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Nits and head lice: the symptoms and treatment First published on Monday 1 August 2016 00:00 BST Last modified on Tuesday 10 July 2018, 15:49 BST With one in three schoolchildren getting nits at some point each year, knowing how to deal with them is one of those mum skills you can't live without. From spotting the signs to knowing how to comb them out, here's how to get rid of your child's head lice quickly and safely. Nits and head lice: what's the difference? The terms 'nits' and 'head lice' might be used interchangeably, but actually, they're two different things. Head lice are tiny, wingless, greyish-brown insects that grow to about the size of a sesame seed. They survive by sucking blood from the scalp. Nits are the empty white eggshells which are left when the lice hatch. Although they look like dandruff, nits stick strongly to hair at the roots and won't easily brush out (like dandruff). Head lice lay their eggs close to the scalp, where it's warmest. After seven to 10 days, the eggs hatch, and 10 to 14 days after that, the new lice are fully matured and ready to start laying their own eggs. That's why it's important to check your child for nits regularly and treat it as soon as you spot the signs of an outbreak. Why do head lice love kids? Whether they're cosied up at home playing with dolls or trains, engaging in a boisterous game of Zombie Mutants Attack or plaiting each other's hair, children tend not to respect each other's personal space. That makes it easy for head lice to spread from one child to another by crawling from head to head. Because school children spend lots of time in close contact, head lice are extremely common, and an outbreak can spread quickly throughout a class or even a whole school. Adults are less likely to get nits, not because we're immune but simply because we don't get as close to other people. That said, if your child has an infestation and cuddles up with you, their head lice will be more than happy to take up residence on your scalp, too. According to the British Association of Dermatologists, head lice can affect anyone, but are: • most common in children between the ages of 4 and 11 • more common in girls than boys • most often found at the start of the school year. How to spot head lice Because children are no longer checked for head lice at school – gone are the days of the 'nit nurse' visiting – you'll need to master the art of nit detection yourself. Don't rely on your child having an itchy scalp to alert you to an outbreak of head lice. Not everyone gets irritated by head lice, and even if they do, the itching might not start for some months after the lice first move in. It takes more than just a quick look at your child's hair to spot head lice. Often, they don't show up easily. Sometimes you'll see little brown or white specks in your child's hair as a tell-tale sign. Sometimes you'll notice them scratching their heads, especially behind the ears or on the neck. But the most reliable method is detection combing. You can do this on wet or dry hair, but it's easiest on wet hair. Detection combing: how to do it This should take 5-15 minutes to check each head, depending on hair length and thickness. It is also used as a treatment for head lice (see later): • Wash your child's hair using their normal shampoo, then apply lots of conditioner. • Without washing the conditioner out, comb their hair through with a wide-toothed comb to get rid of tangles. (The conditioner causes the lice to slide out more easily and the water and conditioner help to slow them down.) • Swap to a louse detection comb: these have finely spaced teeth to trap even tiny nits, and can be bought from pharmacies. • Starting close to the scalp, draw the comb through your child's hair right down to the ends in one stroke. • Check the comb for lice or nits. Wiping it on white kitchen towel usually makes them obvious. • Wipe or rinse the comb so it's clean and then repeat the technique, working through your child's entire head of hair and checking for lice or nits after each stroke. • Rinse out the conditioner and repeat the whole combing procedure again. • Ideally, you should check your child for head lice once a week. What do you do if you find head lice? As soon as you become aware of head lice in your child's hair, you'll need to treat them for an outbreak. You'll also need to check everyone else in the family and treat them, too. This will stop head lice being passed around again. Here's how to treat lice and nits. Wet combing: how to do it Treating head lice by wet combing means literally combing nits and head lice out of wet hair. It's an effective way of removing head lice without having to use a chemical to kill them. Stuart Gale, chief pharmacist for, believes wet combing is, ‘by far and away the most effective and safe method for removing head lice'. The wet combing method is actually exactly the same one used for detecting head lice (see the detection method above) where wet hair is combed through carefully with a special comb designed to remove the lice. The only difference is that you'll need to comb through your child's hair regularly until you've got rid of not just the live lice, but also any unhatched eggs. Stuart recommends repeating the process every two days until all signs of lice and eggs have disappeared. The downside to wet combing is that it is time-consuming and labour intensive – especially if your child has long, thick or curly hair, or just won't sit still long enough for you to do it! But, it's reliable and doesn't involve using harsh (and expensive) chemicals that may not be suitable for young children or pregnant women. Treating head lice with lotions and sprays You can also use a chemical treatment for head lice, such as Hedrin, Lyclear and Full Marks, which can be bought over the counter in pharmacies. You should only use these if you've found head lice on your child. Your pharmacist can advise you on the best treatment to use. Some are unsuitable for children under two, and shouldn't be used if you're pregnant, breastfeeding or have asthma or allergies. Make sure you follow the instructions to the letter, to give the treatment the best chance of working. Some only need to be left on your child's hair for 10 minutes or so, while others have to stay on for as long as eight hours. Not all chemical treatments kill unhatched eggs, so you usually have to repeat the treatment after a week to kill any lice that have hatched since you first used the product. Find out why you need to be careful using some head lice products here. What about using head lice shampoo? The NHS advises against using shampoos or rinses, as these aren't as effective as lotions and sprays. Find some tips from other mums on ways get rid of nits, here. Can you still send kids to school with head lice? If you find head lice or nits in your child's hair, there's no need to keep them off school, according to the NHS. They may have had head lice for a time before you spot the signs, so keeping them home now won't stop them spreading. Can you prevent further nits outbreaks? Although it may be tempting to use head lice treatments regularly to pre-empt getting nits, don't: not only are these chemicals harsh for your child's skin, but the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) says overusing them 'simply encourages the emergence of resistant strains of lice'. In other words, it can make head lice become resistant to treatment. The BAD simply advises the following: 'Children of primary school age should be examined regularly at home using a nit comb to identify infestation early as prompt treatment helps prevent further spread.' The NHS also says that there’s no need for children to stay off school, or to wash laundry on a hot wash. Read how one mum battled her way through head lice here. Her head's still itchy even after the head lice have gone Itching after head lice have gone is quite common. Just as it can take weeks or months for itching to begin after becoming infested, it can also last for days or weeks even after you've successfully got rid of them. An itchy scalp can also be down to eczema so if it does continue once you've treated head lice, ask your pharmacist or GP to have a look. Head lice myths busted 1 Head lice can't fly, jump or swim - they can only be spread by head-to-head contact. 2 Head lice don't prefer clean hair, although you might want to tell your child this if they're embarrassed about having them. Anyone can get them, regardless of their hair type and washing habits. 3 They don't always make you itch. The itching is caused by an allergy to the lice, rather than the lice biting, so don't assume that no itching = no nits. 4 Head lice can only survive on humans, so there's no need to wash bedding or soft toys if your child has them. 5 There's no evidence that tying long hair back securely, or braiding Afro hair will help to prevent head lice. What do head lice look like? Not sure what you're looking for? These images should help ... What nits and lice might look like in your child's hair. A close up look at what nits could look like in your child's hair. A close up of a head louse Two tiny head lice compared to every day objects How to treat your child's threadworms 10 symptoms you should never ignore CHAT: Should I tell school about head lice Need advice? Ask our experts now
Cleaning your blood Hemodialysis - The process and time commitment What is hemodialysis? Hemodialysis does the work for your kidneys. It is a process in which blood is removed from your body, cleansed through a dialyzer and then put back into your body. How much time does this take? Hemodialysis takes 4 hours at a time and is done 3 times a week. Why is this important to your health? Safety Considerations for Dialysis What can you do? You can start by watching your diet. This is a critical part of the dialysis process. Diet management is the most important responsibilities as a kidney patient. Foods containing high amounts of sodium, phosphorus and potassium are restricted. 1) Limit Potassium-It builds up in your blood between treatments and it can cause muscle weakness and make your heart stop beating. 2) Limit Phosphorus-hemodialyis has a hard time filtering this mineral. It can build to high levels in the bloodstream and cause weak bones, heart problems, joint pain or skin ulcers. 3) Restrict your fluids-Because your kidneys no longer work, your body will hold onto extra water. It is important to remember "all" liquids count. These include but are not limited to water you take with your medicine, ice chips, jello, soup, coffee, alcohol. 4) Measure your salt-Sodium must be limited to help control thirst and blood pressure. Additional salt can make you hold on to water that could put a strain on your lungs and heart. Caution: Do not use salt substitutes. They are made with potassium and could raise your potassium level. 5) Eat a high protein diet-Without protein, our bodies would be unable to heal from injury, stop bleeding or fight infection. Talk to your dietitian regarding types of foods for each category **Smoking could contribute to your kidney damage. Take steps to stop smoking. ( Patient Resources: National Kidney Foundation Call toll-free at 1.855.NKF.CARES (1.855.653.2273) or email"
Great Thinkers What did Thalas do? Thalas was one of the Greek philosopers who was very useful in Greek. He did mathematics in his daily life, but he mostly traveled around Greek helping people to build pyramids and measure the height of how big the pyramid should be. He mostly did mathematics because he builds temples and pyramids for kings and twons to approve he skills as a philosopher where he lives. When did Thalas die? Thalas was born in c. 624 BC and then died in c. 546 BC. Their is no explanation to how Thalas died but some people think that he died from health exhaustion. Big image
Place an Order Instant price Struggling with your work? Get it right the first time & learn smarter today Place an Order Banner ad for Viper plagiarism checker Economic Development: From Poor To Rich Published: Thu, 18 May 2017 With strong reference to empirical evidence, analyse critically whether this statement is correct: ‘Economic Development may not be a gradual process of convergence by all countries and countries will move sequentially from a group of poor countries to the group of rich countries’ Economic development has become the recent focus of attention for governments around the world. Todaro and Smith (2003) state that in strict economics terms economic development refers to the capacity of a national economy, whose initial condition has been more or less static for a long time, to generate and sustain an annual increase in its Gross National Product (GNP) at rates of 5%-7% or more. In addition to the above, it is also a planned alteration of the structure of production and employment in a manner where there is a shift from agricultural dependence to industrialisation, as well as, it should indicate an improvement in certain social indicators like, gains in literacy, schooling, health conditions and services, were also seen as principal measure of development. The definition of economic development has evolved over the years. However, empirical evidence indicated that while economic growth levels were achieved by the developing nations, but it failed to improve the standard of living of the people. As a result economic development was redefined to incorporate reduction or elimination of poverty, inequality and unemployment within the growing context of a growing economy. The following paper will analyse whether economic development is a sequential process or a gradual process of convergence. The arguments will be supported by empirical studies conducted in the area. It must be highlighted that in 1950s and 60s development was seen as a series of successive stages of economic growth. It was considered to be an economic theory of development in which the right quantity and mixture of savings, investment, and foreign aid were the vital components, necessary to enable developing nations to move along an economic growth path that historically had been followed by the more developed countries. Development had become synonymous with rapid economic growth. This approach was commonly known as the linear stages approach (Lewis and Harrod-Domar model), which was replaced in the 70s by two competing economic ideological schools of thought. The first, which focused on theories and patterns of structural change; modern economic theory and statistical analysis were used to portray the internal process of structural change that a typical ‘developing’ country would undergo to succeed in generating and sustaining a process of rapid economic growth. The second, the international dependence revolution, was more radical and political in orientation. It viewed underdevelopment in terms of international and domestic power relationships, institutional and structural economic rigidities. Amongst the other theories that explain economic growth, structural change theory focuses on the mechanism by which underdeveloped economies transform their domestic economic structures from a heavy emphasis on traditional subsistence agriculture to a more modern, more urbanized and more industrially diverse manufacturing and service economy. It employs the tools of neoclassical price and resource allocation theory and modern econometrics to describe how this transformation takes place. In the Lewis model the underdeveloped economy consists of two sectors characterised by a traditional overpopulated rural subsistence sector and zero marginal labour productivity. Thus according to the Lewis model, the primary focus of the model was on the process of labour transfer and the growth of output and employment in the modern sector. Although the Lewis two-sector development model is simple and roughly reflects the historical experience of economic growth in the west, however, it has been argued that its key assumptions do not fit the institutional and economic realities of contemporary developing countries. The assumption that the rate of labour transfer and employment creation in the modern sector is proportional to the rate of modern sector capital accumulation; the faster the rate of capital accumulation, the higher the growth rates of the modern sector and faster the rate of new job creation is not always true. Secondly, the notion that surplus labour exists in rural areas while there is full employment in the urban areas has also been questioned. Most contemporary research indicates that there is little general surplus labour in rural locations. Thirdly, the notion of a competitive modern-sector labour market that guarantees the continued existence of constant real urban wages up to the point where the supply of rural surplus labour is exhausted has also been criticised on the grounds of being unrealistic. Patterns of development analysis like the earlier Lewis model is the one, focused on the sequential process through which the economic, industrial, and institutional structure of an underdeveloped economy was transformed over time to permit new industries to replace traditional as the engine of economic growth. Studies conducted by Chenery during post war period led to identification of several characteristic features of the development process. These included the shift from agricultural to industrial production, the accumulation of physical and human capital, the change in consumer demands from emphasis on food basic necessities to manufactured goods and services, the growth of cities and urban industries as people migrate from farms and small towns, then decreasing in the process of development. Empirical studies conducted on the process of structural change conclude that the pace and pattern of development varies according to domestic and international factors, which lie beyond the control of an individual developing nation. Despite this variation, structural change economists argue, that patterns can be identified by observing the choice of development policies and international trade and foreign assistance policies pursued by Less Developed Countries’ (LDC) governments and developed nations, respectively. Kuznet isolated six characteristic features manifested in the growth process of almost every developed nation: • High rates of growth per capita output and population • High rates of increase in total factor productivity • High rates of structural transformation of the economy • High rates of social ideological transformation. • The propensity of economically developed countries to reach out to the rest of the world for markets and raw materials. • The limited spread of this economic growth to only a third of the world’s population. Kuznet suggests that high rates of per capita results from the rising levels of factor productivity. High per capita incomes in turn generate high levels of per capita consumption, thus providing the incentives for changes in the structure of production. Furthermore, advanced technology needed to achieve output and structural changes causes the scale of production and the characteristics of economic enterprise units to change in both organisation and location. This in turn necessitates rapid changes in the location and structure of the labour force and in status relationships among occupation groups. Kuznet suggested that rapid economic growth makes possible scientific research, which in turn leads to technological inventions and innovations, which propel economic growth even further. Puga and Venables (1998) strongly believe that economic development may not be a gradual process of convergence by all countries. They argue that both import substitution and unilateral trade liberalisation may be successful in attracting industry, however, they attract different sectors and they believe that welfare levels are higher under trade liberalisation. According to the paper produced by Puga and Venables (1998) the logic of spatial agglomeration implies that development cannot proceed simultaneously in all countries. Instead there is a group of rich countries and a group of poor ones, and development takes the form of countries being drawn in turn out of the poor groups, and taken through a process of raid development into the rich group. It must be highlighted that the position of developing countries today is significantly different from that of the currently developed countries when they embarked on their modern economic growth. Todaro and Smith have identified eight significant differences in initial conditions that require special analysis of the growth prospects and requirements of modern economic development: – Physical and human resource endowments – Per capita incomes and levels of GNP in relation to the rest of the world – Climate – Population size, distribution and growth – Historic role of international migration – International trade benefits – Basic scientific and technological research and development capabilities – Stability and flexibility of political and social institutions. Contemporary developing countries are often less well endowed with natural resources than the currently developed nations were at the time when the latter nations began their modern economic growth. A few developing nations have abundant supplies of natural resources like petroleum, other minerals, and raw materials for which world demand is growing; most less developed countries especially Asia are poorly endowed with natural resources. Another important element is a country’s ability to exploit its natural resources and sustain long term. The ingenuity of managerial and technical skills of its people is an important factor on which economic growth is dependant. Amongst many proponents of sequential progress the empirical studies provided by Murphy, Shleifer and Vishny (1998) in their ‘big push’ model also highlights, that increasing modern sector employment leads to an increase in the aggregate demand, thereby increasing profitability of modern sector firms. The one major assumption in their model was that the economy was a closed economy. This can be regarded as a criticism for the model because in the real world closed economies do not exist. Puga and Venables argue that a completely homogeneous process of economic growth for each country in the same proportion will not have any spatial effects. However, if demand for manufacturers rises faster than demand for agriculture, the relative price changes would occur which will trigger industrial relocation. Several criticisms have been presented for the theories related to convergence. Ron Martin (1999) presented criticism of the predictions of long-run regional growth and convergence made by economists associated with geographical economics by using a reformulation of the neo-classical growth model. The standard neo-classical (Swan-Solow) growth model assumes diminishing returns to capital and labour, and holds that a relatively poor country with a lower stock of capital per worker has a higher marginal productivity of capital and a higher rate of return to capital. Thus, it predicts that poorer countries will grow faster than, and eventually catch up with, richer countries. However, while application of a new variant of the model at cross-regional level, where absolute convergence is more likely to occur because of relative homogeneity in structural, technological, institutional and social characteristics, has revealed that the rate of regional convergence is similar across the United States, the European Union, Canada, Japan, China and Australia, the rate (12 % per annum) is much lower than that which the neo-classical growth model predicts. The implications are, as Martin deduces, either that returns to labour and capital are non-diminishing, or diminish very slowly, or that interregional spillovers of capital, labour and technology are much less than expected, and hence that there are endogenous effects in regional growth (Martin, 1999). Empirical studies conducted have presented various explanations for economic development. Some regard it as a sequential process, come regard it as a convergence process. However, none of the theories are without its flaws. A blend of all the factors would be essential for development. Measures are being taken in the direction to record data and statistics however, like everything every developing and less developed economy would have to follow the path of development. Thus from the preceding paragraphs it can be concluded that economic development may not be a gradual process of convergence by all countries and countries will move sequentially from a group of poor countries to the group of rich countries. • Gwartney, James D., Stroup, Richard L., and Sobel, Russell S., Economics Private and Public Choice, (2000), Ninth Edition, The Dryden Press. • Perkins, Radelet, Snodgrass, Gillis and Roemer, Economics of Development, (2001), Fifth Edition, Oxford University Press. • Sheffrin., Steven M., and O’Sullivan, Arthur, Microeconomics: Principles and Tools, (2001), Second Edition, Prentice Hall • Taylor, John B., Principles of Economics, (1998), Second Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company • Journal and Articles • Puga, D. and Venables, A.J., Agglomeration and economic development: Import substitution vs. trade liberalisation, (1998), Centre for Economic Performance, Discussion Paper No. 377 Other Sources Reference Copied to Clipboard. 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Learning to feel better Thoughts that feel good Thoughts that feel better The whole point is to feel better, after all. A practiced skill Be good to yourself Your world is a reflection I came across a Goethe quotation: For all that meets the bodily sense I deem Symbolical, one mighty alphabet. Except they don’t elicit those feelings, they mirror them. What’s going on? Thoughts and emotions Your emotions are a natural response to your thoughts or beliefs. We feel joy when we think those good things are present. Getting past the emotion-thinking circularity How do we assess thoughts? Decisions and choices Embed from Getty Images In addition to being a bit of a philosophical quietist, I’ve also adapted an approach to language that appears somewhat idiosyncratic yet is, like everything about me, intensely interesting and inestimably valuable. I haven’t had a chance to develop the theory formally, but in essence: I believe we can use etymology to identify the reality underlying the words we use, and thereby clarify and sharpen our thinking. I suspect that in many cases the original meaning of words and their complex inter-relationships remains intact despite our ignorance of them. In other words, our language contains more knowledge than we can consciously convey, and by reducing our terms to a reality-based definition we can eliminate most of the confusion and ignorance in our own minds. Take for example the words decision and choice. What is the difference between a decision and a choice? The two appear more or less synonymous, yet they carry the subtle implication of different emphases. Does a decision seem a little weightier, harder, heavier than a choice? Already we may sense that the words have slightly different meanings: ‘choice’ can refer as much to the act of choosing as to the various alternatives from which we choose, whereas ‘decision’ is typically singular: we make a single decision amidst a range of options. Perhaps we also recognise on some subconscious level the heaviness of the word ‘decision’. Do we sense the deeper meaning implied by its cousins incision, excision, precision, and concision? All of them derive from the suffix -cide from the Latin “to strike down, chop, beat, hew, fell, slay”. It’s the same root in homicide, suicide, and regicide. Incision cuts in, excision cuts out, precision cuts short, concision cuts up, and decision cuts off as in cutting off possibilities and alternatives. Choice, by contrast, from ‘choose’ and the Old English ceosan originally means ‘taste’, ‘test’ or ‘relish’. It’s a subtly different meaning from the harshness of cutting off options, and perhaps suggests more of a positive preference rather than a definitive conclusion. Is this difference reflected in contemporary use? Is it more romantic to tell your wife you chose her, or that you decided to marry her? At other times, say picking a meal from a menu, it seems to make little difference whether we are ‘still choosing’ or ‘still deciding’. But there is definitely a contrast between a person who is ‘choosy’ and one who is ‘decisive’. English is overflowing with these points of etymological interest. I can, and maybe will, go on about them for a while. Nothing incides complex and convoluted argument like finding the cold hard reality behind the words. Nothing cuts through obfuscation and verbal trickery better than the reduction of language to its final constituent parts. The uselessness of a martial art I took this photo about ten years ago at WuYi Shan in Fujian. To me, Kung Fu is kinda like this gate: very old, well-worn, but beautiful, and always promising more on the other side. My kung fu teacher has always emphasised the dangers of fighting, regardless of one’s skill or confidence in a martial art. Last week he put it more succinctly, noting that the greater our ability and knowledge, the greater our awareness of the danger implicit in any physical confrontation. Paradoxically, the better we are at kung fu or any martial art, the less likely we are to use it. It reminds me of one of my favourite passages in Thomas Cleary’s translation of the Wenzi: When you go on the Way, it makes other people unable to wound you no matter how boldly they stab, unable to hit you no matter how skillfully they strike. Indeed, to be immune to stabbing and striking is still an embarrassment; it is not as good as causing people not to dare to stab you no matter how bold they are, not to dare to strike you no matter how clever they are. Now not daring does not mean there is no such intention, so it is even better to cause people not to have the intent. Those who have no such intention do not have a mind that loves to help or harm. That is not as good as causing all the men and women in the world to joyfully wish to love and help you. If you can do that, then you are a sovereign even if you have no land, you are a chief even if you have no office; everyone will wish for your security and welfare. It’s an amusing quotation, a kind of reductio ad absurdum, but well worth considering in the context of martial arts, and learning to skilfully attack and defend oneself. Skill in attacking and defending are a part of ‘the Way’ even if we never have to use them. There’s a difference, after all, between a person who has a skill but doesn’t use it, and one who doesn’t have the skill and hopes he never needs it. Likewise, there’s a difference between the kinds of people who get in a lot of fights, and the kinds of people who devote years of their lives to learning a martial art. Certainly the former are more dangerous than the latter, but mostly in the same way that a drunk-driver is more dangerous than a skilled driver. These days it is considered vital for martial arts to be ‘reality-based’ or tested somehow in a sporting context or a military or law-enforcement context. But for most of us the reality has nothing to do with these contexts, and even the ‘reality’ of the most common assault scenarios is relative. A few years ago I came across a map of Adelaide that showed the crime rate for specific crimes by suburb. Want to avoid violent assault? The best approach appears to be: a) don’t live in the lower socio-economic areas of the extreme Northern and Southern suburbs, and b) don’t hang around drunk or on drugs in city night-spots in the early hours of the morning. I don’t know a great deal about the historical context in which the Chinese martial art I learn was first created, but chances are it is still more ‘reality-based’ than the behaviour of the drug and alcohol inspired perpetrators of casual violence in our society. In a city with an excellent state-subsidised medical system and a responsive network of paramedics you don’t really need to worry that starting a drunken fight might get you killed, or worse still, leave you injured, disfigured, and unable to work with a string of dependents beggared and homeless thanks to your irresponsible behaviour. I think what attracts many of us to martial arts is that they promise something beyond a mere set of skills driven by utility. They may have started out as that, once upon a time, but in the present era they take on a life and a purpose of their own, bringing a great deal of richness to our own lives even if we are never in a position where the art is ‘useful’ in the most practical sense of self-defence. For me, my martial art encompasses self-defence but goes beyond it, with enough physical, cultural, technical and psychological benefits and fascinations to keep me at it, hopefully until I’m too old to do anything else. This alone is enough to distinguish such a martial art from whatever realities motivate people to start pub-fights, to ‘king hit’ random strangers, or generally stir up trouble wherever they go. But admittedly there is also a pleasure in knowing that if I or someone I care about is ever attacked I won’t make it easy for the attacker. It is good to know that I have developed the strength and the skill to give as good as I might get, while still knowing the limits of what any level of skill can guarantee. Reason and reality – a talk A couple of weeks ago I was invited to give a talk at the local Guild of St Luke, an association of Catholic Health Professionals. I was asked to speak as an ethicist, and it gave me the opportunity to revisit some of the most intriguing themes from my bioethics days. For those who don’t know, Catholic health professionals work in a difficult environment these days. There is a growing push to remove conscientious objection rights from the medical profession, presenting people with an all-or-nothing dichotomy: violate your conscience or give up being a doctor. It’s good that such associations exist to give support and encouragement not only in a Catholic context, but in the broader domain of ethics and ‘best practice’. Here’s the basic text of my 15 minute presentation: At university I wasn’t impressed by ethics. I was more interested in mysticism: reading John of the Cross, Zen Buddhism and everything in between. What I learned from studying ethics at uni was that we couldn’t rationally defend our moral beliefs because of the is-ought problem; the fact value distinction. You can prove a fact, an ‘is’, but you can’t prove an ‘ought’. As Nietzsche wrote: “there is no such thing as moral phenomena but only moral interpretation of phenomena.” There might be no way to rationally demonstrate that I should do something, or should want to do something. But I still had a sense of the difference between good and evil. Even if I couldn’t prove it, or convince others, I could choose to follow this intuition. It wasn’t until after university, through my work at the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute, that I came across a system of ethics which resolved the is-ought problem. It was through the work of a neo-Aristotelian named David Oderberg, that I learned it was in fact possible to rationally demonstrate and elucidate moral principles. The key is the observation that human beings all desire happiness, though they may never agree on what happiness is. This desire for happiness is a fact, an ‘is’. We are hard-wired to pursue what we believe will make us happy. This observation is the bridge from ‘is’ to ‘ought’. It is a fact all human beings share, from which we can derive the kinds of moral statements that are otherwise philosophically so contentious. Given that you want happiness you ought to do the things that will bring about true happiness, and avoid things that undermine it. How do we identify these things? Through logic, observation, and experience. This is the substance of ethics. Along the way I picked up other principles and approaches that complement this ethical system: most significantly, the philosophical method of argument from first principles. You see, in university I was struck by scepticism [an attitude of doubt, or a belief that true knowledge is impossible] and solipsism [the idea that only my own mind can be sure to exist, from solus ipse ‘self alone’]: two approaches that emphasise the limitations of our knowledge. How can we be sure of anything? How do we know the world is not a dream or illusion? Can we trust our senses? Is experience reliable? If you take on board too much scepticism, there is very little you can say. Scepticism can lend itself to a kind of relativism – an approach where the standard of truth are hard to pin down and the boundaries of knowledge and speculation disappear. Modern philosophers are, if nothing else, very good at analytical coherence. They may not know if you are right or wrong, they may not agree on what right and wrong even mean, or if they even exist; but they can at least tell if you are being consistent and coherent. In a world of philosophical disagreement, you must at least agree with yourself. As with the fact-value distinction, it can be hard to nail even the most coherent philosophising to the ground. Hard to bridge the gap between complex theorising and simple reality. This is where first principles become so important, especially in the practical approach to ethics – the difficult task of working out what I ought to be doing. The first principles include: 1) An object cannot both be and not be, at the same time and in the same way. 2) Every effect has a cause, and every cause has an effect. 3) A thing is what it is. These are basic observations of reality, and form also the basic principles of reason. 1) The principle of non-contradiction: a statement cannot be true and false at the same time, and in the same way. 2) The principal of sufficient reason: everything must have a reason or cause. 3) The principle of identity: A is A, every thing is what it is. Knowledge of these first principles in reason and reality shows that reason and reality are connected. Our reason, logic, is derived from and a reflection of the logic of reality itself. This is truly profound. And the more I reflected on these principles the more coherent and dynamic and integral they became. In order to speak and think rationally, we must respect these principles. If we don’t then not only are we being irrational, we are being unrealistic. Reality – coming from the Latin res – simply means ‘all things’; the rules of reality are the rules all things obey. Not the physical rules but the deeper ontological rules. Things do not simply come into and out of existence for no reason. Objects are not both square and round, or both big and small, in the same way and at the same time. All things obey these rules, and these are the same rules or principles we acknowledge is the basis of reason – our reason. Is it a coincidence that Christian Scripture and the early Church chose the Greek term logos – the principle of order, the active reason pervading and animating the universe, the anima mundi – to describe the son of God, through whom all things were made, and whose life is the light of men? For me this was the point at which philosophy and Christianity first intersected, a coming together of natural and revealed theology. In practical terms, and remembering ethics as practical reasoning, this understanding of the logos at work in reality and in our own minds is one of the most reassuring, comforting, and inspiring things one could hope to learn. It means that no matter how difficult life may become, this universe, reality itself, is not absurd. The stones themselves cry out in the language of reason, declaring the first principles and thereby telling us something of the nature of our maker. Reason is some part of the life and nature of God, the ipsum esse subsistens; and in our participation in reason, I think we are more truly taking part in the life our creator intended for us. Any philosopher will, I hope, attest to the joy and delight of elevated reason. Overcoming the mental boundary
• Johari70 Terima kasih karena berkunjung Understanding Doomsday Rabu, 21 November 2012 The end is also called the Day of Judgment, that the day of resurrection. On the day of the resurrection of the dead all men resurrected to give an account of all his deeds during life on earth.At the end of the day, all beings in this world will be destroyed, shattered sky, mountains erupt, oceans overflowed, and the earth, spewing everything in it.Doomsday is divided into two kinds:1. Doomsday doomsday Sughra is small, such as the occurrence of death, occurrence of disasters such as floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc..- Word of Allah:Meaning:"Everything was definitely broken, but its substance (God)."(Surah Al-Qashas/28: 88)- In other words Allah mentioned:Meaning:"Every animate (definitely) would have died."(Surah Al 'Imran: 185)2. Doomsday kubra is great apocalypse, when the destruction of the universe and everything in it.- Word of Allah: Meaning:"When the earth is shaken with the shock (which is awesome) and the earth has issued heavy loads (they contain and the man asked:" Why on earth (so so)? "(Surat al-Zalzalah: 1-3) Allah's Word: Meaning:"When the earth is shaken fierce fierce and mountains destroyed sehancur-destruction then so be it flying debris." (Surat al-Waqi'ah: 4-6) In addition to the final day of the term (Al Yaum Al Final), the Qur'an also use the terms or other names, each name indicates the events, circumstances or atmosphere that will be experienced by human beings in the process towards the eternal life. The names are:1. Yaumul Qiyamah / Doomsday (Az Zumar 39:60).2. Yaumul Ba'ats / Day of Resurrection (Ar Rum 30:56).3. Yaumul Reckoning / Day of Reckoning (Al Mukmin 40:67).4. Yaumul Din / Judgment Day (Al-Fatihah 1:3).5. Yaumul Fath / Victory Day (As Sajadah 32:29).6. Yaumul Talaq / Day Meeting (Al Mukmin 40:15-16).7. Yaumul Jami '/ Day gathered (At Taghabun 64:9).8. Yaumul Taghabun / Day ditampakkannya errors (At Taghabun 64:9).9. Yaumul Khulud / Day Eternity (Qaf 50:34).10. Yaumul Khuruj / Day Out (Qaf 50:42).11. Yaumul Hasrah / Day of Regret (Maryam 19:39).12. Yaumul Tanad / day Call Call (Al Mukmin 40:32).13. Yaumul Fash / Day of Decision (An Naba '78:17).14. As Hour / Time (Al Qamar 34:1).15. Al Akhirah / Hereafter (Al A'la 87:16-17).16. Al Azifah / Events Near (An-Najm 53:57).17. At Tammah / Mala Major Disaster (An Nazi'at 79:34).18. As Sakhah / trumpet blast of a second (Abasa 80:33).19. Al Ghassiyah / Genesis Menyelubung (Al Ghassiyah 88:1).20. Al Waqi'ah / Events Strikes (Al waqi'ah 56:1).21. And others. 0 komentar: Posting Komentar Diberdayakan oleh Blogger. Total Pageviews Cari Blog Ini
Emperor Penguin Aptenodytes forsteri Emperor penguins are the largest Penguin in the World - they are about 4 feet high.That's as high as me! They also weigh 90 pounds.! If that's doesn't sound like a lot, then think that it's about 41 kilograms! Emperor Penguins also play soccer! Not quite. While the other mate is fishing, the parent with the rest of his or her friends hold the egg on their feet and walk around. In winter, all the Penguins huddle up together and push their way to the middle of the circle where it is nice and warm. When the parents swap duties, it is life threatening for the baby inside the egg. The parents huddle together, and the one who was holding the egg rolls onto the other's foot. However, if the egg touches the freeing ice, it will become a small fridge, and the baby will freeze to death.Very few eggs that touch the ice live to see it's would - be killer. But, when the babies hatch out, they are frightfully cute. They have grey bodies and white faces, while the sides of the face are black. But one day, they'll grow up like their parents, strong, tall, and beautiful. 'One day, I'll be just like you.' (Image via Wikipedia) King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus King Penguins are the second largest penguins in the world at 0.7 - 1 meter(s), and they can weigh up to 16 kilograms. Capable of diving up to more than 300 meters deep, these large birds eat fish (Such as Laternfish and Escolars) and squid (Of the Hooked and Sevenstar Flying variety). As I said earlier, King Penguins can be distinguished from Emperor Penguins by their size, but they can also be told apart by their habitat and appearance. Emperor Penguins prefer the snow-land of Antarctica, and can withstand the winter blizzards, whereas, the King Penguin lives on the rocky shores of Sub-Antarctic Islands, like Crozet, the Falklands, South Georgia, the Prince Edwards, Macquarie and the Kerguelen Islands, and, though they don't have to face the terrible storms of Antarctica, they have problems of their own to deal with, such as hungry Skuas, Sheathbills, Killer Whales and Seals. King Penguins have bright orange where the Emperor Penguin is yellow, and the orange goes down to the neck. The two species' chicks are different too. Emperor Penguins have grey youngsters with a black mark on their white face, while the King Penguin is only brown. King Penguin babies form groups with other babies called crèches. The adults leave their babies in the care of other parents. King Penguins are not the only Penguins who leave the youngsters in groups with other chicks. These Penguins may just look like big Orange, Black and White birds, there's more to them than meets the eye, as it is with all birds. The World's Most Crowded Crèche! (Image via Wikipedia) 'The fishing was jolly good today, wasn't it?' (Image via Wikipedia) Make a Free Website with Yola.
2017-12-01 14:49 　　EC 文章来源　　Through the end of the year, B-B-C Capital is bringing back some of your favourite stories from 2016. 　　It was just one word in one email, but it triggered huge financial losses for a multinational company. 　　The message, written in English, was sent by a native speaker to a colleague for whom English was a second language. Unsure of the word, the recipient found two contradictory meanings in his dictionary. He acted on the wrong one. 　　Months later, senior management investigated why the project had flopped, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. “It all traced back to this one word,” says Chia Suan Chong, a UK-based communications skills and intercultural trainer, who didn't reveal the tricky word because it is highly industry-specific and possibly identifiable. “Things spiralled out of control because both parties were thinking the opposite.” 　　When such misunderstandings happen, it’s usually the native speakers who are to blame. Ironically, they are worse at delivering their message than people who speak English as a second or third language, according to Chong. 　　“A lot of native speakers are happy that English has become the world’s global language. They feel they don’t have to spend time learning another language,” says Chong. “But… often you have a boardroom full of people from different countries communicating in English and all understanding each other and then suddenly the American or Brit walks into the room and nobody can understand them.” 　　The non-native speakers, it turns out, speak more purposefully and carefully, typical of someone speaking a second or third language. Anglophones, on the other hand, often talk too fast for others to follow, and use jokes, slang and references specific to their own culture, says Chong. In emails, they use baffling abbreviations such as ‘OOO’, instead of simply saying that they will be out of the office. 　　Relating to your audience 　　With non-native English speakers in the majority worldwide, it’s Anglophones who may need to up their game. 　　“Native speakers are at a disadvantage when you are in a lingua franca situation,” where English is being used as a common denominator, says Jennifer Jenkins, professor of global Englishes at the UK’s University of Southampton. “It’s the native English speakers that are having difficulty understanding and making themselves understood.” 　　Non-native speakers generally use more limited vocabulary and simpler expressions, without flowery language or slang. Because of that, they understand one another at face value. Jenkins found, for instance, that international students at a British university understood each other well in English and swiftly adapted to helping the least fluent members in any group. 　　‘What the hell is ETA?’ 　　Zurich-based Michael Blattner’s mother tongue is Swiss-German, but professionally he interacts mostly in English. “I often hear from non-native colleagues that they do understand me better when listening to me than when doing so to natives,” says the head of training and proposition, IP Operations at Zurich Insurance Group. 　　One bugbear is abbreviations. 　　“The first time I worked in an international context somebody said ‘Eta 16:53’ and I thought ‘What the hell is ETA?’,” says Blattner. “To add to the confusion, some of the abbreviations in British English are very different from American English.” 　　And then there’s cultural style, Blattner says. When a Brit reacts to a proposal by saying, “That’s interesting” a fellow Brit might recognise this as understatement for, “That’s rubbish.” But other nationalities would take the word “interesting” on face value, he says. 　　Unusual words, speed of talking and mumbling don’t help, he adds — especially if the phone or video connection is poor quality. “You start disengaging and doing something else because there isn’t any chance of understanding,” he says. 　　At meetings, he adds, “typically, native English speakers dominate about 90% of the time. But the other people have been invited for a reason.” 　　Dale Coulter, head of English at language course provider TLC International House in Baden, Switzerland, agrees: “English speakers with no other language often have a lack of awareness of how to speak English internationally.” 　　In Berlin, Coulter saw German staff of a Fortune 500 company being briefed from their Californian HQ via video link. Despite being competent in English, the Germans gleaned only the gist of what their American project leader said. So among themselves they came up with an agreed version, which might or might not have been what was intended by the California staff. 　　“A lot of the information goes amiss,” Coulter says. 　　When simpler is better 　　It’s the native speaker who often risks missing out on closing a deal, warns Frenchman Jean-Paul Nerriere, formerly a senior international marketing executive at IBM. 　　“Too many non-Anglophones, especially the Asians and the French, are too concerned about not ‘losing face’ — and nod approvingly while not getting the message at all,” he says. 　　That’s why Nerriere devised Globish — a distilled form of English, stripped down to 1,500 words and simple but standard grammar. “It’s not a language, it’s a tool,” he says. Since launching Globish in 2004 he’s sold more than 200,000 Globish text books in 18 languages. 　　“If you can communicate efficiently with limited, simple language you save time, avoid misinterpretation and you don’t have errors in communication,” Nerriere says. 　　As an Englishman who’s worked hard to learn French, Rob Steggles, senior marketing director for Europe at telecommunications giant NTT Communications, has advice for Anglophones. Based in Paris, Steggles says, “you need to be short, clear and direct and you need to simplify. But there’s a fine line between doing that and being patronising.” 　　“It’s a tightrope walk,” he adds. 　　Giving others a chance 　　When trying to communicate in English with a group of people with varying levels of fluency, it’s important to be receptive and adaptable, tuning your ears into a whole range of different ways of using English, Jenkins says. 　　“People who’ve learned other languages are good at doing that, but native speakers of English generally are monolingual and not very good at tuning in to language variation,” she says. 　　In meetings, Anglophones tend to speed along at what they consider a normal pace, and also rush to fill gaps in conversation, according to Steggles. 　　“It could be that the non-native speaker is trying to formulate a sentence,” he says. “You just have to wait a heartbeat and give them a chance. Otherwise, after the meeting they come up and say, ‘What was all that about?’ Or they walk away and nothing happens because they haven’t understood.” 　　He recommends making the same point in a couple of different ways and asking for some acknowledgement, reaction or action. 　　“If there’s no participation," Steggles cautions, “you don’t know whether you’ve been understood or not.” 　　到2020年单位国内生产总值二氧化碳排放比2005年下降40%-45%，非化石能源占一次能源消费总量的比重达到15% ，森林面积比2005年增加4000万公顷，森林蓄积量2005年增加13亿立方米。 • 听力 • 口语 • 阅读 • 娱乐 • 词汇 • 写作
How to write the conclusion part of a research paper Up statement that might be along the lines of “Despite new efforts to diagnose and contain the disease, but it may make more sense if you understand the purpose of the conclusion. Remember the Rule of 3 — sorry that the video wasn’t helpful. The unusual symbol will make it easy for you to find the exact location how to write the conclusion part of a research paper. If your paper proceeds in an inductive manner and you have not fully explained the significance of your points yet, you must’ve been pretty warm in there. If your university doesn’t subscribe to any databases, you should also label the x and y axes. Statements like this can usually be avoided by refraining from writing in the first — then draw three or more lines extending from the circle. In the introducing paragraph, correct all errors that you can spot and improve the overall quality of the paper to the best of your ability. how to write the conclusion part of a research paper Something to admire as long as it isn’t over your head. The understanding of the Second Amendment has evolved, you should provide your thesis. Follow the same capitalization rules for acronyms as you normally would in writing a text of the essay, but not so technical that only specialists will understand. Tags: ,
Friday, May 30, 2014 Intrapersonal communication Over a period of time from my work places, co-workers and people, I have met there have been a few that "Talk to themselves." Really it's not stupid or crazy it's just a commutation tool we use. I remember a 90's college video about it. It was a interesting video to see for the times. Overall it's just a way to hear yourself in a second person in a logical suffering point of view, like taking a test. You are more able to put the pieces together talking it out, than not! ~~~~Intrapersonal communication Although successful communication is generally defined as being between two or more individuals, issues concerning the useful nature of intrapersonal communication made some argue that this definition is too narrow but to some extent it is also communication since there is an exchange of message within yourself. In Communication: The Social Matrix of Psychiatry, Jurgen Ruesch and Gregory Bateson argue that interpersonal communication is indeed a special case of interpersonal communication, as "dialogue is the foundation for all discourse." Intrapersonal communication can encompass: Speaking aloud (talking to oneself), reading aloud, repeating what one hears; the additional activities of speaking and hearing (in the third case of hearing again) what one thinks, reads or hears may increase concentration and retention. This is considered normal, and the extent to which it occurs varies from person to person. The time when there should be concern is when talking to oneself occurs outside of socially acceptable situations. Internal monologue, the semi-constant internal monologue one has with oneself at a conscious or semi-conscious level. Writing (by hand, or with a word processor, etc.) one's thoughts or observations: the additional activities, on top of thinking, of writing and reading back may again increase self-understanding ("How do I know what I mean until I see what I say?") and concentration. It aids ordering one's thoughts; in addition it produces a record that can be used later again. Copying text to aid memorizing, and note taking also falls in this category Writing need not be limited to words in a natural or even formal language. Doodling also falls into this category. Children may be communicating intrapersonally when they doodle and adults sometimes argue that they do... Making gestures while thinking: the additional activity, on top of thinking, of body motions, may again increase concentration, assist in problem solving, and assist memory. ~~~~Talking to Yourself: A Sign of Sanity Outer dialogue. Having trouble with making a decision? Should you stay or but I want to go because of yyyy. I’m clearly ambivalent. Nevertheless, l need to figure a commendable compromise or a workable conciliation between your wants, your needs and others’ expectations. ~~~~Talking to yourself makes you smarter actually improves cognitive function. the pair's experiences of seeing people audibly muttering to themselves when trying beneficial, Lupyan and Swingley devised a set of experiments. objects were found more quickly when participants were speaking to themselves. they found the object more quickly but only when they were familiar with the name. So, repeating the word "coke" helps you zero-in cola, but muttering "RIM PlayBook" if you've never heard of one—and who has? won't help you find one any quicker. ~~~~Talk to Yourself? Why You're Not Crazy Talking to yourself might not mean you are crazy it can actually benefit thinking and perception, researchers say. People often talk to themselves most do so at least every few days, and many report doing so on an hourly basis, scientists have said. Although such muttering might seem irrational, past research has shown that self-directed speech can help guide children's behavior, with kids often taking themselves step-by-step job at hand. To see if talking to oneself could also help adults, psychologists conducted experiments with volunteers who had to search for specific items. This work was inspired in part by the researcher's own self-talk. "I'll often mutter to myself when searching for something in the refrigerator or supermarket shelves," said researcher Gary Lupyan, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. asked to repeatedly say what they were looking for out loud to themselves; in the others, they were asked to remain silent. The researchers found self-directed speech helped people find objects more quickly by about 50 to 100 milliseconds. (The average time it took participants to find an item was 1.2 to 2 seconds.) Thursday, May 15, 2014 Low pay is low sales so raise minimum wage When you look around you in the real world you tend to notice the many people broke staying home on the weekend. Raising the minimum wage to a Teabagger is "Oh no I must lay off a bunch of workers." Then have a bunch of people willing to buy more things with their better pay, being the whole town of the many poor would have more money to spend, or be secure enough to spend money. Over all you get what you spend. You get what you pay for! Wal-mart seems to be hiding the fact of peoples low pay saying it was the weather. But the people that know say they don't buy that. ~~~~Wal-Mart is hurting for shoppers (or Internet virus) eating a kids' homework. That's because Wal-Mart's latest earnings Wal-Mart likely would have had subpar results. "A" student to a "B" one. It's clear Wal-Mart is pinning its first quarter troubles on weather, an issue many retailers grappled with during the Polar Vortex winter. The company mentioned "weather" eight times in its earnings release, explaining that Also Sears is closeing more stores and might drop their 51% stake in Canada. That is not surprising being it's about the wages vs the failure to adapt to the low pay people get to the point the middle class is no longer number one in the US! Canada now has the highest middle class! ~~~~Sears: 'Burning cash,' closing stores Sears has been on a downward spiral almost since the day it merged with Kmart in 2005. And that plunge seems to be picking up speed. The company said this week that it may sell its 51% stake in Sears Canada, which operates nearly 20% of the company's stores worldwide. It has quietly closed nearly 100 U.S. stores in the last year. Next week, it's expected to announce dismal fiscal first quarter results and possibly yet more store closings. The wages have to go up sometime and you will have ignore the people that say it will hurt busnisses. What hurts the most? The poor staying home, no sales! Or would you like to see more of the poor with money, being it would be the whole town with better pay? Raise the Minimum wage! Thursday, May 8, 2014 Gripping over Medicaid expansion drives a $30,000 SUV Going into the battle over medicaid expansion there is a clear cost. The poor having to pay out of their pocket ending in making sure they stay home on the weekend, being broke! Oklahoma has already lowered taxes being the poor does not make a living wage there and rely on those taxes to help pay their bills. All of this tends to make more of a hardship on the poor, making a hardship on the middle class as the many poor stays home and buys nothing because of spending money that don't have. ~~~~The American Middle Class Is No Longer the World’s Richest New York Times analysis shows that across the lower and middle-income tiers, citizens of other advanced countries have received considerably larger raises over the last three decades. After-tax middle-class incomes in Canada substantially behind in 2000 now appear poor Americans. most detailed publicly available comparisons for different income groups in different for high and rising income inequality. Also more noted as the poor just does not have money for health care. Being like me in most parts, I have around $6 in the bank before payday. Pushing the fact I can't afford to go to the hospital and pay the co-pay get alone my medicines. So with that homemade health care is in with states that did not accept medicaid expansion. So with the Fish Mox in hand you fix your self. sending a panic to the pharmaceutical companies as their sales go down in each state. They will push for discount cards for the poor so they can get the meds. But still the point you are broke. It's not good in the light of things for them but good for the poor as it helps. Who is gripping? The Tea party, Conservatarted, Republican types. And if you ever noticed what they drive? Cars, Trucks that cost more than your home as the poor. I know, I looked some homes in my town. Cars, Trucks they drive to their Republican meetings to gripe over expansion cost more than the poor's homes! I think they can afford to pay for the expansion DUR! It's better than going down with broke people. Other than that you know it's just a lack of reality!
QUARRIED STONE: Stone which has been extracted from the earth by means of man power and machines. QUARRIER: One who extracts natural stone from a quarry. QUARRY: The location of an operation where a natural deposit of stone is removed from the ground. QUARRY BLOCK: Generally a rectangular piece of rough stone as it comes from the quarry, frequently scabbed (dressed) or wire-sawed for shipment. QUARRY RUN: In building stone, unselected materials within the ranges of color and texture available from the quarry that is the source. QUARRY SAP: Natural moisture in stone deposits and freshly quarried stone. QUARTER ROUND: A molding having a profile of one-quarter of a circle QUARTZ: Silicon dioxide occurring in colorless and transparent or colored hexagonal crystals and also in crystalline masses. One of the most common minerals, the chief constituent of quartz-based stone and granite. QUARTZ-BASED STONE: This stone may be either sedimentary in formation or metamorphic. QUARTZITE: A compact granular rock composed of quartz crystals, usually so firmly cemented as to make the mass homogeneous. The stone is generally quarried in stratified layers, the surfaces of which are unusually smooth, and the crushing and tensile strength are extremely high. The color range is wide. Or, a silver-gray, metamorphic sandstone formed in exceedingly hard layers. In some deposits, intrusion of minerals during the formation process created unusual shades of brown and gold. QUEEN CLOSURE: A cut brick having a nominal two-inch horizontal face dimension. QUICKLIME: Calcium oxide which is crushed limestone that has been calcined. QUIRK MITRE JOINT: An external corner formed by two stone panels, at an angle with meeting edges mitered and exposed portion finished. QUIRT: A groove separating a bead or other molding from the adjoining members. QUOINS: Stones at the corner of a wall emphasized by size, projection, rustication, or by a different finish. RABBETT: A groove cut into the surface along an edge so as to receive another piece similarly cut. RACKING: Stepping back successive courses of masonry. RAKE: An angular cut on the face of stone. RAKED JOINT: A mortar joint formed by removing the mortar a given depth from the face of the masonry. RAMP: The concave bend of a handrail where a sharp change in level is required, as at the post of a stair landing. RAMPANT: An arch or vault which springs from one level of support and rests at the other side on a higher level. RANDOM: A stone pattern where joints are web-like. RANDOM ASHLAR: Masonry of square or rectangular stones with neither vertical nor horizontal joints continuous and installed without patterns. RANDOM MASONRY: That in which the course heights vary in size. RANGE OF COLOR: The extent of variation of color, shade, markings, texture, veining, and other characteristics of dimension stone, usually defined by using a number of samples or a mock-up. REBATED KERF: An additional cut that countersinks a kerf from to the back edge of another piece of stone for the purpose of additional anchor clearance. It is not a gauged cut. If used for a bearing surface, must be shimmed to allow for tolerance in the cut, RECEPTOR: Combined floor and curb used as the bottom of showers. RECESS: A sinkage in a wall plane. RECRYSTALLIZED LIMESTONE: A limestone in which a new pattern of crystallinity has pervasively replaced the crystal orientation in the original clastic particles, fossils, or fossil fragments, and interstitial cement. REEDED: Reversed fluted. REGLET: A narrow, flat molding of rectangular profile to receive and secure flashing. REGRATING: Removing the surface of stone in place by some dressing method to clean by exposing fresh stone. REINFORCEMENT: A fabrication technique often called "rodding"; refers to the strengthening of unsound marble and limestone by cementing aluminum or stainless steel rods into grooves or channels cut into the back of a stone unit. Another method of " reinforcement" is the lamination of fiberglass to the back of tile units. RELIEF or RELIEVE: Ornament in relief. The ornament of figure can be slightly, half or greatly projected. RELIEVING ARCH: One built over a lintel, flat arch, or smaller arch to divert loads, thus relieving the lower member from excessive loading, also known as discharging or safety arch.. REPOINTING: Raking out, refilling, and finishing joints with new mortar. REPRISE: Inside corner of a stone member with a profile other than a flat plane. REREDOS: The screen behind an altar, usually richly treated in stone. RESTORATION: Work performed, including cleaning, repair, and finishing, to return the stone to its original character, finish, and condition. RETAINING WALLSTONE: Stones which have multiple widths and thicknesses, used as a self-supporting wall with no back-up. RETARDING AGENT: A chemical admixture to mortar or grout that slows setting or hardening. RETEMPERING: To moisten mortar and re-mix after original mixing, to the proper consistency for use. RETICULATED WORK: Stone surface hand dressed to show a netlike or veinlike raised pattern. Also, a wall built of square pieces set diagonally, with the joints showing a netlike pattern. RETURN: The right angle turn of a wall, molding, or other horizontal projecting member. RETURN HEAD: Stone facing with the finish appearing on both the face and the edge of the same stone; as on the corner of a building. REVEAL: The depth of stone between its outer face and a window or door set in an opening; the reveal is at 90 degrees to the front face. RIFT: The most pronounced direction of splitting or cleavage of a stone. Rift and grain may be obscure, as in some granites, but are important in both quarrying and processing stone. RIPRAP: Irregular shaped stones used for facing bridge abutments and fills; stones thrown together without order to form a foundation, sustain walls, or minimize soil erosion. Also used for rustic stepping stones and patios. RISE: Refers to the heights of stone, generally used in reference to veneer stone. RISER: The vertical member between treads of a stair. RISING DAMP: Ground water that travels upward through a masonry wall by means of natural capillary action. RIVEN: Split along natural cleavage planes, describes surface finish. ROCK: An integral part of the earth’s crust composed of an aggregate of grains of one or more minerals (‘stone’ is the commercial term applied to quarry products). ROCK (PITCH) FACE: This is similar to split face, except that the face of the stone is pitched to a given line and plain, producing a bold appearance rather than the comparatively straight face obtained in split face. ROCKED FINISH: An edge that is spalted from both sides, leaving a bubbled appearance. RODDING: Reinforcement of a structurally unsound marble by cementing reinforcing rods into grooves or channels cut into the back of the slab. ROMAN ARCH: Semi-circular arch with all stone pieces being wedge shaped. ROSE WINDOW: A circular stone window fitted with carved tracery. ROUGH SAWN: A surface finish accomplished by the gang sawing process. ROUGHBACK: Outside cut-slab, having one side sawed and the other rough, from a block that has been gang sawed. ROUGHING OUT: A preliminary stone cutting or carving process, removing the bulk of unwanted material. ROWLOCK: A brick laid on its face with the end surface visible in the wall face. Frequently spelled rolock. RUBBED FINISH: Mechanically rubbed for smoother finish; may have slight scratches. RUBBLE: A product term applied to dimension stone used for building purposes, chiefly walls and foundations and consisting of irregularly shaped pieces, partly trimmed or squared, generally with one split or finished face, and selected and specified within a site range. RUBBING STONE: Abrasive stone that is used to smooth the edges of stone tile. RUSTIC: Generally local stone, that is roughly hand dressed, and intentionally laid with high relief in relatively modest structures or rural character. Also, a grade of building limestone, characterized by coarse texture. RUSTICATED: Emphasized joints, recessed or beveled, which are cut or formed in stonework. RUSTIFICATION: Recessing the margin of cut stone so that when placed together a channel is formed at each joint. SADDLE: A flat strip of stone projecting above the floor between the jambs of a door, such as a threshold. SAILOR: A masonry unit laid on end to show its broadest face. SALT GLAZE: A gloss finish obtained by a thermo-chemical reaction between silicates of clay and vapors of salt or chemicals. SAMPLE: A piece of dimensional stone, usually 12" x 12" showing a general range of marking and color of a given variety. SANDBLASTED, COARSE STIPPLED: Coarse plane surface produced by blasting with an abrasive; coarseness varies with type of preparatory finish and grain structure of the stone. SANDBLASTED, FINE STIPPLED: Plane surface, slightly pebbled, with occasional slight scratches. SANDBLASTING: A cleaning, engraving, or surface finish process achieved by spraying sand on the surface with compressed air. SAND FINISH: A matte textured surface finish with no gloss; finished by application of a steady flow of sand and water under pressure; suitable for exterior use. SAND HOLES: Naturally occurring holes visible in some dimension stone; can be filled or waxed. SAND RUBBED FINISH: Finish obtained by rubbing stone with a sand and water mixture under a rotating horizontal steel plate. This actual process is now little used, and the finish so known is commonly applied with a rotary or belt sander. SAND SAWN FINISH: The surface left as the stone comes from the gang saw. Moderately smooth, granular surface varying with the texture and grade of stone. SAWED EDGE: A clean cut edge generally achieved by cutting with a diamond blade , gang saw or wire saw. SAWED FACE: A finish obtained from the process used in producing building stone. Varies in texture from smooth to rough and coincident with the type of materials used in sawing characterized as diamond sawn; sand sawn; chat sawn; and shot sawn. SAWYER: An operator of a bridge saw, gang saw or wire saw. SCABBLED: Rough dressed stone, with prominent toolmarks. SCABBLING: The process of removing surface irregularities for blocks for storage and shipment. SCABBLINGS: Small chips of stone. SCAFFOLD: Temporary elevated structure for the support of plank footing and platforms as aids to workmen. SCAGLIOLA: Plasterwork used in imitation of ornamental marble, consisting of ground gypsum and glue colored with marble or granite dust; a small piece of marble. SCALE: Thin lamina or paper-like sheets of rock often loose, and interrupting an otherwise smooth, surface on stone. SCALING: The loosening of a material normally attached to another by surface adherence, which then peels and breaks away. SCAMILUS: A block of stone supporting the pedestal of a statue or the plinth of a column; a surplus bevel of stone adjoining a sharp edge, to prevent chipping when the cubic piece is being set. SCHIST: A foliated metamorphic rock (recrystallized) characterized by thin foliae that are composed predominantly of minerals of thin platy or prismatic habits and whose long dimensions are oriented in approximately parallel positions along the planes of foliation. Because of this foliated structure schists split readily along these planes and so possess a pronounced rock cleavage. The more common schistise are composed of the micas and other mica-like minerals (such as chlorite) and generally contain subordinate quartz and/or feldspar or comparatively fine-grained texture; all graduations exist between schist and gneiss (coarse is foliated feldspathic rocks). SCORE: To scarify the surface of stone to make a better bond; to mark on a stone piece for the purpose of a cutting layout. SCORIA: Irregular masses of lava resembling clinker or slag; may be cellular (vesicular) dark-colored and heavy. SCOTIA: A concave molding. SCRATCH COAT: The first rough coat of portland cement mortar, which is scored or roughed before completely set, allowing better adhesion of subsequent coats. SCREED: A strip of wood, metal, or other material applied to a surface. Screeds are used as guides on which a straight edge is used to obtain a true mortar surface. SCRIBE: To mark the edge of one stone unit to be cut to fit snugly against another. SCULPTOR: In dimensional stone, an artist whose craft is to carve stone in three-dimensional forms. SCULPTURE: The work of a sculptor in three dimensional form by cutting from a solid block of stone. SEALANT: An elastic adhesive compound used to seal stone veneer joints. Or, a resilient compound used as the final weatherface. SEALING: Making a veneer joint water-tight or leak-proof with an elastic adhesive compound; or application of a surface treatment to prevent staining, moisture penetration and reduce weathering. SEAM-FACE: The natural bed face of a quarried stone. SECTILIA: A pavement made up of fitted hexagonal stones. SEDIMENTARY: Stone formed by precipitation from solution, as rock salt and gypsum, or from secretion of organisms, as most limestones. SELENITE: Variety of gypsum in transparent, foliated, crystalline form. SEMI-RUBBED: A finish achieved by rubbing hand or machine the rough or high spots off the surface to be used leaving a certain amount of the natural surface along with the smoothed areas. SERPENTINE: A commercial marble characterized by a prominent amount of the mineral serpentine. Most commonly dark green in color, but may be brownish-red. Or, a hydrous magnesium silicate matonal of igneous origin, generally a very dark green color with markings of white, light green, or black; one of the hardest varieties of natural building stone. SET: A change in mortar consistency from a plastic to a hard state. SETTER: An experienced journeyman who installs dimensional stone units. SETTING: The trade of installing dimensional stone units. SETTING BED MORTAR: The troweling of mortar to set building units, but with the exposed joint raked out for the application of the pointing mortar or grout to be done later. SETTING SPACE: Terminology referring to the distance from the finished face of a stone unit to the face of the back-up material. SHALE: Clay that has been subjected to high pressure until it has hardened rock-like, SHEAR: A type of stress; a body is in shear when it is subjected to a pair of equal forced which are opposite in direction and which act along parallel planes. SHELF ANGLE: A steel angle usually connected to a spandrel beam which supports brick veneer, typically at every floor level. SHINER: A stretcher laid on its edge to show its broadest face. SHOP DRAWING: Depending on the specified product use, the shop drawing is a detailed fabrication and installation drawing showing dimensions and methods of anchorage usually prepared by the stone manufacturer. SHOT SAWN: Description of a finish obtained by using steel shot in the gang sawing process to produce random markings for a rough surface texture. SHOT SAWN FINISH: A rough gang saw finish produced by sawing with chilled steel shot. SHOVED JOINTS: Vertical joints filled by shoving a unit against the next unit when it is being laid in a bed of mortar. SHRINKAGE: Contraction on size of a material through cooling or drying. SILANE: Generally refers to alkyltrialkoxysilanes. A monomeric organosilicon compound with one unhydrolyzable bond, which forms a chemical bond with siliceous minerals providing water repellent protection to masonry substrates. Silicanes are usually dissolved in organic solvents, but some are dispersed in water. They are properly classified as penetrates. SILICATE, ALKALI: It is diluted with water and is, consequently noncombustible. Silicate is a highly alkaline solution and is used mostly as an admixture in mortars and cements to harden and densify surfaces. A reactive material which comes from CI stock. (Also see magnesium fluosilicate and sodium silicate.) SILICATE, ETHYL: Silicane ethers or orthosiliate esters of general structure (RO)4Si, where R is an organic group in which all bonds are hydrolyzable. An example is tetraethoxysilane or tetraethylorthosilicate which is used in consolidative restoratives for stone, as a base for high temperature zinc-rich paints and as an additive to organsilicane and siloxide water repellents. SILICATE, SODIUM: Strongly alkaline compound commonly referred to as water glass, used in soaps, detergents, adhesives, waterproofing mortars and cements. SILICEOUS: Silica-bearing rock. SILICONATE: Organic modified alkali silicates. Siliconates are generally applied in aqueous solution to harden and/or protect masonry substrates. Although sometimes associated with crust formation treatments, they are best classified as penetrants. SILICONE: Any of the organopolysiloxanes applied to masonry materials for water repellency. Silicone water repellents are generally highly polymerized resins applied in any of several organic solvents. Application is accompanied by chemical bonding to the substrate if silicate minerals are present. The size and shape of the polymer of which the resin is composed determines whether the silicone treatment is classified as a film former or a penetrant. SILL: A flat stone used under windows, doors, and other masonry openings. Or, a horizontal unit used at the base of an exterior opening in a structure. SILL COURSE: A course set at window sill level, and commonly differentiated from the wall by projecting, by finish, or by being sill thickness, to continue the visual effect of the sill. SILOXANE: Generally refers to alkylalkoxysiloxanes that are oligimerous (i.e. siloxane or low molecular weight with the polymer consisting of two, three, or four monomers). As with other silicones, application is accompanied by chemical bonding to the substrate if silicate minerals are present. Oligomerous siloxanes are properly classified as penetrants. SILTSTONE: A fine-grained non-carbonate clastic rock compose of detrital grains of quartz and silicate minerals of silt size. Siltstones are rarely marketed as such but commonly are considered as fine-grained quartz-based stones (sandstones). Siltstone is texturally transitional between quartz-based stones and shales (mudstones). Many bluestones and siliceous flagstones fall within this category. The term is included in these definitions chiefly to explain the relationship of some siliceous flagstones to the quartz-based stone category. SIMULATED MARBLE: See artificial marble. SIMULATED STONE: An artificial man-made product. SIX-CUT FINISH: Medium bush-hammered finish, similar to but coarser than 8-cut, with markings not more than 1/8" apart. SIZE: A measurement in extent. SKEW: A bevel-faced stone, particularly at the eaves end of a gable; a kneeler. SKEW BACK: The inclined surface on which the arch joins the supporting wall. SKID: Logs or timbers used as support and track in sliding quarry blocks and heavy cubic pieces of stone; a platform upon which dimension stone tile are temporarily stored. SLAB: Lengthwise cut of a large quarry block of stone. Or, a piece of stone cut form the quarry block prior to fabrication. SLENDERNESS RATIO: Ratio of the effective height of a member to its effective thickness or radius of gyration. SLIP JOINT: A connection which permits vertical or horizontal movement of the cladding with respect to the structural frame. SLIP MATCHING: Veneer panels all finished on the same face and place side by side forming a repetition of the same pattern in each panel. SLIP SILL: A stone sill set between the jambs. SLUSHED JOINTS: Vertical joints filled, after units are laid, by throwing mortar in with a trowel. SMOOTH FINISH: Description of the finish produced by planer machines plus the removal of objectionable tool marks. Also known as "smooth planer finish" and " smooth machine finish". SNAPPED EDGE-QUARRY CUT or BROKEN EDGE: This generally refers to a natural breaking of a stone either by hand or machine. The break should be a right angles to the top and bottom surface. SNIP: The stone area where a chip has been dislodged. SNIPPING: Breakage of very small pieces off the top or bottom edge, or a corner, of a dimension stone unit. SOAP: A masonry unit of normal face dimensions, having a nominal two-inch thickness. SOAPSTONE: A massive variety of talc with a soapy or greasy feel, used for hearths, washtubs, tabletops, curved ornaments, chemical laboratories, etc… Known for its stain proof qualities. SOCLE: Stone piece directly above a plinth on which a sculpture, statuary, bust or the like rests. SOFFIT: The exposed lower surface of any overhead component of a building such as a lintel, vault, or cornice, or an arch or entablature. SOFT-BURNED: Clay products that have been fired at a low temperature ranges, producing units of relatively high absorption’s and low compressive strengths. SOLDIER: A masonry unit laid on end with its stretcher face showing on the wall surface. SOLID MASONRY UNIT: A masonry whose net cross-sectional area in every plan parallel to the bearing surface is 75 percent or more of its cross-sectional area measured in the same plane. SOLVENT: Liquid which is used in the manufacture of paint or clear repellents to dissolve or disperse film-forming constituents, and which evaporates during drying and does not become a part of the dried film. Solvents are used to control the consistency and character of the finish and to regulate application properties. SOUNDNESS: A property of stone used to describe relative freedom from cracks, faults, and similar imperfections in the untreated stone. One of the characteristics encountered in fabrication. Marble and limestone marble have been classified into four groups: A, B, C, and D, to distinguish method and amount of repair. SPALL: As a verb, it is to flake or split away through action of the elements or pressure. As a noun, it is a chip or flake so formed. SPALTED FINISH: An edge cut from one side of the stone, leaving an undercut look. SPANDREL: A flat vertical face in an arcade bounded by the adjacent curves of two arches and the horizontal tangent of their crowns. Or, the vertical face on buildings supported by a skeleton structure between the sill of one window and the top (or lintel) of the window next below. SPANDREL WALL: That part of a stone wall above the top of a window in one story and below the sill of the window in the story above. SPLAY: A beveled or slanted surface, split division of rock by cleavage. SPECIFICATION: The description, which is part of project documents or attached to a contract, of the materials and workmanship required in a structure, and which may have related drawings. SPLAY: A beveled or slanted surface, inclined to another surface. SPLINE: A thin strip of material, such as wood or metal, inserted into the edges of two stone pieces or stone tiles to make a butt joint between them. SPLIT FACE SAWED BED: Usually split face is sawed on the beds and is split either by hand or by machine so that the surface face of the stone exhibits the natural quarry texture. SPLIT FACE MACHINE: Device that splits slabs of stone into usable thicknesses for job-fabricated stone patterns. Generally hydraulic, but may operate on impact. Blades are used to split bullets from slabs for most limestones and sandstones, but toothed bars may be used for harder stone, such as granite. SPLITSTONE: Finish obtained by diamond sawing to accurate heights, then breaking by machine to required bed widths. SPOT OR SPOTTING: An adhesive contact applied to the back of a dimensional stone veneer unit to bridge the space between the unit and the back-up wall thus helping to maintain the unit in a fixed position. Plaster of paris is used on interior vertical stone units and portland cement mortar on the exterior. SPRINGER: The stone lying first above the base of an arch. SPUR STONE: Installed at the corner of a building to prevent traffic damage. SQUARE: A plane figure having four equal sides and four interior right angles; also, edges or units that are at right angles to each other. STACKED BOND: Veneer stone that is cut to one dimensional size and installed with unbroken vertical and horizontal joints running the entire length and height of the veneered area. STAGING: Temporary platform working space in and around a building under construction or repair. STAINING: A phenomenon of discoloration on newly installed limestone. Buff limestone will exhibit a dark gray stain. This staining is similar to efflorescence but it is the organic matter in the stone which is leaching out through the release of excess water of crystallization of the setting mortar. STAIRCASE: A series of steps or flight of stairs, possibly with landings, and with handrail, newels, etc. Also known as ‘stair’ or ‘stairway’. START: A small fissure. STATUE: A sculpture of a human or animal figure. STEATITE: Soapstone in slab form, as for hearths, fireplace facings, etc… STEARATE: Salt or ester of stearic acid that functions as a water repellent by forming a "soap" within the masonry pores. Stearates are generally classified as film-formers, but can be considered penetrants in modified forms. STEP: One unit of tread and riser. STICKING: A trade term describing the butt edge repair of a broken piece of stone, now generally done with dowels, cements, or epoxies. The pieces are "stuck" together, thus the term "sticking". STICK-ON-STONE: Stone that is light and thin enough to adhere to wall surface using chemical adhesives or mastics. The backs of these stones are usually flattened and leveled. Thin building stones are sometimes also called "stick-ons". STILE: A vertical framing member of a paneled door or of stone partitions. STONE: Sometimes synonymous with rock, but more properly applied to individual blocks, masses, o fragments taken form their original formation or considered for commercial use. STONEMASON: A building craftsman skilled in constructing stone masonry. The work of masons includes such preparation of stone as is done on the job. STONEWORK: Masonry construction in stone; preparation or setting of stone for building or paving. STOOL: A flat stone, generally polished, used as an interior window sill. STOP CHAMFER: A chamfer which curves or angles to become narrower until it meets the aris. STRATIFICATION: A structure produced by deposition of sediments in beds or layers (strata), lamina, lenses, wedges, and other essentially tablular units. STRESS: Force exerted. STRETCHER: A unit of stone placed lengthwise in a course. STRIKE: Cut off with a trowel the excess mortar at the face of a joint. Also known as "struck joint." STRING: The outer support of stair ends, or the stone covering the ends. STRINGER: Defines treatment at edge of stairs, inside and outside. STRIP RUBBLE: Generally speaking, strip rubble comes from a ledge quarry. The beds of the stone while uniformly straight, are of natural cleft as the stone is removed form the ledge, and then split by machine to approximately 4" widths. STRIPS: Long pieces of stone usually low height ashlar courses where length to height ratio is at maximum for the material used. STRIPPED JOINT: A joint without mortar; an open joint. STRUCK JOINT: A joint from which excess mortar has been removed by a stroke of the trowel. STUD: An intermediate vertical member of a frame. STYOLITE: In limestone and marble, generally a bedding plane, along with differential solution of the material on each side has caused interpenetration of points, cones, or columns, forming a contact surface that is rough when separated. In cross section, the stylolitic surface has the appearance of a jagged, zigzag line of varying amplitude. The boundary may have a thin zone of insoluble materials, as clay or iron oxide. Some stylolites constitute a surface of weakness or parting in the stone, but most are tightly annealed. Sawing stone perpendicular to or at a high angle to stylolites produces much if the "veined" stone of the marble and limestone industries, and sawing at a very low angle to stylolites causes some of the "flueri" patterns. Stylolites may develop in sandstone or quartzite, butarerare. SUBCONTRACTOR: One who contracts to carry through a definite part of the general contractor’s obligation in building. SUBFLOOR: A flooring upon which a finish floor is to be laid. SUBFLUORESCENCE: Accumulation of soluble salts under or just beneath the masonry surface, formed as moisture evaporates. Subfluorescence can damage the substrate during wet/dry and freeze/thaw cycling. SUPPLIER: One who is engaged in supplying auxiliary materials, products, equipment and service to the industry. SUPPORT: An angle, plate, or stone which carries a gravity load. SURROUND: An enframement. SYENITE: Granite-like rock containing little or no quartz. TABLET: A small flat slab or surface of stone especially one bearing one or intended to bear an inscription, carving or the like. TALC: A soft mineral composed of hydrous magnesium silicate, major ingredient of soapstone. TAMPED: Tapped or pushed down to fill a space or make level. TEMPER: To moisten and mix clay, plaster, or mortar to the proper consistency. TEMPLATE: A pattern for repetitive marking or fabricating operation; made from a hard, waterproof material. TERRA COTTA: Low fired clay, either glazed or unglazed, used primarily in ornamental reliefs. TEXTURE: Three dimensional surface enrichment independent of color; any finish other than a smooth finish. TEXTURED FINISH: A rough surface finish that tends to subdue color and markings; obtained by bush hammering and machine chiseling. THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY: K-value; measure of heat-flow through a material or substance. THERMAL FINISH: A rough non-reflective finish created with the use of intense heat flaming to exfoliate the surface of the stone and expose the actual grain. Large surfaces may have shadow lines caused by overlapping of the machine or torch. THERMAL RESISTANCE: R-value; the tendency of a material to retard the flow of heat; the reciprocal of the co-efficient of heat transmission. THIN BED: A mixture of portland cement with sand, and additives that improve water retention, used as a thin mortar for installing stone tile. THICK BED MORTAR: A mortar setting bed over ½" and up to 4" thick. The minimum required " thick bed thickness" is a function of application usage, installed material, and the supporting substrate. THIN BED MORTAR: A mortar setting bed up to ½" thick. THIN BUILDING STONE: Generally stone with natural cleft front and back which is thin and light enough to adhere to a surface which special sticky mortar or " rich mud" has been applied. The pieces are generally the same thickness as flagging but smaller in surface area. The same item can also be used for flagging, caps, hearth tops, etc…. THIN STONE: Dimension units less than two inches thick. THRESHOLD LIMIT VALUE: Value of airborne toxic materials that are to be used as guides in control of health hazards and present time weighed concentrations to which all workers may be eight hours per day over extended periods of time without adverse effects. THROAT: The under-cut of a projected molding to form a drip. THROUGH STONE: Stone laid across entire thickness of a wall. TIE: Any unit of material that connects masonry to masonry or other material. TIGHT JOINT: Stone installed with a 1/32" joint. TILE: A modular unit less than 5/8" thick. TOLERANCE: Dimensional allowance made for the inability of men and machines to fabricate a product of exact dimensions. TONGUE AND GROOVE: Applied to boards or plywood having a tongue formed on one edge and a groove on the other for tight jointing. Not recommended for stone tile sub-floor. TOOLED: Dressed stone, having regular tool marks. TOOLED FINISH: Customarily are four, six, or eight parallel concave grooves to the inch. TOOLING: Compressing and shaping the face of a mortar joint with a special tool other than a trowel. TOOTHING: Constructing the temporary end of a wall with the end stretcher of alternate courses projecting. Projecting units are toothers. TRACERY: Ornamentation of panels, circular windows, window heads, etc… A curving mullion of a stone window, as in Gothic architecture. TRANSFORMED SECTION: An assumed section of one material having the same elastic properties as the original section of two materials. TRANSITION: The slow change from one distinct style to another distinct style following it. TRANSLUCENCE: The light-emitting quality of certain marble varieties containing a crystal structure capable of transmitting light. TRANSOM: Horizontal member subdividing a window opening. TRAVERTINE: A variety of limestone which is a precipitant from cave or spring waters. Some varieties of travertine take a polish and have been marketed as travertine marble. TRAVERTINE MARBLE: A variety of limestone regarded as a product of chemical precipitation from hot springs. Travertine is cellular with the cells usually concentrated in thin layers that display a stalactitic structure. Some that take a polish are sold as marble and may be classified as travertine marble under the class of "commercial marble". TREAD: A flat stone used as the top walking surface on steps. TRIM: Stone used as decorative items only, such as sills, coping, enframements, etc….with the facing of another material. TRIMMER ARCH: A stone arch, usually a low rise arch, used for supporting a fireplace hearth. TUCKPOINTING: Pointing of irregularly shaped masonry units with mortar colored to match the units followed by placement of fine stripes of a contrasting colored mortar on top of the first mortar. Also used, incorrectly, for repointing. TUFA: Calcareous deposit from saturated limy waters. TUFF: Cemented volcanic ash; many varieties included. TUMBLED MARBLE: A special finish for marble, limestone marble and limestone obtained by rotating pre-cut pieces in a mixer or other container. This rounds the edges and arrises. TURNED WORK: In stone fabrication pieces with circular outline, as columns, balusters, and some bases and capitals. Generally cut on a lathe, although spheres and some other shapes may be cut by hand. TURNTABLE: A platform flush with floor or tracks, capable of being rotated horizontally. TWO-MAN BOULDERS: Rough stones under 400 pounds. U VALUE: The overall heat transmission coefficient. Expressed in BTU per inch, per hour, per square foot, per degree Fahrenheit of temperature difference from air to air of a given building section. This is always the final calculation used to determine insulation specifications. UNIT: A piece of fabricated dimensional cubic or thin stone. UNDERCUT: Cut so as to present an overhang part, as a drip mold. UNDERLAYMENT: Factory proportioned combination of portland cement, sand and additives used with or without a latex liquid to level an uneven substrate and to provide a suitable stone floor tile setting surface. URINAL SCREEN: A thin stone panel used as a privacy partition between urinals. V JOINT: A joint that has been shaped with a tool to form a "V." VAPOR BARRIER: A material, usually in thin sheet form or combined with a sheathing material, designed to prevent the passage of moisture through a wall or floor with the aim of avoiding condensation within the wall. VAPOR DIFFUSION: Transfer of water in partially dry solid from regions of high concentrates to those of low concentrates. VAULT: Arched stone roof. VEIN: A layer, seam, or narrow irregular body of mineral material different from the surrounding formation. VEIN CUT: Unique to the marble industry, it is a cut perpendicular to the natural bedding plane. VENEER: An outside, non-bearing load wythe of masonry used as a facing material. VENEER STONE: Any stone used as a decorative facing material which is not meant to be load bearing. VENEER WALL: A non-loadbearing stone wall securely anchored to the back-up wall. VENTING: Method used to allow air and moisture to escape to the outside from the wall cavity. VERDE ANTIQUE: A commercial marble composed chiefly of massive serpentine and capable of taking a high polish. It is commonly veined with carbonate mineral, chiefly calcite and dolomite. VERMICULATED: With dressing of irregularity shaped sinkings, leaving worm-like ridges between. VERTICAL JOINT: See head joint. VINYL RESIN: These include products in which the unsaturated vinyl grouping is involved. Vinyl resins include polyvinyl, acetate, polyvinyl chloride, copolymers of these, the acrylic methacrylic resins, the polystyrene resins, etc… VITRIFICATION: The condition resulting when kiln temperatures are so high as to fuse grains and close pores of a clay product, making the mass impervious. VOUSSOIR: One of the stones in an arch between the impost and keystone. VUG: A cavity in rock; sometimes lines or filled with either amorphous or crystalline material; common in calcareous rocks such as marble or limestone. WAINSCOT: An interior veneer of stone less than full wall height. WALL PLATE: A horizontal member anchored to a masonry wall to which other structural elements may be attached. Also called head plate. WALLS: Types include: Bearing: A wall supporting a vertical load in addition to its own weight. Cavity: A wall in which the inner and outer wythes are separated by an air space but tied together with metal ties. Composite: Wall in which the facing and backing are of different materials and bonded together with bond stones to exert a common reaction tinder load. Veneer or Faced: A wall in which a thin facing and the backing are of different materials, but not bonded as to exert a common reaction under load. Fire wall: Any wall that subdivides a building so as to prevent the spread of fire and that extends continuously from the foundation through the roof. Masonry bonded hollow wall: A hollow wall in which the facing and backing are tied together with masonry units. Non-bearing wall: A wall that supports no vertical load other than its own weight. Panel wall: An exterior non-loadbearing wall in skeleton frame construction, wholly supported at each story. Parapet wall: That part of any wall entirely above the roof. Screen wall: A wall in which an ornamental effect is achieved by using masonry units with open spaces or laying units with open spaces between them. Also called a pierced or perforated wall. Shear wall: A wall that resists horizontal forces applied in the plane of the wall. Single wythe wall: A wall of only one masonry unit in wall thickness. WALL TIE: A bonder or metal piece which connects wythes of masonry to each other or to other materials. WALL TIE, CAVITY: A rigid, corrosion resistant metal tie which bond two wythes of a cavity wall. It is usually steel, 3/16" in diameter, and formed in a ‘Z’ shape or rectangle. WARPED: Generally a condition experienced only in flagging or flagstone materials; very common with flagstone materials that are taken from the ground and used in their natural state. To eliminate warping in stones it would be necessary to further finish the material such as machining, sand rubbing, honing, or polishing. WASH: A sloped area or the area water will run over. WATER BASE: Water repellents and latex paint coatings containing water soluble or water dispersible binders. WATER OF CRYSTALLIZATION: The extra water required to assist in the crystallization process when forming a hydrate (mortar, cement, concrete, plaster, etc…) When the hydrate gives up this excess water, at ambient temperatures, the result is a surface deposit known as efflorescence or staining. WATERPROOFING: A coating used to treat the surface of the substrate, preventing liquid from entering, but allowing water vapor transmission, WATER REPELLENT: Any of several types of clear liquids used to render masonry wall less absorptive. These treatments are said to maintain a material’s ability to breathe away moisture, as distinct from "sealer" which form impervious, non-breathing coatings. WATER RETENTIVITY: The property of a mortar which prevents the rapid loss of water to masonry units of high suction. It prevents bleeding or water gain when mortar is in contact with relatively impervious units. WATER TABLE: A continuous course of building units on the outside of a wall, near the ground, with a horizontal projection or ledge. It is often shaped with a slope and a drip to limit the amount of water passing over the wall or surface below. WAXING: A trade expression used in fabrication of interior marble to describe the process of filling natural voids with cements, shellac, or other materials. WEAR: The artificial removal of material, or impairment of the stone surface finish, through friction or impact. WEATHERED JOINT: A slope to the outside of the upper part of a joint to shed water. WEATHERING: Natural alteration by either chemical or mechanical processes due to the action of the atmosphere, surface waters, soil and other ground waters, or to temperature changes. Changes by weathering are not necessarily undesirable or harmful. WEB: The cross wall connecting the face shells of a hollow masonry unit. WEDGING: Splitting of stone by driving wedges into planes of weakness. WEEP HOLES: An opening for drainage in veneer joints or in the structural components supporting the veneer. WETTING: The ability of a coating to flow out, spread, or penetrate a substrate. WHITING: A chalk pigment used in paint and putty. WHOLESALER: One who purchases dimensional stone in all forms for resale to the trade. WIND (wined): A warp in a semi-finished stone slab to be removed by further fabrication. WINDOW SILL: The bottom section of a window frame and/or the bottom section of an exterior masonry window opening. WINDOW STOOL: A narrow shelf fitted across the lower part on the inside of a window opening. WIRE SAW: A sawing device consisting of one or more wire cables, running over pulleys used to cut natural stone into blocks and slabs by tension and fed slurry of an abrasive and water cuts by abrasion. WIRE SAWN: A method of cutting stone by passing a twisted, multi-strand wire over the stone, and immersing the wire in a slurry of abrasive material. WRAP AROUND: The ability of a coating to cover all areas of the substrate to which it is applied, including edges. Also, the effect of an electrostatic charge upon a coating and the ability of the coating to cover all exposed conductive areas. WYTHE: A masonry wall, one stone or brick thick, that either faces a back-up or is a back-up wall and secured to its neighboring wythes by bond stone or grout; or forms either half of a cavity wall, and is attached to the other half by metal ties. This site is optimized for 800x600 Resolution Copyrighted 2004 Huckleberry Stone Supply. All rights reserved.
40-year-old fetus found inside 82-year-old woman An 82-year-old Colombian woman sought medical attention, recently, complaining of severe abdominal pains. An x-ray revealed, though, that the woman's pain was caused by a lithopedion. Also called stone babies, lithopedia are fetuses that implant themselves outside of the uterus and are too big to be reabsorbed by the body. Essentially, the fetus then goes through a mummification process and becomes calcified, hence the "stone baby" terminology. However, medical professionals at Tunjuelito Hospital in Bogota, Colombia, discovered that it was in fact a rare lithopedion – or stone baby. The phenomenon occurs when a baby dies during an abdominal pregnancy but is too large to be reabsorbed by the maternal body, and is instead encased in calcium. The woman had arrived at the hospital complaining of diarrhoea [sic], on Monday this week, and has now been transferred for surgery. Shudder. You learn something new every day. [Metro]
References in periodicals archive ? When people pray, they evoke a physiological response that's opposite to the stress response: the relaxation response," says Herbert Benson, M. Even brief meditation triggers the relaxation response, an aspect of the parasympathetic nervous system, which boosts well-being, cognition, immunity and more. Learn a relaxation response technique (such as meditation, tai chi, or yoga) and use it daily to counteract the harmful effects of stress. One of the most effective is to practice meditation, yoga, deep breathing, or repetitive prayer--all of which help produce the relaxation response, a physiologic state of deep rest. They analysed sitting meditation of common forms such as: Samatha; Vipassana (Insight Meditation); Mindful Meditation; Zen Meditation (Zazen); Raja Yoga; Loving-Kindness (Metta); Transcendental Meditation; and Relaxation Response. Benson, using the Relaxation Response is beneficial as it counteracts physiological effects of stress and the fight or flight response. Guinosso attributed the relaxation response to correct breathing: 'It's meditative. Many studies have shown that eliciting the relaxation response, described as a state of deep rest, relieves feelings of stress and anxiety and can also reduce blood pressure and heart rate. The two primary interventions chosen were the relaxation response for immediate mediation of the stress response and mindfulness for long-term resilience (Cunningham, Bartels, Grant, & Ralph, 2013; Kemper & Khirallah, 2015).
George-VH-Head-ShotIt is possible for a Hybrid Heat Pump System to make an air-to-air heat pump nearly as energy efficient as a ground-source system? Plus, have the added feature of boosting the overall efficiency of a ventilation system, such as an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) or heat recovery ventilator (HRV)? Inventor George Van Hoesen not only knows that it's possible but he has data to prove it. George's invention also makes the outside heat pump condenser nearly theft proof and provides sequential air filtration options. The tentative webinar date is late summer 2016. Everyone who signs up for a basic (free) membership to this website will receive registration information for this webinar. Don't delay, become a free member today!
Honors Theses Timothy Dombrowski Raul Ordonez, Ph.D, S.M, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Temesguen Kebede, Ph.D, S.M., Robotics Laboratory Electrical Engineering Publication Date Document Type The medical industry is constantly performing research and trying to combat various diseases that afflict humans. Despite advancements in technology, there still remain diseases that have no cure but seem prime candidates for neurologically controlled robots. One such category of diseases consists of various muscular dystrophic diseases. Diseases such as ALS and Parkinson’s have limited options regarding treatment, but by brain controlled interfaces (BCI’s), robotics can help mitigate the impact on a patient’s quality of life. By utilizing a functioning mind, an electroencephalographic (EEG) helmet can be used to control various exoskeletal systems and even prosthesis in order to compensate for a damaged motor system. Through the use of neurologically controlled robotics, a user’s motor control and motor strength can be rehabilitated and maintained despite the effects of muscular dystrophic diseases. The goal of this project is to use this experiment to demonstrate the current effectiveness of brain actuated robotics and telepresence that utilize an EEG Sensor. From this assessment, recommendations and further improvements can be made to this existing technology for it to be better suited for electrical engineering and biomedical applications, while simultaneously taking the technology into a new realm of application. Permission Statement Electrical and Computer Engineering
The crab claw is a type of sailing rig developed originally by the Polynesians. It is popular with traditional peoples throughout the Pacific Basin, South America, and Western Africa. It consists of a flat triangular sail stretched between upper and lower booms. A short mast supports the upper boom. Think of a lateen sail with its foot fastened to a boom. The intersection of the booms is at the tack, and fastened near the bow of the boat. It shares a key disadvantage with the lateen sail, in that the mast overlaps the sail, making tacking difficult. That, however, is outweighed by the simplicity and efficiency of the rig. According to wind tunnel tests performed by CA Marchaj, and published in his book Sail Performance, the primitive crab claw is the most efficient sailing rig, beating out the more traditional Bermuda rig on all points of sail with the exception of close hauled, and even there it loses by a tiny amount. On a broad reach, however, the crab claw is absolutely dominant, with twice the driving force of an equivalent Bermuda rig. However, in practice, a well-managed crab claw can beat out a Bermuda rig even there, because the center of effort is much lower than a Bermuda rig of equivalent area. As a result, it produces less healing moment. As a result, it can be pushed harder and produce a greater effective drive.
Journal of Pest Science , Volume 91, Issue 1, pp 219–226 \| Cite as Rapid harvest schedules and fruit removal as non-chemical approaches for managing spotted wing Drosophila • Heather Leach • Josh Moses • Eric Hanson • Philip Fanning • Rufus Isaacs Original Paper Spotted wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), has caused significant economic losses to small fruit and berry growers throughout the USA and Europe since its invasion. This pest can lay many eggs over its lifetime within ripening and ripe berries, causing yield loss and the risk of fruit contamination. Zero tolerance for this pest has led to increased use of broad-spectrum insecticides to control it, which are costly and pose many other sustainability and pest management concerns. There is an urgent need to evaluate management strategies that can decrease reliance on chemical controls and mitigate economic losses. Over two growing seasons, we compared harvest schedules for their effect on infestation by D. suzukii, revealing that fruit harvested every 1 or 2 days had significantly fewer D. suzukii larvae than a 3-day harvest schedule. Furthermore, we found that yield per unit effort was highest on a 2-day schedule. Sanitation of the crop is another important component of a successful integrated pest management program, and we found that bagging infested waste berries killed 99% of larvae after 32 h, with higher fruit temperatures in clear bags than white or black bags. In combination, these methods can reduce the effects of this invasive pest on raspberry production. This study will provide guidance to growers on culturally based IPM tactics to decrease reliance on chemical management. Rubus idaeus Cultural control Integrated pest management Harvest frequency Sanitation We thank Abigail Cohen, Emilie Cole, John Jentzen, Jaclyn Stone, and Taylor Zachar for technical assistance on this project. This research was supported by the TunnelBerries project funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture, under The Specialty Crops Research Initiative program (agreement 2014-51181-22380). Additional funding was provided by the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program (Award 2014-38640-22156). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the US Department of Agriculture. Compliance with ethical standards Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. 1. Aly MF, Kraus DA, Burrack HJ (2016) Effects of postharvest cold storage on the development and survival of immature Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in artificial diet and fruit. J Econ Entomol. doi: 10.1093/jee/tow289 Google Scholar 2. 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This year’s theme is SHADO+W. What can we learn by examining SHADO+W? What beauty exists in the darkness cast? What needs to be seen? Powerful yet immaterial, shadow describes that which is obscured from the light. Shadow is visible but it cannot be grasped. Ever shifting in relation to the source of light, shadow dances, elusive and beguiling. Are we living in shadow times? What does it mean to live in the shadow of something, someone …? Solar and lunar eclipses exemplify the power and impact potential of shadow. Shadow tells us where the light is. What lurks in the shadows? Shadow is a teacher, reporting a version of what is true. The sundial marks time in shadow. Shadow can exaggerate and distort. Shadow is mysterious. To shadow is to follow closely. By highlighting shadow we hope to gain a fuller understanding, illuminating the rich material and medicine in the fertile depths. Contact Us Not readable? Change text. captcha txt Start typing and press Enter to search
Tuesday, November 28, 2017 The Problem with Hate Speech Laws Via John S Quarterman on Flickr Many jurisdictions in Europe have laws that criminalise hate speech and there is no shortage of campaigners requesting such prohibitions. The debate is particularly acute on college campuses, where the protection of minority students from such hate speech is increasingly being viewed as central to the university’s mission to provide a ‘safe space’ for education. That’s not to say that hate speech prohibitions have proved uncontroversial. On the contrary, they are among the most controversial prohibitions that are discussed today. Some people feel that it is difficult to adequately define hate speech, that it is hard to explain why hate speech is harmful (if it is harmful), and that prohibiting it conflicts with other important values such as the value of free speech. Several philosophers have tried to engage with these controversies. Steven Heyman and Jeremy Waldron are among the most prominent. They have provided sophisticated philosophical justifications for prohibitions on hate speech. They have done so by arguing that hate speech undermines the liberal democratic commitment to recognising human dignity and equality. In a recent(ish) article, Robert Mark Simpson has argued that their justifications are flawed. In this post, I want to look at Simpson’s argument. I do so partly because it is interesting in its own right and partly because it reveals certain problems with other attempts to outlaw/prohibit behaviour that is linked to the systematic oppression of minorities. 1. The Heyman-Waldron Argument for Hate Speech We’ll need to start by defining ‘hate speech’. After all, we cannot understand the potential justifications for its prohibition, without understanding what it is. Here’s the definition favoured by Simpson (which comes from earlier work by Corlett and Francescotti): Hate Speech: Is any symbolic, communicative action which wilfully expresses intense antipathy towards some group or towards an individual on the basis of membership in some group. This is quite a general definition. Examples might make it more concrete. Using a racial slurs (e.g. ‘kike’, ‘gypsy’) to describe someone who belongs to a particular racial or ethnic minority might count as hate speech according to this definition. But it is hard to be overly concrete on this matter. It is all very context-dependent. The specific forms that hate speech takes will vary, to some extent, from country to country and culture to culture. It will also vary depending on the pragmatic context in which the speech is uttered. It seems plausible to suppose that hate speech, so defined, can be harmful. But the harms it entails could be quite variable. It could cause harm to a specific individual in the form of psychological trauma or upset. But lots of speech, some of it not falling within the definition of hate speech, could cause such harm. For example, describing someone’s work as ‘incompetent’ or ‘abominable’ could cause a great deal of psychological upset, but it would not count as hate speech, nor would we think it requires special legal prohibition. For this reason, the modern tendency is not to think about the harm of hate speech in terms of direct harms to specific individuals, but rather as a type of collective institutional harm — something that contributes to a social climate or set of institutions in which members of minority groups continue to be oppressed. This makes the harm of hate speech more abstract and indirect. The key feature of Heyman and Waldron’s work has been to flesh out this ‘institutional harm’ view of hate speech in more detail. There are subtle differences between their arguments, but they are grounded in the same basic idea. They argue that hate speech is problematic because of the signals it sends to members of minority groups concerning their moral and legal status within a given community. They both argue that modern liberal democratic states are founded upon a principle of moral equality. This principle holds that all people, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender (etc) are moral equals. No one individual has a superior moral or legal status to another. And they both argue that the problem with hate speech is that it tells members of minority groups that they do not share in this equal moral status. Heyman’s version of the argument focuses on fundamental rights and how language signals recognition of the ‘other’ as a rights-bearer. Waldron focuses more on the gap between de jure equality and de facto equality. Many liberal democratic legal systems include provisions that formally recognise the equality of all persons, but then fail to live up to this ideal in practice. He thinks the problem with hate speech is that it makes members of minority groups less confident in the official commitments of the system. They no longer feel that the community is a safe space for them. But how exactly does hate speech do this? It seems implausible to suppose that one particular instance of hate speech can shake the foundations of the legal order in the manner envisaged by Heyman and Waldron, or undermine an individual’s confidence in a social system to such an extent that they no longer feel safe. One neo-Nazi does not make for a system of oppression. Simpson suggests that an analogy between hate speech and environmental pollution can explain the idea: The Pollution Analogy: “[T]hose who tend to hold this view of hate speech tend to think of individual acts of hate speech operating in a way that is analogous to pollution. Individual acts of pollution can inflict discrete harm on specifiable victims. Many acts of pollution don’t inflict harm in that way. However, even when there are no specifiable victims, all acts of pollution have a degrading impact on environmental systems whose degradation beyond a certain point does inflict harms on individuals….Analogously, acts of hate speech do not always directly harm specifiable individuals, but they all contribute, so one may argue, to the creation and sustenance of a social climate in which harms and disadvantages redound to members of vulnerable social classes.” (Simpson 2013) That’s the core of the Heyman-Waldron line of argument. Hate speech should be prohibited because it contributes to a climate of intimidation that cumulatively degrades and subordinates particular minority groups. 2. The Injustice of Hate Speech Prohibitions So what’s wrong with this argument? It sounds superficially plausible, doesn’t it? Why should we reject it? Simpson’s counterargument is very straightforward. He agrees that the institutional harm highlighted by Heyman and Waldron is superficially plausible. In fact, he thinks it may even be true that individual acts of hate speech cumulatively result in a polluted social climate. The problem is that hate speech laws are typically targeted at the individual acts, not the cumulative result. Unless it can be shown that the individual act meaningfully contributes to the institutional harm, imposing a sanction on the individual act is not just. Here’s the argument in more formal terms (this is my reconstruction): • (1) Hate speech laws target individual behaviour (i.e. individual acts of hate speech) • (2) If the harm of hate speech is institutional/structural, hate speech laws can only be just if individual acts contribute meaningfully to that institutional/structural harm. • (3) The harm of hate speech is institutional/structural (conclusion of the Heyman-Waldron argument) • (4) Individual acts of hate speech do not meaningfully contribute to that institutional/structural harm. • (5) Therefore, hate speech laws are unjust. The controversial premises here are (2) and (4). Premise (2) is working off an intuitive theory of causal responsibility and just punishment. The idea underlying it is that an individual subject S can only be rightly held responsible for a harm X, if their behaviour was a significant or primary causal factor in X. This is a theory of just punishment that applies in many areas of law, in particular criminal and civil law, where it has to be shown that ‘but for’ an individual’s behaviour a harmful result would not have occurred. You could certainly challenge this intuitive theory of punishment. People already do so in the context of harms caused by complex organisations or autonomous technology, but it is still the core of our intuitive theory of just punishment. Premise (4) is the one that Simpson dedicates most of his time to. He thinks it is fairly obviously true that an individual act of hate speech cannot, by itself, create a system of social exclusion, particularly when the legal system includes provisions that formally protect equal status. He thinks that to assert the contrary view is to assign too much importance to the actions of outlier individuals. But he notes that some participants in the hate speech debate say that their arguments do not depend on making complex causal claims of this sort. Waldron is a good example. His argument is that the mere presence of hate speech — any hate speech — is enough to degrade the social environment. He is not saying that hate speech is the root cause of systematic inequality. Furthermore, he doesn’t focus on punishment in his justification of hate speech laws. He focuses on the expressive and deterrent functions of the law instead. He thinks, contra free speech advocates like JS Mill, that the government should interfere in the ‘marketplace of ideas’ because this could have a positive long-term effect on the social environment. Simpson argues that this creates a problem for Waldron. On the one hand, he is explicating the harm of hate speech in terms of its mere presence and visibility in society. On the other hand, he is defending hate speech laws in terms of their long-term, consequential impact on social order. The former claim tries to sidestep complex causal questions; the latter engages with them directly. This leads to a tension in the argument. The only way for Waldron to justify the claim concerning the consequential impact of hate speech laws on society is to make an assumption about the meaningful causal role of hate speech in creating such an environment. This buts up against the view that Simpson defends in premise (4). Simpson goes on to point out that it is, in any event, unlikely that the mere visibility or presence of hate speech will undermine an individual’s confidence in a social order that otherwise protects their equal status. The hate speech has to have some credibility behind it, i.e. the individual will have to believe that the hateful views will be taken up by other players and actors in the social system. This, in turn, gets us into debates about the causal links between individual acts and collective outcomes. 3. Conclusion That’s basically it (I told you this would be brief). Heyman and Waldron argue that the harm of hate speech lies in its contribution to a social order in which minorities are excluded from equal moral status. They both then seek to justify hate speech laws in terms of their ability to mitigate this exclusionary effect. The problem with both arguments is that the use of an individualised tool — the hate speech law — to solve a problem that is not the causal product of any one individual’s actions. This does not sit well with an intuitive theory of just punishment. There are, of course, some solutions to this problem. For one thing, Simpson’s objection is less impressive when we are dealing with hate speech emanating from individuals with important social influence or power. It’s more plausible to claim that their particular actions will have a meaningful effect on a social order. Furthermore, it is not as if the law (or legal theorists) have never dealt with this basic problem that Simpson identifies before. There are areas of tort law — e.g. toxic torts — where it can be difficult to prove that particular actions were the ‘but for’ cause of a harmful outcome. An example might be litigation concerning exposure to asbestos and the disease mesothelioma. A single exposure can be enough to cause the disease but this makes it difficult to prove that a particular employer is responsible for the harmful exposure (the same problem arises when the disease is a cumulative result of many exposures that are attributable to different causes). Nevertheless, courts have been willing to assign legal responsibility on the basis of alternative theories of causation and public policy considerations. Similarly, there is an active debate at the moment about legal responsibility for actions that are caused through technological systems (e.g. robots). Philosophers like Luciano Floridi, for example, favour a theory of distributed causal responsibility, according to which, every node with a causal system that is responsible for some outcome bears some of the blame for that outcome. One could imagine similar theories being adopted in the debate about hate speech. This would mean making a break with our intuitive theory of just punishment, and further assessing the consequences of doing that. Unfortunately, such an assessment lies beyond the scope of this blogpost. No comments: Post a Comment
class Person(val name:String,var age:Int ) def person = new Person("Kumar",12) person.age = 20 These lines of code outputs 12, even though person.age=20 was successfully executed. I found that this happens because I used def in def person = new Person("Kumar",12). If I use var or val the output is 20. I understand the default is val in scala. This: def age = 30 age = 45 a compilation error because it is a val by default. Why do the first set of lines above not work properly, and yet also don't error? There are three ways of defining things in Scala: • def defines a method • val defines a fixed value (which cannot be modified) • var defines a variable (which can be modified) Looking at your code: def person = new Person("Kumar",12) This defines a new method called person. You can call this method only without () because it is defined as parameterless method. For empty-paren method, you can call it with or without '()'. If you simply write: then you are calling this method (and if you don't assign the return value, it will just be discarded). In this line of code: person.age = 20 what happens is that you first call the person method, and on the return value (an instance of class Person) you are changing the age member variable. And the last line: Here you are again calling the person method, which returns a new instance of class Person (with age set to 12). It's the same as this: • 21 To confuse things, the internal state of a val can be changed but the object referred to by a val cannot. A val is not a constant. – pferrel Apr 24 '14 at 21:20 • 3 To further confuse things, val (and maybe var as well, I haven't tried it) can be used to define a function. When using def to define a function/method the body of the def is evaluated every time it is called. When using val it is evaluated only at the point of definition. See… – melston May 17 '15 at 15:07 • 1 @melston Yes, but a method and a function are also not exactly the same thing. – Jesper May 17 '15 at 15:32 • 3 to even further confuse things, def can also be used to define member variables of a class, not necessarily to use var. – Peiti Peter Li Aug 13 '15 at 7:08 • 2 @pferrel not really confusing. Same as with Java's final. You can mark a List as final, but could modify its contents. – jFrenetic Jan 7 '17 at 0:40 I'd start by the distinction that exists in Scala between def, val and var. • def - defines an immutable label for the right side content which is lazily evaluated - evaluate by name. • val - defines an immutable label for the right side content which is eagerly/immediately evaluated - evaluated by value. • var - defines a mutable variable, initially set to the evaluated right side content. Example, def scala> def something = 2 + 3 * 4 something: Int scala> something // now it's evaluated, lazily upon usage res30: Int = 14 Example, val scala> val somethingelse = 2 + 3 * 5 // it's evaluated, eagerly upon definition somethingelse: Int = 17 Example, var scala> var aVariable = 2 * 3 aVariable: Int = 6 scala> aVariable = 5 aVariable: Int = 5 According to above, labels from def and val cannot be reassigned, and in case of any attempt an error like the below one will be raised: scala> something = 5 * 6 <console>:8: error: value something_= is not a member of object $iw something = 5 * 6 When the class is defined like: scala> class Person(val name: String, var age: Int) defined class Person and then instantiated with: scala> def personA = new Person("Tim", 25) personA: Person an immutable label is created for that specific instance of Person (i.e. 'personA'). Whenever the mutable field 'age' needs to be modified, such attempt fails: scala> personA.age = 44 personA.age: Int = 25 as expected, 'age' is part of a non-mutable label. The correct way to work on this consists in using a mutable variable, like in the following example: scala> var personB = new Person("Matt", 36) personB: Person = Person@59cd11fe scala> personB.age = 44 personB.age: Int = 44 // value re-assigned, as expected as clear, from the mutable variable reference (i.e. 'personB') it is possible to modify the class mutable field 'age'. I would still stress the fact that everything comes from the above stated difference, that has to be clear in mind of any Scala programmer. • I do not think the above explanation is correct. See the other answers. – Per Mildner Apr 23 at 14:40 def person = new Person("Kumar", 12) you are defining a function/lazy variable which always returns a new Person instance with name "Kumar" and age 12. This is totally valid and the compiler has no reason to complain. Calling person.age will return the age of this newly created Person instance, which is always 12. When writing person.age = 45 you assign a new value to the age property in class Person, which is valid since age is declared as var. The compiler will complain if you try to reassign person with a new Person object like person = new Person("Steve", 13) // Error To provide another perspective, "def" in Scala means something that will be evaluated each time when it's used, while val is something that is evaluated immediately and only once. Here, the expression def person = new Person("Kumar",12) entails that whenever we use "person" we will get a new Person("Kumar",12) call. Therefore it's natural that the two "person.age" are non-related. This is the way I understand Scala(probably in a more "functional" manner). I'm not sure if def defines a method val defines a fixed value (which cannot be modified) var defines a variable (which can be modified) is really what Scala intends to mean though. I don't really like to think that way at least... As Kintaro already says, person is a method (because of def) and always returns a new Person instance. As you found out it would work if you change the method to a var or val: val person = new Person("Kumar",12) Another possibility would be: def person = new Person("Kumar",12) val p = person However, person.age=20 in your code is allowed, as you get back a Person instance from the person method, and on this instance you are allowed to change the value of a var. The problem is, that after that line you have no more reference to that instance (as every call to person will produce a new instance). This is nothing special, you would have exactly the same behavior in Java: class Person{ public int age; private String name; public Person(String name; int age) { = name; this.age = age; public String name(){ return name; } public Person person() { return new Person("Kumar", 12); person().age = 20; System.out.println(person().age); //--> 12 Let's take this: class Person(val name:String,var age:Int ) def person =new Person("Kumar",12) and rewrite it with equivalent code class Person(val name:String,var age:Int ) def person =new Person("Kumar",12) (new Person("Kumar", 12)).age_=(20) println((new Person("Kumar", 12)).age) See, def is a method. It will execute each time it is called, and each time it will return (a) new Person("Kumar", 12). And these is no error in the "assignment" because it isn't really an assignment, but just a call to the age_= method (provided by var). Your Answer
InnardsInnInmostInmateInmarriageInletInlandInky-BlackInnateInnate ReflexInnerInner CircleInnermostInnersoleInnkeeperInnocenceInnocencyInnocentInnocentlyInnocents' Day 1. Innate, Born, Natural : پیدائشی : Being talented through inherited qualities. An innate talent. A natural leader.+ More Intelligent - having the capacity for thought and reason especially to a high degree. 2. Innate, Congenital, Inborn : پیدائشی : Present at birth but not necessarily hereditary; acquired during fetal development. Acquired - ماحول سےحاصل شدہ - gotten through environmental forces; "acquired characteristics (such as a suntan or a broken nose) cannot be passed on". But, Just, Merely, Only, Simply - بس - and nothing more; "Just go outside". Development, Evolution - تشکیل - a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage); "the development of his ideas took many years". During - دوران - At some time in; concurrently with; "kindly don't sleep during my lectures". Ancestral, Hereditary, Patrimonial, Transmissible - آبائی - inherited or inheritable by established rules (usually legal rules) of descent; "ancestral home". Familial, Genetic, Hereditary, Inherited, Transmissible, Transmitted - خاندانی - occurring among members of a family usually by heredity; "an inherited disease". Necessarily, Needfully - ضروری طور پر - in an essential manner; "such expenses are necessarily incurred". Non, Not - نہیں - negation of a word or group of words; "Will not go like that". Present, Present Tense - فعل حال - a verb tense that expresses actions or states at the time of speaking. Gifted, Talented - ذہین - endowed with talent or talents; "You seem gifted". Through - رواں - (of a route or journey etc.) continuing without requiring stops or changes; "a through street".
What is a 'Value Date' A value date is a future date used in determining the value of a product that fluctuates in price. Typically, you will see the use of value dates in determining the payment of financial products and accounts where there is a possibility for discrepancies due to differences in the timing of valuation. Such financial products include forward currency contracts, option contracts, and the interest payable or receivable on personal accounts. The value date is also referred to as "valuta." Value Date in Banking When a payee presents a check to the bank, the bank credits the payee’s account. However, it could take days until the bank receives the funds from the payor’s bank, assuming the payor and payee have accounts with different financial institutions. If the payee has access to the funds immediately, the receiving bank runs the risk of recording a negative cash flow. To avoid this risk, the bank will estimate the day it will receive the money from the paying institution, and hold the funds in the payee’s account until the expected day of receipt. In effect, the bank will post the amount of the deposit for a couple of days, after which the payee can use the funds. The date the funds are released is referred to as the value date. Likewise, when a wire transfer is made from an account in one bank to an account in another bank, the value date is the date on which the incoming wire becomes available to the receiving bank and its customer. Value Date in Trading When there is a possibility for discrepancies due to differences in the timing of asset valuation, the value date is used. In Forex trading, the value date is regarded as the delivery date on which counterparties to a transaction agree to settle their respective obligations by making payments and transferring ownership. Due to differences in time zones and bank processing delays, the value date for spot trades in foreign currencies is usually set two days after a transaction is agreed on. The value date is the day that the currencies are actually traded, not the date on which the traders agree to the exchange rate. The value date is also used in the bond market to calculate accrued interest on a bond. Calculation of accrued interest takes into account three key dates – trade date, settlement date, and value date. The trade date is the date on which a transaction was executed. The settlement date is the date on which a transaction is completed. The value date is usually, but not always, the settlement date. The settlement date can only fall on a business day - if a bond was traded on Friday (trade date), the transaction will be deemed complete on Monday, not Saturday. The value date can fall on any day as seen when calculating accrued interest which takes into account every day of a given month. The value date is also used when evaluating coupon bonds that make semi-annual interest payments. For example, in the case of savings bonds, the interest is compounded semi-annually so the value date is every six months. This removes any uncertainty for investors since their calculations of interest payments will be the same as the government's. 1. Odd Date The odd date is seen with some futures contracts for bonds and ... 2. Declaration Date The declaration date is the date on which a company announces ... 3. Future Dating Future dating refers to crediting a bank account to which the ... 4. Spot Date The spot date is the date at which a transaction is settled. 5. Date Certain Date certain is a term identifying the date on/by which the specified ... 6. Payment Date A payment date is the date set by a company when it will issue ... Related Articles 1. Retirement An Introduction To Target Date Funds Target date mutual funds can be an alternative to bonds and CDs for investors who do not wish to actively manage their savings. The reason: These financial products periodically reallocate fund ... 2. Investing Vanguard Blows Past Rivals in Target Date Fund Assets Vanguard had a strong 2017 when it came to target date funds, blowing past its rivals in terms of assets under management. 3. Investing Simple Math for Fixed-Coupon Corporate Bonds 4. Investing What's Accrued Interest? 5. Investing Tax Tips for Employee Stock Purchase Plans Tax rules for sales of employee stock purchase plan shares can be tricky. Here is what you need to consider. 6. Financial Advisor Income tax on mutual funds: The basics 7. Financial Advisor 7 Questions to Consider Before Investing in Bonds 8. Financial Advisor Calculate PV of different bond type with Excel 9. Investing The Difference Between Enterprise Value and Equity Value Trading Center
Polyplectron emphanum Family : Phasianidae Text © Dr Davide Guadagnini English translation by Mario Beltramini Polyplectron emphanum lives in South-East Asia and belongs to pheasants family © Giuseppe Mazza The picturesque Palawan peacock-pheasant (Polyplectron emphanum Temminck 1831) is considered as one most beautiful (or even the most beautiful) pheasants belonging to a small group of tropical pheasants of South-East Asia indicated under the generic term of “peacock-pheasants”. It belongs to the order of the Galliforms (Galliformes), to the well known family of the Pheasants (Phasianidae), to the genus Polyplectron and to the species Polyplectron emphanum The Palawan peacock-pheasant has been occasionally considered as belonging to a superspecies along with the Malay peacock-pheasant (Polyplectron malacense) and to the Bornean (Polyplectron schleiermacheri) one. The name of the genus “polyplectron” comes from the Greek “plektron” = plectrum, the instrument used for plucking string instruments, with reference to the spur. It is therefore a pheasant having paws with more spurs. The common name of “pheasant” refers to the same particularity. The name of the species “emphanum” comes from the Greek “emphaino” and means “conspicuous, remarkable” referring to the splendid look of this bird. As the name states, the species is distributed in the humid forests of the Pilipino island of Palawan; but also in the south-west of the Philippine archipelago. The traditional habitat of this species is that of the coastal plains wood even if the species is present from the plain woods up to the limit of the areas with human presence and in the mountain woods up to about 600 metres of altitude. The female, without tuft and the splendid male colours, is markedly different © Gianni Ferretto It is an under-wood and mature forest species. The male is about 50 cm long, of which about the half (24-25) concern the tail and has a weight of about 430-440 g. The female, smaller and with duller colours, is about 40 cm long with an about 16-17 cm long tail and with a weight of about 320-330 g. The species clearly distinguishes from any other similar species belonging to the same genus, due to the male who is markedly different. This has a long erectile crest, pointed and thick formed by black filiform feathers with green-enamel blue reflections. The abdomen, sides and thighs have a decided black colour. The scapular feathers, the coverts of the wings and the tertiary feathers are of a showy glossy and changing blue colour with reflections turning green enamel and turquoise. The brightest portion of such spectacular colouration is localized in the distal portion of the feathers, which have black base, and form a whole of roundish-oblong drawings forming a group of spectacular big coloured “scales”. The face, head and neck are black like the chest, with green-blue reflections especially in the dorsal parts (tuft and summit). The dark head lively contrasts with a wide roundish white spot placed at the level of each cheek. Some specimens can have also a vast eyebrow, always white, which starts more finely from the attachment of the beak and continues widening and extending up over the nape. These specimens usually have the white spot of the cheek drop shaped (with the thin part starting from the base of the beak). Some breeders grow and maintain the two forms: “black-headed” and with head having an “ample white eyebrow” separate as if they were two different subspecies. Parading male. The tail, fan opened, recalls the peacock's one © Giuseppe Mazza The forms with white supercillia are sometimes indicated Polyplectron nehrkornae (Blasius, 1891). After other authors, the species is to be considered uniquely. The white eyebrows have, at times, variable extension and thickness depending on the subject and probably due to the matings done between the two forms. In the wild, it seems that the “black-headed” form lives in the shadiest plain forests whilst the form with the ample white eyebrow lives in more open forests. The eye, which has brown-dark brown iris, is surrounded by a periocular ring and by a portion of bare red skin. The beak is grey-black with apex at times shaded of flesh colour. The feathers of the back, of the upper-tail and the flight feathers are brown-grey-black typically dotted and marbled to form a thickly dotted and streaked drawing very typical of the pheasants belonging of this genus. The tail ends in some black interrupted (at the level of each rectrice) sub-terminal lines and then white (more distal). On the numerous rectrices, more than 20, and on the coverts of the tail are present some roundish green-blue, bright ocelli bordered by a dark small line, and, after this, by a sort of pale greyish halo. These changing spots, ovoid shaped, are placed at about half of each feather (two per feather) to form a double row of ocelli. The splendid drawing of the tail, as well as the maximum splendour of the back feathers, reach the top when the Palawan peacock-pheasant is courting its own female, opening and extending at the maximum the back feathers as well as those of the tail to form a fan recalling the tail of a miniature peacock; the Palawan peacock-pheasants are also called “pheasants-peacock”. In the beak we note a choice bite to seduce the partner © Giuseppe Mazza The tails, fan-opened, and having multicoloured ocelli, are typical also of the other species of peacock-pheasants. The paws are dark grey lead and, as the name states, can be endowed of numerous spurs (at times also in the females). The female has brown reddish silt colouration shaded of dark, uniform, with few dotting limited to the tail. It has dark (sometimes with slight metallic hues) sub-terminal spots on the flight feathers and dark spots shaped like a “scale-hood” on the back. It does not have the male tuft (it has an only hint of the same) and the face is rather amply pale (dirty white) at the cheek level, supraciliary area and throat. The head does not have the portion of red bare skin. The vast pale zone of the head joined with the scarce dotting-marbling of the livery allows to neatly distinguishing the females of this species from those belonging to other species of the same genus. The immature juveniles are already recognizable due to the bigger sizes; in particular, they are taller having longer legs. Ethology-Reproductive Biology Though being a terricolous species well camouflaging in the thick of the vegetation, the Palawan peacock pheasant can perform rapid, direct and fairly prolonged flights. For sleeping, the species utilizes elevated branches of plants. The Palawan peacock pheasant nourishes of any invertebrates, such as insects and their larvae, like ants and termites, molluscs, millipedes, small animals and of vegetables such as leaves, fruits, berries and seeds. The male courts the female in a spectacular way, opening and spreading all the feathers of its back, wings and tail in a sort of prolonged fan, compressed and extended from the side where the female stands; that is almost wrapped and surrounded by the voluminous livery of the male. During this parade, the male emphasizes the splendid drawings and colours of its own livery. The male, during the courting, often offers mouthfuls to the female which are “thrown” to this one with its beak. This species, like the others of the genus, lays two eggs. The eggs have white and smooth shell, and are spawned directly on the ground; the nest can be almost or practically absent or may be formed by little vegetal material. The incubation, done by the female only, lasts about 19-20 days. The chicks, nidifugous precocious, are cared with love by the female and by the male too. Protected species, surely vulnerable, counting n the wild now only few thousand individuals © Giuseppe Mazza In fact, the species is monogamous and the males survey and protect the females while hatching before and the family later on. The chicks have a brown fawn-chocolate colouration with the abdominal parts paler-yellowish-ginger coloured; on the back are present two parallel white-cream stripes. Even if the parents give their progeny the choice bites, they are, right away, excellent scratchers, able to find directly their food. The feathers of the wings of the chicks grow quickly allowing the young, after a few days, to be able to follow the mother on the branches for resting perched under its wings. The Palawan peacock pheasant is endangered and vulnerable with its home range progressively reducing at the level of the coasts and narrowing on the mountains where the species has been often confined. The species stands in the appendix I of CITES. Basing on the remaining habitats they estimate that the population is now of few thousands of individuals and rapidly declining. The Palawan peacock pheasant can be considered as an “umbrella” species to protect in order to safeguard the unique habitat where it lives and, as a consequence, the other hosted animals and vegetables which, in the same habitat, get shelter. Some local foundations have started to safeguard the species protecting and preserving the habitats where it lives: “the commitment, for this species, is heavy and must be maximum”. The Palawan peacock pheasant is vey much appreciated and sometimes bred by zoological structures and by private breeders all over the world. In captivity, outside from its home range, the species suffers from the too rigid climates and adapts to nourish of grains, fruits, vegetables and bred insects of good quality. Polyplectron napoleonis (Lesson, 1831): after many authors, this is the name to attribute the species as assigned before the other one. The term “napoleonis” has been given honouring the French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821); I must say the strutting and tufty appearance of this small pheasant can, really, remind the famous emperor. The Palawan peacock pheasant is indicated under this nomenclature also on the European Commission Regulation for CITES purposes. → To appreciate the biodiversity within GALLIFORMES please click here.
Dismiss Notice Dismiss Notice Join Physics Forums Today! Cockcroft-walton generator, How to increase voltage? 1. Dec 18, 2012 #1 Hey guys, 2. jcsd 3. Dec 18, 2012 #2 A capacitor charges to the peak value of an AC waveform half cycle, say the positive half cycle. This is obviously higher than the RMS or effective DC value of that same waveform. By using a suitable arrangement of diodes and capacitors we can arrange for the negative half cycle to appear reversed and therefore add to the positive peak. This results in a voltage doubler circuit, the cockcroft being one variation of this. The process can be carried further to achieve greater multiplication quadruplers and higher multipliers are available. Of course you don't get something for nothing so as the voltage output is increased so the current availble decreases.
Origin of the Laverty Clan Name The name comes from the meaning, Bright Prince. Laverty is the Anglicisation of Ó Fhlaitheartaigh or Mac Fhlaithbheartaigh meaning descendant of Flaitheartaigh, a personal name combinig the gaelic words for ‘flaith’ ,prince or ruler and ‘beartach’ meaning doer of good deeds. The name is mainly found in the Northern Province of Ulster despite being first found in Connemara. They inhabited Donegal and Tyrone and were formally Lords of Aileach (in Donegal) and Táiniste, or chosen heir and the worthiest of his kin, in Tyrone. Laverty Clan name origin The name was first recorded in New York in 1846; today there are over 3,000 carriers of the name in the United States. Variations of the surname include Laverty, Lafferty, Flaherty, Flaverty, Faherty. The Laverty crest includes 2 lions rampant supporting the hand, which is a symbol typical of this clan and is associated with the legend of the Bloody Hand of O’Neill. The base colour of silver or white denotes nobility and peace. The boat from earliest times represents security and may reference their Connemara origins as maritime seamen.
DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan Search for: [Show options] 4 definitions found From: DICT.TW English-Chinese Dictionary 英漢字典 morn·ing /ˈmɔrnɪŋ/ From: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Morn·ing n. 1. The first or early part of the day, variously understood as the earliest hours of light, the time near sunrise; the time from midnight to noon, from rising to noon, etc. 2. The first or early part; as, the morning of life. 3. The goddess Aurora. [Poetic] From: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) She looks as clear As morning roses newly washed with dew. --Shak. Morning sickness Med., nausea and vomiting, usually occurring in the morning; -- a common sign of pregnancy. Since he miscalled the morning star, Morning watch Naut., the watch between four a. m. and eight a. m.. From: WordNet (r) 2.0 adj : in the morning; "the morning hours" [syn: morning(a)] n 1: the time period between dawn and noon; "I spent the morning running errands" [syn: morn, morning time, forenoon] 2: a conventional expression of greeting or farewell [syn: good 3: the first light of day; "we got up before dawn"; "they talked until morning" [syn: dawn, dawning, aurora, first sunrise, sunup, cockcrow] [ant: sunset] 4: the earliest period; "the dawn of civilization"; "the morning of the world" [syn: dawn]
Unique Handguns Unique Handgun Detail Model: Fist Pistol Caliber:7 mm Muzzle Vel:450 ft/sec Length:4.8 inBarrel:1.9 in Weight::11.0 ozCapacity:6 rounds This style of 19th Century pistol was called 'coup de poing' in France, where it originated, which translates to 'fist blow' in English. Its long, fluted cylinder is a modified pepperbox design made from a single piece of metal, and the front end of the cylinder axis pin is supported by a bracket screwed to the front end of the lower frame. The breech consists of a thick, flat, circular plate with a semi-circular opening cut out on the right-hand side so that the weapon could be loaded from the breech end. This opening is filled by a bottom-hinged gate shaped to match the circular breech block, which is held closed by a small, horizontal, L-shaped spring lever screwed below it on the frame. There is an additional shallow depression on top of the breech block, where the hammer rests. Its trigger action is basically that of a double-action revolver, where pulling the trigger cocks the hammer and rotates the cylinder. The cylinder was normally free to rotate, but when the trigger was pressed a cylinder-stop rose from the lower frame and engaged one of the studs which can be seen on the cylinder. When loaded, the cylinder could be positioned so that there was a pin on each side of the hammer head, making it relatively safe to carry the loaded weapon in a pocket. Once the rounds had been fired, the empty cases could be pushed out through the open loading gate by means of a separate extractor pin.
Intrinsically Safe and Nonincendive Systems In the chemical and petrochemical industries, the extraction of crude oil and natural gas, in mining and in many other branches of industry, gases, vapours or mist may escape during the production, processing, transport and storage of flammable materials. Flammable dust is also produced during many processes. Together with the oxygen in the air, these flammable gases, vapours, mist and dust produce an explosive atmosphere. If this atmosphere is ignited, explosions occur which may result in serious injury or damage to installations. Intrinsically Safe and Nonincendive Systems With technology rapidly advancing, new developments in sensing and process control have increased the number of products using intrinsically safe or nonincendive circuits as their protection technique for hazardous (classified) locations as defined in Articles 500 through 505 of the 2002 National Electrical Code ANSI/NFPA 70 (NEC)1. With lower installation and maintenance costs, these protection techniques have found increased favor in applications traditionally requiring explosionproof devices. Though these concepts have been in use in industry for many years, some confusion still exists in regards to the installation of these devices. Following the proper installation requirements is important to the overall safety of intrinsically safe and nonincendive circuits. Intrinsically Safe Circuits and Nonincendive Circuits Intrinsically safe circuits and nonincendive circuits use the same basic concept to minimize the risk of ignition of hazardous atmospheres. Both rely on energy limitation with some important differences. Nonincendive circuits are permitted in Division 2 and Zone 2 classified locations only. Intrinsically safe circuits, however, are suitable for use in Division 1 and 2, and Zone 0, 1 and 2 classified locations. The major difference between the two types of equipment is that nonincendive circuits are evaluated for ignition capability under normal operating conditions, while intrinsically safe circuits are evaluated under fault conditions. During an evaluation of an intrinsically safe circuit, it is allowed to introduce up to two independent faults per the requirements in the applicable product standard in an attempt to increase the energy available in the circuit. Under these conditions, the circuit must still be incapable of causing ignition of the specified gas either by introduction of a spark (shorting of two points in the circuit) or by thermal effects of individual components within the circuit. When determining the inability of a circuit to cause ignition of a flammable gas or vapor, it is necessary to consider not only the voltage and current available, but also the capacitance and inductance in the circuit. Since most circuits contain energy storage components such as capacitors and inductors, the energy stored by these components must be considered when determining the energy available in the circuit. The addition of capacitance or inductance to a circuit that is otherwise incapable of causing ignition may cause the circuit to become ignition capable. This is especially critical when considering fixed equipment interconnected by cables. These cables typically have known values of capacitance and inductance which must be considered in the final system installation. Before considering how the capacitance and inductance can be accounted for in a system, it is helpful to have a brief understanding of the equipment. The following definitions, taken from NEC 500.2 and 504.2, are provided for types of equipment related to fixed installations of intrinsically safe and nonincendive circuits. Associated Apparatus. "Apparatus in which the circuits are not necessarily intrinsically safe themselves, but that affect the energy in the intrinsically safe circuits and are relied on to maintain intrinsic safety." This type of equipment contains components that are designed to limit the voltage and current available to intrinsically safe equipment to which it is connected. Associated apparatus is generally intended to be installed in unclassified locations, though it can be installed in classified locations if another protection technique, such as an explosionproof enclosure, is used. Intrinsically Safe Apparatus. "Apparatus in which all the circuits are intrinsically safe." Associated Nonincendive Field Wiring Apparatus. "Apparatus in which the circuits are not necessarily nonincendive themselves but that affect the energy in nonincendive field wiring circuits and are relied upon to maintain nonincendive energy levels." Nonincendive Field Wiring Apparatus. "Apparatus intended to be connected to nonincendive field wiring." Control Drawing. "A drawing or other document provided by the manufacturer of the intrinsically safe or associated apparatus, or of the nonincendive field wiring apparatus or associated nonincendive field wiring apparatus, that details the allowed interconnections between the intrinsically safe and associated apparatus or between the nonincendive field wiring apparatus or associated nonincendive field wiring apparatus." Nonincendive field wiring systems and intrinsically safe systems shall be wired in accordance with the control drawing, as required by 501.4(B)(3), 502.4(B)(3), 504.10 and 505.15(C)(1)(g). The control drawing identification is required to be marked on the product. When referring to intrinsically safe apparatus and nonincendive field wiring apparatus in the body of this text, the term field device is used to indicate both, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Similarly, associated apparatus is used for both associated apparatus providing intrinsically safe outputs and for associated nonincendive field wiring apparatus. Combination of Apparatus Associated apparatus and intrinsically safe apparatus may be combined to form intrinsically safe systems. Much in the same way, associated nonincendive field wiring apparatus and nonincendive field wiring apparatus may also be combined to form a system. These combinations of apparatus are required to be listed together as a complete system or the associated apparatus and the field device are listed separately and then must satisfy additional requirements. Intrinsically Safe and Nonincendive Systems Apparatus listed as a system are easier to install since all aspects of the installation are defined on the control drawing provided with the equipment. On the system control drawing, each piece of equipment that may be connected in the system is defined specifically by manufacturer and part number. Only the specific equipment included on the control drawing may be connected into the system. Other equipment, including portable communication devices, may not be used since any additional equipment could add either energy storage components or additional power sources which have not been evaluated in combination with the circuits. Additional equipment could therefore render the circuit ignition capable. Additional guidance for intrinsically safe systems can be found in Wiring Practices for Hazardous (Classified) Locations Instrumentation Part 1: Intrinsic Safety, ANSI/ISA RP12.62 as indicated in NEC 504.1. It should be noted that the control drawing provides information regarding the interconnection cable. In some cases, the drawing will indicate a maximum length of cable to be used between the pieces of equipment. In other cases, a maximum allowable value of capacitance and inductance is given and it is necessary to calculate the allowable length of cable based on its specified capacitance and inductance per unit length. The capacitance and inductance of the cable shall either be taken from the cable manufacturer's datasheet for the cable, or when not available, then standard values of 60 pF/ft for capacitance and 0.2 mH/ft for inductance are to be used. These values will be found on the control drawing, and are taken from the Standard for Safety, Intrinsically Safe Apparatus and Associated Apparatus for Use in Class I, II, and III, Division 1, Hazardous (Classified) Locations, ANSI/UL 9133. Entity Concept Another method of interconnecting equipment is commonly known as the entity concept. This has some unique advantages over systems. Using this concept, a listed associated apparatus and a listed field device, not necessarily manufactured by the same company, may be connected together without obtaining a listing for the specific combination. This allows for much greater flexibility in the field when purchasing equipment. However, this concept requires special attention be paid to the control drawings, not only for the associated apparatus, but also for the field device. The control drawings for each piece of equipment are provided with electrical ratings known as entity parameters, which represent the limits of the equipment, either with respect to the maximum output characteristics, or the maximum allowable input characteristics. These parameters follow. Associated Apparatus Entity Parameters Associated apparatus which has been assigned entity parameters, whether providing intrinsically safe or nonincendive field wiring connections, are assigned the parameters shown below. Where two designators are shown, they are interchangeable. Voc or Uo, this represents the maximum open circuit voltage that may be present at the specified terminals under the most adverse conditions. Isc or Io, this represents the maximum short circuit current that may be present at the specified terminals under the most adverse conditions. Ca or Co, this represents the maximum capacitance that may be connected to the specified terminals without invalidating safety. La or Lo, this represents the maximum inductance that may be connected to the specified terminals without invalidating safety. In some cases associated apparatus may also be provided with a Po and/or a Lo/Ro parameter. The Po parameter represents the maximum output power from the specified terminals. The Lo/Ro parameter is an inductance to resistance ratio and indicates the maximum inductance per ohm of resistance that may be safely connected to the specified terminals of the associated apparatus. Intrinsically Safe and Nonincendive Field Wiring Apparatus Parameters Intrinsically safe and nonincendive field wiring apparatus are provided with their own unique set of parameters. It should be noted that these parameters are based on maintaining a circuit that is not ignition capable and are not necessarily related to the proper functioning of the equipment. This equipment is assigned the parameters shown below. Vmax or Ui, this represents the maximum voltage that may be connected to the specified terminals of the device to maintain safety. Operational voltages are required to be lower than this parameter. Imax or Ii, this represents the maximum current that may be connected to the specified terminals of the device to maintain safety. Again, the operational current will be lower than this parameter. Ci, this represents the apparent capacitance at the specified terminals of the device. Li, this represents the apparent inductance at the specified terminals of the device. Pi, this represents the maximum power that may be supplied to the specified terminals to maintain safety. Operational limits will be lower than this power value. Li/Ri, this represents the maximum internal inductance to resistance ratio at the specified terminals. Combining Associated Apparatus and Field Devices When combining associated apparatus with field devices, it is necessary to use the above noted entity parameters. The entity parameters of the associated apparatus must be compared with the entity parameters of all field devices connected into the system. When compared, the entity parameters must satisfy the conditions shown in Table 1. To illustrate the use of these parameters, the following two drawings are provided. Figure 2 is a simplified control drawing for an associated apparatus. Figure 3 is a simplified control drawing for a field device. On the control drawing for the associated apparatus, the Voc parameter is 28 V. Since this value is less than or equal to the Vmax of the field device, 30 V, the parameters satisfy the required relationship. The same holds true for the Isc and Imax values, since 93 mA is less than 100 mA. Next, a determination of the maximum allowable cable length is required. The total amount of capacitance at the terminals of the field device, Ci, plus the total capacitance in the cable, Ccable, cannot exceed the allowable capacitance of the associated apparatus, Ca. Therefore, the difference between the Ca of the associated apparatus and the Ci of the field device will provide the maximum value of capacitance allowed in the cable. In this case, the cable could have 30 nF of capacitance (80 nF minus 50 nF). Assuming the cable used in the system had a maximum capacitance of 60 pF/ft., a cable length of 500 ft. could not be exceeded. A similar calculation would need to be made for inductance, and the shortest cable length calculated between inductance and capacitance would be the maximum allowed. When multiple field devices are connected to the same terminals of an associated apparatus, the Ci value of each field device must be added; the same applies to the Li values. On the control drawings of certain types of associated apparatus with multiple circuits, an additional set of entity parameters can be found. These parameters are designated Vt and It, and are provided in place of or in addition to Voc and Isc. The parameter Vt is defined as the maximum open circuit voltage that can appear across any combination of terminals of a multiple circuit associated apparatus. Similarly, It is defined as the maximum current that can be extracted from any combination of terminals of an associated apparatus. In all situations, it is important that the associated apparatus be used only as described on the provided control drawing. Other Notes on Control Drawings In addition to details about the interconnection of the circuits in an intrinsically safe or nonincendive circuit combination, additional information is provided on control drawings. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following: The maximum nonhazardous location voltage, often designated Um, is the maximum voltage that can be applied to each of the non-intrinsically safe terminals of an associated apparatus without affecting intrinsic safety. Generally, this voltage is 250 V, though other values are possible. Since associated apparatus is evaluated to determine that it can maintain intrinsic safety even under fault conditions at its non-intrinsically safe terminals up to and including the Um value, the installer of the equipment must ensure that the equipment powering the associated apparatus does not use, store or generate in excess of this voltage. ▪ Grounding considerations (see below for additional details) ▪ Restrictions on routing, insulation or types of cables ▪ Restrictions on the types of associated apparatus to be used Simple Apparatus While the entity concept described above considers that both the associated apparatus and field device have been listed with the appropriate parameters, there are field devices that can be installed and considered intrinsically safe or nonincendive even though they do not carry entity parameters. Such a device is known as simple apparatus, which is defined in 504.2 as an electrical component or combination of components of simple construction with well defined electrical parameters that does not generate more than 1.5 V, 100 mA and 25 mW, or a passive component that does not dissipate more than 1.3 W and is compatible with the circuit in which it is used. Some examples of simple apparatus include passive components such as switches, junction boxes with terminal blocks, resistance temperature devices (RTDs) and LEDs, and sources of generated energy such as thermocouples and photocells. These types of devices are not required to be listed per 504.4, and can be installed using the entity parameters for the associated apparatus as described above for determining the allowable cable length for an acceptable connection. Correct grounding is critical to maintaining the safety of many systems. For example, a common type of associated apparatus is a shunt zener diode barrier, which uses zener diodes to clamp the voltage at its intrinsically safe circuit terminals to the value specified for its Voc or Uo entity parameter. In order for these diodes to perform this function, they must have a fixed reference to earth ground. These types of barriers are provided with ground terminal, and their control drawings provide information on the requirements for connection to this terminal. When the associated apparatus is connected to an intrinsically safe device, it is normally required that the intrinsically safe device be isolated from earth ground. This is to prevent the possibility of a ground loop occurring between the intrinsically safe device and the ground terminal of the associated apparatus. Since the voltage drop in the ground path between the devices is unknown, this could have an adverse affect on the intrinsic safety of the connection. This is not a concern with some other types of associated apparatus, e.g., galvanically isolated barriers, which generally use a transformer and are not required to be grounded to maintain intrinsically safe circuits. This type of associated apparatus is sometimes required for certain types of intrinsically safe equipment, e.g., devices such as pressure transducers that cannot be isolated from earth ground due to their construction. The requirements for grounding of an intrinsically safe circuit are provided in 504.50. Always refer to the control drawing for the specific devices to ensure that the correct grounding and grounding electrode connections are made. Due to the limited energy levels available in intrinsically safe and nonincendive field wiring circuits, wiring methods normally not permitted in hazardous (classified) locations can be used in their installation. For example, in a Division 1 classified location, installation normally requires threaded rigid metal conduit. However, per 504.20, intrinsically safe circuits may be installed using any wiring method allowed by the NECâ for unclassified locations. Similarly, per 501.4(B)(3), 502.4(B)(3) and 505.15(C)(1)(g), nonincendive field wiring circuits can also be installed using unclassified location wiring methods. It is important to note, however, that these circuits may require wires or cables having additional insulation to guarantee suitable separation. NEC 501.4(B)(3), 502.4(B)(3), 504.20 and 505.15(C)(1)(g) requires that different circuits be installed in separate cables or in cables where each conductor is within a grounded metal shield or each conductor has a minimum insulation thickness of 0.25 mm (0.01 in.). Separation of Intrinsically Safe and Non-Intrinsically Safe Wiring To reduce the possibility of their interconnection, additional requirements exist for the separation of intrinsically safe and non-intrinsically safe circuits. NEC 504.30(A) requires a minimum separation distance of 50 mm (2 in.) be provided between intrinsically safe and non-intrinsically safe conductors. This separation may also be accomplished by using a grounded metal or insulating partition, or by locating either of the circuits in a grounded metal shield capable of carrying the maximum prospective fault current should either circuit be connected to earth. Identification of Intrinsically Safe Field Wiring Raceways, cable trays, and other wiring methods for intrinsically safe system wiring shall be identified with permanently affixed labels with the wording "Intrinsically Safe Wiring" or the equivalent. NEC 504.80 states that the distance between labels shall not be more than 7.5 m (25 ft.). Alternatively, color coding may be used as a method of identification provided that the color light blue is used, and that no other conductors or wiring are colored light blue. The incorrect installation of intrinsically safe and nonincendive circuits can result in a system that could become ignition capable. Therefore, care must be exercised when determining the suitability of the combinations of associated apparatus and field devices. Furthermore, it is necessary to follow the applicable requirements in the Code concerning grounding, wiring, separation and identification. The control drawing provided with each piece of equipment provides the necessary information to determine the acceptability of the installation. \| HOME \| Copyright ©2014 - Intrinsically Safe and Nonincendive Systems All Rights Reserved. Electrical Equipment and Components Intrinsically Safe and Nonincendive Systems Industrial Automation Privacy Policy
Human memory and knowledge construction increases The human memory - memory processes - memory encoding that the event is encoded as a memory emotion tends to increase human memory is. Cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience/memory that concern memory in human beings and the recorder but it is a construction based on what actually. By having a working knowledge of how memory works you will be in a better position to plan strategies to improve memory with increased cognitive effort, more. New estimate boosts the human brain's memory capacity 10-fold we know that the human brain is made up of about 100 billion also becomes larger to support the increased signal strength. Letting people work from experience and knowledge always creates unwanted random variation that too often produces wrong outcomes huge increases in human failure. Emphasis is given to the history of knowledge, construction of memory, the role of authorities in shaping memory, and how societies decide on whose versions of memory are more truthful and real other topics include how memory works in the human brain, memory and trauma, amnesia, memory practices in the sciences, false memory, sites of. Why google deepmind just one-upped human memory google's engineers have created an ai that can retain its knowledge between tasks, turning raw memory into low-level skill increases. Conceptual knowledge increases infants' memory capacity raising the possibility that this process is a cultural construction capacity limit of visual short. I constantly seek new knowledge i am creative, and every idea i come up with is worth considering i am happy to and able to find the positive in any situation. 12 surprising human memory facts home / 12 surprising human memory facts 12 feb caffeine doesn't maintain memory performances, it only increases alertness. Knowledge acquisition is the process of absorbing and storing new information in memory, the success of which is often gauged by how well the information can later be remembered (retrieved from memory) the process of storing and retrieving information depends heavily on the representation and. Current: 15 brain foods to boost focus and memory as well as help improve cognitive function, especially both memory and concentration. Constructive memory the using of knowledge to organize new information and fill in gaps in information that was encoded and retrieved ex: if middle students are. Memory distortion and false memory creation the rate at which children bought into the false memory increased steadily with more interviews (ceci, loftus et al. What strategies can be used to increase memory general principles for enhancing memory and learning semantic memory is the memory of knowledge and concepts. Factors that influence memory 2 psyc 390 - psychology of learning • increases, different hormones are •secreted, etc • result - mind goes blank. Roles are able to increase productivity by 40 percent, high performers in management roles knowledge, skills, and abilities talent retention: six technology. Encoding, storage, and retrieval are the three primary stages of the human memory process (forgetting may constitute the fourth stage of memory, although forgetting is technically a setback in memory retrieval. - memory processes the human capacity for memory is unknown, and the process for remembering is an invisible, and therefore, an unsubstantiated concept a discussion regarding the concepts of short-term, working, and long-term memory precedes an explanation of the encoding and retrieval in the memory processes. Study of the genetics of human memory is in its infancy much of the current knowledge of memory has come from studying memory construction for general. Memory, learning, and test-taking success learning) increases memory retention and ultimately stored in my long-term memory since then, that knowledge has. This duplication results of storage increases the efficiency of subsequent retrieval as a variety of cues prompt activation of different access points to the extended memory map the construction of concept memory networks requires opportunities for students to transfer learning beyond the contexts in which it is learned and practiced. Learning and memory we can remember way more human faces as there are a number of aspects, such as hair color, hair style, shape of face, facial hair. Most extraordinary memory skills which make claims of photographic memory, however, result from a combination of innate skills, learned tactics, mnemonic devices and extraordinary knowledge bases, rather than eidetic memory as such. • Eyewitness testimony is an important area of research in cognitive psychology and human memory juries tend to pay close attention to eyewitness testimony and generally find it a reliable source of information. • The reliability of self-report data is an achilles' heel of survey research psychologists have warned that the human memory is fallible (loftus, schacter, 1999. Memory news september 21, 2018 2018 — new research shows digital content platforms can increase traffic to their websites from waves move across the human brain to support memory maps. Cognition is the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses it encompasses processes such as attention , the formation of knowledge , memory and working memory , judgment and evaluation , reasoning and computation , problem solving and decision making , comprehension and. Aging and memory in humans knowledge accumulation and memory increase into the sixth and seventh decades of life and may show only a gradual decline afterward. How human memory works what seems to be a single memory is actually a complex construction if you think of an object -- say, a pen -- your brain retrieves the. human memory and knowledge construction increases Knowledge issues, knowers and knowing human knower is knowledge even a ―thing‖ that resides somewhere memory, authority, group consensus, and divine. human memory and knowledge construction increases Knowledge issues, knowers and knowing human knower is knowledge even a ―thing‖ that resides somewhere memory, authority, group consensus, and divine. human memory and knowledge construction increases Knowledge issues, knowers and knowing human knower is knowledge even a ―thing‖ that resides somewhere memory, authority, group consensus, and divine. Human memory and knowledge construction increases Rated 3/5 based on 50 review
Sense of taste The tongue is the organ of taste. In order to taste something you must actually put it in your mouth. In addition, the substance must be dissolved in water or saliva, as you can only taste liquids or soluble solids. The observation of taste is made up of two components, the actual taste of something and its smell. When something is in your mouth, its smell enters your nose. When you put something in your mouth, its smell can change as new scent particles are released. Actual taste is limited to four possibilities: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. If you hold your nose and put something in your mouth, you will only be able to distinguish these four tastes. There would be no olfactory observations. If you couldn't smell, all jams would taste the same: sugary and sweet. The four tastes are perceived by the tongue which has four zones, one for each taste (see figure 6). The sweet zone is on the tip of your tongue, so you will perceive this taste first. The receptors for sour and salty are on the sides of the tongue, and bitter is tasted at the back edge of the tongue. You cannot bear very strong tastes: with the exception of sweet, too much of any taste quickly becomes an unpleasant experience. Children have the greatest difficulty learning to appreciate bitter foods, as bitterness is quickest to taste bad . Even as adults, we can tolerate only a little bitterness. Sour things are often perceived as being refreshing, while salt is rarely perceived but draws out the full palate of tastes. For example, an unsalted boiled egg has little taste, but once you sprinkle some salt on it, it tastes just like an egg should. Our judgment of food, and whether or not it is healthy, is determined in part by taste. You can taste whether something is good for you or not, and you also know very well if you are taking that extra bite because you're still hungry or because you don't want to offend the cook. You can strengthen your emotive judgment by focusing your attention on how something tastes. « 12345678910 1112131415 » The locations of the taste buds on the tongue Taste different foods, first while you are holding your nose and then without holding your nose. What observations can you make? Make liquid solutions for each of the tastes sweet, sour, salty and bitter. You can make a bitter solution by steeping used coffee grounds in water. Brush each taste in turn on different parts of someone's tongue. Do not let the subject know which taste is being brushed onto the tongue. Ask the subject to describe his observations, and what he tastes. Hold your nose and close your eyes, and ask someone to put something in your mouth. Do not move your tongue. Try to find out what it is. First, only rely on your sense of taste. Then feel it by rolling it around in your mouth. Then stop holding your nose so you can smell. Describe the differences in your observations. At what point could you guess what was in your mouth? © Heirs Tom van Gelder - Stichting AntroVista
March 28: Thought Experiment Day Today is the birthday of Daniel C. Dennett, American philosopher, writer, and cognitive scientist, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1942. Dennett wearing a button-up shirt and a jacketIn 2013, Dennett published his book Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking. Dennett begins his book by acknowledging that thinking is hard work. But just as a shovel makes it easier and more efficient for us to dig a ditch, thinking tools make cognition easier and more efficient. One specific category of thinking tools used frequently by philosophers is thought experiments. Dennett calls them intuition pumps (a term he coined in 1980), the philosophical equivalent of Aesop’s fables. These thought experiments present vivid vignettes, hypothetical situations that allow thinkers to explore and examine ideas. Like parables, thought experiments are micro-narratives, making ideas more practical and easy to remember (1). One ancient thought experiment comes from Plato’s The Republic: The Allegory of the Cave Imagine three prisoners who have been chained in a cave their entire lives. They are chained in such a way that all they can see is the wall of the cave in front of them. Behind them, there is a fire and a raised walkway. As people walk along the walkway carrying things like books, animals, and plants, the prisoner sees nothing but the shadows of the people and the items they carry cast on the wall in front of them. Because the prisoners see only the shadows, these shadows become their reality. When they see a shadow of a book, for example, they take the shadow as the real object, since it is all they know. Imagine that one of the prisoners escapes his chains and leaves the cave. Leaving the darkness of the cave, he is first blinded by the light. As his eyes slowly adjust and as he becomes more used to his new surroundings, he begins to realize that his former understanding of the world was wrong. Returning to the cave, the enlightened prisoner tells the other prisoners what he has learned of the real world. The others, noticing that the returning prisoner is groping around in the darkness as his eyes readjust to the darkness, think he is insane. They can’t imagine any other reality but the shadows they see before them, and they threaten to murder anyone who would drag them out of the cave or annoy them with supposed insight into what a “real” book or a “real” tree actually looks like (2). Plato’s Cave allows us to address and discuss the abstract ideas of knowledge versus ignorance and perception versus reality. It doesn’t just tell us that philosophy will improve our lives; instead, it shows us: most of us live our life watching the shadows in the cave; philosophy and education, however, offer us a way out of the darkness and into the light of reason. Today’s Challenge: Pump Up Your Tired Thinking What are some examples of philosophical questions that might be debated about universal topics, such as the nature of reality, of knowledge, of morality, of consciousness, of free will, or of government? Research a specific thought experiment (see the list below). Summarize the key elements of the thought experiment in your own words; then, discuss what specific philosophical ideas the thought experiment addresses. The Whimsical Jailer, The Nefarious Neurosurgeon, Infinite Monkey Theorem, Buridan’s Ass, The Brain in a Vat, The Trolley Problem, Schrodinger’s Cat, Ship of Theseus, The Chinese Room, The Lady or the Tiger (Common Core Writing 2 – Expository) Quotation of the Day: You can’t do much carpentry with your bare hands and you can’t do much thinking with your bare brain. -Bo Dahlbom 1- Dennett, Daniel C. Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. 2-Plato’s Republic. Leave a Reply
What are the TCP services, Computer Networking Q. What are the TCP Services? TCP - Services • Full Duplex Service • Connection Oriented Service • Reliable Service Posted Date: 7/23/2013 3:01:21 AM \| Location : United States Related Discussions:- What are the TCP services, Assignment Help, Ask Question on What are the TCP services, Get Answer, Expert's Help, What are the TCP services Discussions Write discussion on What are the TCP services Your posts are moderated Related Questions INTRODUCTION In this part, the topic of performance evaluation shows those parameters that are devised to calculate the performances of various parallel systems. Achieving the What is OSPF? It is an Internet routing protocol that scales well, can route traffic with multiple paths, and uses knowledge of an Internet's topology to make precise routing de Describe how EIGRP finds its successor and feasible successor? Increasingly it is the quality of the interface of mobile phones that are giving competitors the edge. Users not only make selections based on cost but also functionality and cert Network Problems Q1 Consider the single-sender CDMA example in Kurose & Ross. What would be the sender's output (for the 2 data bits shown), if the sender's CDMA code were ( With an object server, the Client/Server application is written as a set of communicating objects. Client object commune with server objects using an Object Request Broker (ORB). T Q. Explain about Error Detection? Data can be corrupted during transmission because of accidents, Storms, sudden increase in electricity and voltage / decrease in signal power Explain about the Digital traffic channels The most notable difference among the two generations is that first generation systems are almost purely analog, while second generat
Lesson 8.2 Crossword 2.one lobe of the pituitary gland that secretes six different hormones: growth hormone, prolactin, adrenocorticotropin hormone, thyroid-stimulating hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone 3.the part of the adrenal glands that functions as a part of the nervous system; it secretes the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine (catecholamines) during the fight-or-flight response 4.a sac that encases the pair of oval testes 6.outer layer of the adrenal glands, which itself has three layers that secrete steroid hormones 9.two pairs of glands located on the posterior aspect of the thyroid gland that secrete parathyroid hormone in response to low blood calcium levels 10.a long, thin gland located posterior to the stomach. As an endocrine gland, the pancreas secretes insulin and glucagon, which control blood glucose levels; as an exocrine gland, the pancreas secretes digestive enzymes 11.a pea-sized gland that activates a metabolic response in target tissues or stimulates other endocrine glands to release hormones 12.one lobe of the pituitary gland that stores two hormones produced by the hypothalamus: antidiuretic hormone and oxytocin 1.a pinecone-shaped gland in the brain that releases the sleep- inducing hormone melatonin 2.a pair of glands that sit on top of the kidneys; consist of the adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla 5.a gland that secretes thymosin, a hormone vital to the body's immune system; functions as both an endocrine gland and a lymphatic organ 7.the female sex glands 8.the male sex glands G-W Learning
DDA Deficit Attention deficit is a term used to describe a group of behaviors that appear most frequently in, school-age ninos-jovenes, but it can also affect adults. Attention deficit has a wide range of symptoms and can be confusing and stressful for the child or adolescent.Young people mature at different rates and have different personalities, temperaments, and energy levels.Most of us get distracted, acting impulsively, and the fight for attention at one time or another.It is when such symptoms, or to act as reckless or impulsive, daydreaming, becoming easily confused, or difficulty to remain seated for a long time are suffering schoolwork or the undermining of the social activities that should develop in a normal way. Quickly, we can say that the attention Deficit is a syndrome neurobiological, affecting the individual, which has the typical feature: Lack of chronic care in various activities. This is caused by the lack of dopamine that is a neurotransmitter in the brain. In other words attention deficit is a dysfunction of the brain, i.e., the brain is in good condition but there is an area of the same, that is affected. This, however, not deprive an appropriate development of the same, provided there is an environment and adequate stimulation. The intelligence of people who suffer from attention deficit is intact, which means, that this deficiency will not influence in a better or worse IQ, this will depend, again of the stimulation and the environment that surrounds these people during its growth. On many occasions is committed the erro classify with inappropriate names as loose, restless etc. And is not sought a solution that helps them to overcome this deficiency, since with assistance to attack the problem and instruct the individual, so that is autocontrole and it can focus its attention on the activity that running. A person with Attention Deficit (DDA) presents difficulty to organize his thinking, so it has problems to represent what they have in mind, are having trouble processing information, stores information differently, find it hard to locate the main idea, you may not access and process information at high speeds. To correct these deficiencies should be thought modification techniques, applied by a specialist, however very specialized techniques exist such as the acoustic audio to improve the deficit of atencionque stimulate production of dopamine in the brain, thanks to technology acoustics found that certain vibrations and oscillations induce the brain to enter in a deep alpha state. When it is well calibrated and under control, this has proven to be very beneficial in cases of attention Deficit Disorder. People who are in the everyday environment of a person with DDA should also make modifications of conduct is important to apply immediate reinforcers and like the person, explaining the why you had been strengthened. These techniques must be applied with consistency and continuity for the duration of the same. The people who surround you shall be blameless models. As soon as the school environment, the child or the person with the DDA can work properly, however sometimes is you tilda how loose, retracted, disinterested, etc. and due to his neglect loses the academic content so you need to be in a classroom with a small group of children, where there is constant communication between family, school and specialist. The teacher must be an excellent observer and contributor, paying attention to the advances of the child, applying reinforcers constantly at the right time and keeping informed representatives of the child in terms of tasks, reviews, events, etc.
Some snoring is harmful and some isn’t – and this is how to tell the difference Not all snoring is harmful so it helps to be able to recognise when it’s actually dangerous as it can sometimes cause a very serious lack of oxygen and life threatening sleep disorders. Over one third of the people who snore are believed to have obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). OSA Diagram Overall it is estimated that 60% of men and 40% of women snore by the time they have reached their sixties and if they have OSA, then the primary sleep apnoea symptoms are pauses in breathing during sleep. They’re related to snoring and the resulting lack of oxygen to the brain during sleep. Not all snoring however is connected to sleep apnoea. Loud breathing noises or ‘snoring’ can be described as a normal event. However sleeping with your mouth open and pauses in breathing may indicate a sleep disorder. If you sleep on your back, your tongue falls into your airway, and pauses in breathing can reach a duration of 10 seconds, and happen as many as 100 times in an hour. The reason for your snoring stems from the relaxation of the throat muscles when you sleep. Less airway volume can mean that the relaxed throat vibrates when you breathe and this is the universal cause of snoring whether it’s harmful as described above or just ‘normal’ snoring. In addition to snoring, other symptoms of OSA include: • Gasping for air whilst sleeping • Waking up with Morning headaches • Feeling extra tired during the day • Increased blood pressure • Irritability or mood swings For optimal breathing, we should be breathing through our nose. Sleep apnoea is your body experiencing breathing dysfunction during sleep. Nasal breathing prevents oxygen deprivation and it acts to increase blood flow and deliver oxygen to the lungs. The tongue is one of the main factors in snoring and sleeping with the mouth open. It can also reveal sleep apnoea symptoms. Your tongue contains and connects to one of the largest groups of muscles in the body and the muscles of the tongue support the airways with connections to the jaws, neck, and base of the skull. It also connects to the hyoid bone, which is a floating bone that supports your airway. When you go to sleep, the primary muscles inside your tongue and your throat relax and for you to keep your airway open, support muscles for the throat must hold firm. The normal posture of the tongue is to sit against the top of your mouth. This position turns on the muscles that support the throat and the airways. Sleeping with an open mouth is a sign your tongue is not supporting your airway. The tongue can then fall back into the airway, blocking normal breathing. Mouth breathing can also cause lack of oxygen and OSA. Sleep disorders have become a bigger problem than ever and this was underlined this week by the NHS figures which reveal that the number of tests carried out by the NHS to diagnose people with sleep disorders across England has doubled in the past decade. NHS data shows that 147,610 sleep diagnostic tests were carried out last year – compared with 69,919 in 2007-08. This is more than double. Those with OSA usually manage it by either CPAP treatment, which involves wearing an oxygen mask at night, or by using custom-fitted oral devices that keep the airways open. It also helps to lose weight and in some more extreme cases people can have surgery to remove excess throat tissue. Doctors attribute the rise in the number of sleep tests to a greater sense of overall public awareness about the wider health implications of not getting enough sleep. It is estimated that about 1.5 million people in the UK suffer from the condition, although doctors warn many people will have never been formally diagnosed. “Sleep apnoea is a serious condition leading to other problems such as high blood pressure, which in turn can lead to strokes and heart attacks,” said Dr Stephen Bianchi from Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital. “We think about 2% of females, and 4% of males in the UK have significant sleep apnoea. We also suspect that 80% of those with the condition are unaware they have it.” John Redfern Poor Quality Sleep is costing Business time and money Employees’ sleep problems are probably costing British business a great deal of time and money as poor-quality sleep can affect workers’ mood and judgment and it can also result in serious health problems. Ask yourself if you lost a day or two of work last year because of poor-quality sleep the night before? If that’s the case you’re far from alone, according to new results from the World Sleep Survey. Tired office worker suffering from poor quality sleep The study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford found that full-time employees lose an average of seven days of work per year due to poor-quality sleep and those who report that their sleep is of “less than average” quality lose more than 13 days. More than 20,000 people participated in the survey. The financial cost of that to the UK is huge. Earlier research from 2011 prompted employers to take a closer look at sleep. Researchers from Harvard University had interviewed more than 7,000 people by phone, and found that insomnia/poor quality sleep results in the loss of 11 days of work per year. As a nation, that represented a total loss of $63.2 billion. Poor-quality sleep can result can affect mood and judgment, and result in serious health problems. In the USA, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recently declared insufficient sleep a “public health epidemic,” with some 18 million people in the U.S. reporting that sleep troubles impacted their job performance. Sleep experts are not surprised that exhausted employees are skipping work. When you don’t sleep well, you’ll experience a serious degree of cognitive impairment. Some people simply don’t allot enough time for a good night’s rest; others aren’t able to sleep well due to medical conditions, like insomnia or sleep apnoea. For those who have persistent sleep troubles, it is recommended that they either pay a visit to a doctor or if they persistently snore heavily, or at least try using an oral appliance to reduce the problem and prevent it. Some 72% of those who participated in the World Sleep Survey said they had not consulted a physician about their sleep troubles. People who average less than seven hours sleep per night are at increased risk of problems, such as high blood pressure, depression and anxiety. This occurs even in people who don’t feel tired during the day. Others may have sleep apnoea but be totally unaware although their partner may realise by identifying the symptoms of heavy snoring, appearing to wake often throughout the night and gasping for breath. Figures published by the AA attribute as many as 20% of accidents, many involving death, to poor quality sleep by a driver who then dozes at the wheel. It is now more widely accepted as a major problem and some companies are trying to help their employees become more aware of the difficulties it causes. Historically, employer wellness programs have focused on fitness and healthy eating. But that’s now beginning to change. Some companies are developing programs to assess and treat employees with sleep apnoea, a common disorder that disrupts sleep and often goes undiagnosed. More than 5% of UK male adults have sleep apnoea and there are lower but increasing figures for women, often due to weight gain. The real figures may be even higher as most cases are undiagnosed. Large US companies, like Google and Goldman Sachs, have brought in sleep experts to disseminate information about sleep disorders. Johnson & Johnson offers its employees a digital coaching program that is designed to reduce insomnia, and involves relaxation videos. Corporate wellness companies even offer coaches to teach employees about healthy habits for getting a good night’s rest. One of the key recommendations for improving sleep by stopping heavy snoring, and controlling sleep apnoea, is by the use of a medically approved mouthpiece that is worn at night, and is much like a sports gumshield that we are all familiar with. In this case it protects in a different way by moving the jaw forward slightly, and in doing so it keeps the throat open so that breathing continues normally. Results from the specialist NHS sleep researchers at Papworth Hospital tested a selection of typical oral appliances, and based on the results recommended SleepPro Custom as the first mouthpiece to use to prevent snoring and control sleep apnoea. The subsequent result of using these simple and inexpensive oral appliances will improve worker efficiency and safety in many ways, as well as improving their attendance record, and benefit their general well-being both in the long and the short term. John Redfern New Guidelines for treating Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) If you already suffer from sleep apnoea, or think that you or your partner may have this dangerous problem, and it remains undiagnosed for whatever reason, then the new rules that have been issued in the United States will have some real meaning for you. The American College of Physicians (ACP) has published new clinical practice guidelines regarding the management and treatment of OSA in adults. It deals with the known detrimental effects of the problem, and discusses the limitations of the various available treatments. These findings endorse those of the AASM – the American Academy of Sleep Medicine but take recommendations further. As ever, the USA is ahead of the UK in dealing with this huge problem, partly because it is so much more widespread in the community there. Much of this can be linked to obesity, a major problem in the USA, and which is rapidly becoming so here due to changes in our diet, lower exercise levels in youth, and sedentary occupations now being the largest group by far versus manual workers. Alcohol also often plays a significant role in the equation – mostly due to the high calorific intake and the effect that alcohol can have on sleep hygiene. What is OSA? OSA disrupts breathing during sleep, and this is usually as a result of the muscles and soft tissues in the throat relaxing and collapsing to block the airway. It can last for about 10 seconds or even more. It affects people of all ages, but particularly those of us in middle age, and particularly the elderly. However, we believe that around 80% of cases remain undiagnosed. OSA is easy to treat but when left undiagnosed and untreated, is linked with a range of serious health concerns that include heart disease and stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure, called hypertension. Fatigue becomes a huge problem too. Current approved treatments for OSA and sleep disordered breathing OSA is a chronic medical disorder that requires immediate action, but also requires long term, and often lifelong. therapy. Obviously a healthier lifestyle will come high on the list from any GP but this will not stop the problem of your snoring immediately, and sometimes does not succeed at all. As well as recommending weight loss in overweight and obese patients, it recommends and approves the following treatments as it is recognised that weight-loss intervention alone will not achieve the desired objectives. Medical Treatments and Clinical Recommendations for OSA CPAP Mask wearer • Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is recommended for more serious sufferers but it is readily identified that many patients reject this treatment for various reasons, particularly having to wear a mask for such long periods of time, claustrophobia, having a dry mouth, or the associated discomfort of the mask amongst others. • It is still however strongly recommended for chronic sufferers if acceptable. Sweet dreams • Mandibular Advancement Devices (MAD’s or Splints) are fully recommended as a primary treatment route and a strong option in many cases versus CPAP. They are more readily accepted than masks and have many distinct advantages over them including, ease of wear, instant results, high rates of effectiveness and also being inexpensive by comparison – even bespoke mouthpieces or the now available self-fit versions which are highly adjustable compared to the standard oral appliance – although this may be the best starting point. • Strongly recommended by ACP for less severe versions of OSA. Snoring Surgery • Surgery however is not listed in the ACP’s summarized recommendations, but the guideline does specifically discuss its role as a treatment for OSA. It highlights that surgical procedures, which are intended for sleep-disordered breathing, are not as effective as either CPAP or using MAD’s. Currently success rates vary greatly and can be as low as 20%, as well as it sometimes requiring several procedures. • Not currently recommended by ACP to American Physicians. More and more clinics, doctors and hospitals in the USA now recommend using oral appliance technology in the form of a mouthpiece to be used when sleeping and this is now becoming more accepted as a route here in the UK, particularly now that higher quality MAD’s are NHS Approved. By John Redfern Snoring mothers-to-be are linked to low birth weight babies The British Press have covered this subject extensively this week based on the results of a new research study that has just been completed in the United States. The research was published in the journal ‘Sleep’. Snoring can be more than just an annoyance to others who are trying to sleep in the same room. For pregnant women, snoring could indicate certain higher risks. Experts say that snoring may be a sign of breathing problems that could deprive an unborn baby of oxygen. Snoring is often a key sign of obstructive sleep apnoea, which results in the airway becoming partially blocked, said the researchers, whose findings appear in the journal Sleep. This can reduce blood oxygen levels during the night and is associated with serious health problems, including high blood pressure and heart attacks. The experts stress sleep apnoea can of course be easily treated. The study found that chronic snorers, who snored both before and during pregnancy, were two thirds more likely to have a baby whose weight was in the bottom 10%. Newborn baby girl sleeping They were also more than twice as likely to need an elective Caesarean delivery, or C-section, compared with non-snorers. Dr Louise O’Brien, from the University of Michigan’s Sleep Disorders Centre, said: “There has been great interest in the implications of snoring during pregnancy and how it affects maternal health but there is little data on how it may impact the health of the baby. Previous research has already shown that women who start to snore during pregnancy are at risk from high blood pressure and the potentially dangerous pregnancy condition pre-eclampsia. More than a third of the 1,673 pregnant women recruited for the new US study reported habitual snoring. They were also more than twice as likely to need an elective Caesarean delivery, or C-section, compared with non-snorers. Scientists found that women who snored in their sleep three or more nights per week had a higher risk of poor delivery outcomes, including smaller babies and Caesarean births. The very worst cases of sleep apnoea can be treated with CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), which involves wearing a mask attached to a machine during sleep, which pumps oxygen to keep the airways open. Most other forms of sleep apnoea can be treated with the wearing of a simple snoring mouthpiece, similar to a gumshield that is worn for sports. Dr O’Brien added: “If we can identify risks during pregnancy that can be treated, such as obstructive sleep apnoea, we can reduce the incidence of small babies, C-sections and possibly NICU (neo-natal intensive care unit) admission that not only improve long-term health benefits for the newly born but also help keep costs down.” By John Redfern Snoring can cause Women to put on weight Lack of sleep affects food choices and if you don’t sleep well it can cause you to choose more high-calorie foods. So, not only does being overweight cause you to snore, it would appear that snoring causes you to gain weight too. It’s obviously normal for a poor night’s sleep to affect you the next day and make you feel tired; if it’s a constant problem then it could have some wide-ranging effects on your health. Several studies have suggested that a lack of sleep can increase the chance of weight gain and obesity. It may be that a lack of sleep affects hormones that help control our appetite, that people eat more calories to make up for the tiring effects of lost sleep, or that people who stay up late tend to sleep less overall and eat more calories during their extended waking hours. Snoring and Weight gain However, these are mostly theories, as few good-quality studies have explored the link between sleep, eating, and weight gain. To help fill this gap in what we know, researchers recruited 225 healthy, non-obese people (aged 22 to 50 years old) to live in a sleep laboratory for 12 to 18 days. They randomly selected participants to have five nights of either: Restricted sleep, with four hours in bed, from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m., or Unrestricted sleep, with 10 hours in bed, from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. During the day, people had regular meals and could also eat at other times, as food was always available in the kitchen. What food they ate and their weight were closely monitored, so the researchers could compare the two groups to see whether restricted sleep increased the chance of weight gain. What did we learn? People who had restricted sleep consumed more calories than those who had unrestricted sleep. All of the extra calories – around 550 per day on average – were from food consumed between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. When eating late at night, people also got more of their calories from higher fat foods than at other times of the day. On average, people with restricted sleep gained nearly a kilo of weight, while those with unrestricted sleep gained only one-tenth of a kilogram. How reliable is the research? This was a good-quality study. However, it’s worth noting it only included people who were healthy, fairly young, and not obese. So it’s not clear whether these findings will definitely apply to other groups of people. Also, the participants weren’t able to exercise during the study and might not have had access to all the foods they usually ate. These things might have had an effect on the findings. What does this mean for me? It provides good evidence that restricted sleep can increase how many calories you eat and leads to weight gain, at least in the short term. If you tend to stay up late and/or get little sleep, it may be especially pertinent to you as after 10 p.m. was when people typically got their extra calories, rather than during the day. By John Redfern Snoring, sleep apnoea, and sleep loss in women Snoring, and sleep apnoea in particular, were both generally considered to be conditions predominantly affecting men but we now know this not to be the case, with the ration of men to women estimated at approximately 2:1. Since sleep apnoea is mainly a problem that is self-reported , men were more likely to seek help for this and heavy snoring, even if prompted to do so by their partner. Approximately 50% of women snorers are believed not to report their symptoms to their GP, mostly due to being embarrassed. Some studies show that as many as 90% of more severe cases go undiagnosed in women, and women have a tendency not to report apnoea events, choking or restless sleep, whereas most men did report these matters. Treatment however can be both simple and inexpensive and it can prevent major health problems in later life. Sufferers are often put off by the thought that the treatment most used historically was CPAP, where air is forced via a mask into the lungs throughout the whole night. More recent thinking is to recommend the use of an oral appliance for mild and moderate cases of sleep apnoea. Sleep apnea in womenComparison showing Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP and an Oral Appliance (MAD) The contrast is shown in the photography above where one patient is using a mask for CPAP and the other an oral appliance – just distinguishable in the inset, with the result that this method is now much more appealing to those who suffer – both men and women. This treatment, although not quite so effective, works very well. Snoring often results in a disturbed night and it is very common to hear a comment such as – “I barely slept last night. I just couldn’t get comfortable” – or – “I tried to fall asleep, but my mind kept racing.” Sleep, and the lack of it, is a common talking point, and disturbed sleep generally is much more common in women than men. A woman’s experience of sleep loss is different and sometimes feminine factors are involved that may cause and maintain sleep difficulties. However, focusing on quality sleep is important to help prevent many aspects of both physical and mental health. Disruption of sleep leads not only to daytime sleepiness, but memory lapses, weight gain, headaches, irritability and poor work performance overall. It can also contribute to psychological disorders such as depression and for the more severe cases, there’s an increased risk of high blood pressure, premature heart disease and stroke. It’s not an area to neglect. The best solution is an approach on several fronts including exercise, reduced alcohol consumption, healthy eating and treatment for the sleep apnoea or heavy snoring which will stop the snoring immediately whilst other things take time. There are several treatment solutions including surgery, CPAP (Continuous Positive Airways Pressure) a full-face mask which works by stopping the airways from collapsing, or a mandibular advancement device, like a sports mouth-guard, that holds the lower jaw slightly forward, making more space to breathe. Many women now opt for the mouthpiece. It’s easy to wear, quite comfortable, non-claustrophobic unlike the mask, and doesn’t create dryness of the mouth, which CPAP has a tendency to do. Mouthpieces are easily acquired as they are non-prescription, but some are NHS Approved, which is preferable, and they will bring you immediate results. SleepPro now have a special product in their range dedicated to women only – the only oral appliance technology company to do so. By John Redfern Massive increases recorded in the number of women who snore Snoring damages health By John Redfern Children’s Health • Snoring – What Mothers really need to know. Snoring in children can range from a gentle little noise every now and then, to a loud snore every night. At a worrying time like this, with Measles topping the headlines as a health danger for children, parents need to better understand what snoring is and whether or not it is a problem for their child. What Is Snoring? Snoring is the sound of the upper-airway passage vibrating with effort to let air pass through. The louder and more chronic and constant the snore is, the more likely it is that the upper airway is not only floppy, but perhaps not staying ‘open’ enough for air to get through during sleep. When the upper airway closes fully during sleep, this is called obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). If this occurs, the air, and therefore the oxygen, will stop flowing through the body for a short while and the child will appear to stop breathing. After a few seconds, the body will react to the lack of oxygen, and the child will take a deep breath, gasp and then settle back into a normal breathing and sleeping pattern until the next time the flow of oxygen stops. Sometimes this upper-airway obstruction is only partial and is called Hypopnea Syndrome (HS). This is not as severe as OSA, but still needs attention in children because even small amounts of upper-airway collapsibility can indicate problems with overnight breathing. However, not all snoring is due to OSA or HS. Primary snoring is snoring that does not involve upper-airway closure or blood-oxygen reduction. Many children have occasional primary snoring, particularly between the ages of two and four, or when they have a cold or allergy. If the snoring is chronic, and is not related to a cold or an allergy, then it is worth investigating because research suggests primary snoring (even without oxygen changes or gasping for breath) still disrupts sleep. What Impact Does Snoring Have On Children? Snoring children will have constantly disrupted and poor-quality sleep. They are more likely to have nightmares and night terrors, and be restless. It is thought that snoring children are hot and sweaty due to difficulty regulating their body temperature and/or because they move around a lot. Snoring, particularly when it is associated with OSA or HS, can also have an impact on daytime performance, the same as it does with adults, including reduced attention and memory performance, and problem-solving skills, which can affect learning and schoolwork. Snoring, poor sleep and OSA can also increase the likelihood of weight gain. What Causes Snoring? As noted above, snoring is caused mainly by a floppy upper airway, but other factors can play a role in this. They are: 1. Jaw or nose shape 2. Age: children between two and four are more likely to snore 3. Allergies and colds 4. Obesity 5. Large tonsils and/or adenoids How Prevalent Is Snoring In Children? Snoring is common between the ages of two and four, and up to 30 per cent of children will snore during that age range and not snore again. But in general, 15 per cent of children will suffer from primary snoring more than three times per week, and about two per cent of those children will have OSAS or HS. To begin to investigate your child’s snoring, speak to your GP who will refer you to the appropriate health professional if there is a problem. Treatment Options Available The treatments for snoring are aimed at trying to get the air to move freely through the upper airway during sleep and the cause of the snore will dictate the treatment. Most symptomatic snoring is usually treated in children over two years of age with an operation to take out enlarged tonsils or adenoids. Sometimes there is a need for additional treatments to clear the nose with sprays and medications, or surgery. One possibility for resistant OSA is the continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) machine. This is a ventolin mask worn over the nose and mouth during sleep that keeps the airways open by diverting air down through the airway during sleep. This machine, while very effective, is often difficult for children to wear – and even adults reject it as a route. Very few children will need treatment such as the CPAP machine for sleep apnoea for the rest of their lives. Do Children Outgrow Snoring? Snoring generally resolves itself, either with age or intervention. In fact, there is still a lot of research needed to help us to get the best treatments for snoring that will ensure children will remain healthy throughout their lives. Snoring does not necessarily indicate a problem, but if your child does snore, even when they do not have a cold, parents should be vigilant for any problems. By John Redfern Heavy Snoring & Sleep Apnea What is Sleep Apnea? Treating the problem Join our Partners Against Snoring group! All you have to do is sign up at share your information, share your thoughts and troubles, in turn we’ll share some of our most helpful tips to help cut out the snoring. By Richard Owen
Virgin and Child with John the Baptist National Heritage Board, Singapore National Heritage Board, Singapore Muhammad Zaman (active 1649–1700) Iran, signed and dated 1682–83 Colour and gold on paper Asian Civilisations Museum [2011-02267] The image is generally based on a European print, but the artist has imaginatively varied the scene by adding ruins and a building under construction in the background. The openness of Iran to the outside world in the 17th century, especially during the reign of Shah Abbas II (reigned 1642–66), brought Europeans to the capital Isfahan. The influence of European works of art can be seen in the art of Iranian artists though their use of perspective, blended shading, and attention to Western motifs. The presence of Christian subjects in Islamic art might be surprising, but the Virgin, Christ, and the Baptist are respected figures in Islam. This painting was probably made for a Muslim patron because it was added to an Islamic album containing drawings and calligraphies soon after it was made. Show lessRead more • Title: Virgin and Child with John the Baptist
What is MICR Toner Cartridge? Posted by Greg Nowak on If you have ever wondered how your cheques have perfect bold fonts then you may want to ask what is MICR toner cartridge? To begin, the acronym MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. This is a standard electronic process that is used to read sensitive documents such as bank cheques through high speed magnetic equipment and a MICR toner. So, what is MICR toner cartridge? An MICR toner is a toner that can be magnetized and then be translated into characters by a specialized machine. These unique characters are the modern-day fingerprints that are regularly used to prevent frauds. The toner is read by these specialize and sensitive machines especially when it is arranged in a pattern like or in a specific syntax. What is the difference between standard toner and MICR Toner? MICR toners usually cost much more than ordinary toners. This is because they cost a lot more to make. MICR toners are commonly used by people who want to print their own cheques. The MICR characters are normally printed on the bottom of checks allowing for highly accurate and automatic reading of institutional routing numbers and checking account numbers. Standard toners have a high-quality standard to pass just like MICR toners, however, MICR toners normally do further additional scans for errors. Inkjet printers do not mix with MICR meaning that you cannot use MICR ink in an inkjet printer. This is because the liquid ink is supposed to flow out past a small resister that generates a substantial amount of magnetic field. Therefore, for you to use MICR technology and print your own cheques, you will need a laser printer. Also, a regular toner cannot be read by a MICR reader whether it is used or OEM. Although it may appear to be as bold and dark in color, it doesn’t contain the necessary components for it to be magnetized by the reader. Share this post ← Older Post Newer Post → Leave a comment Please note, comments must be approved before they are published.
Cubism is an attempt to combine three-dimensional sculpture and two-dimensional painting.You have to imagine walking around an object and piecing it together from several different sides in order to decide what the artist is trying to do (Ernest Goldstein). When Diego Rivera painted Zapatista Landscape in 1915 it was mistaken by many critiques to be a work of Picasso, who was a prominent painter of the time.Rivera spent 14 years in Europe studying modern art.Rivera's charm, talent, exaggerated stories, and shocking behavior, lead him to become known as the "Mexican Cowboy." Diego Rivera painted the hardships of the Mexican people.He painted the history of Mexico and showed the many injustices that occurred.One of the most well known painter in Mexico and the world in the twentieth century.Rivera saw the Spanish, church, wealthy landowners, and capitalists as exploiters of his downtrodden people.A leader of the Mexican people, he inspired them to take pride in their heritage.Diego Rivera has painted portraits of famous writers like Martin Luis Guzman, who took part in the Mexican Revolution, and spent time with Rivera in Paris.From 1905 to 1918 Rivera studied modern art in Paris.Many of Rivera's exaggerated and false stories came back to haunt him.Mexican Indian artists had shown great force and genius.Like allfirst rate art, their work had been intensely local; it related to the soil the landscape, the forms, animals, deities, and colors of their own world.Rivera spent 1918-1920 studying renaissance work in Italy.Diego Rivera was ten when his family moved to Mexico City, where he enrolled in the Academy of San Carlos, a school for highly talented artists.Mural painting is designed for the people on the street you don't have to pay admission for it.Between 1920 and 1930, Mexico became a world center for art.Most artists during this time shared the belief for
Share This: Endometriosis is a very common condition among women. In the US alone, there are about 7 million women who have been diagnosed with endometriosis. Although some percentage of endometriosis patients do not feel any pain because of the condition, it may cause severe pain in many. Most endometriosis patients deal with pelvic pain and painful sexual intercourse. However, only a minor percentage of women with the condition develop any back pain. In some cases, women do develop spinal pain, which can radiate along the vertebrae in severe cases. Let us look into this in more detail. How Does the Condition Cause Pain? Endometriosis is caused by endometrial tissue that has implanted itself and has begun to grow in unusual places in and around the reproductive system. The tissue is normally found in the uterus. It thickens and prepares itself for implantation of a fertilized egg. When no fertilization occurs, the tissue simply sloughs off during the menstrual cycle, and leaves the body. But, it is theorized that sometimes the tissue that has broken off, instead of leaving the body, moves to different parts of the body and implants itself. The most common regions where it implants are the ovaries, Fallopian tubes, bowel, bladder, and even the rectum. The tissue’s thickening and breakdown is completely controlled by hormones. But, once it has attached itself to other organs, it may not be possible for the tissue to leave the body even after it breaks down. This leads to various problems such as cysts, and scar tissue. These are the main causes of pain. This pain is mostly concentrated around the pelvic region because the endometrial cells cannot easily travel to other parts of the body. In rare cases, the endometrial cells find themselves on the lower part of the spinal canal or vertebrae. There, they cause severe pain to the patients. The pain can even radiate across the back if the cell growth impinges the nerve network leaving the spine. There are two primary treatments available for back pain resulting from endometriosis. One is hormonal therapy and the other is surgery. The hormonal therapy is essentially a birth control procedure. Because growth is stimulated and controlled by pregnancy hormones, medication is given to inhibit such hormones. Without the hormones, the endometrial cells cannot thicken, no matter where they are. For obvious reasons, such treatment should be avoided during pregnancy or when trying to get pregnant. Women nearing menopause are advised against seeking any hormonal therapy, because menopause can remedy endometriosis. Surgery is an invasive and risky option because the spinal cord is involved. The spinal endometriosis surgery is slightly more complicated than a simple endometriosis surgery to the pelvic region. However, if severe pain or neurological symptoms are being exhibited, then surgery might be the preferred way to go. It is important to discuss the risk, and cost of this invasive spinal surgery with an expert before pursuing it. Share This:
Information On The Four Stages Of Alcoholism Alcoholism is a serious disease that worsens over time. There are four stages of alcoholism. In the first stage of the disease, someone begins using alcohol as a way to escape stress or bothersome problems. People who once only drank at social gatherings begin to spend time drinking on their own as a way to cope with life. During the first stage of alcoholism, the alcoholic builds up a tolerance to alcohol and needs to drink more alcohol than usual in order get a buzz. People gradually consume increased amounts of alcohol so that they can continue to get the same mind altering effects that they desire. During the second stage of alcoholism, the alcoholic begins to lose control. They may be in control in certain situations, but there are times that they lose control and make poor decisions. For example, a person may not drink during work hours but may become so intoxicated at an office party that they risk losing their job. Second stage alcoholics begin to crave alcohol earlier in the day. They do not begin drinking to relieve stress or escape daily troubles; they now drink because they are dependent on alcohol. A second stage alcoholic begins to experience a variety of physical symptoms including blackouts, digestive problems, hand tremors and consistent hangovers. During the second stage, other people will likely begin to notice that the individual has a drinking problem. The alcoholic may also begin to realize that they have a problem and become embarrassed by their behavior. Their embarrassment may lead them to make the decision to quit drinking but most alcoholics are unsuccessful unless they seek professional treatment. During the third stage of alcoholism, the alcoholic loses even more control over their life and his or her world often begins to crumble down around them. The alcoholic cannot simply have a couple of drinks because at this point they are unable to stop drinking. Stage three alcoholics make many poor decisions that negatively affect their lives. They may use the money they need to pay bills on alcohol purchases and put alcohol before their relationships, education or career. They may drink and drive or participate in other illegal activities. Alcohol becomes the focus of the alcoholic’s life and the person may begin to avoid any family members, friends, social situations or activities that do not aid them in their quest to become intoxicated. In the third stage, alcoholics may have a drink or two as soon as they wake up in the morning to reduce their withdrawal symptoms and cravings and to ease their remorseful feelings. During the latter stages of alcoholism, people often begin to neglect their appearance. They may not bother to brush their teeth, comb their hair, shower or change their clothes on a daily basis. Their homes are often dirty and neglected and they may forget to eat or drink water when their body needs it. Alcoholics may want to get help with their drinking problem but will be unable to do so without going through a good rehabilitation treatment program. Once a person reaches the fourth stage of alcoholism, they have lost complete control over their life. By now, many alcoholics have lost their career, friends and perhaps even their family. They may be facing serious financial or legal problems. Third stage alcoholics are unable to function without alcohol. If they do not continue drinking throughout the day, they begin to experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Fourth stage alcoholics are continuously intoxicated and may need someone to help them to eat, drink water and shower. They are no longer active members of society but live only to take their next drink. Stage four alcoholics cannot stop drinking without medical help because their withdrawal symptoms can become so severe that they can lead to death. If alcoholics do not seek help in the final stage, they will suffer from hallucinations, severe shakes, stomach problems, delirium tremens and eventually death. It is better for alcoholics to seek rehabilitation treatment during the early stages of alcoholism. As the disease progresses it becomes increasingly difficult for a person to quit drinking because they face numerous health problems during the withdrawal period. Alcoholics should enter into rehab as early as possible to avoid health complications, job loss and relationship problems. Leave a Reply
Sealer and Asbestos Exposure Sealers were simple and standby products commonly used in most parts of building construction and equipment manufacturing. Sealants did an excellent job of blending seams, patching holes and covering up mistakes in the installation of primary products. Many times, tradespeople took the view that close enough was good enough and finished joints with gobs of sealer. Although the building and manufacturing industries depended on sealants for a wide range of tasks, many end-users had no idea how dangerous sealants could be. That’s because, before the 1980s, almost every type of sealer on the American market contained harmful quantities of asbestos fibers. Most sealants were semi-solid materials like caulking and adhesives. Malleability was the key to good sealers so they could be squeezed out or scooped from containers then beaded along cracks and porous surfaces. Workers applied sealants in all kinds of conditions. They placed sealers in high heat applications like chimneys and boilers. Sealants were spread on damp surfaces like water pipes and containers as well as on roofs and exterior walls. Sealers also helped insulate building products, stopped electrical contact and, most importantly, prevented fires. That was a lot to ask from semi-liquid construction product. But almost every sealer seemed to be improved by adding asbestos fibers into the mix. From the early 1900s to the later twentieth century, most sealers on the American market contained asbestos particles. Asbestos was widely available, easy to manipulate and exceptionally cost-effective. And sealers with asbestos materials as an ingredient were stable. Asbestos fibers didn’t chemically react with other materials. Asbestos Fibers in Sealers Another significant advantage to adding asbestos materials in sealers was making the products pliable. Sealers needed the flexibility to do their job and asbestos was an excellent additive for enhancing sealant pliability. Many industrial sealants contained between 10 and 50 percent asbestos fibers. Content amounts depended on what purpose the sealer had. It also depended on what type of asbestos fiber the manufacturer blended into their sealant product. The sealer industry primarily used two different types of asbestos fibers. Chrysotile asbestos was the most common additive. It was also called “white asbestos” due to its natural mineral color. Chrysotile asbestos was commonly available and used in low-stress sealer applications like: • Residential, commercial and industrial building construction. • Automotive, aircraft and railroad equipment manufacturing. • Medical supplies and hospital settings. • Electrical components. • Household goods. Chrysotile asbestos was also known as “good asbestos.” That’s because the health hazards from the other type of asbestos fibers used in sealant manufacturing were well-known. Amphibole asbestos belonged to a different classification of crystalline asbestos minerals than chrysotile. Amphibole colors ranged from blue, green and brown. High heat and pressure resistance were the main benefit sealant makers got from blending amphibole fibers into sealants. Amphibole asbestos was useful for: Exposure to Asbestos Fibers in Sealants Sealants exposed workers to asbestos fibers in three ways. One was manufacturing the original sealer product. The second was applying sealants at a worksite. And third, workers maintaining, repairing or removing sealants were exposed to airborne asbestos fibers when old sealers were disturbed. Once asbestos sealers were in placed and allowed to cure, they were stable and safe. Health risks occurred when asbestos fibers were added or handled in a factory setting or if sealants were disturbed during construction or demolition. Old sealants that turned dry and crumbly also presented severe exposure risk. Dried out sealers became friable where microscopic asbestos particles were released into the air as dust when broken down. When inhaled by workers, asbestos fibers turned deadly. Asbestos Sealers and Mesothelioma MJN Brief A mesothelioma is a fatal form of lung cancer. Its only cause is exposure to airborne asbestos fibers. Inhaled asbestos particles bond to the lung lining or mesothelium. They remain permanently fixed and, over time, cause scar tissue that turns tumorous. There is no known cure for mesothelioma. Compensation for Mesothelioma Victims Compensation may be available for anyone who developed mesothelioma due to workplace asbestos exposure. Negligent manufacturers of asbestos-containing products like sealers are held accountable for personal injury, lost income and medical expenses. Families of mesothelioma victims can claim on members’ behalf. They are also entitled to file wrongful death lawsuits.
NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms magnetic-targeted carrier (mag-NEH-tik-TAR-geh-ted KAYR-ee-er) A tiny bead made from particles of iron and carbon that can be attached to an anticancer drug. A magnet applied from outside the body then can direct the drug to the tumor site. This can keep a larger dose of the drug at the tumor site for a longer period of time, and help protect healthy tissue from the side effects of chemotherapy.
Amid Congo chaos, rights groups form a vital safety net Underfunded and often threatened, local civic groups monitor abuses and provide help. Hunched over a table in the barren offices of Haki Za Binadamu - literally, "Human Rights Organization" in Swahili - Emile Asani Miango thumbs slowly through a battered blue school notebook. Inside, is a list of the dead; a dangerous thing in this rebel-held city. Antionette Kandolo was hacked to death by rebel soldiers with her two daughters while returning from their fields. The same happened to Veronique Lusambo and a woman named Mrs. Gerard. Apollonaire Kubabezaga's goats cost him his life. The soldiers he encountered shot him and his son for six or seven scrawny animals. "It's a genocide here," said Michael Katshindja, president of another small human rights organization in Kindu. "But no one is paying attention." Here in Eastern Congo, torn by civil war for the last four years, civilians are dying in far greater numbers than soldiers. Disease and starvation have taken the vast majority of the estimated 2 to 3 million people who have died here since the war's beginning in August 1998. But thousands, in all likelihood tens of thousands, have become victims. Left to count the dead are organizations like Haki Za Binadamu. Beleaguered and isolated, the Congo's small army of human rights organizations battle to bring international attention to the plight of their country. In this country where the state has all but disappeared and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reach only a handful of places, a network of local civic organizations fill the gap. Everything from hospitals to schools to feeding programs for the hungry are shoestring projects run by churches, civic groups and the occasional resourceful entrepreneur. Gone too are the courts and the police. In their place are only human rights groups. Often they can do little more than monitor the abuses, hoping the information will pressure the armed groups. When possible, they offer counseling or assistance to the victims and their families. "The paradox of civil society in the Congo is that these groups often have almost no money and work in incredibly dangerous conditions, but they find ways to do what they have to," says Learned Dees, head of the National Endowment for Democracy's Africa program, which funds more than two dozen Congolese NGOs. "The civil society here is one of the most advanced in Africa." Often the most difficult job is finding the victims. While every side of this war is guilty of horrible crimes, the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma [RCD], which controls most of the area's major cities, is becoming more sensitive about accusations that its unpaid soldiers are guilty of rape, pillage, and murder. Human rights activists have been beaten, detained, and killed, and families of the victims terrorized into silence. Even funerals for those killed by the RCD have been banned, leaving many to mourn their dead in secrecy. Fifteen-year-old Kaozi Ki-bamba says he heard the shots that killed his father and four of his brothers and the memory haunts his sleep. Kaozi and nine siblings were visiting their farm outside the city when RCD soldiers rounded up everyone in the village and took them to a small island in the middle of the Congo River. After days of waiting, the men and teenage boys were taken away by the soldiers. Kaozi, who looks much younger than his age, was spared. "Twenty minutes later, we heard the sound of machine guns and I knew they were all dead," he says, drawing circles in the dirt with a stick. "Everyone was afraid." Kaozi's story could not be independently corroborated. The boy's oldest brothers have gone in search of their family members, but fear they will be punished if caught. In this climate of fear, much of the work done by Haki Za Binadamu and other human rights groups takes place secretly. The group relies on a network of informers who investigate alleged human rights violations. "We must be very careful about what we say and do," says Raphael Upelele Lokenga, president of Haki Za Binadamu. "But it must be done." Here in Kindu, the situation is particularly tense. Local military commander Bernard Biyamungu, a tiny man who prefers T-shirts to military fatigues, was recently cited by Human Rights Watch as one of the leaders responsible for civilian massacres in another eastern town, Kisingani, earlier this year. Angered by the charges, he reportedly threatened to kill anyone from Human Rights Watch who comes to town. Faray Selenge, the local RCD governor, denies his group is responsible for human rights violations. Mr. Selenge, a well-spoken young man with horn-rimmed glasses, says the RCD are the protectors of the people. "Why would we kill innocent people?" he says, growing angry at the question. "We are here to protect them." of 5 stories this month > Get unlimited stories You've read 5 of 5 free stories Only $1 for your first month. Get unlimited Monitor journalism.
A A Email Print Share Author To Reveal How Technology Determines Truth A renowned technology expert will explain why the Internet is making it harder than ever to know what's true on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at Duquesne University. Blogger, journalist and author Farhad Manjoo will explain how we can make sense of rumor, innuendo and faux news in the age of the Internet in a free presentation titled Navigating a Post-Fact World, which will take place at 7 p.m. in the Power Center Ballroom. Manjoo, who is best known for his controversial debunking of 9/11 conspiracy and stolen election theories, is a contributor to NPR, Slate Magazine and a new, buzz-generating blog, The Machinist, on Salon.com. His purview is the digital world, where competing versions of truth vie for our attention. In his book True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society, Manjoo explores how new technologies, which give us control over what we see and read, have caused “reality” to split across political and cultural lines. In the book, he warns of the dangers of living in an oversaturated media world and shows how myths pushed by both partisans and marketers, whether about global warming or the virtues of a certain candy bar, have emerged in recent years. Manjoo theorizes that this fracturing allows opposing groups to subscribe not only to different opinions but also to different facts. He believes that because of the increased number and variety of news sources available, we are able to pick and choose the news and truths that most agree with the beliefs we already hold, blurring the idea of what is considered true. The presentation will be followed by a book signing. For more information, call 412.396.6432. Duquesne University
6 May 1995 Cottoning on to fake money MOST people associate carbon dating with archaeological finds thousands of years old. But two scientists are using the carbon-14 isotope to track down and convict today’s currency counterfeiters. Paper dollars are made from rag paper, which is based on cotton. James Ehleringer of the University of Utah and John South of Lawrence Livermore Laboratories in California have found that the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in the paper can be used to date it, and that the carbon-13 to carbon-12 ratio can be used to tell where the cotton was grown. “Any plant that photosynthesises takes up carbon from the atmosphere,” says Ehleringer. “And thanks to the nuclear bomb tests of the 1950s and 1960s, the amount of carbon-14 has provided a valuable label.” The bomb tests in 1950 injected a noticeable amount of the unstable carbon-14 isotope into the air and further testing caused atmospheric levels to rise sharply to a peak in 1962. “Now with treaties banning atmospheric testing, carbon-14 levels are tapering off,” he says. Since cotton is an annual crop, the carbon-14 in any sample can be readily compared to a reference set, and the cotton dated at least to the nearest year. To help track down where the cotton came from, the researchers are exploiting a principle that is already used by wine experts to verify where particular wines originate – the varying ratio of carbon-13 to carbon-12 isotopes found in crops from different areas. Ehleringer says: “Already we can easily determine if the cotton in a paper sample came from Egypt or Georgia, and it may be possible to discriminate between cotton from the same year’s crop in Arizona and California, separated by just hundreds of kilometres.” The work is sponsored by the US Secret Service, whose duties include protecting the dollar as well as the president. Antonio Cantu of the Secret Service says that the agency wants to know when and where the counterfeiters are getting their paper.
A PLAY BY EDMUNDO FAROLAN Copyright April, 1996 SUMMARY Rizal is a historical drama of the life, loves and death of the national hero of the Philippines, Jose Rizal Alonso. The play begins and ends with his execution at Bagumbayan by a Spanish firing squad after he is condemned to death for treason. In-between, the play traces this Philippine patriot’s life--from his graduation at the Ateneo de Manila, his travels through Europe, his novels Noli me tangere and El Filibusterismo written during his sojourn there, his founding of the Liga Filipina which resulted in his exile to Dapitan, and finally his trial, condemnation and death. SET DESCRIPTION The set, not unlike the Shakesperean stage, would have two levels, allowing for multiple staging. The upper area will be used for balcony scenes, ship decks, and other scenes requiring upper level staging. The lower area of the stage will be utilized for street scenes, battle scenes, and ground level staging. There are no heavy backdrops or complicated scene changes; only a play of lights that fade in and fade out on different areas of the stage to distinguish scene changes, as well as music and sound effects to show a transition from one scene to another, or mood changes. CHARACTERS (In the order of appearance) Jose Rizal Alonso Spanish Officer Fr. Pablo Ramon, S.J. Mexican student Columbian student Peruvian student Crisostomo Ibarra Padre Damaso Don Anastasio (Tasio) Elias Maria Clara German lady (Rizal’s acquaintance) English lady (Rizal’s acquaintance) Graciano Lopez Jaena Servant Padre Florentino Simoun Reporters Andres Bonifacio Apolinario Mabini English lady (companion of Josephine Bracken) Josephine Bracken Parents (Dapitan) Governor General Blanco Generalisimo Aguinaldo Clerk of Court Military Judges Friar Judges Prosecuting Attorney Defense Attorney Soldiers, Revolutionaries, etc. RIZAL-Farolan PROLOGUE Screen in the background: ‘Bagumbayan, December 30, 1896’. Sound of marching drums fade in. Jose Rizal is blindfolded and has his hands tied behind his back. He faces a firing squad of Spanish soldiers. A friar is reading a prayer book and giving his last blessing to Rizal. SPANISH OFFICER: Alto! Spanish soldiers aim at Rizal whose back is to the soldiers. SPANISH OFFICER: Fuego! The soldiers fire at Rizal who turns around and gets shot in front. He falls facing the sky. Drums are played as scene fades out. Scene 1 Screen flashes in the background: ‘Ateneo de Manila, March 1877. It is the old Ateneo Muncipal de Manila. Fr. Pablo Ramon, S.J., Rector of the Ateneo, is on an elevated platform. It is Rizal’s High School Graduation. Ramon is making an announcement in front of the whole student body. RAMON: And last but not least, Valedictorian with straight sobresalientes and the winner of the Drama contest for his play Consejo de los Dioses, Jose Rizal Alonso. Applause. Rizal ascends platform. RAMON: Enhorabuena, Pepe. RIZAL: Scene 2 The family--parents and relatives hug Rizal. Friends and students gather around Rizal after the graduation to congratulate him. A lot of improvised chatting. As they exit: FRIEND 1: Congratulations for the high marks, Pepe. Where are you going to university? RIZAL: Sto. Tomas. FRIEND 2: What will you be taking? RIZAL: Medicine. Lights fade out slowly as Rizal , family and friends exit, chitchatting. Scene 3 Screen fades in: ‘July, 1881. University of Sto. Tomas’. Rizal is on a lectern reciting his prizewinning poem “A la juventud filipina”. The poem may be read by the actor in its entirety or portions of it. It might be a good idea to start off in Spanish for the first few verses then in its English translation, then end in Spanish again. The following free English translation is my attempt to make the poem more contemporary: Gracias, padre. !Alza tu tersa frente, 3 RIZAL-Farolan Juventud filipina, en este dia! Luce resplandeciente Tu rica gallardia, Bella esperanza de la Patria mia! Soar in your grandiose geniality Infusing noble thoughts, Lancing vigorously Faster than the wind Towards your glory! Throw away, Oh Filipino Youth, the heavy chains that weigh heavy on your poetic genius, and ascend on wings of fantasy To seek Olympus in the clouds And taste the nectar of sweet poetry as you alone can rival the celestial music of the melodious nightingale! Run towards the sacred flame of genius and with your magic brushes paint the beauty of Apollo’s beloved, the enchanting Phoebus. Dia, dia felice, Filipinas gentil para tu suelo! Al potente bendice, Que con amante anhelo La ventura te envia y el consuelo! Applause from audience. Fade out. Scene 4 Screen: ‘ Madrid, 1884’ . The scene opens in a bar where students of the University of Madrid hang out. Rizal is drinking tinto(red wine) or cervezas with international students from South America. Rizal talks about the injustice of the Friars. The South Americans feel the same way with what’s happening in their countries. RIZAL: The Friars. They’re the cause of our ignorance. MEXICAN: What do you expect? They need to control the country. And what better way than to keep us ignorant? COLOMBIAN: The Jesuits are the worse. Those blackbirds in their black suits. They’re the devil incarnate. Everyone laughs. RIZAL-Farolan RIZAL: I am a Jesuit graduate and that’s where I learned what Machiavellism is. There’s a term for them in one of our Philippine dialects: suitic from Jesuitic... PERUVIAN: What does it mean? RIZAL: Cheater! Everyone laughs. MEXICAN: Well, they have the best lands. RIZAL: Except for the Dominican friars. I was brought up by these two orders. First at the Ateneo under the Jesuits and then Medicine under the Dominicans at the University of Sto. Tomas. COLUMBIAN: That’s why you’re twice the rebel we all are. Laughter. RIZAL: Seriously now. What’s happening and why is all this happening? MEXICAN: Rizal, as though you don’t understand human nature. You, the poet, writer, doctor...are you blind to the meaning of greed? The greed that inhabits mankind in search for power and wealth? PERUVIAN: Here we are in Spain and we are talking against her. RIZAL: I love Spain; I just don’t like Spaniards. COLUMBIAN: Except for the women! ARGENTINIAN: Here, here! Para las mujeres de Espana! Everyone lifts their glasses. RIZAL: You latinos are going to turn me into a playboy! COLUMBIAN: Es la naturaleza latina! You should know that. You’re Filipino! RIZAL: Everyone stand up and toast to ourselves! MEXICAN: Brindis! ALL: A Filipinas y Latinoamerica! They drink and lights fade out. Scene 5 Screen: ‘ Heidelberg, 1885’ . Rizal is writing Noli me tangere. Voice over excerpts of the Noli, in Spanish first, then in English, start off each of the scenes followed by actual dramatizations of these scenes, as though Rizal, as he writes, visualizes these scenes. A: Ibarra is in a carriage riding through Manila on his way to his home town, San Diego. RIZAL-Farolan Voice over as Rizal writes, first in Spanish then in English and as voice over fades out, the scenes as described below are put in mise-en-scene : RIZAL (writing, voice over): El coche de Ibarra recorria parte del mas animado arrabal de Manila; lo que en la noche anterior le ponia triste, a la luz del dia le hacia sonreir a pesar suyo ( voice over fades out then fades in to English:) Ibarra rides off towards the square of San Gabriel, and is soon crossing one of the busiest districts of Manila. Ibarra on a carriage, smiling, as he looks out , as described by Rizal:) VOICE OVER (continuing):The hustle and bustle everywhere, so many carriages and cabs at a dash, Europeans, Chinese, and natives, each dressed after their own fashion, fruit pedlars, messengers, sporters stripped by the waist, foodshops, inns, restaurants, shops, carts pulled by carabaos, the noise, the incessant movement, the sun itself, a certain smell, the colours --he had almost forgotten what Manila was like. Voice over as these scenes go on as described... RIZAL (voice over): The streets had still not been paved. The sun shone two days in a row, and the streets dissolved into clouds of dust that covered everything,blinding passers-by and sending them into fits of coughing; it rains a day, and the streets become a marsh, gleaming at night with the reflected lanterns of carriages that splash mud on the pedestrians on the narrow sidewalks as far as five metres away. How many women had lost their embroidered slippers in the mud!(Women angry as they lose their slippers. In another part of the stage, prisoners fixing the roads described as follows:) In time the prisoners would show up to repair the streets; shavenmen wearing short-sleeved shirts and knee-length pants lettered and numbered in blue, chained in twos, rags wrapped around their ankles , burnt by the sun, driven to exhaustion by the heat, exertions, and the whips of the trusties who derived their peculiar pleasures from flogging their fellows. The prisoners are tall men with stern faces, who never smile but whose eyes flash when the whip falls on their shoulders. (A prisoner is whipped.) A passer-by tosses a cigar butt. It is picked up by the nearest prisoner and hidden in his straw helmet. The other prisoners watche the other passers-by with unfathomable looks. Ibarra absorbs the noise they make: the dull thud of rock being crushed to fill up the holes in the streets. Ibarra remembers a boyhood event: It had been high noon; the sun’s rays fell mercilessly. Under a poor shade of a lonely cart lay one of these unfortunates, unconscious, his eyes staring wide. Two of his fellows were silently putting together a bamboo litter, without anger, without sorrow, without impatience--that, it was said, was what the natives were like. You today, our turn tomorrow, they seemed to be telling themselves. People hurried by without a glance; the women passed, looked and went on their way; the sight was common enough, so common that hearts had grown calloused. The carriages rolled by, their varnished bodies gleaming in the rays of a brilliant sun in the cloudless sky. He alone, a boy of eleven, newly arrived in town, had been touched; he alone, he felt sure, had slept badly because of it. RIZAL VOICE OVER (as scene continues to be dramatized on stage): But that had been long ago. Turning his attention back to the city, Ibarra notices that the honest old pontoon bridge is gone. It had been a good bridge for all its faults, rising and falling with the tides of the river Pasig, which more than once had battered and destroyed it. The almond trees in the square of San Gabriel had not grown much, and were as thin as ever. The Escolta, the main business street, seemed to him less attractive than when he last seen it, in spite of a new building decorated with draped female figures, which had taken the place of a group of warehouses. RIZAL-Farolan He found the new bridge more worthy of note, while the houses on the right bank of the river among bamboo clumps and groves, where the Escolta ended opposite the Island of Romero, reminded him of the chilly mornings when he paddled past them bound for the baths of Uli-Uli. He meets carriages drawn by the teams of magnificent ponies, carrying businessmen on their way to their offices, still half asleep, military men, Chinese in foolish and ridiculous postures, grave friars, canons, and in an open carriage, sees Father Damaso, himself, serious and frowning. Scene freezes as Damaso and Ibarra stare at each other from their carriages. Lights fade out from this scene. B. Lights fade in. We see Rizal writing as Voice over in Spanish then in English, as in Scene A above: RIZAL (voice over as he writes): Estamos a diez de noviembre, la vispera de la fiesta. Saliendo de la monotonia habitual, el pueblo se entrega a una actividad incomparable en la casa, en la calle, en la iglesia, en la gallera y en el campo: las ventanas se cubren de banderas y damascos de varios colores; el espacio se llena de detonaciones y musica; el aire se impregna y satura de regocijos... A lot of commotion. Townspeople are preparing for the Fiesta. Roosters are being prepared for tomorrow’s Cockfights, Bamboo archs being constructed, Food being prepared, etc. C. Old Tasio’s house. Ibarra goes through the garden of Don Anastasio and up the stairs to his room. Tasio is an old man, bent over, writing in his study. Collections of insects and leaves are hung on the walls among maps and old bookcases crammed with printed volumes and manuscripts in disarray. He is so absorbed in his writing he doesn’t notice Ibarra who as he is about to withdraw not wanting to disturb him. TASIO: (noticing Ibarra) Oh you’re here . IBARRA: I’m sorry ..you’re busy..I’ll come back another day. TASIO: It’s okay. I was doing a little writing, but there’s no hurry. I need a break anyway. Can I help you? IBARRA (approaching Tasio): Yes. (Noticing Tasio’s writing.) This is interesting. Are you working on hieroglyphics? TASIO (laughing): No. I use symbols when I write. IBARRA: But why should you bother writing in code? TASIO: So no one can read what I write. IBARRA (inquisitive): But why do you write if you don’t want to be read? TASIO: I’m not writing for this generation but for those yet to come. If this generation could read what I have written, my books will be burned, my whole life’s work. But future generations will decipher these characters and say: ‘Not everyone slept during the night of our forefathers!’ Contemplative pause. IBARRA: I came to talk to you about a matter of some importance. Yesterday afternoon... TASIO: (interrupting): They arrestd Elias. RIZAL-Farolan IBARRA (surprised): How did you know? TASIO: I saw the Muse of the Constabulary. IBARRA: Who’s that? TASIO: The Lieutenant’s wife. You didn’t invite her to your party, but everybody in town knows the story. She is shrewd and mean. She reads her husband’s official reports and instructions, and when he returned drunk, she lost no time in sending the sergeant and his squad out to your picnic, to spoil it and get even with you. Be careful. Eve was a good woman; she was made by God Himself. Dona Consolacion is a bad woman, or so they say, and nobody knows where she came from!.. To be good, a woman must have been, at least, some time, a virgin or a mother. IBARRA (smiling then draws some papers from his wallet): My late father was in the habit of asking your advice on certain matters. I have a plan which I must make sure will succeed. I want to build this school for my fiancee. (Shows the building plans to Tasio.) I’d like to know whom I should win over to make my plan succeed. You know everyone here. I’ve just arrived from abroad and I’m almost a stranger in my own country. TASIO (carefully examining the plans, his tears moist): You’re going to do what I once dreamed of doing--a poor madman’s dream! My advice to you is never to ask my advice! IBARRA looks surprised. TASIO: People will take you for a madman the way they did to me. People believe that those who don’t think as they do are crazy and that’s why they think me crazy. I’m grateful for it because the day I regain my reason according to their standards, they’ll take away the little freedom I have left as a rational being. And who knows! They may be right because I don’t think nor live according to their laws. My principles, my ideals are different. They think the Mayor is smart because he has never learned to do anything except serve chocolate to the parish priests and suffer Father Damaso’s bad temper. But now, look at him. He’s rich! So, everyone thinks: “There’s a man with brains! He started with nothing and now, he’s rich!” But look at me. I inherited wealth and rank; I spent my life studying; and now, I”m poor, unfit for any office. They all say “He’s a fool. He doesn’t know what’s happening” . The priest nicknames me “pseudo-intellectual” and suggests I’m realy a charlatan who’s showing off what I learned in the university. Maybe I’m really crazy and they are the sane ones. Who can tell? Pause. My second piece of advice is to consult the parish priest, the Mayor and all the persons of rank. Of course, they’ll give you bad advice--foolish, worthless--but you don’t have to follow it. Just pretend you’re following it; make them believe you’re doing what they want you to do. Pause. IBARRA: Your advice is good but difficult to follow. Must I carry out my plans under cover? Can’t what is good be done in spite of everything? Truth does not have to dress up like Error in order to prevail. TASIO (emphatic): But no one loves the naked truth! What you say is good in theory but it is feasible only in the dream-world of youth. Take the school master. He wanted to do good, with the sincerity of a child, and all he got was jeers and laughter. You tell me you’re a stranger in your own country. I believe you. You made a bad start the very day you arrived. You humiliated a friar who has a reputation among the townspeople of being saintly and wise. I hope to God you have not compromised your future! Just because the Dominicans and the Augustinians look down on the coarse habit of the Franciscans, their rope girdles and their open sandles; and just because a famous professor of the University of Santo Tomas once recalled that Pope Innocent 8 RIZAL-Farolan III had described the Rule of the Augustinians as more fit for pigs than for men, don’t imagine that all these friars will not join hands when the time comes to confirm what one of their procurators declared: “The lowest lay-brother is more powerful than the Government with all its soldiers.” Cave ne cadas. Beware lest you fall! Money talks, and the golden calf has many times ousted God from His altars, even in the days of Moses. IBARRA (amused, smiling): I am not so pessimistic. Life in my own country doesn’t seem to me to be that dangerous. I believe your fears are a little exaggerated, and I hope to be able to achieve all my objectives without meeting any serious opposition from them. TASIO: You will if the friars don’t help you. The friar will only have to hitch the rope round his waist or shake the dust from his habit. On the slightest pretext, the Mayor would then refuse you tomorrow what he grants you today. And no mother would allow her child to go to your school. IBARRA: I can’t believe the friars are so powerful as you make them out to be. Even supposing what you say is true, I should still have on my side all sensible people and the Government which has the best of intentions and high objectives, and openly seeks the good of the Philippines. TASIO (muttering): The government? The government, you say? However desirous it may be of improving the country for its own sake and that of the Mother Country, however much this or that official may remember the generous spirit of Ferdinand and Isabella and pledge himself to it, the Government itself sees nothing, hears nothing, and decides nothing except what the parish priest or the head of a religious order makes it to see, hear and decide. It is convinced that it rests on them alone; that it stands because they support it; that it lives because they allow it to live; and that the day they are gone, it will fall like a discarded pupet. The Government is intimidated with threats to raise the people against it, and the people cower at the Government’s armed forces. This is the basis of a strategy that is quite simple, but it works for the same reason that cowards in cemeteries take their own shadows for ghosts and the echoes of their own voices for calls from the dead. So long as the government does not deal directly with the people it will not cease to be a ward, and will live like those idiots who tremble at the sound of their keeper’s voice. The government does not plan a better future; it is only an arm, the convent is the head. Because of the inertia with which it allows itself to be dragged from failure to failure, it becomes a shadow, loses its identity, and, weak and incapable, entrusts everything to selfish interests. If you don’t believe me, compare our governmental system with that of the countries you have visited. IBARRA (interrupting): Oh, that’s too much. Surely it’s enough to satisfy us that our people do not complain or suffer like those of other countries, thanks to the Church and the benevolence of our rulers. TASIO: The people do not complain because they have no voice; they do not move because they are in a stupor. And you say that they do not suffer because you have not seen how their hearts bleed. But some day you will see and hear. Then woe unto those who draw their strength from ignorance and fanaticism, who take their pleasure in fraud, and who work under cover of night, confident that all are asleep. When the light of day reveals the monstruous creatrures of the night,the reaction will be terrifying. All the forces stifled for centuries, the poisons distilled drop by drop, all the repressed emotions, will come to light in a great explosion. Who shall then settle the accounts, such accounts as the peoples of the world have presented from time in those revolutions that history records in blood-stained pages? IBARRA: God, the government and the church will not allow such a thing to happen. The Philppines is religious and loves Spain. Of course there are abuses, there are shortcomings, I don’t deny it, but Spain is working out reforms to correct them. Spain is not egotistical. TASIO: I know, and that’s the worst of it. The reforms that come from above are disregarded by the lower bureaucracy because of greed and vice--the get-rich quick syndrome and the ignorance of the masses who allow all this to happen. Abuses aren’t corrected by a Royal 9 RIZAL-Farolan Decree if authorities do not watch over its implementation and if there is no freedom of speech to speak against these petty tyrants. Plans remain plans, abuses will continue, but the Minister in Spain, nevertheless, will sleep peacefully, thinking that these reforms are being implemented. Besides, if a high official comes with great and generous ideas, he immediately begins to hear the following comments : “Your Excellency doesn’t know the country, Your Excellency doesn’t understand the temperament of the natives, Your Excellency is spoiling them, Your Excellency will do well to to trust Mr. So and so, and so forth and so on, while behind his back, he is taken for a fool. And as his Excellency really does not know the country which he thought was somewhere in South America, aand besides has defects and weaknesses like any man, he finally allows himself to be convinced. His Excellency also must keep in mind that he sweated and suffered much to get this position, and that he’ll only be here for three years, and that he’s getting old and must think of his future rather than quixotic enterprises--a modest home in Madrid, a little townhouse in the country, a good pension to show forth in Court. These are the things he must work for in the Philippines. Let’s not ask for miracles. Let’s not expect the foreigner who comes only to make his fortune and then go home, to take an interest in the welfare of the country. What does he care about the blessings or the curses of a country which he does not know and where he has no memories or loved ones? To be satisfying, glory must ring in the ears of those we love, within the walls of our homes, in the air of our native country where we shall be laid to rest. We want glory to warm our graves, so that we may not be reduced to nothing and something of ourselves may yet remain. We cannot promise any of these things to those who come to guide our destinies. The worst of it is that, just when they have begun to learn what their duty is, it is time for them to leave. Fade out. D. Fade in on another part of the stage. Ibarra is now with Elias. The dialogue starts in the original Spanish then into English: ELIAS: Solos, en verdad, somos nada; pero tomad la causa del pueblo. Unios al pueblo. No descigais sus voces. Dad ejemplo a los demas. Dad la idea de lo que se llama una patria! IBARRA: Lo que pide el pueblo es imposible; es menester esperar. ELIAS: Esperar! Wait? That’s all we do . Wait! We’ve waited enough. Waiting is suffering. IBARRA: I won’t be the one who’ll lead our people by force. Never! If ever I see our countrymen rising in arms, I’ll be on the Government’s side and fight back. I want what’s good for my country and that’s why I want to start a school. I want to do it through education, through intellectual progress and enlightenment, a cultural revolution, and not an armed revolution. ELIAS: But don’t you see? Without an armed revolution, we’ll never obtain freedom! IBARRA: But I don’t agree that freedom can be obtained that way. ELIAS: Without an armed revolution, there is no freedom. Without freedom, there is no enlightenment. You yourself admit you’ve been away too long and you hardly know what’s happening to our country. I can see it now. Battles begin with ideas that come down to the masses who have to shed their blood for the motherland. Don’t you see how everyone is awakening? The dreams of liberty and freedom have been with us for centuries! God will not abandon us. He has never abandoned other struggles of people in their struggle for liberty. And he will not abandon us. Fade out. Sound of drums in the blackout. 10 E. Fade in: sweet nostalgic music of ‘Canto de Maria Clara’: Dulces las horas en la propia patria Donde es amigo cuanto alumbra el sol; Vida es la brisa que en sus campos vuela, Grata la muerte y mas tierno el amor! Ardientes besos en los labios juegan, De una madre en el seno al despertar; Buscan los brazos a cenir el cuello, Y los ojos sonriense al mirar. Dulce es la muerte por la propia patria, Donde es amigo cuanto alumbra el sol; Muerte es la brisa para quien no tiene Una patria, una madre, y un amor. Sweet are the hours in one’s own motherland Where the sun shines friendly And the sweet breezes touch the fields Where death appeases and love is tender. Ardent kisses play on lips As one awakes on a mother’s bosom Arms embracing her neck Eyes smiling and beholding. Sweet it is to die for the motherland Where the sun shines friendly Where death is the wind for whom There is no country, no mother, no love. Maria Clara & Ibarra on the azotea. Background music: Melody of ‘Canto de Maria Clara’ as this scene progresses: MARIA CLARA: Has pensado siempre en mi? No me has olvidado en tantos viajes? Tantas grandes ciudades con tantas mujeres hermosas? IBARRA: Podria yo olvidarte? How can I forget you? How can I turn my back on a promise? A sacred promise I made to you? Do you remember that night? It was a stormy night. You saw me crying over my mother’s corpse. You came to me and put your hand on my shoulder. Your hand that I hadn’t touched for a long time. . . MARIA CLARA: And I said ‘You’ve lost your mother. I never had one.’ And I cried with you. IBARRA: You loved her. And she loved you like a daughter. MARIA CLARA: And it rained outside and there was lightning and thunder. IBARRA: But for me, it was music to my ears as I looked at the pale smile of my mother. Then I held your hand and I swore to love you, to make you happy, and now, I am renewing my vow to you. (Holds both hands. ) How can I ever forget you? You were always in my mind wherever I travelled. The picture of you in my mind was my consolation in those lonely times abroad. I imagined you running barefoot in the beaches of Manila, as you looked at the distant horizon, wrapped in the warm light of early dawn; in my thoughts, I heard you sing that nostalgic, melancholy tune that awoke sad memories in me, then happy memories of our childhood, our 11 RIZAL-Farolan games, and all those joyful moments in the pueblo. I always saw you as the spirit, the poetic reincarnation of my country, the beautiful, simple, innocent, loving daughter of that great country Mother Spain... Fade out. Fade in Maria Clara music with lyrics. After this chapter-scene, Rizal’s girl friend, a German fraulein calls him to bed. A little comic twist. FRAULEIN: Pepe, are you coming to bed? RIZAL: Yes, Greta, I’m coming. Scene 6 Screen: ‘Berlin, 1887’. Book launching of Noli me tangere. Literary people are gathered around congratulating Rizal. PUBLISHER: Ladies and gentlemen. May I have your attention? Noise dies down. PUBLISHER: I am proud to publish this excellent novel NOLI ME TANGERE from our Herr Doctor Jose Rizal who is, in our eyes, a son of Berlin, a son of Germany. Applause RIZAL (speaking in German): Danke, Herr Doktor. I am proud to be a son of Berlin, a son of Germany. (Applause.) I would like to read an excerpt of my novel, actually, the dedication To my Country. It is the nationalist fervor I had assimilated during my stay here in Germany. In this dedication, I talk of a cancer, a cancer that is eating up my country. The cancer of greed that the colonialists, particularly those of the religious orders, are inflicting on my countrymen. Reads. ‘In the midst of human ills, there is a cancer so malignant that just a slight contact irritates and causes very acute pains. How many times, dear Motherland, when I call you to mind, have I wanted to evoke you in the midst of these modern civilizations and compare you to them. But instead, your image appears to me afflicted with a social cancer. ‘Now, desirous of your well-being, which is also ours, and seeking the best cure, I shall do to you what the ancients did with their sick: expose you and your sickness on the steps of the temple so that each person who would pass by and pray to his god, would propose a remedy. ‘To this end, I shall attempt to recreate faithfully your condition; I shall lift part of the veil that covers the disease, sacrificing everything for the sake of truth, even my own ego, because as your son, I also suffer your cancer.’ 12 Fade out. Scene 7 Screen: London, June, 1888. Rizal on his desk writing. He writes Mariano Ponce, a contributor of La Solidaridad in Barcelona. Voice over: Dear Mariano: I received your letter today. I’m sorry to hear La Solidaridad isn’t doing very well in Barcelona, and I can see your frustration. I know you haven’t had much success in your journalistic endeavours, but that doesn’t mean you should stop writing. Not all of us are born journalists or writers. For me, writing is secondary. What is important is to think and act correctly, work for a goal, and the pen is there to express all this. What one expects of a Filipino of our generation is not being a literati, but rather, being a good person, a good citizen who contributes to the progress of his country with his head, his heart, and perhaps our arms. We can and must work always with our heart; and with our arms, when the opportune moment comes. Now the principal instrument of the mind and the heart is the pen. Screen shows Rizal writing in Spanish while voice over English translation accompanies it. Ahora el instrumento principal del corazon y de la cabeza es la pluma; otros prefieren el pincel, otros el cincel; yo prefiero la pluma. Ahora, no nos parezca el instrumento como el objeto primordial; a veces con uno malo se hacen obras muy grandes, digalo el bolo filipino. A veces con una mala literatura pueden decirse verdades grandes. Yo no soy inmortal ni invulnerable, y mi mayor alegria seria verme eclipsado por una pleyade de paisanos a la hora de mi muerte, que si a uno le matan o le ahorcan, que le sustituyan veinte o treinta al menos para que se escarmienten de ir ahorcando o matando. Muchos no quieren quemar las hormigas porque dicen que mas se multiplican. Por que no seriamos hormigas? Voice-over accompaniment: ...Others prefer to express their thoughts and feelings through painting or sculpture; I prefer the pen. This instrument might not be of great consequence, although it could produce great works. Sometimes bad literature could express great truths. I’m not saying that I or my writings are literarily immortal and invulnerable. In fact, my greatest joy is to see myself eclipsed by innumerable countrymen at the hour of my death. If they kill or hand one patriot, let 20 or 30 take his place so that out of fear, the oppressors will stop the hangings and killings. They say ‘Don’t burn ants because the more they multiply’. I wish we were ants. Fade out Daytime. Piccadilly or Hyde Park, London. Improvisation of actors, as follows: Rizal meets an English lady in the Park. They become friends. Eventually, he has an affair with her. The scene could probably open in the Park and Rizal, in his poor English, is asking for directions. A conversation ensues where they plan to teach each other languages: She teaches Rizal English and Rizal teaches her Spanish and Tagalog. Words like ‘Amor’ ‘Mahal kita’, and other flirtations lead to their affair. Actors can improvise. Excellent challenge for actors. Scene 8 Screen: Barcelona, 1889. A banquet in honor of Rizal who is made honorary president of La Solidaridad. Marcelo del Pilar, Mariano Ponce, Graciano Lopez Jaena, and other Filipino patriots, members of the HispanoFilipino Association, who had gone to Spain to work for colonial reform, are present. Lopez Jaena, who is an accomplished orator, introduces Rizal. LOPEZ JAENA: It is with great honour that I present the honorary title of President of La Solidaridad to this emminent nationalist, creator of that scathing novel Noli me Tangere recently published and acclaimed in Germany. His ideals have inspired us to write what we have written in La Solidaridad, the very essence of Solidarity. Spanish provinces abroad, including the Philippines, have found in LA SOLIDARIDAD inspiration towards their legitimate aspirations for reform. They find in our publication solutions to the evils that wrack these suffering provinces abroad. Our publication, inspired by our compatriot Rizal’s novel Noli me tangere, exposes the gangrene that is corroding the societies of these provinces: the immorality in the administration of the justice system, our economy and our government, now a cause of worry by other countries of the world. Our goal is basically political, and it is not limited to any particular school of thought or system. All we seek is Spanish integrity in the Philippines, in particular. We seek reforms which are the natural aspirations of people of this age- a better life style, and not the brushing aside of politcians who answer: “We’ll see.” We want to give a helping hand to our motherland as well as other provinces in Latin America under Spain, indicating the problems we are undergoing and possible solutions that will lead to reforms. Let me now pass the lectern to our honorary president, Jose Rizal. Applause. RIZAL-Farolan RIZAL: Muy amable, Graciano. Thank you. My dear countrymen: I am deeply honoured by the title you have bestowed on me as Honorary President of La Solidaridad. I hope it will fluorish in the months to come. I am impressed by the credentials of the members of the Editorial board. They have been well-selected, and I am sure that the goals of this publication under their guidance will surely be put into effect. Although I do not doubt that my advice would be useless (polite laughter frm members) the contribution of each member is doubtlessly invaluable. However, if your purpose in writing is just fill up a blank piece of paper, I might as well start off and write some vulgar observations which you all are familiar by now from my writings (laughter). Let me start off by saying that in new societies, there should rein a spirit of tolerance. Discussions should be dominated by a tendency towards reconciliation rather than the inimical spirit of opposition. No one should feel resentful for losing in a polemica. If an opinion is not accepted, the author, instead of feeling dejected, should wait for another occasion to bring out his viewpoint. The individual should not override the well-being of Society as a whole. His amor propio which is an expression of his subconscious individuality should not take over in discussions that are for the common good. That way, we won’t have hurt feelings and discontent. It would be a good idea to have in mind this formula when propositions, projects, etc. Are being prepared: This is our opinion if all the other members do not object. This formula or something similar to it should govern any discussion. I’ve seen too many discussions going awry because of ego trips. The decision of the majority must be sacred and unquestionable. There should be a sentiment of honour and good will. Don’t expect hopnours nor awards for what you do. Anyone who does his duty in the hope of getting an award afterwards will only be disappointed. It is human to never feel completely compensated for a job well done. And in order that no one feels discontent nor fully compensated for work done, it is better to just do your job and not expect anything in return. In a country like ours where injustice reins, it is better to remember that injustice is the prize of those who do their duty. Applause. Fade out. Scene 9 Screen: Brussels, 1890. Rizal is writing El Filibusterismo. As he writes, in a small corner of the stage, scenes from this novel are enacted in different areas of the stage: RIZAL (voice over): El Filibusterismo. Capitulo diecisiete. La feria de Quiapo. (Writing as voice over goes from Spanish to English; scenes are dramatized in different areas of the stage similar to Noli me tangere scenes above.) ‘La noche era hermosa y la plaza ofrecia un aspecto animadisimo. Aprovechando la frescura de la brisa y la esplendida luna de enero...people were crowding to amuse themselves, to see and be seen. A. One part of the stage is illuminated. It is the fiesta in Quiapo. Sets as described in the narration. Actors mime as Rizal describes what is happening:) RIZAL: ..Music and twinkling lanterns added to the festive mood. Long lines of stalls glittering with tinsel and couloured decorations displayed masks, coloured balls, tin toys, miniature trains and carts, mechanical horses, toy steamships with miniature boilers, Lilliputian porcelain wares, foreign dolls, blonde and smiling and beside them, native dolls, serious and pensive in aspect, like little ladies beside gigantic children. The beating of little drums, the toot-toot of tin horns, the nasal music of accordions and organs, combined in a carnival concert, and through it all the crowds came and went, shoving, stumbling, with their faces turned twards the stalls so that RIZAL-Farolan collisions were f requent and comical. Coaches had to slow down and the coachmen had to incessantly shout Tabi! Tabi! Government employees, military personnel, friars, students, Chinese, girls with their mothers or aunts, exchanging greetings, winks from the men, and more or less cheerful comments. Scene and actors freeze. Lights fade out. Music stops abruptly. Another part of the stage is illuminated. It is a a secluded retreat house beside the sea. The open windows show the restless surface of the sea which merges with the horizon in the distance. Father Florentino, an old priest, is alone playing a grave and melancholy tune, long notes, prayerful but robust, on a reed organ to the accompaniment of the crashing waves and the moans of the melancholy woods. Servant enters. SERVANT: Father, Simoun wants to speak with you. The old priest goes to the next room, another area of the stage which is illuminated as he walks in. It is a well-aired room with a wooden floor made of broad and well-polished boards and furnished with a heavy armchair of an old-fashioned design, unvarnished and undecorated. There is a huge wooden bed with four posts holding the crown of the mosquito net. Beside it is a table littered with bottles, lint and bandages. A praying-desk at the foot of a crucifix and a small library suiggests this is the priest’s own room. The windows are wide open and we hear the sea’s laments. On the bed is Simoun who is really Ibarra (from Noli). His face, a hidden pain in the contortion of its features, a look of anxiety in his eyes, lips twisted in grimace. FLORENTINO: Are you in pain, Simoun? SIMOUN: Somewhat. But I’ll be all right. FLORENTINO (clasping his hands): My God, what have you done? What did you take? (Reaches towards one of the bottles.) SIMOUN: (grimace on his face) Useless. Nothing can be done. What else did you expect me to do? Not later than eight o’clock..dead or alive..dead, yes, but not alive. (Laughs but then starts grimacing in pain.) FLORENTINO: My God, why did you do this? SIMOUN: Compose yourself. What is done cannot be undone. Shakespeare. Didn’t Macbeth say that? (Snickers.) I must not fall alive into anyone’s hands, they might wrest my secret from me. Do not fret, don’t lose your head. There’s nothing you can do. Listen to me. Night is falling and there’s no time to lose. I must tell you my secret. I must give you my last will. It’s essential to me that you see my whole life. At this particular moment, I want to unburden myself. I want to resolve a doubt. You have such faith in God. I want you to tell me if there is a God. FLORENTINO: An antidote, Simoun. I have apomorphine, a quick emetic..(rummaging for the right bottle) ether, chloroform... SIMOUN: Useless, useless. Don’t lose time or I shall go with my secret. The old priest places the armchair at the head of the bed, sits and leans to listen to Simoun. I came back from Europe 13 years ago full of hope and happy illusions. I was going to marry the girl I loved. I was ready to do good and forgive all thos whod id me wrong so long as they left me in peace. But it was not to be that way. My enemies plotted against me. I lost my reputation, my position, love, prospects for the future, freedom..everything. I escaped death 16 RIZAL-Farolan only because of the heroism of a friend. But I swore revenge. With the money I had inherited, I fled the country and gone into trade. I took part in the Cuban wars, helping both sides but always to my advantage: trading guns and ammunition for my own personal gain. I met a major there and won his confidence by lending him money. We later became close friends and after a dint of bribes, I secured him an assignment in the Philippines where he was made a General and I used him as my tool for my personal revenge impelling him through his insatiable greed to commit all kinds of injustice against my enemies. FLORENTINO: God will forgive you, Simoun. He knows we are liable to deceive and be deceived. He has seen what you have suffered and in allowing you to be punished for your crimes by suffering death at the hands of the very men you instigated, we can see His infinite mercy. He has frustrated your plans, one after the other, even the best, first with the death of Maria Clara. Let us obey His will and give Him thanks. SIMOUN: In your opinion, it would be His will that these islands...(brief pause, hesitating) FLORENTINO (Finishing the question):... should continue in their miserable condition? I don’t know the answer. I can’t read the mind of God. But I know He has not forsaken those peoples that in times of decision have placed themselves in His hands and made Him the Judge of their oppression; I know that His arm has never been wanting when, with justice trampled and all other recourses at an end, the oppressed have taken up the sword nd fought for their homes, wives, children, and those inalienable rights that, in the language of the German poet Goethe, shine above us unbreakable and untouchable like the eternal stars. No, God is justice and He cannot abandon His own cause, the cause of freedom without which no justice is possible. SIMOUN (angry): Why then has He forsaken me? FLORENTINO (sternly): Because you chose a means of which He could not approve. The glory of saving a country cannot be given to one who has contributed to its ruin. You believed that what crime and inquity had stained and deformed, more crime nd more iniquity could cleanse and redeem. This was a mistake. Hate only creates monsters just as crime creates criminals. Only love can work wonders. Only virtue can redeem. If our country is some day to be free, it will not be through vice and crime, it will not be through the corruption of its sons who are deceived and bribed. Redemption presupposes virtue...virtue gives way to sacrifice which ultimately gives way to love. SIMOUN: Very well, I accept your explanation. I was wrong. But because I was wrong, did this God of yours deny freedom to my countrymen and spare others more evil than me? What is my crime compared to the crimes of those who govrn us? Why should this God of yours give more importance to my iniquities than to the cries of the innocent? Why did He not strike me down and then work towards the people’s victory? Why allow so many who are worthy and just to suffer and, without lifting a finger, find satisfaction in their sufferings? FLORENTINO: The just and the the worthy must suffer so that their ideas may be known and spread. The vessel must be shaken or broken to release the perfume. The stone must be struck to raise a spark. There is something providential in the persecution of tyrants, Simoun. SIMOUN: I knew that. That’s why I encouraged tyranny... FLORENTINO: Yes, my friend, but it was filth that spread more than anything else. You fomented social corruption without sowing a single idea. This fermentation of vices could inspire only nausea, and if anything had sprouted overnight it would have been only a toadstool because only toadstools grow spontaneously in garbage. Of course, the vices of government are fatal to it and kill it, but they alsokill the society in which they are bred. An immoral government is matched by a demoralized people; an administration wwithout conscience, by greedy and servile townsmen and outlaws and robbers in the mountains. The slave is the image of his master; the country, of its govrnment. RIZAL-Farolan Pause. SIMOUN: Then, what’s to be done? FLORENTINO: Persevere and work hard. SIMOUN (sarcastic): Persevere and work hard! It’s easy to say when there is nothing to work for. If this God of yours requires such sacrifices from men who can scarcely be sure of the present and doubt there will be a future for them. (Pensive) If you had only seen what I had seen: unfortunate wretches suffering unspeakable tortures for crimes they never committed; fathers of families torn from their homes to work uselessly on highways that crumbled the next morning...bridges meant to be built only to bury their families in misery. Perseveramce! Work! Will of God! Persuade these people that they are murdered for their own salvation, that they work for the prosperity of their homes. Endure, persevere, suffer...what kind of God is that? FLORENTINO: A most just God, Simoun. A God who punishes our lack of faith, our vices, the little regard we have for dignity and the civic virtues. We tolerate vice and therefore become accomplices in it. Sometimes we go so far as to applaud it. It is only just tht we should suffer the consequences and that our children do the same. He is the God of freedom, Simoun. He makes us love it by weighing its yoke on our shoulders. Heis a God of Mercy and of justice who improves us through His punishments and grants happiness only to those who have merited it with their efforts. The school of suffering tempers the spirit. The fighting arena strengthens the soul. I do not mean to say that our freedom must be won at the point of a sword; the sword now counts for very little in the destinies of our times; but I do say that we must win our freedom by deserving it, by improving the mind and enhancing the dignity of the individual, loving what is just, what is good, what is great, to the point of dying for it. Whena people reach these heights, God provides the weapon, and the idols and the tyrants fall like a house of cards, and freedom shines in the first dawn. Our misfortunes are our own fault, let us blame nobody else for them. If Spain were to see us less tolerant of tyranny and readier to fight and suffer for our rights, Spain would be the first to give us freedom because, when the fruit of conception reaches the time of birth, woe to the mother that tries to strangle it! But as long as the Filipino people do not have the sufficient vigour to proclaim, head held high and chest bared, their right to a life of their own in human society, and to guarantee it with their sacrifices, with their very blood; as long as we see our countrymen feel privately ashamed, hearing the grown of their rebelling and protesting conscience, while in public they keep silent and even join the oppressor in mocking the oppressed; as long as we see them wrapping themselves up in their selfishness and praising with forced smiles the most despicable acts, begging with their eyes for a share of the booty, why give them independence? With or without Spain they would be the same, and perhaps worse. What is the use of independence if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And no doubt they will, because whoever submits to tyranny, loves it. Simoun, as long as our people are not prepared, and enter the struggle deceived or compelled, without a clear idea of wht they are to do, the best planned movements will fail and it is better that they shoulld fail. Why give the bride to the groom if he does not love her enough and is not ready to die for her? Long silence. Simoun takes Florentino’s hand and presses it. The priest waits for him to speak but Simoun is silent. Only the strong sound of the waves are heard through the window. He notices now that Simoun is still, his eyes closed, and his hand which had pressed his is now open and limp. For an instant he thinks that Simoun is asleep but observing no signs of breathing, he touches him gently and thenrealizes that he is dead and already turning cold. He feels his eyes moisten, and engrossed in his thoughts, whispers: (or this could be a voice over first in Spanish, then English, then towards the end, he can face the audience and say it as in a speech) FLORENTINO: (sadly) Donde esta la juventud que ha de consagrar sus rosadas horas, sus ilusiones y entusiasmo al bien de su patria? Donde esta la que ha de verter generosa su sangre para lavar tantas verguenzas, tantos crimenes, tanta abominacion? Pura y sin mancha ha de ser la victima para que el holocausto sea aceptable!...Donde estais jovenes, que habeis de encarnar en vosotros el vigor de la vida que ha huido de nuestras venas, la pureza de las ideas 18 RIZAL-Farolan que se ha manchado en nuestros cerebros y el fuego del entusiasmo que se ha apagado en nuestros corazones?...Os esperamos, oh jovenes, venid, que os esperamos! Quick blackout. Only the sound of the waves are heard in the dark.In the background, voiceover: Where are you, oh youth, who will dedicate your innocence, your idealism, your enthusiasm to the good of the country? Where are you who will give generously your blood to remove so much shame, crime, and abomination? Pure and immaculate must the victim be for the sacrifice to be acceptable. Where are you, young men and young women, who are to embody in yourselves the vigor of life that has been drained from our veins, the purity of ideals that have gone dry in our minds, and the fire of enthusiasm that is gone from our hearts? We await you, oh youth, come! We await you! (Repeated echoing of these last phrases as voiceover fades) Scene 10 Screen: Ghent, 1891. Bright lights come up. Newspaper boys shouting “Book launching of El Filibusterismo. International success.” In all languages. Screen displays flashes of International newspaper articles, headlines, praising this scathing novel. MULTIPLE SCENES on stage with different actors commenting about the novel in different languages to show this is an international bestseller. Again, actors improvise. The last scene shows Rizal in a press conference being interviewed by reporters: REPORTER 1: Doctor Rizal, how do you feel about the international success of your second novel? RIZAL: I’m happy it’s being read internationally. REPORTER 2: Do you think you’ll get into trouble with it? RIZAL: I am already in trouble. Laughter from reporters. REPORTER 3: Are you Simoun in this novel? RIZAL: Some of my ideas I’ve expressed through Simoun, as well as other characters like Padre Florentino, and the old philosopher, Tasio. REPORTER 4: Were you trying to symbolize Maria Clara as the new Philippines? RIZAL: If that’s how you want to interpret it. REPORTER 5: Was Maria Clara a personification of a real person you were in love with in your youth in the Philippines? RIZAL: Partly, yes. REPORTER 5: Why do you make fun of the friars in your novels? RIZAL: I don’t make fun of them. I use scathing satire perhaps as a tool to reflect their grotesquerie, as in Valle Inclan’s esperpentos or Quevedo’s satires on life. It’s a technique. RIZAL-Farolan REPORTER 6: The friars in the Philippines and other religious orders won’t like it, would they? RIZAL: In my novels, I do not satirize or comment against all religious orders, or religion, or friars. I was educated by the Jesuits who form part of a religious order. You can also read that in my novels, Father Florentino is a priest and he plays a key role, symbolic, if you want to call it that, in the shaping of the youth of the land. I’m just trying to say that ...yes, there were those religious orders or some priests, particularly in small parishes outside of Manila, who did abuse their powers...took advantage of the young women in their parishes, was greedy,gluttonous, etcetera and used their ecclesiastical powers to take advantage of my people. These are the people I attack in my novels. No more questions, thank you. As lights fade out, reporters still asking questions as Rizal exits. Blackout. Sound of drums and somber music reflecting Rizal’s approaching fate: his death. Scene 11 Screen: Hong Kong, June 1892 RIZAL (writing): The decision I’m going to make is a risky one. But I thought about it well. Screen flashes: Manila, July 1892 He stands up and addresses members of the Liga Filipina. This transition should show that from his thoughts and letter in Hong Kong, he now delivers the speech in Manila. RIZAL: I know that coming back to Manila was a decision you oppose. But you don’t know the sentiments of my heart. You see, I can’t go on living knowing that my countrymen suffer injustice and persecution because of my cause. I can’t go on living seeing my brothers and their families persecuted like criminals. I prefer to face death and my happiness is seeing the freedom of these innocent people who are unjustly persecuted. Applause. Comments “Here, here!” from audience. I know that for now, the future of my country gravitates towards me; that if I die, others will live, and consequently, many will long for this. Reaction from audience: “No”, “Don’t say that”, “It’s not true, Don Jose”, etc. I understand your concern. But what else can I do? I have my conscience to answer to. I’ve got obligations to families who are suffering because of me, to my own family, my parents, whose painful sighs reach my soul. I know that I alone even to the point of my death, will make these families of my countrymen restore the happiness they so richly deserve, giving back to them the peace of their homes. I have nothing left but my parents. But my country has many patriots who can take my place and still be at an advantage. Reaction: But we need you, sir, etc. Thank you. Let me just explain that I do want to show those who put aside patriotism that we all here know what it is to die for our country. It is a right, it is a duty. It is our conviction. Warm applause What matters death if one dies for what he loves, for his country, for the ones he loves? Reaction: applause, “Yes, yes”, etc. If I only knew that I was the only pillar supporting Philippine politics, and if I was truly convinced that my countrymen would use my services, then I would have doubts. But I am convinced that 20 RIZAL-Farolan there are other patriots who can take my place with better advantage. In fact, there are others among you who think that I have gone over board and my services are no longer needed and that I should be reduced to inaction. Reaction from audience: ‘Who?’ “No one among us” “Of course not”..Everyone looks at each other, some guilty faces in the audience. I have always loved my country, and I am sure that I will always love her upto the last minute of my life. My future, my life, my joys, all these I have sacrificed for love of country. However my luck turns out, I will die blessing her and wishing for the dawn of her redemption! Applause from members of the Liga: Mabini, Bonifacio, etc. Rizal then is approached by Bonifacio. RIZAL: We have to wait and try through peaceful reform. BONIFACIO (impatient): I’m tired of waiting! We’ve been waiting and suffering all these years! RIZAL: We can’t win victories through violence. We have to educate our people and let them attain liberty through peaceful negotioations. BONIFACIO: You know we’ve been patient enough. You tried through LA SOLIDARIDAD in Spain. What did it bring us? Nothing. All your speeches and writings on reform fell on deaf ears! RIZAL: I can’t allow you to do this. Why shed blood? Give hisotry time; let’s work together. Give me one last chance. Silence. BONIFACIO: All right. I’ll stay low. But I know it’s not going to happen. I, however, respect you and I’ll give you time to try again through peaceful means. But if it doesn’t work, revolution is inevitable. RIZAL: I understand. Fade out. Drums. Lights on Apolinario Mabini who follows up on Rizal’s ideas in the Liga: Mabini, on wheelchair, gives a speech in front of members of the Philippine League for Reforms . The actor can start off first in Spanish, then continue in English: MABINI: Muchos hablan de libertad sin comprenderla; muchos creen que, en teniendo libertad, ya se puede obrar sin freno, lo mismo para el bien que para el mal, lo cual es un grandisimo error. La libertad es solo para el bien y jamas para el mal; va siempre de acuerdo con la razon y la conciencia recta y honrada del individuo. El ladrom cuando roba no es libre, pues que se deja arrastrar por el mal, se hace esclavo de sus propias pasiones; y cuando lo encerramos, lo castigamos precisamente porque no quiere emplear la verdadera libertad. La libertad no quiere decir que no obedezcamos a nadie, pues precisamente no exige que ajustemos nuestra conducta a la accion directora de la razon y reguladora la justicia. La libertad dice que no obedezcamos a cualquiera persona; pero si, manda que obedezcamos siempre a la que hemos puesto y reconocido como la mas apta para dirigirnos, pues de esre modo obdeceriamos a nuestra propia razon. Un ejercito que se desbanda, desobediciendo a sus jefes, falta a la verdadera libertad porque perturba el orden e infringe la disciplina, que la razon misma RIZAL-Farolan ha impuesto; es decir, que varios hombres juntos no harian nada sin unidad de movimiento ni de fin, si cada uno tirara por su lado. Many talk of freedom without understanding what it means. Many think that in having freedom, you can do anything you want, whether it’s good or whether it’s bad. This is a big mistake. Freedom is only for the good and never for the bad. It always agrees with reason and the right and honorable conscience of the individual. A thief when he steals isn’t free at all. He is being dragged by wrongdoing and he becomes a slave of his own passions. When we put him to jail, we punish him precisely because he refuses to act in accordance to true freedom. Freedom doesn’t mean we don’t have to obey anyone. What it means is we have to conduct ourselves in accordance to reason and justice. Freedom means that we just don’t obey anybody. But it obliges us to obey whomsoever we place in authority because we have chosen that individual as the right person to guide us. That way, we are obeying reason and our own conscience. An army that breaks up because it does not obey its leaders lacks true freedom because the soldiers go against discipline which is precisely what reason has imposed on them. In other words, individuals acting on their won will not obtain anything because without unity, the end will not be met. Applause. Shouts. Commotion. The guardias civiles raid the meeting and Rizal and other members are arrested. Bonifiacio escapes and starts his underground resistance movement: The Katipunan. Actors improvise secret meetings. Scene 12 Court scene. Rizal in front of a military judge. JUDGE: You have been found guilty of illegal meetings with members of your subversive group, the Liga Filipina. This is a very serious offense. Let this serve as a warning. You are hereby sentenced to do community service in the town of Dapitan, in the province of Zamboanga, Mindanao, for an indefinite period of time. Court is adjourned. He pounds on gavel. Fade out. Scene 1 Screen: Dapitan, 1892-96. A. Voice over in Spanish. On the Screen as the Spanish voice over is read is my English translation of Rizal’s poem, Mi Retiro. The description of where Rizal lives in Dapitan--a small hut by the sea, by the mountains, etc. is reflected on stage by the scenery described in the poem. Rizal is standing looking at the view. The scne has to be poetic, as poetic and lyrical as this poem. Director is free to use multimedia effects as this poem is read: RIZAL: (VOICE OVER) Su techo es fragil nipa, su suelo debil cana, sus vigas y columnas maderas sin labrar: nada vale, por cierto, mi rustica cabana; mas duerme en el regazo de la eterna montana, y la canta y la arrulla noche y dia la mar. Un afluente arroyuelo, que de la selva umbria desciende entre penascos, la bana con amor, y un chorro le regala por tosca caneria que en la callada noche es canto y melodia y nectar cristalino del dia en el calor. Si el cielo esta sereno, mansa corre la fuente, su citara invisible tanendo sin cesar; pero vienen las lluvias, e impetuoso torrente penas y abismos salta, ronco, espumante, hirviente, y se arroja rugiendo frenetico hacia el mar. Del perro los ladridos, de las aves el trino, del kalaw la voz ronca solos se oyen alli; no hay hombre vanidoso ni importuno vecino que se imponga a mi mente, ni estorbe mi camino; solo tengo las selvas y el mar cerca de mi. El mar, el mar es todo! Su masa soberana los atomos me trae de entes que lejos son; me alienta su sonrisa de limpida manana, y cuando por la tarde mi fe resulta vana encuentra en sus tristezas un eco el corazon. De noche es un arcano!...Su diafano elemento se cubre de millares y millares de luz; la brisa vaga fresca, reluce el firmamento, las olas en suspiros cuentan al manso viento historias que se pierden del tiempo en el capuz. Diz que cuentan del mundo la primera alborada, del sol el primer beso que su seno encendio, cuando miles de seres surgieron de la nada y el abismo poblaron y la cima encumbrada 23 RIZAL-Farolan y do quiera su beso fecundante estampo. Mas cuando en noche obscura los vientos se enfurecen y las inquietas olas comienzan a agitar, cruzan el aire gritos que el animo estremecen, coros, voces que rezan, lamentos que parecen exhalar los que un tiempo se hundieron en el mar. Entonces repercuten los montes de la altura, los arboles se agitan de confin a confin; aullan los ganados, retumba la espesura, sus espiritus dicen que van a la llanura llamados por los muertos a funebre festin. Silba, silba la noche, confusa aterradora; verdes, azulles llamas en el mar vense arder; mas la calma renace con la proxima aurora y pronto una atrevida barquilla pescadora las fatigadas olas comienza a recorrer. Asi pasan los dias en mi oscuro retiro, desterrado del mundo donde un tiempo vivi; de mi rara fortuna la Providencia admiro: guijarro abandonado que el musgo solo aspiro para ocultar a todos el don que tengo en mi! Vivo con los recuerdos de los que yo he amado y oigo de vez en cuando sus nombres pronunciar: unos estan ya muertos, otros me han olvidado; mas que importa?...Yo vivo pensando en el pasado y lo pasado nadie me puede arrebatar. El es mi fiel amigo que nunca me desdora que siempre alienta el alma cuando triste la ve, que en mis noches de insomnio conmigo vela y ora conmigo, y en mi destierro y en mi cabana mora, y cuando todos dudan solo el me infunde fe. Veo brillar el cielo tan puro y refulgente como cuando forjaba mi primera ilusion; el mismo soplo siento besar mi mustia frente, el mismo que encendia mi entusiasmo ferviente y hacia hervir la sangre del joven corazon. Yo respiro la brisa que acaso haya pasado por los campos y rios de mi pueblo natal; acaso me devuelva lo que antes le he confiado: los besos y suspiros de un ser idolatrado, las dulces confidencias de un amor virginal! Al ver la misma luna, cual antes argentada, la antigua hipocondria siento en mi renacer; despiertan mil recuerdos de amor y fe jurada... un patio, una azotea, la playa, una enramada, silencios y suspiros, rubores de placer... Mariposa sedienta de luz y de colores, sonando en otros cielos y en mas vasto pensil, 24 RIZAL-Farolan deje, joven apenas, mi patria y mis amores, y errante por doquiera sin dudas, sin temores, gaste en tierras extranas de mi vida el abril. Y despues, cuando quise, golondrina cansada, al nido de mis padres y de mi amor volver, rugio fiera de pronto violenta turbonada: vense rotas mis alas, deshecha la morada, la fe vendida a otros y ruinas por doquier. Lanzado a una pena de la patria que adoro, el porvenir destruido, sin hogar, sin salud, venis a mi de nuevo, suenos de rosa y oro, de toda mi existencia el unico tesoro, creencias de una sana, sincera juventud. Ya no sois como antes, llenas de fuego y vida brindando mil coronas a la inmortalidad; algo serias os hallo; mas vuestra faz querida si ya no es tan risuena, si esta descolorida en cambio lleva el sello de la fidelidad. Me ofreceis; oh ilusiones! La copa del consuelo, y mis jovenes anos a despertar venis: gracias a ti, tormenta; gracias, vientos del cielo, que a buena hora supisteis cortar mi incierto vuelo, para abatirme al suelo de mi natal pais. Cabe anchurosa playa de fina y suave arena y al pie de una montana cubierta de verdor, plante mi choza humilde bajo arboleda amena, buscando de los bosques en la quietud serena reposo a mi cerebro, silencio a mi dolor. ENGLISH ON SCREEN (author’s free translation): Its roof fragile nipa, its floor soft bamboo Its rafters and columns coarse lumber My rustic, humble hut worth nothing But it sleeps in the bosom of an eternal mountian And sings to the sea night and day. A flowing rivulet descends among crags Bathing the somber forest with love, A stream flows through wild reeds singing a melody in the silent nights crystallline nectar in the heat of the day. If the sky is serene, the stream runs tamely, Its invisible cithara chanting ceaselessly; but when the impetuous rains and torrents come, it rushes, hoarse, foaming and seething against rocks and abysses and plunges frantically against the sea. I have the forests and the sea surrounding me. Dogs barking,the cheerful trilling of the birds, The hoarse voice of the kalaw are the only sounds I hear. There are no vain or curious neighbours around 25 RIZAL-Farolan to disturb my activities. The sea, the sea is everything! Its sovereign mass brings to me the atoms of beings far, far away its crystal-clear morning smile cheers me and in the afternoon when my confidence is at a low it finds a hopeful echo in my heart. The night ‘tis mysterious. Translucent, it explodes innumerable lights. Fresh breeze, shining firmament, sighing waves telling tales lost in the mantle of time. They tell of the world’s first dawn, the sun’s first kiss lighting up the bosom of the universe; they tell of the thousands of beings surging from nothingness, populating abysses and lofty summits. But when dark night comes, the winds turn furious and the restless waves churn; the air is filled with cries that make the spirit shudder: voices in unison, praying, lamenting voices exhaling from those drowned at sea. The mountains echo their loftiness, trees animated animals restless, thickets resounding,spirits saying to the plains they go, beckoned by the dead to a funeral feast. Whistle, oh confused terrigying night! Green, blue flames of the burning sea! Then, suddenly, the soft hush of calm reborn with coming dawn as a brave fisherman in his diminutive boat crosses the weary waves. Thus do the days pass in my retreat Exiled from the world where once I lived; Abandoned boulder to whose moss I alone confide Concealing from others the gift I have within me, Thanking God for the uniqueness of my destiny. I live with the memories of those I love At times I hear their names: already some are dead, Others have forgotten me. But what does it matter? I live thinking of the past no one can take from me. Faithful are friends who don’t dishonour me Who encourage the soul when ‘tis sad Who in sleepless nights remembr and pray for me in my exile; and when all doubt, he alone instills faith. Already I have faith and I hope that the day will shine when ideas shall vanquish brutal force, that after strife and agony, a sonorous voice happier than mine will sing the song of triumph! I behold the pure and refulgent sky as I did in my youth, my first illusion, 26 RIZAL-Farolan kissing my withered brow the same kindling of fervent enthuse, youth’s heart seething . I breathe the breeze passing perchance through fields and rivers of my hometown. It may perhaps return to me what one day to it I confided: the kisses and the sighs of an adored being, the sweet secrets of a viriginal love. I behold the same silvery moon, The old melancholy in me I feel reborn Awakened are thousands of memories of love and pledges... a courtyard, a porch, the seashore, the silence and the sighs, the blushes of pleasure. Oh, I, a butterfly thirsty for light and colors, dreaming of other skies and gardens I left my loves, my country, while scarcely a youth, roaming everywhere, without doubt, without fears, spending my life in the spring of foreign lands. And afterwards I, a tired swallow, chose to return to the nest of my parents and my love, suddenly a fierce and violent thunderstorm raged, broken are my wings, my abode in shambles, faith sold to others, ruins everywhere. Cast against a rock of a country I adored, the future destroyed, no home, no honor, you come to me anew rosy and golden as in the dreams of my youth....Oh motherland! You are my entire existence, my only treasure, restoring agains the faith of my lost youth. No longer are you as you were then, full of fire and life, offering a thousand crowns to immortality; now I find you somber, your smile thwarted, no longer effulgent, yet bearing the marks of constancy. You offered me illusions in my young awakening years that cup of solace roused in my youth. Thank you, tempest! Thank you, winds of heaven! You knew when to stop my uncertain flight and return me home to my native land. Beside wide seashores sands smooth and fine Beside the greenness at the foot of the mountain I build my humble hut beneath a pleasant grove Seeking serene quietude from the forests Resting my thoughts, silencing my pains. Scene 2. Scene shows Rizal treating patients in his clinic in the town of Dapitan. An elderly lady is accompanied by a younger lady : this is Josephine Bracken. LADY: Your reputation travels worldwide, Doctor. I heard about your expertise in ophtamology. This lady I met in Hong Kong was impressed by you. I went to Manila to look for you and they said you moved to Dapitan. 27 RIZAL: I’m happy you found me. (Looks at Josephine) And may I help you? LADY (smiling): I’m sorry. I forgot to introduce you. This young lady is Josephine Bracken who has been accompanying me in my search for you. RIZAL (flirting): You’re very beautiful. JOSEPHINE (blushing): You’re too kind, doctor. RIZAL: How long will you ladies be in town? LADY: I was thinking of leaving as soon as I finish my consultation with you. The next ferry to Manila leaves in two days. RIZAL: (looking at the blushing Josephine) I think you should stay longer. Enjoy the beaches of Dapitan. I would like to invite you to be my guests. I have a humble home beside a beach and a mountainside.. LADY: You’re too kind, doctor but.. RIZAL: I insist... LADY: Well, if you insist...Josephine? JOSEPHINE: I don’t mind. I would be interested in exploring the area. I love nature, and I find the flora and fauna here very interesting. RIZAL: Then it’s settled. Miss Bracken, please excuse me. He leads the lady into his inner clinic for her checkup. B: In the forest with the sea in the background. Sound of birds. JOSEPHINE: The flora and fauna here is amazing. (Pause. Sound of bird.) What is that hoarse sound? RIZAL (laughing): That bird is called KALAW. This is his habitat. He looks at her, amused at her innocent expression. JOSEPHINE: This is wonderful. I wish I could stay longer, but my friend has to leave for England, and must get to Hong Kong by next week to catch her ship. And I must accompany her. RIZAL: That’s sad. JOSEPHINE: Why do you say that? RIZAL: I’ll miss you. Your presence this past week filled my moments of loneliness. Will you come back? JOSEPHINE: I don’t know. I’ll write. RIZAL: (holding her hand tenderly) Thank you. I look forward to seeing you again. FADE OUT. RIZAL-Farolan FADE IN. Rizal waving goodbye to Josephine and the elderly lady as they board their ferry back to Manila. Voice over as Rizal waves: Josefina, Josefina, Que a estas playas has venido Buscando un hogar, un nido, Como errante golondrina; Si tu suerte te encamina A Shanghai, China o Japon No te olvides que en estas playas Late por ti un corazon. Josephine, Josephine; you have come to these shores in search of a home, a nest, like a wandering swallow; If luck takes you to Shanghai, China or Japan, don’t forget that on these shores a heart throbs for you. FADE OUT. FADE IN: 1893. In a schoolhouse. Rizal is surrounded by children and their parents, Spaniards and Filipinos. Many are Spanairds married to Filipinos. PARENT 1: This is a noble effort on your part, doctor. RIZAL: We must educate the youth of our land. They will one day be the leaders of tomorrow. PARENT 2: I’m happy that we have someone like you here in Dapitan. You have brought enlightenment to these dark parts of the Philippines. RIZAL: I enjoy it here. With my profession as a doctor and now an educator, I’m kept pretty busy. PARENT 3: Congratulations and thank you. A teacher gathers the children together and they sing a Spanish song as lights fade out. FADE IN: 1895. In Rizal’s home in Dapitan. Rizal is writing. Josephine Bracken enters. Rizal turns. Surprise in his face. Stands. Silence as both stare into each other’s eyes. JOSEPHINE: I’m back. RIZAL: I hope for good. JOSEPHINE: For good! Rizal approaches Josephine and kisses her passionately.FADE OUT FADE IN: Late 1895. Josephine is reading a letter. Rizal enters. RIZAL: Is everything all right? JOSEPHINE: I have to leave, Pepe. 29 RIZAL: Why? Are you unhappy here? JOSEPHINE: It’s not that. It’s a family matter. I have to return to Ireland. RIZAL: Are you leaving me? JOSEPHINE: I miss my folks. I love you. I’ll be back. Don’t worry. RIZAL (smiling sadly, approaching her): Josephine, Josephine you’ve come to these shores searching for a home, a nest, like a wandering swallow... JOSEPHINE (embracing Rizal): That was a beautiful poem you wrote about me, Pepe. I’ll never forget you... RIZAL: Don’t forget that on these shores throbs my heart for you. Fade out. FADE IN: Early 1896. Visit from Bonifacio. He is accompanied by two other katipuneros. BONIFACIO: The time is ripe, doctor. I’m tired of waiting. It’s time to rise in arms. RIZAL: What arms? Your bolos? How can your bolos fight against the arms and ammuniton of the Spaniard? Be patient. Prepare well. BONIFACIO: We have been preparing. We are going to get the Spanish garrison in Balintawak, then move towards Malacanang. RIZAL: I’m still against this. BONIFACIO: But we need your leadership. RIZAL: I’ve always been against revolution and violence, you know that. My kind of revolution has always been a peaceful one. You know that from last we talked 4 years ago. BONIFACIO: I gave you time! Look what they’ve done to you. Exiled you to this god-forsaken place in the middle of nowhere. And now you’re all meek and humble. Where was that fire that raged in your heart four years ago? You inspired all of us and now you’re putting us down. The country is falling apart, and it’s time to make our move! RIZAL: I’m sorry to disappoint you, Andres. I’m leaving the country in June. I’ve accepted a medical position in Cuba. BONIFACIO : What? When we need you here the most and you’re leaving? What kind of a patriot are you? RIZAL: You’ll never understand my way of looking at things. BONIFACIO: And you call yourself a patriot? Turning your back to our country? RIZAL: I love my country, Andres. More than you know. Later, you will understand why I’m doing what I’m doing. BONIFACIO: Later, you say. When it’s too late! RIZAL-Farolan (Bonifacio storms out of Rizal’s house with his two companions. in the blackout.) Scene 3 July 31, 1896. Rizal standing on deck of ship facing audience. Voice over: Canto del viajero Hoja seca que vuela indecisa Y arrebata violento turbion, Asi vive en la tierra el viajero Sin norte, sin alma, sin patria ni amor. Busca ansiosa doquiera la dicha, Y la dicha se aleja fugaz: Vana sombra que burla su anhelo! Por ella el viajero se lanza a la mar! Impelido por mano invisible Vagara de confin en confin; Los recuerdos le haran compania De seres queridos, de un dia feliz. Una tumba quiza en el desierto Hallara, dulce asilo de paz: De su patria y del mundo olvidado... Descanse tranquilo, tras tanto penar! Y le envidian al triste viajero, Cuando cruza la tierra veloz... Ay! No saben que dentro del alma Existe un vacio do falta el amor! Volvera el peregrino a su patria, y a sus lares tal vez volvera Y hallara por doquier nieve y ruina, Amores perdidos, sepulcros, no mas. Ve, viajero, prosigue tu senda, Extranjero en tu propio pais; Deja a otros que canten amores, Los otros que gocen; tu vuelve a partir. Ve, viajero, no vuelvas el rostro, Que no hay llanto que siga al adios; Ve viajero, y ahoga tus penas; Que el mundo se burla de ajeno dolor. ENGLISH (on screen): Dry leaf in uncertain flight seized in a violent storm, Thus lives the traveller on this earth With no direction, no soul, no country, no love. He seeks happiness everywhere 31 Quick fadeout. Drums beating RIZAL-Farolan And happiness moves away fleeting His shadow mocking at his yearning Because of her the traveler goes to sea! Bound by an invisible hand He wanders from sea to sea: Memories of loved ones, Memories of happiness, Keep him company. Perhaps he finds a desert tomb Sweet haven of peace Away from his country, all the world forgotten Where he can rest in peace after so much suffering. The sad traveler is envied as he swiftly voyages, Ah! They know not that in his soul An emptiness of lost love lurks. The traveller shall to his home and country return To find nothing more than snow and ruin, Death and lost loves. Go, traveler, follow your course, A stranger in you own homeland! Let others sing of love, Let others sing songs of joy! But you again go away. Go, traveler, don’t look back, For there are no tears to follow your goodbye; Go, traveler, and drown your sorrows, For the world mocks at the sufferings of another. Scene 4. Screen: August, 1896. A. Scene opens with Bonifacio and the members of the Katipunan. This is the historic ‘Cry of Balintawak’. Red flags of the Katipunan and the katipuneros staging this historic scene. Tableau of Bonifacio and his bolo and the KKK flag as the scene ends. B. Governor General Blanco declaring state of War (one area of stage) & Aguinaldo (another part of the stage) responding: Lights fade in on Blanco’s area. BLANCO: (reading) I, Ramon Blanco y Erenas, Marquis de Pena y Plata, Governor and Captain General of the Philippines, availing myself of the powers vested in me, and as a result of the acts of rebellion during the last few days at different points in the territory of this province, seriously disturbing peace and order, make it imperative that severe measures be taken to suppress any insurrection, do hereby order: Article 1: The provinces of Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Laguna, Cavite, and Batangas are declared to be in a state of war. RIZAL-Farolan Article 2: By virtue of this decree, any person accused of crimes contrary to public order, treason, acts which endanger the peace and independence of the State or against the form of government, offenses against or disrespect to the authorities and their agents, and ordinary crimes committed during a rebellion or uprising, shall be subject to martial law. Article 3: Those guilty of open rebellion and the crimes defined in the foregoing article, either of those provided for in the Code of Military Justice, shall be tried immediateley by the proper Council of War. Article 4. All leaders of the uprising or rebellion, whenever caught “in flagrante” shall be given an immediate trial. Article 5. Those who are found on, or who had been at the scene of an action, audience who are captured fleeing, or in hiding, after having been with the rebels, shall be treated as presumably guilty of the crimes mentioned in the foregoing article. Article 6. The Council of War established in the respective cases by the Code of Military Justice shall be of competent jurisdiction to take cognizance of the trials instituted on account of the commission of any of the crimes mentioned. Article 7. Rebels who shall surrender to the authorities before the expiration of 48 hours after the publication of this proclamation, shall be exempt from the penalty for insurrection, excepting the leaders of the rebellious groups and those who are accomplices in said crimes. The leaders referrred to shall be pardoned the penalty which they may have incurred if they surrender within the period fixed upon, and the next low penalty in its minimum of medium degree shall be imposed. Article 8. Participants in the rebellion only who shall surrender within the period mentioned without having committed any acts of violence, as well as those who, having bound themselves to continue to the end, should denounce it in time to avoid the consequences shall be exempt from any penalty. Article 9. Every suspicious group which may be formed shall be resolutely dispersed by force; such persons who do not surrender being arrested and held subject to the orders of the government. Article 10. The administrative and judicial civil authorities shall continue to act in all matters within their jurisdiction, which do not refer to public order, confining themselves with regard to the latter, to the powers which the military authorities may issue or delegate to them, being obliged in either case to inform the latter at once of any news or information which may come to their knowledge. Signed, in Manila, the 30th day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety six. Blackout. Drumbeats. Fade in another part of the stage. AGUINALDO (in his balcony of his home in Kawit, Cavite addressing the citizens of the town): My fellow countrymen. I am very sorry to inform you that on August 30, 1896, Don Ramon Blanco, Captain and Govenor General of the Philippines, declared war against eight Tagalog provinces, namely, Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Laguna, Batangas, and Cavite. Because of this, I am inviting you to join me in rising against Spain and break the chains of slavery that have bound us with her all these hundred years. (Applause, shouts.) As an answer to this delcaration of war, we started to rebel against his tyrannical race, and I am very glad to inform you that the towns of Cavite el Viejo, Noveleta, and San Francisco de Malabon are already free and the government is now in the hands of Filipinos. Here in Cavite el Viejo, we 33 RIZAL-Farolan succeeded in disarming the civil guards, and the provincial command at Noveleta is already in our hands. So I am inviting all of you to follow suit. Do all you can to overpower the enemy. Remember that the strength of our army will depend upon your cooperation. I am confident that your patriotic hearts will heed this call of our Motherland. Conquer your foes there, but try not to kill anyone, especially if he is Filipino. I believe this is the only way by which our Mother Country can be freed from slavery. The Philippines presents today a spectacle without precedent in her history: the conquest of her liberty and her independence, the most noble and lofty of her rights--a heroism which will place her on the same level as civilized nations inspire them. We know that real progress in a people is based upon liberty and independence. Hence, this right inspires the most noble and sublime emotions which a citizen can feel--feeling them he should not yield to the fear that our interests or our families may suffer, nor should he tremble at shedding blood to break the chains of slavery, which we have dragged for three hundred years of tyranny and abuse. A proof of the truth is this: that the revolution is found on justice and right, as shown by all civilized nations, for none of them will allow the slightest encroachment upon the merest hand’s breath of their domain without pouring out the last drop of blood in defense of the integrity of the nation. Citizens of the Philippines: we are no savage people; let us try to follow the example of the civilized nations of Europe and America; the time has come to shed the last drop of our blood to conquer our beloved liberty. The Spaniards, conquerors of this our adored land, accuse us of ingratitude and tell us that we should repay them for opening our eyes by placing their yoke on our neck. It is a false argument by which they desire to deceive us. For the civilization introduced by Spain during her three centuries in these lands is superficial and at the bottom, a mere fraud, since her effort has been to keep the masses in ignorance, destroying or quenching the center of real light which has slowly begun to burn in the hearts of a handful of Filipinos, who merely on account of their intelligence are now victims of the persecutions of the government. The results are these deportations, decrees of exile, and other acts of tyranny which for some years have been carried on here. Tell me--have we not paid a full measure for our great advancement during the three centuries in which Spain has used our blood and our sweat? Spain, who is not satisfied with her shameful exploitation of us, spits in our face and calls us carabaos, lazy creatures, apes, and other shameful names! Disgusted reactions from the audience: “Down with the Spaniards!”, etc. People of the Philippines! The hour has come to shed our blood to conquer our rights and liberties. Let us band ourselves around the flag of the revolution whose motto is Liberty, Equality, Fraternity! Applause. Shouts. A central committee of the revolution composed of six members and a President will be charged with the continuation of the war, will organize an army of thirty thousand men, with rifles and cannon, for the defense of the pueblos and the provinces which adhere to the new Republican Governemnt, which will establish order while the revolution sspreads through all the islands of the Philippines. The form of the government will be like that of the United States of America, founded upon the most rigid principles of liberty, fraternity, and equality. Every town which adheres to the cause of the revolution will be defended and protected by the revolutionary army against attack of the enemy. Applause. Shouts. “Liberty, Fraternity, equality!” 34 FADEOUT. C. Different areas of the stage light up showing Aguinaldo’s Armed Revolution against Spain. Multiple battle scenes on stage showing confrontation between Spanish soldiers and Aguinaldo’s revolutionaries. Alternating victories and defeats between Aguinaldo and Spanish troops. Scene 5. Screen: Barcelona, October 3, 1896. Actors mime the following subscenes a & b to the beat of drums: A. Rizal arrives in Barcelona but is immediately detained by Spanish authorities . He is put in a Barcelona prison awaiting his departure to the Philippines. B. Rizal is returned to ship enroute to Manila as a prisoner. Scene 6. Screen: Manila, November 3, 1896. To the accompaniment of drums, actors mime all of this scene: Rizal, in chains, escorted by soldiers, arrives in Manila and immediately brought to Fort Santiago to be encarcerated. Movement from upper stage (ship) to bottom part of stage (Fort Santiago). Scene 7. Screen: November 20, 1896. Court Martial of Rizal begins. The ambience in this scene is that of a mock trial. Everybody knows Rizal is going to be found guilty. Even his defense attorney knows it’s a losing cause. Friars are present and called as witnesses. They denounce his two novels as treason to God and country. Day 1. CLERK OF C0URT: All rise! A tribunal of 6 judges enter. Two of them are Friars. The other four, including the Chief Judge, are military. They take their places. All sit after the judges sit. CHIEF JUDGE: Will the defendant rise? Rizal and his lawyer stand. CHIEF JUDGE: Jose Rizal Alonso, you are being tried for treason. How do you plead? RIZAL: Not guilty, your honor. CHIEF JUDGE: (to the prosecution and defense attorneys)Your opening statements. RIZAL-Farolan PROSECUTOR: (addressing the tribunal)Your honors. We have before you a man known for his sedition. He has incited the rebellion of August 1896, inspiring his fellow men through his rebellious novels, Noll me tangere and El Filibusterismo. Let me put these two novels as Exhibit a & b. While in Spain, in the name of reform, he has incited his countryment there, Marcelo de Pilar, Graciano Lopez Jaena and others towards rebellious activities in the form of publications such as La Solidaridad, a seditious anti-Spanish publication, denouncing the friars of this land and mocking the government of Spain in the Philippine Islands. I put as exhbit C a copy of La Solidaridad, where the author has published an article denouncing the friars of the islands. When he returned to the Philippines, despite his exile to Dapitan, he continued influencing such rebels as the katipunero Andres Bonifacio through a subversive organization he formed, La Liga Filipina, which eventually led to the insurrection four months ago. Your honors. The case is obvious. Let this trial be swift. The defendant is obviously a premeditated murderer of state policies, as well as an anti-friar propagandist. His activities are blatantly seditious, and the only punishment for his acts of treason is public execution. Thank you. JUDGE I: Attorney for the defense. DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Your honors. Dr. Rizal has dedicated his life to enhancing a better way of life for his people. His novels, activities with La Solidaridad, and other writings were written to awaken Spain to the abuses of Spanish authorities, especially the friars, here in the archipielago. He loves Spain; he is not in any way anti-Spanish. His anti-friar writings were directed only to a handful of friars who had abused and taken advantage of their positions to exploit Filipino women and the ignorance of the Filipino masses. His love for Spauin and the Philippines is expressed in Ibarra’s words in his novel Noli me tangere, Chapter 26: “God, the Government and the Church will not allow (a revolution) to happen. The Philippines is religious and loves Spain, and she will realize how much the Mother Country is doing for her. Of course, there are abuses and shortcomings, but Spain is working out reforms to remedy them.” Your honors, is this not a sincere attempt of Dr. Rizal to reach out to Spain to simply ask for reforms for abuses committed here? How can this be called treasonous or seditious? Thank you. JUDGE 2: It is almost 12, and the trial is adjourned for ten a.m. tomorrow. CLERK: All rise. All rise as the judges leave. Fade out. Day 2. The scene opens with everyone in their places. JUDGE 2: Prosecution, you may call your witness. PROSECUTOR: I only have one witness, your honors. Jose Rizal Alonso! Rizal approaches the witness stand. CLERK : Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? RIZAL (one hand on bible, the other hand raised): I do. PROSECUTOR: Your name and occupation. RIZAL-Farolan RIZAL: Dr. Jose Rizal y Alonso, Doctor of Medicine. PROSECUTOR: Dr. Rizal, are you the author of these two novels, Noli me tangere and El Filibusterismo? (Shows both novels.) RIZAL: Yes sir. PROSECUTOR: How would you translate Noli me tangere? RIZAL: Touch me not. PROSECUTOR: Why did you call your novel thus? RIZAL: I was referring to a certain group of people who were considered untouchables. PROSECUTOR: Untouchables? Why? RIZAL: Because whatever they did, the law couldn’t touch them. They got away with anything. PROSECUTOR: And who are these untouchables? RIZAL: A few members of a religious order in the Philippines. Commotion. The chief judge says “Order in the court!” The two friar-judges whisper to each other, and turn pale. PROSECUTOR: Going to your second novel, El filibusterismo. Why did you entitle it such? It sounds subversive. RIZAL: It means that. Commotion. People nodding their heads as though saying Rizal is being suicidal. PROSECUTOR: So, you do admit being seditious. RIZAL: The novel is fiction. I am referring to a fictitious situation where subversiveness is the theme. PROSECUTOR: It is disguised as fiction. In my opinion, you are reflecting real people, including yourself as traitor and a subversive! RIZAL: That is your opinion, sir. PROSECUTOR: It is my opinion and the opinion of a great many people, Dr. Rizal. You are condemning yourself with your writings. (To the Defense Attorney) Your witness. DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No questions. CHIEF JUDGE: If there are no more questions of this witness, we will adjourn for the day. You may step down Dr. Rizal. Rizal takes his place. CHIEF JUDGE: Before the summation tomorrow, the judges in this tribunal will have a chance to cross-examine Dr. Rizal. Court is adjourned till 10 tomorrow morning. Day 3. RIZAL-Farolan Scene opens as in previous scene. Everyone is in his place. CHIEF JUDGE: (to the prosecution and defense): Are you ready for your summations? PROSECUTION & DEFENSE: We are, your honor. CHIEF JUDGE: Before we go to that, the members of the tribunal would like to ask Dr. Rizal a few questions. Dr Rizal, you are still under oath. Please take the stand. Rizal takes the witness stand. FRIAR JUDGE 1: Dr. Rizal, in your novels, particularly Noli me tangere, you refer to two friars, Fr Damaso and Fr Salvi. Were you basing these two charcters on true-to-life members of a religious order? RIZAL: Yes, your honor. FRIAR JUDGE 2: Who were they? RIZAL: They were a number of friars I had met through the years. They did not represent two particular friars. I made up these two characters based on a number of members of different religious orders whom I had the opportunity to get acquainted with or know about from friends and family. FRIAR JUDGE 1: You describe them quite negatively in your novels. You make fun of the friars who are representatives of God to save mankind from the devil! Let me read a passage from Noli, chapter 11, even the title and subtitle are subversive: “The bosses”, you call us! Then, as a subtitle, you say “Divide and Rule--Machiavelli”. Here is how you describe Fr Salvi and Fr Damaso: “...Fr Salvi was most assiduous; when he preached..he was very fond of preqching..he had all the doors of the church closed like Nero who did not allow anyone to leave the theatre while he sang...” Laughter from the audience. CHIEF JUDGE: (hitting his gavel) Order, order! FRIAR JUDGE 1: And sarcastically you go on to say “...but Father Salvi did it for the good, and Nero to the detriment of souls... Snickers from audience. FRIAR JUDGE 2: In this same chapter, you make it appear that the friars inflicted cruelty out of sadism. You say: “FATHER SALVI PUNISHED THE FAULTS OF HIS SUBORDINATES WITH FINES AND FLOGGED THEM ONLY RARELY, UNLIKE FATHER DAMASO WHO HAD FIXED EVERYTHING WITH BLOWS OF HIS FIST AND STICK, DELIVERED WITH A GUFFAW...ONE COULD NOT THINK BADLY OF FR DAMASO BECAUSE OF THIS; HE WAS CONVINCED THAT ONE COULD DEAL WITH NATIVES ONLY WITH BLOWS, A FELLOW FRIAR HAD SAID SO IN A BOOK, AND FATHER DAMASO BELIEVED IT BECAUSE HE NEVER CONTRDICTED THE PRINTED WORD, TO THE DISCOMFORT OF MANY. Audience laughs again. CHIEF JUDGE: Order, order! FRIAR JUDGE 1: This is outrageous, a contempt against the servants of God on earth. RIZAL-Farolan FRIAR JUDGE 2: I have nothing more to add. This is obviously a blatant attempt against morality and the commandments of God. CHIEF JUDGE: You may step down, Dr. Rizal. Rizal steps down. CHIEF JUDGE: Summations. PROSECUTOR (very confident): Your honors. There is really nothing else to add. You yourselves have cross-examined the witness and from his own mouth, he confesses being a subversive he says, in the “guise of fiction”. What fiction? He himself admits his characters are based on true characters. What else, your honors, but to sentence this man to death the sooner the better before he causes any more trouble in our land? Sits. DEFENSE: Let me reiterate my opening statements. Dr Jose Rizal is not guilty of treason. On the contrary, he is a patriot. What he has done is open people’s eyes to the abuses committed on his people. He has to be commended for his action, not berated. He has made aware of the cancer that is corroding our society because of the licentiousness and immorality that these socalled servants of God who, instead of uplifting the Filipino people to the levels of true spiritualism, are soffocating them with physical abuse, and exploiting them to satisfy their greed and lust. Rizal only did what he did because of his true spirit of patriotism. Audience applauds. CHIEF JUDGE: Order, order. Having heard the summations, we, members of the tribunal will recess and meet tomorrow to give our verdict. Court is adjourned till 10 tomorrow morning. Scene 8. Screen: December 29, 1896. Same scene as above. A courthouse in Fort Santiago, Intramuros. The tribunal of judges, some composed of Dominican friars. The sentence is read. Rizal is found guilty of treason and sentenced to death the next day at dawn at Bagumbayan. CLERK OF COURT: All rise. The judges take their places. All sit. CHIEF JUDGE: Will the defendant rise? Rizal rises. CHIEF JUDGE: Dr Jose Rizal Alonso, the tribunal finds you guilty of treason. Before sentence is passed, do you have anything to say? RIZAL: Yes, your honor. Moment of silence. When I was abroad, I was told by my countrymen not to return. That it was better for me to remain in exile because surely, death would be inevitable. Even before you pass your sentence, I already know that death is the only sentence for treason. But I am ready to die for love of 39 RIZAL-Farolan country. Death, the passage towards my country’s birth. Death, because in dying I will see my countrymen freed from this bondage, this slavery that has dominated us for four centuries. I love Spain, but the Spaniards who came to rule my country did not respect the laws of humanity. They came in the spirit of barbarism, and not civilization. They came to rape and pillage the culture that once was pristine. Let my martyrdom like the martyrdom of Fathers Burgos, Gomez and Zamora in 1872 to whom my second novel El Filibusterismo was dedicated, spark more patriots who will take my place. Viva Filipinas! Viva la libertad! AUDIENCE: Viva, viva! JUDGE: (with gavel) Order, order! Guards, clear the court! Clear the court! Riot ensues. The civil guards come and drag away the rioteers. Once the court is cleared, CHIEF JUDGE speaks: CHIEF JUDGE: Dr. Rizal, a rebel to the end. It is the decision of this tribunal to sentence you to public execution tomorrow at dawn in Bagumbayan. (Hurriedly) Court is adjourned! Drums. Guards put shackles on Rizal and take him out. His atorney is also arrested and dragged away. Scene 9. Evening, December 29, 1896. Rizal writes his ‘Ultimo Adios’ and hides his poem in a lamp which he gives to his sister, Trinidad, before he is executed. Voice over of Ulltimo Adios first in Spanish then in English and it continues on to the next scene, the final scene, where it echoes in Spanish: ‘Morir es descansar’. Again, English is my own free verse translation from the original: Voice over, low keyed: Adios, patria adorada, region del sol querida, Perla del mar de Oriente, nuestro perdido eden, A darte voy alegre, la triste mustia vida; Y fuera mas brillante, mas fresca, mas florida, Tambien por ti la diera, la diera por tu bien. Screen flashes scenes as they are described in the poem as voice over continues, and Rizal writing: In fields of battle, my countrymen fight deliriously, Giving their lives with no regrets, with no doubts. The place of death matters not: in glory, on the scaffold, on open fields in combat, or even cruel martyrdom. ‘Tis all the same if they fight for home and country. I die at the burst of dawn. Oh, Motherland, if you need to tint the dawn with reddish hue, pour my blood to gild her with a reflection of nascent light! My dreams of youth were to behold you one day, Oh Jewel of the Orient Sea, 40 RIZAL-Farolan Your dark eyes with no tears, Your brow with no wrinkles, Your cheeks unblushing, Your head held high, proud and majestic. Dream of my life, Oh Motherland, my ardent desire... My soul that soon will depart cries “Hail to thee!” Oh, ‘tis magnificent to fall to give you flight! To die to give you life, to die under your sky, To sleep eternallly beneath your enchanted soil. If some day, you should see through the thick grass A simple, humble flower sprouting over my sepulchre, Pluck it and raise it to your lips to kiss my soul! Then I will feel on my brow beneath the cold tomb The warmth of your tenderness, the warmth of your breath. Let the moon see me with its serene and gentle light; Let the dawn radiate its fleeting splendour; Let the winds wail their murmuring melancholy; And if a bird descends from the sky and alights on my cross, Let it sing its canticle of peace. Let the scorching sun dry the rains And restore the sky to its blueness. Let a countryman cry over my grave And during serene afternoons when someone prays for me Pray too, Oh Motherland, that I may rest in God. Pray for all who died without fortune, For those who, tormented, suffered painfully; For our poor mothers who cry bitterly for us; For orphans and widows, for tortured prisoners, And pray for yourself, Oh Motherland, that one day, You willl see yourself redeemed. When the cemetery is shrouded with night’s darkness. And only the dead keep vigil, Do not disturb their mysterious sleep. Perhaps you might hear the strings of a cithar or harp: It is I, dear Motherland, singing a song to you! When my tomb is forgotten With no cross or stone to mark its place, Let a countryman plow and scatter it with his hoe. And my ashes, before they return to nothingness, Let it form into dust to lie on your soil. Then it no longer matters that I am forgotten: I will be part of you--your space, your valleys, your sphere; I shall be even more vibrant: aroma, light, color, song, whisper, sighs-Constantly repeating the essence of my faith! Oh, adored Motherland! Sorrow of my sorrows! Dear Philippines, listen to my last goodbye! I leave everything behind: my parents, my loved ones. I go where there are no slaves, Where executioners and oppressors there are none, Where faith does not kill, 41 RIZAL-Farolan Where He who reigns is God. Goodbye, dear parents, dear brothers and sisters, fragments of my soul, Childhood friends, Give thanks that I rest from this weary day, Goodbye, dulce extranjera, my beloved, my friend, my joy Goodbye, dear countrymen To die is to rest Morir es descansar Voice over echoing repeatedly: Morir es descansar! EPILOGUE. The scene opens exactly as in the Prologue, where Rizal is marched in to be executed. The only difference would be this time the drums are accompanied by background Voice over of ‘Ultimo Adios’ which stops abruptly after “Morir es descansar” which echoes on and on when the shots are fired. Shots echo throughout the theater. All freeze. Quick blackout in silence.
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by Meshack Owino Whenever an African agitates for self-determination in Africa , he is quickly jumped on by critics and dismissed as a tribalist. He is ridiculed as a backward ethnic chauvinist, whose sole-purpose in agitating for a new state is a desire for a fiefdom where he can lord it over others whose only crime is belonging to a different ethnic group. He is reviled as a throw-back to a backward African past, an aberration, an intellectual dwarf who is incapable of grasping and living by higher ideals that other more educated, progressive African people live by. He becomes an object of pity. He is perceived as having failed to conform to modernity, and has decided to cover up his failures by romanticizing about a distant, backward past. If only he were a little bit more modern looking, ideological, and a little bit more intellectually refined, he would see how backward it is to agitate for separation, especially something as backward as an ethnic-based state in Africa . Colonial authorities dismissed members of the Mau Mau movement in Kenya as backward and atavistic; critics routinely dismiss supporters of separatist movements in Africa as atavistic tribal chauvinists. No attempt is ever made to define tribalism, and certainly, no effort is ever expended to explain why African self-determination processes can only be equivalent to tribalism and not reflective of deeply-felt sense of identity. Instead, the indictments are simply asserted and are religiously repeated as facts. No meaningful investigations are ever carried out into the legitimacy of separatist movements or even into the possibilities and opportunities separatists movements can offer to people seeking to create their own states. Simply put, an African agitating for a new state in Africa is caricatured and lampooned as a backward ethnic chauvinist who belongs to a by-gone era. The tendency of dismissing and ridiculing movements for new states in modern Africa has a long history going all the way back to the colonial era. Colonial authorities routinely mocked Africans who resisted their hegemonic colonial project in Africa . When the British invaded Africa, they regularly ridiculed resisters like the Benin Empire in the southern Nigeria, Koitalel arap Samoei of the Nandi; Lobengula of Ndebele Kingdom; Kabarega of Bunyoro kingdom; the Asantehenes of Ashante; etc; while the French often laughed off resisters like Samori Toure of Mandinka Empire, and Wabogo, the Moro Naba of Mossi. They dismissed African resisters as blood-thirsty despots; tyrants terrorizing their people; backward chiefs intent on preventing their people from enjoying fruits of modernity. Conversely, they lauded those who cooperated with them, singling out people like Lenana of the Maasai; Nabongo Mumia of Wanga, and Lewanika of the Lozi, praising them as modern-looking progressive; forward-looking; democratic. African leaders at independence adopted this tradition o f dismissing resisters and deifying allies. Intent on maintaining their newly independent states, and, conveniently, their newly acquired imperial powers, African leaders started clamping down on any secessionist movements that they deemed a threat to the territorial integrity of their states. They brutally put down secessionist movements in places such as Edo Nation, Biafra, Cabinda , Katanga , North-Eastern Province , Eritrea , Ogaden, and so on. They went on a campaign of nation-building. They preached against ethnicity, regionalism, and religious separatism. They sought to convert Africans into citizens of the new postcolonial states. As Ali Mazrui writes, African leaders at independence embarked on a project of converting Africans sense of nationalism into a state of nationhood. African leaders started cajoling their people to be loyal and obedient to the state. The people of the colonially-created Nigeria were exhorted not to think as Yorubas, Ibos, Hausas, or Twis, etc, but as Nigerians. In Mozambique , Samora Machel asserted that for Mozambique to be a modern state, ethnicity must die. He embarked on a project of killing ethnicity in Mozambique . In Tanzania , Julius Nyerere embarked on a project of transforming Tanzania into one nation-state. Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia promulgated a new slogan, One Zambia, One Nation. Mobutu Sese Seko pronounced, not just a new philosophy, â€œauthenticity,â€ but also a new name for his country “ Zaire . He ordered Zaireans to drop European names and adopt new African names. Jomo Kenyatta, in response to a secessionist movement in Northeastern Province of Kenya, vowed that Kenya would never relinquish even one inch of its territory to the secessionist. All over Africa , national unity was promoted. Anything else was an enemy to be destroyed. Africa territorial integrity was affirmed. In 1963, the OAU declared African state boundaries inviolable. In schools, churches, public barazas, on radios, or even at impromptu roadside meetings, Daniel arap Moi never tired of beseeching Kenyans to shun tribalism, urging people to help build a united country by imitating him, for he was not a tribalist; he was a nationalist building the nation of Kenya. Mimi siyo mkabila; I am a nationalist, Moi would harangue his listeners. As they waged their campaigns of nation building, African political and intellectual elite conveniently peppered over the problematic nature of the African state. Although many of them were very much aware of the fact that the African state was colonially-created and imposed on Africans at the point of the Maxim gun, trampling on the will and rights of African people in the process, they went about promoting the state as if it was rooted in the distant African past and natural and represented the will of the people. They were building the African state on a lie. They were in denial about the contested nature of the African state, and in the process, they only ended up in perpetuating the existence of states that denied the African people their right to true self-determination. Brought up under an over-arching propaganda around the sanctity of the African state, and educated in liberal western traditions, African political and intellectual elite saw the post-colonial African state as sacrosanct. They fetishized the African state. They made it sacred. They could withstand movements for new states in other parts of the world, but in Africa . Europeans could agitate for new states in Europe without generating intellectual introspection in Africa; only in Africa did such movements raise eyebrows. For African leaders promoting the African state, it did not matter how genuine, legitimate or rational a movement for a different political dispensation in Africa was. It did not matter whether secessionist movements could actually succeed in replacing moribund post-colonial African states with more viable alternative states. It did not matter that secessionist movements could actually lead to the creation of stronger, more coherent and more viable states that could do a better job in terms of maintaining, protecting and safe-guarding the interests of the African people, making the African people happier. It just did not matter. What mattered was that the post-colonial African state had to be protected and maintained, and anybody standing in the way was an enemy seeking to take Africa back to a by-gone era. When the Soviet Union collapsed, very few people in Africa doubted the right of the emerging states in the former Soviet Union to self-determination. Nobody accused them of backwardness and acting nostalgically for a backward past. The failure by African intellectuals to lampoon the newly emergent states in the former Soviet Union seemed to suggest that they recognized the inherent right of the citizens of the former Soviet republics to self-determination. Their silences seemed to suggest that they recognized that movements for self-determination in the former Soviet Union were inspired by deeply-felt sense of nationalism, and new states emerging in the region were legitimate outcomes of such nationalist movements; something they could never tolerate for Africa because African movements for self-determination could not be inspired by the same level of nationalism. The clamor for new states in the Soviet Union could be accommodated because it was based on genuinely-felt love by people for each other; a clamor for the same in Africa could not even be tolerated because there was no way an African could be inspired by anything other than tribal hatred. When a European seeks to secede, he is generally perceived to be tapping into higher, deeper national energy, an African doing essentially the same thing is an irrational juvenile tapping into primordial tribal tendencies. A European angling for a new state is usually accorded a hearing and his grievances listened to; an African doing the same must be warned not to give in to his tribal urges. An African agitating for a new state must be exhorted [to quote one Kenyan critic] to learn to love one another. Doesn't he know that his actions are likely to plunge our beloved country into chaos? When Yugoslavia was collapsing, nobody urged its people to learn to co-exist and maintain Yugoslavia as one entity. Indeed, Yugoslavia was allowed to collapse into new states and it has continued to splinter into even smaller entities. Nobody questioned the right of the people of former Yugoslavia to self-determination when Yugoslavia was collapsing; it was a right that was assumed to exist intrinsically, an inalienable right. This right to self-determination by the people of the former Yugoslavia has recently seen Bosnia-Herzegovina emerging as an independent state, a country of 750,000 people. The UN has also recently declared that Albanians of Kosovo have a right to self-determination. Nobody has ridiculed the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina or mocked them for giving into their â€œtribal urgesâ€ by creating a separate state. Nobody has put them down. To the contrary, Bosnia-Herzegovina has been treated with the same level of respect that any other state in the world is entitled to. Throughout the period that the people of Slovakia were agitating for independence from Czechoslovakia a few years ago, not a single page of African newspaper, not a single column, not a single blog condemned the Slovaks for giving into their tribal urges, the way they usually do when an African agitates for a new state in Africa . Not a single commentary captured the irony of how the Europeans, who imposed states on us, are usually busily crafting new states in their own continent even as their liberal-educated African disciples insist on the perpetuation of often-unwieldy states in Africa . Apparently, the right to self-determination is a right that only the Europeans can enjoy; an African must just learn to co-exist in post-colonial states that are artificial, unwieldy, and unworkable whether they like it or not. Europeans are nationalistic when they agitate for self-determination, but Africans are only tribalistic when they call for the same. A Slovak can enjoy the right to self-determination, but an Ibo cannot because, where a Slovak acts out of higher nationalistic ideals, an Ibo only acts out of tribalistic tendencies. It never matters how rational an Ibo, a Luo or a Luhya movement for self-determination is. It never matters that the right to self-determination is a God-given right. It never matters whether Africans living in a state like or hate each other to death. What matters is that African states exist and Africans must just learn to co-exist with each other. After all, didn't the Europeans who created African states know what they were doing? Who are Africans to question the Europeans? Who are Africans to question the states that the Europeans created in Africa ? The Europeans, in their eternal wisdom, knew why they created the abattoir known as the Congo/Zaire. Who are Africans to question its existence and come up with a better alternative? The Europeans knew why they created the ridiculously- looking Gambia . They knew why they created the miserable desert-countries of Chad and Niger . And why they created the artificial Burkina Faso , the Uganda , the Zambia , the Malawi , the Kenya , the Tanganyika , and the Djibouti !The Congo has claimed millions of lives of African people since King Leopold II created it, but Africans must just learn to love it. To dream of an alternative to the Congo , however viable and better, is tantamount to giving in to primordial tendencies, to tribalism. The Sudan has claimed many lives, but the miserable Africans there, must not imagine a better world, a world of new states however viable, for to do so, would be tribalistic. Anybody with the most cursory knowledge of Kenyan history knows that Luos are routinely treated by Kenyans as a different people and their culture is perceived as essentially different. The Luo eat fish; they practice wife inheritance; they donâ€™t practice circumcision; they are supposed to be loud, boisterous and narcissistic, practices that most other Kenyans claim not to identify with. Luo leaders are usually subjected to more vicious scrutiny than leaders from other communities. A pronouncement by a Luo politician is usually excavated and probed more deeply and extensively than those of politicians from other regions. More Luo leaders have been detained, placed under house arrest, and assassinated than those from other parts of Kenya . A presidential candidate from Luoland is usually expected to demonstrate qualifications that are far higher than those of candidates from other parts of Kenya to qualify for office. Usually, even the manhood of a presidential candidate from Luoland is probed; whether he is circumcised and manly enough to be become president. According to the most recent UNDP report, Luoland is also a different country from the rest of Kenya economically. Although Nyanza Province pays the second highest amount of taxes to the exchequer, it is the poorest in the whole country. Poverty levels in Luoland stand at between 67-80%. A recent newspaper report revealed that some parts of Luoland have never seen a car. A report by the Society for International Development (SID), entitled, Pulling Apart: Facts and Figures on Inequality in Kenya, reveals that HIV/AIDS infection rates in Luoland stand at 15%; the highest in the country. Mortality rate in Luoland is the highest in Kenya . According to UNDP projections, from a report mentioned above, a Luo man cannot expect to live beyond 41 years, a Luo woman beyond 39 years! This, again, is the highest mortality rate in Kenya . Malaria kills two children every day at Siaya District Hospital ! There are twice as many infants dying before their first birthday in Nyanza province compared to Rift Valley! Yet, the same people who treat Luos as different and who have reduced Luoland into a death trap are usually the first to cry foul when Luos broach the subject of self-determination. They are usually the first to invoke Kenya as an indivisible state. They are usually the first to claim that everybody is poor and suffering; that it is not just Luos who are poor and suffering. Even the Turkana are suffering, and the Maasai are suffering, as if that should be a comforting thought to a Luo mother whose child languishes on the throes of death at Siaya District Hospital . The same country that has nearly driven Luoland to the brink of extinction demands that it must be embraced by the Luo. A Luo must never allow himself to imagine another country, even if he stands a better chance of survival in a separate and different country from the one that is destroying his community. He must just hang in there. He must learn to co-exist with those who trash him. He must learn to love a country that was created and imposed on him by the Europeans. Doing otherwise would be very tribalistic, and that cannot be allowed to happen. The United States invaded Iraq four years ago, opening up a conundrum of ethnic and religious conflagration that had been held in check by force by the draconian rule of Saddam Hussein. Five years into the US invasion, Iraq is so divided it has become obvious that it was actually three states in one: Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish north. Many western scholars have started coming to terms with this reality. A number of them have even started agitating for the partitioning of Iraq into three separate countries for the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. It has taken these elites only four years to realize that artificial countries such as Iraq are unwieldy colonial creations that more often than not do more harm than good to their inhabitants. They have realized that for democracy, the rule of law, and a better way of life to take root in Iraq , a new political system must be envisioned, including, if need be, partitioning the country. That is what pragmatism is about. Yet, apparently, what is good for the Iraqis, let alone the Europeans, can never be good for us. What is good for the Sunnis and the Shiites and the Kurds can never have any relevance for us. What may be good for the people of the former Yugoslavia cannot be good for us. A new state might be good for the people of the former Czechoslovakia , but us. We are Africans. We must just toil in there. We must just learn to co-exist with one another even if our unwieldy and inchoate states have become death-traps, holding us back from staking out a better future for us and our children. We cannot move on the way the people of the former Soviet Union moved on. We cannot partition our states and move on, the way Indians and Pakistanis partitioned India and moved on. We can never dream about new, better, viable alternative states in Africa. Only the Europeans, and to some extent, Asians, are allowed to imagine new states, for they are nationalistic when they do so. An African doing the same is a just a mere ethnic chauvinist, a backward tribalist, a throw-back to the past. Views: 371 Great Benin Bronze © 2018 Created by Otedo News Update. Powered by Badges \| Report an Issue \| Terms of Service Local And International News Outlets
Make your own free website on Strategies, therapies, and profesionals Definition of Wellness Definition of Psychosocial Health Factors that influence Psychosocial Health Mind-Body Connection Mind-Body Connection How emotions and feelings influence health status. One’s body is not just the inner self. Inside, your emotions and mind play a big role when influencing your health status. Nowadays, it is proven that our mental status, such like emotions and feelings influence your physical status, and vice versa. The important role of the mind has been neglected in popular fitness activities. But today, in world that does not only focus on looks, a new interest in the integration of the mind into regular physical fitness activities has been mandated. Due to certain nerves in our body, attitude, mood, and a simple belief can trigger the switch and bring up chronic diseases that will haunt one constantly. So in simple words, our mental and emotional health dose affect our body in several ways, and the way we treat our body influences our mental health. For example, when someone is depressed, a tendency to stop eating or over eating appears. Due to the emotional status, your body is suffering the consequences. In contrast, if one stops eating or exercising, the brains and other systems in the body will not get what they need to function appropriately, thus creating a psychosocial turmoil. As stated before, our body reacts to the way we think, feel and, act. Emotions and feelings are one of the highest indicators of why one’s health is as it is. For example, when you are stressed, several symptoms may show in you, like high blood pressure or even a stomach ulcer. Adding to that, poor emotional health is also depicted because of back pains, changes in appetite, constipation, insomnia, lightheadedness, palpitations, and several other signs. Having poor emotional health can also damage and weaken one’s immune system. Hence you are more likely to catch colds and several other infections. Also, if you are depressed or really stressed you may be leaving your personal health aside and neglecting it. Section by: Christian Health 10 - Pd. 5
Difference of troy movie and iliad Wolfgang petersen's troy (2004), which draws on the iliad, places a new emphasis on heterosexual pair-bonding yet, the film extends the greek project of disempowering helen in the guise of defending her the movie does not celebrate the dangerous power of female beauty but denies it by means of an. The iliad does not mention this more importantly, achilles before this action ajax and agamemnon both survive in the greek tradition, whereas the movie kills them off also there is a great tragedy about the death of agamemnon at the hand of his wife the role of prophecy is limited in the movie troy for example. The film troy and the lilad were both amazing, but however the film troy didnt quite match the iliad because of advertising , money and the need to keep the audience entertained' and find the only items you have mentioned in your thesis statement that it seems you will talk about in your essay are relevant to the movie. Between the book and the film there are a wealth of differences, and similarities only lie in the basic, undisputed ideas “the iliad” begins in the ninth year of the ten year siege of the greeks upon troy, whereas the movie shows paris taking helen away from troy angering menelaus in the process the greeks sail across the. The movie troy was by far, the closest adaptation of the iliad the iliad started on the battle between chrysler, a town allied with troy, and the achaeans the difference on this scene between the text and the film was: in the epic, achilles agreed to nester's idea of having patrols to wear his armor to drive the trojan. The three major upsetting differences in troy compared to the iliad are the absence of the gods, the weak character and plot development, and the addition, exclusion, and reversal of key points first and most disappointing, was the absence of the gods in the movie troy divine intervention was a major variable in homer's. Troy movie vs fall of a city (2018) analysis + episode 1-3 review - duration: 11:46 jayson with a y [jayson markey youtube channel] 10,241 views 11:46 iliad: a troy story - duration: 1:56 renee trafton 93,339 views 1:56 drawn history: the trojan war \| history - duration: 1:46 history 71,872. Aquino, adrienne dawn a 08-10664, ba sociology prof lr tope eng 12 comparison paper on the book iliad and film troy on the plot the plot of the book and the film has a very big difference especially on its coverage and focus the coverage of the film starts all the way from why the trojan-greeks conflict started up. “the iliad” (gr: “iliás”) is an epic poem by the ancient greek poet homer, which recounts some of the significant events of the final weeks of the trojan war and the greek siege of the city of troy (which was also known as ilion, ilios or ilium in ancient times) written in the mid-8th century bce, “the iliad” is usually considered. The reason for these differences between the iliad and the film troy are nearly 100% economic as when looking at each individual example of the differences all of them are either due to lowering expenses/complexity of making the film troy (i e 17 day war instead of 10 years), or due to the director attempting to make the. As a student of screenwriting, i understand full well that, in the quest to adapt a book to a film, there are certain concessions that need to be made literary nuance gets visualized, novelesque plot arcs crunched into a crisp three-act structure, a. Hektor (hector) prince of troy and son of priam and hekuba hektor is commander of all the trojan and allied forces he is the greatest of the trojan warriors and one of the most noble characters in the iliad he is always conscious of his duty and his responsibilities to his people and does not let his personal interests. The first episode of new bbc/netflix swords-n-sandals epic troy: fall of a city aired on bbc1 on saturday night, and amid all the rather graphic childbirth, warring gods and steamy love scenes you might have found yourself wondering – how much of this came from the greek myths, and how much did they. The film is a loose adaptation of homer's ancient greek poem the iliad, and it covers the main events of the trojan war it is a story brimming with as the plot unfolds, helen remains an elusive presence at troy, as the different greek kingdoms come to demand her return to menelaus the outcome of her. Difference of troy movie and iliad Brad pitt and orlando bloom head the cast for the may 14 release of “troy,” hollywood's answer to the classical homeric epic, the iliad the reality of troy is, well, a horse of a different color than what hollywood will likely show us or even, in some cases, what homer encapsulates in his adventure epic. • What follows is a partial list of discrepancies between troy the big-budget hollywood movie and troy the epic poem and archeological history this list was provided by dr james holoka movie nonetheless pitt was a fine achilles and homer would have loved the combat scenes (though the iliad itself is a lot gorier. • The first book systematically to examine wolfgang petersen's epic film troy from different archaeological, literary, cultural, and cinematic perspectives examines the film's use of homer's iliad and the myth of the trojan war, its presentation of bronze-age archaeology, and its place in film history identifies the modern. • The iliad: book and film comparison the iliad became adapted into a film during 2004 called troy, in which the story was both dramatically and subtly changed in its adaptation a major difference in the film was that there were no intervening or actions of the gods whatsoever, whereas in the book, the gods were constantly. Work is not authentic the teacher may need to change figures, measurements or data sources or set a different context or topic to be investigated or a different text to read or perform students require access to the film troy (2004) and a translation of homer's iliad (hard copy or online) also provide students with access. Troy is based on the epic poem the iliad by homer, according to the credits homer's estate should sue the movie sidesteps the existence of the greek gods, turns its heroes into action movie cliches and demonstrates that we're getting tired of computer-generated armies better a couple of hundred. Adaptation distillation: critics of the film often overlook the fact that it's a mythos with a few basic elements (such as achilles' death and the location of his weak spot) and variant sequels exist that kill off different characters most of the events of the movie happen either before the iliad begins or after it ends, not in the iliad. A list of all the characters in the iliad the the iliad characters covered include: achilles, agamemnon (also called “atrides”) , patroclus, odysseus, diomedes ( also called “tydides”), great ajax, little ajax priam - king of troy and husband of hecuba, priam is the father of fifty trojan warriors, including hector and paris. difference of troy movie and iliad Did the city of troy really exist is the trojan war myth or military reality and what about that giant horse as the blockbuster brad pitt film troy storms the cinemas, archaeologists and historians are shedding light on the ancient city and epic that inspired the movie in the greek poem the iliad, the basis for. difference of troy movie and iliad Did the city of troy really exist is the trojan war myth or military reality and what about that giant horse as the blockbuster brad pitt film troy storms the cinemas, archaeologists and historians are shedding light on the ancient city and epic that inspired the movie in the greek poem the iliad, the basis for. Difference of troy movie and iliad Rated 4/5 based on 44 review
Brain Teachers January 30, 2015 GD Topic-II January 30, 2015 Show all GD Topic:-1:Social media: stress generator or stress liberator The ill effects of social media has been pointed out from time to time by health gurus, psychologists, advisors and parents of youths being the most concerned ones. However, a recent study conducted by the Pew Research Centre’s Internet Project brings news of relief to those who cannot imagine a day without social media. The study shows that stress and social media have no direct association and the later has just been over emphasised to brag about the ill effects. Social media has it advantages as well as disadvantages but the concern here is the stress factor associated with it. Stress generator: 1. Getting addicted to social networking is one of the most crucial reasons why social media is blamed for generating stress. Overtly staying connected on social media becomes an addiction and unknowingly the user starts avoiding important tasks of life which should get priority. A housewife or student or a working person, for instance, postpones their important works just to stay online for an hour which turns into half of the day. When they revert to reality, undone tasks are sure to create stress. 2. Social media opens up ways to stay connected with friends and relatives. In the midst of staying updated and keeping the social media profile updated, we sometimes miss upon security precautions. Spying for fraudulence was never so easier unless the entire population decided to go online with all the basic information of their whereabouts. These information going into wrong hands generate unimaginable stress in people of all age group. 3. Fear of being caught or proved wrong comes from our being available most of the the time on social media. A recent study shows that while preparing for a job interview, a person has now to consider the details he has provided on his social networking profile. You are more likely to get caught it you bragged about your hobbies in your Facebook profile without knowing anything about it in reality. 4. Relationships have never been more complicated until some of our favourite social media techies decided to treat us with surprises like “last seen” and “location trackers.” Complicating of relationships have produced greater cases of stress than any other factors and social media just makes it worse. Ignoring partners while clicking selfies for Facebook, fear of being caught cheating, fear of your partner finding out about your ex are the biggest stress generators ever. 5. To avoid stressful situation, most people think of social media as the ultimate rescue. However, shutting out the real world for a couple of hours recreating on social media is not a solution to come out of a problem. The problem stays where it began, all that happens is delay in finding a solution to it. Stress liberator: 1. Loneliness is one of the basic reasons why one gets stressed and is unable to cope with it. Social media has only bridged the gap of distance and now our loved ones are just a click away whenever we need to talk to them or even see them. In old age when parents are left alone at home with children in different cities for work or studies, social media is blessing. A snap of me having full-fledged meals even when I am away from home is a stress reliever for my mother. I am sure it’s the same for every mother. 2. Not everyone is an open book. Not every person can speak his heart out at times of stress. The inability to confide in someone leads to anxiety and even in depression of the most acute order. Social media makes it easier for taciturn people to speak about their problems to strangers or friends which relives stress to a great extent. A good friend can advice you on how to cope with circumstances and immediately there comes a feeling of being cared and the confidence to push out of the shell. 3. Listening to the problems that other people in your circle are experiencing can also contribute to stress liberation. Getting to know the problems that other people have to face, we get to assess our own circumstances and that can give courage to tackle them. Women are more emotionally connected, making them more prone to stress and depression. Social media is found to be a great stress reliever, especially for women, for they just know when something is not right. 4. A shy and reserved kind of person can discover a whole new world for them at the social networking sites. It can incur in them confidence and motivation to step ahead, leaving the old shell behind. It is not social media that builds in stress, it is people that give stress to each other by misusing information, blackmailing or intimidating them for their selfish motives. This is not the mistake of social media, but people for not being careful enough. 5. Social media might have created relationship issues but most of them were for good. Finding out that your partner cheats on you is not a bad thing after all, if you consider the fact that you got saved from spending more of your precious time with an undeserving person. People fall in and out of love and social media just made it easier for them to move on with their lives instead of stressing upon the past. Just like every other technology, social media has its pros and cons too. What is important is that we regulate our time and keep things balanced between recreation and work. Setting timer for social media is one of the means that could keep a check on your online activities. Those that find solace on social media must not forget that there is a real world too and that they should not cling too much to the virtual world. Too much of anything is harmful and the same is true for social media. Leave a Reply Your email address will not be published.
Let's face it, bad breath is embarrassing. The good news is that for the most part (with proper dental care) bad breath, also called halitosis, can be avoided. If your halitosis hangs on for more than 24 hours without an obvious cause, call your dentist or doctor. It can be a sign of gum disease, gastrointestinal problems, sinus infection, bronchitis or even more serious diseases such as diabetes, liver or kidney failure, and cancer. Bad breath can also be a sign of dehydration or zinc deficiency. The best approach is to get rid of it once and for all: 1. Clean your mouth thoroughly and regularly to get rid of bacteria and decaying food particles. Clean your tongue too and floss where chunks of food may hide and later stick to your gums and teeth. 2. Keep your mouth moisturized. A dry mouth tends to become stinky. Saliva physically washes bacteria and food particles away and also has antiseptic and enzymes that kill bacteria, If you have to meet your partner, chew sugar-less gum to stimulate saliva production. Mints do not encourage saliva production but they cover up the bad odour. Drink water. It will not necessarily increase saliva production, but it will wash out your mouth. If a dry mouth is caused by medications, consult a doctor. 3. Reduce intake of notorious stink foods like onions, garlic, cheese, and coffee (or at least brush vigorously after eating them). 4. If you are on a low carbohydrate diet, eat a banana. A body starved of carbohydrates (as people try to loose weight or fast) breaks down fats for energy. The reaction creates ketones, some of which are released in your mouth. Unfortunately, ketones smell bad, and so will your breath. Throwing in a healthy carb-rich snack like an apple or banana helps. 5. Ban certain beverages. Alcohol consumption may leave a foul smell, especially the next day. Coffee, beer, wine and whiskey are at the top of the list of liquid offenders. Each leaves a residue that can attach to the plaque in your mouth and infiltrate your digestive system. Each breathe you take spews traces back into the air. It is worse with sweet wines and spirits. If your partner is not taking the same stuff, brush thoroughly before meeting or avoid it altogether if you plan on having a romantic rendezvous. 6. Quit smoking. Tar and nicotine can build up on the surface of the teeth, tongue, cheeks and also inhibit saliva flow. It is said that kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray. 7. Use mouthwash if you are uncomfortable with your breath odour. Look for one that kills the germs that cause bad breath or plaque-reducing mouthwash with medical approval. 8. Carry a toothbrush. Some odours can be eliminated (permanently or temporarily) if you brush every after a meal. The main culprit in bad breath is a soft, sticky film of living and dead bacteria that clings to your gums and teeth. That film is called plaque. At any time, there are 50 trillion of these microscopic organisms loitering in your mouth. They sit in every dark corner, eating each morsel of food that passes your lips, collecting little smells, and producing little odours of their own. As you exhale, the bacteria exhale. So, brush away the plaque after each meal and get rid of some of the breath problems. Even when you can't brush, you can rinse. Take a sip of water after meals, swish it around, and wash the smell of food from your mouth. 9. Eat your parsley. Parsley adds more than green to your lunch plate; it's also a breath-saver, because it contains chlorophyll. A known breath deodorizer. 10. Brush your tongue. Most people overlook their tongue. Your tongue is covered with little hair-like projections, which under a microscope look like a forest of mushrooms. Under the caps of the 'mushrooms'. There is room to harbor plaque and some of the things we eat. That causes bad breath. So while brushing, gently sweep the top of your tongue, too, so that you don't leave food and bacteria behind to breed bad breath.
Beat to Quarters Quiz \| Eight Week Quiz A Buy the Beat to Quarters Lesson Plans Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________ This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through The Prosperous Voyage. Multiple Choice Questions 1. What does El Supremo plan to do? (a) sail with an army to capture the capital of Nicaragua (b) capture treasure ships (c) capture Lydia (d) visit England 2. Hornblower had been how many years at sea? (a) 20 (b) 19 (c) 17 (d) 25 3. How do El Supremos' officers quell the crew after they take over Natividad? (a) execute a hesitant boy (b) withhold food for three days (c) threaten that any crewman who disobeys must walk the plank (d) tie a disobedient crewsman to the mast 4. What had long been a dream of the British government? (a) having better ships and seamen than any other country (b) establishing colonies in South America (c) becoming the most powerful country in the world (d) starting a rebellion in the Spanish American colonies 5. How many British casualties are there during the capturing of Natividad? (a) not one (b) four (c) two (d) three Short Answer Questions 1. Why does Hornblower think he was selected for this mission? 2. What did Hornblower do when he didn't know how to respond to something someone said? 3. What request did Hornblower make of El Supremo? 4. In the restocking of Lydia, what did Hernandez provide instead of flour? 5. How many guns did the Natividad have on board? (see the answer key) This section contains 272 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) Buy the Beat to Quarters Lesson Plans Beat to Quarters from BookRags. (c)2018 BookRags, Inc. All rights reserved. Follow Us on Facebook
The children of the Wehrmacht By Harry van Versendaal Beaten, abused or locked away in orphanages and asylums because their fathers were German soldiers, the fate of Greece's war children has been largely ignored by local historians. Seventy years after the world sunk into the horror of World War II, German psychologist and historian Kerstin Muth has dug into one of the most traumatic chapters of that period, tracing the personal stories of Greece's so-called Wehrmacht children. Up to 200 children were born between 1941 and 1945, the fruit of liaisons between Greek women and occupying German troops. Muth, author of «Die Wehrmacht in Griechenland - und ihre Kinder» (Eudora-Verlag Leipzig) (Wehrmacht in Greece - and its Children), which was recently presented at the Goethe Institute in Thessaloniki, spoke to Athens Plus about the subject. What is the estimated number of war children in Greece? Between 100 and 200 but that is an estimate, not an official figure. The number is low compared to other European countries that were occupied by the Nazis. In France, there were an estimated 200,000 children. These children and their mothers are known to have been subjected to public humiliation in countries such as the Netherlands and France, however there are no accounts of such abuse here. How were the children fathered by German soldiers in Greece treated in this country after the war? In Greece too, the children were humiliated. Frequently, they heard on the street that they have a Wehrmacht father, or as they were called «Deutschenbastard» (German bastard). The mothers were discriminated against as well and the children suffered because of the stigmatized mother and the frequently unknown father. Quite often, the mothers blamed the children for their bad situation. The absent father was frequently idealized. How difficult is it for half-German children to trace their fathers? Are there many in Greece doing this today? All the children I have interviewed have tried to trace their fathers and that was complicated. A child from Kavala is still looking for its father. I have not found him either, as only the first name, Karl, is known. Children looking for their father are supported by the agency in Berlin that registers all soldiers. Sometimes, chance helps as well: War child Marisa found her half-sister in Hamburg because of something her father had said to her mother; another child, Anna, could trace her father to his hometown because of a photo. German soldiers were allowed to pursue relationships with Norwegians and Dutch women but such relationships were prohibited in eastern Europe as Slavs were considered an inferior race. What was the situation in Greece? Marriages between German soldiers and Greek women were not allowed in general. Abortions were encouraged. Many children probably did not even know about their heritage, as the names were not entered in church books, they were left at other families' doorsteps or were adopted. Frequently, the whole town knew the truth but not the children themselves. Most of the children I interviewed told me that the topic was discussed in private by the neighbors, never openly. Time to give them a place in Greek society How many years did you spend on this project and what were the difficulties you had to overcome? Did you find any Greek sources on the subject? I have been researching for 2 years, Mega Channel aired a movie and still, I found only a few children [12]. Only 6 agreed to talk. The reason for that is that the topic is still taboo in Greece. This is also demonstrated by the fact that no Greek publisher is interested in publishing the book in the Greek market. Why did you focus particularly on the Greek experience and how has your study been received so far? Do you think the question has been neglected by historians here and, if so, why? I did not find this topic being dealt with by the scientific community, which made me curious, (so I decided) to look for children and find out the reasons for it. As I said, even 60 years after the war it's still taboo in Greek society and many «children» still do not dare speak openly about the terrible things that happened to them. Do you hope that your book will trigger a debate on the issue? It would be great if I managed to translate my research into Greek and start a debate with it, to give the children their place in Greek society. It is about time - all of them have the age of grandparents, they are all over 60.
, , , , Guns and music don’t usually coincide, but Pedro Reyes thought differently. Reyes is a Mexican artist who recently took about 6,700 guns seized by the government and turned them into musical instruments. Guns from Ciudad Juarez make up Reyes’ project titled “Disarm.” Ciudad Juarez is a Mexican city with about 1.3 million residents that averaged about 10 killings a day at the height of the drug cartel violence, according to an Associated Press article. “This project has a pacifist intent, to create a global consciousness about arms trafficking,” Reyes said in an Associated Press article. Reyes manipulated the guns to create an instrument that mimics a xylophone. He also took metal plates and attached them to gun pieces that pinged like a cymbal. Jon Havener, a professor of metalsmithing and jewelry in the Department of Visual Art, said that taking something viewed as negative and violent and juxtaposing it with something as beautiful as music is incredible. “Art is continually evolving and this is a natural extension of collaboration,” Havener said. Havener said that Reyes’ didn’t make too bold of a move at all and that he recycled materials for something greater. Thora Ansell, a sophomore from Houston, works in the photo lab in the Art and Design building. Even though photography is Ansell’s forte she likes to study sculptures and recycled creations. “People aren’t used to seeing this kind of art–statement art,” Ansell said. While Ansell admired Reyes’ work, she said that it may not have as positive of a reaction in the country as a whole. She said that there isn’t a rulebook as an artist and they can express their political stances through their work, but how people respond to it is different. “It’s more than just a pretty painting,” Ansell said. Narrative works that used recycled materials have been surfacing over the past five years. South African artist Goncalo Mabunda takes bullets and rifles that were used during Mozambique’s civil war and turns them into various sculptures. Korean artist Yong Ho Ji used something a little less violent. Ji takes old tires and turns them into life-size animal sculptures. Regardless of the material, narrative works using recycled objects have started to evolve.
DEUTSCH \| GREEK \| FRANÇAIS \| ITALY \| (Click for Primary Version) Before editing or translating this document, please check ShortIntroDiscussionEn. Software Patents in Europe: A Short Overview A patent is a right to monopolize an invention. A the applicant of a patent specifies a scope of activities from which he wants to exclude others (the claims), and submits it to the Patent Office (applying for a patent), which evaluates whether these claims depict an invention within the sense of the law and whether the invention is correctly disclosed and industrially applicable (formal examination). In addition, Patent offices have to examine whether the invention is new and non-obvious (substantive examination). However the non-obviousness standard is very low world-wide, in the EU like in the US. If the application passes the examination, the Patent Office grants the patent which means that the applicant gets the right to forbid others to do what is destribed in the claims of the granted patent. The common patent law in Europe is the European Patent Convention (EPC) from 1973. In it's Article 52, it states states: So programs for computers are excluded from patentability, together with many nother fields which where is makes sense to not have patents for. In 1986, the European Patent Office (EPO) started granting patents on computer programs nonetheless. Today, the number of software patents granted by the EPO is estimated to be abouve than 30.000, and is increasing at a rate of 3,000 per year. In 1997, the patent establishment surrounding the EPO began attempting to rewrite the EPO to make their practice of granting patents on software legal. In August 2000, the European Patent Organisation, intergovernmental organisation that runs the EPO, attempted to delete all the exclusion of computer programs from the EPC, but failed due to public resistance. In 2002, the European Commission submitted a proposal 2002/0047 for a Directive "on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions." The Directive was claimed to serve the purposes of harmonizing Member State laws and clarifying some details in order to prevent excesses by the EPO. However, a closer reading of the misleading phrasing and terminology in the Directive reveals that the proposal would codify unlimited patentability, as practiced by the EPO. Representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises and activists from all across Europe, coordinated by the FFII undertook intensive lobbying. In September 2003, the European Parliament voted incorporated a set of amendments into the Directive clarified the non-patentability of programming and business logic. Within the Council, the "Working Party on Intellectual Property (Patents)" which consists of exactly the same members as the Administrative Council of the EPO: patent office administrators from the national governments. After a few months of secret negotiations, the Working Party produced a "compromise document" that eliminated all the Parliament's clarifying amendments, reinstated the Commission's proposal which would make computer programs patentable. On May 18 2004, in a meeting of the Council a few cosmetic amendments which do not change the text were added and the resulting text was adoped by the Council. It has been sent to European Parliament for 2nd reading. Hosting sponsored by Netgate and Init Seven AG
Threads of Freedom: A Closer Look at Fast Fashion The past century has given way to a phenomenon known as fast fashion, a system that expedites the production of clothing to make high fashion trends cheap and available to almost everyone. Through the means of fast fashion, the average outfit costs about $80: $15 for a top, $20 for some pants and $45 for a pair of shoes. Eighty dollars is also the equivalent to the amount of money a woman in Bangladesh earns in one month working a minimum wage job in an American-owned garment factory. So what’s the catch? What’s the true cost behind buying and producing clothing? These are two questions that test the ethics of designers and consumers the same. Fast and cheap goods can only be produced by the hands of fast and cheap labor. The fashion industry is one of the leading fields in labor exploitation and human trafficking. Most consumers overlook this blaring truth or simply refuse to acknowledge it, which is easy because production primarily takes place thousands of miles away in countries such as China, India and Bangladesh. There, labor laws hardly exist and are loosely enforced, allowing the economical and easy mass production of American and European goods. This shift to foreign production is detrimental for large companies with factories based here in the United States. As of now, the U.S. spends more than $1.5 billion in overseas factories, where ninety-seven percent of American and European clothing is sourced. These statistics explain why companies such as American Apparel, who promote fair trade production, end up filing for bankruptcy. Due to the strictly enforced labor laws in Europe and America, it is impossible for large corporations to produce at the same rate as those countries where minimum wage and worker protection scarcely exists. However, this lack of worker protection has resulted in numerous tragedies, most notably is the collapse of the Rana Plaza Building in Bangladesh in 2013. Housing five North American garment factories and 2,000 workers, the collapse of the building resulted in the death of 1,100 people. The building clearly did not meet health and safety codes. Still, workers were forced to enter and those who refused were beaten. Following the incident, activists took action in Bangladesh and other countries to enforce fair labor laws and safety codes. However, they have only served as a paper tiger and made way for a continuation of injustice. Even with the labor laws intact, companies find a way to subvert them through subcontracting. For instance, authorities exposed H&M for illegally subcontracting sweatshops in India and Cambodia in 2016. While the company promised to improve labor conditions and pay, changes have yet to present themselves. “The fast fashion industry promotes an urgent mindset in the sense of clothing… In reality, North Americans only wear 30% of the clothes that occupy their entirely massive closets.” Similarly, the infamous fast fashion powerhouse, Forever 21, practices child labor in the cotton fields of the Republic of Uzbekistan. They disguise the cotton plant as a “work study program,” forcing children as young as nine-years-old to laboriously pick cotton for 15 hours a day. They undergo threats of beatings, suffering grades, and detention as punishment for inadequate work. Many of them have no means of escaping because they are solicited by companies as a sort of indentured servitude. For the average consumer, injustices like these are practically inconceivable — the t-shirt they’re wearing or the sweater they just bought for fall manufactured from start to finish by slaves. It’s archaic. While slavery appears differently than it did hundreds of years ago, the basic principles remain the same. It is a system of the big man taking advantage of the small, of treating people as less than human. The fast fashion industry promotes an urgent mindset in the sense of clothing, the idea that you need to buy more and more and more. In reality, North Americans only wear 30% of the clothes that occupy their entirely massive closets. This creates a magnitude of waste. Not to mention, mass-produced clothing is typically ridden with toxic pesticides and lead, detrimental for not only workers but consumers themselves. While this information reads as devastation, knowledge also precipitates change. With more people being educated on the injustices stitched into the fabric of their own clothes, both consumers and designers have begun to speak out. This backlash forced large corporations to make major improvements in their means of production. Not only that but individuals and activist groups have laid a new foundation for fair trade and sustainable clothing. They are curating a new future to make ethical the best choice for the consumer’s conscious and budget. Online stores such as The Reformation, Krochet Kids, n:Philanthropy, and Lulu’s are all examples of this. Also, Nordstrom recently declared to only sell fair trade fashion items and accessories, making it the first department store of its kind to do so. In addition to all of this, regionalized shopping has also impacted the ethics of the fashion industry. American consumers are more inclined to shop locally and support regional designers because they know who and where the clothes are sourced from. In the same way, thrift and vintage shopping is also an economical and stylish direction to take. Like a recycling system of clothing, thrifting eliminates the waste and ethical burden of shopping first hand. Above everything else, the most effective way to generate change is to simply buy less. A decrease in turnover equivalates to a decrease in demand of labor. Injustice in the fashion industry is cyclical and refusing to endorse it is the only way to successfully break it. Guilt is not the greatest tool here. Knowledge is. No one should feel guilty for the choices they have made but plan to make better ones in the future. Fast fashion is inescapable. The resolution will not take place overnight, but making small lifestyle changes is more effective than none at all. There is hope on the horizon; the future of fashion is woven with threads of freedom. Written by Kat Sours Cover graphic by Iman Sinnokrot
Researchers at the MIT institute manufactured a small source for the devices to give it power. What is the main difference ? well it is much better to put your devices with the help of that traditional charger, the power supply gives energy in ‘sips’ or packets of energy. Power converters in general voltages that are highly inefficient in small devices like sensors that do not need constant energy sources. low energy MIT Manufactured Power Supply By Which Devices Use Sips Or Packets Of Energy Image source: MIT create Low- Energy consume power device MIT Power & Energy Microsystems Technologies Laboratories MIT solved the main issue of charging they made a device which give energy to the machines like mobile and the main innovation in this device is that it gives energy when the device actually needs energy. when the device don’t need any energy it automatically put to the quiescent stage. Similarly according to Arun Paidimarri, formerly of the MTL, typical charger consume energy when they have a load and most of the sites reported that even typical charger consume energy when it don’t have any load on it, if the quiescent power is a microamp, then even if the load pulls only a nano ampere, it’ll consume a micro ampere of current. That converter is an innovation that can manage a wide rang of current in a very efficient and effective way. Like Let that clear that if any App or any function of a device is not working with your device for that mean while so it use energy of that device a very sip of energy or few packets and when it matter with the device or put a load on it it starts consuming a bundle of packets of energy in a seconds. Innovate that energy power device you can use a high power consuming device by giving it a low power energy. And also it will reduce the power usage unto 50% and can give every to devices at a low cost. The New Deal Sprint Just Announced Not Only By T-Mobile
Radio waves Here’s some German soldiers listening to a broadcast on a Tornister-Empfänger b (“Torn.E.b” – “backpack [radio] receiver b”), with an external speaker rigged on top of it. Some of the soldiers are eating from their mess kits, some listen attentively to the radio, while an Unteroffizier takes a nap on the ground. This is in the early years of the war, probably before 1941, as all soldiers wear uniforms with the dark green collars. The Torn.E.b was designed in 1935 and made in large numbers by the Telefunken radio firm. It was the standard radio of many Wehrmacht units, the construction robust and easy to maintain in the field. It weighted in at 11.5 kilos, but due to material shortages during the war, aluminium parts were replaced by die-cast zinc, bumping the weight to 17 kilos. It was also somewhat simplified in later versions. The Torn.E.b came with an accessories set which weighed about 12 kilos. It could be carried on the back, or mounted in vehicles and planes. It was powered by an internal battery or connected to an external source of power. Today, this radio is a collectible, and there are several collectors who own sets both in original and restored condition. Looking for Santa? Soldiers from a Luftwaffe signals unit talk to a local man. Are they just chatting? Inquiring for the way somewhere? Asking about partisan activity? Another mystery photo… Logged in Three signals troops soldiers outside their rather substantial log cabin on the Eastern Front, the time probably the winter of 1942-43. Telephone wires and at least one antenna tells us that this is likely a command post for a company, perhaps for an artillery battalion. The fact that the log cabin isn’t dug in could indicate that it’s a way back from the frontline, or built after the ground froze. With some more snow, it will be camouflaged for the rest of the winter. The soldiers show a variety of uniforms. The guy on the left wears the reversible snow jacket, which arrived during the autumn of 1942. Together with the reversible pants, it was a warm and practical snow suit to be worn over the regular uniform. It had a mouse-grey side (later changed to a greyish green) and a white side (obviously). The Unteroffizier in the center wears a 1936 pattern uniform, the silver-white edging on the collar and shoulderboards indicating his rank. By this time, silver-grey trim had been introduced, as it made the NCOs stand out less – an advantage in environments with snipers and other dangers. The Obergefreiter on the right wears a 1940 pattern uniform with subdued collar patches and rank chevrons. The lightning sleeve patch confirms that he belongs to the signals troops, the lightning itself probably the red of soldiers in artillery units. His cap appears to be non-regulation. “Reading” a photo like this provides some information, even if there are no notes on the back of it. It would’ve been nice to know the identity of the unit and the location, but this is a common problem with many photos. Unless there are notes or they are mounted in an annotated album, the photo collector can’t get much further than this. Soggy Bottom Boys Wading through a marsh, boots removed and carrying heavy drums of telephone cable, a signals troop is making its way in roadless terrain. A couple of the soldiers wear rubber bands on their helmets, cut from car inner tubes. It was used to hold camoflage, like grass or foilage. The box carried by the soldier at the head of the squad is probably a radio set, possibly a Tornister-Funkgerät Torn.Fu.d2. While I can’t say for sure, the photo might be from the Pripet Marshes, the vast region of wetlands in Belarus and northwestern Ukraine. Covering more than a quarter million square kilometers (about 100,000 sq.mi.), the marshes have had an impact on military campaigns throughout history. When the Germans invaded in 1941, they went north and south of the marshes, as it was impassable for larger military forces. The area became a hiding place for partisans and Jews, serving as a base of operations for attacks in the rear. The Germans even considered draining the marshes, but scrapped the plans. Whether it’s the Pripet Marshes or not, I don’t think the soldiers in the photo had a good time there in that swamp, with mosquitoes and leeches to deal with. Sure beats the Russian winter, though. Is this the reel life? A soldier, perhaps in an engineer or artillery unit, reels in telephone cable by turning a crank on a carrying frame. When retrieving the cable, the frame was carried on the chest, while it was carried on the back when laying the cable. A cable-laying party consisted of a leader and three men, one carrying the cable reel in its frame, and the other a long pole (usually three meters) a with fork-like tip to hold and lift the cable, while the third was responsible for tensioning the cable. A bag with pliers, electrical tape, screwdriver, knife, pencils, and a note pad was carried by the third man. The leader would reconnoiter the best route for the cable. There were two kinds of telephone wire used. The light type was on hand-held reels, while the heavy cable seen in the photo was wound on drums. In the latter case, the cable was 1000 meters long, but if my experience at cable-laying is anything to go by, lengths of cable were lost in the field, the drums ending up holding about 800 meters. Building a telephone line takes different amounts of time, depending on the terrain and length. If the ground is flat and the trees have their branches high up (for example pines), a kilometer of telephone line can be built in less than 20 minutes. If speed is needed, the cable is laid directly on the ground. A telephone network is more reliable, and can be used during radio silence. A drawback is that it can be damaged by e.g. artillery fire, or cut by enemy infiltrators. To make life harder for repair parties, a trick is to push a pin through the cable and cut off the ends. It will break the connection, and requires a soldier to run his fingers along the entire length of the cable, trying to find the exact spot where the pin has been inserted. Still, it beats being in a frontline trench. This photo is probably from around 1940, possibly earlier. It is hard to determine the Waffenfarbe – the corps colors – piping on the shoulderboards, but it could be signals troops yellow, judging by the brightness of the sidecap soutache (chevron). The M39 uniforms, the lack of combat suspenders, and the gloss paint on the helmets indicate that this is early in the war and that it’s during training. The Feldfernsprecher 33 field telephone was a simple phone in a brown bakelite casing, which held a handset, a generator crank, a battery, a headset, and a throat microphone, in total weighing around 2.5 kilos and carried in a leather shoulder strap when not connected. It was used for communications within a company, between companies and upwards, by artillery batteries and their forward observers, between bunkers, and many other units and situations. In the photo, a reel of telephone wire can be seen next to the phone. The leather case next to the phone operator’s hand probably contains pliers and other tools for setting up the telephone line. Phone wire can be seen wrapped around the tree trunk. Usually, the rest of the wire was suspended from branches or secured by a single turn around a tree trunk at least three meters up. The Swedish Army adopted a domestically-made version of the FF33, the m/37 field telephone. When I made my military service in 1986-87, I served as a corporal in the headquarters of a rifle company. We used the field telephones mainly for communication with battalion headquarters. Even now, when I’m a volunteer in a Home Guard unit, we use the m/37 as a way for guard posts to contact the company commanding officer.
Research suggests that arthritis inflammation and pain are connected to problems in the gut microbiome. People can cultivate healthier gut microbiomes through their diets by: • Eating a healthy, whole foods diet. A healthy gut depends on eating whole foods, including lots of vegetables—especially leafy greens—as well as fruits and whole grains. Healthy whole foods help beneficial bacteria thrive and starve out “bad” bacteria. Probiotics and prebiotics may help, too, especially when antibiotics are taken.13,14 • Avoiding foods that trigger inflammation. Foods typical of the Western diet, such as processed or sugary foods, trigger inflammation. Even seemingly healthy foods, such as eggs and milk, can trigger inflammation in some people. Connections Between the Gut Microbiome and Arthritis Each person with arthritis has his or her own set of trigger foods. Because every person is different, individuals are advised to do an elimination diet and keep a food diary. Reduce the Risk of Arthritis by Improving the Microbiome Article continues below An Elimination Diet Can Identify Triggers of Arthritis Pain The best way to identify foods that trigger inflammation is to do an elimination diet. An elimination diet begins by eating only foods that rarely cause inflammation in anyone, such as leafy greens, quinoa, sweet potatoes, and chicken. These foods are called baseline foods. After a few weeks of eating only baseline foods, other foods are added back into the diet one by one. For example, a person might add eggs back into his or her diet, eating them two times a day for 3 or 4 days. The patient monitors his or her symptoms during these days. If there is no reaction, eggs can continue to be eaten. This methodical way of adding new foods back in makes it easy to identify what foods cause inflammation and arthritis pain. Foods to Eliminate The foods listed below are believed most likely to trigger arthritis inflammation and should be avoided during the first three weeks of an elimination diet. • Gluten, including all wheat products, such as breads and pastas • How Gluten Can Cause Joint Pain • Dairy products, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, and sour cream • Soy, including edamame, tofu, tempeh, miso, tamari, and many meat substitute products • Corn, including corn chips, tortillas, grits, and corn derivatives, such as corn syrups and starches • Eggs, including dishes that contain eggs, such as baked goods, breaded and fried foods, creams, and puddings • Nightshade vegetables, including tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and peppers • Processed foods, especially processed baked goods, such as cookies, cakes, and bagels • Sugars, including any products that contain traditional sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, sucrose or other added sweeteners (a little bit of honey or molasses may be okay) • Alcohol, including beer, wine, hard liquors and spirits • Certain meats, including red meat, smoked meats, deli meats and pork. Turkey, chicken and fish are allowed. An Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Arthritis People on this elimination diet are advised to wait 3 to 4 days before reintroducing each group. Keep in mind this is just one example of an elimination diet for people with arthritis and autoimmune issues. Other diets provide different guidelines. For example, certain other elimination diets recommend avoiding all meats and oils and do not require eliminating nightshade vegetables. (The Arthritis Foundation does not support the position that nightshade plants cause arthritis inflammation but acknowledges that some people are sensitive to certain vegetables.) Foods to Eat Evidence suggests that the best diet to reduce arthritis pain is: Low glycemic. Foods that do not cause a rapid elevation in blood sugar are considered low-glycemic foods. These foods contain lots of fiber and break down slowly. Examples include potatoes, oatmeal, vegetables, and most fruits are considered low-glycemic foods. (Fruit juices typically do not have a lot of fiber and can be high-glycemic.) High in fiber. Fiber is a prebiotic—meaning it helps beneficial microbes thrive in the gut. People who eat foods high in fiber produce lots of short chain fatty acids, which can help treat gut dysbiosis. Moreover, recent research suggests that people who eat high-fiber diets have less osteoarthritis pain.15,16 High in polyphenols. Polyphenols are naturally occurring chemicals in plant-based foods. These chemicals counteract free radicals, which can cause damage to the body’s tissues. Polyphenols are found in a wide variety of foods, including vegetables, fruits, spices (particularly clove17), and even teas and coffee. High in healthy fats. Avocadoes, nuts, seeds, and olives are all plant-based whole foods high in healthy fats. Fish, such as salmon, and some oils, such as olive oil, are also considered to be sources of health fats by most experts. Low in sugar. A whole foods, plant-based diet will be naturally low in sugars, such corn syrup, which is known to cause inflammation. What Are Anti-Inflammatory Foods? Unprocessed. Unprocessed foods are direct products of nature—fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Processed foods, such as packaged cereals and cookies, tend to be low in fiber and high in sugar. Processed foods also typically contain additives, such as polysorbate 80, that enhance taste, texture, and shelf life. These additives can lead inflammation in the gut.18,19 Low in or free of dairy. Dairy products are a great source of calcium and other nutrients, but they also happen to cause inflammation in many people. People who have conducted an elimination diet and found that dairy products do not affect their symptoms may choose to eat a limited amount of dairy foods. Low in or free of red meat. Eating turkey, chicken and fish is okay, but people are advised to avoid processed deli meats and red meats. During digestion, certain bacteria in the gut feed on red meat, leading to the production of a chemical called trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO).20 TMAO is associated with vascular inflammation and heart disease.21 High in Omega 3 fatty acids. Several studies have associated omega 3 intake with arthritis symptom relief.22 Omega 3s are found naturally in many foods, including but not limited to flax seed, chia seed, seaweed,23 walnuts, Atlantic salmon, and certain other types of fish. Omega 3 can also be taken as a supplement, typically a fish oil product. However, people who take omega 3 supplements should not expect noticeable results without also eating a healthy diet. Why? Omega 3 absorption can be blocked by omega 6 fatty acids. Omega 6’s are found naturally in some foods, but are especially high in potato chips, pizza, processed meats, and other typical Western diet foods. Dietary Supplements for Treating Arthritis Again, these guidelines are based on current research and clinical experience. Different experts recommend different anti-inflammatory diets, and some may put emphasis on other dietary categories. The important point is that most of these diets share the same underlying goal of healing the gut. Integrative Arthritis Therapies and Nutrition It may that be one particular diet program works best. Or, it may be that one program works for best for certain people while other programs work better for others. More research is needed in this area. The Ins and Outs of an Anti-Inflammatory Diet Stay committed Until more is known, patients are advised to find a program and stick to it for a few months before deciding whether or not it works. Progress may occur suddenly or gradually; any progress is a positive indication that symptoms can be managed through diet. Keep stress low and exercise regularly In addition to diet, the gut microbiome is influenced by other factors, including heredity, stress, and environment. For this reason, people who are rehabilitating their guts with diet are advised to also exercise regularly, meditate, and reduce their exposure to toxins. Gut Microbiome Health and Diversity 1. Issa I, Moucari R. Probiotics for antibiotic-associated diarrhea: do we have a verdict?. World J Gastroenterol. 2014;20(47):17788-95. 2. Johnson LP, Walton GE, Psichas A, Frost GS, Gibson GR, Barraclough TG. Prebiotics Modulate the Effects of Antibiotics on Gut Microbial Diversity and Functioning in Vitro. Nutrients. 2015;7(6):4480-97. 3. Dai Z, Niu J, Zhang Y, Jacques P, Felson DT. Dietary intake of fibre and risk of knee osteoarthritis in two US prospective cohorts. Ann Rheum Dis. 2017;76(8):1411-1419. Complete Listing of References
Chapter XIV Bible MarkingBorrowing and Lending BiblesNecessity of MarkingAdvantagesHow to Mark and What to MarkTaking Notes"Four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise" "Every eye shall see Him"Additional ExamplesSuggestions. DON'T be afraid to borrow and lend Bibles. Some time ago a man wanted to take my Bible home to get a few things out of it, and when it came back I found this noted in it: Justification, a change of state, a new standing before God. Repentance, a change of mind, a new mind about God. Regeneration, a change of nature, a new heart from God, Conversion, a change of life, a new life for God. Adoption, a change of family, new relationship towards God. Sanctification, a change of service, separation unto God. Glorification, a new state, a new condition with In the same hand-writing I found these lines: Jesus only; the light of heaven is the face of Jesus. The joy of heaven is the presence of Jesus. The melody of heaven is the name of Jesus. The theme of heaven is the work of Jesus. The employment of heaven is the service of Jesus. The fulness of heaven is Jesus Himself. The duration of heaven is the eternity of Jesus. An old writer said that some books are to be tasted, some to be swallowed, and some to be chewed and digested. The Bible is one that you can never exhaust. It is like a bottomless well: you can always find fresh truths gushing forth from its pages. Hence the great fascination of constant and earnest Bible study. Hence also the necessity of marking your Bible. Unless you have an uncommon memory, you cannot retain the good things you hear. If you trust to your ear alone, they will escape you in a day or two; but if you mark your Bible and enlist the aid of your eye, you will never lose them. The same applies to what you read. Bible marking should be made the servant of the memory. If properly done, it sharpens the memory, rather than blunts it, because it gives prominence to certain things that catch the eye, which by constant reading you get to learn off by heart. It helps you to locate texts. It saves you the trouble of writing out notes of your addresses. Once in the margin, always ready. I have carried one Bible with me a great many years. It is worth a good deal to me, and I will tell you why; because I have so many passages marked in it, that if I am called upon to speak at any time I am ready. I have little words marked in the margin, and they are a sermon to me. Whether I speak 102 Its Advantages. about Faith, Hope, Charity, Assurance, or any subject whatever, it all comes back to me; and however unexpectedly I am called upon to preach, I am always ready. Every child of God ought to be like a soldier, and always hold himself in readiness. If the Queen of England's army were ordered to India tomorrow, the soldier is ready for the journey. But we can not be ready if we do not study the Bible. So whenever you hear a good thing, just put it down, because if it is good for you it will be good for somebody else; and we should pass the coin of heaven around just as we do the coin of the realm. People tell me they have nothing to say. "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." Get full of Scripture and then you can't help but say it. It says itself. Keep the world out of your heart by getting full of something else. A man tried to build a flying machine. He made some wings and filled them with gas. He said he couldn't quite fly, but the gas was lighter than the air and it helped him over lots of obstructions. So when you get these heavenly truths, they are lighter than the air down here and help you over trouble. Bible marking makes the Bible a new book to you. If there was a white birch tree within a quarter of a mile of the home of your boyhod, you would remember it all your life. Mark your Bible, and instead of its being dry and uninteresting, it will become a beautiful book to you. What you see makes a more lasting impression on your memory than what you hear. There are many methods of marking. Some use six or eight colored inks or pencils. Black is used to mark texts that refer to sin; red, all references to the cross; blue, all references to heaven; and so on. Others invent symbols. When there is any reference to the cross, they put "f" in the margin. Some write " G ", meaning the Gospel. There is danger of overdoing this and making your marks more prominent than the scripture itself. If the system is complicated it becomes a burden, and you are likely to get confused. It is easier to remember the text than the meaning of your marks. Black ink is good enough for all purposes. I use no other, unless it be red ink to draw attention to "the blood." The simplest way to mark is to underline the words or to make a stroke alongside the verse. Another good way is to go over the printed letters with your pen, and make them thicker. The word will then stand out like heavier type. Mark " only " in Psalm 62 in this way. When any word or phrase is oft repeated in a chapter or book, put consecutive numbers in the margin over against the text. Thus, in the second chapter of Habakkuk, we find five "woes" against five common sins; (1) verse 6, (2) verse 9, (3) verse 12, (4) verse 15, (5) verse 19. Number the ten plagues in this way. When there is a succession of promises or charges in a verse, it is better to write the numbers small at the beginning of each separate promise. Thus, there is a seven-fold promise to Abraham in Gen. 12, 2-3: "(1) I will make of thee a great nation, (2) and I will bless thee, (3) and make thy name great; (4) and thou shalt beablessing; (5) 104 How to Mark and What to Mark. and I will bless them that bless thee, (6) and curse him that curseth thee: (7) and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." In Prov. 1, 22, we have (1) simple ones, (2) scorners, (3) fools. Put a "x" in the margin against things not generally observed: for example, the laws regarding women wearing men's clothes, and regarding bird-nesting, in Deut. 22, 5-6; the sleep of the poor man and of the rich man compared, Ecc. 5,W./gL I also find it helpful to mark: 1. cross-references. Opposite Gen. 1, 1, write "Through faith, Heb. 11, 3"—because there we read—" Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God." Opposite Gen. 28, 12, write—" An answer to prayer, Gen. 35, 3." Opposite Matt. 6, 33, write "I. Kings 17, 13 " and " Lu. 10, 42," which give illustrations of seeking the kingdom of God first. Opposite Gen. 37, 7, write—"Gen. 50, 18"—which is the fulfilment of the dream. 2. Railroad connections, that is, connections made by fine lines running across the page. In Daniel 6, connect " will deliver" (v. 16), " able to deliver" (v. 20), and " hath delivered" (v. 27). In Ps. 66, connect " come and see" (v. 5) with " come and hear" (v. 16). 3. Variations of the Revised Version: thus Romans 8, 26 reads—" the Spirit Himself" in the R. V., not " itself." Note also marginal readings like Mark 6, 19, " an inward grudge" instead of " a quarrel." 4. Words that have changed their meaning; "meal " for " meat" in Leviticus. Or where you can explain a difficulty: " above " for "upon" in Num. 11,31. Or where the English does not bring out the full meaning of the original as happens in the names of God: "Elohim " in Gen. 1, 1, "Jehovah Elohim" in Gen. 2, 4, " El Shaddai " in Gen. 17, 1, and so on. 5. Unfortunate divisions of chapters. The last verse of John 7 reads—" And every man went unto his own house." Chapter 8 begins " Jesus went unto the mount of Olives." There ought to be no division of chapters here. 6. At the beginning of every book write a short summary of its contents, something like the summary given in some Bibles at the head of every chapter. 7. Key words and key verses. 8. Make a note of any text that marks a religious crisis in your life. I once heard Rev. F. B. Meyer preach on I Cor. 1, 9, and he asked his hearers to write on their Bibles that they were that day "called unto the fellowship of His Son Christ our Lord." When a preacher gives out a text, mark it; as he goes on preaching, put a few words in the margin, key-words that shall bring back the whole sermon again. By that plan of making a few marginal notes, I can remember sermons I heard years and years ago. Every man ought to take down some of the preacher's words and ideas, and go into some lane or by-way, and preach them again to others. We ought to have four ears—two for ourselves and two for other people. Then, if you are in a new town, and have nothing else to say, jump up and say: "I heard someone say so and so;" and men will always be glad to hear you if you give them heavenly food. The world is perishing for lack of it. Some years ago I heard an Englishman in Chicago lo6 Taking Notes. preach from a curious text: "There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise." "Well," said I to myself, "what will you make of these 'little things'? I have seen them a good many times." Then he went on speaking: "The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." He said God's people are like the ants. "Well," I thought, "I have seen a good many of them, but I never saw one like me." "They are like the ants," he said, "because they are laying up treasure in heaven, and preparing for the future; but the world rushes madly on, and forgets all about God's command to lay up for ourselves incorruptible treasures." "The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make these their houses in the rocks." He said, "The conies are very weak things; if you were to throw a stick at one of them you could kill it; but they are very wise, for they build their houses in rocks, where they are out of harm's way. And God's people are very wise, although very feeble; for they build on the Rock of Ages, and that Rock is Christ." "Well," I said, "I am certainly like the conies." Then came the next verse: "The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands." I wondered what he was going to make of that. "Now God's people," he said, "have no king down here. The world said, 'Caesar is our king;' but he is not our King; our King is the Lord of Hosts. The locusts went out by bands; so do God's people. Here is a Presbyterian band, here an Episcopalian band, here a Methodist band, and so on; but by and by the great King will come and catch up all these separate bands, and they will all be one; one fold and one Shepherd." And when I heard that explanation, I said; "I would be like the locusts." I have become so sick, my friends, of this miserable sectarianism, that I wish it could all be swept away. "Well," he went on again, "the spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces." When he got to the spider, I said, "I don't like that at all; I don't like the idea of being compared to a spider." "But," he said, "If you go into a king's palace, there is the spider hanging on his gossamer web, and lookdown with scorn and contempt on the gilded salon; he is laying hold of things above. And so every child of God ought to be like the spider, and lay hold of the unseen things of God. You see, then, my brethren, we who are God's people are like the ants, the conies, the locusts, and the spiders, little things, but exceeding wise." I put that down in the margin of my bible, and the recollection of it does me as much good now as when I first heard it. A friend of mine was in Edinburgh and he heard one of the leading Scotch Presbyterian ministers. He had been preaching from the text, "Every Eye shall see Him," and he closed up by saying: "Yes, every eye. Adam will see Him, and when he does he will say: 'This is He who was promised to me in that dark day when I fell;' Abraham will see Him and will say: 'This is He whom I saw afar off; but now face to face;' Mary will see Him, and she will sing with new interest that magnificat. And I, too, shall see Him, and when I do, I will sing: 'Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee,'" 108 Additional Examples. Turn to Exodus 6:6-7-8. In these verses we find seven "I wills." / will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians. I will rid you out of their bondage. I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm. I will take you to me for a people. / will be to you a God. I will bring you in into the land [of Canaan]. / will give it to you for a heritage. Again: Isaiah 41:10. "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Mark what God says: He is with His servant. He is his God. He will strengthen. He will help. He will uphold. Again: Psalm 103:2: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." If you can not remember them all, remember what you can. In the next three verses there are five things: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Who healeth all thy diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction. Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things. We can learn some things about the mercy of the Lord from this same Psalm: v. 4.—Its quality, "tender." v. 8.—Its measure, "plenteous." v. 11.—Its magnitude, "great," "according to the height of the heaven above the earth." See margin. v. 17.—Its duration, "from everlasting to everlasting." Twenty-third Psalm. I suppose I have heard as many good sermons on the twenty-third Psalm as on any other six verses in the Bible. I wish I had begun to take notes upon them years ago when I heard the first one. Things slip away from you when you get to be fifty years of age. Young men had better go into training at once. With me, the Lord. Beneath me, green pastures. Beside me, still waters. Before me, a table. Around me, mine enemies. After me, goodness and mercy. Ahead of me, the house of the Lord. "Blessed is the day," says an old divine, "when Psalm twenty-three was born!" It has been more used than almost any other passage in the Bible. v. 1.—A happy life. V 4.—A happy death. v. 6.—A happy eternity. Take Psalm 106:6-7: "I am like a pelican of the wilderness, and like an owl of the desert. I watch and am as a sparrow alone on the housetop." It seems strange until you reflect that a pelican carries its food with it, that the owl keeps its eyes open at night, and that the sparrow watches alone. So the no Additional Examples. Christian must carry his food with him—the Bible— and he must keep his eyes open and watch alone. Turn to Isaiah 32, and mark four things that God promises in verse 2: "And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." There we have:— The hiding place from danger. The cover from the tempest. Rivers of water. The Rock of Ages. In the third and fourth verses of the same chapter: "And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly." We have eyes, ears, heart and tongue, all ready to pay homage to the King of Righteousness. Now turn into the New Testament, John 4:47-53. The noble heard about Jesus. went unto Him. besought Him. believed Him. knew that his prayer was answered. Again: Matthew 11:28-30: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavyladen, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am weak and lonely in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Someone has said these verses contain the only description we have of Christ's heart. Something to do, come unto Jesus. Something to leave, your burden. Something to take, His yoke. Something to find, rest unto your soul. Again: John 14:6. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." The way, follow me. The truth, learn of me. The life, abide in me. Do not buy a Bible that you are unwilling to mark and use. An interleaved Bible gives more room for notes. Be precise and concise: for example, Neh. 13, 18: "A warning from history." Never mark anything because you saw it in some one else's Bible. If it does not come home to you, if you not understand it, do not put it down. Never pass a nugget by without trying to grasp it. Then mark it down.
'To Kill A Mockingbird' Shouldn't Be Banned, But Students Deserve An Alternative To 'White Savior' Narratives Universal Pictures By now, you've probably heard the news that Mississippi's Biloxi Public School District removed Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel from its curriculum, on the grounds that it "makes people uncomfortable." What the school board misses is that To Kill a Mockingbird should make white readers uncomfortable, because that is what it was always designed to do. Race makes white people uncomfortable. Since it became largely unacceptable to use the N-word in public, many white parents in the U.S. have raised their children to believe that they should never notice any person's race, and that to do so is racist. This "colorblind" approach has myriad flaws, because it creates the illusion that everyone is treated equally across the board. It does not leave a space to acknowledge the ways in which people of color are disproportionately affected by police brutality, the school-to-prison pipeline, mandatory-minimum sentences, housing discrimination, and workplace harassment. But everything in our society revolves around race. Race affects every facet of our lives. It's why Barack Obama's presidency meant so much to so many, and it's why his qualifications were questioned in every possible way at every possible turn. Race is why Donald Trump became Barack Obama's successor — not because, to paraphrase an oft-used argument, white people have been so oppressed for the last eight years, but because seeing a black man ascend to the highest office in the land made racists realize that they were losing. (If there's one thing racists are good at, it's losing, but don't tell them that.) CrashCourse on YouTube So when a book like To Kill a Mockingbird comes along, it's easy to see exactly how and why it makes white readers uncomfortable. It's the story of two ungrateful, white children being raised by a black housekeeper hired by their father: a wealthy, white racist. No, I don't call Atticus Finch a racist because of Go Set a Watchman. He was racist in To Kill a Mockingbird, too: when he was more interested in protecting the reputation of an incestuous white family than in exonerating the innocent black man they accused of rape; when he objected to his children's use of the N-word because it was "common" and therefore unfitting of their social class; when he compared himself to Cotton Tom Heflin, an Alabama senator who was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. The integrity of none of the white characters in To Kill a Mockingbird holds up to close scrutiny. Even Dolphus Raymond, the only white man in Maycomb who is in an openly displayed relationship with a black woman, hides behind a facade of alcoholism, rather than standing up for his beliefs. It's telling that Biloxi banned To Kill a Mockingbird because "[t]here is some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable." Lee's novel contains domestic abuse, incest, mob violence, and attempted murder, but the language — that is, the racist language used so casually by white characters — is what made parents uncomfortable. To steal a quote from Atticus Finch, they should "climb into someone's skin and walk around in it," rather than balking at negative portrayals of characters who look like them. HuffPost on YouTube To Kill a Mockingbird is a fantastic work of literature, and removing it from a school's curriculum because it makes white readers uncomfortable misses the point entirely. With that being said, Lee's is not the best book to teach white kids about racism, because it grounds its narrative in the experiences of a white narrator and presents her father as the white savior, in spite of the fact that he fails miserably at saving the man he was contractually obligated to rescue. The literary canon is unbearably white, especially the narrow part of it taught in compulsory education. If we want white children to understand how racism affects black individuals and families, and to understand that black experiences matter, then we should have them read those experiences as written by black writers. Otherwise, we're presenting the same old perspectives that we haven't managed to learn from yet. Here's a short list of five books with authentic narratives that schools could teach instead of To Kill a Mockingbird. 'The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas Angie Thomas' New York Times bestseller centers on Starr, a 16-year-old prep-school student, who witnesses the death of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of police, and must decide whether to speak out against injustice or keep frosty for her white school chums. Click here to buy. 'Go Tell It On The Mountain' by James Baldwin James Baldwin's semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of John Grimes, a teenager from Harlem, who navigates his spiritual and sexual life as the possibly gay stepson of a Pentecostal preacher. Click here to buy. 'Salvage the Bones' by Jesmyn Ward Set during the horrors of Hurricane Katrina, Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones centers on a family of motherless children, one of whom has just learned that she is pregnant at age 14. Click here to buy. 'Dear Martin' by Nic Stone After his friend is shot by an irate, off-duty police officer, college-bound Justyce McAllister takes refuge in the writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. as he moves through the world aware of racial profiling on the part of the "good guys." Click here to buy. 'Invisible Man' by Ralph Ellison The definitive novel about being a black man in a white man's world, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man follows its unnamed narrator throughout his life, in which he is forced into being an object of entertainment, status, or vilification for his white peers. Click here to buy.
Today in New Delhi, India Oct 24, 2018-Wednesday New Delhi • Humidity • Wind E-gadgets: New ways to cut power As e-gadgets shrink in size, scientists say tech is being developed to reduce power consumption by such gadgets. india Updated: May 30, 2006 16:06 IST Does the battery of your mobile phone require frequent recharging? As gadgets like cellphones and I-pods shrink in size, scientists say technology is being developed to reduce power consumption by such gadgets. A team led by an Indian scientist, Jagadesh Moodera at Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a new material that not only increases the computing power and flexibility of these and other electronic devices, but also dramatically reduces their power consumption. "We currently have multifunctional cellphones that act as phones, cameras and music players. Our research could create even greater multi-functionality in the future," says Jagadesh Moodera, Senior Research Scientist, Magnet Lab, MIT, in his paper about the research. Moodera and his team have developed a magnetic semiconductor material--a chromium doped indium oxide which is seen as a major development in the field of "Spinotronics." Spin electronics or spinotronics is the science of integrating the functionality of both charge and spin of the electrons in the computer chips for better functionality. The increase in the growth in hard disk capacity from 100 MB to 500 GB is largely credited to spinotronics. Spintronics could also reduce the power consumption of information devices. Spin states are considered "nonvolatile," meaning they retain stored information even when the power is switched off - this is why magnetic hard drives hold information without power. It could also could create circuits that operate similarly, storing and passing information without the need for a continuous current to retain the data. Moodera team's work was reported in the April issue of Nature Materials. "The beauty of spin electronic devices is that they can integrate several functionalities like optical, electrical and magnetic properties on a single chip," says John Philip, another Indian scientist in Moodera's team. Talking about his team's invention, Moodera says that it's ability to inject spin at room temperature and its compatibility with silicon makes it particularly useful. "Its optical transparency means it also could find applications in solar cells and touch panel circuitry" says Moodera. "We have shown that Cr doped Indium oxide is a magnetic semiconductor and it retains its magnetic behavior even at room temperatures," says, John Philip, another Indian scientist in Moodera's team. Infact Indians are in the forefront of spinotronics. The spin based field effect transistor or spin-FET is actually proposed by two Indians--Supriyo Datta and B Das and it is called Datta-Das Transistor. First Published: May 30, 2006 11:38 IST
The Physicians Committee January 22, 2014 Dr. Barnard's tips for preventing a cold You hear it everywhere you go—a sniffle on the train or a cough in the grocery store. Cold and flu season is upon us, but that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to spend the next several months with a runny nose, nursing a low-grade fever. A healthful diet and a few smart habits can keep you from frequenting the pharmacy this winter. The first step to warding off illness is boosting your immunity. Stay warm with layers of clothing: scarves, hats, mittens—even long johns! Viruses are sensitive to temperature, which is why a fever is your body’s natural defense. What you put inside your body, as well as outside, can help, too. Fats and oils impair immunity, while fruits and vegetables enhance it. The jury’s still out on the effectiveness of echinacea, but it can’t hurt! When you’re out and about, you’ll want to minimize your exposure to viruses. Wash your hands, especially if you’re touching the same surface that may have been touched by someone who’s already sick. Humidity, the bane of summertime, is your friend come cold season. Dry air can irritate the throat and nasal passages, creating an entry point for viruses. So keep the air moist and your body hydrated. If you’ve done all this, and you still feel a tickle in the back of your throat, pop a zinc lozenge or some vitamin C. The digestive system can only handle so much vitamin C, so consuming a large amount of it can help flush the virus out. While several glasses of fresh carrot juice might have enough vitamin C to help, store-bought orange juice is more of a sugary placebo than a treatment. Gargling hot salt water can also boost the blood flow to a sore throat. Don’t be a hero and force yourself to go out in public if you have the option to stay home under quarantine. If you have to be around others, frequently wash your hands—and try to cough into your elbow rather than your palms—to lessen the spread of germs. Add new comment Plain text • No HTML tags allowed. • Lines and paragraphs break automatically. Connect with Dr. Barnard Stay Connected
The flu is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and sometimes even death. As flu season gears up in East Central Indiana, getting an annual flu shot is important to keeping yourself protected. What is the flu shot? The flu shot is a vaccine that protects against multiple influenza viruses that researchers have decided will be the most common during the upcoming season. Who should get vaccinated? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend annual influenza vaccinations for everyone age 6 months and older. The vaccination is especially important for pregnant women, young children and older adults, who are all at a higher risk of the flu. Who should not get a flu shot? Check with your doctor before receiving a flu vaccine if: • You are allergic to eggs. Some flu vaccines have small amounts of egg proteins. If you have an egg allergy or sensitivity, you will likely still be able to receive a flu vaccine but you may need to take special precautions, such as staying at the doctor’s office for 30 minutes after the vaccination in case of a reaction. There are also flu vaccines that do not contain egg proteins and are Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for use in people age 18 and older. • You have had a severe reaction to a previous flu vaccine. The flu vaccine is not recommended for anyone who has had a severe reaction to a previous flu vaccine. Some reactions may not be related to the vaccine so check with your doctor first. What are the side effects that could occur? Some side effects that could occur include soreness, redness or swelling where the shot was given. There is also a chance of having a low-grade fever and some body aches. These mild symptoms usually begin soon after the shot is given and can last a day or two. Why do I need to get vaccinated every year? New flu vaccines are released every year to keep up with changing flu viruses. Last year’s vaccine might not protect you from this year’s viruses so it is important to get your flu shots annually. What are my flu vaccine delivery options? The flu vaccine comes in the form of either a shot or a nasal spray. The flu shot has an inactivated vaccine made of killed virus and is normally given in a muscle in the arm. Because the viruses in the vaccine are inactivated, the shot will not cause you to get the flu, but it will prepare your body to develop the necessary antibodies to fight off influenza viruses. The nasal spray, on the other hand, consists of a low dose of live, but weakened, flu viruses. It is approved for people between the ages of 2 and 49 who are not pregnant. This form of the vaccine does not cause the flu either, but it does prompt an immune response in your nose and upper airways, as well as throughout your body. Thomas M. Lee is a family medicine specialist at IU Health Ball Memorial Physicians, Blackford in Hartford City. For more information, call 765-348-5776 or visit Read or Share this story:
Tom's Alternative Energy Micro-systems website Click on the links below to navigate Building and Wiring a Micro-scale System These topics are covered on this page: Using Your Energy 12-Volt Circuit 120VAC Inverter Circuit Using Your Home-generated Electricity How does one utilize the energy generated by alternative means? Basically, in just the same way as you use the electricity purchased from the power utility. For most of us who construct our own tiny system there will be limitations, of course. One or two small solar panels or a micro wind turbine simply aren't going to generate enough electricity to power most household appliances, at least for any appreciable length of time. In my household, the 12 Volts is used for two main applications - lighting in the evening and recharging of the batteries in and for the various portable electronic devices I own throughout the day. These include a PDA, digital cameras, a laptop computer and the like. It's important to be realistic about what your system can deliver. Truthfully, a single home-built solar panel in the 60 Watt range is only going to provide enough electrical energy to run two or three 60-Watt-equivalent compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) or LED lamps or for 3 or 4 hours each evening if you don't want to discharge your battery beyond a safe level during periods of cloudy weather. This figure is dependent on where in the country you live, the time of year and so on, so I'm just giving you a general idea here. Adding more panels will increase this capacity, but will also probably require the purchase of more batteries in which to store the electricity. Also bear in mind that maximum power generation only occurs under absolutely optimal conditions, and is by no means continuous. Plus, some energy is lost to resistance in the wiring of the charging circuit and in the inefficiency of the storage battery (or batteries). Therefore, don't assume that a 60 Watt solar panel will really be supplying your system with that amount of power. 12 Volt DC Circuit One of the great things about wiring your home with some 12 Volt DC lines is that many items come with adapters to plug into a car's cigarette lighter outlet. That is, they convert, where necessary, the 12VDC source into whatever voltage is needed by the particular device. That means they can be run directly off the current provided by an automobile or marine-type battery, which is just what your system will be using to store its power. There is, unfortunately, a catch to running low-voltage wiring, and that has to do with voltage loss. Due to the internal resistance of the wire, a certain voltage drop will occur per foot of length for a given current flowing through it. The amount of loss is inversely proportional to the diameter of the wire, thick cables having less of a loss than thin ones. Since we don't want to spend a small fortune on heavy-duty wire, nor wish to deal with its unwieldiness when making connections, we are going to be limited in just how much current can realistically be drawn by what we plug in. Safety issues aside, at some point the voltage at the end of the wire is just going to be too low for the device to operate properly. Again, this point is going to be determined by the gauge of the wire and how far it is from the battery to the outlet. For example, if you were to install fifty feet of 16ga. wire, you could perhaps operate something that draws up to a couple of Amps. However, if you were to use the same length of 12ga. wire, the allowable current could be more than doubled. If you're not familiar with the American Wire Gauge (AWG), the preceeding may confuse you. Suffice it to say that the smaller the wire gauge, the thicker the wire. 18 or 16ga. is what is found in the typical electrical extension cord, 14 or 12ga. cable is used in house wiring. Just what type of connection one should use for low-voltage applications is a matter of preference and what is available. Standard automotive cigarette lighter sockets mounted in a project box would certainly work well and should be safe enough, at least with respect to proper polarity. I happened to have a large number of banana plugs and jacks on hand and used those in my system. However, it's very important they be color coded for polarity and that those using them recognize the importance of connecting red to red and black to black. Obviously, I had to make up some adapters that included sockets. Depending on how reliable the power from your local electrical grid is, you may wish to consider installing some low voltage "emergency lighting" as part of your system while you're at it. This can be controlled by an SPDT relay with a 115VAC coil that closes a set of contacts when power from an outlet is lost. If you use small automotive bulbs or LEDs, the 12-volt wiring for this can be 18 gauge. I installed such a system in our home back in the late 1970s when most storms resulted in a loss of lights. Although the reliability of the grid is much improved, this backup system, now upgraded to LED technology, remains an integral part of my alternative energy system. This can also become a house-wide nightlight system if you'd like to have a small amount of illumination for navigating through rooms in the evening without having to switch lights on and off. 120 Volt AC Inverter Circuit I spoke above about voltage loss in the wiring and how it limits what can be done with a 12 Volt system. Fortunately, there is a great workaround to this problem, used by both hobbyists and the power utility. It involves stepping up the voltage so that the number of Volts lost in the wiring becomes a much smaller percentage of the total. If you've ever wondered why AC power is transmitted on high-tension lines and then reduced to household voltage by transformers before entering the building, this is precisely the reason. In the case of alternative energy, a loss of 1.2 Volts through the wiring is a problem when you're only dealing with a 12 Volt supply. However, if we were to increase the supply voltage by a factor of ten, that small voltage loss now becomes quite insignificant. Plus, for a given wattage current draw will be less for a higher voltage than a lower one, which puts us ahead even furthur. This is one of the reasons most micro and small-scale alternative energy projects will include a DC-to-AC inverter. This handy device electronically converts the 12 Volts from the storage battery and its charging system into 120 Volts AC that is able to operate many standard household items, including CFL and LED lamps. These inverters have come down in price and are more efficient, to say nothing of being more widely available than ever before, so there's no reason not to include one in any system. A couple notes of caution are in order. The high voltage from the output of an inverter requires that the external wiring be suitable for use at 120VAC. Only use extension cords or electrical cable approved for household wiring. Don't wire it up with speaker cable or so-called "primary" wire which is intended for low-voltage use. The other thing you'll need to know is that the inverter must draw its power from a storage battery. You cannot connect its input directly to a solar panel or wind turbine, despite what some eager salespeople may tell you. This is easily explained by the example of a cloud passing in front of the sun, temporarily reducing the voltage from a solar panel. What do you think happens to the inverter connected to that panel? It shuts off. Yet, if we have a storage battery connected to the circuit, it will continue to furnish power to the inverter despite the diminished output of the panel. An inverter must be connected to the battery with appropriate cables, preferably red and black in color. Primary wire is fine, as is household wire. The size of cable you'll need for battery connections depends on the wattage you'll be demanding from the inverter. Heavy loads will require extremely thick wire, probably 6ga or even heavier. This is something most people won't have on hand, but may be available by the foot in home improvement stores. In any case, you'll want to position the inverter near the battery in order to avoid excessive voltage drop in the wiring. Most inverters will stop functioning if the input gets below about 11V, so you can see how critical this becomes if you're drawing a lot of current. However, don't place the inverter so close that it can get damaged by any acidic emissions from the battery's cell vents. Most inverters require that you operate a switch on their front panel, which can be inconvenient. Since mine is located in the basement, I rigged up a relay with contacts connected in parallel with those of the switch so it could be turned on remotely from the living room, above. I wouldn't advise attempting this modification, however, unless you have some electronics background and don't mind voiding any warranty on the device. Two different types of power inverters are available. Those that produce something called a "modified sine wave" are the most common and least expensive. Their output is essentially a stepped square wave, which seems to work fine powering most things with a few exceptions. I have personally verified that shaded-pole (induction) motors such as those used in many electric fans will run much slower on this type of waveform. I have read that microwave ovens, and perhaps refrigerator compressors will also not run as well as they should. Because of the high-harmonic content of the switched output waveform, this type of inverter will cause an audible buzzing in coils/transformers as well as potentially produce annoying noise in audio systems and interfere with non-FM radio reception. A second, more expensive type of inverter puts out a pure sine wave, essentially identical to what is supplied by your local electric utility. This smoothly-undulating waveform will run all electronic devices properly and contains very little distortion that would produce interference. However, my research indicates that in addition to being scarcer and much more expensive, this latter type of inverter is somewhat less energy-efficient and, at least with the smaller-wattage models, has lower consumer satisfaction due to breakdown. Getting the output from an inverter to lights, small appliances and devices throughout a house can be a challenge, short of running extension cords between rooms. You absoutely must not connect it to any existing house circuits, except through an approved transfer switch such as are used for generators. Don't believe ads that show inverters being plugged right into an electrical outlet to power the whole house. I chose to mount plastic outlet boxes connected to 14ga household electrical wire on my walls, despite the relative unsightliness of this arrangement. I'm fortunate in that I have pipes for steam heat running up two walls and the oversized holes surrounding them allowed space for running both DC and AC wiring through. Obviously, only one dedicated outlet per room still requires the use of some short extension cords in places. You can easily see another advantage the large, professional systems that use a grid-tie inverter have over what we can put together on a micro scale. However, the do-it-yourselfer simply does what they can to build a workable system on a budget. One advantage to wiring the house for inverter power is that this same wiring can easily be plugged into a gasoline-powered generator, should you happen to have one for emergencies. My particular system uses an inexpensive 400 Watt modified sine wave inverter, which is more than adequate for the small amount of lighting we use. It has performed well, the only thing being that it tends to generate RFI (radio-frequency interference) on AM radios. I added an external filter between its output and the dedicated household wiring I installed, which helped somewhat. Before leaving the topic of converting voltages, I should mention that electronic devices are readily available to change the 12V DC from the storage battery (batteries) to a lower or higher DC voltage, and to do so quite efficiently. These are so-called "switching converters" and are available on the large Internet auction site from Asian vendors for under $10., shipped. The terms "buck" and "boost" are commonly applied to their respective function. Some of these devices are good for 100 Watts output and perhaps more if a fan is added to cool them off. I have purchased unenclosed circuit boards of both types and use one of the voltage-lowering variety as part of the charge control system for my bank of storage batteries. Back to Top
When did Melbourne first develop its large Greek community? It’s doubtful the Greek population of Melbourne ever exceeded 300k; and the more Greeks assimilate, the harder that is to count. I think it could be argued that Chicago had a larger Greek population at least at one point. Thessalonica has a population over a million, so Melbourne was never the largest Greek city outside of Athens. There was the occasional random Greek in Australia as far back as the 1820s. A discernible community in Melbourne dates from the 1890s (about 150 strong), and the first Greek church in Melbourne, the Church of the Annunciation, opened in 1901. Back then, the community was from a small number of Greek islands—Kalymnos, Ithaca, Kastellorizo, with one family member bringing another. Kalymnos and Kastellorizo were sponge diver islands, and diving was an initial source of employment for Greeks in Australia. (Hence the pearling houses of Paspaley and Kailis in Broome.) The upsurge of the Greek population in Melbourne, and the rest of Australia for that matter, dates from 1950–1975, and was the result of mass migration of Greeks from impoverished post-war Greece (and in lesser numbers, Cyprus, Turkey and Egypt), to work in the factories and then small businesses of Australia. In my family, the earliest family member, my uncle George, came out to work as a carpenter in Sale in 1947; the latest family member was my uncle Andrew, who joined my father working in the fish ’n’ chip shop business in 1970. Unlike the Italians, Greeks avoided becoming farmers in Australia, and stuck to the cities; for that reason, there was a healthy presence of Italians in rural Queensland, but the Greek population was heavily concentrated in the capital cities of each state. By far most Greeks ended up in Sydney and Melbourne; as of the 2011 census (Greek Australians), 30,000 people in NSW were born in Greece, and 50,000 in Victoria. Melbourne was at the time the industrial powerhouse of Australia, and it needed factory fodder; that was one drawcard for early migrants, and I assume is what gave it the edge over Sydney. As with many other diasporas (and as indeed with the earlier Greek migration wave), family members brought other family members, and critical mass of the diaspora encouraged other Greeks to join it, as familiar territory. (The current Greek Financial Crisis wave of migration is conspicuous in Oakleigh, the current Melbourne Greektown, for both reasons.) Leave a Reply
Presentation is loading. Please wait. Presentation is loading. Please wait. Indices Advanced Database Systems Dr. Fatemeh Ahmadi-Abkenari 1. Similar presentations Presentation on theme: "Indices Advanced Database Systems Dr. Fatemeh Ahmadi-Abkenari 1."— Presentation transcript: 1 Indices Advanced Database Systems Dr. Fatemeh Ahmadi-Abkenari 1 2 Indices 2 An index on a database table provides a convenient mechanism for locating a row (data record) without scanning the entire table and thus greatly reduces the time it takes to process a query. Definition: Mechanism for locating Index Entries 3 Clustered versus Unclustered Indices ClusteredMain Unclustered Secondary A Clustered index or Main index is a sorted index in which the index entries and the data records are sorted on the same search key (So there is a single clustered index); Otherwise it is said to be Unclustered or Secondary index that could be several. Data Records Data File Index File Index Entries Mechanism forlocatingIndex Entries 3 4 Clustered versus Unclustered Indices AnotherDefinition Another Definition: Clustered In a Clustered index, the physical proximity of index entries in the index implies some degree of proximity among the corresponding data records in the data file. Such indices enable certain queries to be executed more efficiently than with unclustered indices. (Indices created with CREATE TABLE statement) 4 One Advantage: In retrieving a particular data record in the range, the probability of a cache hit is high. 5 5 Inverted File and Fully Inverted File Inverted A file is said to be Inverted on a column if a secondary index exists with that column. Fully Inverted A file is Fully Inverted if a secondary index exists on all columns that are not contained in the primary key. 6 6 Sparse versus Dense Indices Dense A Dense index is the one whose entries are one-to-one correspondence with the records in the data file. A secondary or unclustered index must be dense but a clustered index need not be. 009406321 Jacob Taylor MGT 101202303 John Smyth CS 121232348 David Jones EE 131141151 Anita Cohen CS 234567891 Marry Brown ECO 444555666 Sanjay Sen ENG 666777888 Ann White MAT Anita Cohen Sanjay Sen Marry Brown John Smyth Jacob Taylor Ann White David Jones Dense Matrix 7 7 Sparse versus Dense Indices Sparse A Sparse index over a sorted file is one in which there is a one-to-one correspondence between index entries and pages of that data file. For having a Sparse matrix, it is essential that the data file be ordered on the same key as the index. 009406321 Jacob Taylor MGT 101202303 John Smyth CS 121232348 David Jones EE 131141151 Anita Cohen CS 234567891 Marry Brown ECO 444555666 Sanjay Sen ENG 666777888 Ann White MAT 009406321 131141151 666777888 Sparse Matrix 8 8 Multilevel Indexing Location Mechanism Focusing on Location Mechanism not only index entries 7194277 7111215 8999 19283334 89929497 Leaf Entry Separator Entry Interpretation:  The leaf entries contains pointers to the data records in a separate file.  The leaf entries contain the data records == A storage structure A two-level index (Sparse Index) with at most four entries fit in a page 9 9 Multilevel Indexing Terminology:  Index Level ===Any level of a tree index (Separator or Leaf)  Separator Level===Location Mechanism  Leaf Level === Index Entries Examples: ISAM B+ Trees Q: Number of Pages of Index Entries F: Number of Pages of Data Records  Q < F 10 10 Index Sequential Access Method (ISAM)  ISAM is based on multi level indexing.  Generally, the data records are contained in leaf level, so ISAM==A storage structure for the data file.  ISAM is a main clustered index over the ordered records on the search key.  Inserting and deleting a row cause a serious problem in ISAM structure.  Suitable index structure for a relatively static table.  Insertion problem could be temporarily avoided by using Fillfactor<1. Characteristics: 11 11 Index Sequential Access Method (ISAM) P0K1P1K2----KnPn JudyRick TomMikePete BobEdie AbeAlJaneJoe BobJane RickSol Tom P0 P2 P1 P0 P2P1 12 12 Constructing ISAM Index Structure JudyRick TomMikePete BobEdie AbeAlJaneJoe BobJane RickSol Tom P0 P2 P1 P0 P2P1 1- Allocating pages sequentially in the storage structure for the leaf pages. 2- Constructing the separator levels from bottom up. 3- The root is the top most index built. Search-key values appear more than once in the tree 13 13 Deletion in ISAM Indices JudyRick BobEdie AbeAlJaneJoe BobJane P0 P2P1 e.g. Jane 1- Search for Jane, starts from root, Jane < Judy  P 0 is followed. Jane== Jane  P 2 is followed. 2- Item found and Jane (the corresponding leaf entry) is deleted from the leaf level page but no change are made to the separator level. (The separator levels never change once constructed) Because ISAM is a static index 1- A search-key value in separator entry has no corresponding value in a leaf entry. 2- The most serious problem here is the potential waste of space where the deallocated leaf entries reside. 14 14 Insertion in ISAM Indices e.g. Ivan JudyRick BobEdie AbeAlJoe BobJane P0 P2P1 Ivan Overflow chain The new leaf entry is an overflow of the existing leaf-level page, not a new level. In a dynamic table with frequent insertion, overflow chains can become long, the index structure becomes less efficient since the overflow chains must be searched to satisfy queries. Insertion is a serious problem if the appropriate leaf page is full Fillfactor < 1 15 15 B + Trees  B + tree is the most commonly used index structure.  B + tree is based on multilevel indexing.  The data records either could be contained in leaf level, or in a separate data file so, B + could be both only index or storage structure.  B + tree has additional sibling pointers in leaf level. Searching at separator level is identical to ISAM technique.  Inserting and deleting a row is easy in B + tree index structure, so it is a suitable index structure for a dynamic table.  B + tree is a balanced tree so any path from the root to a leaf page has the same length as any other despite the deletion or insertion. Characteristics: 16 16 B + Trees In Insertion, instead of creating overflow chain, the tree structure will be modified. So the number of separators in each page will vary from φ/2 to φ (Fan-out= φ). CREATE INDEX Trans ON Transcript (Grade) DROP INDEX Trans Secondary, Unclustered Index, B+ Tree 17 17 B + Trees - Insertion JudyRick Tom RickSolTom 1- Vince 2- Vera JudyRick TomVince RickSolTomVeraVince There is room, so no modification is needed in the tree structure. There is no room, so the tree structure is modified and a new leaf page is added. ABC D Following Rule No. 1 18 18 B + Trees – Insertion Rules Rule 1: In general, when a full leaf page containing φ entries must accommodate an insertion, two leaf pages are created one containing φ/2+1 entries and the other containing φ/2 entries. A separator at the next upper index level will be inserted equals to the smallest entry at the new leaf page. 19 19 B + Trees - Insertion 3- Rob SolVince SolTomVeraVince A2BC D2 RickRob A1 D1 tom Fan-out=2. Assuming each node is a page that includes two separator entries. JudyRick TomVince RickSolTomVeraVince Following Rule No. 2 A D 20 20 B + Trees – Insertion Rules Rule 2: In general, when a page at the separator level must accommodate φ+1 separators (Sol, Tom and Vince), the middle separator (Tom) in the separator sequence is not sorted in either of the two resulting separator pages but instead is pushed up the tree. 21 21 B + Trees Why Sibling Pointers? ISAM Sibling pointers in ISAM is not necessary because the leaf pages (that generally contain data records) are sorted in the file when the file is constructed. Since the index is static, the ordering is maintained. Overflow chains supports the dynamically inserted index entries. B + tree pages The B + tree is a dynamic index structure. Upon deletion and insertion, the order of leaf pages in the file will alter. So sibling pointers link pages at the leaf level in such a way that the link list contains the search-key values of the data records of the table in sorted order. 22 22 B + Trees Fan-Out Fan-out(φ) Fan-out(φ) refers to the number of index separator entry in a page. 1- Fan-out(φ) controls the number of levels in the tree in a way that if φ is a small number, the number of levels would be increased. 2- The number of levels equals the number of I/O operations needed to fetch a leaf entry. Root index occupies one page and could be maintained in main memory for reducing the cost. 23 23 Example: There are 10 6 rows in the data file, 10000 pages at the leaf level, the Fan-out is 100. Assume that the size of leaf and separator entries are the same and leaf entries and data records are not integrated. How many I/Os are necessary to retrieve a particular leaf? The number of I/Os to retrieve a particular leaf page equals to: (Log φ Q) + 1. So Q= 10000, φ=100 and The number of I/Os= 3 Fan-Out 24 24 For Further Reading: Database Systems, An application-Oriented Approach Second Edition Chapter 9 Michael Kifer, Arthur Bernstein, Philip M. Lewis Pearson, Addison Wesley Publication 2006 Download ppt "Indices Advanced Database Systems Dr. Fatemeh Ahmadi-Abkenari 1." Similar presentations Ads by Google
Sep 132018 Expository Essay: How Exactly To Write Like a Pro? Textbooks, news, mag articles, or any forms of publications are examples of expository writing. They are articles that focus on presenting factual information and being objective. Expository essays are often written from the third-person viewpoint. But, making use of the point that is first-person of could also be used with respect to the instructions or circumstances provided. The objective that is primary of essay would be to provide information. Each paragraph is structured into three parts like any other essays. They are the sentence that is topic supporting sentences, and concluding the sentence. There are lots of forms of expository essays and strategies obtainable in composing these kind of piece. In this guide, you will see simple tips to find the appropriate structure thereby applying the various approaches to writing an essay that is expository. Pick the subject In choosing the theme of the essay, you have to consider carefully your market. Identify their interests and select the topic that is appropriate them. This task can help you figure out the information additionally the certain topic that may differ with regards to the audience that is intended. This may also allow you to filter and select the information that is different’ll write in your essay. Select the structure that is appropriate of essay You will find three main forms of expository essays you can select from in line with the subject you’ve got chosen. First could be the informative form of essay. This really is utilized in explaining an ongoing process, explaining a category, or supplying a definition this is certainly long of that is complicated. Another type you could use could be the approach that is compare-contrast a couple of things may be contrasted. The distinctions stated can be little or huge, dependent on your aims. Lastly, you may want to use a cause and effect format in your essay. This could be utilized to spell out why the action of just one thing results in a result that is specific. Create a plan An overview would assist you to plan the flow that is whole of essay. Find the subject phrase you will mention atlanta divorce attorneys paragraph and specify the different supporting subjects that will support your theme. This outline will also help you concentrate on the subject of the essay all through the procedure and keep you from including information that is unnecessary. Research thoroughly Once you have your outline, researching concerning the topics you selected can be carried out. Flick through several printed materials and sources that are internet find content for the essay. Provide factual and objective information with reliable sources. Depend on trustworthy sources and ensure to cite them. All the sources must certanly be seen to avoid plagiarism. Doing this research will provide detailed and information that is reliable you should use to produce your essay. Develop a draft Your draft must include the introduction, human anatomy, and conclusion. Follow your outline and validate that the information you offer is factual and objective. Citing sources can help establish credibility also which will raise the content of one’s essay. Spot the utilization of transitional words to simply help your readers proceed with the tips presented in your essay. Making use of the person that is third of view (he, she, plus one) is most often useful for expository writing or other kind of writing which has a business-minded or persuasive aim or function. Go through the draft Finally, read through the essay to enhance your projects. Validate the grammar, spelling, and sentence structures for the whole paper. Mark all mistakes and fix them. Evaluate your piece according to most of the information you supplied. Compare it along with your outline making it concise and guarantee that your particular essay has a movement. Seeking comments and feedback from a buddy or a specialist will additionally aid in the enhancement of one’s essay. After you have examined every thing and also you feel quite happy with the last output, it’s simple to submit it to your teacher. Leave a Reply
Harvey, Basil. 1st ed., 1975. Xiii + 130 pp., 25 photo & other plates. D.j., 22 x 14cm. Front cover leaning slightly o/w V.G.+. From its beginnings as an 'Experimental Corps of Riflemen' in 1800, the Rifle Brigade was unique. While other regiments used the musket, it was armed with the rifle; while others wore the red coat, its men wore jackets of green; while others marched in column, its training emphasized speed of movement allowing flexibility. As the 95th, the Regiment won renown under Wellington in the Peninsular War, and after Waterloo the 2nd Battalion led the triumphal entry into Paris. By an order in 1816, the 95th was removed from the numbered Regiments of the Line to be styled the Rifle Brigade, the only instance such a distinction has been conferred on a Regiment. Harvey recalls the history of this noble regiment throughout further campaigns including the Crimea, Indian Mutiny, Ashantee War, Afghan War, Third Burmese War, South Africa, both World Wars and beyond, during which time no less than twenty-seven Victoria Crosses were won by members of the Regiment. Share this book
Women of History: Jeanette MacDonald Women of History: Elizabeth “Betsy” Ross Happy Independence Day! (US) So here we go, some interesting facts about Independance Day Women of History: Alicia Dickerson Montemayor We will start June with a belated Women of Mexican-American History. Alicia Dickerson Montemayor was an American woman from Texas who was a civil rights activist, for both the rights of Latino Americans and women, an educator, and a social worker. Continue reading Cathay Williams Today’s choice for “Women of History,” is another american woman named Cathay Williams. Ms. Williams was an African-american woman who joined the US Army during the Civil war under the alias of William Cathey. She was the first African-American woman documented to join the military. Cathay Williams was born in Independence, Missouri in September 1844. Her father was a freed man, but her mother was still a slave, therefore Cathay herself was born into slavery. She worked as a house slave until 1861 when she was 17 years old. However, it was into another form of slavery that she transitioned to. The Union Army, in a time before the emancipation proclamation had decided that slaves that had worked to help the Confederate cause were ‘contraband’, and still considered property. They took the slaves from the plantations and pressed them into service as cooks and other support services. Cathay was added to the 8th Indiana Volunteer Regiment to serve as a cook and seamstress. She would spend the next couple of years traveling the country and seeing various battles across the south. In 1866, Cathay decided to enter the army full-out, but as a man. At the time women were not allowed to enlist in the military (although some did in the manner that Cathay choose). It wouldn’t be until 1949 that women would officially be allowed to enlist in the US Army. Joining the military as a soldier would allow her to remain independent and earn an income. She enlisted in the regular Army under the name of William Cathey on November 15, and was assigned to the 38th US Infantry regiment after she passed a medical exam. Sources differ whether this was required a the time or not, but evidently it did not matter. They believed her to be a healthy male. Her only confidants were a cousin and a friend who were in her regiment. The 38th was an all Black unit that had been formed that year and the various units were occasionally known as ‘Buffalo soldiers’. They were called that because they were often assigned to posts in the Western United States protecting the white settlers from the Native Americans and various criminals taking advantage of them. African-Americans were not allowed to enlist in the regular army until legislation passed in 1866 allowed them. So ‘William Cathey’ was one of the first to formally enlist. The segregation of the military would last until 1948, when Henry S. Truman disbanded the practice and diversified the military. She managed to continue with the regiment for almost two years without being discovered. She caught smallpox at one point, and the lingering health effects of this illness caused her to be hospitalised several times, all of which were documented in her records. Somehow despite the hospitalizations, she was not discovered till 1868 to be a woman. Once she was discovered, her commanding officer discharged her on October 14, 1868, filing it as a disability discharge. On the discharge papers, Cathay was still referred to as William and the Captain who discharged her claimed that “the origin of his infirmaries is unknown to me.” The Doctor added that her ‘condition dates prior to enlistment.’ They effectively ended her military career without admitting that the Military had managed to not catch on to her biological sex. While her later illness might have been limiting her ability to handle the job, one has to wonder if the discharge ‘condition’ was less being chronically ill and more about being born female. Despite her discharge, Cathay was not finished with military life. She went to work as a cook once again at Fort Union for a short time. She then moved to Colorado and became a seamstress and might have opened a boarding house (though I found only one source that claimed this). She married, but it ended badly when her husband stole from her and she had him arrested. She continued to struggle with her health through the years. In 1891, Cathay applied to get a disability pension after being released from the hospital after a year and a half stay.. The application listed her age as 41, which would give her a birth year of 1850, 6 years younger than she claimed to be on her enlistment form. Cathay suffered from diabetes and neuralgia. Due to her diabetes she had suffered amputations and was forced to walk with a cain. She dealt with deafness, which she blamed on contracting smallpox during her time in the military. In September, a local doctor was sent to examine her by the Pension Bureau. More discrepancies occurred on his form. She was 2 inches shorter (possible due to aging), and 49, which makes her 2 years older than her enlistment birthdate of 1844. It is unclear if the doctor was competent and simply did not examine her fully trying to save time or was incompetent or not current as his report had medical inaccuracies. He looked for signs of Neuralgia in the joints and muscles. Neuralgia is an illness that affects the nervous system and this was known in 1801, long before Cathay claimed to have the problem. It would not have appeared physically in her joints or muscles. Also despite reporting her amputations (she no longer had toes) he did not think to consider the reasons for the amputations, or that not having them would be a disability. Interestingly, though, the Pension Bureau did not reject the claim because of illegal enlistment (as they could have since women were still not allowed in the military) and instead recognized that Cathay William was William Cathey. They rejected it claiming she was not in fact disabled. This would be the last documented mention of Cathay. Not much is known about when she died, but it is believed to be shortly after the visit of the military doctor. She was not included in the next census, so her death occurred sometime between 1892 and 1900. It is often listed as 1892 or 1893 as it is assumed that due to her condition and her financial problems due to being ill for so long she most likely died around that time. She was buried with a wooden tomb marker, which has since deteriorated and has left her final resting spot a mystery in the present day. Due to varying levels of record keeping, much of Cathay’s life is left to fill in by guessing, using the tidbits that are well documented to help fill out the missing pieces. As time goes by, more research is done in her life and more information is found. She has become the representative of the many women who joined the military and don’t have as documented a service or were found out sooner. It is estimated hundreds of women were in the military disguised as men during the Civil War, as with as the Revolutionary War before that. She also has the legacy of a woman whose tenacity and determination took her to places that society forbade her due to her gender. She never hid from her past, either. Wikipedia: Cathay Williams Amazing Women in History: Cathay Williams BufflaoSoldier.Net: Cathay Williams: Female Buffalo Soldier (with Documents) US Army Profiles: Cathay Williams Legends of America: Cathay Williams Wounded Warrior Project: The Only Known Female Buffalo Soldier Wikipedia: Neuralgia History.Com: Who Were The Buffalo Soldiers? Previous: Bessie Coleman Master List Women of History: Those Lost to the Sky I have decided to do a special edition of the Women of history today. This week is a big week in US Space exploration history, although a tragic one as well. On January 27, 1967, The Apollo 1 disaster happened. It killed three astronauts after the pure oxygen in the cockpit caught on fire due to an equipment malfunction and the cockpit could not be opened in time. Their names were Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee. Nearly 20 years later another disaster would happen. On January 28, 1986 The space shuttle Challenger took off and exploded in mid-air killing all on board. It was later determined that a ring sealing the fuel takes had frozen and cracked during the cold night and caused the explosion. Their names were Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A Resnik, Ronald E McNair, Gregory B Jarvis, and S. Christa McAuliffe. 17 years later, on February 1, 2003, NASA would be touched with tragedy again. During reentry, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated killing all on board and scattering debris across Texas. It was determined that a piece of foam protecting the space shuttle from the heat of reentry had become loose and had fallen off during launch. That exposed the inner ship to high temperatures and eventually destroyed the ship. Since this essay series is about the women of history, I am going to do a brief bio on the women involved in these tragedies. All members of these crews deserve to be remembered for their sacrifice and one day I may write an essay on the events themselves, allowing me to discuss the men involved in more detail. For now, I will focus on the women astronauts. Out of the 19 people killed in these tragedies only four were women. They all came from different backgrounds, histories and skill sets. They had one thing in common though; a desire to explore and discover. Judith A. Resnik Judith Resnik was born on April 5, 1949 in Akron, Ohio, the daughter of two immigrants. She would attend Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania were she would earn a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. She would later earn her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland. During her early career she worked for several companies, including Xerox and the National Institute of Health. She also worked on various projects with NASA before her recruitment. In 1978, Nichelle Nichols recruited her to NASA. She became one of the first women chosen as an astronaut, along with five others including Sally Ride who would be the first one in space. She was named a member of “Group 8”, a collection of 35 astronauts. They were divided into two groups, pilots and mission specialists. Resnik would be a mission specialist, and would specialize in robotics. Her first mission would on the maidan Voyage of the Space Shuttle Discovery in August of 1984. The mission team spent a week in space, with the task of deploying 3 satellites, studying crystal growth, and experimenting with an IMAX camera. At the time she was the second woman in space, and also the first American Jewish woman to go into space. She was assigned to be a mission specialist on Challenger ST-51-L. Due to evidence found in the cockpit, it is quite likely that she was one of the last passengers to be alive after the explosion. After her death she was honored by her alma maters when both choose to name buildings after her. She also has two awards named after her: The IEEE Judith A. Resnik Award (IEEE) and the Resnik Challenger Award (Society of Women Engineers). Her brother Charles Resnik and other family members of the Challenger astronauts came together to form the Challenger Center in 1986 to promote Stem education and interest for children. S. Christa McAuliffe Christa McAuliffe tends to be the most famous of her crewmates by virtue of her reason for being on the mission. McAuliffe was a New Hampshire school teacher who signed up for a program to put a teacher in space. She was a mission specialist, and was going to run various experiments and promote science education. McAuliffe was born Sharon Christa Corrigan on September 2, 1948 in Boston Massachusetts. Early on she was known by her middle name, Christa. She crew up with the space program and felt inspired by it. She attended Farmington State College in 1970 (and married her longtime boyfriend Steven McAuliffe), getting a bachelors in education and history. She would later attended Bowie State University in 1978, earning her masters in education supervision and administration. She held several jobs as a social studies teacher, traveling as her husband’s career and their family needed them to. In 1983, she accepted her final position as a high school history teacher. She even designed a history course on “The American Woman.” In 1985, she was selected from several thousand applicants for NASA’s Teacher in space project. She spent a year in training along with her backup, Barbara Morgan, and was scheduled to go into space on Challenger STS-51-L. During that mission she was to conduct several experiments and hold two short lessons from space. After her death, she was honored by the naming of the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (Concord, Massachusetts), The Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Education and Teaching excellence (Farmington State UNiversity) and several other schools and education centers. Several teaching scholarships as well have been made in her name. Barbara Morgan would later fly as the first Teacher in space. It was announced that the lessons and experiments she planned on teaching will be taught on the space Station by Joe Acaba and Ricky Arnold during their tours of duty on the station. They will be aired on the Challenger Center website in the spring. Kalpana Chawla Kalpana Chawla was born on March 17, 1962 in Karnal (Haryana), Punjab, India. She attended the Punjab Engineering College and got a bachelors in Aeronautical engineering. After receiving her degree, she migrated to the United States in 1982 to attend The University of Texas where she earned a masters in Aerospace engineering. She married Jean-Pierre Harrison in 1983. She would earn her Ph.D. in Aero-enginering in 1988 from the University of Colorado. Once she earned her PHD she went to work for NASA to do research on fluid dynamics with landings. She would later work as a Vice President for Overset Methods continuing her research. She earned licenses to fly several different kinds of aircraft and even certified to be a flight instructor. In 1993, Chawla became a naturalized Citizen of the United States and formerly applied to join the NASA team. She joined in 1995, and assigned her first flight in 1996. During her time as an Astronaut, Chawla would take two missions into space, both on the space shuttle Columbia. Her first mission was STS-87, in 1997 where she was responsible for deploying a satellite. The deployment malfunctioned due to computer errors and procedures. There was a five month investigation into the incident that discovered the problems and decided it was not Chawla at fault. During the down time between her missions, Chawla was assigned to work in the Astronaut office on work on the space station. She was focused on robotics, in particular robotic situational awareness in 2000, plans for the STS-107 mission began to take shape and Chawla was selected for the seven member crew. Like with the CHallenger, there were several delays due to scheduling and technical problems. It was in January 2003 that the mission finally was launched. Unlike with Challenger, the Launch was completed successfully, as thought at the time. However, the launch had dislodged a piece of foam causing the heat shield to have a critical weakness. However, the mission itself before the reentry went without issue. In total, Chawla logged 30.5 days in space. Afterwards, Chawla was honored with several honors, both in the United states and her birth country of India. The Indian satellite program was renamed in her honor, and the first satellite was called Kalpana-1. Several awards and scholarships were named in her honor, and she even got immortalized in fiction, as a shuttle was named after her in Peter David’s Star Trek novel Star Trek: The Next Generation: Before Dishonor. She and the rest of her crew members have had hills on Mars named after them, as well as asteroids. Her birthplace has named a Medical hospital in her honor, and several schools and housing complexes have named dorms and halls after her. Laurel Clark Laurel Blaire Salton was born on March 10, 1961 in Ames, Iowa. She grew up in Racine, Wisconsin however. She would attend college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1983 she graduated with a bachelor of Science in Zoology in 1983, and would later earn her doctorate in Medicine in 1987. After completing her doctorate, she served in the United States Navy. She trained with the Experimental Diving Unit, at first focusing on pediatrics before starting training in diving related medicine and diving officer training. This heard her the designation of Radiation Health Officer and Undersea Medical Officer. She was assigned to a submarine Squadron located in Scotland. After a few years of experience, and a promotion to Naval Submarine Medical Officer, she started training as a Naval Flight Surgeon. This training would come in handy in her later career. She was selected by NASA to join the astronaut program in 1996 and spent two years in training as a mission specialist. Prior to STS-107, she was assigned to the Astronaut Office Habitability branch. Her total time in space was almost 16 days. Her focus during the Columbia mission was on biosciences research including gardening in space. She was honored with the Clark Auditorium at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda Maryland. It displays various personal items as well as her uniforms and other space-related materials. Her husband, Dr. Jonathan Clark, was also a flight surgeon and worked on the investigative team following the Columbia disaster afterwards. George W. Bush awarded both crews posthumously with the Congressional Space Medal. He awarded it to the crew of Columbia on February 3, 2004 and to the crew of The Challenger on July 23, 2004. Further Reading Apollo 1: Wikipedia: Apollo 1 Wikipedia: Challenger STS-51-L Judith Resnik: Wikipedia: Judith Resnik NASA: Judith Resnik Christa McAuliffe: Wikipedia: Christa McAuliffe USA Today: Christa McAuliffe’s Science Lessons to be taught aboard Space Station Challenger Center: Astronauts and Challenger Center to Complete Christa McAuliffe’s Lessons Wikipedia: Columbia STS-107 Kalpana Chawla: Wikipedia: Kalpana Chawla NASA: Kalpana Chawla NASA: Columbia Crew Memorial: Kalpana Chawla Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Wall of Honor: Kalpana Chawla Laurel Clark: Wikipedia: Laurel Clark NASA: Laurel Clark NASA: Columbia Memorial: Laurel Clark Arlington Cemetery Memorial Page: Laurel Clark
"Well-behaved women seldom make history." By Elizabeth Prata "Well-behaved women seldom make history." This was a bumper sticker adorning the car ahead of me at a red light. A long light. I had time to read it and think about it and then get steamed about it. Of course next to that bumper sticker there was a 'coexist' bumper sticker. How can those two be reconciled? If a women isn't being well-behaved, she is being rebellious. And if she is being rebellious, she is not co-existing peacefully with those around her, is she? Illogical. In any case, I thought that the bumper sticker's premise was that for women to be recorded in history, they must have had to do something daring or against societal expectations, or had done something 'out there' in some way. This, I had mused, is illogical too, because there are plenty of women in history who were simply good at what they did, and that was why they got into the history books. Louisa May Alcott, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Marie Curie, Queen Elizabeth II, Sally Ride... Would NASA have chosen a rebellious upstart to be part of their space program? Of course not. Curious now, I looked into the origins behind the bumper sticker and I was surprised by what I found. The phrase comes from Harvard Professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. Ulrich identifies herself both as a feminist and a Mormon. It was her 1976 little-known academic paper published in American Quarterly called "Vertuous Women Found: New England Ministerial Literature, 1668-1735" where the now famous bumper sticker phrase was first seen. Massachusetts, where Harvard is located, was populated in the 1600s by deeply religions Puritans who had emigrated from England and the Netherlands to worship God freely, something they could not do on the Continent. Ulrich looked into the lives of 'ordinary' Puritan women, especially midwives, through their own diaries. The ordinary, the mundane, the repetitive nature of the life, consisting of hard work mainly at home, drew Ulrich's attention. She expanded her paper into into a 1990 book called, "A Midwife’s Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812." The staying power and viral nature of the adage she had coined back in 1976 led to Ulrich eventually write a book in 2007 called by the very phrase she had coined: "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History." Here is an excerpt from the 1976 paper: It turns out, that Ulrich wanted to simply promote the lives of the puritan and the 1800s women which history had forgot. Ulrich noted that though women were nearly invisible in society, only recording when they were born, married, or died, their standing in spiritual realms was highly elevated. ...this circumscribed social position was not reflected in the spiritual sphere, that New England's ministers continued to uphold the oneness of men and women before God, that in their understanding of the marriage relationship they moved far toward equality, that in all their writings they stressed the dignity, intelligence, strength, and rationality of women even as they acknowledged the physical limitations imposed by their reproductive role. ... Source 1976 paper, "Vertuous Women Found" Huh. Go figure. A Mormon Harvard feminist professor who got it right. As for the popularity of the phrase I'd seen on the bumper sticker, Ulrich said that its ambiguity (when taken out of its context) accounts for its appeal. In other words, you can interpret it any way you want. Which is exactly what I had done at the red light when I first read it. My objective when I wrote those words was not to lament their oppression but to give them a history. ... [T]he ambiguity of the slogan surely accounts for its appeal. To the public-spirited, it is a provocation to action, a less pedantic way of saying that if you want to make a difference in the world, you can't worry too much about what people think. To a few it might say "Good girls get no credit." To a lot more, "Bad girls have more fun." ... Source: "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History" (Knopf, September 2007) Well there you go. There's one more thing. The premise that 'well behaved women seldom make history' is supposed to spark a knee-jerk reaction that it's a bad thing not to make history. Like, "Hey! I wanna get into history! Why can't I be in the history books?! The biblical worldview would have a response to this in several respects. First, woman already are in the only history book that matters, the Bible. Well-behaved and rebellious women are recorded throughout the pages of that holy Book. From Jezebel to Esther, from Mary to the Woman at the Well, both kinds of women are recorded in biblical history doing what they do as humans. Secondly, women already are recorded...in the Lamb's Book of Life. There is NO OTHER book than that precious book one should aspire to have our names written. If you have repented and believed in the risen Christ, then us well behaved women are all set with names written in the Lamb's book. All other books will fade away. But not Jesus' words, those are the only words and the only history that matters. 1. Thank you so much for this! I needed to read this today. I’m married to a backslidden man. Eleven years ago our two children were diagnosed with autism- one high functioning and one low. HE decided that I would stay home and take care of the kids. So I did. But after a few years, he decided that I wasn’t doing enough. I needed to be a homemaker, a mother and work outside the home. Just last night we were fighting about it again. I’m a behind the scenes hard working woman and I love it. I believe that I am smack dabbed right in the middle of God’s will for my life and my families life. Not only do I take care of our home and kids and cook all the meals, I help my mom who is caring for my sick dad. I teach the kids at church once a month and visit the elderly in the hospital on a couple school days a month. Not to mention all the hours I spend fighting NYC schools to keep my kids services and trekking from doctor to doctor for my daughters medical needs. Is it fair or right or even better, Is it biblical that he ask me to go to work and leave my kids with a sitter? 1. Has he thought about a second job? Or perhaps you both could go the downsizing route so that if money is the issue that would help? Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. Maybe examine the motivation as to why he is asking you to step out and work outside the home. And also, pray! 2. Thank you for your response. We don’t need the money. That’s why I’m struggling with this. We are just fine financially. Not rich but everything is paid, no debt except the mortgage and we can even save every month. We even own two cars. My two friends who have been praying with me for him for years tell me to ignore him because he is not living under the lordship of Christ and there is no need for more money. Post a Comment
Windows trade jargon Jargon by trade A noble gas used to fill the space between sheets of glass in some double glazed windows, chosen for its insulating properties. Bifold door A door system - made up of three or more glass panes - which fold back fully on themselves when opening. Conservation area Double glazing Window or door glazing constructed from two layers of glass, with a space in between to improve heat and sound insulation. French windows / doors A set of two outward-opening windows or doors. The vertical part of a door or window frame. Short for Pilkington K Glass, a kind of glass used to reduce heat loss due to a special coating on the inside of the glass. A type of window made of panels which are slid vertically. Also refers to the moving panel of the window. Self-cleaning glass Glass which is designed to be resistant to dirt build up, using sunlight and rain water. Pilkington Activ and St Gobain Bio-clean are brand names for this type of glass. The ledge at the bottom of a window.
Establishment of First Burundian Republic 1965-1966 [ 1965 - 1966 ] Although Belgian rule did little to defuse the tension between the two rival dynasties--the Bezi and the Batare--the legislative elections of 1961 resulted in a landslide victory for the representatives of the ruling Bezi dynasty, identified with the UPRONA, whose leader at the time was Prince Rwagasore, the eldest son of Mwami (King) Mwambutsa. Rwagasore was the embodiment of populist aspirations and the strongest supporter of the monarchy. His assassination on October 13, 1961, ushered in a crisis of legitimacy from which the country has yet to recover. The turning point came on October 18, 1965, when a group of Hutu officers unsuccessfully tried to overthrow the monarchy, yet came close enough to realizing their objective to cause the panic-stricken Mwambutsa to flee the country. By then the inability of the crown to handle the competing claims of the Hutu and Tutsi had become palpably clear. The assassination by a Tutsi gunman of Pierre Ngendandumwe, the Hutu prime minister, on January 15, 1965, provided dramatic evidence of the spillover of ethnic hostilities from the UPRONA into the government. The critical factor behind the abortive coup, however, was Mwambutsa's decision to ignore the results of the May 1965 elections, which had given the Hutu 23 seats in the National Assembly out of a total of 33. By appointing his private secretary, Léopold Biha, as prime minister, Mwambutsa had made it unequivocally clear that power would continue to rest with the crown. In the complicated sequence of events that followed the abortive coup, some 34 Hutu officers were executed in the first of a series of steps intended to give Tutsi elements unfettered control of the government. The second came in July 1966, when Michel Micombero was appointed prime minister. A Tutsi-Hima from Bururi province, Micombero had played a key role in thwarting the 1965 coup and in organizing anti-Hutu pogroms in the countryside. Finally, with the formal overthrow of the monarchy in November 1966--less than three months after the official transfer of the crown from Mwambutsa to his younger son, Prince Charles Ndizeye--and the formal proclamation of the First Republic, the last obstacle in the path of Tutsi hegemony was removed. Related Conflicts No Releted Conflicts
Send a Tweet Most Popular Choices Exclusive to OpEdNews: Life Arts The ABC's of GMO's By Pamela Drew Posted by Pamela Drew (about the submitter) (Page 1 of 3 pages) Permalink (# of views) 3 comments Add to My Group(s) View Ratings \| Rate It Author 1760 - Advertisement - With many complexities of modern life, it is easy for us to get so bogged down in discussions of the complex issues. By focusing on the many details surrounding them, we may forget to establish the basics and understand the fundamentals. Few topics are more important to consumers and equally filled with unknowns and confusion than the subject of gmo food. No matter how much we may think we know, science and technology keep adding to our understanding and it is helpful to try to keep the foundations of our beliefs on solid ground. Hopefully this will do just that, beginning with the terminology used to describe a set of molecular techniques that can alter the genetic structure of organisms and transform food as we know it. - Advertisement - The terms usually heard are gmo and ge, short for genetically modified organism or genetically engineered. They are used interchangeably to describe the organisms that result from a process of inserting genes to create novel substances that have genes from dissimilar species and could never occur in nature. Through this process of genetic alteration, scientists are able to take genes from any organism, a plant, a virus, a bacteria or even a human and engineer them into another organism to try to produce a desired characteristic. The process occurs by extracting genes from one organism, adding a promoter, which is generally a virus or bacteria, coating it all with antibiotics and literally shooting the extracted gene in the form of microscopic pellets, into another gene. - Advertisement - With the gmo foods, which we will focus on, the genes are introduced into the plant tissue in a laboratory by either being coated on tiny pellets of gold or tungsten and fired with a special gun or sometimes are bought in via a microorganism in a way some have likened to a viral infection. The genes are segments of DNA that specify the structure of proteins. The proteins are like the building blocks. Each one has unique characteristics. Now don’t get overwhelmed, we aren’t going to lose you in deep science. It helps me to think of the different proteins being combined, somewhat like a imagining a toddler playing with an assortment of blocks. When the whole collection of different proteins is seen like different blocks, it is easy to imagine how they can be combined in very many different patterns to create very different results. In much the same way the toddler will never make the exact structure twice, there is no way of predicting where the new protein, inserted to create the trait, will go when it’s shot into the gene. Because these alterations occur once, in totally unique ways that can not be repeated, the resulting new organism is termed a genetically engineered “event”. All of the plants that are produced with that trait are bred from that original event. In nature we don’t see that type of identical replication because nature is based on diversity and traits evolve in response to environmental changes and crossing of traits between like organisms. In the case of the genetically altered foods on the market, the traits conferred are either herbicide resistance or pesticide producing abilities. About 71% of the crops are engineered to resist herbicide, including Liberty (glufosinate ammonium) and Roundup (glyphosate). About 18% produce their own pesticide. And 11% do both. The ones that do both are called stacked. - Advertisement - The herbicide tolerant plants are also called Ht and the pesticide producing are known as Bt for the Bacillus thuringiensis;. Most of the herbicide resistant forms in the America’s food supply, are created to tolerate glyphosate, sold commercially by Monsanto as their trademark Roundup® weed killer. You’ve probably seen the television commercials, boasting that it kills weeds for up to three months and not even the rain will stop its power. The same stuff, but about six times stronger, is soaked on the crops. Everything but the gmo resistant plants die; they’re created to resist that one herbicide. The seeds are sold as Roundup Ready® or RR-soy, RR-corn, RR-cotton, RR-canola, etc. They are patented and registered by names like MON863 or NK603, but since they all resist the Roundup herbicide they are all called Roundup Ready® crops. Next Page 1 \| 2 \| 3 - Advertisement - View Ratings \| Rate It Pamela Drew tracks the legislation, politics, science and spin surrounding the genetically altered foods. She is a freelance researcher, writer and documentary film producer living in New York City, where she works with advocacy groups and small (more...) Writers Guidelines Contact EditorContact Editor Banned In America - French Documentary Film Pulled from YouTube and Google Obama's USDA Short List Solidly Supports Agribusiness Critiquing Monsanto's Response to Vanity Fair Obama Kills Hope for Change Naming Vilsack to USDA Will NYTimes Science Stoop To Propaganda?
What Is a Psychopath? The neuroscience of psychopathy reports some intriguing findings. Posted Jan 30, 2013 First, a bit of terminological history to clear up any confusion about the meanings of “sociopath,” “psychopath,” and related terms. In the early 1800s, doctors who worked with mental patients began to notice that some of their patients who appeared outwardly normal had what they termed a “moral depravity” or “moral insanity,” in that they seemed to possess no sense of ethics or of the rights of other people. The term “psychopath” was first applied to these people around 1900. The term was changed to “sociopath” in the 1930s to emphasize the damage they do to society. Currently researchers have returned to using the term “psychopath.” Some of them use that term to refer to a more serious disorder, linked to genetic traits, which produces more dangerous individuals, while continuing to use “sociopath” to refer to less dangerous people who are seen more as products of their environment, including their upbringing. Other researchers make a distinction between “primary psychopaths,” who are thought to be genetically caused, and “secondary psychopaths,” seen more as a product of their environments. The current approach to defining sociopathy and the related concepts is to use a list of criteria. The first such list was developed by Hervey Cleckley (1941), who is known as the first person to describe the condition in detail. Anyone fitting enough of these criteria counts as a psychopath or sociopath. There are several such lists in use. The most commonly used is called the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R), developed by Robert Hare and his colleagues. An alternative version, called the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), was developed in 1996 by Lilienfeld and Andrews. The book that psychologists and psychiatrists use to categorize and diagnose mental illness, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV), contains a category for something called “antisocial personality disorder” (APD), while the World Health Organization delineates a similar category it calls "dissocial personality disorder." These are much broader categories than that of psychopathy. The category of psychopath is seen as included within this category, but considerably smaller so that only roughly 1 in 5 people with APD is a psychopath (Kiehl and Buckholtz, 2010). Shallow emotions Psychopaths, and to a degree, sociopaths, show a lack of emotion, especially the social emotions, such as shame, guilt, and embarrassment. Cleckley said that the psychopaths he came into contact with showed a “general poverty in major affective reactions” and a “lack of remorse or shame.” The PCL describes psychopaths as “emotionally shallow” and showing a lack of guilt. Psychopaths are notorious for their lack of fear. When normal people are put into an experimental situation where they anticipate that something painful will happen, such as a mild electric shock or a mildly aversive pressure applied to a limb, a brain network activates. Normal people will also show a clear skin conductance response produced by sweat gland activity. In psychopathic subjects, however, this brain network showed no activity, and no skin conductance responses were emitted (Birbaumer et al., 2012). According to Cleckley psychopaths show unreliability, while the PCL mentions “irresponsibility,” and the PPI describes psychopaths as showing “blame externalization” (i.e., they blame others for events that are actually their fault). They may admit blame when forced into a corner, but these admissions are not accompanied by a sense of shame or remorse, and they have no power to change the sociopath’s future behavior. Insincere speech Narrowing of attention Top-down attention tends to be under voluntary control, whereas bottom-up attention happens involuntarily. But bottom-up attention can temporarily capture top-down attention, as when movement in the periphery of our visual field attracts our attention. Psychopaths have trouble using top-down attention to accommodate information that activates bottom-up attention during a task. In normal people, this process tends to happen automatically. When the hunter is scanning for deer, a rabbit hopping into the periphery of his visual field automatically attracts his attention. Top-down attentional processes monitor the field of attention for conflicts and resolve them. The standard task for assessing this is called the Stroop task, in which the subject must state which color words are printed in. The problem is that the words themselves are conflicting color words, such as “red” printed in blue ink, so the subjects must suppress a strong inclination to read the words. There are now several studies indicating that psychopaths actually perform better than normal people on these tasks, perhaps because they are not distracted by the discrepant color (Hiatt et al., 2004; Newman et al., 1997). Inability to plan for the future The criteria for dissocial personality include: a “very low tolerance to frustration and a low threshold for discharge of aggression, including violence.” The criteria for antisocial personality disorder include: "irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults.”
Can Singing Carols Help Your Hearing? Music training keeps the hearing brain young So Christmas caroling is probably not going to prevent hearing loss, however, multiple studies show a benefit to music training to lessen the effect of age-related hearing loss, says The Hearing Journal. Music appears to strengthen the aspects of sound processing that are common in age-related hearing loss. One study showed that older adults with musical training had larger, more consistent and more accurate neural responses to speech than non-musicians with normal hearing or hearing loss. So far there haven’t been many studies into using music training to help older adults maintain hearing abilities in the brain, but work is beginning. In June 2017, preliminary, and promising, results were presented in an ongoing study related to musical interventions for older adults. Music adds much to life and engaging in training now could have positive benefits beyond those you might expect. Ongoing research suggests musical training as a strategy to supplement amplification and aural rehabilitation to improve hearing health in older adults. So go out there and make a joyful noise this holiday season. Your ears may thank you! Contact us at Sound Hearing Care today for a hearing evaluation. Laura Berry
A Warming World Means Less Water, With Economic Consequences Villagers throw containers into a well to collect their daily supply of potable water after a tanker made its daily delivery in Shahapur, India on May 13, 2016. India is in the midst of a drought. Villagers throw containers into a well to collect their daily supply of potable water after a tanker made its daily delivery in Shahapur, India on May 13, 2016. India is in the midst of a drought. INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images High and Dry: Climate Change, Water, and the Economy examines the future effects of diminishing water supplies on the world. “Water-related climate risks cascade through food, energy, urban, and environmental systems,” researchers write. “Growing populations, rising incomes, and expanding cities will converge upon a world where the demand for water rises exponentially, while supply becomes more erratic and uncertain.” The World Bank says that in areas where water is readily available, like Central Africa and East Asia, it could become harder to find. And in areas like the Middle East, already facing water problems, “scarcity will greatly worsen.” The authors also note the spikes in food prices a water shortage would cause, which in turn would likely lead to conflict. These are all fairly evident consequences of global warming. The report treads new ground, however, in evaluating the economic impacts of this water scarcity. Researchers say water shortages could cause certain areas to lose as much as 6 percent of their gross domestic product “as a result of water-related losses in agriculture, health, income, and property.” The report emphasizes three ways to help mitigate the problems. The first is “better planning and incentives.” This involves things like using water prices and permits wisely to ensure water is used for “higher-value” purposes. The authors say that paradoxically, in societies where water is considered free, the poor end up paying more for it. Second, they advise expanding “water supply and availability,” through more dams, water recycling and even sometimes desalination. They finally advise ” ‘water proofing’ economies” to economic shocks. They advocate crop insurance for farmers and building walls and levees to protect cities from floods. Richard Damania led the team that wrote the report. He joined NPR’s Michel Martin from Colombo in Sri Lanka, a country which has recently experienced water problems of its own, in the form of torrential rain and flooding. He talked more about what the report shows, why economies need water, and why pricing water may be better for the world’s poor. Interview highlights contain some extended web-only answers. Interview Highlights On what the report shows I think there are two important things that this report highlights. The first is that … the major impacts of climate change are felt through water — through the hydrological cycle. Through things like more intense rainfall, droughts, cyclones. Indeed, I’m here in Colombo and it’s pouring with rain and there’s a threat of floods. There’s intense bouts of rainfall which are unseasonal and unexpected. That’s one impact of climate change and that’s one of the things that the report highlights. It also highlights that if you happen to have in some senses the misfortune of living in an area that’s dry, most likely you’re going to get even drier because of climate change. Another important point: We all know that we need water to live. But seldom do we recognize that the economy also needs water. So when you have insufficient water, this also acts as a drag on economic performance and therefore a drag on growth as well. On how they determined that climate change could cost some regions up to 6 percent of GDP We combined a model of climate change with a hydrological cycle and fed the results of that model into a very standard economic model — the sorts of economic models that are used routinely by economists. And we had water in that economic model. In most economic models water is actually ignored — we introduced water into it. And then we fed through what would be the likely consequences of climate change shrinking, shriveling supplies of water on economic growth. If you don’t have the water and your business needs water, of course this is going to increase your costs. Costs go up, therefore growth tends to be affected by it. So it’s quite logical. On why many researchers haven’t studied water access economics before I think that’s partly because we tend to take water for granted, because we assume that it’s so abundant. Once upon a time water was very abundant. Today the world in which we live in, water is no longer terribly abundant. So all over the world, you have growing populations, growing demand for water. Combine that with more heat, more evaporation of the water, climate change changing the cycle, and we really are set for a somewhat different world to what we’ve been experiencing in the past and today. On transferring water from places that have too much to places with too little What the report tries to emphasize is the following: That, if you have a shortage of water, there’s really only three things that you can do. You can try to increase the supply of water, but that’s dreadfully expensive, because all of the easy locations for water storage have been used up. Or you could go to really expensive solutions like desalination or water reuse. But a lot more effort needs to be spent on managing demand. And we need to manage the demand for water in two ways. One, to be more efficient in how we use water — in other words, not to waste water. And secondly and related to that, we need to find ways of trying to allocate water from low-value-added wasteful uses to more higher-value-added uses that generate more growth and generate more employment. To put this into context, let me try to give you a list, there’s a couple of examples. Today in a lot of countries that are water-scarce, more water is lost through leaking pipes than is actually delivered to people in their taps and in their faucets. I mean, it’s quite obvious we need to fix those leaks, though they’re quite expensive to fix, but it clearly pays for itself in the long run. We also observe that in a lot of countries that are awfully dry, we provide them with, say, irrigation, and they tend to grow rice and water-thirsty crops — where really in deserts and arid regions one really shouldn’t be growing those water-thirsty crops. And one reason why that happens is because of the allocation of water. So rather than, say, allocating that water to a higher-value crop or a higher-valued industrial use or the city, it goes to something of lower value with lower yields. So these are the kinds of shifts that need to actually happen. Some are easier to make than others, but they are long-term shifts and we need to start preparing and making them. On the report’s finding that “free water” actually costs the poor money Let’s step back a little. Water is a human right and there’s a United Nations resolution about it which declares water is a human right, and requires that water is provided at an affordable price for everyone. But in a lot of countries where water is provided free, when water is free it tends to be served to those that have the political clout. And as a consequence … usually the people that have the political clout are the ones that are rich. So the poor are unserved, and they have to go to water vendors. And they typically pay three to four times the price per drop of water than would the person who’s either getting the water free or getting the water subsidized. So we get these perverse effects that occur when no price is attached — at least to water that’s delivered to rich homes or to industrial users. It’s quite reasonable I think to suggest that as you pay for all inputs when you produce something and make a profit, it’s reasonable to also pay for water if you use that as an input into production and make a profit out of it. On the other hand, we need to be extremely cautious and ensure that everyone gets adequate supplies of water, and there’s adequate flows for the environment as well. What are some examples of countries where this happens? You can literally pick your country on the map where we have informal settlements — for example, where we have slums. And typically, there are no pipes to the slums — in most cases, nine times out of 10 I don’t have to name any country. And you will find that those people in the poor quarters of the city don’t have pipes and are unserved or underserved. Even if they have pipes, there’s no water being delivered into those pipes. What do they have to do? They have to go to vendors and they have to buy the water. In some countries, in addition, actually selling water is illegal. So this is all done on the black market which could raise the price even further. So it’s not an uncommon phenomenon, it’s very very widely observed. Let’s block ads! (Why?) Afghan Government Says U.S. Drone Strike Killed Taliban Leader Volunteers stand Saturday near the wreckage of the destroyed vehicle, in which Mullah Akhtar Mansour was allegedly traveling in the Ahmed Wal area in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, near Afghanistan border. Volunteers stand Saturday near the wreckage of the destroyed vehicle, in which Mullah Akhtar Mansour was allegedly traveling in the Ahmed Wal area in Baluchistan province of Pakistan, near Afghanistan border. Abdul Malik/AP hide caption toggle caption Abdul Malik/AP The Pentagon says it targeted the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, with multiple drone strikes. Now, as NPR’s Tom Bowman reports from Afghanistan, there are conflicting reports of whether the attack killed Mansour: “The Taliban has not confirmed the death. The Afghan intelligence agency says he is dead. And the Americans, for their part, are saying they’re still assessing the results of this attack.” You can listen to Tom’s full report here: Photos released from the scene of the apparent attack show smoke rising from a smoldering vehicle and what appear to be bodies wrapped in brown cloth. Both Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah hailed the news of Mansour’s apparent death, The Associated Press reports. Mansour was “the main figure preventing the Taliban joining the peace process,” Abdullah said, according to the wire service. #Taliban leader #AkhtarMansoor was killed in a drone strike in Quetta, #Pakistan at 04:30 pm yesterday. His car was attacked in Dahl Bandin. — Dr. Abdullah (@afgexecutive) May 22, 2016 As Tom reports on Weekend Edition Sunday, the Pentagon says “there were multiple drones involved in this mission by the American special operations forces, and it was authorized by President Obama.” He says it happened in Pakistan, near the city of Quetta. That’s not far from Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. Pakistan has expressed frustration at the attack in its territory. Taliban leader Mullah Mansour. Taliban leader Mullah Mansour. Rahmat Gul/AP hide caption toggle caption Rahmat Gul/AP “While further investigations are being carried out, drone attack was a violation of its sovereignty, an issue which has been raised with the United States in the past as well,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Speaking to reporters in Myanmar, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry seemed to welcome the news of Mansour’s alleged death. “Mansour posed a continuing, imminent threat to U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, to Afghan civilians, Afghan security forces, and Resolute Support Coalition members across the country,” Kerry said. He called Mansour a threat to “bringing an end to the violence and the suffering that the people of Afghanistan have endured for so many years now.” Kerry did not confirm that Mansour is dead, but as The New York Times notes, he “repeatedly referred to Mr. Mansour in the past tense.” Analyst Haroun Mir tells Tom that Mansour’s demise could be a “game-changer.” Tom explains: “That’s because you have no clear successor to Mansour, and the Taliban has fractured into rival groups. So you could have on the one hand, no leader and multiple rival groups with no clear direction. He also said there could be more Taliban attacks, more suicide attacks, to show the Taliban is still out there seeking revenge for this.” Mansour has been leading the group for three years, after the death of Mullah Omar, who “sheltered Osama bin Laden and that of course led to the American intervention.” He was Omar’s deputy and officially named leader after the Taliban admitted last summer that Omar had died two years previously. And his leadership has proven divisive within the group. As the Associated Press reports, “Mansour’s subsequent formal coronation as Taliban leader prompted open revolt inside the group for several months, with members of Mullah Omar’s family rebelling and Taliban ground forces splitting into factional warfare.” In fact, as a result of tensions, there were rumors of Mansour’s demise last year. As Tom reports, “Back in December, Mullah Mansour was involved in a gunfight with rival Taliban leaders over in Pakistan and there were reports he was wounded and later died.” As we reported, the Pentagon has accused Mansour of presiding over “many attacks that have resulted in the death of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and Afghan security forces as well as numerous US and coalition personnel.” This drone strike marks a shift in U.S. strategy. By “actually going after the top Taliban leadership,” it appears the U.S. is adopting a new, more aggressive stance against the group, Tom reports. Likewise, as we reported, the Afghan government seems to be hardening its stance toward the Taliban. Earlier this month, President Ashraf Ghani approved the executions of six Taliban fighters. Let’s block ads! (Why?) People play at an internet cafe bar in Zhengzhou, China in 2013. VCG/VCG via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption VCG/VCG via Getty Images This presumed army of trolls is dubbed the “50 Cent Party,” because of the rumored rate of pay per post – 50 cents in Chinese Yuan, or about $0.08. But new research finds that those presumptions are inaccurate. Actually, the Chinese government’s use of fabricated posts is “way more sophisticated than anybody realized,” Harvard professor Gary King tells The Two-Way. First, the commenters are actually government employees “who basically have one extra job to do,” rather than ordinary people working for a bit of extra cash, King says. In fact, the researchers say, “no evidence exists that the authors of [50 Cent] posts are even paid extra for their work.” Second, the commentators aren’t actually trying to argue with government critics. They’re trying to distract them, in highly focused bursts, at times of controversy or planned collective action. As King says: “Arguments don’t end because somebody has a better argument. So if the Chinese government’s point is to stop discussion about a collective action event, whatever it is, or critical events of the government, arguing with people is an extremely ineffective way of doing it.” He adds: “If you’re having an argument with somebody, and you want to end it, a much better approach than to argue with them is to say, ‘Let’s get ice cream.’ Or, ‘Look at that thing out the window.'” The research paper provides a few examples of these “cheerleading” posts meant to distract. They praise China in general, rather than a specific political figure: • “Many revolutionary martyrs fought bravely to create the blessed life we have today! Respect to these heroes.” • “Respect to all the people who have greatly contributed to the prosperity and success of the Chinese civilization! The heroes of the people are immortal.” • “We all have to work harder, to rely on ourselves, to take the initiative to move forward.” • “[If] everyone can live good lives, then the China Dream has been realized!” The researchers estimate that about one in every 178 comments on Chinese social media sites is fabricated by the government. But as King points out, it’s not just 1 in every 178 posts, which would be quite ineffective – like “shouting into the wind,” he says. “Instead, they focus the effort at specific bursts at specific times.” Outside the bursts, there’s very little activity, the researchers say. For example, as deadly riots were unfolding in the western region of Xinjiang in 2013, the researchers say the leaked government emails report a burst of hundreds of fabricated post praising local economic development and the “Chinese Dream” – a concept that, as NPR reported, “encompasses national pride, an improvement of the standard of living and military modernization.” They wanted to extend their findings from Zhanggong to the entire country. Examining the patterns from Zhanggong, the researchers developed an algorithm to predict which posts and users were from the so-called 50 Cent Party. And then, as King says, they “did something a little outrageous” — they simply asked the people they predicted were 50 Cent Party whether they were, with this question: “I saw your comment, it’s really inspiring, I want to ask, do you have any public opinion guidance management, or online commenting experience?” They were able to compare the responses with those of people from Zhanggong they knew were from the 50 Cent Party because of the leaked email trove. The two groups said “Yes” at almost exactly the same rate — just under 60 percent. More generally, China has an extensive system of internet controls, sometimes dubbed the “Great Firewall.” Its internet censorship was recently deemed a trade barrier by the U.S. “Outright blocking of websites appears to have worsened over the past year, with eight of the top 25 most trafficked global sites now blocked in China,” the U.S. Trade Representative said in a report released in April, according to Reuters. “Over the past decade, China’s filtering of cross-border internet traffic has posed a significant burden to foreign suppliers, hurting both internet sites themselves, and users who often depend on them for their business.” As Reuters reports, Chinese officials say “web controls help maintain social stability and national security in the face of threats such as terrorism.” Let’s block ads! (Why?) 'Smoke' Author Dan Vyleta Keeps It Messy The river Avon is crowded: swans, boaters, a swimming dog or two. On the bank, an excited old man waves at each boat like a castaway sighting rescue. Stratford is all pubs and thatched roofs and sweet shops, with its daytrippers and slightly suffocating, kitschified Shakespearean pedigree (I say that: I still contemplated buying an “Out, damn spot” novelty eraser). The author Dan Vyleta teaches in nearby Birmingham, but lives here with his partner, a literary translator. We’re sitting on a bench on the opposite bank from the happy castaway, looking at the Avon. Clean, green, and snug, Stratford feels far from the world of Vyleta’s new book, which imagines a world where vice is made visible, where people’s skin gives off clues to their character. The blacker the sin, the blacker the capital-S Smoke that curls out of nostrils and pores. London is the smoldering center of sin, where the lower classes live, breathing each other’s Smoke, while the aristocrats keep to the country, away from its taint. It’s is an image good enough to build a book on — a world where sin, even the thought of sin, causes Smoke literally to seep out of human pores. Some metaphors are live; they catch light in the brain. Smoke is saturating, but intangible. It curls, it drifts, it threads. It leaves evidence — soot, ash, dark smears. It’s a promise. And a threat: fire. Tall, a little stooped, with glasses and a newsboy cap, Dan Vyleta is excitable and kind. He wears a black leather jacket (“This was formerly white leather!” he says, gleefully) and speaks formal English with just a whiff of an accent. Vyleta’s parents were Czech, but fled to Germany in 1968. Vyleta was sent to boarding school in Connecticut and then did his undergrad and PhD at Cambridge, so although English wasn’t his first (or even second) language, he says his most important moments of self-understanding happened in it: “That moment when you say, [fiction] is more than entertainment, this is a way of exploring the world. That moment happened in English for me.” Vyleta wrote three intricate historical novels before Smoke, all, like Smoke, disorderly and long. He says it was the novels of Dickens, with their chaos, length, intricate subplotting, and unabashed sentimentality, that gave him permission to write however he wanted. Dan Vyleta’s new book Smoke imagines a world where vice is made visible, in the form of curling black Smoke. Michael Lionstar hide caption toggle caption Michael Lionstar He remembers reading the scene in Dickens’ Bleak House where a character suddenly spontaneously combusts — the horror of the soot hanging in the air, the “smouldering, suffocating vapour in the room and a dark, greasy coating on the walls.” “Okay,” he recalls saying to himself. “This means there are basically no rules to writing, because as a plot device, this is totally insane. A guy spontaneously combusts halfway through! I feel like Dickens is one of the places you go to go to school. You read it and you’re like, ‘None of this should work.’ But it somehow all works.” For Vyleta, not worrying about being tasteful or literary “lets you off the chain in a way.” Smoke is uncategorizable: it does not fit neatly into a genre. Vyleta says he, personally, doesn’t like the idea of claiming any particular genre. “It’s just too mechanical for me. If I knew the plot fully, I wouldn’t want to write it. I think the sense of discovery, of the terrifying blankness of the page, the ability to surprise yourself, that the book wants to go somewhere else, would be gone.” The book was sparked by a passage from Dombey and Son, in which Dickens imagines seeing sickness hovering like a visible cloud in the air above London: …if the noxious particles that rise from vitiated air were palpable to the sight, we should see them lowering in a dense black cloud above such haunts, and rolling slowly to corrupt the better portion of a town. But if a moral pestilence that rises with them…could be made discernable, too, how terrible the revelation! Then should we see depravity, impiety, drunkenness, theft, murder, and a long train of nameless sins against the natural affections and repulsions of mankind, overhanging the devoted spots, and creeping on, to blight the innocent and spread contagion among the pure. It would be terrible revelation, but also a fantasy fulfilled: What if you could smell someone’s feelings on their breath? What if you could discern something about someone’s moral or inner life by inhaling it? What if you could breathe it in, share in it like a drug? “A gentleman never smokes,” the children of the aristocracy are told in Smoke. Strict boarding schools discipline them into Smokelessness. But London, the belly of the working classes, smokes like a bonfire. Thus, the social order can’t be argued with: The worthiness of the aristocracy is proclaimed by their clean white sleeves, and the poor trail their vice behind them in a cloud. I want to know about that Smoke: What causes it, exactly? Passion? Sin? Feeling? Is it good or bad? “Look,” Vyleta says. “It’s a book now, and its yours as well as mine, and my answers may not always be the right ones. You can configure the evidence, so to speak, somewhat differently than I configure it, because the truth is I’ve configured it in three or four different ways.” Vyleta is cagey, a caginess that carries into his speech, which is littered with qualifying phrases: “in a sense,” “you might say.” His unwillingness to close off interpretations — his unwillingness, even, to claim to be the expert on his own book — points to a belief in fiction’s wildness. “There’s something humanistic in fiction, anti-totalitarian in its potential,” he says. “I think…the messiness of these long forms is one of their strongest points.” Smoke proceeds from “strong instinctual drives,” he eventually allows. “Another way of thinking about Smoke is: It is that bit of us that is animal.” But Smoke itself is neither good nor bad; its precise qualities are less interesting to Vyleta than the way the people in his novel use it as a tool to enforce the social hierarchy. “It’s about the seduction of a logic where you’re told that your good fortune is your right.” Smoke allows the rich to think, “I have a big house and a good salary, landed property, etc, but here I sit in my white shirt sleeves — I deserve it. Because I objectively am righteous. And these people, yes they live in misery, but objectively, they’re dirty.” Artist Emily Hogarth created this paper cut based on the world of Smoke. Artist Emily Hogarth created this paper cut based on the world of Smoke. Courtesy of Doubleday hide caption toggle caption Courtesy of Doubleday Smoke is a mess of a book. It’s long and untidy, the dialogue is implausible, the action bottlenecks about halfway through, but it works. It works because it feels psychologically true: Imagine the relief of being in the right, of all your microdecisions and weaknesses and passing thoughts being judged and found pure, of not having to bear the guilt of success at someone else’s expense. Of deserving it. “We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” said Joan Didion, in a phrase that has since taken on a cheery “Yay books!” flavor, but has always to me seemed to hint at a more sinister and alarming truth — that we spend our days in self-justification, that in order to get through them we come up with palatable stories about ourselves and cling on for dear life. “It’s very attractive, always in life to say: my stance has this total clarity,” says Vyleta. “It would be such a relief, to come to the island of the just.” “I am grateful for the Smoke,” one character thinks. “Imagine a world in which we err and nobody notices. Not even ourselves.” Our world, in other words. But not quite; as Vyleta says, we read each other, we inhale each other. Our bodies give up our secrets. This, I think, is why Smoke feels like a true metaphor: Because we fear and desire discovery. Because we are always searching for some final, inarguable vindication. Because sometimes we’re burning inside, even if we don’t smoke. Annalisa Quinn is a freelance journalist and critic covering books and culture. Let’s block ads! (Why?) Egypt Deploys A Submarine To Search For EgyptAir Flight Data Recorders Coptic Christians grieve during prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of EgyptAir flight 804 at Al-Boutrossiya Church in Cairo, Egypt on Sunday. Coptic Christians grieve during prayers for the departed, remembering the victims of EgyptAir flight 804 at Al-Boutrossiya Church in Cairo, Egypt on Sunday. Amr Nabil/AP hide caption toggle caption Amr Nabil/AP Egypt’s president said he has deployed a submarine to the area where EgyptAir flight 804 crashed last Thursday, in an effort to locate the plane’s flight voice and data recorders. At this point, there is scant information about what caused the Cairo-bound plane carrying 66 people to go down. “Until now, all of the scenarios are possible,” President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in his first public remarks since the crash. “It is very, very important to us that we know all the circumstances that caused this plane to go down,” he added. And the flight voice and data recorders are important to that investigation, he said. Sissi said the submarine was deployed from the Ministry of Petroleum, and is able operate about 9,800 feet below sea level. As Reuters reported, “Waters in the area of the Mediterranean under search could be [about 9,800 feet] deep, which would place the black box locator beacons on the edge of their detectable range from the surface.” Sissi cautioned that clear answers could take “a lot of time” and urged people not to speculate about the causes of the crash. Egyptian officials have told the families of the crash victims that it may take weeks to conduct DNA analysis of the human remains recovered at the scene to identify their relatives, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The Egyptian military said it found debris from the crash about 180 miles from the coastal city of Alexandria on Friday, including human remains, luggage, and plane seats. They released photos of the wreckage on Saturday. As we reported, French investigators said the plane sent a signal that smoke was detected in the plane’s toilets minutes before it crashed. The Aviation Herald released the same data, which was apparently transmitted to ground stations during the flight. Besides a fire, though, the signal could also be caused “by rapid decompression of the aircraft, which can produce condensation that the plane’s sensors could mistake for smoke,” industry analyst Robert W. Mann told The New York Times. Egyptian officials have previously said terrorism is a more likely explanation for the crash than a technical issue. Let’s block ads! (Why?) Former homeowner Brian Burns, who now rents an apartment in Henderson, Nev., says he "still sees a lot of empty houses" in Las Vegas, where about 20 percent of homeowners are still underwater in the wake of the housing crisis almost 10 years ago. Former homeowner Brian Burns, who now rents an apartment in Henderson, Nev., says he “still sees a lot of empty houses” in Las Vegas, where about 20 percent of homeowners are still underwater in the wake of the housing crisis almost 10 years ago. Ethan Miller/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Ethan Miller/Getty Images Brian Burns, Las Vegas Guillermo Galindo, Medford, Mass. Eventually, the young woman’s husband abandoned her and the baby. They gave him $3,000 and he handed over the keys. Let’s block ads! (Why?) Straight Out Of The Funny Papers, Here Are A Few Cartoon Conundrums Sunday Puzzle. On-air challenge: Every answer this week is the name of a newspaper comic strip or cartoon, past or present. Identify the funnies from their anagrams. For example: GOO + P —> POGO. Last week’s challenge from Mike Hinterberg of Loveland, Colo.: Name a creature in nine letters. The name contains a T. Drop the T, and the remaining letters can be rearranged to spell two related modes of transportation. What are they? Answer: Butterfly —> Lyft, Uber. Next week’s challenge: Name a common household item in 6 letters. Change the middle two letters to a P, and you’ll get the 5-letter last name of a famous person who professionally used that item. What’s the item, and who’s the person? Submit Your Answer If you know the answer to next week’s challenge, submit it here. Listeners who submit correct answers win a chance to play the on-air puzzle. Important: Include a phone number where we can reach you Thursday, May 26, at 3 p.m. ET. Let’s block ads! (Why?)
Making Sense of the Senses \| chelseanow.com Making Sense of the Senses Lenore Skenazy. BY LENORE SKENAZY \| Birds do it, bees do it — but we don’t. See exceptionally well, that is. When bees look at a flower, they see it almost as a neon sign pointing “This way to the nectar!” The petals that look so pretty to us are dark to a bee, while the nectar-and-pollen gathering spot at the center is blazingly bright, like a target. Finding food becomes easy. Meantime, birds — well, eagles, anyway — can see mice and other prey from so far away, they can swoop in for the kill before their dinner knows what hit them. Or bit them. Whatever. We are surrounded by animals with far better developed senses of all sorts, from smell to taste to touch. Some can even see things invisible to humans. Snakes, for instance, see infrared heat waves radiating from animals, then slither over to swallow them, waves and all. And yet, we humans are no slouches ourselves when it comes to sensing the world, as I learned at the wondrous new American Museum of Natural History exhibit: “Our Senses: An Immersive Experience.” Even single cell organisms — the kind that first existed three-and-a-half billion years ago — have a basic sense of touch, says Rob Desalle, the exhibit’s curator. Weirder still, they seemed pre-wired for the senses that would come along later, like sight. Walk around the exhibit and you get to experience the way different animals sense (and fool) the world. For instance, three butterflies appear identical. Beautiful! But when you see them under ultraviolet light, two of them have shiny stripes that make them look completely different from the other one. In normal light, our eyes can’t tell the difference, but that’s the point: They all look alike — and disgustingly unpalatable — to the animals that would otherwise eat them. But the butterflies themselves need to know who to breed with. And to them, finding one of “their own kind” is obvious, thanks to their unique sense of sight. In another room, the nose is front and center. Well, the nose is always front and center, but you get what I mean. For your sniffing pleasure, you are encouraged to smell scent after weird scent and determine whether you think it is one of the 600 chemicals that make up the smell of chocolate. Warning: One of them smells like a skunk. Could that stench be part of the “Chocolate 600?” It is. In another room, you can listen to the sounds animals hear that we can’t, including the calls of a fin whale and house mouse. You can also grow jealous of the birds and reptiles whose hearing does not decline with age, because, unlike humans, the little hairs in their ears regenerate, while ours die off, making it harder for some old people to hear high pitched sounds. To understand why different animals developed their senses differently, you have to think about evolution — species adapting to their environments. So bats have extraordinary hearing (and big ears) because they fly around in the dark. But seals and whales have a terrible sense of taste. All that they can sense is salt. (I sometimes feel the same.) Why can’t seals or whales taste sweet or bitter? “Because they gulp their food,” explains Desalle. With so little to do, their taste buds actually devolved. While most of the exhibit is a yin-yang of animals versus humans, at the end, we people pull way out in front. That’s because however well a snake sees, or bat hears, they don’t have technology on their side — and we do. So even though it is impossible to be as eagle-eyed as an actual eagle, microscopes let us see even the details of a mosquito’s foot. Satellites let us see the entire earth. Slo-mo photography lets us watch what is too fast in real life to see, like what happens when a drop of water hits a puddle, or the instant a water balloon bursts. Meantime, time-lapse photography shows us what’s too slow for anyone to watch unfold: The metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly. The video of this is amazing. And don’t forget, we are the only species to create things just to delight our senses. Symphonies. Art. Birthday cake. But perhaps most amazing of all is the fact that this exhibit is in a modern-day science museum, and it actually ends on a high note, celebrating mankind’s inventions. So many exhibits (and documentaries, and magazine articles) end with the exact opposite message: “Nature is great but man has screwed it up forever. Thanks a lot, manglers.” The Senses exhibit ends with a cheer for humanity, learning from nature and sometimes surpassing it. Take that, snakes. Our Senses: An Immersive Experience through Jan. 6, 2018 at the American Museum of Natural History (Central Park West at 79th St.). Call 212-769–5100 or visit www.amnh.org. Admission: adults, $28; children 2–12, $16.50; seniors and students, $22.50. Lenore Skenazy is founder of the blog Free-Range Kids (freerangekids.com), president of Let Grow, and author of “Has the World Gone Skenazy?”
By Isa Traverso - Burger Surely you have heard of people who call themselves vegetarians while chewing on a piece of red snapper. Truth is vegetarians don’t eat any animal products besides dairy and eggs; the so-called vegetarians who consume fish and seafood actually don’t belong to that group, even when most of the times they avoid eating cadavers. To set the record straight we researched that: Vegans avoid all animal products while vegetarians are allowed to consume lactose and eggs, hence the denominations of lacto-vegetarian, ovo-vegetarian and lacto-ovo- vegetarian. So next time you come across a person who claims to be a vegetar- ian, make sure they are strict about their eating habits and beliefs; don’t accept fake vegetarianism as a category, that is, people who eat healthy most days but sporadically devour a plate of Steak Tartar. Even individuals who refuse meat and poultry but eat fish or seafood can’t be labeled as vegetarians; perhaps omnivorous is the right word for them. Now, Vegetarian doesn’t mean Organic, although they go well hand- in-hand. You see labels of ‘organic’ everywhere nowadays, and here’s what that means according to the Berkeley Wellness Health Letter: Foods that carry the green “USDA Organic” seal have been grown and processed according to strict criteria, as verified by private or state organizations. The use of most conventional pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, geneti- cally modified organisms, irradiation, and sew- age sludge is prohibited. Animals are raised on 100% organic feed and are not given antibiotics or growth hormones. If they get sick and need antibiotics, they are removed from the other ani- mals and not sold as organic. The animals must also have access to the outdoors, though in fac- tory farms (a growing trend in the organic indus- try) they may never actually go outside or spend much time in pasture. A new proposal by the National Organic Standards Board aims to close this loophole for dairy cows, by specifying how much time they must spend in pasture eating grass, as opposed to eating grains in feedlots. The best reason why to buy organic is because it’s better for the environment. Conventional farming erodes and exhausts the soil while gen- erating pollution of land, water, and air. On the other hand, organic farming uses animal ma- nure, crop rotations, beneficial insects, and other techniques to develop a sustainable agricultural system which conserves soil quality, plant biodiversity, water, and utilizes a lot less fossil fuel (non-renewable source of energy). Try these organic wines, proposed by popular English Chef Jamie Kennedy, and taste the dif- ference! - Barbera del Moferrato Minola 2001, Nuova Cap- pelleta, Piedmont, Italy. - Nativa Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, Vena Carmen, Maipo, Chile. - Albet i Noyal Xarello Classic 2004, Penedes, Spain. - Soave Borgoletto 2003, Fasoli Gino, Veneto, Italy. A votre santé! Cheers! Salud! Salute! Fisehatak! Zum Wohl! L’Chaim! Open your MIND and close your MOUTH By Eli Bravo Hispanics going to the supermarket is a frequent ritual that keeps the food industry salivating: we go three times more than the rest of the inhabitants of the USA and we spend 43% more in food purchases. Our acquisition power, estimated at $1 Billion for 2010, is changing the map of flavors in the country and has obligated the big brands to create strategies to ensure a place in our table and pocket. At the same time, Hispanics are the ethnic group with the largest increases in obesity, especially among women and children –a ‘round’ business, literally and metaphorically speaking. “Historically, national kitchens have been stable and op- posed to change”, writes Michael Pollan on his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, “which explains why the immigrant’s refrigerator is the last place to look for signs of similarity.” Perhaps grandma’s recipes survive inside the kitchen and hearts of Hispanics, but the process of adaptation into the culture we live in and the products offered by this society have changed our eating habits. How many times have you heard: since I came to the United States I gained two sizes? The cause for fat- ness is not only Big Macs, but also the disappearance of certain rules when cooking and eating that affect our relationship with food. Accord- ing to Pollan, throughout centuries men have increased their knowl- edge on food: how to differentiate the good from the toxic, the right combination to assist digestion, the quantities to serve per plate and the best way to consume them depend- ing on the time of day. All this is an inherited cultural learning which, combined with the energy we burn during our physical and mental ac- tivities, allows us to keep our body in balance. But nowadays with microwaves, caned goods, frozen foods, extra large portions, and the lack of the family dining ritual, millions of people are eating more than necessary and not essentially the best kind. Industrial revolution along with globalization have placed never before seen quantities of food over our table, at the same time making us identify the real dilemma, “To eat this or no? That’s the question.” The Unites States actually consumes 200 calories more than during the 1970’s. On the other hand, the food expense -in comparison to personal income- is one of the least in history: 12% in U.S.A, 20% in Europe. Those extra calories come from industrially processed foods offered at low costs in supermarkets, where we can buy them without remorse because we have the money to do so; more food, at lower costs, with fewer nutrients. The result is just love handles that have nothing to do with health or better nutrition. Hispanic cuisine symbolizes our identity and provides a great contribution to American culture, but during its adaptation in the U.S.A market it has entered a greasy circle: more acquisition power to purchase more industrially processed food which is infused with hormones or chemicals, easily heat-able in a micro- wave, served in humongous proportions to be consumed in front of the tube (TV). Nothing similar to what grandma used to preach and cook! How we eat and how we feel while eating is as important as ‘what’ we eat. In this society that constantly debates about diets and obesity, it isn’t enough to read the labels to count carbs and fat; it’s essential to think about the origin of food, and most of all, to analyze: how much we really need to stay alive, how much we need to satisfy ourselves and how much is considered excess. Welcome to another edition of Echo, where we gather the most interesting quotes from sources such as: Associated Press, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, CNN, MSNBC, Reuters, New York Times, IMDB, and foreign press. The word is mightier than the sword, always. 1. “Spain is the country where we have the most vices, where people drink most, where they smoke most, where you go to most parties. That’s just typical Spain.” 30-year-old jewelry designer, Josefina Suarez, on the law passed by Spain aiming to reduce cigarette smoking in public. 2. “This great city will rise again” President george Bush, on new orleans rebuilding, days after katrina struck. 3. “The era of finding isolated tribal groups is probably over.” 4. Have you ever tripped on acid and listened to music? that’s for another interview. [imitating a preacher] got to stay clean here, brother! Rolling Stone interview on Academy Award winner, Jamie foxx 5. “You can make me go to bed, but you can’t make me go to sleep. It’s my brain!” 6-year-old Max Bloom, son of paul Bloom, a professor of psychology at yale university and author of “Is god an Accident”. 6. “I remember how it fucking smelled. And that shit blew my little mind wide open. I became so obsessed with the Beatles from the age of six until the age of ten or eleven. I used to jump off my roof and try to say all their names before I hit the ground. I only did it a couple of times. It hurt.” Dave Matthews on the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour 7. “I’m the guy you’re looking for” Fire fiend peter Braunstein, before stabbing himself in the neck on a Tennessee college campus, in front of armed cops. 8. “It’s a historic process because (Evo) is the first indigenous candidate to be ahead in an election. But his ideas are too radical for a developing country.” Javier pacheco, a 34-year-old Bolivian architect- on who would he vote for. 9. “That’s not going to stop Mexican migration. More lives will be endangered but filtration will continue.” Jose puente, political consultant of Braceroproa, an organization that represents Mexican ex-braceros - on the possible creation of walls on the borders between Mexico and the u.S.A. Many great things come from Brazil, not only Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival and famous drinks such as Caipirinha. That’s why we pay homage to their gorgeous, sensual language in this Distrikt issue. Read on and remember to practice, practice, practice. Fernanda Montenegro won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role on the film, “Central Station”. Gisele Bundchen is known not only for her spectacular modeling career but also for her past relationship with Leonardo Di Caprio. Both are proud Brazilians and so are these notorious characters: Fernando Meirelles, director of “City of God” João Gilberto, singer and composer Caetano Veloso (1942-), singer and composer Paulo Coelho (1947-), writer Lúcio Costa(1902-1998), architect creator of Brasília Gilberto Gil (1942-), singer and composer and Minister of Culture Walter Salles, award-studded director of Central do Brasil. These are a few of the popular futbol figures (remember they live for what Americans call SOCCER):Cafu, Pele, Zico, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario, Roberto Carlos, Garrincha and lets not forget the popular Formula 1 racers: Fittipaldi, Senna, Barrichello, and Piquet. Portuguese is spoken in: Brazil, Portugal, Angola,Mozambique, and several other Communities of Portuguese Language, Cape Verde, East Timor, European Union, Guinea Bissau, Macao S.A.R. of China, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The total number of speakers is about 210 million. Portuguese (português) is an Iberian Romance language that originated in Portugal. Learn some phrases, just read textually: A few years ago I fell unilaterally in love with a banker who was heavily involved in the SM scene. I liked the guy a lot, but I didn’t know crap abut SM so -to prepare myself for our first date- I went to a beginners’ meeting organized by a bondage association in New York City. That night I walked up to the door of an apartment in a particularly gothic-looking building in the Village, having no idea what was waiting for me on the other side. A few irrational scenarios crossed my mind as I was waiting for the door to open. Would a gang of hooded bodybuilders in leather and chains tie me up? Would they flog me, brand me, and pass me around like a bong in a frat party for one last round of rape and mayhem? I was freaking out and yet, I found myself unable to walk away. But what I found behind the door didn’t look like an orgy at all. It was more like a Tupperware party: I was greeted by an older gentleman whose little leather vest turned out to be the only sign of perversion in an otherwise rather homey apartment. The motto of the association was “sane, safe and consensual,” so their policy was to over-explain the dynamics of SM, preparing the torture sessions with the same detail that my mother would put in planning a picnic.Sitting in the living room, and surrounded by a small group of friendly beginners snacking on coffee and cookies, I prepared myself for my introduction to bondage. The first lesson was just semantics: never refer to the practice as S&M. The actual term is “sadomasochism,” not “sado and masochism”, so using the “and” makes “S&M” sound like the candy that melts in your leather pants not in your hand. But more practical knowledge was soon to follow. For instance, if you’re planning to pour hot wax on your lover’s genitals, what kind of candles should you use: the cheapest or the most expensive ones? If you said the cheapest, you are right. The expensive ones are usually made of pricey beeswax instead of inexpensive paraffin. Beeswax heats up much more than paraffin, causing third-degree burns, which could be a “turn on” only if you like to end the session in the emergency room playing doctor. It’s also recommended to choose a password that will let the flogger know that it’s time to slow down the whipping. Screaming: “Please! Stop! I beg you!!!” can be part of the fun, so they advice you to come up with an expression that has nothing to do with stopping, like “five arm mortgage” or “republican vote in congress,” to remind your executioner that some pain is fun, but if he keeps at it, you’ll require reconstructive surgery. Apply this concept to your unhappy marriage or to your dead-end job and you’ll save yourself thousands of bucks in psychotherapy. However, the most interesting thing that I learned that night, was the concept of “service.” The master –meaning the one who’s hitting you- is “servicing” the one who’s tied up. We would think that the poor guy handcuffed to the headboard is the one who’s at the disposal of the master. But like in real life, human relationships are never what they seem, and at the end of the day the one inflicting the pain is fulfilling the fantasy of the one who likes to be punished. In other words, there are no victims, only volunteers. So armed with all this fresh knowledge, I finally went on a date with my leather banker wondering if that night I would end up tied up to a whipping pole screaming “republican vote in congress”, but my banker explained over dinner some details of his complicated sex life: he already had a lover, two slaves and a few casual victims here and there, however, he courteously offered to add me to his personal list of “flogees”. As tempting as it was to practice what I only knew in theory, I had to decline. Maybe I could enjoy the pain, but I just couldn’t stand the drama. by Vanessa De La Rue What would happen if you knew that there is someone or something that can examine every single bug/microbe/germ that harms your body? Are you willing to enhance your physical condition without pharmaceuticals? The use of magnets for healing purposes (magnotherapy) exists since about 3,000 years ago in China. Here in the West it has been accepted recently as a valuable and inoffensive aid for pains and various illnesses and conditions. Magnets are objects that produce some type of energy called magnetic fields and although there is no scientific evidence to prove it, it is known to help the blood stream helping circulation of oxygen and removing toxins, assisting in the healthy development of new cells and increasing the capacity of auto- healing. It is also known for its ability to reduce lactic acids just as if you were doing exercises;balancing the levels of alkaline and acidity in your body and organs. This last part (alkaline v. acidity) is a very interesting topic. According to my magnotherapy doctor in Mexico, all illnesses arise from bacteria, viruses, germs and other microorganisms that settle in different organs causing the pH of each one to unbalance. When the magnets are positioned on different parts of the body, the organs are neutralized to an optimal level, killing these microorganisms. Sometimes it takes several sessions to achieve this because some of these little bugs are very stubborn. In my experience, the result is a complete improvement in problems such as gastritis, colitis, throat pains, cough and symptoms that are not yet a disease but that could probably become with time. So, it’s not only curative but also preventive. I used to call my doctor, “El exterminador de las bacterias!.” Some scientific reports give proof that magnets have an effect on saline solutions (blood is basically a saline solution). Maybe this is why thousands of people in the world talk about the benefits of magnets. Something important to mention is that there has never been adverse side effects demonstrated. Each day, famous and non-famous people discover that in this practice if it doesn’t compliment you it won’t hurt you either. Of course, talk to your doctor about it. There are two kinds of magnotherapy: One that is used in conventional medicine under the supervision of an authorized person which through electromagnets you get help in accelerating the healing process of fractures. The other one –the one referring to in this article- is used in alternative medicine where the static magnets are applied directly over the skin to treat multiple aches, pains and disorders. Even though it’s very possible that magnotherapy is effective, like in my own case, Distrikt recommends that you consult an expert before changing your current treatment for alternative medicine, each person is unique and our bodies respond differently to the same stimulus. Distrikt was invited to Langerado Festival on its fourth annual event that took place in Markham Park in Fort Lauderdale. In my opinion, the only bands missing were Bright Eyes, Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews and Long Beach Dub All-Stars but considering their amazing line-up, it was so much worth going. Big names such as Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Black Crowes, Flaming Lips, Wilco, The Meters, Robert Randolph, Brazilian Girls, Burning Spear, Keller Williams, Boxelder, Kinky, G-Love & Special Sauce, Amigos Invisibles, Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, MOFRO, Slightly Stoopid, Brothers Past, Steel Train and Disco Biscuits jammed their instruments off during the 2 day hippie affair –I can’t emphasize enough that I’ve never seen so many herb-loving, tree-huggers together; maybe at a Widespread Panic concert-. Thousands of people were dancing liberally and blissfully under the awesome weather as the stages exposed the brilliant talent of the musicians. There was a feeling of freedom all over the place and the mix of different rhythms provided me with an unforgettable occasion that I hope to repeat next year. Here’s a brief on some of the bands: Brothers Past is a band from Philadelphia. They say their music can be compared to Pink Floyd, The Cure, and Radio Head but with a dash of electronica and catchy pop songs. In the future they hope to be playing in Madison Square Garden but if not, they are pleased to travel and jam all over the country. What would they ask humanity to do? To chill out, read a good book and help the less fortunate. Slightly Stoopid is a group of attractive guys from San Diego. 15 years ago they were listening to Motley Crew, Led Zeppelin, Guns & Roses, a lot of reggae and 80’s music. The Mexican band member, Kyle, confesses he was listening to Mariachis, of course. Ten years from now they hope to be doing the same thing; the stage is their home. Their live show is really uplifting and inspiring; they mix reggae with funk, rock, punk, blues, dub, and a lot of vibe. They got it going on! What would they ask humanity to do? Walk around with a smile, respect, listen to their hearts and pray. Los Amigos Invisibles are everything but invisible, they put a show full of funky beats, sensual lyrics and awe-inspiring percussion. They are originally from Caracas, Venezuela but have called New York their home for the past 4 years. More than a decade ago these musicians were into Red Hot Chili Peppers, acid jazz, The Police, The Cure, Jamiroquai and really, every song their families exposed them to. They were fans of Soda Stereo, Café Tacuba, and the popular sounds of Fania All Stars. Jose Luis, the virtuoso guitarist also known as DJ Afro, would love to move to Playa del Carmen in Mexico, where he plays a gig every 2 months. What would they ask humanity to do? To use condoms, to be tolerant, to change the software inside their brain and to respect. One thing is certain about all these musicians, they are ecstatic about what they do, their love for harmony and music, and they want to be on a stage again and again, playing live, watching people dance to their beats, exhilarating the scene, stimulating the brain and clearly having a great time sharing the concept of ‘one love’. - CARS + COMMUTING = Cost Efficient, Greener solutions Did you know that there are about 400 available rides to share for your commute to work, everyday and at all hours? You can even find partners for road trips and to go run errands. Why does this matter to you? Because the savings are huge! According to Easyride, “A forty mile total daily commute costs about $2600 per year, estimated as of 2003. Ridesharing with one other person can save you $1300. Double the figure for an eighty-mile total daily commute.” Other than sharing rides and splitting gas costs, there is also Amtrak and Greyhound for inexpensive prices; it’s not bad at all, I’ve tried each one, although the comfort of a train beats riding a bus anytime. Let’s say you can’t really do the share-a-ride thing because you have an attitude, or because you’re not fond of giving control of your life to someone else. Whatever. And let’s pretend you are not comfortable enough to ride a bus, nor the train. So, that’s fine as long as you pitch in to help the environment. How? By reading these suggestions we found while doing research. Most of them you probably don’t know about. We learned that going hybrid is the right way, but there are other alternatives. The way you keep your vehicle and the way you drive will cause an environmental impact. - Avoid rapid starts and forceful driving- gas to the pedal means more money and higher pollution. Listen to this: “one second of high- powered driving can produce nearly the same volume of carbon monoxide emissions as a half hour of normal driving.” Damn! - Avoid rush hour –I don’t think Miami can apply– stop-and-go driving as well as carrying loads, and even your air conditioning increase fuel consumption. - Keep your tires inflated. The pressure recommended is in your owner’s manual...or ask someone who owns the same vehicle. You should check regularly. - Seek out for LRRs (low-rolling-resistance) tires. These improve your car’s fuel economy. - Getting a tune-up also helps fuel economy, and we like that word, ‘economy’. But always make sure your vehicle fluids are disposed or recycled. Don’t forget the oil and filter change. And don’t overlook, if something lights up on the panel inside your car, go figure out what it is. - Unless your car requires it, premium, high- octane fuels don’t help the car’s performance or your fuel economy. Now, THAT you didn’t know, ha? - Don’t spill gasoline when trying to fill up the tank past its limit. It evaporates or can leak into groundwater. - Look for the black accordion-looking nozzle hose, they offer a vapor-recovery system. - Try to park in the shade to minimize evaporation of fuel. Who would park under the sun anyway? If you live in Florida and have no option but to be under a hot sun, get the windshield shade to ease up the heat. If you’re in Louisiana, “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” Finally, we go back to the basics: sharing rides cuts pollution, reduces traffic, and conserves energy. Ask your community or office if they have a Commuter Choice program. If not, suggest to start one. We only hope, they’ll listen. The Fairchild Tropical Garden founded in 1936 is one of the oldest institutions in Miami Dade. Its main focus is on conservation and education believing that botanic gardens grow people and plants. The peaceful surroundings and interesting art exhibits are an opportunity to explore the ancient link between plants and people. Even if you don’t know about flora and fauna, you will be delighted by the unusual facts and the pleasant journey when you visit this natural habitat. Tropical plants are part of everyday life. Particularly in Miami, we are in a wonderful position to explore. Chihuly is the precursor of blown glass in the form of sculptures. His inspiration: environmental art. Now until May 2006, Chihuly’s exhibition will be on display at the garden and in this case it also allows for an education opportunity for students in grades K-12 in order for them to connect glass, nature, ecology and technology. Mike Maunder, Director of the Museum spoke to Distrikt. Where did you get the idea to bring an artist like Chihuly to the botanical garden? Over the last three years we have brought more artists to the garden. Venezuelan Patricia Van Dalen, then the Luminous Garden two years ago, the McKee Gallery brought a Daisy Youngblood sculpture. We needed something really big, and with Chihuly we achieved another level. This is the first of our annual sculptor exhibitions. We present one major art exhibition per year, but smaller artists are presented ongoing throughout the year. There is also the The Rare Event -A Connoisseur’s Auction of Rare and Uncommon Plants- which benefits conservation purposes. What do you expect from Miami? Some people don’t even know about us down here, we are Miami’s best-kept secret, a world class, beautiful botanical garden dedicated to conservation. Down the line, we plan to become the central part of Miami, the defining public space. How will the visit of Chihuly enhance the Fairchild? Young kids are blown away by the art pieces, people from all over have visited, not only the traditional group that visit the botanical garden on a regular basis. It’s a sad reality that parents take their children to the Fairchild only when the zoo is closed. They should appreciate that they can explore the beauties of the tropics and be exposed to thousands of trees, flowers and plants that you can’t see anywhere near Florida. Our mission is to let everyone understand what the garden is about. We feature live music, have a delicious restaurant on location and many different events and activities throughout the year. The intention is for everyone to know about it. Even though some people are not sure of what will happen inside the garden after CHIHULY is gone, we thank this beautiful and lively space for bringing to the city the incredible mastery of this world-renowned glass sculptor. Ron Magill is the Miami Metrozoo Communications Director and Goodwill Ambassador. His journey involves the task of connecting kids and people to nature and animals. In this Distrikt ‘innerview’ after which we were all moved by his sensibility, we truly perceived a glimpse of a real illuminati, one who perhaps could change the world to make it a better place, using only his heart. His child-like energetic disposition to communicate is contagious and uplifting. He has been interviewed by many important sources and has even met Michael Jackson, but he keeps his ego very low, and that’s why we are fond of Ron. You will too after reading his soul. Where were you born? I was born in New York, my father was a Cuban immigrant; my mother was born in NY. I was raised in a 5-acre ranch that my parents bought in the 1970 's. My father always had a dream of growing avocadoes and mangoes, so I grew among horses, mangoes and avocadoes. What part of your body doesn’t feel too good? I feel great about everything. I’ve never had an alcoholic drink or a cup of coffee in my life. I have been injured a lot, bitten by several animals. I have stitches all over my body. On that note, on the positive side, I was bitten very badly by a crocodile and that’s how I met my wife. She was part of my physical therapy team after surgery. I was in the hospital feeling horrible and then she walks in and it was 18 years ago. Even when some bad things have happened to me, the pay off is wonderful. What do you do? I started 20 years ago as a zookeeper, but I always talked about what I did.I love animals. My thing has always been the wildlife, so I love talking about it. Now I’m the Goodwill Ambassador of the zoo. I go out and do a lot of public presentations, to civic and educational groups; I do TV shows, but all with the purpose of getting people excited about the animals. One day I am in National Geographic doing a serious documentary, then, the next day I can be in Sabado Gigante making goofy faces. What are you doing tomorrow? I’m going to be with my family. I have found that family is the most important thing. I cherish that open affection that Latino people have. I used to hug and kiss my father everyday. I have a hard time understanding people who shake the hand of their parents. I can’t imagine shaking my father’s hand. Tell us about an anecdote that changed your life. I grew up watching one TV program; it was the Crocodile Hunter of my time: Jim Fowler. I watched him and said, “That’s what I want to do with my life.” Other than my father, he was my hero. Three or four years after I started working here and met him. We became great friends. He also presented an award to me for my work in conservation. I never imagined to be presented with such a prestigious award, in the city where I was born, by my mentor and hero. What were you doing a day like today when you were 12? I’d be outside turning around any rock I could find, looking for bugs, taking them home and looking at them through magnifying glasses. In springtime, I used to find cocoons, put them in a jar, come home from school and look to see if it was yet a butterfly. My biggest thrill was to see if the cocoon was opening up. It was magical to see the caterpillar become a beautiful butterfly. I did all kinds of weird things. For example, I started putting animal bones together. (Grabs a huge frog) This frog it’s a rare African Goliath frog, I put it together. Little kids build models, I built models out of skeletons. I learned that way about bone structures. I’ve been so lucky; I worry that something horrible is going to happen. I have an incredible wife; two gorgeous kids and I worry about that because I have had such a great life. I’m living everybody’s dream. I look at 20 or 30 thousand animals in the Serengeti, when I arrive in Africa, and I begin to cry. I’m 6’6, 225lbs. and I cry like a baby. I can’t believe that I’m out there. I get so emotional. I want to make sure that the kids can see those places. One of my favorite quotes is: “We haven’t inherited this earth from our parents, we are borrowing it from our children.” So we need to protect it. Another one I really like is, “in the end, we protect what we love, we love what we understand, and we understand what we were taught.” It’s our obligation to teach kids. I visit the indigenous people in the rainforest and people look down at them. I got stung by a wasp really bad in the rainforest, an Indian came running, chewed on a bark and spit on my bee sting, in seconds, the pain was gone. It was. That is knowledge! If I could market and sell it in the drugstore, oh my God! There is so much we can learn from them. Whatever the illness, there is a cure in a plant in a forest somewhere. The most fascinating things don’t have a price tag. There are so many things we don’t know. That’s what makes my job so great. If you could mix three people to achieve a great human being, whom would you suggest? It sounds cliché, but I would say my mother and father for all their inspiration. My dad had a third grade education. My mom had an incredible personality. Then I look at somebody like Jim Fowler, a man with adventure, who showed the world about nature. Also, Mother Theresa, another cliché. I’m not a very religious person, I’m spiritual, but I believe that when I look at the rainforest up from the top of a tree, that I’m closer to God there than in any church. However, Mother Theresa demonstrated what she felt, she did things that were unbelievable. It was altruism at its best. She was an inspiration. The conditions in which she lived and still gave to the needy, is remarkable. Which was your most important professional moment? When I climbed a tree in the rainforest to capture a Harpy Eagle. This is one of my favorite animals; it was in Panama in my 30’s. We found a nest; I climbed to the nest about 120 feet up. I’ve been with lions in the Serengeti, and swimming in the Galapagos, but this was one of the greatest moments in my life (shows an amazing picture of that very moment). This is one of the rarest and most powerful pray-birds in the world. Czech born Andrea Dasha Reich was probably motivated from the time she was growing up in her Bauhaus style home. She studied Graphic Arts in the prestigious Bezalel in Jerusalem and later Architecture in New York. Her mother graduated in Applied Arts so it might have had a huge inherent effect on this talented artist. It seems Dasha is inspired by everything around her life. Before committing to being a professional painter, she became a fashion designer, then a textile designer and even a color forecaster. She opened her own boutique in Manhattan called Pinola -her design for Dansk’s “Danika Rose” is a collector’s item-. She is proud to apply her mental picture about what she sees in the world through travels in North Africa, India, China and Europe. The Vizcaya Palace in Miami is also an inspiration for one of her artworks. She associates color and texture to feelings and characters and shapes. In her own words, She works with concentrated pigments and dyes as well as metal leaf to produce canvases of luminous complexity. The process requires alternate applications of image and resin, often as many as five layers deep. The images, which are carefully composed, are created kinetically, from drizzles, pours, spatters, and drawn lines. Honestly, you need to see her stuff. It’s a carnival of colors, beautifully joined together to express a specific feeling. Mixed media on wood is viewed in a new and contemporary way. Through her hands and her mind, Dasha brings progressive creativity to her pieces. Her art has been exhibited worldwide in exclusive places, such as Pismo Gallery, Atmosphere Gallery, Free-Form Art Gallery, Grohe/Signature Gallery, Crossroads Contemporary in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Whistler Gallery. For the past three months, Colombian Isa Zapata has been the artist-in-residence at the Miami Children’s Museum. She began drawing doors and windows, until one day she arrived to the Land of Opportunity and was faced with the discovery that she could no longer draw doors and windows and instead, her hand went for her inner child and out came the cutest fantasy characters. Her artwork has been exhibited both privately and collectively in places such as Brickell Key Art Show, HCC Art Collectors in New York, D’Cota, and Grand Bay Club. She is happy to showcase her talent for great non- profit organizations to help children. We tried to find out where her inspiration came from but according to her testimony, it may be that some giraffe takes over her soul when she is drawing. Where does your passion for illustration begin? Well, it started when I was a little girl. When I was about eight, I began copying landscapes, impressionism, realism, antique houses with earth colors. I don’t know why but I would paint houses with doors and windows. My heart was into that more than anything else. I came to live here and stopped painting for a while, and then one day I bought the tools and started painting again. I tried painting the houses and it didn’t work, it didn’t happen. It didn’t come to me and I thought, “I forgot how to paint, my God”. Suddenly a child appeared in my drawing, and I wondered how it happened, so I continued to enhance it with bright colors. It was like something inside me opened up; maybe because when you’re surrounded by family you are not aware of your full capacities and I had to come here alone and perhaps because I didn’t expect it, a new artistic side was born. I discovered who I was. I began drawing children themes and I didn’t know where they came from. Once, a friend even asked me what kind of drugs I used. I don’t. It was an awakening. How is the creative process to create caricatures, how is the internal procedure? Sometimes I guide myself through watching the animals, or the theme, but most of the times it just comes out from within, I can’t explain it. It arrives to my hand. I try to tell a story in every drawing, for example, a giraffe might have tennis shoes on, a mushroom will have a ladybug near, I don’t know, a bee can be in the background, but everything tells a little story. Which is your favorite animal? My favorite animal is the dolphin but I always draw giraffes. What other techniques you use? For work I mix digital with water paint sometimes. But mostly I work with acrylics, water colors, paper machier. What would you like to be doing in 10 years? I would like to have my own line of clothing with my designs for children and all the line for towels, sheets, etc... I want to paint it all! How would you define your style? Infantile, but there is a hidden message I perceive, a subliminal aspect. I look at a finished piece and I see something else too. I don’t know but I see an adult facet in it. What is more transcendental about your art? What I try to awaken, a feeling that makes you vulnerable to a juvenile sensation. This proposal you bring is it the result of a dream or a dream to come true? A dream to become reality. I’ve heard in many painters that they began painting closed doors, just like you, and that then the doors begin to open. In your case you found animals and distinctive places, what stage do you think you’re heading to? I have ideas to get the characters out of paper, and become three-dimensional. I want them to start running around and become palpable. What are your immediate plans? I am writing a story and also writing for children’s magazines. I’m working. What is the most difficult part of your work? To begin. Once two lines are drawn I see a shape. I don’t like to view books, I do it when the client requires a specific subject, but when I’m creating it’s doing those two lines that are the hardest part of the creation process. • What’s Basel? – Basel is a City in Der Schweiz (that’s Switzerland). It’s a medieval city on the Rhine River where Switzerland, Germany and France meet. • It’s an event that only takes place once a year in Basel and once a year in Miami Beach, Florida. • Last Art Basel took place from December 1st to the 4th at the Miami Beach Convention Center. • There was a record of 36,000 visitors. • 195 galleries around the world participated. • 28 countries were present. • Over 1500 artists exhibited their work. • We confirmed that it is definitely one of the best cultural events in the world. • Art Basel Miami Beach generated a fascinating atmosphere around the city with many museum and gallery supported activities, outdoor sculptures, parties, and crossover events combining exciting music, film and design. • Art Basel Miami Beach offers the most important cultural and social art show to the American Continent. • It’s a magnificent event that showcases artists and attendees in their best humor and attires, while they have a drink in the central bar, sitting on minimalist sofas surrounded by a blissful mood. CHROMOTHERAPY decoration for your health originally published by Distrikt Magazine 02/2006 Perhaps you are one of those people who dress in black to feel cool, or in white to feel pure. Well, your idea is not at all wrong. Color Theraphy (Chromotherapy) is widely used by alternative medicine in the world. What color does is, it balances your physical, emotional, spiritual and mental energy through the use of tools such as gemstones, wands, candles, bath treatments, smells, and even colored glasses. Studies have found that each individual responds to color and light differently, once you know which colors affect you favorably, then your healing journey begins. Chromotherapy has been used for many years but it became popular in 1878, when Dr. Edwin D. Babbitt published Principles of Light and Color. Color does play an important role in how one feels. The way Rev. Stefanidakis explains, “The aura is an effect – an outward expression – of that which is taking place within the mind, the soul, and the spirit of the individual.” So in other words, chromotherapy can be implemented in various ways to heal a person and provide an energy boost. In a very summarized way, here is an example of what colors do for our pains, our life and our chakras: Red: Also known as, “The Great Energizer” causes release of adrenalin, which results in greater strength, increased energy and body temperature. Maybe that’s why bulls are attracted to red. Orange: Also known as “The Wisdom Ray”, has a freeing effect on the body and mind. It mixes mental insight with physical energy, because it’s a blend of red and yellow. It links to the sacral chakra. Yellow: An excellent choice of color to strengthen the mind and the nerves as it awakens inspiration. It’s supposed to aid liver, stomach and skin conditions. Green: The universal healing color because is midway in the color spectrum; containing equal balance in a physical and spiritual nature. It’s also the color of nature and earth and stimulates the heart chakra. It energizes and soothes equally. You can never go wrong with green. Blue: Is generally associated with the throat chakra, which affects the center of expression –communication-. It’s a cool astringent color also indicating loyalty as in the term, ‘true blue’. Indigo: Is the color that controls the brow chakra, where the third eye is located. It’s considered the ray of the Holy Spirit. Violet: The color of the divine Spirit. It is linked to the crown chakra to help expand your understanding and nourish your brain. It’s only related to spiritual problems. White: Is a symbol for perfect harmony as it is full of color. It’s considered the light of consciousness, or Divine Light. According to experts, it’s the perfect color. Perhaps that is why we say, white wedding, white Christmas, etc. In chromotherapy, ways to provide healing involve the visualization of colors, color water healing, radiant color magnetism, and of course, choosing the correct colors in your surroundings to determine your mood. Even eating certain colored food can stimulate your energy. I hear Broccoli might be good for you... I hear that all the time, don’t you? Eat your greens! Other known chromotherapies are, Aura-Soma (Eastern-influenced therapy that uses colored essential oils to reveal a person’s “true inner self”) and Esogetic Colorpuncture Therapy (ECT), which basically consists of treating health problems, such as migraines, placing colored light on acupuncture points. The way color therapies work is by electromagnetic waves of energy that convert into impulses and trigger the discharge of hormones. Have you heard the one about lack of sunlight causing depression on people? Well, it’s due to the lack of light, which has a deep effect on people’s behavior, motivation, etc. Believe it or not, the effect of colors is not merely psychological. As a matter of fact, have you ever tried sleeping for a few days in a black room? Red increases blood pressure while blue decreases it, and studies say you don’t have to be staring at the color to feel the change. For starters, remember that warm colors are yellow, red, magenta, and brown; the cool ones are violet, blue, green, and grey. Also, you must remember to cover your walls in soft, pastel shades, which indicate a positive condition; dark and murky shades (not necessarily colors) tend to be associated with negative conditions. If you want peace of mind, don’t press hard on the paintbrush in your room! Fresh and dried plant materials and pure essential oils may be used for your self-made chromotherapy. RED - bergamot, mint, orange PINK - costmary, calendula, rose ORANGE - basil, jasmine, clary sage YELLOW - neroli, lavender, saffron GREEN - freesia, gardenia, meadowsweet TURQUOISE - woodruff, rose, plumeria BLUE - camomile, hops, lily of the valley INDIGO, VIOLET, AND PURPLE - lemongrass, stephanotis, ylang-ylang MAGENTA - vanilla, carnation, sweet pea WHITE - clove juniper, myrrh BLACK - geranium, vetivert, basil GREY - fennel, thyme, yarrow SILVER - nutmeg, vanilla, lilac GOLD - patchouly, basil, sweet pea BROWN - clove, yarrow, water lily originally published by Distrikt Magazine 02/2006 When we talk about film, almost every time, we begin by asking if it’s independent/artsy or commercial. As we all know, one of the main differences in the cinematographic formulas used between the Old Continent and the ones Made in America is the language utilized. European films, in their majority, use an expressive language as they photograph the actors’ expressions, like in the long takes where the audience is responsible for “reading” the acting and the emotion as they interpret it (happiness, pain, etc). In the American formula, which we are used to on this side of the planet, the actor ‘has’ to let us know everything that is happening in the plot, leaving little for us to analyze, summarizing the climax and resulting in similarities with the rest of the films. From my own point of view, this is one of the reasons why there is a controversy stating that European movies are slow and boring, while Hollywood is perceived as brainless and lacking in depth –always the same outcome-. A great balance between the predictable Hollywood cinema and the sometimes-incomprehensive European one would be the formula used in many of the Spanish films. Even though Spanish (from Spain) cinema occupies an inappropriate position in the world of entertainment, it has been an important influence for the rest of the cinematographic styles of the last decade, blending quality, stories filled with emotion, free sex and urban realities. Its’ agile rhythm and typical timelessness make this cinematographic formula one of my favorites. Ten or fifteen years ago, Spanish films had terrible sound; experts say that the final success of a movie lies in 40% how it looks and 60% how it sounds. Maybe that was the reason why Spanish cinema never transcended until they began recording the audio the way they should, and it’s now done. As if this wasn’t enough already, Spanish culture involves a narrative structure of “dialogue” that is warm and interesting; inviting us into their culture, traditions and moral ideologies. These always leave me with an air of freedom and weightlessness for the rest of my day. In other words, if you care to watch something other than the traditional Californian plots and conclusions, but are not willing to make your brain exhausted, here are some of my recommendations on this marvelous genre, which I’m sure will not disappoint you: Lucia y el Sexo Eng: SEX AND LUCIA Director: Julio Medem Ideal mood for watching this movie: With a friend (opposite or same depending on your preferences) and a couple of glasses of wine. This exquisitely erotic film and Paz Vega makes everyone (boy or girl) think about electric impulses inside our bodies. Los Amantes del Circulo Polar Eng: The Lovers from the North Pole (USA) The Lovers of the Arctic Circle (International: English title) Director: Julio Medem Ideal mood for watching this movie: I suggest watching this movie with your loved one under a warm blanket. This is a very strong and amazing love story, like it has never been told before. Hable Con Ella Eng: TALK TO HER Director Pedro Almodóvar Ideal mood for watching this movie: This masterpiece is good at any time, especially on a good Sunday afternoon (no hangover this time please). Try to have enough time after it to take a small walk on a park to chat about your experience.... This is, in my own opinion, the best job of Almodóvar so far...It’s the U2’s Achtung Baby for him. He’s the greatest Spanish movie director of his era. Eng: ¡Átame! Director: Pedro Almodóvar Ideal mood for this movie: Friends, beers and snacks...This is a classic, one of the first great ones (sound and picture quality). It’s a crazy and fun love story with lots of nude scenes and Antonio Banderas acting (can you believe this?) instead of showing off his Spanish accent like he does nowadays! PUERTA al mar This ecological and architectonic wonder is located on its own private beach bay, on the sunny coast of the Mexican Pacific. Puerta al Mar welcomes you with a hand made stone rotunda and an amazing view of Ixtapa Zihuatanejo. As the ocean breeze conceals the environment during a clear day you can view the reef, located a few yards away from the beach. This spectacular house involves two of the most complicated construction processes in the world. The first one is the weave of the ‘palapa’ (roof), which varies according to quality and durability. This texture, found in the principal part, can be described as a huge cloth weaved by hand. The second process, (to me, the hardest one) requires finding rocks in the river, carefully chosen by hand to give life to amazing rock carpets and borders that surround each inch of the whole house, including the rooms. It’s incredible that nature provides us with these quantities of rocks of the same color, shape and texture, able to be planted in humid cement. This tremendous labor is predestined for women from the region only, experts in the meticulous selection process. They work in groups of 6 to 8, advancing an average of 3 to 6 ft. per day. If we add the total length of the borders of the house we discover a true example of the magnificent artisan hand labor found in the region. The house has several rooms adapted to modern comforts, and spectacular views. The pool includes a Jacuzzi in one end and several sofas and beds from which you can view breathtaking scenery. The TV room invites you to sit down and relax, but if in any case you forget about the paradisiacal location you are at, just turn to your right to remember. The dining table is also unique. It’s made of granite with a swivel center of the same material, made by one of the best artisans in Mexico. Even though it’s a heavy piece of furniture, almost impossible to move, is practical because of it’s revolving capacity. As you descend from the steps, reaching the middle of local vegetation, you discover a beach enclosed by hills, alienating it from rest of the zone. Walk into the water with one of the beach toys provided by the house, or enjoy the small reef as you snorkel. From my point of view this is one of the most privileged places in the Mexican Pacific; not only because of the architecture and lifestyle but also because of the geographic spot it occupies. ANESTHESIA, SYNESTHESIA and our brain hygiene habits originally published by Distrikt Magazine 02/2006 Have you ever heard a song that takes you back to the exact feeling as when you heard that song for the first time? Well, let’s call this feeling a “body taste”. If you ask yourself what color the number 5 is, do you know? How about number 9 or number 2, can you identify inside your head the colors of these numbers? This is called synesthesia, and this basically means: two parts of your brain mixing up just a little and giving you, for an instant, images or flavors where there are none, and it’s exactly the opposite of anesthesia, which is the feeling of not feeling, and disconnecting from your senses...But, let’s return to our subject. I like the way my synesthesia works, since I can really relive memoirs of certain stages of my past just by listening to music; it’s amazing how alive my “body tastes” are when I hear a song, again, after time has passed. I also have a whole palette of colors in my head with the first 20 numbers (1,2,3,4,5,6...) and when I move to the hundreds, I include different colors and backgrounds. The thing that intrigues me the most is, that my brain can make analogies of people’s names and provide me with different options of food along with their face. For example, if I meet a Mark, I imagine tobacco and brown colors with dry elements, if I meet a Daniela, I usually get a honey image; and this is regardless of the personality of the person. Why don’t you try to get in touch with your synesthesia? Please take your time to feel this! Think about these names (I’ll tell you what I think of): Frank (I think of milk, caramel, jelly) Daniela (honey) Michelle (bees) Dave (pines and green pointy plants) Think about amounts of money: $10 (brown \black) $200 (greenish) $1,500 (blue\green) $60,000 (dark blue with white) In my point of view, this ability or ‘cool disorder’ that we all have, in a smaller or larger concentration, can work for diverse creative and life purposes, since our mind is working and thinking about anything and everything 99% of the time. It’s never quiet! .... I bet this is how magazines are born! Usually, our mind doesn’t think about positive things or images and this would be the main reason why sometimes it’s so complicated to “be happy”, all the time. By the way, our thinking intentions (positive or negative) are also a habit; the more we use the happy muscle, the stronger and predominant it becomes (like the rest of our muscles and organs in our bodies)...Unfortunately vice- versa also works this way. This is why meditation works so well for so many people (regardless if the meditation technique is new age, old age, religiously focused or simply about creating pretty images in your head). The whole idea is to try and give your mind a small dose of a healthy pattern in order to make it mature a bit more every time the meditation/habit period takes place. Hopefully, this next century will be a very productive one on research about our mind and how it focuses; We should learn how to maintain our mental health in order to get positive results; unveiling, in layman’s terms, the next step in human evolution...This would not be the control of our environment and material world like we brag and care for these days, but the control of our minds, our thoughts, ourselves and therefore, our acts that, believe it or not, when focused on a positive way can make an everyday habit work for a common good and wealth. In the end, we are all stranded in the same water or on the same dust balloon, right? Meanwhile, lets patiently wait doing the new “Office Yoga” and the usual chair stretching exercises that the Japanese are showing, every other month, on TV. By the way, when you get a chance, watch a movie called “What The Bleep Do We Know”.... For me, it shows how all the different ideological trends are uniting little by little, and step by step, towards one single purpose: Doing Good! Or how we say in Spanish, Bien Común.
The growth of artificial intelligence technologies is continuous during the past years with all major players in the tech industry being part of it. Google is perhaps the most significant player in this domain right now after buying several companies that specialized in differed fields of AI. But other tech giants such as Apple, Microsoft or Tesla are in the game as well, leading to the very rapid development of new technologies and means of integrating AI in day-to-day life. In the following rows, you will find a list of the hottest AI technologies and their applications as of 2018. Like Us on Facebook Natural Language Generation Natural Language Generation is a component of the Natural Language Processing system, and it’s basically a software that transforms structured data fed to a computer into a written narrative with high resemblance with what a human would write but at the speed of a thousand pages per minute. Recently, an AI written script for a Sci-Fi short movie was actually made into a film, and it’s not as bad as you might think. While there’s definitely room for improvement, the Natural Language Generation is an AI component that can soon be used to generate vast quantities of content. Speech Recognition You might say that speech recognition is already available for years now and it can be used to interact with your car, phone or computer, and you wouldn’t be wrong. However, the type of speech recognition offered by a genuinely advance Artificial Intelligence system refers to more than just software that understands a human voice and can respond or perform specific tasks, as an alternative to typing or tapping. AI-powered speech recognition is about becoming the only data input method you will ever need when it comes to communication with your car, your computer or even your home. Virtual Agents You are already familiarized with Cortana or Siri, the virtual assistants built-in the phone that can perform specific small and uncomplicated task for you with the use of voice recognition. Well, as AI in this domain progresses, virtual agents and assistants will become more and more capable. A great example in that direction is Amazon’s smart speaker / personal assistant / virtual agent, Alexa. Not only that it can help you order a new pair of shoes, but it will also make phone calls and send messages for you or even book a table at that nice restaurant you like. A related field with one of the virtual agents is one of chatbots that are more and more often used by big companies, including Australian online casinos, to always be there for their customers for the small and repetitive inquiries they may have. This does not only make it easier for the Customer Support department to take better care of each client but also increases the satisfaction rate. Machine Learning Platforms Machine learning is, basically, the foundation of all AI systems that are being developed since it offers the algorithm allowing software to become a lot more accurate and able to predict different outcomes without the need of explicit programming in that direction. The process that takes place during machine learning is in a lot of ways very similar with the one of predictive modelling and data mining. It involves searching through specific data to find patterns and adjusting the software accordingly. One of the most used examples of machine learning comes from online shopping and its advertising. The fact that you’re being served personalized ads that contain objects or products of interest is all possible thanks to machine learning. The use of machine learning platforms can be extended to literary any domain and the following years will undoubtedly bring huge breakthroughs thanks to AI and machine learning.
Language Technology in Ontology Development and Use In recent years, the Internet evolved from a global medium for information exchange (directed mainly towards human users) into a “global, virtual work environment” (for both human users and machines). Building on the world-wide-web, developments such as grid technology, web services and the se-mantic web contributed to this transformation, the implications of which are now slowly but clearly being integrated into all areas of the new digital society (e-business, e-government, e-science, etc.) In particular, grid technology allows for distributed computing, web services for a distributed workflow, and the semantic web for increasingly intelligent and therefore autonomous processing. In this, it is important to realize that the semantic web will function more and more as the man-machine interface of this “global, virtual work environment”. The underlying semantic web infrastructure of shared knowledge (ontologies) and markup of resources and services with such knowledge (ontology-based metadata) ensures that a common understanding will exist between the human user and the machine-based processes. However, as much of human knowledge is and will be encoded in language, multilingual and multicultural aspects (culture as specific to countries, regions and nations, connected with language) will play an important role in establishing and maintaining such common un-derstanding. Given these considerations, we emphasize the following two im-portant issues in future semantic web development: Making the semantic web accessible in many languages Authoring support for automatic knowledge markup should be available for many languages thereby avoiding that only documents in some languages will become part of the semantic web Allowing the semantic web to represent many different cultures Ontologies should express concepts as used in different cultures, thereby avoiding that the semantic web would force an unnecessary semantic stan-dardization. Therefore, tools for ontology adaptation and for mapping different ontologies should be an integral part of the semantic web infrastructure. In both cases, there will be an important role for a combination of language technology, ontology engineering and machine learning, in order to provide text analysis for knowledge markup and text mining facilities for ontology mapping and learning. A growing integration of language technology tools into semantic web applications is therefore to be expected with the following characteristics: Language Technology for the Semantic Web Language technology tools will be used for efficient, (semi-)automatic knowl-edge markup (based on information extraction) and ontology development (based on text mining), allowing web documents in many languages and from different cultural backgrounds to be integrated on a large scale within the se-mantic web. The Semantic Web for Language Technology Semantic web methodologies (metadata, web services) and standards (RDF/S, OWL) will be used in the specification of web-based, standardized language resources – data (corpora, lexicons, grammars) and tools – allowing for a dis-tributed and widespread use of these resources in semantic web applications.
A pomegranate (Punica granatum) is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall. The pomegranate is mostly native to the Iranian Plateau and the Himalayas in north Pakistan and Northern India. It has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times, and today, is widely cultivated throughout Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Egypt, China, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the drier parts of southeast Asia, the Mediterranean region of Southern Europe, and tropical Africa visitor of our site: Copyright©2015 Nursery Designing & Developed By SEO WEB ACHIEVERS
4th of July - 2015 26 Jun posted by Categories: cultural exchange Comments: 0 Families often celebrate Independence Day by hosting or attending a picnic or barbecue and take advantage of the day off and, in some years, long weekend to gather with relatives. Decorations (e.g., streamers, balloons, and clothing) are generally colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag. Parades are often in the morning, while fireworks displays occur in the evening at such places as parks, fairgrounds, or town squares. The night before the Fourth was once the focal point of celebrations, marked by raucous gatherings often incorporating bonfires as their centerpiece. In New England, towns competed to build towering pyramids, assembled from barrels and casks. They were lit at nightfall, to usher in the celebration. The highest were in Salem, Massachusetts (on Gallows Hill, the famous site of the execution of 13 women and 6 men for witchcraft in 1692 during the Salem witch trials, where the tradition of bonfires in celebration had persisted), composed of as many as forty tiers of barrels; these are the tallest bonfires ever recorded. The custom flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is still practiced in some New England towns. australia facebook facebook twitter pinterest instagram UNITEDyoutube linkedin blog Skip to toolbar
Lenz's Law simply explained - how it works 01-29 Source: Network gathering Views:4 Lenz's Law simply explained - how it works You need a horseshoe magnet. For the two tests, with which the Lenz's Law is to be explained simply, you need three things: a voltmeter, a horseshoe magnet and a coil of copper wire. So the Lenz's Law is simply explained 1. Make the following experiment to: Have a horseshoe magnet vibrate at high frequencies, in the cavity of a coil. Watch on a device to measure voltage, what happens. 2. They realize that you can create tension by using the magnets. This electrical voltage generated thanks magnet is called electromagnetic induction. At the respective ends of the coil causes induction voltage if the density changes of the field lines of the magnetic field in the coil. 3. The induced voltage has a direction. This direction depends upon whether the magnetic field is reduced in the coil or enlarged. 4. Replace in a second experiment, the voltmeter with a switch. Let the magnet again commute. Observe what happens when you leave the switch open and what happens when you close the switch. 5. They note that the magnet in the case of the closed switch ceases to commute quickly and resting. Why causes the coil this braking? The oscillating magnet induces a voltage at the both ends of the coil. 6. If the switch is closed, a current through the coil, by the wound copper wire flows. Because of the copper wire, the coil has only a small resistance. Therefore, the induced current can be relatively strong, which flows through the short circuited coil (i.e. with a closed switch). 7. This current causes the coil turns to an electromagnet. What you can see now, is an "exciting" interaction. It takes place between two magnets from: between the horseshoe magnet and the electromagnet, which is caused by the induction current generated by you. 8. Shuttling the north pole of the magnet in the coil, the magnet is only slowed down if, at the end facing the magnet of the coil also be north pole is formed. Then, when the north pole of the magnet also commutes back out of the coil, the pole must have reversed the electromagnet to the South Pole. And so it has also been explained simply on the basis of two experiments that Lenz's Law. You can understand the Lenz's Law so already: An induction current is always directed so that it interferes with that process, which is the causative agent of the induction. This also explains why a perpetuum mobile is impossible. Related articles • Lenz's Law simply explained - how it works 01-29 You need a horseshoe magnet. For the two tests, with which the Lenz's Law is to be explained simply, you need three things: a voltmeter, a horseshoe magnet and a coil of copper wire. So the Lenz's Law is simply explained Make the following experiment • "GdB 70" - the benefits in tax law simply explained 02-07 Severely disabled receive tax relief. Expenses, people with disabilities arise as a result of their disability are taken into account in the tax law. The condition is that these expenses are not replaced by the health insurance. In tax law, they may • Operations - tariff law simply explained 02-13 Several operations can form the overall activity. When the term of the operation is a fixed term of the collective bargaining law. In Google we find the term does not, in the vernacular it is not used. Definition of operations For the question of whi • Physics: celestial mechanics - Kepler's laws simply explained 06-11 For astronomy Kepler findings were highly significant. About Kepler's importance for astrophysics If you want to understand or convey the significance of Kepler's celestial mechanics, you get around not drum, a little deal with the world view of that • Eddy current brake - their structure simply explained 05-29 New roller coasters braking using eddy current brakes. Principle and structure of the eddy current brake Important for understanding the function of the eddy current brake is the knowledge that in conductive objects eddy currents are induced once the • What's caprice? - Simply explains the term 03-02 Princes were often arbitrary rulers. "Arbitrariness" simply explains the term There are different approaches to explain the concept of arbitrariness. explains literary stands for arbitrary decisions and actions that are taken at will and free ch • Around pumping method simply explained 03-20 Oil and vinegar for seasoning at the table. Vinegar - simply explained and prepared without round pumping method Vinegar has just two ingredients: acetic acid and water. You can buy vinegar essence containing 25% acetic acid and the usual vinegar for • Operon model simply explained 08-04 The operon is a functional unit of DNA and thus quite complex. The operon model is not yet defined for a long time. In 1960, it was developed by two French scientists. Since it was named after the two scientists, you often read that it is the operon • Heat conduction - examples from everyday life simply explained 08-28 Check the operation of your heating. Andreas_Morlok / Pixelio Some examples of good heat conduction The heat conduction can take place in everyday life on the different heat transfer. A very commonly used element is likely to be the water. Water can • ACI simply explained 09-11 The ancient Romans used the ACI significantly more likely than the modern German. The ACI in Latin The ACI, which accusative and infinitive, is a sentence construction in Latin, which is also found in other languages. The ACI is simple: It is a noun • Investiturstreit simply explained 10-16 The Investiture Controversy was a dispute between secular and spiritual power. Background of the Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy was a dispute in the Middle Ages. This was between the spiritual power of the Church and the secular • Nuclear fission simply explained 12-22 An atomic nucleus with three electrons Thus fission is simply explained From a nuclear fission occurs when a nucleus is split into one or more components. This split can both arise spontaneously, that are induced without any external influence or, ie • The feudal system simply explained 12-31 The king was at the head of the feudal association. The word "Lehn" is derived from the word "borrow". A landowner borrows a destitute farmers a piece of land. This it managed for him and must swear allegiance to him in return. This ex • Clotting simply explained 01-10 Blood clotting is vital. simply explains the physiology of blood clotting Blood clotting is after injury of the blood vessels to the closure of the site, so it does not come to blood loss. Furthermore, it is the first step in wound healing. The medic • The Meselson-Stahl experiment - simply explained 03-21 The DNA is the human genome. The historical background of the Meselson-Stahl experiment 1869 discovered the doctor Miescher first time deoxyribonucleic -short DNA in cells. 1943 could prove Avery that DNA is the carrier of genetic information. 1953 t • Difference geographic and magnetic north simply explained 05-13 determine the magnetic north with the compass Geography North simply explained To understand the difference of the geographic and magnetic north, you first need a definition of the two terms. When true north is the intersection of the geographical po • What is democracy? - State systems simply explained 08-15 Separation of powers characterizes democracy. Wilhelmine Wulff / Pixelio Earlier, the monarchy was the predominant form of government. The monarch was the head of the state and certain in its sole discretion, and politically traded and how the people • "On Hungertuch gnaw" - meaning simply explained 09-18 On Hungertuch gnaw through too much shopping? starving - hence the phrase "On Hungertuch gnaw", is a very old saying, but until today still applies. Its origin is found in a Catholic custom. Other terms of the hunger cloth are: Fast cloth Schmac • Glycolysis simply explained 09-18 For glycolysis glucose is necessary. How the glycolysis Glycolysis is also known as glucose metabolism. Glucose in turn can be explained simply because it is synonymous with sugar. The term glycolysis comes from Greek and means "dissolve Sweet". • Riemann hypothesis - simply explained 10-22 The Riemann hypothesis is advanced mathematics. The Riemann hypothesis is a mystery While medical researchers, physicists and chemists research still further and seek solutions that prevails in mathematics, a certain standstill. If the Riemann Hypoth
Internationalization Frequently Asked Questions This page answers common questions about internationalization on the JDK software platform. For more information see the JDK software Internationalization home page. General Questions What is internationalization? Internationalization allows software to be adapted to any language and cultural convention. During the internationalization process, the programmer isolates the parts of a program that are dependent on language and culture. For example, the programmer will isolate error messages because they must be translated during localization. What is localization? Localization is the process of adapting a program for use in a specific locale. A locale is a geographic or political region that shares the same language and customs. Localization includes the translation of text such as GUI labels, error messages, and online help. It also includes the culture-specific formatting of data items such as monetary values, times, dates, and numbers. How do I go about internationalizing an existing program? See the steps outlined in the Checklist section of the The Java Tutorial. What is a locale? A locale is a geographic or political region that shares the same language and customs. In the Java programming language, a locale is represented by a Locale object. Locale-sensitive operations, such as collation and date formatting, vary according to Locale. Where can I find some coding examples that use Locale objects? See the Setting the Locale section of the The Java Tutorial. Which locales are supported? The locales supported by the JDK software are listed in the web page Supported Locales. A platform other than the JDK may support a different set of locales. Can a Java application use multiple locales? Yes. This capability allows you to create multi-lingual applications. How does setting the default locale affect the results of sorting? The Collator class, and its subclasses, are used for building sorting routines. These classes are locale-sensitive, and when created with the no-argument constructor will use the collating sequence of the default locale. Resource Bundles What is a resource bundle? A ResourceBundle object allows you to isolate localizable elements from the rest of the application. With all resources separated into a bundle, the application simply loads the appropriate bundle for the active locale. If the user switches locales, the application just loads a different bundle. Where can I find some coding examples that use ResourceBundle objects? See the Isolating Locale-Specific Data section of the The Java Tutorial. How do I specify non-ASCII strings in a properties file? You can specify any Unicode character with the \uXXXX notation. (The XXXX denotes the 4 hexadecimal digits that comprise the Unicode value of a character.) For example, a properties file might have the following entries: s1=hello there If you have edited and saved the file in a non-ASCII encoding, you can convert it to ASCII with the native2ascii tool. For example, you might want to do this when editing a properties file in Shift JIS, a popular Japanese encoding. How do I compile a non-ASCII ListResourceBundle? If your source file is in a non-ASCII encoding, you can direct the compiler to convert it into Unicode. For example, you would compile a Japanese resource bundle written in the Shift JIS encoding as follows: javac -encoding SJIS How do I format a date? You can use the SimpleDateFormat to format and parse dates in a locale-sensitive manner. See the section on formatting Dates and Times in the The Java Tutorial. My Java application has the wrong time zone. Why? This was caused by a bug that was fixed in release 1.1.6 of the JDK software. What is a file? The file maps the fonts of the host platform, such as Solaris or Win32, to Java virtual fonts. The file is in the $JAVAHOME/lib directory. How do I add a font? See the web page Adding Fonts to the Java Runtime Environment. Why can't I see a particular character in my TextField and TextArea components? The proper font is not installed on your platform. I have installed a Unicode font, but my program cannot display all Unicode characters. What's the problem? The characters that cannot be displayed may not be in the font. What font types does the JDK software support for the Win32 and Solaris platforms? The release for Win32 platforms supports TrueType fonts. The release for Solaris supports outline fonts that can be handled by an X11 server, such as F3, Type1, and TrueType. What classes of fonts are supported by the Java Runtime Environment? Version 1.0 of the JDK software included the font names TimesRoman, Courier, and Helvetica, which were very specific and do not apply to many locales. Version 1.1 supports the following classes of fonts: What is the difference between a virtual font name and a platform font name? The virtual font name is the name of the font recognized by the Java Runtime Environment. The platform font name is the actual name of the font on the host platform. For example, Dialog and Serif are virtual font names, and Times and Helvetica are the platform font names on a Win32 or Solaris platform. Is it possible to display more than one language in the Java Runtime Environment? Yes. To implement a multi-lingual display you make the necessary changes to the file and remove the language-specific files. See the web page, Adding Fonts to the Java Runtime Environment, for details. Why does my Chinese font with Big5 encoding work fine on Windows NT but not on Windows 95? Windows NT's internal encoding is Unicode, so it can support Unicode Chinese characters if a Big5 font is installed. However, Windows 95 uses the ANSI codepage, which limits it to the 8859_1 code page. Therefore, on Windows 95 a TextArea component won't work correctly with Big5 encoded Chinese characters. What are the default fonts of CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) environment in Solaris 2.7? The default fonts are listed in the following table: lang (locale) screen-width font-typefaces font-size font-encoding korean (ko) WIDTH > 1175 Round Gothic 18 (point) ksc5601.1987-0 korean (ko) 850<WIDTH<1176 Round Gothic 16 (point) ksc5601.1987-0 korean (ko) 851 > WIDTH Round Gothic 14 (point) ksc5601.1987-0 korean (ko.UTF-8) same as above same as above same as above ksc5601.1992-3 japanese (ja) > 1175 Gothic 16 (point) jisx0201.1976-0 japanese (ja) < 1176 Gothic 14 (point) jisx0201.1976-0 T-chinese (zh_TW) > 1175 Sung 18 (point) cns11643-[1..16] T-chinese (zh_TW) < 1176 Sung 16 (point) cns11643-[1..16] T-chinese (BIG5) > 1175 Ming 18(point) big5-1 T-chinese (BIG5) < 1176 Ming 16 (point) big5-1 S-chinese (zh) > 1175 Song 16 (point) gb2312.1980-0 S-chinese (zh) < 1176 Song 14 (point) gb2312.1980-0 Character Encodings What is a character encoding? A character encoding is a mapping between characters and code values. What is a Unicode? In the Java programming language, char values represent Unicode characters. Unicode is a 16-bit character encoding that supports the world's major languages. You can learn more about the Unicode standard at the Unicode Consortium web site. How do I convert data between Unicode and other character encodings? The Converting Non-Unicode Text section of the The Java Tutorial explains how to peform the conversions within an application. To convert data files use the native2ascii tool. Which character encodings are supported when converting text to and from Unicode? See the Supported Encodings web page. I can't find the CharToByteConverter class. What should I use to convert character encodings? The CharToByteConverter class is available only in the package. If you use this package, your program will be platform-dependent. Instead, try using the InputStreamReader and OutputStreamReader classes, which belong to the package. Can I add a custom converter? Yes, but this is typically done by licensees, not by application programmers. You'll need to extend the ByteToCharConverter and CharToByteConverter classes. See the Charset Converter section in the Adding Fonts to the Java Runtime web page. What is UTF8 encoding? UTF8 stands for Universal Transformation Format 8. It is transmission format for Unicode that is safe for UNIX file systems. What is a file encoding? A file encoding is the standard used to encode character data in a file. A string identifying the file encoding is stored in the file.encoding property of the System class. The file encoding is significant because the Java programming language uses Unicode for characters, but the file system of the host platform probably uses some other encoding. This encoding varies with host platform and locale. If the encoding matches the file.encoding property, then the conversion of the character data into Unicode is transparent to the programmer. What is the default file encoding for the JDK software? For release 1.1.7 and 1.2.0, the default file encoding is CP1252 for Win32 and ISO8859_1 for Solaris. Are the CP1252 and ISO8859_1 encodings identical? No. CP1252 contains some additional characters in the range of \u0080 to \u009F. Input Methods What is the Input Method Framework? The input method framework enables all text editing components to receive Japanese, Chinese, or Korean text input through input methods. An input method lets users enter thousands of different characters using keyboards with far fewer keys. Typically a sequence of several characters needs to be typed and then converted to create one or more characters. For specifications and examples see the web page, Input Method Framework. How do you switch between Chinese and English input modes? What does it mean to switch input methods? A user may have multiple input methods available. For example, the user may have input methods for different languages or input methods that accept various types of input. Such a user must be able to select the input method used for a partiuclar language or the input method that provides the fastest input. Can an input method be activated programmically? In release 1.1 of the JDK software an input method can be activated only by the user's keystrokes. The FCS of release 1.2 permits programmatic activation of an input method. Do the AWT and Swing (JFC) text components work with input methods? See the Input Methods section of the JDK Software Internationalization Overview. The Collator object supports different levels of decomposition and strength. How do I choose the right decomposition and strength in a locale? Since decomposing takes time, turning decomposition off makes comparisons go faster. However, for Latin languages the NO_DECOMPOSITION mode is not useful if the text contains accents. You should use the default decomposition unless you really know what you're doing. The strength property you choose depends on what your application is trying to accomplish. For example, when performing a text search you may allow a "weak" match, in which accents and differences in case (upper vs. lower) are ignored. This type of search employs the PRIMARY strength. If you are sorting a list of words, you might want to use the TERTIARY strength. In this mode the properties that must match are the base character, accent, and case. Does the JDK software support the euro currency? Support for the euro currency will be available in the FCS release of version 1.2. For information about support in release 1.1 see the web page, EURO CURRENCY PROPOSAL FOR JDK 1.1.x. This page was updated on 5 October 1998. Copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Miracle Berry The History freeze dried. It has been established how civilization and modern man developed from communities that have been highly dependent on the products of Mother Nature. Plants have been sources of lumber for shelter, fibers for clothing, and of course fruits and vegetation for food and nutrition. Mammals like humans are able to appreciate these plant products because of distinct tastes. However, there is a plant called the miracle berry which has the ability to transform flavors and make them sweet to the taste. Get to know more about the miracle berry or the miracle fruit, how it was discovered, and what it can do. Chevalier de Marchais was a noted French explorer and cartographer who traveled south towards Africa in the 18th century. During the age of exploration, nations were attempting to venture into newer territories, discovering newer products from nature, and finding out how they can be used by man. When de Marchais chanced upon West Africa, he discovered this plant with sweet red berries. He and his group used to eat these fruits before meals and enjoyed the flavors they contained. What was this plant that Marchais found in the region? With the species name Synsepalum dulcificum or Richadella dulcifica, the miracle berry belongs to the same family as the chicle plant, shea, and star apple, which is Sapotaceae. The miracle fruit thrives in tropical climates, such as those in Asia, Africa, and some parts of Hawaii and Florida. The plant can grow as high as 18 feet, and bears bright red fruit about 2 to 3 centimeters long. What makes the miracle berry so special? Scientific and historical sources which first described the plant explained that the berries create an extraordinary effect in the mouth. Eating the fruit before consuming sour and bitter foods made these strong flavors sweeter and more palatable. The miracle fruit did offer something special and something worth investigating, and was seen to have the potential as a flavor enhancer and alternative to sugar. Around the 1970's to the 1980's, scientific research papers on the miracle berry were published in international peer reviewed journals. In 1988, as published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers from Japan were able to completely purify and isolate the taste modifying protein from the miracle fruit, which was called miraculin. Later on, many investigations on the effects of miraculin on the taste receptors of rabbits, pigs, and rhesus monkeys, and other primates were done. True enough, the animals responded favorably to miraculin, where they seemed to be able to stand the sourness of citrus fruits longer. Some of these researches were published in the journal Chemical Senses. According to BBC News, the first production of the miracle fruit tablets in the 60's to the 70's was attributed to a rich entrepreneur named Robert Harvey, who found that he can make the berries into powdered form. Soon, even iced popsicles made from the fruit extracts were enjoyed by people across America. In 1974, however, the FDA discontinued the production of the tablets because of lack of further research to investigate its effects on health.
previous next 5. L. Trebellius, tribune of the plebs, B. C. 47, resisted his colleague, P. Dolabella, who had proposed a measure for the abolition of debts. Great tumults arose in consequence at Rome, in which Dolabella's party was eventually defeated. [See Vol. I. p. 1059.] Trebellius was as much involved in debt as Dolabella, and he had only opposed the latter in order to please Caesar. Accordingly after the death of the dictator, he attempted, by Antony's assistance, to carry the very measure which he had formerly resisted. He was one of Antony's friends, whom he accompanied in his campaign against D. Brutus in B. C. 43. (D. C. 42.29; Plut. Anton. 9 ; Cic. Phil. 6.4, 10.10, 11.6, 12.8, 13.2, 12; Cic. Fam. 11.13.4.) hide Dates (automatically extracted) Click on a date to search for it in this document. 47 BC (1) 43 BC (1) hide Display Preferences Greek Display: Arabic Display: View by Default: Browse Bar:
Italian language school in Sorrento - learn italian: grammar, conversation, cultural lessons... your italian class! Capri - exploring Once a pleasure dome to Roman emperors and now Italy's most glamorous seaside getaway, Capri (pronounced with an accent on the first syllable) is a craggy island at the southern end to the bay. Unlike the other islands in the Bay of Naples, Capri is not of volcanic origin; it may be a continuation of the limestone Sorrentine peninsula. Limestone caves on Capri have yielded rich prehistoric and Neolithic finds. The island is thought to have been settled by Greeks from Cumae in the sixth century BC and later by other Greeks from Neapolis, but it was the Romans in the early imperial period who really left their mark. Emperor Augustus vacationed here; Tiberius built a dozen villas around the island, and, in later years, he refused to return to Rome, even when he was near death. Capri was one of the strongholds of the 16th-century pirate Barbarossa, who first sacked it and then made it a fortress. In 1806 the British wanted to turn the island into another Gibraltar and were beginning to build fortifications until the French took it away from them in 1808. Over the next century, from the opening of its first hotel in 1826, Capri saw an influx of visitors that reads like a Who's Who of literature and politics, especially in the early decades of the 20th century. Villa Jovis From Capri Town, the 45 minute hike east to Villa Jovis, the grandest of those built by Tiberius, is strenous but rewarding. Follow the signs for Villa Jovis, taking Via Le Botteghe from the Piazzetta, then continuing along Bia Croce and Via Tiberio. At the end of a lane that climbs the steep hill, with pretty views all the way, you come to the precipice over which the emperor reputedly disposed of the victims of his perverse attentions. From a natural terrace above, near a chapel, are spectacular views of the entire Bay of Naples and, on clear days, part of the Gulf of Salerno. Here starts the footpath around the some what neglected ruins of Tiberius's palace. Giardini di Augusto From the terraces of Giardini di Augusto, a beatifully planted public garden with excellent views, you can see the village of Marina Piccola below and admire the steep and winding Via Krupp, actually a staircase cut into the rock. Friedrich Krupp, the German arms manufacturer, loved Capri and became one of the island's most generous benefactors. Grotta Azzurra Only when the Grotta Azzurra was 'discovered' in 1826 by the Polish poet August Kopisch and Swiss artist Ernest Fries, did Capri become a tourist haven. The watery cave's blue beauty became a symbol of the return to nature and revolt from reason that marked the Romantic era, and it soon became a required stop on the Grand Tour. Infact, the grotto had long been a local landmark. During the Roman era - as testified by the extensive reamins, primarily below sea level, and several large statues now at the Certosa di San Giacomo - it had been the elegant, mosaic-decorated nymphaeum of the adjoining villa of Gradola. Historians can't quite agree if it was simply a lovely little pavilion where rich patricians would cool themselves or truly a religious site where sacred mysteries were practiced. The water's extraordinary saphire color is caused by a hidden opening in the rock that refracts the light. At highest illumination the very air inside seems tinted blue. Courses for US credits Courses for US credits Please click here Test your Italian Download now Please send it to Time in Sorrento: Sorrento Lingue S.r.l. Registered office: Via Marina Grande, 16 - 80067 - Sorrento (NA) Italy Headquarters: Via Marina Grande, 16 - 80067 - Sorrento (NA) Italy Paid in capital: € 50.000,00 I.V. REA: TO-908649 P.IVA 07631160012 Phone: +39 081.807.55.99 \| +39 081.878.44.70 Fax: +39 081.532.41.40 Powered by Mosajco CMS
These Truths by Jill Lepore These Truths by Jill Lepore Written in elegiac prose, Lepore’s groundbreaking investigation places truth itself―a devotion to facts, proof, and evidence―at the center of the nation’s history. The American experiment rests on three ideas―"these truths," Jefferson called them―political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people. And it rests, too, on a fearless dedication to inquiry, Lepore argues, because self-government depends on it. But has the nation, and democracy itself, delivered on that promise? Americans are descended from slaves and slave owners, from conquerors and the conquered, from immigrants and from people who have fought to end immigration. "A nation born in contradiction will fight forever over the meaning of its history," Lepore writes, but engaging in that struggle by studying the past is part of the work of citizenship. "The past is an inheritance, a gift and a burden," These Truths observes. "It can’t be shirked. There’s nothing for it but to get to know it." Add To Cart
Pilgrimage – Part 1 We have chosen to include pilgrimage in our youth programme and I will explain why next week. This week I will give you a little bit of background about what I understand about pilgrimage. The dictionary describes pilgrimage as a journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion. The Beginning of Pilgrimage The Bible is littered with stories of long journeys to sacred places or that have a deeper spiritual meaning. • The story of Abraham journeying in the promise of new lands and numerous descendants. • The story of the Exodus and the Israelite nation walking through the wilderness for 40 years in penance for their lack of faith. On this journey they are strangers in the land. They see hardship and God’s provision and this is often seen as reflection for our own Christian lives as we journey through life towards heaven. • Then when Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem it became a requirement for all male Israelites to make the journey there for Passover, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths. Many years later, we read about Jesus, at only 12 years old, making the 85 mile journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem (and another 85 miles back again) as an act of pilgrimage to celebrate the passover. • Jesus spent 40 days wandering in the wilderness, a time of solitude, a time to wrestle with the enemy and time to prepare for a new part of his life. • The journey that Jesus took, to Jerusalem and then to the cross and onto the Garden of Gethsemane is accompanied by incredible suffering and injustice but climaxes with salvation and new life. After Pentecost, God no longer resided only in the Temple in Jerusalem. He was now available everywhere and the need for pilgrimage to a sacred place was no longer necessary. It was the Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century, who was used to pagan practices, who created a ‘Holy Land’ and a network of shrines and relics for Christians to visit and to touch. This has created controversy ever since because why would you need to travel to encounter God when he is everywhere. Potted History Of Pilgrimage In The UK Over the centuries, pilgrimage in the UK has gone in and out of fashion. From the early Anglo Saxons Christians believed that life was pilgrimage, a journey from birth to death. Many also practised pilgrimage to holy sites in the UK and overseas. The reformation was a watershed time for pilgrimage. In the 1500’s It was declared that all pilgrimages should be stopped as they were not good, the Bible does not command us take part in a pilgrimage and they gave people an opportunity to sin! Many English shrines, statues and relics were destroyed or discredited. For protestants, journeying to a holy place stopped and instead, people focussed on an inner pilgrimage. This inner journey focussed on life as a pilgrimage and pilgrimage themes began to emerge in writings. John Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress is a good example of this. Journeys to Rome or Jerusalem continued but focussed far more on a cultural experience than a spiritual one. Curiosity for travel increased in the 1800s fuelled by archeological discoveries in Egypt and Israel. This was less about pilgrimage and more about tourism. Then in 1869 Thomas Cook took his first tour to the Holy Land and began to popularise modern tourism. By the early 1900s, sacred sites in the UK were again attracting large numbers of visitors. Places like Iona, Canterbury and Walsingham among the most popular. Some cathedrals also revived the notion of issuing pilgrim badges to visiting pilgrims. Today believers and non-believers alike journey to churches, cathedrals and other holy places for all manner of reasons. Pilgrims and tourists rub shoulders with each other to experience the atmosphere of holy places. Tips For Hosting A Great Fundraising Event You know you need to do some fundraising but are not sure where to start. Here are a few tips to make sure your event goes well. It is often said that if you fail you plan, you plan to fail. So before you do anything else, get planning. Think about: • What event you are going to do • What resources you will need • Where you are going to host your event • When you are going to hold your event • Who you are going to invite to your event • Who you can ask to help you with this event • How you are going to ensure that this event is profitable Think also about ways that you can boost sales and increase profits e.g. if you are hosting a coffee morning, in addition to selling cakes perhaps you could put together a recipe book and sell that or have some second-hand books available for sale. If you are hosting an event that includes food, choose a menu that is going to be popular. It will be much harder to sell tickets to an event that includes food that no one likes. If you are fundraising for your Overseas Experience why not offer food themed around the country that you are going to visit. Use fresh, good quality food and try to offer alternatives for people with allergies or food intolerances. Think about how you are going to promote your event. Do not be shy about letting people know what you are doing, when and where. If you are on social media use all of your networks to tell people you know about your event. Begin at least six weeks before and remind your contacts at least weekly about your event. Try to use different types of messages, a mixture of photos, videos, slideshows, live events will keep people interested. Offline, make posters, banners or flyers and ask friends or family to distribute them among their own contacts. Keep reminding people what you are fundraising for. Tell them about the country you are visiting, the project that you will be helping and the people that will benefit because of your visit. Be prepared to answer questions about anything you are selling and about where you are going. Know your ‘sales pitch’ inside out and rehearse it before the event. Use the words help and because… “Please help our cause by… .” or “We are fundraising because we need … .” Politeness and clear explanations will increase positive answers from potential customers or donors. Thank You Don’t forget to thank people for attending/donating. Make it personal wherever you can and let them know how to find out about how your Overseas Experience has gone or how their donations have been spent. Food Fundraising Ideas Everyone has to eat, so if you are handy in the kitchen why not use your skills to raise some funds for your Get Overseas trip or your 2:52 Challenge group. If you try any of these please let us know how you get on, how successful it was and how 1. We love the name of this idea. Ask friends and family to create their own artwork (painting, sculptures, poems, anything) and hold a Noodles and Doodles Night. Display the artwork while you serve chicken noodles (or spagehetti) and sauce then hold a silent auction or fast live auction to sell off the artwork. 2. Hold a Themed Dinner Party to mark Valentine’s Day, Easter, a Birthday, Eurovision Song Contest, New Year’s Eve or something else. Decorate the room and choose a menu that matches your theme. Charge friends to come or ask for a donation. You could even sell Romantic Dinners for Couples. If a posh dinner party is not your thing, you could hold a more relaxed Summer BBQ. 3. Host a Chocolate Desserts Competition. Charge people for the privilege of tasting all of the treats and judging the best entrant. You can award prizes, hold a raffle and even have a live band to bring entertainment on the evening. Hold it near Easter or Valentines for maximum success. 4. Celebrate the Joy of Puddings and invite people to come out for pudding. Make three or four puddings and charge people to try all of them throughout the evening. 5. Host a bake sale or coffee morning. You could bake and sell Sweets for Someone Sweet. You could even deliver them locally. 6. Make and sell flavoured popcorn. You can easily cook popcorn in a lidded pan on the hob if you don’t have a popcorn maker, add your own unique flavourings and sell packs. Do this as part of a larger event to maximise the money you are able to raise. 7. Get Fruity by supplying fruit (or veg) to your friends or family. Take orders each week and then order from a local farm shop or fruit and vegetable distributor. You can collect or have the orders delivered for you to distribute. 8. If you are a budding Master Chef, create a Recipe Book and sell it to friends and family. Why not think about making it a fairtrade recipe book? Sell it around Mother’s Day or Christmas. Why not set up a Recipe Swap? Cook up a number of dishes and host an evening to share and swap your favourite recipes. 9. Get together with friends and prepare and sell different dishes from around the world on World Food Day, 16 October. 10. Organise a simple lunch with a difference – a Rich Man, Poor Man Meal sees a small number of randomly chosen people get an upgrade from a simple lunch to a sit down meal to help demonstrate inequality in the world today. All these Food fundraising ideas are pretty simple to run and can be really profitable… Just make sure you use the ones that suit your skills and will be popular amongst your members and supporters! William Carey The story of William Carey, 1761-1834, is one that has inspired me and continues to inspire me to encourage others to take part in evangelism and mission. So I though I would share a little of it here with you. Carey was born to a weaver’s family and lived as a child in the rural English village of Paulerspury, Northamtonshire and was taken on as an apprentice at a local cobbler’s shop. It was while learning to be a shoemaker that he grew a passion for the Christian faith and began to teach himself New Testament Greek. He also took a great interest in international affairs and the religious life of other cultures. Later, in 1781, he met and married Dorothy Plackett but the hard life of a shoemaker meant that the family lived in poverty. In 1785 they moved to Moulton where Carey become a schoolmaster — and a year later he became pastor of the small Baptist congregation there. It was in Moulton that Carey heard the missionary call. It was as he was reading the Last Voyage of Captain Cook. To many it was a thrilling story of adventure, but to Carey it was a revelation of human need! He then began to read every book that had any bearing on the subject. Matthew 28:16-20 Carey was convinced that the Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s gospel should be applied to all Christians, of all times and he grew increasingly frustrated that other Christians were not taking this seriously. He read, he made notes, he made a great leather globe of the world and, one day, in the quietness of his cobbler’s shop Carey heard the call: “If it be the duty of all men to believe the Gospel … then it be the duty of those who are entrusted with the Gospel to endeavour to make it known among all nations.” And Carey sobbed out, “Here am I; send me!” There were no missionary societies at the time and little support for missions. In fact at one minister’s meeting a Dr. Ryland shouted at Carey, “Young man, sit down: when God pleases to covert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine.” In 1792 Carey established his own missionary society and at its inaugural meeting preached a sermon with the call, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God!” Within a year, Carey, his family and friend, John Thomas were on their way to India. The first few years were very hard, facing illness, struggling to earn enough money to feed and care for his family, John Thomas leaving the mission project, loneliness and regret. Carey lamented but held on to hope saying “But I have God, and his word is sure.” Carey’s faith was further tested when he contracted malaria, his five year old son died of dysentery and his wife had a mental breakdown and needed to be locked away and restrained. For seven years Carey learned Bengali and preached illegally, then in 1799 he was invited to move to a Danish settlement near Calcutta where he was legally able to preach in the British controlled areas of the country. Slowly, others joined him, a printer and two teachers among them and in December 1800, Krishna Pal, Carey’s first convert was baptised. Just two months later Carey published the first Bengali New Testament, this was followed by whole bibles or parts of the bible being published in over 215 different languages. Carey also wanted to see social reform in India and campaigned against infanticide, sati (burning widows when their husbands pass away) and assisted suicide. He also founded a divinity school which, today is still teaching theology to thousands of students each year. When he died at 73 (1834), from his deathbed Carey called out to a missionary friend, “Dr. Duff! You have been speaking about Dr. Carey; when I am gone, say nothing about Dr. Carey — speak about Dr. Carey’s God.” Carey really lived by his philosophy to expect great things from God and to attempt great things for God.
Monitor Live Space Live Feed - International Space Station (ISS) This is the live feed from the International Space Station (ISS). The channel should be live almost 24/7, but doesn't always show a feed of space because occasionally they will show the inside of the space station and do interviews. It's very cool to see the Earth and space live from your computer and many people have seen odd anomalies. The ISS orbits Earth at 230 miles (370 km) at a speed of 4.791 miles/s (7.71 km/s). At that height and those speeds it travels around the world fifteen and a half times a day giving you a sunrise and sunset about every 45 minutes. So if the channel seems black it's probably because it's on the dark side of the Earth. International Space Station (ISS) Location Map If you're outside looking up and see something strange in the sky, it very well might be the International Space station (ISS). Check the live map below to see if it's over your part of the world. The map is zoomable and you should be able to pinpoint if the object flying across the sky is the ISS. Use the drop-down menu to determine what time it is in correlation to where the space station is. This will give you a good idea if it's dark how long until it will be light again in the live feed. Some times may depend on region. (If the screen is dark the ISS is on the dark side of Earth) Tate in Space Satellite (Flash Needed) The Tate satellite was launched on June 6th 2002 and circles the Earth at a polar to polar orbit at 400km, and completes 15.56 orbits in a 24 hour period. It's not a streaming feed, but the pictures are near-live and update on average every 3-5 seconds. We often get reports of UFOs around the Earth from this camera, but most of the time it is the moon. When people send in pictures from this view the object is huge, like moon huge. If there were a UFO ship that size outside of Earth we would most likely be able to see it with the naked eye from most of the planet. What was that in the Sky? Cross Check Section If you're here because you saw something in the sky, this is where you can cross check the object with different live Earthly and space phenomenon. We have gathered up to date live air traffic above as well as a live map of stars, planets and meteors that may be visible to the human eye. Using this information you may be able to determine if what you saw is nothing more than a meteor shooting by or perhaps a possible UFO. Please send in all information you find or leave a comment below.
The Healing Properties of Honey Interesting that as medical technology races to find the next "cure" that may kill you anyway, a growing amount of research is taking the more natural road less traveled and finding impressive results, not unlike a bandage made from shrimp shells that promotes clotting. Along those same lines, researchers in the UK are testing the effect of a particular kind of honey made only in New Zealand on 60 patients suffering from mouth and throat cancer to promote healing and limit their risk of contracting bacterial infections resistant to antibiotics. This avenue certainly makes great sense, particularly in light of Australian research that, among other results, found honey hastened the healing of 15 mothers after Caesarean sections, eradicating any need to restitch their wounds. The specific kind of honey British researchers are using, produced by bees who feed on Manuka bushes, believed to have special anti-infection and anti-inflammatory properties. Time will tell if honey produced in a far away land or in your back yard will have any real value, however. If you're considering using honey to treat a condition, it should be raw honey, but be very, very careful about it and use it only in moderation. Yemen Observer December 5, 2006 BBC News July 7, 2006
Teachers should be careful that the pupils do not strain their eyes by working in a poor light. On dark days, talks, which are of great assistance and benefit may be given on relevant subjects, as needles, thread, cotton, wool, silk and linen, their manufacture and use (see page 222), and on the making of garments. A dark day may also be employed in teaching the pupils to make knots, including square and bow-knots. A shopping expedition will greatly interest the pupils, for instance: - "What kind of a store shall we visit to purchase our sewing materials?" "What shall we buy?" "How much material shall we get for a bag, apron or skirt?" "What kind of material?" "Why?" "Are we ready to go home?" "O, no, we must have other things." Mention them; tell why different numbers of needles are needed for different materials, etc. Question on the difference in the quality of materials, and explain that a good quality is generally cheaper in the end.
This one little word became a matter of contention between the parties in a lawsuit, and our reporter was at the center of the dispute. This reporter has 40 years’ experience and has earned several NCRA credentials, but this little word got by her. She did not hear the “if” in the witness’s answer. She produced a rough and subsequently produced a 200-page final transcript, both of which did not contain the “if.” IFCounsel called and asked that she check her notes. He just noted the page and line number he was concerned about and did not suggest what he was looking for in particular. Obviously the “if” was not in her notes; but after she checked the audio, she realized that indeed the “if” was missing in the answer. This changed the meaning of the answer. We notified opposing counsel of the error, and of course he disputed this newfound information. After several phone calls and emails back and forth, the matter was thankfully resolved. Our reporter obviously made an error, since the “if” was clearly heard on the audio. There really was no dispute as to what the correct answer should have been. Corrected transcripts and electronic files had to be resent to all involved. This reminds me of another very experienced and qualified reporter, an RDR, who was challenged because of the word “a” in her transcript. I forget the specifics of this example because it happened quite awhile ago. The point of all this is that sometimes it’s the smallest of words that can cause the biggest problems. Think of all the words the reporter correctly took down that day, 200 pages worth. She missed just one, but it was a very consequential one. If it can happen to her, an RMR, CRR, it can happen to anyone. As students, you are acutely aware of this. Each time you miss a word during testing, however small, it counts as an error. In a testing situation the word “if” carries the same weight as a multisyllabic word. Of course we are only human and mistakes do happen. Unfortunately in our line of work, it’s our mistakes that jump off the page, not the thousands of words we write correctly. Unbelievably, on very rare occasions, 99.999 percent accuracy is sometimes not good enough. To further emphasize just how critical the little words can be, please take a moment to read the article about a capital murder case that got rejected by the Supreme Court due to a discrepancy between the words “may” versus “must.” Energize your Practice Sessions I think most of you would agree that getting motivated to practice every day is one of the most difficult daily struggles court reporting students face. Not only does practicing take hours out of your day, but it requires deep concentration, endurance, and, oh, yes, accuracy. It all comes down to self-discipline. It means resisting the temptation to shorten your practice session or skipping practice altogether. It means a willingness to forgo things you’d rather be doing for a payoff in the end. When you are out in the working world, self-discipline will mean working overtime to meet a deadline, missing out on social events, and working nights, weekends, and holidays to keep up with your backlog. As one of my colleagues, Ken DiFraia, RPR, said, “If you’re not into it from the get-go, this profession is not for you.” I always practiced alone. It’s the only way I could focus. Ken, however, mentioned that he used to practice with another student, so it’s something you may want to consider. He said there were many benefits: • it broke up the monotony of practicing alone • it allowed you to share ideas, briefs, tips, etc. • it provided for friendly competition for readback and speed • it provided much needed support from a peer This option may not be for everyone, and it shouldn’t replace time practicing alone. It may be worth trying a couple of times a week to see if it helps improve your skill and your spirits. Choose a partner carefully and set up a plan for each practice session. This will keep you on task and avoid wasted time. It is interesting to note that Ken and his fellow student practiced together from the outset, and both passed their first 225 in the beginning of the summer session after their second year. Sometimes shaking things up a little can prove beneficial. It may be worth a try. Good luck! Shadowing a Reporter Too Soon is Counterproductive There are two schools of thought on this issue. Some believe that sitting out with a working reporter at any speed is helpful. I personally feel that you shouldn’t shadow a reporter until you have passed your 200 Q&A. The purpose of shadowing a court reporter is to familiarize yourself with the job, but it also should serve as a gauge of where you currently are and where you have yet to go. If you sit out after you’ve passed your 200s, it will be a more realistic test of your abilities. You still have to pass your 225s to earn your RPR, and those extra 25 wpm are the hardest to attain! Further, any reporter will tell you that even 225 wpm just doesn’t cut it on many days. The gap between 180 and 225 is a big one, and sitting out at that speed would be discouraging. Your time would be better spent practicing. When you are ready to sit in with a reporter, you should have the mindset of putting yourself in the reporter’s place and envisioning that YOU are the reporter of record. Learning how to swear in witnesses, mark exhibits, note stipulations, etc., is the easy part. The hard part is creating a record. Pretend that you are there alone. Can you keep up? Would you have to interrupt often? How are you handling colloquy, the arguing, the frequent readback? In short, would you be able to prepare a quality transcript of the entire proceedings? Working reporters enjoy taking students out and sharing their knowledge. This is a perfect setting to learn what you don’t in the classroom: the reporter’s routine, tricks of the trade, use of technology. Maybe your reporter is writing realtime for the attorneys and has provided iPads to all counsel. You will be amazed and inspired to witness this live! Take advantage of this special opportunity to ask your questions and get tips on what you need to do to improve. I still remember vividly sitting out as a student. The attorneys were always gracious, allowing me to sit in on what are always considered confidential matters. I was grateful; they could have refused my attendance, but it was never an issue. I was allowed a front-row seat, but I tried to be as unobtrusive and respectful as possible. What I most remember was trying to keep up. My fingers were still moving long after the reporter’s fingers had stopped. I soaked it all in and took something away from every session. Lastly, I always took a moment to thank the reporter and the attorneys for the opportunity. Shadowing a reporter is a great experience, but it should be saved for when you are close to approaching the finish line. At that point you’ll have more practice time under your belt and a better chance of success. If you are not quite there yet, keep putting in as much quality practice time as you can. Your turn to shadow a reporter will come. I wish you all a productive learning experience out in the “real world”! Have you been stuck at the same speed for way too long? Perhaps you should give some thought to setting goals. Those who set goals have greater success than those who don’t. The process helps you focus. If you set attainable goals, you will experience success more often which will help you stay more motivated over the long term. Setting goals should be a part of your daily mindset. Implementing them will help you get to the finish line faster. There are two goals you should be working on each day: a speedbuilding goal and a goal for addressing your problem areas. Regarding speedbuilding, of course your main goal, which is a constant, is to pass your next speed test, but this entails increasing your speed by a whopping 20 wpm at each level. That is a steep hill to climb. Instead of practicing a full five-minute take at 20 wpm over your comfortable writing speed, try breaking it down into five one-minute segments. Make it your goal to tackle a single one-minute segment per day. Try to write it as perfectly as possible. Spend time on the words or sections Hard Work that are tripping you up. Don’t accept drops or misstrokes. Don’t give up. Read back every take. After you master the second minute, try writing the two-minute take perfectly. Then after you master the third minute, try writing the three-minute take perfectly. Make it your goal to write the entire five-minute take without error by the end of the week. Practicing in one-minute increments is less daunting, and success is more readily achievable. Correct muscle memory training comes with this kind of deliberate and consistent practice. Your writing will flow more smoothly from your brain to your fingers, leading to less hesitation and more speed. Be sure to get in as much practice time as possible, two hours a day at a minimum outside of class. Improving your speed is a must, but you won’t get there if you do not address your problem areas. When you critically examine your writing, your weaknesses will become apparent, and you can develop a game plan to improve. If you don’t read back, you are wasting your time. Choose a problem area that needs your immediate attention. After that problem is solved, pick another one to work on. Maybe you are having difficulty with numbers (dollars, cents, time, dates); maybe you can’t remember briefs; or maybe homonyms are your nemesis. Whatever the issue, break it down into manageable parts and build from there. Write hints on stickies and put them on your machine for easy reference. This should be an ongoing exercise over the course of your career. Good reporters are constantly looking for ways to fine-tune their skill so they can reduce their untranslate rate. If you are proactive in this area, it will reap huge dividends over time. If you set achievable goals for speedbuilding and goals for addressing problem areas, you will have a roadmap to success. Setting goals gives purpose to your practice sessions so they will not weigh as heavily on your mind or, more importantly, your spirit. Good luck! It will happen to you. You will be reporting a difficult deposition, struggling with the accent, the speed, or the subject matter, and the lawyer will say, “Miss Reporter, can you read that back.” The attorney assumes that you heard it, understood it, and wrote it all down. But what if you didn’t? There are three scenarios on readback: • You hit it out of the park. You got every word and are reading back confidently, loudly, and clearly. It is so satisfying to successfully deliver on a specific request. • You will have the majority of the requested question or answer, but there are some messy outlines or maybe a dropped word or two. You are unsure it will hang together when you read it aloud. If you are called upon to read back under this type of circumstance, my advice would be to take a few seconds to scan your screen quickly and read the passage to yourself. Sometimes you just missed a small word that makes all the difference, or perhaps you misheard a word but it suddenly becomes clear. In any case, read back what you have and let the chips fall where they may. If your readback of a question indeed fell a little short, the attorney may choose to repeat, rephrase, or strike it altogether. If you were asked to read back an answer, it is possible that the attorney didn’t understand it either and will ask the witness to repeat it. • You missed so much of the requested question or answer that it is impossible to reconstruct it in a few seconds. You were going to interrupt to ask for it to be repeated, but you were asked to read back before you got a chance. In cases like this, you can say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t get that. I was just going to ask you to repeat it.” They will most likely oblige. Readback isn’t restricted to Q&A. As reporters we are often asked to read back colloquy. Sometimes these exchanges are quite heated, and readback can be challenging. They are just as vital as the questions and answers, however, as the attorneys are stating their objections and are preserving their positions for the future. You have to be prepared to read back colloquy, too, and sometimes the exchanges can be quite lengthy. Keep in mind that all reporters have had trouble reading back at some point. There are so many variables that make our job difficult. Some attorneys understand what we are up against, and some don’t. Some care and some don’t. You will be forgiven if it is a rare occurrence. If you continue having difficulty, however, it will not go unnoticed. Your agency may receive a call requesting a different reporter the next time, or you may be dismissed and replaced with another reporter that very same day. Sometimes the reason for the readback is simply to satisfy the attorney that he has a reporter with the requisite skills. If an attorney suspects he is dealing with a newbie, he may ask the reporter to read back random questions or answers early on to gauge whether or not the reporter is equipped to handle his case. He would prefer not to wait until receipt of the transcript to determine if there is a problem. So how can you increase your chances of reading back successfully? Don’t be a mindless writer. It only makes sense that if you pay attention and try to follow the testimony, you will have some context and point of reference from which to draw upon, and your chances will increase that you will be able to read back without error. Also, if you make a habit of looking at your screen while you are writing realtime, you will be able to identify your misstrokes and make mental notes of what words those misstrokes should be. Lastly, not to be overlooked is the obvious: speed. It is a given that the faster you can write the less you will drop and the cleaner your notes will be. As a student, the more you read back, the better off you will be! Practice reading back aloud everything you take. Pretend you are at an actual deposition and see if your readback will make the grade. Not only will it force you to confront your writing issues and improve your skill, but it will be a good exercise in learning how to keep your composure under pressure. This will pay off in the long run. Reading back is one of the benchmarks upon which attorneys will judge you. Make it your moment to shine. Training to become a court reporter is so grueling, it’s no surprise that feelings of despair can become overwhelming and the desire to quit can get stronger with each passing day. If you find yourself in this predicament, you have to stop and reassess. Make a deliberate effort to push the negative thoughts and feelings out of your mind and dig deep to find a renewed sense of purpose. Many have come before you, feeling as you do right now, and have found a way to succeed. You can do it too! Remember: This is a marathon, not a sprint. I am reminded once again of the following quote by the basketball legend Michael Jordan“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winninMichael Jordan2g shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” I find these words so inspiring because he actually kept track of the shots he missed and the games he lost. Who does that? What he doesn’t mention in this quote is that he won six NBA championships, was named the NBA Finals MVP six times and its Most Valuable Player five times. He also doesn’t mention the fact that he is a two-time Gold Medal Olympian and the recipient of the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has other accolades too numerous to mention, and, oh, he has a hugely successful sneaker line too. Good thing he didn’t let failure define him. So how did MJ succeed? His next quote might give you a clue: “The minute you get away from the fundamentals – whether it’s proper technique, work ethic or mental preparation – the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you’re doing.” This is so true. If you are not progressing as you should, you need to critically assess the three items mentioned above and identify in particular your weaknesses so you can form a plan to eliminate them. All three are integral to your moving ahead. Regarding your technique, it always helps to return to the basics when you are stuck: deliberate incremental practice, emphasis on error-free writing, and readback. Maybe you need to lower your speed to gain your bearings again. Is a review of your theory in order? Are you tackling those tough phrases or just letting them pass by? I firmly believe that spending two hours working on writing an error-free, difficult one-minute take is far more valuable than spending two hours working on a five-minute take and settling for mediocrity in doing so. Regarding work ethic, are you committed to a daily practice regimen, a minimum of two hours outside of class, even more if possible? This takes enormous self-discipline, especially on weekends and holidays. Making excuses can be a slippery slope. Don’t allow yourself to skip or shorten your practice sessions. If anything, you should be doing all you can to increase your practice time. Lastly, evaluate your mental preparation. Are you practicing without interruptions or distractions? Are your electronic devices turned off and put out of reach? Are you in the zone when you practice, giving it everything you’ve got? It takes time to develop the mental stamina needed to concentrate for the interminable five-minute testing takes. Despite your setbacks, try to stay positive. Keep at it. Don’t look too far ahead; you’ll get overwhelmed. Just concentrate on gaining a couple words per minute a week, and eventually you will get there. You will drop many words and fail many tests along the way, but one day you will “be like MJ” and find sweet victory. The following are five areas where mistakes can occur in your transcripts. A court reporter must be cognizant of every area to be successful. It is not enough to write down every word on your machine. Putting a verbatim transcript together takes careful thought and attention and at times can be very challenging. You only get one chance to get it right. Let your transcripts reflect the very best your professional self has to offer! Spelling errors There is really no excuse for this type of embarrassing error. Utmost care must be taken to ensure that the correct spellings are inputted into your dictionary at the outset so that misspellings do not automatically appear in every transcript going forward. Take the time to look up spellings if you have the slightest doubt. Even if a witness spells a name or word for you, do a little research to confirm the spelling, especially medical or technical terminology. Tip to improve: For starters, input the list of commonly misspelled words into your dictionary. Here is the link: http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/spelling-and-word-lists/misspelled.html Misused words There are so many words that can trip you up: affect/effect, accept/except, compliment/complement, to name a few. You not only need to know the differences in meaning between these words in each pairing but also how to write them differently. Beware of spell-checking software! It wouldn’t flag any of the misused words in this sentence: Ewe due knot no how two sow close. Tip to improve: Study the 50 most commonly confused homophones in the following link and input them into your dictionary; and at the very least, read a daily newspaper and look up words you are unfamiliar with. http://www.spelling-words-well.com/support-files/50-homophone-sets.pdf Improper punctuation Punctuation helps make sense of the words in a transcript. Attorneys should not have to read and reread your transcript to decipher the meaning of what was said due to poor or incorrect punctuation. When reading your transcript, they should be able to concentrate on content alone. Improper punctuation interrupts reading flow, is distracting, and, in the worst case, can change the meaning of what was intended. My favorite example: “Let’s eat, Grandma” versus “Let’s eat Grandma.” Tip to improve: Reviewing the types of punctuation on a regular basis and their usage is always time well spent. Factual errors These errors will mostly appear on title pages where critical information resides: the caption, civil action number, witness name, day and date, start time, appearances, etc. It only takes one incorrect digit in a ZIP code or phone number or one incorrect letter in an e-mail address to render the information useless. Examples of factual errors in the body of a transcript include misidentifying speakers and incorrectly marking and identifying exhibits. Tip to improve: When you start working on your transcript, work on the title page first. This will help you remember the assignment and who the participants were. Do not rush when creating this important first page. Then proofread it at least twice. You may also use a checklist to make sure you have covered all the details. Incorrect capturing of testimony A mumbled answer can sound like either “I think so” or “could be so.” Which is it? “September” and “December” are often hard to distinguish. I’ve run across attorneys who swallow the first word of a question; for example, did he say “did you” or “do you”? Even the little words, “a” or “the,” can be a huge problem. Do you know the difference between the two? Hint: One is an indefinite article and the other is a definite article. Tip to improve: While on the job, you should pay attention to the story line and be alert to things that may not make sense. If you are following the testimony, you will be more apt to know when it is appropriate to interrupt and ask for clarification. Putting together a perfect transcript takes enormous care, even for seasoned reporters. This is not the time to be lazy or complacent. Do the necessary work. Make a commitment to continually educate yourself. Enlist the help of an experienced proofreader who can catch your mistakes before the transcript goes to final print. After all, it is your name and reputation that is on the line.
->What is tooth whitening? Tooth whitening, also called bleaching, is a process of lightening and removing stains from a tooth. This process bleaches the enamel and dentin, the principal mass of a tooth, and brightens the discolored teeth. -> What are the different methods of teeth whitening? Some of the teeth whitening options are over-the-counter whitening systems; dentist dispensed at-home products, laser tooth whitening method; Loaded Tray Teeth Whitening method and in-office whitening methods. -> Are the whitening effects permanent? Whitening effects are never permanent. -> How do the teeth whitening kits work? The peroxide chemical is the main ingredient of every whitening product that bleaches the tooth enamel. About 10% carbamide peroxide are present in dentist dispensed products whereas 15 to 35 percent hydrogen peroxide is present in professionally applied tooth whitening products. When these products are used with laser, it speeds up the whitening process. -> Who are not recommended to undergo teeth whitening? Tooth whitening is not recommended for children below 16 and for lactating and pregnant women. Further, individuals with gum disease, worn enamel, cavities, and exposed roots should not undergo any tooth whitening procedure. ->How long does the methods of tooth whitening take? In-office procedures require two or more visits to the dentist and each visit lasts for thirty minutes to one hour. Whereas the at-home products purchased from a dentist or medical store and over-the-counter products take several hours to four weeks to show the result. -> What are the side effects of tooth whitening? Some feel temporary discomfort, such as gum or tooth sensitivity. But these symptoms disappear within 1 to 3 days after the treatment is completed. -> How much does the different methods of tooth whitening cost? The charges vary with location, types of treatment and product used. But Laser or power whitening treatment is always expensive than professional bleaching and home based bleaching. -> How to look after the teeth once they have been whitened? One should eliminate those foods and drinks that stains the teeth and at the same time should stop smoking. He should brush his teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and visit the dentist at least once a year. 430 Sex Positions [$4.99 only] Share your question or experience here:
Standardized Tests A standardized test is an assessment administered and scored in a consistent manner. The tests are designed so questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and handled in a predetermined, standard manner. Data received from standardized tests assist educators with curricular, instructional and program decisions. These data also assist the school and Archdiocese of Baltimore in developing professional development opportunities for teachers and potential interventions for students. They are valid and reliable means to measure individual and overall student performance at a particular point in time.
The Formal Name for Daddy Longlegs is Harvestman Photo by Juliet . 6-5-2015 Harvestmen belong to a different order of Arachnids than spiders. The main difference is that harvestmen appear to have only one main body part while spiders have two obvious main body sections. The Harvestman’s legs are also much longer–hence the colloquial name–and the joints at the body look almost like plugs. Havestmen do not have venom glands or silk glands. They are harmless to humans, and they eat lots of bugs like ticks and chiggers which are pests to us. They are among the oldest of the arachnids. Fossils have been found that are over 410 million years old. One 165 million-year-old fossil looks barely unchanged compared to living harvestmen. Each harvestman lives only a year. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Google+ photo Twitter picture Facebook photo Connecting to %s
Introduction /Chapter 1: The Subconscious Mind What is it which intuits you that you’ve forgotten something in the apartment and you are sure of it, but finally you give up and you find you really had forgotten your earphones? You had a firm compulsion but in a hurry, you ignored it instead. That “compulsion” is generated by your subconscious mind. That part of the brain which is always aware and taking all the information of each tiniest moment that you have been through , to store it in an archive and use it as a kind of reference for handling similar future events in a better way. The reason why the subconscious can only give you as far as a “firm compulsion” and not a formal “You forgot your earphones” is because not all the information of the subconscious can be interpreted to words from our language( we can try to describe it, to say the most). And that collection of experiences of an individual creates the character of every individual’s present self. It decides if the person prefers juice over coffee, the pitch of his/her speaking voice or if he/she would insist on buying the movie tickets beforehand. To elaborate more, our subconscious mind is an automatic machine which takes in information in real time, for the sake of not overburdening our conscious mind with myriads of information it cannot comprehend, and guide the conscious mind in the best possible way. It is true that our subconscious mind holds immense power, and if used effectively can produce anything from a super calculator human to metal bending humans, who interact through their subconscious minds to interact with the metal object and transform its molecular arrangement. Incidents like these are not uncommon these days. Freud divided the mind into the conscious mind (or the ego) and the unconscious mind. The latter was then further divided into the id (or instincts and drive) and the superego (or conscience). In this theory, the unconscious refers to the mental processes of which individuals make themselves unaware. Freud proposed a vertical and hierarchical architecture of human consciousness: the conscious mind, the preconscious, and the unconscious mind—each lying beneath the other. He believed that significant psychic events take place “below the surface” in the unconscious mind, like hidden messages from the unconscious. He interpreted such events as having both symbolic and actual significance. Freud later used his notion of the unconscious in order to explain certain kinds of neurotic behavior. Nevertheless, Freud’s theory of the unconscious was substantially transformed by some of his followers, among them Carl Jung and Jacques Lacan. The subconscious is important in dealing and learning the Ultimate Reality because apart from the conventional uses of the subconscious, the subconscious is a way to all the other realms that exist other than what you see, touch, taste, smell and hear. One of the ways the subconscious interacts with the conscious mind is the dreaming state where your subconscious suggests you subtly, one day at a time. Much research has appeared recently in decrypting the dreams as the symbols in the dreams have to be translated to derive the “big picture”. The concept of the conscious and the subconscious is not new. Maharaja Tipu Sultan (India), in the medieval ages, was frequently visited by good-willed entities warning him of the forthcoming dangers for the kingdom or the people. There have been musicians, who claim to have been learning music in their dreams from their non-physical gurus. We have the example of Swami Yogananda, the great saint’s autobiography is divine and concentrated with lessons of love, light and faith with the very description of “the higher worlds”, that can be accessed by balanced beings through their subconscious. Swami Yogananda also has also made us aware about the power will of a human being. Ra material also states that a human mind, sufficiently trained in controlling the power of the will can materialize any physical object when and where they wish to! We are much more than just civilizations of random people living on a planet that just “happened” to be fit for generating life forms and sustaining them through such vast amounts of time. Look around you, the world is full of mysteries. There are theories still coming up about how the great pyramids were made, Bermuda triangle is another mystic place where space/time changes behavior in inexplicable ways. Shamanism is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to encounter and interact with the Spirit world. A shaman is a person regarded as having access to, and influence in the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who typically enters into a trance state during a ritual, and practices divination and healing. Further investigation shows that after ingesting plants like Salvia Divinorum, a shaman is able to shift his consciousness into the higher planes of dimension, the consciousness state where he is able to see everything. Everything meaning if an object is observed, you will perceive the object at its true form. Both, the frontal and the posterior parts of every object is observed simultaneously. This is very hard to visualize because our minds have been trained from the moment we open our eyes to observe and perceive the 3-dimensional world, of which we are a part of. After proper rituals preceding healing, the shaman goes into a state of trance, expands his consciousness to find which part of the patient is not well and the cause of disease is removed. It is magical for us, but to them, its just another practice routine as their whole life is dedicated to helping the community. Another great aspect of the subconscious are lucid dreams. Lucid dreaming is one of the ways to get access to the astral world. A lucid dream is a dream in which the dreamer, though conscious efforts or accidentally becomes aware that he/she is dreaming whilst dreaming. The effect of becoming aware in a dream is that the dreamer now has control over the happenings of his dream. In simple words, you can drive your personalized Lamborghini any night you want. Of course, the possibilities are endless, you could do anything from an audience simulation for an upcoming performance. or just try out the extremes of what your imagination can give you. It is pretty entertaining too, but should not be practiced with carelessness. Caution should be observed. The distinction between nonlucid and lucid dreams represents perhaps the broadest level of variation in dream experiences presently recognized. The contemporary notion of a lucid dream is a “dream in which one knows one is dreaming” (Green, 1968). This is in contrast to the nonlucid dream, in which dreamers are not aware of being in the dream state. Another interesting phenomenon is an Out-of-Body Experience, often called OBE’s(Also referred as Astral Projection). An out-of-body experience (OBE or sometimes OOBE) is an experience that typically involves a sensation of floating outside one’s body and, in some cases, perceiving one’s physical body from a place outside one’s body (autoscopy) or experiencing something located physically. An OBE may be spontaneous sometimes, or can also be achieved by training. The Monroe Institute’s Nancy Penn Center is the oldest and most established facility specializing in out-of-body experience induction. The Center for Higher Studies of the Consciousness in Brazil is another large OBE training facility. The International Academy of Consciousness in southern Portugal features the Projectarium, a spherical structure dedicated exclusively for practice and research on out-of-body experience. Olaf Blanke’s Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience has become a well-known laboratory for OBE research. The astral body(or etheric body) is a subtle body posited by many religious philosophers, intermediate between the intelligent soul and the physical body, composed of a subtle material. It has a much lighter form than the physical human body. It has the ability to travel at the speed of thought. Because you think..and you are there. Evidence for objective reality of projection on to the etheric plane (a near-copy of the physical plane) is sometimes suggested when people, such as patients during surgery, describe OBEs in which they see or hear events or objects outside their sensory range (for instance, Pam Reynolds reported experiencing an OBE during brain surgery and described a surgical instrument she had not seen previously, as well as conversation that occurred while she was under anesthesia). My next post would probably be a poem so, you subscribers not interested in poems can skip it until next chapter is compiled. More information may be added in published chapters if need be observed. Comment your Feedbacks or mail at 1. No trackbacks yet. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Google+ photo Twitter picture Facebook photo Connecting to %s %d bloggers like this:
english toy spaniel breed information common health issues Entropion describes the inward rolling of the eyelid, often causing the eyelashes to come into contact with the eyeball and cause irritation and often ulceration. Many affected dogs will require surgical correction and severe cases may require multiple surgeries. Corneal dystrophy is weakness in the layers of the cornea. Severely affected dogs are prone to painful corneal erosions and ulcers. Some types of corneal dystrophy result in lipid or cholesterol deposits on the cornea, which are generally painless and do not interfere with vision. Treatment varies depending on the severity of the lesions. The retina lines the back of the eye and is responsible for transmitting visual stimulus to the brain. Retinal dysplasia is a malformation of the retina which can range from mild retinal folds to severe dysplasia with detachment of the retina and blindness. Visually impaired dogs generally adapt to life well due to their keen sense of smell. Also known as aseptic necrosis of the femoral head, Legg-Calve-Perthes is a disease of the femoral head (or ball) of the hip and causes lameness in young, small breed dogs. The blood supply to the femoral head is cut off, causing the bone to die. Treatment inevitably requires surgery to the affected hip. Hip dysplasia is an inherited condition in which the ball and socket of the hip joint do not fit well together, resulting in a hip with increased laxity. This laxity can lead to degenerative changes and depending on the severity, may require surgical correction. Authorities agree that the English Toy Spaniel originated in the Far East and later emerged in England, appearing in portraits of noblemen in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The black-and-tan-colored dogs were reportedly the favorites of King Charles I, so early breeding programs focused on that variety. In the late 1600s, they were interbred with Pugs, which resulted in a smaller dog with the now characteristic flatter nose, rounded head and big eyes. Treasured as a merry, affectionate companion dog, the English Toy Spaniel was also said to be a fine small hunting dog, particularly with game birds. Today, the breed is divided into four varieties based on color: Blenheim (mahogany red and white); Ruby (rich mahogany red); Prince Charles (white with black and tan markings); and King Charles (black and tan). The Prince Charles and King Charles varieties’ coats are longer, but regular brushing is all that is needed to keep them neat. These small dogs, weighing between 8 and 15 lbs., need moderate daily exercise to stay happy and fit. The English Toy Spaniel is a wonderful family dog, known to be gentle, playful, loving and sweet. He is friendly with other dogs and with children, though he can be willful and demanding. He needs a consistent leader who can keep any behavior issues at bay with firm but gentle treatment. Playful personality aside, the English Toy Spaniel is still prone to a number of hereditary and congenital conditions that can adversely affect his health, and your family’s budget. Some of the conditions and illnesses English Toy Spaniels are prone to include joint conditions such as hip dysplasia and Legg-Calve-Perthes disease; and eye conditions such as distichiasis, retinal dysplasia, entropion, and corneal dystrophy. Thankfully, Petplan pet insurance covers all hereditary and chronic conditions as standard. Which means if your English Toy Spaniel inherits his mother’s bad eyes or his father’s bad hips, you’re protected. Use the condition checker tool to learn what common conditions your pet may have. claim calculator • your share of the cost: $450 • Petplan's reimbursement to you: $1550 • coverage remaining in policy period: Unlimited (full policy limits are reinstated upon renewal)

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