet, courtesy of the abundance of crawfish and other forage in the floodplain. Particularly for catfish and freshwater drum (gaspergou) but also white bass and even largemouth bass, flooding proves a great opportunity to access prey. And this can mean good fishing for anglers who find areas where fish are concentrated. But not all the forage that flooding makes available to fish is beneficial. Flooding often inundates fire ant colonies, which escape their mounds by gathering in large "balls" holding hundreds or thousands of ants that float on the surface. Also, spring rain often trigger massive mating flights of fire ants, with many of these ants falling back to earth and into waterways after their mating flights. Fish sometimes find these floating clusters of invasive fire ants irresistible and eat them by the hundreds. The effect can be fatal. The toxins in fire ants are considerable, as anyone who has endured their stings can attest. Fish that eat large quantities of fire ants often do not survive. One of the most extreme documented examples of this occurred on the Guadalupe River after a heavy rain and runoff event in 1998. An estimated 22,000 rainbow trout died from eating fire ants that were washed or fell into the river. The stomach of one trout examined by state fisheries scientist investigating the incident held approximately 500 fire ants. 'A lot of good things' The fisheries-related positives of regular flooding along waterways far outweighs such aberrant negatives. "There aren't many negative impacts of these high-water pulses, and there are a lot of good things," said Craig Bonds, director of inland fisheries for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. One of the big ones is reconnecting usually isolated waters such as tributaries and sloughs and oxbows with main waterways, allowing fresh infusions of fish and, perhaps more important, nutrients to those waters. Runoff carries huge loads of nutrients in its muddy water - nutrients that fuel the base of the food chain and support a healthy ecosystem below and above the water. Flooding also creates new fish habitat by inundating terrestrial vegetation along the edges of slough, oxbows and reservoirs. That creates an abundance of habitat for aquatic insects, other invertebrates such as crawfish and snails as well as vertebrates such as frogs and other amphibians and reptiles that are forage for fish and wildlife. That flooded vegetation, limbs, logs and other items also provides cover for fish fry and fingerlings, increasing survival of those young fish. The very survival of some fish depends on rivers and streams slipping their banks, flooding terrestrial vegetation and maintaining a strong current in their channels. "There are some fish species that are flood-plain adapted; they require floods or strong currents that come with high-water pulses for some part of their life cycle," said Bonds. White bass are one. The fish spawn in rivers and streams, depending on a steady current to carry their fertilized eggs downstream, high in the water column until they hatch and the fry can begin making their way in the world. Paddlefish have similar reproductive behavior - broadcast spawning in strong-flowing water. But while white bass can reproduce in relatively small waterways, paddlefish require waterways with much larger water volume and strong steady current. Such conditions have become increasingly hard to find in Texas as building of dams has drastically changed length and duration of flooding and other natural river hydrology. Because of this, paddlefish have almost disappeared from Texas and are now a protected species. Rare sighting Alligator gar, the largest freshwater fish in Texas, also depend on regular over-bank flooding of waterways for their survival. These ancient, armored fish have successful spawns only when rivers jump their banks and flood brush and grasses and other terrestrial vegetation. Gar are group spawners, with males and fecund females gathering in large concentrations in flooded shallows where females release eggs and males fertilize them. The sticky fertilized eggs attach to flooded vegetation, where they remain until they hatch. If the water level drops before the eggs hatch, the eggs are lost and with them the year's chance at a successful spawn. Witnessing alligator gar spawning is a rare and impressive thing - huge fish, some weighing more than 100 pounds, wallowing and splashing and writhing in inches-deep water, spray flying, and a sound like gravel grinding as their thick-scaled bodies slam against each other. I've seen it just three times, all of them along the Trinity River during spring or early summer when the river spilled out of its banks swamping stands of lizardtail and palmetto in the floodplain. It's something you don't forget - just like so many of the other vignettes that are part and parcel of life along a flooded waterway. Shannon Tompkins Shannon Tompkins Reporter / Columnist, Houston Chronicle
East of Madagascar, a little corner of France floats in the tropical waters just south of the equator. It’s surrounded by pristine beaches, dressed in the finery of verdant forests and topped with the majestic Piton de Neiges: a towering volcano and the highest point in the Indian Ocean. The island of Réunion’s a collage of microclimates offering a variety of geological wonders, from lunar landscapes to breathtaking waterfalls. Reflecting that diversity is Réunion’s people, a population of Creoles as richly diverse as their island home. Réunion’s History and Heritage Cheval Grand Etang Cheval Grand Etang Photo: Emmanuel-Virin Réunion had been known for many years to Arab, Malay and European sailors who visited this small island during their voyages, but none laid claim to the land. In the early 1500s, Portuguese explorers led by Dom Pedro Mascarenhas (of Mascarene Archipelago fame) visited the island. Aside from naming it Santa Apolónia, the Portuguese left little imprint behind, and the uninhabited island remained a virtually- untouched way station in the sea. Later, Dutch and English sailors landed on the island, but it wasn’t until 1642 that the French arrived, claiming the island in the name of King Louis XIII and christened it with a new name: Ile Bourbon. Colonists took up residence, and a population mix of white French landowners and slaves of African and Malagasy ancestry began to slowly develop. The island persisted mostly as a convenient trading post for mariner merchants and pirates for some time. In the early- to mid-1700s, coffee came to the island, and that valuable cash crop proved to grow extremely well in the fertile soil and tropical environment of Bourbon. Coffee was profusely planted throughout the island, and other crops were eventually added to the agricultural enterprise, including cotton, sugar cane, vanilla, nutmeg and other spices. Planting and harvesting all these crops required a large workforce, and slave labour provided the muscle well into the mid-1800s. In 1794, the island received another new name–Réunion–in honour of the union between revolutionaries following the French Revolution. Réunion would soon give way to the name Ile Bonaparte, then return to Bourbon, then finally settle on Réunion once again, the name which has remained to this day. In 1946, Réunion became an official colony of France, and as such, is considered French soil. A Multicultural Creole Population Piton De La Fournaise Piton De La Fournaise En Eruption Photo: Serge-Gelabert Réunion received with open arms a wide variety of foreign travellers over hundreds of years. This has resulted in a population mix that reflects the rich diversity of all those who have visited Réunion’s sandy shores since the 1600s, including those who only briefly visited, and those who went on to make Réunion their new permanent home. Réunion’s present-day mélange of demographics is a result of this centuries-long process of combining and recombining races representing geographic locations across many points of the globe. Both respected French landowners and imprisoned French convicts came to the island early on. Slave populations imported from Madagascar, Africa, China, India (Malbars), Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Thailand, Burma and other locations mixed with each other and also with people of French heritage. People from nearby regions who came to participate in trade, and pirates, who might have hailed from exotic points unknown and roamed the wide expanses of the sea only to weigh anchor at Réunion, also contributed to the diverse heritage of the island’s population. It’s accurate to label all Réunion inhabitants Creole, since the existence of Réunion’s entire population¡s directly attributable to the influx of foreigners. Each group coming to the island brought their own background and heritage from various places of origin. The resulting mix of populations is inevitably Creole in nature. And what a multifaceted Creole population it is too. Rather than a mix of just a few peoples, the permutations of blends to be found in Réunion exhibit a richness of variety found in few other places in the world. It’s more than just the blending of bloodlines. The cultural icons, cherished songs and dances, revered religions and other treasures of heritage are preserved, mixed and shared among the 800,000 people living in Réunion today. While French remains the official language of the island, the lingua franca of Creole has gathered steam and is growing in popular usage. More publications than ever are being released or translated into Creole, and Creole music, art, storytelling and poetry continue to enjoy an increased popularity among the residents of Réunion. Creole of Réunion The people of Réunion share a common ancestry: the ancestry of immigration. It’s this shared diversity that brings together Catholics, Hindus and Muslims. True to the island’s name, this common heritage of diverse backgrounds is what unites people of Chinese Indian, French, African and other ancestries, forming a union of Creole people living together under the shared banner of “Réunion.”
Рефераты по иностранным языкам A Brief History of the English Language English is a member of the Indo-European family of languages. This broad family includes most of the European languages spoken today. The Indo-European family includes several major branches: Latin and the modern Romance languages (French etc.); the Germanic languages (English, German, Swedish etc.); the Indo-Iranian languages (Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit etc.); the Slavic languages (Russian, Polish, Czech etc.); the Baltic languages of Latvian and Lithuanian; the Celtic languages (Welsh, Irish Gaelic etc.); Greek. 24 Мая 2014 Тип работы: контрольная работа Скачать A history of cybernetic movement in the USA Key events in the history of cybernetics and the American Society for Cybernetics are discussed, among them the origin of cybernetics in the Macy Foundation conferences in the late 1940s and early 1950s; different interpretations of cybernetics by several professional societies; reasons why the U.S. government did or did not support cybernetics in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s; early experiments in cyberspace in the 1970s; conversations with Soviet scientists in the 1980s; the development of "second order" cybernetics in the 1990s; and increased interest in cybernetics in Europe and the United States in the 2000s, due at least in part to improved understanding of the assumptions underlying the cybernetics movement. 09 Июня 2013 Тип работы: реферат Скачать A talent management system A talent management system (TMS) is an integrated software suite that addresses the “four pillars” of talent management: recruitment; performance management; learning and development; and compensation management.[1] This is more than an employee tracking or HRMS system, yet it integrates well with your existing HRMS system. Some features of the system include: Recruit and Hire the Best Talent for Your Job Dramatically Improve Performance of Your Team and Organization Inspire Employees and Teams to Higher Performance 16 Июня 2013 Тип работы: реферат Скачать A Visit to the Theatre We have a very beatiful theatre in our town. It is a modern building situated not far from the center of Burshtyn. The visitors can enjoy watching dramas, tragedies, comedies and sometimes an opera or a ballet. The visitors usually buy tickets beforehand in the ticket booths or in the ticket box offices. Theatrical shows usually start at 7:00 p.m. When you go in, you enter the foyer, then you come to the cloak-room, where we leave our coats and hats. You can also take opera glasses there. 22 Ноября 2013 Тип работы: контрольная работа Скачать Abai Kunanbaev Abai Kunanbaev - great poet, writer, public figure, founder of the modern Kazakh written literature, culture reformer in spirit of rapprochement with Russian and European culture on the basis of the educated liberal Islam. Abai was born on August 10, 1845 in Chingiz Mountains, Semipalatinsk region (nowadays administrative division) He was the son of one of four Kunanbai’s wives. Abai’s family was aristocratic, both grandfather (Oskenbai) and great-grandfather (Irgizbai) predominated over the sort as governors. He was lucky relatively to family cosiness and house upbringing as both mother Ulzhan and grandmother Zere were extremely charming and gifted natures. 09 Марта 2014 Тип работы: доклад Скачать About Australia Краткий доклад об Австралии на английском языке. 25 Сентября 2012 Тип работы: доклад Скачать About This Book The stories in this book were selected especially for five-year-olds. But older children may enjoy hearing them too. And beginning readers may delight in reading these tales for The stories were selected from a wide range of sources, all of which are now in the public domain since they were published in the United States prior to 1923. 16 Августа 2013 Тип работы: реферат Скачать Abstract on a theme: Arthur Conan Doyle Undershaw, the home near Hindhead, south of London that Arthur Conan Doyle had built and lived in for at least a decade, was a hotel and restaurant from 1924 until 2004. It was then bought by a developer, and has since been empty while conservationists and Conan Doyle fans fight to preserve it. 22 Апреля 2013 Тип работы: реферат Скачать Accidental Rise I used an Accidental Rise, because I wanted to make one word of the sentence more prominent than the others. Alternative Questions. Alternative questions have the low-rising nuclear tone in the first intonation-group and the low-falling nuclear tone in the final intonation-group. Disjunctive Question. Disjunctive question consists of two intonation-groups. The first intonation-group has generally the low-falling nuclear tone. I used the low-rising nuclear tone in the final intonation-group to show that I am not certain of the facts expressed in the first part of the question. But I could also use the low-falling nuclear tone in the tag to show that I am certain of the facts expressed in the first part of the question. 16 Июня 2013 Тип работы: реферат Скачать Accounting for vacation pay in USA acation - a temporary leave from work during the week for a certain period of time for recreation and other social purposes while maintaining the same work. It may come as a surprise that there are no U.S. laws requiring employers to offer vacation time whether paid or unpaid to its workers. The U.S. is one of the few industrialized nations where the government does not regulate benefits in the private work sector. 1) Enjoying some paid time off from work this summer? Please do, but don’t take that time for granted. That's the main idea of the article “Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?” written by A. Pawlowski. If you like to take lots of vacation, the United States is not the place to work. 12 Мая 2013 Тип работы: реферат Скачать
posted by . The blck mamba is one of the world's most poisonous snakes, and with a maximum speed of 18.0 km/h, it is also the fastest. Suppose a mamba waiting in a hide-out sees prey and begins slithering toward it with a velocity of +18.0 km/h. After 2.50 s, the mamba realizes that its prey can move faster than it can. The snake then turns around and slowly returns to its hide-out in 12.0 s. Caclulate the mamba's average velocity suring its return to the hideout. • Taylor - Respond to this Question First Name School Subject Your Answer Similar Questions 1. History What are the most poisonous animals in the world and also one of the smallest? 2. ms.sue 3 grade english fact and opionion a statement of fact can be proved true or false. a statement of opinion gives someone's thoughts or feelings about something. words that express feelings,such as best and amazing,ate clues that a sentence is probably … 3. Physics 4. Physics Vertical beam of mercury (Hg atomic mass =202u) atoms emerges from the oven kept at T= 400K. Consider three atoms, emerging from the oven: one with the average speed, one with the rms speed, and the other with the most probable speed … 5. Language Arts When Louis Meyer was five years old, her mother took her to a science museum. That day, young Louis encountered her first snakes, and she's be fascinated with the reptiles ever since. Meyer now breeds snakes for educational programs. … 6. Philosphy - Dream Interpreations I recently just had a dream when I was alone in my room enjoying myself and suddenly about 4-5 to what I perceived as venomous snakes, each with a vivid and distinct coloring design, appeared from the trashcan in the room and start … 7. Physics A black mamba snake has a length of 4.3 m and a top speed of 8.9 m/s! Suppose a mongoose and a black mamba find themselves nose to nose. In an effort to escape, the snake accelerates at 20 m/s2 from rest. (a) How much time does it … 8. English In which sentence is the nonessential clause CAPITALIZED? 9. english In which sentence is the NONESSENTIAL CLAUSE underlined? 10. English 9 A Hi! I need some help, also when checking my answers can you tell me an easy way to remember if a sentence has an essential clause or nonessential clause? More Similar Questions
posted by . An example of back-formation is Respond to this Question First Name School Subject Your Answer Similar Questions 1. formation an example of back formation is A)persuasive B}Conciliator C}Sensitize D}Escalate 2. back formation 3. Chemistry An ion can be removed from an aqueous solution by 1. formation of a precipitate. 2. the formation of a gas that escapes. 3. All of these 4. the formation of what is essentially a nonelectrolyte. 4. College Chem Calculate the enthalpy of reaction from the standard enthalpies of formation of the reactant and product molecules. 2C2H6+7O2-->4CO2+6H20 I am using the back of my book for the standard enthalpies of formation, but cannot seem to … 5. english 10 examples of back formation 6. English An example of back-formation is 7. analytical chemistry A solution containing both Fe 3+ and Al 3+ can be selectively analyzed for Fe 3+ by buffering to a pH of 2 and titrating with EDTA. Th e pH of the solution is then raised to 5 and an excess of EDTA added, resulting in the formation … 8. Science 1. Which of the following is evidence that groundwater cause erosion and deposition ? 9. English 1. The team usually plays in a 4-4-2 formation. (at a soccer game) 2. two center forwards (= two strikers) 3. side midfielder (=left midfielder) two central midfielders side midfielder (=right midfielder) 4. fullback ( =left back = … 10. Physical Education What does 'fullback' mean in soccer/or football? More Similar Questions
Social Studies 8R - HELP! posted by . Is the steel industry that Carnegie controlled made him a a robber baron or no what made him a robber baron is that he succeed which included exploiting workers and others. • Social Studies 8R - HELP! - He was a robber baron because he used unethical tactics to defeat his steel company competitors and exploited his workers. In other words, he stole from both other companies and his employees. • Social Studies 8R - HELP! - I was partciality right just forgot one more detail Thank You Ms. Sue! :) Now I understand btw -- when do you mean he stole from his "employees" and as for other companies you mean ideas right? • Social Studies 8R - HELP! - also what does unethical tactics means??? • Social Studies 8R - HELP! - Carnegie also charged his customers less than his costs so that they would buy from him rather than from his competitors. He stole from his employees by underpaying and overworking them. • Social Studies 8R - HELP! - thanks! :) • Social Studies 8R - HELP! - You're welcome. Respond to this Question First Name School Subject Your Answer Similar Questions 1. U.S. history What were the requirements and benifits from being a robber baron in the 1800's? 2. Social Studies 8R - HELP! Why do you think some people called Vanderbilt Robber Baron? 3. Social Studies 8R - HELP!!! Why do you think some people called Rockefeller a Robber Baron? 4. Social Studoes 8R - help!!!!! (please) Why do you think some people called Carnegie called a Robber Baron? 5. SS8R: Robber Baron or Captains of Industry Project Create a PowerPoint about your Captains of Industry (min. 7 slides) I chosen Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt for me previous assignment (that's why I ask you those questions about them). Now I have to … 6. U.S. History I have to have an introductory paragraph with thesis statement and a good tone is this good? 7. is this good U.S. History essay John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie were all big business leaders in the 1800s. Some Americans viewed these business leaders as “robber barons” but others saw them as “Captains of industry”. People classified … 8. US History Evaluate the evidence presented by Rice and Rockefeller. What light do they shed on the Robber Baron Industrial Statesman debate? 9. history Who was the titan of industry, or the so-called robber baron, most closely associatedwith the railroad industry. 10. Algebra After robbing a bank in Dodge City, a robber gallops off at 12 mi/h. 30 minutes later, the marshall leaves to pursue the robber at 16 mi/h. How long (in hours) does it take the marshall to catch up to the robber? More Similar Questions
Supporting Multi-Touch Functions Multi-touch technology might be easy to use, but the mechanics behind it are far more complex. While several technologies support multi-touch functions, museums may find that certain ones suit an exhibition’s needs better than others. Choosing the right multi-touch platform is the first step in creating an interactive and personal experience for visitors. My previous article, Multi Touch Technology and the Museum, explored how capacitive grids create intuitive touch screens. However, the popular capacitive method is only one of the technologies that support multi-touch functions. Several lesser-known methods may better fit a museum’s vision in creating a multi-touch experience. Capacitive Touch Panels As previously mentioned, capacitive touch panels are the first and most popular type of multi-touch technology. They are also the most popular multi-touch technology used in museums. This method recognizes minor changes in electrical currents upon contact. Capacitive touch systems can be used in two types of touch screens: surface capacitive touch panels and projective capacitive touch panels. While simple in structure and inexpensive, surface capacitive screens do not support multi-touch functions. In contrast, the complex internal structure of projective capacitive touch panels supports multi-touch use. Projective capacitive touch systems contain a computer chip underneath a layer of transparent electrodes. Insulated by plastic or glass, these electrodes allow the device to recognize two touch points at the same time. Many of us encounter this multi-touch technology on a daily basis on our smartphones or tablets. Additionally, some museums employ capacitive touch when renting out iPhones or iPod Touches to visitors. While projective capacitive touch systems are high-precision tools for smaller screens, such as smartphones, they are not recommended for larger screens. On larger screens, projective capacitive touch technology results in slower transmission between the electrical current causing processing delays. Additionally, the insulated screen may interfere with image quality. For this reason, museums must look elsewhere for large multi-touch screens. Infrared Touch Overlays IR Touch Overlay used for interactive white board technology IR Touch Overlay used for interactive white board technology There are several options for museums interested in multi-touch technology on larger screens. Many professionals in the field provide museums with infrared (IR) touch overlays. IR touch overlays use infrared light to create an invisible grid of infrared beams and sensors. These sensors detect when a finger touch or solid object breaks the plane of the grid. This accurate method is great option for museums that need a larger multi-touch screen. In fact, the grid can recognize up to 40 simultaneous touches, allowing several users to use the screen at once. With no insulating glass or plastic layer, images used for IR touch overlays tend to provide great image quality. Additionally, IR overlays are commonly used for interactive white board technology in the classroom. Unfortunately, IR touch overlays may encounter some problems. While such overlays are durable, they tend be fairly expensive. Additionally, bright light or other solid objects may interfere with multi-touch system. Museums must be conscious of this when determining where to place an IR touch overlay screen. Optical Touch Screens Another method that utilizes infrared light is optical touch screen technology. Optical touch screen technology uses multiple optical sensors that detect motion. This method requires infrared cameras that monitor the screen’s view. Sensors in these cameras detect when a user’s finger or any other solid object blocks the infrared light. The optical touch sensors scan a user’s finger the moment before contact with the screen. This means it requires no physical contact with the screen to function. Unfortunately, this also means the system detects solid object that get close to the screen, rendering it an especially sensitive technology. Diagram of optical touch screen technology function Diagram of optical touch screen technology function Although optical touch screen technology allows for greater multi-touch possibilities, it has similar issues to the IR touch screen. Often, large objects can interfere with the optical touch system or the large optical touch screen may experience ghosting, or unprompted performance. Additionally, sunlight or reflections can hinder performance. On top of these difficulties, the complex technological system is difficult to manufacture correctly on a large scale. These various multi-touch technologies can create transformative experiences for visitors. However, each system presents unique advantages and disadvantages. With this in mind, museums may find systems such as infrared overlays and optical touch systems better fit their needs and desires. Whether you want a 40-foot wall to greet visitors or small interactive panels in your exhibition, these technologies can meet your multi-touch function needs.
Defects in Heat Exchangers Affecting Integrity The tubes inside heat exchangers rest on steel supports (support plates) about 6.4–12.7 mm (0.25 –0.50 in) thick, spaced along their entire length, and tubesheets at both ends. Tubes expand and contract from temperature changes, resulting in erosion. They also vibrate against support plates as fluids flow through them at high velocities (up to 427 m/min. or 1400 ft/min.), generating circumferential cracking. The localized stress from the tube-to-tubesheet rolling process or swaging also causes circumferential cracking. Chemical deterioration such as corrosion is equally damaging. It etches support plates, widening the gap between supports and tubes, allowing more vibration. In chiller sections, coolant boiling off around the tubes causes outer diameter (OD) pitting. In condensers and other heat exchangers, the physical accumulation of lime, ferrous deposits, and other elements cause corrosion cells that result in inner diameter (ID) pitting. These chemical deteriorations can continue until they punch holes through tubes. Mitigating Defects in Heat Exchangers • Eddy current testing (ECT) • Remote-field testing (RFT) • Near-field testing (NFT) • Partial saturation eddy current (PSEC) • Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) • Internal rotating inspection system (IRIS) They all have advantages and disadvantages, one of the most common for electromagnetic testing techniques being their inability to accurately detect flaws under support plates and adjacent to tubesheets, which, if left undetected, can lead to contamination, reduced overall performance, and, ultimately, a lower bottom line. The most widely used shell-and-tube HX inspection technique is, by far, eddy current testing because it is fast, relatively cheap, and fairly successful in detecting most types of defects found in tubes. But the technique’s high sensitivity to liftoff and ferromagnetic materials, as well as its inability to detect circumferential defects close to support plates and tubesheets contribute to premature tube plugging and not plugging tubes that should be, resulting in reduced performance. Furthermore, an industry rule of thumb dictates that plugging 10–12 % of heat exchanger tubes could lead to replacing the entire tube bundle because a higher plug rate involves overall performance drops that prove very costly. Hence a better inspection solution is necessary to more reliably detect common defects in tubes and circumferential cracking at the tubesheets and support plates. Eddy Current Array to the Rescue Developments in eddy current technology have led to the birth of eddy current array (ECA). Applied to tubing inspection, ECA takes the form of the patented DefHi® probe. This probe leverages the power of ECA’s multiplexed elements to sweep the entire inner surface of tube and accurately detect, size, and characterize common defects in HX tubing, including circumferential cracking at the support plates and tubesheets. The coil configuration inside the probe and their multiplexing pattern allow eddy currents to flow perpendicular to circumferential cracks in heat exchanger tubes, making these defects easier to detect and to establish their circumferential length and position—something ECT probes are incapable of. The distance between the transmitter and receiver coils in the probe is also optimized so tube swage signals are flat, which makes them easy to isolate. It is also very simple to select an optimal operating frequency for the non-ferromagnetic material of the tubes that also generates clearly distinct support plate and tubesheet signals. The multiplexed array coils yield absolute signal responses with amplitude and phase data. In a C-scan, the ability to rotate a signal’s phase component is key to getting high-definition defect responses. The DefHi probe’s design also includes conventional ECT probe data. Actual field results showing cracking under the tubesheet Case Scenario Let’s say you need to inspect a hypothetical tube bundle more than eight years old comprised of 1000–1500, 6 m (20 ft) tubes with ECT, where you would most likely miss most circumferential cracking, either plugging too many tubes or leaving tubes unplugged that would need to be. So doing, you stand to face unscheduled shutdowns and potentially lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Takeaway The capacity of an ECA probe such as DefHi® to discriminate various complex geometries inside heat exchanger tubing allows accurately detecting, sizing, and characterizing small-volume circumferential cracks. This leads to more efficient tube plugging, wiser AIM of HX, and, ultimately, a higher bottom line. comments powered by Disqus
Control your anger Sometimes it seems almost impossible to control anger. Most of us are very calm people but We should admit that sometimes we are out of control . We all need to control our anger . The things that make me angry are: • Rudeness • The lack of respect among people • The abuses of power • The “smarts” • the falsity • Others • Those who wear masks and pretend to be what they are not . However , even the calmest people in the world often get angry. It does not mean we are bad or that there is something “wrong” with us. It means that we are just like everyone else. How to control your anger. I think it is important to learn to manage it, because in those moments, we are at risk of saying and doing things that could jeopardize our existence. Here are some tips to keep the peace in those moments when angry is not worth it 🙂 1. Change your lifestyle If your lifestyle is full of “angry things”, considered the idea of eliminating or reducing sources such as news, television programs, special readings, places, people, etc.. 2. Taking care of yourself It seems a matter of little account, but if you can not control anger, check these areas: sleep well, have a healthy diet, exercise, yoga and meditation have benefits that help you to reduce stress. If you can manage all these activities, you will have more patience and tolerance. When you feel good, it is easier to deal with people. 3. Know your limits Avoid overloading consistently. Turn off the TV, computer, phone. Take breaks every so often from the noise and distraction. 4. Resolve Conflicts Start constructive discussions instead of usual conflicts. Express your needs and make requests. Do not point your finger just to say “wrong” to another person. 5. Letting go In the event of a conflict or difference of opinion with other person do not look for an immediate solution. Consider to discuss the subject for another time. Delay is not always a mistake! 6. Anticipating anger If you know that certain people or difficult situations can not be avoided, prepare yourself in advance. Decide early on how to control the situation and what to do if you are unable to stay calm. However if it happen , consider that moment as a learning experience. Consider the idea to understand why certain people or things make us so angry and find a different way to approach it . 7. Take a break at that time If you feel the irritation and anger get in the course of a discussion, say openly that you both need a break. Take a walk .Take a Breath. Get in touch with the quiet part of yourself and remember how much love or interest you have with the other person. 8. Make choices You do not need to control anger with more anger. Remember that you can choose and avoid using words that hurt . It ‘amazing how much power they have and how the words sometimes fail to feed the fire in us and in others. When we can not control anger, we usually use words which damage our relationships with people that we love and care about us. In those moments , the only thing we can do is apologize. Read also:
Food For Your Health : Fiber Facts When you want to start a diet to be healthier and slimmer, the best thing you can do is to eat more fiber. Many studies have shown that fiber can help reduce weight by making you feel full longer. Here are five facts you need to know the fiber as well as ways to add more fiber to the diet. 1. Most people do not consume enough fiber To maintain a healthy digestive system, nutrition experts recommend the average adult should consume 25 grams of fiber each day. Unfortunately, most people have inadequate, on average they only eat 15 grams. 2. Water is necessary for the fiber works well The key to increasing consumption of fiber is to add fiber in the diet gradually to make your stay comfortable with the foods eaten. However, the most important is that you need to consume enough water. Because the fibers cannot function properly without it. 3. There are two types of fiber Fibers composed of two types: soluble fiber and insoluble. Both need to be consumed for the best results. Clinical nutrition specialist Samuel Oetoro said soluble fiber is obtained from the stems of greenery. In addition, the soluble fiber is found in almonds, oats, broccoli, carrots, and fruits, such as berries, bananas, apples, and pears. Meanwhile, water-insoluble fibers obtained from some foods, such as whole grains, seeds, green leaves, and fruit, such as avocado, kiwi and tomato. 4. The juice is not the same as fresh fruit Although containing more water, fiber content juice with fresh fruit is not the same. The fruit contains more fiber than juice. One way to add more fiber to the diet is to make fruit into smoothies. Because the drink is not eliminating the fiber in the fruit. Plus, you can enter the rind can be eaten as part of it is usually the most fiber. 5. Make sure each meal serving contains 5 grams of fiber So that the body needs adequate fiber but still comfortable eating food, then make sure you enter a grain fiber in your meal at least 5 grams per serving. For example, add the spinach salad with fresh vegetables more will give you more fiber in one serving.
Pierre Trudeau Age: 80 Summary: prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1978 and again from 1980 to 1984 who was known for his liberal views as a charismatic politician and established parliamentary independence from England, recognized the People's Republic of China, helped defeat Quebec's separatist movement, and oversaw the drafting of a new constitution that included the country's first bill of rights. Cause of Death: Prostate cancer Born: October 18, 1919 Died: September 28, 2000 Location: Montreal, Canada
The Mind: Conscious/Subconscious (c) Can Stock Photo - Anger Management The human mind is not to be confused with the human brain. The brain is a physical organ weighing approximately four pounds and made up of real flesh and blood; living tissue with actual substance. The human mind is apparently invisible, but without it we would not be able to function as human beings. In fact, the word ‘mind’ refers to the aspects of intellect and consciousness manifested as combinations of thought, perception, memory, emotion, will and imagination, including all of the brain’s conscious and unconscious cognitive processes. It may also include cognitive processes in non-human animals along with the conscious experiences that may accompany them. “Mind” is often used to refer especially to the thought processes of reason. Subjectively, mind manifests itself as a stream of consciousness. The question of which human attributes make up the mind is also much debated. Some argue that only the “higher” intellectual functions constitute mind: particularly reason and memory. In this view the emotions – love, hate, fear, joy – are more “primitive” or subjective in nature and should be seen as different from the mind. Others argue that the rational and the emotional sides of the human person cannot be separated, that they are of the same nature and origin, and that they should all be considered as part of the individual mind. In popular usage mind is frequently synonymous with thought. It is that private conversation with ourselves that we carry on “inside our heads.” Thus we “make up our minds,” “change our minds” or are “of two minds” about something. One of the key attributes of the mind in this sense is that it is a private sphere to which no one but the owner has access. No-one else can “know our mind.” They can only interpret what we consciously or unconsciously communicate. Consciousness is a type of mental state, a way of perceiving, particularly the perception of a relationship between self and other. It has been described as a point of view, an I, or what Thomas Nagel called the existence of “something that it is like” to be something. Consciousness may involve thoughts, sensations, perceptions, moods, emotions, dreams, and self-awareness. It has been defined from a biological and causal perspective as the act of autonomously modulating attentional and computational effort, usually with the goal of obtaining, retaining, or maximising specific parameters, such as food, a safe environment, family, or mates. The issue of what consciousness is, and to what extent and in what sense it exists, is the subject of much research in philosophy of mind, psychology, neuroscience, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence. Issues of practical concern include how the presence of consciousness can be assessed in severely ill individuals; how non-human consciousness can be measured; at what point in fetal development consciousness begins; and whether computers can achieve conscious states. In common parlance, consciousness sometimes also denotes being awake and responsive to the environment, in contrast to being asleep or in a coma. The term subconscious is defined as existing or operating in the mind beneath or beyond conscious awareness. The word subconscious was coined by the psychologist Pierre Janet, who credited it with a hidden level of awareness and automatism. In the strict psychological sense, the adjective is defined as “operating or existing outside of consciousness“. The term also appears in Sigmund Freud‘s very early work, to denote the unconscious mind but was soon eliminated due to its ambiguity. It may also be used to describe the preconscious, information contained in the mind, which although not presently in the conscious, may be recalled by “directing attention to them”, such as memories not being recalled at present, but still available to be recalled at will. Use of the term subconscious is avoided within academic psychology but remains popular in common use and other academic disciplines. See also unconscious mind Look up Mind in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Visit Wikipedia Hypnosis Downloads \| Hypnosis MP3s \| Hypnosis Scripts \| Online Hypnosis \| Self Hypnosis MP3 Downloads
Saturday, February 16, 2013 Joshua Keating - Why Time is a Social Construct From Smithsonian Magazine, a psychological and anthropological analysis of the subjective, culturally-based nature of time and its measurement. Why Time is a Social Construct Psychologists and anthropologists debate how different cultures answer the question, “What time is it?” By Joshua Keating Smithsonian magazine, January 2013 (Illustration by Jeffrey Fisher) University of Missouri management scholar Allen Bluedorn believes time itself is a social construction. “What any group of people think about time ends up being a result of them interacting with each other and socialization processes,” he says. We measure time not simply in terms of minutes and seconds, but in terms of concepts such as “early,” “late”—or, for that matter, “fashionably late.” What is the length of a “work day”? In the United States, Europe and Japan you’ll get three different answers. The era of globalization may be finishing the job, as information technology and the international supply chain knit nations together more tightly than ever. But while it’s possible to synchronize clocks, synchronizing cultures has proven more challenging. One commonly recounted example is a group of American bankers in Mexico who found that their Mexican colleagues were frequently scheduling meetings for hours after they planned to head home for the day. The famed American anthropologist Edward T. Hall argued that many of these differences are based upon whether a country is “mono- chronic” or “polychronic.” In monochronic societies, including Europe and the United States, time is perceived as fixed and unchanging, and people tend to complete tasks sequentially. In polychronic societies, including Latin America and much of Asia, time is more fluid and people adapt more easily to changing circumstances and new information. California State University social psychologist Robert Levine conducted an experiment to determine the “tempo” of 31 countries, using measures such as the efficiency of local post offices and the accuracy of public clocks. He found that Switzerland, Ireland and Germany were the fastest countries while Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia were the slowest. But how long will these cultural differences persist? Will trade and globalization iron them out as effectively as the railroads did away with Cincinnati’s proud city time? Levine feels that life will inevitably speed up in some countries, but that mental differences will linger. “You can find quotes throughout history of people saying that life is getting faster and looking back nostalgically on the slower, older days,” he says. “But whether in people’s reality things actually feel faster than they did, that’s a tough one to measure.” Bluedorn believes that “people are just going to become more aware of temporal differences in different cultures.” In fact, he worries about what would be lost in a culturally synchronized world. Monochronic and polychronic perspectives both have their advantages, he argues. “Fast isn’t always best; nor is slow.” Post a Comment
Dodge Challenger thumb Dodge Challenger The Dodge Challenger was officially introduced in 1969. The car had a long-hood platform and a two-inches longer wheelbase to create additional impression of space. Dodge Charger thumb Dodge Charger In the 1960s Dodge was searching for a way to reach broader range of consumers. As a result in 1966 the Dodge Charger was presented to the public.The Charger was in essence a Coronet, other than the two-door fastback roof and unique trim. Ford Fairlane thumb Ford Fairlane A model Ford Fairlane got the name from Henry Ford's estate near Dearborn, Michigan called Fair Lane. The Fairlane was initially designed as a full-size car, which was converted to a mid-size car in the 1962. Ford Falcon thumb Ford Falcon Dubbed as the "small car with the big car feel", Ford Falcon was considered the most successful vehicle launch of the 1959. Of the 97,000 units produced in the first production run, dealers had basically snapped up the whole line in two months. Ford Model T thumb Ford Model T In 1908 the first generally affordable car was developed by Henry Ford. It made travelling via car accessible to millions of middle-class Americans, a possibility previously only available to very wealthy at the time. Ford Model A thumb Ford Model A When competition began catching up with undisputed icon of automotive industry Ford Model T, Henry Ford had to expand his perception of future vehicle development. As a result of his efforts, Ford Model A was born.
Tuesday, 5 January 2016 Riya Gupta - Solutions to CEED/NID Animation questions Hello again aspirants!! As I told you earlier I will be back with my solutions to animation questions. I would like to start with CEED 2015 animation part. First, read out the whole question followed by- Question 5c: Optional (Animation Design) An animation film for 5 to 12 year old children is in pre-production stage. The film is based on the relationship between a kid (girl/boy) and his/her puppy. This is a shot breakdown of a sequence from the film. Shot 1. A 10 year old kid (girl/boy) and his puppy are playing with a ball in a field. Shot 2. Suddenly s/he notices a huge eagle swooping down on the puppy. Shot 3. The eagle reaches out with its talons (claws), grabs the puppy and flies off. Shot 4. The kid sees the puppy carried away. Shot 5. The kid picks up the ball and throws it at the eagle Shot 6. The ball hits the eagle, and he drops the puppy. Shot 7. The girl/boy is reunited with the puppy, hugs him. Part 1 Illustrate (Create a Storyboard of) the above shots as a series of picture frames. You can use more than one frame per shot if you want. Approximate shape of the frame is shown below. You can choose to make the drawing and then draw the frame on top of it to compose your shot or you can create the frame and then draw inside. Part 2 Draw shot 3 (the eagle reaching out, about to grab the puppy) in detail in a style which is one of the following. Line drawing is sufficient. Detailed rendering and shading can be done if needed. a. Realistic b. Stylised In part 1, pay attention to communication of the narrative through sequential pictures and shot composition. In part 2, pay attention to illustration skills, composition and perspective (if realistic style chosen) or Illustration style (if stylized chosen.) As you can see that there are number of shots given above, if you come across any question without the shots listed separately, you can think of your own . Try to highlight the actions as much as you can. My Solution sketches: As you can see that through simple frames I have completed the question. Due to less number of frames, I didn't used the technique of resizing them( as I told in my previous post) However, you can wish to do so. See the perspective I have used in each shot. You can see that I have used the bird's eye view in the third frame. In the second part of the question, it is asked either for the realistic shot or the stylized one. For the realistic one, use colours, add shading, or use detail concepts.On the other hand, use interesting perspective shots for the stylized one. Go through it and practice with the rest of the questions 1 comment: 1. What is realistic style and what is illustration style story board? it would be helpful if someone can give examples.. i tried searching in web but couldnt find one
Artificial Intelligence in Computers Artificial intelligence is the branch of computer science that aims to develop machines to act the way people work with his intelligence. The term artificial intelligence was coined by John McCarthy in 1956 at Dartmouth College. Artificial intelligent computers will write the option programs by themselves if they are confronted with difficult circumstances. They also have the ability to try out different programs and method in order to achieve their goal. If they encounter an error then store it in the memory and they’ll never make the same mistake. A good service is the mistake they make is to all other AI computers connected so that they will not make the same mistake. As technology advances in artificial intelligence training system will be more services such as self-driving cars, self-control aircraft, corporate phone systems etc. just complicated tasks such as weather forecasts and stock trading can be done by this computers. The future of artificial trained computers can not be predicted. Scientists are trying to make computers that can defeat the intelligence of man. The future artificial intelligent computer can change people’s lives; they try to computers that can understand human speech and even beating the most intelligent man in chess. Investment Research in AI is increasing. This is because they are aware of the possible outcome of such investigations. The effectiveness of the potential artificial trained system unthinkable. But it is certain that the researchers will come up with a result to save time and labor. Recently, the Pentagon has invested about 29 million dollars in this area to train the system to assist their officials. There will also turn up many controversies, along with future technological heights acquired by artificial training systems. Filed under: general. Bookmark the permalink.
The Anarch Revolt Edit History Edit There were two notable Anarch Revolts that have shaped the history of vampires: the Great Revolt (or First Anarch Revolt) of the 15th century, and the Second Anarch Revolt of the 20th century. Sources that refer to the Anarch Revolt generally refer to this first period of conflict. First Anarch Revolt Edit The First Anarch Revolt was spurred on during the days of the Inquisition. Vampire neonates were appalled by their clan elders who were eagerly sacrificing their young to the Inquisitors. The neonates were perishing at alarming rates during this period. A voice on the Ventrue council was the Brujah named Patricia, expressed to Hardestadt and the elders that they must stand up and fight against the mortal humans. However, Hardestadt and the fellow elders rejected her notions. They felt it was better to hide and masquerade, and form rules that would later be known as Camarilla. Disgusted with inaction, Patricia left the council and sided with rebellious neonates. To drive her point across to the elders as to what she felt was best for vampire society, she donned the name Tyler, formed a resistance of Brujah, and marched right into Castle Hardestadt. A huge battle ensued. Though she suffered heavy losses, she successfully committed Amaranth on Hardestadt. The Great Revolt Edit The Italian Front Edit The movement moved to Italy, when Gratiano de Veronese joined with the Anarchs in a plot to kill his sire, the Lasombra Antediluvian. He led a group of Assamite allies to the Lasombra Court at the Castle of Shadows in Sicily, where Lasombra remained in torpor. With the Assamites' help, Gratiano tried to make it appear that his brother Montano had turned against their sire. This created a chaotic event that served as a distraction for a full-fledged Anarch attack that the house of Lasombra was unprepared for. With the Assamites assisting in the fight, Clan Lasombra fell apart. Of the remaining Lasombra, almost all joined the Anarchs following the deaths of many of their elders and their Antediluvian. The Romanian Front Edit However, this event was far from over, at least for the Tzimisce. Lambach, who was present at the time of the Cathedral Raid, knew something no one else did. Despite all of the eye witness accounts, the Antediluvian Tzimisce was not destroyed. The body in torpor was a decoy. Tzimisce had this decoy in place so that he was able to kill Lugoj during heavy battle, then flesh-crafted himself to look like Lugoj to fake his own diablerie and usurp Lugoj's leadership position in the Sabbat The End: Convention of Thorns Edit As the Tzimisce anarchs moved into Western Europe they brought with them the secret of the Vaulderie, which allowed Cainites to escape the blood bond in exchange for a pledge of loyalty to the anarch cause. This brought the revolt to every clan. As the battles intensified, however, so too did the efforts of the Inquisition, and the pressure of twin assaults led directly to the creation of the Camarilla. The Anarch Revolt continued for seven years after the Camarilla's formation, but the Anarchs were outnumbered and outmatched, and, after suffering heavy losses, their rebellion formally ended with the Convention of Thorns in 1493. Most of the remaining anarchs joined the Camarilla, but those who did not, mostly the Lasombra and Tzimisce, went on to form the Sabbat. Three years later, the Camarilla forced the Assamites to end hostilities; the Tremere enforced this peace by placing the blood curse over the Assamites' entire clan, save for the first of the antitribu. Not long after the Convention, the Camarilla made peace with the Giovanni. Clan Giovanni had earned the enmity of the nascent Camarilla in 1444, when they usurped the status of the Cappadocian clan via diablerie. However, the Camarilla could not spare the resources needed to battle both the Giovanni and the greater threat presented by the burgeoning Sabbat. The Promise of 1528 formally established a détente between the Giovanni and the Camarilla, giving the Giovanni a neutral status in the battle between the sects... and giving the Giovanni the freedom to complete their purge of the last remaining Cappadocians. Second Anarch Revolt Edit Ad blocker interference detected!
Sunday, March 1, 2009 Marie Curie Marie Curie Marie Curie(November 7, 1867- July 4, 1934) was born as Marie Sklodwska. She was a physicist and a chemist, brought up in Poland and had French citizenship. She was one of the first to work in the field of radioactivity. She was the only person to win two Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. She also was the first female proffessor at the University of Paris. Marie was born in Warsaw, Congress Poland in the Russian Empire. She lived there until she was the age of 24. In 1891, she went to study in Paris just like her older sister. There she obtained her science degrees and began her work. She founded the Curie Insitutes in Warsaw and Paris. She was the wife of Nobel Prize winner Pierre Curie and the mother of Nobel Prize winner Irene Joliot-Curie. Marie won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. She won this award with her husband, Pierre Curie. They tied with Antoine Henri Becquerel. Becquerel won "in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his discovery of spontaneous radioactivity." The Curie family won "in recognition of the extraordinary services they have rendered by their joint researches on the radiation phenomena discovered by Professor Henri Becquerel." Pierre and Marie also won the Davy Medal in 1903. The Davy Medal is awarded each year by London's Royal Society. Those who win this award recieve for an outstanding discovery that year in any branch of chemistry. With the medal, reciptants also recieve GB__£__1,000. Marie and Pierre won the Mattueccini Medal in 1904. The Italian Society of Sciences established this with a donation from Carlo Mattueccini. The Mattueccini Medal is given to phyisicists who contribute to the field of physics. Marie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. This year she herself won the award "for her discovery of radium and polonium." Though she was a loyal French citizen, she never denounced her Polish identity. She named her first found chemical element, polonium, after her Poland. She also found a Radium Insitute in her hometown, Warsaw. Aristotle was born in Stagira, on the peninsula of Chalcidice in Macedon, N Greece (hence his nickname "the Stagirite"). His father was Nichomachus, court physician to Amyntas III of Macedonia (the father of Philip II of Macedon and grandfather of Alexander the Great), and he was no doubt introduced to Greek medicine and biology at an early age. In 367 B.C., after his father's death he was sent to Athens, and became first a pupil then a teacher at Plato's Academy. He remained there for 20 years, until Plato's death in 347 B.C., and gained a particular reputatoin in rhetoric. Plato was succeeded as head of the Academy by his nephew Speusippus. Perhaps in pique, but more probably because of the rise of anti-Macedonian feeling in Athens, Aristotle left the city to travel for some 12 years with other colleagues and friends from the Academy, notably Theophrastus (his own pupil and eventual successor at the Lyceum). He went first to the new town of Assus in Asia Minor, where Hermeias of Atarneus had invited him to help set up a new school, and where he worked particularly on political theory. He there married Hermeias' niece, Pythias, and after her early death either married Herpyllis or took her as his mistress. In addition to Pythias' daughter (also called Pythias), he and Herpyllis had a son, Nicomachus (named after his father). He was an affectionate and faithful husband, and a caring parent. After three years at the Assus Academy, Aristotle then moved to join a new philosophical circle at Mytilene on Lesbos, where he developed his interest in and study of biology. In c.343 B.C. he was invited by Philip II of Macedon to educate his son, the future Alexander the Great. he was tutor to Alexander for three years, but his influence seems to have been negligible. After a brief spell on his father's property at Stagira, Aristotle returned to Athens in 335 B.C. to found his own school, the Lyceum (near the temple of Apollo Lyceius), where he taught for the next 12 years. His followers became known as peripatetics, supposedly from his practice of walking up and down the peripatos (covered walkway) of the gymnasium during his lectures. He made the Lyceum into a major research center, specializing in history, biology, and zoology, thus complementing the mathematical emphasis of the Platonists at the Academy. Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C., and there was a strong anti-Macedonian reaction in Athens. Aristotle, of course, had long-standing Macedonian connections, and took refuge in Chalcis in Euboea, reportedly saying that he was saving the Athenians from sinning twice against philosophy (Socrates being their first victim). He died the following year. Aristotle's work represents an enormous encyclopedic output over virtually every field of knowledge: logic, metaphysics, ethics, politics, rhetoric, poetry, biology, zoology, physics, and psychology. Indeed, he established many of the areas of enquiry which are today recognizable as separate subjects; and in several cases gave them their names and special terminology. Particular themes which run through his work are the emphasis on teleological explanations, and his analyses of such fundamental dichotomies as matter and form, potentiality and actuality, substance and accident, and particulars and universals. His popular published writings are all lost, and the bulk of the work that survives consists of unpublished material in the form of lecture notes or students' textbooks which were edited and published by Andronicus of Rhodes in the middle of the 1st-C B.C. But even this incomplete corpus is extraordinary for its range, originality, systematization, and sophistication. It exerted an enormous influence on mediaeval philosophy (especially through Aquinas), on Islamic philosophy (especially through Averroes), and indeed on the whole Wetern intellectual and scientific tradition. During the Renaissance he was dubbed "the Master of those that know", or simply "the Philosopher". Aristotle's most widely read books today include the Organon (treatises on logic), Metaphysics (the book written after Physics), Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, Poetics, and De Anima. James Watt ames Watt was a genius of many talents who was at the heart of the technological and economic changes in 18th century Britain that have been described as the Industrial Revolution. He was born in Greenock, the son of James Watt (1698-1782), a prosperous merchant and prominent citizen of the Scottish port. He had a talent for mathematics, and trained as a maker of mathematical instruments in Glasgow, making a visit to London to gain professional experience in 1755-6. He gained the acquaintance of the celebrated Dr Joseph Black (1728-99) of Glasgow University who described him as ‘a young man possessing most uncommon talents for mechanical knowledge and practice’. He learned German and Italian, took an interest in several new technologies, including the manufacture of porcelain, and carried out surveys of several Scottish waterways, including the Caledonian Canal, that were subsequently praised by Thomas Telford. His main interest was in the improvement of the steam engine, and after erecting several Newcomen engines in Scotland in 1765-6, he took out his first patent, for the separate condenser, in 1769. He moved to Birmingham in 1774 where, he worked in partnership with Matthew Boulton (1728-1809), to develop the steam engine. The first engines to incorporate his improvements were erected in 1776. Initially the Boulton and Watt partnership supplied only drawings, some key components such as valves, and the services of erectors. Watt was only one of many engineers developing steam power in the late 18th century, and his application of sun-and-planet gearing to achieve rotative motion, patented in 1782, was dictated by the granting of a patent to James Pickard for the use of the crank for this purpose. Watt was concerned to ensure that high standards were achieved in his engines, and would use only Swedish iron purchased from merchants in Birmingham for some engine parts. He supplied his first overseas order in 1778, and by 1800, when his patents expired, Boulton & Watt had despatched 24 engines to customers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Russia. In the 1790s it became evident that other engine builders, notably the ironmaster John Wilkinson, had infringed the Watt patents by building ‘pirate’ engines. Watt developed elements of paranoia over such infringements, but after the partners established their own engine-building facilities, by opening the Soho Foundry in 1796, he gradually retired from the business. In the interval of peace that followed the treaty of Amiens in 1802 he visited Frankfurt, Strasburg and Paris. Watt also developed a copying process in 1781. Copies were kept of engine drawings and of the outgoing letters of the partnership, while incoming letters were also preserved, making the Boulton & Watt Collection in Birmingham one of the most important archives of the Industrial Revolution. Watt retained throughout his life interests in geology, mineralogy and chemistry, and was honoured for his scientific achievements in Russia, the Netherlands and France, but never regarded his own achievements as in any way heroic.
U.S. Still Using Toxic Dyes Left Out of U.K. Goods In a never ending pursuit for profit, American companies like Kellog, Kraft and General Mills continue to use dangerous food dyes despite reports linking the chemicals to some types of cancer and causing childhood problems like hyperactivity, bedwetting, and more. EU regulators require foods containing chemical food dyes to carry a warning label. Since that would deter customers, the US food giants gave into the demands of proven safety in Europe and eliminated the chemical dyes from their products sold overseas, replacing them with natural food dyes made from plants. These companies find it too hard to part with the half-penny per box profit they generate by keeping the dyes in the US food supply and protect consumers and children by using plant based dyes like those sold in the UK. In the US, researchers need to prove an ingredient is DANGEROUS beyond a shadow of a doubt for it to be banned.” – Fooducate.com United States food giants have the blessing of our government's administration to use the chemicals, as the FDA gives dyes a GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status. The FDA even words the status loosely, “generally” recognized as safe; that word indicates a lack of certainty on the matter since the dyes have never actually been proven safe. This green light from the FDA is why consumers' intake of food dyes have increased five times in the last 30 years. Interesting how in the last couple decades, as marketing colorful foods to children became regular practice for these companies, childhood behavioral disorders has skyrocketed. That's convenient for the corporate giants as now drug companies can market mind numbing pills to our children with the promise to quell this new surge of troubled youth inflicted with the dreaded ADD. As I left the supermarket today, there was a box of food dye sitting out of place near the checkout; I couldn't help but imagine who was going to buy it, knowing someone would unknowingly be loading their family up with these chemicals in holiday sweets. While you can't go around putting poison stickers on every prepackaged fake food product that sits on grocer's shelves (which was a fleeting thought as I stood in line waiting to check out) you can take measures to protect your family by offering them a diet of whole, organic foods and educating your friends and extended family who may be unaware of what lurks inside processed foods. ~Health Freedoms When most shoppers reach for Kellogg's strawberry-flavored, Nutri-Grain cereal bars, they likely assume that the snacks get their hue from, well, actual strawberries. Or if that alluringly red fruit filling didn't come from real berries, it must at least be the result of other natural ingredients, right? Unfortunately, shoppers would be wrong in making both of those assumptions — in America, that is. Check a box of strawberry Nutri-Grain bars sold in America and you'll notice that the treats contain synthetic food dyes like Red 40, Yellow 6, and Blue 1 (pdf). Shoppers on the other side of the pond buying the same products, however, will see that their bars get their colors from all-natural beet root, annatto, and paprika extract. Kellogg's Nutri-Grain bars are hardly the only American food products whose ingredients differ from those of their European counterparts. A Fanta soda sold in the States gets its shockingly orange hue from Red 40 and Yellow 6. U.K. consumers can thank pumpkin and carrot extract for creating the bold-colored beverage. McDonald's strawberry sundaes sold in the U.S. rely on Red 40. In the U.K. those sundaes get their red sauce from — gasp! — actual strawberries. And while America-sold Tostitos Hint of Lime chips contain Blue 1 and Red 40, the snack's U.K. version lists no food colorants whatsoever. While countless U.S. foods contain synthetic food dyes like Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, these goods' European counterparts regularly get their colors from all-natural extracts. “Food safety officials in Europe have moved much more quickly to protect children from artificial dyes,” the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) said in a press release. “The British government has urged companies to stop using most dyes, and the European Union requires a warning notice on most dyed foods. As a consequence, the Kellogg Company, Kraft, McDonald's and other American companies that do business in Europe use safe, natural colorings there — but harmful, synthetic petrochemicals here.” The difference in ingredients comes at the expense of American consumers' health. Studies link artificial dyes like Red 40 to behavioral problems and hyperactivity in children. Some synthetic dyes — like Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 — contain cancer-causing compounds, while others have been linked to allergic reactions. As Europe cracks down on the use of these noxious, processed colors, America's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fails to regulate their use despite mounting evidence that these dye cause health problems. So while some companies like Kellogg have ditched synthetic food dyes from their European products, they continue to pump American-sold foods full of artificial colors in order to maximize profits. It's a discrepancy that's caused Americans' intake of artificial dyes to skyrocket to five times more than the amount folks consumed 30 years ago. While Kraft, McDonald's, Kellogg, General Mills, and Mars continue to use millions of pounds of synthetic dyes every year, some companies are voluntarily eliminating these chemicals. According to CSPI, Starbucks doesn't use artificial colors in any of its beverages or pastries, while famed candy maker NECCO ditched dyes from its wafers. Frito-Lay is also experimenting with dye-free foods. The FDA recently said it would (finally) examine artificial dyes' potential impacts on children's health, but restricting these harmful chemical could still be awhile off — if this kind of regulation ever happens. In the meantime, it's up to consumers to demand that companies rid their products of dangerous dyes. It's clear that safe alternatives exist because food producers are already using them in Europe. By: Sarah Parsons
Edit Article wikiHow to Make a Dynamo Easily Two Methods:First methodSecond methodCommunity Q&A Ever wanted to make your own dynamo like in those wind-up flashlights? This will tell you the two easiest ways! First method 1. 1 Find a small hobby motor, those ones with some sort of wheel on the shaft. 2. 2 Mount the motor on like a board or block of wood. 3. 3 Find another bigger wheel and mount it on a pin or something on the same block of wood. 4. 4 Put a handle on the bigger wheel. 5. 5 Then get a rubber band and put it around the two wheels and start turning the handle. 6. 6 You can put a voltage regulator on the positive wire to stop from overloading whatever you are powering, about $1. Second method 1. 1 Get a roll of 26-28 gauge magnet wire at Radio Shack for $7.95(Rs56). 2. 2 Wrap a 10 to 15 foot (3.0 to 4.6 m) length of wire around like a tub of margarine remembering to keep it as tight as possible at least 100 turns. 3. 3 Then find a bar magnet about 1 - 1 1/2 inches long. 4. 4 Drill a 7/16ths hole in the very middle of the magnet and put a 4 inch (10.2 cm) long upholstery needle through and glue it in place. 5. 5 Mount the coil of wire on something keeping the middle open. 6. 6 Put the magnet thing in the middle and start turning it. 7. 7 The loose ends of the coil are your positive and negative contacts, use a voltmeter to find out. Community Q&A Add New Question • How can I make a dynamo with my current, outdated motor? wikiHow Contributor Just coil the magnetic wire many times so that it will take a lot of power to turn it. • I have a 35 kw dynamo. I want to know if I apply a big solar-powered motor to the dynamo, can it spin the dynamo 1500 times per minute? wikiHow Contributor You would need a high-power solar panel, or you could use reflective mirrors to increase the magnitude of the effective solar power. • How much voltage is produced in the dynamo made in the second method? wikiHow Contributor It depends on how many times you can coil the wire, and how big it is in general. • How much voltage is produced if I use 30-gauge magnet wire? wikiHow Contributor This depends. If you want a higher voltage, use a finer-gauge wire, such as 30 gauge. But what really matters is how many loops are created. Using a finer wire just makes this easier. • What causes the dynamo to work? wikiHow Contributor Electricity; it creates a magnetic field. • Can I use an LED bulb instead of a voltmeter? wikiHow Contributor Yes, if it doesn't light, try spinning the magnet the other way. You should also check that enough voltage is being produced. • Can I use a toy RC car motor instead of a hobby motor? wikiHow Contributor Yes. You will need to use one with a larger motor though. • How can I know if my dynamo has enough kilowatts of power? wikiHow Contributor By using a multimeter, electrometer, or voltometer, you can take accurate measurements. Unanswered Questions Show more unanswered questions Ask a Question 200 characters left • The thinner the wire in method two, the more electricity is produced but you will need to use at least 20 feet (6.1 m). 33 gauge is the best but its hard to find. • If you do not use a voltage regulator on these, you can overload the circuit you are powering and ruin it. That's when it starts smelling like ozone and the mysterious blue smoke starts pouring out. These can put out in excess of 40+VDC if used right. Made Recently Did you try these steps? Upload a picture for other readers to see. Upload error Article Info Categories: Motors Generators and Transformers In other languages: Italiano: Costruire Facilmente una Dinamo, Español: fabricar un dínamo fácilmente, Русский: с легкостью сделать динамо машину, Português: Fazer um Dínamo Facilmente, Deutsch: Einen Dynamo ganz einfach selbst herstellen, Bahasa Indonesia: Membuat Dinamo dengan Mudah, Français: fabriquer facilement une dynamo Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 244,368 times. Did this article help you?
The poor man By Odysseus A man steals money to buy some bread as he is hungry. He is arrested, beaten and jailed. The man is released a few years later. The man is still poor and in the same situation as he was before. Armed men kick in the door of his decrepit dwelling, telling the poor man that he needs to give them money, or he will be taken away. But the poor man has no money, it is all gone. He spends his money on rent and water, and what little left over he has I spent on food. And the robbery is justified using those same, old, horrible words- ‘for reasons of state’. The man has to give what little he has to those whom oppressed, exploited and kept him in these conditions. The man has to give his last material possessions to a system that is regulated exploitation. Remember the story of the man, as it may become your story too. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Development of Nervous system The nervous system is a network of specialized cells that communicate information about an animals surroundings and its self, it processes this information and causes reactions in other parts of the body. It is composed of neurons and other specialized cells called glia, that aid in the function of the neurons. The nervous system is divided broadly into two categories; the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. Neurons generate and conduct impulses between and within the two systems. The peripheral nervous system is composed of sensory neurons and the neurons that connect them to the nerve cord, spinal cord and brain, which make up the central nervous system. In response to stimuli, sensory neurons generate and propagate signals to the central nervous system which then process and conduct back signals to the muscles and glands. The neurons of the nervous systems of animals are interconnected in complex arrangements and use electrochemical signals and neurotransmitters to transmit impulses from one neuron to the next. The interaction of the different neurons form neural circuits that regulate an organisms perception of the world and what is going on with its body, thus regulating its behavior. Nervous systems are found in many multicellular animals but differ greatly in complexity between species.[1] About the Speaker This Lecture is conducted by Professor Marian Diamond who is first women science faculty Berkely,her current research is on environmental effects on the structure and function of the brain Professor Diamond's discovery that the brain continues to develop at any age with proper stimulation has revolutionized thinking about aging. An equally significant finding of Daimond's is that female and male brains are structured differently. Her studies conclusively show that positive, nurturing environments that encourage interaction and response are the prime conditions for developing the more complex neural networks that appear to be the "hardware" of intelligence. Her work also indicates the ongoing influence of environment, experience, learning, and emotions on neural equipment throughout life- for better or for worse. No comments: Write comments Recommended Posts × +
The Increase in UK Faith Schools Limits Choice For Parents Support the campaign – say no to faith schools End it – don’t extend it Publicly funded religious schools, or ‘faith schools’, currently make up around a third of our education system. This limits choice for parents who do not want a religious education for their children, or do not share the faith of their local school. In order to ensure everyone’s right to freedom of religion and belief is respected, we believe all publicly funded schools should be fully inclusive and equally welcoming to children of all religion and belief backgrounds. Is Humanism a Religion The beginnings of Humanism Ethics and relationship to religious belief. Continue reading “Is Humanism a Religion” Self Indulgent Arrogance Is Religion Human Beings Biggest Arrogance? Or is having no Faith even worse? Axiological, or constructive, atheism rejects the existence of gods in favor of a “higher absolute”, such as humanity. This form of atheism favors humanity as the absolute source of ethics and values, and permits individuals to resolve moral problems without resorting to God. Marx and Freud used this argument to convey messages of liberation, full-development, and unfettered happiness. Born to prejudice? One of the most common criticisms of atheism has been to the contrary—that denying the existence of a god leads to moral relativism, leaving one with no moral or ethical foundation, or renders life meaningless and miserable. Blaise Pascal argued this view in his Pensées. French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre identified himself as a representative of an “atheist existentialism” concerned less with denying the existence of God than with establishing that “man needs … to find himself again and to understand that nothing can save him from himself, not even a valid proof of the existence of God.” Athesim delusion? Sartre said a corollary of his atheism was that “if God does not exist, there is at least one being in whom existence precedes essence, a being who exists before he can be defined by any concept, and … this being is man.” The practical consequence of this atheism was described by Sartre as meaning that there are no a priori rules or absolute values that can be invoked to govern human conduct, and that humans are “condemned” to invent these for themselves, making “man” absolutely “responsible for everything he does”. Secular humanism Happy Humanist SymbolWithout God Philosophy of Utilitarianism Many Humanists derive their moral codes from a philosophy of utilitarianism, ethical naturalism or evolutionary ethics, and some advocate a science of morality. The term derives from Greek δόγμα “that which seems to one, opinion or belief” and that from δοκέω (dokeo), “to think, to suppose, to imagine”. Dogma came to signify laws or ordinances adjudged and imposed upon others by the First Century. The plural is either dogmas or dogmata, from Greek δόγματα. The term “dogmatics” is used as a synonym for systematic theology, as in Karl Barth’s defining textbook of neo-orthodoxy, the 14-volume Church Dogmatics. Dogmata are found in religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam, where they are considered core principles that must be upheld by all believers of that religion. As a fundamental element of religion, the term “dogma” is assigned to those theological tenets which are considered to be well demonstrated, such that their proposed disputation or revision effectively means that a person no longer accepts the given religion as his or her own, or has entered into a period of personal doubt. Dogma is distinguished from theological opinion regarding those things considered less well-known. Dogmata may be clarified and elaborated but not contradicted in novel teachings .Rejection of dogma may lead to expulsion from a religious group. In Christianity, religious beliefs are defined by the Church. It is usually on scripture or communicated by church authority. It is believed that these dogmas will lead human beings towards redemption and thus the “paths which lead to God”. For Catholicism and Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Christianity, the dogmata are contained in the Nicene Creed and the canon laws of two, three, seven, or twenty ecumenical councils(depending on whether one is Nestorian, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, or Roman Catholic). These tenets are summarized by St. John of Damascus in his Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, which is the third book of his main work, titled The Fount of Knowledge. In this book he takes a dual approach in explaining each article of the faith: one, for Christians, where he uses quotes from the Bible and, occasionally, from works of other Fathers of the Church, and the second, directed both at non-Christians (but who, nevertheless, hold some sort of religious belief) and at atheists, for whom he employs Aristotelian logic and dialectics. The decisions of fourteen later councils that Catholics hold as dogmatic and numerous decrees promulgated by Popes’ exercising papal infallibility (for examples, see Immaculate Conception and Assumption of Mary) are considered as being a part of the Church’s sacred body of doctrine. Roman Catholic dogmata are a distinct form of doctrine taught by the Church. Protestants to differing degrees affirm portions of these dogmata, and often rely on denomination-specific “Statements of Faith” which summarize their chosen dogmata (see, e.g., Eucharist). In Islam, the dogmatic principles are contained in the aqidah. Within many Christian denominations, dogma is referred to as “doctrine”. The design argument – Existence of God image silver coleyartastro_july14 Designed by Coleyartastro/castthefirststone One of the oldest and most popular arguments for the existence of God is the design argument: that order and “purpose” in the world bespeaks a divine origin. Hume gave a criticism of the design argument in Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. But order is often observed to result from presumably mindless processes like the generation of snowflakes and crystals. Design can account for only a tiny part of our experience of order. Second, that the design argument is based on an incomplete analogy: because of our experience with objects, we can recognize human-designed ones, comparing for example a pile of stones and a brick wall. But in order to point to a designed universe, we would need to have an experience of a range of different universes. As we only experience one, the analogy cannot be applied. Next, even if the design argument is completely successful, it could not in and of itself establish a robust theism; one could easily reach the conclusion that the universe’s configuration is the result of some morally ambiguous, possibly unintelligent agent or agents whose method bears only a remote similarity to human design. Furthermore, if a well-ordered natural world requires a special designer, then God’s mind (being so well-ordered) also requires a special designer. And then this designer would likewise need a designer, and so on ad infinitum. We could respond by resting content with an inexplicably self-ordered divine mind; but then why not rest content with an inexplicably self-ordered natural world? Finally, Hume advanced a version of the Anthropic Principle. Often, when it appears that an object has a particular feature in order to secure some goal, it is in fact the result of a filtering process. That is, the object wouldn’t be around did it not possess that feature, and the perceived purpose is only interesting to us as a human projection of goals onto nature. This mechanical explanation of teleology anticipated the notion of natural selection. In astrophysics and cosmology, the anthropic principle (from Greek anthropos, meaning “human”) is the philosophical consideration that observations of the physical Universe The strong anthropic principle (SAP) as explained by Barrow and Tipler (see variants) states that this is all the case because the Universe is compelled, in some sense, to eventually have conscious and sapient life emerge within it. Critics of the SAP argue in favor of a weak anthropic principle (WAP) similar to the one defined by Brandon Carter, which states that the universe’s ostensible fine tuning is the result of selection bias: i.e., only in a universe capable of eventually supporting life will there be living beings capable of observing and reflecting upon any such fine tuning, while a universe less compatible with life will go unbeheld. Most often such arguments draw upon some notion of the multiverse for there to be a statistical population of universes to select from and from which selection bias (our observance of only this Universe, apparently compatible with life) could occur.
ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel Globalization in Accounting Updated on November 8, 2016 Globalization plays a huge role in the world of accounting. It is the ongoing social, economic, and political process that deepens the relationship and broadens the interdependence amongst nations. It is a very significant topic because as globalization becomes more and more important, it changes which accounting principles one would use when certain situations arise. There are two sets of accounting principles: The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles are mainly used within businesses in the United States, while the International Financial Reporting Standards are used in most international companies. The fact that there are two sets of standards or principles that can be used in the accounting world makes certain scenarios difficult. For example, when investors are choosing a company to invest in, they need to use their financial data to inform themselves and make specific decisions. However, this is sometimes made difficult because if one company uses IFRS and another uses GAAP, it’s challenging to form a proper comparison across the two principles. This is continuously becoming more and more of a relevant issue as companies continue to expand their markets globally. A lot of businesses and organizations have expanded their access to resources, services, goods, and markets across wider geographical areas because of the increased pressure from foreign competition. Moving to foreign countries opens a lot more opportunities to improve their overall operational flexibility and competitiveness. Also with the expansion to foreign countries, it opens businesses to a world of more opportunities. With no sight of a universal system being put into place soon, accountants are forced to expand their knowledge of both forms of accounting principles. A few decades ago, there were very few international accounting courses offered at universities. Now, there are enough for it to be considered its own major. In today’s world, where all world economies directly affect each other, U.S. accountants must use international practices along with practices in the United States to properly conduct business. Take for example a situation placed in an article written by Paul E. Holt who is an accounting professor at Texas A&M. In Dr. Holt’s example, he states: What if you buy something that requires payment in a foreign currency or sell something for which you will receive foreign currency? You are immediately challenged with a number of new problems that you don't have to deal with in domestic accounting. For example, what if the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the foreign currency changes between the date you record an accounts payable and the date you actually make payment in foreign currency? There would be either a gain or loss from the exchange rate fluctuation. (Holt) This is just an example of the many situations that could arise within the world of international accounting. There are many other instances in the areas of tax, as well as audit, which has drastic effect directly related to the financial status of a company. These new problems and situations are forcing accountants to increase their knowledge and form new understandings of international business. One positive outcome of this aspect is the fact that it also creates more jobs within the accounting field such as international accountants. The area of international accounting offers many opportunities for those who wish to expand their knowledge, skills and abilities to fit the world of international business. Though it may require the learning of new languages or constant travel, one can find endless opportunities in the accounting world for international accountants who are highly sought after. Globalization has massive effects upon the accounting world. New and emerging technologies are making it easier for all businesses to expand internationally. As businesses are expanding internationally, accountants must prepare and adjust for international accounting. Without a universal accounting standard to follow, the world of accounting is drastically affected. Every single part of accounting is affected as businesses are moved internationally. On top of that, the knowledge that accountants are expected to have increases every single day due to the expansion of international business. Becoming an international accountant is the best chance for accountants to excel within the world of globalization. As a result of becoming an international accountant, world-embracing viewpoints that are obtained will be a great impact on realizing the opportunities within the world of international business Therefore, if globalization and businesses continue to expand, the world of accounting will continue to grow and evolve. 0 of 8192 characters used Post Comment No comments yet.
ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel • » • Religion and Philosophy» • The Role of Religion in History & Society Bugs by Merwin Severtson Updated on May 7, 2010 Why are we humans, considered by "Evolutionists", to be barely more than bugs? It appears that in their thoughts, we truly are not ranking any higher than just another type of animal. And rather, we are seen as animals that are completely out of order, destroying the planet and needing the vast majority of us to be eradicated in order to save the world. These "scientists" seem to have this survival of the fittest perspective, and they, that hold their purse strings have their propaganda machinery in full swing to convince the masses of the evolution "truth" that used to be only a theory. One might ask "why?", what could possibly be the beneficial yield for their efforts? What is their "end game"? They are reaching for a world population limit of 500 million. (Google - "Georgia Guidestones" and see Wikipedia entry for these intentions, also refer to Humanist Manifestos 1 & 2) (Notice propaganda desensitization movie "The Day The Earth Stood Still") IF they are going to arrive at this "500 million" goal they would have to somehow reduce the world's populace by at least 85 per cent. The next question is, how are these bits of information related? If the value of human life is reduced to perhaps less than that of cattle, then the cancerous un-wanted peoples can be surgically removed for the sake of the health of that which remains. Say for instance, you have a world population that is reported to be 95 per cent destructive to their own living space. Then you have the controlling 0.5 per cent mobilize the military to destroy the 85 per cent that is your goal number... the remaining 10 per cent is easily controlled and conditioned to be docile and less destructive to the environment. The remnant would be an acceptable "working class", fit to serve the "Big Dogs"! Zero population growth is then within reach and the world in general, (according to them) would be a better place for all to live in. But first, the value of "human" life must be devalued. It can not be considered any more precious than other animal life forms. Once these philosophies are embraced... at least by the military powers of the world, then the less acceptable sectors of society can be done away with. Religious zealots, Jews, or whatever happens to be the unwanted caste of the day. These "unsavory qualifiers" for targeted groups are merely a ploy... they will attempt to "get the ball rolling" with societies most hated sectors first. But ultimately, little by little, everyone's group will be included in the holocaust. Remember the 85 per cent goal. Presently our culture is being bombarded with a huge variety of hate propaganda, including hate for the haters. Hate for the Gays, hate for the Homophobes, hate for the religious, hate for the Atheist, hate for the colored, for the whites the blacks, and the Jews, everyone is in fear and hatred, or so it seems! All this is useful to those who want to radically reduce the population of the planet! They are counting on mutual fear and hatred, because they think that few will object when it is the other group that is being exterminated! My wife, goes almost daily to chat rooms where the category is "spiritual and religious". There, it seems to be an ongoing slugfest of Atheists harassing the "religious nut-cases" trying to show them how demented they are. The reason I bring this up is that the common opinion most of them hold is how much the Christian hates them in their current non-christian condition. Now, certainly they have a lot of other opinions that are equally off target, but the thing that impresses me is that they think we are all bigots who want them dead or saved. If you read the mean spirited comments of these in the chat rooms you quickly conclude that a lot of them wish us Christians dead or "enlightened". These types of fears and hates are common from sector to sector, and not just with Atheists and Christians. All this serves the ones who really want us dead, because they are certain that the Christian will not defend the Atheistic Gay and vice versa. The ones that want to thin the population by 85 - 90% will include all walks of life that are human in their culling except themselves. Refer also to the Nazi model of WWII, where, if you were not Aryan you were subhuman. They are counting on our mutual hatred to make it easier for them, and they are certain of it. Well the powers pulling the strings are wrong! Here is one Christian at least that will defend the Atheist Gay with my life and my prayers. And I will pray for, and love the enemy who seeks my death... they, (we) are not bugs. 0 of 8192 characters used Post Comment • Roger Crigger profile image Roger Crigger 7 years ago from Northern Idaho .... The wise old birds will continue to smirk and snicker until the day that the sky actually DOES fall. Until that day, the common consensus in the hen house will be that MRS. Penny is a Loony bird. Until the first star actually does come crashing to the Earth, then the community will wonder how it was that the bits and pieces of fallen sky scattered about the yard had gone unnoticed all these years? • profile image Chasuk 7 years ago We've argued this before. I disagreed then, and I disagree now. You have managed to turn the idiomatic into the ideological. To you and to me -- to most of us -- meat is edible animal flesh. To many cooks and chefs, meat is something more specific. To them, it is mammalian flesh only, excluding fish and poultry. Are they wrong? Is a tomato a vegetable? That depends on whether you are using a culinary or a botanical classification. If you are a capital "E" evolutionist, then you are likely a natural scientist. This includes paleontologists, geologists, chemists, botanists, entomologists, zoologists, and meteorologists. Each of these disciplines (as is true of every discipline in science) has its own jargon. For scientists, jargon is professional shorthand. To us, it might seem opaque, but the intention is not (usually) obfuscation. Any scientist whose disciple falls within the field of biology uses a taxonomic classification system that tries to categorize all of the life-forms of earth. Unsurprisingly, taxonomy has a specialized vocabulary. Taxonomy divides all life into ranks of kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Biologists place humans in the Animal kingdom, the Chordata phylum, the Mammalia class, the Primates order, the Homininae family, the Homo genus, and the sapiens species. Should they place humans in the Plant kingdom? What about the Fungi or Bacteria kingdom? If not those, how about the kingdoms of barely-multicellular or single-celled organisms? I'll return to this issue of nomenclature shortly, but for now let's examine the ideology. You claim that certain scientists and unspecified others (presumably the wealthy and powerful) wish to reduce the world's population to 500 million. Let's take your random bits of evidence and sort them. In 1933, the Humanist Manifesto was published in the May/June issue of the journal New Humanist. This journal espoused the philosophy of humanism. The philosophy of humanism is perhaps best described by Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote, “I am a humanist, which means, in part, that I have tried to behave decently without any expectation of rewards or punishments after I'm dead.” The manifesto is explicitly egalitarian. Article 15: "We assert that humanism will . . . endeavor to establish the conditions of a satisfactory life for all, not merely for the few." That doesn't sound genocidal to me. In 1951, 20th Century Fox released the Science Fiction film "The Day the Earth Stood Still." It was based on a 1940 short story. Even in 1940, tales of alien invasion weren't new. H.G. Wells wrote "The War of the Worlds" in 1898. In 1973, the Humanist Manifesto II was published. This seems like an honest appraisal of the 40 year interval since the publication of the original Humanist Manifesto. Both manifestos would have seemed scary to Christians -- how dare uppity atheists and intellectuals spread their views! It's proselytizing! -- and generated a lot of alarmist buzz that persists to this day, merchandised on the webpages of conspiracy theorists (some disingenuous, some sincere). In 1980, the "Georgia Guidestones were erected, paid for by the pseudonymous R. C. Christian. The name was probably selected to evoke a connection with Christian Rosenkreuz, the 14th-century founder of Rosicrucianism (the theology of a secret society of occultists, the Fraternity of the Rose Cross). Although there are people today who call themselves Rosicrucians, there is no evidence that a Fraternity of the Rose Cross ever existed. Remember that there are people today who call themselves Jedis. So, a wealthy man who spends too much time reading occult literature pays to have the Georgia Guidestones raised. You become interested in Christian eschatology (maybe this interest was piqued pre-Georgia Guidestones, I don't know). I also don't know to which precise eschatological interpretation you subscribe, but you are apparently convinced that the end of the world is coming soon. My finial analysis? Take one man eschatologically-obsessed (or so it seems to me), expose him to Humanist Manifesto/Georgia Guidestones/Rosicrucian fringe theories, and he concocts the fable that I am now rebutting. Impressively, he manages to insert commonsense scientific nomenclature into the fable. • skepler profile image skepler 7 years ago from North Idaho I may not label myself as Christian (or any other "sect") but I would label myself as your friend. I agree that many Atheists do in fact harass and "hate" Christians, and this is not acceptable. Just as unacceptable as any other hating of anyone. Now lets jump back about 50 years to a time where Christian parents (and ministers) would "shove religion" down their child's throat (my father was a victim of that). These were times where you were either Christian or a heathen that needed to be "purified". This sort of abuse did one of two things, it either made the individual fear to the point of faith or it turned them hostile against religion. It is these and their spawn that harass out of being taught that harassment is the way to "convert". I am in no way defending Atheists, but I was wanting to make clear that like you I do not and will not hate one or another, and I feel that with the change in the way the churches work now days I think the hate should decline over time. Either that of lead to their and everyone's demise. As for the evolutionist's... wow I think I found something to Hub about because that would be a very long comment.
The Science of it All GMO again From Wikipedia (yes, I do use it sometimes, since it is the leading liberal bias learning tool): The Biosafety Protocol makes clear that products from new technologies must be based on the precautionary principle and allow developing nations to balance public health against economic benefits. It will for example let countries ban imports of a genetically modified organisms if they feel there is not enough scientific evidence that the product is safe and requires exporters to label shipments containing genetically altered commodities such as corn or cotton. • attaching the genes to a virus • with very small particles fired from a gene gun. My brother, Roy Marshall, has a blog at where he does a much better job of pointing out the problems with GMO and the political and financial ties to it. Me, I’ll try to explain what GMO is and why it is not always what it seems. First we need to understand the normal (simplified, of course) process of gene recombination. The way it occurs in nature, without any outside influences. For a primer you can go to: Below you see how two plants (could also be animals, fish, sheep, etc.) are combined. This could be a simple pollination under the traditional plant breeding. Pollinating from smooth peas to wrinkled peas, wavy rows of corn kernels to straight rows. As you can see, besides the one yellow gene that creates the difference there are several other genes that assist in the process. Now then, in the bio-tech version they discovered the gene that creates the difference and transpose it. However, they have no idea what the other ‘helper’ genes are or do so they can’t identify them and transfer them. The four-year, US$31-million project to sequence maize (Zea mays) was led by a US-based consortium of researchers who decoded the genome of an inbred line of maize called B73, an important commercial crop variety. The 2.3-billion-base sequence — the largest genetic blueprint yet worked out for any plant species — includes more than 32,000 protein-coding genes spread across maize’s 10 chromosomes. Sections of DNA called transposable elements, which can move around the genome and cause mutations, are the most abundant parts of the sequence, spanning almost 85% of the genome. The human genome has approximately 3.3 billion base-pairs. There are an estimated 20,000-25,000 human protein-coding genes. Protein-coding sequences account for only a very small fraction of the genome (approximately 1.5%), and the rest is associated with non-coding RNA molecules, regulatory DNA sequences, LINEs, SINEs, introns. Notice how the plant genome has almost as many base pairs as the human genome. Base pairs group together to form genes, genes group together to create chromosomes, chromosomes end up being what is transferred from one zygote to another during the reproductive process. A gene is the molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. The word is used extensively by the scientific community for stretches of deoxyribonucleic acids (DNA) and ribonucleic acids (RNA) that code for a polypeptide or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains. Genes hold the information to build and maintain an organism’s cells and pass genetic traits to offspring. All organisms have genes corresponding to various biological traits, some of which are instantly visible, such as eye color or number of limbs, and some of which are not, such as blood type, increased risk for specific diseases, or the thousands of basic biochemical processes that comprise life. Down through history, advances in knowledge of our bodies (many by biblical scientists) have given us new ways to intervene in the course of ‘natural events’ and this will be no exception. Such possibilities have always caused ethical tensions to surface. We have been made in a particular way; do we have the ‘right’ to ‘interfere’? Even atheists are capable of similar thoughts—instead of being concerned about interfering with God’s handiwork, they are concerned with interfering with the ‘course of evolution’ or similar. And that is why we should examine carefully every claim that a GMO product is good for us or good to feed to animals that we will eat, or it will kill weeds better and not harm flowers of vegetable plants, etc. We need to check on who is making the claim and why. In addition, do the research by both those for the GMO and those against. Long-term effects are important and there is none of those that have been done yet. It is like watching the video of the tire being bounced up and down on a machine for 1 million times which is equivalent to 60,000 miles according to the manufacturer. However, when I buy a tire, they wear out in 40,000 miles because the potholes and bumps and dips in the streets I travel do not match the up and down of the machine in any way shape or form. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
UEFI booting — operating system or device? When we boot our computers, what we want to do is load an operating system. Traditionally, we booted devices and it was up to the operating system to work out how to get the system loaded by booting a device. However, UEFI was supposed to change all of that. With UEFI (or Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) the idea is to directly load an operating system without the steps of device booting. There is, in the UEFI design, a fallback ability to boot devices. This is needed when the operating system is not yet installed, so that booting the install device can set things up. However, this was intended only as a fallback. The main use of UEFI was to be to directly load an operating system. I have recently posted about a Toshiba system and an HP system, where the manufacturer did not seem to get the message. Both appear to be cases of backward thinking that sticks to the old idea of booting devices rather than operating systems. In this post, which I am categorizing as a rant, I’ll discuss the distinction between booting a device and booting an operating system. Booting a device The name “booting” comes from the metaphor “pulling yourself up by the bootstraps”. Traditionally, a boot device would be designated. The system, on startup would load a small amount of code from that boot device. It would then run that loaded code which would load more code. In turn, that would load more code. With a few steps, enough code would be in memory to be able to load the operating system. In early IBM mainframes from the 1960s, the first step of the booting operation (known as IPL or Initial Program Load) would load only 24 bytes into memory. Those 24 bytes were to be input/output commands to load more code. The practice of booting computers (sometimes called “bootstrapping” is actually older than the IBM mainframe. By the time the IBM PC came out, booting was easier. We had ROM (Read Only Memory), so the PCs came with a ROM preloaded with some basic functions, particularly some basic I/O function — hence the term BIOS (Basic I/O System). There was code in the BIOS for use in booting. However, the idea of booting a device was still followed. The ROM BIOS would load a boot sector (the MBR or Main Boot Record) into memory and jump to it. The idea of booting this way, was that code in the ROM should not determine how operating systems work. Its role was just to get enough loaded so that the operating system itself could take over. This scheme has served us well, though it went through several stages of evolution as the capacity of disks grew beyond the capabilities of early BIOS code. UEFI and OS loading The designers of UEFI recognized that we had outgrown the older booting methods. Modern computers could have larger ROM, and a substantial NVRAM (non-volatile memory). The old metaphor of pulling ourselves up by the bootstrap was no longer appropriate. We could directly load an operating system. The overall idea is to have a shared partition, the EFI partition (sometimes called the ESP or EFI System Partition), where all operating systems could install their system loaders. Each operating system would create a directory within the EFI partition, and put boot code in that directory. It would then add an entry to NVRAM giving the operating system name and a pointer to the system loader program. This maintains the flexibility of the old boot system. The computer firmware provides some basic I/O services that can be called by the system loaders. The firmware reads the NVRAM to identify which operating system should be loaded. And it then runs the system loader (in the EFI partition) for that operating system. Device boot fallback UEFI does provide a fallback option of booting a device. The directory “\EFI\Boot” in the EFI partition is reserved for that purpose. When booting a device, the firmware loads “\EFI\Boot\bootx64.efi” as the operating system loader program. The device boot fallback is intended to allow booting a CD or a DVD or a USB device. A vendor could also use it so that when a computer is first booted some preloaded setup software is invoked to configure the initial operating system. It is unfortunate that some manufacturers are providing firmware that wants to only use the device boot fallback. Yes, Toshiba and HP, I am talking about you. This is not the way that UEFI should be used. The device fallback should only be a fallback for special purposes. It should not be the regular way of booting. Tags: , About Neil Rickert Mathematician and computer scientist who dabbles in cognitive science. Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s %d bloggers like this:
Preventing Arson Instead of Putting Out Fires What do the allegory of the river, the science fiction film In Time, and a mainstream examination of living in poverty by an economist and a psychologist reveal for those of us seeking the next phase in our resistance of the education reform agenda in the U.S.? We need to pull back from a thousand individual examples of how political, media, and public claims about education are failing children and public education. In other words, we need to increase our calls for ending arson and reduce our efforts to put out fires. The allegory of the river emphasizes the need to address causes for our problems, instead of only tackling over and over the consequences: The woman replied, “Someone or something is causing these children to fall into the river. We could be here for years pulling broken bodies from the water. I am going to walk upstream until I find out what is causing these children to fall in and see if I can do something to stop it!” Babies tossed in the river, arsons setting fires—or as Oscar Wilde confronted, “But their remedies do not cure the disease: they merely prolong it. Indeed, their remedies are part of the disease.” So step one in the next phase is shifting our energy to causes. Step two includes a recognition that spending a disproportionate amount of our time and energy putting out the fires the education reformers are setting insures the reformers win—just as the majority of people are shackled to their frantic lives artificially by ruling forces in the film In Time. Teachers and students are now experiencing paralyzing frantic lives—conditions (remedies) labeled “reform” that in fact “deform” (part of the disease). Focus on causes, reduce our frantic responses, and then the third step, revealed in Scarcity: Committing ourselves to disciplinary evidence addressing large-scale social forces (instead of accusatory stares focused on individuals). Let’s consider, then, how to move forward, shifting our messages away from putting out fires and toward calling out grand scale failures because politician X or celebrity Y or journalist Z is not a unique or especially flawed example on his or her own. Politicians, celebrities and journalists are failing the public discourse often, and we cannot express enough that those failures are grounded primarily in their lack of experience and expertise in teaching and education. So we certainly need to continue reminding everyone of those facts: I don’t know politician X or celebrity Y or journalist Z, and I have no way genuinely to examine any of their intentions or essential nature as people (although I have credible suspicions, I think), but I do know they have little to no credibility, and that their claims and policies are misguided. Today, for example, reveals both our need to continue the resistance (although with a new resolve) and how dangerous our duty remains: • The New York Times reports on very disturbing details about a sports-celebrity’s charter school. The lesson here is not specifically the celebrity-athlete or the political figures who allowed the charter to form, but the larger failure: Political, media, and public commitments that ignore expertise and evidence represented by the unwarranted charter school movement. • NPR reports on a journalist’s book about teaching, teachers, and teacher effectiveness. The media coverage of that book has also promoted Tom Loveless to refute many of the claims made by the journalist. None of this is an isolated or unique problem because we daily are bombarded by the media and journalists examining education as if educators and researchers have never considered their own field. The result is the public is misguided once again. NPR and the NYT represent journalists covering journalists writing about the disciplines as if the experts in the disciplines simply do not exist; and therein lies the problem. • At The Washington Post‘s The Answer Sheet, we learn that grading policies at Princeton are mis-serving students. Education Week adds that at-risk students are also mis-served. These seemingly separate reform fires can be traced to the same arsonist: Our urge to label students and our blind allegiance to grading. I could go on, and tomorrow will be the same, I suspect: Fires, fires, everywhere fires—ones set by the exact reformers who claim to be here to help us (possibly suggesting another key work of science fiction literature). We cannot ignore the fires, of course, but we must not allow them to keep us mostly focused on the frantic task of fighting those fires to the exclusion of unmasking the arsons, an unmasking designed to prevent those fires. One thought on “Preventing Arson Instead of Putting Out Fires 1. The idea that the NCTM Standards were weaker in content and depth is amazingly flawed. I’ve found that most critics have either never really read them, been engaged in teaching from them, or just can’t see math in any other way than the math classes of heir schooling. Those who seem to have demonized constructivism seem to have redefined it in their own narrow way,maven equating it with “progressive” math. I wonder if we should return to the 1960s and the behaviorists. 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Giving and Receiving Feedback – A Process for Growth Use Feedback as a Teaching and Development Tool Frequent and specific feedback is critical to learning. It’s even more important than when you’re coaching an intern, new employee, or employee with performance issues. Depending on the length and intensity of the training needs, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly scheduled feedback is necessary for growth and development. Don’t underestimate the power of impromptu, positive feedback as you notice your intern/employee doing work or behaving in a way that meets or exceeds your expectations. Catching someone doing the right thing is far more effective than jumping on errors. When corrective action is necessary, use this quick process to make sure your feedback is focused on the development of your intern’s/employee’s skills. 1. Begin by describing the behavior you’d like to see. How should the report look? How does a professional employee act and dress? 2. Follow up with the behavior you have observed. Try filling in the following sentence(s), “I’ve noticed ________ and it’s important to ____________ because it will help you _____________.” 3. End by discussing (not prescribing) how to bridge the gap between what you’d like to happen and what you have observed. Make sure to include the intern/employee in the problem solving by asking for input. It’s also important to open yourself to feedback. Coaching your intern/employee to learn to give feedback is as valuable as teaching them to receive it. Modeling the appropriate behavior is essential. • Listen without interrupting and without defensiveness. Take the opportunity to receive feedback as a growth opportunity for yourself and your business. • Ask questions to clarify the feedback. Guide the intern toward the example above. What did the intern expect to see and why? What did the intern observe? • Discuss what could account for the gap. • Thank the intern for providing feedback. As managers and business owners we often develop tunnel vision. Using a clear process to coach an intern or employee is a great way to encourage an open flow of communication. Who knows what heights you’ll reach with a new set of eyes. Building Virtual Teams Virtual Teams and Global Teams: What’s the Difference? Virtual teams or geographically dispersed teams (GDT) share commonalities with their global cousins, but there are also some significant differences that can affect the success of the team. Similarities between the teams: When setting up virtual teams, there are some things both domestic and global teams need to be successful. Pick the right people: go for diversity in specializations, but remember that virtual team members will have multiple reporting lines. Virtual team members must be open to new experiences. • Choose the right technology: it’s critical to recognize that work is done by people, not technology. Virtual teams are managed by people and mediated by technology, not the other way around. • Start the team off right: define the team’s purpose and vision, set specific processes for common understanding, and begin by building relationships before jumping into tasks. The team will need clear goals for work and productivity. Although a facilitator could be used to further these objectives, it’s important to train the team for self-facilitation for success in the long-run (Briggs, 2009). • Gain commitment: make sure all team members understand their roles and responsibilities. It’s important that when virtual teams work together, there is a sense of presence. Maybe using photos for the people who are online, or some video and/or audio communication. Another important factor is to ensure to align reward systems (Briggs, 2009) to the new method of work. Consider a combination of team and individual rewards for goals met. • Develop a rhythm of communication: the expectations of when and where to communicate provide some predictability in an otherwise unpredictable project. Communication also the primary way to build trust in virtual teams, an often difficult objective. Developing trust is difficult when you don’t know your team mates, haven’t met them, and don’t actually see them work. Managing global teams adds another layer of complexity. How global teams differ: Symons and Stenzel (2007) in their article “Virtually Borderless: an examination of culture in virtual teaming” for the Journal of General Management identifies incremental challenges that global teams face. • Technology: considering global teams must rely on technology to mediate tasks, it’s important to be aware of the differences in technological connectivity and infrastructure in other countries. Note also that highly relationship oriented cultures (vs. task oriented like the U.S.) might first resist the use of technology to work across borders. This difference does reinforce the need to pick the right person. Even in relationship oriented cultures there may still be people that would jump at the opportunity. • How leadership is expressed: this factor varies among cultures as well. Cross cultural conflicts are inevitable on global teams, making the leaders, or facilitator’s ability to value diversity and show cultural competence a must on global teams. Although some leadership behaviors, like “dynamism, decisiveness, and honesty” (Stenzel, 2007, pg. 4) are common to most cultures, some attributes, like “ambition, formality, risk-taking and self-effacement are valued in some cultures but not others (Stenzel, 2007, pg. 4). The role in leadership for building trust is pivotal, so not adapting to these difference could cause team failure. • Intercultural Competence: when working on global teams it’s important to note that national and functional cultures are stronger than organizational cultures, however, corporate culture can predispose team members to work better cross-culturally, and therefore, place a big part in the success of global teams. It’s critical that all team members understand the dimensions of cultural difference so they are armed with strategies and self-awareness techniques to resolve intercultural conflicts. As a final thought on what it takes to be successful in global teams, I’d like to leave you with this list from Mary Jane Westerlund (2008), a global team leader. Global team members need nine essential qualities (pg. 35): 1. Adaptation skills 2. Attitude of modesty and respect 3. Understanding of the concept of culture 4. Knowledge of the host country or other cultures 5. Relationship building 6. Self-knowledge and awareness 7. Intercultural communication 8. Organizational skills 9. Personal and professional commitment These qualities enable team development in any realm, but definitely in global teams and team development plays a critical role in the success of virtual teams both domestically and globally. Briggs, R. N. (2009). Principles for effective virtual teamwork. Communications of the ACM , 52 (4), 113-117. Stenzel, C. a. (2007). Virtually borderless: an examination of culture in virtual teaming. Journal of General Management , 32 (3), 1-17. Westerlund, M. (2008). Superperformance in a remote global team. Process Improvement , 47 (5), 32-37. Benefits of Process Interventions Group Process: Wait…don’t groan That’s right, another lecture about working well in groups. Why so many? It’s simple, groups done well turn to teams, and teams can get more done, and better, than a group of individuals. There are three factors of working in teams that affect the quality of performance: what the team does (task), how the team does it (process), and productivity (Herold, 1978). All three legs of the stool must be solid in order to perform at a high level that creates a strong business culture, opportunities for the business, and career success. Process interventions ensure that the team is able to realize these benefits through quality task and process alignment. Recipe for quality teams Empowerment: Involve team members in planning and strategizing how to get the job done. Understanding that learning must precede change, called the Universal Change Principle, is the first step in dissolving resistance to change (Lick, 2000). Synergy: The magic that turns a group of individuals into a team is called synergy. Teams with synergy have a culture and pattern of interaction all their own. According to Lick (2000), “Members of a synergistic…[team] inspire and energize each other, and the openness and diversity of perspectives create new ideas, knowledge, and problem-solving potential” (pg. 46). Trust: Is essential for team success. There is a fear of failure that compels teams toward success (Glassman, 1975). Trust in your teammates builds confidence in the completion of tasks, the team process, and the outcome. In other words, trust affects the quality of all three legs of the stool. Interaction: Promoting both formal and informal opportunities for interaction encourages the development of trust and synergy and team members express their empowerment through advocating for their ideas. This ingredient, effective interaction, is often where groups struggle during when navigating more socially complex tasks (Herold, 1978). It’s a common entry point for process consultations by O.D. professionals. When teams interact and communicate well they grow and evolve to higher performance. Derailing effective teamwork These symptoms indicate a need for process interventions as they can derail team cohesion. Jockeying for position: When groups lack trust and a common vision, members jockey for formal status (Glassman, 1975) preventing the formation of an effective team. Rotating leadership responsibility or restructuring the team’s reporting process might be in order. Finding a common scapegoat: Has your group every complained about that “one person” that, if gone, would make everything better? This type of behavior indicates the group has identified a common scapegoat, or one person to blame for all the inefficiency in the group process (Glassman, 1975). Rarely is one person responsible for the group’s ills. Instead, the group’s inability to form a team can be linked to issues of empowerment, trust, and interaction. Often different expectations between consultant and client can lead to ineffective processes. Plan your team’s workflow to include empowerment, trust, and interaction to create synergy that will make your team a source, not for groans, but for cheers. Glassman, A. (1975). Team consultation: a revealing analysis. Academy of Management Proceedings , 116-118. Herold, D. (1978). Improving the performance effectiveness of groups through a task-contingent slection of intervention strategies. Academy of Management Review , 3 (2), 315-325. Lick, D. (2000). Whole faculty study groups: facilitating mentoring for school-wide change. Theory Into Practice , 39 (1), 43-49. What the Email Etiquette Sites Won’t Teach You
Resolving inequities in the US draft laws Government studies, studies by the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation, and statements by the personnel chiefs of the armed forces all warn that serious trouble is ahead in military manpower recruitment. All agree that the long downward trend in birthrates and a healthier economy will make it increasingly difficult to fill the ranks of all the services as we approach the 1990s. The pat solution sought by the service spokesmen and the civilian study groups is a return to the peculiarly American form of military conscription we have come to know as ''the draft.'' In all of the Spanish, French, and English colonies, except for Quaker-dominated Pennsylvania, the concept of universal military conscription predated the republic and was molded into the Constitution in the several ''militia clauses.'' As the frontier and its dangers passed, universal obligation was replaced in practice, but not in law, by a volunteer militia later to be known as the National Guard. Because the universal militia was not a dependable source of long-term active military units, and because the volunteer units were too few, a form of selective conscription began during the Revolutionary War and has been revived in every emergency since. That ''draft,'' in terms of this day and age, has two major defects: It is directed exclusively at the male population and its ''selective'' nature is no longer acceptable to the greater part of the American public. No matter what the US Supreme Court has said or is likely to say about the subject, the male population is not likely to tolerate for long a situation whereby their departure for enforced military service grants to female competitors a permanent economic and professional advantage. Although obscured, but not erased, by the vast manpower requirements of the two world wars, the ''selective'' nature of the draft has been fraught throughout our history with social and ethnic inequities. The wealthy and middle classes always have sought to keep their sons out of the draft. They succeeded roughly in proportion to their wealth. By the end of the Vietnam war the raging inequities produced by this process had become so extreme that the draft was on the verge of collapse. The shift to a volunteer establishment in 1973 changed that situation for the worse. At least until the recession of 1981-83 began to force more whites into the service, the principal combat elements of the Army and the Marine Corps were made up predominantly of blacks, Hispanics, and severely disadvantaged whites. That situation is virtually a social time bomb, for it will produce in any large-scale conflict a massively disproportionate number of casualties among the poorest of the poor. The infusion of whites from a somewhat higher economic stratum has not solved the problem, since all of those concerned have a continuing reserve obligation and will be the first to be recalled. The use of a lottery would not make any future draft more acceptable. The studies that preceded establishment of the volunteer system confirmed what most Americans long suspected, that the ''selective service'' feature of the old draft tended to impose a permanent economic disability on those who served compared with those who did not serve, regardless of age, sex, or social condition. What seems to me the inescapable conclusion is that if conscription is to be imposed once again, it must be in the form of a national service obligation imposed on every American, male or female. There is an increasing body of experience - dating from the World War II GI Bill of Rights to the recent Supreme Court decision sanctioning linkage between draft registration and public support for education - that national service can be made to work by linking it to a system of eligibility for education or vocational training beyond high school. Thus, by making national service the gateway to higher education the female population would be included without direct compulsion. Every public service organization in America, governmental or private, could make use of the kind of people such a national service system would make available. In the process we might find that we have opened the way to solving not only our military requirements, but some of the most pressing social needs - among them care of the elderly, the handicapped, and the homeless - as well.
INTRODUCTION: TORAH CODE AND ARK CODE ARK CODE (The Book) ELS MAP 1 ELS MAP 2 by Dr. Haralick ELS MAP 3 ELS MAP 4 ELS MAP 5 - Ugret Selima ELS MAP 11 - Return to Egypt and Ark of the Covenant ELS MAP 12 - Promise or Peril? ELS MAP 13 - The Most Specific and Personal ELS Map Expedition Photos and Charts El Zuqba from Space BAAL ZEPHON Baal Zephon - Ark Matrices ELS MAP 15 - TEMPLE (MOUNT) TO BAAL ZEPHON TORAH CODE BASICS: Matrices, Axis Term, Row Split, Word Frequency, Matrix Size, Spelling, and Wrapped Matrices Snooping Message to Muslims: The Qur'an and the Ark of the Covenant Links ArkHunt Blog What Was Baal Zephon? Baal Zephon was an Egyptian fortress passed by the Israelites in the early phases of the Exodus (Exodus 14:2, 14:9, and Numbers 33:7). The name means both "Master of the North" and :Master of the Code" It is the key to finding the Exodus route. The site is heavily encoded with the Ark of the Covenant. In Torah, it appears with two different spellings: Bet Ayin Lamed Tsadeh Feh Nun and Bet Ayin Lamed Tsadeh Feh Vav Nun. Locating Baal Zephon (and thus establishing the route of the Exodus) is a strong secondary objective of my research. Why Was Baal Zephon Lost? Archeologists have been in thinking three dimensional space. To find Baal Zephon, we must consider the 4th dimension and look at where the northern coast of Egypt was thousands of years ago. Sea level rose by over 20 feet since the Ark disappeared as we moved away from the last ice age. There is a man made object (an obstruction) in shallow water where the northernmost coast used to be. Likewise, many of the ruins of Alexandria, Egypt are, in fact, under water today.
Management of dysphagia Swallowing rehabilitation involves education of the patient and caregivers in safe swallowing methods, eg. upright posture, chin tucking, and careful slow swallowing; as well as exercises and manoeuvres to achieve an improved swallow, eg. supraglottic swallow. Advice may be sought from a physiotherapist with an occupational therapist advising on seating and utensils. Unfortunately, safe swallowing methods can make eating a slower process. Patients may also be advised not to sleep flat in bed which may prove uncomfortable, and they may still require nutritional support43. The SLT, or dietician, will advise on a modified diet and the safest food consistencies for the patient in order to reduce or eliminate the risk of aspiration. Often, the most challenging consistencies for a person with dysphagia are thin fluids, such as water, or a mixed consistency, such as solid medication with water. In broad terms the thicker and smoother the consistency the safer it is to swallow; a thicker consistency remaining in a relatively more cohesive state and passing more slowly through the oral cavity and pharynx. However, this will vary between patients so individual assessment is important. Treatment and management: key points37 • Despite some encouraging pilot studies, dysphagia remains difficult to treat; safe management is the goal • Evidence supports diet modification as the most effective strategy in stroke and Parkinson’s disease patients • PEG or NG tubes are not guaranteed to prevent aspiration
Sunday, March 22, 2009 Why Is Big Tex a White Cowboy?: Race, Gender and the "Other Texans" (a rough draft, Part 4) Native American historians have, in particular, utilized an intriguing approach based on post-modern theory that relates to whiteness studies and the generational approach taken by Garcia. Ethnogenesis traces how specific ethnic identities are created and recreated over time. Gary Clayton Anderson made the best use of this approach in his work "The Indian Southwest: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention, 1580-1830" (1999). Anderson describes the Southwest as an “emerging ethnic stew” in which dynamic Indian cultures maintained dominance for more than 200 years, even shaping the encroaching European cultures they encountered. Where Anglo historians traditionally have viewed Indian history from a teleological lens, depicting Indians as gradually worn down to the point of cultural or literal extinction, Anderson sees societies that, under the pressures of genocide and ecological and economic change continually created new identities from the fragments of decimated nations. Instead of depicting them as clinging to the past, as some of the scholarship on Native Americans suggested, Anderson’s historiographic perspective described the Southwest Indians as being cultural innovators up until the onslaught of European invaders overwhelmed them in the early 19th century. The defeat, domination and expulsion of Native Americans in Texas, and the racist ideology underlying this policy, raises questions that could perhaps be best answered by comparative history. Anderson, in "The Conquest of Texas: Ethnic Cleansing in the Promised Land, 1820-1875" (2005), explores whether the policies of the Texas Republic and the subsequent Texas state government towards Indians constitutes genocide. Anderson prefers the term “ethnic cleansing,” first widely used to describe Serbian atrocities during the 1990s civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. “ . . . [T]he situation in Texas fails to rise to the level of genocide, if genocide is defined as the intentional killing of nearly all of a racial, religious, or cultural group” Anderson writes. “. . . Rather, Texans gradually endorsed . . . a policy of ethnic cleansing that had as its intention the forced removal of certain culturally defined groups from their lands . . . Texans would have been pleased had the groups they wanted removed simply left without violence. But these groups did not. The conflict in Texas was over land; indiscriminate killing, while common during the fighting, never became prolonged, strategic, state policy on either side.” Anderson reduces this ethnic cleansing to a cold-hearted campaign of greed and one might think that racism was irrelevant to the Anglo-Texan’s motives. One wonders, however, if the land Anglos desired had been filled with Czech or German immigrants would the ethnic cleansing have been as bloody and ruthless. Anderson made a reasonable case for not describing Texas’ Indian policy as genocide. Unanswered, however, was why genocide did not occur. Here comparative history might be instructive. Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, in his controversial study "Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust" (1997) , suggests that over centuries German culture developed an “eliminationist” style of anti-Semitism – the idea that Jews were so alien and so dangerous to the German nation that only extermination of the Jews could keep the Reich safe. Consistent with post-modernist theory, Goldhagen places racial discourse at the center of his compelling narrative. For centuries before Hitler, Goldhagen contends, religious leaders, politicians, and even leftists social constructed an image of Jews as racial outsiders who poisoned the body politic and would kill their host society. The omnipresence of anti-Semitism in German culture led to a widespread acceptance and complicity on the part of average Germans in the Holocaust, Goldhagen argues. The mass murder of Jews was not pursued by Hitler in spite of the desires of the German majority, he says, but with their enthusiastic participation. What is striking about Goldhagen’s book is how closely the German eliminationist discourse resembles the social construction of Tejanos, Mexican immigrants, and Native Americans in Anglo society from the mid-19th century to the early twentieth century. (The same could be said at different times about Anglo attitudes towards African Americans and straight perspectives on gay men and women in Texas.) Like Jews in Germany, Anglos at times perceived these outsiders as unassimilable, as unfit for citizenship, as prone to crime and violence, and as posing a danger to Texas in spite of their relatively small numbers. What accounts for the difference between Texas, where ethnic cleansing became policy, and Germany which embraced genocide? Any answer would be speculative, but without some theories ventured about the choices made by Texans, Anderson’s work seems incomplete. Perhaps because two important Hispanic organizations, LULAC and the American GI Forum, originated in Texas (in 1929 and 1948 respectively), the Mexican American experience in Texas has attracted national scholarly interest. This is not true of the African American freedom struggle in Texas. Civil rights campaigns in the Deep South, and the leaders of the movement in that region such as Martin Luther King, Jr. unfortunately overshadowed voting rights and integration battles in Texas. This is unfortunate because Texas offers an illustration of how geography and a multi-racial environment uniquely shaped the Texas freedom struggle. Recent scholarship indicates that this state represented a key battleground in the fight against segregation and disenfranchisement, but the field remains underdeveloped. 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• Tandem Learning Project: Language Exchanges What’s the best way to learn a new language? Some might say that language learning is most effective when it is based on a strong and trusting relationship. This is the basic idea of Tandem Learning--pairing up people interested in sharing their languages and supporting them to develop a ‘learning exchange’.
<< Previous [1] 2 Next >> Titan Gods The Battle Between the Gods and the TitansBefore the Olympian gods came into being and power, all was ruled by the Titans. Among other things during their rule, they established the cycles of the Heavens and were responsible for all that had to do with time. The Titans were the offspring of Uranus and the Earth mother Gaea and were considered "The First Race" even though they were siblings of the Hecatonchires and the one-eyed Cyclopes. Originally, there were twelve elder Titans consisting of six males; Coeus, Crius, Cronus, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Oceanus, and six females; Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Rhea, Tethys, Theia, and Themis. Because Uranus, their father, was both horrified and jealous of his children, he shut the male Titans, the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes away deep inside their mother, the Earth. The imprisonment of her children caused Gaea great pain, both mentally and physically. As a result, she encouraged her Titan sons, led by Cronus, to overthrow their father and free themselves and their brothers from captivity. According to plan, the male Titans managed to ambush and overpower their father Uranus and Cronus became the "High God of the World." However, while they did release their brothers, the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes, from the belly of the Earth, the Titans later imprisoned them again in the underworld pit of Tartarus. For not keeping their word to Gaea, it was foretold that a son of Cronus would one day overthrow the Titans much in the same manner as they had done to Uranus. Fearful, Cronus swallowed each of his offspring as soon as they were born and presented to him. However, when Zeus, his youngest, was about to be born, Rhea, Zeus' mother, sought Gaea's help in devising a plan to save him. This way, Cronus would get his retribution for the acts committed against his father, his brothers, and his own children. Upon the birth of Zeus, Rhea hid him. Then, instead of handing Cronus the newborn baby, she handed him a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes. As he had done with all the other children, Cronus promptly swallowed it. Upon reaching manhood, Zeus forced Cronus to disgorge first the stone, then his siblings in reverse order of swallowing them. After, Zeus released Cronus' brothers the Hecatonchires and the Cyclopes, from their dungeon in Tartarus. Together, Zeus, his brothers, his sisters, the Hecatonchires, and the Cyclopes overthrew Cronus and the other Titans, in an eleven year battle called the Titanomachy. The defeated Titans were then cast into the shadowy underworld of Tartarus. As many of the younger Titan gods had allied themselves with Zeus they retained their divine rights under the new Olympian regime. However, subsequently, some of these Titan allies became rebellious and were sentenced to very harsh punishment by Zeus. The female Titans, (a.k.a. Titanides) remained neutral during the War of the Titans, and thus retained their positions as prophetic goddesses. Several of these goddesses became wives and consorts of Zeus and received a place on Mount Olympus as mothers of the gods. Web not-of-this-earth.com << Previous [1] 2 Next >> “Mythology: the body of a primitive people's beliefs, concerning its origin, early history, heroes, deities and so forth, as distinguished from the true accounts which it invents later.” -- Ambrose Bierce Metaphysics Network "It is the part of men to fear and tremble when the most mighty gods by tokens send such dreadful heralds to astonish us." -- William Shakespeare The Metaphysical Store “A one sentence definition of mythology? "Mythology" is what we call someone else's religion” -- Joseph Campbell "In all the antique religions, Mythology takes the place of dogma." -- William Robertson Smith Site Search "I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world and do not find in our particular superstition (Christianity) one redeeming feature. They are all alike, founded on fables and Mythology." -- Thomas Jefferson The Metaphysical Society "A myth is an image in terms of which we try to make sense of the world." -- Alan Watts The Metaphysical Dictopedia "I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge... myth is more potent than history... dreams are more powerful than facts... hope always triumphs over experience... laughter is the cure for grief... and love is stronger than death." -- Robert Fulghum
Thursday, July 07, 2005 The Iroquois influence in American democratic ideals - from the NYT. The Founding Sachems - New York Times: "The Iroquois confederation, known to its members as the Haudenosaunee, was probably the greatest indigenous polity north of the Rio Grande in the two centuries before Columbus and definitely the greatest in the two centuries after... The Iroquois confederation was governed by a constitution, the Great Law of Peace, which established the league's Great Council: 50 male royaneh (religious-political leaders), each representing one of the female-led clans of the alliance's nations. What was striking to the contemporary eye was that the 117 codicils of the Great Law were concerned as much with constraining the Great Council as with granting it authority. 'Their whole civil policy was averse to the concentration of power in the hands of any single individual,' explained Lewis Henry Morgan, a pioneering ethnographer of the Iroquois. The council's jurisdiction was limited to relations among the nations and outside groups; internal affairs were the province of the individual nations. Even in the council's narrow domain, the Great Law insisted that every time the royaneh confronted 'an especially important matter or a great emergency,' they had to 'submit the matter to the decision of their people' in a kind of referendum open to both men and women. In creating such checks on authority, the league was just the most formal expression of a regionwide tradition. Although the Indian sachems on the Eastern Seaboard were absolute monarchs in theory, wrote the colonial leader Roger Williams, in practice they did not make any decisions 'unto which the people are averse.' These smaller groups did not have formal, Iroquois-style constitutions, but their governments, too, were predicated on the consent of the governed. Compared to the despotisms that were the norm in Europe and Asia, the societies encountered by British colonists were a libertarian dream. Historians have been reluctant to acknowledge this contribution to the end of tyranny worldwide. Yet a plain reading of Locke, Hume, Rousseau and Thomas Paine shows that they took many of their illustrations of liberty from native examples. So did the colonists who held their Boston Tea Party dressed as "Mohawks." When others took up European intellectuals' books and histories, images of Indian freedom had an impact far removed in time and space from the 16th-century Northeast. The pioneering suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage, both Finger Lakes residents, were inspired by the Great Law's extension of legal protections to women. "This gentile constitution is wonderful!" Friedrich Engels exclaimed (though he apparently didn't notice its emphasis on limited state power). Just like their long-ago confreres in Boston, protesters in South Korea, China and Ukraine wore "Native American" makeup and clothing in, respectively, the 1980's, 1990's, and the first years of this century. Indeed, it is only a little exaggeration to claim that everywhere liberty is cherished - from Sweden to Soweto, from the streets of Manila to the docks of Manhattan - people are descendants of the Iroquois League and its neighbors."
Bharat Chandra 'Roygunakar' - First People's Poet of Bengal Bharat Chandra Roy, who was titled 'Roygunakar' seemed to be the first people's-poet of Bengal. His most notable work is "ANNADAMANGAL". Bharat Chandra Roy was born in 1705 in Penro Gram of Bhurshut Pargana in District of Hoogly. His father was Narendra Roy who was a Zamindar in his times. Bharat Chandra's life was full of sorrow, even from his childhood. The King of Bardhaman conspires against his father and abducts his property. He was brought up in his maternal-house. Later he married according to his own choice without taking permission of his family. From there he fled to Cuttack. Later his Father-in-law brought him back. At last he was admitted as Poet in the court of Raja Krishnachandra. The king offered him lands in Mulazore village where he concentrated his writings. Bharat Chandra was the last poet of the Style 'Mangal-Kabya'. Though he followed these age-old styles, he was driven by modern styles which give Mangal-Kabya a new dimension. In his other poems he portrayed the sorrow, problems and political disturbances of the society. Even from his poems we can know that ill-judicial system used to prevail at those times. In his poems the problems which are portrayed were the huge tax affected the common people, the trade and business get blow from Portuguese Pirates, and attacks of Bargis-a south Indian Section of people who make the life of Bengal's people more disastrous. Even the difference of society regarding the wealth gets prominent during that time. Bharat Chandra had drawn these problems brilliantly and humorously. He was highly educated in grammar, dictionary, literature, plays, theater, music, and know the languages of Parsee and Nagari (urban Language). His masterpiece is undoubtedly - 'Annadamangal' where he used alliteration, and disguise language very cleverly to spread the preaching of Goddess Annapurna. Though some people criticized him for using ill-cultured and slang language, but this was not the guilty of Bharat Chandra but that of the society. Bharat Chandra was just the medium who portrayed that realistic picture of the society. The beauty, humor, cleverness of the kingdom got pronounced his poems. With use of foreign and country's words, he set up his own signature style in Bengali Literature. Some of his great works are: Satyapither Panchali, Rasamanchari, Bibidha Kabitaboli, Nagastak, Chandinatak and Annadamangal. He died in 1760 due to Diarrhea. More articles: Bharat Chandra • Name:
Study your flashcards anywhere! Download the official Cram app for free > • Shuffle Toggle On Toggle Off • Alphabetize Toggle On Toggle Off • Front First Toggle On Toggle Off • Both Sides Toggle On Toggle Off • Read Toggle On Toggle Off How to study your flashcards. H key: Show hint (3rd side).h key A key: Read text to speech.a key Play button Play button Click to flip 54 Cards in this Set • Front • Back What is Aerodynamics? The study of forces and the resulting motion of objects through air What are the 4 primary forces of flight? Lift, weightm thrust, drag What does aerodynamics allow? allows heavier then air vehicles to fly. How do the 4 primary forces counteract? lift is counteracted by weight, while thrust is counteracted by drag What is lift? The force that holds an aircraft in air Where can lift be generated from? Anywhere but mostly from the wings. What does the cross section of a wing show? that the wing is in the sahpe of an airfoil How is the structure of the wind determined? By the mission of the aircraft Which types of aircraft tend to have larger and thicker wings? Why? Transports and bombers. They need more lift cuz they are heavier. How are stability and maneuverability related (wings)? An increase in one causes a decrease in the other What is AOA? Angle of Attack. The measurement of the angle between the wing and the air flowing over it. If you increase the AOA, will this cause an increase or decrease in lift? What happens if you have too much AOA? Why? Stall. Cuz of the separation of airflow over thw wing and the drag created from the underneath portion of the wing What is the solution to ensure there isn't too much AOA? Computer controlled AOA limiters What are the 3 main control axis? Pitch, roll, yaw What are the jobs of the stabilizers? To provide stability for the aircraft and keep it flying straight What is the vertical stabilizer do? keeps nose of the plane from swinging to the sides What does the horizontal stabilizer do? Prevents up and down nose movement. What is a canard? What are some examples? When the horizontal stablilizer is in front of the wings. Eurofighter and Gripen What is the rudder? Hinged prat of the vertical stabilizer. used to deflect the tail to the left and right giving the yaw input. How do you get the yaw input? The rudder How do you get the pitch input? The elevator What is the elevator? Hinged part of horizontal stabilizer. Used to deflect the tail up and down giving it the pitch input. What is the aileron? Outboard hinged part of the wing. used to roll wings from side to side. Gives the roll input How do you get rolll input? The Aileron What are flaps? Used during takeoff and landing to increase the amount of lift produced by the wing What are slats? Help provide more lift by changing the shape of the airfoil What are spoilers? used to deflect air to produce drag and limit lift. Used during landing. What is drag? resistance of air to the airframe How is a shockwave created? When the plane gets closer to supersonic flight, the air is pushed out of the way more forcefully and compact. What are the 3 types of drag? Shock wave drag, parasite drag, induced drag What is shock wave drag? the drag created by the shock wave What is parasite drag? Created by airflow over a rough surface and can be caused by poor machining, poor airframe design, an dadded equipment What is induced drag? caused by the production of lift. Slows an aircraft by creating a drag vector that is associated with the lift vector. What type of engines power most military and passenger aircraft? Jet engine AKA Gas turbine engines What is the simplest type of engine? What generation aircraft can they be found Turbo jet. Can be found on 1st and 2nd generation aircraft What are the 6 major compnents of the Turbo jet? INlet, compressor, burner, turbine, shaft, amd nozzle How does a jet engine work? Suck, Squeeze, bang, blow What is thrust? the force produced by te aircraft engine and is measured in pounds of thrust What is the T/WT Thrust to wieight ratio- the amount of thrust the aircraft angine can produce divided by the clean gross wieght of the aircraft What happens to the T/WT ratio when the fighter gains altitude? Why? It decreases. Less thrust produced in oxygen depleted environment What are the 2 primary types of jet engine thrust? Axial thrust and vectored thrust What is axial thrust? When the engine exhaust is directed out of the engine parallel to the engine. What is vectored thrust? the exhaust is directed either on a 2-D or 3-D plane. What are the advantages to vectored thrust? Allows for higher AOA at slower speeds, allows a much tighter turn rate capability What are the 3 factors of combat gross weight? weight of the airframe, weight of the fuel, the weight of the ordnance it's carrying What is the comabt gross weight also known as? safe, theoretical max wieight What happens if the plane is near the combat gross weight at take off? A minimal amount of fuel is removed and they are refueld immediately after take off What is the wing loading factor? Combat gross weight/surface area of the wing. What is the turn rate? How fast the aircraft turns What is the ICV? Instantaneous corner velocity- the velocity at whcih an aircraft gets the highest turn rate with the smallest turn radius. Also the lowest speed at which the aircraft can reach it's max G. What is the ITR? Instantaneous turn rate- the measure of rate of turn at the ICV point What is the SCV? Sustained corner velocity- the speed an aircraft can get a high performance turn and can sustain the turn without losing speed or altitude What are EM diagrams used for? A graphic depiction of an aircraft's performance capability. Compare strenghts and weaknesses.
ancient egypt: history and culture Ancient Egyptian deities: For best results save the whole webpage (pictures included) onto your hard disk, open the page with Word 97 or higher, edit if necessary and print. Printing using the browser's print function is not recommended. also Atum, Atoum Atem Atem was the creator god of Heliopolis. In the primordial waters of Nun only he existed, according to one tradition in the form of a snake: Atum has bitten and has filled his mouth, and he coils up. Coffin Texts #717 S. M. elSebaie, The Destiny of the World: A Study on the End of the Universe in the Light of Ancient Egyptian Texts, Thesis, University of Toronto 2000, p.39 He would reassume this shape after ending the world [1]; and, swimming in the waters of chaos, he would get ready for another act of creation. His creation is generally described as a sexual act, taking place on the Primordial Hill on which he alighted in the shape of the Benu bird. Being alone in the waters of Nun, [3] Atem embodied both the male and female principles, impregnating himself by masturbation and ingestion of his own sperm. For the Ennead of Atum came into being through his semen and his fingers. The Pyramidtexts [6] stress the direct connection between this act of creation and gratification: He (i.e. Atem) put his penis into his fist in order to pleasure himself with it, and the two children were born, Shu and Tefnut. In a different tradition Shu and Tefnut were not the result of a sexual act, but were conceived in the mind of Atem and came into being when he exhaled them, hence the three deities were seen as one being, a trinity. As such they were at times depicted as a sphinx. In another version of the story Atem gave birth to his son Shu by spitting him out and to his daughter Tefnut by vomitting. [2] The act of creation brought order, personified as Maat, into being, but the primordial Chaos remained part of the cosmos. At least in earlier historic times the Egyptians assigned all lands beyond their own borders to the realm of Chaos. The hand performing the masturbation [4] was instrumental in the creation. It has been suggested that during the Amarna Period depictions of the Aten, Akhenaten and Nefertiti reflect the creation: the creator (Aten) touching his children Shu and Refnut (Akhenaten and Nefertiti) with his hands. [2] Atem merged with Re to represent the setting evening sun as Atem-Re. ... I shall go down in the west like Atum Thutmose III, Karnak obelisk J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, § 318 As such he was in charge of Mesektet, the Solar Bark of the night, and was also identified with the moon, which is the sun's substitute for the night. His entering the night sky was seen as as a sexual union between him and Nut. He was consequently referred to as Kamutef, bull of his mother. In the morning Atem was reborn as the young sun calf or as a boy. He was thus both old man and youth, just as, during the act of creation, he was man and woman. He was often identified with Osiris, and, merged with other deitied, was also known as Atem-Re-Harakhte, Atem-Khepre, Atem-Harmakhis. In the Memphite mythology he was brought forth by Ptah: Ptah-Nun, the father who [made] Atum. Ptah-Naunet, the mother who bore Atum Shabaka Stone M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol.1, p.54 The close connection between sexuality and creation is reflected by Atem being called the Great Bull of the Ennead and on occasion being depicted in the shape of an-often old-man with a bull's tail. When destroying enemies of the sungod, such as the snake Apophis, he took on the form of an ichneumon or a monkey shooting arrows. [5] [1] The role of the snake in the Egyptian mythology is ambiguous. On the one hand it personifies evil and destruction, such as Apep or Sebau attempting the destruction of Re on his nightly journey through the underworld, on the other hand the snake also symbolizes creation, rebirth and life after death. As the world encircler it was the chaos surrounding the world of Maat, while the snake biting its own tail symbolized eternity. [2] Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst, Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999, p.120 [3] I am Atem, when I was on my own in Nun. (pBM EA 10477 (pNu), Tb 017, line [4]) [4] The Hand of the God was one of the titles of the Wife of the God (the High Priestess) of Amen (Pascal Vernus, Jean Yoyotte, David Lorton, The Book of the Pharaohs, Cornell University Press, 2003, p.1) [5] Van der Toorn et al., op.cit., p.123 [6] Pyramid of Pepi I., PT 527 © 2000 October 2011 August 2008 April 2007 CSE xhtml validated
Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet Stockholms universitet Large resources are invested in habitat restoration in Sweden each year, e.g. for grasslands to mitigate the loss of biodiversity. Surprisingly, strategies for directing restoration efforts underpinned by thorough ecological knowledge are largely lacking. There is also a lack of monitoring the success of restoration efforts, and little is known about how efficient these restoration efforts actually are to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Following restoration, many species need to re-colonize the restored habitat from neighbouring populations. In this project we investigate how population recovery, community reassembly and the reconstruction of ecosystem functioning after habitat restoration are linked to the structure of the surrounding landscape. We focus on plant and insect communities, and on pollination which is an important ecosystem function provided by the insects. We assess if the species traits that predict re-colonization success are the same that predict extinction risk. In collaboration with key stakeholders we will provide a knowledge base for designing restoration strategies at the landscape scale, an approach will become increasingly important for managing ecosystems that can buffer against multiple stressors such as land use conversion, invasive species and climate change. The project is a collaboration between SLU, Department of Ecology and Stockholm University, Department of Physical Geography and Quaternary Geology. The project will run 2010-2014 and is funded by FORMAS [In Swedish (pdf)]
Thursday, April 20, 2017 The Rise of English Catholicism Our Lady of Walsingham A Popular English Catholic Devotion Commemorating an Apparition of the Virgin Mary in England In the April 12, 2017 edition of the National Catholic Register (EWTN's official newspaper), Peter Jesserer Smith published an outstanding article outlining the inside story on the creation of the Personal Ordinariates for former Anglicans. He writes... Benedict XVI gave a tremendous gift to the English-speaking world in 2009, when he finally realized a dream centuries in the making, and established a permanent canonical home for groups from the Anglican tradition seeking to enter the Catholic Church with the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus Today, the Catholic Church has three Personal Ordinariates — informally known as the “Anglican Ordinariates” — that preserve the Anglican patrimony in their Catholic parishes, communities, and religious orders. These Personal Ordinariates have the only English form of the Roman Missal, promulgated by Pope Francis, called Divine Worship — an actual English form, not an English translation of the Latin Mass — written in traditional, poetic “Prayer Book” English. Each Personal Ordinariate covers a region of the globe (Oceania, the United Kingdom, and North America) and is headed by a bishop or ordinary who falls directly under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Read the full article here. Smith makes a very important observation. What we effectively have here is a whole new form of the Roman Rite, that really isn't that new at all. In fact, it's very old, and when I say old, I mean ancient. You see, much of Divine Worship is based on the old Sarum Use, used in England prior to the Reformation. Yes, that's right, I'm talking about a Use or Form of the Roman Rite which is actually older than the Tridentine mass. Now granted, the old Sarum Use was said in Latin not English, and Divine Worship is not an exact replica. It is different, but it has many common points of reference, just as it has common points of reference with the Trindentine mass. It is its own thing. Those looking for an exact English translation of the Latin Tridentine mass will be disappointed. Those looking for another modern vernacular of the Novus Ordo mass will be disappointed. It is none of these things. It is rather something entirely different, and it's based on many elements from the old Sarum Use as preserved through the centuries in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. What's it like? Well, let me tell you. It's very traditional by contemporary Catholic standards. Mass is commonly celebrated with the priest facing the altar together with the congregation (ad orientem). Communion is typically served on the tongue while kneeling. Sometimes the method of intinction is used, where the priest dips the host into the precious blood before placing it on the communicant's tongue. The gospel reading is done in the centre aisle amongst the congregation. The prayers are a little different. The responses are a little different. Most importantly, all of it (prayers and responses) are done in Sacred English (thee, thou, thy, etc.) Divine Worship Mass - Celebrated by Bishop Lopes - Oct. 23rd, 2016 This is now an official form of the Roman Rite, on par with other forms, such as the Tridentine and Novus Ordo, commonly called the Extraordinary and Ordinary forms of the Roman Rite. Thus Divine Worship is a third form, which is distinctively English. Whereas the vernacular translation of the Novus Ordo mass is just that -- a translation of a Latin text -- in contrast Divine Worship is a Vatican approved English text in and of itself. Smith continues... The CDF’s guarantee means the faithful of the Church, from now until Christ returns in glory, understand that the Anglican patrimony (and what in the Ordinariate is a truly restored English Catholic heritage that runs through the Anglican tradition all the way back to St. Augustine at Kent) is not just a treasure for the Personal Ordinariate, but is a treasure that belongs to “the whole Church.” Read the full article here. As is pointed out here, what we have embodied in the Ordinariates and Divine Worship is the authentic Anglican Patrimony as restored English Catholicism, as it has developed from the time of St. Augustine of Canterbury until now. It is, in a very real sense, the heritage of every English-speaking Catholic in the world. This may sound strange to some, but its not so foreign when we consider how much the Anglican Patrimony already plays into Catholicism in the English-speaking world, even outside the Ordinariates. For example; when we pray the Lord's Prayer during the vernacular English Novus Ordo mass, this is how it's commonly said or chanted... Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Take note of the Sacred English words "art" and "thy." It's exactly the same in Divine Worship. How very interesting that Rome saw fit to translate the Lord's Prayer into Sacred English, even in the 1970s vernacular translation that uses Common English (or "modern" English). I mean, think about it. The words "art" and "thy" appear nowhere else in the English vernacular Novus Ordo mass. They only appear in this prayer, and that's because it's an appeal to our linguistic history and heritage -- our Anglican Patrimony. English-speaking Catholics have been using Sacred English for this prayer, straight out of the Anglican prayerbooks, officially in the mass, ever since the vernacular English translation was commissioned in the 1970s. However, it's been going on a lot longer than that -- unofficially. Pick up just about any copy of the Daily Roman Missal 1962 and what you'll find is the old Tridentine mass officially in Latin on one side of the page, translated unofficially into Sacred English (not Common English) on the other side of the page. For decades prior to the Novus Ordo mass, English-speaking (Anglophone) Catholics learnt the "Our Father," "Hail Mary," and "Glory Be," and scores of other prayers in Sacred English. The same is true of the first English translations of the Catholic Bible. I'm speaking specifically of the Douay-Rheims Bible, which is entirely in Sacred English, just like the Anglican King James Version. In fact all English Bibles, produced in previous centuries, used some variation of Sacred English, commonly found in Anglican prayer books, because that was THE standard for all English religious text. Every English-speaker knows this deep down inside. Sacred English is the language of poetry, music and theatre. It always has been. It is our most treasured vernacular, because it represents the highest and most precise diction the language has to offer. We offer God only our best, and that is why it's called Sacred English, or as the Anglicans sometimes say "Prayerbook English." (Read more about Sacred English Here.) We can see, however, by the abundance of Sacred English used in unofficial liturgical translations, Scripture and prayers, prior to 1970, that the Catholic Church has already been in the business of preserving some aspects of the Anglican Patrimony for a very long time. Perhaps there has always been a recognition by Rome that there is something there. There is something about Sacred English, as exemplified by the Anglican Patrimony, that is worth preserving, and so Anglophone Catholics have been preserving some aspect of it all along. With the creation of the Novus Ordo liturgy in 1970, it was only natural for Rome to translate it into the most common and popular vernacular. That is, after all, the primary purpose of the Novus Ordo translations, to bring the liturgy of the mass into the common tongue. Thus it was translated into Common English (or what many mistakenly refer to as "modern English"). Yet even then, a nod to the Anglican Patrimony was given with the Sacred English translation of the "Our Father." Every single English-speaking Catholic gives that same nod when the "Our Father" is recited (or chanted) during mass. And this is where Smith's article hits a home run... But rather importantly, as the bishop pointed out, the CDF stands as the guarantee that the liturgical traditions of the Personal Ordinariates are fully Catholic in every sense of the word. No one can say otherwise, or tell lifelong Catholics that the spiritual patrimony of the Personal Ordinariates is not for them, because the CDF stands behind it. Any Catholic who wishes to adopt this spiritual patrimony knows its Catholicity comes guaranteed by Rome. Read the full article here. Did you catch that? "Any Catholic who wishes to adopt this spiritual patrimony knows its Catholicity comes guaranteed by Rome." Pause and let that sink in. Any Catholic may adopt this spiritual patrimony -- ANY Catholic. Stop. Let that sink in. "No one can say otherwise, or tell lifelong Catholics that the spiritual patrimony of the Personal Ordinariates is not for them." ANY Catholic may adopt the spirituality of the Anglican Patrimony as guaranteed by Rome. Presumably, it would be mostly English-speaking (Anglophone) Catholics who would be most drawn to it, but by no means is it just limited to them. ANY CATHOLIC may adopt the spirituality of the Anglican Patrimony -- any Catholic. Are you Catholic? If yes, you may adopt the spirituality of the Anglican Patrimony as guaranteed by Rome. That's the only prerequisite. Are you Catholic? If the answer is yes, you qualify to adopt the Anglican Patrimony as your own personal spirituality. Now, to be clear, that does not mean any Catholic qualifies to become a member of the Ordinariates. Membership in the ordinariates is a different matter of episcopal jurisdiction, governed by specific rules set down in Anglicanorum Coetibus, decrees from the pope, and the oversight of the Vatican CDF. So membership in the Ordinariate is a different matter. One must qualify, and to learn what those qualifications are, one must take a look at the rules here. Still, one does not need to be a member of a certain episcopal jurisdiction (the Ordinariate) in order to personally adopt the authentic Catholic spirituality of the Anglican Patrimony. ANY Catholic may adopt the spirituality of the Anglican Patrimony, and do the following, regardless of Ordinariate membership... 1. Pray using Sacred English (thee, thou, thy, etc.) 2. Use prayer books and devotionals derived from the Anglican Patrimony. 3. Pray the Daily Office (see here). 4. Fellowship with Ordinariate Catholics. 5. Join the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society. 6. Join an Ordinariate parish (find one here, here or here) Yes, Ordinariate parish membership is open even to non-Ordinariate members. In other words, it is possible (even fairly common in some places) for Roman Catholics, who do not qualify for Ordinariate membership, to nevertheless adopt the total spirituality of the Anglican Patrimony, even to the point of joining an Ordinariate parish. It happens all the time. Regardless of whatever continent you're on, membership in the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society (ACS) is open to EVERYONE, and this makes a very suitable alternative for Roman Catholics who love the Anglican Patrimony, but for whatever reason, do not qualify to be part of an Ordinariate jurisdiction. It connects Catholics to the life of the Anglican Patrimony on all three continents by way of a public blog, an ongoing journal, as well as access to occasional events and special materials. The ACS has more exciting things on the way. So whether you're a member of one of the three ordinariates, or even if you don't qualify to be a member, consider membership in the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society (ACS), You see, up until now, the type of Catholicism we have seen in North America is heavily influenced by Irish, Italian and Latino immigrants. There is a small French influence as well, but that's mostly limited to Canada. In the U.K., Catholicism has been heavily influence by the Irish. All this is well and good, and I would never dream to knock any of these fine traditions. They are lovely in themselves. In fact, I have a particular fondness toward Latino Catholicism, having been surrounded by it as a child in Southern California. However, there has been something big missing in the English-speaking (Anglophone) world for a long time. It's sort of like a great big hole in the Anglophone world. It's something that once was, but has been gone for a very long time. What we have now in the restored Anglican Patrimony, guaranteed by Rome, is the rebirth of something very old -- English Catholicism. It seems new because we haven't seen it in a very long time. In fact, it hasn't existed in a unified state since the 16th century. It has, up until now, existed only in a fractured state, between High Church Anglicanism and Recusant English Roman Catholicism. So there is nobody alive today who remembers it in a singular unified state, as exists now in the restored Anglican Patrimony embodied in Divine Worship. Nevertheless, Rome has guaranteed it, and former Anglicans (now Catholics) attest to it as well. What we have here is a form of Catholic spirituality that is specifically geared toward English-speaking (Anglophone) people, which should be especially appealing to those living in North America, the U.K., and Oceania. Obviously, this form of spirituality is not for everyone, but if you're an English-speaking Catholic, at least take some time to learn your spiritual history and heritage. Rediscover English Catholicism! *** Edits in grey, made for clarity. Hat tip to Mark C. in comment below. A Catholic Guide to the Last Days for Protestants Monday, April 17, 2017 The Benedict Option for Catholics -- Part I Mont Saint-Michel, French Atlantic Coast There has been a lot of talk about the best-selling book: The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation. Catholic Answers Focus recently did an interview with the author, Rod Dreher, which you can listen to the podcast here. It's really quite good, and it's really NOT what a lot of people think it is. Admittedly, when I first head of the Benedict Option, I was a sceptic. I still am a sceptic of the popular interpretation of it. However, after listening to Dreher on Catholic Answers, my opinion has changed a bit. What if I were to tell you the following... 1. Contrary to popular opinion, we are NOT living through the Last Days of humanity. The coming of Antichrist is still likely centuries away. Everyone reading this will likely live to a ripe, old age (Lord willing), as will their children and grandchildren. So we need to start dealing with that reality again. Radical apocalypticism has only contributed to the problems of our Western civilisation, by causing Christians to mentally retreat from everything, in order to prepare for "The End." 2. The current spiritual/moral malaise the West is going through right now is NOT a passing storm. It's here to stay. 3. We have entered a post-Christian world, and this is our new reality. 4. We are NEVER going back to 1950s Catholicism, nor are we going back to 1940s Catholicism, nor 1930s, nor 1900, nor 1870, nor 1850, etc. We're not going back to any of that -- ever -- those days are over. It is done. 5. Mainstream Protestantism is dying in the West, and will continue to die. 6. Evangelical Protestantism is not far behind, and is in fact heading toward a total implosion that will eventually see its demise even quicker than Mainstream Protestantism. 7. Eastern Orthodoxy is struggling, experiencing only short bursts of growth for brief periods of time, followed by periods of stagnation and biological attrition. 8. The mainstream Catholic Church is sinking as well, but at a slower rate. It is only now just beginning to experience the vocation and financial crisis that lay ahead. In the decades to come, dioceses all across Europe and the Americas will be downsizing! Catholic parishes and schools will gradually be sold off, as will diocesan-owned properties and assets. Parishes will be merged, downsized, and merged again. The main strategy of this current generation of bishops is now "managed decline." 9. The mainstream religious orientation of tomorrow's generation in the West will be Secular and Islamic: more Islamic in Europe, and more Secular in the Americas. Christianity will gradually become a minority religion in these areas. 10. This reality will manifest over the next generation. It cannot be stopped, and will not be reversed outside of a miraculous intervention from God himself. 11. That intervention will likely come, eventually, because God is faithful, but when it does, the world is NOT going to automatically become Catholic again. That's not how it works. It's never worked that way in the past, and it won't work that way in the future. Rather, it will need to be re-evangelised, and this will take generations of solid faith and sacrificial commitment. 12. The Western Catholic Church of today is unprepared to accept this challenge. 13. The Western Catholic Church of today can't even stop its own haemorrhaging of youth leaving the Church, let alone reach out to the heathen youth of today or tomorrow. Still, the decline of the Catholic Church in the West is not universal. There are places were it is growing. We have small, isolated, pockets in North America, as well as rapidly expanding dioceses in Africa and Asia. Looking at these communities may serve to help us. But first, we must understand the problem. What is the problem? The problem is modern Western culture -- Modernism -- and this is what is discussed in the book The Benedict Option. Our Modernist culture is just too overwhelming for parents to be able to do their jobs anymore. It is virtually impossible for parents to raise godly children, in the self-sacrificial Catholic faith, when the message of the world (even the message of consumer Christianity) is that of self-gratification. Like ancient Rome, the culture is destined for collapse. It's hard to say if or when such a collapse would be political, but it most certainly is cultural. On a personal side note, living here in the Bible Belt of the United States, I am constantly hearing local Protestants refer to the November 2016 election of Donald Trump as some kind of "turning point" for the culture, and they fully expect things to get better now. I'm sorry to report to you that our Evangelical brethren are sorely mistaken on this, and will be in for a rude awakening sometime in the not-too-distant future. Politicians cannot solve this problem. Those who believe the election of Trump marks some kind of cultural turning point are sadly deceiving themselves. So with a culture that is overwhelmingly Modernist, wherein Catholic parents have no choice, what is this Benedict Option in modern terms? No, it's not what you think. It's not about going out into the wilderness to live as the Amish do. I suppose that might be a viable choice for some, but certainly not for most. For the average Catholic, the Benedict Option heavily involves your local Catholic parish. The Catholic parish must be revived, or rebuilt, to become a truly communal place, as it was originally meant to be. Catholics can no longer look at Catholicism as just one aspect of their lives. Rather, they must now look at it as their entire lives. Catholicism can no longer influence us. It must define us, and yes, the local Catholic parish is the key to making this whole thing work. Without it, any attempt at a Benedict Option will fail miserably. So with that said, what are some things Catholic families can do to bring the Benedict Option to your local Catholic parish... 1. Abandon radical apocalypticism. That is not our calling folks. We are commanded to LIVE our lives, and LIVE THEM JOYFULLY, without fear. I have a book coming out this year which will help in this area. It's called A Catholic Guide to the Last Days. Yes, some bad things are coming our way, just as they did in previous generations, but it's NOT the end of the world. 2. Home school your children. Remember, your goal here is to raise them to be good Christians, not little Einsteins. Just as parents who send their children to schools can get overly focused on academics, so can home schooling parents. Granted, we need to teach our kids to read and write, as well as math, history, science and other things. BUT, that should never be the focus of the homeschooling Catholic parent. FAITH is the focus, and it must be a FAITH OF JOY without fear. If you don't have this. Get it! Because you can't give your children that which you don't have. 3. Set up a home school support group at your local parish. You don't need the parish to organise this for you. You can organise this yourself. Simply bring your priest into the loop and ask for his prayers. Naming him as your official chaplain will go a long way toward this. Some priests just don't get it yet, and a lot of them want you to send your children to Catholic schools instead. They need to be educated that Catholic schools simply don't work for all families. Home school support groups are not the same as cooperatives or academies. The latter focus more on academics. A support group is just that. It's a place where parents support one another, and children have time to fellowship and play. Occasionally some activities might be involved. 4. Turn off the television, or at the very least, severely limit it. If you choose to have a television in your home, families should be very selective about what they watch. Spending hours on end, in front of the television, will corrupt any child's mind, and even some adult minds too. This didn't used to be the case, in the 1950s through 70s, but in recent decades, the culture has gone so overwhelmingly Modernist, that it cannot be redeemed. It can only be turned off. 5. The same discretion must apply to movies, radio, Internet and video games. 6. There should be no televisions or screens in bedrooms at all. This separates the family. 7. If you have the Internet in your home, you MUST apply filters to internet accessible devices that children handle. Children must not be allowed to access the Internet in their rooms, or away from parental view. Parents must be in the habit of looking at their devices frequently and randomly, without warning. This will teach the children that they can never escape your supervision. In addition, ask the children to show you any material they think might be inappropriate. While doing this, teach them the skills they need to discern for themselves what is appropriate viewing material and what is not. Sheltering children from information will not last into adulthood. Like the Amish, sheltered children will simply go on worldly binges when they reach maturity and only some will come back to the fold. Rather, children must be taught to form good information searching habits instead, being taught the difference between right and wrong and why, which they can carry with them into adulthood. 8. Start working on community activities with your local parish. Bible studies and prayer groups are great, but I'm talking about something more here. For example; a community garden might be one option for men, women and children. Knitting, sewing and cooking groups might be some other options as well. Are there any hunters or fishermen in your parish? How about organising some group outings and bring back some meat for the parish as well. These can all be shared with the community, and even given to those in need. I know this sounds somewhat "Amish" in a way, but remember, I'm talking about parishes in the middle of urban cities too. Even people who live there sometimes go out on hunting and fishing trips outside the city. A donation of a deep freezer to the Church basement can supply a source of protein for parish members struggling with grocery bills, and the outings that made that protein possible can supply men (or women) with the fellowship they need to build each other up in Christ. Who knows? Maybe even your priest likes to fish or hunt! 9. NETWORK with other parishioners, and start supporting their local businesses and trades. 10. In addition to mass, plan a weekly Evening Prayer (Vespers) meeting, followed by a potluck or snacks. The same could be done with Sunday mass in smaller parishes. The point here is to make your local parish more than just a weekly stop for an hour-long mass, then back to the rest of your life. The point here is to make your parish your life entirely. That is the Benedict Option for Catholics. Alongside Dreher's book, another volume by Archbishop Charles Chaput should be consulted. It's called Strangers in a Strange Land: Living the Catholic Faith in a Post-Christian World. I would recommend them side by side... A Catholic Guide to the Last Days for Protestants Regnum Dei Press Thursday, April 13, 2017 Is Easter a Pagan Celebration? Easter Bunny and Coloured Eggs There is a thread of radical Protestant Fundamentalism that likes to attack traditional Christian celebrations -- particularly Christmas and Easter. We see this primarily among the Jehovah's Witnesses (which aren't technically Protestant or Fundamentalist but rather a separate religion entirely more akin to Arianism). The Protestants include, but are not limited to: Quakers, Churches of Christ, Anabaptists, Congregationalists and some Presbyterians. Other Fundamentalist groups come in too. In addition, a growing number of Judaic Evangelicals (Messianic and Sabbath-keeping groups) do not celebrate Christmas and Easter, and often attack them as "Pagan in origin." While I'm not going to criticise these groups for their own religious practises, I will say their criticism of traditional Easter celebrations is out of line and poppycock. Most of the time, whenever they attempt to "reveal the true origins of Easter" the only thing they really reveal is their lack of education in the areas of history and religion. The Goddess Ishtar Babylonian Relief in British Museum Here's the gist of their argument. It's really very simple, but there are subtle variations of it depending on the particular denomination attacking Easter. The main idea is that Easter is really a super-secret worship of the ancient Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Because you see, the Church of Rome (that is The Roman Catholic Church) has secretly and deviously concocted a plan to make us all unwittingly worship a Pagan goddess. You know, because that's what Rome does I guess. So according to these conspiracy theorists, the name "Easter" is how you actually pronounce the Babylonian name Ishtar, and the celebration of Easter is really (secretly) all about sex, and just uses the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as a cover. So look out! These rascally popes have actually got you worshipping a naked fertility goddess with wings and bird claws, instead of Jesus Christ, every Easter celebration, and your kids are participating in it! The conspiracy continues to point out that the symbols of Ishtar were eggs and rabbits. So once again, Easter is all about Pagan sex. Those chocolate Easter bunnies and coloured eggs are actually sex symbols, and you're kids are eating them! Easter/Ishtar Meme Often Circulated on Social Media I know, it sounds so ridiculous, right? Well, that's because it is ridiculous. But you would be surprised to discover just how many Protestants (and modern Arians like the Jehovah's Witnesses for example) actually believe this stuff. They usually get quite militant about it too, using it as some kind of justification for their own religious practises, while condemning the culture around them as "Pagan." They publish long articles, with elaborate "archaeological findings" that supposedly prove their point. They've been doing it for decades. Then of course, with the advent of social media, came the Easter/Ishtar memes, consisting of a single picture of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar and a brief synopsis of their hysterical conspiracy-theory typed over it. Again, I'm not going to criticise their Sabbath-keeping here, nor their Passover-keeping, nor their avoidance of Christmas and Easter in their own homes, nor any of their other religious practises. If they want to do those things, that's their business, but when they attack our Catholic practises, I'm pleased to call out rubbish for what it is. First of all, the ancient Babylonians did not pronounce Ishtar as "Easter." That's just bunk. The name Ishtar is likely Semitic in origin, and was identified in ancient times with the Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth or Astarte. All of these names were pronounced exactly as they're spelt. In fact, the English spelling of those names is based on a phonetic interpretation of the actual Semitic words. None of them were pronounced as "Easter" -- not a single one. Secondly, even if they sounded similar (which they don't) that does not mean they have the same etymological origin. For example; the English words "here" and "hear" are two completely different words that mean two completely different things. They sound the same, but their origins are completely different. The same would be true for Ishtar and Easter, if indeed they sounded the same (or similar), but in fact they don't. The origin of the word Easter is a linguistic fluke actually. In most languages, the word for Easter is derived from the Hebrew word for Passover... • Bulgarian – Paskha • Danish – Paaske • Dutch – Pasen • Finnish – Pääsiäinen • French – Pâques • Indonesian – Paskah • Italian – Pasqua • Lower Rhine German – Paisken • Norwegian – Påske • Portuguese – Páscoa • Romanian – Pasti • Russian – Paskha • Scottish Gaelic – Càisg • Spanish – Pascua • Swedish – Påsk • Welsh – Pasg In other languages it's referred to as follows... • Bulgarian - Velikden (Grand Day) • Polish - Wielkanoc (Grand Night) • Czech - Velikonoce (Grand Nights) • Slovak - Velká Noc (the Grand Night) • Serbian - Uskrs or Vaskrs (resurrection) • Japanese - Fukkatsu-sai (resurrection festival) It is only in English and German that the name "Easter" is found in reference to the feast... • English - Easter • German - Ostern There are two possibilities for this. The first, and in my opinion more likely, explanation is that the old Germanic word for the eastward direction is "eostarun" which is a reference to the rising dawn. Thus Eostarun/Ostern/Easter is likely a reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ as like the rising dawn. It also could be a reference to it as an eastern feast, since Christianity is a Middle Eastern religion. To this date, the German word for east is "osten." To play devil's advocate, I'll cite a source that almost seems to back the Pagan origin of the word "Easter." St. Bede wrote in the 8th century that he believed there was a connection between the English word "Easter" and the German word "Ostara," which was the name of a Teutonic goddess of the rising sun (no direct connection to fertility here). He surmised that because the Paschal Feast of the Resurrection happened in the same month named for this goddess, the month we call April today, Christians simply stole the name and applied it to the Feast of the Resurrection. I love St. Bede, but I think he's oversimplifying things here. As I established above, the German word for east is "osten," and the German word for Easter is "Ostern." It only stands to reason that a Teutonic goddess, named after the rising sun (which always comes from the east) would be named "Ostara." However, after playing devil's advocate, I still believe the etymological connection to the German word for east (osten) is stronger. We have to remember that English was originally called Anglish, and it was the language of the German tribes (Angles, Saxons and Jutes) that invaded Britain in the 5th century from northern Germany. These Germans spoke Old German, a language now extinct, which evolved into Old English (Anglish), Middle English, and finally Modern English. It's extremely likely that the Old German word "eostarun" simply became the English word "eastern," which eventually led to the English word "Easter" for the Feast of the Paschal Resurrection, which came from the east, just like "Ostern" is now the German word for the same religious feast. We must remember that in ancient times, any land east of Greece was considered "the east" or "the orient." Palestine, from which Christianity originally came, was considered an eastern religion to the ancient people of western Europe. English and German are unique, in that they both have their own common word for the Paschal Feast of the Resurrection, but that word is more likely tied to a direction than to Paganism, and it most certainly has no connection to the Semitic goddess of fertility, war, and fate -- Ishtar. In the Easter/Ishtar meme, that frequently circulates social media, there is a reference to Constantine. Many Fundamentalist conspiracy theories centre around this particular Caesar, who legalised Christianity in AD 312 with the Edict of Milan. The conspiracy goes on to theorise that Constantine actually changed Christianity after this to make it more Pagan. Again, this shows a total lack of historical scholarship. Constantine originally sided with the Arians, not the Christians, but was eventually forced to assent to Christian Trinitarian theology after the Council of Nicea in AD 325. He himself remained religiously aloof in his personal life, until he was baptised on his deathbed. He had virtually no influence on Christian theology, but eventually found himself influence by it. Many of the so-called "doctrinal inventions" of Constantine (such as the papacy, prayer to the Saints, Purgatory, Marian devotion, etc.) can be well documented in the writings of the early Church, decades to centuries before his arrival. So no, Constantine did not introduce "Easter" to the Roman Empire. In fact, he likely never heard the word in his entire life. Constantine did not reinvent Christianity. Rather, Christianity reinvented him. Like all good conspiracy theories, they're usually crafted with the skin of the truth, stuffed with a lie. It is true that Ishtar was a Babylonian goddess of sex and fertility. However, she was also the goddess of war, power, protection, fate, childbirth, marriage and storms. Her western counterpart was the Greek goddess Aphrodite and the Roman goddess Venus. However, her symbols were not eggs and bunnies. They were rather; lions, owls, gates, and the eight-pointed star. The connection between Ishtar, eggs and bunnies, is in fact a fabrication. It's a complete myth with no basis in the archaeological record. Now Christians have always used symbols in nature to make obvious parallels to theological truths. Eggs have always been a symbol of new life. That is of course what they literally are. Likewise rabbits, particularly little bunnies, are symbolic of spring. I live in the Ozarks of the southern Midwest United States, and every spring this place is just hopping with bunnies of all types. I mean they're everywhere, especially the little baby bunnies. Springtime has always been associated with new life in many cultures and religions. Anywhere there is lush vegetation, you're going to have a lot of rabbits in the springtime. Likewise, Christians celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ are celebrating new life as well. So it only stands to reason that the symbols of eggs and bunnies would play into that. Eggs represent new life. Rabbits (bunnies) represent springtime, which also represents new life. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is all about new life. So there you go. These are symbolic parallels in nature that point to the supernatural resurrection. So long as Christians view these things only as symbols, there is certainly no harm in them, and there is most certainly no connection at all with Pagan fertility goddesses. So as you can see, this whole "Easter is Pagan" conspiracy is just rubbish, put together with amateur scholarship, by people who have an anti-Catholic prejudice to begin with. So enjoy those Easter bunnies and coloured eggs, but just make sure your kids know they are merely symbols of the new life that comes from the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A Catholic Guide to the Last Days for Protestants Regnum Dei Press Wednesday, April 12, 2017 Help for Mothers of Young Children During Mass A patient mother tends to her baby and mantilla during liturgy. So last week I had to go to confession. Yes, in case you were wondering, I am a big fat sinner. I usually go a minimum of once per month anyway, but I was intentionally trying to avoid the weeks leading up to Easter, because I knew the lines to the confessional would be especially crowded. Then, it happened. I sinned, and it was a sin big enough to need confession. So like a good and faithful Catholic, that's what I did. I remember walking into the church after work, thinking to myself: "it's the Saturday before Holy Week, I'm going to be waiting a while." I walked into the chapel and there it was. A confessional line stretching around half the chapel. This wasn't the prayer chapel mind you. This was the main chapel. Dear Lord! It was the longest line I had ever sin. "Why? Oh why did I have to sin just before Holy Week?" I took my place at the back of the line, figuring this is my penance. The priest must have thought the same, because my official penance was especially simple. I was in line for literally one full hour! I remember trying to remind myself how lucky I was. I need only spend an hour in a confessional line. The early Christians would spend months to years doing penance outside of chapels before they were even admitted back in. My sin wasn't that serious, but still, the Lord knows my weakness. I hate waiting. However, divine providence must have been at work there, because I met a friend I hadn't seen for a long time. She was a nurse I used to work with in the hospital a while back. She was right in front of me in the confession line and we got to talking. I ended up sharing some parental wisdom that I'm going to share with you now. If you are the Catholic mother of young children, then this essay is for you. I'll try to keep it short, sweet and to the point, because I know you're busy, and you don't have much time to read this. The nurse I was talking with was a young mother. She had a couple of toddlers, and she was having the worst time dealing with them at mass. Every young mother knows exactly what I'm talking about. Anyway, the long story short is that she was nearly in tears talking about it with me. She needed help, and she was struggling going to mass when she can never follow along with the homily or the liturgy, because she's too busy with these toddlers. So this is what I told her... 1. Your children need to be at mass because while there they are forming early memories. You need to make sure the earliest memories they have are at mass. That way when they get older, whether they are faithful or fall away, their childhood comfort memories will be of the mass, in a Catholic chapel. You want them to remember the sights, sounds and smells of the mass. 2. When I was the father of young children, I would always make sure we were seated at the end of a pew. It didn't matter where in the chapel, just so long as it was at the end. This allowed me to get up quickly if needed. 3. Allowing young children to move around in the pew is natural and normal, just so long as their not rowdy or bothering people. So give them some room to move around within reason. 4. When you know they're about to get fussy, pick them up and carry them to the back of the chapel. Gently walk around and move about the back of the chapel with the child on your shoulder or hip. Movement helps to calm them. The embrace of their mother (or father) always does the same. 5. The "cry room" in such churches that have them, is reserved for crying, or sometimes nursing too. To a toddler, this is a constricting and boring space. Most toddlers would rather be in the chapel, where the activity is, away from the cry room. So moving to the cry room should be reserved for crying or rowdiness. This lets the child know that if they can't behave themselves, they end up in this constricting and boring little room. Moving back and forth between the cry room and the chapel, sends a clear message to the child. When she is loud and rowdy, she goes to this little constricting and boring cry room. When she is quiet and cooperative, she gets to be in the big chapel where all the interesting activity is. 6. Never underestimate the power of statues, icons and candles to interest a child. While safely in your arms, walk over to those areas in the back of the chapel, or the sides, where they can look at these things. 7. When it's time for communion, carry the child up with you. Open your mouth and allow the priest to place the host on your tongue directly. This nearly eliminates all problems receiving the host. Don't even attempt partaking of the chalice. (Are you kidding me?) Just reverently bow your head as you walk by it and move on. Trust me, Jesus understands. Besides, official Church teaching states that so long as you have partaken in just one of the Eucharistic species (host or chalice), you have effectively partaken in both. There is no difference. 8. Finally, remember why you are there. You are there to worship God. This means either you are going to receive communion, or else you're going to make an act of spiritual communion. It's going to be one or the other, but that is why you are there. That is the PRIMARY reason why you are there. 9. Participation in the liturgy is important, as is listening to the homily, but that is NOT the primary reason why you are there. These reasons are secondary. So if you're missing out on some of this, or it's hit and miss, that's okay. You are forgiven and excused. You have a very important job to do, and both Jesus and his Church understand that. If you feel like you're missing too much of the homily, ask your pastor to record it. Then you can listen to it later, when you're able. If you're pastor won't do that, then get online and go to YouTube or EWTN, and watch a Sunday homily there. You have to understand, you're PRIMARY reason for being there is to worship God, which culminates in receiving communion, or making an act of spiritual communion. Listening to the homily, and fully participating in liturgy, comes SECONDARY when you're a mother (or a father) of toddlers and young children. You just do the best you can and then don't worry about it. 10. If we were Protestants, then yes, missing the homily would be like missing the meat and potatoes of the whole service. But we're not Protestants. We're Catholics, and better yet, we're Catholics in the 21st century. That means our focus of worship is a little different, and we have luxuries not available to Catholics in previous centuries. Worst case scenario; we can get our weekly homily from EWTN if we have to. If you've missed the homily at mass, that is unfortunate but understandable, considering the circumstances, but you're going to be okay. What's more important is that you're there, and that you worship God through the adoration of the Eucharist, and its reception, either physical or spiritual. You see, the handling of a toddler (or toddlers) at mass, is in itself a form of sacrifice. You're giving yourself to God in the service of his children. Don't you know that Jesus watches your struggles from the altar? Don't you know that he completely understands? Don't you know that he sees your efforts as a sacrifice for him? Because he does! Every Catholic mother of young children needs to know this. 11. Fathers need to be involved too. If you have just one toddler, there needs to be a trade off as you alternate Sunday duties, giving the other a break. If there are two toddlers, then you'll both have your hands full at the same time. That's how it should be. 12. This last point is mainly for pastors, but it may take enough mothers to deliver it to him. Pastors, one of the best things you can do is assure mothers of young children that you are sympathetic to them, and please do defend them when they're doing their best. Granted, nobody likes a screaming child in the chapel, and granted, screaming children do need to be taken to the cry room, but if they're not making a whole lot of noise, they really should be with their parents in the chapel. That message needs to be relayed to your congregation on a regular basis. Lastly, if you really want to help young mothers, put a video camera inside the ambo, facing you in such a way that it cannot be seen by the congregation. You can click it on when you deliver your homily, and click it off at the conclusion. Then you, or a staff member, can upload the video to YouTube for the benefit of these mothers of young children, and others who have similar needs, including the sick and elderly who could not make it to mass. This particular mother I spoke with in the confession line was very happy to hear this insight from my own experience with my own toddlers. I'll never forget just how exasperated my poor wife was with them, and how she dreaded going to mass because of it. Together, we learnt how to do it using the methods above. It worked through a process of trial and error. So I imagine it is the same for all parents. My advice is don't give up. Yes, they will outgrow this stage, though it may seem to take forever. Whether you realise it or not, their presence there is forming memories that will bless them for a lifetime, both consciously and subconsciously. What you're going through is normal, and every Catholic parent has dealt with it at least once. Their presence there is a blessing to them, even though they don't know it yet, and a personal sacrifice on your part that will not go unnoticed by our Lord. As for you, you're primarily there to worship our Lord, and that is all. If you miss the homily, and can't fully participate in the liturgy, that is okay. Adoration and communion are the real reasons why you're there. You can get the Sunday homily from other sources if you have to. A Catholic Guide to the Last Days for Protestants Regnum Dei Press Monday, April 10, 2017 So You're No Longer Christian? Anti-Catholic Protesters "You're no longer a Christian!" These were the words I heard multiple times in the fall of 1999 through the Spring and Summer of 2000. This was the time just before, during and after my conversion to the Catholic Church. I heard words like this from most of my friends, and yes, even some of my family. You see, I was an Evangelical Christian, and for many years I had been a member of an Evangelical-Fundamental Protestant affiliation called Calvary Chapel. Now I had left that affiliation in 1997 and began attending a local Episcopal Church. I remember the disapproval I received from friends and family just switching from Evangelical to Episcopalian (Anglican). I remember how confused they seemed, and how they looked down at our local Episcopal Church. Still, it was technically Protestant, and I suppose tolerable. I have one sister who joined us for Christmas Eve mass, and she seemed to enjoy it. For the most part, however, most of the people I knew were displeased. Then it happened. In the summer of 1999 my wife, Penny, and I decided to enrol in a Catholic RCIA class, with the intent of joining the Catholic Church. We waited a little while to inform our friends and family. It was probably a good thing we did, because we discovered it was best to break the news slowly, to a few people at a time. Oh my! You would have thought we just decided to join the Church of Satan! First came the disapproval from our parents. Penny's mother told her she would go to hell for sure. My father told me I was making an enormous mistake and I would regret it. My mother told me this decision would lead me away from Christ. My sisters were careful and didn't say a whole lot. Then the letters and emails started to roll in. Some of these came from old friends from our former Evangelical church. Some from Baptist and Pentecostal friends we knew from various circles. We were told to reconsider, that the Catholic Church is the "Whore of Babylon" where members engage in idolatry. We were told that we would surely lose our salvation, and that we would no longer be Christian. Even some of my coworkers laid into me on a regular basis, as well as Penny's coworkers. It was really quite intense, and somewhat unexpected. We did expect a little bit of push back, but nothing close to the level we got. You see, Penny and I were native Californians. We grew up in neighbourhoods that were mostly Catholic. Most of our childhood friends were Catholic. My aunt was Catholic, and so was my grandmother. So while we expected a little push back when we announced that we would soon become Catholic, we never expected it to rise to the level that it did. You see, several years prior, we moved to the Springfield area in Southwest Missouri. This area is highly Evangelical (mostly Baptist and Pentecostal). Consequently, most of the friends we made in this area were Evangelicals. Almost every contact we made in this whole region was either Baptist or Pentecostal, and many of them at the time had a strong anti-Catholic streak. I have to say, it was pretty shocking. For the course of a whole year our entire circle of friends had been reduced to just one couple -- two fellow coworkers. They just happened to be Catholic, and one of them was converting the same year we were, and we happened to be attending the same RCIA class. (Clearly this was a case of divine providence.) Had it not been for them, we would have been friendless between the years of 1999 to 2001. Yes, that's how bad it was. Everyone we knew thought we were nuts. We were told that we were joining a "cult." We were told that we'll be engaging in "idolatry." We were told we were joining the "Whore of Babylon" (a negative reference from the Book of Revelation). We were told that Satan had deceived us, that we were losing our salvation, and that our children would never know Christ. Some of our friends cut off all communication with us. Some sent us nasty letters. Some called us "Mary worshippers." Some came to our door, and tried to reason with us. A couple of friends would spend hours with us, trying to talk us out of it. All of this was to no avail. Penny and I had made up our minds. Then the weird letters and emails started to come. These were from people we didn't know, but who had obviously been contacted about us. Most of these were from older men, who apparently dealt with this sort of thing from time to time. Some of them were 5 pages in length, citing Scripture, along with erroneous historical quotes, and paragraph after paragraph of made-up history. It was like reading a personal letter from Jack T. Chick, or some other anti-Catholic apologist. I surmise that some of our friends contacted these people when they realised they couldn't get through to us, and asked for their help. The culmination came in 2000, when my father gave me a cassette tape from an anti-Catholic apologist that had come to their Church. It was nearly and hour long. I made my own tape in response, re-recording what the apologist said, and then recording my own response to each point he made. I gave the tape back to my father, along with my response tape, and never heard of it again. The irony of all this is that with each negative conversation, phone call, letter and email, the exact opposite effect was produced than what was intended. These people had intended to pull us away from the Catholic Church, but each time they interacted with us, they only drove us further into it. This was because we saw the anti-Catholic hysteria for what it really was -- hysteria! It would be one thing if they cited legitimate cases in Scripture or history, but instead they only cited Scriptures that were out of context, and historical events that were either fabricated, or else horribly twisted in ways that defy all academic standards. Thankfully, I had done my homework. I knew how to refute this stuff. My wife, on the other hand, just got angry. "We are 30 year-old adults!" She would say: "And yet they're treating us like children!" Every effort they made backfired. Here in the Bible Belt I see this sort of thing happen all the time. The same pattern is repeated over and over again with converts. Each time they only end up sealing the deal, and driving potential converts straight into the Catholic Church. The hysteria actually ends up helping the conversion process. I think the only time the hysteria is effective is in keeping Christians from investigating the Church in the first place. So long as you can convince them that it's evil, they're less likely to look into it. But for those few who venture to look into it anyway, the results are almost always the same. They become Catholic, sooner or later. It may take six months, or it may take six years, but the result is almost always the same. They become Catholic. What Evangelical-Fundamentalists don't realise is that the party's over. A growing number of Evangelicals (including Baptists and Pentecostals) are looking for something deeper. They're wanting to connect to the historical Church, and they're looking for deeper meaning in the sacraments, liturgy and deep spirituality that comes with 2,000 years of Christian experience. They just can't find any of that in Evangelical churches. Evangelical-Fundamentalists are making themselves increasingly irrelevant with all this "You're not Christian" rhetoric they direct toward Catholics, Orthodox and some Anglicans. It's old, it's tiresome and it's not in the least bit true. I think a lot of younger people are more sophisticated now than they were in previous generations. They're simply not buying into it anymore. So as Evangelical-Fundamentalists continue to go down the anti-Catholic road, I believe they will continue to find themselves more irrelevant in the decades ahead. The best advice I can give to converts, experiencing some degree of this sort of hysteria from friends and family, is to stay the course and wait them out. You see, becoming Catholic will teach you who your friends really are. Some will come to their senses eventually, and realise what they said about your faith was wrong. The same is true with family. Other friends won't come back. These were not really your friends. They were just your religious associates. Once you changed churches, you no longer had anything in common. They moved on, and so will you. The good news in our own case is this. Penny's mother eventually came to accept our Catholic faith, and enjoys coming to mass with us now and then. My own parents don't care for mass so much, but they have come to accept our Catholic faith as Christian and a legitimate expression of Christianity. They have faithfully attended ALL of the sacraments of initiation for our children (baptisms, first communions, and confirmations). The same goes for my sisters. The good news I have for you is that there's hope. It may take several months or several years, but eventually, most parents and family members come to accept our Catholic Christian faith, and just ignore what their Evangelical-Fundamentalist churches say about it. When faced with the harsh reality of having to choose between the radical teachings of their Fundamentalist church, or continuing a relationship with their children, siblings or close friends, most people eventually choose the relationship over the religious hysteria. Like I said, sometimes it takes a while -- even years! -- but eventually it happens. The sacraments of initiation for children often play a big role in breaking the ice. Time is another factor that heals wounds. What's important to remember is this. The Catholic Church teaches us to love our family and friends. We are not to abandon them, disown them, or estrange ourselves from them. When there is a religious conflict over our conversion, we are called to draw close to them, as best we can. If they push us away, that's their problem. We just keep trying, knowing that eventually the ice will break. Most of the time, friends and family who attack our decision to join the Church, do so only because they are misinformed. In most cases, that's not even their fault! We need to remember that. We also need to remember, often times, their negative actions toward us are motivated entirely by love. Their acting this way only because they've been given bad information, and they can't help the way they're acting, because they've been misinformed. So in a sense, their actions are often loving, just misguided. On the one hand, we should be flattered by the lengths they will go to try to change our minds. It is but a testimony of their love for us. On the other hand, we need to gently remind them that we are informed adults, and we can make our own decisions. Sometimes this may involve some study in Catholic apologetics to help explain things to them. Catholicism for Protestants may help in this area. Don't be surprised if this doesn't work right away. There is often an emotional barrier that needs to be overcome too. No amount of apologetics can do that. Only time and love will. We also need to remember that the Catholic Church specifically teaches that anyone who has been baptised in the name of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is a Christian, and deserves to be called that, even if they will not extend the same courtesy to us. Most Protestants don't even know this, and I have found that sometimes it's helpful to inform them of this. As far as we Catholics are concerned; most Baptists, Pentecostals and Evangelicals are our Christian brethren, even if they don't believe the same about us. I think it's beneficial to let your Evangelical family and friends know that even as a Catholic, you will still regard them as Christian brethren, and that the Catholic Church teaches you to do so. If you were already baptised in a Trinitarian Christian tradition, you probably ought to let them know that you will not be "re-baptised" as the Catholic Church recognises only one baptism for us all. These little bits of information usually don't have the effect of calming the waters right away. As I said, there are usually a lot of emotional barriers involved here, but over time, they do help. Remember, most of all, to be patient. With my own family, my parents refused to attend our reception into the Catholic Church in 2000. I didn't expect them to, so it wasn't hurtful to me. They didn't really darken the door of our Catholic Church until almost 2004, when our son was baptised. It was hard for them, I could tell, but they did it. Then in 2006 our daughter was baptised, and they attended that as well. By the time we reached first communions, both of our parents were on board. Of course, they never converted to Catholicism, but that was not the point. They were now fully accepting of our Catholic Christian faith. So what I'm saying is it took time. For our families, it happened slowly, over the course of a decade. For other families it may take longer, and for others, not so long at all. Your family will be different of course, but if you apply what I've told you above, the odds are very high that you'll eventually prevail. A Catholic Guide to the Last Days for Protestants Regnum Dei Press Wednesday, April 05, 2017 Keeping Your Children Catholic "Let the Little Children Come Unto Me" Painting by Carl Bloch, date unknown It's the nightmare every Catholic parent dreads. The thought of their adult child, coming home from college, and telling his/her parents that he's left the Catholic Church, has been 'born again', and that the Catholic Church is a 'false religious system' that is taking his/her parents to Hell. It's happened millions of times in the United States, and in other nations with a heavy Evangelical presence. Actually, it's been going on for a long time -- five centuries to be exact. Even worse, suppose your child comes from from college and tells you he's left the Church to become a Wiccan, a Muslim, or an Atheist! Or how about the ever popular "I've become spiritual but not religious" manta. All of these are what every good Catholic parent fears and dreads. The purpose of this essay is to help Catholic parents keep their kids Catholic. I have a little experience in this area, not only because I'm a Catholic father, but because I am a convert from Evangelicalism. In fact, during my days as an Evangelical, I converted no less than a handful of Catholics to Evangelicalism. Yes, I drug young people out of the Catholic Church, and I was fairly good at it. I've spent the last 15 years trying to make atonement for that behaviour, by helping Catholics understand their faith and defend it. Now I want to help Catholic parents save their kids from Evangelicalism, and this essay will do so by outlining some of the tactics this former Evangelical used, and how to counter them in a proactive way. I had thought of making a more detailed version of this information in the form of a booklet for purchase, but I've since decided this information is just too important to put a price tag on. So I give it to you now -- free of charge. Please don't just gloss over this. Take it seriously. The following is straight talk. I'm going to be blunt and direct, because this is serious stuff, from one Catholic parent to another. We don't have time for flowery language. I need to get this point across to you. It really is that important. So expect a little street vernacular here. I'm trying to drive a point home! Please share this essay using social media (social media icons below), and by email, with whomever you like. Use this essay as a springboard to save you children and rescue their Catholic faith before its too late... This is perhaps the greatest problem in the Catholic Church. Catholic parents simply don't know their own faith well enough to pass it on to their children. Or, even worse, they have a lopsided understanding of the Catholic faith, putting too much emphasis on the details of Catholicism, and not enough emphasis on the core Gospel. This is how Evangelicals get your kids. That's how I did it, and they're still doing the same thing today. Nothing has changed since I joined the Catholic Church over 18 years ago. If anything it's only gotten worse. Evangelicals approach your children with a basic proposition. What they give them is the core of the Gospel. It's basically the same stuff the Catholic Church officially teaches, but the Evangelical has its presentation down to a science. Then they ask your child; "Now, have you ever heard it said that way in a Catholic Church before?" Most of the time, your child will answer "no" and for the most part, he's usually right. Catholic churches in America have done an absolutely HORRIBLE job presenting the core Gospel in a clear and succinct way in recent decades. I'm not going to go into the reason for this. It doesn't matter. What matters is that what is passed off as a homily in most parishes these days actually sucks! Sorry to be so bold with common street vernacular, but it's the truth and it needs to be said. Catholic priests and deacons need to do a better job at this. The core gospel needs to be repeated regularly and succinctly from the pulpit. If it's not, than pastors should be prepared for an ageing and shrinking congregation. Again, sorry to be so bold, but it must be said. As an Evangelical I relied heavily on Catholic priests and deacons to give long-winded homilies that focused on feel-good messages that spent a lot of time on details, without going into the core of the Gospel too deeply. I couldn't have done what I did, if they hadn't done what they did. In fact, my ability to pull teenagers and young adults out of the Catholic Church was 100% dependent on bad teaching from the Catholic pulpit. Couple that with Catholic parents who were basically clueless, and presto! I had a new Evangelical in the making. It was easy! I mean super easy. If I were still at it today, which by the grace of God I am not, I have no doubt I could have easily pulled hundreds of people out of the Catholic Church by now. With the advent of the Internet, I could rake them in by the dozens. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was better at it than the average Evangelical street preacher, and a lot more likeable too. I converted Catholics away from the Church primarily through the personal relationships I made with them. Yes, my friendship was sincere. I wasn't faking it or anything like that. But at the same time, I understood that making friends was a big part at getting them to eventually follow my Evangelical beliefs. I was sincere in everything I did. I didn't use people, or manipulate them, and most Evangelicals are the same. Yes, I was sincere in my faith, my intentions, and even my tactics. Sadly, I was also sincerely wrong. I know that now, and that's why I'm revealing all. Here's the deal. You can't give your children what you yourself don't have. If you want to pass the faith on to them, you must have it yourself, and if you don't, then it was already lost, long before it ever was passed to them. Too many Catholic parents pawn their kids off to Catholic schools or Catechism (CCD, PSR) classes, expecting the Church to do the job for them. That is their first and last mistake. It's over before it even began. YOU CAN'T RELY ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TO TEACH YOUR KIDS CATHOLICISM !!! Good grief parents! How could you possibly expect your parish to teach your kids in one hour a week, a message that contradicts what they're getting in the home, their schools, and in the media (television, internet and video games)? That poor parish never stood a chance! The message they're getting in the home, in school, and in media is much more powerful. And they're getting a lot more of it too. Here's the cold, hard truth for you parents. If you don't know your own Catholic faith, your children will NEVER learn it. If you don't practise your own Catholic faith, your children will NEVER bother. Why should they? They learned how important it was form you! Your child's number one, PRIMARY, teacher of the Catholic Christian faith is YOU. They will get more from you than from any parish catechism class. The job of the local parish is to BACK YOU UP parents, not do your job for you. They can't do your job for you. It's impossible. Then of course you never know what kind of religious instruction you're going to get from a parish these day anyway. Sometimes it's quite good. Other times it's quite awful. Regardless however, even if it's good, it's still just supplementary. It's designed to supplement what is being taught in the home, not replace it. If you're not teaching it in the home, your kids won't stand a chance. So where to we begin? We begin with the core gospel. Start here, and work out from that... The Core Gospel So what is the core Gospel? Parents, this is essential. If you don't know this, and know it by heart, and convey this to your kids, than it's over. It's over before it ever began. You might as well hang up that rosary now, because your Catholic faith ends with you. Your kids will not pass it on. So here is the core of the Gospel... God is real, and God hates sin. The 'wages of sin is death' (Romans 6:23), that is eternal separation from God in Hell. This is God's absolute justice, and since we are all sinners, this is exactly what we all deserve -- ALL OF US! (Romans 3:23) However, God loves us, and he doesn't want this to happen to us. 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.' (John 3:16) Therefore, God sent his Only Begotten Son, the Word, or Second Person of the Trinity, to take on human flesh and become fully man. (John 1:1-5 & 14) This God-Man, Jesus Christ, representing the whole human race, took on all of our sins, and died for us on the cross, paying our penalty in our place. (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:14; 1 Peter 3:18) So now, anyone who places his/her trust in him and follows him, may be saved and brought into Heaven at the end of this life (Psalm 13:5; Psalm 20:7; Psalm 84:12; Proverbs 3:5-6; John 11:25; John 14:1; Romans 15:13), and then be resurrected at the end of the world, to live with God forever in glory (Luke 14:4; John 6:40, 54; Romans 6:4; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:14). We each must make a personal commitment to Jesus Christ. It begins with our baptism and confirmation, but it doesn't stop there. The commitment must be daily, to trust in Jesus as King, Lord and Saviour, to have a relationship with him as such. We must communicate with God daily (prayer), share our lives with him, and obey him, as would be required in any other relationship we had with a king. That's the gist of it folks. That's the core Gospel. Surely you've heard most of this before. We recite almost all of it weekly in the Nicene Creed said at mass. The trick is to make this personal. It needs to be integrated into our lives as a daily thing. There are many other Catholic teachings which are very important, but this is the CORE of our Catholic Christian faith. If we don't have this down, we've got nothing. I want to make this crystal clear, because you cannot give to your children that which you do not have yourself. Now the state of catechises, liturgy and homilies in many of our parishes may be poor, but that doesn't mean that the state of catechises and prayer in our homes has to be poor. We can have watered-down Catholicism in our parishes, but that doesn't mean we need to have watered-down Catholicism in our homes too. While the state of catechises, liturgy and homilies is gradually improving in some of our parishes, thanks to the arrival of younger (and better trained) priests, the progress is slow, and we can't wait for that to happen while our children are growing up. If we were to wait until our parishes change, our kids would be grown, married and living in their own as Evangelicals, Wiccans or Atheists before the necessary changes are FINALLY in place. We, as parents, just don't have that kind of time. Our children are growing fast, and we can't wait for the Church to catch up. We, as parents, need to act in a preventive way. You'll need to begin teaching your kids this stuff immediately, starting at about the age they can coherently speak, in words they can understand. Then you'll want to continue teaching them this throughout the rest of their childhood, teen years, until they become adults. There can be no compromise on this, and there can be no laxity. Repetition is essential! Adjusting the message, in age-appropriate words is important too. Give them more information as their little brains are able to handle it. Keep elaborating as they get older. So it begins with the core Gospel, which I outlined above, and it continues with solid teaching on the Eucharist and Apostolic authority. I'm sorry, but if you want to keep your kids to stay Catholic, there just can't be any compromise on these things. Not even an inch. The Eucharist The next teaching you'll need to reinforce regularly is the Eucharist. Now the Eucharist is the literal body and blood of Christ. It's not figurative. It's not representational. It's not symbolic. It's real. That is the primary reason why we go to mass, so that we may physically commune with God in the Eucharist. If you need more information on that, read my essay on the Eucharist here. If you want to keep your kids going to mass, you need to tell them this, with no compromises and without apology. If they want to commune with God physically, there is only one place they can do that -- the Catholic Church. All other 'communion services' in Protestant churches are not legitimate offerings of the Eucharist. When a Protestant minister offers bread and wine, it remains just that, bread and wine. In most cases, especially among Evangelicals, there is no attempt to hide this. They will freely admit that everything they're doing in regards to Holy Communion is just symbolic, and they make no pretence about this. If you ask them if it remains bread and wine, they will tell you it remains bread and wine. They'll tell you everything they do is just symbolic. They're very honest about this. So when you ask them; what is meant by 'Holy Communion'? They will tell you they are really communing with each other, and the act of taking bread and wine is just to symbolically 'remember' Jesus together. That is all. However, when a Catholic priest offers bread and wine, we know it becomes the literal body and blood of Christ. So when Catholics partake of Holy Communion, we really are having actual COMMUNION with God! For us, it's not just about gathering together to remember something or Someone. No! For us it's about all of us having direct physical contact with God in a very physical way. We are communing with HIM, not just each other. Though admittedly, by communion with HIM, we are additionally coming into greater communion with each other too, but this happens through HIM, because we share his body and blood. In effect, we become what we eat -- the Body of Christ. As parents we cannot compromise on this. If we fail by compromising here, like the core Gospel, you can plan on visiting your grandchildren in an Evangelical church. That is, if you're lucky! They may not be going to church at all. Apostolic Succession This last issue of Apostolic Succession, is related to the first two, and is intimately connected to the second especially -- the Eucharist. Apostolic succession is about the authority of Jesus Christ. You see while he was on earth, both before and after his resurrection, Jesus vested full authority in his apostles to not only preach and safeguard his teachings, but also administer his sacraments. Only the apostles had this authority from Jesus. However, one of their authorities was the ability to pass on this authority to others through ordination. So the apostles passed on their full authority to their successors, hence the name Apostolic Succession. These successors we call the Catholic bishops. If you need more information on this, read my essay on Authority In Focus. Apostolic Succession is related to the core Gospel because we wouldn't have the core Gospel today without Apostolic Succession. You see, over the centuries, lots of different groups preached lots of different gospels that were very different from the core Gospel I outlined above. Some of these groups even had their own version of the Scriptures -- their own version of the New Testament. Now the New Testament that all Christians use today, including all Protestants, is the same as the Catholic New Testament. It consisted of exactly 27 books from Matthew to Revelation. It was first published, in a single volume, in AD 367 by a Catholic bishop in northern Africa named Athanasius. It was later canonised after multiple synods and a papal decree in AD 405. Yes, the writings of the New Testament date back to the first century, but they were not compiled into a single volume that everyone could read until the late fourth century. So how do Christians, even Protestants, know that the New Testament we have today is accurate? Simple. The bishops and pope who canonised them (made them official), were legitimate bishops who had Apostolic Succession, and by their authority, they said it is accurate. That's it! That's the only thing we really have! That means you could trace their ordinations back to the original apostles. The other New Testaments that various people compiled gradually went extinct, because their compilers didn't have Apostolic Succession, so nobody trusted them. Today, Protestant and Evangelical ministers can't canonise Scripture, and they usually make no pretence about it. Ask almost any Evangelical pastor if he has Apostolic Succession, and he'll freely tell you 'No!' That is, if he even knows what it means. So the long and short of it is this. Protestant pastors cannot trace their ordination back to the original apostles, and they know it, and they make no attempt to hide it. Furthermore, in order for them to preach on Sundays, they need to use a Bible, particularly a New Testament, which was compiled by Catholic bishops 1,600 years ago who did have Apostolic Succession. So Protestants rely on the New Testament, which is a Catholic book, in order to preach their Protestant message. Go figure! That's how Apostolic Succession relates to the preaching of the core Gospel, even in non-Catholic churches. Protestants needed Catholic bishops to get the Bible they so heavily rely on. Without those Catholic bishops, 1,600 years ago, they wouldn't even have a Bible today. Now getting Protestants to understand this is difficult. Most of the time it just goes right over their heads. There have been a few times I've actually been successful at getting some Protestants to understand this, and in almost every case when I did, they immediate replied with something to the extent of: 'Well, that may be true, but I believe that the Holy Spirit was capable of inspiring those bishops to pick the right books for the New Testament, in spite of them being Catholic.' So they acknowledge the Holy Spirit operating through the Catholic bishops, to give us the New Testament, but then immediately dismiss any inspiration from the Holy Spirit before or after that event. I'm not sure how anyone is able to make this illogical leap, but they do it all the time. However, as Catholic parents, it's not our job to convince Protestants of this. That's their problem, not ours. Our job is to keep our kids Catholic, and that means when they're old enough to understand these things (about age 8) you're going to have to tell them about it, and you should not only tell them once, but repeatedly. It should be drilled into their heads so they remember it. That is, when they're old enough to understand this concept (about age 8). So in addition to relaying what I described above about the Bible, you'll want to tell them this... 1. The Bible is a Catholic Book. It was compiled by Catholics in the 4th century to counter the errors of non-Catholics, and that even Protestant ministers have to use a Catholic book to be able to preach their messages every Sunday morning. 2. The Bible nowhere tells us that we must only use the Bible Alone. In fact it says the opposite, telling us to listen to our bishops and obey their Traditions too. So saying we only need the Bible, and nothing else, actually goes against the Bible. The second point is a strong one to make with you kids, when their old enough to understand, because most Protestants approach every religious conversation with the presupposition that we should only use the Bible and nothing else. They broach the topic of religion with the idea that it is wrong to use anything but the Bible. That concept actually contradicts the Bible. If you want more information about this, read my essay about how the Bible is not Alone. I can't stress this enough. There is not a single verse in the Bible that tells us to follow the Bible ALONE -- not a single verse. However, there are plenty of verses telling us to follow tradition and the bishops. This is the Achilles Heel of Evangelical Protestantism. They have no Bible passage they can use to support their most important Evangelical tenet -- their Bible Alone teaching. They're literally helpless on this, and most of them don't even know it. Make sure your kids do!!! Additional Catholic Teaching Additional Catholic teaching is very important too, and we should not neglect that for the sake of (1) the Core Gospel, (2) the Eucharist and (3) Apostolic Succession. However, when it comes to dealing with Evangelicals, additional Catholic teachings are distractions. If you want to keep your kids Catholic, you've got to focus in on these above three things like a laser beam. Having good answers for accusations of Mary worship, Saint worship, papal worship, Pagan practises, etc., these are good to have, but they're not always necessary. Remember, while converting Protestants would be nice, that is not our initial goal here as Catholic parents. Our goal as Catholic parents is to keep our kids Catholic, and that means giving them the tools they need to resist attacks on their faith. If they can effectively do that, than converting some of their friends will happen naturally and organically. A knowledgeable Catholic is an attractive Catholic, and some Protestants will take notice of that. Some Protestants will even want to become Catholic as a result. It's inevitable. Now that doesn't mean turning our kids into little Catholic apologists, but it does mean helping them know their own faith. And that in turn will help them recognise Protestant baloney when its presented to them. If you're looking for good age-appropriate catechisms, I recommend these... The New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism is one of the best out there for children, and adults like it too. The blue Saint Joseph First Communion Catechism (No. 0) booklet is a short condensed catechism that is fantastic for very young children (ages 5-9). The pink Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism (No. 1) book is for younger children (ages 10-13), and the grey Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism (No. 2) book is for older children (over 13). Any parent can go through these catechisms with their children easily. They're copiously illustrated, and filled with useful information that any Catholic, young or old, will appreciate. If you really want to go that extra mile, there is but one more thing you could do, and it's completely optional. It's called the Friendly Defenders Catholic Flash Cards... These are great, because they're designed to get kids mentally prepared for the kind of questions Protestant children often ask. They not only give the appropriate responses, but also back it with Scripture passages and citations from the Catechism and Church history. You can make a game out of this with your children, but I think the appropriate age category is about 10 and up. You also really should read the Bible to your children too. I have found a good place to start is with picture Bibles when they're young. There is one Bible I will highly recommend. It's not a Catholic Bible, unfortunately, but I haven't yet found anything in it that is harmful to Catholicism, and I've actually been impressed with the catholicity of some aspects of it. It's called The Action Bible, and it's laid out in a comic book format. It's a good place to start with children ages 5 to 12, but when they get to be teenagers, you really need to switch to an adult Bible. When you're ready to make the switch, I recommend the Catholic Scripture Study Bible: RSV-CE Large Print Edition. As for letting your older children get involved in Bible study groups, don't do it, unless you know they're Catholic. I mean you need to be 100% sure they are Catholic. They should be put on by your local Catholic parish or some kind of Catholic youth group. Do not, under any circumstances, allow your children or teens to attend Protestant Bible studies. Historically speaking, this is where Protestants apply the most pressure on our Catholic kids. Look, back when I was an Evangelical, whenever I encountered a Catholic who understood these things, even just partly, his/her ability to resist my Evangelical approach was solid. I couldn't get him/her to budge. It seemed they had an answer to most of my questions and accusations against the Catholic Church. They seemed to genuinely have a relationship with Jesus Christ that I couldn't deny. And even when I thought I had them with a real zinger, the fact that they didn't have an answer didn't seem to bother them much. They were confident in their Catholic faith, and to be quite honest with you. As an Evangelical, I really didn't know what to do with that. Their spiritual defences were ironclad. To be quite honest with you, that didn't happen very often. Most young Catholics were not so well prepared. As parents there is one more way you can prepare yourself for the tough questions that are sure to come your way. Get a copy of my book Catholicism for Protestants. This will prepare you for almost every question an Evangelical can throw at you, and it will give you a solid working knowledge of the faith. Catechists from all over the country are using my book, or sections of my book, to teach their RCIA classes. This book has an imprimatur from a Catholic bishop, has been reviewed by a Catholic diocese, and given many "thumbs up" from Catholics priests. In fact, I know more than a few Catholic priests who keep several copies of my book in their offices and cars, to hand out to both Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Even Church Militant likes it! And that's saying a lot, because they are very selective about what they approve. Children can smell a hypocrite. If you're not living your faith, they'll know it. If you're not taking your Catholic Christian faith seriously, than neither will they. It's like I said above, you can't give your children what you yourself don't have. If your Catholicism sucks, theirs will too. It's as simple as that. So what if your Catholicism does suck. Now what? They have a saying in the U.S. military. It's called "fake it until you make it." I know, it sounds silly, but actually it's pretty good advice. Soldiers use it all the time. They fake being good soldiers, until the figure out how to be good soldiers, and finally get used to it. They literally fake it, until they make it. Sometimes we have to pretend to be good Catholics for a while, at least while we're trying to learn how to be good Catholics. It's not hard really. For example; let's say you haven't been to confession since your first communion. You don't even remember how to do it! No problem. This is what you do. You say to your child you're going to confession, then you go. You have your child wait in the pew outside the confessional. You go inside, close the door, and then spill the beans to Father. Tell him everything. Tell him you haven't been to confession in decades, you have no freaking clue what you're doing, and you need his help to get through this. Trust me, he'll help you. Then, you casually exit the confessional, go do you penance (pretending like its second nature!) while your child is watching, then take him/her by the hand and go do the rest of your errands for the day. Your child never need be the wiser. You just fake it until you make it. Repeat this approach for every sacrament until finally you're back into the routine of being a good Catholic. You see; you faked it, until you made it! It really does work. The same goes for standard practise in your home. Kids need prayer, both ritual prayer at meals and bedtime, as well as spontaneous prayer when the need arises. Pray with your kids regularly, so that they know God is a regular part of their lives. On that note, think about how you're living, acting and speaking around your children. You don't need me to tell you the difference between right and wrong. You know what to do, and what not to do. So if you're not living, acting and speaking like a Catholic should, work on changing that. Ask God for help, and don't be afraid to chat with a priest about it, especially in confession. Beyond that you should really consider what kind of Catholicism your exposing your children to at your local parish. You should seek out more traditional forms of Catholic worship. Here is why. Some decades back, many Catholic leaders got it in their heads that the best way to keep kids from leaving the Church for Protestantism, was to redesign Catholic worship and make it look more Protestant. Did it work? Look around. It was a miserable failure. The best way to keep kids Catholic is to provide for them a style of worship that is the opposite of Protestant worship. It should be something they CAN'T get in a Protestant church. So the more traditionally Catholic your parish is, the better. The old traditional Latin mass stands as the STANDARD of traditional Catholicism. I'm not saying you need to go Latin though. What I am saying is that you should try to seek out a Catholic parish that tries to emulate this standard as much as possible in their regular vernacular worship. If you can't find such a parish nearby, then talk to your priest about it. Just ask him to bring in a few traditional elements to the mass; like bells, incense, some more chant, and maybe even an altar rail for people who want to kneel. Some priests may not be receptive to this. Others will be, especially younger ones. But you'll never know what side your priest falls on until you politely ask. On that note, I will tell you this. There is no more powerful way to convey to your children the divinity of Christ in the Eucharist, than to kneel for communion. If you decide to get the Friendly Defenders Catholic Flash Cards, this section will be covered there. We just can't keep our kids in the dark about this stuff. They need to understand what is going on around them, and why their friends go to other churches, and most of all, why they are so intent on getting your kid to join them. It's all very tempting for a Catholic child, and especially a teenager. It's all about peer pressure. Their Protestant friends will undoubtedly try to get them to go to Protestant Bible studies, youth groups, and even Bible camps. All their friends may be going. So this is something you need to prepare them for ahead of time. You need to explain what is wrong with Protestantism, and why there is so much confusion. It will help your child understand when you say 'no' to their requests to join their Protestant friends in Protestant activities. The following is a graph that explains the origins of some of the more popular Protestant groups... click image to enlarge As you can see, they all resulted from two major schisms with the Catholic Church about 500 years ago. Probably the best advice I can give you is to avoid spending a lot of time studying Protestant beliefs. The variations are endless! Study your own Catholic faith instead. You only need to know just a few things. The most aggressive Protestants tend to follow the Evangelical belief system. Biblically speaking, they're fundamentalists, but that doesn't mean they're all mean and judgemental. Protestants are just like Catholics, in the sense that there are all types, and everyone has their own personality and disposition. That being said, there are a few things to look out for... Are you saved? Are you born again? Are you a Christian? Is Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Saviour? Basically all of these questions mean the same thing. What they're asking is 'Are you an Evangelical?' But the trick is, they're asking it in such a way that if you answer wrong, or dismiss their question, it makes it appear as if you don't love Jesus. Here is how you answer all of these questions in a way that will stump them... Yes, I am a Catholic Christian, and I was born again at baptism. I am being saved because Jesus is my personal Lord and Saviour, and I trust in him alone for my salvation. Praise the Lord! I guarantee you, most Evangelicals won't know what to do with that. You see, they're not used to hearing that from Catholics. It will stump them. Some will just accept you as a brother/sister Christian, and that will be that. Others, still won't accept that answer coming from a Catholic, but they won't know what to do with it either. Evangelical Protestants see salvation as a one-time magical event, that happens when you stand in front of a church, or a group of Evangelical believers, and profess your faith in a format called the 'Sinner's Prayer'. Then once that is done -- POOF! -- you're 'saved' and your entry into Heaven is guaranteed! So that's what they're trying to get your Catholic kid to do. Actually, the 'Sinner's Prayer' in and of itself is harmless. They just ask Jesus Christ to come into their lives as their Personal Lord and Saviour, and then they ask the Holy Spirit to help them live good Christians lives. Again, this is harmless. What follows is what's problematic. Often, after saying the prayer, they want you to attend their Evangelical church, and they'll often say just about anything to get you to do it. That's when they pour on the anti-Catholic rhetoric. By using the above answer, you demonstrate that Jesus is already your personal Lord and Saviour, thus the 'Sinner's Prayer' is unnecessary, because you've already professed your faith. This leaves Evangelicals confused, not knowing what to do next. The statement I suggested above is also doctrinal accurate from a Catholic perspective, because it acknowledges the Catholic truth that salvation is not a one time magical event. It happens gradually, over a lifetime. It begins with baptism, and is strengthened through confirmation and the Eucharist. Then it is completed upon our death, assuming we have been faithful to Christ, and trusted him in everything. Remember, as Catholic parents it's not our job to get our kids to convert their Protestant friends, but it is our job to make sure our kids understand where the problems are with Protestantism, and why we shouldn't fall into those same errors ourselves. The biggest errors of Protestantism centre around Apostolic Succession and the Eucharist. There are many other errors too -- lots of them -- but these are the two biggest. It's our job as Catholic parents to keep our kids Catholic, and that means explaining our own faith well, living it well, and making sure our kids understand the problems with Protestantism. At the same time however, we don't want to come across to them as unfairly prejudiced toward Protestants either. Remember, Protestants are NOT a bogeyman! Those that have been baptised in the name of the Trinity are actually our separated brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need to make sure our kids understand that. At the same time, our kids need to understand that Protestantism is not equal to Catholicism. They're not the same thing, and yes the differences do matter. Many Catholics who leave Catholicism for Protestantism end up leaving Protestantism eventually to, and move on to... well, nothing. For many Catholics, not all but many, Protestantism is the last stop on the train ride to atheism or agnosticism, or 'spiritual but not religious' nothing-ism. Our kids need to understand this, when they're old enough to emotionally deal with it, we have to tell them. Not all Catholics who convert to Protestantism go this way, but a large number of them do. On the flip side, I have experienced that some Catholics, who turn Evangelical Protestant, don't end up losing their Christian faith (thank God), but sadly they turn into the most rabid anti-Catholics I've ever seen. They end up with an axe to grind against the Catholic Church, like a disgruntled fired employee hates his former employer. They attack it at any chance they get, and feel it is their mission to get their friends and family out of the Catholic Church. In my experience, whether it be an eventual slide into atheism, or a disgruntled former Catholic that's turned anti-Catholic, conversion of Catholics to Protestantism almost never goes well. It's like poison to the Catholic soul. We need to love our separated brethren in Protestant communities, show them charity, and work with them whenever we can. Those who were born into such communities can never be held responsible for the sin of schism. It wasn't their fault. They were born into it. They didn't have a choice. Catholics, however, who left Catholicism to join Protestant communities are probably victims too. They are usually victims of poor catechises, parents who didn't care to show them how to be good Catholics, and Catholic parishes that gave them the impression that Protestantism is 'okay' because of their Protestantised masses. So we have to level with our kids, and be brutally honest with them, showing no sentimentality toward Protestantism, but at the same time showing them charity toward Protestants. It's a fine line, but one that we as Catholic parents have to walk. We have no choice. It's the job we signed up for, whether we realised it or not. (If this essay had helped you, please share it with other Catholic parents.) A Catholic Guide to the Last Days for Protestants Regnum Dei Press
Skip to content Windows API August 5, 2009 The Windows API, informally WinAPI, is Microsoft’s core set of application programming interfaces (APIs) available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. All Windows programs except console programs must interact with the Windows API regardless of the language. Lower level access to a Windows system, mostly required for device drivers, is provided by the Windows Driver Foundation or Native API in current versions of Windows. A software development kit (SDK) is available for Windows, which provides documentation and tools to enable developers to create software using the Windows API and associated Windows technologies. The functionality provided by the Windows API can be grouped into seven categories Base Services Provide access to the fundamental resources available to a Windows system. Included are things like file systems, devices, processes and threads, access to the Windows registry, and error handling. These functions reside in kernel.exe, krnl286.exe or krnl386.exe files on 16-bit Windows, and kernel32.dll and advapi32.dll on 32-bit Windows. Graphics Device Interface User Interface Common Dialog Box Library Common Control Library Windows Shell Component of the Windows API allows applications to access the functionality provided by the operating system shell, as well as change and enhance it. The component resides in shell.dll on 16-bit Windows, and shell32.dll and later in Windows 95 shlwapi.dll on 32-bit Windows. It is grouped under the User Interface category of the API. Network Services The Internet Explorer web browser also exposes many APIs that are often used by applications, and as such could be considered a part of the Windows API. Internet Explorer has been included with the operating system since Windows 95, and has provided web related services to applications since Windows 98. Specifically, it used to provide: • DirectX Transforms, a set of image filter components. • XML support (the MSXML components). • Access to the Windows Address Book. Microsoft has provided the DirectX set of APIs as part of every Windows installation since Windows 95 OSR2. DirectX provides a loosely related set of multimedia and gaming services, including: • Direct3D as an alternative to OpenGL for access to 3D acceleration hardware. • DirectDraw for hardware accelerated access to the 2D frame buffer. As of DirectX 9, this component has been deprecated in favor of Direct3D, which provides more general high-performance graphics functionality (as 2D rendering is a subset of 3D rendering). • DirectSound for low level hardware accelerated sound card access. • DirectInput for communication with input devices such as joysticks and game pads. • DirectMusic Program interaction Wrapper libraries Also notable are some of Borland’s offerings. Object Windows Library (OWL) was released as a competing product to MFC, and offered a similar object-oriented wrapper. Borland later deprecated it in favour of the Visual Component Library (VCL). Most application frameworks for Windows are (at least partially) wrapping the Windows API. Thus, the .NET Framework and Java, as well as any other programming languages under Windows, are (or contain) Wrapper Libraries. Almost every new version of Microsoft Windows has introduced its own additions and changes to the Windows API. The name of the API however was kept consistent between different Windows version, and name changes were kept limited to major architectural and platform changes for Windows. Microsoft eventually changed the name of the then current Win32 API family into Windows API, and made it into a catch-all term for both past and future versions of the API • Win16 is the API for the first, 16-bit versions of Microsoft Windows. These were initially referred to as simply the Windows API, but were later renamed to Win16 in an effort to distinguish it from the newer, 32-bit version of the Windows API. The functions of Win16 API mainly reside in the core files of the OS: kernel.exe (or krnl286.exe or krnl386.exe), user.exe and gdi.exe. Despite the file extension of exe, these actually are dynamically linked libraries. • Win32 is the 32-bit API for modern versions of Windows. The API consists of functions implemented, as with Win16, in system DLLs. The core DLLs of Win32 are kernel32.dll, user32.dll, and gdi32.dll. Win32 was introduced with Windows NT. The version of Win32 that was shipped with Windows 95 was initially referred to as Win32c; with the “c” standing for “compatibility”, but this term was later abandoned by Microsoft in favor of Win32. In Windows NT 4.0 and its successors (including all modern Windows versions), Win32 calls are executed by two modules, csrss.exe (Client/Server Runtime Server Subsystem) in user mode and win32k.sys in kernel mode. • Win32s is an extension for the Windows 3.1x family of Microsoft Windows that implemented a subset of the Win32 API for these systems. The “s” stands for “subset”. Win32 for 64-bit Windows, previously known as Win64, is the version of the API targeted for 64-bit versions of Windows ￢ﾀﾔ namely, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition (for x86-64 processors) and Windows XP 64-bit Edition and Windows Server 2003 for Itanium-series. The 64-bit versions are just two more supported platforms within Windows NT architecture so both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of an application can still be compiled from single code base. All memory pointers are 64-bit by default though, so the source code has to be checked for compatibility with 64-bit pointer arithmetic and rewritten as necessary. There are no new functions specific to 64-bit versions of Windows. No comments yet 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:
Contracted Toe Causes Hammertoes are quite common and may range from mild to severe. A Hammer toe is a contracture, or bending, of one or more toes, usually due to an imbalance between the muscles or tendons on the top and bottom of the toes. Over time, the affected toes lose flexibility, becoming rigid and fixed in a contracted position. The abnormal bend positions the knuckle of the toe upward, causing it to push against the top of the shoe leading to additional problems. The condition usually becomes progressively worse if not treated. Many people develop hammertoe because they wear shoes that are too tight. Shoes with narrow toe boxes squeeze the toes together, forcing some to bend. This causes the toe muscles to contract. If the toes are forced into this cramped position too often, the muscles may permanently tighten, preventing the toes from extending. Chronic hammertoe can also cause the long bones that connect the toes to the foot, called metatarsals, to move out of position. The misaligned metatarsal bones may pinch a nerve running between them, which can cause a type of nerve irritation called a neuroma. Hammer ToeSymptoms Non Surgical Treatment What will a doctor do? Treat any foot complaints such as corns, calluses by periodically reducing the lesion and applying appropriate pads and dressings. Recommend the silicone toe prop. If an infection is present, then anti-septic dressings, antibiotics and pads to redistribute pressure away from the lesion may be necessary. In the case of a mallet toe, trigger toe or claw toe. If a corn occurs at the end of the toe, a silicone or leather prop may be used to straighten the toe. In a hammertoe deformity, a silicone prop to redistribute pressure away from a corn may be necessary. The doctor may give footwear advice. In severe cases, corrective surgery may be necessary. The doctor may recommend orthosis to correct a mechanical complaint of the foot, such as 3/4 length silicone insoles. Surgical Treatment Surgery is the approach that is often necessary to correct hammertoe that fails to respond to nonsurgical management. Surgery is appropriate when the muscles and tendons involved in a hammertoe problem have become so tight that the joints are rigid, misaligned and unmovable. There are a number of surgical techniques for dealing with the complex range of joint, bone, muscle, tendon and ligament abnormalities that define each hammertoe's make-up. To correct a hammertoe deformity, the surgeon's goal is to restore the normal alignment of the toe Hammer toe joint, relieving the pressure that led to the hammertoe's development (this should also relieve the pain, as well). To do this, he or she may remove part of the boney structure that creates a prominence at the top of the joint. Tighten or loosen the muscles, tendons and ligaments around the toe joints. Realign the toe bones by cutting one or more and shifting their position, realigning muscles, tendons and ligaments accordingly. Use screws, wires or plates to hold the joint surfaces together until they heal. Reconstruct a badly damaged joint or replace it with an artificial implant. Write a comment Comments: 1
Alyson Santoro Lab Our lab studies single-celled organisms called bacteria and archaea involved in nutrient cycling. Microbes that convert nitrogen among its various forms live in the ocean, coastal sediments, and soils. We experiment with these organisms in the lab, look for their DNA in the environment, and measure rates of the different chemical reactions they perform. We try to understand how and when they evolved, how they collaborate with other organisms, and how they keep our ocean clean. To find a technical description of our research and learn more about current projects in the lab, please visit our Research pages or read some of our scientific papers. Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology Website URL:
Hypoplastic Uterus Definition - What does Hypoplastic Uterus mean? A hypoplastic uterus is a uterus that is very small in size from birth. A hypoplastic uterus is the result of incomplete development of the uterus during birth. Some girls can develop hypoplastic uterus during puberty due to massively raised prolactin levels. Prolactin is a hormone produced by a small gland in the brain, called pituitary gland. When produced in excess amounts before or during puberty, prolactin interferes with the normal development of reproductive organs and sexual characteristics, including the development of uterus. In addition to the absence of menses, affected women also experience difficulty conceiving. Even when they conceive with the help of in vitro fertilization (IVF), the chances of miscarriage are quite high. FertilitySmarts explains Hypoplastic Uterus A hypoplastic uterus can be a component of Mayer Rokitansky Kuster-Hauser syndrome, a condition in which both the uterus and vagina fail to develop. It was also reported to occur in female children of mothers exposed to diethylstilbestrol - a synthetic form of the female hormone estrogen. Females with a hypoplastic uterus usually present during puberty with an absence of menstrual periods (or primary amenorrhea). Secondary sexual characteristics are usually preserved, suggesting a normal ovarian function with the exception of a hypoplastic uterus that follows raised prolactin blood levels or a chromosomal disorder like Turner syndrome. Because the embryo implants in the uterus, women with a hypoplastic uterus have difficulty conceiving. Genital areas develop normally, because of which the condition is usually not diagnosed before puberty until a girl fails to have normal periods. In suspected females, a doctor performs an ultrasound of the pelvis; a small-sized uterus is indicative of the condition. The ovaries have a higher position relative to the uterus. Sometimes MRI is also used for more detailed examination of the pelvic organs. Treatment options in females with a hypoplastic uterus include hormonal replacement therapy and assisted reproduction and the administration of gonadotropin medications (drugs that induce follicle maturation in the ovaries). IVF failure is however common in these women. Share this:
What Causes Dry Mouth in Pregnancy Women ( xerostomia ) Xerostomia is caused by various factors which we all know, but we choose to ignore them. It causes in ability to produce saliva, and this cause unpleasant condition for us . Thus, making the mouth vulnerable to disease. However, it can happen to anyone occasionally when a person is under stress. When it occur in the mouth , mastication, swallow and talking are difficult, it increase the risk of tooth decay in the mouth , because saliva help to keep harmful germs that can cause cavity and other infection in the mouth. When taking sticky chocolate and carbohydrate food , bacteria that is already present in the mouth convert this food to glucose, sucrose, fructose into acid called lactic acid through the process called d glycelytic process . If the food is left in the mouth it causes demineralization which is the major dissolution of mineral content of the teeth. However, demineralization occur when the acid is neutralize by saliva or mouth wash. This is while saliva is important in aspect of tooth, mouth, teeth , tongue palate. If demineralization occur for a long period of time, enough mineral content may be lost so the soft organic material left behind disintegrate forming a cavity. Thus , making mouth vulnerable to oral diseases. Some of the contributing factor of xerostomia 1. Stress:Emotional disturbances. 2. Acute anxiety. 3. Mouth breathing. 4. Heavy smoking. 5. Medication. 6. Pregnancy. 7. Diseases of the salivary gland such as diabetic, HIV and aid, because they have low immune system to fight the bacteria. Apart from the above mentioned causes and symptoms of dry mouth. A person with dryness of the mouth is likely to develop the following problems: Gingivitis : It is a disease of the gum that characterized by redness, pain and bleeding of the gum. If left untreated, it may leads to periodontitis. Dental caries : It is also known as tooth decay. It is an irreversible microbial disease of the calcified tissues of the teeth characterized by demineralization of inorganic portion and destruction of the organic substance of the tooth, which leads to cavitation (hole on the teeth). Dry mouth may be a contributing factor that initiates the formation of carious lesion. Other problems include mouth infections and dry mouth can also make it difficult to wear artificial teeth. If the dryness of the mouth is caused by certain medication you are taking, your doctor may adjust the dose of drugs or switch you to a different drug that doesn't cause dryness of the mouth. In addition, mouthwash may be prescribed to restore mouth moisture. If it doesn't help medication that stimulates saliva production, called salagen may be prescribed. Other steps you can take that may help to improve saliva flow include : 1. Sucking on sugar free candy or chewing gum, sugar free. 2. Drinking plenty of water to keep your mouth moist. 3. Use of a fluoride rinse . 4. Regular visit to dental clinic . 5. Brushing with a fluoride toothpaste to protect your teeth . 6. Breathing through your nose regularly, not your mouth. 7. Using a room vapourizer to and moisture to the bedroom. 8. Taking fruit like :water melon and cucumber , tends to help increase saliva flow for pregnant women Post a Comment Follow by Email to Receive Every Post by Mail Popular Posts The Fitnessworld - Healthcare
RISE OF THE ROBOTS: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless FutureWhile preparing a speech about the impact of technology on higher education, I found a reference from the “Transforming Higher Education” chapter in Martin Ford’s new book, Rise of the Robots. Curious about the thematic link with higher education, I bought a copy. As expected, I found parallels with other books that I had reviewed, including Nicholas Carr’s The Big Switch and Brynholfsson’s and McAfee’s The Second Machine Age. Both of those books encourage education as an important means to career success as technology continues to replace jobs through automation. Ford cites both books, but provides a colder, harder dose of reality about technology’s impact on the job market than these authors do. Rise of the Robots begins by discussing robots and automation. Ford writes that similar to PC software growth, robots will be developed to handle almost any commercial, industrial, and consumer task imaginable. For example, ROS, or Robot Operating System, developed by Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, is open-source and free, meaning that developers can enhance it, providing a market-standard tool that continuously improves for future robot developers. Advancing technology in robots used in manufacturing in China resulted in a loss of 16 million manufacturing jobs there between 1995 and 2002. Unlike people, robots can work continuously and as technology costs decrease, they are more likely to replace humans even when wages are low. Ford points out that automation isn’t restricted to manufacturing jobs, and that with calls for a higher minimum wage in the U.S., service jobs are also at risk. One such example is McDonald’s installation of touch screen ordering systems at 7,000 European locations. As a result of such automation tools, he states that a typical fast-food restaurant may be able to decrease its future workforce by 50 percent. The retail sector isn’t immune from such changes and Ford assesses the impact of online retailers, their highly- automated warehouses, intelligent vending machines, and the introduction of automation and robotics into stores as market competition continues to increase. But unlike other authors, Ford states that “the machines are coming for the high-wage, high-skill jobs as well.” The author demonstrates the impact of Moore’s Law regarding the acceleration of technology through the doubling of computer processing power every year and a half to two years over the past 40 years. He also points out that the Singularity (the theoretical point when computers become smarter than humans as described by Ray Kurzweil and others) is likely, and that only the exact timing is uncertain. Smarter computers will find ways to continue to increase automation and replace jobs. Advances in artificial intelligence will improve robotics as well as automated decision making. While humans may try to slow down the pace, it is likely that governments or large corporations will fund the development of smarter computers for the advantages that may accrue in warfare or business. Ford discusses the importance of discussions about the ethics of using machines to determine outcomes that were formerly controlled by humans. Over the years, there have been many narratives and reports noting the impact of increasing automation on jobs. Ford writes that it’s different this time because of seven deadly trends, including: stagnant wages; a bear market for labor and a bull market for corporations; declining labor force participation; diminishing job creation and soaring long-term unemployment; soaring inequality; declining incomes and underemployment for recent college graduates; and, lastly, polarization and part-time jobs. When these trends are evaluated collectively, the case for technology’s role in disrupting our economy is most convincing. Ford also cites three other trends as influential: globalization, financial sector growth, and politics. He cites a 2013 study by Frey and Osborne, who conclude that nearly half of U.S. jobs are vulnerable to automation over the next 20 years. He further states that the ability of IT to substitute for workers and create winner-take-all scenarios will have a dramatic impact on our economy and our society. Two industries that have been the least disrupted by technology, according to Ford, are higher education and healthcare. Online education, machine grading, MOOCs, competency-based learning, and adaptive learning are the innovations he sees as potentially disruptive to higher education. Artificial intelligence, hospital and pharmacy robotics, eldercare robots, and predictive analytics, in turn, are likely future disruptors of healthcare economics. Ford notes that economists disagree on whether or not a shortfall in demand is holding back economic growth and if income inequality is the major contributor to the problem. He claims that many jobs will continue to be eliminated due to technology and that more people will be fully unemployed instead of simply underemployed. With no pay, more people will be unable to spend and deflation is a major risk. With the population aging and rising inequality, Ford predicts that consumer spending will decrease, triggering more job losses. He suggests that the skills ladder is not really a ladder, but a pyramid with less room at the top, increasing the probability that fewer jobs will be open for people to migrate to as technology eliminates their jobs. In his concluding chapter, Ford discusses a study that published labor data for the 15-year period from 1998 to 2013 (and arguably, one of the periods in which technological change increased most rapidly). During this period, the value of American goods and services increased by 42 percent after adjusting for inflation. The number of labor hours required to accomplish that in 2013 was 194 billion, the same as in 1998. During the same period, the U.S. population grew by 40 million. In order for the labor hours to be the same during a period when the population grew, more people had to drop out of the workforce and had to shift from full-time to part-time employees. Ford’s point is that technology had a major impact on this increase in productivity and lowering of workers’ wages. A perfect storm is on the horizon where the employment situation could worsen. Creating a future that improves the prosperity for all may be our biggest challenge. Whether you’re a parent, grandparent, student, teacher, employer, employee, policymaker, regulator, or retiree, Martin Ford’s book will make you think about what options we have that will enhance prosperity for our people and our country. The road ahead is not without its potholes or washouts. We need enlightenment and teamwork, not polarization. Rise of the Robots is a book that can and should stimulate the national discourse. , , , , No comments yet. Leave a Reply
Health Library Explorer Breast Ultrasound What is breast ultrasound? Breast ultrasound is an imaging test that uses sound waves to look at the inside of your breasts. It can help your healthcare provider find breast problems. It also lets your healthcare provider see how well blood is flowing to areas in your breasts. This test is often used when a change has been seen on a mammogram or when a change is felt, but does not show up on a mammogram. The healthcare provider moves a wand-like device called a transducer over your skin to make the images of your breasts. The transducer sends out sound waves that bounce off your breast tissue. The sound waves are too high-pitched for you to hear. The transducer then picks up the bounced sound waves. These are made into pictures of the inside of your breasts. Your healthcare provider can add another device called a Doppler probe to the transducer. This probe lets your healthcare provider hear the sound waves the transducer sends out. He or she can hear how fast blood is flowing through a blood vessel and in which direction it is flowing. No sound or a faint sound may mean that you have a blockage in the flow. Ultrasound is safe to have during pregnancy because it does not use radiation. It is also safe for people who are allergic to contrast dye because it does not use dye. Why might I need a breast ultrasound? Ultrasound may be used if you: • Are younger than age 25 What are the risks of a breast ultrasound? A breast ultrasound has no risk from radiation. It poses no risk to pregnant women. Breast ultrasound may miss small lumps or solid tumors that are commonly found with mammography. Being obese or having very large breasts may make the ultrasound less accurate. How do I get ready for a breast ultrasound? What happens during a breast ultrasound? Generally, breast ultrasound follows this process: 1. You will be asked to remove any jewelry and clothing from the waist up. You will be given a gown to wear. 2. You will lie on your back on an exam table. You will be asked to raise your arm above your head on the side of the breast to be looked at. Or you may be placed on your side. 3. The technologist will put a clear, warm gel on the skin over the breast area to be looked at. What happens after a breast ultrasound? You do not need any special care after a breast ultrasound. Your healthcare provider may give you other instructions, depending on your situation. Next steps • The name of the test or procedure • The reason you are having the test or procedure • What results to expect and what they mean • The risks and benefits of the test or procedure • What the possible side effects or complications are • When and where you are to have the test or procedure • Any alternative tests or procedures to think about • When and how will you get the results Online Medical Reviewer: Grossman, Neil, MD Date Last Reviewed: 9/1/2016
Kim Jang-Hoon bought maps According to the Joon-Ang Ilbo (中央日報）, a Korean popular singer Kim Jang-Hoon（キム・ジャンフン） got two Japanese antique maps at an auction at 6,500,000 Won, which he would like to give to a museum. One is 新訂地球万国方図(1854) which labeled Japan Sea as "朝鮮海 (Korean Sea)" and another one is 三国接壌之図(1785) by Hayashi Shihei. As to the latter, the newspaper mentioned "Dokdo and Ulleungdo were coloured green which shows Korean territory". But the map in the article was not 三国接壌之図 but 朝鮮八道誌(朝鮮八道之図） by the same geographer Hayashi Shiei. Ulleungdo was labeled as "Ulleungdo Usanguku", which was not a proof of sovereignty of Dokdo. Pro-Korean people once claimed "東" in the map shows that Japan Sea was called as 東海 (Tong-he) in Japan too but it was a big mistake - the word 東 (east) was only written to show a point of the compass. http://toron.pepper.jp/jp/take/jpn/hakken.html 1. If he "auctioned off" the maps, that that would mean he sold the maps, but since he is thinking about giving them to a museum, then he must have "bought the maps at an auction." 2. Gerry, Thanks, I corrected the mistake. 3. You can see whole map of Hayashi Shihei's "朝鮮八道図 of 三国通覧図説" here. "南" & "西" are also written on the other sides. 東 on this map only means it is the eastern side of Joseon peninsula. Is Choson Ilbo ignorant of map or intentionally lying ? If Korean newspaper keeps doing this kind of distortion, Korean themselves lose any credibility from outside of their country. 4. Kaneganese, Thanks. The newspaper company may have taken a simple mistake - taking another map by the same geographer (Hayashi Shihei) as 三国接壌之図. BTW, the islet drawn beside Ulleungdo in the 三国接壌之図 is not Liancourt Rocks but Jukdo. Even if Kim Jang-Hoon really bought the map 三国接壌之図, it wouldn't be a help for pro-Korean scholars' claim. 5. BTW, the map 朝鮮八道図 by Hayashi Shihei has just been auctioned at eBay. The highest bid was $1,025.
Thursday, May 22, 2008 Huna Code Words: Some Simple Basics Max Freedom Long realized that the Hawaiian Kahuna must have had special words in their language to use to teach their beliefs to the younger priests. He began to study any words in the Hawaiian dictionary which might have to do with man's mental or spiritual nature. He immediately found unmistakable words which describe the "parts of mind," as they are called in modern psychology. After years of searching, he had started to learn the secret lore. Years passed before he found a "code" hidden in their language which told what they believed. This "code" aided him in discovering similar beliefs in other civilizations. This code was built on a language which must have been identical phonetically to the language of the Huna tribes while they were in Egypt. In some of the lands visited by the migrating Huna tribes words of their language were left behind. Often these words became modified. Fortunately, the Kahuna in Hawaii preserved their language with great care, because within their language lay a "code" which described their secret system. If the language had been changed, key words would have been modified and the code would have never been preserved. In order to keep their language pure, young Kahuna were trained to memorize long chants covering the history of the people and the genealogy of the chiefs on the surface. The deeper, hidden meaning behind these chants revealed the secret system translated by the Esoteric Code of the Kahuna. So if, while chanting these genealogies and legendary histories, a young priest changed a word, syllable, or a pronunciation, he was immediately corrected by the older Kahunas. As a result, the language in Hawaii remained unchanged over thousands of years. Language modifications occurred in New Zealand and, to a greater degree, in Tahiti. But the Hawaiian language remained the purest and was the language Long used to find the key words to break the code and recover the ancient techniques of the Hawaiian Kahuna. His findings have been confirmed and supplemented by the work of Leinani Mellville. The Hawaiian, like other Polynesian dialects, is a simple language. It is not agglutinated and does not change words to make tense or gender or number, instead it uses special words to show these changes. Hawaiian words are built from short root words, which together describe the full meaning of the idea. Since many root words have multiple meanings, it was ideal for a code language. Max found that by translating each root, he could find the hidden meaning, or code meaning, of the key words in the Kahuna chants. What complicated the breaking of the code is that certain words were used as the symbol of some part or element of the Huna system. If the symbolic meaning was not known, the true meaning of the statement could not be understood until recently. For instance, in early Egypt the little pictured glyph of a grasshopper is to be found in the tombs with the mummy. In Hawaii , the grasshopper was also a symbol for the same concept. The Hawaiian word for grasshopper is unihipili. The definition given in the Andrews "Hawaiian-English Dictionary" of 1865 is "one name of a class of gods, while Aumakua is another. They were departed spirits of decomposed persons." Only by translating and considering the meaning of the roots of the words can one get at the real Huna meaning. It was the word used by the kahuna to indicate what we call the subconscious. None of the roots have anything to do with a grasshopper or with spirits or with a mummy of the deceased, but they all describe some characteristic of the subconscious mind. The root pili means "united or joining" or "belonging to a person," and "to adhere to something." The subconscious is "joined to" and "belongs to" the body of the man. The root nihi describes "secretiveness, working silently and softly." The subconscious mind is certainly silent. The root u means a self, an "I." The priests had an alternate word, uhinipili, for the subconscious, which repeats some of the root words, but contains others which provide additional meanings. Uhi carries the meaning of "a weak voice, which is smothered by another voice." Another meaning is "to hide or be secretive." All these descriptions aptly describe the subconscious mind and the way it works. They show that it is secretive, that it is closely attached to the conscious mind, that it will do things only when it wishes to do so, and that it also hides things, such as complexes, and is the center of the emotions. Uhane is Hawaiian for the conscious mind. U means a "self” and hane means "to talk." The root words gave the description of the conscious mind, the self which talks. The human being is the only animal which is able to talk to convey ideas. These examples show the method used in finding the hidden meanings in words used by the Kahuna. The code was really quite simple. The separate meanings of the root words describe the idea that is hidden in the word. The Hawaiian code word for the Super-conscious is Aumakua. Makua means "parental" or "a pair of gods," and it is the "parental" part of man. The roots also mean "very old." The translation for the word aumakua given by a student of Hawaiian lore is "utterly trustworthy parental spirit." The Hawaiian dictionary translates the word as "one who can be trusted as a child trusts a parent." One could call the super-conscious: "God who is trusted to love the subconscious and conscious with whom it is connected." It will help us and guide us throughout our life. © 2008 Rev. James Vinson Wingo, DD Monday, May 19, 2008 The Huna Code "The Code Language" Why do these techniques often fail to produce the desired results? An ancient secret supplies the answer. "What have these people got?" he demanded. Following the migration to Polynesia, the system flourished. The “Kahuna Motto” was the rule. * "Conceal in Secrecy." * "Preserve in Silence." So ... "Ahuwale Ka Nane Huna!" ... "Let that which is unknown become known." © 2008 Rev. James Vinson Wingo, DD Thursday, May 08, 2008 Huna: getting strength and vitality from your Aumakua An experiment for you! Start by doing the basic Ha Breathing from Huna Breathing. Then ... after sending a little "gift" of mana to your Aumakua to "prime the pump" ... start saying ... while you're breathing ... "I am breathing strength and vitality from my Aumakua to my unihipili." ... and notice how it affectsthe return flow. © 2008 Rev. James Vinson Wingo, DD Monday, May 05, 2008 Huna 101: The Basics Huna Teachings The Huna teachings are the Ancient "Secret Science Behind Miracles" that has finally come to the West through the work of Max Freedom Long and others. Long initially learned about the teachings of Huna from William Tufts Brigham who had spent forty years living in Hawaii, trying to understand the secrets of the lost and secret teachings of the Hawaiian Kahuna. Long spend the next forty years studying and working with the Huna teachings, until his death in 1971. The work has now passed-down to Rev. James Vinson Wingo, DD, who is the International head of Max Freedom Long's Huna Research Associates and High Priest of the Huna Fellowship. It teaches the practical application of Huna and many other Kahuna techniques. The essence of Huna teachings is that the human being is made up of three levels of consciousness, known as selves, or minds. The Kahuna called the conscious mind the "uhane," or middle self. The "middle self" is that part of you that is conscious of its own existence and has the ability to reason. It also has the free will to create as it pleases, along with the inner self, or "low self. " The subconscious mind is called the "unihipili" or low self. It is the part of you that is unconscious. It is the storehouse of all memory and the seat of the emotions. Its is the "inner child" of pop psychology and the New Age movement. with only simplistic, deductive reasoning. The term "low" has no reference to rank or importance, only to the fact that it is below the level of consciousness of the middle self and to the fact that its bodily center is in the solar plexus rather than in the head. The third part is the High Self, called the "Aumakua" by the Kahuna. The high self is the "utterly trust-worthy parental spirit." This higher part of you lives at a higher plane of consciousness, outside the physical body. It will not intervene in the affairs of life unless asked to do so. This is understood to be a cosmic law your High Self must adhere to. The high self can see into the "crystallized future" and creates your future "automatically" from your day-to-day thoughts. As you thoughts change throughout your daily life, so your future likewise change. Huna also teaches that communication with your High Self occurs quite naturally during sleep. It is in that contact that most of the thoughts-of-the-day are used by the High Self to materialize conditions in your future. Huna teachings say that each of the three selves is equally important, and has its proper role to perform in the life of the individual. Your health, and happiness depend on the integration, blending, and harmonizing of your three selves. Huna teaches that your High Self expresses ALL the Divine qualities … compassion ... patience ... love ... and forgiveness. This is the IDEAL to which you, the middle self, are to aspire. © 2008 The Huna Fellowship
Eye Care Facilities Slit Lamp Examination The slit lamp exam uses an instrument that provides a magnified, three-dimensional (3-D) view of the different parts of the eye. During the exam, your doctor can look at the front parts of the eye, including the clear, outer covering ( cornea), the lens, the colored part ( iris), and the front section of the gel-like fluid ( vitreous gel) that fills the large space in the middle of the eye. Auto Refractometer An autorefractometer or automated refractor is a computer-controlled machine used during an eye examination to provide an objective measurement of a person's refractive error and prescription for glasses or contact lenses. The automated refraction technique is quick, simple and painless. Within seconds an approximate measurement of a person's prescription can be made by the machine. A-Scan Biometry A-scan ultrasound biometry, commonly referred to as an A-scan, is routine type of diagnostic test used in ophthalmology. The A-scan provides data on the length of the eye, which is a major determinant in common sight disorders. The most common use of the A-scan is to determine eye length for calculation of intraocular lens power. A tonometer is an instrument for measuring tension or pressure. In ophthalmology, tonometry is the procedure eye care professionals perform to determine the intraocular pressure (IOP), the fluid pressure inside the eye. It is an important test in the evaluation of patients with glaucoma. Most tonometers are calibrated to measure pressure in mmHg. Phacoemulsification refers to modern cataract surgery in which the eye's internal lens is emulsified with an ultrasonic handpiece, and aspirated from the eye. Aspirated fluids are replaced with irrigation of balanced salt solution, thus maintaining the anterior chamber, as well as cooling the handpiece. Gonioscopy describes the use of a goniolens (also known as a gonioscope) in conjunction with a slit lamp or operating microscope to gain a view of the iridocorneal angle, or the anatomical angle formed between the eye's cornea and iris. The importance of this process is in diagnosing and monitoring various eye conditions associated with glaucoma. A keratometer, also known as a ophthalmometer, is a diagnostic instrument for measuring the curvature of the anterior surface of the cornea, particularly for assessing the extent and axis of astigmatism Indirect Opthalmoscopy An indirect ophthalmoscope constitutes a light attached to a headband, in addition to a small handheld lens. It provides a wider view of the inside of the eye. Furthermore, it allows a better view of the fundus of the eye, even if the lens is clouded by cataracts. An indirect ophthalmoscope can be either monocular or binocular. It is used for peripheral viewing retina. Skin Care Facilities Punch Grafting Punch techniques are typically used for deep acne scarring like "ice pick" scars. The procedure involves the physical removal of the tissue containing the scar and either the suture or replacement of the remaining tissue. There are three main punch techniques used. These are; Punch Excision/ Punch Excision with skin Grafting/ Punch Elevation/ Cryo surgery Cryosurgery (cryotherapy) is the application of extreme cold to destroy abnormal or diseased tissue. Warts, moles, skin tags, solar keratoses, and small skin cancers are candidates for cryosurgical treatment. Cryosurgery works by taking advantage of the destructive force of freezing temperatures on cells.Cryosurgery is a minimally invasive procedure, and is often preferred to more traditional kinds of surgery because of its minimal pain, scarring, and cost. Electro Cautery Electrocautery removes genital warts on the penis, vulva, or around the anus by burning them with a low-voltage electrified probe. Electrocautery is usually done in a health professional's office or clinic. The injection of a numbing medicine (local anesthetic) is usually used for pain control. Medicine that causes unconsciousness (general anesthetic) may be used depending on the number of warts to be removed or destroyed. Chemical Peeling A chemical peel is a body treatment technique used to improve and smooth the texture of the facial skin using a chemical solution that causes the dead skin to slough off and eventually peel off. The regenerated skin is usually smoother and less wrinkled than the old skin. Get to know us better follow us on,
Friday, August 24, 2012 Jewel # 119 (Aug 24, 2012) "And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My Jewels." (Malachi 3:17) To my dear grandchildren The Paper Wasp "How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out." (Romans 11:33) In the sunny days of early spring, the queen paper wasp comes out of hibernation to build a paper nest. She usually attaches it under the eaves of a house or other building. The wasp is equipped with strong jaws that she uses to chew old wood into a soft pulp. This pulp, mixed with the juices in her mouth, produces a product much like the paper used to make newspaper. She constructs the nest with this material. Before making the living part of the nest, the queen cements a stem of the same material onto the underside of the eaves. Then she begins building the nest, starting from the underside of the stem. She forms cells into rings that grow wider and wider, until the nest is completed. Some nests are up to six inches wide. As each six-sided cell is added, an egg is laid inside and cemented in place. The queen also deposits a little ball of nectar inside each cell. It is attached next to the egg to provide food for the larva after it hatches. The wasp continues her work day after day, making paper for the cells and laying her eggs in the cells. After the larva hatches from the egg, it remains attached to the side of the cell by its tail because it is not ready to fly. By the time the larva finishes the ball of nectar, it is ready for bigger things to eat. The queen and her workers then chew up cabbage worms and insects and feed this to the larva. Thus these helpful wasps destroy large numbers of harmful insects. In addition to food, water is brought to the larva by the worker wasps. In hot weather the workers also cool the nest by fanning it with their wings and sometimes spraying it with water from their mouths. Soon the larva is big enough to fill the cell. It then spins a cap over the opening of its cell, forming a cocoon. Later it breaks through this and comes out as a fully developed wasp. We may wonder at the abilities of these little creatures. Who taught then to manufacture "paper" and form it into nests? How does the queen know how to cement the eggs and and nectar into place? And how does she know when to put aside her nest building and find food for the larvae? How do the larvae know how to spin their cocoons and cover the cells while going through the final process of becoming mature wasps? Their ability to do these things did not come from experiments or a gradual development. It came from God, the Creator of all things. How wonderful to know Him not only as the Creator, but, more importantly, to know Him as your very own Lord and Saviour. Love to you all, Friday, August 10, 2012 Jewel # 118 (Aug 10, 2012) in that day when I make up (Malachi 3:17) To my dear grandchildren, Snails Can Be Beautiful "He hath made everything beautiful in His time." (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Most of us do not think of snails as being beautiful but only as pests in our gardens. It is true that many things in God's creation are outwardly unattractive to us, but God sees an inward beauty in them, sometimes visible to us only under a microscope. Even the common garden snail has a rather pretty spiral house on its back. The outside of its shell is skin-like, the middle is much thicker, and the inside is coated with a thin, smooth, shiny surface. This shell has been designed by the Creator to provide a safe, comfortable home. Among the thousands of kinds of snails in the world, some live on land, some in water, and many spend their lives in trees. A number have very beautiful, valuable shells. These include shells from some marine species with beautiful knobs, ridges and spirals. Among these beauties are the cowrie and olive varieties, which are common in southern waters. Hawaii and other Pacific islands have many tree snails with very pretty markings. When the common garden snail hatches from its underground egg, it is fully formed, complete with a tiny shell. It must immediately find food. Although it it has poor eyesight, the Creator gave it a keen sense of smell by which it finds what it needs. Its tiny tongue, which is covered with thousands of little hooks and sharp teeth, makes quick work of destroying tender plants and flowers - one reason why gardeners find them to be a real pest. Another objection to snails is that they leave sticky trails behind them. This trail, made by mucus from glands in a snail's body, makes a soft, elastic cushion that is moist and so tough that it can crawl over the sharp edge of a razor blade and not be cut! This cushion has been supplied by the Creator to protect the soft underside of the snail from the dry, rough surfaces it crawls over. But not everything about snails is objectionable. Some people consider certain kinds to be very good food. The shells of brightly coloured snails are made into jewelry, buttons and other decorative objects. Also, there is one snail called the decollete that, instead of eating plants, kills and eats garden snails. This one is a real friend to gardeners. Can it be that the Lord God cares about little creatures like snails? Yes He does, for the Bible tells us that "the Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalm 145:9). But more than this, He has a special care for each person who has accepted the Lord Jesus as his very own Lord and Saviour and has trusted in His work on Calvary's cross to take away his sins. Jesus says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish" (John 10:27-28). Is He your Good Shepherd?
How Sèvres survived the French Revolution and why it’s so hard to avoid fakes and pastiches Sèvres porcelain, the grandest of ultimate luxury, artistic ceramics, was favored by European royalty, the aristocracy of the 19th century, and 20th century great collectors. Its story begins in 1708, when, following frenzied experimentation, German alchemist Johann Bottger discovered the formula for strong, delicate, translucent hard-paste porcelain. Unlike imported white ‘chinaware,’ Bottger’s porcelain could also be painted and gilded. Soon potteries across Europe were producing decorative items a-swirl with fashionable gilt and flowers. sevres-style vases Pair of 19th century French Napoleonic Painted Gilt Bronze Mounted Sevres-Style Porcelain Lidded Vases. Photo courtesy Artes Antiques and Fine Art Gallery. French potters lacked an ample source of kaolin, a requisite for hard-paste porcelain, however. So from clay and powdered glass, they developed a soft-paste formula. Soft-paste, though more fragile, could be fired at a lower temperature than hard-paste. This allowed a wider variety of colors and glazes. The Sèvres porcelain factory was originally founded at Chateau de Vincennes in 1738. Its soft-paste porcelain was prized for its characteristic whiteness and purity. By the time this workshop relocated to Sèvres in 1756, its craftsmen were creating small porcelain birds, figurals of children in white or delicate hues, and innovative pieces with characteristic rosy-hued backgrounds. They also produced detailed allegorical and thematic pieces like Flute Lesson, Jealousy, and Justice and the Republic, which sparkle with transparent, colorless glazes. The introduction of unglazed, natural-toned “biscuit” porcelain, a favourite of Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV, followed. Many of these molded sculptures portray life-like sentimental or Classical scenes. Biscuit porcelain is extremely fragile. Madame de Pompadour also adored Sèvres’ porcelain flowers, the most delicate item produced during these early years. Legend has it that, to further their production, she once presented Louis XV with a profusion of Sèvres vases abloom with colorful porcelain pretties, petal upon tinted petal atop cunningly wired “stems.” When Louis XV assumed full control of Sèvres porcelain in 1759, he insisted on flawless, extravagant creations, many of which he commissioned for his personal collection. In his travels, he also spread the Sèvres reputation for opulent ornamentation, vivid colors, and fine glazes. The renown Sèvres Mark, blue, elaborate interlaced “L”s, was born of his royal patronage, and helps determine dates of production. Other marks, either painted or incised, indicate specific Sevres painters, gilders, sculptors, and potters by name. Louis XV’s successor, Louis XVI, continued to support the royal Sèvres tradition. He not only set prices and arranged exhibitions, but also marketed pieces personally. Although kaolin deposits were discovered near Limoges in 1768, Sèvres began producing hard-paste porcelain commercially only from 1773. During this period, they continued to produce soft-paste items as well. After suffering financial ruin during the French Revolution, Sèvres, in addition to creating traditional pieces for the luxury market, began producing simpler, less expensive items. During this period, its craftsmen also abandoned their old-fashioned soft-paste formula for hard-paste porcelain. Sèvres porcelain regained its former glory under Napoleon Bonaparte, who assumed power in 1804. He promoted elaborately ornamented pieces in the classical style. The Empire’s richly decorated, themed dinner sets, for example, were enjoyed by distinguished guests, visiting rulers, and Napoleon himself. These pieces typically feature florals, landscapes, or cameo portraits, framed by solid gold edging accented with stylized palm fronds, the ancient Greek symbol of victory. Along with dinner sets, and coffee services, tea services were among Sèvres’ most popular creations. During the early 1800s, when passion for that luxury potion peaked, Greek or Etruscan pottery inspired the design of many a Sèvres tea pot. These were valued not only for their beauty, but also because, as porcelain, they could withstand the heat. Many Sèvres shapes, which range from simple cylindrical vases to elaborate perforated potpourri jars, were innovative for their times. Some, like a gondola-shaped vase designed to hold aromatic petals or another with elephant-head handles fitted as candle arms, serve a double purpose. Sèvres also created a wide selection of decorative utilitarian objects, including tobacco jars, lidded ewer-and-basins, painted plaques, punch bowls, sorbet coolers, and milk jugs. The range of Sèvres creations is extensive, varying in shape, historical styles, motifs, and ornamentation. Vases typically feature double round, oval, or elliptical finely painted scenes edged in white, against pastel backgrounds. One side portrays figures, while the other features flower bouquets. Their lavish gilding, a royal touch reserved especially for Sèvres creations, is often embellished with engraved detail, like flowers or geometric motifs. Many fine pieces like these, if rarely or never used, are still found in pristine condition. Simple plates and tea wares can be found for a few hundred dollars. Quite a few Sèvres biscuit porcelains, because large numbers were made to accompany dessert services, have also survived. These fragile pieces command between $3,000 to as much as $70,000 apiece. According to Errol Manners, author, lecturer, and proprietor of London’s H & E Manners: Ceramics and Works of Art, “the Sèvres market has strengthened considerably in recent years. “Pieces linked directly to the Court and very early experimental wares, which appeal to more serious and academic collectors, command the highest prices of all,” he explains. “Major pieces can command a few hundred thousand dollars. A set of Sèvres vases can command over a million dollars.” Manners recommends that would-be collectors, before purchasing a Sèvres, visit museums and consult serious dealers and collectors. “And read the books,” he adds. “There are really no short cuts. It takes serious study.” Collecting Sèvres porcelain is, in his experience, “a minefield for the unwary, since many fakes and pastiches– showy, decorative ‘Sèvres-style’ imitations– abound. These were produced during the 19th century in the style of the 18th century—but not by Sèvres.” “Yet,” counters Edan Sassoon, representing the Artes Antiques and Fine Art Gallery in Beverly Hills, Calif., “while Sèvres-style pieces are not authentic Sèvres, they may be authentic antiques. If they faithfully imitate Sèvres pieces in quality, style, and opulence, they may not only have decorative value, but may also be quite expensive. In today’s market,” he explains, “a piece of Sèvres-style porcelain, depending on its color, condition, size, and quality, may command hundreds of thousands of dollars.” More from Antique Trader Editor’s Picks Antique Trader® Pottery & Porcelain Ceramics Price Guide Get your copy of this book for less at Warman’s Antiques & Collectibles 2012 Price Guide Browse (or place your own) FREE online classified ads Sign up for your FREE email newsletters Antiques Auction Houses
Home / 2008 / What really happens to high-strength drill pipe after exposure to sour gas environment? By Spoerker, H.F., Havlik, W., OMV E&P; Jellison, M.J., GrantPrideco Sour gas and high-strength steel are generally accepted to be incompatible. However, when drilling beyond 20,000 ft, S135 and higher steel grades become necessary to support their own weight, and due to the elevated downhole pressures in the range of 15-20 ksi, even minimal concentrations of H2S result in partial pressures that are considered hostile for these steel grades. This article presents initial results from a joint industry project exposing S-grade drill pipe samples to various H2S concentrations in temperature ranges from 70-170°C and exposure times of 1-3 hr, representing typical conditions when circulating a gas kick to surface. Test conditions have been designed to closely re-create actual downhole conditions. After exposure to the sour environment, the samples have been taken to fatigue testing to evaluate actual damage against undamaged base-line fatigue results. Sour drilling environments where H2S gas is present and sour-gas kicks are possible can lead to sulfide stress cracking (SSC) failures in steel drill pipe. In practice, a combination of stress, an environment containing H2S and a susceptible material are required for SSC to occur. SSC occurs as a result of atomic hydrogen entering the steel. Once inside the metal, the atomic hydrogen diffuses to initiation sites, where it can cause localized increases in stress or a reduction in the strength of the material lattice. It is generally agreed that brittle H2S-induced cracking is closely related to hydrogen embrittlement as a result of the ingress of hydrogen into the stressed material. Hydrogen is a problem in most steels because it is highly mobile in atomic form and can both diffuse through and be transported by the movements of dislocations. Hydrogen embrittlement can result in either a loss of ductility or a cracking phenomenon. Conditions that promote SSC in drill pipe include high tensile stress, high concentrations of H2S, low pH, high pressure, high chloride content, lower temperatures and high material hardness (higher-strength steels generally have higher hardness properties). Material selection for drill pipe in sour applications is significantly more complex than material selection for production casing and tubing in similar well applications due to: • A more closely controlled and known environment by the time casing and especially tubing strings are run. • The defined requirement for these strings to survive long-term exposure to corrosive atmosphere whereas drill strings will only be exposed for a short time during a loss of hydrostatic equilibrium in the well. Production casing and tubing designers determine if the well parameters create a sour service environment as defined by NACE MR0175. Production casing and tubing materials resistant to SSC are required if the system contains water as a liquid, the H2S partial pressure exceeds 0.05 psi and the system pressure is greater than or equal to 65 psi or 265 psi, depending on the gas-to-oil ratio of the system. H2S partial pressure is calculated as: ppH2S = P x MFH2S where ppH2S is the H2S partial pressure (psi), P is the total system pressure (psi), and MFH2S is the mol fraction of H2S. Over the last five years, due to the increase in oil prices, the industry has seen a re-emergence of deep and ultra-deep drilling projects that have again become economically feasible. At the elevated downhole pressures characterizing these projects, even traces of hydrogen sulfide will result in SSC hazards. If the production casing or tubing designer determines that materials resistant to SSC are required, NACE MR0175 guidelines and tables provide guidance for selecting materials that can be used with confidence. The situation is somewhat different for the drillstring designer. Per NACE MR0175, API drill pipe material grades E-75, X-95, G-105 and S-135 are all acceptable if SSC is avoided by controlling the drilling environment. NACE MR0175 adds: “As service stresses and material hardness increase, drilling fluid control becomes increasingly important.” Implementing the following practices can help control the drilling environment: • Maintain the drilling fluid density to minimize formation fluid influx. • Neutralize H2S in the formation fluids by maintaining a mud pH of 10 or higher. • Utilize sulfide chemical scavengers and/or corrosion inhibitors. • Use oil-base drilling fluids. The document doesn’t address situations where the H2S concentration and partial pressure are at levels above where drilling fluid control can be considered reliable, and underbalanced drilling (UBD) situations where the drill string can have direct exposure to H2S gas for extended periods of time. In addition, a drillstring assembly incorporates a tool joint that is typically manufactured from a forging and a friction weld that attaches it to the upset of the pipe body. These additional areas of the drill pipe assembly must be considered to provide reliable operation in critical sour drilling applications. Operating companies often have internal policies to deal with high-concentration H2S gas wells, such as limiting the drillstring material to G-105 or lower-strength grades combined with the environmental control steps outlined in MR0175 and/or using oil-base drilling fluids when possible. In steel drill pipe manufactured according to API specifications, the self-supporting length (i.e., the maximum well depth that can be reached with a certain diameter/weight/grade combination before the string will reach its yield due its own weight) limits the applicability of materials that are generally accepted as being H2S-compatible to a maximum string length of about 5,500 m (Figure 1). Critical applications such as deepwater, extended-reach or ultra-deep drilling often require high-strength drill pipe (API grade S-135 and higher) to accommodate the high torsional and axial tension loads encountered in these wells. In these cases, drilling engineers cannot use G-105 or other similar strength sour service drill pipe grades because they provide insufficient torsional strength and/or inadequate axial tension capacity. When using high-strength drill pipe in sour applications, controlling the drilling environment as discussed above becomes vitally important. Even with extreme care and cautious operating procedures, direct, short-term exposure to H2S can occur. What are the consequences of such H2S exposure events? And can drilling engineers determine the risks associated with sour gas kicks while drilling with high-strength drill pipe? Please note that API G-105 grade is not resistant to SSC. However, operators have successfully used G-105 in sour applications with appropriate drilling environmental controls. At the same time, it is important to recognize that documented SSC failures of G-105 drill pipe have occurred. There are SSC-resistant drill pipe material grades with specified minimum yield strengths up to 105,000 psi that have generally provided excellent performance in sour applications, including areas with high H2S concentrations. As a point of clarification, drill pipe material grades with specified minimum yield strengths in the range of 95,000 psi to 105,000 psi are often referred to as high-strength steels. This article is focused on S-135 material with specified minimum yield strength of 135,000 psi, and the “high strength” designation mentioned in the headline and throughout this article refers to S-135 grade drill pipe. Since some critical sour applications utilize S-135 drill pipe, a study was conducted to investigate the possible consequences of unintended short-term H2S exposure to this high-strength material. Of course, all S-135 drill pipe is not the same. Significant variations in chemical composition and material properties, including yield and tensile strength, hardness, toughness, Charpy impact properties, resistance to crack initiation and propagation, etc., can have a major impact on the material’s performance in mildly sour applications. This initial study did not attempt to control the myriad possible combination of properties that might impact S-135 performance. Instead, the investigation considered the effect on typical, available S-135 drill pipe. In addition, it is important to recognize that no high-strength steel drill pipe grades with specified minimum yield strengths of 135,000 psi and above are resistant to SSC in environments containing H2S. S-135 drill pipe has been safely used to drill mildly sour applications in many regions of the world by controlling the drilling environment and minimizing direct H2S exposure. S-135 drill pipe should not be used to drill in applications with significant concentrations of H2S or where prolonged direct exposure to even relatively low concentrations of H2S is possible, such as under-balanced drilling of sour wells. Project Scope When drilling to more than 5,000 m, operators are typically forced to go to higher-strength drill pipe grades to satisfy the demand for adequate hydraulics, translated into larger string diameters. The desire to land the well in the reservoir with 8 3/8-in. diameter to still retain a workable contingency size, as well as running adequately sized production systems for high-rate gas wells, dictates a 5-in. or bigger drill string, even in the lower section of the well. This commonly results in 6 5/8-in. top hole drill pipe sections. The dilemma that no really SSC-resistant drill pipe materials exist on the market for the strength levels required by these designs requires the operator to drill these wells sometimes severely overbalanced to ensure that no significant formation fluid volumes enter the wellbore while drilling, i.e., that the “drilled gas” can be neutralized by the high mud pH and the scavengers present in the drilling fluid system. Especially on production wells, due to the generally low permeabilities of those deep gas reservoirs, the high overbalance conflicts with production requirements of low invasion, damage and drilling skins. Due to the requirement to develop a deep sour gas field (>2% H2S at reservoir depths of 5,500-6,000 m), it was decided to investigate the actual damage that high-strength drill pipe (S135 grade) will suffer when exposed to these formation fluids over a short time (1-3 hr), as it would be typical for circulating out the kick during a well-kill operation. During drilling, the drillpipe string is operating in the mud, a highly alkaline environment with pH values around 10 -11. As the probability for the initiation of cracks is influenced by the pH value of the fluid, in such high-alkaline systems, the time to failure can become very long (Figure 2). The probability for the generation of cracks therefore is very low. According to NACE MR0175 (Figure 3), the pH value has a main influence on sulfide stress corrosion cracking. It can be seen that test solutions with high pH values are ranked as non-sour service applications. For the qualification of materials for sour service application, standard corrosion tests as defined by NACE TM 0177 are performed where the test solutions are conditioned to very low pH values. It is evident that such standard NACE test solutions do not reflect the real fluid environment as it is present downhole. The following factors generally promote the occurrence of SSC: H2S partial pressure, tensile load, low temperatures (the higher the temperature, the higher the permissible material tensile yield for SSC resistance), and exposure time. With that in mind, the matrix (Figure 4) of test conditions was defined at the beginning of the project. Because of the short exposure, it was decided not to use the NACE test standard with a constant tensile load over a long period of time but rather to re-create the downhole fatigue environment for a 5-in. drillstring that is rotating in a 4°/30 m dogleg. The bending geometry results in a fatigue amplitude of +/- 10% around a base tensile load. For the initial test series, a base load of 90% of the tensile yield (121.5 ksi) was selected, as the worst-possible conditions should be re-created. Samples were manufactured from a joint of pre-fatigued 5-in. S135 drill pipe according to a standardized fatigue-test sample design and as a baseline, a first sample series was sent through the fatigue test without prior H2S exposure. The test procedure was defined as inserting the machined samples into an autoclave half-filled with an H2S-saturated, 5% K2CO3 solution in water to represent the potassium carbonate mud system downhole. The other (top) half of the autoclave was filled with the test gas mixture, and the sample was subjected to 90% of its yield strength. This whole assembly was then rolled for 3 hr at an ambient temperature of 70°C to represent the constant wetting of the metal surface during circulating the kick past it. At the end of the 3-hr test, the autoclave was purged of the test gas, and the H2S-saturated liquid was drained and replaced with a clean 5% K2CO3 solution at an ambient temperature of 25°C for the time it took to transfer the samples from the lab to the fatigue testing facility. This first baseline test resulted in the majority of the samples not failing up to 107 fatigue cycles, which can be interpreted as the long-term fatigue resistance beyond which no failure is probable anymore. To achieve a meaningful baseline of failures, the test criteria were modified to 75% of tensile yield (101.25 ksi) as base load and a fatigue amplitude of +/- 25% of tensile yield, again taking the sample to 100% tensile yield in every cycle. This second test series achieved the desired failures. However, the spread of the results (failures occurring between 2 million and 8 million cycles) indicated that another influencing parameter had to be eliminated from the test. It was originally intended to run the tests with samples cut out of the weld area between pipe body and tooljoint, as this was expected to be the most critical area of the pipe joint. Due to the relatively large spread of surface hardness values occurring across the weld area, another test series was run with samples cut and machined from the undisturbed pipe body. This third test series provided a solid baseline for the first series of H2S-exposed samples. A procedure was selected where the test was started with the most severe exposure conditions to prove sample failures before relaxing the exposure criteria. These initial test conditions were: The selected H2S partial pressure is equivalent to an H2S concentration of 2% in the formation gas for a shallow reservoir at 3,000 m under hydrostatic conditions or an H2S concentration of 0.8% in the formation gas for a deep reservoir at 5,000 m under overpressured conditions of 0.15 bar/m gradient. Again, initial test results were puzzling as some of the exposed samples showed better fatigue resistance than even the undamaged baseline samples. This phenomenon was explained by the fact that hydrogen diffusion is time-dependent. Therefore, higher hydrogen concentrations can be expected below the surface of the steel samples than in the middle of the samples. According to this, heterogeneous hydrogen distribution samples will experience compression stress close to the surface and tensile stress in the center. It is well known that compression stress just below the surface of a sample leads to better fatigue properties. However, the scatter of the results was still too extensive to define a clear tendency. When investigating one more time for potential further influencing factors, it became apparent that because of the small diameter of the samples (3 mm), surface influences would become paramount. Therefore, two more test series were done, this time with a mirror-polished finish (Figure 5). The combined results of the first test series conducted throughout the second half of 2007 (Figure 6) indicate a trend to reduced fatigue resistance after exposure to severe H2S environments. However, there were no immediate failures, even for S135 material. At the time of this writing, a second test series was being conducted to further populate the area between 105 cycles and 106 cycles to failure and 350 Mpa to 500 Mpa fatigue cycle amplitude, all with mirror finished samples, to confirm the indicated trend of reduced fatigue resistance after exposure to H2S. From the initial six-month testing period, it has become apparent that fatigue loads commonly expected for drill pipe rotating in doglegs under substantial axial load did not create sufficient stress in the undamaged samples to account for failure up to 107 load cycles, which is commonly accepted as long-term fatigue resistance. The load scenarios that finally had to be applied to achieve failure of the samples is substantially above any loads normally “expected” in the upper parts of a well where SSC hazards are highest (due to highest axial stress, lowest temperatures and highest fatigue stress when rotating the string). The +/- 25% of total yield amplitude would account for roughly 10°/30 m doglegs, way beyond any permissible up-hole dogleg severity. The substantial scatter in the initial tests showed the severe influence of surface effects on the sample performance. It is being debated whether a move to a full-size (i.e., complete drill pipe joint) test should be targeted for 2008 to eliminate such surface effects on the small machined samples. Even the baseline tests with mirror finish samples showed a fatigue performance well in excess of the minimum yield strength of 135 ksi. Long-term fatigue resistance appeared to be in the range of 120 ksi, +/- 22 ksi, with initial resistance against 120 ksi, +/- 32 ksi, effectively subjecting the samples to peak tensile loads of >150 ksi. Early results seem to indicate that the exposure to H2S reduces fatigue resistance. However, the reduction in long-term fatigue resistance appears to be relatively small. Translated into field conditions, this would indicate that unless the pipe is subjected to severe stresses (taking it to its full yield), it should withstand short-term exposure to sour environments as they occur during kick control activities. However, these findings will have to be substantiated during subsequent test series. This article is based on IADC/SPE 112678, “What Really Happens to High Strength Drillpipe When Taking a Sour-Gas Kick?” 2008 IADC/SPE Drilling Conference, 4-6 March 2008, Orlando, Fla. Leave a Reply
Ghost Crabs and Their Ghostly Traces The ghost crabs of the Georgia barrier islands – all belonging to the species Ocypode quadrata – are among my favorite tracemakers anywhere, any time. My ichnological admiration for them stems from the great variety of behaviors they record in the beach and dune sands of the islands, telling many fascinating tales of what they were doing while no one was watching. Thus I thought it only appropriate that a blog entry posted close to Halloween deserved a story about an animal that not only has the word “ghost” in its common name, but one that also leaves mystifying marks of its unseen behavior. On the dawn of June 22, 2004 on Sapelo Island (Georgia), my wife Ruth and I were presented with one of the most intriguing of ghost-crab mysteries related to their vestiges. We were scanning the freshly scoured surfaces of Nannygoat Beach on the south end of the island; high tide only a few hours before had cleansed the beach of the previous day’s traces. The low-angle rays of early-morning sunlight were optimal for contrasting any newly made animal signs on the beach, which is why we were there then. We went to the beach with our minds open to anything novel; indeed, my experience with the Georgia barrier islands is that no matter how many times you visit them, they always hold previously unsolved puzzles. Sure enough, within about 15 minutes of stepping foot on the beach, Ruth paused and asked one of the most simple – yet important – of scientific questions: “What is this?” She pointed to a depression on the sandy surface, and what I saw was astonishing. It was a trace perfectly outlining the lower (ventral) half of a ghost crab, preserving in detail: impressions of all eight walking legs (pereiopods), including their pointed ends (dactyli); its smaller claw (inferior cheliped) and larger claw (superior cheliped); and its main, rectangular body. A perfect outline of the bottom side of a ghost crab (Ocypode quadrata), found just after dawn and high tide on Nannygoat Beach, Sapelo Island, Georgia. Why would a ghost crab make such a trace? (Scale in centimeters, and photograph taken by Anthony Martin.) Even more strangely, only one set of tracks connected with this body imprint, leading away from it, and none moved toward it. This was not an impression made by the dead body of a crab. Instead, the tracks showed that the crab was very much alive when it made its resting trace and immediately afterwards. But what happened just before then? It looked as if the crab floated through the air, dropped vertically, made a perfect 10-point landing, sat there for a while, and walked away. Another exquisitely defined ghost-crab body impression, and with tracks leading away from it, showing this is not a crab “death mask,” but one made by a live crab. (Scale in centimeters, and photograph taken by Anthony Martin.) The same ghost-crab impression as above, but this time with the crab anatomy labeled and direction of movement after it stopped and sat down on the sand. What happened to the tracks that must have led to its resting spot? And what’s with that word “hydration”? Let’s just say this is what you call “foreshadowing” in the story. (Scale in centimeters, and photograph taken by Anthony Martin.) Knowing that ghost crabs can do a lot of things, but not aerial acrobatics, we wondered how this could have happened. Well, single observations can be the start of good science, but for this inquiry to progress any further, we had to see if this seemingly unusual observation could be repeated. So we walked further south along the beach to test whether this was an isolated incident, or if we could find any other ghost-crab outlines with single trackways attached. With such a search image in mind, we quickly found about a dozen more such marks made by crabs of various sizes, but showing an identical behavior. Even better, all were located just below the high-tide mark of the previous night. Yet another beautiful ghost-crab resting trace, surrounded by a scoured beach surface. Lot of these traces and all just below the high-tide mark meant something was happening that could be answered by the awesome power of science. (Scale in centimeters, and photograph taken by Anthony Martin.) Time to think. These crabs must have walked to their resting places, but why didn’t they leave any tracks? We soon realized that the tracks were certainly made, but not preserved. So like all other surface traces on the beach, they must have been made erased during high tide. Yes, that was it! The crabs walked to the surf zone just after the high tide, sat down, waited long enough for the tide to drop a little bit, and walked away. Mystery solved? Well, not quite. This was an incomplete explanation, one with a big, unanswered question. Why did the ghost crab walk to – and sit down in – the surf? (With a prompt like that, feel free to create your own intertidal-crab equivalent of “chicken-crossing-road” punch lines.) Ghost crabs normally spend much of their time in deep, J- or Y-shaped burrows close to or in the dunes, and above the high-tide mark. They are most active at night, when they come out of their burrows to scavenge delectable dead things dumped on the beach by waves and tides, or to prey on smaller invertebrates, like dwarf surf clams (Mulinia lateralis). They also leave their burrows to seek mates, which might involve one crab enticing another to check out its burrow. A seemingly indignant and defiant ghost crab outside of its burrow during the day, either looking for new territory, food, mates, or all three. They’re greedy that way. In this instance, though, it was mostly running away from me and my camera. (Photograph taken by Anthony Martin.) None of the crabs that made these traces were scavenging, preying, or mating, yet something in the surf was life-sustaining enough for them to risk becoming meals for early-morning predatory shorebirds. I searched my memory for what I had read previously about ghost crabs and their biological needs, and finally realized what could have driven them to the surf in the middle of the night: they were thirsty. You see, ghost crabs are living examples of so-called transitional animalsthat evolution-deniers insist do not exist, having an interesting mixture of adaptations to different environments. These crabs are descended from fully marine crabs, so they still have gills that allow them to filter oxygen from marine water. Yet they also have little lungs and can breathe air, enabling them to stay out of the water for hours. Having both gills and lungs makes them semi-terrestrial, living in a world between the land and ocean, and dependent on both realms. They live close to the sea for their food, reproduction (females lay their fertilized eggs in sea water), and water, but their main livelihood is gained from the beach and dunes. In this respect, ghost-crab burrows in the upper parts of beaches and lower parts of dunes provide protection against predators, but also keep the crabs hydrated. One of the functions of a ghost-crab burrow – which can be more than one meter (3.3 feet) deep, is to intersect the water table below. That way, when a crab needs water for proper respiration, it crawls down the burrow to that saturated area and replenishes it bodily fluids. But they can’t stay down there as the tide rises, so they move higher up the burrow to where there’s some air. Unlike blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus), which have completely developed gills and hence fully marine, if you keep a ghost crab in sea water too long, it drowns. The previous night was a higher tide than normal, which probably flooded many of the ghost-crab burrows and causing these crabs to abandon their homes. This meant the crabs spent most of the night outside of their burrows, resulting in dehydration, but having to wait out the high tide. As soon as the tide turned and began to drop, the crabs ran to the surf zone, settled down into the wet sand, and soaked up water through small openings where the legs connect to the main body. Spiky “hairs” (setae) on their legs help with this water up-take, drawing up moisture from the sand through capillary action. My legs? Sorry, I meant to shave. Guess you’ll have to deal with it. Hey, wait a minute: does that pose look like it could make anything you’ve already seen, like, oh, I don’t know, a resting trace? Keep reading. (Photograph by Anthony Martin.) Ghost crabs are amazingly efficient at pulling water out of sand. So their hunkering down onto a saturated sandy surface with waves breaking on top of them must have been like the ghost-crab equivalent of drinking from a funnel, quenching their thirst in a most satisfying way. Meanwhile, waves washed away their tracks leading to these resting spots. They stayed a while, long enough for the tide to drop and expose the sandy beach surface. Only then did they get up and walk away, fully rehydrated, refreshed, and ready to go back to their burrows or dig new ones. This was a detailed explanation, but one based entirely on traces and what little I knew about ghost crabs from the scientific literature. How else to test it and see whether it was right or not? If you just said, “By directly observing this interpreted behavior in a ghost crab,” you would be right. A little more than a month later, on July 30, 2004, I actually got to witness this behavior, and on Nannygoat Beach. Back without Ruth this time, and by myself, I was looking for more traces following a high tide, when I saw a small, wraith-like movement out of the corner of my eye. It was a beautiful adult ghost crab, flat-out running in full daylight and heading straight from the dunes to the surf zone. I stood back and watched it reach the surf, where it promptly sat down and became still. Here’s a ghost crab that doesn’t mind getting a soggy bottom. This one sprinted from the dunes to the surf, stopped abruptly, and sat a spell. (Photograph by Anthony Martin.) I took photos while walking toward this crab, expecting it to bolt at any moment. Instead, I was instead surprised to see it remain where it sat, even as its eye stalks rotated to look warily at me. Amazed, I grasped that this one must have been thirsty enough to risk being eaten or stomped. The photo you see shows just how close I got to it, and I was thrilled to see it in exactly the same position depicted by the traces Ruth and I had seen the month before. Although scientists aren’t always right, if you practice good science, you sometimes hit the nail on the head. Or the crab on the sand. Or, well, never mind. Anyway, this ghost crab is making a trace just like the ones documented the month before and in the same place, and it is a direct result of the same behavior interpreted from just the traces and some knowledge of their physiology. It’s almost as if science has predictive power. Who’d have thought? (Photograph by Anthony Martin.) With the “resting trace = rehydration” hypothesis now supported by both traces and direct observation, I wrote the results into a formal, peer-reviewed paper. Unexpectedly, such traces had never been documented for ghost crabs, and especially from the perspective of a paleontologist. In the paper, published in 2006, I pointed out that this behavior would explain similar-looking trace fossils in the geologic record, or the preservation of crab bodies frozen in the same position by death, perhaps reaching the surf too late and being buried by wave-borne sands. The geological significance of such trace fossils would be their value in pointing exactly to where the surf may have washed across an ancient shore, millions of years ago. Geologists really like this kind of precision, and become grateful to ichnologists who give them such tools they can easily use in the field. A fossil crab from the Miocene Epoch (about 15 million years old), preserved in a sandstone bed cropping out on a beach near Comodora Rivadavia, Argentina. This crab and others like it in the sandstone were all preserved the same way: nearly entire, implying they were buried quickly, and parallel to the original sandy surface on which they settled. Could these have died after dehydration near the surf, and then been buried? How long ago did some crabs evolve to become semi-terrestrial? I don’t know, but now we have a hypothesis that can be applied to fossils like these and tested. (Coin is about 2.5 cm (1 in) wide; Photograph by Anthony Martin.) Since then, I have seen these resting traces on the beaches of every Georgia barrier island, in the Bahamas, and other places where ghost crabs dwell. Although trace fossils echoing this behavior in ghost crabs or their ancestors have not yet been found, I predict that with the right images now in mind, geologists and paleontologists will recognize them some day. So with this ichnological lesson from ghost-crab traces, I hope they have become just a bit less “ghostly” and much more alive in your imaginations. Further Reading Duncan, G.A. 1986. Burrows of Ocypode quadrata (Fabricus) as related to slopes of substrate surfaces. Journal of Paleontology, 60: 384-389. Martin, A.J. 2006. Resting traces of Ocypode quadrata associated with hydration and respiration: Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA. Ichnos, 13: 57-67. Wolcott, T. G. 1978. Ecological role of ghost crabs, Ocypode quadrata (Fabricius) on an ocean beach: Scavengers or predators? Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 31: 67-82. Wolcott, T. G. 1984. Uptake of interstitial water from soil: mechanisms and ecological significance in the ghost crab Ocypode quadrata and two gecarcinid land crabs. Physiological Zoology, 57: 161-184. One thought on “Ghost Crabs and Their Ghostly Traces 1. Pingback: \| Deep Sea News Leave a Reply
Share but protect – how to encrypt your code Directly talking to a computer is a difficult thing to do, especially when your computer can execute billions of operations each second. We need an intermediate that convert our language into basic elements of computations. In the early days, this was done using punched cards. We now rely on computer programs called “Compilers” that convert our words into bits and operations on bits. I could go on forever on the history of programming (maybe I will some day) but my point today is to talk about an important side effect of the need for compilers, encryption. Because the code needs to be compiled and because this compilation process can be very long, program are not usually shared in their readable form but in their compiled form, in machine language. Since we don’t read this language, it basically looks encrypted. In the early days, it looked natural to only share this way but the computer community quickly realized that this could cause many problems as computer complexity and all the associated software was increasing. This is how the Open Source movement started. Matlab is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Many core functionalities of Matlab are ‘encrypted’ or built-in. Still lots of functions are Open-source, you can open its associated M-file. Mathworks have tried to create a sense of open community and many Matlab users share M-file through the Mathworks file-exchange. This is a great and very efficient tool, especially to us researchers. If you have never looked into it, stop now this readings and check it out. But, in many case, you actually want to protect your work. You are happy to share the program, but you spent so much time on the code that it could be difficult to give away years of development. This is totally understandable. If you are in that position, you have more or less 3 options. 1. You convert your code to C/C++ or any other language that you compile 2. You actually compile your code using Matlab compiler 3. You don’t compile but you encrypt your source. Option 1 and 2 are most of the time known, but most people don’t know that they actually can bypass the compilation part and just encrypt their source. Compiling can be quite annoying if you want to cover all the 6 big plateforms (Windows 32 bit, Windows 64 bit, Mac OS 32 bit, Mac OS 64 bit, Linux 32 bit, Linux 64 bit). Maybe the compiling toolbox is not available to you also. Anyway I will certainly make a post about these processes one day as compiling your code can be a good last alternative to speed up some calculations. Let’s talk about option 3 then. A big advantage to this is that you don’t have to release various versions of your compiled program for each plateform. This is actually surprisingly easy. Let’s create this function TestPcode.m function y=TestPcode(x) % This function test pcode Calling TestPcode(3) send you back 14. Now to generate an encrypted version, a P-file, you just have to do : Matlab will generate the P-file in the same location where the M-file is. If you delete the M-file, TestPcode still works. But the P-file is encrypted, you can’t open it to look at the code. There are a couple important things. If you want the call to “help TestPcode” to work, you must provide a truncated M-file with just : function y=TestPcode(x) % This function test pcode This is how Mathworks actually distribute its built-in functions (ie with a associated M-file to provide the help). Another important thing is that this also work with function generated with the GUIDE. The GUIDE is used to make interface for your users needs. GUIDE generates a .fig file and .m file. Apply pcode to the .m file and truncate the .m file to only leave the help. This entry was posted in Intermediate. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Responses to Share but protect – how to encrypt your code 1. Marcel says: Very nice post. Though there are some semantic problems here. The pcode method just obfuscate the code, it doesn’t encrypt it. What MATLAB is even saying: “When MATLAB P-codes a file, the file is obfuscated not encrypted. While the content in a .p file is difficult to understand, it should not be considered secure. It is not recommended that you P-code files to protect your intellectual property.” Nevertheless, I would be interested if there would be a way to build in a license key to the source code in order to encrypt the methods and thus block or allow execution. • Jerome says: Thanks Marcel. I don’t know how you would define what encryption is. To me the whole point of encryption is to obfuscate to most people. I think under the hood, the Matlab engine has the private key to read the code. Your suggestion is actually a great idea, it would be nice to be able to provde a private key to the P-file and share this key with people we want to share the code with. It seems like a very nice way to do licensing. Maybe Mathworks could think about implementing that? However, it seems like it would be possible to build such a thing on top ourselves. You would have to resort on serious usage of “eval” which might not be cleaned. Leave a Reply
The Challenger Astronauts Deserve A Memorial - In Space Video highlights from Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes On the 30th anniversary of the shuttle disaster, we wonder: What's the best way to remember those who gave their lives to explore space? Thirty years ago on Thursday, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart shortly after lift-off, its shattered remains—and its crew—plunging 60,000 feet into the Atlantic Ocean. It is tempting, on this anniversary, to revisit the accident and the horror of watching Challenger’s rocket explode, an event that crippled the U.S. space program for several years. But time’s arrow points only one way, and reliving catastrophes doesn’t change their outcome. No matter how badly we might wish that this time, as we watch that footage, Challenger will safely sail into space, it won’t. Instead, now is a time to remember those who have lost their lives in humankind’s quest to unchain themselves from the bonds of Earth and touch the faces of the moon, planets, and stars. Lists of the fallen, which include astronauts, cosmonauts, and test pilots, contain fewer than 40 names—yet each is a painful reminder that space exploration is difficult, and dangerous. In a strange coincidence, this week is when the three major U.S. space accidents happened: the Apollo 1 launchpad fire and the losses of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. Now, the fallen are remembered in memorials on Earth, and beyond. Some of the memorials are the kinds of things people build, and others are more personal. And perhaps, in the future, more of those memorials should be placed in space—the dominion these astronauts worked to reach. At Kennedy Space Center, the names of 24 astronauts are carved into the Space Mirror Memorial, which commemorates those who lost their lives in the process of space exploration. Here, the daughter of Theodore C. Freeman touches her father’s name [Image: Red Hube, Orlando Sentine] An Astronaut Remembers “It’s all very real to us, and we keep it in front of us,” says NASA astronaut Doug “Wheels” Wheelock. Every year, around New Year’s Day, Wheelock travels to Cape Canaveral and visits the Apollo 1 launch site, where three astronauts trapped in their space capsule died in a fire on Jan. 27, 1967. “I stand there in silence,” he says. “You can hear the waves, because you’re pretty close to the water there, and it helps to kind of re-engage what set you on your own personal journey.” The Apollo and space shuttle programs helped inspire Wheelock to become an astronaut. Eventually, he would fly on space shuttle Discovery and spend five months on the International Space Station. The space station, he says, is filled with photos of lost astronauts, as are the hallways of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Walking down those hallways, he says, brings inevitable thoughts of his fallen friends. “The Columbia crew—I can still hear their voices,” Wheelock says, referring to the seven astronauts who died on February 1, 2003, when space shuttle Columbia disintegrated in the skies over Texas. “If I could repeat what I'm hearing in my mind … I can still hear their inflections and mannerisms and characteristics. We're doing this for them, and to advance their goals and the dreams they had.” There’s also a memorial grove of oak trees at Johnson Space Center, with each tree representing a fallen astronaut. At Kennedy Space Center, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, there’s the ethereal Space Mirror, where 24 names are inscribed in granite. Arlington National Cemetery houses memorials for the Apollo, Columbia, and Challenger crews. Places on Earth, the moon, Mars, and Pluto are named in remembrance, as are countless streets, schools, civic centers, and parks. “If we die, we want people to accept it. We’re in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program,” said astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom, who later died in the Apollo 1 launchpad fire. “The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.” The Apollo program would later put the first humans on the moon. And in 1971, when the Apollo 15 crew arrived, they brought a secret memorial with them. Now called Fallen Astronaut, the sculpture is a small, aluminium figurine of a human. Nestled in moon dust, it sits next to a plaque bearing the names of 14 astronauts. “It was left there to honour all of the deceased astronauts and cosmonauts to that point,” says Valerie Neal, curator at the National Air & Space Museum. “And I would guess any craft bearing humans to Mars, or humans back to the moon, will have a plaque or a sculpture on board to be placed there.” A plaque left on the moon during the 1971 Apollo 15 mission commemorates 14 NASA astronauts and USSR cosmonauts who died {Image: NASA] Living Memorials Other memorials don’t assume a physical presence. In 1986, planetary scientist Alan Stern had two experiments set to fly on Challenger, including his first as the lead scientist; and so as he watched the explosion, Stern saw years of work coming down in pieces, in addition to the crushing loss of his friends. “I had a really hard time with it,” says Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute. “And it was really difficult because it was on the national news every night.” For months, he had difficulty sleeping and fell into recurring spells of gloominess. Eventually he decided, “I’m going to go back to graduate school and become a scientist and do this for the people I knew that got killed,” he says. “Any research contribution, anything I do as a result of being a scientist, is dedicated to them.” That includes sending the New Horizons spacecraft whizzing by Pluto, where some of the surface features are informally named after both theChallenger and Columbia missions. “I still think about them,” he says. “But it gets easier. It’s the salve of time going by.” Others have also turned tragedy into change. June Scobee Rodgers, widow of Challenger commander Richard Scobee, channelled her grief into helping inspire the next generation of space explorers. Three months after the accident, she says, the Challenger families convened in her home to talk about how to memorialize the crew. They decided to celebrate what the astronauts cared about, which meant focusing on education. “Challenger ended up being known most appropriately as the ‘teacher in space’ mission because we had the first civilian on board,” Scobee Rodgers says, referring to astronaut and teacher Christa McAuliffe. They came up with the Challenger Center, where students learn science and engineering lessons by simulating space missions. Today, there are more than 40 Challenger Centers around the world, and more than 4.4 million students have passed through them. “It’s a celebration,” says Scobee Rodgers. “It reflects on their life, and what they were as a team and what they were willing to risk their lives for... in truth, the Challenger mission continues, and Christa’s lessons are being taught.” A Space-Based Memorial? “Sometimes when we reach for the stars, we fall short,” President Reagan said in his Challenger eulogy. “But we must pick ourselves up again and press on despite the pain.” The space program has gone on. And so it seems fitting to consider the idea of creating a space-based memorial for our lost astronauts, and in some way marking their sacrifices in the realm they set out for. Christa McAuliffe trained to be the first teacher in space for the Teacher in Space Project on the space shuttle Challenger. Yes, there’s already a small memorial on the moon—and perhaps more on the way—but what about a memorial sailing forever toward the stars, like the Voyager record carrying our message to other worlds? Or maybe in orbit around the Earth, where we might occasionally see it, reflected in the light of the rising and setting sun? Scobee Rodgers says she’d like that, as long as whatever the memorial is helps humanity in some way. “I would want it to serve a purpose, other than just being a static satellite,” she says. “Something like helping people to advance the space program, or advance civilization, or do something that was important to our nation and to our planet.” Alan Stern has another idea. “What if every human spaceflight, every time, carried a memorial—the same memorial?” he says. “It would recognize everybody lost in spaceflight and be in solidarity with those pioneers. It could be very understated, but every astronaut on every spaceflight would know, and every space tourist would know, that they’re a part of saluting that.” By Nadia Drake Discuss this article Never miss a Nat Geo moment Your email address
What is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a way or method that allows you to access Cloud Computing based services. This is where organizations can purchase or rent computing power or the disk space which they can access from their office or desktop system through private networks or via the internet. IaaS has grabbed the attention of the entrepreneurship with its one and only purpose to make business environments or enterprises more organized and synchronized with the high level of security The thing that one needs to understand is definitely the thing that when we talk about IaaS, we are not really talking about a machine. It is a platform where business ventures avail equipments useful to their dealings at pay-per-use service. To define it in simple terms, it is a ability that governs business companies and offers users, products such as hardware, networking components, servers and extra storage space through the Web or data centers. Conventionally, computer infrastructure involved personal machines, storage space, cooling devices, server rooms filled with computer systems and thousands of personnel to maintain the technicality. This set-up supposedly costs a huge sum of money. But now, with the advent of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and cloud computing, there are lesser costs and there is a more fine-tuned workforce. Also it is to be mentioned that there is no up gradation costs or maintenance costs involved. In addition, business organizations and companies do not require spending for large server rooms to keep a chain of heavy equipment computers and systems. Through IaaS, there are lesser costs for covering and maintenance of server rooms, which in turn of course means, there is lesser environmental harm and this facility lets you do your share for the nature. There is another advantage of IaaS, when disaster strikes or the server crashes; IaaS makes it certain that the facility they offer is kept safe without unfairness. They ensure that services will run again and perform back up quickly, as they provide disaster recovery. It offers a high level of data security even after any disaster like server failure. Finally, the IaaS provider, business firms have more space to focus on essential tasks like planning and development instead of focusing on and wasting so much resources for infrastructure. To sum it up, the benefits business companies get from IaaS are many, the most prominent are – Utility computing service and billing model, dynamic scaling, Desktop virtualization, Automation of administrative tasks, Internet connectivity and Policy-based services. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is indeed a great opportunity if you are looking forward to invest in it. Also it provides convenient services and business transactions while reducing capital costs and human resources. Share This: Leave a Reply
Manganese - Royal Canin Print aA+ Aa- In biology, manganese ions function as essential substance for a large variety of enzymes. These enzymes are particularly essential for detoxifying free radicals. A little background information Manganese is an essential nutrient that must obtained through the diet and is vital for normal cellular function. Its role in the body Manganese is mainly stored in the bones, but concentrated levels will be found in the liver and kidneys. Natural sources Manganese is found in nuts, legumes, seeds, tea, whole grains and green leafy vegetables.
Hip Hop and the LA Riots Essay by cm1227High School, 11th gradeC+, December 2014 download word file, 11 pages 0.0 Hip Hop and The LA Riots By: Connor Miele Hip Hop and the LA Riots By Connor Miele 6/16/14 Block 2A Rodney King was ordered out of his car and to lie down on march 3rd 1991 after leading police on a high speed chase. He gave up and pulled over. One of the people in the apartment complex across the street grabbed a camera and came outside to hear what was going on. King took 56 baton blows that night and ended up with 9 skull fractures, a shattered eye socket and cheekbone, a broken leg, and nerve damage that left his face partially paralyzed. "I'm just glad I'm not dead, that's all. They could of very well killed me," King stated during an interview after the accident. Within 48 hours, the video tape went national. They had finally gotten proof of what the Hip Hop artists had been preaching for years and what happened next changed the history of America. It demonstrated Malcom X's " By all means necessary" and proved that sometimes violence is the answer when it comes to developing equal treatment to all races, especially treatment from the law enforcement itself. On April 29th, 1992, the four officers involved in the incident were tried and were found not guilty. "Thats when you have a revolution on your hands" states Ice Cube, a member of the NWA (Niggaz With Attitude). This revolution Created Racial integration between Blacks, Whites, and even Koreans. This integration even includes the two most notorious gangs of LA, the Bloods and Crips. "You should have been paying attention to Ice cube, you weren't paying attention to Ice Cube, and look what happened," says Todd Boyd, a professor from USC. To anybody who grew up in california in the last 50 years, this...
Romeo and Juliet Analysis Grade 9 Essay by abhishek12345Junior High, 9th gradeA-, October 2014 download word file, 5 pages 0.0 Downloaded 2 times Romeo & Juliet Essay Romeo and Juliet were not responsible for their own deaths Reasons: Friar Lawrence's failed plan, the family feud and fate (they were destined to die) Thesis introduction Blueprint of essay - what argument am I choosing, what themes am I going to talk about Make it brief Should be around 5 to 6 paragraphs and I should introduce the body paragraphs Body Paragraph 1 Topic sentence Choose 1st theme 3 D analysis of theme 1 Synthesise (link to the question) Body Paragraph 2 & 3 Another, more summative, version of introduction Link everything to the question (thereforeÃ¢ÂÂ¦Ã¢ÂÂ¦) 120 - 150 words, not too short 3-D analysis: Quote from text, identify technique Explain the quote ONLY Link it back to the theme Key points: Read the language techniques Have clarity in your essay Quotes don't have to be in linear order! Use better vocabulary Romeo and Juliet were not responsible for their own deaths In William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', the two protagonists, Romeo and Juliet, were not responsible for their own deaths. The play contains more than enough evidence to support the statement above. The themes of feud and fate played a major role in their deaths. Friar Lawrence's unsuccessful plan also had a huge impact on the death of the two. These three reasons ultimately led to the tragic death of Romeo and Juliet. The theme of fate had a huge role in the death of the two protagonists. William Shakespeare has included several quotes and linguistic techniques in the play to support this argument. Juliet foretells her death when she uses irony in the line 'My grave is like to be my wedding bed' since her grave does later become her wedding bed. By saying this,
网上报名官方网站　成绩查询权威渠道　　All education, primary, secondary and further education, should be free to all people and paid for by the government. 　　Do you agree or disagree with this statement? 　　Model Answer: 　　Different countries have different education systems. I don?t know all the education systems in the world but all the ones I do know about have free school education at primary and secondary level. I certainly agree with the statement that this should be the case. I believe university education is different. 　　No matter what standard of income someone has or what society someone comes from, everyone should have the opportunity to have a good standard of education. This is not always what happens but it is what should happen. Private schools can be available for those who want and can afford it but the free schools should always be there. This is certainly one of the best attributes of western democracy and all countries it seems strive to attain situation although some have problems due to the economic and political situations in their countries. Governments should make sure that all their citizens have access to a good standard of free education at primary and secondary level. 　　Further education is different. In an ideal world this should be free but governments have a lot of demands on their money. I think that students should have to pay, maybe not all, but at least a contribution towards their tuition fees. They will be able to earn it back once they have graduated. The UK has this system whereas in the US students have to pay all their high tuition fees which can run into the tens of thousands of dollars over a full course. I am not sure if I agree with this but it certainly would make sure that students make the best of efforts to pass or all their money would be wasted. 　　Therefore I conclude that primary and secondary education should be freely available for all if possible but that further education should not necessarily be wholly free. 首页上一页下一页末页共1页第1页
Definition of Solomon in US English: proper noun • 1Son of David; king of Israel c.970–c.930 BC. In the Bible he is traditionally associated with the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs, while his wisdom is illustrated by the Judgment of Solomon. 1. 1.1as noun, usually a Solomon A very wise person. • ‘God is saying, every man, every woman is a Solomon.’
23. Too Hot to Shop and Other Inclemencies A successful Downtown is measured today principally by its popularity as a pedestrian precinct. The more people who walk to work. shop. dine or entertainment or for sheer pleasure. the higher regard Americans have for central business places. Conversely. empty sidewalks by day or night are associated with Downtown failures. If the commercial district isn’t considered appealing to workers. visitors and residents on foot, the public doesn’t care how high the new office towers soar. This is a widespread and unrelenting standard. So important has it become that urban critics have come to venerate sidewalk activity almost as an end in itself. Street vendors are more readily tolerated now than before because they add essential sidewalk activity. Skywalks and underground concourses, on the other hand, are now thought to do more harm than good because they divert pedestrians from the sidewalks. Without question, the curbed pavement at the street’s edge is the most important transportation guideway affecting Downtown commerce, more important even than interstate highway ramps, attached parking garages, synchronized traffic lights and illuminated signs that say, “Don’t walk.” Shoppers walk from transit or parking; Downtown employees overwhelming walk to midday shopping and dining destinations. The more attractive, wider sidewalks that speed pedestrian flows attract more Downtowners than ordinary sidewalks. The civility of Downtowns depends on the convenience, safety and amenities of the walking environment. So does Downtown commerce. Urban walking is severely constrained by the time available for trips and the speed of walking. Few Downtowners will or can walk more than 1000 feet from work place to shopping, according to research by the International Council of Shopping Centers. Eighty percent of Downtown office workers will walk no more than nine minutes to dine or shop. Little wonder; the average lunch period is 54 minutes. These useful rules of thumb, however, are further constrained by various weather conditions. Available research confirms common sense conclusions. Substantially fewer and shorter walking trips downtown are made during extremes of heat and cold and during periods of precipitation. New York, a city whose climate is tempered by proximity to the ocean, nevertheless records temperature extremes during a fifth of all daylight hours (Pushkarev and Zupan). Precipitation occurs roughly one in ten of all daylight hours there, although New York is also not noted for extremes of rain or snow. These data, indicating the frequency with which weather can take the fun out of Downtown, also suggest the impact of meteorological variables on Downtown commerce. While it is impossible to specify how much of the Christmas sales surge, for example, is diverted to climate controlled malls, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that significant market potential is lost simply because many walking trips are shortened or abandoned when it is unacceptably cold and wet on the sidewalks Research on New York weather patterns has limited direct application to inland and southern cities although it suggests the potential brake on Downtown commerce where climate protection is not available and it provides a basis for local studies that will permit Downtowns to be planned based on a realistic understanding of weather constraints. As an illustration of how weather can affect behavior, Pushkarev and Zupan established temperatures above 80 degrees and below 32 degrees as the points at which walking trips in New York City are significantly constrained. Manhattan has “uncomfortable” temperatures for 22% of the daytime hours of the year, producing reduced pedestrian circulation. Based on a four year average of temperatures and inches of precipitation during twelve hours of daylight, their data reveal when such extremes are most frequent. (Figure 1) All months except September and October experience either extremes of heat and cold or substantial precipitation during the hours that men and women are walking to and from work or optional destinations such as shopping and dining. January, February and December experience extremes of both cold and precipitation. A companion study of recreational daytime trips indicates the importance of a threshold temperature of about 55 degrees at which point a significant amount of pleasure walking (in this case to a midtown park) begins to occur (Pushkarev and Zupan). Rain is Main Pain Precipitation has an even more disruptive effect on pedestrian movement than temperature. Pedestrian counts on days of varying rainfall reveal a reduction in the number of walkers ranging from 24% to 55%, depending on the intensity of the rain (the study did not include a period of snowfall or sleet). Another study, testing the effect of rain on walking distances, indicates a reduction of 25% in trip length during the 9:30 to Noon period when a half inch fell. The study suggests that alternative destinations are selected by those who do travel during rainy weather — a closer restaurant is chosen or the trip to a more distant store is forgone. New York, with 44 inches of precipitation per year, is in the upper middle range of cities, along with Northeastern neighbors Boston and Baltimore (both 43 inches) and Philadelphia (41). Other weather factors affecting the propensity to walk include wind, sunlight and humidity. While a breeze may lessen the impact of a torrid Houston summer day, winter winds can seriously aggravate a cold day in a Northern city. National Science Foundation research notes that tall buildings increase wind speeds and thereby lower body temperatures. At 20 degrees (F) even a moderate ten mile an hour wind produces the effect on humans of minus five degrees, the so-called wind chill effect. Cities known for severe winds, including Cleveland, Chicago and Buffalo, have this fourth weather factor with which to contend. Humidity compounds the effect of urban heat, further reducing the appeal of sidewalk strolling in, for example, Dallas. William H. Whyte describes the steady erosion of sunlight downtown as taller buildings block winter rays. Downtowners go to considerable lengths to experience sunlight, suggesting that its absence can negatively affect attitudes toward the workplace. Dr. Norman Rosenthal of the National Institute of Mental Health notes that sunlight produces chemical changes that bring oxygen to the brain and produce “expansive and upbeat feelings.” As the mercury keeps climbing, however, temperature and humidity excesses in effect “force the body to boil over”, producing pent-up exasperated feelings. As the barometer drops, oxygen levels in blood fall, too, and the brain become sluggish. Rosenthal advises taking a brisk walk in sunlight to give a boost to oxygen in the brain and improve human functioning. The immense popularity of glazed skywalks, winter gardens and food court atria is in part associated with a desire to see and share sunlight and certainly helps stir hibernating office workers to stroll and browse. Although weather is certainly not the only factor that influences Downtown pedestrian movement and therefore shopping — lack of places to go and time to get there are certainly the major factors in many places — it is more important than the attention it receives. Annual heating and cooling degree days and inches of precipitation provide a means of identifying locations where weather problems are the most severe and can prove most troublesome for Downtown commerce. l Eight of the largest 45 U.S. cities record more than 6000 heating degree days annually; nine cities record more than 2500 cooling degree days and four cities record more than 50 inches of precipitation. Three cities (Miami. New Orleans and Jacksonville) make both the hot and wet lists (Figures 2. 3. 4). Other than subtropical Miami, none of the Atlantic and Pacific coastal cities are on these lists. Indeed, the moderating effect of the oceans is reflected in an extreme contrast. San Francisco, which records abnormally low numbers of heating and cooling degree days and inches of precipitation. It is probably not a coincidence that San Francisco has been created and redeveloped into our most enjoyable Downtown, San Francisco’s favorable “retail climate” can be seen in comparison with other major U. S. cities. With less than half the precipitation of Houston, Cincinnati, Miami, New York or Boston, Downtown San Francisco workers and visitors are more inclined to venture out and to take longer walking trips. Moderate temperatures also help. San Francisco has less than half the heating degree-days as Minneapolis and is well below Omaha, Boston, New York and Cincinnati. Even the extensive Embarcadero skywalk system is principally out of doors, emphasizing commercial and transportation values, rather than unneeded weather protection. Two of the nine hottest cities, however, have extensive Downtown tunnel networks, and two have embryonic automated transit systems that provide some relief from the heat and humidity. Three of the eight coldest cities have extensive enclosed skywalk systems and two have high capacity specialized transit systems that help move pedestrians during severe winters. Three of the wettest Downtowns also have or plan special transit systems. Houston is second only to Miami in cooling degree-days, a condition that has led developers since the 1950 ‘ s to construct 5.5 miles of pedestrian tunnels. Minneapolis ‘ top position for heating degree-days underscores the rationale for climate resistant skywalks connecting restaurants, retail centers, office and apartment buildings and other destinations. Off-street pedestrian systems consist of bridges or tunnels above or beneath streets, corridors within buildings and activity centers. They range in type from the extensive skywalk networks of Cincinnati, OH and St. Paul, MN to Houston’s below grade “Connection” and Philadelphia’s transit-related underground Concourse. The largest connect more than fifty blocks. St. Paul’s 1986 survey of 24 skywalk and tunnel systems in the U.S. and Canada asked respondents the principal purposes for the initiation and extension of their systems. While most first choices were to support retail and development, weather was more important where climatic conditions are most extreme. Thus, Dallas ranked weather second as the reason for expanding its mostly tunnel system and Duluth, MN (9901 heating degree days) ranked weather second for launching and for expanding its wholly skywalk system. The distinction between development and weather protection objectives, however, is misleading and tends to focus on cold weather, only one of several climate conditions that affect Downtown commerce. Terry Jill Lasser, for example, writes that recent construction “has been largely motivated by economics rather than weather.” These are five economic development benefits derived from skywalks and tunnels, of which weather protection is an important one. 1. During commutation or midday trips, the small amounts of time saved passing under or over vehicular traffic can add significantly to pedestrian trip length or can shorten trip time, adding incentives for office, hotel or retail development. This gain is more important as the networks expand, adding more origins and destinations. Many cities with small networks have skywalk connections to parking garages, where both time savings and security benefits are influential with office developers. 2. Scattered studies indicate that sidewalk-related fear shortens, modifies or eliminates many Downtown-walking trips. Skywalks, however, are generally perceived to be safer than sidewalks. While some tunnels include portions perceived anxiously by Downtowners, there appears to be few such concerns within the glazed, highly visible skywalks. The resulting perceived security certainly benefits retail. It is probably of greater importance, however, to office development because of the necessity and difficulty of attracting skilled white-collar workers to Downtown jobs. 3. Many experts believe that pleasant, easy to navigate pedestrian features actually increase the number of men and women who walk about during the day. Virtually all skywalks offer pleasant views and constantly changing surroundings and therefore probably produce a net gain in walkers simply because of the visual environment. This ultimately translates into sales potential. 4. For retail, generally the highest priced commercial space, the most important benefit of skywalks and tunnels, however, is their capacity to channel large numbers of potential consumers past shops, dining and consumer services. This is especially true where the networks connect subways, bus or trolley systems with office and other destinations. Low density Downtowns often achieve their best pedestrian counts in systems limited to transit or parking. In addition, transit-linked networks typically experience three daily peak use periods, while those without transit links draw significant crowds only at midday. 5. Weather protection is an important element of economic development, not a factor apart. Climate controlled passages can be assumed virtually to erase the commercial losses associated with extremes of hot and cold and precipitation, putting more Downtowners into the commercial environment for longer periods. Such protection also provides a competitive advantage for office and hotel projects. While all off street pedestrian systems provide protection from wind and rain, virtually all also provide heat and cooling. Of the 24 cities surveyed by St. Paul, only two (Lexington, KY and Syracuse, NY) provided neither heating nor cooling. Cincinnati, Duluth and St. John, NB reported no cooling systems. All of the tunnel systems were heated and cooled. The infrequency of exceptions suggests that the additional capital and operating expenses required to provide full climate control were considered essential to the desired quality of life Downtown, There appears to be no differences associated with whether the cost of skywalks or tunnels is borne by the public (e.g., St. Paul) or by the private sector (e.g., Houston). Virtually everywhere, these expensive pedestrian facilities are expected to have complete weather protection. Published pedestrian counts from off street networks are rare. Minneapolis reported in the early stages of its skywalk system that one of the first bridges recorded 7000 pedestrians on a typical summer day and 18,000 a day during winter. People using skywalks in five Midwest cities (Robertson) overwhelmingly report that they prefer to use skywalks when the temperature drops to 20 degrees (96% of respondents) and even when the temperature has reached 50 degrees (81% of respondents). Reflecting the importance of convenience, however, more than 70% still prefer skywalks when the temperature reaches 80 degrees. In Duluth, 99% say they use the system in the coldest weather and only 31% say they do in warm weather. The latter result may, as Robertson suggests, reflect Duluth residents’ yearning for summer fresh air. More likely, however, it is because the small system has few origins and destinations: walkers are impelled to use it by extreme cold, rather than by convenience. Despite the influence of precipitation on walking, critics tend to equate weather problems with the single factor of low temperature. “In contrast to Charlotte,” Lasser writes, “Cincinnati’s seasonal extremes may more readily justify climate controlled tubes… ” In fact, Charlotte has more precipitation that Cincinnati (43 inches vs. 40 inches) and its cooling degree days are substantially greater than Cincinnati’s (1546 vs. 1159). Cold weather is not the only reason for investing in off-street facilities. Under the Weather St. Paul1s survey revealed three Texas cities (Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth) and three in Canada (Montreal. Toronto and Edmonton) with networks of sixteen to more than 50 tunnels. The Montreal and Toronto systems connect extensive subway systems with major shopping and workplaces. Houston’s Downtown Connection links 88 buildings. 70% of the total, principally by tunnels. Among the hottest of our cities. Downtowners find refuge in the naturally cooler passageways beneath the streets. The Houston Post reports, moreover, that pedestrian traffic in the tunnels swells almost 30% when it rains, suggesting that climate controlled walkways provide an important service beyond temperature moderation. (Use of midtown Manhattan1s subways similarly increases with substantial precipitation.) Philadelphia1s underground Concourse network connects three subway lines and two major commuter rail depots. The main stems extend ten blocks below Market Street, linking The Rouse Company1s Gallery shopping center with Penn Center1s food and retail near Suburban Station. Despite these destinations, Philadelphia1s tunnels lack the critical mass of activities and crowds needed to reassure pedestrians concerned about personal security. Vacant storefronts and closed or restricted accessways to private buildings in the tunnels both reflect limited pedestrian traffic and contribute to it. Still, for its devotees, it provides shelter from wind. rain or snow. moderates temperatures and speeds trips to shopping or dining destinations otherwise beyond reach. Something of an orphan, the Concourse needs powerful friends to realize its enormous potential. Skywalks and tunnels are successful to the extent that they provide three fundamental conditions required of Downtowns generally — convenience, security and amenity. The economic development benefits are simply a reflection of how workers, visitors and shoppers rank off-street systems in those three terms. Convenience means that time can be saved, requiring easy access and important origins and destinations — shopping, dining, workplaces, public facilities. Security is a pervasive Downtown test, so finely applied that pedestrians will avoid using small segments of a tunnel system because it appears less safe than others. Amenity means that the environment is generally pleasant; but primarily it means weather protection. With these personal and economic benefits so evidently associated with tunnels and skywalks, it may be hard to understand why so much recent criticism is negative. Critics repeat the warning that skywalks are ~not a panacea. Lasser reports ~increasing disenchantment with skywalks,~ that they are not an economic ~quick fix. II She says that Charlotte’s Overstreet Mall ~may have helped to persuade two department stores to remain downtown,~ but says that the system nevertheless has ~mixed reviews.~ Carol Morphew claims that skyways ~have created a wasteland for street level shops” and threatens that an “extensive and unchecked skyway system can (result in) a downtown comprised exclusively of large department stores and major corporate businesses that can afford the high rents. Baltimore, Omaha and others that have lost their last department stores may find these admonitions less ominous than the authors intended. Indeed, skywalks do appeal to department stores and Downtown leaders would do a lot to retain or attract one. Robertson says that the ~most pressing problems” associated with skywalks is their “tendency to exert a negative effect on retail sales and property values on the ground floor.~ His charge is based on reported differences in commercial rents in St. Paul and on survey responses indicating that those interviewed in skywalks prefer skywalk businesses. The survey responses are hardly surprising considering the location of the respondents. The conclusion, however, that skywalks depress other property values assumes that there is a fixed amount of potential consumer patronage upon which to draw. The best Downtown consumer research, however, makes clear that this is not true. The ICSC data demonstrates that among the factors that induce more office employees to shop Downtown is the amount of potential shopping and dining available to them. Puskarev and Zupan make clear that weather heavily influences trip numbers and lengths and thus potential Downtown sales. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that skywalks that offer or connect with more retail suited to office workers· preferences will attract additional consumers who would not otherwise leave their offices. Many Downtowns with or without off street systems have lost so much ground floor retail that it is no longer worth the trip for time-pressed workers, especially when sidewalk level travel is slower and/or subject to various inclemencies. Skywalks and tunnels generate Downtown sales that otherwise would be lost to highway shopping centers and they attack the office hibernation problem by offering convenient, safe, attractive walkways to commercial offerings selectively pegged to the office market. Perhaps skywalks do not “depress” real estate values at street level as claimed, but simply warrant higher rents at the second story level. Even the critics agree that skywalks add value to the commercial scene. Why should this not be reflected in higher rents? It is a mischievous leap of logic, however, to claim that the rental difference is the necessary result of a negative effect caused by skywalks.1 It would be a mistake for city leaders to assume that off street pedestrian systems simply “redistribute” commercial benefits, as Robertson and others warn. Indeed, the overwhelming success of the largest suggests just the opposite. Fine tuning improvements may be useful — the publicly owned sections of some tunnels could be cleaner, access to some skywalk systems could be easier and neglected sidewalk-level commercial areas could be upgraded. We lack evidence, however, that off-street systems are anything other than essential transportation systems that, if only because of their climate control, generate business and pedestrian traffic, the popular test of Downtown success. Downtown retailing is a fragile sector generally operating in far less customer-friendly circumstances that the highway competition . Off-street pedestrian systems are the single most effective counter measure adopted by cities to halt the loss of market share . Despite the recent criticism. they are observably necessary commercial life lines. especially when it so frequently is too cold. too wet or too hot to shop. Alexander, Larry. “CBD Analysis,” Downtown Idea Exchange, July, 1977. “Drab Roslyn Needs a Little Space”, The Washington Post, 1990. “Houston Underground”, The Houston Post, September 14, 1986 Lasser, Terry Jill. Carrots and Sticks: New Zoning Downtown, ULI, 1990 Lasser. “The Prose and Cons of Downtown Skywalks”, Urban Land, ULI, 1988 Morphew, Carol. “The Ins and Outs of Skyways”, Planning, March, 1984 “No Snow Job”, Planning, March, 1984 “Office Workers Retail Spending”, ICSC, 1989 Pushkarev, Boris and Jeffrey Zupan. Urban Space for Pedestrians, MIT, 1978 “Reta il Feasi bil i ty Study: South Broad Street Concourse”, PIDC, 1975 Robertson, Kent A. “Pedestrian Skywalk Systems: Downtown’s Great Hope or Pathways to Ruin?”, Transportation Quarterly, July, 1988 Robertson. “Downtown Danger: When Pedestrians Remain Above It All”, Minneapolis Star and Tribune, November 18, 1986 “Survey of Grade Seperated Pedestrian Circulation Systems”, City of St. Paul, 1986. “The Minneapolis Skyway System, What It Is and Why It Works”, City of Minneapolis, January 1982 “To Your Health”, Nation’s Business. April, 1990 “Twin Cities Skywalks Are a Soaring Success”, The Washington Post, December 13, 1984 “Under the Weather”, Philadelphia Inguirer, February 24,1989 Whyte, William H. City: Rediscovering the Center. Doubleday, 1988 %d bloggers like this:
Tuesday, 16 February 2016 Triglav, with a rise of 2,864 meters (9,396 ft), is the most elevated mountain in Slovenia and the most elevated top of the Julian Alps. The mountain is the pre-famous image of the Slovene Nation. It is the centerpiece of Triglav National Park, Slovenia's just national park. Triglav.jpgDifferent names have been utilized for the mountain through history. An old guide from 1567 named it Ocra mons, though Johann Weikhard von Valvasor named it Krma in the second 50% of the seventeenth century. By German mountain dweller and teacher Adolf Gstirner, the name Triglav initially showed up in composed sources as Terglau in 1452, however the first source has been lost. The following known event of Terglau is refered to by Gstirner and is from a court portrayal of the fringe in 1573. Early types of the name Triglav additionally incorporate Terglau in 1612, Terglou in 1664 and Terklou around 1778–89. The name is gotten from the compound *Tri-golvъ (actually 'three-head'— that is, 'three tops'), which might be seen truly on the grounds that the mountain has three crests when seen from quite a bit of Upper Carniola. It is far-fetched that the name has any association with the Slavic god Triglav. In the neighborhood vernacular, the name is claimed Tərgwòu̯ (with a second-syllable accent) as opposed to standard Slovene Tríglav. The initially recorded climb of Triglav was accomplished in 1778, on the activity of the industrialist and polymath Sigmund Zois. By most ordinarily refered to report, distributed in the daily paper Illyrisches Blatt in 1821 by the student of history and geographer Johann Richter, these were the specialist Lovrenz Willomitzer (composed as Willonitzer by Richter), the chamois seeker Štefan Rožič, and the diggers Luka Korošec and Matevž Kos. By report by Belsazar Hacquet in his Oryctographia Carniolica, this happened towards the end of 1778, by two chamois seekers, one of them being Luka Korošec, and one of his previous understudies, whose name is not specified. Triglav's tallness was initially measured on 23 September 1808 by Valentin Stanič. The first to put the name of the mountain on a guide, composed as Mons Terglou, was Janez Dizma Florjančič, who in 1744 distributed the guide Ducatus Carniolae Tabula Chorographica. The main guide its name showed up on composed as Triglav was Zemljovid Slovenske dežele in pokrajin (Map of Slovene Lands and Provinces) by Peter Kosler, finished from 1848 until 1852 and distributed in Vienna in 1861. Amid World War II, Triglav typically caught the essential drive by the Slovene imperviousness to the Fascist and Nazi armed forces. The Slovene Partisans wore the Triglav top from 1942 until after 1944. Triglav was the most elevated top of the now ancient Yugoslavia; it was both nations most noteworthy and most unmistakable top and, together with the southern Vardar River (now in Republic of Macedonia), was the image of Yugoslavian "fraternity and solidarity". At the highest point of the mountain stands a little metal structure, the Aljaž Tower. It goes about as a tempest cover and a triangulation point. Alongside Triglav, it is likewise a historic point of Slovenia and an image of the Slovenes and Slovenian regional sway. In 1895, because of absence of space, Aljaž additionally appointed the working of Stanič Shelter. It is found 55 meters (180 ft) under the highest point of Triglav and is named after the artist and mountain climber Valentin Stanič. The safe house has the measurements of 2.4×2.2×2 m (7 ft 10 in×7 ft 3 in×6 ft 7 in) and has space for 8 individuals sitting or 16 standing. Initially it additionally had a wooden entryway, banks, a table and a seat. Its hugeness reduced after the Kredarica Hut was raised in 1896. The Triglav Glacier is situated underneath the summit on the karstified Triglav Plateaus (Triglavski podi), part of the northeastern side of the mountain. Covering more than 40 hectares (99 sections of land) toward the end of the nineteenth century, the icy mass had contracted to 15 hectares (37 sections of land) by 1946, and after further shrinkage had fallen into two sections by 1992. It now covers a region of just 1–3 hectares, contingent upon the season. An adapted delineation of Triglav's particular shape is the focal component of the Slovene crest, planned by the stone worker Marko Pogačnik, and is thus included on the banner of Slovenia. Slovenia is the main nation in Europe and one of only a handful few on the planet to include a mountain on its emblem. Earlier, it was highlighted on the crest of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia. The first to delineate Triglav as the image of the Slovenes was the designer Jože Plečnik, who in 1934 put it other than different crests of the countries of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on the layer of the statue of the Mother of God before the area church in Bled. Amid World War II, the stylised Triglav was the image of the Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation resistance development. The unmistakable three-pronged tops worn by Slovene Partisans amid World War II were known as triglavkas.A alleviation guide of the mountain is the configuration on the national side of the Slovene 50 eurocent coin. The previous Slovene president Milan Kučan once declared that it is an obligation of each Slovenian individual to climb Triglav in any event once in their lifetime.
World War 2 By:Landyn Langham World War 2 plane World War 2 is about to happen because the world is in a Great Depression. And Germany wants to have power again. Dictators of World War 2 Adolfo Hitler He was the leader and Dictator of Germany. He was also the leader of the Nazi party. Hitler said he would bring Germany out of the Great Depression, and all he needed was for them to follow him. He invaded Warsaw,Poland, Soviet Union,Berlin. Adolf Hitler World War 2 Dictators Benito Mussolini He was the leader and dictator of Italy. Mussolini initially condemned Italy's entry into World War I, but soon saw the war as an opportunity for his country to become a great power.Berlin,Warsaw,Poland, and Soviet Union. Benito Mussolini World War 2 dictators Hideki Tojo He was the military leader and dictator of Japan. General Hideki Tojo became the Prime Minister of Japan in October 1941, more as a symbol of the success of the pro-war faction he led, than because of his own political ability he then became a dictator. Invaded Pearl Harbor, Warsaw, Berlin, Soviet Union Hideki Tojo World War 2 Dictators Francisco Franco Francisco Franco was the dictator of Spain. When the social and economic structure of Spain began to crumble, Franco joined the growing right-leaning rebel movement. He soon led an uprising against the leftist Republican government and took control of Spain following the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). He invaded Poland,Spain,Warsaw,Berlin,Soviet Union Francisco Franco World War 2 Dictators Joseph Stalin Joseph Stalin was the Dictator of the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin rose to power as General Secretary of the Communist Party, becoming a Soviet dictator upon Vladimir Lenin's death. He didn't invade any countries. John Stalin America Info During the 1930s the relationship between Japan and the United States got worse. America demanded that Japan stop their invasion on Manchuria. Japan started bombing Pearl Harbor. After the on Pearl Harbor thousands of Americans United together. What would you change if you could go back and change something about World War 2? Think about it Created By Landyn Langham Created with images by mrsdkrebs - "American Flag" • tj scenes - "question" Made with Adobe Slate Make your words and images move. Get Slate Report Abuse
How has biotechnology improved farming and modern agriculture? Quick Answer Biotechnology provides farmers with tools that help reduce the cost of production and the emission of greenhouse gases. Furthermore, biotechnology makes farming more manageable, as it introduces farmers to innovative practices designed to enhance global crop yields. Continue Reading Full Answer Agricultural biotechnology is a set of techniques and practices that are used to alter living organisms or modify parts of organisms. Biotechnology has improved modern agriculture, as it has made weed management and pest control safer and cheaper. Herbicide-tolerant crops encourage the use of reduced-risk herbicides that are non-toxic to humans, wildlife and the environment. They are also more compatible with reduced tillage agriculture systems that promote the preservation of topsoil from erosion. By adopting biotechnology, farmers are developing genetically-engineered plants that detoxify pollutants in the soil, improving soil quality at polluted sites. Biotechnology has increased crop yields and reduced costs by arming farmers with methods they can use to protect crops from diseases. Such options have made pest control more effective, significantly reducing the costs of production. Biotech crops have drastically contributed to the reduction in the release of greenhouse gases from agricultural practices. They have also effectively resolved many problems associated with soil, water and air contaminants. As biotechnology progresses, it offers solutions to farmers who face complex problems. Advances in biotechnology have allowed farmers to grow food that is nutritionally enriched and lasts longer. The application of biotechnology in farming has resulted in benefits to producers, farmers and consumers. Learn more about Agriculture Related Questions
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 Tidal power – the earliest proposal? Is this the earliest instance of a scientist advocating tidal power as an alternative to burning fossil fuels? A book published in London in 1874 calls attention to “the stupendous reservoir of power that the tidal waters constitute, a form of power which has not as yet been sufficiently called into operation, but which may be invoked by-and-by, when we have begun to feel more acutely the consequences of our present prodigal use of the fuel that was stored up for us by bountiful nature ages upon ages ago.” The book is “The Moon: considered as a planet, a world, and a satellite” by James Nasmyth & James Carpenter. Other benefits of tides are that they clean the ocean shores, and move ships up and down the Thames which otherwise would consume steam. For the port of London alone, the authors claim this represents a money value “reckoned in millions sterling, seeing that if our river was tideless all transport would have to be done by manual or steam power”. (p 188). I read this book in the British Library on 21st June. It contains amazing illustrations of the Moon which you could swear were taken from an orbiting satellite but which are actually photographs of clay models, themselves based on drawings made in the course of 30 years of observing. 1. Well I never. I didn't know that about moving ships up and down the Thames either. Does that mean that each day there was a few hours when ships moved up river, and a few hours when they moved down river? Hang on, even as I write that I realise it's daft - the river always flows towards the sea, no matter what the tide. 2. It occurs to me I'm not entirely sure myself! A tidal river refers to the stretch of a river whose flow and level is influenced by tides, and I think this means that the incoming tide really does “flow” up the Thames, effectively reversing the river's direction for a few hours, until the tide reaches the place where the river’s level is higher.
Detroits riots were some of the most violent in US history. As Kathryn Bigelows new dramatization of the unrest hits screens, Detroiters who lived through it reflect on how far their city has come In 1967, when Marsha Music was 13, her father owned a record store and studio that recorded some of the most famous American blues and gospel of the 20th century. Artists who had graced the building included John Lee Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson, and the very first gospel song recorded by the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin. But the family was forced to move their store when a freeway was built in the neighborhood. The new store was located on 12th Street in Detroit just blocks away from the epicenter of where the civil unrest of 1967 would become one of the most violent and destructive disturbances in the US since the American civil war. I can remember the change in atmosphere on 12th as the younger black people had a sort of bristling energy that was very different than the old days they were not going to take some of the humiliation and discrimination that had been endemic in the community for so long, Music recalled. There were rebellions happening all over the country. Everybody knew it was a matter of time before it happened in Detroit. Sitting in her bedroom, just as the cherry trees were beginning to fruit on her block, Music looked outside the window and saw something she would never forget. A tank driving down the streets of Detroit. With the police and national guard overwhelmed by the five days of violence that would eventually leave 43 people dead, more than a thousand injured and destroy 2,000 buildings, President Lyndon Johnson sent in the US military. The unrest had been sparked when a welcome-home party for two black Vietnam veterans held in an after-hours drinking club known colloquially as a blind pig was raided by police. But the roots of the rage were much deeper. Musics record shop was looted and eventually shattered. Black and white people took part in the looting. Marsha Music: Everybody knew it was a matter of time before it happened in Detroit. Photograph: Alexandre da Veiga This violence is the backdrop to Kathryn Bigelows Detroit, which focuses on the Algiers motel incident, where three young black men were killed and others assaulted by white police officers claiming self-defense. The three white officers and a black security guard were acquitted. The film comes as Detroit is experiencing a much-touted economic resurgence. Yet one in four homes in the city has been foreclosed upon; one in six homes has had its water shut off in what the United Nations calls a violation of human rights; and the city sits in the single most racially segregated metro area in the US. It raises the question: has much changed? Back then, Music said, blacks were watching a horn of plenty in front of them [in 1967], and were on the verge of being able to have a real engagement with the American Dream. They were employed in the auto plants, but they couldnt have higher paying jobs. They could live in decent housing, but they couldnt live where they wanted. We were on the cusp of equality, but were not there. She mused upon 50 years to the day of history. Today, you do have what I would call a potentially volatile situation, but the forms of that may be different. Because of the water shutoffs, because of the foreclosures. Those kind of situations I believe in contrast to the wealth people see penetrating the city, is the type of juxtaposition that is ripe for conflict. Policemen arrest black suspects on 12th street on 25 July 1967. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images The 1967 unrest is still so politically fraught that Detroiters cannot even decide what to call it, alternatively referring to the disturbance as a riot, an uprising, or a rebellion. Former Detroit police chief and deputy mayor Isaiah McKinnon is one of those who refers to 1967 as a rebellion an uprising against the humiliation, iniquity, and brutality inflicted on African Americans unabated since the beginning of slavery. McKinnon worked as an adviser to Bigelows film, and is now an associate professor at the University of Detroit Mercy, working to get young black men to continue education and become teachers. As a high-school freshman, McKinnon had gone back to his middle school one day to thank a teacher when he was stopped by the big four a group of four white policemen in a squad car. They beat him from his neck to his belt. McKinnon never told anyone, fearful he or his parents would be arrested for filing a complaint. But that night, he decided to become a Detroit police officer to try to effect change from within. Pre-1967 Detroit was considered a bastion of the black middle class and racial tolerance by many elites in politics and media. Wages for African Americans were higher than average, Detroit had the highest rate of black homeownership in the nation, and mayor Jerome Cavanagh famously said just weeks before the disturbance that citizens dont need to throw a brick to communicate with city hall. The assumption was everyone was happy, McKinnon said. The reality was that was not the truth. McKinnon was in his second year on the force when the disturbance in 1967 erupted. One of the approximately 75 black police at the time in a force that was about 93% white he was assigned to the precinct at the epicenter. Driving home one night, still in uniform and wearing his badge, he was stopped by two white police officers. Former Detroit police chief Isaiah Ike McKinnon in his office. Photograph: Alexandre da Veiga The lead officer approached the car, held a gun to his head and said: Tonight youre going to die, nigger. He began to pull the trigger. Speeding away in his Ford Mustang convertible, pushing the accelerator with his right hand and steering with the other, McKinnon was shot at as he drove for his life. Upon filing a complaint with his sergeant, the extent of the investigation was: Ike, we got some assholes out there. If these guys are behaving this way to me, a fellow law enforcement officer, McKinnon said, what are they gonna do to people in the street? In a Detroit Free Presssurveyin the aftermath of the 1967 events, far and away the No 1 cause that drove people to destruction, behind housing segregation, employment discrimination, and abuse in stores among other humiliations, was mistreatment by police. Although the Detroit police department has vastly improved its diversity, with more than half of the force African American, the US has recently seen a rash of large-scale civil disturbances following incidents of police misconduct, including in Ferguson and Baltimore. And although there have been no large-scale public disturbances in Detroit since 1967, the city did recently have its own turmoil, when seven-year-old Aiyana Jones was shot dead by a bullet from a police machine gun on a no-knock raid on her apartment the incorrect one. The white officer, who claimed the girls grandmother grabbed the gun before it went off, was acquitted. The whole question of police brutality is very active, said novelist and playwright Pearl Cleage. Home in Detroit from Howard University at the time of the unrest, Cleage rode out the disturbance at her mothers. She remembers seeing the homes of friends burning, and went to high school with Aubrey Pollard, one of the slain men at the Algiers motel depicted in Bigelows film. Her father, Albert Cleage, a prominent separatist minister, was on the side of the civil rights movement that was not advocating non-violent protest [like Malcolm X] he understood the necessity for self-defense. After the unrest, the elder Cleage convened a peoples tribunal at his church, the Central United Church of Christ. The mock trial examined the events and the three white officers and black security guard acquitted of the murders. The civil rights icon Rosa Parks and prominent novelist John O Killens sat on the jury that convicted the men. It was electric. The atmosphere was just rage and sorrow and anger at what was happening, and the fact that we didnt seem to be able to protect ourselves and to get a police force and a mayor who were on the side of the black people in Detroit. Cleage said she sees vast similarities to what is happening now with the killings of young black men by police. Mike Brown, Freddie Gray, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, all of those people are black men killed by police in questionable circumstances and thats putting it mildly, questionable its the same feeling of absolute frustration at our inability to protect ourselves from the people who are supposed to be protecting us. The same problems with the police exist, and the same problems with the social issues around it. She referred to a speech Donald Trump gave last week to a group of officers in which he urged them to be rough and not too nice with suspects. To have the president of the country say thats what we need to do, and have a room full of police officers applaud that, that doesnt lead anyplace but a feeling of, Well, we got nothing to lose, Cleage said. And thats where the riots come from. A feeling of, Weve got nothing to lose. Lets just burn it all up. Read more:
Malala’s vision and United Nation By Baloch Khan Malala Yousbaloch-khanafzai earned fame by her struggle to promote female education in backward area of Swat, a Talban influenced area in Pakistan. International humanitarian organizations especially United Nations encouraged her, when On Oct 9, 2012, she was shot on her head and neck by Taliban. It is questioned; Why Malala’s issue is given unusual attention and importance by national and international media and United Nations. Malala Yousafzai delivered a speech on July 12 in United Nations but, on the other hand, mind is failed to accept the fact that why Malala has become such an extraordinary figure for United Nations, why not other thousands of girls, who are under threat of dangers and violence and they are not focused by media. Disappointing role of UN can never be forgotten when on June 15, 2013 a bloody incident occurred in Quetta that claimed the lives of more than 20 innocent female students and injured 40 others. So-called strong and impartial media with most powerful institutions of world did nothing except giving two days coverage and two statements. Silence on such heinous and sadistic violence on women gives birth to number of questions on the role of UN and other international champions of human rights. The UN Secretary General Banki Moon merely paid lip service by terming the incident as “an ugly act”. Why did Malala not speak about drone strikes in UN? Why does everyone care much about Malala and not other innocent girls murdered by drones in Pakistan and killed by NATO in Afghanistan on daily basis. The words of innocent Malala seem beautiful for children and women education, but international actors have conspired and designed their own interests beyond the screen. Malala’s vision may be inspiring for world women education. However, the role of UN and others international humanitarian groups and media yet remains discouraging. The writer is student of media studies at SMI University and human rights activist. He can be reached at The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of The Balochistan Point. Print Friendly
UCSB Professor Anabel Ford (left). MacDuff Everton UCSB Professor Anabel Ford (left). Maya No Mystery to Her UCSB Professor Anabel Ford’s New Book Bangs Drum on Sustainable-Forest-Cultivation Theory Fifteen years later, though, Ford is banging those same drums while the tone-deaf academic establishment clings to ideas invented decades ago. Her latest strike is the book The Maya Forest Garden: Eight Millennia of Sustainable Cultivation of the Tropical Woodlands, which she coauthored with Ronald Nigh, a professor in Chiapas, Mexico. In relatively nontechnical language, the book uses research from multiple fields to detail the scientific evidence behind Ford’s belief that the Maya forest can indeed sustain a large population, suggesting that the collapse was probably more of a slow sociopolitical process than a carrying-capacity catastrophe. We recently talked about the eye-opening insights of El Pilar, and what follows is a condensed version of our chat. Why is the prevailing overpopulation-as-demise theory so rampantly believed? It’s entrenched in Western studies of how people look at the Earth. Even Malthus felt that we were going to run out of land to produce food, and the idea is to have a farm, you have to clear land, and there is not enough. Of course, that is the case when you have a plow and land with cows on it. The word “arable” just means plow, and in Europe, cultivatable is plowable, so it’s hard to wrest yourself from that view. That’s why we call that view ecological imperialism: Our route is the only route, and we look at anything that’s different as not fitting the model. We are in California, where burning is very scary. But if you understand how to use and manage fire, it can be a good thing, too. When these people managed to get here 12,000 years ago, all they had were stone tools and fire. They had to work within that system. It’s embedded. If you look at the way “slash-and-burn” sounds, rather than “selecting and growing,” it’s more about destroying, like rape and pillage. It’s given a bad name by the way it’s uttered. But people are starting to realize that there is a different way of doing things — we know what the cycles are; we know things come back. Did you ever think archaeology would make you a plant expert? No, of course not, but I always liked plants. I’m not anything close to a botanist, but I am a good avocationalist in plants. I rely on these forest gardeners. Your book suggests that part of the problem may be how archaeology as a field is isolated from agroecology, so archaeologists may now know what to examine to understand the past. It’s bigger than that, too. Every field is so insular. It’s not just the economic botany not talking to Maya archaeology and agroforestry. You’re involved in your own work, but if you are actually believing it, you really should look out. I don’t see how one could look at the ancient Maya and not consider geology, geography, water flow, plants, animals. What will it take to change people’s minds? Well, I’m trying. How do I write a best-seller? I actually think this book is pretty readable. We need to get Oprah to pick this up. Anabel Ford will sign copies of The Maya Forest Garden on Monday, November 23, at 7 p.m. at Chaucer’s Books. See and for more info. comments powered by Disqus event calendar sponsored by:
Print Edition Negev berry coaxes mice to ensure plant reproduction The discovery shows that plant uses a toxic “mustard oil bomb” to make the mouse serve its needs. While Israelis who eat sunflower seeds typically spit out the husks and often throw them near their feet, a spiny mouse living in the Negev is induced by a plant called sweet mignonette to eat the fruit and spit out the seeds. This mechanism, just discovered by researchers at the Technion- Israel Institute of Technology, helps the plant reproduce in an arid climate. The discovery, carried out with assistance from other Israeli and American researchers and published on Thursday in the online edition of the journal Current Biology, shows that the plant uses a toxic “mustard oil bomb” to make the mouse serve its needs. The plant, also called taily weed, is the first known case within a single species of what is known as the “directed deterrence” hypothesis that “the fruit is trying to have itself eaten by the right consumer that will spread its seeds.” The plant thus produces a fruit to deter a whole class of animals from destroying its seeds. This mechanism makes the mice conduct “analytical chemistry experiments” to test the fruit for poisonous compounds and not bite into the seed. The plants are in effect handing out the orders. Until now, only primates have been shown to spit seeds. The fleshy, fruited plant, known to botanists as Ochradenus Baccatus, grows a meter or two in height in wadis across an area ranging from Pakistan to Egypt and down to Ethiopia and Sudan. The plant has radiating, narrow, spiny leaves and a central stalk with yellow-green flowers, immature white berries and mature black berries less than a centimeter in diameter. It produces thousands of berries throughout the year, and each fruit contains up to 20 seeds. However, the plant’s powerful “bomb” – which tastes like mustard oil – is activated when an animal eating the berries chews the seed as well as the fruity pulp. Enzymes, which are called myrosinases, in the seed activate toxic substances called glucosinolates (GLSs) in the pulp, which otherwise would be harmless. The reaction produces chemicals named thiocyanate, isothiocyanates and nitriles. Isothiocyanates are responsible for the characteristic hot flavor of mustard. This mustard bomb first was discovered in mustard plants and has been known for some time to deter insects from eating leaves of certain plants. The mustard taste is powerful enough for the common spiny mouse, also known as the Cairo spiny mouse or the Acomys Cahirinus, to remember it and spit out most of the seeds while chewing the pulp. The Technion study also found the mice, which are active at night, will revert to eating the seeds if the mustard bomb is deactivated. The researchers, who videotaped the mice, found that the rodents intentionally pull the seed from the fruit pulp like a person eating seeded watermelon, thereby keeping the toxins from being activated. The research was conducted by Technion doctoral student and ecologist Michal Samuni- Blank and physiologist Zeev Arad; colleagues at the University of Haifa, the University of Utah and the University of Wisconsin. It was funded by the US-Israel Bi-National Science Foundation, the Israel Science Foundation and US Agency for International Development’s Middle East Regional Cooperation program.
Not Found Liver Biopsy in Small Animals Hepatic needle true-cut biopsies (especially 18-gauge) collected under ultrasonographic guidance may yield samples too small and fragmented for accurate diagnosis because of a lack of representative acinar units (at least 15 portal triads should be sampled). Furthermore, needle biopsies are usually only collected from the more safely sampled left-side lobes, which may miss lesions differentially affecting liver lobes (eg, cholangiohepatitis in cats). Blind-needle biopsies done without ultrasonographic guidance are hazardous and ill advised in animals with suspected hepatic hilar or mesenteric lymphadenomegaly; involvement of the common bile duct, gallbladder, intestines (eg, inflammatory bowel disease, infiltrative disease), or pancreas; or multiple organ abnormalities. An exploratory laparotomy is more appropriate. When possible, wedge biopsies or laparoscopic cup forcep biopsies are preferred, because samples of adequate size can be easily and safely acquired from multiple liver lobes, ensuring accurate disease representation. These methods also permit assessment of the gross appearance of the liver. Notably, laparoscopic methods are not recommended when disease of the common bile duct or gallbladder is suspected that may necessitate a decompressive biliary procedure, cholecystectomy, or cholestotomy. Liver biopsy should always be done even if an obvious biliary abnormality is the predominant disease process, because underlying histologic liver lesions may indicate another primary disease process. It is also important to biopsy grossly normal liver when focal lesions are identified. This practice ensures 1) characterization of "normal" liver histology, 2) determines whether an underlying liver disease coexists, 3) investigates histology of liver distant to the gallbladder in animals undergoing cholecystectomy, and 4) provides multiple liver lobe samples needed to confirm suspected MVD (because this lesion is variable among liver lobes).. Routine biopsy evaluation should include examination of a cytologic imprint, Gram stain (if suppurative or pyogranulomatous inflammation is cytologically detected), routine H&E staining and interpretation, as well as staining with a reticulin stain (discloses sinusoidal collapse of the supporting scaffolding of the liver), Masson's trichrome (to confirm presence and severity of fibrillar connective tissue deposition), Prussian blue to identify iron retention in Kupffer cells (fixed macrophages) and hepatocytes (helps confirm lobular involvement in inflammation, Kupffer cell activation, presence of rare hemochromatosis), rhodanine stain for copper (confirms and can be used to quantify copper with digital scanning of the rhodanine-stained section), aerobic and anaerobic bacterial cultures of liver and bile, and quantification of liver metals (copper, iron, and zinc concentrations because these values can help evaluate risk of oxidative injury and need for zinc supplementation). A tissue sample (formalin fixed) should also be reserved for other special case-specific studies such as special immunohistochemical stains or for PCR testing for infectious agents. Before biopsy, bleeding tendencies should be evaluated by careful review of the history, physical examination, blood smear (to confirm platelets ≥100,000/μL), routine coagulation profile (prothrombin time [PT], activated partial thromboplastin time [APTT]), von Willebrand factor (vWF) activity in high-risk breeds, and a buccal mucosal bleeding time. Routine coagulation assessments have low reliability to detect bleeding risk. The buccal mucosal bleeding time is more relevant when performed immediately before the procedure. Animals suspected to have bleeding tendencies should be treated with vitamin K1 (0.5–1 mg/kg, SC or IM) at 0, 12, and 24 hr before tissue sampling. If buccal mucosal bleeding time is >5 min, a fresh frozen plasma transfusion is indicated, as is administration of desmopressin acetate (DDAVP, 0.3–1 mcg/kg diluted in saline), which increases plasma vWF 2-fold over baseline within 1 hr as well as plasma activity of Factor VIII. DDAVP can initiate a hemostatic effect in dogs with type 1 vWF (partial quantitative deficiency) but not in dogs with qualitative defects or complete vWF deficiency. In many people with liver disease, DDAVP has improved coagulation ability, although the exact mechanisms remain incompletely clarified.
Snoopy Come Home I don’t know if this project is comparable to finding a needle in a haystack. Maybe more like finding a particular grain of sand on a beach. I’m a bit of a math geek but the prospect of finding a 42-year-old Lunar Module cast away to orbit the Sun boggles the mind. It can probably be done as we have a pretty good handle on orbital mechanics. Limiting the variables will be a problem. To my amateur’s mind, the big questions would be getting precise enough data on the LM’s orbital elements after they left it behind, and what kind of other weird cosmic effects may have pushed it around over the last four decades. Solar wind and gravity gradients are way beyond my layman’s knowledge. Apollo 10 was a dry run for the first landing mission, Apollo 11. Their orbit took them pretty darn close the the Moon’s surface, and they did everything but actually land. But even if the crew had grown a wild hair and decided to go for it, they would’ve been in for a long stay. The Lunar Module for the dry-run mission was used precisely because it was too heavy for a landing attempt. Grumman had embarked on an aggressive weight-reduction program for the landers, and apparently this one (LM-4, named “Snoopy” by the crew) didn’t make it to the scales in time. But don’t feel too bad for the guys who almost made it. Two of the crew (Gene Cernan and John Young) ended up going back as mission commanders. Of the very few men who’ve been to the Moon, they’re part of the really select few who have done it twice. The third, Jim Lovell, flew around it twice on Apollo 8 and Apollo 13. You’ve probably heard of that last mission. I would imagine his frustration at not landing was tempered by the relief of just getting back alive. And in case you’re wondering, Apollo 10’s Command Module was named (you guessed it) Charlie Brown. Not sure where Lucy and Linus fit in here, but Snoopy actually has a long history with the space program, particularly during the 60’s when both the agency and the comic strip were at their heights. The Silver Snoopy is still a prized award within NASA ranks. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
[ol-mek, ohl-] /ˈɒl mɛk, ˈoʊl-/ Archaeology of or designating a Mesoamerican civilization, c1000–400 b.c., along the southern Gulf coast of Mexico, characterized by extensive agriculture, a dating system, long-distance trade networks, pyramids and ceremonial centers, and very fine jade work. noun, plural Olmecs (especially collectively) Olmec. a member of the ancient people who belonged to the Olmec civilization. noun (pl) -mecs, -mec a member of an ancient Central American Indian people who inhabited the southern Gulf Coast of Mexico and flourished between about 1200 and 400 bc of or relating to these people or their civilization or culture 1787, from Nahuatl Olmecatl (plural Olmeca), literally “inhabitant of the rubber country.” Read Also: • Olmert [ohl-mert, -mert] /ˈoʊl mərt, -mɛrt/ noun 1. Ehud [ey-hoo d] /ˈeɪ hʊd/ (Show IPA), born 1945, Israeli politician: prime minister 2006–09. • Olmsted [ohm-stid, -sted] /ˈoʊm stɪd, -stɛd/ noun 1. Frederick Law, 1822–1903, U.S. landscape architect. • Olga [ol-guh, ohl-; Russian awl-guh] /ˈɒl gə, ˈoʊl-; Russian ˈɔl gə/ noun 1. Saint, died a.d. 968? regent of Kiev until 955: saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. 2. a female given name: from a Scandinavian word meaning “holy.”. fem. proper name, from Russian, probably from Norse Helga, literally “holy,” from Proto-Germanic haliaga, from PIE kailo- […] • OLG 1. Old Low German. abbreviation 1. Old Low German Old Low German
Turing was wrong But it was actually Golgi’s fault In 1948, Alan Turing wrote “the cortex of the infant is an unorganized machine […] made up from a large number N of similar units […] connected to a central synchronising unit.” This is wrong. For 2 reasons. (1) There’s no centralized synchronization unit in the brain, and (2) the brain is not just a set of connected wires. While the first is widely accepted, the second is less known, fueling a simplistic view of neural systems that facilitates and limits research and development. To Turing’s defense, these were not the main concepts he was trying to make, and reflect the knowledge of the times. Out of sight, out of mind. Turing’s view of the brain was informed by Camillo Golgi’s discoveries: He was the first to show that the brain is made of a network of wire-like structures. This wasn’t a trivial achievement because the brain, even under a microscope, appears as an unstructured whitish mass. The Italian physician achieved this breakthrough by developing a new visualisation method —Golgi’s method: he treated the brain with a chemical compound that he developed, and —lo and behold— only neurons would absorb its black color, making the indistinct surrounding matter disappear to the eye. Golgi-stained neurons represented by Ramón y Cajal, an actual brain, and a modern micrograph with a 3D reconstruction. Out of sight, out of mind: The surrounding matter almost vanished from intellectual activity, as the attention focused on the intricate wiring. Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s improved staining of the neurons showed even more fascinating detail, and led to the “neuron doctrine”, in which the surrounding matter does not appear. After all, it was the century of electricity, the new force that would brighten us all — outside and inside. The wire-like structures of the brain created a new worldview that made neuroscience as we know it today, with connectionism as the dominating standard model. Infrastructure matters It’s tempting to think that the matter surrounding neurons serves just as mechanical and biological support. It keeps them in place and well fed. But there’s more: The matter surrounding neurons in the cortex is conductive. This means that whatever happens in the neural cells, is reflected in the surrounding medium (unless there’s a thick, isolating myelin sheat, as in the white matter. It will be interesting to see how signals are propagated from and to the Nodes of Ranvier). If there’s a current spike inside, it also propagates outside. If a coded signal transits inside, it propagates like a wave outside (this is the basis of EEG). Viceversa, what happens outside the neuron affects what happens inside. If a coded signal transits outside, the signal might be picked up and reflected inside the neuron. Now, the actual biophysics of these phenomenons are very complex. The waves travel through an heterogeneous medium, with varying impedances, sinks, and sources. A signal can be induced from an external wave into a neuron through electrical coupling and exchange of ions (ephaptic coupling) or by influencing the electrical synapses. Modelling these phenomena is extremely difficult. Nonetheless, the fact that the matter surrounding neurons is indeed a communication medium is remarkable. Follow the tingling If information travels through matter and not only through “wires”, neural systems would have 2 transmission modes. This would represent an ocean of largely uncharted mechanisms and dynamics, ready to be discovered. Every true explorer, right now, is feeling a little tingling. Of course, there are reasons for which extracellular communication might not play a role in information transmission. For instance, the intensity is too weak. Or the environment too noisy. An alternative purpose is thought to be signal synchronisation. But let’s briefly follow the tingling to see where it leads us to and what we can learn from the journey. A pyramidal neuron acts as an emitting antenna for EEG, using the dipole principle. There are a few fundamental aspects that we know are true: 1. The intracellular mode is spatially precise: the signal follows the wire down its branches. The spatial configuration —the topology— of the adult wiring changes slowly, mostly it doesn’t change at all. 2. The extracellular mode is spatially coarse: the signal propagates freely in a volume, with sources and sinks broadly determining its direction. This cannot be replicated by wires because it is a continuum. 3. We also know that the intracellular mode propagates strong, fast spikes of current, while the other mode is weaker and slower. 4. There should be an interface between the 2 modes, otherwise why let the current leak? If all that matters is timing, it'd be better to isolate everything with myelin. (1) and (2) indicate that the two communication modes would be somehow complementary, with extracellular excitation or inhibition providing a sort of common ground, a context. Additionally, while the intracellular topology is rather fixed, the spatial influence of the extracellular communication can be changed by the system in real-time. In other words, the activation patterns of the wired connections can temporarily modify the extracellular currents. Then, (3) indicates that to achieve the same effect as intracellular communication, extracellular waves must act together, population-wise. On the other hand, local extracellular waves can achieve a modulation of intracellular activity. The last piece, (4) is the most intriguing. An interface between a fast and a slow system is another sign of modulation. The real kicker however lies in how the interaction might occur. Spatio-Temporal Coding Waves move through the ocean, and finally crash on the beach. Sitting on my surfboard outside the line-up, however, I don’t have the impression of horizontal motion, only a gentle up and down. This condition of planar static observer allows me, once at the top of the wave, to look off-shore for other peaks, and determine whether a good set is coming in. If there’s enough space between me and the next peak, I have sufficient time to move to the appropriate position …and start paddling for my life! In a moment in time, a set of moving waves hits a pier at different locations — transforming time in space. The spatio-temporal nature of waves travelling at the same speed allows transforming the observation from time to space, and viceversa. You can freeze the image of a wave and look at its spatial shape or stand at a specific point and see how the height of the wave changes over time. For a sine, the first gives the spatial wavelength, and the second the temporal period. Their ratio is the speed of any point of the wave. When an extracellular wave hits a dendrite, the same phenomenon occurs: Temporal sequences can be read by sampling different positions in space. It is a simple concept, but it allows for (1) Information Communication and (2) Learning. 1. Waves are created by trains of spikes. The sequence is picked up by a dendrite having active locations at the corresponding spatial locations. 2. The continued stimulation of dendrites at specific locations promotes the creation of active locations. The communication principle of spatio-temporal coding is supported by the existence of another neural system using a similar version: the cochlea. Sound waves propagate through the inner ear, where different locations sample different frequencies. While capturing specific sequences is easy, creating them requires fine adjustment of extracellular current sources and sinks. At our company, in order to create applications based on these principles, we became fluent in both emission and reception. The hardest part we achieved was conciliating the connectionist paradigm with extracellular communication in a unique, scalable framework. In the process of creating this know-how we found a notable consequence: the code is pseudo-random, but still functional. Random thoughts during a Cocktail Party I grew up in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. It's a beautiful place, and an interesting mixture of Swiss quality and Italianità. You can imagine that a group of friends becomes chatty and loud after approximatively 2 seconds. The brain's ability of filtering out everything everyone else is saying, and pay attention only to one person is remarkable …and in this context it's essential! How the brain solves this — the so-called "Cocktail Party" problem— remains largely a mystery. It is particularly challenging because it is not only a signal processing issue, but also cognitive: The brain needs to anticipate and reconstruct large portions of what is being said, which of course depends on the context of the conversation, as well as the setting, etc. Up to a certain point, also neural communication suffers from similar effects. Neurons are very noisy structures, and there are tens of thousands of them in a cubic millimeter. Nonetheless, information is carried robustly, even for a long time. Neurons transmit information in many ways, and a unifying transmission code has not yet been discovered. Certain neurons modulate the number of spikes per second, others prefer waiting for the right moment. Extracellular communication showed us that there isn’t a unifying coding, but a multitude of possible codes. More towards infinite possible codes, actually, because each pair of transmitter and receiver can use any code. The reason for this ability is that dendrites can easily learn extracellular sequences, any sequence. Numenta has recently shown a similar result, showing that each neuron can learn 100 or more patterns. Our current proof of concept can currently learn 10²⁸⁷ different sequences (running on an iPhone). Having "random thoughts" might not be so rare after all. Dense Learning running on an iPhone 6Plus. Because the code is free, the emitter and receiver can adapt to their specific noise environment. If the sequence is sufficiently long, noise becomes largely irrelevant. The wired connections, much stronger, act as directors and differentiators. [I left this part deliberately short; An in-depth discussion will follow] Being largely independent of noise at the neural level doesn't explain the Cocktail Party effect, although it is clear that if a dendrite receives part of a sequence, with additional attention it might be able to figure out the rest by itself, just by looking at what's missing. Combining a series of such systems might lead to better listeners. Addressing any part of the brain, without a map Once the sequence has reached the dendrite, it can be processed in many ways. It can be combined with other signals to create action potentials, inhibit activity, or be carried on in some form. The latter is a very intriguing possibility. If a sequence is relaid from one cell to the other for longer distances, it means that the final recipient gets a fingerprint of the original emitter. We have shown in a proof-of-concept that it is possible that the recipient can use this information as an address, and is then able to send information back to precisely that original emitter. Sending information back to a specific location can, of course, also be done with dedicated wired connections, but the difference is that the extracellular sequence method is dynamic and programmable: the extracellular sequence modifies the synaptic activation to reach a specific destination. This concept implies that the brain has a dynamic, floating addressing system, in which any group of neurons can address specific regions of the brain. Additionally, the same wired connection can carry different origin addresses. Talk about reusability of systems! There are 3 interesting consequences to dynamic addressing: 1. Facilitation of thought experiments 2. Multi-modal sensory activation through diffusion 3. Attention through anticipation of which region will be activated (1) Dynamic addressing enables Selective Feedback Activation, that is eliciting or favoring activation in lower regions of the brain. It is well known that when you close your eyes and imagine a donut, your visual cortex activates to represent this donut —pink glazing with multicolor sprinkles on top [sorry for addressing your visual cortex so directly]— as if you were seeing it, just at a lower intensity. Providing higher regions of the brain — where more abstract information is processed — with "rolodexes" allows them to address specific regions without needing dedicated wired connections. The advantage is that the brain can build temporary connections, allowing it to simulate perceptions, scenarios, and receive a result out of it. In other words, Selective Feedback Activation is a mechanism for carrying out thought experiments. The donut. Your short-term memory kept it there. But it didn't just keep the image, there was also a representation of its taste. And smell, and touch, and… Using dynamic addresses instead of dedicated wired connections allows to easily make experiments, even weird combinations that can't be learned from real-life experience, like a donut that tastes like spinach [ew!]. Zen meditation around a donut. All of this is subversive. (2) Our real-life experiences are naturally multi-sensorial, and create archetypal representations: the donut is just sweet, and soft. One important aspect in the creation of these representations is their near-synchronicity: the shape, color, and softness is still vivid when its taste is perceived. Thus, when the neurons that are forming a representation of the donut are excited by all the relevant senses, their rolodex can retain a group of dynamic addresses together. In turn, this allows for, once a visualisation of the donut is being created in our minds, that the other senses will be automatically addressed as well. In other words, the dynamic addressing mechanism facilitates multi-sensorial representations, the feeling of what something is like, without specifically attending to all sensory areas. (3) Attention indeed is per definition exclusive. Our brains are only capable of attending to 6–8 objects at the same time. The mechanism of how these objects are selected uses bottom-up saliency and top-down influence. Top-down influence remains largely a mystery, and dynamic addressing can offer a key of interpretation: as high-level neural structures know the addresses, they can provide diffuse extracellular facilitation by directing more resources towards specific regions. Compared to a connectionist explanation, this has the advantage of knowing at the high-level which areas will be targeted, therefore anticipating the needs, and possibly winning over and pooling other structures to focus even more. The dense paradigm In summary, we proceeded top-down, setting a hypothesis first, then validating through proof-of-concept, data, and value-added applications. However, the characteristics we have found were sufficiently interesting and valuable to go down the rabbit hole: • The connectionists' view, including Turing's, is incomplete. Neural activity also propagates in the extracellular medium. • Extracellular activity is more diffuse, like the signal from an antenna, and it can provide context by inhibiting or exciting the surrounding components. The activity can be directed through appropriate positioning of sources and sinks, and cannot be replicated in wiring. • The spikes in neurons create waves of extracellular current that relay the message. The original sequence can be picked up by dendrites, at learned locations. The consequence of this mechanism is ad hoc coding: a specific code is created individually between emitter and receiver. • A sufficiently long code can be passed on from on neuron to the next, providing higher-level brain regions with the information of the origin of each signal. This enables a dynamic addressing mechanism for carrying out thought experiments, multi-modal sensory activation through diffusion, and attention enhancement through anticipation. A serendipity machine of sorts. What does this mean? First, there are waves of donuts traversing your brain. Right now. Second, a mechanism for sending multiple coded messages through one wire increases dramatically the power of each region of the brain. Conversely, it imposes a limit on bandwidth (if the same wires and extracellular space are used for different representations, the number of learnable sequences depends on their length), a problem which doesn't exist if you have dedicated lines for each representation. Third, it is a system of computational mechanisms, and therefore it can be explored directly, and the best parts retained for specific applications. Fourth, the most important aspects propose a two-fold paradigm shift: 1. Extracellular communication is as important as intercellular activity for information transmission, and 2. The extracellular communication principle allows a group of neurons to address any other region of the brain directly. This dense communication paradigm might be disproven and corrected by neurophysiology, and this will be welcome, as our intent was and is to explore alternate computational systems, and translate their benefits into further applications. The mechanism discussed here comply with the requirements to go beyond Machine Learning.
This is a good article. Click here for more information. Page semi-protected Mahatma Gandhi From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Native name મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-10-02)2 October 1869 (present-day Gujarat, India) Cause of death Assassination Resting place Raj Ghat, Delhi, India Nationality Indian Other names Mahatma Gandhi, Bapu ji, Gandhi ji Alma mater University College London[2] Inner Temple • Lawyer • Politician • Activist • Writer • Soldier Known for Indian Independence Movement, Peace movement Political party Indian National Congress Movement Indian independence movement Spouse(s) Kasturba Gandhi (m. 1883; d. 1944) Mohandas K. Gandhi signature.svg Mahātmā Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (/ˈɡɑːndi, ˈɡæn-/;[3] Hindustani: [ˈmoːɦənd̪aːs ˈkərəmtʃənd̪ ˈɡaːnd̪ʱi]; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the leader of the Indian independence movement against British rule. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world, the honorific Mahātmā (Sanskrit: "high-souled", "venerable")[4]—applied to him first in 1914 in South Africa[5]—is now used worldwide. In India, he is also called Bapu ji (Gujarati: endearment for father,[6] papa[6][7]) and Gandhi ji. He is unofficially called the Father of the Nation[8][9] Early life and background Born in Porbandar Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi[14] was born on 2 October 1869[1] to a Hindu Gujarati Modh Baniya-Vaishya family[15] in the city of Porbandar (also known as Sudamapuri), a coastal town on the Kathiawar Peninsula and then part of the princely state of Porbander under British sovereignty, in the Kathiawar Agency of the Bombay Presidency in British India. His father, Karamchand Uttamchand Gandhi (1822–1885), served as the Diwan (Prime Minister) of Porbandar State.[16] Karamchand Gandhi Although he only had an elementary education and had previously been a clerk in the state administration, Karamchand proved a capable chief minister,[17] during his tenure, Karamchand married four times. His first two wives died young, after each had given birth to a daughter, and his third marriage was childless; in 1857, Karamchand sought his third wife's permission to remarry; that year, he married Putlibai (1844–1891), who also came from Junagadh,[18] and was from a Pranami Vaishnava family.[19][20][21][22] Karamchand and Putlibai had three children over the ensuing decade, a son, Laxmidas (c. 1860 – March 1914), a daughter, Raliatbehn (1862–1960) and another son, Karsandas (c. 1866–1913).[23][24] The family's religious background was eclectic. Gandhi's father Karamchand was Hindu and his mother Putlibai was from a Pranami Vaishnava Hindu family.[28][29] Gandhi's father was of Modh Baniya caste in the varna of Vaishya,[30] his mother came from the medieval Krishna bhakti-based Pranami tradition, whose religious texts include the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata Purana, and a collection of 14 texts with teachings that the tradition believes to include the essence of the Vedas, the Quran, and the Bible.[29][31] Gandhi was deeply influenced by his mother, an extremely pious lady who "would not think of taking her meals without her daily prayers...she would take the hardest vows and keep them without flinching. To keep two or three consecutive fasts was nothing to her."[32] Leaving of Porabandar School Education Gandhi (right) with his eldest brother Laxmidas in 1886.[35] At age 9, Gandhi entered the local school in Rajkot, near his home. There he studied the rudiments of arithmetic, history, the Gujarati language and geography,[34] at age 11, he joined the High School in Rajkot.[36] He was an average student, won some prizes, but was a shy and tongue tied student, with no interest in games; his only companions were books and school lessons.[37] First Baby Complete Education In November 1887, the 18-year-old Gandhi graduated from high school in Ahmedabad;[44] in January 1888, he enrolled at Samaldas College in Bhavnagar State, then the sole degree-granting institution of higher education in the region. But he dropped out and returned to his family in Porbandar.[45] English barrister On 10 August 1888, Gandhi aged 18, left Porbandar for Bombay (Mumbai). Upon arrival, he stayed with the local Modh Bania community while waiting for the ship travel arrangements, the head of the community knew Gandhi's father. After learning Gandhi's plans, he and other elders warned Gandhi that England would tempt him to compromise his religion, and eat and drink in Western ways. Gandhi informed them of his promise to his mother and her blessings, the local chief disregarded it, excommunicated him an outcast. Gandhi ignored it, on 4 September, Gandhi sailed off Bombay to London. His brother saw him off.[48][50] Gandhi in London as a law student In London, Gandhi studied law and jurisprudence and enrolled at the Inner Temple with the intention of becoming a barrister, his childhood shyness and self withdrawal had continued through his teens, and he remained so when he arrived in London, but he joined a public speaking practice group and overcame this handicap to practise law.[51] Gandhi, at age 22, was called to the bar in June 1891 and then left London for India, where he learned that his mother had died while he was in London and that his family had kept the news from him,[52] his attempts at establishing a law practice in Bombay failed because he was psychologically unable to cross-examine witnesses. He returned to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, but he was forced to stop when he ran foul of a British officer;[21][52] in 1893, a Muslim merchant in Kathiawar named Dada Abdullah contacted Gandhi. Abdullah owned a large successful shipping business in South Africa, his distant cousin in Johannesburg needed a lawyer, and they preferred someone with Kathiawari heritage. Gandhi inquired about his pay for the work, they offered a total salary of £105 plus travel expenses. He accepted it, knowing that it would be at least one year commitment in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, also a part of the British Empire.[21][53] Civil rights activist in South Africa (1893–1914) In April 1893, Gandhi aged 23, set sail for South Africa to be the lawyer for Abdullah's cousin,[54][55] he spent 21 years in South Africa, where he developed his political views, ethics and politics.[56] Immediately upon arriving in South Africa, Gandhi faced discrimination because of his skin colour and heritage, like all people of colour,[57] he was not allowed to sit with European passengers in the stagecoach and told to sit on the floor near the driver, then beaten when he refused; elsewhere he was kicked into a gutter for daring to walk near a house, in another instance thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to leave the first-class.[58][59] He sat in the train station, shivering all night and pondering if he should return to India or protest for his rights,[59] he chose to protest and was allowed to board the train the next day.[60] In another incident, the magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban, which he refused to do.[61] Indians were not allowed to walk on public footpaths in South Africa. Gandhi was kicked by a police officer out of the footpath onto the street without warning.[62] When Gandhi arrived in South Africa, according to Herman, he thought of himself as "a Briton first, and an Indian second".[63] However, the prejudice against him and his fellow Indians from British people, that Gandhi experienced and observed deeply bothered him, he found it humiliating, struggling to understand how some people can feel honour or superiority or pleasure in such inhumane practices.[59] Gandhi began to question his people's standing in the British Empire.[64] The Abdullah case that had brought him to South Africa concluded in May 1894, and the Indian community organised a farewell party for Gandhi as he prepared to return to India.[65] However, a new Natal government discriminatory proposal led to Gandhi extending his original period of stay in South Africa, he planned to assist Indians in opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote, a right then proposed to be an exclusive European right. He asked Joseph Chamberlain, the British Colonial Secretary, to reconsider his position on this bill.[56] Though unable to halt the bill's passage, his campaign was successful in drawing attention to the grievances of Indians in South Africa, he helped found the Natal Indian Congress in 1894,[21][60] and through this organisation, he moulded the Indian community of South Africa into a unified political force. In January 1897, when Gandhi landed in Durban, a mob of white settlers attacked him[66] and he escaped only through the efforts of the wife of the police superintendent. However, he refused to press charges against any member of the mob.[21] Gandhi with the stretcher-bearers of the Indian Ambulance Corps Gandhi and his wife Kasturba (1902) In 1906, the Transvaal government promulgated a new Act compelling registration of the colony's Indian and Chinese populations, at a mass protest meeting held in Johannesburg on 11 September that year, Gandhi adopted his still evolving methodology of Satyagraha (devotion to the truth), or nonviolent protest, for the first time.[69] The idea of nonviolence was ultimately bolstered when Gandhi was inspired by a letter written to Tarak Nath Das by the Russian pacifist Leo Tolstoy on 14 December 1908, which introduced Gandhi to the ancient Indian moral literature of the Tirukkural.[70][71] He urged Indians to defy the new law and to suffer the punishments for doing so. Gandhi's ideas of protests, persuasion skills and public relations had emerged, he took these back to India in 1915.[72][73] Europeans, Indians and Africans Gandhi focused his attention on Indians while in South Africa, he was not interested in politics. This changed after he was discriminated against and bullied, such as by being thrown out of a train coach because of his skin colour by a white train official, after several such incidents with Whites in South Africa, Gandhi's thinking and focus changed, he felt he must resist this and fight for rights. He entered politics by forming Natal Indian Congress.[74] According to Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed, Gandhi's views on racism are contentious, in some cases distressing to those who admire him. Gandhi suffered persecution from the beginning in South Africa. Like with other coloured people, white officials denied him his rights, the press and those in the streets bullied and called him a parasite, semi-barbarious, canker, squalid coolie, yellow man, and other epithets. People would spit on him as an expression of racial hate.[75] While in South Africa, Gandhi focused on racial persecution of Indians, ignored those of Africans; in some cases, state Desai and Vahed, his behaviour was one of being a willing part of racial stereotyping and African exploitation.[75] In a speech in September 1896 in India, for example, Gandhi complained the whites in British colony of South Africa were degrading Indian Hindus and Muslims to "a level of Kaffir". Scholars cite it as an example evidence that Gandhi at that time felt about Indians and South African Kaffir differently,[75] as another example given by Herman, Gandhi, at age 24, prepared a legal brief for the Natal Assembly in 1895, seeking voting rights for Indians. Gandhi cited race history and European Orientalists' opinions that "Anglo-Saxons and Indians are sprung from the same Aryan stock or rather the Indo-European peoples", and argued that Indians should not be grouped with the Africans.[76] Years later, Gandhi and his colleagues served and helped Africans as nurses and by opposing racism, according to the Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, the general image of Gandhi, state Desai and Vahed, has been reinvented since his assassination as if he was always a saint, when in reality his life was more complex, contained inconvenient truths and was one that evolved over time.[75] In contrast, other Africa scholars state the evidence points to a rich history of co-operation and efforts by Gandhi and Indian people with nonwhite South Africans against persecution of Africans and the Apartheid.[77] In 1906, when the British declared war against the Zulu Kingdom in Natal, Gandhi at age 36, sympathised with the Zulus, and encouraged the Indian volunteers to help as an ambulance unit,[78] he argued that Indians should participate in the war efforts to change attitudes and perceptions of the British people against the coloured people.[79] Gandhi, a group of 20 Indians and black people of South Africa volunteered as a stretcher-bearer corps to treat wounded British soldiers and the opposite side of the war: Zulu victims.[78] Gandhi photographed in South Africa (1909) White soldiers stopped Gandhi and team from treating the injured Zulu, and some African stretcher-bearers with Gandhi were shot dead by the British, the medical team commanded by Gandhi operated for less than two months.[78] Gandhi volunteering to help as a "staunch loyalist" during the Zulu and other wars made no difference in the British attitude, states Herman, and the African experience was a part of his great disillusionment with the West, transforming him into an "uncompromising non-cooperator".[79] Struggle for Indian independence (1915 – 1947) Gandhi took leadership of the Congress in 1920 and began escalating demands until on 26 January 1930 the Indian National Congress declared the independence of India, the British did not recognise the declaration but negotiations ensued, with the Congress taking a role in provincial government in the late 1930s. Gandhi and the Congress withdrew their support of the Raj when the Viceroy declared war on Germany in September 1939 without consultation. Tensions escalated until Gandhi demanded immediate independence in 1942 and the British responded by imprisoning him and tens of thousands of Congress leaders. Meanwhile, the Muslim League did co-operate with Britain and moved, against Gandhi's strong opposition, to demands for a totally separate Muslim state of Pakistan; in August 1947 the British partitioned the land with India and Pakistan each achieving independence on terms that Gandhi disapproved.[83] Role in World War I In April 1918, during the latter part of World War I, the Viceroy invited Gandhi to a War Conference in Delhi.[84] Gandhi agreed to actively recruit Indians for the war effort;[85][86] in contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corps, this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants. In a June 1918 leaflet entitled "Appeal for Enlistment", Gandhi wrote "To bring about such a state of things we should have the ability to defend ourselves, that is, the ability to bear arms and to use them...If we want to learn the use of arms with the greatest possible despatch, it is our duty to enlist ourselves in the army."[87] He did, however, stipulate in a letter to the Viceroy's private secretary that he "personally will not kill or injure anybody, friend or foe."[88] Champaran and Kheda Champaran agitations Kheda agitations In 1918, Kheda was hit by floods and famine and the peasantry was demanding relief from taxes. Gandhi moved his headquarters to Nadiad,[90] organising scores of supporters and fresh volunteers from the region, the most notable being Vallabhbhai Patel.[91] Using non-co-operation as a technique, Gandhi initiated a signature campaign where peasants pledged non-payment of revenue even under the threat of confiscation of land. A social boycott of mamlatdars and talatdars (revenue officials within the district) accompanied the agitation. Gandhi worked hard to win public support for the agitation across the country, for five months, the administration refused but finally in end-May 1918, the Government gave way on important provisions and relaxed the conditions of payment of revenue tax until the famine ended. In Kheda, Vallabhbhai Patel represented the farmers in negotiations with the British, who suspended revenue collection and released all the prisoners.[92] Khilafat movement In 1919, Gandhi then aged 49, after the World War I was over, sought political co-operation from Muslims in his fight against British imperialism by supporting the Ottoman Empire that had been defeated in the World War, before this initiative of Gandhi, communal disputes and religious riots between Hindus and Muslims were common in British India, such as the riots of 1917–18. Gandhi had already supported the British crown with resources and by recruiting Indian soldiers to fight the war in Europe on the British side, this effort of Gandhi was in part motivated by the British promise to reciprocate the help with swaraj (self-government) to Indians after the end of World War I.[93] The British government, instead of self government, had offered minor reforms instead, disappointing Gandhi.[94] Gandhi announced his satyagraha (civil disobedience) intentions, the British colonial officials made their counter move by passing the Rowlatt Act, to block Gandhi's movement. The Act allowed the British government to treat civil disobedience participants as criminals and gave it the legal basis to arrest anyone for "preventive indefinite detention, incarceration without judicial review or any need for a trial".[95] Gandhi felt that Hindu-Muslim co-operation was necessary for political progress against the British, he leveraged the Khilafat movement, wherein Sunni Muslims in India, their leaders such as the sultans of princely states in India and Ali brothers championed the Turkish Caliph as a solidarity symbol of Sunni Islamic community (ummah). They saw the Caliph as their means to support Islam and the Islamic law after the defeat of Ottoman Empire in World War I.[96][97][98] Gandhi's support to the Khilafat movement led to mixed results, it initially led to a strong Muslim support for Gandhi. However, the Hindu leaders including Rabindranath Tagore questioned Gandhi's leadership because they were largely against recognising or supporting the Sunni Islamic Caliph in Turkey.[95][99][100] The increasing Muslim support for Gandhi, after he championed the Caliph's cause, temporarily stopped the Hindu-Muslim communal violence, it offered evidence of inter-communal harmony in joint Rowlatt satyagraha demonstration rallies, raising Gandhi's stature as the political leader to the British.[101][102] His support for the Khilafat movement also helped him sideline Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who had announced his opposition to the satyagraha nonco-operation movement approach of Gandhi. Jinnah began creating his independent support, and later went on to lead the demand for West and East Pakistan.[103][104] By the end of 1922 the Khilafat movement had collapsed.[105] Turkey's Ataturk had ended the Caliphate, Khilafat movement ended, and Muslim support for Gandhi largely evaporated.[97][98] Muslim leaders and delegates abandoned Gandhi and his Congress.[106] Hindu-Muslim communal conflicts reignited. Deadly religious riots re-appeared in numerous cities, with 91 in United Provinces of Agra and Oudh alone.[107][108] In February 1919, Gandhi cautioned the Viceroy of India with a cable communication that if the British were to pass the Rowlatt Act, he will appeal Indians to start civil disobedience,[110] the British government ignored him, passed the law stating it will not yield to threats. The satyagraha civil disobedience followed, with people assembling to protest the Rowlatt Act, on 30 March 1919, British law officers opened fire on an assembly of unarmed people, peacefully gathered, participating in satyagraha in Delhi.[110] People rioted in retaliation, on 6 April 1919, a Hindu festival day, he asked a crowd to remember not to injure or kill British people, but express their frustration with peace, to boycott British goods and burn any British clothing they own. He emphasised the use of non-violence to the British and towards each other, even if the other side uses violence. Communities across India announced plans to gather in greater numbers to protest. Government warned him to not enter Delhi. Gandhi defied the order, on 9 April, Gandhi was arrested.[110] People rioted, on 13 April 1919, people including women with children gathered in an Amritsar park, and a British officer named Reginald Dyer surrounded them and ordered his troops to fire on them. The resulting Jallianwala Bagh massacre (or Amritsar massacre) of hundreds of Sikh and Hindu civilians enraged the subcontinent, but was cheered by some Britons and parts of the British media as an appropriate response. Gandhi in Ahmedabad, on the day after the massacre in Amritsar, did not criticise the British and instead criticised his fellow countrymen for not exclusively using love to deal with the hate of the British government.[110] Gandhi demanded that people stop all violence, stop all property destruction, and went on fast-to-death to pressure Indians to stop their rioting.[111] The massacre and Gandhi's non-violent response to it moved many, but also made some Sikhs and Hindus upset that Dyer was getting away with murder. Investigation committees were formed by the British, which Gandhi asked Indians to boycott,[110] the unfolding events, the massacre and the British response, led Gandhi to the belief that Indians will never get a fair equal treatment under British rulers, and he shifted his attention to Swaraj or self rule and political independence for India.[112] In 1921, Gandhi was the leader of the Indian National Congress,[98] he reorganised the Congress. With Congress now behind him, and Muslim support triggered by his backing the Khilafat movement to restore the Caliph in Turkey,[98] Gandhi had the political support and the attention of the British Raj.[100][95][97] Gandhi spinning yarn, in the late 1920s Gandhi expanded his nonviolent non-co-operation platform to include the swadeshi policy—the boycott of foreign-made goods, especially British goods. Linked to this was his advocacy that khadi (homespun cloth) be worn by all Indians instead of British-made textiles. Gandhi exhorted Indian men and women, rich or poor, to spend time each day spinning khadi in support of the independence movement;[113] in addition to boycotting British products, Gandhi urged the people to boycott British institutions and law courts, to resign from government employment, and to forsake British titles and honours. Gandhi thus began his journey aimed at crippling the British India government economically, politically and administratively.[114] The appeal of "Non-cooperation" grew, its social popularity drew participation from all strata of Indian society. Gandhi was arrested on 10 March 1922, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment, he began his sentence on 18 March 1922. With Gandhi isolated in prison, the Indian National Congress split into two factions, one led by Chitta Ranjan Das and Motilal Nehru favouring party participation in the legislatures, and the other led by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, opposing this move.[115] Furthermore, co-operation among Hindus and Muslims ended as Khilafat movement collapsed with the rise of Ataturk in Turkey. Muslim leaders left the Congress and began forming Muslim organisations, the political base behind Gandhi had broken into factions. Gandhi was released in February 1924 for an appendicitis operation, having served only two years.[116] Salt Satyagraha (Salt March) After his early release from prison for political crimes in 1924, over the second half of the 1920s, Gandhi continued to pursue swaraj, he pushed through a resolution at the Calcutta Congress in December 1928 calling on the British government to grant India dominion status or face a new campaign of non-co-operation with complete independence for the country as its goal.[117] After his support for the World War I with Indian combat troops, and the failure of Khilafat movement in preserving the rule of Caliph in Turkey, followed by a collapse in Muslim support for his leadership, some such as Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh questioned his values and non-violent approach.[97][118] While many Hindu leaders championed a demand for immediate independence, Gandhi revised his own call to a one-year wait, instead of two.[117] The British did not respond favourably to Gandhi's proposal. British political leaders such as Lord Birkenhead and Winston Churchill announced opposition to "the appeasers of Gandhi", in their discussions with European diplomats who sympathised with Indian demands,[119] on 31 December 1929, the flag of India was unfurled in Lahore. Gandhi led Congress celebrated 26 January 1930 as India's Independence Day in Lahore, this day was commemorated by almost every other Indian organisation. Gandhi then launched a new Satyagraha against the tax on salt in March 1930, this was highlighted by the famous Salt March to Dandi from 12 March to 6 April, where he marched 388 kilometres (241 mi) from Ahmedabad to Dandi, Gujarat to make salt himself. Thousands of Indians joined him on this march to the sea, this campaign was one of his most successful at upsetting British hold on India; Britain responded by imprisoning over 60,000 people.[120] According to Sarma, Gandhi recruited women to participate in the salt tax campaigns and the boycott of foreign products, which gave many women a new self-confidence and dignity in the mainstream of Indian public life.[121] However, other scholars such as Marilyn French state that Gandhi barred women from joining his civil disobedience movement because he feared he would be accused of using women as political shield.[122] When women insisted that they join the movement and public demonstrations, according to Thapar-Bjorkert, Gandhi asked the volunteers to get permissions of their guardians and only those women who can arrange child-care should join him.[123] Regardless of Gandhi's apprehensions and views, Indian women joined the Salt March by the thousands to defy the British salt taxes and monopoly on salt mining, after Gandhi's arrest, the women marched and picketed shops on their own, accepting violence and verbal abuse from British authorities for the cause in a manner Gandhi inspired.[122] Gandhi as folk hero According to Atlury Murali, Indian Congress in the 1920s appealed to Andhra Pradesh peasants by creating Telugu language plays that combined Indian mythology and legends, linked them to Gandhi's ideas, and portrayed Gandhi as a messiah, a reincarnation of ancient and medieval Indian nationalist leaders and saints, the plays built support among peasants steeped in traditional Hindu culture, according to Murali, and this effort made Gandhi a folk hero in Telugu speaking villages, a sacred messiah-like figure.[124] According to Dennis Dalton, it was the ideas that were responsible for his wide following. Gandhi criticised Western civilisation as one driven by "brute force and immorality", contrasting it with his categorisation of Indian civilisation as one driven by "soul force and morality".[125] Gandhi captured the imagination of the people of his heritage with his ideas about winning "hate with love", these ideas are evidenced in his pamphlets from the 1890s, in South Africa, where too he was popular among the Indian indentured workers. After he returned to India, people flocked to him because he reflected their values.[125] Indian workers on strike in support of Gandhi in 1930. Gandhi also campaigned hard going from one rural corner of the Indian subcontinent to another, he used terminology and phrases such as Rama-rajya from Ramayana, Prahlada as a paradigmatic icon, and such cultural symbols as another facet of swaraj and satyagraha.[126] These ideas sounded strange outside India, during his lifetime, but they readily and deeply resonated with the culture and historic values of his people.[125][127] Churchill bitterness against Gandhi grew in the 1930s, he called Gandhi as the one who was "seditious in aim" whose evil genius and multiform menace was attacking the British empire. Churchill called him a dictator, a "Hindu Mussolini", fomenting a race war, trying to replace the Raj with Brahmin cronies, playing on the ignorance of Indian masses, all for selfish gain.[130] Churchill attempted to isolate Gandhi, and his criticism of Gandhi was widely covered by European and American press, it gained Churchill sympathetic support, but it also increased support for Gandhi among Europeans. The developments heightened Churchill's anxiety that the "British themselves would give up out of pacifism and misplaced conscience".[130] Round Table Conferences During the discussions between Gandhi and the British government over 1931–32 at the Round Table Conferences, Gandhi, now aged about 62, sought constitutional reforms as a preparation to the end of colonial British rule, and begin the self-rule by Indians,[131] the British side sought reforms that would keep Indian subcontinent as a colony. The British negotiators proposed constitutional reforms on a British Dominion model that established separate electorates based on religious and social divisions, the British questioned Congress party and Gandhi's authority to speak for all of India.[132] They invited Indian religious leaders, such as Muslims and Sikhs, to press their demands along religious lines, as well as B. R. Ambedkar as the representative leader of the untouchables.[131] Gandhi vehemently opposed a constitution that enshrined rights or representations based on communal divisions, because he feared that it would not bring people together but divide them, perpetuate their status and divert the attention from India's struggle to end the colonial rule.[133][134] After Gandhi returned from Second Round Table conference, he started a new satyagraha, he was arrested and imprisoned at the Yerwada Jail, Pune. While he was in prison, the British government enacted a new law that granted untouchables a separate electorate, it came to be known as the Communal Award.[135] In protest, Gandhi started fast-unto-death, while he was held in prison,[136] the resulting public outcry forced the government, in consultations with Ambedkar, to replace the Communal Award with a compromise Poona Pact.[137][138] Congress politics Gandhi returned to active politics again in 1936, with the Nehru presidency and the Lucknow session of the Congress, although Gandhi wanted a total focus on the task of winning independence and not speculation about India's future, he did not restrain the Congress from adopting socialism as its goal. Gandhi had a clash with Subhas Chandra Bose, who had been elected president in 1938, and who had previously expressed a lack of faith in nonviolence as a means of protest,[140] despite Gandhi's opposition, Bose won a second term as Congress President, against Gandhi's nominee, Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya; but left the Congress when the All-India leaders resigned en masse in protest of his abandonment of the principles introduced by Gandhi.[141][142] Gandhi declared that Sitaramayya's defeat was his defeat.[143] World War II and Quit India movement Nehru and Gandhi in 1942 Gandhi opposed providing any help to the British war effort and he campaigned against any Indian participation in the World War II.[144] Gandhi's campaign did not enjoy the support of Indian masses and many Indian leaders such as Sardar Patel and Rajendra Prasad, his campaign was a failure.[144] Over 2.5 million Indians ignored Gandhi, volunteered and joined the British military to fight on various fronts of the allied forces.[144] Gandhi opposition to the Indian participation in the World War II was motivated by his belief that India could not be party to a war ostensibly being fought for democratic freedom while that freedom was denied to India itself,[145] he also condemned Nazism and Fascism, a view which won endorsement of other Indian leaders. As the war progressed, Gandhi intensified his demand for independence, calling for the British to Quit India in a 1942 speech in Mumbai,[146] this was Gandhi's and the Congress Party's most definitive revolt aimed at securing the British exit from India.[147] The British government responded quickly to the Quit India speech, and within hours after Gandhi's speech arrested Gandhi and all the members of the Congress Working Committee,[148] his countrymen retaliated the arrests by damaging or burning down hundreds of government owned railway stations, police stations, and cutting down telegraph wires.[149] In 1942, Gandhi now nearing age 73, urged his people to completely stop co-operating with the imperial government; in this effort, he urged that they neither kill nor injure British people, but be willing to suffer and die if violence is initiated by the British officials.[146] He clarified that the movement would not be stopped because of any individual acts of violence, saying that the "ordered anarchy" of "the present system of administration" was "worse than real anarchy."[150][151] He urged Indians to Karo ya maro ("Do or die") in the cause of their rights and freedoms.[146][152] Gandhi in 1942, the year he launched Quit India movement Gandhi's arrest lasted two years, as he was held in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune, during this period, his long time secretary Mahadev Desai died of a heart attack, his wife Kasturba died after 18 months' imprisonment on 22 February 1944; and Gandhi suffered a severe malaria attack.[149] While in Jail, he agreed to an interview with Stuart Gelder, a British journalist. Gelder then composed and released an interview summary, cabled it to the mainstream press, that announced sudden concessions Gandhi was willing to make, comments that shocked his countrymen, the Congress workers and even Gandhi, the latter two claimed that it distorted what Gandhi actually said on a range of topics and falsely repudiated the Quit India movement.[149] Gandhi was released before the end of the war on 6 May 1944 because of his failing health and necessary surgery; the Raj did not want him to die in prison and enrage the nation. He came out of detention to an altered political scene—the Muslim League for example, which a few years earlier had appeared marginal, "now occupied the centre of the political stage"[153] and the topic of Muhammad Ali Jinnah's campaign for Pakistan was a major talking point. Gandhi and Jinnah had extensive correspondence in 1944, where Gandhi insisted on a united religiously plural India which included Muslims and non-Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. Jinnah rejected this proposal and insisted instead for partitioning the subcontinent on religious lines to create a separate Muslim India (later Pakistan),[10][154] these discussions continued through 1947.[155] While the leaders of Congress languished in jail, the other parties supported the war and gained organizational strength. Underground publications flailed at the ruthless suppression of Congress, but it had little control over events,[156] at the end of the war, the British gave clear indications that power would be transferred to Indian hands. At this point Gandhi called off the struggle, and around 100,000 political prisoners were released, including the Congress's leadership.[157] Partition and independence Gandhi with Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1944. Gandhi opposed partition of the Indian subcontinent along religious lines,[158] the Indian National Congress and Gandhi called for the British to Quit India. However, the Muslim League demanded "Divide and Quit India".[159][160] Gandhi suggested an agreement which required the Congress and the Muslim League to co-operate and attain independence under a provisional government, thereafter, the question of partition could be resolved by a plebiscite in the districts with a Muslim majority.[161] Jinnah rejected Gandhi's proposal and called for Direct Action Day, on 16 August 1946, to press Muslims to publicly gather in cities and support his proposal for partition of Indian subcontinent into a Muslim state and non-Muslim state. Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the Muslim League Chief Minister of Bengal – now Bangladesh and West Bengal, gave Calcutta's police special holiday to celebrate the Direct Action Day,[162] the Direct Action Day triggered a mass murder of Calcutta Hindus and the torching of their property, and holidaying police were missing to contain or stop the conflict.[163] The British government did not order its army to move in to contain the violence,[162] the violence on Direct Action Day led to retaliatory violence against Muslims across India. Thousands of Hindus and Muslims were murdered, and tens of thousands were injured in the cycle of violence in the days that followed.[164] Gandhi visited the most riot-prone areas to appeal a stop to the massacres.[165] The partition was controversial and violently disputed. More than half a million were killed in religious riots as 10–12 million non-Muslims (Hindus, Sikhs mostly) migrated from Pakistan into India, and Muslims migrated from India into Pakistan, across the newly created borders of India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan.[168] Gandhi spent the day of independence not celebrating the end of the British rule, but appealing for peace among his countrymen by fasting and spinning in Calcutta on 15 August 1947, the partition had gripped the Indian subcontinent with religious violence and the streets were filled with corpses.[169] Some writers credit Gandhi's fasting and protests stopped the religious riots and communal violence. Others do not. Archibald Wavell, for example, upon learning of Gandhi's assassination, commented, "I always thought he [Gandhi] had more of malevolence than benevolence in him, but who am I to judge, and how can an Englishman estimate a Hindu?"[166] At 5:17 pm on 30 January 1948, Gandhi was with his grandnieces in the garden of the former Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti), on his way to address a prayer meeting, when Nathuram Godse fired three bullets from a Beretta 9 mm pistol into his chest at point-blank range. According to some accounts, Gandhi died on the spot;[170][171] in other accounts, such as one prepared by an eyewitness journalist, Gandhi was carried into the Birla House, into a bedroom. There he died about 30 minutes later as one of Gandhi's family members read verses from Hindu scriptures.[172] Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the nation by radio:[173] Gandhi's assassin Godse made no attempt to escape and was seized by the witnesses, he was arrested. In the weeks that followed, his collaborators were arrested as well.[175][176] Godse was a Hindu nationalist with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha,[177] they were tried in court at Delhi's Red Fort. At his trial, Godse did not deny the charges nor express any remorse. According to Claude Markovits, a French historian noted for his studies of colonial India, Godse stated that he killed Gandhi because of his complacence towards Muslims, holding Gandhi responsible for the frenzy of violence and sufferings during the subcontinent's partition into Pakistan and India. Godse accused Gandhi of subjectivism and of acting as if only he had a monopoly of the truth. Godse was found guilty and executed in 1949.[178][179] Gandhi's funeral was marked by millions of Indians.[180] Gandhi's death was mourned nationwide, over two million people joined the five-mile long funeral procession that took over five hours to reach Raj Ghat from Birla house, where he was assassinated. Gandhi's body was transported on a weapons carrier, whose chassis was dismantled overnight to allow a high-floor to be installed so that people could catch a glimpse of his body, the engine of the vehicle was not used; instead four drag-ropes manned by 50 people each pulled the vehicle.[181] All Indian-owned establishments in London remained closed in mourning as thousands of people from all faiths and denominations and Indians from all over Britain converged at India House in London.[182] Gandhi's assassination dramatically changed the political landscape. Nehru became his political heir. According to Markovits, while Gandhi was alive, Pakistan's declaration that it was a "Muslim state" had led Indian groups to demand that it be declared a "Hindu state".[178] Nehru used Gandhi's martyrdom as a political weapon to silence all advocates of Hindu nationalism as well as his political challengers, he linked Gandhi's assassination to politics of hatred and ill-will.[178] According to Guha, Nehru and his Congress colleagues called on Indians to honour Gandhi's memory and even more his ideals.[183][184] Nehru used the assassination to consolidate the authority of the new Indian state. Gandhi's death helped marshal support for the new government and legitimise the Congress Party's control, leveraged by the massive outpouring of Hindu expressions of grief for a man who had inspired them for decades, the government suppressed the RSS, the Muslim National Guards, and the Khaksars, with some 200,000 arrests.[185] For years after the assassination, states Markovits, "Gandhi's shadow loomed large over the political life of the new Indian Republic", the government quelled any opposition to its economic and social policies, despite they being contrary to Gandhi's ideas, by reconstructing Gandhi's image and ideals.[186] Funeral and memorials Gandhi was cremated per the Hindu tradition. Gandhi's ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial services.[187] Most of the ashes were immersed at the Sangam at Allahabad on 12 February 1948, but some were secretly taken away; in 1997, Tushar Gandhi immersed the contents of one urn, found in a bank vault and reclaimed through the courts, at the Sangam at Allahabad.[188][189] Some of Gandhi's ashes were scattered at the source of the Nile River near Jinja, Uganda, and a memorial plaque marks the event, on 30 January 2008, the contents of another urn were immersed at Girgaum Chowpatty. Another urn is at the palace of the Aga Khan in Pune (where Gandhi was held as a political prisoner from 1942 to 1944) and another in the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles.[188][190] The Birla House site where Gandhi was assassinated is now a memorial called Gandhi Smriti, the place near Yamuna river where he was cremated is the Rāj Ghāt memorial in New Delhi.[191] A black marble platform, it bears the epigraph "Hē Rāma" (Devanagari: हे ! राम or, Hey Raam). These are widely believed to be Gandhi's last words after he was shot, though the veracity of this statement has been disputed.[192] Principles, practices and beliefs Gandhi's statements, letters and life have attracted much political and scholarly analysis of his principles, practices and beliefs, including what influenced him, some writers present him as a paragon of ethical living and pacifism, others present him as a more complex, contradictory and evolving character influenced by his culture and circumstances.[193][194] Gandhi with poet Rabindranath Tagore, 1940 Gandhi grew up in a Hindu and Jain religious atmosphere in his native Gujarat which were his primary influences, but he was also influenced by his personal reflections and literature of Hindu Bhakti saints, Advaita Vedanta, Buddhism, Christianity and thinkers such as Tolstoy, Ruskin and Thoreau.[195][196] He, at age 57, declared himself to be Advaitist Hindu in his religious persuasion, but added that he supported Dvaitist viewpoints and religious pluralism.[197][198][199] Gandhi was influenced by his devout Vaishnava Hindu mother, the regional Hindu temples and saint tradition which co-existed with Jain tradition in Gujarat.[195][200] Historian R.B. Cribb states that Gandhi's thought evolved over time, with his early ideas becoming the core or scaffolding for his mature philosophy, he committed himself early to truthfulness, temperance, chastity, and vegetarianism.[201] Gandhi's London lifestyle incorporated the values he has grown up with. When he returned to India in 1891, his outlook was parochial and he could not make a living as a lawyer, this challenged his belief that practicality and morality necessarily coincided. By moving in 1893 to South Africa he found a solution to this problem and developed the central concepts of his mature philosophy.[202] According to Indira Carr and others, Gandhi was influenced by Vaishnavism, Jainism and Advaita Vedanta.[204][205] Balkrishna Gokhale states that Gandhi was influenced by Hinduism and Jainism, and his studies of Sermon on the Mount of Christianity, Ruskin and Tolstoy.[206] Additional theories of possible influences on Gandhi have been proposed, for example, in 1935, N. A. Toothi stated that Gandhi was influenced by the reforms and teachings of the Swaminarayan tradition of Hinduism. According to Raymond Williams, Toothi may have overlooked the influence of the Jain community, and adds close parallels do exist in programs of social reform in the Swaminarayan tradition and those of Gandhi, based on "nonviolence, truth-telling, cleanliness, temperance and upliftment of the masses."[207][208] Historian Howard states the culture of Gujarat influenced Gandhi and his methods.[209] Along with the book mentioned above, in 1908 Leo Tolstoy wrote A Letter to a Hindu, which said that only by using love as a weapon through passive resistance could the Indian people overthrow colonial rule. In 1909, Gandhi wrote to Tolstoy seeking advice and permission to republish A Letter to a Hindu in Gujarati. Tolstoy responded and the two continued a correspondence until Tolstoy's death in 1910 (Tolstoy's last letter was to Gandhi),[210] the letters concern practical and theological applications of nonviolence.[211] Gandhi saw himself a disciple of Tolstoy, for they agreed regarding opposition to state authority and colonialism; both hated violence and preached non-resistance. However, they differed sharply on political strategy. Gandhi called for political involvement; he was a nationalist and was prepared to use nonviolent force. He was also willing to compromise,[212] it was at Tolstoy Farm where Gandhi and Hermann Kallenbach systematically trained their disciples in the philosophy of nonviolence.[213] Shrimad Rajchandra Gandhi credited Shrimad Rajchandra, a poet and Jain philosopher, as his influential counsellor; in Modern Review, June 1930, Gandhi wrote about their first encounter in 1891 at Dr. P.J. Mehta's residence in Bombay. Gandhi exchanged letters with Rajchandra when he was in South Africa, referring to him as Kavi (literally, "poet"); in 1930, Gandhi wrote, "Such was the man who captivated my heart in religious matters as no other man ever has till now."[214] 'I have said elsewhere that in moulding my inner life Tolstoy and Ruskin vied with Kavi. But Kavi's influence was undoubtedly deeper if only because I had come in closest personal touch with him.'[215] Gandhi, in his autobiography, called Rajchandra his "guide and helper" and his "refuge… in moments of spiritual crisis", he had advised Gandhi to be patient and to study Hinduism deeply.[216][217][218] Religious texts During his stay in South Africa, along with scriptures and philosophical texts of Hinduism and other Indian religions, Gandhi read translated texts of Christianity such as the Bible, and Islam such as the Quran.[219] A Quaker mission in South Africa attempted to convert him to Christianity. Gandhi joined them in their prayers and debated Christian theology with them, but refused conversion stating he did not accept the theology therein or that Christ was the only son of God.[219][220][221] His comparative studies of religions and interaction with scholars, led him to respect all religions as well as become concerned about imperfections in all of them and frequent misinterpretations.[219] Gandhi grew fond of Hinduism, and referred to the Bhagavad Gita as his spiritual dictionary and greatest single influence on his life.[219][222][223] On wars and nonviolence Support for Wars Gandhi participated in South African war against the Boers, on the British side in 1899.[224] Both the Dutch settlers called Boers and the imperial British at that time discriminated against the coloured races they considered as inferior, and Gandhi later wrote about his conflicted beliefs during the Boer war, he stated that "when the war was declared, my personal sympathies were all with the Boers, but my loyalty to the British rule drove me to participation with the British in that war". According to Gandhi, he felt that since he was demanding his rights as a British citizen, it was also his duty to serve the British forces in the defence of the British Empire.[225][226] During World War I (1914–1918), nearing the age of 50, Gandhi supported the British and its allied forces by recruiting Indians to join the British army, expanding the Indian contingent from about 100,000 to over 1.1 million.[94][224] He encouraged his people to fight on one side of the war in Europe and Africa at the cost of their lives.[224] Pacifists criticised and questioned Gandhi, who defended these practices by stating, according to Sankar Ghose, "it would be madness for me to sever my connection with the society to which I belong".[224] According to Keith Robbins, the recruitment effort was in part motivated by the British promise to reciprocate the help with swaraj (self-government) to Indians after the end of World War I,[93] after the war, the British government offered minor reforms instead, which disappointed Gandhi.[94] He launched his satyagraha movement in 1919; in parallel, Gandhi's fellowmen became sceptical of his pacifist ideas and were inspired by the ideas of nationalism and anti-imperialism.[227] After World War II engulfed Britain, Gandhi actively campaigned to oppose any help to the British war effort and any Indian participation in the war. According to Arthur Herman, Gandhi believed that his campaign would strike a blow to imperialism.[144] Gandhi's position was not supported by many Indian leaders, and his campaign against the British war effort was a failure, the Hindu leader, Tej Bahadur Sapru declared in 1941, states Herman, "A good many Congress leaders are fed up with the barren program of the Mahatma".[144] Over 2.5 million Indians ignored Gandhi, volunteered and joined on the British side. They fought and died as a part of the allied forces in Europe, North Africa and various fronts of the World War II.[144] Truth and Satyagraha Gandhi based Satyagraha on the Vedantic ideal of self-realization, ahimsa (nonviolence), vegetarianism, and universal love. William Borman states that the key to his satyagraha is rooted in the Hindu Upanishadic texts.[231] According to Indira Carr, Gandhi's ideas on ahimsa and satyagraha were founded on the philosophical foundations of Advaita Vedanta.[232] I. Bruce Watson states that some of these ideas are found not only in traditions within Hinduism, but also in Jainism or Buddhism, particularly those about non-violence, vegetarianism and universal love, but Gandhi's synthesis was to politicise these ideas.[233] Gandhi's concept of satya as a civil movement, states Glyn Richards, are best understood in the context of the Hindu terminology of Dharma and Ṛta.[234] Gandhi picking salt during Salt Satyagraha to defy colonial law giving salt collection monopoly to the British.[235] His satyagraha attracted vast numbers of Indian men and women.[236] Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities. Gandhi summarised his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth", he would later change this statement to "Truth is God". Thus, satya (truth) in Gandhi's philosophy is "God".[237] Gandhi, states Richards, described the term "God" not as a separate power, but as the Being (Brahman, Atman) of the Advaita Vedanta tradition, a nondual universal that pervades in all things, in each person and all life.[234] According to Nicholas Gier, this to Gandhi meant the unity of God and humans, that all beings have the same one soul and therefore equality, that atman exists and is same as everything in the universe, ahimsa (non-violence) is the very nature of this atman.[238] Gandhi wrote: "There must be no impatience, no barbarity, no insolence, no undue pressure. If we want to cultivate a true spirit of democracy, we cannot afford to be intolerant. Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause."[241] Civil disobedience and non-co-operation as practised under Satyagraha are based on the "law of suffering",[242] a doctrine that the endurance of suffering is a means to an end. This end usually implies a moral upliftment or progress of an individual or society. Therefore, non-co-operation in Satyagraha is in fact a means to secure the co-operation of the opponent consistently with truth and justice.[243] While Gandhi's idea of satyagraha as a political means attracted a widespread following among Indians, the support was not universal, for example, Muslim leaders such as Jinnah opposed the satyagraha idea, accused Gandhi to be reviving Hinduism through political activism, and began effort to counter Gandhi with Muslim nationalism and a demand for Muslim homeland.[244][245][246] The untouchability leader Ambedkar, in June 1945, after his decision to convert to Buddhism and a key architect of the Constitution of modern India, dismissed Gandhi's ideas as loved by "blind Hindu devotees", primitive, influenced by spurious brew of Tolstoy and Ruskin, and "there is always some simpleton to preach them".[247][248] Winston Churchill caricatured Gandhi as a "cunning huckster" seeking selfish gain, an "aspiring dictator", and an "atavistic spokesman of a pagan Hinduism". Churchill stated that the civil disobedience movement spectacle of Gandhi only increased "the danger to which white people there [British India] are exposed".[249] Although Gandhi was not the originator of the principle of nonviolence, he was the first to apply it in the political field on a large scale,[250] the concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) has a long history in Indian religious thought, with it being considered the highest dharma (ethical value virtue), a precept to be observed towards all living beings (sarvbhuta), at all times (sarvada), in all respects (sarvatha), in action, words and thought.[251] Gandhi explains his philosophy and ideas about ahimsa as a political means in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth.[252][253][254] Gandhi was criticised for refusing to protest the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Udham Singh and Rajguru.[255][256] He was accused of accepting a deal with the King's representative Irwin that released civil disobedience leaders from prison and accepted the death sentence against the highly popular revolutionary Bhagat Singh, who at his trial had replied, "Revolution is the inalienable right of mankind".[118] In a post-war interview in 1946, he said, "Hitler killed five million Jews, it is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife, they should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs... It would have aroused the world and the people of Germany... As it is they succumbed anyway in their millions."[259] Gandhi believed this act of "collective suicide", in response to the Holocaust, "would have been heroism".[260] On inter-religious relations According to Kumaraswamy, Gandhi initially supported Arab demands with respect to Palestine, he justified this support by invoking Islam, stating that "non-Muslims cannot acquire sovereign jurisdiction" in Jazirat al-Arab (Arabian Peninsula).[261] These arguments, states Kumaraswamy, were a part of his political strategy to win Muslim support during the Khilafat movement; in post-Khilafat period, Gandhi neither negated Jewish demands nor did he use Islamic texts or history to support Muslim claims against Israel. Gandhi's silence after the Khilafat period may represent an evolution in his understanding of the conflicting religious claims over Palestine, according to Kumaraswamy;[261] in 1938, Gandhi spoke in favour of Jewish claims. In March 1946, he said to the Member of British Parliament Sidney Silverman, "if the Arabs have a claim to Palestine, the Jews have a prior claim", a position very different from his earlier stance.[261][262] Gandhi discussed the persecution of the Jews in Germany and the emigration of Jews from Europe to Palestine through his lens of Satyagraha.[169][263] In 1937, Gandhi discussed Zionism with his close Jewish friend Hermann Kallenbach,[264] he said that Zionism was not the right answer to the problems faced by Jews[265] and instead recommended Satyagraha. Gandhi thought the Zionists in Palestine represented European imperialism and used violence to achieve their goals; he argued that "the Jews should disclaim any intention of realizing their aspiration under the protection of arms and should rely wholly on the goodwill of Arabs. No exception can possibly be taken to the natural desire of the Jews to find a home in Palestine, but they must wait for its fulfillment till Arab opinion is ripe for it."[169] Gandhi believed there were material contradictions between Hinduism and Islam, and he shared his thoughts on Quran and on Muslims many times,[272] he stated in 1925, for example, that he has not criticised the teachings of the Quran, but he does criticise the interpreters of Quran. Gandhi believed that numerous interpreters have interpreted it to fit their preconceived notions,[273] he believed Muslims should welcome criticism of Quran, because "every true scripture only gains from criticism". Gandhi criticised Muslims who "betray intolerance of criticism by a non-Muslim of anything related to Islam", such as the penalty of stoning to death under Islamic law. To Gandhi, Islam has "nothing to fear from criticism even if it be unreasonable".[274][272] According to him, Islam like communism was too quick in resorting to violence.[275] One of the strategies Gandhi adopted was to work with Muslim leaders of pre-partition India, to oppose the British imperialism in and outside the Indian subcontinent,[97][98] after the World War I, in 1919–22, he won Muslim leadership support of Ali Brothers by backing the Khilafat Movement in favour the Islamic Caliph and his historic Ottoman Caliphate, and opposing the secular Islam supporting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. By 1924, Ataturk had ended the Caliphate, the Khilafat Movement was over, and Muslim support for Gandhi had largely evaporated.[97][276][98] In the 1940s, Gandhi pooled ideas with some Muslim leaders who sought religious harmony like him, and opposed the proposed partition of British India into India and Pakistan, for example, his close friend Badshah Khan suggested that they should work towards opening Hindu temples for Muslim prayers, and Islamic mosques for Hindu prayers, to bring the two religious groups closer.[279] Gandhi accepted this and began having Muslim prayers read in Hindu temples to play his part, but was unable to get Hindu prayers read in mosques, the Hindu nationalist groups objected and began confronting Gandhi for this one-sided practice, by shouting and demonstrating inside the Hindu temples, in the last years of his life.[280][179][281] Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs Gandhi believed that Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism were traditions of Hinduism, with shared history, rites and ideas, at other times, he acknowledged that he knew little about Buddhism other than his reading of Edwin Arnold's book on it. Based on that book, he considered Buddhism to be a reform movement and the Buddha to be a Hindu,[282] he stated he knew Jainism much more, and he credited Jains to have profoundly influenced him. Sikhism, to Gandhi, was an integral part of Hinduism, in the form of another reform movement. Sikh and Buddhist leaders disagreed with Gandhi, a disagreement Gandhi respected as a difference of opinion.[282][283] On life, society and other application of his ideas Vegetarianism, food, and animals Gandhi was brought up as a vegetarian by his devout Hindu mother,[284][285] the idea of vegetarianism is deeply ingrained in Hindu Vaishnavism and Jain traditions in India, such as in his native Gujarat, where meat is considered as a form of food obtained by violence to animals.[286][287] Gandhi's rationale for vegetarianism was largely along those found in Hindu and Jain texts. Gandhi believed that any form of food inescapably harms some form of living organism, but one should seek to understand and reduce the violence in what one consumes because "there is essential unity of all life".[285][288] Gandhi believed that some life forms are more capable of suffering, and non-violence to him meant not having the intent as well as active efforts to minimise hurt, injury or suffering to all life forms.[288] Gandhi explored food sources that reduced violence to various life forms in the food chain, he believed that slaughtering animals is unnecessary, as other sources of foods are available.[286] He also consulted with vegetarianism campaigners during his lifetime, such as with Henry Stephens Salt. Food to Gandhi was not only a source of sustaining one's body, but a source of his impact on other living beings, and one that affected his mind, character and spiritual well being.[289][290][291] He avoided not only meat, but also eggs and milk. Gandhi wrote the book The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism and wrote for the London Vegetarian Society's publication.[292] Beyond his religious beliefs, Gandhi stated another motivation for his experiments with diet, he attempted to find the most non-violent vegetarian meal that the poorest human could afford, taking meticulous notes on vegetables and fruits, and his observations with his own body and his ashram in Gujarat.[293][294] He tried fresh and dry fruits (Fruitarianism), then just sun dried fruits, before resuming his prior vegetarian diet on advice of his doctor and concerns of his friends, his experiments with food began in 1890s and continued for several decades.[293][294] For some of these experiments, Gandhi combined his own ideas with those found on diet in Indian yoga texts, he believed that each vegetarian should experiment with his or her diet because, in his studies at his ashram he saw "one man's food may be poison for another".[295][296] Gandhi championed animal rights in general. Other than making vegetarian choices, he actively campaigned against dissection studies and experimentation on live animals (vivisection) in the name of science and medical studies,[286] he considered it a violence against animals, something that inflicted pain and suffering. He wrote, "Vivisection in my opinion is the blackest of all the blackest crimes that man is at present committing against god and his fair creation."[297] Gandhi's last political protest using fasting, in January 1948. Alter states that Gandhi's fasting, vegetarianism and diet was more than a political leverage, it was a part of his experiments with self restraint and healthy living, he was "profoundly skeptical of traditional Ayurveda", encouraging it to study the scientific method and adopt its progressive learning approach. Gandhi believed yoga offered health benefits, he believed that a healthy nutritional diet based on regional foods and hygiene were essential to good health.[299] Gandhi strongly favoured the emancipation of women, and urged "the women to fight for their own self-development." He opposed purdah, child marriage, dowry and sati.[300] A wife is not a slave of the husband, stated Gandhi, but his comrade, better half, colleague and friend, according to Lyn Norvell;[300] in his own life however, according to Suruchi Thapar-Bjorkert, Gandhi's relationship with his wife were at odds with some of these values.[123] At various occasions, Gandhi credited his orthodox Hindu mother, and his wife, for first lessons in satyagraha,[301] he used the legends of Hindu goddess Sita to expound women's innate strength, autonomy and "lioness in spirit" whose moral compass can make any demon "as helpless as a goat".[301] To Gandhi, the women of India were an important part of the "swadeshi movement" (Buy Indian), and his goal of decolonising the Indian economy.[301] Some historians such as Angela Woollacott and Kumari Jayawardena state that even though Gandhi often and publicly expressed his belief in the equality of sexes, yet his vision was one of gender difference and complementarity between them. Women, to Gandhi, should be educated to be better in the domestic realm and educate the next generation, his views on women's right were less liberal and more similar to puritan-Victorian expectations of women, states Jayawardena, than other Hindu leaders with him who supported economic independence and equal gender rights in all aspects.[302][303] Brahmacharya: abstinence from sex and food Along with many other texts, Gandhi studied Bhagavad Gita while in South Africa,[304] this Hindu scripture discusses jnana yoga, bhakti yoga and karma yoga along with virtues such as non-violence, patience, integrity, lack of hypocrisy, self restraint and abstinence.[305] Gandhi began experiments with these, and in 1906 at age 37, although married and a father, he vowed to abstain from sexual relations.[304] Gandhi's experiment with abstinence went beyond sex, and extended to food, he consulted the Jain scholar Rajchandra, whom he fondly called Raychandbhai.[306] Rajchandra advised him that milk stimulated sexual passion. Gandhi began abstaining from cow's milk in 1912, and did so even when doctors advised him to consume milk.[217][307] According to Sankar Ghose, Tagore described Gandhi as someone who did not abhor sex or women, but considered sexual life as inconsistent with his moral goals.[308] Gandhi tried to test and prove to himself his brahmacharya, less than a year before his assassination in January 1948; in February 1947, he asked his confidants such as Birla and Ramakrishna if it would be wrong for him to experiment his brahmacharya oath.[308] He began his experiments by publicly asking in February for volunteer women, he progressed from first letting different volunteers to sleep in the same room but different beds, then later in the same bed but clothed, and finally sleeping naked.[309] Gandhi kept the bedroom doors open all night during these experiments.[310] According to the 1960s memoir of his grandniece Manu, Gandhi feared in early 1947 that he and she may be killed by Muslims in the run up to India's independence in August 1947, and asked her when she was 18-year-old if she wanted to help him with his experiments to test their "purity", for which she readily accepted.[311] None of the women who participated in the brahmachari experiments of Gandhi indicated that they had sex or that Gandhi behaved in any sexual way, those who went public said they felt they were sleeping with their ageing mother.[308][309][312] According to Sean Scalmer, Gandhi in his final year of life was an ascetic, looked ugly and a sickly skeletal figure, already caricatured in the Western media.[313] Gandhi's public experiments, as they progressed, were widely discussed and criticised by his family members and leading politicians. However, Gandhi said that if he would not let Manu sleep with him, it would be a sign of weakness.[311] Nirmalkumar Bose, Gandhi's Bengali interpreter, for example criticised Gandhi, not because Gandhi did anything wrong, but because Bose was concerned about the psychological effect on the women who participated in his experiments.[310] Veena Howard states Gandhi's views on brahmacharya and religious renunciation experiments were a method to confront women issues in his times.[314] Untouchability and castes Gandhi spoke out against untouchability early in his life,[315] before 1932, he and his colleagues used the term Antyaja for untouchables. One of the major speeches he made on untouchability was at Nagpur in 1920, where he called untouchability as a great evil in Hindu society; in his remarks, he stated that the phenomena of untouchability is not unique to the Hindu society, but has deeper roots because Europeans in South Africa treat "all of us, Hindus and Muslims, as untouchables; we may not reside in their midst, nor enjoy the rights which they do".[316] He called it intolerable, he stated this practice can be eradicated, Hinduism is flexible to allow this, and a concerted effort is needed to persuade it is wrong and by all to eradicate it.[316] According to Christophe Jaffrelot, while Gandhi considered untouchability is wrong and evil, he believed that caste or class are based neither on inequality nor on inferiority.[315] Gandhi believed that individuals should freely intermarry whoever they want to, but no one should expect everyone to befriend them, every individual regardless of his or her background, stated Gandhi, has a right to choose who they welcome into their home, who they befriend and who they spend time with.[315][316] In 1932, Gandhi began a new campaign to improve the lives of the untouchables, whom he started referring to as Harijans or "the children of god",[317] on 8 May 1933, Gandhi began a 21-day fast of self-purification and launched a one-year campaign to help the Harijan movement.[318] This new campaign was not universally embraced within the Dalit community. Ambedkar and his allies felt Gandhi was being paternalistic and was undermining Dalit political rights. Ambedkar described him as "devious and untrustworthy",[319] he accused Gandhi as someone who wished to retain the caste system.[136] Ambedkar and Gandhi debated their ideas and concerns, where both tried to persuade each other.[320][321] In 1935, Ambedkar announced his intentions to leave Hinduism and join Buddhism.[136] According to Sankar Ghose, the announcement shook Gandhi, who reappraised his views and wrote many essays with his views on castes, inter-marriage and what Hinduism says on the subject, these views contrasted with those of Ambedkar.[322] In actual elections of 1937, except for some seats in Mumbai where Ambekar's party won, India's untouchables voted heavily in favour of Gandhi's campaign and his party, the Congress.[323] Nai Talim, basic education Gandhi rejected the colonial Western format of education system, he stated that it led to disdain for manual work, generally created an elite administrative bureaucracy. Gandhi favoured an education system with far greater emphasis on learning skills in practical and useful work, one that included physical, mental and spiritual studies, his methodology sought to treat all professions equal and pay everyone the same.[326][327] Gandhi called his ideas Nai Talim (literally, 'new education'), he believed that the Western style education violated and destroyed the indigenous cultures. A different basic education model, he believed, would lead to better self awareness, prepare people to treat all work equally respectable and valued, and lead to a society with less social diseases.[328][329] Nai Talim evolved out of his experiences at the Tolstoy Farm in South Africa, and Gandhi attempted to formulate the new system at the Sevagram ashram after 1937.[327] Nehru government's vision of an industrialised, centrally planned economy after 1947 had scant place for Gandhi's village-oriented approach.[330] Swaraj, self-rule According to Gandhi, a non-violent state is like an "ordered anarchy";[331] in a society of mostly non-violent individuals, those who are violent will sooner or later accept discipline or leave the community, stated Gandhi.[331] He emphasised a society where individuals believed more in learning about their duties and responsibilities, not demanded rights and privileges, on returning from South Africa, when Gandhi received a letter asking for his participation in writing a world charter for human rights, he responded saying, "in my experience, it is far more important to have a charter for human duties."[332] Swaraj to Gandhi did not mean transferring colonial era British power brokering system, favours-driven, bureaucratic, class exploitative structure and mindset into Indian hands, he warned such a transfer would still be English rule, just without the Englishman. "This is not the Swaraj I want", said Gandhi.[333][334] Tewari states that Gandhi saw democracy as more than a system of government; it meant promoting both individuality and the self-discipline of the community. Democracy meant settling disputes in a nonviolent manner; it required freedom of thought and expression. For Gandhi, democracy was a way of life.[335] Hindu nationalism and revivalism Some scholars state Gandhi supported a religiously diverse India,[336] while others state that the Muslim leaders who championed the partition and creation of a separate Muslim Pakistan considered Gandhi to be Hindu nationalist or revivalist,[337][338] for example, in his letters to Mohammad Iqbal, Jinnah accused Gandhi to be favouring a Hindu rule and revivalism, that Gandhi led Indian National Congress was a fascist party.[339] In an interview with C.F. Andrews, Gandhi stated that if we believe all religions teach the same message of love and peace between all human beings, then there is neither any rationale nor need for proselytisation or attempts to convert people from one religion to another.[340] Gandhi opposed missionary organisations who criticised Indian religions then attempted to convert followers of Indian religions to Islam or Christianity; in Gandhi's view, those who attempt to convert a Hindu, "they must harbour in their breasts the belief that Hinduism is an error" and that their own religion is "the only true religion".[340][341] Gandhi believed that people who demand religious respect and rights must also show the same respect and grant the same rights to followers of other religions, he stated that spiritual studies must encourage "a Hindu to become a better Hindu, a Mussalman to become a better Mussalman, and a Christian a better Christian."[340] According to Gandhi, religion is not about what a man believes, it is about how a man lives, how he relates to other people, his conduct towards others, and one's relationship to one's conception of god,[342] it is not important to convert or to join any religion, but it is important to improve one's way of life and conduct by absorbing ideas from any source and any religion, believed Gandhi.[342] Gandhian economics To Gandhi, the economic philosophy that aims at "greatest good for the greatest number" was fundamentally flawed, and his alternative proposal sarvodaya set its aim at "greatest good for all", he believed that the best economic system not only cared to lift the "poor, less skilled, of impoverished background" but also empowered to lift the "rich, highly skilled, of capital means and landlords". Violence against any human being, born poor or rich, is wrong believed Gandhi,[343][345] he stated that mandate theory of majoritarian democracy shouldn't be pushed to absurd extremes, individual freedoms should never be denied, and no person should ever be made a social or economic slave to the "resolutions of majorities".[346] Gandhi challenged Nehru and the modernizers in the late 1930s who called for rapid industrialisation on the Soviet model; Gandhi denounced that as dehumanising and contrary to the needs of the villages where the great majority of the people lived.[347] After Gandhi's assassination, Nehru led India in accordance with his personal socialist convictions.[348][349] Historian Kuruvilla Pandikattu says "it was Nehru's vision, not Gandhi's, that was eventually preferred by the Indian State."[350] Gandhi called for ending poverty through improved agriculture and small-scale cottage rural industries.[351] Gandhi's economic thinking disagreed with Marx, according to the political theory scholar and economist Bhikhu Parekh. Gandhi refused to endorse the view that economic forces are best understood as "antagonistic class interests",[352] he argued that no man can degrade or brutalise the other without degrading and brutalising himself, that sustainable economic growth comes from service, not from exploitation. Further, believed Gandhi, that in a free nation, victims exist only when they co-operate with their oppressor, and an economic and political system that offered increasing alternatives gave power of choice to the poorest man.[352] Gandhism designates the ideas and principles Gandhi promoted. Of central importance is nonviolent resistance. A Gandhian can mean either an individual who follows, or a specific philosophy which is attributed to, Gandhism.[89] M. M. Sankhdher argues that Gandhism is not a systematic position in metaphysics or in political philosophy. Rather, it is a political creed, an economic doctrine, a religious outlook, a moral precept, and especially, a humanitarian world view, it is an effort not to systematise wisdom but to transform society and is based on an undying faith in the goodness of human nature.[354] However Gandhi himself did not approve of the notion of "Gandhism", as he explained in 1936: Literary works Gandhi was a prolific writer. One of Gandhi's earliest publications, Hind Swaraj, published in Gujarati in 1909, became "the intellectual blueprint" for India's independence movement, the book was translated into English the next year, with a copyright legend that read "No Rights Reserved".[356] For decades he edited several newspapers including Harijan in Gujarati, in Hindi and in the English language; Indian Opinion while in South Africa and, Young India, in English, and Navajivan, a Gujarati monthly, on his return to India. Later, Navajivan was also published in Hindi; in addition, he wrote letters almost every day to individuals and newspapers.[357] Gandhi also wrote several books including his autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Gujarātī "સત્યના પ્રયોગો અથવા આત્મકથા"), of which he bought the entire first edition to make sure it was reprinted.[319] His other autobiographies included: Satyagraha in South Africa about his struggle there, Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, a political pamphlet, and a paraphrase in Gujarati of John Ruskin's Unto This Last.[358] This last essay can be considered his programme on economics, he also wrote extensively on vegetarianism, diet and health, religion, social reforms, etc. Gandhi usually wrote in Gujarati, though he also revised the Hindi and English translations of his books.[359] Gandhi's complete works were published by the Indian government under the name The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi in the 1960s. The writings comprise about 50,000 pages published in about a hundred volumes; in 2000, a revised edition of the complete works sparked a controversy, as it contained a large number of errors and omissions.[360] The Indian government later withdrew the revised edition.[361] Legacy and depictions in popular culture • The word Mahatma, while often mistaken for Gandhi's given name in the West, is taken from the Sanskrit words maha (meaning Great) and atma (meaning Soul). Rabindranath Tagore is said to have accorded the title to Gandhi.[362] In his autobiography, Gandhi nevertheless explains that he never valued the title, and was often pained by it.[363][364][365] • Innumerable streets, roads and localities in India are named after M.K.Gandhi, these include M.G.Road (the main street of a number of Indian cities including Mumbai and Bangalore), Gandhi Market (near Sion, Mumbai) and Gandhinagar (the capital of the state of Gujarat, Gandhi's birthplace).[366] Followers and international influence Statue of Mahatma Gandhi at York University. Mahatma Gandhi on a 1969 postage stamp of the Soviet Union Gandhi influenced important leaders and political movements. Leaders of the civil rights movement in the United States, including Martin Luther King Jr., James Lawson, and James Bevel, drew from the writings of Gandhi in the development of their own theories about nonviolence.[367][368][369] King said "Christ gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics."[370] King sometimes referred to Gandhi as "the little brown saint."[371] Anti-apartheid activist and former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was inspired by Gandhi.[372] Others include Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan,[373] Steve Biko, and Aung San Suu Kyi.[374] In his early years, the former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was a follower of the nonviolent resistance philosophy of Gandhi.[372] Bhana and Vahed commented on these events as "Gandhi inspired succeeding generations of South African activists seeking to end White rule, this legacy connects him to Nelson a sense Mandela completed what Gandhi started."[375] Gandhi's life and teachings inspired many who specifically referred to Gandhi as their mentor or who dedicated their lives to spreading Gandhi's ideas; in Europe, Romain Rolland was the first to discuss Gandhi in his 1924 book Mahatma Gandhi, and Brazilian anarchist and feminist Maria Lacerda de Moura wrote about Gandhi in her work on pacifism. In 1931, notable European physicist Albert Einstein exchanged written letters with Gandhi, and called him "a role model for the generations to come" in a letter writing about him.[376] Einstein said of Gandhi: Mahatma Gandhi's life achievement stands unique in political history, he has invented a completely new and humane means for the liberation war of an oppressed country, and practised it with greatest energy and devotion. The moral influence he had on the consciously thinking human being of the entire civilised world will probably be much more lasting than it seems in our time with its overestimation of brutal violent forces, because lasting will only be the work of such statesmen who wake up and strengthen the moral power of their people through their example and educational works. We may all be happy and grateful that destiny gifted us with such an enlightened contemporary, a role model for the generations to come. In addition, the British musician John Lennon referred to Gandhi when discussing his views on nonviolence,[379] at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in 2007, former US Vice-President and environmentalist Al Gore spoke of Gandhi's influence on him.[380] Obama in September 2009 said that his biggest inspiration came from Gandhi, his reply was in response to the question 'Who was the one person, dead or live, that you would choose to dine with?'. He continued that "He's somebody I find a lot of inspiration in, he inspired Dr. King with his message of nonviolence, he ended up doing so much and changed the world just by the power of his ethics."[382] Time Magazine named The 14th Dalai Lama, Lech Wałęsa, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela as Children of Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to nonviolence.[383] The Mahatma Gandhi District in Houston, Texas, United States, an ethnic Indian enclave, is officially named after Gandhi.[384] Global days that celebrate Gandhi In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly declared Gandhi's birthday 2 October as "the International Day of Nonviolence."[385] First proposed by UNESCO in 1948, as the School Day of Nonviolence and Peace (DENIP in Spanish),[386] 30 January is observed as the School Day of Nonviolence and Peace in schools of many countries[387] In countries with a Southern Hemisphere school calendar, it is observed on 30 March.[387] Monument to M. K. Gandhi in Madrid, Spain. Gandhi did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize, although he was nominated five times between 1937 and 1948, including the first-ever nomination by the American Friends Service Committee,[390] though he made the short list only twice, in 1937 and 1947.[391] Decades later, the Nobel Committee publicly declared its regret for the omission, and admitted to deeply divided nationalistic opinion denying the award.[391] Gandhi was nominated in 1948 but was assassinated before nominations closed, that year, the committee chose not to award the peace prize stating that "there was no suitable living candidate" and later research shows that the possibility of awarding the prize posthumously to Gandhi was discussed and that the reference to no suitable living candidate was to Gandhi.[391] Geir Lundestad, Secretary of Norwegian Nobel Committee in 2006 said, "The greatest omission in our 106-year history is undoubtedly that Mahatma Gandhi never received the Nobel Peace prize. Gandhi could do without the Nobel Peace prize, whether Nobel committee can do without Gandhi is the question".[392] When the 14th Dalai Lama was awarded the Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi".[391] Father of the Nation Indians widely describe Gandhi as the father of the nation,[8][9] the title "The Father of the Nation" for Gandhi is not an official title and has not been officially accorded by Government of India. Origin of this title is traced back to a radio address (on Singapore radio) on 6 July 1944 by Subhash Chandra Bose where Bose addressed Gandhi as "The Father of the Nation", on 28 April 1947, Sarojini Naidu during a conference also referred Gandhi as "Father of the Nation".[393][394] Film, theatre and literature A 5 hours, 9 minutes long biographical documentary film,[395] Mahatma: Life of Gandhi, 1869–1948, made by Vithalbhai Jhaveri[396] in 1968, quoting Gandhi's words and using black & white archival footage and photographs, captures the history of those times. Ben Kingsley portrayed him in Richard Attenborough's 1982 film Gandhi[397], which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The 1996 film The Making of the Mahatma documented Gandhi's time in South Africa and his transformation from an inexperienced barrister to recognised political leader.[398] Gandhi was a central figure in the 2006 Bollywood comedy film Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Jahnu Barua's Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara (I did not kill Gandhi), places contemporary society as a backdrop with its vanishing memory of Gandhi's values as a metaphor for the senile forgetfulness of the protagonist of his 2005 film,[399] writes Vinay Lal.[400] Anti-Gandhi themes have also been showcased through films and plays, the 1995 Marathi play Gandhi Virudh Gandhi explored the relationship between Gandhi and his son Harilal. The 2007 film, Gandhi, My Father was inspired on the same theme, the 1989 Marathi play Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy and the 1997 Hindi play Gandhi Ambedkar criticised Gandhi and his principles.[401][402] Several biographers have undertaken the task of describing Gandhi's life, among them are D. G. Tendulkar with his Mahatma. Life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in eight volumes, and Pyarelal and Sushila Nayyar with their Mahatma Gandhi in 10 volumes. The 2010 biography, Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India by Joseph Lelyveld contained controversial material speculating about Gandhi's sexual life.[403] Lelyveld, however, stated that the press coverage "grossly distort[s]" the overall message of the book,[404] the 2014 film Welcome Back Gandhi takes a fictionalised look at how Gandhi might react to modern day India.[405] In November 2016, the play Yugpurush: Mahatma na Mahatma premiered in Mumbai, India,[406] the play depicts the spiritual guidance that Gandhi received from Shrimad Rajchandra. Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Gandhi, was in the audience for the event. He said, "What is important for me is the humility that Shrimadji instilled in Bapu."[407] Current impact within India India, with its rapid economic modernisation and urbanisation, has rejected Gandhi's economics[408] but accepted much of his politics and continues to revere his memory. Reporter Jim Yardley notes that, "modern India is hardly a Gandhian nation, if it ever was one, his vision of a village-dominated economy was shunted aside during his lifetime as rural romanticism, and his call for a national ethos of personal austerity and nonviolence has proved antithetical to the goals of an aspiring economic and military power." By contrast Gandhi is "given full credit for India's political identity as a tolerant, secular democracy."[409] Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, is a national holiday in India, Gandhi Jayanti. Gandhi's image also appears on paper currency of all denominations issued by Reserve Bank of India, except for the one rupee note.[410] Gandhi's date of death, 30 January, is commemorated as a Martyrs' Day in India.[411] There are three temples in India dedicated to Gandhi.[412] One is located at Sambalpur in Orissa and the second at Nidaghatta village near Kadur in Chikmagalur district of Karnataka and the third one at Chityal in the district of Nalgonda, Telangana.[412][413] The Gandhi Memorial in Kanyakumari resembles central Indian Hindu temples and the Tamukkam or Summer Palace in Madurai now houses the Mahatma Gandhi Museum.[414] Seminars on Gandhi • Regional • National • The Chair for Gandhian Studies & Research, University of Calicut, Kerala, in collaboration with the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi has organised a National Seminar on the topic "Mahatma Gandhi in Indian Literature" on 6 and 7 February 2017.[415] • International See also 3. ^ "Gandhi" Archived 14 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine.. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. 28. ^ Gandhi, Rajmohan (2006) pp. 2, 8, 269 40. ^ a b Gandhi (1940). Chapter "At the High School" Archived 30 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine.. 41. ^ Gandhi (1940). Chapter "Playing the Husband" Archived 1 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine.. 43. ^ a b Gandhi before India. Vintage Books. 4 April 2015. p. 29. ISBN 978-0-385-53230-3. 49. ^ Gandhi, Rajmohan (2006) pp. 20–21. 52. ^ a b c d Brown (1991). 53. ^ Herman (2008), pp. 82–83 54. ^ Herman (2008), pp. 82–83 60. ^ a b Fischer (2002) 63. ^ Herman (2008), pp. 87–88 65. ^ Herman (2008), pp. 88–89 66. ^ "Wikisource link to March 1897 Memorial". Wikisource link to The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. Wikisource. : correspondence and newspaper accounts of the incident. 67. ^ Herman (2008), page 125 68. ^ Herman (2008) chapter 6. 71. ^ Tolstoy, Leo (14 December 1908). "A Letter to A Hindu: The Subjection of India-Its Cause and Cure". The Literature Network. The Literature Network. Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2012. THE HINDU KURAL 73. ^ Charles R. DiSalvo (2013). M.K. Gandhi, Attorney at Law: The Man before the Mahatma. pp. 14–15. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. 76. ^ Herman (2008), pp. 88–89 78. ^ a b c Herman (2008), pp. 136–137. 91. ^ Gandhi, Rajmohan (2006) pp. 196–97. 95. ^ a b c Minault, Gail (1982) The Khilafat Movement Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India, Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231050720, pages 68–72, 78–82, 96–102, 108–109 96. ^ Minault, Gail (1982) The Khilafat Movement Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India, Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231050720, pages 4–8 102. ^ Brown (1991) pp. 140–47. 103. ^ Minault, Gail (1982) The Khilafat Movement Religious Symbolism and Political Mobilization in India, Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231050720, pages 113–116 113. ^ Desai, p. 89. 114. ^ Shashi, p. 9. 115. ^ Desai, p. 131. 117. ^ a b Gandhi 1990, p. 172. 120. ^ Hatt (2002), p. 33. 128. ^ Herman (2008) pp. 375–77. 139. ^ Gandhi 1990, p. 246. 141. ^ Gandhi 1990, pp. 277–281. 147. ^ Gandhi 1990, p. 309. 157. ^ Shashi, p. 13. 158. ^ Reprinted in Fischer (2002), pp. 106–08. 161. ^ Jack, p. 418. 163. ^ Wolpert, Chapter 1. Archived 21 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine., Oxford University Press 167. ^ Wolpert, Oxford University Press, p. 7. 173. ^ Singh, M. K. (2009). Encyclopaedia of Indian War of Independence (1857–1947) (Set of 19 Vols.). Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-261-3745-9. 174. ^ Jain, 1996, pp. 45–47. 202. ^ Crib (1985). 214. ^ Gandhi, Mahatma. Gandhi: An Autobiography (Beacon Press ed.). pp. 63–65. ISBN 0807059099. 216. ^ Gandhi, Mahatma (June 1930). "Modern Review". 255. ^ Mahatma Gandhi on Bhagat Singh. 257. ^ Wolpert, p. 197. 265. ^ Jack, p. 317. 292. ^ Wolpert, p. 22. 317. ^ Coward, Harold G. (2003). Indian Critiques of Gandhi. SUNY Press. pp. 52–3. ISBN 978-0-7914-5910-2. 318. ^ Desai, pp. 230–89. 340. ^ a b c Singh AR; Singh SA (2004). "Gandhi on religion, faith and conversion: secular blueprint relevant today". Mens Sana Monographs. 2 (1): 79–88. PMC 3400300Freely accessible. PMID 22815610. 363. ^ Desai, p. viii. 406. ^ "Yugpurush". Yugpurush. Shrimad Rajchandra Mission Dharampur. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016. 407. ^ "Play looks at a scholar who shaped Mahatma Gandhi's spiritual journey". The Times of India. Times News Network. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016. 415. ^ Invitation Letter of a Seminar published by the Chair for Gandhain Studies & Research, University of Calicut Primary sources External links
Preventing Cat Parasites Whilst we enjoy sharing our homes with our cats, unwanted guests in the form of feline parasites are much less welcome! Whilst many parasites are specific to cats, some can also be damaging to human health so it is important for both the people and cats in your household to try to prevent parasitic infections from occurring. What are Parasites? According to the dictionary, a parasite is “an organism that lives and feeds on a different species and causes harm to its host”. Common parasites to affect cats include external parasites like fleas and ticks- and internal (intestinal) parasites like roundworms and tapeworms. How do they get into my home? Fleas and ticks usually get into the home as a passenger in your cat’s fur (or in the fur of other cats or dogs visiting your house). You can even potentially bring fleas into the house yourself on your shoes and clothes. Fleas lay eggs which can lie dormant in your carpets for months before hatching and infecting your pet. Ticks live in long grass and attach to cats as they brush alongside. They can look like small warts when attached to your cat. Some ticks can also transmit illnesses such as Lyme disease. Most tick species live entirely on your cat andwill not infest your home. Roundworms caninfect your cat either when she ingests worm eggs from an area which has been contaminated with infected cat faeces or when she eats a rodent which is itself infected with roundworms. Kittens also can catch roundworms from their mothers via her milk. Tapeworms infect cats when they either ingest an infected rodent when hunting or infected fleas when grooming. What can I do to prevent them? You can get the best anti-flea and anti-tick medication from your vet which can help with prevention . “Spot on” treatments which are applied on the back of your cat’s neck are very popular due to their ease of use but other treatments such as tablets and sprays are available.If your cat already has fleas you will also need to treat your house with an insecticide spray. Follow the instructions carefully and never spray these onto your cat or near fish tanks as they can be harmful. If your cat already has a tick, it can be removed using a tick removal tool. Never just pull on the tick as you may leave its mouthparts in your cat’s skin causing in infection. Intestinal parasites: Your cat will need regular deworming medication from your vet to help prevent intestinal parasite infestation. Because roundworms are initially caught from their mother, kittens require deworming from an early age (3 weeks old). If your cat has fleas or is a hunter, she must also be treated for tapeworms. The good news is that many worming medications treat both types of worm- so only one dose is needed! Ask your vet to recommend the best wormer for your cat and how often to treat her. Whilst parasites are unpleasant both for your cat and for you, following a flea and worm prevention programme recommended by your vet means they will not become troublesome for your feline friend. Cat diarrhoea: what you can do Cat diarrhoea: what you can do
Beat music explained Cultural Origins:Late 1950s – early 1960s, United Kingdom Popularity:Mainstream popularity worldwide from 1964-1967 Regional Scenes:Merseybeat (Merseyside) Brumbeat (Birmingham) Nederbeat (Netherlands) Tottenham Sound (London) VIA (Soviet Union) Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat (after bands from Liverpool and nearby areas beside the River Mersey) is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll (mainly Chuck Berry guitar style and the midtempo beat of artists like Buddy Holly), doo-wop, skiffle and R&B. The genre provided many of the bands responsible for the British Invasion of the American pop charts starting in 1964, and provided the model for many important developments in pop and rock music, including the format of the rock group around lead, rhythm and bass guitars with drums. Use of the term The exact origins of the terms 'beat music' and 'Merseybeat' are uncertain. Beat music seems to have had little to do with the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s, and more to do with driving rhythms, which the bands had adopted from their rock and roll, rhythm and blues and soul music influences. As the initial wave of rock and roll declined in the later 1950s, "big beat" music, later shortened to "beat", became a live dance alternative to the balladeers like Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard who were dominating the charts.[1] The name Mersey Beat was used for a Liverpool music magazine founded in 1961 by Bill Harry. Harry claims to have coined the term "based on a policeman's beat and not that of the music". The band the Pacifics were renamed the Mersey Beats in February 1962 by Bob Wooler, MC at the Cavern Club and in April that year they became the Merseybeats.[2] With the rise of the Beatles in 1963, the terms Mersey sound and Merseybeat were applied to bands and singers from Liverpool, and this was the first time in British pop music that a sound and a location were linked together.[3] The equivalent scenes in Birmingham and London were described as Brum beat and the Tottenham Sound respectively.[4] The most distinctive characteristic of the music was the strong beat, using the backbeat common to rock and roll and rhythm and blues, but often with a driving emphasis on all the beats of 4/4 bar.[5] The rhythm itself—described by Alan Clayson as "a changeless four-four offbeat on the snare drum"—was developed in the clubs in Hamburg, West Germany, where many English groups, including the Beatles, performed in the early 1960s and where it was known as the mach schau (make show) beat. The 8/8 rhythm was flexible enough to be adopted for songs from a range of genres. In addition, according to music writer Dave Laing,[6] Beat groups usually had simple guitar-dominated line-ups, with vocal harmonies and catchy tunes.[7] The most common instrumentation of beat groups featured lead, rhythm and bass guitars plus drums, as popularized by the Beatles, the Searchers, and others.[1] Beat groups—even those with a separate lead singer—often sang both verses and choruses in close harmony, resembling doo wop, with nonsense syllables in the backing vocals.[8] In the late 1950s, a flourishing culture of groups began to emerge, often out of the declining skiffle scene, in major urban centres in the UK like Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London. This was particularly true in Liverpool, where it has been estimated that there were around 350 different bands active, often playing ballrooms, concert halls and clubs.[9] Liverpool was perhaps uniquely placed within Britain to be the point of origin of a new form of music. Commentators have pointed to a combination of local solidarity, industrial decline, social deprivation, and the existence of a large population of Irish origin, the influence of which has been detected in Beat music. It was also a major port with links to America, which made for much greater access to American records and instruments like guitars, which could not easily be imported due to trade restrictions.[10] As a result, Beat bands were heavily influenced by American groups of the era, such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets (from which group the Beatles derived their name, combining it with a pun on the beat in their music), and to a lesser extent by British rock and roll groups such as the Shadows.[11] After the national success of the Beatles in Britain from 1962, a number of Liverpool performers were able to follow them into the charts, including Gerry & The Pacemakers, the Searchers, and Cilla Black. The first act who were not from Liverpool or managed by Brian Epstein to break through in the UK were Freddie and the Dreamers, who were based in Manchester, a short distance away,[12] as were Herman's Hermits and the Hollies.[13] Outside of Liverpool many local scenes were less influenced by rock and roll and more by the rhythm and blues and later directly by the blues. These included bands from Birmingham who were often grouped with the beat movement, the most successful being the Spencer Davis Group and the Moody Blues. Similar blues influenced bands who broke out from local scenes to national prominence were the Animals from Newcastle and Them from Belfast.[14] From London, the term Tottenham Sound was largely based around the Dave Clark Five, but other London-based British rhythm and blues bands who benefited from the beat boom of this era included the Rolling Stones, the Kinks and the Yardbirds.[15] British Invasion See main article: British Invasion. The term "British Invasion" was coined by T.V. reporter Walter Cronkite to describe the Beatles' arrival in the United States and the outbreak of Beatlemania in 1964. Their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show soon after led to chart success. During the next two years, the Animals, Petula Clark, the Dave Clark Five, the Rolling Stones, Donovan, Peter and Gordon, Manfred Mann, Freddie and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, Herman’s Hermits, and the Troggs would have one or more number one singles in America.[16] Decline and influence By 1967 beat music was beginning to sound out of date, particularly compared with the "harder edged" blues rock that was beginning to emerge. Most of the groups that had not already disbanded, like the Beatles, moved into different forms of rock music and pop music, including psychedelic rock and eventually progressive rock.[17] Beat was a major influence on the American garage rock[18] and folk rock movements,[19] and would be a source of inspiration for subsequent rock music subgenres, including Britpop in the 1990s.[20] Notable artists Other British beat groups See also External links Notes and References 1. B. Longhurst, Popular Music and Society (Polity, 2nd edn., 2007),, p. 98. 2. B. Eder and R. Unterberger, "The Merseybeats", Allmusic, retrieved 16 June 2009. 3. Book: [ The Beat Goes on: Liverpool, Popular Music and the Changing City (editors Marion Leonard, Robert Strachan)]. 11. Ian Inglis. Historical approaches to Merseybeat. Liverpool University Press. 2010. 20 June 2013. 6. Book: [ Britpop and the English Music Tradition (editors Andy Bennett, Jon Stratton)]. 41–46. Jon Stratton. Englishing Popular Music in the 1960s. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2010. 2010. 2 July 2013. 7. J. Shepherd, Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Volume II: Performance and Production (Continuum, 2003),, p. 78. 8. [Nell Irvin Painter] 9. Mersey Beat - the founders' story 10. R. Stakes, "Those boys: the rise of Mersey beat", in S. Wade, ed., Gladsongs and Gatherings: Poetry and its Social Context in Liverpool Since the 1960s (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2001),, pp. 157–66. 11. W. Everett, The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001),, pp. 37–8. 12. Daily Telegraph 13. V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra, and S. T. Erlewine, All Music Guide to Rock: the Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul (Backbeat Books, 2002),, p. 532. 14. I. Chambers, Urban Rhythms: Pop Music and Popular Culture (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1985),, p. 75. 15. J. R. Covach and G. MacDonald Boone. Understanding Rock: Essays in Musical Analysis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997),, p. 60. 16. Web site: British Invasion. Encyclopædia Britannica. 23 January 2016. 17. E. Macan, Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997),, p. 11. 19. R. Unterberger, "Merseybeat", retrieved 5 February 2011. 20. D. B. Scott, "The Britpop sound", in A. Bennett and J. Stratton, eds., Britpop and the English Music Tradition (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2010),, pp. 103-122. 21. "Merseybeat (Top Artists)"
Have you noticed that bugs are eating some of the flowers and vegetables that you planted? If so, you are more than likely thinking about treating their presence with pesticides. You probably don’t know that the pesticides you treat your garden pests with will also kill the insects that are beneficial to your garden. Did you know that there are beneficial insects in the garden? They’re not all evil creepy-crawlies. These insects feed off of the insects that are damaging your vegetables and other plants and act as a sort of natural form of pest control. Below is a list of insects that are helpful in your garden and why they are beneficial. If you have almost any kind of fruit, vegetable, or flower growing, you have probably seen a lacewing hanging around in your garden. It is also known as an aphid lion because the larvae feed on aphids, as well as on arachnids and other soft-bodied garden pests. The adults usually feed off of honeydew (which is secreted by aphids) and pollen. Some of the adults continue feeding off other insects. There are over 1,200 species of the lacewing globally. Approximately 85 species are found in North America. The adults have lacey wings that are transparent, light green bodies, and long antennae. The larvae are brown with flat bodies. Garden pests lacewing-455965_1280 Good Garden Pests – Lacewing Lady beetles, better known as lady bugs, are also good for your garden. Adult lady beetles will eat hundreds of garden pests before they can lay their eggs. They lay eggs on plants that are infested with pests to target the damaging populations. Lady beetles can spread 1,000 eggs in a few months. It only takes four days for these eggs to hatch, and the bugs lay eggs from spring to early summer. North America is home to over 450 species of ladybugs. You have probably mistaken this next bug as a pest because you have to be careful when handling it. The assassin bug will bite you if you aren’t careful, and the bite can be painful. The saliva of the assassin bug contains toxins that paralyze insect prey and liquefies bugs’ insides. These insects have the ability to fool their prey in order to catch it; they can camouflage themselves in dead bugs’ carcasses to attract a meal. Over 100 types of these bugs can be found in North America. Assassin Bug The praying mantis is another familiar face in the garden that can help in keeping pests at bay. A praying mantis is a large insect that is commonly mistaken as a predator in your garden, but they are actually more beneficial than most other insects. They feed on most pests. However, when a praying mantis is hungry, it will feed on other beneficial insects as well. For the most part, it doesn’t have a specific type of insect that it targets. North America is home to 20 different species. When you spray pesticides on your garden, it kills these good insects as well. The pests will usually come back before the beneficial insects do. If you come across any of these helpful bugs while looking around in the garden, let them stay where they are. You should also let these insects feed on the pests and try not to use pesticides if you can avoid them. Avoid handling these bugs; there are a few that will bite you, but they are not venomous. 1. Praying mantis are my favorite type of bug! But I haven’t seen one in years, so sad! Walking sticks are my second, but again, haven’t seen one since I was a child living in the country =) • Sorry for the delay, I thought I sent this. Yes they are petty awesome. You can buy a cocoon at the garden center near me that you put in your garden and when it hatches HUNDREDS of them emerge. It’s pretty amazing. Thanks for commenting. 2. praying mantis ROCK!!! I love your site Matt. Thanks for stopping by my website so I could find your gardening site. Leave a Reply
The word 'sari' evolved from the Prakrit word 'sattika' as mentioned in earliest Jain and Buddhist & Hindu literature. The history of Indian clothing trace the sari back to the Indus Vallery Civilization, which flourished during 2800-1800 BCE around the western part of the Indian Sub-Continent. The earliest known depiction of the saree in the Indian subcontinent is the statue of an Indus valley priest wearing a drape called "Dhooti" (Dhoti). Ancient Tamil poetry, such as the Silappadhikaram and the Kadambari by BanaBhtta, describes women in exquisite drapery or saree. In ancient Indian tradition and the Natya Shastra (an ancient Indian treatise describing ancient dance and costumes), the Navel of the Supreme Being is considered to be the source of life and creativity, hence the midriff is to be left bare by the saree. Some costume historians believe that the men's Dhooti, which is the oldest Indian draped garment, is the forerunner of the sari. They say that until the 14th century, the dhoti was worn by both men and women. Other sources say that everyday costume consisted of a dhoti or lungi (sarong), combined with a breast band and a veil or wrap that could be used to cover the upper body or head. The two-piece Kerala Mundum Neryathum (mundu, a dhooti or sarong, neryath, a shawl, in Malayalam is a survival of ancient Indian clothing styles, the one-piece sari is a modern innovation, created by combining the two pieces of the mundum neryathum. One point of particular controversy is the history of the "Choli", or sari blouse, and the petticoat. Some researchers state that these were unknown before the British arrived in India, and that they were introduced to satisfy Victorian ideas of modesty. Previously, women only wore one draped cloth and casually exposed the upper body and breasts. Other historians point to much textual and artistic evidence for various forms of breastband and upper-body shawl. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it is indeed documented that women from many communities wore only the sari and exposed the upper part of the body till the 20th century. Poetic references from works like "Shilappadikaram" indicate that during the "Sangam" period in ancient Tamil Nadu, a single piece of clothing served as both lower garment and head covering, leaving the bosom and midriff completely uncovered. In Kerala there are many references to women being bare-breasted, including many pictures by Raja Ravi Varma. Even today, women in some rural areas do not wear cholis.
Home Product Search Site Map Checkout Track Your Order Summer Tree Care Basics- Why Letting Some Tree Damage Stay Works It’s a little counter intuitive to suggest that summer tree damage could be a good thing. For most people, summer tree damage results in property destruction, power outages, headaches, messes, and a general pile of drama that no one wants. But, this leads the mind to an alternative, if you can swing it or stomach it, and it’s an alternative rooted in pretty sound logic. If you have a tree or two that experience some damage, even total toppling, and if you have enough property and are willing to do so, why not just leave the damage? Crazy, right? Maybe not. Read on! Trees are beacons for wildlife when alive. They provide shelter, food, a place to be, a place to stay cool, and a place to stay protected from predators. Trees alive are essential to large scale soil health- as live trees sometimes shed leaves or needles that improve soil, offer natural and beautiful mulch to smaller plants and shrubs below, have extensive root networks that provide soil stabilization and a place for underground fauna to thrive. They pull up trapped moisture from the ground and move it into the air as part of their photosynthetic system, moving the water cycle and moving air bound molecules throughout the environment. They provide oxygen for us to breathe and use our waste gas, carbon dioxide, to do so. Some trees make tasty treats like fruit, nuts, and sap for syrup. There isn’t a lot that trees don’t do that’s helpful when they’re alive. Trees are also just as amazing when they’re dead. Dead trees offer a myriad of resources to wildlife and therefore to people in their wakes. Trees that are dying or partially dead offer loads of food for birds and other wildlife. The cavities that form from dead standing wood provide priceless, rare nesting opportunities for not just rare birds, but other types of animals. Downed trees slowly decompose into the soil, and many soil bound organisms that are crucial to keeping soil healthy rely on dead trees for food- like fungi and bacteria. Wild insects use downed trees for nests, like valuable pollinating bees. Fallen trees over streams create new highways for crossings over these natural barriers. Downed trees that fall into rivers and streams change and deepen the flow of moving water as they acidify the water and break down, making healthy wetlands and streams for rare fish and other animals to thrive. The bodies of dead trees break down into soils and make food for new trees. The space opened up in a canopy of a fallen tree receives bright sunlight and opens the door for a new tree to take its place. In general, downed trees from summer storms are good and necessary things. They might seem unsightly, but the good dead trees do in the long term can trump this societal consideration. In fact, people who leave downed trees when they can notice over time a remarkable increase in the health of the plants and soil in the area, and an increase in animal life. So, think twice before you remove your dead tree. You might need it where it landed more than you think. Leave a Comment:
Skip Navigation Shaping Lives that Change the World The theater department is a place for students to gain confidence, an appreciation of the arts and a respect for their peers. Level 1 - Beginner theater students will focus on creating ensemble, theater vocabulary basics, character development and creating an appreciation for the theater. The objective of this class is to have an appreciation for theater, have a basic understanding of how it works as well as a solid idea of how an actor creates a character from the text of a playwright. The goal is to give each student a chance to experience a little bit of each aspect of the stage in hopes they find some part that they enjoy. They will end the year with a culminating project where they will write, film, edit and act in their own movie. Level 2 - Students study the art of directing and design alongside building on top of what we learned about objective and character development the first year. In the second semester, students will delve deeper into the majority of acting methods including Stanislavski, Meisner, Cohen, Hagen and Spolin. Extra-Curricular - The department produces three shows a year including a musical and two one act competition shows. The department also has a chapter of the International Thespian Society. Students involved in this department are invited to a yearly Texas Thespian conference as well as have a chance for early admission and auditions for college and scholarships. Upcoming Events
Why steeples? Submitted: 4/2/2009 Post a comment or ask a follow-up question Question: Why are steeples on the top of churches? Is it right or wrong? Answer: The purpose of steeples on church buildings was originally to serve as a bell tower and sometimes a clock tower. In the days before people had clocks or wrist watches, the ringing of the bell would signal that it was time to come to church. The bell was also used to signal other community events. Today they are mostly decorative and don't serve any practical purpose other than perhaps holding a lightning rod. We do not believe they have any moral consequences. Under the New Testament, the church is a group of people, not a building. What the building looks like that the church meets in is not relevant to the purposes of God.
Thursday, September 24, 2009 0 comentarios Rice University 0 comentarios Researchers at Columbia and Rockefeller Universities have identified cells in the stomach that regulate the release of a hormone associated with appetite. The group is the first to show that these cells, which release a hormone called ghrelin, are controlled by a circadian clock that is set by mealtime patterns. The finding, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has implications for the treatment of obesity and is a landmark in the decades-long search for the timekeepers of hunger. The scientists, led by Rae Silver, head of Columbia’s Laboratory of Neurobiology and Behavior and Helene L. and Mark N. Kaplan Professor at Barnard College, showed that ghrelin’s release whets the appetite of mice, spurring them to actively search for and consume food, even when they are not hungry. In addition to Silver, the researchers involved in the study include Barnard College senior research scientist Joseph LeSauter and collaborator Donald Pfaff at The Rockefeller University. “Circadian clocks allow animals to anticipate daily events rather than just react to them,” said LeSauter, who ran and supervised the study’s experiments. “The cells that produce ghrelin have circadian clocks that presumably synchronize the anticipation of food with metabolic cycles.” According to previous studies, people given ghrelin injections feel voraciously hungry and eat more at a buffet than they otherwise would. The new research suggests that the stomach tells the brain when to eat and that establishing a regular schedule of meals will regulate the stomach’s release of ghrelin. “If you eat all the time, ghrelin secretion will not be well controlled,” said Silver, the paper’s lead author and the principal investigator of the study. “It’s a good thing to eat meals at a regularly scheduled time of day.” The scientists show that stomach cells in mice release ghrelin into the general circulation before meal time. The hormone triggers a flurry of food seeking behavior associated with hunger and stimulates eating. LeSauter studied genetically engineered mice lacking the ghrelin-recognizing receptor and compared them with normal mice on identical feeding schedules. He found that the mice lacking the ghrelin receptor began to forage for food much later and to a lesser extent than their normal counterparts. Pfaff believes ghrelin, which travels from the stomach through the bloodstream to the brain, influences a decision-making process in brain cells. These brain cells are constantly deciding whether or not to eat, and as mealtime draws near, the presence of ghrelin increases the proportion of “yes” decisions. The research underscores that ghrelin, the only known natural appetite stimulant made outside the brain, is a promising target for drug developers. Unlike drugs that focus on satiety, those that target ghrelin could help curb appetite before dieters take their first bite. (Photo: Rae Silver, Joseph LeSauter and Donald Pfaff) Columbia University 0 comentarios (Photo: NOAA) Georgia Institute of Technology 0 comentarios Scientists have identified a genetic variation in people with type 2 diabetes that affects how the body's muscle cells respond to the hormone insulin, in a new study published in Nature Genetics. The researchers, from Imperial College London and other international institutions, say the findings highlight a new target for scientists developing treatments for diabetes. (Photo: ICL) Imperial College London 0 comentarios (Photo: U. Manchester) University of Manchester 0 comentarios Dr Robert Nudds and colleagues Drs Jonathan Codd and Bill Sellers at the Faculty of Life Sciences have found that bigger animals move three and a half times more efficiently than smaller ones. "The difference is down to having a more upright posture," says Dr Nudds. "We believe the tendons in the legs of larger animals have better elastic storage than those in smaller ones. Tendons act as a spring. In larger animals such as an elephant, the tendons may be springier returning more energy into the next step, by pinging the leg off the floor. "In addition efficiency doesn't increase continuously with body size. There is a step change between large animals such as elephants and small animals such as mice. This is down to their posture - elephants are 'uprights', while mice are 'crouchers'. "Standing up straight does have an impact." He and the team, whose results are published in PLoS ONE (Monday 7th September), analysed existing data to contribute to a larger study on animal locomotion. They compared efficiency values (the amount of movement achieved compared to metabolic energy consumed) across a range of body sizes. Instead of finding a steady increase in efficiency as animals got larger, they found a step-change, whereby all small animals are 7% efficient and all larger animals 26% efficient. Humans, which are also upright walkers, also have an efficiency rating of around 26%. While it was known that large animals moved more efficiently than smaller ones, the step change and the impact of posture was a revelation. "The big difference is that posture rather than body size determines the efficiency of locomotion," says Dr Nudds, whose study was funded by the Leverhulme Trust. "So your mother was right when she told you to stand up straight and stop slouching!" University of Manchester
The Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) explored Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages as part of NAIDOC Week 2017. The theme of NAIDOC Week is Our Languages Matter. Watch as staff from QCOSS attempt to the pronunciation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander greetings and discuss why preserving languages is important. We apologise in advance if we have been unable to pronounce words correctly. * Music credit - Chris Tamwoy, Unity to Brothers Mark Henley: So the reason we're doing this is to get a better understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as this nation's first people. Being respectful about their culture and their language and how important that is to them. The more we understand, the more we can connect with them, the better we'll be at better understanding about how we respond to the needs of the people. Marie Noy: Language I think to me is a means of communication and it does hold a certain cultural significance to different communities and we at QCOSS decided to explore Indigenous languages as part of our celebration of NAIDOC week and to highlight the many, many Indigenous languages that were once spoken in our country. Karen Murphy: This is the Kalibamu language from the Gulf of Carpentaria and around Burketown and I say good day, Mun-ya Mun-ja. Tina Fairley: This is the Yuri language from the Mackay Central Queensland region Bin-bi car-ri, g'day. Mark Henley: So, I'm doing the language group from Western Queensland which is from Yandruwandha and the word for good day is patji dritji. Kamil Shah: Language is also perhaps one of the primary ways of resistance and revival so in that way the revival of language is also the revival of ways of knowing and being in this world. Those are extraordinarily important for us in this day and age when we face such monumental problems. Scott Shearer: I'm speaking Yugambeh language from the Logan / Gold Coast region - ying-ga-rri which is hello. Julie Couper: I'm speaking the Guugu Yimithirr language from the Cook Town and Hopevale region. Ga-dii Wawu-wi. Marie Noy: The language is Wiri from the Central Queensland region and in Wiri good day it said as Bunyiba garibiri. Jen Huxley: Mita dju is good day in the Gudang dialect which is from the tip of Cape York. Laura Barnes: Meriam Mir language from the Eastern Torres Strait - maiem means hello. Fiona Hawthorne: Duungidjawi from the upper Brisbane Valley and galang meng means good day and galang dulara means good morning. Fiona Hunt: Binbee kurri this is good day from the Ganulu language which is in the Comet River in Central Queensland. Gina Muller: Balka wittaberri is word for good day in the Goreng Goreng language which is from the Bundaberg region. Fiona Hawthorne: I find it unconscionable that there are no translators available for energy retailers when their customers ring up and they may come from one of our Aboriginal language groups. Angela Massey: Gamba daru g'day from the Barrungam language which is from the Dalby / Bunya mountains region. Rose McGrath: My language is Yinangah. Yinangah is the language around central Queensland, the Longreach area and to say g'day is dhuraburra karri. Michael Cowan: Kala Lagaw Ya is a language from the Western Torres Straits. Sew ngapa is the word for welcome. Fiona Hawthorne: From the process of learning putting my tongue around some aboriginal words it's given me a greater understanding of how difficult it might be for them to try and put their tongue around some English words and make themselves understood when they ring up for assistance. Dietmar Frick: Gudamulli that means good day in Darumbal language which is from the Rockhampton region. Louise Mullins: I am doing a greeting from Wakka Wakka which is from Burnett River region. Yhurri gurri which means come this way welcome friend. Galang ngunar which means good day. Kamil Shah: We were having this discussion around how language matters at the same time as our Commonwealth government is putting up a test of ones English language capability as sort of a requirement. Shelly Karman: Gurumba bigi means good day in Jagara language spoken in the Brisbane area west of Ipswich and the Lockyer Valley. Carly Hyde: Budabai duru means good day in the Bidjara language which is from the Charleville region. Luke Baker: My language is Wangkumarra and that language is from western Queensland. Now I'm going to attempt to say good day in Wangkumarra - tharli mura. I hope that's close. Karen Murphy: Okay, I'll do it again. I can't remember three pieces of information. Scott Shearer: Ngaio bujera wahlu, I love you. Share or Print
America and Americans: The people of a country, or a continent? What does it mean to be an American, geographically and linguistically? no hay bronca mex us border We all know that the internet provides plenty to annoy and offend. Vindictive and ignorant debates rage in the comment sections of nearly any news article, no matter what it’s about. I avoid reading the comments on news stories about Mexico, which inevitably include some variation on “I’d never go to Mexico,” “It’s a failed state,” or the ever-charming “This is why we need to build a wall.” Statements like those are fodder for multiple blog posts. But in this one, I’d like to address a dispute that seems to come up often: the term America. One argument is that people from the U.S. call themselves Americans out of disrespect for all the other people who live in the American continent, as if the Chinese called themselves Asians, somehow disregarding all the other people who live in Asia. Someone brings this up, and the opinions fly. Well, both sides have a point, which is totally determined by their perspective. As a foreigner who lives in Mexico, teaches English and speaks Spanish, I understand both perspectives, which I’ll explain below. I do this because I find it interesting, but also because it’s a good example of a disagreement that may seem to have a political basis, but is really just a matter of language and geography. So, in the interest of better understanding between neighbors… America the continent As I explained, the complaint is that when people from the United States call themselves Americans, they are somehow disregarding all the other people who come from the continent America: Mexicans, Jamaicans, Bolivians, Brazilians… The Mexican norteño group Los Tigres del Norte wrote a song about it, “Somos Mas Americanos”—“We are more American”—in which they sing about how, because most Mexicans are of indigenous or mixed descent, while most Americans are not, Mexicans are more American than Americans. It’s a valid point. I translated the song in this article, and you can see it performed with Zach de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine here: Well, what is America? Here’s our first problem. People from the United States learn in school that the world has six continents (seven if you include Antarctica): Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia/Oceania, North America, and South America. Ask someone from Mexico (or elsewhere in Latin America, presumably) how many continents there are, and they will tell you five. They’re taught in school that North and South America are one continent, simply America. I’ve even had people argue with me, saying that of course they’re one continent because it’s one contiguous land mass, connected by Central America. Ok, but what about Europe and Asia? Bickering about this is pointless. Humans decided what a continent is—apparently there is no universally objective definition of a continent. It’s not like math, in which one plus one is always two. Or other aspects of geography, like how Everest is the highest above-land mountain in the world, no matter where you went to school. If some humans believe that America is one continent, and some believe it’s two, then neither is wrong or right—these are simply different ways of looking at the world. Consider this: Plenty of places have different names in Spanish and English. In English it’s the Rio Grande; in Spanish, el Rio Bravo. In English it’s the Gulf of California; in Spanish, El Mar de Cortés (Sea of Cortez.) Who’s right? Screen Shot 2017-06-28 at 11.59.50 AMScreen Shot 2017-06-28 at 12.00.54 PM But back to continents. Differences in understanding geography create these differences in language. In English, people from the United States, Mexico, and Jamaica are North Americans. People from Colombia, Bolivia or Brazil are South Americans. In Spanish, because the continent is America, anyone from the continent is called an americano. The term norteamericano (North American) usually refers to people from the United States. Unless they’re familiar with the differences in meaning between Spanish and English, most Mexicans would not consider themselves North American. In fact, many believe that North America begins where Mexico ends. I’ve read Mexicans writing in English who use the term “North American” for people from the U.S., probably to avoid using American/americano, although this will confuse English-speaking readers because they understand that North America includes Mexico. This brings us to another language problem: the term Latin America, a catch-all for most of continental North and South America south of the U.S.-Mexican border. I’m no statistician, but I’m pretty sure that most people who live in Latin America are of mixed or native descent, not Latino, and certainly not Hispanic. But we use these terms out of convenience. America the country People in the U.S. call themselves Americans for one main reason: the English language lacks any other adjective for them. In Spanish, there is the adjective estadounidense, like “United Statesian.” This sounds awful in English, and besides, new words in a language emerge organically—it’s nearly impossible to force people to use them, and they’re often met with strong opposition, as in the case of gender-neutral pronouns like “xe.” In Spanish, however, estadounidense works just fine. When someone asks, I always use estadounidense to avoid stepping onto a cultural landmine. I never call myself americano in Spanish, and I don’t use norteamericano because in my worldview, as someone educated in the United States, Mexicans are North Americans too. For these same reasons, in English I avoid using “America” as a noun to describe the country. United States is clear and precise to both English and Spanish speakers. But “American” is the only option for describing the people, other than the convoluted “people from the U.S.,” which I’ll admit to using sometimes. The good news is that these linguistic pissing matches seem to only take place on the internet. Most people—Mexicans and Americans included—are far too polite and tolerant to squabble about it face-to-face. So there you go. I hope I’ve made this clear. Now that you know the different meanings of the term American in English and Spanish, please ignore the possible political connotations. People simply use it out of convention, not from a lack respect. Of course, feel free to disagree in the comments below. About Ted Campbell Posted on August 17, 2017, in LANGUAGE, Learning Spanish and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments. 1. I love that song from Los Tigeres del Norte! This is an issue that does not cross people’s mind in the US, but thanks to that song it was something that I pondered as an eight year old. Thanks for such a great explanation! 2. I totally agree with the fact that Mexicans are North Americans and Latin Americans, too, since our oficial language is Spanish, which comes from Latin language. The same happens with Canada, the North American and Latin American country where French, a Romance language, is oficially spoken. 3. Most people who live in any other place in the American Continent that is not the USA, are opposed to the use of the term “American” to define US citizens. However, as I’ve often pointed out, there is no other word they can use to refer to themselves. I agree this more a matter of language and not politics, although there are those who love to bring politics into everything. Leave a Comment You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s %d bloggers like this:
Victory for vaping The report from Public Health England is highly significant. A major health body has concluded after research that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than smoking tobacco cigarettes. PHE is an executive agency sponsored by the Department of Health. It asked a team of experts to conduct an independent review of the evidence, and the findings are unequivocal. They conclude there is no evidence that e-cigarettes are a gateway to lead children or non-smokers into smoking. On the contrary, they find that almost all of the 2.6 million vapers in Britain are current or ex-smokers using e-cigarettes to help them quit or to keep them from reverting. They found that increasing numbers, now nearly half the population, believe that vaping is as harmful or more harmful than are cigarettes, even though it is estimated to be only up to 5% as harmful. This could be because the anti-vapers trying to have it banned indoors or in public places have persuaded them that it is harmful. The report makes a telling estimate: At the moment, 80,000 people [in England] die every year as a result of cigarette smoking. If everybody who was smoking switched to e-cigarettes that would reduce to about 4,000 deaths a year. That's the best estimate at the moment. It may well be much, much lower than that. It also makes it plain that e-cigarettes are an effective means of helping people to quit. Those who oppose vaping because "it looks like smoking" are missing the point. It is probably because it resembles smoking that it works. Users put it with their hands to their mouth and produce vapour that looks like smoke, while giving them the nicotine kick. They don't have to quit doing any of this, but the harmful cigarette smoke with its tars and noxious gases is absent. The report suggests that e-cigarettes are a "game changer" in public health. It is interesting that many of the big tobacco companies have bought e-cigarette companies, clearly spotting where the future is going. There will be some who campaign against the acceptability of vaping because they claim it normalizes smoking. This is not only silly, but threatens the most effective method to help smokers to quit. It is not smoking that e-cigarettes normalize; they normalize giving up smoking. Image credit to:

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