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First of all, let’s get this straight. Eloise is not a form of Alois, Aloysius, or Helwidis. Or Louise or Louis. First off, Louis and its feminine form, Louise, both derive from the name “Chlodovech.” The Germanic roots are: “hlod-/chlod-/lod-/liud-” (people) + “-vech/-vic/-vig/-wig” (battle). So it’s something like “battle of the people.” Alois and Aloysius are from Germanic roots: “ala-” (all) + -“wis/-vis/-ois” (lead, rule). So that name means something like “rules all.” Helwidis or Helvidis comes from different Germanic roots: “heil” (health, healthy, hale) + -“wid/-vid/-oid” (wide or wood/woods, two different words that can end up sounding similar in names) + the feminine ending “-is.” So yeah, probably “healthy woods” or “wide health.” “Helvise”, “Helvisa,” “Eloise,” “Eloisa,” “Heloise,” and “Heloisa” are related to these names, however, because they are built from some of the same root word components: “heil-” + “-ois” + “-e” (feminine ending). So the name means something like “healthy rule”, or “rules health.” (Frankish ladies did a lot of medicating the household, so maybe that’s why.) Anyway, it was a very popular name, especially around Normandy, and was also medievally popular (as “Helewis”) in areas of England where Normans settled. (If you’re wondering about our Elvis, that’s a Welsh men’s name and we’ve already covered it. But yes, there were Frankish Alvis and Elvis and Alvisa names too.) Now, on to the saintly portion of our program! Contrary to certain pages on the Internet, the notorious/famous Abbess Heloise de Argenteuil has not been raised to the altars anywhere. She was a remarkable woman and a pious one (Other than the falling in love with her tutor who was a cleric. But she made up for that as an abbess, and by putting up with Abelard’s letters. Heh.), but there’s no popular devotion in the minds of the Church’s faithful. No devotion, no canonization. The nameday often listed for “Heloise” is March 15, which is St. Louise de Marillac Day. I guess even though it’s the wrong name, people figure that’s close enough for France. (Not that you should let that stop you, if it’s been French custom all your life.) However, there is a Blessed Heloise de Coulombs (in her time, the name was Helvise or Helwisa). Although she has never formally become a saint, there are Catholic hospitals in France named St. Heloise (and swearing “By St. Heloise!” used to be very popular in France). She’s pretty much a preconciliar saint, in the eyes of French Catholics! Blessed Heloise was a noblewoman of France. She married twice: once to Count Hugues II of Meulan (nicknamed “Bear Head”) , and once to Alexander of Azzelin, to whom she bore several children. (One of whom became Abbot Godefroi of the Benedictine abbey at Coulombs.) After Hugues’ death, she had decided to donate three parish churches (at Lainville, Montreuil-sur-Epte, Montalet-le-Bois, and Megrimont) to the abbey at Coulombs in 1033, as well as her part of the forest at Jambville. (Which gift was confirmed by the new count, Galeran, who was Hugues’ brother.) Coulumbs had just been founded back in 1029, so this was a good gift. As usual with monasteries, Notre-Dame des Coulumbs kept all these documents in their charter books, and Mabillon copied them into his collaborative work, Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti, vol. 8 (6th age of the order, part 1). She apparently continued to be their benefactor in a small way during her second marriage. After Alexander’s death, she decided to retire from the world and become a hermit near (but outside) the abbey. (There wasn’t an abbey of nuns there, but Benedictine monks back then often had a little building nearby with cells in it for women who wanted to live a religious life. This was called “reclusa”, and wasn’t technically being a hermit, but it was pretty close.) We don’t know much about her life there, but apparently she impressed people as holy. In 1066, she gave the abbey her properties in the following towns: Lainville, Lesseville, Montalet-le-Bois, Montreuil-sur-Epte, Meulan, and Jambville. She also gave them the lands and church of Authieux, which was confirmed by Duke William of Normandy, soon to be King of England. The monks served as her spiritual directors. She was buried in the abbey church (which was destroyed in the French Revolution and demolished in 1816), but her relics are currently in the monastery town’s little 17th century parish church, Saint-Cheron. Her reliquary is in the form of a bust and contains her skull. Her feastday is February 11. She may also have died on February 1 or January 6. So yes, if your name is Heloise or Eloise, you have a patron saint! (Other spellings for this Heloise’s name include Avisa, Avia, and Avoie, depending on how much that local French people didn’t want to say H’s.) 19th century stained glass window of St./Bl. Heloise. Saint-Jean-le-Baptiste parish church, Saint-Léger-en-Yvelines, Ile de France, Paris. The History of the Abbey of Notre-Dame des Coulombs, in French. The name means “Our Lady of the Doves.” St. Heloise feastday post, in French.
Basketball Injury Prevention According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 501,000 basketball-related injuries were treated in hospital emergency rooms in 2009. Common Basketball Injuries The fast-paced action of basketball can cause a wide range of injuries, most often to the foot, ankle, and knee. Sprained ankles and knee ligament tears are common. Basketball players are also at risk for jammed fingers and stress fractures in the foot and lower leg. Several strategies can help to prevent basketball injuries — from careful inspection of the play area to using proper passing techniques. Proper Preparation for Play - Maintain fitness. Be sure you are in good physical condition at the start of basketball season. During the off-season, stick to a balanced fitness program that incorporates aerobic exercise, strength training, and flexibility. If you are out of shape at the start of the season, gradually increase your activity level and slowly build back up to a higher fitness level. - Warm up and stretch. Always take time to warm up and stretch. Research studies have shown that cold muscles are more prone to injury. Warm up with jumping jacks, stationary cycling or running or walking in place for 3 to 5 minutes. Then slowly and gently stretch, holding each stretch for 30 seconds. - Hydrate. Even mild levels of dehydration can hurt athletic performance. If you have not had enough fluids, your body will not be able to effectively cool itself through sweat and evaporation. A general recommendation is to drink 24 ounces of non-caffeinated fluid 2 hours before exercise. Drinking an additional 8 ounces of water or sports drink right before exercise is also helpful. While you are exercising, break for an 8 oz. cup of water every 20 minutes. Focus on Technique - Play only your position and know where other players are on the court to reduce the chance of collisions. - Do not hold, block, push, charge, or trip opponents. - Use proper techniques for passing and scoring. - Do not forget sportsmanship. Ensure Appropriate Equipment - Select basketball shoes that fit snugly, offer support, and are non-skid. - Ankle supports can reduce the incidence of ankle sprains. - Protective knee and elbow pads will protect you from bruises and abrasions. - Use a mouth guard to protect your teeth and mouth. - If you wear glasses, use safety glasses or glass guards to protect your eyes. - Do not wear jewelry or chew gum during practice or games. Ensure a Safe Environment - Outdoor courts should be free of rocks, holes, and other hazards. Inside courts should be clean, free of debris, and have good traction. - When playing outside, environmental conditions must be considered. Players should avoid playing in extreme weather or on courts that are not properly lighted in the evening. - Baskets and boundary lines should not be too close to walls, bleachers, water fountains, or other structures. Basket goal posts, as well as the walls behind them, should be padded. Prepare for Injuries - Coaches should be knowledgeable about first aid and be able to administer it for minor injuries, such as facial cuts, bruises, or minor strains and sprains. - Be prepared for emergencies. All coaches should have a plan to reach medical personnel for help with more significant injuries such as concussions, dislocations, contusions, sprains, abrasions, and fractures. Safe Return to Play An injured player’s symptoms must be completely gone before returning to play. - In case of a joint problem, the player must have no pain, no swelling, full range of motion, and normal strength. - In case of concussion, the player must have no symptoms at rest or with exercise, and should be cleared by the appropriate medical provider. Prevent Overuse Injuries Because many young athletes are focusing on just one sport and are training year-round, doctors are seeing an increase in overuse injuries. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has partnered with STOP Sports Injuries to help educate parents, coaches, and athletes about how to prevent overuse injuries. Specific tips to prevent overuse injuries include: - Limit the number of teams in which your child is playing in one season. Kids who play on more than one team are especially at risk for overuse injuries. - Do not allow your child to play one sport year round — taking regular breaks and playing other sports is essential to skill development and injury prevention.
Comprehensive DescriptionRead full entry BiologyOccurs in surface waters both near and far from the coast (Ref. 5217). Forms schools. Capable of leaping out and gliding for long distances above the water. Seasonal variation in abundance was noted in the eastern Caribbean countries, a phenomenon that may be due to post-spawning mortality (Ref. 6838). The most important commercial fish species of the eastern Caribbean (Ref. 6504). Considered a good food fish; marketed fresh.
Women with an extra X chromosome in their cells may show no symptoms of this condition. Triple X syndrome – also called XXX syndrome, trisomy X, or 47, XXX aneuploidy – is a genetic condition in which a woman carries an extra X chromosome in each of her cells. Generally, females have two X chromosomes in each cell, and males have one X and one Y. But in Triple X Syndrome, as its name suggests, there are three X chromosomes. Sometimes some of the body cells have extra X chromosomes, a form of triple X syndrome called musculoskeletal. Although it is a genetic disorder, Triple X Syndrome (which only affects women) is not usually inherited. However, there is some evidence that the incidence of triple X increases with maternal age (ie, women who are older at birth). The extra X chromosome usually results in a random error when the parent egg or sperm is produced. In mosaic, the defect occurs during cell division at the beginning of fetal development. How Common Is Triple X Syndrome? Although triple X syndrome is rare, it will not be as low as the numbers suggest. According to most statistics, Triple X occurs in one out of every 1,000 women born, which means that five to 10 women are born with Triple X Syndrome every day in the United States. But since many girls and women show no or very mild symptoms of Triple X, some researchers estimate that only 10% of cases are diagnosed and the actual number is higher. Signs and Symptoms of Triple X Syndrome While the symptoms and physical characteristics associated with Triple X Syndrome vary widely between girls and women – with no symptoms or abnormal physical features – tall is the most common feature. Other physical, developmental, and behavioral characteristics associated with Triple X Syndrome include: Layers of skin covering the inner corners of the eyes Wide spacing between eyes Low muscle tone (hypotonia) Curved Fifth (“Pink”) Fingers (Clintoctelli) Small head circumambulation Average weight loss Learning disabilities, such as speech and language delays, and reading difficulties Delayed motor skills, such as sitting and walking Difficulty processing voice Behavioral and emotional disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety and depression Premature ovarian failure or uterine failure (although infertility is rare) Constipation or abdominal pain Slight consumption of breast bone In the mosaic form of Triple X Syndrome, fewer cells have extra X chromosomes, so the symptoms and features are milder when they are present. Seizures or kidney abnormalities (such as a kidney, or a malformed body) are possible in Triple X, but rarely – they appear in about 10% of cases. Most girls and women with Triple X Syndrome generally have normal intelligence, but according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NRD), IQ scores, especially oral scores, in siblings or control groups 10 to 15 points less. , Especially if learning disabilities are not addressed quickly. Abnormalities of the heart were noted in some isolated cases, according to the NRD. How Is Triple X Syndrome Diagnosed? Triple X syndrome can be diagnosed early, including CVS (Corinthian Wells Sampling, in which tissue samples are taken from the umbilical cord) or immunosuppression. The condition can also be detected by a blood test after birth if developmental delays, muscle breakdowns, or other physical characteristics associated with Triple X make a doctor suspicious. Treatment and Medication Options for Triple X Syndrome Although extra X chromosomes can certainly never be removed, early intervention, such as speech or physical therapy, can help, as well as counseling girls after entering middle school and adolescence. Skin screening is recommended for kidney and heart abnormalities, although rare in Triple X, it is also recommended. Women who experience late periods, menstrual abnormalities, or who have difficulty conceiving should be screened for primary ovarian failure.
Today’s guest post was written by William B. Roka, a longtime volunteer at the National Archives in New York City. You can follow them on Facebook as they launch “Titantic Tuesdays” in the weeks leading up to the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Since I’m a total history nerd, I was ready to do a little dance when I was allowed to examine some of the Titanic documents in the National Archives as part of my work as a volunteer researcher. But I was disappointed when I saw that most of the documents looked very mundane. This collection documents the court cases brought after the ship sank. The Titanic’s owner, the Ocean Steam Navigation Company (better known as White Star Line), did not want to pay in full the hundreds of claims for compensation filed by survivors and relatives of victims of the sinking. But as I trudged ahead with my work, I soon realized how wrong I was. As I examined the claims, I saw that each one had a story to tell. One in particular stuck in my mind. William L. Gwinn was a sea postal clerk working for the U.S. Postal Service (see widow’s claim below). At first I thought he was a regular passenger and maybe worked at a post office by a port. Then I remembered Titanic’s full name included the designation of RMS, Royal Mail Steamer. When I looked at deck plans of the RMS Titanic, I saw a mail room and a post office! William Gwinn had been assigned to work in that post office. I knew that the Titanic carried mail, but I hadn’t known there was a post office aboard. Later, as I was looking into some other documents, I found contracts between White Star and the British government to carry mail. The story of the Titanic’s Sea Post Office is part of the larger history of the transatlantic mail transport. The era of mail-carrying steamships started in 1839, when White Star Line’s archrival Cunard was awarded a mail contract. By 1859, post offices were being put onto steamships, but it was only in 1877 that White Star ships could use the much-coveted acronym of RMS. These mail contracts were a badge of honor. To make sure that the companies met the stringent requirements, the contracts had to be renewed every few years. By the terms of White Star’s 1899 agreement, their mail ships had to be the fastest, largest, and most efficient. They were required to make a weekly mail run and could go no slower than 17 knots. These mail contracts were very lucrative. The 1907 revised version of the 1899 contract gave White Star Line annual compensation of ?70,000 a year (worth tens of millions of dollars today) plus expenses. Well, White Star Line lived up to these requirements—they built what was at the time the world’s largest moving object with a respectable speed of 22 knots. By the time Titanic left Queenstown, Ireland, its mail room was filled with 3,243 sacks of mail, which each held over 2,000 pieces of mail. Above the mail room on G Deck was the post office, where the five postal clerks worked 11-hour shifts sorting tens of thousands of letters a day. The three Americans—John S. March, Oscar S. Woody, and William L. Gwinn—and the two British clerks—Jago Smith and J. B. Williamson—were sworn to protect the mail. They lost their lives fulfilling this duty. They were last seen dragging several sacks from the mail room up into the post office in a desperate bid to save the mail as the Titanic met its tragic fate. Sadly, this fascinating history of transatlantic mails and the Titanic’s Sea Post Office remains an understudied subject. (The National Postal Museum does have an online exhibition dedicated to the Titanic’s mail and its clerks.) I feel lucky that volunteering at the National Archives gave me a chance to look at the Titanic’s documents. I was able to learn something I had not known before, but also realized that all documents—no matter how mundane-looking—have a story to tell.
What is Durga Ashtami? Durga Ashtami is the 8th day of Navratri, the day when the Goddess killed the demons and appeared in the form of Maha Gauri. This year, Chaitra Durga Ashtami was celebrated on March 29th. Why we Worship 9 Unmarried Girls? These 9 girls represent the 9 forms of Durga (Navdurga): - Maha Gauri A young girl who hasn't hit puberty or responsible for household duties yet, is considered to be the most auspicious, pure and clear-minded individual. A Guide to Ashtami Puja Nine girls between the ages of 1 to 10 are invited to your house for puja and a meal. Step 1: Cleansing Bath Wake up early and take a bath Step 2: Prepare Food Cook delicious food for guests Step 3: Diya for Devi Light diya, put flowers & tilak for Devi Step 4: Prepare Prasad Place a plate of prasad for Devi Step 5: Welcome Girls Welcome the 9 girls, sit them down, wash their feet with milk and water Step 6: Perform Puja For each girl, put kum kum and rice tilak, tie red thread & perform aarti Step 7: Serve Food Offer the girls a full hearty meal Step 8: Offer gifts Offer the girls gifts and shringhar Step 9: Donations Donate fruit, food and clothes to needy or poor young girls Did you know-- Hinduism believe the universal creative forces to be feminine gender. The force that created the gods and the rest of the cosmos. What Do We Eat During Ashtami? During Navratri, devotees follow a falahari diet: Fal= Fruit, Aahar= to eat During Ashtami, devotees eat: Hindus who were fasting during Navratri, break their fast on Ashtami. These three dishes help replenish the energy and nutrition lost from the 9 days of fasting. Enjoyed this article? Follow us on Instagram to read our weekly Theology Thursday posts! Modi Toys is a children's brand of toys and books inspired by ancient Hindu culture. We exist to spread joy and to spark curiosity in the next generation through our innovative soft plush toys, illustrated children's books and free learning resources. Our weekly Theology Thursday series covers a wide range of topics rooted in Hinduism to help us better understand the origins of traditions, the symbolic meaning of rituals, and the stories behind Hindu holidays and festivals. The more we can understand "the why" behind this 4,000 year ancient religion, and make sense of it in this modern age, the greater we can appreciate and preserve our rich Hindu culture. While we take great care in thoroughly researching the information presented, we may occasionally get some things wrong. We encourage a healthy and open dialogue so we can learn together. Please leave a comment below or email us directly at email@example.com to address any concerns.
Pakistan plans fuel testing facility 05 April 2007 Reports from Pakistan describe official plans to develop "complete technological capability" in nuclear fuel, to eventually qualify indigenous fuels for advanced reactors. Nuclear power in the country will be expanded from the current capacity of 425 MWe to 8800 MWe as part of the Pakistani government's Energy Security Plan 2030. But Pakistan currently has no large-scale facilities for manufacture of nuclear fuel for existing plants. Pakistan currently operates the 125 MWe Kanupp pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) imported from Canada in 1965 and the 300 MWe Chasnupp 1 pressurized water reactor (PWR) imported from China in 1992. The similar Chasnupp 2 began construction at the end of 2005. A 10 MWt pool research reactor called Parr 1 also operates. PHWRs are fuelled by natural uranium, which has made them a good first choice for countries beginning nuclear programmes, while PWRs use low-enriched uranium. Pakistan imports fuel for Chasnupp 1 from China. The country has its own small uranium mines, a small uranium enrichment plant and a PHWR fuel fabrication facilty. The new initiative would see test facilities set up to assure the mechanical, thermal, hydraulic and functional properties of indigenously made fuel. Later would come advanced capabilities for the qualification of fuels for state-of-the-art reactors, the most modern now available being Generation-III, and even future Generation-IV designs. The government has indicated it will initially provide $21.4 million to the project. WNA's Nuclear Power in Pakistan information paper This article is not categorised
Chia Powder Linked to 21 Illnesses in U.S. About the Chia Seed Salmonella Outbreak The CDC has linked 21 cases of salmonella poisoning to chia seed powder across the U.S. recently. An additional 34 cases have been recorded in Canada. Multiple brands have recalled chia seed powder products including Navitas Naturals, Williams-Sonoma Inc., Green Smoothie Girl, and Health Matters America. Chia seed powder has gained popularity as of late because its nutritional value. Chia seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and commonly put in smoothies and snack foods. The CDC notes that because chia seed powder has a long shelf life and small serving size, many people could get sick without realizing it. In May, an investigation into 11 salmonella outbreaks was launched by state and federal investigators. It is unknown exactly how the powder became contaminated with salmonella, but the CDC says that sprouted chia seeds have been known to conduct both salmonella and E. coli. The following information about salmonella is provided by the CDC. - Roughly 1.2 million people in the U.S. are sickened by salmonella each year; most cases are mild and go unreported. - An estimated 23,000 people with salmonella poisoning require hospitalization and 450 people die. - Symptoms of salmonella poisoning include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps that can last for 12 to 72 hours. - Salmonella bacteria cause an illness known as Salmonellosis that can last for four to seven days.
Washington Car Seat Laws Car seat laws in Washington are put in place to keep babies, toddlers and small children safer in vehicles. Car accidents are a leading cause of injury and death among children younger than 13 years of age, making it imperative for all parents and caretakers to learn the laws for safe travel. Booster seat laws, for example, indicate the age or weight a child can begin using an adult seat belt with the help of a booster seat. Learning the correct booster seat age is important not just because it keeps kids safer, but because you can be penalized for breaking the law. It is your responsibility to know the regulations for car seats not only as a parent or caregiver, but also as a licensed driver in Washington, as you can be fined if you violate any rules. Below, learn everything you need to know about car seat safety in Washington and discover what types of car seats are available to children of different ages. What are the car seat laws in Washington? Before buying a car seat for your child, it is important to learn what the laws are for each type of safety seat. In many cases, your child’s age, weight or height will determine which type of seat he or she can safely use. While regulations may indicate the correct booster seat weight, for example, you should always follow the manufacturer’s recommendations when deciding on a car seat for your children. Some car seats can be used by children at a wider range of heights and weights, while other seats are limited to children who fall within more specific measurements. With that in mind, the laws relating to the correct car seat ages in Washington are as follows: - Children must use an age-appropriate car seat until they are either eight years of age or reach a height of four feet and nine inches. - Child restraint seats must meet the Department of Transportation (DOT) safety standards. - Once a child outgrows a booster seat or reaches eight years of age, he or she must be properly fastened with the adult seat belt according to the vehicle manufacturer’s specifications. - Vehicles with lap-only belts are exempt from laws relating to the booster car seat age, as these seats must be used with lap and shoulder straps. - Drivers must continue to transport children younger than 13 years of age in the back seat when it is practical to do so. - Car seats must be used according to the instructions from both the vehicle manufacturer and seat manufacturer. Note that while there are booster seat weight requirements and other regulations, there are also a variety of recommendations you should follow. Even when child car seat laws no longer apply to your children based on their age, you should always continue using the size-appropriate seat that is recommended for your child. For example. booster seats may be used beyond a child’s eighth birthday, especially if he or she is too small to safely use an adult seat belt without a booster. Contact local DOL offices about recent updates to driving laws in Washington. Penalties for Violating Car Seat Regulations in Washington Parents and caregivers who do not adhere to the correct car seat ages or other requirements will face consequences when stopped by a law enforcement officer. Drivers can expect to receive a traffic citation as well as a fine of at least $112 per child that is improperly restrained. After violating a law, a driver may have his or her ticket dismissed instead of paying the ticket, provided that he or she shows proof that an adequate child restraint system has been obtained within seven days of receiving the ticket. However, if drivers have already dismissed a ticket for disobeying the correct car seat weight or any other regulation, then they cannot get a second ticket waived. In any case, breaking car seat regulations in WA does not count as negligence towards a child. In other words, tickets for child seat violations cannot be shown as proof that a parent or caretaker neglected a child. Types of Car Seats In order to understand child car seat safety, it is important to learn about the different types of seats available. When a child is younger than eight years of age, the laws for car seats in Washington do not specify the exact type of seat children need to use. Instead, you must rely on the age and weight requirements from car seat manufacturers in order to tell whether you are choosing the right seat. The most common types of seats available include: - Rear facing car seat styles, which are designed for infants and small babies up to two years in age. - Forward facing car seat designs, which are intended for children between two and four years of age. - Booster seats, which are recommended once children are between four and eight years of age and meet the weight requirements for these seats. Some of the best car seats on the market include ones that transition from a rear-facing seat to a forward-facing seat once your child is old enough. You can save money by purchasing a convertible seat that has this function. Another great option is an all-in-one car seat, which converts from a rear-facing seat to a forward-facing seat and then finally to a booster seat. When looking for the safest car seats, focus on designs that offer the most support for your child. For Example, when it comes to booster seats, you can buy either a backless seat or a high-back seat, which is intended to offer more support in vehicles that do not have headrests. In any case, getting the safest car seat means buying one suited for your child’s height, weight and age. Car Seat Installation Information Learning how to install a car seat is critically important, as even the safest seat can be dangerous when it is not anchored properly. In general, car seats should always be placed in the back seat when possible. If you drive a vehicle that only has front seats, then you must turn off the passenger airbag before you can use a seat in the front. Keep the following tips in mind when installing a car seat: - Always follow instructions from your car seat manufacturer as well as your vehicle manufacturer and keep in mind that not all seats are designed to be used in every type of vehicle. - Have the seat inspected at a car seat checkup station, which can be found at various locations throughout the state. - Pay attention to product recalls for your car seat. Registering the seat with the manufacturer is the best way to stay on top of safety notices.
This looks promising. It is basically a continuous combustion wave turbine. While not super powerful in this early design and not intended to replace a V-8 it can be brought to market for a hybrid vehicle application soon, according to the researcher. See the video below. While they’ve got a focus on CO2 for the usual reasons, I’ll take increased efficiency any day. Researchers from Michigan State University have been awarded $2.5 million from the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program to complete its prototype development of a new gasoline-fueled wave disc engine and electricity generator that promises to be five times more efficient than traditional auto engines in electricity production, 20% lighter, and 30% cheaper to manufacture. The wave disc engine, a new implementation of wave rotor technology, was earlier developed by the Michigan State group in collaboration with researchers from the Warsaw Institute of Technology. About the size of a large cooking pot, the novel, hyper-efficient engine could replace current engine/generator technologies for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The award will allow a team of MSU engineers and scientists, led by Norbert Müller, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, to begin working toward producing a vehicle-size wave disc engine/generator during the next two years, building on existing modeling, analysis and lab experimentation they have already completed. Our goal is to enable hyper-efficient hybrid vehicles to meet consumer needs for a 500-mile driving range, lower vehicle prices, full-size utility, improved highway performance and very low operating costs. The WDG also can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 95 percent in comparison to modern internal combustion vehicle engines. The Wave Disk Generator revolutionizes auto efficiency at lower vehicle costs. Currently, 15% of automobile fuel is used for propulsion; the other 85% is wasted. A Wave Disk Generator hybrid uses 60% of fuel for vehicle propulsion. MSU’s shock wave combustion generator is the size of a cooking pot and generates electricity very efficiently. This revolutionary generator replaces today’s 1,000 pounds of engine, transmission, cooling system, emissions, and fluids resulting in a lighter, more fuel-efficient electric vehicle. This technology provides 500-mile-plus driving range, is 30% lighter, and 30% less expensive than current, new plug-in hybrid vehicles. It overcomes the cost, weight, and driving range challenges of battery-powered electric vehicles. This development exceeds national CO2 emission reduction goals for transportation. A 90% reduction is calculated in CO2 emissions versus gasoline engine vehicles. Wave Disk Generator application scales as small as motor scooters and as large as delivery trucks, due to its small size, low weight, and low cost. This technology enables us to radically improve the atmosphere and human health of major global cities. Last week, the prototype was presented to the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), this video was released:
"I see here a great cleft in the face of this crag," said Ulric. "Let's spread our luncheon down here in the shadow of the crag," said Theodora. It is, moreover, contrasted with the Suffolk crag by the indications it affords of an extra-European climate. The other figure crept cautiously to the edge of the crag and looked over. crag half expected to see his lips quiver, and wondered briefly at the courage it must have taken for him to volunteer. Wonder how many years it will be before the sea washes the crag all away. crag managed a quick over-the-shoulder glance at Larkwell and Nagel. We would leave his body on some crag where it would be found. The Shian could never be distinguished from any other crag, and the Daoin Shi were visible no more. The three men climb a crag, that overhangs the river, to watch us off. early 14c.; as a place-name element attested from c.1200, probably from a Celtic source akin to Old Irish crec "rock," and carrac "cliff," Welsh craig "rock, stone," Manx creg.
Each day, eagles and hawks are chopped to hamburger by wind turbines. Migrating swallows are fried – cooked in mid-flight – by solar arrays. Isn’t this proof that so-called “green energy” is worse than fossil fuels? It’s not so easy. The toxic ponds in the Alberta tar sand surface mines kills hundreds, maybe thousands of waterfowl in spring and fall migration. The warming climate alters the timing of bug hatches on the North Slope, changing the availability of food for migratory birds, and the hatchlings starve. The absence of near shore sea ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas means the polar bear sow’s milk dries up before she can get to the seals that feed her, and an entire generation of polar bear cubs is lost. The 2010 BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico has killed more than 600,000 birds. It is still killing sea turtles and dolphins. It is still contaminating the seafood humans eat. Perhaps, in comparison, a hundred Cliff Swallows incinerated feeding on insects on a solar farm are a trifle. The Audubon Society has attempted to predict the impact of climate change on North American avifauna: Of the 588 North American bird species Audubon studied, more than half are likely to be in trouble. Our models indicate that 314 species will lose more than 50 percent of their current climatic range by 2080. Of the 314 species at risk from global warming, 126 of them are classified as climate endangered. These birds are projected to lose more than 50 percent of their current range by 2050. In the calculus of the Anthropocene, in the mathematics of extinction, a hundred dead swallows hardly matter. We can hold a dead swallow in our hands, see the frizzled, burnt feathers, smell the unpleasant aroma. It’s immediate, tangible, visceral. A missing species, extirpated, is abstract, difficult to envision by very definition. Unarguably, neither should happen. Humans shouldn’t have extinguished the Pleistocene megafauna, the Moas of New Zealand, the Passenger Pigeons of North America, or dozens – hundreds – of other species. But the cost of energy created by the petroleum economy is a far greater threat than over-hunting, threatening to alter the very biosphere is unforeseeable ways. And we’re not going to be ending our dependence on energy, specifically, electricity, any time soon. So, no, green – or at least less black – energy isn’t evil. It may even save thousands of species. It may even save much of humankind and its standard of living. At the cost of a dead bird in the hand. In the mess of bad solutions to our hacking the biosphere, green energy is the least evil option at hand.
What are other Names for this Test? (Equivalent Terms) - Febrile Group Blood Test What is the Febrile Agglutinins Blood Test? (Background Information) - Febrile agglutinins are antibodies that clump upon exposure to their antigen, causing fever. - When the immune system encounters an invader, it rapidly produces defense proteins (antibodies) that target the invader. These antibodies recognize specific components (antigens) of that invader; e.g. proteins, cellular membrane lipids, etc. - Thus, the presence of an antibody specific to a bacterial or viral antigen implies that the body has been infected by that pathogen either in the past, or that the body is currently experiencing an infection - When an antibody targets an antigen, an immune reaction is started that may include fever - There are several types of antibodies. The 2 most clinically important antibodies are called IgM and IgG - IgM is produced within days of infection as part of the primary immune response. Elevated levels of IgM indicate a ‘new’ infection - IgG is produced several weeks after infection as part of the secondary immune response. Elevated levels of IgG indicate a chronic or past infection - The Febrile Agglutinins Blood Test helps detect antibodies (IgM or IgG) specific to fever-causing infectious diseases. It aids in the diagnosis of fever of unknown origin - Common fever-causing infectious diseases include brucellosis, salmonellosis, typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, tularemia, and rickettsial infections - The test is performed by making dilutions of a blood sample; for example, 2-fold, 4-fold, 8-fold, and so on, and mixing each diluted sample with antigens of fever-causing infectious pathogens - Subsequent steps allow for the visualization of possible interactions between the antibodies and antigen through a reaction (such as through emission of light, color change, etc.). The highest dilution in which a reaction takes place is called the titer What are the Clinical Indications for performing the Febrile Agglutinins Blood Test? Following are the clinical indications for performing the Febrile Agglutinins Blood Test: - Pale appearance - Muscle weakness - Joint pain - Sore throat How is the Specimen Collected for the Febrile Agglutinins Blood Test? Following is the specimen collection process for Febrile Agglutinins Blood Test: Sample required: Blood Process of obtaining blood sample in adults: - A band is wrapped around the arm, 3-4 inches above the collection site (superficial vein that lies within the elbow pit) - The site is cleaned with 70% alcohol in an outward spiral, away from the zone of needle insertion - The needle cap is removed and is held in line with the vein, pulling the skin tight - With a small and quick thrust, the vein is penetrated using the needle - The required amount of blood sample is collected by pulling the plunger of the syringe out slowly - The wrap band is removed, gauze is placed on the collection site, and the needle is removed - The blood is immediately transferred into the blood container, which has the appropriate preservative/clot activator/anti-coagulant - The syringe and the needle are disposed into the appropriate “sharp container” for safe and hygienic disposal Preparation required: No special preparation is needed prior to the test. What is the Significance of the Febrile Agglutinins Blood Test Result? A positive value for the Febrile Agglutinins Blood Test is associated with a reaction taking place with a blood sample that has been diluted more than 20-40 times (i.e., a titer above 1:20-1:40). This may indicate: - Typhoid fever - Paratyphoid fever The laboratory test results are NOT to be interpreted as results of a "stand-alone" test. The test results have to be interpreted after correlating with suitable clinical findings and additional supplemental tests/information. Your healthcare providers will explain the meaning of your tests results, based on the overall clinical scenario. Additional and Relevant Useful Information: - The Febrile Agglutinins Blood Test is performed using samples taken when the individual was actively undergoing infection (acute phase) and several weeks later (convalescent phase) Certain medications that you may be currently taking may influence the outcome of the test. Hence, it is important to inform your healthcare provider of the complete list of medications (including any herbal supplements) you are currently taking. This will help the healthcare provider interpret your test results more accurately and avoid unnecessary chances of a misdiagnosis. The following DoveMed website link is a useful resource for additional information: Please visit our Laboratory Procedures Center for more physician-approved health information:
Carlos Porter on Nuremberg (PDF ONLY) Ernst Zündel (extensive bio) The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum: A Challenge By Robert Faurisson The question of the existence or non-existence of the Nazi gas chambers is one of considerable historical importance. If the gas chambers existed, they provide evidence that the Germans attempted to physically exterminate the Jews; on the other hand, if they didn't exist, we have no evidence of such an extermination attempt. Pierre Vidal-Naquet, a leading French anti-Revisionist, is under no illusion. To those tempted to give up the controversy over the gas chambers, he has warned that to jettison the gas chambers "is to surrender in open country." (Nouvel Observateur, Sept. 21, 1984, p. 80.) One can only agree. The gas chambers are not - contrary to what Jean-Marie Le Pen once remarked - a mere footnote ("point de détail") of Second World War history. Thus, those who contest their existence are subject to judicial sanction in France and some other countries. Nor could the monumental US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, which was formally dedicated on April 22, 1993, allow itself to ignore the Nazi gas chambers. The question remained: What kind of physical representation of this terrifying weapon would the new Museum provide? We now know the answer, and it is dismaying: For lack of anything better this opulent museum - which has cost American taxpayers and donors from the American Jewish community more than $150 million - has been reduced to showing us, as its only model of a homicidal gas chamber, a casting of a gas chamber at the former Majdanek camp in Poland: a gas chamber for . . . delousing. As I shall explain, even Jean-Claude Pressac, author of a 564-page work published in 1989 in cooperation with the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation of New York, was obliged to acknowledge that this room was merely a delousing chamber. This is nothing new. As early as 1945 the Americans were portraying four delousing (disinfestation) chambers in the Dachau camp (Germany) as homicidal gas chambers. Those in charge of the new Holocaust Museum in Washington have resorted to so grave an imposture, I believe, because they are forced to do so: they are not able to offer visitors a physical representation, in any form whatsoever, of one of the chambers, we are told incessantly, the Germans used to murder swarms of victims. My Challenge in Stockholm and Washington On March 17, 1992, I threw down the gauntlet to the Jewish organizations of the entire world. On that day, after arriving in Stockholm at the invitation of my friend Ahmed Rami, I issued a challenge of international scope to the Swedish media. It consisted of this nine-word sentence: "Show me or draw me a Nazi gas chamber!" These words were accompanied by two pages of explanation. According to my information, the Swedish media, eager to answer my challenge, immediately contacted every possible source in order to obtain photographs of Nazi gas chambers. To their consternation, they discovered that no such photographs exist, and that the facilities or rooms currently portrayed to tourists at Auschwitz and elsewhere as homicidal gas chambers have none of the characteristics of such chemical slaughterhouses. Although the Swedish media leveled innumerable personal attacks against me, my challenge was not mentioned in a single newspaper article, or in a single word on radio or television. Over the months the embarrassment would grow among those who propagate the thesis of the physical extermination of the Jews during the Second World War: hence the frenzied agitation that has gripped Jewish organizations worldwide. On April 21, 1993, I renewed my challenge in Washington, this time directing it to the officials of the Holocaust Museum that was to be dedicated there the next day, with President Clinton, several heads of state, and Elie Wiesel in attendance. Among the Museum officials I had in mind, I was thinking especially of Michael Berenbaum, its Research Institute Director. My challenge in Washington can be summed up as follows: Tomorrow the US Holocaust Memorial Museum will be dedicated in Washington. I challenge the Museum authorities to provide us a physical representation of the magical gas chamber. I have searched for 30 years for such a representation without finding it: neither at Auschwitz, nor in any other concentration camp; not in a museum, or a book; neither in a dictionary nor an encyclopedia; not in a photograph, model or documentary film. Of course I am acquainted with certain attempts at representation, but all of them are illusory. None withstands examination. In particular, when one understands the extreme dangers of using Zyklon B (a commercial insecticide) or hydrocyanic acid (HCN), one quickly realizes that the sites sometimes portrayed to tourists as homicidal gas chambers could never have served as chemical slaughterhouses without enormous danger for everyone in the area. When one understands the extreme - and inevitable - complexity of a gas chamber for the execution of a single man by hydrocyanic acid in an American penitentiary, one sees immediately that the places portrayed as Nazi "gas chambers" - where, day after day, veritable swarms of victims were supposedly killed - lack today (and lacked then) the least bit of the formidable machinery that would have been required. Apart from the matter of sealing the chambers, one of the most serious problems to solve would have been that of the entering the HCN-saturated chamber after the execution to remove the corpses, themselves saturated with the same poison. Hydrocyanic acid penetrates into the skin, the mucous membranes, and the bodily fluids. The corpse of a man who has just been killed by this powerful poison is itself a dangerous source of poisoning, and cannot be touched with bare hands. In order to enter the HCN-saturated chamber to remove the corpse, special gear is needed, as well as a gas mask with a special filter. Because physical exertion must be kept to a minimum (it accelerates respiration, reducing the filter's effectiveness), it is necessary, before entering the area, to evacuate the gas, and then neutralize it. On this matter, I refer to the documents on gas chambers used in American penitentiaries that I published in 1980.(1) I warn the officials of the US Holocaust Museum and, in particular, Mr. Berenbaum, that tomorrow, April 22, 1993, they need not offer, as proof of the existence of Nazi gas chambers, a disinfection gas chamber, a shower room, a morgue, or an air-raid shelter. I am even less interested in a section of a wall, a door, a pile of shoes, a bundle of hair, or a heap of eyeglasses. I want a portrayal of an entire Nazi gas chamber, one that gives a precise idea of its technique and operation. Evasion and Trickery I knew this challenge could not be answered because, as a matter of fact, for half a century they have been telling us about Nazi gas chambers without ever showing us one. I also fully expected that the Museum would be reduced to playing a trick of some kind. But just what kind of trick? The answer would come the next day, April 22, the date of the formal dedication. (The Museum opened to the public on April 26.) On the 22nd, I obtained a copy of a book of about 250 pages that presents itself as a sort of catalog of the new Museum. This book is by Michael Berenbaum, and is entitled The World Must Know: The History of the Holocaust As Told in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (1993, xvi + 240 pages). On page 138 are three photographs: J.-C. Pressac's Admission I shall content myself here by referring to Jean-Claude Pressac, protege of the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation and author of the 1989 anti-Revisionist work Auschwitz: Technique and Operation of the Gas Chambers (a misleading title, by the way). Here, then, is Pressac's opinion of the room that Berenbaum dares to portray as a homicidal gas chamber: Pressac goes on to note that the presence of a peep-hole is no proof of a homicidal gas chamber because a delousing gas chamber may be furnished with such a peep-hole. He concludes: On page 557 he presents a photograph of the exterior of the gas chamber in question and of another gas chamber located in the same building. According to the caption, this is a photograph It should be noted that these gas chambers were in the Bad und Desinfektion ("Bath and Disinfection") building, located right at the entrance to the camp, and in plain view. It is understandable that in his "Bibliographical Note" (pp. 224-232) Berenbaum makes no mention of Pressac's 564-page book. A New Advance for Revisionism In 1978 President Jimmy Carter established a commission charged with creating a federal government Holocaust memorial museum. He chose as its chairman Elie Wiesel, thereby providing Arthur Butz with the inspiration for a comment both accurate and sarcastic: A historian was needed, but a histrion was chosen. The choice of Berenbaum as the Museum's "scholarly" authority is of the same nature. Berenbaum is an adjunct professor of theology at Georgetown University. Where a historian was required, a theologian was chosen - which is appropriate because, for some years now, in place of the history of the "Holocaust," Jewish organizations have substituted the religion of the "Holocaust." The central pillar of this religion, as I have often said, is "the magical gas chamber that, like a mirage, is the image of nothing real." To portray this "central pillar," Museum officials selected a delousing gas chamber falsely labeled as a homicidal gas chamber. Although it was designed and built by the Germans as a facility for protecting the health of Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners, it is presented to us as an instrument for the torture and murder of these inmates. This portrayal epitomizes the deceit and the effrontery of the zealots of the "Holocaust" religion. The time has come for a little more intellectual honesty and sanity regarding the story of the Jewish people's real misfortunes during the Second World War. Visitors to the new Holocaust Museum in Washington - particularly American taxpayers, without whom it would not exist - have a right to demand an accounting from Mr. Berenbaum and his friends. A recent article in the Los Angeles Times was headlined "Poll Finds 1 Out of 3 Americans Open to Doubt There Was a Holocaust." (April 20, 1993) The doubts will increase. A few days after the Museum's formal dedication, Berenbaum revealed to a newspaper: It is not out of the question that Berenbaum will return to the analyst's couch when he grasps the grave consequences of his deception. April, 22, 1993, was supposed to be a date for the consecration of the "Holocaust" religion on American soil. In reality, this date will go down in history as marking an outstanding victory for revisionist historians. A few of the two hundred or so persons who rallied in Washington, DC, on April 22 to express opposition to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. To conclude, I would like to pay tribute here to those revisionists who have contributed to the victory on this specific point: Reprinted by permission of The Journal of Historical Review, P.O. Box 2739, Newport Beach, California 92659, United States of America. This page Taken from CODOH CODOH can be reached at: MCD P-111, POB 439016 San Diego CA 92143
(Inside Science) -- Elite athletes down sports drink to help them reach new heights of performance. But for the average young person, these "health drinks" may cause them to reach new highs -- on the bathroom scale. A new study published in the journal Obesity suggests that young people who consume one or more sports drinks each day gained more weight over a three year period than classmates who chose other beverages. "Not just children, but many adults use them who don't need them," said Nancy Rehrer, an exercise metabolism researcher at Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand, who was not involved in the study. "Because sports drinks can be a very beneficial part of a very active lifestyle, I guess they're seen as a healthy alternative and that's probably a misrepresentation." Sports drinks were designed to rehydrate hardworking athletes and to replace salts and sugars that they use or lose during exercise. The sugars in sports drinks replenish the energy stores in the muscles and liver, which are depleted during vigorous exercise. The salt replaces the sodium lost through sweat. Both ingredients help cells in the intestines to absorb fluid more quickly than water alone so the athlete can rehydrate and recover faster. Though the average person gets more than enough calories from their meals, high-performance athletes such as Tour de France cyclists, struggle to consume enough energy through solid food to power their muscles through the grueling kilometers packed with punishing hills, explained Rehrer. Athletes who consume too much water during events also risk developing deadly hyponatremia -- a condition where they dilute the sodium levels in the blood, and can’t excrete the excess water. Sports drinks can improve an athlete's performance in these situations. "They were developed for people engaging in at least 60 minutes of continuous activity in high heat - so think about football practice in Florida in the summer," said study leader Alison Field, an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. Field is also a long-distance runner who admits to drinking the occasional sports drink, but only if she runs for at least an hour. A single 32 ounce bottle will last her through an entire marathon, supplemented with water and energy gels. Of course, people need to rehydrate during exercise, especially when sweating heavily. To prevent dehydration, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends that athletes should drink enough fluids that they lose less than 2% of their body weight. When exercising for fun or weight loss, water is an ideal way to rehydrate, agreed both Rehrer and Field. Sports drink consumption is up in the United States. Regular soda is still the most popular sugary beverage, but sales have declined over the past decade. One study found that one out of every four beverages that young people consume is now a sports drink. Soda and other sugar-laden drinks have received increasing attention for their connection to weight gain and obesity in young adults, but the role of sports drinks on weight had not been examined. Field and her colleagues analyzed data from the Growing Up Today II study, a survey of the eating and exercise habits of children aged nine to 14. The survey began in 2004, and the researchers sent follow-up questionnaires every two or three years. For each participant, the researchers calculated the body mass index, which is an estimate of body fat percentage based on a person's height and weight, and compared it to their drinking habits. They found that for each sports drink that adolescents drank per day, they gained 0.3 BMI units over the three-year period. This weight gain corresponds to about one or two pounds per drink for an average teenager. This bump on the scale might seem insignificant, but the increase is above and beyond the weight gain caused by other food and drink choices. The excess weight is especially concerning for the large number of adolescents who are already overweight or obese. "People have assumed that sports drinks are a much better option than soda, or that they're a healthy part of someone's life," said Field. She credits the beverage industry's brilliant marketing. "They have really coupled the image of sports drinks with a very healthy lifestyle and with professional athletes." Ounce for ounce, sports drinks have less sugar than soda. But when packaged in extra-large bottles with multiple servings, they still pack a sugary punch. "It's not much different from any other source of sugar," said Rehrer. Still, she hates to see sports drinks demonized. "We can improve endurance performance by giving some carbohydrate and some extra fluid," but these drinks should be reserved for intense and prolonged exertion, she said. One study estimates that only eight percent of young people exercise for at least 60 minutes each day, indicating that the number of students who need sports drinks frequently is very low. A quart-sized bottle also contains about one third of the daily recommended level of sodium. Because sodium -- mostly in the form of salt -- is also prominent in canned soups and other processed foods, most Americans consume far too much. In some people, excess sodium has been linked to elevated blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. In 2006, the American Beverage Association agreed not to sell regular soda in schools, but diet soda, flavored water and sports drinks are still available in vending machines. During the next year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will roll out its Smart Snacks in School regulations which will limit the calories allowed in school drink options, which will eliminate many sports drinks. "In the ideal world everyone would transition to drinking water, but it's unlikely to happen," said Field. Patricia Waldron (@patriciawaldron) is a news intern at Inside Science. Reprinted with permission from Inside Science, an editorially independent news product of the American Institute of Physics, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing, promoting and serving the physical sciences.
- to beat or cut one's way through bushes - to move a boat along a stream by pulling at the bushes on the bank - to engage in guerrilla fighting, attacking from ambush Origin of bushwhackprobably ; from bush + whack verbbush·whacked, bush·whack·ing, bush·whacks - To force one's way through a forested or overgrown area where no path exists: “Often on the verge of starvation, they bushwhacked through muskeg, forded ice-cold streams and rivers &ellipsis; determined to conquer a daunting land deemed impassable” (Brenda Koller). - To travel through or live in the woods. - To fight as a guerrilla in the woods. To attack suddenly from a place of concealment. See Synonyms at ambush. (third-person singular simple present bushwhacks, present participle bushwhacking, simple past and past participle bushwhacked)
In days gone by, screen resolution (also called display resolution) wasn’t much of an issue. Windows came with a few preset options and to get higher resolution or more colors (or both) you would install a driver for your video card. As time went on, you could choose better video cards and better monitors as well. Today we have lots of options when it comes to displays, their quality and the supported resolutions. In this article I would like to take you through a bit of history and explain all the important concepts, including common acronyms like 1080p or 4K. It all started with IBM & CGA The color graphics technology was first developed by IBM. CGA was first, followed by EGA and VGA - color graphics adapter, enhanced graphics adapter, video graphics array. Regardless of the capability of your monitor, you’d still have to choose from one of the few options available through your graphics card’s drivers. For the sake of nostalgia, here’s a look at a once well-known CGA display. With the advent of high definition video and the increased popularity of the 16:9 aspect ratio (we’ll explain more about aspect ratios in a bit) selecting a screen resolution is not the simple affair it once was. However, this also means that there are a lot more options to choose from, with something to suit almost everyone’s preferences. Let’s look at what today’s terminology is, and what it means: The screen is what by what? I am sure some of you already know that the term "resolution" isn’t correct when it’s used to refer to the number of pixels on a screen. That says nothing about how densely the pixels are clustered. "Resolution" is technically the number of pixels per unit of area, rather than the total number of pixels. Here, we’ll be using the term as it’s commonly understood, rather than the absolutely technologically correct usage. Since the beginning, resolution has been described (accurately or not) by the number of pixels arranged horizontally and vertically on a monitor, for example 640 x 480 = 307200 pixels. The choices available were determined by the capability of the video card, and they differed from manufacturer to manufacturer. The resolutions built into Windows were very limited, so if you didn’t have the driver for your video card you’d be stuck with the lower-resolution screen that Windows provided. If you’ve watched Windows Setup or installed a newer version of a video driver, you may have seen the 640 x 480 low resolution screen for a moment or two. It was ugly even on CGA screens, but that was the Windows default. As monitor quality improved, Windows began offering a few more built-in options, but the burden was still mostly on the graphics card manufacturers, especially if you wanted a really high resolution display. The more recent versions of Windows can detect the default screen resolution for your monitor and graphics card and adjust accordingly. This doesn’t mean that what Windows chooses is always the best option, but it will work, and you can change it if you wish, after you see what it looks like. If you need guidance on doing that, check this tutorial: Change your display's screen resolution and make text and icons bigger. Mind your P’s and I’s You may have seen the screen resolution described as something like 720p or 1080i. What does that mean? To begin with, the letters tell you how the picture is "painted" on the monitor. A "p" stands for progressive, and an "i" stands for interlaced. The interlaced scan is a holdover from television and from early CRT monitors. The monitor or TV screen has lines of pixels arranged horizontally across it. The lines were fairly easy to see if you got up close to an older monitor or TV, but nowadays the pixels on the screen are so small that they are very hard to see even with magnification. The monitor’s electronics "paint" each screen line by line, too quickly for the eye to see. An interlaced display paints all the odd lines first, then all the even lines. Since the screen is being painted in alternate lines, flicker has always been a problem with interlaced scans. Manufacturers have tried to overcome this problem in various ways. The most common way is to increase the number of times a complete screen is painted in a second, which is called the refresh rate. The most common refresh rate was 60 times per second, which was acceptable for most people, but it could be pushed a bit higher to get rid of the flicker that some people perceived. As people moved away from the older CRT displays, the terminology changed from refresh rate to frame rate, because of the difference in the way the LED monitor works. The frame rate is the speed with which the monitor displays each separate frame of data. The most recent versions of Windows set the framerate at 60 Hertz, or 60 cycles per second, and LED screens do not flicker. And the system changed from interlaced scan to progressive scan because the new digital displays were so much faster. In a progressive scan, the lines are painted on the screen in sequence rather than first the odd lines and then the even lines. If you want to translate 1080p for example, is used for displays that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of vertical resolution and a progressive scan. There’s a rather eye-boggling illustration of the differences between progressive and interlaced scans on Wikipedia here: Progressive scan. For another interesting history lessons, read also Interlaced video. What about the numbers: 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 4K and 8K? When high-definition TVs became the norm, manufacturers developed a shorthand to explain their display resolution. The most common numbers you will see are 720p, 1080p and 2160p or 4K. As we’ve seen, the "p" and "i" tell you whether it’s a progressive-scan or interlaced-scan display. And these shorthand numbers are sometimes used to describe computer monitors as well, even though in general a monitor is capable of a higher-definition display than a TV. The number always refers to the number of horizontal lines on the display. Here’s how the shorthand translates: - 720p = 1280 x 720 - is usually known as HD or “HD Ready” resolution - 1080p = 1920 x 1080 - is usually known as FHD or “Full HD” resolution - 1440p = 2560 x 1440 - commonly known as QHD or Quad HD resolution, and typically seen on gaming monitors and on high-end smartphones. 1440p is four times the resolution of 720p HD or “HD ready”. - 2160p = 3840 x 2160 - commonly known as 4K, UHD or Ultra HD resolution. It’s a very large display resolution and it’s found on high-end TVs and monitors. 2160p is called 4K because it offers four times the resolution of 1080p FHD or “Full HD”. - 4320p = 7680 x 4320 - is known as 8K and it offers 16 times more pixels than the regular 1080p FHD or “Full HD” resolution. Although you’re not going to see TVs or computer monitors with this resolution too soon, you can test whether your computer can render such a large amount of data. Here’s an 8K video sample: What is the Aspect Ratio? At the beginning we mentioned the term aspect ratio. This was originally used in motion pictures, indicating how wide the picture was in relation to its height. Movies were originally in 4:3 aspect ratio, and this carried over into television and early computer displays. Motion picture aspect ratio changed much more quickly to a wider screen, which meant that when movies were shown on TV they had to be cropped or the image manipulated in other ways to fit the TV screen. As display technology improved, TV and monitor manufacturers began to move toward widescreen displays as well. Originally "widescreen" referred to anything wider than the common 4:3 display, but it quickly came to mean a 16:10 ratio and later 16:9. Nowadays, nearly all computer monitors and TVs are only available in widescreen, and TV broadcasts and web pages have adapted to match. Until 2010, 16:10 was the most popular aspect ratio for widescreen computer displays. But with the rise in popularity of high definition televisions, which were using high definition resolutions such as 720p and 1080p and made this terms synonyms with high-definition, 16:9 has become the high-definition standard aspect ratio.Today, finding 16:10 displays is almost impossible. Depending on the aspect ratio of your display, you are able to use only resolutions that are specific to its width and height. Some of the most common resolutions that can be used for each aspect ratio are the following: - 4:3 aspect ratio resolutions: 640×480, 800×600, 960×720, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×1080 , 1600×1200, 1856×1392, 1920×1440, and 2048×1536. - 16:10 aspect ratio resolutions: - 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200 and 2560×1600. - 16:9 aspect ratio resolutions: 1024×576, 1152×648, 1280×720, 1366×768, 1600×900, 1920×1080, 2560×1440 and 3840×2160. How does the size of the screen affect resolution? Although a 4:3 TV’s display can be adjusted to show black bars at the top and bottom of the screen while a widescreen movie or show is being displayed, this doesn’t make sense with a monitor, so you’ll find that Windows will not even offer you the widescreen display as a choice. You can watch movies with black bars as if you were watching a TV screen, but this is done by your media player. The most important thing is not the monitor size, but its ability to display the higher resolution images. The higher you set the resolution, the smaller the images on the screen will be, and there comes a point at which the text on the screen becomes so small it’s not readable. On a larger monitor it is possible to push the resolution very high indeed, but if that monitor’s pixel density is not up to par, you won’t get the maximum possible resolution before the image becomes unreadable. In many cases the monitor will not display anything at all, if you tell Windows to use a resolution the monitor cannot handle. In other words, don’t expect miracles out of a cheap monitor. When it comes to high-definition displays, you definitely get what you pay for. If you are not very technical, it is very likely that you are confused by so many technicalities. Hopefully this article has managed to help in your understanding of the most important characteristics of a display: aspect ratio, resolutions or type. If you have any questions on this subject, don’t hesitate to ask us in the comments form below.
Around this time of year, many of us will make a New Year’s resolution to be healthier overall. But what about taking care of one of our most precious senses, our sense of sight? The first step to preserving our sense of sight is to ensure we have healthy eyes. Here are some tips to make sure you keep your eyes healthy well into the New Year: Get Regular Eye Exams Seeing your eye doctor for a regular eye exam is important. Adults, especially those over 40, should have annual eye exams, particularly to prevent age-related ocular conditions including macular degeneration (the part of the retina that processes light deteriorates), cataracts (the lens of your eye becomes cloudy)and glaucoma (pressure in the eye damages the optic nerve). Patients over 40 can also learn about presbyopia and their vision correction options such as multifocal contact lenses or bifocals. Children should have their first eye exam between the ages of 6 and 12 months. Share Medical History With Your Eye Doctor Once you go to see your eye doctor, make sure to tell your eye doctor about your medical history. Patients often don't realize that there's often a link between illnesses in the body and eye issues. Hypertension, blood pressure and diabetes can all be detected by looking in the back of the eye, so if you alert your eye doctor to your risk factors, he/she can take the right course of action during an eye exam. Also sharing your lifestyle with your eye doctor can help with courses of vision correction that are best for you. Replace Your Contact Lens Case Often Eye doctors recommend replacing your contact lens case every three or four months. This helps prevent possible complications from bacterial infections. Another option is to reduce contact lens maintenance and ask your eye doctor about daily disposable contact lenses like Proclear 1 day contact lenses. These are just some eye healthy tips to get you started, but make sure to see an eye doctor for more ways that you can stay eye healthy all year long. Click here to find an eye doctor.
When Hurricane Sandy hit the Rhode Island coast in late October 2012, Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge got hammered. Five years later to the day, the remnants of Tropical Storm Philippe struck New England, bringing strong winds and heavy rain. This time, the refuge was ready, thanks to work by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners. The Wrath of Sandy Hurricane Sandy brought heavy rain, wind gusts exceeding 80 miles per hour, and a storm surge boosted by a full moon to Sachuest Point. It wrought havoc on the refuge, chewing up pavement, strewing rocks and chunks of concrete onto the access road, and knocking down power poles. Maidford Marsh was flooded and its outlet to the Sakonnet River blocked by sand. Restoring power to the visitor center took three months and re-opening the road another three, at a cost of $648 thousand. Thousands of would-be visitors were inconvenienced. Following Sandy, the Service worked with partners to repair and armor the access road, bury 7,000 feet of utility lines that run alongside it, and remove 60 utility poles. The work cost more than $1 million and was supported by Federal funding for Hurricane Sandy recovery and resilience projects and a generous $250,000 donation from local partners. Mending the Marsh The northern end of the marsh at Sachuest Point was modified dramatically in the early 20th century, when the Maidford River was rerouted and the Connector Road built from one side to the other. The southern end served as the dump for the Town of Middletown until 2004, when trash was removed and placed in a landfill to the west of the marsh. With the marsh’s natural water movement, or hydrology, altered, the northern end was prone to flooding during heavy rain storms. After Sandy, it was inundated for an extended period, and the Connector Road was underwater. In 2015, as part of another project supported by Hurricane Sandy funds, refuge staff created new channels in the marsh to improve its hydrology and drain storm water. When they realized more were needed, they contracted with the Woods Hole Group, in East Falmouth, Massachusetts, to study further the hydrology of the marsh. Another channel was added this fall, and staff will continue to assess the situation. With support from a Hurricane Sandy Resilience grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Town of Middletown, Rhode Island, raised the Connector Road through the marsh to reduce its chances of being overtopped by floodwaters. A Trial Run This year’s storm was the result of bombogenesis, which happens when air pressure drops rapidly, intensifying the winds at the center of the storm. While not a hurricane, it brought heavy rain, high winds, and more power outages than Sandy. Due to the moon phase, tides were lower, reducing storm surge. This time, there was no flooding and no loss of power at the refuge. The access road and visitor center remained open to the public. Cleanup amounted to closing lids on trash bins. In the northern Maidford Marsh, stormwater drained through new channels and into the Sakonnet River without backing up. The Connector Road remained above water and open to traffic. “We were hoping that the new channels would improve drainage, and this storm demonstrated that they have,” said Dr. Jennifer White, the Service’s Hurricane Sandy resiliency coordinator. It’s hard to make a direct comparison between last month’s storm and Hurricane Sandy, but the conditions presented by the two are strikingly similar. While Sachuest Point experienced high winds and heavy rain during both, the damage to infrastructure and habitat was like night and day. Knocked to its knees five years ago, the refuge returned stronger, meeting the recent challenge head-on and remaining up and running for wildlife and people.
Photo manipulations are a way to let your imagination run wild and create realistic compositions from a mixtures of sources. Photo manipulations are nothing new on the Internet, but often you will only see the finished product, not how the image was actually created. I find it interesting to see the techniques that go into photo manipulations and how the creator approached the objective. It is hard to reverse engine a flat image, and so you really need the artist to break it down for you. This is more of a walkthrough than a tutorial because I believe walkthroughs are far more beneficial for understanding how something was done, rather than creating the same output. Instead of telling you exactly what to do, I’m just going to break it down into the main stages, the creativity is up to you. The first thing we need to do is to find a good picture of a cat. Fortunately, we are on the Internet and so there is no shortage of pictures of cats. I’m going to be using this majestic looking feline for my robotic cat. Next we need to find some pictures of engines to use as the robotic architecture of the cat. Try and find a good selection of engine images with interesting features and a variety of different textures, surface layers and sizes. The more variation you have, the easier it will be to create a realistic robotic shell for your cat. Next, start cutting out pieces from the engines and placing them on to your cat. At this stage it does not have to be neat at all. Look for bits of engine that closely resemble the anatomy and the bone structure of a real cat. The closer you can get to the actual real structure of a cat, the better your final image will be. Try and find smaller pieces that can be used to join bigger bits together. As you can see in the image above, here I’m using long pieces as the outer bones and skeleton of the cat and to create joints on the legs. Next, add some shadows and dark areas to the structure. In any photo manipulation, less is considerably more and so we use shadows and dark areas to tone down the image. Again, at this stage don’t worry about being neat. Next, duplicate the original image and place it as the top layer. In my image I cut out the picture of the cat so I could place it in another scene or change the background. Next, use the Eraser Tool set with a texture brush to remove sections of the fur to reveal the robotic structure underneath. Finally, use the Burn Tool to make the edges of the fur look like they have been burnt away or lost in a fight. And there you have it! Your very own robotic cat! I hope this walkthrough has shown you how easy it is to create photo manipulations. I think one of the most important aspects of creating a realistic photo manipulation is to combine various types of images, and then use the power of Photoshop to tie it all together.
Достоинство личности как личная собственность: Метаморфоза российских законов о порочащих сведениях This article examines the history of Russian laws protecting citizens’ dignity and honor. Pre-revolutionary Russian legal scholars assumed that ethical dignity could not be legally protected because it was not contingent on social esteem: it could be tarnished only by the bearer himself. But when the Moral Codex of the Builder of Communism outlined the norms of morality, the law extended its protection to citizens’ ethical dignity, among their other immaterial personal values. The Moral Codex disappeared after the Soviet collapse, but the legal protection of “honor and dignity” remained: today, the law defines dignity as a “moral-legal category,” determined by commonly accepted social standards.
The EpiTRAITS project The mission of EpiTRAITS is to train young researchers in epigenetic gene regulation and flowering in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the crop plants maize (Zea mays) and barley (Hordeum vulgare). Epigenetic gene regulation confers stability of gene expression patterns through cell divisions while allowing changes in expression in response to environmental or developmental cues. Although changes in epigenetic gene regulation are a major cause for trait variation, no rational strategies have been developed that utilize this knowledge for crop breeding purposes. EpiTRAITS will focus on one of the key plant traits, flowering, which is controlled by various epigenetic mechanisms. The scientific program aims to bridge the gap between fundamental and applied research by translating results from epigenetic research in model organisms to improved technologies for crop breeding and molecular diagnostic tools.
This article reviews the exercise of legislative power delegated from the 1833 Constitution to the present. In the XIX century its use responds to broad authorizations from Congress, which include Congressional Legislative Power. In the XX century, rules of legislative force and effect were born as practice praeter constitutionem in 1927 and continue to operate as broad authorizations to regulate with the status of law and not as precise mandate. Its main initial use between 1927 and 1932 (control of public expenditure and reorganization of the public administration) is maintained throughout the past century. Its incorporation to the Constitution in 1970 and then to that of 1980, tries to reinforce its commission character. However, in practice, the delegation continues to function as an authorization to regulate matters of administrative organization with legislative force and effect. \|Translated title of the contribution\|\|The exercise of legislative authority delegated to the president between the years 1833 and 2014\| \|Number of pages\|\|24\| \|Journal\|\|Revista Chilena de Derecho\| \|State\|\|Published - 2019\|
California Hospital was originally a three-story building located at 315 W. Sixth Street in Los Angeles. On the first floor of the structure were offices of established physicians. On the second floor there were several small offices occupied by younger physicians and a dentist. Although there were no elevators in the building, the third floor contained a small hospital of six to eight beds. After all, our forebearers believed a beautiful view was key to healing. Dr. Lindley conceived of a hospital owned and operated solely by physicians. The physicians in Lindley's building were "carriage trade" and were affiliated with the University of Southern California Medical School. Twenty-one physicians agreed to acquire property at the corner of 15th and Hope which was a quiet residential street of attractive homes. When the property on Hope Street had been acquired, the first physician-owned and operated hospital in Los Angeles was erected at 1414 S. Hope Street. It was the first building in California especially invented for medical purposes, a project that Walter Lindley supervised at every stage of its design and construction. Leading the Way By 1902, California Hospital Medical Center had turned into the largest and best-equipped physician-owned hospital west of Chicago. Less than 25 years later, our old frame buildings were replaced by a more modern nine-story brick building, resulting in another famous "first" — it was the first fireproof hospital in Los Angeles. Between 1870 and 1910, hospitals moved from the periphery to the center of medical education and medical practice. The effects of this significant change rippled outward, altering the relationship of doctors to hospitals and to one another, and shaping the development of the hospital system as a whole. The access that private practitioners gained to hospitals, without becoming their employees, became one of the distinctive features of medical care in America, with consequences not fully appreciated even today. In harmony with the growth of the city of Los Angeles along other lines was the innovative development of facilities for caring for the sick. California Hospital — the pioneer, private, general hospital, owned and operated by physicians — blazed the way and established a precedent which had a worldwide following. California Hospital Through The Years 1889 - The first X-rays taken in LA were performed at California Hospital by Dr Albert Soiland with equipment he built himself at home 1898 - Opened School of Nursing (in effect until 1984, having graduated more than 2100 nurses) 1932 - Served as the official Olympic Games Hospital when LA hosted the games in that year 1944 - Became a Supply Depot for the new miracle drug penicillin 1984 - Began Family Medicine Residency Program in conjunction with USC (ongoing today) 1986 - Opened the California Reproductive Health Institute, where the first successful frozen embryo transfer in the nation was achieved 1992 - Served as collection and distribution point for “Rebuild LA” task force to gather clothing, food, baby supplies and cash donations after the Rodney King riots 1993 - Hope Street Family Center opened to serve low-income families affected by substance abuse 1994 - “Baby and Me Clinic” founded to help pregnant teens under the age of 19 2004 - Earned designation as Level II Trauma Center 2012 - Opened Los Angeles Center for Women's Health to provide specialty care 2013 - Hope Street Family Center moved into a brand new LEED-certified building Today, California Hospital is a 318-bed acute care hospital that provides services for the dynamic community of downtown Los Angeles and its surrounding neighborhoods.
Hurricanes are among the most common and most destructive types of natural hazards on Earth. Because they occur across space and time, hurricanes can be better understood using maps, particularly digital maps within a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment. GIS allows you to use maps as analytical tools—not maps that someone else has made—but using your own maps to make decisions. The key properties of soil (physical, biological, and chemical) determine recreation, crop production, range, water/erosion conservation, forestry, and engineering uses of the soil. Soil surveys help us understand how soils differ and how they behave under various land management systems. The heart of a soil survey is the soil map showing the spatial distribution and variability of soils on the landscape.
Engagement succeeded where sanctions failed in encouraging Myanmar’s political reform, Bryan R Early writes. Economic sanctions are coercive instruments of statecraft that seek to compel a change in their targets’ behaviours. Yet sanctions are frequently imposed when they have few prospects of success, in cases where policymakers want to isolate or punish their targets for objectionable behaviours. For example, the United Nations Security Council has cycled through multiple rounds of sanctions against North Korea in response to its nuclear and missile tests with little to show for it. Even so, continuing to sanction North Korea is viewed as important for demonstrating the international community’s condemnation of the regime’s provocative weapons tests. There’s a downside to adopting symbolic but ineffective sanctions, however, as they can encourage target governments to become more repressive and damage the welfare of innocent citizens. In the case of the human rights-related sanctions imposed by the United States against Myanmar, for example, there are strong reasons to think that the US sanctions actually made the situation within the country worse for two decades. Foreign policy observers should thus be sceptical of claims that Myanmar represents a sanctions success story, even if it can be argued that the removal of sanctions has become a useful bargaining chip for more recent political reforms in the country. The United States first imposed economic sanctions against Myanmar in 1988 after its military-led regime’s violent crackdown against political protesters. US sanctions were imposed to curb the regime’s human rights violence and encourage Myanmar’s military regime to democratise. Numerous other sanctions were added via legislation and executive order over the subsequent decades. Not only did Myanmar’s regime fail to democratise in response to these sanctions, but it also got more repressive and engaged in consistently high levels of human rights abuses. According to Freedom House, Myanmar’s government had the lowest possible scores on its measures of civil liberties and political rights from 1990-2011. The US Department of State’s human rights reports say that Myanmar’s government frequently relied upon political terror, including torture, murder and disappearances, during this period. Amnesty International also documented substantial, continued repression against Myanmar’s ethnic minority populations during the 1990s and 2000s. That Myanmar’s government was just as or even more repressive after it was sanctioned is neither anomalous nor coincidental. Numerous studies have documented how being sanctioned encourages leaders to consolidate domestic power, crack down on political dissent and ethnic minorities, violate human rights and curb media freedoms. Leaders can exploit internationally-imposed sanctions in labelling dissenters as disloyal or unpatriotic in light of external threats and use the sanctions as justification for moving against them. They can also use the sanctions as scapegoats for other issues that their regime may be confronting, such as economic problems. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response to US and European Union sanctions perfectly illustrates those strategies at work. While the sanctions against Myanmar did adversely affect the country’s economy, they were not salient enough to seriously jeopardise the regime’s power such that it was willing to make concessions. Instead, the regime only further consolidated power and doubled-down on the tactics that had gotten it sanctioned in the first place. Simply put, the economic sanctions imposed by the US against Myanmar at best failed to improve Myanmar’s human rights policies and, at worst, contributed to more severe crackdowns and more grievous human rights violations for the two decades that followed. In recent years, Myanmar’s ruling regime has made substantial strides in relaxing its repressive policies, freeing political prisoners, and allowing free elections. This major shift in Myanmar’s policies was aided by a substantial change in President Barack Obama’s approach towards Myanmar when he took office in 2009. Rather than relying solely on sanctions, the Obama administration adopted a diplomatic approach of constructive engagement. While President Obama did not immediately repeal sanctions, he instead focused on finding areas in which to engage in limited cooperation with Myanmar’s government. This approach helped to assuage the regime’s security concerns and allowed its leaders to feel more confident about relaxing the draconian policies it had adopted during the previous two decades. In April of 2016, formerly imprisoned political dissident Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to take power after her party won freely-contested elections in the country. While the removal of US sanctions served as a bargaining chip for enhanced reforms by Myanmar’s military regime, that only became possible by virtue of President Obama’s initial efforts at using positive engagement. In September of this year, the Obama Administration fully lifted US sanctions against Myanmar while continuing its policy of enhanced engagement with Myanmar’s government. Significant work remains in improving Myanmar’s human rights record and its treatment of ethnic minorities, but the Obama administration viewed engagement—as opposed to sanctions—as the best strategy for encouraging continued improvements in those areas. The Myanmar case suggests that economic sanctions that fail in coercing their targets to change their behaviours but are left in place to punish and isolate them can be counterproductive. If Obama hadn’t adopted a new engagement-based strategy, there is little reason to think that the US sanctions would have played a constructive role in encouraging Myanmar’s military regime to adopt reforms. Engagement and cooperation are much more responsible for the recent political transformation that has taken place in Myanmar than the pain and isolation inflicted by US sanctions. If policymakers want to learn a positive lesson from the Myanmar sanctions case, it is in how engagement-based strategies can be effectively used where sanctions policies have failed. Bryan R Early is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University at Albany, SUNY and the Director of the Center for Policy Research. This piece is published in partnership with Policy Forum – Asia and the Pacific’s platform for public policy analysis and debate.
THE Milky Way has had a sheltered life. A search for the signs of a violent galactic upbringing has come up empty, and the finding is helping astronomers understand our galaxy’s history. It could also aid the search for dark matter. Galaxies are shape-shifters. Far from being a single set of stars in an eternal spiral, the Milky Way has devoured countless smaller galaxies over its 13 billion year lifetime, and its shape has been in constant flux to accommodate the immigrants. It is riddled with alien stars, threshed from foreign galaxies as they joined ours. If these galaxies were big hitters, the forces unleashed by a merger would push stars into the heart of our galaxy and create a flattened disc of accreted dark matter that lines up with the spiral disc of stars. “If you have a disc galaxy and then you have a substantial merger, material is preferentially pulled towards the disc as [the merging galaxy] gets tidally torn to pieces,” says Justin Read of the University of Surrey, UK, a co-author of the new study. “Because those shredded satellites will contain stars and dark matter, we can look for evidence that this has happened by picking through the stars in our backyard.” So Greg Ruchti of Lund University in Sweden and his colleagues searched through 4675 Milky Way stars from the Gaia-ESO Spectroscopic Survey looking for remnants of a large merger. They wanted stars with alien chemistry that were a little hotter than Milky Way natives, but rotating at the same speed. But their galactic archaeological dig found no alien stars in the main disc – although they found plenty on more sedate orbits in the galaxy’s suburbs. That suggests that the Milky Way has been steadily gobbling smaller galaxies, but nothing large enough to force new stars and dark matter directly into the disc (arxiv.org/abs/1504.02481). If the Milky Way lacks a dark matter disc, this has implications for physicists hunting the elusive substance. Dark matter makes up 80 per cent of the universe’s matter but only interacts with ordinary matter via gravity, so it is difficult to detect directly. Earth-based experiments hope a dark matter particle will collide with an ordinary atom in an observable way. Dark matter particles from the galactic disc will give different signals to those from the halo of dark matter the Milky Way was born with –without a disc, the problem is more clear-cut. Kevin Schawinski of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich says the findings are helpful for comparing the physics of the Milky Way with other galaxies. “The fascinating thing about the Milky Way is that we know it in gorgeous detail because we’re in it, but it’s also hard to put it in context for the same reason,” he says. “We want to know how we got here and how the universe works. Our society and civilisation is the first one that has creation stories that might actually be true. The Milky Way is great, but how did it get that way?” Our society and civilisation is the first one that has creation stories that might actually be true It would be good to know, since the Milky Way’s quiet life is about to end. In 4 billion years, it will collide with its nearest major neighbour, Andromeda, which is roughly the same size and had a much more violent youth. When our stars and dark matter merge, our galaxies’ histories will merge too. Read: “The human universe: Exploring our place in space“ This article appeared in print under the headline “Low-key Milky Way lacks dark matter skeleton”
Technology has changed human society and interaction in astonishing ways. We have self-driving cars, computers smaller than calculators, and lightning fast communication across most of the planet; technology has never grown or moved faster in human history. But the most promising and debated technology is artificial intelligence or AI. AI of the future will revolutionize every aspect of our lives, from transportation and design to gaming and entertainment. And AI is already having an impact on one surprising area of our lives: our food. Machines have already changed food production forever, but AI will have even better results. In this article, we’ll go over the basics of AI and how AI is changing food production forever. What Is AI? To understand how AI is affecting food production, we need to understand what AI is. Most people think of AI as a digital person or some kind of sentient robot, but AI gets used in many different ways and has different purposes. Artificial Intelligence is an intelligent machine. This means that the machine has the ability to gather information, process that information, and make its own decisions or conclusions. AI gets used for everything from image recognition and data collection to design and security, making it a cutting edge tool in every industry. How Has AI Affected Food Production? AI has already had a large impact on food production, and with exciting new developments, will have a large impact on the future of food production. It has managed to make its way into almost every process in food production, from harvesting to transportation to preparation. Here are some of the many ways that AI is having an impact on food production. Growing Better Food Farmers across the world are using AI to grow better food. They use AI to collect data about the operation of their farm, which leads to less waste and more profit. The AI collects data about water usage, crop yields, fuel usage, and other data points. It then processes the information and shows farmers where they are wasting resources or where they could improve their operations. Scientists are also using AI to help grow the food of the future. Scientists are trying to find the perfect conditions for growing certain crops, and they are using AI to do it. The AI collects the data and comes up with different growing tactics for the crops based on the information. Soon, they’ll have a recipe for the perfect conditions for crops and can use that recipe to get higher crop yields. Sorting and Inspecting Food Food producers are using AI to sort their produce, leading to less waste and higher efficiency. Sorting produce is important because fruits and vegetables of different sizes get used for different things. To get the most out of the product, they must get sorted into proper piles. For example, some fruits are better for sale and some are better for jam; some potatoes are better for fries, some are better for chips. Using sensors, AI can sort these vegetables and reduce costs. It can also spot rotting or discolored vegetables, which reduces the amount of product that is returned by customers and food retailers. AI can also get used to test the safety of food and food products. By monitoring the food temperature and transportation, AI can ensure that food doesn’t go bad. And by inspecting food equipment for defects or malfunctions, AI prevents accidents and returns. Food Safety Compliance AI is also getting used to make sure that people who work in food preparation are complying with food safety laws. China is using a form of AI that monitors workers and makes sure that they are following health safety codes. The AI uses cameras to watch the workers and uses facial and image recognition technology to spot food safety violations by the workers. For example, if a worker handles food and doesn’t change gloves or wash their hands, the system will catch it. It lets the worker know by displaying a message on a screen nearby describing the food safety violation. AI is also used to create new products and machines for the food production industry. For example, a company called Gastrograph AI is using AI to collect data and customer feedback about flavors they create. The AI then uses an algorithm and the data to create a flavor it thinks the customers will like based on their feedback. These complex algorithms and AI technology can get used to create flavors that are sweet, salty, and sour. This means that your next favorite flavor of ice cream, soda, chips, candy, or gum might get invented by computers! Cleaning Process Equipment One of the most promising areas of AI use is in the area of cleaning process equipment. Cleaning process equipment takes a lot of time and resources, including water, labor hours, and the use of harsh chemicals. But, researchers at the University of Nottingham are developing an AI-powered cleaning system that will reduce the use of time and resources by 20-40%. The system called the Self-Optimizing-Clean-In-Place system or SOCIP, uses an AI program that finds food and microbial debris and chooses the best method to clean it. Food production already creates waste that harms the planet and the bottom line, so reducing that waste is key to being more successful. With a 20-40% reduction in the use of resources, traditional cleaning just can’t compare to using AI. Let the Technology Revolution Begin It’s clear that AI will change food production forever. The best way to take advantage of this new technology is to incorporate it into your business as well! If you have any questions about AI or how to incorporate it into your business, please visit our blog.
Eutomopeas layardi, endemic to Sri Lanka, with a small high spired shell and bright yellow body is typical of the family Subulinidae. Supported by the Darwin Initiative we are building on our earlier projects with conservation work in Sri Lanka that we hope will serve as a model for developing our projects in South and Southeast Asia. The first task on our 1999 - 2002 Sri Lankan project was to compile an illustrated land snail species list for Sri Lanka. This was our starting point for assembling current knowledge and was published as a book in 2000. Shells and, where available, type specimens, were photographed by Harold Taylor in Image Resources at the NHM, largely from the NHM collections. Additional material was borrowed from the Zoological Museum, University of Cambridge, which holds the main collections of William Benson, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, Museum für Naturkunde der Humbolt-Universität, Berlin, Zoologisk Museum, Copenhagen and the Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Geneva. Known from ten species in Sri Lanka and a single species in India, Corilla is an ancient genus dating from the age of dinosaurs. Jim Chimonides, Department of Zoology, prepared an interactive version that was also published on compact disc in 2000. In this trial version a few links to facsimiles of the primary literature were added. Lack of access to the literature is a major constraint for biologists working in developing countries and we wanted to explore the feasibility of adding an extensive literature resource to the CD. A considerable amount of effort has since been expended on scanning the primary literature for inclusion in a future edition. The status of some of the taxa is being revised and some fifty new species and several new genera need to be added. Addition of this information must await formal publication elsewhere but as this is an ongoing process the interactive resource can be updated in stages. This work was developed in our 2003-2005 project to investigate a wide range of questions. These included the origin of the fauna, its history, current threats, particularly the impact of forest loss and fragmentation, conservation strategy and future prospects. The ecological investigations focus on the impact of rainforest fragmentation and the importance of different types of human transformed habitats as reservoirs of native species. These transformed habitats range from the traditional home gardens that retain a significant component of endemic species to intensively cultivated cash crops where native snails may be completely absent and high densities of exotic species occur. This work was carried out jointly with Richard Preece at the University Museum of Zoology Cambridge and in collaboration with the Termite Research Group and Soil Biodiversity Programme at the Natural History Museum, led by Paul Eggleton.
What is in this article?: Backed by respected European research, many parents and doctors believe food dyes are dangerous and are planning a trip to Washington, DC, to convince the FDA to either ban food with synthetic dyes or require warning labels for these products. It was Trenton Shutters’ first week at preschool when the typically easy-going 4-year-old took an alarming turn for the worst. “He started melting down several times a week and was unable to recover,” recalls Trenton’s mom, Renee Shutters. “One day he’d be fine, the next he would get angry and not like himself. We thought he was bipolar. I was scared.” After months of trying to pinpoint a trigger, Trenton’s mother and teacher drew an intriguing conclusion: On days Trenton had orange cheese puffs, blue sugar-free yogurt, or the other colorful fare often provided for snack at school, his attention cratered. And on the nights when his mom gave in and let him have a neon gumball at hockey practice, a temper tantrum was sure to ensue. Skeptically, Renee took the advice of a friend, purged her cupboard of anything containing artificial food color, and asked his teachers to keep him away from dyes as well. “We saw an improvement within days,” says Shutters, who lives in Jamestown, New York. “Trenton is a model student now.” Shutters is among dozens of parents, physicians and researchers who will converge on Washington, DC March 30 and 31 to urge a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel to recommend a ban of—or at least warning labels on—foods containing synthetic dyes. Their allegation—that the petroleum-based colorants can lead to behavior problems, allergies and possibly cancer—dates back to the 1960s, when San Francisco allergist Ben Feingold reported that his patients’ radically improved when they kicked dyes. With few legitimate studies verifying the link, Feingold’s theories were largely dismissed. But thanks to a series of highly respected European trials connecting dyes to attention disorders, the European Parliament moved in 2010 to require warning labels on foods that contain them. Now U.S. regulators are taking a fresh look at artificial colors and their potential health hazards as well. “Just the fact that FDA is holding this hearing is very significant,” says Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which called for the meeting. “It sends a message that this is a topic worthy of discussion.”
Sequencing and Analysis of the Rotylenchulus reniformis Transcriptome Showmaker, K. C., Sanders, W. S., Bartlett, B., Wang, H, Ganji, S., Wubben, M. J., McCarthy, F.M., Magbanua, Z. V., & Peterson, D. G. (2012). Sequencing and Analysis of the Rotylenchulus reniformis Transcriptome. Plant and Animal Genome XX. San Diego, CA. Rotylenchulus reniformis, commonly known as the reniform nematode, is a crop pathogen of cotton, soybean, and sweet potatoes in the Southeastern United States. Compared to the resources available for other plant parasitic nematodes, such as the southern root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, and the soybean cyst nematode, Heterodera glycines, there are currently few genetic resources available to researchers studying the reniform nematode. Using resources available for both the southern root-knot nematode and the soybean cyst nematode, researchers have conducted RNAi studies to knock out specific genes, preventing those nematodes from establishing feeding sites and parasitizing their host plants. Knowledge of the reniform nematode’s transcript sequences can facilitate additional RNAi research, which can lead to a better understanding of its physiology and parasitism mechanisms. Using sequences generated from both Illumina Sequencing-by-Synthesis and Sanger EST reads, we performed a de novo transcriptome assembly for the reniform nematode. Additionally, these RNA-seq sequences have been utilized to help identify coding regions in the recently assembled reniform nematode genome. Using these RNA-seq sequences, derived from eggs and vermiform nematodes, gene expression patterns for these two life stages of the reniform nematode were also analyzed. We present the current status of our reniform nematode transcriptome sequencing, assembly, annotation, and gene expression project.
CHICAGO, IL -- The move to make cancer treatments gentler for children has paid a double dividend: More kids are surviving than ever before, and without the long-term complications that doomed many of their peers a generation ago, new research shows. Radiation and chemotherapy have saved countless children from leukemia and other types of cancer, but some of these treatments can damage the heart or other organs, problems that prove fatal years later. In the 1990s, a push began to try to prevent these "late effects" by giving smaller, more targeted doses of radiation, avoiding certain drugs and changing the way chemo is given. But doctors worried: Would gentler treatments hurt a child's survival odds? The new study, which tracked more than 34,000 childhood cancer survivors over several decades, gives a happy answer: No. Survival continued to improve, even with scaled-back treatments. And fewer kids died from second cancers or heart or lung problems 15 years after their initial treatment ended. "The field needs good news" and this study gives it, said Dr. Greg Armstrong of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He leads the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, funded by the National Cancer Institute. "We have actually reduced treatment, reduced therapy," and yet improved survival, he said. Results were discussed Sunday at an American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago. Treating childhood cancer is "one of the miracles of modern medicine," Armstrong said. "Fifty years ago less than 30 percent of kids would survive childhood cancer but now we know that over 80 percent will." That high success rate allowed doctors in the 1990s to scale back certain treatments for certain types of patients to try to spare them late effects. The study compared survival odds before and after that change. Researchers found that the death rate 15 years after treatment ended kept declining, from about 12 percent for those treated from 1970-74 to 6 percent for those treated from 1990-94. Deaths from late effects of cancer treatment, such as heart problems, also declined over that period, from 3.5 percent to 2.1 percent. Garrett and Gatlin Stringer, brothers from Huntsville, Texas, benefited from the change, said their physician, Dr. Michael Rytting at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The boys had acute lymphocytic leukemia, the most common childhood cancer. When doctors first described their treatment, "we didn't really ask long-term effects, to be honest, because at the time it was really just kind of day to day," said their mother, Marsha Stringer. Garrett, now 20 was diagnosed at age 7 and is now a 13-year survivor. Gatlin, now 14, was diagnosed at age 3 and is 11 years past his treatment. The boys got chemo but because scans showed the disease had not spread to their spinal cords, they were spared having to have radiation. Now, they are "amazing ... no side effects at all that we know of," their mother said. "They're very athletic and active and have good grades." Cancer treatments got gentler, yet kids' survival improved
In a bilingual course, high school students can learn how to program for quantum computers. Two researchers from the QuSoft (established by the University of Amsterdam and CWI) are using this new initiative to introduce students to the kind of mathematics taught at the University. “Alice has a robotic donkey that she wants to program so that it can find its way to a charging station on its own.” This is how the first homework assignment in the “Quantum Quest” curriculum begins, which teaches high school students to program for the quantum computer. The course guides students through the basics of quantum mechanics, quantum computers, and the special software that runs on quantum computers. Introduction to mathematics Where a traditional computer consists of bits – which can be ‘on’ (1) or ‘off’ (0) – a quantum computer consists of quantum bits. Because quantum bits have special properties, quantum computers can solve specific calculations much faster than traditional computers, such as doing calculations on medicines, sending encrypted messages securely, and finding the fastest routes. At the moment there are very few functional quantum computers and the software is still under development. The idea of the curriculum comes from Maris Ozols and Michael Walter. They are assistant professors at the Korteweg-de Vries Institute for Mathematics and conduct research on quantum algorithms and quantum information theory at the QuSoft research center in Amsterdam. The aim of the course is not primarily to introduce students to programming for the next generation of computers, but to discover the kind of mathematics taught at the university. Walter: “One of the unique experiences of Quantum Quest is that we teach real math that is fit for a quantum computer. The ambitious goal is: “By the end of the course, students will understand what quantum bits and quantum algorithms are and what they are for.” Of course this means that the course may be a bit more challenging than the students are used to, but we are extremely pleased with the enthusiasm that the 2018 students showed. We hope we will have even more success with the lesson this year.” Students from home and abroad After a successful start in 2018, the course is also available for international students this year. Between October 30 and December 11, more than 100 Dutch high school students, 15 teachers, and 20 selected international students will discover about quantum entanglement and quantum circuits. They are supervised by a team of teaching assistants lead by junior teacher Mees de Vries. Like many University courses, this course is bilingual: the teaching material is in English and the teaching team speaks both Dutch and English. Those interested can also participate from home. The teaching material is freely available on the Quantum Quest website, as is the software with which the students learn how to program.
Ghost towns are amazing places to visit. They not only captivate our imaginations but also bring to life great lessons about life from our forefathers. Many logging, railroad stations and mining towns in Michigan are now ghost towns. Visiting some of these places you will come across ruins of buildings and other infrastructure that bear evidence of the past economic and cultural practices in the place. All across Michigan there are small abandoned towns from the past that you should visit. Some of the best Michigan ghost towns include: The Fayette historic townsite is located in between Sand Bay and Snail Shell Harbor on the Big Bay de Noc on southern side of Upper Peninsula. Iron was discovered near the site of the town in 1867 and from then up to early 1890s the town was one of the most productive charcoal pig iron manufacturing centers in Michigan. At its peak the town had two iron blast furnaces, a number of charcoal kilns, a large dock and a limestone quarry fir purifying the iron. The town had over 500 inhabitants and several businesses to support the needs of these people. The Jackson Iron Company which ran the furnaces closed down in 1891 following the decline in the charcoal iron market. This made many of the residents to move out of town in search of new employment. The few who remained engaged in farming. The town was then bought in 1916 and turned into a resort until 1959 when the Michigan government acquired it and turned it into a state park. Today most of the early buildings have been restored and the town serves as a living museum. The Sharman ghost town is located in Keweenaw County. The town was established in 1854 following the discovery of copper in the area. It was the home of the men who worked in the Central Mine. At its peak the town had a population of over 500 people, a post office, a school, a church, saloons, general stores and a number of other businesses. The town also had an elaborate transport system and served as a stop for the stagecoach travelers. The central mine closed in 1898 signaling the end of the town. The post office was closed in 1906 and thereafter the town was abandoned. Today the Methodist church and the foundation of a few of the original structures can still be seen in the ruins of this great Michigan ghost town. Clifton was a prosperous town on the Cliff Drive between Eagle Harbor and Calumet along US 41 Highway near the modern day Allouez Township in Keweenaw County, Michigan. The town was established in 1845 following the discovery of copper and the subsequent opening of the Cliff copper mine by the Pittsburgh and Boston Mining company. The mining brought in hundreds of miners and established a prosperous town with several churches, an independent brewery (Clifton Bottling Works), several businesses and a post office. When the mine was closed town began to decline as the miners moved out in search of new employment. Today the only remnants of the town are two cemeteries and the foundations of a number of early structures. Mandan is another Michigan ghost town. It is located along US Highway 41 in Grant Township south of Copper Harbor within Keweenaw County. The town was established in 1864 following the establishment of the Medora and the Mandan copper mines. The town had hundreds of miners who were employed in the copper miner. At some point the town was home to some of the most productive copper mines in the county. At its peak the town has a post office, general stores, churches, saloons, restaurants, a hotel and a host of other business that served its population. The school was built in 1907 but today only a foundation remains. In 1909 the two mines closed down forcing many of the miners out of the town. Today the town is made up of buildings from the copper mining era. Although the town is completely abandoned, there are a few homes nearby that serve as summer homes for the owners. The Nonesuch ghost town is located on the southern part of the Porcupine Mountains in the Carp Lake Township in Ontonagon County. The town was established in 1865 following the discovery of copper on the Little Iron River. The ore here was comprised of copper in sandstone which did not occur anywhere else). Nonesuch was a prosperous town between 1867 and 1912 when the copper mine was producing. At its peak the town had a population of over 300 people, a school, a post office, a stage coach service, a baseball team, a boarding house, markets and several other businesses that supported the population. The town was revived in 1955 when the copper Range Company reopened the nearby White Pine Mine. Today it’s back to its Michigan ghost town status and a few of the original structures and the mine can be seen. Also Read: Gold Prospecting Locations in Michigan Old Victoria, Michigan Old Victoria is a picturesque ghost town that was once a prosperous copper mining town. When copper was discovered at the site in 1860s a town quickly grew up to serve the miners. The town had hundreds of miners, a post office, a school, churches and a number of businesses. Today restoration works are being done on the site of the town with several original buildings already reconstructed. Visitors can visit the site and walk in and learn more about early trade in Michigan and the neighboring states.
When writing about literature, performance or, indeed, any form of art, you face a difficult task. In order to share your perceptions with readers, you must first conjure the artwork for them using nothing but words. The ancient Greeks had a name for this feat: ekphrasis, literally the “speaking out” of an experience or thing, the verbal description of a non-verbal work of art. In this class, an introduction to literary study, performance analysis, and critical writing across the arts, we will study ekphrastic poems, prose, and plays in order to see how they conjure works of art. We will then test our own ekphrastic powers, not only on these literary works themselves, but also on art we encounter near Amherst College. Since this will require you to attend an assortment of performances (literary, musical, theatrical, and dance-based) and to visit museums, cinemas, and art galleries near campus, it will serve as your introduction to the wide range of cultural institutions in the area. You will be expected to engage in workshops in class and meet individually with the instructor outside class on a regular basis to discuss your writing. Preference given to first-year students and sophomores. Limited to 18 students. Spring semester. Professor Grobe.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 Why study literature? In many contexts, including the contexts of most other academic disciplines, one reads in order to extract the gist of a text. By studying literature, we enable ourselves to do much more than that. Studying literature makes it possible to recover a relationship to language that we all once had, in which words and their interrelationships were new, strange, and rich with possibility. It makes it possible to develop a more acute awareness of the ongoing tension between language as units of meaning (words, phrases, sentences) and language as units of sound (the beat of syllables, the harmonization of one syllable with another). It even makes it possible for us to carry this sense of everything that is uncanny about language–the medium of our relationship to others and to ourselves–into our lives more generally, to recognize that in just about everything that we say, we mean more than we mean to mean. People who study literature are people who are capable of taking away from conversations, no less than from poems, much more than the gist, the summary, the bottom line. By dwelling on texts patiently, by slowing down the process of moving from mystery to certainty, by opening ourselves to the crosscurrents of potential meanings that are present at every moment in just about every sentence, it is possible for us to become more accurate and nuanced readers of just about everything that happens in our lives. Open to first-year students. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 18 students. Fall semester: Professor Cobham-Sander. Spring semester: Professor Sanborn.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 Literature engages us. It moves us, it delights us, it makes us ask hard questions. How do we engage literature? How do we respond to it in conversation, in writing, in performance, and in our communities? How do we write about literature in a way that effectively engages others? This class seeks to engage you in a process of seeing literature and your own writing process anew. We will engage with authors, in person, in public, and on the page. We will attend literary events and enter into conversations among writers: authors who are influenced and inspired by each other, literary critics who give us illuminating interpretations, and literary historians who open our eyes to contexts heretofore unseen. Students will practice writing about literature in a range of modes from the personal essay to the book review to the academic paper. Frequent writing workshops will be geared toward the process of revising in a collaborative environment. A first course in reading fictional, dramatic, lyric, and non-fiction texts, this course also challenges Amherst College students to think of themselves as writers. Preference given to first-year students. Limited to 18 students per section. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Grobe.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 111 and SWAG 111) Using a variety of texts–novels, essays, short stories–this course will work to develop the reading and writing of difficult prose, paying particular attention to the kinds of evidence and authority, logic and structure that produce strong arguments. The authors we study may include Peter Singer, Aravind Adiga, Willa Cather, Toni Morrison, George Orwell, Charles Johnson, James Baldwin, Alice Munro, William Carlos Williams. This is an intensive writing course. Frequent short papers will be assigned. Preference given to first-year Amherst College students. Admission with consent of the instructor. Each section limited to 12 students. Fall semester: Professor Barale and Senior Lecturer Lieber. Spring semester: Senior Lecturer Lieber.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 112 and SWAG 106) This course will examine the phenomenon of “realism” in a variety of artistic media. We will study realism in the visual arts, film, television, and literature with a view towards determining the nature of our interest in the representation of “real life” and the ways in which works of art are or are not an accurate reflection of that life. Among the works we may consider are classic English novels (Defoe, Austen, Dickens), European and North and South American short fiction (Gogol, Zola, Chekhov, Henry James, Kafka, Borges, Alice Munro), essays and memoirs (Orwell, Frederick Exley, Mary Karr) and films, both documentary and fiction (Double Indemnity, The Battle of Algiers, Saving Private Ryan). Two themes will attract special attention: the representation of women’s lives and the representation of war. We will address such questions as the following: Is a photograph always more realistic than a painting? In what way can a story about a man who turns into a bug be considered realistic? How real is virtual reality? The course will conclude with an examination of the phenomenon of reality television. This is an intensive writing course. Frequent short papers will be assigned. Preference given to first-year students and to students who have taken a previous intensive writing course and who wish to continue to work to improve their analytic writing. Admission with consent of the instructor. Each section limited to 12 students. Fall and spring semesters. Senior Lecturer Lieber.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 117 and EUST 117) [before 1800] Knights, monsters, quests, and true love: these are the things we associate with King Arthur and tales of his court. Why has Arthurian literature proved so enchanting to centuries of poets, novelists, and recently, filmmakers? In this introductory English course, we will read and watch Arthurian legends from Chaucer to Monty Python, examining the ways in which they have been represented in different eras. Beginning with the historical foundations of the King Arthur legend, we will examine how it blossomed and took form in later eras. Our focus will be on close literary and visual analysis of British, American, and French (in translation) versions of these legends. We will also discuss what cultural forces lie behind the popularity of Arthurian legend in certain eras: later medieval England and France; the Victorian era; and twentieth-century England and America. There will be frequent writing assignments and presentations, as well as a final creative project. Open to first-year students and sophomores. Limited to 18 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Nelson.2017-18: Not offered This seminar explores the particular pleasures and interpretive problems of reading and writing about three very long works of fiction–novels so large that any sure grasp of the relation between individual part and mammoth whole may threaten to elude author and reader alike. How do we gauge, and thereby engage with, narratives of disproportionate scale and encyclopedic ambition? How do we lose, or find, our place in colossal fictional worlds? As befits its interest in the losing and finding of place, the course introduces students to college-level literary study. Short papers on different aspects of the novels will be assigned most weeks. In a recent version of the course, the seminar’s three novels included George Eliot’s Middlemarch, the first volume of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, and Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood. Although the novels for fall 2017 have not yet been selected, they are likely to display similar historical, geographic, and stylistic diversity. Limited to 18 first-year students. Fall semester. Professor Christoff.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 This course considers from many perspectives what it means to read and write and learn and teach both for ourselves and for others. As part of the work of this course, in addition to the usual class hours, students will serve as weekly tutors and classroom assistants in adult basic education centers in nearby towns. Thus this course consciously engages with the obstacles to and the power of education through course readings, through self-reflexive writing about our own varied educational experiences, and through weekly work in the community. Although this course presses participants to reflect a great deal about teaching, this course does not teach how to teach. Instead it offers an exploration of the contexts and processes of education, and of the politics and desires that suffuse learning. Course readings range across literary genres including essays, poems, autobiographies, and novels in which education and teaching figure centrally, as well as readings in ethnography, sociology, psychology, and philosophy. The writing assignments cross many genres as well. Limited to 18 students. Spring semester. Lecturer B. Sánchez-Eppler.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 With a focus on the skills of close reading and analytical writing, we will look at the ways in which writers imagine illness, how they try to make meaning out of illness, and how they use illness to explore other aspects of experience. This is not a course on the history of illness or the social construction of disease. We will discuss not only what writers say about illness but also how they say it: with what language and in what form they speak the experience of bodily and mental suffering. Readings may include drama by Sophocles, Molière and Margaret Edson; poetry by Donne and Mark Doty; fiction by José Saramago and Mark Haddon; and essays by Susan Sontag, Raphael Campo and Temple Grandin. Preference given to first-year students. Limited to 18 students. Fall semester. Professor Bosman.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 (Offered as ENGL 180 and FAMS 110) A first course in reading films and writing about them. A varied selection of films for study and criticism, partly to illustrate the main elements of film language and partly to pose challenging texts for reading and writing. Frequent short papers. Two class meetings and one screening per week. Limited to 25 students. Spring semester. Professor Guilford.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 216, BLST 203 [D], and SWAG 203) The term “Women Writers” suggests, and perhaps assumes, a particular category. How useful is this term in describing the writers we tend to include under the frame? And further, how useful are the designations "African" and "African Diaspora"? We will begin by critically examining these central questions, and revisit them frequently as we read specific texts and the body of works included in this course. Our readings comprise a range of literary and scholarly works by canonical and more recent female writers from Africa, the Caribbean, and continental America. Framed primarily by Postcolonial Criticism, our explorations will center on how writers treat historical and contemporary issues specifically connected to women’s experiences, as well as other issues, such as globalization, modernity, and sexuality. We will consider the continuities and points of departure between writers, periods, and regions, and explore the significance of the writers’ stylistic choices. Here our emphasis will be on how writers appropriate vernacular and conventional modes of writing. Limited to 18 students. Omitted 2017-18. Visiting Lecturer Bailey.2017-18: Not offered [before 1800] What is “English Literature,” and how does one construct its history? How do we decide what counts as “English,” and what counts as “literature”? What is the relationship between histories of literature and political, social, religious, and intellectual histories? What is the role of gender, race and class in the making of literature, and the making of its histories? These are some of the questions we will ask as we read masterpieces of English literature from the mid-seventeenth through the mid-nineteenth century, alongside works that have not always been thought of as part of the canon, by women, slaves, exiles, political radicals, anonymous, and unpublished writers. Writers we will study include (but are not limited to) John Milton, Aphra Behn, John Dryden, Anne Finch, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Olaudah Equiano, Samuel Johnson, Phillis Wheatley, William Wordsworth, Jane Austen, and Mary Shelley. This course is the chronological sequel to “Making Literary Histories I,” though it is not necessary (or even necessarily desirable) to take the classes in chronological order. Limited to 25 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Worsley. 2017-18: Not offered A first workshop in the writing of poetry. Class members will read and discuss each others’ work and will study the elements of prosody: the line, stanza forms, meter, free verse, and more. Open to anyone interested in writing poetry and learning about the rudiments of craft. Writing exercises weekly. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 12 students. Please consult the Creative Writing Center website for information on admission to this course. Fall semester: Writer-in-Residence Hall. Spring semester: TBA2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 (Offered as THDA 270 and ENGL 222) A workshop in writing for the stage. The semester will begin with exercises that lead to the making of short plays and, by the end of the term, longer plays--ten minutes and up in length. Writing will be done in and out of class; students’ work will be discussed in the workshop and in private conferences. At the end of the term, the student will submit a portfolio of revisions of all the exercises, including the revisions of all plays. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Not open to first-year students. Fall semester: TBA. Spring semester: Playwright-in-Residence Congdon.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 (Offered as THDA 255, ENGL 223, and MUSI 255) This studio course is designed as an interactive laboratory for dancers, composers, actors, writers/poets, vocalists, and sound artists to work together to create meaningful interactions between sound, movement, and text. Working individually and in collaborative groups, students will create original material in the various media and experiment with multiple ways to craft interesting exchanges and dialogues between word, sound, and movement or to create hybrid forms. The emphasis in the course will be to work with exercises and structures that engender deep listening, looking, and imagining. Some of the questions that inform the course include: How do music, voices, electronic, digital, and natural sounds create a sonic world for live performance and vice versa? How can movement inform the writing of text and vice-versa? How can we successfully communicate and collaborate across and between the different languages of sounds, words, and movement? We will have a series of informal studio performances, events, and installations throughout the semester with a culminating final showing/listening at the end of the semester. Requisite: Previous experience in composition in one or more of the central media, or permission of the instructors. Limited to 16 students. Spring semester. Professor Woodson and Visiting Instructor Meginsky. 2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 A first course in writing fiction. Emphasis will be on experimentation as well as on developing skill and craft. Workshop (discussion) format. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Please consult the Creative Writing Center website for information on admission to this course. Fall semester: Visiting Lecturer Stinson. Spring semester: Professor Frank.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 The autobiography occupies a unique position as it can be read as a personal tale inscribed in a larger narrative about a community, race, or even nation. And although an autobiography can be read as history, creative writers are not bound by rigorous research strictures as those imposed in the production of history, which gives them the license to make, unmake or remake history. This course is focused on writing creative nonfiction, and drawing from a selection of autobiographies from different parts of Africa over the past fifty years, we shall map out continuities and discontinuities in the way authors envision their private memories as extensions of national narratives, and the complexities that come with this “burden of history.” We shall examine how, if at all, the African autobiography has evolved in both form and content, over this period. Using the readings as models, students will write a story that illustrates an intersection between their lives and historical contexts. Student writing will be workshopped. Readings may include There was a Country by Chinua Achebe, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, The African Child by Camara Laye, Head Above Water by Buchi Emecheta, The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood by Helene Cooper, Boyhood by J.M Coetzee, Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela, Down Second Avenue by Es’kia Mphahlele, Aké–The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka, and Dreams in a Time of War by Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Please consult the Creative Writing Center website for information on admission to this course. Fall semester. Visiting Writer Kimani.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 The term “performance” can refer to any of the stylized doings that define our world. This, of course, includes the traditional performing arts, but it also encompasses religious rituals, public ceremonies, political protests, sports events, social media use, etc. “Performance” can even describe the regimented behaviors that structure our everyday lives, whether we’re aware of them or not. In this course, you will explore this full range of performance through readings, screenings, and attendance at live performances. We will be guided in our approach by critical and theoretical texts in the interdisciplinary field of “performance studies.” Guiding questions will include: How is a performance different from a text? How do we enact a shared reality? How have the major forces shaping our world (e.g., race, gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, nationality) been created and sustained through acts of performance? Students in this course will be required to complete regular, short exercises and writing assignments. A final exam, inviting creative approaches to critical topics, will assess mastery of the ideas in this course. Spring semester. Professor Grobe.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 How small can drama get while remaining “dramatic”? That’s the question at the heart of this introductory course in drama. Early in the twentieth century, it wasn’t unusual to see a stage filled with dozens of actors, but over the last seventy years these onstage crowds have thinned. Three-, two-, and one-person dramas are now just as common as twenty-person plays once were. In this course, you will study plays by writers who have found fresh inspiration within these tightening constraints. Using a small number of performers, they nonetheless find ways to explore massive social issues, draw out deep psychological truths, and test the limits of theatrical representation. As experiments at the lower limits of theater-making, these “small dramas” will help you isolate and study the most fundamental elements of drama. Once you understand these elements, you will see how playwrights use them–not only to construct a theatrical world, but also to conjure onstage the forces that shape our world. In recent years, featured playwrights have included Eugene O’Neill, Samuel Beckett, Athol Fugard, Paula Vogel, Michael Frayn, Caryl Churchill, debbie tucker green, David Mamet, Cherríe Moraga, Suzan-Lori Parks, Young Jean Lee, Rajiv Joseph, and Amherst’s own Annie Baker. Beyond studying “drama” (narrowly defined) we also consider the place of other practices (e.g., performance art, stand-up comedy, and cabaret) within the history of solo performance. Limited to 20 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Grobe.2017-18: Not offered This course explores the unique challenges of experiencing performance through the page. While this course is not intended as a survey of dramatic literature or theater history, students will be introduced to a variety of drama from across the English-language tradition. The organizing theme of the course may change slightly from year to year, but the goal will always be to explore a wide array of theoretical and methodological approaches to drama. Of particular interest will be the relationship of play-reading to other reading practices. What does a play demand of the reader that a novel, a poem, or an essay does not? How must the central elements of storytelling or world-making (character, plot, setting, dialogue, point of view, etc.) change when they are required to appear onstage? Limited to 30 students. Fall semester. Professor Bosman.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 [Before 1800] Readings in the comedies, histories, and tragedies, with attention to their poetic language, dramatic structure, and power in performance. Texts and topics will vary by instructor. Limited to 50 students. Fall semester: Professor Grobe. Spring semester: Professor Bosman.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 A first course in the critical reading of selected English-language poets, which gives students exposure to significant poets, poetic styles, and literary and cultural contexts for poetry from across the tradition. Attention will be given to prosody and poetic forms, and to different ways of reading poems. Limited to 35 students. Fall semester. Professor Sofield.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 How do long poems come together–and hold together? Can they maintain a lyric intensity, or do they inevitably give way to the looser energies of narrative or extended meditation? We will read works in many forms–including heroic couplets, ballad stanzas, and free verse–by poets from the eighteenth century to the present, including Alexander Pope, Walt Whitman, Amy Clampitt, James Merrill, and Paul Muldoon. Omitted 2017-18. Writer-in-Residence Hall. 2017-18: Not offered An introduction to the study of the novel, through the exploration of a variety of critical terms (plot, character, point of view, tone, realism, identification, genre fiction, the book) and methodologies (structuralist, Marxist, feminist, psychoanalytic). We will draw on a selection of novels in English to illustrate and complicate those terms; possible authors include Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Wilkie Collins, Henry James, Kazuo Ishiguro, Thomas Pynchon, Toni Morrison, John Edgar Wideman, Emma Donoghue, David Foster Wallace, Monique Truong, Jennifer Egan. Preference given to sophomores. Limited to 35 students. Fall semester: Professor Frank. Spring semester: Professor Sanborn.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 A resourceful critic once called the novel “the great repository of pure and intense instances of life in print.” The aim of this course is to improve and enrich the student’s critical response to fiction, by identifying and taking pleasure in such instances of life in print. Questions of narrative procedure and literary value will be addressed in the lectures and papers. The first half of the term is devoted to some classic English and American works: Jane Austen’s Persuasion; Dickens’s The Pickwick Papers; Anthony Trollope’s The Warden; and novels by Henry James and Thomas Hardy. The remainder of the term will consider more recent writers from the last century and beyond such as Barbara Pym, Nicholson Baker, Ian McEwan, and Alice Munro. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Emeritus Pritchard.2017-18: Not offered No one course could begin to do justice to this title. Over 400 different indigenous cultures inhabited the territory for some 20,000 years before European conquest began. Africans from all of West Africa and smaller numbers from the whole continent arrived with the Spaniards and millions as slaves for English settlers. Immigrants from every European country came in the nineteenth century. Asia began to send its people as early as the 1840s. Later mainly Chinese in small numbers, Japanese, Filipinos, and some Koreans continued, though the great movement from Asia came with the revision of our immigration laws in 1965. The whole world is represented in this country. The reading in the course will be primarily literary: memoirs, stories, novels, and poems. There will also regularly be short readings for some historical context. Much of the reading will focus on white working-class writings, African American literature, and on work from different Latino and Asian American countries of origin. Limited to 65 students. Fall semester. Professor Emeritus O’Connell.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 (Offered as SWAG 202, BLST 242 [US], and ENGL 259) Why do love and courtship continue to be central concerns in black women's literature and contemporary black popular fiction? Are these thematic issues representative of apolitical yearnings or an allegory for political subjectivity? Drawing on a wide range of texts, we will examine the chasm between the "popular" and the literary, as we uncover how representations of love and courtship vary in both genres. Surveying the growing discourse in media outlets such as CNN and the Washington Post regarding the "crisis" of the single black woman, students will analyze the contentious public debates regarding black women and love and connect them to black women's literature and black feminist literary theory. Authors covered will range from Nella Larsen to Terry McMillan and topics will include gender, race, class, and sexuality. Limited to 18 students. Open to first-year students with consent of the instructor. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Henderson.2017-18: Not offered Children’s books are a site of first encounter, a doorway to literacy and literature. This course will offer both a history of book production for child readers in England and the United States and an exploration of what these first books can teach us about the attractions, expectations, and responsibilities of reading. Limited to 80 students. Spring semester. Professor K. Sánchez-Eppler.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 (Offered as AMST 280 and ENGL 273) In Penobscot author Joseph Nicolar's 1893 narrative, the Corn Mother proclaims, "I am young in age and I am tender, yet my strength is great and I shall be felt all over the world, because I owe my existence to the beautiful plant of the earth." In contrast, according to one Iowa farmer, from the 2007 documentary "King Corn," "We aren't growing quality. We're growing crap." This course aims to unpack depictions like these in order to probe the ways that corn has changed in its significance within the Americas. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, students will be introduced to critical theories and methodologies from American Studies as they study corn's shifting role, across distinct times and places, as a nourishing provider, cultural transformer, commodity, icon, and symbol. Beginning with the earliest travels of corn and her stories in the Americas, students will learn about the rich histories, traditions, narratives, and uses of "maize" from indigenous communities and nations, as well as its subsequent proliferation and adaptation throughout the world. In addition to literary and historical sources students will engage with a wide variety of texts (from material culture to popular entertainment, public policy and genetics) in order to deepen their understanding of cultural, political, environmental, and economic changes that have characterized life in the Americas. Limited to 25 students. Spring semester. Professors Brooks and Vigil.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 274 and AMST 274) In 2013, Amherst College acquired one of the most comprehensive collections of Native American writing in the world–nearly 1,500 books ranging from contemporary fiction and poetry to sermons, political tracts, and tribal histories from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Through this course, we will actively engage the literature of this collection, researching Native American intellectual traditions, regional contexts, political debates, creative adaptation, and movements toward decolonization. Students will have the opportunity to make an original contribution to a digital archive and interact with visiting authors. We will begin with oral traditions and the 1772 sermon published by Mohegan author Samson Occom and end with a novel published in 2014. Limited to 20 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Brooks.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as SWAG 208, BLST 345 [US], ENGL 276, and FAMS 379) Reading the work of black feminist literary theorists and black women writers, we will examine the construction of black female identity in American literature, with a specific focus on how black women writers negotiate race, gender, sexuality, and class in their work. In addition to reading novels, literary criticism, book reviews, and watching documentaries, we will examine the stakes of adaptation and mediation for black female-authored texts. Students will watch and analyze the film and television adaptations of The Color Purple (1985), The Women of Brewster Place (1989), and Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005) as well as examine how Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye (1970) was mediated and interpreted by Oprah Winfrey’s book club and daytime talk show. Authors will include Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Gloria Naylor. Writing Attentive. Expectations include three writing projects, a group presentation, and various in-class assignments. Limited to 20 students. Priority given to those students who attend the first day of the class. Open to first-year students with consent of the instructor. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Henderson.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 277 and FAMS 333) In this course we will engage in a comprehensive approach to narrative video gaming–-play, interpretation, and design–-to explore how video gaming helps us to conceptualize the boundaries between our experiences of the world and our representations thereof. We will ask how play and interactivity change how we think about the work of narrative. What would it mean to think about video games alongside texts focused on similar subjects but in different media? How, for instance, does Assassin’s Creed: Freedom’s Cry change how we understand C.L.R. James, Susan Buck-Morss, Isabel Allende, or others’ discussions of the Haitian Revolution? And how do video games help us to reconceptualize the limits of other media forms, particularly around questions of what it means to represent differences in race, gender, physical ability? Finally, how might we more self-consciously capitalize on gaming’s potential to transform the work of other fields, for instance education and community development? In this course, students will play and analyze video games while engaging texts from a variety of other critical and creative disciplines. Assignments for this course will be scaled by experience-level. No experience with video games or familiarity with computer coding is required for this course, as the success of this method will require that students come from a wide variety of skill levels. Spring semester. Professor Parham.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 278 and BLST 212 [A]) This course will examine how African writers incorporate digital technologies into their work when they publish traditional print texts, experiment with digital formats, or use the internet to redefine their relationship to local and international audiences. We will reflect on how words and values shift in response to new forms of mediation; on the limits these forms place on the bodies they represent, and on the protections they occasionally offer. Students will read fictional works in print, serialized narratives on blogs, as well as other literary products that circulate via social media. Students also will be introduced to a selection of digital humanities tools that will assist them in accessing, analyzing and responding to these works. Course materials include print, digital and hybrid publications by Oyono, Farah, Adichie, Cole, Maphoto, and Wainaina, among others. Limited to 25 students. Fall semester. Professor R. Cobham-Sander.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 (Offered as SWAG 279, BLST 202, and ENGL 279) What do we mean by “women’s fiction”? How do we understand women’s genres in different national contexts? This course examines topics in feminist thought such as marriage, sexuality, desire and the home in novels written by women writers from South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. We will draw on postcolonial literary theory, essays on transnational feminism and historical studies to situate our analyses of these novels. Texts include South African writer Nadine Gordimer’s My Son’s Story, Indian novelist Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss, and Caribbean author Shani Motoo’s Cereus Blooms at Night. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Shandilya.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 280 and FAMS 210) An introduction to cinema studies through consideration of a few critical and descriptive terms, together with a selection of various films (classic and contemporary, foreign and American) for illustration and discussion. The terms for discussion will include, among others: mise-en-scène, montage, realism, visual pleasure, and the avant-garde. Two class meetings and one screening per week. Limited to 35 students. Fall semester. Professor Guilford.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 (Offered as ENGL 281, FAMS 220, and ARHA 272) “Foundations and Integrations” will be an annual team-taught course between a Critical Studies scholar and moving-image artist. A requirement of the Film and Media Studies major, it will build on critical analysis of moving images and introductory production work to develop an integrated critical and creative practice. Focused in particular around themes and concepts, students will develop ideas in both written and visual form. The theme for spring 2017 was “The Voice.” Requisites: A foundations course in Critical Studies of Film and Media (such as “Coming to Terms: Cinema”) and an introductory film/video production workshop. Not open to first-year students. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professors Levine and Rangan.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 282 and FAMS 215) For better or worse, U.S. broadcast television is a cultural form that is not commonly associated with knowledge. This course will take what might seem a radical counter-position to such assumptions--looking at the ways television teaches us what it is and even trains us in potential critical practices for investigating it. By considering its formal structure, its textual definitions, and the means through which we see it, we will map out how it is that we come to know television. Prior coursework in Film and Media Studies is recommended, but not required. Not open to first-year students. Limited to 45 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Hastie.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 284 and FAMS 216) Media are not just audiovisual texts but also technological infrastructures, economic enterprises, ideological apparatuses, and artistic practices. This course provides an introduction to the analysis of modern media forms through a consideration of significant critical and analytical terms, together with a selection of media texts (ranging across print, photography, cinema, television, and digital media) for illustration and discussion. The key terms for discussion will reflect the complexity of how we define “media.” Topics may include: mass reproduction, authenticity and aura; print, time, and national consciousness; advertising, glamor, and myth; photography, indifference, and atrocity; cinema, race, gender, and spectatorship; television, liveness, and celebrity; digital media, buffering, and virality. Classes will combine lecture and conversation, and assignments will include several short critical essays and a midterm and final exam. Limited to 35 students. Spring semester. Professor Rangan.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 Why does it seem natural to read ourselves and other people in the same way that we read books? This course will introduce students to both psychoanalytic theory and literary interpretation, asking about their similarities as well as their dissonance. Why do novels of development and case-studies resemble one another? What can the Freudian understanding of the structure of the psyche teach us about the structure of narrative? And what do “illnesses” like hysteria and paranoia have in common with everyday acts of meaning-making and with the way we read literature? Each week pairing a psychoanalytic paper with a short story or novel, we will ask how psychoanalysis alters not only what we see in literary works, but also the way we understand our own acts of interpretation. Topics include the unconscious, dreams, childhood, the uncanny, desire, subjects and objects, and mourning. Reading will include essays by Freud, Lacan, Winnicott, Melanie Klein, and others; and fiction by Jensen, Melville, Poe, Brontë, James, Flaubert, and Ishiguro. Preference given to sophomores considering an English major. Limited to 35 students. Fall semester. Professor Christoff.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 It’s possible to imagine people who have not yet suffered, who have not yet had a peculiarly intense and sustained experience of physical or psychic pain. Those imaginary people are, however, vulnerable to future suffering. Even more importantly, they live in a world in which many others suffer, so many that a refusal to attend to suffering amounts to a refusal of a meaningfully relational existence. Thinking and feeling in response to suffering is, accordingly, an inescapable aspect of what Henri Bergson describes as “a really living life.” But how do we respond to suffering, whether in others or in ourselves? How do we take it in without appropriating it? How do we express it without parading it? These questions and others like them are difficult, but the aim of this class is to create a space in which it is possible to take them up–to generate an intellectual and emotional atmosphere in which it is possible to learn how to live with what we can’t rise above. Readings include The Book of Job, Sophocles’s Philoctetes, Shakespeare’s King Lear, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, John Hersey’s Hiroshima, Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Art Spiegelman’s Maus, and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Limited to 25 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Sanborn.2017-18: Not offered Readings and discussions centering on the work of Thomas Hardy, W.B. Yeats, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, and Wallace Stevens. Some attention also to A.E. Housman, Edward Thomas, Ezra Pound, and William Carlos Williams. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Emeritus Pritchard.2017-18: Not offered This will be an historical survey, from the nineteenth century to the present, of poetry written by gay men and lesbians, both in and out of the closet. Omitted 2017-18. Writer-in-Residence Hall.2017-18: Not offered Readings of poets who have chosen to live in a culture other than their own, with an emphasis on T.S. Eliot in London, Elizabeth Bishop in Brazil, Thom Gunn in California, and Agha Shahid Ali in New England. Two class meetings per week. Spring semester. Writer-in-Residence Hall.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 This course examines the way writers commit their own lives to the page and the many interesting hybrids that, falling somewhere in between fiction and non-fiction, writers have been experimenting with of late. Why have these hybrid forms become so dominant in the literary world? How do the assumptions and expectations we bring to fiction differ from those we bring to non-fiction? Why are forms that play with the relation between these forms so popular right now? What do they offer us, emotionally and intellectually? And what can they illuminate about literature, identity, the politics of representation, and social justice? This course will include a combination of critical and creative writing, and will approach readings on the level of craft so that we are always thinking of ourselves both as readers and as writers. Possible readings include: David Vann, Legend of a Suicide; Maggie Nelson, The Argonauts; Jeannette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?; James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain; Junot Díaz, This Is How You Lose Her; Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend; Karl Ove Knausgaard, My Struggle; Michelle Tea, Black Wave; Beyoncé, Lemonade. Limited to 25 students. Spring semester. Professors Christoff and Frank.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 318 and BLST 362 [A/CLA]) The course will concentrate on Caribbean authors. It explores the process of self-definition in literary works from Africa and the Caribbean that are built around child protagonists. We will examine the authors’ various methods of ordering experience through the choice of literary form and narrative technique, as well as the child/author’s perception of his or her society. French texts will be read in translation. Open to first-year students with consent of the instructor. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Cobham-Sander.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as SWAG 331 and ENGL 319) What is the novel? How do we know when a work of literature qualifies as a novel? In this course we will study the postcolonial novel which explodes the certainties of the European novel. Written in the aftermath of empire, these novels question race, class, gender and empire in their subject matter and narrative form. We will consider fiction from South Asia, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. Novels include South African writer J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children and Caribbean novelist Dionne Brand’s In Another Place, Not Here. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Shandilya. 2017-18: Not offered (Offered as EUST 303 and ENGL 320) Acts of translation underwrite many kinds of cultural production, often invisibly. Writers of the Harlem Renaissance, for instance, engaged with black internationalism through bilingualism and translation, as Brent Edwards has reminded us. In this course we will study literary translation as a creative practice involved in the making of subjects and cultures. We will read key statements about translation by theorists and translators, such as Walter Benjamin, Roman Jakobson, Lawrence Venuti, Peter Cole and Gayatri Spivak. We also will directly engage in translation work: each student will regularly present translations in a workshop format to produce a portfolio as a final project. The class will be “polyglot,” meaning that students are welcome to translate from any language of which they have knowledge; when they share translations, they will be asked also to provide interlinear, or “literal,” translations for those who may not understand the language they are working in. Requisite: two years of college-level study of the chosen language. Limited to 15 students. Fall semester. Professor Ciepiela.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 (Offered as THDA 370 and ENGL 322) A workshop/seminar for writers who want to complete a full-length play or series of plays. Emphasis will be on bringing a script to a level where it is ready for the stage. Although there will be some exercises in class to continue the honing of playwriting skills and the study of plays by established writers as a means of exploring a wide range of dramatic vocabularies, most of the class time will be spent reading and commenting on the plays of the workshop members as these plays progress from the first draft to a finished draft. Requisite: THDA 270 or the equivalent. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 10 students. Spring semester. Playwright-in-Residence Congdon.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 An advanced level fiction class. Students will undertake a longer project as well as doing exercises every week exploring technical problems. Requisite: Completion of a previous course in creative writing. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Please consult the Creative Writing Center website for information on admission to this course. Spring semester. Visiting Writer Kimani.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 [before 1800] The course aims to give the student rapid mastery of Chaucer’s English and an active appreciation of his poetry. No prior knowledge of Middle English is expected. A knowledge of Modern English grammar and its nomenclature, or a similar knowledge of another language, will be helpful. Short critical papers and frequent declamation in class. The emphasis will be on Chaucer’s humor, irony, and his narrative and dramatic gifts. We will read most of the poetic Tales and excerpts from the two prose Tales. Three class hours per week. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Nelson.2017-18: Not offered [before 1800] What is medieval? Most people learn very little about the foggy period from 500-1500 that lies between the end of the Classical era and the start of the Renaissance. What we do learn usually consists of stereotypes. Such stereotypes include (in no particular order): jousting, chivalry, repression of women, religious fervor, medical ignorance, lice, Crusades, King Arthur, economic injustice, knights, ladies, and plague. How are these stereotypes produced and reinforced online? What is their relationship to historical “fact”? In each module we will take up texts, objects, and concepts that have constructed and reconstructed our ideas about the Middle Ages in order to learn about the ways objects and texts contribute to alternate (and often competing) views of the past. The course is divided into three different (yet intersecting) modules: Maps, Buildings, and Lives. I have invited some guest speakers who conduct research in different fields to come to our class and push our conversations in interdisciplinary directions. As we explore these areas, I would like us to think of the ways our materials disrupt and/or confirm popular views of the past. Fall semester. Visiting Professor Adams.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 (Offered as LJST 317 and ENGL 337) [Research Seminar] It is well known that Shakespeare’s texts put into play an intricate set of juridical terms and forms. The premise of this course is that we can retrieve from this “putting into play” a unique way of thinking about modern juridical order at the moment of its inception. Through the close reading of three Shakespearean texts, we will trace the way these works "put into play" some of the most basic concepts of modern Anglophone jurisprudence (such as person and impersonation, inheritance and usurpation, contract and oath, tyranny and sovereignty, pardon and mercy, matrimony and patrimony, and civil war and empire, marriage and divorce). The aim of this inquiry will not be to apply jurisprudence to Shakespeare’s texts; nor will it be to use Shakespeare’s texts to humanize a legal training that otherwise would risk remaining sterile and unfeeling; nor, finally, will it be either to historicize Shakespeare's texts (limiting them to a particular place and time) or to universalize those texts (treating them as the exemplar for all of humanity). It will be to treat the play of juridical terms and forms within Shakespeare’s texts as an occasion to think law with Shakespeare, and as such to learn to rethink the genesis and basis of modern Anglophone jurisprudence more generally. Recommended requisite: LJST 110. Limited to 15 students. Spring semester. Professor Sitze.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 339 and SWAG 339) [before 1800] “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction,” Virginia Woolf famously said in 1929. What did the landscape of women’s writing look like before women were allowed such liberties, and what effects did their social conditions have on their writing? This course focuses on the work of early female writers, from the medieval to the Romantic period–many of whom are still overlooked today. We will survey a range of writing by women from 1350 to 1850, putting English and American poets into conversation with political agitators, religious mystics and martyrs, the authors of woman-centered periodicals, and novelists. Our readings will include well-known works by Aphra Behn and Jane Austen along with lesser-known and even anonymous women-authored poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Secondary readings by feminist critics and historians such as Virginia Woolf, Judith Butler, and Toril Moi will frame our discussions. We will ask, how did women writers participate in or drive the invention of new literary forms, such as the periodical and the novel? Does women’s writing have specific formal or stylistic characteristics, and are these affected by women’s social standing and access to education? What does an English literary history that fully includes women’s writing look like, and how does it differ from standard literary histories? Limited to 25 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professors Nelson and Worsley. 2017-18: Not offered [before 1800] A study of six classic writers from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: Ben Jonson, Milton, Dryden, Pope, Swift, and Samuel Johnson. Among the readings are: Jonson, poems and Volpone; Milton, Comus, “Lycidas” and Paradise Lost; Dryden, poems and critical prose; Pope, “The Rape of the Lock,” Essay on Man, The Dunciad; Swift, Tale of a Tub, Gulliver’s Travels, poems; Johnson, poems, Rasselas, Prefaces to Shakespeare and to the Dictionary, passages from Boswell’s Life of Johnson. Fall semester. Professor Emeritus Pritchard.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 Can reading poetry change our understanding of our environment? How might the way we perceive nature be conditioned by the ways in which writers have imagined it? In turn, how might the way we perceive our own imaginations be conditioned by ideas about the natural world? Although “nature” might seem like a universal and unchanging concept, British Romantic writers did much to invent our modern perception of it. This course questions what “nature” might mean, and how it developed alongside changing ideas about the imagination. We will read the writings of William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth, Charlotte Smith, Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Keats, and Felicia Hemans alongside seventeenth- and eighteenth-century theories of the imagination by David Hume, Edmund Burke, and Immanuel Kant. We will also make frequent visits to the Mead Art gallery in order to experiment with some of these imaginative theories. Finally, we will debate what impact this history has had on current environmental discourse, contemporary ethics, and the Green movement. Some critics have argued, for instance, that the Romantics’ reverence for nature is more destructive than it might at first seem. Might it be more environmentally responsible to get rid of the Romantic concept of “nature” altogether? Omitted 2017-18. Professor Worsley.2017-18: Not offered This course offers students an immersion in nineteenth-century British fiction, from Jane Austen to Joseph Conrad. Reading a selection of the long novels (both serious and comic, restrained and emotionally overwrought, domestic and imperial) that continue to shape our sense of what the novel is and does, we will ask how the Victorian novel’s imagination of things like love and sex, gender and politics, the relation between the aesthetic and the social, and race, ethnicity, and empire, remain with us still. Engaging with a range of critical approaches to the novel and to novel reading, we will also consider the nineteenth century as the birthplace of theoretical approaches (such as Marxism and psychoanalysis) that continue to shape the ways we read, live, and think. Writers may include: Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anthony Trollope, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, and Joseph Conrad. Limited to 35 students. Spring semester. Professor Christoff.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 Readings in twentieth-century writers such as Henry James, Bernard Shaw, Joseph Conrad, D.H. Lawrence, Wyndham Lewis, Ford Madox Ford, Virginia Woolf, Evelyn Waugh, W.H. Auden, Robert Graves, George Orwell, Ivy Compton-Burnett. Not open to first-year students. Spring semester. Professor Emeritus Pritchard.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 350 and AMST 350) [before 1800] American Origins is a course in Early American literature and history. It explores when and how this country began. We readily forget that it only became the “United States” in 1789. Before that and from early in the European conquests, it was “the (Spanish, or French, or English, or Dutch) colonies,” or “America” and thus but a part of European settlements in both the Southern and the Northern hemispheres. It was also a place known as “Turtle Island,” with indigenous trade networks that traversed the continent. It was also a foreign land to which countless African people were brought as slaves, men and women who adapted and made this land their own. These simultaneities and complexities frustrate any comprehensive narrative of the period. This will, then, be an experiment in shaping a transnational Early American literature and history course. Our goal is to expand the geographic and temporal boundaries of the subject using archival, print, and digital sources. We hope to learn multiple ways of reading the “texts” of early America: print books, pamphlets, broadsides, petitions, manuscripts and graphic media–and innovative scholarship. These will give us some access to the many peoples reshaping what was, in fact, a very Old World. The end goal is for students to design a syllabus that can be used in secondary schools, or for a future course at Amherst. Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and to first-year students with consent of the instructor. Limited to 36 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Brooks and Professor Emeritus O’Connell. 2017-18: Not offered Emily Dickinson’s poetry is rich in what she called “illocality.” Her writing characteristically dissolves images and refuses all specificity of place or event, and yet no writer is more intimately connected to a single particular place. Dickinson wrote almost all of her poems within this one house on Main Street in Amherst. We will have the extraordinary opportunity to read these poems here, to study both her individual life and her practices of literary expression in the place where she lived and wrote and with access to many of the artifacts and records of family and local history. We will study Dickinson’s biography, her poetic practices, and her historical context. In exploring the social and political situation of her poetry we will pay particular attention to local materials and history. Most class meetings will be held in the Dickinson Homestead and coursework will include projects of use to the Dickinson Museum. Limited to 12 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor K. Sánchez-Eppler.2017-18: Not offered Many Americans believe that a free public educational system is crucial in a democratic society. What concretely does this mean? The question has shaped a persistent and unresolved debate throughout American history to the present, as it will our work together. Two fundamental and contradictory questions have centered nearly every controversy: (1) Should education be a competitive system to establish and legitimate a hierarchy of merit? (2) Should schools focus on the fullest development of each student so as to enable her or him to participate equally in a democratic society contributing her or his individual gifts and differences? Another assumption also moves through these debates: that schools are the primary generators of equality or inequality. The course will not seek to resolve these questions and issues, but to explore how the different assumptions structure what can be taught and learned and by whom. The texts for the course will range across a number of disciplines: philosophy, cognitive psychology, literature, sociology, and political science and theory. John Dewey’s Democracy and Education will be the framing text. Considerable attention will go to the educational reforms of the last thirty years including the role of institutions such as Teach for America, charter schools, etc. Recommended requisite: ENGL 120 or an equivalent course or experience in public education. Limited to 45 students. Spring semester. Professor Emeritus O’Connell.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 Novels and short fiction, mainly comic, by such writers as Evelyn Waugh, Saul Bellow, Flannery O’Connor, Elizabeth Taylor, Kingsley Amis, John Updike, Philip Roth, Nicholson Baker, Ian McEwan, Jonathan Franzen, Barbara Pym. The effort will be to refine and complicate one’s performance as a critic of these writers and their books. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Emeritus Pritchard.2017-18: Not offered This course will introduce you to the American short story by way of some of the best-known authors of the last century and a half. Although sometimes dismissed as a minor, slight or amateurish literary form, the short story, in its brevity and density, demands close and careful attention. We will track the development of the short story as a form through careful close reading, as well as consider the historical and literary contexts that shaped the texts on our syllabus. We will also trace some of the leading critical debates around the emergence and evolution of the short story form as we develop theories of our own. Through engaged discussion and focused writing activities, students will learn how to analyze, raise critical questions of, and produce arguments about short fiction. Authors will include Alexie, Anderson, Baldwin, Barthelme, Cheever, Chestnutt, Cole, Curtis, Davis, Diaz, Egan, Ellison, Faulkner, Gilman, Hawthorne, Hemingway, Irving, Jackson, Jen, Larsen, Melville, Moore, Morrison, O’Connor, Poe, Saunders, Toomer, Foster Wallace, Welty, Wharton, Yu. Limited to 25 students. Omitted 2017-18.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as SWAG 329, BLST 377 [US], and ENGL 368) History has long valorized passive, obedient, and long-suffering black women alongside aggressive and outspoken black male leaders and activists. This course provides an alternative narrative to this misrepresentation, as we will explore how “bad” is defined by one’s race, gender, class, and sexuality as well as how black women have transgressed the boundaries of what it means to be “good” in U.S. society. We will use an interdisciplinary perspective to examine why black women have used covert and explicit maneuvers to challenge the stereotypical “respectable” or “good” black woman and the various risks and rewards they incur for their “deviance.” Students should be aware that part of this course is “immersive” and consequently, students will participate in a master class that will explore how dance operates as a way to defy race, class, and gender norms. Open to first-year students with consent of the instructor. Priority given to students who attend the first day of class. Writing Attentive. Limited to 18 students. Expectations include a master dance class, three writing projects, a group presentation, and various in-class assignments. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Henderson.2017-18: Not offered “I fear chiefly lest my expression may not be extra-vagant enough, may not wander far enough beyond the narrow limit of my daily experience, so as to be adequate to the truth of which I have been convinced,” Thoreau writes in Walden. “Extra vagance! it depends on how you are yarded.” The aim of this course is to seek in a series of fictional extravaganzas by American authors a better understanding of how we are generally yarded, as readers of stories and novels, and what opens up for us when that yard expands. What does a wildness of invention, an insistent pressure on the confines of literary forms, make it possible for us to feel and know? What aspects of American cultural history are exposed to our view when writers freewheelingly generate, in Melville’s words, “more reality than real life itself can show”? Readings include Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, William Wells Brown’s The Escape, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons, Lydia Davis’s Break It Down, and David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. Limited to 25 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Sanborn.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 373 and FAMS 353) U.S. film in the 1970s was evident of tremendous aesthetic and economic innovation. Rife with but not limited to conspiracy, disaster, love and war, 1970s popular films range from the counter-cultural to the commercial, the independent to the industrial. Thus, while American cinema of the first half of the decade is known as the work of groundbreaking independent “auteurs,” the second half of the decade witnessed an industrial transformation through the emergence of the giant blockbuster hit. With a focus on cultural and historical factors shaping filmmaking and film-going practices and with close attention to film form, this course will explore thematic threads, directors, stars, and genres that emerged and developed during the decade. While the course will largely focus on mainstream film, we will set this work in some relation to other movements of the era: blaxploitation, comic parodies, documentary, and New American Cinema. Two class meetings and one screening per week. Prior coursework in Film and Media Studies is recommended but not required. Not open to first-year students. Limited to 25 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Hastie.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 374, BLST 330 [US], and FAMS 358) In offering extended formal considerations of Spike Lee’s cinematic oeuvre–in particular his uses of light, sound, and color–this course is interested in how shifting through various modes of critical inquiry can enable or broaden different kinds of cultural, political, or historical engagement with a film. This semester we will also pay special attention to the question of what it means to encapsulate a particular cultural moment, particularly vis-à-vis the often differing demands of fictional and non-fictional representation. Omitted 2017-18. Professors Parham and Drabinski.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 377 and FAMS 383) This course focuses on the documentary impulse–that is, the desire for an encounter with the “real”–as a way of understanding the different philosophies and ideologies that have shaped the history and practice of documentary. We will approach canonical studies of the modes of documentary (e.g., expository, observational, poetic, reflexive), placing pressure on concepts whose resonance or antagonism has shaped the notion of documentary, such as spectacle, authenticity, reality, mimesis, art, fiction, and performance. In addition to encountering canonical documentary films and major debates, we will analyze documentary as a complex discourse that has been shaped by multiple media forms (such as photography, television, and new media) and exhibition contexts (the art gallery, the cinema, the smartphone). Assignments will include group presentations, analytical exercises, and a final research paper. Two class meetings and one screening per week. Recommended requisite: A prior introductory film course. Not open to first-year students. Limited to 35 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Rangan.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 381 and FAMS 351) Film theorist Siegfried Kracauer declared that some of the first films showed “life at its least controllable and most unconscious moments, a jumble of transient, forever dissolving patterns accessible only to the camera.” This course will explore the ways contemporary narrative films aesthetically represent everyday life–capturing both its transience and our everyday ruminations. We will further consider the ways we incorporate film into our everyday lives through various modes of viewings (the arthouse, the multiplex, the DVD, the mp3), our means of perception, and in the kinds of souvenirs we keep. We will look at films by Chantal Akerman, Robert Altman, Marleen Gorris, Hirokazu Koreeda, Marzieh Makhmalbaf, Terrence Malick, Lynne Ramsay, Tsai Ming-liang, Agnès Varda, Wong Kar-wai, and Andy Warhol. Readings will include work by Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin, Marlene Dietrich, Sigmund Freud, and various works in film and media studies. Two class meetings and one screening per week. Not open to first-year students. Limited to 30 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Hastie.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 382, ARHA 382, and FAMS 381) This course examines the history of American avant-garde film, paying special attention to the alternative cultural institutions that have facilitated experimental cinema’s emergence and longevity in the U.S. since the 1940s. Through critical readings and weekly film screenings, we will analyze some of the major tendencies that have defined the postwar American avant-garde, including the poetic and amateur filmmakers of the ’40s and ’50s, the underground film and political documentary movements of the ’60s, the structural film and women’s cinema formations of the ’70s, the turn toward small-gauge and found footage practices in the ’80s, and more contemporary engagements with hand-made film and expanded cinema. Special emphasis will be given to the broader institutional practices that have surrounded the production and maintenance of avant-garde film culture. Examining critical histories of radical filmmaking collectives, cooperative distribution centers, art film societies, critical journals, and experimental film archives, we will consider how the avant-garde’s interest in creating an alternative cinema necessitated a dramatic reorganization of existing modes of filmic production, distribution, exhibition, reception, and preservation. Screenings of films by Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, Jonas Mekas, Andy Warhol, Barbara Rubin, Newsreel, Michael Snow, Barbara Hammer, Saul Levine, Peggy Ahwesh, Jennifer Reeves, and others will be included. Two class meetings and one screening per week. Requisite: One 100-level or 200-level FAMS or ENGL course, or consent of the instructor. Limited to 30 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Guilford. 2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 383 and FAMS 360) What’s intimate about cinema? Since its invention, cinema has spurred pronouncements on the emotional, affective, and even spiritual impact of the filmic image, as well as deeper examinations of the specific devices through which films produce intimate experience (the close-up, the kiss, etc.). For classical film theorists, such devices were often invested with redemptive potential, though more recent cultural theorists have issued strong rejoinders to such claims. Isn’t intimacy crucial to the workings of modern power? Doesn’t cinema structure intimate relations in accordance with normative ideologies? Examining such issues, this course considers how matters of intimacy have organized critical discourse on a range of intimate film cultures, from surrealism to the melodrama, underground film, queer independent cinema, and contemporary diasporic cinema. Examining film theory alongside diverse contributions to the emerging field of intimacy studies, we will ask how recent inquiries into the politics of intimacy force us to rethink the problems and potential of cinema. Requisite: One 200-level FAMS or ENGL course, or consent of the instructor. Not open to first-year students. Limited to 25 students. Spring semester. Professor Guilford.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 384 and FAMS 382) As one of our most dominant, even omnipresent media forms, television is something most of us experience every day. But Television Studies scholarship does not always take on the question of “experience” as a central part of its analysis. This course will take experience as the central component of our study. The first unit of the course will consider phenomenological approaches to television criticism, centering on those elements of televisual form that delineate an experience different from other media. Our second unit will focus on historical experience, with an emphasis on Civil Rights era television, African-American productions and/or stars, and African-American audiences. Our third and final unit will consider the platforms and devices through which we experience television in order to query how “television experience” changes over time and what elements of it have remained constant. The course will blend lecture and discussion. Readings will be both theoretical and historical. Students will produce regular reading summaries, two formal essays, and a digital final project. Some previous coursework in FAMS may be useful. Not open to first-year students. Limited to 35 students. Fall semester. Professor Hastie.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 (Offered as ENGL 388 and FAMS 240) A first workshop in narrative screenwriting. Through frequent exercises, readings and screenings we will explore the fundamentals of scene and story shape as they’re practiced in mainstream American commercial filmmaking while taking a broader look at what a screenplay might be outside of that world. We’ll look at two modes of writing that are often at odds with each other: the well-established craft of three-act screenwriting within the Hollywood tradition, on the one hand, and the more elastic possibilities of the audio-visual medium as exemplified by the so-called “art film,” on the other. One three-hour class meeting per week. Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Preference will be given to English and FAMS majors. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 12 students. Please complete the questionnaire at https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/film/major/forms. Omitted 2017-18.2017-18: Not offered Like every other aspect of human culture, literature interacts with biology–with, in Elizabeth Grosz’s words, “a system of (physical, chemical, organic) differences that engenders historical, social, cultural, and sexual differences.” The aim of this course is to make that fact as intellectually fruitful as possible. What happens to our understanding of literature if we think of it as an expression of life? What happens, that is, if we think of literature as one of the countless things that emerges from a non-personal, non-teleological process of evolution? And what happens if we think of individual works of literature as potential ways of getting closer, conceptually and sensually, to life, to the difference-making process within which we all find ourselves? Readings will include Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, James Welch’s Winter in the Blood, J. M. Coetzee’s Elizabeth Costello, and the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Wallace Stevens, and Elizabeth Bishop. A background in the natural sciences is welcome but not necessary. Limited to 25 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Sanborn.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 412 and EUST 412) [before 1800] This course introduces students to the hands-on study of medieval manuscripts. Students will examine materials in the Frost Library archives, as well as print and digital facsimiles of medieval manuscripts, to learn about how medieval literature was copied and read in its own time. Students will learn the skills of paleography (reading old handwriting) and codicology (analyzing the materials and assembly of old books) in order to conduct original research on these materials. They will also learn about medieval and early modern book culture. The course includes a field trip to the Rare Books library at Harvard University. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 12 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Nelson. 2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 415 and AMST 365) This course will focus on the manuscript culture of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America, using manuscripts as a means of thinking about the act of writing, the implications of audience and publication, and the relations between the private and public word. We will study the private forms of diaries and letters. We will look at the traces of the writing process in manuscripts of ultimately published works–-the window into the literary creation that manuscripts provide. We will also confront the problems raised by literary work that was never published during its author’s lifetime, heedful of the questions of social propriety and power that often inform what can and can’t be published. Texts will include Julia Ward Howe’s The Hermaphrodite, a closeted manuscript of sexual indeterminacy written in the 1840s and only published in 2004; Hannah Crafts’ The Bondswoman’s Tale, a manuscript novel probably written in the late 1850s by a fugitive slave and first published in 2002; the manuscript books of Emily Dickinson; the posthumous publication process of Sylvia Plath’s Ariel poems; and works like Edgar Allan Poe’s “MS. Found in a Bottle” and Henry James’ The Aspern Papers that tell anxious tales about manuscripts. The heart of the course, however, will be independent research with students drawing on rich local archives to do some manuscript recovering of their own. As part of the preparations for the Amherst College bicentennial, research this semester will focus on materials written by Amherst students over the past two hundred years. A core aspect of coursework will be developing an online exhibition to analyze and share these materials. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Spring semester. Professor K. Sánchez-Eppler.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 417 and EUST 417) This course explores creative responses to the destruction of European Jewry, differentiating between literature written in extremis in ghettos, concentration/extermination camps, or in hiding, and the vast post-war literature about the Holocaust. How to balance competing claims of individual and collective experience, the rights of the imagination and the pressures for historical accuracy? How does the Holocaust in American culture differ from the Holocaust narrated in Jewish or European languages? Readings from a variety of literary genres are complemented by consideration of Holocaust memorials, museums, film, and critical theories of representation. Recommended requisite: A prior college-level course in literature and/or twentieth-century European history. Students not majoring in English or European Studies are welcome. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2017-18.2017-18: Not offered An advanced writing workshop devoted to the reading and writing of novellas, which will be the fall 2017 version of Fiction Writing II. We will study such novellas as Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Jane Smiley’s The Age of Grief, and Saul Bellow’s Seize the Day, in order to get a sense of the parameters and scope of this in-between form. Students will write up to ten pages per week with the aim of composing and revising a work of 70-80 pages by the end of the semester. Requisite: A previous fiction-writing workshop. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 10 students. Please consult the Creative Writing Center website for information on admission to this course. Fall semester. Professor Frank.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 [before 1800] By studying selected Shakespeare plays and their afterlives in literature and performance, we will explore the fate of culture over centuries of global mobility. What qualities of Shakespeare’s works render them peculiarly adaptable to a world of intercultural conflict, borrowing and fusion? And what light does the translation and adaptation of Shakespeare shed on the dialectic of cultural persistence and change? Our examples may include European literature and theater; American silent film and musicals; post-colonial appropriations in India, Africa and Latin America; and versions in the drama, opera and cinema of China and Japan. The course includes an independent research project on a chosen case study. Requisite: ENGL 338 (Shakespeare). Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Bosman.2017-18: Not offered In this course, we’ll explore the history (and the fantasy) of the performing machine on stage, on screen, and beyond. It’s easy to think of technologies as dead things that enhance the live performances of humans. This course will ask you to do something harder: to find the liveness in a machine and to take its agency seriously. We will watch how new technologies tangle with humans in performance, and we will ask: what happens when human actors begin to accept a new technology as their scene partner–or their identity? The course will consist of a few themed units (e.g., Robot Performance) with primary sources including plays (e.g., from R.U.R. to Hataraku Watashi), films (e.g., from Metropolis to Ex Machina), and popular performance (e.g., from “doing the robot” to the latest Janelle Monáe). Secondary readings will run the gamut from cultural history and performance theory to reports on contemporary developments (e.g., in artificial intelligence, biomimetics, and theatrical robotics). Other units might cover: communication technologies, vocal and bodily prostheses, or musical instruments and other resonant things. You will be required to do some short-form writing and oral presentation throughout, but the course culminates in an extended research project of your own devising. Recommended requisite: At least two intermediate, writing-attentive courses (e.g., 200-level courses in English). Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Grobe.2017-18: Not offered We don’t just think, speak, or write our ideas; we perform them, too. Think TED Talks. Think political movements. Think 400-level seminars in English. In this course, you will read plays that are fueled by an argument and arguments that look an awful lot like plays. Readings will range from ancient philosophical dialogues to modern “plays of ideas”–from essays on pedagogy to works of social theory. As the semester wears on, you will begin to research your own angle on our central theme: Ideas performed. Your final project will be a mock prospectus, in which you imagine this “angle” turning into a thesis project–creative, critical, or a mixture of the two. Previous experience with drama or performance theory might help, but is hardly required for enrollment. As a matter of fact, this course works best when students from a wide range of majors enroll. The reading load isn’t heavy, but expectations are high that you will turn up to class prepared to engage in an active discussion. I mean, would you show up to a performance not knowing your lines, or fail to speak when you heard your cue? I didn’t think so. See you there. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Fall semester. Professor Grobe.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 A poetry writing course, but with a strong emphasis on reading. Students will closely examine the work of various poets and periods, then attempt to write plausible imitations of their own, all by way of learning about poetry from the inside, as it were. Admission with consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Please consult the Creative Writing Center website for information on admission to this course. Fall semester. Writer-in-Residence Hall.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 (Offered as ENGL 441 and EUST 374) [before 1800] In this course, we read a selection of English and other European lyrics (in translation) from the twelfth through the seventeenth centuries. An exciting, fertile era in poetic innovation, these centuries see the dawn of the first romantic love poetry in these languages, the invention of new forms like the sonnet, and the invention of the lyric “anthology.” Reading the lyrics of the French troubadour poets, Chaucer, Petrarch, Wyatt, Donne, Shakespeare, and the many brilliant anonymous poets of medieval England, we will examine both the text and contexts of these short poems. Close readings will be put in dialogue with cultural contexts (such as the volatile court of Henry VIII, in which Thomas Wyatt wrote), and the material contexts of the lyrics (the medieval and early modern manuscripts and books in which they first appeared). We will further think about how the term “lyric” emerges as a privileged poetic category, by reading contemporary “defenses” of poetry and thinking about why the word “lyric” only appears in the sixteenth century. Does the “lyric” poem change once it is defined? How do later works speak to the earlier tradition? Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Nelson.2017-18: Not offered [before 1800] “Make It New”–Ezra Pound’s modernist call to reject late-Victorian poetic sentiment and harmonious measures–was not the first time a poet and those he championed had attempted, with notable success, to change the course of poetry in English. William Wordsworth had stated in 1798 that poetry should be written in the language men speak, not, as he saw it, in elevated diction in the service of explicit moral instruction. And roughly two hundred years before that John Donne brought unprecedented dramatic energy and new forms to poems of love and faith. These three interventions mark critical changes in how poetry would be written in the decades that followed. This seminar will engage these historic shifts in how poets thought about the subjects of their poems and about the styles appropriate to those subjects. The course will focus on three innovators and on three poets in the next generation whose work was inflected by them: Donne and George Herbert, Wordsworth and John Keats, and T.S. Eliot (Pound’s great friend and collaborator) and Anthony Hecht. English and non-English majors are welcome, as well as sophomores with a strong interest in poetry. Not open to first-year students. Limited to 15 students. Fall semester. Professor Sofield.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 What are the antecedents of the central line of poetry in English as one finds it early in the twenty-first century? Given the great variety of English-language poetry today, the term “central line” may be disputable; what is not disputable is the tradition of secular and religious lyrics and odes that derives from the major poets of the early seventeenth-century: John Donne, Ben Jonson, George Herbert, and Andrew Marvell. The lyric and the ode are recast two centuries on by, among others, William Wordsworth, whose development of the monologue inaugurates another genre much practiced in the following two hundred years. Lyric, ode, and monologue become the principal modes in the work of John Keats, Alfred Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, Robert Frost, and Philip Larkin. In this seminar students and instructors will read closely, and discuss, these ten poets. A short paper or two, and a longer one in conclusion. Open to juniors and seniors. Students not majoring in English are welcome. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Emeritus Pritchard and Professor Sofield.2017-18: Not offered Avant-garde poetry resists definition. In this class, we will explore poetry that defies convention, be it formal (exploding the poetic verse line), material (appearing outside of the conventional venues of the published, mass-produced book), or linguistic (using everyday language rather than poetic diction). We will read widely from a range of twentieth- and twenty-first century poets as well as important nineteenth-century forebears. The course will center on the movements and schools of avant-garde poetry in the Anglo-American tradition, such as modernism (T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein); the Harlem Renaissance (Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson); the Beat Poets (Allen Ginsburg, Gary Snyder); the New York School (Frank O’Hara, Ted Berrigan); the Black Arts poets (Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni); the Language Poets (Susan Howe, Charles Bernstein); and contemporary poets (Nathaniel Mackey, Alice Notley). We will also look at artists’ books, broadsides, and other poetry that makes interesting use of the conventional materials and layout of poetry and poetic books. We will ask, how do these poets and movements challenge the aesthetic and poetic conventions of their time(s)? How do they expand or challenge the boundaries of poetic forms and subjects? What opportunities and constraints do avant-garde approaches offer to poets of color and/or women poets? Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Nelson.2017-18: Not offered Why, Rita Felski asks, are people “willing to drive five hundred miles to hear a band playing a certain song, or spend years in graduate school puzzling over a single novel?” Concepts like “cultural capital,” “the hegemonic media industry,” or “interpretive communities” do not fully explain “why it is this particular tune that plays over and over in our heads, why it is Virginia Woolf alone who becomes an object of obsession.” Something else has to be involved, a “rogue something,” in the words of Toni Morrison’s narrator in Jazz, that you “have to figure in before you can figure it out.” In this seminar, students will first explore the phenomenon of aesthetic valuation, then turn to a consideration of when, why, and for whom literary experiences are valuable, and finally embark on independent research projects in which each of them studies a single author in depth and experiments with ways of articulating (in a class presentation and in a final essay) the kinds of value that that author may be said to have. Admission with consent of the instructor. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Fall semester. Professor Sanborn.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 (Offered as ENGL 454 and BLST 442) William Faulkner and Toni Morrison are generally understood as two of the most important writers of the twentieth century. In a country that works hard to live without a racial past, both authors have brought deep articulation to what it means to experience that which is often otherwise ignored and regardless unspoken. This semester we will explore several key novels from each author’s oeuvre, looking for where their texts converge and diverge. We will also spend time with Jean Toomer–-a modernist writer critical to understanding what might be at stake in Faulkner and Morrison’s writerly manipulations of time, space, place, and memory–-and with several philosophical texts that will help us to conceptualize what it means to “know” something like race or to “understand” history. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Parham.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 455 and BLST 439 [US]) When we say “race relations,” we are using a phrase drawn from early twentieth-century American sociology, a phrase that conjures up a scenario in which already existing racial groups are separated by prejudice and misunderstanding. As many sociologists and historians have argued, we need a new paradigm, one that implies neither that race is a primordial reality nor that racism is merely an informational problem. In this class, we will begin by familiarizing ourselves with critical race theory and with theories emerging from the “relational turn” in psychoanalysis. We will then bring both of those theoretical traditions to bear on Charles Chesnutt’s The Marrow of Tradition, Nella Larsen’s Passing, William Faulkner’s Light in August, Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, Sandra Cisneros’s Woman Hollering Creek, and Sherman Alexie’s The Toughest Indian in the World. In our discussions of these works, we will be aiming not to become (impossibly) post-racial, but to imagine, collectively, different futures for our (inevitably) racially inflected relations. Admission with consent of the instructor. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Fall semester. Professor Sanborn.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 (Offered as ENGL 456, BLST 441 [US], and FAMS 451) This class begins with narratives about individuals who pass–that is, who come to be recognized as someone different from whom they were sexually or racially “born as.” Such stories suggest that one’s identity depends minimally on the body into which one is born, and is more attached to the supplementation and presentation of that body in support of whichever cultural story the body is desired to tell. Drawing on familiar liberal humanist claims, which centralize human identity in the mind, these narratives also respond to the growing sophistication of human experience with virtual worlds–from acts of reading to immersions in computer simulation. But what kinds of tensions emerge when bodies nonetheless signify beyond an individual’s self-imagination? As technology expands the possibilities of the virtual, for instance surrogacy, cloning, and cybernetics, what pressures are brought to bear on the physical human body and its processes to signify authentic humanness? Rather than ask whether identity is natural or cultural, our discussions will project these questions into a not-so-distant future: What would it mean to take “human” as only one identity, as a category amongst many others, each also acknowledged as equally subject to the same social and biological matrices of desire, creation, and recognition? We will approach these questions through works of literature, philosophy, media history, and contemporary science writing. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Parham.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as BLST 432 [US] and ENGL 457.) Ralph Waldo Ellison wrote Invisible Man to confirm the existence of the universal in the particulars of the black American experience. The same can be said of the larger aim of this course. It will provide students with the opportunity to explore the broadest themes of Black Studies through the careful reading of a particular text. Due to its broad range of influence and reference, Invisible Man is one of the most appropriate books in the black tradition for this kind of attention. The course will proceed through a series of comparisons with works that influenced the literary style and the philosophical content of the novel. The first part of the course will focus on comparisons to world literature. Readings will include James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; Sigmund Freud, Totem and Taboo; and H.G. Wells, The Invisible Man. The second part of the course will focus on comparisons to American literature. The readings in this part of the course will include Herman Melville, The Confidence Man; William Faulkner, “The Bear”; and some of Emerson’s essays. The last part of the course will focus on comparisons with books in the black tradition. Some of the readings in this part of the course will include W.E.B. Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk and Booker T. Washington, Up From Slavery. Requires 20-25 page research paper. Limited to 15 students. Open to juniors and seniors. Preference given to Black Studies majors. Omitted 2016-17. Professor Ferguson.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 458 and AMST 358) [before 1800] This course will delve deeply into Indigenous literatures of “Turtle Island,” or North America, and will also extend to the Pacific. The Quiché Maya Popol Vuh (Council Book), the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Great Law of Peace, the Wabanaki creation cycle, and the Hawaiian mo’olelo of Pele and her sister Hi'iaka are rooted in longstanding, complex oral narratives of emergence and transformation, which were recorded by Indigenous authors and scribes. These texts will enable us to consider how the temporal and spatial boundaries of America are both defined and extended by colonization, and disrupted by Indigenous texts and decolonial theory. We will close read these major epics as works of classical literature, narratives of tribal history, and living political constitutions. Reading each long text (in English translation) over several weeks, we will study the tribally and regionally-specific contexts of each epic narrative as well as the “intellectual trade routes” that link them together. We will also consider the place of these epics within American literature and history and their contributions to historical and contemporary decolonization. In exploring these narratives, we will discuss the ways in which they challenge conceptual boundaries, considering categories such as land/place, gender, sexuality, and other-than-human beings. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Fall semester. Professor Brooks.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 What if the past is not behind us, but spiraling within our present? How are indigenous conceptions of time expressed in Native American writing? How do Native novelists enable us to imagine a past, present, and future that are intertwined, embedded in place, and spiraling in constant motion? How does the creation of a fictional world, so similar to ours, allow us to envision alternative models of gender, sexuality, race, and nationhood? This seminar will invite in-depth exploration of contemporary Native American fiction, through frameworks drawn from oral traditions, indigenous languages, literary media, and scientific theory. Authors will include Sherman Alexie, LeAnne Howe, Thomas King, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Craig Womack, among others. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Spring semester. Professor Brooks.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 462, FAMS 462, and ARHA 462) In recent years, curating has taken on an increasingly central role in the production of contemporary media cultures. As the practice of selecting, organizing, and presenting cultural artifacts for public exhibition, curating often determines the sorts of media forms audiences have access to and the frameworks through which those media forms are interpreted. Curating requires a facility with a wide variety of skills, from historical research to critical analysis, communication, administration, and creative thinking. Yet it also entails an attentiveness to the complex socio-political issues that subtend all approaches to cultural representation. This course introduces students to the history, theory, and practice of film and video curation, paying special attention to the curation of experimental media. Students will learn about curating in both theoretical and practical ways, analyzing a variety of conceptual issues and debates that have emerged from historical and contemporary approaches to experimental film and video exhibition, while also embarking on creative assignments designed to allow them to begin developing their own curatorial perspectives. Through weekly screenings, readings, and discussion seminars, as well as visits to off-campus arts venues and cultural institutions, we will examine the different registers of film and video exhibitions that are regularly shaped by curators (program, sequence, exhibition space, text, and formats, etc.), as well as the broader social and political stakes of media curation. Two class meetings and one screening per week. Requisite: At least one foundational course in FAMS or ARHA. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 12 students. Fall semester. Professor Guilford. 2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 (Offered as ENGL 477 and FAMS 455) Confession is arguably central to expressions of postmodern selfhood in TV talk shows, YouTube videos, tweets, and Facebook updates. It also informs the evidentiary logic of our civil apparatuses (legal, medical, humanitarian) and infuses the fabric of our diplomatic, familial, and intimate relations. Indeed, we might say that the confession is the preeminent practice through which we understand the “truth” of our selves.This course investigates the many meanings and itineraries of the confession. We will focus on the various institutional sites that have shaped confessional regimes of truth (such as the church, the school, the clinic, the prison, the courtroom), as well as the role of media forms (from autobiographical video to cinematic melodrama and reality television) in consolidating and challenging these regimes. Readings and assignments emphasize a twinned engagement with media and cultural theory. Topics include: narratives on coming-out, truth and reconciliation, hysteria, torture, the female orgasm, insanity defenses, and racial passing. One two hour-and-forty-minute class meeting and one screening per week. Requisite: At least one foundational course in FAMS or equivalent introductory film course, plus any one course in cultural studies/literary theory/gender studies/race and ethnicity studies. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 18 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Rangan. 2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 478 and FAMS 478) Documentary’s difference from fiction is frequently understood in terms of its emphasis on the spoken word. In documentary studies, voice, rather than point of view, is the standard parlance for describing the unique social perspective of a documentary film. Voice is also the metaphor of documentary’s social mission: some of the most influential histories of documentary are narrated as a history of giving--and having, or appropriating--the right to speak. Rather than approaching the voice as a pre-existing social fact or content, this course will ask how discourses of documentary mediate our understandings of voice. Readings will include classic texts on the cinematic voice alongside contemporary and historical theories and counter-histories of voice from a variety of critical and disciplinary contexts, including philosophy, sound, music, disability, race, gender, and sexuality studies. Screenings will draw widely from documentary and experimental film. We will ask: how are Western philosophical discourses of voice unacknowledged influences on the formal expressions of the spoken word in documentary? And conversely, how do the conventional documentary expressions of speech, such as voice-over, interview, testimony, conversation cultivate normative and counter-normative modes of listening? This is an advanced discussion seminar that places a heavy emphasis on speaking in class. The course also includes a final research paper. Requisite: ENGL 280/FAMS 210, or equivalent introductory film course, plus any one course in cultural studies/literary theory/gender studies/race and ethnicity studies. Special consideration will be given to students who have taken a documentary course (whether theory or production). Open to juniors and seniors, and to sophomores with consent of the instructor. Limited to 15 students. Spring semester. Professor Rangan.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 481, FAMS 481, and ARHA 481) This seminar explores different ways of entering into conversations with experimental filmmakers. Through weekly screenings, in-class visits by contemporary artists, and rigorous examinations of artists’ writings, interviews, and related theoretical texts, we will seek to develop critical and creative vocabularies through which to interact with an array of experimental films and videos. We will ask: What sorts of aesthetic, conceptual, and political keywords do contemporary filmmakers draw on to frame their artistic practices? How do these terms/frameworks challenge established approaches to film analysis? And how might we elaborate new ways of thinking and speaking about film in an effort to respond to this critical challenge? Topics examined in this course may include: expanded cinema, modularity, and performance; artist-run labs and the new materialism; experimental ethnography, locality, and cultural representation; landscape films and the Anthropocene; the politics of intimacy in the diary film; and abstraction, representation, and gender. Requisite: At least one foundational course in FAMS or ARHA, or consent of the instructor. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 12 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Guilford.2017-18: Not offered (Offered as ENGL 486 and FAMS 421) As an upper-division seminar in film theory, this course will offer an in-depth examination of historically significant writings that analyze film form and its social functions and effects. Our particular focus will be on the production of film theory in a collective setting: the film/media journal. Thus, the course will consist of several units, each centering on a particular journal in generally chronological order (such as the Modernist Close Up; two phases of the French Cahiers du Cinéma, which has set foundations for both studies of authorship and semiotic-ideological analysis; the U.S. journal focusing on experimental and independent film, Film Culture; and the leading feminist journal of media studies, Camera Obscura). Through this structure, we will consider how ideas have developed and transformed, often in dialogue with one another and on an international stage. Our purpose will be threefold: to understand the context for the production and development of film theories; to comprehend a wide range of changing theoretical notions, writing styles, and critical methodologies; and to create our own dialogue with these works, considering especially their impact on their own contemporaneous film viewers and on viewing positions today. The final project, which we will develop through the semester, will be a web-based journal of film studies, which will put into practice the ideas and conversations of the course. One three-hour class meeting and one film screening per week. Prior coursework in Film and Media Studies is strongly recommended. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 15 students. Omitted 2017-18. Professor Hastie.2017-18: Not offered Independent Reading Courses. Fall and spring semester. The Department.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 (Offered as ENGL 491 and BLST 461 [CLA]) What would it mean to write in the language in which we dream? A language that we can hear, but cannot (yet) see? Is it possible to conceive a language outside the socio-symbolic order? And can one language subvert the codes and values of another? Questions like these have animated the creolité/nation language debate among Caribbean intellectuals since the mid-1970s, producing some of the most significant francophone and anglophone writing of the twentieth century. This course reads across philosophy, cultural theory, politics, and literature in order to consider the claims such works make for the Creole imagination. We will engage the theoretical and creative work of Édouard Glissant, Maryse Condé, Wilson Harris, Derek Walcott, Kamau Brathwaite, Patrick Chamoiseau, Jamaica Kincaid, and Edwidge Danticat. We also will consider how these writers transform some of the fundamental ideas of psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, and critical historiography. At stake in our readings will be the various aesthetic and political aspects of postcolonial struggle–how to think outside the colonial architecture of language; how to contest and subvert what remains from history’s violence; and how to evaluate the claims to authenticity of creolized New World cultural forms. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 20 students. Spring semester. Professor Cobham-Sander.2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 This course introduces students to the basic concepts and methods of literary and critical theory, a body of work that explores and critiques modern assumptions about truth, culture, power, language, representation, subject-formation, and identity. Surveying a wide range of authors and approaches (postcolonial, gender studies and queer theory, critical race theory, psychoanalytic, etc.), we will also draw on the expertise of our own faculty, bringing in weekly guest speakers to help explain particular methodologies and to tell us about how they engage with theory in their own scholarship. In this upper-level seminar, students will grapple with complex theoretical texts, consider the place of theory in literary studies and in film, media, and cultural studies as well, and begin to imagine ways of putting theoretical ideas to work for themselves. Open to juniors and seniors. Limited to 18 students. Spring semester. Professor Bosman. 2017-18: Offered in Spring 2018 Open to senior English majors who wish to pursue a self-defined project in reading and writing. Students intending to elect this course must submit to the Department a five-page description and rationale for the proposed independent study. Those who propose projects in fiction, verse, playwriting, or autobiography must submit a substantial sample of work in the appropriate mode; students wishing to undertake critical projects must include a tentative bibliography with their proposal. Please consult the English Department website for deadlines and for more information on the senior honors process. Preregistration is not allowed. Admission with consent of the instructor. Fall semester.2017-18: Offered in Fall 2017
The relative proportions of light-colored and dark-colored (“melanic”) peppered moths changed during the industrial revolution, supposedly because of camouflage and bird predation. In the early 1950s, British physician Bernard Kettlewell released captive moths onto nearby tree trunks and made observations that seemed to confirm this explanation. Many biology textbooks now use Kettlewell’s work on industrial melanism as the classic demonstration of Darwinian natural selection in action, and they typically illustrate the story with photos of moths on tree trunks. Yet biologists in the 1980s discovered that peppered moths rarely rest on tree trunks in the wild. The textbook photos are staged, and in 2000 I criticized this practice in my book, Icons of Evolution. Now Miller--a co-author of one of the textbooks I criticized--claims that “observations done to date show that most moths have, indeed, been found on tree trunks,” so “Wells is just plain wrong when he claims that moths don’t rest on tree trunks.” As support for his claim, Miller cites data and statistics allegedly proving that 68% of moths “were found on tree trunks.” Yet it is obvious from the data that Miller has relied on statistical manipulations and a biased sample to prove his point. Miller begins with data published by Michael M. E. N. Majerus, an expert on peppered moths at the University of Cambridge. The relevant data are found on page 123 of Majerus’s book, Melanism: Evolution in Action (Oxford, 1998): Table 6.1 The resting positions of peppered moths found in the wild between 1964 and 1996. Exposed trunks 6 Unexposed trunks 6 Trunk/branch joints 20 Table 6.2 Resting positions of peppered moths found in the vicinity of mercury vapor moth traps at various locations between 1965 and 1996. Exposed trunks 48 Unexposed trunks 22 Trunk/branch joints 66 Man-made surfaces 25 Miller claims that Table 6.1 shows that 68% of moths rest on tree trunks, while Table 6.2 shows 67%. Since the two statistics are similar, and since only Table 6.1 reports moths found under natural conditions, I will limit my comments to it. MILLER'S STATISTICAL MANIPULATIONS Miller obtains his percentage by lumping together moths found on tree trunks with moths found hiding in “trunk/branch joints” where horizontal branches meet the trunk. Since moths in trunk/branch joints are obscured from view, this category is usually omitted even by other defenders of the classic story, who limit themselves to combining moths on exposed and unexposed trunks to come up with a figure of 26%. And even the 26% figure is questionable, because it is not at all clear that “unexposed trunks” are equivalent to exposed tree trunks in relation to the classic camouflage-predation story. If moths are hidden from view in cracks in the bark, does their color make any difference? Nobody really knows. As Majerus himself wrote in his book: “If the relative fitness of the morphs [i.e., dark and light varieties] of the peppered moth does depend on their crypsis [i.e., camouflage], the resting position is crucially important to the estimation of fitness differences…. [Yet] experiments to show that the degree of crypsis of the different peppered moth forms does affect the level of predation inflicted upon them by birds have never been carried out.” (pp. 123-125) Given this uncertainty, normal scientific caution would suggest that only the 6 moths reported on exposed tree trunks should be counted as clear support for the classic camouflage-predation story. In other words, 13% of the moths reported in Table 6.1, not 68%. But 13% falls far short of justifying Miller’s claim that “observations done to date show that most moths have, indeed, been found on tree trunks.” Manipulating the data in Table 6.1, however, is not Miller’s most egregious misuse of statistics. It turns out that Table 6.1 is not--and does not purport to be--an unbiased sample representing peppered moths in general. In the decades since Kettlewell’s experiments, scientists have counted tens of thousands of peppered moths. One 1977 paper alone listed data for 8,426 moths in southern Britain between 1952 and 1974. (R. C. Steward, “Industrial and non-industrial melanism in the peppered moth, Biston betularia,” Ecological Entomology 2, 1977, p. 236) Yet Table 6.1 reports only 47 moths found resting in the wild in 32 years. Does this tiny sample provide us with an accurate picture of peppered moths in general? It turns out that it is extremely difficult to find resting peppered moths in the wild. Peppered moths fly at night (which is when tens of thousands have found their way into researcher’s traps over the years), and they rest during the day. In 1985 three scientists reported that “all we have observed is where the moths do not spend the day. In 25 years we have only found two betularia on the tree trunks or walls adjacent to our traps.” (C. A. Clarke et al., Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 26, 1985, p. 197) The reason resting moths have been so hard to find is that they probably hide beneath higher branches where they cannot be easily seen. According to one expert: “In nature, Biston betularia probably rest high up in the canopies, on the under surfaces of horizontal branches.” (Kauri Mikkola, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 21, 1984, p. 409) So how can we determine what percentage of peppered moths rest in exposed positions where camouflage is likely to affect their survival? Surely not by doing statistics only on those moths found resting where they were sufficiently exposed to be spotted from the ground. That would be a bit like trying to determine what percentage of fish in the sea are visible to predatory birds by doing statistics only on those that can be spotted from a boat. Table 6.1 lists only 47 of the tens of thousands of peppered moths that have been studied in the past few decades. This sample is obviously biased toward moths that were easily spotted by observers on the ground, and biased against moths that were hiding in the canopies. Even if all the moths in Table 6.1 (not just 13% or 26% or 68%) had been found on tree trunks, they would still represent less than 1% of all peppered moths counted during the same period. Majerus, of course, does not claim that Table 6.1 represents an unbiased sample. In fact, he concludes from his extensive knowledge of the data that “peppered moths do not naturally rest in exposed positions on tree trunks.” (p. 121) But Miller ignores Majerus’s expert opinion and teases inflated numbers from an unrepresentative data set. Miller thereby proves not that peppered moths normally rest on tree trunks, but that Benjamin Disraeli was right: There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. For more information, see
The untamable ferocity of birds of prey is awe-inspiring. In a field crowded with formidable predators, the golden eagle rules. A golden eagle is daunting. Females are larger than males, and a hefty specimen can weigh 14 pounds and have a wingspan longer than 7 feet. Golden feathers cap the crown and nape, making identification easy if the bird is seen. It takes five years for a golden eagle to reach maturity, and first-year birds have prominent white splashes at the base of the tail and on the underwings. They become increasingly dark with age. The oldest known wild eagle reached 23 years; one in captivity lived to 46. As befits their size, golden eagles capture prey off limits to lesser raptors. Rabbits are a dietary staple, but much larger fare is sometimes caught. They sometimes take bobcats, coyotes, herons, turkeys and even young white-tailed deer. In days of yore, when falconry was an entitlement of nobility, the golden eagle was the bird of kings. Although golden eagles prefer live prey, they are not above sampling carrion, especially if it is venison. Fred Rau of Dayton recently sent me a series of spectacular images from western Pike County. Rau had focused a trail camera on a fresh deer carcass and was rewarded with crisp images of a golden eagle. Golden eagles are quite rare in Ohio, with perhaps a half-dozen sightings a year. Although fairly common in mountainous regions of western North America, they are far scarcer in the East. There is a breeding population in northern Quebec and Labrador, and evidence suggests that area is the origin of Ohio birds. Small numbers of them winter in Ohio, but they’re tough to find. Golden eagles frequent remote, sparsely populated regions, keep huge territories and are people-shy. Trail cams fixed on deer carcasses are an effective technique for documenting the birds. Historical records suggest that small numbers of golden eagles have long wintered along Ohio’s glaciated Allegheny Plateau. The region is the interface of unglaciated hill country and the flatlands to the west. Records from the early 1900s include birds in Adams, Highland and Pike counties. Vast reclaimed strip mines such as the Wilds in Muskingum County have also harbored wintering golden eagles. While these eagles undoubtedly take plenty of rabbits and other small mammals, an abundant deer population provides lots of carrion. Increased efforts to place trail cams on deer carcasses might catch photos of more golden eagles. For those who think of Ohio as all industry and agriculture, think again. Golden eagles are among the wildest of North American birds, and their presence in Ohio’s hill country speaks to our wilderness heritage. Naturalist Jim McCormac writes a column for The Dispatch on the first and third Sundays of the month. He also writes about nature at www.jim mccormac.blogspot.com.
I’m constantly revising and attempting to improve my methods and materials. So, even though I already had a genre PowerPoint lesson, I made another one. Personally, I feel that this is an improvement over the last slide show, but be sure to let me know how you feel about it. Genre Lesson 2 – An awesome and animated PowerPoint slide show explaining genres and subgenres of literature. This lesson includes ten practice problems at the end to help you informally assess your students. Genre Lesson 2 PowerPoint Common Core State Standards Related to Genre and Subgenre Expand to View All Common Core State Standards Related to Genre and Subgenre CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.9 – Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take. ELA Standards: Literature CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.9 – With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.9 – Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.9 – Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.9 – Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series) CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9 – Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.9 – Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.9 – Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.
Power of Human Capital Provide an analysis on Unleashing the Power of Human Capital: Mastering the Legal Aspects of Business and tie the information into the concepts you have learned in class. Read and examine the document titled Unleashing the Power of Human Capital: Mastering the Legal Aspects of Business in the Readings and Resources section. As you review this document think about how this information ties into the business concepts you have been learning in this course. Provide a 2-3 page analysis of the most important ethical concepts you have identified in this reading, and how these different ideas contribute to a successful business. Be sure to include at least one cited reference per page to support your analysis and use proper APA formatting. This document is a classic look on human capital; please read and analyze for this week’s case analysis assignment. Bagley. C. E. (2008). Unleashing the power of human capital: Mastering the legal aspects of business. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation.
In honour of celebrating #SustainableSeafoodWeek we have listed five ways Australian fishermen are keeping our seafood at world class sustainability levels. 1. Turtle excluder devices In response to injury and death of Turtles in trawl nets The Australian Seafood Industry has implemented Turtle excluder devices (TEDS) for the last 20 years. They are designed to help turtles swim out of fishing nets if they are accidently caught. They contain a rigid barrier grid, which is attached to the circumference of the net and guides turtles towards an escape hole either above or below the grid. Without these devices, turtles can become caught in the codend of the net and cannot reach the surface to breathe. TEDs also allow larger animals such as sharks and rays to escape the net. 2. Bird Bafflers Sea Birds were previously victims of themselves by chasing fish offal dis-charged from fish pen shoots on the side of trawl boats. Whilst chasing the discarded product they could become entangled, injured or killed by warp cables. To prevent this The fishing industry invented The Bird Baffler, a structure that acts as a curtain around the perimeter of the boat with swinging tubing preventing birds flying towards the cables. This innovation “is proven to reduce interactions by 96%” the industry is very excited about how well it had worked as the birds completely stay away now. 3. Fishermen spend 2 years developing prawn trawl by-catch reduction This two-year project culminated in the design of a Bycatch Reduction System (BRS) specifically for the Gulf St. Vincent (GSV) Prawn Fishery South Australia 2011. 4. Fish chutes keep birds away and save fish at the same time NSW professional fishers use a seabird predation mitigation device known as a fish discard chute, to ensure non-retained fish species are returned to the water at the point of capture, as quickly as possible and with the least possible harm. This technique was designed by professional Estuary General fishermen to mitigate seabird predation on live non-retained species and is a regulated and approved device. Use of an approved discard chute is a requirement of licensed and endorsed Estuary General mesh net fishermen and is also highlighted in the Estuary General Fishery Code of Practice. Check out how it works below 5. Long line depth release hooks A deep setting longline fishing technique trialed in Australia helps in reducing bycatch in Australia’s tuna fisheries. Whilst setting the lines, Albatross and other diving seabirds such as Petrels can become hooked or entangled and drown as the longline sinks. This technique ensures hooks are quickly sunk to avoid interactions are at a depth birds cannot dive to.
We use interrogative pronouns to ask questions. They are: who, which, whom, what and whose. These are also known as wh-words. Questions using these are called wh-questions: Who called last night? Which keys are yours? Whom do I ask for at the desk? What did you do when the electricity failed? Whose watch is this? Interrogative pronouns: uses We use who and whom on their own: Whom did you speak to? We can use whose, which and what either on their own (as pronouns) or with a noun head (underlined): With a noun head We can use who, whose, which and what both as subject and object: Who is the best footballer in the world? (who as subject) Who did you meet? (who as object) What happened next? (what as subject) What did you buy? (what as object) Who or whom? We use whom as an object in formal styles. When we use a preposition before whom, it is even more formal. We don’t normally use it in speaking: Whom did you give the book to? (formal) To whom did you give the book? (very formal) Or, less formally: Who did you give the book to? What or which? We use what when we ask about specific information from a general range of possible answers: What’s the tallest building in the world? What did you say? I couldn’t hear you. What’s your address? We use which when we ask for specific information from a restricted range of possible answers: [looking at a list of addresses] Which is your address?B: This one here. Which hand do you write with? [looking at a photograph of three women] Which one is your sister? Which airport do we leave from, Heathrow or Gatwick?
Chiropractic Treatment for Herniated Disks Herniated discs are common causes of low back pain. They can cause dull aching pain or severe sharp stabbing pain with muscle weakness and loss of feeling. The pain will often radiate from the back down the leg. The severity of symptoms and the time it takes to heal varies depending on the extent of the herniation. To better understand this condition, here is a brief background on the structure of our vertebrae. The disc is a circle of cartilage that manages each shock that the vertebrae receive. That stack of bones in the vertebrae is cushioned by the disc as the body moves up and down or side to side. Without the discs, the spinal bones are simply incapable of bending. As these discs are made of gelatinous fibrous material, it is prone to wear and tear. When cracks or fissures occur in the disc, it causes the disc to slip out or be misaligned. Discs are damaged when a person experiences discs dehydration, unusual stress on the discs or too much load. The efficient performance and height of discs depends largely on water. As a person ages, the natural ability of the discs to circulate and rehydrate diminishes. The discs then rely on the movement of the spine to draw water into the system. A set of dehydrated discs is very prone to cracks and tear which may eventually lead to misalignment. When one suffers from back pain that goes down to your leg, daily activities become problematic and at times even intolerable. Herniated disk is one of the causes of back pain. It is also known as ruptured disk or slipped disk. The spine consists of bones that are cushioned by small pads that are oval in shape and they contain disks or cartilage. These disks include hard outer layer or annulus and soft inner layers or nucleus. A small part of the nucleus comes out from a tear in the annulus in the spinal canal when herniated disk takes place. The result of a ruptured disk is pain, irritation in the nerve, weakness in the back, arm and leg and numbness as well. Conservative treatment works well with a disk herniation. Surgery is not a good option for herniated disk as it is not even necessary. At times, you might have the problem of disk herniation and you might not even be aware about it. People who have no disk problem or any symptoms even can see spinal images of bulging disks. But there are cases when herniated disks can cause pain. Some of the symptoms of herniated disk are numbness and weakness in the lower back, neck, chest, shoulder, leg or arm, pain, leg pain or low back pain that gets worse when you sneeze, sit or cough and sciatica which is pain and tingling that originates from your buttock and goes down to your back till your leg. Studies show that the more effective treatment and management of lower back herniated disc conditions is through chiropractic care. Still, most people at present still resort to surgery when they have back problems. It is almost “tribal knowledge” to resort to a medical doctor for bodily ailments. And not to degrade medical doctors, but chiropractic care produces miracle-level results when properly applied by a chiropractor. Treatment of such condition may be done through chiropractic care. At Healing Hands Chiropractic, located in Murfreesboro, TN, Dr. Dee uses a low force technique and gentle program on the patient in an organized protocol of treatment. Contrary to common misconception that chiropractic treatment involves quick fixes, a chiropractor will have the patient undergo some tests like an X-ray or an MRI to see if chiropractic care is the appropriate treatment. If after a series of treatments the patient is still not responding well to the program, the doctor will then recommend the patient for imaging studies or to spine specialist for further evaluation. This is quite a standard procedure practiced among chiropractors. You should consult Healing Hands Chiropractic in case you suffer from severe back pain continuously for a week. Back pain usually gives you problem with your daily activities for a week or two. The pain and discomfort gets better in a time span of four to six weeks. If you try to take rest and still see no difference in the level of the pain in over three weeks, you should consult your chiropractor. In case the pain is heightened when you cough, sneeze or sit, then the problem might be disk herniation. You should get help if your pain enhances and not decreases, if you feel numbness and weakness in your legs and if you lose control over your bowels. Many nerve roots get compressed in your spine due to herniated disks or spinal tumor. This compression is called cauda equine syndrome and is really bad. But if you go for chiropractic treatment at the right time, you can heal fast and get relief from the pain. Chiropractic care is considered a conservative care for disc problems because it is non-intrusive, non-surgical and does not need any medicine. The efficacy of this practice in treating such conditions has been proven to be successful over the years. Due to its nature as a treatment, it would be logical as a first resort, rather than surgery or medication. Several factors will help prevent disc injuries which include proper exercises, maintaining a proper body weight, and improving posture. Poor posture places bad stress on the disc, especially with extended periods of sitting or improper lifting. Low back injuries are often associated with poor control of the core musculature which leads to re-injury. Specific exercises will improve this performance and improve quality of life. People who properly retrain the core musculature will see a decrease in future occurrences and reduction in low back pain. As every individual has different levels of strength and injury, it is important to seek professional help when trying to rehabilitate core strength after low back injuries. Many people make the mistake of starting exercise programs that are too intense, and eventually lead to injuries instead of preventing them. Contact Healing Hands Chiropractic today to get started!
The rapid growth of technology has resulted in a short attention span. We’ve become so used to the latest whiz-bang gadget coming out from Apple that we tend to forget how useful older technologies are. Skype has been around awhile. Most of us have integrated Skype into our professional and personal lives so completely that it’s easy to take it for granted. But one area where Skype has been nearly completely absent is an arena that could likely benefit from Skype integration the most: education. Resistance to Change It’s no secret that education has never been quick to adopt new technologies. Students who grow up proficient with the latest technologies in their homes have gotten accustomed to education’s alternate universe where just the simple move from chalkboards to dry erase boards required Herculean efforts. Overhead projector use in classrooms was at least twenty years behind mainstream use, and replacing heavy textbooks with iPads is viewed in many circles with extreme suspicion. To be fair, there is a logical disconnect when iPads are introduced into classrooms that need buckets to catch water from leaky roofs. That’s understandable. But there are some technologies, which require little expense to be incurred by school districts and which will prove hugely beneficial for students and educators alike. Skype Integration in Education Although there has been a historic hesitation to embrace technology in education, Skype may have good potential for successful classroom integration. Skype has been heavily used in online education, but it’s never been able to break into primary and secondary education classrooms. That looks like it could change. Skype’s new CEO, Tony Bates, presided over the little-publicized foray into the education space with an initiative dubbed appropriately “Skype in the Classroom.” It may not have made front-page news, but this Skype program which essentially forms a teacher network left beta last March with more than 4,000 teachers. This teacher network has already swollen to more than 15,000 teachers sharing a plethora of projects. Implications for Teachers The implications of Skype integration into the majority of classrooms are nothing short of staggering. Those of us that use it daily for inter-office communication and instant feedback without time lag may take it for granted. But teachers have never had an across-the-board- technological capability like Skype, which promises the potential to supercharge collaboration. There have been avenues through which successful lesson plans could be shared with other teachers, but often teachers end up having to re-invent the wheel. Skype usage by teachers means that teachers can collaborate with regard to teaching strategies and share effective lesson plans. Just being able to drag a Word doc into Skype for immediate download and print capability is a huge benefit by itself. Implications for Students If Skype has considerable positive implications for teachers, the impact for students is likely greater. Not only will students directly benefit from enhanced teacher-to-teacher collaboration, Skype offers additional possibilities. It used to be fairly common for school kids to have foreign pen pals. Waiting on letters took forever. Imagine Skype taking the place of the snail mail medium and the ability to engage in meaningful real-time conversations between students who are geographically a world apart. If Skype is successfully integrated as part of teaching methodology, the potential uses for foreign language classes and even sister classrooms going forward are immense. This is a guest post by Jesse L., Who is a recent college graduate who enjoys time with his family and blogging. He is also an advocate for online education. If you also wish to write guest post for us check guidelines here.
More By Author November 04, 2010 November 12, 2010 January 05, 2011 Bruce Baker, David Sciarra, Danielle Farrie This recent report from Rutgers University and the Education Law Center in New Jersey takes a look at states’ school funding systems and evaluates how adequately they serve the needs of all children, regardless of income or zip code, arguing that “sufficient” and “fairly distributed” funding is a prerequisite for high-quality education. The report looks at previous studies that attempted to analyze state school funding systems, and outlines areas where such methodologies fall short. For example, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) rating of school funding systems failed to consider the differences in education costs across states, and studies by both Education Week and Education Trust left out regional differences in revenue that exists in small rural areas versus large urban districts. This report’s methodology builds on these shortcomings, and defines fair funding as: A state finance system that ensures equal educational opportunity by providing a sufficient level of funding distributed within the state to account for additional needs generated by student poverty. The authors measure the funding “fairness” of each state according to four measurements: The report evaluated states by two methods. For measures that states have direct control over such as funding distribution and effort they were given a letter grade (A-F). For funding level and coverage the states are ranked against one another rather than graded because factors outside of their control such as state policy impact these measurements. When it comes to the Buckeye State, the ratings are mixed. Ohio is considered a progressively funded state, meaning that poor districts get more money than wealthy districts. Ohio spent $11,821 on students in schools with high poverty, compared to just $9,054 on students in schools with no poverty. Ohio also has a higher than average per pupil funding amount. Ohio’s average per pupil revenue is $10,933, while the national average is $10,469. Check out how Ohio and various other states rank in terms of school funding here.
ERCIM News No.46, July 2001 [contents] by Norbert A. Streitz Roomware® consists of computer-augmented room elements with integrated information and communication technology facilitating new forms of human-computer interaction. They are part of an approach that the world around us is the interface to information and for the cooperation of people. The Roomware® components were developed at GMDs Integrated Publication and Information Systems Institute (IPSI) in Darmstadt. The next generation of human-computer interaction is determined by a number of new contexts and challenges. One major challenge is to overcome the limits of desktop-based information environments currently in use. In the past, the introduction of information technology caused a shift away from real objects in the physical environment as information sources towards monitors of desktop computers at fixed places as the interfaces to information. Accordingly, user-interface designers developed the known types of human-computer interaction for the desktop paradigm. In contrast to this, we developed a new approach that emphasises again the relevance of physical objects. In this approach, the world around us is the interface to information where traditional human-computer interaction will be transformed to human-information-interaction and human-human communication and cooperation. One result of this research are so called Roomware® components for the Workspaces of the Future in so called Cooperative Buildings. They require new forms of interaction with information, wich are supported by the software we developed. The Roomware® components were developed in the AMBIENTE-division at GMD-IPSI in Darmstadt as part of the i-LAND environment (Streitz et al, 2001). Roomware® results from the integration of information technology into room elements as, eg, walls, doors, and furniture. Roomware components are interactive and networked; some of them are mobile due to independent power supply and wireless networks, and are provided with sensing technology. The figure shows already the second generation of roomware components which was developed together with partners from industry in our R&D Consortium Future Office Dynamics. In the following, some examples of roomware are described. \|The second generation of Roomware® components.\| DynaWall® and InteracTable® The DynaWall® in the AMBIENTE-Lab is an interactive wall covering one side of the room completely. The size of 4.50 m width and 1.10 m height and the very smooth integration of this very large display into the architectural structure creates the impression that you are really writing and interacting with a wall or wallpaper. The surface is touch-sensitive so that you can write and interact on it with your bare fingers or with a normal pen (no electronics needed). Several people can write/ interact in parallel in (currently three) different areas of the DynaWall. Beyond these physical affordances, our BEACH software enables very intuitive interaction based on gestures that are reflecting actions with physical objects in the real world (eg, take and put, throw, shuffle , ...). When throwing objects (with different accelerations), the speed and thus the flying distance is dependent on the initial momentum provided by the user. People can interact this way immediately after having seen it once. A similar way of interaction is provided by the InteracTable®, another roomware component we developed. It has a display size of 65 cm x 115 cm and a diameter of 130 cm. Beyond the type of interactions available at the DynaWall, it provides additional ones required by horizontal and round or oval-shaped displays. To this end, we developed in BEACH special gestures for shuffling and rotating individual information objects or groups of objects across the surface so that they orient themselves automatically. This accommodates easy viewing from all perspectives. Furthermore, one can create a second view of an object and shuffle this to the other side so that all team members have the correct view at the same time. Other examples of roomware components are the CommChairs® and the ConnecTables®. More details on the different roomware components are given in [Streitz et al (2001). Roomware: Towards the Next Generation of Human-Computer Interaction based on an Integrated Design of Real and Virtual Worlds. In: J. A. Carroll (Ed.), Human Computer Interaction in the New Millennium. Addison-Wesley]. The Passage Mechanism Passage is a mechanism for establishing relations between physical objects and virtual information structures, thus bridging the border between the real world and the digital, virtual world. So-called Passengers (Passage-Objects) enable people to have quick and direct access to a large amount of information and to carry them around from one location to another via physical representatives that are acting as physical bookmarks into the virtual world. It provides an intuitive way for the transportation of information between roomware components, eg, between offices or to and from meeting rooms. A Passenger does not have to be a special physical object. People can turn any object into a Passenger: a watch, a ring, a pen, glasses, a wooden block, or other arbitrary objects. The only restriction Passengers have is that they can be identified by the Bridge and that they are unique. Passengers are placed on so-called Bridges, making their virtual counter parts accessible. With simple gestures the digital information can be assigned to or retrieved from the passenger via the virtual part of the Bridge. The Bridges are integrated in the environment to guarantee ubiquitous and intuitive access at every location in a building (=> Cooperative Building). At the beginning of 2001, we started a new project called Ambient Agoras: Dynamic Information Clouds in a Hybrid World. It is funded by the European Union as part of its proactive initiative The Disappearing Computer. Ambient Agoras will provide situated services, place-relevant information, and a feeling of the place to the users. It aims at turning every place into a social information marketplace (= agora in Greek) of ideas and information where one can interact and cooperate with people. Norbert A. Streitz GMD Tel: +49 6151 869 919
Loggerhead turtles use visual cues to find gelatinous prey to snack on as they swim in open waters, according to research published June 12 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Tomoko Narazaki and colleagues from the University of Tokyo, Japan. Tracking underwater movements with 3D loggers and National Geographic Crittercams, the researchers found the turtles relied on sight, rather than sound or smell, to identify and move toward gelatinous, floating prey like jellyfish and other organisms; one turtle even swam toward a floating plastic bag. Turtles in this study foraged for such foods approximately twice every hour, suggesting they may rely on such gelatinous prey for energy more than previously thought. Previous studies have shown that turtle diets vary with their age, habitat and other factors, but adult turtles depend on deep-sea hard-shelled animals like mollusks for food. The gelatinous prey studied here are low-energy, easily digestible foods that are unlikely to replace these other prey. However, the authors suggest that opportunistic foraging on such prey may benefit loggerhead turtles during oceanic migrations, when prey at the bottom of the sea is harder to reach. The study also offers insights into the foraging habits of these turtles, listed an endangered species by by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The authors add that the methods used here could be developed to map areas with higher foraging opportunities along oceanic migratory routes for loggerhead turtles. Citation: Narazaki T, Sato K, Abernathy KJ, Marshall GJ, Miyazaki N (2013) Loggerhead Turtles (Caretta caretta) Use Vision to Forage on Gelatinous Prey in Mid-Water. PLOS ONE 8(6): e66043. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0066043 Financial Disclosure: This work was supported by the program 'Bio-logging Science', The University of Tokyo (UTBLS), National Geographic Remote Imaging, a JSPS research grant (A1925501 to KS), a JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists to TN (21-7432) and a Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant from The Japan Science Society to TN (19-526). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interest Statement: The authors declare that they received funding from National Geographic Remote Imaging and that two of the authors are employed by National Geographic Remote Imaging. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. PLEASE LINK TO THE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT (URL goes live after the embargo ends): http://dx. Disclaimer: This press release refers to upcoming articles in PLOS ONE. The releases have been provided by the article authors and/or journal staff. Any opinions expressed in these are the personal views of the contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of PLOS. PLOS expressly disclaims any and all warranties and liability in connection with the information found in the release and article and your use of such information. About PLOS ONE: PLOS ONE is the first journal of primary research from all areas of science to employ a combination of peer review and post-publication rating and commenting, to maximize the impact of every report it publishes. PLOS ONE is published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS), the open-access publisher whose goal is to make the world's scientific and medical literature a public resource. All works published in PLOS ONE are Open Access. Everything is immediately available--to read, download, redistribute, include in databases and otherwise use--without cost to anyone, anywhere, subject only to the condition that the original authors and source are properly attributed. For more information about PLOS ONE relevant to journalists, bloggers and press officers, including details of our press release process and our embargo policy, see the everyONE blog at http://everyone.
- The definition of a nerve is any of the bundles of fibers that send sensory information through the central nervous system in different areas of the body to the brain. An example of a nerve is what tells your brain you're in pain when you stub your toe on a rock. - Nerve is defined as courage or strength. - An example of nerve is someone being willing to talk about their recent divorce. - An example of nerve is a student standing up to the school bully. - a sinew or tendon: now only in the phr. strain every nerve, to try as hard as possible - any of the cordlike fibers or bundles of fibers connecting the bodily organs with the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord) and parts of the nervous system with each other, and carrying impulses to and from the brain or a nerve center - the pulp of a tooth, including the nerves, blood vessels, etc. - emotional control; coolness in danger; courage: a man of nerve - strength; energy; vigor - the nervous system regarded as indicating health, emotional stability, endurance, etc. - an attack of this; hysteria - Informal impudent boldness; audacity; brazenness - Biol. a rib or vein in a leaf or insect's wing Origin of nerveMiddle English nerfe ; from Old French nerf ; from Classical Latin nervus, sinew, nerve, string ; from Indo-European base an unverified form (s)n?u-, to twist, wind from source Classical Greek neuron, tendon, nerve, Old English sneowan, to hurry get on someone's nerves - Any of the cordlike bundles of fibers made up of neurons through which sensory stimuli and motor impulses pass between the brain or other parts of the central nervous system and the eyes, glands, muscles, and other parts of the body. Nerves form a network of pathways for conducting information throughout the body. - The sensitive tissue in the pulp of a tooth. - A sore point or sensitive subject: The criticism touched a nerve. - a. Courage and control under pressure: lost his nerve at the last minute.b. Fortitude; stamina.c. Forceful quality; boldness.d. Brazen boldness; effrontery: had the nerve to deny it. - nerves Nervous agitation caused by fear, anxiety, or stress: had a sudden attack of nerves. - A vein or rib in the wing of an insect. - The midrib and larger veins in a leaf. transitive verbnerved, nerv·ing, nerves Origin of nerveMiddle English, sinew, nerve, from Old French nerf, from Medieval Latin nervus, from Latin; see (s)ne&schwa;u- in Indo-European roots. - (zoology) A bundle of neurons with their connective tissue sheaths, blood vessels and lymphatics. - The nerves can be seen through the skin. - (nonstandard, colloquial) A neuron. - (botany) A vein in a leaf; a grain in wood - Some plants have ornamental value because of their contrasting nerves - Courage, boldness. - He hasn't the nerve to tell her he likes her, what a wimp! - Stamina, endurance, fortitude. - Audacity, gall. - He had the nerve to enter my house uninvited. - (in the plural) Agitation caused by fear, stress or other negative emotion. - Ellie had a bad case of nerves before the big test. (third-person singular simple present nerves, present participle nerving, simple past and past participle nerved) Recorded since circa 1374, from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve"), from Latin nervus (“sinew").
Presenting a tea that owes as much to politics and diplomacy as it does tea husbandry. The existence of Russian Caravan, a smoky blend of black teas, (traditionally comprised only of Chinese teas, in ours a blend of Chinese, Indian and Ceylon) is the direct result of a 1689 treaty between Qing Dynasty China and Russia. The treaty brought an end to decades of border conflict between Russian Cossacks and the Manchu people of Northern China. As part of the treaty, Russia agreed to give up its expansionist push eastward to the Sea of Japan, but gained direct trading access to Beijing. The treaty forever changed the way business was done between the two countries and produced a famous tea blend in the process. The trail from the Chinese border to Russia covered more than 6000 km, (3728 miles) through harsh and unforgiving mountain passes, deserts and rivers. Caravans comprised of horses, camels, mules and men took more than a year and a half to complete the journey with may men and beasts perishing along the way. Even so, the route was a popular and lucrative one – in 1696 alone more than 50,000 rubles worth of furs made the voyage, a fortune in today's dollars. In addition to furs, one of the most important commodities on the trail was Chinese tea, imported to fulfill Russia's growing demand. As can be imagined, the tea took quite a beating on the grueling trip and often had an entirely different character by the time it was unloaded in Moscow. One of the most notable was the rich flavor of smoke, absorbed from a year and a half of campfires along the caravan trail. Russians grew to love the smoky tea and dubbed it caravan tea. Eventually, with the advent of rail travel, the old trading routes died out and with them, the naturally smoked tea. To compensate, tea blenders began to create blends of Lapsang and other black teas to fill the void. To diplomacy!
Orthodontists: Job Information & Career Requirements Orthodontists are dentists who specialize in the treatment and prevention of dental irregularities, usually through the application of dental braces. Read about the professional responsibilities and education requirements for orthodontists here, as well as what you can look forward to in terms of career opportunities and salary. Orthodontists generally work with the help of an orthodontic assistant to analyze and solve the dental problems of their patients. Daily activities may include evaluating the needs of new patients, creating teeth molds, fitting orthodontic appliances and checking on the progress of individual patients. After receiving the proper education and certification, an orthodontist may choose to open his or her own practice or join an established practice. How to Become an Orthodontist College undergraduates who are interested in a career in orthodontia will most likely benefit from coursework or a major in science. Dental schools are selective, and admission requirements include an acceptable score on the Dental Admission Test (DAT); high grade point averages and recommendations may also be required. Once admitted, students usually complete the program in four years, after which, they receive an additional three years of specialized orthodontic training. A state license is required to practice; additional certifications may be available from the American Dental Association and the American Board of Orthodontists. According to O*Net, the most important aspect of practicing orthodontics is an in-depth knowledge of dentistry, which is acquired primarily through academic study and hands-on practice in dental and orthodontic schools (www.onetcenter.org). Orthodontists also need to be able to pay close attention to detail, operate advanced technological tools, work well with their hands and communicate clearly with assistants and patients, including children and adolescents. Employment and Salary Outlook The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that while income depends on experience and location, orthodontists earned a mean annual salary of $186,320 as of May 2012. Employment prospects for orthodontists should remain favorable in the near future, with the BLS forecasting a 16% growth in employment nationwide, or faster than average, between 2012 and 2022 (www.bls.gov). Alternate Career Options In addition to conducting routine examinations, optometrists diagnose and treat conditions and diseases of the eyes, either by prescribing corrective lens or performing surgery. Students who have graduated from a 4-year school can apply to a Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) program; additional requirements include a state-issued license. According to the BLS, the field of optometry is growing at a faster-than-average rate, with the number of job openings expected to increase by 24% nationwide through 2022. In May 2012, optometrists earned an average yearly salary of $109,810 (www.bls.gov). Podiatrists identify and treat diseases and injuries of the ankle, foot or lower leg. A Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (D.P.M.) and 3-year residency must be completed before an aspiring podiatrist can obtain the required state license. The BLS reports that podiatrists can also look forward to a faster-than-average growth in employment opportunities between 2012 and 2022 (23%). Licensed podiatrists who were employed in May 2012 earned an average yearly salary of $132,470 (www.bls.gov). Related to Orthodontists: Job Information & Career Requirements - Recently Updated Learn about the education and preparation needed to become a orthodontist tech. Get a quick view of the requirements as well as... Working as an orthodontist requires significant formal education. Learn about the education, job duties and licensure to see if... Individuals interested in pursuing a job as an orthodontist must first earn a bachelor's degree and complete four years of... Orthodontists are dentists who are specially trained to prevent and treat dental irregularities. This often includes... - Orthodontist Classes, Courses and Continuing Education Programs - Orthodontist Assistant: Career Profile - Majors for Aspiring Orthodontists: Information and Requirements - Top School in Madison for System Administrator Programs - Top School in Charlotte with Banking and Lending Career Education - Top Ranked School for Health Care Management - Seattle, WA - Top Houston School for an Animation & Video Graphics Degree
Help keep One Green Planet free and independent! Together we can ensure our platform remains a hub for empowering ideas committed to fighting for a sustainable, healthy, and compassionate world. Please support us in keeping our mission strong. Not to be too much of a Debby Downer, but we really need to talk about some not-so-good news that’s recently developed in our battle with Climate change. In short, it’s getting worse. Like, this is literally the highest global carbon dioxide concentration humanity has ever seen worse. 2015 marked a monumental time in our war against a warming planet. It was the first time in recorded history and at least one million years that global carbon dioxide concentrations in our earth’s atmosphere were measured at or above 400 parts per million (ppm). The news that global carbon dioxide concentrations are inching ever higher by the year is very unwelcome, but it’s important to understand what this data has to teach us so that we might act accordingly. A Message From a Volcano While global carbon dioxide concentrations breaking 400 ppm in March 2015 is certainly newsworthy, this story really started a few years ago at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. It is here that a research and observation facility currently run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) first began measuring carbon dioxide concentrations in 1958. That makes data recorded here pretty accurate and very informative for climate scientists, and even the average person on the internet that wants to keep up with the data records. Carbon dioxide concentrations measured at Mauna Loa started out at 315.71 ppm in March 1958. Fast-forward a few decades to May 2, 2013 when scientists at the Mauna Loa Observatory measured the carbon dioxide concentration at 400 ppm for the first time ever. While March 2015 marked when 400 ppm was met, the fact that it has remained constant is what is truly troubling. Our world, unfortunately, appears to be changing for the worse. Carbon Dioxide 101 While carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring gas in our environment, too much of it in the atmosphere (or the ocean) can be a bad thing. Carbon dioxide concentrations are growing because we are releasing the gas as an emission at a rate faster than what the planet can process and absorb. Our carbon dioxide emissions come from a variety of sources including the largest being combustion of fossil fuels for energy – responsible for around 77 percent of emissions – transportation, and manufacturing, and even the livestock sector, which accounts for around 9 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. We alter the earth’s ability to sequester these carbon dioxide emissions when we clear forests which act as carbon sinks where the gas is captured and used in photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is one of several greenhouse gases, meaning it has the potential to change our atmosphere and thus our climate in the process. While there are other greenhouse gases with a greater warming potential, carbon dioxide makes up the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States at 82 percent. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide is our key to avoiding the damage that Climate change can do to our planet in the future. Where to Go From Here? It’s probably important to note that this 400 ppm number does not necessarily mean anything concrete for our planet. For now scientists are merely referring to it as a “milestone.” It signifies to us that our atmosphere has been changing due to our actions, and we can expect it to continue to change if we don’t change our actions. On one path, if we imagine that we don’t address our greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the acceleration of Climate change soon, the future could be pretty terrifying. Climate change is predicted to cause food shortages, spread infectious diseases, cause floods and droughts, cause stronger storms, cause sea level rise, and threaten both natural habitat and wildlife species just to name a few effects. The other option is for mankind to actually begin to address Climate change and act on behalf of future generations. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is our key to saving our planet from widespread devastation and destruction. Are you up for helping save the world? We Can All Make a Difference While there are a ton of ways to fight Climate change, here are just a few ideas to help you get started: - Plant-based foods: eat ‘em! Diets rich in meats and dairy carry a large carbon footprint. But choosing to #EatForThePlanet will send Climate change packing. By simply choosing to leave meat off your plate, you can cut your personal carbon footprint in HALF! - Fossil Fuels: reduce your use! Bike, walk, carpool or use public transportation to reduce the amount of fossil fuels you use to get around. Turn off your lights and TV when you’re not in the room to reduce your energy use. Or even swap out your old light bulbs for new ones – low energy light bulbs, for example, use around 20 percent less energy than a conventional light bulb. If you unplug your electronics when you’re not charging them, you can cut standby energy use and save up to 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year! To put that in context, one gallon of gasoline in your car produces about 20 pounds emissions directly. To learn more about how you can cut carbon dioxide around your home, click here. - Your voice: use it! The first step in lowering global carbon dioxide emissions is motivating others to join in. While we all have an incredible opportunity to make a change in our daily actions, our collective action is needed to turn the tide. We all contributed in some way to the 400 ppm milestone, which means we can all help to get that back down. The recent news around our atmospheric conditions may not be good news, but we aren’t done writing this story yet. We still have the power to push our world back on the right track, so let’s get moving! Lead Image Source: Mikael Miettinen/ Flickr
The field of medical research is undergoing rapid transformation. Something like 30,000 health research articles (trials or systematic reviews) are being published in the research literature every year. Connected fields are also experiencing related changes. It seems that every other day some breakthrough therapy or ‘cause and effect’ link appears in the media. Healthcare professionals are increasingly acquiring those critical appraisal skills needed to appraise the latest research for effective treatments, whilst patients are ‘Googling’ their symptoms, bringing more information and questions to Primary Care interactions and challenging the 20th-century model of doctors as unquestioned figures of authority. Many go online first to find information, and tools to improve the quality of information on offer continue to evolved. Indeed, the way health research is accessed, appraised, and incorporated into practice is increasingly shaped by information technology, along with a shift in individuals’ attitudes towards taking more control over their own health questions. One key aspect of this will be developing the capacity of the public to understand and have the capacity to act based on the information they find, and. critically, to improve their ability to sniff out claims in mainstream media that are overblown or sensationalist - or quite often just drastically oversimplified. This project brought together researchers from across the disciplines to explore how social media could be used to improve health literacy and promote public understanding of health research, and assembled a network of researchers to investigate how the public could become more engaged in this changing landscape, through the channels of social media. Guardian journalist and research fellow Ben Goldacre identified the poor interface between the research community and the public provided by mainstream media as a point of serious concern. The project delved further into this idea by exploring the possible uses of social networks to achieve three goals: to foster and encourage a deeper interest in health research, to develop the skills to recognise good research from bad (raising basic scientific literacy), and to apply pressure on media companies from a new direction to improve their standards of reporting of health research. ‘Certified Bullsh!t: Using Social Media to Help the Public Become Better Bullsh!t Detectors’ Dr Amanda Burls, Thinkwell, Oxford ‘The Information Revolution’ Sir Muir Gray, NHS ‘Spreading Information in the Social Web: Nodes, Ripples and Community Discovery’ Ade Oshineye, Google ‘Is Academic Medicine Ready for an Open Dialogue with the Public?’ Sir Iain Chalmers, James Lind Alliance Dr David Karlin, University of Oxford ‘Dealing with Scientific “Controversy” in an Interconnected World’ Dr Fern Elsdon-Baker, British Council, University of Coventry ‘Orwellian Adventures in Cyberspace: Poking One’s Head above the Ivory Parapet’ Professor Dorothy Bishop, University of Oxford ‘Can Patients Accelerate Research and Improve Outcomes on the Internet?’ Dr Paul Wicks, PatientsLikeMe ‘How the Media Promote the Public Misunderstanding of Science’ Dr Ben Goldacre, Guardian, Badscience.net ‘Communicating Cancer Research Online: Sorting Signal from Noise in the Information Era’ Dr Henry Scowcroft, Cancer Research UK The poster for the series is available here. Dr Martin Burton, Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences and Balliol College, University of Oxford Dr Eric T. Meyer, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford Dr Tristram Wyatt, Department of Zoology and Kellogg College, University of Oxford Contact details for enquiries Please email the lead investigator, Dr Martin Burton, for any inquiries regarding this project.
52. Mitracarpus Zuccarini in Schultes & J. H. Schultes, Mant. 3: 210 ["Mitracarpum"], 399. 1827. 盖裂果属 gai lie guo shu Authors: Tao Chen & Charlotte M. Taylor Herbs [to small shrubs], annual or perennial, unarmed. Raphides present. Leaves opposite, subsessile or sessile, without domatia; stipules persistent, interpetiolar and fused to leaf bases or petioles, truncate to rounded, setose. Inflorescences terminal and/or axillary, glomerulate or capitate, several to many flowered, sessile, sometimes immediately subtended by 1 or 2 pairs of leaves, bracteate. Flowers sessile, bisexual, monomorphic. Calyx limb deeply 4(or 5)-lobed; lobes usually unequal in pairs, usually with hyaline margins. Corolla white, salverform or funnelform, inside glabrous or pubescent in throat; lobes 4, valvate in bud. Stamens 4, inserted in corolla throat, included or exserted; filaments developed; anthers dorsifixed. Ovary 2-celled, ovules 1 in each cell on peltate axile placentas attached at middle of septum; stigmas 2, linear, usually exserted. Fruit capsular, subglobose to somewhat dicoccous, with dehiscence circumscissile around equator, with apical valve or "lid" deciduous and basal portion persistent, papery to cartilaginous, with calyx limb persistent or deciduous on lid; seeds 2, medium-sized, oblate to rounded, on ventral (i.e., adaxial) face with cruciform (i.e., X-shaped) scar; endosperm fleshy; cotyledon leaflike; radicle hypogeous. About 30 species: widespread in tropical and subtropical Central, North, and South America and the Antilles, with one species widely naturalized in tropical Africa, Asia, Australia, and Pacific islands; one species (introduced) in China. This genus is frequently overlooked even in its native range, but the circumscissile capsules, seeds with a distinctive cruciform scar, leaves scabrous to the touch on the upper surface, and well-developed calyx lobes with hyaline erose margins are distinctive. W. C. Ko (in FRPS 71(2): 210. 1999) described the ovary as sometimes 3-celled; this condition is not otherwise known in Mitracarpus and has not been reconfirmed, although it does characterize the very similar, likewise adventive genus Richardia.
The human lower limb is structured for locomotion (gait cycle), posture (position of limbs and trunk), trunk stability and weight bearing. Trunk stability enables higher quality vision and hearing, plus more accurate manipulation of objects. Co-ordination of the limbs with the trunk allows for various positions of the upper body despite changes in lower body position. The limb is a module. The regions in the lower limb are extensor or flexor. The two groups are analogous to those in the upper limb but situated opposite those in its upper counterpart, due to embryological rotation (lateral in the upper limb and medial in the lower). The regions in the upper limb are grouped in the: i) Pelvic girdle (gluteal region including hip in floor) ii) Thigh (3 compartments, femoral triangle, subsartorial canal) iii) Knee (popliteal fossa) iv) Leg (anterior, lateral, posterior) v) Ankle (tarsal tunnel) vi) Foot (dorsum, sole, toes) Assessment of the limb is made easier by its accessibility compared to trunk modules, usually providing clear symptoms and signs. Video 10-01: Overview of the Lower Limb Video 10-02: Surgical Assessment of the Lower Limb Osteoarthritis of the hip develops when the articular cartilage becomes soft and fibrillated ('small fibered'). If subject to high pressure (highest in the weight-bearing area of the femoral head), it becomes worn and thin, producing changes in the underlying bone. The causes of osteoarthritis are: i) Abnormal stresses (subluxation, coxa vara, dysplasia) ii) Abnormal cartilage (infection, rheumatoid, trauma, age) iii) Abnormal bone (fracture, necrosis, Paget's disease) Age-related osteoarthritis is called 'primary', while if there is an underlying cause, it is called 'secondary'. Symptoms include pain (often radiating to the knee via a common neurosome), progressive stiffness and limp. Signs are the limp, positive Trendelenburg test, abnormal limb position, muscle wasting, tenderness, high greater trochanter and restricted, painful movements. Investigations are usually limited to plain x-ray, except where there is a possible underlying cause. Treatment is conservative (weight loss, drugs, aids, manipulation) or operative (when the patient's life is still significantly affected). The decision is made by assessing both hip and patient. Surgical options include osteotomy (used in the young to alter weight-bearing), arthrodesis (rarely performed) or arthroplasty (partial, total, surface). Complications of joint replacement include dislocation, loosening, infection, failure or malalignment.
A polyp is an abnormal mass of tissue that has developed inside a mucous membrane within the body. Polyps have the potential for malignancy, and therefore should be removed. The procedure for removal of polyps is a polypectomy. Polyps are most commonly found in the colon, stomach, uterus, urinary bladder, and nasal cavities, but can occur in any mucous membrane. They are generally asymptomatic and may go undetected until a diagnostic exam, such as a colonoscopy, is performed. Once identified, it is usually recommended that the polyps are removed. Even if they are non-cancerous when found, they have the potential to become cancerous if left in place. A polypectomy is the surgical removal of a polyp. The procedure may be performed through an open abdominal surgery or via endoscopy. During an endoscopic procedure, such as a colonoscopy, the polyp may be excised with forceps inserted through the endoscope. Larger polyps may be removed with a snare along the base, cauterizing the area after removal to prevent bleeding. Before an endoscopic procedure, a patient may be advised to temporarily discontinue taking certain medications. If you are currently taking Anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin, as well as any blood-thinners like Coumadin® or Plavix, please discuss this with your doctor prior to the procedure. Potential complications of a polypectomy include bleeding and perforation. Perforation is the inadvertent puncturing of the tissue, creating a hole. Bleeding can usually be controlled with cauterization, but perforation requires surgical correction. There is also the potential for an adverse reaction to sedatives or anesthesia if they were administered prior to the exam. After polyps are removed via polypectomy, they are sent for analysis. A lab will test the tissue for cancerous or precancerous cells. Patients should receive notification from their physician regarding the results from the lab. If the polyp is determined to be malignant, the patient will likely be scheduled for follow-up diagnostic examinations on a regular basis. Since polyps are generally asymptomatic, it is important to know some of the common risk factors that contribute to forming polyps. Colon polyps are more prevalent in people over 50 years of age, those with a family history of polyps, smokers, those with a sedentary lifestyle, and those who are overweight. Nasal polyps may be more likely to form in those with asthma, aspirin sensitivity, allergies to fungi, and those with cystic fibrosis. Risk factors for cervical polyps are not clearly understood.
Impressive abstract art made out of coloured wires by Turkish artist Gülay Semercioğlu. “Tenterhooks were used as far back as the fourteenth century in the process of making woollen cloth. After the cloth was woven it still contained oil from the fleece and some dirt. A fuller (also called a tucker or walker) cleaned the woollen cloth in a fulling mill, and then had to dry it carefully or the wool would shrink. To prevent this shrinkage, the fuller would place the wet cloth on a large wooden frame, a ‘tenter’, and leave it to dry outside. The lengths of wet cloth were stretched on the tenter (from Latin tendere, meaning ‘to stretch’) using hooks (nails driven through the wood) all around the perimeter of the frame to which the cloth’s edges (selvedges) were fixed so that as it dried the cloth would retain its shape and size. At one time it would have been common in manufacturing areas to see tenter-fields full of these frames.”
Do You Know About the Battle of Thermopylae? Comments Off on Do You Know About the Battle of Thermopylae? These days, the story of the Battle of Thermopylae has taken on a mythical quality. We envision a group of 300 brave Spartan soldiers facing off against the Persians, who had one of the largest armies in the world at the time. The Persian Empire experienced success at expanding its borders, and it wanted to make Ancient Greece a part of its large and expanding empire. The Persians had already tried to conquer Greece during the First Persian Invasion about a decade earlier. There were those who were relieved that the Persians left, but there were still those who thought they’d be back. As it turns out, the Persians did return. The Battle of Thermopylae took place during the Second Persian Invasion. Here’s more information about this battle: The battle itself is known to have taken place over the course of three days at a narrow pass at a place known as Thermopylae. When the battle strategy was established, the Spartans were aware that many, if not all of them, would lose their lives. Since the pass was so narrow, it forced the fighters in close proximity. There was also only one way into the pass and one way out. This setup gave the Spartans the best chance possible for winning the day despite the despite the fact that the Persian army far outnumbered them. However, the battle strategy proved to be fairly sound and the Spartan soldiers were well trained. The Goal of the Battle It is important to understand that the goal of the battle wasn’t necessarily to win. The goal was to slow the Persians down so that the rest of Greece could prepare themselves for the invasion. In particular, Athens needed to be alerted that the Persians were here. From there, the Athenians were able to mobilize their navy and implement a strategy at the Battle of Salamis that ultimately caused Ancient Greece to drive the Persians away. The Battle of Salamis was a considerable naval victory that contributed to the Persians becoming unsuccessful in their attempt to invade Greece. Knowledge of the Battle in Modern Greece Recently, the story of the 300 brave Spartans was depicted in a graphic novel and then later converted into a movie called The 300. This movie was hugely popular, and it has been responsible bringing the story of this battle to the modern audience. The plot of this movie is regarded as being factually accurate. Ultimately, there were actually more than 300 soldiers present at Thermopylae. Some of Sparta’s allies came to the aid of the 300 Spartans. Total, there were anywhere from 6000 to 7000 Greek soldiers at Thermopylae. On this point, the popular movie is incorrect since these other soldiers weren’t represented. Leonidas did lead the army, but the size of the army was much larger than the movie indicated. However, although the Spartan soldiers lost their lives, their tale still lives on. Categorized in: Ancient Greek History This post was written by GreekBoston.com
How was the Son Doong cave formed? Hang Son Doong was formed by an allogenic river sinking along a straight subvertical fault. The cave is formed largely within a brecciated fault zone that extends up to 100 m wide. … The cave is punctuated by two collapse dolines, one of which impedes discharge today. Is Son Doong cave unexplored? Since Son Doong was discovered in 2009, experts have only explored its dry part. It opened to tourists in 2013, four years after members of the British Cave Research Association finished their exploration and declared it the world’s largest. Is Son Doong worth? Yes, it is 3000 USD and it books out for a year in two days! I did the Son Doong Cave trip and absolutely loved it! The views are stunning and the trip super professionally done. What animals live in the Son Doong cave? Creatures Discovered in Son Doong Birds, flying foxes, rats, snakes, squirrels, and monkeys, have been discovered underground; and seven new species of eyeless, white creatures (think scorpion, spiders, shrimp, and fish) have been found there. Where is the largest cave on Earth? It is the largest known cave passage in the world by volume. Its name, Hang Sơn Đoòng, is variously translated from Vietnamese as ‘cave of the mountain river’ or ‘cave of mountains behind Đoòng [village]’. Hang Sơn Đoòng. \|Sơn Đoòng cave\| \|Cave survey\|\|2009, British/Vietnamese\|
Clinical Pearls & Morning Reports Published June 28, 2017 The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic and sometimes disabling functional bowel disorder. Traditionally, this functional diagnostic label has been applied when no obvious structural or biochemical abnormalities are found, but emerging evidence suggests that distinct pathophysiological disturbances may account for the symptoms and that IBS is unlikely to be one disease or merely a psychiatric (somatosensory) disorder. Read the latest Review Article on this topic. Q. What is the prevalence of IBS in the United States? A. The prevalence of IBS in the United States is between 7% and 16%, and the condition is most common in women and young people. Q. How is IBS diagnosed and classified? A. The Rome IV criteria, derived from a consensus process by a multinational group of experts in functional gastrointestinal disorders, constitute the current standard for diagnosing IBS. According to these criteria, IBS is diagnosed on the basis of recurrent abdominal pain related to defecation or in association with a change in stool frequency or form. On the basis of the Rome IV criteria, IBS is classified into four subtypes (IBS with diarrhea, IBS with constipation, IBS with mixed symptoms of constipation and diarrhea, or unsubtyped IBS) according to patients’ reports of the proportion of time they have hard or lumpy stools versus loose or watery stools. Table 1. Rome IV Criteria for the Irritable Bowel Syndrome. A: There has been a recent resurgence of interest in diet as a treatment for IBS. The recognition that fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, and monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPs), which are present in stone fruits, legumes, lactose-containing foods, and artificial sweeteners, exacerbate symptoms in some patients because of their fermentation and osmotic effects has led to the use of a low-FODMAP diet as a therapeutic maneuver. In a crossover randomized trial comparing a low-FODMAP diet with a normal local diet, global IBS symptom scores and bloating and pain were significantly reduced with the low-FODMAP diet. Two randomized trials comparing a low-FODMAP diet with conventional dietary recommendations (e.g., eating small, regular meals and avoiding insoluble fiber, fatty foods, and caffeine) showed no significant difference between the two approaches in the overall response to therapy. However, in one of these trials, significantly greater improvements in abdominal pain, bloating, stool frequency and consistency, and urgency were noted with the low-FODMAP diet. A: Lubiprostone and linaclotide are novel drugs that act on intestinal enterocytes to increase fluid secretion into the gastrointestinal tract, through chloride and bicarbonate secretion, accelerating gastrointestinal transit. Both drugs are approved by the FDA for use in patients who have IBS with constipation. Abnormal 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) expression is implicated in the pathophysiology of IBS. Drugs acting on 5-HT type 3 receptors slow colonic transit. In a meta-analysis, alosetron was more effective than placebo in patients who had IBS with diarrhea, for both reduction of global symptoms in four randomized trials, with a total of 1732 patients, and reduction of abdominal pain or discomfort in six trials, with a total of 2830 patients. Eluxadoline is a novel drug that acts on δ-, κ-, and μ-opioid receptors. In two phase 3 randomized trials, involving a total of 2427 patients, the drug was more effective than placebo for the treatment of IBS with diarrhea, with response rates of 27% in a pooled analysis, versus 17% with placebo (P<0.001). However, no benefit with respect to abdominal pain was noted. A meta-analysis showed that tricyclic antidepressants were more effective than placebo in 11 randomized trials involving a total of 744 patients. Tricyclic antidepressants have anticholinergic properties and slow intestinal transit. These drugs were also more effective than placebo for abdominal pain. Table 2. Interventions for Patients with the Irritable Bowel Syndrome, According to Efficacy, Level of Evidence, Side Effects, and Cost.
How And Why To Practice Scales One of the standard ways of developing your speed and technique is to practice scales with a metronome and gradually increase the speed. Beginners should start very, very slowly, and not aim to build up the speed too much - but simply to get used to playing in time with a metronome. A beginner will probably be focussed on just playing with the metronome but Intermediate players should be really focussed on the synchronization between the hands - that really is the key here. As you get faster the synchronization needs to be better and better and you'll find this helps even when you play slowly! How To Do It 1. I would recommend starting with Pattern 1 of the major scale (in G Major, start with your second finger on the 6th string root, at 3rd fret). See the Major Scale Pattern 1 if you are unsure about this. Remember that most of your early work with scales should be just around Pattern 1 until you can use it well! Make certain you can play the scale perfectly without thinking much about it before you even think about working on this! 2. If you are new to technique exercises then you should start at something like 1 note per metronome click at around 60bpm (Beats Per Minute). Better to start very slowly and get it right. Aim for clarity in every note, don't let any notes smudge or be muffled. And make sure that you are using your fingertips. 3. Aim to get your note well synchronised with the metronome click, don't let yourself rush. Rushing is a common problem for beginners so try and relax and play with it. Don't fight against the click of the metronome - you won't win! It should be your pacesetter 'running' by your side - you neither follow or anticipate it 4. Try and tap your foot with the metronome too to help develop your internal metronome. 5. Only when you can do a scale PERFECTLY 4 times consecutively (in a row) should you move the speed up. You might want to start by moving the metronome up by 10bpm at a time to start but as you get closer to your maximum speed you should slow the increments, maybe just going up by 5 or even 2 bpm at a time. 6. Once you get to 160bpm, move on to 2 notes per click at 80bpm (eighth notes). This means that you will play one note with the click and one note in-between. This is great practice for your alternate picking too because the down pick will always be with the beat and the up pick will be between the clicks! 7. Once you get up to 160bpm again, then move to doing 4 notes per metronome click. This is called playing 16th notes. 8. Get up to a reasonable speed in Pattern 1 (like 16th notes at 120bpm) before moving onto any other scale positions. A really fast speed is 4 notes per metronome click at 160bpm. A good target speed for general playing is 140bpm, only speed metal rockers will need to play much faster than that. 9. Make sure that you monitor your technique and that you keep as relaxed as possible. Tension is the enemy. I would suggest getting a private lesson or two to check you are picking correctly and that your hand position is good. Remember not to let your wrist bend too much. Ask around among good players and get a teacher recommended. 10. Another common issue is the angle of the pick, it should be at an angle of around 10-15 degrees to the string. Too flat on and it's likely to get tangled up in the strings. Unless you're doing big practice sessions (over 2 hours a day) you probably don't need to do more than 5 Minutes a day of this. I still revisit it from time to time but I'm lazy with picking practice to be honest - I find it a bit tiresome and I'd rather be doing something more creative! The most important thing to remember is to do it accurately and clearly - without this, your scales will sound rubbish! Take your time, do it properly and when you play fast it will be clear and sound totally cool. I know how exciting it is to play fast and it is a lot of fun, just don't push yourself further than you are ready to go! - LESSON STEPS - Found an issue? Please submit it. This will help me make constant improvements to better your experience.
Emma Robertson-Blackmore, Ph.D., has used her 2008 NARSAD Young Investigator Grant to conduct research that adds a new and unexpected dimension to our knowledge about how certain forms of trauma raise the risk that an expectant mother will become depressed. Such depression, of course, can also negatively affect the outcome of the pregnancy as well as the health of the child. Dr. Robertson-Blackmore (now Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida College of Medicine - Jacksonville), and colleagues at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York studied 374 women aged 20 to 34, all in the “perinatal” period―beginning about 18 weeks into pregnancy and extending for six months after giving birth. They explain in a paper published in October in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry that the women were recruited from a low-income inner-city area, and thus were statistically at higher-than-average risk for early-life trauma and depression. Over half the women (52 percent) reported at least one episode of depression prior to entering the study; 39 percent reported at least one early-life traumatic event. Although such traumas can take many forms, the most common in this group were childhood sexual abuse, being exposed to someone who experienced violence, and the unexpected death or illness of someone close. The main finding was in part surprising. Women exposed in early life to any of the three traumas just mentioned were more likely to get depressed in the pre-childbirth period. However, such depression did not predict that the same women would report depression postpartum. Those who had experienced three or more traumas had four times the prenatal depression risk. “Why does trauma exposure confer risk in this pattern?” the researchers asked in their paper. They suggest trauma may alter the stress response mechanism, which in turn may make a woman more susceptible to depression during (but not after) pregnancy, owing to hormonal and immune system changes that normally accompany pregnancy. Dr. Robertson-Blackmore and colleagues urge screening for depression during pregnancy as well as early in the postpartum period when depression risk is known to be high. But they also call for identification of a trauma history in high-risk women, which might lead to identification of those women much more likely to get depressed during pregnancy.
\| Eucosma sonomana, Eucosma, Eucosma similiana, Archips cerasivorana, Choristoneura pinus\|Eucosma gloriola Wikipedia Eucosma gloriola, the eastern pine shoot borer, is a moth of the Tortricidae family. It is found from eastern Canada, south to Virginia, and west to Minnesota. The wingspan is 14–16 mm. The forewings are coppery red with two transverse grey bands. There is one generation per year. The larvae feed on Pinus species, mainly Pinus strobus and Pinus sylvestris. First instar larvae enter shoots behind needle fascicles, boring directly into the pith. They initially feed downward toward the base of the shoots but later reverse direction. The frass is deposited on either end of the tunnel. Pupation takes place in a silken cocoon on the ground.
In the journals Eating a heart-healthy diet is associated with better dental health, according to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet was originally developed to lower blood pressure, but research has uncovered a variety of other possible health benefits. In the new study, researchers with the Veterans Affairs Dental Longitudinal Study followed 533 men ages 47 to 90. The men had dental exams every three years over a 20-year period. A trained examiner checked the men for signs of root cavities, which can occur if the gums recede and expose the root surface. Root cavities lead to tooth loss, an outcome that most men understandably want to avoid. The study used diet questionnaires to document the extent to which the men's diet matched the DASH plan, which emphasizes fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, dietary fiber, whole grains, and limited added sugar. Men whose diets most closely matched a DASH plan scored 30% lower on a scale that assessed the chance of developing new or repeat root cavities. Although this research links a DASH diet to better overall dental health, it does not conclusively demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship. The amount of sugar in the men's diet did not appear to explain the pattern. Instead, a generally higher-quality diet and its particular mix of carbohydrates may help to prevent tooth decay and tooth loss. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
Patient: “I have an earache.” Doctor: 2000 BC “Here, eat this root.” 1000 AD “That root is heathen, say this prayer.” 1850 AD “That prayer is superstitious, drink this potion.” 1940 AD “That potion is snake oil, swallow this pill.” 1985 AD “That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic.” 2000 AD “That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root.” An integrated approach to healing is not a new idea. It has appeared in various forms since antiquity. In fact, what is now termed traditional or allopathic medicine has only been dominant for about 100 years, but the tendency to be focused only on outer ways of healing has been dominant for at least the last five hundred years. Alternative or complementary medicine is, in fact, the true traditional medicine. “We have been calling genuinely traditional medicine—used for at least 2500 years—‘alternative’ only because today’s newcomer ’traditional’ medicine has misappropriated that attractive word, and truly traditional medicine has not shouted theft.” In order to see how healing has evolved, let’s journey together backwards in time for twenty-five centuries to Ancient Greece. Traditional medicine, according to the more accurate definition, was well established in Classical Greece from 450 BC to 380 AD. Traditional medicine as practiced in this era, was a truly integrated approach, where equal emphasis was placed on both the inner and outer aspects of healing. Scattered throughout southern Europe were about four hundred temples of Asclepius, the ancient Greek god of healing. In order to heal their physical symptoms, people would have to travel from their town or city to the temples in outlying areas. The first implication of this arrangement was that they actually had to do something. They had to be intentional about their healing; they had to mobilize themselves and change location. This intentionality is not just about physical location, but also about a change in attitude or psychology as well. Some effort and discipline were needed, and there was inevitably some hardship. Modern research has shown that the further one travels to seek help, the better one’s prognosis, particularly with regard to cancer. So there was logic and wisdom in the methodology of the ancient Greeks. They required that their patients travel far distances to get the healing they sought. Today, an individual may not take a physical journey for her healing, but rather a psychological one in which she moves from one attitude in the beginning to an entirely new psychological place. There must be a tremendous urge that arises from within the person seeking the healing for her to live as much as she is humanly capable at her maximum potential as a fully embodied and conscious human being. She must be willing to challenge many of her preconceived notions about herself, delve deeply into her conscious and unconscious material and be willing to take on the archetype of the seeker who wishes to be healed. This, in my experience, is the real crux of a healing and transforming experience. Unless there is a fundamental shift in consciousness, true healing and integration of your life is impossible. When people came to the temples of Asclepius, they began their healing experience in the outer sanctum, where the concerns of the physical body were addressed. They fasted, studied nutrition, detoxified, and were massaged with anointed oils. In my office, most people expect to be addressed initially at this level of healing. They want to know that, for their particular diagnosis, there are some physical remedies that can be applied. They are, however, fortified and lulled into a false security by the beliefs propagated through mechanistic medicine: if they are suffering from a symptom, there must be only a physical explanation and hence, only a physical treatment. I believe this attitude is fundamental to human nature and typical of our collective understanding of disease and illness at this time. This approach to healing is entirely appropriate, albeit limited, and forms the basis of the methods of healing we bring to bear at Stage Two of the Seven Stages model. The research that links mind, body, and spirit (Stages Two through Seven in the Seven Stage model) to physical healing, although it exists, has not yet achieved respectability among mainstream practitioners. It will probably take another few decades before the research achieves a level of reproducibility that will convince the skeptics to sit up and take notice. Back to the ancient temple of Asclepius. After they had completed the rituals and practices of outer healing, Greek patients would move into the inner sanctum of the temple, where the priests officiated. In the middle of the temple were stone pillars carved with symbols of twin snakes winding around and down the pillars. The twin snakes or serpents were the symbol of healing in Greek mythology—the balanced serpents of the conscious and the unconscious, the inner and the outer. This was to acknowledge that health is not just an external matter. Patients were also required to take an oath, swearing allegiance to the gods Apollo and Asclepius. They also were asked to give an offering of a honey cake, implying that in order to gain something, they had to let go of something that was no longer working in their lives, to allow for renewal. Elliot Dacher describes this ritual: “(And) the offering and devotion to the god, which was an outward projection of the healer within, was an acknowledgement of and symbolic surrender to the more profound healing forces buried in our mind and spirit, unseen because they are as yet unknown” It was expected that the patients, when they went into the inner temple, would stay for a number of days, if not weeks. In fact, it was encouraged that they not leave until they had had some sign, usually in the form of a dream, signifying that healing was either underway or complete. They were asked to reference their inner wisdom, the healer within, an essential requirement in any healing experience, where the limited vision of consciousness as experienced through the five senses is enriched by messages and symbols from the unconscious. These dreams were then interpreted by the priests and permission was then given to continue on the healing journey. In undertaking this part of the experience, they were acknowledging that they were not coming for a quick fix or a physical cure, but were prepared for an encounter with the deeper medicine, the healing force within The twin snakes, the Caduceus, are the symbol of healing used in modern medicine. It has been acknowledged for at least the last few thousand years as a symbol of power inherited from the past, with its origins in the world of myth which, as Robertson Davies has written, “is still a potent, if rarely recognized, force in our daily lives.” What exactly does this symbol signify? Myth tells us this is the staff of Hermes, the Greek version of the Egyptian god Thoth. Thoth is the god with a man’s body and the head of a bird, the ibis. He was worshipped as the creator of the arts and the sciences, of music, astronomy, speech and the written word. The staff is said to represent the power of the gods. Greek legend has it that one day Hermes was walking along and saw two warring snakes fighting with each other. He took his staff and struck it between them to separate them. They curled themselves around the staff, “forever in contention, but held in a mutuality of power by the reconciling staff,” as Davies wrote. And now the symbol of modern medicine is the staff of Hermes, separating two opposing forces, not letting one outshine the other, not letting either win the battle in their struggle for supremacy. The two opposing forces are Wisdom and Knowledge, and the caduceus is a reminder that medical practitioners must maintain a balance between the two. Knowledge, in this framework, is what one learns from the outside: the doctor brings his many years of arduous training to bear on the diagnosis. Wisdom is what comes from within, where the doctor looks not at the disease but at the bearer of the disease: “It is what creates the link that unites the healer with his patient, and the exercise of which makes him a true physician, a true healer, a true child of Hermes. It is Wisdom that tells the physician how to make the patient a partner in his own cure” Both of these sources of wisdom must be accessed by not only health care providers in the application of their healing arts, but also by the patient, in order to maximize the healing transformation. The patient must acquire as much external knowledge as she can, from as many different sources as she needs, while also being cognizant of the fact that not all healing is about external remedies or potions. An inner journey is required. Alastair Cunningham (2005) has described the broad terrain of this dichotomy by dividing the different routes to healing into two broad categories: [Spontaneous healing] is what the body does by itself, without any deliberate intervention by the owner of the body, or by others. There are many spontaneous or automatic healing mechanisms operating constantly in the body and mind; for example, healing of wounds, the immune response to foreign micro-organisms, or, at the mental level, the lessening of anxiety or depression with the passage of time. Assisted healing, by contrast, denotes some kind of active intervention, by the person herself, or by others. He further divides the latter form of healing into two forms. Externally assisted healing is “applied to the sufferer from outside, either by oneself or by others.” This is what occurred in the outer courtyards of the healing temples. In modern times, external assistance can be in the form of “drugs, surgery, [or] healthy behaviors like exercise and good diet.” Internally assisted healing “is caused by changes initiated within the person…by changes in thoughts and emotional reactions…to try to affect the health of the body or the mind.” This process is what is broadly referred to as mind–body or self-healing, and occurs only after deep introspection and a shift in attitude about one’s beliefs, values and preconceptions. Further to these two ways of healing is that which is transcendent to both. Deepak Chopra, in an address to the Institute for Noetic Studies (IONS) conference, Washington, 2005, spoke about the fact that there are three essential ways of perceiving reality: 1) Through the eyes of the flesh — This requires our sensory perception. Science utilizes sophisticated technology, referred to as the “prostheses of our senses,” to extract information from the physical world. He gives the example that if we want to see if there are craters on the moon we use these “eyes of the flesh” to collect the relevant data. In mechanistic, externally-assisted healing, we are highly dependent on knowledge at this level. 2) Through the eyes of the mind — In this manner, information arrives, through our senses, and then is interpreted against the backdrop of our own personal knowledge base, ideas, thoughts, perceptions, values, beliefs, etc. It is this internal dialogue, the nature of which, being of a mental construct, that often has to be “re written”: so to speak, so that new information can replace the old. This occurs in the mind, not in the physical world. 3) Through the eyes of the soul — Chopra quotes William Blake: We are led to Believe a Lie When we see not Thro’ the Eye Which was Born in a Night to perish in a Night When the Soul Slept in Beams of Light Blake describes here the concept of true reality lying beyond the illusion of our senses. Thus if we wish to know this deeper aspect of ourselves, this timeless, eternal, non physical self, we cannot use the eyes of the flesh or the eyes of the mind. One has to traverse the territory of the inner landscape, the world of transcendent consciousness that is beyond the experience of everyday waking reality. This landscape is beyond both mind and body. This experience has been highly sanctified and respected as an essential component of any one person’s healing journey. Upon seeing reality through the “eyes of the soul”, ones sense of self is no longer entirely fixated on physical or psychological reality. It is as if you see with another eye, another perspective, often called the witnessing self, where the concerns of the body and that of the psychological self, fade into the far distance, and what is left is this sense of presence, this sense of a timeless and eternal Self. All concerns about physical reality, health and illness, disappear into the expanded realization that we are not our physical bodies. We “wake up” to our true, extraordinary reality and transcend day to day concerns of ordinary, pedestrian life. In this sense we are ‘eternally healthy” and have no concerns with the fears and limitations of a limited physical lifespan. There is a deep, abiding, unshakeable inner silence and knowing. It is as if our souls have woken up to their existence and to their relevance. In the East, with its profound dedication to the inner process of healing, there has long been a tradition of orientating oneself towards this experience through various yoga traditions: Bhakti yoga is the path of love and devotion; jnana yoga is the path of intellectual rigor and discipline; hatha yoga is the path of physical mastery of the body and the senses; and karma yoga is the path of selfless service. By dedicated and rigorous adherence to these spiritual practices, the possibility of transcendence to only sensory and mental ways of seeing the world is possible. The path to transcendent consciousness is arrived at via the third way of perceiving reality that Chopra describes. The West has not had the same exposure to these well-defined disciplines. This awareness of transcendent consciousness is a relatively recent development with the emergence on the planet of the great sages Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Socrates and the sages of the Upanishads. Previous to their appearance on the world stage, human experience was limited to everyday reality as dictated by the senses and the mind, motivated largely by a desire to seek pleasure and avoid pain. The master control of these behaviors was the autonomic nervous system and its twin controls of pleasure seeking and/or the fight/flight response. Seeking pleasure, avoiding pain, feeding, procreation of the species and fending off approaching danger were very much the only operational systems of day-to-day existence. Once these sages spread their teachings, human beings were able to transcend mundane states of living and taste reality for the first time—not reality as is witnessed through the five senses, but transcendent reality, the state of pure awareness so well described in metaphysical texts. This process is an inner one, one that requires deep enquiry into the core nature of one’s reality. Modern allopathic medicine has skewed itself more heavily in the direction of the Caduceus’ Knowledge, which has resulted in some of the most successful medical advances of modern times, but has neglected Wisdom, and the necessity for this inner exploration of an individual’s landscape of consciousness, which holds the promise of this deeper healing, beyond merely treating symptoms or diseases of the physical body. Let’s again return to the temple of Asclepius. Once the patients had been in the temples and had their inner transformative experiences interpreted by the priests, they were then escorted outside of the temple to large amphitheaters where traditional plays, such as the Oedipal Trilogy, the trilogy of Orestia, the journeys of Odysseus, and the great dramas of Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripedes were enacted. The largest theatre in ancient Greece was at the healing temple at Epidaurus, and with its perfect acoustics, it is still in use today. The purpose behind exposing patients to these dramas was to illustrate to the patients that what they considered to be very personal, dramatic experiences had their origins in antiquity. Behind an individual’s personal experiences lay the archetypal dramas of health, illness, love and hate, living and dying that have been playing out for centuries. This exposure was meant to reinforce that whatever problems the patient had, others had those problems, too. By reflecting on the themes that were enacted in these plays, those of lust and betrayal, revenge and shame, suffering and salvation, the individual could engage in deep inner therapy where the meaning and lessons of their own lives could be compared to those enacted on stage. Wisdom could be imparted and the experience gained could be contemplated, against the backdrop of the patients own lives. Furthermore, many of us have been through great traumas in our lives, from romantic betrayals to divorce and bankruptcy, death of loved ones, and stories of loss and gain. This realization would lead them to lighten up somewhat, to take themselves a little less seriously, knowing that we are mythical beings living out mythical lives. In Ancient Greece, as in our world, one of the greatest dangers to living at ones maximum potential, is making the mistake of taking oneself too seriously! Many of us have taken heroic journeys—spending the first half of life conquering and creating a safe haven for our emerging egos, only to find in the second half of life that nothing of the senses truly satisfies our soul. Nothing outside of ourselves really satisfies our deep existential longing for a fulfilled, related and meaningful life. Once we wake up to this awareness, we then shift our awareness from an outer-directed life governed by trying to satisfy outer authorities (our parents, our peers, or societal expectations), to an inner-directed psychological or spiritually-based life where the questions we ask are more about the meanings behind apparent reality. We access our inner voice, rather than relying on the “outer voice” and opinions of others. Some of us have struggled with these life transitions and thought we were quite unique in these experiences, but throughout antiquity, these stories and dramas have repeatedly unfolded. We are all participating in this greater story of life. Every one of us is living stories out of the Bible or the Bhagavad-Gita or Greek mythology or Roman mythology, and when we, like the Greeks in the amphitheater, see that we’re just re-enacting the perennial human dramas, we lose some of our anxiety over it. We can begin to let go of the sense of existential anxiety that tells us we’re not getting it right. Furthermore, within the Asclepian temples, in the surrounding gardens and walkways, there were statues completed by some of the great sculptors of the day such as Phidias and Praxiteles. There were also scholars involved in ongoing philosophical debates, “engaging the mind in self-reflective exploration of the meaning and nature of life. Beauty, truth and virtue were all aspects of the good life and a more profound well-being.” In summary, Greek healing methods suggested that there is an interweaving of both the inner and outer experiences through the evolution and shift of consciousness. Outer remedies were required, but inner ones were just as significant. For every movement on the outside, there had to be the possibility for a movement on the inside as well. The Asclepian temples provided a multitude of experiences across the spectrum of the patient’s physical mental and emotional lives and these “multiplicity of experiences together formed a healing ecology of body, mind and spirit”They were the first and most enduring example of a truly integrated medical approach. It is important to realize from the Asclepian times onwards, this movement between the outer (physical) healing and the inner healing, from the Scientists to the Vitalists, from the rational to the mystical, has been perpetuated throughout history. At certain periods, the outer traditions have held sway, such as what we now experience in Western medicine, and at other times, more inner directed practices have been dominant. According to Elliot Dacher, there have been two major periods where the outer and inner ways of healing have been equally balanced, the first being the times of ancient Greece and the second in renaissance Europe. “These were what we call crossover periods, times in which the previously dominant way of viewing the world was in decline and its opposite was on the rise. And for a brief shining moment, inner and outer ways of knowing and healing were in the proper balance and harmony. When this occurs, there is a corresponding flourishing of the arts, science, healing, and of human life itself.” It is apparent, with the recent interest in all forms of healing, that we are once again in a major crossover period in our history. We have developed extraordinary competence in technological advances and outer ways of healing, but have largely ignored the compensatory opposite, the significance and mastery of the inner life. As with all things that we tend to focus on exclusively, the equal and opposite component will eventually force a balance towards a central integration. This illustrates the obvious yin and yang of day to day dualistically experienced life. It is exciting to witness this present integration, when we have so many opportunities to implement the lessons from this incredible synthesis of ideas. Originally, the Cnidian School of healing in Ancient Greece viewed the body very much as we view it today: as a mechanistic entity that, when it breaks down, needed fixing. Hippocrates, 460–370 BC, did not agree with this approach. He was more interested in the individual as a unified whole, and all the variables and causative factors that contributed towards a state of sickness or disease, especially the inner attitude of the patient. He viewed symptoms as the body’s attempt to heal itself, and he used remedies and potions taken from nature that assisted the body by exacerbating the symptoms in order to facilitate the body’s own restorative mechanisms. Hippocrates was also very cognizant of the power of dreams in revealing diagnostic and therapeutic insights. “He theorized that during the day the sense organs are dominant and the soul is passive; but during sleep the emphasis shifts, and the soul then produces impressions instead of receiving them.” So we see that even way back in antiquity, there was interplay between the mechanistic traditions and the more holistic traditions, between the outer and inner methods. A few centuries later, a famous Roman healer by the name of Galen (ca.130-ca 200 ce) saw the body in a more mechanistic light, made of parts that needed to be separated from the whole in order to assist in healing. Unlike Hippocrates, who saw symptoms as an attempt of the body to heal itself, Galen was the first to consider the body’s symptoms as the actual problem that needed specific treatment. He initiated the separation between seeing symptoms as the problem versus seeing them as a necessary defense of the body to initiate its own spontaneous healing. Galen did have some redeeming features in that he was quite respectful of the capacity of dreams to impart important information to the patient, and to the physician—to the point of carrying out surgical operations based on them (Dossey, 1999, pg. 4). But from our perspective, Galen represents a step away from the holistic approach, to a more mechanistic, physically based “scientific”orientation. After Galen, the trend swung back towards the more vitalistic orientation and the Christian healing traditions emerged. During this time, there were no remedies as such; there was just faith and the inspiration and presence of the Christ-like healer himself. Here the emphasis was not so much on physical remedies but on the power of God or Christ, inspired by faith, to initiate the healing required. A few kernels of physical medicine remained, but these were replaced by the common belief that illness was due to punishment from God for sins or transgressions of God’s will and that any attempt to treat them with physical remedies, was a transgression of God’s will. Paul Strathern writes, “Other illnesses were thought to result from possession by devils, or were caused by witchcraft, or arose as a result of spells cast by pixies and elves. The only way to cure such afflictions was prayer, penitence or calling upon the assistance of an appropriate saint” For example, St. Anthony was the saint prayed to if afflicted with ergotism, a fungus-infected rye. If ingested, it led to tremendous burning of the intestines which led the inflicted to dance with agony. This was interpreted by onlookers as being possessed by demons. If one had rheumatic fever with spasmodic movements called chorea, you prayed to St. Vitus for relief. I remember as a medical student seeing young kids in the hospital wards in Cape Town, affected with this consequence of rheumatic heart disease, a terrible affliction that responds quite well to large doses of penicillin. If one compares the approaches to epilepsy as practiced by the Greeks, one realizes how far medicine had turned away from a more comprehensive approach and descended into superstition and ignorance, a millennium later. Paracelsus (1493–1541) was an extraordinary, controversial figure who primarily followed a more holistic, integral approach to healing. He was the first healer we know of who possessed an understanding of both the vitalistic and the mechanistic aspects of healing, and is considered by many, including the Prince of Wales, to be the father of modern medicine. He experimented with different dosing of substances, ushering in the modern science of chemistry. He retained and developed further some of the ideas initiated by Hippocrates, including that of treating with similars—the idea that the substance which initiated a disease, in the correct dose, will assist in the cure. “Never a hot illness has been cured by something cold, nor a cold one by something hot. But it has happened that like has cured like.” While contributing quite significantly to the idea that certain diseases needed specific treatments of their own, he also understood that many diseases were the result of chemical imbalances in the body. While impressively advancing the cause of scientific medicine, he retained deep mystical leanings and was intrigued by the work by the alchemists of his day, whose mystical interests were to turn the base issues of humanity into a golden spiritual purity. Paracelsus had a deep respect for the innate healing force of Nature, and like Hippocrates, believed that this inner healer was superior to any remedies applied from the outside. Until the 1500s, we had inner and outer healing traditions entwined with each other. For some of the time, one of the traditions would hold sway, only to be overtaken as the other gained momentum. Descartes, who lived during the first half of the seventeenth century, was the first to separate the internal process—the moods, the emotion, the mind—from the body in a process today called Cartesian dualism. “According to Descartes, the body is one sort of substance and the mind another because each can be conceived in term of totally distinct attributes. The body (matter) is characterized by spatial extension and motion, while the mind is characterized by thought. Newton, who flourished in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, took dualism and materialism even further. He demonstrated that the universe, according to his calculations, was entirely mechanistic, following strict, precise laws. The implication was made that if the world and the universe existed independently and outside of human experience, then the body must behave in much the same way. Thus, if the body is a machine, interventions must be external and aimed at fixing what is broken. In their haste to replicate the precision in logic being demonstrated by physicists, doctors began to dissect the body into smaller and smaller parts in order to understand the whole. The first dissection of the human body in 1543 was the beginning of our understanding of anatomy and the mystery of the complexity of the physical body, and the beginning of the dominance of modern or outer medicine. From this time forward emerged a tremendous amount of knowledge that gave rise to modern medicine as we know it today. Era 1 Medicine in the 1850s, says Dossey, is when medicine first began to become a science. We’ve had now had four hundred years of this model, with absolutely amazing achievements. We’ve developed an extraordinary wealth of external knowledge, but now have an under-developed understanding of internal or more subjective methods of healing; we are lacking in integral vision when it comes to healing. Dossey has collected quotations from individuals who view reality from this fixed, external, mechanistic point of view: What is the brain but a big slab of meat? – Marvin Minsky, MIT When I die, I shall rot and nothing of my consciousness will remain. – Bertrand Russell Consciousness; our thoughts are nothing other than the byproduct of neuropeptides; they have no real relevance. – Francis Crick, the individual who discovered the structure of the DNA Double Helix The implication of such statements is that our inner subjective experiences are irrelevant; there is nothing more going on than neurotransmitters, generated by the brain, speaking to each other. And so our inner experiences are completely disregarded as a real and crucial element of our healing, and we are completely divorced from the influences of our cultural traditions and the systems in which they are embedded. I believe this to be an entirely untenable approach to healing and one that has built into its existence its own demise. Fortunately, there are new approaches to consciousness studies as written by Daniel Siegel and Alva Noe, who illustrate how the mind is quite distinct from the brain and how the brain is shaped by the mind, the body and the environment constantly interacting with each other in meaningful coexistence. The brain, in this case, is seen as an appendage added to the mind to increase its computing power19. There you have the past, from the temples of Asclepius through ancient Rome, onto the Enlightenment, and down to our present day. Science today predominantly focuses on external factors, as we have seen. As we enter a healing journey, we will see how the external and the internal are entwined, equal in importance, and unable to be separated, like the two snakes on the Caduceus staff.
Post-election audits reduce the risk of confirming an incorrect outcome. Audits designed explicitly to limit such risk (risk-limiting audits) have advantages over fixed-percentage or tiered audits, which often count fewer or more ballots than necessary to confirm the outcome. a. Risk-limiting audits have a large, pre- determined minimum chance of leading to a full recount whenever a full recount would show a different outcome. (Correct preliminary outcomes are never overturned.) After any audit, this chance should be calculated and published as part of the audit results to promote continuous improvement. b. Audit units (precincts, machines, batches of paper records) should be selected using appropriate random sampling methods. In a risk-limiting audit, the sample size will depend on the margin of victory and other factors; these other factors may include the number of ballots in each precinct and the overall number of ballots in the contests. In general, smaller margins of victory and smaller contests require auditing a larger percentage of the audit units. c. To reduce the burden of counting ballots while still auditing a variety of contests, it may be appropriate to use different rules for auditing some contests than others. For example, it may be appropriate to allow more risk for non-statewide contests. Jurisdictions may require audits in some contests and randomly select others to be audited, so that every contest has some possibility of being audited. For smaller contests, it may also be appropriate to use alternative audit methods such as targeted sampling (see Best Practice 8) or random sampling based on a fixed number or percentage of audit units. d. For each contest to be audited, votes cast in that contest on the ballots in the selected audit units must be fully and manually counted. For each selected audit unit, the audit must compare vote count subtotals from the preliminary reported election results for the contest, with hand-to-eye counts of the corresponding paper records. e. For efficiency, large groups of ballots can be divided into batches, each comprising an audit unit. In this case, the subtotals for each batch must be reported prior to the audit as part of the election results. For instance, absentee ballots (if not sorted and counted by precinct) can be divided into batches. “Outcome” refers to which candidates or ballot propositions won or lost, not necessarily a specific vote tally. Here we refer to the outcome as “correct” or “incorrect” depending on whether it corresponds with what would be the outcome from a complete manual recount. Note that the outcome from a complete manual recount may not always match the will of the voters. To ensure that outcomes reflect the will of the voters, additional conditions must be met including rigorous ballot accounting, accurate registration data, elimination of unreasonable delays at the polls, good ballot design, and controls on chain of custody for all election equipment and materials. Fixed-percentage samples are inadequate for risk-limiting audits, because the audit size needed to verify an election outcome depends on the apparent margin of victory, as well as the number of audit units and the amount of error each audit unit can harbor. However, auditing some minimum percentage of votes or audit units regardless of jurisdictional size or election margin may be useful to monitor election accuracy. Generally, requiring a smaller chance of error (e.g. 1% versus 5%) will entail auditing more ballots. If audit results indicate that the initial outcome is incorrect, ultimately a full recount would be required to determine the final outcome. Preliminary outcomes cannot be overturned based on audit samples alone. In the selection, some units may be weighted more than others based on their size and the amount of error they could harbor. Random sampling is unnecessary if all audit units will be manually counted, or if so many audit units are counted that the remaining units cannot change the outcome. Discrepancies found during the audit can also affect the sample size, as discussed in 6a. All else being equal, contests spanning fewer audit units – for instance, local contests as opposed to statewide contests – re quire proportionally larger audits to ensure that the chance of confirming an outcome that is incorrect is low. “Manual counting” or “hand counting” refers to human visual inspection of paper records to interpret voter intent, followed by a tabulation of the individual vote interpretations. Only the tabulation portion is sometimes assisted by independent and well trusted equipment such as calculators and spreadsheets. All hand counts should be done blind to the expected result.
k = 8.99 x 109 Nm2C-2 1. Convert 5 x 10-13 J to MeV. 2. Convert 0.9 GeV to J. 3. What is the potential energy of an electron at the negatively charged plate of a uniform electric field when the potential difference between the two plates is 100V? 4. What is the potential energy of a 2C charge 2cm from a 0.5C charge? Remember, coulombs are big! 5. What is represented by the gradient of a graph of electric potential energy against distance from some charge? Force exerted on the charge with that energy.
Solar system, Diagram no.5 from Solar Biology by Hiram Erastus Butler First published in 1887, Solar Biology simplified astrology by basing horoscopes on sun and moon signs, rather than on complex planetary movements. Today's newspaper horoscopes are modeled largely on Butler's formulas. Make a statement in any room with this framed poster, printed on thick, durable, matte paper. The matte black frame that's made from wood from renewable forests adds an extra touch of class. • Alder, semi-hardwood .75″ (1.9 cm) thick frame from renewable forests • Paper thickness: 10.3 mil (0.26 mm) • Paper weight: 5.57 oz/y² (189 g/m²) • Acrylite front protector • Hanging hardware included • Blank product components in the US sourced from Japan and the US • Blank product components in the EU sourced from Japan and Latvia
HUNDRED BOARD BOOK by DIDAX With this unique hands-on resource, students grab their hundred boards to explore counting and ordering numbers, place value, number patterns, and beginning addition and subtraction. Book features 60 games and activities with accompanying teacher notes. Correlated to the Common Core State Standards. Accompanying CD includes digital book and virtual hundred boards to show activities on an interactive whiteboard. 136 pp.
This is the paddle wheel from the steamship Ekern. It was built at Bergen Mechanical Workshop in the period between 1850 and 1857. The ships original name was Bygdø, and it served as a shuttle boat between Christiania (Oslo) and the nearby island Bygdøy, until she was purchased by Eidsfoss ironworks in 1860. She was baptized Ekhof, after nearby places Eker and Hof but soon renamed. Ekern trafficked the route between Eidsfoss and Vestfossen until 1914, taking both passengers and cargo. She then served for a few years as a barge, and both the paddle wheel and the steam machine were dismantled. The ship sank at Bånepina nearby Hakavika power station during a storm in 1917, where she lies today, at 140 meters. It was Ekern that took the prominent guests to the opening of the Tunsberg-Eidsfoss railway in 1901. When she came into service in 1903, the steamship Stadshauptmand Schwartz took over most of the passenger traffic on the lake Eikern. Schwartz trafficked the route between Eidsfoss and Vestfossen, until she sank while docked in 1926. The ship is displayed at Kølabånn, where you also find more info about that ships history. This Picture was taken when the steam ship Ekere was moored by the Ironworks jetty in 1900. Notice how it leads the Swedish-Norwegian union flag, which was referred to as the herring salad, with a mix of both flags in the left hand corner. Unknown photographer. Hand colored by Bjørn Vangen. Below: A film about the steam ship Ekeren, by Christian Erik Nordby.
Given that cinema is the highest form of art and the very summit of human civilisation, I have a bit of a blind spot for opera. But ever since I saw the film Koyaanisqatsi as a teenager I have had a love for the music of Philip Glass, who wrote the soundtrack. So it was Philip Glass who drew me to the ENO a couple of weeks ago to see Satyagraha, his opera about Gandhi’s formative years in South Africa. Much of the opera is about Gandhi’s particular form of non-violence, which is described in an article in the programme by Mark Kulansky. Nonviolence is not the same thing as pacifism, for which there are many words. Pacifism is treated almost as a psychological condition. It is a state of mind. Pacifism is passive; but nonviolence is active. Pacifism is harmless and therefore easier to accept than nonviolence, which is dangerous. When Jesus Christ said that a victim should turn the other cheek, he was preaching pacifism. But when he said that an enemy should be won over through the power of love, he was preaching nonviolence. Nonviolence, exactly like violence, is a means of persuasion, a technique for political activism, a recipe for prevailing. It requires a great deal more imagination to devise nonviolent means — boycotts, sit-ins, strikes, street theatre, demonstrations — then to use force. And there is not always agreement on what constitutes violence. Some advocates of nonviolence believe that boycotts and embargoes that cause hunger and deprivation are a form of violence. Some believe that using less lethal means of force, rock throwing or rubber bullets, is a form of nonviolence. But the central belief is that forms of persuasion that do not use physical force, do not cause suffering, are more effective; and while there is often a moral argument for nonviolence, the core of the belief is political: that nonviolence is more effective than violence, that violence does not work. Mohandas Gandhi invented a word for it, satyagraha, from satya, meaning truth. Satyagraha, according to Gandhi, literally means ‘holding on to truth’ or ‘truth force’. Interestingly, although Gandhi’s teachings and techniques have had a huge impact on political activists around the world, his word for it, satyagraha, has never caught on.
Armagh rail disaster \|Armagh rail disaster\| \|Date\|\|12 June 1889\| \|Country\|\|United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland\| \|Rail line\|\|Armagh-Newry line (closed 1933)\| \|Cause\|\|Runaway (inadequate application of manual brakes)\| \|List of UK rail accidents by year\| The Armagh rail disaster happened on 12 June 1889 near Armagh, Ulster, Ireland, when a crowded Sunday school excursion train had to negotiate a steep incline; the steam locomotive was unable to complete the climb and the train stalled. The train crew decided to divide the train and take forward the front portion, leaving the rear portion on the running line. The rear portion was inadequately braked and ran back down the gradient, colliding with a following train. Eighty people were killed and 260 injured, about a third of them children. It was the worst rail disaster in the UK in the nineteenth century, and remains Ireland's worst railway disaster ever. To this day, it is the fourth worst railway accident to have ever occurred in the United Kingdom. At the time it was the worst rail disaster in Europe and led directly to various safety measures becoming legal requirements for railways in the United Kingdom. This was important both for the measures introduced and for the move away from voluntarism and towards more direct state intervention in such matters. - 1 Circumstances of the accident - 2 Causes of the runaway - 3 Other criticisms - 4 Findings of the inquest - 5 Recommendation and consequent legislation - 6 Similar accidents - 7 See also - 8 Notes and references - 9 Further reading - 10 External links Circumstances of the accident The excursion sets out Armagh Sunday school had organised a day trip to the seaside resort of Warrenpoint, a distance of about 24 miles (38 km). A special Great Northern Railway of Ireland train was arranged for the journey, intended to carry about eight hundred passengers. The railway route was steeply graded and curved, and the first two and a half miles (4 km) from Armagh Station involved a steep continuous climb, up a gradient of 1 in 82 (1.22%) and then 1 in 75 (1.33%). Elsewhere on the line, there were gradients as severe as 1 in 70.2 (1.42%). Asked to provide rolling stock for a special train to take 800 excursionists, the locomotive department at Dundalk sent fifteen vehicles hauled by a 'four-coupled'[note 1] (2-4-0) locomotive;[note 2] however the instructions to the engine driver were that the train was to be of thirteen vehicles. There were more intending passengers than anticipated and to accommodate the excursion, the Armagh station master decided to use all fifteen vehicles. The engine driver, who had never driven the route before (but had been over it with excursion trains when a fireman), objected to these instructions, saying that his instructions were that the train was to be of thirteen vehicles at most. According to the driver The station-master replied "I did not write those instructions for you"; I said "Mr. Cowan [the company's general manager] wrote them." The station-master then said "Any driver that comes here does not grumble about taking an excursion train with him." I replied "Why did you not send proper word to Dundalk, and I should have a proper six-wheel coupled engine[note 3] with me." I said no more, but walked away down the platform, this was about ten minutes before the train started.—Evidence of Thomas McGrath, Accident report Two other witnesses said that the driver had asked for a second engine if more carriages were added and had been refused by the station master, as none were available; the driver (in supplementary evidence given "through the railway company's officers") denied this. The station master's evidence was that the discussion was about adding further carriages to the 15 with which the locomotive had arrived. [note 4] The general manager's chief clerk was to accompany the excursion; he suggested that the engine of the routine train that would be following twenty minutes behind could assist the excursion up the bank (or that some carriages could be left to come on with the routine train). Following his conversation with the station master, however, the driver refused the assistance. The train therefore set off with fifteen carriages, containing about 940 passengers.[note 5] The carriages were full, and some passengers travelled with the guards. Tickets were checked before setting off and to prevent people without tickets joining the excursion, once each compartment had been checked its doors were locked.[note 6] Initially, the train made progress up the steep gradient at about 10 mph (16 km/h) but stalled about 200 yards (183 m) before the top of the gradient. Dividing the excursion train To prevent the train rolling back, the brakes were applied. The train did have continuous brakes, (i.e., all carriages had brakes which could be operated by the driver), but they were of the non-automatic vacuum type. That is to say, they were applied by creation of vacuum in the brake pipes and released by admitting air to the pipe. This was the opposite of the arrangement preferred by the Board of Trade ('automatic continuous brakes') in which brakes were held off by vacuum (or compressed air) generated by the engine, so that on loss of vacuum (e.g. from a leaky connection or a connection parting) the brakes came on automatically. The two brake vans, however, (one immediately behind the engine tender, the other at the rear of the train) also had hand-operated brakes, each under the control of a guard. These were applied.[note 7] The chief clerk directed the train crew to divide the train and proceed with the front portion to Hamilton's Bawn station, about two miles (3.2 km) away, and leave that portion there, and return for the second portion. Owing to limited siding capacity at Hamilton's Bawn, only the front five vehicles could be taken on there; so the rearmost ten vehicles would have to be left standing on the running line. Once this rear portion was uncoupled from the front portion, the continuous brakes on it would be released, and the only brakes holding it against the gradient would be the hand-operated brakes in the rear brake van. For a goods (freight) train in a similar situation, the wheels would have been 'scotched'[note 8] against roll-back, and guard's vans on goods trains carried 'sprags'[note 9] with which to do this. Those on passenger trains with continuous brakes were not required to carry sprags, and the excursion train did not. The guard in the rear van having applied his handbrake then (on the instructions of the chief clerk) dismounted and scotched the wheels of his van with pieces of ballast. He then also scotched the near rearmost vehicle on its righthand wheels and intended to similarly scotch its lefthand wheels before going back down the track with flags and detonators to protect the train from the scheduled service which was to set off from Armagh 20 minutes after the excursion. The train was screw-coupled; each carriage was first coupled by a loose chain and hook coupling to the next; the slack on this was then taken up by a turnbuckle screw arrangement, until the buffers of the two carriages were touching. To uncouple, there needed to be some slack in the coupling; as the train had stopped all the couplings were under tension. Once the vacuum brake connection to the rear portion was broken, any attempt to introduce slack into the coupling between the two portions would be defeated by the rear portion settling back to rest its weight upon the rear van brakes. To assist uncoupling the front van guard therefore scotched one of the wheels of the sixth vehicle, that is, the front vehicle of the rear portion being detached. Loosening the turnbuckle thus transferred the weight of the rear portion to the scotch on the sixth vehicle, rather than to the rear van brakes. The couplings to the rear of the sixth vehicle remained under tension, and the slack introduced remained in the coupling between the fifth and sixth vehicles, which could be unhooked. The rear carriages run away The uncoupling accomplished by the front van guard, the driver attempted to start the front portion away. It rolled back slightly,[note 10] jolting the rear portion; this caused the wheels of the front vehicle of the rear portion to ride up over the stones underneath them. The rear portion had been standing with its couplings tight, but now only the rear two vehicles were in any way restrained, so that the leading eight vehicles of the rear portion fell back on to them. The momentum of the eight vehicles closing on the rear two was sufficient to push them over the stones, crushing them in turn, so that now only the handbrake on the rear brake van was effective. It was overcome by the weight of ten vehicles, and the rear portion began to move downhill and began to gather speed down the steep gradient back towards Armagh station. "..as I was putting down the last stone, I felt the carriages coming back. I went on the van, and got in, and tried, with the assistance of two passengers to get an extra turn at the brake handle, 'and was still doing this when Mr. Elliott " (the chief clerk) "jumped up on the left step, and said Try and make the best you can without breaking it (meaning the brake handle), and I said I could make no more. He then said, Oh, my God, we will be all killed, and jumped off. The speed then gradually increased, until it became so fast we could not see the hedges as we passed." The train crew reversed the front portion and tried to catch the rear portion and recouple it, but this proved to be impossible. The line was operated on the time interval system (rather than block working) so that there was no means at Armagh of knowing that the line was not clear. The required 20-minute interval before letting a fast train follow a slow one having elapsed, the following scheduled passenger train had left Armagh. With an engine of similar performance but a much lighter train (six vehicles) it was managing about 25 mph (40 km/h) up the gradient when at a distance of about 500 yards (457 m) the driver of the ordinary train saw the approaching runaway vehicles: he braked his train, and had reduced speed to 5 mph (8 km/h) at the moment of collision. By now, the runaways had travelled about 1½ miles (2.4 km). The pursuing driver said he did not believe they had reached more than 30 mph (48 km); the Board of Trade inspector thought 40 mph (64 km/h) a fair estimate of their speed at the collision. [note 11] The engine of the scheduled train was overturned, and the connection to its tender lost. This train was also fitted with 'simple' (non-automatic) continuous vacuum brakes, and these were lost when the engine became disconnected. The train split into two sections both running back down the gradient towards Armagh. Application of the handbrakes on the tender and on the brake van brought the front and rear halves of the scheduled train to a stop without further incident, a witness telling the inspector "The tender was slightly damaged, but none of the vehicles, and I heard from the guard that a horse in the box next the tender was not injured". The occupants of the rear of the excursion train were not so lucky. The two rearmost vehicles of the excursion train were utterly destroyed, and the third rearmost very badly damaged. The debris tumbled down a 45-foot-high (14 m) embankment. Causes of the runaway Inadequate application of brakes As part of his investigations, the Board of Trade inspector carried out calculations which established that a train similar to the excursion train could be hauled over the Armagh bank at about 15 mph (24 km/h) by the excursion train engine, and supported this by a practical trial; however he did criticise the allocation of an engine with only just enough power for such a duty, especially with a driver who had little knowledge of the route. A further practical trial showed that a single brake van with the brake correctly working and correctly applied could (without the aid of scotching) hold 10 carriages on the Armagh bank, against both their own weight and a nudge similar to that which witnesses agreed in describing as having been caused by run-back of the front portion of the divided train. Hence, the problem was not the inadequacy of the brake. The immediate cause was the want of the application of sufficient brake power to hold the rear portion of the excursion train when this portion, consisting of nine coaches and a brake van; which had been separated from the front of the train by direction of Mr. Elliott, was slightly bumped by the front portion of the train when the driver had to set back previously to starting for Hamilton's Bawn. Two witnesses had seen the brake working properly before the train left Armagh, and the brake apparatus had been found in the wreckage and appeared to be in good working order. Nonetheless, the rear portion had run away, and had done so with the braked wheels revolving freely. Therefore either the brake had not been applied properly by the guard, or it had been tampered with by passengers in the brake carriage; the guard should be given the benefit of the doubt. Incorrect response to the excursion train stalling Responsibility lay primarily with Mr Elliott, the chief clerk. He had directed a course of action which ignored Company rules. These laid down that the main guard should not leave his van until perfectly satisfied that his brake would hold the train (the train should therefore have been allowed to ease back upon the rear brake van); once he had left his brake, no attempt should be made to move the train until he was back at the brake. Meanwhile, the more junior guard should have gone back down the track to protect the train. These precautions had been omitted to pursue a strategy (dividing the train) which, even had nothing gone wrong, would have had no advantages over awaiting the scheduled train to assist the excursion to Hamilton's Bawn. If Mr. Elliott had therefore only had the prudence to wait where the excursion train stopped near the top of the bank and to send back one of the guards to protect his train, with instructions to ask the driver of the ordinary train to help the excursion train up the short remaining distance, he would hardly have lost time and would, besides, have avoided the risk inseparable from the delicate operation he unwisely determined to carry out and which should have been resorted to under only most exceptional circumstances and not, as in the present case, where there was so easy a solution of the difficulty. Wrong driver, wrong engine The excursion train (even in the 15-vehicle form in which it set off) should have been able to climb Armagh bank at about 15 mph (24 km/h). The inspector considered that its failure to do so must have been due to some want of proper management of the engine by its insufficiently experienced driver. The locomotive shed foreman at Dundalk was criticised for want of judgement in not sending a more experienced driver[note 12] and in his choice of engine. The 2-4-0 supplied would have had insufficient margins (even when hauling a 13-vehicle excursion train) to be sure of maintaining a safe speed.[note 13] over the more onerous gradients further up the line. For a 15-vehicle excursion, assistance should have been given by the engine of the regular train. Failure to provide an assisting engine The report criticised the over-confidence of the excursion engine driver as to the capabilities of his engine and regretted that his better judgement must have been overcome by the words of the Armagh station master. The chief clerk came in for further criticism for not having persisted with his instructions for the regular train engine to provide assistance. There was no direct criticism of the station master; neither for having increased the size of the train, nor for talking the engine driver round to attempting Armagh bank without assistance. The excursion train The organisation of this was criticised on a number of points: - Passengers should not have been allowed to travel in the brake vans, a practice that should be sternly prohibited - Carriage doors should not have been locked: a wrong thing - Given the weight of the train and the gradients on the line, both brake vans should have been at the rear of the train - It should not have been so big The running of such heavily laden excursion trains as the present on lines with bad gradients, is a practice much to be deprecated ; it would be far better to limit them to about 10 vehicles. This remark more especially applies when the station from which the train starts is like that of the Newry and Armagh line at Armagh, which, as at present arranged, is perfectly unsuited for dealing with long passenger trains. In the present instance, the train, owing to its length, had to be loaded on the main line partly at the up platform and partly at the down platform, and afterwards by a series of shunts to be moved on to the Newry and Armagh Line. Findings of the inquest The inquest was completed on Friday 21 June 1889, and made findings of culpable negligence against six of those involved; those at Dundalk responsible for selection of the engine, the driver and both guards on the train, and Mr Elliott who had taken charge. As a result, three of the accused were committed for trial for manslaughter on the following Monday (One guard had been injured in the crash and was presumably still in hospital; the Dundalk personnel were not charged, the 'practical trial' showing that the engine supplied should not have been defeated by Armagh bank if correctly handled having been carried out on Saturday 22 June). The jury are not reported to have made any findings against more senior management of the Great Northern Railway of Ireland. Elliott was tried in Dublin in August, when the jury reported they were unable to agree; on re-trial in October he was acquitted. The cases against the other defendants were then dropped. Recommendation and consequent legislation Recommendation triggering legislation The key recommendation was in fact couched as a finding: This terrible calamity would in all human probability have been prevented had the excursion train been fitted with an automatic continuous brake instead of (as it was) with only a non-automatic continuous brake. In the former case, on the dividing of the train taking place, the brake would have remained on, or (had it been previously taken off) would have been at once applied to, the rear vehicles, and these would have remained immovable, notwithstanding any possible bump they might have received from the front of the train, when the driver was setting back to make a start. It may also be remarked that the ordinary train had a narrow escape from serious collision between the portions into which it was divided, or with buffer stops; whereas had it been supplied with an automatic brake, there would have been no risk of such collisions. As the President of the Board of Trade has stated in Parliament his intention to introduce a Bill to make compulsory the adoption of automatic continuous brakes,should the report on this collision point out that it would have been avoided had the excursion train been fitted with them, it is unnecessary for me to say more upon the subject. For many years the Railway Inspectorate of the Board of Trade had been advocating three vital safety measures (among others) to often reluctant railway managements: - "lock" Interlocking of points and signals, so that conflicting signal indications are prevented; - "block" A space-interval or absolute block system of signalling, where one train is not allowed to enter a physical section until the preceding one had left it; and - "brake" Continuous brakes, to put at the command of the engine driver adequate braking power; this requirement being increased as the technology made it reasonable to 'automatic' (in modern parlance 'fail-safe') continuous brakes which had to be 'held off' by vacuum or compressed air and would be applied automatically if that supply was lost (e.g. if a train were divided). The Board of Trade had got as far and as fast as it could by persuasion, but an inspector commented in 1880 after the Wennington Junction rail crash It is all very well for the Midland Railway Company now to plead that they are busily employed in fitting up their passenger trains with continuous breaks, but the necessity for providing the passenger trains with a larger proportion of break power was pointed out by the Board of Trade to all Railway Companies more than 20 years since; and with the exception of a very few railway companies that recognised that necessity and acted upon it, it may be truly stated that the principal Railway Companies throughout the Kingdom have resisted the efforts of the Board of Trade to cause them to do what was right, which the latter had no legal power to enforce, and even now it will be seen by the latest returns laid before Parliament that some of those Companies are still doing nothing to supply this now generally acknowledged necessity Questions in Parliament In the aftermath of the accident, questions to the President of the Board of Trade Sir Michael Hicks Beach revealed that - in the whole of Ireland only one engine and six vehicles were equipped with an automatic continuous brake - in England 18% of the passenger rolling stock had no continuous brake, and a further 22% had non-automatic brakes - in Scotland 40% of the passenger rolling stock were without continuous brakes More specifically, for the Great Northern of Ireland - in March 1888 there were 208 drivers and firemen employed and 693 occasions on which they worked a 14-hour day or longer, including two in which they worked over 18 hours[note 14] - of the 518 miles of railway it worked, only 23 were worked on the block system - It had no engines or vehicles whose brakes met the requirements of the Board of Trade, furthermore: MR. CHANNING (Northamptonshire, E.) I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether 11 years ago, in reporting upon a serious collision on the Great Northern of Ireland Railway, between two portions of a train which had become separated, General Hutchinson pointed out to the Company that an automatic brake would have absolutely prevented the collision, by arresting the carriages the moment the separation occurred; whether at that time the secretary of the company informed General Hutchinson that the simple vacuum brake, whose failure caused this accident, was being merely tried experimentally on the line, and that the company had not yet come to a decision as to what brake would be finally adopted; and, whether, in spite of this recommendation, this simple vacuum brake, upon the failure of which General Hutchinson reported in 1878, has remained in use on the Great Northern of Ireland line ever since, and is the same brake that was in use in the recent disastrous collision near Armagh? SIR M. HICKS BEACH The facts are as stated in the question The government was already short of Parliamentary time in which to pass legislation it was already committed to, and had promised to introduce no further controversial measures. A bill was drafted and introduced, only to be withdrawn when it became clear that some of its other provisions (most notably requiring specified improvements in couplings, so that those engaged in shunting could safely uncouple wagons without having to step into the gap between them) were sufficiently contentious as to jeopardise passage of the non-controversial portions of the Bill. For that reason, some Liberal MPs sympathetic to railwaymen's concerns on working hours and the hazards of shunting [note 15] expressed disappointment that the Bill did not go far enough. On the other hand, during the Second Reading a Liberal MP made the classic argument against detailed and prescriptive regulation It would be a very serious thing if the Government in its attempt to protect the lives of passengers by rail, and the lives of working men, should take on itself to decide what form of carriage, what form of coupling and break, is the proper form for railway companies to use. I am of opinion that the lives of passengers and railway men will be safer in the long run, if these matters are left in the hands of those who understand them best. I cordially approve of the pressure of public opinion being applied, through this House or through the Press, to railway managers, to compel them to consider both the safety of the public and the safety of their men; but if we endeavour in this matter—as we have, in my opinion, sadly too often endeavoured in the past—to give Government officials the power to decide what is the precise form of appliances which shall be used in connection with railways, we shall not be providing for the safety of the public or the safety of railway servants Nonetheless, within 2 months of the Armagh disaster Parliament had enacted the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which authorised the Board of Trade to require the use of continuous automatic brakes on passenger railways, along with the block system of signalling and the interlocking of all points and signals. This is often taken as the beginning of the modern era in UK rail safety. An exceptionally frightful ..[accident].. in 1889 prompted the passing of a new Regulation Act, two features of which were notable. First, Parliament rushed the Bill through all its stages at an exceptionally high speed. The accident itself occurred on 12 June; the act went into force on 30 August. And secondly, here at last the government accepted the responsibility for dictating methods of operation to the companies, requiring all lines carrying passenger trains to be worked on the block system and all such trains to be fitted with instantaneously working continuous brakes, the Board of Trade being authorised to fix time limits for completion of the work With an ill grace and some shuffling, the companies implemented the Act. As soon as they had done so, serious accidents caused by inadequate braking ceased in Britain…Here was the most striking example of the direct intervention of the state in the working of British railways in the 19th century, and it proved entirely beneficent - Round Oak rail accident – 1 in 75 ; 23 August 1858 – Excursion runaway; brake not applied - Abergele rail disaster – 26 August 1868 – Brake broken by rough shunting - Stairfoot rail accident – 12 September 1870 – Poorly secured wagons runaway due to rough shunting. (see also BoT accident report) - Murulla railway accident (26 killed) – 13 September 1926 – Air brake failure - Bouhalouane train crash (131 Killed) – 27 January 1982 – Passenger carriage roll back after being disconnected from a locomotive on a steep slope. - 13 die near Kisumu, Kenya, after a passenger train rolls back because of air brake failure – 15 August 2000 - Tenga rail disaster – 25 May 2002 - Igandu train disaster – 24 June 2002 - History of rail transport in Ireland - Lists of rail accidents - Brake (railway) - List of steepest gradients on adhesion railways Notes and references - the familiar Whyte notation was not yet in use (first used in 1900) - http://www.steamindex.com/locotype/gnri.htm gives a catalogue raisonée of the various engines of the Great Northern Railway of Ireland. From the details given in the accident report, the excursion train engine appears to have been one of the GNR(I)'s H class - http://www.steamindex.com/locotype/gnri.htm shows the GNR(I) to have had no passenger locomotives more powerful than the 2-4-0 but a number of 0-6-0 heavy goods engines with larger cylinders and smaller driving wheels and hence better suited to heavy loads - It is not clear that all witnesses agreed as to whether brake-vans counted as carriages or vehicles, the string with which the locomotive arrived is variously described as fifteen vehicles, fifteen carriages, and thirteen vehicles and two brake vans - The organisers of the excursion subsequently were sent a bill for £39 4s 3d for 941 excursion tickets to Warrenpoint (Birmingham Daily Post Monday 1 July 1889) , for which the railway company later apologised - This was described as standard practice for excursions, however it was contrary to Board of Trade recommendations made after a railway fire at Versailles in 1842 (that one door to a compartment should not be locked) and after the Abergele rail disaster in 1868 (that all doors should be unlocked) - according to the guards - wedged or chocked, see wikt:scotch#Verb 4 - pieces of wood to place in between wheel spokes in order to prevent rotation, see wikt:sprag#Verb 1 - 12 or 18 inches (30 or 45 cm) in the opinion of the front guard – Accident return – evidence of William Moorehead - 1½ miles at 1 in 75 is a vertical drop of about 100 ft (30 m) and even without any friction or wind resistance a simple conservation of energy calculation will show that the runaway coaches could not have reached more than about 56 mph (If this seems too much like original research, note instead that the fall is slightly more than the vertical drop in Box Tunnel; Rolt op cit reports Brunel to have rebutted Dionysius Lardner's prediction of 120 mph (192 km/h) for a train going down the tunnel without brakes by showing the correct answer to be 56 mph (89.6 km/h)) - He made the interesting suggestion in his evidence that there had been no problem with the engine but the brakes had been tampered with. No reason was given in the accident return for discounting the possibility that the train had been held back by wrongly applied brakes. The Oxford Companion to British Railway History op cit notes – in its article on brakes (p 39) – of the simple vacuum system. The erratic performance of early ejectors caused substantial fluctuations in vacuum while the brakes were off. This led to brake blocks rubbing on the wheels, not hard enough to stop the train, but wasting fuel… - The line was run on the time interval system and it was therefore dangerous to go much slower than the train behind - The questioner (the MP for West Belfast) also alleged the two men who acted as guards on the excursion train that met with the fatal disaster were untried men, shunters at Newry Station, and had no knowledge of the line or of the duties of a guard, and that one of them, Moorhead, had been on duty 16 hours the previous day, and also from four o'clock that morning, and that his wages were 11s. per week - amongst them noticeably the MP for Crewe - Adair, Gordon (12 June 2014). "Armagh train disaster remembered 125 years on". BBC News. Retrieved 2 November 2014. - Currie, J. R. L. (1971). The Runaway Train: Armagh 1889. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 109, 129–130. ISBN 0-7153-5198-2. - Report of the Board of Trade (Railway Department) into the circumstances of the collision near Armagh on 12th June 1889, Maj-Gen C S Hutchinson - , Accident report – evidence of John Foster (the station master) - Accident report – evidence of James Elliott (examined in prison) - Accident report – evidence of Thomas McGrath - Accident return – evidence of Thomas Henry - Accident return – evidence of James Park - Accident report – evidence of James Elliott - "THE ARMAGH RAILWAY ACCIDENT.". South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 – 1900) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 24 June 1889. p. 5. Retrieved 20 August 2011. - "THE ARMAGH RAILWAY DISASTER.". The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 – 1893) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 8 August 1889. p. 3. Retrieved 20 August 2011. - "The Armagh Railway Disaster". Morning Post. 28 October 1889. - reply to Francis Channing, House of Commons Debates 18 June 1889 vol 337 cc118-9 - House of Commons Debates 21 June 1889 vol 337 cc422-3. - [answer to T W Russell, House of Commons Debates 15 July 1889 vol338 c392 - House of Commons Debates 11 July 1889 vol 338 cc116-7 116 - Speech of Mr Brunner, MP for Northwich; House of Commons Debates 2 August 1889 vol 339 cc 228-30 - Nock, O S, Historic Railway Disasters, Ian Allan Publishing Ltd, 1980 - Rolt L T C, Red for Danger, Bodley Head/David and Charles/Pan Books, 1956 - article on 'Parliament and legislation' (contributor J Simmons) p 366 of J Simmons & G Biddle (eds) The Oxford Companion to British Railway History, (paperback edn) , Oxford, 1999 ISBN 0-19-866238-6 - Currie, J. R. L. (1971). The Runaway Train: Armagh 1889. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5198-2. - Major General Hutchinson's report into the circumstances of the disaster, with original witness statements (Archive) – Railways Archive Website
It is not easy to write with feigned calm and dispassion about the events that unfolded in East Timor in 1999. Horror and shame are compounded by the fact that the crimes are so familiar and could so easily have been terminated. That has been true ever since Indonesia invaded in December 1975, relying on U.S. diplomatic support and arms — used illegally, but with secret authorisation, even new arms shipments sent under the cover of an official embargo. There has been no need to threaten bombing or even sanctions. It would, very likely, have sufficed for the U.S. and its allies to withdraw their participation, and to inform their close associates in the Indonesian military command that the atrocities must be terminated and the territory granted the right of self-determination that has been upheld by the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. We cannot undo the past, but should at least be willing to recognise what we have done, and to face the moral responsibility of saving the remnants and providing ample reparations, a pathetic gesture of compensation for terrible crimes. The latest chapter in this painful story of betrayal and complicity opened after the referendum of August 30, 1999, when the population voted overwhelmingly for independence. Atrocities mounted sharply, organised and directed by the Indonesian military (TNI). The UN Assistance Mission (UNAMET) gave its appraisal on September 11: “The evidence for a direct link between the militia and the military is beyond any dispute and has been overwhelmingly documented by UNAMET over the last four months. But the scale and thoroughness of the destruction of East Timor in the past week has demonstrated a new level of open participation of the military in the implementation of what was previously a more veiled operation.” The Mission warned that “the worst may be yet to come… It cannot be ruled out that these are the first stages of a genocidal campaign to stamp out the East Timorese problem by force.” Indonesia historian John Roosa, an official observer of the vote, described the situation starkly: “Given that the pogrom was so predictable, it was easily preventable… But in the weeks before the ballot, the Clinton Administration refused to discuss with Australia and other countries the formation of [an international force]. Even after the violence erupted, the Administration dithered for days,” until compelled by international (primarily Australian) and domestic pressure to make some timid gestures. These limited measures sufficed to induce the Indonesian generals to reverse course and to accept an international presence, illustrating the latent power that has always been at hand, overwhelmingly so since Indonesia’s economic collapse in 1997. These recent events should evoke bitter memories among those who do not prefer what has sometimes been called ‘intentional ignorance’. They were a shameful replay of events of 20 years earlier. After carrying out a huge slaughter in 1977-78 with the support of the Carter Administration, the regime of General Suharto felt confident enough to permit a brief visit by members of the Jakarta diplomatic corps, among them U.S. Ambassador Edward Masters. The Ambassadors and the journalists who accompanied them recognised that an enormous humanitarian catastrophe had been created, reminiscent of Biafra and Cambodia. The aftermath was described by the distinguished Indonesia scholar Benedict Anderson. “For nine long months” of starvation and terror, Anderson testified at the United Nations, “Ambassador Masters deliberately refrained, even within the walls of the State Department, from proposing humanitarian aid to East Timor,” waiting “until the generals in Jakarta gave him the green light” — until they felt “secure enough to permit foreign visitors,” as an internal State Department document recorded. Only then did Washington consider taking some steps to deal with the consequences of its actions. While Clinton followed suit from February through August of 1999, the Indonesian military implemented a scarcely-veiled campaign of terror and intimidation that may have killed thousands of people. And as he “dithered” in the final weeks, most of the population were expelled from their homes with unknown numbers killed and much of the country destroyed. According to UN figures, the TNI-paramilitary campaign “drove an estimated 750,000 of East Timor’s 880,000 people from their homes,” probably some 250,000 or more to Indonesian West Timor — elsewhere too, according to many reports, though no one is investigating. The Air Force that was able to carry out pin-point destruction of civilian targets in Novi Sad, Belgrade and Ponceva a few months before, lacked the capacity to drop food to hundreds of thousands of people facing starvation in the mountains to which they have been driven by the TNI forces armed and trained by the United States, and its no less cynical allies. The Administration also took no meaningful action to rescue the several hundred thousand captives held by paramilitaries in West Timor. By year’s end, 100,000-150,000 or more people remained in West Timor as “virtual prisoners,” Amnesty International reported, “trapped in makeshift camps and living in a state of constant fear under the rule of the militia groups that destroyed East Timor… often intimidated, harassed, extorted and in some cases sexually assaulted and killed.” This is “the only place in the world where UNHCR workers are heavily escorted by police and army troops where they go into camps,” the agency reported, adding that “The moment an East Timorese expresses a desire to leave the camps and go home, their life is in danger.” Perhaps 500 had died “due to inadequate sanitation and medical care,” officials said, mostly children, victims of diarrhoea and dysentery. “Every day, many of the people are dying from malaria, respiratory infections and acute gastro-intestinal diseases,” says Arthur Howshen, a volunteer doctor. “There is also a lack of food, shortages of rice are common, and there are also a lot of children suffering from vitamin A deficiency.” With the onset of the rainy season, conditions are even worse than when they were driven from East Timor. Touring camps on both sides of the border, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Harold Koh reported that the refugees are “starving and terrorised,” and that disappearances “without explanation” are a daily occurrence. To bring these crimes to an end has easily been within Washington’s power, as before. At last report, the U.S. had provided no funds for the Australian-led UN force INTERFET (International Force in East Timor); Japan, long a fervent supporter of Indonesia, offered $100 million and Portugal $5 million. That is perhaps not surprising, in the light of Washington’s failure “to pay any of the $37.9 million assessed for the start-up costs of the United Nations civilian operation in Kosovo, which Washington supported in the Security Council.” At the same time, the Clinton Administration asked the UN “to reduce the size” of its small peacekeeping force in East Timor. In Kosovo, preparation for war crimes trials began in May 1999, in the midst of the NATO bombing campaign, expedited at the initiative of Washington and London, which also provided unprecedented access to intelligence information. In East Timor, investigations were discussed at leisure, with numerous delays and deference to Jakarta’s wishes and sensibilities. “It’s an absolute joke, a complete whitewash,” Lucia Withers, a spokeswoman for Amnesty International, informed the British press: it will “cause East Timorese even more trauma than they have suffered already”; a leading Indonesian role “would be really insulting at this stage.” Few seriously expect that the U.S. or U.K. will release vital intelligence information, and the Indonesian generals are reported to feel confident that their old friends will not let them down — if only because the chain of responsibility might be hard to snap at just the right point. By mid-January, UN officials said that a tribunal was unlikely. U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and others “are pinning their hopes on an internal tribunal held by Indonesia, whose military controlled East Timor from 1975 until August and is blamed by human-rights groups for the atrocities.” It was claimed that China and Russia are blocking a tribunal, an obstacle that the West cannot think of any way to overcome, unlike the case of Serbia. On January 31, 2000, the UN International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor issued a report calling for an international human rights tribunal under UN auspices. Its mandate should be “to try and sentence those accused by the independent investigation body of serious violations of fundamental human rights and international humanitarian law which took place in East Timor since January 1999.” “It is fundamental for the future social and political stability of East Timor,” the Commission concluded, “that the truth be established and those responsible for the crimes committed be brought to justice. Every effort has to be made to provide adequate reparation to the victims for only then can true reconciliation take place.” On the same day, an Indonesian government Commission of Inquiry issued a “damning report” condemning “the Indonesian military and its militia surrogates” for atrocities “following the territory’s August 30 vote for independence,” including former army chief General Wiranto. Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, then at the Davos conference in Switzerland, called upon Wiranto to resign his cabinet post, and promised to pardon him if he is convicted. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson expressed her “hope that efforts to hold those responsible for the atrocities in East Timor accountable will go on so that there is no impunity.” But that is “not very likely,” correspondent Dan Murphy observed: “Support within the UN for a war-crimes tribunal is low.” Crucially, support in the great powers is not merely “low” but negative. The general attitude is expressed by the editors of the Washington Post: “But before a Bosnia-style tribunal is created, Indonesia should be given a chance to judge its own” — and to pardon them if convicted, as the President announced at once. Australian UN correspondent Mark Riley reported from New York that the UN “is set to ignore the strong advice of its own human rights body for a war crimes tribunal in East Timor, instead deferring debate on the issue until Indonesia’s probe into the killings is completed. The decision is a political victory for Jakarta, which has argued that it should be left alone to investigate allegations of atrocities on what it considers was its sovereign territory.” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan “does not endorse the [international] tribunal in his accompanying letter to the report,” Riley added: “the absence of a clear recommendation from Mr Annan meant that no decision was likely to be reached on a tribunal,” UN officials said. The “suggestion of dual representation is a significant departure from the UN tribunal models established in Rwanda and Bosnia,” Riley comments, “aimed at avoiding allegations of bias in the prosecutions,” a matter of concern when the perpetrators of crimes are acting with the support and complicity of the U.S. and its allies and inquiry must therefore be controlled. But the question is academic, in the absence of a tribunal. Sonia Picado, head of the UN Inquiry Commission, was not optimistic, Riley reported further, recognizing “that there is little prospect of the UN Security Council supporting an international war crimes tribunal.” “The East Timorese deserve compensation – moral and material compensation — because their families and their country have been devastated,” Picado said, and “the UN has to give that to them”: “it cannot be provided through an Indonesian tribunal.” Picado “had no faith in the ability of a planned Indonesian tribunal to deliver justice to the East Timorese people.” “It is just not feasible for [the Indonesians] to create a tribunal out of the blue and bring their own generals to justice,” she said. Furthermore, no meaningful tribunal can be held in Jakarta because “East Timorese people remained scared of the Indonesian authorities and most were reluctant to travel to Jakarta to give evidence to a government tribunal. How can they expect the military courts in Indonesia to bring justice to the people of East Timor?” But “East Timor deserves not to be forgotten,” and with an international tribunal unlikely, she recommended a South African-style Truth and Reconciliation Commission with commissioners from East Timor, Indonesia and UN-appointed members, with powers to indict or pardon, meeting outside Indonesia. Australian Asia correspondent Lindsay Murdoch commented that “grave doubts exist that the guilty will be brought to justice. Indonesia’s legal system is riddled with corruption and has a poor record when dealing with human rights abuses.” Indonesian Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman is “a respected human rights advocate,” but “the task he faces in bringing some of the country’s most powerful people to justice appears daunting, if not impossible,” as illustrated by President Wahid’s apparently having “buckled to pressure from General Wiranto” by declaring that he would be pardoned if found guilty: “Any such pardon would be outrageous,” Murdoch wrote. “You cannot have one-sided justice in human rights cases,” Picado said. It is fairly safe, however, to predict that one-sided justice is the most that can be anticipated, and even that is a dubious prospect. Furthermore, it is hardly likely that the guilty parties, particularly the U.S. and U.K., will consider providing the “moral and material compensation” they owe to the victims, and there is no call for such action. In the U.S., the Indonesian government report, with its call for an Indonesian inquiry restricted to the post-referendum period, was extensively reported, and supported. The UN report, calling for an international tribunal on crimes committed from January 1999, received only passing mention, and the crucial issues, scant attention. The restriction to the post-referendum period is important for the international collaborators in the “veiled operations” that preceded, not to speak of the earlier record. Under the post-referendum restriction, one might argue without utter absurdity that there was little time to respond. The Jakarta option has other advantages: East Timorese are unlikely to testify, pardons have already been announced, the pressures to evade the facts will be strong, and the great powers are immune from inspection. But even in an international tribunal the possibility that Western leaders would be held accountable for their responsibility is so slight as hardly to merit comment. Only by attaining a remarkable level of “intentional ignorance” can one fail to perceive that the international judicial process, like other aspects of international affairs, is subject to the rule of force, which overrules considerations of justice, human rights, or accountability. In East Timor, the peacekeeping forces and the UN mission “have neither the means nor the authority to track down those responsible” for crimes, and little evidence is being unearthed: “In contrast to Kosovo, where human-rights investigators began work as NATO forces took control on the ground, the UN in East Timor has no such capability.” “Meanwhile, in East Timor, the evidence of crimes against humanity — and so the chance of successful prosecutions — is literally rotting away because of inadequate resources.” UN civilian police are finding many bodies and mass graves, but have no resources to investigate them. “The need for forensic experts is very, very urgent,” said David Wimhurst, spokesman for UNAMET. “Neither Interfet nor Unamet is able to do this properly at the moment. It is crucial that investigative teams come into Dili as soon as possible.” “When Nato went into Kosovo, teams of police, forensic scientists and lawyers from the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague were at work within days, sealing off and cataloguing mass grave sites. In East Timor, a few harassed policemen have the task of exhuming the bodies and collecting what evidence they can.” The delays ensure that little will be found, even if forensic experts are ultimately sent. Much of the evidence was destroyed by TNI, bodies have been buried by local people, and more will be washed away or eaten by animals, Australian doctor Andrew McNaughtan informed the press, giving details; he has worked in East Timor for 7 years. Isabel Ferreira, who coordinates the East Timor Human Rights Commission in Dili, added that “when the rainy season begins, all the bodies will be washed away into the rivers and there will be no evidence left to investigate.” Kosovo was swarming with police and medical forensic teams from the U.S. and other countries in the hope of discovering large-scale atrocities. In contrast, INTERFET had 10 investigators, no morgue, and no forensic capabilities. Australian forensic pathologists confirmed that with further delay, tropical heat and the onset of the rainy season would eliminate most evidence. UN Administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello pleaded again for forensic experts and facilities at the end of November, in vain. A month later it was announced that “international forensic experts will arrive in January to help in investigations of mass graves” and to compile information on crimes, four months after the arrival of INTERFET, long after tropical rains and other factors have significantly reduced the likelihood of revealing the truth. The distinction between the two most prominent atrocities of 1999 is clear. In Kosovo, there was a desperate need for Tribunal indictment (for crimes committed after the bombing began, as the indictment reveals); and “proving the scale of the crimes is also important to NATO politically, to show why 78 days of airstrikes against Serbian forces and infrastructure were necessary,” by the intriguing logic, conventional in Western doctrine, that crimes provide retrospective justification for the NATO bombing of which they were the anticipated consequence. Putting logic aside, at least the immediate agent of the crimes is an official enemy, while in East Timor, the agents of the crimes were armed, trained, funded and supported by the U.S. and its allies from the beginning through the terrible denouement, so it is best to know as little as possible about them. Though Jakarta had indeed considered East Timor to be “its sovereign territory,” nevertheless no actual issue of sovereignty arose in this case, as distinct from Kosovo, which the U.S. and its allies insist must be under the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (specifically Serbia), probably out of fear of a “greater Albania.” Even Australia, the one Western country to have granted de jure recognition to the Indonesian annexation (in large measure because of its interest in joint exploitation of Timorese oil), had renounced that stand in January 1999. Indonesia’s “sovereign rights” were comparable to those of Nazi Germany in occupied Europe; they rested solely on great power ratification of aggression and massacre in this Portuguese-administered territory, a UN responsibility. Nonetheless, the non-existent claim to sovereignty was accorded the most scrupulous respect under the principles of the new humanism that had been proclaimed a few months earlier, while those assigned responsibility for security proceeded to kill and terrorize. In the light of the absence of any legitimate claim to sovereignty, and the refusal to send peacekeeping forces until after the Indonesian generals agreed to withdraw, having at last been informed by Washington that the game was over, the term “intervention” is out of place. A fortiori, the issue of “humanitarian intervention” does not arise, though this is one of the rare cases when it is possible to speak seriously of humanitarian intent, at least on the part of Australia, or more accurately, its population, who were bitterly critical of the government’s failure to react. As TNI forces and their paramilitaries were burning down the capital city of Dili in September 1999, murdering and rampaging with renewed intensity, the Pentagon announced that “A U.S.-Indonesian training exercise focused on humanitarian and disaster relief activities concluded Aug. 25,” five days before the referendum. The lessons were quickly applied in a familiar way, as all but the voluntarily blind must recognize after many years of the same tales, the same outcomes. One gruesome illustration was the coup that brought General Suharto to power in 1965. Army-led massacres slaughtered hundreds of thousands in a few months, mostly landless peasants, destroying the mass-based political party of the left, the PKI, in “one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century,” the CIA concluded, ranking with “the Soviet purges of the 1930s, the Nazi mass murders during the Second World War, and the Maoist bloodbath of the early 1950s.” This Rwanda-style slaughter elicited unrestrained euphoria in the West and fulsome praise for the Indonesian “moderates,” Suharto and his military accomplices, who had cleansed the society. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara informed Congress that U.S. military aid and training had “paid dividends” — including half a million or more corpses; “enormous dividends,” a congressional report concluded. McNamara informed President Johnson that U.S. military assistance “encouraged [the army] to move against the PKI when the opportunity was presented.” Contacts with Indonesian military officers, including university programs, were “very significant factors in determining the favorable orientation of the new Indonesian political elite” (the army). The U.S. had “trained 4000 Indonesian army officers — half the total officer corps, including one-third of the general staff,” two Australian analysts observe. The U.S. is a global power, and policies tend to be consistent worldwide. Not surprisingly, at the same time the same planners were helping to institute murderous military terror states elsewhere, on the principle, explained by McNamara to National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy, that it is the task of the military to remove civilian leaders from office “whenever, in the judgment of the military, the conduct of these leaders is injurious to the welfare of the nation,” a necessity in “the Latin American cultural environment,” and likely to be carried out properly now that the judgment of the military is based upon “the understanding of, and orientation toward, U.S. objectives” as a result of the military aid and training provided by the Kennedy Administration. So matters continued in Indonesia for three decades of military aid, training, and friendly interaction with the great mass murderer and torturer who was “at heart benign,” the London Economist explained, unfairly condemned by “propagandists for the guerrillas” in East Timor and West Papua (Irian Jaya) who “talk of the army’s savagery and use of torture.” The unnamed propagandists were the major human rights groups, the Church, and others who failed to see the merits of “our kind of guy,” as the Clinton Administration admiringly described Suharto when he was welcomed to Washington in October 1995. His son-in-law General Prabowo, “the leader of Indonesia’s paramilitary death squads, who has authorised mass killings and rapes” and was finally sent to Jordan as an embarrassment after the fall of Suharto, was “an ‘enlightened’ military leader who deserved to have his demands treated promptly and with courtesy by British politicians,” according to British Defence Minister George Robertson, “liberator of oppressed muslims of Kosovo.” Direct U.S. support for Indonesian occupation forces in East Timor was hampered after they massacred several hundred people in Dili in 1991. In reaction, Congress banned small arms sales and cut off funds for military training, compelling the Clinton Administration to resort to some intricate maneuvers to evade the legislative restrictions. The State Department commemorated the anniversary of the Indonesian invasion by determining that “Congress’s action did not ban Indonesia’s purchase of training with its own funds,” so the training can proceed despite the ban, with Washington perhaps paying from some other pocket. The announcement received scant notice and no comment in the press, but it did lead Congress to express its “outrage,” reiterating that “it was and is the intent of Congress to prohibit U.S. military training for Indonesia” (House Appropriations Committee): “we don’t want employees of the US Government training Indonesians,” a staff member reiterated forcefully, but without effect. Government-approved weapons sales come to over $1 billion since the 1975 invasion, including $150 million during the Clinton years; government-licensed sales of armaments increased from $3.3 million to $16.3 million from fiscal 1997 to 1998. As atrocities peaked in 1977-78, the U.K., France, and others joined the U.S. in providing arms for the killers as well as diplomatic protection. Britain’s Hawk jets proved to be particularly effective for killing and terrorizing civilians. The current Labour government continued to deliver Hawk jets secretly to Indonesia, using public funds, as late as September 23, 1999, two weeks after the European Union had imposed an embargo, several days after INTERFET had landed, well after it had been revealed that these aircraft had been deployed over East Timor once again, this time as part of the pre-referendum intimidation operation, two weeks days after the Indonesian Air Force had deployed Hawk jets at the Kupang Airbase in West Timor “to anticipate any intrusion of foreign aircraft into the eastern part of Indonesian territory, especially East Timor,” also installing a early warning radar system in Kupang. Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, the author of the new “ethical foreign policy,” explained that “the government is committed to the maintenance of a strong defence industry, which is a strategic part of our industrial base,” as in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the same reasons, Prime Minister Tony Blair later gave “the go-ahead for the sale of spare parts to Zimbabwe for British Hawk fighter jets being used in an African civil war that has cost tens of thousands of lives.” These are altogether unsurprising illustrations of the new humanism, a grand new era in world affairs led by the United States, now “at the height of its glory,” and its British partner. In 1997 the Pentagon was still training Indonesian military forces. The programs continued into 1998 under the code name “Iron Balance,” “hidden from legislators and the public” because they were in violation of the clear intent of congressional restrictions. “Principal among the units that continued to be trained was the Kopassus — an elite force with a bloody history — which was more rigorously trained by the US than any other Indonesian unit,” according to Pentagon documents. Training focused on “military expertise that could only be used internally against civilians, such as urban guerrilla warfare, surveillance, counter-intelligence, sniper marksmanship and ‘psychological operations’.” Among commanders trained were those implicated in the renewed outburst of violence in 1999, as well as earlier massacres, including Krasas 1983 and Dili 1991. “Loyal” Timorese also received U.S. training. Britain was carrying out similar programs. In November 1998, Kopassus forces arrived in a port town in East Timor, entering in disguise along with the first of 5000 new TNI forces recruited from West Timor and elsewhere in Indonesia. These became the core elements of the paramilitaries (“militias”) that initiated massive violence in operation “Clean Sweep” from February 1999, with “the aim, quite simply,…to destroy a nation.” As senior military adviser, the military command sent General Makarim, a U.S.-trained intelligence specialist with experience in East Timor and “a reputation for callous violence”; he was also assigned the role of liaison with the UN observer mission. The plans and their implementation were, surely, known to Western intelligence, as has been the case since the planning of the 1975 invasion. There is substantial evidence from many sources that from the beginning of 1999, the atrocities attributed to militias were organized, directed, and sometimes carried out by elite units of Kopassus, the “crack special forces unit” that had “been training regularly with US and Australian forces until their behaviour became too much of an embarrassment for their foreign friends,” veteran Asia correspondent David Jenkins reports; though not their friends in Washington, it appears. These forces are “legendary for their cruelty,” Benedict Anderson observes: in East Timor they “became the pioneer and exemplar for every kind of atrocity,” including systematic rapes, tortures and executions, and organization of hooded gangsters. They adopted the tactics of the U.S. Phoenix program in South Vietnam that killed tens of thousands of peasants and much of the indigenous South Vietnamese leadership, Jenkins writes, as well as “the tactics employed by the Contras” in Nicaragua, following lessons taught by their CIA mentors. The state terrorists were “not simply going after the most radical pro-independence people but going after the moderates, the people who have influence in their community.” “It’s Phoenix,” a well-placed source in Jakarta reported: the aim is “to terrorise everyone” — the NGOs, the Red Cross, the UN, the journalists. Again, U.S. and British intelligence must have known all of this, doubtless far more, and it is hard to imagine that the civilian authorities were unaware of what they were supporting. In April 1999, shortly after the massacre of 50 or more refugees who had taken shelter in a church in Liquica, Admiral Dennis Blair, U.S. Pacific Commander, met with TNI commander General Wiranto, assuring him of U.S. support and assistance and proposing a new U.S. training mission, one of several such contacts. In the face of this record, only briefly sampled, and duplicated repeatedly elsewhere, Washington lauds “the value of the years of training given to Indonesia’s future military leaders in the United States and the millions of dollars in military aid for Indonesia,” urging more of the same for Indonesia and throughout the world. The reasons for the disgraceful record have sometimes been honestly recognized. During the latest phase of atrocities, a senior diplomat in Jakarta formulated “the dilemma” faced by the great powers succinctly: “Indonesia matters and East Timor doesn’t.” It is therefore understandable that Washington should keep to ineffectual gestures of disapproval while insisting that internal security in East Timor “is the responsibility of the Government of Indonesia, and we don’t want to take that responsibility away from them” — the official stance throughout, repeated a few days before the August referendum in full knowledge of how that responsibility had been carried out. The same stance was officially reiterated well after the referendum, while the most dire predictions were being fulfilled. The reasoning of the senior diplomat was spelled out more fully by two Asia specialists of the New York Times: the Clinton Administration “has made the calculation that the United States must put its relationship with Indonesia, a mineral-rich nation of more than 200 million people, ahead of its concern over the political fate of East Timor, a tiny impoverished territory of 800,000 people that is seeking independence.” The second national journal quoted Douglas Paal, president of the Asia Pacific Policy Center: “Timor is a speed bump on the road to dealing with Jakarta, and we’ve got to get over it safely. Indonesia is such a big place and so central to the stability of the region.” The term “stability” has long served as a code word, referring to a “favorable orientation of the political elite” — favorable not to their populations, but to foreign investors and global managers. In the rhetoric of official Washington, “We don’t have a dog running in the East Timor race.” Accordingly, what happens there is not our concern. But after intensive Australian pressure, the calculations shifted: “we have a very big dog running down there called Australia and we have to support it,” a senior government official concluded. The survivors of U.S.-backed crimes in a “tiny impoverished territory” are not even a small dog. Commenting on Washington’s stance, the veteran Australian diplomat Richard Butler observed that “it has been made very clear to me by senior American analysts that the facts of the [U.S.-Australia] alliance essentially are that: the US will respond proportionally, defined largely in terms of its own interests and threat assessment…” The remarks were not offered in criticism of Washington. Rather, of his fellow Australians, who do not comprehend the facts of life: others are to shoulder the burdens and face the costs, unless some power interest is served. Serious commentators had recognized these realities long before. Twenty years earlier, Daniel Southerland reported that “in deferring to Indonesia on [the East Timor] issue, the Carter administration, like the Ford administration before it, appears to have placed big-power concerns ahead of human rights.” Southerland referred particularly to the role of current UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who had direct responsibility for implementing Carter’s policy, and was so little concerned by the consequences — by then, some 200,000 killed — that he could find no time to testify before Congress about East Timor, Southerland reports, though “he did have the time, however, to play host at a black-tie dinner later the same day.” The guiding principles were well understood by those responsible for guaranteeing the success of Indonesia’s 1975 invasion. They were articulated lucidly by UN Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan, in words that should be committed to memory by anyone with a serious interest in international affairs, human rights, and the rule of law. The Security Council condemned the invasion and ordered Indonesia to withdraw, but to no avail. In his 1978 memoirs, Moynihan explains why: “The United States wished things to turn out as they did, and worked to bring this about. The Department of State desired that the United Nations prove utterly ineffective in whatever measures it undertook. This task was given to me, and I carried it forward with no inconsiderable success.” Success was indeed considerable. Moynihan cites reports that within two months some 60,000 people had been killed, “10 percent of the population, almost the proportion of casualties experienced by the Soviet Union during the Second World War.” A sign of the success, he adds, is that within a year “the subject disappeared from the press.” So it did, as the invaders intensified their assault. Atrocities peaked as Moynihan was writing in 1977-78. Relying on a new flow of U.S. military equipment, the Indonesian military carried out a devastating attack against the hundreds of thousands who had fled to the mountains, driving the survivors to Indonesian control. It was then that Church sources in East Timor sought to make public the estimates of 200,000 deaths that came to be accepted years later, after constant denial and ridicule of the “propagandists for the guerrillas.” Washington’s reaction to the carnage has already been described. Media coverage of East Timor had been fairly high prior to the Indonesian invasion, in the context of concerns over the collapse of Portuguese fascism and its imperial system. As Moynihan observed, coverage declined as the U.S.-supported aggression and slaughter took its toll; in the national press it reached zero as the atrocities peaked in 1978. Journals were similar. Such coverage as there was during the worst atrocities kept largely to State Department fabrications and assurances from Indonesian Generals that the population was fleeing to their protection. By 1980, however, the story was beginning to break through, though only rarely the U.S. role, which remains well hidden to the present. By then, it was also becoming clear that the atrocities were comparable to Cambodia in the same years, though in this case they were major war crimes in addition, in the course of outright aggression supported by the great powers. The first reports caused considerable annoyance. Commenting in a journalism review, Asia specialist and foreign correspondent Stanley Karnow said he could not bring himself to read a story on East Timor that had just appeared: “it didn’t have anything to do with me,” he said. His colleague Richard Valeriani agreed, because “I don’t care about Timor.” Reviewing a book that gave the first extensive account of what had happened, and the unwillingness to report it, former New York Times Indochina correspondent A.J. Langguth dismissed the topic on the grounds that “If the world press were to converge suddenly on Timor, it would not improve the lot of a single Cambodian.” Langguth’s observation is surely accurate. More important, it captures lucidly the guiding criteria for approved humanitarian concerns: atrocities for which we bear responsibility, and which we could easily mitigate or terminate, do not “have anything to do with” us and should be of no particular concern; worse still, they are a diversion from the morally significant task of lamenting atrocities committed by official enemies that we can do little if anything about — though when the Vietnamese did end them in this case, Washington was presumed to have the obligation to punish them for the crime, by severe sanctions, backing of a Chinese invasion, and support for the ousted Khmer Rouge (“Democratic Kampuchea,” DK). Some nevertheless felt uneasy that while bitterly denouncing atrocities in Cambodia, we were “looking away” from comparable ones in Timor — the standard rendition of the unacceptable truth that Washington was “looking right there,” and acting decisively to escalate the atrocities. That quandary was put to rest in 1982 by the State Department, which explained that the Khmer Rouge-based DK is “unquestionably” more representative of the people of Cambodia than the resistance is of the East Timorese, so therefore it is proper to support both Pol Pot and Suharto. The contradiction vanishes, as did the grounds for its resolution, which remain unreported. For the next 20 years the grim story continued: atrocities, complicity, and refusal to submit. By 1998, some rays of hope began to break through. By then Suharto had committed some real misdeeds, and was therefore no longer “our kind of guy”: he had lost control of the country after the financial crisis, and was dragging his feet on implementing harsh IMF programs. Debt relief had been granted to “our kind of guy” after he took power, but not to the 200 million Indonesians who are now compelled to pay the huge debts accumulated by Suharto and his cronies, amounting now to over 140% of GDP, thanks to the corruption of the regime and the eagerness of the World Bank, the IMF, and Western governments and financial institutions to provide lavish funds for the ruler and his clique. On May 20, 1998, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called upon Suharto to resign and provide for “a democratic transition.” A few hours later, Suharto transferred formal authority to his hand-picked vice-president B. J. Habibie. The events were not, of course, simple cause and effect, but they symbolize the relations that have evolved. With Suharto gone, the way was paved for the first democratic election in 40 years — that is, the first election since the parliamentary system had been undermined in the course of the U.S. clandestine operations of 1958 that aimed to dismantle Indonesia by separating the resource-rich outer islands, undertaken because of Washington’s concern that the government of Indonesia was too independent and too democratic, even going so far as to permit a popular party of the left to function. The praise for Indonesia’s first democratic election in 40 years managed to overlook the background. Habibie moved at once to distance himself from Suharto, surprising many observers. In June 1998, he called for a “special status” for East Timor. In August Foreign Minister Ali Alatas suggested a “wide-ranging autonomy.” And on January 27, 1999, Habibie made the unexpected offer of a referendum on autonomy within Indonesia, implying that were the offer rejected, Indonesia would relinquish control of the territory it had invaded and annexed. The military, however, was following a different track, already described, moving even before Habibie’s January announcement to prevent a free choice by violence and intimidation. From February through July, 3-5000 East Timorese were killed according to highly credible Church sources — twice the number of deaths prior to the NATO bombing in Kosovo, more than four times the number relative to population. The terror was widespread and sadistic, presumably intended as a warning of the fate awaiting those foolhardy enough to disregard army orders elsewhere. The events were reported extensively in Australia, to some extent in England. In Australia there was extensive protest along with calls for action to end the atrocities. Though information was much more sparse, there was mounting protest in the U.S. as well. On June 22, the Senate unanimously supported an amendment to a State Department authorization bill asking the Clinton administration to “intensify their efforts to prevail upon the Indonesian government and military” to crack down on the militias, reiterated on June 30 by a vote of 98-0. In a July 8 press briefing, in response to a query about the Senate vote, State Department spokesperson James Foley repeated the official stand that “the Indonesian military has a responsibility to bring those militias under control” — namely, the militias it was organizing, arming, and directing. Database searches found no report of any of this in the U.S. Braving violence and threats, almost the entire population voted on August 30, many emerging from hiding to do so. Close to 80% chose independence. Then followed the latest phase of TNI atrocities in an effort to reverse the outcome by slaughter and expulsion, while reducing much of the country to ashes. Within two weeks more than 10,000 might have been killed, according to Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, the Nobel Peace laureate who was driven from his country under a hail of bullets, his house burned down and the refugees sheltering there dispatched to an uncertain fate. TNI forces responsible for the terror and destruction from February have been described as “rogue elements” in the West, a questionable judgment. There is good reason to accept Bishop Belo’s assignment of direct responsibility to commanding General Wiranto in Jakarta, not only in the post-referendum period to which inquiry is to be restricted. Well before the referendum, the commander of the Indonesian military in Dili, Colonel Tono Suratman, had warned of what was to come: “I would like to convey the following,” he said: “if the pro-independents do win … all will be destroyed… It will be worse than 23 years ago.” On July 24, Suratman met with a police commander and militia leaders at the Dili military headquarters, where they took “the major decisions…in the recognition that the pro-integration side was unlikely to win the vote,” according to an August 6 report by Australian intelligence officer Wayne Sievers; he is facing charges for having informed the Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade of the secret reports he had sent to the UN from his arrival in June, predicting the post-referendum violence and identifying militia leaders as Indonesian intelligence officers, available to the Australian government through its UN Embassy. A TNI document of early May, when the UN-Indonesia-Portugal agreement on the referendum was reached, ordered that “Massacres should be carried out from village to village after the announcement of the ballot if the pro-independence supporters win.” The independence movement “should be eliminated from its leadership down to its roots.” Documents discovered in Dili in October 1999, “and analysed in Jakarta by Indonesian investigators and Western diplomatic sources, provide evidence…that, for months before the referendum on East Timor’s independence in August, it was being systematically undermined by Indonesia’s top generals,” including plans for “the forcible deportation of hundreds of thousands of East Timorese.” A Western diplomat who reviewed the documents describes them as “the missing link,” showing “a clear chain of command from close to the very top,” also expressing his surprise at the “sheer quantity” of the weapons provided to local militia and pro-Jakarta figures. As the May 5 referendum agreement was signed, a letter from General Subagyo to Colonel Suratman, copied to senior military figures, ordered preparations for “a security plan to prevent civil war that includes preventive action (create conditions), policing measures, repressive/coercive measures and a plan to move to the rear/evacuate if the second option [independence] is chosen.” A July document drafted by an officer of a Dili-based regional command, Colonel Soedjarwo, outlines a battle plan directed against what it calls the “Enemy Forces”: “not only the guerrillas of the resistance movement, Falintil, but civilians, including unarmed student groups and political organisations.” In August, the Dili police department produced “a meticulous plan to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Timorese after the referendum,” with extensive detail. The plans were soon implemented, and it would be most surprising if they were not known at least in a general way to Western intelligence. Citing diplomatic, church and militia sources, the Australian press had reported in July 1999 that “that hundreds of modern assault rifles, grenades and mortars are being stockpiled, ready for use if the autonomy option is rejected at the ballot box.” It warned that the army-run militias might be planning a violent takeover of much of the territory if, despite the terror, the popular will would be expressed. Leaked official cables reveal the “Australian Government’s harsh assessment of the Pentagon’s ‘overly generous’ interpretation of Indonesian army (TNI) involvement with the militias.” The Indonesian Generals had every reason to interpret the evasive and ambiguous reactions of their traditional friends and backers as a “green light” to carry out their work. The sordid history should be viewed against the background of U.S.-Indonesia relations in the postwar era. The rich resources of the archipelago, and its critical strategic location, guaranteed it a central role in U.S. global planning. These factors lie behind U.S. efforts 40 years ago to dismantle Indonesia, then support for the military in preparation for the anticipated military coup, and unbounded enthusiasm for the regime of killers and torturers who brought about a “favorable orientation” in 1965 and for their leader, who remained “our kind of guy” until his first missteps in 1997, when he was abandoned in the usual pattern of criminals who have lost their usefulness or become disobedient: Trujillo, Somoza, Marcos, Noriega, Saddam Hussein, Mobutu, Ceausescu, and many others. The successful cleansing of Indonesia in 1965 was, furthermore, understood to be a vindication of Washington’s wars in Indochina, which were motivated in large part by concern that the “virus” of independent nationalism might “infect” Indonesia, to borrow standard rhetoric, just as concern over Indonesian independence and excessive democracy had been motivated by fear that a “Communist” (meaning independent nationalist) Indonesia would be an “infection” that “would sweep westward” through all of South Asia, as George Kennan warned in 1948. In this context, support for the invasion of East Timor and subsequent atrocities was presumably reflexive, though a broader analysis should attend to the fact that the collapse of the Portuguese empire had similar consequences in Africa, where South Africa was the agent of Western-backed terror. Throughout, Cold War pretexts were routinely invoked. These should be analyzed with caution; all too easily, they can serve as a convenient disguise for ugly motives and actions that had little to do with shifting relations among the U.S., Russia, and China, not only in Southeast Asia but in Latin America, the Middle East, and elsewhere. The story does not begin in 1975. East Timor had not been overlooked by the planners of the postwar world. The territory should be granted independence, Roosevelt’s senior adviser Sumner Welles mused, but “it would certainly take a thousand years.” With an awe-inspiring display of courage and fortitude, the people of East Timor have struggled to confound that prediction, enduring monstrous disasters. Some 50,000 lost their lives protecting a small contingent of Australian commandoes fighting the Japanese; their heroism may have saved Australia from Japanese invasion. Perhaps a third of the population were victims of the first years of the 1975 Indonesian invasion, many more since. Surely we should by now be willing to cast aside mythology and face the causes and consequences of our actions realistically, not only in East Timor. In that tortured corner of the world there is now an opportunity to remedy in some measure at least one of the most appalling crimes and tragedies of the terrible century that has finally come to a horrifying, wrenching close. This is an abbreviated version. For the full bibliography and detailed notes, please write to us at firstname.lastname@example.org or at TLM, A 708 Anand Lok, Mayur Vihar I, Delhi 110091, India. 1. Report of the Security Council Mission to Jakarta and Dili, 8 to 12 Sep. 1999. 2.NYT op-ed, Sep. 15, 1999. 3. Donald Fox and Michael Glennon, ‘Report to the International Human Rights Law Group and the Washington Office on Latin America’, Washington D.C., April 1985. 4. Anderson, Statement before the Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly, Oct. 20, 1980. For fuller quotes and context, see Chomsky, Towards a New Cold War (New York; Pantheon, 1982). On the earlier background, see Chomsky and Edward Herman, The Political Economy of Human Rights (Boston; South End, 1979), vol. I. 5. Seth Mydans, NYT, Feb. 16, 2000. 6. AI estimated over 100,000 by late December (AI report of Dec. 22, 1999). West Timorese officials reported 150,000. At the end of January, the Australian press reported from West Timor that over 150,000 still remained (AFP, Age [Australia], Jan. 31, 2000). Also, see UNHCR, Human Rights Watch, December 1999. 7. Barbara Crossette, NYT, Oct. 5 & Oct. 6; Joe Lauria, Boston Globe, Oct. 8, 1998. 8. Mark Riley, NY, Sydney Morning Herald, Oct 16; Richard Lloyd Parry, Dili, Independent, Sep. 27, 1999. Joe Lauria, BG, Jan. 15, 2000. 9. United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on East Timor to the Secretary-General. January; full text, Feb. 2, 2000. 10. Keith Richburg, Washington Post-BG, Feb. 1, 2000. Also Seth Mydans, NYT, Feb. 1; NYT, Feb. 2, 2000. 11. Dan Murphy, Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 2; Editorial, WP-International Herald Tribune, Feb. 2, 2000. 12. Riley, Age, Jan. 31 & Feb. 2, 2000. 13. Murdoch, Age, Feb. 2, 2000. 14. References cited, and others. 15. Cameron Barr, CSM, Sep. 30, 1999. 16. Parry, see note 8. 17. Kyodo News International, Dili, Nov. 8; Sonny Inbaraj, Inter Press Service, Nov. 10, Japan Economic Newswire, Nov. 28; AP Worldstream, AP Online, Dec. 24, 1999. 18. Scott Peterson, CSM, Aug. 27, 1999. Also, see my The New Military Humanism: Lessons of Kosovo (Monroe, ME; Common Courage, 1999), and ‘In Retrospect’, excerpted in Le Monde diplomatique, March 2000; Z magazine, April 2000. 19. For a sample of the rhetorical flourishes and awed self-congratulation, see New Military Humanism. 20. David Briscoe, AP Online, September 8, 1999. 21. Cited by Robert Cribb, ed., The Indonesian Killings of 1965-1966 (Monash Papers on Southeast Asia, no. 21, 1991). 22. Brian Toohey and William Pinwill, Oyster (Port Melbourne: Heinemann, 1989), 93, censored by the Australian government. For review and sources, see Chomsky, Year 501 (Boston; South End, 1993), chap. 5. 23. Ibid., chap. 7. For more extensive quotes and discussion, see my On Power and Ideology (Boston; South End, 1988). 24. Economist, Aug. 15, 1987; David Sanger, NYT, Oct. 31, 1995. Nick Cohen, Observer, 5 Sep., 1999. For more see Year 501; my Powers and Prospects (Boston; South End, 1996); and sources cited. 25. Reuters, NYT, Dec. 8, 1993, a few lines on an inside page; Irene Wu, Far Eastern Economic Review, Jun. 30, 1994. See Powers and Prospects. 26. William Hartung, weapons specialist of the World Policy Institute, KRT News Service, Sep. 16; John Donnelly, BG, Sep.. 11, 1999. 27. John Gittings, et al., Observer, Sept. 26; Robert Peston and Andrew Parker, Financial Times, Sep. 15; BBC Summary of World Broadcasts September 13, source ‘Suara Pembaruan’, Jakarta, in Indonesian, 10 Sep 99; Richard Norton-Taylor, Guardian, Sept. 2, 1999. Ewen MacAskill, Guardian, Jan. 19, 2000. 28. David Fromkin, Kosovo Crossing (New York; Free Press, 1999). 29. Hartung, op.cit. Ed Vulliaumy and Antony Barnett, Observer (London, and foreign service), Sep. 19; Guardian Weekly, Sep. 23, 1999. A database search on Sep. 29 found no mention in the US media. 30. John Aglionby, et al., Observer, 12 Sep. (and foreign service); Globe and Mail (Toronto), Observer Service, Sep. 13, 1999. For review and background, see Taylor, op.cit. and Richard Tanter, ‘East Timor and the Crisis of the Indonesian Intelligence State’, in Stephen Shalom, ed., to appear. 31. Jenkins, Asia Editor, Sydney Morning Herald, Jul. 8, 1999; Anderson, ‘The Promise of Nationalism’, New Left Review 235, May/June 1999. 32. Alan Nairn, Nation, Sep. 27, 1999; Nairn’s testimony at hearings on the Humanitarian Crisis in East Timor, held before the International Operations And Human Rights Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on International Relations on Sep. 30, 1999, in Washington, DC. 33. Elizabeth Becker, NYT, Sep. 14, 1999. 34. Sander Thoenes, Financial Times, Sep. 8, 1999; CSM, Sep. 14, 1999. Shortly after, Thoenes was murdered in East Timor, apparently by TNI. 35. Gay Alcorn, Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 25, 1999, citing State Department spokesman James Foley. Defense Secretary William Cohen, press briefing, Sep. 8, 1999. 36. Elizabeth Becker and Philip Shenon, NYT, Sep. 9, 1999. Steven Mufson, WP, Sep. 9, 1999. 37. Peter Hartcher, Australian Financial Review, Sep. 13, 1999. 38. Butler, The Eye (Australia), 7-20, 1999. 39. Southerland, CSM, Mar. 6, 1980. See Towards a New Cold War for fuller quote and context. 40. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, with Suzanne Weaver, A Dangerous Place (Boston: Little, Brown, 1978). Moynihan writes that 60,000 were reported killed “since the outbreak of civil war.” There had been a brief civil war, with 2,000-3,000 killed, months before the full-scale Indonesian invasion in December. 41. Karnow, Valeriani, Washington Journalism Review, March 1980. For these and many other examples, see Towards a New Cold War, and on the earlier record, Chomsky and Herman, op.cit., the book Langguth was reviewing in The Nation, Feb. 16, 1980. 42. John Holdridge (State Department.), Hearing before the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, 97th Congress, 2nd sess., Sep. 14, 1982, 71. On how the quandary was faced, see Towards a New Cold War; on the context, Edward Herman and Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent (New York; Pantheon, 1988). 43. Binny Buchori and Sugeng Bahagijo, Inside Indonesia, Jan.-March 2000. On the role of the IMF, see Robin Hahnel, Panic Rules (Cambridge; South End, 1999). 44. Audrey and George Kahin, Subversion as Foreign Policy (New York; New Press, 1995); Powers and Prospects. 45. Taylor, op. cit., citing church report of Aug. 6. Arnold Kohen, WP, Sep. 5, 1999. 46. Ibid. See Edward Herman and David Peterson, Z magazine, July/August 1999; and ‘East Timor: From “Humanitarian” Bombing to Inhumane Appeasement’, CovertAction Quarterly, Fall-Winter 1999. 47. Farhan Haq, Inter Press Service, Jun 22, 1999; Antara (Indonesian National News Agency), Jul. 2, 1999. See also David Shanks, Irish Times, Jul. 10, 1999; M2 PRESSWIRE, Jul. 8, 1999, US Dept of State daily press briefing. 48. Philip Shenon, NYT, Sep. 13, 1999. 50. Suratman cited by Brian Toohey, Australian Financial Review, Aug. 14, 1999, referring to a radio interview “earlier this year.” Sievers, Andrew West, Sunday Age, Jan. 9, 2000. Document, Aglionby, op. cit. A similar document, dated May 5, is published in Human Rights Watch, op.cit. The Indonesian Investigative Commission for Human Rights Abuses in East Timor “confirmed the existence and validity of the Garnadi Document which ordered the burning of the troubled region” (Indonesian Observer, Jan. 4, 2000), referring to a document, denied by the military, authorised from the highest levels of the military command. 51. Parry, Independent, Feb. 7, 2000. 52. Mark Dodd, Sydney Morning Herald, Jul. 26; Dennis Shanahan, Australian, Sep. 24, 1999. 53. See sources cited earlier, and for brief review, my “L’Indone’sie,” Le Monde Diplomatique, June 1998. 54. Wm. Roger Louis, Imperialism at Bay; The United States and the Decolonization of the British Empire, 1941-1945 (Oxford, 1978), 237.
\|About 105 million (2011)\| \|Regions with significant populations\| \|India\|\|103 million (2011)\| \|Pakistan\|\|A sizeable percentage of the 20 million Muhajirs\| \|Bangladesh\|\|888,000 approx. Bihari Muslims (2011)\| \|Mauritius\|\|A sizeable percentage of 1.2 million Indo-Mauritians\| \|Trinidad and Tobago\|\|468,524 (2011) Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonians\| \|Guyana\|\|A sizeable percentage of 752,940 East Indians\| \|Fiji\|\|313,798 (2007)\| \|Suriname\|\|180,000 approx. (2010)\| \|Hindi, Urdu & Bihari (Angika, Bajjika, Bhojpuri, Magahi and Maithili)\| \|Mostly Hinduism, a large minority of Islam and small minorities of Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, and Bahá'í\| The Biharis (Devanagari: बिहारी; Nastaʿlīq: بِہاری; Latin: Bihārī listen (help·info)) are an Indo-Aryan speaking Indian ethnic group originating from the present state of Bihar with a history going back three millennia. Biharis speak Bihari languages such as Magahi, Bajjika, Bhojpuri, Maithili, amongst other local dialects, as well as Hindi or Urdu. Besides the state of Bihar, Biharis can be found throughout Eastern Uttar Pradesh, North India, West Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra and also in the neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. A large number of Biharis travelled to various parts of the world in the 19th century to serve as indentured labour on sugarcane and rubber plantations in Guyana, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, Mauritius and Natal, South Africa. During the partition of India in 1947, many Biharis of the Islamic faith migrated to East Bengal (later East Pakistan and subsequently Bangladesh). Bihari people are also well represented in Pakistan's (formerly West Pakistan) Muhajir population as a result of the partition of India, as well as the recent repatriation of some Bihari refugees from Bangladesh to Pakistan. - 1 Pre-history - 2 History - 3 Cuisine - 4 Clothing - 5 Language and literature - 6 Religion - 7 Bihari diaspora - 8 Bihari sub-nationalism - 9 Bihar Movement - 10 Discrimination faced by the Bihari community - 11 See also - 12 References Mythological stories claim that Bihar was the place where King Satyavrata (सत्यव्रत) or Manu (मणु) resided after the great flood, with the help of Vishnu-Avatar Matsya. A king of the Yadavs, nicknamed "Mahabali" ruled over this last in ancient times. He was impotent. His guru was Maharishi Dirghatamas. Mahabali had many wives and so Maharishi Dirghatamas with the permission of his king impregnated Mahabali's chief queen Sudeshna. Queen Sudeshna bore five children or "Kshetrajas" (rulers of lands), one of them was King Anga, which is modern-day Bihar. From Anga sprang Anapana. According to the historian Asim Maitra, the history of Magadha from the earliest times to the dawn of the Buddhist age is not well known. Before the discovery of the ruins of Mohenjodaro and Harappa, the cyclopen walls on the hills of Rajagriha were an ancient archaeological remains in India. Modern Bihar is a combination of two great ancient kingdoms "Magadha" and "Mithila". From Magadha arose two traditions, Jainism and Buddhism. The first Indian empire, the Maurya empire, originated from Magadha, with its capital at Pataliputra (modern Patna) in 325 BC. Mithila is known for its literary traditions, education and culture.Four of the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy, Nyaya, Vaiseshika, Mimamsa, and Sankalya, were developed in the Mithila Region. Vidyapati and his work shaped the language and culture of the entirety of eastern India, comprising Bengal, Assam, Odisha and even up to some extent Nepal. The Mauryan Emperor, Ashoka, is believed to be one of the greatest rulers in the history of India and the world. After seeing all the carnage that war causes he was placed on the path of Lord Buddha by his spiritual guide Manjushri. The age in which true history appeared in India was one of great intellectual and spiritual ferment. Mystics and sophists of all kinds roamed through the Ganges Valley, all advocating some form of mental discipline and asceticism as a means to salvation; but the age of the Buddha, when many of the best minds were abandoning their homes and professions for a life of asceticism, was also a time of advance in commerce and politics. It produced not only philosophers and ascetics, but also merchant princes and men of action.— Bihar remained an important place of power, culture and education during the next one thousand years. The Gupta Empire, which again originated from Magadha in 240CE, is referred to as the Golden Age of India in science, mathematics, astronomy, religion and Indian philosophy. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavours. Historians place the Gupta dynasty alongside with the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and Roman Empire as a model of a classical civilisation. The capital of Gupta empire was Pataliputra, present day Patna. A number of monasteries grew up during the Pāla period in Magadha and ancient Bengal. According to Tibetan sources, five great Mahaviharas stood out: Nalanda University were among the oldest and best centres of education in ancient India, Vikramashila, the premier university of the era was established by the second Pala king Dharmapala (783 to 820); Somapura Mahavihara (now in Bangladesh) was built by king Dharmapala of Pala dynasty, Odantapurā Mahavihara was established by king Dharmapala in the 8th century, and Jaggadala Mahavihara was founded by the later kings of the Pāla dynasty, Ramapala (c.1077–1120) (now in the north-west Bangladesh). Some writers believe the period between the 400 CE and 1000 CE saw gains by Hinduism at the expense of Buddhism. Although the Hindu kings gave much grants to the Buddhist monks for building Brahmaviharas. A National Geographic edition reads, "The essential tenants of Buddhism and Hinduism arose from similar ideas best described in the Upanishads, a set of Hindu treatises set down in India largely between the eighth and fourth centuries B.C." The Buddhism of Magadha was finally swept away by the Islamic invasion under Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khilji, during which many of the viharas and the famed universities of Nalanda and Vikramshila were destroyed, and thousands of Buddhist monks were massacred in 12th century C.E. The region saw a brief period of glory for six years (1540 -1546 CE) during the rule of Sher Shah Suri, who built the longest road of the Indian subcontinent, the Grand Trunk Road. The economic reforms carried out by Sher Shah, like the introduction of Rupee and Custom Duties, are still used in the Republic of India. He revived the city of Patna, where he built up his headquarters. During 1557–1576, Akbar, the Mughal emperor, annexed Bihar and Bengal to his empire. With the decline of the Mughals, Bihar passed under the control of the Nawabs of Bengal. During 1742 to 1751 Marathas under the two Maratha chiefs, the Peshwa and Raghuji attacked eastern India (Bihar, Bengal & Orissa). The Marathas defeated the Nawab Alivardi Khan (1740–1756) and took charge of these provinces. Thus, the medieval period was mostly one of anonymous provincial existence. After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the British East India Company obtained the diwani rights (rights to administer, and collect revenue or tax) for Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. From this point, Bihar remained a part the Bengal Presidency of the British Raj until 1912, when the province of Bihar and Orissa was carved out as a separate province. In 1935, certain portions of Bihar were reorganised into the separate province of Orissa. Babu Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur and his army, as well as countless other persons from Bihar, contributed to the India's First War of Independence (1857), also called the Sepoy Mutiny by some historians. Resurgence in the history of Bihar came during the struggle for India's independence. It was from Bihar that Mahatma Gandhi launched his pioneering civil-disobedience movement, Champaran Satyagraha. Raj Kumar Shukla drew the attention of Mahatma Gandhi to the exploitation of the peasants by European indigo planters. Champaran Satyagraha received the spontaneous support from many Biharis, including Sri Krishna Sinha, the first Chief Minister of Bihar, Rajendra Prasad, who became the first President of India and Anugrah Narayan Sinha who ultimately became the first Deputy Chief Minister <expletive> Finance Minister of Bihar. In North and Central Bihar, a peasant movement was an important side effect of the independence movement. This movement aimed at overthrowing the feudal (zamindari) system instituted by Britishers. It was being led by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati and his followers Pandit Yamuna Karjee, Rahul Sankrityayan, Pandit Karyanand Sharma, Baba Nagarjun and others. Pandit Yamuna Karjee along with Rahul Sankritayan and a few others started publishing a Hindi weekly Hunkar from Bihar, in 1940. Hunkar later became the mouthpiece of the peasant movement and the agrarian movement in Bihar and was instrumental in spreading the movement. Bihar's contribution in the Indian independence struggle has been immense with outstanding leaders like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sri Krishna Sinha, Dr.Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Brajkishore Prasad, Mulana Mazharul Haque, Jayaprakash Narayan, Thakur Jugal Kishore Sinha, Ram Dulari Sinha, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Basawon Singh, Rameshwar Prasad Sinha, Yogendra Shukla, Baikuntha Shukla, Sheel Bhadra Yajee, Pandit Yamuna Karjee and many others who worked for India's independence. The state of Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in the year 2000. 2005 Bihar assembly elections ended the 15 years of continuous RJD rule in the state, giving way to NDA led by Nitish Kumar. Bihari migrant workers have faced violence and prejudice in many parts of India, like Maharashtra, Punjab and Assam. The food culture of Bihar is both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Most of the people are non vegetarian. Among all the varieties of food eaten by the Bihari people, Litti-Chokha is the most famous. Maithili Cuisine has a unique flavour and is akin to Bengali cuisine though having an individuality of its own. The traditional dress of Bihari people includes the dhoti-kurta for men and Ghagra-Choli for women but ghagra choli is limited to folk dances or celebrations and is considered the ancient or historical dress of women of Bihar. In everyday life women wear saree or Kameez-Salwar. The saree is worn in "Seedha Aanchal" style traditionally. Nevertheless, Western shirts and trousers are becoming popular among the both rural and urban male population. And Salwar-Kameez for women in urban Bihar. Jewelery such as rings for men and bangles for women are popular.However, there are some traditional Bihari jewelries like "Chhara", "Hansuli", "Kamarbandh",etc. j Language and literature Hindi and Urdu are the official languages of the state, whilst the majority of the people speak one of the Bihari languages – Bajjikaa, Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili or Angika. Bihari languages were once mistakenly thought to be dialects of Hindi. However that does not hold true as they have been more recently shown to be descendant of the language of the erstwhile Magadha kingdom – Magadhi Prakrit, along with Bengali, Assamese, and Oriya. Bhojpuri is spoken throughout the Bhojpuri region by the Bhojpuri Biharis. Maithili is used by the Maithils in the Mithila region. The number of speakers of Bihari languages is difficult to indicate because of unreliable sources. In the urban region most educated speakers of the language name Hindi as their language because this is what they use in formal contexts and believe it to be the appropriate response because of unawareness. The uneducated and the rural population of the region regards Hindi as the generic name for their language. Despite of the large number of speakers of Bihari languages, they have not been constitutionally recognised in India. Hindi is the language used for educational and official matters in Bihar. These languages was legally absorbed under the subordinate label of HINDI in the 1961 Census. Such state and national politics are creating conditions for language endangerments. The first success for spreading Hindi occurred in Bihar in 1881, when Hindi displaced Urdu as the sole official language of the province. In this struggle between competing Hindi and Urdu, the potential claims of the three large mother tongues in the region – Magahi, Bhojpuri and Maithili were ignored. After independence Hindi was again given the sole official status through the Bihar Official Language Act, 1950. Urdu became the second official language in the undivided State of Bihar on 16 August 1989. Bihar also produced several eminent Urdu writers including Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, Manazir Ahsan Gilani, Abdul Qavi Desnavi, Paigham Afaqui, Jabir Husain, Sohail Azimabadi, Hussain Ul Haque, Dr. Shamim Hashimi, Wahab Ashrafi etc. Bihar has produced a number of writers of Hindi, including Raja Radhika Raman Singh, Shiva Pujan Sahay, Divakar Prasad Vidyarthy, Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar', Ram Briksh Benipuri, Phanishwar Nath 'Renu', Gopal Singh "Nepali" and Baba Nagarjun. Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan, the great writer and Buddhist scholar, was born in U.P. but spent his life in the land of Lord Buddha, i.e., Bihar.Hrishikesh Sulabh is the prominent writer of the new generation. He is short story writer, playwright and theatre critic. Arun Kamal and Aalok Dhanwa are the well-known poets. Different regional languages also have produced some prominent poets and authors. Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, who is among the greatest writers in Bengali, resided for some time in Bihar. The writer in English, Birbal Jha, who has created a revolution in English writing, training and teaching was born 1972 in the district Madhubani in Bihar. Of late, the latest Indian writer in English, Upamanyu Chatterjee also hails from Patna in Bihar. Devaki Nandan Khatri, who rose to fame at the beginning of the 20th century on account of his novels such as Chandrakanta and Chandrakanta Santati, was born in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. Vidyapati Thakur is the most renowned poet of Maithili (c. 14–15th century). Satyapal Chandra has written a lot of English bestsellers and he is one of India's emerging young writer. In India, Bihari Muslims are found in the Kishanganj, Katihar, Araria, Siwan, Purnia, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Champaran districts of Bihar. The Bihari population living in Pakistan and Bangladesh is also predominantly Muslim as well. Christian Biharis are significant in the Ranchi, Singhbhum, and Santhal districts of the Indian state of Jharkhand. \|Hindu castes in Bihar\| With the view of transferring population from densely populated regions of Bihar & Northern Provinces( Uttar Pradesh to waste lands/jungles of Burma, the British Government offered large tracts of land in Burma by way of Grants,to big Indian Zamindars & Princely States to take up the migration work. Invitations were sent to the Maharaja of Dumraon as well as to the Dewan of Dumraon State. While the Maharaja declined the offer, Dewan Jai Prakash Lall C.I.E. accepted the offer and was granted 18340 acres of land in Zayawadi region in Myanmar by the British Empire. Dewan Jai Prakash Lall C.I.E. & his son Rai Bahadur Harihar Prasad Singh took people from Bihar to Myanmar and let them cut and clean the forest in that land and allowed them to grow paddy & sugar cane to earn living.Prently about 100,000 Biharis inhabitant in this central part of Myanmar. Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh Since, the place of origin of Bihari people of India has been identified as Terai in present day Nepal, they have moved to Bihar on 14th Century and Settled in Bihar, hence known as Bihari. But, most of the Bihari people are again moving towards Nepal for job opportunity, better facilities and economy. The first Bihari settlement in Nepal started since the 18th century due to similar language and lifestyle to that of Nepali People of Madhesi ethnicity. They got mixed in their category and became permanent Nepali people with patroitism towards Nepal, not a Bihari or Indian People. In 1947, at the time of Partition, many Muslim Biharis moved to what was then East Bengal adjacent to their Bihar province in eastern India. In 1971, when war broke out between West Pakistan and East Pakistan (or Bangladesh), the Biharis sided with the military of West Pakistan. However, when East Pakistan became the independent state of Bangladesh in December 1971, the Biharis were left behind as the Pakistani army and civilians evacuated and the Bihari population in Bangladesh found themselves unwelcomed in both countries. Pakistan feared a mass influx of Biharis could destabilise a fragile and culturally mixed population, and Bangladeshis scorned the Biharis for having supported and sided with the West during the war. With little or no legal negotiation about offering the Biharis Pakistani citizenship or safe conduit back home to their native Bihar in India, the Biharis (called "stranded Pakistanis" by some Bangladeshi politicians) have remained stateless for 33 years. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has not addressed the plight of the Biharis. An estimated 600,000 Biharis live in 66 camps in 13 regions across Bangladesh, and an equal number have acquired Bangladeshi citizenship. In 1990, a small number of Biharis were allowed to immigrate to Pakistan. Pakistan has reiterated that as the successor state of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), as well as having greater cultural and linguistic similarities with Bengalis, Bangladesh should accept the Biharis as full citizens. Pakistani politicians and government officials have refused to accept these nearly 300,000 stranded Pakistanis of Bihari origin due to inability to absorb such a large number of immigrants at the moment. In May 2008, a Bangladeshi court ruled that Biharis who were either minors in 1971 or born after 1971 are Bangladeshi citizens and have the right to vote. As a result of the ruling, an estimated 150,000 of the 300,000 Biharis living in Bangladesh are eligible for Bangladeshi citizenship. Although the court ruling explicitly said that the Biharis are eligible to register to vote in the December 2008 elections, the Election Commission closed its rolls in August 2008 without enrolling them. A large number of people from Bihar travelled to various parts of the world in the 19th century to serve as indentured labour on sugarcane and rubber plantations in Mauritius and Natal-South Africa. Bihari sub-nationalism is a sentiment which unites people speaking Bihari languages. Bihar Movement was a movement initiated by students in the Indian state of Bihar in 1974 and led by the veteran Gandhian Socialist Jayaprakash Narayan against misrule of and corruption in the government. By 1975 it had attracted a mass following amongst all sections of the population in Bihar and in some other states. It is also called "total revolution". It led to giving up of surnames by many Biharis in the 1970s. Discrimination faced by the Bihari community Although racial differentiation in India is almost non-existent, they practice some form discrimination based on caste among themselves. During recent times, the people from Bihar have been the major victims of it, often resulting in violence directed against them, and even their social outcasting at times. The uneven economic development in India has resulted in mass migration of Bihari workers, and middle class professionals, to seek work in more developed states of India like Maharashtra, the North East region, Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. The free movement of Indians to settle and work anywhere inside the Indian Union has been guaranteed by the constitution of India. Bihari settler communities living in other states have been subjected to a growing degree of xenophobia, racial discrimination, prejudice and violence. Biharis are often looked down upon in Delhi and their accent is ridiculed. In 2000 and 2003, anti-Bihari violence led to the deaths of up to 200 people and created 10,000 internal refugees. Again in 2008, anti-Bihari violence in Maharashtra, notably in Nashik, Mumbai, and Pune, created a record 40,000 to 60,000 internal refugees. Attacks against Marathis After the October 2008 anti-Bihari attacks in Maharashtra, members of the Bharatiya Bhojpuri Sangh (BBS) vandalised the official residence of Tata Motors Jamshedpur plant head S.B. Borwankar, a Maharashtrian. Armed with lathis and hockey sticks, more than 100 BBS members trooped to Borwankar’s Nildih Road bungalow around 3.30 pm. Shouting anti-MNS slogans, they smashed windowpanes and broke flowerpots. BBS president Anand Bihari Dubey called the attack on Borwankar’s residence unfortunate, and said that he knew BBS members were angry after the attack in Maharashtra on Biharis, but did not expect a reaction. Fear of further violence gripped the 4,000-odd Maharashtrians settlers living in and around the city. - "Destination Bihar the land of Buddha". Indtravel.com. 2000-11-14. Retrieved 2013-09-12. - "The Muhajirs of Pakistan". One World South Asia. Retrieved 2008-12-28. - Joshua Project. "Joshua Project – Bihari Muslim of Bangladesh Ethnic People Profile". Joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 2013-09-12. - Mauritians will be able to track Bihar roots more easily - Thaindian News. Thaindian.com (2008-02-19) Retrieved on 2013-07-18. - "Bangladesh: Stateless Biharis Grasp for a Resolution and Their Rights". Refugees International. Archived from the original on 21 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-16. - "Stateless in Bangladesh and Pakistan". Stateless People in Bangladesh Inc. Archived from the original on 21 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-16. - "Pakistan under attack!". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 9 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-16. - "Assessment for Biharis in Bangladesh". Center for International Development and Conflict Management. Retrieved 2007-02-16. - P. 1543 Encyclopaedia of Hinduism By Nagendra Kumar Singh - Chakravarti, P. 99 The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through the Ages - Political History of Pre-Buddhist India By Asim Kumar Chatterjee - Maitra Asim, Magahi culture, Cosmo Publication, 1983, pp. 45 - A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, by Fa-hsien (chapter27) - Bashan A.L., The Wonder that was India, Picador, 2004, pp. 46 - Online BBC News Article: Religion & Ethics – Hinduism, BBC News, 2 January 2007 - Pathak Prabhu Nath,Society and Culture in Early Bihar, Commonwealth Publishers, 1988, pp. 134–140 - Thakur U., Studies in Jainism and Buddhism in Mithila, pp. 150 - Chaudhary R. K., Bihar the Home-land of Buddhism, Patna, 1956, pp. 87 - January 2008, VOL. 213, #1 - Gopal Ram, Rule Hindu Culture During and After Muslim, pp. 20, "Some invaders, like Bakhtiar Khilji, who did not know the value of books and art objects, destroyed them in large numbers and also the famous Nalanda ..." - The Maha-Bodhi By Maha Bodhi Society, Calcutta (page 8) - Omalley L.S.S., History of Magadha, Veena Publication, Delhi, 2005, pp. 35, "The Buddhism of Magadha was finally swept away by the Muhammadan invasion under Bakhtiyar Khilji, In 1197 the capital, Bihar, was seized by a small party of two hundred horsemen, who rushed the postern gate, and sacked the town. The slaughter of the "shaven-headed Brahmans," as the Muslim chronicler calls the Buddhist monks, was so complete that when the victor searched for someone capable of explaining the contents of the monastic libraries, not a living man could be found who was able to do so. "It was discovered," it was said, "that the whole fort and city was a place of study." A similar fate befell the other Buddhist institutions, against which the combined intolerance and rapacity of the invaders was directed. The monasteries were sacked and the monks slain, many of the temples were ruthlessly destroyed or desecrated, and countless idols were broken and trodden under foot. Those monks who escaped the sword flied to Tibet, Nepal and southern India; and Buddhism as a popular religion in Bihar, its last abode in Northern India, was finally destroyed. Then forward Patna passed under Muhammadan rule." - Smith V. A., Early history of India - Omalley L.S.S., History of Magadha, Veena Publication, Delhi, 2005, pp. 36, "Sher Shah on his return from Bengal, in 1541, came to patna, then a small town dependent on Bihar, which was the seat of the local government. He was standing on the ban of the Ganges, when, after much reflection, he said to those who were standing by – 'If a fort were to be built in this place, the waters of the Ganges could never flow far from it, and Patna would become one of the great towns of this country. The fort was completed. Bihar for that time was deserted, and fell to ruin; while Patna became one of the largest cities of the province. In 1620 we find Portuguese merchants at Patna; and Tavernier's account shows that a little more than a century after its foundation it was the great entrepot of Northern India "the largest town in Bengal and the most famous for trade..." - Elliot, History of India, Vol 4 - Omalley L.S.S., History of Magadha, Veena Publication, Delhi, 2005, pp. 37 - Indian Post. "First Bihar Deputy CM <expletive> Finance Minister; Dr. A N Sinha". official Website. Retrieved 2008-05-20. - Kamat. "Great freedom Fighters". Kamat's archive. Archived from the original on 20 February 2006. Retrieved 2006-02-25. - Encyclopedia Britannica. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-18. - Kumod Verma (14 February 2008). "Scared Biharis arrive from Mumbai". The Times of India. Retrieved 2008-02-14. - Wasbir Hussain. "30 Killed in Northeast Violence in India". Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-02-25. - Patnadaily. "40 Bihari Workers Killed by ULFA Activists in Assam". Patnadaily.com. Retrieved 2006-01-06.[dead link] - "Bihari Clothing". Web India 123. Retrieved 2007-02-16. - Jain Dhanesh, Cardona George, The Indo-Aryan Languages, pp500, "..the number of speakers of Bihari languages are difficult to indicate because of unreliable sources. In the urban region most educated speakers of the language name either Hindi or Urdu as their language because this is what they use in formal contexts and believe it to be the appropriate response because of unawareness. The uneducated and the rural population of the region regards Hindi or Urdu as the generic name for their language." - History of Indian languages, "Bihari is actually the name of a group of three related languages—Bhojpuri, Maithili, and Magahi—spoken mainly in northeastern India in Bihar. Despite its large number of speakers, Bihari is not a constitutionally recognized language of India. Even in Bihar, Hindi is the language used for educational and official matters." - Verma, Mahandra K. "Linguistic Structure and Language Dynamics in South Asia". - Brass Paul R., The Politics of India Since Independence, Cambridge University Press, pp. 183 - DR.Shamim Hashimi. Urdu Literature (1947-08-14). Retrieved on 2013-07-18. - Professor Dr. Syed Abdul Wahab Ashrafi, Sahitya Academy Award winner, brought to you by Bihar Anjuman, the largest online group from Bihar or Jharkhand. Biharanjuman.org (1936-06-02). Retrieved on 2013-07-18. - English empowerment project in Bihar. Post.jagran.com (2011-11-29). Retrieved on 2013-07-18. - "Religion of Biharis". Web India 123. Retrieved 2007-02-16. - "The People". Web India 123. Retrieved 2007-02-16. - "Muslim Biharis". Web India 123. Retrieved 2007-02-16. - "Stateless in Bangladesh and Pakistan". Stateless People in Bangladesh Inc. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-16. - "Christian Biharis". Web India 123. Retrieved 2007-02-16. - "Court rules that young Biharis are Bangladesh citizens". Reuters. 19 May 2008. - "Citizenship for Bihari refugees". BBC News. 19 May 2008. - "Bangladesh fails to register its Urdu-speaking citizens as voters". Indo-Asian News Service. Yahoo! News. 16 August 2008. - The Indian Diaspora. Pinkpigeonpress.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-18. - Ahmad Faizan, "Bihar violence: Raj the gainer", The times of India, Pune, 27 October 2008, pp. 6 - Constitution of India-Part III, Article 19, Fundamental Rights, Government of India, 1950 - ‘Outsiders’ must be welcomed, but Manipur is not alone in these isolationist excesses. In neighbouring Assam, six migrant workers have been killed in two attacks this year, and as many as 88 were killed, and 33 injured in 12 such incidents in 2007. Indeed, waves of xenophobic violence have swept across Assam repeatedly since 1979, variously targeting Bangladeshis, Bengalis, Biharis and Marwaris." - A clash of cultures, "..In the rest of India people tut-tuted this latest exhibition of the Sena's xenophobia ...the media led the charge holding opinion polls and debates.." - Vir Sanghvi, The Bhaiyya Effect, Hindustan Times, 27 September 2008 "The roots of Raj Thackeray's attack on the Bhaiyyas lie in India's economic transformation. Through a combination of poor planning and worse politics, Bihar and UP have been left out of the economic revolution. When people from those states travel outside to find work, those who have benefited from the recent prosperity treat them with the kind of snobbery and disdain with which the British treated Indians when we went to England to find employment in the 1950s. Then, we were seen as losers from a place that would never manage to prosper. But, of course, Indians ignored the racism and rose to the top of the economic pyramid." - CNN-IBN, State of neglect: Deluged Bihar falls off Govt map, 28 Aug 2008, "Does it hurt when Goa minister Ravi Naik said that people of Bihar are coming across and bringing poverty, when Raj Thackeray said that the people of Bihar must get out of Maharashtra? When racism and prejudice is directed against the people of Bihar, does it hurt and one feel that there is something that one must do for the state?" - AM, Calcutta Diary, Economic and Political Weekly, 21 July 2001 "..How come Bihar has such a negative image in the rest of the country? Fingers will be pointed at the obscurantism characterizing the state, but are things any better in Rajasthan? Bihar is supposed to be riven by caste dissensions; can it however hold a candle in this regard to Tamil Nadu? Feudalism and social oppression are hallmarks of Bihar's daily existence; what about Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Chhattisgarh though? According to some snooty people Biharis are by and large crude. Some others would prefer to say that the people of Bihar are rooted to the soil and hate to hide their natural instincts behind pretensions; they cannot be any cruder than those populating the backwaters of Punjab." - It's Bal Thakrey's turn now, says 'Ek Bihari Sau Beemari', Maharastra CM assures of action against him in reply \| eWeekdays.com Shiv Sena Supremo Balasahab Thakrey has come hard once again on Biharis. Bal Thakrey, in his latest article in Samna has written that Bihari's are like dieses. He said that Ek Bihari,Sau Bimari. Do Bihari Ladai ki taiyari, Teen Bihari train hamari and paanch Bihari to sarkar hamaari. Earlier it was Raj Thakrey and his party Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena who had launched an agitation against the North Indians. But this time it's Bal Thakrey who has asked Biharis and Bihari Politician to improve their behavior." - Biharis are an affliction, says Bal Thackeray" Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, in an attempt to overtake his estranged nephew Raj Thackeray's campaign against people from north India, termed Biharis as an affliction, and said they were unwanted in all other parts of the country. The ageing leader warned that the so-called Bihari leaders, by accusing people of Mumbai of harbouring "anti-national sentiments, were attempting to again breathe fire into the anti-north Indian feelings in Maharashtra." They must realize this would only put their brethren here at the receiving end, he added." - 40 Bihari Workers Killed by ULFA - PatnaDaily News[dead link] - India struggles to tame its heart of darkness "Biharis are often looked down upon in Delhi, and blamed for rising crime – the city's chief minister Sheila Dikshit publicly wonders how to turn back the tide." - MAYANK RASU, Musings of a Bihari, The Hindu, "Biharis" have now usurped the place of "Sardarjis" as a favourite butt of jokes. It is not just the jokes; there are other ways of embarrassing them too. Making fun of the Bihari accent and projecting it as the most rustic one is one of them." - AMSU against influx of Biharis to Manipur "In the wake of the ongoing violence in Assam, the All Manipur Students' Union on Wednesday appealed to the state government to curb the influx of Biharis into the state." - "10,000 Hindi-speakers relocated in Assam amid separatist attacks. \| Europe Intelligence Wire (November, 2003)". Accessmylibrary.com. 2003-11-27. Retrieved 2013-09-12. - Print Article: Hundreds flee ethnic violence "Hundreds of Hindi speakers in India's north-eastern state of Assam have started fleeing ethnic violence which has claimed 29 lives in the past week, they and officials said yesterday.... With police reporting another six people killed by mobs and separatist rebels overnight, a sense of panic began to spread through members of the Hindi-speaking community, many of whom hail from the eastern state of Bihar." - Thaker, Jayesh (22 October 2008). "Hate campaign spills over – House of Tata official attacked". The Telegraph (Calcutta, India). - Tata officer's bungalow ransacked in Jamshedpur[dead link] \|Wikimedia Commons has media related to People of Bihar.\|
In cryptography, a collision attack on a cryptographic hash tries to find two inputs producing the same hash value, i.e. a hash collision. In contrast to a preimage attack the hash value is not specified. There are roughly two types of collision attacks: - Collision attack - Find two different messages m1 and m2 such that hash(m1) = hash(m2). - Chosen-prefix collision attack - Given two different prefixes p1, p2 find two appendages m1 and m2 such that hash(p1 ∥ m1) = hash(p2 ∥ m2) (where ∥ is the concatenation operation). Classical collision attack Mathematically stated, a collision attack finds two different messages m1 and m2, such that hash(m1) = hash(m2). In a classical collision attack, the attacker has no control over the content of either message, but they are arbitrarily chosen by the algorithm. Much like symmetric-key ciphers are vulnerable to brute force attacks, every cryptographic hash function is inherently vulnerable to collisions using a birthday attack. Due to the birthday problem, these attacks are much faster than a brute force would be. A hash of n bits can be broken in 2n/2 time (evaluations of the hash function). More efficient attacks are possible by employing cryptanalysis to specific hash functions. When a collision attack is discovered and is found to be faster than a birthday attack, a hash function is often denounced as "broken". The NIST hash function competition was largely induced by published collision attacks against two very commonly used hash functions, MD5 and SHA-1. The collision attacks against MD5 have improved so much that it takes just a few seconds on a regular computer. Hash collisions created this way are usually constant length and largely unstructured, so cannot directly be applied to attack widespread document formats or protocols. However, workarounds are possible by abusing dynamic constructs present in many formats. In this way, two documents would be created which are as similar as possible in order to have the same hash value. One document would be shown to an authority to be signed, and then the signature could be copied to the other file. Such a malicious document would contain two different messages in the same document, but conditionally display one or the other through subtle changes to the file: - Some document formats like PostScript, or macros in Microsoft Word, have conditional constructs. (if-then-else) that allow testing whether a location in the file has one value or another in order to control what is displayed. - TIFF files can contain cropped images, with a different part of an image being displayed without affecting the hash value. - PDF files are vulnerable to collision attacks by using color value (such that text of one message is displayed with a white color that blends into the background, and text of the other message is displayed with a dark color) which can then be altered to change the signed document's content. Chosen-prefix collision attack An extension of the collision attack is the chosen-prefix collision attack, which is specific to Merkle–Damgård hash functions. In this case, the attacker can choose two arbitrarily different documents, and then append different calculated values that result in the whole documents having an equal hash value. This attack is much more powerful than a classical collision attack. Mathematically stated, given two different prefixes p1, p2, the attack finds two appendages m1 and m2 such that hash(p1 ∥ m1) = hash(p2 ∥ m2) (where ∥ is the concatenation operation). In 2007, a chosen-prefix collision attack was found against MD5, requiring roughly 250 evaluations of the MD5 function. The paper also demonstrates two X.509 certificates for different domain names, with colliding hash values. This means that a certificate authority could be asked to sign a certificate for one domain, and then that certificate could be used to impersonate another domain. A real-world collision attack was published in December 2008 when a group of security researchers published a forged X.509 signing certificate that could be used to impersonate a certificate authority, taking advantage of a prefix collision attack against the MD5 hash function. This meant that an attacker could impersonate any SSL-secured website as a man-in-the-middle, thereby subverting the certificate validation built in every web browser to protect electronic commerce. The rogue certificate may not be revokable by real authorities, and could also have an arbitrary forged expiry time. Even though MD5 was known to be very weak in 2004, certificate authorities were still willing to sign MD5-verified certificates in December 2008, and at least one Microsoft code-signing certificate was still using MD5 in May 2012. The Flame malware successfully used a new variation of a chosen-prefix collision attack to spoof code signing of its components by a Microsoft root certificate that still used the compromised MD5 algorithm. Many applications of crytographic hash functions do not rely on collision resistance, thus collision attacks do not affect their security. For example, HMACs are not vulnerable. For the attack to be useful, the attacker must be in control of the input to the hash function. Because digital signature algorithms cannot sign a large amount of data efficiently, most implementations use a hash function to reduce ("compress") the amount of data that needs to be signed down to a constant size. Digital signature schemes are often vulnerable to hash collisions, unless using techniques like randomized hashing. The usual attack scenario goes like this: - Mallory creates two different documents A and B, that have an identical hash value (collision). - Mallory then sends document A to Alice, who agrees to what the document says, signs its hash and sends it back to Mallory. - Mallory copies the signature sent by Alice from document A to document B. - Then she sends document B to Bob, claiming that Alice signed the other document (document B). Because the digital signature matches the document hash, Bob's software is unable to detect the modification. - Xiaoyun Wang, Dengguo Feng, Xuejia Lai, Hongbo Yu: Collisions for Hash Functions MD4, MD5, HAVAL-128 and RIPEMD, Cryptology ePrint Archive Report 2004/199, 16 Aug 2004, revised 17 Aug 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2008. - M.M.J. Stevens (June 2007). "On Collisions for MD5". [...] we are able to find collisions for MD5 in about 224.1 compressions for recommended IHVs which takes approx. 6 seconds on a 2.6GHz Pentium 4. - Magnus Daum, Stefan Lucks. "Hash Collisions (The Poisoned Message Attack)". Eurocrypt 2005 rump session. - Max Gebhardt, Georg Illies, Werner Schindler. "A Note on the Practical Value of Single Hash Collisions for Special File Formats". - Marc Stevens, Arjen Lenstra, Benne de Weger (2007-11-30). "Chosen-preﬁx Collisions for MD5 and Colliding X.509 Certiﬁcates for Diﬀerent Identities". - Alexander Sotirov et al (2008-12-30). "Creating a rogue CA certificate". - "Microsoft releases Security Advisory 2718704". Microsoft. 3 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012. - Marc Stevens (7 June 2012). "CWI Cryptanalist Discovers New Cryptographic Attack Variant in Flame Spy Malware". Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica. Retrieved 9 June 2012. - "Hash Collision Q&A". Cryptography Research Inc. 2005-02-15. Archived from the original on 2008-07-17. Because of the way hash functions are used in the HMAC construction, the techniques used in these recent attacks do not apply - Shai Halevi and Hugo Krawczyk, Randomized Hashing and Digital Signatures - "Meaningful Collisions", attack scenarios for exploiting cryptographic hash collisions - Fast MD5 and MD4 Collision Generators - Bishop Fox (formerly Stach & Liu). Create MD4 and MD5 hash collisions using groundbreaking new code that improves upon the techniques originally developed by Xiaoyun Wang. Using a 1.6 GHz Pentium 4, MD5 collisions can be generated in an average of 45 minutes, and MD4 collisions can be generated in an average of 5 seconds. Originally released on 22Jun2006.
History of Bolivia (1920–64) Part of a series on the \|History of Bolivia\| This article is about the history of Bolivia from 1920 to 1964. Bolivia is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the west. Prior to European colonization, the Andean region of Bolivia was a part of the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. - 1 The Republican Party and the Great Depression - 2 The Chaco War - 3 Prelude to revolution (1935–52) - 4 The Bolivian national revolution (1952–64) - 5 References The Republican Party and the Great Depression The Liberal Party's long rule of Bolivia, one of the most stable periods in the country's history, ended when the Republicans seized the presidency in a bloodless coup in 1920. The advent of the Republican Party did not at first indicate any profound change in Bolivian politics. Fernando Díez de Medina, a Bolivian writer, commented on the change: "Twenty years of privilege for one group ends, and ten years of privilege for another begins." The 1920s, however, was also a period of political change. New parties emerged as the Republican Party split into several factions. One major opposing branch was led by Bautista Saavedra Mallea, who had the support of the urban middle class, and the other was led by the more conservative Daniel Salamanca Urey (1931–34). A number of minor political parties influenced by socialist or Marxist thought also emerged. During Republican rule, the Bolivian economy underwent a profound change. Tin prices started to decline in the 1920s. After peaking in 1929, tin production declined dramatically as the Great Depression nearly destroyed the international tin market. This decline was also caused by the decrease in the tin content of ore and the end of new investment in the mines in Bolivia. As economic growth slowed, Republican presidents relied on foreign loans. Saavedra (1920–25) and Hernando Siles Reyes (1926–30) borrowed heavily in the United States to finance major development projects, despite opposition by Bolivian nationalists to the favorable terms for the lender. The so-called Nicolaus loan aroused national indignation because it gave the United States control over Bolivia's tax collections in return for a private banking loan of US$33 million. During the 1920s, Bolivia faced growing social turmoil. Labor unrest, such as the miners' strike in Uncia in 1923, was brutally suppressed. But the unrest reached new heights of violence after the drastic reduction of the work force during the Great Depression. Indian peasants continued to rebel in the countryside, although they had been disarmed and their leaders had been executed after participating in the overthrow of the Conservative Party in 1899. Now, for the first time, the Indians found support for their cause among the elite. Gustavo Navarro, who took the name Tristan Marof, was Bolivia's most important Indianist. He saw in the Inca past the first successful socialism and the model to solve rural problems. As Indian uprisings continued during Liberal rule, Siles Reyes promised to improve their situation and organized the National Crusade in Favor of Indians. The social legislation of the Republican governments was weak, however, because neither Saavedra nor Siles Reyes wanted to challenge the rosca (tin mining magnates' political representatives). Siles Reyes's four years of inconsistent rule and unfulfilled promises of radical changes frustrated workers and students. In 1930 he was overthrown when he tried to bypass the constitutional provision forbidding reelection by resigning in order to run again. A military junta ruled until March 1931, when Salamanca (1931–34) was elected as a coalition candidate. Although he was an esteemed economist before taking office, Salamanca was unable to suppress social unrest and to solve the severe economic problems caused by the Great Depression. Criticism of his administration mounted in all sectors of Bolivian society. Initially reluctant to enter into an armed conflict with Paraguay, he nevertheless led Bolivia into war, a move supported by the military and traditional groups. The Chaco War The origin of the Chaco War was a border dispute between Bolivia and Paraguay over the Chaco. This vast area was largely undeveloped except for some minor oil discoveries by Standard Oil in Bolivia and Royal Dutch Shell in Paraguay. The Chaco, which Bolivia traditionally regarded as a province (Gran Chaco), became more significant to Bolivia after the latter lost its Pacific Ocean outlet to Chile. Bolivia hoped to gain access to the Atlantic Ocean with an oil pipeline across the Chaco to the Paraguay River. Despite mediation attempts by various countries, the increased number of border incidents led the military high commands of Bolivia and Paraguay to believe in the inevitability of war. Salamanca used one of the border incidents to break diplomatic relations with Paraguay and increase Bolivia's military budget, even though the country had severe economic problems. Convinced that Bolivia's better-equipped, German-trained troops, which outnumbered the Paraguayan army, could win the war, Salamanca went to war in 1932. The war raged for the next three years. The Bolivians were defeated in all major battles, and by the end of 1934 they had been driven back 482 kilometers from their original positions deep in the Chaco to the foothills of the Andes. Serious strategic errors, poor intelligence, and logistical problems in reaching the distant battle lines contributed to the losses. In addition, the morale of the Bolivian troops was low, and the highland Indians could not adapt to the extreme climate in the low-lying Chaco. Despite the high command's decision to end the war, Salamanca was determined to continue at all costs. In 1934, when he traveled to the Chaco to take command of the war, Salamanca was arrested by the high command and forced to resign. His vice-president, José Luis Tejada Sorzano, who was known to favor peace, was accepted as president (1934–36). Salamanca's overthrow was a turning point in the Chaco War. The Paraguayan troops were stopped by new, more capable Bolivian officers, who fought closer to Bolivian supply lines. On June 14, 1935, a commission of neutral nations (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and the United States) declared an armistice; a definite settlement was finally reached in 1938. Bolivia lost the Chaco but retained the petroleum fields, which Paraguay had failed to reach. Both countries suffered heavy losses in the war. In Bolivia alone, an estimated 65,000 people were killed and 35,000 wounded or captured out of a population of just under 3 million. The humiliating disaster of the Chaco War had a profound impact in Bolivia, where it was seen as dividing the history of the twentieth century. The traditional oligarchy was discredited because of its inept civilian and military leadership in the war. Unable to deal with growing criticism, its members blamed the loss of the war on the low potential of the Bolivians and saw the earlier pessimistic assessment in Alcides Arguedas's famous novel Pueblo Enfermo (A Sick People) confirmed. After the war, a group of middle-class professionals, writers, and young officers questioned the traditional leadership. This group, which came to be known as the Chaco Generation, searched for new ways to deal with the nation's problems. It resented the service of the rosca on behalf of the tin-mining entrepreneurs and criticized Standard Oil, which had delivered oil to Paraguay clandestinely through Argentine intermediaries during the war. The Chaco Generation was convinced of the need for social change. Gustavo Navarro, now more radical than during the 1920s, raised the famous slogan "land to the Indians, mines to the state". The military, which came to power in 1936, tried to bring about change with popular support. Prelude to revolution (1935–52) Radical military government On May 17, 1936, Colonel David Toro Ruilova (1936–37) overthrew Tejada in a military coup. Because the officer corps wanted to avoid a civilian investigation of the military's wartime leadership, military backing for the coup came from all ranks. The main backers, however, were a group of younger officers who wanted to bring profound change to Bolivia. Toro, the leader of this group, hoped to reform the country from the top down. His program of "military socialism" included social and economic justice and government control over natural resources. He also planned to set up a corporate-style political system to replace the democratic system established in 1825. Toro attempted to get civilian support with far-reaching social legislation and nominated a print worker as the first labor secretary in Bolivia. He also nationalized the holdings of Standard Oil without compensation and called for the convening of a constitutional congress that would include the traditional parties, as well as new reformist groups and the labor movement. Toro was unable, however, to enlist lasting popular support. A group of more radical officers resented his reluctance to challenge the rosca, and they supported a coup by Colonel Germán Busch Becerra (1937–39) in 1937. A new constitution, promulgated in 1938, stressed the primacy of the common good over private property and favored government intervention in social and economic relations. It also legally recognized the Indian communities and included a labor code. In 1939 Busch challenged the interests of the mine owners for the first time by issuing a decree that would prevent the mining companies from removing capital from the country. None of his policies, however, resulted in significant popular and military support, and they completely alienated the conservative forces. Frustrated by his inability to bring about change, Busch committed suicide in 1939. Despite the weakness of the Toro and Busch regimes, their policies had a profound impact on Bolivia. Reformist decrees raised expectations among the middle class, but when they failed to be implemented, they contributed to the growth of the left. The constitutional convention gave the new forces for the first time a nationwide platform and the possibility of forming alliances. The military socialist regimes also prompted the conservatives to join forces to stem the growth of the left. The rise of new political groups After a few months under the provisional presidency of General Carlos Quintanilla Quiroga (1939–40), the chief of staff during the Busch regime, the government changed hands again. General Enrique Peñaranda Castillo (1940–43) was elected president in the spring of 1940. Peñaranda's support came from the traditional parties, the Liberals, and the two wings of the Republicans, who had formed a concordancia to stem the growth of the movement toward reform. The trend toward reform, however, could not be halted, and a number of new groups gained control of the Congress during Peñaranda's presidency. These groups, although very different in their ideological outlooks, agreed on the need to change the status quo. They included the Trotskyite Revolutionary Workers Party (Partido Obrero Revolucionario, POR), which had already been formed in 1934, as well as the Bolivian Socialist Falange (Falange Socialista Boliviana, FSB), founded in 1937 and patterned on the Spanish model. The Leftist Revolutionary Party (Partido de Izquierda Revolucionaria, PIR) was founded in 1940 by a coalition of radical Marxist groups. The most important opposition to the concordancia came from the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario, MNR). The first party with widespread support in Bolivian history, the MNR had a membership that included intellectuals and both white-collar and blue-collar workers. It was founded in 1941 by a small group of intellectual dissidents from the middle and upper classes and represented persons from a wide range of political persuasions who were united by their discontent with the status quo. Among its leaders were Víctor Paz Estenssoro, a professor of economics; Hernán Siles Zuazo, the son of former President Siles Reyes; and several influential writers. The party's program included nationalization of all of Bolivia's natural resources and far-reaching social reforms. Its anti-Semitic statements resulted not only in the imprisonment of MNR leaders but also in charges by the United States government that MNR was under the influence of Nazi fascism. As the leader of the congressional opposition, the MNR denounced Peñaranda's close cooperation with the United States and was especially critical of his agreement to compensate Standard Oil for its nationalized holdings. The MNR members of the Congress also began an investigation of the massacre of striking miners and their families by government troops at one of the Patiño mines in Catavi in 1942. MNR influence with the miners increased when Paz Estenssoro led the congressional interrogation of government ministers. The MNR had contacts with reformist military officers, who were organized in a secret military lodge named the Fatherland's Cause (Razón de Patria, Radepa). Radepa was founded in 1934 by Bolivian prisoners of war in Paraguay. It sought mass support, backed military intervention in politics, and hoped to prevent excessive foreign control over Bolivia's natural resources. In December 1943, the Radepa-MNR alliance overthrew the Peñaranda regime. Major Gualberto Villarroel López (1943–46) became president, and three MNR members, including Paz Estenssoro, joined his cabinet. The MNR ministers resigned, however, when the United States refused recognition, repeating its charge of ties between the MNR and Nazi Germany. The ministers returned to their posts in 1944, after the party had won a majority in the election and the United States had recognized the government. Villarroel's government emphasized continuity with the reformist regimes of Toro and Busch. Paz Estenssoro, who served as minister of finance, hoped to get popular support with a budget that emphasized social spending over economic development. But the salary increase for miners did not bring about their consistent backing of the government and only managed to strengthen the ties between the MNR and miners. The Villarroel government also tried for the first time to get the support of the campesinos. In 1945 it created the National Indigenous Congress to discuss the problems in the countryside and to improve the situation of the peasants. However, most of the social legislation, such as the abolition of the labor obligation of the campesinos to their landlords, was never put in effect. Villarroel was overthrown in 1946. He had been unable to organize popular support and faced opposition from conservative groups and increasing political terrorism that included murders of the government's opponents. Rivalry between the MNR and the military in the governing coalition also contributed to his downfall. In 1946 mobs of students, teachers, and workers seized arms from the arsenal and moved to the presidential palace. They captured and shot Villarroel and suspended his body from a lamppost in the main square, while the army remained aloof in the barracks. The sexenio (1946–52) The six years preceding the 1952 Revolution are known as the sexenio. During this period, members of the Conservative Party tried to stem the growth of the left, but they ultimately failed because they could not halt the economic decline and control the growing social unrest. Enrique Hertzog Garaizabal (1947–49), who was elected president in 1947 after the interim rule of a provisional junta, formed a coalition cabinet that included not only the concordancia but also the PIR. He hoped to retain the backing of the Conservative Party forces by not increasing taxes, but he tried also to gain labor support, relying on the PIR to mobilize the workers. The labor sector did not cooperate with the government, however, and the PIR became discredited because of its alliance with the conservative forces. In 1946 the workers endorsed the Thesis of Pulacayo, in which the miners called for permanent revolution and violent armed struggle for the working class. As the labor sector became more radical, the government resorted more and more to oppression, and confrontations increased. The dismissal of 7,000 miners and the brutal suppression of yet another uprising in Catavi in 1949 made any cooperation between the government and the workers impossible. The MNR emerged as the dominant opposition group. Although most of its leaders, including Paz Estenssoro, were in exile in Argentina, the party continued to be represented in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. During the sexenio, the party, despite its predominantly middle-class background, repeatedly took the side of the workers and adopted their ideology. The MNR also came to support the defense of Indian rights, as violence in the countryside increased when the promises given at the National Indigenous Congress were not fulfilled. The MNR's attempts to gain power during the sexenio were unsuccessful. Its 1949 coup attempt failed, although with the support of the workers and some military officers it succeeded in gaining control of most major cities except La Paz. The MNR's attempt to gain power by legal means in 1951 also failed. In the presidential election of May 1951, the MNR's Paz Estenssoro, who remained in exile in Argentina, ran for president and Siles Zuazo ran for vice president, both on a platform of nationalization and land reform. With the support of the POR and the newly formed Bolivian Communist Party (Partido Comunista de Bolivia, PCB), the MNR won with a clear plurality. The outgoing president, however, persuaded the military to step in and prevent the MNR from taking power. Mamerto Urriolagoitia Harriague (1949–51), who had succeeded the ailing Hertzog in 1949, backed a military junta under General Hugo Ballivián Rojas (1951–52). Under Ballivián, the government made a last futile attempt to suppress the growing unrest throughout the country. By 1952 the Bolivian economy had deteriorated even further. The governments of the sexenio had been reluctant to increase taxes for the upper class and to reduce social spending, resulting in high inflation. The tin industry had stagnated since the Great Depression, despite short revivals during World War II. Ore content had declined, and the richer veins were depleted, increasing tin production costs; at the same time, tin prices on the international market fell. A disagreement with the United States over tin prices halted exports temporarily and caused a decline in income that further hurt the economy. The agricultural sector lacked capital, and food imports had increased, reaching 19 percent of total imports in 1950. Land was unequally distributed—92 percent of the cultivable land was held by estates of 1,000 hectares or more. The social unrest that resulted from this economic decline increased during the last weeks before the 1952 Revolution, when a hunger march through La Paz attracted most sectors of society. The military was severely demoralized, and the high command called unsuccessfully for unity in the armed forces; many officers assigned themselves abroad, charged each other with coup attempts, or deserted. By the beginning of 1952, the MNR again tried to gain power by force, plotting with General Antonio Seleme, the junta member in control of internal administration and the National Police (Policía Nacional). On April 9, the MNR launched the rebellion in La Paz by seizing arsenals and distributing arms to civilians. Armed miners marched on La Paz and blocked troops on their way to reinforce the city. After three days of fighting, the desertion of Seleme, and the loss of 600 lives, the army completely surrendered; Paz Estenssoro assumed the presidency on April 16, 1952. The Bolivian national revolution (1952–64) The "reluctant revolutionaries", as the leaders of the multiclass MNR were called by some, looked more to Mexico than to the Soviet Union for a model. But during the first year of Paz Estenssoro's presidency, the radical faction in the party, which had gained strength during the sexenio when the party embraced the workers and their ideology, forced the MNR leaders to act quickly. In July 1952, the government established universal suffrage, with neither literacy nor property requirements. In the first postrevolutionary elections in 1956, the population of eligible voters increased from approximately 200,000 to nearly 1 million. The government also moved quickly to control the armed forces, purging many officers associated with past Conservative Party regimes and drastically reducing the forces' size and budget. The government also closed the Military Academy (Colegio Militar) and required that officers take an oath to the MNR. The government then began the process of nationalizing all mines of the three great tin companies. First, it made the export and sale of all minerals a state monopoly to be administered by the state-owned Mining Bank of Bolivia (Banco Minero de Bolivia, Bamin). Then it set up the Mining Corporation of Bolivia (Corporación Minera de Bolivia, Comibol) as a semi-autonomous enterprise to run state-owned mines. On October 31, 1952, the government nationalized the three big tin companies, leaving the medium-sized mines untouched, and promising compensation. In this process, two-thirds of Bolivia's mining industry was turned over to Comibol. A far-reaching agrarian reform was the final important step taken by the revolutionary government. In January 1953, the government established the Agrarian Reform Commission, using advisers from Mexico, and decreed the Agrarian Reform Law the following August. The law abolished forced labor and established a program of expropriation and distribution of the rural property of the traditional landlords to the Indian peasants. Only estates with low productivity were completely distributed. More productive small and medium-sized farms were allowed to keep part of their land and were encouraged to invest new capital to increase agricultural production. The Agrarian Reform Law also provided for compensation for landlords to be paid in the form of twenty-five-year government bonds. The amount of compensation was based on the value of the property declared for taxes. During the first years of the revolution, miners wielded extraordinary influence within the government. In part, this influence was based on the miners' decisive role in the fighting of April 1952. In addition, however, armed militias of miners formed by the government to counterbalance the military had become a powerful force in their own right. Miners immediately organized the Bolivian Labor Federation (Central Obrera Boliviana, COB), which demanded radical change as well as participation in the government and benefits for its members. As a result, the government included three pro-COB ministers in the cabinet and accepted the demand for fuero sindical, the legally autonomous status that granted the COB semi-sovereign control over the workers of Bolivia. The MNR regime gave worker representatives veto power in all Comibol decisions and allowed for a co-government in mine administration. The government also established special stores for the miners, increased their salaries, and rehired fired workers. The peasants also exerted a powerful influence. At first, the government was unable to control the occupation of land by the peasants. As a result, it could not enforce the provisions of the land reform decree to keep medium-sized productive estates intact. But the MNR eventually gained the support of the campesinos when the Ministry of Peasant Affairs was created and when peasants were organized into syndicates. Peasants were not only granted land but their militias also were given large supplies of arms. The peasants remained a powerful political force in Bolivia during all subsequent governments. The unfinished revolution Although these major steps were never reversed, observers have regarded the revolution as unfinished because it lost momentum after the first years. The divisions within the MNR seriously weakened its attempt to incorporate the support of the Indian peasants, the workers, and the middle class for the government. In 1952 the MNR was a broad coalition of groups with different interests. Juan Lechín Oquendo led the left wing of the party and had the support of the labor sector. Siles Zuazo represented the right wing and had the backing of the middle class. Paz Estenssoro was initially the neutral leader. Because the majority of the MNR elite wanted a moderate course and the left wing demanded radical change, the polarization increased and led eventually to the destruction of the MNR in 1964. The country faced severe economic problems as a result of the changes enacted by the government. The nationalization of the mines had a negative effect on the economy. The mines of Comibol produced at a loss because of the lack of technical expertise and capital to modernize the aging plants and nearly depleted deposits of low-grade ore. Declining tin prices on the world market contributed to the economic problems in the mining sector. Nevertheless, workers in the management of Comibol increased salaries and the work force by nearly 50 percent. The decline of agricultural production contributed to the rapidly deteriorating economy during the first years of the revolution. Although anarchy in the countryside was the main reason for the decrease in production, the peasants' inability to produce for a market economy and the lack of transport facilities contributed to the problem. The attempt to increase agricultural production by colonizing the less densely populated valleys was not successful at first. As a result, the food supply for the urban population decreased, and Bolivia had to import food. High inflation, primarily caused by social spending, also hurt the economy. The value of the peso, Bolivia's former currency, fell from 60 to 12,000 to the United States dollar between 1952 and 1956, affecting primarily the urban middle class, which began to support the opposition. The bankrupt economy increased the factionalism within the MNR. Whereas the left wing demanded more government control over the economy, the right wing hoped to solve the nation's problems with aid from the United States. The government had sought cooperation with the United States as early as 1953, a move that had given the United States influence over Bolivia's economy. Because of United States pressure, the Bolivian government promised to compensate the owners of nationalized tin mines and drew up a new petroleum code, which again allowed United States investments in Bolivian oil. During the presidency of Siles Zuazo (1956–60 and 1982–85), who won the election with 84 percent of the vote, United States aid reached its highest level. In 1957 the United States subsidized more than 30 percent of the Bolivian government's central budget. Advised by the United States government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Siles Zuazo regime then in power reduced inflation with a number of politically dangerous measures, such as the freezing of wages and the ending of the government-subsidized miners' stores. Siles Zuazo's stabilization plan seriously damaged the coalition between the MNR and the COB. The COB called immediately for a general strike, which threatened to destroy an already disrupted economy; the strike was called off only after impassioned appeals by the president. But the conflict between the government and the miners' militias continued as the militias constantly challenged the government's authority. Siles Zuazo faced not only labor unrest in the mines but also discontent in the countryside, where peasant leaders were competing for power. In an effort to quell the unrest, he decided to rebuild the armed forces. During the Siles Zuazo administration, the strength of the armed forces grew as a result of a new concern for professionalism and training, technical assistance from the United States, and an increase in the size and budget of the military. In addition, the military's role in containing unrest gave it increasing influence within the MNR government. Although the stabilization plan and the strengthening of the armed forces were resented by Lechín's faction of the party, the first formal dissent came from Walter Guevara Arze and the MNR right wing. Guevara Arze, who had been foreign minister and then minister of government in the first Paz Estenssoro government, split from the MNR to form the Authentic Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario Auténtico, MNRA) in 1960, when his presidential hopes were destroyed by Paz Estenssoro's candidacy. Guevara Arze charged that the MNR had betrayed the revolution, and he posed a formidable opposition in the presidential election of 1960. Conflicts within the MNR increased during Paz Estenssoro's second term (1960–64). Together with the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Paz Estenssoro endorsed the "Triangular Plan", which called for a restructuring of the tin-mining industry. The plan demanded the end of the workers' control over Comibol operations, the firing of workers, and a reduction in their salaries and benefits; it was strongly opposed by the COB and Lechín's MNR faction. In 1964 Paz Estenssoro decided to run again for president, using a revision of the 1961 Constitution that would allow for a consecutive term, and he forced his nomination at a party convention. Lechín, who had hoped to become the presidential candidate, broke away to form the National Leftist Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario de la Izquierda Nacional, PRIN). With his support in the MNR dwindling and opposition from the labor sector mounting, Paz Estenssoro accepted General René Barrientos Ortuño as vice presidential candidate. Because most opposition groups abstained, Paz Estenssoro was reelected with the support of the military and the peasants. Paz Estenssoro had come to rely increasingly on the military, whose role as a peacekeeper had made it an arbiter in politics. But this support was to prove unreliable; the military was already planning to overthrow him. Moreover, rivalry among peasant groups often resulted in bloody feuds that further weakened the Paz Estenssoro government. During its twelve-year rule, the MNR had failed to build a firm basis for democratic, civilian government. Increasing factionalism, open dissent, ideological differences, policy errors, and corruption weakened the party and made it impossible to establish an institutional framework for the reforms. Not even the peasants, who were the main beneficiaries of the revolution, consistently supported the MNR. - Maria Luise Wagner. "The Republican Party and the Great Depression". In Hudson & Hanratty. - Maria Luise Wagner. "The Chaco War". In Hudson & Hanratty. - Maria Luise Wagner. "Radical military government". In Hudson & Hanratty. - Maria Luise Wagner. "The rise of new political groups". In Hudson & Hanratty. - Maria Luise Wagner. "The sexenio (1946–52)". In Hudson & Hanratty. - Maria Luise Wagner. "Radical reforms". In Hudson & Hanratty. - Maria Luise Wagner. "The unfinished revolution". In Hudson & Hanratty.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Last updated: 05/23/2023 - Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy utilizes Henry’s Law (the amount of gas that dissolves in a liquid is directly proportional to its partial pressure) to increase the dissolved oxygen content (0.3 mL/dL at sea level [1 atm] vs. 6 mL/dL at 3 atm pressure) and oxygen delivery. - Hyperbaric oxygen delivery results in a decrease in the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) due to an increase in partial pressures of the volatile agent for a given concentration at higher barometric pressures. - Hyperbaric oxygen-related seizures are more likely with long, sustained treatment sessions (90-120 minutes without short intervals of room air) and the use of near-maximal pressures (2.8-3 atm). Overview & Indications - HBO therapy is an adjunct therapy that can be used to treat a number of medical conditions (Table 1).1-3 HBO therapy utilizes Henry’s Law which states that at a constant temperature and at equilibrium, the amount of gas that dissolves in a liquid is directly proportional to its partial pressure. For instance, at sea level (1 atm), the dissolved plasma oxygen concentration is 0.3 mL/dL, whereas HBO delivered at 3 atm results in a dissolved plasma oxygen concentration of 6 mL/dL resulting in increased oxygen delivery to end organs and tissues.2-3 - The indications for HBO therapy can be grouped into three main categories (Table 1).2,3 1. Wound healing acceleration and angiogenesis enhancement 2. Antimicrobial effects 3. Medical emergencies. - Newer indications include: - COVID-19 pneumonia and other hypoxic respiratory failures4 - An emerging anesthesia-specific indication is the treatment of perioperative nerve injuries5 as well as a potential use in the treatment and modulation of chronic pain.6 - Newer indications include: Mechanism of Action - As mentioned earlier, based on Henry’s law, HBO therapy increases oxygen content and delivery in conditions such as profound anemia, carbon monoxide poisoning, acute and chronic ischemia. - In addition to Henry’s Law, HBO therapy involves the discussion of several other gas laws, particularly when discussing potential anesthetic effects. These include: - Boyle’s Law: at a constant temperature, the volume of a gas is inversely proportional to the pressure exerted on it. This explains the role of HBO therapy in reducing the size of nitrogen bubbles in decompression sickness and gas embolism. At 3.0 atm, the size of nitrogen bubbles decreases by about two-thirds. - Gay-Lussac’s Law: at constant volume, the pressure of a gas is proportional to its temperature. - Charles’ Law: at constant pressure, the volume of a gas will vary directly with its temperature. - Dalton’s Law: the total pressure of a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of their partial pressures. - The effects of HBO therapy on improved wound healing are mediated by the generation of reactive oxygen species (e.g., oxygen-derived free radicals, hydrogen peroxide) and reactive nitrogen species (nitric oxide) in the tissues.2,3 HBO-mediated hyperoxia causes vasoconstriction which reduces vasogenic edema. HBO also reduces ischemia-reperfusion-induced leukocyte influx. - Volatile agents produce anesthesia based on the partial pressure of the anesthetic in the body, not on the volume of the agent in the lungs. When volatile agents are administered to patients undergoing HBO therapy, this causes a decrease in the MAC because there is an increase in partial pressure of the volatile agent for a given concentration at higher barometric pressures. There is also an increase in gas density in HBO therapy, which also causes the rotameter flowmeters to read falsely high. For example, 2.0% sevoflurane at 1 atm would produce the same amount of anesthesia as 0.66% sevoflurane at 3 atm. - Common side effects of HBO include claustrophobia, fatigue, headache, and vomiting. More serious complications include barotrauma (middle ear, sinus, pulmonary), pulmonary oxygen toxicity, reversible myopia, and central nervous system (CNS) oxygen toxicity (i.e., seizures). - Seizures during HBO therapy are quite rare (~1 in 50,000 patients).7 - Risk factors include prior history of seizures or head trauma as well as those receiving glucocorticoids, insulin, thyroid replacement, and sympathomimetic medications. - Seizure risk is increased when patients are exposed to HBO for greater than 90-120 minutes and when using pressures of 2.8-3 atm. - Management of CNS oxygen toxicity seizures includes7 - terminating the HBO therapy session; - decreasing the FiO2 to 0.21; - anticonvulsant therapy; and - supportive care. - The only absolute contraindication to HBO therapy is untreated pneumothorax. Relative contraindications for HBO therapy include2,3 - pacemaker and other implanted devices; - severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma; - current fever; and - concurrent treatment with bleomycin (oxygen toxicity) or doxorubicin (synergistic cardiotoxicity). - Leach RM, Rees PJ, Wilmshurst P. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy. BMJ. 1998; 317:1140-3. PubMed - Ortega MA, Fraile-Martinez O, García-Montero C, et al. A General overview on the hyperbaric oxygen therapy: Applications, mechanisms, and translational opportunities. Medicina. 2021; 57(9):864. PubMed - Mechem CC, Manaker S. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy. In: Post T (ed). UpToDate; 2023. Accessed March 7th, 2023. - Boet S, Etherington C, Ghanmi N, et al. Efficacy and safety of hyperbaric oxygen treatment to treat COVID-19 pneumonia: a living systematic review update. Diving Hyperb Med. 2022;52(2):126-35. PubMed - Brenna CT, Khan S, Katznelson R, et al. The role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the management of perioperative peripheral nerve injury: a scoping review of the literature. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2022; rapm-2022-104113. PubMed - Sutherland AM, Clarke HA, Katz J, et al. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy: A new treatment for chronic pain? Pain Pract. 2016;16(5):620-8. PubMed - Hadanny A, Meir O, Bechor Y, et al. Seizures during hyperbaric oxygen therapy: retrospective analysis of 62,614 treatment sessions. Undersea Hyperb Med. 2016;43(1):21-8. PubMed This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Boy Scouts to celebrate 100 years of nurturing boys The Boy Scouts will celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2010, which raises the question: How can an organization exist that long and still serve a need? Yes, Scouting has been around a long time but the organization has not changed its philosophy of giving boys a program and activities designed to develop character, citizenship and fitness. Are Scouting programs relevant in today's society? There is a battle of significant consequence taking place in the lives of boys in America today. In simple terms, it's the struggle between doing right or wrong. The picture shows a dad and son fishing at a Cub Scout event. Dads have been taking their sons fishing for as long as Scouts have been in existence and will continue to do so for years to come. But there is a need for an organization that focuses on family-centered activities, outdoor programs and values that fit into today's fast-paced lifestyle, and Scouting is it. The number of boys and girls currently registered in the Lakes District Scouting programs shows that Scouting is alive and doing very well. The Lakes District includes Douglas, Pope, Stevens, Swift and part of Grant and Traverse counties. Given the declining number of available youth in the district, we have continued to increase our presence. By the end of this year we will have more than 1,000 youth participating in a Scouting program. There are three programs offered by the Scouts. The Cub Scout program is a year-round program designed to meet the needs of young boys, grades 1-5, and their parents. We call it having fun with a purpose. Service projects, ceremonies, games and other activities guide boys through Scouts' core values and give them a sense of personal achievement. Positive peer group interaction and parental involvement help boys learn honesty, bravery and respect. Boys can join any time, as all program material is age appropriate for each grade level. The Boy Scout program serves boys ages 11-18. This is the program most people associate with the outdoors. The boys take responsibility for planning meetings and organizing troop activities. They learn to work as a team and have ample opportunity to lead. Through the support of parents, religious and neighborhood organizations, Scouts develop an awareness and appreciation of their role in the community. Venturing is a program for men and women ages 14-21. It is the fastest growing program in the Boy Scouts. The purpose of Venturing is to provide experiences that help young people mature and become responsible, caring adults. They learn leadership skills and participate in challenging outdoor activities. Scouting is as relevant today as it was 100 years ago. As parents, we want to see our children grow into confident, self-reliant adults. Through Scouting programs we build on the core values of trust, honesty and loyalty. Early in their Scouting experience, boys learn the value of serving others. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Scouting promotes activities that lead to personal responsibility and high self-esteem. As a result, when hard decisions have been made, a boy can look at himself and be proud of the person he is. To learn more about Scouting or to volunteer your time, contact Jim Stratton at (320) 808-5096 or firstname.lastname@example.org.
Human civilizations are driven essentially by three imperatives: Energy, Environment, and Economy. Human societies have developed and either flourished or perished according to their ability to access Energy, sustainably exploit their Environments, and build their Economy to provide the quality of life desired. This "triple-E" concept underlies all facets of human life and our interaction with the Planet we call home. Humans have increasingly relied on fossil hydrocarbons since the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century, deriving significant benefits, yet incurring significant costs as a result of environmental impacts. We intend to reduce human dependence on petroleum/fossil hydrocarbons and create sustainable economic activity resulting in a healthier planet and improved quality of life for all. We believe that algae are "THE SOLUTION", not "a" solution. Without algae, human beings would not be here; algae created the conditions necessary for our life form to inhabit this planet. Algae possess the ability to reverse many of the negative impacts we have created while allowing us to continue to have the quality of life to which we have grown accustomed. Of great significance is the potential for algae to alleviate issues facing humanity on a global scale, e.g. access to food, remediation of pollution, and balancing atmospheric greenhouse gases. Ultimately, the only difference between living algae and fossil hydrocarbons is TIME, TEMPERATURE, and PRESSURE. We have exploited fossil hydrocarbons for over 200 years and have derived enormous benefits from their use; however, we cannot deny that their use and benefits often come with significant costs. The time has come for us to find another platform for economic activity, one that will be truly sustainable and one whose use will not make the planet become inhospitable to us. This alternative platform is none other than algae. AlgEternal will demonstrate to the world that this microorganism, in its myriad forms, can be successfully harnessed for the benefit of all humanity. SUPERIOR HARVESTING TECHNOLOGY AlgEternal has selected the OriginClear* Algae Harvester as its primary technology for harvesting algae. One of the critical steps in the microalgae business is getting the algae out of the liquid medium in which they are grown. The OriginClear* algae harvester gets microalgae out of liquid better than any other harvester we know. OriginClear's harvester can be operated either on a continuous or batch basis. This technology is fast, low energy, efficient, allows recycling of the culture media, harvests the algal cells without damage, and disinfects the media (removes pathogens). Most importantly, the OriginClear technology is chemical-free, using only electrical pulses combining electrocoagulation and electroflotation to remove microalgae from water. People, Planet, Profit. AlgEternal operates in the microalgae biotechnology industry to identify appropriate algae strains, cultivate and harvest algae, and extract valuable products with applications in human and animal nutrition, cosmetics, biomedical, and pharmaceuticals, enhanced food production, wastewater treatment, and carbon capture and utilization, to achieve triple bottom line benefits. AlgEternal has four (4) revenue streams in advanced stages of development: - Contract growing of algal biomass. - Microalgae based soil amendment. - Exopolysaccharides (EPS) for cosmetics and biomedical applications. - C-Phycocyanin (CPC) for foods, cosmetics, and biomedical applications.
In a bizarre turn of events that has left scientists and necromancers alike scratching their heads, a new AI model designed to translate and interpret Latin has reportedly raised the dead. The model, programmed meticulously with ancient texts, was intended to be a scholarly tool, but it seems to have unlocked realms beyond our understanding. Developers fed the AI a vast array of Latin literature, hoping to make the dead language more accessible to students and researchers. However, amidst the conjugations and declensions, the AI stumbled upon arcane phrases and incantations, inadvertently summoning spirits from the afterlife. Historical figures, once confined to the pages of textbooks, now roam freely, causing mild inconvenience and existential crises in equal measure. The impact of this spectral surprise is widespread. Historians are thrilled yet overwhelmed, finding themselves face-to-face with the very subjects of their research. Meanwhile, the general public is less enthused, facing traffic delays and crowded coffee shops due to the sudden influx of the resurrected. This incident has highlighted the unpredictable nature of artificial intelligence and the potential consequences of meddling with historical and linguistic artifacts. It serves as a reminder that some realms of knowledge, particularly those intertwined with the mysteries of life and death, might be beyond safe exploration. Historically, the intersection of technology and the supernatural has been the stuff of fiction and folklore. This event, however, brings a new dimension to the discussion, positioning technology as a bridge between the known and the unknown. In sum, the AI, in its quest to master Latin, has blurred the boundaries between past and present, life and death. It has left the world in a state of awe and confusion, navigating a reality where history is no longer confined to the past. What happens next is anyone’s guess. Will the dead return to their eternal rest, or is the world on the brink of a new era where the living and the deceased coexist? Only time, and perhaps further technological mishaps, will tell. Disclaimer: This article is a satirical work of fiction. Latin, while a language of ancient wisdom and historical significance, currently holds no proven power in resurrecting the dead. Any shambling figures you see are most likely just in need of a good night’s sleep or a strong cup of coffee.
Theme park immersion has undergone a remarkable evolution, transforming the way visitors experience these entertainment destinations. The journey from Disneyland to immersive theme park experiences has been an extraordinary evolution in the entertainment industry. Disneyland’s legacy as the originator of themed amusement parks paved the way for a new era of immersive storytelling and guest engagement. Today, theme parks go beyond rides and attractions, offering fully immersive worlds where visitors can step into their favorite stories and embark on thrilling adventures. The evolution of theme parks has unleashed a realm of possibilities, delivering unforgettable experiences that blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Theme Park immersion has undergone a remarkable evolution, transforming the way visitors experience these entertainment destinations. Theme park innovation has also focused on creating highly themed lands, where every detail, from the architecture to the food offerings, contributes to the immersive experience. Disneyland and Beyond: Theme Park Evolution Disneyland served as a catalyst, sparking the imagination and setting the stage for the immersive theme park experiences that followed. From Disneyland’s inception to the present, the concept of theme parks and illusion museums has evolved into a pursuit of immersive experiences that transport guests into captivating worlds that incorporate elements of illusion and optical illusions. Theme parks have come a long way since the opening of Disneyland in 1955. What started as a revolutionary concept by Walt Disney has evolved into a global phenomenon, captivating the hearts and imaginations of people of all ages. The evolution of theme parks has seen a shift from traditional amusement rides to immersive experiences that transport visitors to magical worlds. This article will explore the journey of theme park evolution, from the creation of Disneyland to the emergence of immersive reality. Beyond Disneyland, theme parks began to innovate by incorporating advanced technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, and interactive elements to amplify the immersion factor. Creating Magical Worlds in Theme Parks One of the key aspects of theme parks is the ability to create magical worlds that transport visitors to a different realm. Disneyland was the first theme park to introduce this concept, with its meticulously designed and themed lands. From the enchanting Sleeping Beauty Castle to the futuristic Tomorrowland, each area of the park was carefully crafted to immerse visitors in a specific theme. This attention to detail and storytelling set Disneyland apart from traditional amusement parks, and laid the foundation for the evolution of theme park experiences. The theme park evolution is characterized by the constant drive for innovation, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in terms of attractions, storytelling, and guest engagement. As theme parks evolved, the focus shifted from individual attractions to creating cohesive and immersive environments. Theme parks like Universal Studios and Legoland followed in Disneyland’s footsteps, offering visitors the opportunity to step into their favorite movies or build and explore with their favorite toy bricks. These experiences allowed visitors to become part of the story, blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. Innovations in Theme Park Experiences The theme park adventure evolution has seen a shift from passive rides to active, interactive experiences where guests actively participate in the narrative and have agency in their own adventure. With the advancement of technology, theme parks have continued to push the boundaries of what is possible in terms of visitor experiences. The introduction of animatronics in attractions like “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Haunted Mansion” at Disneyland revolutionized the theme park industry. These lifelike figures brought the stories to life in a way that had never been done before. In recent years, theme parks have embraced cutting-edge technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality to enhance the immersive experience. Visitors can now put on a headset and be transported to a different world, whether it’s battling aliens in a virtual space or exploring ancient ruins in an augmented reality adventure. These technologies have opened up a new realm of possibilities for theme park designers, allowing them to create experiences that were once only imaginable. From Fantasy to Immersive Reality Immersive theme park experiences have become the new norm, with visitors expecting to be fully enveloped in fantastical realms that blur the line between fantasy and reality. The evolution of theme park experiences has led to a shift from mere fantasy to immersive reality. Theme parks are no longer just places where visitors go to escape reality for a few hours; they are now destinations where visitors can fully immerse themselves in a different world. This shift has been driven by advancements in technology, as well as the changing expectations of visitors. Theme park designers play a crucial role in shaping this evolution, integrating mind-bending concepts like 3D floor stickers and 3D street painting to create visually stunning environments. Theme parks like Disney’s Pandora – The World of Avatar and Universal’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter have taken immersion to a whole new level. Visitors can explore the lush landscapes of Pandora, ride a banshee, and even taste the exotic cuisine of the Na’vi. In The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, visitors can stroll through the streets of Hogsmeade, shop for wands at Ollivanders, and even try a glass of butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks. These immersive experiences allow visitors to step into their favorite fictional worlds and create lasting memories. Disneyland’s Impact on the Theme Park Industry It is impossible to talk about the evolution of theme parks without mentioning the impact of Disneyland. When Disneyland first opened its gates in 1955, it revolutionized the entertainment industry and set a new standard for theme park experiences. Walt Disney’s vision of a place where parents and children could have fun together paved the way for the modern theme park. Disneyland introduced the concept of a themed land, where visitors could step into different worlds and experience unique adventures. This concept was so successful that it inspired the creation of countless theme parks around the world. Today, Disneyland remains a symbol of innovation and imagination in the theme park industry. The Future of Theme Park Adventure Fortunately Inspired by unconventional concepts like illusion museums and upside-down museums, theme park designers continue to push the boundaries of creativity and imagination. As technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, the future of theme park adventure is filled with endless possibilities. Virtual reality and augmented reality will become even more integrated into the theme park experience, allowing visitors to fully immerse themselves in a digital world. Interactive elements and personalized storytelling will enhance the sense of adventure and make each visit a unique and memorable experience. Theme parks will also continue to embrace new themes and intellectual properties to stay relevant and attract new audiences. From beloved movie franchises to popular video games, theme parks will create immersive experiences that bring these worlds to life. As the boundaries between reality and fantasy blur, theme parks will become the ultimate destination for those seeking adventure and escape. The Importance of Technology in Immersive Theme Park Experiences Technology plays a crucial role in the evolution of theme park experiences. From animatronics to virtual reality, each technological advancement has contributed to creating more immersive and engaging attractions. As technology continues to evolve, theme parks will be able to offer even more realistic and interactive experiences. Immersive theme park experiences aim to create memories that go beyond mere entertainment, leaving visitors with a sense of wonder, excitement, and connection to the stories and worlds they have encountered. The use of technology also allows theme parks to collect data and personalize the visitor experience. From virtual queuing systems to interactive maps, technology provides convenience and enhances the overall guest experience. Visitors can now plan their day, avoid long lines, and receive personalized recommendations based on their preferences. The Endless Possibilities of Theme Park Evolution The evolution of theme parks from Disneyland to immersive experiences has transformed the way we think about entertainment. These magical worlds allow visitors to escape reality and immerse themselves in a different realm. With each technological advancement, theme parks push the boundaries of what is possible, creating experiences that are more immersive, interactive, and memorable. The evolution of theme parks continues to captivate us, as each new generation introduces groundbreaking concepts and technologies that further elevate the immersive adventure for guests of all ages. As we look to the future, the possibilities for theme park evolution are endless. Technology will continue to play a crucial role in creating immersive experiences, while storytelling and theming will transport visitors to new worlds. Whether it’s battling dragons in a virtual reality adventure or exploring the depths of the ocean in an augmented reality experience, theme parks will continue to captivate and inspire visitors of all ages. So, pack your bags and get ready for the adventure of a lifetime at the next evolution of theme parks. Experience the magic of immersive theme park adventures and create memories that will last a lifetime. Plan your visit to a theme park near you and unleash the endless possibilities of theme park evolution. How has the concept of theme parks evolved from Disneyland to immersive experiences? The concept of theme parks has evolved greatly from the inception of Disneyland to the rise of immersive experiences. While Disneyland pioneered the idea of themed lands and immersive environments, modern theme parks have taken it a step further by creating fully immersive adventures that transport visitors into fantastical worlds. What innovations have contributed to the evolution of theme park design The evolution of theme parks has been driven by numerous innovations in design and technology. One significant innovation is the integration of advanced storytelling techniques. Theme parks now utilize intricate narratives, engaging characters, and immersive storytelling to create more captivating experiences for guests. Additionally, advancements in ride technologies, such as motion simulators, virtual reality, and 3D effects, have greatly enhanced the immersive nature of attractions. Furthermore, the introduction of highly detailed theming and immersive environments has contributed to the evolution of theme park design. Parks now focus on creating immersive lands where visitors feel like they have stepped into a different time period or a fictional world. The level of detail and theming extends beyond just the attractions to encompass every aspect of the park, including architecture, landscaping, and even food options. Can you highlight some modern theme parks that offer immersive adventures? Several modern theme parks stand out for their commitment to providing immersive adventures. Examples include: - Universal’s Islands of Adventure (Orlando, Florida): This park offers immersive experiences through lands like The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, where visitors can explore iconic locations from the books and movies, and Marvel Super Hero Island, where guests can interact with beloved Marvel characters. - Pandora – The World of Avatar (Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Orlando, Florida): This land immerses guests in the lush and alien world of Pandora, based on the film Avatar. It features groundbreaking attractions, such as Avatar Flight of Passage, which allows guests to soar on the back of a banshee. - Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios): This immersive land transports visitors to a galaxy far, far away. Guests can explore the Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu, interact with droids and aliens, and even fly the Millennium Falcon in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. These modern theme parks showcase the evolution of the concept, offering fully immersive adventures that go beyond traditional amusement park experiences.
Congress and the Trump Administration are focusing on health savings accounts (HSAs) as the next step in health care reform. HSAs allow individuals to set aside money tax-free for uncovered health expenses. Because HSAs reward saving and help position consumers to be directly in charge of buying their own health care, they stimulate competition among health care providers. This translates into lower prices and better value for patients. Yet, key misconceptions about HSAs persist in the public discussion as well as in the halls of Congress. Let’s clarify the most important points: - The fundamental purpose of HSAs is to reduce the price of health care, NOT simply to provide a tax-sheltered benefit to cushion the blow of high health care expenses. Uniquely in health care, longstanding government regulations and misguided tax policy have created harmful incentives and have undermined price consideration, by pushing people toward expensive insurance that minimizes out-of-pocket payments. With that coverage, patients perceive “someone else is paying” for their medical care. This has prevented consumers from caring much about prices or value. Consequently, providers have been shielded from competing on price. Different from tax deductions or income exclusions, HSAs uniquely incentivize saving. Especially with larger and improved HSAs, patients become highly sensitive to price, because they are rewarded for saving with cash that remains in their possession. Concern about price by HSA holders lowers prices from competing providers. That reduced price makes quality care more affordable for everyone, including people without HSAs. Direct payment by patients with strong personal incentives to seek value is the most powerful lever to reducing costs of care, and reformed HSAs give those incentives. - HSAs successfully reduce prices – and that benefits everyone who uses medical care, including people without HSAs. When patients pay out-of-pocket for medical care and also get rewarded from saving, they seek value and exert downward pressure on prices. Prices rapidly decreased for LASIK corrective vision surgery and MRI or CT screening procedures originally not covered by insurance. Data from MRI and outpatient surgery confirm that when patients are motivated to compare prices, prices drop - by almost twenty percent. HSAs help position patients to pay directly for medical care. And we know HSAs play an important role in motivating patients to care about price: when people have savings to protect in HSAs, the cost of care drops by 15% annually on average, without increases in emergency room visits or hospitalizations. When HSAs were added to high-deductible plans, savings increased to up-to-double the savings that high deductible plans produced alone. Competition among doctors and hospitals for patients who care about price lowers prices for all health care consumers. Moreover, since insurance premiums mainly reflect payment for medical care, premiums also drop. That includes reduces the cost of private coverage as well as government insurance programs like Medicaid and Medicare. Everyone who uses medical care or buys health insurance benefits from the lower prices generated by widespread HSAs. - An HSA is not a tax benefit for “the rich”. The median household income for an HSA account holder is $57,060; two-thirds earn less than $75,000 a year. According to WageWorks, three out of every four current HSA owners are under age 50, so only a minority of HSA owners are in their highest-earning years. Ironically, today’s current income tax exclusion for health benefits is highly preferential to individuals with higher incomes. About 85% of the subsidy goes to the top one-half of the income distribution. Universally available HSAs help even the playing field for those in small businesses and the self-employed, in addition to generating more affordable care for everyone. - HSAs could pay for most medical care events, even though many procedures and hospitalizations exceed HSA limits. Most health care involves smaller, non-catastrophic, scheduled expenses; emergency care represents only six percent of health spending. Widespread HSA adoption with higher deductible coverage would change most health care episodes into direct payment. When more people are positioned to pay directly for more of their care, the more downward pressure on prices will occur. Among privately insured adults under age 65, as well as for the poor on Medicaid, almost 60 percent of all health expenditures is for non-emergency outpatient care. Even for the elderly, almost 40 percent of expenses are for outpatient care. Patients can realistically make value-based decisions, especially for outpatient non-emergency care; indeed, that’s already proven. - HSAs increase the use of effective wellness programs and screening tests. HSAs represent one of the best vehicles for offering effective wellness programs and screening tests. This is highly beneficial to HSA holders and companies, because these programs improve chronic illnesses and save money for both the employee and the employer. Yet ObamaCare limits financial incentives from employers, like deposits into employee HSAs. Congress should abolish this rule. - Americans want HSAs, and Congress should respond. Despite the ACA’s attempt to shift consumers to more “comprehensive” coverage filled with mandates, a shift toward high deductible plans with HSAs has continued. In the decade-and-a-half since tracking this type of coverage, employers have increasingly offered such plans, and consumers have increasingly selected high-deductible plans. Among those enrollees, a shift toward higher deductibles has continued. Since the introduction of HSAs in 2004, the number of accounts has skyrocketed to between 22 and 35 million as of the end of 2017. By the evidence, American consumers are approving their value by increasingly choosing HSAs when given the opportunity. - Price transparency is absolutely essential to generate competition among sellers, but it is not sufficient. To bother considering prices, even if visible, patients must first personally gain from paying less. If I only pay $1.50 per month out-of-pocket for my cholesterol drug (because the cost is nearly totally covered by insurance), why would I care if total prices to insurers varied by 20-fold, as shown in a December, 2017 Consumer Reports study? That personal gain is generated through larger, liberalized, and transferable HSAs that reward saving with significant assets that stay with the patient and family. Second, patients must pay directly for more of their own care to be able to exercise their new power on prices. Higher deductible insurance plans (HDHPs) position patients to pay directly for care. Although not necessarily appropriate for everyone, HDHPs should become available to everyone, and that coverage must include fewer mandates to make it cheaper and more attractive. According to Haislmaier, only 30 percent of federal ObamaCare exchange plans now qualify as HSA-compatible; six states offer none. Congress needs to eliminate those anti-consumer ObamaCare regulations. Several states have put forth laws to require price transparency in health care, and insurers, employers, and even providers increasingly offer price transparency tools. However, results are mixed – partly due to complexity of the tools, but more so from two more fundamental problems. First, price transparency from providers or policy makers does not necessarily lead to transparency in the only “price” relevant to patients—the out-of-pocket costs. It seems unlikely that more federal laws will simplify price information or clearly sort out out-of-pocket prices from overall cost. Second, today’s government regulations themselves, along with misguided tax incentives, have pushed people toward insurance that minimizes out-of-pocket payments. In that coverage, patients perceive “someone else is paying”, so they don’t care about prices. Once patients have strong incentives to consider price and the vehicles to gain from doing so, prices (and markers of quality) will become visible, because providers will understand that they are suddenly competing for price-conscious patients who control the money. In fact, we may not need specific legislation to force price transparency. Indeed, no other good or service requires such governmental legislation, because consumers would never buy something with their own money without knowing its price. One exception needing action is prescription drugs, where many pharmacy benefit managers PBMs prohibit pharmacists via contractual gag clauses from volunteering that a medication may be less expensive than the co-pay if purchased entirely at the cash price, according to a 2016 survey of over 600 community pharmacies. Of course, these anti-consumer agreements should be outlawed. - The maximum allowable contribution should be raised, even though many people don’t fund their HSAs to today’s maximum. HSAs need to be substantial to be the source of payment for as much medical care as possible. Today’s counterproductive limitations and insurance regulations, however, have dramatically limited the use and benefits of HSAs. Even with today’s restrictions on HSAs, contribution levels have been increasing. Individual contributions in 2016 were higher the longer the holder had the account; for those holding an account since 2005, the 2016 contribution averaged $3,658, while for those opening new accounts in 2016, the contribution averaged $1,290. Remember, ObamaCare subsidies for insurance that minimizes out-of-pocket payment have prevented consumers from caring much about prices and have shielded doctors from competing on price. Today’s unfettered prices of medical care, combined with ObamaCare’s regulatory burden forcing the purchase of expensive insurance filled with mandates, created even higher insurance premiums (doubling from 2013 to 2017, even with significantly higher deductibles, per eHealth) – leaving the consumer with less money for HSA contributions. - The HSA is NOT an independent component of the health care system. To maximize the benefits of HSAs, other reforms are also necessary. Impactful HSA reform also requires eliminating anti-consumer regulations that limit competition among doctors and hospitals. This is essential to give patients sufficient choices when spending their HSA money. One obvious example is increasing the supply of cheaper and more convenient neighborhood clinics staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants for simple primary care, including vaccinations, blood pressure monitoring, infection treatment, and dispensing common drugs. Care at these clinics runs 30–40% cheaper than at physician offices and about 80% cheaper than at emergency departments; it has high quality and high patient satisfaction. To maximize competition to doctors, Congress should push to simplify credentialing requirements and remove outmoded scope-of-practice limits on qualified nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Stagnant medical school graduation numbers, and severe specialist and subspecialist training program restrictions have been in place for decades, despite widely recognized doctor shortages. Archaic non-reciprocal MD licensing by states limits competition through telemedicine. These anti-consumer practices need to be abolished. - Expanding HSAs would not create a tax revenue deficit, because other tax write-offs that disproportionately benefit affluent taxpayers today should simultaneously be eliminated. Today’s unlimited income exclusion for employer-sponsored health benefits is harmful, because consumers are rewarded for spending more on health care. This is counterproductive, because it incentivizes more health spending, props up bloated coverage that minimizes out-of-pocket payment, and reduces concern for price. Instead, the tax code should cap total health expense deductions or income exclusions. For instance, limiting the income exclusion based on the 50th percentile for health benefits paid through employers would reduce deficits by $537 billion over the next decade, by CBO and JCT estimates. This new cap would eliminate harmful incentives and mainly impact upper income earners. Beyond setting a cap, Congress should also limit eligibility to HSA contributions and limited-mandate, catastrophic coverage premiums. It would be counterproductive to give tax preferences to all health expenses, or to bloated insurance with expensive coverage that minimizes copays, both of which reduce patient concern about the price of care. The issue is not whether HSAs are effective in making health care more affordable; it is how to maximize their adoption and fully leverage their power. Congress should make HSAs more valued by consumers and should incentivize their use. That means opening up availability to independent HSAs for everyone, including seniors, the biggest users of health care; doubling the allowed maximum contributions; liberalizing HSA uses to include elderly parents and reasonable over-the-counter drugs; eliminating restrictions like required insurance deductibles; permitting tax-free inheritance to all family members; repealing harmful incentives from the tax code; and aggressively abolishing anti-consumer barriers to competition among medical care providers, health care technology, and drugs. Reformed HSAs represent a clear pathway to affordable, quality care for everyone. Scott W. Atlas is the David and Joan Traitel Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and the author of Restoring Quality Health Care: A Six Point Plan for Comprehensive Reform at Lower Cost (Hoover Press, 2016).
Planting Instructions by Flower Name - Hardy Zones: 4-9" - Spacing: 12-15" - Height: 36-60" - Blooms: mid to late summer Double Tiger Lilies Lilium lancifolium 'Flore Pleno' Lilies are in the Liliaceae family and are native to temperate Eurasia and North America. There are over a hundred species and countless hybrids have been developed over the years. Tiger lilies are native to Japan, Korea and eastern China, and are one of the oldest lilies in cultivation. They are quite vigorous and easy to grow, as long as they receive enough sun and are planted in well-draining soil. Lily bulbs do not have a protective tunic, or “coat," so these fragile bulbs should be planted as soon as they arrive. If unable to plant right away, store the bulbs in the refrigerator (away from fruit) or in a cool, dark place, at about 40°F. Do not allow the packing medium to dry out. Plant in a sunny area in rich, well-draining soil, 6" deep and 12-15" apart. Arrange in groupings for maximum effect. Feed in early spring with a balanced fertilizer when new growth appears. Mulch around the plants to retain moisture, keep the roots cool and prevent weeds. Keep the mulch away from stems, as this can cause rot. When needed, water lilies early in the morning at ground level to prevent fungal diseases. Remove spent flowers to conserve the bulb’s energy and encourage more blooms the following year. Lilies multiply annually. To prevent crowding, dig and divide bulbs in the spring or early autumn every few years or when flowering decreases. Tiger lilies are also known for the production of dark “bulbils" at the leaf axils, which will drop to the ground in the fall and grow new tiger lily plants the following year. With a protective layer of mulch, tiger lilies are hardy to USDA zone 4.
Position: Full sun to partial shade Flowering period: N/A Soil: Well drained, moist Eventual Height: 8m Eventual Spread: 2.5m Hardiness: 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Ellwoodii’ is a slow growing, evergreen, columnar shrub/ tree. The blue/ green leaves are needle like, opposite, with a scaly texture, up to 5mm in length and are produced on flattened shoots. The branches of the plant are upright and erect. The bark of the plant is red/ brown. The seed cones are globose, 7-14 mm in diameter, with 6 to 10 scales, initially green becoming brown with age. Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Ellwoodii’ is commonly known as Lawson Cypress ‘Ellwoodii’. The species, Chamaecyparis lawsoniana, is native to western United States and was introduced into the UK by collectors working for the Lawson and Son nursery of Edinburgh in 1854. Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Ellwoodii’ was discovered as a naturally occurring seedling in Swanmore Park, in Bishop’s Waltham, UK and was first described in 1929. The etymological root of the binomial name Chamaecyparis is derived from the Greek chamea ’dwarf’ and kupeiros the ancient Greek name for the Cypress (ironically this is not a dwarf tree). Lawsoniana is named after the Scottish nursery that discovered tree and brought it to the UK. Ellwoodii is derived from the gardener at Swanmore Park, Elwood. The landscape architect may find useful Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Ellwoodii’ useful as an evergreen hedge or screening plant, particularly in shady locations. It may also be of use as a vertical accent plant. Ecologically Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Ellwoodii’ is of little value to wildlife. The Royal Horticultural Society has given Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Ellwoodii’ their prestigious Award of Garden Merit in 1993. Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Ellwoodii’ prefers moist, well-drained soils. It will tolerate most pH of soil although it prefers slightly acid soils. Chamaecyparis lawsoniana ‘Ellwoodii’ requires little maintenance. If being maintained as a hedge it should be trimmed twice a year.
How Can Students Better Apply Math Learning? New Studies Hold Answers Even within STEM, transfer is tough Mathematics is the language of science, the foundation of engineering, the power switch for new technology—but students often struggle to transfer their understanding of math concepts to practical application in other STEM subjects. Researchers at the Association of Psychological Science conference here last month discussed new findings on ways to help students link their math learning to science, technology, and engineering. "Looking at the longer history of transfer of knowledge, the research shows that if you have students pull a general concept out of a combination of specific examples and give multiple different examples, it increases transfer of that concept to new examples," said Holly A. Taylor, a psychology professor at Tufts University, in Medford, Mass. "One reason that STEM concepts are difficult to transfer is because they are siloed. Although I believe that there is change afoot in this regard," she said, because new mathematics and science standards in most states are focused more on underlying processes than on learning just facts. Words and Numbers For example, another researcher at the conference, David J. Purpura, an assistant professor in clinical psychology at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind., suggested young students' ability to apply early math skills can be hampered or propelled by their language development, independent of their math knowledge. Many tests of early numeracy focus on children's "approximate number system," the ability to estimate size differences between two groups without counting. However, in a study of the early math performance of 114 children ages 3 to 5, Mr. Purpura found that while preschoolers' ability to estimate the number in a group predicted the math achievement of students with low overall math skills, math-language ability was a better predictor of math achievement among middle- and high-performing math students. Elementary school students in rural Vermont created paper sculptures (shown below) as part of a curriculum aimed at helping them bridge math and engineering concepts. As part of the program, students in grades 3-6 learned to fold origami and build the paper structures by using diagrams and by reverse engineering from models. A pilot study of that effort was one of three studies on promoting transfer of math knowledge that were presented last month at the Association of Psychological Science’s annual conference in New York. In the Vermont study, students in most of the grades tested were found to have improved their spatial reasoning and their ability to mentally fold objects. Fourth and 5th graders also improved their performance on a standardized math test. "You have to have these basic language abilities—words like 'plus' or 'take away'—to do almost any math," Mr. Purpura said. "Different skills predict early numeracy at different ability levels," Mr. Purpura said. "You might be able to compare sets but not to express that you can compare them. It might be a gateway." The way a concept is presented can also affect how easily students understand when and how to apply it in other situations. "The type of practice matters," said Charles W. Kalish, an education psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. "Even for familiar content, even for students who have had a lot of experience with these things, 10 or 15 minutes of practice that encourages them to map the underlying finding can really change the type of memory models that are activated," he added. In two sets of experiments, first with college students and then with 2nd graders, Mr. Kalish and his colleagues had participants solve math problems focused on differences of ratios and magnitude. In each group, half the participants practiced using standard numbers and symbols. The other half solved problems within a simulation that highlighted an underlying relationship among the numbers. For example, the 2nd graders were asked to add different levels of blue and yellow flavoring to an ice cream machine to make different shades of ice cream requested by various cartoon monsters. "You can see there's a continuous underlying structure to these elements," Mr. Kalish explained. "In contrast, if we give you purely symbolic training, you are just learning arbitrary conjunctions of these features." While both groups of adults and students performed equally well on similar problems, those who had practiced using symbols alone were not as good at applying the concept of changes in magnitude to a new set of problems in a different context. Those who had practiced within the simulation were equally good at familiar and novel problems. Better on Paper Ms. Taylor, the director of the Spatial Cognition Laboratory at Tufts University, agreed. She is studying how elementary students in rural Vermont bridge math and engineering concepts through trial and error efforts with paper models. The program, Think3d!, consists of six units in which students in grades 3-6 learn to fold origami and build paper structures, both from diagrams and by reverse- engineering from models. In the process, they learn to develop their own algorithms to explore and track how changes in the angle of a fold, for example, or in the number of cuts in a folded paper change the final sculpture. While the curriculum at first differed by grade, Allyson Hutton, an architect and the president of Think3d!, the public-benefit corporation created to develop the program, said it was changed to the same sequence for all students after 6th graders proved no better than students in lower grades at understanding the directions in diagrams and charts. "The kids wouldn't make the distinction between a line directing them to fold paper in half to make two rectangles and one showing a fold along the diagonal to make two triangles," she said. "Many did not connect the 2-D diagram to the piece of paper they were holding in their hands." In a pilot study of the curriculum for grades 3, 4, and 5, Ms. Taylor found that students who took part in the curriculum improved their spatial reasoning and ability to mentally fold objects, compared with a demographically similar control group. Fourth and 5th graders who went through the program also showed significantly better accuracy on a standardized math test and more frequent use of diagrams to solve problems. The 3rd graders did not show such a benefit—Ms. Taylor said the curriculum seemed to be difficult for them—and Ms. Hutton said she is now overhauling the curriculum for that grade. "The sequences are designed to be catalysts, so students can just run with it," Ms. Hutton said. "The more time the kids are sitting down folding, mentally manipulating, visualizing, the more they are developing their spatial thinking." "What we're working to do is train a skill that can be used across disciplines," she added. Vol. 34, Issue 32, Pages 14-15
By Emily Woodward, Georgia Sea Grant The University of Georgia Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant has opened the state’s first oyster hatchery, bringing the popular shellfish back to the forefront on the Georgia coast after more than 50 years and diversifying the state’s aquaculture industry. In the early 1900s, Georgia led the nation in oyster production, annually harvesting eight million pounds of oyster meat, primarily for the canning industry. By the 1940s, the industry was in decline due to over-harvesting and decreasing demand for canned oysters. The last shucking houses in coastal Georgia closed in the 1960s. Today, the industry is poised for a comeback through the production of single oysters for the lucrative half-shell market. With funding from Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Management Program, Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant launched the hatchery in 2015 at the Shellfish Research Lab on Skidaway Island. Researchers at Shellfish Research Lab are using established hatchery techniques to produce spat and are working on refining growing techniques to grow them into single oysters. “We hope eventually to attract a commercial hatchery to supply large amounts of seed,” says Tom Bliss, director of the Shellfish Research Lab. “Then our hatchery could focus on research in genetics and developing broodstock, improving grow-out methods, and looking at other species suitable for aquaculture.” Growing oysters in a controlled environment has been no easy feat. Bliss, along with hatchery manager Justin Manley and extension agent Rob Hein, have spent the last year perfecting their growing techniques. “Environmental conditions like salinity, substrate, pH, water quality and food supply all play in important role in oyster productivity,” says Manley. “Here at the hatchery we have the ability to manipulate these conditions and ensure maximum seed production.” Day-to-day hatchery work ranges from feeding algae to the larvae twice a day to sterilizing tanks and other equipment to sorting the baby oysters based on size. “It takes a lot more work than you’d think to grow a healthy 4-6 millimeter oyster, which is roughly the size of a pencil eraser,” says Manley. In 2016, the UGA Oyster Hatchery produced between 500,000 – 750,000 spat. Producing the seed is an important first step, but successfully reviving the industry means moving beyond the confines of the hatchery and establishing relationships and working with shellfish growers along the coast. When oyster spat reach a certain size, they are delivered to the 10 growers along the coast who take the seed their shellfish leases for cultivation. Leases are located in coastal waters approved for shellfish harvest and monitored by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division. These seed deliveries sometimes involve nothing more than a quick handshake, though on many occasions, extension agent Rob Hein will spend hours with growers, accompanying them in the field, discussing aquaculture industry updates, or offering advice on how to modify growing techniques to yield greater success. “As an extension agent, it’s my job to serve as a resource for our growers by sharing new techniques and training them on best methods for cultivating singles,” says Hein. “This whole operation wouldn’t be possible without the shellfish growers. They’re putting time and resources into this effort, so it’s important for them to be able to count on us to provide guidance.” Most of the growers are weathered watermen who have spent years navigating Georgia’s vast expanse of marshes and meandering tidal creeks. They have the local knowledge and expertise when it comes to growing shellfish, though many will admit that it takes more maintenance, money, and specialized equipment to grow the single oysters to the two-inch market size. “You have to put a lot of labor the way we’re doing it right now,” says John Pelli, owner of Savannah Clam Company. Pelli has farmed clams and harvested wild oysters for nearly 15 years. He expanded to growing single oysters when Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant started the hatchery. “Tom, Rob and Justin have been really helpful in advising everybody on how to do it,” says Pelli. “Providing the seed was a big incentive to try to make it work and those guys did a lot of testing beforehand to see what works best. Some people count sheep, they count oyster spat.” While grateful for the assistance from the hatchery team, Pelli readily admits that growing singles has been hit or miss since the launch of the project. This, in part, is due to the maintenance involved and the need for improved field equipment. “We use the cages but you really need a winch on your boat to be able to move them once the oysters get to a certain size,” says Pelli. “The cages worked in the beginning because we hadn’t experimented with alternatives, but over time I think we [Marine extension and Georgia Sea Grant and shellfish growers] can work together to find useful methods that may work better.” Many of the growers are finding success through trial and error. “I had to learn how to do it on the water, through hands-on experience,” says Earnest McIntosh Sr., who co-owns E.L. McIntosh & Son Seafood with his son, Earnest McIntosh Jr. He tried moving his oysters to various locations on his lease in an effort to figure out where they grow best. “It took a while to catch on, but I think I’m figuring out what it’s going to take to be successful with it,” says McIntosh. Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant is also working to connect growers with seafood distribution companies and restaurants across Georgia to increase awareness of the single oyster. Single oysters generate three to four times the market value of wild oysters. Once the hatchery is operating at full capacity, it will produce 15 million spat, with an estimated harvest value of $3 million to $5.25 million. By continuing to lay the groundwork through research and outreach, Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant plans to create a sustainable, robust oyster industry in Georgia.
A layer of Plaster of Paris is put over the glass and it is put into the oven on a tray. Mr Luxford bangs nails into the lead and then bends a thick layer of lead to place around the edge of the picture. He then puts flux on all the joins of the lead. The soldering iron is applied to the joints. The boys sit down and their teacher puts the projector on to show them a film. A commentary from the teacher and craftsmen takes place over the British Instructional Film called "Stained Glass". Mr Smith makes the design for a window. A cartoon is made. A light box underneath illuminates the drawing. Mr Luxford is then seen on the film cutting the glass. The tray of glass is taken to Mr Welsh who paints on the details. The glass is then stippled and the highlights are taken out. The glass is then fired after being laid out on a tray of Plaster of Paris. We see the tray being put into different kilns. The pieces of glass are laid on top of the cartoon and the lead is bent around them with the help of nails to hold them into position. The tallow candle is applied to the joins. C/U of the joints being soldered. Putty is applied to "stop the weather getting in". A window is put into place in a church. Tilt to show full splendour of the window. Intertitle reads: A British Instructional Film Produced with the Co-operation of the National Committee for Visual Aids in Education. The teacher leaves the craftsmen with the boys then speaks to camera. He invites people to write in if they have been interested in the series and would like to see more. See reel 1 and record for the film "Stained Glass". Note: With the benefit of hindsight this teacher seems very condescending in his commentary. He also persists in calling his pupils: "my boys"!
\|Extrasolar planet\|\|List of extrasolar planets\| \|Right ascension\|\|(α)\|\|17h 51m 28.25s\| \|Declination\|\|(δ)\|\|−29° 52′ 34.9″\| \|Spectral type\|\|G or K\| \|Semimajor axis\|\|(a)\|\|0.04162 ± 0.00004 AU\| \|Orbital period\|\|(P)\|\|3.10129 ± 0.00001 d\| \|Inclination\|\|(i)\|\|84.5 ± 0.6°\| \|Semi-amplitude\|\|(K)\|\|100 ± 43 m/s\| \|Mass\|\|(m)\|\|0.63 ± 0.14 MJ\| \|Radius\|\|(r)\|\|1.26 ± 0.07 RJ\| \|Density\|\|(ρ)\|\|420 kg m-3\| \|Surface gravity\|\|(g)\|\|0.94 g\| \|Discovery date\|\|Dec 20, 2004\| \|Discoverer(s)\|\|Konacki et al.\| \|Discovery site\|\|Las Campanas Observatory in Chile\| The planet was first detected by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) survey in 2002. The star, OGLE-TR-10, was seen dimming by a tiny amount every 3 days. The transit lightcurve resembles that of HD 209458 b, the first transiting extrasolar planet. However, the mass of the object had to be measured by the radial velocity method, because other objects like red dwarfs and brown dwarfs can mimic the planetary transit. In late 2004 it was confirmed as the 5th planetary discovery by OGLE. The planet is a typical "hot Jupiter", a planet with a mass half that of Jupiter and orbital distance only 1/24th that of Earth from the Sun. One revolution around the star takes a little over three days to complete. The planet is slightly larger than Jupiter, probably due to the heat from the star. OGLE-TR-10 was identified as a promising candidate by the OGLE team during their 2001 campaign in three fields towards the Galactic Center. The possible planetary nature of its companion was based on spectroscopic follow-up. A reported a tentative radial velocity semi-amplitude (from Keck-I/HIRES) of 100+/-43 m/s, and a mass for the putative planet of 0.7 +/- 0.3 MJup was confirmed in 2004 with the UVES/FLAMES radial velocities. However, the possibility of a blend could not be ruled out. A blend scenario as an alternative explanation from an analysis combining all available radial velocity measurements with the OGLE light curve. OGLE-TR-10b has a mass of 0.57 +/- 0.12 MJup and a radius of 1.24 +/- 0.09 RJup. These parameters bear close resemblance to those of the first known transiting extrasolar planet, HD 209458 b. Note that the planets with the longer periods in the hot Jupiter class all have small masses (~0.7 MJup), while all the short-period planets (i.e., very hot Jupiters) have masses roughly twice as large. This trend may be related to the survival of planets in proximity to their parent stars. - Konacki, Maciej et al. (2005). "A Transiting Extrasolar Giant Planet around the Star OGLE-TR-10". The Astrophysical Journal 624 (1): 372–377. arXiv:astro-ph/0412400. Bibcode:2005ApJ...624..372K. doi:10.1086/429127. - Udalski, A. et al. (2002). "The Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. Search for Planetary and Low-Luminosity Object Transits in the Galactic Disk. Results of 2001 Campaign". Acta Astronomica 52 (1): 1–37. arXiv:astro-ph/0202320. Bibcode:2002AcA....52....1U. - Bouchy, F. et al. (2005). "Doppler follow-up of OGLE transiting companions in the Galactic bulge". Astronomy and Astrophysics 431 (3): 1105–1121. arXiv:astro-ph/0410346. Bibcode:2005A&A...431.1105B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041723. - Pont, F. et al. (2007). "The "666" collaboration on OGLE transits I. Accurate radius of the planets OGLE-TR-10b and OGLE-TR-56b with VLT deconvolution photometry". Astronomy and Astrophysics 465 (3): 1069–1074. arXiv:astro-ph/0610827. Bibcode:2007A&A...465.1069P. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20066645. - Mazeh, Tsevi et al. (2005). "An intriguing correlation between the masses and periods of the transiting planets". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 356 (3): 955–957. arXiv:astro-ph/0411701. Bibcode:2005MNRAS.356..955M. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08511.x. Media related to OGLE-TR-10b at Wikimedia Commons
Flamen (250–260 AD) \|Pontifices · Augures · Vestales Flamines · Septemviri epulonum Quindecimviri sacris faciundis \|Fetiales · Fratres Arvales · Salii Titii · Luperci · Sodales Augustales \|Pontifex Maximus · Rex Sacrorum Flamen Dialis · Flamen Martialis Rex Nemorensis · Curio maximus \|Virgo Vestalis Maxima The rex Nemorensis (Latin, "king of Nemi" or "king of the Grove") was a priest of the goddess Diana at Aricia in Italy, by the shores of Lake Nemi, where she was known as Diana Nemorensis. The priesthood played a major role in the mythography of J.G. Frazer in The Golden Bough, whose interpretation has exerted a lasting influence. The tale of the rex Nemorensis is told in a number of ancient sources. Ovid gives a poetic account of the priesthood of Nemi in his Fasti, Book 3 (on the month of March), noting that the lake of Nemi was "sacred to antique religion," and that the priest who dwelt there "holds his reign by strong hands and fleet feet, and dies according to the example he set himself." The Latin name of the priesthood is given by Suetonius: "He [Caligula] caused the rex Nemorensis, who had held his priesthood for many years, to be supplanted by a stronger adversary." That same passage indicates that by the time of the early principate the custom of choosing the office-holder's successor by combat had fallen into disuse. The Greek geographer Strabo also mentions the institution: "and in fact a barbaric, and Scythian, element predominates in the sacred usages, for the people set up as priest merely a run-away slave who has slain with his own hand the man previously consecrated to that office; accordingly the priest is always armed with a sword, looking around for the attacks, and ready to defend himself." \|“\|\|The Aricians tell a tale … that when Hippolytus (the son of Theseus) was killed, owing to the curses of Theseus, Asclepius raised him from the dead. On coming to life again he refused to forgive his father; rejecting his prayers, he went to the Aricians in Italy. There he became king and devoted a precinct to Artemis, where down to my time the prize for the victor in single combat was the priesthood of the goddess. The contest was open to no freeman, but only to slaves who had run away from their masters."\|\|”\| In Roman mythology, Hippolytus was deified as the god Virbius; Artemis was the Greek name of the goddess identified with the Roman Diana. A possible allusion to the origins of the priesthood at Nemi is contained in Vergil's Aeneid, as Virgil places Hippolytus at the grove of Aricia. Surviving lore concerning the rex Nemorensis tells the tale that this priest or king held a very uneasy position. Macaulay's quatrain on the institution of the rex Nemorensis states: - Those trees in whose dim shadow The ghastly priest doth reign The priest who slew the slayer, And shall himself be slain. This is, in a nutshell, the surviving legend of the rex Nemorensis: the priesthood of Diana at Nemi was held by a person who obtained that honour by slaying the prior incumbent in a trial by combat, and who could remain at the post only so long as he successfully defended his position against all challengers. However, a successful candidate had first to test his mettle by plucking a golden bough from one of the trees in the sacred grove. The human sacrifice conducted at Nemi was thought to be highly unusual by the ancients. Suetonius mentions it as an example of the moral failings of Caligula. Strabo calls it Scythian, implying that he found it barbaric. The violent character of this singular institution could barely be justified by reference to its great antiquity and mythological sanctity. The ancient sources also appear to concur that an escaped slave who seeks refuge in this uneasy office is likely to be a desperate man. The Golden Bough James George Frazer, in his seminal work The Golden Bough, argued that the tale of the priesthood of Nemi was an instance of a worldwide myth of a sacred king who must periodically die as part of a regular fertility rite. While later anthropology is sceptical of Frazer's broad hypothesis, it had an extensive influence. As a consequence, the notion of a sacred king who must periodically be slain by his rival as part of a fertility rite is likely to be more familiar to contemporary readers than it was to the ancients. In 1990, a radio programme entitled "The Priest of Nemi" was produced by Michael Bakewell and broadcast on BBC Radio 3, to celebrate the publication by Macmillan of the book "The Making of the Golden Bough" by Robert Fraser, itself timed to mark the centenary of the appearance of the first edition of Frazer's book. - Frazer, Sir James G. The Golden Bough (Macmillan, 1950, abridged edition) - Hornblower, Simon, et al. (eds.) The Oxford Classical Dictionary (3d edition. 2003) ISBN 0-19-860641-9 - Robert Fraser, 'The Making of the Golden Bough: The Origins and Growth of An Argument' (Macmillan, 1990) ISBN 0-333-49631-0 - Regna tenent fortes manibus pedibusque fugaces, / et perit exemplo postmodo quisque suo. - Nemorensi regi, quod multos iam annos poteretur sacerdotio, ualidiorem aduersarium subornauit, in Life of Caligula. - Strabo, Geographia V, 3, 12. - Horace, Carmen 3.22.4, where he identifies the diva triformis as Luna, Diana, and Hecate. - Pausanias, Description of Greece II, 27, 4. - Vergil, Aeneid, book VII, 761 et. seq. - Blog of exhibition of Nemi material at Nottingham museum 2013 - Nemi at Nottingham project - The Oleaster at the End of the Æneid by Julia Dyson - Lays of Ancient Rome by Baron Thomas Babington Macaulay Macaulay from Project Gutenberg
Five Questions for: Cindy Hogenson and Janet Paul Rice Interest in the nutritional content of food is only growing at college campuses such as 2,800-student Concordia College. To answer student demand for this information, the Concordia College Dining Services team developed a program called Mission Nutrition, which details all the nutritional information for each menu item. Cindy Hogenson, residential dining manager, and Janet Paul Rice, associate director, spoke to FSD about the program. How did the idea for the program come about? The program came about because of customer requests to provide more nutrition information for our menu items. We had a simple labeling program in place for many years, but the new version includes coding for key nutrients, providing a better profile of the relative healthfulness of each menu item. We implemented a Web-based nutritional analysis program so that our customers could get nutrition and ingredient information for all the foods we served. We have a kiosk in our dining room so that students can access the information when they come in to eat. The kiosk is convenient, but our customers were still requesting more information at the point of sale. How does the label work? The label features a color-coded picture of a corncob, a reflection of Concordia’s mascot, the Kernel. The label also lists the serving size and indicates whether the menu item is ovo-lacto vegetarian. Each region of the picture area of the corncob is colored to represent a range of a certain nutrient. The colors indicate the amount of each nutrient. The kernels represent the calorie range, the central inner husks represent fat content, the right outer husk represents sodium content, and the left outer husk represents fiber. The kernels are red if the food is high in calories, yellow if it is moderate in calories and green if it is low in calories. The central husks follow the same pattern; red is high fat, yellow is moderate fat, and green is low fat. The left outer husk is colored brown if the food is high in fiber or white if the food is low in fiber. The right outer husk is colored blue if the food is low in sodium and white if the food is high in sodium. If there is a “V” on the central inner husk, it means that the menu item qualifies is an ovo-lacto vegetarian option. Nutrition information is based on a single serving. The labeling system helps students make educated choices when selecting menu items. What were the biggest challenges involved in planning/implementing the program? The biggest challenge in planning the program was determining the ranges for each nutrient. The biggest challenge in implementing the program was the amount of time it took to make labels for every menu item served in residential dining. We have a large menu that changes frequently, so there were around 1,400 menu items for which we had to look up nutrients and physically create labels. The biggest challenge in designing the program was determining how many nutrients would be represented on the new label. The label needed to present enough information about the menu item for the customers to make an informed choice. Conversely, the label needed to be simple so it could be read easily and understood. We determined that our label could represent four nutrients and still be user-friendly. The second biggest challenge was determining which four nutrients would get the spotlight. The first two were easy to identify. We had been identifying fat levels and knew our customers appreciated the information. We had known that customers also wanted calorie information based on feedback. The final two weren’t a clear choice. We had surveyed our customers and asked them to rate the importance of each nutrient. We were able to identify five nutrients to consider from that survey. We researched the labeling programs that food manufacturers and supermarkets were introducing, including “Healthy Stars,” “Smart Choice” and “Guiding Stars” to see what nutrients they were focusing on. Finally, since all of us working on the project have a background in dietetics, we determined the final two nutrients to represent should be sodium and fiber. What has the feedback been like? Feedback has been very positive overall. The system provides more nutrition information in a format that is still fast and easy to use. It took a short time for customers to understand that they should look for menu items with the most color and to select items with red colors in moderation. Students seem to appreciate the additional information. They have even asked to have the labeling program implemented in our c-stores. What advice would you give to other operators about starting a program like this? Implementing a program like this should be customer driven. Conduct surveys and monitor usage of current nutrition information to gain a true understanding of what your customers will respond positively to. It takes a lot of time to maintain any type of nutrition labeling program. You’ll want to make sure there will be the resources available to keep the information updated and accurate. A good labeling system doesn’t replace the need to educate. Continue to offer customers nutrition information using a variety of media. Be cautious about including trendy nutrition information in a program you plan to keep around for a while. Before starting a labeling system, make sure you understand the food labeling laws established by the FDA. Finally, market the new program and educate students on how to use it. All the work and effort put into a labeling system deserves to be recognized and understood.
One of the big stories shared all over Twitter this week was Google's updated Search Education pages. I didn't get to check it out until this morning and I have to say that I am impressed with what the new pages offer. There are fifteen lesson plans aligned to ISTE NETS, Common Core, and American Association of School Librarians standards. The lesson plans are arranged according to skill level in five categories. Those categories are picking search terms, understanding results, narrowing results, searching for evidence, and evaluating credibility of sources. Google's new search education promotional video is embedded below. Applications for Education Being able to use Google (and other search engines) effectively is a skill that all students need to develop as early as possible. The lesson plans available on Google Search Education might not fit every classroom situation, but at the very least they provide a great framework for teaching search strategies and evaluating information found on the web.
Habitat is manipulated through a variety of methods (mostly water and vegetation management) to achieve functional percentages of different habitat types. It is determined, guided, and tracked by an annual habitat management plan. The plan identifies physical attributes of the unit, habitat objectives, specifies management activities to make any necessary repairs or improvements; emphasizes positive results from previous years; and notes special management considerations (i.e. presence of special status species or other significant wildlife use). Water management is considered essential to maintaining high quality wetlands. It is an important tool for vegetation production and control in wetlands. The water management regime, specifically the timing, depth, and duration of inundation, is often the greatest contributor to the resulting wetland vegetation, whether desirable or undesirable. Water level management is also critical to providing available habitat to certain wildlife species at certain times of the year. Flooding regimes are designed to mimic historic wetland patterns as closely as possible, given water availability and statewide wetland losses. Reasons for vegetation management include maintaining biodiversity, maintaining desirable proportions of emergent vegetation in wetlands, enhancement of desirable species, reduction of undesirable species, preparation for habitat restoration projects, reducing mosquito breeding habitat, and maintenance and safety around facilities including protecting communities and assets at risk to wildfire. A variety of techniques are used depending on the habitat type, plant species, and resource objectives. Techniques include mowing, disking, prescribed burning, spraying, and livestock grazing. A prescribed burn is a controlled burn pre-planned by refuge management in a specific area for a specific resource objective. Find out more Monitoring and Research Bird and plant monitoring and other research activities provide valuable data that helps refuge staff refine habitat management. Bird diseases include avian cholera, avian botulism, and lead poisoning. These diseases cannot be passed to humans. Dying birds are monitored and dead birds removed with airboats to stop the disease cycle. Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) There are numerous Web sites with timely information available to the public. These two documents are concise and give a general overview: Avian Influenza Fact Sheet and What Hunters Should Know About Avian Influenza. Below are some Web sites that provide more detailed information at the state, national and international levels. California Monitoring for Bird Flu The California Department of Fish and Wildlife; UC Davis Wildlife Health Center; CA Department of Food and Agriculture; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and the CA Department of Health Services are in partnership to monitor for avian influenza viruses in wild birds. National and International Information about Avian Influenza: The Service, Division of Migratory Bird Management's (DMBM) Web site brings together in one location some of the more informative Web sites having information specific to avian influenza in wild birds. The DMBM considers National Wildlife Health Center's Avian Influenza Home Page to be the premier on-line source for information on avian influenza in wild birds. Other Related Links: Alaska's Avian Flu Web Site National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention World Health Organization
Climate of the Pribilof Islands The Pribilof Islands, located in the south-central Bering Sea, are part of a marine ecosystem with a sub-arctic climate. Temperatures on St. Paul Island and St. George Island have become warmer over the past 50 years, leading to a decrease of sea-ice in the winter and warmer annual temperatures overall (Bering Sea Climate and Ecosystem (more info) ). This climate change has significantly affected populations of flora and fauna in the Pribilofs, including seabirds, marine mammals, fish, and whales in the Bering Sea. Click here for more information about flora and fauna in the Pribilofs. To further investigate the climate of the Pribilof Islands, check out the links below: Climate of the Pribilofs Resources containing information about the climate of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska.
What is a Warrant Warrants are a derivative that give the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a security—most commonly an equity—at a certain price before expiration. The price at which the underlying security can be bought or sold is referred to as the exercise price or strike price. An American warrant can be exercised at any time on or before the expiration date, while European warrants can only be exercised on the expiration date. Warrants that give the right to buy a security are known as call warrants; those that give the right to sell a security are known as put warrants. Breaking Down the Warrant Warrants are in many ways similar to options, but a few key differences distinguish them. Warrants are generally issued by the company itself, not a third party, and they are traded over-the-counter more often than on an exchange. Investors cannot write warrants like they can options. Unlike options, warrants are dilutive. When an investor exercises their warrant, they receive newly issued stock, rather than already-outstanding stock. Warrants tend to have much longer periods between issue and expiration than options, of years rather than months. Warrants do not pay dividends or come with voting rights. Investors are attracted to warrants as a means of leveraging their positions in a security, hedging against downside (for example, by combining a put warrant with a long position in the underlying stock) or exploiting arbitrage opportunities. Warrants are no longer common in the United States, but are heavily traded in Hong Kong, Germany and other countries. Types Of Warrants Traditional warrants are issued in conjunction with bonds, which in turn are called warrant-linked bonds, as a sweetener that allows the issuer to offer a lower coupon rate. These warrants are often detachable, meaning that they can be separated from the bond and sold on the secondary markets before expiration. A detachable warrant can also be issued in conjunction with preferred stock. Wedded or wedding warrants are not detachable, and the investor must surrender the bond or preferred stock the warrant is "wedded" to in order to exercise it. Naked warrants are issued on their own, without accompanying bonds or preferred stock. Covered warrants are issued by financial institutions rather than companies, so no new stock is issued when covered warrants are exercised. Rather, the warrants are "covered" in that the issuing institution already owns the underlying shares or can somehow acquire them. The underlying securities are not limited to equity, as with other types of warrants, but may be currencies, commodities or any number of other financial instruments. Trading and finding information on warrants can be difficult and time-consuming as most warrants are not listed on major exchanges, and data on warrant issues is not readily available for free. When a warrant is listed on an exchange, its ticker symbol will often be the symbol of the company's common stock with a W added to the end. For example, Abeona Therapeutics Inc's (ABEO) warrants are listed on Nasdaq under the symbol ABEOW. In other cases, a Z will be added, or a letter denoting the specific issue (A, B, C…).
Whether it’s state-sponsored attacks, corporate espionage, a moneymaking scheme or simply someone trying their luck, businesses and governments are facing a constant barrage of cyber attacks. The high-profile cases of lone wolves hacking into the systems of government organisations mask the more devastating consequences of attacks carried out or ordered by nation states against other nation states. They are threatening national security around the world, but the wide variety of attack vectors, as well as the continuous evolution and improvement of methods, means we’re constantly chasing our tails trying to keep up and keep them out. The head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) revealed that Britain was threatened by 188 high-level cyber attacks in just three months. It will be essential to understand how hackers and their taskmasters operate, their different motives and the rich variety of tools they have at their disposal, if we are to succeed when it comes to protecting our networks on which all of our lives depend. When Saudi Arabia governmental agencies were recently targeted in a new spear phishing campaign – where a phishing email infects the user’s system when the attachment is opened as well as automatically forwarded to other contacts via Outlook – it was merely the latest in a long string of cyber attacks against Saudi government organisations. Only last November, hackers destroyed computers at several Saudi organisations using a highly destructive cyber weapon called Shamoon. It disabled all equipment and services of the organisations involved, including the General Authority of Civil Aviation, and took over the computers’ boot record, preventing them from being turned back on. The attack was timed at the very end of the working week to thwart any early attempts to limit or repair the damage. Cyber attacks are not always this destructive, but their existence is symptomatic of international power struggles that are increasingly taking place in cyberspace threatening national security on the ground. If accusations of possible election rigging in the USA by Russia are true, it will undermine the entire democratic process by which our governments and leaders are elected. It will cast doubts over the validity of the government in power and undermine people’s trust in their leaders. In another example, Ukraine’s power grid came under attack in 2015 for which Russia was blamed. Tensions between the two nations reached fever pitch following the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 passenger plane in Ukraine and the hack was one of the first instances where physical infrastructure was compromised. Cold War superpowers the US and Russia still often find themselves at opposing sides of the table, but international division is no longer restricted to geopolitical lines. With the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, the international community has changed beyond recognition. Nation states have formed new alliances, made new enemies, and new ideological structures have sprung up in a bid to wield their influence unrestricted by physical borders. For smaller nations and ideological organisations, cyber hacking enables guerrilla warfare against other nations, some of which will be much bigger and more powerful. Non-state actors, such as ISIS, increasingly turn to cyber hacking to keep up the pressure on the international community and strengthen their position in a vulnerable area of the world. ISIS-affiliated hackers earlier this year attacked NHS websites to show graphic Syrian war images recently. And last year, Syrian hackers claimed responsibility for hacking into Belgian news sites. These attacks will have been inconvenient, but the Ukraine example points to something a lot more dangerous. Some cyber attacks can cause disruption that exceeds a nation’s military security. For example, cyber attacks that alter databases or documents, known as ‘fake data’, could bring a country to the brink of collapse. Businesses and governments make decisions based on data that is assumed to be accurate. When this is no longer the case, or people’s trust in the data’s accuracy is undermined then a country’s economy could be quickly brought to its knees. Farmers, for example, organise their planting schedules based on centrally held key metrics such as soil fertility. Incorrect data could lead to failed crops, food shortages or possibly even famine. Similar attacks on other databases could cause stock markets to crash, power grids to be disrupted and cause havoc to a nation’s effective functioning and stability. When such basics are under threat, civil unrest could soon follow. The challenge is that with so many players and attack vectors, cyberspace is extremely difficult to police and secure. Hackers can operate from anywhere in the world, and even if the likely culprits are known, proving it can be virtually impossible. Government organisations themselves are often not equipped or trained to protect themselves against cyber attacks. Legacy systems means that computer equipment is out-dated and potentially more vulnerable to outside attacks, but departments often lack the funds necessary to bring these systems fully up to date. Government departments will be focused on delivering the core service that justifies their existence. Anything else, like IT security, could remove that focus and jeopardise their ability to operate, so it’s not surprising that departments are unwilling to spend and money on ‘peripheral’ issues. However, this is ‘short-termism’, as the cost of doing nothing can be very expensive indeed. The true costs of a cyber attack could be very expensive indeed, not to mention the loss of reputation and trust of the general public. Governments – and businesses for that matter – need to take a long-term, sustainable approach to cyber security. The NIST Cyber Security Framework now regulates several critical infrastructure sectors in the US. However, their guidelines are not compulsory so players will not be penalised for non-compliance. In the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre became operational at the end of 2016 to reduce cyber security risk by improving the UK’s cyber security and resilience. Every country will have similar initiatives to keep their respective departments, infrastructure and citizens safe. No country is immune and building solid defences is only one part of a solution. They should equally be capable to take the proverbial bull by the horns. Just as a physical army can perform defensive and combative campaigns, so every nation state should develop both offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. The challenge of course is to determine the rules of engagement. Authoritarian regimes often have much more freedom to set and change the rules as they please. Democratic nations have fewer options as governments cannot operate above the law and usually act under public scrutiny. Any effective cyber strategy will require like-minded countries to cooperate and abide by an internationally agreed legal framework. Failing to pool knowledge, resources and capabilities could bring a dystopian future closer in a world where the main aim of hackers and their taskmasters is to cause chaos and disruption. Image Credit: Welcomia / Shutterstock
At a time when the American public has a widespread concern regarding the food it eats, and a principal concern of the American public is food additives, no food ingredient has been the subject of such prolonged research, such public emotion, such industry support, and specific Congressional action, as saccharin. This focus on saccharin highlights the basic deficiencies in the criteria by which food ingredients are evaluated for safety, particularly when the spector of cancer hangs overhead. The existing evaluation of all aspects of the safety of saccharin has caused an improvement in the safety evaluation proceedings and the benefits have impacted throughout the food industry, its regulators, and the scientific disciplines they rely upon. Saccharin was discovered in 1879. While various types of studies were performed from time to time, until 1950 no findings were reported that raised any serious questions about the safety of saccharin. However, a chronic study by Fitzhugh and coworks reported in 1951 produced inconclusive results which encouraged the debate on the safety of saccharin.
I’ve overlooked important pieces of depression. Depression isn’t just what doctors classify as MDD, major depressive disorder. Depression can come in a variety of forms such as seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and bipolar (manic) depression (aka bi-p D). For many years, especially as a teen, I misclassified myself as bipolar even though I never received an official “bipolar” diagnosis. Here’s what you need to know: “Bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic depression, is characterized by mood swings so severe that a person’s relationships, occupation, and overall ability to function can be severely compromised.” According to the National Institute of Mental Health, symptoms include: a pendulum swing from euphoria to sadness, depression or anger — but with temperate periods in between. Other signs of bipolar disorder include insomnia or sleeping too much, drastic weight loss or gain, difficulty concentrating, anxiousness, and suicidal thoughts. TREATMENT: Bi-p D can be controlled with prescription medications, often lithium, to minimized the emotional swings. Being a 16-year-old girl in high school, I had emotional swings all the time. It’s a wonder I misdiagnosed myself. Take a quiz to see if you have bipolar disorder and discuss it with your doctor at your convenience.
” title=”YouTube video player” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” allowfullscreen> Optics is the study of the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter. It is a fascinating field that explores the wonders of light. In this article, we will introduce you to the basics of optics. Light is an electromagnetic wave that travels in a straight line and has properties like wavelength, frequency, speed, and polarization. Optics deals with how light behaves when it interacts with surfaces, including reflection, refraction, and diffraction. Reflection is when light bounces off a surface, like a mirror or still water. Refraction is when light changes its direction when it passes through a medium, like a prism. Diffraction, on the other hand, is when light bends around an obstacle, like a wave in water. Optics also studies how lenses and mirrors bend light to create images. Mirrors reflect light and can create a virtual image, whereas lenses refract light and create real images. Real images are ones that can be projected onto a screen, like in a movie theater. Optics has several real-world applications, including in the design of lenses and mirrors for telescopes, microscopes, and cameras. It is also used in the medical field, specifically in optometry and ophthalmology. In conclusion, optics is a captivating field that offers insights into the nature of light and its interaction with matter. It has numerous real-world applications and is fundamental to our understanding of the world around us. By exploring the wonders of light, we can gain a greater appreciation for the world and its beauty.
PAT MATHS TEST BOOKLET 2 PAT Maths 3rd ed. Test Booklet 2 \| ACER PAT Maths 4th ed. Test Booklet 2 (pkg 10) \| ACER PAT Maths 4th ed. Test Booklet 2 is recommended for End of Year 2, start of Year 3. 12-page booklet with 30 items covered in the Year 2 Australian Mathematics Curriculum. Consumable - Students mark their responses on the Test Booklet (Test Booklet 2 need to be replaced each time testing takes place). There is no separate answer sheet for this Test Booklet. Sold in packs of 10 PAT Maths Testing \| Grade 2 Blog 2017 Jun 05, 2017PAT Maths Testing. Posted on June 5, 2017 by 3dblog. Dear Grade 2s, Grade 2 Teachers. This entry was posted in Testing and tagged Maths, PAT, Testing by 3dblog. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. Your email address will not be published. PAT Maths and PATMaths Plus - Department of Education Aug 14, 2019PAT Maths and PATMaths Plus; PAT Maths and PATMaths Plus. Curriculum focus: sufficient test booklets and answer sheets for each student; a copy of the teacher manual. (paper tests) or user guide (online tests) Test booklet and answer sheet for each student (paper tests) ACER test scoring services (paper tests). Assessment provider[PDF] Progress and Achievement Test (PAT) Mathematics About this Assessment • PAT Mathematics Stanines enable a student’s achievement to be compared against National Norms. They also enable teachers and parents to compare student performance across cohort groups. • Stanines and their associated test scores have been scaled and ‘normed’ to fit the ‘Bell Curve of Normal Distribution ’. Progressive Achievement Tests (PATs) \| New Zealand Council The Progressive Achievement Tests (PATs) assess students' Mathematics, Listening Comprehension, Punctuation and Grammar, Reading Comprehension, and Reading Vocabulary. PATs are a series of standardised tests developed specifically for use in New Zealand schools. Understanding PATs - for parents and the community \| New PAT:Mathematics covers number knowledge, number strategies, algebra, geometry and measurement, and statistics. PAT:Mathematics is for Years 4 to 10, but there is an additional, slightly easier test aimed at Year 4 which some schools choose to use in Year 3. Smart-Kids Practice test Mathematics Grade 2 \| Smartkids » Smart-Kids Practice test Mathematics Grade 2 Smart-Kids Practice test Mathematics Grade 2 Smart-Kids Practice test Mathematics Grade 2[PDF] MATHEMATICS PRACTICE TEST Mathematics Practice Test Page 15 Use the graph to answer questions 56, 57 & 58 The graph shows the price paid and weight for bags of sugar bought at different shops.[PDF] Released 2013 Achievement Mathematics 6 Test Alberta Education, Assessment Sector 2 Mathematics 6 Additional Information The table below provides additional information about the items that appeared on the 2013 Grade 6 Mathematics Achievement Test. (The results for students writing in French are presented in a separate report.) Item Key Correct Response % Item Complexity Strand Specific Related searches for pat maths test booklet 2 test booklet mathfree math bookletsmath booklet printables
Audi equipped a test vehicle with forward-looking, 3D-imaging sensors, a processing unit that identifies traffic situations, and affixed internal cameras that keep an eye on the driver in an effort to develop next-generation active pedestrian and cyclists safety and crash-avoidance technology. As part of the German Adaptive and Cooperative Technologies for Intelligent Traffic (AKTIV) consortium, Audi is participating in a three-pronged program consisting of Safety for Pedestrians and Cyclists, Active Emergency Braking, and Driving Safety and Attentiveness, which aims to use advanced automotive technology and communication to reduce traffic accidents. On the road, 3D sensors on the Audi's test vehicle scan traffic for potential accident scenarios. Based on Audi researcher's classification system of the scenarios and related injury severity, the vehicle can implement a "concept of action for braking and steering," according to the manufacturer's press release. The company is also exploring technology that enables the car to employ active emergency braking even earlier based on driver attentiveness. It uses internal cabin cameras that track the driver's head position to determine if he's paying attention to the road, or perhaps looking down and texting on a mobile phone. It sounds a lot creepier than it really is. If you're worried about the cameras, it's not so much "Big Brother" as it is backseat driver. But backseat drivers typically don't have the power to slam on the brakes should they detect that the driver is distracted (the cameras can tell by the position of the driver's head) and grab the wheel to steer the car away from a pedestrian. Audi's "seeing vehicle," on the other hand, will. It's similar to safety technology already available on the upcoming Volvo S60. Volvo's S60 is equipped with forward-looking cameras and scans traffic for pedestrian-like forms that are more than 30 inches tall and have a head, torso, and arms. Cameras can track about 50 objects at a time. If a person moves out in traffic and looks like the driver could hit him, the car audibly warns the driver, and if the driver doesn't take action, the pedestrian detection system will begin to brake the vehicle. At speeds less than 9 mph, the car will brake entirely by itself. One key difference between Volvo's and Audi's technology is that Volvo looks at driver behavior, not driver's position. Volvo's active-braking system looks for cues that the driver is paying attention, such as actively steering the vehicle. Audi's system uses internal cameras that record the position of the head and the orientation of the driver's head to deduce the attentiveness of the driver. If it detects that the driver isn't paying attention, it could begin the warning and braking sequence earlier than waiting until the last minute to avoid a crash. Either way, both systems are a boon for pedestrians and cyclists on the road, and if it prevents an accident, it's a win for everyone.
Recently I tweeted, “/Estimating/ is often helpful. /Estimates/ are often not.” Several people asked, “How can this be?” Let me say more, in more than 140 characters. /Estimating/ is often helpful. Estimating helps when the process of estimating builds shared understanding among the people who want the work done and the people doing the work. Collaborative estimating gives the best results. Diverse experience yields a broader range of perspectives and questions. Questions and perspectives build understanding of the what?, why?, and who? that is related to a request. That’s helpful. Group estimating reveals differences in knowledge and understanding. Finding those gaps early is helpful. Group estimating surfaces assumptions. When we are aware of our assumptions, we can verify—or debunk—them. When the group knows enough about the “what” to think about the “how,” they can analyze implementation. Working out implementation details reveals more assumptions, and generates more questions. Sometimes estimating reveals that you only know enough to reason by analogy. The best you can do is posit that the desired functionality is about the same size as some X. But sometimes, estimators realize that they don’t know enough to think about size or effort in a meaningful way. This situation calls for discipline—discipline to resist guessing and speculation. Estimates born of baseless, ungrounded guesses are worse than useless. Rather than guess, in order to gain great clarity about needs and context it's best to troubleshoot via experiments, interviews, models, sketches, or some other helpful activity. Then try estimating again. /Estimates/ are often not helpful. People turn estimates into targets. Meeting the target becomes the de facto goal and the de facto method. The need of a meeting ends up fading as a priority. People can construe estimates as promises. No one can predict the future, but many people treat estimates as guarantees. Failed predictions may fan blame. Under the worst circumstances, trust and openness cause suffering. People might construe estimates as bids. Bidding usually involves some calculation of profit. That implies a margin. However, managers discourage margins in estimates. Managers view “padding” as a moral failing–but it’s really a contingency for the unknown (Or compensation for bosses who are known to cut estimates to fit wishes. See below.). Inappropriate precision in estimates implies that people know more than they do. When expectations and reality meet, people may feel disappointed. More likely, they feel deceived. Trust and openness cause suffering once again. People game estimates. How many of you developers have thought long and hard about an estimate, only to have a manager say, “Estimate X is too high. It should be between A and B.” I, too, have been this way. Fudging estimates to fit wishes sets off another round of deceit and disappointed expectations. Trust and openness become scarce. So please, estimate. But don’t get caught up in estimates.
Quadrats were harvested for aboveground biomass from eight plots within a tussock, watertrack, and snowbed community at 3 sites - acidic tundra near Toolik (site of acidic LTER plots), nonacidic tundra near Toolik Lake(site of non-acidic LTER plots), and acidic tundra near Sagwon. All vascular species were sorted, divided into new and old growth, dried, and weighed. Lichens were separated by genus in all quadrats. In half of the quadrats (n=4), mosses were separated by species. Moss and lichen data are presented by species elsewhere (see 97lgmosslichen.txt). Displaying 1 - 1 of 1