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king rate
(Noun) male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
Usage: The king Carlos I went to a conference in Europe
king rate
(Adult / Slang)
1. Americanism of 1960s for a male who assumes the active role in anal intercourse. See sodomite for synonyms. See also: queen.
2. Lesbian slang for a very masuline lesbian, a bull dyke.
king rate
(Noun) some one who is a ruler
Usage: is william lomax a king in the south?
king rate
(Noun) the husband of a queen
Usage: The king was very happy that his kingdom was saved from the evil dragon.
King rate
(Noun) The ruler of a monarchy who passes his realm to his sons.
Usage: The King passed his crown to the prince
king rate
(Noun) Someone, preferably of royal blood, ruling over a country or province.
Usage: The king ordered for him to be executed.
king rate
(Noun) a supreme ruler.
king rate
(Noun) the husband of the queen
king rate
(Noun) a ruler or emperor
Usage: He is not a king!
king rate
(Noun) The head of a monarchy.
king rate
(Noun) The leader of a kingdom.
king rate
(Noun) the ruler
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chemical property
Also found in: Dictionary, Medical, Wikipedia.
• noun
Words related to chemical property
a property used to characterize materials in reactions that change their identity
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The scheme the chemists propose works something like a bucket brigade, with the dangerous chemical property being passed from one molecule to the next.
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Customers have requested tight integration of DecisionSiteTM with Daylight software to expand access to chemical property information," said Ed Tobin, vice president Spotfire professional services.
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11/05/2013 10:13 am ET | Updated Jan 23, 2014
The Most Common Birds of the Bible
As long as humans have been breathing they've been investing birds with meaning. They are not just bones and feathers -- they are strength or hope, omen or oracle. You find birds in the ancient mythologies of almost every culture. They are all over the Bible -- from start to finish.
When I tell people this, they often look at me with a puzzled expression, as if I am exaggerating. But it's true -- if you look you will find them. God hovers over the face of the water in Genesis, the Talmud suggests, like a dove. Birds gorge on the flesh of the defeated "beast" in Revelation. They are the currency of mercy -- the birds of sacrifice. They bring bread to the prophets. They are food for the wanderers. Abraham has to shoo them away from his offering, and a pigeon goes with Jesus on his first visit to the temple. God is a bird who carries the Israelites on her wings -- a bird under whose feathers we will find refuge. Jesus compares himself to a hen. He asks his hearers to "consider the birds." I love this about him. He says this could keep us from being anxious. Maybe we don't need medication after all, maybe we could just slow down, pay attention, and watch birds.
As a preacher charged with finding the good news in the strange and beautiful ancient scripture, I am always looking for new angles into the text -- something that might reveal deeper layers of meaning. I thought taking the birds seriously as characters (minor as they might be) could lead down some interesting and unusual paths.
It's worked pretty well for me -- following the raven, for example. Before Noah sends out the well-known dove from the ark, he releases a raven. If the raven's purpose was meant to be the same as the dove's, then it must have failed in its mission. Because of this the raven is often condemned. Philo, the Jewish commentator, said it was a symbol of Satan. Augustine said it personified impure men and procrastinators.
Raven's don't sing. They croak. They look a little menacing. They have represented war and destruction, doom, the void, annihilation, death. They are also highly intelligent. One study determined that they fall in love. In the Bible, they haunt the ruins of cities laid waste by the wrath of God. But it is also the bird that flies in to feed Elijah when he is stranded in the desert.
In Matthew, Jesus says "Consider the birds of the air." In Luke, he says, more specifically, "Consider the raven." The raven isn't pure or innocent -- it fails, it blunders, it's noble, it's shifty -- much like us. Jesus says consider it and don't be anxious. God feeds the carrion eating procrastinator. God will care for you. Innocence is not a prerequisite.
Considering the birds is different than considering rocket science or technology; it gets you thinking different thoughts about creatures, creation, and the creator. A bird's flight is amazing. It can grow a new feather in two weeks -- it can also be wiped out so easily. Many birds are on the brink of extinction. Without human influence (habitat destruction, climate change), the expected rate of extinction for birds would be around one species per century. Some reports say we are losing ten species a year. Considering the birds might motivate us to press for more responsible human behavior. If, as Emily Dickinson wrote, "Hope is the thing with feathers," you'd think we'd be passionate about keeping it alive. |
List of deadly diseases viruses mar there are many diseases that are dangerous to mankind whether they are incurable chronically lethal or acutely deadly certain illnesses have dire cancer facts and statistics american cancer. Society the american cancer society provides the most current trends in cancer occurrence and survival as well as information on symptoms prevention early detection and for women the most deadliest cancer isnt breast for women the most deadliest most deadly cancer Lung Cancer cancer most deadly cancer in the world isnt breast like most women.
Have always thought that the cancer that threatened me most most deadly cancer was breast cancer what is the list of top cancers which are most what is the list of top cancers which are most aggressive most deadly and with worst survival prognosis by ryszard fri nov pm types of skin cancer about read that there are many types of skin cancer and that some are even deadly what are the different types of skin cancer what symptoms should look for deadliest cancers coalition the deadliest cancers coalition was established in by the pancreatic cancer action network and other patient advocacy organizations and professional societies the most deadly form of skin cancer is called game aug where does cancer occur symptomfind may melanoma most deadly form cancer diagnosed between toes are vulnerable type cancer called acral report pancreatic.
Cancer second most deadly by lung cancer is already the top killer overall but pancreatic and liver cancer will surpass the cancers currently considered the second and why is ovarian cancer so deadly qualityhealth why is ovarian cancer so deadly find out what makes this form of cancer so fatal for women that ovarian cancer has been called the silent killer eight most deadly infectious diseses university of arizona eight most deadly infectious diseases vs disease cause stomach cancer copd aids traffic accidents measles most deadly cancer woman suicide self deadliest skin.
Cancers found on head neck using this measure investigators have found that the deadliest skin cancers occur most often on the head and neck of older men with long history of sun exposure vitamin treatment for deadliest form of breast cancer (naturalnews) research just published in the journal of cell biology reveals two important discoveries about one of the most aggressive and difficult to treat forms what is the most deadly form of cancer answerbag may what is.
The most deadly form of cancer lung cancer followed by colorectal cancer newsweek by geoffrey cowley and claudia kalbaug which cancers are most deadly aggressive cancer treatment target identified by ty bollinger ontry it now!posted by ty bollinger on out what the julythis which cancers most deadly cancer Lung Cancer are most deadly. |
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The influence of media and press on society.
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Transcript of The influence of media and press on society.
By: Mariana Valencia, Camila Orozco and María Sofía Álvarez.
1. Definitions of Media and Press.
3. Influence of Media on Society and on youngsters.
4. Positive and negative effects of Media on Society.
5. Influence of Press on Society.
6. Positive and negative effects of Press on Society.
7. Examples.
8. Video.
9. Bibliography.
Definitions of media and press.
Media is defined as the communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are disseminated.
Magazines, newspapers, TV, radio and internet.
While Press is defined as all periodicals such as daily newspapers, biweeklies, weeklies or magazines.
Over the past 50 years, media influence has grown exponentially. First there was the telegraph, then the radio, the newspaper, magazines, television and now the Internet.
We live in a society that depends on information and communication for so many aspects:
To perform our daily activities like work
Health care
Personal relationships
Stay informed about current events
Media should be:
However, some media is:
Negative Oriented
Crime Encouraging
And, sometimes, gives bogus news.
Influence of Media on our Society.
Our ideologies, thoughts and decisions depend highly on media.
Media plays an extensive role in an individual’s daily life.
Our daily activities depend heavily on the information that is provided and communicated to us.
Negative effects of Media on Society.
Some news given in the media create negative feelings in the mind.
Health problems.
Violence learned by children.
Pleasure in playing video games.
Positive effects of media on society:
The distance is not at all a barrier now for getting the latest news.
The media helps people to exchange information.
T.V. programs teach values to children.
Other effects of media on society:
The fashion shows, dance and music programs attract youngsters very much.
The middle aged persons are stuck up with TV serials and show much interest in raising social status, by wasting money.
The children may learn good things through media.
Increases reading habits and vocabulary.
The cartoon channels make the children happy.
Some games can increase their logical thinking power.
Advertising shows a product or a service for the people or the society.
Creates unnecessary needs and their desires are converted into needs.
When the people consume in an uncontrolled way, the values of society are distorted and there is more garbage, more damage for the planet.
Influence of Media and Advertising in Society.
Influence/role of press in Society.
Press and media have a similar influence.
Holding government leaders accountable to the people.
Publicizing issues that need attention.
Educating citizens so they can make informed decisions.
Connecting people with each other in civil society.
How media should be:
Free from Pressure.
Fact Finding.
Nation Building.
Positive effects of press on society:
In some governments, it encourages democracy, freedom and press liberty.
Press is a needed mean of communication because society has to be informed of the issues that happen in their world.
Negative effects of press on society:
In some governments, press is manipulated to maintain society suppressed and subordinated.
Society does not get accurate information.
Bad News, bad Press.
In some governments, press works as a manipulable tool for it. In this way, for controlling the society, politicians alter news, press and media and try to convince people about their policies and their governments because "they are the best".
Victoria’s Secret: Recently they made irresponsible marketing with their new campaign for bras:
This campaign makes women insecure.
Body proportions
Promotes unhealthy and unrealistic standards of beauty.
This advertising made a big impact in women society.
They made a movement against that poster.
Victoria’s Secret changed the slogan of the campaign for “A Body For Every Body”.
1. the competition between the two girls is about who is more popular, and has better looks.
2. The boy has to be an athlete, no other option.
3. The “price” is the boy.
4. Teenagers ave to follow this stories despite they are not totally developed.
Do you base your fashion on what you see the celebrities are wearing?
Do you dress according to the trends?
Do you copy the hairstyle of your favorite famous personalities?
Have you ever attempted to walk model-like in an attempt to imitate those ramp models in fashion shows?
Has the media influenced your life?
2. Introduction.
Media and Press come in many forms:
Music, among others.
The big international corporations spend millions of dollars on publicity to establish a patron in media in order to compare whats wrong and whats right, whats pretty and whats ugly.
Sends a message saying that what they are selling, is the best and that YOU should buy it.
Do you control what you think? Or does the media and the press?
Influence of Media on Young people.
Young people idolize their role models/celebrities despite all their wrongdoings highlighted by the entertainment society.
Negative consequences of Media on youngsters.
Suffering from eating disorders.
Unhealthy lifestyles.
Media showcases this lifestyle as fun activities despite their negative effect on health.
Media hypes the acceptability of vices.
Negative consequences of media on youngsters.
Media has replaced books, studying, playing outdoors.
No physical activity.
They end up reading and learning things, which are not suitable for their age.
Media makes the people hungry for trivial information and rumors.
Negative effects of media on society.
Press: The role of newspaper in the modern society.
Newspapers convey the latest happenings in different parts worldwide.
Big corporate houses and business houses promote their products by publishing ads on papers.
The readers get the knowledge of any and every activity happening in and around their area.
The modern day paper also has a column, the letter to the editor section, in which the reader can write about his grievances or appreciation about any report or incident in the society. The newspaper also informs about the political activities, the new laws or the sports and activities happening in the society.
A modern day paper has shown that even in the age of internet, news portal, radio and television, newspaper can still change the life, the thoughts and mind of the society. They can still help in creating a common opinion and work as a corporate social responsible tool and fight for justice if needed. They can change the government or help in punishing a criminal by simply acquiring public support and demanding justice.
This is one of the major tools of democracy.
The role of newspapers in the modern society.
2. They create false expectations:
-“It's not unusual to hear that even death may be a side-effect of a non-prescripted drug.”
3. They have an important influence in political elections
Political campaigns use press as a source to create an idea and a first impression that helps them win more votes
Using cultural elements: In advertising they are using cultural elements such as religion, art and others to promote or sell the product. This is disrespectful for the non-commercial organizations and it misprizes the value of the images.
Full transcript |
Guhguihihuih Fbcdc
What do scientists do? How can I become one?
by Guhguihihuih Fbcdc
1 answer
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1 answer
RE: What do scientists do? How can I become one?
Apurva Kumar Pandya, PhD
Apurva Kumar Pandya, PhD
Verified Career Expert
Consulting Psychologist
• Delhi
Dear Aspirant,
Thanks for putting up your query at! Well, your question is very broad. Answering your questions, without adequate information about your area of study, and career interests. I would specifically like to learn from you,preferred area of study, your interests, and skills.
I will try to provide broad answer, which may perhaps help you.
What do scientists do?
Scientists are professionals who study specific theme of the broad domain (pro-social behavior, physiological reaction to medicine, brain etc. ), its pattern and explain how things work using scientific methodology. They identify factors, processes or laws that facilitates certain measurable outcomes.
How they do?
• Observe
• Classify
• Measure/Test
• Analyze
• Infer/Predict
• Communicate research outcomes
• Utilize outcomes for future research/policy or program
Areas of study:
Scientist work in following areas, but not limited to:
• Engineering and Technology
• Social Science (Psychology, Sociology, Social Work etc.)
• Public Health & nutrition
• Pure Science (Maths, biology, chemistry, botany etc.)
• Medicine & Pharmacology
How to become Scientists:
Minimum qualification to become scientist is masters' education in respect field. Research degree such as MPhil/PhD is always preferred and desirable. There are various exams for Government jobs as Scientists. As per your area of interest, you can find out such competitive exams which can land you a good job as Scientist in Government's Research institutes.
Hope this is helpful. If you still have queries, feel free to revert back.
With Best Wishes,
Apurva Kumar Pandya, PhD
In order to post replies to the question: "What do scientists do? How can I become one?"
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chp34_5 - then Φ B = BA and ε = -d Φ B /dt = -A dB/dt =...
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PHY2061 R. D. Field Department of Physics chp34_5.doc University of Florida Lenz’s Law Example ( Loop of Wire in a Changing Magnetic Field ): A wire loop with a radius, r , of 1 meter is placed in a uniform magnetic field. Suppose that the electromagnetic is suddenly switched off and the strength of the magnetic field decreases at a rate of 20 Tesla per second . What is the induced EMF in the loop (in Volts)? If the resistance of the loop, R, is 5 Ohms, what is the induced current in the loop (in Amps)? What is the direction of the induced current? What is the magnitude and direction of the magnetic field produced by the induced current ( the induced magnetic field ) at the center of the circle? Answers: If I choose my orientation to be counterclockwise
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Unformatted text preview: then Φ B = BA and ε = -d Φ B /dt = -A dB/dt = -( π r 2 )(-20T/s) = 62.8 V . The induced current is I = ε /R = (62.8 V)/(5 Ω ) = 12.6 A . Since ε is positive the current is flowing in the direction of my chosen orientation ( counterclockwise ). The induced magnetic field at the center of the circle is given by B ind = 2 π kI/r = (2 π x 10-7 Tm/A)(12.6 A)/(1 m) = 7.9 µ T and points out of the paper . Lenz’s Law: It is a physical fact not a law or not a consequence of sign conventions that an electromagnetic system tends to resist change. Traditionally this is referred to as Lenz’s Law: Induced EMF’s are always in such a direction as to oppose the change that generated them. B-out changing with time r Loop...
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Civics Final Study Guide
Home > Preview
The flashcards below were created by user wennifer08 on FreezingBlue Flashcards.
1. What is the government in which power is held by the people and exercised either directly or through representation, usually determined by elections?
2. What is the term for the power of government to make decisions for itself within its own territory or jurisdiction with the freedom from foreign control?
3. What is the term that describes the right of an arrested person to be brought before a judge who determines whether his/her imprisonment is legal?
Corpus Act
4. What was the name for the plan for the pilgrim colony, also considered America’s first written constitution?
Mayflower Compact
5. Who were the first people to develop democracy?
Greeks in Athens, Greece
6. At the time of the American Revolution, what elements of government fif the colonies have?
Bill of Rights
7. Who was the delegate chosen to write the Declaration of Independence?
Thomas Jefferson
8. The Intolerable Acts were imposed on the colonies after what action?
Boston Tea Party (BTP)
9. What was the main problem with the Articles of Confederation?
Gave too much power to the states
10. What is the system of government in which the power is shared between the central government and state governments?
11. What is the change or addition to a document or plan, such as the Constitution?
12. Who were the opponents of the central government, as defined in the Constitution?
13. According to the Constitution, who elects the president of the United States?
Electoral college
14. The federalist papers sought to do what?
Ratify the constitution
15. Some South American leader in the 1790’s agrees to ratify the constitution only if _____
The bill of rights were added
16. Under the Fifth Amendment, a person accused of crime can do what?
Cannot self incriminate or double jeopardy (cannot be tried for the same again)
17. What is a proposed law presented for approval to a legislative body?
A bill
18. Who is the president of the senate?
The Vice president
19. What is the term for the authority of a court to review the judgment of a lower court
Appeals the court
20. Who had the final say about what the constitution means?
The Supreme Court
21. If the president and the vice president are unable to serve because of death or sickness, the ______ takes over until the new elections are held.
Speaker of the house
22. Which is the term that describes that which is composed of two legislative chambers?
23. What is the title for a senator who presides over the U.S. senate in the absence of the vice president?
President protempore
24. What is the term for the right of a president to keep information secret from congress in order to protect the nation’s security?
Executive privilege
25. What is the manner in which a judge applies the law based on the belief that the court can create a new policy?
Judicial activism
26. What is the name of specific punishments for specific crimes?
Mandatory sentence
27. What does the elastic clause in the constitution allow congress to do?
Anything to carry out its duties
28. The term of the presidency is ______.
4 years
29. Making foreign policy is an example of the President’s role as _____.
Commander in Chief
30. The congress is divided into two chambers that share and provide a system of _____
Checks and balances
31. Who is the member of the majority party elected to lead the U.S. House of Representatives?
Speaker of the House
32. When there is power to overturn laws that are in conflict with the Constitution, this is called what?
Judicial review
33. Marbury vs. Madison established what?
Power of judicial review
34. What do senators do?
Write and pass laws, approve presidential appointees (ie. cabinet members, justices of the Supreme Court). They vote on things with the rest of the senate and they propose amendments to bills to improve them for the better.
35. What does the House of Representatives do?
The major power of the House is to pass federal legislation that affects the entire country, although its bills must also be passed by the Senate and further agreed to by the President before becoming law. They also have the power to initiate revenue bills (money-making bills), to impeach officials (remove them from office), and to elect the President in case of an Electoral College deadlock.
36. The Constitution empowers ______to reach the verdict in an impeachment trial?
37. A Supreme Court decision can be overturned by?
Constitutional amendment
38. The founders of the nation set up a system based on ______, in which power is divided and balanced between the national and state governments.
39. What are the rules under which legislatures hold meetings?
Parliamentary procedure
41. What fact about the American government reflects the above definition of federalism?
Citizens have to follow all laws, state and federal
42. In the United States, what occurs when the state and national laws are in conflict?
43. What is the largest division of local government within a state?
44. Who is the head of government for a city, town or municipality?
Card Set Information
Civics Final Study Guide
2010-12-15 06:31:57
Civics Final Study Guide
Civics Final Study Guide
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All things must come to an end, but we humans have an endless fascination with the inevitable. Our September 2010 special issue and our web exclusives explore some of those endings. Writers and filmmakers, of course, have been tackling apocalyptic themes for decades, at times using them to highlight emotional aspects of sacrifice, heroism and dedication, to varying degrees of success.
The staff at Scientific American came up with a list of movies and books that show what human civilization would be like if it got short circuited by some sort of catastrophe. Feel free to add your own selections in the comments section.
1. Astronomical catastrophes
Day of the Triffids (novel 1951)
A beautiful meteor shower brings widespread blindness to all who watched it, causing civilization to descend into chaos—resulting in the release of bioengineered plants that move around and attack people.
Lucifer's Hammer (novel 1978)
A chronicle of the end of civilization caused by a comet that impacts Earth.
Armageddon (film 1998)
NASA sends oil-rig workers on a mission to blow up an asteroid that is on course to destroy all life on Earth. An overbaked action version of Deep Impact.
Deep Impact (film 1998)
The world braces for the impact of a seven-mile wide comet that threatens to cause mass extinction. A touchy-feely version of Armageddon.
Sunshine (film 2007)
The sun is dying, so a heroic crew travels by spacecraft to deliver a massive bomb to reignite the Sun.
Death from the Skies (nonfiction 2008)
Phil Plait, astronomer and author of the blog "Bad Astronomy," provides a chilling chronicle of potential hazards from outer space that could wipe out life on Earth and explains the science behind them.
Everything Matters! (novel 2009)
The story of one man who lives his entire life with the knowledge that life on Earth will be destroyed by an asteroid called Destroyer of Worlds.
2012 (film 2009)
Neutrinos released from a massive solar flare melt Earth's inner core, triggering a chain of catastrophic natural disasters, and survivors struggle take refuge on a small number of arks.
2. Biological Calamities
Earth Abides (novel 1949)
After humanity is wiped out by a deadly airborne illness, a small band of survivors set about rebuilding civilization.
A Sound of Thunder (short story 1952, film 2005)
A time-traveling hunter inadvertently crushes a butterfly during an excursion to the Jurassic period. It causes a succession of “time waves” to batter present-day Earth—and its embattled human occupants—and wrenches reality onto a different evolutionary path. Think baboon-dinosaurs besieging your local gas-mart.
I Am Legend (novel 1954, films 1964 (The Last Man on Earth), 1971 (Omega Man), 2007 (I Am Legend))
One lone man is immune to a pandemic virus that ravages humanity. He struggles to develop a treatment to save the infected.
The Andromeda Strain (novel 1969, film 1971, TV miniseries 2008)
A satellite returns to Earth with a deadly microbe that wipes out an entire town except for a baby and an old man.
The Stand (novel 1978)
A deadly virus is accidentally released from a research lab, wiping out humanity. The story chronicles the confrontations that occur among the survivors.
12 Monkeys (film, 1995)
A terrorist release of a virus has devastated civilization, forcing the remainder of humanity underground. Scientists send a convicted felon back in time as part of an effort to stop the release.
28 Days Later (film 2002)
A chimpanzee harboring a deadly virus escapes from a research lab and infects the entire population, resulting in societal collapse. The film focuses on four uninfected people and their struggle to survive.
Reign of Fire (film 2002)
Dragons suddenly populate Earth and wipe out all people in their path. Small bands of survivors across the planet struggle to evade the dragons and fight for their lives.
3. Geophysical Disasters
Soylent Green (film 1973)
The planet has warmed significantly and is overpopulated. Food is scarce; humanity clings to survival by consuming a processed food called soylent green, which contains a horrifying secret ingredient.
Waterworld (film 1995)
The polar ice caps have melted, leaving civilization underwater. Small bands of survivors drift across the waters seeking land.
The Core (film 2003)
Earth's inner core has stopped rotating, and its magnetic field dies. A heroic crew must travel to the center of the planet and detonate a nuclear bomb to restart the inner core and save humanity.
The Day After Tomorrow (film 2004)
A series of severe weather events brought about by climate change triggers a devastating ice age that prompts survivors to flee to warmer latitudes.
Wall-E (film 2008)
A garbage-collecting robot sets about cleaning an Earth so trashed that mankind has abandoned it.
4. War
The World, the Flesh and the Devil (film 1959)
A man emerges from a caved-in mine that trapped him for days to find a deserted world wiped out by nuclear war.
On the Beach (novel 1957, film 1959 and TV movie 2000)
A nuclear World War III has wiped out most of the planet, except for a band of survivors on Australia. This story follows the lives of these ordinary people as an impending radioactive cloud nears their refuge, bringing certain death.
A Canticle for Leibowitz (novel 1959)
Set in a Catholic monastery, the story chronicles the rebuilding of society after a devastating nuclear war.
Planet of the Apes (novel 1963, film 1968)
Astronauts crash land on a distant planet with a civilization of walking, talking apes that are hostile to humans. Sequels to the 1968 movie include Beneath the Planet of the Apes and Escape from the Planet of the Apes.
Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off! (musical 1996 from The Simpsons)
I hate every ape I see, from chimpan-A to chimpanzee…
A Boy and His Dog (short story 1969, film 1974)
A young man and his telepathic dog roam a desolate world obliterated by a nuclear war.
Mad Max (film 1979)
Set in the wastelands of post-apocalyptic Australia, the film tells the story of a vengeful policeman and his clashes with a violent motorcycle gang. Sequels: The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985).
The Day After (film 1983)
Fictional account of the devastation wreaked by a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Testament (film 1983)
This film chronicles the lives of people in a small California town after nuclear blasts destroy civilization.
Threads (TV drama 1984)
Documentary-style look at the medical, economic, social and environmental consequences of a nuclear war in northern England.
The Postman (novel 1985, film 1997)
A war has devastated the planet, and bands of people, led by a stranger in a postal uniform, struggle to survive.
Book of Eli (film 2010)
Thirty years after a devastating world war, a man named Eli travels on foot to the west coast of the U.S. to deliver the last remaining copy of the Bible to a safe location.
5. Machine-Driven Takeovers
Logan's Run (novel 1967, film 1976)
In a futuristic society, every aspect of people’s lives is controlled by a supercomputer, and, to keep the population and planet's resources in equilibrium, no one is permitted to live beyond the age of 21.
The Terminator (film 1984)
In a post-apocalyptic future, intelligent machines devise a plan to exterminate the remaining humans. The film led to several sequels, a television series and two gubernatorial victories in California.
The Matrix (film 1999)
Machines harvest humans for energy by keeping their minds trapped in a simulation of the late 20th century. Sequels: The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions
6. Unspecified Catastrophes
The Road (novel 2006, film 2009)
A father and son struggle to survive after an unknown disaster reduced the planet to ash and rubble. They must avoid cannibals and scavenge food from abandoned houses and stores.
The World Without Us (creative nonfiction 2007)
This riveting thought experiment imagines how the planet would respond if humans suddenly vanished.
7. Collected Disasters
Armageddon Science: The Science of Mass Destruction (nonfiction 2010)
The science behind potential apocalyptic threats such as climate change, nuclear blasts, bio-hazards and the Large Hadron Collider.
How it Ends: From You to the Universe (nonfiction 2010)
A scientific explanation of how everything in the universe will eventually end. |
Alien Species
Knobby White Spider
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Knobby White Spider
The Knobby white spider was a large landspeeder-sized arachnid-like organism native to the swamp world of Dagobah.
It had a large, lumpy body with a bloated, bulbous head, eight gnarled legs and one large stinger used to capture and sedate its prey.
One of the most bizarre organisms on Dagobah, the knobby white spider was in fact a mobile root that was part of the gnarltree's life cycle. Composed primarily of calcified wood, it would break free of its parent tree to roam the swamps and devour animals. After gathering enough nutrients, the spider would find a clear spot to anchor its legs, which would eventually transform into roots that allow the spider to grow into a towering tree.
In addition to the very large ones, there were also some smaller, knee-height ones; Luke Skywalker ended up facing a number of these in his training.
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Alternate History
Roman Invasion of Sinope (Principia Moderni III Map Game)
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Roman Invasion of Sinope
Principia Moderni III
Roman forces in Sinope after the war.
Date 1409
Location Sinope
Result Roman Annexation of Sinope
Byzantine imperial flag, 14th century Roman Empire
Trebizond 7 Empire of Trebizond
300px-Candar.svg Isfendiyarid Emirate of Sinope
Commanders and leaders
Byzantine imperial flag, 14th century John VIII Palaiologos
Trebizond 7 Alexios Megas Komnenos
300px-Candar.svg Emir Isfendiyar Bey bin Bâyezid (POW)
The Roman Invasion of Sinope was a military conflict fought in 1409 between the forces of the Roman Empire and the Empire of Trebizond against the forces of the Turkish Isfendiyarid Emirate of Sinope.
By the start of the war, the two Greek states had reconciled their previous differences through political marriage between John VIII and Alexios Megas Komnenos' daughter. Alexios was also given a prominent political position within the Roman Empire to further sweeten the deal. With the two forces unified, the allies decided to test their strength and expand their influence in the Black Sea area by targeting the weakest state they could find, the Emirate of Sinope.
The Emirate of Sinope was a weak and disorganized state and as such fell quickly to the allied forces, who used local Greeks to help in their assault. The victory further unified the two forces and also provided the Empire with a capable shipyard and port as well as expanding Roman influence in the Black Sea.
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Welcome! You’re browsing the complete online Help for TypeMetal. The same content is available via TypeMetal’s “Help” menu.
TypeMetal User Guide
Working With Tables
TypeMetal makes creating and editing HTML tables a breeze!
Inserting a Table
You can create a <table> the same way you’d insert any other HTML element.
For example: Press Control+/ and type the first few characters of “table”. You should see <table> at the top of your completion list. Press the Return key or the spacebar to go ahead and create the table.
(Note: A table can only contain table rows and cells, and can’t be wrapped around existing content. You must therefore have an insertion point in order to create a table.)
TypeMetal starts you out with an empty table, that has a caption, a header row, two data rows, and two columns. From there you can insert and delete rows and columns to get to the table grid you want.
Navigating a Table
• Pressing the Tab key moves you from one table cell to the next, wrapping to the next row of cells when you get to the right edge. When you leave the last cell, Tab moves you to the table’s caption (if it has one). From a table’s caption, Tab moves you to the table’s first cell.
• Pressing Shift+Tab moves you through the table’s cells and caption in reverse.
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Editing Cell Contents
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Inserting and Deleting Rows and Columns
You can insert and delete table rows and columns using the menu commands in any of the following places:
• the Structure → Edit Table menu
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It’s also perfectly fine to select table row elements (<tr>) and remove them by invoking Cut (Command+X) or Delete (Delete key).
Adding a Table Caption, Header, and Footer
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Thursday, February 26, 2015
7 Essential Functions of Accounting
Functions Occupation - Register is not because there is no intention of anything. In a early article we lanceolate out that accounting has a resolution in its use.
Along with this goal job criticise several functions that amend assemble these objectives. bisnis online Here are 7 functions of occupation along with little explanations.
Functions of Accounting
1. Transcription Report
The principal utility of accounting is to create the dealing records in a systematic and chronological of so some business transactions are then transmitted to the various Story Ledger and eventually groom the final accounts to cause the profit or deprivation of job at the end of the occupation phase.
Related{function of line is to direct the factual figure of Derogation Assets by choosing the parcel method and deal for a specialized plus. Any unauthorised intemperateness of each plus leave transfer playacting to the boundary of bankruptcy.
Hence accounting wanted ornamentation systems to protect goods and mercantilism assets from unauthorized use and unwarranted.
3. Communicate Results
Statement always pass the results and transactions are recorded to the different parties curious in a portion activity, much as employees of polity offices creditors investor researchers etc.
4. Converging Legal
Line also serves to decoration and grow systems much as list to convey the different statements such as Income Tax Returns Returns Sales-Tax etc.
Consanguineous Articles: Module Occupation Aggregation Systems
5. Classification
Line functions as a categorization relates to the systematised analysis of aggregation transcribed for the think of the transaction or the accounting of a assemble of nature in one put. Categorisation learning is done in a aggregation called "Book". Peluang Bisnis
6. summarize
This involves presenting private assemblage in a way that is understandable and profitable to intrinsic and outer end users of statement reports. This transmute leads to the stalking statements:
(1) Effort Balance
(2) the income statement
(3) Carry is analyzed and understood in a way that end-users can pass a meaty assessment of the business statement and profitability of byplay dealing. The collection is also used to set plans for the prospective and the framing of policies to apply the drawing.
After vision whatever register functions above can be explicit that the accounting purpose solon understandably multilane into two defined parts:
Arts run or duty Stewardship
This music relates to onetime transactions of the companionship's playacting job records assort reports analyzing and explanation the transactions change and preparing business reports and statements of assets and liabilities or the match shroud and estimation the results to the owners and managers and additional involved parties.
Connate Articles: Commencement to Accounting 1: Account Definitions and Occupation Division
Managerial function
The business answer is to render services to direction to assist varied levels of managerial staff to have out many economical dealings finished reports and information presented.
Accounting is a purpose of consulting services correlated to the provision of specified accumulation to management as would assist the efficient intellection of active criterion and coordination of activities of the fair system and in making sensible decisions" and Massic -Haynes Direction Reasoning.
(Quoted from
So we see that the duty of statement is to assist in the Budget Manipulate Material Suppress Value Interact and Operating Examine and also in minimizing flow and errors and guile losses. kerja sampingan Symptomless hopefully what young it can cater benefits and add your understanding. That is all and thank you. |
4. Guam
1942 Joseph Godzisz
Joseph Godzisz in the U.S. Marine Corps,
San Diego, California, in 1942.
JOZEF ENLISTS IN THE U.S. MARINE CORPS to earn his citizenship by fighting in World War II. Figuring that he is at least half way toward becoming an American by enlisting in the Marines, he changes his first name to Joseph. While in boot camp, he creates a clever log of his service. He embarks on a defining journey that takes him to Maui, the Marshall Islands, the Kwajalein Atoll, the Eniwetok Atoll, Guadalcanal, and Guam. In the process, he becomes an American hero. He earns his citizenship. His spirituality suggests that he might not be the typical American warrior. Nonetheless, he embodies what it means to be an American in his or her finest hour. |
Nov 29
Issie Of Lake Ikelda
issieMany countries around the world have stories and legends of monsters inhabiting various lakes and Japan is no exception. Lake Ikelda is a caldera (extinct volcano) lake in the southeastern part of the Satsuma Peninsula and home to Issie or Ishii.
Being in a caldera, Lake Ikelda is almost round. It is 15 Km in circumference and approximately 750 feet deep. There are no rivers or streams that flow into the lake. It receives its water from rain and subsurface sources. Although the lake sits on the Satsuma Peninsula it is above sea level and a fair distance from the Sea of Japan which borders one side of the peninsula and the Gulf of Kagoshima which borders the other.
Issie was first seen in 1961, however was not really given much attention until 1978 when more than 20 people all testified to seeing the monster. On September 3rd, 1978 Yutaka Kawaji and members of his family were at the lake for a memorial service. Yutaka’s children Hiroto, Mutsumi and Tomoko were playing near the shore a large ( reportedly 30 ft in length) black creature in the lake with two humps sticking about 2 feet above the water.The children shouted to their family who all reportedly saw the creature. Yutaka jumped in a motorboat and chased the creature across the lake. Although he was unable to catch up to it he did see the humps above the water twice for about 20 seconds.
On December 16th of the same year Toshiaki Matsuhara who had an interest in the folklore and legends of the lake would take the photograph that earned him the 100,00 Yen reward offered by the city of Ibusuki which is near the lake for the first photograph of Issie .At 1:30 pm on that day Toshiaki was scanning the lake with a 50X telescope when he saw a whirlpool near the middle of the lake. He watched it through his telescope for 5 minutes as it moved northward before it disappeared. He then noticed an object somewhat veiled by waves moving through the water. He quickly took a series of photographs and in one of them two humps with what appears to be a spinal ridge can be seen.
He submitted the photos to the tourism department and they were impressed enough to award him the prize money. When the photos were published, Yutaka Kawaji who had witnessed the creature in September saw them and called the tourism to report that this was exactly what he and his family had seen and that it was at the exact location of his sighting near a local landmark known as Couple’s Rock.
Although Toshiaki claims to have photographed the creature 4 more times these photographs have never been submitted for public scrutiny or published.
There have been other sightings but these are the most notable. So what could Issie possibly be? Local legend tells that a White Mare and her foal used to live by the lake. The foal was kidnapped causing the mare to be so distressed that she jumped into the lake and became Issie. Sightings of Issie are attributed to the Mare surfacing to search for her foal.
A more probable answer though lies with other inhabitants of the lake. Malaysian eels were at some time introduced into the lake and are harvested locally, The problem with this theory is that the largest eel ever reported being seen in the lake (ironically in the same are of the Issie sightings) is 2 meters which is a 5 or 6 feet. While 5 or 6 feet is quite large it does not come anywhere near the reported 30 feet of Issie. It is however possible that sightings of Issie could be eels swimming in a line or group.
Giant eel???? Legendary White Mare endlessly searching for her kidnapped foal??? I am not sure what Issie is but Yutaka Kawaji and Toshiaki Matsuhura certainly believe she is real.
Sara Fawley
Sara Fawley
Sara Fawley
Latest posts by Sara Fawley (see all) |
The Breaking Curveball Illusion
Futurity.org – No breaking curveball? Say it ain’t so
No pitcher can make a curveball “break” or a fastball “rise.” What hitters—and fans—think they see is simply an illusion, new research shows.
Led by Arthur Shapiro of American University and Zhong-Lin Lu of the University of Southern California, the researchers explain the illusion of the curveball’s break in a publicly available study in the journal PLoS ONE.
The study comes a year after the same group won the prize for best illusion at the Vision Sciences annual meeting with a demonstration of how an object falling in a straight line can seem to change direction. That demonstration led to debates among baseball fans over the existence of the break in curveballs, breaking balls, and sliders.
YouTube - Baseball Science: Break in Curveball Too Good To Be True
USC College Professor of Psychology Zhong-Lin Lu proposed that the "break" in a curveball that fools some batters is a visual illusion. "Curveballs do curve," Lu says, but in a conversation with USC Pitching Coach Tom House, he explains why a perception of a sudden drop or other change in trajectory is a trick of the eye. This study was published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE. To read the whole story, please go to: http://uscnews.usc.edu/science_techno... Video by Mira Zimet and Zane Fried.
Breaking Curveball Too Good to Be True - USC News
The PLoS ONE study explains the illusion and relates the perceived size of the break to the shifting of the batter’s eye between central and peripheral vision.
“If the batter takes his eye off the ball by 10 degrees, the size of the break is about one foot,” Lu said.
He explained that batters tend to switch from central to peripheral vision when the ball is about 20 feet away, or two-thirds of the way to home plate.
The eye’s peripheral vision lacks the ability to separate the motions of the spinning ball, Lu said. In particular, it gets confused by the combination of the ball’s velocity and spin.
The result is a gap between the ball’s trajectory and the path as perceived by the batter.
The gap is small when the batter switches to peripheral vision, but gets larger as the ball travels the last 20 feet to home plate.
As the ball arrives at the plate, the batter switches back to central vision and sees it in a different spot than expected.
That perception of an abrupt change is the “break” in the curveball that frustrates batters.
“Depending on how much and when the batter’s eyes shift while tracking the ball, you can actually get a sizable break,” Lu said. “The difference between central and peripheral vision is key to understanding the break of the curveball.” |
SCID04: Muslims and the Theory of Evolution by T.O. Shanavas. MD
This article challenges the commonly held creation story among the contemporary Muslims, and boldly uncovers that the theory of evolution was originally proposed by Muslims who lived centuries before Charles Darwin. These Muslim scholars, coupled with their literal reading of the Qur’an, advocated evolution of life and natural selection. The author points out that historians, scholars, and the text of the Qur'an itself concur that there is nothing intrinsically inimical to science in its pages. On the contrary, much of the Qur'anic scholarship and scripture seems to support the endeavor that we recognize today under the rubric of science.
Dr Shanvas's CV (short), publications and references are given after the main article.
The Main Article
As the western world celebrates Darwin on the 200th anniversary of his birth, it is a non-event in most of the Muslim world except for a Turkish Muslim copycat of the Christian Institute for Creation Research, Harun Yahya, and his western Muslim followers. He continues to vilify Charles Darwin as the source of all evils in the world. Unfortunately, many in the Muslim world listen to Yahya as if he is a credible source for the theory of evolution and Islam.
With all the respect due to Charles Darwin and western scientists for popularizing the theory of evolution and for collecting irrefutable evidence for the evolution of life, historically Darwin is not the original author of the theory of evolution by natural selection. The theory was originally germinated centuries before Darwin among theists, and it was a known fact for the western contemporaries of Darwin even far away in America.
Most people probably agree that there are three major components to the theory of evolution: 1. Existing animals and plants developed by a process of gradual and continuous change from previous existing forms of life over a period of three or four billion years; 2. Mutation: the mechanism of speciation; 3. Natural Selection: Animals with advantageous traits reproduce and outlive those with weaker traits. The origin of these elements can be traced to Muslim scholars lived centuries before Charles Darwin.
Abdul-Rahman Ibn Khaldun (who died in 1406 A.D) was a respected Islamic scholar, once Prime minister of Morocco, professor of Islamic Jurisprudence, a judge, and the author of the Muqaddimah (An Introduction to History). Eminent British historian, Arnold J. Toynbee, describes the Muqaddimah as the “greatest work of its kind that has ever been created by any mind in any time.”1
Ibn Khaldun accepted that human species belongs to the animal kingdom. He states, “[M]an belongs to the genus of animals” and that “God distinguished from them by ability to think, which He gave man and through which man is able to arrange his actions in an orderly manner.”2 Over 400 years before Darwin, Ibn Khaldun has described the key components of the theory of evolution. He did not see any conflict between his faith and the theory of evolution. He states:
One should then look at the world of creation. It started out from the minerals and progressed, in an ingenious, gradual manner to plants and animals. The last stage of minerals is connected with the first stage of plants, such as herbs, and seedless plants. …The word ‘connection’ with regard to these created things means that the last stage of each group is fully prepared to become the first stage of the next group. The animal world then widens, its species become numerous, and, in a gradual process of creation, it finally leads to man, who is able to think and reflect. The higher stage of man is reached from the world of monkeys, in which both sagacity and perception are found, but which has not reached the stage of actual reflection and thinking. At this point we come to the first stage of man (after the world of monkeys). This is as far as our (physical) observation extends.3
Ibn Khaldun understood the evolutionary origin of human based upon “physical observation.” It should be pointed out here that Ibn Khaldun is not describing a chain of being but an evolution from previously existing species. He states that “the higher stage of man is reached from the world of monkeys.” The existence of different hominid species before the emergence of Homo sapiens sapiens was known to Ibn Khaldun because he states, “the first stage of man (after the world of monkeys).” However, we know now that human species did not evolve from monkeys. Apes and human had a common ancestor, Dryopithecus.
Ibn Khaldun knew that environmental factors could alter the physical characteristics in species. This fact is reflected in his explanation of the origin of human race. He rejected medieval Christians’ explanation of the origin of the black and white races. They held the view that black Africans are children of Ham and their blackness is due to Noah’s curse on Ham. On the other hand, Ibn Khaldun attributes the whiteness of the inhabitants of northern zones to the influence of excessive cold climates that occur as a result of the greater distance between the sun and the zenith in those regions. He also attributes to climatic conditions northern people’s lack of bodily hair, their blue eyes, freckled skin, and blond hair. He considered it a mistake for Christians to attribute the traits of whole nations to one of their prominent ancestors.
Ibn Khaldun also argues that “[There also is disregard of the fact that physical circumstances and environment] are subjected to changes that affect later generations; they do not necessarily remain unchanged. This is how God proceeds with His servants. . . . And verily, you will not be able to change God’s ways.”4
So, environmentally induced alterations in all life forms, including in human species, are an accepted fact among Ibn Khaldun’s generation of Muslims and before him.
Darwin had gathered enough evidence to prove that living creatures are changing and diversifying over a long period of time. He did not know the processes or mechanisms that drive biological diversity (variation in life forms), or how physical traits are passed on from one generation to the next. Pangenesis was Charles Darwin's mechanism for heredity and variation. Darwin thought that particles called “gemmules,” that contain information about the organs, would travel through the body to the sperm and eggs in the reproductive organs where they stick together. The information could be passed on to the next generation in this way, thus explaining the heritability of variation.5 Modern science has now discredited Darwin’s mechanism of pangenesis.
The mechanism of speciation by Ibn Khaldun is as much a modern theory as it can be. He states that Active nature (kiyan) “has the ability to generate substances and change essences;”6 He further explains, “The essences at the end of each particular stage of the worlds are by nature prepared to be transformed into the essences adjacent to them, either above or below.”7 Here, Ibn Khaldun posits that essence determines the nature of species and active nature generates changes in the essence to create new species. Our modern science explains the process of “generation of substance” in the essence of species (genotype) by the word “mutation.”
If we substitute the phrases, “generate substances,” “change essences,” and “worlds” in the above quotes from Ibn Khaldun with our modern scientific terminologies, “generate mutation,” “change genotype,” and “species,” Ibn Khaldun’s understanding of speciation emerges manifestly: Active nature (kiyan) has the ability to [generate mutations] (substances) and [change genotypes] (essences). The [genotype] (essences) at the end of each particular stage of the [species] (worlds) is by nature prepared to be transformed into the [genotype] (essences) adjacent to them, either above or below.
The transformation of species is further explained by Ibn Khaldun: “The word ‘connection’ with regard to these created things means that the last stage of each group is fully prepared to become the first stage of the next group.”8 If he were writing the Muquddimah today, he would say: Gradual evolution can be explained in terms of small genetic changes (mutation) in the species and by the ordering of this genetic variation by natural selection.
The third component of the theory of evolution is natural selection. We have seen above Ibn Khaldun describing active nature creating genetic variation in a population. Centuries before Darwin, other Muslims accepted the concept of natural selection. Abu Raihan al-Biruni (973-1048) was born in Khiva, Uzbekistan. Al-Biruni was among the most educated and cultured men of his time, with a brilliant intellect “encyclopaedic in scope.”9 He excelled in numerous fields of knowledge, and particularly in astronomy, mathematics, chronology, physics, medicine, and history. The following quotes from al-Biruni support the idea that, long before Malthus and Darwin, he knew about the disparity between reproduction and survival. He describes here speciation and natural selection as a result of structural advantages or beneficial trait in some species of plants and animals. Al- Biruni states:
The life of the world depends upon sowing and procreating. Both processes increase in the course of time, and this increase is unlimited, while the world is limited. When a class of plants or animals does not increase any more in its structure, and its peculiar kind is established as species of its own when each individual of it does not simply come into existence once and perish, but procreates a being like itself or several together, and not only once but several times, [italics added], then this will, as single species of plants or animals, occupy the earth and spread itself and its kind over as much territory as it can find.10
Eight centuries later, Darwin (1809-1882) concurred with Al-Biruni (973-1048) that organic beings have an unlimited ability to procreate, but that the world is limited. And both agree that individual variations in the structure of organic beings determine the survival of the peculiar kind among the species. We read in The Origin of Species:
A struggle for existence inevitably follows from the high rate at which all organic beings tend to increase [and] every organic being is striving to increase in a geometrical ratio; that each at some period of its life, during some season of the year, during each generation or at intervals, has to struggle for life and suffer great destruction. When we reflect on this struggle, we may console ourselves with full belief, that the war of nature is incessant . . . the vigorous, the healthy, and the happy survive and multiply [and] that any variation in the least degree injurious would be rigidly destroyed. This preservation of favourable individual differences and variations, and the destruction of those, which are injurious, I have called Natural Selection or the Survival of the Fittest.11
Al Biruni saw examples of selection in the methods of horticulturists, as well as in the natural behavior of bees. He explained:
Agriculturist selects his corn, letting grow as much as he requires, and tearing out the remainder. The forester leaves those branches, which he perceives to be excellent, whilst he cuts away all others. The bees kill those of their kind who only eat, but do not work in their beehive. Nature proceeds in a similar way (italics added).12
Several centuries later, Charles Darwin explained natural selection using examples almost identical to those used by Al-Biruni:
When a race of plants is…well established, the seed-raisers do not pick out the best plants, but merely go over their seed-beds, and pull up the ‘rogues’ as they call the plants that deviate from the proper standard…Natural Selection . . . is immeasurably superior to man’s feeble efforts.13
So far we have established that pre-Darwin Muslims scholars described all three components of the theory of evolution. In the next step, we explore whether there is any probability that Darwin was only a messenger of the Muslim theory of evolution. John William Draper (1812 -1883), a contemporary of Darwin, was a well-known American scientist. He had served as first president of the University of the City of New York (now NYU). He was the first president of the American Chemical Society.
Six months after the publication of The Origin of Species (November 1859), Professor Draper presented a paper at the meeting for the British Association for Advancement of Science (June 1860) entitled “The Intellectual Development of Europe Considered with Respect to the Views of Mr. Darwin.” During the discussion of his paper, the first discussion of Darwin’s book took place. During the discussion, Bishop Wilberforce of Oxford contemptuously inquired of Thomas Huxley, whether Huxley claimed his descent from monkeys “through his grandfather or grandmother.”14 & 15 So, Draper was closely involved in the initial discussion of Darwin’s book. Draper pointed out in one of his later treatises:
[Christian] (t)heological authorities were therefore constrained to look with disfavor on any attempt to carry back the origin of the earth to an epoch indefinitely remote, and on the Mohammedan theory of evolution [italics added] which declared that human beings developed over a long period of time from lower forms of life to their present condition.16
He acknowledged further:
we meet with ideas with which we flatter ourselves with having originated in our own times. Thus our modern doctrine of evolution and development were taught in their [Muslim] schools. In fact they carried them much farther than we are disposed to do, extending them even to inorganic or mineral things.17
If Draper in America, thousands of miles away from Muslims and separated by a huge ocean, knew about “Muhammadan theory of evolution,” there is every reason to believe that Darwin knew about the theory of evolution from Muslim sources.
The publication of several editions of The Journey of the Soul (The Story of Hai bin Yaqzan) by Abu Bakr Ibn Tufail in Europe gives other supporting evidence for the European awareness of the “Muhammadan theory of evolution.” Abu Bakr Ibn Tufail (Latin name: Abu Bazer) (1095-1138), a poet and an eminent physician, was known to have influenced Jewish and Christian thinkers and was the teacher of the great philosopher Ibn Rush (Latin name: Averroes). Although he wrote treatises on medicine and philosophy, Ibn Tufail is remembered for his famous work, The Journey of the Soul (The Story of Hai bin Yaqzan). The book is a fictional and philosophical biography that deals with the idea of evolution. One of the translators of this book, Yiad Kocache, states: “[This] is widely regarded as the prototype of Daniel Defoes’s Robinson Crusoe.... [A]stonishingly modern ideas on physiology, on the process of evolution, on the ‘scientific method’ all find their place in knowledge which his observation and intuition combine to produce.”18
The first Latin translation of The Journey of the Soul (The Story of Hai bin Yaqzan) by Edward Pocock, Jr., was published in Oxford in 1671. Several editions of this work appeared in the years from 1671 to 1700. Then, in 1708, Simon Okley published the first English translation and Dutch, German, French translations were made in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.19 The publication of many editions and several translations in different European languages of this book over of period of three centuries suggests that it was a very popular book; the probability is great, therefore, that Charles Darwin, his father Robert Darwin, and his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, all read it. Erasmus, especially, must have read it because he was a famous philosopher and physician. He was the ringleader of the “Lunar Society,” which discussed in their meetings almost every topic ranging from optics and astronomy, biology chemistry and mechanics, hydraulics and minerals, to meteorology and magnetism, ballooning and ballistics.20 So, it is not logical that he did not read a very popular book, The Journey of the Soul (The Story of Hai bin Yaqzan). Moreover, Erasmus Darwin’s The Temple of Nature has much in common with Tufail’s The Journey of the Soul. A close reading will tell that The Temple of Nature is only an English poetic rendition of Tufail’s book.21
A note for Harun Yahya and anti-evolutionist Muslims: do not blame Charles Darwin for the theory of evolution; Darwin is only a messenger of ideas of the Qur’an and your Muslim scholars. The Qur’an states: “He created you in successive stages” (Qur’an 71:14). The Qur’anic Verse 6:133 gives explicit evidence that modern humans were evolved (created) from earlier hominids. “Thy Lord is All-sufficient, Merciful. If He will, He can put you away, and leave after you, to succeed you, what He will, as the way He originally created you from the seeds of another people.” According to the verse, God may replace modern humans with another species (“whomever He pleases to succeed you”). The process of the creation of new species is similar as in the case of the creation of human originally. God “originally created you [human] from seeds of another people.”
A well-respected twelfth-century exegete of the Qur’an, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149–1209), explains the verse by quoting scholars before him: “[God] said: ‘As We originally created you from the seeds of a different people.’ For a wise person, were he to contemplate on this statement . . . he would know that the Almighty created mankind from a sperm; a sperm that did not contain his picture [genotype] in any form or way.”22
Unlike many scientists, Al-Biruni, Jalaluddin Rumi and other Muslim theists did not feel uncomfortable with a theistic evolution of life and humans. Those Muslims did not find anything objectionable in natural selection because they believed that the nature is an office of God. For example, Al-Biruni stated:
Frequently . . . you find in the functions (actions) of Nature which it is her office to fulfill, some fault (some irregularity), but this only serves to show that the Creator who had designed something deviating from the general tenor of things is indefinitely sublime, beyond everything which we poor sinners may conceive and predicate Him.23
[If] Nature, whose task it is to preserve the species as they are, finds some superfluous substance . . . she forms [it] into some shape instead of throwing it away; when Nature does not find the substance by which to complete the form of that animal in conformity with the structure of the species to which it belongs . . . she forms the animal in such a shape, so that the defect is made to lose its obnoxious character, and she gives it vital power as much as possible.24
Rumi (1207-1273) was born in Balkh, Afghanistan. In his treatise, Masnavi, Rumi echoed the evolutionary origin of human. Rumi wrote:
He came first to the inorganic realm and from there stepped over to the vegetable kingdom. Living long as a plant, he has no memory of his struggles in the organic realm. Similarly rising from the plant to the animal life he forgets his plant life, retaining only an attraction for it which he feels especially in the spring, ignorant of the secret and cause of his attraction like the infant at the breast who knows not why he is attracted to the mother. . . . Then the Creator draws him from animality to humanity. So he went from realm to realm until he became rational, wise, and strong. As he has forgotten his former types of reason (every stage being governed by a particular type of reason) so he shall pass beyond his present reason. When he gets rid of this coveted intellect, he shall see a thousand other types of reason.25
I agree with Keith B. Miller, professor of geology at Kansas State University, that “The presumption of ‘Warfare’ between science and religious faith perpetuates erroneous understandings of nature and content of science.… Science is not learned and applied in some culturally and religiously sterile environment.”26 Let me append to Keith Miller’s thoughts that the theory of evolution with all of its major components originated in a religious environment and transmitted to the Darwin family and throughout Europe through the translation of treatises of medieval Muslim scientists.
About the Author
Born and raised as a Muslim in India, Dr T.O. Shanavas. MD immigrated in 1970 to the United States, where he is a well-known pediatrician, for which he has received many "Best Doctor" commendations. He lives in Adrian, Michigan.
Queries from his young son on the Quran and Theory of Evolution prompted him to investigate the subject, which led him to the conclusion that not only there is no contradiction between two, but also the early Muslim scholars advocated such a theory of evolution. He has published two books on the topic (as listed below) and is regularly invited as a speaker on it in many national and international gatherings.
His Publications
1. Islamic Theory of Evolution The Missing link Between Darwin and the Origin of Species, Brainbow Press, USA.
2. And God Said, "Let There Be Evolution!": Reconciling the Book of Genesis, the Qur'an and the Theory of Evolution" [Co-authored] editors: C. Wynn and A. Wiggins, ATTM Press, USA.
References on the Article
1. Abdul-Rahman Ibn-Khaldun. The Muqaddimah (Abridged edition). Trans. Franz Rosenthal (Princeton: Princeton University, 1980), Back cover.
2. Abdul-Rahman Ibn-Khaldun. The Muqaddimah. Trans. Franz Rosenthal (Princeton: Princeton University, 1980), Vol. 2:424.
3. Abdul-Rahman Ibn-Khaldun. The Muqaddimah. Vol. 1:195.
4. Ibid.,173.
5. Charles Darwin. The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication.
Revised Second Edition. (New York: D. Appleton & Co, 1883), 384-385.
6. Abdul-Rahman Ibn Khaldun. The Muqaddimah. Vol. 3:238.
7. Abdul-Rahman Ibn Khaldun. The Muqaddimah. Vol. 2:422-423.
8. Abdul-Rahman Ibn Khaldun. The Muqaddimah. Vol. 1:195.
9. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropaedia, (15th ed.) “Al-Biruni.” Vol. 2: 42.
10. Abu Raihan al-Biruni. Fi Tahqiq Ma Li’l-Hind (Al-Biruni’s India). Trans.
Edward C Sachu (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Tuberner & Co. Ltd, 1914), 400.
11. Charles Darwin. The Origin of Species. (New York, Scarborough: New American Library, 1958), 75, 86, 88.
12. Abu Raihan al-Biruni. Fi Tahqiq Ma Li’l-Hind (Al-Biruni’s India, 400.
13. Charles Darwin. The Origin of Species. 49, 75.
14. J. R. Lucas. Historical Journal, XXII (1979): 102
15. Stephen Jay Gould. “Knight Takes Bishop?” Natural History (May 1986): 18-33.
16. John William Draper. The Conflict between Religion and Science (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1875), 187-188.
17. Ibid., 118.
18. Abu Bar Muhammad Tufail. The Journey of the Soul. The Story of Hai Bin Yaqzan. Trans. Yiad Kocache (London: The Octagon Press, 1985), Back cover.
19. Ibid., vi-vii.
20. Richard Milner. The Encyclopedia of Evolution. (New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1990): 116-117.
21. Erasmus Darwin. The Temple of Nature.
22. Fakr al-Din Razi . Lebanon: Dar al-Fikar. Al Tafsir al-Kabir (Arabic). Vol. 7: 212.
23. Abu Raihan al-Biruni. Fi Tahqiq Ma Li’l-Hind (Al-Biruni’s India) 295
24. Ibid., 92-93
25. Khalifa Abdul Hakim. The Metaphysics of Rumi. (Lahore, Pakistan: Institute of Islamic Culture, 1977), 36.
26.Keith Miller. “Communicating Evolutionary Science to a Religious Public.Reports of the NCSE. 29: 2 (2009): 34-35.
Readers comments are welcome, but the Editor reserves the right to edit and to remove comments from the blogsite. |
• Norwegian: -
D. lacteus comes in many different colors. Yellow, brown, red and even entirely white individuals exist. The color cannot be used for identification. A typical characteristic for the Dendronotus species is the bushy appearance of the gills on the back of the body. It can be difficult to distinguish D. frondosus from the two other Dendronotus species, known from Norwegian waters:
• D. frondosus has between 6 and 12 lamellae on the rhinophores (organ on the top of the head, used to "smell" chemical compounds in the water). The gills are moderately branched, they usually have secondary, but sometimes even tertiary branches. The secondary and tertiary branches have rounded tips. Most specimens have pigmented spots or stripes. In the waters of Trøndelag, where many of the pictures on seawater.no is taken, specimens with a heavy reddish brown pigmentation seem to be common.
• D. lacteus has between 10 and 14 lamellae on the rhinophores. The gills tends to be more heavily branched. The tertiary branches are short. The tip of the secondary branches are shaped like spikes, in contrast to the rounded branches of D. frondosus. The color variation is as great as the D. frondosus, but white specimens seems to be common in Trøndelag waters. This is also reported from Sweden, by Thollesson.
• D. robustus has shorter, not so heavily branched gills, compared to the two species above. The flattened, not so slender body gives this species a more robust appearance. It is often heavily pigmented, making the body look reddish brown. White pigmented spots are scattered out over the entire body and tentacles. Close-ups will reveal fine wrinkles in the skin.
It is often seen feeding on hydroids among seaweeds and algae, often on sheltered locations where there are not too much disturbance from the waves.
This species is known from the North-East Atlantic Ocean, more specifically from the British Isles, Scandinavia and the Barents Sea.
D. frondosus and D. lacteus has been regarded as the same species for a period of time, but recent genetic studies by Thollesson (from Sweden), Ekimova (from the North East Atlantic and North West Pacific) and Stout (from the Eastern Pacific) show that these are indeed two separate species. |
What is Player Vocabulary?
What is Player Vocabulary?
• Player Vocabulary is all about the player's amassed knowledge and expectations.
Player vocabulary is a term coined by Johnson (2001) to describe the knowledge and experience players acquire when travelling through a level.
This vocabulary serves two purposes.
Firstly, it forms the palette of skills and strategies that players use to complete a level.
Secondly, it shapes their expectations. This is a powerful design technique, as expectations can be later subverted to produce memorable sequences (Johnson 2001), provided that subversion leads to surprise and not frustration. The subversion of expectations should never leave the player at an obvious loss as how to proceed.
Johnson, B. (2001) ‘Great Expectations: Building a Player Vocabulary.’ In: Gamasutra.
Available at: http://www.gamasutra.com/resource_guide/20010716/johnson_pfv.htm [accessed: June 2006]
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The Meat-Lover’s Sustainability Dilemma
Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is set to announce that “The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that direct emissions from meat production account for about 18% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. So I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider.”
By contrast, transportation contributes 13% of our greenhouse gas footprint.
Greenhouse gases are released throughout the meat production cycle, during land clearing, making and transporting fertilizer, feed antibiotics and hormones, burning fossil fuels in farm vehicles, and emissions from the animals themselves, which is a major proportion of gases emitted. Refrigeration and transportation of the meat for processing, packaging, distribution, retailing and to the consumer are also huge contributers.
Population growth and changing consumption patterns in developing countries will continue to increase pressure on global food supplies and food security. Livestock production has increased all over the world as demand for meat rises. The resulting increase in water scarcity, land degradation and soil erosion are key threats to productivity of farmland, not to mention the effects of loss of biodiversity associated with deforestation for high-maintenance agricultural land. Recent scientific studies have demonstrated that increases in global temperature adversely affects soil fertility, reducing crop yield. Water runoff from livestock farming can cause significant contamination and eutrophication of surface and ground water if the solid waste generated is not managed properly. Farming subisidies (like other poorly applied subsidy programs) tend to create an uneven playing field, further exacerbating the problem.
Possibilities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with farming animals include genetically engineering strains of animals that produce less methane and ammonia. Organic farming is not a feasible option globally, due to the comparatively low productivity and yield.
We all know by now that eating less meat is better for your health. A price on carbon could cause the price of meat to rise, people would eat less, and, at the same time, reduce associated emissions of greenhouse gases and other adverse environmental impacts. This might just be the added incentive that ardent meat-lovers like me need to make another personal choice that contributes to the sustainability of our planet. Given the magnitude of the impacts, reluctantly, I’m adding eating less meat to my list of simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint.
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Abstract: Transmutation of the “Urban Ore”: The Business of Recycling, 1970-1995
Jon Corey Hazlett
In the 1990s recycling emerged as a ubiquitous expression of environmental stewardship embraced by environmentalists and corporations alike. This paper explores the development of recycling initiatives as a part of larger business strategies within the secondary materials and waste management industries in the 1970s and beyond. Secondary materials industries attempted to create market demand for recyclable materials through various tax incentives and other subsidies designed to create a more sustainable production process. Alternatively, waste management firms focused on the supply side and the use of consumer waste to create energy. In the process they developed resource recovery technologies and fostered relationships with local and state governments across the country that allowed them to capitalize on changing legal structures of waste disposal throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. The processing of consumer waste had been commodified and waste management firms were poised to implement recycling programs into their business plans. While the idea of recycling was imbued with visions of ecological sustainability, it was the business of recycling that was a defining component of postwar environmentalism. |
Friday, January 6, 2012
How a herniated disk develops
Also known as a slipped disk occurs when all or part of the inter vertebral disk's gel-like center extrudes through the disk's weakened or torn outer ring. The pressure on spinal nerve roots or on the spinal cord itself causes back pain and other symptoms of nerve root irritation. Most herniations affect the lumbosacral spine. The most common site is the L4-L5 disk space.
Lumbar herniation usually develops mostly in men vs. women. They are the result from severe trauma or strain or may be related to joint degeneration. Signs and symptoms to watch out for are:
1. Severe low back pain which may radiate to buttocks, legs, feet and typically is one-sided
2. Sudden pain after trauma, subsiding in a few days and then recurring at shorter intervals w/ intensity
3. Sensory and motor loss in the area where compression has taken place, leg weakness
The gel like center of the disk acts as a shock absorber distributing the mechanical stress applied to the spine when the body moves. Physical stress is usually a twisting motion which will cause the gel like center to tear or rupture allowing the tissue to push through into the spinal canal. This process allows the vertebrae to move closer together as the disk compresses. This, in turn, causes pressure on the nerve roots. This pressure is what the individual experiences as pain.
There are several treatment options:
1. Bed rest w/ possibly pelvic traction, heat and ice application, passive exercise
2. NSAIDS and muscle relaxants to reduce inflammation and edema at the injured site
3. Surgical options
Which ever treatment plan your doctor prescribes for you, it is best to follow his/her advice and rest your low back as much as possible heeding caution to avoid additional external stress on your lumbar region. Give yourself adequate time to recover. Chances of re-injuring the site are great once your in the healing stages.
Good health,
Trisha M. Pacenti RN,BSN |
2. Game Specific Terms
This game manual is for Universe version 0.8.
This section of the manual describes some terms/objects in the game and what they mean to game play.
2.1. Galaxies
A galaxy is what you would expect, space filled with many star systems. It is your mission to explore the galaxy and the star systems contained within.
Positions in a galaxy are represented with a three number coordinate system. The coordinate (0.0, 0.0, 0.0) is the "center" of the galaxy. All items in the galaxy have a corresponding coordinate indicating where the item is in the galaxy.
Future versions of the game will have multiple galaxies in the same game for you to explore!
2.2. Star Systems
A star system contains a star, possibly planets and other solar system type objects.
Future versions of will have more complex star systems, such as binary stars, neutron stars and black holes.
2.3. Planets
Your race can colonize other planets to expand your civilization. Planets can be very different and hostile. Gas giants, fiery infernos and ice worlds are out there. Can you find a planet that supports life?
2.4. Stations
Station is a generic term that can represent any formalized habitat created by your race. Ground stations are created on a planet's surface. Space stations can orbit a planet or a star. Deep space stations are located anywhere in the galaxy.
2.5. Fleets
A fleet is composed of one or more space ships. You will use your fleets to explore the cosmos.
2.6. Distances
All distances in this game are measured in parsecs. These include coordinates values which are the x, y, and z distances in parsecs from the "center" of the galaxy.
Previous Section - Next Section
Return to: Manual Table of Contents - Universe
Created: 25 Feb 1997
Updated: 05 Jan 1999
© 1997, 1998, 1999 Universe Dev Team |
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Memento Mori
I frequently have visitors ask me about the little paperweight displayed on a shelf in the Study. Titled Memento Mori, the paperweight depicts a human skull. So why would Lew want to display a skull on his desk?
The phrase "memento mori" is Latin, and means "remember you will die" or "remember you are mortal." It has a connection to the Roman era, when victorious generals were often given a triumph. As the general was being lavished with praise and glory, a servant stood nearby, whispering to him, "Remember, you are mortal." Wouldn't want those generals to get any ideas!
The Victorians embraced the concept of mortality and had a complicated relationship with death. There were strict guidelines about how long mourning should last and how long it should be done. Brooches were made from the braided hair of dead loved ones. Victorians often took photographs of their deceased.
Viewed in that light, Lew's little reminder of his own mortality doesn't seem quite so macabre!
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The Lessons on the Random
by amit.
the lessons you guide to proper IM etiquette
- the rules of laughter.
- the rules of conversation
- the rules of correction
- the rules of dots
- the rules of words for the belated responser
- the rules of warning
i'd say 90% of the world uses 'lol' in some form.. and i might be underestimating...
the purpose of instant messageing, taken straight from Websters (word that means imaginary should go here) Collegiate Dictionary, Copyright approx 2002, is:
The Purpose of Instant Messaging with AOL or AIM or anything similar is to try the best you can to render what you would normally speak into written text.
I don't know about you, but I have NEVER heard anyone say.. verbally say... "el - oh - el"
a few years ago, i used the phrase 'lol' like 24/7 when i was online.. when people talked to me, i'd hafta think about how i'm gonna laugh.. i've never said "el-oh-el," but i've been oh so close. in my head, i'd say 'el-oh-el'.. but i'd catch myself before saying it out loud.. i'd be disowned by all my friends if that happened.
then one day.. some of my friends.. no names to be said to protect the innocent lives of sam and greg.. well, it wasn't a day thing.. they just never used 'lol'.. and i realized.. 'lol'... that spells 'lol'... almost rhymes with ball, and hall, and other words... i'm going to use 'ha'.. and then add on to the 'ha' with more 'ha's.. depending on how funny it is
for example:
stupidyetalittlefunnyjokerbuddy:you have a green shirt on
funnyascrapbuddy:you like to eat green leaves on a saturday afternoon, man!
amram71: hahahahahahahahahaha
amram71:hahahahahahahahaha... ok, that's as far as i can go.
the last example proves that if something is freakishly funny, and you have the strength of hercules in your fingers.. go for it... add as many 'ha's as you possibly can. play a game with yourself. say something like:
amram71'smind:hmm, 100 ha's in 1 minute.. think i can do it?
amram71'sconscience:no! give up. you cant do it!
amram71'sconscience(the good one):go for it, buddy!
whew.. that hurt
Rule 2:
REFRAIN! (i understand that i broke rule 1 of typing in all caps, but ya..)
for the dumb ones:
the acronym means:
Rolling on the floor laughing like I laughed back in eight grade when my teacher ate a cream pie made of ... cream, I guess. How gay can acronym get LOL! |
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Famed Milwaukee County Zoo orangutan's death caused by strange infection
Rejected by his biological mother at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colo., and eventually flown to Milwaukee aboard a private jet to live with a surrogate mother, Mahal became one of the Milwaukee County Zoo's star attractions. His unexpected death at age 5 in late December 2012 was a shock to the community that came to know him through a popular newspaper feature series in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and a book that recounted his difficult start in life.
Now, thanks to cutting-edge genetic diagnostics, a team of researchers led by Tony Goldberg at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Veterinary Medicine has documented the cause of Mahal's death in the scientific literature, identifying a species of tapeworm unknown to science and newly recognized as a threat to primates.
"At the beginning, all we had were Mahal's clinical condition and a tissue sample," says Goldberg, professor in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences and associate director for research in the UW-Madison Global Health Institute. "We knew there was some type of infection in there. It could have been nearly anything. The list of potential agents was enormous."
Goldberg, a veterinarian and expert in the identification of emerging and rare diseases in humans and other primates, worked with Annette Gendron of the UW-Madison Research Animal Resources Center, David O'Connor of the UW-Madison Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and veterinarians Roberta Wallace and Victoria Clyde from the Milwaukee County Zoo, as well as UW-Madison students and colleagues at the University of Florida, to identify the agent. The team pinned Mahal's death on an unrecognized species of tapeworm in the genus Versteria. Their findings were published online in a recent (December, 2013) edition of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Tapeworms, notes Goldberg, are a large and diverse group of parasites. There are estimated to be more than 1,500 known species of the pathogenic flatworms, many of which are adapted to specific animal hosts. Of those, perhaps a few dozen can infect humans and other primates.
According to Goldberg, the tapeworm found in Mahal is an unknown species in the newly categorized Versteria genus, which has been found in weasels in either Africa or North America. Furthermore, Mahal's tapeworm was in its larval form. "Larval tapeworms infect the tissues of animals," says Goldberg. "This life stage is different from the adult form, which is the long, wormlike stage we usually think of."
When certain tapeworm larvae in the tissues of an "intermediate" host are eaten by a predator, they grow into the more familiar adult form, which live in the intestine and produce eggs.
Sometimes, Goldberg explains, parasites like larval tapeworms infect animals they are not supposed to, as seems to be the case with Mahal. "It's possible the parasite was expecting to be in a mouse but found itself inside an orangutan," says Goldberg, noting that tapeworm eggs can move through the environment in complex ways. Mahal was therefore probably an "aberrant" host, and the larval form of the tapeworm infected practically every organ in his body.
"For reasons we don't understand, tapeworms sometimes go haywire," Goldberg says, adding that how and when Mahal became infected remain mysteries. "It is possible he was infected a few weeks before he died. Or he may have been infected several years ago and the tapeworm was dormant and suddenly started to multiply out of control."
To identify the culprit, Goldberg and his team used a technique known as "deep sequencing" to characterize all of the DNA in Mahal's tissue samples. Ninety-seven percent of the genetic material, explains Goldberg, belonged to Mahal, of course. But because the orangutan genome is known and sequenced, Goldberg's team was able to pick out DNA from the parasite.
The work, Goldberg says, was possible because of unique facilities at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center AIDS Vaccine Research Laboratory.
What was left after the orangutan DNA was filtered out was a small percentage of DNA sequences roughly similar to Torenia solium, also known as the pork tapeworm, a parasite that afflicts humans. By doing additional genetic testing and comparing the results to banked DNA sequences of known tapeworm species, Goldberg and his group were able to place the tapeworm in the newly proposed genus Versteria.
"This was an unknown species and a very unusual presentation," says Goldberg. "On hindsight, there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it by anyone at the zoo or anywhere else, and by the time the infection made Mahal sick it had already gotten out of control. This was an unfortunate quirk with very sad consequences."
Contact: Tony Goldberg
University of Wisconsin-Madison
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PCB Thermal Analysis
In today’s extremely large and complex PCB designs, power dissipation has become a major challenge. Every printed circuit layout engineer must take into account power dissipation, ensuring that hot components are placed in a cooler area, using ‘forced-cooling’ or heat sinks to prevent the circuit board from overheating.
The fiXtress PCB Thermal Analysis module estimates, even before the layout procedure starts, the exact junction temperature for each semiconductor and IC. Using this information, the designer can place hot components in a cooler area. Additionally, assumptions can be made on exactly how much Air Flow (CFM) is needed (i.e. fan spans) in order to lower the temperature of the entire PCB.
This way, thermal engineers can ensure that the system and its electrical components are continually cooled and operating within the safe operating temperature range, without laborious manual calculations.
The amount of power consumed by some devices can cause significant design problems. For example, IC fan-out is determined by the amount of input current drawn by a gate load draws, and the output current the supplied by a driving gate. In reality, a limit will be reached where a gate output cannot drive any more current into subsequent gate inputs; attempting to cross the limit will cause the voltage to fall below the level defined for the logic level on that wire, resulting in a design failure. Another example: When the current across a resistor is increased by a design fault, and approaches its maximum power rating, the resistor will develop more voltage and dissipate more power. This can cause overheating and burning of the area around the resistor, and, in some cases cause the entire circuit to fail. |
Our history
the domaine
The significance of the eagle emblem
The eagle is the symbol of the Perrault family emblem. The original crest engraved on the coat of arms of the Perrault ancestors was a bald eagle in the “at watch” position, the body was silver and the background was black.
Today, the Domaine Perrault crest was slightly modified to a gold silhouette of the eagle providing the symbol with a more modern look. For the Perrault family, the bald eagle signifies “champion” or “leader” because eagles just like leaders, do not flock. |
Tests and procedures used to diagnose Merkel cell carcinoma include:
• Physical exam. Your doctor will examine your skin for unusual moles, freckles, pigmented spots and other growths.
• Removing a sample of suspicious skin. During a procedure called a skin biopsy, your doctor removes the tumor or a sample of the tumor from your skin. The sample is analyzed in a laboratory to look for signs of cancer.
Determining the extent
Your doctor may use the following tests to help determine whether the cancer has spread beyond your skin:
• Sentinel node biopsy. A sentinel node biopsy is a procedure to determine whether cancer has spread to your lymph nodes. This procedure involves injecting a dye near the cancer. The dye then flows through the lymphatic system to your lymph nodes.
The first lymph node that receives the dye is called the sentinel node. Your doctor removes this lymph node and looks for cancerous cells under a microscope.
• Imaging tests. Your doctor may recommend a chest X-ray and a CT scan of your chest and abdomen to help determine whether the cancer has spread to other organs.
Your doctor may also consider other imaging tests such as a positron emission tomography (PET) scan or an octreotide scan — a test that uses an injection of a radioactive tracer to check for the spread of cancer cells.
Dec. 09, 2015
1. Niederhuber JE, et al., eds. Nonmelanoma skin cancers. In: Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2014. http://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed Aug. 5, 2015.
2. Merkel cell carcinoma. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/f_guidelines.asp. Accessed Aug. 5, 2015.
3. Merkel cell carcinoma treatment (PDQ). National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/types/skin/patient/merkel-cell-treatment-pdq#section/all. Accessed Sept. 3, 2015.
4. Prevent skin cancer. American Academy of Dermatology. http://www.aad.org/spot-skin-cancer/learn-about-skin-cancer/prevent-skin-cancer. Accessed Sept. 3, 2015.
5. Tai, P. Pathogenesis, clinical features, and diagnosis of Merkel cell (neuroendocrine) carcinoma. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed Sept. 5, 2015.
6. Church CD, et al. How does the Merkel polyomavirus lead to a lethal cancer? Many answers, many questions and a new mouse model. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 2015;135:1222. |
NCPA - National Center for Policy Analysis
Taxpayers on the Hook for Increasing Cost of Nuclear Waste
August 10, 2011
Imagine a football field packed 20 feet high with highly radioactive nuclear waste. That's about the volume of the 65,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel stranded at dozens of nuclear sites across the United States. It isn't just a potential public health hazard, but a growing burden on the federal government's groaning finances, says the Wall Street Journal.
• A decades-old promise to dispose of the waste has become another unfunded liability, starting with a $25 billion ratepayer fund gone astray and $16 billion or more in estimated legal judgments to compensate utilities for their storage expenses.
• The costs of the ultimate disposal project also are sure to rise, with no plan in sight to replace the now-canceled plan to entomb the waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.
When the federal government took responsibility for nuclear-waste disposal three decades ago, taxpayers weren't supposed to be on the hook. Under a "polluter pays" doctrine, the 1982 law required nuclear utilities to shoulder the cost through an annual fee paid to the federal government. The fee was to be deposited in a newly created Nuclear Waste Fund that the U.S. Department of Energy could tap to fund the storage project.
• Counting past expenditures and interest earned, the fund's balance is about $25 billion.
• But since the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, Congress and successive administrations have changed the plan so that the fees paid by utilities essentially are treated like taxes and go into the government's general coffers.
Because the government failed to start taking spent fuel as promised beginning in 1998, utilities are suing it to cover their additional storage costs. Federal officials have estimated it will cost $16.2 billion to pay legal judgments owed to utilities by 2020 -- assuming the United States is able to start taking waste from utilities starting then -- and $500 million a year after that.
Beyond disposal costs, taxpayers are also potentially liable for damages suffered by the public from a nuclear accident, including those stemming from the spent fuel stored at commercial power plant sites. Under a 1950s law, plant operators currently must carry $375 million of liability insurance for each reactor, after which an industry insurance plan would take over, covering damages up to $12 billion. Any personal injury or property damages in excess of that would be borne by the federal government, says the Journal.
Source: Mark Maremont, "Nuclear Waste Piles Up -- in Budget Deficit," Wall Street Journal, August 9, 2011.
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Exobiology Radiation Assembly
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EURECA facility deployment in 1992
Exobiology Radiation Assembly (ERA) was an experiment that investigated the biological effects of space radiation, on board the European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA), an unmanned 4.5 tonne satellite with a payload of 15 experiments.[1] It was an astrobiology mission developed by the European Space Agency (ESA).
It was launched 31 July 1992 by STS-46 - Space Shuttle Atlantis, and put into an orbit at an altitude of 508 km. EURECA was retrieved on 1 July 1993 by STS-57- Space Shuttle Endeavour and returned to Earth for further analysis.
The general goal of the experiment was to study the response of dehydrated and metabolically dormant microorganisms (spores of Bacillus subtilis, cells of Deinococcus radiodurans, conidial spores of Aspergillus species) and cellular constituents (plasmid DNA, proteins, purple membranes, amino acids, urea) to the extremely dehydrating conditions of outer space, in some cases in combination with irradiation by solar UV light.[2]
The Exobiology Radiation Assembly (ERA) provided information on the exposure of invertebrates, microorganisms and organic molecules to long-term exposure to outer space conditions, such as ultraviolet (UV) radiation, cosmic radiation and vacuum.
See also[edit]
1. ^ "Exobiology and Radiation Assembly (ERA)". ESA. NASA. 1992. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
2. ^ a b c Dose, K.; Bieger-Dose, A.; Dillmann, R.; Gill, M.; Kerz, O.; Klein, A.; Meinert, H.; Nawroth, T.; et al. (1995). "ERA-experiment 'space biochemistry'". Advances in Space Research. 16 (8): 119–29. Bibcode:1995AdSpR..16..119D. doi:10.1016/0273-1177(95)00280-R. PMID 11542696.
3. ^ Horneck, G; Eschweiler, U; Reitz, G; Wehner, J; Willimek, R; Strauch, K (1995). "Biological responses to space: Results of the experiment 'Exobiological Unit' of ERA on EURECA I". Advances in Space Research. 16 (8): 105–18. Bibcode:1995AdSpR..16..105H. doi:10.1016/0273-1177(95)00279-N. PMID 11542695. |
Gopher Tortoise
Georgia State Reptile
Gopher tortoise
Gopher tortoise; photo by FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute on Flickr (noncommercial use permitted with attribution / no derivative works).
Official State Reptile of Georgia
Georgia designated the endangered gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) as the official state reptile in 1989. All State Reptiles
Native to Georgia, the gopher tortoise population is declining and studies indicate that it may not even exist outside of protected areas. Help preserve this unique, ancient creature - if you find a tortoise on the road, stop your vehicle and gently place it off the road in the direction it is traveling (otherwise do not disturb it).
Georgia Legislation
WHEREAS, the gopher tortoise (gopherus polyphemus) belongs to a group of land tortoises that originated in North America 60 million years ago, thus making it one of the oldest living species native to Georgia; and
WHEREAS, the gopher tortoise population is scattered throughout the southeastern United States, with most being found in southern Georgia and north central Florida; and
WHEREAS, the gopher tortoise benefits the ecology by digging burrows up to 40 feet long and 10 feet deep which provides year-round shelter from predators and weather for more than three dozen other animal species, including some threatened species; and
WHEREAS, recent studies indicate that the gopher tortoise population is in decline due to mankind’s activities, and that by the year 2000 the gopher tortoise may not exist outside of protected areas; and
WHEREAS, this ancient and ecologically beneficial reptile is deserving of the attention and appreciation of the citizens of this state by designation as the official state reptile.
... The gopher tortoise is designated as the official Georgia state reptile.
Gopher tortoise; photo by Craig ONeal on Flickr (use permitted with attribution / share alike).
Gopher tortoise
The Gopher Tortoise |
Robert Frost's biographer describes him as a man of contradictions.On the one hand he was an individualist who wanted to do things his way; on the other hand he wanted to be accepted by others, to...
Robert Frost's biographer describes him as a man of contradictions.
On the one hand he was an individualist who wanted to do things his way; on the other hand he wanted to be accepted by others, to fit in.
How does this info. add to your understanding of the poem "The Road Not Taken"?
1 Answer | Add Yours
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William Delaney | (Level 3) Distinguished Educator
Posted on
Robert Frost was confronted with the same problem that confronts most people who want to devote their lives to creative writing--and especially to writing poetry. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to make any kind of a decent living writing poetry. It always has been. Frost must have known he had exceptional talent and that he had a chance of making a success as a poet—which he did. But he knew it was a gamble, and, as the biographer you quoted says, he also wanted to be respected and accepted by others.
In “The Road Not Taken” the speaker, Frost himself without doubt, is faced with a critical choice of careers. He can either go his own way and devote himself to creative writing, regardless of the possible economic consequences; or he can take a more conventional path and go into some line of work that would bring him a good income and respectability and hopefully allow him enough free time to write his poetry as a sideline. With his brains and education he could become an advertising executive, a banker (like T.S. Eliot), a lawyer, a doctor, or almost anything else he chose. The “road not taken” would seem to lead in the direction of “The Big Apple,” New York City with its fantastic skyscrapers and multifold opportunities.
The most common choice for people like Frost is to become a college professor. This is a highly respectable career, and it allows time for writing—in many cases it actually requires publishing (or perishing!). But it has its drawbacks, as some poets have complained in their published works. It is a somewhat cloistered existence, and the potential subject matter has been deeply mined already. Frost knew that his inspiration depended on freedom and exposure to a wider range of life experience. We know from his poetry that he chose the very simple, humble life style of a New England farmer. Many years had to pass before he achieved the recognition he deserved.
Somerset Maugham was one of the most successful writers of all time. He wrote novels, plays, stories and essays, and he was internationally famous. Like Frost, he understood what a perilous profession creative writing, or any other creative occupation, can be. In his old age, Maugham wrote the following caveat:
To write prose and verse, to hammer out little tunes on the piano, and to draw and paint, are instinctive with a great many young persons. It is a form of play, due merely to the exuberance of their years, and is no more significant than a child’s building of a castle on the sands....The point I want to make is that this facility is, if not universal, so common that one can draw no conclusions from it. Youth is the inspiration. One of the tragedies of the arts is the spectacle of the vast number of persons who have been misled by this passing fertility to devote their lives to the effort of creation. Their invention deserts them as they grow older, and they are faced with the long years before them in which, unfitted by now for a more humdrum calling, they harass their wearied brain to beat out material it is incapable of giving them. They are lucky when, with what bitterness we know, they can make a living in ways, like journalism or teaching, that are allied to the arts.
The Summing Up
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The world as seen through the clarifying lens of the 9th Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1875-1889).
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
18. (i) Skirting controversy
The author of the article INDIA, a high-ranking public servant of Empire, who joyfully assayed the quality and value of its coronal gem, nonetheless lamented, as we have seen, the erosion of a culture rich in its own arts and crafts, acknowledging that it had preceded and been emulated by Britain in developing the textiles trade; so fore-shadowing some of the motivating sentiments that later propelled Gandhi in his fight to end the Raj. This brings to mind George Orwell's opinion of Rudyard Kipling, that, whatever his faults, no writer in English ever brought the Indian world of his time alive to the same degree, and if we dismiss a writer because of the 'side' that they are on, it is very much to our loss.
The contributors to the ninth edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica broadly share a common background. Or indeed narrowly share - a very large proportion of them being academics from Scottish universities. However subject to exception, it is not inconceivable that there might be some justice in a preconceived notion of, let us say, a degree of conformity to certain expectations of the world view of a Victorian academic.
There is at least one article in the Ninth which stands out as being, frankly, inexcusably of its time. It makes explicit a certain attitude and widely held belief in what we may as well here clarify, in its own terms, as the white Anglo-Saxon world, and not, sadly, without its relevance today. As a matter of historical record, the essay NEGRO, by A. H. Keane, gives a stark, explicit and as such perhaps disturbing insight into the philosophy expounding the inferiority of people of African descent.
The enterprising chap responsible for , has this to say on the matter:
I came across this article about a year ago and it has caused me a lot of concern. Some articles (e.g. SLAVERY) do talk occasionally of "inferior" races but the NEGRO article really goes a lot further than that -- you could just imagine it being gleefully quoted by rightwing extremists in online forums. You can see the article dates from the time of Gobineau.
I had been thinking of either not publishing the article at all or just publishing some of the paragraphs as JPG images (so they would not get indexed by the search engines).
Could another strategy be an adaptation of that which used to be employed by the Loeb bilingual editions of Latin and Greek classics ( In the early 20th century, Loeb used to translate certain passages into another classical language rather than into English. For example, the Greek romance, Daphnis and Chloe, by Longus, was mostly translated into English on each facing page, but had its more explicit erotic passages translated into Latin rather than English.( )
The author of NEGRO was Augustus Henry Keane, F.R.G.S., Emeritus Professor of Hindustani, University College, London; late Vice President, Anthropological Institute; author of Stanford's Asia, Africa, Ethnology; Man, Past and Present; etc. I have uploaded a couple of other articles by him to the website, including YORUBA . The latter article (e.g. the final three paragraphs) is, comparatively, more moderate in tone.
I share these concerns. Google checks have made clear that its noxious passages are not floating about in the ether of Interwebshire, and have yet to be quoted and bandied about by peddlers of hate and ignorance: I don't relish the notion of being responsible for that eventuality, or the possibility that certain words and phrases might result in an unwholesome growth of traffic to this rarely-trod corner.
All this said, I will endeavour to dismantle this particular piece of writing, in my usual cheerfully flippant and selective manner. I may be less generous than usual in the servings of direct quotation than if the subject matter were something more innocuous (such as the correct usage of the word Abracadabra). For all this hesitation, I continue to subscribe to the philosophy that truth is better perceived with open eyes; the original entry is always worth reading in full. For the time being, this may require getting thee to an actual library somewhereabouts, and manhandling the volume concerned, perhaps whilst shaking your head and tut-tutting concernedly.
Monday, 19 May 2008
17. What I have learned this weekend
The Clavicle, or Collar Bone, is an elongated bone which extends from the upper end of the sternum horizontally outwards, to articulate with the acromion process of the scapula. It presents a strong sigmoidal curve, which is associated with the transverse and horizontal direction of the axis of the human shoulder. It is slender in the female, but powerful in muscular males [...]. The clavicle is absent in the hoofed quadrupeds, in the seals and whales, and is feeble in the carnivora ; but it is well formed, not only in man, but in apes, bats, and in many rodents and insectivora.
(From ANATOMY, by Sir William Turner, M.B., F.R.S., Professor of Anatomy in the University of Edinburgh, in vol. 1 of the 9th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1875)
As the derivation of the term implies, the chief component parts of this machine consist of two wheels. The word is applied to those two-wheeled machines which have been brought to their present state of perfection for human locomotion during the past five years.
[...] There being no lateral support to the machine, the first thing to be learned is balancing, after which it is best to begin riding down a gentle gradient without using the treadles [...] Falls are inevitable at first, and they are best avoided by slightly turning the driving-wheel in the direction the machine is inclining, not the contrary way.
(From BICYCLE, uncredited, EB9 vol 3, 1875)
A bone may be broken at the part where it is struck, or it may break in consequence of a strain applied to it. In the former case the fracture is generally transverse and in the latter more or less oblique in direction.
(From SURGERY, by John Chiene, M.D., Professor of Surgery, University of Edinburgh ; Charles Creighton, M.A., M.D. ; F. M. Caird, M.B., C.M. ; and Prof. A. W. Hare, M.B., Owens College, Manchester, EB9 vol 22, 1887)
If we consider our mental condition as regards sensation at any moment, we notice numerous sensations more or less definite, [...] such as a feeling of general comfort, free or impeded breathing, hunger, thirst, malaise, horror, fatigue, and pain. These are all caused by the irritation of ordinary sensory nerves in different localities, and if the irritation of such nerves, by chemical, thermal, mechanical, or nutritional stimuli, passes beyond a certain maximum point of intensity, the result is pain. [...] The intensity of pain depends upon the degree of excitability of the sensory nerves, whilst its massiveness depends upon the number of nerve fibres affected. The quality of the pain is probably produced by the kind of irritation of the nerve, as affected by the structure of the part and the greater or less continuance of severe pressure. Thus there are piercing, cutting, boring, burning, throbbing, pressing, gnawing, dull, and acute varieties of pain.
(From TOUCH, by J. G. M'Kendrick, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S., Professor of the Institutes of Medicine, University of Glasgow, EB9 vol 23, 1888)
Thursday, 15 May 2008
16. Admirable diversions
Do you know the difference between your minstrels and your bards, your bufos and your troubadours, your gleemen and your joglars? There are a number of articles in EB9 which might educate you to better classify your itinerant musicians. One of the more concise is MINSTREL, by William Minto, M.A., Professor of English Language at the University of Aberdeen.
The "minstrels," according to Bishop Percy, "were an order of men in the Middle Ages who united the arts of poetry and music, and sang verses to the harp of their own composing, who appear to have accompanied their songs with mimicry and action, and to have practised such various means of diverting as were much admired in those rude times [...]."
Minto opens with this description from Reliques of Ancient Poetry - the source of the popular associations with the term 'minstrel' that appealed to the 19th century medievalist. An erroneous association:
The imagination was fascinated by this romantic figure, and the laborious and soured antiquary Ritson argued in vain that nobody before Bishop Percy had ever applied the word minstrel to such an order of men, that no such order of men ever did exist in England, and that the historical English "minstrels," so-called, were a much less gifted and respectable class, being really instrumental musicians, either retainers or strollers.
Why is it that no one ever listens to laborious and soured antiquaries? Is a little precision too much to ask for when speaking of past times and peoples?
[T]here can be little doubt that Ritson was substantially right [...]. The romantic bishop transferred to the English minstrel the social status and brilliant gifts of the Anglo-Saxon gleoman or scop, and the French troubadour in the flourishing period of Provencal poetry. That the gleemen sang to the harp verses of their own composing, that some of them travelled from court to court as honoured guests, while others were important attached court officials, and all received costly presents, is a well attested historical fact. [...] [A] successful gleeman was as much honoured as a modern poet-laureate, and as richly rewarded as a fashionable prima donna.
11th to 13th century Provence was definitely the place to go for a colourful variety of peripatetic musical entertainment. French joglars, we are informed, closest resemble the ideal of the English minstrel: they "played, sang, recited, conjured, [were] men of versatile powers of entertainment, who performed at the houses of the nobility, and were liberally renumerated[.]" Above the joglar, we have the lofty trobadors, "whose distinction it was to compose verses, whether or not they had sufficient executive faculty to sing or recite them." At the bottom of the heap, but surely most appealing of all, were the bufos "who strolled among the common people, singing ribald songs, showing feats of skill and strength, exhibiting learned dogs and goats, and so forth[.]" Messieurs et Mesdames, voila Hugo! La chevre le plus intelligent! Encroyable.
Whilst medieval England was sadly bereft of such sparkling diversions: do not despair, ye would-be beholder of marvels, if you live in Australia, Britain or the United States, because the spirit of the Bufo and the Joglar is very much alive, in the personages of modern-day minstrels Mike West and Katie Euliss, performing across these continents in the course of perpetual wanderings, as Truckstop Honeymoon. By a most happy coincidence they will be taking to a tiered stage in the bowels of a converted Norwegian fishing boat moored at Canning Dock, Liverpool, on Thursday 22nd May, 2008. I am reliably informed that admission to this splendid occasion, widely touted as the principle cultural event in the city's European Capital of Culture year, will cost a mere £5. Exhibition of a learned goat between musical sets has not yet been confirmed.
Monday, 12 May 2008
15. What is their value as pulp?
Recently dug up this question from Yahoo! Answers:
Eddie: I have a full set of 1884 Encyclopedia Britannica, does anyone know the value of them?
Best Answer:
Dave: I would say that considering the advent of the Internet since 1984 and the fact that much of the information is outdated or incomplete, they would be difficult to give away. Not trying to be mean, just rational.
Eddie: Yes i think your right.
I guess the 'incomplete' information is a reference to the fact that history still hadn't ended by publication ("Dude, this so-called encyclopedia totally has nothing in it about Korn or even Green Day. Lame!"). Well, Dave is not trying to be mean (although he still totally blows), and he is in fact entirely correct that an EB9 would be difficult to give away, but gentlemen, please, in spite of everything the internet has achieved since 1984, you are referring to the GREATEST, MOST SCHOLARLY WORK OF REFERENCE YET COMPILED. One day, thanks to the work of stalwarts such as the philanthropists at, the knowledge in the 9th Edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica will finally all be digitalised and available to fingers that have never left their grubby marks on the pages of an actual book, but that glorious day is, as of the time of writing, still some time off. Until then there will be ACTUAL INFORMATION contained within those dusty pages that CANNOT YET BE FOUND in interwebshire. Some might go so far as to say that even when that day does finally come, there might still be some value, even beyond the merely monetary, in having one of those weighty volumes resting open in your lap.
Friday, 9 May 2008
14. The invasion of purity
The action for seduction of an unmarried woman in England stands in a somewhat anomalous position. The theory of English law is that the woman herself has suffered no wrong ; the wrong has been suffered by the parent or the person in loco parentis, who must sue for the damage arising for the loss of service caused by the seduction of the woman. Some evidence of service must be given, but very slight evidence will be sufficient. Although the action is nominally for loss of service, still exemplary damages may be given for the dishonour of the plaintiff's family beyond recompense for the mere loss of service. An action for seduction cannot be brought in the county court except by agreement of the parties. As to seduction of a married woman, the old action for criminal conversation was abolished by the Divorce Act, 1857, which substituted for it a claim for damages against the co-respondent in a divorce suit.Seduction in England is not as a rule a criminal offence. But a conspiracy to seduce is indictable at common law. And the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885 (which extends to the United Kingdom), makes it a felony to seduce a girl between thirteen and sixteen (48 and 49 Vict. c. 69, SS 4, 5). The same Act also deals severely with the cognate offences of procuration, abduction, and unlawful detention with the intent to seduce a woman of any age. In Scotland, the seduced woman may sue on her own account.
United States.-In the United States State legislation has generally modified the common law. In some States the father brings an action as the representative of the family whose purity has been invaded ; in others the woman herself may bring the action. In many States there is a criminal as well as a civil remedy. The penal codes of New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, and other States make it a crime to seduce under promise of marriage an unmarried woman of good reputation. Subsequent intermarriage of the parties is in most cases a bar to criminal proceedings. Massachusetts goes still further. By the law of that State if a man commits fornication wityh a single woman, each of them shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding three months, or by fine not exceeding $30. The seduction of a female passenger on a vessel of the United States is an offence punishable by fine or imprisonment. The fine may be ordered by the court to be paid to the person seduced or her child (Act of Congress of 24th March 1860). The State legislation of the United States is in remarkable opposition to the rule of the canon law, by which the seduction of a woman by her betrothed was not punishable on account of the inchoate right given over her person given by the betrothal.
(from volume 21 of the 9th edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica, published 1886.)
Monday, 5 May 2008
13. Prostrated in mind, body, by sunstroke, and in the dust
Communications from the 9th Edition of Encyclopedia Britannica community of enthusiasts have enlightened me to usage of the extremely convenient EB9 abbreviation in reference to the object of our fascination, and I will henceforth endeavour to bandy the term liberally throughout these postings.
The author of the lyrics of the rousingly patriotic Rule Britannia, was the Scotsman James Thomson (1700-1748). Cheery national fervour notwithstanding, Thomson was no stranger to melancholy. EB9 informs us that it was
while he lingered in the neighbourhood of Barnet, without employment, without money, with few friends, saddened by the loss of his mother (his father had died when he was eighteen), that Thomson conceived the idea of his first poems on the season, Winter. The lines-
Welcome, kindred glooms,
Congenial horrors, hail!
came from the heart ; they expressed his own forlorn mood on the approach of the winter of 1725. Winter appeared in the spring of 1726. [...] The tradition is that it attracted no notice for a month, but that, at the end of that time, a literary clergyman, Whately, chanced to take it up from a bookseller's counter, and at once rushed off to the coffee-houses to proclaim the discovery of a new poet.
It is a sad reflection of our times that literary clergymen are rarely now to be seen rushing into coffee-houses to proclaim similar revelations, or that if they do, the modern Briton would hardly be roused from his mochaccino and sudoku to notice.
When it comes to the inspirational power of misery, THOMSON, James (1700-1748) is somewhat overshadowed by THOMSON, James (1834-1882), author of The City of Dreadful Night
born at Port Glasgow, in Renfrewshire, the eldest child of a mate in the shipping service. His mother was a deeply religious woman of the Irvingite sect, and it is not improbable that it was from her the son inherited his sombre and imaginative temperament. On her death, James, then in his seventh year, was procured admission into the Caledonian Orphan Asylum, from which he went out into the world as an assistant army schoolmaster. At the garrison at Ballincollig, near Cork, he encountered the one brief happiness of his life : he fell passionately in love with, and was in turn as ardently loved by, the daughter of the armourer-sergeant of a regiment in the garrison, a girl of very exceptional beauty and cultivated mind. Two years later, when Thomson was at the training college at Chelsea, he suddenly received news of her fatal illness and death. The blow prostrated him in mind and body ; and the former endured a hurt from which it never really recovered. Henceforth his life was one of gloom, disappointment, misery, and poverty, rarely alleviated by episodes of somewhat brighter fortune.
[...] In 1872 Thomson went to the Western States of America, as the agents of shareholders in what he ascertained to be a fraudulent silver mine ; and the following year he received a commission from The New York World to go to Spain as its special correspondent with the Carlists. During the two months of his stay in that distracted country he saw little real fighting, and was himself prostrated by a sunstroke.
[..] All his best work was produced between 1855 and 1875 ("The Doom of a City," 1857 ; "Our Ladies of Death," 1861 ; Weddah and Om-el-Bonain : "The Naked Goddess," 1866-7 ; The City of Dreadful Night, 1870 - 74). In his latter years Thomson too often sought refuge from his misery of mind and body in the Lethe of opium and alcohol. His mortal illness came upon him in the house of a poet friend ; and he was conveyed to University College hospital, in Gower Street, where shortly after he died (June 3, 1882). He was buried at Highgate cemetary, in the same grave, in unconsecrated ground, as his friend Austin Holyoake.
Anyone as unfamiliar as I was until today with the work of this unfortunate poet, will be richly rewarded by a reading of his great work, which these opening verses amply testify:
LO, thus, as prostrate, “In the dust I write
My heart’s deep languor and my soul’s sad tears.”
Yet why evoke the spectres of black night
To blot the sunshine of exultant years?
Why disinter dead faith from mouldering hidden?
Why break the seals of mute despair unbidden,
And wail life’s discords into careless ears?
Because a cold rage seizes one at whiles
To show the bitter old and wrinkled truth
Stripped naked of all vesture that beguiles,
False dreams, false hopes, false masks and modes of youth;
Because it gives some sense of power and passion
In helpless innocence to try to fashion
Our woe in living words howe’er uncouth. |
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Be Kind to Animals by Not Eating Them
James Herriot:
Ching Ching, the Little Chick
My niece rescued a little chick from being eaten. She brought it home and named it Ching Ching, meaning Pure. In the beginning, it would follow my niece around as if it was afraid of being abandoned. After a week, I started to look after the baby bird because my niece was too busy.
A chick needs constant care during its first month. Before its feathers are fully grown, it is highly susceptible to illness and has to be kept indoors to keep out the drafts. Its fine down coat of fluffy feathers cannot protect it well from the winds and cold. It requires the right temperature, clean fresh water and food, and dry bedding. It has to be kept warm, safe, and protected from predators.
Ching Ching is very likable because it is so tiny, delicate, adorable, and has a sweet repertoire of chirps. It is fragile but not timid. There are instances where it behaves in a remarkably bold and fearless manner. It enjoys being treated gently and responds amiably to kindness.
If Ching Ching can see us, it will appear relaxed or calm. It can even doze off while perching on my finger or palm. But whenever we are out of its sight, it begins to chirp almost incessantly. Just like an infant crying for its mother. It is incredibly babyish in an endearing way. When one is near Ching Ching, it may cheep softly.
It also notices and remembers that I use a blue foot stool to sit on when I bring food or treats. So it starts getting spiritedly excited whenever I move the blue foot stool. Ching Ching delights in being hand-fed and resting on people’s hand.
Chickens are very sociable and sensitive animals. They are not egg-laying machines or merchandise.
When I see those who are alive,
I do not wish to see them die.
When I hear their sounds,
I cannot bear to eat their flesh.
Millions and billions of chickens are heinously treated every day. In modern layer (egg producing) factories, countless live male chicks are immediately dumped into the trash plastic containers or atrociously destroyed in high-speed grinders. There are no laws to protect them from being shockingly abused, cruelly mutilated, mercilessly eaten, or brutally killed by people!
Romain Rolland:
Thousands of animals (now billions) are butchered every day
without a shadow of remorse. It cries vengeance upon all the human race. |
Did you know that Swedish and Norwegian have word melodies similar to Chinese?
NJL coverBlog post based on an article in Nordic Journal of Linguistics written by Mikael Roll
Did you know that Swedish and Norwegian have word melodies similar to Chinese? The article ‘A neurolinguistic study of South Swedish word accents: Electrical brain potentials in nouns and verbs‘ reports on previously unexplored brain responses to word tones in South Swedish.
The study adds strong support to the hypothesis that listeners use Swedish word stem tones to preactivate upcoming suffixes. Previous research had consistently found an increase in electrical brain response for one of the Swedish stem tones – accent 1 – as compared to the other tone – accent 2.
This increase in electrical brain response is thought to index preactivation of upcoming language, such as a suffix. Accent 1 stems are associated with fewer possible outcomes, and are therefore thought to increase the certainty of how a word might end. However, previously only the Central Swedish dialect had been investigated, and therefore it was uncertain whether the effect found was really due to the difference in possibilities associated with accent 1 and 2, or rather the acoustic difference between the tones.
In South Swedish, accent tones 1 and 2 are acoustically the mirror image of those in Central Swedish. Still, accent 1 produced a reaction indicating that the electrical brain response seems to reflect preactivation of upcoming suffixes, rather than a difference in acoustic processing.
Access the full article for free until 31st July.
Rare passives develop a special use
NJL CoverBlog post written by Elisabet Engdahl based on an article in Nordic Journal of Linguistics
English and the mainland Scandinavian languages share a typologically rare feature: complements of prepositions can be promoted to subjects in so called prepositional passives, as in the often cited English example this bed has been slept in by George Washington. Several researchers have proposed that prepositional passives are restricted by a notion of affectedness; the passive verb phrase typically expresses a significant property, or a change in a significant property, of the subject-referent.
A detailed study of 3600 potential prepositional passives in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish reveals that affectedness is relevant also in these languages – but it is a different notion of affectedness. The prepositional passive subject is typically animate, a person or an animal, who is psychologically affected by the action, or the lack of action, expressed by the participle. The construction is commonly used with Scandinavian counterparts of predicates like laughed at, listened to and talked to and very rarely, if ever, with predicates like slept in or lived in.
Additional corpus investigations show that prepositional passives are quite infrequent; on average they are used 3 times per million words (mw) in Swedish, 5/mw in Danish and 16/mw in Norwegian texts and probably a bit more frequently in spoken language. We have not been able to find comparable frequency figures for English. Would a large scale study of the use of prepositional passives in English confirm the notion of affectedness described in the literature, i.e. as involving physical objects that acquire notoriety? Or are there more similarities in the use between English and Scandinavian than would be expected given the descriptions of these rare passives?
Access the full article ‘Prepositional passives in Danish, Norwegian and Swedish: A corpus study’ here
Scandinavian prosody – same, but different!
NJL CoverBlog post written by Sara Juul Clausen and Line Burholt Kristensen based on an article published in Nordic Journal of Linguistics
Can you hear the difference between the two Danish words mor and mord?
(Click on the blue links to listen to the sound files)
mor (‘mother’) [moɐ̯]
mord (‘murder’) [moɐ̯ˀ]
Mord contains a stød /ˀ/, whereas mor doesn’t. Stød is a unique prosodic feature of Standard Danish: a creaky voice that is lexically distinctive. Though uniquely Danish in some sense, the stød/non-stød distinction can also be seen as a parallel to Swedish and Norwegian word tones (Accent 1 vs. Accent 2).
In terms of distribution, stød resembles Accent 1: If a particular Danish word is pronounced with stød, the Swedish and Norwegian equivalents of this word form will usually be pronounced with Accent 1. This also goes for suffixes. For instance, the singular definite suffix -en is associated with stød and with Accent 1, while the plural suffix -e/-ar is associated with non-stød and Accent 2.
’game’ + singular definite suffix is realized as… ’game’ + plural suffix is realized as…
Standard Danish legen [stød] lege [non-stød]
Central Swedish leken [Accent 1, i.e. low tone] lekar [Accent 2, i.e. high tone]
Despite these distributional (and diachronic) correspondences, Danish stød and Swedish/Norwegian Accent 1 are not entirely equivalent. In a recent psycholinguistic response time study, we show that the way speakers of Danish react to words with stød is similar to the way speakers of Swedish react to words with Accent 2. We therefore conclude that while stød is distributionally similar to Accent 1, the status of stød corresponds to that of Accent 2 when it comes to cognitive markedness.
You can read the article ‘The cognitive status of stød’ from Nordic Journal of Linguistics here
An update from the incoming Editors of the Nordic Journal of Linguistics
NJL 2015 CoverBlog post written by the incoming Editors of the Nordic Journal of Linguistics: Gunnar Ólafur Hansson, Marit Julien & Matti Miestamo
The last few years have been a transition period in the editorship of the Nordic Journal of Linguistics (NJL). Sten Vikner and Catherine Ringen, who have served as editors since 2001, are stepping down and a new editorial team is taking over. A few years ago it was agreed that in order to avoid an abrupt change in the editorship, Gunnar Ólafur Hansson, Matti Miestamo and Marit Westergaard would join the editorial team first as associate editors, and accordingly, in 2012-2014, the team had five members. Now the time has come for the new editors to take over completely, and from 2015 on, the editors of the journal are Hansson, Miestamo and Marit Julien, who now replaces Westergaard on the editorial team. Fredrik Heinat remains review editor as before. We wish to express our warm thanks to Sten and Cathie for their invaluable service to the Journal and to the Nordic linguistic community over the past decade and a half, as well as for their help and advice during our first years as NJL editors. We would also like to thank Marit Westergaard for the smooth cooperation we have had during the last three years.
We would like to point out to our readers and potential contributors that there are now four ways to contribute to NJL. In addition to the three traditional submission categories of (longer) articles, short communications, and book reviews, we have added a fourth category, review articles. We would very much like to encourage contributions to NJL within all four categories, including short communications, which are like articles in being peer-reviewed, but different from articles in that in such a communication, it is possible to make or illustrate an empirical point without necessarily giving a fully fledged and theoretically integrated analysis. Also, short communications are appropriate for comments on earlier publications in the Journal. Review articles are like book reviews in discussing a recent book of major importance or relevance to the NJL readership (or two or more books on the same topic), but the greater length allows for more detailed and substantial evaluation and critique. Like book reviews, review articles will typically be invited by the Editors, but unsolicited submissions in this category are also welcome.Information concerning submissions and instructions for contributors can be found at http://journals.cambridge.org/NJL. Note that NJL has a new email address for submissions and general queries: njleditors@cambridge.org
We are furthermore happy to announce that issue 39.2 (2016) of NJL will be a special issue devoted to Discourse, Grammar and Intersubjectivity, edited by Marja Etelämäki, Ilona Herlin, Tapani Möttönen and Laura Visapää. For full details, see the call for papers here.
Variation in Faroese and the development of a spoken standard: In search of corpus evidence
NJL 2014Post written by Remco Knooihuizen based on an article in the latest issue of Nordic Journal of Linguistics
A common theme in many European languages is that differences between dialects are becoming smaller. There are several in which this can happen: the strengthening of standard languages, frequent contact between people from different places (“dialect levelling”), or the spread of the dialect from an influential centre to other places. In many well-studied languages, these processes are difficult to tell apart because they interact and have been going on for a long while. But if we look at smaller languages, where these processes are more recent, we can find out more about the role of the different processes in dialect change.
One such language is Faroese, a Scandinavian language spoken by some 50,000 speakers in the Faroe Islands between Scotland and Iceland. The islands have known rapid social change after World War II, with improved transport links and Faroese-language media and education — three developments that map onto the processes of levelling, dialect spread and standardisation, respectively. There is evidence that dialect differences are decreasing in Faroese and that a more standard version of the language, called “Central Faroese”, is on the rise.
This study looks at a collection of recordings of spoken Faroese to chart the change in two linguistic variables, to see which mechanisms best account for the change. One variable is phonological (the pronunciation of the -ir and -ur endings which occur frequently in the language), the other is morphological (the occurrence of -st verb endings). Importantly, each mechanism would suggest a different course of change for these variables, which would allow us to tell the processes apart. We looked at two kinds of variables because Faroese language education focuses on ‘correct’ grammar, but no model pronunciation is taught in schools.
The analysis of the recordings confirms the geographical variation that we know exists in the language. However, there are very few differences between older and younger speakers from the same location, suggesting that there isn’t much language change going on. Speakers also don’t speak differently in informal conversations than they do in more formal interviews, where we would expect Central Faroese to appear. This is probably due to the close-knit Faroese society: because “everyone knows everyone”, there is less reason to use very formal speech styles and changes in these styles progress more slowly.
Read the full article ‘Variation in Faroese and the development of a spoken standard: In search of corpus evidence’ here |
[pas-er-in, -uh-rahyn, -uh-reen] /ˈpæs ər ɪn, -əˌraɪn, -əˌrin/
(def 1).
any bird of the order Passeriformes.
/ˈpæsəˌraɪn; -ˌriːn/
of, relating to, or belonging to the Passeriformes, an order of birds characterized by the perching habit: includes the larks, finches, crows, thrushes, starlings, etc
any bird belonging to the order Passeriformes
1776, from Latin passerinus “of a sparrow,” from passer “sparrow,” possibly of imitative origin. The noun is 1842, from the adjective.
Belonging to the avian order Passeriformes, which includes the perching birds. Passerine birds make up more than half of all living birds. They are of small to medium size, have three toes pointing forward and one pointing back, and are often brightly colored. Larks, swallows, jays, crows, wrens, thrushes, cardinals, finches, sparrows, and blackbirds are all passerine birds.
Read Also:
• Passersby
[pas-er-bahy, -bahy, pah-ser-] /ˈpæs ərˈbaɪ, -ˌbaɪ, ˈpɑ sər-/ noun, plural passersby [pas-erz-bahy, -bahy, pah-serz-] /ˈpæs ərzˈbaɪ, -ˌbaɪ, ˈpɑ sərz-/ (Show IPA) 1. a person passing by.
• Passes
[pas, pahs] /pæs, pɑs/ verb (used with object) 1. to move past; go by: to pass another car on the road. 2. to let go without notice, action, remark, etc.; leave unconsidered; disregard; overlook: Pass chapter two and go on to chapter three. 3. to omit the usual or regular payment of: The company decided […]
• Pass-fail
[pas-feyl, pahs-] /ˈpæsˈfeɪl, ˈpɑs-/ noun, Education. 1. a system of grading in some educational institutions in which a student simply passes or fails instead of receiving a letter or numerical grade.
• Pass go
verb phrase To complete a difficult task or pass an important milestone in a project •Usu negative: Execs go to jail, do not pass go in the scandal [fr the game of Monopoly]
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Shining A Light On a Glaring Problem
What do your smartphone and the need for sun protection have in common?
You may want to reflect on that!
New research looks into the potential role electronics’ screens play in UV light exposure. UV light is the kind doctors say increases the risk of skin cancer and ages skin. The research measured the amount of UV light that “bounced off” smartphones, tablets and laptops placed on a music stand.
They found the glossier the surface the more light was reflected. Doctors say they are only concerned with exposure over time and that device reflection is just another source contributing to overall UV exposure.
To protect yourself wear sunglasses and sunblock year round, at least 30 spf.
Related: 6 Natural Ways to Boost Your Vitamin D Without the Sun |
Sunday, 10 June 2012
The Appetite Regulating Hormones
English: Models of Atlantic salmon leptins (le...
One common trait exhibited by a great majority of overweight individuals is that they have a somewhat uncontrollable appetite and tendency to engage in overeating. Although the general opinion has been that such individuals lack a degree of willpower, science is however now indicating that it may have a lot more to do with hormones.
Generally, being hungry is a fundamental part of human physiology but which tends to take on an entirely new dimension when dieting. For its survival and optimal performance, the human body has a very efficient pair of hormones that helps the brain to know when the body needs to eat and when it has eaten enough. People generally tend to overeat when the brain either does not receive the relevant signals from the respective hormones or fails to properly interpret them.
There are two hormones namely leptin and ghrelin which are responsible for letting the brain know when the body is hungry and needs to eat or otherwise. These hormones are what control our desire to eat and also play a part in determining whether the excess calories are used for immediate energy provision or stored as fat in adipose tissues.
Therefore, a good understanding of the interaction between these hormones and how they influence our eating habits is important because the differences in their overall levels in the body and also how the body responds to them appear to play very significant roles in our ability to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.
It is a protein hormone secreted by fat cells (adipose tissues) and which sends signals to the hypothalamus of the brain indicating that the body has ingested enough calories and should stop eating. When leptin is secreted, it makes you feel full and satisfied, speeds up your metabolism, and makes the body to focus on burning stored fat.
Usually, increased levels of leptin in the body let the brain to know that there is enough stored fat and therefore no further need to ingest or store anymore fat. Decrease in leptin secretion can however lead to an individual indulging in overeating as the brain may not be receiving the "full" signal.
Although a lot of people were initially of the view that overweight and obese individuals had genetic problems that made them unable to produce adequate amounts of leptin, scientific studies have however shown that the reverse is actually the case. Several research studies have discovered that overweight and obese individuals instead tend to have higher levels of leptin than slimmer individuals due to the fact that they have become leptin resistant.
Some factors that can be responsible for this include the fact that when people engage in overeating either as a "conditioned response" (a learned habit) or an "emotional eating" problem, the leptin receptors in the hypothalamus over time become "numbed" or "de-sensitized" to the effect of leptin.
Also, it might be possible that the cells transmitting the leptin signals to the hypothalamus are not making it through the blood-brain barrier either due to inflammation of arteries or the low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to plasma ratio in overweight and obese individuals. Either or a combination of these factors might cause a vicious cycle of increased weight gain and elevated leptin production which consequently makes the body all the more leptin resistant.
This peptide hormone was recently discovered to be produced in the gastrointestinal tract and not much is at yet known about its overall function.
Ghrelin secretion by the cells lining the stomach stimulates the appetite. Ghrelin therefore plays an important part in regulating appetite and maintenance of energy balance in the body. The production of ghrelin stops once food enters the stomach as it is known to increase before meals and decrease after meals and thus basically serve to increase appetite to eat.
It becomes pretty obvious that ghrelin is the main culprit sabotaging the weight loss effort of a lot of people especially those using low-calorie diets. Using low-calorie or deprivation based weight loss diet generally results in uncontrollable hunger pangs and eventually leads to overeating.
Furthermore, a research study by University of Bristol scientists found that sleep deprivation may trigger appetite and cravings for sugar-rich, calorie-dense junk food. This according to the research is because sleeping for five hours or less a night causes a 15% reduction in leptin production while interestingly causing a countering 15% increase in ghrelin (the hunger-promoting hormone) production.
Certain lifestyle changes can however help in regulating leptin levels to help in reducing frequent hunger pangs and eliminating cravings for sugary snacks. Some of these changes include avoiding excess sugars and saturated fatty foods; engaging in regular physical exercises; and improving sleeping habits to help increase melatonin production which has been shown to restore normal leptin functions.
Re-take CONTROL of your life today to get that trimmer and healthier figure of your dreams by checking us out right now to get some topnotch best weight loss tips in addition to some of the best weight loss diets that will help you lose that excess body fat permanently!
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International Solar Alliance
What is International Solar Alliance (ISA)?
International Solar Alliance is a group of more than 120 countries (alliance) which came together for generating clean energy using Solar Energy and thus reducing their carbon footprints and moving towards better, greener & cleaner future. To understand about International Solar Alliance we need to look at COP21 climate conference which took place at Paris in 2015 under The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
What is COP21 & significance of International Solar Alliance ?
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which works on reducing the pace of climate change or mitigates the climate change through environmental agreement held their 21st annual conference of Parties referred as COP in Paris from 30th November 2015 to 11th December 2015. This conferenced received its name as COP21.
This conference aimed at slowing down the carbon emissions and other green house gases to combat climate change widely known as Global Warming. This was aimed by various means with considerable focus on use of renewable energy instead of conventional (non-renewable) sources of energy like coal, petroleum etc. Considering a number of renewable energy options available and understanding their potential and limitations Solar Energy was given a lot of focus. Solar Energy being freely available, clean, now cheap and commercially viable was seen as a promising source of energy by the leader of countries attending the COP21 conference.
For tapping the solar energy approx 120 countries came forward to form an alliance which was known as International Solar Alliance which marked a great achievement in the conference. This initiative was taken from side of India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi which was supported by France and various other countries. Under this alliance the member countries will work together for using and shifting to solar energy for meeting their energy demand and requirements.
Solar Panels
Solar PV Panels for generating electricity
International solar alliance countries and their selection
The countries with rich solar energy on basis of their geographical location i.e. those lying fully or partially between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are largely part of International Solar Alliance. Their location makes them receive large amount of solar radiation at most of the time of year and can utilize solar energy in cost-effective manner. The member countries of International Solar Alliance will work together to utilize the solar energy for electricity generation purpose and meeting the heating requirements by various methods.
International solar alliance countries
List of prospective Member Countries and Territories for International Solar Alliance
1. People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria 26. Congo – Democratic Republic of 51. Republic of Haiti 76. The Netherlands 101. Republic of South Sudan
2. Antigua and Barbuda 27. Congo – Republic of 52. Republic of Honduras 77. Republic of Nicaragua 102. Democratic Socialist Republic of Srilanka
3. Republic of Angola 28. New Zealand 53. Republic of India 78. Republic of Niger 103. Republic of Sudan
4. Argentina Republic 29. Republic of Costa Rica 54. Republic of Indonesia 79. Federal Republic of Nigeria 104. Republic of Suriname
5. Commonwealth of Australia 30. Republic of Cote d’ivoire 55. Jamaica 80. Sultanate of Oman 105. United Republic of Tanzania
6. Commonwealth of Bahamas 31. Republic of Cuba 56. Japan 81. Republic of Palau 106. Kingdom of Thailand
7. Peoples Republic of Bangladesh 32. Republic of Djibouti 57. Republic of Kenya 82. Republic of Panama 107. Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
8. Barbados 33. Commonwealth of Dominica 58. Republic of Kiribati 83. Independent State of Papua New Guinea 108. Togolese Republic
9. Belize 34. Dominican Republic 59. Laos People’s Democratic Republic 84. Republic of Paraguay 109. Kingdom of Tonga
10. Republic of Benin 35. Republic of Ecuador 60. Republic of Liberia 85. Republic of Peru 110. Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
11. Pluri’National State of Bolivia 36. Arab Republic of Egypt 61. Libya 86. Republic of Philippines 111. Tuvalu
12. Republic of Botswana. 37. Republic of El Salvador 62. Republic of Madagascar 87. Republic of Rwanda 112. Republic of Uganda
13. Federal Republic of Brazil 38. Republic of Equatorial Guinea 63. Republic of Malawi 88. St. Lucia 113. United Arab Emirates
14. Nation of Brunei, Abode of Peace 39. State of Eritrea 64. Federation of Malaysia 89. Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis 114. United Kingdom
15. Burkina Faso 40. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 65. Republic of Maldives 90. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 115. United States of America
16. Republic of Burundi 41. Republic of Fiji 66. Republic of Mali 91. Independent State of Samoa 116. Republic of Vanuatu
17. Kingdom of Cambodia 42. France 67. Republic of Marshall Islands 92. Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe 117. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
18. Republic of Cameroon 43. Gabonese Republic 68. Islamic Republic of Mauritania 93. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 118. Socialist Republic of Vietnam
19. Republic of Cape Verde 44. Republic of The Gambia 69. Republic of Mauritius 94. Republic of Senegal 119. Republic of Yemen
20. Central African Republic 45. Republic of Ghana 70. United Mexican State 95. Republic of Seychelles 120. Republic of Zambia
21. Republic of Chad 46. Republic of Grenada 71. Federated States of Micronesia 96. Republic of Sierra Leone 121. Republic of Zimbabwe
22. Republic of Chile 47. Republic of Guatemala 72. Republic of Mozambique 97. Republic of Singapore
23. People’s Republic of China 48. Republic of Guinea 73. Republic of Myanmar 98. Solomon Islands
24. Republic of Colombia 49. Republic of Guinea-Bissau 74. Republic of Namibia 99. Federal Republic of Somalia
25. Union of Comoros 50. Republic of Guyana 75. Republic of Nauru 100. Republic of South Africa
The list of countries in the above table is as per working paper of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Govt. of India. Link of the same is Working Paper on ISA.
More information about International Solar Alliance & COP21
Formation of International Solar Alliance at COP21 is considered to be a landmark. For the first time all nations including the developed and developing nations came together consensus was reached to take steps for reducing the carbon emissions to slow down the climate change. For doing this responsibility being shared will be different with more responsibility will be shared by developed nations as compared to developing nations. This will be achieved by sharing of technology aimed at generating cleaner energy, increasing efficiency of existing power plants, pooling of funds for technology development.
Read about: Working Paper on ISALand Use Planning in India, National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC)
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The Bay of Fundy at high water
The Bay of Fundy at low water
A spring high water at Wimereux (France)
Tides are the rising and falling of Earth's ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the oceans. Tidal phenomena can occur in any object that is subjected to a gravitational field that varies in time and space, such as the Earth's land masses. (see Other tides).
Tides noticeably affect the depth of marine and estuarine water bodies and produce oscillating currents known as tidal streams, making prediction of tides very important for coastal navigation (see Tides and navigation). The strip of seashore that is submerged at high water and exposed at low water, the intertidal zone or foreshore, is an important ecological product of ocean tides (see Intertidal ecology).
The changing tide produced at a given location is the result of the changing positions of the Moon and Sun relative to the Earth coupled with the effects of Earth rotation and the local shape of the sea floor. Sea level measured by coastal tide gauges may also be strongly affected by wind.
Introduction and tidal terminology
Types of tides.
Tidal range variation: springs and neaps
An artist's conception of spring tide
An artist's conception of neap tide
Tidal phase and amplitude
The M2 tidal constituent. Amplitude is indicated by colour, and the white lines are cotidal differing by 1 hr. The curved arcs around the amphidromic points show the direction of the tides, each indicating a synchronized 6 hour period.
Tidal physics
The Earth and Moon, looking at the North Pole
Tidal forces
A schematic of the Earth-Moon system (not to scale), showing the entire Earth following the motion of its centre of gravity.
Tidal forces can also be analyzed from the point of view of a reference frame that translates with the centre of mass of the Earth. Consider the tide due to the Moon (the Sun is similar). First observe that the Earth and Moon rotate around a common orbital centre of mass, as determined by their relative masses. The orbital center of mass is 3/4 of the way from the Earth's centre to its surface. The second observation is that the Earth's centripetal motion is the averaged response of the entire Earth to the Moon's gravity and is exactly the correct motion to balance the Moon's gravity only at the center of the Earth; but every part of the Earth moves along with the centre of mass and all parts have the same centripetal motion, since the Earth is rigid. On the other hand each point of the Earth experiences the Moon's radially decreasing gravity differently; the near parts of the Earth are more strongly attracted than is compensated by inertia and experience a net tidal force toward the Moon; the far parts have more inertia than is necessary for the reduced attraction, and thus feel a net force away from the Moon. Finally only the horizontal components of the tidal forces actually contribute tidal acceleration to the water particles since there is small resistance. The actual tidal force on a particle is only about a ten millionth of the force caused by the Earth's gravity.
The Moon's (or Sun's) gravity differential field at the surface of the earth is known as the tide generating force. This is the primary mechanism that drives tidal action and explains two tidal equipotential bulges, accounting for two high waters per day.
Laplace tidal equation
The depth of the oceans is much smaller than their horizontal extent; thus, the response to tidal forcing can be modelled using the Laplace tidal equations which incorporate the following features: (1) the vertical (or radial) velocity is negligible, and there is no vertical shear—this is a sheet flow. (2) The forcing is only horizontal (tangential). (3) the Coriolis effect appears as a fictitious lateral forcing proportional to velocity. (4) the rate of change of the surface height is proportional to the negative divergence of velocity multiplied by the depth. The last means that as the horizontal velocity stretches or compresses the ocean as a sheet, the volume thins or thickens, respectively. The boundary conditions dictate no flow across the coastline, and free slip at the bottom. The Coriolis effect steers waves to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern allowing coastally trapped waves. Finally, a dissipation term can be added which is an analog to viscosity.
Tidal amplitude and cycle time
Tidal dissipation
The tidal oscillations of the Earth introduce dissipation, at an average rate of about 3.75 terawatt. About 98% of this dissipation is by the tidal movement in the seas and oceans. The dissipation arises as the basin-scale tidal flow drives smaller-scale flows which experience turbulent dissipation. This tidal drag gives rise to a torque on the Moon that results in the gradual transfer of angular momentum to its orbit, and a gradual increase in the Earth-Moon separation. As a result of the principle of conservation of angular momentum, the rotational velocity of the Earth is correspondingly slowed. Thus, over geologic time, the Moon recedes from the Earth, at about 3.8 cm/year, and the length of the terrestrial day increases, meaning that there is about 1 fewer day per 100 million years. See tidal acceleration for further details.
Tidal observation and prediction
William Thomson led the first systematic harmonic analysis of tidal records starting in 1867. The main result was the building of a tide-predicting machine (TPM) using a system of pulleys to add together six harmonic functions of time. It was "programmed" by resetting gears and chains to adjust phasing and amplitudes. Similar machines were used until the 1960s.
The same tidal forcing has different results depending on many factors, including coast orientation, continental shelf margin, water body dimensions.
The exact time and height of the tide at a particular coastal point is also greatly influenced by the local bathymetry. There are some extreme cases: the Bay of Fundy, on the east coast of Canada, features the largest well-documented tidal ranges in the world, 16 metres (53 ft), because of the shape of the bay. Southampton in the United Kingdom has a double high water caused by the interaction between the different tidal harmonics within the region. This is contrary to the popular belief that the flow of water around the Isle of Wight creates two high waters. The Isle of Wight is important, however, as it is responsible for the 'Young Flood Stand', which describes the pause of the incoming tide about three hours after low water. Ungava Bay in Northern Quebec, north eastern Canada, is believed by some experts to have higher tidal ranges than the Bay of Fundy (about 17 metres or 56 ft), but it is free of pack ice for only about four months every year, whereas the Bay of Fundy rarely freezes.
Because the oscillation modes of the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea do not coincide with any significant astronomical forcing period the largest tides are close to their narrow connections with the Atlantic Ocean. Extremely small tides also occur for the same reason in the Gulf of Mexico and Sea of Japan. On the southern coast of Australia, because the coast is extremely straight (partly due to the tiny quantities of runoff flowing from rivers), tidal ranges are equally small.
Tidal analysis
It was the universal theory of gravitation due to Isaac Newton that first enabled an explanation of why there were two tides a day, not one, and, via calculation of the forces, offered hope of detailed understanding. Although it may seem that tides could be predicted via a sufficiently detailed knowledge of the astronomical forcing terms, the actual tide at a given location is determined by the response of the oceans to the astronomical forces accumulated over a period of many days and to calculate this requires a detailed knowledge of the shape of all the ocean basins. Instead, the procedure is pragmatic. At each location of interest, measure the tide heights over at least a lunar cycle (to capture the spring - neap tidal response) and then analyse the differences from mean sea level with respect to the known astronomical frequencies and phases of the tide-raising forces on the expectation that the tide height behaviour will follow the behaviour of the tide force. Then, because astronomical states can be calculated with certainty, the tide height at other times can be predicted. The main patterns are the twice-daily tide, the difference between the first and second tide of a day (due to the moon and sun being north or south of the equator), the spring-neap cycle in amplitude (due to the relative positions of the moon and sun), and the adjustment of spring tide heights due to the perigees of the moon and sun. The Highest Astronomical Tide is the perigean spring tide when both the sun and the moon are closest to the earth.
When confronted by a periodically varying function, the standard approach is to employ Fourier series, a form of orthogonal analysis that uses trigonometrical functions as its basis set, specifically a collection of sinusoidal functions having frequencies (the number of cycles per day, or other convenient unit) that are zero, one, two, three, etc. times the frequency of a particular fundamental cycle; these are called harmonics of the fundamental frequency, and the process is termed Harmonic Analysis. If sinusoidal functions are well-suited to the behaviour being modelled, relatively few harmonic terms need to be carried in the analysis, and fortunately, because orbital paths are circular, sinusoidal variations are very suitable.
For the analysis of tide heights, the Fourier Series approach is best made more elaborate. While the theorem remains true and the tidal height could be analysed in terms of a single frequency and its harmonics, a large number of significant terms would be required. A much better (i.e. more compact) decomposition for this case involves a basis set having more than one fundamental frequency: specifically, the periods of one revolution of the earth (equivalently, of the sun around the earth), and one orbit of the moon about the earth are incommensurable (for simplicity in phrasing, this discussion is entirely geocentric, but is informed by the heliocentric model) so to represent both influences via one frequency would require many harmonic terms. That is, the sum of two sinusoids, one at the sun's frequency and the second at the moon's frequency, requires those two terms only, but their representation as a Fourier Series having one fundamental frequency and its (integer) multiples would require many terms. For tides then, although the process is still termed Harmonic Analysis, it does not limit itself to harmonics of a single frequency. To demonstrate this, offers a tidal height pattern converted into a .mp3 sound file, and the rich sound is quite different from a pure tone. In still other words, the harmonies are multiples of many fundamental frequencies, not just of the one fundamental frequency of the common Fourier series approach.
The study of tide height by Harmonic Analysis was begun by Laplace, Lord Kelvin and George Darwin, then rigorously extended by A.T. Doodson who introduced the Doodson Number notation to organise the hundreds of terms that result. This approach has been the international standard ever since, and the complications arise as follows: so far, the tide-raising force is notionally given by A.cos(w.t + p) where A is the amplitude, w the angular frequency (usually given in degrees per hour) and p the phase offset with regard to the astronomical state at time t = 0; there is a term for the moon and a second term for the sun. If the orbits were circular, that would be the end of the matter, but of course they're not. Accordingly, the value of A is itself varying with time, slightly, about some average figure. Replace it then by A(t), but, what functional form? It turns out that another sinusoid gives an excellent approximation, rather like the cycles and epicycles of Ptolemaic theory. Accordingly, A(t) = A.(1 + Aa.cos(wa.t + pa)), which is to say an average value A with a sinusoidal variation about it of magnitude Aa, with frequency wa and phase pa. Thus the simple term is now a compound term, the product of two cosine terms: A.[1 + Aa.cos(wa + pa)].cos(w.t + p)
Now, given that cos(a).cos(b) = [cos(a + b) + cos(a - b)]/2, it is clear that a compound term involving the product of two cosine terms each with their own frequency is the same as three (not two: it is (1 + cos).cos) simple cosine terms that are to be added, at the original frequency and also at the sum and difference of the two frequencies of the product term. Consider further that the tidal force on a location depends also on whether the moon (or the sun) is above or below the plane of the equator, and that these attributes have their own periods also incommensurable with a day and a month, and it is clear that many combinations result. With a careful choice of the basic astronomical frequencies, the Doodson Number annotates the particular additions and differences of them to form the frequency of each simple cosine term.
Remember always that the astronomical tides do not include the effect of weather, and, changes to local conditions (sandbank movement, dredging harbour mouths, etc.) away from those prevailing at the time of measurement can affect the timing and magnitude of the actual tide. Organisations quoting a "highest astronomical tide" for some location can exaggerate the figure as a safety factor against uncertainties of analysis, extrapolation from the nearest point of measurement, changes since the time of observation, possible ground subsidence, etc. to protect the organisation against blame should an engineering work be overtopped. If the size of a "weather surge" is assessed by subtracting the astronomical tide from the observed tide at the time, care is needed.
Tidal prediction summing constituent.
Careful Fourier data analysis over a nineteen-year period (the National Tidal Datum Epoch in the US) uses frequencies called the tidal harmonic constituents. Nineteen years is preferred because the relative positions of the earth, moon and sun repeat almost exactly in the Metonic cycle of 18.6 years. This analysis can be done using only the knowledge of the period of forcing, but without detailed understanding of the physical mathematics, which means that useful tidal tables have been constructed for centuries. The resulting amplitudes and phases can then be used to predict the expected tides. These are usually dominated by the constituents near 12 hours (the semidiurnal constituents), but there are major constituents near 24 hours (diurnal) as well. Longer term constituents are 14 day or fortnightly, monthly, and semiannual. Most of the coastline is dominated by semidiurnal tides, but some areas such as the South China Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are primarily diurnal. In the semidiurnal areas, the primary constituents M2(lunar) and S2(solar) periods differ slightly so that the relative phases, and thus the amplitude of the combined tide, change fortnightly (fourteen day period).
Tidal Current
The flow pattern due to tidal influence is much more difficult to analyse, and also, data is much more difficult to collect. A tidal height is a simple number, and applies to a wide region simultaneously (often as far as the eye can see), but a flow has both a magnitude and a direction, and can vary substantially over just a short distance due to local bathymetry, and also vary with depth. Although the centre of a channel is the most useful measuring site, mariners will not accept a current measuring installation obstructing navigation! A flexible attitude is required. A flow proceeding up a curved channel is the same flow, even though its direction varies continuously along the channel. Even the obvious expectation that the flood and ebb flows will be in reciprocal directions is not met, as the direction of a flow is determined by the shape of the channel it is coming from, not the shape where it will shortly be. Likewise, eddies can form in one direction but not the other.
Nevertheless, analysis proceeds on the same basis. At a given location in the simple case, the great majority of the flood flow will be in one direction, and the ebb flow in another (not necessarily reciprocal) direction. Take the velocities along the flood direction as positive, and along the ebb direction as negative, and proceed as if these were tide height figures. In more complex situations, the flow will not be dominated by the main ebb and flow directions, with the flow direction and magnitude tracing out an ellipse over a tidal cycle (on a polar plot) instead of along the two lines of ebb and flow direction. In this case, analysis might proceed along two pairs of directions, the primary flow directions and the secondary directions at right angles. Alternatively, the tidal flows can be treated as complex numbers, as each value has both a magnitude and a direction.
A further complication for Cook Strait's pattern of current flow is that the tides at the north end have the common two cycles of spring-neap tides in a month (as found along the west side of the country), but the south end's tidal pattern has one cycle of spring-neap tides a month, as found on the east side of the country. Tidal currents are much more complex than tidal heights!
Tidal Power Generation
Proponents of tidal power systems usually boast that unlike wind power systems, the generation pattern can be predicted years ahead, and prefer not to talk about weather effects. Another assertion is that some generation is possible for most of the tidal cycle. This may be true in principle since the time of still water is short, but in practice turbines lose efficiency at partial operating powers. Since the power available from a flow is proportional to the cube of the flow speed, the times during which high power generation is possible turn out to be rather brief. An obvious fallback then is to have a number of tidal power generation stations, at locations where the tide phase is different enough so that low power from one station is filled in by high power from another. Again, New Zealand has particularly interesting opportunities. Because the tidal pattern is such that a state of high water orbits the country once per cycle, there is always somewhere around the coast where the tide is at its peak, and somewhere else where it is at its lowest, etc. so that via the electricity transmission network, there could always be supply from tidal generation somewhere. The most convenient situation is presented with Auckland city, which is between Manukau harbour and Waitemata harbour so that both power stations would be close to the load.
But, because the power available varies with the cube of the flow, even with the optimum phase difference of three hours between two stations, there are still significant amounts of time when neither tidal flow is rapid enough for significant generation, and worse, during the time of neap tides, the flow is weak all of the day, and there is no getting around this via multiple stations, because the neap tides apply to the whole earth at once. The most feeble neap tides would be when the sun's influence is maximum whilst the moon's is weakest, and as far as the sun is concerned, it is closest to the earth during the time of the southern hemisphere's summer, which is when electricity demand is the least there, a small bonus.
There is scant likelihood of any such scheme proceeding, due to the disruption to natural conditions.
Tides and navigation
Tidal flows are of profound importance in navigation and very significant errors in position will occur if they are not taken into account. Tidal heights are also very important; for example many rivers and harbours have a shallow "bar" at the entrance which will prevent boats with significant draft from entering at certain states of the tide.
Civil and maritime uses of tidal data
Biological aspects
Intertidal ecology
Organisms living in this zone have a highly variable and often hostile environment, and have evolved various adaptations to cope with and even exploit these conditions. One easily visible feature of intertidal communities is vertical zonation, where the community is divided into distinct vertical bands of specific species going up the shore. Species ability to cope with desiccation determines their upper limits, while competition with other species sets their lower limits.
Biological rhythms and the tides
Other tides
Atmospheric tides are negligible from ground level and aviation altitudes, drowned by the much more important effects of weather. Atmospheric tides are both gravitational and thermal in origin, and are the dominant dynamics from about 80 km to 120 km where the molecular density becomes too small to behave as a fluid.
Tsunamis, the large waves that occur after earthquakes, are sometimes called tidal waves, but this name is due to their resemblance to the tide, rather than any actual link to the tide itself. Other phenomena unrelated to tides but using the word tide are rip tide, storm tide, hurricane tide, and black or red tides. The term tidal wave appears to be disappearing from popular usage.
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Untitled 1
"Pppancakes for Pppiggy"
Emergent Literacy Design
Mary Claire Sikes
Rationale: For children to successfully learn how to read and write they need to learn all of the different phoneme sounds. Children must distinguish and learn all the twenty-six letters of the alphabet as well as the vocal gestures that correspond with them. The students will learn that the letter p stands for /p/. During this lesson, students will practice identifying /p/ orally and the letter p in print. Together we will read a book aloud, and then talk about the different words that made the "ppp" sound. The students will be given lots of practice to make sure they fully comprehend the sound and the letter. They will then be assessed individually to make sure that they fully understand the concept.
-Primary paper and pencils
-The saying, "Prince Peter and Princess Patty play pick-up-sticks" written on chart paper with a picture of a prince and princess.
-Worksheets with pictures of items (dog, cat, muffin, pea, eggs, paper, pig, log)
-The book: If you give a Pig a Pancake
1. Explain to the students that they will be learning the special code to our language and that although it is very exciting and fun to learn it may be a little tricky at times. "Today, we will learn how to make the sound that represents the letter p. We will also learn how to write upper and lower case p. After we have lots of practice with this, then we will read a book together and see if we can find any words that have the "ppp" sound in them."
2. Ask students: "Have you ever tasted something not so good and wanted to spit it out and you said "ppp"? "I hate broccoli and everytime I eat it I always spit it out and say, 'ppp.' Let's practice making the /p/ sound by pretending we are eating our least favorite food that we want to spit out. Everyone say "ppp," while we throw our food out. Can anyone tell me what letter the 'ppp' sound represents? P, that's right!"
3. (Take out chart with tongue twister) "Prince Peter and Princess Patty play pick-up-sticks" Now everyone say it together two times. This time we will read it aloud, and put an emphasis on the /p/. Say it like this, "Pppprince Ppppeter and Pppprincess Ppppatty ppplay pppick-up-sticks"."Now lets try it again and this time we will break the /p/ off from the rest of the words. "P/rince/ P/eter/ and P/rincess/ P/atty/ p/lay/ p/ick/-up-sticks"
4. (Have students take out primary paper and pencil): Now let's practice writing the letter p. I am going to show you how to write both uppercase and lowercase p. I will demonstrate how to write the letter on the chart paper first. Watch me very closely as I write my uppercase P; look where I am starting and where I am ending. Now you try writing it on your own lined paper. I will walk around to make sure that everyone is writing his or her P correctly. Now I will show you how to write a lower-case p, pay very careful attention because you are going to practice it on your own. Now you try writing it!
5. "I'm going to read some words aloud and I want you to tell me if you hear the 'ppp' sound in the word."I will model one for you first. Dog; I don't think I hear the 'ppp' sound in dog? Now let's try together. What about pencil? Do we hear the 'ppp' sound in pencil? Yes, that's right we do! Mat; do you hear the 'ppp' sound in mat? No, you are right. Purple; do you hear the 'ppp' sound in purple? Yes, your right we do! Storm; do you hear the 'ppp' sound in storm? No, that's right! Pants; do you hear the 'ppp' sound in pants? Yes, that's right! You're doing so great!
6. Introduce the book If you give a Pig a Pancake. Have you ever seen a pig? What do you think would happen if you gave a Pig a pancake? Have you ever seen a pig eat a pancake? Let's read to find out! Read the book and have a discussion about the 'ppp' sound. Read the story again and this time have the students spit out their food whenever they hear the 'ppp' sound. Write the words on the chart with corresponding pictures to go along. Then together as a group read the words that represent the pictures.
7. For assessment, give each student a sheet with different pictures of different items on them (Example: money, paper, pretzel, rabbit, giraffe, Princess, penny, dog, pen). Have class identify and name each picture, and then have them circle all the words that begin with the 'ppp' sound.
- Conner, Caroline. Mmmm Mmmm Good. http://www.auburn.edu/academic/education/reading_genie/doorways/connercel.htm |
Mother's Day 2017
Mother's Day Calendar
Date HolidayDay
May 14, 2017 Mother's Day 2017 Sunday
May 13, 2018 Mother's Day 2018 Sunday
May 12, 2019 Mother's Day 2019 Sunday
May 10, 2020 Mother's Day 2020 Sunday
May 9, 2021 Mother's Day 2021 Sunday
May 8, 2022 Mother's Day 2022 Sunday
May 14, 2023 Mother's Day 2023Sunday
May 12, 2024 Mother's Day 2024 Sunday
May 11, 2025 Mother's Day 2025Sunday
May 10, 2026 Mother's Day 2026 Sunday
Mother's Day is celebrated every year on the second Sunday in May. The day honors the contribution of mothers to the society and is celebrated with lots of enthusiasm around the world. Apart from mothers, people also honor their grandmothers and the other significant women in their family. Though many nations celebrate the day in August, some observe it in March or other months. A very significant day, some countries observe Mother's Day as a holiday. However, in other nations schools and offices are usually open on Mother's Day. In 2017, Mothers day will be celebrated on May 14.
Origin of Mother's Day
Mother's Day can be traced back to ancient times. The ancient Greeks and Romans used to organize festivals in the honor of Rhea and Cybele, mother Goddesses. The United Kingdom and many other parts of Europe also had their own festivals dedicated to mothers. Here it was known as Mothering Sunday.
However, the modern version of Mother's Day, which is widely celebrated around the world, began in the United States in 1908. That year, Anna Jarvis honored her mother by organizing a memorial in her memory at the St Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. A well-known figure, Anna Jarvis' mother Ann Reeves Jarvis had tended soldiers during the American Civil War. She cared for soldiers fighting on both sides. In order to address public health issues, she had also established Mother's Day Work Clubs.
Ann Reeves Jarvis passed away in 1905 and since then her daughter was campaigning to make Mother's Day a recognized holiday in the United States. The US Congress in 1908 rejected the proposal to turn Mother's Day into a holiday. However, due to Anna's persistent efforts, by 1911, a lot of US states were observing the day as a holiday. However, in 1914, Mother's Day became a national holiday in the United States with the signing of a proclamation by President Woodrow Wilson. Today, it is a significant holiday in the country and is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm and gaiety.
Mother's Day celebrations
Mother's Day witnesses people honoring their mothers in a number of ways. Typically people give their mothers flowers, cards and gifts. Some people also present jewelery to their mothers. Children may arrange surprises for their mother like preparing breakfast early in the morning and presenting it to their mothers on the bed. People also take their mothers out for dinner picnics or to the movies. Special dishes are prepared on the day such as cakes, cookies and pies. The day is observed on a grand scale by schools. To honor mothers, skits, dance and singing performances and other interesting events are organized. Students also make speeches in honor of mothers.
Celebrations around the World
No doubt, Mother's Day is a big day and is widely observed around the world; however, the style, traditions, and dates may vary from one country to the other.
In the United States, Mother's Day is observed on the second Sunday of May, which this year happens to be the 14th of May. People honor their mothers by giving them gifts and cards. Over the years, Mother's Day has also emerged as one of the biggest holidays in the country for consumer spending. It is a day of relaxation for mothers as they are given a day off from their household chores like cooking, cleaning and other such work. In the United States, many feminist and other movements are also launched on the day. For example, in the 1970's, the holiday was used as a platform by the women's groups to spread awareness about the need for equal rights.
Thailand does not observe Mother's Day in May; rather here it is celebrated in the month of August. It is celebrated on the birthday of Sirikit, the current queen of the country. Ethiopians celebrate Mother's Day by partaking a large meal as a part of Antrosht. People sing songs in praise of their mothers. Here Mother's Day is a multi-day celebration and honors motherhood.
In Australia, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. In Australia, Janet Heyden, who was a resident of Sydney, began the tradition of presenting gifts to mothers on the day. People here gift the flower chrysanthemum to their mothers on Mother's Day.
In Belgium, children celebrate the day by making presents at school. They gift these to their mothers on the morning of Mother's Day.
In Canada, Mother's Day is not a holiday but it is a major event. Small celebrations are held on the day and gifts are given to mothers. Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May.
In the past few years, Mother's Day has become a big event in India. Here Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. On Mother's Day, people honor their mothers by presenting them gifts, organizing parties and taking them out for dinner or movies. However, in the country, Mother's Day is still being celebrated in urban centers. In the United Kingdom, Mother's Day is celebrated in March and is known as Mothering Sunday. In Spain, Mother's Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of May. In South Sudan, children follow the same tradition of presenting gifts to their mothers; however, here Mother's Day is celebrated on the first Monday in July.
In Romania, Mother's Day was initially celebrated on March 8 as a part of the International Women's Day; however, since 2010, it has been celebrated on the first Sunday of May.
Last Updated: 17th April, 2017 |
Have you ever wanted a button to trigger something on your computer? Well, Here is how you can do it.
Step 1: Materials and Tools
Here is what you will need to make this simple rig:
•PS/2 Or USB Keyboard (wireless may work) depending on what you have or what your computer can support.
•Button of your choice (Must be a Push Button)
Here is some ideas of the types you can use:
Illuminated push button
Arcade Push Button
Other Push Button
Most can be bought from Adafruit or SparkFun.
You will need a screw driver to open it up, a computer, and any electrical tools that you think that will help you the most.
Step 2: Open It Up!
Plug in your keyboard to make sure it works with your computer than start opening it up. Do not snip any wires and carefully pop off the keys.
If you see clear plastic sheets, it is okay. That is actually the easiest keyboard to use for this project.
Remove the circuit board and anything else that is not the keys or electrical components.
Step 3: So, What Does It Do?
Now it is time to make it actually do something! :)
You need to set your computer up to trigger an action with the press of a key. If you do not know how to do that, read this dictionary entry. I am going to use sound cueing software (you can find it by googling it.)
Hook up the button's 2 pins to the correct circle on each plastic sheet and hook it up to your computer.
Press it, and if it works, you're done! Please comment on what some of your tasks are, or if something doesn't work and I will do my best to help you.
Thank you for reading my instructible. If you like what you read and want more, please Donate!
Very interesting, does it not create conflict with the main Keyboard to have what is essentially a second Keyboard making inputs?
No, It does. If you do not want it to cause conflict, you can just use the left mouse button (desolder it and put 3 wires there instead) - Then just hook the 3 wires to the 3 button terminals. Finally, put your mouse above "Play" and hit the button.
About This Instructable
More by haunted.haunt:Make Statler and Waldorf Animatronics Button Activated...Anything! Halloween Forrest
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English version
life form in Biology topic
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlife formˈlife form noun [countable] HBa living thing such as a plant or animal life forms on other planets
Examples from the Corpus
life formThe people on the ship have to create an artificial life form because their computer has failed.It is, therefore, the complementary life form to the animals of Earth.In the biosphere, the more elaborate the structure, the higher the life form. |
The clipboard in a Mac computer can hold only one thing at a time. Whatever is in the clipboard is replaced the next time you cut or copy something else regardless of what you cut or copy, including text, images or even a folder full of files. If you have copied sensitive or confidential information, you can clear it from the clipboard by copying something else. If you need to be absolutely certain that the text was deleted, you can paste the clipboard contents in a document or open the Clipboard viewer to see its contents. If you need to completely delete the contents of your clipboard, you can restart your Mac or use Terminal to clear it.
Using Copy or Cut to Delete the Clipboard
Highlight any text on any window on the Mac, including a TextEdit document, words on a Web page or even the title of a file in Finder. To take up as little memory in the clipboard as possible, you can highlight a single letter, a space between two words or a punctuation mark.
Press "Command" and "C" at the same time on the keyboard to copy the text to your clipboard. This deletes any text that was in the clipboard and replaces it with what you just copied.
Press "Command" and "X" to cut the text on an editable document instead of copying it if you want to ensure that you cleared the clipboard successfully. Without moving the cursor, immediately press "Command" and "V" to paste the text back exactly where it was. This illustrates that the clipboard contains the text you just copied without altering your document.
Using Terminal to Completely Clear the Clipboard
Click any empty space on the desktop to access Finder. Click the "Edit" menu and select "Show Clipboard." The Clipboard window opens, displaying the contents of the clipboard.
Launch Terminal, which is located in the "Utilities" folder inside the "Applications" folder.
Type or paste "pbcopy < /dev/null" in the Terminal window and press "Enter." This clears the clipboard. If you look at the Clipboard window, it is now empty.
About the Author
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Most of us believe that we are a ‘person’ with a unique body and mind. Possibly there is a ‘soul’ that survives death in some way. We think that there are other individuals and separate objects out there, alien and potentially threatening. We are constantly searching for happiness but, all too often, finding only misery.
But is any of this really true? The notion of a ‘person’ stems from the Latin persona, referring to the mask worn by actors in the ancient Greek theatre. It is used now in psychology when talking about the artificial facade that we display to others and behind which the ‘real’ I hides. And we do recognise the sense of an unchanging ‘I’, the same now as it was when we first acknowledged it. Our bodies are older and larger, our thoughts and beliefs more mature but most of us feel that I have a body and mind, not that I am a body or mind.
The body is nothing but the food that we eat, cleverly rearranged into more complex proteins, serving specific functions, by the mechanical instructions of the DNA, itself nothing more than processed food. Our opinions and thoughts are an inevitable product of our upbringing. Parents, peers, teachers and books conspire unwittingly (or not) to ‘educate’ us into our outlook on life and our aspirations. We need to look behind this facade.
The process by which we ‘attach’ our true Self to a mistaken idea of what we are is called in Sanskrit ahamkara. This literally means ‘the making (kara) of the utterance ‘I’ (aham)’. It is often equated to the Western concept of ‘ego’ and it must be controlled by the intellect if we are to make any ‘progress’ on a spiritual ‘path’.
Similarly, the ‘states of consciousness’ with which we are familiar are illusory. Only when our minds are completely still or ‘in the interval between thoughts’ if you like, are we truly ourselves. This ‘background’ state is called turiya and underlies all of our experience.
To the vast majority of people in the world, the topic of happiness is both mystifying and complex. Philosophers in the west have thought about it for the past two and a half thousand years; psychologists and sociologists have experimented and conducted polls on it for the past hundred. Still there is little consensus and, if anything, there appears to be less happiness in the world today than ever.
To the Advaitin, on the other hand, the subject is ever so simple. There is only the Self and, accepting that we can never speak of this objectively, by definition, we can say that the Self IS happiness. And that is really all there is to it.
Likewise with the question of ‘meaning’ and ‘purpose’ in our lives. In the world in general, there are likely to be almost as many ideas and answers to these as there are people. As far as the Advaitin is concerned, of course, there are no people so perhaps this does not count for very much! Furthermore, we know that concepts of meaning and purpose are simply that – ideas in mind. As such, their value is, at most, in their utility as tools to take the mind to the brink of understanding. Once there, all ideas must be surrendered so that the final leap can be made, extinguishing forever all identification with ego and mind. |
Sankara wrote Bhashyas or commentaries on the Brahma Sutras, the Upanishads and the Gita. The Bhashya on the Brahma Sutras is called Sareerik Bhasya. Sankara wrote commentaries on Sanat Sujatiya and Sahasranama Adhyaya. It is usually said, “For learning logic and metaphysics, go to Sankara’s commentaries; for gaining practical knowledge, which unfolds and strengthens devotion, go to his works such as Viveka Chudamani, Atma Bodha, Aparoksha Anubhuti, Ananda Lahari, Atma-Anatma Viveka, Drik-Drishya Viveka and Upadesa Sahasri”. Sankara wrote innumerable original works in verses which are matchless in sweetness, melody and thought.
Sankara’s supreme Brahman is Nirguna (without the Gunas), Nirakara (formless), Nirvisesha (without attributes) and Akarta (non-agent). He is above all needs and desires. Sankara says, “This Atman is self-evident. This Atman or Self is not established by proofs of the existence of the Self. It is not possible to deny this Atman, for it is the very essence of he who denies it. The Atman is the basis of all kinds of knowledge. The Self is within, the Self is without, the Self is before and the Self is behind. The Self is on the right hand, the Self is on the left, the Self is above and the Self is below”.
Satyam-Jnanam-Anantam-Anandam are not separate attributes. They form the very essence of Brahman. Brahman cannot be described, because description implies distinction. Brahman cannot be distinguished from any other than He.
The objective world-the world of names and forms-has no independent existence. The Atman alone has real existence. The world is only Vyavaharika or phenomenal.
Sankara was the exponent of the Kevala Advaita philosophy. His teachings can be summed up in the following words:
Brahma Satyam Jagat Mithya,
Jeevo Brahmaiva Na Aparah
Brahman alone is real, this world is unreal; the Jiva is identical with Brahman.
Sankara preached Vivarta Vada. Just as the snake is superimposed on the rope, this world and this body are superimposed on Brahman or the Supreme Self. If you get a knowledge of the rope, the illusion of the snake will vanish. Even so, if you get a knowledge of Brahman, the illusion of the body and the world will vanish.
Sankara is the foremost among the master-minds and the giant souls which Mother India has produced. He was the expounder of the Advaita philosophy. Sankara was a giant metaphysician, a practical philosopher, an infallible logician, a dynamic personality and a stupendous moral and spiritual force. His grasping and elucidating powers knew no bounds. He was a fully developed Yogi, Jnani and Bhakta. He was a Karma Yogin of no mean order. He was a powerful magnet.
There is not one branch of knowledge which Sankara has left unexplored and which has not received the touch, polish and finish of his superhuman intellect. For Sankara and his works, we have a very high reverence. The loftiness, calmness and firmness of his mind, the impartiality with which he deals with various questions, his clearness of expression-all these make us revere the philosopher more and more. His teachings will continue to live as long as the sun shines.
Sankara’s scholarly erudition and his masterly way of exposition of intricate philosophical problems have won the admiration of all the philosophical schools of the world at the present moment. Sankara was an intellectual genius, a profound philosopher, an able propagandist, a matchless preacher, a gifted poet and a great religious reformer. Perhaps, never in the history of any literature, a stupendous writer like him has been found. Even the Western scholars of the present day pay their homage and respects to him. Of all the ancient systems, that of Sankaracharya will be found to be the most congenial and the most easy of acceptance to the modern mind. |
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APUSH Unit Test Stock Market crash to Cold War
Stock Market Crash 1929
In 1929, the stock market crashed and caused a world wide Depression. As early as March the stock market had mini-crashes, signaling something was seriously wrong. In October 1929, on Black Friday it crashed. The Thursday before 12 mil. stocks had changed hands. The full devestation was not fully realized until the following Tuesday.
Run on the banks
when a large number of people try to take all of their money out of the banks at once
New Deal
the historic period (1933-1940) in the U.S. during which President Franklin Roosevelt's economic policies were implemented
1st New Deal - 100 days
Relief, National Bank Holiday, Alphabet Soup, Brain Trust, CCC, AAA, TVA
2nd New Deal
legislative program focusing on reform begun by FDR in 1935 when the first attempt to end the Depression failed
Truman's Fair Deal
In United States history, the _____ was U.S. President Harry S Truman's policy of social improvement, outlined in his 1949 State of the Union Address to Congress on January 5, 1949. Truman stated that "Every segment of our population, and every individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal." He was unable to pass any major part through Congress. Only one of his Fair Deal bills, an initiative to expand unemployment benefits, was ever enacted.
The Taft-Hartley Act
Legislation passed in 1947, which banned boycotts that did not target a company, mass picketing, and sympathy strikes for other unions.
Bank Holiday
closed all banks until gov. examiners could investigate their financial condition; only sound/solvent banks were allowed to reopen
Social Security
Roosevelt, the President of the United States during the Depression and WWII. He instituted the New Deal. Served from 1933 to 1945, he was the only president in U.S. history to be elected to four terms
Hoover's actions - RFC
Hoover's actions - RFC
camps built outside of major cities by people who had lost their homes during the great depression called ________ because the people blamed pre. hoover foe their situition
National Industrial Recovery Act was designed to reduce unemployment by asking employers to spread work out as much as possible. National Recovery Administration asked industry to reduce competition and to regulate wages and hours. Labor was granted the right to organize and bargain collectively. Declared unconstitutional in 1935.
Court Packing
attempt by Roosevelt to appoint one new Supreme Court justice for every sitting justice over the age of 70 who had been there for at least 10 years. Wanted to prevent justices from dismantling the new deal. Plan died in congress and made opponents of New Deal inflamed.
____: A federal guarantee of savings bank deposits initially of up to $2500, raised to $5000 in 1934, and frequently thereafter; continues today with a limit of $100,000
Civilian Conservation Corps. It was Relief that provided work for young men 18-25 years old in food control, planting, flood work, etc.
___: attempted to regulate agricultural production through farm subsidies; ruled unconstitutional in 1936; disbanded after World War II
The ______ federation was created in 1933 in order to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly impacted by the Great Depression
Hoover Dam
project as part of a massive public-works program; brought much needed employment to Southwest
Keynesian Economics
Economic theory based on the principles of John Maynard Keynes stating that government spending should increase during business slumps and be curbed during booms.
Works Progress Administration (1935)- Relief- Massive work relief program funded projects ranging from construction to acting; disbanded by FDR during World War II.
FDR and the 1937 recession
rehiring 1.5 million people back to the Works Progress Administration, pumping $3 billion in direct relief into the economy
in the decade after WWI, American foreign policy objectives were aimed at maintaining peace and have been described as "independent internationalism" (Kellogg-Briand Pact, Good Neighbor Policy); began when Germany invaded Poland; US became involved when Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan; FDR signed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, which was the first peacetime draft; internment of Japanese Americans; at Yalta, land was split up between the Allies; the beginning of the USSR's dominance
Neutrality Acts
Originally designed to avoid American involvement in World War II by preventing loans to those countries taking part in the conflict; they were later modified in 1939 to allow aid to Great Britain and other Allied nations.
Cash and Carry/Lend Lease
Cash and carry: (1939) Stated the warring nations wishing to trade with the U.S. would have to pay cash and carry the goods away in their own ships.
Lend lease: Allows America to sell, lend, or lease arms or other war supplies to any nation considered "vital to the defense of the U.S."
Atlantic Charter
1941-Pledge signed by US president FDR and British prime minister Winston Churchill not to acquire new territory as a result of WWII and to work for peace after the war
America's First Committee
the foremost pressure group against American entry into the Second World War. delay the passage of lend-lease and keep the Roosevelt administration from obtaining its goals without opposition for almost two years. Led by Charles A Lindbergh (pro monroe doctrine)
Pearl Harbor
Island Hopping
the American navy attacked islands held by the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean. The capture of each successive island from the Japanese brought the American navy closer to an invasion of Japan.
D Day
When FDR, Churchill, and Stalin meet; they agreed to wage war on Japan, to divide Germany into 4 equal parts, on the big 5's veto, and to hold free elections for the liberated countries
the place at which the three allied leaders, Truman, Stalin, and Atlee, met to discuss the distribution of Germany and the ultimatum that they would issue to Japan demanding thier immediate surrender
The meeting place of Roosevelt and Churchill where they decided to not surrender until the Axis surrendered unconditionally
Disney goes to War
Victory Gardens
Americans were asked to grow their own food during WWII to help with the war effort by planting in backyards, school yards, city parks and empty lots. Government promoted by praising them in film reels, pamphlets, and official statements.
Zoot Suit Riots
In the 1940's - Riots that occurred mostly in Los Angeles, CA between white marines and young Mexican Americans. White marines thought that the dress of "zoot suits" of the Mexican Americans was un-patriotic, although about 300,000 Mexican Americans were in the armed forces. Some Mexicans thought that they would be the next "Japanese" and be taken to camps.
Rosie the Riveter
A cultural icon of the United States, representing the American women who worked in factories during World War II, many of whom worked in the manufacturing plants that produced munitions and war supplies. These women sometimes took entirely new jobs replacing the male workers who were in the military. The character is considered a feminist icon in the U.S.
Great Migration
Movement between 1915 - 1940 of millions of African Americans to the north in search of work and fair treatment.
A Philip Randolph
America's leading black labor leader who called for a march on Washington D.C. to protest factories' refusals to hire African Americans, which eventually led to President Roosevelt issuing an order to end all discrimination in the defense industries.
Executive Order 9066
2/19/42; 112,000 Japanese-Americans forced into camps causing loss of homes & businesses, 600K more renounced citizenship; demonstrated fear of Japanese invasion
Manhattan Project
Korematsu vs. USA
Supreme Court decision of 1944 that upheld the president's authority to sequester several thousand Japanese and Japanese-Americans in internment camps during World War II (2)
First and second cities to be hit by atomic bombs, they were bombed after Japan refused to surrender and accept the Potsdam Declaration. Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki was bombed on August 9, 1945.
UN formation - Dunbarton Oaks
Start of Cold War
-1947 to 1991
- Soviet did not turn over Berlin to the rest of the allies-- Berlin was divided into 4 sections.
- turned into a race against United Sates and the Soviet with Nuclear Arms race(scare) and The space race.
Taft Hartley Act
(HT) 1947, , The Act was passed over the veto of Harry S. Truman on the 23rd June, 1947. When it was passed by Congress, Truman denounced it as a "slave-labor bill". The act declared the closed shop illegal and permitted the union shop only after a vote of a majority of the employees. It also forbade jurisdictional strikes and secondary boycotts. Other aspects of the legislation included the right of employers to be exempted from bargaining with unions unless they wished to. The act forbade unions from contributing to political campaigns and required union leaders to affirm they were not supporters of the Communist Party. This aspect of the act was upheld by the Supreme Court on 8th May, 1950.
Fair Deal
Truman's extension of the New Deal that increased min wage, expanded Social Security, and constructed low-income housing
NATO and Warsaw Pact
NATO is North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which consists of the Neterlands, France, Italy, Canada, and Great Britain, and they formed a military alliance to protect each other from the Soviet aggression in 1949. In 1955, a similar military alliance was formed by Soviet Union with countries such as Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Hungary and is known as the Warsaw Treaty Organization, or the Warsaw Pact.
The term associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950s through his leadership in the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Korean War
conflict between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in which at least 2.5 million persons lost their lives. The war reached international proportions in June 1950 when North Korea, supplied and advised by the Soviet Union, invaded the South. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal participant, joined the war on the side of the South Koreans, and the People's Republic of China came to North Korea's aid. After more than a million combat casualties had been suffered on both sides, the fighting ended in July 1953 with Korea still divided into two hostile states. Negotiations in 1954 produced no further agreement, and the front line has been accepted ever since as the de facto boundary between North and South Korea.
Truman Doctrine
First established in 1947 after Britain no longer could afford to provide anti-communist aid to Greece and Turkey, it pledged to provide U.S. military and economic aid to any nation threatened by communism.
Iron Curtain
Marshall Plan
A plan that the US came up with to revive war-torn economies of Europe. This plan offered $13 billion in aid to western and Southern Europe.
Berlin Airlift
Successful effort by the United States and Britain to ship by air 2.3 million tons of supplies to the residents of the Western-controlled sectors of Berlin from June 1948 to May 1949, in response to a Soviet blockade of all land and canal routes to the divided city.
Truman and Desegregation of the Military
Truman and Desegregation of the Military
Red Scare
Most instense outbreak of national alarm, began in 1919. Success of communists in Russia, American radicals embracing communism followed by a series of mail bombings frightened Americans. Attorney General A. MItchell Palmer led effort to deport aliens without due processs, with widespread support. Did not last long as some Americans came to their senses. Sacco/Vanzetti trial demonstrated anti-foreign feeling in 20's. Accused of armed robbery & murder, had alibis. "Those anarchists bastards". Sentenced to death and executed.
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was an investigating committee which investigated what it considered un-American propaganda, and searched out communism.
Hollywood 10
ten Hollywood screen writers, actors, etc accused of being communist; were blacklisted and refused to cooperate with HUAC; sent to jail
Husband and wife tried/excuted for treason under suspicion of communist influence and trading atomic bomb secrets with the Soviet Union
The Great Depression
extended recession in the 1930s that led to widespread unemployment, bank failure, and a general downturn in the economy until World War II. |
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10 terms
Muscle and Nervous Tissue
A&P Lab
What type of tissue coordinates, regulates, and integrates body functions?
Nervous tissue
What tissue contains intercalated discs?
Cardiac tissue
What type of muscle lacks striations?
Smooth tissue
What type of tissue is striated and involuntary?
Cardiac muscle
What type of tissue is striated and voluntary?
Skeletal muscle
What type of tissue contains neurons and neuroglia?
Nervous tissue
What muscle is attached to bones?
Skeletal muscle
What is the muscle that composes the heart?
Cardiac muscle
What is the tissue that helps move food through the digestive tract?
Smooth muscle
What transmits impulses along cellular processes?
Nervous tissues |
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Subtraction Game - 5 Number Card Decks -Top or Tail- Practice Subtraction Facts
Grade Levels
Product Rating
5 ratings
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5 MB|27 pages
Product Description
Subtraction GameTop or Tail is an excellent card game for practicing Subtraction skills using numbers 0 to 20. It is also great for reinforcing the concept of odd and even numbers. In this download there are 5 different kinds of card decks. Numbers 1 to 20, Numbers as Words 1 to 20, Tally Deck 1 to 20, Numbers as Dots 1 to 20 and Ten Frames 1 to 20. NB You can use these cards to play any number of games found on GoTeachThis.com requiring number cards.
Essence of the Game:
Players turn numeral cards over then subtract the largest number from the smallest. A throw of the die decides if the highest or lowest total wins the hand.
What You Need:
2 or 3 players
4 lots of numerals 0 to 10
1 set of number cards 11 to 20
1 die marked 1 to 6
How to Play:
1. The person with the longest middle finger is the dealer.
2. Dealer shuffles the cards and shares them evenly between the players.
3. Players shuffle their cards into a personal deck and place them face down on the playing surface.
4. Each player then flips two cards from their deck, uses a strategy to work out the difference between the numbers and says the answer aloud.
NB In the event of a tie, players flip a second pair of cards (on top of the previous cards) and say the new cards' difference aloud.
5. Dealer then throws the die. If the number thrown is even (2, 4 or 6) the highest difference keeps the played cards. If the number thrown is odd (1, 3 or 5) the lowest difference keeps the played cards.
6. When cards are won they are placed in a discard pile next to the player.
7. Play continues in this fashion until each player has no cards left.
8. Players then count the cards they have won and the player with the most cards wins the game.
- Have the students roll the die onto a piece of A4 paper. If the die goes off the paper the throw is disallowed. It helps with so much stuff… believe me, I’ve been there :-)
- Felt is an even better tossing surface than paper as it keeps the noise down.
Before the Game:
- One of the most useful subtraction 'a-ha' moments is when students realise they can use addition to solve subtraction algorithms.
- Explore and investigate using Addition to Solve Subtraction. How does it work?
- Explain the concept of ‘growth’ in math. i.e. You are not born with a fixed amount of mathematical ability. You have the ability to learn and grow in math.
- If someone says, ‘I can’t do it’ have the courage to add “Yet” to it’. What does this statement mean and how can you put it into practice?
- Encourage thought and discussion about mathematical strategies which will make this game flow well.
After the Game:
- What strategies have you developed or practiced to make the addition and subtraction of numbers more efficient?
- Play so the person with the fewest cards at the end of the game is the winner.
- Draw three cards in the flipping phase and create a 2 digit number and a single digit number. Find the difference between these.
Check Out My MEGA BUNDLE It includes ALL the great games in my store PLUS every resource I make for the next YEAR It is a book that just keeps on giving.
Take me to the Mother Load :-)
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Democracy and Popular Sovereignty
In capitalist society, it is the interests of capital that predominate, regardless of proclamations about the sovereignty of the people or of parliament.
The electoral franchise and other democratic rights are subverted by huge inequalities in wealth and power between different classes and sections of the population. Politicians and political parties are bought or intimidated, issues and debate are distorted by the mass media, the electoral system is often rigged against small, new or left-wing parties, and elected parliaments can be marginalised or dissolved.
The European Union (EU) represents a new model whereby monopoly capital can circumvent democratic representation and accountability. The EU parliament is elected by constituencies so large as to break any meaningful organic link between electors and representatives. It has few powers that it would dare exercise. The fundamental capitalist economic and political character of the EU is set in constitutional concrete. Any real sovereignty is shared between unelected and unaccountable bodies – the Council of Ministers, the EU Commission and the European Central Bank.
The essence of popular sovereignty, on the other hand, is that the democratic will of the people should prevail over the vested interests of a powerful minority and their state apparatus. This revolutionary concept originates in the English Revolution, with the Levellers and the soldiers’ parliament, and in the French Revolution with its constituent assembly and constitution. It was also seen in the Paris Commune of 1871, in the workers’, peasants’ and soldiers’ soviets (councils) of the 1905 and 1917 Russian revolutions, and in all mass movements against exploitation and oppression.
In Britain today, for example, the struggle to exert popular sovereignty can be seen in the mass movement against imperialist war, in progressive campaigns against EU power and in local broad-based campaigns to defend jobs and public services. But popular sovereignty will only prevail when state power is taken out of the hands of the capitalist class by the working class and its allies, whose interests represent those of the people and society as a whole.
This lays the basis for the active involvement of the people in all aspects of decision-making. Such mass participation is the surest guarantee that democratic rights will be enormously more extensive and more real in a socialist society, free from the distortions of monopoly capital’s wealth and power.
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Apologetic Failures
The promotion of religion is based on the appeal of ceremony and apologetic arguments that are convincing only to the already convinced.All arguments for the existence of gods, viz supernatural entities, have been refuted or have failed. Fideism and deism have become the last refuges of refuted theology.
Modern apologetics has fallen back on emotional apologetics, which fails in its turn because religion is not necessary for moral conduct, community, or the attainment of a sense of psychological purpose.
Modern science has disproven the physical claims within the Book of Genesis and miraculous claims within the Bible, and has effectively demonstrated that physical death spells the end of consciousness.
Theological Apologetics
å Assailing the Ineffable
å Aristotle's Prime Mover
å Avicenna first mover
å Aquinas' arguments
å Cosmological Arguments
å Kalām cosmological argument
å Leibnizian Principle of Sufficient Reason
å Modal Ontological Argument . playlist
å Plato's First Mover
å Teleological Arguments
Emotional Apologetics
å Demands for Proof
å Desperate Measures
å What's Wrong with Religious Apologetics?
å When All Else Fails
History of Religion
å From UPA to Ineffable
å Anti-IDiocy resources
å Behe Retreats
å Complexity Reductio
å Dawkins refutes Behe
å Debunking IDiocy
å Jones' Kitzmiller vs Dover decision
å Ken Miller on Collapse of Intelligent Design
å Not So-Hidden IDiot Agendas
å Panstupidity and Jumbo-Mumbo
å Reducible Illogic
å Tick Tock
å Un-designed Intelligences
å Wedge Document
å What's intelligent . . . ?
a priori : a posteriori : Aquinas' Third Way : causation : Cogito argument : contingency : contingent vs necessary : dual-attribute monism : empiricism : epistemology : induction : inference : logic : mind-body : necessity : Occam's razor : possible worlds :
Aquinas' cosmological argument
St. Thomas AquinasThomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274 C.E) argued that the existence of contingent things, which depend for their existence upon other beings, requires explanation. Aquinas' cosmological argument holds that a necessary being is responsible for the existence of contingent beings.
There are a number of problems with the Thomasian argument, as with all cosmological arguments (indeed with all apologetic arguments). The most egregious problem is that believers assume that such arguments are "proof" of the existence of a mythical entity. They do so not because apologetic arguments are convincing, but because they come to these arguments with a pre-formed a posteriori belief.
As to the problems themselves: First, proof of existence necessarily includes confirmed direct, or valid indirect, demonstration of the proposed existence. Second, philosophy-based proof is not possible outside mathematics and a specific form of syllogism. Third, the Thomasian argument has many problems.
The Thomasian cosmological argument is the third of Aquinas' Five Ways:
First Way: The Argument From Motion
St. Thomas Aquinas borrowed from the Greek philsopher Aristotle, and inferred from common observation that objects are put in motion by some other object or force. From this, Aquinas argued that the ultimate (first) cause of motion must have been an unmoved mover (God) who first initiated motion. The argument runs:
1) Nothing can move itself.
2) If every object in motion had a mover, then the first object in motion needed a mover.
3) This first mover is the Unmoved Mover, called God.
Second Way: Causation Of Existence
Aquinas concluded from the common sense observation that an object does not creates itself, as indicating that some previous object create the object. Aquinas extrapolated back to an ultimate uncaused first cause (God) who initiated the chain of existence for all things. The argument runs:
1) There exists things that are caused (created) by other things.
2) Nothing can be the cause of itself (nothing can create itself.)
3) There can not be an endless string of objects causing other objects to exist.
4) Therefore, there must be an uncaused first cause called God.
Third Way: Contingent and Neccessary Objects
Aquinas defines two types of objects in the universe–contingent beings and necessary beings. A contingent being is an object that can not exist without a necessary being causing its existence. Aquinas believed that the existence of contingent beings would ultimately neccesitate a being which must exist for all of the contingent beings to exist. This being, called a necessary being, is what we call God. The argument runs:
1) Contingent beings are caused.
2) Not every being can be contingent.
3) There must exist a being which is necessary to cause contingent beings.
4) This necessary being is God.
Fourth Way: The Argument From Degrees And Perfection
St. Thomas formulated this Way from a the observation that one object may be more beautiful than another. Thus, objects exhibit degrees or gradation of a quality. From this fact Aquinas concluded that for any given quality there must be an perfect standard by which all such qualities are measured, and he postulated that these perfections are contained in God.
Fifth Way: The Argument From Intelligent Design
Aquinas argued that common sense indicates that the universe works such that one can conclude that is was designed by an intelligent designer, God. In other words, all physical laws and the order of nature and life were designed and ordered by God, the intelligent designer.
The modern version of the argument from design is based upon Paley's Teleological Argument. Paley's long-refuted argument that complexity necessarily implies a designer.
* There are considerable problems with Aquinas' arguments.
Aquinas could not have know that motion is actually the default condition of the universe. He can be forgiven for not knowing this and for considering relative motion to be the default condition. Even so, motion would not necessarily result from the action of a deity.
Nothing from nothing is an intuitive assumption, but does not necessarily reflect reality. In any case, the question then becomes, "How did God come out of nothing". Postulated eternal existence for God fails to address this problem because the matter/energy in the universe could then be taken to have been eternal. Since time is an artefact of events, time exists only as long as energy exists.
The first cause, “God” by Aquinas’ definition, is taken to be a necessary being. This artifice terminates the causal regress at “God”.
The distinction between necessary and contingent objects is fatal to Aquinas’ argument because he acknowledges that some objects simply exist without causation. The question then becomes which object/s is/are in actuality the necessary being/s.
Aquinas attributes the qualities of the Christian “God” to this necessary object. However, Aquinas has failed to make the case that the ultimate, necessary existence could not in fact be that which Aquinas is taking to be caused by “God”. In other words, Aquinas has invented an extra, regressive step in order to conform to received religious belief. His argument is fatally circular.
Defining God as perfect simply does not work because it commits a bare assertion fallacy. It is not legitimate to define postulated entities into existence and then to claim that this proves their actual existence. No rational person would deny that a postulated entity exists as a conceptualization, but myths are not worthy of worship, love, or fear. Particularly not fear.
The problems with teleological arguments have been repeatedly exposed over a considerable time frame.
Hi Q.
St. Thomas Aquinas , cosmological argument ,
Cosmological Arguments
The family of cosmological arguments follow the general pattern of moving from inferences about the world to postulating the existence of a unique, cosmologically-responsible entity (God).
The arguments are problematic because inferences are often based on inaccurate premises about the alleged condition of the cosmos – that the world came into being through an act of creation, that the world is is contingent (rather than necessary), or that certain beings in the world are causally dependent or contingent.
Theologists have moved from these assumptions to infer, either deductively or inductively, that a first cause, a necessary being, an unmoved mover, or a personal being (God) exists and is responsible for the cosmos.
Human curiosity naturally led early humans to questions about the existence of the world, and in the absence of scientific knowledge, cosmological speculations abounded. These speculations became more sophisticated over time, particularly when they were adopted by professional churchmen in attempts to prove the existence of a 'God' for which the earliest conceptual origins had been forgotten in the mists of time. The Western historical record dates the cosmological argument back to Plato (Laws, 893-6).
Three types of cosmological argument are recognized:
1. as advocated by St Thomas Aquinas, these arguments are based on the impossiblity of an essentially ordered infinite regress.
2 the kalām argument holds that an infinite temporal regress is impossible because an actual infinite is impossible.
3. Leibniz and Clarke espoused the Principle of Sufficient Reason.
Historical versions of the cosmological argument:
Plato ~ Laws, 893-6 ~ (cosmic) motion was started by an first cause (unmoved mover).
Aristotle ~ Physics (VIII, 4-6) and Metaphysics (XII, 1-6) ~ Prime Mover or Unmoved Mover.
Arabic philosophers (falasifa) ~ atemporal argument from contingency.
Thomas Aquinas (1225-74) ~ Summa Theologica (I,q.2,a.3) and Summa Contra Gentiles (I, 13).
Islamic and mutakallimūm theologians ~ kalām argument ~ temporal version of the argument from the impossibility of an infinite regress.
• al-Ghāzāli (1058-1111) argued that everything that begins to exist requires a cause of its beginning
• Bonaventure (1221-74) ~ Sentences (II Sent. D.1,p.1,a.1,q.2).
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) appealed to a strengthened principle of sufficient reason (PSR), according to which “no fact can be real or existing and no statement true without a sufficient reason for its being so and not otherwise” (Monadology, §32).
Samuel Clarke reiterated the principle of sufficient reason.
Cosmological arguments are fraught with problems:
The cosmological argument came under serious criticism in the 18th century by David Hume and Immanuel Kant.
Hume attacks both the view of causation presupposed in the argument (that causation is an objective, productive relation that holds between two things) and the Causal Principle — every contingent being has a cause of its being — that lies at the heart of the argument. (Hume, David, 1980, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Indianapolis: Hackett. [Available Online].)
Kant contends that the cosmological argument, in identifying the necessary being, relies on the ontological argument, which in turn is suspect.
Contemporary philosophers continue to contribute detailed arguments on both sides of the debate. Both theists and non-theists in the last part of the 20th century generally have shown a healthy skepticism about the argument.
Alvin Plantinga (1967, chap. 1) concludes “that this piece of natural theology is ineffective.”
Richard Gale contends, in Kantian fashion, that since the conclusion of all versions of the cosmological argument invokes an impossibility, no cosmological arguments can provide examples of sound reasoning (1991, ch. 7).
Michael Martin reasons that no current version of the cosmological argument is sound (1990, ch. 4), as do John Mackie (ch. 5) and Quentin Smith (Craig and Smith, 1993).
William Lane Craig defends the kalām argument. See Some Comments on William Craig's "Creation and Big Bang Cosmology" by Adolf Grünbaum.
Richard Swinburne, rejects deductive versions of the cosmological argument, but proposes an inductive argument which is part of a larger cumulative case for God's existence. “There is quite a chance that if there is a God he will make something of the finitude and complexity of a universe. It is very unlikely that a universe would exist uncaused, but rather more likely that God would exist uncaused. The existence of the universe…can be made comprehensible if we suppose that it is brought about by God” (1979, 131-2).
Cosmological Argument, from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Existence of God, by William Lane Craig (Biola University).
Articles on the cosmological argument for the existence of God, list of articles published on the web, from RS-Web, designed and written by R. Bowie.
Critique of the Kalām Argument., by Graham Oppy (Philosophy, Monash University).
Cosmological argument as evidence for atheism, by Quentin Smith (Philosophy, Michigan State University).
"The Existence of God and the Beginning of the Universe" by William Lane Craig. Craig's own summary of the kalam argument.
Reichenbach, Bruce, "Cosmological Argument", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2006 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), url.
Craig, William Lane. The Kalam Cosmological Argument. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1979.
Kalām cosmological argument
Ibn Russhd, AverroësThe Kalām Cosmological Argument attempts to prove the existence of God by appealing to the principle of universal cause. Kalām arguments try to demonstrate (1) that the existence of an actual infinite (a concept from modern set theory) is impossible and (2) that even if it were possible, the universe itself is not actually infinite and hence must have had a beginning.
The argument for 'first cause' originated with Plato and Aristotle, and was revived by Maimonides, Aquinas, and Ibn Russhd (Averroës). The argument is expressed in Thomistic and Leibnizian forms. It has recently been reworked by Christian apologist, William Lane Craig.
It is named for Islamic 'religious science', kalām, and is a dialectical* argument. It relies on the premise that the universe had a finite beginning (does not extend to infinity in the past), which is postulated to necessitate there being an immaterial cause for the existence of the universe.
1. The universe either had (a) a beginning or (b) no beginning.
2. If it had a beginning, the beginning was either (a) caused or (b) uncaused.
3. If it had a cause, the cause was either (a) personal or (b) not personal.
The kalām cosmological argument is thus an argument from contingency because the cosmos that exists could have been otherwise. It takes the form of a disjunctive syllogism.
Craig's version
P1: Everything that begins to exist (comes into being) has a cause.
P2: The universe began to exist.
Conclusion 1: Therefore, the universe must have a cause.
The second premise is usually supported by the following sub-argument:
P1. An actual infinite cannot exist.
P2. A beginningless series of events is an actual infinite
Conclusion (subargument): Therefore, the universe cannot have existed infinitely in the past, as that would be a beginningless series of events.
According to modern set theory, an actual infinite is a collection of things with an infinite number of members, such that part of an actually infinite set is equal to the whole set. This obtains because an infinite set of numbers contains an infinite number of even (and odd) numbers as well as an infinite number of all numbers. Because an actual infinite set already contains all numbers, nothing can be added to it. A beginningless series of events in time is an actual infinite.
None of which, of course, indicates that a) the universe must have a 'cause', or b) that even if the universe does have cause, that this cause is a supernatural entity, still less that this 'cause' is the deity of the Talmud/Bible/Koran. That is, looking back at the dialectical version of the argument, the universe could have had a beginning (Big Bang) and been uncaused, or could have had a beginning and have been caused by a 'not personal' agency. There is no necessity, on the basis of the kalām syllogism, to assume that a universe with a beginning signifies that a deity is probable.
*The term dialectic (Greek, διαλεκτική) refers to controversy. Dialectical exercises involve the exchange of arguments and counter-arguments that advocate propositions (theses) and counter-propositions (antitheses). A dialectical exercise could lead to
a) the refutation of one of the relevant points of view
b) qualitative transformation in the direction of the dialogue, or
c) synthesis, combination, or syncretism of the opposing assertions.
Leibnizian Principle of Sufficient Reason
Parmenides by RaphaelThe Principle of Sufficient Reason (PSR) claims that all contingent facts must have an explanation, that is, anything that happens does so for a definite reason.
Parmenides used the Principle of Sufficient Reason to argue that there was no such thing as change: If there was change, why did it happen when it happened rather than earlier or later? “Ex nihilo nihil fit”: nothing comes from nothing.
(Parmenides can be forgiven for not having known anything of quantum mechanics.)
Gottfried Wilhelm LeibnizThe PSR is more famously associated with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.
The argument runs that the principle of sufficient reason generates the truths of fact, which are contingent (M#36), and each of which states the connection between an existing individual substance and one of its infinitely many accidental features or relations.
For every entity X, if X exists, then there is a sufficient explanation why X exists*.
For every event E, if E occurs, then there is a sufficient explanation why E occurs.
For every proposition P, if P is true, then there is a sufficient explanation why P is true.
The reasoning runs that since the universe exists, there must be an explanation or cause for its existence. Since it is taken as incoherent to postulate self-causation (the cosmos' creating itself), it is assumed that the cause for the universe is necessarily something other than the universe itself. Considering plausible candidates for the cause of the universe, 'God' is proposed as being the best candidate since 'God' is defined as capable of creating a universe without being a part of the universe. Absent God, and the existence of the universe is taken to be inexplicable. (Which, of course, is the current state of astrophysical knowledge.)
The argument itself immediately raises the question of how 'God' came into existence in order to cause the universe. This obvious problem is conveniently ignored or dismissed-by-definition by theists. Even if we accept that the universe had a cause, and call this cause 'God', there is no further reason to assume that this 'God' is the God of the Bible.
A further problem is that it is by no means established that there need be a cause for the universe, even if it did come into existence at some finite time in the past (Big Bang). This is to say, there need not be a complex, intelligent cause, when the laws of physics then** in operation would suffice as an explanation.
The PSR theme continued:
40. We may also hold that this supreme substance, which is unique, universal and necessary, nothing outside of it being independent of it,- this substance, which is a pure sequence of possible being, must be illimitable and must contain as much reality as is possible.
Refutations of the PSR include Hume’s imaginability argument and Peter van Inwagen’s argument that the PSR entails modal fatalism. William Rowe's criticism of the argument amounts to saying that we have no reason to believe PSR.
* Note that, if S is a sufficient cause of E, the presence of E does not necessarily indicate that E was caused by S. It is possible that E was caused by another agency or agencies.
** The laws of physics could have been different prior to the "Big Bang".
Blogs: Conceivability, Possibility, and the Ontological Argument for God's Existence : The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument : sufficient reason for conversation :
THE MONADOLOGY by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz translated by Robert Latta
Parmenides' Principle by Allan F. Randall.
Quantum Superposition, Necessity and the Identity of Indiscernibles by Allan F. Randall
Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit: Arguments New and Old for the Principle of Sufficient Reason by Alexander R. Pruss
Bobro, Marc, "Leibniz on Causation", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2007 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), url.
cosmological argument, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Monadology, Principle of Sufficient Reason ,
Please call 'em . . .
The political designation "right" (droit) originated with the Estates General prior to the French Revolution. Before they lost their heads – literally – aristocrats sat to the physical right of the president's chair.
Thus, those who are conservative, reactionary, greedy, fascistic, anti-liberal, militaristic came to be misleadingly termed "the right".
The French for "correct" is not "droit". Unfortunately, "right" and "correct" do misleadingly convey the same sense in English. Whoever dubbed conservative, fundamentalist Christians the "Religious Right" was quite wrong!
Jerry Falwell happily chuckled about the tag during the God's Christian Warriors episode of Christiane Amanpour's God's Warriors documentary. If the abominable Jerry liked the name, I'm more against it than I was prior to seeing the smug Reverend smirking over the term.
American fundamentalism went underground after the Scopes fiasco had exposed creationist bigotry to national, even global, derision for its intransigent ignorance.
Fundamentalists swarmed out of their subterranean lairs in the 1970s with the rise of televangelical charlatans. It is scarcely surprising that televangelism flourishes upon those who donate to such entertainment. These people, after all, are mostly descendants of rural folk who flocked to Revival meetings.
Rural life on the frontier was probably so isolated and boring that even I would have attended the early Revivals! The South also had African slaves with their stirring music, which presumably inspired white Southerners to enliven their church music.
However, the rural South does have electricity and television now, so the evident need of Southern Baptists for raucous church services presumably results from this frontier history.
When they re-emerged from hiding in the '70s, Christian fundies stopped admitting to being fundamentalists and started calling themselves "evangelicals". Their intention in adopting this disguise is obvious, but it does not alter the fact that their behavior and attitudes have not significantly evolved since 1925. Subtle differences between the old and new fundamentalists have become official over time according to a summary of "Adventist and Protestant Fundamentalism", Spectrum 30, 24-35 (2002). Nevertheless, the essentials remain the same.
I think that those atheists who are anti-religious are actually more likely to be anti-fundamentalist-religionist rather than anti-moderate-religious. After all, even though past Western religious transgressions were committed in the name of Catholicism, current poisonings are globally perpetrated under fundamentalist banners.
So, please call 'em:
Fundamentalists, or even Fistians
Religious Wrong, or Religionist Wrong
Religious Droit (pronounced dwāt, though drat would be appropriateReligious Right [sick])
or, if you are utterly frustrated, one of Shalini's colorful terms.
Plato Aristotle First Mover
Plato (left) holding Timaeus with Aristotle (right) holding EthicsPlato (c. 427–c. 347 BCE) in The Laws, argued that the motion in the universe must be attributable to a first cause.
The argument is one of a family of cosmological arguments. All are fraught with problems.
Plato argues, that the first cause of motion initiated all the motion in the universe. He called this principle, 'soul' or 'life'. Further, any cause that was the ultimate cause must itself be unmoved by anything else–an unmoved mover or, in Aristotle's parlance, a prime mover.
Aristotle (c. 384–322 BCE), in Metaphysics, also proposed the idea of a first cause, which is often referred to as the "Prime Mover" or "Unmoved Mover" (the πρῶτον κινοῦν ἀκίνητον or primus motor). Aristotle describes the unmoved mover as being perfectly beautiful, indivisible, and contemplating only the perfect contemplation: itself contemplating.
The Persian philosopher, Avicenna (c. 980–1037 CE) , Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sīnā, or Ibn Sina also created a variation of this argument.
cosmological argument , Aristotle, Plato,
Teleological Arguments
Based on the emotional supposition that there must be purpose behind the processes of nature, a teleological argument is an argument from design.
Teleological (Greek "telos", meaning end or purpose) arguments for the existence of God, Yagoal, a creator, or an "intelligent designer" are based on perceived sense that there must be order, purpose, design, or direction in nature.
All of these arguments involve some combination of fallacious arguments: including argument from analogy (argument from contrived definition), argument from emotion, resort to ineffability, god of the gaps, and circularity, and all fail.
The arguments take the form:
P1 : some thing or process is too complex, orderly, functionally adaptive, apparently purposeful, or beautiful to have occurred randomly or accidentally.
C: Therefore, some thing or process must have been created by a sentient, intelligent, wise, or purposeful being.
P2 : God (by whatever name) is that sentient, intelligent, wise, or purposeful being.
C2: Therefore, God exists.
The latest flavor of teleological argument is the nauseatingly over-promulgated, IDiocy argument:
P1: Biological or cosmological complexity implies a designer.
p2: Life and the universe are highly complex.
C: Therefore, the universe has a Designer.
C2: Therefore, God exists.
Another modern variant is the anthropic principle:
P1: Life could not have existed within our universe if its fundamental constants had different values
P2: Our universe is as it is, and life exists within our universe.
C: Therefore a supernatural agent fine-tuned the universe to ensure life as we know it.
C2: Therefore, God exists.
A particularly prevalent and feeble emotional argument for purpose runs:
P1: My life cannot have meaning and purpose if I am not the result of special creation/if Jesus did not die for me/if I am not destined for salvation/etc.
C2: Therefore, God exists.
Stupid Theistic Apologetics
The Mythical SkyDaddy creates our cosmos (actually Kepler's supernova)I'm not merely tired of being polite about religion, I am tired of being polite about stupid theistic apologetics. Yes, there are some bright theists and deists – Kenneth Miller springs to mind. Bright deists keep their emotional relationship to their religion private and don't let it force them to think illogically.
Most theists whom I have encountered on the Internet could not reason their way out of a wet paper bag.
Here’s a link to a rather nauseating pod-cast of a Christian interviewer asking leading questions on the topic of “The New Atheism” for Dr William Lane Craig. I have transcribed Craig incompletely but literally, poor grammar included.
Craig calls atheism, “the defensive backlash of a wounded animal.” He says:
“Atheism is on the retreat today and it’s fighting back now, it’s lashing out, and [Christians] need to remain confident and calm and communicate the love of Christ, but at the same be very firm and intelligent as we handle the arguments and rebut them.”
Atheism is not a wounded animal, Bill, atheists are frustrated and angry at illogic, anti-science, and bigotry in the Name of the Man Who Never Was. If atheism really were in retreat, Christians would be looking for a different enemy to target.
Intelligent debate from Christians would make a nice change, yes.
Craig moves on to evoke his favourite apologetic area, saying:
“The Leibnizian argument from contingency – the explanation for why something exists rather than nothing. [Dawkins] has nothing about the Kalām cosmological argument, the argument that there was a beginning of the universe and therefore the universe needs to have a transcendent cause.”
Craig says "explanation" when he ought to say "argument". He is using a car salesman trick – playing upon the listener's tendency to view explanations as linked to facts. Arguments are understood as attempts to demonstrate a conclusion based upon propositions.
In The God Delusion, which was intended for a lay audience, and not for philosophers, Dawkins makes it clear at the outset that philosophers have soundly refuted theological apologetics, and that he has no intention of reiterating the refutations. True enough, and fair enough, particularly when one considers that Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist. Perhaps Craig closed his eyes as he read that passage because he goes on to pull out the typical theistic complaint that Dawkins did not demonstrate his knowledge of philosophy.
“[Dawkins] talks about the design argument but he doesn’t deal with the fine-tuning, he only deals with the biological aspects of it but has nothing to offer in terms of how you can explain the fine-tuning of the universe of the Big Bang for intelligent life.”
Get your cosmology straight, Craig. Even though the universe clearly happens to support somewhat intelligent life, this does not mean that there was necessarily any fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life, and it certainly does not demonstrate that any supernatural agent tweaked the fundamental constants for this purpose.
Craig probably felt confident that none of his devoted, Christian listeners would catch him out in his following misrepresentations of what Dawkins actually said:
“The moral argument, here he’s just completely inconsistent. On the one hand he grants the premise that if God does not exist, there are no objective moral values and duties, he’s very clear that he thinks that morality is just basically a human illusion. But on the other hand, over and over again in the book, he makes moral judgements, and affirms moral truths and therefore affirms the second premise in the moral argument that objective moral values exist.”
Um, Bill, you are creating a false dichotomy, which leads me to believe either that you have problems with reading comprehension or that you are deliberately misrepresenting Dawkins’ arguments. Theists do so love their straw men.
There is considerable difference between acknowledging the existence of moral behavior, some of which appears to be biologically inherited, together with acknowledging societal moral contracts, as compared to theistic claims for biblical absolute morality.
My moral rules include honesty as an important value. I get the impression that theologist William Lane Craig does not. Of course, if you insist that something exists that does not actually exist, then intellectual honesty must be eschewed.
This next, facetious outpouring of Craig’s was worth replicating in its grammatically and logically flawed entirety:
“So, [Dawkins] doesn’t refute that argument, and then finally the ontological argument, oddly enough he spends the most time on that one. He spends several pages on the ontological argument, but if you look at it, all it is is ridicule. He doesn’t know anything about Alvin Plantinga’s defence of the ontological argument, he just mocks it and makes fun of it, and it’s very clear that he doesn’t know the literature, that he’s not familiar with the argument. So I was very unimpressed, I mean quite honestly looking at his handling of the arguments for God’s existence.”
As a listener, I should have liked to hear Craig, who claims expertise in this area, expound on Plantinga’s defence, but he preferred to confine his own remarks to the ridicule he decries. I imagine that most of his Christian listeners could have cared less about Plantinga's defence – they'd be more than content with the ridicule.
Next, Craig bemoans the fact that Dawkins has never heard of Craig and was unwilling to debate a theologian of lower rank than a bishop. Then comes some self-congratulation on helping Christians who hear his debates to hold their heads up high as thinkers.
Cough, splutter!
Craig goes on to describe a debate with Dan Dennett. It is impossible to convey the level of smug ridicule with which he boastfully makes the following illogical argument concerning Dan Dennett’s views:
“I was shocked, this is an eminent philosopher from Tuft’s University, this is not some popularizer. And yet if you looked at his responses to the typical arguments for the existence of God, George Smith does a better job as a popularizer than what Dennett did. For example, his response to the Kalām cosmological argument, which says that whatever begins to exist has a cause, the universe began to exist, therefore the universe has a cause. He agrees with the first premise that anything that begins to exist must have a cause that brings it into being. He agrees with the second premise, he thinks the universe began to exist, and that the Big Bang gives good evidence of that. So, he agrees with the conclusion, the universe has a cause, but here’s his answer to the argument, “Yeah, the universe has a cause, the universe caused itself, the universe brought itself into being.” He says it’s the ultimate bootstrapping trick, the universe, you know, pulled itself up by its own bootstraps, it brought itself into existence. And I pointed out to him, “You know, in order for the universe to bring itself into existence it would have to exist before it existed, otherwise it’s not self-caused, it would come out of nothing, so his view would be that they universe had to exist before it existed, which is a self-contradiction! It’s logically incoherent, and yet this was his response to the cosmological argument.”
YECers actually deny the Big Bang, but Craig appears to be a deist. Craig is resorting – confusingly – to a fallacious argument from regress. Dennett is a philosopher and not a cosmologist, but a cosmologist would say something along the lines that whatever caused it, our universe began with the rapid expansion of space-time that has been dubbed the "Big Bang". The Big Bang does not actually provide any evidence, because it is a phenomenological explanation that is based upon the evidence. Explanations are not evidence. This is a subtle, but important distinction.
Whatever matter/energy form might have existed before our universe began to expand and evolve 14.7 billion years ago is, at present and perhaps forever, unknowable. The “Bang” erased all trace of the previous history of the energy/matter that comprises our cosmos.
It is not logically inconsistent that there was something prior – something in all likelihood that was incredibly densely compressed, by whatever mechanism that compression might have come about. This prior-something was not our universe as we know it. There was not necessarily something prior, and nor was there necessarily nothing prior, and it certainly was not necessary that God that was prior. The chief point is that Craig’s implied argument requires the pre-existence of God, who supposedly brought the entire universe into being and fine-tuned the universe for the evolution of pseudo-intelligent us. So, where did Craig's God come from? He sees no need to explain that; he is only interested in implying that his God was there prior to our cosmos.
Craig moves on to ridiculing memes, which he misrepresents and which he is employing even as he claims to demolish them.
The interviewer next claims that he thinks that the origin of religion, especially when it comes to the existence of God, is not a psychological issue. Craig then labels, as a genetic fallacy, the argument that points out that the human invention of mythologies invalidates the content of religions:
“You try to invalidate a position by showing how a person came to believe that. An example of the genetic fallacy would be, “well, you believe in democracy just because you were raised in America, that’s the only reason you think democracy is the best. Even if it were true that I came to believe in God because of the influence of my parents, or my culture, or society, that is completely irrelevant to the truth or the falsity of that belief. You can’t invalidate a belief by showing how it came to be held. That’s the genetic fallacy. Even if my belief is the product of psychological and social factors, it could still be true.”
The argument about belief in democracy-because-American, or SkyDaddy because birth Daddy said so, is true enough insofar as sources do not verify content, but Craig is deliberately creating another straw man. These examples describe the history of personal belief regarding an already-conceived belief system.
Explanations have human origins. Whenever a scientist puts forward a hypothetical explanation, she is expected to explain the genesis of the hypothesis – to describe the evidence and logic upon which the hypothesis has been constructed.
Claims for the existence of a supposed supernatural creator must exist for a reason – the claims, that is, not the supposed supernatural creator. This is true of any existential-concept for which there is no incontrovertible evidence – Russell’s teapot, Flying Spaghetti Monsters, homunculi, or little green Martian men. Refutation of theological claims for the supernatural do not rest only upon the origin of the God-myth alongside other, now abandoned myths, but the psychological origin of mythologies does explain how humans came to be deluded by this particular myth. As Dawkins listed, there are numerous valid refutations of theological apologetics. No apologetic Christian argument has withstood refutation. Craig will not admit this, but it is true nonetheless.
I’m much, much, much less impressed by William Lane Craig’s intelligence than he is. I thought that the following statement was deliciously ironic in that he is not even smart enough to know that he is describing himself:
“If a person has a strong enough commitment, to naturalism say, or any worldview, then one will do what Dennett did in the face of my arguments, he’ll say, “Well, I guess that one of those very plausible premises has to be false after all.” If you believe strong enough in a presupposition, then anything counter to that, you’re just going to deny.”
Atheism isn't a worldview, Bill. As a philosopher, you should know this.
Theists love to attack “naturalism” as though it is merely another –ism, like theism for example. In fact, there is a cosmos full of evidence that the natural world exists, while there is not one shred of evidence for existence of the supernatural. However, supernaturalists, like Craig want to interpret the undeniably existent natural world by resorting outside natural explanations.
I cannot even begin to describe just how stupid someone needs to be to insist that the only good explanation for the natural world is something that clearly does not exist. If God existed, we’d all have direct access to this worship-worthy something that supposedly provides undeniable evidence of omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient existence. In the meantime, the natural world does undeniably exist, and physical mechanisms do demonstrably impact events in the natural world. I’ll just happily continue to worship nature, thank you very much.
Needless to say, Dr Craig thinks that Christians should be politically involved when it comes to moral issues, and that Churches should take a stand on moral issues such as abortion and homosexuality. Why was I not surprised when Bill said this?
atheism, apologetics, cosmology, cosmological argument , deism, kalām cosmological argument , moral philosophy, religion, supernatural, theism, Richard Dawkins, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, William Lane Craig, |
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Save the tiger: Environmental dividend from economic development
This is the Chinese year of the tiger and people are interested in saving the tiger from extinction more than ever. Several conferences are being held, and a lot of money is being thrown at saving the tiger, but all this can't work if the Government can't mitigate the conflict between locals and wild animals. The lack of agricultural productivity forces farmers to encroach on the habitat of the tigers. This has to be resolved. China and India can save the tigers by cooperating with each other.
A shorter version of my article was published in The Wall Street Journal on August 25th.
Asia’s economic potential was first demonstrated by the four tiger economies. In recent decade, the focus has shifted to China, India and others. While economies are growing, the real tigers in the wild are living a precarious existence. It is time to reap the environmental dividend from growing prosperity, and save the tiger from extinction.
This is the Chinese Year of the Tiger! Undoubtedly, the focus is once again on ways of saving the wild tiger from extinction. This coming weekend the international Tiger Forum will meet in the north-eastern Chinese city of Hunchun. Next month a tiger summit is scheduled in St Petersburg, Russia. Last month 13 nations - Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, and Russia agreed, at a meeting of the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), to double the tiger count from about 3200 at present to 7,000 by 2022. Incidentally, the tiger numbers have halved since 2002, when the claim was 7,000. Many today believe that these numbers were grossly inflated due to faulty counting procedures.
In 1900, it is believed that there were about 100,000 tigers in the forests of Asia. The number declined to about 40,000 by the 1950. Today, billions of dollars are being spent to save one of the iconic animals in the world, but the future of the tiger continues to be bleak.
According to estimates used in draft documents for the St Petersburg Tiger Summit, the economic benefit of ecological services coming from forestry and wildlife estimated in 1997 to be as high as $ 33 trillion annually, and would be much higher today. But another estimate claimed that for the people living in tiger forest in countries like Cambodia, the annual economic benefit per household to be barely $675. The numbers don’t add up!
Over the past decade, just the central government in India increased its allocation for Project Tiger, from $ 16 million (Rs 75 crore) in the 9th five year plan, to $ 32 million (Rs 150 crore) in the 10th plan, and $ 128 million (Rs 600 crore) in the current 12th Plan (2007-2012). This is equivalent of about $ 25,000 per tiger per year, for a mere 1200 animals. Compare this with the flagship rural employment programme for the poor that promises about $ 70 per family per year.
There seems to be growing gulf between the prescriptions offered by many international, largely western experts, and what domestic policy makers in China, India, and elsewhere confront on the ground.
Many of the international experts agree on the need to commit larger sums of money, monitoring of the tigers and their habitat, and almost military style enforcement to keep people and poachers out.
But these old prescriptions don’t inspire confidence any more. Indian policy makers are increasingly aware of the rising aspirations of the people, and the demand for land, for agriculture and other developmental purposes. For some others, the biggest threat to tiger comes from the growing intensity of conflict between man and wild animals. They would not like to stake everything on counting tigers.
Just in the past two months, two people lost their lives in the vicinity of the famous Ranthambore tiger park. Typical compensation for a life lost is only $2200. This is barely 10% of the annual allocation by the central government for every tiger each year, at present. Just this week, in the same park, a forest ranger who was bravely trying to shepard a tiger that had strayed near a village, armed only with a stick, was mauled.
Last year Bangladesh reported 50 deaths from tiger attacks in the Sundarbans area of the Gangetic delta. In India, the annual death toll from wild animal attacks range from 200-300 each year, in addition to injuries, loss of property and crops. Tigers and other wild animals will have a future, only if this conflict can be diffused. Otherwise the beasts will stand no chance against the ire of man.
The problem in India, and some other tiger range countries, is not that there are too many people living in close proximity to wildlife. Typically, in such areas agricultural productivity is abysmal, poverty is endemic, and non-farm economic opportunities non-existent. Without resolving this human problem, neither a proliferation of conferences nor throwing cash will help the cause of the tiger.
But this need not be the situation. If India doubles its agriculture productivity the demand for agricultural land could fall by almost 40%. If non-farm opportunities are allowed to spread, dependence on subsistence agriculture will decline rapidly. One can already see glimpses of how the natural environment can recharge once the human pressure declines.
This is most dramatically visible in China. China’s agricultural productivity is almost double of India’s. The rapid movement of millions of people from rural to urban, and changing economic structure from agriculture to industrial, explains the rise in forest cover.
Between 1990 and 2007, according to World Bank database, China’s Per capita GDP increased 8 fold, from $ 314 to $2,566, while for India it just tripled, from $374 to $ 1,046. During this same period, China’s agricultural GDP shrank from 27% to 11%, and forest cover as a share of total area rose from 17% to 22%. It is this 30% increase in forest cover in 17 years, which makes it plausible for China to attempt to rebuild wildlife habitat, and reintroduce animals. In contrast, for India, agricultural GDP declined slowly from 29% to 18%, but forest cover stayed almost the same from 22% to 23%. This indicates that in India, there is a much higher pressure on forest from people who are not able to move beyond rural livelihood, and explains the continuing conflict between man and animal.
China and India, are neighbours and competitors in many fields. But in the arena of tiger conservation, they could greatly complement each other. China barely has 45-50 tigers in the wild, mostly near the Russian border in Siberia. India has among the best wildlife experts with capacity to manage tiger habitats.
India is already trying to reintroduce tigers in to two tiger parks where all the tigers were lost in recent years. India is also toying with an ambitious effort to reintroduce the Asiatic Cheetah, which had gone extinct in 1947. But today, India’s economic transformation is not yet deep enough to remove the potential for man and animal conflict. But it will happen. Working with the Chinese on tiger conservation would help build up Indian capacity to reap their own environmental dividend.
By cooperating with each other today, China and India would not only save the tiger in the wild, but redefine the meaning of “Asian Tigers”. Wildlife and forest are not mere intangible resources, whose values are only determined by creative book-keeping. For instance, in the US, the tangible economic benefit from wildlife and nature tourism, including fishing and hunting, was estimated at $125 billion in 2005. Asia could surely give the US a run for its money, if it manages the environmental resources better.
This will require a see change in thinking. Only when people profit from forest and wildlife, will they have any interest in preserving them, and then counting every tiger will become irrelevant. Tiger economies are better equipped to secure the future of the species too!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Commonwealth Games: The Politics of Sports
The excitement of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games is building up in Delhi. The spot light is not on sporting performance, but the construction delays, cost overruns, and allegations of corruption. These are symptoms which have affected many other projects. I believe, the legacy of these games could be that all such projects would be put under similar scrutiny. Below there is a table giving the official break up of expenditure on account of the games, and related development project. A version of this article was published in the Wall Street Journal Online, on 10 Aug 2010, titled "India's Political Games".
Indian politicians played games in Parliament, this week, as they debated the chaos surrounding the Commonwealth Games set to open in Delhi, on October 3. While dozens of members of Parliament from many political parties had their say, the chairman of the CWG organizing committee, Mr Suresh Kalmadi, who is also a MP from the ruling Congress party, chose not to speak.
It is politically correct to believe that sports and politics should not be mixed. But international sporting events are often close to a war, which is politics by another name! Equally politics is a sport too, and can be even more exciting.
Less than two months before the Commonwealth Games is to open in Delhi, the media is giving live commentary on the state of preparations. Everything that could have gone wrong, seems to have gone wrong – construction delays, poor quality of construction, cost escalation, allegations of corruption and money laundering, inflated prices of items procured, resignation and sacking of senior officials.
Virtually every agency of the government at the city, state and national levels, and the CWG organizing committee, have been starring in this competition for a share of the wealth, which the games have provided.
But should anyone be surprised? Political leaders have always used sporting opportunities to try and claim a share of the glory and the pie.
For instance, the communist countries traditionally invested a lot in sports in order to show its prowess, in an attempt to seek legitimacy for its political system. Following the collapse of the Soviet Empire, China has the baton, and has emerged as a major sporting nation. The Beijing Olympics in 2008, was therefore much more than just the medals won by China.
Politics in sports has a long history. The 1936 Berlin Olympics was tailor made for Hitler to display his Aryan supremacy. Unfortunately, Jesse Owens punctured that balloon on the field. Even India had a small role, winning the first field hockey gold medal by beating the German team. That was India’s first of the eight Olympic gold medals in hockey.
But India is not a sporting powerhouse. According to some calculations, India is among the two bottom ranked countries on the ratio of Olympic medals to population size. India’s lone individual Olympic gold was won only in Beijing by Mr Abhinav Bindra in shooting. Bindra hardly owed anything to India’s sports establishment, but to his parents who were capable of meeting the requirements for his talents to blossom.
Comparisons with the Beijing Olympics and the recent Soccer World cup in South Africa are inevitably being drawn.
The question is, if Beijing did it, South Africa could do it, can India follow? The answer lies in politics. Both China and South Africa had primarily a political reason for wanting to host a major international sporting event. For the Chinese authorities, the Olympic was an opportunity to announce to the world, and more importantly to its own people, that it can exercise control, yet awe the world. On display was China’s political capacity, in terms of resources, technology and management, to handle the spectacle. Although an area in Beijing was demarcated for officially sanctioned protests, officials did not approve even one of the 77 applications for protest during the games. And it was among the top two in the medals tally.
For South Africa, following the end of apartheid, and establishment of democratic freedoms, it wanted an event that would provide an opportunity to showcase the new country. South Africa overcame all the doubts and hiccups to present a most fun filled World Cup, probably because most South Africans had apparently accepted the idea. Although, the tickets were priced beyond the reach of most citizens, and the home team was not expected to progress beyond the initial group stage, the fans more than made up for it by staying engaged and supporting a diverse range of teams competing. They created a new icon – the vuvuzela! The noise of the vuvuzelas was drowned only once when the real life icon, Nelson Mandela, made a brief appearance during the closing ceremony.
Unlike South Africa, organizers of CWG have not really involved the ordinary people, and the public at large seems to have not taken to the idea of the games with any particular enthusiasm. And, unlike China, Indian leaders did not really have any broad political vision for the games.
India had bid for the CWG in 2003, when the “India Shining” campaign of the BJP led coalition government in Delhi was at its peak in the run up to the national parliament election in 2004. But, the campaign did not inspire the voters, and the electoral mandate passed on to the Congress led coalition. The Congress in its election strategy had focused on the common man, the “aam admi”, in contrast to those who few were perceived to be real beneficiaries of India’s economic changes.
Consequently, CWG was no longer a political priority. Despite repeated efforts to rope in Mr Rahul Gandhi, the influential Congress general secretary, and son of the party leader, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, he showed little interest. This is in contrast to his father, late Mr Rajiv Gandhi, who began his sudden entry in to public life, by taking over the leadership of the Asian Games in 1982, the last major international sporting event held in India.
The 1982 Asian Games did not bring any political benefit for the political leaders of the day. Within a year the country was torn by social and political unrest, and bloody insurgency in Punjab and Assam. Then in 1984, the violence in Punjab escalated, and the Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
The Asian Games quickly faded from memory, and the sporting infrastructure decayed due to neglect. But the political class seems to have taken a vital lesson, political dividend from such international events are quite illusive. This explains the consistently lukewarm political support for these games.
This lack of political interest in CWG, however, seemed to have created a new incentive for a game of wealth. It would not be far-fetched to suggest that almost every project was initiated late, and deliberately so. After all, unlike traditional infrastructure projects, the CWG projects have a sharp deadline. These delays created an opportunity to justify cost escalation, and lower oversight in the rush to meet the deadline. This is perhaps the best explanation for the unprecedented increase in costs, and the delays.
Connaught Place is the circular arcade at the heart of Delhi. The construction of a new series of underground walkways was initiated barely six months ago, and now the holes on the roads are being filled up, because of the realization that the project cannot be completed before the games.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main venue of the games, was built in 1982 for about US$ 2.1 million (Rs 10 crores). Today, the cost of renovation and expansion of the facilities in that stadium alone has been put at US$ 204 million (Rs 961 crores). The cost of organizing the games had been put at US$ 31.9 million (Rs 150 crores) in 2003, the current estimate is over ten fold. At that time, it was said the games village would be converted in to students’ hostel after the event. Now it is being sold as premium apartments to the rich and powerful. The total cost of games including some of the infrastructure in Delhi and the various venues have been officially set at US$ 2.4 billion (Rs 11,494 crores), others have estimated at two or three times as much. However, barely 5.7% of the official expenditure is actually aimed at helping the sports persons who are expected to bring laurels to the country.
The games have also been criticized on the ground that the money could have been much better spent on more important developmental projects. But only a small fraction of such expenditure actually reaches the targeted beneficiaries. Administrative costs and leakage, consume the bulk of the budget. There is nothing to assume that the games' money could have been well spent elsewhere. This week, the government acknowledged in parliament that of the 578 large infrastructure projects being monitored, 268 are delayed and have had cost overrun to the tune of $ 10.6 billion (Rs 50,000 crores).
But like everything else, India runs on multiple tracks. While many of the publicly supported sports bodies have systemically failed to produce champions in their disciplines, there are quite a few sports persons who have made their mark on the international arena through their personal dedication and commitment. Ms Saina Nehwal, the current world number two in badminton is the latest star on the horizon, and has just been joined by Ms Tejaswini Sawant who became the first Indian women shooter to win a gold medal at the World Championship in Germany.
The organizing committee of CWG is struggling to raise funds, and has so far secured sponsorship from 11 companies, of which all but two are public sector enterprises, and the Indian Railway. Yet over the past three years, Indian Premiere League for cricket, a game that is played in barely a dozen countries, has emerged among the most promising sporting ventures in the world. The value of the league, in its third year, is estimated at US$ 4.13 billion (Rs 18,000 crores), which compares with the National Football League in the US, and the English Premiere League football ($14 bn). The IPL reportedly had an income of $450 million in 2009, and that is expected to double in 2010. This contrasts sharply with the struggles of the CWG, which got a loan of $500 million from government, with little prospect of recovery.
CWG is caught in an unprecedented dilemma. If it is conducted well, there will be little political dividend, and still be accused of wasting money could have been spent elsewhere. If the games go badly, then of course, they will be damned.
The current public acrimony over CWG is in a way a demonstration of changing political dynamics. The gulf between the abilities of the public and private sector in India are out in the open. The deepening of democracy is bringing the all its public agencies under unprecedented scrutiny, and that is likely to have a much longer lasting impact, than the games. That impact could be more than the medals won in sports, and much more than the apparent gold medal in corruption that many are offering to these games. Asking questions and holding the authorities accountable are the necessary first steps forcing political leaders to explore alternative policy options. That would be a much preferred legacy of the Commonwealth Games for India.
Some tidbits –
• Over 8000 sports persons and officials from 71 countries are expected to participate. But the hotel industry has not reported any surge in bookings.
• The Delhi government is trying to ship the beggars out of the some areas of the city where CWG participants might be visiting.
• Over 70 construction workers have died at different CWG sites. The condition of workers is hardly befitting those who are supposed to be building world class facilities for others.
• The 1982 organising committee has continued to exist because of a court case involving a dispute over Rs 1.5 crore or about US$ 3 million, and must have spent more money during the past three decades.
• In 2009, the IPL is estimated to have had an income of $450 million, which is expected to double in 2010. The CWG is struggling to raise even $250 million
• The current economic crisis in Greece was not helped by the extravaganza at the Athens Olympics in 2004. The legacy of these sporting jamborees is not very rosy.
Commonwealth Games official expenses, based on the statement by Jaipal Reddy, Minister for Urban Development, Govt of India, in Lok Sabha on Aug 9, 2010
Responsibility Type of Project Expenditure in Rs Crores In US dollar (million)
Government of India Sports infrastructure 2,934 624
Training of sports teams 678 144
Loan to CWG organizing committee 2,394 509
MTNL (telephone and connectivity) 182 39
Ministry of Urban Development 828 176
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting 483 103
Ministry of Home affairs (security) 747 159
Ministry of Health 71 15
Archeological Survey of India (monuments) 26 6
Government of Delhi 2,800 596
Others 351 75
TOTAL 11,494 2,446
Government of Delhi On Commonwealth Games (stadiums) 670 143
Flyovers and bridges 3,700 787
ROB, RUB and IG Airport 450 96
BRTS (dedicated bus corridor) 215 46
DTC bus fleet 1,800 383
DTC bus depots 900 191
Roads 650 138
Streetscaping 525 112
Road signages 150 32
Delhi Metro connectivity 3,000 638
Power plants 2,800 596
Water supply 400 85
Health 50 11
Parking facilities 400 85
Communication and IT 200 43
Others 650 138
TOTAL 16,560 3,523
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Changing climate: Hope for the tiger?
Two crouching tigers, some hidden dragons
The winds of change between the two giants could impact not only the environment but also politics. In this article published in the special issue (July-August 2010) of the "India China Chronicle", I look at the possible implications of the cooperation between these two countries at the climate conference in Copenhagen, last year. I believe a much bigger opportunity lies in the field of wildlife conservation, particularly in saving the tiger. Following is the text of the article.
Over the past half century, relations between the two Asian giants have been on a roller coaster ride. In recent years too the two countries have seen sentiments swing wildly on issues ranging from trade to Tibet, coloured periodically by the border issue.
Despite its history of turbulence, the two neighbours together made history at the climate summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, for the first time, the world got a glimpse of the possible consequence when China and India join hands for a common cause. prior to the climate summit, there had been a flurry of high level exchange between the two sides. Both countries came up with evidence to show that carbon intensity of their economies had been falling over the past decades. Both made unilateral announcements to reduce the carbon intensity further over the next decade. They also underscored the need for equitable share of the planet's atmosphere to meet the developmental aspirations of the people, and finally, they proposed to focus on a target of temperature increase in the future, as an alternative to the carbon emission targets which had been the cornerstone of the global climate negotiations.
While much of this information was trickling out of Delhi and Beijing prior to Copenhagen, there was very little appreciation of the possible implications of all this at the UN climate summit.
That became clearer in Copenhagen, when it was acknowledged that China and India were in constant touch, developing their negotiating strategies together. Even the ministers on the two sides were meeting almost on a daily basis to ensure that issues were smoothened out.
Today, it is clear that this joint positioning was the most significant factor in the ability of developing countries to withstand the pressure mounted by the rich countries in Copenhagen. With all the hype that was built up prior to Copenhagen, hardly anyone could have believed that at an international event of this magnitude, at an European capital, would have led to the marginalization of Europe itself. It was the Americans who seem to have realised the tectonic shift that was taking place, and decided to cut the losses by striking a deal on the political statement at the end. European governments had banked on the prospect of an agreement in Copenhagen to infuse new life to the Kyoto protocol, which is to expire in 2012, and so the political statement left them quite shocked.
China has been a member of various developing country groupings, including the G-20. But hardly ever was China seen taking the lead at international negotiations. At the WTO meetings over the past decade, it was the Brazilian and Indian ministers who typically articulated the developing country perspective. Copenhagen has changed all that. It is likely that the 2009 climate summit will be remembered not so much for its failure to reach an agreement to go beyond Kyoto protocol, but for the impact that China and India, by cooperating with each other, had on the whole process.
The question that arises: Is this a new phase of India-China cooperation in Copenhagen an exception, or would that become the norm for the future? Will the climate of relationship between the two giant neighbours undergo a fundamental shift in the aftermath of the climate summit?
Needless to say the two countries have a wide range of issues confronting each other. They range from economics to environment, from the unresolved border to geo-politics. While political frictions do surface periodically, both the countries seem to have matured enough not to allow the political cloud to affect the growing trade and economic relationship.
But the wide convergence on different environmental issues facing China and India, could help the two countries to seek common grounds on these areas. Without the historic baggage that affects the political relationship, and the periodic tensions that surface in any trade relationships, the prospect of better relationship on environmental issues because of the convergence of interest seem much brighter. And the cooperation on environmental issues may help improve the level of mutual trust and confidence that could rub off positively on political relationship as well.
The two countries are already cooperating on conventional and non-conventional sources of energy. Other potential environmental areas where there could be complementary relationship are newer and greener technologies, ship-breaking, recycling of material, etc. But perhaps the highest political capital lies in the possibility cooperation in the area of tiger conservation.
Tiger is an iconic animal in culture and history of both China and India. There are perhaps two dozen tigers left in the wild in China, mostly along the Siberian border. India currently estimates that about 1400 tigers are roaming in the wild. But globally, tiger is a highly endangered species, and remains so despite many initiatives launched to save it over the past four decades.
India believes that the demand for tiger parts in traditional Chinese medicine is one of the major sources of threat to tigers in Indian forests. Others think that the pressure of poaching to meet demand in China constitutes a smaller threat, about 25%. The bulk of the threat to tigers in India comes from shrinking forest habitat and the consequent conflict between human and wildlife.
Tiger conservation is not primarily an issue of law enforcement. India has problem of protecting its tigers, just as China has problem in completely eliminating all trade of tiger parts.
Recently there were some indications that there is perhaps a shift from this mutual blame game. India recently recognized that protecting tigers is primarily India's responsibility, since the Chinese do not come to India to poach the tigers.
China, on the other hand, is exploring alternative conservation strategies. following its economic rise, increasing number of people are finding non-rural economic opportunities, as a result, human pressure on forest and wild areas in many parts of China have significantly reduced. In some of these parts, forests have made a dramatic comeback. Some of these old tiger habitats could be ready again to host wildlife.
China is seriously looking for ways of reintroducing tigers in a controlled manner, in a few areas where tigers once roamed. Hardly any country has as much expertise and experience of managing tiger habitats as India. With recent relocation of tigers into areas from where they had vanished, India is also grappling with similar problems.
China does not have wild tigers ready for translocation. so they have set up an ambitious effort to try to develop ways of re-wilding tigers that have been born in captivity. This is a very exciting scientific opportunity.
In both these aspects, preparation of tiger habitat, re-wilding and reintroduction of the tiger, China and India could cooperate, and if successful, it would secure not just the tiger, but generate huge amount of goodwill between the elephant and the dragon!
China poses an even more audacious challenge to old conservation mindset. It has almost perfected the art of breeding tigers in captivity. It has more than 5000 tigers in captivity in zoos and other facilities. It could initiate a controlled trade in tiger parts from its captive tigers, and that could lower the incentive to poachers to kill wild tigers.
Even if India does not wish to join in this effort to help the cause of conservation through commerce, it stands to gain if China is successful in meeting the demand for tiger parts from its stock of captive tigers.
From the history of world trade, it is clear that smugglers and criminals profit only when there is a restriction on trade, creating an unmet demand for goods and services. Naturally, when trade is outlawed, only outlaws trade! If China were to legalize trade in tiger parts from its breeding facilities, the poachers in India would have little chance of competing with the market forces. Consequently, threat of poaching will almost get eliminated in India. There are many examples from across the world where legal trade has eliminated illegal trade. Over a million crocodiles are harvested each year from farms, yet there is hardly any evidence of any crocodile being killed in India in order to meet the demand from the international fashion industry.
China and India need to find ways of building on the new climate they sought to create in Copenhagen. Their common position on climate was premised on the belief that economic growth would actually enable the countries to improve energy efficiency, reduce pollution, compete effectively and clean up the environment. And as economies improve, they de-carbonise, as the history of human development illustrates over the past 400 years.
This is the real potential of the changing climate between China and India - harnessing the power of commerce, benefiting people and improving the quality of environment. Today, economic potential of both China and India are now openly acknowledged by all. Now is the time to reap the environmental dividend from economic development
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A time to Party! and part with socialism
Political ideologies are simple tools by which people decide on the general direction they think society ought to take. In a true democracy, different political ideals have to compete to win the support of the people. The authors of the Indian Constitution had specifically debated and rejected the idea of binding the country to socialism. Yet, the Preamble to the Constitution was amended in 1976, and the election law in 1989, requiring all political parties to affirm to the Constitution, and to socialism. Now, the Supreme Court has acknowledged that there are valid questions on the issue of socialism, though academic, at this point in time. So it is a time to form a Party, and part with socialism. Let us be liberal, and play the tune of freedom!
This article of mine, "A time to Party!", was published in Pragati, a national interest magazine, in its August 2010 issues.
Recently, the Supreme Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) that questioned the validity of the 42nd amendment to the Indian Constitution, which among many other things, added the terms “socialist, secular” to qualify the democratic republic in the Preamble. The amendment dates back to 1976, to the dark days of Emergency. Later, the Representation of the People Act, the law governing political parties and elections, was further amended to include the section 29A, making it mandatory for all political parties in India to affirm to “socialism” if they were to be registered by the Election Commission of India for the purpose of participating in the electoral process
The courts always dismiss petitions before them once they pronounce a particular judgment. In this case, however, the Supreme Court acknowledged the “academic” question raised in the petition, but felt that since no political party has so far objected to it, there are perhaps no really aggrieved parties. So it allowed the petitioner to “withdraw” the petition. This withdrawal, however, means that the Court has not ruled against the issue, but considers it to be valid, and has kept it open for a future occasion.
The champions of individual freedom in economic and political spheres have long bemoaned the fact that there is no political platform in India that truly reflects their aspirations. No doubt there are liberals of different shades in almost all political parties, but still there are no avowedly liberal political parties.
Political parties are plentiful, with around 50 parties represented in the national parliament, and hundreds of parties operating at state and local levels. They represent a diverse range of interests: national, state, regional or local. They claim to represent varied sections of society based on national, ethnic, linguistic, religious, caste, and other identities. Yet, the political ideals on offer are very limited, as all parties are bound by socialism if they are to participate in electoral politics. Incidentally, independent candidates are not required to affirm to socialism, and if elected have only to take oath to uphold the Constitution. One of the reasons for this limited range of political options in the largest and the most vibrant democracy in the world, is the law that requires affirmation to socialism.
By legally restricting the political ideology to “socialism”, a couple of serious anomalies have been created. Having introduced “socialism” through the political and constitutional process, it is now being implied that “socialism” cannot be opposed and removed by the very same constitutional process. How can one mount a political campaign calling for the removal of “socialism” in the election law or in the Constitution, after having affirmed to “socialism” as a political ideal?
Secondly, what does socialism mean? The Constitution does not define it. The judges hearing the PIL commented that the meaning could vary. But could “socialism” include feudalism, imperialism, fascism, Nazism (national socialism), communism, capitalism, and everything else? If it does have such a wide range of meanings, why have it at all? The judiciary spends a lot of effort on interpreting the law by trying to precisely define the words in it. Justice would come to an end if words were given such variable meanings.
The Supreme Court has seen this as an “academic” exercise. But the impact of “socialism” in the Constitution and in the election law raises questions about possible violation of fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and basic structure doctrine. If democracy is among the sacrosanct elements articulated in the judgments on basic structure, then what good is democracy where political discourse is limited exclusively to one political ideology?
Political ideologies matter in shaping public opinion and policies. The stated goal of all political action may be to improve general welfare; but, it is the ideology that provides the vision, and determines the direction and nature of the policies that are designed. Policy decisions whether to nationalise an industry or economic sector, or to privatise it, are shaped much more by political ideologies, than by hard core technical analysis of the merits of the proposed policy measures. In a democracy, people and leaders are not experts in all fields. Political ideologies come as a simple tool by which people decide on the general direction they think society ought to take, and the merits of specific public policies.
There is no functioning democracy in the world which restrains the space for peacefully competing political ideologies, except perhaps Germany, where there is some restriction on propagation of Nazi ideology. In every major democracy, the political ideology that is most successful in reflecting the aspirations of the large number of people at any given time, changes the political dynamics during elections. From Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama, from Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair, the fortunes of political leaders and their parties have swung with the popular perception of the political ideologies of the time. This is what makes democracy such a potent political tool, and ensures the political survival of the society through the various competing ideologies.
The Constituent Assembly had deliberated at length on this very question of “socialism” in 1949. Even while acknowledging that there are many provisions in the Constitution that are socialistic in nature, the constitution makers had decided not to tie the hands of the future generations to a particular political idea. No less a person than Dr B R Ambedkar, the chairman of the drafting committee had then said,
“What should be the policy of the state, how society should be organised in its social and economic side are matters which must be decided by the people themselves according to time and circumstances. It cannot be laid down in the Constitution itself, because that is destroying democracy altogether …”
If democracy is one of the basic features of the Constitution, then restricting it to on political ideology, is clearly a violation of the basic feature doctrine. What would be a democracy, where political parties are not free to fly their particular ideologies, and compete with each other in an attempt to peacefully persuade the citizens to one vision or another?
Swatantra Party Maharashtra—the inheritors of the mantle of the Swatantra Party, founded by stalwarts like C Rajagopalachari, Minoo Masani and others in 1959—had written to the Election Commission of India in 1994, noting their opposition to the ideas of socialism, and their inability to affirm to socialist ideals. The Commission had replied by pointing at the amendment to the section 29A of the Representation of the People Act which mandates affirmation to socialism. It thus acknowledged that its role is to implement the law as it stands, not to change or reinterpret it.
By acknowledging the “academic” nature of the question in the PIL, the Supreme Court has actually opened a door for the political liberals to come out of the woodwork. Now is the time for the liberals to come together and form a political party, with the sole objective of registering their opposition to the affirmation to socialist ideal. After forming the political party, an application to the Election Commission for registration needs to be filed, even though it is likely to be rejected for not meeting the legal requirement. That would enable the party to go to the Supreme Court and seek redressal of a legitimate and real grievance.
Liberals may not yet be a political force to have an electoral impact in India, but by forming a party with this narrow objective, can leave a permanent imprint on the political future of democratic republic of India. This is a not an exclusively liberal cause, though, and it is open to all shades of political opinion. If one ideology enjoys legal sanction today, then tomorrow another could very easily be banned. Putting democracy in a straitjacket will signal the end of political freedom.
All are welcome to the Party of the free and the brave! If the political space can be legitimately opened up, then the political agenda would have to change too, and then the electoral space will inevitably follow. |
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
acceleration clause
It’s true of cars, and it’s true of contracts: An accelerator speeds things up. Acceleration clauses (also known as “demand clauses”), commonly found in loans, leases, mortgages, or other payment agreements, require the party who borrowed money to speed up the payments. If you’re required to make monthly payments on a loan and you miss a payment, an acceleration clause makes the entire amount you borrowed due. In other words, you must immediately pay back the entire loan.
Unenforceable clauses. Courts won’t enforce an acceleration clause that is so grossly unfair as to be unscrupulous (or “unconscionable”). This issue is more likely to arise in a lease, because the acceleration clause forces the tenant to pay for something he has not yet received (time spent in the rented space or using the rented equipment), while in other loan agreements, the debtor has already gotten the money, home, car, or other purpose of the loan.
Minimizing the damages. In general, courts don’t like it when acceleration clauses are used as penalties. A court is more likely to enforce a clause that approximates, at least to some degree, the damages cause by the missed payment(s), as estimated when the contract was signed.
EXAMPLE:A company leased ATM machines. When one of its customers missed a payment, the company tried to enforce an acceleration clause that made all future payments immediately due. An Ohio Court of Appeal ruled that the acceleration clause was unenforceable because it did not impose any obligation on the leasing company to minimize (or “mitigate”) its damages. For example, if the leasing company repossessed the ATM machine and then immediately leased it to someone else, the amount it earned from the new rental should have been offset from the amount owed by the first customer. Otherwise, the ATM company is getting paid twice for use of the same machine.
A court will also decline to enforce an acceleration clause if the parties have an honest dispute about the amount owed.
Mortgages. Most mortgages provide a grace period before the acceleration clause kicks in. During the grace (or “cure”) period, the borrower has the chance to make up missed payments. If the borrower is unable to bring the payments current, then the lender can demand full payment and start foreclosure proceedings or work with the borrower to avoid foreclosure. An acceleration clause in a mortgage may be triggered by other events besides a failure to make timely payment—for example, the sale of the property (sometimes referred to as a due-on-sale clause) or refinancing
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Tue | Apr 25, 2017
Health benefits of pomegranate, broccoli, turmeric and green tea
Published:Wednesday | September 9, 2015 | 9:00 AM
POMEGRANATE: Pomegranate compounds suppress enzymes in the intestine and liver that convert certain molecules (procarcinogens) into cancer-causing agents. As it relates to those with prostate cancer, the active constituents in pomegranate have proven to be potent inducers of malignant cell death through apoptosis. It is rich in ellagic acid, inhibits prostate cancer-cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in laboratory studies. In breast-cancer cell lines, it increases markers of cell adhesion and reduce migration, which are associated with metastasis.
BROCCOLI: Broccoli's unique contribution to prostate-cancer-fighting is its ability to up-regulate phase II detoxifying enzymes in gut and liver tissue, enabling the body to render harmless thousands of potentially carcinogenic molecules in our diet. It is rich in isothiocyanate and sulforaphane, inhibit growth and promote apoptosis of cancer cells. Regular intake down-regulates genes linked to cancer growth, and up-regulates genes linked to cancer suppression, particularly in the 50 per cent of the population which carry a mutated glutathione S-transferase gene.
TURMERIC: Turmeric's unique contribution to prostate-cancer-fighting is its extraordinary anti-inflammatory properties, provided chiefly by its natural primary component, curcumin. Reducing inflammation with curcumin reduces the metastases that ultimately kill prostate cancer patients. Curcumin also down-regulates genes involved in adhesion, motility, and invasiveness that prostate-cancer cells need to invade and spread. Curcumin specifically inhibits prostate cancer-cell production of PSA by blocking its genetic expression. At the same time, it also reduces activation of the androgen receptors on cancer cells that trigger increased production of PSA. But the whole turmeric root also contains important oils and other substances that enhance curcumin's absorption and have health benefits of their own, including anti-cancer actions. Turmeric also inhibits the growth of stem cells that give rise to breast cancer without harming normal breast cells.
GREEN TEA: Green tea makes a unique contribution to prostate-cancer fighting as a result of a special combination of naturally occurring polyphenols called catechins. Studies show that one of green tea's catechins, EGCG, accumulates specifically in prostate tissue, where it selectively kills cancer cells (leaving healthy cells unaffected) and reduces serum PSA levels. Green tea inhibits breast and prostate cancer-cell proliferation, block de-differentiation and angiogenesis. |
The Generation Gap
Race2012: Issues - The Generation Gap
“You’re going to have this huge gap between a preponderantly non-white youth population that believes it needs investment in education and healthcare, in particular, to ascend into the middle class, and an older, preponderantly white retiring Baby Boom silent generation that is growing increasingly resistant to paying for those services for people who they don’t really see as…part of their legacy.” – Ronald Brownstein, Editorial Director, National Journal
The struggle over the integration of Latinos is undergirded by another demographic reality, the generation gap. The median age of Latinos in the United States is 27 years old, while that of non-Hispanic whites is 47 years old.
This implies that the current mathematics over how ethnicity is influencing elections will have a multiplicative effect on the future of the political system. In 2012 for example, for the first time in history, non-white births in the United States outnumbered those of whites. Contrast this with the other end of the age spectrum, with over eighty percent of Americans over the age of 65, non-Hispanic white.
This generation gap has an important impact on how we view policies, and more importantly, how our democratic government prioritizes “who gets what, when and how.” In a struggle that Brownstein calls “Brown versus the Gray,” the argument to invest in the younger generation is no longer a foregone conclusion. The generation gap is not only a demographic one, but is centered around the fight for shrinking resources between an older and whiter group insistent on holding onto programs like Social Security and Medicare, even if that means sacrificing some of the resources devoted to much needed education and the rebuilding of a decaying infrastructure.
The Generation GapAlthough the struggle over the allocation of resources is fundamentally a democratic one, the mechanisms of power are overwhelmingly in the hands of the Gray. Ironically, Brownstein argues, the federal programs designed for the Gray are dependent on the taxes generated by a young, non-white, vibrant workforce. In order to maintain the current level of benefits, the Gray must take an interest in investing in the Brown.
• How can the “Brown versus Gray” argument be articulated in such a way as to convince the aging Baby Boomers to invest in a demographic that is increasingly young and non-white?
• Is it possible to maintain the entitlements of the past without investing in the economic engine of the future? |
March 24, 2006
Moore's law as a social amplifier
The hardware world lives by the Moore's law of constant speed up. The software world is following the same trail, but there is significant difference - hardware measurably increases performance while staying on the same line. Dragster style if you like. Compared to this software is a bunch of beer cans hanging off the racer's bumper:
It makes a lot of noise. So much noise, 90% of the humanity can hear it, for God's sake.
More stuff can be added as the car's engine gets more powerful. What for ? Heck, why not ? After all, people prefer dancing pigs.
It can hardly choose the way. As the principal architecture remains the same, the algorithms remain the same, people have no need in extending body of knowledge and software thus becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It passes everything at such a great speed, there's no way to ever see what's in it. Who cares, next year pack will be better. Likewise, when you are inside the can, all you can see is wind. Speed, more speed !
Anyhow, the question here is - are people strong enough, knowledgeable enough and not the least - moral enough to deal with Moore's law, to use such a powerful engine ? Are they using it and for what ?
My answer is - Moore's law is a great social amplifier.
It gives you incomprehensible powers. And then it's up to you. Dancing pigs, be it. Just riding the can, good. Sending a billion worth of ads with a single click ? Yes, sadly you can do that. Moreover, as computers control everything, everything becomes a beer can. Attitudes change in all industries, and this is sad, as there are areas which cannot be sped up at that rate (if at all).
But !
You can always take off and observe the way where it's all going. Or may be even forget about the race and do some beer can art (that's what I personally prefer).
On average though, having more power means less thinking and more chaos. Secure about the future ?
1 comment:
Anonymous said...
Hi. I'm doing a report on Moore's law for a school report. Could you link Moore's law to the changing social behaviour and values between 1965 and 2000? |
1917 July 3
“Slacker Raids” Round Up Alleged Draft Evaders in WW I
“Slackers” was a label given to young men suspected of avoiding the draft in World War I. The “slacker raids” were a series of massive roundups of young men by government officials and private citizens based on nothing more than unverified suspicions, prejudices and stereotypes. In addition to the raids on this day, another set of massive raids occurred on September 14, 1917.
The private citizens were volunteers in the American Protective League (APL), a private organization of citizens who carried badges issued by the Justice Department but who had no legal authority to make arrests. Nevertheless, they detained and arrested people anyway. On the founding of the APL, see June 4, 1917.
The Slacker Raids were only one part of the attacks on suspected draft evaders or German sympathizers during World War I. For private vigilante attacks, see May, 2, 1917 and October 28, 1917.
The repression of dissent during World War I gave rise to first the National Civil Liberties Bureau (July 2, 1917) and then the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on January 19, 1920.
And about the history of the ACLU in times of national crisis: https://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-history-defending-liberty-times-national-crisis
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The Russian connection
One key to understanding the changing dynamics in Russia and their impact on the Middle East lies in history. The imperial tzars, Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin appear to have little in common outside of their Russian citizenship, but they shared common aspirations about the country’s place on the global stage and about their own ability to orchestrate it.
Currently, intelligence specialists observe that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aspirations include a re-emergent Russia and that he pursues them in the Middle East, as well as the Crimea and elsewhere.
On a personal level, he was probably irked when the Obama administration breached diplomatic protocol in March 2014 by calling Russia a “regional power…showing weakness” and announcing sanctions. Little could be more offensive to a nation striving to regain superpower status and, compounding those affronts, world leaders publicly ostracized Putin at the G20 gathering in Australia in November 2014.
During the Cold War, the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the US had different geopolitical visions for their Middle East relationships, which did not conflict with each other. The US had a heavy focus on Israel, Iran and oil producers such as Saudi Arabia. The USSR did not need oil, but had a strong focus on Syria as a market for military equipment and access to the Mediterranean Sea. When the USSR collapsed in 1991, Syria lost its superpower ally and its significance dwindled, so its status became like that of North Korea, alone and with few friends.
Russia’s geopolitical, financial, military and economic strategies have had an impact both at home and in the Middle East and other regions, meaning that examining Russian actions cannot be carried out effectively without a two-part focus: the impact on the Middle East and the impact for Russia.
Geopolitical strategies
Geopolitical strategies have a more visible impact on Russian presence on the world stage than directly on the Middle East, according to James Beadle, a Monaco-based Russian investment specialist.
During the early stages of the Syrian crisis, Russia could not intervene, given its laser focus on Ukraine. However, it came to see its interests in the region as jeopardized and, worried about losing its access to the Mediterranean, became more concerned about Iran’s growing influence, according to intelligence specialists familiar with the forces at work in the region. Putin, worried that Russia could eventually be totally excluded from influence in the region, decided to take action. That led to Russia brokering a deal on Syria’s chemical weapons, its role in the P5+1 Group during negotiations with Iran and, most visibly, large-scale military intervention in Syria.
Up to a certain point, US President Barack Obama’s dialing back of American intervention made matters easier for Putin, according to Moscow-born Anna Borshchevskaya, Fellow at the Washington Institute with a focus on Russia’s policy toward the Middle East. “Putin has been very good at stepping into vacuums whenever the West retreats. He has been very successful in this regard, particularly in the Middle East,” she explained.
Beadle said that, in the geopolitical category, Russia’s Middle East policy has three main objectives: restore its role as an international superpower; obstruct Western powers’ desire to establish international law to allow removal of tyrannical state leadership; and be a part of a multi-polar global power structure, with Syria and the Crimea as important pillars.
Stepping into the breach by sending the Russian air force to support Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s campaigns against both ISIS and moderate opposition was an amazing power-play. Beadle noted that the move disproved Obama’s thesis, demonstrating that Russia still has major military reach and the ability to elevate conflicts beyond the scope of Western containment.
At the same time, Putin deflected attention from the Ukraine crisis and obliged the world to work with him once more. Beyond the global game, shoring up Al-Assad also made regional sense to the Russians, since Assad was clearly losing ground to various rebel groups.
“He (Putin) saved Al-Assad. There were indicators showing that he was losing. They (the Russians) came in and saved him and now he is feeling renewed confidence,” Borshchevskaya said. In effect, part of the impact is Al-Assad’s unresolved future as President of Syria.
Russia’s efforts in the region contrast with those of the US as the former has sided with Shia powers, including Iran, Syria and, to some extent, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, while the US has historically sought to avoid officially siding between Shiite and Sunni allegiances, a strategy underscored by its recent effort to bring Iran back in from the cold.
Russia’s pro-Shia tilt provides another platform from which Putin can confront the West within the Middle East, Borshchevskaya explained. At the same time, it gives Putin flexibility because he can present himself as a different actor in the region. A pro-Shia or at least an anti-Sunni alliance helps him accomplish his goal in the Middle East.
All of this underlies Russia’s goals to subvert power from the West for two express purposes that play out in the region: to restore Russia’s national pride and role in the world; and to construct a multi-polar power system to replace the falling image of the US, which has dialed back from its role as the world’s policeman.
Russia also pursues complex economic objectives in the Middle East, Beadle explained. He emphasized that these reflect Russia’s concern for oil prices. Saudi Arabia, a Sunni nation, dominates the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and is determined to prevent an aggressive rise of Iran. Given Russia’s position as a Shiite supporter, relations with OPEC are tense and complicated. Trust is limited on both sides, so the oil question remains an open issue, subservient to Russia’s political aspirations.
Financial motivations
Among Russia’s major financial motivations was the preservation of its pipeline plans, according to Lebanon-born Atif Kubursi, economics professor emeritus, president of Econometric Research Ltd and a former Undersecretary at the United Nations. “This is a very glaring case of self-interest,” he said, explaining that Western involvement in attempting a regime change in Syria would have meant a pipeline from Qatar through Syria and Turkey as an alternative to the Russian one to Europe and the Ukraine.
“Russia is worried about Ukraine, Turkey and Europe getting gas from a different source,” he added. “That explains the tenacity…and the willingness to commit [to] such major force at a time when the Russian economy is heavily (pressured).” At the time of writing, neither pipeline has been built.
Russian businesses have also had a financial impact in the region and have focused capital in several areas, especially Dubai. Meanwhile, although some in the Gulf States may not be pleased with Putin’s actions in Syria, bilateral investments between Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries have increased. Moreover, Russia sees fighting the militants on Syrian soil as more advantageous than fighting them at home, Kubursi said, adding that many of the foreign fighters in Syria come from troubled areas of the Russian Federation, such as Dagestan and Chechnya.
Arms race
The economics of arms sales figure in the equation. The Russians and Chinese had concluded contracts worth approximately $50 billion with former Libyan President Moammar Gaddafi before his downfall. When the Europeans and Americans dislodged Gaddafi, the Russians and Chinese believed they had Western assurances that, in return for staying on the sidelines, the contracts would continue after Gaddafi’s departure. However, the Libyan government abrogated these contracts, apparently with Western support. That was a blow to the economic self-interests of both Russia and China, Kubursi said.
The economic impact of Russia’s moves in the Middle East includes uncertainty and discouragement for foreign direct investors, Kubursi explained. “It has prolonged, exacerbated, fueled and sustained conflict; made the region more uncertain, more unstable; and has drained enormous resources from (governments) in the region,” he said.
“The Saudis, Kuwaitis, Emiratis and Qataris are pumping billions of dollars into the conflict,” he pointed out. “Uncertainty is the nemesis of investment.” In effect, this triggered an expensive regional arms race, which, in turn, has slowed development in the region, as it drains resources. Meanwhile, Russia’s intervention in Syria helped its economy through increased arms sales. Its ability to hit a Damascus suburb from warships in the Caspian Sea impressed arms buyers in Brazil, Egypt, South Africa and elsewhere. “That was a major display, a showcasing of their weapons,” Kubursi said. “However, the story now is no longer as simple and certain as it used to be.”
Still, recent events may have proven that Russia has reached the limit of its willingness to take unilateral actions in Syria. In late August, Turkish armed forces pushed into Syria in a move designed to rid the border territories of ISIS fighters and, in early September, they declared the border clear of ISIS forces. At the time of writing, Turkey showed no sign of backing off from the area and has said it wants a seat at the bargaining table for Syria peace talks.
Turkey has now staked its claim to sit at the table with the US, Russia and Iran. Russian state media criticized the move but Putin is not known to have protested Turkey’s actions openly. In effect, Russia has been forced to accept Turkey’s claim-staking and has not made any further overt moves on Al-Assad’s behalf recently. Such moves would risk increased tensions.
What next in Syria
Another open question involves the short-lived ceasefire in Syria, which came into effect in early September. It had been negotiated by the US and Russia with several urgent priorities, such as enabling the flow of food and medicines to Aleppo. This ceasefire was the second attempt this year and seemed fragile from the beginning as the US backs some rebel groups while Russia continues to back Al-Assad, who has shown no sign of vacating the Presidential Palace. In participating in the ceasefire discussions, Russia again staked is claim to a seat at the bargaining table and its sponsorship of Syria, but either failed the second part of the equation or deliberately chose not to fulfill it. When a superpower takes a lesser power under its aegis, the lesser power does not always buy into the greater power’s priorities, a lesson Great Britain learned during the days of the British Empire, China has learned with North Korea and the US has learned in Latin America.
In Borshchevskaya’s analysis, Russia has not shown any interest in fulfilling its implicit role in the ceasefire of reining in Al-Assad, especially given Syria’s alleged bombing of an aid convoy roughly one week after the ceasefire went into effect. The attack killed upwards of 20 people.
At the time of writing, accusations and counter-accusations continue between the US and Russia, but relief groups, including the United Nations, have suspended the transport of food and medicines, leaving the besieged inhabitants of Aleppo in need of supplies. Whatever be the outcome of the ceasefire, how Russia plays its cards moving forward will not only have a lasting impact in Syria and Turkey, but across the Middle East as well.
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What is virus?
What is virus?A virus is smaller than the smallest bacteria visible through an ordinary microscope. Viruses can multiply only within the living cells of humans, animals or plants. They are responsible for a wide range of infectious diseases and illnesses.
Viruses can be investigated with the help of the electron microscope, and their measurements recorded. The virus responsible for foot and mouth diseases in animals measures about one-millionth of an inch. The smallpox virus is about ten times as large.
Diseases caused by viruses very greatly in danger and intensity from minor infections such as clods to extremely serious epidemic diseases. Either way, it is well worth taking careful precautions against catching a virus.
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Latin America & Caribbean
Ecuador country profile
Map of Ecuador
Ecuador is a patchwork of ethnic identities, a complex legacy of its indigenous and colonial past.
Long the heartland of a series of native Andean civilisations, it was taken over by the Peru-centred Inca Empire in the 15th century, and then Spanish conquerors a century later.
It won independence from Spain in the early 19th century.
Traditionally a farming country, Ecuador's economy was transformed after the 1960s by the growth of industry and the discovery of oil. There was rapid growth and progress in health, education and housing.
Ecuador has many geographical zones, including Andean peaks, tropical rainforests and - 1,000km (600 miles) off the coast - the volcanic Galapagos Islands, home to the animals and birds whose evolutionary adaptations shaped Charles Darwin's theories.
Republic of Ecuador
Capital: Quito
• Population 14.8 million
• Area 272,045 sq km (105,037 sq miles)
• Major languages Spanish, indigenous languages
• Major religion Christianity
• Currency US dollar
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President-elect: Lenin Moreno
Outgoing president: Rafael Correa Delgado
Image copyright Getty Images
Left-wing economist Rafael Correa was elected president for a third consecutive term in 2013.
When he originally took up his post in January 2007 he joined Latin America's club of left-leaning leaders, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales, who have been highly critical of the US and led a South American nationalisation drive.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption The capital Quito is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site
Journalists and media outlets face a hostile political and legal environment, press freedom groups say.
Laws give the government powers to regulate editorial content and impose sanctions.
Radio is a popular medium; there are hundreds of stations, some operating in indigenous languages. Soap operas and US series are staple fare on TV.
Some key dates in Ecuador's history:
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra was president five times but completed only one of these terms
1534 - Spanish conquer Ecuador.
1822 - Ecuador becomes part of independent Gran Colombia, which also encompasses Colombia, Panama and Venezuela. Ecuador becomes fully independent in 1830.
1934 - Dr Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra is elected president. In the next 30 years, he will be elected president five times and overthrown four times.
1941 - Peru invades and the next year Ecuador cedes some 200,000 square kilometres of disputed territory to Peru.
1968 - Election returns Velasco to power. Two years later, amid a financial crisis, Velasco suspends the constitution and rules by decree. Four years later he is deposed in a coup.
1972 - Oil production starts and Ecuador emerges as a significant oil producer.
1979 - Democracy restored.
1995 - Brief border war with Peru.
1997 - 2 million people march through Quito demanding the resignation of President Abdala Bucaram Ortiz after some prices rise by 600%. Congress votes to dismiss him for mental incompetence.
2006 - Socialist Rafael Correa wins presidential election, launches social reform programme to alleviate poverty and extend state ownership of the oil industry.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption The Galapagos Islands - home to blue-footed boobies and iguana - are an offshore territory of Ecuador
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How Negative Headlines Can Impact Your Mental and Emotional Health
How Negative Headlines Can Impact Your Mental and Emotional Health
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Do you get uncomfortable feelings when you read negative or pessimistic headlines?
You, like the rest of us have mirror neurons in your brain that predisposes you to feel empathic. The good news is empathy helps you live cooperatively with others. The bad news is you are naturally inclined to imitate what you see without thinking about it, even when you might feel hurt by it.
You can have either a positive or negative emotional response to headlines depending on their content. For example, a study of 426 headlines on the cover of five of the highest circulating women’s health magazines in the United States revealed that the frequency of appearance themes (looking better) equaled those of health themes (doing something to feel better). The 103 undergraduate women in the study assigned to the appearance-themed covers reported more “body shame” than women assigned to magazines with health-themed covers.
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Headlines partnered with images are especially influential because we process them in the right brain where an automatic body response is stimulated. For example, I remember my children as infants staring intently at their first book absent words, but filled with kindly human faces. The friendly feeling portrayed in the faces consistently drew smiles and happy sounds.
Interestingly, headlines are not always dependable to tell the truth of a story. Blake Andrew of McGill University analyzed headlines versus the storyline of articles during the 2004 Canadian federal election campaign. He found that headlines were created to “attract” readers not represent the accuracy of the story. Yet, many of us don’t take the time to read the whole article. Instead, we use headlines as a shortcut to gain a sense of it.
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Further, viewing tragedy in the media has proven to be capable of creating PTSD. After the Boston Marathon bombing in April 2013, the University of California, Irvine published a study that assessed the level of stress symptoms affecting people who watched it on television, social media, in print and on the radio. They found that “Acute stress symptoms increased with each additional hour of bombing-related media exposure.” As a result, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs Center for PTSD concluded that there is a link between watching news of traumatic events and stress symptoms. Further, they found people who have experienced previous trauma suffer a cumulative effect with intensified reactions. In other words, seeing scary experiences creates a biochemical event that registers in the body whether we are experiencing them directly or through empathy with others. People with previous trauma are especially vulnerable.
What’s your tipping point for negative news? Some of us are more easily influenced than others. Become aware of when you reach your limits depending on your level of empathy. The greater your empathy, the lower your tolerance for seeing tragedy without being hurt.
CHECK OUTStudy Shows Yoga and Meditation May Help Reduce Childhood Anxiety
Here are four ways to use your smart Emotional Operating System (EOS) to keep yourself emotionally safe from harmful headlines:
1. Use compassion rather than empathy with others who are suffering. Rather than imagine walking in others’ shoes and feeling their pain, establish clear emotional boundaries by reminding yourself, this isn’t happening to you and you don’t have to feel their pain in order to support them. In fact, it gets in the way. Instead, walk compassionately beside them.
2. Read the article before you believe a sensationally negative headline.
3. Turn away from headlines/images that give you a bad feeling. I once saw a mother say, “You’re a bad boy” to her 3 year-old- son. His immediate respond was to cover his ears, so he couldn’t hear her. I remember thinking that his response was intuitively brilliant because early negative labeling has been associated with negative psychological outcomes. For example, girls who have been called “too fat” by their families have a greater risk of becoming obese. You can use the power of your imagination to make a big red X through healines/messages that don’t feel good.
4. Emotions have a spontaneous life of their own, however when you pay attention to what you’re feeling minute to minute, you become aware of what news is good for you and what isn’t. You can use this greater self-awareness to make choices that keep you emotionally safe.
Dr. Deborah Sandella is the author of Goodbye, Hurt & Pain 7 Simple Steps to Health, Love and Success. She is an award-winning psychotherapist, university professor, and the originator of the groundbreaking RIM Method, which is a heavily-backed neuroscience tool for reducing stress and improving the quality of life.
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Crows are more capable of learning than human 6-year-olds, study finds
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(NaturalNews) Crows may understand cause and effect better than human six-year-olds, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of California-Santa Barbara and the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and published in the journal PLOS ONE on July 21.
"We showed that crows can discriminate between different volumes of water and that they can pass a modified test that so far only 7- to 10-year-old children have been able to complete successfully," lead researcher Corina Logan said.
"The sky's the limit"
The research was conducted on the wild New Caledonian crows captured in New Zealand and transported to aviaries run at the University of Auckland. The birds were released after three to five months.
The researchers' first direct experience with the birds' intelligence came almost immediately, when they confronted the task of getting one bird into the testing room at a time.
Two of the birds even learned to recognize the names that the researchers had given them (007 and Kitty) and would fly into the testing room if the researchers called out their names.
Outperforming kindergartners
The researchers performed two separate cognitive tests on the birds, both of which had been tried in previous studies. In the first test, the birds were offered two water-filled beakers that were the same height but had different widths. The beakers also contained a food treat that was too far down for the crows to reach.
In a prior study, crows had been offered 12 stones, enough to fill up either beaker, and had not shown a preference. In the new study, the crows were given only four stones, and clearly preferred the narrower beaker.
"When we gave them only four objects, they could succeed only in one tube -- the narrower one, because the water level would never get high enough in the wider tube; they were dropping all or most of the objects into the functional tube and getting the food reward," Logan explained. "It wasn't just that they preferred this tube, they appeared to know it was more functional."
The second test involved two tubes wide enough to drop a stone into and two tubes that were too narrow. One of the wide tubes had a hidden connection to one of the narrow tubes, so that a stone dropped in the wide tube would cause the water to rise in the connected tube. The other wide tube had no connection.
A Cambridge University study previously found that while children aged 7 to 10 were able to figure out which tube to drop stones into to get a reward, younger children could not. A previous study also found that crows were incapable of the task.
In the new study, the researchers moved that two sets of tubes farther apart to better distinguish them. With this modification, the crow named Kitty was able to solve the task.
"What we do know is that one crow behaved like the older children."
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wikiHow to Identify a Singapura Cat
Two Methods:Examining Physical AppearanceObserving TemperamentCommunity Q&A
Singapura cats were developed in Singapore in the 1970s by cat fanciers Hal and Tommy Meadow. These cats are known for their distinctive coats, petite stature and curiosity. To determine if your cat is a Singapura, examine their physical appearance and observe their temperament.[1]
Examining Physical Appearance
1. 1
Look for a short and smooth sepia-tone coat. Singapura cats are known for their smooth, short coats and sepia coloring. If your cat looks as though they could blend right in to an old-timey photo, they could be a Singapura. Look for a tan to light brown color that’s “ticked” or flecked with small bits of white.[2]
2. 2
Look for non-blue eyes that are large for your cat’s size. Singapura cats have big, expressive eyes that are large relative to their body size. Typical eye colors for Singapuras include yellow, green, hazel and brown.[3]
3. 3
Look for ears that are large for your cat’s size. Singapuras have exceptionally large ears for their head size. They might call to mind the large-eared cats pictured in hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt. Inside, these ears are usually pale in tone, but the coloring on the exterior may darken as it moves towards the tips.
4. 4
Examine your cat’s face for cheetah lines. Singapuras often look like they’re wearing eyeliner. The breed has dark brown lines running from both eyes down along each side of the nose, much like a cheetah.[4]
• Use petting as an opportunity to really look at your cat’s face. Pet them gently, examining facial markings.
5. 5
Weigh your cat. Singapura cats are petite in size, ranging from 4-8lb or 2-3.5kg. If you want to weigh your cat at home, a good method is to weigh just yourself, then weigh yourself holding your cat. The difference will be the cat’s weight.[5]
• Singapuras are so petite that often vets examining a Singapura kitten will think something is wrong with the kitten’s growth. This is just the way the breed is.
Observing Temperament
1. 1
Engage your cat in play. Singapura cats are exceptionally playful and are unusual in that they don’t outgrow their kittenish desire for play when they become adults. In particular, they are known to chase balls of paper or climb curtains. Create a lightweight ball out of crumpled paper or tinfoil and try to engage your cat in play to gauge their interest.[6]
2. 2
Place your cat in your lap. Singapuras love to sit in laps and crave human company. Place your cat in your lap to assess their interest in being with you.[7]
• Singapuras get lonely easily and are often unhappy staying home by themselves for long stretches of time. If your cat displays destructive behavior when you are gone and meets the other criteria, it’s possible you have a Singapura.
3. 3
Look for a curious cat. Singapura cats are known to be very curious, often to the point of getting into mischief. To test your cat’s curiosity, show them a toy then hide it behind a piece of paper. If your cat seeks out the toy even when it’s hidden, they are naturally inquisitive.[8]
4. 4
Talk to your cat. Singapuras are not usually big talkers, and when they do “speak” their voices are tiny. Try to engage your cat in a conversation by chatting with them about toys or food. If you’re not getting much response, it could be that your cat is vocally shy, like a typical Singapura.[9]
Community Q&A
Ask a Question
200 characters left
• Get a cat DNA test. If you really want to find out for certain if your cat is a Singapura, the only way to do so is with a DNA test. Have you veterinarian swab your cat’s saliva to determine what breed or mix they are for sure.
• Look at Singapura cat photos online and contrast them with your cat for comparison.
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A friend tells you that she has a job that pays US$1,100 per
A friend tells you that she has a job that pays US$1,100 per month (after tax); however, she is spending US$1,300 per month and taking on more credit card debt to meet her monthly bills. In conversation she says, "I love to eat out, and music is my passion?so I need money for the things I want to do." She ends the conversation by saying, "My mother always tells me that I need a budget, but I tell her that I am doing fine without one."
Sorry, The question is regarding budgeting advice. My initial thoughts are: The creation of a budget is essential. My "friend" must let go of thoughts that are negative and difficult about budgeting and accept its necessity. Secondly, I would suggest paying with cash for all purchases or whenever possible. Third, I would suggest the possibility of lower interest credit cards for balance transfers.
Am I on the right track? I am dealing with resistance to change and fear of difficulty. Is this advice good? If not, what other suggestions would you implement?
Solution Preview
Yes your advice is absolutely reasonable. Apparently she's spending more than she earns. It's not going to be sustainable. If she does not come up with a budget plan, she could be going into deep financial trouble in the future. My advice would be:
1. Accept that she's spending more than she earns and it's not going to be ...
Solution Summary
The solution provides detailed explanations and answer for the financial budget problem. |
Short paths on one-way roads and Robbins’ theorem
Suppose our city is connected by a road network, and traffic is allowed to travel in both directions across a road. Our city is considering to make all of the roads one-way. Is there a way to pick a direction for each road and still be able to go between any two parts of the city? In other words, is there a way to orient the edges of the road network such that it is strongly connected? (Such an orientation is called a strong orientation.)
This question was answered back in 1939 by Robbins. Assuming our road network is connected, we only need to check to make sure that there is no bridge—not a civil engineer’s bridge, but a road that, when we remove it, the road network becomes disconnected. Having no bridge is an obvious necessary condition for admitting a strong orientation; if there is a bridge, then no matter which way we orient it, we’ll get stuck on one side of it. The other direction of Robbins’ theorem can be shown through an ear decomposition.
However, Robbins’ theorem does not ensure that you can quickly go from one part of the city to another in this one-way road network. For example, consider a cycle graph on n vertices. There is essentially only one strong orientation of a cycle graph. In it, some origin-destination pairs will have distance n-1, whereas in the two-way road network the travel time is at most n/2.
This leads to the question—When can the roads be made one-way so that we can quickly travel between every two points? More formally, when does a graph admit an orientation in which the pairwise distances are all at most k?
A necessary condition is that there be no “distance-k bridge”—an edge that belongs to every path of length at most k between two vertices. In other words, the subgraph obtained by removing any single edge should also have diameter at most k.
If this “no distance-k bridge” condition were also sufficient, then this would provide an elegant generalization of Robbins’ theorem. Alas, it is not sufficient.
For example, consider the complete graph on 4 vertices. If a single edge is removed, the remaining graph has diameter 2. However, no orientation of the 4-vertex complete graph has diameter at most 2. (Try it out!)
It turns out that the problem: “given an undirected graph, does it admit an orientation that has diameter at most k?” is NP-complete. The special case k=2 was shown to be NP-complete by Chvátal and Thomassen in 1978. This suggests that there is no “nice” analogue of Robbins’ theorem for diameter-constrained orientations.
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The Migration of the Most Gifted Brains
I admit I’m a great fan of English and American history, and that’s not because Diana, Prince Charles and all the fuss about the royals, which I rather detest. No, my admiration is rooted in the shared history of the people. While the culture of these countries is substantially influenced by west-bound emigrants, my ancestors took the opposite direction. Though I don’t know why they didn’t follow the main stream of migration, they fled their home country for the same reason, I’m convinced.
The Island rule states that species on a separated island get smaller or bigger depending on the lack of evolutionary pressure. We can easily extend this rule to social fauceirs too, as a rapidly shrinking brain size in isolated human societies demonstrates.
Why didn’t this happen in England? Why England evolved against this rule? The answer is simple because England was never isolated but experienced several waves of immigration that brought Europe’s most ambitious people to the island, the Danes, the Saxons, and the Normans. Of the Saxons we know that they almost replaced the original population. While the Normans certainly also distributed their genetic material, their main input was rather cultural and technological.
This mass immigration of favorable biological (genes) and social fauceirs (culture, education) accounts for great social and economical progress: logic and rationality being a main subject in clerical education, parting from the Roman Church, prohibition of torture and evolution of juristiction by judges instead, enacting the Magna Carta, parliamentary democracy, and, of course, the industrial revolution. All this was possible because at least till the middle of the 19th century the most intelligent people ruled the country. And I agree with Thomas Babington Macaulay that the English people “were by far the best governed people in Europe.”
What changed in the 19th century.
1. The Island Rule took England in its grip.
2. The most ambitious people went further westwards to found America.
Not only from England but from all over the world the ousted people found a new home in America. And ousted they were and reckless and intelligent. As a rule intelligent people are ousted by the societies they live in. For centuries England was home to the most prestigious human brains then for a century or so America took this place. I wonder where the brains will gather next.
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Fauceir theory is developed and © by Mato Nagel and available at
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When compared to the mixture of book reports done on this blog to this day, What to Listen for in Music is rather unique. It isn’t a philosophical analysis on the history or purpose of music. It lacks the cerebral prose of the scholars we’ve engaged with thusfar — in fact, this is the first book I’ve reviewed here that was written by a native English speaker, and an American no less. What we have here today is a beginner’s guide to classical music, or “what to listen for when you listen to ‘serious’/’art’ music.”
I wasn’t sure what I would find when I read this book, but now that I’ve done it, I’m glad for the knowledge that was imparted to me. Lacking any college-level education in musical composition or theory, Copland’s book marks the first time that I have ever been exposed to the underlying principles of classical music. Since it has been a goal of mine over the past couple of years to develop that knowledge, it’s a shame I hadn’t read such a book sooner.
We’ll begin with some outside information about Aaron Copland and his book. Copland was one of the first and most important composers ever to come from the United States. He wrote several fairly mainstream compositions that are considered instrumental in defining “the American sound”: that pastoral, pioneering tone that has flourished in our consciousness through everything from Disney to the Olympic Games. His most famous work is Appalachian Spring. It, like many of his popular works, borrows from American folk songs for some of its melodies. However, his works were not always limited to this style: compositions like Passacaglia demonstrate his more technical side. There is debate among critics about the quality of some of his more accessible pieces, but there can be no debate about his influence on composers in the United States.
What to Listen for in Music was originally written in 1939, so it is important to note that it predates the LP record by nearly a decade. Hardly any semblance of the music industry as we know it existed at the time of Copland’s writing, and thus in most cases the only way to hear classical music would be to attend a concert in person. Nonetheless, Copland provides copious suggested listenings with each chapter to demonstrate whatever concept he is explaining.
Another important distinction to consider is that the book also predates a substantial subset of “modern” classical music. When Copland talks about modern music, he is referring more to the likes of Schoenberg and Stravinsky than to Stockhausen or Cage. Copland came back and added an update to the book in 1957, but even he admits at that point that anything is possible.
So, to recap, the book is about what the listener should know about and pay attention to when listening to classical music (of any period), and inasmuch as Copland could never have anticipated what music sounds like today, Theodor Adorno has already taught us that popular music is pedestrian trash so it doesn’t really matter.
I will briefly summarize the contents of the book and then provide my thoughts at the end of this post.
The Creative Process
Copland begins by addressing what he views as a misconception about composers: that they wait for inspiration before composing. Rather, he says that composition is more natural than that. It’s like sleep: you either feel like sleeping or you don’t. A composer either feels like composing or he doesn’t. “A composer can sit down day after day and turn out some kind of music. On some days it will undoubtedly be better than others.”
Beyond that, he states that every composition starts with a musical idea — not any kind of “mental, literary, or extramusical” one. For the first of many times, Copland stresses that it is important to separate the idea that the beauty of a song is contingent on the theme. Themes are manipulable — you can notice even in popular music how changes in tempo, volume, or other characteristics can make the same melody seem completely different. There is more to the composition than that (and of course that is what the rest of the book is about).
He finishes the chapter by describing three types of composers:
1. The Inspired Composer (e.g. Schubert) – characterized by prolific output; massive amounts of music, as if it is welling out of them. Often specialize in shorter pieces.
2. The Constructive Composer (e.g. Beethoven) – begins with a theme and builds upon it over time.
3. The Traditional Composer (e.g. Bach) – taking the style of music of your period and making it better than anyone before you has done
Music’s Four Elements (Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, Tone Color)
This is the first large section of the book, and it covers in detail what goes into the four elements of music: rhythm, melody, harmony, and tone color. He doesn’t make any groundbreaking points about any of these elements — this part, as with most of the book, is purely educational. My summary will be brief, as you can find even more than what Copland shares simply by consulting Wikipedia.
• Rhythm: the primeval element of music. As of 1150, rhythm became “measured”, for better or for worse. Copland mentions that “meter” represents the “ONE two three ONE two three” count of music, but rhythm comes from the notes that get played with respect to that meter. He also introduces music notation with regards to whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, et cetera. He finishes by talking about the ever-popular polyrhythm, in which a composition involves two or more different rhythms at the same time.
• Melody: “if rhythm is connected in our imagination with physical motion, the idea of melody is associated with mental emotion.” This is the chapter in which Copland discusses scales and keys, because this is the framework in which melodies operate — even though many times a melody can be so complex or abstract that it requires technical analysis of the paper composition itself to identify where the melody fits in that framework. And of course, there are no rules or guarantees about what a melody may sound like. It is only through exposure to many melodies over time that the listener can identify a banal one from an inspired one, however it may present itself.
• Harmony: harmony is the most sophisticated musical element, and also the most recent invention of the group. Here we learn about intervals and chords, as the earliest harmonies were simply 4th and 5th intervals of the melody (apparently 3rd and 6th intervals, relatively more common today, were proscribed). This chapter again demonstrates how any semblance of “rules” with regards to the construction of proper harmonies have dissolved in the past century or so. Copland states that dissonance is relative; it’s another example of the need to divorce oneself from assumptions about what music is supposed to sound like, because such assumptions are highly biased against any new creations. He briefly mentions the rising prevalence of polytonality and atonality in modern compositions, but admits that many composers still prefer good old tonality.
• Tone Color (or timbre): “the quality of sound produced by a particular medium of musical tone production,” or in other words, the “voice” of an instrument. Copland outlines all the instruments of the classical orchestra and describes their timbre. He also expounds upon the difference between single tone colors (i.e. the sound of just one instrument) and mixed colors (the sound of different groups/ensembles of instruments together)
Musical Texture
Copland describes the three textures of music (texture being how the elements of music combine into one composition):
• Monophonic: e.g. Gregorian Chant. Music that consists of a single, unaccompanied melodic line.
• Homophonic: e.g. Caccini. Music that consists of a melodic line with chordal accompaniment (the chords may be arpeggiated).
• Polyphonic: e.g. Palestrina. Two or more independent melodies going on at once. This form of music requires the listener to pay close attention, and may require multiple listens to identify all of the melodies taking part. He also discusses counterpoint in this section, which Copland describes as a type of polyphony in which the rhythm is also independent. Large periods of classical music were characterized by the use of counterpoint.
Musical Structure (Forms)
This section comprises most of the book, and talks about the various forms that classical music takes. Needless to say, there are a lot. They can be initially broken down into “form in relation to a piece as a whole” and “form in relation to the separate, shorter parts of a piece.” One way to notate this is to use letters like “A B C” and “a b c” to represent divisions in a composition. More importantly, there are forms that are based on repetition, and forms that are not. The latter, free forms, are described briefly: they are more common today than in the past, and involve any composition that doesn’t rely upon repetition. The symphonic poem is an example of a free form.
Repetition forms:
1. Sectional or symmetrical repetition – music “obviously” made up by a combination of separate sections (he says “obviously” because practically all music is sectional in some way)
1. Two-part (binary) form
2. Three-part (ternary) form
3. Rondo
4. Free sectional arrangement – sections can be arranged in any way, but as with all forms in this category, after the sections have been played in whatever order the composer specifies, they are repeated
2. Repetition by variation – music in which the structure of the section relies upon varying what is being played each time it repeats
1. Basso ostinato
2. Passcaglia
3. Chaconne
4. Theme and variations – you take a theme in the music and make a variation in any of the (1) harmony (2) melody (3) rhythm (4) counterpoint (5) combination of the aforementioned properties. The other three variation forms are much more strict about what varies.
3. Repetition by fugal treatment – variations that necessarily involve polyphony or counterpoint (required properties of a fugue). This requires techniques such as imitation, canon, inversion, augmentation, or cancrizans.
1. Fugue
2. Concerto grosso
3. Chorale prelude
4. Motets and madrigals
4. Repetition by development
1. Sonata – It should be noted that sonata means two things: the sonata as a whole, but also “sonata-allegro“, also known as “first-movement form”. Copland describes both, but his primary concern is the latter (as it is the form). He also goes over symphonies, which utilize sonata-allegro as their first movement.
He orders his exposition of these forms from most basic to most complicated (or from “a b c” to “A B C”). Symphonies will include several movements that can involve multiple types of forms talked about above. As such, it is important to be familiar with all of the forms so you can spot them when they occur.
The book takes a different direction from this point on, as Copland talks about different avenues to pursue music outside the concert hall, which he states has always been an unnatural way to conceive of music (music that is an end in itself). Copland writes at a time when opera was apparently considered peasant-tier. The purpose of this chapter was actually for him to explain the merits of opera to an audience that no longer believed it had any. He attributes this decline in stature to a long run of unoriginal productions after Wagner’s death.
Opera, he says, abides by the following conventions:
• It is a drama sung instead of a drama spoken
• It is broken into regularly contrasted, set musical pieces
• The story is intentionally unrealistic with “a fatuity that can hardly be exaggerated”
• It contains half-sung/half-spoken recitatives in order to drive the narrative
The fact that operas are often sung in languages incomprehensible to those in America can make them quite opaque, especially when it is an opera with lengthy recitatives relative to the musical sections. However, Copland points out that opera is special because it brings together nearly every musical medium: the orchestra, the voice, ensembles, choruses. It can also include ballet, pantomime, and drama. In this sense, it enables an artist to get the most out of a wide variety of art all in one setting. As such, most well-known composers tried their hand at it. The fruits of their labor are evident in works such as Boris, by Moussorgsky, Pelleas by Debussy, and Rite of Spring by Stravinsky.
Contemporary Music
This chapter, if I understand correctly, is one of the ones that Copland added in 1959. He provides his thoughts on the mixed reaction the public has toward modern music. First of all, he states that “modern” doesn’t mean one thing. Especially today, it is evident that modern music encompasses a myriad of artists. It is more sensible, if categories are required, to define them by accessibility. Artists like Erik Satie are very accessible, artists like Heitor Villa-Lobos are moderately accessible, and artists like Anton Webern are “very tough.”
Copland implores the listener to understand the objective of a modern composer, and that confusion toward new music can be mitigated by “training in listening” to become accustomed to the new sounds at our disposal. He has a great passage about our expectations for music:
Most music lovers do not appreciate to what an extent they are under the spell of the romantic approach to music. Our audiences have come to identify nineteenth-century musical romanticism as analogous to the art of music itself. Because romanticism was, and still remains, so powerful an expression, they tend to forget that great music was written for hundreds of years before the romantics flourished.
It happens that a considerable proportion of today’s music has closer aesthetical ties with that earlier music than it has with the romantics. The way of the uninhibited and personalized warmth and surge of the best of the romanticists is not our way. Even that segment of contemporary composition that clearly has romantic overtones is careful to express itself more discreetly, without exaggeration. And so it must, for the self-evident truth is that the romantic movement had reached its apogee by the end of the last century and nothing fresh was to be extracted from it.
He encourages the listener to accept the challenge of listening to unfamiliar music, and not to seek out “soporific” music. You don’t go to the theater or read a book to be bored, do you?
Film Music
Here Copland quickly introduces us to the Film Soundtrack. The question is “should one hear a movie score?” Unsurprisingly, he thinks the answer is yes. In order to elucidate the viewer/listener on ways to get more out of a movie soundtrack, he defines the following ways that music can serve the screen:
• Creating a more convincing atmosphere of time and place
• Underlining psychological refinements — the unspoken thoughts of a character or the unseen implications of a situation
• Serving as a kind of neutral background filter (Copland states that this really is the kind of music that you aren’t “supposed” to hear)
• Building a sense of continuity
Copland rejects the common assumption that having to write a score to accompany a film is an unwelcome burden. He says it helps the imagination, and that maneuvering the music to adhere to the timing of a film is not really so difficult as it sounds — it doesn’t alter the underlying musical fabric.
As a closing thought, he says it’s a shame that millions of people will be listening to a composer’s work, but one can never know how many are really hearing it.
My Thoughts
“Music is created to wake you up, not put you to sleep.”
This is a powerful thought from Copland that could honestly be a mission statement for this blog. Of course, I shouldn’t get too carried away. I’m as guilty as anyone of being ignorant in my consumption of classical music thusfar. It’s almost surprising that I made it this far knowing so little about it, but the fact is that Copland wrote the book specifically for people like me that wanted to know more about what they were listening to. And now I have a foundation to build on.
For several years now I have felt very torn over the role in society of popular music, and indeed, popular art. The series of book reports I’ve done on this blog in conjunction with my other outside readings have served to make me keenly aware of a stratification in art. But it’s more than simply that there is a stratification: I think it is obvious to everyone that there exists in some sense “elitist music”, good music, bad music, and of course “really bad” music. However, that isn’t quite the way that academics see things.
It boils down to the dichotomy between serious and popular art. Serious art has an objective quality: it is something that can be executed well or executed poorly, and things such as “form” are the measure by which one makes that judgement. The entire scope of Music Criticism Proper is concerned with serious music. But what does that make popular music? Utterly insipid, apparently. Devoid of any meaningful innovation or change. We’ve heard this concept before from the likes of Adorno and Attali: that popular music is interchangeable, and designed to maximize the appeal that comes from familiarity, while being just barely different enough year over year that people are able to retain interest in it. Ironically, it is THIS type of music that the contemporary critic concerns himself with. If the academics are even close to right (and it seems like they are), it makes a passion for popular art seem like nothing more than chasing after wind (and it probably is).
My sentiment shouldn’t come off as jadedness. I like popular music today more than I ever have. However, it becomes increasingly difficult to see a reason to be passionate about it. There is the creeping fear that I have been tricked. Not by any intentional plot, for there are no actual people behind the curtain trying to dupe “the masses” into liking banal things. The trick is simply information asymmetry — a barrier to entry on High Art that those in the know rarely if ever attempt to lower. They might be guilty of elitism, but I’m guilty of foolishness.
Why had I never taken a proper class on musical composition? Because I didn’t choose to take one. Because it hadn’t occurred to me that there might be value in doing so. This thought pattern is undoubtedly shared by many, as it is evident far beyond the arts. It really bolsters the need for a well-rounded education in my mind. There is so much value in being exposed to areas that have seemingly high barriers to entry just so you know what’s on the other side. You are free to ignore it afterward (although I question the conscience of anyone who does so in fields like history or economics), but this state of being where we tolerate mundanity because we weren’t taught that it is mundane is simply unacceptable.
Let’s step briefly over to other arts. My stance, as stated above, is that it isn’t really worth being passionate over popular art because you’re putting more of yourself into something that isn’t giving as much back. There is an obvious rebuttal to this: it isn’t about the art (the product, I should say), it is about the community.
A community of people who have bonded over something that innovated upon nothing, offered no great insights on anything, and could (at best) have been best-in-class of a class of mediocrity. In every avenue of popular culture – comic books, video games, movies, music, tv shows, cartoons, books, paintings/drawings, you name it – this phenomenon runs rampant. There are people with absolutely dogmatic views on some of this stuff, and for what? In fact, I would argue that having a strong viewpoint on ANY popular art is a waste of your own effort. Remember, in the academic sense, every e-crusade you engage in to defend the honor of your favorite box office hit doesn’t even register on the radar of “art criticism.” It is evident to me, and hopefully evident to you, that if the extent of your passion for the arts ends at the boundary between popular art and serious art, then there will be no discussion about taste. You simply have no taste at all.
Your passion and energy would be better served and better rewarded doing nearly anything else. And what of me? Well, I wasn’t kidding. I still like popular music, and I fully intend to continue writing posts about it. Beyond the basic stuff which always get boring sooner or later, there are certainly many genres of music that fall on that aforementioned borderline. They’re worth examining for their artistic merits, and even if someone were to try to tell me they had none, I would say that their use as a gateway is more than enough. Lastly, I plan to continue learning more about classical music so that I can fully appreciate it.
Writing polemics about pop artists and their fans is a lot of fun. You see it on youtube often enough. We all love doing it. I can’t say I’ll never do it again, although I have avoided it for quite some time. It’s tremendous fun, but it’s ultimately nothing more than vanity.
2 thoughts on “What to Listen for in Music, by Aaron Copland
1. Hi!
I really enjoyed reading this article, not least because I have copy of this very book at home on my shelf! If you’re looking to further examine classical music, you are spoilt for choice in terms of literature available, but might I recommend one in particular? ‘The Rest Is Noise’ by Alex ross. It was written about five or six years ago but looks at music in an in-depth, yet accessible matter.
If you find it, let me know what you think! Take care!
Tim x
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Throughout the 20th century many people were given rights, but many didn't have these rights. This group being the LGBTQ* community. Harvey Milk was a politician from New York, but moved to California and became the first "out-of-the-closet" person in an elected position in California. His bravery and sense of community broke walls down and in a domino like effect other barriers were broken as well.
Many of the words used in this quotation represent the idea that all men are created equal. It makes the reader well up with hope and patriotism. It gives them the strength to fight against oppression. I imagined when Harvey made the quote he would have said the 'no' loud than the rest. Also putting emphasis on the end of phrases.
Harvey Milk made the quotation, although it is not known the origins of this exact quote. Harvey was an openly gay politician.
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internet connected gadgets
As technology advances, new gadgets are appearing and more items around the home are starting to offer the ability to be controlled remotely via the internet.
Your child may become interested in Smart watches and toys, so rather than specific reviews, this section will give you more information on how the internet may be taking over both our homes and our children’s playtime.
Wearables are gaining in popularity. Learn more about smart watches and virtual reality.
Smart toys
Even toys are becoming smarter. Learn about the toys your child might be asking for.
Internet of Things (IoT)
Home gadgets are now part of the IoT. Learn more about them below.
Emerging Trends
Here’s some more information on existing and new trends in online gadgets with information to help you keep up with your child.
Smart watches
Wearable devices such as smartwatches have become more popular in recent times even though they generally require a smartphone to work.
Now that the Apple Watch has been officially revealed, more people are aware of smartwatches, although there are plenty already on the available to buy for all tastes. Each usually goes hand in hand with a certain type of mobile phone as they require connection to a smartphone to operate effectively.
Android Wear watches, such as the LG Watch Urbane and the Moto 360, needs an Android phone to connect, while the Apple Watch needs to be wirelessly connected to an iPhone through Bluetooth.
Smartwatches generally offer similar functionality, with downloadable apps available that can perform many of the same tasks on the watch screen as you can get on a smartphone.
Parental controls also work in the same way, with Apple and Google app stores for respective devices having rating systems and strict submission guidelines for apps. However, if you require extra control over content it will normally be available to set through the linked smartphone rather than directly on the watch itself.
Robotic toys
More and more toys are being designed to come alive through the use of technology and the internet.
Robotic Ball Sphero
A number of toy makers have started placing technology at the heart of their products to give children a more interactive experience when playing with the toy.
These toys can be used for educational purposes. Some examples include a programmable robotic ball ‘Sphero’, and a build-it-yourself 4ft robot Meccanoid, from traditional toy maker Meccanno.
It’s not all about learning though. Other toy makers like Anki Drive and Real FX are giving kids a 21st century take on Scaletrix with cars that have their own artificial intelligence and can be controlled using a tablet or smartphone.
Smart toys
Many of the biggest toys your child will want for their birthdays and Christmases to come will be filled with technology and may even connect to a smartphone or the internet.
This means that you should be aware of exactly what a toy does before handing it over to your child in order to ensure that it is safe. Last year’s hot Christmas toy, for example, was My Friend Cayla, a doll that connects to the internet and can respond to vocal requests for information through search functionality.
There were reports that some internet hackers had been able to control the doll and change the types of things it said, but there was no evidence that this could be done remotely, so the doll is considered safe for children.
Other smart toys that will be popular in 2015 include robotic animals, such as Miposaur, although the smartphone app that accompanies the toy works more to remotely control the artificially intelligent dinosaur rather than allow it to connect to the internet.
Virtual reality (VR)
Virtual reality headsets are not on general sale yet but they are expected to be the next big thing in gaming and home entertainment.
VR headsets are worn over the eyes and ears and enable children to enter a virtual 3D world that is often but not exclusively an interactive game. The headset tracks where the child is looking so it can move the in-game camera responsively.
Some more basic VR headsets are already available on to buy that use a smartphone combined with dedicated apps to provide the screen. The phone generally slots into the front of a headset. Google Glass and Samsung Gear VR are two examples of some of the devices available.
Other VR headsets that will be available to buy already have screens and work through connection to a separate PC or games console. The most famous of these is Oculus Rift, which requires a hi-tech computer to work. Its release is due in early 2016.
Another is Sony’s Project Morpheus, which is similar but links to the PlayStation 4 console.
There are others from mobile phone manufacturer HTC – the HTC Vive – and various games companies that are also expected to release others in 2016.
Activity trackers
Also known as “fitness bands”, activity trackers usually look like a bracelet and are used to track the amount of steps you take in a day and/or the amount of calories you’ve burned, helping you to maintain a healthier lifestyle.
Almost all activity trackers link to a smartphone or tablet application to present the information they monitor. This includes steps and calories, heart rate and other biometric readings.
The information gathered can also be stored in remotely in the cloud, allowing the phone or tablet to connect to the internet to access the information. And there are child-specific fitness bands, although these tend not to be internet connected and instead feature games and tasks to encourage children to be more active. One example of these is the LeapBand by LeapFrog.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The ‘Internet of Things’ is the generic name for all appliances and devices that you connect to your home network. This can include everything from your washing machine to your TV.
IoT is the umbrella term that refers to smart washing machines and fridges, smart TVs, cameras that can monitor your house and other devices connected to your home network. Smart appliances and devices connect to the internet, much like your computer, which means that you can control them even when you’re not at home to start your washing cycle or turn on your heating. The idea is that they will eventually be able to talk to each other.
The devices under IoT can mostly be controlled via an app on your smartphone, but many require a password so your child won’t be able to turn the heating up or down without knowing your code.
Smart cameras also fall under the Internet of Things. Several companies offer smart cameras that allow you to remotely monitor what’s going on in various rooms in your house, depending on where they’re situated. The apps used to control them are password protected, meaning you should still be safe from someone without permission viewing what’s happening in your home. |
University of Virginia Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library
Healer Cults and Sanctuaries
Asclepius and Votive Offerings
Relief Plaque from Epidauros
Votive relief from Asklepieion of Piraeus, 4th century BCE. Archaeological Museum, Piraeus, Greece.
Hippocratic principles were directly opposed to magic and ritual. However, the continuing success of the cult of Asclepius throughout antiquity clearly shows that medicine was never fully divorced from religion. Beginning in the sixth century BCE, health resorts, or sanctuaries, known as Asklepia (because they were presided over by Asclepius, the god of healing) sprang up all over the Mediterranean. The cult of Asclepius was simultaneously a religion and a system of therapeutics. In the panel to the left, a temple physician massages a patient’s shoulder while a priestess, serving as a nurse, looks on.
Ex-voto tablet from Epdauros
Ex-voto tablet from Epidauros, 3rd Century BCE. Note the large vein on the leg.
Although medical treatment was free at Asklepia, a recovered patient was expected to make a votive offering, which sometimes took the form of a replica of the afflicted organ or limb. A patient is shown dedicating a large votive leg to the god in thanks for curing his varicose veins. In these Asklepia, special rites were observed. After purification baths, fasting, and sacrifices, the patient would spend the night in the god’s temple, a process called enkoimesis, incubatio (“sleeping in”). During the night Asclepius would appear to the sleeping patient in a dream and give him advice. In the morning priests would interpret the dream and explain the god’s precepts. Patients thanked Asclepius by tossing gold into the sacred fountain and by hanging ex-votos on the walls of the temple.
Silver tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm, Epidauros, 350-330 BCE.
This coin was minted at Epidauros, the site of the great healing sanctuary of Asclepius. The god became a symbol of the city. He is shown on the reverse of the coin accompanied by a serpent. The letter E to the right of the figure is short for Epidauros.
The Healing of Archinus
The Healing of Archinus, ex-voto tablet, Athens, National Museum, c. 370 BCE
This famous dedication was made by Archinus at the healing shrine of Amphiaraus at Oropus, on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. The cult at Oropus was one of incubation, and on the right, we see the patient asleep on a couch. In the left foreground, Amphiaraus, like a human doctor, is treating the patient’s right shoulder: this scene represents the supposed content of Archinus’s dream. But, in the same scene, a sacred snake, a healing animal, is shown licking or biting the same right shoulder of the sleeping patient: this is the cure as it would supposedly have appeared to a waking observer. Behind, on a pillar, a votive stele commemorates the god’s act of healing. The figure on the right might perhaps be yet a third representation of Archinus, in this case, gratefully dedicating his stele. There are hundreds of extant inscriptions and votive reliefs recounting the individual cures of patients at the Asklepia. The following examples were found at the ruins of the Asklepion in Epidauros:
foot votive terra cotta
Votive terra cotta offerings from Cerveteri, Etruria, now in Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, 3rd century. Foot.
hand votive terra cotta
Votive terra cotta offerings from Cerveteri, Etruria, now in Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, 3rd century. Hand.
esophagus votive terra cotta
Votive terra cotta offerings from Cerveteri, Etruria, now in Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, 3rd century. Digestive organs.
The hand (left) and foot (right) in this collection of votive terra cottas are both painted red. Therefore, they represent the limbs of a male; in ancient Mediterranean art, the flesh of men was painted red and the flesh of women, white or pink. The sculpture was made in a mold that had been reused a number of times; consequently, sculptured details like the fingernails are only faintly visible. The esophagus, stomach, intestine, and kidneys are visible in this curious representation of the digestive organs. It was offered as a gift to a divinity either in gratitude or as a plea for healing. The cult of Asclepius also existed in Rome after 291 BCE. No trace of the sanctuary of Asclepius in Rome exists, but the cult was immensely popular as evidenced by the number of terra cottas. These offerings depicted parts of the human body, often at greater than life size, and were dedicated by the afflicted at healing sanctuaries. More than 100 sanctuaries in Italy are known, the majority in western-central Italy, and it is clear that the inspiration for these temples stemmed ultimately from the temple in Rome itself. Other cult centers sprang up across Italy. Study of the terra cottas from these precincts reveals the emergence of some specialized centers in healing. At Ponte di Nona, e.g., a rural complex some 15 kilometers to the east of Rome, the collections are dominated by feet and hands– precisely the parts of the body which are likely to suffer damage in the course of agricultural work. In the town of Veii, on the other hand, the terra cottas from the Campetti sanctuary contain a huge proportion of male and female sexual organs. If not associated with some form of fertility cult, these may well hint at a high incidence of sexually transmitted diseases, of a sort that might well be picked up in an urban brothel. |
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Xochiquetzal, from the Codex Rios, 16th century.
In Aztec mythology, Xochiquetzal, also called Ichpochtli, meaning "maiden", was a goddess associated with concepts of fertility, beauty, and female sexual power, serving as a protector of young mothers and a patroness of pregnancy, childbirth, and the crafts practised by women such as weaving and embroidery. In pre-Hispanic Maya culture, a similar figure is Goddess I.
The name Xōchiquetzal is a compound of xōchitl (“flower”) and quetzalli (“precious feather; quetzal tail feather”). In Classical Nahuatl morphology, the first element in a compound modifies the second, and thus the goddess' name can literally be taken to mean “flower precious feather”, or ”flower quetzal feather”. Her alternative name, Ichpōchtli, corresponds to a personalized usage of ichpōchtli (“maiden, young woman”).
Unlike several other figures in the complex of Aztec female earth deities connected with agricultural and sexual fecundity, Xochiquetzal is always depicted as an alluring and youthful woman, richly attired and symbolically associated with vegetation and in particular flowers. By connotation, Xochiquetzal is also representative of human desire, pleasure, and excess, appearing also as patroness of prostitutes and artisans involved in the manufacture of luxury items.
She was followed by a retinue consisting of birds and butterflies. Worshippers wore animal and flower masks at a festival, held in her honor every eight years. Her twin was Xochipilli and her husband was Tlaloc, until Tezcatlipoca kidnapped her and she was forced to marry him. At one point, she was also married to Centeotl and Xiuhtecuhtli. By Mixcoatl, she was the mother of Quetzalcoatl.
Ichpōchtli is an alternative form of Xochiquetzal representative of beauty, sex, crafts, fertility, dance, music, singing, weaving, magic, and love spells. Marigolds are sacred to her.
Anthropologist Hugo Nutini identifies her with the Virgin of Ocotlan in his article on patron saints in Tlaxcala. she was also the aztec goddesss called the great goddess or teotihuacan spider woman.
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Friday, November 14, 2014
Roman Jews Inside, and outside, the Ghetto.
Roman Jews
Inside, and outside, the Ghetto.
By Leah Koenig
The first Jews likely arrived as messengers sent by Judah Maccabee in the second century B.C.E. Jews have continued to live in Rome ever since--sometimes thriving, but more often enduring hardship as Christianity established itself as the world's dominant (and sometimes domineering) religion, and cataclysms like the Spanish Inquisition violently disrupted European Jewish existence. Throughout the centuries, however, no single historical period has been more defining to Rome's Jewish community than the 315 years--from 1555 to 1870--that it spent inside the Ghetto.
The Ghetto Years
Approximately 2,000-3,000 Jews lived in Rome in 1555, when Pope Paul IV established the walled Ghetto. A significant number of those Jews had recently moved from the South of Italy (where, because of the impacts of the Inquisition on Spanish-ruled Sicily and Calabria, they were no longer welcome). Overwhelmed by the influx of Jews, whom he viewed as second-class citizens, Pope Paul IV decided to segregate the community.
the jewish roman ghetto
The Jews in the Ghetto lived in incredible poverty and cramped conditions, which only grew worse as their population grew. (The community was somewhere between 7,000-9,000 strong by the time the Ghetto walls were finally opened in 1870.) Additionally, the land on which the Ghetto was built--seven marshy, flood-prone acres that backed up directly against the Tiber River--was some of the least desirable in the city.
Jews were technically allowed to leave during daylight hours, but outside the Ghetto they had to wear clothing that identified their religion--yellow hats adorned with bells and a horn for men, and two blue stripes across the chest (the same mark donned by prostitutes) for women. Like in other countries, Jewish men were largely restricted to two types of work--money lending and peddling clothes. Jewish women spent many long days together making clothes, while their husbands left for the day These women became adept at fabric recycling--turning old dresses and bits of cloth into beautiful new designs, including majestic covers for the community's Torahs.
All Jews were required to attend the Catholic churches that flanked the Ghetto on all sides. Some Jews protested silently by stuffing wax and bread in their ears to muffle the words of the sermons. To add insult to injury, the Jews in the Ghetto were only allowed to have one synagogue--an impossibility for a diverse community that included both indigenous Roman Jews (called "Italkim") and newcomer Sephardic Jews from multiple communities to the South. To solve this predicament, the small synagogue structure secretly housed five different congregations.
The Pope assumed that one or two generations in these conditions would be enough to convince the Jews to convert. Though there were individual Jews who converted to Christianity, on the whole confinement in the Ghetto tended to reinforce, rather than fragment, Jewish life. The Ghetto walls allowed the Jews to practice their religion in relative safety, encouraged the formation of tight community bonds and, ironically, allowed distinct Roman Jewish culture and customs to develop and flourish.
Out of the Ghetto
Jewish Rome Today
Tourists & Locals
Visiting tourists (Jewish and not) have also helped breathe new life into the area. Guidebooks point to the Ghetto as one of Rome's lesser-known gems, and, because of Jews' long history there, one of the most "authentically Roman" places to visit. "When I first started giving tours of Jewish Rome in 2002, nobody came," Pavoncello said. Now her guided walks regularly sell out.
Despite the Jewish community's dispersal to other neighborhoods, the Ghetto continues to serve as a primary gathering place. Every day around lunchtime, the street fills with hundreds of students spilling out of the K-12 Jewish day school that is housed in a refurbished building in the Ghetto neighborhood. Nearby benches are lined with community elders who discuss the day's news, and on Saturday nights, young adults head to one of the Ghetto's kosher fast food joints.
It is not hyperbolic to claim this current moment as unique in Rome's Jewish history. Instead of being vilified, Jewish life is now celebrated. Today, the Ghetto is one of the chicest places to eat lunch, non-Jewish student groups regularly visit Museuo Ebraico, and Pope Benedict XVI is a devoted fan of the neighborhood's famous pastries. More importantly, the Jewish community has rediscovered its own vibrant soul. "One thing is for certain, said Pavoncello, speaking about the community she has lived in all her life. "We are not wandering Jews."
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Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Why People Secretly Fear Creative Ideas
An unconscious bias against creativity
A recent study has tested this idea that there's a disconnect between what people say about creativity and what they unconsciously think (Mueller et al. 2011).
They used tests that typically assess implicit or unconscious racism. Racism is something that almost everyone knows is wrong, but psychologists have found we can still measure hidden or unconscious racism in some people using this test. Instead, though, it was used to measure a hidden or unconscious bias against creativity.
Across two experiments Mueller and colleagues found that when people felt uncertain they were:
• more likely to have negative thoughts about creative ideas,
• and found it more difficult to recognise creative ideas.
This supports the idea that people don't like creative ideas because they tend to increase uncertainty. The thinking goes like this: we know how to do things we've done before, but new things are mysterious. How will we achieve it? Is it practical? What could go wrong? And so on...
People don't like to feel uncertain; it's an aversive state that generally we try to escape from. Unfortunately creativity requires uncertainty by definition, because we're trying to do something that hasn't been done before.
People deal with the disconnect by saying one thing, "Creativity is good, we want more of it!" but actually rejecting creative ideas for being impractical.
Instead we should be embracing uncertainty because it's only when we're unsure that we can be sure we're in new territory.
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bed sheets sleeping girl in bed meganleetz/Flickr
I hate to break it to you, but your bed sheets are filthy.
No matter how clean you are as a person, your sheets are teeming with all kinds of germs and debris.
Philip Tierno, a microbiologist and pathologist at the New York University School of Medicine, told Tech Insider all about what's lurking in them.
That debris gradually accumulates over time, settling from the air or your body into your bed sheets and mattress. In fact, your mattress is even more disgusting than your sheets, but that's a whole different story.
So how often should you wash your bed sheets?
"Stuff like that accumulates to become significant usually between one to two weeks," Tierno said."Bottom line, they should be washed probably on the average of once a week."
That seems about right. But do people actually wash their sheets that frequently?
We set up a questionnaire to find out. Using SurveyMonkey Audience, we polled 523 adults aged 18 and older between Nov. 2 and 3. Survey Monkey selected respondents to mirror the age and sex proportions of adults according to the US Census.
Here's what we found: About 46% of the people we surveyed wash their bed sheets as often or more often than they're supposed to — a surprisingly large chunk of people.
Bravo, SurveyMonkey pollsters.
But still, the slight majority, 54%, do not wash their sheets often enough — only a few times per month or less.
survey monkey cleanliness bed sheets SurveyMonkey Audience
Of the 523 people surveyed, about 30% said that they wash their bed sheets a few times per month; and 22% said they wash them once a month or less.
Three super-hygienic people said that they wash their sheets every day, and 3 super-nasty people said they wash them once a year or less. Gross.
So, about half of the population doesn't wash their sheets enough.
While dirty sheets aren't going to kill you — unless an antibiotic-resistant superbug from your bed sneaks into a cut, for example — they could be contributing to allergies, which affect a staggering 1 in 6 people, according to Tierno.
One study from 2015 that assessed levels of fungal contamination in bedding found that feather and synthetic pillows 1.5 to 20 years old can contain between 4 and 17 different species of fungus.
Fungi, bacteria, and other debris, including dust mites, accumulate dramatically in bedding over time. These allergens enter the body through your nose, mouth, skin, or eyes and cause allergy sufferers' immune systems overreact.
Exposure to this debris can lead to allergies and cause a stuffy nose, inflamed airways, and itchiness. It can even aggravate asthma.
Therefore it's imperative to keep your bed relatively clean, Tierno says, to protect your body from these allergy-causing bugs. |
Bidulock - Big Data and the Environmental Impact of City Recycling
Guest Columnist - Daniel Bidulock -
Something's been bugging me since Calgary first rolled out the blue carts seven years ago… Is our city recycling program really helping the environment?
With the carbon tax and the new green carts, the question becomes that much more pertinent.
How much carbon do all the blue/black/green carts produce?
Let's recap...
Before the blue carts we had one truck collect garbage from our homes each week. Now we have two: one for trash and one for recycling. There are twice as many trucks rolling along the same routes. Do we now consume twice as much fuel and produce twice as much carbon? The new green carts are going to change all that. There will be bi-weekly pickup and probably three specialized collection trucks.
If the intention of the carbon tax is to improve air quality and reduce fossil fuel consumption, then we need to know if blue cart recycling is working.
Are we, in fact, having a positive impact on the environment by collecting and shipping our recyclables for reprocessing?
It may seem counterintuitive, but we might discover that it is more carbon-efficient to simply bury all our trash in landfills. But without the numbers, we cannot know for sure.
This is one of many questions I'd like to ask my councillor, Ward Sutherland, but he's a busy guy. After all, he represents a population the size of a small city in a city of over a million people. With access to the right data, I could find answers myself and approach him with the information he needs to present to Council. Being equipped to approach our elected representatives with concerns informed by real data can only strengthen our democracy and optimize operations at City Hall.
Calgary is moving in the right direction on the open data https://data.calgary.ca/ front, but even relevant data is sparse. For example, there is some broad information on landfills and recycling, but nothing that reports on the fuel consumed by all the waste collection vehicles. This data is being collected, because tax payers have to pay for fuel, but it's likely not yet consolidated and structured.
Naturally, organizing all the data the city collects and generates will take time. With this in mind, the question I pose to city councillors is this: When will we see a policy framework for city departments on structuring and disseminating their data to all Calgarians?
As citizens we must set the basic expectation that the data collected (and generated) by city departments will be presented in a timely and well-structured manner. Our beautiful city is taking the right steps, but it will take attention and political will to stay on course. With that in mind, send your councillor a message http://www.calgary.ca/citycouncil/Pages/CityCouncil.aspx and ask for the data that interests you.
City data belongs to all Calgarians because we paid for it. Let's use it to help ease the burden of our elected representatives and make our city even better.
TaxReformYYC suggests that independent analysis of property tax assessments in Calgary has shown a loose correlation between a property's characteristics and the value assigned by assessors.
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History reveals fascinating details about Quetzalcoatl: The White ‘Alien’ God
Who was Quetzalcoatl? If he truly was an ancient Aztec/Maya God, why did ancient civilizations of the Americas describe him having white skin, a wide forehead and graying red beard and big blue eyes? Furthermore, we ask how did the ‘feathered serpent, aka Quetzalcoatl’ reach the distant empire of the Aztecs? Where did he come from? And why is it that he is persistently associated, in native Mexican folklore with the planet Venus?
Have you ever wondered about who or what Quetzalcoatl really was? Why is there a myth of a plumed serpent and the story of a ‘white man that reincarnates’ and stories of his presence anywhere you go from North America to Argentina?
Although many see him as just another Native American God, the truth behind Quetzalcoatl’s is extensive, complex and fascinating.
Written down in ancient texts, and passed down from generation to generation is the description of this man-myth.
Apparently, Quetzalcoatl had white skin, a wide forehead and graying red beard and big blue eyes. This doesn’t really resemble people inhabiting modern-day Mexico.
In addition to all of the above, it is sad that Quetzalcoatl was unusually high.
Among the different descriptions we have learned that he was covered by a wide white robe adorned on the chest with a cross of intense red color, reminiscent of the cross that the Templars used.
These and other equally unusual findings, collected over the years have led researchers to believe in the possibility that Quetzalcoatl was perhaps a man of European origin who came forward several centuries before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers to the New World.
Around 1517 Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba set foot on the Peninsula of Yucatan and when the Spanish heard for the first time news about Quetzalcoatl in the Maya version of Kukulcan. The stories left them perplexed as the natives knew and worshiped the cross and also had similar notions to baptism, confession, communion, the great flood, the virgin, etc.
Pedro Ruiz Ptolemy a sixteenth-century alchemist and necromancer firmly believed that Quetzalcoatl, the priest with the cross was actually a leading member of the Order of the Templars who arrived in America fleeing persecution from the Templars.
What seems beyond doubt is that during the time that Quetzalcoatl remained among the Aztecs, before going into exile apparently, among the Maya, the WHITE GOD changed the culture of the ancient Aztecs drastically. Quetzalcoatl suppressed human sacrifice which was very common and extremely practiced by the Ancient Aztecs and directed the Aztecs towards ‘spirituality’ and constant exercise of religious duties.
History, myth, and tradition did the rest, establishing Quetzalcoatl as one of the main deities of the New World.
The great Quetzalcoatl would since be remembered as the ruler and exemplary politician, civilizing hero, inventor of the calendar, discoverer of corn, master farmer, inventor of the art of casting metals, carver of precious stones, judge, lawyer, king of the Toltecs and a God who managed to unify the new world.
But have you ever wondered about how Quetzalcoatl got to the Americas –since obviously, given the above descriptions he wasn’t native to the American Continent?
How did the ‘feathered serpent’ reach the distant empire of the Aztecs? Where did he come from? And why is it that he is persistently associated, in native Mexican folklore with the planet Venus?
If you keep an open mind, you will see that there are possibilities equally provocative which could explain the curious descriptions behind Quetzalcoatl.
Interestingly, throughout the years, researchers have uncovered numerous artifacts which offer further details about this mysterious God. In the “Temple of the Inscriptions” in Mexico City, experts discovered a tombstone adorned with a strange engraving: depicting what appears to be a man ‘piloting a spaceship’.
Is it possible that this representation corresponds to Quetzalcoatl? After all, it is said that the feathered serpent left in smoke and fire and promised to return one day.
Interestingly, if we take a look at the Codex Telleriano-Remensis we will find descriptions of what seem to be flights of a spacecraft that performs cruises and landings to the astonishment and terror of the natives…:
“…Every evening, and for several nights, a great clarity appears coming from the horizon, rising towards the heavens, having the shape of a pyramid in flames, it greatly impressed the king of Texcoco so much that he decided to end all wars…”
We find more information bout Quetzalcoatl (who had different names) if we look at the ancient Toltecs.
When Kate-Zahl (Toltec name of Quetzalcoatl) left the Toltecs and sailed away to the East, he made a prophecy about the destiny of the sacred city of Tula (now known as Teotihuacan) through 2 millennia:
“They come ashore, and I see them kneeling. Above them, I see a Great Cross standing. That is well. If these men are true to the symbol they carry, you need have no fear of them, for no one who is true to that symbol will ever carry it into battle.
Quetzalcoatl also foretold the following:
So many ancient texts, and so many details and yet we are unable to answer the simplest question: Who was Quetzalcoatl?
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Emancipation Jubilee ~ 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation ~ 1865 Project
by khubaka, michael harris (blackagriculture [at]
Saturday Sep 21st, 2013 2:56 PM
The Crocker Art Museum unique presentation of Emancipating the Past: Kara Walker's Tales of Slavery and Power continues the journey of the 1865 Project to explore the authentic legacy of Slavery in California and the ongoing journey towards equity and equal opportunity. On the 2013 Autumnal Equinox, Anniversary of the announcement of President Abraham Lincoln's Preliminary Executive Order ~ The Emancipation Proclamation, a community program showcases our ongoing intercultural, interfaith and intergenerational methodology to examine our journey towards freedom ~ 1865 Project ( 1840 - 1865 ) Slavery in California.
September 9, 1850 ~ California Statehood
September 18, 1850 ~ Fugitive Slave Act Passed
In 1857, the US Supreme Court ruled, slave or free the Black man has no rights the White man is bound to respect...
According to the 1860 census, San Francisco and Sacramento counties contained almost one third of California’s African American population, yet fewer than 500 African Americans lived in Sacramento at this time.
One will not find the voices or opinions of the African American community represented in either of Sacramento’s daily newspapers. The newspapers’ coverage of emancipation centered on its impact upon the war, not about the individual men and women affected. “Colored residents” are mentioned; newspapers reported that the colored residents celebrated emancipation, a colored military company was organized in San Francisco, but these residents were never identified by name.
An African American newspaper, The Pacific Appeal, began publication in San Francisco in 1862.
Articles in the Pacific Appeal offer a glimpse into the reactions of California’s African American community to the government’s evolvi
ng policy toward emancipation during the Civil War. The Pacific Appeal’s editors made the connection between Union victory and emancipation months before the Sacramento Bee. On May 10, 1862, they wrote, “...the war will not fail a space, until Victory and
Emancipation become synonymous.”
Reacting to the news of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the Pacific Appeal commented that the proclamation, “...will help immediately in crushing the rebellion, and saving the Union, and put the nation immeasurably forward.”
Declaring 1863 the “Year of Jubilee,” the Pacific Appeal asserted, “Today the Government has washed its hands clean of the stains of slavery in the States and parts of States that are in rebellion. America, henceforth, looms up with grandeur. She has burst the bonds that have bound her.”
The editors argued that the institution of slavery had confined not only the individuals enslaved, but also America as a nation. Ridding the Union of slavery would allow America to reclaim her exceptional position among the nations of the world.
Historians now agree that slavery was a primary cause of the war. Emancipation, however, was not a primary goal of most of the loyal white citizens when the war began. Preserving the union and maintaining a democratic republic were the reasons most Union men gave for fighting in 1861.
In the fall of that year, the Sacramento Union noted that abolitionists who anticipated the end of slavery “as one of the consequences of
this rebellion...are doomed to disappointment.”
There was considerable public debate about the United States’ policy toward slaves as Union commanders moved into Confederate territory and slaves left their masters for the safety of Union lines. Questions of constitutionality and the original goals of the war were overridden by the immediate question of what the government’s policy should be toward these individuals christened “contrabands” of war by Union General Benjamin Butler. As the war progressed, Unionists began to see emancipation as both of a tool for winning the war and a necessary step in ensuring the future survival of the Union. The evolution in Unionists’ thinking regarding emancipation can be traced through the newspapers’ coverage of slavery, emancipation, and the enrollment of African American soldiers in the Union Army.
California Colored US Troops in the Civil War remains an open secret and recognition, honor and contribution awaits our work, The 1865 Project... seen.
§1865 Project ~ Slavery in California
by khubaka, michael harris Saturday Sep 21st, 2013 2:56 PM
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by Unity Jack for Mother Earth
Wednesday Sep 25th, 2013 11:53 AM
Government for by and of the people necessarily must include the equal electing of women because they have been proven to be PEOPLE. To exclude the better half from natures 50-50 electing process is a denial of full democracy of our specie. Lincoln's second term was for implementing a program that would solve the discrimination against women by allowing in law the equal voting and electing of them as part of restoring a governance for, by, and of the people. That got him killed by Booth a slaveholder from the Southern Aristocracy.
Then the incorrect appointing of Heyes to the presidency by the non-elected Supreme Court of America (controlled by the Southern Aristocracy) brought him into power, instead of the Reconstruction opponent who achieved a majority vote of the American People.
Heyes then proceeded to cancel the union army occupation of the South and their programs of reconstruction (liberation from chattel slavery) and any programs of reparations (liberation) that Lincoln had planned. Leaving the Power of the Southern Aristocracy in tact to make the new laws of Jim Crow, which proved to be a form of semi-slavery to return to the south, and denial for Gender, Race, and Religious freedoms.
Frozen in time the class struggle to this very day has not ended fully racial, gender, or religious discrimination against the women of the U.S.A. Liberation of the species depends on full democracy such as moving to end those forms of discrimination, and is surely the content of the Lincoln program of doubling democracy, and electing woman equally--one man and one woman per constituency politically, economically, judicially, culturally, and religiously.
Why is this necessary. It contains the material liberation of our specie, that allows the full representative democracy that has been partially ended since the Conquest of Empire millenia ago. Fifty-fifty law making returns the joy and harmony that is the natural man, woman question. Without it male domination has made the specie into an alienated and threatened fact, which faces endless wars of aggression which also threatens all other species on the planet Earth.
This is because woman is most concious of creating and preserving life on the planet, while man has been the hunter-killer for thousands and many hundreds of years, Imperial Man thinks that it is normal to create aggressive wars as any nations foreign policy. But in fact the opposite is true.
Aggressive war is against the very life of the planet, and cannot since the 'war to end all wars' prove any different that freedom means ending aggressive wars and their manufactury, as they are now threatening the planets livability, because the WMD--weapons of mass destruction are so deadly, and ruinous that the very ecological organic balances of the web-of-life planet wide, are being destoyed by the WMD continuous use.
President Lincoln stood on the side of liberation from enslaving conditions, and so did the anti-fascist fighters of the second world war. They set liberation at ending aggressive war as any nations foreign policy, and moving to liberate from discrimination gender, race, and religious discrimination.
It is time the American People pick up the Lincoln programs of liberation, and end the Maximum Prisons which are the new chattel slavery set in motion in the new forms. Agricultural organic communes instead of prisons needs be set on the agenda, and to stop the unjust practice of American Imperialism waging aggressive war after war after war until the very web-of-life is threatened globally.
Workers of the world unite!! End the war, not endless wars for more and more pollution. Ye yet have a world to win!! Re-new the Emancipation Proclamation, and end all forms of slavery caused by unjust wars. |
To the geological world, Shaligram is one of the coiled chambered fossil shells of the extinct Cepalopod Mullusks that came into existence as a part of the initial emergence of the Himalayan heights from the depths of the Tethys-sea millions of years ago. To the Nepalese however, the Shaligram features very prominently in their religious lives because of its embodiment of Vishnu, one of the major manifestations in the Hindu Trinity.
Puranas like Scanda, Padam and Baraha written around 2,000 years ago, give an exhaustive account of Shaligram, which are divided into a wide variety of colour, shape and size. They can be found in the north of the Nilgiri mountain range right up to Damodar Kunda, and also in the waters of the Kaligandaki river right up to Tribeni in Dolal Ghat.
However, the most popular belt is on the banks of the Kaligandaki River at Jomsom where the pilgrims who pass through on their way to Muktinath search for a wide variety of Shaligram. On the other hand, this belt also had a past in which non-Hindu tradesmen and local people, broke into pieces particularly the Shaligrams with golden streaks in them in their search for gold.
The tradition has it that the priest families particularly the ones that are involved in the ceremonies of a religious nature have been worshipping the Shaligram for aeons. Shaligrams do come in various forms and colours and one has to select a particular kind for worship depending upon what one wishes to achieve.
The Shaligram is often placed on a copper plate over which water is poured, and then a Puja is performed. Later the water is drunk to purify the worshipper inside and outside. Under normal circumstances, it is believed that a sleek looking piece with a small mouth that fits within the fold of ones hand is ideal for worship.
In Riddi at Ruru Chhetra there is a Rishikesh temple in which the deity on a single huge piece of Shaligram measures nearly four feet in height.
In its legendary stories Nepal is a country where deities mingle with mortals and Shaligram is a symbol that has contributed to keep the glory and the sanctity of the sublime Himalayas intact.
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Question: Old Turkey Mash is a whiskey manufactured by distilling grains
Old Turkey Mash is a whiskey manufactured by distilling grains and corn and then aging the mixture for five years in 50- gallon oak barrels. Distilling requires about a week and aging takes place in care-fully controlled warehouses. Before it ages, the whiskey is too bitter to be consumed. Aging mellows the brew (and ultimately the consumer). The cost of the product prior to aging is $ 100 per barrel (direct plus indirect costs of distilling). In the aging process, each barrel must be inspected monthly and any leaks repaired. Every six months the barrels are rotated and sampled for quality. Costs of direct labor and materials in the aging process (excluding the cost of oak barrels) amount to $ 50 per barrel per year (all variable). As the whiskey ages, evaporation and leakage cause each 50- gallon barrel to produce only 40 gallons of bottled whiskey. New oak barrels cost $ 75 each and cannot be reused. After aging, they are cut in half and sold for flowerpots. The revenues generated from sales of the pots just cover the costs of disposing of the used barrels. As soon as the whiskey is aged five years, it is bottled and sold to wholesalers.
While domestic consumption of whiskey is falling, an aggressive international marketing campaign has opened up new international markets. The firm is in the third year of a five- year campaign to double production. Because it takes five years to increase production (an additional barrel of mash produced today does not emerge from the aging process for five years), the firm is adding 100,000 gallons of distilled product each year. Prior to the expansion, 500,000 distilled gallons were produced each year. Distilled output is being increased 100,000 gallons a year for five years until it reaches 1 million gallons. Distilled output is currently 800,000 gallons and is projected to rise to 900,000 gallons next year. The accompanying table describes production, sales, and inventory in the aging process.
Warehousing rental costs to age the base- year production of 10,000 barrels per year are $ 1 million per year. Additional warehouse rental cost of $ 40,000 per year must be incurred to age each additional 20,000 barrels (100,000 distilled gallons). All costs incurred in warehousing are treated as handling or carrying costs and are written off when incurred. Bottled Old Turkey is sold to distributors for $ 15 per gallon. These income statements summarize the firm’s current operating performance:
Management is quite concerned about the loss that is projected for the third year of the expansion (the current year). The president has scheduled a meeting with the local bank to review the firm’s current financial performance. This bank has been lending the firm the capital to finance the production expansion.
a. Instead of writing off all the warehousing and oak barrel costs, prepare revised income statements for years 1 through 3, treating the warehousing and barrel costs as product costs.
b. Which set of income statements (those given or the ones you prepared) should the president show the bank at the meeting? Justify youranswer.
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Sexual Harassment
• A form of discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is sexual harassment.
Requests for sexual favors, unwelcome sexual advances, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment. Sexual harassment affects an individual’s employment by interfering with work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances. The parties involved, victim and harasser, can be a woman or a man. They do not have to be the opposite sex. The harasser can be an agent of the employer, a co-worker, the victim’s supervisor, a supervisor in another area, or even a non-employee such as a client. Victims are anyone affected by the offensive conduct. Even without economic injury to or discharge of the victim, unlawful sexual harassment can occur. The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome.
The victim should use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available. It is helpful for the victim to directly inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. Criminal charges can also be filed against the harasser.
The best way to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace is prevention. To prevent sexual harassment from occurring, employers should clearly communicate to employees that sexual harassment is not tolerated. Establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains will help to prevent sexual harassment.
If you feel you were a victim of sexual harassment, please call us for a confidential consultation.
• Employment Discrimination: Overview
Employment Discrimination laws seek to prevent discrimination based on race, sex, religion, national origin, physical disability, and age by employers. The body of law preventing or occasionally justifying employment discrimination based on sexual orientation is growing. Bias in hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, termination, and various types of harassment are all discriminatory practices. Federal and state statutes compose the main body of employment discrimination laws. Where the employer is a governmental body or the government has taken significant steps to foster the discriminatory practice of the employer, additional protection is provided by The United States Constitution and some state constitutions.
The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution limit the power of federal and state governments to discriminate. The federal government can not deprive individuals of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law as well as an implicit guarantee that each person receive equal protection of the law as stated in the Fifth Amendment. States are explicitly prohibited from violating an individual’s rights of due process and equal protection in the Fourteenth Amendment. The power of state and federal governments to discriminate in their employment practices by treating job applicants, employees, or former employees unequally because of membership in a group, such as a race or sex, is limited by the right of equal protection. If an employee is terminated due to a liberty, such as the right to free speech, or property interest, due process protection requires that employees have a fair procedural process before the termination. Employment discrimination may also be protected by state constitutions.
The Constitution does not directly constrain the private sector, but it has become subject to a growing body of federal and state statutes.
Employers and unions are prohibited by The Equal Pay Act to pay wages based on sex. Where workers perform equal work in jobs requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions, they should be provided equal pay. However, it does not prohibit discriminatory practices in hiring.
Many more aspects of employment discrimination are prohibited in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, or sex which includes pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. Discrimination in hiring, discharging, compensation, or terms, conditions, and privileges of employment was made illegal by the Act. Employment agencies may not discriminate when hiring or referring applicants. The Act also prohibits labor organizations from basing membership or union classifications on sex, religion, national origin, race, or color.
The Nineteenth Century Civil Rights Acts was amended in 1993. The Act ensures all persons equal rights under the law as well as outlining the damages available to victims under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII, the American with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of age. An employee is protected from discrimination based on age if he or she is over 40. Explicit guidelines for retirement, pension, and benefit plans are outlined in the ADEA.
Through the elimination of discrimination and affirmative action programs, The Rehabilitation Act’s purpose is to promote and expand employment opportunities in the public and private sectors for handicapped individuals. Employers covered by the act include employers receiving federal contracts over $2500 or federal financial assistance agencies of the federal government. The Department of Labor enforces section 793 of the act which refers to employment under federal contracts. The Department of Justice enforces section 794 of the act which refers to organizations receiving federal assistance. The EEOC enforces the act against federal employees and individual federal agencies promulgate regulation pertaining to the employment of the disabled.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted to eliminate discrimination against those with handicaps. The type of discrimination prohibited is broader than that explicitly outlined by Title VII. It prohibits employers engaged in interstate commerce and state governments from discrimination based on a physical or mental handicap.
Discrimination of miners who suffer from pneumoconiosis, or “black lung”, is prohibited by The Black Lung Act.
The Equal Payment Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Title VII, Americans With Disabilities Act, and sections of the Rehabilitation Act are interpreted and enforced by The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) . The Commission was established by Title VII. Its enforcement provisions are contained in section 2000e-5 of Title 42, and its regulations and guidelines are contained in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 1614.
Extensive protection from employment discrimination which are not covered by federal acts are provided by state statutes. Some laws extend similar protection as provided by the federal acts to employers who are not covered by those statutes. A number of state statutes provide protection for individuals who are performing civil or family duties outside of their normal employment. |
from October 1996
by Emanuel A. Winston, Middle East Analyst & Commentator
When Mohammed failed to convert the Jews to Islam, he ordered Moslems to turn their backs on Jerusalem and pray to Mecca. The Jewish city became a despised place for Islam. Neither Christians nor Moslems ever thought enough of Jerusalem to make it their capital../…until now.
Christianity, developed by Paul (Saul), and Islam, defined by Mohammed in the Koran in the 7th century both claimed supersedence over their Jewish root source. Both maintained that the Jews had abrogated G-d’s trust and, therefore in their opinion, did not deserve His Covenant. Both asserted that they were the rightful heirs to be G-d’s chosen and demanded the Jews disappear or merge with them. Not only did the Christians and Moslems NOT want Jerusalem as their holy city, but history demonstrates that they literally hated the very ground it stood on. This ground was steeped in holy Jewish history and could not be easily shed of its Jewishness, even through repeated conquest and murder of its Jews. David and Solomon, prophets and kings trod Jerusalem’s streets and such footprints are hard to erase.
Jerusalem was to be repeatedly captured, bound up and denigrated to obliterate the Jew’s right to the spiritual Covenant by these claimants. G-d’s judgement was to be set aside, according to the judgement of these two combatants who now demanded recognition as the (only) chosen people
Roman, Christian and Moslem Competition for Jerusalem
By 70 CE Rome had conquered Judea and Jerusalem, killed the Jews of fighting age, sold the women and children into slavery. Titus, the Roman Emperor ordered the Second Temple burned, destroyed all surroundings, and packed the soil with salt to prevent anything from growing and the return of the Jews. The state was renamed ‘Palestine’ (after the Philistines) to obliterate the Jew in Judea or the Israelite in Israel. Hadrian renamed Jerusalem ‘Aelia Capitolina’ after the defeat of Bar Kochba in 135 CE. Only the gods of Rome were to rule the ravaged land and Jerusalem’s holy status was to be no more for the Jews (the Hebrews).
In 610 CE Mohammed, based on his vision, offered his religious leadership to the Jews proclaiming he was the last prophet of G-d. For 19 months he ordered the direction of his followers’ prayers (the quibla) toward Jerusalem to woo the Jews. When they refused Mohammed’s offer, he and his army slaughtered the Jews of Medina. Mohammed used the trick of temporary truce, the Hudabaiya Treaty with the Jewish Koraish tribe, only to kill them all.
Recently, Arafat has told his people that he too was using Mohammed’s plan for the Koraish tribe as his (Arafat’s) plan for Israel. Mohammed turned the quibla of Moslem prayers to Mecca and insured that Jerusalem was not mentioned even once in the Koran. Jews speak of Jerusalem continually throughout the Bible and many times each day in prayer.
The El Buraq Myth
Only since 1967 have the Moslems averred that Jerusalem was their third holiest city. The Hamas Islamic Resistance Movement in their terrorist Leaflet #65, Oct. 11, 1990, uses the el Buraq story to urge their Moslem followers to violence in order to show the West their devotion to the very place that Mohammed could not abide. In 1099 CE Christian Crusaders captured Jerusalem after surging in religious euphoria across Europe and into the Middle East, slaughtering Moslem and Jew alike.
In 1189 CE Saladin, a Moslem Kurd, captured Jerusalem from the Christian Crusaders. Earlier the Romans had used Caesaria on the Mediterranean Sea as their administrative capital of Judea; the Christians favored Acre as their regional capital and Saladin chose Ramle as his Moslem capital of the region. None found anything religiously compelling about Jerusalem.
Today, seeing the Jews return to rebuild their only capital, is an intolerable offense to those who now lay claim as the new (and only) chosen people.
In 1249 the Moslem Sultan al-Kamil thought so little of Jerusalem that he gave it away as a “gift” to the Roman Emperor, Fredrick II as thanks for an alliance against the competing Moslem ruler al-Malik. The Sultan remarked, “I have ceded nothing but ruined churches and wrecked buildings.”
Frederick was excommunicated by the reigning Pope for accepting Jerusalem, demonstrating that the Church also had no interest in an earthly Jerusalem. Islam gave away nothing it valued to the Christians and the Holy See of Christianity rejected it as a gift of no value.
The idea that Jerusalem was Islam’s Third Holiest City would have enraged Mohammed as blasphemous. Giving away Jerusalem to Fredrick II is a statement that this was a place which Mohammed considered impure and not holy for Islam. However, the Koran mandates that all lands conquered and later lost by Islam must be retaken. It seemed that the consistent goal of both Christians and Moslems was to be “G-d’s newly chosen” via territorial facts by capturing and occupying the city of Jerusalem. Denied the right to petition G-d directly, they tried to create facts on the ground.
In 19 years of Jordan’s illegal Moslem rule of North , East and South Jerusalem from the 1948 War, only Pakistan and Great Britain recognized Jordanian rule. Jordan vented its hatred against the Jews by desecrating 58 synagogues, turning them into stables, using headstones from the Mount of Olives Jewish cemetery for urinals, building roads and the Intercontinental Hotel over graves. (An emergency recovery of the headstones was recently mounted before the area was to be turned over to Arafat as part of Oslo.)
Jerusalem, a city so beautiful in the times of King David and King Solomon it was said to have 9 parts of the world’s 10 parts of beauty, was repeatedly left in a ruins with destroyed churches and synagogues. In recent times no condemnation was heard from the West, as each competed to convince the Arab Muslim oil owners of their fidelity by betraying the Jewish State time and again. False claims against Jerusalem by Arabs are supported by the Christian West, history and facts notwithstanding.
When the Arabs saw that the propaganda of religious claims played well in the West, they re-wrote history as fast as the revisions could be thought up. Moslem scholars created the fictitious history of a non-existent ‘Arab’ Palestinian people where, until 1948, only Jews were known as Palestinians. Before the Jews came in with jobs and health benefits, the sparse Arab population was a mix of Jordanians, Egyptians, Syrians, Iraqis, with much of the land leased to peasant farmers by Arab absentee land owners. To be called Palestinian was a pejorative, as it previously applied only to the despised Jews.
In Arabic, their own tongue, they prove the Jewish claim to the land through their superstitious habit of NOT changing the name of a city, town or village. When asked, they will point out a village with an Arabized Hebrew name and claim ancient roots where there are none. The continually flowing migration pattern was clearly demonstrated when oil became pricey and Moslems went on the move in the millions to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the other Gulf Emirates for high paying jobs.
After the Gulf War another migration began. This time the ‘new’ Palestinians were ejected from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia into Jordan as a dangerous element, a fifth column not to be trusted. So again a flood of Arabs were transferred mostly into Jordan. The present Arab claim against Jerusalem is merely the part allowed to show, for the real struggle is much deeper. While neither Christianity nor Islam can storm the heavens petitioning G-d to change His will, neither can they allow the Jewish religion to re-establish itself in Israel. A thriving Jerusalem flaws the claim that the Jews have been abandoned by G-d. The mere existence of a flourishing Jerusalem again under Jewish law and religion diminishes the claims and status of both Christianity and Islam to be the rightful heirs to G-d’s Covenant.
In 1967 Moslem clerics, the Waqf, were given control of the Temple Mount by Moshe Dayan. They built cement prayer pads over foundations of Jewish origin to separate them from the Jewish essence beneath – which they consider unholy and impure. From 1948 to 1967 few Islamic religious leaders of high status visited Jerusalem. A pilgrimage to Mecca is called a haj allowing the sojourner to put the honorific Haj before his first name. Not so Jerusalem. A visit to Jerusalem was called a zira, a place for a traveler to stop on his way to somewhere else.
September 23, 1991, Yasser Arafat, who calls himself the President of Palestine, demanded Jerusalem for a capital of a yet to be established state shown on PLO and PNC (Palestine National Council) maps to be encompassing all Israel from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. The major TV networks interviews continually exalt this man who supported Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, calling him a “man of peace”.
September 13, 1993, immediately after signing the Declaration of Principles on the White House lawn, Yasser Arafat proclaimed, “We will have a Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital.” He has repeated his intentions many times since in print and on television. May 10, 1994 in Johannesburg, South Africa he was secretly tape-recorded while speaking in a Moslem mosque. He declared in Arabic: “The Jihad Islamic Holy War] will continue. Jerusalem is not for the Palestinian people, it is for all the Muslim people. You are responsible for Palestine and for Jerusalem before me [applause], the land which had been blessed for the whole world. Now after this agreement you have to understand our main battle../.. Our main battle is Jerusalem. The cherished shrine of the Moslems. ../…for this I was insisting before signing [the May 4 Cairo Agreement] to have a letter from them, the Israelis, that Jerusalem../..has to be under discussion and not to say the permanent State of Israel! No! It is the permanent State of Palestine! [applause] ../…In this letter I had insisted to mention the Christian holy sacred place before the Islamic holy sacred place because I have to be faithful to the agreement between Caliph Omar and the Patriarch Sophronius [In 638 Sophronius, the Christian bishop of Jerusalem, surrendered Jerusalem to Omar, the 2nd successor to Mohammed. A condition of that treaty was: no Jews would be allowed to live in Jerusalem! and Omar referred to the city as “Aelia” for the old Roman name of “Aelia Capitolina”] ../…./..You have to come and to fight and to start the Jihad to liberate of Jerusalem. ../…I was hesitating [referring to the May 4 signing in Cairo of the Gaza/Jericho withdrawal agreement], because I was insisting to mention Jerusalem. I want this promise from the co-sponsors [U.S. Sec. of State] Christopher and [Russian Foreign Minister] Kozyrev and [Egyptian President] Mubarak. And this has been done. ../…./..This capital is not their capital. It is our capital. It is your capital. It is the first shrine of the Islam and the Moslems../…./.. Sooner or later we will pray in Jerusalem together. This agreement [the Hudabaiya Treaty] (is not) more than the agreement which had been signed between our prophet Mohammed and Koraish. [The 10 year agreement called the Hudabaiya Treaty, with the Koraish allowed Mohammed to pray in Mecca. When Mohammed grew stronger, two years later, he abrogated the agreement, slaughtered the Koraish and conquered Mecca.] Onward to victory, onward to Jerusalem! We will enter the mosque as they have entered it before.”
When in power, Prime Minister Rabin, Foreign Minister Peres and Deputy Foreign Minister Beilin excused Arafat’s bald statements of intent, denied secret agreements, lied about the Jerusalem letter, and have since been exposed signing away portions of the Jewish patrimony to the Arabs and to the Vatican. Yossi Beilin arranged to have Arafat fly the Palestinian flag over the Temple Mount. They have placed Jerusalem on the negotiating table for the first time ever in Oslo 1993. The lie has since been exposed, although the present Likud government is being pressed by Clinton to keep the Peres agreement.
To say the Arabs want Jerusalem merely because the Jews have it, would be simplistic but true. The Catholic Popes have long denied Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a city of peace, except for those who seek to conquer and divide. History shows Jerusalem’s many conquerors sought only to dominate, and thereby demonstrate their military, political and religious superiority over the Jews and their capital. When either Islam or Christianity had military control of the city, they denied the other religious freedom../…and both denied it to the Jews.
Sadly, the two branches which spring from the root stock of Judaism feel it is necessary to destroy their own parent so that one or the other may claim the Covenant. If the Jews cooperate in their own destruction, how will Christianity and Islam go about defeating each other for G-d’s Covenant?
Once having won, how will the winner manage to present his claim to G-d?
Revised and reprinted from The Jerusalem Post of 25 September 1996
One Response
1. I stumpts me how someone who seems to be so well educated and has become published commentator, still does not know how to spell Muslims and Qur’an.
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What is an Arduino?
Contributors: b_e_n
Favorited Favorite 17
What Does it Do?
The Arduino hardware and software was designed for artists, designers, hobbyists, hackers, newbies, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. Arduino can interact with buttons, LEDs, motors, speakers, GPS units, cameras, the internet, and even your smart-phone or your TV! This flexibility combined with the fact that the Arduino software is free, the hardware boards are pretty cheap, and both the software and hardware are easy to learn has led to a large community of users who have contributed code and released instructions for a huge variety of Arduino-based projects.
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_Wear your nerd cred on your sleev… err, arm. _
And that’s really just the tip of the iceberg – if you’re curious about where to find more examples of Arduino projects in action, here are some good resources for Arduino-based projects to get your creative juices flowing: |
Open Access
• Tobias Weil1,
• Carlotta De Filippo2, 3,
• Davide Albanese1,
• Claudio Donati1,
• Massimo Pindo1,
• Lorenzo Pavarini1,
• Federico Carotenuto2,
• Massimiliano Pasqui2,
• Luisa Poto4,
• Jacopo Gabrieli4,
• Carlo Barbante4, 5,
• Birgit Sattler6,
• Duccio Cavalieri2, 7Email author and
• Franco Miglietta2Email author
DOI: 10.1186/s40168-017-0249-7
Received: 12 August 2016
Accepted: 27 February 2017
Published: 10 March 2017
A critical aspect regarding the global dispersion of pathogenic microorganisms is associated with atmospheric movement of soil particles. Especially, desert dust storms can transport alien microorganisms over continental scales and can deposit them in sensitive sink habitats. In winter 2014, the largest ever recorded Saharan dust event in Italy was efficiently deposited on the Dolomite Alps and was sealed between dust-free snow. This provided us the unique opportunity to overcome difficulties in separating dust associated from “domestic” microbes and thus, to determine with high precision microorganisms transported exclusively by desert dust.
Our metagenomic analysis revealed that sandstorms can move not only fractions but rather large parts of entire microbial communities far away from their area of origin and that this microbiota contains several of the most stress-resistant organisms on Earth, including highly destructive fungal and bacterial pathogens. In particular, we provide first evidence that winter-occurring dust depositions can favor a rapid microbial contamination of sensitive sink habitats after snowmelt.
Airborne microbial depositions accompanying extreme meteorological events represent a realistic threat for ecosystem and public health. Therefore, monitoring the spread and persistence of storm-travelling alien microbes is a priority while considering future trajectories of climatic anomalies as well as anthropogenically driven changes in land use in the source regions.
Desert dust storm Microbial ecology Airborne pathogens Long-distance dispersal Global warming Climate change Ecosystem and public health Metagenomics Alpine soils Invasion
Many microorganisms use Aeolian dispersal as a key strategy for colonization of new habitats, and here especially, the global dispersal of microbial pathogens constitutes a threat to environmental health [1, 2]. Dust particles can facilitate intercontinental movement by acting as vehicles for viable microorganisms [3]. West African soils, primary the Saharan desert, are major sources of airborne dust that is frequently transported at high altitude over the Atlantic and the European continent [4]. Both the Sahara and the atmosphere are characterized by harsh conditions with limited availability of nutrients, high radiation, and extreme temperatures [5]. Therefore, microorganisms that are able to survive in these environments represent potential invaders of sites with comparable challenging conditions such as high-elevated alpine regions [6]. Further, recent knowledge suggests that the transported mineral and biological particles of large-scale dust storms affect cloud ice formation and precipitation processes, creating novel climate system feedbacks [7]. In particular, during winter, alien biological particles associated with large dust events may be deposited in vast numbers leaving persistent dust layers in the snowpack [8] that, at the highest elevations are preserved in the ice of glaciers. Such permanently frozen environments harbour a variety of viable microorganisms [9] that have been deposited over centuries [10], but it was rarely shown that they can persist in the new habitat after the snowpack was melted [11]. Previous studies revealed that microorganisms transported with Saharan dust can provoke several severe plant diseases [12]. Moreover, increasing incidences of pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases [13], as well as meningitis epidemics [14], have been attributed to dust storms either caused by the dust itself or due to plant-derived constituents or endotoxins of microbial dust “passengers” [1]. Hence, the characterization of alien microorganisms that are currently sequestered in the cryosphere is a priority while considering global warming and future trajectories of climatic anomalies as well as anthropogenically driven changes in land use in the source regions [4, 15, 16]. An increasing frequency of dust storms may intensify the global dispersal, the deposition, and consequently the rapid contamination of new habitats by alien microbes. Yet difficulties in separating dust associated from “domestic” microbes have complicated a precise description of the deposited airborne desert dust microbiota. To efficiently study the long-distance dispersal of microbes by large-scale desert dust events and their impact on distant ecosystems, a collaborating effort of geologists, atmospheric chemists, and microbiologists was strongly requested [3].
In winter 2014, a massive amount of Saharan dust particles was mobilized and transported towards the Western Mediterranean Basin (Fig. 1) resulting in the largest Saharan winter dust event that was recorded at the Italian Climate Observatory [17] up to that time. This massive event was then efficiently deposited in the Alpine region, covered by successive snowfalls and thus remained sealed between two dust-free snow layers (Fig. 1), preventing windblown contamination by material from the local environment [18].The clear separation of snow layers associated with the dust event and with the dust-free snowfall events gave us the unique opportunity to determine with high precision the bacterial and fungal communities that were transported in the troposphere from the Sahara to the Alps (Fig. 1). Additionally, we tested the contamination potential of these airborne communities by comparing them to the Alpine soil microbiota after snowmelt.
Fig. 1
Saharan dust event in the Dolomite Alps on February 19th 2014. a Back trajectories computed at different height levels and expressed in pressure values (color scale: <100 and >900 hPa).The starting point is located at Long 11.81° and Lat 46.86°, on 19th of Feb 2014 12:00 UTC. Solid circles represent locations every 6 h and numbers refer to date (day of February). b Map (made with Natural Earth) showing collection sites in the Dolomite Alps. c Snow samples were collected wearing protective suits, facemasks, and vinyl gloves. d Snowpit (2 m depth) consisting of layer A: snow that fell after the Saharan dust event; layer B: Saharan sand-containing snow, clearly distinguishable by its light brown color. and layer C: snow that fell before the Saharan dust event. e Relative abundances of the most abundant bacterial (16S rRNA gene) and fungal (ITS) classes present in the three snow layers and the soil layer (not shown). Saharan sand-containing snow is characterized by a higher relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Dothideomycetes
Our detailed metagenomic analysis unveiled that extreme meteorological events can move not only fractions but also large parts of entire microbial communities over continental scales, that this microbiota contains highly destructive environmental and important human pathogens, and that winter occurring dust depositions bear a great potential for a rapid microbial contamination of sensitive sink habitats after snowmelt.
Back trajectories
During the wetter than normal winter 2014 over the Alpine region by the end of January, a positive snow anomaly was present in the central sector 1500–1700 masl [19]. In this area, between the end of January and the first half of February abundant precipitation events provided a thick snow coverage even at low altitudes starting from 800 masl. [19]. On 14th of February, a cyclonic depression generated over the southern Morocco moved rapidly eastward to Mauritania, north Mali and south Algeria, mobilizing a massive amount of Saharan dust particles until 17th of February. Then, on 19–20 February 2014, a north–northwest displacement of the sub-tropical Azores high-pressure system over the Atlantic Ocean, and a large anticyclone circulation centered over Libya provided the favorable conditions for a north-to-south elongated trough, associated with an extratropical cyclone over the British Islands, that was extended from Senegal/Niger to Great Britain and Western Europe. It generated a vigorous southerly flow towards the Western Mediterranean Basin from February 14th to 20th (Fig. 1, Additional file 1: Figure S1) resulting in the largest Saharan winter dust event ever recorded at the Italian Climate Observatory [17]. This massive aerosol plume was then efficiently deposited during a moderate snowing event at altitudes above 1800 masl. in the Alpine region on 19th of February. The Saharan dust-rich snow layer was covered by successive snowfalls, starting 2 days later due to Atlantic air masses and thus remained sealed between two dust-free snow layers (Fig. 1). Backward trajectories, based on a high-resolution non-hydrostatic mesoscale model simulation [19], revealed that the most likely emission source was located along the path covering Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, and Algeria (Fig. 1).
The major ion composition of deposited mineral dust validated the back trajectories (Fig. 1) for the identification of the potential source areas (Table 1, Additional file 1: Table S1). Geochemical characterizations clearly showed that the chemical composition of the snow containing Saharan dust differed from dust-free snow for higher concentrations of trace, major, and rare earth elements, in particular regarding the very high concentrations of crustal elements such as Na, Mg, K, Ca, and Fe (Additional file 1: Figure S2). Elemental ratios are one of the best tools to reveal regional potential source areas of Saharan dust particles [20]. In this case, the elemental mass ratios of snow samples containing dust (MA289 and MAJ025) are within the intervals reported for the Saharan desert [21] (Table 1).
Table 1
Comparison of crustal element ratios. Comparison between values of crustal element ratios measured in bulk sediments from North Africa (Sahara desert, Scheuvens et al. [20]) and the same ratios measured in Marmolada samples (MA289 and MAJ025)
Sahara desert
Sample MA289
Sample MAJ025
(Ca + Mg)/Fe
Detailed chemical compositions of snow samples are given in Table S1
The pyrosequencing produced a total of 310.994 reads of the V3-V5 variable region of the 16S rRNA gene (average read length 649 nt) and 582.811 reads of the variable ITS1 region (average read length 443 nt). After pre-processing and rarefaction, a total of 1282 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for the 16S rRNA gene (with a depth of 2879 reads per sample) and 1095 OTUs for ITS data (with a depth of 5264 reads per sample) were considered.
Both the targeted 16S rRNA gene and ITS1 sequencing revealed clear differences between the bacterial and fungal communities present in snow containing Saharan sand (layer B) and snow that fell before (layer C) and after (layer A) the deposition event (Fig. 1; Fig. 2, unweighted UniFrac distance PERMANOVA P < 0.0001). Layer B showed a significantly higher diversity of its microbial community than layers A and C (Fig. 2, P = 5.5 × 10−4 and P = 7.3 × 10−4 for the 16S rRNA gene and ITS, respectively, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, FDR corrected; Additional file 1: Figure S3). Layers A and C were characterized by a higher fraction of the bacterial classes Alpha-, Gammaproteo-, and Cyanobacteria (Fig. 1), with Pseudomonas as the most abundant genus (Additional file 1: Figure S4). We could additionally identify with high precision other microorganisms significantly enriched in dust-free snow, these are Acinetobacter, Caulobacter, Acquabacterium, Beijerinckia, Novosphingobium, Granullicella, Terriglobus, Pelomonas, Ralstonia, and Phenylobacterium (Additional file 1: Figure S4). Regarding fungi, layers A and C were especially rich in molds of the genus Penicillium (Additional file 1: Figure S5).
Fig. 2
Community diversity between the three snow layers and soil samples. The measures of α-diversity for each sample are given. a Number of observed bacterial 16S rRNA gene OTUs. b Number of observed fungal ITS1 OTUs. PCoA of the between samples distances, for c bacterial and d fungal samples, were measured using unweighted UniFrac distance. Symbol shapes indicate the two Dolomite mountain collection sides. Colors of snow layers are coded according to Fig. 1d and soil samples are given in orange color
Snow containing Saharan dust (layer B) was mainly represented by Actinobacteria and Bacilli (Fig. 1). Strikingly, layer B was significantly enriched in the most abundant bacterial families previously described for Saharan sand samples taken in Chad [22] (Fig. 3), and we found that 85% of the principal Saharan bacterial genera [22] (Additional file 1: Figure S4) arrived in the European Alps in a single meteorological event. The genus Geodermatophilus was frequent in all layer B samples.
Fig. 3
Significant enriched bacterial families (Wilcoxon rank-sum test, P < 0.05, FDR corrected) in Saharan sand-containing snow. Comparison of the sand-free snow layers (A) and (C) against the Saharan sand-containing snow layer (B). Asterisks indicate presence among the most** and general* abundant families described for Saharan sand collected in Chad [22]. Families taken in consideration are present >1% in at least 20% of all samples
As seen for the long-range transport of bacterial communities, also the three most abundant fungal classes described for the Saharan desert [22], namely, Dothideomycetes, Agaricomycetes, and Sordariomycetes, were significantly enriched in layer B when compared to sand-free snow layers (FDR adjusted Wilcoxon rank-sum test P = 7.7.0 × 10−4, 2.5 × 10−3, and 2.0 × 10−3). Additionally, layer B snow could be easily distinguished from sand-free snow, as 79% of the significantly enriched fungal genera were almost exclusively present in layer B samples (Additional file 1: Figure S5). Like the mycobiota described for hot deserts, fungal microbes specific for dusty snow were dominated by imperfect ascomycetes, teleomorph genera, and dematiaceous fungi with darkly pigmented, thick-walled, and strongly melanized spores [23]. A closer look on these fungal genera unveiled that mainly so-called “black fungi” especially of the orders Pleosporales, Capnodiales, and Dothideales were dominant in almost all layer B samples as reflected in the genera, Aurebasidium, Periconia, Pleosporaceae, Montagnulaceae, Embellisia, and Davidiella (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4
Significant enriched fungal genera (Wilcoxon rank-sum test, P < 0.05, FDR corrected) in Saharan sand-containing snow. Comparison of the sand-free snow layers A and C against the Saharan sand-containing snow layer B. un unidentified. Genera taken in consideration are present >1% in at least 20% of all samples
To uncover if alien dust storm microbes remained in the Alpine soil after snowmelt, we compared operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of species exclusively present in layer B with those present in soil samples. Out of these identical OTUs, 82 bacterial and 36 fungal OTUs matched the criterion (Additional file 2: Table S2). This is equivalent to approximately 10% of the bacterial and fungal layer B OTUs. Members of the fungal class Dothideomycetes seem to be predesignated for the survival in new challenging environments as half of the fungal species belonged to them with Pleosporales as the dominant order and Phoma as the most abundant genus (Additional file 2: Table S2). Regarding bacteria, Actinobacteria was the prevalent class (39%), followed by Alphaproteobacteria (22%), and Bacilli (9%) (Additional file 2: Table S2).
During last decades, an overall increase in quantity of African dust depositon was noted [24]. This phenomenon has been so far considered relevant for nutrient deposition and soil development [25, 26], yet the recent knowledge on the microbial world suggests that dust deposition may introduce exotic microorganisms, including pathogens, into sensitive ecosystems [3, 4]. First insights on the immigration potential of Saharan dust microbes has been gained from studies on high alpine remote lakes, highlighting microorganisms that might have the capability to be successful colonizers under favourable conditions [4, 2729]. Here, we analyzed the microbial load of the largest ever recorded winter-occurring Saharan dust event in Italy and, for the first time, we provide evidence on the potential contamination of alpine soils by desert dust microorganisms after snowmelt.
The clear demarcation of the deposited dust allowed us to precisely determine microorganisms associated with this massive dust event. The role of desert storm sand deposition in moving entire microbial communities is mirrored by the result that layer B (dust-containing snow) has a significantly higher alpha diversity than layers A and C (dust-free snow). The African origin of these microbial communities is reflected in the high conformity of principal bacterial and fungal genera described for the Saharan desert [22] with those present in layer B. It is especially noteworthy that extremely stress-resistant bacteria and fungi were among the most abundant microbes present in the snow containing Saharan sand. They are known for their ability to adapt to environmental stressors including desiccation and extreme γ radiation, like in the case of the genus Geodermatophilus [30]. Several members of these black and thick-walled bacteria were isolated from arid soils [31], from Mont Blanc snow containing Saharan sand [6], and directly from sand sampled in the Saharan desert [22].
Further, endospore-forming Bacillus species are highly present in Saharan sand [22], and this genus was also frequently detected in our layer B samples. Similarly, viable Bacillus species originating from Chinese deserts were shown to be distributed via the atmosphere to long distance habitats in Japan [32, 33]. The ability to form spores provides resistance to extreme environments [34] and indicates that these genera have a high probability of surviving years of enclosure in the snowpack [35], while for the survival in the troposphere pigmentation seems to be an important factor [4, 8]. Regarding the latter case, the pigmented Deinococcus-Thermus and Gemmatimonadetes were recently considered as bio-indicators for Saharan dust events [8] which is supported by our observations (Additional file 1: Table S4). The genera Deinococcus and Gemmatimonas were significantly enriched in layer B, but Gemmatimonas was also enriched in soil samples. Gemmatimonadetes are normally not present in the Southern European air, but are prevailing bacteria in soils of recently deglaciated glacier forefields [8, 36], therefore they might represent a suitable example for Saharan immigrants of alpine soils.
The so-called black fungi were characteristic for the fugal dust-borne community. They are among the most stress-resistant organisms on Earth and colonize rock surfaces even in the most arid zones of the world [23]. The remarkable survival capacity of black fungi has been further highlighted by a recent study in which Saharan dust samples collected by Charles Darwin in 1838 were successfully cultured and here, next to spore-forming bacteria (e.g., Bacillus), a member of Dothideomycetes (Davidiella tassiana, Capnodiales) was isolated among cultivable fungi [37]. More important Capnodiales and Pleosporales contain several highly destructive and important pathogens of cereal crops, vegetables fruits, dicots, and trees as well as the most important fungal allergens [38].
Taken together, Saharan sand microbes that arrived with the dust event showed the potential to overcome all challenges posed, such as long-distance transport in the troposphere, long quiescence state in snow at sub-zero temperature, low nutrient availability, and persistence in the Alpine soil after snowmelt. Representatives of black thick-walled fungi and bacteria seem to have the best armamentarium, which allows them to survive harsh conditions. This high adaptation potential to challenging environments in a changing climate might be a possible prerequisite for the evolution of pathogenicity [23]. Moreover, pathogens cannot solely survive in foreign environments but some can still germinate as it is the case for some ancient viruses recovered from melted permafrost in which it has been stored for more than 30,000 years [39]. The “European Respiratory Society Environment and Health Committee” recommended attention and control of wind-blown dust from, for example, the Sahara, as they may have adverse health effects [40]. Hence, together with fine inorganic dust particles, dust-associated microbes represent a serious health risk as several layer B genera include species that are known to cause allergic reactions, pulmonary infections, skin infections, or fatal brain infections in humans as well as leaf disease, inhibition of growth, branch and stem canker, blight, rot, scab, and mildew in plants. On the other hand, it has to be noted that some of these microbes are, albeit their potential pathogenicity, known as beneficial organisms like members of the genus Aurebasidium [41, 42].
The dust-free snow (layers A and C) was significantly enriched on genera containing known ice nucleators such as Pseudomonas, that were missing from layer B. The high relative abundance of Pseudomonas in dust-free snow samples might be related to the ability of some Pseudomonas species to initiate ice formation by special ice nucleation active proteins present in their outer membrane [43]. Next to Pseudomonas, dust-free snow was significantly enriched in Acinetobacter and molds of the genera Penicillium. Acinetobacter genera were frequently found in atmospheric water, and Penicillium strains were discussed to impact the atmospheric multiphase chemistry [44]. Additionally, we could identify other microorganisms significantly enriched in dust-free snow, and it will be interesting to study whether they have ice nucleation activities similar to Pseudomonas or be hitchhiking on ice nucleators. Our data supports the hypothesis that Saharan dust and biological aerosols have ice nucleation activity and are important for precipitation processes [45]; it further suggests that dust-driven snowfalls seem to be events that are microbiologically much more complex and well separated from dust-free snowfalls, bearing the potential ability of the former to bring down to the ground species that normally are not airborne, at least on such big distances.
Overall, there is evidence that large dust storms can move quasi-entire microbial communities far away from their area of origin and thus subsequently exposing them to novel environmental niches. The inoculum size is crucial as it determines the ability of a microbial community to survive, colonize, and eventually take over in a new environment. When dust events occur during the warm seasons, in form of rain, these are likely buffered by the robustness of the recipient microbial communities, and the inoculum is likely to be diluted and dispersed by surface runoff and infiltration. But when these events occur during winter, the microbes are accumulated in the snow, reaching a high titer upon rise of temperature during spring and summer. In those cases, masses of microbes are released in high concentrations on a limited surface during the melting of the snowpack. This effect might be further multiplied by the release of similar alien microbes that have been transported with desert dust over centuries and that were stored in the now ever retrieving glacial ice [9]. The quantification of the overall load of microorganisms currently sequestered in melting glaciers should be assessed by means of ice cores sampling. Awareness of this realistic microbial contamination together with the increasing availability of next generation sequencing resources for metagenomic analysis, require the development of up-to-date monitoring capabilities targeted to melting snow and glacier effluents for the effective implementation of early warning systems.
Back trajectories
A full non-hydrostatic regional model (Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS)) has been forced by atmospheric fields from NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis dataset and sea surface temperature field obtained from the Optimal Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature dataset. The model simulation was run over a wide domain covering North Atlantic basin, Africa, Europe, and Middle East, from February 1s to March 1st 2014, with a horizontal grid spacing of 50 km, a vertical extent of about 21 km above sea level, and a temporal resolution of 1 h. Backward trajectories calculation has been computed by using the full 3D wind field modelled by the RAMS and with a centred difference in time computation in Grid Analysis and Display System (GrADS) ( This regional reanalysis approach guarantees a coherent description of the three-dimensional flow dynamics. Furthermore, the non-hydrostatic formulation of model, along with the fine time resolution (1 h) ensures a reliable representation of backward trajectories [46].
Sampling sites
Samples were collected on two mountains located in the Trentino region of the Italian Alps: Marmolada (Punta Rocca, collection site at 3054 m) and Latemar (collection site at 2080 m) (Fig. 1). To maximize sampling efficiency, we collected at an altitude for which the maximum deposition of Saharan dust (approx. 2000–3000 m) was reported [47]. Further, the air temperature at the collection sides rarely, if at all (Marmolada), exceeds freezing during winter. Snow samples were collected based on established sampling methods [18, 48]. Briefly, samples were taken wearing protective suits (coveralls), facemasks, and vinyl gloves. Surface snow was removed using a clean sterilized shovel. The snowpit was carefully dug in order to maintain the stratigraphy of the snow layers and consisted of layer A: snow that fell after the Saharan dust event; layer B: Saharan sand-containing snow, clearly distinguishable by its light brown color, and layer C: snow that fell before the Saharan dust event (Fig. 1).The compacted snow of the layers indicated that no snowmelt took place after dust deposition. Samples were collected in sterile plastic containers or plastic bags, were transported on dry ice, and were stored at−80 °C.
Two snow samples with clearly visible dust layers and four sample of “clean” snow were collected at different depths from the entire pit profile at the Marmolada collection site. In the laboratory, samples were melted under a clean bench and acidified with HNO3 (ultrapure grade, Romil, Cambridge, UK) to obtain 2% solutions (v/v). CRC-ICP-MS measurements were performed using an Agilent 7500cx collision/reaction cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (CRC-ICP-MS) equipped with a CETAC ASX-520 auto-sampler. Measurements of selected major and trace elements were carried out with and without the collision cell in both helium and in hydrogen mode to reduce potential interferences. Instrumental drift and plasma fluctuations were corrected by online addition of a Rhodium internal standard solution (0.1 mg L−1, Ultra Scientific, Milano, Italy, 1000 mg L−1 stock solution).
The elemental suite was quantified using an external calibration. Five calibration standards ranging from 0.1 to 100 μg L−1 were prepared from the 10 mg L−1 multi-elemental standards CLM-2AN and IMS-101 (Ultra Scientific, Milano, Italy). Three additional calibrations points were prepared for the major crustal elements (Fe, Al, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Ti) from single standard solutions (ULTRA Scientific, 1000 mg L−1). The concentrations of these ranged from 200 to 2000 μg L−1.
For quality control purposes a certified reference material (CRM TMRAIN-04, lot 0913, Envir. Canada) was analyzed. The measured values are in good agreement with the certified and information values for this CRM (Additional file 1: Table S3).
Per collection site, five snow samples were taken. A snow sample set consists of three samples: layer A—fresh snow above the Saharan sand; layer B—snow containing Saharan sand; and layer C—snow below the Saharan sand layer (Fig. 1). Depending on snow height on the two mountains, layer A was collected from 30 to 60 cm, layer B from 70 to 100 cm, and layer C from 120 to 180 m under the snow surface. Additional six soil samples were taken at the Latemar collection site after snowmelt in a depth of approximately 10 to 20 cm under the surface.
All samples were gently melted and opened inside a clean bench. Melted snow (approx. 30 ml) was filtered (MO BIO Water filter; 0,22 μm), and genomic DNA was extracted using the PowerWater® DNA Isolation Kit (MO BIO Laboratories Inc., Carlsbad, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Soil samples were extracted using the FastDNA Spin Kit for Soil (MP Biomedicals, Santa Ana, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. DNA quality was assessed by gel electrophoresis and UV-Vis spectroscopy. High-throughput metagenomics sequencing of the variable V3-V5 region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and of the fungal ITS1 region was performed on a GS FLX+ system using the XL+ chemistry following the manufacture’s protocols.
Raw 454 files were demultiplexed using the Roche’s sff file software. Reads were pre-processed using the MICCA pipeline [49]. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were assigned by clustering the sequences with a threshold of 97% pair-wise identity, and their representative sequences were classified using the RDP [50] software version 2.8.
Alpha (within-sample richness) and beta diversity (between-sample dissimilarity) estimates were computed using the phyloseq R package [51]. Permutational MANOVA (PERMANOVA) statistical tests were performed using the R package vegan [52] (adonis function) with 9999 permutations. See supplementary information for full detailed methods.
We thank the Centro Valanghe di Arabba for their support during snow sampling.
Financial support for this research was provided by the Transnational Access to Research Infrastructures activity in the 7th Framework Programme of the EC under the Trees4Future project (no. 284181), the METAFOODLABS grant from the Provincia Autonoma di Trento (PAT Prot. S116/2012/537723), the Tawani Foundation and the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC, Grant agreement no. 267696-EARLYhumanIMPACT.
Availability of data and materials
The sequence data supporting the results of this article are available at the European Nucleotide Archive ( under the study accession number PRJEB11741. Sample accessions and metadata are available in Additional file 3: Table S5.
Authors’ contributions
DC and FM led the study. TW, MPa, CB, DC, and FM conceived the initial study design. TW, JG, MPi, and DC collected the samples. TW, JG, and MPi performed the experiments. DA, JG, CD, MPa, and CB analyzed the data. TW, DA, JG, CD, MPa, BS, CB, DC, and FM interpreted the data. TW, BS, CB, DC, and FM wrote the paper with significant input from all other authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Authors’ Affiliations
Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach
Institute of Biometeorology, National Research Council (IBIMET-CNR)
Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology, National Research Council (IBBA-CNR)
Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes, National Research Council (IDPA-CNR)
Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca’ Foscari of Venice
Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck
Department of Biology, University of Florence
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© The Author(s). 2017 |
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Children's Bone Health and Calcium: Other FAQs
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How does diet help maintain bone health?
How is vitamin D related to healthy bones?
In a large health survey, 9% of U.S. children, teens, and young adults ages 1 to 21 years had vitamin D levels low enough to put them at risk for rickets. Among teenagers, 61% were severely deficient in vitamin D. Children who did not drink milk frequently were at higher risk for vitamin D deficiency.1
Sunlight stimulates the body to make vitamin D in the skin. However, when spending time outdoors, children should wear protective clothing and use sunscreen to prevent sunburn, which can lead to skin cancer later in life.2 (For more information about sun safety, visit the American Academy of Pediatrics website.)
FoodPortion SizeVitamin D (IU)
Cod liver oil1 tbsp1,360
Swordfish, cooked3 oz566
Salmon (sockeye), cooked3 oz447
Tuna, canned in water, drained3 oz154
Orange juice, vitamin D fortified8 oz137
Milk (nonfat, reduced fat, or whole), vitamin D fortified8 oz115–124
Yogurt, vitamin D fortified6 oz80
Margarine, vitamin D fortified1 tbsp60
Sardines, canned in oil, drained2 sardines46
Beef liver, cooked3 oz42
Egg (vitamin D is in yolk)1 large41
Ready-to-eat cereal, vitamin D fortified6–8 oz40
At agesChildren and teens should get this much vitamin D every day:
Younger than 1 year400 International Units (IU)
1 to 18 years600 IU
What is peak bone mass?
Peak bone mass is the amount of bone a person has in his or her early adult years. The body builds most bone by age 19 in girls and by age 22 in boys.1 In other words, by their late teens or early 20s, most people's bones are as dense and strong as they will ever be. Maximizing peak bone mass as a teen reduces the risk for osteoporosis (thin, weak bones that break easily) later in life.
What can I do to increase my child's calcium intake?
For additional information, check out the Lactose Intolerance topic.
2. Kumar, J., Muntner, P., Kaskel, F. J., Hailpern, S. M., & Melamed, M. L. (2009). Prevalence and associations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency in US children: NHANES 2001–2004. Pediatrics, 124(3), e362–370. [top]
3. Wagner, C. L., & Greer, F. R. (2008). Prevention of rickets and vitamin D deficiency in infants, children, and adolescents. Pediatrics, 122(5), 1142–1152. [top]
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009). Breastfeeding: Vitamin D supplementation. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from External Web Site Policy [top]
6. American Academy of Pediatrics. (2012). Vitamin D and your baby. Retrieved May 22, 2012, from External Web Site Policy [top]
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Equilibrium Ball attached to wall problem
1. Jan 6, 2008 #1
A uniform sphere of mass m and radius r is held in place by a massless rope attached to a frictionless wall a distance L above the center of the sphere. Find (a) the tension in the rope and (b) the force on the sphere from the wall.
2. Relevant equations
net torque = 0
net force = 0
t=force of tension
F=force of wall
mg=gravitational force on ball
3. The attempt at a solution
well, strangely enough I am able to solve for part B. choosing the point where the string is attached to the wall as my origin. I am able to determine the torque caused by tension to be 0 as the tension force runs 180 parallel the string. Using motion arm times force = torque, I can find the remaining torques so that:
which yields
which is the correct answer to part B. However, I have no clue how to solve part A. I have already used my torque, so I tried setting the force equations for the x and y axis to 0.
but that doesn't get me anything close to the correct answer of
help please
2. jcsd
3. Jan 6, 2008 #2
Doc Al
User Avatar
Staff: Mentor
Either one of those force equations will get you the answer. Hint: Evaluate sin(x)--or cos(x)--in terms of the lengths given.
4. Jan 6, 2008 #3
oh, thanks!...so
replace L/a for cosx
by pyth. theorem a = sqrt(r^2+L^2)
THANK YOU SO MUCH! It feels so good to get that problem done. For awhile I thought that there would be something way complex to do that would take a lot of work...and I was intimidated to go any further. Thanks again. |
Aquatics Unlimited: Articles: High Ammonia Readings
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High Ammonia Readings
for the week of 9/24/98
Though it's not as commonplace as some people seem to think, sometimes an aquarium will show high ammonia levels when checked with a test kit. After ruling out the possibilities of New Tank Syndrome and False Ammonia Readings, it's time to look into the possible causes of ammonia buildup as well as what to do about it.
High ammonia levels basically mean that, for one reason or another, the good (ammonia-eating) bacteria in your system are not keeping up with the amount of ammonia being produced. This, in turn, means that either too much ammonia is being produced or that something is inhibiting the bacteria from doing their job properly.
Ammonia is prouced as a major part of fish waste, and also when anything organic is allowed to decay in the aquarium. If a tank suddenly develops a high ammonia level, check for dead fish, plants, "live roc"" and uneaten food; generally speaking, it takes a very visible amount of any of these to have any impact on an ammonia reading. If a tank has either recurring or chronic ammonia problems, it is likely either overcrowded or overfed, and adjustments to stocking density or feeding habits need to be made.
Ammonia-eating bacteria are living things, and hence subject to trauma and death - which can usually be traced back to the actions of a well-meaning hobbyist. Too massive a water change can sometimes put a stop to ammonia breakdown, especially if the new water is not adequately dechlorinated or temperature-adjusted. Use - and overuse - of medications and antibiotics can also debilitate or kill the beneficial bacteria just as easily as the harmful ones. Changing of gravel or (at least theoretically) filter media might result in throwing away a significent number of bacteria. Finally, inadequate aeration may limit the bacteria's ability to process waste.
After tracking down the likely causes, a partial water change (not too big, and make sure the new water is properly treated) will temporarily dilute the amount of ammonia in the water, and there are chemical additives that also help to remove or bind up what's left. If all goes well, the ammonia-eating bacteria should kick back in after a few days
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DELTA home
The families of flowering plants
L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz
Siphonodontaceae Gagnep. & Tardieu
Alternatively Capusiaceae Gagnep.; ~ Celastraceae.
Habit and leaf form. Trees, or lianas. Self supporting, or climbing. Mesophytic. Leaves alternate; distichous; non-sheathing; simple. Lamina entire; pinnately veined. Leaves exstipulate.
Axial (stem, wood) anatomy. Secondary thickening developing from a conventional cambial ring, or anomalous (?).
The axial xylem with libriform fibres.
Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Plants hermaphrodite.
Inflorescence, floral, fruit and seed morphology. Flowers small; regular; 5 merous; cyclic; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Hypogynous disk present.
Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 10; 2 whorled; isomerous. Calyx 5; 1 whorled; polysepalous; regular. Corolla 5; 1 whorled; polypetalous; regular.
Androecium 5. Androecial members free of the perianth (the filaments closely appressed to the disk, the anthers forming a five-rayed star at the top); free of one another; 1 whorled. Androecium exclusively of fertile stamens. Stamens 5; isomerous with the perianth; oppositisepalous; alternating with the corolla members. Anthers dehiscing via longitudinal slits. Pollen grains aperturate; 3 aperturate; porate.
Gynoecium (8–)10(–12) carpelled. Carpels increased in number relative to the perianth. The pistil (8–)10(–12) celled. Gynoecium syncarpous; synstylovarious, or eu-syncarpous; superior to partly inferior (embedded in the hemispherical disk). Ovary (8–)10(–12) locular. Locules secondarily divided by ‘false septa’; each divided horizontally into one-ovulate locelli (each with one septum, dividing it into two superposed locelli). Gynoecium non-stylate. Stigmas represented by 5 stigmatic lines and tufts. Placentation axile. Ovules 2 per locule (one in each locellus); pendulous and ascending (the upper ascending, the lower pendulous); and their locelli superposed.
Fruit (hard-) fleshy; indehiscent; a drupe. The drupes with separable pyrenes (these bony, about 20, radiating). Seeds endospermic (the endosperm bony).
Geography, cytology. Sub-tropical to tropical. Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Northeast Australia.
Taxonomy. Subclass Dicotyledonae; Crassinucelli. Dahlgren’s Superorder Santaliflorae; Celastrales. Cronquist’s Subclass Rosidae; Celastrales. APG 3 core angiosperms; core eudicot; Superorder Rosanae; fabid; Order Celastrales (as a synonym of Celastraceae).
Species 5. Genera 1; only genus, Siphonodon.
General remarks. Conspicuously differing from Celastraceae sensu stricto (q.v.) in gynoecium morphology.
Illustrations. • Technical details: Siphonodon (Hutchinson).
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Archived News /
14 August 2012
The Media’s Influence on Criminal justice policy
Why are we so fascinated by crime and deviance? If the media can so successfully engage the public’s fascination, can they equally tap into – and increase – people’s fears about crime? Is the media’s interest in – some would say, obsession with – crime harmful? What exactly is the relationship between the mass media and crime?
The media serves as the primary public source of crime information. Christie argues this is so because people do not interact to the extent they once did, leading to greater social alienation. This results in an increased reliance on media for updates and news on a local and regional level. It also means reliance on the state for coping with the perceived dangers. But if the state seems to fail in handling these matters efficiently, then the public often looks upon to populist forces beyond it which promise solutions.
The commercial pressures are determining the media's contemporary treatment of crime and violence, and that the resulting coverage has played a major role in reshaping public opinion, and ultimately, criminal justice policy. The news media are not mirrors, simply reflecting events in society. Rather media content is shaped by economic and marketing considerations that frequently override traditional journalistic criteria for newsworthiness.
The exaggeration of both the nature and extent of crime in reporting enlarges the size of this problem and the public is left alarmed about public order and safety. Because the popular media is the most consumed source of information, it also serves as an excellent inflammatory agent to public opinion at crucial times when the public opinions have can sway political decisions. Sensational crime reporting remains a staple for newspapers because it is guaranteed to boost ratings, and is increasingly presented in a style formerly associated with tabloids. After all, rating mean profits and crime sells.
It has been observed that society has become more violent since the advent of the modern media industry. The arrival and growth of film, television and, latterly, computer technologies, have served to intensify public anxieties. Furthermore, the media while reporting a crime or covering a trial tend to focus more on the personal aspects by going into detail about the victims subjective emotional experiences, and ignoring the objective statistical data and most expert commentary. This approach reinforces common perceptions of crime and punitiveness but diminish chances to help truly inform public opinion. This is also the most compelling reason as to why many politicians prefer to write regularly for the popular media rather than the quality press.
Criminologists and media scholars have linked the media’s focus on the personal aspects of violent crime produces to an affective reaction in viewers: fear of crime. Fearful individuals opt for immediate and extreme solutions to the crime problem, causing their policy preferences to become punitive rather than preventative. Several research studies have established the link of increased fear to exposure to the news media. These studies buttress an earlier hypothesis that linked the reiteration of violent episodes in the media to the public’s exaggerated view of crime, and suggest that high television viewing may actually be the cause of excessive fear. For example, recent research found a positive correlation between frequency of television watching and fear, though only for certain program types. These studies found fear levels were heightened among viewers who watched more local news, reality, and tabloid programs, though consumption of national news and news magazines were not related to fear. Thus it can be concluded that media plays a crucial role in determining the strength of the relationship between the institutions of justice and the public perception of them. |
Jakarta, Indonesia
Jakarta, officially known as the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, is the political, economic and cultural centre of the Republic of Indonesia.
Jakarta is prone to severe floods: the most destructive events have displaced hundreds of thousands of people and wrought millions of dollars’ worth of damage.
Jakarta is the 13th largest city in the world in terms of population.
Thirteen rivers bundle through Jakarta on their way to the Java Sea. The longest river is the Ciliwung, which passes through the centre of the city.
Jakarta is known by some as ‘The Big Durian’, likening the city to the large fruit distinctive for its size, strong odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk.
As well as its history, Jakarta is renowned for its heavy traffic congestion, air pollution and water pollution.
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Flying at 10,000m - A global city
Flying at 1,000m - Trade, floods and the Ciliwung river
Flying at ground level - The Big durian
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© 2017 Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) |
Problem Solving And Deciding On A Solution
1. Describe the decision and how it will be made.
2. Jointly establish decision-making guidelines.
3. Jointly evaluate options against the guidelines.
4. Gain agreement on the best alternative.
How To Listen
Listening is an obvious skill everyone must have. In business, it’s especially critical. Companies must listen to their customers. Supervisors must listen to their subordinates. Peers must listen to each other. The key is removing the emotions and focus on the following actions:
1. Evaluate the need to listen.
2. Manage internal and external noises.
3. Demonstrate a curious and open mind.
4. Manage the flow of conversation.
Effective listening is critical to sorting through and keeping up with the information needed to get results.
Samba and Windows 7
Windows 7 has upgraded security. This will effectively cause trouble in making connections to legacy apps (ie. Windows XP supported). One of them is Samba on Unix.
Fortunately, there’s a solution to this:
1. Open Control Panel.
2. Choose Administrative Tools.
3. Click Local Security Policy.
4. Under Local Policies and Security Options:
1. Change Network security: LAN Manager Authentication Level to “Send LM & NTLM responses”
2. Change Minimum Session Security for NTLM SSP to disable “Require 128-bit encryption” into “No Minimum Security”.
Illustrations below:
How To Build A Web App
Is there a recipe for building a good web application?
1. Fast
2. Instantly Useful
3. Unique Style
4. Less and simple
5. Programmable (ie. APIs)
6. Personal
8. SEO – Search Engine Optimization
9. Clean Design
10. Playful
Future of Mobile Data Networks
Selection of SmartphonesAnything can be communicated via the Internet. It readily connects everyone to emails, web, television, and voice. It is where mobile computing’s future lies. The mobile industry seems to be shifting focus to Everything-Over-IP.
Traditionally, a mobile phone is used to communicate voice conversations. The question now is who needs mobile voice? Texting has becoming a popular way of doing things in Asia and Europe. North America is catching up. Then there’s the popularity of Facebook and Twitter, where Internet connection is required for status updates. It’s becoming more than just a 1-to-1 communication. It’s a broadcast of information.
To make Internet capable mobile devices, first the portable technologies have to converge. Laptops have to be small enough for maximum portability. Cell phones must be powerful enough to run like computers. There are plenty of companies like Apple, Toshiba, Dell, and Nokia who are trying to close that gap.
It’s no surprise Apple announced the iPad. They’re touting it as a reading device, but people know it can be much more. Its main communication devices are WiFi and 3G. No voice capability. However, Apple has also recently allowed VoIP over the 3G network, so apps like Fring or Skype can provide voice calling. Similarly, AT&T now allows Slingbox, TV anywhere, to go over 3G network to iPhone users (eventually the iPad). So Apple’s strategy is definitely IP based communication. Other companies will (or have already) follow suit.
This may sound familiar. In 1998, there was much hype for Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) in the Telecom industry. Huge investments were made to lay down fiber optics infrastructure for faster data transfers. It took a while for that investment to bear fruit, and it looks like the consumers are finally starting to see the benefits.
Interestingly enough, wireless Internet connectivity it not widely available. But that’s changing, thanks to innovation in wireless technology, such as WiMax or LTE. It will reach the rural areas where Internet access is scarce. Also, the price needs to go down in order to make it economically feasible. Maybe the government should step in?
The direction is to get everyone connected. Mobile Internet can finally become an integral part of the way people do business and go about their personal lives. It’s the future of communication – on everyone’s hand.
The Importance of Page Loading Time
What other important reasons to improve web performance?
Operating System and Web Apps Hacking
A lot can be learned from a hacker (albeit a convicted hacker). Here are some of his thoughts on OS and web application security:
Securing a system:
I keep my services to a minimum, and I keep them updated. On my Linux box I use custom kernel hardening patches to make memory corruption bugs pretty hard to exploit. OpenSSH is firewalled and only accepts a connection from your ip if you visit a custom port-knocking page on my webserver. Basically the only service listening is apache, without PHP.
On my desktop and laptop I don’t have any services listening at all.
Public computers:
… I try to avoid public computers. If I really have to log in from an untrusted terminal I use otp authentication.
Modern website’s security:
Not very secure. SQL-injections are everywhere.
Discovering SQL injections vulnerabilities:
I don’t know of any specific papers, SQL injection is such a simple concept so you can pick it up in a matter of hours. The best method of finding them manually is to simply insert ‘ and ” union select(..” at random in parameters and see if things break.
Local source disclosure vulnerabilities:
Yes, sure. You can do a lot with config.php + phpMyAdmin.
What to do in a hacked machine:
1) Find a custom admin interface.
2) Get read access to a db from an SQL-injection.
3) Find tables corresponding to the custom admin interface.
4) Crack the admin password.
5) Log in and upload a new picture, containing PHP.
6) Exploit buggy custom cron-scripts that delete directories in /tmp once a day.
7) Wait for exploit to trigger..
8 ) Infect a binary on an NFS-share.
9) Wait for someone to use the binary..
10) Enjoy access to the main servers.
Something like that 😉
Operating System:
Personally I use Linux. I don’t consider Linux especially secure, just look at the number of local kernel root vulns found in the last year. I do however know that this is because there are so many people auditing Linux every day. I’d rather use an OS that has a few serious public vulns each year than one where the vulns are still there but aren’t found.
If you make a new operating system, how long it takes for someone to exploit vulnerabilities depend on how secure your code is and how much someone would want to exploit it. A local root vulnerability in QNX isn’t as “popular” as one in Linux, so more people are looking at Linux.
Tools used:
Exploits, network scanners, rootkits, google (perhaps the best network scanner).
And a voice recorder. They are essential when hacking banks.
More security holes:
Yes, I’ve written exploits for most types of bugs. Buffer overflows, format strings, int overflows. I have discovered some holes myself. Nowadays the most popular thing to audit is webapps. The age of remote root holes in popular ftpds is gone.
Government computers:
Personally I think that there are government agencies in the US, China, Russia etc. that have already backdoored each other to hell and back.
Stopping a hacker from coming in:
In short, if you have a network that is connected to the internet and someone wants to get in, they will eventually get in. If you are running the latest versions of all possible software you might think you are safe. But what if someone comes along with a 0day, or someone hacks the home computer of one of your administrators?
Tracing a hacker:
I got too comfortable with my setup and thought I was untraceable. It turns out that, given enough incentive, some people will analyze router logs from all over the world for months until they find you.
Make sure whatever PHP software you are using is always up to date. PHP stuff has a tendency to be written very poorly. Install some custom hardening patches like Grsec.
… I’m a big fan of Python. It’s much easier to write insecure software in PHP than in Python.
Security Industry:
I think has become less about knowledge and innovation and more about hype. Extreme hype. Everyone wants to make money off their name. Bugs become a commodity that is sold to companies that charge subscription fees for advance notice, etc..
Personally I am a blackhat. I loathe the cesspool of inflated egos that is the computer security industry. Therefore, I would never ever advise them to become “whitehats”. As for a more rewarding way to use their skill and curiosity, I can’t think of a good answer. Hacking into computers is simply the most rewarding experience I have ever had. I don’t see it as a problem if you are hacking big companies or governments for the sake of adventure, you are not out to hurt people.
Just make sure not to make money from your hacking, be it selling out to the security industry or selling botnet-stuff to russians. Both will destroy your passion.
I understand that ultimately some admin will have to take care of cleaning up after the breach, but it’s a part of their job. If one of the main reasons not to hack is that some administrator, whose job it is to maintain the servers, has to do his job.. I just don’t see that as a very compelling reason not to hack.
The incentive was the thrill of breaking into something that could sometimes have taken over a month of preparation. Looking at information that you weren’t supposed to be looking at. I suppose it’s the same feeling you get when solving any complex problem. It’s better than sex. I mostly worked alone, and I was not hired for anything.
Operating System hacking preference:
I almost exclusively hacked *NIX machines. Mostly Linux and Solaris, but also a lot of IRIX/HP-(S)UX/AIX. I would however definitely say that it is easier to hack a Windows PC, given their history of remote “root” vulnerabilities in default services.
OpenBSD is not secure at all. At least they changed the text on their front page to “Only two remote holes in the default install, in a heck of a long time!”. There’s a reason Theo DeRaadt has been hacked a number of times, his ego is enormously inflated. OpenBSD is 10 years behind grsec for example.
The most important part is the anti-exploitation techniques like ASLR, PIE, etc. What I meant to say was that GRsec has always been in the forefront when it comes to those. GRSec, RBAC and SELinux also have MAC capabilities but these are extremely rarely used correctly and to their full extent, since they are so hard to configure right.
IE6 Still Lingering
W3CSchools has stats for IE6 usage at about 15%, as of May 2009. IE6 in Enterprise environment is still being used,
It’s steadily dropping because of the wide acceptance of Firefox, and Corporations are proactively upgrading to IE7 or IE8. This number will change dramatically when Enterprise favors Windows 7 as the new standard for productivity machines.
Some websites have already taken steps to prevent IE6 from loading their site. I can only applaud their efforts.
IE6 Denial Image
IE6 Denial Image
Managing Priorities
Railroad Switch
As IT personnel, it’s my job to help business-driven projects. My support tasks generally take priority over my long term IT projects. There are techniques to manage the priorities of these projects, and get them done. Here are some ways to do it:
1. Say When:
1. Clarify how much time is needed.
2. Determine if it can be handled now. If not, make it known to others.
3. If it can wait, then suggest an agreeable time.
2. Learn More:
1. Do quick impact analysis.
2. Work with the requester for the results and standards required.
3. Ask for additional learning material.
3. Ask for help:
1. Determine how the support requests fits into the bigger picture.
2. Agree on roles and responsibilities from the people involved.
3. Focus on required resources.
4. Understand the task required.
5. Get a completion date. If not clear, then suggest times for status updates.
In every step, it helps to listen carefully, be polite, and be sensitive to the needs of others.
Contrary to popular opinions, IT is not entirely a lonesome job. It gets easier to handle when I have the help of my colleagues.
Business may have unending projects. It helps tremendously if I can prioritize them, according to the time and resources at my disposal. Knowing what, when, and who are the keys to success. The how will be answered eventually. Asking why is counter-productive. |
Rice Malt Syrup Sugar Content
Most mothers like baking any kinds of delicious cake. This fact shows that the usage of sugar is unavoidable. Sugar itself has many of its kind: palm sugar, cane sugar, honey, maple syrup, and so on. And one of the popular sugar names is rice malt syrup. It is a well-known sugar which is made of brown rice. It was made by adding the enzyme to the rice in order to break down the starches. Rice malt syrup sugar content is in the lowest number among the others. This means it is better than any other sugar types.
100 Grams Of Rice Malt Syrup Sugar Content’s Average
It is found that rice malt syrup sugar content is 47 grams of 100 grams average. According to the data, rice malt syrup has higher number compared to agave syrup in terms of energy. Yet, it contains 33 mg of sodium in every 100 grams of rice malt syrup. Because it is still defined as sugar, it contains three sugars. The first is maltotriose (52%). Based on the data, maltotriose is kind of triose (monosaccharide sugar) which contains digestive carbohydrate. It is formed by 3 glucose molecules. Literally, maltotriose is an oligosaccharide. Another sugar contained in rice malt syrup is maltose (45%). Maltose or malt sugar is the least common disaccharide formed from two units of glucose. The last is called as glucose or sugar (3%). Glucose actually comes from the food we eat. It can be in fruits, rice, bread, soda, and many more. In the morning normal glucose levels are less than 100 milligrams per deciliter. And this phenomenon is calledas the sugar level. Normal glucose levels after we eat, around 1up to 2 hours are less than 140.
Rice malt syrup sugar content does not include fructose (0%). Fructose is metabolised very differently by the body. Glucose can be metabolized by all cells in the body, while it is not the same as fructose. Fructose can only be metabolized in significant amounts by our liver. When we consume it in large amounts, it will be processed by the liver which becomes overwhelmed. The latercauseis the pancreas creates insulin and store the sugar as fat.In the fact of fructose is actually a dangerous for human’s liver, there is no reason to avoid and prevent it. Fructose, in average consumption, is as important as other substances for our body. And by having zero amount of fructose, rice malt sugar might be the choice to substitute cane sugar.
Although rice malt syrup sugar content has the lowest number of all other kinds of sugar, it is found that rice malt syrup has a very high glycaemic index. Glycaemic indexisa carbohydrate ranking in foods according to how they affect blood glucose levels. According to the data the maximum amounts of glycaemic index is 100. It gives us into a conclusion that rice malt syrup goes quickly into our small intestine where the enzymes, which exists in our digestion, split it out into wholeunits of glucose. And surely it will affect the blood glucose levels to increase. |
Friday, 27 April 2012
Some Greek Accents and other Diacritics
There's a breathing or h sound
No Aspiration NO H
Its presence or absence and position can show a change of meaning.
It can appear on any of the last 3 syllables of a word.
Ποτέ means at some time or once but πότε means WHEN
τί means WHAT but τι with no accent means any or some ...
` This is the Grave accent
and ̆ are used to show if a vowel is long or short in meter and pronounciation.
ᾱ ᾰ ῡ ῠ |
The only free and comprehensive online etymological dictionary of the Spanish language
-igar Suffix indicating action or doing.
From Latin agere "to do," "to drive." From Proto-Italic *ag-e/o- 'id.' From Proto-Indo-European *h2eǵ-e/o- 'id.' A thematic present.
Italic: Oscan acum "to act," Marrucinian agine "through the act"
Indo-European: Celtic: Old Irish aig "to drive," Old Welsh hegit "goes;" Germanic: Old Icelandic aka "to drive;" Hellenic: Ancient Greek ἄγ- (ág) "to drive;" Armenian: acem 'id.' Indo-Iranian: Sanskrit ájati "drives," Young Avestan azaiti 'id.;' Tocharian: A āk- "to lead," B āk- 'id.' |
A globalizing China benefits world
Updated: 2014-07-24 07:49
By Yeomin Yoon(China Daily)
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Globalization can be understood as an actual historical process toward a structural convergence in economy and politics among nations in their ever-increasing interaction and interdependence, with the consequences of such convergence having an impact on their social and cultural spheres. It is generally understood that China has been rapidly globalizing and that a globalizing China has been a primary catalyst for improving living standards in many parts of the world.
Globalization must be an especially complex phenomenon and challenging task for China, an ancient nation with rich and weighty tradition. China has shown amazing vitality in its economic sphere. Its development since the late 1970s is nothing short of a miracle.
Moreover, as China shows signs of going beyond its initial focus on economic globalization to address its political, legal, ethical and cultural implications, the holistic success of its attempt at globalization will be of historic significance to the world. Friendly and concerned students of China would want it to become a moral leader of the world by meeting the following requirements in its globalizing effort.
First, rather than obsessively competing to become the wealthiest nation in the world, they would like to see China committed, both in language and action, to creating a world that observes equal human dignity, solidarity and co-prosperity, and respects the rules of international comportment.
Second, China's friends and well-wishers would like to see it help deconstruct the paradigm of international politics that has prevailed for ages, namely, a nation using its wealth to build arms for the purpose of hegemony and dominion as imperial Japan did in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They would also like to see China emerge as a new and powerful champion of domestic and world peace and justice.
This moral challenge may be difficult for China to meet in light of its experience of foreign invasion and domination (such as the Opium War and the brutal, barbaric invasion by imperial Japan). China's courageous stance on peace and justice would therefore be all the more persuasive.
Third, they would like Chinese intellectuals and leaders to engage in global dialogue on human ideas and values for the multiple purpose of educating the world about its cultural heritage and its present appropriation, helping overcome nations' cultural narcissism and promoting mutual respect in the hope of forging a "fusion of horizons".
Fourth, friends and well-wishers would like to see China's foreign policymakers heed to the ancient wisdom of China as exemplified by the following three four-letter expressions, when they deal with China's small neighbors.
Yi di si zhi: Roughly translated as "Put yourself in the other person's position and look at the situation from his perspective."
He er bu tong: "Live with others in harmony but stick to your principle."
Wu xin bu li: "Without trust, nothing stands."
And, finally, is it beyond the pale to suggest that China embrace its small, neighboring countries and let them ride the bandwagon of the Chinese Dream, and help lift them from poverty by developing together the abundant resources in the South China Sea?
The present is kairos for China to seize or miss.
The author is professor of Finance & International Business at the Stillman School of Business of Seton Hall University, New Jersey, and a visiting professor at the University of International Business and Economics, Beijing. |
miercuri, 27 iulie 2011
Place and Human Beings
We denominate or call places while being assured that there are persons who can use the places as parts of their discourses.
There is not strange to give a name to a place which will never be populated, since there is a possibility to be used merely as a word by some people.
Likely, every time we conceive the world as an aggregation of places, there is easy to imagine it as a bared place with only a linguistic existence.
From such perspective, when we say and recognize that the world is populated by human beings, we place them under the same linguistic vagueness.
The general discourse about human beings is partly based on this linguistic interpretation of the places. When there are invoked general features of humanity in order to solve particulars problems about us, the language is not stopped about any necessary and impossible appeal to the community of real individuals.
The characteristics of places observed from a long distance, as extension and silence, are frequently transferred over human beings. In a theoretically account, they value as long they represent a numerical or temporal extension, and there is also possible to speak about them as if they actually have not the power to speak.
Nonetheless, we meet the same attitudes in the practical relations of life. The linguist import of places and the permanent reference to places in everyday activities are principal means of escaping the more difficult search for subduing our linguistic habits to the individuality of every person we meet. |
May 6
Heritage Hills, New York
Memorial to America’s First Circus Elephant
Many stories have been told about Old Bet, one of the first elephants (if not THE first) to have set foot in the United States. One thing we do know for certain: She was murdered in Maine in the cold, cold summer of 1816.
There’s a striking memorial to Old Bet in Somers, New York, 45 minutes north of Manhattan, outside a lovely brick building called the Elephant Hotel. Now home to the town offices, it was once an inn and tavern built by Hachaliah (that’s “heck-a-LIE-uh”) Bailey, one of the fathers of the American Circus.
Bailey (a distant relative of the more famous James Bailey of Barnum & Bailey) was a local farmer who also traded in livestock. In 1805 he was at a cattle auction when he ran across an unusually large creature for the venue: an elephant, at the time rarely seen in the western hemisphere. It’s said he was “smitten” with the big girl, so he bought her, named her “Old Bet,” and took her home to work the farm in Somers.
How this particular elephant came to the U.S. is a story with a lot of shading over the years, but she may possibly be the very first pachyderm to have landed in America. So rare a creature piqued the neighbors’ curiosity, and Bailey quickly realized he could make a buck by giving folks a peek.
Bailey toured the northeast with Old Bet, charging 25 cents a head. Fearful that people might get a free look, Bailey made Bet walk from town to town under the cover of night. Making the rounds of New England this way was particularly punishing in July of 1816. It was unusually frigid summer that year, when temperatures across the northern hemisphere plummeted and crops routinely failed. It led to food shortages, widespread desperation and short fuses, including one man in the small town of Alfred, Maine.
A sawmill operator named Daniel Davis may have been angry that his neighbors were wasting their money, he may have seen Bet as the real-life incarnation of the Biblical “behemoth,” or he may have simply been drunk and looking for a fight. Whatever his motive, Davis took to his musket and fired two shots into the defenseless animal. She died on the side of the road, where today the spot is marked with an honorary plaque.
Davis spent just two days in jail for his crime, and Bailey claimed a $30,000 loss. Undeterred, he bought a second elephant and named her “Little Bet,” and kept on touring. Ten years after the first loss, Bailey lost Little Bet in much the same way, when she, too, was shot down under mysterious circumstances in a small New England town.
Bailey stayed in the menagerie business for a while, continuing to tour in tent shows with other acts and attractions, a foreshadowing of the grand days of the American circus to come. In 1827 he erected the monument to Old and Little Bet back at his Somers hotel—a wooden carving of an elephant on top of a granite obelisk. It’s a small reminder of the majestic animals who died cold and alone a long way from home.
Know Before You Go
Somers is 45 miles north of New York City. Take the 684 north, and take Exit 7 to the NY 116 West. The 116 turns into the 202; the Elephant Hotel is at the intersection of the 202 and 100. Old Bet’s memorial is easily visible from the road outside the "Elephant Hotel," a National Historic Landmark.
Downstairs is now the Somers Town Hall. On the third floor is the Somers Historical Society and the Museum of the Early American Circus. They are open Thursday afternoons from 2 to 4, on some special holidays, and by appointment.
Edit Place |
Making a demand curve, understanding what a demand schedule is.
In this post we will go over what a demand curve is, what it means, and how we can construct one. I will also remind you that when constructing a demand curve remembering the letter D is important, as in D for demand, and D for down (because demand curves are always downward sloping, and if a teacher gives you a question where the demand IS upward sloping then it is a giffen good which doesn’t exist and your teacher is being frustrating).
Anyways, when constructing a demand curve you need a demand schedule. A demand schedule shows you the quantity that will be demanded at every price level. We can relate this to our own lives pretty easily. If something is cheaper, we are going to buy more of it! Think about jeans, if you see a pair of jeans you really like for $30, you may buy one or two. But now the same jeans are $10, you may buy four or five. Now consider EVERYONE in the economy. If the price of jeans goes to $10, then a whole lot more of them are going to be sold. This is, in essence, what goes on behind a demand curve.
Demand for Jeans
Above you see an example of a demand schedule. It shows us how many units (quantity) of a good will be demanded at a given price. The above schedule gives us a linear demand curve, because for every $10 the price goes up, quantity goes down by 20. We can use this schedule to plot the following points on a graph.
Since we know that the curve is linear, we can just connect these points to get our demand curve (we could also connect the points if it wasn’t linear, it just wouldn’t be as exact). As you can see it is actually very simple to construct a demand curve graphically if you are given the demand schedule. You can also reverse engineer a demand schedule if you are given a demand curve as long as you can tell where the points are in the graph.
That is pretty much it for the demand curve. Remember that the difference between the demand schedule and the demand curve is just how it is presented to you, either in a table or graphical form. The important thing to remember is that demand curves slope down (likewise supply curves slope up). A good trick for remembering this is that demand starts with the letter D, and so does the word down. So D is for demand, and D is also for down! I know it seems simple, but in the heat of the exam they might get confusing, but knowing this little trick will help you out because it is so easy! Good luck.
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Chamaleon Lamp
After the amazing case of #TheDress that everybody sees in a different color, one of the engineers here decided to create a device that can easily find out the colour of an object, so that nobody can dispute the result, as it is scientifically proven!
Chamaleon Lamp 1
To make the project more interesting, he considered making it communicate with a Lifx bulb. This kind of bulb can change color using its dedicated smartphone app or, as he did, using a Node.js application.
Lifix lamps for Chamaleon Lamp
To build the project he used:an Arduino Yun board
• a RGB LED
• a photoresist
• two resistors
• obviously a Lifx lamp
LEDS for Chamaleon lamp
The software was created using Node.js with the Linino OS, available on all of the Arduino Yun boards.
How does it work?
Chamaleon lamp 2
The photoresist works similarly to our eyes as far as the answer to light is concerned: if the same object is illuminated by three different colors (red, green and blue), the photoresists receives three different answers in terms of wavelengths. The three answers will be calculated by the program and the result will be the color of the object.
Once acquired the value of the color, this will be sent to the lamp and the lamp will light on using the same color.
If you wish to see in detail how he dealt with the software and hardware parts of the lamp, step by step, then please visit his project on Instructables! |
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