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日本のエディプス ⑤
Non-expression and cultural value
As the above-mentioned Zeami’s thought, the issue of non-expression is also related to their sense of beauty and aesthetic value. Shuzo Kuki’s notion of “iki”. In his masterpiece, “The Structure of ‘Iki’”, he made an analysis of “iki”. Iki roughly means “chic”, an aesthetic concept current among the fashionable set in Edo era. He stresses that it is one of the essential values of Japanese culture. For the lack of English equivalent, Iki is described in numerous ways to describe; Iki is an expression of simplicity, sophistication, spontaneity, and originality. It is ephemeral, romantic, straightforward, measured, audacious, smart, and unselfconscious. Iki is not overly refined, pretentious, complicated, showy, slick, coquettish, or, generally, cute. At the same time, iki may exhibit any of those traits in a smart, direct, and unabashed manner.
What seems to be essential in Iki is its beauty in indirect and ephemeral nature. What is overly showy and ostensible is “Yabo”, the antonym of Iki. One of the examples of the expression of “iki” is haura,literary meaning the lining of haori. When the Sumptuary law was issued repeatedly by Edo government in ancient Japan, people started to design an elegant and stylish pattern underside of jacket, which is usually worn in and never show outside. |
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
The World's Seven Amazing Trees
Some tree species are simply amazing. Here are some of the most unusual trees from around the world.
1.) A Tree on the Wall: Spider Man Tree
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So you thought only Spider Man can cling to the wall? This is simply fantastic! A tree on the wall! This absolutely amazing tree is scientifically named Ficus mollis. This variety of fig tree on the wall grew directly on the wall of Bhongir Fort in Andhra Pradesh, India.
2.) The Mystical Rainbow Eucalyptus
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One of the most amazingly colorful species of tree is the Rainbow Eucalyptus or Eucalyptus deglupta. This tree with bright and uniquely colored trunk and branches can be found in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. It can be found also in New Britain, New Guinea, Ceram and Sulawesi. The tree is now cultivated worldwide for paper making.
It has become a popular ornamental plant as well because of its showy multi-colored streaks that covers the trunks. The outer bark patches shed every year revealing the inner bark which is bright-green in color. The color will become darker and matures giving blue, orange and purple and then maroon tones. This tall and beautiful tree is also commonly known as the Mindanao Gum or the Rainbow Gum.
3.) The Gigantic Kapok Tree
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The very large Cotton-Silk Kapok on the above photo is located in Lal Bagh Gardens in Bangalore, India. This tropical tree, which is formally known as Ceiba pentandra, is arguably the largest specimen of a Kapok tree in the world.
The tree is native to Mexico, Caribbean, Central and South America tropical and had been introduced in other tropical countries of the world. Other common names of this species include Silk Cotton, Ceiba, Java Kapok, Java Cotton and Kapasanglay among the Ilocanos of the Philippines. To the Mayan people, the tree is a sacred symbol.
4.) The Fantastic Plane Tree
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The oldest and most beautiful Platanus in Europe is located at the Konak of Prince Miloš, a royal residence in Belgrade, Serbia. This tree, a protected natural rarity, is more than 160 years of age. Platanus are large trees endemic to the Northern Hemisphere growing to 50 meters in height. This unique and drought tolerant tree is commonly known in English as Plane or Plane Tree. Most of its branches spread horizontally making the tree a popular attraction.
5.) The Grandiose Grandidier’s Baobab
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The grandiose Grandidier’s Baobab, a branchless tree on the trunk, is located in Madagascar. Scientifically known as Adansonia grandidieri, the Baobab specimen on the above photo is the grandest and most famous of the 6 baobabs in the country. This handsome-looking tree that branches only on the top is native to Madagascar and was featured on the film “Madagascar”.
6.) The Awesome Curtain Fig Tree
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Curtains are not just for walls and windows. Some species of trees grow their own curtain too and one of which is the “Curtain Fig Tree”. This particular specimen is one of the largest trees in Queensland, Australia and one of the most popular tourist attractions on the Atherton Tableland. This parasitic organism is from strangler fig species Ficus virens.
7.) The Strangling Tetrameles nudiflora
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One of the most recognizable pictures of unusual trees is the one located in the ruins of Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia. This particular specimen of a strangler fig is trying to engulf the entire building. The famous tree is scientifically known as Tetrameles nudiflora, a tree species that can be found also in Australia, Bhutan, China and other Southeast Asian countries where they have grown so huge and tall.
1 comment:
1. The Mystical Rainbow Eucalyptus looks so magical. I imagined that a fairy will come out. |
Quality Control
When one wants the family car to run smoothly, the skill and attention of a good servicing automobile mechanic is crucial. We don’t take the car to a plumber. We want the most experienced car mechanic to be working on the car or drewaaa1operating in a diligent supervisory role over those who have been well trained. We don’t want a person with limited hands-on experience to make critical decisions on how the engine ought to operate.
So ? As Bruce L Jones cites, “The one thing that we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history.”
We used to have schooling garages run by schooling mechanics until the plumbers took over.
The history of the school inspectorate in Queensland, Australia tells its own story when the maintenance of high school standards used to be of crucial importance. Those who knew what the operations of a school were like were supervising the activities at the chalk-face. These people had been at the chalk-face themselves for some time and had run schools in different parts of the state. Expert teachers, they were the outstanding mechanics of the system. It was once true of all states. They were called Inspectors, a much-derided term in early years, but turning into one of respect and appreciation towards the end of the 20th Century.
Paladins of the service, they knew what was going on within a classroom; they had been there and done that as teachers and principals; they had a close connection with curriculum development and ensured that Principals and teachers were able to contribute to it; they flew with pollen on the wings for they could recognise a good idea and were able to spread its use; they shared their evaluation of classroom performance with teachers in the same way that teachers were enjoined to share with their pupils. They expected results and their experience and seniority carried their own forms of clout. Clout is necessary in some circumstances and a network for curriculum excellence was developing in some Australian states that was efficient and effective. No question.
Based on the opinion of the Inspectorate, people were promoted through positions of authority to higher levels. From the classroom levels, applicants for positions as Deputy-Principal and for Principals of one-teacher schools were judged as to suitability for the position advertised. Principals of larger schools shared the opinion. Neophyte school administrators were chosen on merit, carefully. Occupants were expected to remain at an assigned level for a mandated minimum period of time before eligibility for the next promotion. The system was experience-based, similar to promotions in the armed forces. Occupants learned on the job at one level before feeling confident about the next. The whole Inspectorate gathered each year for an intense week or so to arrange all applicants in an order of merit for each position available. The system did not need bio-graphs or interviews because the capacity and potential of all applicants were well known.
Then about 1990, managerial egg-heads, whose knowledge of business and corporate structures was regarded as profound, moved in. They were everywhere and one of them in Queensland later became Prime Minister. They thought that the world of schooling was a clone of the world of business. They were in positions of influence and were persuasive in their use of managerial new-talk. Possessed by down-sizing and out-sourcing away went concern for the pupilling processes, and, with it, the control of quality and the press for high achievements. Corporate language took the place of school talk. Without reflection on our PM, he and his colleagues, sometimes called in to review government operations, just didn’t know what happens in schools; and thought that changes happened best from the top-down. In schooling circles it became an unadulterated debacle.
The general state of affairs has remained drastic and is likely to deteriorate further. The power folk think that the problem lies with the schools, instead of what they have done to them. Again, they are starting at the wrong end. |
Gangorra Bomba.png
From soil studies undertaken the year after he founded Gaviotas, Lugari had learned that the region of the llanos was like a gigantic mattress suspended above a huge underground reservoir of clean, sand-filtered runoff water from the Andes. Nevertheless, eighty percent of the maladies suffered by llaneros and local indígenas were caused by water contamination near the surface. The first important task was to get at the pure water below.
Alonso Gutiérrez, one of the mechanical engineers at Gaviotas, found the solution when he was thinking about the inherent problems of piston-driven water pumps. One problem, for example, was the seal created by the water against the sides of the sleeve. To move a piston in a piston-driven water pump in order to make the enclosed water rise, you spent energy lifting it against the pressure of that seal, as well as against the weight of both the water and of the rod and piston. Instead of wasting energy by lifting a heavy piston, why not leave the piston in place within a lightweight plastic sleeve, and lift the sleeve instead? During the dry season the water table in the llanos usually dropped below the limit of conventional hand pumps, leaving disease-ridden surface streams as the only water source. But because Gutiérrez's sleeve pump didn't require applying force against atmospheric pressure, he was certain that it could pump water from a much deeper well. The sleeve would be so light that even a small child could work the pump.
When Luis Robles, another engineer, was explaining the concept of a pump handle to some children at the Gaviotas school, one of them observed that it was similar to half a seesaw. Robles then built a seesaw and attached it to a sleeve pump outside the kindergarten so that when children played on the seesaw, they also pumped water for the school. In the late 1980s, Gaviotans brought their sleeve pumps and other appropriate technology to more than 600 villages as part of the Colombian government's Agua Para Todos (Water for Everyone) program.
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While most enzymes are very specific for a single substrate, a few are much more versatile. The main interest of the Scott laboratory involves the ability of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes to both bind and metabolize a number of chemicals that are very different in size, shape, and stereochemistry. Within an organism, the presence of a set of these multi-taking enzymes is largely responsible for the ability to eliminate foreign chemicals including drugs, environmental substances, and carcinogens.
2E1 Structure
Major questions include:
• How does the three-dimensional structure of a cytochrome P450 recognize, bind, and metabolize multiple chemically diverse substrates?
• By what mechanism can two different P450 enzymes act on a common substrate but differentiate between other chemicals that only one of them can metabolize?
• How do selective inhibitors interact with the protein structure in these versatile enzymes?
• How can we use this knowledge to advance human health by preventing disease, understanding how drugs are manipulated in the body, and to treat diseases?
To investigate these and related questions, the laboratory uses methods in molecular biology, biochemistry, X-ray crystallography, and NMR. Recently major projects in the lab have involved the human P450 enzymes 2A6, 2A13, 2E1, and 1A1, which constitute a model system for examining enzymes with both overlapping and distinct substrates. The general hypothesis is that comparison of molecular structure and biochemistry across different P450 enzymes will assist in the identification of physical and chemical protein features responsible for differences in their function. Theses characteristics can then be used to understand and predict substrate specificity and to design selective inhibitors for clinical use.
Applications to prevention of lung cancer: CYP2A13
One application of the basic biochemistry above is our effort to design a selective inhibitor of cytochrome P450 2A13 for the prevention of lung cancer in smokers. CYP2A13 acts on a ring-opened form of nicotine to clear it from the body. Unfortunately, in the process two carcinogens are created by CYP2A13. These carcinogens interact with DNA to cause lung cancer. Since smokers without a functional copy of the CYP2A13 protein are physiologically normal but less likely to develop lung cancer, we reasoned that inhibition of CYP2A13 activity could be used to safely reduce lung cancer risk in those who cannot or will not give up exposure to nicotine. Working with the KU High Thoughput Screening Laboratory and the KU Specialized Chemistry Center we have developed compounds that selective inhibit CYP2A13, but not the closely related human liver CYP2A6 enzyme. These compounds are currently being tested to determine if they will make good pharmaceutical agents.
CYP2A13 inhibitor graphic700
Applications to prostate and breast cancer: CYP17A1
Cytochrome P450 17A1 (CYP17A1) performs sequential hydroxylase and lyase reactions essential for the production of androgen and estrogen sex steroids. Prostate cancer and breast cancer proliferate in response to androgens and estrogens, respectively. Thus inhibition of CYP17A1 is a new approach to treat prostate and breast cancer, but no structures of CYP17A1 were previously available to assist in drug design. We determined structures of CYP17A1, first as complexes with drugs approved by the FDA for metastatic prostate cancer (abiraterone or Zytiga(R)) or currently in clinical trials (TOK-001 or Galeterone(R)). These structures:
• demonstrated that both drugs bind almost perpendicular to the heme prosthetic group, rather than the parallel orientation predicted
• revealed important opportunities to improve drug design, which are the subject of ongoing research
• demonstrated similarities to steroid receptors likely to form the basis for the dual mechanism of action for TOK-001 at the androgen receptor
• elucidate the structural roles of many mutations found in patients with diseases called 17-hydroxylase deficiencies |
Other Stories
Paveway LGB
Laser Guided Bomb
Early guided munitions development:
"There is a need to destroy with pinpoint accuracy..." -- 1950s Pentagon Study
Guided weapons were nothing new to the United States military, even in 1965. The concept dated back to the Germans and World War II. German scientists developed the FRITX-X and the HS-293 both based on radio controlled guidance. These were used by the German Luftwaffe to destroy the Italian battleship Roma on September 3, 1943 because the Italians were going to turn the ship over to the Allies. At the end of World War II, the U.S. Army Air Force had used radio guided bombs to destroy bridges in Burma, and then again five years later in Korea. The weapons were difficult to use, hard to maintain and because of radio control problems often were unreliable, but they proved guided weapons were a reality.
However, the strHe-111s were used to test early radio bombsategic thinking of the 1950s revolved around bombs large enough to destroy cities, not bridges. The Pentagon promptly abandoned guided weapon development,. promising as it was, for a larger concept, that of nuclear weapons. For the most part, during the 1950s, guided air-to-ground weapons were a neglected step child. The favored approach was to use a blunt sledgehammer type nuclear weapon and not a surgical scalpel to take out targets.
The U.S. Navy and Air Force had been using radio guided weapons for a few years by the time the air war began over Southeast Asia. However, the bombs had unreliable guidance packages, and when they did hit a target the small warheads were not enough to destroy an object as large and well made as a bridge. In the case of the 1965 Than Hoa raid, pilots reported the bombs simply bounced off the bridge with no noticeable damage to the French made structure.
Word started thinking along lines that would get American bombs closer to their intended targets. An engineer with Texas Instruments, Word had been working on a submarine detection net off the New England coast and was looking for more challenging work when he crossed paths with laser engineer Dave Salonimer, in late 1964. Salonimer was trying to convince the U.S. Army to use a laser targeting sysFlash Gordon fire his ray guntem for artillery strikes. "Dave had conceived this idea of the Army artillery using a laser. Well, Salonimer thought wouldn't it be great if you could take a flashlight, ala a laser, mark a target, and then send a missile or a shell or whatever over the hill and hit it," Word said. "Those where the serious early thoughts about laser guidance."
Within the military, however, there were no takers for Salonimer's "Buck Rogers" idea of using lasers to guide projectiles, and in late 1964 the Huntsville, Alabama based scientist wanted Texas Instruments to devise a way to launch a Shrike air launched anti-radar missile from the ground then use a laser guidance system to guided the missile to a marked target. It all sounds easy, today, for the buddy lasing tactic is standard work for the U.S. Army and Air Force, but in 1964 it was still the stuff of science fiction.
Adapting an air launched missile for ground use wasn't easy either, remembers TI engineer Tom Weaver. "We started looking at the use of the Shrike airframe, which is not very good I might add, but it was low cost and simple to make," Weaver said. "It looked promising, enough for a demo contract anyway, but nothing came of it."
Continue to "The Proposal"
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Home / Sources of pollution / Chronic pollution
Chronic pollution
Marine pollution is the chronic or accidental release into the environment of natural or artificial substances that are harmful to ecosystems, human health and/or water-related uses. Natural phenomena, such as volcanic eruptions, are therefore not covered by the term pollution as used in this document.
Chronic marine pollution is caused by permanent or periodical releases of polluting substances.
Did you know?
It all starts with tributyltin (or TBT), a chemical which was used, a few years ago, in antifouling paints applied to the bottom of ships. Although it has not been used since 2008, tributyltin persists in port environments as it has very low biodegradability.
Studies have shown that the presence of TBT causes the appearance of a male reproductive organ in female dog whelks Nucella lapillus, small marine gastropods•. This masculinization of individuals is responsible for the disappearance of this species in certain coastal areas with intense boating activity.
Japanese tragedy in Minamata
From 1932 to 1966, a chemical plant discharged methylmercury• (mercury• in organic form) on a daily basis into the waters of Minamata Bay in Japan. Methylmercury is an extremely toxic substance that accumulates in the tissues of living organisms and persists for a very long time in the environment. It settles on the bottom and gradually contaminates the food chain, in particular fish and seafood.
Local populations, as major seafood consumers, were contaminated by the poison which, in humans, mainly affects the nervous system. Consequently, in the 1950s, many lives were lost. Babies born in the villages bordering Minamata Bay suffered malformations and neurological defects. Many children and adults showed a lack of balance, shaking and delirium.
It was not until 1959 that a group of scientists made the link between these releases of methylmercury and the symptoms observed in local populations. However, due to the factory's failure to cooperate, the situation did not change. It was not until 1966 that the discharge of mercury stopped, following the introduction of a more economical synthesis process. Now many years later, the compensation procedure is still in progress.
Some releases of chemicals are authorized subject to compliance with certain standards, designed to reduce impact on health and the environment.
However, chronic discharge is often illegal for different reasons: non-compliance with standards, release in unauthorized areas or of unauthorized substances.
Chronic pollution can come from different sources: wastewater from rural and urban areas; industrial discharge (chemical, oil and agri-food industries) and farming practices (fertilizer, livestock manure, pesticides).
Polluting substances may be discharged directly into the marine environment or be carried there by the hydrographic network•.
Last update: 07/12/2016 |
Finding Nemo
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Finding Nemo is a film profiling the terrifying experience of a fish named Nemo being separated from his father Marlin. Marlin and his wife Coral had their several eggs hidden. While appreciating their new home in the Great Reef Barrier, they are attacked by a barracuda. The barracuda goes after the eggs and Coral attempts to save the eggs. Marlin is knocked unconscious by the barracuda; when Marlin wakes up, Coral and all but one egg are gone. Marlin names the fish Nemo and he is very protective of him. When Nemo’s first day of school arrives, Nemo is excited, but Marlin is nervous. Nemo doesn’t listen to his father and swims away from the reef and goes towards a boat. Nemo is taken by a diver and Marlin is not able to save Nemo.
Marlin now goes on a search for his only child. Along his journey, he meets Dory. While Dory is very kind and always has a good attitude, she has short-term memory loss which often agitates Marlin. Dory joins Marlin on the search for Nemo. On their journey, they are attacked by sharks, almost killed by an anglerfish, and ride on the East Australian Current with many turtles. They also find a pair of goggles, which reads P Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney”. This is the destination where Nemo is being held. While all of this is happening to Marlin and Dory, Nemo is being held in a fish tank with numerous other sea creatures. The other sea creatures warn Nemo that if he doesn’t escape soon, he will in the possession of a girl named Darla; Darla is known to not take care of her fish.
The other sea creatures in the fish tank try to devise an escape plan for Nemo. The first time it fails and Nemo almost dies. On his own, Nemo attempts to escape again and he is successful. Darla walks in at the same time of Nemo’s escape. Nemo plays dead so Darla doesn’t take him, but Marlin ironically arrives at the same time and believes Nemo is dead. Marlin is obviously saddened by his Nemo’s apparent death; he leaves Dory and heads home. Dory...
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3 Ways to Learn What New Technology Really Means for You
3 Ways to learn what new technology really means for you
The connection between people and technology across the world intensified in 2016. We saw the mass adoption of home assistants and AI beating a human at the complex game Go, as well as Pokemon G0 where AR went mainstream for the first time. We saw the launch of OpenBazaar that allowed sales to happen between anyone, anywhere in the world using Bitcoin. Each one of these projects–and thousands of others–represent great strides integrating technology into our daily lives in unprecedented ways.
Are all these changes beneficial? These technologies clearly have benefits, but what about their risks? How should we assess emerging technologies in 2017?
The questions are only getting tougher as we continue. Even within the Bitcoin community the debate about the future of the blockchain is intense and can be difficult to understand, much less take a stance on, but we have a collective responsibility to take an active part in defining our ongoing relationship with technology.
If we unquestioningly accept or reject new technologies we may face unexpected risks or forgo substantial benefits.
Here are some questions to ask about emerging technology in the new year:
1. What does this technology do?
2. Who controls this technology?
3. Who benefits from – and who bears the costs of – this technology?
These questions create a simple framework to analyze emerging technologies. Every person has different opinions on what makes technology beneficial. This post is meant to give the user a framework, not meant to convey any sort of objective analysis (though the opinions of the author will be displayed).
1. What does this technology do?
In order to determine if an emerging technology is beneficial, you must know what it does. While this sounds obvious, it’s all too common for people to dismiss emerging technology as not beneficial (or even harmful) without even taking the time to understand how it works. Adam Thierer, technology policy expert, explains so-called “techno-panics” where people act unreasonably towards the threats of emerging technology.
If you look at the details of most emerging technologies you’ll find the specific action they enable is typically somewhat tame and nothing to be afraid of, but some take the worst case scenario and play on people’s fears and ignorance of the new technology.
2. Who controls this technology?
A core aspect of technology is its dynamic nature. A technology doesn’t spring into existence and remain static, but grows and changes over time. It’s important to understand who controls this technology in order to properly assess how beneficial it is, and over what time scale the costs or benefits will remain, or be lost.
If a technology is purely digital, then it’s important to determine if it is open or closed source. Open source technology means the code is available for everyone to look at and use, whereas closed source technology is controlled only by those building it. Technology built on closed source code may not be malicious and may be beneficial to its users; many of the most popular applications are closed source.
Unfortunately, there are dangers in used closed source technology. First, you don’t know exactly what it is doing. Since no one but the builders have access to the code, you are forced to trust that they aren’t doing anything harmful. Second, even if you currently trust them, with closed source you need to trust them forever. This makes assessing the benefit of technologies built on closed source code difficult. What was beneficial yesterday might be malicious tomorrow, and you wouldn’t know.
With open source project, developers are able to see what the code is doing and see when it changes. They can relay this information to everyone so that no one needs to place so much trust in the builders.
If control of a technology is closely held by a single organization or small group of people, then you are forced to trust their motivations currently as well as in the future. If the control of the technology is distributed to all its users and not held by a small group, trust isn’t needed.
At first glance it seems obvious that the people who benefit from emerging technologies are whoever is using them. At some level this is true; in most cases people aren’t using a certain technology unless they believe it is helping them. However, not everyone is aware of the costs involved with using some technologies.
There are trade-offs associated with nearly all technologies. Some trade-offs are obvious. Buying the newest technology typically costs more money than existing technologies. Purchasing the vehicle with the most recent safety improvements will likely be more expensive than older (but less safe) models. The newest smartphones cost the most. These are easy to see. Other times the trade-offs are more difficult to calculate.
1. What does this technology do?
There are many examples of emerging technologies that people don’t take time to understand. Drones are machines that make flying substantially cheaper and more accessible to the general population, and the vast majority of drone owners are responsible and pose no threats to others. However, due to conflating drones with large military drones used overseas in combat zones, and a few infrequent cases of irresponsible drone owners, some fear the worst from a society where drone use is common. Understanding how drones work – including their limitations – should help allay those fears.
2. Who controls this technology?
There are numerous examples of a technology initially having noble intentions and eventually straying from them due to them being controlled by a small group.
Paypal is an example. Peter Thiel co-founded Paypal, and described a vision for Paypal that would compete with government issued currency and protect users from inflation. Years later, Paypal has been unable to deliver on Thiel’s vision, while another emerging technology – Bitcoin – has begun to do just that. This is because of who controls the two technologies. Paypal is controlled by a company and must respond to company leadership, shareholders, and governments. Bitcoin is controlled by no central organization and no one is forced to trust that any company, group of shareholders, or government won’t change it for the worse – because they can’t.
No matter how noble the intentions of the creators are, nor how beneficial the technology is today, if it’s controlled by a small group then you cannot be certain those benefits will remain over time.
The traditional model for online shopping is an example of unseen costs. A buyer may chose Amazon or Alibaba because of convenience and selection. The process of buying is simple and quick, and the prices are usually pretty good. What a buyer doesn’t see are the costs associated, both to himself and to the seller.
The most obvious cost is the cut taken from the transaction itself, typically around 10 or 15%. The seller typically passes on some of the costs to the buyer, meaning they are effectively paying higher prices due to those fees.
Another cost is the loss of data from both parties. The platform now knows more information about both parties involved. They can take that information and build detailed profiles about the users, and use that information themselves or sell that information to others. There is a cost associated with the risk that the platform will be hacked and your private information stolen, especially credit card information. Identity theft and online fraud are rampant, largely due to online retailers having their security breached.
Other costs are less obvious. Buyers and sellers are shown a curated and censored marketplace of goods and services. The platforms tightly control their own marketplaces with terms and conditions and are willing to censor trade for their own benefit or on behalf of governments. You may not have access to the best products because of behind the scenes deals, or the platform may remove products you love in favor of cheaper products you don’t want.
Perhaps the least obvious cost is the exclusion of users from this system who don’t have access to credit. Users who are unable to obtain a credit card, either due to their geographical location or socioeconomic status, aren’t able to participate in the system at all. Users in the system aren’t even aware of their exclusion and will never know what goods or services they could have offered or purchased.
Using Bitcoin and OpenBazaar for online commerce have their own trade-offs, but avoid some of the costs mentioned above. With both Bitcoin and OpenBazaar…
• No organization controls the technology; it is completely distributed.
• No company, group of developers, or government controls the open source code.
• Users need not fear about a small group exerting control and straying from the original intentions of the project.
Everyone who uses the technology benefits from not relying on middlemen. Users don’t pay fees, don’t have their data collected, and don’t have their trade censored. The costs are also borne by the same users, needing to run the software on their computers and connecting to the internet.
OpenBazaar doesn’t exclude any users from the system.
What emerging technologies most interest you in 2017? How does it stack up to these three steps?
Want to try some disruptive ecommerce technology to see if it’s right for you?
Download OpenBazaar now and find out! |
Looking for a fun art activity to entertain your kids? This project is easy, requires only a few supplies, and will entertain kids for quite a while.
You will need:
paper (we used construction paper, but cardstock would work as well)
an aluminum tray (like a disposable roasting pan) that is slightly larger than your paper
craft sand in various colors (you can buy online or at some craft stores; call first to ensure they have it in stock)
white glue
newspaper (or something to cover your work surface)
optional: glitter, a pencil, paper plates or empty salt shakers
Project Notes: this project is a lot of fun, but it can get very messy! You may want to try this outside, if there’s a sheltered spot that’s not too windy. If you choose to try it inside, you might want to cover your work surface with newspaper or place mats of some kind.
Step 1: Start with one piece of paper. You can draw out a pattern, picture or just random lines using your pencil. (Or you can skip this step altogether and just use the glue to draw patterns.)
Step 2: Place the paper into the tray. Take out your sand and either pour a little bit of each color onto a paper plate (I’ve found that it is easier for little hands to have one plate for each color of sand, instead of sharing plates with multiple colors of sand), or adding colored sand to salt shakers (I would use cheap and small salt shakers from a dollar store, if you choose to go this route).
Step 3: Trace over the pencil lines with the glue. If you skipped drawing on the paper, use the glue to create patterns or random lines directly onto the paper.
Step 3: While the glue is still wet, sprinkle craft sand over the glue. You can mix the colors together, or you can cover different areas of the glue with one particular color (for example, if you drew a flower, you might add pink sand to the petals, and green sand to the stem/leaves). If your kids are using the sand off of the plates, this is a good exercise for practicing fine motor skills (pinching the sand between fingers is great practice!) Salt shakers work will for little hands too, and can help with hand/eye coordination in using the salt shakers to add sand to the paper.
Step 4: Once you’ve covered all of your glue with sand, shake the excess sand off of the paper and into the tray. You’ll end up with all the sand colors mixed together, but you can always use the rainbow sand to decorate a new glue picture (this looks really pretty on random abstract glue lines!) If you really want the colors of sand to stay separated, you can dump the excess sand off of the paper before adding a new color. Store sand in ziplock bags for limited mess. Optional: Use glitter in place of one color of sand to add a sparkly pop to your artwork!
Step 5: Set aside to dry. This type of art project will not last for a long time, unless you want to seal it. You’d need to buy Modge Podge or another type of sealant in order to keep the sand from drying out and falling off of the page. They do look pretty while they last, and kids have a blast working on their art. This project kept my toddlers and preschoolers entertained for more than 30 minutes at a time. A great way to “save” these types of projects is to take a photograph. |
Statutes of Limitations
Statutes of Limitations
Statutes of Limitations
The idea behind statutes of limitation is mainly one of general practicability and fairness. It is never fair to let a legal matter hang unfinished over someone’s head indefinitely. There needs to be a distinct end to each legal conflict in order to let the parties involved move on with their lives. Particular legal matters may cause parties to cease certain business transactions or personal activity as they await the outcome.
A similar dynamic is at work with respect to statutes of limitation. The offending party in any legal dispute knows that he or she committed or may be accused of committing some wrong against the other party. In such a case, the wronged party must decide whether to press a lawsuit in order to recover for his or her wrong. The law will not tolerate a procrastinative plaintiff, a plaintiff who delays for effect, or one who is negligent or forgetful. After a period of time has passed, the chance to sue disappears.
How Long?
The lengths of time for statutes of limitation correspond roughly to the amount of notice that both parties have regarding the underlying injury or wrong. The more notice both parties have that there is a problem and the more likely it is that the injured party will sue, the longer the statute of limitation. The less likely it is that the offending party will be aware of his wrong or the more inconsequential it is likely to be, the shorter the statute of limitation.
The longest statutes of limitation are generally those regarding the recovery of judgments after a lawsuit. Obviously, the parties are clearly on notice in this situation. If the losing party refuses to pay his judgment, it should come as no surprise that he will be sued, even if it is as many as ten years later. On the other hand, if one person is physically injured by another person but does not sue within a year or two, it is reasonable to expect that the plaintiff either forgot about the injury or it was not as serious as originally suspected. In this case, the potential defendant is protected from a lawsuit that he may not even be aware is pending, especially more than a year or two after the accident that caused the injury occurred.
Where no statute is listed on the following chart, it is probable that there is simply not a specific statute governing the situation. In these cases, a general civil statute of limitation most likely applies. For example, in cases of medical malpractice, the statute of limitation may just as easily be covered by the statute governing personal injury.
From When to When?
There are many interesting controversies about when statutes of limitation begin and end. In many cases, the injured party may not even know he was wronged until a great while after the wrong was committed. This is often true in the case of breach of contract or fraud, and it often arises, perhaps surprisingly, in cases of personal injury or medical malpractice. In the case of certain surgical procedures, the party may not know that, for example, a sponge was left in his abdomen or something else was done improperly—until years later. There has also been much controversy, now largely settled by statute, about whether the statute should begin to run when the wrong was committed or when it was discovered. Court decisions have largely gone in favor of the injured party, allowing the statute to start running upon discovery of the injury or when the injury or act of negligence should “reasonably have been discovered.”
Most states “toll” or stop the statute of limitation upon the incapacity of the injured party. But there are a number of ways a person can be incapacitated. If the person has been committed to a mental hospital or is out of the country, these may toll the statute of limitation until they either regain their mental facilities or return from abroad.
Overall, the statutes of limitation are fair and reasonable limitations of potentially disruptive and always distracting legal action between parties. Dramatic stories about lawyers rushing to file papers before the statute runs out are almost always due to the injured party’s (or the party’s attorney’s) procrastination or negligence.
Inside Statutes of Limitations |
Fiji Geography
Located 1,770 km to New Zealand's north, Fiji is an archipelago of 522 islets and 322 volcanic islands in the South Pacific. With 106 of the island's geography permanently populated, Viti Levu is the country's largest island and encompasses approximately 57% of Fiji's land area. Home to two of the nation's official cities, Lautoka and Suva, the capital, the island's population comprises 69% of the country's total and is one of Fiji's most popular holiday destinations.
Vanua Levu is Fiji's second main island and is 64 km to Viti Levu's north. With a land area covering approximately 30%, the island is home to only 15% of the total population. The main towns of the island are Savusavu and Labasa while to the northeast, Natewa Bay shapes the Loa peninsula.
The islands feature mountainous terrain covered in dense tropical forest with heavy annual rainfalls on the southeastern side while the lowlands of the western side are sheltered by mountainous peaks and experience a dry season perfect for local crops including sugarcane.
There are a number of smaller islands and groups which cover only 12.5% of Fiji's land area yet are home to 16% of the nation's population. These include Taveuni to Vanua Levu's southeast, Kadavu Island off Viti Levu's south, just off Nadi the Mamanuca Group, the Yasawa Group to the Mamanucas' north, the Lomaiviti Group off Suva and the isolated Lau Group in the Koro Sea.
The outer lying regions of Rotuma 400 km north and Ceva-i-Ra of Conway Reef 450 km southwest are culturally conservative or uninhabited coral atolls and cays which are relatively autonomous from Fijian dependency.
More than 50% of the Fijian population resides on the coasts of Suva or smaller urban centers. |
The Psychology of Color Explains What Different Colors Mean to People
- Mar 22, 2013
References: nowsourcing & paintersoflouisville
Subconsciously, everything we see affects the way we feel and think, making the psychology of color an important factor in understanding how to change people's perceptions based on visual acuity.
When it comes to painting the home or the office, certain colors can make each room have a completely different atmosphere. For example, blue is associated with productivity while, green with tranquility and red with appetite. According to this infographic, "studies show that red can make you do poorly on exams" and pink is used in prisons "to initially calm inmates."
Clearly, colors have a huge impact on our way of thought, which is why brands pay special attention to the colors they use in their campaigns and logos based on the psychology of color. |
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Leadership skills
Definition of leadership
He inspires the power and energy to get it done." -Ralph Nader.
and become more, you are a leader." -John Quincy Adams.
"Leadership shows judgement, wisdom, personal appeal
and proven competence."- Walt Disney.
"Great leaders are both idealistic and realistic.
They have a grand vision and great goals." -Michael Josephson.
Leadership and learning
"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." -John F. Kennedy.
Leadership and action
"Leadership is action, not position." - Donald H. McGannon.
"Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better." -Bill Bradley.
"Leaders become great, not because of their power,
but because of their ability to empower others." -John Maxwell.
"Action not words determines leadership." - Jeffrey Benjamin.
"Successful leaders have the courage to make action, when others hesitate." -John Maxwell.
Leadership and vision
"Leadership is the ability to translate vision into reality." -Warren Bennis.
"Leader live by choice, not by accident." - Mark Gorman.
Leadership and responsibility
"Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses." -Willard Mitt Romney.
"Management is about arranging and telling.
Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing." -Tom Peters.
"Leaders must be dependable people -ALL THE TIME." -Charles C. Krulak.
Leadership and innovation
Leadership and success
They possess qualities like empathy, compassion and courage." -Bill George.
"Before your a leader, success is all about growing yourself.
When you become a leader, success is all about growing all others." -Jack Welch.
What is leadership?.
Leadership is the ability to inspire and align others to successfully achieve common goals. According to U.S Army Hand Book, leadership is influencing people - by providing purpose, direction and motivation - while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization. The effective building blocks of quality leadership are the skills of communication, motivation, organizational development, management and creativity. Generally, leaders have a complex mixture of many traits, values and perceptions. Leadership cannot be taught, but it can be learned.
Theories on leadership
Leadership trait theory says that there are defined personality traits that distinguish leaders from followers. In other words, leaders are different types of people from followers.
Behavioral theories of leadership state that it is the behavior of leaders that distinguishes them from their followers. In other words, leadership is a skill that can be taught.
Situational leadership theories state that a leader emerges to fit the situation. Different people will take the lead in different situations. This suggests that different situations require different skills.
Characteristics of a leader
1..Personal integrity
2.Personal responsibility
5.Good communication skills
6.Remain calm in crisis
Five qualities of a collaborative leader
1. Willingness to take risks
2. Eager listeners
3. Passion for the cause
4. Optimistic about the future
5. Able to share power and credit.
"The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards
they set for themselves." - Ray Kroc
1. You can easily improve your Leadership Qualities just give a click on Leadership qualities
2. We can’t attain such success without having a good leader. A leader that will understand, inspire and influence its team to be more productive and achieve such specific goals. Learn more about leadership skills as well as managing skills in this website:
3. I agree with the author! all these skills should be present! will tell you some more tips to become a leader! |
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
No Snakes on The Emerald Isle
Fifth Century Legend has St.Patrick standing on a hill using a staff to herd the slithering cold-blooded creatures into the sea.
Cold-blooded? They become the temperature of their surroundings.
Why no Snakes in Ireland? The Ice Age. More than twenty times Glaciers advanced and retreated on Ireland and only let it thaw out 15,000 years ago. Those snakes reaching Ireland would have become Popsicles. Hence, Ireland has 12 miles of icy-cold water in the Northern Channel separating it from Scotland where several snake species abide today.
There are no snakes in Ireland for the simple reason that they can't get there.
Luck of The Irish!
Info: www.fonz.org
No comments: |
My Links
Link - description
Speaking of Speech
This website requires matching and offers a wide selection of parts of language to work on such as homonyms, irregular plurals, irregular past tense, and various other parts of speech
This game requires the child to select the initial medial and final sounds heard in a given word. It requires quick thinking, and fast clicking!!
Auditory Memory for Older Students
This game is a spin off of the traditional "Memory." It requires you to listen to each card, instead of look at the card.
American Speech Language and Hearing Association
The website for the American Speech Language and Hearing Association
This is a good website for the children to use. It helps to develop phonemic awareness.
Apraxia Kids
This is a good site for parents and therapists of children with apraxia.
Why Do We Talk -- BBC Documentary
This is in interesting documentary about the development of speech and language.
Super Duper Handy Handouts
Comprehensive, easy to understand information about various topics in speech and language pathology.
NPR / Education
Home Speech Home
Ideas and resources in the area of speech language pathology |
In 1853, Cincinnati established the first paid professional fire department in the United States. The Cincinnati Fire Museum highlights the significant contributions that Cincinnati has made to the firefighting profession. Its mission is to share and celebrate the history of firefighting in Cincinnati while providing a unique fire-safety education experience. Its vision is to bring the traditions of firefighting to life—in a museum that helps save lives.
Listed in the National Historic Registry since 1974, the museum building was once the Engine Company #45 Firehouse starting in 1906. In 1980, the firehouse was transformed into the Cincinnati Fire Museum. And since then, people of all ages have come to see one of the best collections of firefighting artifacts in the United States.
Show more |
Scanning electron micrograph of dendrite. From the Greek dendron or tree, dendrites are bush like projections sprouting from a nerve's center, or cell body. Dendrites bring information from outside sources such as other neurons or sensory cells to the neuron's cell body. As the dendrites transmit information towards the cell body, a longer projection called the axon will carry information away from the cell body to other neurons.
Credit: David M. Phillips / The Population Council / Science Source
Model Release: No, but may not be necessary
File Size: up to 13.0" by 17.0" (at 300dpi)
Click on any keyword to see related images:
dendrites, nerve, nerves, nervous system, information, neurons, sensory cells, cell body, transmit, axon, dendrite, neuron, sensory cell, axons, sem, scanning electron micrograph, scanning electron micrographs, micrograph, micrographs, micrography, magnification, science, blue
This image is protected under U.S. copyright law.
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Holding a Grudge? Why It Can Be Damaging to Your Health
Regardless of what may set you off, holding a grudge is not healthy. Grudges cause stress, which increases cortisol (your stress hormone), leading to less self-care. In turn, that can lead to fewer positive thoughts, eating comfort food, losing sleep or other problems. Grudges may also be linked with rumination – constantly thinking about the event that lead to the grudge, as well as a build-up of emotions like anger, animosity or jealousy, which can create increased irritability.
“Holding grudges can be something that tends to be a habit for some people, and they will hold grudges over little things as well as big things,” explains Dr. Courtney B. Johnson, a neuropsychologist at Indiana University Health. “While other people may only hold grudges over situations that were particularly impactful or hurtful.”
There is a difference between holding a grudge and simply being angry at someone. According to Dr. Johnson, anger is often an appropriate reaction to a situation. Holding a grudge differs from anger based on the duration of your emotion. While anger usually dissipates, holding a grudge, by definition, involves ‘holding’ onto something.
According to a 2016 Harvard study, women hold grudges and stay angry longer than men. The researchers believe this is evolutionary, explaining that men worked together to hunt or defend their tribe while women took care of and defended their family. In other words, men had to resolve conflict quickly in order to survive while women found it necessary to hold grudges longer and be less trusting in an effort to survive.
Regardless of genetics, it’s important for your health to learn how to let go. So what’s the best strategy to moving on from a grudge?
“This depends very much on the situation at hand,” notes Dr. Johnson. “For some people, communicating with the person the grudge is against can be very helpful; other times, this may not be appropriate. These incidents may be good learning experiences, such as boundary setting with the person. But it is up to each person to decide if they want to let go of the grudge or not. It can be helpful to think about what the benefits are, if any, from holding onto the grudge.”
While forgiveness is important, letting go of a grudge may not always require forgiveness, even though they are often linked. When working to let go of your grudge, Dr. Johnson advises that it is helpful to be honest with yourself regarding the impact of the event and the emotions associated with it. However some people may find it difficult to acknowledge that someone was able to hurt them.
The good news is that it is possible to be friends again. It simply depends on the person and how you choose to allow the event to impact your relationship going forward.
“For some, this may mean setting boundaries that are appropriate,” advises Dr. Johnson. “For others, it may mean that the event that links with the grudge is too values-conflicting with their own values, and allowing the relationship to change in closeness may be appropriate.”
-- By Gia Miller
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Sunday, June 18, 2017
In my physics degree, we were asked to calculate the entropy of a chess board. Students smarter than me snorted at this silly exercise. Yet, entropy is just a statistical measure. You cannot measure it directly (there are no entropy-ometers) but it exists everywhere and can be used in odd places like machine learning (eg maximum entropy classifiers which "from all the models that fit our training data, selects the one which has the largest entropy").
Alternatively, you might want to find the configuration with the smallest entropy. An example is here where the quality of a clustering algorithm (k-means in this case) is assessed by looking at the entropy of the detected clusters. "As an external criteria, entropy uses external information — class labels in this case. Indeed, entropy measures the purity of the clusters with respect to the given class labels. Thus, if every cluster consists of objects with only a single class label, the entropy is 0. However, as the class labels of objects in a cluster become more varied, the entropy value increases."
For instance, say you are trying to find the parameters for an equation such that it best fits the data. "At the very least, you need to provide ... a score for each candidate parameter it tries. This score assignment is commonly called a cost function. The higher the cost, the worse the model parameter will be... The cost function is derived from the principle of maximum entropy." [1]
What is Entropy
I found this description of heads (H) and tails (T) from tossing a coin enlightening:
"If the frequency [f] of H is 0.5 and f(T) is 0.5, the entropy E, in bits per toss, is
-0.5 log2 0.5
for heads, and a similar value for tails. The values add up (in this case) to 1.0. The intuitive meaning of 1.0 (the Shannon entropy) is that a single coin toss conveys 1.0 bit of information.
Contrast this with the situation that prevails when using a "weighted" or unfair penny that lands heads-up 70% of the time. We know intuitively that tossing such a coin will produce less information because we can predict the outcome (heads), to a degree. Something that's predictable is uninformative. Shannon's equation gives
-0.7 log2 (0.7) = 0.3602
for heads and
-0.3 log2 (0.3) = 0.5211
for tails, for an entropy of 0.8813 bits per toss. In this case we can say that a toss is 11.87% [1.0 - 0.8813] redundant."
Here's another example:
X = 'a' with probability 0.5
'b' with probability 0.25
'c' with probability 0.125
'd' with probability 0.125
The entropy of this configuration is:
H(X) = -0.5 log(0.5) - 0.25 log(0.25) - 0.125 log(0.125) - 0.125 log(0.125) = 1.75 bits
What does this actually mean? Well, if the average number of questions asked ("Is X 'a'? If not, is it 'b'? ...") then "the resulting expected number of binary questions required is 1.75" [2].
Derivation of entropy
Basically, we want entropy to be extensive. That is "parameters that scale with the system. In other words U(aS,aV,aN)=aU(S,V,N)".
So, if SX is the entropy of system X, then the combined entropy of two systems, A and B, would be:
SC = SA + SB
Second, we want it to be largest when all the states are equally probably. Let's call the function f then the average value is:
S = <f> = Σipif(pi) Equation 1
Now, given two sub-systems, A and B, the system they make up C will have entropy:
SC = ΣiΣjpipjf(pi)f(pj) Equation 2
that is, the we are summing probabilities over the states where A is in state i and B is in state j.
For equation 2 to conform to the form of equation 1, let's introduce the variable pij=pipj.Then:
SC = ΣiΣjpijf(pij)
For this to be true, f = C ln p since ln(ab) = ln(a) + ln(b).
This is the argument found here.
[1] Machine Learning with Tensor Flow.
[2] Elements of Information Theory.
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Scala Equality
The code:
Set(1) == List(1)
will always return false but will also always compile. This is pathological.
"Equality in Scala is a mess ... because the language designers decided Java interoperability trumped doing the reasonable thing in this case." (from here).
There are ways of solving this problem, the simplest being to use === that a number of libraries offer. Here are a three different ways of doing it:
def scalazTripleEquals(): Unit = {
import scalaz._
import Scalaz._
// println(List(1) === List("1")) // doesn't compile :)
def scalaUtilsTripleEquals(): Unit = {
import org.scalautils.TypeCheckedTripleEquals._
def scalacticTripleEquals(): Unit = {
import org.scalactic._
import TypeCheckedTripleEquals._
// println(List(1) === (List("1"))) // doesn't compile :)
But what about incorporating it into the Scala language itself?
Scala creator, Martin Odersky's views can be found here here. He is proposing "it is opt-in. To get safe checking, developers have to annotate with @equalityClass ... So this means we still keep universal equality as it is in Scala now - we don’t have a choice here anyway, because of backwards compatibility."
Warning: ScalaTest
There is a horrible gotcha using Scalactic and ScalaTest (which is odd since they are stable mates). The problem is that you want compilation to fail for something likes this:
import org.scalatest.{FlatSpec, Matchers}
class MyTripleEqualsFlatSpec extends FlatSpec with Matchers {
"triple equals" should "not compile" in {
List(1) should === (List("1"))
Only it doesn't. It happily compiles! This is not what was expected at all given the code in scalacticTripleEquals() above. The solution can be found here. You must change the class signature to:
class MyTripleEqualsFlatSpec extends FlatSpec with Matchers with TypeCheckedTripleEquals {
for the compiler to detect this error.
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Either Mither
Either has changed. A superficial Google might suggest that Either represents just that - either A or B.
"You cannot, at least not directly, use an Either instance like a collection, the way you are familiar with from Option and Try. This is because Either is designed to be unbiased.
"Try is success-biased: it offers you map, flatMap and other methods that all work under the assumption that the Try is a Success, and if that’s not the case, they effectively don’t do anything, returning the Failure as-is." (from here)
And: "if you use Either for error reporting, then it is true that you want it to be biased to one side, but that is only one usecase of many, and hardcoding a single special usecase into a general interface smells of bad design" from here.
But then you see this in the Scala documentation: "Either is right-biased, which means that Right is assumed to be the default case to operate on. If it is Left, operations like map, flatMap, ... return the Left value unchanged".
This apparent contradiction arises as Scala 2.12 changed Either. It has become biased.
Let's demonstrate using ScalaTest. First, we define an Either and some functions to act on it:
type LeftType = List[Int]
type RightType = Int
type EitherType = Either[LeftType, RightType]
val left = Left(List[Int]())
val right = Right(1)
val rightFn: (RightType) => RightType = _ + 1
val leftFn: (LeftType) => LeftType = _ :+ 1
Then, the test looks like:
"Either" should {
"be agnostic if left or right has been explicitly stated on an Either that's a Left" in {
val either: EitherType = left shouldEqual Left(List(1)) shouldEqual left // unchanged
"be agnostic if left or right has been explicitly stated on an Either that's a Right" in {
val either: EitherType = right shouldEqual Right(2) shouldEqual right // unchanged
So far, so good. But this following code is new in 2.12 (it won't compile in earlier versions):
"ignore the unbiased side" in {
val either: EitherType = left shouldEqual left
"map the biased side" in {
val either: EitherType = right shouldEqual Right(2)
Either's new monadic functions cannot take anything other than a function of type (RightType) => ...
The mnemonic is that if you're using this for error reporting, then Right is the right answer.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Rocha Thatte Cycle Detection Algorithm
Flows of money and ownership in a network of businesses and individuals can indicate fraudulent behaviour. For instance, if there is a cycle in the network such that X owns Y who owns Z and Z audits X, you can quickly see that there is a conflict of interest. Such suspicions are of interest to us.
GraphX is very good at sniffing out these networks but you don't get cycle detection out-of-the-box. So, I rolled-my-own that happened to be similar to an algorithm somebody else has already discovered, the Rocha Thatte algorithm.
The algorithm
The Wikipedia page gives an excellent overview so I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say that each vertex passes all the new paths going through it to its neighbouring vertex at each super-step.
The code is quite simple since GraphX does all the heavy lifting. Let's introduce a few type aliases:
import org.apache.spark.graphx.{VertexId, EdgeTriplet}
type VertexPrg[T] = (VertexId, T, T) => T
type EdgePrg[T, ED] = (EdgeTriplet[T, ED]) => Iterator[(VertexId, T)]
No matter which algorithm we create, they have to implement these functions.
Now, we'll introduce some-domain specific aliases:
type Path[T] = Seq[T]
type Paths[T] = Set[Path[T]]
and finally, the GraphX merge function (which is just (U,U)=>U) for us would look like:
type MergeFn[T] = (Paths[T], Paths[T]) => Paths[T]
then the implementation of Rocha Thatte looks like this. The 'program' that runs on the vertex can be created here:
def vertexPrg[T](merge: MergeFn[T]): VertexPrg[Paths[T]] = { case (myId, myAttr, message) =>
merge(myAttr, message)
and the 'program' running on edges looks like this:
type AddStepFn[T, ED] = (EdgeTriplet[Paths[T], ED]) = Paths[T]
def edgePrg[T, ED](add: AddStepFn[T, ED]): EdgePrg[Paths[T], ED] = { case edge =>
import edge._
val allPaths = add(edge)
// TODO check attributes here for whatever business reasons you like
if (allPaths == dstAttr) Iterator.empty else Iterator((dstId, allPaths))
(note: I've simplified the implementation for illustrative purposes. This code performs no checks.)
The problem
The shape of the graph is important. For instance, I ran this algorithm on a (disconnected) network with about 200 million edges, 400 million vertices and sub-graphs with a maximum diameter of 6. It ran in about 20 minutes on a cluster with 19 beefy boxes.
However, I ran it on a much smaller (connected) network of 26 thousand vertices, 175 thousand edges and a diameter of 10 with little success. I found that I could manage only 3 iterations before Spark executors started to die with (apparently) memory problems.
The problem was that this graph had regions that were highly interconnected (it actually represented all the business entities we had that were related to BlackRock Investment Management and Merrill Lynch, of which there are many). Let's say that a particular vertex has 100 immediate neighbours each with 100 of their own and each of them had 100. This quickly explodes into many possible paths through the original vertex (about 1 million) after only 3 super-steps.
It's not too surprising that this is an issue for us. After all, Spark's ScalaDocs do say "ideally the size of [the merged messages] should not increase."
For such a dense graph, super nodes are almost inevitable. For our purposes, we could ignore them but YMMV depending on your business requirements.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Good Hash
Since the feature hashing code that comes with Spark is based on a 32-bit hash giving us lots of collisions, we went for a 64-bit implementation. But what makes a good hash algorithm?
Rather than roll my own, I used this code. But how do I make sure it's good? This Stack Exchange answer gave me some clues by using the chi-squared test. Here, we basically compare with some fairly simple maths, our expected answer to our actual answer to indicate whether there is an unusually high number of collisions that our algorithm generates.
"The chi-squared test of goodness of fit is used to test the hypothesis that the distribution of a categorical variable within a population follows a specific pattern of proportions, while the alternative hypothesis is that the distribution of the variable follows some other pattern." [1]
The Chi-Square Test
"The values of column and rows totals are called marginals because they are on the margin of the table... The numbers within the table ... are called joint frequencies...
"If the two variables are not related, we would expect that the frequency of each cell would be the product of its marginals, divided by the sample size." [1]
This is because the probabilities of A and B are:
P(A ∩ B) = P(A) P(B) iff A ⊥ B
In other words, given a sample size of N, the probability of A is
P(A) = NA / N
P(B) = NB / N
P(A ∩ B) = NB NA / N2
so the expected frequency would be
N P(A ∩ B) = NB NA / N
exactly as [1] says.
The Chi-Square distribution then looks like this:
χ = Σi,j=1 (Oij - Eij)2/ Eij
where i and j are being summed over all the rows and columns.
The Results
Using this new hashing algorithm for our feature hashing resulted in no collisions while hashing all words in the corpus of text where previously we were getting about 70 million collisions with the 32-bit version.
Consequently, the number of records we then had to compare dropped by about 20 million (or about 2% of the total).
Unfortunately, although I am able to execute a chi-square test on the 32-bit algorithm, the 64-bit algorithm has such a large possible number of hash values, it's not practically possible to test it in such a manner.
[1] Statistics in a Nutshell, Sarah Boslaugh
Friday, May 26, 2017
The Probability Monad (part 1)
This is an interesting idea: probability distributions can be modeled as monads. The canonical description lives here but it's very Haskell-heavy. So, in an attempt to grok the probability monad, you might like to look at a Scala implementation here.
[Aside. I tried looking at the Haskell code but had to run
cabal install --dependencies-only --enable-tests
see here for more information.]
The monad in this Scala library is Distribution[T] where T can be, say, a Double such as in a Gaussian distribution:
object normal extends Distribution[Double] {
override def get = rand.nextGaussian()
It could be something more interesting, for instance, here the Distribution monad in this particular case is parameterized with a List[Int].
* You roll a 6-sided die and keep a running sum. What is the probability the
* sum reaches exactly 30?
def dieSum(rolls: Int): Distribution[List[Int]] = {
always(List(0)).markov(rolls)(runningSum => for {
d <- die
} yield (d + runningSum.head) :: runningSum)
def runDieSum = dieSum(30).pr(_ contains 30)
Simulation, simulation, simulation
The method pr will create a simulation where we sample an arbitrary number of monads (default of 10 000). We then filter them for those that contain a score of exactly 30 and calculate the subsequent probability.
Filtering the monads means that traversing the list of 10 000 and calling filter on each one to find ones with a score of 30. Each monad in the list is actually a recursive structure 30 deep (the number of rolls of the dice; any more is pointless as the total will necessarily be greater than 30).
That's the high-level description. Let's drill down.
State monads again
This recursive structure is a state monad. The monads are created by the recursive calls to markov(). This method creates a new monad by calling flatMap on itself. The get method of this new, inner monad takes the value of its outer monad, passes it to the function that flatMap takes as an argument and in turn calls get on the result.
Having created this inner monad, markov() is called on it and we start the next level of recursion until we have done so 30 times. It is this chain of get calling get when the time comes that will build up the state.
Consequently, we have the outermost monad being a constant Distribution that holds List(0). This is what a call to the outermost get will return. However, get is not publicly accessible. We can only indirectly access it by calling the monad functions.
In short, we have what is a little like a doubly-linked list. The outermost monad contains the "seed", List(0), and a reference to the next monad. The inner monads contain a reference to the next monad (if there is one) and a reference to its outer monad's value via get.
Note that it is the innermost monad that is passed back to the call site calling dieSum, in effect turning the structure inside out.
Anyway, the next job is to filter the structure. This creates a new monad (referencing the erstwhile innermost monad) to do the job but remember monads are lazy so nothing happens yet. It's only when we call a sample method on this monad that something starts to happen. At this point, get is called and we work our way up the get-chain until we reach the outermost monad that contains List(0). Then we "pop" each monad, executing the runningSum => function on the results of the monad before. This is where we roll the die and add append the cumulative result to the List.
If the given of the filter monad is not met, then we keep trying the whole thing again until it is.
Finally, we count the results that meet our predicate dividing by total number of runs. Evidently, we've taken a frequentist approach to probabilities here.
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Lazy Scala
This might be elementary but when a simple error trips me more than once, I blog it.
You probably know that an Iterator can only be accessed once as it's stateful. "An Iterator can only be used once because it is a traversal pointer into a collection, and not a collection in itself" from here. (Iterable just means the implementing class can generate an Iterator).
The simple mistake I made was to check the size of the iterator in a temporary log statement before mapping over it. What was a little more interesting was that other collections behave the same way if you call them via their TraversableOnce interface.
To demonstrate, say we have a Set
val aSet = Set(1, 2, 3)
and two functions that are identical other than the type of their argument:
def mapSet[T](xs: Set[T]): TraversableOnce[String] = {
val mapped =
def mapTraversableOnce[T](xs: TraversableOnce[T]): TraversableOnce[String] = {
val mapped =
then mapTraversableOnce will return an empty iterator while mapSet will return a Set of Strings. This will come as a surprise to anybody expecting Object Oriented behaviour.
Iterator also violates the functor laws. Take two otherwise identical methods:
def isTraversableFunctor[T, U, V](xs: Traversable[T], f: T => U, g: U => V): Boolean = {
val lhs =
val rhs = compose f)
(lhs == rhs)
def isTraversableOnceFunctor[T, U, V](xs: TraversableOnce[T], f: T => U, g: U => V): Boolean = {
val lhs =
val rhs = compose f)
(lhs == rhs)
and pass them aSet. The first will say it's a functor, the second says it's not.
This is somewhat trivial as the reason it fails is that the iterator has not been materialized. "TraversableOnce's map is not a functor map, but, then again, it never pretended to be one. It's design goals specifically precluded it from being a functor map" from Daniel C. Sobral.
Iterator comes into its own when we want access to the underlying elements lazily. But there are other ways to do this like Stream "which implements all its transformer methods lazily."
Almost all collections are eager by default. Use the view method to make them lazy. Use force on these to make them eager again.
Finally, some methods are naturally lazy. For instance, exists terminates quickly if it finds what it's looking for.
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Playing with Pregel
Implementing your own distributed Pregel algorithm in GraphX is surprisingly simple but there are a few things to know that will help you.
First, what is GraphX's Pregel implementation? Well, it takes three functions:
1. one that merges messages of type T, that is (T, T) => T.
2. one that runs on each vertex with an attribute type of VD and that takes that message and creates a new state. Its type is (VertexId, VD, T) => VD.
3. one that runs on each edge/vertex/vertex combination and produces messages to be sent to the vertices. Its type is (EdgeTriplet[VD, ED]) => Iterator[(VertexId, VD)] where ED is the edge's attribute type.
TL;DR: the vertex holds its state and the edges send it messages. If this starts sounding like the Actor Model pattern to you, you're not alone
"It's a bit similar to the actor mode if you think of each vertex as an actor, except that vertex state and messages between vertices are fault tolerant and durable, and communication proceeds in fixed rounds: at every iteration the framework delivers all messages sent in the previous iteration. Actors normally have no such timing guarantee." - Martin Kleppmann.
So, off I went and wrote my code where all the paths through a vertex are stored as state at that vertex.
And it ran like a dog. After five hours of processing, it died with out of memory exceptions.
Judicious jstack-ing the JVMs in the cluster showed that threads were hanging around in Seq.containsSlice (we're using Scala 2.10.6). This Scala method was being used to find sub-sequences of VertexIds (which are just an alias for Longs) in the paths that had already been seen.
Desperate, I turned the Seq of Longs to Strings and then used String.contains and the whole thing ran in less than 25 minutes.
This is not the first time I've seen innocent looking code bring a cluster to its knees. Curious, I wrote some micro-benchmarking code comparing these two methods using JMH and got this:
Benchmark Mode Cnt Score Error Units
ContainsSliceBenchmark.scalaContainsSlice thrpt 5 594519.717 ± 33463.038 ops/s
ContainsSliceBenchmark.stringContains thrpt 5 307051356.098 ± 44642542.440 ops/s
That's three orders of magnitude slower.
Although it's a hack, this approach gives great performance. And it shows that taking jstack snapshots of your cluster is the best way to understand why your big data application is so slow.
Friday, May 5, 2017
Spark OutOfMemoryErrors.
Spark can deal with data sets that are much larger than the available physical memory. So, you never have problems with OutOfMemoryErrors, right? Well, no. It depends what you're doing.
When asked how to avoid OOMEs, the first thing people generally say is increase the number of partitions so that there is never too much data in memory at one time. However, this doesn't always work and you're better off having a look at the root cause.
This very week was one of those times. I was getting FetchFailedException. "This error is almost guaranteed to be caused by memory issues on your executors" (from here). Increasing the number of partitions didn't help.
The problem was that I had to find similar entities and declare there was a relationship between them. Foolishly, I tried to do a Cartesian product of all entities that were similar. This is fine 99.99% of the time but scales very badly - O(n2) - for outlying data points where n is large.
The symptoms were that everything was running tickety-boo until the very end where the last few partitions were taking tens of minutes and then the fatal FetchFailedException was thrown.
These pairs were going to be passed to GraphX's Connected Components algorithm so instead of creating a complete graph (which is what the Cartesian product of the entities would give you) you need to a different graph topology. This is not as simple as it sounds as you have to be a little clever in choosing an alternative. For instance, a graph that is just a line will take ages for GraphX to process if it is sufficiently large. For me, my driver ran out of memory after tens of thousands of Pregel supersteps.
A more efficient approach is a star topology that has branches of length 1. This graph is very quickly explored by Pregel/ConnectedComponents and has the same effect as a complete graph or a line since all vertices are part of the same connected component and we don't care at this point how they got there.
The result was the whole graph was processed in about 20 minutes.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Crash Course in Conditional Random Fields
In an attempt to try to grok Conditional Random Fields used in the Mallet library in a hurry, I've made some miscellaneous notes.
The basics
You will have been taught at school that the joint probability of A and B is:
iff A and B and independent (see here).
Depending on your interpretation of probability theory, it is axiomatic that the relationship between the joint probability and the conditional probability is:
P(A ∩ B) = P(A|B) P(B)
These will come in useful.
"A conditional random field is simply a conditional distribution p(y|x) with an associated graphical structure." [1]
We consider the distribution over
V = X ∪ Y
V are random variables
X observed inputs
Y outputs we'd like to predict
"The main idea is to represent a distribution over a large number of random variables by a product of local functions [ΨA] that each depend on only a small number of variables." [1]
The Local Function
The local function has the form:
ΨA (xA, yA) = exp { Σk θA,k fA,k(xA, yA) }
where k is the k-th feature of a feature vector.
Graphical Models
"Traditionally, graphical models have been used to represent the joint probability distribution p(y, x) ... But modeling the joint distribution can lead to difficulties ... because it requires modeling the distribution p(x), which can include complex dependencies [that] can lead to intractable models. A solution to this problem is to directly model the conditional distribution p(y|x). " [1]
Undirected Graphical Model
If these variables are A ⊂ V, we define an undirected graphical model as the set of all distributions that can be written as:
p(x, y) = (1/Z) ∏A ΨA (xA, yA)
for any choice of factors, F = {ΨA}, where:
ΨA is a function υn → ℜ+ where υ is the set of values v can take
Z is the partition function that normalizes the values such that
Z = Σx,yA ΨA (xA, yA)
Factor Graph
This undirected graphical model can be represented as a factor graph. "A factor graph is a bipartite graph G = (V, F, E)" that is, a graph with two disjoint sets of vertices. One set is the variables, vs ∈ V, the other is the factors ΨA ∈ F. All edges are between these two sets. An edge only exists if vertex vs is an argument for vertex ΨA.
Directed Model (aka Bayesian Network)
This is based on a directed graph G = (V, E) and is a family of distributions (aka "model") that factorize as:
p(x,y) = ∏v∈V p(v| π(v))
where π(v) are the parents of v in the graph G.
Naive Bayesian Classifier
As a concrete example, let's look at Mallet's implementation of Naive Bayes.
Firstly, what make Naive Bayes naive? "Naive Bayes is a simple multiclass classification algorithm with the assumption of independence between every pair of features." (from here).
We ask ourselves: given the data, what is the probability that the classifiers is C? Or, in math-speak, what is p(C|D)?
Now, the data, D, is made up of lots of little data points, { d1, d2, d3, ... }. And given that little equation at the top of this post, if all these data points are independent then:
p(D|C) = p({ d1, d2, d3, ... } | C) = p(d1|C) p(d2,|C) p(d3,|C) ...
Mallet's Java code for this is surprisingly easy and there is a JUnit test that demonstrates it. In the test, there is a dictionary of all the words in a corpus. It's a small dictionary of the words { win, puck, team, speech, vote }.
We create two vectors that represent the weightings for these words if a document relates to politics or sport. Not surprisingly, {speech, vote, win} have a higher weighting for politics and {team, puck, win} have a higher weighting for sports but all words have a nominal value of 1 added (before normalization) in each vector. This is Laplace Smoothing and it ensures the maths doesn't blow up when we try to take the log of zero.
Note that these weightings for each category are by definition p(D|C), that is, the probability of the data given a classification.
This being Bayes, we must have a prior. We simply assume the probability of an incoming document to be about sports or politics as equally likely since there is no evidence to the contrary.
Now, a feature vector comes in with {speech, win} equally weighted. To which class should it go?
The code effectively
1. Calculates an inner product between the feature vector and each of (the logarithm of) the class's vector and then adds (the logarithm of) the bias. This is the multiplication in the Local Function section above.
2. Deducts the maximum result for all results. This appears to be to handle rounding errors and drops out of the equation when we normalize (see below)
3. Takes the exponential of each result.
4. Normalizes by dividing by the sum of these exponentials. This is the partition function we saw above, Z.
The most probable is the class we're looking for.
But why does the code do this? Bayes theorem gives us:
p(C|D) = p(D|C) p(C) / p(D)
= prior x p(D|C) / Z
= prior x p(d1|C) p(d2,|C) p(d3,|C) ... / Z
now, if we let:
λy = ln(prior)
λy,j = ln(p(dj|Cy))
p(C|D) = (eλy ∏j=1K eλy,jdj) / Z = (eλy + Σj=1K λy,jdj) / Z
which is what the Java code does and is the same as equation 1.6 in [1]. Note the Java effectively has a e-maxScore in the numerator and denominator which of course cancels out.
Finally, that exponential value λy + Σj=1K λy,jdj can be more elegantly expressed as a matrix multiplication between our dictionary weights for the classifier, f and the vector to classify, θ (where the bias has been subsumed into the 0-th entry of the vector). That then gives us the Local Function above and so we have come full circle.
Aside: One last note on Naive Bayesian Classifiers. Like the TF-IDF statistic, it works far better than it should do. "Statisticians are somewhat disturbed by use of the NBC (which they dub Idiot's Bayes) because the naive assumption of independence is almost always invalid in the real world. However, the method has been shown to perform surprisingly well in a wide variety of contexts.Research continues on why this is." (from here)
[1] An Introduction to Conditional Random Fields for Relational Learning.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Generating a Gaussian distribution
Firstly, let's consider what a Gaussian is. It can be derived here. The definition Dr Wilson gives is: "Data are said to be normally distributed if the rate at which the frequencies fall off is proportional to the distance of the score from the mean, and to the frequencies themselves". Or, in maths speak:
df = k (x - μ) f(x)
where k is a constant and μ is the mean. Integrating this formula and setting it to 1 (since it's a probability distribution) via integration by parts and integration by substitution, you'll eventually get:
f(x) = e (x - μ)2/2 σ 2
σ √2π
which is the Gaussian, where σ is the standard deviation.
Now, squaring it and integrating it twice still equals 1 (since obviously 12 = 1) and looks like this:
(1/2π) ∫-∞-∞ e-x2/2 e-y2/2 dx dy
where I've absorbed the constants into variables and used both x and y for each integration. The trick is now to use polar co-ordinates, so:
x = r cos θ
y = r sin θ
dx dy = r dr dθ
and that integral becomes:
(1/2π) ∫0 ∫0 r e-r2/2 dr
which, with another integration by substitution with ψ = r2/2, becomes:
(1/2π) ∫0 ∫0 e dψ
and again with Υ = e.
(1/2π) ∫0 ∫10 Υ dΥ = (1/2π)2π x 1 = 1
Where Transformation Sampling comes in
"We don't care about this integral. What we do is we use our relationship between integration and sampling" [Werner Krauth at Coursera] where θ is a random number between 0 and and Υ is a random number between 0 and 1.
So, now we work backwards. If ψ = r2/2 and Υ = e, then r = √ (- 2 ln Υ) where Υ is sampled over the interval [0,1]. The easy bit is θ which is simply sampled in the interval [0, ].
Plugging these numbers back into the equations for polar co-ordinates, we can now give samples for x and y. Notice that you actually get 2 values (x and y) for the price of one. So, implementations (like java.lang.Random.nextGaussian) maintain state (the next Gaussian value if it's available) which is calculated for "free" - except that the method is synchronized...
What we have above is a decent implementation for generating Gaussian values but it's inefficient. There is a nice math-hack to make it better.
Java Number Cruncher (p367) says:
We begin this algorithm by generating two random values v1 and v2 that are uniformly distributed between -1 and +1. We then compute the value s = v12 + v22. If s>1, we reject the values of v1 and v2 generate new ones... With two good values of v1 and v2, we then compute:
x1 = v1 √((-2 ln s) / s)
x2 = v2 √((-2 ln s) / s)
Where this comes from had me scuttling off to here which describes the Box Muller method. Basically, we want a number between 0 and 1 for Υ and any value in [0, ] for θ. Well, this is just finding uniformly distributed values within the unit circle. Since the process of scattering points uniformly over a box in no way favours nor discriminates between points within a circle within that box, we can be sure that just taking those inner points is also uniformly distributed.
What we want to do is get rid of those expensive sin and cos functions for x and y. We note that
cos θ = adjacent / hypotenuse = v1 / s
sin θ = opposite / hypotenuse = v2 / s
since s2 = r is the length of our vector (as defined in the above algorithm from Java Number Crunchers). We then plug that into our polar co-ordinates equation above, we get the equations for x1 and x2 we see above. QED.
Saturday, April 8, 2017
Video games to statistical mechanics
A friend was writing a computer game in his spare time and wanted to speckle a sphere with texture uniformly over its surface. Idly, he asked our team how to do this. We came up with some naive ideas like taking the x,y and z co-ordinates from a uniform sample and normalizing them to make a vector or length r, the radius of the sphere. In Python, this would be:
import random, math, pylab, mpl_toolkits.mplot3d
x_list, y_list, z_list = [],[],[]
nsamples = 10000
for sample in xrange(nsamples):
x, y, z = random.uniform(-1.0, 1.0), random.uniform(-1.0, 1.0), random.uniform(-1.0, 1.0)
radius = math.sqrt(x ** 2 + y ** 2 + z ** 2)
x_list.append(x / radius)
y_list.append(y / radius)
z_list.append(z / radius)
fig = pylab.figure()
ax = fig.gca(projection='3d')
pylab.plot(x_list, y_list, z_list, '+')
but this is not quite uniformly distributed over the sphere. It produces a sphere like this:
Sphere with Cartesian co-ordinates taken from a uniform sample and then normalized
Using polar co-ordinates and uniformly sampling over 2π doesn't make things better either. This:
for sample in xrange(nsamples):
phi, theta = random.uniform(0, 2.0) * math.pi, random.uniform(0, 2.0) * math.pi
x_list.append(math.cos(phi) * math.cos(theta))
y_list.append(math.cos(phi) * math.sin(theta))
Sphere with polar co-ordinates taken from a uniform sample
which is also clearly not evenly spread.
The solution involves Gaussian (a.k.a 'Normal') distributions, thus:
for sample in xrange(nsamples):
x, y, z = random.gauss(0.0, 1.0), random.gauss(0.0, 1.0), random.gauss(0.0, 1.0)
x_list.append(x / radius)
y_list.append(y / radius)
z_list.append(z / radius)
Why this works I'll leave to another post. Suffice to say this even distribution is used not just in games but in thermodynamics where you might want to model the velocities of molecules of a gas. In this scenario, (x ** 2 + y ** 2 + z ** 2) would model the squared velocity of a molecule, useful in calculating the energy, ½mv2
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Feature Hashing
Here's a cool little trick called feature hashing. The idea is that you want to turn some corpus of text into feature vectors without resorting to an external repository for the indices in those vectors. Looking things up in an external repository can be slow and complicates the code base.
Instead, you avoid this through hashing the words to an integer. Spark uses the HashingTF class for this.
However, the Spark code is very dependent on all your words being able to fit into positive Ints. This is probably OK for most corpus of text but when you start using n-grams ("Groups of words in a split are known as n-grams." [1]), then the numbers start to approach what an Int can hold.
But what's more worrying is that hashing leads to the possibility of hash collisions. How many you expect can be calculated from the formula here. Basically, given M possible slots and N words that need fitting into them, the probability of a word going into a particular slot, z, is 1/M. Therefore, the probability of avoiding a slot is:
p(miss z) = 1 - 1 = M - 1 = Y
M M
The probability that we miss z for all N words as we add them to the slots is YN. So, obviously, the probability that the slot receives at least one word is 1-YN.
This is a formula for the probability of a slot being filled but what is the expected number of collisions? Here, we note a nice trick outlined here.
The expectation of a sum is the sum of the expectations. This theorem holds "always." The random variables you are summing need not be independent.
Now, we introduce a function that is 1 if slot z contains one or more words and 0 otherwise. Note: we're not interested in the number of words in the slot. We're only interested if the slot contains something.
We call this function for slot z, fz.
So, the expected total number of slots that hold at least one word is:
E(X) = E(f0) + E(f1) + E(f2) + ... + E(fM)
The expected value of anything is the sum of all possible values multiplied by their probability. So, the expected value of an individual f for any of the M slots is:
E(fz) = 0 * p(fz=0) + 1 * p(fz=1) = p(fz=1)
(Note that the expected value need not be an integer nor indeed sensible. The expected number when throwing a 6-sided die is 3.5.)
Given M slots, the expected number of slots that contain something is:
E(X) = M (1-YN)
So the total number of collisions is the difference between this and N as the Quora link says.
For a spike, we used the MurmerHash3 hashing algorithm over 820 million n-grams and the number of slots that had more than one word was 70 million (close to the 74 million this equation predicts when M = 2^32 and N = 820 million).
So, although it's a nice idea, Spark's current implementation is not for us. We'll look at rolling-our-own using Longs for which we could reasonably expect no collisions (using the above equation with M = 2^64).
[1] Real World Machine Learning.
Sunday, March 26, 2017
You have nothing to lose but your (Markov) chains!
I've been playing around with Markov Chain Monte Carlo so decided to take a Coursera course that deals with them (Statistical Mechanics allows you plot configurations of objects that are as probable as if you took a snapshot of a classical Newtonian system).
"Starting from a given initialdistribution, a Markov chain defines a sequence of probability distributions over states of the system. For any Markov chain satisfying certain mathematical conditions, the distribution at successive states converges to a single distribution. This single distribution is called the stationary distribution... Much of the art of designing an MH algorithm is in choosing the proposal distribution." PPP (p343).
"The Metropolis algorithm takes a random walk in a probability space."
"The only difference between Metropolis and Metropolis-Hastings is that the first ones always sample from a symmetric distribution and thus they don't have the Hastings correction ratio." - see here
What is a Markov chain?
"If we think of Xt as a state X at time t and invoke the following dependency condition on each state:
Pr(Xt+1 = xt+1 | Xt = xt, Xt-1 = xt-1, ..., X0 = x0) = Pr(Xt+1 = xt+1 | Xt = xt)
then the stochastic process is known as a Markov chain" (from here)
What is a Monte Carlo simulation?
"The Monte Carlo method is a statistical - almost experimental - approach to computing integrals using random positions, called samples, whose distribution is carefully chosen." [Krauth]
In the two Coursera examples, pi is calculated by:
1. throwing stones into a square and observing the ratio that are inside and outside a circle that just fits in the square (direct sampling).
2. wandering around the space throwing stones and observing how high the pile is for each grid reference (Markov chain sampling). Note, there are interesting restrictions when a stone is tossed over the boundary of the space.
Note that both approaches approximate an integral in multiple dimensions, namely:
∫ 1-11-1 p(x, y) O(x, y) dx dy
∫ 1-1∫ 1-1 p(x, y) dx dy
where p is the probability of being at point (x, y) and O is the observed size of the pile of stones at (x, y).
Detailed balance condition
This is a sufficient condition for Monte Carlo. The argument goes like this:
Imagine moving around a 3x3 grid exploring all the squares. If we are on the square in the top right corner (call it 'a') and we can only move horizontally and vertically then the probabilities for the next move are obviously:
p(a → a) + p(a → b) + p(a → c) = 1 (1)
(where 'b' and 'c' are the square immediately to the left and immediately below 'a')
Similarly, I can only get to 'a' via 'a', 'b' and 'c' so:
πa . 1 = πb p(b → a) + πc p(c → a) + πa p(a → a) (2)
substitute equation 1 into 2:
πa p(a → b) + πa p(a → c) = πb p(b → a) + πc p(c → a)
There are many ways to satisfy the global balance condition but one way is to say the first term on the left hand side equals the first in the right hand side and the second term on the left hand side equals the second term on the right hand side.
This is the detailed balance condition:
πa p(a → b) = πb p(b → a)
πa p(a → c) = πc p(c → a)
where πx is the probability of being on square x.
If we want to sweep out all the configurations equally, we want:
πa = πb = πc
(This is not true in the Metropolis algorithm. Metropolis et al proposed another function for πx)
This implies p(a → b) = p(b → a).
What's interesting is that "the Monte Carlo algorithm is nothing but a matrix, the transfer matrix of transition probabilities p(a→b) for moving from the site a to the site b." In this 3x3 game, the matrix is 9x9 (the 9 squares from which we move to 9 squares to which we can move).
The transfer matrix
In Python, it looks like this:
from numpy import dot, matrix, set_printoptions
from numpy.linalg import eig
m = matrix('2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0;'
'1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0;'
'0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0;'
'1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0;'
'0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0;'
'0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1;'
'0 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 0;'
'0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1;'
'0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2') / 4.0
This conforms to a mathematics 'design pattern'. Chase the problem onto known territory and deal with it there with the tools designed by other people.
Where it gets cool is when we take the eigen-decomposition (a.k.a spectral decomposition) of this matrix. This says that for a square matrix, A, we can express it as:
A = Q Λ Q-1
where the columns of Q are the eigenvectors and Λ is a diagonal matrix whose values are the eigenvalues (a.k.a the spectrum of A).
In Python, we can find Q and Λ by doing this:
eigenvalues, eigenvectors = eig(m)
And why is this interesting? Because if we keep multiplying the transfer matrix with the vector representing the probabilities of which square we're currently in, it converges to the stationary distribution.
How do we prove this? Well, let's say we multiply A by itself x times:
Ax = (Q Λ Q-1)x = Q Λ Q-1 Q Λ Q-1 Q Λ Q-1... Q Λ Q-1 Q Λx Q-1
so, we only have to times the eigenvalues by themselves x times. That makes the calculations more efficient.
What are the eigenvalues?
print eigenvalues
[-0.5 0. 1. 0.75 0.5 0.25 -0. 0.25 0.75]
Note that all but one value is less than 1.0 so if we keep multiplying a vector of these values by itself, all the values other than the third will disappear.
Now, let's look at the eigenvectors (Q):
print eigenvectors
[[ 0.17 -0.41 -0.33 0.58 0.5 0.33 0.22 0.04 0.11]
[-0.33 0.41 -0.33 0.29 0. -0.17 0.12 -0.52 -0.23]
[ 0.17 0. -0.33 -0. -0.5 0.33 -0.34 0.04 -0.57]
[-0.33 0.41 -0.33 0.29 -0. -0.17 -0.57 0.48 0.34]
[ 0.67 -0. -0.33 0. -0. -0.67 0. -0.08 -0. ]
[-0.33 -0.41 -0.33 -0.29 0. -0.17 0.57 0.48 -0.34]
[ 0.17 0. -0.33 -0. -0.5 0.33 0.34 0.04 0.57]
[-0.33 -0.41 -0.33 -0.29 0. -0.17 -0.12 -0.52 0.23]
[ 0.17 0.41 -0.33 -0.58 0.5 0.33 -0.22 0.04 -0.11]]
[[ 0.17 0. -0.33 -0. -0.5 0.33 -0.34 0.04 -0.57]]
and note that the third column (corresponding to the third eigenvalue) is uniform. All other columns will disappear as their corresponding eigvalues, when multiplied by themselves a sufficient number of times, tend to 0. And that's why, after a sufficient number of matrix multiplications, we'll reach equilibrium.
Let's see it in action by multiplying the matrix by itself 10 times:
for i in range(10):
m = dot(m, m)
print m
[[ 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11]
[ 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11]
[ 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11]
[ 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11]
[ 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11]
[ 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11]
[ 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11]
[ 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11]
[ 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11]]
(Ir)Reducible matrices
We could easily extend our 3x3 box into a 6x6 box and make the transfer matrix such that only the top left hand 3x3 square and bottom right hand 3x3 square were possibly territories. If there were no means to transition from one such territory to the other, this would violate the Markov Chain principle outlined above. If we ever found ourselves in one quadrant, we'd know with 100% certainty that we'd never visited nor ever will visit the other.
"One of the two mathematically rigorous conditions, for a Monte Carlo Markov chain algorithm is that this pulling apart is not possible, that would be irreducible."
One way of looking at this is picturing the matrix as a graph. Usually, we picture graphs as adjacency matrices but if we do it the other way around we'd see this matrix as two disjoint sets of vertices. In linear algebra jargon, the matrix is reducible into these two sets. In graph theory jargon, we'd say the graph was not strongly connected. They are equivalent concepts.
Further reading |
The Psychology Prac
It was a practical session in the psychology class. The professor showed a large cage with a male rat in it. The rat was in the middle of the cage. Then, the professor kept a piece of cake on side and kept a female rat on the other side. The male rat ran towards the cake and ate it. Then, the professor changed the cake and kept some bread. The male rat ran towards the bread. This experiment went… on with the professor changing the food every time. And, every time, the male rat ran towards the food item and never towards the female rat. Professor said: This experiment shows that food is the greatest strength and attraction.
Then, one of the students from the back rows said:-"Sir, why don’t you change the female rat? She may be his wife!!"
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Tar and Abby
Thursday, June 21, 2012
I loves that they call this MAGIC!
"Tin, a material whose name is sometimes synonymous with "dull," has a secret side that's extraordinary, physicists say.
Scientists have succeeded in creating a new type of tin atom with "magic" properties and in studying it in more detail than ever before.
The nuclei of normal tin atoms are made of 50 protons and 62 neutrons, creating a stable substance called tin-112 (or 112Sn, which is the chemical symbol for tin).
However, scientists can make a special version of tin with exactly 50 protons and 50 neutrons, creating a "doubly magic" atom with equal numbers of its nucleus' ingredients."
Full article here.
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Review Questions For 3.4-3.5
1. Section 3.4 deals with the argument from control, a second argument for the doctrine of non-self. In order to understand this argument, one has to understand the ideas of the ‘executive function’ and the Anti-Reflexivity Principle. Explain both of these ideas.
2. Copy down the argument from control. What suspicion about this argument does your author raise, and how does that suspicion translate into a challenge to the exhaustiveness claim?
3. Outline the Buddhist strategy developed by your author for answering the challenge to the exhaustiveness claim.
4. Section 3.5 concerns the Milindapañha—a Buddhist dialogue that presents a third argument in favor of the doctrine of non-self involving names. This argument turns crucially on the notion of a ‘convenient designator’. Explain this notion as best you can.
5. Explain the idea of a ‘conceptual fiction’. What objection is this idea supposed to answer for the Buddhist? How does the idea of conceptual fictions relate to that of convenient designators? How is it that both Milinda’s chariot and the average college student are both conceptual fictions?
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Agni Mantra
Agni Mantra
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
The "kaTapayaadi" scheme applied to Melakarta Ragas
The "kaTapayaadi" scheme applied to Melakarta Ragas
"The 'ka-Ta-pa-ya' scheme
and its application to
mELAkarta raagas of Carnatic music
The ka-Ta-pa-ya scheme:
The 'ka-Ta-pa-ya' rule used by ancient Indian mathematicians and grammarians
is a tool to map names to numbers. Writing the consonants of the Sanskrit
alphabet as four groups with 'ka, Ta, pa, ya' as the beginning letters of
the groups we get
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
ka kha ga gha ~ma cha Cha ja jha ~na
Ta Tha Da Dha Na ta tha da dha na
pa pha ba bha ma
ya ra la va Sa sha sa ha
Now, each letter of the group is numbered from 1 through 9 and 0 for the tenth
letter. Thus, ka is 1, sa is 7, ma is 5, na is 0 and so on. So to indicate
the number 356 for example one would try and come up with a word involving
the third, fifth and sixth letters of the groups like 'gaNitam' or 'lESaca'.
However, in the Indian tradition, the digits of a number are written left to
right in the increasing order of their place value - exactly opposite the way
we are used to writing in the western way. Therefore 356 would be indicated
using letters in the 6th, 5th, and 3rd positions of the group e.g. 'triSUlaM'.
There apparently were upto 4 flavors of this scheme in use in ancient
India. These differ in how to interpret the conjoint consonant. The popular
scheme was to use only the last consonant. And any consonant not attached
to a vowel is to be disregarded. These rules should be used while decoding
a phrase in 'katapayadi' scheme.
The following phrase found in 'sadratnamAla' a treatise on astronomy,
bhadram budhi siddha janma gaNita Sraddha@h mayadbhUpagi@h
when decoded yields
4 2 3 9 7 8 5 3 5 6 2 9 5 1 4 1 3
which when reversed gives
3 1 4 1 5 9 2 6 5 3 5 8 7 9 3 2 4
which is readily recognised as the digits in 'pi' (except that the 17th
digit is wrong - it should be 3) :-)!
(source: The article 'The Katapayadi Formula and Modern"
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Thursday, January 27, 2011
What Kind Of Bad Breath Do You Have?
Chronic bad breath is caused by anaerobic microbes that live mainly on the surface or just beneath the surface of the tongue. Anaerobic bacteria love an oxygen-poor environment and this is just the type of living space the tongue provides.
These bacteria feed on food particles, sinus drainage and post-nasal drip, producing volatile sulfur compounds like hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan as metabolic waste. It is these compounds that smell of rotten eggs or old, unwashed socks...
By the way, the same micro-organisms that cause chronic bad breath can also cause or exacerbate other oral hygiene problems and diseases. One example is gingivitis, or gum disease. Another is tonsil stones, which are caused by an accumulation of sulfur-producing bacteria and debris that become lodged in the tonsils. This debris, which can include mucous from post nasal drip, rots in the back of the oral cavity and becomes trapped in the tonsil crypts to form tiny, stone-like objects that are usually white in color. |
Results for: Incandescent-light-bulb
Why doesn't a incandescent light bulb burn?
An inert gas is inserted into the bulb when it is manufactured. Without oxygen present there is no combustion.
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Can you recycle incandescent light bulbs?
Incandescent bulbs are not practical to recycle. There is not enough recyclable material in an incandescent bulb. Florescent bulbs including the new CFLs must be recycled be (MORE)
In Science
How is light produced in an incandescent light bulb?
An incandescent light bulb has a coil of tungsten wire (called the filament) suspended in an evacuated (of air) glass bulb. Electricity is passed across the filament which, be (MORE)
In Science
What gas and filament is in an incandescent light bulb?
Most common house hold light bulbs are really just evacuated to really low pressures and contain a tungsten filament. the reason being is that tungsten has high resistivity an (MORE)
How is light produced in an ordinary incandescent bulb?
Electric power is put trough a metallic filament inside a bulb that is filled with an inert gas. the filament is surrounded by the inert gas rather then air to stop the (MORE)
How is an incandescent light bulb different from a fluorescent light bulb?
An incandescent bulb differs from a fluorescent based on how it produces light. "Incandescent" means producing light through heat, this is essentially how an incandescent bulb (MORE)
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Recent Popular
What is Angular JS
Angular JS is an open-source JavaScript framework. It is developed by Google. Angular JS is used to create SPA or single page applications that only require HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on the client side. It is basically based on MVC+MVVM= MV-* pattern. It allows us to build easily testable, well-structured and maintainable [SPA] front-end applications. Angular JS does not use Jquery to complete operation for Single Page Application [SPA].
What is Constructor in Csharp
Constructor is the special type of method of a class which invokes automatically when instance of class is created. Constructor is used to object initialization and memory allocation of the class. Constructor is used to initialize private field’s value of the class whenever instance or object of class is created. Constructor can be overloaded.
When we don’t create constructor for the class, the compiler automatically create a default constructor for the class. Constructor name is always same of the class name.
What are the message exchanging patterns available in WCF?
There are 3 main different message exchanging patterns available in WCF.
Request-Reply - In the request-reply pattern, a client application sends a message to a WCF service and then waits for a reply. This is the classic and most commonly used message exchange pattern in WCF.
One-Way - In a one way message exchange pattern no response is sent back, even if there is an exception. In the one-way message exchange pattern, a client application sends a message to a WCF service but the service does not send a reply message to the client. You can use this pattern when a client requests the service take an action but does not need to wait for a reply.
Duplex - In the request/reply and one-way message exchange patterns, only the client can initiate communication. In the duplex pattern, both the client and the service can initiate communication. The client calls a method of the service. The service can then use a client callback to call a method in the client. You can use this pattern when you want the service to send a notification or alert to the client after the client has called the service.
What is the difference between a class and a structure?
It is a reference type. When we create the object of a class, CLR allocates memory in heap. It contains constructor or destructor. Classes don’t support inheritance. We can assigned null value to variable of class.
Structure is a value type. For structure, memory allocates on stack. It does not support inheritance. Variable of structure can not assign with null values. It does not need constructor or destructor because members of structure can be initialized automatically.
What is MVC Architecture?
MVC (Modal View Controller) Architecture.
M - Modal – It contain actual business logic for example how to call Function modules, class methods, data from database etc.
V - View - It is nothing but Graphical User interface with UI elements that holds data.
C - Controller - It communicates between modal and view.
The main advantage to use of MVC is for better readability and re-usability
Why people would develop web site using ASP.Net MVC instead of Web Form?
Following are difference between Asp.Net MVC and Web Form Which lead to Asp.Net MVC.
1. Asp.Net MVC uses loosely couple architecture.
2. Asp.net MVC use all HTML control.
3. Asp.net MVC Enables the full control over the rendered HTML.
4. Asp.net MVC Provides clean separation of concerns(SoC).
5. Asp.net MVC Enables Test Driven Development (TDD).
6. Asp.net MVC Easy integration with JavaScript frameworks
7. Asp.net MVC Following the design of stateless nature of the web.
8. Asp.net MVC RESTful urls that enables SEO.
9. Asp.net MVC No ViewState and PostBack events
What are the different type of Validation used in asp.net?
There are following types of validation controls which are used in Asp.net.
• The RequiredField Validator control
• The RangeValidator control
• The RegularExpressionValidator control
• The CompareValidator control
• The customValidator control
• The Validationsummary control
What are the types of Authentication in ASP.NET?
There are three types of authentication available in ASP.NET:
Windows Authentication: This authentication method uses built-in windows security features to authenticate user.
Forms Authentication: authenticate against a customized list of users or users in a database.
Passport Authentication: validates against Microsoft Passport service which is basically a centralized authentication service.
What is a class in C#?
Class is generic definition of what an object is . Class groups together all the attributes of object, as well as variables of other types, events and the methods that implements the behavior of member object. It means that class is a template of an object. It is like blue print of object. If class is not declared as static class than it can be use it by creating the instance of class. Classes are declared by "class" keywords.
public class Category
public int CategoryId { get; set; }
public string CategoryName { get; set; }
What is base keyword in C#?
The base keyword indicates that the base class must be used and it allows to access to its constructors, methods and member variables. When we use base(), we can simply call the constructor of the base class and when we use base.Method(…) then we can call a method of the base class to pass parameter if required. And when we use base.field we can access or get the value of a member variable from the base class or simply assign or set a different one to it.
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How to define fast reactions, Chemistry
Fast reactions are those reactions that occur instantaneously. A fast reaction depends upon the reaction rates. These reactions are so fast that they occur as soon as the reactants are bought together. Generally, these reactions involve ionic species and thus known as ionic reactions. These reactions take about 10-14 to 10-16 seconds for completion. It is very hard to determine the rates of these reactions. It is also defined as a reaction with a half-life of milliseconds or less; such reactions occur so rapidly that special experimental techniques are required to observe their rate. The rate of a reaction is defined in terms of the rates with which the products are formed and the reactants are consumed. For chemical systems it is usual to deal with the concentrations of substances, which is defined as the amount of substance per unit volume. The reaction rate can then be defined as the concentration of a substance that is consumed or produced in unit time. The half-life of a reactant is defined as the time that it takes for half of the initial amount to undergo reaction. The half-life is independent of the initial amount. The disadvantage of fast reactions is that the time that it takes to mix reactants or to change the temperature of the system may be significant in comparison with the half-life so that the initial time cannot be measured accurately and the other is that the time it takes to measure the amounts of substances may be comparable with the half-life of the reaction.
Posted Date: 7/23/2012 4:42:12 AM | Location : United States
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Paratyphoid and other salmonella infections, Biology
Paratyphoid and other Salmonella infections
Paratyphoid salmonellae are non-host-specific. The commonly reported species are S. Typhimurium, S. Enteritidis S. Thompson, S. Menston, S. Virchow and S. Haddar. The main sources of infection are contaminated feed or other inanimate objects. Transmission can also occur through infected embryos. These bacteria may cause food poisoning in humans when foodstuffs are contaminated with feces. Eggs from infected hens may also contain salmonellae.
Symptoms and lesions: Newly hatched chicks are mainly affected and clinically this disease cannot be distinguished from pullorum disease. The lesions are also not characteristic. There may be liver necrosis and catarrhal enteritis.
Diagnosis: Isolation and identification of the organism are essential to make a differential diagnosis from pullorum and gallinarum infections.
Prevention and control: In farm management, to keep away from Salmonella infection is the best policy. General approaches for control of salmonellosis include continuous screening and elimination of reactors. This is to be combined with high flock-management standards and hatchery discipline. The birds are to be tested between 16 and 20 weeks. Two consecutive clear tests, one month apart are followed by annually tested negative flock provide the evidence of pullorum free status. Hatching eggs, fresh chicks, replacement lots, feed etc. must be purchased from known salmonella- free sources. Since the usual source of infection is contaminated feed, use of pelleted feed reduces the chance of salmonellosis.
Posted Date: 9/18/2012 8:32:24 AM | Location : United States
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Acharya Sankara’s Contribution to Human Culture
by Swami Krishnananda
(Spoken on Sankaracharaya Jayanti on May 4, 1995)
The coming of this great genius many centuries back heralds the coming of a great wave of renaissance in India which touched every nook and corner of human civilisation. Usually human nature is such that it thinks only little things in a scattered manner, not even in a systematic succession of ideas. As circumstances press upon the mind of a person, only that particular conviction attracts the attention of the mind, and rarely does anyone exercise the faculty of comprehensive thinking. Moving in a haphazard manner, in a desultory way from one thing to another, is not what we may call a total approach to things.
Acharya Sankara was a great genius in tackling the problems of life at their very root. That is to say, he touched the ultimate cause of the human problem. This is the reason why his contribution to human culture is not just philosophical or metaphysical, as people imagine, but touches every aspect of human life. He was a protagonist of the Ultimate Reality of life, which manifests itself as human life or any kind of life whatsoever. It touches the problems which are purely personal, psychological in nature. It also comprehends the requirements of human society, and when we speak of human society we have touched everything that is connected with life in this world. In that sense, we may say that he was not merely a philosophical genius and a great metaphysician but a person who heralded cultural revival. Historians of today generally tell us that the Indian renaissance started from the days of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, Rama Tirtha, etc., but these are all latecomers. The beginning of the revival of Indian culture commenced from the vigorous cultural activity in which Acharya Sankara engaged himself.
When we tackle a problem, we must go to the very root of it. A kind of surface tackling of a question is not an answer to it. It is something like taking our daily meal when we are feeling hungry, and also trying to know why we are hungry at all—what has happened to us so that we feel hungry every day.
There was during the time of Acharya Sankara’s coming to the world a big forest of cults and creeds, faiths, rituals and opinions galore. From the lowest pragmatic rituals to the highest Upanishadic wisdom, we had a large gamut of the development of thought, but it was not systematically arranged.
As I mentioned, the human mind is accustomed to emphasise only certain things whenever a pressure is exerted upon it, and unless there is a pressure, the mind will not function. It is not proper that the mind should operate only because there is a pressure exerted from outside, which is to say that there is no freedom at all. It is necessary to voluntarily manoeuvre the functions of the mind for a purposive direction, and we should not helplessly live in the world under a pressure of circumstances. Even if there is a pressure of conditions prevailing in the world, it is up to us to know why there are such pressures at all. We have internal emotional pressures, intellectual doubts, social difficulties and political harassments. We can handle them one by one in the manner necessary, in a surface way of things, but we never answer the question why these occurrences are happening at all. Why should things be as they are? Why are we what we are? Why is anything what it is? These questions were originally raised in the Vedas and the Upanishads, but they were completely forgotten due to the circumstances of human history. Truth always triumphs: satyameva jayate. Therefore, the truth of life asserted itself through the process of human history in different ways: in cultural revivals, philosophical disquisitions and even in political upheavals.
The genius that Acharya Sankara was, with the mighty reasoning and intellect that he exercised at a young age of sixteen, something astonishing for us to hear, paved the foundation for the most piercing and penetrating intellectual activity of philosophy in the world. Tradition goes that he studied the four Vedas—Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda—when he was just eight years old. A precocious and unimaginable genius he must have been at the age of eight to have become a chaturvedi, that is, a person who has learned all the four Vedas. When he was twelve he mastered all the philosophically oriented arts and sciences, and it was at the age of sixteen that he wrote the majestic commentary on the Brahmasutras. His exposition of the Brahmasutras and its contribution to intellectual thought and spiritual analysis is superb. It is a classic by itself. His commentary is a great literary contribution of philosophical profundity, touching the very heart of the human being.
Short was his life. It is believed that he was to pass away at the age of twenty-four but divine dispensation appears to have given him a further lease of life up to thirty-two for the purpose of spreading this knowledge throughout the country. There were no motor cars, no airplanes, not even roads. How would a person travel throughout the country? In that age of a total absence of communication and vehicular movement, that again speaks galore of his energy. He touched the four corners of India and established foundational stones of learning in the south, in the west, in the north, and in the east, and he himself centralised his presence in the very heart of the country.
It is difficult to write a biography of such a great Master. The greater a person is, the more difficult it is to say anything about that person because they touch the very core of the facts of life, and therefore, we do not know what to say about them. If you write a biography of the sun shining in the sky, what will you say about the sun? You will be flabbergasted. You cannot say anything. The sun is the sun; that is all. You do not know what to say. Similar is the question: “What was the way in which the battle took place between Rama and Ravana?” For that, the answer is: To what can you compare the sky? You can compare the sky to the sky only, because there is nothing second to it. To what can you compare the ocean? The ocean is like the ocean only; there is nothing like the ocean anywhere. Likewise, the battle between Rama and Ravana was like the battle between Rama and Ravana; that is all. Such is the pinnacle or the heat of that action which was the battle between Rama and Ravana.
Similar is the glory of a great genius, a mathematical genius, a political genius, or the height of statesmanship, great poetry, a wonderful painting; you cannot write anything about these things. You can write about small things or about great things, but you cannot write anything about the greatest of all things. You can write something about your body, you can explain something about your mind, but you cannot say anything about your soul because it is the greatest of things in you. So all our knowledge is periphery and it does not touch the core of things.
Acharya Sankara was a chivalrous, adventurous young leader of people who rose up like a meteor which shot through the sky, illuminating the Earth. He created the circumstance of learning, education and philosophy that would be remembered forever and ever, as long as the sun shines in the sky.
There are pathshalas, schools of Sanskrit learning in our country and elsewhere which take up teaching on the writings of Acharya Sankara, but they follow a procedure of knowing the beauty of a building by counting the bricks that contribute to make the building. How many iron bars, how many bricks, how much of cement? Can we say the beauty of a building consists in the number of bricks and iron rods and the quantity of cement that we have used? Yet, there is nothing in the building except these things; it is perfectly true. The building is nothing but cement, brick and iron, but the building is something different from them. Likewise, these learned pundits miss the spirit of the whole thing. The soul of the teaching is missed in the counting of the grammatical textual interpretations of Sankara’s teachings—going on by rotation and rote the same words again and again, repeating Panini grammar and the verbal and grammatical conjunctions. These things take up all their occupation. It is like the value of a building; who thinks what is the depth of the foundation, and what is the material that is used? This is not the value of the building. The value of the building is in the beauty of it, not in the quantity of material that has gone into it.
So in a way, it is very unfortunate that these days we do not have good students and do not have even good teachers who can actually touch the heart of this great man, who was the greatest of men, I should say. The spirit is always lost in all our activity. We are mechanical bulldozers that walk on the road doing some great work. The bulldozer has done many great works, but it has no soul. The bulldozer does not know what it is doing, but it has done great work, wonderful work.
Thus, wonderful work does not mean real work. Here is the great point of learning. Even if a person chants the Vedas and the Upanishads, and knows the whole Bhagavadgita by heart, it does not mean he is a learned person because he is only a machine that moves like a vehicle on the road, but the spirit of it is missing. Today we require not learned people who know grammar and linguistics and the composition of the language in which a particular book is written, but we require a teacher whose soul is speaking and a student whose soul is listening. That is gradually diminishing in our country due to pressures of circumstances which are purely external, so we seem to be living in the objective world of mechanical operations, and we have lost our soul completely. The world has no soul today; it has machines only, so that the person who lives in the midst of these machines also has become a machine. That is why there is a tragedy everywhere, restlessness everywhere, and no satisfaction in whatever we do. Any action that we do, whatever it is, in any field of life, does not bring satisfaction because machines are working, and the soul is dead.
So what can I tell you? This great Master requires a purely appropriate appreciation from the depths of your spirit for his great commentaries. There is no one who can write like that, no one who can think like that, and no one also who can express in that majestic language, especially as we have seen in his commentary on the Brahmasutras. So we have to become spiritual seekers, not merely intellectual, argumentative professors.
In all the processes of life that we have to pass through, whether it is personally or in the family or in society or in the workaday world, our soul has to come to the forefront. Let the soul work. It is not enough if your emotions work and your expectations work like a salary for a good life, etc. Let the soul come into the forefront. Let it do the work for you, like Sri Krishna sitting in the front of the chariot of Arjuna; the machine is Arjuna, and the soul is Krishna. A mere machine is of no utility here. Hence, the chariot of Arjuna and Krishna is the blending of the spirit and the letter of any activity, which is abundantly highlighted in the Bhagavadgita, which we miss every day because with all these things that we have heard, with all these things that we seem to have learned, we are still mechanised in every way. We admire the industrial revolution of the world, we admire airplanes, we admire robots, we admire satellites; we admire everything which is dead, without any soul. How wonderful is this world of industrial transformation and mechanical genius! But all this is soulless, so the world cannot be happy. No one in the world can be happy with any amount of effort if the machine is working beautifully but the soul is dead.
It requires a powerful spiritual leader in order that these attempts at the resuscitation of the values of life can come to the surface of life. The hope of the world is in the soul of the world and not in the mechanical activities and performances, or the industrial achievements anywhere.
Here is the great Master before us. We are observing, celebrating his birthday, and it is not enough if we do arati, take prasad and go away, saying that we have celebrated Sankaracharya Jayanti. Let the soul be stirred; go into the spirit of what he has taught, and if you can live in the light of what was actually presented to you as a honey of knowledge, you will be blessed. This is what I feel. |
The New Sarajevo
1. T+L
2. Sarajevo
The New Sarajevo
Retracing his steps from his first visit to Sarajevo, in 1960, to the present, Richard Holbrooke maps the city's checkered history—and the birth of our new world order
On the afternoon of December 31, 1992, I stepped out of a United Nations armored personnel carrier into the thin, pale light of a bitter winter day in Sarajevo. Gunfire and the occasional artillery or mortar round were audible throughout the city, and a cold wind cut through my flak jacket. The first human beings I noticed among the wrecked buildings and overturned cars were some young children searching listlessly through a garbage dump for anything—twigs, wood, paper—that could be used to make a fire. In the besieged city, people had already burned up much of their furniture and most of their books trying to keep warm in unheated, windowless apartments.
I was traveling on behalf of the International Rescue Committee and Refugees International, two of the world's leading private relief organizations, to learn more about Bosnia, which had been torn apart, from the moment it declared its independence from Yugoslavia, by the worst fighting Europe had seen since World War II. Our personnel carrier had been stopped repeatedly by heavily armed Bosnian Serbs, some already dangerously drunk in anticipation of the evening's New Year's parties. Only weeks earlier, I later learned, several people traveling the same route had been killed by angry Serbs.
Huddled inside the UN vehicle, I could not help thinking of a very different visit I had made to Sarajevo 32 years before, when, hitchhiking across Europe with a friend, I stopped in Yugoslavia to see the place where, as every student had been taught, World War I began. It was here, on a street in the center of the city, that Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated, an event that started us on the path to two world wars, the Cold War, millions of deaths, and the nearly complete transformation of Europe.
This is the story of those two trips—and a few others they inspired—to the city where, as the 20th century neared its end, Europeans embarked on another senseless killing spree. I could never have imagined that my brief trip as a teenager would echo in my life the way it did when, in 1995, I became the chief American negotiator for the Balkans. But such is one of the intangible values—and pleasures—of travel, especially when you are young and most open to the unexpected, the unplanned, the impact of first impressions.
The wars that led to the disintegration of Yugoslavia were the most dramatic negative consequence of the end of the Cold War. As the rest of the world celebrated the freedom that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia—a federal state that included Bosnia, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Kosovo, and several other regions—rediscovered its ethnic roots. Under the demagogic and even criminal leadership of Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbs launched four brutal wars between 1991 and 1999 against the rest of Yugoslavia, losing each one. Today, five countries exist where there was once only one, and Yugoslavia's very name has disappeared from the map.
As it turned out, what happened in the former Yugoslavia was only a foretaste of the post-Cold War chaos that was to come elsewhere. Other conflicts, often buried under the rigid divisions of the Cold War, emerged, some violently. They included Chechnya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Congo, and, notably, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Though the particulars of their histories are distinct, Iraq and Yugoslavia have surprisingly similar historical roots. Both countries were created—one could well say invented—by peacemakers right after World War I. And in both places, several different, often hostile, ethnic groups were forced to live together inside internationally determined boundaries that had been drawn with insufficient regard to existing allegiances and rivalries.
In 1991, the pressure of ethnic separatism led to the collapse of a centralized Yugoslavian authority. But in Iraq, Saddam Hussein crushed every uprising or hint of one, even using poison gas against his own people, while the world looked the other way. In the end, the Serbian people, after losing the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, overthrew Milosevic in the fall of 2000. Saddam, more brutally effective than Milosevic in suppressing rebellions, would be removed from power only by an American invasion.
If the breakup of Yugoslavia was ultimately acceptable to, and negotiated by, the outside world, the international consensus in regard to Iraq has been to keep the country together, despite the fact that it is composed of at least three distinct ethnic or religious groups.Today, these two countries face different but related problems: in Yugoslavia, building several viable smaller states out of the debris; in Iraq, creating a functioning central government in a country previously held together by force and now extremely chaotic.
When I first saw it in 1960, Sarajevo seemed both exotic and peaceful. It was even beautiful, as I recall, a city ringed by hills, hills in which, though I could not know it then, I would experience the most tragic moment of my professional life. There were dozens of mosques, and churches both Catholic and Orthodox. The guidebooks—written to conform with the prevailing Communist ideology—emphasized that in Yugoslavia the many ethnic and religious groups (Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bosnians, Macedonians, Kosovar Albanians, Montenegrins, Hungarians, Jews) all lived harmoniously in a socialist paradise.
Americans at that time celebrated Marshal Tito's courage in standing up to Stalin and the Soviet Union, and cut him enormous slack because he had broken with Moscow. The United States even gave Yugoslavia military aid—there were strategic advantages to backing Tito. Still, he ran a tightly controlled Communist dictatorship.
It made a deep impression on me to see, for the first time in my life, grim-faced men in Communist military uniforms. But this was not as memorable as our visit to the exact spot where Gavrilo Princip had stepped forward and gunned down the archduke in 1914. Above cement footprints suggesting those of Princip was a plaque in Serbo-Croatian, and as I placed my feet into the prints, a self-appointed guide appeared and offered to translate. "Here, on June 28, 1914," he read (or so I recall), "Gavrilo Princip struck the first blow for Serbian liberty." (In her famous travel book Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, Rebecca West records the exact words as follows: "Here, in this historical place, Gavrilo Princip was the initiator of liberty, on the day of St. Vitus, the 28th of June, 1914.")
I still remember my surprise. How could the spot where Europe began its long descent into hell be celebrated for its contribution to Serbian "liberty"?What about the terrible consequences of Princip's act?And what was this about "Serbia"?It did not even exist as an independent country. It was part of Yugoslavia. Besides, Sarajevo was not even in Serbia; it was in Bosnia.
I can see now that the plaque in Sarajevo was simply a manifestation of the extreme nationalism that, since the end of the Cold War, has seized hold of much of the world, and that is one of the underlying causes of terrorism. We know this now. But such issues were barely studied, much less understood, in 1960.
Still, the memory of that "modest black plaque," as West described it, stayed with me. When I returned to Sarajevo in 1992, I immediately ran into John Burns, an old friend and a legendary war correspondent at the New York Times. He invited me to come with him to a New Year's Eve party: "You'll see something right out of Dante's Inferno." I went along, and he turned out to be right. There were beautiful women and sad men and plum brandy and clouds of cigarette smoke and the Rolling Stones—all in a miserable shell-pocked ruin of a nightclub called, with literal precision, the Hole in the Wall. But before we went out, I asked him to take me back to those footsteps in the cement. "Impossible," he said with a laugh. The Bosnian Muslims had destroyed them—along with the plaque—as soon as the war started. But it was clear that the spirit behind their inscription had been revived—murderously so.
On August 19, 1995, I made my third visit to Sarajevo—the nightmare trip. I had just become the chief negotiator for the United States in a last-ditch effort to stop the war in Bosnia, which had already killed almost 300,000 people and left more than 2 million homeless. As the Sarajevo airport was under constant attack, our small negotiating team was forced to try to reach the city by driving a narrow, winding route over the mountains. A small section of the road went through an area controlled by Bosnian Serb snipers. I was traveling in a military Humvee with General Wesley Clark, my military adviser; the other three members of our negotiating team followed in an armored personnel carrier that belonged to the French. As we rounded a corner high on the mountain, the second vehicle went over the side of the road and bounced down a very steep ravine, killing all three of our colleagues. It was horrible—not an ordinary road accident, but an accident of war—a direct result of the extreme risks the Serbs had forced us to take in order to carry out our mission of peace. I did not sleep that night, and the next morning, as General Clark and I began the sad journey back to Washington to bury our comrades at Arlington National Cemetery, we vowed that we would return and dedicate the rest of our mission to the memory of our fallen friends: Robert Frasure, Joseph Kruzel, and Nelson Drew—three brave public servants who knowingly put themselves in harm's way in the service of their country.
Subsequent trips were a blur of intense negotiations: first, to lift the siege of Sarajevo, which we achieved in mid-September of 1995, as American and NATO aircraft bombed the Bosnian Serbs; second, to reopen the gas and electricity lines into the city (on October 11, when the first bursts of gas began to flow and the lights flickered on again, there was wild shooting all over the city—but in celebration); third, to bring the leaders of the region to Dayton, Ohio, in November, and to keep them there until a final agreement could be hammered out.
The peace accord reached in Dayton on November 21, 1995, while far from perfect, succeeded in its primary objectives: ending the war and creating a postwar structure for an independent and sovereign Bosnia. That country exists today. Perhaps a million refugees have returned to Bosnia, more and more of them to areas where they are in the minority (a key factor in determining what the future will hold). Commerce between the once warring factions has resumed, although the power of criminal gangs in the Balkans still chokes off much economic opportunity and impedes political progress.
I have been back several times and walked the now peaceful streets with Bosnian friends. In a city where every window was broken, there are glass-fronted Internet cafés and new buildings everywhere. Of course, Sarajevo is not normal—not yet, anyway—and the city I saw in 1960 is gone forever. Too much damage was done, not simply to its physical fabric but also to its ancient, multiethnic soul. Neither, however, is it the murderous hellhole whose near-death throes gripped the world only eight years ago. It is hard to say what Sarajevo will look like in another decade. Much depends on finding a postwar leadership that can set aside ethnic politics and create a common economic future for the Balkans. Much also depends on the continued involvement and interest of the outside world, of Washington and Europe, even as people focus more on Baghdad or Kabul. If the West fails to finish the job it began in the Balkans, the situation might still unravel. Although 1,700 American troops remain in Bosnia (down from an initial 20,000), there have been no American casualties there in eight years—this is not Baghdad. To pull these troops out now, as some in Washington want, would also send the wrong signal to those watching the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq. But whatever happens, the footsteps of Gavrilo Princip—and the world whose end they marked—will never return.
More from T+L |
Project is cutting down trees to reduce forest fire risks
CLE ELUM, Wash. (AP) - To restore a forest and reduce the risk of severe wildfires, a conservation group is cutting down trees.
But it's not a typical commercial logging operation. The Nature Conservancy is selectively logging dry forests in Washington's Central Cascade Mountains as part of a long-term plan to make thousands of privately owned forestland more resilient to fire, disease and climate change.
A century of wildfire suppression has resulted in overgrown trees that are ripe for fire. So the group is weeding out smaller trees that can serve as kindling for larger fires. They're also leaving behind bigger, older and more fire-resistant ponderosa pines.
The project outside the city of Cle Elum represents a fraction of the acres that some say need to be treated to prevent intense future fires in eastern Washington.
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How to Write Like a Pro: Five Common Usage Errors to Avoid
Updated on April 26, 2012
The Information Age has been wonderful in resurrecting writing as an art form. Unfortunately, even though many of us are writing more than we ever did before, we aren't necessarily writing any better. Thanks to email and text messaging we've often become quite casual about our prose, dropping brb's here and cya's there instead of spelling the words out, and grammar rules are often cast aside in favor of methods that get your message across quickly.
Casualness might be fine if you're writing on the go, but it's never appropriate in a more formal venue. Yet spelling out abbreviations is only a first step. What follows are five common usage errors that appear time and time again in Internet prose. Avoid them and you're well on your way to distinguishing yourself as a pro.
1. Using It's When You Mean Its
This is perhaps one of the most frequent mistakes appearing on the Web. It's is a contraction of the words it is (or it has) and always takes an apostrophe. Its -- the possessive adjective identifying something that belongs to something else -- never does.
The confusion comes because there are indeed plenty of possessives which use the apostrophe-s structure: the men's room, Lady Gaga's meat dress, Kim Kardashian's wedding. But in those instances you're taking a noun and making it a possessive. You don't need to do that for its. Treat it just like you would the possessive pronoun his and leave the apostrophe out.
2. Using Loose for Lose
Here we have a case of two words that look and sound similar but actually mean two different things. They also have different origins.
The verb lose (with one o) has several definitions, but most of them have to deal with loss or deprivation: He's going to lose the election. She's planning to lose weight. They are going to lose their minds. The verb loose (with two o's) means to set something free or release it: Alfred has to loose the birds before he can start filming. It's the same idea when you use loose as an adjective: Sounds like he's got a screw loose. Loose lips sink ships.
Depriving and releasing are not the same thing at all. Losing your mind -- in the sense of not having one anymore -- is a bad thing. Loosing your mind -- freeing it up, in other words -- can be very, very good. Ask yourself if you want to convey the idea of being "on the loose" and you'll remember which word is correct.
3. Using Breathe for Breath
This one is pretty straightforward. Breathe is the verb. Breath is the noun. Don't hold your breath. Don't breathe a word.
There are actually quite a few pairs of words like this: bath and bathe, loath and loathe, sheath and sheathe. In each case, when it's a verb you want, use the one that ends with e.
Hope that helps you breathe a little easier.
Some Ways to Improve Your Grammar
4. Using There for Their (or There's for Theirs)
They may sound exactly the same, but these two words are very different. Their is an adjective, identifying something belonging to them: their coats, their shoes, their honeymoon, etc. There is an adverb showing where something is. Note the difference in the following sentence: Their house is over there.
What's often confusing is the fact that there doesn't have to be a literal place, as in the sentence You may have a point there. There may also refer to the fact that some condition exists: Boy, there sure is a lot of traffic. Regardless of the specifc use, the general rule remains: if you're talking about a group of people, you use their. For places -- real, imaginary, or theoretical -- use there.
In a similar vein, theirs refers to people, while there's is a contraction of there is or there has: There's a car blocking the driveway. Whose is it? It's theirs.
So, again, their is for people and there is for places. Another way to remember the difference is that there (the place word) looks a lot like where.
5. Using Alright Under Any Circumstances
Last we come to an error which some people don't think is an error.
Old school grammarians insist that there's no such word as alright. It's two words -- all and right. Using alright, they argue, is a sign of laziness and ignorance, despite the fact that more than a dozen popular songs have alright in their titles.
The source of confusion about alright may be due to the fact that the "word" looks a lot like already. All is a word and ready is a word. Put them together and you've got already, which is also a word. Should not the same logic hold true for all, right, and alright?
Uh, nice try, but no. Already is not a short way of saying all ready. It conveys a completely different idea. We are all ready to go, which we need to do soon because it's already getting late.
Other folks are more charitable, saying alright is perfectly acceptable if one uses it (especially in dialogue) to mean okay rather than all correct, which would indeed require the use of all right.
There may come a time when alright is accepted by the majority of editors, if not as a valid spelling of the concept, then at least as an acceptable alternative. That day is not today, however. So unless you're on an orthographic crusade of some sort, better to play it safe and eliminate alright from your writing altogether.
I hope you're all right with that.
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• ktrapp profile image
Kristin Trapp 5 years ago from Illinois
You are a man after my own heart. Errors abound on the internet, any you've touched on five that I have noticed many times myself. I wrote a similar article and was going to follow it up with one dealing with lose/loose and compliment/complement, but I see you've covered the first so I don't have to. Thanks for sharing this great grammar lesson.
• phdast7 profile image
Theresa Ast 5 years ago from Atlanta, Georgia
Ktrapp stole my comment. :( You are indeed a man after my own heart. I teach history and sometimes grading my student's essays is almost more than I can bare.
I love language and I really love "correct, expressive, meaningful" language. Your hub not only addressed some very common mistakes, it was very well written and a pleasure to read. :) SHARING
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Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted
‘Who cried for the people who lost their lives on a boat? For the young mothers who travelled with their children? For those fathers who were seeking a better future for their families? ‘ This was the ringing challenge to the world’s conscience sounded by Pope Francis from the island of Lampedusa in July 2013. ‘We are a society that has forgotten the experience of shedding tears, of suffering, amidst the globalisation of indifference’.
This beatitude proclaims blessed those who are able to mourn for the suffering they see and feel around them. Those who, when faced with suffering, overcome the temptation of indifference and are ready to share the pain. The violence, the injustice and the poverty we see all around us are a call to open our hearts and let this suffering touch us.
We are invited to mourn, to feel distressed at so much pain in the world. This is a real choice, for we know how easily we run away or think of something else: we know how often it feels to be too much to handle.
And Jesus wept…Jesus wept
Jesus wept when he stood outside the tomb of his friend Lazarus. He always allowed the suffering of others to touch him, sometimes even reacting without being asked, as he did when he raised the son of the widow of Nain.
He also wept when he could foresee Jerusalem’s destruction, brought about by her refusal to accept him. We too live in a world that sounds so proud at being able to do without God. Does this situation affect us, do we mourn for our unbelieving world, or do we believe it is enough for us just to do our best?
They will be comforted
Jesus promises us that those who mourn will be comforted. When our heart mourns we will discover that while we cannot eliminate all the suffering in the world, our efforts do make a difference. This brings us real consolation, for we know we are being true to ourselves. It is Jesus’ promise that whatever we give up we will receive back a hundredfold, even in this world.
Moreover, we discover that we are not alone in this. As Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb and over his beloved Jerusalem, he is also present with us, mourning and suffering alongside those who suffer, and inspiring and supporting those who reach out to them.
SONG: ‘Jesus Wept’ by Ralph McTell – Listen to the song here (track 8)
The day that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem,
The adventure almost over, the night he hadn’t slept
Dreams and premonitions made him tired and emotional,
And that’s why Jesus wept.
He wasn’t scared of dying, he’d made that commitment
Fulfilling the old prophecy, his bargain he had kept
He was due some satisfaction, but he was deeply troubled,
And that’s why Jesus wept.
Was this his true destiny, or could he still make changes,
Someone else’s nightmare into which he’d stepped?
Damage limitation couldn’t save the situation,
And that’s why Jesus wept.
In his dream he saw the crusade and all wars that would follow,
Declared in his name when he thought he’d been direct
Love thy neighbour, do not kill, and turn the other cheek,
And that’s why Jesus wept.
He saw the inquisition and the burning of the saints,
The conversion of the innocents he swore he would protect
He saw them bless the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima,
And that’s why Jesus wept.
Though Peter would betray him, he made him the rock
On which he would build his church to sort of keep him in his debt
A man about to die is allowed some confusion,
And that’s why Jesus wept.
He thought of his disciples, especially of Judas,
The job that was ordained for him and the reward he’d collect
He saw him in the tree with the silver coins around him,
And that’s why Jesus wept.
Then he thought about the good times when he turned the tables over,
Chastised the money lenders and he earned the boy’s respect
He was proud of Godly anger, but ashamed of manly temper,
And that’s why Jesus wept.
Rumours started flying about water into wine,
Sight to the blind and that he’d even raised the dead
The biggest miracle was that anyone believed it,
And that’s why Jesus wept.
Then he mused on human nature, how fickle were the public,
So ready to accept him, so quick now to reject
Where were the five thousand he fed with loaves and fishes?
And that’s why Jesus wept.
In his dream he saw a garden with all his friends asleep,
He walked away the hours until the morning crept
He wondered would the nails hurt, would he be man enough?
And that’s why Jesus wept.
Was he supposed to bear it like a man or like a God,
Would tears show a weakness or a strength by their effect?
Would they be viewed as compassion or failure and self-pity?
And that’s why Jesus wept.
Then he saw his houses burning on both sides of a border,
Saw the guiltless suffer with the guilty and the rest
And when they called his name and he knew he couldn’t help them,
That’s why Jesus wept.
Then he saw two armies marching and he heard their crucifixes
Reduced to superstitious muted jangling round their necks
And he heard his name intoned as they interred their companion,
And that’s why Jesus wept.
Then he thought about his mother and the stories she had told him,
Who’d filled his dreams with angels, put voices in his head
Then the scent of pine trees made him think of dear old Joseph,
And that’s why Jesus wept.
That’s why Jesus wept. |
Posted in System Programming
System Programming , Game Development and Kernel Development
Practical Compiler Development Part 1
This is a rather informal introduction to development of a hobby compiler . The more formal chapters on compiler development will be given in later tutorials. By the end of this tutorial you will be able to create a simple interpreter . This can be easily converted into a compiler. The requirements for following this tutorial are
1. A reasonable grasp of C / C++ / Python / C# / Java
2. An elementary knowledge of basic data structures and recursion
Compiler defined
A compiler is defined as a program that converts a source file in a specified form to an output file that can be fed to an assembler or simulated by a machine (virtual / real). Most of the compiler convert the given source file into assembly language that can be assembled by an assembler of the target machine.
For example to see the code generated by your source program in Turbo C++ , type the following
tcc -S source.c
Phases of a compiler
Lexical analysis : The lexical analysis phase of the compiler essentially does the tokenizing . This phase takes a stream of text as input and converts it into tokens required for the parser . For example the lexical analyzer splits the C source into if , else , while , int etc . The lexical analyzer can be constructed using a hard coded dfa or by using a generator like lex . In the next part of this tutorial I will describe how to write your own lex like generator . In this tutorial we will use an ad hoc lexical analyzer which will be sufficient for the purpose of demonstration. In fact you will be surprised to see that this sort of approach is taken in small hobby compilers like small- C .
Syntax Analysis : The lexemes must be arranged in such form that reflects the syntactic structure of the language . This is called syntax analysis or parsing . In this tutorial we will discuss only a form of top down parsing known as recursive descent parsing with one look ahead . Every programming language has a grammar which is usually represented in BNF form . A CFG grammar of a programming language is defined by the following
1. A set of terminal symbols that cannot be substituted
2. A set of non terminals which can be substituted by terminal or other non terminals
3. A set of Productions that define the grammar (of the form NT -> A | B , ie LHS should have
only one nonterminal)
4. A start symbol from which everything begins
Eg A grammar for the string aaaa ..any number of times is
S -> “a “ S { terminals are enclosed in “ “ and non terminals in capital letters }
{ | used to denote OR }
S -> nothing
ie this means that S can be an “a” followed by S itself or S can be nothing .
Lets see how aaa is derived
S->aS => S->aaS ( using S -> aS) => S->aaaS(using S->aS) => S->aaa (using S-> nothing_left) .
Now lets see how a recursive descent parser is constructed for this grammar. This is easily done by replacing each non terminal by function call and performing a match for the terminal
Void parseS()
if( not_matched) error();
if(end_of_input) return ;
In order to construct a recursive descent parser like the above the grammar should follow these
conditions .
For each production of the form S – > A | C | E .
The first sets of each non-terminal in each of this production must be disjoint
ie FIRST (A) intersection FIRST (C) intersection FIRST(E) = NULL
The first sets and the follow sets of a nonterminal must be disjoint ie …
FIRST(A) intersection FOLLOW (A) = NULL
FIRST(C) intersection FOLLOW ( C ) = NULL
…so on …
This implies that the first set should not be equal to the follow set of the non- terminal.
The the first set of a terminal is the symbol itself. The first set of the non – terminal is the set of terminals with which the nonterminal can begin with . The follow set of a non terminal is the set of terminals which can come after the non terminal. Lets find out the First n Follow for the following
grammar .
S -> “a”A | C D
A->”b”A |”c”
C -> “e”|nothing
D->”d” | “g” D
FIRST(S) = FIRST ( “a”A) union FIRST(CD)
= “a” union FIRST( C )
= “a” union FIRST ( C ) union FIRST (D) { since C can be nothing , first of D must be
= “a” union FIRST ( “e” ) union FIRST (“d”) union FIRST (“g”)
= “a” union “e” union “d” union “g”
= { a , e , d , g }
Similarly FOLLOW(C) = FIRST(D) = { d , g } etc … Computing the first and follow of the rest of the symbols in the grammar is left as an exercise to you . These rules have to followed in order to avoid conflicts in the predictive parsing table. More about advanced parsing methods in later chapters .
Now i present a more formal algorithms for finding first and follow .is given below . You might find it easier to follow the informal definitions that the algorithms given below.
Finding all nothingable non terminals
1) if given A -> nothing the set NOTINGABLE(A) = true
2) while no changes made in NOTINGABLE table
3) if production such that A -> A1 A2 A3 … Ak and all of NOTHINGABLE(A1)
4) then NOTINGABLE(A) = true
Finding first
1) if terminal then set FIRST (Symbol) = symbol
2) while no changes made in FIRST table
4) FIRST(A) = FIRST(A) union FIRST (A1)
Finding follow
1) follow is not defined for terminals
2) follow of the Start symbol is the end of input marker
3) if there exits a nonterminal A such that B -> E A D then
4) add FIRST(D) to FOLLOW(A)
5) if there exists a production such that A -> G H such that NOTHINGABLE(H) = true then
6) everything in FOLLOW (A) is also in FOLLOW (H)
As a final example, grammar for if statement.
FACTOR -> id
STATEMENT -> id “;” STATEMENT | nothing
It can be seen that right recursion in many cases is unneeded and can be removed using a simple loop .
As right recursion leads to tail recursion. Eg
The grammar S ->aS | nothing can be more compactly written as S-> (a)*
The parser reduces to
while(current_token == “a” ) advance_input_pointer();
Left recursion will lead to an infinite loop and should be removed .For eg the grammar
S -> S B | D
can be re written as
Common factor in grammars should also be removed eg for the grammar
S ->” if” condition “then” statement
S -> “if” condition “then” statement “else” statement
can be modified into
A -> ” if” condition “then” statement
B -> “else” statement | nothing
Semantic Analysis : Syntax analysis does not tell anything about the meaning of the statement under
consideration . It simply check whether the syntax is correct . For eg
const int i = 20;
The above lines are syntactically correct but semantically wrong . The semantics are sometimes given
using attribute grammars . .More about this later.
Code Generation : This is the final phase where the assembly code to the target machine is generated . I have skipped many other phases which are part of a more mature compiler. The purpose of this tutorial is to give quick introduction . The most of the hobby compilers the major component is the parser and code generation and semantic analysis is done when each non terminal is encountered in the parser.
As an example of developing a simple interpreter , I have provided the source code of a simple basic like interpreter. I have used the mingw port of gcc for compiling the source . I used dev-cpp as the ide .
The corresponding project and source files are also submitted .
Download the source code in pdf format.clicky , Basically , what you have to do is copy paste the code and compile it with a modern C++ compiler . |
Identify Common North American Hardwood Trees With Leaves
A Quick and Easy Way to Identify 50 Common North American Trees
When you are trying to identify a tree, examining the leaves on hardwood trees and needles on conifers can be a big help. If a tree's foliage is a leaf and not a needle, then you are probably dealing with a hardwood or deciduous tree. There can be dozens of tree families that make up a hardwood forest so there will be hundreds of leaf shapes and structures to contend with.
Knowing that you have a tree that has a true leaf will be a big first step in tree species identification. If a tree's foliage has a single "broadleaved" blade or a series of smaller leaflets attached to one or many stems, the odds are great that you are dealing with both deciduous and evergreen hardwoods.
To figure out the identification of the trees you are looking at, take a look at the leaf's shape and parts and match it up with the two basic types of leaf arrangements identified below. Every hardwood tree will have either a simple or compound leaf structure. These arrangements are essential to the final identification so become very familiar with these structures.
So, let's start the process by determining the initial leaf structure that will ultimately lead you to the name of your tree.
If your tree is dormant (in winter), use the guide for Identifying North American Winter Deciduous Trees in Dormancy.
of 02
Trees With a Simple Leaf
Green Leaf on White Background
Lauren Burke/ Photographer's Choice RF/ Getty Images
A simple tree leaf has a complete and undivided blade that may or may not be formed by lobes where the gaps between lobes do not reach to the main vein.
If your tree has a leaf that is simple in structure, or more precisely, a leaf that has one just one blade attached to a stalk or petiole, you have a simple leaf. If your leaf is simple, go to lobed and unlobed leaves.
of 02
Trees With a Compound Leaf
Compound leaf
ByMPhotos / Getty Images
In a compound leaf, the leaf blade is divided, forming leaflets that are attached to the middle vein but have their own stalks.They can be pinnate or palmate in arrangement.
To be compound your tree should have a leaf with secondary leaves, called leaflets, borne on a single stalk attached to a twig. If yes, go to compound leaves. |
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
5a California's Frontiers
This week, we are reading about California's frontiers in mines and cities.
To think about mining in ways that gets beyond simplistic stereotypes, I find it useful to think through some of the main categories of American Studies analysis introduced in post 1: race, gender, and class.
You might not know it from popular-culture representations of the Gold Rush, but California's gold-diggers included Mexicans, Chileans, Chinese, Miwok Indians, various Europeans, and Anglo-Americans -- each of whom brought important mining techniques from their homelands. The Anglo-Americans were newer residents of California than the Mexicans or the Miwoks, but those newcomer Anglos, with astounding arrogance, leveled a heavy "Foreign Miner's Tax," on the Mexicans who were older residents. That racist tax meant that whites profited from mining far more easily than non-whites, leading to an intersection between race and class.
While biology usually makes us female or male, culture makes us feminine or masculine. By “feminine” or “masculine” I mean the whole array of habits and norms that get associated with female-ness or male-ness, and those norms change over time and are also often disputed. Sex is biological, but gender is cultural.
In her terrific work, "Domestic Life in the Diggings," Susan Lee Johnson points out that the Miwoks and Mexicans tended to arrive at the gold-diggings with whole families and an established gender division of labor. Miwok women gathered acorns, Miwok men hunted for meat, and they enjoyed a decent diet. Anglo men, on the other hand, arrived with almost no Anglo women. This presented a problem: who would do the cooking, cleaning, and laundry? Many Anglo miners solved this problem by living in groups of 3-5 men, taking turns each week when one of those men would do the "women's" work. I feel as if that should become the plot of a tv sitcom, but it's not just a quirky piece of history: it reveals much about nineteenth-century gender roles. Male gold-miners found "women's" work so odious that no one did it for more than a week at a time. They did this "women's work" so poorly that many of them suffered from scurvy, a painful vitamin deficiency which left them exhausted, covered in sores, bleeding from their gums, and eventually losing their teeth. Scurvy happens when anyone does not eat enough fresh food.
Johnson notes that some French and Swiss gold-miners did plant lettuce. It's a simple, quick crop to grow and an easy cure for scurvy. None of the Anglos had thought of doing that, though, because lettuce-planting was considered women's work. Instead of bending their ideas of masculinity, they let their teeth fall out. The French and Swiss, apparently, had more open ideas of masculinity, so they avoided scurvy. I find this fascinating.
Male miners also fed themselves by buying tortillas and tamales from entrepeneurial Mexican women. Remember that detail the next time someone says, "There were no women on the frontier" or the next time someone says, "Traditional women were housewives." Frontier women were, actually, often, businesswomen: running farms, ranches, brothels, restaurants, boarding-houses, laundries, groceries, midwifery practices, textile businesses, and more. Mexican businesswomen sold tamales to the goldminers. Businesswomen and businessmen were actually some of the most successful people in the Gold Rush. It was more consistently profitable to sell shovels to gold-diggers than to actually dig for gold.
This leads us to the next area of analysis, class.
After only a few years, almost any gold that an individual could pick up had been picked up. After 1854, it took huge amounts of capital to afford the advanced equipment for deep mining. Individuals ceased making gold-rush profits after 1854, when corporations took over, as discussed in blog 11.
Very little of that gets into the popular memory of the Gold Rush, but, to me, it's important to remember the corporate side of the gold rush. It's important to remember it all, because ideas about race, gender, and class overlap. The racialized Foreign Miner's Tax kept non-whites poor. Whites also justified their oppression of non-whites by pointing to what they saw as "uncivilized" gender roles: they thought Indian women worked too hard, and they thought this justified imposing white culture on Indians. Asian men found an economic niche -- after being violently persecuted out of most other jobs -- by performing work that had been seen as feminine: cooking and laundering, making a living in a harsh environment while also gaining a reputation as effeminate.
Susan Lee Johnson concludes that the Gold Rush's racial mixing and gender-boundary-crossing can provide us with “a useable past,” perhaps offering models of more flexible gender roles today. As Blake Allmendinger write in Over the Edge: Remapping the American West, “Today, although the West may be settled, its meanings and boundaries remain unfixed and unsealed,” affecting issues from gender roles to immigration to environmentalism. Re-examining our past, truly looking at the cultural boundary-crossing of our history, means that, to Allmendiner, “Imagining the West is a transgressive act” (6).
That last quote is the key, but you need to think it out for yourself: what is transgressive about the chapters you are reading this week?
In addition to reading about California mines, chapter 13 also introduces the idea of California cities. Some students consider this week's readings and conclude that the frontier progressed to cities and diversity, but that actually misses the point: cities were there first and diversity was there all along. In fact, there was more mixing on the earlier frontier than later.
It was Richard Wade who first had this insight: "Towns were the spearheads of the frontier." Think about that for a moment. How does it change your image of the west to imagine cities like San Francisco instead of the open range of the Marlboro Man? How does that inside overturn Turner?
In a reading I used to assign this week, Barbara Berglund calls cities "cultural frontiers." She analyzes the fluidity of race and class in 1840s San Francisco, gradually replaced by stricter hierarchies as San Francisco became American by becoming more racist. Berglund writes:
"As one of America's first truly multiracial cities, San Francisco bequeaths a mixed legacy .... It requires acknowledging America's imperial past as well as its democratic past, its social conformity as well as rugged individualism, its hierarchy as well as egalitarianism...." (Berglund, 224-225)
"My hope is that taking a journey back into an exploration of the stories generated on San Francisco's nineteenth-century cultural frontiers will spur greater mindfulness about the power of twenty-first-century cultural frontiers that continue to shape the meanings we make about the human diversity that surrounds us" (Berglund, xiii).
Think about this: do those ideas apply to the chapters you are reading in Hine and Faragher? Do those ideas help explain what is transgressive about truly understanding the urban frontiers and mining frontiers of California?
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25 Incredibly Disturbing Science Experiments In History
Posted by , Updated on April 20, 2017
Creepy science experiments come in all shapes and sizes. Some psychological experiments are creepy because they tell us something disturbing about ourselves. However, other experiments are creepy because they’re just wrong. Quite often human experiments have been excessively brutal and violent. So be warned, the word “creepy” may be an understatement for some of the experiments on this list. Nonetheless, these are the 25 Incredibly Disturbing Science Experiments In History.
Neuromarketing Experiments
brainSource: forbes.com
Basically, the field of neuromarketing involves studying the brains of subjects and creating advertisements or marketing that are biologically guaranteed to work. Sound creepy? Well everybody is doing it. Every company from Google to Frito-Lay invests in this type of research.
Note: there is still some debate as to its effectiveness.
The UCLA Schizophrenia Study
medicinesSource: nytimes.com
When researchers took schizophrenic patients off of their regular medications, they were instructed to put them right back on if their symptoms significantly worsened. Apparently the term “significantly” is rather subjective. One patient threatened to kill his parents and another (Tony Lamadrid) jumped off a building.
The Eye Color Experiment
eyesSource: smithsonianmag.com
After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, a school teacher named Jane Elliot decided to teach her students about discrimination. She divided them into two groups – blue eyes and brown eyes. She told the class that blue eyed students were superior and sat the brown-eyed children in the back. The blue-eyed group got all around preferential treatment (more food at lunch, more playtime, etc). Although it isn’t too surprising today, back then the results of this “experiment” were surprising…the brown eyed kids actually started performing worse in school. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The Three Christs of Ypsilanti
psych wardSource: theguardian.com
Milton Rokeach performed a study where he brought together three psychiatric patients, all of whom claimed to be God. At first, the men argued about who was holier and almost beat each other up. But after a while, each of them accepted that the other two were just crazy.
Soviet UnionSource: wsj.com
Meaning “chamber” in Russian, this was an infamous Soviet research facility that subjected people to highly poisonous substances. Witnesses have described the effects of vicious poisons such as K-2. Victims would actually physically shrink and then die after a few minutes. The crazy part? K-2 is completely undetectable. And even crazier? The Kamera was allegedly re-opened in the 90’s.
North Korea
North KoreaSource: dw.com
The English language fails us as the word “creepy” seems to fall unfathomably far from sufficiency. The North Korean government is known for some insanely inhuman experiments including surgery without anesthesia and suffocation in gas chambers. In fact, one person testified before US Congress that he witnessed a family of four (parents, son, and daughter) suffocate to death in a chamber. The parents apparently tried to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation on their children for as long as they could.
Project MK-ULTRA
CIASource: theguardian.com
The aim of this CIA experiment was to see if mind control could be weaponized. How did they go about doing this? By injecting prostitutes with LSD. We’re not even joking.
Tuskegee Syphilis Study
TuskegeeSource: cdc.gov
Best described as infuriating, the government basically told a bunch of African American males with syphilis that they would be receiving free healthcare for life. Instead, they weren’t given any treatment but were rather monitored over the course of their lifetime. The study was eventually ended thanks to a whistleblower.
Pavlov’s Orphan Experiments
PavlovSource: newyorker.com
We all know how Pavlov conditioned dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. Well, Pavlov did the same with orphans. The problem with orphans, however, is that they are less agreeable, so he strapped them down and force fed them.
Free Will
freeSource: bbc.com
Brain imaging experiments performed by Benjamin Libet showed that all of our decisions are preceded by subconscious factors in the brain that affect the outcome of our decision. Although still controversial, there is something a bit creepy about not having free will. This would mean that everything you do has already been pre-determined.
Mengele’s Twin Studies
concentration campSource: bbc.com
Dr. Mengele is the definition evil scientist. A Nazi researcher, he had a thing for twins. Why? Because he could perform all sorts of crazy experiments on one while using the other as a control.
watchSource: wired.com
In 2010, social psychologist Daryl Bem published a study in which he claimed to show that people’s choices were affected by events in the future. He followed the classic priming approach where a subject is “conditioned” to choose a certain response. The interesting part? He included his “primers,” or conditioning factors, after the participants had made their choice. According to his study, the participants’ choices were affected by the primers that followed them.
Note: as crazy as these result are, there is still controversy surrounding the methods.
Lost in The Mall
brainSource: psychologistworld.com
In the 90’s, psychologists Elizabeth Loftus, James Coan, and Jacqueline Pickrell successfully implanted fake memories into the minds of participants by talking about the fake memories in between true memories. Their memories of choice were being lost in the mall and meeting Bugs Bunny at Disneyland. Although having fake memories implanted is somewhat creepy, this research has sent massive waves through the psychology community. It casts serious doubt on human memory and eyewitness testimony. In fact, other research has shown that our memories are notoriously unreliable. And to really creep you out…the majority of what you remember is wrong to some extent. Furthermore, every time you access a memory, it becomes even more corrupted.
Nazi Freezing Experiments
concentration campSource: bbc.com
Yet again, the word “creepy” doesn’t do justice to the situation. A lot of what we know about conditions like hypothermia is actually because of highly unethical Nazi medical experiments. The Nazi researchers dunked prisoners in freezing water for various lengths of time. They also left them outside in the freezing cold and tried re-warming them (many times in very inhumane ways).
David Reimer
male femaleSource: slate.com
Born in Canada, David and his twin were recommended for circumcisions due to urinary problems. Although his brother, Brian, had a successful operation, David’s was botched. After consulting with doctors, the parents decided to raise David as a girl since his genitalia were so damaged. He received hormone injections and therapy sessions. Until the age of 14, David thought he was a girl named Brenda. The crazy part here is that the psychologist responsible for this advice, John Money, only wanted to use David as an experiment to prove that gender is due to nurture and not nature (he never told the parents his true intentions). David never quite felt like a girl, and at 14, his parents told him the truth. He immediately went back to being male. He took the name “David,” received injections of testosterone, a mastectomy, and a phalloplasty. Unfortunately, the ordeal ruined David and his family. His relationship with his parents was strained, his brother was depressed, and David eventually committed suicide.
Pit of Despair
Harry HarlowSource: pages.uoregon.edu
Harry Harlow wasn’t exactly known for his empathy. This researcher basically gave birth to the animal rights movement in response to his crazy experiments. He separated baby monkeys from their mothers and kept them in isolation for up to a year. Many of the monkeys went crazy and never recovered.
The Facial Expressions Experiment
knifeSource: madsciencemuseum.com
In 1924, a psychology student named Carney Landis performed a crazy experiment at the University of Minnesota. He basically painted lines on the faces of the participants in order to record their facial expressions in reaction to various stimuli (smelling ammonia, looking at various images, etc). The final bit, however, was where the insanity began. He gave the participants a rat and asked them to behead it. Although nobody liked the idea, a third of the participants actually did it. For the other two thirds, he picked up the knife and did it himself.
Monkey Drug Trials
monkeysSource: garfield.library.upenn.edu
Conducted in 1969 by Deneau, Yanagita & Seevers, the researchers basically gave drugs to monkeys (everything from cocaine to alcohol). Although you may have expected the monkeys to go a little crazy…they went absolutely insane. Some of them tore off their own fingers or ripped out all of their hair.
The Aversion Project
soldiersSource: theguardian.com
Once again, “creepy” is too light of a term here, but during the 70’s and 80’s, the military in South Africa tried to convert gay recruits by castration and other methods. The psychiatrist who oversaw the experiments, Dr. Aubrey Levin, then moved to Canada where he practiced until recently (he was convicted for sexual abuse).
The Monster Study
speechSource: nytimes.com
In 1939, Wendell Johnson performed this experiment at the University of Iowa. He basically separated orphans into two groups. He gave positive speech therapy to half the children (praising their fluency) and negative speech therapy to the other half (telling them they stuttered, couldn’t speak well, etc). The orphans in the negative group developed self esteem problems that lasted into adulthood. In fact, some of them even developed actual problems with their speech. This experiment was labeled the “Monster Experiment” because his colleagues couldn’t believe that Johnson would experiment on orphans like this.
Little Albert
Little AlbertSource: apa.org
In the 1920’s, researchers at John Hopkins introduced furry animals to an infant named Albert. He seemed to be curious and enjoyed playing with them. Then, the researchers conditioned Albert to dislike the animals by loudly striking hammers whenever they appeared. Unfortunately, Little Albert died of unrelated causes when he was only 6. But he never did enjoy furry animals again in his short lifetime.
The Bystander Effect
smokeSource: radiation-bystander.columbia.edu
In the 1960’s, researchers at Columbia University conducted experiments to better understand why a group of people was less likely to help someone in distress than an individual. They placed participants in a room and gradually filled it with smoke. Sure enough, when there was only one person in the room, they reported the smoke almost immediately. When there were more than one…it took a while.
Note: this is because each person assumes that somebody else will do something or that everything is okay because nobody else is doing anything.
Stanford Prison Experiment
Stanford Prison ExperimentSource: prisonexp.org
Another famously unethical experiment, in 1971 Philip Zimbardo performed an experiment where half the participants were guards and the other half were prisoners. After just a few days, the guards had turned into the sadistic abusers and the prisoners had all become depressed.
Unit 731
Unit 731Source: mtholyoke.edu
It has been said before, but “creepy” is a massively insufficient adjective to describe what happened here. Prisoners of war at this covert Japanese research facility were experimented on in unthinkable ways. They were blown up, cut to pieces, frozen, and used to test weapons.
The Milgram Experiment
shockSource: simplypsychology.com
Psychologist Stanley Milgram wanted to know how so many people could have been complicit with Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. He conducted experiments where an “official” would instruct participants to administer electric shocks to a person (actor) in another room by pressing a button. The shocks increased in power (as did the screams) until the screams ceased. In fact, had the shocks been real…almost every participant would have killed the actor. And to make it worse, the actors often pleaded for the shocks to stop.
Note: this study is famous for showing that, given the right circumstances, we are all capable of unspeakable atrocities
Photos: Featured Image: Shutterstock, 25-23. pixabay.com (public domain), 22. Jan Bommes via flickr, CC BY 2.0, 21-20. pixabay.com (public domain), 19. Global Panorama via flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, 18-17. commons.wikimedia.org (public domain), 16. pixabay (public domain), 15. commons.wikimedia.org (public domain), 14-13. pixabay.com (public domain), 12-11. commons.wikimedia.org (public domain), 10. Achen1997, Harry-harlow, CC BY-SA 4.0, 9-8. pixabay.com (public domain), 7. NJR ZA, SADF-44Parachute-Gecko-001, CC BY-SA 3.0, 6-5. commons.wikimedia.org (public domain), 4. www.publicdomainpictures.net (public domain), 3. Eric E. Castro via flickr, CC BY 2.0, 2. 松岡明芳, Building on the site of the Harbin bioweapon facility of Unit 731 関東軍防疫給水部本部731部隊（石井部隊）日軍第731部隊旧址 PB121180, CC BY-SA 3.0, 1. Tomas Fano via flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
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The Origins of the standard LEGO brick
The LEGO group started producing the plastic brick that we know it today back in 1958.
One of their first products was a Town Plan set using their first version of the plastic bricks.
You can see that the initial idea of the toys was an adaptation of wooden building blocks. But this time using plastic and with studs to hold the completed model together.
Thus the idea of LEGO bricks was mainly to create buildings by kids whether it is medieval castles or modern towns.
Usage of LEGO bricks as a design tool
Now if children could build their dream buildings from LEGO bricks, what about adults? Could architects create models of their designs using LEGO?
That’s what happened within the LEGO group as they tried to experiment building a model of one of their proposed buildings using standard LEGO bricks.
The problem with the standard LEGO brick that Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, one of the sons of the founder of LEGO Mr Ole Kirk Christiansen, discovered as he tried building a model of a house was getting the proportions right.
Problem of LEGO Bricks and Solution with the Modulex Brick
A single stud LEGO brick was not a perfect cube. It actually measures 9.6mm high but only 8mm wide. As such, the overall proportions of a scale model of a building with be too tall and narrow.
LEGO introduced a new type of brick called the Modulex Brick. A single stud brick is now a perfect cube measuring 5mm high x 5mm wide. You could now build a proper scale building with the Modulex Brick.
Modulex & LEGO Brick
The bricks of both systems are therefore not compatible with each other due to the different dimensions.
The Modulex Brick was spun off as a separate company and marketed under the M20 system. It was to create a separate branding in an attempt to market to design professionals who might otherwise be ridiculed for using a child’s toy in designing buildings that cost millions of dollars.
Modulex Bricks
The M20 system of bricks came in a more muted colour palette to reflect it’s more professional usage. The were also slopes of varying angles to create roofs. The tile bricks came in the standard brick size but with a smooth top (without the stud).
LEGO is well known for making good quality products and the standard LEGO brick is recognised for it’s clutch power. The amount of strength to hold two pieces of bricks together.
The same applies to the Modulex brick with a very strong clutch power. A single or two stud brick is still easily separated. However, a four stud or 2 x 2 brick will require a lot of strength to pull apart.
Due to this reason, there was an official tool to take apart the bricks.
The earlier versions of the Modulex brick had the worlds LEGO molded on top of the studs. Later versions only had a single upper case letter ‘M’ on the studs.
Modulex M LEGO Stud
Modulex Today
The Modulex M20 system never really took off with architects but made it’s way into building or architectural signage.
The Modulex group merged with ASI Sign Systems and is now one of the largest signage specialists with offices all over the world.
Although the Modulex bricks are no longer produced, you can still find them at garage sales or ebay occasionally.
There is another product called Nanoblocks that are made by a Japanese company that you can buy. The bricks are of similar size but does not have the same clutch power as the Modulex brick.
LEGO has not forgotten the idea of using bricks for creating buildings and have introduced a line of building sets under the Architecture Series of famous landmarks and buildings.
They have also gone a step further with the introduction of the Architecture Studio 21050. This is similar to the original concept of Modulex. A box of bricks to create massing models of buildings. The use of the plastic brick as a design tool.
Out of curiosity, I managed to buy a bunch of Modulex bricks. They are all standard bricks with none of the special slopes, transparent or tile pieces. If you have some for sale, do contact me as I would be happy to add some to my collection.
Here is a ghost I made using the Modulex bricks inspired by the vintage computer game Pac Man.
LEGO Modulex Pac Man-1 |
|Black Music Month| Soul Artist Appreciation: Marvin Gaye
He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Motown. The legendary songwriter/musician/producer, and is one of the greatest singers of all time, Marvin Gaye. Marvin Pentz Gay (Gaye) Jr. was born on April 2, 1939 in Washington D.C. Marvin Gaye sadly perished on earth a day before his birthday April 1, 1984.
Berry Gordy signed Marvin Gaye to Motown Records in 1961, after hearing him play the piano at a Christmas party. While Gaye was trying to build his solo career, he was a session drummer for the label mates such as the Miracles, Martha and the Vandellas, and the Contours. In 1962, he put out a couple of chart topping songs and later on in 1964, Gaye released a duet album with Mary Wells titled Together. His most notable and successful duet however, was with the songstress the late-great Tammi Terrell in the late 60’s. Whom, Gaye recorded countless hits with. After personal tragedies and even though he was creating top charting hits with Motown like “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, he was still struggling with the creative direction his music was going in. In 1971, Gaye released the album What’s Going On, in which he produced by himself. Taking a more stance on social issues, and became groundbreaking hit record.
Marvin Gaye’s Artistry
There is video footage of Marvin Gaye in the What’s Going On documentary of his life, where he is rehearsing his hit single “I Want You”, and it is just raw footage of him rehearsing with his band. Showcasing how natural of a singer he was. So natural, he’s laying down on a sofa singing from the pit of his stomach. If you just close your eyes for a second, without watching the footage you couldn’t tell that he was just laying down singing so effortlessly. That footage summarizes what kind of artist he was. Soulful, creative, innovative, and a musical perfectionist.
It’s funny that at the beginning of his career, he struggled to find his sound. Being inspired by artists like Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra, it was easy for him to go with that style of singing, but it’s rightfully to say that through all his struggles and hardships he finally found his voice. He is the perfect embodiment of soul music, pouring his love and pain through the music and conveying it in a way that touched the world. Soul Savviness shows appreciation to Marvin Gaye. |
Monday, 15 April 2013
Mathematicians at work
We have been focusing on the different tools mathematicians use to make thinking visible. These include dot plates, rekenrek, quantity number line,
5-frame/10-frame, and dominos. Our job as mathematicians is always to share our thinking: How many? What do you see? How do you know that? How can you figure that out? We talk about "make a picture in your head" then share what that looks like with others.
We often start our math time with brain work using one of the tools mentioned above. Students honour the rules of our math time, allowing wait time for every brain to "think" so nobody's brain 'stops workingl'!
Sometimes we extend these math games to continue our investigation into number sense.
Here is a 'snapshot' of our math focus over the last week. You will see how the documentation I got from students when they played these games helped me to decide on next steps for each group.
We will begin with 10 Frame.
10 frame FLASHES are one way we practice "How many", "How did you see it?"
Here are some other ways:
1. To test out how efficient our mathematicians can be figuring out a number using a 10 frame, we played a simple game using the prompt “What would (insert a number) look like on the 10 frame?” Students are invited to demonstrate using the 10 frame and magnets or on the SMARTboard what that number looks like. This is followed by "How many?" “How do you see it?” (Student explains his thinking.) The conversation can be turned back to the group with the prompt:
"Do you agree or disagree?" (thumb up/down/side)
“How many do you see?” (another student to share)
“How do you see it?”
Students are encouraged to demonstrate a variety of strategies beyond one to one tagging and counting to explain how many. These strategies can then be labelled by the teacher. (e.g. 'grouping by 5', counting on, etc.)
2. We have another game our mathematicians like to play to test the efficiency of the 10 frame, using the prompts “How many?” “How do you see it?”. Students close their eyes as the teacher builds the number on the 10 frame and when eyes are opened students are encouraged to share their thinking in connection to using the 10 frame.
MJ - How many?
EA - It's 12.
MJ - How do you know it’s 12?
EA - 5 and 5 makes 10 and 1 more makes 11 and 1 more makes 12.
MJ - So you are grouping by 5's, 5 and 5 more to make 10 and then counting on 11, 12. (I am labelling the thinking here!)
Domino (aka more 10 frame) Games!
These games are played over a number of days, each new game building on skills considered the day before.
Please note that Day 1 Domino Cards game has been played many times previous to this and teachers may want to repeat Day 1 a few times before proceeding.
Day 1 - Domino Cards. This game begins with domino cards spread all around the room. The teacher calls out a number and students must find a “picture” of that number on domino cards. Keep in mind that numbers must be manageable for all so we usually don't go beyond 10 if doing this whole group. If you want to document some students strategies I recommend using video for this game as it moves rather fast. Some mathematicians may build the number using several cards demonstrating part/part/whole thinking (i.e. 5 and 5 make 10), others will find the quantity on a single card using grouping strategies (5 and 2 makes 7), some will continue to need to tag and count. Students share the card(s) they have found with a partner, asking if they agree or disagree how many. Sharing can then be brought back to the whole group using the same prompts “How many?” “How do you know that?”
Day 2 - “What’s your number?” For this game students are given a number and must find someone else in the classroom with the same number and share what the number is. If they don’t agree then Team Jellybean mathematicians can help with suggestions (discussed and documented during prior math talk) of ways to figure out how many.
RH - You could use the carpet. See you start at one and count till you see your number. JS told us that last year.
Day 3 - Match the number with a picture. For this game students of similar mathematical abilities are partnered together. One is given a number and he shares what that number is with his partner. The partner has the job of finding a picture (domino) that will go with that number. One or two partners can then be selected to present their knowledge to the group.
Day 4Match the number with a picture (extended). The game begins by giving each student their own number. Keep in mind that number recognition may challenge some so there may be the need to be time made to again re-visit strategies that could be used to figure out what number they have. This time each student must find a picture to go with their number on their own. Quite the challenge for some. Prompts continue to be "How many?" "Find a picture to show this."
Day 5 - A final challenge for those who are ready for it, is give them a number and then they draw their own picture to go with it! Interesting to watch mathematicians brains at work. What strategy will they use to record? Are they using one to one tag and count (in a line) or are they thinking about considering more efficient ways such as ten frame/domino formations? Here are a few examples of the students recordings. At no time did I remind them of the games we played on previous days, nor did I suggest ways to document to make it easier to know how many. Prompts however remained constant:
How many?
How will you show it?
Make a picture.
Several different small group meetings followed this activity:
For some it was a time to share efficient ways of representing how many, with peers looking at each others work (using document camera) and talking about "How many?" and "How do you know that?", sharing what strategies they saw being used to provide information.
For another small group it was an opportunity continue to work on gaining a greater understanding of how many and how to record their thinking (i.e. Finding a 'picture' to go with the number they recorded on their paper, then figuring out how to represent that number).
Both students in photos that follow had got part of the instruction and had found 4 different numbers and recorded them in the boxes but then got stuck, recognizing some but not all of the numbers they had recorded and overwhelmed with finding a 'picture' to go with each number. Given a smaller number of dominos to look at and reminders from RH on a number strategy (i.e. Remember her carpet strategy to figure out how many?), both boys were able to connect that the number and the picture go together. The number 11 was left as it was too high a number to consider at this time (as it would mean having to combine more than one domino card).
Another small group of students were involved in playing the domino game again, using manageable numbers and simply attempting to figure out "how many" (i.e. Documentation included watching/listening for tagging and counting, stable order, number counting, conservation).
As a final note, our new math problem has a group of mathematicians eagerly wanting to help granny with her egg dilemma! It will be interesting to see if and how the thinking from this past week will be applied to the new problem. Stay tuned!
1. I am always inspired by the way your documentation captures student thinking so well. You do a good job of showing the stages, and your scaffolding.
If you plan on teaching a math workshop someday, consider me signed up.
2. Wow I am thrilled that my documentation is so visible to you.....That is my intention and it is great to get feedback like yours to confirm that our thinking is aligned.
Hmmm a math workshop. None planned in the near future but you never know. |
How to Sight In a Rifle
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• how to sight in a rifle
How to Sight In a Rifle
Interested in finding out how to sight in a rifle? Keep reading for some step by step instructions.
Regardless of whether you’re hunting black bear, deer, cape buffalo, or some other big game animal, it is very important that you properly prepare your equipment for the hunt. One of the most important things you’ll need to do is ensure that your rifle is sighted in correctly so you can hit what you’re aiming at. Today, I hope to provide some assistance in this matter by explaining how to sight in a rifle.
Since most hunters use telescopic sights on their rifles, this article describes how to sight in a rifle with a scope. After mounting a new scope on a rifle, it is very important to ensure that the reticle is completely level. Even a slight cant to the reticle can throw off the impact of the bullet and make the scope much more difficult to sight in. Also, properly secure the scope in the rings and ensure that the scope rings are tightly mounted to the base. There should be no wiggle whatsoever to the scope.
How to Sight In A Rifle: Boresighting
Before actually shooting the rifle, it is best to boresight it. First, ensure that the rifle is unloaded and that the barrel is unobstructed. Then, remove the bolt of the rifle and mount the rifle in a secure rest pointing downrange. Standing behind the rifle, look through the bore carefully move the rifle until your target is centered in the bore.
how to sight in a rifle
Then, without moving the rifle, adjust the scope so that the reticle is centered on the same target. The turret on the top of the scope adjusts the elevation (up and down) of the reticle while the turret on the side adjusts the windage (left and right). It is not vitally important for the bore sight to be extremely precise. It just needs to be close enough so that the rifle will be on paper at 25 yards in the next step.
how to sight in a rifle
Your view when looking down the bore of the rifle should look something like this.
You can also use a laser boresight that fits in the chamber of the rifle to accomplish the same task. The end goal is still the same though: ensure the scope reticle is centered exactly where the rifle is pointing, the laser just makes it a little easier to be precise than merely looking down the bore of the rifle.
How to Sight In A Rifle: Getting On The Paper
After bore sighting the rifle, you’re ready to start shooting. I like to shoot at 25 yards first, then fine tune my zero at longer ranges. I’ve learned that this saves time, ammunition, and frustration in the long run by avoiding taking shots at 50 or 100 yards that don’t even hit the target. The exact target doesn’t really matter at 25 yards as long as it has a distinct aiming point. Some people use bulls-eye targets with lots of success. I prefer to use a dedicated zero target with an easy to use grid format that helps easily determine my adjustments.
When sighting in your rifle, it is very important to shoot from a stable position with lots of support. Use sandbags or a specially built rifle rest to do this. Whenever possible, avoid supporting the rifle with your muscles, as this is less precise than using a stable object like a sandbag. Finally, focus your scope on the target that you are shooting at. This will give you a crystal clear view of the target and make the shooting easier. Most scopes have a dial to focus the lens, which is normally located at the end closest to the shooter. You can see it on my rifle in the first photo. It’s the dial located on the end of the scope, just to the left of the word “Conquest.”
Once you’re set in a steady position, fire three shots at the center of your target at 25 yards. Especially if you’re using a high magnification scope, you may be able to see the holes your bullets make in the target. No matter where you see the bullet holes in the paper, do not change your point of aim. Keep aiming at the bulls-eye, or you’ll end up chasing your shots all over the target. It’s ok if you don’t hit the bulls-eye at first. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed that you won’t.
After you fire your first group, check the target to see where you’re hitting. Measure from the center of your group to the bulls-eye and adjust your scope accordingly. Most rifle scopes have 1/4 MOA adjustments. This means that 1 click will move the bullet impact 1/4″ at 100 yards. However, this means that you need to make 4x times number of clicks (16 clicks=1″) to move the bullet impact the same distance at 25 yards. For example, the point of impact on the target below needs to be moved 1/2″ left and 1/2″ up. At 25 yards, that would be 8 clicks each way.
how to sight in a rifle
At 25 yards, adjust the scope 8 clicks left & 8 clicks up
As stated above, the turret on top moves the bullet impact up and down, while the turret on the side moves it left and right. As you can see in the photo below, most scopes have the measurement increments annotated on the turret, along with the proper direction to turn it. In the case of the scope on my rifle, turning the turret clockwise will move the impact of the bullet up or right, depending on which turret you are adjusting.
how to sight in a rifle
For example, assume that I shot a group at 25 yards that hit 1″ low and 4″ to the right with my rifle in the photo above. Since I need to move the bullet impact up and to the left, I’d turn the top turret 16 clicks clockwise and turn the side turret 64 clicks counterclockwise.
A trick I learned in the Army is to go several clicks past the required number, then go back. For instance, I’d go 21 clicks clockwise, then 5 clicks counterclockwise on the top turret. After that, gently tap the turret several times to ensure the adjustments are locked in. This is even more important when making very large adjustments, or when using low quality scopes.
After making the required number of adjustments, shoot another group at the bulls-eye. If that group hits where you’re aiming, you’re ready to move the target out to 100 yards. If not, make the necessary adjustments to the scope and shoot until the rifle is dialed in at 25 yards.
How to Sight In A Rifle: Fine Tuning
Using the same techniques described earlier, shoot a group at 100 yards. Since you zeroed the rifle at 25 yards, it should be at least hitting the paper at 100 yards. Measure the distance from the center of your group to the bulls-eye and adjust the scope as necessary. Remember: 4 clicks=1″ at 100 yards, not 16, like at 25 yards!
When zeroing at 100 yards, your windage should be dead on. However, there is some debate as to where your shots should be hitting elevation wise. If you’ll be hunting at a relatively short range, then it might make sense to adjust your scope so that the bullets are hitting the bulls-eye at 100 yards.
However, sighting in your rifle so it hits slightly high has advantages as well. Each rifle is different and an ideal 100 yard zero varies. Using my rifle in the photos (a Ruger M77 in 9.3x62mm Mauser) as an example, I sight it in so my shots hit about 2″ high at 100 yards. With this set up, the bullet will hit ~1″ high at 50 yards, ~1″ high at 150 yards, dead on at 165 yards, and ~3″ low at 200 yards. This means that without having to adjust my scope or my point of aim, I can take a shot on a deer out to 200 yards and still hit the vitals.
How to Sight In a Rifle fine tuning
Adjust the scope 2 clicks left to have an ideal 100 yard zero
After you’ve made your final adjustment, fire one last group to confirm it. If the group hits where you want it to, you’re done. A good scope will hold your adjustments for a long time, certainly through hunting season, as long as you don’t drop the rifle or otherwise damage your scope.
I hope you found my description of how to sight in a rifle useful and interesting. Are there any other tips or tricks out there that I might have forgot to mention?
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1. jOHN August 6, 2014 at 8:30 pm - Reply
Can you suggest a good bullet for a Springfield 1989 45-70 Trapdoor. I am going out west to hunt a buffalo and want to use this old gun.
• John August 7, 2014 at 2:34 pm - Reply
Whatever you do, don’t use anything labeled “magnum” or “P+”. The 405gr soft points made by Remington are a good choice. Ammunition labeled “For Use In All Rifles” is what you want (the 405gr Remington load fits the bill here). They are loaded to a low enough pressure that they will work safely in your Trapdoor Springfield, yet will still perform well on bison. Many hunters in the 1800s shot bison with similar loads with great success. Don’t try to break the shoulder though, aim in the armpit, or high in the lungs. Good luck on your hunt!
2. Rick October 8, 2015 at 11:16 pm - Reply
Fantastic post John. You are right on the money about many guys getting all pumped up for hunting season with trail cams, camo, maybe even a new ATV, but completely neglect to sight their rifle in. Often everyone looks the part, but can’t perform due to poor planning. Thanks for this, Ill be sure to pass a link on on my site.
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Getting To Smile About Diabetic Neuropathy Pain
Many diseases are dreaded because of the associated pain that goes along with them. That is certainly not the case with diabetic neuropathy, and here's why. with this disease, you do not feel pain or much of any sensation in your extremities.
Diabetic neuropathy is a complication of diabetes that affects the peripheral nerves by damaging them and losing their communication with the central nervous system, rendering the areas it effects void of any sensation. Just imagine if you had diabetes for a long time: with this kind of complication, the best job for you might be to box. You would probably win all your fights because all the punches that your opponent hit you with on your arms would not hurt. On the other hand, you wouldn’t be able to throw any hits on your opponent either, because your arms and legs will be weak from lack of stimulation caused by the damage your nerves have sustained. Also, since you cannot move your arms and legs as the motor control from the nerves has also been severed, you cannot exercise nor practice for the fight. On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t take up boxing after all! Another occupation that comes to mind for neuropathic patients due to diabetes is a dummy for phlebotomy class. Since neuropathic patients have no sensation of pain in their extremities, getting practiced on for phlebotomy will not be very painful. Most diabetics know the feeling of getting pricked several times a week to test their blood glucose levels. Having a job as a phlebotomy dummy is not hard work, you just have to lie down… you’ll exert no effort. You are rested, receive wages, and even get your daily blood glucose reading. The only setback is that you lose a dangerous amount of blood, and you need to have your prick wounds cleaned and sterilized because you are prone to infection and gangrene. So maybe being a dummy for phlebotomy is just a ‘dumb’ idea too. Diabetic neuropathy pain is quite different from the pain a cancer patient experiences. With cancer, it is usually a constant bombardment of pain on the affected part or organ of your body, which cannot be relieved even by the strongest narcotics and pain killers. With diabetic neuropathy, pain is somewhat relative since there are numerous peripheral nerves and injury to each evokes a different response from the patient. It is mainly characterized as either a tingling, burning, prickling sensation or sharp pains or cramps that occur intermittently aside from the loss sensation altogether. The only time the pain becomes unbearable is when any external injury on the arms or legs becomes infected and gangrenous. That is when you will also need the aid of acetaminophen to relieve the painful symptoms. Kidding aside, pain is still painful, regardless of its cause. What’s more important though, is how you are able to handle it, divert your attention from it and eventually, smile a bit about it.
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Acceptable Behavior in a Meeting
meeting behavior
What would happen if teachers started to behave like students? Imagine what a meeting would look like if you started acting the way the student acted in class. We should start doing this to demonstrate why the behavior is unacceptable. There shouldn’t be any negative consequences, right?
My Son is a Very Good Kid!
my son has never been in trouble
Ah, parents. They live in an insulated world of fluffy fantasy, like Candyland. I imagine pink puffy cotton candy floating in front of their eyes, blinding them from the reality of who their children really are.
I’m a parent, too. I remember the night my child called me into her room the fifteenth time and I made the connection: she was only four years old and manipulating me!
“Do you think she might actually be trying to avoid going to sleep?” I asked my husband.
“Well, DUH,” he replied.
So, sometimes our view of who our children are does not always overlap with reality. Teachers are parents’ greatest allies. We know so much about their children…who their friends are, who they’re dating, how they break rules and lie about it to cover it up, how they cheat, what they really think about their parents, how they feel about their families, what they did over the weekend (what they told me they did, what they told their friends they did, and what their private confiscated notes indicated they really did), and what their goals, interests, and aspirations are. I just wish that sometimes parents would work with me instead of against me so that we can both help their child to become the best person possible. How can they help their children if they don’t even know who they are, or believe me when I tell them what the child needs? |
Story Of Fire Extinguisher
iPhoneOgraphy – 26 Jun 2016 (Day 178/366)
The cartridge-operated extinguisher was invented by Read & Campbell of England in 1881, which used water or water-based solutions. They later invented a carbon tetra chlorine model called the “Petrolex” which was marketed toward automotive use.
In 1910, The Purene Manufacturing Company of Delaware filed a patent for using carbon tetra chloride (CTC, or CCI4) to extinguish fires. The liquid vaporized and extinguished the flames by inhibiting the chemical chain reaction of the combustion process (it was an early 20th-century presupposition that the fire suppression ability of carbon tetrachloride relied on oxygen removal). In 1911, they patented a small, portable extinguisher that used the chemical. This consisted of a brass or chrome container with an integrated handpump, which was used to expel a jet of liquid towards the fire. It was usually of 1 imperial quart (1.1 l) or 1 imperial pint (0.57 l) capacity but was also available in up to 2 imperial gallons (9.1 l) size. As the container was unpressurized, it could be refilled after use through a filling plug with a fresh supply of CTC.
The carbon dioxide (CO2) extinguisher was invented (at least in the US) by the Walter Kidde Company in 1924 in response to Bell Telephone’s request for an electrically non-conductive chemical for extinguishing the previously difficult-to-extinguish fires in telephone switchboards. It consisted of a tall metal cylinder containing 7.5 pounds (3.4 kg) of CO2 with a wheel valve and a woven brass, cotton covered hose, with a composite funnel-like horn as a nozzle. CO2 is still popular today as it is an ozone-friendly clean agent and is used heavily in film and television production to extinguish burning stuntmen. Carbon dioxide extinguishes fire mainly by displacing oxygen. It was once thought that it worked by cooling, although this effect on most fires is negligible. This characteristic is well known and has led to the widespread misuse of carbon dioxide extinguishers to rapidly cool beverages, especially beer.
In 1928, DuGas (later bought by ANSUL) came out with a cartridge-operated dry chemical extinguisher, which used sodium bicarbonate specially treated with chemicals to render it free-flowing and moisture-resistant. It consisted of a copper cylinder with an internal CO2 cartridge. The operator turned a wheel valve on top to puncture the cartridge and squeezed a lever on the valve at the end of the hose to discharge the chemical. This was the first agent available for large-scale three-dimensional liquid and pressurized gas fires, and was but remained largely a specialty type until the 1950s, when small dry chemical units were marketed for home use. ABC dry chemical came over from Europe in the 1950s, with Super-K being invented in the early 60s and Purple-K being developed by the US Navy in the late 1960s.
In the 1970s, Halon 1211 came over to the United States from Europe, where it had been used since the late 40s or early 50s. Halon 1301 had been developed by DuPont and the US Army in 1954. Both 1211 and 1301 work by inhibiting the chain reaction of the fire, and in the case of Halon 1211, cooling class A fuels as well. Halon is still in use today, but is falling out of favor for many uses due to its environmental impact. Europe, and Australia have severely restricted its use, since the Montreal Protocol of 1987. Less severe restrictions have been implemented in the United States, the Middle East, and Asia.
Shot & Edited using iPhone 6+
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Posted on June 26, 2016, in iPhoneOgraphy 366, Photography and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.
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How does Jack change in Lord of the Flies from the first chapter to the last chapter including quotes?
1 Answer
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bohemianteacher4u | College Teacher | (Level 3) Assistant Educator
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In the beginning of the book, Jack is just a young man who has attended a school for boys and who is stranded on an island and as insecure as the other boys. Jack demonstrates leadership qualities in the beginning when he explains to the group that they have to come up with a plan to be rescued.
However, as time passes and Jack learns that he is the more physically dominating one, he begins to enjoy a sense of power. He becomes aggressive, dangerous, and is willing to kill.
Jack, at the first official gathering of the boys, demonstrates a desire for control over the group by appointing himself chief. However, the others call for an election. Despite the election, he likes Ralph.
"Jack and Ralph smiled at each other with shy liking."
Jack likes the adventure of exploring the island, but as he becomes less socialized, he starts to change into a raw savage state of being. However, following the pig hunt with Ralph, he is still Ralph's friend.
Jack becomes more savage, controlling the others with his physical and mental dominance. Ralph becomes distant from Jack because he has not followed into Jack's level of savage behavior.
"Numberless and inexpressible frustrations combined to make his rage elemental and awe-inspiring."
Ralph and Jack separate into two groups with Jack refusing to have anything to do with Ralph's group. Jack as a leader does cruel things.
"He got angry and made us tie Wilfrid up."
"He's going to beat Wilfrid."
The twins inform Ralph that Jack is going to kill him like in a pig hunt. Jack has transformed to evil.
"The savage peered into the obscurity beneath the thicket." |
The Delian League was a formal alliance between Greek City states that existed between 477 BC and 392 BC, when it was reformed into the Athenian Empire.
Athenian Hegemony
The League intermittantly warred with Persia until 450, when a formalized treaty established a lasting peace in Asia Minor. However, this warring gave the Athenians justification to move the treasury of the League from Delos to Athens.
This, in addition to Athens role in putting down rebellions by other city states, solidified its position as head of the league. The majority of the Leagues funds went towards furthering Athenian power. Following the ostracism of Cimon in 461 BC, the League neglected its alliance with Sparta, and began allying with Spartas enemies. This sparked an emnity between Sparta and Athens, which would eventually culminate in the Peloponnesian War.
Post-War Situation
Following the defeat of the Spartans, the League grew to incorporate most of Arcadia and the majority of the democratic cities on the Peloponnesian peninsula. Athens, and hence the League, was now the single largest military power in Greece, rivalled only by the de-facto Boetian Alliance.
Following the Boetian War, Athens was effectively the capital of Greece, with nearly all city-states being forced to pay tribute or provide military assistance. Eventually, this would be formalized by the reforms of Alkaios, marking the begining of the Athenian Empire.
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Last Saturday night the P5+1 nations (US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China) signed a limited agreement with Iran that paves the way for something which potentially would be very significant not only for security reasons but also for economic and financial ones. To some effect the sanctions imposed (especially the financial ones over the course of the last 18 months) have produced some fruit in the sense that the financial strains depleted reserves, contributed to high inflation, and thus formed the background for the new Iranian government and its willingness to accept an agreement that analysts just ten days ago thought was too one-sided (in favor of the west) with the danger that Iran may reject it. This temporary agreement paves the way that within next year a major treaty could be achieved that will start liberating markets forces in a crucial region which can contribute significantly in the collateral needed for credit and money creation.
The French philosopher Voltaire is known for two themes related to economics and commerce: First, for his political arguments regarding the pursuit of wealth through market activities; and second, the moral legitimization for the turnover of that wealth. His publication titled Philosophical Letters marked the beginning of the French Enlightenment as a public force. Voltaire was the force behind what has been known since then as the rise of intellectuals guiding public opinion and public policy. As he wrote to his comrade in arms Jean d’Alembert: “People clamor against the philosophers. They are right; for if opinion is the queen of the world, the philosophers govern the queen”.
Voltaire’s epic poem the Henriade and its preceding publications extolled the virtues of commerce and the ability of the latter to create and turnover wealth while pacifying animosities. Voltaire’s literary portrait of the Royal Exchange (known nowadays as the London Stock Exchange) presented a comprehensive argument for the politically beneficial effects of free markets and of financial capitalism in particular. In addition, Voltaire’s antipathy for institutionalized religion is pretty relevant today especially in the environment of the Middle East. According to Voltaire religious fanaticism leads to injustice, poor economic performance, and possibly to civil war.
It seems that the temporary agreement reached last Saturday is inspired by Voltaire’s call for wealth creation and turnover. It is a major achievement since important issues related to centrifuges, uranium enrichment, plutonium nuclear activity at the Arak nuclear facility, and inspections (among other issues) are dealt with in a manner that leaves no space for dispute. The trade off that Iranians got out of this agreement is the unfreezing of $6 billion worth of assets while all other sanctions remain in place. Of course, the final and permanent treaty may not be achieved next year which will complicate things, however indications point out that a comprehensive treaty is achievable within 6-8 months.
Here is what could be expected out of the new trajectory and how this new phase could contribute to better growth in the foreseeable future. If a comprehensive treaty is achieved, then energy prices will decline significantly not only for the US (which anyway is on its way to energy independence) but for the whole world as well. As energy prices decline, production and distribution costs will decline too, which will advance productivity, and profits margins. As the latter two grow, so will economic prospects, employment, and spending. Are there potential losers? Someone might claim that Saudi Arabia and Russia may suffer some losses, but on the other hand they may be forced to implement the so many needed structural reforms that any economic pain would only pave the way for a more healthy economy. This is the more obvious economic conclusion from the trajectory of this new Iranian phase.
However, the subtle, possibly elusive, and not clearly understood implication of the potential new permanent treaty has to do with the collateral consequences. It has been our position for years that what really matters is the ability of the economic and financial system to create credit and liquidity based on pledged collateral. Over the course of the last few years and especially in the last two-three months we have written commentaries about huge collateral holes and argued that unless we observe a reversal in the velocity of collateral, we may not be able to experience escape velocity in the vicious debt cycle we have been entrapped into due to credit extended based on toxic assets and collateral.
In order to obtain the necessary velocity to break free from this debt entrapment new collateral is needed that will re-start the hypothecation cycle. A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about the collateral implications of the Chinese third plenum. In late September we wrote about the repo agreements between the Fed and its primary dealers as well as hedge funds. All these new steps taken point to a systematic and conscious effort to reignite the collateral chain. Assuming that the US will assist the EU in forming a new collateral platform then, we could only say that indications point out to a new year in which liquidity will increase, money supply (and not just the monetary base) will be uplifted and equities will rise.
In this post-bubble period policymakers may have been studying Voltaire while listening to Pink Floyd and their “Post-War Dream” song:
tell me true tell me why was Jesus crucified
is it for this that daddy died?
was it for you? was it me?
did i watch too much t.v.?
is that a hint of accusation in your eyes?
if it wasn’t for the nips
being so good at building ships
the yards would still be open on the clyde
and it can’t be much fun for them
beneath the rising sun
with all their kids committing suicide
Happy Thanksgiving! |
The yak (Bos grunniens and Bos mutus) is a long-haired bovid found throughout the Himalaya region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau and as far north as Mongolia and Russia. Most yaks are domesticated Bos grunniens. There is also a small, vulnerable population of wild yaks, Bos mutus.
The English word "yak" derives from the Tibetan gyag (Tibetan: གཡག་, Wylie: g.yag) â€" in Tibetan this refers only to the male of the species, the female being called a dri or nak. In English, as in most other languages which have borrowed the word, "yak" is usually used for both sexes.
Yaks belong to the genus Bos, and are therefore related to cattle (Bos primigenius taurus, Bos primigenius indicus). Mitochondrial DNA analyses to determine the evolutionary history of yaks have been somewhat ambiguous.
Physical characteristics
Wild yaks are among the largest bovids and are second only to the gaur in shoulder height. They are also the largest native animal in their range. Wild yak adults stand about 1.6 to 2.2 m (5.2 to 7.2 ft) tall at the shoulder and weigh 305â€"1,000 kg (672â€"2,205 lb). The head and body length is 2.5 to 3.3 m (8.2 to 11 ft), not counting the tail of 60 to 100 cm (24 to 39 in). The females are about one-third the weight and are about 30% smaller in their linear dimensions when compared to bull wild yaks. Domesticated yaks are much smaller, males weighing 350 to 580 kg (770 to 1,280 lb) and females 225 to 255 kg (496 to 562 lb).
Yaks are heavily built animals with a bulky frame, sturdy legs, and rounded cloven hooves. They are the only wild bovids of this size with extremely dense, long fur that hangs down lower than the belly. Wild yaks are generally dark, blackish to brown, in colouration. However, domestic yaks can be quite variable in colour, often having patches of rusty brown and cream. They have small ears and a wide forehead, with smooth horns that are generally dark in colour. In males, the horns sweep out from the sides of the head, and then curve forward; they typically range from 48 to 99Â cm (19 to 39Â in) in length. The horns of females are smaller, only 27 to 64Â cm (11 to 25Â in) in length, and have a more upright shape. Both sexes have a short neck with a pronounced hump over the shoulders, although this is larger and more visible in males. Yaks are highly friendly in nature and can easily be trained. There has been very little documented aggression from yaks towards human beings, although mothers can be extremely protective of their young and will bluff charge if they feel threatened.
Both sexes have long shaggy hair with a dense woolly undercoat over the chest, flanks, and thighs to insulate them from the cold. Especially in males, this may form a long "skirt" that can reach the ground. The tail is long and horselike rather than tufted like the tails of cattle or bison. Wild yaks typically have black or dark brown hair over most of the body, with a greyish muzzle, although some wild golden-brown individuals have been reported. Wild yaks with gold coloured hair, known as Wild Golden Yak (Chinese: é‡'ä¸é‡Žç‰¦ç‰›; pinyin: jinsiyemaoniu) (Chinese: é‡'ä¸é‡Žç‰¦ç‰›) is considered an endangered subspecies by China, with an estimated population of 170 left in the wild. Domesticated yaks have a wider range of coat colours, with some individuals being white, grey, brown, roan or piebald. The udder in females and the scrotum in males are small and hairy, as protection against the cold. Females have four teats.
Yak physiology is well adapted to high altitudes, having larger lungs and heart than cattle found at lower altitudes, as well as greater capacity for transporting oxygen through their blood due to the persistence of foetal haemoglobin throughout life. Conversely, yaks do not thrive at lower altitudes, and begin to suffer from heat exhaustion above about 15 °C (59 °F). Further adaptations to the cold include a thick layer of subcutaneous fat, and an almost complete lack of functional sweat glands.
Compared with domestic cattle, the rumen of yaks is unusually large, relative to the omasum. This likely allows them to consume greater quantities of low-quality food at a time, and to ferment it longer so as to extract more nutrients. Yak consume the equivalent of 1% of their body weight daily while cattle require 3% to maintain condition.
Contrary to popular belief, yak and their manure have little to no detectable odour when maintained appropriately in pastures or paddocks with adequate access to forage and water. Yak's wool is naturally odour resistant.
Reproduction and life history
Gestation lasts between 257 and 270 days, so that the young are born between May and June, and results in the birth of a single calf. The female finds a secluded spot to give birth, but the calf is able to walk within about ten minutes of birth, and the pair soon rejoin the herd. Females of both the wild and domestic forms typically give birth only once every other year, although more frequent births are possible if the food supply is good.
Wild yaks
Wild yaks (Bos grunniens mutus or Bos mutus, Tibetan: འབྲོང་, Wylie: 'brong) usually form herds of between ten and thirty animals. They are insulated by dense, close, matted under-hair as well as their shaggy outer hair. Yaks secrete a special sticky substance in their sweat which helps keep their under-hair matted and acts as extra insulation. This secretion is used in traditional Nepalese medicine. Many wild yaks are killed for food by hunters in China; they are now a vulnerable species.
Thubten Jigme Norbu, the elder brother of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, reported on his journey from Kumbum in Amdo to Lhasa in 1950:
Distribution and habitat
Wild yaks are found primarily in northern Tibet and western Qinghai, with some populations extending into the southernmost parts of Xinjiang, and into Ladakh in India. Small, isolated populations of wild yak are also found farther afield, primarily in western Tibet and eastern Qinghai as well as some parts of Sichuan nearer to Huanglong. In historic times, wild yaks were also found in Nepal and Bhutan, but they are now considered extinct in both countries, except as domesticated animals.
The primary habitat of wild yaks consists of treeless uplands between 3,000 and 5,500Â m (9,800 and 18,000Â ft), dominated by mountains and plateaus. They are most commonly found in alpine meadows with a relatively thick carpet of grasses and sedges, rather than the more barren steppe country.
Domesticated yaks
Yak sports
In parts of Tibet and Karakorum, yak racing is a form of entertainment at traditional festivals and is considered an important part of their culture. More recently, sports involving domesticated yaks, such as yak skiing, or yak polo, are being marketed as tourist attractions in Central Asian countries, including Gilgitâ€"Baltistan, Pakistan.
Hybrid yak
Crosses between yaks and domestic cattle (Bos primigenius taurus) have been recorded in Chinese literature for at least 2,000 years. Successful crosses have also been recorded between yak and American bison, gaur, and banteng, generally with similar results to those produced with domestic cattle.
See also
• Yakalo
External links
• ARKive â€" images and movies of the wild yak (Bos grunniens)
• International Yak Association (IYAK)
• European Yak Association (EYAK)
• Article on Yak breeds in FAO archives
• Yaks: The Official Animal of Tibet
• AnimalInfo.Org: Animal Info â€" Wild Yak
• Yak Genome Database
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In the emerging economy there is a new infrastructure, based on the internet, that is causing us to scrutinies most of our assumptions about the business. As a skin of networks - growing in ubiquity, robustness, bandwidth, and function - covers the skin of the planet, new models of how wealth is created are emerging.
Friday, June 25, 2010
First Generation of Computer and ENIAC
First Generation of Computer and ENIAC
Originally, the term ‘generation’ was used to distinguish between varying hardware technologies. But nowadays, it has been extended to include both the hardware and software which together make up an entire computer system.
The custom of referring to the computer era in terms of generation came into wide use only after 1964. There are totally five computer generations known till today.
First Generation Computers
First generation computer came into existence in late 1940’s which used vacuum tubes. That is switching electric current in valve was used to manipulate symbols and numbers.
The first generation of computer started with development of ENIAC.
ENIAC or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator was the first large scale valve based computer, developed by J. P. Eckert and J. W. Mauchly, in Moore School of Engineering at university of Pennsylvania in United States.
It was the electronic version of the Mark-1. Completed in 1946, ENIAC used electronic components instead of mechanical relays and was too faster than Mark-1.
It speed can be judged by the fact that it look one day to solve a problem which was solved in 30 days by other company at that time. It could perform 5000 additions or 350 multiplications in one second. This was a very huge about 30 tones weight computer fitted with 70,000 resistors, 60,000 capacitors and 60,000 switches and occupied 1500 sq ft space sufficient for big car large.
It is said that when ENIAC was switched on, the lights of Philadelphia city got dimmed. Similarly the heat radiation by this computer was too high. So cooling units were used to cool it.
Due to enormous amount of heat generated by the vacuum tubes fitted in ENIAC one of them would blow every five minutes. So a small group of engineers was there to just replace the blown valves with good ones.
First Generation of Computer and ENIAC
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Sunday, November 18, 2007
Joseph, Ants, and Meme Stability, part 4
A phenotype is the outward expression, the visible manifestation of a genotype (one's genes). Hence, one may have a gene for a particular eye color. This person's eyes are blue both in her genotype and her phenotype. Phenotypes then, obviously, apply to the physical characteristic of an individual. Yet, a phenotype is not limited to physical characteristics on the individual herself
A beaver is isolated from her family at birth. She is raised without the company of other beavers later to be released as an adult into a wetland void of beavers. Instinctively she sources the flow of water through her wetland, builds a dam, and forces the creation of an artificial pond. This behavior was obviously not learned as she did not learn it by observation: it is instinct and was coded in her genes.
The beaver's dam is, thus, an example of a phenotype: the outward expression of a genotype. Differences in phenotypic beaver dams exist. Some may allow more water flow; others less, etc. One beaver phenotype may present a proclivity for poplar trees, and a later birch-tree fungus, which kills off all available birch, may hence find the poplar-tree phenotypic proclivity of a particular beaver may spare her the plight of absent birch. Another beaver that prefers birch might not fare as well during the same birch-tree kill off.
How does natural selection act on the individual worker ant? She is incapable of reproduction, yet she cares for the larval brood, protects the colony, gathers food, builds and repairs the hill. Are her behaviors adding to the beneficial pressure of natural selection?
The worker ant is the offspring of the colony's queen and one drone who died moments after copulation--possibly weeks, months, or even years ago. The behaviors of the individual ant are phenotypes of the queen. All female ants in the colony share the same DNA; however, worker DNA ignores reproductive coding, soldier DNA recognizes and acts on coding for size and larger mandibles, and the queen DNA acts on coding, ignored by the others, for size and reproduction.
The phenotypic behaviors of the worker ant are actually phenotypes of the queen. If the queen produces phenotypic behaviors among her offspring that lend toward less community stability, then the chances of reproductive differential diminishes. Hence, the workers are phenotypes of the queen. Altruism and social cohesion as phenotypes of the queen favor the survival of the colony and reproductive differential in the queen.
Understanding how this relates to memes and human morality will be developed in the next installments. Particular attention will be placed on the ceremonial observances of the Pentateuch.
Tandi said...
Hello Peter,
You've lost me on this one. I will try re-reading it. Maybe I will understand when you post your next installment. Maybe this is one of your shock and awe presentations? It is a mind-boggler anyway. I cannot fathom the depths of it. : )
PeterS said...
Hello Tandi,
I am sure that you can undertand this. The largest obstacle, though, would be the use of new vocabularly (phenotype, etc.).
I chance failure to connect with readers by use of such wording; though, I know that several who visit and contribute are already familiar with the vocabulary.
Quite likely you will understand how this all fits together in the end. The nuances of the fit may develop later, but I am sure that you will be able to explain to others the macro picture of altruistic morality and evolution.
Tandi said...
Hello Peter,
How many hard working, innocent ants will lose their lives due to google ads for exterminators and poisons? : )
Please be careful what you entitle your next blog entry lest related ads appear that might offend your readers!
I am already offended over at the Anthropological Morality thread.. which is why I am back here in a safer zone.
PeterS said...
Hello Tandi,
yes, those poor ants. I did not realize that the word "ant" was so prevalent in my blog, but google adsense seems to think so. This is an experiment. I do not know if I will keep it running. I pay nothing for it, but it does allow potential income for interested hits. I have been getting a giggle over this for the last few days.
I am sorry to hear that you are offended. I wonder if your offense is from my post about animal mating behavior. If so, I really want to stress that I used appropriate scientific terminology. I did not use street language. And, need I say, such behaviors can be observed in your own backyard....well I don't think that you will see chimps or dolphins, but similar can be observed in goats, horses, cats, chipmunks, toads, bachelor mallard ducks, etc.
Tandi said...
Hello Peter,
Thank you for kindly responding. I needed a friendly response about now. Do you realize it was one year ago that we met online at TR? Did you ever imagine you would be where you are now? On 11/29/06 you wrote to me about your previous year’s struggle with liberal scholarship, atheism, and evolution. You expressed gratitude to me for encouraging you with my appreciation of your wisdom and knowledge. I was grateful to you for encouraging me and for being a friend when I needed a friend. Strange how things have turned out. But the journey is not over...
I read your post about the dolphins, etc., to Pat and he was not as horrified as I was about it. In fact he said he had heard that from Rush Limbaugh. I DO appreciate the scientific terminology rather than street language. Definitely. It still makes me uncomfortable though. It must be a guy thing to enjoy discussions about sexual practices...human or animal. Yet I DO want to defend the views of Dennis Prager because I agree with them and I am hoping to convince you. So I guess I’ll have to get over my prudishness and talk about it....
First, I will quote the points that Prager made proving that unrestrained human sexuality is wilder and more objectionable than that of animals:
Pat told me that he heard of someone who penetrated a pumpkin (drilled a hole in it first). Men are worse than animals for the following reasons:
What animal goes outside of its species for sexual stimulation? (beastiality)
What animal engages in gerbilling or other such abusive perversity?
What animal molests babies and the sexually immature?
What animal rapes at gunpoint or murders its victims?
What animal engages in bondage, sick fantasies, etc?
(And don’t wish to discuss it further, thank you!) You have the article if you got my email, and you say you have read it before anyway.
Actually, I was more offended by the insults to my intelligence by Jamie...and then your word, ignoramus. Sorry to be so sensitive, but sometimes I wonder what I am doing here “hobnobbing with scholars and geniuses” and “hanging out with the boys.”
Where is Dan by the way? I have not heard from him in over a week. I am getting concerned. Last I heard he had given himself a computer headache writing three books in less than two weeks. It is not like him not to answer my emails.
Did you see what I posted at the Chronology thread? I am not sure if I am fully grasping the debate. Wish Dan would answer your objections. Are you truly willing to go wherever the truth leads? Even if it means back to the Bible as God’s holy and inspired Word?
I am glad Jamie is here posting his questions and rhetoric. I hope he can be civil though. We are an odd group of internet friends, are we not?
If we can tolerate one another’s diversity and try to get along while posting our strongly held views, maybe there is hope for the world after all. : )
Lead the way, Peter!
P.S. Try to catch some of the CNN Debate tonight and tell me what you think of Mike Huckabee.
PeterS said...
I will reply more in detail later. But there are many many many many animal analogues to the questions that you ask. I am surprised that you even ask these questions as I assume that your familiarity with nature would answer it for you. So, I will answer them.
PeterS said...
Hello Tandi,
You asked for me not to reply. By so doing you are essentially asserting a right to the last word. Realize, though, that there are very decent answers to these questions.
*Inter-species stimulation*
Animals, especially mammals, are known to engage in inter-species sexuality. The very occurrence of bestiality (humans with animals) demonstrates that animals are capable of inter-species stimulation. The questions posed, though, seeks an answer sans human involvement (assuming that humans are not animals).
A dog will readily mount a cat, pig, goat, sheep, etc. given the opportunity. A tiger will stimulate itself in a mounted position on a canine (a situation engendered by domestic captivity of a tiger with dogs). I have observed male fishes attempt to mate with females of other species on many occasions. The female will occasionally acquiesce, but generally, species differences in morphology or mating behavior prevent actual copulation.
*Bondage, sick fantasies, etc.*
Humans are not unique for evolved proclivities toward higher-level thinking, but we are the general exception in the animals kingdom. The absence of such thinking in most animals precludes some forms of sexuality, but it is incorrect to assert that it is absent. There is a positive correlation between higher-level thinking and variegation in sexual activity. Humans will sexualize both objects and behaviors—loading them with non-native sexual significance. Animals, will, in turn—correlating with the presence of higher-level thought—do the same.
Hence, an animal such as a chimpanzee may develop a shoe fetish through sexualization of her caregiver’s shoe. A cat in heat will readily allow anyone or anything to rub her hindquarters or even penetrate her to the point of orgasm. Bonobos will stimulate themselves on inanimate objects. A female ferret in heat will self stimulate to orgasm using a variety of objects such as a stone or her own tongue.
An important principle to consider is the challenge that sexual behavior imposes on an individual. Reproductive displays targeted at attracting a mate (bright coloration in males, mating calls, etc.) increase the chances of reproduction, but they also spotlight the individual for predatorial attention. Similarly, when two organisms are engaged in a mating posture, they are extremely vulnerable to predation. As a result of the survival or evolutionary pressure on an organism, it is less likely that it will display extended sexuality unless it is first benefited with a full belly, sufficient shelter from the elements, and safety from predation.
As a result of this principle, it is less likely that an animal will express its full range of sexual options when in danger. This principle also leads to the observation that “aberrant” sexuality generally occurs more frequently in organisms higher up on the food chain. There are a myriad of exceptions to this rule, but it still holds true as a generality.
*Relations with the Immature*
There are so many examples of this that it is hard to even answer this. Again, I am somewhat surprised that you have not observed this in nature or with domesticated animals. The ermine will often forcefully mate with infant males. My roomate’s mature female cat tries to coerce a resident immature male kitten into mounting her.
*Mate Murder*
Also, when a new alpha male mandrill takes the troop, he will slaughter the young of the previous alpha male. Not quite mate murder…but horrid nonetheless.
Homosexual necrophilia has also been observed in ducks… along with gang rape, etc.
I am sorry to not spare detail, but other options could have been chosen. I am going to stop now…I have said enough that can be used against me.
Note: I am not advocating sexuality that compromises the rights of others. Altruistic sexuality is beneficial for humans, and I endorse it.
Tandi said...
Hello Peter,
Okay, you had the last word. I read your post and you were as tactful as possible which I appreciate. I am sure you know more about this subject than I do. Perhaps I have not observed these kinds of behaviors because of the FENCES and other barriers installed as I raised goats, horses, purebred dogs, cats, etc. Cats were spayed/neutered. Horses were gelded. Goats were fenced....though I never observed attempted matings between my bucks and immature goat kids. Goats born in early Spring come into heat in the Fall. They were young, but of breedable age. I did have a spina bifida kid born to a young goat due to a lack of adequate nutrition for a still growing doe and multiple offspring. I chose to keep the buck away from the younger does after that unfortunate occurrence. I also had a hermaphrodite goat born one time. An oddity. I have observed "proud cut" geldings react to my mares in heat...but again, good fences prevent bad behaviors...a principle humans do well to consider.
I had a German Shepherd who dug through the bathroom wall to get to the female Shepherd in heat in the next room. We built a kennel after that! Yet this lustful dog never went after any other pets or livestock. I have never seen anything like you describe. Dogs, both males and females, mounting one another and humping. That is about the extent of my observations. I must spend more time looking at trees and trails than observing the mating habits of God's creatures. I have noticed the peculiarity of the mourning dove, however. Mated for life, they do not mate again after losing their spouse, choosing to remain single.
Meanwhile, I just read in the paper about our new community jogging trail by the scenic riverside being the site of a rape of a young girl in broad daylight as she jogged!
I still say humans can be the worst "animals" when it comes to sexual deviancy. Sodom may not have needed to be destroyed if the lust had not risen to the level of attempted rape of strangers. I know there were other sins involved...but that was one of them.
I like your last sentence the best. Wasn't there anything you liked about the Prager article? I thought it was outstanding, especially the way it described the difference between the immoral sexuality in pagan religiosity compared to Torah-based religion. God's Revelation was definitely one giant step forward for mankind in my opinion.
I hope this subject matter will not provide ammunition against you. If so, feel free to delete these posts now that we have expressed our views back and forth. I accept that your knowledge of the natural world is greater than mine. There was never any doubt in my mind about that!
I look forward to part 5 of your series. |
C.C. Zain
Course 11
Tools and Techniques for Enhancing ESP
Chapter 1
Doctrine of Divination
DIVINATION is the act of foreseeing or foretelling future events or discovering information not accessible through the exercise of reason and the ordinary physical senses. When this lesson was first issued, in 1923, there was a vast accumulation of scientifically checked evidence that man has faculties through which his mind can reach across space, and, irrespective of distance and physical barriers, perceive objects and events, and through which he can perceive events in the past and events in the future. But it was not until after the advent of the Pluto Period, commencing with the discovery of the planet Pluto in March, 1930, that mass methods applied to experiments gave irrefutable evidence of such faculties in not less than a dozen universities and gained for the process the now universally accepted name Extra-Sensory Perception-- usually abbreviated ESP--and for its use in perceiving that which is yet in the future the name Precognition.
Although he may not be exercising ESP nor in possession of precognition, when the Midwest farmer sees dark clouds gather upon the western horizon and predicts rain, he is practicing a form of divination. The old rhyme tells us that, "A mackerel sky and mare's-tails, Make tall ships carry low sails"; and another that, "Red clouds in morning the sailor takes warning, Red clouds at night are the sailor's delight."
So too, here in California in winter, and elsewhere earlier in the season, when the nights seem cold but cloudy there is little fear of frost, but when nights become both cold and clear, frost warnings go out and the citrus growers prepare to light their smudge-pots. In fact, out-of-doors people--sailors, lumbermen, stockmen and fruit-growers--have a wide assortment of signs by which they attempt to predict the weather. The woodsman, for instance, examines the thickness of the bark on trees, and the Amerindian examines the quantity of food stored by chipmunks and squirrels, in an endeavor to predict if the approaching winter will be severe. They also believe if the cockle-bur ripens early and hibernating animals go into their dens before the usual time, that there will be an early winter. Whether or not such methods have any degree of reliability, any person using them in the attempt to foretell the future is practicing divination.
Knowledge of Future Conditions Has Great Practical Value
These efforts to foreknow are not prompted by idle curiosity. Frequently preservation of life itself depends upon preparations based upon such foreknowledge. If the seafaring man waits until the blast strikes before furling sail, it may be too late. If the western stockman delays until the snow is falling to move his cattle from the high mountain meadows it is then usually too late; and many a huge band of sheep has perished thus in the High Sierras because it tarried a day or two too long. On the other hand the heavy snows may hold off another month, and if the stock can stay during this period on the free range, instead of being fed in the valley on costly hay, it may mean all the difference between profit and loss.
The lumberman may find it necessary to get in his winter supplies before the rains soften the roads, and he may find it necessary to have his logs in advantageous positions before the spring thaw and consequent freshets, that the stream may carry them to the market. The Amerindian must regulate his stores of food and his movements more or less in anticipation of weather conditions or he may perish. And the fruit-grower who fails to take warning of approaching frost may well lose in a single night the result of a year of labor. It will be seen, consequently, in these instances that success or failure, even life or death, may depend upon correct methods of divination.
Such observations are quite commonplace. But if we take a step further and examine any person's life, and every department of his life, we shall find that correct information as to approaching conditions and events may be made the means of making every such phase of his life more successful than it otherwise would have been. So often we hear the thought expressed that if one's foresight were as good as one's hindsight there would be no reasonable limit to what might be accomplished. There are opportunities surrounding every person, if the future could be clearly foreseen, that would lead on to worthwhile achievement. Doubt may arise as to whether the future may be foreseen and foretold, and doubt may be expressed as to the extent it is possible to foresee the future; yet no one, I think, will be so foolhardy as to deny that could the future be foreknown such knowledge would be of utmost value.
Evidence of Precognition
As the type of divination to be considered in this course depends upon the exercise of Extra-Sensory Perception in what science now calls Precognition, I shall pass over the voluminous literature issued by the world's greatest men of science giving conclusive proof of telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience and other supernormal sensing, to a consideration of this still more wonderful and useful phenomenon of perceiving that which is yet in the future. Fortunately there has been considerable effort made by men of recognized scientific standing in the larger universities of the world to collect and verify data bearing upon this subject. Bozzano has published what is said to be an excellent book on premonitions. Camille Flamarion in Death and Its Mystery, gives considerable attention to premonitions, and various other eminent writers on psychical research cite instances of premonitions that can be explained only on the basis of the existence of a supernormal faculty by which otherwise unknowable future events may be perceived.
As this is being written, a radio program which specializes in strange matters frequently presents to its audience some individual who relates his own experience with precognition. To be eligible on this program the person relating the experience must have documentary evidence such as would be deemed valid in a court of law, of its authenticity.
Joseph Banks Rhine, whose mass-method experiments with the ESP cards which he invented for the purpose, made the public conscious of the significance of Extra-Sensory Perception, reports numerous instances in his Duke University experiments which can be explained only through precognition.
In the winter of 1937-38 the Zenith Foundation put on a radio program in which search was made for authentic data on the little known powers of the mind, and telepathic experiments were conducted with its audience. Alter thirty weeks of such work, the sponsors had received and tabulated over a quarter of a million pieces of mail. And although I have quoted this part of their findings in lesson No. 16, I will give the quotation again here:
"Authentic personal experiences indicate time is not a factor in telepathic communication. Possession of the ability to visualize in detail events which have not happened, a phenomenon science calls precognition, seems but slightly less rare than telepathy itself."
The most systematic presentation of the evidence regarding premonitions, or divination of the future, that I have yet seen is in that notable book published the same year (1923) this course was first written, Thirty Years of Psychical Research, by Charles Richet, Professor of Physiology in the University of Paris. In this book Professor Richet has devoted fifty large pages to a recital and classification of carefully verified cases of premonition. As lessons on divination can only be justifiable when divination has been demonstrated to be possible, and as the presentation of the evidence by Professor Richet and his conclusions very fairly express the views still held by the many scientific men who have conducted unprejudiced investigation of the subject, I feel I should not only refer the student to his book for evidence, but that I should quote his summing up and conclusions on the matter fully:
So long a quotation would hardly be excusable were it not that in addition to the evidence proving precognition that almost anyone can find by looking for it among his acquaintances, it seems well that the public should know that the phenomenon has been exhaustively and critically investigated by eminent men of science and found to be true.
Space-Time Relativity Permits Precognition
One of the most thoroughly established foundations of present-day physical science is that, as Einstein and certain physicists who preceded him pointed out, time and velocity are always related to each other as a ratio such that when any new time condition is present the velocity on that time-level can be determined by inverse proportion, and when any new velocity level is present the rate of time-flow there can be determined by inverse proportion. In other words, as time increases, velocities slow down; and as velocities increase, time slows down. As explained in lesson No. 14, proof of such slowing down of time when velocities increase has been provided experimentally, and the time factor in the operation of progressed aspects in natal astrology depends upon this space-time inter-relationship.
Man normally lives in two realms. He lives, moves and is conscious in a physical world in which time is rapid and velocities comparatively slow. But his soul, which is identical with his unconscious mind, habitually lives in a realm where velocities are greater than the 186,173 miles per second which light, radiation and electromagnetic waves travel when unimpeded. Yet the mathematicians, headed by Einstein, hold that physical velocities cannot exceed that of light, and that anything moving with the velocity of light no longer possesses length, has infinite mass and so is impervious to the pull of gravitation, and that for it time has come to a standstill. In other words, in the region where the soul chiefly functions, on the inner plane or astral world, velocities are greater than those of light and there consequently is a different order of gravitation, a different order of distance, and a different order of time, all of which is explained more fully in lesson No. 16.
Connecting these two realms in both of which all incarnated life constantly functions, are light, electromagnetic waves and radiations which have velocities approximately those of light. And, as explained in detail in lesson No. 11, the region where mind functions, the astral realm, can be affected by physical conditions only by first communicating its motions to this Boundary-Line energy; and vice versa, the astral realm and mind can contact and affect anything physical only through first communicating energies to this Boundary-Line electromagnetic energy which then passes it on to the physical.
Consciousness Can Function on Many Levels
When the attention, sustained by electromagnetic energies of the frequency of the Cerebral System, is directed to perceiving objects on the physical plane, there is objective consciousness of the reports of the physical senses; and when the Attention is directed to cerebral processes the energies stimulate and support objective thinking.
Sleep is a no-man's-land between such consciousness on the physical plane and consciousness on the astral plane. From that state, to the extent the Attention can mobilize electromagnetic energies of the cerebral frequency and direct them to happenings on the physical plane, is the sleeper aware of what is going on about him in the physical world. Physical sensations thus reaching his consciousness afford suggestions which give trend to his dream.
In this state of sleep, or a similar condition induced for the purpose, if the Attention moves neither out to become conscious of the material plane, nor in where velocities exceed those of light, the consciousness remains chiefly linked with electromagnetic energies, and because it is not fully conscious on either plane, but in the no-man's-land where Boundary-Line energies are dominant, it is highly susceptible to suggestion and devoid of discrimination. The subconscious mind referred to by many writers is a consciousness functioning almost exclusively in this Boundary-Line region.
Electromagnetic waves, as we see demonstrated in radio, have the power to move almost instantly to distant places on the earth. They have the power to make considerable impact on a suitably tuned instrument at a distance; but to do much work thus at a distant point the receiving set must itself provide electrical energy suitable to amplify the modulated carrier waves picked up.
Consciousness can be extended in association with electromagnetic waves. It can make an impact thus on those at a distance, and have considerable influence provided the receiver is tuned to the same frequencies and is generating electrical energies suitable for amplifying what is thus received. And consciousness thus extended in association with electromagnetic energies can become aware of distant happenings on the earth, and to a limited extent even or events yet to come. Extension of consciousness occurs in many degrees, all the way from the perceptions of the physical senses on the plane of matter, through the region of Boundary-Line electromagnetic energies, to the various ascending levels of the astral world into a region which has still higher velocities called spiritual.
In the no-man's-land of sleep if the Attention is turned to the inner plane the consciousness in some degree becomes aware of stimuli reaching it from the astral realm where, as velocities are greater than those of light, time relations, as well as those of distance and gravitation are of quite a different order than those either on the physical plane or in the electromagnetic Boundary-Line region. Almost anyone who will systematically endeavor to do so, and thus turn the Attention of his soul to the inner plane during sleep, and over a few weeks keep a careful record of his dreams, will become convinced that his consciousness has become aware of some events long before they happen or could be surmised from ordinary waking sources. To keep such a record, the dreams should be written down in full detail in the morning before thinking about them. In the state between sleep and waking there is usually remembrance of dreams, but it is largely destroyed as soon as cerebral thinking commences.
It is not to be expected that such dreams at first will give full and correct pictures. But fragments recorded will so amazingly coincide, either actually or through symbols, with some of the situations or events which occur a day, several days, or even weeks later, that little doubt will remain that some portion of the consciousness has precognition of some events.
Such dreams should be regarded, not as complete inner awareness of the details of the future event, but as a distortion of the fantasy thinking common to the no-man's-land of sleep by the impacts of stimuli relating to the event from the astral plane. They should be considered in the category of imperfectly perceived conditions, just as stimuli coming from the outer world also distort the fantasy thinking common to sleep. Too many covers, producing the sensation of weight, may cause an individual to dream of being between the closing jaws of some huge press; or if they cause him to become too warm, he may dream of being in the tropics. The exact trend the fantasy will take depends largely upon the power of desires in his unconscious mind, his experiences in the preceding waking state, and past experiences in his fife which have conditioned his mental associations. The stimuli reaching his consciousness in the no-man's-land from either the outer plane or the inner plane under such conditions is not powerful enough to displace the fantasies passing through the mind, but only to warp them from their course and to inject into them an occasional image, symbolic or real, pointing unmistakably to the source of the stimuli.
Yet just as consciousness can move out from the no-man's-land of sleep where Boundary-Line energy and suggestion chiefly prevail, to become vividly aware of the happenings on the space-time ratio which we call the physical world, so also can it, through diverting sufficient electrical energy to upper-octave electromagnetic radiations which are transformed into inner-plane energies, and holding its Attention there, move out on the astral plane where a new order of space-time relations prevails.
Unlike the physical world, this astral world has numerous levels of existence on each of which a wide variety of life functions. As explained in detail in lesson No. 16, an astral entity, or the consciousness of an individual yet on the physical plane, is pulled to the basic astral level by its dominant vibratory rate, much as gravitation keeps physical objects fastened to or near the earth.
Every physical object has its astral counterpart, even though there are many astral objects and entities which have no physical counterparts. And as distance on the inner-plane, as explained in lesson No. 16, is not of the same order as on the physical, but is the relation between vibratory rates, consciousness functioning on the inner plane can bridge the distance instantly to any object or person on the inner plane, including the astral counterparts of anything physical, to which it can sufficiently adjust its vibratory rates.
Русская страница К. К. Заина | Сайт Андрея Костенко |
Quantitative Aptitude :: Time and Distance Problems And Answers
Time and Distance Formulaes
Quantitative Aptitude
Verbal Ability
1. An aeroplane covers a certain distance of 420 Kmph in 6 hours. to cover the same distance in 4 2/3 hours, it Must travel at a speed of
A. 580 Kmph B. 550 Kmph
C. 540 Kmph D. 530 Kmph
2. The speed of a car is 90kmph. What is the speed in metres per second.
A. 25 m/s B. 40 m/s
C. 35 m/s D. 28 m/s
3. The speed of a car is 10 m/s. What is the its speed in kmph.
A. 25 kmph B. 30 kmph
C. 50 kmph D. 36 kmph
4. A car covers a distance of 720 km in10 hrs. What is its speed in mps.
A. 40 m/s B. 25 m/s
C. 20 m/s D. 15 m/s
5. A man covers a certain distance by car driving at 30 km/hr and he returns back to the starting point riding on a scooter at 10 km/hr. Find his average speed for the whole journey.
A. 8 Km/hr B. 17 Km/hr
C. 15 Km/hr D. 12 km/hr
6. A man is walking at a speed of 6 km per hour. After every km he takes rest for 6 minutes. How much time will he take to cover a distance of 12 km.
A. 3 hr B. 5 hr 42 min
C. 4 hrs. 10 min D. 3 hr. 6 min
7. A person covers a distance in 6 minutes. If runs at a speed of 12 km per hour on an average. Find the speed at which he must run to reduce the time of journey to 5 minutes.
A. 18 m/s B. 4 m/s
C. 15 m/s D. 10 m/s
8. If B takes 20% less time than A, to cover the same distance. What should be the speed of B, if A works at a rate of 10 km/hr?
A. 12.5 km/hr B. 10 km/hr
C. 15 km/hr D. 20 km/hr
9. A car finishes a journey in 20 hours at the speed of 60 km/hr. If the same distance is to be covered in 10 hours, How much speed does the car gain?
A. 80 kmph B. 50 kmph
C. 120 kmph D. 70 kmph
10. A person has to cover a distance of 6 km in 45 minutes. If he covers one-half of the distance in two-thirds of the total time; to cover the remaining distance in the remaining time, what should be his speed in km/hr?
A. 12 km/hr B. 14 km/hr
C. 10 km/hr D. 8 km/hr
Related Topics
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Square Root and Cube Root
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Ultraviolet (UV) light has been naturally purifying water for centuries. With clear skies, our sun can inactivate water-based pathogens in six hours minimum. Cloudy skies or unclear water causes imperfect conditions. These conditions allow for bacteria to grow and make natural water sources unsafe to use. Fortunately, we have developed several types of water disinfection, ranging from chemicals to UV lamps. Although these are all beneficial to human health, some are more environmentally beneficial than others.
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One of the biggest groups of broad-spectrum antibiotics that have proven effective in the treatment of many diseases are penicillins.To discharge these antibiotics are "Amoxicillin", "Ampicillin", "Augmentin", "Penicillin", "Oxacillin".Penicillin has antibacterial properties, and their action is based on the destruction of the membrane of bacteria.As a result, damage to the shell pathogen die.Penicillin cope with staphylococcus, streptococcus, gonorrhea, syphilis, meningitis.Also, the drug proved to be effective in the treatment of upper respiratory tract inflammation.
to cephalosporins are antibiotics, whose action is based on aminocephalosporanic acid.Unlike penicillin, this group of drugs is more stable enzymes (beta-lactamas
es) which are produced by some species of bacteria.Among drugs of this group may be mentioned "Cefazolin" "Cephalexin" "Cefuroxime" "Cefaclor" "ceftriaxone" "Cefepime" and "Tseftrobiprol".
Macrolides Macrolides are different from other antibiotics because they are less toxic and are the most secure.Macrolide antibiotics are among the safest and most have a limited number of side effects.Drugs not affect the central nervous system, it does not influence the development of vascular disease.In the application of these drugs it is also very rare anaphylactic reactions occur, intoxication syndrome and diarrhea.Additional macrolides can note "erythromycin", "midecamycin" "Spiramycin" "Josamycin" "Dirithromycin", etc.
Tetracyclines Tetracyclines have one of the strongest antimicrobial effects, are highly resistant and do drugs in this group are similar in their characteristics.Among the antibiotics of this group may be noted, "Tetracycline", "Doxycycline" "Oxytetracycline", "chlortetracycline."Drugs are particularly effective against bacteria and influence certain protozoa.
aminoglycosides differ efficacy against gram-negative bacteria.Drugs in this group are most often used in the treatment of urinary tract infections and skin lesions provoked by various bacteria, including abrasions.Among the antibiotics of this group can be mentioned "Streptomycin" "neomycin", "Gentamycin" "Amikacin".
Fluoroquinolones Fluoroquinolones - broad-spectrum antibiotics, which are structurally different from the others because of their origin.Unlike other drugs, fluoroquinolones have no natural counterpart and are synthetic.Drugs active against gram negative bacteria and to affect the genetic structure of bacteria.Especially drug effective against respiratory tract infections, meningitis and infectious diseases of the genitourinary system.Among the drugs can be mentioned "Ciprofloxacin", "Ofloxacin", "levofloxacin" "Moxifloxacin" etc. |
Friday, August 21, 2009
Michigan State Sentate Overview: Part II
Part II: Michigan Political Background
Prior to the American Civil War, Michigan was a solidly Democratic state. Lewis Cass, a powerful Democratic politician from Michigan, served in a number of Democratic Administrations, as well as in United States Senate from 1845-1857 while also serving as the Democratic Presidential nominee in 1848. Michigan’s Democratic roots broke in the 1850s, as Yankee migrants from upstate New York and New England formed a new political alliance built on free labor, free soil, and free men. In 1854 this growing alliance of ex-Whigs and Democrats met in Jackson, Michigan to create the Republican Party, which promptly began dominating Michigan politics.
By 1860 the Republican Party had gained control of the governor’s mansion, as a long-standing alliance between businesses and ethno-cultural groups throughout the state profoundly shaped the state government for years to come. While Democrats made some inroads in the late 1880s and in 1910s, the Republican Party continued to dominate the state, as Progressive reformers worked within the party. Voter loyalty in Michigan was driven by Civil War era politics well into the early 20th century, and only with the arrival of the New Deal coalition in the 1930s did political identity begin to shift, as millions of new residents hailed for portions of the United States with Democratic allegiances. Republican control of the state legislature remained ironclad, as malapportionment insured that Republicans would have large majorities in both chambers. Such malapportionment did not end until the Supreme Court’s Baker v. Carr decision in 1962 mandated “one person, one vote” that required equally populated legislative districts.
Democratic Labor-Left Coalition and GOP Moderation: 1948-1982
Despite continued Republican malapportionment in the state legislature, a resurgent Democratic Party took over the Governor’s office in 1948. A collection of leading intellectuals and labor figures, including Mennen Williams, Walter Reuther, Gus Scholle, Hick Griffiths, and Neil Staeble developed and formed a new Democratic coalition that was built on the growing strength of labor unions and progressive intellectuals. This new coalition appealed to Democrats outside of the traditional Democratic stronghold in Detroit, and sought to build a state-wide Democratic Party. Mennen Williams was elected Governor in 1948, and remained in office until 1960, building a strong Democratic coalition that passed policies that strongly supported labor unions and progressive social policies. Democratic infighting after Williams retirement in 1962 led to Republican George Romney winning the 1962 gubernatorial race, ushering a twenty year period of GOP control of the executive branch. Romney, and his successor William Milliken, pushed good government reform measures that included a new state constitution that ended malapportionment of state legislative districts. With this reform, the state legislature became hotly contested between the two parties, ending 100 years of GOP dominance (see Figure 1).
Democratic divisions continued after 1962. Tensions between labor and liberal groups within the party boiled over in the late 1960s, as tensions over Vietnam and social issues allowed for Milliken to win close elections in the 1970s. The decline of the American automobile industry in the mid-1970s spelled further trouble for the Democratic Party, and the state’s worsening economic condition in the late 1970s ended a nearly thirty year period of genial political cooperation between the two parties in Lansing.
An Era of Partisan Identity: 1982-Present
With the end of William Milliken’s long tenure as Governor, a new era of partisan politics dawned in the state. By the late 1970s the Republican Party moved sharply to the right, as social conservatives and anti-tax activists succeeded in capturing control of the state party. While labor unions continued to decline, Democrats such as Jim Blanchard moved away from the party’s traditional allies, nurturing economic development while pushing through tax increases and user fees to balance a staggering budget deficit early in his tenure. Such political bravery resulted in sharp partisan divisions in the legislature, as anti-tax groups recalled two Democratic State Senators from Macomb County, long considered a bastion of Democratic strength. The politics of economic recovery and social tensions resulted in partisan divisions in the state legislature well through the 1980s and early 1990s, as partisan loyalties among traditional Democratic groups declined.
The election of John Engler in 1990 began a period of Republican domination of the state legislature. Republicans took control of the State House in 1994, and remained in control of the State Senate after the early 1980s, ensuring a receptive audience for Engler’s policy proposals. Engler was not shy about slashing state social programs, cutting taxes, and promoting GOP political domination through the state. Engler served until 2002, just as the good economic times in the state were ending.
Democrat Jennifer Granholm succeed Engler, and has navigated the state’s severe economic slump by working with a Republican controlled state legislature in her first term to find ways to balance the budget while preserving the state’s social net. The state’s finances were preserved by slashing social services, educational spending, and sharply reducing state aid to local governments. By the 2006 election, a sustained sour voting public responded to the state’s woes by reelecting Granholm and giving the Democrats control of the State House, while allowing the Republicans to hold a narrow margin in the State Senate. Fiscal difficulties have continued for the state, with continued battling between the two chambers over dwindling revenues continued economic troubles.
Michigan's economic misfortunes since 1974 have dominated the state's political culture, as the heated political battles of the past three administrations testify.
(Next week: Part III)
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Classical density
Xem 1-6 trên 6 kết quả Classical density
• Classical physics breaks down to the level of atoms and molecules. This was made possible by the invention of a new apparatus that enabled the introduction of measurements in microscopic area of physics. There were two revolutions in the way we viewed the physical world in the twentieth century: relativity and quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics was born in 1924, through the work of Einstein, Rutherford and Bohr, Schrödinger and Heisenberg, Born, Dirac, and many others. The principles of quantum mechanics that were discovered then are the same as we know them today....
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• Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) are an interesting and valuable family of compounds. Although they are all salts, their components can vary considerably, including imidazolium, pyridinium, ammonium, phosphonium, thiazolium, and triazolium cations. In general, these cations have been combined with weakly coordinating anions. Common examples include tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, triflate, triflimide, and dicyanimide.
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• Steiner symmetrization, one of the simplest and most powerful symmetrization processes ever introduced in analysis, is a classical and very well-known device, which has seen a number of remarkable applications to problems of geometric and functional nature. Its importance stems from the fact that, besides preserving Lebesgue measure, it acts monotonically on several geometric and analytic quantities associated with subsets of Rn. Among these, perimeter certainly holds a prominent position.
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• Let X be a smooth quasiprojective subscheme of Pn of dimension m ≥ 0 over Fq . Then there exist homogeneous polynomials f over Fq for which the intersection of X and the hypersurface f = 0 is smooth. In fact, the set of such f has a positive density, equal to ζX (m + 1)−1 , where ζX (s) = ZX (q −s ) is the zeta function of X. An analogue for regular quasiprojective schemes over Z is proved, assuming the abc conjecture and another conjecture. 1. Introduction The classical Bertini theorems say that if a subscheme...
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• P-glycoprotein (Pgp), a member of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) super-family responsible for the ATP-driven extrusion of diverse hydrophobic molecules from cells, is a cause of multidrug resistance in human tumours. Pgp can also operate as a phospholipid and glycosphingolipid flippase, and has been functionally linked to cholesterol, suggesting that it might be associated with sphingolipid–cholesterol microdomains in cell membranes.
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The One Day War
At noon on day 3534, Dr_Derek, the leader of the Spanish Empire, had started a war between all the nations of the world. The nations involved were North America, the Spanish Empire, the Sicilian Empire, KawaiiNation, and the World Powers. Dr_Derek had planned on invading the heart of the Sicilian Empire, Sicily, and he had done just that. Launching airstrikes on Sicily. It was only Dr_Derek fighting in the war. Peridoot, the mayor of Central, was going to aid the Spanish Empire's fight in the war, but by the time Peridoot had gotten ready for the battle, the war was already over. No one had actually wanted to fight the war, so the war was over almost as quickly as it started. It ended the next day, on day 3535.
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The Cider House Rules Test | Mid-Book Test - Hard
Buy The Cider House Rules Lesson Plans
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________
Short Answer Questions
2. In Chapter 2, Dr. Larch returns to the hospital with a girl how old who is pregnant by her father?
3. Homer performs the autopsy and tells the doctor the cadaver died of what in Chapter 5?
4. Wilbur Larch was born in what era?
5. The nurses keep mentioning in the novel that the doctor is named after what?
Short Essay Questions
1. In what ways is St. Cloud's symbolic? How does the author establish this in Chapter 1?
3. Where does Dr. Larch send the prostitute's daughter in Chapter 2? What happens to her there?
4. What causes Homer's first two adoptive families to return him to the orphanage in Chapter 1?
5. Where does Wally invite Homer to go with him in Chapter 5?
6. What is foreshadowed about the life and career of Dr. Larch in Chapter 2?
9. How do the characters of Homer and Wally relate in Chapter 4?
10. How does the book Jane Eyre relate to the main characters in Chapter 4? What heroic act does Homer do in this chapter?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Analyze and discuss the book Gray's Anatomy and Dr. Larch's medical training for Homer. Why does Dr. Larch give this book to Homer? Why does Dr. Larch choose to train Homer in his practice? Does Homer feel that Dr. Larch is wrong to perform abortions? Why or why not?
Essay Topic 2
Define and discuss conflict in literary narrative, and identify the major conflicts in "The Cider House Rules". What internal conflicts does Melony face? What external conflicts? What conflicts does Dr. Larch face in regards to Homer? What external conflicts does the character face regarding the orphanage?
Essay Topic 3
Describe and discuss the laws against abortion in the U.S. during the 1920's and 30's. What risks did Dr. Larch face in performing illegal abortions? How dangerous were back-alley abortions at this time? What risks did the women who received abortions face?
(see the answer keys)
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(approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page)
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Sounds Of The Season
October 16, 2013
BY CHUCK CLEGG , Wetzel Chronicle
As I have grown older, I have begun to realize that each season has its own sounds. There sounds each of us can identify by just closing our eyes and listening to the invisible world that surrounds us. Mother Nature has given us the ability to hear and recognize many that are unique. Sounds often change with each passing month on the calendar and passing years of our lives.
Perhaps when we are young each of us are so busy in our daily life that we don't take time to listen to the sounds. In winter, the earth is asleep and resting, regenerating itself. Her many sounds are hidden in the cold world around us. Insects sleep below ground or hide in the dark places in the woods nearby. Have you ever stepped outside as snow falls from the sky? White snowflakes beyond the ability of man to count, fall, landing silently on the ones that fell a few moments before. Each snowflake seems to absorb sounds as it falls freely. Listen to the snow as it falls in the deep winter, it reminds us of the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Sound of Silence". The song reminds us to reflect on the world around us.
As spring returns, warmth from the sun begins to melt the frozen snow and warm the earth. We begin to once again hear sounds in the world around us. Winter's snows melt and fall as drops of water from the trees and roof tops. The sun grows in strength and more of winter's snow melts and returns to the earth. Listen and you can hear the sound as it falls to the ground. At first it slowly moves along toward small streams. Street curbs swell as it heads towards the storm drains. Quickly it disappears into the darkness below our feet with a splashing sound as it begins its journey towards the creeks and rivers.
Each day, song birds return from their southern winter homes. Announcing their return they begin to sing in the trees that now show the first green leaves in the spring air. Each passing day the variety of birds singing their songs of spring increases, until the air is filled with a symphony of sounds. The long quiet of the dark winter world is being replaced by the wonderful sounds of spring-sounds that make us smile as we take the time to listen to our world renew once again.
Growing up in the country, I spent a lot of time playing in the woods and along the creek near our home. That was before the endless rumbling of big trucks and loud car radios filled the air. When most of us were young the world seemed to be a much quieter place, or at least that is how I like to remember it.
As a child I enjoyed playing along the creek in the early mornings as the day awoke. The sound of water passing over rocks in the shallow riffle of the green creek made a soft gurgling sound. Over and around the green moss covered stones the water moved along on its way down stream heading for the river and eventually all the way to the ocean. When it arrived in the warm sea, the air and hot summer sun began to evaporate the blue water. Slowly and unseen it rose back into the blue skies where it became clouds passing silently over our world far below. I remember lying along the stream and watching the clouds passing overhead. I wondered what the world held for me. In the distance the summer clouds rumbled and turned dark, foretelling of a storm coming.
Without warning the summer clouds released the rains tumbling toward the earth. Holding out my arms, I turned my face toward the warm rain. The sounds it made on my face were muted when compared to the sound it made landing in the quickly forming puddles around me. In the nearby trees small green frogs began to sing, welcoming the rain. The world was filled with the sound of summer hidden in the rain.
As we enjoyed the hot summer sounds, we began to hear high in the trees the sounds of locust singing their songs of love. It is the sound of late summer and the season we all enjoy is quickly beginning to fade. After a time Katydids joined in the serenade of insect songs.
As evening grew shorter one more creature joined in the singing. Crickets began their unmistakable song in the darkness. As day light faded the locust and Katydids relinquished their singing to the lowly cricket. He seemed to enjoy cooler nights.
As fall comes, the insects have replaced the bird's sounds from the trees. Birds seem to be busily feeding and preparing themselves for the long trip south. Katydids sings of good-byes as Jack Frost touches leaves. Insect's songs will now fade. It is replaced by the rapidly changing color of leaves that rustle in the chilled fall breezes. Only the cricket who hides from the cold in cracks and crevices still sings his occasional song as evening comes.
We wake one morning and the puddle in the yard is frozen over, the cricket's song will not be heard again. The dry leaves in the trees have begun to fall and the rustling leaves are now lying on the ground. Cold rains soon dampen them, no longer will they make a sound as they lay waiting to decay and return into the earth. The late fall has come across our lands and silenced the outside world.
But, we begin to hear another sound, a sound of laughter and singing as families come together to enjoy each other\'s company once more. Holiday music hangings in the cool air along with cinnamon and pumpkin spices.
Best of all, the aroma of a holiday turkey for the Thanksgiving meal seems to beckon us all into the warmth of home.
People smile and laugh as the tinkling of bells can be heard in the world around us. It is a time we smile and enjoy because at this time of year we again remember, that family is the greatest sound of all. It rejoices our spirits and souls.
As we watch, winter moves across the land, blanketing it in snow and silence. In deep winter we sometimes feel emptiness of the world around us. The sounds of family have faded, crickets and Katydids are gone and no song came from the trees. But, it is at this time there is a sound Mother Nature wants us to hear once again, our heart beating, the sound that reminds us we are alive. She reminds us to relax and remember the important things in life. Before you know it the sound of spring returns once again as we listen Thru the Lens.
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Summary for week 2
<A HREF=””>Text to click on goes here</A>
An absolute link is a full URL (used to link to a completely seperate website).
A relative link relates to the page it is included in, used to link to a section of the site you are already on.
The A is the anchor tag. The HREF is the attribute. The title of the link is the second attribute.
You may add further attributes to designate what color the link will change when clicked, etc.
Adding _blank to a hyperlink will cause the link to open in a seperate tab or window, instead of redirecting from the current window.
Links to images are created the same way as a link to a page.
<A HREF=”image.jpg”>Click for image</a>
Jpegs loose some color information when compressed. Best to use for vector images or photos.
Gifs do not lose any information when compressed. Better for images with gradients and continual tones.
Image tag:
<IMG SRC=”image.jpg” ALT=”Text here”>
You may add attributes to the image tag to give images a border, margins, control the dimensions by pixels, etc.
i.e.: <IMG SRC =”image.jpg” ALT=text” BORDER=”2″ WIDTH=”500″ HEIGHT=”337″>
DTD (Stands for two definitions)
1) Document type Definition – Technical machine readable file describing the structure within a document type.
2) Document type Declaration – Declaration which identifies a document as belonging to a specific document type (both type and version) (for example, if the document is written in HTML4.1 vs. HTML5 vs. XHTML 1.1, etc.) Found at the very top of the code, before the HTML tag. Does not reqquire a closing tag.
Strict Doc Type Declaration tells you that the document can only usethe rules of its doc type. It si not compatable with previous versions.
Transitional Doc Type Declaration tells you that the document will allow elements and structure from previous versions to be compatable.
Frameset Doc Type Declaration tells you there is a use of frames within the document.
Aligning Paragraphs
<p></p> Basic paragraph tag, automatically justifies to the left.
You may change the justification by adding an attribute to the paragraph tag.
<p align=”right”> This will cause the paragraph to be right justified. The align=”right” is the attribute.
<p align=”justify”> Makes both sides of the paragraph flush, spreads out words to eliminate uneven edges.
<p align=”center”> Centers all text in the paragraph, both sides of the paragraph as uneven.
<p align=”left”> (same as default of <p>)
Block-level tags: Elements which contain other elements (like a paragrah, heading, table, etc.)
Inline tags: Elements which occur within a line of text. Cannot contain other tags within them (for example, <i>, <IMG>, etc)
Paragraphs are the only block-level tags which cannot contain other block-level tags. (They can contain inline tags). Other block-level tags can contain more block-level tags.
<br /> – Line break. Can stand alone. Including the slash after the br allows it to not need a closing tag.
Non-breaking space: (stops a line of txt from breaking/wrapping[but you must replace all spaces with it to ensure this])
&-marks a special character entity
;-marks end of special character entity
<nobr></nobr> = no break
Quotes (2 types:)
<blockquote></blockquote> quotes text as an entire block. Indents from both sides instead of using quotation marks. Often used for indenting instead of it’s intended purpose of designating quotes.
<q></q> Puts quotation marks around text. IE does not support this tag.
Give document structure.
<h1> Heading1</h1>(largest heading)
<h2>Heading 2 </h2> (smaller than first heading)
<h3>Heading 3</h3> (smaller than heading 2, etc.)
You can change the apprearance of headings with CSS:
<h1 style=”font family: sans-serif; font-size:125%”> Headings</h1> Makes text 25% larger than body text, and uses a sans-serif font.
<h2 style=”font family: sans serif; font-size: 125%; color #006″>Structure</h2> Same as H1 but adds a dark blue color to the text.
<h3 style=”font family: sans-serif; font size: 124% background-color: #CCF”>Subject</h3> Same as H1 but there is a light blue background to the text
Preserving Preformatted Text
Maintains text exactly as it appears int eh text editor; prevents extra spaces from being folded together, etc. You may still use inline tags within the <pre> tag (like bold and italics, etc).
Web Editors
<a href=””>Kompozer</a>
<a href=””>BBEdit</a>
<a href=””>Coffee Cup HTML Editor</a>
<a href=””>Microsoft Expression</a>
<a href=””>Coda</a>
<a href=””Deaweaver</a>
F4 key collapses all panels (hit again to bring them back)
Create new custom workspace under the dropdown menu (default is desinger but has other view otpions)
Properties Inspector is the most power panel. HTML and CSS tags. The HTML tab lets you add/edit HTML code as easily as selectingand adding qualities to a document in a word processor. The HTML tab makes chages to a page’s structure. The CSS tab will make universal changes to your site, so be careful that you really know what you are doing when you use it.
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Is There a Secret Energy Source?
Updated on March 2, 2013
Nazi Germany
During Hitler’s era in Germany, the Nazi’s seemed to pay a lot of interest in some puzzling areas.
They seemed to have almost an obsession with Antarctica.
They seemed to be a little pre occupied with the occult or more accurately, some ancient cults, in particular the Thule Society. This society was supposedly based on a northern Atlantis which was the original home of the Aryan people. Over the years its name changed, to the Order of the New Templars [ONT] and then to the German Order but its roots were still based on ancient beliefs going back to a secret society of the ancient Egyptian priesthood.
It is known that the Nazi’s were experimenting with nuclear fission but it is suspected that they were working on a new kind of free energy, one based on ancient knowledge.
To support this suspicion there is “die glocke” or “The Bell”. This is a large bell that it is believed was being used to experiment on the powers of gravity and how it could be used as a form of energy. Some have even speculated that it may have been used as some kind of time travel machine.
The Bell
The Bell
Post War
After the war, the United States set up operation “Paperclip”. This operation involved following up on the Nazi experiments and it is believed that many of the Nazi scientists were given immunity in return for co operation.
“Paperclip” was the pre curser to the setting up of NASA.
It has been claimed that experiments with “The Bell” may have been linked to the Roswell incident. Also in 1965, an object witnessed by dozens, passed over Canada and the North Eastern United States before crashing in Pennsylvania. Although the object was quickly whisked away, eye witnesses stated that it was shaped like an acorn, the same shape as the Nazi bell.
Leading to further speculations is the U-Boat, U-235 that at the end of the war was surrendered to the United States. Apparently this U-Boat was headed to Japan with two Japanese officers on board and some lead containers. The U-Boat changed course to surrender, causing the Japanese officers to commit suicide. It has been speculated that the contents of the lead containers were given to America in return for the freedom of some top Nazi’s including Martin Bormann.
Secret Energy
Secret Energy
Today speculation has been given to a form of Mercury that can possess nuclear power. This Mercury is known as Red Mercury or mercury antimony oxide [Hg2Sb207].
Is it possible that Red Mercury is abundant in Antarctica?
Is it possible that Red Mercury was aboard U-235 along with an explanation of its uses?
Is it possible, like some suspect, that the Moon and shuttle missions by NASA are just a front to justify the expenses of a more secret project that they are undertaking?
Do the higher echelons of the United States already possess the secrets to a new source of energy but are hiding it from the rest of America, in order to further their race to dominate the stars?
We may never know the answers but it does seem strange that just as there are becoming giant breakthroughs in the area of astronomy, it is now that the United States stops it shuttle program and seemingly all other involvement in space exploration.
Is this shut down a prelude to a belated announcement that there is a new technology available to space exploration?
If it is a new source of energy, will it be available for other uses and is this why there seems to be a lack of concern to the ever increasing deficit?
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• diogenes profile image
diogenes 5 years ago from UK and Mexico
Hi bud: You pose some provoking questions in this interesting article.
I'm sure there's screeds hidden away in government files we are clueless about.
One day we may know.
• aksem62 profile image
aksem62 5 years ago
I was born near nuclear weapons test site, worked half my life in the nuclear industry.
I believe that the technological and psychological level of human development in our time is not sufficient for the safe using of nuclear power, not to mention more powerful types of energy.
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Posted by: lensweb | April 13, 2017
Terry the Terrapin
Some animals know just when to time their appearance! On 14 April 2016 Damon Barker reported there were terrapins in Forbes Hole and sent a photo to prove it. Since then none had been reported until Stuart Gilder reported a terrapin seen basking at the bottom of the steps to the large pond. A few days later there it was again, sitting on a floating log.
So on Sunday when we held an Open Day at Forbes Hole, guess who was the star of the show? It is not often that terrapins are seen in the wild in this country and there it was, basking in the glorious sunshine.
forbes terrapin
The Red-eared Terrapin shell can grow up to 30 cm long but hatchlings measure just a few centimetres. It is dark green to black with greenish or yellowish markings. Limbs, head and neck may be striped with yellow and colourful red or yellow “ears” may be present behind the eye. Small juveniles are the most colourful, fading and becoming darker with age.
Terrapins are omnivorous, they primarily eat plants, though will opportunistically take invertebrates. A reduction of oxygenating plants in the pond and an increase in nutrient input can result in the eutrophication of the water. Eutrophication then means that the oxygen is so depleted in the pond that only organisms that can survive in oxygen poor environments, such as algae, persist. If a terrapin is abandoned in an pond surrounded by roads, it is likely it will have no other ponds to go to, so it will continue to deplete the pond of its wildlife whilst it struggles to find enough to eat. When the temperature drops below 16-18 degrees Celsius, they will not forage for food at all. This means for the majority of the year in the UK, they will be unable to forage and if there is a cold summer, they will be unlikely to build up enough fat stores to survive though hibernation. Abandoned terrapins in British waters are almost always going to have their welfare compromised from the start, both in terms of health and chances of survival.
Pet turtles and terrapins have regularly been abandoned by their owners, particularly following the TV series “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” in the late 1980s. At various times they have been sighted in the River Erewash, the Erewash Canal and Attenborough Nature Reserve. Sightings are widespread and they survive well in the south of Great Britain, but there are no confirmed records of breeding in the wild (due to conditions and temperatures required for successful egg incubation).
People buy a tiny terrapin at the pet shop when it is not much bigger than a fifty pence coin, they are often assured buy the sellers at the shop that it won’t get much bigger than that, once the pet reaches the size of a small dinner plate, it is easier to release it into the wild than to cope with it’s care requirements. The lifespan of a pond terrapin is around 30 years in captivity. Most likely, the reason illegal releasing continues, is because people are unaware of the negative effects of the terrapin on the local environment and the distressing circumstances the animal may quickly find itself in.
It is not known exactly how long the terrapins have been in Forbes Hole or how long they will survive but it is certain this was the most exciting day of pond dipping at Forbes Hole ever!
Marion Bryce 13 April 2017 |
Our belly buttons contain a "rainforest of bacteria"
Our Belly Buttons Contain 'Rain Forest' Of Bacteria
You might not think your belly button and a rainforest have anything in common, but scientists revealed that they actually do.
In 2011, the Belly Button Biodiversity project began at North Carolina State University. After an undergrad expressed an idea to explore what's in belly buttons, biologists at the university decided to take it seriously. They took swabs of 60 volunteers' belly buttons, and what they found intrigued them so much that they decided to continue their research.
SEE ALSO: Your baby's bedding may be unsafe
The team found over 2,000 species in their navels -- and more than half of them could be new to science. There were on average 67 species present in the belly button; some people had as few as 29 and as many as 107.
There were no species that showed up in every single sample, but eight species appeared in over 70 percent of samples. If any of those eight species were present, it was probably in large numbers. Many species, however, only showed up in one person.
"That makes the belly button a lot like rain forests," said Dr. Robert Dunn, ecologist at North Carolina State University.
RELATED: What excessive sweating can mean for your health
Your Excessive Sweating Could Be Sending A Critical Message About Your Health
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Your Excessive Sweating Could Be Sending A Critical Message About Your Health
#1: You're extremely stressed
We’ve all sweat in situations that weren’t caused by the weather, like when we’re nervous, getting stage fright, or talking to someone important.
But did you know that stress sweat and heat sweat come from different glands altogether?
Eccrine sweat is produced all over our body, and it’s the type of sweat that keeps us cool in warm temperatures.
Apocrine sweat is secreted when we’re stressed, and it produces a thicker, smellier odor.
So if your B.O. is very strong, and lingers for a long time, it might be time to unwind and lower your stress levels.
#2: You're pregnant — or menopausal
These two conditions are very opposite of one another — but they can both cause excessive sweat.
According to Livescience, shifting hormone levels cause your endocrine system to go a bit awry.
This can cause your body temperature regulation system to go off the fritz, making you boiling hot at a moment’s notice.
So if you are constantly struggling with your body temperature, you could potentially be pregnant — or, if you’re past that age, it could mean that you are getting hot flashes.
#3: You need to drink more water
Prevention.com states if your sweat is stinging your eyes or causing a streaky-what residue on your skin, it could mean that you need to hydrate yourself more.
This could be a sign that you need to drink more water to balance out the contents of the sweat.
It could also mean that you’re drinking a lot of alcohol, which can also be combated with more water!
#4: You are at risk for heatstroke
Excess sweat during a run or hike is fine because it’s helping you cool down so you don’t get heatstroke.
But if you suddenly start to sweat less and begin to get dizzy, nauseous, or confused, it could mean that your body has started to experience heat exhaustion and its temperature-regulating methods are no longer working as well.
If this begins to happen, it’s important to find help, stay hydrated, and get to a cooler area.
#5: You might have hyperhidrosis
Hyperhidrosis is a medical condition that causes excessive sweating.
Though it may be hard to tell when sweating gets excessive, hyperhidrosis is usually characterized from an isolated part of the body continuing to become damp.
So if you find yourself sweating excessively from the palms of your hands, the bottoms of your feet, or even your head, this could be a sign of perspiration gone overboard.
#6: You may need to adjust your diet
If you’re constantly smelling a weird, fishy stench coming from skin, you could potentially have a rare genetic ailment called trimethylaminuria.
This is your body’s inability to break down trimethylamine, which has a powerful, fishy odor.
If this is the case, you may have to talk to your doctor about avoiding certain foods.
#7: You might have a serious complication
Excessive sweating, even if you’re not working out or straining yourself, could be a sign of heart health problems.
If you’re experiencing a lot of mysterious perspiration, it might be time to make an appointment with your doctor.
Sweat may seem unsightly and smelly at times, but it’s an important part of our body that can help us better understand what’s going on inside.
Please SHARE this critical information with friends and family on Facebook!
"The idea that some aspects of our bodies are like a rain forest—to me it's quite beautiful," he continued. "And it makes sense to me as an ecologist. I understand what steps to take next; I can see how that works."
Given that the team found potentially new species, they will continue their work. They hope to found out what these species are and how they affect human health, if at all.
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What are the factors that could affect the exchange rate?
1. Inflation
If inflation in the UK is relatively lower than elsewhere, then UK exports will become more competitive and there will be an increase in demand for Pound Sterling to buy UK goods. Also foreign goods will be less competitive and so UK citizens will buy less imports.
Therefore countries with lower inflation rates tend to see an appreciation in the value of their currency.
2. Interest Rates
If UK interest rates rise relative to elsewhere, it will become more attractive to deposit money in the UK. You will get a better rate of return from saving in UK banks, therefore demand for Sterling will rise. This is known as “hot money flows” and is an important short run factor in determining the value of a currency. Higher interest rates cause an appreciation.
3. Speculation
Speculators predict which way market forces will move.
If speculators believe the sterling will rise in the future, they will demand more now to be able to make a profit. This increase in demand will cause the value to rise. Therefore movements in the exchange rate do not always reflect economic fundamentals, but are often driven by the sentiments of the financial markets. For example, if markets see news which makes an interest rate increase more likely, the value of the pound will probably rise in anticipation.
4. Change in Competitiveness
If British goods become more attractive and competitive this will also cause the value of the Exchange Rate to rise. This is important for determining the long run value of the Pound. This is similar factor to low inflation.
5. Relative strength of other currencies.
In 2010 and 2011, the value of the Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc rose because markets were worried about all the other major economies – US and EU. Therefore, despite low interest rates and low growth in Japan, the Yen kept appreciating.
6. Balance of Payments
A deficit on the current account means that the value of imports (of goods and services) is greater than the value of exports. If this is financed by a surplus on the financial / capital account then this is OK. But a country, who struggles to attract enough capital inflows to finance a current account deficit, will see a depreciation in the currency. (For example current account deficit in US of 7% of GDP was one reason for depreciation of dollar in 2006-07)
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How can changes to taxes cause a reduction in the public deficit?
What are the factors that could affect the exchange rate?
What is the Marshall Lerner Condition?
Other GCSE Economics questions
What conditions allow a firm to sell the same product at different prices?
Evaluate the view that perfect competition is a more efficient market structure than monopoly.
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Sunday, December 17, 2006
aprilp's percentage growing post
[ ! ] I wasn't able to use gliffy on my computer. So I just stuck with using bubbleshare and paint. Hopefully, it's acceptable.
Question 1
Percents can also be converted into a fraction, decimal or into a ratio.
Question 2
3/5, 3:2, 60% and 0.6 are the same because they are all equivalents.
Question 3
Show 3 different ways to find 35% of 80. (bubbleshare is an excellent tool to animate the many different ways to finding the answer.)
Question 4
If you ever need help with converting fractions, decimals, percents and ratios, this blog teaches you those basic elements of converting numbers. Also, the posts are really well done and easy to understand.
My comment is still not shown. Maybe it'll take awhile.
Question 5
This answer all depends on how many students are in their class.
But let's just say that there are 45 students in Ms. Stanzi's class and 40 students in Ms. Lowery's class.
There may be 55% of Ms. Lowrey's class that met their reading goal but that doesn't mean there are more students in her class.
Question 6
Use a hundred grid (unit square) to illustrate the following question. Once you have explained and illustrated what the means solve it.
a) 16 is 40% of what number?
b) What is 120% of 30?
Tony D said...
good job april but,
on question 2 you didn't show how 3:2 is an equivalent to 3/5, 60% and 0.6
one more thing is that you shaded in 40 instead of 16 on question 6 a) and you should use gliffy or bubbleshare because you get more marks for doing it on that question
Jesse said...
you did a good job april on your questions i found 1 mistake on #2 you should've showed 1 picture how 3:2 and 3/5, 60% and 0.6 then the people would understand even more really good job though im going to give you 61 out of 65. Good job
shawnjay. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
shawnjay. said...
Comments:Your post is labeled and titled correctly.
Question 1
Comments:Your answer is correct and you have used a pictures which includes numerical examples, symbols and pictures to show your answer as well. Good Job =D
Question 2
Comments:You showed how the values are equivalent using pictures, but you forgot to show how 3/5 is equivalent to 3:2. Overall this question was answered correctly and good job images on bubbleshare.
Question 3
Comments:You showed 3 correct ways to solve the answer using pictures and good use of words.
Question 4
Comments:You made a comment on a students blog from another school and you pasted the link and made a review on it. One thing I think you should've done to make your comment better is to say how they could improve their post.
Question 5
Comments:You answered the question correctly , but i think you should've spent more time explaining why her statement can and can't be true. You should've also included pictures to show your answer.
Question 6
Comments:You answered both questions correctly and you made good use of pictures to explain your answer, but you had to use wikitools. I think you should explain your answer more, like how you got the answer and why you think it is correct(ex. using decimals by checking if they are equivalent with the percent fraction and the equivalent fraction that you are trying to find the answer to)
Overall Mark
Overall Comment for the Growing Post:I did a Great Job on your post with answering the questions correctly, but it's just the extra explanations and pictures that you have to add to your post to make it better so you can get a better mark. You did a very good job making your pictures and answering the questions,just makesure you add those things like pictures and explanations so your overall mark is better!! Great Job SILLY! hehe |
Regno di Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
Official Language Piedmontese
Regional Languages Sardinian
Capital Turin
King Vittorio Emanuele IV
Prime Minister
Currency Italian Lira
The Kingdom of Sardinia is the largest of the Italian states. In 1859-1860, the kingdom grew dramatically under King Vittorio Emanuele II in a failed attempt to unify all of Italy. His kingdom at the time included present-day Tuscany. The Kingdom's growth was halted by Austria-Hungary's assistance of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany later seceded.
The island of Sardinia, for which the kingdom is named, is, ironically, the least integrated part of the Kingdom, enjoying considerable autonomy.
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Live Stages
As bedbugs do not have a larval stage, these features are visible at all stages of the lifecycle (except the egg).
Screen Shot 2012-12-21 at 17.48.02
The eggs of bedbugs are small (ca. 1.2 mm long), but easily distinguishable (with experience) from those of other household insects.
Under magnification hatched and viable eggs can easily be distinguished. Viable eggs are pearl coloured and, during the later stages of development, the eye-spot of the developing embryo is visible through the shell of the egg. Hatched eggs are recognisable by the absence of an end-cap and their translucent appearance.
Screen Shot 2012-12-21 at 17.52.01
Cast Skins
Screen Shot 2012-12-21 at 17.55.36
With experience the cast skins of bedbugs are easily distinguishable from those of other insects. However, they can last for a long time and cannot therefore be used to distinguish active and past infestations.
Faecal Spots
Bedbugs start producing dark, aqueous faecal material as soon as they have fed. These faecal spots are often one of the first indicators of an infestation. Black, ink-like spots on the sheets, mattress or bed frame are one of the most recognisable tell-tale signs of bedbugs. However, very similar spots can be produced by spiders, flies and German cockroaches, so location can be an important factor in distinguishing the two. Spots found high on the walls, on the ceiling, or on light fittings are much more likely to be produced by flies. Blood identification kits have shown promise at being able to distinguish the faecal material of blood-feeding insects, such as bedbugs, from that of other household invertebrates the products section.
Faecal spots can vary in colour from black through to tan depending upon the relative proportions of digested blood and uric acid. The appearance of the faecal spots is also influenced by the absorbency of the substrate they are deposited on. Faecal spots deposited on absorbent surfaces such as bed sheets are wicked into the fibres, resembling ink from a fountain pen. Faecal spots deposited on non-absorbent surfaces such as varnished wood, often dry as a dark, raised lump.
Screen Shot 2012-12-21 at 17.58.48
Screen Shot 2012-12-21 at 17.59.05
Bedbugs feed on exposed skin and often prefer not to climb onto the host as they feed. This can cause bites to occur in rows as they move along the edge of the exposed skin searching for a suitable feeding site.
Bites should never be considered a conclusive sign of a bedbug infestation, as they can be caused by a range of other insects including midges, mosquitoes, fleas and lice. Similar reactions can also be caused by scabies mites and a wide variety of allergens.
Reactions to bedbug bites are highly variable between people. Some have no reaction at all, while others have strong, blistering reactions. More serious (anaphylactic-like) systemic reactions are rare but have been reported.
bedbug bites
The skin reaction to a bedbug bite may be delayed for up to two weeks, particularly if it is the first time that the sufferer has been bitten. Consequently, if the person has recently been traveling, it can be difficult to establish exactly where and when the bites occurred. This can lead to the false belief that they have brought bedbugs home with them or alternatively lead to delays in the detection of an infestation.
Bedbugs usually feed at night, however, they are highly adaptable and will adjust their feeding cycle depending on the daily movements of the host. Chairs and sofas often become infested in situations where the occupant spends the majority of the day sitting in one place. In such situations bedbugs will be forced to feed during the day, while the host is present. |
Namespaces in C++
Namespaces..uhh?sounds like all alien stuff?? even for seasoned C++ players? let me explain...Now we all study in classes that C++ is an "OBJECT ORIENTED LANGUAGE", but actually strictly speaking C++ does not come under the category of OOP, but it is actually an OBJECT BASED LANGUAGE. Think again, do you always start a C++ program from inside a class? naa!! That is why. An OOP language should have everything in the form of objects , that is classes are mandatory, like in Java program. But hey, then we can do C++ programs exactly like a C++ program exactly like a C program, in the structered approachthat is why C++ is not exactly an OOP language.SO what's the big Deal??Now this OOP issue was haunting the ANSI(American National Standards Institute), who are the cheif players in C++. So they came up with the idea of NAMESPACES in around 1997. Now ,some other languages support it. Whole namespace bussiness is about keeping the global part of the program from getting polluted. Now if we have too many global variables in one or many files,(read header files), it will create many problems of duplicate declaration(or redefintions). To avoid this , they introduced a new level caled namespace. Now, anyhing declared global come under the global namespace. We can explicitly declare our programs inside a separate namespace, so that we can use same variable names or identifiers used in stadard headers,(yes can have a variable called cout). Now, ANSI has patched all the standard headers and reincorporated them into the namspace called the std namespace.But this is just come into existance and not extensively used , even now. But most new compilers support this technique. To maintain compatability with the old mode of programming, the following changes have been brought in. The headers with namespace does not have the conventional *.h but , sans any extension, ie becomes . The choice is yours whether to include the namespace version or the conventional headers.But Dude, how do i exactly use namespace?Okay, into technical details of using namespaces
//body //do anything!!,variables ,function,classes etc
I am not going into C++ details of using the namespaces in this episode, actually , i had that in mind , but the blogspot's html editor, thinks #include's tags and cout's insertion operators as html tags and creates errors, so i'll get back into that some time later..
In Closing...
Okay ,some may have convinced that namespaces are great, but then, is it not another face of classes itself!! Maybe not, definitely, namespaces avoid the global pollution. And you can use the standard names, they are not ANSI's private property anymore!! But , obviously it will take time before the namespaces are extensively used. Ahh, maybe this blog may speed that up!!
I m narayan, a comp. sc engg student, i ve been programmin since i was 12 years old... i wld like to share and also get new programming tips,techniques, news etc...
u can get me over |
Treating Burn Scars (1st, 2nd, 3rd degree)
Burns scars are arguably the most difficult scars to treat. Burns often leave raised and discolored scars that, depending on the severity, will leave a permanent scar behind. Burns are categorized into three stages of damage. Fire, steam, hot liquids, radiation, electricity, chemicals, friction, heated objects, or sun exposure can all cause burns. The most common kind of burns are thermal which can occur when the skin comes into contact with flames, hot metals, scalding liquids or steam.
1. A first-degree burn is considered the most mild and least invasively damaging. They result in pain and reddening of the epidermis- the outermost skin layer. These scars can usually be effectively treated with aloe vera cream or antibiotic ointment.
2. A second-degree burn affects not only the epidermis, but dermis, which is the layer underneath. This will result in pain, redness, swelling and blistering. This can also be treated with antibiotic creams, ointments or prescription medications.
3. A third-degree burn goes even deeper than the epidermis and dermis. It damages the tissue beneath and will appear white, blackened and charred that may have damaged nerve cells to the point of numbness. These are the most difficult to treat. Under these circumstances, the person suffering from a third-degree burn should seek medical attention and will have to attend to the scar’s healing process with advice from a specialist, like Dr. Rokhsar.
If a burn is severe enough, the skin may have a hard time repairing itself because of the extensive tissue damage, or if it repaired itself an uneven and misshapen scar will be left. A skin graft can be done. This involves taking skin from one area of the body and placing it in the damaged area. Dr. Rokhsar will typically use the Fraxel Re:pair laser system to treat tissue within the dermis. This will be used to treat second or third-degree scarring. The laser beam tightens skin and alters weakened collagen found in the dermis and has been found so effective because the fractional repair technology treats deep microscopic zones in sections at a time. This will stimulate new collagen production, which will help restructure the skin into a smoother and more even tone. Fraxel Re:store takes on a similar approach to the natural repair process but uses a refreshing and remodeling of the collagen and elastin, ultimately resurfacing skin from the inside out.
New York Dermatologist Dr. Cameron Rokhsar was not only involved in the development of the Fraxel laser, but has also trained more doctors in Fraxel and fractional laser treatments than any other doctor in the world. As a fellowship-trained dermatologist, Dr. Rokhsar can provide extensive knowledge and expertise to each patient’s individual needs.
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Monday, December 22, 2008
Yams or Sweet Potatoes... what's the difference?
So I am going to do my best and give you some information on why these two roots are different from each other and not to be mistaken. However you can still choose to interchange them in recipes-I always do!
Yams were first cultivated in Africa and are part of the tuber family. They are very popular in tropical regions of the world. They are round and elongated with a thick, scaly or rough skin and it's flesh can be either white, ivory, cream, pink or purple. Yams are typically mores starchy and dry. However the most common variety has a deep orange flesh, which is why they are often mistaken for sweet potatoes. Most of the time they are also mislabeled in stores and are actually sweet potatoes!
Sweet Potatoes on the other hand, are native to South America and is part of the morning glory family. Sweet potatoes are actually not at all related to Yams or Potatoes. They are very sweet and dark and sometimes mislabeled as Yams. Sweet potatoes have a wide center and taper at both ends. They also have a thin and smooth skin. Sweet potatoes are also sometimes mislabeled when actually they are yams.
I know it can be confusing...but when it comes to their nutritional content and health benefits they are pretty much the same with a few unique qualities between the two.
They are both amazing sources of beta carotene, an antioxidant found in most orange fleshed foods such as mangoes and carrots. They are both high in vitamin A and C with a good amount of thiamine. They are nourishing to the spleen, pancreas and stomach. Yams are particularly known for it's properties to help regulate menses and prevent miscarriages. Yams also help to treat fatigue, inflammation, spasms and stress.
For more information on the differences between Yams and Sweet potatoes you can read upon the loads of articles and resources on the net with sometimes confusing but insightful information these roots. Or you can always check out Rebecca Wood's Whole Foods Encyclopedia for a small description on the description, health benefits and uses for each.
So in conclusion, both roots are amazing for their own unique properties. Now you can be just a bit more aware of which varieties you are eating (if it is labelled correctly). Either way both are sure to please your palate and make wonderful ingredients for side dishes, soups, dips, pancakes or pies!
Yummy Yam Pecan Pie
1 cup almonds, ground
1 cup brown rice flour
2 tablespoon maple crystals
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of sea salt
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 cups mashed or cooked yams or sweet potatoes (you can always buy canned organic sweet potatoes or yams if necessary)
1 cup vanilla soymilk
3/4 cup maple sugar or sucanat
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon fair trade vanilla
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup chopped pecans, mixed with 1 tablespoon maple syrup and 1 tablespoon coconut oil and roasted for 5-10 minutes at 200F
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Oil a 9 in tart pan or a few mini tart pans.
For the Crust:
2. In food processor, grind nuts to meal. In mixing bowl, combine nuts, flour, maple crystals, baking powder and salt.
3. In separate small bowl, whish together oil and maple syrup
4. Mix wet ingredients (oil and syrup) into dry ingredients (nut meal and flours).
5. Press crust mixture into tart pan.
For the Filling:
1. Blend all the ingredients in a vita mix or a blender until well combined.
2. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 45-60 minutes.
3. Cool on rack and then refrigerate over night before serving.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
CooCoo For Coconut
Spicy & Sweet Shortbread Cookies
1/2 cup maple sugar or organic sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 1/4 cups brown rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup virgin coconut oil, diced
1/4 cup room temperature applesauce
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, cocoa powder or maple crystals
Preheat oven to 275 F
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Spice Girls
Coconut Vegetable Curry
1 Spanish onion
1-2 teaspoons sea salt
¼ cup coconut oil
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into ¾ cubes
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into ¾ “ cubes
Curry Blend*
1 medium cauliflower, cut into bite size florets
1 cup shelled peas, cooked
½ red cabbage
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
Vegetables can be roasted*
Curry Blend:
1 teaspoon coriander
2 teaspoons cumin
½ teaspoons turmeric
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon fenugreek
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
¼ teaspoon cardamom seeds, no pods
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Naturally and Nutritionally Sweet!
We all naturally crave sweets - it's in us! I know a lot of people nowadays try to avoid sweets completely, thinking they can get away with it! But I will tell you what, this doesn't work because at some point your body will cave and you will be likely to binge (usually on the bad stuff like refined sugars and carbohydrates) and this creates a worse situation in your body than if you were to moderately consume some good quality sugars.
Sugars from fruits and starchy vegetables is the most natural way to consume sugar. If eaten in moderation and in season there are amazing benefits from a piece of fresh fruit or root veggies such as fiber, vitamins, minerals and energy. If you love fruit and tend to gravitate towards a piece more than 2 or 3 times a day, stick with the low sugar/non starchy fruits such as apples, berries, peaches, oranges, pears and kiwi's.
At this time of year the fruits and vegetables to get your sweet fix from are yams, sweet potatoes, squash, beets, apples, oranges, pomegranates, persimmons and grapefruit!
Then of course there are your deliciously available dried fruits (unsulphured of course- meaning not bright orange) apricots, figs, dates, goji berries, pears, apples etc...
Other sources of sugar come from grains starches. The stuff we want to stay away from includes the white and refined stuff. This includes white rice, white flour (bread, pasta, donuts, cakes, twinkies, cookies.) These foods quickly turn into simple sugars in your body and shoot your blood sugar up. Instead you want to select natural whole grains sources and complex carbohydrates. These come from grains like spelt, kamut, oats, barley, rye and the gluten free ones: quinoa, millet, teff, amaranth, buckwheat and brown rice. Other sources of complex carbohydrates that give you long sustained energy are sweet potatoes, yams, squashes and any of the above mentioned root veggies.
So my advice to you is to become and informed shopper. Make sure to select products that are steer clear of white sugar, icing sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose and chemical sweetners containing aspartame. Instead look for items sweetened with maple syrup, honey, brown rice syrup, agave nectar, applesauce, dates or stevia.
It is not difficult to find things that are sweetened naturally with nutritional benefits, you just have to be conscious and aware and consume these items in moderation!
Here is a delicious recipes to satisfy those sweet cravings and make you feel good all over!
Date Almond Pudding
2 avocados
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp maple syrup
4 Medjool dates (soaked overnight or boiling water for 20-30 minutes)
2 tbsp of pure unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp almond butter or 1/2 cup raw almonds (soaked in water overnight for 8 hrs.)
1 tsp cinnamon
Combine the ingredients in a blender and whirl on high until well blended into a thick creamy pudding.
Divide the pudding into 2 servings
Sunday, November 16, 2008
A Whole Food Makeover Program - for six straight weeks starting Monday January 19th, I will guide you through a makeover that will change your life!
Whatever your health or weight goals may be for the new year, I have the knowledge to take you there!
Here is an outline of the program:
Monday January 19th and Monday January 26th
Cost $50.00 includes any 1 FREE cooking class (any free upcoming class)
In this introductory session I will kick start the workshop with information that will set a foundation for the rest of your life!
We will cover all the necessities. You will learn to become equipped with the tools, ingredients and skills that you will need in your kitchen in order to live a wholesome and long life!
HOW TO SHOP: Monday February 2nd
Cost: $65.00
Shopping time! I am going to guide you through Planet Organic. This will help you become an informed and healthy shopper. You will also be given a special gift to give your shopping bags a boost and keep your produce safe!
COOK WITH MARNI: Monday February 9th
Cost: $75
In this class I am going to cook with you! We are going to cook up some deliciously simple recipes that will make your cooking experiences more efficient. These nutritious and energizing recipes will also and make you feel great from the inside out!
You will also learn what to eat when you can't always cook - whether it's out for dinner or on vacation!
Cost: $65
In this session we will discuss how whole foods will make you look and feel great! We talk about which foods to consume and which foods to avoid make your skin and hair shine and keep your nails and bones strong! You will also be introduced to new ideas of how to give yourself your very own whole-food facials, scrubs and cleansers!
Eating whole foods, means living a whole life!
You can do the whole program for $250 (4 sessions) or take any course separately.
Email me right away to reserve your spot today!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Birthday Potluck Fiesta
One of my friends who was there this weekend was in from New York. I met her at The Natural Gourmet (the culinary school I attended last year). In fact her birthday is the same day as mine, November 11th - so it was a dual celebration! Together we spent a whole morning shopping for the prime ingredients of what would make up some of the creations of the evening.
We started our venture at the Brickworks Farmers Market in Midtown Toronto. What an amazing place! Fresh produce galore, wild mushrooms and rustic root vegetables. We definitely did not leave there empty handed. From there we made our way down to St. Lawrence Market, mainly just to look. However we did find some great organic produce and some organic kabocha squash which was transformed later into a Roasted-Spiced Squash Soup with Asian Pear. We then went across town to Kensington market and worked our way through the busy streets to the organic markets that had what we needed. I must say, Toronto made it very easy for us to come home with "re-usable" bags full of local and farm fresh ingredients.
Marti (yes her name is Marti) my New Yorker friend and I spent the rest of the day creating recipes from a pesto pizza's with goat cheese, fennel and figs to a green pea guacomole, to ginger snap cookies, to cashew cream covered carrot cake and of course the most delectable squash soup puree garnished with pomegranate seeds (as seen in the picture).
What made this whole evening so great, was having all my friends over to enjoy a delicious and colourful dinner full of variety and flavour. The meal included, delicious dips, a quinoa salad with purple cauliflower, cabbage salad with a cider vinaigrette, a wheat berry citrus salad with goji berries, brown rice sushi rolls, a goat cheese maple glazed pecan salad with raspberries and the rest of the creations that were catered by Marti and I. So all in all my friends pulled through to help make a well balanced and healthy dinner that had our belly's full by the second bite - not to mention the all organic wine that accompanied the meal!
So if you are looking for a fun and different way to celebrate- then have your crew over for a night of good conversation, healthy food and a birthday memory you will never forget!
Squash Soup With Asian Pear and Ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-2 kabocha squash halved
1 butternut squash halved and seeded
1 cup coarsely chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
2 asian pears, peeled and chopped
8 cups water
pomegranate seeds or roasted pumpkin seeds for garnish.
Recipe inspired by Rebecca Katz's Cookbook "One bite at a Time"
Preheat oven at 425F
Line sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl whisk the allspice, cinnamon, salt and nutmet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Brush the inside flesh of the squash with spice mixture and arrange the squash cut side down on the pan. Roast for 30 minutes or until soft. Remove from oven and let cool.
While squash is roasteing, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and the reserved spice mixture in pot over medium heat. Add teh onions and pinch of salt and cook until the onions turn a light golden brown. Add the shallots, saute for about 3 minutes and add teh ginger and pears. Continue to saute for another 3-5 minutes or until fruit softens and turns brown. As the mixture startes to stick to the bottom of the pot, deglaze with 1 cup of water. Loosen all the bits from the bottom for a great added flavor. Add 3 more cups of water and simmer.
When the squash has cooled, scoop the flesh into the onion fruit mixture. Mash the squash mixture with back of wooden spoon and add 4 more cups of water.
Gently simmer for another 15 minutes. Ladle soup into blender in small batches or use a hand blender and puree until smooth.
Whole Grain Goodness
What needs to be recognized and understood by many, is that grains can be an essential part of everyones daily diet unless candida or carbohydrate metabolism is a problem. But when grains are left intact and prepared properly in their whole form - one requires much less of a portion to be satisfied. These grains are very different from eating a bowl of white pasta, white bread or white rice where you may need a few servings to fill that "hunger" void.
The natural fiber content whole grains also don't spike your blood sugar levels nearly as much and thus also contribute to feeling satiated for a longer period of time.
So the trick is to start simply. Select the grains that are most familiar and then go from there. Most people are accustomed to cooking rice, couscous and maybe even barley. With rice you want to find an organic brown rice. This can be either short grain, long grain or basmati (for simplicity sake). Couscous also exists in wheat counterparts, Spelt and Kamut (these are ancient forms of wheat that are left in their whole form and easier to digest). Also speaking of spelt and kamut, both of which can be cooked in their whole grain form as well...spelt is also known as Farro which comes from Italy. It is a wonderful addition or substution for a grain in any classic rice dish recipe!
As for barley, there are a few different types - but to start out I would go with a "pearled" form as it is easier to cook. Once you get hooked on grains and they become more familiar, get the whole barley which requires soaking and longer cooking and also has more fiber and nutrients intact.
Then comes the next level of grains which includes many gluten free options for those with digestive disturbances such as celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, crohns and something known as "leaky gut". These grains (almost seed-like) includes Quinoa, Amaranth, Teff, Millet and Wild Rice to name a few. Recipes for these divine gems can range from loafs, to pilafs, croquettes, soups, salads, cookies and pancakes. Many a cookbook exists on how to venture into the world of grains, including how to soak them, cook them, prepare them using a wide variety of ingredients. "The Splendid Grain" by Rebecca Wood is one in particular that makes cooking and learning about grains really easy and rather fascinating.
My overall advice, is to make sure you have some healthy whole grains on hand, stored properly (in a glass jar) in your cupboards, so that the next time you want a warming and nourishing bowl, side dish or breakfast of delicious goodness they are there and ready to go!
Warm Farro Foutash Salad
1 cup pearled farro (if the whole form then soak overnight)
1 cup vegetable stock
½ butternut squash, cubed
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup portabello mushrooms, chopped
1 cup rainbow chard, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sea salt
Dash of herb de provence
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup toasted walnuts
1/3 cup cranberries or currents
Crumbled goat cheese (optional)
Rinse and place farro into a pot with vegetable stock and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1-2 hours.
Set aside farro.
Place cubed butternut squash on a baking tray with 1 tablespoons of olive oil and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
In a saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil with garlic over medium heat and add mushroom and sauté until softened.
Add spinach, sea salt, dry herbs and balsamic vinegar. Let sit to let the flavours combine for a few minutes.
Place cooked faro into a large bowl, add olive oil, and butternuts squash and onion, mushroom, spinach mixtures and stir everything in.Add pinenuts and crumbled goat cheese
Sunday, November 2, 2008
A Gourmet Stagette
Six girls came over last night for a cooking frenzy in honour of one, who is on her way down the aisle. It was as good as an evening can get with out expensive cocktails, an overpriced meal and bar hopping all over town. It was a evening in style where everyone learned how to cook some tasty recipes. Not only were all the recipes seasonally structured, but they were also great dishes to get a head start with for a new life as a couple. Everyone teamed up with great effort to make zesty appetizers like guacamole, mango rice paper wraps, pomegranate salad, then came the entree a parchment wrapped wild salmon and quinoa pilaf but the voted favourite was the roasted root vegetables with a cinnamon glaze (recipe below).
It really is a unique and rather entertaining option to customize a night of all-girl-fun and learn how to cook before you enter into holy matremony. Why not learn what it takes to make to most delicious (and might I add healthy meals) for your honey without fret.
My goal in my classes is to make it easy for you. You will learn the necessary skills without the fuss and become a Gourmet Girl in less than three hours. All you need is a few great recipes to get your new life on the right foot. Whether you are familiar in the kitchen, or holding a knife is a new skill in itself why not learn how to cook in style with a little (cooking) class.
Seasonal Roasted Root Vegetables
4 cups red beets, cut in quarter or small wedges
4 carrots sliced
1 butternut squash
1 zucchini
2 turnips or parsnips
2 yams
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 ½ tbsp orange juice
2 cloves garlic
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp paprika
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tamari
Preheat oven to 350°C
Prepare the sauce by mixing all of the ingredients in a jar and shaking well. Set aside.
Clean and slice all of the vegetables then place them in a large baking dish or baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Pour the sauce over top and stir all of the ingredients together thoroughly. Place the pan in a preheated oven and bake for 45-55 minutes. Stir the vegetables and few times while baking to be sure that they are coated with sauce and cook evenly.
Remove from oven and serve hot.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Miso Magic
Miso is a fermented paste with a texture like almond butter. It is made from soybeans, koji (a bacterial starter), salt and a grain - usually rice or barley.
There is quite a variety of Miso's on the market, as soybeans can be fermented into a range of different flavours, from rich and savoury to delicate and sweet. They come in varieties of either dark brown, red, white or yellow in colour.
Miso is so wonderful and holds amazing health properties. Miso acts as an anticarcinogen, and is also effective in reducing the effects of radiation, smoking, air pollution and other enviromental toxins. The darker the colour the more potent its medicinal properties. Miso is also a wonderful digestive aid because of the fermentation process. So having a cup of warm miso soup before or after a meal is the perfect choice is your digestive system is a bit off!
Miso is also a concentrated protein source, it contains approximately 12-20% protein depending on the source. It is also low in fat, but in keep in check that it is fairly high in salt!
Miso can be used in a variety of dishes and recipes. Because of the variety of flavours and colours to choose from, each one will derive a different outcome. It can be used in place of worcestershire sauce, salt and soy sauce as a seasoning agent. Miso is most typically used as the base of soup, where it provides a rich and flavourful broth. But it can also be used in marinades, salad dresssing and even some desserts.
So get yourself equiped with at least two different varieties of miso (a sweet miso and a dark brown miso), so that you can create different recipes with different flavours. You will not be disappointed, as miso is magical and makes you feel good all over!
Quick Tip: Before adding miso to your pot of soup, take some water out and stir in the miso until it has completely dissolved. Then pour the miso mixture back into the soup pot with the heat turned off.
Miso should never come in direct contact with boiling water as it will affect it's naturally occuring enzymes and delicate properties!
Sweet Miso Dressing:
½ cup white miso
1/3 cup agave nectar
½ cup mirin
¼ cup sesame oil
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ chopped ginger
In a blender, blend all ingredients until smooth. Store in refrigerator for 3-4 days. Makes about 2 cups.
Add this dressing to any salad or slaw with a variety of vegetables like: napa cabbage, carrots, beets, cucumber and throw some sea vegetables in too (arame, wakame, nori....)
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Balance is Everything!
Balance really is everything when it comes to your blood sugar levels. It is extremely important to make sure you moderate and regulate your sugar intake everyday. As participants learned in tonight's Sweet and Low Cooking Class, whether you have diabetes, hypoglycemia or just want to stay within a normal range and avoid cravings, it is vital to learn which foods will do the job and keep you in balance!
Here is a quick resource of some daily things you can be doing to keep your levels in check while creating overall, balanced and healthy eating habits!
Tips for Regulating your Blood Sugar Levels on Daily Basis Naturally
Always eat a balanced breakfast, everyday!
Do not go more than 2 hours without food or consume large heavy meals. Eat six to eight small meals throughout the day. Even eating a small snack before bed might help.
Eat a diet high in fiber (whole grains, legumes) and include large amounts of vegetables, especially dark leafy greens, squash, spinach and green beans and whole fresh fruits.
Consume beans, brown rice, oats, oat bran, lentils, sweet potatoes, tofu and fruits such as apples, apricots, avocados, banana, lemons.
For protein eat white fish or wild salmon, turkey, lean chicken breast, eggs and goats and sheep’s milk cheeses or sheep’s milk yogurt.
Use natural low glycemic sweeteners such as: brown rice syrup, barley malt, agave nectar, dates, stevia* and maple syrup (in moderation)
Stay away from high fatty foods and fried foods and choose healthy fats and oils instead: (avocado, coconut oil, olive oil or other cold pressed natural oils, raw nuts and seeds)
Remove alcohol, processed foods, sulphured dried fruits, table salt, white sugar, saturated fats, soft drinks and white flour. Also avoid food with artificial colours and preservatives.
Special foods with special properties for blood sugar:
Avocado: contains a sugar that depresses insulin production, which make them an excellent chose for people with hypoglycemia.
Cinnamon: has a lowering affect on blood sugar levels by reducing the amount of insulin secreted. Consume at least 1 teaspoon everyday!
Brewer’s Yeast: (1 Tbsp. twice daily) provides a rich source of the mineral, chromium, which has a glucose tolerance normalizing effect.
Soybeans and other legumes: (1 cup or more daily) Kidney beans, lentils, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, and lima beans retard the rate of absorption of carbohydrate into the blood stream.
Onions and garlic: (1/2 a clove twice daily) normalize blood sugar regulation by decreasing the rate of insulin elimination by the liver.
Other blood sugar controlling foods include: berries (especially blueberries), celery, cucumber, green leafy vegetables, sprouts, string beans, parsley, garlic, onions, psyllium, flaxseed, lemons, oat bran, radishes, sauerkraut, sunflower seeds, squash, watercress.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
That's Amore!
It was so much fun last night at my "Healthy and Hearty Italian" Cooking class. Six women came over to learn how to prepare delicious that they could take home to thier families.
Italian can be made Hearty and Healthy by choosing the right grains for the basis of pizza's and pasta's. Choosing from spelt, kamut, brown rice, millet, quinoa, buckwheat flours is a start. There are many varieties available on the market for wonderful pastas that taste just as good if not better than a plain white pasta. The texture and the taste of brown rice pasta, if you haven't tried it, is so satisfying. Not only will you fill up because of the fiber and trace amount of protein, but you are also left not feeling bloated and overstuffed because it digests so easily (It is also gluten free!). The same goes for spelt, kamut and buckwheat pasta. They are a bit grittier but they add some depth (buckwheat is also gluten free!).
When it comes to pizza, it takes less than 30 minutes to make your own at home. So don't sit around waiting for it to arrive. Just have one of these whole grain flours on hand and mix it up with a little olive oil, honey, water and flaxseeds, bake it and top with your favourite veggies and you've got yourself a homemade pizza that tastes delicious - I promise!
One Italian classic dish that we ventured into last night was a Minestrone Soup. This was not your typical minestrone soup with a base of tomatoes and beef stock. This was a lighter version with a vegetable base and hearty root veggies. We then added some brown rice macaroni noodles and kidney beans to give it that Italian flare that we all love.
So it may take a bit of planning, but why not have your next Italian meal at home and love every bite of it!
New Age Minestrone
1 Spanish onion, cut into large dice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ teaspoon, sea salt
1 tablespoon dried oregano
4 cups filtered water or stock
1 bay leaf
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into medium dice
3 parsnips cut into medium dice
1 sweet potato cut into large dice
3 ribs celery cut into large dice
1 large zucchini or two small zucchini, cut into small chunks
1 bunch of chard, cut into bit size pieces
1 cup soaked and cooked kidney beans (optional)
½ cup cooked macaroni brown rice noodles (optional)
In a small pot, sweat onion in oil with salt until soft.
Add oregano and sweat a few more minutes
Add water and bay leaf
Add vegetables in order given (squash, parsnips, sweet potatoes, celery, zucchini)
Stir vegetables until squash falls apart.
Add in chopped chard.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir a few more times and serve.
*** For a smoother texture, simmer squash separately until soft (in 1-2 cups of water), and puree in food processor. Add squash to the soup for the last 10 minutes of cooking.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
About Marni Wasserman
Hi! My name is Marni Wasserman. I am a Graduate of the Institute of Holistic Nutrition in Toronto, with a certificate as a Certified Nutritional Practitioner. I am also a graduate of The Natural Gourmet Culinary Institution in New York City as a certified chef. My focus is stemmed around whole foods. I am dedicated to providing individuals with a balanced lifestyle through natural foods. Using passion and experience, I strive to educate individuals on how everyday eating can be simple and delicious.
Why I created Fully Nourished:
I created Fully Nourished out of pure passion. After completing my holistic nutritional studies, I went straight to New York to continue to learn and pursue my passion of cooking, baking and preparing whole foods. I am now equipped with the proper tools and necessary information to educate people on how to become fully nourished through whole foods. My cooking classes demonstrate to people how to create simple and healthy recipes for everyone with varying health and wellness goals. Whether you want to learn about healthy eating or how to prepare simple whole foods or if you just want whole foods to compliment and overall healthy lifestyle - then I can take you there!
What I am passionate about:
I am completely, wholly and utterly passionate about food. Whole foods that is! I love anything that has to do with nutrition, the body and food preparation. I am also passionate about educating people. I love to show people how they can learn to eat healthy foods at home with simple and effective methods to prepare them. Teaching cooking classes is completely rewarding. I get the chance to meet new people all the time, answer questions and concerns they may have about specific foods or recipes, and the best part is watching people create delicious recipes and enjoying every bite of them!
What do I want to share with my clients:
I want to share my passion and knowledge with them. I believe that with passion everything else will follow. By sharing my knowledge about whole foods and healthy eating, my clients will gain a significant understanding of why I am so keenly interested in this lifestyle and chosen profession.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Get Creative and Make Food Fun!
In my recent Yummy cooking class that focused on Kid-Friendly recipes, the menu was designed with simplicity and creativity in mind.
Kids like to see what they eat, they like bright colours and sometimes different textures (depending on how fussy they are!!).
So when you are creating recipes for yourself or your children or any child for that matter it is always best to make the recipes full of colour and of course full of flavour.
It is important to get your kids involved in the making of simple recipes, because then they see what is going into it and if they have a part of it, they are more likely to eat it too!
So get creative in the kitchen and have fun!
Chunky Corn and Tomato Salsa
2 ears of summer fresh corn
1 tbsp grapseed oil
2 cloves of garlic
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 pint of tomatillos (green tomatoes)
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 green onions
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp chili powder (optional)
1 tsp honey
salt to taste
1. Shave the corn kernals off the ear of corn over a bowl.
2. In a medium saucepan, warm up the oil with the garlic for a few minutes, add the corn kernals and red onion.
3. Sautee for 5-10 minutes until kernal turn bright yellow and onions are soft.
4. In a small food processor, lightly puree the chopped tomatoes and tomatillos (so that they are still chunky).
5. Combine the tomato/tomatillo puree to the saucepan with the rest of the ingredients.
6. Simmer on low heat for another 5-10 minutes until all the flavours are combined.
7. Put Salsa into the fridge in a glass bowl for a few hours to chill.
8. Remove from Fridge and serve with Corn Chips or on top Sprouted Quesadillas!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Made to Order
With a little help of a friend of mine, we organized a fun evening with a group of 7 women.
One of them was kind enough to extend her gorgious loft in downtown Toronto for this amazing night to take place.
The whole class was custom created-from the people selected to the menu designed! Of course there is always the option to bring your own wine.
This made for an enjoyable and alternative way to do a cooking class. What better way to spend an evening than to get together with a group of fabulous women, sip wine and learn how to cook new and exciting recipes and then sit down and feast on them afterwards?
Last night's menu of desire was asian inspired. Everybody wants to have a little asian experience in the kitchen - it is great for entertaining, the flavours are light and pungent and who doesn't want to know how to roll sushi or make the most delicious organic chicken teriyaki?
The group last night had the the chance to learn how to use some of the different condiments and ingredients that are used in asian-specific recipes. They also learned how to mix and match certain flavours to get just the right taste or texture and most importantly, they were introduced to some of natural products that are available for asian style cooking. This includes Tamari (wheat free soy sauce), Organic Toasted Sesame Oil, Brown Rice Vinegar, Bragg's Amino Acids, Kuzu (sea vegetable cornstarch), Umeboshi Paste (japanese pickled plums), Miso Paste, Tempeh and a whole range of different Sea Vegetables.
As you can see, there was a fair share of learning last night, a great deal of cooking and a whole lot of fun!
So if you don't know this already, this is an option for you too! Gather a group together, pick a date and let's design a class together!
Organic Chicken Teriyaki:
4 cloves garlic, minced
Juice from ¼ cup peeled and grated ginger
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2½ tablespoons tamari
1 tablespoon umeboshi paste
½ cup apple juice
2 breasts organic chicken, cut into strips
¼-1/3 cup vegetable oil (grapeseed oil)
1 tablespoon kuzu dissolved in ¼ cup water or apple juice
1 bunch of broccoli florets, blanched
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1. Cut the broccoli into florets and place into a pot of boiling water with salt for 1-2 minutes, remove promptly an immerse in cold water and set aside.
2. In a blender, combine first six ingredients with ½ cup water. Blend until smooth.
3. Slice chicken into strips of equal thickness.
4. In a medium saucepan, combine the chicken with the marinade (reserving a small amount of the marinade). Bring to a boil and simmer, covered for 5- 10 minutes.
5. Continue to pan fry chicken over medium and heat until golden on both sides.
6. After chicken is cooked, add dissolved kuzu to reserved marinade and stir in a small dish until well combined.
7. Pour the blended marinade mixture into the pan or wok with the chicken, and cook for about two minutes, until the liquid is thickened, stirring constantly.
8. Add the Broccoli to the sauce stirring until well coated and top with toasted sesame seeds.
Monday, August 25, 2008
They Deserve the Very Best!
Quinoa Surprise Salad
Parents always want to make sure that their kids have the best of everything. The coolest running shoes, the most high-tech video games, the trendiest clothing etc...So why skimp when it comes to their nutrition? I can't stress how important it is to make sure that kids are fueled with the right nutrients as early on in their life as possible. It becomes more difficult the older they get, as they begin to form unchanging and differing opions in their life - and when it comes to food, there is no shortage of personal preferences and aversions to foods that they just don't want to try because "I don't feel like it"!
If you train their palates to adapt to delicious foods then there should be any hesitation but to want to gobble up everything and anything you make for them. They won't even know the amazing nutritional benefits they are getting until they grow up and thank you for their good health and well being!
So the trick is to make sure that the foods you are preparing, taste just as good if not better than anything else they are eating. Even if that means sneaking in healthy ingredients into tasty recipes, they will never know the difference. Especially if you are making recipes from fresh whole foods, there should absolutely be no problem. Most recipes depending on what they are can be sweetened wih natural alternatives, bulked up with healthy fiber from natural sources and provide interesting textures and flavours that they have never experienced.
If you want to have delectable recipes like "Everything Cookies" and "Quinoa Surprise Salad" in your home then come and learn how to make a difference in your child's nutrition. You can guarentee that they will be saying "Mummy That's Sooo Yummy!"
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Sweet Pleasures
I can't describe to you how much I love each and everyone of my cooking classes. It is so rewarding and gratifying to have a group of people come over to your house, talk about food, nutrition and healthy ingredients and then make some amazingly delicious recipes. Well last nights class was just that. I had seven wonderful girls come and join me in making some healthy and tasty desserts. In this class everyone learned about the natural alternatives that can be used to make your desserts more nutritious. I mean what could be better than making scrumptious desserts without guilt?
Yes, of course these dessert still have calories. They are foods....and all food has calories. But what is nice to know is that the calories in these desserts also come along with some nutrients - something you don't get with commercially baked products with white flour, processed dairy and refined sugars!
The other best part of hosting a cooking class is watching the group interact and connect together as they team up and make the recipe that interests them most and if not just helped along with a recipe to learn new techniques or how to use alternative ingredients.
So the end result was great, everyone's sweet tooth was fulfilled. How could they not be with "the best brownies I have ever tasted"?
It was truly the sweetest pleasure seeing everyone create these dessert recipes and enjoy each and every decadent bite. Is not only rewarding for me to have recipes that are successful in a cooking class but more importantly the gratification that is felt among my participants when they feel nourished with knowledge and wholesome foods all at once!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Delicious Desserts without Guilt!
How you ask?
Well all it takes is some education and a little planning. You just have to fill your kitchen with the right ingredients if you want to make simple substitutions to your dessert favourites. And guess what ...I can teach you how.
In this cooking class I will be outlining the different sugar alternatives that are available to you to use with ease. Not to mention their individual sweetness and subtle flavours. I will also be discussing whole grain flours flours that can be used rather than traditional white or now more commonly used whole wheat. These new whole grain alternative flours that can be used in your baked recipes, have some incredible health benefits and you can't even taste the difference!
Most importantly I will cover how baking can be done without any dairy. That means no milk, cream, butter or eggs. Baking can be done without these timely staples. It is really that simple!
You will now have more fun than ever while baking your favourite recipes!
So come and join me on Wednesday August 20th for a wonderful and delicious exploration of healthy baking at it's best.
Here is a recipe just to get your taste buds going....
Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
3/4 cup spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (you can do more...I always do!)
1/2 sucanat (natural form of sugar)
1/4 cup maple sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
3. Mix together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. Mix sugars, maple syrup, apple sauce, oil and vanilla together in bowl. Add flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in the oats and raisins.
5. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
6. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the cookies sheets.
7. Bake for 12-14 minutes and let them cool for 5-8 minutes on cookie sheets then scoop onto a cooling rack.
8. Enjoy them with a glass a cold glass of Vanilla Rice Milk.!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Homemade Granola Goodness
Wouldn't it be nice to sit down to a bowl of delicious granola in the morning knowing you made it and that it tasted better than anything you bought in a store....well you can.
You could have come to my Breakfast Cooking Class to learn how, or you could simply find a recipe that suits your needs to make a batch of this golden toasted goodness.
But I will give you some quick tips to get started with.
First of all get yourself some good quality organic whole rolled oats. This will be your basis and substance to the recipe. Use sweeteners such as maple syrup, agave nectar, honey. Oils such as sunflower oil, coconut oil or organic canola oil. Then comes the fun part adding such things as almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, coconut flakes, apricots, raisins, goji berries....whatever you want! It's yours to enjoy. Just store it in a glass jar and it will keep for a good couple of months.
So really it is that easy to make granola at home. Then you don't have to worry that it is loaded with trans fats, processed sugars and other preservatives.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
The Hidden Truth about Calcium!
Who needs a calcium supplement when you can get it from food! No, not from dairy ... but from plant based whole foods!
Learning about which foods have significant levels of calcium is crucial especially if you are concerened about your bones or current calcium intake levels. Unfortunately, I hate to break the news to you, but the Calcium that you think you are getting from a glass of milk, a cup of "low fat" yogurt or slice of cheese is not being absorbed into your body in a usable or beneficial form. In fact it is doing quite the opposite.
The truth is, dairy (especially commercially processed dairy) is extremely acidic to the body and especially to the bones. So when you consume any form of processed dairy, it is actually stripping calcium away from your bones rather than building on to it. So most individuals in North America, predominantly women could be responsible for thier own weakening bone conditions as a result of overconsuming commercial dairy. But not to fret, this can be taken care of and quite possibly reversed.
All you have to do is start consuming adequate amounts of Non-Dairy Sources of Calcium. These sources which come from plant based foods, are extremely bioavailable to the body and they taste great too!
So get your daily dose of greens in (chard, kale, beet greens, collards, broccoli and bok choy). You can steam them, blanch them, saute them, add them to soups, salads or grain dishes--you can even hide them in a smoothie. Consume nuts and seeds such as sesame seeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds, all great sources of calcium, iron, protein and essential fatty acids. Other hidden but rich sources of calcium include tempeh, avocado, parsley, figs, carob, beans and legumes, salmon and quinoa.
So do what you will, but you can avoid taking expensive supplements and consuming commercial dairy and simply get your calcium from nature. Your body and your taste buds will thank you!
Parsley and Scallion "Butter" with Steamed Greens
This recipe is inspired by Anne Gentry owner of Real Food Daily (Vegan Restaurant in Los Angeles)
1 bunch of greens such as kale, beet greens, collards, swiss chard, bok choy or spinach
1 ½ cup fresh scallions, chopped
1/2 cup tahini
1/3 cup fresh parsley
3 tbsp lemon juice (1 lemon)
1 tablespoons umeboshi paste
1 teaspoons minced peeled fresh garlic
Steam greens and rinse with cold water to maintain brightness.
Combine all ingredients of "butter" in a food processor and blend until creamy and smooth.
Transfer the spread to a small bowl.
Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours and allow flavors to blend and the spread will become slightly firm.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The Humid Effect on Baking
Well it is true, you will never get the result you want in a baked recipe when there is moisture in the air.
I was preparing my weekly batch of Spelt Blueberry Banana muffins, same ingredients each week in their proper amounts but the outcome... not the same. They just didn't want to rise. They normally have this nice little peak in the very center, but not this time. I must mention however, that the slight moisture in the air, brought about a very moist and tender muffin. So the taste, was delicious---they were just a little flatter and smaller than my usual batch. So really you can't beat the heat, when an order comes in, its got to be done. Just be aware that your muffins may not "muff" up like they usually do when the air is wet.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Who knew rolling sushi could be so simple?
Everybody loves going out to eat Sushi. But wouldn't it be nice to make Sushi at home? Well those participants who came to join me last night for the AMAZING ASIAN cooking class, had the chance to do just that.
There is such fear around making sushi. People seem to think that it is so difficult and tell themselves, "I can't do that"! Well I will tell you what, you can! Also nobody thinks that sushi can taste that good if it's made out of brown rice...wrong again!
So let's go through the steps and simplify this for you.
All you need is a Bamboo sushi mat (approximately $2.00), some short grain brown rice, thinly sliced veggies of your choice (carrots, cucumber, avocado, scallions, mushrooms etc...) Nori (seaweed) sheets, water to dip your fingers in and a sharp knife. You can even add your own condiments such as yellow pickled ginger and wasabi.
There really is no skillful technique, just some practice. All you need to do is place the nori sheet on the bamboo mat vertically, spread the rice out on the nori filling it out abot half way or more, place your veggie strips in a line across the middle ...and then get ready to roll. Wrap the bottom layer over itself with the bamboo and give it a tight press on each turn and go all the way through until you have one rolled up sushi log. Then sliced it up into 8 little bit sized pieces.
And there you have it, Sushi at home. This was definitely the highlight of last nights class. Everyone was amazed at how simple it really is to make healthy vegetarian sushi at home.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Sensational Summer Cooking Class - A True Success
I really do love to cook - but I love teaching people how to cook even more!
My new series of cooking classes have started off great!
A wonderful group of five lively and lovely ladies joined me for a wonderful evening of delicious summer recipes.
Everyone was greeted with a fresh glass of ginger-goji berry lemonade and then sat down to watch a demo of a creamy guacomole being prepared with fresh green garden peas, to be dipped in by organic blue corn chips. This is a delicious and nutritious twist to a traditional guacamole recipe. The peas add some depth, flavour and some good quality protein as well! The bowl was empty within seconds.
We then got into a discussion of the natural and fresh ingredients that were going to be used in the class. Everyone had questions to be answered.
Most questions were stemmed around what the difference is between some conventional ingredients such as soy sauce and sugar and what the natural alternatives were that we would be using in this class.
So I did my fair share of explaining that Tamari is a naturally fermented source of Soy Sauce that does not contain any wheat or additives. The sources of sugar we used in the class were either brown rice syrup, maple syrup or agave nectar, which are all from natural plant or food sources. Whichs means they contain some vitamins and minerals that would not be found in traditional white sugar. It was also pertanent to mention that brown rice syrup and agave nectar do not spike blood sugar levels as rapidly as processed sugar does.
It is always so great and rewarding to educate people on basic things that they can take home and bring into thier own cooking and daily eating. There are so many questions around food, and I am always more than happy to bridge this gap, and make clear what is confusing.
So the evening carried on with everyone making one of the many recipes that were to be prepared in the class. Everyone got to choose between making either: Tangy Thai Lettuce Wraps, Apple-Fennel salad with a Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette, Quinoa Tabule, Green Beans with Hazelnuts, White Bean Dip with Dill, Citrus Tempeh Skewers or Creamy Lemon Tarts. A tough decision to make, I know!
But everyone chose the recipe that made them eager and excited to prepare .
The recipes turned out fantastic and everyone learned a new technique or two to make things easier for them in the kitchen, whethter it was how slice fennel on a mandoline, processing quick dressings in a blender or vitamix or blanching broccoli to get crisp and tender floret, everyone got something helpful and useful out of the class.
Then after two hours of fun in the kitchen, we all sat down to enjoy the wonderful sampling of all the recipes together, plus there was plenty of leftovers to take home!
After such a great experience, I am really looking forward to my next upcoming summer classes and I hope you can make it to one of them! |
Published Sunday March 3, 2013: Updated 1/2/2014
Geothermal Energy
Why settle for a 95% efficient appliance when you can have one that is 480% efficient?
When I hear the phrase, “Geothermal energy” the image that comes to mind is one of Yellowstone park with steam bellowing from a crack in the Earth.
But there is another form of Geothermal energy that is available everywhere on the surface of the Earth, even in your own backyard.
This Geothermal energy is actually solar energy that over many months and years has warmed the sub-surface of the Earth to a nearly constant temperature. This temperature is not hot by any means but conveniently in most places on Earth, is not too far off from what we would consider room temperature. At my house, the surface of the earth (below about 8 feet) is a constant 56 °F (13.3 °C) all year long. In conjunction with the wonderful advances in recent air conditioning/heat pump technology, this virtually free source of energy can be collected and used to heat or cool our homes very efficiently.
A Heat Time Machine:
I have always wanted a time porthole to 6-months ago. A duct that would draw hot summer air into my house during the winter time and cold winter air in the summer time.
This is essentially what a ground-loop heat pump is doing. Moving the delayed heat that has been making its way through the ground (for decades or longer) to where you need it now.
The heat from the ground is borrowed during winter heating months and returned during summer cooling months.
This diagram also includes the optional hot-water generator (HWG) that provides free domestic hot water whenever the compressor is running.
On 12/31/2013, I was on KUER radio (an NPR station) to discuss Geothermal heat pumps. The issues were:
• Why would anyone want to install a Geothermal HVAC since natural gas is so abundant and cheap?
• Since Geothermal heat pumps are so efficient and green, why would anyone want to continue heating their home with natural gas?
Have a listen here and click on the blue "Listen" button.
On 4/5/2013, I was on a talk radio show discussing Geothermal Heat-pumps. Have a listen here.
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zondag 21 april 2013
Correlation: Gold Bottoms out on Marginal Cost of Suppliers
The gold price has always followed the marginal cost of suppliers throughout history (Figure 1).
The correlation between gold prices and gold mining cash costs between 1980 and 2010 stood at 0.85, which is pretty highly correlated (Source: CPM Gold Yearbook 2011).
With the price of gold at $1400/ounce today I'm pretty sure we can't go much lower if this correlation proves to be correct (Chart 1).
If we only look at the cash operating costs, we have this picture (Chart 2):
Chart 2: Production cash cost
Let's analyze these charts further. While cash operating costs only went up a little bit to $700/ounce (Chart 2), the total marginal cash costs went up to $1300/ounce in 2013 (Chart 1). So the biggest move in total cash cost came from overhead, discovery, construction and sustaining capital. In the 1980's, we see that cash operating costs contributed the most in the total cost of mining, but today, the biggest chunk of the costs go to overhead, discovery, construction and maintenance. A summary of the cost structure is given in chart 3.
Chart 3: Replacement cost for an ounce of gold
For investors, the key point to keep in mind is that cash operating costs aren't a good indicator for the gold price. You need to look at the overall costs of replacement and that includes all additional costs to mine gold. That total cost will dictate the price of gold.
I hear many analysts say that gold will go to $10000/ounce. I don't think this will happen soon, unless the total marginal cost goes up the same amount. This could happen when energy, labour, exploration, maintenance, construction costs go up or when ore grades go down. At the same time, some people say gold will go back below $1000/ounce. This is not possible because marginal cash costs are rising and we know that there is a high correlation between marginal cash costs and the gold price.
Chart 4: All in Costs Vs. Gold Price
The gold price will therefore always follow the cost of mining which proves another important point. The rising gold price is an indicator of inflation because the higher cost of mining is a direct result of inflation.
Now consider the following. We see that many development stage gold mining companies have had increases in their exploration spending and many of these companies have had upward revisions in their feasibility studies. To name a few examples: Kinross Gold (KGC) and Novagold Resources (NG). So if capital spending on all of these projects go up, it isn't too difficult to see that the gold price will keep rising in the future.
Chart 5: Gold Exploration Spending
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Sunday, October 5, 2014
Letters N - R
This week in reading and writing we focused on the letters N - R. We also reviewed the entire alphabet like we do every day with our song and big book and our afternoon message where we find our words, letters, sentences, capitals and punctuation. They're pros at it now!
We did our TPRI testing this week, too so I was out of the room testing kids for 2 days. I tried to sneak back in when I could to get some pictures, but I didn't get as many as I would have liked to. I DID, however get some pics of the most creative alphabet activity the kids have done so far. :)
Popcorn P's
Eating popcorn as a snack after making our popcorn P's
Don't worry! It was fresh popcorn ... we didn't reuse it :)
Matching all the pictures that started with the /p/ sound
Letter q books
Making letter Q quilts
Using our magnetic drip pan to make words and match rhyming pictures
Painting rainbows for the letter R and writing the word "rainbow"
Practicing writing our letter Rr's with dry erase crayons
Look how pretty those R's look! Practice makes perfect! :)
Thursday, we read a book called the Elephant Alphabet book and the kids tried to make the letters with their bodies just like the elephants in the book did. Cutest. Activity. Ever! This is what happens when we have 30 minutes left in the day, some of us have work to finish, and we need to move around ... I make up alphabet games! :) I'll let you see if you can figure out what letters they were trying to make ... they're some creative kids!
I can't believe how flexible some of them are! |
Reasons for Night Sweats with Pneumonia
Many patients complain about night sweats. In this context, this is excessive sweating during sleep usually requiring the subjects to regularly change bedclothes. They may or may not also suffer from extreme perspiration when awake. Although night sweats are constantly encountered in the clinical field, comprehensive literature on the subject is not available. There is a broad variety of related causes ranging from medical such as Tuberculosis, hormonal such as menopause, as well as psychological and nutritional grounds. Night sweats are typical symptoms of pneumonia although not all cases of night sweats are associated with the disease.
Pneumonia is one of the lung infections that may result to night sweats. Bacterial pneumonia is more common in the elderly as opposed to any other demographic group. Other than night sweats, several symptoms can assist to isolate pneumonia as the problem; breathing difficulties, fever of 38.5°C or more with chills or shaking, fatigue, headache, confusion and green, yellow or bloody sputum during coughing. Conventionally, infections that result in night sweats are chronic in nature and few if any other signs may have been apparent before the individual seeks medical intervention.
Tuberculosis is a common cause of night sweats. Early TB infections are usually controlled by the immune system and dormant TB infections may not exhibit any symptoms for years. Subsequent infections however may cause chronic pneumonia characterized by fever, cough, weight loss and night sweats. Continuous night sweats for up to six weeks or more with no other TB related symptom suggests that TB infection may not be the cause. As such, emergent chronic pneumonia is more likely. If pneumonia is caused by tuberculosis, it could exhibit night sweats and unintentional weight loss as the only symptoms; although a state of confusion is common in the elderly.
Eosinophilic pneumonia or EP is a type of respiratory disease in which a specific type of white blood cell known as eosinophil clogs the lungs. Patients suffering from chronic EP experience night sweats as a universal symptom when the disease goes for long without treatment. Acute EP progresses quickly, usually revealing characteristic symptoms within one or two weeks. Chronic EP on the other hand develops much slower and patients may be misdiagnosed with asthma. When symptoms such as extreme drenching become common even when the patient is not suffering from fever, this forms the basis for diagnosis of chronic eosinophilic pneumonia, CEP.
Similarly, Mycoplasm pneumonia or walking pneumonia is a less serious community-acquired infection caused by a variety of pathogens, usually viral. Night sweats normally occur after 45 to 60 days without treatment accompanied by low energy levels and unexplained weight losses. Pneumonia can result in severe complications in elderly people due to weakened immune system, so immediate medical intervention is advised. Patients with pre-existing illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease may also experience severe forms of pneumonia.
Many people have been affected by pneumonia in the past sometimes resulting in deaths. Lack of timely diagnosis and treatment may be a result of negligence or lack of knowledge. Patients often believe that symptoms are not adequately severe to warrant treatment because they can continue with normal functioning, as in the case of walking pneumonia. Also, pneumonia-related symptoms may be confused for influenza, asthma, and bronchitis among other respiratory infections.
Extreme night sweats, or secondary hyperhidrosis occurs as a symptom of another condition or at times as a side effect of prescription. When night sweats become persistent, chronic pneumonia is inferred. Night sweats are linked with many disorders ranging from mild to serious. In order to accurately diagnose their cause, a thorough examination of the patient’s medical history and physical condition is paramount.
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Predatory Fish Mercury
THE war against Asian carp hardly seems a fair fight. Since November 2009,when traces of the fish were found near Chicago,federal and state officials have used nets,electric shocks and poison to keep them out of the Great Lakes. This month the White House appointed a carp tsar to oversee the campaign. But government moves slowly. Fish do not.
Introduced in Arkansas in the 1970s,Asian carp have swum up the Mississippi River,eating and spawning ravenously. The silver carp,capable of spectacular leaping,batter fishermen. An annual Redneck Fishing Tournament now brings men to the Illinois River with baseball bats in hand,keen to get their revenge.
The past year has seen a torrent of measures to keep the Great Lakes free of them. The White House has allotted $79m for the fight. The new carp tsar should ensure better co-ordination. The Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) is building fences to contain fish during floods. A new electrical barrier—two already exist—will soon be finished.
But progress is undermined by government's two favourite activities. First,bureaucrats love planning. The Army Corps thinks that strobe lights and a “bubble curtain” will deter carp. But any underwater disco must wait for funding and a demonstration project. Second,there is endless bickering. In June a carp was found just six miles (10km) from Lake Michigan. A fight ensued over whether the fish was planted there. In July five state attorneys-general sued the ACE and Chicago's water district,demanding that they should temporarily close two locks connecting Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River basin. The fight has turned nasty,though both sides agree on one point: closing the locks would not necessarily keep carp out.
The only foolproof solution is to separate the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River,as was once the case—today's worry is caused by a 110-year-old canal,vital for sewage disposal and transport. That would take decades. In June Midwestern senators proposed a bill to speed up a study of the issue. That bill is now stuck. In July a coalition of cities and states decided to conduct a separate study. The ACE has a draft of its “project management plan”—a draft of the plan for the study. Still the carp head north.
Impact of spear fishing on the abundance of large predatory coral reef fishes
Book (The University)
You never could eat more than a couple servings
2008-01-25 09:32:19 by iamlucky13
Predatory fish, being near the top of their food chain, naturally tend to accumulate mercury. The levels haven't changed, but our understanding of the risks has, hence the advisories to limit fish intake to a couple servings per week.
I'm not saying coal is all peachy and dandy, and I understand there is some significant mess from old, dirty coal plants in the NE, but it's not really as bad as most people make it out to be.
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The Ascension refers to Jesus going up bodily into the clouds while His disciples watched, after first giving them instructions to wait in Jerusalem until He would send them the Holy Spirit (Pentecost). The ascension occurred 40 days after his Resurrection. He has promised to return the same way some day. (Acts 1:4-11). Paul discusses Jesus's bodily ascension in his letters. (Ephesians 4:8-10, and in Timothy 3:16)
When good people die, their souls ascend to Heaven, but not their bodies.
The Catholic Church also has the dogma that Mary also ascended bodily to Heaven; this is known as the Assumption of Mary. The Eastern Orthodox Church also teaches this principle. Other than Jesus and (depending on religion) Mary, no other people have ascended bodily into Heaven.
See also
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Use of a clay-polymer nanocomposite for water filtration
This is a project I am currently working on for my Chemistry Honours degree.
Using a clay-polymer nanocomposite for water filtration. It is well known that clay is a very abundant material especially in Africa, and it is also very cheap commercially.In comparison to activated carbon, clay is actually 20 times cheaper. Naturally clays are non-toxic and have very good adsorbent properties because of their already existing size in the nanorange, enabling greater surface area of action. Now, combination of this clay and a suitable polymer further increases the thermal, mechanical properties enabling the activity as filtration mediums to heighten.
The clay and polymer are fused together by melt intercalation, (heating them both above the melt temperature of the polymer, in my case i chose polysulfone). After this process, the product is ground to fine powder and that would be the nanocomposite.
A sample of water which is polluted is then leached through the nanocomposite, and the leachate can be tested on the AAS or ICP and it is noticed that the concentrations of the following pollutants: heavy metals, organic pollutants, pathogens and inorganic contaminants would have reduced greatly.
I personally vouch for this method because clay is abundant and cheap, the process of melt intercalation is simple, low-cost and environmentally favorable.
Thanks :)
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Idea No. 480 |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes retaining traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. By some definitions, conservatives have variously sought to preserve institutions including religion, monarchy, parliamentary government, property rights and the social hierarchy, emphasizing stability and continuity, while the more extreme elements called reactionaries oppose modernism and seek a return to "the way things were".[1][2] The first established use of the term in a political context originated with François-René de Chateaubriand in 1818,[3] during the period of Bourbon restoration that sought to roll back the policies of the French Revolution. The term, historically associated with right-wing politics, has since been used to describe a wide range of views.
There is no single set of policies that are universally regarded as conservative, because the meaning of conservatism depends on what is considered traditional in a given place and time, thus conservatives from different parts of the world—each upholding their respective traditions—may disagree on a wide range of issues. Edmund Burke, an 18th-century politician who opposed the French Revolution but supported the American Revolution, is credited as one of the main theorists of conservatism in Great Britain in the 1790s.[4] According to Quintin Hogg, the chairman of the British Conservative Party in 1959, "Conservatism is not so much a philosophy as an attitude, a constant force, performing a timeless function in the development of a free society, and corresponding to a deep and permanent requirement of human nature itself".[5] In contrast to the tradition-based definition of conservatism, political theorists such as Corey Robin define conservatism primarily in terms of a general defense of social and economic inequality, from this perspective conservatism is less an attempt to uphold traditional institutions and more "a meditation on—and theoretical rendition of—the felt experience of having power, seeing it threatened, and trying to win it back."[6][7]
Development of Western conservatism[edit]
United Kingdom[edit]
In Great Britain, conservative ideas (though not yet called that) emerged in the Tory movement during the Restoration period (1660–1688). Toryism supported a hierarchical society with a monarch who ruled by divine right. Tories opposed the idea that sovereignty derived from the people, and rejected the authority of parliament and freedom of religion. Robert Filmer's Patriarcha: or the Natural Power of Kings, published posthumously in 1680 but written before the English Civil War of 1642–1651, became accepted as the statement of their doctrine. However, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 destroyed this principle to some degree by establishing a constitutional government in England, leading to the hegemony of the Tory-opposed Whig ideology. Faced with defeat, the Tories reformed their movement, now holding that sovereignty was vested in the three estates of Crown, Lords, and Commons[8] rather than solely in the Crown. Toryism became marginalized during the long period of Whig ascendancy in the 18th century.
Edmund Burke (1729–1797)
Conservatives typically see Richard Hooker (1554–1600) as the founding father of conservatism, along with the Marquess of Halifax (1633–1695), David Hume (1711–1776) and Edmund Burke (1729–1797). Halifax promoted pragmatism in government, whilst Hume argued against political rationalism and utopianism.[9][10] Burke served as the private secretary to the Marquis of Rockingham and as official pamphleteer to the Rockingham branch of the Whig party.[11] Together with the Tories, they were the conservatives in the late 18th century United Kingdom.[12] Burke's views were a mixture of liberal and conservative, he supported the American Revolution of 1765–1783 but abhorred the violence of the French Revolution (1789–1799). He accepted the liberal ideals of private property and the economics of Adam Smith (1723–1790), but thought that economics should remain subordinate to the conservative social ethic, that capitalism should be subordinate to the medieval social tradition and that the business class should be subordinate to aristocracy, he insisted on standards of honor derived from the medieval aristocratic tradition, and saw the aristocracy as the nation's natural leaders.[13] That meant limits on the powers of the Crown, since he found the institutions of Parliament to be better informed than commissions appointed by the executive, he favored an established church, but allowed for a degree of religious toleration.[14] Burke justified the social order on the basis of tradition: tradition represented the wisdom of the species and he valued community and social harmony over social reforms.[15] Burke was a leading theorist in his day, finding extreme idealism (either Tory or Whig) an endangerment to broader liberties, and (like Hume) rejecting abstract reason as an unsound guide for political theory, despite their influence on future conservative thought, none of these early contributors were explicitly involved in Tory politics. Hooker lived in the 16th century, long before the advent of toryism, whilst Hume was an apolitical philosopher and Halifax similarly politically independent. Burke described himself as a Whig.
Shortly after Burke's death in 1797, conservatism revived as a mainstream political force as the Whigs suffered a series of internal divisions, this new generation of conservatives derived their politics not from Burke but from his predecessor, the Viscount Bolingbroke (1678–1751), who was a Jacobite and traditional Tory, lacking Burke's sympathies for Whiggish policies such as Catholic Emancipation and American independence (famously attacked by Samuel Johnson in "Taxation No Tyranny"). In the first half of the 19th century many newspapers, magazines, and journals promoted loyalist or right-wing attitudes in religion, politics, and international affairs. Burke was seldom mentioned but William Pitt the Younger (1759–1806) became a conspicuous hero, the most prominent journals included The Quarterly Review, founded in 1809 as a counterweight to the Whigs' Edinburgh Review, and the even more conservative Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. Sack finds that the Quarterly Review promoted a balanced Canningite toryism; was neutral on Catholic emancipation and only mildly critical of Nonconformist Dissent; it opposed slavery and supported the current poor laws. It was "aggressively imperialist", the high-church clergy of the Church of England read the Orthodox Churchman's Magazine which was equally hostile to Jewish, Catholic, Jacobin, Methodist, and Unitarian spokesmen. Anchoring the ultra Tories, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine stood firmly against Catholic emancipation, and favoured slavery, cheap money, mercantilism, the Navigation acts, and the Holy Alliance.[16]
Conservatism evolved after 1820, embracing free trade in 1846, and a commitment to democracy, especially under Disraeli, the effect was to significantly strengthen Conservatism as a grassroots political force. Conservatism no longer was the philosophical defense of the landed aristocracy but had been refreshed into redefining its commitment to the ideals of order, both secular and religious, expanding imperialism, strengthened monarchy, and a more generous vision of the welfare state as opposed to the punitive vision of the Whigs and Liberals,[17] as early as 1835, Disraeli attacked the Whigs and utilitarians as slavishly devoted to an industrial oligarchy, while he described his fellow Tories as the only "really democratic party of England" and devoted to the interests of the whole people.[18] Nevertheless, inside the party there was a tension between the growing numbers of wealthy businessmen on the one side, and the aristocracy and rural gentry on the other,[19] the aristocracy gained strength as businessmen discovered they could use their wealth to buy a peerage and a country estate.
Although conservatives opposed attempts to allow greater representation of the middle class in parliament, in 1834 they conceded that electoral reform could not be reversed and promised to support further reforms so long as they did not erode the institutions of church and state, these new principles were presented in the Tamworth Manifesto of 1834, which historians regard as the basic statement of the beliefs of the new Conservative Party.[20]
Robert Peel (1788–1850)
Some conservatives lamented the passing of a pastoral world where the ethos of noblesse oblige had promoted respect from the lower classes, they saw the Anglican Church and the aristocracy as balances against commercial wealth.[21] They worked toward legislation for improved working conditions and urban housing,[22] this viewpoint would later be called Tory Democracy.[23] However, since Burke there has always been tension between traditional aristocratic conservatism and the wealthy business class.[24]
In 1834, Tory Prime Minister Robert Peel issued the Tamworth Manifesto in which he pledged to endorse moderate political reform. This marked the beginning of the transformation of British conservatism from High Tory reactionism towards a more modern form based on "conservation", the party became known as the Conservative Party as a result, a name it has retained to this day. Peel, however, would also be the root of a split in the party between the traditional Tories (led by the Earl of Derby and Benjamin Disraeli) and the 'Peelites' (led first by Peel himself, then by the Earl of Aberdeen). The split occurred in 1846 over the issue of free trade, which Peel supported, versus protectionism, supported by Derby, the majority of the party sided with Derby, whilst about a third split away, eventually merging with the Whigs and the radicals to form the Liberal Party. Despite the split, the mainstream Conservative Party accepted the doctrine of free trade in 1852.
Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013)
In the second half of the 19th century, the Liberal Party faced political schisms, especially over Irish Home Rule. Leader William Gladstone (himself a former Peelite) sought to give Ireland a degree of autonomy, a move that elements in both the left and right wings of his party opposed, these split off to become the Liberal Unionists (led by Joseph Chamberlain), forming a coalition with the Conservatives before merging with them in 1912. The Liberal Unionist influence dragged the Conservative Party towards the left; Conservative governments passing a number of progressive reforms at the turn of the 20th century. By the late 19th century the traditional business supporters of the UK Liberal Party had joined the Conservatives, making them the party of business and commerce.[25]
After a period of Liberal dominance before the First World War, the Conservatives gradually became more influential in government, regaining full control of the cabinet in 1922; in the interwar period conservatism was the major ideology in Britain[citation needed], as the Liberal Party vied with the Labour Party for control of the left. After the Second World War, the first Labour government (1945–1951) under Clement Attlee embarked on a program of nationalization of industry and the promotion of social welfare, the Conservatives generally accepted those policies until the 1980s. In the 1980s the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher, guided by neoliberal economics, reversed many of Labour's programmes.[26]
Other conservative political parties, such as the United Kingdom Independence Party (founded in 1993) and the Democratic Unionist Party (founded in 1971), began to appear, although they have yet to make any significant impact at Westminster (as of 2014 the DUP comprises the largest political party in the ruling coalition in the Northern Ireland Assembly).
Bismarck also enacted universal male suffrage in the new German Empire in 1871,[28] he became a great hero to German conservatives, who erected many monuments to his memory after he left office in 1890.[29]
More recently, the work of conservative CDU leader and Chancellor Helmut Kohl helped bring about German Reunification, along with the closer integration of Europe in the form of the Maastricht Treaty.
Today, German conservatism is often associated with politicians such as Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose tenure has been marked by attempts to save the common European currency (Euro) from demise. The German conservatives are divided under Merkel due to the refugee crisis in Germany. Many conservatives oppose the refugee policies under Merkel.
United States[edit]
Joseph de Maistre (1753–1821)
Liberal conservatism[edit]
Conservative liberalism[edit]
Conservative liberalism is a variant of liberalism that combines liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or, more simply, the right wing of the liberal movement.[34][35][36] The roots of conservative liberalism are found at the beginning of the history of liberalism, until the two World Wars, in most European countries the political class was formed by conservative liberals, from Germany to Italy. Events after World War I brought the more radical version of classical liberalism to a more conservative (i.e. more moderate) type of liberalism.[37]
Libertarian conservatism[edit]
Libertarian conservatism describes certain political ideologies within the United States and Canada which combine libertarian economic issues with aspects of conservatism. Its four main branches are Constitutionalism, paleolibertarianism, small government conservatism and Christian libertarianism. They generally differ from paleoconservatives, in that they are in favor of more personal and economic freedom.
Agorists such as Samuel Edward Konkin III labeled libertarian conservatism right-libertarianism.[38][39]
Many conservatives, especially in the United States, believe that the government should not play a major role in regulating business and managing the economy, they typically oppose efforts to charge high tax rates and to redistribute income to assist the poor. Such efforts, they argue, do not properly reward people who have earned their money through hard work.
Fiscal conservatism[edit]
Taxpayer March on Washington: Conservative protesters walking down Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.
Fiscal conservatism is the economic philosophy of prudence in government spending and debt.[40] Edmund Burke, in his Reflections on the Revolution in France, argued that a government does not have the right to run up large debts and then throw the burden on the taxpayer:
Most conservatives, especially in the United States, believe that government action should focus on moral and social questions and oppose government action to help the poor, to regulate the economy, or to protect the environment, they believe that government programs that seek to provide services and opportunities for the poor actually encourage dependence and reduce self-reliance. They oppose affirmative action, they oppose a progressive income tax.
National and traditional conservatism[edit]
National conservatism is a political term used primarily in Europe to describe a variant of conservatism which concentrates more on national interests than standard conservatism as well as upholding cultural and ethnic identity,[41] while not being outspokenly nationalist or supporting a far-right approach.[citation needed] In Europe, national conservatives are usually eurosceptics.[42][43]
National conservatism is heavily oriented towards the traditional family and social stability as well as in favour of limiting immigration, as such, national conservatives can be distinguished from economic conservatives, for whom free market economic policies, deregulation and fiscal conservatism are the main priorities. Some commentators have identified a growing gap between national and economic conservatism: "most parties of the Right [today] are run by economic conservatives who, in varying degrees, have marginalized social, cultural, and national conservatives."[44] National conservatism is also related to traditionalist conservatism.
Cultural and social conservatism[edit]
Cultural conservatives support the preservation of the heritage of one nation, or of a shared culture that is not defined by national boundaries,[46] the shared culture may be as divergent as Western culture or Chinese culture. In the United States, the term cultural conservative may imply a conservative position in the culture war. Cultural conservatives hold fast to traditional ways of thinking even in the face of monumental change, they believe strongly in traditional values and traditional politics, and often have an urgent sense of nationalism.
Social conservatism is distinct from cultural conservatism, although there are some overlaps. Social conservatives may believe that the government has a role in encouraging or enforcing traditional values or behaviours. A social conservative wants to preserve traditional morality and social mores, often by opposing what they consider radical policies or social engineering. Social change is generally regarded as suspect.
Social conservatives (in the first meaning of the word) in many countries generally favour the pro-life position in the abortion controversy and oppose human embryonic stem cell research (particularly if publicly funded); oppose both eugenics and human enhancement (transhumanism) while supporting bioconservatism;[47] support a traditional definition of marriage as being one man and one woman; view the nuclear family model as society's foundational unit; oppose expansion of civil marriage and child adoption rights to couples in same-sex relationships; promote public morality and traditional family values; oppose atheism,[48] especially militant atheism, secularism and the separation of church and state;[49][50][51] support the prohibition of drugs, prostitution, and euthanasia; and support the censorship of pornography and what they consider to be obscenity or indecency. Most conservatives in the US support the death penalty.
Religious conservatism[edit]
March for Life in Paris, France, 2012
In most democracies, political conservatism seeks to uphold traditional family structures and social values. Religious conservatives typically oppose abortion, homosexual behavior, drug use, and sexual activity outside of marriage; in some cases, conservative values are grounded in religious beliefs, and some conservatives seek to increase the role of religion in public life.
Progressive conservatism[edit]
Progressive conservatism incorporates progressive policies alongside conservative policies, it stresses the importance of a social safety net to deal with poverty, support of limited redistribution of wealth along with government regulation to regulate markets in the interests of both consumers and producers.[53] Progressive conservatism first arose as a distinct ideology in the United Kingdom under Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli's "One Nation" Toryism.[53][54]
There have been a variety of progressive conservative governments; in the UK, the Prime Ministers Disraeli, Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Harold Macmillan,[55] and previous Prime Minister David Cameron are progressive conservatives.[56][57]
In the United States, the administration of President William Howard Taft was a progressive conservative and he described himself as "a believer in progressive conservatism"[58] and President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared himself an advocate of "progressive conservatism".[59] In Germany, Chancellor Leo von Caprivi promoted a progressive conservative agenda called the "New Course";[60] in Canada, a variety of conservative governments have been progressive conservative, with Canada's major conservative movement being officially named the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1942 to 2003.[61] In Canada, the Prime Ministers Arthur Meighen, R. B. Bennett, John Diefenbaker, Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell, and Stephen Harper led progressive conservative federal governments.[61]
Authoritarian conservatism[edit]
Authoritarian conservatism refers to autocratic regimes that center their ideology around conservative nationalism rather than ethnic nationalism, though certain racial components such as antisemitism may exist.[62] Authoritarian conservative movements show strong devotion towards religion, tradition, and culture, while also expressing fervent nationalism akin to other far-right nationalist movements. Examples of authoritarian conservative leaders include António de Oliveira Salazar[63] and Engelbert Dollfuss.[64] Authoritarian conservative movements were prominent in the same era as fascism, with which it sometimes clashed, although both ideologies shared core values such as nationalism and had common enemies such as communism and materialism, there was nonetheless a contrast between the traditionalist nature of authoritarian conservatism and the revolutionary, palingenetic, and populist nature of fascism; thus, it was common for authoritarian conservative regimes to suppress rising fascist and National Socialist movements.[65] The hostility between the two ideologies is highlighted by the struggle for power for the National Socialists in Austria, which was marked by the assassination of Dollfuss.
Historic conservatism in different countries[edit]
In Italy, which was united by liberals and radicals (risorgimento), liberals not conservatives emerged as the party of the Right;[71] in the Netherlands, conservatives merged into a new Christian democratic party in 1980.[72] In Austria, Germany, Portugal and Spain, conservatism was transformed into and incorporated into fascism or the far right;[73] in 1940, all Japanese parties were merged into a single fascist party. Following the war, Japanese conservatives briefly returned to politics but were largely purged from public office.[74]
Having its roots in the conservative Catholic Party, the Christian People's Party, retained a conservative edge through the twentieth century, supporting the king in the Royal Question, supporting nuclear family as the cornerstone of society, defending Christian education and opposing euthanasia. The Christian People's Party dominated politics in post-war Belgium; in 1999, the party's support collapsed and it became the country's fifth largest party.[80][81][82] Currently the N-VA (nieuw-vlaamse alliantie / new-Flemish alliance) is the largest party in Belgium.[83]
The Conservatives combined pro-market liberalism and Toryism, they generally supported an activist government and state intervention in the marketplace, and their policies were marked by noblesse oblige, a paternalistic responsibility of the elites for the less well-off.[85] From 1942, the party was known as the Progressive Conservatives, until 2003, when the national party merged with the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party of Canada.[86]
The conservative Union Nationale governed the province of Quebec in periods from 1936 to 1960, in a close alliance with English Canadian business elites and the Catholic Church, this period, known as the Great Darkness ended with the Quiet Revolution and the party went into terminal decline.[87]
The Colombian Conservative Party, founded in 1849, traces its origins to opponents of General Francisco de Paula Santander's 1833–37 administration. While the term "liberal" had been used to describe all political forces in Colombia, the conservatives began describing themselves as "conservative liberals" and their opponents as "red liberals", from the 1860s until the present, the party has supported strong central government, and supported the Catholic Church, especially its role as protector of the sanctity of the family, and opposed separation of church and state. Its policies include the legal equality of all men, the citizen's right to own property and opposition to dictatorship, it has usually been Colombia's second largest party, with the Colombian Liberal Party being the largest.[88]
Founded in 1915, the Conservative People's Party of Denmark. was the successor of Højre (literally "The Right"). The conservative party led the government coalition from 1982 to 1993, the party was a junior partner in coalition with the Liberals from 2001 to 2011.[89] The party is preceded by 11 years by the Young Conservatives (KU), today the youth movement of the party, the Party suffered a major defeat in the parliamentary elections of September 2011 in which the party lost more than half of its seat and also lost governmental power. A liberal cultural policy dominated during the postwar period. However, by the 1990s disagreements regarding immigrants from entirely different cultures ignited a conservative backlash.[90]
The conservative party in Finland is the National Coalition Party (in Finnish Kansallinen Kokoomus, Kok). The party was founded in 1918 when several monarchist parties united, although in the past the party was right-wing, today it is a moderate liberal conservative party. While the party advocates economic liberalism, it is committed to the social market economy.[91]
European People's Party Congress in Bucharest in 2012
Conservatism in France focused on The rejection of the French Revolution, support for the Catholic Church, and the restoration of the monarchy, the monarchist cause was on the verge of victory in the 1870s but then collapsed because of disagreements on who would be king, and what the national flag should be.[92] Religious tensions heightened in the 1890–1910 era, but moderated after the spirit of unity in fighting the First World War.[93] An extreme form of conservatism characterized the Vichy regime of 1940–1944 with heightened anti-Semitism, opposition to individualism, emphasis on family life, and national direction of the economy.[94]
Following the Second World War, conservatives in France supported Gaullist groups and have been nationalistic, and emphasized tradition, order, and the regeneration of France.[95] Gaullists held divergent views on social issues, the number of Conservative groups, their lack of stability, and their tendency to be identified with local issues defy simple categorization. Conservatism has been the major political force in France since the second world war.[96] Unusually, post-war French conservatism was formed around the personality of a leader, Charles de Gaulle, and did not draw on traditional French conservatism, but on the Bonapartism tradition.[97] Gaullism in France continues under Les Republicains (formerly Union for a Popular Movement),[98] the word "conservative" itself is a term of abuse in France.[99]
The main interwar conservative party was called the People's Party (PP), which supported constitutional monarchy and opposed the republican Liberal Party. Both it and the Liberal party were suppressed by the authoritarian, arch-conservative and royalist 4th of August Regime of Ioannis Metaxas in 1936–41, the PP was able to re-group after the Second World War as part of a United Nationalist Front which achieved power campaigning on a simple anticommunist, ultranationalist platform during the Greek Civil War (1946–49). However, the vote received by the PP declined during the so-called "Centrist Interlude" in 1950–52; in 1952, Marshal Alexandros Papagos created the Greek Rally as an umbrella for the right-wing forces. The Greek Rally came to power in 1952 and remained the leading party in Greece until 1963—after Papagos' death in 1955 reformed as the National Radical Union under Konstantinos Karamanlis. Right-wing governments backed by the palace and the army overthrew the Centre Union government in 1965, and governed the country until the establishment of the far-right Regime of the Colonels (1967–74), after the regime's collapse in August 1974, Karamanlis returned from exile to lead the government, and founded the New Democracy party. The new conservative party had four objectives: to confront Turkish expansionism in Cyprus, to reestablish and solidify democratic rule, to give the country a strong government, and to make a powerful moderate party a force in Greek politics.[100]
Founded in 1924, as the Conservative Party, Iceland's Independence Party adopted its current name in 1929 after the merger with the Liberal Party, from the beginning they have been the largest vote-winning party, averaging around 40%. They combined liberalism and conservatism, supported nationalization of infrastructure and opposed class conflict. While mostly in opposition during the 1930s, they embraced economic liberalism, but accepted the welfare state after the war and participated in governments supportive of state intervention and protectionism. Unlike other Scandanivian conservative (and liberal) parties, it has always had a large working-class following,[102] after the financial crisis in 2008 the party has sunk to a lower support level around 20–25%.
After WW2 in Italy the conservative theories were mainly represented by the Christian Democracy, which government form the foundation of the Republic until party's dissolution in 1994. Officially DC refused the ideology of Conservatism, but in many aspects, for example family values, it was a typical social conservative party.
In 1994 the media tycoon and entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi founded the liberal conservative party Forza Italia. Berlusconi won three elections in 1994, 2001 and 2008 governing the country for almost ten years as Prime Minister. Forza Italia formed a coalition with right-wing regional party Lega Nord while in government.
The Conservative Party of Norway (Norwegian: Høyre, literally "right") was formed by the old upper class of state officials and wealthy merchants to fight the populist democracy of the Liberal Party, but lost power in 1884 when parliamentarian government was first practised. It formed its first government under parliamentarism in 1889, and continued to alternate in power with the Liberals until the 1930s, when Labour became the dominant political party, it has elements both of paternalism, stressing the responsibilities of the state, and of economic liberalism. It first returned to power in the 1960s,[104] during Kåre Willoch's premiership in the 1980s, much emphasis was laid on liberalizing the credit- and housing market and abolishing the NRK TV and radio monopoly, while supporting law and order in criminal justice and traditional norms in education[105]
Sweden's conservative party, the Moderate Party, was formed in 1904, two years after the founding of the liberal party,[106] the party emphasizes tax reductions, deregulation of private enterprise, and privatization of schools, hospitals and kindergartens.[107]
There are a number of conservative parties in Switzerland's parliament, the Federal Assembly, these include the largest, the Swiss People's Party (SVP),[108] the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP),[109] and the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP),[110] which is a splinter of the SVP created in the aftermath to the election of Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf as Federal Council.[110] The right-wing parties have a majority in the Federal Assembly.
The Swiss People's Party (SVP or UDC) was formed from the 1971 merger of the Party of Farmers, Traders, and Citizens, formed in 1917 and the smaller Swiss Democratic Party, formed in 1942. The SVP emphasized agricultural policy, and was strong among farmers in German-speaking Protestant areas, as Switzerland considered closer relations with the European Union in the 1990s, the SVP adopted a more militant protectionist and isolationist stance. This stance has allowed it to expand into German-speaking Catholic mountainous areas,[111] the Anti-Defamation League, a non-Swiss lobby group based in the US has accused them of manipulating issues such as immigration, Swiss neutrality and welfare benefits, awakening anti-Semitism and racism.[112] The Council of Europe has called the SVP "extreme right", although some scholars dispute this classification. Hans-Georg Betz for example describes it as "populist radical right".[113]
United Kingdom[edit]
According to historian James Sack, English conservatives celebrate Edmund Burke as their intellectual father.[114] Burke was affiliated with the Whig Party which eventually became the Liberal Party. However, the modern Conservative Party is generally thought to derive from the Tory party and the MPs of the modern conservative party are still frequently referred to as Tories.
Modern conservatism in different countries[edit]
The Liberal Party of Australia adheres to the principles of social conservatism and liberal conservatism,[116] it is Liberal in the sense of economics. Other conservative parties are the National Party of Australia, a sister party of the Liberals, Family First Party, Democratic Labor Party, Shooters Party and the Katter's Australian Party.
In India, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) represents conservative politics nationally and is the largest right-wing conservative party. Social conservatism, Hindutva and Cultural Nationalism are some major ideologies of BJP.
Under Vladimir Putin, the dominant leader since 1999, Russia has promoted explicitly conservative policies in social, cultural and political matters, both at home and abroad. Putin has attacked globalism and economic liberalism, as well as scientific and technological progress.[119][120] Putin has promoted new think tanks that bring together like-minded intellectuals and writers, for example, the Izborsky Club, founded in 2012 by Aleksandr Prokhanov, stresses Russian nationalism, the restoration of Russia's historical greatness, and systematic opposition to liberal ideas and policies.[121] Vladislav Surkov, a senior government official has been one of the key ideologists during Putin's presidency.[122]
In cultural and social affairs Putin has collaborated closely with the Russian Orthodox Church. Mark Woods provides specific examples of how the Church under Patriarch Kirill of Moscow has backed the expansion of Russian power into Crimea and eastern Ukraine.[123] More broadly the New York Times reports in September 2016 how that Church's policy prescriptions support the Kremlin's appeal to social conservatives:
South Korea[edit]
South Korea's major conservative party, the Saenuri Party(새누리당) has changed its form throughout its history. First it was the Democratic-Republican Party (1963~1980); its head was Park Chung-hee who seized power in a 1961 military coup d'état and ruled as an unelected military strongman until his formal election as president in 1963. He was president for 16 years, until his assassination on October 26, 1979, the Democratic Justice Party inherited the same ideology as the Democratic-Republican Party. Its head, Chun Doo-hwan, also gained power through a coup, his followers called themselves the Hanahae. The Democratic Justice Party changed its form and acted to suppress the opposition party and to follow the people's demand for direct elections, the party's Roh Tae-woo became the first president who was elected through direct election. The next form of the major conservative party was the Democratic-Liberal Party. Again, through election, its second leader, Kim Young-sam, became the fourteenth president of Korea. When the conservative party was beaten by the opposition party in the general election, it changed its form again to follow the party members' demand for reforms, it became the New Korean Party. It changed again one year later since the President Kim Young-sam was blamed by the citizen for the IMF[clarification needed]. It changed its name to Grand National Party (Hannara-dang), since the late Kim Dae-jung assumed the presidency in 1998, GNP had been the opposition party until Lee Myung-bak won the presidential election of 2007.
United States[edit]
President Ronald Reagan in 1982
The meaning of "conservatism" in the United States has little in common with the way the word is used elsewhere, as Ribuffo (2011) notes, "what Americans now call conservatism much of the world calls liberalism or neoliberalism."[125] Since the 1950s conservatism in the United States has been chiefly associated with the Republican Party. However, during the era of segregation many Southern Democrats were conservatives, and they played a key role in the Conservative Coalition that largely controlled domestic policy in Congress from 1937 to 1963.[126]
Major priorities within American conservatism include support for tradition, law-and-order, Christianity, anti-communism, and a defense of "Western civilization from the challenges of modernist culture and totalitarian governments."[127] Economic conservatives and libertarians favor small government, low taxes, limited regulation, and free enterprise, some social conservatives see traditional social values threatened by secularism, so they support school prayer and oppose abortion and homosexuality.[128] Neoconservatives want to expand American ideals throughout the world and show a strong support for Israel.[129] Paleoconservatives, in opposition to multiculturalism, press for restrictions on immigration.[130] Most US conservatives prefer Republicans over Democrats, and most factions favor a strong foreign policy and a strong military, the conservative movement of the 1950s attempted to bring together these divergent strands, stressing the need for unity to prevent the spread of "Godless Communism", which Reagan later labeled an "evil empire".[131] During the Reagan administration, conservatives also supported the so-called "Reagan Doctrine" under which the US, as part of a Cold War strategy, provided military and other support to guerrilla insurgencies that were fighting governments identified as socialist or communist.
Other modern conservative positions include opposition to world government and opposition to environmentalism,[132] on average, American conservatives desire tougher foreign policies than liberals do.[133]
Most recently, the Tea Party movement, founded in 2009, has proven a large outlet for populist American conservative ideas, their stated goals include rigorous adherence to the US Constitution, lower taxes, and opposition to a growing role for the federal government in health care. Electorally, it was considered a key force in Republicans reclaiming control of the US House of Representatives in 2010.[134][135]
Characteristics of conservatism in France, Italy, Russia, Poland, UK, US and Israel[edit]
This is a broad checklist of modern conservatism in seven countries.
Main parties Les Républicains, Arise the Republic, Movement for France, Front National Forza Italia, Northern League, Brothers of Italy, New Centre-Right, Conservatives and Reformists United Russia, Liberal Democratic Party Law and Justice, Solidary Poland, Right Wing of the Republic, Poland Together Conservative Party, UK Independence Party, Democratic Unionist Party, Ulster Unionist Party Republican Party, American Independent Party, Independent American Party, Constitution Party Likud, The Jewish Home, Yisrael Beiteinu
Government Strong defenders of republicanism. Opposed to federalism. Proponents of presidentialism and federalism Strong defenders of historical Russian sphere of influence
Celebratory of Russia's Tsarist and Soviet strong-man rule.
Rejects republicanism.
Supports unelected House of Lords chamber.
Defends first-past-the-post voting system.
Originally opposed to but now accepting of Scottish Devolution and Welsh Devolution.
In Favour of English Votes for English Laws and sympathetic to ideas of English Devolution
State control Bonapartism, Gaullism.
Moderate sized but centralised state.
FI, LN: Small decentralised state.
FdI, NCR and CR: Small centralised state
Strong, powerful, centralised state.
Strong, centralised state.
Allegations of statism and authoritarianism.
Small centralised state. Small, minimal, decentralised state particularly at federal level.
Strongly influenced by libertarianism.
Strong, centralised state.
Social views Rule of law, traditionalism, authority, liberty, defence of traditional family, public healthcare.
Strongly supportive of French culture, Francophone, and against Americanisation.
Critics of the Italian constitution and the Italian judiciary
Against modernism and Western culture.
Law and order, solidarism, national (non-liberal) democracy model, national unity, strong cult of cultural and historical heritage. Defence of catholic society, public morality and traditional family, opposes abortion, euthanasia, in-vitro, civil unions, same-sex marriage.
Anti-communism. Critics of Polish constitution and judiciary.
Hierarchy, rule of law, liberty, freedom, traditionalism, British stoicism, against abortion in Northern Ireland. Freedom, liberty, individualism, traditionalism, law and order, gun ownership, defence of traditional family, against euthanasia, abortion, and same-sex marriage.
Strong supporters of the American Constitution and the separation of powers.
Immensely anticommunist.
Religious views Defends secularism.
Influenced by Catholic social teaching.
Presbyterianism in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The 2012 Republican platform states: "We support the public display of the Ten Commandments as a reflection of our history and of our country’s Judeo-Christian heritage."[136] Heavily influenced by Evangelical Protestantism in southern and midwestern states, and Mormonism in western states. Influenced by secularism and Modern Orthodox Judaism. Critical of state assistance to followers of Haredi Judaism.
Economic views LR, DLR and MPF: Social market economy, distributism, nationalisation of major industries, loosely influenced by neoliberalism, moderate welfare system.
FN: Nationalisation of major industries, protectionism and moderate re-distribution of wealth.
Neoliberalism, protectionism, low taxation, opposition to wealth taxes Mixture of state regulation and market freedoms, nationalisation only of strategic industries, low taxation, moderate re-distribution of wealth, rejection of communism. Social market economy, industrialization, nationalisation of strategic industries, moderate protectionism, economic nationalism and developmentalism, favours moderate-sized welfare state, broad pro-family policies and centralised, national health care system. Neoliberalism, low taxation, privatisation, free trade, small welfare state but unopposed to nationalised healthcare. Neoliberalism, economic liberalism, free market, free trade, low taxation, minimal welfare state.
Opposes government-run healthcare.
International government LR: Supportive of the United Nations and NATO. Supportive of the European Union.
FN, DLR and MPF: Sceptical about the United Nations, NATO and the European Union.
FI, NCR and CR: Supportive of NATO, various factions are moderately supportive or sceptical about the EU.
LN and FdI: Sceptical about the EU and NATO.
Supportive of Commonwealth of Independent States and the Eurasian Economic Union.
Atlanticism. Mostly supportive of NATO, various factions are soft- and strong-eurosceptic. Supportive of the United Nations, NATO, and the Commonwealth. Sceptical about the European Union. Supportive of NATO and the so-called "regime change".
Critical of the United Nations.
Critical of the United Nations and sceptical of the European Union.
Military Issues Opposed to nuclear disarmament. Opposed to nuclear disarmament Opposed to nuclear disarmament. Opposed to nuclear disarmament. Opposed to nuclear disarmament. Opposed to nuclear disarmament. Opposed to nuclear disarmament.
Favors conscription.
International affairs LR: Interventionist, favor closer ties with the United States.
FN, MPF and DLR: Non-interventionist, strong scepticism in relations with the United States.
All: Support closer ties with Russia.
Factions are variously interventionist or non-interventionist. Support closer ties with the United States, Israel and Russia. Interventionist, strong scepticism in relations with the United States, Georgia and Ukraine. Support strong relations with India, Syria, Iran and China. Mostly interventionist, strong scepticism in relations with Russia and Germany, majority support strong relations with the United States. Conservatives, UUP and DUP: Interventionist, favour closer ties with Saudi Arabia and Ukraine.
UKIP: Non-interventionist, favour closer ties with Russia.
All: Favour closer ties with the United States, other Anglosphere states and Israel.
Factions are variously interventionist or non-interventionist. Strong scepticism in relations with Iran. Favor close ties with Israel, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. Interventionist. Strong scepticism in relations with Iran, Turkey, Palestine and the Arab League. Favors closer ties with the United States, India and Russia.
Following the Second World War, psychologists conducted research into the different motives and tendencies that account for ideological differences between left and right, the early studies focused on conservatives, beginning with Theodor W. Adorno's The Authoritarian Personality (1950) based on the F-scale personality test. This book has been heavily criticized on theoretical and methodological grounds, but some of its findings have been confirmed by further empirical research.[137]
In 1973, British psychologist Glenn Wilson published an influential book providing evidence that a general factor underlying conservative beliefs is "fear of uncertainty".[138] A meta-analysis of research literature by Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, and Sulloway in 2003 found that many factors, such as intolerance of ambiguity and need for cognitive closure, contribute to the degree of one's political conservatism.[137] A study by Kathleen Maclay stated these traits "might be associated with such generally valued characteristics as personal commitment and unwavering loyalty." The research also suggested that while most people are resistant to change, liberals are more tolerant of it.[139]
According to psychologist Bob Altemeyer, individuals who are politically conservative tend to rank high in right-wing authoritarianism on his RWA scale,[140] this finding was echoed by Theodor Adorno. A study done on Israeli and Palestinian students in Israel found that RWA scores of right-wing party supporters were significantly higher than those of left-wing party supporters.[141] However, a 2005 study by H. Michael Crowson and colleagues suggested a moderate gap between RWA and other conservative positions. "The results indicated that conservatism is not synonymous with RWA."[142]
Psychologist Felicia Pratto and her colleagues have found evidence to support the idea that a high social dominance orientation (SDO) is strongly correlated with conservative political views, and opposition to social engineering to promote equality,[143] though Pratto's findings have been highly controversial[citation needed]. Pratto and her colleagues found that high SDO scores were highly correlated with measures of prejudice. David J. Schneider, however, argued for a more complex relationships between the three factors, writing "correlations between prejudice and political conservative are reduced virtually to zero when controls for SDO are instituted, suggesting that the conservatism–prejudice link is caused by SDO".[144] Kenneth Minogue criticized Pratto's work, saying "It is characteristic of the conservative temperament to value established identities, to praise habit and to respect prejudice, not because it is irrational, but because such things anchor the darting impulses of human beings in solidities of custom which we do not often begin to value until we are already losing them. Radicalism often generates youth movements, while conservatism is a condition found among the mature, who have discovered what it is in life they most value."[145]
A 1996 study on the relationship between racism and conservatism found that the correlation was stronger among more educated individuals, though "anti-Black affect had essentially no relationship with political conservatism at any level of educational or intellectual sophistication", they also found that the correlation between racism and conservatism could be entirely accounted for by their mutual relationship with social dominance orientation.[146]
6. ^ Rooksby, Ed (2012-07-15). "What does conservatism stand for?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
7. ^ Robin, Corey (2012-01-08). "The Conservative Mind". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 2016-12-23.
8. ^ Eccleshall 1990, pp. ix, 21
10. ^ Wolin, Sheldon S. (2 September 2013). "Hume and Conservatism". American Political Science Review. 48 (4): 999–1016. JSTOR 1951007. doi:10.2307/1951007.
15. ^ Auerbach (1959). The Conservative Illusion. p. 41.
20. ^ Eccleshall 1990, pp. 79–80
21. ^ Eccleshall 1990, p. 83
22. ^ Eccleshall 1990, p. 90
23. ^ Eccleshall 1990, p. 121
24. ^ Eccleshall 1990, pp. 6–7
35. ^ "".
37. ^ Allen, R.T. Beyond Liberalism. p. 13.
39. ^ "Interview With Samuel Edward Konkin III".
42. ^ "".
47. ^ The Next Digital Divide (utne article)
64. ^ Günter J. Bischof, Anton Pelinka, Alexander Lassner, the Dollfuss/Schuschnigg Era in Austria: A Reassessment. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2001. p. 26.
88. ^ Osterling, p. 180
101. ^ Founding Declaration of Independent Greeks
113. ^ Hainsworth, pp. 44, 74
115. ^ Winthrop and Lovell, pp. 163–66
119. ^ Goble, Paul A. (January 20, 2015). "Alfred Koch: Putin’s rejection of science and fear of the educated destroying Russia’s future". Euromaidan Press. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
135. ^ "Katie Couric Interviews Tea Party Leaders". 25 January 2010.
136. ^ see 2012 Republican NationalPlatform
139. ^ "Researchers help define what makes a political conservative". 2003.
147. ^ Napier, J. L.; Jost, J. T. (2008). "Why Are Conservatives Happier Than Liberals?". Psychological Science. 19 (6): 565–72. PMID 18578846. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02124.x.
Further reading[edit]
• Blinkhorn, Martin. Fascists and conservatives : the radical right and the establishment in twentieth-century Europe / 1990
• Carey, George (2008). "Conservatism". In Hamowy, Ronald. The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE; Cato Institute. pp. 93–95. ISBN 978-1-4129-6580-4. LCCN 2008009151. OCLC 750831024. doi:10.4135/9781412965811.n61.
• Crowson, N. J. Facing fascism: the conservative party and the European dictators, 1935–1940 1997
• Theodore Dalrymple. Our Culture, What's Left of It: the Mandarins and the masses / 2005
• Fryer, Russell G. Recent conservative political thought : American perspectives 1979
• Gottfried, Paul E. The Conservative Movement / 1993
• Nugent. Neill. The British Right : Conservative and right wing politics in Britain 1977
• Sunic, Sunic and Alain de Benoist. Against Democracy and Equality: The European New Right (2011)
• Conservatism / Ted Honderich.
• The Conservative Mind / Russell Kirk, 2001
• Right-wing women: from conservatives to extremists around the world / P. Bacchetta., 2002
• Conservatism: Dream and Reality / Robert Nisbet., 2001
• Conservatism / Noel O'Sullivan
• The Meaning of Conservatism / Roger Scruton.
• Schneider, ed. Conservatism in America since 1930: a reader (2003)
• Witonski, Peter, ed. The wisdom of conservatism (4 vol. Arlington House, 1971) 2396 pages); worldwide sources
External links[edit] |
#024 Danish War Axe
This favored weapon of the Saxon Huscarl saw action throughout Northern Europe in the hands of Saxon, Norse, and Norman alike. The long handle and thin blade create a fearsome weapon capable of immense damage to the lightly armored opponents of that time. The high carbon steel blade holds a great edge and is mounted on an ash haft. This was the type of weapon William the Conqueror faced at the Battle of Hastings (1066) where he defeated the Saxon army.
In the Anglo-Scandinavian Wars of the 8th and 9th century this type of axe was the heavy weaponry of the battlefield. The nearly constant warfare of this period would have seen a high degree of the common man being involved in warfare and the axe would have been a weapon many would rely on. This larger combat-orientated axe would be a weapon that would distinguish someone who was prepared for a serious fight.
Due to the wide travels of the Norse the use of the Dane Axe can be documented from Ireland in the west to Constantinople in the east. A truly significant weapon in the history of Europe.
Learn more about Nordic Axes here and research into Axe combat here.
Original: Circa 1000 Danish, British Museum, London
Overall length: 56"; Cutting edge: ~10.5"; Weight: 3 pounds
$360 + $48 shipping and handling |
Through Hole Slip Ring
Currently, besides solar power, wind power is one of the most popular form of green house power. It is incredibly preferred across the world due to the fact that people wish to save cash on their electricity bills and have a greener environment, which benefits health also since there is no pollution.
All you should do is to make a wind turbine that generates sufficient needed power required with a wind power system. If you desire a far better outcome, you have to provide solar power energy system likewise. Generally the wind turbine with through hole slip ring excels if you live in an area with windy conditions but if ever you live in an area with much less wind after that you require a solar energy combo with it.
You could have your wind power turbine specifically if you are figuring out to make or have a motivation as well as dedication behind to actually guide you in the ideal instructions. In making your personal wind turbine, you could require a products and also tools as well as do it detailed instructions, treatment and all technical aspects either in the book or in your study through the internet.
Typically, the dimension of the wind powered generator with through hole slip ring depends mainly on the power demands of your house however the most common most domestic wind generator made use of is the smaller dimension. The majority of the industrial or commercial establishment makes use of the larger windmill turbine because having a bigger blade especially in a location with reduced wind, it need much more power and also it is likewise much more complex to build as well as mount compare with smaller one.
Through Hole Slip Ring
Having a wind turbine requires a space and if your location is tiny, then smaller wind turbine with through hole slip ring is exactly what you require. Exactly what is essential is that whichever dimension of wind generator you prefer to make then go for it. Correctly created as well as with solid structure is important for the wind turbine provide fantastic outcome if considering the elevation given that winds are recorded at the greater altitudes and also it will have a consistent supply of power despite the intensity of the wind.
Exactly what is good in wind powered generators with through hole slip ring, aside from giving power to your residence, it also provides tidy energy and don’t give dangerous discharges as well as it is also an ecological pleasant. You could make your very own wind turbine for your home with the use of scrap so you could have minimal costs however have a reliable expertise of it after you could make one for your house.
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Know the difference between the flu and a cold
If you wake up feeling achy, exhausted, feverish, congested and coughing, how do you know whether it's the flu or the cold? The common cold and the flu virus have very common symptoms and knowing the difference between the two could potentially save a life. Cold symptoms can make you feel very ill for a week but then you'll start to feel better, whereas, the flu can last up to weeks and may result in pneumonia, bronchitis and even hospitalizations, if not caught in time. Below is a chart to help determine if you have the flu or cold and some prevention tips for both.
Fever Rare; usually mild Usual, high (100-102 F), may last 3-4 days
Headache Rare Prominent
Body Aches/Pains Rare Usual, could be severe
Fatigue Mild Usual, can last 2-3 weeks
Exhaustion Never Prominent
Stuffy Nose Common Sometimes
Sneezing Common Sometimes
Cough Mild-moderate, hacking Common, can be severe
Sore Throat Common Sometimes
Chills/Sweats Rare Common; when fever comes and goes
Prevention Wash hands, avoid close contact with those who are ill, increase your intake of vitamins (primarily C and D), reduce stress, increase rest and water intake Same as the cold
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Network Routing Switching Term Assignment Help
This assessment for the Network Routing Switching Term Assignment, requires you to demonstrate your knowledge of basic routing concepts by completing a number of exercise questions. The questions contain various numerical as well as descriptive questions covering the material from Weeks 1 to 9. Question #4 requires you to research further and then demonstrate knowledge of advanced concepts.
Completing these questions should help you to achieve the course learning outcomes as listed in the course profile.
Question 1 – Routing table construction (10 marks)
Given the following network protocol, construct the routing table for routers R2 and R3. Be sure to include the default route.
Question 2– Allocating subnets from a block (6 marks)
• Calculate the total number of addresses in this block. Show your calculation (1 mark).
• The company has decided to distribute the addresses on a departmental basis, with Dept#1 requesting 120 addresses, Dept#2 requiring 60 addresses,Dept#3 needing 30 addresses and Dept#4 wanting 12 addresses.
Create the 4 subnets for the company. For each subnet, list the subblock address along with its subnet mask in CIDR format. Show your calculations for all subnets. (1 mark for each correct subnet)
• How many addresses are left unallocated? Show your calculation. (1 mark)
Question 3 – Fragmentation(4 marks)
1. An Ethernet packet 1,500 bytes long arrives at a router, which determines that the next destination is an X.25 network. Do the following, being sure to show your calculations and explain your reasons.
2. Assuming that the router decides to fragment the packet into 3 fragments, determine the size of each fragment, and identify their starting byte and end byte. (2.5 marks)
3. Calculate the fragmentation offset for each fragment. (1 mark)
4. Under what specific condition would the router decide not to fragment the packet and in that case how would the packet be treated? Be as precise as possible in your answer (.5 mark)
Question 4– Advanced routing study(15 marks)
Research and review appropriate materials, including the textbook, and answer the first two questions (a & b).
• Define the terms and discuss the relationship between Autonomous Systems, Inter-domain routing, and Intra-domain routing. (2 marks)
• Identify the major routing protocols associated with Inter-domain and Intra-domain routing and list their similarities and differences (1.5 marks). Finish by commenting on why we need different protocols for Inter-domain and Intra-domain routing. (1.5 marks)
Study the two articles listed below– both are freely available on the Internet.You may use other references in addition to these, as needed. Then answer the remaining 3 questions (c, d & e).
• Briefly summarize in your own words the problems with current routing methods that the authors have identified. (5 marks)
• Contrast and compare the concepts of embedded routing and extensible routing. (2.5 marks)
• How does the proposal of Routing As A Service (RAAS or just RAS) address the problems with current routing methods? (2.5 marks)
List all references and use proper in-text citation using the Harvard referencing convention. Remember that diagrams also need to be cited. Marks will be deducted on a per-question basis for not adhering to referencing standards.
The two articles for questions 3 – 5 (both articles have the same title):
Routing as a Service by K.Lakshminarayanan et al can be found at:
Routing as a Service by K.Lakshminarayanan, Stoica, and Shenker can be found at :
To get Network Routing Switching Term Assignment help, click here
Question 5– IPv6 Packets(5 marks)
The following problem is adapted from Practice Set 27.7 Exercise #2 from the textbook.
Case: An IPv6 packet consists of a base header and a TCP segment. The data is 128,000 bytes long (jumbo payload).
1. Draw a diagram of this packet that shows and labels all the base header fields, the Hop-by-hop Extension header fields, and the TCP segment fields. (3 marks)
2. Place a correctvalue in the following fields in the base header with a brief explanation for the value you selected (2 marks: .5 for correct value, 1.5 for brief explanation.):
Version; Payload Length; Next Header; Hop limit: Source Address; Destination Address
Do not type answers here: type it in the Answers Template provided.
• You must do this assignment individually, that is, on your own.
• Type all your answers in the ‘Template for Your Answers’ Section of this document and upload only that template. You could do that by copying the Template section into a new Word document for uploading. Answers that are not typed into the “Template for Your Answers” section may not be marked, or may be returned to you for re-typing and re-submission – late penalties will apply.
• You must show all your working, that is, steps you took to arrive at your answers. Write your answers in your own words to avoid potential plagiarism and copyright violations.
• You must submit the templatesection as a Word file (.doc or .docx).
• Plagiarism Procedures can be found in the CQUniversity Policies section of the Course Profile. |
Bullet in a Maelstrom
The Largest Rodent
The Tombs of Pompeii
To explain the presence of so much garbage alongside the dead, archaeologists have theorized that 15 years before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, an earthquake left Pompeii in disrepair. However, archaeological evidence from the last 15 years indicates that the city likely did not fall into ruin after the earthquake in A.D. 62. Rather than flee, citizens appear to have rebuilt; reconstructing public spaces and houses. When the eruption buried the city, new tombs were still being built and the city appeared prosperous.
The residents of Pompeii also appear not to have shared our conventions on burial. As Romans, they were primarily concerned with being remembered after death, so they sought tombs in high-traffic areas. Since Roman law and custom forbade cemeteries inside the city, the tombs ringed the city walls, and clustered at its gates.
Author: himanshusahay23
I am a 17-year old Indian student in Dubai, preparing for my transition to college in the United States this year. I am fanatically in love with cars, Manchester United, mathematics and crime fiction. Most of my articles have been written in odd places like washrooms and school buses, hope you like 'em! Cheers!
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Metrical Suggestion For Reading Maxims I A
The lines in Maxims I are so irregular that Sievers-style metrical analysis breaks down. True, the standard accentual pattern of four feet per line (the normal line in, e.g. Solomon and Saturn) is sometimes present in Maxims I, e.g. line 10:
adl ne yldo ælmihtigne
SxxSx SSxxx
often with anacrusis and long sequences of unaccented syllables, e.g. line 11:
ne gomelað he in gæste, ac he is gen swa he wæs
xSxxxxS xxxSxxS
But this is far from being the only line type. For instance in the introductory lines:
Frige mec frodum wordum! Ne læt þinne ferð onhælne,
SxxSxSx xxxxxSxSx
degol þæt þu deopost cunne! Nelle ic þe min dyrne gesecgan,
SxxxSxSx xxxxxSxxSx
gif þu me þinne hygecræft hylest ond þine heortan geþohtas.
xxxxxSxSSx xxxSxxSx
Gleawe men sceolon gieddum wrixlan. God sceal mon ærest hergan
SxxxxSxSx SxxxxSx
where the each line has 3 feet in the first half and 2 in the second.
Or in lines 35-8:
Dol biþ se þe his dryhten nat, to þæs oft cymeð deað unþinged.
SxxxxSxS xxxSxSxSx
Snotre men sawlum beorgað, healdað hyra soð mid ryhte.
SxxSxSx SxxxSxSx
Eadig bið se þe in his eþle geþihð, earm se him his frynd geswicað.
SxxxxxxSxxS SxxxSxSx
Nefre sceal se him his nest aspringeð, nyde sceal þrage gebunden.
SxxxxxxSxSx SxxSxxSx
where the lines have 3 feet in both halves.
These three line types (2+2, 3+2, 3+3), together with a highly irregular 4+2 form, account all the lines in Part A of the poem:
Ln Stresses
1-7 3+2
8-34 2+2
34-40 3+3
41 3+2
42 3+3
43-44 3+2
45 3+3
46 4+2
47-49 2+2
50-51 3+3
52-53 3+2
54-55 2 (2 half-lines. Better read together, producing one line of 2+2)
56 2+2
57 3+2
58-59 3+3
60-61 2+2
62-63 3+3
64 4+2
65 3+2
66-67 3+3
68 3+2
69 3+3
70 3+2
A moment’s consideration of lines like 37-38, with their sequences of six unstressed syllables jammed in between stresses in the same half-line, will lead to the conclusion that the stress accent and alliteration is the only thing holding this baby together.
SxxxxxxSxxS SxxxSxSx
SxxxxxxSxSx SxxSxxSx
So if we are to read it in a way which is at all sensitive to the material, attention to the rhythmic effect of the stress accents is essential.
The following regularities cover all line types.
• Each first half-line has 2, 3 or 4 stresses
• Each second half-line has 2 or 3 stresses
• The number of stresses in the second half-line never exceeds the number in the first half-line
• The total number of stresses in a line never exceeds 6 (i.e. if the first half has 4, the second has 2)
• Stresses fall on accented syllables of primary words (nouns, adjectives and verbs)
• All alliterated syllables are stressed syllables
• Anything before the first stressed syllable of a half-line is anacrusis
• Both half-lines can have anacrusis
• Anacrusis can be multi-word and long
Clearly there must be some sort of pause between the end of the first half-line and the start of the second (medial caesura). This is demonstrated by the fact that the half-line operates as a unit and the break must not interfere with the semantic structure of the line. For the same reason there must be some sort of pause between the end of the line and the start of the next (terminal caesura). One can imagine that the terminal caesura is slightly longer that the medial caesura, to mark the line break. Its length could well vary depending on the number of feet in the line. The relation between anacrusis and these caesurae is unclear, but given the length of some of the anacruses in this poem, there is good reason to think that the anacrusis cuts into the pause time for the caesura.
We could read the poem so that the stresses occur at regular intervals and count caesurae and anacruses as equal to half a beat (or a single beat where extended), allowing us to reduce the variation in line lengths.
Type Components Line duration
1. 2 stresses, caesura/anacrusis, 2 str., c./a. 5
2. 3 str., c./a., 3 str., c./a. 7
3. 3 str. , c./a., 2 str., c./a. (extd.) 6.5
4. 4 str. , c./a., 2 str., c./a. 7
Note that types 2, 3 and 4 are now of similar length. This allows us to think of the poem as having two rhythmic variants, fast lines (2+2) and slow lines (3+2,3+3 & 4+2). If we analyse Part A of the poem this way, we get:
Ln Rhythm
1-7 Slow
8-34 Fast
34-46 Slow
47-49 Fast
50-53 Slow
54-56 Fast
57-59 Slow
60-61 Fast
62-70 Slow
In summary, my suggestion for reading the poem rhythmically is as follows:
• Base your reading on the stressed syllables in the lines
• Read unstressed syllables between stresses quickly
• If there is no anacrusis at the start of the next half line, pause for a caesura
• If there is anacrusis, reduce the caesura pause
• In the case of 3+2 lines, lengthen the terminal caesura, taking into account any subsequent anacrusis.
This should give a satisfying balance between regularity and variation. Enjoy.
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Carrum - A Brief Local History.
Before white settlement the area where Carrum is now situated was part of a large swampland. The swamp had been created by waters from the east and the Dandenong Ranges flowing into the lower laying areas. It was about 15 kilometres long and covered a region that extended from Mordialloc to Frankston with its widest point stretching back as far as Bangholme. Excess waters from the swamp flowed into Port Phillip Bay through the Mordialloc and Kananook Creeks. [1
Carrum Carrum Swamp - Watercolour by James Curtis. 1872
There had been previous unsuccessful attempts by the English to colonise the Port Phillip District. It wasn't until 1835 when Sydney born John Batman crossed Bass Strait from Van Dieman's land and founded a settlement on the banks of the Yarra that Port Phillip was finally settled by white men. The impact of white settlement was to have disastrous impact on the local Indigenous people. The Port Phillip district had been home to five Koorie tribes who all spoke a similar language. They called themselves 'Kulin' meaning human and had lived in Victoria for at least 40 thousand years. One of those tribes, the Bunurong lived along the coasts of Port Phillip and Westernport Bays. Their land encompassed the Carrum Carrum swamp and stretched from Werribee River and possibly as far east Wilson's Promontory [2]
With the advent of European settlement the Kulin Nation people were dispersed from their lands. Conflict with the new settlers & introduced diseases killed many. Aboriginal birth rates fell dramatically. In 1840 Derrimut a leader of the Burrumbeet people said:
" You see all this mine - All along here Derrimut's once: No matter now, me soon tumble down - why me have piccaninny?
You have all this place. No good have children. No good have lubra, me tumble down and die very soon now" [3]
Derrimut died August 28 1864.
Throughout the region rapid change was ongoing. Trees were being cut down for houses and farming, swamps were in the process of being drained, soil that had never been disturbed was being ploughed for crops and local birds and animals were being hunted by the settlers and their guns. For the Kulin people life had changed forever. They were excluded from one area after another. The land was needed to fatten the settler's sheep and cattle. Fresh water holes were commandeered and the Aboriginal people were moved to less desirable areas. Mordialloc creek was a traditional Aboriginal area. For a short time a depot was established and the remaining Bunurong lived there. In 1863 the remnant people of the Kulin nation were moved to Coranderrk Reserve Healesville. Between the World Wars Coranderrk was gazetted for soldier settlement. All Aboriginal servicemen applications were rejected. The half acre Aboriginal cemetery was given back to the Kulin people. During the 1920's the Coranderrk Aboriginal people were transferred to Lake Tyers Settlement. (4) The last of the Bunurong tribe Jimmy Dunbar and his lubra 'Eliza' died in 1877. [5]
Group of Victoria Aborigines.
In 1866 the Carrum swamp was surveyed and the land between Mordialloc Creek and Keast Park Seaford was divided into 18 allotments and sold by auction for around three pounds per acre. In 1871 the government opened it for selection. The swamp was an impediment to the settlers there was much discussion on how to reclaim the land, the first contracts for drainage works commenced in 1873. Attempts to reclaim the lower swamplands were ineffective. In 1879 it was decided to cut a 10 metre wide channel to the sea. It was known as ‘Patterson Cut’ and had been named after a State Parliamentarian - the Hon. J.B. Patterson. He visited the area and recommended that the Government make money available for drainage works. [6] The Carrum Swamp was gradually drained and was used for farming, market gardens and grazing. Patterson's Cut was to become the Patterson River.
According to some early pioneers Carrum was a paradise - William Bruton memories were:
"When I first visited Carrum, there was no ti-tree (or tea-tree) on the foreshore from Mordialloc
to Kananook Creek. There was however a small patch of ti-tree about two
miles from Mordialloc,
called the scrub, which had not gown to the height , or spread as it has since done, but there were
plenty of the east side of the road.
The foreshore was a growth of honeysuckle ferns and wild currants, and when the trees were
flowering, a large number of birds were seen, Magpies and crows preferred the other side of the
The call of the Kookaburra was heard everywhere and amongst the trees wattle birds, leatherheads,
woodpecker, thrushes, kingfisher, robins and many different kinds of parrots, and as we camped near
the swamp ti-tree when - Oh! wild turkeys - they know the human beings, and are up and off quickly.
But what are those tall things over yonder? a flock of native companions. Rare as they are, they are still
birds, but they are far more conceited than any other bird.
Here the gum trees lay prone where they have lain for hundreds of years, and others in the full glory
of life send their spreading limbs and luxuriant foliage out, displaying their pride of life. Here also are
the possums in plenty disporting themselves amongst the branches.
And so it seem that the energy of the axeman, the drainer, the builder have turned this heavenly paradise
of thousands of years, into a joy somewhat like unto the dog of old, racing with the jam tin, which rascally
boys have attached to his tail."
In 1882 the railway line from Caulfield was extended to Frankston. Between Mordialloc and Frankston there was a one passenger station located at Carrum. Its establishment was to foresee rapid development in the area. 1901 tea-tree blocks from an ½ acre to 5 acres were being sold and within a year cottages were being erected near the station for people who owned swamp land. They were to build a private road from Wells Road to the station to make it easier to get their produce and stock to markets. Railway sleepers were put down to improve it and subsequently it was named Plank Road. However unfavourable weather conditions often made the road impassable. Following a great deal of protests about the road's condition 1910 saw the council step in and reconstruct it. It was renamed McLeod Road. [6]
In 1902 half acre blocks of land on the beachside of Nepean Road were selling for fifty pounds. By the early 1900's a school was operating in the local Wesley Church and by the end of the decade a general store, bakery, two butcher shops and several other business's had been established. It was the beginnings of a thriving community.
Carole Ross
1 McGuire F. They Built A River. City of Chelsea Historical Society.
2 Presland Gary. Aboriginal Melbourne. The Lost Land Of The Kulin People. Hariland Press. 2001
3 Victorian Royal Commission on Aborigines. 1877
4 Hindsight. 11 May 2008. Retrieved November 2009.
5 Bruton W. Local History Carrum to Cheltenham. Leader Newspaper. 1930A
6 Hubbins. G.M. A History of the City of Springvale. Constellation of Communities. City of Springvale, Lothian Publishing. 1984
7 McGuire Frank. Chelsea , A Beachside Community. Argyle Press Pty. Ltd.1985
Photos courtesy of
Cameron Howe
Picture Collection State Library of Victoria |
Sex or Gender
In recent years, sex and gender issues have become more prevalent in our society. I read an article about how McDonalds is no longer allowed to ask “will that be a boy or a girl toy” when someone orders a kids meal, and instead have to ask which specific type of toy. However, this and similar policies creates a problem, as people are saying two genders rather than two sexes. Anthropologist Elizabeth P. Challinor further explores the problem in her article “Sex changes and changing rooms.” She says that people are using the terms sex and gender interchangeably. She says that this creates a problem because people then place parameters on the differences between being a biological sex and characteristics of a gender. Her argument is that inequality comes out of people not paying attention to the differences. Her example is that “There are always long queues outside the “ladies” which in many places have exactly the same number of toilets as those provided for men.” She says that in the end this issue becomes larger by creating “stereotyped images of girly gossiping, lipstick smacking as essentially feminine behaviour” instead of people talking about the reasons why, which are people not taking into account or caring about the differences between males, females, or any other sex. The gender characteristics is what she thinks needs to be pushed further in order to create the equality we are looking for. |
Curry across the World’s Dining Tables
CurryCurry is a mixture of spices commonly used in South Asian cuisine. In its simplest form it contains coriander, cumin, turmeric, chili, and fenugreek. It is not unusual for ginger, garlic, cinnamon, mustard seed, fennel, cardamom, black pepper, and other spices to be included in curry. Each country and each cuisine that uses this spice add its own touch to this mixture of spices.
The Oldest Spice
Records show that this spice has been used as far back as 2500 BC, notably in the Indus Valley. Some artifacts indicate that a basic form of this spice was commonly used in South Asia about 4000 years before the Europeans were on the scene.
In BBC- Food Section’s Curry: Where did it come from?, Anna-Louise Taylor shares her thoughts about this discovery: “It shows that curry may be the oldest continuously prepared cuisine known in human history, although with modern ingredients like chili and black pepper added centuries later, the exact definition of curry is still under scrutiny.”
Curry has become a well-loved spice not only in Asian cuisine but in European cooking as well. In South Asia, notably in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, it is a staple spice and curry dishes cover a whole spectrum of other ingredients. There is vegetarian curry, curry cooked in halal tradition, and there is curry with a wide variety of meats.
Indian Curry
In Flavor 574’s Curious about Curry: What’s the difference between Indian and Thai curry?, Kaeli Evans shares some surprising details about this spice.”The yellow-orange powder you see in stores is commercially prepared with a mix of spices like coriander, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek and chili peppers. It gets its yellow color from the turmeric. Many of these same ingredients closely reflect garam masala, a spice mix used in north India.”
Sri Lanka
The curry in Sri Lanka is particularly spicy. It is customarily served with rice, meat, vegetables and even fruit. Usually, curry in this part of the world is prepared with coconut milk and sometimes with grated coconut as well.
Thai Curry
Thai curries are vastly different from South Asian and Indian curry. As Evans says, “While Indian dishes tend to use more dry spices, Thai cuisine often uses curry-paste and fresh herbs instead. Thai curries are cooked for a shorter period of time and typically include vegetables, chicken, seafood accented with fresh herbs like mint, cilantro and basil. They also tend to be soupier, thanks to the addition of coconut milk or water…
“Unlike Indian curries, in which where the spice lingers on the palate, Thai curries deliver the heat upfront because of those fresh ingredients. Thai curry paste usually is made of fresh chilies, lemon grass, galangal (ginger), garlic, shallot, kefir lime leaves, cilantro roots and shrimp paste, with spices like cumin seeds, coriander seeds and turmeric…”
In Food Service Warehouse’ Curries from the World: Differences by Country, Eleanor Frisch writes, “Japenese curry, known as “kari” in Japan, is a very popular dish. The spice in Japan came not from its south Asian neighbors, but rather from British cuisine. Curry-rice is the most popular form, and consists of a curried stew, thickened with roux and served over rice. The flavors of this spice have also influenced the development of Japanese country cuisine; for example, udon noodles are often served in a curry-flavored broth. Kari-pan – or deep-fried-curry doughnut – is another Japanese dish that utilizes curry flavors. In recent years, different regions of Japan have popularized their own specialty curries, including fruit curry.
About Malaysian spice, Frisch adds, Curry in Malaysia is very diverse, and different localities eat different kinds of curries. In general, curries in Malaysia rely heavily on turmeric, chilies and garlic. They usually have a creamy coconut-milk base and are thicker than curries in most other regions. Rendang is a popular tomato-based Malaysian curry, usually including beef, that is often prepared during festivals or celebratory events and served with rice cakes or lemang – rice barbecued in tubes of bamboo…”
As the world becomes more closely connected because of travel and technology, there is no doubt that an increasing number of people will learn to enjoy curry, a spice that epitomizes everything that is unique, exotic, and yet universally delicious in cuisines all over the world.
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BIG Greek Lie 11
BIG Greek Lie 11 - Macedonian Monks Kiril and Metodi are Greek
(Many Greek believe Macedonian Brothers Kiril and Metodi are ethnically Greek)
By Risto Stefov
Macedonia has been ravaged for its lands, its natural resources, its heritage, and its people but never for its identity and human contributions, that is, not until recently. What makes this particular incident sad and pathetic is that both Greece and Bulgaria are simultaneously laying claim to the contributions of Kiril and Metodi.
The Greeks claim that Kirilos and Methodios were ethnic Greek Monks from Thessaloniki who created the Cyrillic alphabet and gave it to the Slavs. A very generous "Greek gift" indeed. Although they don't explain how exactly Kirilos and Methodios were ethnic Greeks, they do say that they spoke Greek, a pre-requisite for being an ethnic Greek. After all they were born in Thessaloniki which according to popular modern Greek beliefs, Thessaloniki (Solun) is considered an "ancient ethnic Greek city".
To the Bulgarians Cyril and Methodius are "apostles" that delivered to them the first form of writing in their native Bulgarian tongue. To the Bulgarians, "Church Slavonic", the language spoken and taught by Kiril and Metodi, is synonymous with "Bulgarian". After all, according to modern popular Bulgarian beliefs, Solun (Thessaloniki), the birth place of Cyril and Methodius is Bulgarian Territory from Medieval times, from the time of the Great Bulgarian Empire.
So, who are we poor Macedonians to contest this and how can we compete with such great Greek and Bulgarian wisdom and know-how?
One can see why each side is desperately latching onto the idea that somehow Kiril and Metodi might belong to them, but can they not see the absurdity of it all? How can Kiril and Metodi, born in the capital of Macedonia, a pure Slavic city, not be Macedonians and simultaneously be both Greek and Bulgarian? Can they fool themselves any more?
Allow me to tell you a little more about Kiril and Metodi.
It was during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Michael III (842-867) that Solun had definitely established itself as the religious and philosophical center of the empire. This was the time when Kiril (Cyril) and Metodi (Methodius) set off on a series of missions to spread the doctrines of Christianity to various places in Eastern Europe and Asia.
I just want to mention here that by the eighth century AD the Macedonian eparchy was controlled by a Macedonian Archbishopric with its center located in Solun and bishoprics existed in eighteen towns including Lerin, Kostur, Voden and Serres.
The brothers Kiril and Metodi were Macedonians, natives of Solun, who were acclaimed as the "apostles" of the southern Slavs and the fathers of Slav literary culture. Kiril, the younger of the two, was given the name Constantine when he was baptized. It was much later that he received the name Kiril.
Kiril was very fortunate to have studied in Tsari Grad (Constantinople) at a young age and received his education from Leo the Grammarian and Photius, a prominent educator at the imperial university. Kiril was an extraordinary student and earned himself the nickname "the Philosopher". After he finished his education he was ordained deacon and later became professor of philosophy at the imperial school in Tsari Grad where he took over the chair from Photius. Soon afterwards he retired to the quiet solitude of a monastery. From there, in 861 AD, he was summoned by the emperor, Michael III, and sent on a mission to Christianize the Khazars of southern Russia who lived between the Dnieper and Volga Rivers.
The older brother Metodi was a well-liked, intelligent man who started his career in his father's footsteps. At first he served in the military in Solun. Later at age twenty he became governor of one of the Slav colonies in the Opsikion province in Asia. Then he became a monk and, like his brother, took part in a mission to Christianize the Khazars.
Kiril and Metodi were two of seven siblings. Their father Lev was a prominent Macedonian who served as assistant to the Solun military commander of the Pravoslav (Byzantine) army.
The careers of the Solun brothers took a turn for the better in 862 AD when Rostislav, the prince of Moravia, sent his ambassador to Tsari Grad seeking missionaries capable of teaching his people to read and write in their own language. Rostislav, fearful of his powerful German neighbours, sought the opportunity to strengthen his alliance with the Pravoslavs to counter-balance the German missionary influence in his kingdom. Rostislav preferred the ecclesiastical politics of Photius, now patriarch of Tsari Grad, over those of his western counterpart.
When word came that Emperor Michael was looking for capable missionaries, Photius decided that Kiril and Metodi were the most suitable candidates for the job. The Solun brothers, being Slav speakers themselves, knew the Solunian dialect of the Slav language well and accepted the task.
The old-Macedonian dialect was quite well understood by all the Slav tribes. Unfortunately, teaching the illiterate to read and write was easier said than done. Even though the Slavs had a written form of language described as "lines and incisions", it was not an easy language to learn.
Kiril was familiar with the Glagolic script but that was also too complex a language for illiterate people to grasp quickly. According to Tsarnorizets Hrabar, an advocate of Macedonian literacy, Kiril and Metodi first tried to use the Koine and then Latin alphabets, but proper pronunciation could not be achieved. Slav speech was far too complex to record with just Koine or Latin letters. Kiril was an intelligent man and solved the problem by constructing a new alphabet based on old Macedonian traditions. The pattern and some letters he based on the Koine alphabet but he enriched it by adding new letters. He borrowed some from the Glagolic script and some he fashioned from ancient Macedonian symbols that had traditional Macedonian meaning. "Peter Hill argues that Old Church Slavonic was more than merely a written dialect. It is naïve, he says, to imagine that this construction of a written language was possible without established tradition. Therefore it can safely be assumed that there was at least some tradition on which Cyril and Methodius could build. Presumably their familiarity with this tradition derived from the fact that they were Slavic themselves." (Page 198, John Shea, Macedonia and Greece The Struggle to Define a New Balkan Nation, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 1997)
When it was completed Kiril's alphabet consisted of 38 letters, each accurately and exactly representing a unique sound in Slav speech. The phonetic nature of Kiril's language made spelling words very simple. One only needed to learn the alphabet to have the ability to read and write. The same is true to this day.
In 862 AD Kiril and Metodi, along with a number of followers, arrived in Moravia in Rostislav's court. They immediately set out to work and to their surprise Kiril's vernacular was not only well understood but also became popular with the Moravians. The Pravoslav missionaries continued their work for a while, with much success, but were soon handicapped by the lack of Pravoslav bishops to ordain their priests. Also, their popularity with the Moravians displeased the German missionaries who saw them as competition and harshly objected to their presence.
German hostilities reached their peak when the German Emperor Louis forced Rostislav to take an oath of loyalty to him. The German prelate, the bishop of Passau, who had the power to ordain Pravoslav priests refused to do so out of contempt. Unable to continue their work the missionaries were forced to return to Tsari Grad. On their way back the Macedonian brothers took a detour through Venice where they learned that the Pope had excommunicated Photius, the Pravoslav Patriarch in Tsari Grad. Pravoslav missionaries and their liturgical use of the Macedonian language were vehemently criticized.
In 858 AD Emperor Michael III, on his own authority, deposed Patriarch Ignatius and replaced him with the more progressive Photius. The Pope, however, did not agree with Michael's decision and proclaimed his deeds invalid. At the same time the Pope denounced both Photius and the emperor.
When Pope Nicholas I found out that the Pravoslav missionaries were in Venice he summoned them to Rome. By the time they arrived, however, Nicholas had died and the political situation had changed for the better. In a turn of events Nicholas's successor, Adrian II, warmly welcomed the strangers, especially when he found out that they were bringing him an important gift. Kiril it seems had recovered some relics of Pope St. Clement when he was in the Crimea visiting the Khazars and offered them to Adrian as gifts.
When they arrived, Adrian conducted an investigation and found no misconduct on the part of the Pravoslavs. In his judgment he permitted Kiril and Metodi to receive Episcopal consecration and allowed their newly converted priests to be ordained. He also approved Slavonic to be used in liturgy.
Sadly, Kiril died on February 14, 869 AD in Rome and never made it back home. After Kiril's death Metodi pleaded with Pope Adrian to allow him to take his brother's body to Solun for burial but Adrian would not permit it. It was the wish of Kiril and Metodi's mother that if either son should die, the other would bring the body back for a decent burial in the family monastery. Unfortunately Adrian would not allow it claiming that it would not be fitting for the Pope to permit the body of so distinguished a Christian to be taken away. He declared that a man so famous should be buried in a famous place. Kiril was buried with great pomp in the church of San Clemente on the Coelian, where the relics of St. Clement had been enshrined.
After Kiril died Metodi took over the cause and leadership of the mission from his brother. Having been consecrated, he obtained a letter of recommendation from the Pope and the Holy See and quickly returned to his duties. At the request of Kozzel, prince of Pannonia, who at the time wanted to revive the ancient archdiocese of Sirmium (now Mitrovitsa), Metodi was made metropolitan (Archbishop). He was given a large area of responsibility with boundaries that extended to the borders of Bulgaria. Unfortunately as the political situation in Moravia was shifting, Metodi's title and his papal approval did not mean much to the western missionaries, especially the Germans who began a smear campaign against him. To make matters worse Rostislav's nephew, Svatopluk, allied himself with Carloman of Bavaria and had his uncle driven out. After that it did not take long before Metodi was in trouble again.
In 870 AD Metodi was summoned before a synod of German bishops. They found him guilty of misconduct, no doubt on trumped-up charges, and locked him up in a leaking jail cell. It took two years of pleading before Pope John VIII could get him out. Unfortunately, to avoid further controversies Pope John withdrew his permission to use Slavonic, a barbarous language as he called it, for any purpose other than preaching. At the same time he reminded the Germans that Pannonia was never German and since age immemorial it belonged to the Holy See.
After his release Metodi continued his work in Moravia but there too he got into trouble. Metodi did not approve of Svatopluk's wicked lifestyle and made his displeasure public. In retaliation Svatopluk reported Metodi to the Holy See. He accused him of conducting divine worship in Slavonic and of heresy, charging that he omitted the words "and the Son" from the creed. At that time these words where not yet introduced everywhere in the west.
In 878 AD, as a result of Svatopluk's accusations, Pope John VIII summoned Metodi to Rome and conducted an inquiry. Metodi, a serious man and a dedicated Christian, was able to convince the Pope both of his devotion to his religion and of the necessity to use Slavonic liturgy. Even though Pope John was in agreement with Metodi on most matters, he had certain reservations about the use of the Slavonic language. It seems that some of the western missionaries perceived the Slavonic language as a threat to their own mission and did everything in their power to condemn it. They alleged that, being created by mere men, the Slavonic language was not from God and that God had created the three principal languages, Hebrew, Koine and Latin. Metodi however fought back with equally persuasive arguments, counter-claiming that God did not create the Hebrew, Koine, or Latin languages. God created the Syrian language which Adam and the people after him spoke until the flood. Then during the building of the Tower of Babel, God distributed the various languages among the people and created the written form of the languages. His arguments may have bought Metodi some time but he was still in trouble with the German missionaries.
Seeing that he could not easily get rid of him, Svatopluk used his influence as king and persuaded the Pope to appoint Wiching, a known adversary, to work with Metodi. The German (or French) priest Wiching was brought in to assist Metodi as one of his bishops. Wiching was an implacable opponent of Metodi who worked against him tirelessly. This unscrupulous prelate continued to persecute Metodi even to the extent of forging pontifical documents.
After Metodi's death Wiching obtained the archiepiscopal see, banished Metodi's followers and undid as much as he could of Metodi's work in Moravia.
When Wiching was appointed as his assistant, Metodi must have realized that he was fighting a losing battle. In the last four years of his life he took a break from missionary work and translated most of the Bible from Koine to Slavonic. Metodi died in 885 AD probably from exhaustion. His funeral service was carried out in Koine, Slavonic and Latin. Metodi was very popular with the people and many came to his funeral to pay their last respects.
I just want to add here that Saints Kiril and Metodi were always celebrated in the lands of their missions and after 1880 they were also celebrated throughout the entire western world.
The Pravoslav (Upright and Glorious) Empire was multi-cultural and multi-ethnic in the modern sense of the word. Nationalism was not yet invented and no defined ethnicities existed at the time. If language can be used as an indicator of ethnicity, as the modern Greeks prefer to do, then Kiril and Methodi spoke both Slavic and Koine. Of course before the written Slavic language became codified, the Koine language was the official written language of the Pravoslav (Christian Orthodox) Church. As high ranking clergy of the Orthodox Church it was a requirement for Kiril and Methodi to speak and write in the Koine language.
If there was no written form of the Slavic language and if indeed Kiril and Methodi were Greek, how did they learn to speak Macedonian (Slavic)? Did they learn to speak the indigenous Macedonian language from their mother? If that were the case then their mother couldn't have been Greek. We know their father was not Greek. What self respecting "Greeks" would name their child "Lev", a Slavic name?
If their mother and father were not Greek then Kiril and Methodi were definitely not Greek either!
This makes the Greek claim that "Kirilos and Methodios" were Greek, another BIG Greek lie.
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Beginner English | Can - Talking about Ability
Talking Language
Sarah and Todd talk about what languages they speak and how good they are at speaking them.
Sarah: So tell me, what languages do you speak?
Todd: Well, I speak two languages. I speak Thai and I speak Japanese. But my Japanese is not so good and my Thai is just okay.
Now, I live in Japan so I study Japanese and I use Japanese everyday. I can speak Japanese at the supermarket. I can use Japanese at a hotel or with a taxi driver, but I cannot have a long conversation.
Yeah. And you, what languages do you speak?
Sarah: Well, I speak English, of course. And I speak Spanish and Japanese.
Todd: Wow. Spanish.
Sarah: Yeah. I lived in Ecuador, and so I spoke Spanish everyday, a lot. I used to think I was fluent. Maybe I forgot some Spanish now.
Todd: Oh, so you can read, speak, write everything?
Sarah: Yeah. In Ecuador, I did everything. I signed my cellphone contract. I could read that in Spanish. I was – all of my friends I spoke Spanish with, and I spoke Spanish all the time. But my Japanese is like yours. I can speak only enough to go to the grocery or ask when the bus leaves or buy a train ticket.
Todd: Yeah. It's difficult. It's hard to have a good conversation in Japanese. But I can read Japanese. I studied Kanji.
Sarah: Oh really?
Todd: So my reading is okay, but my speaking is just really bad. I have bad pronunciation. So because my Japanese pronunciation is not very good, Japanese people don't like to speak Japanese with me, I think.
Sarah: My Spanish pronunciation is really bad because I always spoke with other foreigners who are also studying Spanish. So there would be a Korean person, me, a Norwegian person, and we were all speaking Spanish together. So we all had bad pronunciation.
Todd: Yeah.
Sarah: What about Thai?
Todd: Yeah. I can speak Thai. My Thai is different. My Thai pronunciation is okay. So I can have conversations in Thai. I lived in Thailand when I was young, so – or I was 22 to 26. So I studied it and I like Thai. But reading in Thai is difficult for me.
So I can read Japanese better than I can read Thai but I can speak Thai better, and my Thai listening is better also.
Sarah: Ah. Do you have any Thai friends?
Todd: I do have some Thai friends. And now, I study Thai on Facebook. So everyday, I check my friends' messages on Facebook. And then I use Google translate to learn new words. So it's very good. Yeah.
Sarah: Do you think you'll live in Thailand again, someday?
Todd: Maybe. I will visit Thailand again. I don't think I will live in Thailand again. But I like to go to Thailand because Thai is fun to speak and Thailand has great food and great weather, good beaches. So it's nice.
Sarah: Oh great.
Todd: What about you? Do you want to live in Ecuador, again?
Sarah: Not Ecuador. I love Ecuador but I want to live in another Spanish-speaking country. I'd like to live in Argentina, maybe or Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is part of America but they speak Spanish there.
Todd: Yeah. I hear Puerto Rico is really nice.
Sarah: Yeah. I went there for one week and it was just amazing. It has beaches and mountains, and the people are really fun. And it's a really exciting place to visit.
Grammar Patterns for 'Can' - Showing Ability
Questions - Can
1. What languages can you speak?
2. I need help. Who can I talk to?
3. When can you get here?
4. Where can I wash my clothes?
Affirmative - Can
1. I can read Thai, but I cannot write well.
2. She can speak English like a native.
3. Bob can help you, and so can Mary.
4. The teacher can check your writing.
Negative - Cannot
1. I can not speak German at all.
2. She can't come to class tomorrow.
3. We can't read this.
4. Most people cannot write computer code.
Yes / No Questions - Can
1. Can you speak French?
2. Can your parents drive a car?
3. Can you read this?
4. Can Bob fix my computer?
Short Response - Can you ___ ?
1. Yes, I can. / Yes, no problem. / Yeah, for sure.
2. Yes, but not very well.
3. I guess you can say that.
4. No, not really.
5. No, I can't.
6. No, not at all. / I wish.
Answer these questions about the interview.
Keep Listening
Go here are some more great lessons!
Grammar Challenge
Complete the conversation with the words below.
can • cannot • wish • at all • you
1. you speak Thai?
2. I read it, but I can speak it.
3. Can play the guitar?
4. I but I can't.
5. Yeah, cannot play either. |
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
The Qanat - Persian Water Systems of Old
The qanat is basically a groundwater collection and distribution system all in one. Attributed originally to the Persians, the technology was heavily used in the middle east (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, etc.) and ended up being used in many other parts of the world including India, northern Africa, China, Indonesia, Peru, northern Chile and even Mexico. The picture at right is the basic layout, but as you can imagine, the actual look of each qanat will vary according to the geology and hydrology present. In one respect, these were the first horizontally drilled wells in the world.
Construction was basically by hand with a few basic tools - plumb bobs, leather buckets, shovels, hatchets, ropes, reels and lights. The first step was to find the water source - usually associated with (upgradient from) an alluvial fan meeting the mountain or foothill. A test well was dug, which if successful, became the mother well. This information on water supply elevation, yield and quality were needed to design the rest of the system. The main channel could not be too flat (reduced yield) or too steep (erosional problems). A typical gradient would be 1 foot in 1000 feet of distance, but the longer qanats would require less gradient than that. In some cases original qanats were expanded with side channels. They were at times re-routed to provide cooling for ice houses and residences. Even retrofitted with power devices. They were community systems in every respect of the word.
The vertical shafts were multipurposed. They provided air, a transport avenue for the cuttings and maintenance access over time. They were typically spaced every 100 feet or so, but this distance would vary depending on the depth of the main channel and the material being excavated. Typically work began at the bottom (where the water was to be delivered) and worked back to the mother well, but in the longer systems, work could be started from both ends toward the middle. One needed very accurate plumb bobs in these cases.
The typical qanat would be on the order of two miles or so in length, but some have been measured to be 35 miles long. The shafts would range from 50 feet to in some cases 600 feet deep. Quite a construction job in that day and time. In fact, typically making 100 to 150 feet per day on the main channel, many qanats took years to build.
In antiquity, the job was hired out to specialized workers called muqannis, who not only built the systems, but maintained them too. These were important jobs - usually handed down from father to son - which paid reasonably well. It was also a dangerous job. Air quality and cave-ins were the main hazards. The entire community was responsible for the qanat's O&M - whether that be a do-it-yourself job or hire the muqannis.
How many qanats are there? It's hard to say, but it is estimated that as many as 50,000 were at one time in use in Iran alone. Today, only half of those are still in use. UNESCO reports 3,000 currently in use in Oman. One of the oldest and largest qanats is in the Iranian city of Gonabad. It is 2,700 years old and still provides water to 40,000 people - both domestic and limited irrigation. It's about 25 miles long, and the mother well at the end is just over 1,100 feet deep.
There is no question as to the importance of these early watering systems. I'm amazed at how many there were, how big they can be, how sophisticated they are and how long they have been in use. This had to be difficult work, but as has been said many times before, there is no substitute for water.
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What is Deep Learning?
dlIn recent years the concept of deep learning has been gaining widespread attention. The media frequently reports on talent acquisitions in this field, such as those by Google and Facebook, and startups which claim to employ deep learning are met with enthusiasm. Gratuitous comparisons with the human brain are frequent. But is this just a trendy buzz word? What exactly is deep learning and how is it relevant to developments in machine intelligence?
For many researchers, deep learning is simply a continuation of the multi-decade advancement in our ability to make use of large scale neural networks. Let’s first take a quick tour of the problems that neural networks and related technologies are trying to solve, and later we will examine the deep learning architectures in greater detail.
Machine learning generally breaks down into two application areas which are closely related: classification and regression. Continue reading
Simulating the Brain
Human BrainCan we scan, store and simulate the human brain, and with it bring to life all our memories, experiences, emotions, and personality? This is a big philosophical question, but here I assume for the moment that this is a problem with only technical challenges, and not ones that relate to mystical aspects of being.
The human brain contains around 75 billion neurons. If each one has at most 100,000 inputs, then we could store information about the sources of all Continue reading |
First Day
This year I am starting out at yet another new school teaching Spanish to grades 5-8. I have come up with a new set of structures and a very basic story script that I will be using in all of my classes, as they have never had TPRS before. The structures that I have chosen to focus on are: se llama, tiene, and es. This will allow me to better assess the students’ individual levels before we move into the next story. I have backwards planned 4 different TPRS novels and hope to actually post some of my planning/resources this year, so check back again soon!
To start the year off, I had each of the students make name tags. I am teaching 10 different classes with 25-27 students in each class, so these will be necessary! I went over some of the basics of TPRS and then we launched into some PQA. I had one volunteer come up to the front and I started circling using the target structures. I used this as an opportunity to teach the class a few TPRS skills, like signaling when they don’t understand, saying “Ahhhh…”, and hitting the desk when I say “Es ridiculo!” When I ran out of things to say about the first student, I brought up another one to compare and contrast.
Some of the phrases I circled included:
• Ella es una chica.
• Se llama Jessica. (I suggested a few times that the volunteer was named Taylor Swift or some other celebrity and the students loved it. They seem to think it’s even funnier when it’s someone they don’t particularly like, like Justin Bieber.)
• Jessica tiene dos hermanos. (I whispered with the student to find out and told the class the answer in Spanish. You could also ask the kids in Spanish if they had enough language ability to answer you. Whispering seems to make them more curious though.)
• Jessica tiene un gato. (This was a fun one to contrast “tiene” with “es”. I asked “Jessica ES un gato?” and got lots of laughs.)
• Jessica tiene pelo largo.
• Jessica es atlética. (Once again, I got this information from the student.)
When I started talking about penguins and elephants, a few students naturally started making up fake pets. I encouraged this by asking them detailed questions about the colour, size, and name of these pets and then sharing the details with the class.
Our next class will involve more PQA and descriptions like those above, though I might let them start using my celebrity masks if they get bored hearing about each other. Eventually we will work our way up to asking a story based on the script below. I’ve included some practice sentences and questions to ask students as well.
1. La chica se llama Cristina.
2. Manuel tiene un gato.
3. El gato se llama Fluffy.
4. Fluffy es muy gordo.
5. Señor Deis es muy alto.
6. Justin Bieber no tiene un iPod.
7. La profesora de español tiene tres hermanas.
8. Jennifer Lawrence tiene pelo largo.
9. Señor Pittman no tiene pelo.
1. ¿Cómo te llamas?
2. ¿Quién tiene un animal doméstico?
3. ¿Quién tiene un perro?
4. ¿Cuántos animales domésticos tienes?
5. ¿Cuántos hermanos tienes?
6. ¿Quién tiene pelo largo/corto?
7. ¿Cuántos años tienes?
8. ¿Quién es atlético/artístico/inteligente/simpático?
Ella es una chica. La chica se llama Gabriella. Ella es inteligente. Ella es guapa y atlética. Ella tiene un gato. El gato se llama Whiskers. Él es rojo. Él no es inteligente. Él es muy gordo. Gabriella tiene un problema. Ella no tiene un elefante. Gabriella tiene un gato, pero no tiene un elefante. Gabriella está triste porque Whiskers no es un elefante. Gabriella tiene un amigo. Su amigo se llama Jacob. Jacob tiene un elefante. Gabriella exclama, “Mamá, ¡no es justo! ¡No tengo un elefante!” Su mamá le responde, “Gabriella, un elefante no es un animal doméstico. ¡Es ridículo!”
Writing Scripts
I am happy to say that I am finally at the point in my TPRS career where I feel like I can write a story script! Surprisingly, it was not as hard as I thought it would be. Up until now, I have mostly been using Anne Matava and Jim Tripp scripts with my class. While there are some hilarious scripts, I started to feel like I was using a random collection of stories as my curriculum, and I didn’t like it. I wanted to have some sort of reason for choosing the structures I do. Of course I choose a lot of high frequency structures, but that didn’t narrow it down enough for me. After some emails back and forth with Martina Bex and some tweeting with Carrie Toth and Kristy Placido, I realized that I could backwards plan my lessons from the novel I want to study with my students. So this semester, I want to do Mira Canion’s La France en Danger et les secrets de Picasso with my French 10/20/30 split class. I started planning by going through the novel and picking out high-frequency structures or structures that were repeated throughout the novel that I thought my students would not already know. Sometimes I thought they would know “he/she wants” but not “they want” so I wrote down “they want” as a structure. They would likely recognize it, but I want them to be able to produce it so that when we read the novel, they can easily write about it and talk about it. Then when I had my list of structures, I looked it over and started picking phrases that I thought would go together well. It was partly random, but I was also trying to see which structures I could put together to create a story. Since it is getting close to Halloween, these are the structures I chose for the story we started today.
• s/he is no longer
• s/he is disguised as
• they want
• s/he does not see well
They may seem random, but 3/4 of them are very high-frequency structures. The other one (s/he is disguised as) adds some humour to the story, is relevant to the kids, and appears multiple times in the novel! Then I tried to think about how I could make this into a story. I also kept in mind structures that we had studied recently and thought about whether I could work them in somehow (ie. takes, gives, fortunately/unfortunately). This is is (somewhat boring) script I came up with. The great thing is, it doesn’t matter how bad your story is, because the students will change it into another story altogether! Here is what I came up with (in English). Email me if you would like a copy of the French version! I have written the script with all of the specific details are underlined – these are the things that your students can change when you “ask” the story. I generally write scripts and ask stories in the present tense and do readings in the past tense.
Jamie and Juliana want a cat. So they go to the pet store. But the salesman does not see well. He takes a shark and gives it to the girls. Jamie and Juliana do not want a shark. They are depressed. Fortunately, it is not a real shark, it is Chuck Norris disguised as a shark. Jamie and Juliana are no longer depressed.
Monica and Vahbiz want a unicorn. So they go to Disneyland. But Mickey Mouse does not see well. He takes a horse and it gives it to the girls. Vahbiz and Monica do not want a horse. They are angry. Fortunately, it is not a real horse, it is a penguin disguised as a horse. Monica and Vahbiz are no longer angry.
Jaemin and Alex want a leprechaun. So they go to the Lucky Charms factory. But the factory worker does not see well. He takes a pot of gold and gives it to the boys. Jaemin and Alex want a pot of gold. They are delighted. Unfortunately, it is not a real pot of gold. It is chocolate disguised as a pot of gold. Jaemin and Alex are no longer delighted.
The students never saw the original script, I just asked questions to get the answers I wanted. I started with, “There was a person. Who was it?” At first they were general. One person said, “A boy.” I asked for a name and we decided on Max. Sometimes I let the students decide, sometimes I decided arbitrarily, and sometimes I just picked the funniest answer. Then I asked if Max was tall or short. They said short and one girl suggested that he was a dwarf. I hadn’t done much circling at this point as these were all known structures and not what I was focusing on. I wanted there to be two people in the story, so next I said, “I have a secret!” When I say that, they all cup their ears, stomp a foot on the ground, and lean forward simultaneously. I told them he has a brother, and one kid called out that it was Shaquille O’Neal! We couldn’t go wrong from there. Here is the whole first location of the story that we came up with in the end. We still have lots left to create today!
There was a boy named Max . Max was a dwarf. He was charming , rich, and good-looking. His brother was Shaquille O’Neal. Max and Shaq wanted a dog. They did not want a normal dog , they wanted the dog Barack Obama. They wanted his dog because his dog was an amazing chihuahua. His dog was a big rainbow-coloured chihuahua. It was as big as a horse. So they went to the White House by magic carpet . Barack Obama was at the White House , but Miley Cyrus was also there. Miley Cyrus could not see well. She was nearly blind and she needed glasses. She had no glasses because a wrecking ball struck her glasses and now they are broken into pieces. So, because Miley Cyrus could not see well , she took Barack Obama’s cat and gave it to the boys. Max and Shaq did not want a cat. They were sad, but they did not cry . Instead of crying , they took Barack Obama’s big chihuahua secretly . Unfortunately, it was not a real dog , but Michelle Obama disguised as a dog. Max and Shaq were no longer sad, they were completely depressed.
Supply Teaching in Canada
Unexpected Details
A while ago I went to The Comic Strip to see Jon Dore perform. He was very entertaining and I was quite impressed overall. I am always in awe when I see comedians perform so successfully for a crowd, and this night was no exception. I have always thought that being a comedian must be terrifying, especially when you see those comedians that just flop completely. You can’t help but feel sorry for them, while at the same time being thankful that it’s not you that is up there. Over the course of the night however, I started to think that there were actually a lot of similarities between being a teacher and a comedian – both of us are up on a “stage” trying to reach out to a room full of people. Comedians try to entertain the crowd while teachers try to engage students.
As I was thinking along these lines, I began to notice that Dore’s best jokes were the ones with the unexpected punch lines. This is not a surprise for most people interested in comedy. As the Wikipedia article on punch lines says: “Punch lines generally derive their humor from being unexpected.” And Blaine Ray has always said that you don’t necessarily have to be a certain personality type to be an effective TPRS teacher, and that using unexpected details is the key to being able to tell funnier and more interesting stories. I think after watching this comedian and paying close attention to what was funny and why, I finally understand what he means by this! |
Scientists were tantalized when the Cassini spacecraft discovered molecules in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan that were too big for its onboard instruments to analyze.
Now an international team led by University of Arizona graduate student Sarah Hörst proposes that some of those molecules may be the precursors of life.
Hörst is excited about that aspect of her discovery.
She is also excited that her team's experiment may be the first to have produced these "prebiotic molecules" without using water.
She is excited, quite frankly, about every aspect of what she does in her research at the UA's Department of Planetary Sciences.
"The most exciting thing of all is that we're just beginning to understand the kinds of chemistry that atmospheres are capable of doing," Hörst said when asked to choose just one thing to be excited about.
Planetary scientists have long thought Titan to be one of the most suitable places in our solar system for life to develop. It has a thick, hazy atmosphere that was suspected to contain a variety of simple molecules.
Cassini, which flew through the upper reaches of its atmosphere, was able to identify many of its constituents. Its onboard mass spectrometer, which measures the masses and relative concentrations of atoms and molecules, wasn't prepared to deal with the unpredicted, larger molecules it encountered.
Hörst, working with collaborators in Paris, prepared samples of Titan's atmospheric components - methane, nitrogen and carbon monoxide - that were zapped with radio waves to mimic the accelerated impact of sunlight on the upper reaches of Titan's atmosphere. Analysis with a sophisticated mass spectrometer in Grenoble, France, signaled the presence of a lot of unidentified molecules in the aerosol produced by the experiment.
Hörst developed a computer program that searched that data specifically for the compounds known to be precursors of proteins that combine to make RNA and DNA - the stuff of life on Earth. She found 18 molecules whose makeup made them good candidates.
With further analysis, she was able to name seven of them: glycine and alanine, the simplest amino acids, and adenine, cytosine, uracil, thymine and guanine, nucleotide bases of RNA and DNA.
She presented a poster outlining her results at this month's Planetary Science Division meeting of the American Astronomical Society. It attracted lots of attention, with articles in Science and National Geographic.
Hers was the latest in a long line of "life in a bottle" experiments that have tried to simulate the process by which energy transforms chemistry into biology. A paper produced by the team is currently being vetted for publication, and no reviewer has yet challenged the claim that this is the first time prebiotic molecules have been produced without adding water, Hörst said.
So what's it all mean?
Well, conservatively speaking, it means that you can concoct an experiment with some known components of Titan's atmosphere, hit them with a power source that approximates the effect of the sun's rays, and find some of the prebiotic building blocks of life.
Theoretically, it means those prebiotic molecules and others might rain down on the frozen surface of Titan and someday encounter the conditions that we think may have created life.
"Some might criticize the experiment because it found what it was looking for," said Mark Smith, head of the Chemistry Department at the UA and a member of the research team.
But Smith said these chemicals show up because "the forces of chemistry and bonding and thermodynamics tend to favor certain molecules. These building blocks of life are building blocks because they're thermodynamically and kinetically favored," Smith said.
"It's quite cool," Smith said, and it brings scientists closer to knowing what the "feed stock" was when life began on Earth, in addition to allowing them to theorize about future life on Titan.
Smith and Hörst both said the experiment also gives NASA scientists a better idea of where to look and what instruments to bring along should they decide to revisit Saturn and its moons.
Contact reporter Tom Beal at or 573-4158. |
Time Management Definition (6)
Dictionary of words from business, investing, self help and politics.
Glossary of Business Terms - Time Management
Time Management : Time management refers to the ability to properly plan and use time in order to promote efficiency and productivity. Instead of actually managing time itself, the term refers to the management of activities and processes that occur during a general or specified period of time.
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The term "time management" is most commonly associated with self-help tools or as part of project management. Many self-help tools, books, and seminars are designed to empower people and give them more control over planning their lives and activities. This usually encompasses time management skills and helps people acquire the motivation and incentive to better plan their days and months in order to accomplish specific goals. Companies and managers use the term in short term projects by defining target goals that will be met during the course of a project.
Personal time management usually begins by identifying specific goals and tasks and breaking them down into smaller tasks that can be accomplished over a given period of time. Each task is usually assigned a deadline and a duration of time over which it should be accomplished. Smaller tasks can be assigned a period of hours or days where larger goals and tasks have deadlines of weeks or months. By breaking down large goals and projects, individuals then have a greater sense of what is needed to accomplish the goal and generally feel more empowered and confident in their ability to achieve it.
Also called : Management of Time, To Do List, Productive Use of Time, or Time Manager
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Legal lexicography
From LawGuru Wiki
Legal lexicography is a term used to describe the complex of activities that are concerned with the design, compilation, use and evaluation of dictionaries within the field of law.
As a branch of the general discipline lexicography, legal lexicography may be divided into theoretical legal lexicography and practical legal lexicography. The result of practical legal lexicography is called a law dictionary.
Legal lexicography is not just about terms, but also about language and usage. Especially when making bilingual law dictionaries, the lexicographers need to take a broad view of what legal lexicography involves. Most users of bilingual law dictionaries need information about language and law, and the lexicographer's task is to present the information as clearly and structured as possible. This involves various lexicographic analyses: user research, dictionary typology, and a clear structure for presenting and linking the information in the dictionary. The information must be presented in such a way that the user is not burdened with heavy lexicographic information costs.
The aim of legal lexicography is to sugest principles and strategies that lead to good law dictionaries. A good monolingual law dictionary will contain relevant terms with appropriate definitions, and if the purpose of the dictionary is to facilitate legal translation, e.g. a bilingual law dictionary, it will contain definitions, translation equivalents and other relevant information such as collocation and phrases in the source language and in the target language.
[edit] Relevant literature
• Sandro Nielsen: The Bilingual LSP Dictionary. Principles and Practice for Legal Language. Gunter Narr Verlag 1994.
[edit] External links
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Fires of Freedom
During the debates which preceded the ratification of the United States Constitution, James Madison said that “Liberty is to Faction what air is to Fire…” Madison knew that the Fires of Faction could destroy Liberty, but he also knew that Faction could not be eliminated, except by resorting to one of two unacceptable or impossible extremes: (1) the extinction of Liberty, or (2) the transformation of men into angels. Thus, Madison proposed a middle ground: Control and Leverage the Fires of Faction to kindle the Fires of Freedom. James Madison saw the U.S. Constitution as the mechanism by which this end could be achieved.
This lecture explores those principles and mechanisms of the U.S. Constitution by which the Fires of Faction were to be pitted and balanced in the greatest "controlled burn" that history has ever seen. The desired result: Fires of Freedom.
The Fire of Government - a Troublesome servant, a Fearful master
President Washington is quoted as saying that "Government [is]... like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master." If government is like fire, kindled by the People to keep themselves warm, then who else ought to contain it if not the same People who ignited it?
This lecture discusses the role of the People in providing a check and a balance against the Fire of Government, a troublesome servant, a fearful master.
The U.S. Constitution: The Debate Continues
Most people believe that the founding fathers enjoyed unprecedented unity in their creation of this nation. In retrospect, naturally, it would seem so, but the unity we see in their fruits arose primarily from their unity in mutual respect and perseverance despite great differences. The U.S. Constitution came about only after a long and difficult season of sowing and toiling in the fields of debate, compromise, and politicking. In fact, even after ratification, the founding generation was still quite divided over many core issues, and each side planned to influence the new nation and its new constitution accordingly.
The Great Debate over the U.S. Constitution continues to the present day, and our privilege is to join the debate with the full commitment and fervor of our forefathers, and influence how society defines just what the U.S. Constitution means. To influence this debate, however, one must have faith in its prospects, and know its history, its principles, its successes, its failings, its strengths, and its weaknesses. This lecture hopes to provide an impetus for more deliberate participation in the Great Debate.
Federalism: The Great Experiment
This lecture explores the benefits and detriments of a "federal" as opposed to a "national" form of government. Listeners should leave this lecture with a clearer understanding of the gamble involved as this nation continues its path towards a more "national" form. Related topics include state rights, the 14th amendment, the incorporation doctrine, and judicial activism.
Equality by Plato, Aristotle, and Tocqueville
Equality is increasingly becoming a point of view rather than a mainstay principle of society. But only one definition of Equality is congruent with Rule of Law, as has been elaborated on by such great minds as Plato, Aristotle, Tocqueville, and others. This lecture explores the role, even the necessity, of a proper concept of equality in order to maintain rule of law and social order.
Rule of Law and Judicial Activism
Aristotle said "Law is reason, not passion." This lecture analyses cases where the Supreme Court of the United States (which claims the unique privilege of being the final arbiter on just what the U.S. Constitution means) has arguably left the foundations of well-reasoned conclusion in favor of a more trending or passion-motivated conclusion. The signature tokens of passion-driven vs. logic-driven analysis are identified. The subjects are raised of (1) why Reason and Rule of Law are inextricably related, and (2) what role, if any, trends and passions ought to play in the law at large and in the courts.
The Marriage of Morality and Civility
Society is a delicate union of Morality and Civility not unlike the marriage relationship. This lecture employs the analogy of marriage to illuminate the proper balance between these two forces in society today.
Social Complementarity
In society, as in nature, yin and yang complementary relationships are evident. Complementary relationships result in synergistic growth and accomplishment. On the other hand, adversarial relationships result in the success of only one at the expense of the other. Sometimes people confuse a complementary with an adversarial relationship. In this lecture, the distinct attributes of complementary and adversarial relationships are identified. Also, the fallacious ideas and attitudes which can make even complementary relationships adversarial are also identified. Among those relationships discussed are Faith and Reason, Morality and Civility, Man and Woman, Passion and Reason, and more.
The Civil War: The Bounds of Unity
The Civil War was a unique event in history that tested the bonds of unity between diverging cultures within the same civil body politic. The power of the social contract was tested and the interplay between such relationships as nationalism and individualism, morality and civility, martial and civil law, freedom and subjection, etc. was made acutely evident in these extreme circumstances. This lecture uses the context of the civil war to make clear the powerful social and political forces that underlie our relative peace and prosperity today.
The New Tragedy of the Commons
In the original tragedy of the commons, individuals could not act in the collective self-interest to preserve the commons. Their self-interest resulted in its overuse and destruction. The principles taught by the tragedy of the commons apply to a much greater context than mere economics, but also apply to how a civilized society is maintained and preserved from eventual destruction. This lecture explores what selfish interests are at play in modern society which tend to destroy common good, and the mindset that leads to the abandonment of the greater common interest.
What is Due Process of Law?
Law is the application of universal maxims to individual situations. Universal maxims are a unique phenomenon of rational beings, who can see in their minds rules, generalities, and counsels that are not immediately evident in isolated contexts. Humanity naturally applies and trusts in the refining process of reason, deduction, logic and, yes, even law, to order, understand, and manage the world around it. At the most fundamental level, then, due process of law means that legal rules and conclusions are not reached arbitrarily, but by the application of some objective process that the people universally believe is capable of bringing just results. This lecture explores how the U.S. Constitutions is uniquely a rule of processes rather than of moral commandments, whose design is to bring about objectively sound results even amidst a morally diverse society. This lecture further explores how due process of law can be easily frustrated by well-intentioned but unenlightened moral interests and motives.
Federal Courts v. State Rights
This lecture is an educational journey through the historical debates about the proper relationship between the Federal Judiciary and the States, from the Declaration of Independence, to Shay's Rebellion, from the Civil War to the present day. This seminar was conceived in light of the increasing conflict between Supreme Court decision and State laws, and is designed to introduce participants to the risks and benefits of our present system and how it has evolved to this point. Hopefully participants will leave the seminar with a feeling of the gravity of these debates and their impact on the future of American Republicanism.
Separation of Church and State: Calvin, Winthrop, and Adams
Separation of Church and State is a concept which developed long after this nation already had states where an official church was established. This lecture explores why the founders, who because of their experience should have feared most the union of Church and State, did not go so far as the complete separation that is now the norm.
For the Laws had become Corrupted
The original philosophy and principles of the U.S. Constitution have suffered degradation in a most fundamental way. With only minor revisions, the Constitution has become an entirely new document simply because it is now interpreted inside of an entirely new philosophical context. The lecture explores how a system of virtuous social responsibility has dissolved into a system of vicious individual rights, in particular, through a review of the history and development of the following doctrines: Freedom of Speech, Free Exercise of Religion, Establishment Clause, Privacy Rights, Judicial Review, Checks and Balances, Self-government, and more.
Origins of Rule of Law
This lecture surveys the writings of the greatest minds concerning the origin, development, and maintenance of a rule of law, from the Hebrews, to the Greeks, to the Romans, to the modern day.
The Rise of the Anti-Christian Philosophy
A philosophy is emerging which is fundamentally antithetical to the precepts of Christian faith, values, and goals. This lecture explores the fundamental assumptions, doctrines, and teaching of Christianity and then compares them to the emerging modern worldview.
Morality through the novel Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre reveals in a dramatic context the various moral values which we may seize upon in the midst of challenging decisions and circumstances. The study of how we come to know or believe certain moral truths or principles is known as epistemology. Through the dramatic story of Jane Eyre this lecture explores the various epistemological methods by which we come to make life's most important decisions.
The Fire of Corporations - the Flare for Profit
Should a corporation be treated as an existence independent from its officers, directors, and shareholders? If so, how can corporations be "charitable" or "just" or "good"? Can a corporation as a practical matter ever seriously adopt a value greater than making a profit? Wouldn't it cease to be competitive and die if did not make profit its highest priority? How can the corporate entity be leveraged to truly benefit society in more ways than merely economically? This lecture explores these questions.
The Uniform Hypocrisy of Modern Philosophy
Many are the philosophies that draw conclusions and demand actions which ultimately must undermine their original premise and motive. But in order to identify them one must be able to reason more than one or two steps away from the original proposition. Logical Fallacies, Sophistry, and Deceit run rampant within our society because our education assigns so little value to the original Trivium of education, Logic, Rhetoric, and Grammar. This lecture identifies a few major modern philosophical trends that defy common sense and reason at several levels -- e.g. logically, taxonomically, anthropologically, and so forth. Such fallen philosophies can only exist in a society plagued with a high lack of intellectual discipline and a widespread absence of rational discernment. In such societies - passionate, reckless and undiscerning - emotion quickly becomes the governing factor.
A Jurisprudence of Rights without Duties
The Story of the Little Red Hen probably best shows the motives and interests that lead a nation to a state of "rights without duties." Beginning with this story to set the context, this lecture then analyzes the social and political mechanisms by which people with these selfish motives have actually gained political clout and transformed the face of American law and culture. Finally, the lecture opens up to a discussion as to viable methods to prevent the enslavement of the dutiful by those who demand rights without corresponding duty or merit.
The Tyranny of Tolerance
Tolerance, as an ethical duty, is today very different than it was yesterday. This change is due to a shift in the fundamental presumptions and aims of society which have altered social concepts such as justice, equality, and rights. This lecture explores this shift, its causes, and its ominous portent.
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Caused by a variant of Salmonella known as Typhi, typhoid is contracted by drinking or eating contaminated matter and remains a major health threat in developing countries.Wikimedia Commons
After the recent malaria concerns, it is now the turn of an antibiotic-resistant superbug strain of typhoid bacterium that is spreading globally and posing a public health threat.
A landmark genomic study, with contributors from over two dozen countries, and led by Vanessa Wong, an infectious-disease specialist at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, UK, sequenced the genomes of more than 1,800 S Typhi samples from 63 countries.
The study shows the H58 strain of S Typhi arising from an unrecognised epidemic in Africa is displacing established typhoid fever strains, completely transforming the genetic architecture of the disease.
The resistant strain comprised 47% of the samples and showed widespread resistance to a number of antibiotics, reports Nature.
"Global surveillance at this scale is critical to address the ever-increasing public health threat caused by multidrug resistant typhoid," says Vanessa Wong.
Overuse of older antibiotics has helped drive the H58 epidemic in Africa, believes the team which has also begun to see cases of resistance to newer antibiotics, such as fluoroquinolones and azithromycin.
Comparing the genomes of the H58 samples suggests that the strain originated in south Asia 25 to 30 years ago, before spreading to the Middle East and the Pacific Islands.
The bacteria also jumped multiple times from Asia into East Africa, and then spread into southern Africa through trade routes.
"H58 is an example of an emerging multiple drug-resistant pathogen which is rapidly spreading around the world," says Professor Gordon Dougan, senior author from the Sanger Institute.
The latest report comes from Blantyre, Malawi, where 782 cases of typhoid were identified last year, up from an average of just 14 per year between 1998 and 2010. The proportion of infections that were resistant to multiple antibiotics jumped from 7% to 97% over the same period.
"Multidrug-resistant typhoid has been coming and going since the 1970s and is caused by the bacteria picking up novel antimicrobial resistance genes, which are usually lost when we switch to a new drug," says Dr Kathryn Holt, senior author from the University of Melbourne.
"In H58, these genes are becoming a stable part of the genome, which means multiple antibiotic-resistant typhoid is here to stay."
Typhoid is difficult to distinguish from other diseases that cause fever, such as malaria. To confirm a typhoid diagnosis, physicians must collect and culture bacteria from the infected person, a process that takes days and is not always feasible in poor countries.
Causes and symptoms
Caused by a variant of Salmonella known as Typhi, typhoid is contracted by drinking or eating contaminated matter and remains a major health threat in developing countries, particularly in areas with poor sanitation.
Symptoms include nausea, fever, abdominal pain and pink spots on the chest. Untreated, the disease can lead to complications which prove fatal in up to 20% of patients.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are 22 million cases of the disease each year worldwide.
There are vaccines for typhoid, but they are effective for only a short time and are not widely administered.
Fears over drug-resistant malaria parasite with 40% samples showing clear signs of artemisinin drug resistance in a region close to the India-Myanmar border has recently sent alarm bells ringing of a global epidemic once the strain crosses into India and spreads globally.
As many as 80,000 people could die if there was an outbreak of a drug-resistant blood infection in Britain, with numbers infected as high as 200,000, a recent forecast by the National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies, had said.
Dr Margaret Chan, the director general of the World Health Organization, had warned last year about the dire consequences of emerging drug resistance when she said: "Things as common as strep throat or a child's scratched knee could once again kill."
Indiscriminate and improper use of antibiotics has led to the rising global health catastrophe of drug-resistant superbugs. Antibiotic use has risen by 36% globally during the last decade alone. |
World's Largest Sheet Music Selection
Debussy: Douze Etudes
IV. Pour les Sixtes
By Claude Debussy
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IV. Pour les Sixtes. Composed by Claude Debussy (1862-1918). Classical. Part. 3 pages. Published by Alfred Music - Digital Sheet Music (AX.00-PC-0004133).
Item Number: AX.00-PC-0004133
Claude Debussy's 12 Études were composed in 1915, in memory of Frederic Chopin. He admits that these are extremely difficult to play, and describes them as "a warning to pianists not to take up the musical profession unless they have remarkable hands." Includes: Étude 1 (5 fingers, "after Monsieur Czerny") * Étude 2 (thirds) * Étude 3 (fourths) * Étude 4 (sixths) * Étude 5 (octaves) * Étude 6 (eight fingers) * Étude 7 (chromatic degrees) * Étude 8 (ornaments) * Étude 9 (repeated notes) * Étude 10 (opposing sonorities) * Étude 11 (composite arpeggios) * Étude 12 (chords).
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