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Country Highlight: BURUNDI Posted By : Travel Africa Movement/ 383 0 Burundi is Africa’s 10th smallest country and one of its off the beaten path destinations. Learn more fun facts about this amazing country. Fun Facts: 1. It’s a landlocked country located in East-Central Africa and is the 10th smallest country in Africa. 2. Its capital and second largest city is Gitega. Bujumbura is its largest city and former capital. 3. Burundi’s primary exports are coffee, gold and tea, but it is one of the world’s poorest countries. 4. Burundi has the second-largest population density in sub-Saharan Africa, with only 13% of the population living in urban areas. Most people live on farms near areas of fertile volcanic soil. 5. Major languages: Kirundi (national and official), French (official), English (official) 6. Major Ethnic Groups: Hutu (85%), Tutsi (14%), Twa (1%) 7. Major Religions: Christianity (90%), Islam (5%), Traditional indigenous religions (5%) 8. It is one of the few African countries whose borders were not determined by colonial rulers. 9. During colonization, first Germany, and then Belgium, ruled Burundi and neighboring Rwanda as a common colony known as Ruanda-Urundi. At independence from Belgium in July 1962, Burundi and Rwanda became two separate countries. 9. Burundi’s currency is the Burundian franc (BIF). At current exchange rates, $1 USD equals approximately $1,894 BIF. 10. Burundi is considered an off the beaten path destination for most visitors. Tourism infrastructure is limited due to years of unrest, but its growing tourism industry mostly centers around nature, wildlife and culture. 11. Burundian drummers, locally known as Abatimbo, are one of the major cultural attractions. 12. Tourist attractions include: Kibira National Park (home to the country’s largest rainforest and rare colobus monkeys and chimpanzees), Rusizi National Park (home to hippos), Gasumo (the southernmost source of the Nile River), Lake Tanganyika (the world’s longest freshwater lake), Karera waterfalls, 10 thermal water sites, tea plantations, National Museum, Museé Vivant, and Gishora Drum Site. Photo credit: Video credit: PNUD Burundi
Vane is usually short for “weathervane.” If the vane on top of the building is spinning, it must be windy outside. In addition to being a device that shows you the direction of the wind, a vane can help direct flying things through the wind, as bird lovers and archers, among others, know. Be careful not to mistake vane for its homonyms, vein and vain. If you're so vain that you'll slash at your veins if the wind messes up your hair, check the vane before going out. Or just wear a hat. Definitions of vane 1. noun synonyms: web see moresee less type of: 2. noun synonyms: weather vane, weathervane, wind vane see moresee less weathervane with a vane in the form of a rooster wind tee weather vane shaped like a T and located at an airfield type of: mechanical device mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles 3. noun flat surface that rotates and pushes against air or water synonyms: blade see moresee less show 4 types... hide 4 types... fan blade blade of a rotating fan the blade of a rotor (as in the compressor of a jet engine) a blade of a paddle wheel or water wheel rudder blade the vertical blade on a rudder type of: rotating mechanism a mechanism that rotates 4. noun a fin attached to the tail of an arrow, bomb or missile in order to stabilize or guide it see moresee less type of: a stabilizer on a ship that resembles the fin of a fish Word Family
• Oct, 2021 • Oct 05, 2021 • "We do know that the immunity after vaccination is better than the immunity after natural infection" ... is what the FDA has been saying, which seems to contradict evidence and the opinion of experts. Unless 'better' in this sentence means something other than 'more effective.' They say 'it appears ... that natural infection provides immunity, but that immunity is seemingly not as strong and may not be as long lasting as that provided by the vaccine.' They say that 'generally the immunity after natural infection tends to wane after about 90 days.' Also contradicts science. It also contradicts the position of the UK and Israeli data. • Sep, 2021 • Sep 13, 2021 • Some experts disagree with US gov over booster Key FDA meeting coming up. The US gov plan is Sept 20, 8 months after the 2nd dose people can get a booster. FDA Commissioner Woodcock said "We conclude that a booster shot will be needed to maximize ... protection ..." In the Lancet today 2 doctors from the FDA (who have announced their retirements due to frustration over how the FDA is handling the booster plan) and 16 other scientists published a letter saying they think current protection is holding up so "Current evidence does not, therefore, appear to show a need for boosting in the general population." • Jul, 2021 • Jul 01, 2021 • New way to lower blood pressure: Strength training breathing muscles You suck at a straw that has resistance to sucking. The current regimen being used by researchers is 30 inhalations per day at high resistance. "IMST can be done in five minutes in your own home while you watch TV." The benefits were significant. Systolic bp dropped 9 points on average (exceeding benefits of 30 minutes walking 5 days a week), and equivalent also to some bp-lowing drug regimens. 6 weeks after the 36 older adults tested quit the training, most of the health benefits remained. (They' got funding to do another test with 100 people.) It's not yet known how it works: How strengthening breathing muscles ends up lowering blood pressure. A guess they have is that it causes cell lining blood vessels to provide more nitric oxide, causing them to relax. It also strengthens diaphragm muscles. IMST stands for High-Resistance Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training. • Jun, 2021 • Jun 27, 2021 • Biohackers aim at producing $7 insulin, compared with $300 insulin from Big Pharma Reportedly, insulin costs $1.50 to $5 per vial to make, but is sold for around $300. Biohackers are working on reverse engineering insulin to produce a recipe they will make public, and say they will sell vials for $7. Three large companies own 90% of the insulin in the world. Novo Nordisk, Lilly, and Sanofi. Millions of people need insulin, and some can't afford what they need. The FDA wants to open the market for insulin, according to some, and therefore they will approve the molecules created by the 'biohackers' [Open Insulin project]. Once they complete their work, they will make the recipe public so community labs around the world can produce it locally. 'There was a time for being angry,' said one of the Open Insulin workers, 'It's not anger anymore. It's just determination.' • Jun, 2021 • Jun 14, 2021 • Pakistani town HIV outbreak among children As it it a poor, rural town where the parents work every day from the early morning, it is proving difficult to administer medicine to the young children in Rato Daro (in Sindh) who may require it for life. The outbreak is believed to stem from one doctor who was using unclean needles a couple of years ago. Although he was punished in the legal system, many say he was scapegoated and the responsibility lies with the government for providing good medical equipment. • Jun, 2021 • Jun 12, 2021 • FDA advisors are resigning because of Biogen's Alzheimer's drug approval The drug was approved, but when supporters were interviewed they couldn't say anything more compelling than that they were receiving the news positively because people suffered from Alzheimer's, without being able to say anything in favor of the drug itself. The drug came out a while back, and was not approved upon review last year (because no benefits were substantially proven, the FDA advisory board voted 10 against, 1 uncertain, 0 in favor), and since then nothing has changed, but the FDA decided to approve it now. It is rare for this type of decision to be overturned, and usually when it does happen, it's after a vote that is closer than the Biogen drug was. There are millions of potential consumers for the drug, and Biogen has priced it at $56,000 per year. Commenters said that after the third resignation, there might be some real attention on what's going on here. 3 prestigious FDA advisors who quit: Show More Show Less
Bantysh-Kamensky, Dmytro [Бантиш-Каменський, Дмитро; Bantyš-Kamens’kyj], b 16 November 1788 in Moscow, d 6 February 1850 in Saint Petersburg. Historian, administrator of the office of Nikolai Repnin, the Kyiv military governor (1816–21), governor of Tobolsk (1825–8) and Vilnius (1836–7), and son of Mykola Bantysh-Kamensky. He wrote the following works based on a wealth of archival material: Istoriia Maloi Rossii so vremen prisoedineniia onoi k rossiiskomu gosudarstvu pri tsare Aleksee Mikhailoviche (A History of Little Russia from the Time of Its Union with the Russian State under Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich, 4 vols, 1822); Slovar' dostopamiatnykh liudei russkoi zemli (A dictionary of Memorable People of the Russian Land, 5 vols, 1836; 3 supplements, 1847); and Istochniki malorossiiskoi istorii (Sources for Little Russian History, 2 vols, 1858–9). In his concept of Ukrainian history he attributed particular importance of the Cossack Hetman state, which he saw as the continuation of the traditions of Kyivan Rus’. Encyclopedia of Ukraine
• Home • > • Writings • > • Archaeology - Atlantis - Archaeological Evidences • Archaeology Atlantis - Archaeological Evidences Atlantis - Bimini IslandsAtlantis - archaeological evidences Since the release of “Atlantis - The Antediluvian World” written by Ignatius Donnelly in 1882, one of the main arguments against the theory of the physical existence of Atlantis was that there was no proof or evidence, that highly advanced civilization could have existed as far back in time. Yet, researchers and scientists must each time, when they again found evidence that humans existed at an earlier date as they thought, archaeologically review their calendars and postpone the time of the early civilizations. Our ancestors were obviously more advanced than we thought. A good example was the man that was found in the Alps between Austria and Italy. He had tools on him that he was not supposed to possess. Another discovery was made in 1940 in North America, where we found a mummy, whose age was originally estimated at 2'000 years, but a recent dating situated it to 7'400 the years before Christ. The most astonishing aspect of this finding was that the mummy was wearing moccasins and clothing woven mechanically with plants growing in marshy place. This finding shows that there were people in North America who could make clothing mechanically. It also shows that we should stop assuming that we would be the only civilization which existed; stop assuming that every previous civilization was necessarily less advanced than ours. We must, in addition, keep in mind that each civilization is going to decline after having reached its height. In addition it's not impossible that events, such as those who had caused the disappearance of Atlantis, are much more frequent then they want us to believe. There was a group of 70 researchers, scientists and adventurers of the “Pepperdine” University of Los Angeles, which had published some years ago, a document called the “The History of the Golden Ages.” In this document1, from which follow below some short excerpts, they revealed the existence of more than thirty ruins, pyramids, domes, paved roads, rectangular buildings, columns, canals and other constructions at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, from the Moroccan coast to the Bahamas. Ruins and traces found: - A pyramid, explored by Dr. Ray Brown, in the region of the Bahamas in 1970. Mr Brown was accompanied by four other divers, who did find not only roads, domes, rectangular buildings, but also instruments made of unknown materials. The pyramid contained a crystal ball, having a property at least strange; it contained miniature pyramids in the interior. - A city was found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain by the expedition of Dr. Maxine Asher in 1973. - Ruins of roads and buildings have been photographed off the Bimini Islands in 1960 by an expedition of Dr. Manson Valentine. Similar ruins were found off the coast of Cay Sal in the Bahamas. - Similar ruins were found at a depth of twenty meters off the coast of Morocco. - In Tiajuanaco, Bolivia, a calendar was found which showed the exact position of the planets of 27'000 years ago, which represents 20'000 years before the writing of current history books started. - Dr. David Zink found in 1957 off the Bahamas, a stylish marble block embedded in a building and pierced by a wick and a column of stone that looked issuing energy. - Captain John Alexander had found a port complex offshore islands of Bimini. - The deep sea exploration submarine, the “Aluminaut” has discovered at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean a well maintained road whose surface was made of magnesium oxide, which ran from Florida to South Carolina. - Captain Reyes Miranga took video of buildings in the form of temples, statues, wide curved boulevards, with smaller boulevards leaving perpendicular like the spokes of a wheel. - A pyramid, high as a building of eleven floors, had been found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of over three thousand meters. Furthermore, this pyramid would have a summit of crystal. - Several thousand square meters of white marble ruins, or materials like it, were found by Liecesaer Hemingway on the sloping bottom of the ocean off Cuba. - Several pilots reported seeing a mysterious dome in the clear waters of the Straits of Florida. - Russian expeditions would have found ruins on the Bank of Ampere, which would have been destroyed by lava. - The expedition of P. Cappellano in 1981 had discovered mysterious ruins with strange symbols on the bottom of the Atlantic off the Canary Islands. - A huge pyramid had been found by the expedition Marshall at a depth of 45 meters off Cay Sal, Bahamas. The surrounding waters were mysteriously lit by a white and transparent water leaving openings in the pyramid, surrounded by green water, instead of dark water as elsewhere in the region. - A foundation of twenty by thirty-two meters was photographed off the Andros Island. - The expeditions of the Russian Boris Asturna found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, 650 km from Portugal, a submerged city. This city had buildings made of extremely strong concrete and a kind of plastic. Then there were remains of roads, which seems to have been designed for transport by monorail. - A column of two meters in the form of a spire from a double base, which had the shape of a spiral, was found on the ocean floor by Dr. William Bell in 1958. Photos of this column showed a light leaving perpendicularly from the base of this column. - Pillars were found on the ocean floor by Robert Fero and Michael Grumley in 1969. A part of it had been cut from a non-identified rock type and that exists nowhere on Earth. - It's Dr. Manson Valentine who have explored a road off the Bahamas. - Rebikoff Dimitri had observed, using a submarine platform equipped with a special lenses, ruins surrounding a source of fresh water. - The ruins of an ancient city have been found off the island Ponape. - Other similar remains were found 45 miles off Easter Island. - A road in ruins on the island Rarotonga goes lost several miles into the Pacific Ocean, then seems to emerge in a straight line on another island! - Professor Menzies, from Duke University, had photographed the ruins of an ancient civilization at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, between Peru and Tahiti. Among these ruins there was a column equipped with unknown hieroglyphics. - Professor Menzies had also found in 1966 ruins at a depth of 2'000 meters on the Nazca Ridge off the coast of Peru in the Pacific Ocean. - Cores made in 1957 southern of islands of the Azores, where the Atlantic Ocean has a depth of over three thousand meters, noted the existence of freshwater plants in this area, which grew normally in the marshes. - We have among these findings made by serious people, unfortunately also a black sheep, named Paul Schliemann, little son of Heinrich Schliemann, discrediting all others, and archeology in particular. This gentleman, enjoying the fame of his grandfather, said in an article published in 1912 in Hearst newspapers, that his grandfather, who was interested in Atlantis long ago, would shortly before his death in 1890, left a sealed envelope to the family member who was interested in the cause of Atlantis. Paul Schliemann had said that his grandfather had an hour before his death added to this envelope a non-sealed annexe with the mention: “Break the vase with the owl head! Study the content! It concerns Atlantis.” Paul said that he had opened the letter, which was filed with a French bank, in 1906. He had learned only then that the vase would have an inscription: “Belonging to the King Chronos of Atlantis.” This vase contained bones, clay tablets and some objects made of an unknown metal. According to Paul Schliemann, his grandfather would also have examined a vase coming from South America, which contained items of an unusual metal alloy. All these objects, on the other hand, were identified as being false, once the article by Paul Schliemann had been published. Another rather strange find was a crystal skull. Although we cannot give its age, nor give it any connection with Atlantis, the Atlantean way of using crystals for about everything still leaves the question open whether the skull is not of their time. The crystal skull: In ancient times, our body and mind were highlighted in a crystalline structure and this is why they copied parts of the body and especially the skull in crystal. The most intriguing piece that has ever been discovered so far, is the skull found by Anna, daughter of the British explorer Mitchell-Hedges. She was the one who found the skull on the day of her 17 years, when she had been entitled to participate in excavations in the Maya city of Lubaantun in Belize. In this skull was missing, however, the lower jaw, which was found three months later 8 meters away. There is some gossip however which claims that the skull was purchased at Sotheby's in 1943 for the sum of 400 pounds. The skull itself, made from a single block of pure rock crystal and unusually large, measures 17 centimeters long, 12 centimeters wide and 12 centimeters tall and weighs about 5 kilos. Its dimensions are about the same as that of a human with perfect and astonishment details. Then according to the characteristics of the eye orbits, it would be a female skull. It was in 1970 that the museum curator Frank Dorland was granted by Mitchell-Hedges to analyze the skull. It was then analyzed by a team of scientists specialized in crystallography from the laboratories of Hewlett Packard in California. These tests, which still had lasted six months, showed that the skull and lower jaw were not only cut from the same block of crystal, but had been without taking account of the natural crystal axes. Even to this day in crystallography, it's essential to first determine the crystal axes, because cutting a crystal without taking into account the axis, as the former had done, will with our today's technology result in the destruction of the crystal. The former, who had made this crystal skull, apparently mastered a technique such that they apparently did not need to take account of such criteria. The unknown artist did not use metal tools, there was no trace of metal tool, nor traces of metal, not even after a microscopic analysis. The crystal used was too hard to have been carved with metal tools. Very fine traces suggested to Dorland that the skull was first cut in a comprehensive manner from a block of crystal by means of diamonds, then he was worked with sand. This theory poses however a problem, the work should have taken at least 300 man-years! That is precisely why a further analysis were made in 2004 with an electron microscope. This demonstrated that the skull had been mechanically machined and remains for the time being classified as a forgery. The microscopic marks are straight and perfectly spaced out and not at random as the result of a manual action should have. Executed as is, even to this day, working with a diamond grinding tools is not as perfect, not to mention the accuracy. Because the possibility of reproducing such a skull today, identically with the same optical characteristics, is still to be classified in the domain of unlikely even in the impossible. This skull does not only focus the light entering through the eyes, but it contains small holes through which you can hang it in perfect balance, such as the slightest breeze balances it. In addition, from time to time, the skull becomes for some unknown reason, cloudy, or a black dot appears in it for a few minutes. So far, there are altogether 13 of these skulls, which would once united, according to a legend of American Indians, have mystical powers and contain information about the future. Looking at the list of hits a little closer, we see that there are many regions where the sea has a depth of less than hundred meters. A region where the number of hits is particularly high, is the Grand Banks of the Bahamas. This region has because of this fact been classified for the whereabouts of old Atlantis. But we must however remember that the waters of this region are not very deep and is also very popular for holidays and especially for scuba diving. The large number of amateurs and seasoned professionals in this region, is one of the reasons for these findings. It's well known for finding something, we must seek it first! One reason among many why there are so many ruins in the waters up to a hundred meters is that the sea level was once over a hundred to hundred thirty meters lower. It should be clear, in the event of rising waters over a hundred years, that the population living in these regions had been forced to move elsewhere and leave their cities behind. We can easily identify those areas where there should have been cities, towns, villages, ports and other traces of civilization. We can cite among them the Danube delta, which is largely submerged in thousands of square kilometers. Then the other parts of the Black Sea are not to be outdone too, dozens of ancient cities were found almost everywhere on its shores. It's for this reason that some would have found Atlantis in the Black Sea region. It's clear that with a level of the sea a hundred meters down, the one of the Black Sea would also be so and allow the emergence of a large amount of land. In the Danube Delta, we should also expect several thousand square kilometers. This region had, however, not been immersed in twenty-four hours as was the case with Atlantis, but would have had to last a hundred years. It should be clear that people forced to move, could not bring with them the most heavy constructions and should have let them on the spot. It's precisely these abandoned buildings that currently remain there today. We have on the other hand a very large number of coastal regions that remain in the same case as the Black Sea region and the Bahamas, but which are not explored. An example of a poorly explored region is the one of the Indonesian islands. Again we may find traces there of ancient civilization swallowed by the rising waters. There are however among the clues mentioned above, three who could attest without any doubt that the area of the Azores had emerged and that it was at least three thousand meters higher in the past. There is first a pyramid, secondly the lava solidified in the open air, then the cores showing freshwater plants. On the other hand, this area is today, because of its great depth and its large surface to explore, virtually inaccessible to any meticulous research. 1 I, as author of this work, have not been able to verify the existence of this document which is commonly available on the Internet. The information is nevertheless interesting and short excerpts has been included in this book. Venerabilis Opus recommends
leap of faith Playing it safe or going for broke – is either ethical? Pascal and Kierkegaard both give arguments for religious faith. Pascal argues that it is rational to believe in God despite a lack of sufficient evidence by simply weighing the possibility of an infinite gain against that of a finite gain. Kierkegaard postulates that passion is essential to religious faith and requires a leap of faith over objective improbability. Kierkegaard’s argument seems to cover problem areas inherent in Pascal’s argument, but has its own weaknesses. Although Kierkegaard’s argument seems logical in that his conclusions follow from his premises, his concept of what is important in religious life might be up for question for its desirability. Clifford has argued that any belief not investigated objectively and founded in sufficient evidence is immoral. The ethical soundness of both of these arguments is questionable under this strict criteria for moral belief, but if one excludes forced options it is only Kierkegaard’s belief can be seen as unethical. In this paper I will discuss the reason’s place in both Pascal’s and Kierkegaard’s conception of faith and susceptibility of those conceptions to moral criticism. In “The Wager,” Pascal uses a cost and benefit analysis to show that it is reasonable to believe in God whether one has good evidence or not. In Pascal’s view, the existence of God can neither be proven nor disproven by reason. Although reason is neutral to the proposition that God exists, Pascal believes that reason can be applied to the belief in God. According to Christian doctrine, those who believe in God will have an infinite reward while those who do not will have an infinite punishment. Agnostics are not immune to punishment, because according to doctrine, not choosing to believe in God is, in effect, choosing against believing in God. Therefore an infinite gain or loss depends on a positive belief in God. When compared in a cost and benefit analysis, the possibility of an infinite gain is a more preferable choice over a finite gain no matter how large that finite gain might be (Pojman 1987: 397). A person then, would rationally choose to believe in God, gambling on the possibility of an infinite gain. This means that the rational person must then try to get her/himself to have faith. Pascal suggests that this may be done by first willing to believe the proposition, discover the best means to get in that state and act in such a way to make the acquisition of belief likely. Pascal is successful at demonstrating why it is rational to have religious faith but his argument itself contains weaknesses. Pascal forgoes the whole question of whether God exists or not by claiming that reason can neither prove nor disprove His existence. This changes the focus from whether the proposition that God exists is reasonable in itself, to whether it is reasonable or not to believe He exists. This is a good start because other attempts to apply reason to the proposition have failed. Pascal is fairly convincing that it is reasonable to believe that God exists, but is it reasonable or possible for a person to believe a proposition at will? And if he or she wills to, and in fact is successful at believing a proposition without evidence, is it ethical? The major objection to pragmatic justification for religious belief is that it may be unethical. Clifford argues that belief alone is not ethical if not backed with sufficient evidence. To illustrate his point, Clifford uses the example of a ship owner sending his ship out without having it inspected. Although his ship was old and not well built, the ship owner decides puts aside his feelings of doubt and put his trust in Providence to see his ship through the voyage instead of investigating its seaworthiness. Despite his conviction and sincere belief, the ship went down midocean. Clifford’s example clearly illustrates that if a person holds a strong belief or even wishes to hold a belief on one side of a question s/he is then unable to investigate the question with a fairness and completeness as if s/he were really in doubt and unbiased (Clifford in Pojman 1987: 380). The predetermined belief gets in the way of fair inquiry and, according to Clifford, a belief that is not founded on fair inquiry is irresponsible and unethical. Clifford, in this way, objects to Pascal because even though it might be advantageous to believe one proposition over another it is unethical to do so without sufficient evidence (Clifford in Pojman 1987: 380). Clifford’s objection to the pragmatic justification of belief has its own problems. It may be too strong to claim that it is “wrong for anyone to believe anything on insufficient evidence” (Pojman 1987: 380). William James explains that religious faith is a forced option, in which one cannot remain skeptical and wait for sufficient evidence. According to James, suspension of belief avoids error only if religion is not true, but if religion is true, then postponing belief for sufficient evidence is an error equally as great as positively choosing not to believe (James in Pojman 1987: 394). James does a wonderful job of illustrating how skepticism out of duty reduces to a tantamount that, in the context of a religious hypothesis, claims that yielding to the fear of error is “better and wiser than yielding to a hope that it might be true.” In James’s example, a man who hesitates indefinitely to ask a certain woman to marry him because he is not sure that she will be an “angel” after he brings her home, cuts himself off from the “angel-possibility” just as much as if he were to marry someone else (James in Pojman 1987: 394). James’s discussion is convincing and does a good job of countering Clifford’s objection to Pascal’s argument however, if we disregard Clifford and accept the argument that it is a good idea to have faith in God despite a lack of sufficient evidence, does it necessarily follow that faith will come about just by participation in religious observances? Or that this pragmatic justification is enough to allow us to believe decisively in an absolute way? The infinite loss or gain is possible, but the possibility that it is not seems to prevent complete confidence (Pojman 1987: 380). If one acquiesces to believe without complete confidence, is it religious faith or just playing it safe? Kierkegaard deals with these problems inherent in Pascal’s argument in “Subjectivity is Truth.” Kierkegaard states that complete confidence is not required and, in fact, not desired for faith. Faith for Kierkegaard requires improbability, so that a person can then take a passionate “leap.” This leap of faith makes religious observances true and absolute by believing absolutely through a “strenuous exertion of will” Adams in Pojman 1987: 414). Kierkegaard uses three arguments (identified by Adams) to illustrate this point, the approximation argument, the postponement argument, and the passion argument. I will discuss them briefly and explore the shortcomings of each. In the approximation argument, Kierkegaard reasons that a finitely small possibility of error cannot be disregarded with infinite passionate interest and therefore that historical inquiry, since it “gives, at best, only approximate results, is inadequate for religious faith” (Pojman 1987: 398). The approximation argument has a shortcoming in that it deals only with one of the two reasons for disregarding the possibility of error. Kierkegaard deals with the first, that the possibility is too small to worry about, by claiming that any finite possibility of error, no matter how small, becomes important when an infinite passionate interest is applied. Adams has identified a second reason for disregarding a very small but finite possibility of error. According to Adams, the possibility of error can be disregarded if the risk of not disregarding it is greater. It is here that Adams interjects that an infinite passionate interest, when applied to a very small but finite chance, may in effect, be selecting that possibility. To illustrate this point, he uses the example of a woman’s interest in her husband’s love for her. In this example, the woman is 99.9% sure that her husband truly loves her. The chance that he does not love her is not too small to discount given the greatness of her interest, but she also does not want to hedge her bets by not disregarding it. If this desire is “at least as strong as her desire not to be deceived,” then she should disregard the risk of error, since she would run a risk 999 times as great of “frustrating one of these desires” by not disregarding it (Adams in Pojman 1987: 410-11). In other words, not disregarding the possibility of error is in effect selecting that possibility. This would have a more negative effect than just strictly disregarding it. According to Adams, if a person’s “strongest desire in the matter is to be committed to the true opinion,” then that person “ought to commit themselves to the more probable opinion, disregarding the risk of error,” because the only other alternative is to commit one’s self to the “less probable opinion, disregarding the risk of error in it” (Adams in Pojman 1987: 411). The postponement argument holds that total commitment to any belief will be necessarily postponed when it is based on an inquiry in which one recognizes any possibility of a future need to refuse the results. Kierkegaard’s first premise of this argument is that “one cannot have an authentic religious faith without being totally committed to it” (Adams in Pojman 1987: 412). Total commitment to a belief is the determination “not to abandon the belief under any circumstances that one recognizes as epistemically possible” (Adams in Pojman 1987: 412). Adams’ objection to the postponement argument centers on this first premise. Adams believes that the heart of commitment in religion should not be an unconditional determination not to change one’s important religious beliefs under any circumstances as Kierkegaard states, but rather that the object of religious devotion should be God (Adams in Pojman 1987: 413). The passion argument concludes that passion is what is most essential and most valuable in religiousness and that it requires objective improbability. This argument hinges on the belief that infinite passion of the greatest possible intensity is the most essential and the most valuable feature of religiousness. This is a slightly different view from Pascal whose primary concern was playing it safe. Pascal used the fear of eternal damnation to rationalize belief in God, where reason was neutral to the proposition of God’s existence, but in Kierkegaard’s view, rational support for the belief in God detracts from faith because it reduces the intensity of passion. Replacing faith with “probabilities and guarantees” is for Kierkegaard, a “temptation to be resisted with all [ a believer’s ] strength. Adams agrees that Kierkegaard’s argument follows from his conception of what is important in religion, but he questions whether such a conception is desirable. “Infinite passion of the greatest possible intensity,” requires a maximization of sacrifice and risk. Although Adams recognizes the place of sacrifice and risk in religious life, he believes that some degree of cost and risk may be a more favorable and plausible view than a religious view that requires the highest degree of cost and risk. Although Kierkegaard acknowledges that it would be impossible to live without pursing some finite ends, Adams believes that the pursuit of some finite gains such as “truth, beauty, and satisfying personal relationships” would be more desirable and costly than the pursuit of “self-flagellating pain.” Whether or not infinite passion of the greatest possible intensity is desirable, is it ethical? Clifford would emphatically say no. Since passion requires improbability, and the intensity of passion is measured in part by the smallness of the chance of success, it would naturally follow that the more improbable the proposition the greater the passion. Kierkegaard would see the old ship as a great opportunity to demonstrate his passion and put all his faith into the old ship despite the evidence that the ship is not sea worthy. Clifford, it seems, would object even more strongly to Kierkegaard than he would to Pascal. Where Pascal might not base his decision on evidence or choose to overlook the evidence, Kierkegaard would decide to let the ship go to sea on the basis of the great improbability, because to do so would be an act of great passion. It is likely that Clifford would find Kierkegaard not only irresponsible and unethical, but out of his mind. It is here that the real difference in perspective comes out. Clifford strongly emphasizes a reliance on reason and evidence, whereas Kierkegaard claims that there is no place for reason in religion. It is clear that, for Clifford, one’s moral duty is to only believe what is backed by sufficient evidence. Kierkegaard seems less concerned with moral obligations to one’s people and more focused on the internal “passionate” religious life of the believer. James has argued that it is better to yield to hope rather than a fear of error, but his argument seems to fall short when it comes to an individual’s moral responsibility to others — if you were on a boat about to ship off across the Atlantic, would you want a captain who “hoped” that the boat would make it, or one who made sure it was fit for the journey? Clifford’s moral argument does then seem to carry some weight when faith is looked at through the old ship example, but to what degree is this example applicable to religious faith? Religious faith is a forced option, by not believing you are in effect positively disbelieving and have to suffer the consequences. In the example of the old ship, the option is not forced. Not positively believing that the ship is safe is not the same as positively believing that it is unsafe. In such a situation it is possible to survey the ship and test it for its sea worthiness with indifference and objectivity. Such an inspection of religious faith, however, is impossible because there is no room to be objective or indifferent. Clifford’s argument therefore, when it comes to the forced option of belief in God’s existence, seems to be unapplicable. Believing or not believing in God is an option where one’s personal life or soul is at risk, not that of other people. Is it moral or ethical to believe in God and to act on faith in God’s actions? The distinction here is particularly important. It is one thing to say one believes in God in the sense of his existence, it is another to believe in God in terms of his actions. The ship owner believed not only in Providence, but that Providence would see his ship through. Such a faith in God’s actions seems particularly subject to societal standards of morality, although the actual belief in God’s existence is not. Just because one believes in God, it does not nesscessarily follow that God will always watch over and see him/her through every situation. Pascal’s argument centers exclusively on believing in God’s existence. Playing it safe, in that sense, seems to be ethical. How could merely believing that God exists be immoral? Even if the belief is wrong in the end, no one is the worse off and as Pascal argues one’s life is actually better by holding such a belief. Kierkegaard, on the other hand, seems to be more concerned with acting on faith in daily life, exercising infinite passion in light of finite improbability. Although I find Kierkegaard’s view of religious faith appealing, I think “going for broke” can be criticized as being unethical, because Kierkegaard is not only talking about having faith in God’s existence, but in any willed determination. It is in the unforced options like the old ship example that Kierkegaard’s argument loses ground and becomes unethical. I, for one, would not want to go down with a ship held together solely by an exertion of will no matter how passionate. Leave a Reply
Electronics Station Electronics comprises the physics, engineering, technology and applications that deal with the emission, flow and control of electrons in vacuum and matter.[1] It uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification and rectification, which distinguishes it from classical electrical engineering which uses passive effects such as resistance, capacitance and inductance to control current flow.
Exposure to Women’s Sports: Changing Attitudes Toward Female Athletes – The Sport Journal ABSTRACTMany sports fans argue that ladies’s sports are boring in comparison to men’s sports. Simultaneously, women’s sports, compared to men’s sports, are rarely broadcasted in the media. Therefore, could the media be making sports fans accept as true with that women’s sports are less fascinating by giving them less coverage?Using the Agenda Setting Theory, Framing Theory, and Mere Exposure Effect, an intervention was developed to promote women’s sports to sports fans. Half of the participants got watched highlight films of girls’s sports each week for 4 weeks. Results indicate that the intervention diminished prejudice against female athletes after 3 weeks but had no effect on attention towards women’s sports. Future reviews should immerse contributors into the live action of women’s sports as opposed to spotlight pictures. INTRODUCTIONWomen were combating for equality all across history. In sport, specifically, women were once not even accredited to monitor the Olympic Games 11. After ultimately being permitted to take part in sports, women had to undergo gender checking out to make certain they were not men trying to cheat the system 62. Furthermore, the coverage of girls’s sports didn’t supersede coverage of dogs and horses until 1992 42. To this present day, female athletes still adventure considerably less and alternative media coverage than their male counterparts. The intention of this study is to check how expanding publicity to women’s sports influences attitudes towards women’s sports. Improvements in Gender Equality in SportsAlthough women have faced many demanding situations across historical past, they’ve got come closer and closer to reaching gender equality and people advances cannot be neglected. The US Congress passed Title IX of the Omnibus Education Act of 1972, as an example, mandated equal federal funding alternatives towards male and female college students in higher schooling 38, which inspired more girls and girls to participate in sports. This increased accessibility to sports sparked a metamorphosis of lower than 32,000 intercollegiate women and 300,000 highschool girls that participated in sports prior to ‘Title IX’ to 200,000 intercollegiate women and three million girls that participated in sports in 2010 34. Title IX has made it possible for girls and girls to become more concerned, and thus, more competitive in sports. The London 2012 Olympic Games featured, for the 1st time in historical past, an equal number of sports for ladies as for men 25. Upon this growth of girls’s sports, many countries similar to the US skilled a large growth in the number of female Olympians – so large that female US Olympians outnumbered male US Olympians 25 and went on to earn more medals, adding more gold medals, for the US 12. The 2012 Games provided alternatives for more than just the US, though. Every single nation partaking, for the first time ever, had at the least one female player 12. Sports fans, too, are likely becoming more interested in the push for gender equality by watching more women’s sports. More and more people watch the Women’s Final Four of the National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA basketball each year, consistently breaking viewership statistics 3. It is critical to keep girls and women partaking in sports and train as a result of sports have many advantages for men and ladies despite gender adding reduced social loafing later in life with a historical past of partaking in team, in preference to particular person sports 16; improved respiration and cardiovascular health 58; enhanced muscle and bone strength and reduced hip fractures, vertebrae fractures, and cancer diagnoses 2, 66; decreased risk of Type II diabetes 22; lowered risk of depression 39; better grades 51; and in infants who take part in team sports, greater self idea and self-worth 55. Gender Inequality in Sports Still ExistsDespite the advancements towards accomplishing gender equality in sports, female athletes still face numerous hindrances. The media, for instance, current sports as if there are masculine e. g. , football and ice hockey and feminine e. g. , gymnastics and figure skating sports, aligning with traditional expectations of male and feminine athletes 36, 44, which makes it more difficult to break basic gender boundaries and permitting women to participate in masculine sports and men to participate in feminine sports. In fact, many female athletes are only commonplace by society and obtain coverage in the media in the event that they participate in traditionally female sports 12. If a woman dares to participate in a masculine sport, their sexuality is instantly puzzled 7. The media tends to ignore, which devalues, women’s athletic accomplishments by specializing in their actual look 60, inner most lives 4, 29, 31, and femininity and sexuality even if they achieve more wonderful athletic feats 21. Not only does the media center around alternative features of a female athlete opposed to a male athlete, but some researchers analyzed media insurance of female athletes and suggested that women acquire poorer exceptional of technical production, less typical insurance, and are demeaned as “girls” while men are portrayed as “strong and strong men” that are “traditionally essential” 18. Television networks even choose various shots and angles for as a minimum female beach volleyball players 4 and track and field athletes 26, exploiting their bodies. The emphasis on their bodies and sexuality could be placing women and girls in danger for anxiousness and fear 49. Females who adventure the media’s emphasis of attractive features usually tend to also experience anorexia, bulimia, body dissatisfaction, and a drive for thinness 5. In addition, such nervousness is related to quitting sports 24, 53, experiencing less entertainment in sports 53, 57, and pain impaired performances 28, 68, 32, 48, 63. Therefore, the unequal attention given to female athletes could lead to many terrible consequences for women in addition to overlaying male privilege in sports 13, 35. Media Exposure of Women’s SportsGender inequality, as noted, has many terrible penalties for female athletes. In addition to the unequal form of coverage that female athletes get hold of, they also obtain less universal insurance 8, 19, 30, 47, 56. Women’s sports also are perceived as less unique and slower than men’s sports 40. In that same study, members pronounced that they had minimal event with women’s sports and only watched women’s sports if it’s what was on television. The media, though, does not give women’s sports much coverage, minimizing the frequency of which sports fans view women’s sports. See also Things to Do After You’ve Written a New Blog Post for Content Marketing In fact, below 10% of sports media covers women’s sports and less than 2% of sports media covers women’s sports that are deemed masculine 37. Unfortunately, news staff are less likely to recognize this change than viewers 41, that means that news staff may not realize that they are arguably discriminating in opposition t female athletes. Even though the Olympic Games at the moment are offering an identical number of sports for ladies as they do men as previously noted, the Olympic Games also displays unequal coverage via their networks. For example, the US women’s basketball team won their fifth consecutive gold medal in 2012, but bought under half of a minute in prime time insurance whereas the boys’s team who won their second consecutive gold medal acquired approximately half of an hour of prime time coverage 12. Notably, though, the 2012 Olympic Games, for the first time ever, also offered more coverage of girls’s sports than men’s sports on NBC; however, this coverage was primarily for girls’s sports deemed feminine e. g. , gymnastics 12. Such misrepresentation of ladies’s sports has been argued to be responsible for the loss of attention in women’s sports from sports fans 9, 14, 15 and reinforces the public’s common terrible attitudes in opposition to women 61. As formerly argued, this lack of coverage of ladies’s sports may be protecting sports fans back from developing attention in women’s sports and adapting fan affiliations with women’s sports teams and athletes 27. The same study also noted that societal expectancies also promote divisions between boys and girls during youth, arguing that this issue is more than just an issue with the media. The media, but it surely, may play a crucial role in changing the inequalities women face in sports. If the media plays such a huge role in shaping attitudes and values in regards to ladies’s sports, why does the media continue?For starters, as previously discussed, the media, particularly male members of the media, may be blind to the vast ameliorations in portrayals of women and girls versus men and boys in sports 41. Additionally, sports fans are continuing to monitor sports because it allows eustress, boosts self-worth if a favorite team or athlete performs well, offers a way to ‘escape,’ entertains them, provides an opportunity to gamble, is aesthetically alluring, commits one to a larger group affiliation e. g. , sport fan of a particular team, and brings families together 64. Perhaps, given all of those skills advantages, sports fans proceed to watch sports in an attempt to reap more of the advantages, which by accident leads the media to accept as true with that their viewers likes what they are looking, reinforcing the emphasis on men’s sports and the de emphasis of girls’s sports. METHODSCollege students were recruited from a number of classes associated with psychology, sociology, and sport sciences at a Midwestern institution. The individuals were divided in half for the control and experimental condition. Although 89 people started the study, 58 65. 5% ladies; 32. 8% males accomplished all 4 weeks of the study Mage = 20. 0 years. The control group completed a survey each week while the experimental group watched numerous spotlight pictures of masculine women’s sports e. g. , soccer, hockey, etc. each week. Highlight pictures of ladies’s sports that had athletes competing on behalf of the US was purposefully selected that allows you to foster a connection to the athletes of the respective pictures. The researchers chose this system as a result of identification with a sports team is associated with emotional responses toward the competitors 6, 4, 65 and because the current study was conducted in the US. RESULTSMeans and traditional deviations for all variables are available in Table 1. Prior to the fundamental analyses, Pearson’s correlations were determined between all the variables see Table 1. Table 1 depicts many gigantic correlations. For example, the initial prejudice measure was constantly and definitely correlated with future prejudice scores and was constantly and negatively correlated with the change in prejudice over time. The preliminary interest measure, but, was continually and definitely correlated with added attention scores and was negatively correlated with the third and final prejudice scores and the change in the attention from week one to week three. A factorial two way multivariate analysis of variance MANOVA tested the effects of the intervention Control versus Experimental and Gender Male versus Female versus Other on prejudice, interest, and the changes of prejudice and interest over time as they relate to female athletes and girls’s sports, respectively. There was not a statistical significant model for gender, F16, 92 = 1. 598, p = . 085; Wilks’ Λ = . 612, partial η2 = . 218. There was also not a significant model for the combination of gender and intervention, F8, 46 = 1. 668, p = . 132; Wilks’ Λ = . 775, partial η2 = . 225. There was, but it surely, a significant model for the intervention, F8, 46 = 2. 713, p DISCUSSIONThe main goal of the present study was to explore how higher insurance in opposition to women’s sports adjustments attitudes against women’s sports and feminine athletes. The passage of Title IX supported a dramatic increase in the number of girls and women participating in sports over the last 40 years 34. As women and girls are increasing their sport participation, sports fans have become more drawn to women’s sports 3. While more girls and women are engaging in sports than ever before and sports fans have become more interested in women’s sports, many sports fans and critics argue that women’s sports are just boring; they complain that ladies’s sports are not nearly as entertaining as men’s sports 61. Perhaps, sports fans are not attracted to women’s sports as a result of they’re coated significantly less than men’s sports, indicating that they are less critical and less appealing than men’s sports and other topics that are coated more regularly in the media, some researchers hypothesized 9, 14, 15. Using theoretical frameworks from Agenda Setting Theory, Framing Theory, and the Mere Exposure Effect, we hypothesized that greater consciousness and publicity to insurance of women’s sports will increase interest in and decrease prejudice in opposition to women’s sports and feminine athletes. Increased insurance of girls’s sports should arguably create an impression that ladies’s sports are important. Additionally, this higher insurance should lead to increased exposure to ladies’s sports. See also Digital Marketing Live Projects in Kolkata % Practical Client Projects Because the more someone is exposed to a stimulus, the more favorable reactions they need to it 69, the more someone is exposed to ladies’s sports, the more favorable attitudes they need to have towards women’s sports and female athletes. Despite these theoretical conceptions, our hypotheses were not supported with our intervention. Prejudice against female athletes, nevertheless it, did considerably lower after 3 weeks, but didn’t lower after 4 weeks, when exposed to increase coverage of women’s sports. Therefore, increased insurance of ladies’s sports does recover favorable attitudes against women’s sports and feminine athletes but doesn’t always augment attention against women’s sports. Perhaps, prejudice was not lowered after 4 weeks of the intervention because of the lack of interest and motivation to continue engaging in the study brooding about 31 individuals dropped out of the study. Furthermore, attention might not have been affected as a result of participants did not have an emotional attachment to the ladies’s sports or female athletes that they were watching. After all, identity with a sports team is extremely associated with extreme emotional responses to the respective team competing 6, 4, 65. Therefore, because sports fans most simply develop emotional attachments to local and local teams 54, attention towards women’s sports may augment if sports fans can more easily identify and access local teams and athletes. The emotional attachment to such a team and/or athlete will augment attention in looking the team or player and augment investment in women’s sports. In addition, prejudice against female athletes forever lowered regardless of even if individuals were uncovered to higher insurance of girls’s sports. Participants may have become self aware of their terrible attitudes towards female athletes by being always puzzled on them. Because self attention of bad attitudes decreases prejudice 70, enhanced self cognizance from responding to the survey likely influenced contributors to try to keep in mind and evaluate their very own reasons for having terrible emotions and emotions foremost to the lower in prejudice against female athletes. CONCLUSIONAn intervention on increased insurance against women’s sports diminished prejudice towards female athletes after 3 weeks, but not after 4 weeks and had no effect on attention against women’s sports. While the intervention did not affect attention and only affected the change in prejudice after three weeks, self consciousness of terrible emotions and attitudes may decrease prejudice. The intervention is restricted, though, as a result of the number of female participants compared to male members and because of using video links opposed to live footage or in person experiences. In addition, the study featured individuals who were college college students and never mainly sports fans. Future reviews should implement interventions on male sports fans and children which involves watching women’s sports in person of local or regional teams relative to the individuals. Specifically targeting children, for instance, may recover attitudes toward female athletes by molding the attitudes of the next generation. APPLICATIONS TO SPORTSAll too often, sports fans, athletes, directors, etc. discriminate against female athletes. Many sports fans are not even drawn to looking women’s sports. The present study adds facts for what did and didn’t work to recover attitudes and augment the likelihood that sports fans will proceed to monitor women’s sports. Researchers should use this assistance to grow interventions to improve attitudes and the popularity of women’s sports. Researchers should, for example, immerse individuals into the game by providing them with live access to the competitions in preference to providing them with highlight photos. Such interventions can help bridge the gender gap, especially in sports. The present study not just provides groundwork for future analysis, but also advises sports body of workers i. e. , coaches, sports media broadcasters, administrators, etc. on how to advertise women’s sports. Many sports workforce and male athletes toughen negative attitudes towards women’s sports by minimizing and altering compared to men’s sports their coverage via airtime on television, among many other forms of media communique. The current study offers the concept that these sports body of workers and athletes want to focus more equal realization on women’s sports with a purpose to recuperate attitudes against women’s sports. Women’s opportunities for aggressive actual undertaking were restricted in America until Federal Legislation, commonly called Title IX, became law. It required American society to identify a lady’s right to participate in sports on a plane equal to that of men. Prior to 1870, actions for women were leisure rather than sport precise in nature. They were noncompetitive, casual, rule less; they emphasised actual endeavor rather than competitors. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, women began to form clubs that were athletic in nature. Efforts to limit women’s sport activity persisted as they became more involved in aggressive sports. This paper will present a history of girls’s involvement in sport in advance of the federal legislations enacted to do away with sexual discrimination in schooling and sport. The notion of paying faculty soccer players has been an ongoing debate since the early 1900’s. With latest tv income as a result of NCAA football bowl games and March Madness in basketball, there’s now a clamoring for compensating both soccer and basketball avid gamers beyond that of an athletic scholarship. This article takes some extent/counterpoint strategy to the subject of paying athletes and will have advantage implications/consequences for faculty administrators, athletes, and coaches. Dr. John Acquaviva defends the present system by which faculties provide an athletic scholarship that provides a “free faculty schooling” in return for enjoying on the university team. Dr. Dennis Johnson follows with a counterpoint making the case that athletes in these sports should get hold of compensation beyond that of a school scholarship and forwards five proposals to pay the athletes.
Food for Hearing Health You might really like to eat dark chocolates and are always looking for excuses to eat some. Don’t worry, now you can eat dark chocolates without feeling guilty about it, as it will help your hearing health significantly. So, you can tell yourself that you are doing it to take care of your hearing. There are many other foods such as banana, salmon, broccoli, etc. that can help your hearing a lot. Hearing is one of the most important of our five senses, and we need to take care of our hearing properly so that we can protect it from any kind of harm. Still, one can face hearing loss problems at any time of their life. Hearing loss problems can occur due to many reasons, but the hearing cells in the inner ear getting damaged with time is one of them. As a result, many people tend to lose their hearing to some degree as they grow older. But you can try to prevent it, and keep the hearing loss to a minimum level and protect your hearing by taking some measures. Eating healthy foods that contribute to your hearing health can be one. Check Out: Facts to consider before buying hearing aids According to research, the risk of facing hearing loss can get reduced by 30% if you have a diet based on fruits and vegetables. Intaking less fat and sugar \, and eating lean meat, fish, low-fat dairy along with fruits and vegetables also help with hearing health. There are some essential minerals that can help a lot with your hearing health, and there are many food items that contain these four minerals. Now let’s see what minerals are and which foods can help you to take care of your hearing health. Potassium works to regulate the amount of fluid you need in your blood and body tissue. There is fluid in your inner ear, and this part of the ear is really important in the overall hearing process, and the fluid also helps to maintain the balance in the ear as well as the body. And this fluid is hugely dependent on a rich supply of potassium. The more we age, the more the level of potassium drops naturally, and that can be a contributing factor to age-related hearing loss. There is a hormone called aldosterone which is responsible for regulating potassium, and a drop in aldosterone is linked to hearing loss problems according to research. The thing is, the level of potassium in our body decreases as we age, so it is important to consume foods with potassium as much as possible. And consuming potassium-based food is great for our body and overall health. They can keep us healthy and boost our immunity system. Banana is the most common fruit that has potassium. Some other food items that have potassium are- milk, yogurt, eggs, mushrooms, oranges, melons, apricots, raisins, tomatoes, potatoes, spinach, cucumbers, coconuts, etc. Magnesium might be able to help you prevent hearing damages that are caused by exposure to loud noises. According to the estimation of WHO, about 16% of the disabling hearing loss cases in adults are caused due to occupational noise. If you get exposed to loud noises, harmful molecules called free radicals that get produced due to the loud noise can damage the sensitive hair-like cells in your inner ear. As those cells work to transmit sound to your brain from the ears, their damage can create huge problems for your hearing, and you might suffer from hearing loss problems as a result. Magnesium works as a free radical scavenger that can help protect your ears against damages of this type. Magnesium can also help a lot in relieving you from symptoms of ringing in the ears, or in other words, tinnitus. So, make sure that you are consuming enough magnesium that you need for your hearing health. Dark chocolates are rich in magnesium, so eating dark chocolates can provide you with your needed magnesium. Some other food items that have magnesium are- wheat, almond, spinach, peanuts, cashews, cultures yogurt, tofu, avocados, different types of seeds, etc. Folic Acid/ Folate The blood circulation of your body can play a crucial role in your hearing health, and folate or folic acid can help to increase the circulation of the body. Proper circulation keeps the hair-like cells of the inner ear healthy. Also, folic acid can fight off the harmful molecules produced by loud noises too, just like magnesium. Folate can also help to reduce the level of an amino acid called homocysteine that can compromise the vascular system of the ear, and also impair the blood flow of the inner ear. Some foods that contain folic acid are- beef liver, asparagus, mushrooms, egg yolks, beans, spinach, broccoli, banana, lettuce, avocado, brussels sprouts, kidney beans, kale, whole grains, fortified breakfast cereals, lemons, etc. Eating enough amounts of zinc-based food helps to boost the immune system, and the ability to heal. It also lowers the chances of developing hearing problems such as tinnitus and presbycusis. It also helps to fight ear infections. Some zinc-based food items are- Dark chocolate, oatmeal, lentils, beans, yogurt, cashews, peanuts, oysters, lobsters, pork, crab, beef, mushrooms, dark meat chicken, kale, garlic, spinach, etc. Getting enough Omega-3s fatty acid with your food can help you to keep your ears functioning even after you get old. These fatty acids can help prevent, or at least delay age-related hearing loss. Salmon fish is a great and delicious source of these fatty acids. Some other Omega-3s-based food items are- fortified eggs, fortified milk, walnuts, flax seeds, brussels sprouts, spinach, tuna, oysters, etc. Vitamin D Vitamin D is really important for health, and it can really help to keep bones and skins healthy. There are 3 small bones in the middle part of your ears, and they play a very important role in the listening process. Vitamin D-based diet can help to keep them healthy. Some food items with vitamin D are- oily fish such as salmon or herring, mushrooms, egg yolks, and some commercially available foods that are labeled as having been specially fortified with vitamin D, such as cow’s milk, breakfast cereals, orange juice, etc. Final Words Foods that contain important nutrients are really important for our overall health. And some specific vitamins and minerals are more important for the health of specific parts of our body. And as a really important part, we need to keep our ears healthy and safe by taking care of the hearing health, and the above-mentioned foods can do that for us, So, make sure to consume those healthy and delicious foods from time to time. Sharing it to help others: Leave a Comment
Audio Version Of The Blog – 2/20/21 Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog Download:MP3 Audio From The History Of Primary Sources 137Comment: The Torah appeared 1,500 years ago. It was originally written as a single sentence consisting of 79,976 words. In its first stage, the Torah consisted of five books. Then, if we talk about the Tanakh, in the period before the destruction of the First Temple, the Prophets were written, and in the period before the destruction of the Second Temple, the Scriptures were written. In 1947, a huge number of scrolls were found in the Qumran caves, which belong to the same period, but for some reason were not included in the Tanakh. My Response: These are scrolls of a very different type. They are different from those that existed in the time of the Great Assembly because they refer to the first century of our era, toward the end of the existence of both the country and the nation. Comment: According to Baal HaSulam, they were written by people who were not in attainment. My Response: It is very difficult for us to understand these people. But we are still a level below them, disconnected from the true Torah. Although they were already in a state of falling from its level, they still felt spiritual connection. Question: Can a Kabbalist take a scroll, read it, and determine who wrote it: a person who has attained spirituality or not? Answer: Of course he can. But that doesn’t mean anything. There were many who understood the Creator at different levels, both after the destruction of the Temple and after the Roman and Greek exile of the people. However, we only take into account what was written before the exile. These are the Torah, the Prophets, the Scriptures, the Talmud, and, of course, The Book of Zohar. From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 6/3/19 Related Material: A Book That Proved To Be Correct For Thousands Of Years The Torah Is A Guidebook For Love What Came First, The Torah Or The Wisdom Of Kabbalah? Fly Through Time 233Question: What do forward and backward mean in the spiritual coordinate system? Is it cause and effect, time, or something else? Answer: There is no going backward in spirituality at all because that is regression, and the only direction we move is forward. Moving forward is based on greater connection, unity between us. The more we accelerate time, which makes us closer, we ourselves try to get closer to each other, the more we will hasten time and advance toward the future ahead of all of humanity. We can easily find ourselves 200 to 300 years ahead while all of humanity will still be in our miserable 21st century. The only thing we need to do is to accelerate the unity between us. A group that does this becomes like a spaceship. It flies through time feeling it as one of the parameters it can change. This is what we also say about the spiritual world that is above time and space. From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 12/22/19 Related Material: Flying To A Beautiful Future Castles In The Air The Future Is Perfect Individuality That Does Not Contradict Equality 600.02Question: In your blog, you wrote: “We are not able to tolerate equality, to measure it. It does not exist for us at all. We understand what it means to be above or below others, but where equality begins, we lose sensation. Therefore, the balance is given from above, as the middle line, and comes along with the revelation of some upper force.” What does it mean? Answer: There is nothing more contrary to our nature than equality because then the individuality of each person is erased. One cannot tolerate it. There are people who get used to it and enjoy equality, like, for example, soldiers in the army. But at the same time, there must still be some specific goal related to education. Soldiers in the army are just soldiers. They must fulfill their mechanical function, and in this, they move toward a goal that is common for them. If we talk about the development of society, about how to move forward toward some ideal, then we cannot make sure that all people will be absolutely equal. We are not going to make everyone a soldier because then society would simply freeze and not develop. Therefore, we must give people the opportunity to show their individuality so that everyone has an equal chance to develop independently and give everything to society. From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 4/29/19 Related Material: How To Build Equal Relations In Society? Conditional Equality Equality And Diversity
Is the Death Penalty Fair? The death penalty has been a sensitive topic in the United States for many years. Although 28 states still allow the death penalty, more states have continued to abolish it. Over the past few decades, previously verifiable reasons for the death penalty have become more questionable. A poll taken in 2018 showed that 54% of Americans support the death penalty. A more recent poll conducted in 2019 shows that number has increased by 2% in America, bringing the total up to 56%. In 2021, are there still reasons to be in favor of the death penalty? Photo courtesy of Pixabay Although 56% of Americans, as of 2019, believe for some crimes the only fit punishment is death, others say death is an easy escape for their crimes and criminals should instead serve the rest of their days in prison as a final punishment. Unlike serving time behind bars, a death sentence cannot be reversed once it has been enforced. As of 2020, there are 28 death penalty states, including Missouri, and 22 non-penalty states. History Behind the Death Penalty The death penalty, also referred to as capital punishment, has been in America’s government system since 1608 around the time European settlers set foot in the New World. The United States deemed the death penalty constitutional in 1976, and as of July 2020, 1,516 people have been executed while on death row. Of these 1,516 criminals, two prisoners in Washington and one in Delaware have been executed by hanging between 1993 and 1996, three by firing squad in Utah where the most recent person executed was 49-year-old Ronnie Gardner, who was executed in 2010 for murdering a male, 11 by gas chamber in Nevada, Mississippi, Arizona, California and North Carolina, 163 by electrocution and 1,336 by lethal injection. Of all death row cases since 1973, 172 death row prisoners have been exonerated of all death row-related charges due to wrongful convictions against them. In 2005, the United States Supreme Court, through Roper v. Simmons, concluded the death penalty for juveniles was cruel and therefore abolished it. Since 1976, 22 individuals have been executed for crimes committed while under age prior to Roper v. Simmons. Did you know the death penalty can be enforced for crimes other than murder? Other crimes that allow the death penalty include treason, aggravated kidnapping, drug trafficking, aircraft hijacking, placing a bomb near a bus terminal, espionage and aggravated assault by incarcerated, persistent felons or murderers. Many people assume it is less expensive to execute a criminal because of the high cost to house a prisoner and pay for necessary health needs. In more recent studies, these assumptions have been proven wrong. Some of the higher costs associated with inmates on death row include the legal expenses for lengthy trials and appeals, the necessity for representation in the courtroom and the vast number of inmates on death row who spend their days in solitary confinement. Why is the cost for the death penalty so high? • Legal fees: According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the majority of inmates on death row do not have the means to hire sufficient legal representation or even their own attorney whatsoever. In these cases, the government or state is forced to assign a public defender to the case and eat the cost of the prosecution. • Pre-trial expenses: Due to the extremity of the punishment with inmates on death row, these death penalty cases take more time and require more experts in the investigating of the case to come to a final decision. Many times there are extensions with these cases where the county taxpayers are then responsible for funding the extra attention needed to reach a verdict. • Jury and trials: Because of predetermined views on the death penalty, it can often take more time and be more difficult to gather a fit jury for capital cases. Trials in capital cases can also take up to four times longer than non-death penalty cases. • Imprisonment: With most inmates on death row, they are often required to be held in solitary confinement where they are kept in a cell for 23 hours per day. These isolated prisoners require more space in prisons to be held (especially if they are held in a single cell), more security and other special monitoring or treatment than non-capital prisoners. • Appeal process: Each person on death row is entitled to their own appeal process to reduce the chance for errors, and the cost of this process is often rendered directly to taxpayers. A recent study completed by the Death Penalty Information Center revealed the extreme debt our nation has incurred as a result of capital cases. This graphic, using data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, shows which states use the death penalty, indicated in red, and which ones do not, indicated in blue. Graphic by JayCoop From this study, we learned the death penalty in Florida requires $51 million more per year than what a life in prison without parole sentence would cost for all first-degree murderers. When comparing the cost with the 44 executions completed in the state since 1976, the cost per execution is about $24 million per case. Though California imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019, another study about California from 2011 revealed that $4 billion has been spent since 1978 for the process of capital punishment in the state. Reasons to Support Some support the death penalty because it makes it impossible for criminals to do bad things repetitively, it can be cheaper than prison in some cases, it discourages other individuals from breaking the law, or families who have lost a loved one due to a murder feel the only opportunity for closure is for the person who took the life of your loved one to lose their life too. Reasons to Oppose Reasons against supporting the death penalty may be that some people are actually innocent, it’s cruel, especially considering some states still allow execution via electrocution, hanging and firing squad, it minimizes the chance for that person to change, and it is committing another murder. The Death Penalty Information Center reported in 2013 counties that have sentenced prisoners to death row the most have some of the highest reversal accounts, and many have been responsible for errors and inexcusable mistakes in the justice system. The district attorney in Maricopa County in Arizona was disbarred for misconduct in 2013 due to excessive use of the death penalty. This county had four times more in-progress death penalty cases than Los Angeles or Houston. During the tenure of one district attorney in New Orleans, four death row inmates were exonerated and freed because of prosecutorial misconduct, bringing a stinging rebuke from four justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. More than 170 people have been exonerated from death row due to evidence proving their innocence since 1973. This averages to approximately 3.5 death row inmates who have been wrongly convicted each year. Now, Making it Personal Imagine if your brother, sister, mother, father, friend, son or daughter were on death row for a crime they didn’t commit and neither of you has the means to hire adequate representation. Or maybe they did make a horrible mistake, but in the years spent in prison, their life is turned around, and for their unbearable, humiliating past mistakes, they have begged the creator of the universe to extend His mercy for forgiveness. Think about the regret, anger, sadness, bitterness, emptiness or heartbreak that would be held heavily over your heart for years and years. I know I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night, but could you? Molly Munoz Molly Munoz Recent Stories About MBU Timeline
As more and more people adjust to completing their jobs remotely, businesses must come with up ways for their staff to safely access data or in-house applications. This is where the virtual private network comes in. A virtual private network (VPN) is an Internet security service that creates an encrypted connection between a computer and one or more servers. VPNs help connect business internal networks to the Internet. VPNs allow employees who are working remotely to access business applications and data, or they can create a single shared network between multiple locations. In this blog, we will discuss VPNs and how they work, the different types of business VPNs, and how they can help your business. How does a VPN Work? When a virtual private network is turned on, it creates an encrypted tunnel between a user and a remote server run by a VPN host. The internet traffic is passed through this tunnel, and because it is encrypted, will hide a lot of private information. Encryption is a term used to describe how data is kept secure and confidential when using a VPN. Encryptions hide data in a way that the only way a hacker would be able to read it is with a special key. Only the computer and the VPN server know what this key is. When employees work on-site, they can connect their computers directly to the business’s network. However, once they are working remotely, they will likely be trying to connect the business network through their home Internet or the public Internet. This could expose the business connection to hackers attacking the network or snooping for sensitive data. Encrypting that traffic with a business VPN keeps it safer from wandering eyes. What are the Different Types of VPNs? There are two types of business VPNs: remote-access VPNs and site-to-site VPNs. Remote access VPNs create connections between individual users and the business network. These types of VPNs require two things: a network access server (NAS) and a VPN client. A NAS is just a dedicated server that is connected to a business’s internal network, and the VPN client is software installed on a computer to use the VPN service. When an employee wants to connect to the business’s network, they start the VPN client. The VPN client will establish the encrypted tunnel to the NAS, allowing them to access the network without exposing traffic. How a remote-access VPN works. Site-to-site VPNs create a single network that is shared across multiple office locations. Each of these locations can also have multiple users. The VPN is hosted on each office’s network instead of on employee computers. This will allow staff members in each location to access the network without using a VPN client. However, that connection is dropped once they leave the office. How Can VPNs Help Businesses? Whether your business has several hundred employees or just a small staff of ten, VPNs are extremely important. For starters, this will allow your staff to expand and be productive almost anywhere. With the landscape of work environments shifting to a remote atmosphere, your staff needs to be able to easily access the office network. Using a business VPN means your team can log in from anywhere that has access to the Internet, and they can do so securely. VPN services are very affordable, and maintenance costs are also inexpensive. They usually do not require any physical infrastructure, nor do you need any supportive tool to work with it. Most VPN services will not charge for setup because they can take care of it themselves. If you decide to use a service provider, they will work with your IT team directly, and the network setup and monitoring are off your plate. You will only need to pay for the service. Your business may require employees to travel to countries that restrict internet access. Or a member of your team may be out of the country on vacation and needs to send you a file. Sometimes, staff members can be blocked from accessing business data that is stored online. Most VPN clients work internationally, and your team can use the Internet as if they were back home. If there are any restrictions in another country, the VPN client will work around them. In some cases, internet speeds can increase after using VPN. Companies like Verizon or AT&T can control internet traffic by throttling bandwidth, slowing down your business’s network speeds. Since VPN can help encrypt internet traffic, internet providers will not have access to monitor your or your team’s usage. Wrapping Up Accessing your business data securely should be a top priority for you and your team. Working remotely is now becoming the standard for most businesses, and VPNs are the best way to access data without putting your business at risk. You should work with your IT team to determine if remote access or a site-to-site VPN is best for your business needs. In some cases, both are necessary. Your IT team should work with providers to pick the option with the most reliable servers, connection speed and stability, and leak protection. No matter what option you choose, both VPN options have the benefits of low cost, security, international travel, and low maintenance. IT Strategies for Your Business: DDoS Attacks In September 2017, Google got hacked. Google’s cybersecurity team discovered that a hacker in China used several internet service providers (ISPs) Read more IT Strategies for Your Business: Keyloggers The "Selectric Bug" was a digital eavesdropping device developed in the 1970s by the Soviet Union (USSR). It was built Read more How to Pick a Computer for Your Business Not having a uniform standard may be frustrating for businesses and IT teams, especially! It can become increasingly difficult to Read more IT Strategies for Your Business: Zero-Day Attacks One of the most famous examples of a zero-day attack was Stuxnet. First discovered in 2010 but with roots that Read more
Self-healing Circuits by James Meikle Apparently there are teams of scientists in a variety of countries working on ways to create self-healing electronics devices. One such team has had recently had a major success; scientists at the university of Illinois have managed to create a circuit that heals itself when cracked. The tech has been designed so it could work on a really small scale and may eventually lead to self-repairing microchips. What are they doing? Don’t they know that when the robot apocalypse comes our only chance of survival is to aim for the microchips? Sure, you can blow off an arm or a robo-tentacle, but the automaton assassins just ain’t going to stop coming until you damage the chip. After all, they won’t feel pain, they won’t go into shock and they will of course be hell-bent on our annihilation. These reckless researchers could end up sealing our fate if they succeed in developing their bloody self-healing chips. Our electronic enemies with be like mash up between two of the most unstoppable types of movie monsters: the relentless killer robots and the supernatural psychos that just refuse to die a la Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. Hell the robots could even get cocky and go for a bit of psychological warfare by grabbing massive machetes and donning hockey masks. Anyway, if we’re going to come up with a way to counter this heinous threat we’re going to have to understand the tech first. Surprisingly, there is no mention of the almost mythical nano-technology; it doesn’t look like we’re going to see robots being repaired by other microscopic robots anytime soon. However, the simplicity and elegance of the actual tech is almost as disturbing. The circuits are made with tiny liquid metal capsules embedded into the brittle surfaces. When stress is applied the surface cracks and breaks the circuit. However, when the surface cracks the capsules crack along with it and the liquid metal quickly fills the gap, hardens and restores the circuit. It’s almost similar to how our skin reacts to a cut: blood fills the gap, then hardens and restores the seal. With the circuits though, this happens within one millisecond. Great, the robots with be all healed up before you can even yell ‘Take that you jumped-up toaster!’ But there might actually be a couple of bright sides to this tech. For one, your lovely electrical appliances might last significantly longer. But, more importantly, this tech could be extremely helpful when it comes to space travel. One of the main issues with prolonged space travel is the need for spare parts; on a spaceship it’s kind of difficult to order a new circuit board from eBay. This new tech could give us self-healing circuits which last much longer, meaning that it might actually be feasible for us to escape the mechanical monstrosities by blasting off into space and searching for a new robot free home. What other fields would benefit from circuits which can heal themselves almost instantly? How would you take out a super-tough robot with a self-repairing chip? Let us know in the comments box below. Leave a Reply
June 5, 2015 K.ParameswaranThe man who plants a tree is one who is giving a lasting gift to humanity, says the Rig Veda.The Father of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi says ““Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” Again, as an African proverb reminds us “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.environment-dayWorld Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on 5 June to raise global awareness about environmental action for protecting nature and the Earth.It is primarily an initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).It also serves as the ‘people’s day’ for doing something positive for the environment, galvanizing individual actions into a collective power that generates an exponential positive impact on the planet.The day is being celebrated all over the world and it has enjoyed relative success in achieving carbon neutrality, focusing on the forest management, reducing greenhouse effects, promoting bio-fuels production by planting on degraded lands, use of hydro-power to enhance electricity production, encourage common public to use solar water heaters, energy production through solar sources, developing new drainage systems, promoting coral reefs and mangroves restoration in order to get prevented from flooding and erosion including other ways of environmental preservation.Seven Billion DreamsMany of the Earth’s ecosystems are nearing critical tipping points of depletion or irreversible change, pushed by high population growth and economic development.By 2050, if current consumption and production patterns remain the same and with a rising population expected to reach 9.6 billion, we will need three planets to sustain our ways of living and consumption.Against this back ground the WED theme for this year is “Seven Billion Dreams.One Planet.Consume with Care.”In simple words this means living sustainably.Just changing your routine so that the use of your car can be reduced and become part of a car pool; or better still, use public transport as far as possible! Carry a cloth bag with you in your brief case so that the use of plastic bags when shopping can be minimised as far as possible.Walk to the nearby shopping complex, the milk booth or the local library! All these are small activities that any contentious citizen can add to their own life styles!Living within planetary boundaries is the most promising strategy for ensuring a healthy future.Human prosperity need not cost the earth.Living sustainably is about doing more and better with less.It is all about becoming increasingly aware that rising rates of natural resource use and the environmental impacts that such usage invariably beget are not the invariably necessary by-product of economic growth.The well-being of humanity, the environment, and the functioning of the economy, ultimately depend upon the responsible management of the planet’s natural resources.And yet, evidence is building that people are consuming far more natural resources than what the planet can sustainably provide.A personal anecdoteSaraswathi Ammal, of Sulur, near Coimbatotre, Tamilnadu, is a person who personifies the ethos of this year’s WED theme.Every day begins for her with the watering of a small cluster of thulsi (basil) plants that adorn her small but colourful garden, filled with various flowering plants as well as fresh vegetables.Vegetables for her daily consumption are usually got from this garden.She also has developed the quaint, but charming, habit of presenting neighbours with a bunch of fresh flowers and vegetables on their birth days, marriage anniversaries etc!Every Action CountsWED is the opportunity for everyone to realize the responsibility to care for the Earth and to become agents of change.As U N Secretary General Mr Ban Ki Moon exhorted, “Although individual decisions may seem small in the face of global threats and trends, when billions of people join forces in common purpose, we can make a tremendous difference.”Through decades of WED celebrations, hundreds of thousands of people from countries all over the world and from all sectors of society have participated in individual and organized environmental action.WED 2014 received a total of 6,437 pledges and over 3,000 activities were registered online, resulting in a total of about 9,700 which is triple to the previous two years.The DFPThe Directorate of Field Publicity Units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting are conducting rural programmes on WED on a nationwide level.These activities are largely based on rural schools and colleges.Quiz programmes, exhibition of short films on nature preservation, seminars and lectures with power point presentations on environmental friendly living habits etc will form the focal theme of the awareness programmes.Every year June 5 is being observed as World Environment Day.(PIB Features)K.Parameswaran is Assistance Director, PIB Madurai June 5, 2015 0 Comment Breaking News:
Visualizing Microbial Seascapes – Spring Monograph Project Mon, 13 May 2019 20:14:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Balanus glandula Thu, 02 Jun 2016 01:09:13 +0000 Continue Reading →]]> Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Maxillopoda Order: Sessilia Family: Balanidae Genus: Balanus Species: Glandula Barnacle larvae, as with the myriad of other crustacean larva are often referred to as Nauplii. Found in the water column, they are translucent, usually with six visible appendages, and a few reddish-orange spots. Nauplii rarely look like its adult form and as such are hard to identify at early stages of growth. These creatures are able to propel themselves rapidly by pushing their appendages together. Generally Planktonic in size these organisms vary by species. barnacle nauplius Life Cycle: Because they are immobile in their final stage of life, searching for a mate becomes problematic, as such some barnacles have evolved to be hermaphrodites and exploit a mode of reproduction called parthenogenesis. After the fertilization be it self induced or from surrounding barnacles, the eggs hatch into a pre-larva or pre-zoea form. Through a series of molts, the organism then passes through various zoea stages, followed by a megalopa or post-larva stage. After a 6-month period of many molting’s a metamorphosis takes place and the nauplia becomes a cypris. Cypris after molting Cypris after molting In this form the organism doesn’t eat, but has a readily available reserve of fat to burn as it searches for a stable home to anchor onto for its final stage of life. The cypris has specially developed antennae to read specific chemical and physical features of it’s intended anchoring point, which can be any number of surfaces ranging from rock to living creatures such as whales, crabs, and sea turtles. Once settled on a location the cypris will use its antennae to anchor to the surface and begin its transformation into the adult barnacle. Amazingly it only takes around 12 hours for the full barnacle shell to form around the newly anchored organism. Adult Acorn Barnacle Adult Acorn Barnacle Environmental impact: Barnacles often form symbiotic commensal relationships with whales. Barnacles are filter feeders and are a vital role in sustaining the carbon cycle. Barnacles also are a main contributor towards marine fouling. Marine fouling is when organisms attach themselves to man made structures like boats, and create more drag causing more fuel to be needed to propel the boat. Barnacle growth can become a major problem for seaports, boats and water treatment facilities. The Barnacle can be a symbol for strength in unity. A single barnacle on the bottom of a ship will go unnoticed, many more and maybe a little drag is felt. When The entire hull is covered in barnacles the collective group creates enough drag to strain an engine to pieces. Only a mass effort by all of us is able to create enough resistance to garner attention from those riding the boat. Also keel hauling, throwing someone over a boat and dragging them against the community of barnacles shows the power of strength in numbers. Works Cited Yule, A. B., and G. Walker. “The Adhesion of the Barnacle, Balanus Balanoides, to Slate Surfaces.” Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom J. Mar. Biol. Ass. 64.01 (1984): 147. Web. Mullineaux, L. S., and C. A. Butman. “Initial Contact, Exploration and Attachment of Barnacle (Balanus Amphitrite) Cyprids Settling in Flow.” Mar. Biol. Marine Biology 110.1 (1991): 93-103. Web. Reshetiloff, K. (2008). There are Many Good Reasons for Barnacles to Stick Around. Retrieved 2015, from Purple Shore Crab ]]> Wed, 01 Jun 2016 08:10:44 +0000 Continue Reading →]]> Don’t eat me! Copepods and Protoperidinium are two organisms that play both roles of predator and prey depending on size and species. These zooplankton are known as picky eaters; both have adapted starvation periods when food sources are low. This category addresses s the relationship between the two as predator and prey, as well as their feeding behaviors and how they can work together to regulate the phytoplankton communities. The question is can they work together to maintain phytoplankton, or will the fight for survival continue? Coscinodiscus Wed, 01 Jun 2016 00:34:07 +0000 Continue Reading →]]> Coscinodiscus: Coscinodiscus is cylindrical in shape. The internal organelles, including chloroplasts can be seen with a microscope. They seem to resemble bike tires with its spokes or a circular honey comb pattern. Its external structure is made up of silica, glass. They are also drifters so they have no control over their movement and always move with the tides. Coscinodiscus is a species of diatom which belongs to a group of ocean algae—phytoplankton. Coscinodisucs is photosynthetic using light to produce organic matter. They are very small, measuring around 150um in length and many can be found within a single drop of water. In fact, hundreds of individual coscinodiscus were observed in a drop of water. Coscinodiscus and other phytoplankton play an invisible role, its ability to photosynthesize allows it to produce oxygen. Oxygen is vital to Coscinodiscus #2our well being and just about everything else alive on the earth. At times they can grow into large mats and then these microorganisms can become visible to the naked eye. Satellite images of ocean waters with smears of turquoise, brick red, or algae green are reminders of the importance of phytoplankton and how our health depends on their activity. Coscinodiscus range of existence from the warm tropic waters up until the cold Arctic ecotone waters, they can’t tolerate colder waters. They are widespread and area good indicator of rising warming waters. Their distribution could allows us to tract global warming through the digital imaging of their chlorophyll. A migration for coscinodiscus, in their range, could indicate warming ocean temperatures. Hermissenda crassicornis Tue, 31 May 2016 21:25:55 +0000 Continue Reading →]]> The Organism Hermissenda CrassicornisHermissenda crassicornis are a certain species of gastropod. These hermaphroditic mollusks contain both male and female reproductive parts. Most reproduce and lay their eggs near their food source (e.g hydrozoa). With a length averaging at 3 and 1/4 inches and a width of 3/8 inches. This species remains easy to identify with its bright orange and bluish white stripes and features. These brilliant colors are caused by carotenoids and carotenoprotiens. This species has two pairs of rhinophores at the tip of its head, which it uses to sense prey. On this organisms back there are clusters of tentacle looking appendages called cerata that contain bright orange pigment and white stripes. These ceratum can be used to help with respiration, digestion, and escaping predators. Hermissenda feed on many different organisms ranging from other invertebrates, sponges, coral, and hydroids. (Meinkoth 1981) General Characteristics of Nudibranchs Nudibranch grazing on algae. Nudibranch grazing on algae. Nudibranchs are carnivores that use bands of curved teeth to tear up food. Their lifespan is ultimately affected by the amount of food available to them, ranging from weeks to up to a year. Each species of nudibranch usually has a certain species that is its main food source. Like other gastropods they have one large foot that it used to move vertically though the water column and cling to other objects. Nudibranchs collects chemicals through digesting other organisms and releases them as a defense mechanism. Their unique colors also provide them with the ability to camouflage and also scare off other organisms. Some nudibranchs store algae in their outer tissues and use the sugars produced by the algae’s photosynthesis as nutrients. This organism is most commonly found in the range of Sitka (Alaska) to Puertecitos (Baja California), more abundant in the center of this range. They are found living in low intertidal zones, from sub tidal to 35 m on average. Common in spring and summer, varied habitats, usually found in rocky pools, marina floats, pilings, and mud flats. To develop in reasonable numbers and to be able to metamorphose this species needs a food supply of plankton with a larger cell size. (Harrigan, etal 1978). In its adult stage it can be found feeding on substrates on the ocean floor but can also move itself through the water column by flexing its muscles. Tintinnid ciliate Thu, 26 May 2016 09:18:16 +0000 Continue Reading →]]> Author: Kasey Tollefson This species of Tintinnids, which I believe to be the Tintinnopsis campanula as compared to other species, and it has a shell formed from sand and minerals, illustration also depicts the transparency of the organism. This species of Tintinnids, which I believe to be the Tintinnopsis campanula as compared to other species, and it has a shell formed from sand and minerals, illustration also depicts the transparency of the organism. Illustration done by K. Tollefson ’16 The Tintinnid ciliate is very unique in its diversity, ranging sizes from 20-200 µm, with an enormous assortment of lorica (shells), and the only plankton to possess these shells. Their shells can range from vase, bowl or tubular shapes and is always open at one end, which is the oral end and the other is closed or tapered. One common characteristic of these Tintinnids is that they bear cilia (small hair like organelles used for feeding and motility), during part of their life or the entirety of their life cycle, and another is nuclear dualism (macro- and micronuclei). The oral structure of the Tintinnid Ciliate contains tentaculoids, which is thought to be related to capturing their prey, such as phytoplankton and other small dissolved organic matter. When feeding, the cell that is attached to the inside of the lorica extends out and in-turn propels the organism through the water, mouth-end first and if interrupted it will withdraw the cell back into the lorica. Class: Spirotrichea Subclass: Choreotrichida Order: Tintinnida In some species the loricae is made up of mineral particles, species in the genera Tintinnopsis, and others, most of these organisms are found in coastal waters. “Lorica” refers to the protective clothing and armor worn by the roman soldiers credited to Ehrenberg in 1832. It is unknown why the Tintinnid Ciliate possess this armor but some theories say that it is useful for sinking quickly to escape predators (Capriulo et al. 1982) and possibly for maintaining their intended direction while swimming (Kofoid and Campbell 1939). The purpose of this illustratino is to show the transparency of the organism and the sizing, these creatures can range anywhere from 20-200 m, although the image that is shown is 250 m. Illustration done by K Tollefson '16 The purpose of this illustration is to show the transparency of the organism and the sizing, these creatures can range anywhere from 20-200 micrometers, although the image that is shown is 250 micrometers. Illustration done by K. Tollefson ’16 The significance of the Tintinnid Ciliate to the world is that it is a very important factor to our ecosystem! These organisms help form the bases of the food chain by feeding animals from as small as other zooplankton all the way up to whales! Another important detail about this creature is that it is also largely responsible for recycling organic matter, which is a very important factor in any food web. The lesson to learn from these little guys is that every member in our society matters, no matter how small or how large, how poor or how rich, everyone has a duty, and that is to support your kin and to respect the world you live in, because truly, the small things count. Dolan, John R. The Biology and Ecology of Tintinnid Ciliates: Models for Marine Plankton. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blckwell, 2013. Print.Pg 3-8. Castro, Peter, and Michael E. Huber. Marine Biology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print. Pg 98. Hemigrapsus oregonensis Thu, 26 May 2016 08:56:35 +0000 Continue Reading →]]> by Emma McConahay Bay Shore Crabs live in a range from Resurrection Bay, Alaska to Baja California (Harbo, 1999), but are most common in Oregon and Washington. They grow up to 5cm across their shell. One of their most distinctive characteristics is the seta on their yellow-green legs (Lamb, 2005). This species is found in intertidal zones of estuaries, in mud flats, salt marshes, beds of algae, rocky shores and (Oliver and Schmelter). They primarily consume diatoms, algae and occasionally meat when available (Oliver and Schmelter, 2016). Reproduction and Development Zoea stage. Size 60 um. Post-hatch zoea stage. Females typically produce broods of 800 to 11,000 embryos between February and April, which hatch between May and July. 70% of females produce and additional brood that hatches in September (Hiebert, 2015). Hatching typically occurs after 44 days at 300-400µm in diameter. After hatching, the larvae develop through five planktonic zoea stages, in which they have large compound eyes and four spines, one rostal, one dorsal, and two lateral (Hiebert, 2015). Post-zoeal is the molt into the megalopa stage, very rectangular with a carapace and uropod setae (Hiebert, 2015). As adults, they have brownish, yellow-green or grey carapaces with setae on all legs (Oliver and Schmelter, 2016). The have two lateral carapace teeth, and it’s eyestalks are at a antero-lateral angle (Hiebert, 2015). The most visible difference between male and female adults is that the female carapace is much more wide than the male carapace, and contrasting with the male carapace, the female sternum is not visible (Hiebert, 2015). These shore crabs feed at night to avoid their primary predators, birds. Bay Shore Crabs are very fast, can dig quickly, and easily find shelter from predators beneath rocks (Hiebert, 2015). In the day they stay out of sight under debris (Evergreen Archives, 2016). This animation displays the hatching of the planktonic zoea and its development through the megalopa and adult stages. Resilient Critters A 1995-1996 scientific study in Anacortes, WA examined Hemigrapsus oregonensis zoeal morphology and found that crab larvae do not require constant prey or access to light during prey capture in larval development (Sulkin et al., 1998). The larvae were observed feeding on controlled densities of Artemia nauplii over several increments of time (1, 4, 8, and 24 hour periods) and the research team found that the survival and stage duration were similarly exhibited for those fed for 4 hours followed by 20 hours of reduced access to prey as those with continuous access to prey (Sulkin et al., 1998). This information is important in understanding Hemigrapsus oregonensis as adaptive creatures because although the nauplii encounter high densities of planktonic prey near the surface, as the larvae undertake regular vertical migrations they often experience long periods of time with little prey and light (Sulkin et al., 1998). Because Hemigrapsus oregonensis larvae can withstand long periods of time without access to prey, it makes them more resilient in their estuarine and marine environments. Many additional resiliencies develop as these crabs molt from planktonic organisms to benthic critters, such as the ability to withstand hypoxic conditions and temperature fluctuation more so than many other species of crab. Human Connections and Threats Now in the 21st century the habitat norms are changing for the Bay Shore Crabs more rapidly than perhaps any other period of time. New threats are now being imposed on this estuarine species due to anthropogenic forces. Humans have disrupted normal conditions and cluttered the crabs’ landscapes with plastic. Ocean acidification is a growing concern to the crabs, and the low oxygen “dead zones” in coastal waters are the likely cause of many mass deaths of the crabs (Pickett, 2015). Oysters, clams and crabs are among the most vulnerable U.S. species to the consequences of ocean acidification (Pickett, 2015). It disturbs shell growth and development and the low oxygen levels result in deathly hypoxia (Pickett, 2015). Although crabs are generally fairly tolerant to temperature change, heightened temperatures have also been observed as potential threats. (Hiebert, 2015). Hemigrapsus oregonensis in its natural environment~ an estuarine landscape sprinkled with human touch. Sulkin, S., Blanco, A., Chan, J., & Bryant, M. (1998). Effects of limiting access to prey on development of first zoeal stage of the brachyuran crabs Cancer magister and Hemigrapsus oregonensis. Marine Biology,131(3), 515-521. Hiebert, T.C. 2015. Hemigrapsus oregonensis. In: Oregon Estuarine Invertebrates: Rudys’ Illustrated Guide to Common Species, 3rd ed. T.C. Hiebert, B.A. Butler and A.L. Shanks (eds.). University of Oregon Libraries and Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, Charleston, OR. Oliver, Jennifer and Anja Schmelter. “Life History Of The Native Shore Crabs Hemigrapsus Oregonensis And Hemigrapsus Nudus And Their Distribution, Relative Abundance And Size Frequency Distribution At Four Sites In Yaquina Bay, Oregon”. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 May 2016. “ARCHIVE – Hemigrapsus Oregonensis – Marinelife1011”. N.p., 2016. Web. 11 May 2016. Pickett, Mallory. “Scientists Tackle A Dual Threat: More Acid, Less Oxygen In The Ocean”.KQED Science. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 May 2016. Harbo, Rick M. Whelks To Whales. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Pub., 1999. Print. Lamb, Andrew and Bernard P Hanby. Marine Life Of The Pacific Northwest. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Pub., 2005. Print. Protoperidinium Thu, 26 May 2016 08:52:23 +0000 Continue Reading →]]> the genus: Protoperidinium First discovered in 1841, with the most recent species identified in 2015, Protoperidinium species continue to be added to the Dinophyta phylum. Protoperidinium are dinoflagellates; this means they are unicellular organisms with a cell wall. While there are numerous different species, a similar structure is present throughout the genus. Their shapes have been been described as globular or polygonal. As an armored cell, Protoperidinium have cellulose plates that form their exterior. Their structure often includes apical and antapical horns, and antapical spines. These organisms have two flagella, one is wrapped around a groove between the plates, and the other trails freely; both flagella are used for locomotion. Protoperidinium in its environment, under the microscope. They are widespread throughout the oceans, but due to their diet, Protoperidinium appear most along the coast. They’re heterotrophic, primarily feeding on diatoms, and following diatom blooms. To eat, they feed through extracellular digestion. A pallium, “feeding veil,” is released during a pseudopodium, and the organism is digested under the veil (Evagelopoulos, 2002). It allows Protoperidnium to digest prey larger than themselves. It’s important to understand the feeding habits of microorganisms like Protoperidinium because of their significance in the food chain. Protoperidinium are an important part of the microbial food loop, and increase the efficiency of the food chain by cycling carbon and other nutrients. They’re also one of the only four dinoflagellates known to feed with a pallium (Menden-Deuer, et al. 2005). Furthermore, they role as both predator and prey. Because they can ingest food larger than themselves, they’re competing with and being eaten by larger, multicellular organisms. Therefore when larger organisms eat them, Protoperidinium transfer the biomass from primary producers up the food chain. In 2005, an intensive study of three species of Protoperidinium revealed their responses to adverse feeding situations. The study isolated Protoperidinium conicum P. depressum, and P. excentricum from Puget Sound surface waters. It also investigated their growth and ingestion rates. The researchers found it important to focus on starvation survival because of the frequent fluctuation of phytoplankton population. Low concentrations of phytoplankton can continue for several months, even in regular blooming zones, such as coastal areas (Menden-Deuer, et al. 2005). It was concluded that because of this, “the availability of suitable prey at a high density is uncertain at best and possibly rare…predators may frequently experience low prey or even starvation conditions” (Menden-Deuer, et al. 2005). Stipple illustration of an unknown Protoperidinium species under the microscope, highlighting vague internal organelles. Previously, the longest survival of a starved dinoflagellate was 30 days. The study found Protoperidinium depresum capable of surviving up to 71 days with an extremely low concentration of diatom prey (Menden-Deuer, et al. 2005). Transparency of the Protoperidinium was also documented. The color Protoperidinium is determined by it’s diet, so the observed transparency could have been the result of a lack of nutrients, but it’s also hypothesized that this condition is due to the organism metabolizing its own cell content. The capability of surviving with severely limited prey gives Protoperidinium species an advantage and could help explain why, during certain times of the year, their population is more dominant than other microzooplankton. The study’s “results show that Protoperidinium species can indeed survive prolonged periods of adverse conditions, and thereby gain numeric dominance in the plankton community” (Menden-Deuer, et al. 2005). Microzooplankton are already extremely important to the environment and fulfill many tasks. The information from this study puts Protoperidinium near the top of an already powerfully impactful group of organisms. Protoperidinium are resilient, and are found to have higher populations than other microzooplankton in less favorable environments. They work as both predator and prey, and therefore provide a necessary link in the food chain. To make a connection between our world today and Protoperidinium, we can view Protoperidinium as a risky, but necessary negotiator. Although the big guys won’t eat us in our social society, there will be times where we, or people in our community are starved of something they need, and have to seek it, even with consequences. Often to do this we need to communicate with people on every side of an issue, and transfer knowledge to larger powers from people whose voices wouldn’t be heard otherwise. Think of Protoperidinium whenever you could be the link between voices with an issue and a larger/less accessible power. Literature Cited Evagelopoulos A (2002) Taxonomic notes on Protoperidinium (Peridiniale, Dinophyceae) species in the Thermaikos Bay (North Aegean Sea, Greece). Mediterranean Mar Sci 3/2:41-54 Menden-Deuer S, Evelyn LJ, Satterberg J, Grünbaum D (2005) Growth rate and starvation survival of three species of the pallium-feeding, thecate dinoflagellate genus Protoperidinium. Aquat Microb Ecol 41:145-152 Copepod Thu, 26 May 2016 08:47:33 +0000 Continue Reading →]]> The copepod is a microscopic organism that has a major impact on the development of marine life. The copepod belong to the zooplankton family. They are small measuring .5 to 15mm. They are a small crustacean with bodies covered in stiff bristles they have a hard exterior, two pairs of antennas and many pairs of legs. Although these organisms are unseen to the naked eye the impact they have on marine life is substantial. A person standing on the shore of a body of water could look into the water and not see the productivity going on that is essential to all marine life. The first layer of water from the surface to 250 meters deep is called the epipelagic zone. In this zone is where nearly all primary production happens. In this zone you will find many species of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Zooplankton are the major group on animals in the epipelagic zone. They provide a food source not only to other marine communities but also to land dwelling birds and mammal. Of the zooplankton in the epipelagic zone copepods make up about 70% of the community. The presence of copepods is also high in the mesopelagic zone, which is the layer just below the epipelagic. Copepods are heterotrophs, meaning they cannot produce their own food and must obtain energy from organic matter produced by autotrophs. Their food source comes from phytoplankton and other zooplankton, they also consume other copepods. The copepod is a bit unique amongst the zooplankton, instead of eating whatever is in front of them they use their sight and smell to be able to identify individual phytoplankton to consume. Although they are near the bottom of the food chain they are extremely viable to the community. The important nutrients copepods receive from eating phytoplankton is passed up the food chain, Copepods fall prey to many varieties of fish and other plankton, these animals are then eaten by bigger marine life such as seals which and then eaten by larger marine life such as wales. All of the seafood consumed by humans has at some point been nourished by zooplankton such as copepods. Without the presence of these tiny creatures marine life would diminish. The life cycle of copepods is not long they only live from about one week to six months. Their lives start when a male copepod attached a sperm sac to a female copepod. The sac is then absorbed by the female and the eggs are fertilized and attach to the abdominal region of the female. When the eggs hatch they are called Napoli. Napoli are the earliest free-living stage of crustacean life. When they are first hatched it is unclear what they will grow into as adults. Before you can tell if a Napoli is a copepod it goes through a minimum of five different stages. The copepod is an amazing microorganism and without them marine life would change as we know it. copepod copepodwatercolor Acartia tonsa Thu, 26 May 2016 08:40:24 +0000 Continue Reading →]]> Acartia tonsa Common name: Copepod By A. Gaul This microscopic organism commonly referred to as a copepod don’t get any bigger then 2mm and can usually be seen with the naked eye. Taxonomic Group Characteristics They are apart of the order Calanoida, who is apart of the subclass Copepoda. This species is a relative of the crayfish and water flea (FCPS). Class Maxillopoda Subclass Copepoda Infraclass Neocopepoda Superorder Gymnoplea Order Calanoida Family Acartiidae Genus Acartia Species Acartia tonsa life cycle and movement study of a copepod Where do they live? This subclass can be found in a large variety of environments from estuaries to the deep sea (NOAA 2014). However, this species of copepods were originally found in an estuary. Ecological info about role in environment / relationships with other organisms With such a large range of potential habitats, the Acartia tonsa are able to grow into large populations and provide other species with a large food source. The subclass Copepoda are so will distributed and are able to reach large populations that they have become a keystone species that is prayed on by a large portion of other aquatic organisms like amphibians and small fish like the juvenile herring. It was found that even the slow moving sea horse will take a bite out of these guys (Morgan 2013). Represent symbolically for 21st century humans While copepods are a keystone species that other organisms depend on, just this knowledge alone may not be significant enough for some people to care about this appealing looking zooplankton. For those people it may be more beneficial to see how is species relates to humans. One of the things that this subclass does is that they live in large quantities, just like a human city. There has been more than 1,000 copepods in a liter of water recorded (Macrocyclop). They also are able to withstand temperature changes. When the temperature gets too low the copepods will slow down and rest till the temperature gets higher. They are able to tough out harsh conditions and continue to prosper. The main lesson people can get from this incredibly prosperous subclass is that hunker down when times get tough and are able to survive another day. Cited Sources Kiørboe, T. (1985, November 26). Bioenergetic of the planctonic copepod Acartia tonsa. Relation between feeding, egg production and respiration, and composition of specific dynamic action [Electronic version]. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 26, 85-97. doi:10.3354/meps026085 Tiselius, P. (1992). Behavior of Acartia tonsa in patchy food environments [Electronic version]. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, 37(8), 1640-1651. Macrocyclops albidus. (n.d.). In Copepod. Retrieved from Morgan, J. (2013, November 26). Seahorses stalk their prey by stealth. In BBC News. Retrieved from NOAA. (2014). About COPEPOD (The COPEPOD Project) . In The COPEPOD Project. Retrieved from Acartia tonsa Thu, 26 May 2016 08:40:02 +0000 Continue Reading →]]> Acartia tonsa written by Mika Laird Order: Calanoida Family: Acartiidae Genus: Acartia Species: Acartia tonsa Acartia tonsa are calenoid copepods most commonly found in coastal regions such as estuaries and brackish waters. They are found in cold and warm waters world wide containing various levels of salinity. They are in higher concentrations during the spring and summer in the North Atlantic ocean and lay their eggs during the winter. In warm waters of estuaries they are found year round. A.tonsa are mostly found at depths of 0 to 5 meters and temperatures of 17 – 25 C. Sometimes they are found incredibly deep at 600 meters. Microscopic view of copepod in it's natural habitat. Microscopic representational drawing of A.tonsa in it’s natural habitat: estuary mud with crabs and clams. A.tonsa are easily identified by the length of their antennae in relation to the body, number of antennae, and the joint in their body between the fifth and sixth sections. Sizes range from 0.5 mm to 1.5mm. Their bodies lack a protective carapace and have three segments: prosome (head and sensory organs), metasome (housing their legs and swimmerets), and urosome (where their sexual organs are located). These copepods use a pair of maxillipeds to chew food. Their bodies are translucent but contain some red coloring in various sections and have dark bits where their organs are located. They have multiple small legs used for feeding and locomotion. Males and females have slight differences in anatomy which helps to differentiate between them such as the placement and shape of the urosome. A.tonsa are considered “broad cast spawners” meaning they release their eggs into the environment instead of carry them like other copepod species. stipple drawing of A.tonsa A.tonsa life cycle begins with round fertilized eggs which sink, develop and hatch into nauplii within 48 hours of being laid. There are 6 stages for nauplii on their way to adulthood. A.tonsa stays in deeper waters to keep away from fish predators during most of the day but later move into shallow water at night. They feed on diatoms and other phytoplankton, by producing a feeding current in circular motion to pull in food with appendages. Then they use their maxillae to filter organisms from water. For mobile prey, such a ciliates, A.tonsa will stay motionless and sink in the water until prey is close by. They sense them with the receptors on their antennae then jump to catch the prey. A study completed by the Danish Institute for fisheries research about prey switching behavior showed the feeding patterns of A.tonsa partly depended on the availability of prey. One theory is that A.tonsa will change their feeding mode to the one that is most energy efficient depending on conditions and prey type. A.tonsa will also change their choice of prey to suit whichever organism is most available. This study showed that ciliates were much easier for A.tonsa to capture using suspension feeding. They found that cilliates to be more desirable for the A.tonsa which meant they ate less diatoms than usual even though there was an abundance of diatoms available. They also thought that micro plankton populations are able to peak at the same time as phytoplankton due to the A.tonsa not eating as many of them because of their preference for ciliates. stipple drawing of cilliate tintinnid: petalotricha ampulla Stipple drawing of cilliate tintinnid: Petalotricha ampulla A different group of researchers conducted a similar study on feeding behavior and prey detection that showed a mixture of organisms introduced to A.tonsa for feeding. Researchers combined a ratio of ciliates to microflagellates. They found that the ciliates were much more difficult to capture. A.tonsa only ate a small amount of the group introduced to them each time. Based on the swim patterns of the cilliates and the ability to detect them, this caused the A.tonsa to switch to microflagellates. The researchers hypothesize that A.tonsa has the ability to switch between suspension feeding and raptorial feeding makes them much better at surviving in the ocean. A.tonsa contributes to the environment by being the food source for many larger organisms in the food chain. They are responsible for helping cycle nutrients and energy. They are also important regulators of the marine nitrogen cycle, excreting both inorganic and organic nitrogen. Copepods are also used as a host for some ciliate protozoa. The parasites attach to the copepods before they move on to their next host, fresh water shrimp. A.tonsa help control the harmful growth of the red tide blooms due to their feeding on the algae, however this could also remove the food sources for other organisms such as mollusks. Drawing of a diatom: Detonula pumila. Stipple drawing of a diatom: Detonula pumila Humans grow A.tonsa in aquaculture tanks to provide food for fish hatcheries and are use to control the population of the dinoflagellate, Pfiesteria pisclcida, who has been killing coastal fish on the east coast in the United States. Humans also impact A.tonsa by the waste we deposit into the ocean. For example, the pastic microbeads which are produced for face and body wash, break down small enough for A.tonsa to ingest while suspension feeing. They don’t seem capable of telling the difference between the nanoplastic and their regularly ingested organisms. Some states have banned the usage of microbeads in personal care products but others have not. Plastic has been a problem for a long time concerning the ocean pollution. Even though this is a small amount of plastic, the organisms affected, A.tonsa, other copepods and other microscopic organisms, are major contributors to the food web so negative impacts at this level will eventually affect higher trophic level. While copepods are large contributors to many aspects of the food web, they have a large influence on humans also. I think that these organisms could symbolize human’s desires to focus on small aspects of everyday things or how small things can make how we function as a society. Sometimes, small details are worth the effort to change or in the case of copepods, the environment and our own health, protection is required in the form of recycling. We are doing a service to all creatures, not just copepods, when we doing things for the environment that we can control. Gonzalez, G. 2013. “Acartia tonsa”, Animal Diversity Web. Web. Accessed November 2015. Kiørboe, Thomas, Saiz, Enric, Viitasalo, Markku (1996). Prey Switching Behaviour in the planktonic copepod Acartia tonsa. Marine Ecology. Vol. 143: 65-75. “Acartia tonsa.” Animal Diversity Web. Web. 25 May 2016. Per R. Jonson, Peter Tiselius. (1990). Feeing Behaviour, prey detection and capture efficiency of the copepod Acartia tonsa feeding on plaktonic ciliates. Marine Ecology. Vol. 60: 34-44. Kiørboe, Thomas, Saiz, Enric, Viitasalo, Markku (1990). Diel feedind behavior in the marine copepod Acartia tonsa in relation to food availability. Marine Ecology. Vol. 68: 23-45. Adventures In The Estuary This is a stop motion animation, using 2D and 3D animation labs. Sand, pipe cleaners, sequins, beads, yarn, mini mannequin, foam and other random materials were used in the making. Adventures In The Estuary tells the tale of happens to them when they eat microbeads found in personal care products, which flow into the ocean from our bath tubs. The music for this was recorded during an audio class with a group of students and a jam band. Later, I created the final edit for this animation which was edit differently than the original song.
Scientists have created a battery that runs on chemical waste Russian chemists have developed a neutralization battery that generates electricity from the difference in pH between two liquids, for example, waste acids and alkalis from chemical plants. The results of the research are published in the journal ChemSusChem. Every year more and more electricity is produced in the world and people need more and more energy storage devices. They come in many different types, from conventional lithium-ion batteries and lead-acid batteries to hydrogen fuel cells and many others. Each technology has its own pros and cons: some drives are almost never discharged in idle mode and therefore are suitable for long-term storage of electricity, others can produce very high currents, and still others can store a record amount of energy per unit of their mass, which makes them irreplaceable, for example, for submarines. Among the energy storage devices, there are especially exotic ones. So, in the 70s of the XX century, scientists proposed the concept of a neutralization battery, in which energy is obtained due to the difference in the pH values of two liquids called electrolytes. In fact, it is a fuel that is converted into electricity. Neutralizing batteries have rather low characteristics: they do not provide high power during discharge and cannot store large amounts of energy, but they have an important advantage – the cost of electrolytes. Lithium-ion batteries require relatively expensive lithium salts, hydrogen fuel cells require hydrogen, and neutralization batteries can use almost any liquid The principle of operation of a neutralization battery is based on the fact that two liquids with excellent pH are pumped through different capacities inside the battery. They do not physically mix with each other, but they enter into electrochemical reactions, the products of which pass from one container to another. Due to this kind of circulation of substances, energy is released or, conversely, stored. Russian scientists have worked out the design of a neutralization battery based on dilute solutions of HCl and NaOH. The key idea was to use hydrogen electrodes. As a result, reactions with the participation of hydrogen take place in both containers, and the total neutralization energy is made up of them. At the same time, even sea water and waste from chemical plants are suitable for the operation of the neutralization battery. The design itself was developed by scientists from the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology, IPCP RAS and IPCE RAS. “The key idea is the use of hydrogen electrodes. The reactions are spaced apart and take place in two containers with the participation of hydrogen, and the total energy of chemical neutralization gives electrons, that is, we get electricity from practically nothing. At first it seems that this is some kind of trick, but this is a real technology, ”says Pavel Loktionov, the first author of the study. The authors have already proved the principal possibility of recharging such a device, and its specific power was 6 mW / cm² – this is one of the highest indicators among neutralization batteries. Leave a Comment Function: Web Developer and Editor Alexandr Ivanov Spelling error report The following text will be sent to our editors:
Article Index Health Effects of Air Pollutants The nature and extent of potential health effects that can result from exposure to air pollutants is dependent on a number of factors related to the...... Toxic Substance : Chemical properties - chemical structure Physical properties - size, shape, solubility and vapour pressure Toxicity - ability of contaminant to cause injury to biological tissue Recipient : Genetics Sex Personal habits Diet Age Health status Dose : Concentration in air Route and duration of exposure Dose received by individual Dose-effect relationship Environment : Temperature Humidity Light and noise levels Pressure differences Presence of other contaminants Click the following links to find out the health effect of each pollutant: Gaseous Pollutants 1. Sulphur Dioxide 2. Nitrogen Dioxide 3. Carbon Monoxide 4. Ozone and Photochemical Oxidants Particulates Pollutants 1. Respirable and Fine Suspended Particles (PM10 and PM2.5) 2. Lead Last revision date: 03:07 26-10-2021
Uighurs in China: A Genocide of Historic Proportions We tend to categorise systemic sterilisation, mass deportation, and ‘re-education’ camps as a 1930s anachronism: a product of the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany. At first glance, these atrocities belong to a distant past, a time far too long ago. And yet, this could not be further from the truth. The crisis faced by Xinjiang’s Uighurs in Northwest China is a genocide of collosal proportions, yet doesn’t seem to make the cut for headlines anymore. In part, this is because of logistical difficulties: it is nearly impossible for reporters to get anywhere near Xinjiang. However, it is also because most nations have decided to stay quiet. Although we must be wary of pitting one historical event against another, there are certain comparisons between the Holocaust and the current treatment of the Turkic-speaking minority that should not be disregarded. Beyond the unmistakable structural similarities between then and now, the atrocities being committed in China also rely on the idea of a scapegoat trope. By blaming an entire ethnicity for the violence caused by a handful of extremists, President Xi is not shying away from using the full force of the “organs of dictatorship” at his disposal. "China checks each and every box of the UN’s genocide framework." Since the 1940s, the term genocide has unfortunately become commonplace and is wildly misused in the widest of contexts, and for dramatic effect. The erroneous comparison between abortion and genocide, for example, broached by the conservative right, is only the tip of the iceberg. The UN Genocide Convention, to which China is a signatory, defines genocide as consisting of specific acts “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.” Therefore, the use of the term by so-called pro-life organisations is not only deeply insensitive, but also worryingly desensitising. Genocidal acts involve ‘causing serious bodily or mental harm’ and ‘imposing measures to prevent births’, amongst other things. China checks each and every box of the UN’s genocide framework. ‘Never Again’ – probably the “world’s most unfulfilled promise” as Samantha Power, former US Ambassador to the United Nations - refers to the assurance given by world leaders following the Nazi Holocaust. Since the conclusion of the Second World War, the Western world has stood by as genocides in Cambodia, Northern Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda and, most recently, Myanmar have unfolded. While the advocacy for human rights is highly prized, their protection is severely lacking, especially when it comes to protecting minorities. Uighur detention facility.jpg A new detention facility in Hotan, China. Credit: Planet Labs Inc. Christoffer Nielsen on the significance of international cooperation under a pandemic. Tom Gardner speaks to the Head of Business Analysis at Astroscale about how the vastness of space is, ironically, increasingly claustrophobic... The Art and Craft of Conversation John Baert on what it actually means to be informed and whether the student opinion is worthless... So, why is it that while the Clintons of the world vow “never again” to “shy in the face of evidence,” do they repeatedly turn away from blatant human rights violations? The answer has nothing to do with lack of genocidal proof. Two recent examples serve to highlight the overwhelming evidence that should finally awaken the West from its hibernation. First, on the 29th of June 2020, Washington-based think tank Jamestown Foundation released a damning 32-page report that revealed the “near-zero” population growth in Xinjiang. In the publication, Senior Fellow in China Studies Adrian Zenz documents the extent of the systemic sterilisation of Uighur women. While Xinjiang only makes up for 1.8% of China’s population, 80% of all new intrauterine contraceptive device (IUD) placements in 2018 were performed in the region. "...federal authorities in New York disclosed that over 13 tons of products suspected to be made of human hair taken from imprisoned Uighurs had been seized by U.S. Customs." Furthermore, other reports confirm these findings and suggest that in the years between 2015 and 2018, population growth rates among the Uighur population plummeted by 84%. While the European Commission has refrained from using the term genocide, awaiting the confirmation of the reports’ findings, it is evident that action must be taken before the Uighurs become an even smaller minority. The entrance to the re-education camp at Harmony New Village in Hotan, Xinjiang, China. At the beginning of July, federal authorities in New York disclosed that over 13 tons of products suspected to be made of human hair taken from imprisoned Uighurs had been seized by U.S. Customs. So, why is this very-real genocide not part of the political dialogue? Without a doubt, the Uighur situation marks the biggest mass imprisonment of a racial or religious group since the Holocaust. What is more, the EU and other supranational organisations have the power to take action, but not the courage. For one, the host of contemporary challenges – from climate to coronavirus – necessitate international cooperation with China. As a result, Western leaders are reluctant to raise uncomfortable issues out of fear of jeopardising diplomatic relations. Reluctance, however, is not what the Uighur people need right now. When individuals are waterboarded, electrocuted, experimented upon and beaten it does not matter where they are from or what state they live in. The mass detention centres (read: concentration camps) in northern China are designed to break the human spirit of an entire ethnic group. When human rights are threatened in China, they are threatened everywhere. If the EU does not stand up against China, who will? As the world’s second largest economy, China’s immeasurable political influence cannot be overlooked. Through the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, nations up and down the globe stand to gain billions in Chinese investments. Those who choose to denounce Beijing face not only financial peril but, as in Australia’s case, also cyber attacks. Similarly, it is easy to see why even Muslim states like Turkey and Saudia Arabia would refrain from condemning the same tactics they use on their own domestic opponents. "Raising the issue of genocide amidst a global pandemic will inevitably complicate relations with the Asian superpower at a time when cooperation is crucial." However, as an institution built upon the affirmation of human rights, the EU and its Western allies should not shy away from confrontation. To begin with, the EU needs to prioritise the closure of all so-called “political re-education” camps in Xinjiang. By sending an unambiguous message to Xi Jinping, the EU can regain its moral conscience and at least pretend to practice what it preaches. Unfortunately, as is often the case in diplomacy, realpolitik is at the forefront of western political calculations. Practicalities, in this case, seem to be winning over any sense of moral obligation. Nevertheless, that is exactly what this should be: an obligation. The rights that China enjoys as a sovereign nation fall away and self-determination becomes irrelevant in light of the horrific treatment of the Uighurs. Insofar as human rights are universal, “they are a demand of all humanity on all of humanity.” Raising the issue of genocide amidst a global pandemic will inevitably complicate relations with the Asian superpower at a time when cooperation is crucial. However, history’s ‘unfulfilled promises’ suggest that not doing so will prove even more disastrous. Not being aware, or not knowing are excuses no longer viable in the twenty-first century. Condemning the Chinese government on a public stage is a good start, but it is only the beginning. To enact real change, the EU must sanction the parties that directly benefit from the continuation of the concentration camps. While it may be unwise to significantly impact trade relations between Europe and China, measures against specific individuals, products and corporations would be far more sensible. By targeting those companies involved in making a profit from the concentration camp-produced goods, the EU would be making its point loud and clear. Europe and its American allies should ban known human rights violators from traveling abroad. By freezing their assets, and hitting them where it hurts, Chinese perpetrators would have no choice but to face up to their actions and close the camps. With a major investment agreement secured between Brussels and Beijing on the last day of 2020, human rights advocates are rightly frustrated at the treaty's absence of any guarantees regarding alleged Chinese abuses. Not only was this a serious missed opportunity to apply real pressure on China given how much was at stake after seven years of negotiation, but the EU also risks undermining the call it made for partnership with the United States against authoritarian powers like China a mere four weeks earlier. If "universal, indivisible and interdependent human rights" do indeed lie "at the heart" of its relations with other countries, the EU must go out of its way to work with the Biden administration to confront Chinese human rights abuses. History does not repeat itself by itself; it is bystanders that choose to turn the other way when perpetrators unleash the mechanisms of evil. The Holocaust did not unfold overnight, it escalated over years. If nothing is done now, the very existence of the Uighur people is threatened, and the West will be complicit. Western governments cannot pick and choose when to intervene – intervention must be a fact of principle, not practicality. Human rights, whether in Beijing or Berlin, matter; they are inalienable. Until everyone everywhere is afforded the same protection of life, ‘Never Again’ will remain nothing more than an “unfulfilled promise”. read more also, read about this one's good too if you're hungry and, if not, here and if you have time
The world is now witnessing a rapid transformation, the evolution of apparel and retail industry towards sustainability; which is a broader term than anyone can really contemplate. Sustainable clothing is quite a vague term to explain. Lack of adequate standards, regulations, and proliferation of claims leaves less room for the interpretation of this term. Ethical manufacturing, using organic cotton for clothes, recycling old fabrics Sustainability is a broader fact encompassing all the things; and functioning with numerous complex mechanisms. To summarize all the virtues of sustainability, it can be defined as: • Purging off the waste existing in the supply chain. • Using organic natural fibres like cotton, wool, and linen, and renewable fibres like bamboo. • Maintaining a balance between demand and supply; thereby minimizing or all together avoiding excess product manufacturing. • Adopting the process of recycling, reusing, and renewing of old fabrics. • Design, develop, and implement a marketing strategy that would avoid green washing. • Minimizing the usage of energy throughout the product life cycle. • Elimination of labor exploitation, and minimizing or removing the existing practices of inequality of labor. • Design and colors should be created keeping in mind the longevity of the fabric. Apparel industry is turning greener these days with sustainable trends evolving to be a major influence on the industry at a global level. There is a mounting pressure on the industry to reduce environmental impact in regards to growing, processing, dyeing, bleaching, and making of fabrics. Also there is an expectation to eliminate exploitation of labor, remove the existing labor inequalities, and have a fashion forward approach towards the manufacturing process. Avoiding practices of 'Greenwashing': Best Practices, policies and standards are set out in the textile and apparel industry for sustainability. Companies should curtail excess manufacturing by maintaining a balance between demand and supply. They should eliminate the practice of 'greenwashing', by creating transparent and substantive social responsibility initiatives. Greenwashing is an unjustified misuse of environmental virtue by a company, to create a pro-environmental image, to sell a product or a policy, practice of organizations that attempt to show that they are adopting practices beneficial to the environment. Consumer awareness is getting boosted up frequently through institutions that promote awareness and other environmental and health related concerns. This initiates a high level of sensitivity in all dimensions of ethical manufacturing processes. Retailers seek identification with sustainability-Green initiatives going mainstream: Manufacturers, and retailers of all kinds starting from a tiny boutique to big shopping malls, selling products from low end to high end pricing, and those selling various apparels from regular to fashionable designer wears, are seeking to identify themselves with the image of sustainable minded businessmen. Wal-Mart, the retail giant is emerging to be one of the largest consumers of certified organic cotton. Currently the green apparel market is estimated to be worth $3 billion; which is comparatively smaller than the overall $450 billion global apparel market. However, the market is expected to expand and grow further; positively. The growing interest among the manufacturers, and retailers and consumers concern towards sustainable clothing, and other social issues related to textile production will foster the growth of the industry. Terms of sustainability and green supply chain will become more prevalent in the global market. Early adopters will reap more profits leaving the late comers a tough time to catch up with. Apparel manufacturers and retailers will give priority to sustainable business practices. Long term practices such as eco friendly product life cycle and minimizing the carbon foot print in manufacturing, transportation and stores will be a part of the management strategy. Apparel industry is marching towards sustainability in full force. Manufacturers and retailers must react quickly and respond to the growing demand for a greener environment. 1. &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2049)%>" target="_blank">
• Rafaella Practicing Self-Compassion: 4 Powerful Techniques Black woman in bath practicing self-care/self-compassion The way you treat yourself often sets the tone for how others treat you. When you treat yourself with love and kindness, it becomes easier to set that standard for those around you. Unfortunately, many of us aren’t taught to put ourselves first and be intentional about the way we treat ourselves. This is where learning the art of self-compassion comes into play, which you’ll learn more about below. Defining Self-Compassion Self-compassion is choosing to show yourself grace and kindness, even when you feel unworthy of it. Self-compassion researcher Kristen Neff believes self-compassion comprises three key elements; mindfulness, self-kindness, and common humanity. These are things we sometimes show other people, but forget to show ourselves. However, being mindful about how we engage with ourselves can open us up to greater levels of joy and peace. Why Self-Compassion is Important Self-compassion is critical because it’s one of the pillars of self-love. If you struggle with showing yourself compassion, you may also struggle to love yourself in all the ways you need to be loved. When you show yourself compassion it means you forgive yourself easily, judge yourself less, and empathize with yourself and those around you more. Improve your well-being When you lack self-compassion, it can negatively impact your wellbeing. In a study conducted on the nexus between self-compassion and depressive symptoms, findings suggest self-compassion can lower depressive symptoms. As you probably know, constantly overthinking and blaming yourself when something bad happens can affect your mental health. On the contrary, self-compassion can have the opposite effect, boosting your wellbeing and self image. Interestingly, the study also found the feeling of being isolated was strongly associated with depressive symptoms. This is why common humanity, one of the three elements of self-compassion outlined by Kristen Neff, is so important. It helps you realize self-compassion is also about realizing you aren’t alone and that others struggle too. Knowing you and the people around you have a shared experience can help you deepen the compassion you have for yourself and others. Improve your relationship with others When we’re extremely critical towards ourselves, we tend to extend that criticism to those around us too. For instance, if you judge yourself for being terrible at time management, you may criticize someone who’s always late in the same way. This is also known as projecting; when you take things you don’t like about yourself and displace the negative associated feelings onto someone else. If instead of judging yourself for having poor time management skills, you show yourself compassion, showing others grace becomes easier. Being judgmental and critical can destroy relationships, whereas compassion is an ingredient for healthier relationships. Improve Your self-worth Think back to a time when you failed at something whether it was completely bombing an interview for your dream job or hurting someone you care about. How did you talk to yourself at that moment and what did you think about yourself? If you struggle to show yourself compassion, it’s likely that your mind was filled with harsh and critical thoughts.
Meditation helps people make fewer mistakes, study says For patients who are forgetful or make mistakes when in a hurry, meditation may help them become less error prone, according to a new study by researchers at Michigan State University in East Lansing and published in the journal Brain Sciences. The study tested how open monitoring meditation, which focuses awareness on feelings, thoughts or sensations, as they unfold in one's mind and body, altered brain activity in a way that suggests increased error recognition. Researchers led by Jeff Lin, psychology doctoral candidate and study co-author, recruited more than 200 participants to test how open monitoring meditation affected how people detect and respond to errors. The participants, who had never meditated before, were taken through a 20-minute open monitoring meditation exercise while the researchers measured brain activity through electroencephalography (EEG). They then completed a computerized distraction test. While the meditators didn't have immediate improvements to actual task performance, the researchers said the findings offer a promising window into the potential of sustained meditation. Meditation and mindfulness have gained mainstream interest in recent years, however Lin is among a relatively small group of researchers that take a neuroscientific approach to assessing their psychological and performance effects. Looking ahead, Lin said that the next phase of research will be to include a broader group of participants, test different forms of meditation, and determine whether changes in brain activity can translate to behavioral changes with more long-term practice. "It's great to see the public's enthusiasm for mindfulness, but there's still plenty of work from a scientific perspective to be done to understand the benefits it can have, and equally importantly, how it actually works," Lin said. "It's time we start looking at it through a more rigorous lens."
What is NetOps? How can businesses adopt this broad school of thought, and what is its relationship with DevOps? To many, NetOps may seem like another random tech buzzword,, but it is a very important area relevant to a variety of roles, procedures, and protocols within an organisation. From network engineers to app developers, NetOps provides benefits for many in IT. The term NetOps is short for “network operations”, but this doesn’t tell its whole story. Much like automation and DevOps, or software-defined networking, NetOps involves the skills, people, and tools deployed by an organisation to deliver a network of services for its employees or end users. It tries to help engineers meet the needs of their business and improve network agility, and involves linking changes in a network with the services and applications as and when they are deployed. This includes analytics, automation, and some cloud-based services to provide a link between the teams that run them and the engineers that fix and maintain them. What does NetOps entail? Through NetOps, the traditional barriers that exist between network, operational, and data teams are expected to be overcome by workplace teams. Due to this, any NetOps project must reach beyond the realm of networking. However, implementing NetOps throughout your business isn’t as simple as turning on a switch and seeing a change happen overnight. Instead, it’s a process made up of small steps, and organisations must take this into account to embrace the ideas behind NetOps. As a result, the process involves making changes to culture and internal structures instead of a quick-fix reorganisation. Network automation is one of the keys to implementing a change of this nature. In this kind of structure, applications are deployed with constant improvement in mind, and a network needs to support new services and features quickly. Ordinarily, one team would examine the issue before handing it on to the next, but this is inefficient. Engaging in this process via NetOps could bring the relevant teams together under one umbrella to create an automated process. This will involve the design, documentation, testing and operating processes involved in solving the issue. An automated system would be able to collect diagnostic information the engineers would seek anyway and bring it together in one place. NetOps vs DevOps - How do they overlap? Development operations, or DevOps, is commonly defined as a set of practices that combine software development and IT operations to shorten the development cycle when delivering features, fixes, and updates. Related Resource Your comprehensive guide to low-code Download now The DevOps movement changed the way software engineering was done by borrowing inspiration from the manufacturing industry. Likewise, the world of NetOps has taken inspiration from DevOps, but focuses on transforming networking within an organisation. DevOps does account for networking, but it isn't a priority indeed, there's something of a natural conflict between the two. Whereas networking prioritises uptime and minimises risk, DevOps adopts a risk-taking and iterative approach. So while DevOps inspired NetOps, in many ways it was these opposing attitudes that ultimately necessitated the creation of NetOps. A tech team in discussion Getting started on a NetOps project As in most walks of life, keeping up momentum may often prove more difficult than the process of starting from scratch. Issues may be encountered at any stage, from the researching and planning of your project to the execution. Teams may encounter difficulties articulating to senior managers the business benefits of engaging in a NetOps project - or they may even find it hard to choose which project to pursue in the first place. While physical and logistical barriers are difficult to overcome, you may also find the cultural barriers are the most tricky. Fundamental shifts don’t happen overnight, though appreciating how NetOps can improve your organisation will involve a fairly radical transition in the practices and ideas with readers to internal processes. The best option, for most companies starting out, would be to pick out a manageable project that allows teams to explore the shallows of NetOps without taking on too much risk. Automating troubleshooting is one potential candidate, as is developing networking applications through agile development methodologies. Network abstraction, meanwhile, also serves as a viable route. This involves removing the physical ties between network components to precede the virtualisation of the infrastructure, in terms of routes and device to offer more network flexibility. Planning your entire workflow, and all the tasks this comprises, follows from identifying the project you’d like to explore. The NetOps team assigned to the venture would then have to pick out any bottleneck areas in order to optimise them, for example, areas which may need human interaction, and thus could lead to slow-down. When these potential pitfalls are identified, automation should be fed into the process to ensure it’s as efficient as possible The pursuit of a NetOps project doesn't just stop there, however, with teams expected to keep on top of the workflow and everything it entails, with constant tweaks and improvements made to ensure the project is swimming along. Switching to NetOps Depending on where you're coming from, moving to NetOps can be quite a radical change for your business. Done correctly though, NetOps can boost productivity, increase collaboration and help businesses embrace new projects, process and technologies as they emerge. Just like starting from scratch, however, businesses can move as incrementally as the possible, rather than a complete cultural overhaul. Progress can still be made, no matter how minute the change. 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A Hunger Artist Franz Kafka Teachers and parents! Struggling with distance learning? Our Teacher Edition on A Hunger Artist can help. Themes and Colors The Artist and Society Theme Icon The Meaning of Existence Theme Icon Art, Entertainment, and Capitalism Theme Icon LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Hunger Artist, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. The Meaning of Existence Theme Icon “A Hunger Artist” is a deeply philosophical text that is a prime example of Kafka’s overall approach to his literature. As with many of his other stories, interpretations of the text vary widely, and for good reason: Kafka deliberately creates tales that are almost fable-like, except that, unlike the typical fable that has a clear moral, the “point” of Kafka’s stories are rarely obvious. For Kafka, life is a set of unresolvable questions, and no one way of living can provide solid, tangible answers to the absurdities of existence. The hunger artist pursues some approaches towards finding meaning in life, while his audience and manager take an entirely different approach altogether. The hunger artist is clearly concerned with the greatness of his achievements. He feels that if he can only reach a certain length of days in a fast he will reach the height of his craft. That is, as with many people in life, he strives to better himself (in one very specific area) with the ultimate goal of being—and being recognized as—the best. He prides himself on his strength of will, on the superiority of his fasting ability: “he had never yet, not after any of his feats of starvation—that people had to concede—left his cage of his own free will.” He much prefers being watched by those warders who guard him very closely, shining their torchlights on him throughout the night, and loves nothing more than demonstrating how different he is from them: “What made him happiest of all was when the morning came and a lavish breakfast was brought up to them at his expense, on which they flung themselves.” Though the artist’s skill and craft mark him as different from the average person, the story makes it clear that it’s not that simple. Firstly, the hunger artist is dependent on others recognizing his achievement. He is always mindful, therefore, of his popularity and how he is being viewed and perceived. Secondly, he feels that the only way to continue to have meaning is to achieve even more, to give even more of himself to his craft. Of course, because he is a hunger artist, the outcome of such continued achievement is stark: he eventually achieves so much starvation that he dies, and he does so without any audience at all. The quest for achievement, the story seems to suggest, can give one a sense of meaning, but that sense is fleeting and ultimately self-devouring. The hunger artist also seeks meaning in another way that has traditionally been seen as more profound and authentic than the quest for achievement. He denies himself, and more importantly denies his body and his physical needs. In fact, fasting is often associated with rejection of the material and superficial, and as a means to achieve spiritual understanding of oneself and the world. In other words, it is often seen as a route to finding a higher meaning. It is no coincidence that the hunger artist’s fasting performances last forty days. That length of time connects the hunger artist’s fast most clearly to Jesus’s fast of forty days in the desert. During that fast, Jesus was tempted again and again by Satan. After Jesus refused all temptations, Satan left him, and Jesus returned to Galilee to begin his ministry. In other words, Jesus fasted, denied his body, and found the truth in himself and the world such that he felt ready to begin to preach. The hunger artist, too, seeks a truth and meaning beyond what society has to offer. It frustrates him that his manager won’t let him go beyond the forty days and prove his greatness—he thinks that going beyond that limit would be both a source of pride and help him find true meaning. When he does eventually fast for more than forty days, though, after essentially being forgotten in a cage at the circus, he dies without any revelation at all, having long ago lost the ability to keep track of the length of his fast. There are glimpses of other ways of life in the story. The card-players, the family that see the hunger artist at the circus, the manager—all of these have a different set of more immediate and less lofty concerns than the hunger artist. They fail to comprehend his total dedication, and live life without a desperate search for meaning or great achievement. The reader, then, is left with no easy moral—were the hunger-artist’s efforts totally in vain and pointless, or is he the only character with a true sense of purpose? Kafka deliberately leaves this question unresolved, because for him that is a closer representation of actual life. But the text itself is an examination of its own attempt to generate meaning—to represent life—further strengthening the sense that instead of an answer there is only a question—but that there is meaning and value in asking the question, even without hope of an answer. Related Themes from Other Texts Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme… The Meaning of Existence ThemeTracker The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of The Meaning of Existence appears in each chapter of A Hunger Artist. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis. How often theme appears: chapter length: Get the entire A Hunger Artist LitChart as a printable PDF. A Hunger Artist PDF The Meaning of Existence Quotes in A Hunger Artist Below you will find the important quotes in A Hunger Artist related to the theme of The Meaning of Existence. A Hunger Artist Quotes He much preferred those invigilators who sat right in front of his bars, who were not content with the dim night-light in the hall, but aimed at him the beams of electric torches that the manager had left at their disposal…What made him happiest of all was when the morning came and a lavish breakfast was brought up to them at his expense, on which they flung themselves with the healthy appetite of men who had spent an entire night without rest. Related Symbols: The Cage Explanation and Analysis: No one was capable of spending every day and every night with the hunger-artist as an invigilator without a break, and therefore no one could know from the direct evidence of his own senses whether the hunger artist had starved himself without a break, without a lapse; only the hunger-artist himself was in a position to know that, only he therefore could be the spectator completely satisfied by his own hunger. Explanation and Analysis: He had never yet—that people had to concede—left his cage of his own free will. The maximum period of starvation had been set by the manager at forty days, he permitted no longer stints than that, not even in major cities, and for a very good reason. He had learned from experience that by gradually intensified publicity the interest of a city could be kept alive for forty days, but at that point the public failed, there was a perceptible drop in the level of interest. Related Symbols: The Cage Explanation and Analysis: ...the hunger artist starved himself as he had once dreamed of doing, and he succeeded quite effortlessly as he had once predicted, but no one counted the days, no one knew how great his achievement was, not even the hunger artist himself, and his heart grew heavy. And if once in a while a passer-by stopped, and mocked the old calendar and said it was a swindle, that was the most insulting lie that indifference and native malice could have come up with. Explanation and Analysis: “I always wanted you to admire my starving,” said the hunger artist. “We do admire it,” said the overseer placatingly. “But you’re not to admire it,” said the hunger artist. “All right, then we don’t admire it,” said the overseer, “why should we not admire it?” Explanation and Analysis:
Nanotechnology Examples and Applications Background – what makes nanotechnology special One of the most fascinating aspects of nanotechnology is the incredibly small scale at which nanoengineering and nanofabrication take place. Consider this example: The first working transistor, built by Bell Labs John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley in 1947, measured roughly 1 centimeter across. Today, logic transistor density has surpassed a staggering 100 million transistors per square millimeter. That means that the same surface area of Bell Labs' original transistor can now contain more than 10 billion transistors! Chemists and biologists have dealt with naturally occurring nanoparticles all along. Think molecules or viruses. Toxicologists have dealt with nanoparticles that are the result of modern human life such as carbon particles in combustion engine exhaust. Without being aware of it, tire manufacturers used nanoparticles (carbon black) to improve the performance of tires as early as the 1920s. Medieval artists used (unknowingly) gold nanoparticles to achieve the bright red colors in church windows. You might even say that we are surrounded by, and made of, nanomaterials – atoms and molecules are nanoscale objects after all. So why all the fuzz about nano now? The fascinating prospects that nanotechnology offers engineers and researchers stems from these unique quantum and surface phenomena that matter exhibits at the nanoscale, making possible novel materials and revolutionary applications. It is quite amazing how much of nanotechnology-related research is inspired by nature's designs. As a matter of fact, nature is full of examples of sophisticated nanoscopic architectural feats. Whether it is structural colors; adhesion; porous strength; or bacterial navigation and locomotionthey underpin the essential functions of a variety of life forms, from bacteria to berries, wasps to whales. Examples of nanotechnology products and applications Nanobiotechnology is the application of nanotechnologies in biological fields. Chemists, physicists and biologists each view nanotechnology as a branch of their own subject, and collaborations in which they each contribute equally are common. One result is the hybrid field of nanobiotechnology that uses biological starting materials, biological design principles or has biological or medical applications. While biotechnology deals with metabolic and other physiological processes of biological subjects including microorganisms, in combination with nanotechnology, nanobiotechnology can play a vital role in developing and implementing many useful tools in the study of life. Although the integration of nanomaterials with biology has led to the development of diagnostic devices, contrast agents, analytical tools, therapy, and drug-delivery vehicles, bionanotechnology research is still in its infancy. SEM micrograph of a cultured rat hippocampal neuron grown on a layer of purified carbon nanotubes TSEM micrograph of a cultured rat hippocampal neuron grown on a layer of purified carbon nanotubes. (Image: Laura Ballerini, University of Trieste) Nanoplasmonics research focuses on the optical phenomena in the nanoscale vicinity of metal surfaces. In nanoplasmonics, researchers focus nanoscale light below the diffraction limit (which typically is half the width of the wavelength of light being used to view the specimen) by converting free photons into localized charge-density oscillations – so-called surface plasmons – on noble-metal nanostructures, which serve as nanoscale analogs of radio antennas and are typically designed by using antenna theory concepts. The term nanosensor is not clearly defined. Most definitions refer to a sensing device with at least one of its dimensions being smaller than 100 nm and for the purpose of collecting information on the nanoscale and transferring it into data for analysis. Nanosensors are not necessarily reduced in size to the nanoscale, but could be larger devices that make use of the unique properties of nanomaterials to detect and measure events at the nanoscale. For instance, in noble metals such as silver or gold, nanostructures of smaller size than the de Broglie wavelength for electrons lead to an intense absorption in the visible/near-UV region that is absent in the spectrum of the bulk material. Nanosensors have been developed for the detection of gases, chemical and biochemical variables, as well as physical variables and the detection electromagnetic radiation. If you ever have wondered where nanotechnology will take us, look no further than the potential applications in the area of functional food by engineering biological molecules toward functions very different from those they have in nature, opening up a whole new area of research and development. Of course, there seems to be no limit to what food technologists are prepared to do to our food and nanotechnology will give them a whole new set of tools to go to new extremes. Nanotechnology offers the opportunity for alternative sensor platforms for the rapid, sensitive, reliable and simple isolation and detection of E. coli and other pathogens. Nanotechnology enabled detection techniques include detections by luminescence using quantum dots; localized surface plasmon resonance of metallic nanoparticles; enhanced fluorescence; dye immobilized nanoparticles; or Raman reporter molecule immobilized metallic nanoparticles. An aptamer attached to an electrode coated with single-walled carbon nanotubes interacts selectively with bacteria Nanotechnologies provide the potential to enhance energy efficiency across all branches of industry and to economically leverage renewable energy production through new technological solutions and optimized production technologies. Nanotechnology innovations could impact each part of the value-added chain in the energy sector: Energy sources; energy conversion; energy distribution; energy storage; and energy usage. Graphene has proven useful for different types of batteries redox flow, metalair, lithiumsulfur, lithium-metal and, more importantly, lithium-ion batteries. Since graphene can be chemically processed into various forms suitable for both the positive and negative electrodes, this enables the fabrication of all-graphene batteries with ultrahigh energy density. In the near future, using nanomaterials in furniture may lead to a reduced need for adhesives and functional textiles. Expect to see "smart" furniture furniture that heats itself when it's cold; becomes opaque when the sun is shining intensely; changes color upon demand; measures core body functions; has antibacterial coatings that get activated on contact or self-healing coatings to repair scratches and minor damage; has embedded electronics that for instance signals you when you run out of food supplies; or includes shape memory alloys that change their shape. The applications of nanotechnology and nanomaterials can be found in many cosmetic products including moisturisers, hair care products, make up and sunscreen. The automotive sector is a major consumer of material technologies and nanotechnologies promise to improve the performance of existing technologies significantly. Applications range from already existing paint quality, fuel cells, batteries, wear-resistant tires, lighter but stronger materials, ultra-thin anti-glare layers for windows and mirrors to the futuristic energy-harvesting bodywork, fully self-repairing paint, switchable colors, shape-shifting skin. Nanoengineering of cement-based materials can result in outstanding or smart properties. Introduction of nanotechnology in the cement industry has the potential to address some of the challenges such as CO2 emissions, poor crack resistance, long curing time, low tensile strength, high water absorption, low ductility and many other mechanical performances. The video below shows how researchers are using nanosilica to strengthen concrete: Nanotechnology has a significant impact in the construction sector. Several applications have been developed for this specific sector to improve the durability and enhanced performance of construction components, energy efficiency and safety of the buildings, facilitating the ease of maintenance and to provide increased living comfort. Display technologies can be grouped into three broad technology areas; Organic LEDs, electronic paper and other devices intended to show still images, and Field Emission Displays. Nanomaterials and nanofabrication techniques play a role in all of them. Nanomedicine is Nanotechnological products, processes and applications are expected to contribute significantly to environmental and climate protection by saving raw materials, energy and water as well as by reducing greenhouse gases and hazardous wastes. Using nanomaterials therefore promises certain environmental benefits and sustainability effects. Nanotechnology advantages in sports equipment Nanotechnology advantages in sports equipment. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Sangeetha Pulapaka The process of making solar panels is very precise and delicate, This is the reason why solar technology was so expensive when photovoltaic devices were first commercialized. The mass production of solar technology did not occur until the very last quarter of the last century, when breakthrough advancements in semiconductors and solar designs made way for progressively efficient and affordable photovoltaic cells to be developed. Photovolatic cells are thin disks of silicon that transfer sunlight into electricity. Pure silicon is transmitted from silicon dioxides like crushed quartz and quartize gravel, which is the purest form of silica. The pure silicon is when treated with boron and phosphorous to create and overabundance of electrons and an inadequacy of electrons as well in order to generate a semiconductor that is capable of administering electricity. The silicon disks are so shiny that they need an anti-reflective coating, which usually comes in the form of titanium dioxide. A metal frame surrounds and protects the silicon semiconductor. The frame itselg is made of either butyryl plastic or silicon rubber, which is then planted in ethylene vinyl acetate. Then, polyester film, like tedlar of mylar, is used for the backing. The electrical components are pretty basic and mostly consist of copper. Silicon is basically the cement that holds all of the pieces together.
Your Problem Our Solution Category: Analog Electronics what is zener diode Zener Diode , V-I Characteristics, Working, and Applications Zener diodes have major application for being used as a voltage regulator for providing stable reference voltages for use in power supplies, voltmeters, and other instruments. In this article, you will see how the Zener diode maintains (regulate) a nearly constant dc voltage under the proper operating conditions. Diodes are used in many applications like half-wave, full- wave rectifiers, clippers, clampers, as voltage multipliers, and one of the most important and usable applications of a diode is voltage regulation, the behavior of the diode to regulate the voltage, due to which it has gain new name known as ZENER DIODE. What is Zener Diode? The Zener diode is a special type of diode that is designed to work in the reverse breakdown region. In simple words, it regulates (Maintain) the voltage across its terminal when it is in reverse biased. • It is consisting of two terminals one is an anode and another is cathode (kathode). • In Zener diode, current flows in both direction anode to cathode or cathode to the anode. Symbol of Zener Diode: [adsforwp id=”3715″] It is similar to the normal p-n junction diode, but with Z-shape on the vertical bar. Why We Use Zener Diode? A Simple p-n junction diode does not operate in breakdown region (reverse bias) because the diode will get large current which will permanently damage the diode. Due to this reason for operating a diode in reverse bias we need special purpose diode which can be operated in reverse breakdown voltage for that, we mostly use Zener because it can handle large breakdown voltage. Working of Zener diode? • Zener acts as normal PN junction diode in forward bias. • The Zener diode is heavily doped as compared to the normal PN junction diode, hence it has very thin depletion layer, therefore, it allows more current than the normal PN junction diode. • Zener diode allows current just like a simple PN junction diode when it is forward bias but it also allows current when its reverse bias if the applied reverse voltage is greater than the Zener voltage (Zener’s have particular Zener voltage which indicates that this diode will regulate voltage up to this limit). Read More: What is the Duty Cycle? How is the voltage across Zener Diode constant? A Zener Diode is a special type of diode which is designed to operate in reverse bias because it has very thin depletion region that makes this diode to handle large reverse breakdown voltage. • In forward bias It behaves like ordinary PN junction diode above 0.7v the diode conducts current in one direction. • In Reverse bias it behave like voltage regulator because when the reverse voltage is applied in the reverse bias condition Zener diode do not conduct until the reverse voltages reaches to the breakdown voltage (Knee voltages) of Zener then the voltage across the load is constant up to Knee voltages and the current increases in reverse direction as shown in V-I characteristics of Zener below. When the voltage across the Zener diode is greater than the breakdown voltage of Zener it breaks the barrier potential and Zener starts to conduct with a fixed voltage and this condition is known as turn ON condition. it will not conduct until the source voltage is greater than the Zener voltage. It will regulate voltage up to its Zener voltage value. Every Zener diode has particular Zener voltage (Knee voltages) in that they can regulate voltage. V-I Characteristics of Zener Diode: [adsforwp id=”3715″] In forward bias Zener works as an ordinary diode but when it is operated in reverse bias its shows the specialty of voltage regulation, it must be noted that in fig given below. The reverse voltages are increasing but reverse current extremely small (up to Vz) and remains constant till reverse voltages are reached at knee voltages (the voltages at which current rapidly increasing Is known as knee voltages). After the knee voltages reverse current is rapidly increasing its known as Zener current (the Zener current is the effect of Zener resistance or we can say Zener impedance which decreased when Zener current rapidly increased, above the knee Zener breakdown voltages are essentially constant). v-i characteristics of zener v-i characteristics of Zener diode Zener Diode Modes of Operation First Understand Ideal Zener Equivalent Circuits • It is like a constant voltage source. ideal zener equivalent circuit zener equivalent circuit Effect of changing the load on voltage regulation There are two cases: • When load resistance is to be zero (Conducting State) • When load resistance is to be infinite (Open State) In the first case when the load resistance is to be zero, the maximum current flows through the load and hence the diode is working as a voltage regulator. In the second case when the load resistance is to be infinite, no current goes to load because of high resistance so the all of the current flows through the Zener diode, because of the heavy current diode may be destroyed in this condition hence, this condition is mostly not desirable. Advantages of Zener Diode: [adsforwp id=”3713″] • It has very high Power dissipation capacity. • More accuracy • It has Small size • Cheap voltage regulators because these diodes are cheap in price. Applications of Zener Diode: [adsforwp id=”3715″] • In many electronic applications, it is desired that the output voltage should remain constant regardless of the variations in the input voltage or load. In order to ensure this, a voltage stabilizing device, called Zener voltage stabilizers are used. • It is used in rectifiers’ circuits to get constant voltage at the output • It is used as a voltage reference • They are used in voltage stabilizers or shunt regulators • They are used in switching operations • They are used in clippers and clamper circuits • They are used in various circuit protections • They are used in Ammeters and voltmeters. For More Information: Also Read: 1. What is LED- Working and Applications of LED 2. What is PhotoDiode? Working and Applications of PhotoDiode 3. What is Tunnel_Diode –Working, Characteristics & Applications 4. What is Varactor_Diode, operations and Practical Applications 5. What is Diode Clamper Circuits and How they Work? 6. What is PN Junction Diode, Characteristics, and Applications. Forward bias of PN Junction Diode Forward Bias of PN Junction Diode A PN junction is said to be forward biased when the externally applied voltage is in such a direction that it cancels the potential barrier of a diode, hence, allowing the current flow. Forward Bias of PN Junction Diode: Forward bias is the condition that allows current through the PN junction Diode. The voltage source is connected in such a way that it produces a Forward Bias. In order to forward bias a PN junction, the positive terminal of the battery is connected to to the p-type material and negative terminal of the battery is connected to the n-type material of PN junction diode as shown in the figure below. Forward bias of PN Junction Diode Note that the -ve side of VBIAS is connected to the n-region of the diode and the +ve side is connected to the p-region. This is one requirement for forward bias. A second requirement is that the bias voltage, V(bias), must be greater than the barrier potential. Barrier Potential is an internal potential a semiconductor material, in case of Silicon-based diode it is 0.7v and in case of Germanium, it is 0.3v. It means in order to forward bias the PN junction diode applied voltage should be greater than 0.7 for silicon and 0.3V for germanium. What happens during forward bias of PN Junction Diode? A fundamental picture of what happens when a PN junction diode is forward-biased is shown below. Working of diode As we know the N-type material is consist of Electrons and the P-type material is consist of Holes. When forward voltage is applied to a PN junction, the free electrons in the n-type move towards the junction, leaving behind positively charged atoms. When the P-type material is connected with a positive terminal of battery it transfers the holes (positive charge carrier), which travels from p-type material to the N-type material through (Junction). When the N-type material is connected with a negative terminal of battery it transfers the free electrons (negatively charged carriers), which travels from n-type material to the P-type material through (junction). These free electrons are attracted towards the positive terminal of the diode while the holes are attracted towards the negative terminal of a diode. Forward Current in PN Junction When VBIAS is applied across the junction in the forward bias, a current will flow continuously through this junction. That current can be calculated through the given formula. IS = Saturation Current (10-9 to 10-18 A) VT = Volt-equivalent temperature (≈ 26mV at room temperature) n = Emission coefficient (1 ≤ n ≤ 2 for Si ICs) Actually, this expression is approximated. VI Characteristics of PN Junction Diode in Forward Bias: When a forward-bias voltage is applied across a diode, there is current that current is called the forward current. When the forward-bias voltage is increased to a value where the voltage across the diode reaches approximately 0.7 V (barrier potential), the forward current begins to increase rapidly, as illustrated in Figure given below. As you continue to increase the forward-bias voltage, the current continues to increase very rapidly, but the voltage across the diode is constant up to 0.7v for silicon and 0.3v for germanium. PN junction diode on forward bias Page 2 of 2 Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén
Quechua Lesson 1 Lesson 1 (Ñawpaq ñiqin yachay) An important part of the language of the street and daily life is numbers and counting. 0 ch’usah,(empty) 1 uk, huk, uh 2 iskay 3 kimsa or kinsa 4 tawa 5 phiska or pisqa 6 suhta or suqta 7 qanchis 8 pusah or pusaq 9 hiskun, or isqun 10 chunka Here we encounter a difficulty in pronounciation. Normally you can pronounce as you read. There are some exceptions. For example in Suqta, the q is pronounced as in Loch (lake in Scotland, England). The Ch in Chunka is pronounced as in chew. (see the table of pronunciation in the Introduction) 11 Chunka-huk-ni-yuq 12 Chunka-iskay-ni-yuq 13 Chunka-kinsa-yuq 14 Chunka-tawa-yuq 15 Chunka-pisqa-yuq 16 Chunka-suqta-yuq 17 Chunka-qanchis-ni-yuq 18 Chunka-pusaq-ni-yuq 19 Chunka-isqun-ni-yuq 20 Iskay chunka The suffix –yuq, (also written as –yoq, yuh or yoh) means “with.” Later on this suffix will be used frequently. Here it says that there is ten-with- etc. Another typical feature can be seen here as well. After a vowel, -yoh can be used, but after a consonant the euphonic particle –ni is inserted first. So it is not chunka-qanchis-yuq*, which does not feel right in Quechua, but chunka-qanchis-ni-yuq. Whenever –yoh or any other suffix is used, if the basic already composed word ends on a consonant, the euphonic particle –ni is infixed in the word. Here is an example in which the Spanish word amiga (female friend) becomes amiga-y (my female friend). In plural this becomes: amiga-s-ni-y, my (female) friends. The –s is a plural marker, derived from the Spanish language and often used for these borrowed words. For the use of the euphonic particle –ni, -ay or -uy as a diphthong is a consonant. For example chunka-iskay-ni-yoh and not chunka-iskay-yoh (although I have seen that too!). Numbers go on: 20 Iskay chunka 30 Kimsa chunka 40 tawa chunka, et cetera 100 pachaq 120 Pachaq iskay-chunka-yuq 200 Iskay pachaq 300 kimsa pachaq et cetera 1000 waranqa 2000 Iskay waranqa et cetera 2010 Iskay waranqa chunka-yuq 2008 Iskay waranqa pusaq-ni-yuq 2012 Iskay waranqa chunka-iskay-ni-yuq 2100 Iskay waranqa pachaq-ni-yuq Note: the last number, even if it is plain 10 or 100 is always written with –(ni)-yuq. On this basis you can count and haggle in the marketplace and in shops. It is my experience that, if you know something of the language and you can count in it, you always get a better price. The people simply love it when someone speaks to them in their own language, even at this level of haggling in the marketplace! Learn this by heart, and you will see, and be amazed at the results! Asking what something costs is simple: Haykataq solis? Hayka is a question word, meaning, “how much?” Note that the question marker –chu (of which later more) is never used in combination with question words. When you want to say “first,” “second,” and so forth, the word ñiqin (ñeqen) is added: 2nd is iskay ñiqin, 3rd is kimsa ñiqin, etc. As an exercise you might do some numbers on your own: Learn the numbers 0-10 by heart, as well as the numbers 10 to 100. Then try to say your telephone number in Quechua. To add: goes with the suffix -wan. 3+4=7: kimsa-wan tawa, qanchis-mi. -mi is an euphonic particle that expresses certainty of the speaker. Chunka iskayniyuqwan iskay chunka tawayuq, kimsa chunka pusaqniyuqmi. (12+24=36) To distract: there are several way to express. This is rather complicatated. I present one method: chunka-manta pusah-ta qorqo-spa, iskay qipan. literally: ten-off eight-object marker taken-away, two stay behind. Qurqu-y means to take away, or reap; qipa-y or qhipay means to stay behind. To multiplay: this goes with kuti, (times): iskay kuti tawa, pusaqmi, Litterally: 2 times 4, 8-euphonic particle. To divide: there are 2 ways, with rakisqa (divided) with the suffix -pi, or takasqa (struck), or with the suffix -man or -wan: chunka iskay-ni-yuq kimsa-pi raki-sqa, tawa-m. Or chunka iskay-ni-yuq kimsa-wan taka-sqa, tawa-m. The suffix -pi means: in. So litterally: 12 3-in divided = 4. Or 12 3-with struck = 4. -m is the euphonic particle that expresses certainty of the speaker. Go to Quechua Lesson 2
Steve and Sherry Brunner: The “Johnny Appleseeds” of Costa Rica Back in 1797, just 20 years after America declared its independence from Britain, John Chapman started planting orchards of apple trees on tracts of land he owned throughout Ohio and Indiana. This earned him the sobriquet “Johnny Appleseed.” In 1991, Steve and Sherry Brunner starting planting teak, nargusta and suradan trees, along with a few other species, on tracts of land they own in Costa Rica. So far, they have planted some two million trees and show no signs of slowing down. Chapman’s goal was to provide pioneer settlers with apples, but Steve and Sherry set out to grow wood, and lots of it. “Once we saw those little trees coming up,” Steve said, “Sherry and I decided to devote the rest of our lives to doing this.” They created Tropical American Tree Farms, and estimate that just the trees they currently have under cultivation may eventually yield some 200 million board feet of wood. Extrapolating from current prices, that works out to two billion dollars worth of wood. Perhaps best of all, they welcome anyone else who shares their vision to invest and become a partner in this unusual and earth-friendly venture. Obviously, there is more to this story than meets the eye, so I spoke with Steve to learn a bit of history and get a peek into the future. “I graduated from law school in 1969,” Steve recounted, “and went into the real estate business. In 1974, I wanted to buy some warm weather oceanfront property for investment purposes, but land was too expensive in the U.S. Instead, Sherry and I bought 2,500 acres in four segments in Costa Rica, a country with a thriving economy, a long-standing stable democracy, and constitutional protection of private land ownership. I managed the property, flying back and forth between Costa Rica and Columbus, Ohio. “Flying during the dry season, I would often see smoke rising. Farmers were cutting down the trees as fast as they could and burning them to get them out of the way. Their goal was to create cattle grazing land to feed the American beef market. You could literally see the rain forest disappearing, and it really bothered me. This was also causing the price of lumber to keep rising in the area. “During the 1980s, I did a lot of investigating into wood prices and the feasibility of tree farming in the tropics. In 1991, Sherry and I decided to buy an inland farm to start a tree farm for ourselves. Our intention was to plant trees and harvest them 25 years later, but along the way we learned that we might not have to wait that long. There are some very fast-growing trees in that region. “Some of the fastest growing tees that yield attractive workable wood are teak; gmelina, sometimes called white teak though it is not related to it; mangium, an accacia species; nargusta, a yellowish wood with pink stripes; and suradan, a dusty rose color wood that gets darker as the tree ages. “Initially, we started buying land to prevent it from being deforested as well as land that had already been clear cut. We used the already cleared land for planting. We have never cut down any forest or any trees in the forest. Instead, we protect existing forest, and plant for production on other land. It should be clear, though, that what we create are tree plantations, not forests. “Using local labor, we planted about 63,000 teak, nargusta and suradan trees, along with several other species, on about 150 acres. After the trees are planted, it is a non-stop process of weeding, and eventually pruning and thinning. The plantations all need to be thinned at various stages. Thinning starts after about seven years for some of the faster growing species, and for most species is done every three to four years after that. During thinning we take out the least desirable trees. “Meanwhile, my wife’s father, who had been following our progress, asked to invest in the venture. We came up with the idea of selling live trees to others for investment purposes. The idea was that we would take care of them, but the trees would be owned by investors. When the woodworking community found out, we started getting invitations to speak to woodworking clubs. “It’s grown from there, and today we have over two million trees under cultivation. We currently grow 14 different species for tree owners and 51 species for ourselves. More than half of the trees are owned by tree owners. Some do it for investment reasons, others for the wood, and a few are using it as an excuse to write off fishing trips to Costa Rica. We sell in multiples of 100 trees at about 50 dollars per tree. Each person owns specific trees with locations laid out by row and column. “There is a risk, of course,” Steve was quick to point out. “Your trees could die while the ones nearby owned by someone else thrive. In 1996, for example, a hurricane came through, and we lost about 40,000 trees, all owned by tree owners. However, rather than let them take the hit, we replaced them with our own trees of about the same age. That way, no investor lost any trees. It’s not in our contract, but if truth be known, we would do the same thing again as long as we can afford it. “When it was time for the first thinning, we already had some tree owners besides ourselves. We went in naively thinking the small dimension wood from the thinning would be saleable, but were disappointed to find it had little or no value. Rather than throw the wood away, we set up a workshop to find out what we could do with it. The first thinning was teak, yielding boards four inches and under. To our surprise, we discovered that young teak is even more beautiful than older teak, showing even more chatoyance and depth. We decided to use the wood to make really high-end furniture and veneer. With that, a second company, which we named Raleo®, was born. “Raleo is a Spanish word meaning ‘a thinning’ and ,true to its name, the wood for Raleo furniture and wall treatments comes from the wood harvested during the thinning process. We made a lot of samples of various surfaces on small pieces of wood and took them to an upscale builder’s show. The response was overwhelming. “We moved to a 10,000 square foot shop in San Jose, Costa Rica, hired some people, and started selling processed finished wood surfaces and furniture at high prices to upscale markets. We still sell strictly to designers and architects. In time, the facility has grown to 40,000 square feet, and the current demand outstrips what we can produce. “To put it simply, Raleo, which Sherry and I own outright, creates value for underappreciated wood taken from early thinnings, then buys this otherwise low value wood from the tree owners. We pay a higher than market rate for the wood, often two and half to five times the going rate. The upshot is that it makes earlier monetary returns likely for tree owners. “Of course, the bulk of the value for tree owners is still in the final harvest, which will far surpass whatever they glean from thinnings. The end goal is to produce not just sawn wood, but veneer quality logs, which have far more value per tree. We have been able to get veneer from trees as young as seven years old. It makes the prospects for this venture much better than it looks at first blush. “Some of our tree owners have already gotten more back than what they paid for their trees just from the rewards of the first thinning, and they still have all their best trees growing larger. On the other hand, some are still waiting. We do not take any money from new investors to pay older investors. What you get depends entirely on what happens with your trees, and in part, how patient you are, since waiting longer usually yields a better pay out.” Though investors are increasing, it is not due to active selling. “We try to graciously answer questions,” Steve admitted, “but that is it. If you are interested in finding out more, we invite you to browse the web site. There’s enough information there to help you decide whether this is for you.” It must be right for a lot of people. At present, they have some 300 employees, thousands of tree owners, and own one tenth of one percent of all the land in Costa Rica. “Profit and love for the environment can go hand in hand,” Steve insists. “You can run a profitable business that also helps the environment and takes very good care of the land.” To guarantee that the company continues long after he and Sherry are no longer in the picture, they set up a trust that will continue to run it according to their values and the responsibility they feel to their tree owners. “We really believe that being good stewards of both trees and people is our mission in life. We don’t use herbicides or pesticides, and we don’t allow hunting in the farms. As a result, a lot of animal species that are considered scarce are returning, and these rarely seen animals will often come right up to the door. Some, like kinkajou and coatimundi, come right into our farmhouse.” Lush surroundings, a good business and the satisfaction that you are doing right for both customers and the environment seems like a perfect combination, but there is still one more vicarious joy Steve admits to feeling. “More than a thousand tree owners have been down here to see their trees and go through the rain forest,” Steve told me. “Seeing the rain forest for the first time is a hard-to-describe experience. Watching their reaction is almost as good.” Posted in:
How do you select an element in Dynamo Revit? How do you select an element in Revit? Select Multiple Elements How do you select pinned elements in Revit? Simply toggle the “Select Pinned Element” button at the bottom right corner of your Revit model to disabled, and your pinned element will no longer be selectable. Toggle it back on when you need to make adjustments to the pinned element. Pinned objects will show a thumbtack when selected. How do you open a dynamo in Revit? Dynamo is an open source visual programming platform for designers. It is installed as part of Revit along with Revit specific programming nodes. To access Dynamo, click Manage tab Visual Programming panel Dynamo. How do I select underlay in Revit? Click an icon in the lower right corner of the status bar. 1. Select Links. Enable the Select Links option when you want to be able to select linked files and individual elements in the links. … 2. Select Underlay Elements. … 3. Select Pinned Elements. … 4. Select Elements by Face. … 5. Drag Elements on Selection. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT: Your question: How do you extrude walls in AutoCAD? How do you select a linked model in Revit? Select Elements in a Linked Model 1. If needed, enable the Select Links option. 2. In the drawing area of a view of the host model, move the cursor over the element in the linked model. 3. Press Tab until the desired element is highlighted, and click to select it. What is the purpose of an alignment line Revit? What is the purpose of an alignment line? Indicates that the new element you are placing or modeling is aligned with an existing object. What is a Revit element? Elements in Revit are also referred to as families. The family contains the geometric definition of the element and the parameters used by the element. Each instance of an element is defined and controlled by the family. About Element Properties. Each element you place in a drawing is an instance of a family type. Can you select similar in Revit? 10: How to Use Common Selection Methods in Revit Left Click – Selects an Object. Right Click after object selection – contextual menu for repeating commands, selecting similar etc. CTRL + Left Click – Add singular elements to your current selection. How do you select old in Revit? How do you select last in revit? Simply press Ctrl + Left Arrow on your keyboard. Or you can right click your mouse and click select previous from contextual menu. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT: Best answer: What Microsoft program can I use to draw floor plans? Does Dynamo come with Revit 2020? Dynamo is a graphical programming interface that lets you customize your building information workflow. Dynamo is an open source visual programming platform for designers. It is installed as part of Revit. Is Dynamo only for Revit? What version of Dynamo comes with Revit 2021? Dynamo for Revit 2.6 is automatically installed in Revit as an internal add-in.
A Multi-Tiered Approach To Chronic Asthma Problems If you have been diagnosed with asthma, you must avoid cigarette smoke at all costs. Do not smoke! Stay away from vapors and all chemical fumes so you are not able to breathe them in. More often than not, smoke is going to trigger an unavoidable asthma attack. Leave a room if people smoke, or ask them to stop. You should ensure that every family member in your household gets a flu vaccine yearly. Try to avoid getting any respiratory infections if you have asthma. The easiest way to start is by performing routine hand-washing, limiting your touching of surfaces while in public places, and getting vaccinations recommended by your doctor. If you use more than four cleaning products, you are increasing the risks of an asthma attack. Organic cleaning products should be selected due to their lack of irritating chemicals. Never rush into a hard-core exercise program! Overworking your lungs with vigorous exercise is a common trigger for asthma attacks. By slowly starting your workout and building up to a more vigorous level, you can more easily avoid impending attacks. This also gives you an easier time if an attack does occur, as getting control of your breathing happens faster if you are exerting yourself less.
A Philosopher's Blog Fake News I: Critical Thinking Posted in Philosophy, Reasoning/Logic by Michael LaBossiere on December 2, 2016 While fake news presumably dates to the origin of news, the 2016 United States presidential election saw a huge surge in the volume of fakery. While some of it arose from partisan maneuvering, the majority seems to have been driven by the profit motive: fake news drives revenue generating clicks. While the motive might have been money, there has been serious speculation that the fake news (especially on Facebook) helped Trump win the election. While those who backed Trump would presumably be pleased by this outcome, the plague of fake news should be worrisome to anyone who values the truth, regardless of their political ideology. After all, fake news could presumably be just as helpful to the left as the right. In any case, fake news is clearly damaging in regards to the truth and is worth combating. While it is often claimed that most people simply do not have the time to be informed about the world, if someone has the time to read fake news, then they have the time to think critically about it. This critical thinking should, of course, go beyond just fake news and should extend to all important information. Fortunately, thinking critically about claims is surprisingly quick and easy. I have been teaching students to be critical about claims in general and the news in particular for over two decades and what follows is based on what I teach in class (drawn, in part, from the text I have used: Critical Thinking by Moore & Parker). I would recommend this book for general readers if it was not, like most text books, absurdly expensive. But, to the critical thinking process that should be applied to claims in general and news in particular. While many claims are not worth the bother of checking, others are important enough to subject to scrutiny. When applying critical thinking to a claim, the goal is to determine whether you should rationally accept it as true, reject it as false or suspend judgment. There can be varying degrees of acceptance and rejection, so it is also worth considering how confident you should be in your judgment. The first step in assessing a claim is to match it against your own observations, should you have relevant observations. While observations are not infallible, if a claim goes against what you have directly observed, then that is a strike against accepting the claim. This standard is not commonly used in the case of fake news because most of what is reported is not something that would be observed directly by the typical person. That said, sometimes this does apply. For example, if a news story claims that a major riot occurred near where you live and you saw nothing happen there, then that would indicate the story is in error. The second step in assessment is to judge the claim against your background information—this is all your relevant beliefs and knowledge about the matter. The application is fairly straightforward and just involves asking yourself if the claim seems plausible when you give it some thought. For example, if a news story claims that Hillary Clinton plans to start an armed rebellion against Trump, then this should be regarded as wildly implausible by anyone with true background knowledge about Clinton. There are, of course, some obvious problems with using background information as a test. One is that the quality of background information varies greatly and depends on the person’s experiences and education (this is not limited to formal education). Roughly put, being a good judge of claims requires already having a great deal of accurate information stored away in your mind. All of us have many beliefs that are false; the problem is that we generally do not know they are false. If we did, then we would no longer believe them. A second point of concern is the influence of wishful thinking. This is a fallacy (an error in reasoning) in which a person concludes that a claim is true because they really want it to be true. Alternatively, a person can fallaciously infer that a claim is false because they really want it to be false. This is poor reasoning because wanting a claim to be true or false does not make it so. Psychologically, people tend to disengage their critical faculties when they really want something to be true (or false). For example, someone who really hates Hillary Clinton would want to believe that negative claims about her are true, so they would tend to accept them. As another example, someone who really likes Hillary would want positive claims about her to be true, so they would accept them. The defense against wishful thinking of this sort is to be on guard against yourself by being aware of your biases. If you really want something to be true (or false), ask yourself if you have any reason to believe it beyond just wanting it to be true (or false). For example, I am not a fan of Trump and thus would tend to want negative claims about him to be true—so I must consider that when assessing such claims. A third point of concern is related to wishful thinking and could be called the fallacy of fearful/hateful thinking. While people tend to believe what they want to believe, they also tend to believe claims that match their hates and fears. That is, they believe what they do not want to believe. Fear and hate impact people in a very predictable way: they make people stupid when it comes to assessing claims. For example, there are Americans who hate the idea of Sharia law and are terrified it will be imposed on America. While they would presumably wish that claims about it being imposed were false, they will often believe such claims because it corresponds with their hate and fear. Ironically, their great desire that it not be true motivates them to feel that it is true, even when it is not. The defense against this is to consider how a claim makes you feel—if you feel hatred or fear, you should be very careful in assessing the claim. If a news claims seems tailored to push your buttons, then there is a decent chance that it is fake news. This is not to say that it must be fake, just that it is important to be extra vigilant about claims that are extremely appealing to your hates and fears. This is a very hard thing to do since it is easy to be ruled by hate and fear. The third step involves assessing the source of the claim. While the source of a claim does not guarantee the claim is true (or false), reliable sources are obviously more likely to get things right than unreliable sources. When you believe a claim based on its source, you are making use of what philosophers call an argument from authority. The gist of this reasoning is that the claim being made is true because the source is a legitimate authority on the matter. While people tend to regard as credible sources those that match their own ideology, the rational way to assess a source involves considering the following factors. First, the source needs to have sufficient expertise in the subject matter in question. One rather obvious challenge here is being able to judge that the specific author or news source has sufficient expertise. In general, the question is whether a person (or the organization in general) has the relevant qualities and these are assessed in terms of such factors as education, experience, reputation, accomplishments and positions. In general, professional news agencies have such experts. While people tend to dismiss Fox, CNN, and MSNBC depending on their own ideology, their actual news (as opposed to editorial pieces or opinion masquerading as news) tends to be factually accurate. Unknown sources tend to be lacking in these areas. It is also wise to be on guard against fake news sources pretending to be real sources—this can be countered by checking the site address against the official and confirmed address of professional news sources. Second, the claim made needs to be within the source’s area(s) of expertise. While a person might be very capable in one area, expertise is not universal. So, for example, a businessman talking about her business would be an expert, but if she is regarded as a reliable source for political or scientific claims, then that would be an error (unless she also has expertise in these areas). Third, the claim should be consistent with the views of the majority of qualified experts in the field. In the case of news, using this standard involves checking multiple reliable sources to confirm the claim. While people tend to pick their news sources based on their ideology, the basic facts of major and significant events would be quickly picked up and reported by all professional news agencies such as Fox News, NPR and CNN. If a seemingly major story does not show up in the professional news sources, there is a good chance it is fake news. It is also useful to check with the fact checkers and debunkers, such as Politifact and Snopes. While no source is perfect, they do a good job assessing claims—something that does not make liars very happy. If a claim is flagged by these reliable sources, there is an excellent chance it is not true. Fourth, the source must not be significantly biased. Bias can include such factors as having a very strong ideological slant (such as MSNBC and Fox News) as well as having a financial interest in the matter. Fake news is typically crafted to feed into ideological biases, so if an alleged news story seems to fit an ideology too well, there is a decent chance that it is fake. However, this is not a guarantee that a story is fake—reality sometimes matches ideological slants. This sort of bias can lead real news sources to present fake news; you should be critical even of professional sources-especially when they match your ideology. While these methods are not flawless, they are very useful in sorting out the fake from the true. While I have said this before, it is worth repeating that we should be even more critical of news that matches our views—this is because when we want to believe, we tend to do so too easily. My Amazon Author Page My Paizo Page My DriveThru RPG Page Follow Me on Twitter Critical Thinking, Ethics & Science Journalism My Amazon Author Page My Paizo Page My DriveThru RPG Page Follow Me on Twitter Posted in Philosophy by Michael LaBossiere on May 22, 2015 My Amazon Author Page My Paizo Page My DriveThru RPG Page Follow Me on Twitter College & Critical Thinking Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines (Photo credit: Wikipedia) My Amazon Author Page Enhanced by Zemanta Are Facts Dead? Posted in Philosophy, Politics, Reasoning/Logic by Michael LaBossiere on June 22, 2012 Ideology Icon Ideology Icon (Photo credit: Wikipedia) My Amazon author page. Enhanced by Zemanta Photos and Memories Posted in Aesthetics, Metaphysics, Philosophy by Michael LaBossiere on August 17, 2011 The Polaroid Corporation logo. Image via Wikipedia A short while before she was heading to Orlando, my girlfriend asked me to scan the photos in her old photo album and in a box. No doubt worn out after a week of preparing to move and dealing with her ongoing dissertation study, she said that she was tired of carting the photos about and wanted to toss them after I had scanned them. While this might not seem like a matter fit for philosophy, it did get me thinking about the exploitation of male labor by the female oppressors. I mean, it got me thinking about the preservation of photos and whether there would be any meaningful difference between the original photos (which are pre-digital) and the digital copies. The easy and obvious answer would seem to be that there would be no meaningful difference. After all, a photo is just an image and the scanning would duplicate that image. In fact, the scan would be better than the original. Not only could the scanned image be backed up against loss and printed as needed, it could also be color corrected and otherwise improved relative to the original. Also, a photo created from a negative is already a copy (of sorts) and hence any concern about one being an original and one being a copy can apparently be set aside. That said, it would seem to be worth looking a little deeper. Before looking a bit deeper, I believe I am obligated to present a possible biasing factor. Being a person of moderate age, I grew up long before digital cameras and have a certain nostalgic attachment to physical photos. However, I do not even own a film camera anymore and have been doing digital photography since the late 1990s. As such, I think that I can restrain my bias and look at the matter with some objectivity. Or perhaps not-the ways of one’s youth can be hard to shake. While an non-digital photograph is but an image of an event that was most likely created from a negative (with the obvious exception of the Polaroid), it can be argued that a photograph can become an artifact of memory, history or nostalgia. This, perhaps, makes it more than just a mere surface image that can be copied by scanning. Rather, it is an item that is imbued in a way that makes its physical composition an important part of what it is. Since this component cannot be replicated by scanning, to scan a photo and discard it would be more than merely discarding a redundant image, but throwing away a vessel of memory, a vehicle of history, a bearer of nostalgia. To use an obvious analogy, imagine if someone wanted to scan historical documents and throw away the originals to save space and weight. While the images would be preserved, a significant part of the history would be lost. To use another obvious analogy, consider the distinction between an historical item, such as a coin or sword, and a modern replica. While the replica might look exactly like the original (and might even be “better”), it would seem to be lacking in important ways. Of course, it can be argued that while historical artifacts have a value in terms of historical research, the main value of old items comes from the fact that we value them. Take, for example, a fading childhood photo. While it has numerous objective qualities, these do not include those that make it a vessel of memory, a bearer of nostalgia or a possessor of sentimental value. These qualities do not exist in the object. Rather, they are a relational property between the person and the object: a photo has sentimental value because I value it. Perhaps they are not even that-after all, a person could certainly be duped into thinking that a photo is the original one, even though it was replaced with a new print modified to look old. Perhaps someone damaged the photo and wanted to replace it without the person knowing-perhaps as a perceived kindness or to avoid the fruits of anger. The person would feel that sentiment, but would, of course, be in error. It would be like a person thinking she was seeing the person she loves, but was actually seeing his twin. Until she became aware of her error, she would feel that love. Likewise, a person would feel the same way about the photo, at least until she was aware it was not the original. Or perhaps she would still feel the same way. After all, perhaps it is the case that the value attached to the image is based on the image rather than the object. So, for example, a scanned copy of an old photograph would create the same feelings and stand in the same relationships as the original in terms of the value placed upon it. If so, then being rid of the old photos would be no loss at all. In my own case, my emotional view is that it would make a difference. While the image is an important aspect of the photo, the physical photo also has a value as an object connected to the past. Of course, this feeling is just a feeling and could merely be the result of my pre-digital youth. I also feel the same way about hand written letters, but that perhaps says more about my age than about the world. Enhanced by Zemanta Posted in Aesthetics, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, Reasoning/Logic by Michael LaBossiere on August 12, 2011 Official photo of Congresswoman Michele Bachma... Image via Wikipedia Having been delayed by start of the semester preparations, I only just got around to seeing the cover of Newsweek. I had heard about the Bachmann controversy, but hearing about it and seeing the horrible cover in person are two different things. The intentional use of unflattering images is, of course nothing new. Using such an image is a standard rhetorical device and can be somewhat effective in slanting the audience’s perspective. As with all rhetorical devices, a critical thinker will be on guard against it and (hopefully) see through the rhetoric so as to determine if anything substantive lies behind it. To use this specific example, one way to approach this cover is as follows: “wow, what a horrible picture of Bachmann. Newsweek claims she is the queen of rage, but do they provide any actual evidence for this claim? Also, is that something that should worry me?” In addition to the critical thinking aspect, there is also the ethical aspect regard such images. Such photos are easy enough to find-after all, no matter how attractive or intelligent a person might be, there is always some angle, lighting or momentary expression that will enable a really awful photo. Of course, better photos are also easy to find and, as most folks know, a professional photographer can make almost anyone look good (or at least okay). As such, there is typically a choice to be made when it comes to images: a good one, a bad one, and so on. In some cases, a bad image can be justified. Obviously, if that is the only available photo, then it would thus be generally acceptable to use it. It can also be justified in cases when the image is relevant to the story. For example, if someone is arrested a photo of that event, even if the person looks awful, would seem to be acceptable. After all, a photo of someone being arrested seems perfectly appropriate for a story about the person being arrested. However, neither of these apply to the Bachmann photo. First, there are plenty of good photos of her that could have been used. Second, while a picture of her being angry could be relevant, the photo selected does not show rage. It is a bad photo that makes her seem, well, dull and a bit confused. About the only thing that can be said in Newsweek’s favor is at least they did not modify the image to make it appear worse (like what Time did to OJ Simpson). As sort of a variant on the philosophical principle of charity, news publications should follow a principle of image charity: unless there is an adequate justification for a bad image, then at least a neutral one should be used. As such, Newsweek acted incorrectly in using this image. Another possibility worth considering is that a bad image is used because the person selecting the image is lacking in aesthetic judgment. That is, they do not realize that they have picked a crappy picture. This does happen. Years ago when I tried my hand at Match.com I noticed that many women would have some very good photos and also some truly horrible photos that made them look awful. While I could be wrong, I infer that they did not realize that the photos were bad-if they did, they would not have used them. Of course, the folks at Newsweek cannot seriously claim that they are incompetent when it comes to picking photos. Surely they were quite aware of the nature of the image and went with it anyway. The most plausible explanation is that it was intended (as noted above) a rhetorical shot at Bachmann to make her look bad. While this sort of thing is what can be expected in campaign ads, it is not what should be done by a publication that purports to be an objective purveyor of the news or a provider of objective and fair analysis. Enhanced by Zemanta Online Reviews Posted in Business, Epistemology, Reasoning/Logic, Technology by Michael LaBossiere on May 30, 2011 This Content of online shopping taken from htt... Image via Wikipedia Like all sensible people, I hate to waste money. So, when I plan on buying something, I like to ensure that I am making a good choice. Looked at philosophically, this is both a value problem (what is best?”)and an epistemic problem (“how do I know?”) Conveniently many online stores, most famously Amazon, have customer reviews online. However, as you yourself have probably noticed, these reviews are often not as useful as they might seem. The first you will see of the typical online review system is stars (or whatever). On the face of it, this might seem to provide a useful assessment of the product. However, it is simply an average (maybe) of all the rankings. As such, it is only as good as the individual rankings. From a critical thinking standpoint, the ranking system is a survey and hence can be assessed by the standards of an inductive generalization. One obvious problem with the ranking system is that it is based on a biased sample. People who take the time to write a review (or just click stars) will tend to include a disproportionate number of people who have had very good or very bad experiences. This is borne out by the fact that many products have numerous 5 star and 1 star rankings. As such, the stars should be read with due caution. A second concern is that the rankings are often based on small samples. For example, my own 42 Fallacies on Amazon currently has a 5 star ranking based on one person. While I do agree with the ranking (oh, if only there were six stars), assessing a product on the basis of a small number of reviews would be risky. Of course, even a large sample will still suffer from a bias problem. A third concern is that people game the system. Since the review processes tend to be rather lacking in regulation and verification, it is very easy for people to load in fake positive or negative reviews. Like plagiarized papers, these are often very easy to spot. If, for example, the “review” reads like company PR, then it is probably a ringer. If, as another example, the review is incredibly negative but praises a competing product at great length, then it is probably someone acting on behalf of that competitor. However, some “hired guns” are probably clever enough to load in reviews while concealing their true nature. Since the stars are generally not entirely trustworthy, it is natural to turn to the specific reviews. In some cases, these reviews can be useful. Not surprisingly, assessing reviews is an exercise in critical thinking. As a general rule, I look for reviews that seem to be balanced in assessing the product and note the weaknesses as well as the strengths. While this does not guarantee that the review is honest, it tends to be a good indicator of a lack of bias. I also look for consistency across the reviews. For example, if reviews for a laptop consistently mention that the screen is not very good, then that serves as some evidence that this is true of the laptop (or that a hired gun has been busy cranking out reviews). Some companies, such as Amazon, link reviewers to their reviews and this can be useful for getting a better picture of the reviewer’s credibility and expertise. For example, if a reviewer has reviewed numerous books in an area and always takes a measured approach in her reviews, then this increases the credibility of her reviews. Another factor to look for is the time factor. Many reviewers review the product as soon as they get it, which can (in some cases) be a problem. For example, a review of an Android tablet written right after the person opens the box and fires it up will not tell you much about its actual battery life or ease of use in various tasks. Some reviewers post updates to their reviews, which can be useful. While five star reviews should be greeted with a critical review, one star reviews often demand special attention. In some cases, of course, the rating is deserved. However, one star reviews are sometimes inflicted unfairly. First, as mentioned above, people try to game the system. Second, the review might be based on an unusual experience with the product that would generally not be a factor for most users. For example, a certain percentage of electronic devices arrive with problems (such as a defective battery) and this should be taken into account when reading a review that gives a product one star for a failed battery. Naturally, if the same problem appears over and over again in reviews, then that makes it a point of concern. Third, one star reviews are sometimes due to a reviewer not using the product properly or not understanding the product. For example, I have seen reviews attacking a product for not doing something that it was never intended to do. Fourth, some one star reviews are criticisms not of the product but of something else, such as the shipping time or the seller. While these can be relevant factors in buying a product from a specific seller, they really are not relevant to assessing the product. A fifth point of concern is that one star ratings are sometimes used in retaliation. Naturally, you cannot go wrong buying my books. 🙂 Enhanced by Zemanta Defending the Arts & Sciences Posted in Business, Philosophy, Politics, Universities & Colleges by Michael LaBossiere on March 4, 2011 Bertrand Russell Image by Kevan via Flickr A week ago I received a call informing my of an emergency. In the light of budget woes, the Board of Governors intends to restructure the university. As with corporations, this restructuring seems to be aimed at eliminating certain programs and various programs ranging from Biology to Social Work have been called on to justify their existence. An emergency meeting was called for Monday of this week and we had until noon to prepare our responses . Since the budget woes are widespread and education is always a prime target (politicians pay and largess for corporations and buddies of politicians are never at risk) I thought I would share my defense with other folks who might be in similar straits. The main attack against us is based on a quantitative analysis based primarily on the number of majors graduated, the number of students who take the classes in a program and the money brought in via other means. Naturally, the quantitative analysis is based on a set of qualitative assumptions about what should count and how much it should count relative to other factors. My general suggestion was a six part defense for the arts and sciences programs that attempts to respond to the quantitative challenge. First, many programs in the arts & sciences tend to be rather low cost. To use some specific examples, English, Philosophy, Religion, and History have no need for laboratories or special equipment and this makes them rather inexpensive to operate. As such, they tend to be “budget” programs. Second, eliminating a major in the arts & sciences typically will result in no monetary savings. Most of the programs, such as English and Philosophy & Religion, provide classes that are graduation requirements in the general curriculum or in specific programs. Since there are no special fees that must be paid to keep a major “on the books”, eliminating a major that contains such essential classes deprives students of options while yielding no financial savings. Third, the new global economy requires that American students learn how to understand other cultures and diverse view points. It also requires that American students develop critical thinking skills. The arts & sciences provide critical thinking skills and the knowledge needed to understand specific value sets. As such, the arts & sciences will be critical for American success in the new economy. Eliminating programs might seem to yield short term benefits but the long term consequences would seem to be negative. Fourth, while certain programs in the arts & sciences tend to have relatively few majors, the number of majors should also be considered in the context of the proportion of such majors needed by society as a whole. To use an analogy, quarterbacks make up a rather small number of the people on a football team. However, it would make no sense to eliminate quarterbacks so as to save money. After all, while they are few in number they are still rather important to the team. So, for example, while philosophy produces few majors, there is a relatively small need for professional philosophers. This need is, however, legitimate. At the very least someone has to teach all those critical thinking and ethics courses that people will need. Fifth the arts & sciences also provide key classes that have value beyond mere numbers and money. One such value is the cultural value provided by the arts. Another is the value of scientific inquiry and training. A third is the value of having a truly liberal education. While the notion of such non-numerical values has considerable appeal to folks in the arts & sciences (which is usually why we are in these fields), they might carry little weight with the folks who are mostly concerned about dollars in and dollars out. One of the most moving defenses of education was given by James Stockdale: “Generally speaking, I think education is a tremendous defense; the broader, the better. After I was shot down, my wife, Sybil, found a clipping glued in front of my collegiate dictionary: “Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.” She certainly agrees with me on that. Most of us prisoners found that the so-called practical academic exercises in how to do things, which I’m told are proliferating, were useless. I’m not saying that we should base education on training people to be in prison, but I am saying that in stress situations, the fundamentals, the hardcore classical subjects are what serve best.”(Stockdale, J.B., The World Of Epictetus, The Atlantic Monthly, 1978) In addition to my general response, I also formulated specific responses to the five questions we were asked to address. I have included these as well: 1. Provide summary information on any concerns or issues within your program that may not be addressed by quantitative data. One concern is that quantitative data fails to take into account contributions that are not readily quantified. First, graduates of the philosophy and religion program have gone on to become significant figures in academics. To use but two examples, Dr. Tommie Shelby is a professor of African and African American Studies and of Philosophy at Harvard University and Dr. Darryl Scriven is a professor of philosophy at Tuskegee University. Second, the program is directly relevant to three of the learning outcomes: critical thinking, ethical values and cultural diversity. Third, philosophy has been at the heart of academics since the beginning of academics at Plato’s Academy. Fourth, philosophy and religion are essential components of a liberal arts education. The value of these contributions has been argued by such thinkers as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Bertrand Russell. A second concern is that the program reviews have consistently noted that the program would require additional resources (including more faculty) in order to increase productivity. As such, the current productivity could be regarded as being in accord with the allocated resources. The program seems to be producing majors at a rate comparable to other programs which operate with similar resources (number of faculty, etc.). A third concern is that in addition to simply looking at the overall number of majors it is also important to consider the proportionate, but legitimate, need in society as a whole. To use an analogy, to only assess on the basis of overall numbers would be on par with being critical of a soccer team’s resources being spent to train goalies because the team only has one on the field at a time. While society does not need a multitude of philosophy and religion majors, there does seem to be a legitimate need for the program to exist so as to produce those that are, in fact, needed. A fourth concern is that the philosophy and religion majors are very flexible and open programs relative to the requirements of other majors. This makes the major very useful for students seeking to graduate. Roughly put, the flexibility of the major allows it to serve as a safety net that has often caught students and enabled them to graduate in a timelier manner (or graduate at all). A final concern worth noting is that eliminating the philosophy and religion major would not result in any savings. Assuming there is no special cost involved in keeping majors available to students, eliminating the philosophy and religion majors would save no money. If the faculty positions were eliminated, this would merely result in the need to hire replacement faculty to teach the humanities courses that students need as part of the General Education requirements as well as for the specific classes that many other majors require (such as Aesthetics, Introduction to Philosophy and Logic). Overall, I would contend that the volume of service classes provided to the university offsets any concerns about the relatively low number of majors produced. 2. How do you see your department and its program(s) contributing to the realization of the University’s strategic vision? (consult the University Strategic Plan at http://www.famu.edu/OfficeofInstitutionalEffectiveness/UserFiles/File/Strategic_Plan_2010_2020_Approved.pdf) In light of the economic, political and social changes in the 21st century it is evident that students will more than ever need critical thinking skills, an understanding of ethical values, the ability to understand other cultures and a comprehension of the religions of the world. The philosophy and religion program faculty endeavor to provide the students with the tools and knowledge they will need to compete and thrive both on campus and in the diverse world beyond. The faculty will make use of the latest available technology as part of the learning process, making full use of the new smart classrooms as well as web technology such as downloadable lectures and videos of class material. While philosophy and religion classes are traditionally regarded as being discussion based, many of the classes would actually be ideal for being offered as online classes. In addition, the faculty contribute to the general mission of recruiting and retaining students, enhancing the academic program and improving graduation rates. As noted above, the flexible and open requirements for the major provide an effective means of providing graduation options to students. Special emphasis is also being placed on low (or no) cost means of recruiting students using online means including establishing an online presence for the department via such means as blogs and social networking. 3. List any existing or expected interdisciplinary or inter-university activities in which your program is engaged. Currently the program is working with Dr. Will Guzmán in developing the African American Studies Minor in History & African American Studies. 4. What disciplinary, national or international trends do you anticipate that may impact your program, and what impact may they have? First, as the current QEP indicates, the concern about critical thinking is certain to be an ongoing trend. Given that critical thinking belongs within the domain of philosophy and that the classes in the program generally contain strong critical thinking components there should be an ever-increasing need for classes within the program. Of course, critical thinking is not something germane only to philosophy; considering the plethora of religious/spiritual beliefs in the world one has to be critically engaged to determine what is wheat and what is chaff. As such, the study of critical thinking in general and its specific applications will be of ever increasing importance to students and hence in demand. Second, given the fact that ethics is a branch of philosophy and the ongoing need for education in ethics (as the recent financial meltdown, which was largely a moral failure, indicates) there will be an ever increasing need for classes and other programs relating to ethical values and ethical reasoning. Third, religion shows no sign of decreasing as an important factor in national and world events. As such, it can be expected that the study of religion will continue to be rather important in preparing students for their careers and life after college. Fourth, the new economy will be ever more international in character and will require students capable of understanding other points of view and this includes various faiths. As such, there will be a critical need for training in philosophy and religion. Fifth, there is role of technology in education as well as a subject of education. As noted above, faculty make extensive use of this technology and incorporate it into their classes. There are currently plans to develop online classes when the resources are available to do so. Additionally, faculty as also involved in the shift from the traditional academic avenues to the online world. For example, a faculty member is a contributory to a professional international philosophy blog. 5. How will your program contribute to generating revenue for the University? Please be specific. First, the primary way the program contributes to generating revenue for the University is via providing courses that are consistently at or (more commonly) over their University set caps. For example, an Introduction to Philosophy class (taught by a single professor) typically has 60+ students. Presumably this contributes to the University’s revenue stream. Since the program requires no special expenditures for laboratories, equipment, non-teaching supplies and so on, the program is also not consuming revenue beyond the cost of salaries and the cost of the classroom facilities. Second, the program can, like other programs, seek to acquire grant money and other outside sources of funding that can either offset University expenditures or provide direct revenue for the University. Unfortunately, support for philosophy and religion from outside sources tends to be rather limited. In addition, the four courses per semester teaching load tends to impede the ability of faculty to develop grants and create alternative revenue generating projects. Enhanced by Zemanta The 3/4 Class Posted in Universities & Colleges by Michael LaBossiere on November 28, 2010 As a professor I face various challenges in designing my classes. While some of these challenges are obvious (like selecting just enough material to cover), others are less so. One of the less obvious challenges I face is designing a class that maximizes education while minimizing my problems. While I have fewer problems to deal with than K-12 teachers, I still face various problems. At this time of year (1 week before finals), the problems revolve around students who are doing poorly but have only come to realize (or accept) this. In some cases, students are just now picking up tests and papers from weeks or months ago. As I write this, I still have papers and tests that still have not been picked up. While most of them are passing or better, I do have some that are not-and some students who probably are unaware that they are not passing. While I do make the grades available online (securely), some students do not learn of that until the end of the semester, when they hear other students talking about it. As far as the specific problems, the main ones are students who ask about extra credit (= points for nothing), students who ask about doing more work, students who want an incomplete, and students who want to be passed simply because they need to graduate/keep a scholarship or avoid parental wrath. Naturally, requests for points for nothing or for passing grades because of a need to graduate or whatever, are easy to handle. I just offer a “no” and my sympathy, plus some advice about how to pass (if it is possible) or how to retake the class. Incomplete requests are handled on a case by case basis. In most cases, students ask for them because they are failing. However, incompletes are intended for students who were passing but could not finish the semester due to some dire event (like major illness or military service). As far as more work goes, my usual reply is that I would need to offer the same deal to all the students. I go on to note that is just what I do: my classes have a lot of work-4 tests, 15+ quizzes and 25+ assignments in Critical Thinking (as an example). Also, if someone has been consistently doing poorly on the work, getting more work would probably not change that. But, getting back to the design of my classes, I have also tried to counter/solve some of these problems with my 3/4 approach (picked mainly for the name rather than mathematical accuracy). The gist of this that I count roughly the best 3/4 of a student’s work. For example, in my Critical Thinking class, the best 3 of 4 tests count, the best 10 of 15+ quizzes count and the best 10 of 25+ assignments count. Each student also gets a small bonus as well to his/her quiz and assignment grades. In classes that have a paper, the paper does count-but it is done in drafts and students have a long time to complete it. Plus, each student gets +5 added to his/her grade on the paper. When taking this approach, my hope was that it would reduce the problems I (and my students faced). While the students do have to do well consistently to get a good grade (as opposed to classes that have just a midterm and final), the idea was to provide a “damage buffer” for cases in which students had problems that were serious enough to impact their performance. This way the “buffer” would handle such problems without a need for special problem handling at the end of the semester. Problems of a more dire nature would, of course, not be handled by the buffer-but these would almost certainly either qualify a student for a legitimate incomplete or allow a retroactive withdrawal. When I was young and naive, I had hoped that this approach would eliminate such problems. After all, it seemed so generous that anyone should be able to get through a class with a modest amount of effort-even if they faced challenges and problems in the semester. Anything worse, I reasoned, would be easily handled by an incomplete or retroactive withdrawal. Experience revealed what you, the reader, probably already guessed: I was somewhat surprised to find that the impact was far less than I expected. Every semester I still have students with the same problems and the reduction in problems seems rather modest. Of course, it must be noted that most of my students do well-they pass and have no problems. However, I had hoped for more success and wondered why it had not worked as well as I had hoped. One hypothesis is that the “damage buffer” is not big enough. That is, even more work must be offered so that the students will be able to do and pass the minimum needed. So, for example, perhaps offering 25 assignments and counting the best 10 is not enough. Perhaps 50 is needed. Of course, I do offer 15+ quizzes and that seems to get the same result as offering 25+ assignments. This suggests that it might be the required number that determines what people do. So, students look at the fact that there are 10 required quizzes and assignments and some just do less than 10, even though 15+ and 25+ are offered. Of course, if I increased the required work to 12 or 15, this would just mean that certain students would do less than 12 or 15. This leads to the next hypothesis. Another hypothesis is one put forth by a friend of mine. His view is that problem students (his Peters’ Principle is that 20% of the students cause 90% of the problems) will be a problem no matter what a professor does. For example, if a class offers 10 assignments and requires 10, this sort of student will do just 5. If the professor offers 15 and requires 10, the student will still do just 5. The same sort of hypothesis can be applied to society at large: no matter what you do, problem people will still be problems. You can, at best, reduce the numbers a bit. While I do suspect that expanding the buffer would marginally reduce the number of such problems, this would create other problems. One problem would be that I would have to do more work-every extra quiz, assignment or test is one I have to create and grade. Another problem is that if the buffer is too large, a student could pass without learning enough of the material, which would undercut the educational value of the course. At this point, I think the buffer is large enough to offer reasonable protection for the students while at the same time being small enough so that the proper academic standards are still met. As a final point, another reason I designed my classes with a buffer is for my own peace of mind. By offering such a buffer, I can honestly believe that I have given the students a very fair chance at doing well in the class and that a student who fails actually fails himself/herself. True, I could probably have a smaller buffer (or none at all) and still be justified in believing that the students have been given a just and fair chance to pass. However, I like to have a bit of a buffer for myself. One of the most dramatic vindications I had of my approach occurred after a final. One student was complaining loudly about his grade and how unfair I was for “failing him.” Another student, who had already earned a solid A, looked at him and said “You’d have to be a total f@ck up to fail this class. He gives you every chance in the world. If you fail, it’s your own damn fault.” While I would not word it that way, that is how I design my classes-so that people get what they deserve. Enhanced by Zemanta
Astro Nomenclature Last modified date Space is flat. It’s flat in the sense that all star systems lay on an X-Y plane where Z = 0. This is highly unrealistic, but for the sort of tabletop game that WorldGen is designed to support it keeps things simple. What follows is a quick description of how stars, planets and other things are located and named by WorldGen when it’s creating star systems. Much is borrowed from Traveller, partly because it works for a tabletop RPG and also its what inspired much of the work on this software. So space is flat and two-dimensional (at least at the galactic scale). It is divided into sectors, each being 32 parsecs wide and 40 parsecs tall, and each parsec being a hex numbered 01..32 (X) and 01..40 (Y). A numbering scheme of 00-31 and 00-39 would have been so much more convenient, especially for trans-sector movement, but I’m sticking with the Traveller norms. 0101 is top left, 3240 is bottom right. Naming Sectors Each sector can be identified by one of three ways. The first is by official name, which is guaranteed to be unique. This might be “The Islands”, “Core” or “Deep Rift”. Not all sectors have a name though – those which have been explored, surveyed and populated will do, but beyond the edges of chartered space lay countless unnamed sectors. Core sector is 0,0, at the centre of everything (at least officially). Positive Y is towards the galactic rim (“Rimwards”), and negative Y is towards the galactic core (“Corewards”). If “Coreward” is at the top, then positive X is to the right (“Trailing”), whilst negative X is to the left (“Spinwards”). The X,Y coordinate of a sector provides a simple way of locating it in space, as shown in the following diagram. There is a third way though, which is also based on the coordinate, but easier to say but harder to intuitively map to a location. Sector 0,0 is numbered “Sector 1”, and the sector immediately Coreward (0,-1) of that is “Sector 2”. Other sectors are then numbered spiralling out clockwise, so +1,-1 is “Sector 3” and 0,+1 is “Sector 6”. The higher the number, the further away you are from the core of chartered space. This feels more like SciFi shows where regions of space tend to get referred to as “Sector 12” or “Quadrant 37” in conversation. Sectors also have sub sectors, just like in Traveller, and can either be named or identified by a letter A to P. Each sub-sector is 8 by 10 parsecs, named A..D along the coreward side, then E-H, I-L and finally M-P. Star Systems Individual star systems are known by their sector and XXYY coordinate, so Core 0537 or Core 1203. They will generally also have a name, which is how the system will normally be referenced. All major objects within the system will be named after the system. The naming system assumes perfect knowledge. Unlike ‘real’ astronomical naming, where objects are numbered in order of discovery, WorldGen numbers things according to physical properties. This is where we really begin to add to what Traveller does, since Traveller tends to only detail one world per star system. If the system has a single star, then it is simply named for the system. The system Torex will have a star called Torex. Multi-star systems use a Greek suffix to denote individual stars. The first star is Alpha, then Beta, Gamma etc. So if Torex was a binary system, it would consist of Torex Alpha and Torex Beta. Alpha would normally be the primary, or most massive, star. Note that a single star system does not name its only star Alpha, it is simply named after the system without any suffix. Planets are named for the star they orbit, and numbered in order of increasing distance from that star. So, Torex I and Torex II, or Torex Alpha I, Torex Alpha II etc. This makes it obvious where a planet is in relation to the rest of the system, and is also feels similar to conventions already used in SciFi. In some situations, where there is a close binary with planets orbiting the centre of gravity of both stars, the planets are named after the largest star. Moons around planets have a lower case letter, so Torex Alpha II/b would be the second moon of Torex Alpha II. ‘a’ is the closest moon to the planet, ‘b’ the second closest etc. The moon suffix is separated from the planet name with a ‘/’. It would be possible to run out of letters if there are more than 26 moons around a planet. This is unlikely (Jupiter and Saturn have dozens of moons, but WorldGen only lists major moons), but in the off-chance it happens the 27th moon would be aa, then ab,, ba etc. Circumstellar Belts Objects of the Circumstellar class are named Belt A, Belt B etc, and are interspersed amongst the planets. So our own solar system would have the following naming: • Sol I – Mercury • Sol II – Venus • Sol III – Earth (along with Sol III/a) • Sol Belt A – Asteroid Belt • Sol IV – Mars • Sol V – Jupiter • Sol VI – Saturn • Sol VII – Uranus • Sol VIII – Neptune • Sol Belt B – Kuiper Belt Belt A would be what we consider to be the asteroid belt, and Belt B would be the Kuiper belt. For belts, the letter is always a capital. What about poor Pluto? Or Vesta or Ceres? Major planetoids of belts are giving a lowercase roman numeral suffix, naming them as i, ii, iii etc from the innermost to the outermost, separated with a hyphen. • Sol Belt A • Sol Belt A-i – Vesta • Sol Belt A-ii – Ceres • Sol Beta B-i – Pluto This is where perfect knowledge comes in useful – we know a new world won’t suddenly be discovered so won’t have to slot one in. Planetary Rings Planetary rings use an /rX suffix, such as Lorbin V/r1, which would be the first ring around the 3rd planet of the Lorbin system. This is a ring of icy fragments that surround Lorbin V. The ring is 29 thousand kilometres in width, and the majority of the fragments are less than a metre across, with a large fraction being just a few centimetres. They are mostly pure water-ice. A description of the ring around Lorbin V. Planetary rings don’t have planetoids like asteroid belts do – any major worlds will be considered moons of the planet the ring orbits. A complex ring system may have multiple rings, with moons in between each. Other Objects Currently there is no naming scheme for other object types, such as comets or minor asteroids not considered part of a belt, mostly because WorldGen doesn’t yet support them. A Small Body object can be a planet, with a full planetary designation, but that may not be suitable in all cases. Not all objects orbit a star. Rogue planets will exist by themselves, and how I’ll name those I haven’t decided yet. They may simply get a coordinate designation. If there are multiple ones in a hex, then how they are numbered may be from the centre of the hex. Since rogue planets aren’t supported yet though, it’s not something that’s been fully decided. Samuel Penn
Nurses Drawdown - Food Nurses Drawdown Campaign The Food Initiative at Nurses Drawdown encourages nurses to promote plant-rich diets reduce emissions and also tend to be healthier, leading to lower rates of chronic disease. Sustainable agriculture practices support healthy soils, ecosystems, and food systems. Climate change creates threats to food quality, supply, and security around the world. In addition, our industrialized food systems, consumption patterns, and traditional cooking practices are a large contributor and driver of climate change. Solutions such as transitioning to plant-based diets, more sustainable food systems, and cleaning cooking practices are key to addressing climate change. Solution: Plant-based Diets Summary of Solution Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions Project Drawdown, 2020 Consuming (and growing your own!) plant-rich diets is a Drawdown solution that reduces CO2 emissions while simultaneously offering health benefits for people (Project Drawdown, 2020a). Plant-rich diets are not strictly vegetarian or vegan diets. A plant-rich diet increases the amount of plant-based foods on a person’s plate while decreasing the amount of meat and animal products. An individual-level shift to consuming plant-rich diets can have a significant global impact on the demand for meat-based protein. For example, a chicken has to eat two calories worth of grain to provide one calorie worth of poultry. This means that the chicken eats two calories of grains for every calorie of chicken that a person consumes. The ratio grows even larger for pigs and cattle. For every calorie of pork that a person consumes, a pig has consumed three calories of grains – and the ratio increases to 6:1 for cattle. The more calories we get from meat sources, the more plants we need to grow for the meat. This results in more land needed for agriculture, which further results in deforestation and loss of habitats and biodiversity (Gates, 2021). Transitioning to plant-rich diets would decrease carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions due to changes in farming and land-use practices (less industrial livestock farming, more plant-based agriculture, less land needed for agriculture) and by keeping stored CO2 in the soil due to ecosystem protection (Project Drawdown, 2020b). This transition would also decrease methane emissions – which are 28 times more potent than CO2 – from raising fewer cattle. Moving to plant-rich diets can also help to decrease nitrous oxide emissions – which are 265 times more potent than CO2 – resulting from a reduction in animal excrement (Gates, 2021).a Nurses Drawdown - Food Nurses Drawdown - Food According to the Project Drawdown (2020) solutions, three criteria must be met for the adoption of a plant-rich diet to be effective. The first criterion is that the average global citizen must adopt an individual daily caloric intake of 2250 Calories per day. Second, global citizens must reduce the consumption of meat-based protein, particularly red meat, which Drawdown suggests a limit of 57 grams per day. The third criterion is buying locally produced food when possible. The technical summary of this Drawdown solution suggests buying 5% of your food locally (Project Drawdown, 2020c). As Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has said, making the transition to a plant-based diet may be the most effective way an individual can stop climate change. Project Drawdown, 2020 If these three criteria are met, and 50% of the global population adopt plant-rich diets, global CO2 emissions can be reduced by 65.01 gigatons, from 2020 to 2050, which would keep the average increase in the global temperature at 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. If 75% of the global population adopts a plant-rich diet, CO2 emissions are reduced by 91.72 gigatons. This level of CO2 emissions reduction can sustain the global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times (Project Drawdown, 2020c). Nurses Drawdown Nurses Drawdown - Food How is this solution relevant/important to nurses and healthcare? Nurses Drawdown - Food This solution is particularly relevant to nurses and healthcare because of the improved health outcomes and lower rates of chronic illness associated with plant-rich diets (Project Drawdown, 2020a). Diets with less meat and more fruits and vegetables decrease the risk of heart disease, stroke, colorectal cancer, diabetes, obesity, and other diseases (CAPE 2019, p. 3). Also, Drawdown estimates that $1 trillion in annual healthcare costs and lost productivity would be saved globally by reducing these illnesses (Project Drawdown, 2020a). Nurses would help reduce healthcare system burden by promoting plant-rich diets and adopting such diets themselves. Plant-based foods are chock full of fibre, vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, and complex carbohydrates, all of which promote good health and a healthy weight. Nurses improve human health and promote planetary health when they educate patients on the benefits of plant rich diets and recommend such diets to the populations they work with. A shift to plant-rich diets would lower CO2 and methane emissions from industrialized farming practices that raise cattle, pork, and poultry. By shifting diets and eating lower on the food chain, we can help lower fertilizer inputs, land-clearing, and all associated emissions (Project Drawdown, 2020b). Plant-based food options are better for the environment because they use less land and water and contribute fewer emissions than meat and dairy (Gates, 2021). This would in turn improve air quality by reducing methane emissions that contribute to ground-level ozone (CAPE, 2019, p. 2). Ground-level ozone is a highly irritating, colourless gas that forms when nitrogen oxides, or volatile organic compounds, react with the sun and stagnant air. Volatile organic compounds can have a significant impact on human health ranging from asthma symptoms to premature mortality (Government of Canada, 2016). The fact that transitioning to plant-rich diets can reduce emissions while leading to a healthier population can be used as a powerful communication strategy and policy tool. People are more likely to respond positively to messaging that benefits their health, than to messaging solely about environmental impacts (Project Drawdown, 2020c). Nurses Drawdown - Food Examples of things nurses can do to tackle this solution Nurses Drawdown - Food Find the plant-rich foods and environmental champions within your healthcare facility and advocate for plant-based options for client/patient meals and in the cafeteria for visitors and staff. Suggest limiting meat options. Have meetings to discuss how you can make a positive impact in your own local setting. This could mean more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes in the cafeteria and patient’s meal trays. It can also mean more plant-based meat-like products such as veggie burgers. Ideally, work with local farmers using sustainable farming practices to make this happen (Practice Green Health, n.d.). Nurses can also advocate for policies that support the elimination of food waste and support more equitable distribution of healthy, sustainably grown food. Nurses Drawdown Be a role model: shift to a plant-rich diet yourself. Share plant-based recipes with your friends, family, and co-workers. Have conversations about this topic with receptive friends, family, and co-workers. Acknowledge that eating is personal and cultural (Project Drawdown, 2020a). Acknowledge that people don’t have to give up meat and dairy completely. Try eating less meat (meatless Mondays). Try not to buy meat at the grocery store. If becoming a vegan or vegetarian is not in the cards for you, then try being a flexitarian. A flexitarian diet is when a person eats mostly plant-based foods, but it is flexible and allows for the person to eat animal products in moderation. Advocate to your local, provincial, and federal governments to stop subsidizing livestock, so that the prices in the stores represent their true cost (Project Drawdown, 2020a). Call and write letters to your city council members, your MLAs, and MPs. Nurses Drawdown - Food Take Action Explore CANE’s work in these five key areas in support of this campaign: Nurses Drawdown - Energy Supporting a clean energy future by promoting energy efficiency and advocating for a transition to renewable energy. Committing to eat a more plant-based sustainable diet, use clean - burning cook stoves, and reduce food waste. Nurses Drawdown - Gender Equity Supporting education for girls and access to family planning to support female empowerment, success and autonomy. Nurses Drawdown - Mobility Promoting walkable cities, including improving bike infrastructure and mass transit reduces fossil fuel emissions. Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment Planting and protecting forests which also supports pollinators, provides habitat, filters water, and sequesters carbon. CAPE. (2019). Climate Change Toolkit for Health Professionals: Module 5. Gates, B. (2021). How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need. ‎ Random House. Government of Canada. (2016). Common air pollutants: ground-level ozone. Practice Green Health. (n.d.). Food: Improve the health of patients, staff, and the surrounding community by serving sustainable food. Project Drawdown. (2020a). Plant rich diets. Project Drawdown. (2020b). Food, Agriculture and Land Use. Project Drawdown. (2020c). Technical Summary.
Anatomy of EYE and MCQs for NEET, GPAT, RRB Pharmacist, Staff Nurse Exam The adult eyeball is about 2.5 cm in diameter. Out of its total surface area only one- sixth portion which is the anterior side is visible The wall of eyeball is made up of three layers Fibrous tunic:- it is the superficial layer of eyeball and consist of 2 parts- the anterior cornea and the posterior sclera. the cornea is a transparent coat that covers the iris and its curved shape helps focus light on the retina the cornea has 3 surfaces , the outer surface consist of non keratinized stratified squamous epithelium, the middle portion is of collagen fibers and fibro blasts while interior portion is simple squamous epithelium. The sclera is the white portion of the eye, it is a layer of dense connective tissue made up of collagen fibers and fibro-blasts, it covers the entire eye ball except the cornea , gives shape to the eyeball, makes it more rigid and also protects its inner parts and also works as site of attachment of extrinsic eye muscles. At the junction of cornea and sclera is an opening called as canal of Schlemm, aqueous humor drains in this opening. Vascular tunic – it is also known as Uvea, is the middle layer of the eyeball and consist of 3 parts 1. Choroid:- present on the posterior side of vascular tunic and is highly vascularized. It lines most of the internal surface of sclera. It provides nutrition to the part of retina, it also contain melanocytes because of which it is brown in color. Melanin also absorbs the stray light rays which prevents reflection and scattering within the eye, as the result the image appears sharp and clear. 2. Ciliary body:- in the anterior surface of this layer choroid becomes ciliary body, it also contains melanocytes , it also consist of ciliary processes and ciliary muscles. The ciliary processes are the fold in the internal surface and it secrets aqueous humor while ciliary muscles are smooth muscle whose contraction and relaxation which changes the position of lens. 3. Iris:- it is the colored portion of eye and has shape like a donut , it consist of melanocytes radial muscles and smooth muscles. The amount of melanin present in the iris is responsible for the color of the eye, blue color when melanin concentration is low, green when concentration is moderate and brown when high amount of melanin is present. The main function of iris is to regulate the size of pupil through the radial and circular muscles. Retina:- the inner layer of eyeball forms the posterior portion of the eye and visual pathway begins from retina. It consist 2 layers , the pigmented layer and neural layer; the pigmented layer is sheet of epithelium containing melanin and is present between the choroid and the neural layer, while the neural layer is the multilayered outgrowth of the brain and it processes the visual pathway. Three types of layers of retinal neurons are also present here which are- photoreceptor layer, bipolar cell layer and ganglia cell layer. Two types of Photoreceptor are rods and cones , rods allow us to see in dim light while cones allow us to see in bright light. Optic disc is the site where the optic nerve leaves the eyeball, the optic disc is also called as blind spot because of the absence of rods and cones in this region. Information flows from photoreceptors to the bipolar cells and then reaches the ganglia cells and through optic nerve reaches the brain. 1. the wall of eyeball is made up of how many layers? A. 3 B. 4 C. 2 D. 5 2. Which of the following is the function of sclera? A. gives the shape to eyeball B. makes it more rigid C. protects inner parts D. all of the above 3. Out of the following options which one is NOT the accessory structure of eye? A. Eyelids B. the lacrimal apparatus C. intrinsic eye muscles D. eyebrows 4. Which of the following statement is NOT true? a. cornea is highly vascularized structure B. vascular tunic is also known as uvea C. the junction of sclera and cornea forms scleral venous sinus D. melanin prevents reflection and scattering of light within eye 5. In what condition the color of eye appears as blue? A. When the concentration of melanin is high in iris B. When the concentration of melanin is moderate C. When the concentration of melanin is very low D. none of the above 6. What causes the size of pupil to decrease during bright light A. contraction of circular muscles of iris B. contraction of radial muscles of iris C. relaxation of circular muscle of iris D. relaxation of radial muscle of iris 7. Which one is the only body part where the blood vessels can be viewed directly? A. iris B. heart C. retina D. choroid 8. Match the following:- A. cornea 1. Rainbow, shaped like a donut B. ciliary processes 2. Transparent coat that covers iris C. iris 3. White portion of eye D. sclera 4. Folds present in the internal surface of ciliary body 9. Which of the following is the retinal neurons present in ganglia cell layer? A. rods B. cones C. amacrine cells D. none of the above 10. Which structure is also known as the “blind spot”? A. optic disc B. macula lutea C. cornea D. ciliary body 1. 3 2. all of the above 3. intrinsic eye muscle 4. cornea is highly vascularized structure 5. When the melanin concentration is very low 6. contraction of circular muscle of iris 7. retina 8. A – 2 B – 4 C – 1 D – 3 9. none of the above 10. optic disc Participate in Online FREE GPAT TEST: CLICK HERE Participate in Online FREE Pharmacist TEST: CLICK HERE Participate in Online FREE Drug Inspector TEST: CLICK HERE REFRENCE: 1. Ross and Wilson-Anatomy and physiology in health and illness; 12th edition; page no.-: 196-199. 2. Gerard J. Tortora -Principles of anatomy and physiology; edition twelfth ; page no.-: 604-610. Leave a Reply four × 4 = Free Video Lectures of Pharmacy Exams Apply now Developed By Connect Globes
What is polycystic ovary syndrome? Polycystic ovary syndrome, or “PCOS,” is a condition that can cause irregular periods, acne (oily skin and pimples), extra facial hair, or hair loss from scalp. The condition can also make it hard to get pregnant. It is very common – about 8 percent of all women have PCOS. What causes PCOS? In PCOS, the ovaries produce more male hormone ie androgen (like testosterone). Testosterone is called a “male hormone,” but all people have some testosterone. Normally the ovaries produce very small amounts, but in PCOS, they make more. Every month multiple follicles grows from the ovary, they make many hormones, but eventually only follicle gets released known as the egg. This is called “ovulation.” But in people with PCOS, the ovary makes many small follicles instead of one big one. Hormone levels can get out of balance. And ovulation doesn’t happen every month the way it is supposed to happen. There are two main causes for this: 1. Abnormal GnRH(a hormone controlling FSH/LH hormone that help in egg maturation) pulse 2. Insulin resistance What are the symptoms of PCOS? Symptoms can include: • Having fewer than 8 periods a year also known as oligomennorhea. • Growing thick, dark hair on the upper lip, chin, sideburn area, chest, or belly • Acne (oily skin and pimples on their face) • Hair loss from the head • Trouble getting pregnant without medical help (Infertility) • Weight gain and obesity (although not everyone with PCOS has this problem) PCOS symptoms What are the other problems that I can get due to PCOS? PCOS increases your risk of other health problems, including: • Diabetes (high blood sugar) • High cholesterol levels • Sleep apnea, a sleep disorder that causes people to briefly stop breathing while they sleep • Depression or anxiety • Eating disorders, such as binge eating or bulimia What are the tests I should do? Your doctor will decide which tests you should have based on your age, symptoms, and individual situation. Possible tests include: • Blood tests to measure levels of hormones (FSH/LH/Testosterone/Prolactin/TSH levels), blood sugar, and cholesterol. • A pregnancy test if you have missed any periods • Pelvic ultrasound – Of your uterus and ovaries. At times Insulin levels with other androgen levels are also measured if required How is PCOS treated? The most common treatment is to take oral combined hormonal pills (Birth control pills). But there are other treatments than can help with symptoms, too. • Birth control pills – This is the main treatment for PCOS. The pills don’t cure the condition. But they can improve many of its symptoms, like irregular periods, acne, and facial hair. Birth control pills also lower your risk of cancer of the uterus. • Anti-androgens – These medicines block hormones that cause some PCOS symptoms like acne and facial hair growth. Spironolactone is the one that many doctors use. • Progestin – This hormone can make your periods regular, but only if you take it regularly. It also lowers the risk of cancer of the uterus. Most doctors use medroxyprogesterone. • Metformin :– This medicine helps to reduce insulin resistance. In people with diabetes, this medicine helps to lower blood sugar levels. • Medicated skin lotion or antibiotics to treat acne. • Laser therapy or electrolysis to remove extra hair Is there anything I can do on my own to treat the condition? Yes. If you are overweight or obese, losing weight can improve many of your symptoms. Losing just 5 percent of your body weight can help a lot. What if I want to get pregnant? Most people with PCOS can get pregnant, but it is usually easier for those who are not overweight. If you are overweight, losing weight can help make your periods more regular and improve your chances of getting pregnant. If you lose weight but your periods are still irregular, your doctor can give you medicines to help you ovulate and improve your chances of getting pregnant.
Benefits & Importance of Shatavari Shatavari, also known as wild asparagus, has been an essential part of Ayurveda since ages. Its benefits include supporting the reproductive system in females and aiding in proper functioning of gastro-intestinal system. Particularly in the instances of overabundance of pitta. Deciphered as “having one hundred roots” Shatavari’s name offers reference to its customary use as a rejuvenating tonic for the female regenerative system. This lends help not only to the young women but also the women who are in their middle and old age. It supports them to progress effortlessly through their reproductive years into the menopause cycle. The benefits of Shatavari are just not limited to the women. It is as useful to the male reproductive system as it is to women’s. In males, the ingratiating elements of Shatavari increases the reproductive fluids, hence, improving the fertility and supporting the sperm count. Traditional uses of Shatavari: For Women: Shatavari is thought to be the best general tonic for women in Ayurveda as it is clinically demonstrated to advance vigour among women, strengthens the uterus, regulates the monthly cycle, increases the flow of milk to the breast, aids recuperation from labour and eases numerous side effects of the menopause. Owing to the multifarious benefits it has, Shatavari can easily become a part of a woman’s lifestyle through all phases of her life. It contains phytoestrogens, a characteristic substance that rebalances oestrogen levels in women. These hormones assume an imperative part in a woman’s well-being and for averting coronary illness and osteoporosis. It is additionally known to kill the Candida microbes, so it can be a useful solution for thrush, if utilized daily. Considering it is a moderate acting plant cure, it must be consumed over a period of time for it show the desired results. For Men: Studies indicate that Shatavari can work as a brilliant Aphrodisiac in men when mixed with Ashwagandha. It advances the size, quality and firmness of men’s sexual organ and increase vitality and vigour among them. Apart from this, it has also been shown to enable the body to detox from cancer treatment drugs, as it invigorates the invulnerable framework and causes the body to dispense the toxins and harmful effects of the cancer creation cells in the body. Shatavari can also be used for recuperation from cough, dehydration, loose bowels, fever (perpetual), hematemesis, herpes, hyperacidity, impotence, infertility, lung infections, sexual debility and stomach ulcers among others. It is also an effective herb in shielding the body from the impact of chemotherapy and alleviates the dry, aggravated layers of kidneys, lungs, sexual organs and stomach. It also aids in proper production of semen, proper functioning of immune system, blood cleanser, and nourishment of the internal organs among other. Here’s how you can use Shatavari: Shatavari Herbal Powder- Take 3 to 10 grams or 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of the powder every day, by mixing it with milk or juice or as recommended by the physician/herbal practitioner Shatavari Herbal Tincture- Measurement: 5-10ml daily, spread over the day or as directed by herbal practitioner Listed below are few of the nourishing benefits of Shatavari you should be aware of: 1. A healthy female reproductive system 2. Increase in the level of breast milk production 3. Supports the already balanced hormones in the females 4. Supports the male reproductive system 5. Relieves impact on the digestive tract 6. Healthy functioning of bowels 7. Strengthens the immune system 8. Contains natural anti-oxidant properties Also explore various Ayurvedic products & Ayurvedic home remedies which can prove useful in treating various ailments.
Skip to main content K12 LibreTexts 21.6: Earth's Materials- Challenge 1 • Page ID • 1. Paper can be made mostly or entirely from ___. renewable resources 2. Electronics need specific materials known as ___. rare earth elements 3. A ___ resource is unlimited or replenished as quickly as it is used. 4. ___ resources cannot be replenished fast enough to keep up with human use. 5. ___ form over millions of years from the remains of dead organisms and are mainly comprised of ___. Fossil fuels; carbon 6. Regions where hot fluids came off a magma intrusion often have ___. copper deposits 7. A mineral deposit that is profitable is called an ___. ore deposit 8. Geologists determine the size of the deposit, test the concentration of ore in rock samples, and estimate the total amount of minerals in a ___. mineral deposit 9. A ___ is a type of open-pit mine where rocks and minerals used to make buildings and roads are extracted. 10. Valuable minerals found in stream gravels are called ___. 11. Panning for gold in streams works because ___. gold sinks to the bottom of the pan 12. After ore is extracted from a mine, valuable minerals must be separated from ___. waste rock 13. Around the world, humans use over ___ aluminum cans each year. 80 billion 14. To save ten gallons of gasoline that would otherwise be used to produce new aluminum cans, ___ used aluminum cans must be recycled. • Was this article helpful?
Tag Archives: distribution Global Cuisine in the Supermarket Why do grocery stores still have an ethnic foods aisle? This seems out-of-date as an estimated 40% of Americans now identify as nonwhite. While some people think this is a racist label, others just find it confusing and makes it hard to find the foods they want. The origin of the ethnic food aisle date back to the start of supermarkets in the early 1900s. Prior to the 1920s, shoppers visited several independent shops (butcher, baker, etc.) for different foods and supplies. In fact, some stores retrieved all items from the shelves for the consumer – the consumer didn’t shop, or roam down aisles looking for foods. A clerk did the shopping for them. The first major self-service grocery supermarket was Piggly Wiggly in 1916, located in Memphis, Tenn. The growth of supermarkets and self-service shopping required that foods be organized by like items and tastes so they could be found in the store. Items needed for international cuisine dishes were therefore placed together so that the recipe items could be easily purchased. Today, the ethnic food aisles seem to be a hodge-podge of items. There might be Chinese ingredients, fish sauces, Mexican spices, Korean noodles, African flour, and others all pulled together in a central place. Even in that format, many shoppers like the variety of the aisle, considering it a place to find new or unusual flavors. Some stores such as Kroger have integrated global foods into every aisle and seen great success. Other stores prefer to keep items separate so that they can be highlighted differently. What’s your opinion? Group Activities and Discussion Questions: 1. Discuss the evolution of grocery stores and shopping. 2. Show a great video highlighting ethnic food aisle issues: https://youtu.be/4Q–YIt_0Hw 3. For a longer exercise, divide students into teams and have them visit a local American supermarket. They can diagram aisles and take photos of shelves and foods. 4. What are their observations about how and where more ethnic foods are stocked? 5. How could ethnic foods be categorized in stores? Source: Business Insider; New York Times Leave a comment Filed under Uncategorized The Rise of Used Clothing Purchasing There is no doubt that the pandemic changed shopping habits – both what we buy as well as how we buy. Work clothes such as suits and ties are trending down, and more relaxed and casual clothes are trending up. But that’s only part of the story. Sustainability in clothing is also on an upward trend. To learn more about this, a survey by Adweek-Morning Consult surveyed 2,200 U.S. adults about where they buy clothing, and how they dispose of clothing they no longer want. Among the survey results findings was that 70% of Americans think sustainability is at least somewhat important when deciding how to get rid of unneeded clothing. And, 65% said that sustainability is at least somewhat important when selecting clothing to wear. Other findings: • 79% have purchased used clothing at some point. • 20% buy used clothing most or all of the time. • 30% of Millennials buy used clothing most or all of the time. • 18% of Gen Z buy used clothing at least most of the time. • 72% of Gen Z and 74% of Millennials said sustainability was at least somewhat important. • 79% said they considered donating clothing as a sustainable option. • 59% felt selling clothing was sustainable. While the numbers are promising, the proof is in the implementation for clothing companies. A recent agreement between Madewell and clothing resale platform thredUP aims to capitalize on this. Madewell (owned by J. Crew) will have a dedicated microsite the its website and will offer a curated selection of used (or ‘preloved’) Madewell jeans. Old jeans can be brought to Madewell stores, which then assesses the condition of the clothes. If the clothing can live on, it is sold to someone. If the jeans are a little too worn to be sold, they are recycled into housing insulation through Blue Jeans Go Green. The lower price of Madewell jeans on the resales website also opens up sales to a market that is unable or unwilling to pay the high price of new jeans. What did you buy lately? Group Activities and Discussion Questions: 1. Poll students: What types of clothes do they buy? New or used? Where? Why? 2. View thredUP’s 2021 resale report: https://www.thredup.com/resale/#resale-industry 3. Show thredUP website: https://www.thredup.com/ 4. Show Madewell preowned site: https://madewellforever.thredup.com/ 5. Show Blue Jeans Go Green site: https://bluejeansgogreen.org/ 6. In teams, have students go to these websites and browse clothing items. 7. Have them consider price, style, etc. 8. Now that they have viewed resale websites, have their attitudes about buying and clothing changed? 9. How can sustainability issues be addressed by other clothing manufacturers and retailers? Source: AdWeek Leave a comment Filed under Classroom Activities Mac & Cheese Ice Cream The location of a product on the product life cycle is an important indicator of how the product should be marketed. After all, there is no reason for a Super Bowl ad for a product in the declining stage. But how do marketers bring new life and positioning to mature products. Well, Kraft has done a good job with this summer’s new ice cream flavor. It’s the time of year when the demand for ice cream is at a peak. Favorite flavors include, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, rocky road, mac and cheese, chocolate chip… Wait, what? Mac & Cheese flavored ice cream? Yes, you read that correctly. In a new food mashup that takes advantage of its reputation as a traditional comfort food, Kraft Mac & Cheese Ice Cream was (briefly) available to help quench our summer desire for cool treats. Kraft worked with Brooklyn-based Van Leeuwen ice cream for a co-branded product that looks suspiciously yellow and supposedly tastes like mac and cheese. The new flavor was only available online and at 23 Van Leeuwen shops in New York, Los Angeles, and Houston. Unfortunately for fans, the gluten-free ice cream quickly sold out. This isn’t Kraft’s only mashup. Last year Kraft teamed with Cheetos for Cheetos Mac & Cheese in three spicy flavors: Bold & Cheesy, Flamin’ Hot, and Cheesy Jalapeno. These types of food combinations – mashups – bring renewed interest to old, familiar foods and flavors. It’s also a perfect blend for social media postings to involve old and new consumers. What else could use a mashup? Group Activities and Discussion Questions: 1. Poll students: What are their favorite ice cream flavors? Has anyone had a uniquely produced ice cream? 2. Discuss the marketing appeal of unusual product mashups. 3. Show the ice cream Website: https://vanleeuwenicecream.com/product/kraft-mac-and-cheese/ 4. Show video about the product: https://youtu.be/x12V_AyLA2w 5. Where is ice cream on the product life cycle? How about Mac & Cheese? 6. Where is the new product on the PLC? What is the expected length of the cycle? 7. Divide students into teams. Have each team choose two brands for a mashup product. 8. How should these new products be marketed? 9. What are the potential results? Source: Ad Week; NPR; other news sources Leave a comment Filed under Uncategorized
Deposit protection: why your money is protected 5 min read From regular wages to life savings, Deposit Protection Schemes apply to a sum of money up to €100,000 left with a bank or building society. This is a valuable protection net as the vast majority of finances are held electronically, rather than in physical cash. In this article, we’ll explain how these schemes work. What is a deposit protection scheme? Banks are businesses, and like all businesses, banks can go bankrupt. The trouble is, when they do, they have millions or billions of euros of other people’s money held in their accounts. Without deposit protection, if a bank collapses, customers could lose their money. This creates a fragile relationship between banks and customers. After all, no one wants to lose money through no fault of their own. That’s where Deposit Protection Schemes come in. Due to EU legislation, all countries within the EU are obliged to set up at least one Deposit Protection Scheme on a national level. All national schemes comply with the EU minimum deposit protection, for amounts up to €100,000. Each country has a designated organization, and the European Banking Authority oversees these across the EU. Therefore, anyone banking within EU countries is covered by a Deposit Protection Scheme, as all banks are legally required to opt-in—this means that your money is protected if your bank goes insolvent. The history of deposit protection schemes in Europe The Deposit Protection Scheme was first introduced in 1994. When the Deposit Protection Scheme was introduced to Europe, there were no strict rules on the level of support individual countries provided—one country could protect up to €20,000, while another could protect up to €60,000. The ineffectiveness of this imbalance became clear during the 2008 recession, which was one of the biggest economic crises in history. During the crisis, banks all across the world were affected. Because of the lack of consistency between European banks, the EU economy was badly impacted. According to the European Central Bank, “the financial crisis showed that banking problems do not stop at national borders.” This led to the EU introducing special crisis management tools, and greater harmony between EU countries, to strengthen the financial system and improve banking security. In 2009, a minimum deposit protection of €50,000 was introduced across Europe. In 2010, protection was increased to the current amount of €100,000. That means if insolvency of your bank occurs, up to €100,000 will be repaid, no matter which bank you choose. What banks do with your money Yet, you might be wondering why your money is at risk in the first place—let’s detour for a brief explanation of how banks invest money to make sense of the Deposit Protection Scheme. In simple terms, banks don’t operate like giant piggy banks, where money sits in an account waiting to be withdrawn. Money is moved around and invested. Like all businesses, banks also need to make profit to pay staff and remain operational. One way they do this is by charging fees or interest on overdrafts and loans. And here’s where it gets a little complicated—the money banks loan and invest is “borrowed” from deposits in their customer’s account. The banking system relies on large numbers of customers investing their money electronically. As a result, your full deposit isn’t necessarily covered in cold, hard cash at any given time. This is why certain savings accounts restrict withdrawals or set time periods for withdrawing large sums of money. Investments made by banks are the foundation of the banking system and have a huge influence on the global economy. How deposit protection can lead to a stable financial market Looking at the numbers, it’s clear why banks are so influential. Deposits (the “electronic” numbers visible on your computer screen or ATM) make up 92% of the money in the economy, compared to just 8% of physical cash. This means if banks are disrupted, it has a ripple effect across the whole economy. A significant cause of these ripples are known as “bank runs.” Bank runs are caused when large numbers of customers attempt to withdraw deposits at the same time. That’s why trust in the banking system is necessary for the market to remain stable. Without deposit protection, if there are signs of potential problems with a bank, customers may panic. This happened in the UK in 2007, when an estimated £1 billion was withdrawn by Northern Rock customers in a single day. The introduction of Deposit Protection Schemes can make bank runs less likely, reducing the snowball effect and adding stability to the banking system. It’s a positive cycle—customers' confidence directly boosts the stability of the system, and the system’s security boosts customers confidence. Why deposit protection matters to you If a bank goes bankrupt, the issue becomes clear—in effect, its customers have “credited” the bank with money to invest, and they need to be paid. This is where deposit protection comes in. It’s an insurance policy ensuring that customers will be refunded up to the agreed amount if a financial emergency occurs. All banks pay contributions to a scheme. Their payment amount is based on the bank’s risk profile which is based again on the way the bank invests. If the bank is insolvent, the Deposit Protection Scheme must be able to cover all protected deposits up to €100,000 per customer. As banks regularly pay into Deposit Protection Schemes, taxpayers' money isn’t used to cover lost funds in the eventuality of a financial crisis. From mid-2015, customers must be reimbursed within 20 working days. However, by 2024, this time limit will be reduced to seven days Is mobile banking safe? N26 Security at N26 The security of your money is always our top priority at N26. And not only is your bank account protected up to €100,000 by the German Deposit Protection Scheme, but it also comes packed with a series of intelligent features that keep your funds safe. For more information, check out Security at N26. By N26 Related posts These might also interest you N26 logo against a turquoise background. Vishing—a new type of scam Voice phishing—aka vishing—is on the rise. Learn how to recognize these scams and protect yourself from fraud. Fire extinguisher with pink smoke. Debit card fraud—what you need to know Find out how you can protect yourself against debit card fraud. Hand holding smartphone with PSD2 payment confirmation screen displayed. New PSD2 regulations and how N26 keeps your online payments secure Online payment processes are changing from January 15, 2021. Here’s what you need to know, and what they mean for you.
You might not have necessarily heard of Anencephaly, but the Washington State Department of Health is trying to find out why it's showing up more often in Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties than the rest of the state. Anencephaly is a fatal birth disorder that results from incomplete formation of the brain, usually during the first month of pregnancy. According to the Washington State Department of Health, about one case is normally reported for every 10,000 births in our state. But officials found eight cases per 10,000 births in our region. The WSDOH said Tuesday: The study examined medical records from January 2010 through January 2013 and looked at possible risk factors including family history, pre-pregnancy weight, health risk behaviors such as supplemental folic acid and medication use, and whether the woman’s residence received drinking water from a public or private source. No significant differences were found when comparing cases of anencephaly with healthy births in the three county area." Officials say incomplete medical records may have kept data from being available that could help lead to more specific answers, but they plan to closely monitor the situation. The DOH does strongly recommend pregnant mothers consult with their doctor to make sure they are consuming enough folic acid, which seems to help prevent the disorder. Women whose diets lacked folic acid during these stages of pregnancy were more prone to Anencephy as well as related spinal chord disorder spina bifida. The WSDOH continues to work with the Centers for Disease control in monitoring and tracking birth defects and urge pregnant mothers to make sure they are under the care of a qualified physician during their pregnancy.
I'm reading Thomson, Modern Particle Physics, and in chapter 16 author says that the decay width of the Z boson is $\Gamma_Z =2.452 \pm 0.0023 \,\mathrm{GeV}$. He also says the total width of the decay is the sum of the partial widths, $$\Gamma_Z=\Gamma_{ee} +\Gamma_{\mu\mu} +\Gamma_{\tau\tau} +\Gamma_\mathrm{hadrons} +\Gamma_{\nu_e \nu_e} +\Gamma_{\nu_\mu \nu_\mu} + \Gamma_{\nu_\tau \nu_\tau},$$ But I still am struggling to understand the language here. My questions are: 1. What do we mean by the decay width? 2. Why is it given in energy units (instead of a fraction of seconds, say)? I know these questions may sound very naive, but I want to make sure I get the basics of the terminology. • 4 $\begingroup$ I think this is a very good question. It's explained to some extent in the standard textbooks, but I think those explanations are not particularly clear. $\endgroup$ – David Z Jul 25 '16 at 14:54 • 1 $\begingroup$ Related (duplicate?): physics.stackexchange.com/q/162467 and less obviously physics.stackexchange.com/q/21282 $\endgroup$ Jul 25 '16 at 15:06 • $\begingroup$ @dmckee Interesting, so what is the idea of calling it a line-width? I imagine it's an experimental thing, right? could you briefly picture where the idea comes from? $\endgroup$ – Patrick Jul 25 '16 at 15:27 • 2 $\begingroup$ It's from spectroscopy. The measurement shows a strong peak (or line) in a particular place (measured in energy, one way or another, but often expressed in wavelength for light. It's still energy.). The width of that peak is the line width. The experimental width, of course, includes the instrument's resolution as well as the intrinsic width. $\endgroup$ Jul 25 '16 at 15:34 • $\begingroup$ Any particular reason for the repeated $\Gamma_{\tau\tau}$? I've taken the liberty to fix one - please check that it corresponds with your intent. $\endgroup$ Aug 1 '16 at 10:44 Like @DavidZ I found this a very good question but unlike him I am not a professional Physicist and so will try and answer the question on a simplistic level which may not suit @Martin as I do not know the level that he is working at but given that he is reading Thomson's book it must be quite advanced. I start with the decay law of Rutherford and Soddy which states that the rate of decay $\dot N(t)$ of an unstable particle (or nucleus) at a given time $t$ is proportional to the number of those particles which are present $N$ at that time $t$. $$\dfrac {dN}{dt} = \dot N(t) = \propto N(t) \Rightarrow \dot N = - \lambda N$$ where $\lambda$ is the decay constant. Now it is often the case that there is more than one decay mode and for each of the decay modes there is a corresponding decay constant so now one must write that the rate of decay depends on the sum of all the decay modes. $$ \dot N_{\text{all}} (t) = -\lambda_A N(t) -\lambda_B N(t)-\lambda_C N(t) - . . . . .$$ where $\lambda_A, \lambda_B, \lambda_C$ etc are the decay constants for the various decay modes. From this you get $\dot N_{\text{all}} = - \lambda_{\text{all}} N$ where $\lambda_{\text{all}} = \lambda_A + \lambda_B + \lambda_C+ . . . . $ So that decaying particle has a decay constant which is the sum of the decay constants for all of the possible modes of decay. At the moment of decay the decaying particle chooses one particular mode of decay and the probability of such a decay is expressed as a branching fraction or branching ratio. The average lifetime of an unstable particle $\tau$ is related to the decay constant $\tau = \dfrac 1 \lambda$. As is discussed in Particle lifetimes from the uncertainty principle, "the uncertainty principle in the form $\Delta E \Delta t > \hbar/2$ suggests that for particles with extremely short lifetimes, there will be a significant uncertainty in the measured energy." When measurements are made of the rest mass energy of an unstable particle with no instrument errors a graph of the following type is obtained. enter image description here The width of such a distribution of mass energies is called the decay width $\Gamma$ and is measured in units of energy. The decay width is related to the uncertianty in energy as follows. $$\Gamma = 2 \Delta E = \dfrac \hbar \tau = \hbar \lambda$$ where $\lambda$ is the decay constant. However the Z-boson has many decay modes so this equation should be written as $\Gamma_{\text{all}} = \hbar \lambda_{\text{all}}$ Remembering that $\lambda_{\text{all}} = \lambda_A + \lambda_B + \lambda_C+ . . . . $ leads to the expression $$\Gamma_{Z,\text{all}}=\Gamma_{ee} +\Gamma_{\mu\mu} +\Gamma_{\tau\tau} +\Gamma_{hadrons} +\Gamma_{v_e v_e} +\Gamma_{v_\mu v_\mu} +\Gamma_{\tau \tau},$$ where the various decay modes of the Z-boson are listed. Multiple experimental are then performed to investigate the decay modes and their probability. enter image description here All this experimental data is then compared with the theoretical data which is based on the Standard Model and the agreements have been found to be very good to a high degree of precision. The accuracy to which the experimental work is done can be gauged by one of Professor Thomson's slides and this is using the old accelerator at CERN. enter image description here Entering decay width into this website's search engine is also most illuminating. I will try to expand the great answer of @Farcher and explain the role of the decay width in quantum field theory (as usual, I'll set $\hbar=c=1$). The wave function of a stable particle oscillates with a frequency that, in its rest frame, is given by its mass $$\psi(t) \propto e^{-i p_\mu x^\mu } = e^{-i( E t - \vec{p}\cdot\vec{x})} = e^{-iMt}$$ But an unstable particle decays, and therefore the probability of finding the particle will decrease exponentially according to the decay constant $\lambda$, or the decay width $\Gamma$: $$\psi(t) \propto e^{-iMt} e^{-\Gamma t/2} = e^{-i(M-i\Gamma/2)t}\ ,$$ $$P(t) = \|\psi(t)\|^2 \propto e^{-\Gamma t} $$ In this sense, one can say that an unstable particle has a "complex mass" $M' = M-i\Gamma/2$, where the imaginary part is the decay width. It is clear that the decay width should have units of mass=energy (remember that $c=1$). In quantum field theory, an essential object is the propagator, which is the amplitude probability for the propagation of the particle from the space-time point $x$ to $y$. For a free, stable (and scalar, for simplicity) particle, the propagator is $$\Delta(x-y) = \int \frac{d^4 k}{(2\pi)^4} e^{-ik_\mu x^\mu} \frac{1}{k^2-M^2}$$ while that of an unstable particle will be $$\Delta(x-y) = \int \frac{d^4 k}{(2\pi)^4} e^{-ik_\mu x^\mu} \frac{1}{k^2-(M-i\Gamma/2)^2}\approx \int \frac{d^4 k}{(2\pi)^4} e^{-ik_\mu x^\mu} \frac{1}{k^2-M^2+i\Gamma M}$$ The probability amplitude for the decay is given by the Fourier transform of this propagator (aka the propagator in momentum space), and the probability by its absolute value squared:$$P \propto \left\|\frac{1}{E^2-M^2+i\Gamma M}\right\|^2 = \frac{1}{(E^2-M^2)^2+\Gamma^2 M^2}$$ which is the celebrated Breit-Wigner distribution, where $\Gamma$ is the width of the distribution at half height. • 3 $\begingroup$ The last term of the last equation should be $ \frac{1}{(E^2-M^2)^2+\Gamma^2 M^2}$. $\endgroup$ – Jue Hou Nov 2 '17 at 1:34 I thought that the OP and others might find useful some general informations about the link beetween decay rates and widths, since, as David Z points out, this basic stuff is sometimes hard to find on textbooks. Practical answer When a certain particle has an empirically known lifetime $\tau$, it is customary to assign it a "width" $$\Gamma=\frac{\hbar}{\tau},$$ which, apart from the dimensional constant $\hbar$, is nothing but the decay rate of the particle. It may sound reductive, but I think that this definition is almost everything you need to understand most of the introductory texts on High Energy Physics (HEP), which often focus on the experimental aspects rather than on the quite involved theoretical analysis of HEP processes. Dealing with decay rates is much more practical, because in the presence of several decay channels, as in the reaction you wrote, the total decay rate is of course the sum of the rates into each single channel. The equation you quoted means that the total rate of decay of the $Z$ boson is the sum of the decay rates into the channel $e ^+ e ^-$, $\mu ^+ \mu ^-$, etc.. Decay widths in spectroscopy Consider an atom in its first excited state $\vert e \rangle$, which decays to its ground state $\vert g\rangle$ by emitting a photon with approximate energy $\hbar \omega \approx E_e - E_g$. First order perturbation theory gives: $$\hbar \omega = E_e - E_g \qquad \text{(strict equality)}$$ and $$\frac{1}{\tau}=\dfrac{2\pi}{\hbar}\overline{\vert V_{fi} \vert ^2} \rho _f (E_g),$$ where $\rho _f$ is the density of final states, that is, the density of photon states with energy $\hbar \omega = E_e-E_g$. Going beyond first order perturbation theory, as originally shown by Weisskopf and Wigner, shows that the energy distribution of the emitted photon is not a Dirac $\delta$, but (to a very good approximation, correct to second order I believe) a Breit-Wigner distribution: $$f(\hbar \omega)=\dfrac{1}{\pi}\dfrac {\frac{\Gamma}{2}}{(\hbar \omega - E_e -E_g)^2 + (\frac{\Gamma}{2})^2},$$ where $\Gamma= \frac{\hbar}{\tau}$. This gives an interpretation of the term "width", since $\Gamma$ is the full width at half maximum of $f$. Furthermore, the result can be interpreted by saying that the initial state, $\text{“atom in excited state + no photons"}$, has an uncertainty in energy equal to $\Gamma$, which is reflected in the uncertainty in energy of the photon in the final state. Line widths and exponential decay Consider a quantum system with hamiltonian $H=H_0 + V$. $V$ is, as usual, the perturbation. Quite generally, it can be shown (see e.g. Sakurai, "Natural line width and line shift") that the probability amplitude for a system prepared in an unstable state $\vert i \rangle$ at $t=0$ to remain in the same state is, for sufficiently large times: $$\langle i \vert \Psi (t)\rangle = \exp [-i\,\frac {E_i}{\hbar} t -i\frac{\Delta _i}{\hbar}t], \qquad (1)$$ where $$\Delta _i = V_{ii} + \text P. \sum _{m \neq i}\dfrac {\vert V_{mi}\vert ^2}{E_i -E_m}- i\pi \sum _{m\neq i} \vert V_{mi}\vert ^2 \delta (E_i-E_m)+O(V^3). $$ The sums over states above are formal, they only make sense in the limit of a continuous spectrum at $E=E_i$, as in the case of the atom decay (note that in this case the "system" is not just the atom, but the atom+field composite). The imaginary part of $\Delta _i$, which is just the $\frac{\Gamma}{2}=\frac{\hbar}{2\tau}$ given by first order perturbation theory, gives an exponential decay for the unstable state. Suppose that a state $\vert i \rangle$ satisfies: $$\langle i \vert e^{-i\frac{H}{\hbar}t}\vert i \rangle =e^{-i\frac{E_0}{\hbar} t-\frac{\Gamma}{2\hbar}t}.$$ If we expand $ \vert i \rangle$ in the base of the exact energy eigenstates of $H=H_0 +V$, assuming, as above, a continuous spectrum: $$\vert i \rangle =\intop \text d E \, g(E)\vert E \rangle, $$ we obtain: $$\intop \vert g (E)\vert ^2 e^{-i\frac {E}{\hbar}t}\text d E =e^{-i\frac{E_0}{\hbar} t -\frac{\Gamma}{2\hbar }t}.$$ This is consistent with $$\vert g(E) \vert ^2 = \frac{1}{\pi}\dfrac{ \frac{\Gamma}{2}}{(E-E_0)^2+(\frac{\Gamma}{2})^2}.$$ Strictly speaking, the Breit-Wigner formula for $\vert g(E)\vert ^2$ would follow exactly only if the condition:$$\langle i \vert e^{-i\frac{H}{\hbar}t}\vert i\rangle=e^{-i\frac{E_0}{\hbar}t-\frac{\Gamma}{2\hbar}\vert t \vert } $$ was satisfied for all $t\in \mathbb R $. I have never done backwards perturbation theory, but I'm assuming that the result (1) is also valid for $t<0$, with $-\Gamma t$ replaced by $-\Gamma \vert t\vert = +\Gamma t$. I'll check better this point when I have some time. Related stuff Here are a couple of things which are related to $\Gamma \tau = \hbar$, but which I don't want to discuss here because I'm not very prepared about them and also because I fear going off topic. 1. Width of a resonance. In several situations, the cross section for a given process, as function of energy, has the approximate form of a Breit-Wigner. Furthermore, the width $\Gamma$ is related to the half life $\tau$ of the resonance via $\Gamma \tau = \hbar $. For some elementary discussions, I suggest Baym and Gottfried. 2. Time-energy uncertainty relation. There are several posts on Phys.SE discussing the so called "time-energy uncertainty relation", e.g. this and this. I also recommend this short paper by Joos Uffink. Your Answer
How to Help Your Flowers Survive the Summer Heat Tips to Revive Neglected or Sick Garden Plants June 2, 2021 How and When to Fertilize Your Annuals June 18, 2021 How to Help Your Flowers Survive the Summer Heat Gardening is an important activity for many homeowners. In the United States, nearly eight of every 10 households engage in some type of gardening, either indoors or out. While indoor plants may have the benefit of air conditioning in the summertime, outdoor plants need some special care to make sure they aren’t damaged. With unprecedented heat waves striking the United States this summer, here is what you need to know about keeping your plants happy and healthy. 1. Water Slowly When watering, don’t just pour a lot of water into the soil and call it a day. Watering too quickly causes uneven distribution, making it harder for the plant to absorb all that it needs. When watering your plants, pour slowly and allow the water to soak into the soil evenly. 2. Add Mulch Mulch helps keep plants cool by shielding their bases from the harsh sun. It can also help prevent evaporation and promote moisture. A garden center will have plenty of mulch options to choose from, although the material doesn’t need to be fancy. Just be sure to evenly distribute it, but not too thick. A light, even layer is what you should aim for. 3. Add Shade While potted plants can be easily moved out of the sun and into a shady place, ground plants can be tricker. However, you can use a shade cloth to help give them extra protection. Even plants that require a lot of sunlight can benefit from this when the weather is exceptionally hot. 4. Don’t Fertilize While fertilizer can be essential for healthy plants, extreme heat can cause them to be overstressed. While in this state, it won’t be able to make use of the extra nutrients and the addition of them can add further stress which could end up killing it. Wait until the weather cools down before adding any additional fertilizer. Healthy, Happy Plants The hot weather can make everyone uncomfortable, humans and plants alike. With temperatures soaring to record-breaking highs this summer, it’s important to take steps to care for your plants so that they can continue thriving. Watch how you water them, and monitor their moisture levels daily. You should also install mulch around flowerbeds, and provide shade if possible. Remember to also steer clear of fertilizer until the heatwave passes. With all of this in mind, you can help keep your outdoor plants happy and healthy this summer. Install Shortcut Enable Notifications OK No thanks
X Close Covid-19: R-value drops below 1 in mid-September However, the R-values of major cities, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, are over 1. The R-value of Delhi and Pune are below 1. The R-values of Maharashtra and Kerala are below 1, giving a much needed relief to these two states with the highest number of active cases. The R-value was 1.17 by the end of August. It declined to 1.11 between September 4-7 and since then it has remained under 1. "The good news is that India's R has continued to be less than 1, as is that of Kerala and Maharashtra, the two states having the highest number of active cases," said Sitabhra Sinha of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai. Sinha is leading a team of researchers who calculate the R-value. According to the data, the R-value of Mumbai stands at 1.09, Chennai 1.11, Kolkata 1.04, Bengaluru 1.06. The Reproduction number or R refers to how many people an infected person infects on average. In other words, it tells how 'efficiently' a virus is spreading. After the devastating second wave that saw hospitals and health infrastructure being overwhelmed by the patients infected with SARS-CoV2 coronavirus, the R-value started to decline. During the March-May period, thousands of people died due to the infection, while lakhs were infected. The R-value value between September 4-7 was 0.94, 0.86 between September 11-15 and 0.92 between September 14-19.
Argumentative Essay On Social Media 1274 Words6 Pages Social media is constantly changing into new forms of communications that previously didn't exist. With social media, a user can meet someone from anywhere around the world and share life experiences and not have to worry about seeing each other every time they talk. Social media has connected peoples from all over the world and has made communities from peoples who have never met. People can lead a different life than they do in reality. Social media has enhanced people’s everyday lives by connecting one another lives. It’s evolving to becoming one of the standard ways of communication. Everyone has different interests. For example, some people prefer rock music over indie music. This is because the individual mostly relates to their choice of music genre. There is a vast amount of different interests different people have. The users of social media realized that users can form a “community” of people with same interests in a way to bring them together. The only step to joining this community is to click on the “join” button, and now you are a part of the community! Social media groups consist of people having the same interest in one thing. It allows the user to talk or voice their opinion to a vast majority of people who have the same interest. Through this, the user can get a worldwide response. In the article, “Social media sites help to connect to people worldwide” posted by “The Indian Express”, it states “...We can have friends all over the world. Sitting in our More about Argumentative Essay On Social Media Get Access
Skip to main content Is Wales Fairer? ‘Is Wales Fairer? 2018’ is the most comprehensive review of how we, in Wales, are performing on equality and human rights. Looking at all areas of life, including education, work, living standards, health, justice and security, and participation in society, it provides a comprehensive picture of people’s life chances in Wales today. And while there has been some progress – such as fewer young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), a rising employment rate, more people in Wales engaging in democracy, a huge spike in women voting, a decrease in mental health conditions for disabled children and a reduction in police stations being used as a ‘place of safety’ for people with mental health conditions – there are serious challenges that are becoming clearer to see, with more evident divisions in society, as well as increased recording of hate crime and sexual offences. There has also been a rise in poverty that is leading to an even starker gap between the experiences and opportunities of different people, particularly people born into poverty, disabled people, and some ethnic minority groups in Wales. All of this is set in a context of long-term reductions in public spending, divisions in society and ongoing uncertainty about the impact of leaving the European Union, which is likely to have a particular impact in Wales. This report looks at outcomes for people in relation to education, health, living standards, justice and security, work, and participation in politics and public life. It outlines key findings in each of these areas and make recommendations for change.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, North Korea's crop production has been hit in recent years by both drought and flooding This is due in part to sanctions implemented to punish North Korea over its weapons development programme. The UN's World Food Program (WFP) has also seen a steep drop in contributions, the agency says. What's happening? A persistent lack of rainfall in North Korea in recent months has decimated staple crops such as rice, maize, potatoes and soybean, which many of the country's citizens depend on during the lean season that stretches from May to September. In key crop-producing areas, rainfall from April to June 2017 was well below the long-term average. This severe dry spell disrupted the early stages of the agricultural process, according to experts from the FAO quoted in the report. The harvesting of crops from the early season, including wheat, barley and potatoes, has also been affected, the FAO said. The FAO estimates that the production of 2017 early season crops has plunged by over 30% from the previous year's level of 450,000 tonnes to 310,000 tonnes. Why is this drought so bad? When the rain finally came in July, it was too late to boost crop production as the planting and growth period for food to be harvested in October and November had already passed. This also means that any rainfall from now on will not make up for the dry weather of the last few months, a crucial period for the country's agrarian economy. Media caption, North Korea's closed economy means it is likely to suffer more in the drought, as Steve Evans reports The key regions affected include the major cereal-producing provinces of South and North Pyongan, South and North Hwanghae and Nampo City, which normally account for about two-thirds of overall cereal production, the FAO said. With forecasts of a reduction in crops overall this year, the food security situation is expected to further deteriorate in the coming months and demand for imports is likely to increase. What's the possible effect? Inefficient food production means that large parts of the North Korean population face malnutrition or death. As key crop planting and production periods for 2017 elapse, the country requires food imports for at least the next three months to ensure that it has an adequate supply, the FAO said. North Korea's ability to stave off famine has also been hampered in recent years by flooding, which destroys crops, along with homes and villages. The cumulative effects of flooding, combined with inefficient food production, have led to a stagnation in the country's ability to deal with food shortages and malnutrition. A series of regeneration projects are now needed, the FAO said, including upgrading the country's irrigation systems to help reduce water losses and increase water availability. Has this happened before? North Korea suffered serious famine in the 1990s. It began in 1996 and in 1998 the WFP mounted what it said was the biggest emergency operation in its history to help avert a further escalation of the crisis. That year, the agency said it planned to provide aid to about a third of the population, or nearly seven-and-a-half million people. Children between the ages of one and two who were surveyed at the time were described as acutely malnourished, with some families having to rely on leaves and twigs to stay alive. In 2001, after North Korea suffered its worst winter in 50 years, the country faced a serious lack of corn and wheat. In the period between 1996 and 2001, the WPP said it had supplied food to about eight million of the country's citizens. North Korea's government controls one of the world's most secretive societies which, until the food crisis emerged in the mid-1990s, resisted seeking help from international bodies. Changes in North Korea's economy over the past 20 years make a repeat of the disastrous famine of the 1990s much less likely. Agriculture is still controlled by the state but reforms have been quietly introduced to allow farmers to keep more of their produce, leading to an increase in production. Foreign access to the country, however, is still tightly controlled. More on this story
Latest Antarctic Meltdown Scare Debunked – We are not all going to drown By: - Climate DepotMarch 24, 2020 2:41 PM By Paul Homewood From the “We’re all going to drown department”: Scientists have found a new point of major vulnerability in the Antarctic ice sheet, in a region that already appears to be changing as the climate warms and has the potential to raise sea levels by nearly five feet over the long term. Denman glacier, in East Antarctica, is a 12-mile-wide stream of ice that flows over the deepest undersea canyon in the entire ice sheet before spilling out into the ocean. That subsea trough is more than 2 miles deep, or double the average depth of the Grand Canyon. While there are far deeper trenches in the open ocean, such as the Marianas Trench, in this case the extreme undersea topography lies right on the outer fringe of the Antarctic continent — making it the “deepest continental point on Earth.” That deep canyon is a potential pathway for the ocean to infiltrate deep into Antarctica’s center — posing a threat of significant sea level rise. Denman glacier, which fills the submerged canyon with extremely thick ice, has begun to respond to climate change. It is creeping backward down a slope that plunges into these extreme depths, new research finds, potentially igniting a feedback process that could ultimately unload trillions of tons of ice into the ocean “The configuration of the bed of the glacier makes this one of the weakest spots in east Antarctica,” said Virginia Brancato, a NASA scientist who was the lead author of the new study in Geophysical Research Letters. “If I have to look at East Antarctica as a whole, this is the most vulnerable spot in the area.”…. The study used satellite techniques to determine the “grounding line” of Denman glacier has retreated inland more than 3 miles toward the center of Antarctica in the past 20 years. The “grounding line” of a marine glacier, such as Denman, is the point deep beneath the sea surface where ocean, bedrock and ice all meet. Farther outward from the grounding line, the ice is afloat and no longer touching bedrock. Farther inland, the ice no longer has contact with the ocean. If a grounding line is moving backward, more ice is floating, and the ocean is penetrating further inland with the glacier in retreat. That’s what’s happening at Denman, scientists say. In this case, the grounding line has not only moved backward, but it has also moved down a steep slope into the two-mile-deep canyon atop which the glacier sits. This means the ice front that the glacier presents to the ocean has gotten thicker. It is more than a mile thick, but it has the potential to increase to two miles of thickness if the glacier backs fully into the depths. Scientists describe this type of glacier configuration as a “retrograde slope” and have determined it can lead to a runaway feedback process in which ice loss begets more and more ice loss. The more the glacier’s grounding line backs down the slope, the thicker the ice becomes. This means the ice can flow outward faster and also that more of it will be exposed to ocean waters capable of melting it. “In this configuration, it means that once the glacier starts retreating, it’s very hard to stop it,” said Eric Rignot of the University of California, Irvine, one of the study’s authors. “You sort of open the floodgates.” Elephant seals fitted with sensors on their heads have been used to take measurements of the water temperatures off the coast of Denman glacier. The resulting readings show temperatures more than sufficient to melt ice, around -1 degrees Celsius, in the ocean offshore at about 300 meters of depth. If that water is making its way beneath the glacier’s floating portion, its “ice tongue,” and all the way to the grounding line, the melting potential would be high and explain why Denman already is in retreat. “We have the indirect signature of that warm water by the fact that the ice is melting from the bottom at relatively high rates compared to the rest of East Antarctica,” said Rignot. Denman already has lost over 250 billion tons of ice, researchers have calculated, equivalent to a little over half a millimeter of sea level rise. But there are 540 trillion tons of ice loss potential if the glacier were to travel backward across the entire subterranean canyon — a distance of nearly 100 miles. At this point, the melting could then reach a critical area of Antarctica called the Aurora Subglacial Basin. Here, enormous volumes of ice rest on a bed well below sea level. If the ocean gets into the Aurora Basin due to the loss of Denman glacier, there is the potential for nearly five feet of sea level rise. It’s unclear how fast this dynamic could play out. In a region with a complex and little understood undersea topography, it’s unknown how much warm water is making it to the base of Denman, and that makes a huge difference, said Donald Blankenship, a glaciologist at the University of Texas at Austin who has conducted extensive research on East Antarctica. Paul Homewood responds: It’s hard to know where to start with this nonsense. For a start, it is implied that the recent retreat of the glacier is linked to a warming climate. However, the climate has actually been getting colder in that part of Antarctica during the period of the study, which begins in 1979: The point is admitted that it is actually warm water at a depth of about 300m which is undercutting the glacier. But it is physically impossible for greenhouse gases to have any measurable effect at all on waters at such a depth. But what is measurable is that sea surface temperatures are currently colder than average all around Antarctica: In reality the scientists who wrote this study do not have a clue whether the retreat of the Denman is anything new or not, or whether the deep ocean temperatures are any warmer than before 1979. Or whether what they are observing is just a natural process. We can then go on to explore sea level implications. They claim that since 1979, 250 billion tonnes of ice has been lost, equivalent to 0.5mm of sea level rise. In other words, 1.3mm/C, hardly cataclysmic. They then go on to talk about a potential loss of 540 trillion tonnes, raising sea levels by 5 feet. Yet at current rates, it would take 2160 years for this to occur! As always with these sort of studies, the authors refuse to say how long all this will take to happen. But it gets even more absurd! Look again at the topography of the Denman Glacier: It is reckoned to be 11500 feet deep, the deepest point on continental Earth apparently. Yet the canyon comes to a halt roughly at the place where the glacier ends. In other words, most of the ice locked into the canyon cannot simply escape into the ocean, as it would have to flow uphill. Even if it all melts, as a result of the inflow of warmer ocean water, the ice in the canyon will simply be replaced by water. Crucially, this means that sea levels cannot rise as a result. This can only happen when ice on land enters the sea.
A Picture of the Immune System Immune System Facts for Kids • Name: Immune • System Name: The Immune System • Location: Throughout the body • Purpose: Protect the body from foreign organisms • Main Components: Innate and adaptive immune system • Organs: Adenoid, appendix, bone marrow, lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, peyer’s patches, spleen, thymus and the tonsils 18 Immune System Facts for Kids 1. The immune system is a biological system that protects the human body from pathogens. 2. The human immune system is basically an army ready to defend against any microorganism that invades the body. 3. Pathogens that the immune system can defend against include viruses, bacteria and fungus. 4. There are two main components to the immune system, the innate immune system and the adaptive immune system. 5. The innate immune system provides an immediate, but non-specific response to a pathogen. 6. The adaptive immune system is activated by the innate immune system and provides a specific response to a pathogen. 7. The adaptive immune system can create an immunological memory, which means it can remember how it responded to a pathogen in the past and deploy the same defense mechanism. 8. White blood cells, also known as leucocytes or leukocytes, are cells created by the immune system in bone marrow. 9. There are five types of white blood cells and they are basophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes, monocytes and neutrophils. 10. A human body not fighting an infection will have between 4,000 and 11,000 white blood cells per microliter of blood. 11. A fever is caused by your immune system, not the infection. Your body increases its temperature to activate the immune system and create an environment that’s harder for viruses and bacteria to thrive. 12. Allergies are caused by the human immune system. Harmless things like pollen or a specific type of food are interrupted by the immune system as a pathogen and launch an immune response, which results in allergy symptoms. 13. Humans have developed vaccines that can teach the body how to fight a specific pathogen and provide immunity. 14. The smallpox vaccine was able to eradicate the smallpox viruses and there hasn’t been a smallpox infection since 1977. 15. Sleep is important for a healthy immune system and poor sleeping habits can weaken your immune system. 16. Autoimmune diseases are caused by the immune system attacking normal cells in the human body. 17. Washing your hands regularly can keep you from picking up a pathogen. 18. The immune system gets more effective by learning. Washing your hands and cleaning is important, but if you over do it and don’t expose yourself to pathogens, you’re minimizing the development of your immune system. Additional Resources on the Human Immune System
UK drapeau.png Final energy consumption by sector in France This graph presents the breakdown of the different sources of energy used in the total consumption of energy in France in 2020, both in general and respectively for Transportation, Industry, Farming and Housing and Service sectors. Natural gas is as used as electricity in industry and housing. However, in Service sector, because of specific uses such as air conditioning, gas ranks second after electricity. In industry, gas is used mainly for process heating and also as a raw material for the chemical industry (fertiliser and refining). Source : SDES - Bilan énergétique de la France pour 2020 (2021) Download the entire indicator
Skip to Content Evaporation Station Evaporating water can sometimes appear to vanish into thin air - like magic! This activity will help children think outside the box and use their imagination to determine where a puddle went! Download and Print Activity PDF Where did the water go? This activity can produce some interesting and very plausible theories around the big question: “where did the water go?” Children will begin to think outside the box and use their imagination to conclude where the water went. No answer is too absurd! ☀️Thank you sun! The sun speeds up the evaporation process in this experiment. Take this experiment into different environments to explore evaporation (dew on the grass in the morning, water vapor from a power plant etc.). What is evaporation? Evaporation is when a liquid becomes a gas without forming bubbles inside the liquid volume. 💧 Water cycle: This experiment is a great way to open the conversation around the water cycle! For this activity you will need: Large bucket of water Open area such as a driveway or sidewalk Learning Outcomes Reasoning Logically Identifying evidence for point of view Step 1: Start the conversation around evaporation. Has your child ever seen water disappear? What do they think happened to it? Step 2: Take the conversation outside and pour a bucket of water on the ground in an open area on pavement to make a visible puddle. Step 3: Once the water has dispersed in the puddle, take your chalk and draw an outline of the shape of the puddle. Step 4: Revisit the puddle a few hours later - what happened to the water? ⬆️ For older preschoolers: Bring out the measuring tape! Get some extra math involved in this experiment and have your child measure and record the size of the puddle when you start and after a few hours. Did it get bigger or smaller? By how many inches? ⬇️ For younger toddlers: No answer is too out there! Younger children may have a harder time understanding where the water went since it’s not visibly leaving the ground when it evaporates. Go with the flow when they give an answer, anything is possible in their world! Playful Questions Where do you think the water goes when it evaporates? Would a big puddle take less or more time to evaporate than a small puddle? How do you know the water went _______? When else does water evaporate in the air? Would water evaporate slower or longer on a cloudy day? More Activities Sun Activities ➜ Science Experiments ➜ Activities for Preschoolers ➜ All Activities ➜
In March of 2020, the pandemic of COVID-19 bursted out. After this moment, almost all nations of the world asked their citizens to stay inside their homes to reduce the cases but, mostly to stay safe. However, across the whole world, many women were not really safe inside their houses. In this period of the first lockdown, a video went viral showing a woman, experiencing physical abuse, trying to ask for help without leaving a digital trace. The Problem Gender violence is a violence that women experience daily. The most shocking part is that most violent gender crime cases are never reported. Besides physical abuse in their homes, women are the victims of many expressions of gender violence through their whole life. In fact, in Europe since the age of 15 years old 1 in 3 women has experiences physical and/or sexual violence, 1 in 20 women has been raped and 1 in 2 women has experienced sexual harassment. Gender violence data Many countries have governmental (or non-profit) organizations supporting victims of gender violence, while the national police of each country is keeping track of the cases that occur. However, the system is not working properly. In fact, every year almost 80% of rapes in Spain are not reported, while in Greece more than 4.500 rapes are happening while only 200 are denounced. At the same time, only 23% of the abusers end up convicted for their crimes. What is the reason for so many unreported crimes? According to Amparo Diaz, domestic violence attorney: “The fear of not being believed and a lack of confidence in the justice system are paralyzing. The victim’s story is bound to be questioned and they are then re-victimized.” The crime of rape or physical abuse for many women is still a taboo that primarly affects the victim. The sad truth today is that in order to believe her, society needs proof that: a) she did not provoke the perpetrator, b) she tried to resist, c) she was not dressed provocatively and finally d) she did not want to draw attention by claiming that something horrible happened to her or to avenge the perpetrator by lying. Victims of rape are only not to blame when we imagine them as completely cut out from any erotic element, or when they end up dead (and sadly, sometimes not even then). “What where you wearing? ” art exhibit For all these, women that experience gender violence or have been sexually abused, are afraid to talk about it. Going to the police to report it usually means that she will need to relive her experiences describing them to police officers, which sometimes is really embarrassing. Meanwhile, a lot of women fear the exposure that they will get for talking about their problem, and that society will stigmatize them. Finally, in a lot of cases, women are afraid of their abuser since they are dependent financially or emotionally from him. The two main problems regarding violence on women is firstly to recognize what is violence and if you are experiencing some type of violence and secondly, the lack of knowledge of society over these issues, leading to crimes over women in many cases. One other issue arising from all this is that there is a severe problem of quantification of the data. The data being collected from different countries are not comparable, in fact only 10 countries of EU have comparable data. Besides that, as mentioned before, there is a serious lack of denounces for many reasons leading to account only the crimes actually reported or convicted. Finally, every country has different laws regarding this issue with no consensus. For example, countries that dont consider murder of a woman as gender violence, or countries that don’t recognize rape as sexual intercourse without consent. Non trustable data However, gender violence data is very important if we want to try solving this issue. Apart from the better informed understanding of the issue that we will have, it will also be easier to open up the conversations regarding gender violence across governmental administrations. The truth is that we are lacking reports and data data because women fear to share their experiences with the society and they are constantly revictimized. They don’t really believe in the justice system due to the lack of abusers convictions. The other issue is that many times women don’t even realize that they are the victims of gender violence. Disruption in the system This is the story of Ana Orantes, a victim of gender violence. After 40 years of marriage with physical and psychological abuse, in 1996 laws changed and Ana Orantes managed to divorce. Yet, the court forced her to continue living in the same house with her husband. In 1997, she became the first woman in Spain to denounce publicly in Television that her ex-husband hit her. 13 days after her appearance on television, her ex-husband hit her, tied her to a chair, covered her in gasoline and burnt her alive. Due to her appearance in national television and along with her brutal murder as a consequence, in 1999, Spanish government created a law against domestic violence. Finally, in 2004, the Organic Law of Measures to Integral Protection against Gender Violence was approved Ana Orantes: A disruption in the system Many years after this, and more specifically on October 15 of 2017 american actress Alyssa Milano, inspired by one friend, posted on Twitter: “If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too‘ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem“. After a short while, a huge number of posts and responses from many women and high-profile celebrities soon followed. After millions of people started using the phrase and hashtag in this manner in English, the expression began to spread to dozens of other languages, revealing in many countries a small part of the dimensions of the problem of gender violence. The reach of me too, Columbia Journalism Review Sischain: A Sisterhood blockchain Given all these, we wanted to find a way to help and support the victims of gender violence. We want to move the society’s position from measuring denounces to measure the need for help but this can not be possible without changing our perspective from problem solving to support giving Sischain: A sisterhood blockchain What is sisterhood? We introduce the Sisterhood Blockchain that will create a community that offers psychological or material support to women under gender violence. Sisterhood “Is an experience of women that drives the search of positive relations and existential and political alliance, from body to body, to contribute with specific actions to the social elimination of oppression and mutual support in order to achieve general and individual empowerment of women”. Why Blockchain? The most important aspect of using blockchain for this project is the anonymity it can offer. Women in need of help can contact other women through our Sisterhood blockchain platform to get help; sometimes the only thing you need is to talk about it without being embarrassed and not feel alone. Besides that, the decentralization and the use of transactions between the members of the blockchain are also two important factors to consider. Sischain: A Sisterhood blockchain Our aim is to spread Sisterhood blockchain in the city. Thus, we need to find a place that you can access privately, there are no men allowed and there is an easy visual accessibility in order for our “ad”(that will be a QR code sticker) to catch your eye. The place that combines all these characteristics is the women’s bathroom. Besides that, the graffiti and sticker culture is evident in the bathrooms and it has happened before with condom, toothbrush and tabon vending machines. Womens bathroom graffiti So, our aim is to use the women’s bathrooms in the ground floors of the city: From schools, religious institutions and hospitals to hairdressers, bars and clubs, to create a network where women in need can access our platform. Women bathrooms have always been “a safe place” for us growing up, as well as a place to meet other women. “To all the girls that I met drunk in club bathrooms: I hope you are doing fine. I miss you all!” In order to access our platform there are two ways: One is through the regular women’s bathroom with a QR code on the door that you use only once to create your wallet, and the second is an access machine in the adapted bathrooms that usually have more space and are combined with womens bathrooms. The reason for using the girls bathroom is that: No mens are allowed, there is a visual accessibility, there is a graffiti culture as mentioned before, access machines have always been present and no one will see you access the blockchain Access through bathroom sticker Before explaining our methodology, firstly, we want to introduce our Sister tokens: 1. Sis Coin is a payment token that is equivalent to 100 euro 2. Sis Time is our utility token that is equivalent to 1 hour of a sister’s time. This time can be spent in the physical safe network, or through platforms of communication such as whatsapp, zoom or facebook. 3. Big Couch is an asset token that is equivalent with 1 day at a safe place and finally, Little Couch is an asset token that can only be requested with the Big Couch, as it is equivalent to 1 day at a safe place for children. We will have two kinds of users for our blockchain: Little sisters or women under gender violence that need help, and Big sisters that are the women offering help. Both of them will access the explanation of the project through the qr code or the access machine in the ground floor bathroom and they will receive instructions. They will be able to ask for tokens and create transactions through smart contracts that ensures the well behaviour of the users. After using the QR code When a woman scans the Qr Code she enters a platform and she can choose if she needs help or she wants to offer help. After that, she can find instructions on how to set up a wallet in metamask and request for tokens. Platform for accessing blockchain When her wallet is set up and she has requested for tokens, she needs to meet with a big sister to get verified. This meeting will happen in a safe place. Safe places are cafes, bars, restaurants etc, belonging to the sponsors and there will always be someone there that knows about sischain, and will defend the big sister or the little sister if something goes wrong. In this way, we will create a safe network that will spread throughout the city and women will know that in these places they can get support and pay with siscoin. In addition to this, big sisters can get rewarded with discounts in these places. Safe network Setting up the Sischain Phase 1 In order to achieve a business model, first we will contact with businesses that have ground floor bathrooms: bars, clubs, hotels, hairdressers…. These will be our sponsors that will provide funds for the blockchain set up. A part of this fund will be for the developers salary that will create the blockchain digiltal infrastructure and platform. This will set up our Digital Blockchain infrastructure. Another part of the funding will be used to buy access machines and print the QR stickers for the bathrooms. After printing and buying the machines, these elements will be distributed in the sponsors’ bathrooms to guarantee access to the Sischain. In exchange for their funds, sponsors will become safe places and create our safe network. At last but not least, stickers will also be added in the dark in other ground floor bathrooms that don’t sponsor our project. In that sense our access infrastructure will become bigger. In the end we will have a complete Offchain Infrastructure that will be continuously growing. Phase 1: Setting up the blockchain We will have another kind of sponsors, that will offer discounts to the Big sisters in exchange of their support. With this rewards, Big sisters will have discounts in masters, education system and other kind of services. The discounts will create a chain reaction that when Little sisters feel better after using our blockchain and some time to recover, they will become Big sisters and help other women in need. In order to donate funds an manage them, we created a Safe through Gnosis and the funds . This safe will be managed by the sponsors of our project and will distribute the funds through voting. For distributing them it will be needed to have a consensus on what the money should be spend on. Safe procedure through Gnosis Phase 2 In phase 2 the Blockchain maintenance will be self sufficient and we will do this by adding the possibility of Little sisters to ask for economic help. In this case, the funds of our “safe place” sponsors will not be to maintain or create blockchain infrastructure but to give economic support to the Little sisters. The Little sisters will be only able to ask for economic help after they have asked for utility or asset tokens and their smart contracts are finished. This economic help (for renting an apartment, paying their kids school,…) will be requested through our dandelion DAO that will be based in liquid democracy: The little sisters will delegate their votes to Big sisters to avoid conflicts (they cannot vote for themselves to get the economic help). The voting system will be considered through two factors: how many little couches has the sister have asked before (as an indicator that the sister has kids and has priority) and the second factor is how many times she has asked for an asset token (that takes into account how much time she has been from home to home in an uncertain situation). The Little sister with more votes will get her Siscoins and will be able to spend them in the sponsors to use them to get a more permanent place to stay until she recovers, to put her kids in school and so on. DAO: Liquid democracy • Little sisters: The little sisters will have support from other women by spending time together. They will be able to scape from abusive situations through staying in a sisters house. They will defend their right to intimacy and prevent from exposure and in the end they will get better and become a Big sister to help other women • Big Sisters: They will get recognition of the caring functions that the society doesn’t recognize. They will get discounts from hotels, universities, schools and so on and also they will hepl other women that have gone through something that they have experienced before. • Sponsors: They will have good publicity among women through safe space concept and discounts and they will increase the number of users and customers thank to safe space and discounts through siscoin • Database: A new kind of database that comes from the transactions of the blockchain that measures the need of help instead the number of denounces will be created. And as a final image, we magine a future where our Sischain will become offchain again, and we will find anonymous messages from users through bathroom culture to enhance other women to use our Sischain. Offchain Sischain Cryptourbanomics model Why do we need blockchain? Our Blockchain Characteristics Tokens parameters Sischain: Sisterhood Blockchain to fight gender violence is a project of IAAC, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia developed at Master in City & Technology in 2020/21 by students: Adriana Aguirre Such & Stephania Maria Kousoula and faculty: Maria-Luisa Marsal Llacuna
Link To This PageContact Us The Battle of Chattanooga November 23-25, 1863 in Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga Campaign Union Forces Commanded by: Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant Forces Killed Wounded Captured 80,000 est. 757 4,529 330* Confederate Forces Commanded by: Gen. Braxton Bragg Forces Killed Wounded Captured 50,000 361 2,181 6,142* Killed and Wounded/ m=missing Conclusion: Union Victory Reeling from defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga , the Army of the Cumberland, commanded of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, retreated to Chattanooga to regroup. On September 21 , the Army of Tennessee advanced to Chattanooga and Gen. Braxton Bragg decided to employ a siege of the city instead of trying to fight it out with the Union army. With this Confederate advantage, Rosecrans feared losing the city. President Abraham Lincoln was aware of the importance of holding Chattanooga. He had said, " ...taking Chattanooga is as important as taking Richmond ." Railroad lines from Chattanooga linked major distribution centers of the Confederacy; it was a key in Lincoln's plan to " divide and conquer " the South. Lincoln gave Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant command of all forces west of the Appalachian Mountains. Grant immediately relieved Rosecrans from command and appointed Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas as the new Union commander. Bragg, in spite of advice from Brig. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest and others, had withheld his troops from destroying the retreating Union army after the Battle of Chickamauga. Already concerned with his actions as commander, Bragg's subordinates petitioned Richmond for him to be relieved of command. President Jefferson Davis visited the army in October. Being a personal friend of Bragg's, Davis responded to the subordinates by dismissing or reassigning them to other theaters. Bragg was left in command. Lt. Gen. James Longstreet and a corps of 15,000 troops were sent to Knoxville to retake the city from Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside. This took away a serious number of men that Bragg could ill afford to lose during the siege. On October 1 , Bragg sent Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler and his cavalry on a raid to destroy Thomas's communication lines. The raid proved to be unsuccessful. See Wheeler's Raid* On October 23 , Grant arrived in Chattanooga and assumed command from Thomas. Grant had found the Union forces in a near-desperate situation. His first priority was to establish a secure supply route. A plan to achieve this was offered by Thomas's Chief of Staff, Brig. Gen. W.F. "Baldy" Smith. He suggested an amphibious attack on the Confederates that were holding Brown's Ferry. Grant approved the plan immediately. With the arrival of Sherman, Grant was ready to take the heights above Chattanooga. Thomas would take Orchard Knob then "demonstrate" at the center to prevent Bragg from reinforcing his flanks while Hooker came in from the left and Sherman from the right. Fearful of the consequences of losing Chattanooga to the Confederates, Secretary of War Henry Halleck decided to send some reinforcements to help Thomas and his army. He sent from Virginia, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker with the Army of the Potomac's XI Corps and XII Corps and from Mississippi, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman with the XV Corps and XII Corps. On October 27 , Thomas succeeded in opening a Union supply route from Bridgeport, Alabama through Wauhatchie, Tennessee, and to just outside Chattanooga. Smith led 3,500 Union troops, silently drifted down the Tennessee River, past the Confederate position on Lookout Mountain, and charged ashore at Brown's Ferry just before dawn. After the Union troops chased off a Confederate brigade, under Col. Evander Law, Smith's men erected a pontoon bridge and opened up the supply line. On October 28 , after the retreat of the Confederates, the supply route was open. Hooker had formed the supply route known as the " Cracker Line ". That night, the Confederates attacked the supply route but they were beaten back by Hazen's men. On November 23 , Grant, before his planned offensive on Bragg's lines overlooking Chattanooga, asked that elements of Thomas' army probe the Confederates center. Through late morning, Grant had a plan to trick the Confederates. Brig. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan's and Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood's divisions of the IV Corps assembled along the center of the Union lines and gave the impression of preparing for a formal military review of its troops. Without artillery support, the Federal probe was to make a reconnaissance in force on Orchard Knob. Orchard Knob was a 100 foot high, lightly wooded foothill of the Missionary Ridge range occupied by Bragg's troops. The Confederates forward position sat 1 mile in front of the Union center, midway between the main Union and Confederate lines. At about 12:30 P.M., the 2 Union divisions marched out of their lines to the open plain in front and assembled in formal fashion. Brig. Gen. Richard W. Johnson's troops guarded their right. Confederates on Orchard Knob and Missionary Ridge left their rifle pit and tents to watch the Union review. For an hour, Federals marched back and forth, positioning themselves for their push while appearing to be drilling. At 1:30 P.M., a signal cannon fired in Fort Wood and they rushed forward, elements of Wood's troops in the lead. Confederates on the Orchard Knob rushed back to their defense line; pickets in a belt of timber west of the hill were driven out. Within the hour, each succeeding Confederate line fell back on the next. The Federals drove into hilltop ramparts, surviving Confederates ran for the lines on Missionary Ridge, and the Union flag was planted at the crest of Orchard Knob. Surprised at the success of the probe, Thomas signaled Wood," You have gained too much to withdraw. Hold your position and I will support you ." Blair's division and Howard's XI Corps troops moved to the Confederate left and right, secured the front, and the entire Union army moved it's lines forward. This was to be the easiest Union victory in the battles for Chattanooga. This unexpected success changed Grant's plans. His objective at Chattanooga was to turn Bragg's right, located at the north end of Missionary Ridge. Sherman's troops were manuevering to assault this position the next day. Meanwhile, Hooker's force was to make a demonstration on Bragg's left at Lookout Mountain. Because of their surprise victory at Orchard Knob, Grant and Thomas instructed Hooker to press ahead at Lookout Mountain if his demonstration proved successful. On November 24 , while Sherman was making his initial attack, Hooker had moved out with 3 divisions. His mission was to get into the Chattanooga Valley and occupy Rossville Gap. Grant realized that once the battle started, Hooker's previous mission of protecting the vital line of communication down Lookout Valley would have no further importance. Accordingly, Howard's Corps had been withdrawn from Hooker's command and moved to Chattanooga before the battle started. Grant originally planned to move Hooker's other 2 divisions to Chattanooga so they could advance on Rossville Gap with having to fight their way past Lookout Mountain. But difficulties with the pontoon bridge made this impossible, and resulted in Hooker's having 3 divisions instead of 2 divisions. Accordingly, Grant ordered to attack around Lookout Mountain. The Confederates were holding Lookout Mountain to guard against an Union approach from Trenton. Sherman had sent a division toward there as a diversion; it rejoined his main body for the attack on Missionary Ridge. Lookout Mountain drops precipitously several hundred feet from a plateau nearly 1,100 feet above the river. The top was occupied by 2 Confederate brigades. One brigade blocked the narrow passage around the northern face of the mountain, and the other brigade was posted up the slope from it. Brig. Gen. John Geary's division, reinforced by one Confederate brigades, crossed Lookout Creek above the Wauhatchie at about 8:00 A.M. Contact was made at about 10:00 A.M., and a sharp fight took place around Craven's Farm, called the "White House". A heavy fog covered the area as both sides brought up reinforcements. Around 12:00 P.M., the Confederates were driven from Craven's Farm to a new position about 400 yards away. Here, they were reinforced by the 2 brigades from the plateau, and held this position from 2:00 P.M. until after midnight, when they were ordered to withdraw. Troops from Chattanooga had been pouring across Brown's Ferry and into Lookout Valley. Even the Confederate attack that destroyed Col. Baldy Smith's bridge only slowed troop movement to the western side of Lookout Mountain. More than 10,000 Union soldiers were in position, appearing ready to attack roughly 1,000 Confederates on the slopes and at the top of Lookout Mountain. On the evening of November 23, Stevenson told Bragg about his concern. Unknown to the Confederates at the time, the Union army had broken the Confederate code. Thomas knew the contents of the message before Bragg did. He ordered Hooker to test the strength of the Confederate forces on the mountain. It had been assumed that Bragg had left enough men to protect the easily defend peak, but he had not. Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside was in Knoxville and Bragg had stripped his troops to the bare minimum to send men there. It was a mistake that may have cost the Confederacy the war. Hooker came up with a brilliant plan to mitigate the advantage the Confederates had by controlling Lookout Mountain. Rather than trying to take the top of the mountain, his men would cross Lookout Creek, move up the slope of the mountain, then sweep the Confederates towards the north end of the mountain. As Lookout Mountain rises, its slope becomes steeper and about 300 feet below the top the slope is near-vertical and strewn with large boulders. The Confederate commanders and Hooker both felt that this was an impregnable fortress. Once Geary's men reached about 2/3 of the way up the slope, they stopped climbing and began to move in a line parallel to the top of the mountain. The Confederates were prepared for a force coming up the hill, not at them from the side. Now they pulled back under fire, giving ground up slowly but steadily. Brig. Gen. Edward Walthall, whose troops were guarding the slopes, tried to coordinate a defensive line but failed. By noon, Geary's men were approaching the front of the mountain. A fog began to cover much of the top half of the mountain at 10:00 A.M., obscuring the view of the participants of the battle and the men in the Chattanooga Valley. It was this meteorological phenomena that gave the fighting on Lookout Mountain its nickname, " The Battle Above the Clouds ." Through the fog, Confederate artillery passed over the heads of the advancing Union soldiers. Occasionally, the fog would lift briefly so that the Union army in the Chattanooga Valley could see the action. As Union troops approached the level ground, the fog lifted. Not only could the men on Lookout Mountain see each other, but the men in the valley below could see the action as well. With a sudden burst, the Union soldiers appeared and captured the plateau from unprepared Confederate defenders. Then the Confederates counterattacked, trying to buy time for their fellow soldiers to establish a line east of the home. The fog then returned. Relentlessly, Hooker's troops marched on. It seemed as if nothing would prevent the Union Army from surrounding Lookout Mountain and trapping the artillery on the top. Then the Confederates got a series of unexpected breaks. Geary halted the forward advance of the Union line to regroup. While Geary was regrouping, Hooker ordered him to maintain his position because the Confederate lines were moving. Brig. Gen. Edmund Pettis moved his men into position to support Walthall and at 2:30 P.M., the Confederate line began to advance. The battle ended abruptly at 4:00 P.M. when Stevenson received orders to withdraw from his position on Lookout Mountain and joined Bragg on Missionary Ridge. On November 25 , Sherman attacked the eastern end of Bragg's line. Sherman came up against Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne, who fought stubbornly considering his army was outnumbered by 5-to-1. Sherman was held on the right by a smaller Confederate force, and Hooker faired no better on the left. After descending the mountain he had taken the day before, Hooker found that the Confederates had destroyed the only bridge over Chickamauga Creek, preventing Hooker's advance. At 3:30 P.M., after word reached headquaters of Sherman's inability to reach his objective, Grant ordered Thomas to advance on the first line of defense on Missionary Ridge. The Confederate line resisted at first then gave in to the advancing Federals. Fully aware that the men of Sherman's and Hooker's armies were watching, Thomas's men began to move up Missionary Ridge. Shouting " Chickamauga, Chickamauga ", the men advanced on the entrenched Confederates. The artillery line had been misplaced at the top of the ridge instead of the crest. The artillery fire was less effective and the Union advance quickly overran the Confederate forces. Bragg had a strong natural position on Missionary Ridge. His right, or "strategic," flank was held by 14 brigades in Brig. Gen. William Hardee's corps. Brig. Gen. John Breckinridge had 9 brigades with which to cover a 2.5 mile front opposite Grant's center. Three parallel lines of entrenchments had been laid out and partially completed. One line was along the base of the ridge; another had been started about half-way up the slope; and a third was along the crest. Grant established his headquarters at Orchard Knob on November 24, and about midnight sent word to Sherman to resume his attack at dawn. Hooker was ordered to continue his advance to Rossville Gap. Ewing's division (of Sherman's force) attacked south; the brigade of Corse, reinforced by a regiment of Lightburn, spearheaded the advance, while the brigades of Cockerill, Alexander, and Lightburn were initially to hold the hill taken the day before. Morgan Smith's division advanced along the eastern slope, maintaining contact with Corse on his right. Along the western slope, the brigade of Loomis was to advance with 2 brigades from John Smith's division in support. Corse moved out under heavy fire and took some high ground about 80 yards from the Confederate's main position. From this base, he launched repeated assaults for over an hour without success. The forces on his left and right gained ground, thereby relieving some pressure, but were not able to achieve any permanent lodgment. Union artillery batteries did what they could to support the infantry, but the terrain and the close fighting were such that they could not render effective assistance. Corse was severely wounded about 10:00 A.M. The fighting on this flank continued with varying results until about 3:00 P.M. Meanwhile, Hooker's advance had been delayed 4 or 5 hours in rebuilding the bridge the Confederates had destroyed over the Chattanooga and in removing other obstructions. It was late afternoon before he was in a position to threaten Bragg's left flank. Bragg, in the meantime, had reinforced his right with the divisions of Cheatham and Stevenson. Showing outstanding generalship, Grant did not make the error of throwing troops from his center into the planned frontal attack before some decisive results had been achieved on the flanks. Sherman's situation, however, was critical, and the original plan had to be modified. At 10:00 A.M., he made Howard's 2 divisions available to reinforce Sherman's left. A new Union attack gained some ground, but was driven back by a counterattack which routed the brigades of John Smith (on the right). The brigades of Corse and Loomis then drove the Confederates back into their original positions. Continuing to reinforce the left, Grant at 12:00 P.M. ordered Baird's division to move from the right of Indian Hill to reinforce Sherman. Baird arrived behind Sherman's position, was told he was not needed, and then moved to a position on Wood's left. He formed in line at 2:30 P.M. Hooker, in the meantime, had started attacking the Confederate left. The rest of Wood's brigade headed for high ground on the right of the gap, and Williamson's moved up on the left. The Confederates withdrew, leaving a considerable quantity of supplies. By this time the bridge was completed and the rest of Hooker's forces reinforced the leading brigades. Hooker sent Crufts division along the ridge and Geary and Osterhaus on his left and right. They led an assault that started crushing Bragg's left flank. Grant now saw that even though Sherman's envelopment had failed he must make a final effort before dark. Between 3:00- 4:00 P.M., the long-awaited 6 cannon shots signaled the assault. The divisions of Baird , Wood, and Sheridan , and Johnson were on line from left to right. Grant had intended that the troops halt after taking the first line, and reorganize. Much to his consternation, Grant saw the troops capture the first line and then press on immediately for the summit. The attackers had found out that lingering in the initial position would subject them to murderous fire from the crest, and that the safest thing was to charge up the hill. This they did on their own initiative. Grant is reported to have asked Thomas and Granger who had ordered the attack. The commanders actually tried to stop this advance. Turchin's brigade was halted and Wagner's brigade was called back from an advanced position . Bragg had made several mistakes in his defensive dispositions. He had split his forces, putting half at the bottom of the hill with secret orders to fire a volley when the enemy got to within 200 yards, and then to withdraw up the slopes. Many men apparently were not informed of this plan, and defended the first line even when others had pulled back. A Confederate engineer had taken his instructions literally when told to put the final line on the highest ground. This line was along the geographic or topographic crest instead of the "military crest" (the highest place from which you can see and fire on an approaching enemy). The Federals found "dead space" through which they could advance under cover, and came forward in about 6 separate lines of approach. Footholds were established at various places, and enfilade fire from these penetrations destroyed the Confederate strong points that had been able to resist the frontal assault. Sheridan was the only division commander who maintained enough cohesion in his unit to pursue; he took a large number of Confederate guns and prisoners, and came very close to capturing Bragg, Breckinridge, and a number of other high-ranking officers. The final Union assault had lasted about an hour with 37 guns and 2,000 prisoners taken. Hooker, meanwhile, was rolling up the left. Many Confederate units panicked, but Grant was unable to pursue effectively. The Confederates rallied on a ridge about 500 yards to the rear. Cleburne continued to hold Sherman after the firing had died out along the rest of the line. Bragg withdrew that night toward Dalton, while Hardee's corps covered the rear of the retreating Confederates. Bragg ordered a retreat to Dalton and gave Cleburne the grim task of guarding his rear. Safely back in Dalton, he wired Davis of the defeat and asked to be relieved of duty, admitting it had been wrong to leave him in command when Davis visited in October. The loss of Chattanooga was a severe blow to the Confederacy. A vital line of lateral communications was lost, and the stage was set for Sherman's move to split the Confederacy further with his Atlanta Campaign and March to the Sea Campaign. For a detailed map of the battle, CLICK HERE (provided from the USMA) Map of battle: Site Map \| Copyright © 2012 , Popular Pages
Timeline: 2375 – Current Earth, specifically San Francisco, is attacked and severely damaged by a small Breen Confederacy attack fleet consisting of at least eight vessels. Major civilian casualties are reported in the aftermath, due to the attack being primarily directed at a densely populated urban area rather than on military targets. Many of the casualties have ties with Starfleet, since the heart of Starfleet Operations is located in San Fransisco, Earth. An allied fleet of Federation, Klingon, Romulan and Cardassian rebel ships launch an attack on Cardassia Prime. During the extended battle many vessels are lost, adding more casualties onto the already extensive death toll of the Dominion War. During the battle Dominion and Breen forces were ordered to fight until their dying breath, not giving the alliance fleet any ground without a fight. All the while the Jem’Hadar forces on the surface were ordered to exterminate all Cardassians in retaliation of terrorist attacks on Dominion installations on the planet. In a final push the Allied fleet is able to push through the planet’s defenses. The Dominion headquarters on the planet’s surface falls soon after, forcing the Dominion to surrender. It is said that this is the first time that the Dominion has been forced to do so. Several days after the surrender of the Dominion during the lost battle over Cardassia Prime, representatives of the United Federation of Planets and the Dominion sign the Treaty of Bajor, officially bringing a halt to the conflict that is named the Dominion War by contemporary historians. As part of the treaty the borders of the major powers in the Alpha and Beta quadrants were reestablished back to their original states from before the Dominion incursion into the quadrants. The war was devastating for all parties involved, with heavy losses for both those in the service of the different power’s military as well as millions upon millions of civilian casualties. After a census in the Cardassian Union it turned out that the Jem’Hadar had been able to kill upward of 800 million Cardassian civilians before the Dominion was forced to surrender, scarring and impacting the Union for generations to come. As part of the Treaty UFP assets are allowed into the Gamma Quadrant for exploration and diplomatic purposes, but the UFP and its allies are barred from establishing strongholds or colonies on the other side of the wormhole. In rebuilding after the losses during the Dominion War the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet commit to switching their focus from offence and defence oriented space-frames to exploration-based ones. This commitment doubles down on the core values of peaceful exploration held by the UFP and Starfleet. After disappearing during the pursuit of a Maquis vessel in 2371, the Intrepid-class USS Voyager returns from the Delta Quadrant. In order to cross over 50,000 light-years in one jump they use one of the Borg’s Transwarp hubs. Before they do, however, they deal a crippling blow to the Borg’s transwarp capabilities by destroying the conduit they use to travel through. It is believed that the damage caused in this assault is what delayed a quick retaliatory action from the Borg. In the late 24th century, a briefing was put out for a new generation of long-range exploration-oriented starships. Even though the briefing was not for a ship specifically built for combat, it was to be able to defend itself in times of need much like the Constitution Class explorer in the prior century. Its primary mission was going to be long-range and long-term multipurpose exploration in uncharted space. Thus, the Luna Class Development Project was initiated in 2369 and originally fast-tracked because of the discovery of the Bajoran wormhole. The Luna Class was the prime candidate to explore the Gamma Quadrant and the vessel was armed accordingly. The new quantum torpedoes and the most powerful phaser arrays available were added to the design. The project was spearheaded by Dr. (Commander) Xin Ra-Havreil, a theoretical engineer at Utopia Planitia. Field testing of the USS Luna, the class prototype, began in 2372 in the Alpha Quadrant with production for 12 initial vessels to pick up shortly after. However, the conflict with the Dominion stopped the project cold as resources were quickly allocated to more combat-oriented designs. After the Dominion War was over in 2375, Dr. Ra-Havreil lobbied for the Federation two revert back to the peaceful exploration of the cosmos, pushing the Luna Class development project as the design to make this come true. The initial design was revisited and updated with the newest advancements in technology for a ship of her class. The Luna Class ships was to become the main exploration space-frame for Starfleet. The original run of 12 vessels was completed by the end of 2379, with Captain William Riker taking command of the USS Titan. A Reman by the name of Shinzon kills the Romulan senate using some form of Thalaron radiation. Shinzon declares himself Praetor and extends an invitation to the United Federation of Planets to open up communications and broker a peace between the UFP and this new Romulan government. The USS Enterprise-E is sent to meet with the new leadership. Once the Enterprise-E arrives, however, it turns out that Praetor Shinzon was using the negotiations as a guise to lure the captain of the vessel, Jean-Luc Picard, to Romulus. The crew of the Enterprise-E intervenes and is able to defeat the new Praetor, who had built a dreadnaught vessel armed with weapons capable of wiping out entire worlds. After this failed coup, later named the ‘Reman revolution’, the initial approaches between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire that started during the Dominion War are continued, marking the beginning of a new era of peace for both powers. Several vessels are dispatched to the Romulan Neutral Zone in order to aid with the diplomatic negotiations with the Romulans, leading the task group is the newly commissioned Luna-class vessel USS Titan, under command of Captain William Riker. It was unclear how much damage was done to the Borg Collective after the USS Voyager returned home to the Alpha quadrant. Any questions about that seemed to fade as in early 2380 the Borg launch an all out, full-frontal assault, on the United Federation of Planets. This time their approach has shifted from the intent to assimilate the Federation into the intent to utterly destroy it. Their infamous opening hail, that even those that haven’t encountered Borg personally sometimes recite in their nightmares, changes and becomes even more harrowing. Rather than expressing the desire to assimilate their targets, they change to say that the Federation will be eradicated. Still, they insist, resistance is futile. Precipitated, in part, by the mass influx of refugees from the Borg Invasion, a large protest turns into a riot when local police attempts to intervene. There are huge material losses and some casualties on both sides. For the better part of a month the city of New Samarkand is put under Martial Law in order to contain the riots. The Borg are relentless in their persuit of the total and utter annihilation of the Federation. Reeling from the sudden Blitz style attacks Starfleet scrambles to react. Unsuccessfully at first, but with the help of several ex-Borg, and extensive intell on the Borg from the USS Voyager records Starfleet is able to stabilise their defensive efforts, in part by devising an early warning system against Borg incursions. The extended Borg incursions lead to the destruction of around 40% of the Starfleet’s assets. Estimates around the Alpha and Beta quadrants are that over 60 billion people lost their lives in this extended conflict. Somewhere during this time one of the Borg Cubes appearing in Romulan space experiences a submatrix collapse, cutting it off from the collective and floating around the sector aimlessly. It is later reclaimed by the Romulans, and they established a Reclamation site in an effort to extract Borg technology. At first the attacks on the Alpha quadrant seemed to have been aimed at solely the Federation. The other quadrant powers were happy to take a backseat. Even the long time allies in the Klingon Empire decided against taking immediate action. Once Starfleet seemed to get a foothold against the Borg old Dominion War alliances were rekindled. The Klingons had been itching for a fight ever since the Treaty of Bajor was signed and now they were able to get their fill. The Romulans responded to the incursion into their space, knowing that the Borg wouldn’t simply stop when the Federation was eradicated. After taking heavy losses by the joint Alpha and Beta quadrant forces the Borg incursions started to wane. One last effort was made against some of the core worlds of the Federation but Starfleet was ready, and their allies stood by them. A decisive victory over the last wave of Borg vessels forced them to withdraw back to the Delta Quadrant. There has been no sign of an active campaign by the Borg against the Alpha and Beta Quadrants since, though experts warn that this might not be the last we see of the cybernetic threat from the Delta quadrant. Following the crippling extended conflict with the Borg, the Tholian Assembly spearheads the foundation of the Typhon Pact featuring the Romulan Star Empire, Breen Confederacy, Tzenkethi Coalition, Gorn Hegemony, Tholian Assembly and Holy Order of the Kinshaya. In the face of a crippled Federation and a bloodthirsty Klingon Empire, they seek protection in the treaty. An important part of the pact revolves around cloaking technology, and all member states are granted access to Cloaking technology. As the Cardassian Union continues to recover from the aftereffects of the Dominion War on their population, infrastructure. They are invited to attend a summit concerned with the expansion of the Khitomer Accords. They adopt some of the Accords’ outlined rules and regulations, bringing them closer together with the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. Following reports about the instability of the Romulan star, the UFP decides to reassign some of the resources aimed at helping the Cardassian Union rebuild to the evacuation efforts of Romulus and Remus. The Cardassians get upset over the lost support and start rolling back on some of their support of the Khitomer Accords. They strengthen their relations with the Ferengi, who are eager to help to refinance and rebuild their infrastructure. The decline in the Romulan Star Empire that had set in after the Reman revolution continues. Reports of the Romulan homeworld being threatened by a supernova only exacerbate political unrest. Creating new and volatile political movements in the core systems of the Empire. Starfleet reallocates resources to the Romulan border, Obsidian Fleet receives additional ships under the mandate of peaceful support and to secure the area of the Romulan Neutral Zone. Initial resettlement efforts are set underway by Starfleet, working together with the Romulan Star Empire. There is considerable political pressure to rescind the support efforts, especially in the wake of two devastating conflicts over the course of the past decade (The Dominion War and the Borg incursion). These dissenting voices within the UFP call for a more inward-facing policy to be implemented. In the wake of United Federation of Planets efforts to help their long time adversary, the Romulan Star Empire, several Federation worlds threaten to secede from the UFP. At first, the discontent is quelled by the Federation President and the council, but it’s clear that a new more isolationist political movement is rearing its head in Federation politics. The Neutral Zone was established in 2160 between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire to ensure peaceful co-existence between the two superpowers. The two governments agree that in light of the recent improvement in relations, and the pressure of the Romulan crisis, it should be dismantled. This dissolving of the zone makes it possible to resettle displaced Romulan citizens on planets in the zone hitherto uncolonised. Without the presence of Captain Benjamin Sisko, and the fact that many of the dignitaries had been replaced or lost in one of the many conflicts between the original Bajoran application to the UFP and this renewed one, the Bajoran Republic is asked to retake several steps in order to join the Federation. During this period they are granted a probationary status as a Federation member. Efforts are made to prepare government bodies for the integration with the United Federation of Planets. During this time the Bajoran Militia and Starfleet also strengthen their bonds and participate in an extensive Officer Exchange programme in preparation of full integration. Long time Federation ally Elim Garak, who was banished from the Cardassian Union during the Dominion War, is elected to the highest office in Cardassia. As part of his policies, and building on strong bonds with Starfleet, there are renewed efforts to tighten relations with all of the Khitomer Accords signatories. Through personal connections with the Ferengi Grand Nagus, the Cardassian Union makes an effort to become less reliant on UFP support. In this effort the Cardassians also begin courting the Typhon Pact, positioning themselves as a more neutral party in the Alpha and Beta quadrants. A devastating attack is launched by an unknown culprit using the Synthetic workforce in the shipyards. Before the attack Utopia Planetia was one of Starfleet’s biggest and most prolific shipyards. The attack results in 92,143 casualties, many of which are prominent members of the Starfleet Engineering corps. As a result of the attacks Mars’ atmosphere is greatly affected, taking some poetic license news agencies report that the martian skies are burning. The reality of the situation is that the planet, and its construction yards remain uninhabitable up to the current day. Following the massive losses in the brutal attack on Utopia Planetia the United Federation of Planets takes the decision to cease development and production of synthetic lifeforms. This is due to the resulting investigation designating a rogue group of synthetics as the main culprit of the assault. Research surrounding synthetic lifeforms is severely limited. The Daystrom Institute all but shuts down The Division of Advanced Synthetic Research, limiting the research to theoretical study only. Part of this decision was fuelled by the fact that the synthetic workforce employed at Utopia Planetia was developed and produced by this division. Following the loss of the evacuation fleet, which was being built and bolstered at the Utopia Planetia shipyards, the United Federation of Planets decides to call off the evacuation efforts, citing shortages in resources and personnel following the devastating terrorist attack. Following the attack, and the subsequent decisions, several prominent members of Starfleet and the UFP resign their commissions and positions, ushering in a new political era for the Federation. The Vesta-class project is a prototype space-frame built to incorporate a Quantum Slipstream Drive (QSD). The basic frame survived the raid at Utopia due to being in one of the upper space docks, and was transferred to San Francisco Yards for completion after being recovered. Most of the project staff survive thanks to being decentralised at various research outposts in the Sol System. With the loss of most of the Federations support, and the chaos following the sudden loss of the evacuation resources, the former Romulan Neutral Zone becomes a wild west for black markets, criminal syndicates, and others that look to profit off the situation. The Fenris Rangers’ manifesto released, stating their intent to protect vulnerable worlds, and individuals, located in the Qiris sector. Reports start coming in of Fenris Ranger assets patrolling, and engaging vessels, on both sides of the former Romulan Neutral Zone. Despite several setbacks in the development of the Vesta-class and the Quantum Slipstream technology the engineering team assigned to the project is able to deliver the first vessel of its class after a 2-year construction cycle. The initial prototype vessel is named the USS Vesta, and serves as a proof of concept for the new technology incorporated into the vessel’s design. The central star of the Romulan home system goes supernova in an unprecedented fashion. While later reports indicate that the star’s instability had been known since around 2381, it’s still an extremely short cycle for a celestial event of that magnitude. The supernova Destroys the Romulan Star Empire’s home system, including Romulus and Remus. Billions of lives are lost, later the claim is squarely put on the political caste for abandoning the common people. Klingons take advantage of the unrest in Romulan territory and several incursions are reported. The Federation attempts to intervene in the conflict. In retaliation, the Klingons put the Khitomer accords on hold. They do not, however, at any point officially leave the accords. The Gorn retaliate against the Klingons in an attempt to halt the Klingon advance. Other members of the Typhon pact stand by their Romulan allies politically but don’t take military action against the Klingon Empire in fear of retribution. Following their support, a temporary alliance is formed between what remains of the Romulan Star Empire and the Gorn Hegemony. Their concerted efforts are aimed at splitting the Klingon Defence Forces among two fronts, making large strides in their efforts to annex territory difficult at best. Despite revoking their support Starfleet recognises a need for a stable Beta Quadrant. Thus they attempt to keep the peace by patrolling the battle lines between the Romulan / Gorn alliance and the Klingon Empire assets. Skirmishes are reported between Klingon and Federation assets. Whilst the Federation goes on record to state that the Council does not see this as an act of war, they do announce some political repercussions for the Klingon Empire, slowing and cooling relations with the Federation’s oldest allies. Obsidian Fleet HQ receives orders to reassign Task Force 72 assets to the Typhon Pact region of space to help strengthen the border. Obsidian Fleet Admirals voice their concerns with how this will stretch their assets. Starfleet Command responds by assigning new ships and resources to the Fleet and ordering the construction of several new outposts. Romulan separatists, having hidden away since the days of the Reman Revolution and spurred on by the abandonment of the common people by the Political caste, take the opportunity of the Romulan-Klingon conflict to strike. A civil war breaks out within the borders of the Romulan Star Empire between what remains of the Romulan Star Empire and these revolutionaries. The separatists that spurred on the civil war declare themselves the Romulan Republic, they gain traction particularly within the ranks of the Romulan military and entire colonies quickly show their allegiance to this new Romular government. Through infighting, politics, and military conflict the Romulan Star Empire falls apart into several factions vying for control over what remains of their territory. The majority of the organisation known as the Tal’Shiar backs the Romulan Free State, immediately propelling it to dominance through both open and covert operations against those that would oppose the Romulan Free State. After backing out of joining the Federation at the last moment back in 2372 the renewed Bajoran bid for Federation membership finally clears the final hurdle. As a result the probationary membership is turned into a full, active, membership. Bajoran military assets are folded into Starfleet and local government is fully reformed and integrated with the United Federation of Planets. Bajor is granted a seat in the Federation Council. After a period of relative peace within their own borders, a rebuilding of Starfleet in earnest starts. The focus of which is to strengthen the internal defense. Starfleet is still not back at pre-Borg invasion levels of military strength and the UFP gravitates more and more towards isolationist policies. After extensive testing, redesign, refits and after the set back of the horrendous attack on Utopia Planetia, The Vesta Project, better known to most as the Quantum Slipstream Drive (QSD) project was declared a success by Admiral Henry Markstrom. After 5 tumultuous years of work, Starfleet was entering a new era of exploration after years of a more inward focus. Along with the declaration of success in the Vesta Project, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers also announced plans to refit several older classes of starships with the Slipstream Drive thanks to lessons learned from Voyager’s own success with the drive and from the design of the Vesta Class. However several months later on a return trip from the Delta Quadrant, the namesake for the project, the USS Vesta disappears. After several more months of extensive searches by a multitude of Starfleet ships and her allies, the ship is officially declared missing and the QSD program put on hold as it was known the Vesta itself was in transit with the drive when she disappeared. Existing keels are finished with their installed drives, though Commanding Officers are forbidden from using them, and new ships of the class are constructed without the drive. All refits of older classes were put on hold. After the Vesta’s reappearance and a subsequent thorough investigation about the circumstances of its disappearance, the QSD project is once again implemented. Some small adjustments are made to the QSD in order to prevent similar issues from reoccurring on future uses of the QSD. Classes designated for retrofitting are the Sovereign, Intrepid, Luna, Prometheus, and Odyssey Class and work begins right away on installing these drives. In some of these classes, the retrofitting is more extensive to accommodate for the increased power requirement and infrastructure needs to successfully run the QSD long term. With the internal struggles of the former Romulan Star Empire, following the destruction of their homeworlds and the ongoing civil war, the collapse of the Typhon Pact looks more and more likely. Without the steering influence of a strong and united Romulan Star Empire, the Breen Confederacy begins more aggressive actions against the Federation and Ferengi. In addition, the Tzkenthi begin operating outside their borders and closer to Federation space. Ongoing skirmishes are reported on these fronts.
The org.orekit.frames package provides classes to handle frames and transforms between them. Frames Presentation Frames tree The Frame class represents a single frame. All frames are organized as a tree with a single root. frames tree Each Frame is defined by a single TransformProvider linking it to one specific frame: its parent frame. This defining transform provider may provide either fixed or time-dependent transforms. As an example the Earth related frame ITRF depends on time due to precession/nutation, Earth rotation and pole motion. The predefined root frame is the only one with no parent frames. For each pair of frames, there is one single shortest path from one frame to the other one. The Transform class represents a full transform between two frames. It manages combined rotation, translation and their first time derivatives to handle kinematics. Transforms can convert position, directions and velocities from one frame to another one, including velocity composition effects. Transforms are used to both: • define the relationship from a parent to a child frames. This transform (tdef on the following scheme) is stored in the child frame. • merge all individual transforms encountered while walking the tree from one frame to any other one, however far away they are from each other (trel on the following scheme). transforms between nodes of a frames tree The transform between any two frames is computed by merging individual transforms while walking the shortest past between them. The walking/merging operations are handled transparently by the library. Users only need to select the frames, provide the date and ask for the transform, without knowing how the frames are related to each other. Transformations are defined as operators which, when applied to the coordinates of a vector expressed in the old frame, provide the coordinates of the same vector expressed in the new frame. When we say a transform t is from frame A to frame B, we mean that if the coordinates of some absolute vector (say, the direction of a distant star) are uA in frame A and uB in frame B, then uB=t.transformVector(uA). Transforms provide specific methods for vectorial conversions, affine conversions, either with or without first derivatives (i.e. angular and linear velocities composition). Transformations can be interpolated using Hermite interpolation, i.e. taking derivatives into account if desired. Predefined Frames The FramesFactory class provides several predefined reference frames. The user can retrieve them using various static methods: getGCRF(), getEME2000(), getICRF(), getCIRF(IERSConventions, boolean), getTIRF(IERSConventions, boolean), getITRF(IERSConventions, boolean), getMOD(IERSConventions), getTOD(IERSConventions), getGTOD(IERSConventions), getITRFEquinox(IERSConventions, boolean), getTEME(), getPZ9011(IERSConventions, boolean), and getVeis1950(). One of these reference frames has been arbitrarily chosen as the root of the frames tree: the Geocentric Celestial Reference Frame (GCRF) which is an inertial reference defined by IERS. For most purposes, the recommended frames are ITRF for terrestrial frame and GCRF for celestial frame. EME2000, TOD, Veis1950 could also be used for compatibility with legacy systems. TEME should be used only for TLE. There are also a number of planetary frames associated with the predefined celestial bodies. IERS 2010 Conventions One predefined set corresponds to the frames from the IERS conventions (2010). This set defines the GCRF reference frame on the celestial (i.e. inertial) side, the ITRF (International Terrestrial Reference Frame) on the terrestrial side and several intermediate frames between them. Several versions of ITRF have been defined. Orekit supports several of them thanks to Helmert transformations. New paradigm: CIO-based transformations (Non-Rotating Origin) There are several different ways to compute transforms between GCRF and ITRF. Orekit supports the new paradigm promoted by IERS and defined by IERS conventions 2010, i.e., it uses a single transform for bias, precession and nutation, computed by precession and nutation models depending on the IERS conventions choice and the Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP) data published online by IERS. This single transform links the GCRF to a Celestial Intermediate Reference Frame (CIRF). The X axis of this frame is the Celestial Intermediate Origin (CIO) and its Z axis is the Celestial Intermediate Pole (CIP). The CIO is not linked to equinox any more. From CIRF, the Earth Rotation Angle (including tidal effects) is applied to define a Terrestrial Intermediate Reference Frame (TIRF) which is a pseudo Earth fixed frame. A last transform adds the pole motion (both observed and published in IERS frames and modeled effects including tidal effects) with respect to the Earth crust to reach the real Earth fixed frame: the International Terrestrial Reference Frame. There are several realizations of the ITRS, each one being a different ITRF. These realizations are linked together using Helmert transformations which are very small, slightly time-dependent transformations. The precession-nutation models for Non-Rotating Origin paradigm available in Orekit are those defined in either IERS 1996 conventions, IERS 2003 conventions or IERS 2010 conventions. In summary, five frames are involved along this path, with various precession-nutation models: GCRF, CIRF, TIRF, ITRF and PZ-90.11. Classical paradigm: equinox-based transformations The classical paradigm used prior to IERS conventions 2003 is equinox-based and uses more intermediate frames. It is still used in many ground systems and can still be used with new precession-nutation models. Starting from GCRF, the first transform is a bias to convert to EME2000, which was the former reference. The EME2000 frame (which is also known as J2000) is defined using the mean equinox at epoch J2000.0, i.e. 2000-01-01T12:00:00 in Terrestrial Time (not UTC!). From this frame, applying precession evolution between J2000.0 and current date defines a Mean Of Date frame for current date and applying nutation defines a True Of Date frame, similar in spirit to the CIRF in the new paradigm. From this, the Greenwich Apparent Sidereal Time is applied to reach a Greenwich True Of Date frame, similar to the TIRF in the new paradigm. A final transform involving pole motion leads to the ITRF. In summary, six frames are involved along this path: GCRF, EME2000, MOD, TOD, GTOD and equinox-based ITRF. In addition to these frames, the ecliptic frame which is defined from the MOD by rotating back to ecliptic plane is also available in Orekit. The so-called Veis 1950 belongs also to this path, it is defined from the GTOD by the application of a modified sidereal time. This whole paradigm is deprecated by IERS. It involves additional complexity, first because of the larger number of frames and second because these frames are computed by mixed models with IAU-76 precession, correction terms to match IAU-2000, and a need to convert Earth Orientation data from the published form to a form suitable for this model. Despite this deprecation, these frames are very important ones and lots of legacy systems rely on them. They are therefore supported in Orekit for interoperability purposes (but not recommended for new systems). As the classical paradigm uses the same definition for celestial pole (Z axis) but not the same definition for frame origin (X axis) as the Non-Rotating Origin paradigm, the TOD frame and the CIRF frame share the same Z axis but differ from each other by a non-null rotation around Z (the equation of the origin, which should not be confused with the equation of the equinox), and the TIRF and GTOD should be the same frame, at model accuracy level (and of course ITRF should also be the same in both paradigms). Orekit implementation of IERS conventions In summary, Orekit implements the following frames: • those related to the Non-Rotating Origin: GCRF, CIRF, TIRF, ITRF for all precession and nutation models from IERS 1996, IERS 2003 and IERS 2010, • those related to the equinox-based origin: MOD, TOD, GTOD, equinox-based ITRF for all precession and nutation models from IERS 1996, IERS 2003 and IERS 2010 and Veis 1950. The frames can be computed with or without Earth Orientation Parameters corrections, and when these corrections are applied, they can either use a simple interpolation or an accurate interpolation taking sub-daily tidal effects. It is possible to mix all frames. It is for example one can easily estimate the difference between an ITRF computed from equinox based paradigm and IERS 1996 precession-nutation, without EOP and an ITRF computed from Non-Rotating Origin and IERS 2010 precession-nutation, with EOP and tidal correction to the EOP interpolation. This is particularly interesting when exchanging data between ground systems that use different conventions. CIO-based transformations Here is a schematic representation of the partial tree containing the supported IERS frames based on CIO. IERS frames tree Since Orekit uses the new paradigm for IERS frames, the IAU-2006 precession and IAU-2000A nutation model implemented are the complete model with thousands of luni-solar and planetary terms (1600 terms for the x components, 1275 components for the y component and 66 components for the s correction). Recomputing all these terms each time the CIRF frame is used would be really slow. Orekit therefore implements a caching/interpolation feature to improve efficiency. The shortest period for all the terms is about 5.5 days (it is related to one fifth of the moon revolution period). The pole motion is therefore quite smooth at the day or week scale. This implies that this motion can be computed accurately using a few reference points per day or week and interpolated between these points. The trade-off selected for Orekit implementation is to use eight points separated by four hours each. The resulting maximal interpolation error on the frame is about 4e-15 radians. The reference points are cached so the computation cost is roughly to perform two complete evaluations of the luni-solar and planetary terms per simulation day, and one interpolation per simulation step, regardless of the step size. This represents huge savings for steps shorter than one half day, which is the rule in most application (step sizes are mostly of the range of a few tens of seconds). Note that starting with Orekit 6.0, this caching feature is thread-safe. Tidal effects are also taken into account on Earth Rotation angle and on pole motion. The 71-terms model from IERS is used. Since this model is also computing intensive, a caching/interpolation algorithm is also used to avoid a massive effect on performance. The trade-off selected for Orekit implementation is to use 8 points separated by 3/32 day (135 minutes) each. The resulting maximal interpolation error is about 3 micro-arcseconds. The penalty to use tidal effects is therefore limited to slightly more than 20%, to be compared with the 550% penalty without this mechanism. Equinox-based transformations Here is a schematic representation of the partial tree containing the supported IERS frames based on equinox equinox-based frames tree The path from EME2000 to Veis1950, involving the MOD, TOD and GTOD without EOP correction, is devoted to some legacy systems, whereas the MOD, TOD and GTOD with EOP correction are for compatibility with the IERS 2003 convention. The gap between the two branches can reach a few meters, a rather crude accuracy for many space systems. The same kind of optimization used for the IAU-2006 precession and IAU-2000A nutation model are also applied for the older IAU-1980 precession-nutation model, despite it is much simpler. Solar system frames All celestial bodies are linked to their own body-centered inertial frame, just as the Earth is linked to EME2000 and GCRF. Since Orekit provides implementations of the main solar system celestial bodies, it also provides body-centered frames for these bodies, one inertially oriented and one body oriented. The orientations of these frames are compliant with IAU poles and prime meridians definitions. The predefined frames are the Sun, the Moon, the eight planets and the Pluto dwarf planet. In addition to these real bodies, two points are supported for convenience as if they were real bodies: the solar system barycenter and the Earth-Moon barycenter ; in these cases, the associated frames are aligned with EME2000. One important case is the solar system barycenter, as its associated frame is the ICRF. solar system frames Earth Frames As explained above, the IERS conventions define Earth frames, the ITRF frames. Depending on which Earth Orientation Parameters are loaded at run time by users, the ITRF frame computed my be an older or a newer one. As of mid-2017, if EOP parameters are loaded from EOP C04 14 files, the ITRF will be ITRF 2014, whereas if EOP parameters are loaded from EOP C04 08, or from Bulletin A or from Bulletin B, the ITRF be be ITRF 2008. When IERS will update its references, the ITRF produce will change accordingly. Orekit always allows to convert from one ITRF to any other ITRF. All ITRF versions since 1988 are supported, as of Orekit 9.0, it corresponds to ITRF88, ITRF89, ITRF90, ITRF91, ITRF92, ITRF93, ITRF94, ITRF96, ITRF97, ITRF2000, ITRF2005, ITRF2008 and ITRF2014). Topocentric Frame This frame model allows defining the frame associated with any position at the surface of a body shape, which itself is referenced to a frame, typically ITRF for Earth. The frame is defined with the following canonical axes: • zenith direction (Z) is defined as the normal to local horizontal plane; • north direction (Y) is defined in the horizontal plane (normal to zenith direction) and following the local meridian; • east direction (X) is defined in the horizontal plane in order to complete direct triangle (east, north, zenith). In such a frame, the user can retrieve azimuth angle, elevation angle, range and range rate of any point given in any frame, at given date. Local Orbital Frame Local orbital frames are bound to an orbiting spacecraft. They move with the spacecraft so they are time-dependent. Two local orbital frames are provided: the (t, n, w) frame and the (q, s, w) frame. The (t, n, w) frame has its X axis along velocity (tangential), its Z axis along orbital momentum and its Y axis completes the right-handed trihedra (it is roughly pointing towards the central body). The (q, s, w) frame has its X axis along position (radial), its Z axis along orbital momentum and its Y axis completes the right-handed trihedra (it is roughly along velocity). User-defined frames The frames tree can be extended by users who can add as many frames as they want for specific needs. This is done by adding frames one at a time, attaching each frame to an already built one by specifying the TransformProvider from parent to child. Transforms may be constant or varying. For simple fixed transforms, using directly the FixedTransformProvider class is sufficient. For varying transforms (time-dependent or telemetry-based for example), it may be useful to define specific providers that will implement getTransform(AbsoluteDate). A basic example of such an extension is to add a satellite frame representing the satellite motion and attitude. Such a frame would have an inertial frame as its parent frame (GCRF or EME2000) and the getTransform(AbsoluteDate) method would compute a transform using the translation and rotation from orbit and attitude data. Frames transforms are computed by combining all transforms between parent frame and child frame along the path from the origin frame to the destination. This implies that when one TransformProvider locally changes a transform, it basically moves not only the child frame but all the sub-trees starting at this frame with respect to the rest of the tree. This property can be used to update easily complex trees without bothering about combining transforms oneself. The following example explains a practical case. sub-tree showing how a translation between two frames is related to the defining transform of a third frame, closer to the root This case is an improvement of the basic previous extension to manage orbit and attitude. In this case, we introduce several intermediate frames with elementary transforms and need to update the whole tree. We also want to take into account the offset between the GPS receiver antenna and the satellite center of mass. When a new GPS measurement is available, we want to update the complete left subtree. This is done by using the dedicated UpdatableFrame which will do all the conversions. Package organization frames class diagram
Concrete chillers May 17, 2021 The concrete mixing Batching plant is a combined device used to mix concrete in a centralized manner, also known as a concrete precast plant. Because of its high degree of mechanization and automation, the productivity is also high, and it can ensure the quality of concrete and save cement. It is often used in large and medium-sized water conservancy, electric power, and bridge projects with large concrete works, long construction periods, and concentrated construction sites. With the development of municipal construction, the use of centralized mixing and mixing plants that provide commercial concrete has great advantages, so it has been developed rapidly, and it has created conditions for the promotion of concrete pumping construction and the realization of the combined operation of mixing, conveying, and pouring machinery. Large-scale hydroelectric dams, nuclear power, high-speed railways, and large-volume foundations of high-rise buildings require low-temperature concrete. In the process of concrete mixing, the internal volume of the heat of hydration of concrete increases, especially under high temperature conditions, the heat generated by mixing is higher. In the future curing or low temperature, the internal volume of the concrete will be caused by thermal expansion and contraction. As the volume decreases, cracks usually appear during this process. Therefore, the initial pouring temperature of concrete should be low, reaching the limit temperature of the architectural design unit, so as to ensure the quality of the project. Low temperature industrial chiller will be used to cool the concrete during construction! Water conservancy projects are mostly large-volume concrete. It is necessary to reduce the heat of hydration of concrete. Lowering the pouring temperature of concrete is a very effective means. Low temperature water can be produced through industrial chiller equipment to reduce the temperature of concrete. The temperature of concrete can drop below 20 degrees. We provide low temperature chillers (Air cooled or water cooled chillers, Screw chillers for your concrete chillers need.) Sign Up For Newsletter Leave A Message Chat Now
Sleep Apnea: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment in Newark NJ Sleep is most essential for healthy living. When we sleep our body restores energy and our brain functions efficiently. Insufficient sleep can lead to improper functionality of various organs. Sleep disorders are considered as one of the serious health concerns in the US. These diseases are known to cause mental depression and can be potentially life-threatening. What is sleep apnea? Sleep apnea is a condition where there is shallow breathing in a person during sleep. There are two types of sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea is a condition where the brain of the patient fails to send signals to muscles directing them to enable breathing. Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition where the soft tissues at the back of the throat relax and tend to close the airway. This leads to a shallow breath. When the airway is completely blocked, there is a reduction in oxygen level in the blood. The breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to a minute. This forces the patient to wake up to keep the airway open. This cycle of opening and closing of the airway occurs several times during sleep. As a result, the patient will not be able to get sound sleep. Dangers of sleep apnea Due to insufficient sleep, several problems in physical and mental health can arise because of sleep apnea. The condition directly puts a lot of stress on the heart of the patient. When there is shallow breath, the oxygen level in the blood falls. As a result, the heart is forced to pump blood at a faster rate. This causes variation in blood pressure levels. Diabetes, headache, depression, and increased risk of accidents are other problems that arise from sleep apnea. How is sleep apnea treated? Sleep apnea is a condition that is hard to diagnose. Only the bedtime partners may be able to make a note of the indications. Headache, fatigue and difficulty concentrating on daily activities are some of the symptoms of the problem. Our dental professional is one of the sleep doctors in Newark NJ who is trained to treat the sleep disorder. The choice of treatment may depend on the severity of the disorder and the cause. The following are some of the treatments we offer for sleep apnea at our Newark office. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure or CPAP is one of the common techniques to treat sleep apnea. Equipment is used to keep the air pressure positive such that the airway remains open. The equipment maintains positive airway pressure through a mask that covers the nose. MicrO2 is an appliance that is specially designed to keep the lower jaw slightly forward such that the tongue or soft tissues of the oral cavity do not block the airway. This appliance is very effective in addressing the issues that lead to sleep apnea. Accessibility Menu
Earthquake Structures Science Lab Google Earth Landforms Tour Earthquake Structures Science Lab Volcano Effects Science Lab Ideal Island STEM Challenge Weather + Erosion Stations Sandcastles STEM Challenge Let's talk EARTHQUAKES today! I'm just a southern gal who's lived in Arkansas all my life, so I don't have much experience with earthquakes. BUT, in the last few years, we have actually had some very small earthquakes. Like so small that I don't even know they happened until I see everyone's "Whoah, what the heck was that?" posts on Facebook! And actually, the last one I did feel some vibrations, but didn't realize it was actually an earthquake until my husband came home from work. So, I truly don't know what it's like to have to build a house that will sustain an earthquake. That's part of the reason why I love this activity so much. It just feels so exotic to me! Here's a closer look at this science lab! Here is what you need for this simple experiment. Wooden blocks Cookie Sheet If you are like me and don't have a ton of wooden blocks, this can easily be set up as a station. I always have a content station during my guided reading groups and literacy stations that integrates reading or writing into science or social studies. For second graders, this lab would be super easy to use for a station because it doesn't take a lot of adult help. The directions are straight forward and there is no spill risk to have to oversee! If you are lucky enough to have plenty of wooden blocks and cookie sheets to go around, then it will work well for everyone to do it together during your science block. First, we built a house out of wooden blocks on the cookie sheet that we thought would be able to survive the earthquake. NOTE: It's clear from the structures my son created that he's five...and doesn't completely understand physics yet, LOL! Then, we drew predictions to answer the question, "What will happen when we shake the wooden block structure?" Then it was time to make an earthquake. You can have them shake the cookie sheet back and forth and observe the effects. When we did this, we created a weak earthquake by shaking the sheet slowly. And then we made a stronger earthquake by shaking faster. And thanks to my hubby for the background music...he's the one in our family always finding just the perfect songs to play in the background during our projects and this one would be perfect in the classroom with this experiment! :) Then, we recorded our observations and made a conclusion about why the building did not survive. Next, we did the same thing with a lego structure. Cue the music... #jumptheline Finally, we evaluated which structure was the safest and why? This is also what happens when you give a five year old a second grade experiment! #simplethoughts You can grab this science lab handout for FREE here. Or get the entire Landforms unit here. 1. Hi! I'm trying to get the science lab handout, but I don't see the link to click. Can you please send it to me? 2. Hello. I would love to now where to get a free copy of this science sheet. Thank you! Back to Top
Light a candle for World Suicide Prevention Day 10th September 2021 TODAY (Friday 10 September) marks World Suicide Prevention Day with the theme this year set around ‘creating hope through action’ through aiming to raise awareness of how we can create a world where fewer people die by suicide. According to the Samaritans, the latest suicide statistics showed that in 2018, more than 6,800 people died by suicide in the UK. World Health Organisation statistics show that 700,000 people die by suicide every year. Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death amongst 15 to 29-year-olds globally and of men under 50 in the UK. Every life lost to suicide is a tragedy. Death by suicide, even more than other forms of bereavement, makes many people uncomfortable and unsure of how to react to those who have lost a loved one in this way. Although suicide was decriminalized in 1961 in the UK, there can still be a stigma attached to it rooted in centuries of history. It can be that the bereaved, themselves, shun contact. They may be reluctant to share their own feelings because they are fearful of what they are experiencing; they may not want to bother people, or they may worry about how to field questions about how their loved one died. This can add a deep sense of hurt and isolation to the loss. Those who have been bereaved by suicide may also have symptoms of post-traumatic stress and suffer from flashbacks or nightmares, particularly if they witnessed the death. A further pressure may come from media attention when the person dies which can subsequently be repeated after the police investigation, inquest or court case. ‘Creating hope through action’ is a reminder that there is an alternative to suicide and aims to inspire confidence and light in all of us; that our actions, no matter how big or small, may provide hope to those who are struggling. Preventing suicide is often possible and we can all make a difference to someone in their darkest moments – as a member of society, as a child, as a parent, as a friend, as a colleague or as a neighbour. The factors and causes that lead to suicide are complex and many. No single approach works for everyone. What we do know is that there are certain factors and life events that may make someone more vulnerable to suicide, and mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, can also be a contributing factor. People who are suicidal may feel trapped or a burden on their friends and family; they may feel like they are alone and have no other options. The pandemic has contributed to increased feelings of isolation and vulnerability. You can help give someone hope by showing that you care. We may never know what we do that makes a difference. You do not need to tell them what to do or have solutions, but simply making the time and space to listen to someone about their experiences of distress or suicidal thoughts can help. Small talk can save lives and create a sense of connection and hope in somebody who may be struggling. Stigma is a major barrier to help-seeking. Changing the narrative around suicide through the promotion of hope can create a more compassionate society where those in need feel more comfortable in coming forward to seek help. We can all do something to live in a world where suicide is recognised, and we can all do something to help prevent it. Personal stories of an individual’s experiences of significant emotional distress, suicidal thoughts or attempt, and their experiences of recovery can inspire hope in others that they too can move through the period of distress or crisis, and their insights can help others understand what it means to feel suicidal and how they can support others. Individuals sharing experiences of being bereaved through suicide and how they came to live their ‘new normal’, can help others experiencing suicidal loss make sense of the devastation of suicide and believe they will be able to live through and with the loss. Tovey Bros is appealing to the people of Gwent to support this message by lighting a candle near the window of their home at 8pm tonight in a show of solidarity for all those who have been impacted by suicide. Anyone needing more information on suicide-related issues or testimonials should visit www.iasp.info/wspd2021/ Newport and Gwent Samaritans can be reached on 116 123 free from any phone or via email at jo@samaritans.org where they aim to respond within 24 hours. Help & Advice Planning a Funeral Our Services How to Find Us
Open Data from Space Satellite image of Europe Sat, 31.08.2019, 2 pm CEST, Duration: 4h The OK Lab Karlsruhe invites to open workshops and a lecture on satellite imagery: more than maps and navigation! ESA's European satellite missions are constantly delivering new data from space. The Copernicus mission makes the satellite data available as Open Data. We want to inform about the image data and their possibilities. These data are intended for authorities, citizens and various interest groups and we want to answer and discuss some questions: What is Open Data? How does Earth observation with remote sensing work? Which satellite data are freely available? How can I obtain the data and what can I use it for? We talk about their applications in agriculture and settlement development and present the project »Open Forecast: Open Data Services«. Please note: In case of bad weather the event will not take place. Organization / Institution OK Lab Karlsruhe Accompanying program In cooperation with
healthcare technology image A team of Australian researchers have created a new, breakthrough medical device, called the Stentrode, which utilises AI in a bid to help people who are affected by paralysis. With the procedure taking place at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the experimental treatment has received approval for the first trial on a human. A total of five patients will participate in the trial. The Stentrode is a very small medical device which is similar in size to a paperclip. It will be implanted in the patients’ motor cortex, the area of the brain which is responsible for movement. Advertisement \| Continue story below As seen in Health Thoroughfare, the researchers hope that the Stentrode will be able to detect the signals produced by the brain and send them to a computer. The resulting interface between a brain and a computer would allow people affected by debilitating injuries to communicate and interact with family and friends, giving individuals the chance to regain some independence and their quality of life. Patients affected by motor-neuron disease or severe paralysis could also gain the ability to use a mouse or keyboard. In addition, the patients will be able to control assistive technology, like a personal computer, without needing assistance from a carer. The Stentrode is a breakthrough device as it does not require advanced knowledge to be used properly. The trials will begin in the summer and if they go as predicted, the Stentrode could enable millions of people globally live an improved and more independent life. We respect your privacy
Blog Post View What is Web2.0? Web2.0 refers to websites on the World Wide Web (WWW) which focus on user-generated content, usability and ease of use, and interoperability between one website and other products, devices, or systems. To be perfectly clear, the term does not refer to an update of any specific language or application but rather; a change in the process involved with how developers web pages were created and used. What this basically meant is that a Web2.0 website could allow end users more flexibility with each other through the use of communicating via social media dialogue as the creators of their own content. This allowed for a virtual community between end users versus the previous Web1.0 method which involved users passively viewing of content online and not having much of an online community. In response to this, Web2.0 websites blew up worldwide and became very prominent over the alternative and some of the most popular types are social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter, video-sharing websites such as YouTube, web applications, blogs, wikis, and so much more. Web2.0 vs Web1.0 The key features of Web2.0 include Folksonomy (this is users freely classifying information as they please which leads to things like “tagging” of websites, images, videos, and links), a rich user experience which focuses on dynamic and responsive content for users, user participation which allows end-users to create their own content and build a community, software as a service (SaaS) which introduced web applications, and mass participation which made the internet more broad and gain a wider host of users. Conversely, Web1.0’s features were not remotely as stellar. Web pages were static instead of dynamic which meant they were not interactive nor responsive, web content was provided by a server’s file system rather than a relational database management system (RDBMS), pages weren’t built in dynamic languages and thus, were incapable of building web applications, HTML 3.2 for formatting content into tables and frames and sending HTML forms via email, and GIF buttons which advertised web browsers, text editors, operating systems, and etc. At a simple glance, some of the changes are obvious and clearly an improvement from Web1.0 to Web2.0, such as dynamic web pages; however, some might not be so easily realized. For instance; because Web2.0 sported dynamic, responsive, and interactive web pages, they also eliminated the method of promoting advertisements through a GIF button. Instead, automatic text, image, audio, and video were used for interactive advertisements. Some other more nuanced changes are because Web1.0 was static, it was mainly used by hobbyists and hackers and as such, many resources and content were catered to them specifically. Thanks to Web2.0 broadening its scope to a wider group, this has led to content catered to more people by the people and other like-minded. In Web2.0, the client-side technologies see the utilization of JavaScript (JS) and Ajax frameworks which both contribute greatly to its features. Together, alongside the Document Object Model (DOM), they are capable of performing updates to selected regions of a web page without the need to reload the entire page; thus, making it responsive and interactive to individual actions by a user. This allowed for asynchronous communication and it increased the overall performance of the web page as well since sending requests can resolve faster as they no longer had to be blocked or queued for the client to receive data once again. This data can be sent over in the form of Extensible Markup Language (XML) or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and since they can both be interpreted by JavaScript, they’re very commonly used across web applications as well. Google Docs is actually one such web application which utilizes this technique to be a word processor. Adobe Flash was a notable plugin created as well which helped realized Web2.0 that was capable of performing many things before HTML5. The most common of these was Adobe Flash’s ability to embed streaming multimedia into HTML and thus; web pages; although in the modern-day world, Flash has been pretty much left behind thanks to the advent of HTML5 and Adobe Flash’s security flaws. Because of the feature of mass participation in the concept of Web2.0, the social web became a very dominant and popular thing. This web was not just simply any person who was a part of some social media website, blog, or online community either; but also extends to those who partook in podcasting, tagging, curating with RSS, creating and/or managing wikis, social bookmarking, and web content voting. As a matter of fact, the term became so prominent that a variety of businesses started appending 2.0 unto the name of their products and businesses in an attempt to advertise their new features from Web2.0 technologies. This list included Library2.0, Enterprise2.0, Publishing2.0, and many many more. Marketing, in particular, has seen a huge revolution thanks to Web2.0 as has become interactive. Companies privately owned, for charity, and even government institutes, have all sought an online presence for the sake of taking advantage of Web2.0 features to build their own communities and thus; market their services and products. This doesn’t end there either as tourism is often marketed through social media platforms as they are more visually-focused and captivating to would-be tourists. Many businesses and even countries now make most of their revenue just from online marketing alone thanks to Web2.0 and its presence is expected to only grow even further in the future. Share this post Comments (0) No comment Leave a comment Login To Post Comment
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome You are here: Home / Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome By Medifit Education Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome 1 Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is a rare but potentially life-threatening viral illness transmitted to humans by inhaling infected rodent urine, droppings or saliva. Hantaviruses are transmitted to people primarily through the “aerosolization” of viruses shed in infected rodents’ droppings, urine or saliva. Aerosolization occurs when a virus is kicked up into the air, making it easy for you to inhale. For example, a broom used to clean up mouse droppings in an attic may nudge into the air tiny particles of feces containing hantaviruses, which you can then easily inhale. People who have the North American version of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome aren’t contagious to other people. However, the milder South American variety of the disease can be transmitted from person to person. The basic pathophysiological lesion of HPS, and indeed of all Hantavirus infections, is a generalized increase in capillary permeability that results from endothelial damage. This injury appears to be a consequence of the host’s immunological response to viral antigens that have penetrated the endothelium by means of the cells’ own integrins. The onset of clinical symptoms is correlated with the development of specific antibodies to the virus. The increased capillary permeability gives rise to widespread protein-rich edema. The particular organs affected are related to the specific species of Hantavirus. In HFRS, a large outpouring of edema fluid flows into the retroperitoneum and is associated with hemorrhage and necrosis. Individuals with HPS have edema concentrated in the pleura and lungs. The endothelial cells appear swollen. Lung examination findings reveal an interstitial pneumonitis made up of edema fluid, mononuclear cells, and lymphocytes with polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Hyaline membranes appear along with a proliferation of type 2 alveolar lining cells. As the disease progresses, the alveolar septa become increasingly fibrotic. The spleen in patients with HPS shows infiltration of immunocompetent cells within the red pulp and the periarteriolar sheaths. Severe cases of HPS present clinically as noncardiogenic pulmonary edema. The pathophysiology of the pulmonary findings is that of a pulmonary capillary leak syndrome. The heart is not directly affected. The pulmonary capillary leak syndrome is the primary underlying pathophysiological defect responsible for both cardiopulmonary and renal dysfunction. Prerenal azotemia is due to the inadequate intravascular volume of the hypotensive patient and not to direct infection. Hantavirus particles are not found within the renal tubular cells of patients with HPS. Hypoxia also contributes to the state of shock. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome 2 • Fever and chills • Headaches and muscle aches • Vomiting, diarrhea or abdominal pain • A cough that produces secretions • Shortness of breath • Fluid accumulating within the lungs • Low blood pressure • Reduced heart efficiency Diagnosing HPS in an individual who has only been infected a few days is difficult, because early symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, and fatigue are easily confused with influenza. However, if the individual is experiencing fever and fatigue and has a history of potential rural rodent exposure, together with shortness of breath, would be strongly suggestive of HPS. If the individual is experiencing these symptoms they should see their physician immediately and mention their potential rodent exposure. In extremely severe cases of pulmonary distress, you’ll need a method called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to help ensure you retain a sufficient supply of oxygen. This involves continuously pumping your blood through a machine that removes carbon dioxide and adds oxygen. The oxygenated blood is then returned to your body. By Medifit Education
Why did Islam expand and spread in Asia more than it did in Europe? - Questions Archive - IslamQuest is a reference for Islamic questions on the internet Advanced search Last Updated: 2012/04/02 Summary of question Why has Islam spread in Asia more than it has spread else where in other continents especially Europe? Concise answer Islam emerged in Asia and it spread across the Arab world and Asia. There are multiple factors behind the fact that Islam did not spread in Europe. Those factors include the internal discord and conflicts among Muslims themselves and their failure to introduce the true and beautiful image of Islam to people in Europe. Following the demise of the Prophet of Islam (s), efforts were made to preach and spread the religion of Islam but Muslims did not make any progress due to the fact they were engulfed in internal conflicts. However, efforts were renewed and Muslims began from the year 71 to 398 of the hegira year to spread Islam. During this time, Africa and some parts of Europe had been conquered by Muslims. Islam spread in these two continents to some extent. But in our time Islam is developing and spreading rapidly in Europe and other countries. Detailed Answer The topic concerning the development of Islam requires a lengthy answer and detailed discussion. However, we shall suffice to giving a brief answer to the above question as below: Islam emerged in Asia (Mecca in the Arabian Peninsula) during the 7th century A.D. It commenced with the revelation sent down to the Prophet Muhammad. Since Islam emerged in Asia, it spread across Arabic countries and Asia. There are multiple factors behind the fact that Islam did not spread in Europe. Those factors include the internal discord and conflicts among Muslims themselves and their failure to introduce the true and beautiful image of Islam to people in Europe. To further explain, following the demise of the Holy Prophet (s) the Muslim army moved out towards the east and west of the Arabian Peninsula. The contingent that moved eastward was headed by Sa'd Waqas and the one that moved towards Syria and Palestine was headed by a group of renowned figures like Umar bin Al'As, Yazid bin Abi Sufyan, Abu Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah, Sharhbil bin Hasanah and Khalid bin Walid. The Muslim army reached Persia but the army that moved westward did not make headway because Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan had signed a treaty with the Roman Empire that was meant to avoid launching any attack on either side. The Muslim could not advance westward because of the same treaty.[1] In addition, the transition and conversion of the caliphate to monarchy by Muawiyah caused the West not to understand the true nature of Islam. Thus, the people had no desire to welcome and embrace Islam there in Europe. One of the prominent German scholars says: "We should make a golden statue of Muawiyab bin Abi Sufyan and put it up in Berlin, the German capital because if it he did not inflict a mortal blow on Islam, Islam would have taken all over the world and we, the Germans, and people in other European countries would have been Arabs and Muslims.[2] But during the government of Walid bin Abdul Malik, Muslims from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Africa crossed the Mediterranean Sea, reached Tariq Mount (Jabal al-Tariq) and conquered Europe as far as the Atlantic shores. In the year 711 A.D. Muslim conquered Spain and the message of Islam reached there and spread out also to other European countries. Also, Muslims were able to cross Seyhoun and Oxus and were continuously delivering Islam to the people of the cities and countries. Eventually, the great Islamic empire came into being with its capital in Damascus, Syria.[3] Therefore, in the year 78 A.H. the entire Europe and Africa had been conquered by Muslims. Islam dominated Europe until 398 A.H. when Abdul Malik Mansoor died and his brother Abdu Rahman titled Al-Naser Le Deenillah came to power. He also, like his father and brother, ruled Europe without any belief in the caliph of his time, Hesham bin Hakam.[4] He decided to eliminate the remaining caliphate norms and customs. For this reason, he asked Hesham to appoint him as his crown prince. Many people were unhappy with his becoming a crown prince. That was why family and internal disputes began among Muslims engaging them and keeping them unmindful of the borders. Feudalism came into being within the Islamic state causing Muslims to fight one another while their enemies were watching them. The disputes among Muslims and the wrong policies adopted by Muslim rulers gave Christians the opportunity to expel them from Europe in the wake of several wars.[5] However, in recent years especially in the present time, the Islamic culture has spread all over the world including Europe. We should not neglect the role of European countries' propaganda machine and their highly advanced facilities in presenting a distorted image of Islam and in preventing the voice of Islam to reach people. The fact that they are trying to prevent Islamic influence is an independent topic that needs to be discussed in its own appropriate time and occasion. Another probability that is necessary to mention is that the Romans believed in Christianity in that time. Obviously, according to them in that time, Christianity was considered to be a divine religion. With such a belief and conviction among the Romans, it was very difficult for Muslims to go into a war with them. If Muslims were to fight Christians, they had to fight them on two fronts: One, the scientific and cultural front which would require Muslims to explain the righteousness of Islam and expose the deviation of the Christian religion from the right path, second, the military front to defeat the enemy militarily. Obviously, the Amawid government had not trained such people to defend their religion in these areas. In addition, the teachings of the school of the Ahlulbayt, pace be upon them, did not advance to those regions due to the fact that the Amawid government was strongly opposed to them. Unlike Europe, Islam rapidly progressed in Iran and other countries in Asia because people got acquainted with this advanced school. Thus, not only did people embrace it but they also defended and disseminated its teachings here and there. Perhaps, the Abbasids' motto (Reza is from the family of the Prophet) is the best evidence proving out point. [1] - Kufi, Ahmad bin Ali bin A'tham, Al-Fotuh, pg. 182 – 305, translated by Mustawfi Herawi, Muhammad bin Ahmad, Scientific and Cultural Publications 1374 (1995). [2] - Salehi Najaf Abadi, Shahid Jawid, pg. 313, 8th edition. [3] - Shakib Arsalan, Tarikh Fotuhat Islami dar Uropa (History of Islamic Conquests in Europe), Dawani, Ali, pg. 37, Bani Hashem Bookstore. [4] - Ibn Hesham was a person other than the famous Hesham bin al-Hakam, the Amawid ruler. In fact, he had been "al-Moayyid billah", one of the rulers of Andalusia. Al-E'lam, vol.2, pg. 310. [5] - Ibid, pg. 295. Question translations in other languages Number of comments 0 Please enter the value Example : Yourname@YourDomane.ext Please enter the value Please enter the value Thematic Category Random questions
Purple Rose Puzzles webpages banner Guess My Sentence No. of Players: 2 Type of Game: written What you need: pen and paper To guess a four-word sentence. How to play Each player thinks of a sentence four words in length, writes it down and keeps it hidden from the other player. No proper names are permitted. The first player then tries to guess the other player's sentence. The second player tells the first player whether the words in the guessed sentence alphabetically precede or follow the words in his own hidden sentence. The second player then takes a turn at guessing the first player's sentence, who gives similar feedback to the second player. Both players continue to guess and receive feedback in turn, until one player's hidden sentence is correctly guessed. Alec and Blair write their sentences and keep them hidden from each other. Alec offers a first guess. Alec: Our Dad works hard. Blair: Before, before, after, same. This means that the first two words in Alec's sentence come alphabetically before the corresponding words in Blair's sentence, while the third word comes after, and the fourth word starts with the same letter. When Alec guesses again, he chooses words with this feedback in mind. Alec: Your pet is happy. Blair: After, after, before, same. Alec now knows that the first word starts with a letter between O and Y, the second word with a letter between D and P, the third word between I and W and the fourth word starts with H. Here's his next guess. Alec: Running is very healthy. Blair: Before, correct, after, same. Alec has narrowed the possible words down even further. He now knows the first word starts with a letter between R and Y, he's guessed the second word correctly, the third word starts between I and V, and the fourth word starts with H. Eventually Alec correctly guesses Blair's hidden sentence. Alec: Today is not hot. Blair: Yes, that's it! More Word Games
how to pronounce incantation how to improve pronunciation of incantation press buttons with phonetic symbols to learn about each sound. press Play to play an example pronunciation of incantation. meanings of incantation 1. A formula of words used as above. 2. The act or process of using formulas and/or usually rhyming words, sung or spoken, with occult ceremonies, for the purpose of raising spirits, producing enchantment, or creating other magical results. 3. Any esoteric command or procedure. words that rhyme with incantation
The Azimuth Project Biomimicry (Rev #2) Wikipedia defines it as: Over the last 3.6 billion years,[3] nature has gone through a process of trial and error to refine the living organisms, processes, and materials on planet Earth. The emerging field of biomimetics has given rise to new technologies created from biologically inspired engineering at both the macro scale and nanoscale levels. Biomimetics is not a new idea. Humans have been looking at nature for answers to both complex and simple problems throughout our existence. Nature has solved many of today’s engineering problems such as hydrophobicity, wind resistance, self-assembly, and harnessing solar energy through the evolutionary mechanics of selective advantages. The first chapter of the book edited by Yoseph Bar-Cohen summarizes what biomimicry is used for and also the history of the subject matter and presents current research areas and challenges. Soo the book covers areas that are inspired from nature; synthetic life (which the book does not cover). Further the book also covers artificial life with genetic programming and evolutionary programming. One example from artificial intelligence is swarm intelligence as an example of self-organization. Domains that uses nature as model for structures and tools include; constructing structure from cells, like self-assembly from micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) for guided assembly both in two- and three dimensions. Some examples of bio-inspired mechanisms are diggin as the gopher and the sand crab. The catepillar (inch worm) and millipede have been used for motors for breaking, pumping and controlled adhesion. YThe biological pumping used is peristaltic pumping and the adhesion is similar to the gecko’s dry adhesion or wet adhesion like the beetle. Clocks is another example and one prime example is the cikadas 17 year cycle, but there are many other examples in the book Biomimicry.‘s Structures like the honeycomb has been used for air planes parts. Human fishing nets inspired by the spider’s web. For camoofrlage, armor attack nature has also given many structures. The understanding of materials in biology have been advancing as well. Spider’s web is stronger than Kevlar (tm) which is used in bullet proof products and air planes construction. It is also three times stronger than steel which is 400 MPa, which must make the engineers green of envy as the spider can make the web at natural production conditions and the steel needs a tremendous amount of energy to heat and melt iron in several steps. But there has been progress in making polymers using electro spinning to produce nano-fiber. Multiple material organisms are also being studied like the honeybee, swallows and fireflies. Some more examples are impact sensitive paint for impact indicators, controlled stiffness like the sea cucumber. Research has also been conducted on areas where nature has unique superior qualities like the pearl and abalone shells. Biomimetic processes to make vitamins and antibiotics are things we know about, but now research is conducted in areas like navigational systems, diffusion processes and neural networks. The area bio-sensors like miniature sensors in biomimetic robots, collision avoidance using whiskers, emulating bat’s acoustic sensors, acoustic and elastic sensors from elephants and whales. Fire monitoring as the jewel beetle (Melanophilia), which can detect fires from 80 km using infrared (IR) body sensors. There is also research to develop smell and taste sensors, like artificial nose and tongues. In the area of robotics there is further examples of emulating nature, like artificial muscles, air and water mobility, social behaviour they have studied social insects like insects and birds for discrete optimization like the ant colony activites and pigeon seed picking which is known as particle swarm optimization.
Faith and Unity: The ‘Ummah’ as the New Kinship Group The Quran and prayer beads. In approximately 610 CE, a man named Muhammad ibn Abdallah went to a cave in the hills above Mecca to meditate, as he was accustomed to do. There, he had a powerful religious experience and began reciting verses of what would become known as the Quran, the holy book of Islam. While reciting the surahs of the Quran in Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad would find both converts and enemies. His message would inspire both devotion and enmity. The Quran appealed to people for its beauty and its insistence on returning to principles of equity, but this would place the Prophet in confrontation with his tribe and create tension between converts and their families. The conflict between the new Muslims and the Meccan community escalated to a point that it caused the Prophet to commit the Muslim community to something unthinkable by contemporary standards: an emigration based not on blood ties, but on communal faith and unity. This event was so significant that it would become known as the Hijra and set the date for the first year of the Islamic calendar in 622 CE. In pre-Islamic Arabian society, status, position and even personal well-being were all based on membership in kinship groups. Society was divided into a series of (usually[1]) blood-related groups organized in a hierarchical structure. The family group was the smallest organizational unit and was subordinate to a clan, which in turn was subordinate to a tribe. In these kinship groups, there was essentially no individual identity.[2] A man was a member of his family, clan and tribe. All acts between individual members of tribes assumed collective responsibility, sometimes leading to vendettas where the victim’s tribe would seek redress against any member of the offending party’s tribe.[3] This created situations in which a person was victimized based on the actions of another member of the tribe, though it wasn’t seen as wrong, because honor and responsibility were attributed to the group, rather than the individual. The more powerful the tribe one belonged to, the surer one could be that their family would be safe and prosperous. In Muhammad: A Prophet For Our Time, Karen Armstrong details the loyalty of a man to his tribe using a quote from a Ghazziyya poet: “I am of Ghazziyya. If she be in error, I will be in error; and if Ghazziya be guided right, I will go with her.”[4] Tribal loyalties were so important that even if a man’s tribesman was in the wrong, he was obliged to help him for the sake of tribal solidarity. The concept of tribal solidarity would be both a boon and a problem for the Prophet Muhammad. Religion was not unknown to pre-Islamic Arab society, but it was tied to individual kinship groups. Each tribe had a deity, represented by an idol in the Ka’aba at Mecca, which was already an established pilgrimage site. Loyalty to the tribe also included loyalty to the tribal deity. This presented two problems to the success of the Prophet’s message. Converting to Islam meant forsaking the tribal deity and betraying the tribe, a violation of the tribal solidarity that is evidenced by the quote from the Ghazziya poet. More practically, the Prophet Muhammad’s message was an attack on the economic structure of Mecca, which relied on annual pilgrimages to the Ka’aba to remain viable. If people stopped worshipping the idols then they would no longer have a reason to visit Mecca. The Quraysh, the Prophet’s own tribe, would lose their source of income. In one stroke, the Prophet was insulting the tribe’s sense of community and attacking the economic foundation its prosperity depended on. The Quraysh were obligated to persecute the fledgling Muslim community. The Prophet Muhammad’s attack on Meccan social norms was met first with resistance and then with violence, including a narrowly avoided assassination attempt. The Muslims initially benefited from the protection of the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle, Abu Talib, who was the head of the Banu Hashim, a respected clan in the Quraysh tribe. However, after his uncle died, the Prophet and his followers were left to fend for themselves, leaving them in a difficult position where they were open to violent retaliation from the Qurayshi families who felt both threatened and insulted by a perceived theft of family member loyalties. This dilemma was resolved by a revolutionary idea, built on the foundation of the message that the Prophet preached in Mecca. The Muslims abandoned the idea of kinship groups based on blood and instead formed a new ‘tribe’ based on faith, known as the ummah. Membership in the ummah (as well as being a Muslim) required no family relation, no social status, and no prerequisite level of income; it only required acceptance of Allah as the one true God and of Muhammad as his Messenger. The ummah was a new community that offered the Muslims the protection and security they had previously received from their kinship groups.[5] The moment that defined the creation of this community is the Hijra, the emigration of Muslims to Yathrib. Prior to this, the Muslims had still considered themselves to be members of their own families, just with a different set of beliefs. Breaking away from their families and creating a new community based on faith rather than blood was an incredible social innovation, and clearly marks the birth of the Muslim community as an independent and functional social system, as well as a system of belief. Eventually, the ummah would encompass all of Arabia, creating a new problem that challenged the traditional means of supplementing tribal income: raiding, which was known as ghazu. In times of scarcity, tribes would launch raids against each other to capture camels, cattle or slaves. Raids were carried out with precision and care, to prevent injuries or deaths that might result in blood fueds. These raids were an accepted fact of life and were not in any way morally reprehensible. They were instead a necessary means of redistributing wealth in an area of the world where there was often not enough to go around.[6] Unfortunately, this tradition conflicted with the new Muslim morality as defined by the Quran and the Prophet. Surah 3, ayah 103 of the Quran says, “Hold fast to God’s rope all together; do not split into factions. Remember God’s favour to you: you were enemies and then He brought your hearts together and you became brothers by His grace: you were about to fall into a pit of Fire and He saved you from it…”[7] Also, in his book, A History of the Arab Peoples, Hourani says that when the Prophet Muhammad made his last visit to Mecca in 632, he gave a speech and said, “…know that every Muslim is a Muslim’s brother, and that the Muslims are brethren.” He said that violence between Muslims should be avoided and old blood debts should be forgotten.[8] As essentially members of one tribe, the ummah would have to reassess their society and find a new means of supporting themselves. Internal conflicts were no longer permitted under Islam, so the Arabs instead spread outward, taking their culture and religion with them. The outward spread of Arabs into the Middle East began as raiding parties in Syria and Palestine in the 630s,[9] but soon developed into full scale battle with the Byzantine and Sassanian Empires. The conquering Arabs would be victorious, creating a vast Islamic empire. The leap from pre-Islamic Bedouin society to Islamic Imperialism would again fundamentally alter Arab society. Because of the principles of unity found in the Quran, the nomadic peoples of Arabia created a new social identity that revolved around faith. This was a clear break from the past and returned a sense of equity to the Muslim community. However, this new unity came with new problems. The Arabs had to find a new economic model to sustain their society. The Arabs solved this problem using traditional tactics. Since the tribe was replaced by the ummah, the push outward into the Middle East was a continuation of the tradition of ghazu, simply on a larger scale. Intentionally or not, a relatively simple people from the Arabian Peninsula quickly became a world power that would greatly influence world history, and continues to influence world history. [1] On page 38 of The Great Arab Conquests, Kennedy states that membership in a tribe might increase or decrease based on the tribe’s level of success. New arrivals would claim that they “must have been in some way part of that kin all along,” maintaining the façade of biological kinship groups. [2] Lapidus, page 13. [3] Lapidus, pages 12. [4] Muhammad: A Prophet For Our Time, pages 12 – 14. [5] Kennedy, page 38. [6] Muhammad: A Prophet For Our Time, page 11. [7] The Qur’an; M.A.S. Abdel Haleem translation; Oxford World’s Classics version. [8] Hourani, page 19. [9] Kennedy, page 70. Armstrong, K. (2007). Muhammad: A Prophet For Our Time. New York: HarperCollins. Armstrong, K. (2009). Islam: A Short History. London: Phoenix Press. The Qur’an. (2010). (M. A. Haleem, Trans.) New York: Oxford University Press. Hourani, A. (1991). A History Of The Arab Peoples. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Kennedy, H. (2008). The Great Arab Conquests: How The Spread of Islam Changed The World We Live In. Philadelphia: Ca Capo Press. Lapidus, I. M. (2002). A History of Islamic Societies (2nd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. This was a paper written for a college course titled “Middle East Under Islam.” The final grade was 15/15, 100%. Art Comparison: Qu’ran Manuscript and The Angel Gabriel The following is the second paper I wrote for my Art History 100 class. We were tasked with finding two art pieces in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and then writing a paper that compares and contrasts them based on form and content. Our choices were restricted to certain art periods from specific locations, like French Gothic or Italian Renaissance. I chose the following two pieces because I found them particularly interesting on a personal level, as well as being easy to write about. I think I might have been a bit off the mark on fitting The Angel Gabriel to the Renaissance standard, but I won’t know for sure until September, when I can get in touch with the professor and see the paper. It was due on the day of the final, so there’s no way for me to get it back and check it out. I’ll update the grade received and any notes from the professor at some point, on the Essays page. (Note: The images were not included in the paper that was turned in. I added them here so readers that aren’t as familiar with art as my professor can get a better idea of what I’m talking about.) Introduction and Location The paper will be discussing the differences and similarities between two works: The Angel Gabriel and Qur’an Manuscript. The Angel Gabriel was created in approximately 1493, is attributed to Masseo Civitali and is believed to have originally been located in the oratory of Santa Maria dell’ Anunnziata in Lucca, Italy. The work is now located in gallery 500 on the first floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the “European Sculpture and Decorative Arts” section. The Qur’an Manuscript was created in the early 14th century, by an anonymous artist in Iran or Iraq. The work is now located in a display case in gallery 203, on the Great Hall Balcony on the second floor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Formal Aspect & Genre Descriptions The Angel Gabriel, Sculpture, Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Angel Gabriel is a Renaissance sculpture that is roughly life-sized. The sculpture is a painted and partially gilt terracotta statue. It appears to have been free standing on its original base, which is now broken. The statue is now anchored to a display base. The sculpture leans at an almost unnatural angle, covered in a draped garment that is smooth and flowing. The figure is naturalistically proportioned and detailed, though the face is idealized. On the back of the statue, there are two vertical slots where terracotta wings were probably inserted. Renaissance art was largely religious (Aston 105). Compared to the earlier Gothic style, Renaissance art focused more on the human aspect of the art subject. Where Gothic art was solemn and dignified, Renaissance works like The Angel Gabriel attempted to introduce tenderness and beauty into art without sacrificing the aura of divinity associated with religious figures (Aston 133). The introduction of a human element into the sculpture is apparent in the joyous expression on the face and in how the arms are crossed over the chest, as though the angel can barely contain the good news he is about to share. Rather than standing vertical, the angel is leaning forward towards the recipient of his news. Despite these included aspects of human emotion, the aura of the divine is still maintained through the idealized, androgynous face (angels have no gender), and the original presence of wings on its back. Qu'ran Manuscript, 14th Century Iran or Iraq, Metropolitan Museum of Art The Qur’an Manuscript is a non-illustrated manuscript folio and an example of Islamic art. The page on display is 34.9 x 27.3 centimeters and was made with ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper. The page is primarily covered with naskh cursive text, but also contains decorative calligraphy and hand drawn vegetal and geometric images that are painted with gold. Islamic art as a whole is defined by a prohibition against making representations of living things, since it might create a temptation to commit idolatry (Evans 151). The resulting typical expression of Islamic art is mostly abstract, containing geometric patterns, references to vegetation and calligraphy. These elements were reflections of religious beliefs. The geometric patterns represent the perfection of Allah and the vegetation is a reference to paradise in the afterlife. Calligraphy also became a popular form of art, taking the place of images and being used to represent Allah. The main purpose of calligraphy was to appreciate the visual quality, rather than to read it. These elements are present in both secular and religious art, though secular art would not contain calligraphic quotations from the Qur’an. Both The Angel Gabriel and the Qu’ran Manuscript have a similar theme. Both works are the products of religious devotion. Gabriel is a prominent figure that is present in the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Stories about Gabriel appear in each religion’s holy texts. The Qur’an Manuscript is a handwritten and decorated page of the Qu’ran, the holy book of Islam. The difference between the two works is that while The Angel Gabriel represents a religious idea, it was mostly meant to be decorative, appearing in an oratory. The Qu’ran Manuscript, on the other hand, while being decorative was also meant to be functional, a holy book to read and learn from. The Angel Gabriel, Sculpture, Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Angel Gabriel specifically depicts Gabriel, an angel, leaning forward, as if appearing to someone. The name Gabriel means “God is my strength” or “the strength of God” and he is known as The Great Communicator (Aquilina 69). Throughout the Bible, Gabriel appears to people to bring them news from God. In Daniel 8:15-17 he appears to Daniel to explain a vision to him. In Luke 1:16-17 he appears to Zechariah to tell him that he and his wife shall have a child and that his child, John the Baptist, will prepare the way for the Messiah. Later, in Luke 1:26-38, Gabriel appears to Mary, to tell her that she will be the mother of Jesus Christ, the son of God. According to the information placard on the sculpture’s display base, it is believed that The Angel Gabriel was originally part of a pair of statues which included the Virgin Mary. Together, they would have formed an Annunciation Group, which represents the moment when Gabriel shared the news of her divine pregnancy with her. The Qu’ran Manuscript is a page from the holy book of Islam, the Qu’ran. The top of the page contains a geometric, gold painted rectangular frame that contains decorative calligraphy which reads, “Surat Saud, Eighty Six Verses (Ayats), Mekka surat” (Hany), though Mr. Hany also noted that the surat actually has 88 verses. Just to the right of the rectangular frame is a drawing containing concentric circles around a vegetal image, probably of a flower, also in gold with a blue center. Additional matching representations of flowers, rosettes, are drawn throughout the text as markers between ayas, or verses. In the right margin are two decorative seals, one circular, one teardrop shaped, both in gold and surrounded by a blue outline. These seals contain kufic script in the center. The main text of the page is a cursive form of Arabic known as naskh, with recitation marks added in red ink. The text on the page on display is the last part of the 37th surah and the first 11 ayas of the 38th surah of the 23rd juz (part) of the Qu’ran, The Letter Saud, which was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad at Mecca. Preceding the beginning of the 1st aya in the 38th surah is the phrase, “In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful,” which is not part of the surah itself and precedes all of the surahs in the Qu’ran (Hany). The original purpose of The Angel Gabriel would have been to inspire believers and deepen their faith. Many people at the time the statue was created were illiterate, and learning about Christianity, outside of sermons given by clergy, was through observation of religious art. When looking at the sculpture of Gabriel, believers would have been reminded of the good news he shared with people in the Bible, and particularly with Mary. If The Angel Gabriel was originally paired with a statue of the Virgin Mary, then viewing them together would have reminded viewers of their hope of salvation through God’s grace and Jesus’ Christ’s death and resurrection on the cross. The Angel Gabriel was originally designed to be a decorative piece for casual observation and reflection and, though it is now located in a museum rather than a religious building, the effect is essentially the same. It causes the viewer to contemplate the meaning of Christianity and Gabriel’s role in the Bible. The Qu’ran Manuscript was meant to be a functional copy of the Qu’ran, to be used by believers for study and recitation, as well as to inspire through the decorative artwork it contains. The Arabic text of the page, together with the rest of the text in the Qu’ran, is the physical representation of Allah through language (the written word) in the Islamic faith. The Qu’ran praises Allah and His creation, defines the relationship between Allah and the worshipper, explains the afterlife through eschatological texts and teaches Muslims how to practice their faith in everyday life. While the particular copy of the Qu’ran the page came from is no longer serving that purpose, the text of the Qu’ran has been copied, translated and distributed all over the world and continues to serve the function it was originally created for. The Angel Gabriel is presented in a small room with other Italian Renaissance pieces. The room is well lit, and Gabriel is the first work you notice as you walk into the room. The lighting brings out the remaining color from the original paint and gilding on the statue, giving the viewer an idea of what it might have originally looked like. Appreciation of how the piece was originally displayed would be helped by having a similar work of the Virgin Mary opposite Gabriel, though that is probably not possible due to limitations in the museum’s inventory. An alternative would be to have a digital rendering of what it might have looked like in place at the oratory displayed next to it, or on the display base. As it’s now displayed, Gabriel appears almost out of place in the room and it requires a lot of imagination to picture how it would have originally appeared. The Qu’ran Manuscript is set in a glass display case along the wall of the Great Hall Balcony. The display case contains other Islamic works that represent highlights from the Department of Islamic Art. The works range in date from the seventh to the eighteenth century and include textiles, jewelry, pottery and other manuscript pages. Since the case shows a cross-section of art, the overall effect is a bit jarring, especially combined with the noise coming from the entry hall below the balcony and the strong smells coming from the balcony dining area. The benefit of being placed in that location is that it catches the eye of people walking by and the skylights and windows help to keep it well illuminated. It would be easier to appreciate this work in a smaller room with other Islamic manuscript pages from the same time period. Works Cited Aquilina, Mike. Angels of God: The Bible, The Church, And The Heavenly Hosts. Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2009. Aston, Margaret. The Renaissance Complete. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1996. Civitali, Masseo. The Angel Gabriel. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Evans, Gillian Rosemary. The Church in the Early Middle Ages: The I.B. Tauris History of the Christian Church. New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2007. Hany, Islam. Translations and discussion of Qu’ran Manuscript and Qu’ran. Bradley J. Farless. 15 May 2011. Unknown. Qu’ran Manuscript. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Perl is a popular scripting language that is designed to build various web-oriented apps, including CGI scripts. One of the features that differentiate it from many other languages is the employment of modules - parts of Perl program code that execute predefined tasks and they are commonly accepted. Basically, instead of generating custom code to perform something or pasting tens and hundreds of lines of code inside your script, you can "call" a module which is already available for this specific job and use just several lines of program code. Because of this, your script will be executed more quickly because it'll be much smaller. Using modules will, in addition make your script simpler to edit since you will have to browse through much less code. If you intend to use Perl on your website, you need to make sure that the mandatory modules are present on your server. Over 3400 Perl Modules in Cloud Hosting All of our cloud plans come with more than 3400 Perl modules that you are able to employ as a part of your CGI scripts or web-based apps. They contain both widespread and less popular ones, in order to give you a choice with regard to what capabilities you'll be able to add to your sites. A few examples are Apache::SOAP, CGI::Session, GD, Image::Magick, URI, LWP and many others. A full list is available in the Server Information area of our tailor-made Hepsia web hosting Control Panel, that is provided with all the shared accounts. In the same location, you will find the Perl version which we have as well as the path to the modules that you'll need to use in your scripts to call a specific module from the library.
Shava, is an animal totem variant of the Mhofu/Mpofu, which is the name of the Eland deer-like animal in Southern Africa. Shava is often associated with the fairness of skin, resembling the colors of the Eland, or becoming self-sufficient, such as by hunting or fishing. Shava is associated with the Vahera tribe, descendants of Mbiru, who lived at Gombe Hill in present-day Buhera, East of Zimbabwe. The Vahera are Shona, a collective name of many tribes who lived in present-day Zimbabwe before Mzilikazi settled there with his Ndebele people. The Ndebele use the name Mpofu in Matabeleland. The Vahera people claim that they came from Guruuswa,[1] an area North of the Zambezi River, in Uganda and Sudan. Another claim is that they entered Zimbabwe via Mozambique, where some of their daughters had bred with the foreign traders along the coast, resulting in the light brown skin tone. That light brown is called shava in Shona. Buhera word means the Hera people. Clans Edit Mbira was identified by his totem Shava (the Eland), also known as Nauka. All descendants of Mbiru share the same totem of Shava, but some changed to various Chidawos over time (praise name in parentheses) to hide from their enemies. Their praise poetry uses terms such as Mhofuyemukono (the bull eland) and Mhukahuru (the large beast). The Shava belt possesses the following dynasties: Bocha, in the East, in the angle of the Odzi and Save; Marange (Shava Mukonde) in Buhera on the south bank of the upper Save River, the Nyashanu (Shava Museyamwa), the Mutekedza (Shava Masarirambi) South of Buhera and the Munyaradzi (Shava Wakanonoka). Shava Royals stretched west of the watershed from the upper Munyati to the Munyati-Mupfure confluence. These include the Mushava (Shava Musimuvi), the Nherera and Rwizi (Shava Mazarura) in the middle of Mupfure River, the Chivero (Shava Mwendamberi) to the far West of Chivero, the Neuso (Shava Mhukahuru Murehwa), the Muvirimirwa, the Chireya, or the Shava Murehwa, the Njerere (Shava Mvuramavi), the Nemangwe, the Matore (shava mudavanhu) and this was direct descendancy of Dore son of Nyashanu and they stretch from Kasuwe in Gokwe to Piriviri in Hurungwe, they praise mutunhu uri panaChiremera, Chirembera is a place in Gokwe Kasuwe area where Dore the son of Nyashanu resided during his stay in Gokwe before he went back to Buhera and died, the Nenyanga, the Negonde, the Nyavira, the Neharava, the Seke Mutema (Shava Mvuramavi), the Hwata dynasty (Shava Mufakose) and the Chiweshe (Shava Mutenhesenwa) in northern Zimbabwe and (Shava Nyakuviruka) and Shava Mhizha and the Shava Museyamwa of Chishanga ,who praise vari Matiringe ,vanodana vari Majakatira, vari Chishanga vari Mashakazhara who are direct descendants of Mutunhakuenda(sometimes referred to as Mutunhakwenda or just Mutunha) , a great- grandson of Nyashanu. His father was Ndyakavamwa, the son of Gukunava, the son of Dakota, or Mutekwatekwa, the son of Nyashanu. He moved south to the current day Masvingo province and established the Chishanga kingdom. Contrary to accepted history, the governance of the area was organized. Seke Mutema Vahera culture was underpinned by inclusiveness and including marrying outside the totem. The most compelling untold history is that of Seke Mutema, whose actions opened up the North, East, and West of present-day Zimbabwe to the Valera. Seke was the first son of Nyashanu and was disgruntled because he had been passed over in succession. His mother may have been from the Dziva people in the West and the Northeast. With his brothers Hwata, Chiweshe, Marange, and Gwenzi, he set up a vast kingdom that encouraged other members of their tribe to move south and west. The change in totems had more with these events than the need for intermarriage, which is still not widely accepted there. It is said that Chiweshe’s and Hwata’s children’s battles over land and women were encouraged by Uncle Gwenzi, who himself never sired a child. In settling these disputes, Hwata became Mufakose. He intervened in conflicts in the West with Mzilikazi and was fighting within territories under his governance while Chiweshe assumed mutenhesanwa (those fighting among themselves). Seke changed to Mvuramavi (hellstorm/waterstone-Mvuramahwe) after having agreed, as per Rozvi tradition, to change his people totem to Zuruvi to marry the Zuruvi Chief’s daughter as a peace arrangement. Upon the death of the wife, the people agitated to return to their original totem. This was no longer possible given the intervening intermarriage. Seke was the eldest, followed by Aitewedzerwa na Chiweshe, Kouya Hwata, Marange, and lastly, Gwenzi. Their mother was a Rozvi princess. When he used the Chidawo, Seke boasted that he was a Muzukuru of the Rozvi (Varidzi Wevu) through using the Chidawo Ivuramai Vangu, shortened to Vhuramai (the soil/land belongs to my mother, i.e., vana sekuru vake, or the Rozvi). This served to remind all neighboring clans of Seke’s blue blood, e.g. the Matemai. Seke’s new sons-in-law, the Matemai, went crazy on seeing Vabvana Vatsvuku Weshava and immediately gave Seke the area where they now live. His neighbors were the Matemai to the Northeast, the Tingini’s Soko Murehwa of Washawasha in the North around the Harare suburbs of Glenlorne/Chisipiti, and to the West Chiwero (around WarrenHills/Dziwaresekwa all to areas around Norton) and associated people such as the Gwanzura. To the Northwest were the Mapondera, who occupied the land stretching from the Harare suburbs of Marlborough/Mt Hamperden to the Mazowe valley (Kugomba). The South was the dominion of Seke’s father Nyashanu (Churu Chine Masvesve). To the East was the Vatsunga of Nyandoro, the Vahota (Chihota), and the Vambire around Mount Hwedza. War with the Gunguvo people ensued during Goreraza’s rule (Seke #18). They pushed the invaders out and thus assumed the totem Mhofu Mvuramahwe, which over time came to be Mvuramavi (Waterstone) and is now commonly referred to as Vhuramavi. Seke was not the first son of Nyashanu. Nyashanu’s first son was Masarirambi, followed by Chiwashira, Mapanzure, Munyaradzi then Marange. The name Nyashanu is a nickname. His real name is Mbiru or Munhuwepi. He came and settled at Gombe hills (Chikomo che Mbwera), particularly with his 5 sons. He then sirred other sons, ie. Chiweshe, Gwenzi, Hwata, Seke and others. Their Sister Nehanda, the first, was given to the Rozvi Chief as a little girl. The Rozvi then migrated to the Mazoe area en route to Guruve. The girl was young and a virgin. A spirit Medium manifested in her, and the Rozvi send a message to Nyashanu. Nyashanu dispatched his two sons Chiweshe and Hwata, to go and perform rituals as the inlaws of the Rozvi, and that’s how Chiweshe and Hwata were given areas to rule by the Rozvis. Chiweshe was very good and a snipper with Bow and arrow. He was a great warrior. Nyashanhu later had many wives and many sons. All the first 5 sons had left Vuhera and were chiefs in Areas around their father. Masarirambi had gone north at the Mtekedza area, followed by Chiwashira, who was near Chivu. Marange settled across Save in the present Narange area. Munyaradzi settled in Gutu. Mapanzure settle in the Rushanga area is relocating to Zvishavane. Back a Mbwera Seke was now the oldest son looking after his father. The father was now old and could not manage his conjugal duties to his many wives. Seke as the elder son took over duties to the younger wives. When the father became aware, he runs away, following his brothers up North. That’s how Seke left Vuhera. References Edit Shoko, Tabona (1 January 2007). Karanga Indigenous Religion in Zimbabwe: Health and Well-being. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 38–. ISBN 978-0-7546-5881-8. Sources Edit Beach, D.N.A Zimbabwe Past, Mambo Press, 1994 Source :Wikipedia
I've seen a curious Chinese word 身体. At first, I have discovered that it means 'body' and is a word with a broader meaning in comparison to 身材 or 体格. But I never understood why it means 'body' or, yet another meaning, 'health'. There is a question 《你身体好吗？》which literally means 'How is your health?'. While trying to seek for etymology, I turned out to be stuck because searching engines gave me no proper result about it. Thanks for any help in finding the answer. • 1 The concepts of one's body and one's health seem very closely related to me. – Olle Linge Jan 12 at 12:56 身体 doesn't mean health, it just means 'body'. 身体好吗？ (is your body fine) = how is your body. If your body is fine (身体很好), then you are healthy If your body is not fine (身体不好), then you are not healthy We have a word for health and it is 健康 How is your health = 你的健康如何？ Are you healthy? = 你健康吗? Is your body healthy? = 你的身体健康吗? 体格 means 'physique' (the form, size, and development of a person's body) = The condition of one's body, e.g. 体格強建，体格孱弱 (Strong physique, weak physique) 体格不佳， (one's physique is not great) doesn't mean 身体不好 (one's body is not fine/ not healthy), it just means one's physique is weak e.g. too short, too thin, lack strength, and so on 身体健康 (the body's health) doesn't include mental health, which is called 精神健康. For the health of both body and mind, it is 身心健康 (the health of the mind and body) Since 健康 can be an adjective or noun 身体健康 can mean 'the body's health' or 'one's body is healthy' • "If your body is fine (身体很好), then you are healthy". This doesn't include mental health, does it? – joehua Jan 13 at 0:17 • See my edit at the bottom – Tang Ho Jan 13 at 1:43 Your Answer
Question: What Case Ruled That Students Retain The Right To Free Speech While In Public School? What rights do schools have over students? Do minors have 4th Amendment rights? Can your parents go to jail if you miss school? In court, parents are charged with a civil violation, but not a crime. … Parents can be fined up to $250 and the judge can order things such as parent training classes, counseling, community service, or other actions deemed relevant to the case. Ultimately, you cannot go to jail for a child missing school. What are the 12 rights of the child? Celebrating National Children’s Month: The 12 Rights of a ChildEvery child has the right to be born well. … Every child has the right to a wholesome family life. … Every child has the right to be raised well and become contributing members of society. … Every child has the right to basic needs. … Every child has the right to access what they need to have a good life.More items…• Why do schools enforce dress codes? Does the First Amendment protect students right to protest during school hours or while on school property? The First Amendment states that Congress, a government entity, cannot infringe upon free speech or expression. Therefore, students attending public schools, which are funded by the government, clearly retain their rights to freedom of speech while on school property. Does the First Amendment protect students right to wear whatever they want to school? When Does the First Amendment Protect What Students Wear to School? Students’ right to freedom of expression extends to the messages on their clothes, as long as they aren’t disruptive or vulgar. But schools can impose dress codes that aren’t meant to silence opinions. When was creationism banned from public schools? Under the law’s terms, no school was required to teach either evolution or creation science, but if one were taught, the other had to be taught as well. The declared purpose of the law was protecting “academic freedom.” On June 19, 1987, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in the case of Edwards v. At what age is a parent not legally responsible? Do minors have 1st Amendment rights? Courts have held that minors have First Amendment rights and that those rights include the right to receive information. … The First Amendment prohibits governmental entities from unconstitutionally infringing rights of free speech. Students in public schools, therefore, do have rights under the First Amendment. What amendment does school uniforms violate? students’ right to choose their dress-a violation of students’ First Amendment right tofree speech. This article describes selected constitutional issues related to the use of school uniforms with afocus on the First Amendment and concludes with implications for uniform policies in public schools. Do schools have the right to limit free speech? The U.S. Supreme Court has said that students “do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression at the schoolhouse gate.” … Many courts have held that school officials can restrict student speech that is lewd. Do minors have the right to free speech? Court has long recognized that minors enjoy some degree of First Amendment protection. Students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate” (Tinker v. … The Court emphasized that “students too are beneficiaries of this principle” (868). Is free speech different for public school students than for the general population? Free speech is different in public schools than the general public to protect students from saying inappropriate things, discussing wrong things, or disrupting the school and other students. In the general population you have the right to free speech and to speak your mind freely. Do school dress codes violate the First Amendment? As students grow and develop their identities, they often use clothing as a way to express who they are and what they believe. But they can also violate a student’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression and a parent’s Fourteenth Amendment right to raise their children as they choose. …
Inflation: Not Merely a Monetary Phenomenon I’m a big fan of Milton Friedman. I’m also a big fan of easy-to-remember phrases that impart great wisdom. It honestly made me wince the first time I said the following: Inflation is not everywhere and always a monetary phenomenon“. The reasoning is as plain as day. Consider the quantity equation: For the uninitiated, M is the money supply, V (velocity) is the average number of times dollars transacts during a period, P is the price level, and finally Y is real output during a period. This equation is often called the “equation of exchange” or “the quantity equation”. Strictly speaking, it is an identity. It is a truism that cannot be violated. All economists agree that the equation is true, though they may disagree on its usefulness. Inflation is simply the percent change in price. We can rearrange the quantity equation, solving for price, in order to see the relationship between the price level and its determinants. What does this mean? It means that more money results in more inflation, all else held constant. It means that higher velocity results in more inflation, all else held constant. It means that less output results in more inflation, all else held constant. Why would Milton Friedman say that inflation is always caused by changes in the money supply if it is clear that there are two other causes of the price level? When Milton Friedman said his famous quote, output growth was relatively steady. Velocity growth was relatively steady. For his context, Milton Friedman was right. The majority of price and inflation volatility was found in changes in M. See below. Strictly speaking however, Milton Friedman knew better and he knew that the statement was not strictly correct. Friedman was a public intellectual and he was a great simplifier. He taught many people many true things. At the time, people were blaming inflation on a great variety of things: taxes, fish catches, and unions, to name a few. Arguably, Friedman got them closer to the truth. Now, there are economists that are pointing to total spending as the driver of inflation. After all, both sides of the equation of exchange describe NGDP (a.k.a. – Aggregate Demand or Aggregate Expenditure). Replacing M and V in the equation with NGDP yields: What does this mean? It means that higher NGDP results in more inflation, all else held constant. It means that less output results in more inflation, all else held constant. But economists dismissing M in lieu of AD are committing the same oversimplification. Y can also change! Maybe economists figure that our recent history is full of relatively stable Y growth and that we ought not pay attention to it. And indeed, unsurprisingly, RGDP growth has been less than NGDP growth. But what is driving the current bought of inflation? Pardon the crude image. The pink lines are eye-balled trend lines on natural logged data for AD, Y, and P. Prices are up. Is it because of exceptionally high NGDP? Nope. Total spending is back on pre-2020 trend. Does Y happen to be down? Yep, it sure is. Right now, assuming the previous trend was anywhere close to potential output, inflation is not being driven by excess aggregate demand. It’s being driven by inadequate real output. The news tells the story. There have been supply-chain bottle-necks, difficulty employing, lockdowns, and fear of covid. Right now we have an output problem and higher prices are a symptom. We do not have an aggregate spending problem. PS – In fact, it is my belief that the Fed successfully avoided a debt-deflation aggregate demand tumble that would have been catastrophic. Inflation is expected when supplies of goods decline. Why Do We Care About Inflation? The title question may seem obvious. “We” care about inflation because, ultimately, any dollars we have saved will purchase fewer real goods and services. Additionally, we might worry that our incomes are not keeping pace with the increase in the prices of good and services that we want to purchase. But the answer to that question is a little more nuanced. “We” also care about why prices are increasing. I keep putting “we” in quotation marks because who the we is crucial for answering the question. For example, individuals and families primarily care about inflation for the reasons I stated in the first paragraph. But central bankers care about inflation for different reasons. In broad terms, monetary policy is an attempt to smooth out the fluctuations in the economy, especially to make recessions shorter and less deep. But monetary officials want to know: is the policy they are putting in place leading to prices rising in general? If so, especially if inflation gets above certain target levels, it may mean that monetary has been “too loose.” However, if particular prices are rising, say the price of cars (due to a lack of computer chips), central bankers don’t really care about this: it gives them no indication of whether they’ve done “too much” or “too little” with regards to stimulating the economy. Similarly, if gasoline prices rise, consumers really care about this. Central bankers, not so much: it doesn’t really tell them much about their goal (stimulating the economy with stimulating it too much). And because some prices are so volatile, historical context is important for understanding what a recent increase or decrease means. For example, gasoline prices are up 45% in the past 12 months. That’s a lot! But it’s an increase from a very low base, and the historical reality is that gasoline prices today (around $3.00/gallon on average) are at similar levels to what they were way back in 2006, and are lower than they were for almost all of 2011-2014. And these are all in nominal terms, median household income has gone up a lot since 2006 (up 40% in nominal terms) and even since 2014 (up 25%). All of this is important background for thinking about the latest release of the CPI-U data this week. The headline inflation number of 5.3% is indeed startling, similar to last month. We haven’t touched that level since mid-2008, and that was only for a few months. If consumer price inflation were to stay at around 5% for a sustained period of time, it would be a new, harsh reality for most consumers today: we haven’t had a year with 5% inflation since 1990, and for the past decade the average has hung around 2%. So will it stay this high? Sadly, I have no crystal ball and I will just reiterate what I said last month: the picture is just too muddled right now to say anything concrete. Perhaps by the end of the year we will have a better picture. But is there anything we can say right now even with the muddled picture? I continue to like this chart from the Council of Economic Advisors: Bottom line: if we strip out the unusual supply chain disruptions to automobiles as well as airline/hotel prices making up for lost ground during the pandemic, inflation is at completely normal levels. It’s almost exactly 2% But is this cheating? Can we really strip out the things that are increasing at rapid rates? Continue reading Penny-Pinchers Gonna Pinch Text books say that there are two major problems with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). First, accounting for changes in quality is difficult. Second, the CPI is calculated by assuming a fixed basket of goods is consumed over time. For both of these reasons, the rate of inflation that is implied by CPI is typically considered to be about 1% overestimated. Imperfectly accounting for quality improvements causes higher measured inflation because the stream of services that a product creates for the consumer has increased – even though the product is nominally the same product. For example, the camera on my smart-phone is now good enough to record a high-quality Youtube video, whereas it was of mediocre quality on my previous phone. My life is better-off with the better camera. But the increase in my quality of life isn’t measured by the CPI. The CPI does, however, make note that I paid a higher price for a phone. Further, people don’t consume a fixed basket of goods over time. Even if we stopped the introduction of all new products and maintained the quality of all current products, people would still change the composition of their consumption due to price changes among related goods. When people get hot and bothered by inflation, they often appeal to people who are of less means and who would find higher prices more burdensome. For that reason, below is a graph of some calorically dense and roughly comparable food staple prices (from the PPI). You can put a protein on top of any one of these and call it a meal: pasta, flour, potatoes, & rice. Let’s say that a consumer consumed equal parts of these in January of 2020. The CPI assumes that the consumption basket remains constant and plots a weighted average. In such a case, price rose 2.3% through July 2021. But in real life, penny-pinchers gonna pinch. If our consumer is particularly Spartan, then he will always consume the cheapest option – he treats the different foods as perfect substitutes. The Spartan price of consuming fell 22.3%. To be clear, the CPI assumes that the consumption composition remains unchanged, while the consumer’s actual basket is responsive to price changes. Even if a consumer considers these goods to be imperfect substitutes and is willing to cut any particular type of consumption in half in favor of the cheapest alternative, then the price fell by 10%. In fact, a consumer who is at all responsive to prices will always have a cheaper basket than the headline CPI, all else constant. In conclusion, be careful with your money. Spend it well and seek out alternatives. Your flexibility determines how much money you’ll have at the end of the month. The headline CPI number impacts only the most passive consumer – and even then, budget constraints gonna constrain. Beer, Hot Dogs, and Inflation The latest inflation data for the US has been released, and the headline CPI-U annual increase of 5.4% is once again raising worries that high inflation could be a permanent part of the landscape for the near future. My personal opinion is that the picture is much too muddled now, between temporary supply issues and low bases for 2020 prices, to say much about the medium-term picture. I think we’ll have a better picture by the end of the year. Still, it’s worth drilling down into the data, as we have done in the past on this blog, to understand some things about economics, prices, and how price changes are impacting real people. Certainly the prices of some goods are rising at alarming rates. Many of these are related to automobiles and transportation generally, but some categories of food have rose a lot in the past year too (though groceries overall are only up 2.6%). But I want to talk about two categories of consumption: beer and hot dogs. Actually, my co-blogger Zachary has already written about beer. And using the producer price index, he found that canned beer is actually cheaper than it was a year ago. If you like canned beer, rejoice! And for all beer at home, the CPI shows only a 1.8% increase since last year, after a similar small 1.6% increase last July (not much of a base effect… a clue for later!). But not all Americans consumer alcohol. So let’s talk about that most American food product: the hot dog. Why should we care about hot dogs? Read on. Continue reading A Canned-Beer Kind of Guy An ex-co-worker was once complaining to me that the prices of things that he liked kept going up. He was an economics major. Of course he knew that wages also increase. He wasn’t simply cantankerous about inflation. He knew all about improving productivity, income, and price level changes. He was being more specific. The particular items that he liked were getting more expensive. He was complaining about what, to everyone else, were relative price changes. Unrelatedly, I was floating around the website and examining their Producer Price Index (PPI) FAQs (I learned a bunch). The content is extensive. CPI is broken up into some subcategories. But PPI, being used by multiple industries and trade groups for real-life costs and benefits, is excitingly granular. You want to know what happened to the price of red, white, rose, and carbonated wines each in particular? They’ve got you covered. It really is amazing. Back to my co-worker. I tried to explain that relative price changes reflected underlying economic value and scarcities. We wasn’t having any of it. He just didn’t want his prices to go up. We economists are known for being kind of dispassionate. We see relative prices change and we shrug. Man-on-the-street sees a relative price change and, boy, does he care about it – if it’s the purchasing price that he faces. See the below graph. What kind of consumer are you? Since the start of the pandemic, canned, bottled, and kegged beer have all changed in price. Or maybe you’re a teetotaler and you’ve noticed the increasing price of bottled water. For interpretability, let’s consider what had cost $10 at the start of the year 2020. Bottled water has gone up to $10.50 and bottled beer has gone up to almost $10.30. You may not blink at a 3% price increase – unless it’s for 6 bottles of your favorite craft beer. The price of canned beer, on the other hand, hardly increased at all. And in the last couple of months, the price fell. I sure hope that my co-worker is a canned-beer kind of guy. Otherwise, someone is sure to hear a lot of belly-aching. Flying the Friendly Skies (Today and in the Past) It’s almost summer. About half the US population has at least one dose of a COVID vaccine. For many Americans that haven’t had their employment impacted by the pandemic, their bank accounts are flush with cash and they are ready to do one thing with that cash: travel. See family and friends. See something other than the inside of your own home. And for many Americans traveling this summer, they will fly. The airlines, no doubt, will appreciate your business. At this time last year, the world had so radically shifted that Zoom’s market cap was bigger than the 7 largest airlines in the world. In May 2020, air passenger traffic in the US was less than 10% of traffic in 2019. Today, we’ve recovered a lot, but we are still only back to about two-thirds of normal levels. And since airplanes are just a marginal cost with wings, flying all their planes at close to full capacity is crucial for airlines to return to profitability. They really need you to fly the friendly skies this summer. One of the reasons that so many Americans are able to fly in today is because flying is, compared to historical prices, very cheap. How cheap is flying to today compared to the past? Let’s look at some historical price data for flights. Continue reading The Pappy Pricing Puzzle If you drink bourbon whiskey (or even if you don’t) you’ve probably heard of Pappy Van Winkle. Bourbon has experienced something of a revival in the past two decades, after being in decline for much of the 20th century. As part of this revival, some bourbons have become very highly sought after by the nouveau bourbon enthusiasts. And the various offerings of Pappy Van Winkle are arguably the most highly sought after. Finding Pappy is almost impossible these days, though this was also true a decade ago so it’s not really a “new” phenomena. So here’s the “puzzle” for economists: why aren’t Pappy and other rare whiskies sold at market prices? No one in the “legal” market seems willing to do so. I put “legal” in quotation marks because there is a robust secondary market for these bottles, and the legal status of these sales is entirely unclear to me as an economist (alcohol markets are, to say the least, highly regulated). In these secondary markets, it is not unusual for a 20-year bottle of Pappy Van Winkle to sell for $2,000. The “manufacturer’s suggested retail price” is $199.99. But you will never find this bottle on the shelf for that price. The bottles are held by retailers, either to sell to friends, auction off for charity, or conduct a lottery for the right to purchase the bottle at well below market prices. So why doesn’t the distillery raise the MSRP? Clearly, they do this from time to time. Ten years ago, if you were lucky enough to find this bottle it was around $100 (I was lucky enough, on occasion). Clearly, they recognize that prices can increase. And that’s not just “keeping up with inflation”: $100 in 2011 is about $120 in current dollars. By 2016, they had raised the MSRP to $169.99. But why doesn’t the distillery raise the price more, perhaps all the way up to the market clearing price? By doing so, they would, perhaps, be able to ramp up production so that in 2041 there might be a lot more Pappy on the shelf. At the very least, they could dramatically increase their profit. Receipt for 1 bottle of 20-year Pappy and 2 bottles of 12-year Van Winkle “Special Reserve” from 2011. Also, why don’t retailers just put bottles on the shelf at $2,000? Stores occasionally do this, but mostly because they are fed up with all of the customers calling about rare bottles. Sometimes they will price it even higher than secondary markets. But usually, they allocate the bottles by something other than the price mechanism. Why? Businesses don’t usually leave dollar bills, especially $1,000 dollar bills, on the table. Continue reading Hyperinflationary Efficiency? I’m advising a senior thesis for a student who is examining the strength of Purchasing Power Parity in hyper-inflationary countries. Beautifully, the results are consistent with another author* who uses a more sophisticated method. For those who don’t know, absolute purchasing power parity (PPP) depends on arbitrage among traders to cause a unit of currency to have the same ability to acquire goods in two different countries. If after converting your currency you can afford more stuff in foreign country, then there is a profit opportunity to purchase there and even to re-sell it in your home country. Essentially, when you make that decision, you are reducing demand for the good in your home country and increasing demand in the foreign country (re-selling affects the domestic supply too). Eventually, the changes in demand cause the prices to converge and the arbitrage opportunities disappear. At this point the two currencies are said to have purchasing power parity – it doesn’t matter where you purchase the good. So does PPP hold? One way that economists measure the strength of PPP is by measuring the time that it takes for a typical purchasing power difference to be arbitraged away by 50% – its ‘half-life’. The more time that is required, the less efficient the markets are said to be. The ex-ante question is: Is PPP be stronger or weaker during hyperinflationary periods? Continue reading
September 21, 2021 A professor at University of Waterloo’s Sauder School of Business and a prominent expert on gender and discrimination has developed a statistical explanation of why men in tech are less likely to have a female co-worker than women. The answer? Women are more likely to be treated more harshly in the workplace and to be less likely than men to be promoted, she said. “The way you would think is that women are less competent, more likely not to get promoted and they have less power.” The University of Toronto’s Dr. Anne Bevan, a professor of organizational behavior, said her research suggests that “women tend to be judged less harshly than men.” Dr. Bevan’s study was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology. Her findings were based on data collected by her team, which asked 1,000 Canadian women and 1,200 men what they thought of their boss and colleagues, including how often they were called names or told that they were “crazy” and “shallow.” They also compared how often people felt “unsafe” at work, such as being called “insensitive” or “crazy.” Dr Bevan said the findings showed women are discriminated against more often at work. “Women were discriminated against, and they were not treated fairly, and that was particularly the case in the tech industry,” she said in an interview. “There was a lot of evidence that the way that women were treated was less than men, so the fact that women had to take more and more time out of the day to do that was really a disservice to women.” When she took her team to task, the women said they were being “treated unfairly” and that they “felt like they were under attack from a male colleague.” When the women and men had their own experiences, Dr Bevan found that men were more likely than women to be called “crazy,” and to feel “unsightly,” and were “dismissed more frequently than women.” “Women are judged more harshly and to a lesser degree than men in terms of being treated unfairly, and women were also more likely that they felt that they weren’t getting promoted,” she explained. “And that, of course, is why women are more inclined to be dissatisfied with their work experience.” In the United States, the number of female employees at tech firms is projected to rise from about 12 million today to almost 18 million in 2023. Women have historically been underrepresented at the tech companies, and some tech leaders, such Apple CEO Tim Cook, have criticized companies for not hiring more women. Dr Beevan, who has also worked at other tech companies including Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft, said that her research provides a “scientifically grounded” explanation for why female employees are discriminated less at work and at universities. “We’re looking at things that are a little bit like a game theory approach. And it’s a game that you can actually apply to a lot more areas of life,” she added. Dr. Beevan said that the research, which is still in the preliminary stages, also highlights the need for greater equality in tech. “You know, the world is full of inequities, and it’s important that we work together to make sure that we treat people with fairness and dignity, because we all have a right to equal opportunity,” she told CNBC.
History of Elm Street History of Elm Street Elm Street Elementary School Elm Street Elementary was originally built in 1922. It was one of the first schools to be built in a planned community. The school was built around upscale homes far from the city of Rome, Georgia. Each street was named for a tree. Names such as Elm, Magnolia, Cherry, Oakland and Sycamore were used to organize the community. Therefore, Elm Street School was one of the first schools to be built with the concept of a suburb. Historians are studying the area for a grant with the Historical Preservation Society. In 1983, a major renovation took place. It is one of the few genuine neighborhood schools left in the area. Therefore, there is a great deal of pride from parents, grandparents, community, staff and students. In fact, because of the uniqueness of the school, McDonald's Corporation selected it as a site for one of its national commercials concerning recycling. That was particularly appropriate because Elm Street School is lovingly referred to as a recycled school - old on the outside but new and innovative inside. We are blessed with a culturally rich, diverse population including students from many parts of the United States and the world. Racial and ethnic groups include African-American, Caucasian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Native American, Far Eastern and Indian. The socio-economic background of our students covers a wide range. Some of our parents are single and unemployed, while others are physicians, attorneys and bank presidents. We also serve a foster group home known as the Open Door Home for temporary and long-term placement of homeless children. There are many other schools our students could choose to attend, including a college preparatory school, two parochial schools, a college laboratory school, and a county school. However, many parents choose to send their children to Elm Street because of the strong parental support, culturally diverse student body, exceptional teaching staff, innovative curriculum, and high expectations for behavior and academic excellence.
Fernández Vega Ophthalmological Institute - Open-angle Glaucoma - Instituto Oftalmológico Fernández Vega Title Image You are in: / Home / GLAUCOMA / OPEN-ANGLE GLAUCOMA The cause is not well understood, although it is known that there is an important hereditary factor, since people with a family history of this disease are more likely to suffer from it. Other risk factors are high myopia, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, smoking, or prolonged corticosteroid treatments or vasoconstrictive medications. Also, suffering from other eye diseases, such as uveis, can lead to the development of glaucoma. In the early stages, glaucoma may not cause appreciable symptoms except for an increase in IOP, so it is very important that once every two years after the age of 50 and annually after 60, all people undergo an ophthalmological review that enables the early detection of this disease. If the IOP is greater than 21 mm of mercury, in the absence of impaired vision, it may indicate that the development of the disease has begun. If this is the case, it is common for progressive loss of peripheral vision to occur, and even if visual acuity is initially maintained, total loss of vision may occur. The great challenge of open-angle glaucoma is early detection, because the earlier the disease is diagnosed, the better the treatment options. Hence the importance of regular eye examinations from the age of 50, because if the deterioration of vision is expected to occur, it means that the disease is at an advanced stage. It is necessary to take into account that this disease is not curable, although with the appropriate treatment it is possible to control its growth and to prevent that it progresses. At first, a pharmacological treatment will be applied with the objective of reducing IOP and keeping it at normal levels, which will prevent the disease from progressing. These drugs act by reducing the production of the aqueous humour and helping its reabsorption. However, the time may come when medication is no longer effective, in which case the treatment must be surgical, and can be performed by different techniques. Trabeculoplasty is a technique in which the laser is used to increase the opening of the drainage ducts of the aqueous humour, so that it can be released and be reabsorbed with normality, which causes the IOP to be reduced and, as a result, slows down the progression of the disease. Another option is to perform a filtration surgery, through which a new drainage duct is created, so that the aqueous humour can be eliminated through the circulatory system of the eye´s subconjunctival area. It can be achieved by different techniques such as a deep non-perforating sclerectomy and trabeculectomy. If all these surgical procedures are not finally effective, a drainage valve may be implanted to provide an outlet for the aqueous humour and reduce IOP. El pronóstico del paciente con glaucoma de ángulo abierto dependerá de si la enfermedad se encuentra en fases iniciales o avanzadas y, por tanto, de la gravedad del daño sufrido por el nervio óptico. Lo que se haya perdido ya no se podrá recuperar, pero en la mayoría de los casos se puede frenar su progresión y evitar la ceguera.
Quick Answer: Is a soccer ball bigger than a basketball? sport Football (Soccer) diameter (inches) 8.5 to 8.8 diameter (mm) 216 to 223 notes dimensions for a regulation size 5 ball. What ball is bigger than a basketball? Which Ball is Bigger? sport size (inches) size (mm) Soccer 8.5 to 8.8 216 to 223 Water polo 8.5 to 8.9 216.5 to 226.0 Netball 8.9 226 Basketball 9.4 238.8 What game features the largest ball? The basketball used in the National Basketball Association (NBA) is 29.5 inches in circumference, which makes it the largest ball used in professional sports. How big around is a soccer ball? Regulation size and weight for a soccer ball is a circumference of 68–70 cm (27–28 in) and a weight of between 410–450 g (14–16 oz). The ball should be inflated to a pressure of 0.6 and 1.1 bars (8.7 and 16.0 psi) at sea level. This is known as “Size 5”. What are the balls? The Physiological Basics “Balls” is not exactly a scientific term. The main structures of that make up the balls are the testicles, the epididymis, and the scrotum. The testicles are oval-shaped organs that make testosterone, a hormone involved in all kinds of male functioning and development. Do they make size 6 soccer balls? THIS IS INTERESTING: What do you get a basketball lover for Christmas? How many tennis balls fit in a limo? About 125,000 tennis balls should fit into a limo. Playing basketball
Treating begonia powdery mildew: how to remedy powdery mildew on begonias are among the most popular of all annual flowers. They come in a variety of types and colors, they tolerate shade, they produce both pretty blooms and attractive foliage, and they won’t be eaten by deer. Caring for begonias is pretty easy if you give them the right conditions, but watch out for signs of powdery mildew and know how to prevent and manage this disease. Identifying Powdery Mildew on Begonias mildew is a fungal infection. Begonias with powdery mildew are infected by Odium begoniae. This species of fungus only infects begonias, but it will spread readily between begonia plants. A begonia with powdery mildew will have white, powdery or thread-like growths on the top surface of leaves. The fungus may additionally cover stems or flowers. The fungus feeds from the leaf cells, and needs the plant to survive. For this reason, the infection does not kill plants, but it may cause poor growth if it becomes severe. Begonia Powdery Mildew Control Unlike other fungal infections, powdery mildew does not require moisture or high humidity to grow and spread. It spreads when wind or other action physically moves the threads or powder from one plant to the next. Giving plants adequate space and quickly destroying any diseased leaves can help control infections. If you see powdery mildew on begonia leaves, wet them to prevent spread and then remove and dispose of them. How to Treat Begonia Powdery Mildew Powdery mildew fungus thrives optimally at around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 Celsius). Hot temperatures will kill the fungus. Changes in humidity can trigger the release of spores. So, if you can move affected begonias to a location where they will be warm and the humidity is stable, like a greenhouse, you may be able to kill the fungus and save the plants. Treating begonia powdery mildew can also be done with chemical and biological agents. There are several fungicides that will kill the powdery mildew that infects begonias. Check with your local nursery or extension office to find a good option for a fungicide or a biological control. Image arud
You’ve got the beat? Is it important if you want to impress your significant other on the dance floor? Absolutely. Could it be relevant in other instances? Based on recent research, it sure seems like it! 124 high school students were studied at Northwestern University and the surprising link between music, rhythmic abilities and language skills was published in The Journal of Neuroscience. Dr. Nina Kraus works shows, for the first time, biological evidence linking the ability to keep a beat to the neural encoding of speech sounds as it has significant implications for reading. Dr. Kraus was able to demonstrate that accurate beat keeping involves synchronization between the parts of the brain responsible for hearing as well as movement. Hearing sounds of speech and associating them with the letters comprising written words is crucial to learning how to read, say the Northwestern researchers. They reasoned that the association between reading and beat synchronization likely has a common basis in the auditory system. Two tests were performed on the subjects. In the first test, they were asked to listen to a metronome and tap their finger along to it on a special tapping pad. Tapping accuracy was computed based on how closely their taps aligned in time to the tick-tock of the metronome. In the second test, a “brainwave test”, the subjects were fitted to electrodes measuring the consistency of their brain response to a repeated syllable. The more accurate the subjects were at tapping along to the beat, the more consistent their brain response was to the speech syllable. Kraus says that rhythm is an integral part of both music and language. Could it be then that, if we improve coordination and balance, we can improve cognitive performance? 0 replies Leave a Reply Leave a Reply four × five =
Do babies with Down syndrome develop slower? Children with Down syndrome usually learn and progress more slowly than most other children. However, not all areas of development are equally affected. Do Down syndrome babies have developmental delays? What is Down syndrome? Down syndrome is a genetic condition that happens when a child is born with an extra chromosome. The extra chromosome affects the way the child’s brain and body develop, leading to developmental delays, intellectual disability and an increased risk for certain medical issues. Do people with Down syndrome develop slower? They tend to grow at a slower rate and remain shorter than their peers. Down syndrome can affect learning abilities in different ways, but it usually causes mild to moderate intellectual impairment. Do babies with Down syndrome meet milestones? When it comes to crawling, walking, and talking, children with Down syndrome will meet those same milestones as other children, but it will take them longer to get there. For example, crawling usually starts when a baby is about 8 ½ months old. For a child with Down syndrome, it may not be until he or she is 18 months. IT IS INTERESTING: Question: What is the earliest you can introduce baby food? Can a child have Down syndrome and look normal? Do Down syndrome babies smile a lot? Can Down syndrome be prevented? Down syndrome can’t be prevented, but parents can take steps that may reduce the risk. The older the mother, the higher the risk of having a baby with Down syndrome. Women can reduce the risk of Down syndrome by giving birth before age 35. At what age do babies show signs of Down syndrome? Signs and symptoms often start around age 50. Infections. People with Down syndrome may get sick more often because they tend to have weaker immune systems. When do Down syndrome babies sit? Table 1: Motor Milestones – Ages of attainment for children with Down syndrome. Attainment Age range (months) Average age (months) Rolls 4 to 11 5 Sits steadily without support 8 to 16 7 Pulls to standing 10 to 24 8 Stands alone 16 to 36 11 At what age do babies with Down syndrome walk? Some babies with Down syndrome start walking the same time as any other child, typically around the age of 2. Some babies with Down syndrome will start walking at the same time as any other child, typically around the age of two. If there are difficulties or you have any concerns, speak to your doctor. IT IS INTERESTING: Question: How long does Mild jaundice last in newborns? What is risk of Down syndrome by age? Small miracle
‘Epilepsy Gene’ Find Opens Door to Better Treatment Epileptic seizures are the result of a storm of electrical activity in the brain which can last from a few seconds up to several minutes (Credit: NYU Langone Medical Center). The discovery by scientists in Dublin of an ‘epilepsy gene’ that is present in “unusually high amounts” in people with epilepsy opens the door for the development of new and better drug treatments for epileptic seizures. Epilepsy is a disease that affects 37,000 Irish adults, as well as an estimated 50 million people worldwide, but little is known about why epileptic seizures occur, or why a significant number of people do not respond to drug therapies. One in three people with epilepsy have a problem with the currently available drug therapies. This group of people either do not respond at all to the drugs, or they experience severe side effects. The reasons why epilepsy occurs in certain people, and why fits happen only occasionally are poorly understood. There is a genetic link, but drug and alcohol abuse, as well as sleep deprivation are also causative factors, say scientists. The finding of a new gene linked to epilepsy by Professor David Henshall and his team at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland was reported in the scientific journal, Nature Medicine. LISTEN: Interview with Professor David Henshall This interview was broadcast on the 26th July 2012 on Science Spinning on 103.2 Dublin City FM
What is Bharatiya Maths and How Can It Help India? What is Bharatiya Maths and How Can It Help India? – Jonathan J. Crabtree (Aussie Indic Math Guru) “Namaste to all Indian Rover readers from Melbourne, Australia. Whilst I am an Aussie, my goal is to decolonize India’s primary-level maths education. To do this I have visited India three times to give lectures on what I call Podometic Bharatiya Maths. Indian Rover readers can register for a free online course and eBook at www.j.mp/TheIndianRoverMaths As a maths historian and researcher, I have studied the evolution of elementary mathematics for 38 years. My conclusion is that for India to become a Vishwaguru (world teacher) again as Prime Minister Modi wishes, there is a simple path forward. Let me explain… The world’s universal language is mathematics. What I have done, with a lot of help from others, is to rebuild the foundations of elementary mathematics. I did this from writings of Āryabhaṭa, Brahmagupta, Bhāskara and others. As a result, I am making Arithmetic (British Maths) obsolete and updating it as Podometic (Bharatiya Maths). My goal, and what I have been working for since the early 1980s, has been to change the way the world understands the basics of mathematics. Notably, these new elementary maths foundations are built upon Brahmagupta’s 18 Sutras of Symmetry from his 628 CE mathematics and astronomy text, Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta. To decolonise Indian education in this culture war, strategically the best approach is to attack where the world will be on India’s side. Nearly all countries struggle with mathematics education. So, fix primary level maths education in India, get results, and the world will willingly follow. Interestingly, in 2009 China’s 15-year-olds ranked number one in the world for mathematics. Yet, India ranked 73rd ahead only of Kyrgyzstan. Perhaps the key difference between China’s and India’s maths education is China’s was not created by the British. Importantly, there is a massive need to improve India’s primary level maths education. India needs to solve its many problems such as drought, climate change, pollution, congestion, agriculture, and chronic poverty. Mathematics is the foundation upon which science, technology, engineering, and AI is built. So, the solutions to India’s problems over the next 50 years will be scientific solutions. So, as a prerequisite science will need the best mathematics education in India’s schools and that is Bharatiya Maths! I have given many lectures on the need to de-colonise British primary-level mathematics, not just in India but throughout the world. Now, I have a free course coming up that will be available in India on gurudakshina type of pricing to honour India’s ancient gurus and rishis. Now that India has a new Union Education Minister in Shri Dharmendra Pradhan ji, my goal is to work towards bringing about a transformation in Indian mathematics education. I have done all the research out of Arabic, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Latin, Ancient Greek, and many other languages. I have done more research, which is why I am welcome when I give lectures in India at mathematics conferences and universities and schools. I am doing everything in my power to bring about this change in India and yet I just need your readers’ help. India can be a Vishwaguru again in the area of mathematics. The world will absolutely worship India because the world needs help with its mathematics So, if your readers want to discover the Top 7 Secrets of Bharatiya Maths that not even Stanford Mathematics education professors know, they should register for the free course and eBook before it costs them ₹1,10,400 which will be the fee in the USA and the UK. Register at www.j.mp/TheIndianRoverMaths
Follow TV Tropes Noah's Story Arc Go To This is the Plot Trope about evacuating (or trying to evacuate) a large population of animals, people, or people and animals in order to survive an impending disaster. The Trope Namer and Trope Codifier would be the story of Noah from The Bible, who was told by God to build an ark in order to preserve his family, seven of every "clean" animal (the extra were for sacrifices), and two of every "unclean" animal in order to be protected from the Flood that God planned to use to wipe out the earth as they knew it. People building arks go to The Ark. Not to be confused with Noah's Arc. open/close all folders Anime & Manga • In Spriggan, it's depicted to be created by an ancient race as an out-of-place artifact which not only carried dinosaurs and mythical creatures, it's also used as a weather control device that can bring about drastic changes to the Earth's weather, including the threat of global flooding. • Considering the number of times Earth has been nearly (or actually) destroyed in this franchise, that might be more Justified than it sounds. Comic Books • Nero: In the story "The Ark Of Nero" Nero builds an arc and even has lots of animals imported to bring along with him. Everyone says he's crazy, but as it turns out the tide does come. In the end it was All Just a Dream. • Suske en Wiske: The story De Adelijke Ark has the characters search for the Arc of Ut Napistum (a character in Mesopotamian mythology that is the direct inspiration to Noah. Vandersteen probably used this character to prevent angry letters from Christian readers.) Comic Strips • Boner's Ark, a gag-a-day strip about Captain Boner and the various animals on his ark. (Noah had it easy - Boner's ark was on the sea for 32 years, only reaching dry land in the final strip.) • Just a Pilgrim: the role of the ark is taken by a space shuttle containing genetic sequences of thousands of animals so life can be started elsewhere, as the planet is now under the control of sentient mind-controlling jellyfish. • In Jules Feiffer's satirical "The Deluge," an installment of his Feiffer comic strip for the Village Voice, an angel instructs U.S. civil servant Harvey Noah to build an ark. Instead of doing so himself, he takes the matter to his supervisor. This starts a bureaucratic chain of events which culminates in the ark housing only selected members of Congress. As it starts to rain, Harvey attempts to board the vessel, only to be told he's not on the list. Fan Works • A New World, A New Way: What Arceus' plan ultimately boils down to. • I Shall Endure To The End, a Good Omens fic by A.A. Pessimal, goes back to the Biblical account and, among other things, explains who the dove and the raven on the Ark really were. In passing the Noachic family dynamic is explored, with reference to the repopulation of the world afterwards. Films — Animation Films — Live-Action • The entire plot of Noah. • Evan Almighty, the 2007 sequel to 2003's Bruce Almighty, had the title character from the former assume the role of Noah when God informs him that a flood is coming and tasks him with building an ark. • The underground refuge in Deep Impact, designed to ensure continuity of the species in the face of an impending extinction-force impact, is called the Arc. • In 2012, there are great disasters all around the world, particularly a giant flood. The small portion of the populace try to escape this fate by building giant arks in the Himalayas. In one shot, some animals are brought in such as giraffes and elephants. One of the protagonists is a young boy named Noah. • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Dr. Totenkopf believed that Earth was doomed due to the destructive nature of humanity, so he built a rocket ship to carry two of every animal on Earth (and genetically engineered humans) to another planet. He intended them to create a technological utopia there. • Moonraker: This is Hugo Drax's plan-take the people he dubs to be worthy of living in his new world and send them into space while his bioengineered spores infect the world, then take them back to Earth to build his utopia. • Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom starts off as this, with a plan to save as much dinosaurs as possible before the volcano destroys Isla Nublar. Turns out the "rescuers" who brought Claire, Owen, Webb and Rodriguez in are mercenaries who just seek to save a few species for an Auction of Evil. • In Downsizing, it is discovered that the world will be destroyed in a few centuries and there is nothing anyone can do about it, leading to a bunch of people evacuating to an underground bunker. • The Clive Cussler Dirk Pitt Adventures novel Arctic Drift features the villains attempt to cause the End of the World as We Know It and survive in four megaships to found a Master Race. • In Discworld, there's an Urban Legend about the founding of Ankh-Morpork that tells how a wise man foretold a Great Flood, gathered his family and hundreds of animals into a big ship, and rode it out. After a few weeks' sailing, the accumulated wastes from all the animals were filling up the vessel, so they tipped all the manure over the side, and built a city on the resulting dung-island. • Utnapishtim from The Epic of Gilgamesh is the Ur-Example and Trope Maker, pre-dating Noah's story from The Bible. Similarly to his biblical counterpart, he built a giant ship called The Preserver of Life to save his family, friends and all the animals from a flood. He was granted immortality afterwards. • Parodied in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. The main characters are teleported to Golgafrinchan Ark Fleet Ship B. Which seems like a Ark, but is actually a trick to get its inhabitants off the planet, as they were judged to basically be the useless third of the population, as they just cleaned phones and other minor tasks. • Joked about in Holes. The kids see a cloud in the sky, the first they've ever seen in this arid desert, and start joking about how they need to start building an ark. It's all just to get their hopes up, as Camp Green Lake hasn't had rain for a hundred years. It rains at the end just as the attorney general closes the camp. • When Worlds Collide (Literature and Film versions): a pair of rogue planets are on a direct path to hit Earth. Scientists and governments rush to make a pair of rocket ships to hold the best of the best (and supplies) to send to another planet so humanity won't be extinguished. • The 1899 novel A Dweller On Two Planets features a Crossover Cosmology with elements from the Bible and the Atlantis myth. So, in this version, Nepth and his family survive the sinking of Atlantis by building an ark and loading it with animals. • In the seventh Animorphs book, the Ellimist makes his first appearance by telling the main characters that they have no real chance to defeat the Yeerks. While he's not allowed to interfere with the war, he offers to preserve Earth's life by transporting a portion of humanity, along with animals, to another planet. He even shows them a Bad Future of how things will go if they don't take his offer. Said Bad Future actually helps them realize how to strike a major blow against the Yeerks, which was the Ellimist's plan all along. • The Doctor Who Past Doctor Adventures novel City at World's End looks at the last surviving city of the planet Sarath as it attempts to construct a vast spaceship to take its population to the neighbouring planet Mirath before Sarath's moon crashes into the planet and destroys it. In the end, construction issues and internal conflicts mean that only just over a thousand survivors can make it to Mirath out of a population of over eighty thousand. • The Last Days of Krypton: Jor-El gives No-Ton and the other councilors who believe his warnings about a cataclysm plans for a space ark. Despite their best efforts, building a fleet of evacuation ships from scratch in just three days is impossible, so they focus all of their efforts on finishing just one ship in the last seven hours. They don't finish it in time. • The series Remnants is centered around eighty humans who blast off in an experimental rocket ship to escape the destruction of the Earth by an asteroid. Live-Action TV • A scammer-slash-crazy guy used this and built an ark in CSI: NY's episode "The Ride In." He offered rides, made off with the victims' money, and was found dead inside his house while the people he'd scammed were waiting on the ark with his animals. • In the Doctor Who episode "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", the spaceship in question is an ark fleeing the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. • Queen of the Wave (Pepe Deluxé's rock opera based on A Dweller On Two Planets) ends with "Riders on the First Ark", describing Nepth and his family escaping Atlantis' destruction by boat, and taking a variety of animals with them. According to the song, unicorns are extinct because Nepth forgot to bring them. • In the BBC Radio science fiction series Earthsearch II the crew of a starship abandon it, and its evil computers, to colonise an Earthlike planet which turns out to be Earth All Along. In an attempt to get the crew back the computers use its terraforming devices to melt the polar icecaps. The crew have to use their large shuttle (which is airtight so it can fly in outer space) as a floating ark to save some of the local flora and breeding pairs of the fauna. • In one of the episodes in the play The Green Pastures, which retold The Bible from the perspective of a poor African-American child. First Man: What you think of it, Flatfoot? Flatfoot: I must say! Look like a house wit' a warpin' cellar. Noah: Dis yere vessel is a boat. Flatfoot: When I was a little boy dey used to build boats down near de ribber, where de water was. [the others laugh] Noah: Dis time it's been arranged to have de water come up to de boat. Video Games • In Early Heroes of the Bible (1984), an educational Apple ][ game in The Baker Street Kids series based on The Bible, the titular kids enact the story of Noah's Ark, with Jamie and Amy in the role of Noah and his wife. Of course, a bird and a cat are in a cardboard prop of an ark, while some hands pull out a hose to reenact the rain, which is pretty silly and cute. • This is Johannes von Schicksal's plan in God Eater Burst. Basically, The Aegis Project was just a front for a secret Ark Project which involved a certain MacGuffin Super Person being some sort of key that will give Johaness the power of God, where a select few population were to be shipped to the moon while the rest of the world are to be nuked to oblivion along with the aragami. it should be noted though that the one who planned all this had no intention of being with the ones to repopulate the earth though, knowing well how extreme his actions are. • The Soldier from Team Fortress 2 is under the impression that Sun Tzu once gathered two of every animal onto a boat, and then beat them all up with his awesome fighting skills, and that's why a place where a bunch of different animals are all gathered together became known as a "Tzu". note • Deep Rise: A subculture of Mi-go conquer the human race, pollute the entire world for the sake of gathering materials, then build a city-sized Ark to flee from the Royals, a race of mountain-sized Omnicidal Maniac supergeniuses with more doomsday weapons than a Second-World dictatorship. Each. It gets worse as Royals are revealed to have colonized the entire galaxy, responding to human-sized life forms with ion beams and nukes, so they disassemble all secondary functions and flee further in a dinghy-Ark. Web Original • Zero Punctuation: During his story of the "Corrupted Blood" incident in World of Warcraft, Yahtzee imagines this scenario in which "Blizzard had no option but to contact one of the figureheads of the quarantine effort and have him construct a giant wooden boat in which he was directed to place two of every monster so that they could send a rainstorm for forty days and forty nights" before fessing up with a "Nah, I'm fucking with you; they just hard-reset the servers. Bit anticlimactic, really." Western Animation • The Simpsons: • There was at least one Animaniacs sketch called "Noah's Lark" that followed the Hip Hippos getting on Noah's Ark and nerves. It featured a Cameo of Buster and Babs Bunny, who walked up and stated they were not related, so Noah let them on the Ark. • The Rugrats had one of these as an adventure. Being babies, they were unaware of the actual purpose of there being two of every animal, thinking it was so they wouldn't be scared during the flood. • CatDog had an episode where they see a bad omen in the sky that signals the world is gonna flood. They and a couple other characters try to build an ark, but end up failing. To top it all off, the "omen" they saw was actually a peanut shell stuck in the telescope. • American Dad! episodes "Daeson Heavy Industries, Parts 1 & 2": Stan has a crisis of faith when Steve shows him how unbelievable the Noah story is — but when Stan learns that a ship big enough to house every animal has been constructed in Korea, he suddenly believes that he's being called to be the new Noah. Naturally his family tries to make him see reason, but the boat already has hundreds of animals on board. (They were being transferred from one zoo to anohter, but Stan had stopped listening by that point). • The 1959 Disney short Noah's Ark tells the story of the Trope Namer. It is a rare example of a stop-motion Disney short film. • Disney also adapted the story in the 1933 Silly Symphony "Father Noah's Ark". • Schoolhouse Rock! had a segment called "Elementary, My Dear", which partially retells the story of Noah at the beginning and has its' plot spawned from one of Noah's kids asking how many animals are on board the ark. How well does it match the trope? Example of: Media sources:
Bullying the Freaks and Geeks Good Essays Bullying the Freaks and Geeks Walking down the school hall to the next class, the bully appears before his prey. He stands before his soon to be victims as if he is two feet taller and ten times stronger. His victims attempt to ignore him, but he stops them and puts his face in front of theirs to make sure his presence is known. He then abruptly decides to save his senseless punishment for another day as he passes by with a slight shoulder nudge. In today’s high schools, the majority of bullying incidents occur in this fashion. A bully finds the weakest kids and targets them. Freaks and Geeks, a television show, demonstrates these specific bullying instances and their effect on the character Bill Haverchuck. The pain bullying causes goes beyond surface level bruises and stretches to damaging internal feelings. When analyzing Freaks and Geeks, it is apparent that this television show demonstrates the physical and emotional effects of bullying through character Bill Haverchuck. As a breeding ground for bullies, high school has become a place that is miserable for select students. If a student is not a prime athlete or is not accepted by their peers, he is more than likely going to be bullied at some point during his high school career. The geeks of any high school normally endure the majority of bullying. The consequences of insults and physical abuse on students are horrible. Bullying can cause severe emotional problems. From insecurity to a lack of self-worth, students begin feeling negatively about themselves and their lives. Bill Haverchuck, a character from Freaks and Geeks, goes through the same hardships as real life bullied victims. Presenting a typical high school environment, Freaks and Geeks displays the com... ... middle of paper ... others in an attempt to gain respect and likeability from other peers. Bill’s reasoning for trying to fit in was similar to his bully’s. Although having similar goals, Bill’s bully took it way too far and ended up causing the hospitalization of another student. Bill Haverchuck’s character was used in this episode to show how foolish unnecessary bullying it is. As shown as a real issue within high school through television’s Freaks and Geeks, bullying is something that needs to be understood and dealt with. In an age with more resources for bullies to use, the consequences are too severe not to do anything about it. Bullying is now stretching beyond the school hallways and has invaded students in their own homes. There needs to be more awareness on what the actual effects of bullying are and that bullied victims are not alone. Works Cited -Kyle Frazer Get Access
The Pros And Cons Of Vegetarian Diets Satisfactory Essays Vegetarian Diets are the Healthiest Diets Vegetarians have a tendency to live a longer and healthier life. They have a habit of being more concerned and attentive with their diet and what they are eating. Statistics show that vegetarian diets have been adopted by at least 7.3 million Americans today. states that vegetarianism is “a person who does not eat or does not believe in eating meat, fish, fowl, or, in some cases, any food derived from animals, as eggs or cheese, but subsists on vegetables, fruits, nuts, grain, etc. (2013, p.1).” There are many different versions of vegetarianism, but the most common diet is “lactovegetarian”. A lactovegetarian where one refrains from eating meat, poultry, or any sea life, but still eats dairy. When pursuing vegetarianism it leads to a healthier lifestyle all the while of promoting a healthy weight and diet. Some may worry about whether they are getting the right amount of nutrition or not, but with the right portions of each food group with moderations for the meat category, one can gain adequate nutrition. Vegetarians tend to eat organic over non-organic food due to the antibiotics and chemicals farmers put into their crops. Vegetarian diets are healthier and will help maintain a good lifestyle for many reasons: promotes healthy weight and lifestyle, provides all nutrient needs, and reduces the use of antibiotics and chemicals on crops and animals. Healthier Lifestyle Arguably, being a vegetarian is the healthiest diet and promotes a better lifestyle for everyone who adopts this diet. Many people get tied up with whether or not they should convert to vegetarianism or not; some may love meat enough to not consider a healthier diet. For instance, becoming a veg... ... middle of paper ... ... to convert to vegetarianism. Waters is giving an example of a health concern when one is not vegetarian. When a person is not a vegetarian, they may come in counter with the risk of getting different types of cancer, different sicknesses, diabetes, and many other health risks. One should convert to vegetarianism because it’s the best diet for you and because of all these risks that will slow them down. Vegetarian diets lead to a healthy weight and lifestyle, provide all the right nutrients, and reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics. People looking to gain a healthier lifestyle may consider vegetarianism. Others may consider eating meat occasionally but not all the time. Some people may worry whether or not they will be getting antiquate nutrition, and also worry about antibiotics used on their food. In conclusion, being a vegetarian is the best diet to live with. Get Access
Attention Deficit and almost Attention Deficit! Attention Deficit Although the full form of this is Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), the fact is, it is made up of a number of characteristics which are common to most people in varying degrees. One of these is procrastination. So you don’t want to skip this if you procrastinate but you don’t think that you have this problem.Just learn from the material because some of it will apply and solve problems. I talk about some of the characteristics of ADHD as they relate to procrastination. I know a bit about it because I have Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. This disorder is polymorphic, a lovely expression which means it turns up in all sorts of different forms (poly means many, and morphs means changes into) with different degrees of severity. It has problems but it also has immense advantages, because the mind is more focused and efficient for some things than most people in the community can manage. However, part of the problem about procrastination in ADHD is that one of the neurotransmitters, key to the messenger processes in the brain, is dopamine. It doesn't work as well as it should in some parts of the brain or in certain circumstances. Some messages just don't get through the brain from one place to another, which means that you don't have the focus that you need. There isn’t enough energy sometimes to get the brain’s reward centres activated so that you feel OK or good about doing something. You procrastinate. The reward centres in the brain fire when you start doing something that you are okay about or enjoy. The reward centre kicks in and makes you feel great. You feel happy about doing a particular task. The Reward Centres create problems for addiction but we'll ignore those as they don’t really apply to ordinary procrastination. Addicts could say that they are procrastinating the process of getting free, but they know that it’s a bit more complex than that. Procrastination in ADHD means that there is just not enough energy to get you into action because there isn’t enough emotional energy to hit the reward centre to make you feel good about it. So part of the process of overcoming procrastination is handling this, and we'll come to the Solution. The really important thing to understand is that the reward centre just runs and you're not particularly conscious of it but you feel okay in doing whatever is necessary. For some people with ADD medication and nutritionals help a great deal, but be aware that whether they are needed or not, you need to learn processes to deal with procrastination. Lots of people without ADHD have the same problem; the energy necessary to get them to do something isn't there. It is not laziness: you just can't do it. When you were young and your parents kept telling you to try harder and hurry and put some energy into it and schoolteachers did the same, it made no difference whatever! You put things off! Now some people with ADHD (and there are others!) always put things off till the last moment because the whole stress and excitement gets them going. They need that pressure to achieve, even though it's a bit of a pain in the neck! However, I reckon if you work best under pressure then procrastinating till the last moment might be a good thing. But you can save yourself some bother by secretly bringing your deadline forward. That means, if you have to hand in a project by Friday, arrange your work as if you have, really have to hand it in Thursday. Just pretend. Then you have it completed. Your brain loves that and your blood pressure goes down! The procrastination problem can be a bit wider. Distraction or a lack of focus can be a major problem in class in school, or doing things at home, or as an adult at work. There are other complications with ADHD or similar conditions, such as forgetfulness (which is part of the way your brain functions not some lazy failure on your part). Another problem may be that there is also part of your personality which is a bit like a weak version of Asperger Syndrome, which means that you don't actually connect well with people all the time. And that often means that there will be social difficulties which feel like procrastination, such as putting off getting to see people. This needs resolution. It is the way your brain works so you have to make an effort that other people don’t seem to have to make. (PS, Stop mind reading. Don’t think you know what goes on in other people’s heads and how hard they have to try. Not only do you not know, they usually don’t either!) If you have the sort of brain which means that you have to put a bit more effort into making things work (whether you've got ADHD or something close or no trace), grin and do what you need to. You are winning already. This is really important. There really is a way to handle procrastination. You don’t procrastinate everything. Your brain already has a way of functioning that allows you to act. All you need to do is to have it use that function in areas where there are problems. Rick’s Story Rick procrastinated lots of things. He moved through life doing things that interested him. He worked as an Assessor in a Finance company which he managed quite well. His personal life was something of a disaster. He wanted to focus on finances. He didn’t pay bills on time, had penalty payments imposed frequently, only did his taxes (rather approximately) at the last minute, and was maxing out his credit cards. Rick said at first that he didn’t know why he was in such a mess. However, he had always procrastinated as far back as he could remember. The whole business of money was coupled with his feeling of failure. He was sure that if he hadn’t procrastinated so much he would have a better job and a much higher income. I helped Rick change his feelings about his personal power and used the The Solution in which we built up a strong collection of feelings around achievement. Rick had been so angry and disappointed with himself that he had minimised his own achievements and strengths. As he looked at his life there were key experiences he had as resources. He was successful at work. It hadn’t occurred to him that he could use the same processes at home to achieve what he wanted. He could talk to a group easily when necessary. Once at a work training weekend he had fire-walked! Although he put off tasks around the house, when he got to them he was capable of making the repairs needed. Rick ran The Solution repeatedly, adding in another resource each time. There came a point that he decided that he could handle procrastination. It was better than that. He phoned three weeks later and said that he had changed substantially. He was better focussed and even moving faster. He said that it was a bit like having had a non-religious conversion that he hadn’t quite noticed happening. Go to Chapter Three © David Townsend 2014
A memo is a short piece of text, whose main function is to record important information. The term memo is short for the slightly longer term memorandum, a word of Latin origin which in its initial full form - memorandum est - means 'it is to be remembered', according to the Oxford English Dictionary. A memo is used as an official note inside an organisation or a company. In terms of the language use of the term, the short version memo works in most situations except for very formal contexts, where the longer term memorandum is preferred. There are different variants of the plural form, with memos for the short term and memoranda or memorandums for the full term being the predominant ones. (The Swedish corresponding term for memo is PM, which is short for promemoria, from Latin pro memoria 'for memory'.) Traditionally, a memo consists of an initial part called the header, indicating who the sender and the intended receiver is, the date, and a subject line. Then, there is a second part called the message, where the actual information of the memo is provided. This part can vary greatly in style, length and detail, depending on the purpose of the memo. Finally, there may be some sort of closing, but in some cases this is excluded, as is salutations. In terms of formality, memos are not as formal as letters. Memos vary in format and the way they are sent. Some organisations use standard, printed forms. It should also be noted that it is very common nowadays for memos to be sent in the form of ordinary e-mails. In those cases, the initial section with sender, receiver, date and subject line is integral to the e-mail format. Click on the links below to see examples of simple memos. The meeting will take place in room F233 at 10:30 a.m. Since I would like to supply some refreshments (coffee, tea and a roll), please let me know whether you will attend no later than Friday of this week. Looking forward to seeing you in the meeting. Page Manager: aweluluse \| 2021-06-11
Why Broccoli Causes Gas, and How to Make It Stop While broccoli may get a bad rap for being the enemy on kids' dinner plates everywhere, the cruciferous veggie is a nutritional powerhouse, packed with vitamins, antioxidants and anticarcinogenic compounds.Preventing Broccoli Gas.Although the human body doesn't produce alpha-galactosidase, an enzyme that breaks down raffinose, there is an over-the-counter medication that can help."Alpha-galactosidase is the active ingredient in Beano, which can be taken before eating a meal containing cruciferous vegetables," says Dr. Houghton.He also recommends thoroughly chewing food before swallowing to help break it down as much as possible before digestion."You can also cook broccoli to make it easier for your body to break down," says Dr. Houghton.Broccoli has a slew of benefits, but broccoli gas is all too real for those who are fans of the cruciferous veggie.Read more: Nutrition Value of Steamed Broccoli. 10 Foods That Cause Gas Gas is caused by swallowing air and the breakdown of food in your digestive tract.Share them here » If you’re experiencing a lot of gas and bloating, making changes to your diet can help.Beans contain a lot of raffinose, which is a complex sugar that the body has trouble digesting.If you suspect you’re lactose intolerant, you might reduce your symptoms by trying nondairy replacements such as almond milk or soy “dairy” products, or taking a lactase tablet before eating foods with lactose.Swapping soda for juice, tea, or water (with no carbonation) may help you reduce gas.Sorbitol and soluble fiber must both also pass through the large intestines, where bacteria break them down to create hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane gas.Like raffinose and sorbitol, fructose contributes to gas when bacteria in the intestines break it down.Many sugar-free gums are also sweetened with sugar alcohols that are harder to digest, such as sorbitol, mannitol, and xylitol.If you burp a lot, your doctor may recommend that you stop chewing gum to reduce gas. . 5 Foods that Make You Bloat FODMAP’s are short chained carbohydrates that skip digestion and are then fermented by gut bacteria in the colon which causes gas.Wheat contains a protein called gluten and this ingredient is found in pastas, tortillas, bread and baked goods.People with celiac disease (gluten sensitivity), can experience extreme digestive problems when wheat is consumed.“Consuming a low FODMAP diet can reduce the symptoms of bloating and irritable bowel syndrome,” says Cesar L. Espiritu MD, a PIH Health Family Medicine physician. . 7 Foods That Reduce Bloating—and 5 That Cause It Kale, broccoli, and cabbage are cruciferous vegetables and contain raffinose—a sugar that remains undigested until bacteria in your gut ferment it. . 8 Foods That Can Cause Gas and Bloating While there's no way to completely get rid of intestinal gas, avoiding or cutting back on foods that cause it may help relieve some discomfort. . How to Prevent Gas When Eating Beans and Broccoli Many foods can cause the embarrassing and uncomfortable issue of gas, but that doesn't mean you can't ever eat broccoli, beans, dairy, or pears.Regardless of how you cook them, the best way to prevent gas is to start small.(Baking a pear is another way to make this fruit easier on the tummy.).Enjoy a few peeled slices of pear with crackers or other fruits that are OK on your digestive system, such as bananas.The lactose in milk products can cause major gas for some, so if this is your issue, you might be able to get away with choosing certain dairy products over others. . 8 (sometimes surprising) foods that make you fart Fatty meats are doubly tricky because they are rich in the amino acid methionine, which contains sulphur.Sulphur is broken down by your gut bacteria into hydrogen sulphide – that lovely rotten egg smell – and ‘enhances’ the odour of gas produced by other foods you eat as well as the meat.These sugars make their way to the intestine, where your gut goes to town using them for energy, resulting in hydrogen, methane and even smelly sulphur. . 14 Foods That Cause Gas, Constipation, Diarrhea and Bloating Why a Healthy Diet Can Cause Gas Foods that contain complex carbohydrates — including beans, whole grains, and cruciferous vegetables — are also high in fiber.“Foods that are high in a particular fiber called soluble fiber are heart-healthy and help with blood sugar control,” she says.“This type of fiber acts like a sponge by absorbing bad cholesterol and excreting it from the body.” Soluble fiber also helps decrease how much glucose (sugar) is absorbed from the food you eat, which can help control blood sugar.You don’t have to suffer through excessive gas and bloating just to get the health benefits of a healthy diet, however.As you increase your fiber intake, also be sure to increase your water consumption."Drinking more water will help decrease the effects of both intestinal gas and constipation," Smithson says.“The water the beans have been soaked in will contain much of the gas-producing carbohydrate,” Smithson says.By following these tips to curb it, you can eat healthy, high-fiber foods without worrying about gas. . 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Download PDF Print Page Citation Share Link Tom Stoppard 1937- (Born Tomas Straussler.) Since the mid-1960s Stoppard has been recognized as a leading playwright in contemporary theater. Like George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde, with whom he is often compared, Stoppard examines serious issues within the context of comedy, using such devices as word games and slapstick... (The entire section contains 63249 words.) Unlock This Study Guide Now Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Tom Stoppard study guide. You'll get access to all of the Tom Stoppard content, as well as access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. • Biography • Critical Essays • Analysis Start your 48-Hour Free Trial Tom Stoppard 1937- (Born Tomas Straussler.) Since the mid-1960s Stoppard has been recognized as a leading playwright in contemporary theater. Like George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde, with whom he is often compared, Stoppard examines serious issues within the context of comedy, using such devices as word games and slapstick to address complex questions regarding authority, morality, the existence of God, the nature of art and reality, the supposed progress of science, and other issues. This mixture of the comic and the serious in Stoppard's work has led some to characterize his plays as "philosophical farce." Although some critics argue that Stoppard's theatrical devices mask their lack of real profundity, most praise him for his wit and technical virtuosity. Stoppard was born in Zlin, in the former Czechoslovakia, the second son of Eugene and Martha Straussler. His father was a doctor employed by the shoe manufacturer Bata, which moved the family to Singapore in 1939. Soon thereafter, just prior to the Japanese invasion of Singapore, Stoppard, his mother, and his brother were evacuated to Darjeeling, India. Dr. Straussler remained behind and was killed in 1941. Five years later Stoppard's mother married Major Kenneth Stoppard, a British army officer stationed in India, and after the war the family moved to England. Stoppard left school at the age of seventeen to become a journalist with the Bristol newspaper the Western Daily Press. Two years later he became a freelance journalist and began writing plays. His first work, A Walk on the Water, was written in 1960. In the early 1960s, while continuing to work as a journalist—including a stint as drama critic for the short-lived magazine Scene in 1963—Stoppard composed radio and televisions plays, the novel Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon, and several short stories. He also wrote Tango—an adaptation of a play by Slawomir Mrozek—and "The Gamblers." In 1964 Stoppard spent five months in Berlin participating in a colloquium of young playwrights. While there he wrote the one-act verse drama "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern meet King Lear," based on a question his agent had posed whether Lear was king of England during the time period in which Shakespeare's Hamlet is set. During the next three years, the work evolved into Stoppard's first major success, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The play opened to near-universal acclaim and Stoppard received several prizes, including the Evening Standard Drama Award for most promising playwright and a Tony Award. Stoppard has continued to write for radio, stage, and screen, winning a Evening Standard Drama Award for Jumpers, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award for The Real Thing, a Tony Award for Travesties, and an Olivier Award for Arcadia. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead explores such themes as identity, chance, freedom, and death. It centers on two minor characters from Hamlet who, while waiting to act their roles in Shakespeare's tragedy, pass the time by telling jokes and pondering the nature of reality. These two "bit players" in a drama not of their making are bewildered by their predicament and face death as they search for the meaning of their existence. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead has often been compared with Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot for its mixture of humor and philosophic speculation on the absurdity of existence. Jumpers reinforced Stoppard's reputation as a playwright who flamboyantly examines important questions. In this play, which parodies both modern philosophy and the "thriller" genre, George Moore—a philosopher attempting to prove the existence of God and of moral absolutes—and his wife Dotty—a nightclub singer who believes in the sentimental songs she sings—are stripped of their moral ideals and romantic notions. Travesties marked a new development in Stoppard's career: the presentation of detailed political and ethical analysis. This play fictionally depicts Vladimir Ilych Lenin, James Joyce, and Tristan Tzara residing in Zurich during World War I. By juxta-posing the theories of the three men—Lenin's Marxism, Joyce's Modernism, and Tzara's Dadaism—Stoppard offers observations on the purpose and significance of art. Stoppard's next four major works are commonly referred to as his "dissident comedies." Every Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, Night and Day, and the two interlocking plays Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth blend themes of art, illusion and reality, marital infidelity, the freedom and responsibility of the press, and the moral implications of political issues. The Real Thing examines art, metaphysical concerns, and political commitment, while marking Stoppard's most significant treatment of the theme of love. As with the dissident comedies, The Real Thing continues Stoppard's movement toward conventional comedy, deemphasizing farcical action while increasingly concentrating on witty dialogue and exploring human relationships. Hapgood is a comic espionage thriller that employs theories regarding the behavior of subatomic particles to explore uncertainty and the subjective nature of truth. Stoppard's two most recent works, Arcadia and Indian Ink, both possess structures that divide the action between the historical past and the present. As the scenes set in the present uncover and comment on the scenes set in the past, Stoppard explores the elusiveness of certainty, be it in human relationships, historical events, or knowledge of the universe. Many critics rank Stoppard, together with Harold Pinter, at the forefront of contemporary British theater. The 1966 production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstem Are Dead was an immediate critical and popular success; when the play premiered in London, Harold Hobson declared it "the most important event in British professional theatre of the last nine years." Jumpers and Travesties solidified Stoppard's reputation as a major dramatist, as reviewers praised the moral and philosophical complexities presented in these plays, as well as their verbal and visual wit. While generally less well received, Stoppard's dissident comedies nevertheless have been admired for their broadening of the scope of Stoppard's art to include political themes. In Hapgood critics have detected a new note of optimism and a movement away from the absurdism of Stoppard's earlier work. Further growth has been observed in the highly acclaimed The Real Thing, which has been hailed as the playwright's most personal and autobiographical work and praised for its examination of the power of love. Arcadia has been judged a theatrical tour de force for its fusion of science, philosophy, and human emotion. Vincent Canby has pronounced it Stoppard's "richest, most ravishing comedy to date." Since 1966, Stoppard's theater has evolved from depicting the absurd view of existence to presenting artistic and philosophical attacks on absurdity. The political positions of his plays have moved from detachment to a commitment to personal and artistic freedom, while Stoppard's dominant theatrical mode has varied from farce to romantic comedy. Throughout these changes in Stoppard's career, critics have consistently extolled his wit and brilliant use of language, as well as his technical skill. Principal Works Download PDF Print Page Citation Share Link A Walk on the Water 1960 "The Gamblers" 1960 [performed 1965] Rosencrantz and Guildenstem Are Dead 1966 Tango [adaptor; from a play by Slawomir Mrozek] 1966 Enter a Free Man 1968 "The Real Inspector Hound" 1968 "Albert's Bridge" 1969 "If You're Glad I'll Be Frank" 1969 "After Magritte" 1970 "Dogg's Our Pet" 1971 Jumpers 1972 The House of Bernarda Alba [adaptor; from play by Federico Garcia Lorca] 1973 Travesties 1974 Dirty Linen 1976 Every Good Boy Deserves Favour 1977 Night and Day 1978 Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth 1979 Undiscovered Country [adaptor; from a play by Arthur Schnitzler] 1979 On the Razzie [adaptor; from a play by Johann Nestroy] 1981 The Real Thing 1982 The Love for Three Oranges [adaptor; from an opera by Sergei Prokofiev] 1983 Rough Crossing [adaptor; from a play by Ferenc Molnár] 1984 Dalliance [adaptor; from a play by Schnitzler] 1986 Largo Desolato [adaptor; from a play by Václav Havel] 1986 Hapgood 1988 Arcadia 1993 lndian Ink 1995 "The Dissolution of Dominic Boot" 1964 "M Is for Moon among Other Things" 1964 A Walk on the Water 1965 "If You're Glad I'll Be Frank" 1966 "Albert's Bridge" 1967 "Where Are They Now?" 1970 Artist Descending a Staircase 1972 The Dog It Was that Died 1982 In the Native State 1991 A Walk on the Water 1963 A Separate Peace 1966 Another Moon Called Earth 1967 Teeth 1967 Neutral Ground 1968 Eleventh House [with Clive Exton] 1975 Three Men in a Boat [adaptor; from a novel by Jerome K. Jerome] 1975 The Boundary [with Exton] 1975 Professional Foul 1977 Squaring the Circle (documentary-drama) 1984 The Engagement 1970 The Romantic Englishwoman [with Thomas Wiseman] 1975 Despair [adaptor; from a novel by Vladimir Nabokov] 1978 The Human Factor [adaptor; from a novel by Graham Greene] 1979 Brazil [with Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown] 1985 Empire of the Sun [adaptor; from a novel by J. G. Ballard] 1988 The Russia House [adaptor; from a novel by John Le Carre] 1990 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead 1991 Introduction 2: Stories by New Writers [with others] (short stories) 1964 Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon (novel) 1966 This work was not staged when it was first written. It was adapted for television in 1963, revised for radio in 1965, and finally produced on stage as Enter a Free Man in 1968. †This work is an adaptation of his radio play In the Native State. ‡This work is an adaptation of his radio play "The Dissolution of Dominic Boot." Author Commentary Download PDF Print Page Citation Share Link Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 3988 Tom Stoppard with Ronald Hayman (interview date 1974) SOURCE: An interview in Tom Stoppard, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., 1977, pp. 1-13. [In this conversation, which was conducted in June 1974, Stoppard discusses his methods of composition, maintaining that the best writing is largely a "lucky accident."] [Hayman]: Some people got the impression from Jumpers that you 'd been a student of philosophy, and in the programme for Travesties you mention your indebtedness to Lenin's Collected Works, half a dozen books about him, an illustrated history of the First World War, two books on James Joyce and two on Dada. Obviously you make your preliminary reading almost integral to the writing. [Stoppard]: That's been true right from my journalism days. A lot of my reading has resulted from the sheer necessity of having something to deliver—a piece of writing. An article on Norman Mailer for some arts page somewhere. You read the works of Norman Mailer in fourteen days in order to write an article of 1200 words. With Jumpers I was reading stuff I'd never have dreamed of getting round to. The books on ethics and moral philosophy that went into Jumpers I found immensely enjoyable. I think I enjoyed the rules that philosophers play by. It's an extremely formal discipline… . There's an argument about the value of art in Travesties which is almost identical to an argument in Artist Descending a Staircase— If it's worth using once, it's worth using twice. But is this an argument you have with yourself? One of the impulses in Travesties is to try to sort out what my answer would in the end be if I was given enough time to think every time I'm asked why my plays aren't political, or ought they to be? Sometimes I have a complete comical reaction, and I think that in the future I must stop compromising my plays with this whiff of social application. They must be entirely untouched by any suspicion of usefulness. I should have the courage of my lack of convictions. Structurally you seem to make more demands on yourself from one play to the next. How much do you plan in advance? My experience is that a lot of one's work is the result of lucky accident. When you look at the body of it and see all these lucky accidents all in one go, one assumes there must be some kind of almost premeditated connection between them, but there isn't—only in so far as one might suspect the subconscious of working overtime. The plays seem to hinge around incredibly carefully thought-out structural pivots which I arrive at as thankfully and as unexpectedly as an explorer parting the pampas grass which is head-high and seeing a valley full of sunlight and maidens. No compass. Nothing. In an ideal state all the meaningful and referential possibilities in a work of art exist in a highly compressed form in the mind of the artist, probably before he even begins, and the existence of that nucleus dictates what the tentacles do at the extremities of his conscious gift. What's wrong with bad art is that the artist knows exactly what he's doing… . Jumpers seems to take its starting point from that moment in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern when Rosencrantz says, 'Shouldn't we be doing something constructive?' and Guildenstern asks him, 'What did you have in mind? A short blunt human pyramid?' I did begin with that image. Speaking as a playwright—which is a category that must have its own boundary marks, because a novelist couldn't say what I'm about to say—I thought: 'How marvellous to have a pyramid of people on a stage, and a rifle shot, and one member of the pyramid just being blown out of it and the others imploding on the hole as he leaves'. I really like theatrical events, and I was in a favourable position. Because of the success of Rosencrantz it was on the cards that the National Theatre would do what I wrote, if I didn't completely screw it up, and it has forty, fifty actors on the pay-roll. You can actually write a play for ten gymnasts. I was in a fairly good position to indulge myself with playing around with quite complex—not to say expensive—theatrical effects and images, and I was taken with this image of the pyramid of gymnasts. It's perfectly true that having shot this man out of the pyramid, and having him lying on the floor, I didn't know who he was or who had shot him or why or what to do with the body. Absolutely not a clue. So one worked from a curiously anti-literary starting point. You've simply committed yourself to giving nine hundred people in a big room which we call a theatre a sort of moment—yes? At the same time there's more than one point of origin for a play, and the only useful metaphor I can think of for the way I think I write my plays is convergences of different threads. Perhaps carpet-making would suggest something similar. One of the threads was the entirely visual image of the pyramid of acrobats, but while thinking of that pyramid I knew I wanted to write a play about a professor of moral philosophy, and it's the work of a moment to think that there was a metaphor at work in the play already between acrobatics, mental acrobatics and so on. Actually it's not a bad way of getting excited about a play. Somebody told me that Alfred Hitchcock has been trying to make a film which begins in a car factory in which cars are put together entirely by automation and you just dolly along these incredible gentries with mechanical arms putting wheels on, and the doors are clamped on, and at the end of this interminable process—during which the credits are rolling—down the ramp at the further end of the complex rolls this car, untouched by human hand. You open the boot and inside is a body. I'm told that as soon as he can work out how it got there he'll make the picture. But as a playwright you can start without knowing. Yes, that's true. Because you have other threads converging, and I suppose in the end you can just change your mind, and if you can get enough threads going for you, you can leave out the one you started with. Did Rosencrantz and Guildenstern feel like a breakthrough? It seems as though you suddenly got fed up with trying to entertain naturalistically and gave yourself permission to take more risks. I didn't, you know. All the way from Enter a Free Man, which was 1960, to Travesties (1974) I've written what appealed to me, and I've written it with the assumption that it would appeal to everybody else. It's surely true that if you don't actually write from that standpoint, you get into deep trouble. Then what was new about Rosencrantz? Four or five years had elapsed since Enter a Free Man, and when I was writing Rosencrantz I was in no sense engaged in any sort of esoteric work. It was like music-hall if anything—a slightly literate music-hall perhaps. Enter a Free Man was a play written about other people's characters. It appears to be much more about real people than Travesties, which is a huge artifice, but at least I've got a mental acquaintance with the characters in Travesties, however much, in one sense, they're two-dimensional dream people. Now Enter a Free Man looks as though it's about people as real—at least in terms of art—as the people in Coronation Street. But to me the whole thing is a bit phoney, because they're only real because I've seen them in other people's plays. I haven't actually met any of them myself. It's about upper-working-class families. They had to be a bit upper because I kept giving them extremely well-constructed speeches to speak at a high speed of knots. The main point really is that it's actually impossible to write anything at all unless you're absolutely behind it. I think that Travesties is capable of entertaining more people than Enter a Free Man. Everything I've written—at the time I've written it, I've felt 'Oh this is absolutely accessible, communicable.' To qualify that, I haven't felt that at all. One doesn't think it. One simply writes what one is impelled to write at that time, what one wants to write, what one feels one can write. Even on the single occasion when I've actually written a play for a specific occasion. I knew the boys who were going to perform it. There was one headmasterish figure that I made into a headmaster, but—all that being said—what actually emerged was something that I was absolutely behind. I was really excited by the idea of the language I was using having a double existence. One of the things I hope I'll do one day is really to make full use of that little idea I used. "Dogg's Our Pet" is an anagram of Dogg's Troupe. The play is constructed out of a vocabulary of about fifty words, all based on certain sound values. But there must be influences. Enter a Free Man is a preBeckett play and Rosencrantz is obviously Beckettian. At the end of Junipers you actually find a way of saying thank you to him. At the time when Godot was first done, it liberated something for anybody writing plays. It redefined the minima of theatrical validity. It was as simple as that. He got away. He won by twenty-eight lengths, and he'd done it with so little—and I mean that as an enormous compliment. There we all were, busting a gut with great monologues and pyrotechnics, and this extraordinary genius just put this play together with enormous refinement, and then with two completely unprecedented and uncategorizable bursts of architecture in the middle—terrible metaphor—and there it was, theatre! So that was liberating. It's only too obvious that there's a sort of Godotesque element in Rosencrantz. I'm an enormous admirer of Beckett, but if I have to look at my own stuff objectively, I'd say that the Beckett novels show as much as the plays, because there's a Beckett joke which is the funniest joke in the world to me. It appears in various forms but it consists of confident statement followed by immediate refutation by the same voice. It's a constant process of elaborate structure and sudden—and total—dismantlement. In Travesties, when John Wood is saying Joyce was this without being that, each sentence radically qualifies the statement before it until he ends up with 'a complex per sonality'. That sort of Beckettian influence is much more important to me than a mere verbal echo of a line or a parallelism at the end of Jumpers. That, if you like, is an open, shy bit of tribute-making, whereas the debt is rather larger than that. There's an element of coincidence in what's usually called influence. One's appetites and predilections are obviously not unique. They overlap with those of countless other people, one of whom—praise be God—is Samuel Beckett. And it's not surprising if there are fifty writers in England who share in some way a predilection for a certain kind of intellectual or verbal humour or conceit which perhaps in some different but recognizable way is one which Beckett likes and uses. From play to play Beckett's stage directions progressively give less freedom to the director and actors. How do you feel about that? I think, truth be told, that were there a language one could do it in, like musical notation, I'd like to notate my plays so that there's only one way of doing everything in them. That's not to say that that would produce the best result. I know from past experience that I've been quite wrong about the way things ought to look and how lines ought to be spoken. One ought to be there for the first production and chance the rest. The first production in France of Rosencrantz was a nonsense and I haven't been done in France since. What about T. S. Eliot and Prufrock? There are certain things written in English which make me feel as a diabetic must feel when the insulin goes in. Pruf-rock and Beckett are the twin syringes of my diet, my arterial system. How much did you change the text of Rosencrantz after the Edinburgh production? I added a scene. Laurence Olivier pointed out that the section in which they're asked by Claudius to go and find Hamlet after he's killed Polonius ought to be in the play. So I went off and wrote that. Otherwise it's the same. There was one speech that was cut at the National which went back in later, but on the whole the Edinburgh text was shorter. Is there ever a conflict between literary and theatrical pressures? I realized quite a long time ago that I was in it because of the theatre rather than because of the literature. I like theatre, I like showbiz, and that's what I'm true to. I really think of the theatre as valuable and I just hope very much that it'll remain like that as an institution. I think it's vital that the theatre is run by people who like showbiz. 'If a thing doesn't work, why is it there in that form?' is roughly the philosophy, and I've benefited greatly from Peter Wood's down-to-earth way of telling me, 'Right, I'm sitting in J 16, and I don't understand what you're trying to tell me. It's not clear.' There's none of this stuff about 'When Faber and Faber bring it out, I'll be able to read it six times and work it out for myself.' Too late. What happens in practice is that after a certain number of weeks elapse I can't see the play any more. I've lost my view of it, and I'm at the mercy of anybody who nudges me. That can work to my disadvantage because it can make the play unnecessarily broad, when I should have kept faith with the delicacy of it. At the same time, it's meant that Peter has actually saved the play. The speech in which Joyce justifies his art wasn't in the text of Travesties that I gave to Peter. It was he who said it was necessary, and I now think it's the most important speech in the play. It's showbiz, but the speech is there because of its place in the argument. What about Cecily's lecture at the beginning of Act Two? Surely you're not expecting the audience to digest so much information so quickly? There are several levels going here, and one of them is that what I personally like is the theatre of audacity. I thought, 'Right. We'll have a rollicking first act, and they'll all come back from their gin-and-tonics thinking "Isn't it fun? What a lot of lovely jokes!" And they'll sit down, and this pretty girl will start talking about the theory of Marxism and the theory of capitalism and the theory of value. And the smiles, because they're not prepared for it, will atrophy.' And that to me was like a joke in itself. But the important thing was that I'd ended the first act with what at that stage was a lengthy exposition of Dada. I wanted to begin the second with a corresponding exposition of how Lenin got to Zurich, not in geographical but political terms. I chose to do that from square one by starting from Das Kapital, Marxian theory of profit, theory of labour, theory of value, and then to slide into the populist movement, the terrorism, Ulyanov's brother and so on. If I could have brought that off, I'd have been prouder of that than anything else I'd ever written. There wasn't a joke in it but I felt I could get away with it because it was going to be a new set—to start with, we weren't going to begin in the library—a new character and a new scene after the interval. I overplayed that hand very badly, and at the first preview I realized that the speech had to be about Lenin only. The second act is Lenin's act really, and I just blue-pencilled everything up to the mention of Lenin. So now it was one page instead of five. In my original draft I took the Lenin section out of the play far more radically than in the version you saw. I actually stopped the play and had actors coming down to read that entire passage from clipboards or lecterns, because I felt very strongly—and now I believe I was right—that one thing I could not do was to integrate the Lenins into the Importance scheme. Irving Wardle said he'd have liked to see Lenin as Miss Prism, but that would have killed the play because of the trivialization. It would have been disastrous to Prismize and Chasublize the Lenins, and I believe that that section saves Travesties because I think one's just about had that particular Wilde joke at that point. I wanted the play to stop—to give the audience documentary illustration of what Lenin felt about art and so on, and then carry on with the play. Peter Wood's objection was unarguable: the whole thing is within the framework of Carr's memory except this bit. How do you get back people's belief if you interrupt it? What I was trying was this. What I'm always trying to say is 'Firstly, A. Secondly, minus A.' What was supposed to be happening was that we have this rather frivolous non-sense going on, and then the Lenin section comes in and says, 'Life is too important. We can't afford the luxury of this artificial frivolity, this nonsense going on in the arts.' Then he says, 'Right. That's what I've got to say,' and he sits down. Then the play stands up and says, 'You thought that was frivolous? You ain't seen nothin' yet.' And you go into the Gallagher and Shean routine. That was the architectural thing I was after. What's altered is the sympathy level you have with Lenin. When you read the words on the page there's a sense in which Lenin keeps convicting himself out of his own mouth. It's absurd. It's full of incredible syllogisms. All the publishing and libraries and bookshops and newspapers must be controlled by the Party. The press will be free. Anybody can write anything they like but anybody who uses the Party press to speak against the Party naturally won't be allowed to do it. And then you go back to the first proposition that everything's controlled by the Party, and you're going round in circles. It's sheer non-sense. And at the end he says, 'I can't listen to music. It makes you want to pat people's heads when you really have to HATE them without MERCY. Though ideally we're against doing violence to people.' In the text one's trying to demonstrate that he was in an impossible position. The ethics of necessity syndrome was operating. But in theatrical terms Frank Windsor and Barbara Leigh Hunt are 98.4 degrees from top to bottom. They're just blood heat, they're so human. When they walk on the stage you don't really think that man has contradicted himself throughout and condemned himself out of his own mouth. You think he really had a burden to carry, and Ashkenazy is doing his bit in the loudspeaker, playing the Apassionata. The equation is different, and even I am seduced by it. Generally speaking, are long speeches dangerous? I always think that they're the safe parts of the play, and they've proved to be so. With Jumpers a certain amount of boggling went on when they saw the script. Michael Hordern was worried; Peter was worried. In practice the monologues played themselves, and all the conventionally easy bits—the dialogue—were very difficult indeed to get right. In Travesties John Wood, who has the grave disadvantage of being about four times as intelligent as it's good for an actor to be, came in when we were talking about the monologue and he simply said, 'I've looked at it at home. There are no problems in it.' And we didn't rehearse it—just went through it a few times when we were doing the run-throughs and I think I spent two hours with him one day talking about little details of inflection. What about this question of increasing architectural complexity? It must have the effect of multiplying the unpredictables and the variables and the points where balance will change from one performance to the next. Yes, I really have a deep desire not to get involved in that kind of play for a long time. It's wonderful that Peter brought Travesties off in theatrical terms, but it's like an egg-and-spoon race. As he says. It could have dropped off in previews at any moment. One's energy as a writer is going into theatricality, and that's okay, but one doesn't want to do that each time, and ideally what I'd like to write now is something that takes place in a whitewashed room with no music and no jumping about, but which is a literary piece—so that the energy can go into the literary side of what I do. I'd like to write a quiet play. Jumpers and Travesties are very similar plays. No one's said that, but they're so similar that were I to do it a third time it would be a bore. You start with a prologue which is slightly strange. Then you have an interminable monologue which is rather funny. Then you have scenes. Then you end up with another monologue. And you have unexpected bits of music and dance, and at the same time people are playing ping-pong with various intellectual arguments. I can see they have that in common, but the relationship between the abstract ideas and the concrete characters seems different. Yes, and there are senses in which Travesties is a great advance on Jumpers, but it's the same kind of pig's break-fast, and I'd really like to abandon that particular paintbox and do a piece of literature for three voices and a dog. One is playing a double game with a play like Jumpers and Travesties: one is judged as a writer on the strength of what one manages to bring off theatrically, and I'm afraid, with respect to those critics whom I feel to be perceptive, that the chances of a play being judged in isolation from what is done to that play are not great. I was the beneficiary of that happening once, in the case of Ronald Bryden's review of Rosencrantz. The play was done in a church hall on a flat floor so that people couldn't actually see it. There was no scenery, student actors. The director didn't show up. Someone else filled in. I turned up for thirty-six hours and tried to put a few things right. It went on in some kind of state or other, and Ronald Bryden, writing for the Observer, just saw straight through to the text. But if Peter had got Travesties wrong, he would have been said to have failed as a director and I would have been said to have failed as a writer, with the same text with which Peter succeeded. It's a nonsense. There's an equation to be got right and there are a number of variables in it. It's not a question of something being right or wrong, it's a question of the variables adding up to the right answer. Things are so interrelated. Overviews And General Studies Download PDF Print Page Citation Share Link Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 19254 Philip Roberts (essay date 1978) SOURCE: "Tom Stoppard: Serious Artist or Siren?" in Critical Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 3, Autumn, 1978, pp. 84-92. [Attempting to assess Stoppard's view of drama, Roberts notes the playwright's ambiguous pronouncements about his own work.] Tom Stoppard's writing career is a remarkable one. Since 1963, when his play A Walk on the Water was transmitted on television a few days after the assassination of President Kennedy 'as a substitute for a play deemed inappropriate in the circumstances', he has had performed some eleven stage plays (including two adaptations), seven television plays, six radio plays and one music piece ('Every good boy deserves favour'). There have also been some short stories and a single novel. He is said by his agent to have 'grossed well over £300,000' from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead alone. He is the most consistently eulogised dramatist of our time. Only Beckett and Pinter, significantly, are able to match his glowing reviews, which is possibly why, in the midst of wittily decrying critics in general, he has a good word for reviewers: 'I hope it is obvious that generally I am not referring to theatre-reviewers, who are performing a useful public service [the Times Literary Supplement, 13 October 1972]. He has been praised, albeit with a few reservations by Bigsby, deified pedantically by Hayman, championed aggressively by James and mythologised unctuously by Tynan. His critical cup runneth over, and although what is said about his plays is not his fault, what he says about his plays should make one wonder why the accolades are so fulsome, and why his particular brand of theatre should have drawn quite so much attention over the last fifteen years. Stoppard is never less than articulate about his position. In 1968, he stated that he had 'very few social preoccupations … Some writers write because they burn with a cause which they further by writing about it. I burn with no causes. I cannot say that I write with any social objective. One writes because one loves writing [Sunday Times, 25 February 1968]. The statement is one of many in which the terms of the antithesis set up are disguised as mutually exclusive. The inference is that those whose medium is the theatre who are judged to have something to say are lesser writers who merely employ the theatre. Any other medium would do as well. Again, those with social preoccupations are defined as writers who 'burn with a cause'. In order to take the position that a love of writing is the only reason for so doing, it becomes necessary to denigrate those who apparently work differently. Elsewhere, Stoppard confesses himself deeply embarrassed by the statements and postures of 'committed' theatre. There is no such thing as 'pure' art—art is a commentary on something else in life—it might be adultery in the suburbs or the Vietnamese war. I think that art ought to involve itself in contemporary social and political history as much as anything else, but I find it deeply embarrassing when large claims are made for such an involvement: when, because art takes notice of something important, it's claimed that the art is important. It's not [quoted by C. W. E. Bigsby, in Tom Stoppard: Writers and Their Work, 1976]. What is being said here amounts to a refusal to believe in the efficacy, in any sense, of theatre to affect anything, including an audience. It is perfectly reasonable to feel embarrassed about 'committed' theatre but to equate it with 'pure' art and then to feel embarrassed when 'large claims are made' for it is to attribute non-Stoppardian theatre with an arrogance which might make even the hardest of hard-line 'political' groups wince. In another context, Stoppard goes so far as to pronounce the theatre 'valuable, and I just hope very much that it'll remain like that as an institution. I think it's vital that the theatre is run by people who like showbiz' [interview with Stoppard in Tom Stoppard by Ronald Hayman, 1977]. He does not, however, define in what sense the theatre is valuable. There is a consistent jokiness to Stoppard's sayings about the theatre and himself. In a second interview with Hayman, he confessed that 'I never quite know whether I want to be a serious artist or a siren'. It is the case that watching the plays at least reflects a comparable unease, especially if one's doubts are reinforced by (they may be deliberately provocative) such airy notions as 'I'm not actually hooked on form. I'm not even hooked on content if one means message. I'm hooked on style' and 'For me the particular use of a particular word in the right place, or a group of words in the right order, to create a particular effect is important; it gives me more pleasure than to make a point which I might consider to be profound … ' [interview with Stoppard in Behind the Seenes: Theatre and Film Interviews from the Transatlantic Review, ed. J. F. McCrindle, 1971]. What is peculiar about this is the supposition that writing is about one thing or the other. What Stoppard has resisted steadily both in his plays and in his opinions expressed in interviews is any idea of the theatre as an agent of change, as a form of art which is in any sense expressive of and contributory to the nature of the society of which it is a part. In order to do this, he uses a definition of the term 'political' which excludes what he does, and thereby begs the question as to the status of his own work. Stoppard comfortably acquiesces in the status quo: 'I lose less sleep if a policeman in Britian beats somebody up than if it happens in a totalitarian country, because I know it's an exceptional case. It's a sheer perversion of speech to describe the society I live in as one that inflicts violence on the underprivileged [quoted by Kenneth Tynan in the Sunday Times, 15 February 1978]. It might be thought that the perversion of speech resides more in Stoppard's deliberate restriction of the word 'violence' to physical beating so as to enable him to assert smugly that the underprivileged in Britain are not done any violence. Consequently, he becomes exasperated at those who dissent and whose writing reflects such dissent. In an interview in 1974, Stoppard attempted to stretch the term 'political' into meaninglessness: there are political plays which are about specific situations, and there are political plays which are about a general political situation, and there are plays which are political acts in themselves, insofar as it can be said that attacking or insulting or shocking an audience is a political act … The Term 'political play' is a loose one if one is thinking of Roots as well as Lear—I mean Bond's—as well as Lay By. So much so that I don't think it is meaningful or useful to make that distinction between them and Jumpers—still less so in the case of Travesties … Jumpers obviously isn't a political act, nor is it a play about politics, nor is it a play about ideology … On the other hand the play reflects my belief that all political acts have a moral basis to them and are meaningless without them [Theatre Quarterly 14, May-June 1974]. In other words, there are just plays and no label works for all of them. Or, perhaps, could it be that all plays are political? The stance is that of the liberal humanist with a corresponding belief that mankind will sort itself out eventually, without anyone prodding it in any particular direction. Stoppard recently put this very plainly: 'I believe in the perfectibility of society, and the concomitant of that belief is a recognition of its imperfections. That's why I am not a revolutionary person. I don't believe that the painful progress towards the perfect society happens in revolutionary spasms. I think it is a gradualist thing of growing enlightenment. I believe in the contagious values [interview with Stoppard by Marina Warner in Vogue, January 1978]. It is curious that someone whose approach is gradualist should continue to demonstrate the chaos in the world via, initially, a series of characters out of Prufrock, Beckett (the novels), Flann O'Brien, Ulysses and Sterne, and that, as far as he is concerned, the great liberator theatrically was Waiting for Godot. His initial heroes, as Bigsby has well annotated, are all trapped within a hostile mechanistic world which is at odds with individual aspiration. The telephonist who is the speaking clock in "If You're Glad I'll Be Frank" (radio 1966; stage 1969) cannot prevail. Albert in "Albert's Bridge" (radio 1967; stage 1969) finds order in the structure of the bridge which is not available on the ground. George in Enter a Free Man (television 1963 as A Walk on the Water; stage 1968) defends his eccentricity as a means of surviving in the face of an illogical world. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1966) shows two figures entirely outdistanced by the few facts of their situation and forced into the Beckettian situation of playing theatre games. If the world is the true Beckettian one as delineated by Stoppard, then there seems little sense even in a gradulist optimism. There is to date nothing written about the play that made Stoppard famous which shows how it is essentially different from its equally famous parent. All that appears to have happened is that Vladimir and Estragon have been moved up-market. The two plays which followed were "The Real Inspector Hound" and "After Magritte" (1968 and 1970), both of which Stoppard accurately describes as 'an attempt to bring off a sort of comic coup in pure mechanistic terms. They were conceived as short plays' [Theatre Quarterly]. In both, what appears to be central is the opportunity for wit, parody and metaphysical dalliance to do with the nature of perception. The plays reel away from seriousness as from a contagious disease. Only in the two most recently available full-length plays does Stoppard confess himself entangled with more disturbing matters, and again the questions are severely diffused by the shifting insistence upon farce which both feather-beds and suffocates them. Out of the fashionable Beckettian context of the early sixties emerged Stoppard's preoccupation with 'the points of view play' so that he could assert in 1974 that 'there is very often no single, clear statement in my plays. What there is, is a series of conflicting statements made by conflicting characters, and they tend to play a sort of infinite leap-frog. You know, an argument, a refutation, then a rebuttal of the refutation, then a counter-rebuttal, so that there is never any point in this intellectual leap-frog at which I feel that is the speech to stop it on, that is the last word [Theatre Quarterly]. The structure and way of proceeding given here are accurate descriptions of both Jumpers (1972) and Travesties (1974). George, a professor of Moral Philosphy, attempts to establish the validity of God and morality via a lecture which he is composing throughout Jumpers. He does so in the face of a world and society which is busily engaged in doing precisely the opposite. As before in Stoppard's plays, there is the little man or the eccentric contra mundum. He is the lonely figure holding out against overwhelming pressure, whether from his retired show-business wife, his all-purpose Vice-Chancellor, or the irrestible march to power of the radical liberal party (a deliberate contradiction in terms?). The play is pessimistic despite its acutely clever portrayal of certain aspects of the academic life, for George never engages with the real world, and can struggle with metaphysics only on the luxurious level of a private study. While he wanders in abstractions, the world gets on with its business. George is Stoppard's hero, someone who despite the odds, the self-contradictions, even the topical fallacies, and especially despite the realities of the situation, insists upon the existence and survival of values other than the ones which rule. The fact that George is shown to be hopelessly adrift is what makes him so attractive to Stoppard, for in his confusions he is said to represent essential man. Conceptually, George's rational means advance him no further than Watt [in Beckett's Watt] confronted with the problem of Mr Knott's leftovers who, having found 'the solution that seemed to have prevailed', furnishes the household with hordes of famished dogs, each in their turn to eat Mr Knott's food and numbers of families to supply the dogs and 'For reasons that remain obscure Watt was, for a time, greatly interested, and even fascinated, by this matter of the dog … and he attached to this matter an importance, and even a significance, that seems hardly warranted. For otherwise would he have gone into the matter at such length. It is true that Stoppard remarks that he believes 'all political acts must be judged in moral terms, in terms of their consequences. Otherwise, they are simply attempts to put the boot on some other foot' [Theatre Quarterly]. What is equally true is that any sense that George provides moral judgements has to be mediated both through the bones of a murder enquiry and through the technique of argument and counter argument which is Stoppard's main structural device. He heads unerringly for the joke, the parodic moment, the visually witty contrast to a degree which makes one doubt whether anything of what George struggles with, albeit in a vacuum, is able to locate itself solidly in such a texture. The confusions engendered lead to bizarre criticism. Thus Lucina P. Gabbard argues [in Modern Drama XX, No. 1, March, 1977] that Stoppard 'daringly weaves a serious philosophical dialectic in and out of this Absurdist drama', as if the debate in George's lecture is a complex one. She concludes that 'Absurdism, usually so depressing to audiences, emerges in a new configuration with entertainment', which suggests she has only read and not seen Beckett, Ionesco et al. The same writer is sufficiently entranced to instance the use of a screen and a slide projector as examples of 'Brechtian technique'. Stoppard himself has pointed out the similarity between Jumpers and Travesties. They are 'very similar plays. Noone's said that … You start with a prologue which is slightly strange. Then you have an interminable monologue which is rather funny. Then you have scenes. Then you end up with another monologue. And you have unexpected bits of music and dance, and at the same time people are playing ping-pong with various intellectual arguments [interview with Hayman]. His sense of the two plays is that 'A lot of things in Jumpers and Travesties seem to me to be the terminus of the particular kind of writing which I can do'. Once again, what Stoppard may have to say is, perhaps defensively, insulated via the recollections of Henry Carr and by the other clever weaving of Carr's memories with The Importance of Being Earnest. Carr's origins, once again, are Beckettian: 'My memoirs, is it, then? Life and times, friend of the famous … Joyce… a liar and a hypocrite, a tight-fisted, sponging, fornicating drunk not worth the paper, that's that bit done … (He makes an effort) … (He gives up again).' What he does is to summon up the occasion when Joyce, Tzara and Lenin were all in Zurich in 1918. They are all three engaged in revolution in one form or another. Other than that and the historical fact that Carr was involved with Joyce in a production of Wilde, there seems no good reason why connections should be apparent between them. Except that Stoppard appears to want to endorse the farce and the frivolity at the expense of Lenin, because of the implications of the ideology represented by Lenin. The play is broken backed and oscillates between farce figures jumping through comic hoops and Lenin's ostensibly dour reality. Characters pirouette around a situation which they do not advance, and of which they are not the product. They observe the situation as wittily as possible. Most of the speeches are not dialogue but elegant reflections upon a general theme. Each of the central characters makes pronouncements upon himself and the others, scores points, and is in turn rebuffed by another character. When at a loss, they move into pages of limericks or adaptations of music-hall songs. They as characters hardly exist. What is paramount is the shape of the remark, the delicacy of the wit. The play concentrates upon its own hermetic premise. Tzara and Joyce are created as mad and eccentric, exaggerated so as to provide a focal point for the sparks which can be struck. Carr is equally concerned only with his own cleverness and disdain. And then there's Lenin. Stoppard has said that Travesties 'puts the question in a more extreme form. It asks whether an artist has to justify himself in political terms at all', 'whether the words "revolutionary" and "artist" are capable of being synonymous or whether they are mutually exclusive, or something in between'. His three main figures represent aspects of this curious question, on the one hand Joyce, on the other Lenin and in between Tzara. The question is never seriously debated, however. It is stated dogmatically in three forms, and the fact that Joyce and Tzara are joined with Carr means that they all perform a manic dance, mouthing belief but not substantiating it. Joyce in fact is absent from the play for long stretches at a time. Where the scheme falters is with the introduction of Lenin himself and Stoppard, as ever, is sensitive to the problem. He had ended Act One with an exposition of Dada and I wanted to begin the second with a corresponding exposition of how Lenin got to Zurich, not in geographical but political terms. I chose to do that from square one by starting with Das Kapital… I over-played that hand very badly, and at the first preveiw I realised that the speech had to be about Lenin only. The second act is Lenin's act really, and I just bluepencilled everything up to the mention of Lenin. So now it was one page instead of five [interview with Hayman]. The unease shows in the text at the beginning of Act Two where it is stated that 'The performance of the whole of this lecture is not a requirement, but is an option. After "To resume" it could pick up at any point, e.g. "Lenin was convinced …" or "Karl Marx had taken it as an axiom", but no later than that'. The opening series of Act Two may thus begin with the statement that the beginning of the war caught Lenin and his wife in Galicia and that they came eventually to Zurich: 'Here could be seen James Joyce … and here, too the Dadaists were performing nightly … '. Now there is nothing objectionable in worrying away at those speeches of Lenin which are selfcontradictory and in turn pondering the situation of the artist. Yet when the form and procedure of the play is such as in Travesties, it is the case that Lenin's massive historical presence in the play creates a boomerang effect with regard to Joyce and to Tzara. If the only seriousness in the play is of the self-regarding kind, then Lenin's pronouncements must inevitably carry weight, since the others are busily absorbed in playing Wildean antics. Consequently, the targets are easy to aim at. Cecily's passionate defence of Lenin is ridiculed suavely by Carr who insists on viewing her as a sexual object. The sequence closes with Cecily in Carr's mind's eye dancing on a table to the tune of 'The stripper' and Carr's roaring 'Get 'em off!'. It is true that this is Carr and not Stoppard. It is also true that her passion is ridiculed and that she is made to love Carr because she wants to reform him. The centre of the play is not a debate about the artist and revolution. It is contained more obviously in Carr's remark to Tzara: 'You're an artist. And multi-coloured micturition is no trick to those boys, they'll have you pissing blood.' Lenin, in spite of the author in the end stands as a critical comment on the rest of the characters. At the moment, Stoppard's work is beloved by those for whom theatre is an end and not a means, diversionary and not central, a ramification and not a modifier of the status quo, a soother of worried minds and not an irritant. He is the wittiest of our West End playwrights and his plays assure the reactionary that theatre was and is what they always trusted it was, anodyne and anaesthetising. It is difficult to know whether Stoppard at present takes himself too seriously enough. The novelist Derek Marlowe suggests that 'He's startled by the smallest minutiae of life. But the grand events, the highs and lows of human behaviour, he sees with a sort of aloof, omniscient amusement. The world doesn't impinge on his work, and you'd think after reading his plays that no emotional experience had ever impinged on his world' to which Stoppard characteristically and ambiguously replied, 'That criticism is always being presented to me as if it were a membrane that I must somehow break through in order to grow up …' [Tynan]. It remains to be seen whether the serious writer or the siren triumphs. Andrew K. Kennedy (essay date 1982) SOURCE: "Tom Stoppard's Dissident Comedies," in Modern Drama, Vol. XXV, No. 4, December, 1982, pp. 469-76. [In the following essay, Kennedy discusses Stoppard's moral and political satire in Jumpers, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, and Professional Foul.] To thy own self be true One and one is always two. How many readers and theatre-goers would find the hall-marks of Tom Stoppard's verbal wit in those Peer Gyntian lines from Every Good Boy Deserves Favour? The lines are spoken rapidly by Alexander, the political prisoner detained in a "hospital," to his absent son; every word is meant, without ambiguity or irony either in the phrasing or in the situation; and the verse is a mnemonic, in case the prisoner is not allowed writing material "on medical grounds." This is only a local example of the remarkable change in Stoppard's comedy from a relativistic and parodic universe of wit to a new kind of comedy that combines moral and political commitment with a newly stable satire of real/absurd worlds, recognizably located in Russia and Czechoslovakia. It is an interesting transformation of comic vision, strategy and language. Stoppard's comedy has, until this new direction, been most notable for the creation of a "pan-parodic" theatre. We were right to stress the vertiginous interplay of two kinds of theatre (Renaissance and Modernist) in the tragical-comical-farcical-melodramatic Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and the cross-weaving of style parodies from Dada and Joyce, caught in the threads of Wilde's famous farce, in turn misperformed by the British Consul's decaying memory, in Travesties. In that kind of comedy—with its rapidly shifting perspectives, surrealistic quasi-encounters, and self-breeding verbal games—a "centre of gravity" was not to be looked for too gravely. That comedy did release vision, but no stable point of view. When a committed spokesman does appear amid the whirling worlds and words—George meditating on the meaning of God and morality in Jumpers, and Lenin's speeches on art and revolution in Travesties—critics complain that the comedy is all but undone: "his footing slips in his play-long parody of philosophy … polysyllables are dull weapons with which to cut at logical positivism" [Ruby Cohn in Contemporary English Drama, ed. C. W. E. Bigsby, 1981] and the "authentic speeches" of Lenin dislocate the "baroque farce" in the play [C. W. E. Bigsby, in Tom Stoppard, 1976]. Cecily's lecture on the origins of the Russian Revolution at the opening of act two of Travesties was judged to be so anti-comic by a French director that he procured, if that is the word, an actress who was willing to deliver the tedium-risking speech in the nude, slowly getting dressed as she went on speaking the unwitty lines (Stoppard's anecdote). In sum, the universal parody, the instability of focus, and the sometimes indulgent but nearly always theatrically well-timed verbal wit have created a comedy-farce in which the importance of being serious was a risky ingredient. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and Professional Foul are relatively modest in scope; they also differ in genre and style, preserving only a family resemblance with the universal parody of the earlier plays. It may well be that we have been given a wholly new kind of political comedy, still to be defined. Placing these two short Stoppard comedies on the generic map may be provisional; but before we turn to the plays themselves, it is worth recalling that there has been a certain poverty of political comedy in contemporary (English) drama. Some of the most interesting plays by roughly "New Left" dramatists (plays like Howard Brenton's Weapons of Happiness and David Hare's Fanshen) border on the ponderously solemn. A generation of dramatists has found it difficult to combine didactic purpose—including a feeling for ideological subtleties and contradictions—with anything resembling full-blooded comic vision. Traces of the robust Shavian and Brechtian political comedy—with its fusion of theatricality and ideology, comedy and ideas, the direct use of plat-form, stage, arena and circus, from Major Barbara to Arturo Ui—are now rare, or rarefied. When a bolder kind of political comedy is attempted, it often leads to a catastrophe of pity and terror, deliberately and didactically contrived, as in Trevor Griffiths's fine Comedians and Edward Bond's recent Restoration (in which the triumphant pastiche comedy suggested by the title is pushed towards a melodramatic execution through aristocratic villainy). Stoppard's combination of "lightness of touch" in comedy and a new political purpose is in itself noteworthy; and if we decide that he is successful in keeping the balance between intermirroring theatre worlds and recognizable real worlds, then he has achieved something rare in our time. Shaw tried something comparable in one line of development from Androcles and the Lion to The Apple Cart—a pantomime comedy of belief and political extravaganza. But Stoppard's scale is smaller, and his control arguably greater, more concentrated. There may be another point of affinity between the two dramatists. In the plays under discussion, Stoppard (who once created university wits who had dined on Beckett) seems to be governed by a non-absurd vision of absurdity. By this I mean the relatively stable exposure of the lunacies and brutalities of a political system; the multiple irrationality is seen rationally enough to let the audience watch from a stable standpoint. The worlds which persecute a Bukovsky and a Havel are shown to be grotesquely dislocated in their pursuit of absolute "rationality" and power, and the audience is made to perceive the madness; yet the foundations of the theatre and its language are not shaken in this kind of committed comedy. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1977) is serio-comic from the opening scene on. The confusion of roles and planes of action—between Ivanov's insane musical hallucinations and Alexander's state-fabricated "hallucinations"—is situational wit developed with great economy. The scene serves as a prelude and shorthand exposition to the whole play. Ivanov's manic mime, as he conducts his imaginary orchestra, involves the audience in "listening" to the un-heard music first, and then to the audible orchestra, seemingly dominated by the mad Ivanov's wonder-working triangle. Since Ivanov assumes that his fellow-prisoner is a fellow-musician, he proceeds to cross-examine his musical credentials in a way that is at once comic and menacing: IVANOV … Let me put it like this: if I smashed this instrument of yours over your head, would you need a carpenter, a welder, or a brain surgeon? ALEXANDER I do not play an instrument. If I played an instrument I'd tell you what it was. But I do not play one. I have never played one. I do not know how to play one. I am not a musician. IVANOV What the hell are you doing here? ALEXANDER I was put here. IVANOV What for? ALEXANDER For slander. IVANOV Slander? What a fool! Never speak ill of a musician!—those bastards won't rest. They're animals, to a man. ALEXANDER This was political. IVANOV Let me give you some advice. Number one—never mix music with politics. Number two—never confide in your psychiatrist. Number three—practise! ALEXANDER Thank you. The dark overtones of this comic opening provide the key to the mode and the mood of this dark comedy. Apart from the delightful yet sinister mixing of music and politics, we get an early inkling of the orchestra being used as a central play-metaphor, going well beyond "musical accompaniment" or "melo-drama" in the old sense. For the fantasy of conducting a kind of cosmic orchestra, letting a triangle dictate its perfect concord, is itself a totalitarian fantasy which mirrors the ideologue's dream of universal order. No discord in the music, no dissent in the state. Beating in measure is all. Meanwhile, the miserable plight and the incongruous collisions of Ivanov and Alexander mock the human desire for perfect order and hegemony, from the start. In the play's design, the two cell-mates do not, however, interact to any great extent. It is possible to see this as an underexplored possibility, probably due to the limited scope of the play. Furthermore, Stoppard must have wanted to avoid the relatively mechanical pattern of a comedy of errors. Instead, he modulates into his darkest key by scene two: Alexander delivers a long speech to the passive Ivanov, expounding the crazy ABC of justice in the police state. In a later cell-scene (scene five), Alexander is given a solo speech addressed to his absent young son Sacha, in which he describes the horrifying effects of being on hunger-strike, when the flesh starts to smell of acetone, nail varnish. All this sounds and is authentic (some of it taken directly from an eyewitness account by Victor Fainberg in Index on Censorship). And since such speeches form the centre of the play's political protest against the abuses of psychiatry for political ends, they are an integral element of Stoppard's strategy. But they are directly didactic—not parable, not comic; they resemble the Lenin speeches in Travesties in tilting the play away from its comic-satirical moorings. It is possible that an Ionesco—or Mrozek or Havel, who had been directly submerged in the Kafka world of East European totalitarianism—would have handled even such scenes on the level of absurdist gallows humour, still within the frame of a comic political parable. The comic potential of the play is developed in lateral scenes, away from the cell, in the other two acting areas: the school where Sacha is being taught and indoctrinated, and the hospital office where bizarre interviews take place. Much of the comedy of confused levels hinges on the triangle, now both a musical instrument and a geometrical figure calling out for absolute definition. Thus is a pun transmuted into a multilevel comedy of ideas. One particularly effective scene shows the boy Sacha parroting the axioms of Euclid (which he has to copy ten times, as his father has to copy political slogans a million times). The teacher men matches each axiom with some doctrine considered axiomatic in the Soviet state: SACHA 'A point has position but no dimension.' TEACHER The asylum is for malcontents who don't know what they're doing. SACHA 'A line has length but no breadth.' TEACHER They know what they are doing but they don't know it's anti-social. SACHA 'A straight line is the shortest distance between two points.' TEACHER They know it's anti-social but they're fanatics. SACHA 'A circle is the path of a point moving equi-distant to a given point.' TEACHER They're sick. SACHA 'A polygon is a plane area bounded by straight lines.' TEACHER And it's not a prison, it's a hospital. This Orwellian scene is intensified into further satire in the second schoolroom scene, when Sacha twists the absolutes of geometry into strange home-made formulations like "A triangle is the shortest distance between three points" and "A circle is the longest distance to the same point." Stoppard, a master of verbal distortion, is here letting a dissident geometry make its point against pseudo-Euclidean politics. Later in the hospital office, as in distorting mirrors, the axiom-drill of the schoolroom is twisted into still more grotesque shapes. Ivanov, the madman, happens to be in the office when Sacha arrives, and the boy is at once subjected to a manic and intimidating music lesson: SACHA I can't play anything, really. IVANOV Everyone is equal to the triangle. That is the first axiom of Euclid, the Greek musician. SACHA Yes, Sir. IVANOV The second axiom! It is easier for a sick man to play the triangle than for a camel to play the triangle. All these episodes are threaded on a plot of sorts, which is itself broadly comic, involving as it does a doctor who plays the violin (in the "real" orchestra) and the Colonel in charge of the psychiatric hospital who is said to be an expert in semantics. The final scene modulates into a formal "happy ending" as the Colonel descends theatrically, deus ex machina of our time, to sort out the bitter confusions of mere mortals. The Colonel confuses Alexander and Ivanov (or, rather, confuses Alexander Ivanov with Alexander Ivanov), and in his genius discovers that Ivanov does not believe sane people are put in mental hospitals while Alexander does not hear music of any kind. Evil is averted—as in the finale of a tragicomedy like Measure for Measure—the patients/prisoners are released. Comic release follows. Professional Foul is lighter in texture than Every Good Boy, with a fine balance between comedy, ideas, and the personal drama of a dissident and his family. That balance brings this small-scale play near to Stoppard's "perfect marriage between the play of ideas and farce or even high comedy" [Stoppard, in Theatre Quarterly 4, May-July 1974]. It is, however, very much a television play, to be judged partly for its success in using the medium: the rapid succession of scenes, the comedy of close-ups (e.g., the philosopher caught by the camera reading a girlie magazine in the aeroplane), and, above all, the ingenious variations played on stock character and situation. Ordinary muddles and misunderstandings gradually crystallize into the cruel farce of the Prague secret police chasing and bugging a gentle and philosophical dissident. Popular topics, like football and an absent-minded professor, are woven into an ongoing argument over the rights of the individual in the state. The criss-crossing of three fields—philosophy, football, and politics—is as amusing as any of Stoppard's galleries of interreflecting mirrors. Like Jumpers, the play is structured around a central character, at first a caricature: the liberal, vague, and seemingly gutless Oxford philosopher, Professor Anderson, whose hidden motive for travelling to a colloquium on ethics in Prague is to watch football there. The surface comedy begins with the opening scene, set in the aeroplane, where Anderson in his vagueness unintentionally creates the impression of being condescending to a junior academic from a provincial university, and also casts some doubt on the nature of the "extra-curricular activities" he has in mind for the Prague conference—politics, football, or an amorous adventure could all be meant. It is essential to Stoppard's purpose to establish this elegantly world-weary Oxbridge don "type" early in the play. For the gentlemanly manner and the well-meaning detachment bordering on inanity ("A cleaner? What is that?", he asks Hollar, the Czech philosophy student now compelled to do menial work) exhibit the weaknesses of liberal/noncommittal/Anglo-Saxon attitudes. Anderson appears to have reduced ethics to good manners and so casts himself for the role of the innocent abroad in a comedy of manners. Asked by Hollar to take back with him to England the only copy of his doctoral thesis on correct behaviour—a dangerous topic in Prague—Anderson responds first with inbred evasion: ANDERSON … Oh, Hollar … now, you know, really, I'm a guest of the government here. HOLLAR They would not search you. ANDERSON That's not the point. I'm sorry… I mean it would be bad manners, wouldn't it? HOLLAR Bad manners? ANDERSON I know it sounds rather lame. But ethics and manners are interestingly related. The history of human calumny is largely a series of breaches of good manners. Anderson's hypercorrect attitude is gradually, and serio- comically, transformed into cunning. He becomes a political fox who can perform a minor breach of "manners"—a breach of the law in a police state—by first rousing himself to make an impermissible speech in favour of individual rights at the conference, and then deciding after all to hide Hollar's thesis (in a colleague's brief-case). "It's not quite playing the game is it?", growls the pseudo-committed colleague as they fly out of Prague, with the undetected thesis, in the final scene. It is a comedy of conversion—let us call it the liberal's progress from fatuousness to commitment—worked out in scenes of personal confrontation, flanked by scenes of hilariously overlapping fields. In the dark core-scenes of the dissident's drama (scenes six and seven), Anderson is accidentally made to participate in a police raid on Hollar's flat, witnessing the slick brutality of the procedures, the panic of wife, son and other residents. He is indignantly protesting because he has to miss England playing (though allowed to listen to a radio report, in Czech, by courtesy of the secret police). The ordinary confusion of who is doing what for what purpose is dovetailed into the larger confusion of a police state apparatus that is efficient in function but "absurd" in purpose. And Anderson, the disconnected philosopher, is learning to connect things. In the second personal scene, Hollar's son (called Sacha again, as if to underline the link with Every Good Boy) movingly acts as the interpreter, in halting English, between Mrs. Hollar and the increasingly moved Anderson. Even this scene has a comic point of entry, as Anderson's suspicious colleague thinks he has his hypothesis concerning certain "extracurricular activities" confirmed when he spots an attractive woman waving to Anderson in the hotel dining-room—it is Mrs. Hollar come to ask for help ("Bloody hell, it was a woman. Crafty old beggar"). The overlapping fields accommodate Stoppard's characteristic picnic of speech-styles. The title itself is taken from a footballer's intentional foul to stop a goal; and, clearly, Anderson is about to commit "a professional foul," in the light of his own professional etiquette. Then there are the local puns, for instance, the confusion of "left wing" in its political and footballing contexts. The most successful verbal comedy is the barrage of football reports being telephoned by assorted British journalists who all seem to have a flair for parodying their particular style ("Only Crisp looked as if he had a future outside Madame Tussaud's—a.u.d.s.—stop"). The parody of linguistic philosophy (scene eight) is more laboured and more superficial than the parody of Anderson's earlier liberal-human-ist wishy-washiness. (The parody of linguistic philosophy has, of course, a bearing on Stoppard's general post-Wittgenstein openness to situational "language games"—but that is another point.) Nor is the political centre-piece, Anderson's committed speech in defence of freedom and individual rights at the conference, quite as effective as it is probably intended to be. Here television may be a handicap, for a fragmented Western television audience (I am speaking from experience and observation) cannot quite recreate for itself the force of hearing such a speech in an East European assembly. Further, it is not at all easy to integrate a "straight" and resounding defence of values into the structure of a comedy, as even Chaplin found when he marred the ending of his superbly controlled Hitler satire in The Great Dictator by shouting the truths of the gospel at the audience in the final episode of the film. However, having said that, I may add that Stoppard himself is not always at ease in handling a tirade of ideas—he is no Shaw in this respect (witness sections of Jumpers). The play of ideas is much more successfully handled in shorter spurts, where an idea is aired and then left to float back into the main body of the play at a later stage. Such an idea is the "audacious application" by McKendrick of the "catastrophe theory" to ethics—roughly the view that '"Morality"' and '"Immorality"' represent not opposite planes, but rather two lines running along the same plane until at a certain point—the catastrophe or breaking-point—"your progress along one line of behaviour jumps you into the opposite line; the principle reverses itself …". McKendrick is carried away by waves of enthusiasm, uses a knife and a hand for emphasis, and then directly (argumentum ad hominem) accuses Anderson of wanting to treat values he knows to be fictions as if they were "God-given absolutes": "So you end up using a moral principle as your excuse for acting against a moral interest. It's a sort of funk—." The over-ingenious argument gathers strength and point when we see Anderson, as it were, having learnt the lesson of a reversed principle—though he is really acting under the direct impact of the emotional scene with Mrs. Hollar and Sacha—in promising to "do everything I can" to help the persecuted dissident. And Anderson has the last word too, when he defends his act of having placed Hollar's suppressed thesis in McKendrick's brief-case, with a practical application of the same catastrophe theory: "I'm afraid I reversed a principle." Committed action has grown out of non-absolutist ethics for Anderson. And committed comedy has grown out of political catastrophe, through Stoppard. Joseph J. Feeney (essay date 1982) SOURCE: "Fantasy in Structure: Layered Metaphor in Stopparci," in Forms of the Fantastic: Selected Essays from the Third International Conference on the Fantastic in Literature and Film, edited by Jan Hokenson and Howard Pearce, Greenwood Press, 1986, pp. 233-39. [The following was first presented at a 1982 conference. Feeney contends that the seeming spontaneity of Stoppard's imagination obscures the careful craftsmanship of his plays, which, he claims, are structured around set of "parallel metaphors. "] Tom Stoppard has an imagination that feeds on analogies. "Things are so interrelated," he once commented in an interview [in Ronald Hayman's Tom Stoppard, 1979]; and in writing his plays Stoppard frequently finds himself discovering (often to his own surprise) various "convergences of different threads," "structural pivots," and points of "cross reference." In these plays, the themes, characters, plots, language, and setting somehow become curiously linked and, through multiple metaphors, end up standing parallel to each other. In Jumpers, for example, philosophy resembles gymnastics, which is like casual sex, which resembles academic politics, which … And so the metaphor-making sparkles along in the Stoppard imagination. These metaphors, furthermore—often bizarre and fantastic ones—then get built into the very structure of a Stoppard play. For the casual theatergoer, the Stoppard imagination seems only a near-bottomless source of fantastic puns, incongruities, plot twists, and verbal surprises. Critics, too, often concentrate on Stoppard's absurdity and celebration of irrationality. But underneath the surface of Stoppard's plays—and of his imagination—is an intelligence and a dramatic craft that are carefully ordering those diverse elements that only seem to be so spontaneous, arbitrary, and chaotic. The real Stoppard, however, is a supreme organizer, a craftsman who knows that his plays "hinge around incredibly carefully thought-out structural pivots which I arrive at as thankfully and as unexpectedly as an explorer parting the pampas grass which is head-high and seeing a valley full of sunlight and maidens." This "structural pivot" is very frequently a set of parallel metaphors whose points of similarity Stoppard works out as carefully as a seventeenth-century metaphysical poet. Through metaphor after metaphor Stoppard links together bizarrely diverse elements, and this metaphor—or, more accurately, series of metaphors or layers of metaphor—provides structure, form, and shape for the play. These layers of metaphor continue for the full length of the play, and each layer of the comparison illuminates and is illuminated by the others. Thus, Stoppard's dreamiest flights of fantasy are reined in, through metaphor, by his mind and his imagination. He sees similarities, works out continuing points of comparison, and builds these metaphors into his plays in such a way that the parallels are fantastic yet consistently coherent. Fantasy becomes structured through metaphor. And this rare combination of wild fantasy and clear structure becomes a Stoppare trademark that forms a potentially centrifugal play into a coherent unit. A number of his plays demonstrate this characteristic of Stoppard's imagination; here I consider three of them: Jumpers, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, and Professional Foul. A preliminary clarification may help on the question of structure. Each of these plays, to be sure, has a traditional plot structure; the traditional urge of suspense drives each play forward: Who murdered the gymnast, and what will happen to George Moore? What will be Alexander's fate for speaking the truth about Russia's political freedom? Will Hollar's philosophical essay be successfully smuggled out of Czechoslovakia? These questions, and the plots they spawn, propel each play forward and provide its basic structure. But Stoppard adds his layers of metaphor as an alternate structure. This layered metaphor, with its multiple levels of similarities, adds its own form, unity, and structure to each play. These fantastic metaphors also provide much of each play's brilliance, its tour-de-force quality; the metaphors—together with Stoppard's verbal pyrotechnics—also give the play its sense of fun. Junipers (1972) is a play whose major conflict is a dispute between philosophies, and all the other conflicts in the play—about sex, gymnastics, academic appointments, murder, even the astronauts on the moon—are merely metaphoric parallels for the central philosophical dispute. On one side is George Moore, a philosopher, who generally follows the philosophical positions of the English philosopher G. E. Moore (1873—1958) (whose name, of course, is also George Moore). The philosophical hero (like Stoppard I will call him "George") is, at the beginning of the play, preparing a lecture for a university symposium that very evening. Opposing recent developments in English philosophy and ethics, he comments that he "hoped [that evening] to set British moral philosophy back forty years, which is roughly when it went off the rails." Following what he, and historians of philosophy, call the "intuitionist philosopher" G. E. Moore, George holds that there is an absolute metaphysical base for affirming what is good and what is bad; goodness, he maintains, is a fact that, by intuition, is recognized when it is seen. Moreover (and unlike G. E. Moore), George, arguing as a philosopher, actually affirms that there is a God. Standing in the long tradition of Aristotle, Aquinas, and the Judeo-Christian philosophical heritage, he affirms a God of Creation and a God of Goodness "to account for existence and … to account for moral values". On the other side of the philosophical dispute stand the more recent English philosophers—the current "orthodox mainstream" according to George—who are represented in the play by Sir Archibald Jumper ("Archie," says Stoppard) and his followers, including the recently murdered Professor McFee. These contemporary philosophers are, at one point, catalogued and lumped together as "logical positivists, mainly, with a linguistic analyst or two, a couple of Benthamite Utilitarians … lapsed Kantians and empiricists generally … and of course the usual Behaviourists." This group holds, according to George, that "things and actions … can have any number of real and verifiable properties. But good and bad, better and worse … are not real properties of things … just expressions of our feelings about them." The play's question, then, becomes this: Can goodness and badness be objectively grounded (at least by intuition), or are they only subjective feelings without any objective philosophical foundation? This is the play's philosophical conflict and the crux of its plot. In Jumpers, however, this cerebral dramatic conflict, itself enfleshed in George and Archie, is further expressed in a series of bizarre metaphors; Stoppard finds parallels of this philosophical disagreement in the realms of gymnastics, sex, academic power, national politics, murder, astronauts on the moon, and human feeling. And while these metaphors at first seem fantastic and strange, on examination they make full sense and provide a complex structural network for the play. Archie (Sir Archibald Jumper, the philosopher without metaphysical foundation) is himself a gymnast—physically and philosophically—and also the manager of a group of gymnasts whom he hires out to perform at parties; these jumpers are young and "relevant," physically skilled, technically brilliant at somersaults, but have no solid foundation. In contrast, George is physically dull, boringly stable, but grounded on the firm, solid earth. Furthermore, Archie—the jumper—also leaps from bed to bed and has seduced George's own wife; George, his marriage shaky, is troubled—both morally and sexually—by Archie's actions, but is himself moral enough to refrain from such sexual acrobatics. Archie, further, is a man of academic power, vice-chancellor of George's university and the professor in charge of academic appointments; George, seeker of truth and man of moral integrity, is totally powerless and holds the lowly reputed chair of moral philosophy. In politics (to go the next metaphor), the jumpers are Radical-Liberals; George holds a more traditional position. In life, the jumpers, since they hold no moral position as absolute, are willing to resort even to murder; George, recognizing moral limits, could not imagine himself murdering anyone. The characters' habits, too, differ: During the play the jumpers are enjoying a free-flying party in George's living room and bedroom while George is in his study preparing his lecture in isolation from others. Even the lunar astronauts take part in Jumpers' multilayered metaphor. On television the American astronauts are seen walking on and violating the moon, and when they take off for the return to earth, one astronaut chooses self-preservation at the cost of the other's life; George and even his wife prefer altruistic courage and also mourn the loss of the old romantic, stable view of a distant and lovely moon. The jumpers, finally, see their bodies as only brilliant machines, are always coolly in control of a situation, but care little about love; George, though he cannot express his love to his wife, still cares about her, and even about his tortoise, Pat, and his hare, Thumper. Yet George, isolated but still holding to objective morality, even at play's end, remains a victim of slapstick and a philosopher in a pratfall. On this set of incongruous metaphors, then, is the play built: philosophy = gymnastics = sex = academic chairs = national politics = murder = parties = astronauts = love = slapstick = George and Archie. Stoppard has chosen such fantastic linkings to dramatize his worries about order, reason, morality, and responsibility in the modern world. The play Jumpers, then, while funny and sparkling, is also very serious and—most to the point—very carefully structured. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1977) and Professional Foul (1977) are equally funny and equally serious; they are both also structured with great care. Dealing with political repression and with freedom of expression, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour shows a political prisoner kept in a Russian mental hospital, and Professional Foul is a television play about free expression in Czechoslovakia. Both plays, like Jumpers, are built on parallel layers of metaphor carefully linked together. The title of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour puns on the musical notation E, G, B, D, F (the play's title is the British version of our "Every Good Boy Does Fine"), and the work is described [by Stoppard in the Hayman interview] as "a piece for actors and orchestra." André Previn wrote the music, and both actors and orchestra share the stage. On the stage two men are confined in a Russian mental hospital; Alexander, a political prisoner because he criticized the repression of dissent, and Ivanov, a certified madman who believes he has an orchestra in his head (he thinks the cellos are rubbish!). At issue in the play is the difference between clinical madness and the human sanity-political madness of dissent in a repressive society. The play, as it progresses, jokes about Ivanov's imaginary orchestra, shows Alexander's determination to be honest and to speak the truth frankly, and dramatizes his young son's desire to free him. The plot—such as it is—is resolved crazily when a colonel enters and unwittingly confuses the two men; he asks Alexander whether he hears an orchestra in his head ("No," he says) and Ivanov whether the Soviet government puts sane men in lunatic asylums ("I shouldn't think so," he says). Both men are sent home and the play ends happily. Despite the ghastly political and human situation, the play is funny. Many of the lines and situations are zanily comic; Ivanov is a humorous character; even the musical score is a parody of modern Russian music. Stoppard adds to the humor and incongruity with layers of incongruous metaphors. In Russia any statement about government repression—statements that are morally right and as obvious as geometry and logic ("To thine own self be true. / One and one is always two.")—somehow means political dissent. Such dissent is treated as madness and as a refusal to play one's part in the orchestra of the State (here, ironically, existing only in the mind of a madman). These political themes and conflicts appear in the lines of the characters, in the logic or illogic of their utterances, in the mental-hospital setting, and in the orchestra's music. On one side stands the sane, dissenting Alexander: frank in politics, morally truthful, logically and mathemetically accurate (one and one do make two), quite sane, possessing no imaginary orchestra, forthright in word, honest to his opinions; on the other side, the madman and good Communist Ivanov: amoral in his madness, inventing an unreal world of relations and even a new orchestra in his mind, crazy in word, with opinions unconnected with reality. Like Russian Communism he lives within a crazy, closed system. And even the State-as-orchestra is not very competent and plays music that is a parody. Thus, Stoppard builds up the incongruous but clear metaphors on which the play's structure stands: Alexander and Ivanov = politics = morality = logical mathematics = sanity = madness = music = verbal style = character = society. The play's richness as well as its humor and irony are all based on these layers of metaphor. Even a play as seemingly—and actually—realistic as Pro fessional Foul is based on similar fantastic parallels structured through metaphor. The play, one of Stoppard's rare pieces for television, dramatizes a lesson in applied ethics as learned by Professor Anderson, a Cambridge ethicist and rabid soccer fan. This ninety-minute drama begins as several British philosophers are flying to Prague to deliver papers at an international philosophical congress. Anderson, who has always carefully kept his philosophy separate from his life and politics, has prepared a lecture on "Ethical Fictions as Ethical Foundations." (The treatment of ethics as a fiction, incidentally, recapitulates Archie Jumper's position.) But if truth were to be told, Professor Anderson is really going to Prague to catch the World Cup qualifier soccer match between England and Czechoslovakia, which will be played in the Czech capital at the time of the congress. But when Anderson reaches his Prague hotel, he is unexpectedly visited by his former Czech student, Pavel Hollar, who asks Anderson to carry his thesis—on human rights—to England for publication. Anderson, unwilling to offend his Czech hosts by such smuggling and "bad manners," refuses. But the next day, on his way to the soccer match, Anderson finds that Hollar has been arrested; angered, he then presents to the international congress not his own paper on "ethical fictions" but Hollar's strong views on human rights and on their real, objective foundation. Anderson, then, chooses to speak out in place of the imprisoned Hollar and even decides to smuggle Hollar's thesis to the English printers. The play ends as Anderson smuggles the thesis out of Czechoslovakia in the brief-case of an unsuspecting British philosopher—a relativist in moral theory—who unreasonably complains that a "principle" has been violated. Anderson counters that since for the relativist philosophy is merely a "game" anyway, how could an alleged non-real "principle" be violated? (Hollar, a traditional objectivist in moral theory, with philosophical consistency was willing to be imprisoned for his opinions and principles.) In any case, says Anderson, the smuggling was merely a "professional foul" or "necessary foul"—an action similar to England's tackle in the soccer game as the Czech player was driving to the goal. And why should an English relativist complain in such a case? In Professional Foul, then, Stoppard once again creates a very odd, layered metaphor: in this case soccer = politics = philosophy = academic life = Anderson and the other characters. The soccer foul is necessary for England to prevent a Czech goal; similarly, it is necessary to hide the thesis to protect (from the Czech police) Hollar's statement on political freedom and individual rights. Hiding the thesis in a relativist's briefcase (unknown to the relativist) is furthermore just part of the philosophical game for a man who holds to no objective principles. Whether such a concealment is "foul," then—much less immoral—is seen to depend on one's ethical theories and principles. Thus, at the drama's end, the relativist's complaint—"It's not quite playing the game is it?"—sets Anderson up for the play's brilliant final lines: "Ethics is a very complicated business. That's why they have these congresses." All five levels of the play—soccer/politics/ philosophy/acdemics/characters—come together beautifully and ironically in the play's closing words. The comparisons generated in Stoppard's imagination have been organized and controlled through the play's structure of metaphor. Through the ironies of the metaphor, the reader comes to see that philosophy, politics, and the commitment involved in both cannot be called games in any sense at all. Tom Stoppard has frequently shown himself willing to discuss the creative process behind his plays, and in many interviews he offers glimpses of how his imagination works. A few of his comments, when read together, clarify the metaphor-making typical of his imagination. In 1979 he said, for example, that he "enjoys writing dialogue but has a terrible time writing plays" [Mel Gussow, "Stoppard's Intellectual Cartwheels Now with Music," New York Times, 29 July 1979]. It is at this "terrible time," one might speculate, that Stoppard surprises himself by discovering the "convergences of different threads," the "cross references," and "structural pivots" that characterize his plays [Hayman interview]. At such moments, it seems, Stoppard sees new similarities and proceeds to construct the complex interlinkings that constitute his plays. He characteristically catches those interrelations he talked of through a series of metaphors. Stoppard himself once described the joining of these interrelations in a play as "carpet-making" with its "different threads" [Hayman interview]. But this particular metaphor of crosshatching, though offered by the playwright himself, does not fully catch the great clarity and parallelism of Stoppard's metaphor-making. Rather, Stoppard seems to express his clearly perceived parallels by clearly designed metaphors that overlie and enrich each other like the layers of a French petit-four, a Viennese torte, or even, perhaps, an English trifle. Or again, in less gustatory terms, Stoppard's imagination is as rich, as analytically clear, and as enticing as the imagination of a Donne, of a Herbert, or of some medieval exegete or allegorist. Joan F. Dean (essay date 1988) SOURCE: "Unlikely Bedfellows: Politics and Aesthetics in Tom Stoppard's Recent Work," in Tom Stoppard: A Casebook, edited by John Harty, III, Garland Publishing, Inc., 1988, pp. 243-59. [Dean explores the interrelation of politics and playwriting throughout much of Stopparci's work.] Throughout Stoppard's plays questions concerning the artist, his responsibilities, and his work frequently surface. His characters are often painters, writers (including poets, journalists, and dramatists), musicians, or actors. Some are based on historical personages; some cut from whole cloth; one or two even suggest a close connection with Stoppard himself. Many of these characters are directly concerned with the creative, artistic process. Others, notably the many actors who populate his plays—Dorothy Moore in Jumpers (1972) and the players in Rosencrantz (1967)—are not primarily imaginative, but interpretive artists. Still others, like the journalists in Night and Day (1978), are marginally connected with art itself: first, because like other writers, they work in the medium of language and, second, because they share similar responsibilities with imaginative artists who deal with political questions. Stoppard's own recent works also address political issues. Especially since Jumpers, his characters inhabit well-defined social and historical contexts—hyperbolic and futuristic as they may be—rather than timeless, abstract, or universal realms. Travesties (1974), like Artist (1972), is set in Zurich during World War I just before the Russian Revolution. Night and Day deals with a political situation in Africa in a specific phase of post-colonial development Professional Foul (1977), Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1977), Cahoot's Macbeth (1979), and Squaring the Circle (1984) all examine the plight of those trying to work under the oppression of totalitarian governments in the late twentieth century. These four all rely heavily upon specific situations in Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, or Poland in the very recent past. Among Stoppard's works, these are his most explicitly political. The Real Thing (1982) is set in present-day England against a backdrop of anti-nuclear, anti-Establishment agitation. In each case, the social and political backdrop is essential to the thematic concerns—specifically those regarding the nature of playwrighting—in a way that is not at all characteristic of the plays before Jumpers. Over the past decade, these two recurrent themes, politics and playwrighting, have become curiously interrelated. Stoppard's efforts to sway what Henry in The Real Thing calls "that axis of behaviour where we locate politics or justice" focuses on communist repression in no fewer than five works: Professional Foul, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Cahoot's Macbeth, Squaring the Circle, and, to a lesser extent, Travesties. The immediate concern with the affairs and responsibilities of the artist appear in Artist, Travesties, and The Real Thing; Night and Day deals with journalists rather than artists. Despite critical charges that his early characters were subordinate to the ideas they represented, Stoppard's more recent characters often face the same challenges as the playwright himself. They take up questions that Stoppard as a journalist, a playwright, an individual has addressed in interviews, non-fictional articles, and lectures. A dramatist, to be sure, has many more options open to him than a journalist, but the dramatist has the additional responsibility of creating art. Insofar as the playwright concerns himself with political matters, he can, as Stoppard often does, disseminate information and shape opinion. Moreover, in Night and Day, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Cahoot's Macbeth, and Squaring the Circle, freedom of artistic expression and freedom of the press are portrayed as dual manifestations of the same basic liberty. Those freedoms of expression are critical for Stoppard. Speaking before the National Press Club 1979, Stoppard asserted: "A reasonable litmus test for any society in my view [is] is it a society where you can publish within the law?" Ultimately, in Stoppard's works the responsibilities of the political playwright are not unlike those of the political reporter. In his recent works, on the one hand, Stoppard's characters persistently encounter problems related to the nature of drama—specifically, those pertaining to the relationship between dramatic representation and reality, between life and art. On the other hand, artists and others (journalists, the narrator in Squaring the Circle, et al.) are often forced to account for or to justify themselves and their work. While these two questions are distinct, they are hardly unrelated. This is especially true for those works that deal directly with specific political situations. The possibilities for oversimplifying or misrepresenting a political situation are strong; the consequences of such distortions are potentially disastrous. The pitfalls of the intentional fallacy are particularly troublesome in evaluating Stoppard's characters. There are no straw men in his plays and few characters, like Brodie in The Real Thing, who elicit an immediate dislike. The creation of villainous or even unsympathetic characters would undermine one of the foundations of Stoppard's dramatic technique: what he himself has referred to [in Theatre Quarterly 4, May-July 1976] as a "kind of infinite leapfrog." Characters with diametrically opposed views are pitted against one another, but both sides of the argument are given strong voices. Jumpers provides the best example in the contrast between the dapper though unctu ous Sir Archibald Jumper and the sincere but hapless George Moore. Whereas Archie is powerful, successful, and thoroughly cynical ("At the graveside, the undertaker doffs his hat and impregnates the prettiest mourner. Wham, Bam, thank you Sam"), George succeeds neither in marriage nor in academe. Yet, as Kenneth Tynan observes [in Show People, 1979], George's ineffable faith in man's spirit and the existence of a moral order approximates Stoppard's own convictions: In that great debate there is no question where Stoppard stands. He votes for the spirit—although he did not state his position in the first person until June of this year [1977], when in the course of a book review, he defined himself as a supporter of "Western liberal democracy, favouring an intellectual elite and a progressive middle class and based on a moral order derived from Christian absolutes." Yet though it may be helpful to link Moore and Stoppard on this point alone, to identify Stoppard and Moore is patently foolhardy. Moreover, the fact that Stoppard writes comedy rather than tragedy presents another obstacle to examining the playwright's aesthetic and political position. Aristophanes and all who followed him not withstanding, comedy, especially in post-WWII British drama, is too often seen as escapist entertainment rather than politic commentary. As Catherine Itzin amply demonstrates in her study Stages in the Revolution: Political Theatre in Britain Since 1968 [1980], the British stage has frequently and forcefully been used as a political platform for issues ranging from gay rights to government funding of the arts, from anti-war and anti-nuclear views to the I.R.A. But the vast majority of these political plays are overtly polemical and decidedly mirthless—two characteristics that immediately distinguish them from Stoppard's works. Their single-mindedness and dreariness are implicitly mocked in The Real Thing by Brodie's dogmatic television script. In Artist, a radio play, and its full-length theatrical descendent, Travesties, Stoppard focuses on questions concerning the artist and his relationship to society that he had only touched upon in earlier works. While none of the characters in Artist reappear in Travesties, the former is clearly a preamble to the latter in its themes, setting, and comments about the artist in society. Both plays deal with characters who as artists find that global conflict ranging about them and who, to varying degrees, attempt to ignore it by seeking refuge in Switzerland. In Artist the aural images of the war are all too obvious: the discussions concerning art are punctuated by "a convoy of rattletrap lorries," explosions, the thundering hooves of the German cavalry. In Travesties the reminders of war appear in Carr's personal experience in the trenches, Lenin's exile in Zurich, and Joyce's insistence that "[a]s an artist, naturally I attach no importance to the swings and roundabout of political history." Whereas Artist is principally focused on a story of unrequited love and the difficulty of expressing that love in art, Travesties more pointedly confronts the relationship between art and politics and the artist's responsibility to his society. As I have shown elsewhere [in Tom Stoppard: Comedy as a Moral Matrix, 1981], Travesties pits the proponents of socialist realism (Lenin), Dadaism (Tzara), art for art's sake (Joyce), and conventional bourgeois art (Carr). Among these views, Lenin's view of art is the one most discredited in Travesties because it is contradicted by Lenin's own response to art. The appropriate, doctrinaire response on art is learned rather than felt by Lenin. He initially prefers the bourgeois Pushkin to the revolutionary Mayakovsky; Beethoven's "Appassionata" "makes [him] want to say nice stupid things and pat the heads of those people who while living in this vile hell can create such beauty." Yet the most substantial hinge between Artist and Travesties lies in the repetition of two statements concerning art and the artists. [In Artist] Donner, the artist in love with Sophie who ultimately commits himself to realistic painting, and Henry Carr [in Travesties] both offer definitions of the artist: "An artist is someone who is gifted in some way that [which] enables him to do something more or less well which can only be done badly or not at all by someone who is not thus gifted." That definition anticipates Henry's comparison of those who craft cricket bats and those who write plays in The Real Thing. Donner, an artist capable of realistic painting, Carr, and Henry agree that the prerequisite of the artist is the mastery of his medium; what is often simply called talent. Travesties also shares with Artist nearly identical statements appearing in very different contexts concerning the artist's standing in and responsibility to society. As Can-says in Travesties: "What is an artist? For every thousand people there's nine hundred doing the work, ninety doing well, nine doing good, and one lucky bastard who's the artist." Carr is suspicious of, if not hostile to, art. He distrusts art because he fears that he may not understand it, that it may be a ruse perpetrated by artists. Stoppard's Squaring the Circle and The Real Thing also present characters who distrust art, often for political reasons. Squaring the Circle follows the pattern of Professional Foul (both television plays), Cahoot's Macbeth, and Every Good Boy Deserves Favour in focusing expressly on a specific political situation. Unlike Jumpers and Night and Day, Squaring the Circle does not distance the work in an imaginary setting, but directly addresses a political reality as well as the problems involved in presenting that situation. In the course of Squaring the Circle Stoppard communicates an enormous amount of purely factual information: the history of Poland since 1720, the reason Poland is less likely to receive loans from Western governments than other equally economically imperiled countries, why moral leadership in Poland has been in the hands of the Church, the fact that 70 per cent of Polish agriculture is privately owned. This is no mean feat. At a time when most of the media coverage, at least in America, depicted the conflict between the Polish unions and the country's communist government in highly charged emotional terms, Squaring the Circle approaches its subject with an even-handedness. The play's approach to its sub ject seems predicated on the conviction that before the audience can undertake political action, it must factually and objectively understand the situation. As much as the image that General Jaruzelski presents to the Western world may fit the caricature of a Communist puppet dictator, complete with sinister tinted glasses, overbearing demeanor, and Fearless Leader uniform, and Lech Walesa may appear as his perfect foil—with his work clothes, unkept mustache, and insistent family—these are not the basis on which Stoppard draws their characters. Both are far more complex because they are presented not just as symbols, but as individuals. Audience expectations are continually reversed, for Squaring the Circle does not focus on the charismatic personality of Walesa, but rather on the complexities and ambiguities of the situation in Poland. Here, perhaps more convincingly than in any other play, Stoppard demonstrates how thoroughly he has researched his subject. In some ways Squaring the Circle contains Stoppard's most "Brechtian" dramaturgy. (Ironically, its politics are decidedly anti-Brechtian or at least anti-communist.) The dramatic progress of the work expediently guided by the direct address of the Narrator. But that progress is repeatedly thwarted, qualified, or interrupted by the voice of the Witness who objects to or criticizes the dramatization of a particular situation. Despite its didacticism, Squaring the Circle, like all of Stoppard's political plays, does not intend to galvanize the audience to action. The difficulty of accurately reporting or recreating a political situation becomes a thematic concern, just as it had in Night and Day. Stoppard's attention is expressly focused on the problem of presenting the words and deeds of actual people with honesty. His preface to Squaring the Circle confirms his sensitivity to this inherent dilemma: Documentary fiction, by definition, is always in danger of seeming to claim to know more than a film maker can know. Accurate detail mingles with arty detail, without distinguishing marks, and history mingles with good and bad guesses.… It was the fear of just such imponderables and just such confusion between large speculation and small truths … that led me to the idea of having a narrator with acknowledged fallibility. Technically, this is not an innovative device in Stoppard's dramaturgy. The most obvious precedent is Henry Carr, the "narrator" as well as a character in Travesties. Carr's memory, the stage directions record, "occasionally jumps the rails and has to be restarted at the point where it goes wild." Stoppard's own work employs other analogous dramatic devices, many of which evoke Pirandello's manipulations of dramatic reality. For Stoppard, as for Pirandello, multiple perspectives or renditions are not only stylistic devices, but because of their very nature and tacit commentary on drama itself, they become an important thematic component of these works. As early as Rosencrantz, characters concerned themselves, often in an alarmingly disinterested way, with various explanations or interpretations of events. Rosencrantz, for instance, offers a "list of possible explanations" for his run of incredibly bad luck at coin-tossing. In "After Magritte" (1970) various characters, all eyewitnesses, provide radically different descriptions of the identical event. But in the works since Jumpers, those that are more directly concerned with political or aesthetic issues, Stoppard moves through different planes of dramatic reality to indicate how restricted any single perspective on a political situation must be. Stoppard's solution to the dilemma of this limited perspective in Squaring the Circle was the creation of the Witness who periodically interrupts the narrator to challenge his authority. The very presence of the witnesses raises the question of "the qualified reality" which is all any account, whether it aspires to the status of art or claims to be wholly documentary, can achieve. Any perspective is necessarily limited—be it by camera position (in the case of a film documentary), by editing, or by inherent if inadvertent bias—and the best, the most objective and fair-minded solution for Stoppard is to acknowledge that fact. Consequently, in Squaring the Circle the exchanges between the narrator and the Witness make explicit the problem Stoppard as a playwright and commentator confronted. The Narrator is closer to Stoppard than virtually any of his earlier characters. Like the playwright, the Narrator operates from a position of presumed authority. Throughout most of the history of drama, until very recently in fact, one of the conventions governing the use of direct address (soliloquies, asides, choric statements, etc.) was that the character speak the truth, or at least what he perceived to be the truth at that moment. But Stoppard, through the Narrator, not only acknowledges but also exploits that assumption. Much of the humor in Squaring the Circle lies in the conscious manipulation of the dramatic conventions governing veracity in direct address and awareness of the clichés of television journalism or its "docu-dramas." The Narrator often explains or tries to justify the interjection of literary images, such as a chess game or a game of cards, as a matter of artistic license. When the party bosses appear dressed as gangsters, the Witness objects: Witness: What's all this gangster stuff? Narrator: It's a metaphor. Witness: Wrong. You people— Narrator: All right. The Witness is not about to allow the imposition of simplistic or clichéd images, no matter how convenient, on his reality. He resists all attempts of the Narrator (and author) to reduce the political circumstances to an easily accessible, tidy scenario. During the confrontation of General Jaruzelski, Walesa, and Cardinal Glemp, which is portrayed as a card game, the Narrator admits: "Everything is true except the words and the pictures." Stoppard meticulously develops the ironies inherent in the political situation in Squaring the Circle. The play opens, for example, with the striking contrast between the official, public language that Leonid Brezhnev might have addressed to Edward Gierek ("Comrade! As your friends and allies in the progress towards the inevitable triumph of Marxist-Leninism, we are concerned, deeply concerned, by recent departures from Leninist norms by Polish workers manipulated by a revisionist element of the Polish Intelligentsia!") and what is closer in tone to, but certainly not exactly, the actual words uttered by Brezhnev: "What the hell is going on with you guys? Who's running the country? You or the engine drivers? Your work force has got you by the short hairs because you're up to your neck in hock to the German bankers, American bankers, Swiss bankers—you're in hock to us to the tune of … is it millions or billions… ?" In Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, the incompetence of the authorities and their desperate attempts to conceal that incompetence, forces the play's action to the borders of farce. Bureaucrats posing as doctors struggle to disguise their bungling just as Feydeau's philanderers fought to safeguard their illicit liaisons. Only the stupidity and hypocrisy of the authorities assure the nominal, momentary (and hollow) happy ending of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. Similarly, the ending of Professional Foul, recalling the recovery of Miss Prism's long-lost handbag and, in its self-conscious artificiality, obliquely suggests that such contrived happy endings are not about to resolve the oppression depicted. But in Squaring the Circle there is not only a more sustained, methodical delineation of the political issues, there is far less of the frenetic action of farce, very little of the intricate wordplay and wit so often identified with Stoppard, and none of the sleight-of-hand happy endings found in Professional Foul or Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. Squaring the Circle ends when the political situation reaches an impasse, not a resolution. Thematically, Squaring the Circle deals with the political reality in Poland as well as the difficulty of writing about that situation. Stoppard's The Real Thing considers the difficulty of writing not only about politics, but also about love. The Real Thing moves between the illusive and the real, the impersonal and the personal, the false and the true. Its opening scene initially lures the audience into mistaking House of Cards for the real thing, or The Real Thing. Conflating Henry's play and Stoppard's play is as natural and as dangerous as conflating Henry and Stoppard, the character and his creator. This is not the only opportunity the audience has to conflate art and life. In The Real Thing Stoppard again interpolates scenes from other works as a play-within-a-play much as Hamlet is used in Rosencrantz or Earnest in Travesties. The intimate conversations of Stoppard's characters flow into the rhetorical formality of Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore or Strindberg's Miss Julie. Life, of course, does imitate art. When in The Real Thing Annie and Billy drift into the dialogue taken from Ford's Tis Pity She's a Whore, Billy, at least, is sincere in bor-rowing from a character to express his own feelings. In the next scene in The Real Thing, Henry's first wife, Charlotte, reminds Henry that she lost her virginity to the actor playing Giovanni to her Annabella, fuelling Henry's suspicions about Annie's infidelity. Moreover, House of Cards establishes the image of a suspicious husband searching through his wife's possessions for evidence of adultery that is twice replayed in the course of The Real Thing. First, Charlotte, Henry's ex-wife, reports that her affair with an architect (a profession shared with the jealous husband in House of Cards) ended when he was unable to find her diaphragm in their home while she was away. Later, Henry himself ransacks Annie's belongings, presumably with the same goal in mind, while she is in Glasgow playing Annabella to Billy's Giovanni. The crucial difference is that in a highly emotional state, the razor-sharp wit of the characters in House of Cards yields to the untidy and unliterary anger of characters who present themselves as more real, or at least more human. As Hersh Zeifman observes, "the reaction of the 'real' husband to his wife's betrayal is, in both cases, utterly opposite to the graceful wit under pressure displayed by the theatrical husband in House of Cards" [Modern Drama XXV, No. 2, June, 1983]. The ambivalence of the play's title, referring both to true love and true art, is indicative of not only the play's structure, but its subject as well. Those subjects—love and art—are approached with a reverence anomalous in Stoppard's canon. Rarely does Stoppard treat his subject with such vulnerable sincerity and without the detachment of witty barbs. The Real Thing contains some of Stoppard's most direct statements concerning love as well as the nature of the artist and his creation. In Henry, Stoppard has created a character who suggests not just tangential but direct comparison with his author. Among all Stoppard's characters, Henry offers the most tempting invitation to identify a character as the spokesman of his creator. Beside age, profession, and an interest in cricket, Henry and Stoppard share similar if not identical notions of play writing. Out-side of his interviews, the most forthright statements from Stoppard concerning playwrighting come from Henry. None of Henry's ideas on art in general or playwrighting contradict or are at variance with what Stoppard has said about playwrighting in interviews. Moreover, Henry's comments on drama are unrefuted, even unqualified by any other character in The Real Thing. The only possible opposition to Henry's ideas on playwrighting lies with Brodie, a singularly dislikable character, who ends with dip rather than pie on his face. Yet Henry is hardly a self-serving idealization of the playwright. Unlike what Tynan has said of Stoppard's meticulous preparation, Henry "doesn't like research." Certainly, the little of what we know of House of Cards suggests Stoppard's characteristic wit and wordplay, but its subject, self-knowledge through pain, is hardly typical of his work. Although Henry respects language to the point of twice correcting his friend's grammar, he is not above writing a hack screenplay to earn the money to pay his alimony. He does, in fact, eventually doctor Brodie's play for television production. But he never manages to write the play he has promised Annie, largely because, as he says, "Loving and being loved is unliterary. It's happiness expressed in banality and lust." As tempting as it is, identifying Stoppard and Henry is as misguided as mistaking House of Cards for The Real Thing. For Henry the real thing is as illusive and rare in love as it is in art. Just as he doesn't "believe in debonair relationships," he objects to the single-mindedness of Brodie's dramatic effort. Henry, in fact, despises Brodie as "a lout with language," and Brodie's play as invective drivel. In regard to "politics, justice, patriotism," Henry believes: There's nothing real there separate from our perception of them. So if you try to change them as though there were something there to change, you'll get frustrated, and frustration will finally make you violent. If you know this and proceed with humility, you may perhaps alter people's perceptions so that they behave a little differently at that axis of behaviour where we locate politics or justice; but if you don't know this, then you're acting on a mistake. Prejudice is the expression of this mistake. What Henry here suggests is precisely what Stoppard's political works, especially and most successfully Squaring the Circle, attempt to do. Polemical works are likely only to polarize already divided groups. But if properly used, words "can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos". For both Henry and Stoppard political action is wedded not to a particular ideology or cause, but to moral intelligence and sensibility. Without that fusion, political statement can easily become, as it does for Brodie, violence. Moreover, if political statement is to be expressed artistically, both Henry and Stoppard would argue that precision with language and talent are necessary. Henry's already famous comparison of writing and crafting a cricket bat recall what Donner in Artist and Carr in Travesties say about the artist's talent: This thing here, which looks like a wooden club, is actually several pieces of particular wood cunningly put together in a certain way so that the whole thing is sprung, like a dance floor… . What we're trying to do is to write cricket bats, so that when we throw up an idea and give it a little knock, it might … travel… . In the ability to make an idea "travel" lies the possibility of quickening the moral and political sensibilities of the artist's audiences. And therein lies the power as well as the genius of Stoppard as a dramatist. The dramatic device most characteristic of Stoppard's approach to both political and aesthetic problems is to establish a dramatic reality on one plane and then to qualify, deny, or undercut it by introducing a higher plane which announces itself as closer to the Truth. The structure of his recent works, especially those which address political or aesthetic questions, reflects the games of leap-frog played by characters who offer "an argument, a refutation, then a rebuttal of the refutation, then a counter-rebuttal…" [Theatre Quarterly]. Established, fixed texts—the official party line in the case of Squaring the Circle, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Wilde's Earnest—only partially illuminate a given situation. Yet another perspective is provided by the vastly more personal, intimate and individualized portraits of Stoppard's characters. The introduction of multiple perspectives on a single situation is hardly a recent development in Stoppard's work; "After Magritte" provides a much earlier example as various characters attempt to report what they saw. But in Squaring the Circle and The Real Thing this device effectively interpolates alternative versions of reality specifically to indicate the ambiguities and complexities of human situations that variously deal with art, love, or politics. In earlier works, this same device was used but to vastly different ends: the text of Shakespeare's Hamlet was interpolated into Rosencrantz and fragments of Wilde's Earnest appeared in Travesties. In Squaring the Circle and The Real Thing Stoppard's deft manipulation of dramatic realities and interpolated scenes has realized a new maturity in suggesting the limits of art and the complex relationship between art and life. In 1975, Stoppard told Charles Marowitz: I'm not impressed by art because it's political. I believe in art being good art or bad art, not relevant or irrelevant art. The plain truth is that if you are angered or disgusted by a particular injustice or immorality, and you want to do something about it, now, at once, then you can hardly do worse than write a play about it. That's what art is bad at [New York Times, 19 October 1975]. Despite the political content in the works since Jumpers, there is nothing in any of Stoppard's works that contradicts this statement. His sights have always been on the "axis of behaviour where we locate politics or justice"; his concern for the integrity of art has always preceded his political statements. Political commitments are matter left for the audience to discover in their own moral sensibility. Mary A. Doll (essay date 1993) SOURCE: "Stoppard's Theatre of Unknowing," in British and Irish Drama since 1960, edited by James Acheson, The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1993, pp. 117-29. [In the essay below, Doll provides an overview of Stoppard's drama, noting the use of paradox, ambiguity, and humor, which characterize his work as "post-Absurdist. "] It should come as no surprise, given his background, that Tom Stoppard should be a playwright of paradox. His personal as well as professional life speak of a penchant for double, not stable, coding. Born in Zlin, Czechoslovakia, 3 July 1937, Tom Straussler became a child without a country, fleeing the effects of World War II by living with his family in Singapore, then in India, and finally in England—all before the age of nine. When his mother remarried after his father was killed, his name changed to Stoppard and his life changed from that of an immigrant—he called himself a 'bounced Czech'—to that of a privileged student in English preparatory schools. Stoppard began his career as a journalist and theatre reviewer, although his real interest was in creating, not critiquing, plays. When at the age of twenty-nine he achieved world fame with his first play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, he became known as a university wit—without yet having attended university. Such contradictions in Stoppard's personal life helped shape his multifaceted career. Unlike most of his artistic contemporaries, Stoppard has produced work in all media and in all genres, including critical articles in journals and newspapers; short stories; one novel; radio, television, and film scripts; and, of course, stage plays (twenty-four: sixteen original, eight adaptations) for which he is best known. True to his sensibility Stoppard demonstrates that any attempt to name, point, place, picture or record any event as fact is completely ironic—irony being his chosen mode since it puts the point beside the point. Stoppard presents serious issues—like war, death, love, art, deceit, and treachery—with a light touch. His intention is to divest us of certainty, which he sees as an arrogant attitude inherited from the postures of logical positivism and classical science. The nearest attempt to categorise Stoppard has been made by Martin Esslin, who places the playwright beyond the Absurd in what he calls the post-Absurdist tradition [The Theatre of the Absurd, 1961]. Post-Absurdists go even farther than Absurdists in dispensing with unities of plot, character, and action, together with the illusion of certainty such unities assume. Esslin's word replacing 'unity' is 'mystery' or 'mystification'—the latter a word Stoppard uses. Another word for Absurdism, 'paradox', Stoppard also employs to suggest the doubling quality inside his drama. 'Paradox and tautology', he once said. 'They don't have to mean anything, lead anywhere, be part of anything else. I just like them' [quoted by Stephen Shiff, Vanity Fair, May, 1989]. In a Stoppard play doubling is a recognisable feature, including motifs of doubletiming, coincidence, and doublecrossing. There are—and this is a Stoppard hallmark—plays-within-plays; characters who are twins; characters who are different characters with the same names; and characters who are at the same time spies and counter-spies. A second post-Absurdist trait of Stoppard's work is ambiguity. 'My plays', he has said, 'are a lot to do with the fact that I JUST DON'T KNOW; such not-knowing he calls the "definite maybe'" [Author 78, Spring, 1967]. He often features a detective, a philosopher, a sleuth or a spy who, in the spirit of Isaac Newton or Sherlock Holmes, applies cause-and-effect logic to any problem at hand. Newton's postulate—from same beginnings will follow same ends—is ludicrously explored by Stoppard s detectives. Instead of a Newtonian universe, where problems can be solved, Stoppard ascribes to what post-modern science calls 'chaos theory'. Gaps, punctures and breaks in sequence sabotage every logical attempt to formulate a hypothesis. Indeed, Stoppard's greatest contribution to theatre may be his concept of the indeterminacies of what it is 'to know' as a hired professional, a spectator, or even as an ordinary human being. A third quality of Absurdist drama is its plumbing of comedy for the presentation of serious themes. Where Stoppard clearly departs from the Absurdist tradition is in tone. Stoppard's tone is paradoxically both lighter—'English high comedy' as Esslin puts it—and weightier. Important issues are presented elegantly, often in the guise of gaming, including everything from bridge and billiards to ping pong, charades and cricket. But these games are re-ally stylised rituals, meant to be seen as the games people play against two parts of themselves, against others, or against some higher ethical code. Stoppard's first play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1967) earned him deserved world-wide recognition. A comic-tragedy, it proposes a theme that runs through all his work—that what we witness is unrelated to reality or truth—and sets forth his post-Absurdist use of doubling, ambiguity, and elegant play. Doublecoded here, of course, is Shakespeare's Hamlet, which, like Stoppard's later Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth (1979), places traditional theatre with its expectations of top-down authority and elevated blank verse alongside post-Absurdist theatre with its confusion in rank ordering and idiomatic speech. Stoppard thus deconstructs Shakespeare. 'Ros' and 'Guil'—mere functionaries in Shakespeare's world—enter Stoppard's world centre stage. It is they, not Hamlet, who ponder the serious issues of death, probability, relationship. It is they, not Hamlet, who emphasise the metaphor of theatre as a place where one can 'come to know'—but only in play time; for while Ros and Guil play-act their Shakespeare lines, we watch them watch the king watch the Players play the role of Hamlet's father ghosting the play. No one 'comes to know' with an assured Aristotelian sense. Stoppard's second play, Enter a Free Man (1968), takes the existential themes of being and the impossibility of knowing into a new situation. The essence of being, Stoppard suggests, consists in playing ourselves as different people when we enter different situations. We are never 'free' since within our seemingly stable orders lie strange attractors luring us into other trajectories. The play concerns the underhanded schemes of George (he would like to escape his average home life) and daughter Linda (she would like to marry her motorcycle boyfriend), both of whom seek adventure outside the realm of the wife-mother Persephone (whose real home, we know from myth, is in the underworld, the realm of the hidden other self). To have an identity that stays the same in all situations is to engage in myth; but myth, Stoppard suggests, is a reality of sorts. In "The Real Inspector Hound" (1968) Stoppard again takes up the issue of reality, this time inside the context of the whodunnit. What better character type to illustrate the indeterminacies of problem solving than an inspector and a spectator? The play is ostensibly about two drama critics reviewing a production, but the play-within-a-play motif provides a frame for Stoppard's borrowings from chaos theory. Indeed, as the philosopher of science Steven Toulmin comments, Stoppard has put to death the whole notion of what it is to be a spectator, since would-be spectators are transformed into agents, making us all agents in what we observe [Steven Toulmin, The Return of Cosmology: Postmodern Science and the Theology of Nature, 1982]. Stoppard plays with the idea of 'the death of the spectator' on two levels, both in terms of plot (one of the drama critic spectators, drawn into the living room whodunnit, gets murdered) and in terms of the spectator's role. The play is not about drama critics but about perception. If classical theatre, like classical science, depended on a stable order, then the study of chaos, like a Stoppard play, depends on dynamic orders. Perception shifts, disequilibrium ensues, and the part-whole relationship of observer to thing-observed—once considered fixed—erupts. Chaos theorists call the eruption of these new patterns 'fractals' or structures which are self-similar at different levels. Fractal patterns arise spontaneously and engage in activity that doubles, echoes, and mirrors—producing thereby an irregular order that does not depend on individual components. Stoppard spectators similarly must relinquish their role, classically defined as objective observers. Part of the erupting order in this play is Stoppard's parodies of criticisms levelled at his work. The two critics, Moon and Birdboot, comment on the play they are viewing, which concerns a drawing room murder at Muldoon Manor. The play, they say, is a trifle; the characters are ciphers; the second act fails to fulfil the promise of the first act; there is hardly a whiff of social realism. More to Stoppard's point, however, is his fascination with the possibilities afforded art by non-linear dynamics. At issue is a storm, a house party, an intruder, a murder. A cosy order is disrupted by a murdered body. The statement about killing Simon Gascoyne seems to be a clue to the murder but is attributed to every suspect, making conclusion impossible. This particle of information loops and repeats, embedding layers of complexity. Like the manor house set apart in the storm with no roads leading to it, the observed problem cannot be 'gotten at' by traditional channels of thinking. We spectators are in the midst of a chaotic situation, adrift from tradition. "After Magritte" (1971) contains a similar comment on methods of logical deduction leading to smug conclusions—falsely, of course. Matters which appear to the senses defy eye witness accounts and 'private eye' ratiocinations. Not only is Stoppard critiquing again the spectator theory of knowledge—where what one sees is what one knows—but he is also presenting issues concerning non-mimetic art, which in Travesties (1975) and Artist Descending a Staircase (1973, 1989) become central foci. René Magritte (1898-1967) is a natural model for Stoppard since, like Stoppard's, Magritte's work multiplies ambiguities. In what Michel Foucault [in This is Not a Pipe, 1982] describes as a 'calligram', Magritte's painting 'aspires playfully to efface the oldest oppositions of our alphabetical civilisation: to show and to name; to shape and to say; to reproduce and to articulate; to imitate and to signify; to look and to read'. Art's role is not to name, signify, shape, or show; it is to be insouciant, to celebrate difference. Magritte names his paintings wrongly in order to focus attention upon the very act of naming. But, as Foucault observes, 'in this split and drifting space, strange bonds are knit'. Just as Foucault's writing about Magritte is a cornucopia of wisecracks meant to draw attention to absurdities, so too are Stoppard's plays. Overlaps with Stoppard and Magritte are instructive. In "After Magritte" the stereotype detective Foot (flat-footed, literal) and police constable Holmes (after Sherlock) formulate a false hypothesis based on simple sensory data and mere shreds of evidence. Stoppard employs the metaphor of a light bulb—there are numerous references to Thomas Edison, inventor of electricity—to indicate ironically that with such reliance on ratiocination there can be no light, no sudden inspiration, and certainly no real seeing. 'Eye' witness accounts all prove wrong, and details which 'speak volumes to an experienced detective' speak the wrong volumes loudly. The situation in this play is of witnessing a bizarre spectacle—Mother lying on her back on an ironing board—presuming she is dead; witnessing the strange behaviour of Harris and Thelma—Harris dressed in thigh-length waders, Thelma dressed for ballroom dancing—and presuming there has been a crime. The absurdity of the situation might seem merely derivative of Magritte were it not for the fact that a similar incident actually occurred in the United States, when a museum guard observed through a museum window a grey-haired woman seated in a chair, not breathing; he called the fire depart ment, which rushed to the rescue—of an art exhibit of a woman in a chair. Ambiguities of naming and knowing are centrally shown in Jumpers (1972), which features a professor/philosopher, George Moore, named after George Edward Moore (1873-1958). The real George Moore's preoccupation, expressed in Principia Ethica (1903), had to do with questions of ethical theory (the meaning of 'good', 'right', and 'duty'), the theory of knowledge, and the nature of philosophical analysis. Of Stoppardian interest is Moore's obsession with the verb 'to know': how the act of 'knowing' relates to observation, to perception, and to expression. In the tradition of logical positivism, Moore attempted to define 'to know', endowing knowledge with qualities of certainty above and beyond what can be discovered through the five senses or articulated through imprecise language. George Edward Moore's leaps of logic become the ironic metaphor of Jumpers, where eight amateur acrobats form the backdrop against the speechifying character George Moore. George is attempting to pinpoint the existence of God by examining data, looking for logical inferences, putting two and two together, and coming up with God. His mental gymnastics—spoofed by the somersaultings of gymnasts—only prove that 'the point' will not stand its ground. The positions of the acrobats shift—we learn they are trying to hide a corpse. So too does the position of George shift as he tries to hide his logic behind such philosophical corpses as those of Plato, Newton, and Russell. His jargon recalls the speech of Lucky, a slave to a tyrannical master in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, where phrases like 'established beyond all doubt' are positioned against phrases like 'for reasons unknown'. Dorothy, George's wife, is 'dotty': she sings stereotypical moon songs and needs therapy because her fantasies about the moon, thus about love, have been invaded either by technological moon landings or by her husband's excessive rationalism. While Stoppard's satire is clever, if overworked, a more serious theme runs through the play: the yearning for carnal knowing and for another kind of mind-knowing. Stoppard continues to raise issues inside high comedy with Travesties (1975). The play takes its energy from a little-known event in literary history—a travesty of seriousness—and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest—a travesty of earnestness, the first event intersecting with the second. Amused by the anti-art Dada movement, Stoppard cheerfully seeks to dislocate his audience. Henry Carr, for instance, is the improbable fringe catalyst of chaos who remembers his time in war chiefly through recollecting what he wore (war/wore)—twill jodhpurs, silk cravats—war a metaphor for fashion. The first act introduces historical and fictional characters, who play with issues of art (Tristan Tzara, the Dadaist, is a character), history (Karl Marx is a character), and literature (James Joyce is a character). The first act, however, is parodied by the second act when a pretty girl delivers heavy speeches on Marxism and the theory of value—undercutting, thereby, the clever speeches of the fashionable first-act men. Travesties shares many of the same concerns as the radio play Artist Descending a Staircase (1973), later turned into a stage play (1989). In both, art—not history or philosophy—conveys insight (to those who are not blindsighted), since the necessary 'fall' artists must make from the literal staircase of rationalism opens up the province of imagination. Tristan Tzara becomes perhaps the first Stoppard mouthpiece to articulate a clear position on the seriousness of play. Not only does he insist on the right of the artist to delude audience expectation but he insists on the ethical function of such denunciation, noting that wars are really fought for words like 'oil' and 'coal', not for words like 'freedom' and 'patriotism'. Dada art, like post-Absurdism, is thus committed to the serious enterprise of exposing the sophistry within every rational argument. Stoppard has been criticised for trivialising serious issues or for being too neutral in the exposition of political ideas. Such indeterminacy, the critics argue, reduces the author's intent. Rather than answering his critics, Stoppard utilises their thinking to his own post-Absurdist effect. Switzerland, a neutral ground with its reassuring air of permanence, becomes in Travesties the centre of flux; a little- known event becomes the raw material from which the story draws its energy; uncertainty and confusion are like the cuckoos of Swiss clocks. It is not that chaos is chaotic, but that order has a false sense of security dressed in fancy clothes (travesties). Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land (1976), a 'knickers farce', were reviewed negatively as 'undergraduate satire' or as 'altogether intolerable' [see Thomar R. Whitaker, Tom Stoppard, 1983]. While Stoppard's post-Absurdism here leans toward panache, it nevertheless reflects a serious Orwellian point about politics and the English language that the critics seemed to have missed. Spoofed in Dirty Linen is Parliamentary procedure, instituted to safe-guard government from corruption, but in fact safeguarding government from the people's right to know. Similar to other social rituals, government committee proceedings provide gaming situations where politicians can 'score' with Maddie Gotobed (an unsubtle name), and journalists covering committee deliberations can 'win' readers. 'Public trust', which must 'air its dirty linen', becomes just a meaningless phrase like che sara sara, c'est la vie, or quel dommage. Stoppard suggests that the devaluing of democratic principles is as universally accepted as the degeneration of plain talk. This concern about democracy and language is mirrored in the second play, where America, the supposed new-found-land, is exposed as merely a trite idea propped up by stereotypes. The character Arthur takes us on a Whitmanesque celebration of 'America' coast to coast. But poetry dies inside bombast, as does meaning inside politics. Doublespeak leads to adultery in the private sphere and disinformation in the public sphere, and what mediates the lie in each is the noble-sounding word. Every Good Boy Deserves Favour: A Piece for Actors and Orchestra (1977)—André Pre vin conducting—places Stoppard's comedy squarely inside a post-Absurdist frame-work, where the really serious issues of our time can no longer be discussed seriously (we have lost the capacity to hear) and so a new strategy must be found. One of Stoppard's new strategies is music, which speaks to the soul, not the mind. The setting, a mental institution inside a Soviet totalitarian regime, offers Stoppard yet another occasion to critique the logics that uphold institutions, be these 'democratic' or 'communist', and to show these logics as false. But with music as a background to the grim themes of torture, political prisoners, repressive regimes and mental illness, Stoppard softens his attack; and by exposing interrogation methods as bizarre, he shows the craziness of logic. Recognisably Stoppardian is the situation of two men with the same name, Alexander Ivanov, one 'sane', the other 'insane'. Both characters rebel against the norm, but for different reasons. The case of the 'insane' Alexander reveals the validity of Greek culture, which saw a harmony between music and math. Deluded by the notion that his body contains an orchestra, Ivanov the lunatic brings back the wisdom of the Greeks, which in Euclidean geometry proclaimed two fascinating axioms: first, everyone is equal to the triangle; second, a point has position but no dimen sion. The first axiom warns against dichotomous, either/or rigidities. Accordingly, the lunatic plays a triangle, an instrument he uses to sabotage rigid regimes; he 'plays' against two-sided oppositional thinking with the triangle. His delusion, therefore, is ludic, a gaming protection against absolutes. The second axiom applies to the other Ivanov, the political prisoner, whose protest against totalitarianism has given him his public 'point' but has denied him his private 'dimension' with his son, Sacha. This character is thus a prisoner inside a belief system that excludes the middle: life lived among and between other people, like sons. That he is imprisoned by a totalitarian regime is symbolic of a frozen relationship with his son, a touching sub-theme. In Night and Day (1978) the focus is again on language and politics and the war between the two. Set in a fictional black African country, Kambawe, the play concerns a nation faced with an internal revolution caused by conflicting economic and political systems. But of greater interest than the revolution is the attitude of the two journalists covering the war, their at-war viewpoints about reporting and factuality. Milne and Wagner are like night and day: the former a cynic, a self-seeking capitalist and a scab; the latter an idealist who believes that his profession is the Fourth Estate, capable of correcting the lies of politicians. The play is also about colonisation: how not just countries or journalists but ordinary people like Ruth Carson can be occupied by foreign forces. Ruth engages inner speech, delivered outwardly, to suggest her contrast to the double-talk of politicians; hers is the speaking back and forth from one 'country' of the self to another, in clear recognition that she has been colonised. In a particularly dramatic moment Ruth rails against the cant for which people die. Speaking between her two selves, she comes to see that winning wars is not for the liberation of Kambawe but for the ownership of Kambawe's resources: King Solomon's Mines played for 'reel'. Stoppard continues language considerations in Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth (1979), where in the preface he suggests that the play is an answer to Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophical investigation proposing that different words describe different shapes and sizes. Ever fascinated with systems of thought, Stoppard exposes the assumption within the assumption, playfully and hilariously. In Dogg's Hamlet the language system to be learned is Dogg talk. Professor Dogg, to whom the play is dedicated, has his own set of words which Abel, Baker, and Charlie, in fine military fashion, understand. These three schoolboys are erecting a stage for a performance, but to put all the planks in place they need to know the lingo. The audience watches as they place planks on cue by a single command, much as dogs perform for masters. Spectators, not understanding the language, must themselves become doglike, trying to master tricks. The first thirty pages of playtext are, subsequently, Dogg talk, followed by the last fourteen pages, which derive from Shakespeare's Hamlet, including Hamlet's loaded line, 'Words, words, words', and Polonius' response, 'Though this be madness, yet there is method in it'. Doublecoded within this situation is another situation, that of another Shakespeare play, Macbeth, dedicated to the Czechoslovakian playwright Pavel Kohout. Stoppard has instructed his audience sufficiently in the first part of his production so that when Easy enters, speaking only Dogg language, he becomes easily understood. The point of the nonsense seems to be this: plays within plays illustrate political situations; the Czech revolution, with its accompanying censorship of artists like Pavel Kohout, 'ghost' every attempt by Tom Stoppard, born in Czechoslovakia, to write in the free world. Both Macbeth and Hamlet have at their dramatic centres a ghost; so does Stoppard have at his centre a ghost—his own dead father and the censored artist from his fatherland. While British audiences are well schooled in understanding such rituals as parlor games and tea, these same audiences have no way of dealing with the black holes of totalitarianism. Stoppard brings forth spectres of his 'checkered' past (represented through Shakespeare) so that British ears may acquire new hearing, British eyes deeper seeing. With The Real Thing (1982) Stoppard further engages serious themes. Like his first play, it won a Tony Award, deservedly so; it is a gem of a play, raising all of Stoppard's issues of the sixties and seventies with a new eighties elegance. The problem of language, the question of art's role in politics, the question of reality: these comprise the concerns which have almost become Stoppard hallmarks. Less familiar is Stoppard's treatment of 'knowing' as a carnal, not just an intellectual concern. Knowing—the yearning to be known without the mask—becomes a powerful theme because an impossible reality. Two members of the writing profession, Brodie and Henry, are professional antagonists with different ideas of their trade. Brodie, committed to politics, believes that art should make a point about public policy; his language is unequivocal but trite. Henry believes that art is not 'about' anything: it is the thing itself. His play House of Cards is a metaphor for his theory of aesthetics as a house decked to fall. The spectator must acquire the skill to see that false claims or noble words are flimsy frames for truth. With its emphasis on the title word 'real', this play addresses the impossibility of knowing—in relationships, particularly—when truth is obscured by language. Of central interest is Henry's desire to find for himself the undealt card of carnal knowledge. Knowing the flesh in extremis is stripping off the public mask, becoming finally naked to one's lover, one's self. But carnal knowing offers no guarantee of fidelity. In this play everyone carnally loves everyone else's spouse. Stoppard once again double codes Shakespeare—this time Othello—to show the tragic ends to which logical proofs can lead. A mere handkerchief 'stands' for more than it can define—betray-al—a reality which can never be defined to satisfy the condition of pain. The Real Thing is central to Stoppard's aesthetic intention. Through a mix of doubling, ambiguity, and playfully elegant wit, Stoppard makes his post-Absurdist point. Not only is it impossible to equate the thing 'named' or shown to the thing 'experienced', it is wrong, ethically and morally, so to do. In an impassioned speech for the function of paradox in language, Henry (speaking for Stoppard), says this: Words have corners, just as truth does: shades of meaning, opposite definitions, different parts of speech. The terrible irony is that words standing for 'this' while describing 'that' invite lying, publicly as well as privately. The solution is not to make ever more precise the terms of our knowing; the solution is to open up our ability to see the dead ends to which big words can lead when their corners get knocked off. Hapgood (1988) is the most recent of Stoppard's work to advance the post-Absurdist motifs of mystification, ambiguity, and playfulness—this time with overt reference to spectator notions borrowed from scientific chaos theory. According to David Bohm, no continuous motion such as that presupposed by Newtonian cause-and-effect logic actually exists in nature. Instead, an examination of the dual role of both matter and energy reveals that things can be connected any distance away without any apparent force to carry that connection [See The Reenactment of Science, ed. David Ray Griffin, 1988]. Rather than parts organising wholes—deduction's code of reasoning—it seems that parts are wholes. It seems, too, that discrete individual units (called 'the quantum' in science, 'the spectator' in theatre) are constantly attracted by turbulence and self-contradiction. How we know is a mystery based on an overall interrelatedness of things—a statement which chaos theorists readily accept. An interesting irony here is that Stoppard may ultimately appeal more to scientists schooled in chaos theory than to literary critics schooled in Aristotle. Hapgood is a play about a character who is unable to pinpoint the truth she is seeking, either in her professional life as chief intelligence officer (called Mother) or in her private life as a single parent (also called Mother). No matter how Elizabeth Hapgood figures it, her seeing always eludes reality. The pivotal character is a Russian physicist, Joseph Kerner, who, like Barley Blair of the Stoppard-scripted movie, The Russia House (1990), has defected to the West to continue his research but who feeds back to the Soviet Union information that will mislead the Soviet scientists. That Kerner, Hapgood's lover, has a twin complicates the problem Hapgood has in trying to 'see' who he is (she, however, also plays at twinning). This doubled situation demonstrates the scientific proper ty of electrons, which in quantum mechanics can be in two places at the same time. While something subversive pervades Stoppard's post-Absurdist perspective, it is also curiously liberating. Stoppard shows us that every ordered system has rituals, which he delights in stylising so that we can see their mannered form. To consider any code as single-layered is totally to misrepresent reality. Reality seen through a Stoppard lens is always ambiguous; but its pain, though real, is not tragic. Stoppard's sharp wit cuts through the nonsense, giving us the grace to accept unknowing when confronted with such axioms as these: I am not who you think I am; the games we play are more serious than we think they are; the wars we fight are not for the causes they tell us they are. Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead Download PDF Print Page Citation Share Link Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 16765 R. H. Lee (essay date 1969) SOURCE: "The Circle and its Tangent," in Theoria, Pietermaritzburg, Vol. XXXIII, October, 1969, pp. 37-43. [In the essay below, Lee employs the image of a circle and a line tangential to it—representing the world in Stoppard's play in which Rosencrantz and Guildenstem are "people" and its intersection with the world of Hamlet, in which they are "characters"—to elucidate the structure of Stoppard's drama and its relation to Shakespeare's tragedy..] Almost every critic or reviewer who has written on Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstem are Dead has paid tribute to the dramatist's "brilliant idea" in linking his play about two supporting actors with the play in which they act their parts. But once they have shown that they understand that a "brilliant" and even audacious idea is involved, they stop without doing justice either to the full brilliance of the idea, or to the detail in which it is worked out. In this article I want, first, to explain what I think the idea is, and how the structure and intention of the play should be seen; and, secondly, to analyse some parts of the play to show that the dramatist embodies this idea in the substance as well as the structure of the play. When Rosencrantz and Guildenstem first meet the Player on the way to Elsinore, this exchange takes place: Rosencrantz: What is your line? Player: Tragedy, sir. Deaths and disclosures, universal and particular, denouements both unexpected and inexorable, transvestite melodrama on all levels including the suggestive. We transport you into a world of intrigue and illusion … clowns, if you like, murderers—we can do you ghosts and battles, on the skirmish level, heroes, villains, tormented lovers—set pieces in the poetic vein; we can do you rapiers or rape or both, by all means, faithless wives and ravished virgins—flagrante delicto at a price, but that comes under realism for which there are special terms. Getting warm, am I? It has already been established that one of the primary verbal modes of the play is punning, and so we are not surprised to find that "line" can mean "special interest or concern" or "the long narrow mark linking two or more points". The Player thus performs tragedies as his special interest or concern, and his specialisation as a form of drama is also described as a line. Tragedy as a literary form is predominantly linear, and this fact suggests to me that a helpful way of looking at the structure of the play is to see it as a circle with a tangent to it. The circle is the world of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern as people, and the tangent is the world of Hamlet, and Hamlet, play and character. The tangent touches the circle in the lives of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, at the very point where we see them as people (expressed, in dramatic terms, by their being characters in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead) and at the same time as characters in Hamlet. Their confusion arises from the intermittent and, to them, inexplicable movements from one kind of world to another. The diagram of the circle and its tangent is helpful also in suggesting the nature of the two worlds touching each other. We have already discussed the pun on the 'line' of tragedy linking Hamlet with the tangent. In the action and image of spinning coins, and in the plain allusions to Waiting for Godot, we see the nature of the other world—the circular, repetitive experience of Beckettian comedy. In his play, Stoppard provides us with the point of contact of seventeenth and twentieth century views of the world, as these are crystallised in the drama of each century. Let us look at each separately. The understanding of and response to tragedy as a literary form depends upon the acceptance of the idea of causality: that certain events will have certain consequences which, in turn, become the causes of certain events which have their own consequences. One could go further and say that belief in tragedy also involves acceptance of the belief that the whole linked chain of events has a purpose, and is therefore theoretically explicable by someone in possession of all the necessary information. The two central elements of tragedy are indicated in the terms "inevitability" and "understanding"; or to quote Northrop Frye [in his Anatomy of Criticism]: tragedy shows itself to be primarily a vision of the supremacy of the event or 'mythos'. The response to tragedy is 'this must be', or, perhaps more accurately, 'this does happen': the event is primary, the explanation of it, secondary and variable. In our own lives, the possibility of seeing clearly the full course of the linked chain of events, and understanding its inevitable end, is limited. It is limited by our individual participation in the event which colours our view of them, and by physical death, which cuts off our participation in the sequence at the moment it reaches its conclusion, and the moment before we can understand it. The fact and prospect of death also complicates and confuses our necessary emotional acceptance that this is where the whole tragic sequence is leading. We are thus in our own lives partially unable and partially unwilling to contemplate the straight line of tragedy to death. And therein lies the great satisfaction and arguable moral value of dramatic tragedy. The tragic play compels us to see a tragic sequence, and, because we are not involved in it, and because the dramatist can give us all the information for understanding, we cannot flinch from the inevitable end—death. This is what Aristotle means in his theory of the cathartic value of tragedy—it enables us to contemplate through art a vision of life too horrifying to contemplate at first hand. In fact, artistic death is the only death most of us can contemplate—as the Player argues to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, when they object that stage deaths are unbelievable: Guildenstern: Actors! The mechanics of cheap melo-drama! That isn't death! You scream and choke and sink to your knees, but it doesn't bring death home to anyone—it doesn't catch them unawares and start the whisper in their skulls that says—" One day you are going to die". You die so many times; how can you expect them to believe in your death! Player: On the contrary, it's the only kind they do believe. They're conditioned to it. I had an actor once who was condemned to hang for stealing a sheep—or a lamb, I forget which—so I got permission to have him hanged in the middle of a play—had to change the plot a bit but I thought it would be effective, you know—and you wouldn't believe it, he just wasn't convincing! It was impossible to suspend one's disbelief—and what with the audience jeering and throwing peanuts, the whole thing was a disaster!—he did nothing but cry all the time—right out of character—just stood there and cried … Never again … Audiences know what to expect, and that is all that they are prepared to believe in. A tragic drama, then, focusses our attention on and, as Aristotle's theory suggests, helps us to come to terms with what is assumed by the dramatist to be the situation in real life. Whether this theory actually describes the effect, desired and actual, of tragedy is hotly disputed, and modern critics tend not to accept these wide claims. Frye, for instance, narrows them considerably, but still indicates belief in the "line" of tragedy when he writes: Stoppard's "brilliant idea" consists essentially in using the actual tragic play Hamlet (to which we already attach feelings of "human remoteness and futility") as an image of "the machinery of fate" in the lives of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern themselves. A tragedy becomes the vehicle for a sense of tragedy in another play. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are caught up in it "without possibility of reprieve or hope of explanation". The Player and the tragedians (we notice that though they are usually called the Players, Stoppard chooses to focus upon their playing of tragedy alone) are given many opportunities of describing this view of life. The central example, perhaps, is this: Player: There's a design at work in all art—surely you know that? Events must play themselves out to aesthetic, moral and logical conclusion. Guildenstern: And what's that, in this case? Guildenstern: Marked? Player: Between "just deserts" and "tragic irony" we are given quite a lot of scope for our particular talent. Generally speaking, things have gone about as far as they can possibly go when things have got about as bad as they reasonably get. (He switches on a smile.) Guildenstern: Who decides? Player (switching off his smile): Decides? It is written. (He turns away. GUIL. grabs him and spins him back violently.) (Unflustered) Now if you're going to be subtle, we'll miss each other in the dark. I'm referring to oral tradition. So to speak. (GUIL. releases him.) We're tragedians, you see. We follow directions—there is no choice involved. The bad end unhappily, the good unluckily. That is what tragedy means. (The TRAGEDIANS have taken up positions for the continuation of the mime: which in this case means a love scene, sexual and passionate, between the QUEEN and the POISONER/KING.) Player: Go! Death is the goal of the design of all tragic art, and the actor can manoeuvre only in the determining of the kind of death, and the moral attitude to death. Once we have established those, we can begin. Wittily, as he explains this theory, the tragedians take their places and begin. This is the world into which Rosencrantz and guildenstern are dragged initially by the messenger, uncomprehending of its causes or consequences, barely understanding the minute parts they have to play, and thus carried along to their deaths. There is a small growth of self-awareness, expressed in their attitude to being on the boat in Act III. Though they disbelieve in their destination, they do realise that they are being carried somewhere: Guildenstern: But why? Was it all for this? Who are we that so much should converge on our little deaths? (In anguish to the PLAYERS.) Who are wel They do develop slightly, moving away from the world they begin in, into the Hamlet world. Their original world is caught at once for us, in the play, in the action and image of spinning coins, and especially in the remarkable run of heads with which the play has opened. Around this phenomenon, which the simpler and more satisfied Rosencrantz finds simply "luck", Guildenstern nervously erects certain pertinent philosophical dilemmas. For our purpose, the most important is that it suggests a world in which all causality is absent, and presents us with the notion that the sequence of eighty-five heads is both amazing and expected: Rosencrantz: Heads. Guildenstern: Two: time has stopped dead, and the single experience of one coin being spun once has been repeated ninety times … (He flips a coin, looks at it, tosses it to ROS.) On the whole, doubtful. Three: divine intervention that is to say, a good turn from above concerning him, cf. children of Israel, or retribution from above concerning me, cf. Lot's wife. Four: a spectacular vindication of the principle that each individual coin spun individually (he spins one) is as likely to come down heads as tails and therefore should cause no surprise each individual time it does. The final explanation is statistically accurate, and presents us with a world of total unreliability—an amazing combination of phenomena simply cannot be made to yield either a sequence or a precedent. The eighty-sixth spin is totally undetermined by the previous eighty-five. Facts remain isolated, refuse to form chains, and explanations remain forever "possible", the nature of circumstances determining the run being beyond our comprehension. Guildenstern himself specifically draws the comparison between the two kinds of world: Guildenstern: The equanimity of your average tosser of coins depends upon a low, or rather a tendency, or let us say a probability, or at any rate a mathematically calculable chance, which ensures that he will not upset himself by losing too much nor upset his opponent by winning too often. This made for a kind of harmony and a kind of confidence. It related the fortuitous and the ordained into a reassuring union which we recognized as nature. The sun came up about as often as it went down, in the long run, and a coin showed heads about as often as it showed tails. Then a messenger arrived. We had been sent for. Nothing else happened. Ninety-two coins spun consecutively have come down ninety-two consecutive times … and for the last three minutes on the wind of a windless day I have heard the sound of drums and flute … The messenger summons them from the endless cycle of fortuitous, repetitive facts, to a world which proceeds in an ordained linear, sequential manner to a pre-determined goal. The use of Waiting for Godot is balanced by the use of Hamlet, and in the play the seventeenth century world view (focussed in its drama) touches the absurd universe (focussed in its drama). The Rosencrantz and Guildenstern exits from Hamlet become "entrances somewhere else", "which is a kind of integrity"; but I think Stoppard goes beyond this, to suggest that there is no end to the futile round of the absurd universe, unless we seize again on tragedy. Guildenstern says in the play: "We need Hamlet for our release", and we feel that Stoppard is obliquely telling us that modern drama needs some infusion of the attitudes behind Hamlet for its release from being forever waiting for Godot. Normand Berlin (essay date 1973) SOURCE: "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Theater of Criticism," in Modern Drama, Vol. XVI, Nos. 3-4, December, 1973, pp. 269-77. [Berlin argues that, rather than encouraging active involvement in the play's events, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead promotes a distanced, critical response. Stoppard, he asserts, "forces us to be conscious observers of a play frozen before us in order that it may be examined critically. "] Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead entered the theater world of 1966-67 with much fanfare, and in the ensuing years it has acquired a surprisingly high reputation as a modern classic. It is an important play, but its importance is of a very special kind up to now not acknowledged. The play has fed the modern critics' and audiences' hunger for "philosophical" significances, and as absurdist drama it has been compared favorably and often misleadingly with Beckett's Waiting for Godot. However, its peculiar value as theater of criticism has received no attention. To help recognize this value I offer the following discussion. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a derivative play, correctly characterized by Robert Brustein [in the New Republic, November 1967] as a "theatrical parasite." It feeds on Hamlet, on Six Characters in Search of an Author, and on Waiting for Godot. Stoppard goes to Shakespeare for his characters, for the background to his play's action, and for some direct quotations, to Pirandello for the idea of giving extra-dramatic life to established characters, to Beckett for the tone, the philosophical thrust, and for some comic routines. The play takes Shakespeare's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern—timeservers, who appear rather cool and calculating in Shakespeare, and whose names indicate the courtly decadence they may represent—and transforms them into garrulous, sometimes simple, often rather likable chaps. Baffled, imprisoned in a play they did not write, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern must act out their pre-arranged dramatic destinies. Like Beckett's Vladimir and Estragon, they carry on vaudeville routines, engage in verbal battles and games, and discourse on the issues of life and death. However, whereas Beckett's play, like Shakespeare's, defies easy categories and explanations, and remains elusive in the best sense of the word, suggesting the mystery of life, Stoppard's play welcomes categories, prods for a clarity of explanation, and seems more interested in substance than shadow. Stoppard's play is conspicuously intellectual; it "thinks" a great deal, and consequently it lacks the "feeling" or union of thought and emotion that we associate with Waiting for Godot and Hamlet. This must be considered a shortcoming in Stoppard's art, but a shortcoming that Stoppard shares with other dramatists and one that could be explained away if only his intellectual insights were less derivative, seemed less canned. To be sure, plays breed plays, and it would be unfair to find fault with Stoppard for going to other plays for inspiration and specific trappings. In fact, at times he uses Shakespeare and Beckett ingeniously and must be applauded for his execution. But when the ideas of an essentially intellectual play seem too easy, then the playwright must be criticized. Whenever Stoppard—his presence always felt although his characters do the talking—meditates on large philosophical issues, his play seems thin, shallow. His idiom is not rich enough to sustain a direct intellectual confrontation with Life and Death. Consider, for example, Guildenstern's question: "The only beginning is birth and the only end is death—if you can't count on that, what can you count on?" Put in this pedestrian way, the idea behind the question loses its force. Or take Guildenstern's remarks on Death: "Dying is not romantic, and death is not a game which will soon be over … Death is not anything … death is not … It's the absence of presence, nothing more… the endless time of never coming back… a gap you can't see, and when the wind blows through it, it makes no sound… ." Examples of this kind of direct philosophical probing can be found throughout the play. We hear a man talking but do not feel the pressure of death behind the words. The passage seems false because the language does not possess the elusiveness and the economy that are essential if a writer wishes to confront large issues directly. But there are indirect ways to deal with life and death, and here Stoppard is highly successful. And here we arrive at the heart of the discussion of Stoppard's art. According to Stoppard himself [in an article by Tom Prideaux in Life, February, 1968], his play was "not written as a response to anything about alienation in our times.… It would be fatal to set out to write primarily on an intellectual level. Instead, one writes about human beings under stress—whether it is about losing one's trousers or being nailed to the cross." Stoppard's words run counter to our experience of the play and indicate once again that writers are not the best judges of their own writing. Like all writers of drama, Stoppard wishes to present human beings under stress, but he does so in the most intellectual way. In fact, there is only one level to the play, one kind of stance, and that level is intellectual. The audience witnesses no forceful sequence of narrative, since the story is known and therefore already solidified in the audience's mind. One could say that the audience is given not sequence but status-quo, and status-quo points to a "critical stance"—a way of looking at the events of the play as a critic would, that is, experiencing the play as structure, complete, unmoving, unsequential. In the act of seeing a stage play, which moves in time, we are in a pre-critical state, fully and actively engaged in the play's events. When the play is over, then we become critics, seeing the play as a structural unity and, in fact, able to function as critics only because the play has stopped moving. In the act of seeing Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, however, our critical faculty is not subdued. We are always observing the characters and are not ourselves participating. We know the results of the action because we know Hamlet, so that all our references are backward. Not witnessing a movement in time, we are forced to contemplate the frozen state, the status-quo, of the characters who carry their Shakespearean fates with them. It is during Stoppard's play that we function as critics, just as Stoppard, through his characters, functions as critic within the play. It is precisely this critical stance of Stoppard, of his characters, and of his audience that allows me to attach the label "theater of criticism" to the play, thereby specifying what I believe to be Stoppard's distinctiveness as a modern dramatist. We recognize and wonder at those points in Shakespeare's plays where he uses the "theater" image to allow us to see, critically, the play before us from a different angle, where, for example, we hear of the future recreations of Caesar's murder at the very point in the play where it is recreated, or where we hear Cleopatra talk about her greatness presented on stage "i' th' posture of a whore" at the moment when it is presented in that posture. At these moments Shakespeare engages us on a cerebral level, forcing us to think, stopping the action to cause us to consider the relationship between theater and life. These Shakespearean moments are expanded to occupy much of Stoppard's play, just as Shakespeare's minor characters are expanded to become Stoppard's titular non-heroes. I have indicated Stoppard's shortcomings when he wishes to express truths about Life and Death. However, as critic discussing Hamlet and Elizabethan drama, he is astute, sometimes brilliant, and his language is effective because it need not confront head-on the large issues that only poetry, it seems, is successful in confronting directly. In a New Yorker interview [4 November 1967] with actors Brian Murray and John Woods, who played Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the New York production of Stoppard's play, Murray says: "I have been an actor most of my life, and I've played all kinds of parts with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but I never realized how remarkable Shakespeare is until I saw what Tom Stoppard could do with a couple of minor characters from Hamlet." This fleeting statement in a rather frivolous interview pinpoints what Stoppard does best: what he can "do with" Shakespeare's minor characters to help us realize "how remarkable Shakespeare is." That is, Stoppard helps us to see more clearly not "human beings under stress" but Shakespeare. The actor Murray is applauding a critical function, and as we thread our way through the play Stoppard must be praised for precisely that function. … Stoppard, a drama critic before turning playwright and in this play a playwright as drama critic, crisply pinpoints the characteristics of Greek and Elizabethan tragedy and, enlarging the range of his criticism, uses these tragic characteristics to indicate what "we"—players and audience—do. I am arguing that Stoppard is most successful when he functions as a critic of drama and when he allows his insights on the theater to lead him to observations on life. He is weakest, most empty, when he attempts to confront life directly. Stoppard is at his artistic best when he follows the advice of Polonius: "By indirections find directions out." This is as it should be, I think, because Stoppard's philosophical stance depends so heavily on the "play" idea, the mask, the game, the show. Not only is the entire Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead a play within a play that Shakespeare has written, but throughout Stoppard uses the idea of play. Rosencrantz and Guilden-stern, and of course the Player, are conscious of themselves as players, acting out their lives, and baffled, even anguished, by the possibility that no one is watching the performance. All the world is a stage for Stoppard, as for Shakespeare, but Shakespeare's art fuses world and stage, causing the barrier between what is real and what is acted to break down, while Stoppard's art separates the two, makes us observers and critics of the stage, and allows us to see the world through the stage, ever conscious that we are doing just that. The last is my crucial point: Stoppard forces us to be conscious observers of a play frozen before us in order that it may be examined critically. Consequently, what the play offers us, despite its seeming complexity and the virtuosity of Stoppard's technique, is clarity, intellectual substance, rather than the shadows and mystery that we find in Hamlet or the pressure of life's absurdity that we find in Waiting for Godot. Of course, we miss these important aspects of great drama, and some critics and reviewers have correctly alluded to the play's deficiencies in these respects, but we should not allow what is lacking to erase what is there—bright, witty, intellectual criticism and high theatricality. I present one final example, taken from the end of the play, to demonstrate Stoppard's fine ability to make criticism and theater serve as a commentary on man. In this incident—"Incidents! All we get is incidents! Dear God, is it too much to expect a little sustained action?!"—Guildenstern, who all along has shown contempt for the players and for their cheap melodrama in presenting scenes of death, becomes so filled with vengeance and scorn that he snatches the dagger from the Player's belt and threatens the Player: I'm talking about death—and you've never experienced that. And you cannot act it. You die a thousand casual deaths—with none of that intensity which squeezes out life … and no blood runs cold any where. Because even as you die you know that you will come back in a different hat. But no one gets up after death—there is no applause—there is only silence and some second-hand clothes, and that's—death He then stabs the Player, who "with huge, terrible eyes, clutches at the wound as the blade withdraws: he makes small weeping sounds and falls to his knees, and then right down." Hysterically, Guildenstern shouts: "If we have a destiny, then so had he—and if this is ours, then that was his—and if there are no explanations for us, then let there be none for him—" At which point the other players on stage applaud the Player, who stands up, modestly accepts the admiration of his fellow tragedians, and proceeds to show Guildenstern how the blade of the play dagger is pushed into the handle. Here we seem to witness, for the only time in the play, an act being performed, a choice being made, not dictated by the events of Shakespeare's play—only to discover that we have witnessed playing, theater. Guildenstern and Rosencrantz are taken in by the performance of a false death, bearing out the Player's belief, stated earlier in the play, that audiences believe only false deaths, that when he once had an actor, condemned for stealing, really die on stage the death was botched and unbelievable. What we have in Guildenstern's "killing" of the Player, therefore, is a theatrical re-enforcement of the earlier observations on audiences by the Player as critic. As we spectators watch the event—Rosencrantz had remarked earlier that he feels "like a spectator"—we intellectually grasp the fact that we had no real action, that no choice was made, Stoppard thereby making his philosophical point indirectly and with fine effect. In Stoppard a condition of life is most clearly understood, it seems, only when reflected in a critical, theatrical mirror. In Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead we do not have the kind of theater characterized by such phrases as direct involvement, emotional, pre-critical, theater of the heart, but rather a theater of criticism, intellectual, distanced, of the mind. In a very real sense, Stoppard is an artist-critic writing drama for audience-critics, a dramatist least effective when he points his finger directly at the existential dilemma—"What does it all add up to?"—and most effective when he confronts the play Hamlet and Elizabethan drama and theatrical art, thereby going round-about to get to the important issues. Stoppard's play, because it feeds on both an Elizabethan tragedy and a modern tragicomedy, gives us the opportunity to consider the larger context of modern drama, especially Joseph Wood Krutch's well-known and ominous observations [in The Modern Temper, 1957] on the death of tragedy and his prediction of the devolution of tragedy from Religion to Art to Document. Krutch finds an interesting answer, I believe, in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Using Krutch's words, but not in the way he uses them, we can say that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is art that studies art, and therefore serving as a document, dramatic criticism as play presenting ideas on Hamlet, on Elizabethan drama, on theatrical art, and by so doing commenting on the life that art reveals. That is, Stop-pard's play is holding the mirror of art up to the art that holds the mirror up to nature. This double image causes the modern audience to take the kind of stance often associated with satire. And yet, Stoppard's play cannot be called satirical, for it makes no attempt to encourage the audience into any kind of action, as do Brecht's plays, or to cause the audience to change the way things are. The play examines the way things are, or, more precisely stated, it intellectually confronts and theatricalizes the condition of man the player and the world as theater. By the pressure of its critical energy, the play awakens in the audience a recognition of man's condition, not in order to change that condition, but to see it clearly. In short, by presenting a theatrical, artistic document, Stoppard makes us think—the words "document" and "think" pointing to the modernity, the impoverishment, and the particular value of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The play presents not revelation but criticism, not passionate art—Hamlet in the graveyard—but cool, critical, intellectual art—Hamlet playing with the recorders. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, in its successful moments, brilliantly displays the virtues of theater of criticism, and perhaps shows the direction in which some modern drama will be going—"times being what they are." William E. Gruber (essay date 1981-82) SOURCE: '"Wheels within Wheels, etcetera': Artistic Design in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," in Comparative Drama, Vol. 15, No. 4, Winter, 1981-82, pp. 291-310. [In the following essay, Gruber maintains that Rosen-crantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is not merely a pastiche of elements of Hamlet; rather it is a technically innovative play that mirrors classical tragedy.] Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead ought to cause us to acknowledge some inadequacies in the vocabulary we currently use to discuss plays, and the nature of our shortcoming can be demonstrated, I think, with some representative summaries of Stoppard's art. Ruby Cohn, for example, suggests that Stoppard proved "extremely skillful in dovetailing the Hamlet scenes into the Godot situation" [Modern Shakespeare Offshoots, 1976]; Ronald Hayman writes that "Stoppard appeared at the right moment with his beautifully engineered device for propelling two attendant lords into the foreground" [Tom Stoppard, 1977]; Charles Marowitz comments that "Stoppard displays a remarkable skill in juggling the donnees of existential philosophy" ["Confessions of a Conterfeit Critic"]; and Thomas Whitaker argues that "the raisonneur of this clever pastiche is of course The Player … [who] knowingly plays himself" [Fields of Play in Modern Drama, 1977]. Such language—"skillful in dovetailing," "beautifully engineered," "clever pastiche"—condemns while it praises, subtly labeling Stoppard's play as a derivative piece of workmanship. We tend to mistrust anything which is not obviously new, not wholly original; yet surely our modern bias here obscures crucial differences between Stoppard's play and, say, the Ha/n/ci-collages of Marowitz and Joseph Papp. These latter works may be summarized accurately as examples of skillful joinery. But Stoppard's drama does not simply "fit" together different pieces of theater. His play has no clear theatrical precedent, and a workshop vocabulary proves unable to explain what occurs when the script of Hamlet mingles with the script of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Decid. Part of the reason this subject has not been clarified is that it is impossible to assess accurately the extent to which the audience will recognize allusions to Hamlet. Even one of Stoppard's stage directions poses insoluble problems: "Hamlet enters upstage, and pauses, weighing up the pros and cons of making his quietus." Is this a reference which only readers who are familiar with Hamlet's soliloquy can pick up? Or can the actor who mimes Hamlet's actions somehow call the audience's attention to a specific portion of an unspoken soliloquy? Or, to cite a related problem, what is the audience to make of references to Hamlet which occur out of immediate literary context? For example, Guildenstern, on board the ship for England, suddenly speaks portions of Hamlet's "pipe-playing" speech, a speech he had heard (yet can we really assume this?) during an earlier scene from Shakespeare's play which Stoppard does not reproduce. Is it possible that Stoppard here intends to show that Guildenstern ironically is locked into the text of Hamlet? But if this is Stoppard's intent, how many viewers, in passing, could make the necessary connections between the two plays? Because of these and other similar instances, it is clear that different kinds of audiences are going to experience significantly different responses to the various allusions to Hamlet. Those who read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead are more acutely aware of the numerous subtle references to Hamlet; and, of course, those readers and viewers who are thoroughly familiar with Shakespeare's drama will recognize many more interactions between the two plays than those members of the audience who know Hamlet only as a famous old tragedy. The key to Stoppard's design, however, cannot be found by wrestling with ambiguities such as these, and there is no point in laboring to answer what percentage or what audience catches which Hamlet allusion. Instead, it will be more profitable to speculate regarding the general expectations of one who comes to see or to read the play. It would be a mistake to underestimate the pervasive influence of Shakespeare's most famous tragedy, even among those whose interest in the theater is minimal. Our belief that Hamlet is the central drama of our culture has been growing since late in the eighteenth century, so that the language of the play shapes our idiom, governs the way we think on certain critical matters. Indeed, the play's status is mythic. Stoppard can assume of every member of his audience an almost religious attitude toward Hamlet, a belief that this play comes closer than any other to capturing the mystery of human destiny. The audience does not expect Hamlet itself, and this is an important distinction. Stoppard's audience is not prepared for any specific response to the Hamlet material; and the great secret of his method is that he offers us a wonderfully suggestive way of seeing human action performed simultaneously in several modes. If one assumes that Stoppard is using Hamlet as ancient playwrights used myth—and not for irony or for plot line or for laughs—one sees his play in ways which are wholly invisible to those who mistakenly treat it as a "worm's eye" view of tragedy, or as a witty experiment in Absurdist drama, or as a clever Shakespearean pastiche. From this perspective, I plan to review three noteworthy features of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. My aim is to correct a number of misconceptions regarding the play, misconceptions which have persisted for so long that they are in danger of becoming accepted as facts. The first thing that impresses one about the play is its peculiar "literariness." So marked, in fact, is this quality that no one seems able to avoid mentioning it. Though there has been no agreement as to its effect, it is generally taken to be more-or-less undesirable. Robert Brustein, for example, once called the play a "theatrical parasite" [New Republic, November 1967]; Normand Berlin has dissected the play into specific borrowings from Shakespeare, Beckett, and Pirandello, concluding that the play exists exclusively on an intellectual level rather than an emotional one [Modern Drama 16, 1973]; Andrew Kennedy believes that "the real pressure in the play comes from thought about the theater rather than from personal experience" [Modern Drama 11, 1969]; and almost every other commentary on review of Rosencrantz and Guilden-stern Are Dead stresses Stoppard's indebtedness to Absurdist dramatists, Beckett in particular. Clearly, Rosen-crantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is so consciously a distillation of literature and literary method that, to para-phrase Maynard Mack's point about Hamlet's mysteriousness, the play's literariness seems to be part of its point. We feel this literariness in numberless ways. We feel it in the particular use of the Shakespearean materials: in the characters, certainly, and in the numerous scenes or part-scenes from Hamlet, in the broad sweep of the action, and in the incessant probing of familiar questions as to Hamlet's madness, his motives, his ambitions, fears, loves. And we feel it in a less specific sense, too: partly because of The Player, of course, who points the thought of the play with his frequent discussions of tragedy, of melodrama, and of the significance of playing and acting; but partly, too, because of the general bookish consciousness which seems to be diffused evenly throughout the play, manifest in a score or more of literary or linguistic biases: syllogisms, puns, rhetoricians' games, pointed repetitions, along with a host of allusions to literature and literary topics that at times threaten to make the play into an exclusively literary epistemology, shifting our attention from pictorial to verbal theater. In this respect, in fact, the play is remarkably exploratory. "Like a Metaphysical poet," Hayman writes, "or a dog with a bone, Stoppard plays untiringly with his central conceit, never putting it down except to pick it up again, his teeth gripping it even more firmly." One feels here enormous pressures of language operating through the characters, pressures which, say, in the work of Ionesco or Beckett, are distinguished only in a negative sense, as they are in the broken discourse of Lucky in Godot or in the ludicrous absurdities of The Bald Soprano. Here, however, language is not an imperfect instrument, a thing to be scorned. There is so much conscious experimentation with language, it is as if Stoppard were permitting his characters the freedom to strive for the linguistic combination, so to speak, that will unlock their mystery. Ros and Guil often exchange banalities, to be sure; but sometimes, too, their words frame truths, as when they analyze the history of Hamlet's condition (end of Act I), or when they discover (on board ship in Act III) the purpose of their voyage to England. For these reasons, the dramatic power of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead involves more than skillful juggling or witty commentary, and Stoppard has done more than to dovetail his story with an older one in the manner, for example, that Eugene O'Neill created Mourning Becomes Electra. The staged events of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in fact have little in common with the events of Hamlet; they are not the same play, but different plays, jostling for the same space. And the out-come of the duel, so to speak, between the respective plots of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Hamlet is hardly a foregone conclusion. Stoppard's play is not an "interpretation" of Hamlet, if by "interpretation" one refers merely to a modern rendering of a fixed text. The real technical innovation of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead can be understood only when we see that, for Stoppard, the text of Hamlet is potentially invalid, or at least incomplete—something to be tested, explored, rather than accepted without proof, just as a myth may generate endless versions of itself, some contradictory. Hence Stoppard is not using Hamlet as a script; rather, the script of Hamlet forms part of the material for a discursive experiment, a literary exercise, as it were. In this most superficial sense, Stoppard's play may be considered simply an honest effort to clarify some matters of Hamlet's story that Shakespeare for unknown reasons ignored. Thus Brian Murray [quoted by Cohn] commented of the play: "This strikes a blow for everyone who was ever puzzled by a minor Shakespeare part." In a more profound sense, however, the play does not clarify mysteries, only multiplies them. Yet this does not mean that Stoppard equivocates, teases his audience with a methodical changing of signs. Like its famous Elizabethan predecessor, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead attempts to close with the fact of meaninglessness, to enfold it with words. Here we touch the core, I think, of the play's literariness, perceive the motive behind its experimentation with a variety of scripts. What, this play asks again and again, is valid dramatic language, and what is its relationship to the modes of human action? Is that relationship heroic? or is it comic, a poignant statement of our own insignificance? Two possible and variant texts, one willed and one predicted, here compete for the same stage in a contest which is mediated by the figure of The Player, who moves easily between the heroics of Hamlet's court and the anterior world of Ros and Guil. It is important when experiencing Stoppard's play to be alive to its rich variety of contrasts. We must wince at the jolt, so to speak, whenever the play shifts from one mode to another, from one cast and its story to its alternate, and back again. Iambics and prose, vigor and lassitude, seriousness and silliness, skill and ineptitude, all coexist, alternately and repeatedly testing the efficacy and theatrical appeal of each. We must not hold up one mode at the expense of the other, but must be sensitive to each of the two as an element in an ongoing dialectic. Moreover, we ought not to see these incompatible elements as an experiment in Absurdist drama, either in philosophy or in form. For the play does not advance a simplistic philosophy by means of its constantly shifting perspectives, but develops a debate: Do we wish our drama in meter, or in prose? Do we prefer silly gaming, or coherent action? Do we, like Ros, want a "good story, with a beginning, middle and end"? Or do we, like Guil, prefer "art to mirror life"? And finally, are these ancient classical directives of any relevance nowadays, times being what they are? Thus the literariness of Stoppard's play is pervasive, total. Its significance cannot be grasped simply by documenting the numerous specific echoes of earlier plays and playwrights, "intellectualizing" the play and its author, assigning them the appropriate thematic and technical camp, or postcamp. Not a failure of words, which proves the playwright's lack of originality or demonstrates his place in the Absurdist ranks, but a bold assertion of language's worth: for all the theatrical and literary elements, it turns out, are not ends in themselves, but help clearly to frame deeply personal considerations of human action, its motives and limitations and values. From its earliest moments, Stoppard's play reopens a number of very old questions related to the meaning of the simple event, questions which Waiting for Godot had effectively closed. The play begins by posing such questions: a coin falls "heads" almost ninety times in succession. It must, as Guil says, be "indicative of something besides the redistribution of wealth. List of possible explanations. One: I'm willing it. … Two: time has stopped dead. … Three: divine intervention. … Four: a spectacular vindication of the principle that each individual coin spun individually is as likely to come down heads as tails and therefore should cause no surprise each individual time it does." Since the operations of their world lie generally beyond their comprehension, it is not surprising that critics, used to modern theater, have found in Ros and Guil's plight yet one more image of humans' bafflement as to their proper roles. Ros and Guil have usually been seen (in Thomas Whitaker's words) as "two characters in search of an explication de texte, two muddled players in reluctant pursuit of the roles they already play." It is in this respect, of course, that the play seems most closely to resemble Beckett's Godot. For we hear echoes of Vladimir and Estragon in the repetitious emptiness of Ros and Guil's conversations as they, like Beckett's clowns, wait to play their parts: "Where's it going to end?" "That's the question." "It's all questions." "Do you think it matters?" "Doesn't it matter to you?" "Why should it matter?" "What does it matter why?" "Doesn't it matter why it matters?" "What's the matter with you?" "It doesn't matter." "What's the game?" "What are the rules?" Whether or not Ros and Guil's bewilderment suggests the play's essential kinship with the work of Beckett is a matter I would like to take up later. One final point concerning the two courtiers: it is clear that their essence—hence their character—is conceived in terms of emptiness: "Two Elizabethans [establishes the opening stage direction] passing the time in a place without any visible character." Concomitant with this emptiness of act and motive, of course, is a second important feature of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, an emphasis on play and playing. Like Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead examines human acts and acting within a variety of contexts ranging from practical to the metaphysical to the theological. Central to Stoppard's play are the figures of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two of literature's most unimportant people, mere concessions to the expediencies of plot. Shakespeare jokes about the courtiers' lack of individuality by playing on their metric interchangeability. And Stoppard, as did Shakespeare, first conceives his creations as broadly comic. That there should exist two persons with a corporate identity, as it were, mocks some of the fundamentals of human order both on stage and off. The world may well be a stage; if so, however, the metaphor requires identities to be unique: each must play his part. Hence the concept of identical twins—two actors playing one role—is inherently chaotic, traditionally comic. In fact, we may trace the dramatic lineage of Ros and Guil back much further than Beckett and the music hall, back at least to Roman Comedy, and even further to the primitive notion that there is something downright foolish in two people who compete for a single identity. But if the actions of Ros and Guil seem foolish and aimless, it is equally true that divine secrets seem to govern their madness. There is no doubt that the various collisions of identity and motive that occur in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead—taken singly—are humorous. Yet here, as is true of the comic elements that are characteristic of mature Shakespearean tragedy, what is funny and what is serious seem interchangeable—or, rather, seem independent analogues of a grim reality. We realize very soon, for example, that the Fool's witticisms in Lear are "no play." Something similar conditions our appreciation of Stoppard's drama: grappling with the concept of death as a state of negative existence, for example, Guildenstern concludes that, "You can't not-be on a boat," a statement which is mocked immediately by Ros's foolish misinterpretation, "I've frequently not been on boats." Yet the courtiers' inept mishandling of language does not long remain a comic malapropism, but bends, to use Robert Frost's image, with a crookedness that is straight. Both twisted syntax and twisted logic are appallingly true: wherever they are—on boats, on the road, within a court—it is the fate of Ros and Guil never to be. The play returns us, then, to thoroughly familiar territory, to a consideration of some of the fundamental perplexities that gave shape and lasting meaning to Hamlet. We of this century do not know with any greater clarity what it might require for a man "to be." Nor are we any closer to the secret which resolves the separate meanings of "play," whereby we fill empty time with arbitrary activity, and "play," that art which defines for us human time endowed with maximum meaning, maximum consequence. Here it has seemed to many that Stoppard's answer lies with The Player: always in character, always in costume, The Player's essence is his abiding changeability. The simple fact of his endurance argues for his wisdom. At the play's end, corpses litter the stage. Yet The Player, like Brecht's Mother Courage, seems infinitely adaptable, infinitely resourceful. Although his numerous "deaths" are impressive and even credible, he inevitably returns to life for his next performance. In a world in which everyone is marked for death, The Player's survival capabilities seem especially significant. Because of the apparent emphasis Stoppard places on "play," it has been frequently suggested that Stoppard wants us to believe that mimesis fosters understanding. In Act I, for example, Ros and Guil deepen their awareness of Hamlet's transformation through an act of role-playing, whereby Ros questions Guil, who pretends to be Hamlet: Ros (lugubriously): His body was still warm. Guil: So was hers. Ros: Extraordinary. Guil: Indecent. Ros: Hasty. Guil: Suspicious. Ros: It makes you think. Guil: Don't think I haven't thought of it. Even more important is their playing in Act III, in which they act out a possible script for their arrival in England. Here Ros, who is taking the part of the King of England, becomes so convinced of the reality of his situation that he tears open their letter of instructions and discovers the order for Hamlet's execution. Suddenly, unexpectedly, Ros and Guil are illuminated by moral crisis; "Their playing," Robert Egan writes [in Theatre Journal 31, March, 1979], "has made available to them the opportunity to define significant versions of self through a concrete moral decision and a subsequent action, even if a useless action." It is inevitable, perhaps, in this shadow world made of parts of old plays that one of the largest roles should be that of the Player. And it is also inevitable that in such a shifting and offtimes morally weightless world the advice of The Player should carry the negative equivalent of weight. Regarding the question of how to act in their situation, for example, he advises Guildenstern to "Relax. Respond. That's what people do. You can't go through life questioning your situation at every turn." Or, later, his professional comments seem universally applicable: "We follow directions—there is no choice involved. The bad end unhappily, the good unluckily. That is what tragedy means." And, finally, it is The Player who convinces Guil (and us) of the impressive efficacy of mimetic understanding. Indeed, for a time it seems as if mimesis represents the only valid mode of knowing: the play's closing scenes forcefully demonstrate that what we considered a "real" stabbing and a "real" death was merely competent acting, merely the fulfillment of the bargain between actor and audience. "You see," The Player explains to the dumb-founded Guildenstern, "it is the kind they do believe in—it's what is expected." And the truth of this seems to be reinforced a few lines later, when we truly witness "real" deaths as merely an actor's casual exit. Ros simply disappears, disappears so quietly that his friend does not notice his passing. And Guil makes death into a game of hideand-seek: "Now you see me, now you—." There is a series evident here, of course: Hamlet is to Ros and Guil as Ros and Guil are to Alfred. And naturally this projects an engulfing form, an engulfing dramatist for Hamlet, and so for Stoppard's audience. Yet we ought not to presume to have uncovered the message of the play within this problematical series of regessions. The mind wearies of such esoteric speculations; and Stoppard's aim here may well be to cause us eventually to reject any fancies regarding our own wispy theatricality. Indeed, the line of argumentation which makes play the only reality can be pursued too far, resulting at best in empty theatricality, at worst in excessively sophisticated dogma. It is, in Horatio's words, "to consider too curiously." This is not to deny the concept of playing an important place in Stoppard's work. Nevertheless, to make The Player exclusively into a source of affirmation betrays the meaning of the remainder of the characters, ultimately of the entire drama. "Do you know what happens to old actors?" inquires The Player, setting the context for still one more joke about occupations. Ros, here playing the comic-hall straight man, obediently asks "What?" "Nothing," replies The Player, "They're still acting." Here, in a single word, is focussed the whole of the play's chilling analysis of human freedom and providential design. Actors are nothing. As The Player admits elsewhere, actors are the opposite of people. It is not a matter of how we take the sense of "nothing"; for in a play whose deepest levels of meaning concern the minimum essentials for human action and human identity, "nothing" can refer only to a waste of being, the squandering of human potential through cowardice. Perhaps the play's literariness may help clarify this crucial point: to be "nothing," in literary terms, has been considered the most terrible fate of all. Recall, for example, the horde of lost souls whirling endlessly out-side Dante's Hell, desperately pursuing all banners, any banner that might ultimately give them human shape, human meaning. As is true of so much of the superficial horseplay in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, then, words here turn on their user, twisting themselves into enigmatic truth. The Player, because his role is eternally to be someone else, is thus no one in particular. Free of every human limitation, he exists wholly within the sphere of play. Thus nothing happens to the actor because nothing can: he is wholly amorphous, wholly uncertain, without identity, feeling or meaning apart from that conferred on him by his audience, without—and this is most important—responsibility for who he is. What The Player espouses is that a person should "act natural." That is, he argues that one should merely respond to circumstances, secure in the belief that in the end all one can do is to follow one's script. This is of course an acceptable concept to propose to explain human activity, but let us acknowledge it for what it is: fatalism. And there is little evidence in this play—less in later plays—that Stoppard holds such a view. The point is this: in this play, as in most of the important tragic statements of Western theater, there is no single perspective that hits the mark. We are left, then, with a third problem, possibly the most intriguing: what sort of play is Rosencrantz and Guilden-stern Are Dead? To call the play a burlesque or a parody betrays one's insensitivity to its rich and manifold significances; and "tragicomedy" is a term grown so vague as to be almost without meaning. Clearly, Stoppard has surrealist longings in him ("After Magritte"; Travesties; Artist Descending a Staircase), but Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, despite its veneer of gimmickry, proves instead the lasting power of straightforward theater. There is a small measure of truth in Brustein's term for the play—"theatrical parasite"—for it is obvious that Stoppard needs Hamlet if his play is to exist at all. Stoppard's play seems to vibrate because of the older classic, as a second tuning fork resonates by means of one already in motion. Nevertheless, the tone of the modern play is distinct. Properly speaking, Stoppard has not composed a "play within a play," nor has he written a lesser action which mirrors a larger. The old text and the new text are not simply "joined"; they exist as a colloidal suspension, as it were, rather than as a permanent chemical solution. Or, to change metaphors to illustrate an important point more clearly, the texts of Hamlet's play and Ros and Guil's play form two separate spheres of human activity which, like two heavenly bodies, impinge upon each other because of their respective gravitational fields. The history of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern swings into line the scattered chunks of Hamlet; and the courtiers' story in turn is warped by the immense pull of Hamlet's world. Even though we cannot see much of that world, we may deduce its fulness. Though it exists largely offstage, or on another stage, we nevertheless sense that world's glitter, its nobility, and its grandeur, and we feel its awesome power. This is not to imply that the sum of the two texts results in determinism, or that we leave the theater pitying Ros and Guil for being victimized. To the contrary: Helene Keysson-Franke [in Educational Theatre Journal 27, No. 1, March, 1975] speculates that the juxtaposition of Hamlet scenes and invented scenes "creates a sense of the possibility of freedom and the tension of the improbability of escape." Such is Stoppard's economy of technique that he chills us with Fate's whisper without a single line of exposition, without an elaborate setting of mood or of theme. Immediately the play begins our attention is mesmerized, as the two courtiers spin their recordbreaking succession of coins. The atmosphere is charged with dramatic potential, tense with impending crisis. The coin which falls "heads" scores of times in succession defines what has been called a "boundary situation"; the technique is notably Shakespearean, reminding one of the tense, foreboding beginnings invoked by the witches of Macbeth, or, of course, by the ghost of Hamlet. Ros and Guil's playing is not the aimless play of Beckett's tramps, with which it has been compared, but a play obviously freighted with imminent peril. We are impressed not by the absurdity of their situation, but by its terrible sense; one senses the chilling presence of Hamlet, waiting menacingly in the wings. But Hamlet, as is true of all myths, is what is predicted, not what is ordained. The two courtiers are not sniveling, powerless victims of time and circumstance, and their story does not illustrate the baffling absurdity or the blind fatality that has sometimes been said to arrange their lives. This is the conclusion which many who comment upon the play have reached, guided, in part, by the anguish of Guil: "No—it is not enough. To be told so little—to such an end—and still, finally, to be denied an explanation—." We are wrong here to view events wholly through the eyes of the characters, and our pity for them must be conditioned with a little judgment. It is necessary to recognize that the Ros and Guil whom we see in the final scene are in no important way different from the Ros and Guil of the opening scene, and that such implied insensitivity to their world—puny though that world may be—bespeaks a deeper, mortal insensitivity to humanity and to themselves. Facing death, speaking his final lines of the play, the burden incumbent upon him to touch the shape of his life and so give it meaning, Ros one last time chooses to evade responsibility: "I don't care. I've had enough. To tell you the truth, I'm relieved." Nor is the more speculative Guil alive to his context: "Our names shouted in a certain dawn," he ponders; "… a message … a summons. … There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said—no. But somehow we missed it." The context of men's action remains forever a mystery. It was a mystery for Hamlet, it is a mystery for Ros and Guil, it is a mystery for us. Yet between the two plays there exists an important difference in the quality of the characters' responses to what must remain forever hidden from their sight. We do not here—as we did in the closing scenes of Hamlet—discover new men. Hamlet, it is true, submits to his world with weary resignation. But Hamlet acknowledges human limitations without lapsing wholly into despair. The difference is between Hamlet, who accepts an ambiguous world while yet believing in the need for human exertion at critical junctures in time, and Ros and Guil, who quail before their world's haunting mysteries, wishing never to have played the game at all. Guil despairs, groping for his freedom "at the beginning," when he might—so he reasons—have refused to participate. He wishes—there is no other way to put it—to avoid human responsibility. Thus his undeniably moving cry must be understood in the light of our clearer knowledge that his real opportunity came not at the beginning, but near the end of the play, when he accidentally discovered that his mission was to betray Hamlet. He misunderstands, in other words, the nature of his freedom, misunderstands as well the meaning of his choice. Too, we must not over-look the fact that Guil's misreading of his life provokes one final confusion of names: unaware that Ros has silently departed—died—Guil asks, "Rosen—? Guil?" In a play in which the floating identities of the two central characters has steadily deepened in seriousness, this final misunderstanding is especially important. Guil's fate is never to know who he is. Ultimately, as Robert Egan has pointed out, "Guildenstern does die the death he has opted for." To insist on Ros and Guil's freedom, and therefore on their responsibility, may seem wrongheaded, particularly because one is reluctant to condemn them for being confused by a script which they have not read. The courtiers are baffled by offstage events; hence it is not surprising that critics and playgoers have been tempted to draw parallels between this play and Waiting for Godot. Yet in truth the dramaturgy of Stoppard does not simply grow out of the theater of Beckett. True, Stoppard employs elements of that theater; but the effect of this is to call the validity of Absurdist theater into question. Stoppard uses Absurdist techniques, as he uses the Hamlet material, to frame questions concerning the efficacy and significance of these diverse ways of understanding human action. Evidence for this may be found by examining Stoppard's handling of the Hamlet material, and by noting how this handling varies over the course of the three-act structure of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Act I first poses the dilemma, defining, as it were, the conflict of the play as a struggle between two plots, between the story an individual (here, two individuals) wills for himself and the story the myth tells about him. Here the two texts seem most at odds, for Hamlet intervenes in two large chunks, each time unexpectedly, almost forcing its way on stage. In the second Act, however, the composi tional pattern shifts: here Shakespeare's text intrudes more frequently, and in shorter bits, as if the completed play were being broken down and assimilated by—or accommodated to—the play in the making. In this second Act we feel the maximum presence of Hamlet, the increased pull of the myth. Structure here may be clarified by reference to classical terminology: in this Act we witness the epitasis, the complication, or the tying of the knot. Between the growing design of Hamlet and the intertextual freedom of Ros and Guil's discussions there develops maximum tension, maximum interplay between what Keysson-Franke calls "the possibility of freedom and the improbability of escape." Then, in the final Act, the process whereby Hamlet is accommodated to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead seems completed. Here is staged the famous sea voyage of Hamlet, for which no dramatic precedent exists. No lines from Shakespeare's play can here intrude, for none is available. In Hamlet, we learn of the events of the voyage only in retrospect, during a subsequent conversation between Horatio and Hamlet. So, even though those of us who know the play remember what happened at sea, we know nothing of the causes of that action. Even knowledgeable playgoers, then, assume that the events at sea had resulted from chance, or, as Hamlet later suggests, from heaven's ordinance. This is an important point: most of Act III of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead exists between the lines, as it were, of Hamlet, in what has always represented an undefined, unwritten zone. Stoppard here invites his characters to invent their history according to their will. He offers them alternatives, if not absolute choice. This is confirmed by the courtiers' imaginings concerning their arrival in England. Ros mourns: I have no image. I try to picture us arriving, a little harbour perhaps … roads … inhabitants to point the way … horses on the road … riding for a day or a fortnight and then a palace and the English king. … That would be the logical kind of thing. … But my mind remains a blank. No we're slipping off the map. The passage chills us, and invites us to recall that for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern there will be no future. Yet does it not invite us equally to reflect upon the courtiers' imaginative shortcomings, their own sinful—not too strong a word—despair? Indeed, soon afterwards they are graced with the opportunity to devise their own script, but they fail to do so because they cannot transcend their own banality, cannot for one moment rise out of their slough. Upon reading the letter which discloses the King's intent to have Hamlet executed, Guil lapses into an empiricism so bland, so callous as to lack utterly moral context: Assume, if you like, that they're going to kill him. Well, he is a man, he is mortal, death comes to us all, etcetera, and consequently he would have died anyway, sooner or later. Or to look at it from the social point of view—he's just one man among many, the loss would be well within reason and convenience. And then again, what is so terrible about death? As Socrates so philosophically put it, since we don't know what death is, it is illogical to fear it. It might be … very nice. Certainly it is a release from the burden of life, and, for the godly, a haven and a reward. Or to look at it another way—we are little men, we don't know the ins and outs of the matter, there are wheels within wheels, etcetera—it would be presumptuous of us to interfere with the designs of fate or even of kings. All in all, I think we'd be well advised to leave well alone. Tie up the letter—there—neatly—like that.—They won't notice the broken seal, assuming you were in character. Only by considering Guil's comments in full can we appreciate their slowly deepening repulsiveness. They are spoken, recall, while our hearts are yet moved by Ros' intuitive reaction to the letter ordering Hamlet's death: "We're his friends." As Guil speaks, the stage grows quiet, empty: we feel the crisis, feel the awful pressure of a thing about to be done, feel that (in Brutus' words) "between the acting of a dreadful thing and the first motion, all the interim is like a hideous dream." Given the opportunity for meaningful action, Guil (and thus, by way of tacit compliance, Ros) refuses to act. Given suddenly—one is tempted to say beneficently—ample room and time to define their selves, the courtiers cannot swell to fit their new roles. For a moment, Hamlet is swept away, suspended powerless; for a brief interim we sense that the fate of the prince and his play rests in Ros and Guil's hands. That interim is theirs alone; it does not belong to Hamlet. And they refuse to act. To choose not to choose, of course, is a manner of choosing. Ros and Guil fill their moment of time, their season, with emptiness—until the text of Shakespeare's Hamlet rushes back to fill the vacuum. Scarcely has Ros concluded, "We're on top of it now," than Shakespeare's text looms to meet them. In this light, then, Guil's desperate attempt to slay The Player who brings the courtiers the news of their deaths seems triply ironic. Guil is wrong about death, in that it can be counterfeited by a successful actor. And he is wrong about the shape of his life, too, and about the meaning of human action. No one—not Fate, not Shakespeare, and not Tom Stoppard—"had it in for them." Where Guil and Ros erred was not in getting on a boat; they failed when they chose freely to be cowards, chose freely, that is, to be themselves. Stoppard stresses their cowardice, not their ignorance, and his irony here flatly contradicts those who see Ros and Guil as powerless victims. And Guil is wrong, finally, in his desperate attempt to murder The Player. Guil seems here to hope to win dramatic stature by an act of violence, to gain identity from a conventionally heroic act of will. In fact, Stoppard seems to be saying, such conventional heroism is not necessary; all that was required of Guil was the destruction of a single letter. Thus it is inevitable that the stage lights dim on Ros and Guil's play and shine in the end on Hamlet: "immediately," Stoppard directs, "the whole stage is lit up, revealing, upstage, arranged in the approximate positions last held by the dead tragedians, the tableau of court and corpses which is the last scene of Hamlet." The text of Shakespeare's play suddenly appears to overwhelm its modern analogue, as the old play and the new play here converge in a genuine coup de théâtre. Yet the point here is more than mere theatrics, more, too, than weary fatalism or anguish at the absurdity of human life. The sudden sweeping reduction of Ros and Guil completes Stoppard's play at the same time it affirms unconditionally the morality of Shakespeare's. On this crucial point, Stoppard is unequivocal: in rehearsals, and in all published editions of the play after the first, Stoppard excised a bit of action which brought his drama full circle, so that it ended with someone banging on a shutter, shouting two names. Stoppard's alteration moves his play away from the cultivated theatricality and ambiguity one finds often in Absurdist drama; and we are left with the clear knowledge that Ros and Guil, despite their being given an entire play of their own, have not advanced beyond the interchangeable, nondescript pair who took the boards more than three hundred years ago. Just as he disappears from view, Guil quips, "Well, we'll know better next time." But the evidence from two plays, now, suggests that they won't. Oddly, Stoppard is here not following Shakespeare's script so much as he is redefining and reasserting its tragic validity: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead proves that Shakespeare had it right after all. For this reason, Ros and Guil are not permitted to "die" on stage; they merely disappear from view. Is this not one final demonstration of Stoppard's consistent dramatic technique?—for he merely whisks the courtiers off the stage, lest their corpses—visible proof that they had lived—convince an audience of their dramatic substance. Wheels within wheels: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is deeply ironic, yet the irony is not at all the mocking, ambivalent irony we have come to expect of the modern theater. To be sure, to rank the orders of reality in this haunting play is to invert mimesis, for here the admitted fiction—the world of Hamlet—possesses most substance. It turns out, in fact, that even The Player is more real, that is, of more worth, than Ros and Guil. But this does not mean that The Player—whose essence is his artifice—forms the play's thematic center. Like Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead brings into conjunction a number of states of being, examines from a variety of perspectives some modes of human action. What the play means, it means largely by virtue of these numerous contrasts and resulting tensions. No one perspective is so broad as to embrace the whole; each, by itself, is faulty, both intellectually and morally. Nevertheless, together they assert a view of human activity that stresses men's ultimate responsibility—whether prince or actor or lackey—for what they do, and so for who they are. It is simply incorrect, for this reason, to call Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead an example of Absurdist drama, even to call it "post-Absurdist" drama (in all but the literal sense). In the first place, we do not find here a "sense of metaphysical anguish at the absurdity of the human condition," a theme which Martin Esslin long ago defined as central to Absurdist playwrights [The Theatre of the Absurd, 1961]. Certainly, Ros and Guil die without knowing what their lives were all about. But the whole point of the Hamlet material is to define for the audience—if not for Ros and Guil—a knowable logic that shapes men's fortunes, even as it permits them a part in the process. We must distinguish here the difference between two varieties of offstage material, such as one finds, say, in Waiting for Godot or in The Birthday Party, on the one hand, and in Oedipus Rex and in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, on the other. In the former plays, the offstage material functions exclusively to deepen the audience's awareness of human ignorance; it is mockingly obscure, purposely baffling to characters and to spectators. But in the latter plays, the offstage material functions both as mystery and as myth, the myth with its powerful implications of logic, design, even—in the right circumstances—knowability. In other ways, too, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead rejects much of the Absurdist canon. It is not "anti-literary"; it does not "abandon rational devices and discursive thought," but instead depends upon them; and finally, it does not lament the loss of opportunities for meaning, even for heroism, because Ros and Guil enjoy, albeit briefly, such potential. This play, as has been said of Stoppard's "The Real Inspector Hound," is "comfortingly classical" [Kennedy]. It testifies to the informing aesthetic power even today of a tragic dramatic form far older than the Elizabethan play which inspired it. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead offers its audience the vision of two characters caught in the agony of moral choice. At a moment when they least expect it, and in a place they had never forseen, they must decide the shape of their lives. To be sure, the information upon which they must base their decision comes to them in the form of riddles, half-truths, things only partly-known; but when has it ever been otherwise? Like other tragic protagonists before them, Ros and Guil must choose, and they choose in error. Leading up to and away from this moral crisis which forms the dramatic center of his play, Stoppard constructs a linear plot, set in time, and moved by a group (or, if you will, two groups) of characters who are consistent in both motive and response. Behind the play stands an ancient way of ordering experience, a way which is both mythic and ritualistic. And for his theme, Stoppard (with the aid of Hamlet) offers a version of justice: all the characters get what they deserve. So simple, so moving, so regrettable, but, finally, so consoling: what, in the end, could be more like classical tragedy than that? Lucina P. Gabbard (essay date 1977) SOURCE: "Stoppard's Jumpers: A Mystery Play," in Modern Drama, Vol. 20, No. 1, March, 1977, pp. 87-95. [In this essay, Gabbard categorizes Jumpers as a meta-physical detective story.] Tom Stoppard's Jumpers is a many-splendored mystery play—so many-splendored that it is, metaphorically, a kaleidoscope. Bright fragments of many forms and many themes make new configurations with each twist of the dial. The most obvious ingredients are rollicking comedy and metaphysics. This combination recalls the mystery plays of medieval times which mixed morality and Bible stories with humorous and grotesque details. Stopping there, however, would misrepresent and over-simplify the generic classification of Jumpers for the kaleidoscope contains bits of many genres assembled in the overall design of a "whodunit." Applied to form, the mystery is not "whodunit?" but "whatisit?" Some critics call the play a farce, and it does employ many farcical techniques. It makes beautiful mischief with mistaken identity. George assumes that Dotty's casserole is made from his missing rabbit, Thumper. So he tells Crouch, the porter: "Do you realize she's in there now, eating him?" Crouch, thinking George refers to the murdered Professor McFee, replies: "You mean—raw?" Compounding Crouch's horror, George answers crossly: "No, of course not!—cooked—with gravy and mashed potatoes." The play is alive with broad comic action. McFee's corpse swings in and out of sight on the back of the bedroom door. Nobody drops his pants, but Dotty drops her robe, revealing a lovely body naked from the thighs up. Traditionally, however, farce is devoid of profundity, whereas Jumpers is not. Stoppard's slapstick takes place in the midst of cosmic tragedy and metaphysical inquiry. Astronaut Oates has been abandoned on the moon, and George addresses himself to the question, "Is God?" More-over, the play ridicules man's institutions—education, justice, morality—thereby taking on the weight of a satire. Intermingled with these ancient forms are all the cultural features of twentieth century drama. The two astronauts on the moon represent Space Age technology; their fight for the single berth on the crippled space capsule depicts the Darwinian commonplace of survival of the fittest. The image of Astronaut Oates "waving forlornly from the featureless wastes of the lunar landscape" objectifies man facing the existential void. Dotty's analyst is a Freudian. The Jumpers, flipflopping between political and philosophical roles while Archie calls the tune, suggest the Marxian masses controlled by society. The amorality of Archie and his acrobats is typical of the Absurdist's world which Richard Corrigan describes well: "There are no value judgments or distinctions in values in the world of the Absurd. In Admov's Ping Pong, the aesthetic, economic, and philosophic implications of pinball machines are discussed with religious fervor. In Ionesco's Jack or the Submission the whole action is to convince Jack to accept the family's chief value: 'I love potatoes with bacon'" [Richard Corrigan, The Theatre in Search of a Fix, 1973]. Another example in Corrigan's elaboration might well have been George's analogy between McFee's beliefs about good and bad and "the rules of tennis without which Wimbledon Fortnight would be a complete shambles." Brechtian technique also contributes to this kaleidoscope. In his description of the set, Stoppard calls for a screen forming a backdrop for film and slide projections. But the farce, the satire, the contemporary milieu—even the Brechtian screen—are all elements of Absurdism; and to this accumulation, Stopparci adds his and the Absurdists' principal method—the use of concrete images to convey meaning. In Endgame, Beckett places Nagg and Nell in giant garbage cans to represent the discarding of old and useless parents. Stoppard makes a pyramid of acrobats out of the university's Philosophy Department, bodying forth the intellectual's mental gymnastics. The Coda, a full-fledged dream, adds still another Absurd ingredient. Other nondramatic literary forms also claim mention in Jumpers. Titles of novels and songs constitute the charades which are the basis of Dotty's relationship with George. Overt allusions to classic poets—Milton, Keats—mingle with covert references to modern masters like Eliot and Beckett. The tortoise and the hare recall an oft-told fable—as do Dotty's cries of "Wolf!" A large portion of the play, however, is devoted to George's preparations for the symposium. Thus, Stoppard daringly weaves a serious philosophical dialectic in and out of this Absurdist drama; the whole is thinly wrapped in the Londoner's favorite genre—the detective story. Inspector Bones and the characters of Jumpers are confronted with three obvious mysteries: who killed McFee? where is Thumper? does God exist? Analysis of the play soon reveals, however, that these three questions are only starters. The kaleidoscope is as full of posers as of forms. Thus, the emphasis of this "whodunit" shifts from "what-isit?" to "whatsitsay?" To investigate this mystery requires examination of the play's inseparable mixture of images and characters. Like the fragments in the kaleidoscope, the images, when juxtaposed, create meaningful designs; they all deal with man's problems—with himself, his beliefs, and his institutions. The people within these images have dual roles. On the one hand, they reveal the personal problems and relationship of the characters in the murder mystery; and on the other hand, they represent differing facets of the troubled Space Age. At the center of the design are George and Dorothy Moore and Sir Archibald Jumpers. George Moore is a professor of Moral Philosophy, but his identity is diminished by his namesake, the famed author of Principa Ethica. George is totally absorbed in preparing a paper to be presented at the university's symposium on "Man—good, bad, or indif ferent?"; his paper poses the question—"Is God?" George's eccentricity is captured in the image he presents opening the door to Inspector Bones. Brandishing a bow and arrow in one hand, holding a tortoise in the other, George appears with his face covered in shaving foam. The effect is appropriate to his later self-description: "… I cut a ludicrous figure in the academic world … largely due to my aptitude for traducing a complex and logical thesis to a mysticism of staggering banality." George is also central to the "whodunit," even though for a long time he seems unaware of the tragedy. Nevertheless, the murder occurred at a party at George's house; George summoned the police by an anonymous complaint about the noise; the victim, Professor McFee, was George's philosophical adversary; and finally, the discovery of George's absent-minded murder of Thumper presents the possibility that he may also have unwittingly killed McFee. George is married to Dotty, "a prematurely-retired musical-comedy actress of some renown." Dotty is dotty: "unreliable and neurotic," she calls herself. She can no longer distinguish one moon song from another. Nevertheless, her fans enthusiastically await her comeback. At the party, scene of the murder, they applaud despite her inability to remember her song. She has withdrawn into the darkness before the shot is fired; afterwards she steps into the light only to have the dying man pull himself up against her legs. The others quickly depart, and Dotty is left, whimpering under the weight of the corpse. Her frock stained with his blood, she is the image of the prime suspect. She calls out to George for help, and he, unaware of the murder, responds indifferently. To gain his attention she makes an offer which reveals the emptiness of their marriage: "Georgie!—I'll let you." He replies: "I don't want to be 'let.' Can't you see that it's an insult?" Their only communication seems to be through charades. Finding Dotty nude and despondent on the bed, George responds quickly—"The Naked and the Dead!" On the contrary, Archie comforts Dotty by removing the corpse and visiting her every day—in her bedroom. He claims to be her doctor-psychiatrist, but evidence indicates a love affair. The nature of Archie's relationship with Dotty is another of the mysteries with which George wrestles. Sir Archibald Jumpers is a man of many talents? roles?—all of them authoritative. Near the opening of the play, he stands in a white spot as his voice barks out: "And now!—ladies and gentlemen!—the INCREDIBLE—RADICAL!—LIBERAL!!—JUMPERS!! As the music swells and eight Jumpers come somersaulting in, Archie is the image of the ringmaster of this whole circus. And indeed he is! He is Vice-Chancellor of the university, thereby George's boss. He is organizer of the Jumpers—"a mixture of the more philosophical members of the university gymnastics team and the more gymnastic members of the Philosophy School." As chief Jumper, he is also head of the Radical Liberal Party which is celebrating its victory at the polls. When he signs the report on the cause of McFee's death, he insists he is coroner. He is not only Dotty's psychiatrist but also her legal adviser. He explains: "I'm a doctor of medicine, philosophy, literature and law, with diplomas in psychological medicine and P.T. including gym." Archie is totally amoral and prag matical. He solves his problems by lies, bribery, black-mail, or whatever is necessary. In short, he is George's opposite—in temperament and belief. Archie is very much involved with the murder. The victim, Professor McFee, was one of the Jumpers—holder of the Chair of Logic. Archie disposes of the body and attempts to defend Dotty. He also makes himself a suspect by admitting that McFee, his faithful protégé, was threatening to become "St. Paul to Moore's Messiah." Also involved in the murder mystery are three other characters: Inspector Bones, Crouch, and a nameless secretary. Inspector Bones, like all the others, displays Cognomen Syndrome; he is a detective, a rattler of skeletons in closets. (He also has a brother who was an osteopath!) Bones has been summoned to the scene by two anonymous telephone calls, but he comes, flowers in hand, as one of Dotty's ardent fans. He hopes for her autograph, perhaps even "the lingering touch of a kiss brushed against an admirer's cheek. …" Nevertheless, if he discovers the allegations to be true, he will let her feel "the full majesty of the law." Upon seeing Dotty, however, he is struck dumb by infatuation and desires only to protect her. He suggests an eminent psychiatric witness might get her off. Although incorruptible by Archie's attempted bribery, he is easy prey to a blackmail scheme. While he is alone in the bedroom with Dotty, she cries "Rape!" Archie enters to find Bones—a frozen image pleading with a smile: "It's not what you think." Archie moves in quickly to "tsk tsk" at the "tragic end" of "an incorruptible career." To George, it is all another mystery: "How the hell does one know what to believe?" In any event, the investigation is ended, and the "whodunit" is unsolved. Crouch is the porter. As his name suggests, he maintains a servile posture. He carries out the rubbish and serves drinks at the party. In this latter capacity, he was at the scene of the crime. In fact, he made the second anonymous report to the police. His involvement is deepened by his friendship with the deceased. He used to converse with McFee when the learned professor called for his girl—George's secretary. As a result of these conversations and "a bit of reading," Crouch has become something of a philosopher himself. He demonstrates his knowledge by pointing to a flaw in George's treatise. But when George rebuts his point, Crouch, true to his name, withdraws humbly: "I expect you're right, sir. I mean, it's only a hobby with me." The secretary is nameless and wordless. At the party she strips while swinging from a trapeze. Through the rest of the play she sits silent and grim, taking George's dictation. Only at the close of Act II is her involvement revealed: she was secretly betrothed to McFee, who was already married. Just before his death, McFee had "to make a clean breast and tell her it was all off because he was going into the monastery. Thus, the failures of modern marriage are reaffirmed, and the secretary joins the list of suspects with a motive for murdering McFee. This last message is transmitted vividly by the image of the secretary turning to reveal blood on her back. Two other characters, appearing only on Dotty's giant television screen, are too crucial to be omitted—the astronauts Scott and Oates. Their images are seen stalking the surface of the moon, and the announcer reports their private drama. Only one man could return in the crippled space capsule. While the world of viewers watched, the astronauts—the twentieth century's heroes—struggled until Oates was knocked to the ground by Scott, the commanding officer. Dotty's word image speaks the rest: "Poor moon man, falling home like Lucifer." Later she adds: "it certainly spoiled that Juney old moon." It also caused Dotty's breakdown and, according to Crouch, McFee's reversal. So the moon men are indirectly responsible for the course of events. A twist of the kaleidoscope and all these private characters assume an almost allegorical significance. Each becomes a symbol of some segment of society; each becomes a fragment in a new configuration showing the topsyturvy world of the Space Age and the mind-defying mystery of life. Through all time man has sought to right the world and solve the mystery of his presence on this planet. All of his systems and institutions have been devised to approach one or the other of these problems. For centuries man's solution was belief in God and the morality of man. George is the defender of these beliefs, but his progressive deterioration represents their precarious position. From the outset George explains: "There is presumably a calender date—a moment—when the onus of proof passed from the aetheist to the believer, when, quite suddenly, secretly, the noes had it." This tenuous state is magnified when George, elevated to the symbolic level, becomes the universal representative of theology and ethics. This ineffectual, pedantic little man stands alone against the swollen tide of Jumpers—"Logical positivists, mainly, with a linguistic analyst or two, a couple of Benthamite Utilitarians … lapsed Kantians and empiricists generally … and of course the usual Behaviourists. …" George himself admits his bottom rank: "I was lucky to get the Chair of Moral Philosophy. … Only the Chair of Divinity lies further below the salt, and that's been vacant for six months. …" Furthermore, even with this lone defender, God's position is eroding, for George has turned Him into "a philosopher's God, logically inferred from self-evident premises." Consequently, God has fallen victim to the tricks of language—another failure among man's inventions. George confesses that "words betray the thoughts they are supposed to express." By George's own semantic twists, God becomes "a theological soubriquet" for the "first Cause"; or, as "the first term of the series," George explains, "God, so to speak, is nought." At the height of his frustration, George cries out: "How does one know what it is one believes when it's so difficult to know what it is one knows. I don't claim to know that God exists, I only claim that he does without my knowing it, and while I claim as much I do not claim to know as much; indeed I cannot know and God knows I cannot." However despondent, George's words ring with atrophying heroism when juxtaposed with Dotty's admission: "And yet, Professor, one can't help wondering at the persistence of the reflex, the universal constant unthinking appeal to the non-existent God who is presumed dead." Morality suffers from the same confusion. How can the world of Jumpers right its wrongs when no one can agree on what is wrong? George is the solitary spokesman for moral absolutes; he summarizes the culture's dilemma while stating his agreement with his namesake: "… by insisting that goodness was a fact, and on his right to recognize it when he saw it, Moore avoided the moral limbo devised by his successors, who are in the unhappy position of having to admit that one man's idea of good is no more meaningful than another man's. …" A principal cause of this moral confusion is again—language. George says that every year the symposium's subject is the same, "Man—good, bad, or indifferent?" but "there is enough disagreement about its meaning to ensure a regular change of topic." Unfortunately, George's egocentric and unfeeling reactions to Dotty and the others indicate that his own morality is smothered by pedantry. At the end of Act II, theology and ethics seem bereft of their last defender. George discovers that he, not Dotty, has killed Thumper—with the arrow shot to prove God's existence. In the shock of realizing himself a killer, George steps backward, and "CRRRRRRRRUNCHU!!" he kills his tortoise, Pat. His sobs are amplified and blend into the Coda, where the prostrate George is gripped by a bizarre dream. Has George suffered a total collapse? Or has he merely found escape? Even in George's dream, Archie is in charge. Symbolically, Archie is leadership—the repository of man's hopes and abdicated responsibilities. And Archie has led all segments of society down the path of expediency and amorality. Archie's intellectuals—education—are corrupt and ineffective, jumping from one pose to another at Archie's convenience and command. According to George, they are all as mad as McFee, who thinks lying and murder are merely antisocial, not inherently wrong. The general acceptance of such beliefs is witnessed by their philosophical classification—"Orthodox mainstream." The ineptitude of all these thinkers is exposed when Archie reveals the basis of their selection. For the new chairman of the Philosophy Department, he wants "someone of good standing; he won't have to know much philosophy." As leader of the Radical Liberals, winners of the recent election, Archie also represents politics—the foundation of man's self-government. But like morality, "Democracy is all in the head," Archie has told Dotty. In fact, Dotty explains, the election was actually a coup d'état. When George protests that he voted, she retorts: "It's not the voting that's democracy, it's the counting." Language plays its tricks again. As a result of this "election," the Church Commissioners were dispossessed, the Newspaper properietors found themselves in a police car, Clegthorpe—agricultural spokesman and agnostic—has been appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, and early next week "the Police Force will be thinned out to a ceremonial front for the peacekeeping activities of the Army." The image of the failure of politics is intensified by recalling that the Rad Libs are "a mixed bunch," more than just party workers and academics. Moreover, in the first scene the whole pyramid of Rad-Lib Jumpers has been seen to collapse under the removal of logic—the death of McFee. In the Coda the pyramid is rebuilt with Archbishop Clegthorpe, "The highpoint of scientism," as its pinnacle. But once more a gunshot—violence—intervenes. Clegthorpe is toppled, and the pyramid disintegrates. Are Archie's Jumpers like a pile of dominoes, doomed to fall each time Someone somewhere gives a nudge? Dotty, of course, stands for escapism. She is sex, show business, and romance—rolled into one. Her songs about Juney moons, her millions of undaunted admirers, her flirtations and infidelities speak of man's wishes—his fantasies of beautiful bodies and perpetual love-making under a spangled moon. But this symbol too has collapsed. Dotty faltered in the middle of her act and addressed herself to the mystery of another absolute: "… why must the damned show go on anyway?" Summoned by fearful anonymity is Bones—symbol of law, order, and justice. He is supposed to be evenhanded and incorruptible, able to detect the evil-doers and empowered to right their wrongs by punishment. Alas! Bones, the implacable law, is also human. Victimized by Dotty's charms, Bones instructs Archie to temper justice with romantic illusion, dirty tricks, and prejudice: "Put her in the box and you're half-way there. The other half is, get something on Mad Jock McFee, and if you don't get a Scottish judge it'll be three years probation and the sympathy of the court." Finally, made vulnerable by his fantasies, Bones—the full majesty of the law—is frightened into retreat by Dotty's blackmail. But the mystery remains: who killed McFee? And the criminal is still at large. Is there no protection under the law? The secretary and Crouch, of course, represent the mute, lowly ones who only watch and serve. That American Jumper, Richard Nixon, might have called them the silent majority. But they are victims too. Stripping on the flying trapeze, the secretary symbolizes man swinging between the darknesses of ignorance and false hopes, from the innocence of the womb to the reality of the tomb. The moments of light in between represent those flashes of insight which strip him, little by little, of his beliefs and illusions. Crouch, representing the servile ones, is so blinded by his workaday world that he doubts neither his own inferiority nor the Jumpers' expertise. Unseeing, he "backs into the path of the swing and is knocked arse over tip by a naked lady." He never knows what has hit him until he is blacked out and broken in the crash. But in the Coda, Crouch has become Chairman of the Symposium. Do the meek inherit the earth? Catalysts to it all are the moon men—science and technology raised to the ultimate power. The scientific method was intended to provide the objectivity that would unlock the secrets of the universe. Instead it unloosed an invasion by machines—television cameras exploring the surface of the moon and the skin of Dotty's body. Can external coverings reveal the soul—of Dotty or the moon? It unloosed astronauts in goldfish bowls violating God's heaven, landing their amorality on the moon. In the Coda, Archie puts rationalizations into Captain Scott's mouth. He orders Scott to explain his "instinctive considerations" with "special reference" to his "seniority" over Oates, their "respective usefulness to society," and his responsibility to himself. Captain Scott has only to answer, "That's it." The spectacle of these astronauts fighting on the moon caused McFee to doubt himself. Before his murder, he confided to Crouch: "I am giving philosophical respectability to a new pragmatism in public life, of which there have been many disturbing examples both here and on the moon." Perhaps the most far-reaching effect was on Dotty: the moon was no longer fantasy land, no longer Juney or spooney or crooney. For Dotty it was all over once man set foot on the moon and could see us "whole, all in one go, little—local" with all our absolutes looking like "the local customs of another place." Dotty's final declaration paraphrases into an awesome interrogative: What is going to happen when the people on the bottom discover that the truths they have taken on trust now have edges? Dotty's concern adds to the principal accumulated questions: Is God? Is man good, bad or indifferent? What do good and bad mean? And, of course, who shot McFee? Stoppard lets Archie give the answer: "Unlike mystery novels, life does not guarantee a denouement; and if it came, how would one know whether to believe it?" Thus, the play states that life is a mystery no one can solve. Stoppard's advice seems to be—dream! look on the better side!—because the Coda ends on an optimistic note. Dotty sings again, perched on "a spangled crescent moon." George exclaims that even disbelievers agree that "life is better than death, that love is better than hate." And Archie revives an extended version of the old paradox that the half empty cup is also half full. He sanctions: "Do not despair—many are happy much of the time. …" Or does the Coda merely suggest that life, like this play, is one bizarre dream after another? One thing is clear: Stoppard's Absurd "Whodunit" about the multiple mysteries of life is an almost perfect blend of form and content. Moreover, in production the fast pace and overlapping images of Jumpers create a three-ring circus effect. The swinging trapeze, the songs, the jokes, and the nudity mix bits of vaudeville, musical comedy, and burlesque into this legitimate stage play. The result is that Absurdism, usually so depressing to audiences, emerges in a new configuration with entertainment. Download PDF Print Page Citation Share Link Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 2790 Carol Billman (essay date 1980) SOURCE: "The Art of History in Tom Stoppard's Travesties," in Kansas Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 4, Fall, 1980, pp. 47-52. [In the essay below, Billman explores the connection between art and history in Travesties: "Through his characterization of Carr, Stoppard yokes the roles of artist and historian … , affirming through Carr the importance of history and the individual 'making' it."] In his profile of Tom Stoppard for the New Yorker [December 19, 1977] Kenneth Tynan, pursuing a biblical distinction, divides contemporary British dramatists into two camps: On one side were the hairy men—heated, embattled, socially committed playwrights, like John Osborne, John Arden, and Arnold Wesker, who had come out fighting in the late fifties. On the other side were the smooth men—cool, apolitical stylists, like Harold Pinter, the late Joe Orton, Christopher Hampton … , Alan Ayckbourn … , Simon Gray … , and Stoppard. Stoppard himself said in 1974, "I think that in future I must stop compromising my plays with this whiff of social application [found in Jumpers]. They must be entirely untouched by any suspicion of usefulness. I should have the courage of my lack of convictions." This is not to say that Stoppard's stylistically dazzling plays are devoid of substance or lack themes. Indeed, one of his favorite issues in Travesties as well as a number of his preceding works is the definition of art and of an artist's social obligations. But Travesties is also a history play, a fact that may seem surprising given the playwright's avowedly asocial, therefore ahistorical, perspective. As historical drama the play is not unlike such other contemporary works as Weiss's Marat/Sade, Camus' Caligula, or Kopit's Indians—each represents history as a random and mysterious course of events rather than as a logical, easily understood narrative. Nor is Travesties out of line with Stoppard's earlier plays, for it extends the discussion of art and the artist's social responsibilities to include history, first defining the subject and ultimately determining the historian's function. The absence of absolutes has been another longstanding concern for Stoppard. In the plays before Travesties the relativity of everything from word meaning to political stances and philosophical arguments is illustrated dramatically. The way one looks at things is always a question of point of view, an idea expressed first by Stoppard in the 1967 radio play "Albert's Bridge," in which the character Fraser suddenly finds life tolerable when he joins the painter Albert atop the Clufton Bridge: … So I climb up again and prepare to cast myself off, without faith in angels to catch me—or desire that they should—and lo! I look down at it all and find that the proportions have been reestablished. My confidence is restored, by perspective. Stoppard relates this theme to the subject of art and its legitimacy. For him the products of his profession, literary works, are not inviolable, as he shows when he rewrites Hamlet from the perspective of two minor characters in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and when he parodies the convolutions of British detective stories in "The Real Inspector Hound." In Travesties, too, Stoppard works in the tradition of literary imitation. Beyond echoing great modern dramatists from Ionesco and Beckett to Brecht, the obvious source for imitation is Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. Travesties contains a play within a play in that four of Stoppard's characters act out (without knowing it) the roles of the confused quartet in Wilde's comedy: Henry Carr is Algernon; Tristan Tzara, Jack Worthing; Cecily and Gwendolen, their namesakes. The dialogue in the play includes, moreover, travestied limericks and Shakespearean sonnets. And Stoppard parodies less poetic but nonetheless well-known word groups: Carr repeatedly turns clichés on end—e.g., "my art belongs to dada" and "post hock, propter hock." As this last snippet of rewritten Latin illustrates, the playwright does not stop with parodies of English. By choosing more than one way of saying something—"Pardon! … Entschuldigung! … Scusi!…Excuse me!"—Stoppard makes Ionesco's point about the arbitrary relationship of word form and meaning. What is more, Stoppard dramatizes the fact that word meaning is relative; even when speaker and listener use the same language, the meanings they assign a word vary, a point demonstrated by Carr and Tzara's argument over the meaning of the word artist. Responding to Tzara's loose construction of the term, Carr counters: If there is any point in using language at all it is that a word is taken to stand for a particular fact or idea and not for other facts or ideas. … Don't you see my dear Tristan you are simply asking me to accept that the word Art means whatever you wish it to mean; but I do not accept it. Carr's diehard absolutism notwithstanding, he cannot convince others to abide by his (belief in) precise denotation; they have their own points of view. It should come as no surprise that works of literature and their medium, language, are presented as malleable in a play that has Dadaism as one of its central concerns, since the absence of absolute or rational explanation is what Dada is all about: "Dada! down with reason, logic, causality, coherence, tradition, proportion, sense and consequence." What is more extraordinary is the application of the tenets of this artistic and literary movement to historical events. Tzara acts out the Dadaist credo when he creates a poem by arbitrarily pulling lines out of a hat. Significantly, he extends the theory of random choice: "To a Dadaist history comes out of a hat too." A sign of Stoppard's own attention in Travesties to larger historical patterns is the long monologue delivered by Cecily at the beginning of Act II. "Cecily's Lecture," as it is termed in the text, is a Brechtian newsreel of the historical events providing the backdrop against which the action of the play takes place. This indication of conventional historical narrative aside, events are reviewed in a piecemeal fashion that disorients audiences used to thinking of history along such orderly lines as chronology or progression. The play provides no linear design allowing for easy assimilation of historical fact. It moves forward by fits and starts and often circles back to one event time and again—e.g., the repeated allusions to Carr and Joyce's dispute over the cost of the trousers the former wore in Joyce's Zurich production of The Importance of Being Earnest. Travesties does provide, however, if not a readily understandable presentation of historical fact, a lesson about the recapitulation of history. Stoppard's point, of course, is that the unorthodox, convoluted structure of his play is more mimetic than the tidily sequential and causally related chain of events in which historical records are frequently served up. But the playwright's point of departure—a questionable occurrence, the meeting of Joyce, Lenin, and Tzara while they were in Zurich concurrently—makes it clear that he, too, is shaping an historical account. Again, it is a subjective question of point of view. Speaking of his own dramatic piecing together of Shakespeare's personal history, Stoppard's contemporary, British playwright Edward Bond, writes [in his introduction to Bingo, 1974]: Of course, I can't insist that my description of Shakespeare's death is true. I'm like a man who looks down from a bridge at the place where an accident has happened. The road is wet, there's a skid mark, the car's wrecked, and a dead man lies by the road in a pool of blood. I can only put the various things together and say what probably happened. Likewise, Stoppard's history play dramatizes a view from the bridge, as his earlier "Albert's Bridge" did literally. Somebody stands back and plays the role of investigator or detective, whose job it is to reconstruct the events. History, then, does have a pattern, not one rising naturally from events under scrutiny but one imposed inevitably by the person recounting what happened. A minor character in most accounts, including Joyce's Ulysses, in which he is found in a footnote, Henry Carr becomes in Travesties the reconstructer through whom the stories of three great men are channeled. Drama does not require an onstage narrator of events, but Stoppard has provided one and in so doing has found a visual means of underscoring the creativity of the history-teller. Beyond being a conspicuous raconteur, Carr is a conspicuously eccentric source of information. His recollections of the way things were in Zurich include not only remembrances of public events and great men but also those of a distinctly personal nature, and he makes no attempt to integrate the two. For example, You forget that I was there, in the mud and blood of a foreign field, unmatched by anything in the whole history of human carnage. Ruined several pairs of trousers. Nobody who has not been in the trenches can have the faintest conception of the horror of it. I had hardly set foot in France before I sank in up to the knees in a pair of twill jodhpurs with pigskin straps handstitched by Ramidge and Hawkes. And so it went on—the sixteen ounce serge, the heavy worsteds, the silk flannel mixture—until I was invalided out with a bullet through the calf of an irreplaceable lambs-wool dyed khaki in the yarn to my own specification. I tell you, there is nothing in Switzerland to compare with it. The reader of Travesties is told directly that Carr's account is idiosyncratic: Stoppard explains in a stage direction at the outset of the play that "the story (like a toy train perhaps) occasionally jumps the rails and has to be restarted at the point where it goes wild." He then gives these railments a name, "time slips," and makes suggestions for their staging. The viewer of the play also knows that Carr's perception of the past is not always lucid or concise. By the character's own admission in the dialogue: "… I digress. No apologies required, constant digression being the saving grace of senile reminiscence." Moreover, Stoppard structures his work so that it is obviously a memory play, even though he resorts to no such apparent device as the tape recorder used by Beckett in Krapp's Last Tape. Aside from the parody of Wilde's play, Travesties contains in a second sense a play within a play, the inner performance equaling the psychodrama of Carr's retrospection. Carr, in fact, splits into two on-stage characters, Old and Young Carr. At the conclusion Stoppard moves forward to the present time of the play as Old Carr and Old Cecily argue about how things went: Old Cecily: And I never helped him write Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. That was the year before, too. 1916. Carr: Oh, Cecily, I wish I'd known then that you'd turn out to be a pedant! (getting angry) Wasn't this—Didn't do that—1916—1917—What of it? I was here. They were here. They went on. I went on. We all went on. This exchange nicely points up how stories are influenced not just by personal interests but by less conscious factors as well, such as forgetfulness and the inability to sort out what is important. Carr's manner of speaking further emphasizes the fact that a person is in control of the history he tells. First, the pace of Carr's story is noticeably uneven. Sometimes he so deletes or compresses information that the audience is left behind; sometimes he is circumlocutory to the point that the narrative virtually comes to a halt. His language, too, draws attention to itself as in this passage: 'Twas in the bustling metropolis of swiftly gliding trams and greystone banking houses, of cosmopolitan restaurants on the great stone banks of the swiftly-gliding snot-green (mucus mutandis) Limmat River, of jewelled escapements and refugees of all kinds, e.g. Lenin, there's a point … Lenin As I Knew Him. … To be in his presence was to be aware of a complex personality, enigmatic, magnetic, but not, I think, astigmatic, his piercing brown (if memory serves) eyes giving no hint of it. Here he relies on the stock formulas of the oral storyteller ('"Twas in the …") as well as his own uniquely additive syntactic patterns and ability to turn a phrase ("mucus mutandis"). Despite his own acknowledgment that he digresses, Carr believes that his "memory serves." As his debate over semantics with Tzara illustrates, Carr believes, most fundamentally, in objectivity and absolutes. And he believes in order; throughout his reminiscences, for example, he resorts to labels as a device to give structure to his discourse: "Memories of James Joyce," "The Ups and Downs of Consular life in Zurich During the Great War: A Sketch," "Lenin As I Knew Him." Of course, all that he does and says belies his principles—he is a living reminder of the erratic subjectivity of the history-teller and the relativity of his product. Accordingly, audiences cannot take all that Carr recounts and preaches seriously. But Stoppard means for the man himself to be taken seriously, and he is. Carr's idiosyncrasies and ways of putting things are arresting, and even his sartorial obsession is, after all, a humanizing vanity. Finally, he—not Tzara, Lenin, or Joyce—is the focal character of the play. His arguments negating Tzara's nihilism are more persuasive than the pontifications of the Dadaist, and he can effectively counter the Marxist rhetoric and Joycean banter when in the situation to do so. In short, Stoppard leads audiences to support Carr and his story; Old Cecily's nitpicking attention to correcting details at the end of the play is silly. Since history comes "out of a hat," Carr might as well be doing the pulling. His account is as good as any … and better than many, for as we have seen, it implicitly but strongly points up the fact that creation is involved in marshaling historical facts into narrative. Old Carr sums up his documented legal battle with Joyce over Carr's theatrical costume and concludes: I dreamed about him, dreamed I had him in the witness box, a masterly cross-examination, case practically won, admitted it all, the whole thing, the trousers, everything, and I flung at him—"And what did you do in the Great War?" "I wrote Ulysses," he said. "What did you do?" In this passage Joyce, sounding like Stoppard demanding the courage of his lack of convictions, cooly asserts art pour l'art, a position Carr would condone despite personal squabbles with the writer. But elsewhere, in a speech whose importance Stoppard now dwells on, Joyce defends the artist against Tzara's attacks on the grounds that he is the recorder and shaper of history: Even though Carr would not be quick to second this opin ion, Joyce's comment in effect sums up what the bit play er dramatizes in Travesties, for Carr performs the function Joyce assigns to the artist. Through his characterization of Carr, Stoppard yokes the roles of artist and historian: he goes beyond the travesty of existing histories, affirming through Carr the importance of history and of the individual "making" it. In much of his subsequent work Stoppard shows that he learned the lesson his history play teaches. The plays that immediately follow Travesties—Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land—are social comedies in that they both de-pict the practices of bumbling British politicians, in the House of Commons and a local Home Office respectively. But his more recent works—the television drama Foul Play, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, and Night and Day—are plays that truly represent social engagements on Stoppard's part: these plays face squarely such issues as governmental restriction of individual freedom. In characteristic fashion Carr lists at the conclusion of Travesties the things he learned in Zurich: I forget the third thing. What he has forgotten but Stoppard has learned is that the two categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and thus the playwright has gone on to show he has the courage to state his social convictions on stage. The Real Thing Download PDF Print Page Citation Share Link Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 7700 Paul Delaney (essay date 1985) SOURCE: "Cricket Bats and Commitment: The Real Thing in Art and Life," in Critical Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 1, Spring, 1985, pp. 45-60. [In the essay below, Delaney explores the intersection of life and art, genuine and ersatz love, in The Real Thing.] That Tom Stoppard's plays are neither imprecise nor obscurantist, that his ambiguities are intended neither to dazzle nor confuse but 'to be precise over a greater range of events', was perhaps the most signal contribution of Clive James's [November] 1975 Encounter article: 'It is the plurality of contexts that concerns Stoppard: ambiguities are just places where contexts join'. And in The Real Thing (1982) the interstices come between art and life. Stoppard's attempt, a breathtakingly ambitious one, is to deal at once with what is real in life, what is real in art, and what the real differences are between art and life. The Real Thing endeavours to indicate what constitutes a more real life as opposed to the glib, the trendy, the ersatz; what endures as a living reality in an age that demands disposable relationships, pragmatic alliances. In art, The Real Thing endeavours to distinguish the authentic from propagandistic imitations, the liveliness of the right words in the right order from the ham-fisted butchery of language, what endures as the marbled reality in an age that demands the polystyrene, what endures as alabaster when the age demands plaster. But if the real thing exists in life and the real thing exists in art, the differences between life and art remain no less real. Indeed the very form of The Real Thing, opening as it does with a play within a play serves to dramatise the differences between reality and imaginative reality. The contrast between the real and the imaginative accounts for the genesis not only of the play's form but for the emergence of a playwright as its protagonist. 'I've just finished a play', Stoppard told an American audience [at a lecture] in March 1982, 'which is about a playwright—not for reasons of autobiographical megalomania'. Rather, Stoppard continued, 'I wanted to write a play in which the first scene turns out to have been written by one of the characters in the second scene and consequently he had to be a playwright of course.' As the curtain rises on that first scene, The Real Thing seems the direct opposite of Stoppard's earlier plays. Whereas Jumpers and Travesties begin with a 'pig's break-fast' of incongruous, seemingly random images, The Real Thing opens on a seemingly straightforward domestic scene. At second glance, the plays appear to be mirror images of each other. In Jumpers and Travesties we gradually learn that the seemingly unreal opening scene is in fact real; in The Real Thing we gradually learn that the seemingly real is in fact imaginative, is a play within a play. But eventually we should come to see—whether we begin with the seemingly unreal and then learn that it is the real thing or whether we begin with the seemingly real and then subsequently encounter the real thing—that Tom Stoppard has been writing about real things for quite some time now. Even Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (1967) springs, as James told us, from "the perception—surely a compassionate one—that the fact of their deaths mattering so little to Hamlet was something which ought to have mattered to Shakespeare." If such art is unarguably self-referential, what it is arguing for is for a greater sympathy, and that in the sublimest of works, for ordinary ram-shackle humanity. At the heart of the extraordinary Rosencrantz and Guildenstern we find a celebration of the merely ordinary. Just so, the bounding wit of Jumpers (1972), endlessly cartwheeling us from George's study to Dottie's bedroom, finally leads us to see—as an urbane sophisticated world does not—the validity of the insights of the ploddingly pedestrian George who affirms the inherently moral nature of experience in the real world; and to see—as George does not—the loneliness and anguish of the pathetically real Dottie. In the intricately erudite Travesties (1974) we find the ordinary decent consul Henry Carr at the centre not only of the play's structure but of the play's sympathy. If Joyce is celebrated, as he is, it is because his art deals with the likes of Henry Carr, his art emerges from, even immortalises, the real. Even more clearly, the more recent plays deal with ordinary humanity in all their creatureliness: husbands and wives, fathers and—again and again—sons. Just as George in Jumpers may offer moral affirmations which are valid in theory but which need to be demonstrated in practice, the tensions in Professional Foul (1977) involve the disjunction between the realms of Professor Anderson's abstract philosophising and the real world of Pavel Hollar's wife and son. Stoppard has described the play as an education by experience. Although Anderson may have 'a perfectly respectable philosophical thesis', Stoppard says, 'what happens is something extremely simple … he just brushes up against the specific reality of the mother and the child, especially the child' [interview in Gambit 10, No. 37, 1981]. But in the disjunction between precept and practice, between moral abstractions and moral applications, there is not the absurdist assertion of a chaotic universe, nor the aesthete's withdrawal into sublimely stylish siren song, nor the obscurantist's perverse or inadvertent confusion. From the first, Stoppard's plays have depicted real people in real time and space rather than offering a sur-realistic or absurdist vision of unreality. The Real Thing's primary connection with the earlier plays is not just its verbal felicity (which many reviewers have noted) nor the naturalistic form which the play shares with Night and Day (1978). The Real Thing—as remarkable for its emotional richness as for its wit—extends, deepens, and refines the concerns with which Stoppard has been dealing at least since Jumpers. Like Jumpers, The Real Thing depicts human experience as inherently, fundamentally moral. With equal clarity, Stoppard's most recent play affirms that the real thing exists in the realm of art and thus continues Travesties' concern with the difference between genuine and bogus art. Further, The Real Thing extends and deepens the concern in Travesties and Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth (1979) over the connection between art and politics. If such plays as Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1977) and Professional Foul narrowed the focus of the universal moral values adumbrated in Jumpers to an examination of the body politic and affirmed that 'the ethics of the State must be judged against the fundamental ethic of the individual'—that is, 'one man's dealings with another man'—The Real Thing narrows the focus still further precisely to the arena of one person's dealings with another person. Thus, the affirmation in Jumpers of moral absolutes; the apologia commenced in Travesties and continued in Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth for art as a moral matrix; the application in Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and Professional Foul of moral judgement to the political arena; the assertion in Night and Day that corruption in language is connected with corruption in moral vision; all coalesce in The Real Thing with a deepened concern for the inherently moral commitment made between a man and a woman who know and are known by each other in the most intimate and most real of human relationships. Perhaps what The Real Thing most fundamentally shares with Stoppard's earlier plays is its assumption that reality exists, that life is meaningful, that the universe is not random or chaotic, that the difference between the real and the unreal, between the genuine and the artificial is knowable and that the real thing can be recognised. Thus, if the opening causes the audience to experience disorientation, it also allows the audience to experience the shock of recognition. Hersh Zeifman's observation that the form of the play involves the audience viscerally in the questions being dealt with is undoubtedly correct [Modern Drama 26, 1983]. We are taken in by that first scene. Indeed, it is not until some way into the second scene that we recognise the opening as having been a play within a play. But the point, surely, is that we can recognise the real thing when it comes along. If the play shows that appearances can be deceiving, that we may momentarily mistake the imaginative construct for actual reality, it also shows that we can recognise appearances for what they are—appearances. If it is sometimes difficult to tell the real from the ersatz, if the artificial can sometimes deceive us into believing it to be real, that in no way suggests that the real thing does not exist and cannot, upon discovery, be recognised. The form of the play does not mystify, baffle, or confuse; it does not—as it is possible for a different sort of play to do—leave us up in the air as to which is the imaginative realm and which is actual experience, which is waking reality and which is the dream. Actually, in performance the play is surprisingly straightforward and easy to follow. Even the least sophisticated member of the audience would not emerge from Stoppard's play wondering if the opening scene about an architect were 'real' and the remaining two and a quarter hours constituted an elaborate play within a play. Perhaps, however, it must be ruefully noted that more sophisticated viewers may be taken in either by the play's form or by the sophistries which the play refutes. One of the things which complicates argument at the moment, as Stoppard has remarked elsewhere, 'is that people are so clever that, paradoxically, they can be persuaded of almost anything' [interview in the Wall Street Journal, 1 February 1980]. Given the general level of academic twaddle about Stoppard as an 'absurdist', 'post-absurdist', or 'pan-parodist', we may yet encounter sophisticated academic nonsense about this play. Nevertheless, to emerge from The Real Thing with a sense that it is impossible to tell what is real and what is unreal within the play, one must be clever indeed. Although disclaiming any autobiographical impulse behind the selection of a playwright as the protagonist for his play, Stoppard nevertheless reports [in the 1982 lecture] that 'in the course of writing it, I found this man expressing some of the notions I have about writing', notions, he continued, 'which I probably will not disown in the near future.' Indeed, less than a week after finishing the play, Stoppard offered Henry's statements on writing to an American audience with the explanation that he would be 'reading them out as though they are mine.' The Real Thing's affirmation of art is rooted in a celebration of language, a celebration which extends Stoppard's previ ous concern that language not be subjected to the abuse of pedestrian cliché, political cant, or totalitarian obfuscation. Henry's role as guardian of the language at times takes the form of mere grammatical finickiness, the 'professional fastidiousness' of a playwright who corrects his guests' use of the gerund. However, when Henry objects to describing a conviction for arson as being 'hammered' by an emotional 'backlash', he is not merely being pedantic. He is objecting to jargon which misrepresents real events, as well as objecting to the misuse of words in a mixed metaphor. Such a concern for language extends the denunciation in Night and Day of both journalistic and political jargon, both the 'Lego-set language' of the London tabloids and the political cant of the labour unions. '"Betrayal" … "Confrontation" … "Management" … My God, you'd need a more supple language than that to describe an argument between two amoebas', says Jacob Milne as he mimics the debased language which evicts 'ordinary English' when the 'house Trots' speak of a strike. More sweepingly, when the arsonist Brodie attempts to take up writing, Henry exposes the vacuity of his revolutionary rhetoric in what Roger Scruton rightly calls a 'masterly and devastating criticism of the radical butchery of language' [Encounter, February 1983]: 'I can't help somebody who thinks, or thinks he thinks, that editing a newspaper is censorship, or that throwing bricks is a demonstration while building tower blocks in social violence, or that unpalatable statement is provocation while disrupting the speaker is the exercise of free speech … Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey'. Eventually, however, Henry's celebration of words as 'innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other' not only affirms a connectedness between the word and the thing named but emerges as a sacramental view of language: 'I don't think writers are sacred, but words are.' Just as Travesties celebrates the 'immortality' of art 'that will dance for some time yet', The Real Thing celebrates the sacredness of words which can grant a form of immortality: 'If you get the right ones in the right order, you can … make a poem which children will speak for you when you're dead.' Indeed, like Travesties, The Real Thing celebrates a non-propagandistic art, praises art which 'works' aesthetically whether or not it 'works' in terms of social utility, by, for example, securing the immediate release of prisoners. The two conceptions of art collide in the play's last scene in which Brodie sees a videotape of his own play in a version completely revised by Henry. When Annie, who had requested her husband Henry to rewrite Brodie's fumbling dialogue, says of the television play, 'It did work', Brodie—with no conception of how a play could 'work' aesthetically—asks uncomprehendingly, 'You mean getting me sprung?' 'No', Annie replies, 'I didn't mean that.' The difference between writing well and writing rubbish, between art which 'works' and plays 'which go "clunk" every time someone opens his mouth', springs not from the social or political importance of the subject ('something to write about, something real') or from the immediate social or political effect ('getting me sprung'), but from the liveliness or loutishness in the use of language, the carelessness or precision in putting words together. The writer can 'get it right' or can fail to get it right. And the difference between the two is, in one of the memorable images of the play, as great as the difference between a cricket bat and a cudgel. 'This thing here', Henry says of the real thing, 'which looks like a wooden club, is actually several pieces of particular wood cunningly put together in a certain way so that the whole thing is sprung, like a dance floor.' Both Henry's explanation of the intricate composition of the cricket bat (metaphorically 'well chosen words nicely put together') and his association of it with the dance recall Joyce's apologia in Travesties for art. By contrast, the turgid prose of Brodie's dialogue is a cudgel, 'a lump of wood of roughly the same shape trying to be a cricket bat, and if you hit a ball with it, the ball will travel about ten feet and you will drop the bat and dance about shouting "Ouch!" with your hands stuck into your armpits'. To demonstrate that the difference between the two (metaphorically the difference between 'good writing' and writing that is 'no good') is not just a matter of opinion, Henry points to Brodie's script and suggests that Annie try for herself: 'You don't believe me, so I suggest you go out to bat with this and see how you get on. "You're a strange boy, Billy, how old are you?" "Twenty, but I've lived more than you'll ever live." Ooh, ouch!' What Henry is suggesting, basically, is an education by experience. What he affirms, he argues, is not contingent on his skill in arguing, but is verifiable by experience, is—quite simply—true: 'This isn't better because someone says it's better. … It's better because it's better.' Although The Real Thing continues to celebrate language, continues to associate complexity in composition and liveliness in writing with the dance, nevertheless implicit in the image of the cricket bat is a significant departure from some of Stoppard's previous descriptions of the genesis and purpose of art. If a cricket bat is 'for hitting cricket balls with', what, we may ask, is art 'for'? 'What we're trying to do', Henry explains, 'is to write cricket bats, so that when we throw up an idea and give it a little knock, it might … travel.' Art, as Henry explains it, is for launching ideas. Such a conception of art differs substantially from the much-quoted epigram Stoppard coined some years ago that 'plays are not the end-products of ideas, ideas are the end-products of plays'. More recently, however, when the quote came bouncing back to him from yet another interviewer, Stoppard tossed it aside as having 'the over-statement of most epigrams'. Indeed, that quip, Stoppard continued, 'of course … stopped being applicable round about the time I started writing Jumpers. There the play was the end-product of an idea as much as the converse' (Gambit). Just so, as Henry explains it, the idea seems to be preexistent, to be already rolled up into, well, a ball, which the artist—if he wields his art lightly, forcefully, and well; if he avoids ham-fisted bludgeoning—can send soaring. If Henry's explanation of the lofting of ideas demonstrates development in Stoppard's perspective on the genesis of art, Henry's reflections on the effect of art more profoundly clarify Stoppard's position from his treatment in previous plays of the connection between art and politics. Just as Tzara, in Travesties, could not change art into something it was not simply by abusing the word 'art', so in The Real Thing an artist cannot change 'politics, justice, patriotism' by trying to stick labels on them. However, Henry continues in clarification of what the artist can change, 'if you know this and proceed with humility, you may perhaps alter people's perceptions so that they behave a little differently at that axis of behaviour where we locate politics or justice.' Art, that is, can in some way effect social change toward justice. However, art is not useful in some kind of immediate way that gets Brodie free from prison next month. Rather, art is a civilsing force, a humanising force, a 'moral matrix' as Stoppard told an interviewer in [Theatre Quarterly IV, No. 4, May-July 1974], 'from which we make our judgements about the world'. If Joyce in Travesties affirmed art for art's sake, art completely removed from any kind of social or political obligation, art which exists in a separate realm where it 'will dance for some time yet and leave the world precisely as it finds it, Henry in The Real Thing affirms art which can both teach and delight, art which exists both in the realm of time and the timeless, the power of words with which an artist 'can nudge the world a little or make a poem which children will speak for you when you're dead'. Henry's climactic statement on art continues Travesties' affirmation that art need not be social, continues to see art as gratifying 'a hunger that is common to princes and peasants' or, even, children. However, the acknowledgement that art can 'nudge' the world, significantly, if modestly, extends Stoppard's claims for art. Social impact may not be art's major purpose; and art may not accomplish social change with immediate effect. Nevertheless, art need not leave the world precisely as it finds it; art can move the world, at least fractionally; and that movement can be in the direction of justice. Henry's climactic statements on art thus conflate a number of themes from the play. The world that is there to be nudged is real; a world in which people need to act with justice is inherently moral; and art, by faithfully reflecting the real world, can enable people to see the real world and their own actions with greater precision, to act with greater comprehension and clarity. Thus, however distinct the plane of imaginative reality may be from reality, there are, finally, interconnections between them. There are points at which the aesthetic intersects the epistemological and even the ethical. Distortions in one plane can lead to distortions in the other planes. Abuse of words in writing can lead to a warped vision of the real world, a bent toward seeing justice as fraud, property as theft, patriotism as propaganda, religion as a con trick. And such skewed perception of the real world can lead to the acting out of prejudice, to behaviour in the ethical plane which is likewise skewed. Thus clarity of artistic vision is not, finally, divorced from accuracy of epistemological perception or even from Tightness of ethical action. Writing aright can lead, or can help lead, or—to put it as modestly as possible—can 'nudge' human beings 'a little' toward acting aright in the real world. Stoppard's vision of the intersecting planes of the aesthetic, the epistemological, and the ethical may be intricate—and intricacy may characterise the art which bodies forth such complexity—but what it is not is chaotic. To abandon precision in epistemological perception of the real world is to make a 'mistake'; to abandon precision in moral vision is to manifest 'prejudice'; and to abandon precision in writing is to create works which do not square with the real world, works which do not even square with themselves, architectural follies which should be 'bridges across incomprehension and chaos' but which are in fact 'jerry-built', 'rubbish', incapable of supporting even their own clumsy weight. If Stoppard's plays grow, or apparently grow, from the demand that Art should be its own subject, they inevitably break through this new and alien and artificial turf and sink their roots into the timeless truth that the evanescent beauty of art can only blossom from the ordinary mun-dane soil of real life. Stoppard eschews the example of committed playwrights who 'grapple' with 'weighty' issues, argues James, 'not because he can't do what they can do, but because he can do what they can do so easily' (Encounter, November 1975). Having demonstrated his mastery of the form, Stoppard finally leaves behind the inherently circular world of art which is merely self-referential for much the same reason. Stoppard's is a paradoxical art. He writes cavortingly clever plays which wittily expose as effete the merely clever. He writes exuberantly risqué plays which ruefully reflect on human experience as ineluctably moral. He writes disarmingly stylish plays which expose the danger of mere style. He writes extraordinary plays which celebrate ordinary mundane human beings. He writes seemingly surreal plays that affirm the existence and the value of the real. In a farrago of words he affirms that the essential truths are simple and monolithic and precede language. And in one of the surpassing ironies of his paradoxical plays, Stoppard creates a self-referential art which celebrates only that art which is not merely self-referential, celebrates that art which is numerically rooted in its representation of ordinary human experience, art which eschews the surreal for the real. Having established the contrast between real life and art in the juxtaposition of scene one with scene two, having celebrated the existence of the real thing in art in Henry's memorable contrast of cricket bats with cudgels in the middle of the second act, what remains as the ultimate concern of the play is the contrast between the ersatz—however alluring or deceptive or temporarily misleading—and the real thing in human relationships. 'Does the world "love" mean anything at all?' a character asks in Harold Pinter's most recent play ['Family Voices']. Stoppard's play asks a much harder question. The Real Thing asks if commitment, fidelity, trust have meaning even in an age which insists that relationships are negotiable commodities, even in a hedonistic environment which is as surfeited with sensuality as 'this poncy business' of the theatre, even—indeed—in a relationship which has its very inception in an adulterous affair. The Real Thing asks if there can be affirmation of commitment, fidelity, trust between lovers who were themselves brought together by infidelity, the breaking of commitments, the betrayal of trust. Just as the play opens with two quite different scenes both of which—initially—appear to be real; just as we are presented with two characters who embody different views of writing; just so The Real Thing presents us with characters who embody several different views of love and different views of the nature of human relationships. Charlotte, Henry's first wife, discounts the significance of love—romantic, marital, or even parental—from her first appearance. Although she is primarily trying to insult Henry's plays as unreal, there is also undisguised condescension toward the whole notion of fidelity in Charlotte's assertion that if Henry were to catch her with a lover his 'sentence structure would go to pot, closely followed by his sphincter'. Indeed, in some of the coarsest language of the play. Charlotte describes fidelity in a wife as merely a matter of having 'a stiff upper lip, and two semi-stiff lower ones'. She even jeers at Henry's love for his daughter and describes parental love as abnormal, saying that 'normal is the other way round'—normal, that is, is the response of one who 'just can't stand the little buggers'. Ultimately Charlotte's view of relationships is articulated in mercantile metaphors. 'There are', she asserts, 'no commitments, only bargains'. If Charlotte dismisses relationships as 'bargains', Debbie puts a different price on relationships in her advocacy of 'free love'. Like her mother, Debbie contemptuously dismisses the necessity or significance of fidelity. Infidelity is 'a crisis only if you want to make it' one, Debbie reasons, arguing that her boiler room trysts had shown her that sex is not 'secret and ecstatic and wicked and a sacrament' but, merely, 'turned out to be biology after all'. Whereas Charlotte and Debbie demonstrate a pragmatic devaluing of relationships, Annie—who marries Henry after both have divorced their first spouses—values commitment but sees it as negotiable. Certainly she is more willing than Henry to jettison a first marriage. However, she is intense in her affection, her love, for Henry and she sees their subsequent marriage as something more than a bargain, as a relationship involving a measure of commitment. But she does not equate love or commitment, necessarily, with fidelity. Having embarked on an adulterous affair with the actor Billy, Annie endeavours nevertheless to assert her continuing love for Henry. She says she has learned not to care about the affairs she had suspected Henry of having, and that while her affair with Billy may continue, it is quite separate from her relationship with Henry: 'You weren't replaced, or even replaceable.' As opposed to such denials of the possibility of love, or of the need for love to be accompanied by marriage, or of the need for marriage to be accompanied by fidelity, Henry from the first affirms the insularity of passion, the significance of commitment, the value of fidelity. While Henry the playwright confesses that he does not 'know how to write love' because 'loving and being loved is unliterary', Henry the man can turn to Annie at the peak of an argument and say, however unliterarily, 'I love you so.' In performance the chemistry between Roger Rees and Felicity Kendal, the unselfconscious physical affection they share, may provide compelling emphasis to Annie's response, 'I love you so, Hen.' At least in part, however, the resonance of such an exchange is established precisely by the dialogue's unpolished simplicity. Scruton's description of Stoppard's dialogue as 'an exchange not of feelings, but of epigrams' (Encounter, February 1983), might well apply to the play within the play, the scene from 'House of Cards' written by Henry. But applied to The Real Thing Scruton's charge simply leaves out more than it includes. To fail to distinguish the verbal veneer of that first scene from the emotional richness of much of the rest of the play is to call attention only to the discussion of art and miss the immediate personal experience of love and betrayal, the offering of commitment and the discovery of infidelity which undergirds the fabric of the play, One of the most moving speeches of the play, Henry's anguished cry, restrained until after Annie has already departed for another adulterous rendezvous, 'Oh, please, please, please, please don't' is scarcely aphoristic. Indeed, precisely what we do not get at the play's most emotional moments is what Henry and Charlotte identify as 'badinage', 'smart talk', sitting around 'being witty about place mats'. Even Henry's first act curtain speech, 'I love love', although—perhaps—impassioned, can scarcely be described as eloquent: 'I love having a lover and being one. The insularity of passion. I love it. I love the way it blurs the distinction between everyone who isn't one's lover. Only two kinds of presence in the world. There's you and there's them.' Indeed, by having the climactic speech of act one couched in sentence fragments, Stoppard is deliberately undercutting the rhetorical possibilities of the moment. While it may be true, as [Zeifman] has observed, that in Stoppard's play 'love speaks in many different tongues, with many different accents', it does not necessarily follow that it is impossible to tell 'which of them, finally, is "the real thing". Such a view offers the sophisticated interpretation that while a stoppard play might engage in elaborate theatre games, might recount the process of trying to define the real thing, it surely would not do anything quite so simplistic as to define the real thing, well at least—dear me—not in terms of the morality of sexual relationships. Despite such critical reluctance to recognise anything but relativity, Stoppard asserts that when his characters speak on various sides of a question, one may be voicing a position which is not just more persuasive or more eloquent or more generally accepted, but is, quite simply, true. Of Night and Day Stoppard asserts, 'Ruth has got a gift for sarcastic abuse, but what Milne says is true'. 'I mean', Stoppard continues somewhat insistently, 'it is true … I believe it to be a true statement. Milne has my prejudice if you like. Somehow unconsciously, I wanted him to be known to be speaking the truth' (Gambit). And such truths just might be surprisingly simple. A moment later Stoppard offers a blunt assessment of Professional Foul: 'it's to do with the morality between individuals.' 'Something which has preoccupied me for a long time', he continues, 'is the desire to simplify questions and take the sophistication out. A fairly simple question about morality, if debated by highly sophisticated people, can lead to almost any conclusion.' When Stoppard takes the sophistication out, when he cuts through the sophistries and gets down to the real thing, what he finds is a question of 'the morality between individuals'. Similarly, when The Real Thing cuts through the sophisticated badinage that 'little touches' can 'lift adultery out of the moral arena and make it a matter of style' the play leads us to a question about morality between individuals, a question about one person's dealings with another person in the most intimate of human relationships, a question that remains squarely in 'the moral arena'. But this matter of morality, the sophisticated observer may ask, it is still a question, n'est-ce pas? It is, how you say, an 'intellectual leap-frog' [Zeifman]. Skewering those who continue to find leap-frogging in his plays, Stoppard declares 'I can say that in the last few years I haven't been writing about questions whose answers I believe to be ambivalent. In Every Good Boy and Professional Foul, the author's position isn't ambiguous' (Gambit). Nor is it in The Real Thing. Whatever Charlotte's gift for sarcastic abuse, whatever Debbie's gift for verbal sophistry, whatever Annie's gift for persuasive nonsense, we should eventually recognise the difference between the real thing and the bogus imitation as being as great as, well, the difference between a cricket bat and a cudgel. Indeed, like Brodie's attempt at playwriting, Charlotte's pronouncements on fidelity are undercut by their own 'crudity'. We discover, subsequently, that while married to Henry, Charlotte had embarked on an adulterous tour of the Home Counties with no fewer than nine different 'chaps'. 'I thought we'd made a commitment', Henry says in surprise, evoking Charlotte's disparaging comment that there are no commitments, 'only bargains'. Indeed, after Henry's marriage to Annie, we discover Charlotte is 'shacked up' with a real-life architect, has other affairs alongside that affair, and gives the architect the elbow when he objects. Charlotte may be an entrepreneur; but she's no bargain. More persuasive, perhaps, is Debbie's advocacy of free love. If sex is mere biology, relationships need make no pretense of even aspiring to fidelity: 'That's what free love is free of—propaganda.' Brodie's prose may be ham-fisted, whereas Debbie's phrase-making is 'flawless', 'neat'. But Henry faults both of them for using language to falsify reality: 'You can do that with words, bless 'em.' What Debbie does with words is create 'sophistry in a phrase so neat you can't see the loose end that would unravel it. It's flawless but wrong. A perfect dud.' Henry demonstrates the ease of spinning out such phrases with a neat epigram of his own: 'What free love is free of is love.' Later in the conversation Debbie unpops another pithy pronouncement: 'Exclusive rights isn't love, it's colonisation.' Though he dismisses such a cleverty as 'another ersatz masterpiece', Henry's affection for his daughter is clear—as is his disapproval of her misuse of her gift for language—in saying she is 'like Michelangelo working in polystyrene'. The scene does not, however, merely offer a battle of wits, a mock-epic exchange of epigrams. 'Don't write it, Fa', Debbie interrupts, 'Just say it.' So Henry just says it. His daughter's glib devaluing of commitment prompts Henry's climactic statement on the nature of relationships—a statement which lacks eloquence or gloss or polish, but which for all that carries far greater weight than Debbie's 'polystyrene' philosophising: 'It's to do with knowing and being known. I remember how it stopped seeming odd that in biblical Greek knowing was used for making love. Whosit knew so-and-so. Carnal knowledge. It's what lovers trust each other with. Knowledge of each other, not of the flesh but through the flesh, knowledge of self, the real him, the real her, in extremis, the mask slipped from the face.' Against such a standard Debbie's burblings about free love and non-exclusive rights seem sophomoric, as, indeed, they are. Her glib sophistries are finally faulted, much as Charlotte's sardonic crudities, not merely as glib or wrong-headed or reductivist—though they are all of those—but because they are unreal. They lack reality. Affirming a knowledge 'not of the flesh but through the flesh' Henry asserts that there is more to sex than just biology, more to a human being than meets the microscope, more to human actions than amoral glandular functions. Henry, that is, affirms human interaction, intimacy between 'the real him' and 'the real her' as inherently, ineluctably moral. Writing in 1977 on the ubiquitous attacks of relativists on objective truth and absolute morality, Stoppard declared his own belief in 'a moral order derived from Christian absolutes' [Times Literary Supplement, 3 June 1977]. Just so, more than Henry's language is derived from biblical Greek. Henry's view of relationships is derived from a biblical view of relationships: 'in pairs we insist that we give ourselves to each other. What selves? What's left? … A sort of knowledge. Personal, final, uncompromised. Knowing, being known. I revere that.' From a sacramental view of language to a reverential view of relationships, The Real Thing continues to depict both life and the language which faithfully represents life as meaningful. In contrast both to Charlotte's sardonic pragmatism and the trendy promiscuity that Debbie so glibly espouses, Annie demonstrates some degree of commitment. Even amid her affair with Billy, Annie maintains that she loves Henry, and tries to assure him that Billy is not a threat. However, her expectations that Henry should manifest 'dignity', should learn 'not to care', should 'find a part of yourself where I'm not important' are shown to be unrealistic. Just as Professional Foul shows a professor 'being educated by experience beyond the education he's received from thinking' (Gambit,), The Real Thing shows a playwright's education by experience when, after having written about infidelity in his plays, he has to experience the real thing in his own life. Just as reality can cut through the seemingly seamless tissue that philosophers or professors are able to spin, so reality can cut through the fanciful figures that playwrights can weave. As a playwright, Henry has written about the discovery of infidelity and shown the cuckolded husband continuing to run on a witty line of banter. But when Henry the man discovers the infidelity of his own wife, he disclaims privacy, dignity and stagey sophistication: 'I don't believe in debonair relationships. "How's your lover today, Amanda?" "In the pink, Charles. How's yours?" I believe in mess, tears, pain, self-abasement, loss of self-respect, nakedness. Not caring doesn't seem much different from not loving.' Rejecting the brittle stage banter of Noel Coward sophisticates, Henry also explodes Debbie's dicta on free love as simply sophisticated masks for indifference. What free love is free of is love because not to care is not to love. Henry can swallow his pride; he can resist being 'pathetic' or 'tedious' or 'intrusive', but he cannot learn to 'not care'. The reviewer who came away with the impression that Henry 'comes to realise that exclusive rights to a person is not love' got it, rather spectacularly, wrong [John Barber, The Daily Telegraph, 17 November 1982]. Henry quotes his daughter's epigram but does so with bitter irony. 'We have got beyond hypocrisy, you and I, Henry says, wryly hypocritical: 'Exclusive rights isn't love, it's colonisation.' 'Stop it—please stop it', Annie interrupts, unable to endure the irony in Henry's voice. 'The trouble is', Henry continues more straightforwardly, 'I can't find a part of myself where you're not important. I write in order to be worth your while and to finance the way I want to live with you. Not the way you want to live. The way / want to live with you.' However eloquent Henry may be in defence of art, he is quick to deny that his commitment to his art in any way supercedes or is even separable from the commitments he makes to relationships in real life. He is even willing to 'tart up Brodie's unspeakable drivel into speakable drivel' if Annie wants him to. We see in what sense this is a 'committed' playwright. Henry's is a commitment not to causes or ideologies but to a person. Although his memorable image of the cricket bat may be the springboard for an articulate apologia for the real thing in art, what finally matters to Henry more than art or even articulacy is love—the genuine article, the real thing, however haltingly expressed—in real life. Despite Scruton's charge that Stoppard 'does not portray characters, who develop in relation to each other', the play finally hinges precisely on the transformation, the development, the growth we see in Annie. Even if Annie's espousal of commitment without concomitant fidelity seems a more formidable position than either Charlotte's or Debbie's, the play does not leave such a view as just another option alongside Henry's conception of love. In a series of crucial revelations in the play's final scene Annie abandons such a position along with a number of other falsehoods. We learn, first of all, that Brodie's ostensibly revolutionary offense had been wholly apolitical in motivation, had been performed, Annie says, with 'not an idea in his head except to impress me'. Thus, for at least the second time in his career, Stoppard has written a play in which a shadowy Scot proves of pivotal significance. Just as Jumpers springs from George's attempts to compose a response to the philosophically radical McFee, so the putative political radical Brodie prompts Henry's response from the first scene. In both plays the off-stage Scot serves as the catalyst for an entire line of argument by the protagonist throughout the play, and then, at the penultimate moment of the play is discovered to be radically unlike what we had thought him to be. Further, such a radical alteration in our perception of him has the effect not of undercutting what the protagonist has been saying throughout the evening but of supporting, underscoring, reinforcing it. The posthumous revelation that McFee had rejected moral relativism, abandoned a materialist view of humankind, experienced a religious conversion, broken off an affair, and made plans to enter a monastery, does not go much further to support the theist affirmations of the moral absolutist George than Henry's position is supported by the revelation of Brodie, in the last scene, as a hooligan whose 'political' act of setting a fire on the Cenotaph had been prompted by a wholly apolitical desire, using the only means such an inarticulate lout had at hand, to impress a girl. If the penultimate revelaton of Brodie reaffirms all that Henry—as playwright—has said about writing, the ultimate revelation of a transformation in Annie reaffirms what Henry—as a lover—has said about love. The two long arcs of the play—the concern with writing and the concern with loving—thus meet and are resolved in the play's final scene. However much weight Henry's impassioned plea for commitment may have carried during the preceding scenes the play's affirmations are not, finally, based on Henry's words alone. In the closing scene, Annie, sick of the freedom—the licence—of her extramarital experimentation, rejects her adulterous involvement, recoiling from the prospect of another contact with Billy with a vehement 'No'. Moments later she turns to her husband and speaks six words. If Henry and Annie's reconciliation is almost 'wordless', as Scruton pejoratively describes it, we should recall, as Anderson says in Professional Foul, that 'the important truths are simple and monolithic. The essentials of a given situation speak for themselves, and language is as capable of obscuring the truth as of revealing it.' The simple and monolithic truth here is that the relationship of a husband and wife, a relationship bent to the breaking point, has been restored. The words are, merely: Annie: I've had it. Look after me. Henry: Don't worry. I'm your chap. But what has been exchanged is a world of feeling. And if the utter simplicity of Annie's words, if the expressiveness of her embrace, if the significance of her smile as she turns out the lights, if all this is not compelling, would it have been more compelling if they had discussed it? As the curtain descends on that luminous bedroom portal, the play ends not—as in Shakespearean comedy—with marriage as restoration, but—having attained the more mature vision of Shakespearean romance—with a restoration within marriage. Just as we can tell the difference between a cricket bat and a cudgel, just as we can tell the difference between conscious artistry and the political hack-writing of Brodie, so we can tell the difference between ersatz pronouncements on love and the real thing, the difference between the real thing and bogus imitations in life. The real thing is real life as opposed to imaginative reality, actual experience rather than art. The real thing is love rather than, just, sex. The real thing is the word rather than the sophistry, the faithful use of language rather than the corrupt abuse of language into jargon. The real thing is art rather than its propagandistic imitation, writing that grows out of authentic human experience rather than doctrinaire pos-turing, the right words in the right order rather than ham-fisted rubbish. The real thing is the clear-sighted perception of politics, justice, patriotism rather than the obfuscation of prejudice. The real thing is the recognition of a relationship as a commitment rather than a mere bargain, the willingness to accept commitment in relationship rather than casualness in affairs, the fulfilment—and sometimes pain—of promise rather than the mere pleasure of promiscuity; costly love rather than free. And in facing the fact of infidelity, the real thing is the pain and nakedness of caring rather than the debonair front of witty repartee or the indifference of not caring. The measure of Stoppard's achievement is not that he is able to depict the ecstatic passion of love, or the sweet pangs of unrequited love, or the attractiveness of illicit love, or—finally—even the agonies of betrayed love, though The Real Thing does all that. The measure of Stoppard's achievement is that he is able to depict and vivify and make compelling the enduring happiness—deeper than ecstasy if less spectacular, more satisfying than illicit love if sometimes less attractive, more profoundly moving than free love if more painful—of loving and being loved, knowing and being known, the giving and receiving of commitment, fidelity. If Jumpers, as Kenneth Tynan aptly observed, is unique in the theatre as 'a farce whose main purpose is to affirm the existence of God' [The New Yorker, 19 December 1977], The Real Thing has its own uniqueness as a West End comedy of adulterous alliances—a play about 'infidelity among the architect class. Again'—whose main purpose is to affirm the vital importance of fidelity, yes even the vital importance, in the commitment which love entails, of being earnest. And if it seems even less likely in our time than in Wilde's that a playwright could affirm the importance of being earnest and be in earnest about it, could affirm fidelity and not be ironic or cynical or, merely, flippant about it, that too is a measure of Stoppard's achievement. Stoppard has the unmitigated audacity, the perfectly scandalous nerve—simply washing one's clean linen in public—to dedicate the text of his adulterous comedy to his wife; and while that sort of thing may not be enormously on the increase in London, Stoppard sends his audience streaming out into the West End night—the lyrics 'I'm a Believer' ringing in their ears—convinced that such dedication, 'For Miriam', just might, after all, be the real thing. Download PDF Print Page Citation Share Link Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 9671 Hersh Zeifman (essay date 1990) SOURCE: "A Trick of the Light: Tom Stoppard's Hapgood and Postabsurdist Theater," in Around the Absurd: Essays on Modern and Postmodern Drama, edited by Enoch Brater and Ruby Cohn, The University of Michigan Press, 1990, pp. 175-201. [In this essay, Zeifman focuses on Hapgood to uncover a note of optimism which distinguishes Stoppard's plays from works by Samuel Beckett and other writers of absurdist drama.] In a 1974 interview with the editors of Theatre Quarterly, Tom Stoppard was questioned about the genesis of his playwriting career [Theatre Quarterly IV, No. 4, May-July 1974]. A Walk on the Water, written in 1960 (but not staged in England until 1968, as Enter a Free Man), was considered "an unusual kind of first play" by the interviewers, containing little that was "autobiographical or seminal." Stoppard responded: I don't think a first play tends to be that—it tends to be the sum of all the plays you have seen of a type you can emulate technically and have admired. So A Walk on the Water was in fact Flowering Death of a Salesman. … I don't think it's a very true play, in the sense that I feel no intimacy with the people I was writing about. It works pretty well as a play, but it's actually phoney because it's play written about other people's characters. The "other people's characters" Stoppard was referring to were abducted, as he himself pointed out, from Robert Bolt's Flowering Cherry and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman: a strange theatrical amalgam that perhaps explains the play's uncertain tone. For his second play Stoppard turned to an entirely different source: "The next play I wrote, "The Gamblers," was over-influenced by Beckett, set in a condemned cell with only two people in it" [quoted by Charles Marowitz, in the New York Times, 19 October 1975]. While this imitation of Beckett was originally likewise "a kind of feint," it has proved to be of more lasting significance: Samuel Beckett has remained an important influence on Stoppard's drama. Stoppard has expressed his intense admiration of Beckett on numerous occasions. "There's just no telling," he has written [in the Sunday Times, 25 February 1968], "what sort of effect [Waiting for Godot] had on our society, who wrote because of it, or wrote in a different way because of it… . Of course it would be absurd to deny my enormous debt to it, and love for it. Precisely what Stoppard loved in Beckett was, first of all, the structure of Beckett's humor: "There's Beckett joke which is the funniest joke in the world to me. It appears in various forms but it consists of confident statement followed by immediate refutation by the same voice. It's constant process of elaborate structure and sudden—and total—dismantlement" [quoted by Ronald Hayman in his Tom Stoppard, 1977]. Stoppard was also heavily influenced by the poetic cadences of Beckett's language, especially the stichomythia characteristic of much of Gego's and Didi's dialogue. But his greatest "debt" was to Beckett's absurdist vision (hence his ironic description of "The Gamblers" as "Waiting Godot in the Condemned Cell"). As he [in the Theatre Quarterly interview] wrote while still a theater critic in a review of Jack MacGowran's Beckett compilation End of Day: "[Beckett's] characters vacillate in a wasteland between blind hope and dumb despair… . Everything is canceled out; Beckett (see Martin Esslin's The Theatre of the Absurd) is much impressed by St. Augustine's words, 'Do not despair—one of the thieves was saved. Do not presume—one of the thieves was damned" [Scene 7, 25 October 1962]. The characters of Stoppard's next stage play similarity "vacillate in a wasteland between blind hope and dumb despair." Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the work that established Stoppard's fame (and fortune), is a deeply Beckettian play—as almost every critic who has analyzed it has acknowledged. (That acknowledgement has not always been a positive one. Robert Brustein, for example, labeled the play "a theatrical parasite" and dismissed its author as a mere "university wit," offering audiences "a form of Beckett without tears" [New Republic, 4 November 1967]. But whether positive or negative, Beckett's influence on the play is clearly evident.) Mirroring "the Beckett joke," the structure of Rosen-crantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a series of comic "statements" constantly refuting themselves, playing in effect "a sort of infinite leap-frog" [Stoppard, Theatre Quarterly]. ("I write plays," Stoppard has noted, "because dialogue is the most respectable way of contradicting myself [quoted by Jon Bradshaw in New York Magazine, 10 January 1977]. Further, the stichomythic exchanges changes of the title characters eerily echo the language of Godot's tramps; what Stoppard wrote in a 1963 review of James Saunders's Next Time I'll Sing To You—"Some of his dialogue is so Beckettian as to be pastiche" [Scene 18, 9 February 1963]—proved to be prophetically applicable to Stoppard's own play, not yet written. And the play's central conceit—two shadowy courtiers on the fringes of Hamlet, trapped in the margins of a "text" about which they know nothing, adrift in a world that makes no sense—embodies the heart of a Beckettian endgame, the quintessence of Camus's definition of the absurd [in The Myth of Sisyphus]: Beckett's absurdist influence is equally strong in Jumpers, Stoppard's next full-length work for the theater. The argument of the play has been neatly summarized by the philosopher A. J. Ayer [in the Sunday Times, 9 April 1972]: it is "between those who believe in absolute values, for which they seek a religious sanction, and those, more frequently to be found among contemporary philosophers, who are subjectivists or relativists in morals, utilitarians in politics, and atheists or at least agnostics." (It was mischievous of the Sunday Times to commission this review from Ayer, the preeminent logical positivist [i.e., relativist] of his generation, whose first initials just "happen" to be reflected in the name of the play's "arch-villain," Archibald Jumper.) Although many of the play's characters "seek," however, they do not find: nothing in Jumpers appears certain, least of all absolute values. As I have argued elsewhere [Yearbook of English Studies 9, 1979], Jumpers is a parodic mystery play, in both senses of the term. There are in fact two linked mysteries at the core of the play: (a) Who killed Duncan McFee? and (b) Does God exist? The play's central character, a professor of ethics named George Moore, thinks he knows the answers, but in neither instance can he prove his case: the physical mystery and the metaphysical mystery remain equally unsolved (and unsolvable). (As the prisoner wryly informs the jailer in "The Gamblers": "I think you may have stumbled across the definition of divine will—an obsession with mystery.") The world of Jumpers is thus maddeningly, absurdly ambiguous, with both the earth and the heavens refusing to divulge their secrets. The metaphysical absurdism of Jumpers is dramatized not simply in the play's theme but in its structure as well: if the world is "divested of illusions and lights," if it no longer makes sense, why then should plays that attempt to reflect that world? In absurdist theater, as Martin Esslin proclaimed in his seminal study [Theatre of the Absurd], form mirrors content: "The Theatre of the Absurd has renounced arguing about the absurdity of the human condition; it merely presents it in being—that is, in terms of concrete stage images." One of the first stage images we encounter in the play's bizarre prologue sets the tone for everything that follows: a (progressively) naked lady is seen swinging from a chandelier. "Like a pendulum between darkness and darkness, the Secretary swings into the spotlight, and out… , in sight for a second, out of sight for a second, in sight for a second, out of sight for a second… ." Now you see it, now you don't; the audience is in effect "ambushed" from the play's opening moments. Reflecting the play's theme in a maze of mirrors, the structure of Jumpers is rife with ambiguity, a conjuror's trick that has the audience echoing George's baffled "How the hell does one know what to believe?" Just when we think we "know" where we are, just when the picture finally seems to come into focus, the angle suddenly shifts and we are left once more with a blur. Take, for example, the first postprologue encounter between George and his "dotty" wife Dotty. From the darkened space of her bedroom, Dotty has been uttering piteous, and increasingly urgent, cries for help: "Murder—Rape—Wolves!" George, feverishly attempting to "invent" God in his study, is convinced she is merely "crying wolf ("Dorothy, I will not have my work interrupted by these gratuitous acts of lupine delinquency!"), but he finally breaks down and decides to look in on her. As he enters the bedroom, the lights come up to display Dotty's nude body "sprawled face down, and apparently lifeless on the bed." Dotty appears to be dead, and the audience is allowed a brief interval to register the shock of that fact. But even as we are jumping to that conclusion, George's reaction to the scene puzzles us: "George takes in the room at a glance, ignores Dotty, and still calling for Thumper goes to look in the bathroom." Is this professor so absent-minded that he fails to notice the nude corpse of his wife? Is he so indifferent that he doesn't care? While we are pondering, George returns from the bathroom and suddenly addresses the "corpse": George: Are you a proverb? Dotty: No, I'm a book. George: The Naked and the Dead. An audience invariably laughs at this point, partly in relief that Dotty is alive and partly in embarrassment at having been so easily misled: Dotty was simply "acting out" a charade, as she will continue to do throughout the play. Now you see it, now you don't: the whole play is, structurally, a series of "charades" that constantly challenges our perceptions of "truth." And yet, though the truth in Jumpers proves to be elusive, though the world appears meaningless and absurd, there is a significant counterthread of optimism running defiantly through the fabric of the play. On the surface, the absurdist vision originally "inherited" from Beckett is brilliantly sustained, but under the surface that vision is continually being eroded and sabotaged. The source of the play's optimism is George's heartfelt belief that, whether he "knows" it or not, God does exist, that moral absolutes are valid. Camus would have argued that George is suffering from what he termed "the fatal evasion" of hope: "Hope of another life one must 'deserve' or trickery of those who live not for life itself but for some great idea that will transcend it, refine it, give it meaning, and betray it." It is an evasion practiced by almost all of Beckett's characters as well, desperately attempting to wrest meaning out of the very heart of meaninglessness. ("How one hoped above, on and off," comments the speaker of one of Beckett's "Texts for Nothing" from beyond the grave. "With what diversity.") The crucial difference is that everything in a Beckett play conspires to invalidate that hope: in a circular text reflecting the unattainability of desire, Godot will never come. Unlike his characters, Beckett has no illusions; the absurdity of his dramatic world continually denies man's "pernicious and incurable optimism." Stoppard, on the other hand, shares George's faith: "Our view of good behaviour must not be relativist.… I wanted to write a theist play, to combat the arrogant view that anyone who believes in God is some kind of cripple, using God as a crutch" [quoted by Oleg Kerensky in The New British Drama: Fourteen Playwrights since Osborne and Pinter, 1977]. The faith expressed by George (and Stoppard), however, is never allowed to wrench the play completely out of its absurdist framework. Stoppard is careful not to sentimentalize George, to "vindicate" him: despite his faith, George is frequently buffoonish and ineffectual, and his values by no means triumph. George's belief in moral absolutes, for example, cannot save Thumper and Pat from their spectacularly absurd deaths, deaths that George himself, however unwittingly, causes. Thus the play comes full circle, ending as it began with the anguished cries of "Help! Murder!" ringing in our ears. Nor—in spite of Stoppard's attempts to "soften" George's inertia in his latest revision of the play's coda—is George's belief translated into the kind of action that might prevent (or, at the very least, try to prevent) the murder of Clegthorpe. And finally, although George's closing argument in the coda is emotionally moving, it is Archie who not only scores points (literally) for his intellectual "bounce," but, in the debate between relativism and absolutes, is given the last word: As many critics have noted, there is something deeply cynical and offensive about Archie's Beckettian/Augustinian parody, especially as it immediately follows the shooting of Clegthorpe. Previously Archie employed the phrase "do not despair" as a prelude to bribery; now it serves as a cover under which to dismiss murder. If the "Wham, bam, thank you Sam" refers to Sam Clegthorpe, the saying is hideously apt, for Clegthorpe has indeed been screwed—royally (note the coda's ironic allusions to the murders commissioned by Richard III and Henry II) and briskly. But there is also a strange sense in which Archie's closing words are meant to be taken "straight," as a kind of consolation. Jumpers clearly dramatizes metaphysical anguish, the anguish underlying Beckett's absurdist view of the world; at the same time, however, it suggests that, despite that absurdity, there are genuine grounds for optimism, for not giving in to despair. If Beckett sums up existence in haunting images of death [in Waiting for Godot] (Pozzo's mournful "They give birth astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more," later expanded by Vladimir: "Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the grave-digger puts on the forceps"), Stoppard focuses instead on life: "At the graveside the undertaker doffs his top hat and impregnates the prettiest mourner." Archie's "Wham, bam, thank you Sam" is directed, then, more at Sam Beckett than at Sam Clegthorpe, but the acknowledgment is double-edged. While the "thank you" is obviously sincere—Stoppard has much to thank Beckett for—it also denotes a leave-taking: Stoppard's salute to Beckett is both a hail and a farewell. Jumpers thus marks a demarcation point in Stoppard's drama, his reluctant parting of the ways from the all-encompassing absurdism of Beckett's vision. The metaphysical optimism felt so insistently as an undercurrent in the play, pulsing faintly but tenaciously beneath its absurdist surface, produces a powerful tension. And it is out of this tension—a manifestly absurd "text" just as manifestly subverted by its own subtext—that Stoppard has created what is in effect a distinctively postabsurdist theater. Hapgood, … which opened in London in the spring of 1988, brilliantly exemplifies his unique brand of postabsurdist theater. On the surface, the play is filled with all manner of dazzling absurdist trappings, but the tension produced by the play's subtext continually undermines that surface. Like its radio predecessor The Dog It Was That Died, Hapgood is, on the most obvious level, a play about espionage. (Stoppard frequently uses short media plays as "trial runs" for his longer and more complex stage plays: thus Jumpers derives from the earlier television play Another Moon Called Earth, while much of Travesties was anticipated in the radio play Artist Descending a Staircase.) In The Dog It Was That Died, the absurdities of the espionage world are instantly evoked by the play's title, an allusion to Goldsmith's "An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog": The dog, to gain some private ends. Went mad, and bit the man. The man recovered of the bite— The dog it was that died. As the radio play opens, a dog indeed has died—an unfortunate mutt that just happened to be lying on a barge that just happened to be passing under Chelsea Bridge at the precise moment Purvis, a double agent who no longer knew which side he was spying for, decided to jump off it in a suicide attempt. Purvis recovered; that dog it was that died. Like the comic reversal of Goldsmith's elegy, there is thus something immediately topsy-turvy about the play and the world it is dramatizing, a world so absurd that the whole concept of espionage ultimately becomes meaningless. Hapgood opens in a similar absurdist vein: what Stoppard once said of Jumpers and Travesties—"You start with a prologue which is slightly strange" [quoted by Hayman in Tom Stoppard]—is true of all his full-length stage plays. Set in the men's changing room of an old-fashioned municipal swimming-bath, the opening scene of the play resembles a Feydeau farce peopled by the characters of a John LeCarré novel on speed. In a totally confusing "ballet" impossible to make sense of (and choreographed, in Peter Wood's production, to the limpid strains of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto), spy chases counterspy chases countercounterspy in and out of slamming cubicle doors and all around the Burberry bush (for the still center of this storm is the raincoat-clad Elizabeth Hapgood, code-named "Mother," waiting patiently in the men's shower under a pink umbrella). Adding to the bewilderment are identical briefcases, identical towels, and—crucial to the plot but impossible to detect at this point—identical twins. The confusion of this opening scene is deliberate; there is no way an audience can possibly follow all those comings and going, and Stoppard knows that. We are thus immediately made to experience, structurally, what the play's characters are suffering from thematically: an inability to figure out what's going on, to determine precisely who is the traitor in their midst. For it turns out that the mayhem of the opening scene is the result of a complicated espionage operation designed to trap that traitor, a "mole" who is passing sensitive scientific data to the Russians. The "prime" suspect (a word we shall return to later) is the defector Joseph Kerner, a physicist and double agent: a Soviet "sleeper" apparently spying for the KGB, he is in fact, unbeknownst to the Russians, a British "joe" who has been "turned" by Hap-good and is working for British Intelligence. Or is he? Could he be, unbeknownst to the British, a triple agent? Hapgood is convinced he is loyal—"Kerner is my joe!"—but Blair, a senior colleague, and the American Wates, representing the CIA, have their doubts. As the action of the play progresses, a second major suspect emerges in the figure of Ridley, another member of the intelligence unit. Ultimately, however, everyone in the unit becomes suspect. "How are you at telling lies?" Wates asks Hap-good at one point; "I make a living," she replies. When lying is a part of the job description, how does one know whom to believe? And what if the problem is not about lying per se (which implies that there is a specific truth deliberately being obscured), but rather about the very nature of "truth" itself? This difficulty in determining the truth is emphasized in the play through an analogy with physics (specifically, quantum mechanics)—an analogy continually pointed out by Kerner, who, as both spy and physicist, is uniquely qualified to make the connection. During an early "interrogation" scene set at the zoo, Blair confronts Kerner directly about his suspect allegiances, expecting the Russian to provide him with an unequivocal answer. Despite his professed ignorance of physics, Blair has, paradoxically, a "scientific" perspective on life: obviously Kerner must be working for one side or the other. Blair: One likes to know what's what. Kerner: Oh yes! Objective reality. Blair: I thought you chaps believed in that. Kerner: "You chaps?" Oh, scientists. (Laughs) "You chaps!" Paul, objective reality is for zoologists. "Ah, yes, definitely a giraffe." But a double agent is not like a giraffe. A double agent is more like a trick of the light. In the London production, Kerner's point was cleverly underlined by Carl Tom's witty set design: this conversation at the zoo occurred directly in front of an enormous giraffe—or, rather, a pair of giraffes, positioned in such a way that we seemed to be seeing a two-headed giraffe emanating from a single body. "Ah, yes, definitely a giraffe"—but nothing is definite in this play when even a giraffe appears to be a "double agent." Kerner then proceeds to clarify what he meant by the phrase "a trick of the light," launching into a minilecture on whether light is wave or particle. Confused by this apparent digression, Blair tries to return to the ostensible subject, "Joseph—I want to know if you're ours or theirs, that's all," only to have Kerner reply, "I'm telling you but you're not listening." Kerner is answering Blair's question, but by analogy: [We scientists] watch the bullets of light to see which way they go… . Every time we don't look we get wave pattern. Every time we look to see how we get wave pattern, we get particle pattern. The act of obser ving determines the reality… . Somehow light is particle and wave. The experimenter makes the choice. You get what you interrogate for. And you want to know if I'm a wave or a particle. There is a conundrum here: light appears to have the mutually exclusive properties of both wave and particle. As the physicist Richard Feynman has written, in a passage Stoppard selected as the epigraph to the play, "We choose to examine a phenomenon which is impossible, absolutely impossible, to explain in any classical way, and which has in it the heart of quantum mechanics. In reality it contains the only mystery… ." If light is both wave and particle (depending on who's looking, or not looking), then can a double agent be both "sleeper" and "joe"? The "mystery" within the espionage plot is as baffling as the "mystery" in physics: both are explicitly referred to as a "puzzle," and both seem impossible to solve. The analogy in the play between espionage and physics depends—and becomes even more disturbing—as Kerner goes on to describe the strange behavior of electrons ("Electrons," Feynman notes [in The Feynman Lectures on Physics: Quantum Mechanics, 1966], "behave just like light"): The particle world is the dream world of the intelligence officer.… An electron… is like a moth, which was there a moment ago, it gains or loses a quantum of energy and it jumps, and at the moment of the quantum jump it is like two moths, one to be here and one to stop being there; an electron is like twins, each one unique, a unique twin. A true double agent, then, like an electron, defeats surveillance because he's a "twin," seemingly in two places at the same time: now you see it, now you don't. Kerner, for example, appears to be both "sleeper" and "joe"; but which is the "mask" and which the "face"? Or, to phrase the question in slightly different terms that are more familiar to students of Stoppard's drama, which is "the real thing"? Does "the real thing" even exist? And can we ever hope to plumb the depths of so complex a mystery? Although Stoppard has great fun immersing himself (and us) in the unsettling world of quantum mechanics, the analogy between particle physics and espionage in Hapgood extends far beyond espionage specifically to embrace a much more general concept: the "puzzle" of human identity itself. Confronted once more with Blair's accusations near the end of the play, Kerner responds, "So now I am a prime suspect": A prime is a number which cannot be divided except by itself… . But really suspects are like squares, the product of twin roots… . You … think everybody has no secret or one big secret, they are what they seem or the opposite. You look at me and think: Which is he? Plus or minus? If only you could figure it out like looking into me to find my root. And then you still wouldn't know. We're all doubles… . The one who puts on the clothes in the morning is the working majority, but at night—perhaps in the moment before unconsciousness—we meet our sleeper—the priest is visited by the doubter, the marxist sees the civilizing force of the bourgeoisie, the captain of industry admits the justice of common ownership. Like electrons, like espionage agents, all human beings are "doubles": "squares," not primes; "the product of twin roots," each of us embodying our own "sleeper." And of no one is this more true than the enigmatic eponymous heroine of Hapgood. Kerner recalls, significantly, that he never saw Hapgood sleeping: "Interrogation hours, you know. She said, 'I want to sleep with you.' But she never did. And when I learned to read English books I realized that she never said it, either." Yet Hapgood, too, is a "sleeper," a "double agent"—not in terms of the espionage plot but in the ontological sense for which espionage (and physics) acts as a controlling metaphor in the play. Who and what is Hapgood (that all our swains commend her)? In the "technical," macho world of espionage, she is Mother: a crack shot with both a gun and a quip, a coolly intelligent and efficient executive who plays chess without a board and is fiercely protective of her "joes." But at the same time she is also a mother with a conflicting set of "Joes": her eleven-year-old son Joe, and Joseph Kerner. (Kerner is not only Hapgood's agent, he is also the father of her son; not only, then, one of her "joes" but also, as he explicitly reminds her, "one of your Joes.") Hapgood's "schizophrenic" existence is neatly dramatized structurally in our first glimpses of her. In scene 1 she is Mother anxiously watching her espionage joe (Kerner) deliver a possibly incriminating briefcase to his Russian contact; in scene 3, the next time we see her, she is mother anxiously watching her son Joe play a rugby game at his school. This "personal" Hapgood is both deeply attached to her son ("He's the handsome one with the nicest knees") and deeply guilty that her demanding work consigns Joe to a boarding school, alienating her from the day-to-day activities of his life. The two "worlds" of Hapgood—mother and Mother—wage a constant battle throughout the play: in order to accommodate the former, she must repeatedly jeopardize the latter, thereby blurring the boundaries and breaking all the rules. But this collision course between the split sides of her character is only one sense in which Stoppard dramatizes the enigma of her identity. For Hapgood is many different things to many different people, a multiple personality reflected in the various names by which other characters address her; if one's name is the "key" to one's identity, then Elizabeth Hapgood is truly protean. To agents Ridley and Merry weather, she is "Mother"; Blair refers to her as "Elizabeth"; Joe calls her "Mum" or "Mummy"; her secretary Maggs says "Mrs Hapgood"; Wates calls her "ma'am"; her "sister" Celia speaks of "Betty"; and Kerner uses the Russian form of her first name, "Yelizaveta," along with various endearments derived from it: "Lilya," "Lilitchka." The question of Hapgood's identity becomes even more complex with the appearance of Celia Newton, the "twin sister" she fabricates in order to expose Ridley as the unit's traitor. Hapgood's impersonation of Celia links her with all the other "reflectors" in the play, scientific and human—decoys designed to deceive. Having been informed by Kerner that the only logical solution to the apparent contradictions of the opening scene is to posit twin Ridleys, Hapgood sets out to trap him (them?) with the aid of her own "twin." She thus makes a quantum jump, "impossibly" present in two places at the same time: as Ridley will discover to his peril, "she's here and she's not here." In terms of personality and behavior, Celia and Hapgood are as different as (to allude to yet another Stoppard play title) night and day. To cite just one example: prim and proper Hapgood never swears, as Blair for one points out both directly—"Do you never use bad language, never ever?"—and indirectly, in his constant teasing: "Oh, f-f-fiddle!"; pot-smoking, "bohemian" Celia, on the other hand, swears a blue streak (indeed, the first word out of her mouth is scatological). Faced with a physically identical Hapgood who is nothing like Hapgood, Ridley is dumbfounded. On one level, this non-Hapgood in Hapgood's body excites him. Earlier in the play, having been rebuffed by Hapgood's "You're not my type," he exploded: "You come on like you're running your joes from the senior common room and butter wouldn't melt in your pants but… if you could have got your bodice up past your brain you would have screwed me and liked it." Now his fantasy seems to have been made flesh; the battle between bodice and brain is, for Celia, not much of a contest. On another level, however, the transformation terrifies him. "Who the hell are you?" he cries out in anguish. "I'm your dreamgirl, Ernie—," Celia replies, "Hapgood without the brains or the taste." "Who the hell are you?" is, of course, the key question in the play. Celia is not only Ridley's "dreamgirl" but Elizabeth 's: her "sleeper," her "double." The complicated trap Hapgood has sprung for Ridley hinges on his being totally convinced that Celia is not Hapgood, and it works: despite his espionage training, despite his street smarts, despite his suspicions, Ridley is taken in. (He calls her "Auntie," Mother's sister.) But in order to "become" Celia so convincingly, there must be something of Celia locked deep within Hapgood. Ironically, Celia is Hapgood's "twin"; Kerner may have never seen her "sleeping," but we have. Who, then, is the "real" Elizabeth Hapgood? Is it possible to answer? Ridley is fooled the way all of us are ultimately fooled, expecting people to be "what they seem or… the opposite," to be either "particle" or "wave." As always in Stoppard's plays, the elusiveness of the truth proves to be a matter of form as well as of content: just as the characters are constantly being "ambushed" in Hapgood, so too is the audience. Thus, when the lights come up on the second scene of act 2 and "Celia" suddenly comes flying out the kitchen door to answer Ridley's ring, we are in the same shocked position as he is: who is this creature who looks exactly like Hapgood but who dresses, speaks, and behaves so differently? When she identifies herself as Hapgood's twin, there is no real reason to doubt her—especially since we have not been told the exact details of Hapgood's plan to trap Ridley. As far as we know, Hapgood's having a twin may be part of the plan. After Celia exits briefly, allowing Ridley to contact Hapgood on his two-way radio and thus enabling us to hear Hapgood's voice, we are even more convinced that Celia is legitimate: can one person, after all, be in two different places at the same time? (There is an obvious answer to this apparent impossibility, but the pace of the theater production is such that we don't have the time to work it out.) Celia seems so different from Hapgood that, despite ourselves, we get taken in. This adds immeasurably, of course, to the humor of the later scene in which Celia, now dressed like Hapgood and occupying her office, finds herself having to impersonate Hapgood when Maggs unexpectedly enters the office with important classified documents from Australia: Maggs: I was in the pub.… I got the desk to bleep me if you came in—just the top one, really, it's green-routed and Sydney's been on twice this morning. Hapgood: Has he? We laugh because Celia is way out of her depth and trying desperately to disguise that fact. When Ridley attempts to help her out by reaching for one of the documents, Maggs cautions her, "It's yo-yo, Mrs Hapgood." "Is it, is it really?" Celia replies. "Yes, indeed. It's yo-yo, Ridley, you know what yo-yo is." Luckily, Ridley does, since Celia, treading cautiously through the minefield of this foreign language, clearly doesn't have a clue. Nor can she respond when Maggs passes on the cryptic message "Bishop to queen two"—a move in one of Hapgood's ongoing boardless chess games with McPherson in Canada, played via the security link with Ottawa. At the very end of the scene, however, Ridley departs before her, leaving her alone on stage for a moment; as she prepares to follow him, Maggs enters once more wondering if everything is all right: Hapgood: Yes, Maggs—everything's fine. (She heads through the open door.) Queen to king one. Like pawns rooked by a grand master, we have suddenly been checkmated: Hapgood's "Celia" turns out to be the queen of disguises. This structural dislocation of the audience's perspective is by now a Stoppardian signature: an absurdist world, after all, defies comprehension. The scene transitions in Hapgood exemplify this conundrum brilliantly. At the end of scene 1, for example, Blair, in the municipal baths, speaks into his two-way radio: "I want Kerner in Regent's Park, twelve o'clock sharp. (He puts the radio away and looks at his wrist-watch. The next time he moves, it is twelve o'clock and he is at the zoo)." Blair has made, in effect, a quantum jump; like an electron or a "twin" moth, he is one moment at the baths and then "instantly" at the zoo. Blair's "elusiveness" sets the pattern for the majority of the play's scene changes, the most stunning of which involves Ridley in act 2. At the end of his first encounter with Celia, "Ridley stays where he is. The next time he moves, he's somebody else. So we lose the last set without losing Ridley. When the set has gone, Ridley is in some other place … , a man arriving somewhere. He carries a suitcase. He is a different Ridley. It's like a quantum jump." What we are seeing, in effect, is Ridley's literal twin materializing out of "nowhere." But as we have seen, all the play's characters are "twins," literally or metaphorically: the audience's difficulty in determining who is who on the physical plane simply mirrors its confusion on the ontological plane. Thus, in the play's climactic scene, set once again full-circle in the municipal baths, we see, "impossibly," two Ridleys at the same time. The illusion is created, significantly, through lighting: the flashlight Ridley is carrying at the beginning of the scene (allowing much of the stage to be in darkness) and the strobe light at the end (distorting our perception). But then, as Hapgood has dramatized so convincingly, all human identity is finally "a trick of the light." The unmasking of the Ridley twins as the play's traitors seems to solve one of the major mysteries posed by Hapgood, at least on the surface level of its espionage plot; unlike Jumpers, say, this mystery play does offer a "dé-nouement" in which the guilty party is identified. But Stoppard's surfaces are deceptive, and his surprises never stop. For Ridley, as his name suggests, is, like all the play's central characters, a riddle: both "wave" and "particle." On the one hand, he is indeed a traitor who has been spying for the Russians, and he can certainly be extremely ruthless. On the other hand, the motives behind his "selling out" to the Russians are complex: feeling betrayed by the English class system ("We're in a racket which identifies national interest with the interests of the officer class"), he has come to distrust all ideology, viewing espionage as a round dance of futility, a "game" that nobody ever wins. When he falls into Hapgood's trap, then, and agrees to help her hand over secret scientific data to the Russians, he acts not so much for ideological reasons as for "personal" ones: his genuine concern both for Hapgood's son, who he believes has been kidnapped by the KGB, and, more important, for Hapgood herself. In Ridley's view, the information they are meant to be pass ing on to the Russians is worthless ("It's a joke"), especially when weighed against the safety of Joe. Given the absurdist nature of espionage dramatized in the play, it is hard not to sympathize with Ridley's point of view—especially with his feelings for Joe. Hapgood's son is the latest in a long line of "wise children" in Stoppard's drama; a template of ethical behavior, he serves, like young Alastair in Night and Day, "as a catalyst for revealing the moral propensities of others" [Richard Corballis, in Tom Stoppard: A Casebook, ed. John Harty, 1988]. And Ridley's feelings for Hapgood are likewise a mitigating factor. When he precedes her into the darkened baths with flashlight in hand, thus initiating the events that will expose him as a traitor, the torch he is carrying exists on more than one level: Ridley's "treason" here stems primarily from his love for Hapgood. This ambiguity surrounding Ridley's identification as the play's traitor is mirrored in Stoppard's treatment of the other "prime" suspects in the unit, Kerner and Blair. Alhough the exposure of Ridley as a double agent would appear to let them both off the hook, Stoppard's surprises are not yet over. For we ultimately discover that Kerner too has been spying for the Russians. The story he told about being blackmailed into betraying the Br: ish (the KGB figured out Joe's paternity and were threatening to harm the boy)—a story we initially viewed as a fabrication, a web in the strand of Hapgood's trap for Ridley—turns out to be genuine; as Hapgood paradoxically observes, "You made up the truth." The ground keeps shifting beneath our feet: Kerner's sardonic comment to Hap-good earlier in the play—"You think you have seen to the bottom of things, but there is no bottom"—is meant equally as a warning to the audience. Kerner is thus as much a riddle as Ridley. "When things get very small," Kerner once noted when discussing the atom, "they get truly crazy"; the enigma of Kerner's identity, like Ridley's, is embodied in his very name (German Kern: the nucleus of an atom). And yet, can treason resulting from blackmail—motivated, even more than Ridley's, by love for Hapgood and their son—really be considered transon? Technically, perhaps, but then the "technical," as opposed to the "personal," is one of Stoppard's central concerns in the play. Thus Blair, while "technically" the only one of the three men to emerge "clean" from the espionage betrayal plot, proves to be, in yet another surprise, the most significant "traitor" of all. As an accomplished Intelligence agent, Blair is a master of "Newspeak," the lies that posed as truth in Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four. (Orwell, we recall, was born Eric Blair.) Blair's doublespeak, however, extends to friends as well as enemies, to the "personal" as well as the "technical." But then for Blair it's all technical, as Kerner had sensed from the beginning. Proclaiming his concern for Hapgood's safety, Blair at one point threatened Kerner: "I've got one of my people working on the inside lane on false papers and if she's been set up I'll feed you to the crocodiles… ." But Blair's language gives himself away. "One of your people" Kerner replies. "Oh, Paul. You would betray her before I would. My mamushka." Kerner's prediction turns out to be correct: perfectly willing to deceive Hapgood and jeopardize Joe's safety for the "larger," fictive safety of British security, Blair is technically loyal but personally traitorous. Kerner's "mamushka" is, for Blair, only Mother. As Hapgood (and the audience) discovers, then, the quest to determine the play's "real" traitor is a deeply enigmatic one: everybody is a "double agent" one way or another—even, as we have seen, Hapgood. Especially Hapgood. In the struggle between the "personal" and the "technical," between heart and brains, between mother and Mother, Hapgood has consistently sacrificed the former—has sacrificed, in effect, her Joes for her joes. Joseph Kerner was finally more valuable to her as a spy than as a father for Joe; as Ridley taunts her: "We aren't in the daddy business, we're in the mole business." And while she clearly loves her son, he too gets subsumed in "the mole business": when Hapgood phones Joe to check that he is safe and closes the conversation, ominously, with "Yes, Joe, I'm here to be told"—the precise words she has addressed throughout the play to her operatives—a shudder passes through the audience. Who is speaking here: mother or Mother? And if Hapgood no longer knows the difference, is it any wonder that—even without her direct knowledge—Joe gets sucked in as "bait" in the espionage trap she is setting? What, finally, is Hapgood accomplishing that is so worthwhile that it could justify the sacrifice of Joe? In a quantum world that is random, quixotic and indeterminate, espionage is merely another "trick of the light." As Ridley informs Celia: Telling lies is Betty's job, sweetheart— … so Betty can know something which the opposition thinks she doesn't know, most of which doesn't matter a fuck, and that's just the half they didn't plant on her—so she's lucky if she comes better than even, that's the edge she's in it for, and if she's thinking now it wasn't worth one sleepless night for her little prep-school boy, good for her, she had it coming. "Maybe she did," Celia agrees, and then proceeds to de-ride the madness of the espionage world: "Everybody's lying to everybody. You're all at it. Liars. Nutters' corner. You deserve each other… . You're out on a limb for a boy she put there, while she was making the world safe for him to talk properly in and play the game …". But this is Celia talking, not Hapgood: the "sleeper," not "the working majority." In the play's penultimate scene, Ridley gives Hapgood one last chance to awaken that "sleeper": Listen, be yourself. These people are not for you, in the end they get it all wrong, the dustbins are gaping for them. Him [Blair] most. He's had enough out of you and you're getting nothing back, he's dry and you're the juice. We can walk out of here, Auntie. Ridley persists in addressing her as "Auntie," as Celia, even though at this point he has discovered the ruse. But "Celia" won't, or can't, respond; feeling betrayed, Ridley reaches for his gun and Hapgood shoots him. "Oh, you mother" Wates spits at her in a particularly well-chosen epithet; by betraying her Joes, Ridley, and "Celia"—by choosing Mother over mother—Hapgood has become an obscenity. The sight of Ridley's dead body, coupled with her anger at Blair for placing Joe at risk, finally shocks Hapgood to her senses. Responding to Blair's attempt to justify his actions—"It's them or it's us, isn't it?"—Hapgood's scorn is withering, an acknowledgment of her "personal" treason: "Who? Us and the KGB? The opposition! We're just keeping each other in business, we should send each other Christmas cards—oh, f-f-fuck it, Paul!" That final phrase is, of course, Celia' s, not Hapgood's; the "sleeper" has at last awakened, with an outraged howl of despair. What Hapgood awakens to is, paradoxically, an absurdist nightmare, a world "suddenly divested of illusions and lights." The play's analogy between espionage and quantum mechanics, then, seen on one level as a metaphor for the elusiveness of human identity, is, on the deepest level, a metaphor for the structure of the universe itself, for the elusiveness of cosmic identity: the mystery of physics mirrors the mystery of metaphysics. As Kerner explains to Hapgood: It upset Einstein very much, you know, all that damned quantum jumping, it spoiled his idea of God.… He believed in the same God as Newton, causality, nothing without a reason, but now one thing led to another until causality was dead. Quantum mechanics made everything finally random, things can go this way or that way, the mathematics deny certainty, they reveal only probability and chance, and Einstein couldn't believe in a God who threw dice.… There is a straight ladder from the atom to the grain of sand, and the only real mystery in physics is the missing rung. Below it, particle physics; above it, classical physics; but in between, metaphysics. All the mystery in life turns out to be the same mystery… . "If it's all random, then what's the point?" cried Bone, the forerunner of George in Stoppard's television play Another Moon Called Earth (the "original" of Jumpers). And George later echoes his lament: "Copernicus cracked our confidence, and Einstein smashed it: for if one can no longer believe that a twelve-inch ruler is always a foot long, how can one be sure of relatively less certain propositions, such as that God made the Heaven and the Earth …" In the quantum world of Hapgood, a world where light is both wave and particle, a twelve-inch ruler may not always be a foot long. This is indeed a terrifying concept, for the pragmatist Blair, such conclusions are not acceptable. When Kerner mocks his belief in objective reality, Blair replies: "What other kind is there? You're this or you're that, and you know which. Physics is a detail I can't afford …". Orwell's Winston Smith [in Nineteen Eighty-four] sought psychic security in certain immutable scientific laws: "The solid world exists, its laws do not change… . Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four, " a claim reiterated (though "halved") by Alexander, the hero of Stoppard's Every Good Boy Deserves Favour: "One and one is always two." But Winston and Alexander were struggling against repressive totalitarian regimes that cynically distort truths for their own power-driven ends; the characters in Hapgood, on the other hand, are struggling against an absurdist universe in which the very essence of such "truths" has been exploded. Despite George's impassioned belief in the original coda of Jumpers that "it remains an independent metaphysical truth that two and two make four," the most one seems able to say in a post-Newtonian world is Dotty's "two and two make roughly four" (my emphasis). The sweet security of Newtonian physics has thus been forever shattered, destroying in its wake such complementary consolations as "God's in his heaven—/ All's right with the world!"—in an absurdist universe, Pippa has passed on. The resulting randomness is ironically acknowledged in Hapgood's choice of an alias when impersonating her "twin sister": portraying a "decoy," a "trick of the light," she slyly names herself Celia [Latin caelum: heaven] Newton. The joke, however, is ultimately on Hapgood, for "Celia Newton" turns out to be an illusion in more ways than one: the certainties that name once embodied no longer apply, replaced by a God rolling dice. "What's the game?" queried a bewildered Rosencrantz, a "voice in the wilderness"; "What are the rules?" added Guildenstern. The characters of Hapgood appear equally forlorn. Invited by Celia to play a deckless game of cards while waiting for Joe's "ransom" call, Ridley responds, "Well, what are we playing?" Celia's silence forces Ridley to guess, to plunge into the void. Unfortunately, Ridley guesses wrong: "Snap!! Bad luck …". When the "game" of life proves to be so inscrutable, so arbitrary, what are the chances of winning? Certainly the dice never roll in Ridley's favor; in the program of the London production of Hapgood, Stoppard casually informs us that the fateful day on which Ridley plays and loses the game of "Snap"—and, later, his life—is a Friday the thirteenth: "bad luck" indeed. The question twice posed in Hapgood about a particular espionage scheme, "Who's in charge and is he sane?", might thus well be asked of the universe; the mocking laughter that serves as an answer—the sound of rolling dice—echoes repeatedly through the play. And yet, for all its absurdist trappings, Stoppard's drama refuses to succumb to despair. In Beckett's ironically tided Happy Days, Winnie's desperate mask of cheerfulness keeps slipping, exposing the face of pain underneath; as Winnie notes, "sorrow keeps breaking in." In Hapgood, by contrast, it is happiness that keeps breaking in: the optimistic note sounded continually as the play's counterthread beats a muted but persistent refrain. Kerner, for example, while acknowledging his "estrangement" in a seemingly absurd and pointless universe, nevertheless continues to make value judgments, continues to believe in something. Against the theorems of quantum mechanics suggesting randomness, Kerner places an opposed set of "theorems": The West is morally superior, in my opinion. It is in different degrees unjust and corrupt like the East. Its moral superiority lies in the fact that the system contains the possibility of its own reversal—I am enthralled by the voting, to me it has power of an equation in nature, the masses converted to energy. Highly theoretical, of course… . "The masses converted to energy" implicitly evokes Einstein's celebrated equation e=mc2, Kerner's equation transposes it into the social and political sphere and discovers consolation. Similarly consoling is Kerner's transformation of Einstein's metaphysical angst, his shattered faith in God. Einstein's inability to believe in a God who threw dice is, for Kerner, "the only idea of Einstein's I never understood… . He should have come to me, I would have told him, 'Listen, Albert, He threw you—look around, He never stops'." The world may be random, uncertain, but hopelessness and despair are certainly not the inevitable response. The subtext of optimism running through Hapgood is at its clearest—and, because of the structural position, its strongest—in the play's brief final scene. On the surface, we seem to have reached the nadir of despair. All of Hapgood's illusions have been totally shattered: her espionage work has been exposed as a farce; Ridley is dead, killed by her own hand; Blair has "betrayed" her; Kerner is about to return to Russia ("[Blair] thinks I was a triple, but I was definitely not, I was past that, quadruple at least, maybe quintuple.") Having repudiated espionage and resigned her job, Hapgood is now simply a mother: the final scene is set once more at Joe's school as Hapgood watches her son play rugby. When Kerner, who has come to say farewell before departing for Russia—to Hapgood and, not so incidentally, to his son, whom he is seeing for the first time—turns to leave, Hapgood cries out: "How can you go? How can you?" (She turns away. The game starts. Referee's whistle, the kick. After a few moments Hapgood collects herself and takes notice of the rugby. When the game starts Kerner's interest is snagged. He stops and looks at the game.) Hapgood: Come on St Christopher's!—We can win this one! Get those tackles in! (She turns round and finds that Kemer is still there. She turns back to the game and comes alive.) Hapgood: Shove!—heel!—well heeled!—well out—move it!—move it, Hapgood—that's good—that's better! Like everything else in the play, the ending is enigmatic but charged with hope: Kemer does not leave; Hapgood, registering his hesitation, "comes alive." Kerner's interest has been snagged specifically by the "game." The "game" of espionage may be elusive and futile, but this game—Joe's "game"—is worth playing. As Hapgood herself has discovered in her "liberating" impersonation of Celia, there are values worth believing in, the values noted by Michael Billington in his astute review of the play: "that democracy is better than dictatorship, that love is a possibility and that—a persistent Stoppard theme—children anchor one in the real world" [The Guardian, 9 March 1988]. The universe may be random and subject to chance; the metaphysical "game" may be purely arbitrary, played by a God capricious as a child ("Snap") or made giddy by the sound of rolling dice; but not every Friday, luckily, is the thirteenth. Chance may be positive as well as negative, a belief embodied in the very name of Stoppard's title character: Hap (defined by the OED as "Chance or fortune… ; luck, lot") is specifically linked to good. The clouds of absurdism are dispersed in the play by Stoppard's postabsurdist search for silver linings; "the need to make things better," Stoppard noted in a 1981 interview [in Gambit 10, No. 37], "is constant and important. Otherwise you're into a sort of nihilism." Temperamentally opposed to nihilism, Stoppard has chosen to write plays in which a "crazy" world is, crazily but persistently, imbued with hope. And so Hapgood closes with both Elizabeth and Kemer facing front, facing the audience, as they recommence their journey of faith, rooting for St. Christopher's (the patron saint of travelers, the bearer of divinity) and cheering on Hap-good. The last word we hear when all is said and done, echoing in our ears as the curtain falls, is, significantly in this postabsurdist play, "better!" In the addendum to Beckett's early novel Watt, we find the following little poem: who may tell the tale of the old man? weigh absence in a scale? mete want with a span? the sum assess of the world's woes? in words enclose? This is the daunting task absurdist writers like Beckett have set for themselves: the dramatization of "negatives" (age, absence, want, woes, nothingness). Beckett's plays—frequently, like the Watt poem, couched in the interrogative—are thus a series of paradoxes; it is enormously difficult to make absence present on stage, to concretize a void, to create something out of nothing, to "eff ' the "ineffable." In doing so they explore, in Esslin's words, "the ultimate realities of the human condition … Like ancient Greek tragedy and the medieval mystery plays and baroque allegories, the Theatre of the Absurd is intent on making its audience aware of man's precarious and mysterious position in the universe." Tom Stoppard is similarly concerned in his drama with the metaphysically "precarious" and "mysterious"—thus his attraction to the Theater of the Absurd. But while frequently exhibiting an absurdist outer shell, Stoppard's plays contain at their core a subversive "sweetness" that ultimately bursts forth and cracks that shell; this unique blend of shell and core produces the distinctive postabsurdist tone of much of Stoppard's theater. The measure of Stoppard's departure from true absurdism can be gauged partly by comparing the humor of his plays with that of Beckett. Beckett's is almost literally graveyard humor, the rueful laughter of skeletons littering the road to Calvary (as Nell observes in a quintessentially Beckettian line in End-game: "Nothing is funnier than unhappiness, I grant you that"). At the close of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, a sudden shadow blots the merriment of that last act in the figure of Marcade, an emissary of death. Infected by the darkness of his presence, Rosaline delays for a year the expected comic resolution by imposing a "service" on her lover Berowne: Rosaline: You shall this twelve month term from day to day, Visit the speechless sick, and still converse With groaning wretches; and your task shall be, With all the fierce endeavour of your wit To enforce the pained impotent to smile. Berowne: To move wild laughter in the throat of It cannot be; it is impossible: Mirth cannot move a soul in agony. "Wild laughter in the throat of death" precisely sums up the humor of Beckett's plays. Stoppard's humor, by contrast, is "tomfoolery," marked by its buoyancy, its exultation in life—a torrent of unstoppable puns and hilarious jokes, full-throated and irrepressible. This disparity in the tone of their humor leads us to the heart of Stoppard's divergence from Beckett and genuine absurdism. Although I disagree with much of Brustein's criticism of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, his assessment of the "derivative" nature of Stoppard's despair in that play strikes me as accurate: "[Stoppard's insights] all seem to come to him, prefabricated, from other plays—with the result that his air of pessimism seems affected, and his philosophical meditations, while witty and urbane, never obtain the thickness of felt knowledge." As admiring as Stoppard is of the art of Beckett's absurdism, that art is, finally, not Stoppard's. In the "arguments with himself that constitute his drama, part of him clearly acknowledges the absurdism of man's existence in a world "divested of illusions and lights," but another part of him—a major part—consistently subverts that acknowledgment. In the last analysis, Stoppard's eschatology is ameliorist; the rich vein of optimism running through the subtext of his plays thus converts what could easily be a threnody into an aubade. There is light at the end of the tunnel of Stoppard's drama—elusive, inscrutable, perhaps even deceptive, but still light. Whereas Beckett's absurdist theater fearlessly explores the darkness, the "black hole" of nothingness ("The fable of one with you in the dark. The fable of one fabling of one with you in the dark. And how better in the end labour lost and silence" [Company]), the postabsurdist plays of Tom Stoppard hopefully explore this "trick of the light." Further Reading Download PDF Print Page Citation Share Link Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 1595 Delaney, Paul, ed. Tom Stoppard in Conversation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994, 300 p. Collection of interviews dating from 1967 to 1993, containing comprehensive coverage of Stoppard's plays. Gordon, Giles. Interview with Tom Stoppard. The Transatlantic Review, No. 29 (Summer 1968): 17-25. Conversation in which Stoppard discusses the conception and composition of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Gussow, Mel. Conversations with Stoppard. London: Nick Hern Books, 1995, 146 p. Series of interviews, spanning the years 1974 to 1995, in which Stoppard talks about his works from "The Real Inspector Hound" to Indian Ink. Bareham, T., ed. Tom Stoppard: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers, Travesties: A Casebook. Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan, 1990, 220 p. Contains critical studies and early reviews of the three plays as well as interviews with Stoppard, surveys of his work, and a bibliography. Bloom, Harold, ed. Tom Stoppard: Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House, 1986, 191 p. Collection of thirteen essays on various facets of Stoppard's art and career. In his introduction, Bloom assesses Stoppard's achievements and notes his affinity to his precursors, particularly Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde. Brassell, Tim. Tom Stoppard: An Assessment. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985, 299 p. Book-length critical study of Stoppard's major and minor works. Chetta, Peter N. "Multiplicities of Illusion in Tom Stoppard's Plays." In Staging the Impossible: The Fantastic Mode in Modern Drama, edited by Patrick D. Murphy, pp. 127-36. Westpott, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1992. Examines elements of fantasy in Stoppard's works. Corballis, Richard. Stoppard: The Mystery and the Clockwork. Oxford: Amber Lane Press, 1984. 204 p. Examines Stoppard's stage plays, arguing that each presents a clash between two worlds: the real world, which is marked by uncertainty and mystery, and the dream world of artifice and abstraction. Delaney, Paul. Tom Stoppard: The Moral Vision of the Major Plays. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990, 202 p. Traces the "paths by which Stoppard's theater develops from moral affirmation to moral application, from the assertion of moral principles to the enactment of moral practice." Gitzen, Julian. 'Tom Stoppard: Chaos in Perspective." Southern Humanities Review 10, No. 2 (Spring 1976): 143-52. Maintains that even in his farcical plays Stoppard conveys a serious premise: "that our society is in imminent danger of going out of control." Hayman, Ronald. Tom Stoppard. Contemporary Playwrights Series. London: Heinemann, 1977, 143 p. Includes two interviews with Stoppard, discussions of more than twenty plays, biographical and bibliographical materials, and a list of performances. Hu, Stephen. Tom Stoppard's Stagecraft. New York: Peter Lang, 1989, 274 p. Studies the lighting, scenery, costumes, action, dramatic structure, and other elements of Stoppard's major works. James, Clive. "Count Zero Splits the Infinite." Encounter XLV, No. 5 (November 1975): 68-76. Appreciative survey of Stoppard's works that defends their complexity and intellectual depth. Jenkins, Anthony. The Theatre of Tom Stoppard. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, 189 p. Critical study of the plays that pays particular attention to the interconnection of Stoppard's texts. Kelly, Katherine E. "Tom Stoppard Radioactive: A Sounding of the Radio Plays." Modern Drama XXXII, No. 3 (September 1989): 440-52. Delineates the ways the medium of radio helped Stoppard master his craft. ——. Tom Stoppard and the Craft of Comedy: Medium and Genre at Play. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991, 179 p. Traces thematic and formal elements in Stoppard's major plays. Mackenzie, Ian. 'Tom Stoppard: The Monological Imagination." Modern Drama XXXII, No. 4 (December 1989): 574-86. Draws on Mikhail Bakhtin's theories regarding dialogue—that texts may "speak" with multiple "voices" simultaneously—to argue that Stoppard's political plays are monologic, that is, speak with Stoppard's own voice, despite the playwright's insistence that they do not. Page, Malcolm, ed. File on Stoppard. London: Methuen, 1986, 96 p. Features extracts of reviews and criticism, a bibliography, a chronology, and other materials. Robinson, Gabrielle Scott. "Plays without Plot: The Theatre of Tom Stoppard." Educational Theatre Journal 29, No. 1 (March 1977): 37-48. Illustrates how Stoppard unites farce and philosophy in his plays. Rusinko, Susan. Tom Stoppard. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1986, 164 p. Examines Stoppard's use of language, manipulation of ideas, and "creative plagiarizing of other writers." Sammells, Neil. Tom Stoppard: The Artist as Critic. Hounds-mills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Press, 1988, 162 p. Analyzes elements of aesthetic and political commentary and criticism in Stoppard's plays. Tynan, Kenneth. "Withdrawing with Style from the Chaos." The New Yorker LIII, No. 43 (12 December 1977): 41-111. Broad-ranging survey of Stoppard's life and professional career. Whitaker, Thomas. Tom Stoppard. Grove Press Modern Dramatist Series. New York: Grove Press, 1983, 177 p. Includes a brief biography and analysis of the major plays. Zeifman, Hersh. 'Tomfoolery: Stoppard's Theatrical Puns." The Yearbook of English Studies 9 (1979): 204-20. Contends that "Stoppard uses puns, carefully and deliberately, as structural devices in his plays, as an integral part of a play's basic 'meaning'." Callen, Anthony. "Stoppard's Godot: Some French Influences on Post-war English Drama." New Theatre Magazine X, No. 1 (Winter 1969): 22-30. Details the influence of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Gianakaris, C. J. "Absurdism Altered: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." Drama Survey 7, Nos. 1-2 (Winter 1968-69): 52-8. Proposes that Stoppard joins absurdism with social activist theater in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Hobson, Harold. Review of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. The Times, London (17 April 1967). Favorable evaluation in which Hobson asserts that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is "the most important event in British professional theatre of the last nine years." Keyssar-Franke, Helene. "The Strategy of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." Educational Theatre Journal 27, No. 1 (March 1975): 85-97. Argues that, despite being a derivative work, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is theatrically effective because it "has a potent and appropriate dramatic strategy, a lucid and meaningful grasp on the relationship of every moment of the play to the audience." Perlette, John M. "Theatre at the Limit: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." Modern Drama XXVIII, No. 4 (December 1985): 659-69. Explores the play's concern with our inability to perceive "the reality of death." Crump, G. B. "The Universe as Murder Mystery: Tom Stoppard's Jumpers." Contemporary Literature 20, No. 3 (Summer 1979): 354-68. Analyzes the use of philosophical material in Jumpers to refute the charge that Stoppard is a "superficial dilettante." Kreps, Barbara. "How Do We Know That We Know What We Know in Tom Stoppard's Jumpers?" Twentieth Century Literature 32, No. 2 (Summer 1986): 187-208. Argues that Jumpers "poses serious questions about both the basis and the limits of human knowledge, human values, and human behavior." Thomson, Leslie. '"The Curve Itself in Jumpers." Modern Drama XXXIII, No. 4 (December 1990): 470-85. Examines the thematic significance of the central image pattern or arcs, arches, and circles in Jumpers, noting how the visual images echo the verbal "curves"—allusions, cross-references, and word play. Corballis, Richard. "Wilde … Joyce … O'Brien … Stoppard: Modernism and Postmodernism in Travesties." In Joycean Occasions: Essays from the Milwaukee James Joyce Conference, edited by Janet E. Dunleavy, Melvin J. Friedman, and Michael Patrick Gillespie, pp. 157-70. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1991. Investigates the treatment in Travesties of the post-modernist concern with power and of the modernist preoccupation with the relationship between art and politics. Corballis finds the two approaches in harmony rather than at odds in the play. Sammells, Neil. "Earning Liberties: Travesties and The Importance of Being Earnest." Modern Drama XXIX, No. 3 (September 1986): 376-87. Explores how Stoppard's play "critically engages" Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, interpreting and transforming the central theme and form. Cobley, Evelyn. "Catastrophe Theory in Tom Stoppard's Professional Foul." Contemporary Literature XXV, No. 1 (Spring 1984): 53-65. Maintains that the world presented in Professional Foul offers no absolutes but rather "a complex network of interrelationships where any statement or action is a 'both-and' issue." Eldridge, Michael. "Drama as Philosophy: Professional Foul Breaks the Rules." In Drama and Philosophy, edited by James Redmond, pp. 199-208. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Considers Professional Foul a mystery play "that is both philosophically interesting and dramatically effective." Rusinko, Susan. "The Last Romantic: Henry Boot, Alias Tom Stoppard." World Literature Today 59, No. 1 (Winter 1985): 17-21. Proposes that Henry Boot, the main character of The Real Thing, "embodies Stoppard's view of the artist and his function in society." Thomson, Leslie. "The Subtext of The Real Thing: It's 'all right'." Modern Drama XXX, No. 4 (December 1987): 535-48. Explores the significance of the recurring phrase "all right" in The Real Thing, arguing that it is a kind of subtext which "becomes a means of furthering our evaluation and understanding, or confirming our subjective perceptions of the characters and their relationships." Zeifman, Hersh. "Comedy of Ambush: Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing." Modern Drama XXVI, No. 2 (June 1983): 139-49. Discusses Stoppard's device of the "comic ambush," which continually alters the audience's perception of events and thus underscores the thematic concern with what is real and what is not. Canby, Vincent. "Stoppard's Comedy of 1809 and Now." The New York Times (31 March 1995). Highly favorable review of Arcadia in which Canby declares: "There's no doubt about it. Arcadia is Tom Stoppard's most ravishing comedy to date, a play of wit, intellect, language, brio and, new for him, emotion." Lahr, John. "Blowing Hot and Cold." The New Yorker (22 April 1995). Laudatory review of Arcadia that considers it Stoppard's "best play so far." Lahr particularly admires "Stoppard's labyrinthine plot, whose ingenious twists and turns involve greed, rapacity, vainglory, skullduggery, cruelty, delusion, confusion, and genius." Nightingale, Benedict. Review of Arcadia. The Times, London (14 April 1993). Favorable assessment that finds Arcadia brilliantly structured. Nightingale describes the play as "Stoppard's tribute to the complexity, unpredictability and inscrutability of the world." Additional coverage of Stoppard's life and career is contained in the following sources published by Gale Research: Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography, Vol. 8; Contemporary Authors, Vols. 81-84; Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, Vol. 39; Contemporary Literary Criticism, Vols. 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 15, 29, 34, 63; Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 13; Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook 1985; Discovering Authors; Major Twentieth-Century Writers; World Literature Criticism. Illustration of PDF document Download Tom Stoppard Study Guide Subscribe Now Tom Stoppard World Literature Analysis Stoppard, Tom (Vol. 1)
Discover the crucial components and systems in the human body that keep us alive and healthy. 9,411 enrolled on this course What Drives the Body? • Duration 3 weeks • Weekly study 4 hours Explore how different parts of the body communicate with each other The way in which parts of the body communicate with each other is vital to keeping us healthy. But how does our internal communication work – and how do these individual components produce energy? On this course, from the University of Aberdeen, you’ll learn how the human body utilises energy pathways, and how different elements communicate effectively. You’ll find out about the biomolecules involved in communication, and the role of endocrinology and immunology. You’ll discover how the body works and regulates itself, and also improve your knowledge of disease development and prevention. What topics will you cover? • How does the body produce energy? • Why is communication important in the body? • The key communication pathways used by the body • Biomolecules used in communication • How the body regulates itself When would you like to start? • Date to be announced Add to Wishlist to be emailed when new dates are announced Learning on this course What will you achieve? • Explain the importance of communication between different components of the body • Describe the role of endocrinology and immunology within the body • Classify and describe the key molecules involved in endocrinological and immunological processes • Describe the importance of homeostasis and synthesise examples of when and how this process is used in the body • Describe the key pathways involved in energy production Who is the course for? This course is aimed at anyone who is interested in how the human body regulates and communicates with itself. Existing knowledge of components of the body is not essential but some prior knowledge of biology might be helpful. Who will you learn with? I am a Research Assistant at the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen. I work alongside researchers in the Centre for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Health. I am a Research Fellow at the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen. I am currently researching genetic factors that influence joint health and arthritis. Who developed the course? University of Aberdeen Learning on FutureLearn Your learning, your rules Join a global classroom Map your progress Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn Learner reviews You can use the hashtag #FLwhatdrivesthebody to talk about this course on social media.
What are the uses for a portable Oxygen detector? Portable gas detectors are used by workers to sweep a work area, to know if there is any toxic and combustible gas lurking around the area. These detectors are also called as handheld gas detectors. The dangers posed by Industrial production process (steel production, oil production and refining) are real. For example, workers may be required to enter poorly ventilated confined spaces such as pipelines. In this case and to ensure their safety, portable gas detection equipment should be used to check for the presence of oxygen, hydrogen sulphide and carbon monoxide, as well as flammable gases, before entry. BX171 portable oxygen gas detector The BX171 is an accurate, fast response portable Oxygen detector. It is designed to withstand harsh environments and is both water resistant to IP66 and with ATEX approved. At the same time, Hanwei electronics offers a variety of series rugged and compact portable multi-gas detectors can be configured to detect four to six gases all at once (such as O2, H2S, CH4 and CO). Recommended products
Early last month, volatile dust was blamed for a deadly explosion at a Georgia sugar refinery. At the time of this writing it is not known what ignited the combustible sugar dust. For safety professionals, the fatal blast is another reminder of the importance of being vigilant regarding both the environments that create such hazards and the sources that can ignite them. In this article we will examine safety flashlights, and how they can protect workers in explosive areas. Six criteria can be used for evaluating a safety-approved flashlight: safety approvals, light and power sources, durability, specialized safety features and warranty. 1. Safety approvals Safety approvals ensure that flashlights are thoroughly tested so they won’t cause an explosion when the light is activated where flammable materials or gases are prevalent. Such environments include oil refineries, paint warehouses, offshore oil rigs, grain silos, spray booths and other facilities. There are many different types of approvals, and most good industrial safety flashlights meet several different standards. However, an acceptable flashlight should at least be tested and certified by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NRTL) to meet standards set forth by OSHA. Some of the major testing bodies include: ETL (Edison Testing Laboratories), FM (Factory Mutual Research) and UL (Underwriters Laboratories). Each of the three Classes define a level of risk associated with the hazardous area. The risk level is determined by the volatility of the explosive fuel source. The highest risk, Class 1, refers to flammable gases, vapors and liquids. Class 2 encompasses combustible dusts from coal or grain, for example. Class 3 covers ignitable fibers and flyings, which can be found in facilities such as sawmills. Within each Class are Divisions 1 and 2, which determine the probability of an explosion if the fuel is exposed to an ignition source. Division 1 means the hazard is likely. Division 2 means the hazard is unlikely, though Division 2 areas are still hazardous. 2. Light source Bulb and beam type are essential criteria for choosing a light. Flashlight bulbs can be a significant source of ignition and must be tough enough to take a fall and not shatter. The most widely used types are incandescent and LEDs (light emitting diodes). Incandescent bulbs use a super-heated tungsten filament inside a vacuum-sealed glass tube to generate light. Flashlight bulb’s filaments are surrounded by gases (most commonly xenon or halogen) to prevent oxidation. Naturally, this increases the chance of an arc and explosion due to the bulb material, internal gases and filament. Incandescent bulbs are less expensive but have a limited lifetime. They can withstand higher wattage and generate significantly more light than LEDs. But higher wattage incandescent bulbs mean bigger energy consumption and poor energy efficiency as most of the energy consumed is turned into heat. LEDs, on the other hand, are cooler running and more energy efficient. Additionally, they are quickly being adapted to higher wattages, so LEDs will soon rival the brightness of incandescent bulbs. LEDs’ average lifetime usage spans about ten years or 10,000 hours. LEDs are solid plastic bulbs with an embedded semiconductor that focuses photons or light particles when excited by an electrical current. LEDs are almost impossible to shatter and lack the ignition risk of a heated filament, making them well-suited for use in hazardous areas. With LEDs you won’t need to replace batteries as often, and it’s likely that you will never have to replace the bulb. Beam type also impacts the brightness, and can make the difference when the lights go out. A beam should be wide enough to cover a significant area, yet focused enough to cut through smoke and particulates that might be in the air. Most flashlights are purpose-built, so the beam for a firefighter will have different properties than that for an industrial worker. 3. Power source There are several battery options on the market today, each with trade-offs. Options include: • Disposable batteries offer a longer run time at a lower cost, but they need to be replaced and carried as spares. The main types of disposable batteries include alkaline and lithium. • Alkaline batteries have a high energy density, long shelf-life and are the most common and cheapest. However, the more expensive lithium batteries can run up to 50 percent longer than any equivalent alkaline and perform better in extreme cold and heat. • Rechargeable batteries offer greater cost efficiency but shorter run times. • Nicad batteries were once the most widely accepted rechargeable battery type. The problem is that if the battery isn’t drained completely, “battery memory” issues lead to decreasing charge capacities going forward, and a hastened demise. Newer rechargeable technologies such as nickel metal hydride (NiMh) and lithium ion hold longer charges and don’t have the negatives of the older, heavier models. 4. Durability Simple as it sounds, if a light is made of flimsy material, the internal components will be extremely susceptible to shocks and falls. Aluminum and polymer are the most common flashlight body types. Aluminum flashlights are the heavier and tougher of the two types. They also feature a less conductive metal, but carry big safety risks if dropped on an open electric circuit. Additionally, they can be dented. Polymer flashlights (with their non-conductive polymer bodies) carry the least amount of danger in hazardous situations. They can also withstand incredible impact without breaking and, on the whole, are lighter than their aluminum counterparts. 5. Specialized safety features Of course, with safety certifications, come dedicated safety features. There are several types of features to look for: • Special lamp modules equipped with hydrogen-absorbing pellets convert the residual gas given off of batteries into harmless water vapor. • Battery polarity guard trays protect against heat generated from improperly installed batteries. They also guard against “outgassing” that occurs when one or more batteries are accidentally reversed. • One-way umbrella purge valves alleviate internal pressure caused by the natural hydrogen gases a battery emits. • O-ring seals keep external combustive gases from entering the body of the flashlight. • Photoluminescent lens rings that glow like a beacon allow the user to find the light even in the dark when the light is switched off. 6. Warranty Read the warranty information completely and always look for an unconditional lifetime guarantee.
Sport goods Sports goods are also called sports equipment and they vary depending on the sport. The equipment ranges from nets to balls to protective gear like helmets to guards. They are used as protective gear or as tools that helps the athletes to play sport. Sports equipment has been changing over time, they have been more advanced and have started to require more to prevent injuries while playing. Along with the protection equipment, sport good includes many goods which are always in need. You can easily find them online or in markets near you. Some of them are mentioned as follows: Many sports are named after the use of balls like Football, basketballs, baseball, and association football. Sometimes the ball is named after the sport like a cricket ball, lacrosse ball, golf ball or water polo ball. Many games use the goalposts at the end of the playing field. These are often used in football, hockey and water polo, the object or the ball is pass and puck between these posts below the crossbars. However, in some sports, like rugby, the ball is passed over the crossbars. Flying discs These are used in many games like freestyle, ultimate and disc golf. Tennis, volleyball, football, baseball, badminton, hockey all these games use nets of various forms of fishing. Rods and tackle Fishing tackles and rods are used for sport fishing and other sports-related to fishing. These are used in many sports like badminton, squash, and tennis. Sticks, clubs, and bats Sticks are used for hockey and lacrosse. Bats are used for baseball and cricket and clubs are mainly used for golf. Bases and wickets Balls and wickets are used in crickets and baseball. Protection equipment Sports services are used in two major sides that allow players to engage and stay healthy. Sports equipment is often used to prevent injury or treat injuries. there is any equipment that is used for such purposes such as Mouthguards, that are used in field hockey, ice hockey, rugby, and soccer. They should be worn to prevent dental injuries. Helmets are used to protect head and face injuries. These are commonly seen in many sports like hockey wrestling, football, cycling, rollerblading skiing, and many more. Footwear is varied depending upon the sport and the positions in the sport. If the footwear doesn’t go with the general situation, it can be very dangerous. So, buying the right equipment is very important. You can easily get all the sports goods as everything is within your reach nowadays. For all the products that you might need, K2Bay has the best deals that you won’t be able to ignore. Don’t forget to check out our page.
classical singer mouth If you have seen Placido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli, Luciano Pavarotti, or any great soprano sing, surely you’ve thought to yourself “why are they doing their mouth like that?”. The classical mouth shape is epic and key to delivering for a classically trained singer. Often times people who are just experiencing classical music laugh at the singer’s mouth shape. This article will explain the somewhat funny mouth position and hopefully you learn a thing or two about the voice. The lips and the mouth are part of the vocal articulators. To learn more about this click here. Opera singers are trained to fill a large theater hall with their voice, this without microphone or any artificial amplification. (There were no microphones in the 15, 16th century when this art form gained structure. Hence the singers adopted a singing technique that will help them sing louder without hurting their voices. Note: this is not shouting.) When you look at a Konga drum, the body is hallow and the circle gets tighter at the end. Why is this? Just for fashion? I think not. The circle at the end of the Kong a drum is tighter because this shape causes the sound produced from beating the skin on the drum to resonate more before it escapes from the open end. READ ALSO: Musician of the month: Chantal Braziel It is the same technology with the classical singer’s mouth. The jaw must be slightly suspended (open) and the lips slightly covered (tightened). This, like the Konga drum, creates more space for the released air (voice) to resonate and travel farther in the hall/theater. When you sing like this using the classical mouth shape, the voice is fuller and focused. Plus, this adds timbre and good weight to your voice. Drop your comments below. Leave a reply Log in with your credentials Forgot your details? Create Account
Mon, October 25, 2021 Moderna vaccine protects against British and South African variants, company says The coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna triggers an immune response that protected against two variants of the virus first detected in Britain and South Africa in laboratory tests, the company said Monday. But the reassuring news that vaccine-elicited antibodies remained effective against concerning new variants was tempered by an ominous finding. Those antibodies were less efficient at neutralizing the South African variant in a laboratory dish - a sixfold reduction in response foreshadowed by a small, but mounting body of evidence that has trickled out recently showing that the variant may have the potential to elude parts of the immune response. As a precaution, Moderna announced it will launch two new studies. The company will test adding a third shot of its current vaccine to boost its two-dose regimen. Scientists have already designed an all-new vaccine specific to the South African variant that could be used as a booster to prime the immune system to the new strain, and plan to test it in the coming months. "The virus is changing its stripes, and we will change to make sure we can beat the virus where it's going," Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna, said in an interview. "The unknown is would we feel it's necessary to do that, would public health officials want this at that point or would they still be comfortable? What we're trying to do is create an option." The detection of both variants late last year triggered immediate concern, first because of evidence they were spreading far more easily. But many of the mutations in each variant - eight of those found in the British variant and 10 of those in the South African variant - drew special concern because they sit in the spiky proteins that dot the outside of the coronavirus and have been the key target for vaccines and therapeutics. That raised the specter that the current generation of vaccines might be rendered obsolete before they have even been rolled out. The company's announcement puts some of those fears to rest, suggesting the vaccines will still work against both variants. Antibody-containing blood serum taken from people and monkeys who received the vaccine was just as effective at blocking the British variant as the original strain of virus in the study, and remained above the threshold for efficacy for the South African variant, despite the diminution in effectiveness. The work has been submitted to a preprint server, but has not been peer-reviewed and was not available for review before publication. The company reported a sixfold decrease in the ability of antibodies to block the virus - a drop that Hoge said was concerning but not alarming - underscoring the need to remain vigilant. The report comes after similar news from Pfizer-BioNTech, which released data last week, also not yet peer-reviewed, showing that antibody-rich blood serum samples from 16 vaccinated people showed that vaccine was equally as effective at blocking the British variant as it was against the original version of the virus that took hold in Wuhan, China, a year ago. That publication did not address the South African variant, which has been of most concern and shares many mutations with a concerning variant detected in Brazil. Laboratories across the world have been scrambling to study whether vaccines and treatments, particularly monoclonal antibodies, are likely to be as effective against the new variants. So far, such tests have mainly relied on one part of the multifaceted immune response and found evidence the vaccines are likely to be effective - but have underscored the need to track changes in the virus and prepare for the eventuality that, like flu shots, a coronavirus vaccine might need to be updated and administered on a regular basis. Published : January 25, 2021 By : The Washington Post · Carolyn Y. Johnson
pro forma 8 years ago No Comments (pronounced PRO-for-mah) A Latin meaning “for form”. It’s used in the sense of making or carrying out a task in a perfunctory manner or as a formality. In the design business, you will see it frequently used in relation to an invoice, as in providing one in advance to describe items or show how things should be presented. In general business, it can refer to balance sheets, etc. Example: In an attempt to project the overall financial soundness of her small firm, the newly self-employed architect created a pro forma balance sheet to show her accountant the projected relative amount of money tied up in receivables, inventory, and equipment.
Busy. Please wait. Log in with Clever show password Forgot Password? Don't have an account? Sign up Sign up using Clever Username is available taken show password Already a StudyStack user? Log In Reset Password Didn't know it? click below Knew it? click below Don't know Remaining cards (0) Normal Size Small Size show me how Lesson 4 Bible Quiz Joseph is rejected and accused What important role did the sons of Jacob have in history? They fathered the 12 tribes of Israel. Why did Joseph's brothers hate him so much? He was father's favorite son, had dreams of ruling over his brothers, given a coat of honor by his father. How did Joseph's brothers mistreat him? Talked about murdering him, threw him in a pit, sold him into slavery Where did Joseph end up when he first entered Egypt? He ended up in Potiphar's house. What false accusation was Joseph charged with? He was charged with attacking Potiphar's wife. Name 2 godly qualities Joseph showed throughout his life. He forgave and humbly gave God the credit for his success. What is the definition of strife? a quarrel, a struggle, or a bitter conflict What is the definition of envy? a strong desire for another's possessions or advantages What caused the strife in the lives of the sons of Jacob? Jacob loved Joseph the most. This caused his other sons to envy and hate Joseph. What scripture reference is God's Truth Emergency Number? Psalm 119: 9,11 Created by: slohrenz Popular Religion sets Pass complete! "Know" box contains: Time elapsed: restart all cards
Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia. 1. Music a. A funeral hymn or lament. b. A slow, mournful musical composition. 2. A mournful or elegiac poem or other literary work. 3. Roman Catholic Church The Office of the Dead. [Middle English, an antiphon at Matins in the Office of the Dead, from Medieval Latin dīrige Domine, direct, O Lord (the opening words of the antiphon), imperative of dīrigere, to direct; see direct.] dirge′ful adj. Word History: The Office of the Dead is a traditional ecclesiastical office (a cycle of prayers) of the Roman Catholic Church that is sung or recited for the repose of the soul of a deceased person. Although the form of this ancient ritual has varied through the ages, in medieval times it consisted of a vespers service, a requiem mass, and a following service of matins and lauds. The traditional liturgical language of the Roman Catholic Church is Latin, and the first antiphon of the matins service of the Office of the Dead consists of the Latin words "Dīrige, Domine," "Direct, O Lord," a shorter version of a phrase occurring later in the liturgy, "Dīrige, Domine, Deus Meus, in cōnspectū tuō viam meam," "Direct, O Lord, my God, my way in thy sight." In Middle English, the matins of the Office came to be called dirige, after the opening word of the service. Dirige could also be used to refer to the entire Office of the Dead, not just the matins service, and the word was often shortened to dirge. Later, in the 1500s, dirge began to take on the more general senses of "a funeral hymn or lament" and "a mournful poem or musical composition." Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive ? Not like her, and yet she felt more herself in these dirgeful weeks than ever before. When that long, dirgeful parade unfolded on my Irish nana's telly she made me howl with laughter by yelling "Go od riddance, you dirty whore-master." Vertov admired--and was admired by--Lenin (dirgeful images of the leader's death appear in his "Three Songs of Lenin").
SIBO: Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth & The FODMAP Diet Updated: 4 hours ago SIBO IBS bloating gas nutritionist london What is SIBO? SIBO - or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth - is when gut bacteria that normally grows in the large intestine, moves up and proliferates in the small intestine. This causes food to break down much earlier on in its journey through the digestive tract. Similar to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), this causes painful symptoms such as cramping, bloating, gas and diarrhoea. In fact, 50% of IBS suffers also have SIBO. What causes SIBO? Similar to IBS, it is often caused by dysbiosis in the gut microbiome, aggravated after antibiotics, food poisoning or a travel bug, causing gut inflammation. Symptoms are similar to IBS This includes constipation, diarrhoea, severe bloating, possible cramping, gas, foul-smelling stools, sometimes blood in stools or sudden urgency to use the bathroom. In addition, because the bad bacteria are active higher up the gut, acid reflux, nausea, bad breath and increased difficulty digesting fats are also experienced. Testing for SIBO A GP can diagnose SIBO using two methods; firstly assessing symptoms provided by the patient and feeling the abdomen for excess gas, and secondly via a breath test that measures the amount of hydrogen and methane present. The hydrogen and methane are byproducts of the bad bacteria (gas). Alleviating with The FODMAP Diet It is a restrictive eating programme designed to reduce the symptoms by starving the bad gut flora of the food it loves, called fermentable carbohydrates, whilst restoring nutrition to the patient. In fact FODMAP is an acronym of these types of carbohydrates: By starving the bad bacteria, it provides an opportunity to work on gut repair using herbal antimicrobials and supplements, whilst also repopulating the good gut bacteria with pre and probiotic foods. By restoring the balance the the small intestine, symptoms should ease, and through careful monitoring, prohibited foods can slowly be reintroduced. This will identify if there's a particular carbohydrate type causing problems. In addition to eliminating FODMAP foods, it is suggested to cut out other foods and beverages that often cause nausea and reflux: caffeine, alcohol, fizzy and soft drinks and fatty and oily foods. This will also aid in improving overall gut health.
Quick Answer: What Is The Relationship Between Knowledge And Moral Responsibility? Does knowledge come with responsibility? Possession of knowledge does carry an ethical responsibility because there are certain kinds of knowledge that inflict a compulsion or a challenge on the person who carries that knowledge. What are the three elements of moral responsibility? causality. ( the relation between cause and effect)knowledge. ( the facts, information and the skills acquired by the person through education or experience)Freedom. ( freedom of speech and act without any restraints) Why is responsibility important? It also can transform how you view yourself and are viewed by others, as responsibility empowers you with the ability to be accountable for your own behavior, to think critically, perform well under duress, and handle big and small tasks with ease. What are the moral obligations? Moral obligation is an obligation arising out of considerations of right and wrong. It is an obligation arising from ethical motives, or a mere conscientious duty, unconnected with any legal obligation, perfect or imperfect, or with the receipt of benefit by the promisor of a material or pecuniary nature. Why is moral responsibility important? Making judgments about whether a person is morally responsible for her behavior, and holding others and ourselves responsible for actions and the consequences of actions, is a fundamental and familiar part of our moral practices and our interpersonal relationships. What are 5 moral values? What are the five moral values? It would serve society well if the following seven moral values were taught to students in schools.Unconditional Love and Kindness. In most cases, if you love someone, they will love you back. … Honesty. … Hard Work. … Respect for Others. … Cooperation. … Compassion. … Forgiveness. Are humans responsible for their actions? What is meant by moral responsibility? What are the 10 values? What are the conditions for moral responsibility? Philosophers usually acknowledge two individually necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for a person to be morally responsible for an action, i.e., susceptible to be praised or blamed for it: a control condition (also called freedom condition) and an epistemic condition (also called knowledge, cognitive, or … Do you think to be with God is the moral responsibility of man? As a Christian, or as a human who believes in God, I can say that it is man’s moral responsibility to be with God. It is a moral responsibility simply because it is what we need to do or it is what we should do base on the law of the land and the divine law. … What are 10 moral values? What are examples of moral responsibilities? A business owner or manager has multiple responsibilities, including legal ones, such as paying taxes, as well as moral responsibilities. Moral responsibilities may be individual, meaning each person in the company is accountable for doing what is right, or communal responsibilities, which involve all personnel. What is the difference between moral and causal responsibility? The concept of moral responsibility applies quite broadly; in particular, we hold agents morally responsible both for their own acts and for outcomes. Causal responsibility, on the other hand, applies most fundamentally, if not exclu- sively, to outcomes.
Transmission modes Modes of communication Morse code Morse code is the original digital data mode. Radio telegraphy which is the direct on/off keying of a continuous wave carrier by Morse code symbols, often called amplitude-shift keying or ASK, may be considered to be an amplitude modulated mode of communications. Although more than 140 years old, bandwidth efficient Morse code, originally developed by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail in the 1840s, uses techniques that were not more fully understood until much later under the modern rubrics of source coding or data compression. The bandwidth efficiency of Morse code arises because the most used source symbols were accorded the shortest Morse code symbols and the least used were accorded the longest symbols by Vail and Morse. Vail and Morse intuitively understood bandwidth efficiency in code design. It was not until one hundred years later that Claude Shannon’s modern information theory (1948) put Morse and Vail’s Morse code technology on a firm theoretical mathematical footing, that then resulted in similar Morse code-like bandwidth efficient data encoding technologies such as the modern HuffmanArithmetic and Lempel-Ziv codes. Morse code is still used by amateur radio operators. Operators may either key the code manually using a telegraph key and decode by ear, or they may use computers to send and receive the code. Analog voice Decades after the advent of digital amplitude-shift keying (ASK) of radio carriers by Morse symbols, radio technology evolved several methods of analog modulating radio carriers such as: amplitude, frequency and phase modulation by analog waveforms. The first such analog modulating waveforms applied to radio carriers were human voice signals picked up by microphone sensors and applied to the carrier waveforms. The resulting analog voice modes are known today as: Digital voice Digital voice modes encode speech into a data stream before transmitting it. • APCO P25 – Found in repurposed public safety equipment from multiple vendors. Uses IMBE or AMBE CODEC over C4FM. • D-STAR – Open specification with proprietary vocoder system available from Icom, Kenwood, and FlexRadio Systems. Uses AMBE over GMSK with VoIP capabilities. • DMR – Found in both commercial and public safety equipment from multiple vendors. Uses AMBE codec over a C4FM modulation variant with TDMA. • System Fusion – Open specification with proprietary vocoder system available from Yaesu. Uses AMBE CODEC with C4FM modulation. • NXDN Used by Kenwood (Nexedge) and Icom (IDAS) Image modes consist of sending either video or still images. Text and data Other modes Activities known as modes Certain activities in amateur radio are also commonly referred to as “modes”, even though no one specific modulation scheme is used.

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