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November 10 – Kostanti-Kakhay; Áed mac Bricc
Kostanti-Kakhay (768–853) (Constantine Kakhi) (კოსტანტი კახაი) (768–853) was called “Kakhi” due to his ancestors from Kakheti, and not because of the color of his trousers. He was a ninth century Georgian Christian nobleman (a dangerous combination), and painfully aware of his own sins (which we are not going to go into, mostly because our sources sadly lack details of that sort), believing they were so great that nothing short of martyrdom could atone for them. He undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and nearby monasteries, sketes*, hermitages, and falafel stands, returned to Kartli (a region of Georgia) much refreshed in spirit, and added to his already generous generosity an annual gift of 30,000 pieces of silver to (somebody in) Jerusalem. For these and other reasons he was highly respected by sundry and all.
When he was 85, Kostanti was seized (perhaps in battle) and shipped to Samarra (capital of the Abbasid Empire). The Caliph suggested Kostanti convert to Islam, adding that the alternative would be abrupt and unfun. “Your sword doesn’t scare me,” Kostanti said, adding a good bit more about nature and titles of God. He was thrown in prison, where two apostates from Georgia visited him, one attempting to convert him to Islam via words, and one attempting to convert him to headlessness via sword. Both failed. (Like the parallelism?) Finally the Caliph sent his own executioner, who successfully succeeded in killing our hero, whose body was then hung from a gibbet as a warning to unrepentant Christians. It was eventually taken down and buried. Years later it was returned with honor to Georgia.
Áed mac Bricc (d. 589) (aka Aedh) was disinherited by his brothers, so he kidnapped a girl belonging to them as ransom. (St.) Illann (or Illathan), however, met with him, persuaded him to let her go, and took him on as a disciple. Áed founded a monastery at Cill-áir in Westmeath, and went on to become a bishop and a confidante of Brigid of Kildare (Feb 1). As bishop (or as confidante of Brigid, or both), he acted as a peacemaker between various local chieftains, and spent a great deal of his time instructing and defending women, perhaps in atonement for his earlier crime.
As Áed toured his diocese, he paid especial attention to the convents under his care, looking after their spiritual well-being, and ensuring their safety. In one eye-opening incident, he perceived that a nun was secretly pregnant, and he got up and left her presence. The girl admitted she had strayed, he forgave her, and (I quote here directly lest you think I’m making this up) “he blessed her womb, and the baby disappeared as if it had never been there.” Moving on quickly. He once found three young women washing their hair on a Saturday night (avoiding unwanted suitors? we are not told). He admonished them to not sully the Sabbath so, but they laughed at him. Immediately their hair fell out. They repented of their sin, and he gave them water with which to wash their heads after the Sabbath (Sunday) was over. This of course restored their hair.
Once Áed came upon three milkmaids killed and decapitated by raiders, who subsequently rode off with their (the maids’) heads. . After sitting down and weeping with the women of the community for a time, Áed chased the culprits, retrieved the heads, reaffixed them, and raised the maidens to life. He performed many other miracles for the women of Ireland, including restoring a fancy pin (which some cad had thrown into the sea) to the woman who held it in safekeeping for the king, and who thus stood to be severely punished for losing it. He also cured Brigid herself of a severe headache, for which reason he is counted the patron of those who suffer from this malady. |
10 Fascinating Facts about Svalbard
Have you ever sailed through huge glaciers, icebergs and ice floes at the northernmost end of the world?
Visit Svalbard. The magical islands of Spitsbergen in the Arctic, is going to give you travel aspirations that you never had before. It’s not where every other travel buff is going to as it is a remote luxury, an unconventional journey to the poles! To take a trip to the Arctic, start from Paris and through Longyearbyen, the little northern town where there are more snowmobiles than people, cruise to the Arctic.
There are a few interesting facts about Svalbard you might like to know before you take the Arctic cruise in June to visit the last islands of the world.
Welcome to the Arctic, The Land of the Great Bears!
There are more polar bears in Svalbard than people. While there are around two thousand people here, the bear count stands as high as 3,600 according to research conducted by the Norwegian Polar Institute.
The word ‘arktos’, from which Arctic is derived, in fact means ‘bears’ in Greek mythology.
Svalbard, The Land of the Midnight Sun
Svalbard is the land of the Midnight Sun, with the sun being above the horizon through the days and nights for four months together between mid-April and mid-August. This is also the perfect time to cruise through the polar world, when twenty four hours of sunlight moderates the chilly temperature and it is actually more summery and sun soaked than America or Europe during summers.
Sighting Northern Lights even by the day
When you’re in Svalbard, you can see the Northern Lights even during the day! For almost three months from October Svalbard is set in complete darkness and the sun does not rise. So far into the North, the winter months are shrouded in the stunning purples and blues of the Aurora Borealis all through the day. The polar night is a rare epiphany in your travelogue, cherish it if you have the chance.
A Home in Svalbard for over 40 nationalities of People
Even if Svalbard was a centrally located town, the degree of ethnic diversity would be remarkable. The fact that it is only somewhere between Norway and the North Pole and houses over 40 nationalities is indeed astonishing. That it is a visa free zone makes Svalbard a favourite choice for people coming in from different parts of the world.
The Snowmobiles of Svalbard
Inspite of this Svalbard has a population of only 2,700 people and there are two main cities: Longyearbyen which is under Norwegian control and Barentsburg, which is Russian. There are more snowmobiles than people in Svalbard.
Visit Svalbard, A Summer Paradise for Birdwatchers
A lot of migratory birds find their home in the Far North, high up at 80 Degrees North as summer time has a very pleasant weather bathed in twenty four hours sunlight. Are you a bird watcher, heading to the Arctic? Svalbard in early May to June is the place to be for you.
When the ice retreats and the snow melts, the land breathes. The food is abundant. The terns, puffins, skuas, auks, gulls, gannets, snow buntings and kittiwakes amongst others, visit Svalbard from continental Europe and UK.
The Life in the Arctic Tundra
Approximately 1,700 species of plants live on the Arctic tundra, including flowering plants, dwarf shrubs, herbs, grasses, mosses, and lichens. Thousands of years of evolution have prepared Arctic animals for life on and around the sea ice.
Apart from the Great Bears, animals in the Arctic include the reindeer, the Arctic fox, the musk ox, thinhorn sheep, Arctic ground squirrel, lemming, Arctic hare, ermine, snowy owl, wolf and wolverine.
Carry your gun when travelling around Svalbard
While inside Svalbard you don’t need to carry a gun but just a little towards the outskirts, it is mandatory to know how to use a high powered rifle.There are more than 3,000 polar bears around the area and they are sometimes hungry after not eating for months at a time.
You’re not allowed to die in Svalbard!
This is a funny fact but you aren’t allowed to die in Svalbard! The town’s small graveyard stopped accepting corpses in the 1950’s, partly because it was feared that the preserved bodies could still contain traces of the deadly Spanish flu virus that had killed seven miners back in 1918.
The Svalbard Seed Vault – The Key to Future Crisis
Svalbard is the answer to the impending food crisis of the world and could save humanity as we know it. Built in 2008, the Global Seed Vault is set deep into the bedrock above the Svalbard airport in Longyearbyen. Almost one million seed samples from all over the world are stored here, with a total capacity for up to four times.
Are you ready to take the Arctic cruise with The Q? Svalbard is a mystical land of fjords and ice floes, teeming with life…even vibrant flowers blooming in the summer time when the temperature is only around zero to five degrees celsius. With the Svalbard weather being kind in the summers, we cruise to 80 Degrees North in June. A journey of a lifetime awaits you to the polar waters of Spitsbergen.
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Testing, Treatment & Remediation
Is It Mold Or Mildew
What Is Mold: A fungi is typically black or green and is often the result of a larger infestation. Can appear ‘fuzzy’ or ‘slimy’.
What Is Mildew: A fungi is typically gray or why that lays on top of a surface that is moist. Can appear ‘powdery’. You can also identify mildew by its smell, which is mild, musty, and/or pungent.
Mold/Mildew Testing: As soon as you suspect there is mold/mildew in your home or business call our experts immediately. Our team will immediately do a full inspection of your property. This includes any testing and reporting. Our tests determine what may be causing the mold/mildew and what kind of microbial activity is growing. On top of that we will provide you with a detailed proposal for our services.
Asbestos Testing: Asbestos is known for its strength and resistance to heat and fire. It is a very dangerous carcinogen that can cause mesothelioma, a type of lung cancer. As a result, many states have passed laws requiring asbestos to be safely removed. We take a sample from your home or building and have it tested.
Ways We Test For Mold/Mildew
• Full Inspection: Complete inspection of your home and/or building.
• Air Sample: Identify the levels and types of mold/mildew.
• Tape Lift/Swab Samples: Identifies visible mold/mildew.
• Moisture Readings: Locates source of mold/mildew.
• Thermal Imaging: Detects moisture and humidity behind walls and under floors.
• Particle Counting: Locates hot spots (where mold/mildew is likely reproducing).
• Borescope: Inspect inside venting and locate problems in HVAC system.
• Relative Humidity Check: Locate areas that hold onto humidity (where mold/mildew easily reproduces).
• Full Moisture Mapping: Our equipment locates cracks in foundations, seepage behind walls, pipe leaks, and other areas.
Mold/Mildew Treatment: After we have inspected your home or business, we will start treating the infected areas. When our technicians bring in our equipment and treatment(s). In some cases, depending on the extent of the mold/mildew, more than one treatment may be necessary. On top of that our entire process is environmentally friendly.
On top of that we can also clean the dust and debris your HVAC system and ductwork. Not only will this kill the mold/mildew, but it will also remove any odor coming from your system and clean the air you breathe.
Asbestos Treatment: It is extremely important to treat asbestos that right way. If it is aged or mishandled, the particles can become airborne. Removing asbestos depend on the condition and the tests we get back from the lab. The two treatment options are abatement or encapsulation. Depending on the risk and level of exposure, our team will seal off the work area with plastic sheeting and maintain negative air pressure within the worksite. We will also disable the HVAC/Electrical systems and install warning signs around the area. Once the work is complete, our team of experts decontaminate themselves in a decontamination unit.
Mold/Mildew Remediation: If part of your home or business is untreatable with our treatments, we do have other means to get rid of the infected area. We can remove the contaminated materials, clean out your HVAC system, Air-scrubbing to clean your air, construction where needed, and more. Our team of experts are highly trained and can handle any size project.
Asbestos Remediation: Once we have removed the asbestos, we will retest the area and send it off to the lab. When we get the results back you can reinhabit the area or start the construction project you had in mind for that area.
Our Process
A very important part of the process is taking a sample of the mold/mildew and test it in a lab to determine what kind of mold/mildew it its. This helps us determine how to treat it most effectively.
Whitecap Project
Moisture control. You can achieve this by repairing the leaks in your home, get your HVAC system inspected annually, clean your gutters, and using mold-resistant materials.
Itchy eyes, sneezing, coughing, etc. Different molds affect different people in different ways. If you suspect you might be suffering from mold exposure, you should immediately contact your doctor.
Black mold typically has a musty, pungent smell and has visible dark rings and spots. However, the only way to know for certain what kind of mold it is, is to have a sample tested at a qualified laboratory.
Mold can grow within 24-48 hours after water damage.
YES! Not only can it cause structural damage to your property, it can cause respiratory, neurological, and other health issues.
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Hannah is a text based, chat style video game that aims to raise awareness of some of the complex elements involved in Domestic Violence (DV), and help family and friends provide non-judgmental positive emotional and practical support to those experiencing DV.
DV is common in Australia with one in three women reporting that they have experienced violence by a male since the age of 15. The responses of friends and family in DV situations are incredibly important, as negative and uninformed attitudes results in less understanding, empathy and support being provided to survivors of violence and can make it much more difficult for women to end abusive relationships.
Games have been utilised in educational contexts to ‘teach’ and explore empathy, and frameworks have been developed to help empathy educators analyse and choose games to teach identified empathy educational outcomes. Hannah is being developed based on respected research around utilising games to help teach skills and explore different life experiences, as well as the personal experiences of women who have experienced domestic violence, and the family and friends who supported them during this time.
Hannah is designed so that family and friends wanting to help, can play it in order to develop a deeper understanding of the situation of someone experiencing DV, their experiences, feelings, and the difficulties they encounter attempting to gain support from support services. The game will aim to model and teach ways that the character can provide non judgmental support, empower a DV victim, and help them on their complex journey to accessing support services.
You can also read a little more about Hannah here: https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/03/australian-developer-creates-game-to-help-domestic-violence-victims/
or here: http://susannahemery.com/game-design/
Грант предоставил Adelaide (July 2017) |
1. Now the leaders of the people took up residence in Jerusalem; so the rest of the people drew lots: one man in ten was to come and live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine were to stay in the towns outside.
2. The people praised all those who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.
3. In the towns of Judah each man lived on his own property, but these are the provincial leaders, the Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple slaves and the descendants of Solomon's slaves, who made their homes in Jerusalem:
4. Of the sons of Judah and the sons of Benjamin who made their homes in Jerusalem there were: Of the sons of Judah: Athaiah son of Uzziah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mehalalel, of the descendants of Perez;
6. The total number of the descendants of Perez living in Jerusalem was four hundred and sixty-eight outstanding people.
8. and his brothers Gabbai and Sallai; nine hundred and twenty-eight.
9. Joel son of Zichri was their chief, and Judah son of Hassenuah was second in command of the city.
10. Of the priests there were Jedaiah son of Joiakim, son of
11. Seraiah, son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the chief of the Temple of God,
12. and their kinsmen who performed the Temple liturgy: eight hundred and twenty-two; Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pelaliah, son of Amzi, son of Zechariah, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah,
13. and his kinsfolk, heads of families: two hundred and forty-two; and Amashai son of Azarel, son of Ahzai, son of Meshillemoth, son of Immer,
14. and his kinsfolk, outstanding people: one hundred and twenty-eight. Their chief was Zabdiel son of Haggadol.
15. Of the Levites there were Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, son of Bunni;
16. Shabbethai and Jozabad, the levitical leaders responsible for work outside the Temple of God;
17. Mattaniah son of Mica, son of Zabdi, son of Asaph, who led the praises and intoned the thanksgiving associated with the prayer, Bakbukiah being his junior colleague; and Obadiah son of Shammua, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun.
18. The total number of Levites in the holy city was two hundred and eighty-four.
19. The gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon and their kinsmen, who kept watch at the gates: one hundred and seventy-two.
20. The rest of Israel, including the priests and Levites, made their homes throughout the towns of Judah, each man on his own inheritance,
21. The temple slaves lived on Ophel; Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of the temple slaves.
22. The official in charge of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Mica, of the sons of Asaph, who led the singing in the liturgy of the Temple of God;
23. for the singers were under royal orders, with regulations laying down what was required of them day by day.
24. Petahiah son of Meshezabel, of the sons of Zerah son of Judah, was the king's minister for all matters connected with the people.
25. and in the villages near their lands. Some of the sons of Judah made their homes in Kiriath-Arba and its dependencies, Dibon and its dependencies, Jekabzeel and its dependencies,
26. Jeshua, Moladah, Beth-Pelet,
27. Hazar-Shual, Beersheba and its dependencies,
28. Ziklag, Meconah and its dependencies,
29. En-Rimmon, Zorah, Jarmuth,
30. Zanoah, Adullam and their villages, Lachish and its lands, and Azekah and its dependencies; thus, they settled from Beersheba as far as the Valley of Hinnom.
31. And some Benjaminites made their homes in Geba, Michmash, Aija, Bethel and its dependencies,
32. Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah,
33. Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim,
34. Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat,
35. Lod, Ono and the Valley of Craftsmen.
36. Some levitical groups lived in Judah, some in Benjamin.
“Como é belo esperar!” São Padre Pio de Pietrelcina |
Gorge Scramble
A descent or ascent of a local gorge involves very real adventure and learning to cope with challenge, over-coming obstacles and making decisions. The group are ‘in it’ together and will need to communicate and negotiate a safe route along the gorge.
Children learn about supporting each other, understanding each other’s feelings and capabilities and developing interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.
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Please email with any questions you have regarding the centre and information on courses your are interested in. |
COVID-19 masks: Which mask is best for you, and when to use it
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(CNN) — Think of masks as the newest trendy accessory that can save your life — and the lives of those you love.
But instead of what pattern, logo or slogan you display, choose your mask based on its effectiveness against the deadly coronavirus in the environment you are in.
Guidelines on how to help you make that choice should be out by midspring, according to Jonathan Szalajda, deputy director at the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, which is part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Working closely with government agencies, industry stakeholders and ASTM International, an international technical standards organization, the standards will apply to filter efficiency, sizing and fit, cleaning and recommended period of use or reuse.
For now, here's a breakdown of respirators and masks based on current scientific knowledge, and what experts are saying on how to best use them.
N95-type masks
Made from fibers woven with an electrical charge that can trap errant particles — like a sock that sticks to your pants in the dryer studies have shown N95-type respirators are currently at the top of the line when it comes to filtering large and small particles. Masks in this category are also known as "filtering facepiece respirators" or "disposable respirators."
What would happen if every American wore an N95-type mask for four weeks in risky settings like being indoors?
"It would stop the epidemic," Dr. Abraar Karan, an internal medicine physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
N95 respirators come in many sizes to accommodate various face shapes. When fitted to the wearer's face and worn properly, N95-type masks can trap 95% of particles around 0.3 microns, studies have shown. SARS CoV-2 can be as small as 0.1 micron in diameter — that's about 4 millionths of an inch.
While it may seem that N95 filters would miss the tiny Covid particles, that's not so. Most bits of virus exit the lungs encased inside larger respiratory droplets, typically much bigger than 0.3 microns.
Even those that become aerosolized are easily captured. Due to a natural phenomenon called Brownian motion, such minute particles don't travel in straight lines. Instead they bounce around in a zigzag fashion and are easily caught in the N95's electrostatic filter.
While some experts are calling for a nationwide rollout of N95 masks, such masks are currently reserved for health care professionals on the front lines of caring for Covid-19 patients. That's partly due to a shortage of such masks, which are designed to be worn once and discarded, but also due to the training needed to fit and wear the mask properly.
"In a health care setting, there's an advantage because there's a degree of sophisticated training to inform people how to properly wear respirators which doesn't exist in a public setting," NPPTL's Szalajda said.
According to the CDC, a few other respirators also meet or exceed the 95% efficacy level: the N99, N100, R95, R99, R100, P95, P99 and P100 masks. Some of these devices — which can look like gas masks — have received an emergency use authorization and can be used in nonsurgical settings during shortages of N95 masks.
The N95 mask — and its sisters and brothers — is best fitted to a person's unique facial contours on a bare face to keep the seal tight. Then the mask must be worn properly, despite the fact that such high filtration can make breathing more difficult. N95-type masks have a much higher breathing resistance than simple surgical or fabric masks.
"I've seen people with a full beard wearing the N95, or they're wearing the 95 upside down, or they just have it over their mouth and not their nose and mouth because it's easier to breathe when you're not covering your nose," Szalajda said.
Note: Beware of N95 masks with exhalation valves in them, since those valves put your airflow back into the environment. Also beware of knockoff N95s being sold on the internet and at some commercial stores.
The CDC's NIOSH lists dozens of counterfeit masks being sold as N95 or NIOSH-approved masks on its website, and offers the following advice on how to be sure you are not buying a fraudulent product:
NIOSH-approved respirators carry an approval label on or within the packaging of the respirator and on the mask itself.
NIOSH-approved respirators will always have one of the following designations: N95, N99, N100, R95, R99, R100, P95, P99 or P100.
You can verify the approval number on the agency's equipment list or trusted-source page to determine if the respirator has been approved by NIOSH.
Europe's FFP2
In response to the spread of new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus, some European countries are mandating the use of FFP1 and FFP2 masks — which stand for "filtering facepiece respirator."
Note: The "P" means the mask is strongly resistant to oil and can be used to protect against nonoily and oily aerosols. In comparison, the "N" on N95 means the mask is not resistant to oil and can't be used in an oil droplet environment (such as drilling for oil).
An FFP1 filter has a minimum filtration efficiency of 80%, an FFP2 is 94% effective and a FFP3 is 99% effective against airborne infectious diseases.
Last week the German state of Bavaria mandated that citizens use FFP2 masks when shopping in stores and traveling on public transport. The German government then followed that lead, requiring everyone in the country to wear either FFP1 or FFP2 masks while at work, in shops or traveling on public transport.
France is also requiring citizens to leave homemade masks behind. Now single-use surgical FFP1 masks and more protective FFP2 filtering facepiece respirators are required in all public places. France is also allowing people to use commercial fabric masks certified to filter 90% of particles greater than or equal to 3 microns. Citizens are told to look for the "filtration guarantee" logo when buying such masks.
KN95 and similar filtering facepiece respirators
The KN95 masks, which are certified via Chinese standards, also filter out and capture 95% of 0.3 micron particles. But there are differences: Filter layers of N95 respirators were "8-fold thicker and had 2-fold higher dipole charge density than that of KN95 respirators," a study published in December found.
These KN95 masks are not certified by the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, but a few manufacturers of KN95 masks have been given emergency use approval to be used in health care settings in the US.
The company 3M, which makes many filtering facepiece respirators, put out a document comparing N95 and European FFP2 respirators to the Chinese KN95, the Australia-New Zealand P2, the Korean 1st Class and the Japanese DS2 and found all of them "similar" in regard to "filtering non-oil-based particles such as those resulting from wildfires, PM (small particle) 2.5 air pollution, volcanic eruptions, or bioaerosols (e.g. viruses).
"However, prior to selecting a respirator," the 3M document said, "users should consult their local respiratory protection regulations and requirements or check with their local public health authorities for selection guidance."
Surgical-grade masks
Designed to be used by surgeons and other health care professionals, surgical-grade masks are loose-fitting, disposable devices meant to "help block large-particle droplets, splashes, sprays, or splatter that may contain germs (viruses and bacteria), keeping it from reaching your mouth and nose," according to the US Food and Drug Administration.
They do not "filter or block very small particles in the air that may be transmitted by coughs, sneezes, or certain medical procedures," the FDA stressed.
"Surgical masks weren't meant to perform the functions of the respirator," said NPPTL's Szalajda. "They're not intended to be protection from inhalation particles but from contact with body fluids."
True medical-grade masks are made of three layers of nonwoven fabric typically made from plastic. The colored top layer of fabric is made of medical-grade spunbond polypropylene, which is a resin polymer heat-bonded into a weblike structure.
Surgical masks also have small, bendable wires to help the mask stay in place, and are often tied behind the head or secured with ear ties. This design doesn't make for a particularly great fit, especially compared to the N95, according to Szalajda.
Surgical masks are one-time use only, and if they are soiled or breathing becomes difficult, the mask should be carefully discarded and replaced, the FDA said.
Homemade cloth masks
The most common mask in use among the general public today is a fabric mask, often homemade. Effectiveness depends on the type of fabric used and the number of layers of cloth. These masks can be as little as 26% effective.
According to the CDC, "multiple layers of cloth with higher thread counts have demonstrated superior performance compared to single layers of cloth with lower thread counts, in some cases filtering nearly 50% of fine particles less than 1 micron."
That's good news -- studies have detected SARS‐CoV‐2 in aerosols between 1 and 4 microns.
A study published last September examined the ability of cotton, polyester and silk to repeal moisture when used in masks or as mask inserts.
"We found that silk face coverings repelled droplets in spray tests as well as disposable single-use surgical masks," the authors wrote, adding that silk masks "can be more breathable than other fabrics that trap humidity, and are re-useable via cleaning."
Whatever the fabric, look for a tight weave, according to studies. Use the light test to check the weave: If you can easily see the outline of the individual fibers when you hold up the mask to the light, it's not likely to be effective.
You can also add filters to your fabric mask, according to the CDC. Some are made from polypropylene, the plastic that produces static cling; others from silver or copper, which have antimicrobial properties. Studies on the effectiveness of inserts, however, are rare, so guidance is limited.
To up their odds, people have begun layering fabric masks over surgical ones for added protection.
President Joseph R. Biden has been seen wearing two masks on numerous occasions. On Inauguration Day, Transportation Secretary nominee Pete Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten Glezman, took a selfie double-masking and inaugural poet Amanda Gorman wore a surgical mask beneath her Prada version.
It's a behavior advocated by Joseph Allen, an associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the director of the school's Healthy Buildings program.
"A surgical mask with a cloth mask on top of it can get you over 91% removal efficiency for particles," Allen recently told Dr. Gupta's team.
It makes good sense to double mask, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, now chief medical adviser to Biden.
"If you have a physical covering with one layer, you put another layer on, it just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective and that's the reason why you see people either double masking or doing a version of an N95." Fauci told NBC's Savannah Guthrie.
But pay attention to fit on any mask, Allen told CNN last fall. "You want the mask to go over the bridge of the nose, below the chin and be flush on the face, resting along the skin."
Face shields, bandanas, gaiters, ski masks, and scarves
Certain items fail to provide a sufficient barrier against Covid-19 and other viruses and should not be worn as a means of significant protection, according to the CDC.
Don't wear scarfs or knitted ski masks as a protective measure, the CDC says. Do not wear a face shield without a mask, the agency advises, as it won't protect against tiny airborne droplets that can float under and inside the shield. And forget bandanas and neck gaiters.
A 2020 study by Duke University looked at 14 commonly available face coverings. Not surprisingly, the fitted N95 was judged most effective, followed by three-layer surgical masks. But the study found folded bandanas, knitted masks and neck gaiters did not offer much protection at all.
In fact, gaiter masks, also known as neck fleeces, actually increased the transmission of respiratory droplets.
This story was first published on, "COVID-19 masks: Which mask is best for you, and when to use it" |
已出版: 1995-10-19
“Probably more people are directly involved in chicken production throughout the world than in any other single agricultural enterprise,” according to Dr. John Bishop, a poultry specialist who has worked extensively in Latin America and Africa to improve the production of traditional smallfarm poultry. Maintaining and improving the productivity of backyard chicken flocks is important for the wellbeing of rural families.
Backyard producers value chickens for their adaptability, contributions to the family’s income and nutrition, and for insect control and fertilizers in the garden. In most family flocks, chickens scavenge plant or food residues and insects around the home. With minimal care, they can hatch and raise chicks, produce highvalue meat, and give eggs which meet a strategic nutritional need of children. Live chickens sold for meat bring a good price and are a primary source of household income. (This is why “new” fowl are not always quick to catch on in village settings: farmers raise chickens because they sell easily in markets not primarily for home use or egg production and it would be harder to sell more unusual birds.)
“The efficiency of backyard animal production lies in the fact that it utilizes excess family labor and surplus on-farm feed” with few purchased inputs, so income from sale of the chickens is virtually all profit. High-input, large-scale poultry systems are obviously not suitable for family flocks, and even “transitional” systems of 200-300 birds which apply large-scale technologies (such as hatchery breeds, balanced feeds, and artificial lighting and brooding) to small farms are rarely successful.
It is extremely difficult for families to maintain flock numbers and replace birds which are lost or sold if they cannot produce chicks on their farm. Buying replacement chicks from a hatchery is expensive and can be disastrous for household chicken production. Hatchery birds may require artificial incubation, disease control measures, or special feeds not available on the small farm. All these effects are serious for the farm family, but the loss of hens’ broodiness (readiness to set on eggs for hatching) is particularly serious.
When hatchery roosters cross with traditional hens, flocks can lose their ability to hatch and raise chicks in just one generation. In Ecuador, for example, the commercial hatcheries surrounding the cities may “dump” their extra birds (mostly roosters) in rural areas at low prices. While traditional (‘criollo’) hens are selected for broodiness, superior egg-laying hatchery varieties are not broody or show only incomplete broodiness, such as laying eggs but not setting consistently. This can quickly make the farmer dependent on buying incubated hatchery stock, which may not perform well in backyard conditions. People who substitute them for criollo birds may have little success with incubator hatching methods in areas of erratic electricity.
Farmers who have encountered this problem learn quickly. Dr. Bishop told of a worker in the Amazonian region of Ecuador who was improving a flock to share with local indigenous farmers. When the farmers saw one white bird they said, “We don’t want to contaminate our flocks.” They then told how a specialist gave them “superior” white roosters, and they had to get rid of their flocks and start over with chickens from tribes that had not participated. Broodiness is a key link in the smallscale poultry production system, since the producer sells hens, not eggs. Of criollo birds in a backyard management situation, only one third of a flock usually lay each day; one third laid the day before, and the other third are setting or caring for chicks.
Dr. Bishop suggested that development projects make it their policy to avoid dealing in hatchery birds (even traditional breeds like Rhode Island Reds have lost most of their ability to successfully hatch eggs) and purchased feeds. He named the following key elements for economically viable family poultry production. (1) Use small-scale production systems with low purchased inputs and minimized risk. (2) Choose appropriate breeding stock which can incubate and brood replacement chicks by natural reproduction. (3) Apply the fundamental pest and disease control practices outlined below.
Basic, inexpensive disease control markedly increases the survival and productivity of a family flock. Traditional chickens that are vaccinated and treated for common infections and parasites are usually hardy enough to thrive in backyard conditions. The following four preventive practices, given every three months, will eliminate most health problems in poultry flocks: vaccination in the eye for the Newcastle disease virus (which is highly infectious and can kill the whole flock), deworming for roundworms and tapeworms, dusting under wings for irritating external parasites such as lice, and treatment for chronic respiratory disease which lowers production.
As for nutrition, the main limiting factor in traditional production is inadequate energy in the feed available to backyard birds. Scavenging chickens can usually fulfill their protein, vitamin, and mineral requirements, but are unable to obtain sufficient energy for adequate growth and egg production. Small amounts of supplemental grains such as corn can yield impressive results in weight gain and egg production. It is often more profitable to convert surplus grain into eggs and birds for sale than to sell the grain directly, since in many areas a chicken sells for more than a whole sack of corn.
Consider a permanent flock stabilized at 12 adult hens and one rooster. The farmer could let one broody hen set per month with 1012 eggs and thus produce at least 4 replacement chicks per month, after losses in incubation and brooding. A hen takes about 4 months to raise her chicks, so at any given time about 4 of the 12 permanent hens would be caring for chicks, leaving the other 8 hens for egg laying. Without supplemental energy feed, the farmer would probably only get 2 eggs per day. By feeding the twelve hens one pound of corn per day, the 8 laying hens will give an average of 4 eggs per day. This system would produce 4 replacement chicks and about 10 dozen eggs per month. For the farmer, the broody hens likely earn more by raising 4 chickens for sale than the value of 4 months of eggs.
Dr. Bishop says that where the traditional flocks have disappeared or are being eroded, it is necessary to establish multiplier flocks of appropriate breeding stock which can naturally incubate and brood replacement chicks.
Cite as:
ECHO Staff 1995. Improving Backyard Chicken Production. ECHO Development Notes no. 50 |
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Explain the Control of Nitrogen Levels in the Body
In this worksheet, students will explain the mechanism of removing excess nitrogen from the body, and what treatments are available when the kidneys stop working correctly.
'Explain the Control of Nitrogen Levels in the Body' worksheet
Key stage: KS 4
GCSE Subjects: Biology: Single Subject
GCSE Boards: AQA
Curriculum topic: Homeostasis and Response
Curriculum subtopic: Hormonal Coordination in Humans
Difficulty level:
Worksheet Overview
When we eat, our bodies need effective ways of breaking down excess food and toxic products.
When protein is eaten and broken down into its amino acid units, the liver and kidneys work together to safely dispose of excess amino acids so that nitrogen doesn’t build up in the body.
Excess amino acids can't be stored in the body, and so must be converted into fats and carbohydrate in deamination in the liver.
Unfortunately, this makes a toxic ammonia byproduct which the liver quickly turns into urea, which is much safer and more easily excreted.
Now the kidneys come into play, and they filter the urea out of the blood and use it to make urine, which is then excreted out.
A dialysis machine
But sadly sometimes our kidneys stop working, leading to kidney failure, which needs serious treatment with dialysis, or organ transplant.
Dialysis involves a specialised machine taking over the kidneys’ role of blood filtration to preserve healthy blood content levels:
The dialysis machine takes poorly filtered blood and tries to mimic the content of a healthy person’s blood, meaning that it doesn’t just remove everything and put it back!
It has a partially permeable membrane through which ions and water can pass out of the blood, but big molecules like proteins can’t - this is normal as healthy people don’t excrete protein!
To prevent dissolved ions and glucose being removed too, the blood mixes with dialysis fluid which has the same concentration of these as healthy blood.
Only waste like urea and excess ions and water diffuse across the barrier out of the blood.
Dialysis can be a nuisance because it has to be done regularly and increases your risk of blood clots and infections.
So, clearly this experience is very unpleasant and actually costs the NHS a lot to run, but it can save lives by buying time for a living or recently dead organ donor match to be found, as organ transplant is the only current cure for kidney failure.
Now let's move on to some questions.
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Are Computer Screens Bad for Your Eyes?
Many of us use computers for hours upon hours each day, whether it be professionally, recreationally, or simply to check our E-mail. Despite the obvious benefits of modern technology, rarely do we take the time to consider its detriments.
One of the top pitfalls of using computers for hours on end is the strain it puts on our eyes. Studies show that between 50 and 90 percent of individuals whose work requires computer usage show signs of eye trouble. In fact, the issue is so common, a name has been coined for it: Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS).
There are many possible causes of the aforementioned eyestrain, however, the two primary culprits are the positioning of the computer screen in question, and the number of hours spent in front of it. The average individual blinks about 18 times a minute, however, this rate is significantly reduced while staring at a computer, smartphone or tablet. This lack of regular blinking compounded by often ceaseless focus for hours on end are the two primary contributors of CVS.
Some of the categorizing symptoms of eyestrain and/or Computer Vision Syndrome are sore, dry, or teary eyes, blurred vision, heightened sensitivity to light, neck pain, headaches, or a combination of any of the above.
Give Your Eyes a Break!
So what can be done to help prevent the all-to-prevalent annoyances of CVS? Instead of accepting the regular toll that electronic screens can take on our eyes, there are steps that can be taken to prevent it.
The first, and probably least known remedy is to lower the position of your computer screen. "Because conventional reading is normally done with the book or magazine held in a lowered position, having your monitor in a straight-ahead position is unnatural," explains Dr. Brian Wachler, a professional ophthalmologist. Instead, Dr. Wachler suggests lowering the screen until the top of the screen is level with the eyes of the viewer, so as to allow for a slightly lower, more natural viewing angle.
Secondly, the viewer should sit an optimal 20-40 inches away from the computer screen and remember to breathe and blink regularly. Excessive proximity to the screen forces our eyes to strain and focus more vigorously, tiring them out more quickly and causing CVS. Furthermore, due to the reduction in our rate of blinking while focusing on a monitor, it is important to regulate one’s blinking and breathing, so as moisten the eyes and relax the ocular muscles.
Finally, and most obviously, is the integration of regular breaks into your work schedule. Dr. Wachler suggest the 20-20-20 rule: “Every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds and look 20 feet away”. Remember, your eyes need rest just like every other muscle in your body. Through the utilization of these three, simple steps, you can drastically reduce the aggravations of eyestrain and even improve your overall health. |
No safe level of compound found in pesticides
The EPA finally acknowledges that there is no safe level of toxic “forever” chemicals in our drinking water. That means there is no safe level of exposure from other sources. The EPA has dragged its feet on this for many years, so this is a major development.
This chemical group goes by several names and acronyms–PFAS, PFOA, C-8, or best known as “the teflon group.” There are literally hundreds of these chemicals and the reason why they are so popular in industry is that they essentially never break down, thus the name “forever” chemicals. They are used in outdoor clothing and gear, “no-stick” cook ware, food packaging and hundreds of other consumer products. They have been connected to a long list of poor health outcomes, such as cancer, reproductive disorders, immunosuppression, poor fetal development, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and thyroid disease and many others.
“In effect, the agency now says, any detectable amounts of PFOA and PFOS are unsafe to consume. The announcement has massive implications for water utilities, towns, and Americans across the country…The number of people drinking what are, according to these new numbers, unsafe levels of PFAS, is going to grow astronomically.”
This is relevant to our fight against using pesticides, including those used by the mosquito abatement districts in Utah. Many new pesticides act essentially as “forever” chemicals, and specific mosquito pesticides have been found to be contaminated with “forever” chemicals. Our inquiry to Salt Lake City’s Mosquito Abatement District about whether their pesticides were contaminated with PFOS or PFOA chemicals was wholly unsatisfactory.
Under these updated guidelines, SLCMAD needs to ensure their practices are not contaminating the drinking water, and air of local residents. News reports have revealed that mosquito abatement pesticides are widely contaminated with this toxic group of chemicals, PFAS. This family of compounds has been linked to a long list of disorders and disease, including: liver toxicity, immune disruption, developmental disorders, birth defects, thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis, and cancer of the kidneys, testicles, and pancreas.
UPHE is determined to continue pursuing the issue and ridding the exposure of Utah residents to both pesticides and “forever” chemicals.
Read more here. |
Group Process and stages of formation
In a 2- to 3-page paper, address the following: Explain the group’s processes and stage of formation. Explain curative factors that occurred in the group. Include how these factors might impact client progress. Explain intragroup conflict that occurred and recommend strategies for managing the conflict. Support your recommendations with evidence-based literature. Please include a title page, introduction page, body, summary and reference page. |
Bing Crosby
Caricature of Bing Crosby
The Old Groaner
Harry Lillis Crosby, known as “Bing” (a nickname taken from one of his favorite comic strips) planned on being a lawyer. However, he dropped out of Gonzaga University during his senior year to pursue a music career.
As a child growing up in Washington, Crosby played drums and sang with smaller jazz groups. He moved to Los Angeles and formed a duo with friend Al Rinker: Two Boys and a Piano, which became a popular Vaudeville act on the West Coast. Crosby became one of the most successful singers of his era through his presence in a variety of formats (radio, television, film, recordings), singing popular tunes as a crooner with an inviting, conversational, smooth, and relaxed style. While previous singers sang at you, Crosby sang to you, and future singers emulated his style. And while he didn’t have the look of the typical handsome lead, audiences loved his calm, charming demeanor.
Beyond his singing style, Crosby made significant impacts in popular culture. His films with Bob Hope helped establish the genre of the buddy picture. He joked about Hope, “There is nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for Hope, and there is nothing he wouldn’t do for me… We spend our lives doing nothing for each other.” He starred in nearly 50 films and it is estimated his recordings sold at least 300 million copies. He helped pioneer the use of magnetic tape in the recording industry and his insistence in recording his radio shows instead of live broadcasts helped make recorded radio broadcasts standard. Decades after his death, he is still known for his Christmas specials and songs, particularly his performance of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” (the best-selling single of all time) and his duet of “The Little Drummer Boy” with David Bowie.
“White Christmas”
“Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” |
Scientific Potentials of HRV
Despite all the amazing and necessary things the heart performs everyday to keep people alive and healthy, the connection between the heart and not only human health but human happiness and emotional well-being is only now under exploration by scientists, researchers and practitioners from a wide assortment of disciplinary backgrounds.
HRV, or heart rate variability, is a powerful lens into human health and wellness. Heart rate measures the speed at which a heart “beats.” This is often expressed in a familiar metric, beats per minute, or BPM. Though “beat” is not quite the right word for it, the measurement is of the speed at which the heart cycles through QRS complexes.
One “beat,” more commonly referred to in the scientific literature as NN or RR intervals, and better understood as a two part process bookended by electrical impulses that govern the flow of blood in and out of the heart, is usually expressed in milliseconds and measures the time in between one “beat” and the “beat” that preceded it. The variability of this little number, this interval, contains multitudes of information about an individual’s health, including mental health and emotional wellbeing.
As introduced in an earlier post, the heart rate has variability because two branches of the autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves, act to accelerate and decelerate heart rate. For the duration of the life of a human heart, these two nerves are in constant interaction to maintain cardiovascular activity and regulate the reactions of people to changing environmental stimuli.
In other words, as the spaces we find ourselves in change, the internal interactions of people’s nervous systems function to regulate the body and manage our behaviour in relation to changing stimuli. To this point, HRV has been of great interest to the medical and health and wellness communities, helping doctors, researchers and practitioners assess cardiovascular health, risks for diabetes, and rehabilitation and fitness optimization.
HRV has also been useful in diagnosing autism in children. More recently, HRV has been shown to accurately reflect stress and anxiety, as well as offer a reliable correlation on the quality of sleep. The rhythms of the heart are barely perceptible, and yet there are multitudes and these rhythms are discrete. Studies have correlated specific patterns with specific emotional states, stress levels, mood, and a variety of mental health diagnoses.
At EiQ, we draw from recent peer-reviewed literature to push deeper into the insights about mental and emotional health embedded in the rhythms of the heart. Our goal is to tap this wellspring of information to generate new data, tools, and insights that help people to understand their embodied emotional experiences.
Read the conclusion of this post and much more on our Medium page.
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The phrase "milking it" seems to have originated in the context of finance. According to the OED, "milking" can refer to
The manipulation of funds for (esp. unscrupulous or illicit) financial gain; (more generally) exploitation of resources.
Similarly, given what the physical act of milking some animal is like, it makes sense to think about "milking it" as "getting as much as possible out of a resource."
All of this makes sense. I'm wondering, however, when this idiom started to be used in different contexts. When did it become common to hear "You're really milking that for all its worth" in reference to an injury, for example, or for an emotional slight?
Similarly, which is preferable: "milking it for all its worth" or "milking it for all it's worth"? Should there be a standard, or does it depend on the meaning one wants to convey? I'm inclined to prefer its, as a thing does possess a finite worth (theoretically).
• 1
Presumably you'd also go for Milk them for all their worth, which again sounds the same as for all they're worth. But don't you have qualms when it comes to Milk her for all her worth? Which by the way gets 340 hits on Google, compared to over 6000 on for all she's worth. Oct 2, 2011 at 18:29
• 2
I would go with "it's" as the exploded version would be to "milk it for all it is worth." Obviously, we're drawing off the sense of milking a cow and extracting every last drop contained in the udder. Metaphorically, we are squeezing, pulling, and drawing out all the value contained in a situation.
– The Raven
Oct 2, 2011 at 18:30
6 Answers 6
The OED has its two relevant citations under this definition (10) of the verb 'milk':
Originally in the performing arts: to exploit (a scene, situation, line, etc.) for fullest effect; to elicit a favourable or appreciative reaction from (an audience) and contrive to prolong it as long as possible. Also in extended use.
The two citations are from 1950:
My feeling about the story is that you have got hold of something big, but have not yet milked it for all it is worth.
and 1971:
They milked the applause for all it was worth, then Bart held up his hand again.
As for ‘its’ v. ‘it’s’, it has never occurred to me that it might be anything other than the second, and the two citations support that view.
(Which edition of the OED are you using, ect? I can't find the definition you quote in the online edition which I use at http://www.oed.com/.)
• The OED online does include the quote above--see definition 5 under the noun form of milking.
– simchona
Oct 2, 2011 at 18:03
• Thank you. A bit of cross-referencing there on the part of the OED might have been helpful. Oct 2, 2011 at 18:54
• Thanks! I guess I should have looked under "milk" instead of "milking."
– ect
Oct 3, 2011 at 17:32
• OED: II. Senses relating to the extraction of advantage, effect, etc., from a situation. 5.a. transitive. To deprive or defraud [someone of/for something]*, esp. by taking regular amounts over a period of time; to exploit, turn into a source of (frequently illicit) profit, advantage, information, etc.; to extract all possible advantage from. Also (in extended use): to drain away the contents from (in figurative contexts). *?1531 J. Frith *This their paynfull purgatorye..hath of longe tyme but deceaued the people and milked them from their monye.
– Greybeard
May 10, 2020 at 13:44
I suspect this slang orginated in argicultural practices, where milking of cows, usually done twice daily, can provide slightly greater yields when performed 3 times daily. You get a bit more milk for a lot more work, so if you're really "milking" that cow, you're doing it to excess, with marginal benefit.
Even outside of the phrase "to milk something for all it's worth," the verb "to milk" has long had the sense of to exploit.
Etymonline.com dates this usage to the 1520s.
In terms of the "its" versus "it's" question, I believe "it's" is more correct, or at least more common. Google shows ~17000 hits with the apostrophe and ~8400 without.
• Fair enough on the apostrophe, but I will continue to be an apostrophe-less curmudgeon. And you're right about the general sense of exploitation; I, too, looked that up on Etymology Online. I'm wondering more about when the colloquial use specific to some perceived injury started.
– ect
Oct 2, 2011 at 17:18
• I'm with you in principle on the apostrophe, at least for the possessive apostrophe. Still, we don't want to open that up here, do we? Oct 2, 2011 at 18:04
• 3
I think the google hits for its/it's are distorted, partly because they're homophones, and partly because many people don't know which is possessive and which is a contraction. Although it's less common overall, "her" does occur, and there the difference is nearly 20 to 1 in favour of she's worth. Oct 2, 2011 at 18:33
In the financial sense, to "milk" an operation is to "manage it for cash." That is, squeeze as much cash out of it as possible, while putting as little back in (for maintenance) as necessary.
Normally it's not illegal (some might say that e.g. the resulting laying off of workers is unethical), although it could, of course, cross the line.
Perhaps like many common expressions it comes from the bible - Isaiah's prophecy ch60.16. 'Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles' In this case it is a legitimate course of action. It has to do with God's people taking every advantage they can when God overrules and guides us. Therefore, like many expressions it has been modified over the years and has now more to do with man's greed, rather than originally intended, more to do with God's blessing.
• The connection seems tenuous at best (and I don't particularly like your interpretation, but that would be an issue to raise on Biblical Hermeneutics SE).
– trent
May 17, 2020 at 17:41
The phrase 'milking it' comes from the old legal term 'mulct', a financial penalty or contract signing fee (fine). In David Hume's History of England, in 1529, Parliament granted King Henry VIII a discharge of all his debts, which the King's creditors who had provided the loans 'were well pleased to take the opportunity of mulcting them.' This quotation suggests the meaning 'getting back as much as they can' which is the understanding of the modern phrase 'milking them'
• OED - Mulct: Etymology: < classical Latin mulcta, multa fine, penalty, of Italic origin (compare Oscan moltam , Umbrian motar ). Compare Middle French, French †mulcte , †multe fine, penalty (1358), Italian multa (14th cent.). Milk: Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian melok (West Frisian molke ), Middle Dutch melc (Dutch melk ), Old Saxon miluk (Middle Low German melk , melik ), Old High German miluh , milih (Middle High German milich , milch , German Milch ),
– Greybeard
May 10, 2020 at 13:37
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George Friederic Handel
Caricature of G.F. Handel 'The Charming Brute', by Joseph Goupy
Like Roubiliac, Handel (1685–1759) was a continental European who flourished in eighteenth-century England. In 1714, he accompanied the newly crowned German-born King George I to London. He stayed in the city for the rest of his life, writing scores of operas, oratorios and orchestral works. Left is a medal in the Fitzwilliam, cast in 1859 to commemorate the centenary of the composer's death.
Handel's work received particularly wide exposure at Vauxhall, where according to the London Daily Post, 18 April 1738, 'his Harmony had so often charm'd even the greatest Crouds into the profoundest Calme and most decent Behaviour'.
But the eighteenth century was a boom time for British satire, and Handel's reputed enjoyment of the finer in things in life gave rise to a certain amount of mockery.
George Frideric Handel: 'The Charming Brute'
George Frideric Handel: 'The Charming Brute'
A drawing in the Fitzwilliam [961], attributed to the British artist Joseph Goupy and entitled The Charming Brute, savages the great composer. Handel is presented him as an obese half-man, half-hog, seated on a dripping beer-barrel before an organ, his hands barely able to reach the keyboard over his vast belly. A dwarfish servant holds up a mirror in front of this monster. A joint of ham and a dead fowl hang from the side of his instrument. Behind him are scattered oyster shells, while before him are various musical instruments. A pig's head on the floor reinforces the insult.
On a scroll in front of the composer are the words 'pension, benefit, nobility, friendship'. Their meaning is not entirely clear, but it is probably significant that Goupy, who had worked as a set-painter on some of Handel's operas, had at one point been a close friend of the composer. A quarrel between the two, said to have been provoked by what Goupy perceived as Handel's meanness as a host, occasioned the satirical drawing, which in turn led to the composer striking Goupy from his will.
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Intentional stance
Daniel Dennett, The Intentional Stance, p. 17
Dennett and "intentionality"
Dennett (1971, p. 87) states that he took the concept of "intentionality" from the work of the German philosopher Franz Brentano.[1] When clarifying the distinction between mental phenomena (viz., mental activity) and physical phenomena, Brentano (p. 97) argued that, in contrast with physical phenomena,[2] the "distinguishing characteristic of all mental phenomena"[3] was "the reference to something as an object" – a characteristic he called "intentional inexistence".[4] Dennett constantly speaks of the "aboutness" of intentionality; for example: "the aboutness of the pencil marks composing a shopping list is derived from the intentions of the person whose list it is" (Dennett, 1995, p. 240).
John Searle (1999, pp. 85) stresses that "competence" in predicting/explaining human behaviour involves being able to both recognize others as "intentional" beings, and interpret others' minds as having "intentional states" (e.g., beliefs and desires):
"The primary evolutionary role of the mind is to relate us in certain ways to the environment, and especially to other people. My subjective states relate me to the rest of the world, and the general name of that relationship is "intentionality." These subjective states include beliefs and desires, intentions and perceptions, as well as loves and hates, fears and hopes. "Intentionality," to repeat, is the general term for all the various forms by which the mind can be directed at, or be about, or of, objects and states of affairs in the world." (p.85)[5]
According to Dennett (1987, pp. 48–49), folk psychology provides a systematic, "reason-giving explanation" for a particular action, and an account of the historical origins of that action, based on deeply embedded assumptions about the agent;[6] namely that:
(a) the agent's action was entirely rational;[7]
(b) the agent's action was entirely reasonable (in the prevailing circumstances);
(c) the agent held certain beliefs;[8]
(d) the agent desired certain things; and
(e) the agent's future action could be systematically predicted from the beliefs and desires so ascribed.
This approach is also consistent with the earlier work of Fritz Heider and Marianne Simmel, whose joint study revealed that, when subjects were presented with an animated display of 2-dimensional shapes, they were inclined to ascribe intentions to the shapes.[9]
Further, Dennett (1987, p. 52) argues that, based on our fixed personal views of what all humans ought to believe, desire and do, we predict (or explain) the beliefs, desires and actions of others "by calculating in a normative system";[10] and, driven by the reasonable assumption that all humans are rational beings – who do have specific beliefs and desires and do act on the basis of those beliefs and desires in order to get what they want – these predictions/explanations are based on four simple rules:
1. The agent's beliefs are those a rational individual ought to have (i.e., given their "perceptual capacities", "epistemic needs" and "biography");[11]
2. In general, these beliefs "are both true and relevant to [their] life;[12]
3. The agent's desires are those a rational individual ought to have (i.e., given their "biological needs", and "the most practicable means of satisfying them") in order to further their "survival" and "procreation" needs;[13] and
4. The agent's behaviour will be composed of those acts a rational individual holding those beliefs (and having those desires) ought to perform.
Dennett's three levels
The core idea is that, when understanding, explaining and/or predicting the behavior of an object, we can choose to view it at varying levels of abstraction. The more concrete the level, the more accurate in principle our predictions are; the more abstract, the greater the computational power we gain by zooming out and skipping over the irrelevant details.
Dennett defines three levels of abstraction, attained by adopting one of three entirely different "stances", or intellectual strategies: the physical stance; the design stance; and the intentional stance:[14]
As a way of thinking about things, Dennett's intentional stance is entirely consistent with everyday commonsense understanding; and, thus, it meets Eleanor Rosch's (1978, p. 28) criterion of the "maximum information with the least cognitive effort". Rosch argues that, implicit within any system of categorization, are the assumptions that:
(a) the major purpose of any system of categorization is to reduce the randomness of the universe by providing "maximum information with the least cognitive effort", and
(b) the real world is structured and systematic, rather than being arbitrary or unpredictable. Thus, if a particular way of categorizing information does, indeed, "provide maximum information with the least cognitive effort", it can only do so because the structure of that particular system of categories corresponds with the perceived structure of the real world.
Also, the intentional stance meets the criteria Dennett specified (1995, pp. 50–51) for algorithms:
(1) Substrate Neutrality: It is a "mechanism" that produces results regardless of the material used to perform the procedure ("the power of the procedure is due to its logical structure, not the causal powers of the materials used in the instantiation").
(2) Underlying Mindlessness: Each constituent step, and each transition between each step, is so utterly simple, that they can be performed by a "dutiful idiot".
(3) Guaranteed Results: "Whatever it is that an algorithm does, it always does it, if it is executed without misstep. An algorithm is a foolproof recipe."
Variants of Dennett's three "stances"
The general notion of a three level system was widespread in the late 1970s/early 1980s; for example, when discussing the mental representation of information from a cognitive psychology perspective, Glass and his colleagues (1979, p. 24) distinguished three important aspects of representation:
(a) the content ("what is being represented");
(b) the code ("the format of the representation");[21] and
(c) the medium ("the physical realization of the code").[22]
Other significant cognitive scientists who also advocated a three level system were Allen Newell, Zenon Pylyshyn, and David Marr. The parallels between the four representations (each of which implicitly assumed that computers and human minds displayed each of the three distinct levels) are detailed in the following table:
Daniel Dennett
Zenon Pylyshyn
"Levels of Organization"
Allen Newell
"Levels of Description"
David Marr
"Levels of Analysis"
Physical Stance.[23]
Physical Level, or Biological Level.[24] Physical Level, or Device Level.[25] Hardware Implementation Level.[26]
Design Stance.[27]
Symbol Level.[28] Program Level, or Symbol Level.[29] Representation and Algorithm Level.[30]
Intentional Stance.[31]
Semantic,[32] or Knowledge Level.[33] Knowledge Level.[34][35] Computational Theory Level.[36]
Objections and replies
Neural evidence
Phenomenal stance
Bryce Huebner (2010) performed two experimental philosophy studies to test students' ascriptions of various mental states to humans compared with cyborgs and robots. Experiment 1 showed that while students attributed both beliefs and pains most strongly to humans, they were more willing to attribute beliefs than pains to robots and cyborgs.[42]:138 "[T]hese data seem to confirm that commonsense psychology does draw a distinction between phenomenal and non-phenomenal states--and this distinction seems to be dependent on the structural properties of an entity in a way that ascriptions of non-phenomenal states are not."[42]:138–39 However, this conclusion is only tentative in view of the high variance among participants.[42]:139 Experiment 2 showed analogous results: Both beliefs and happiness were ascribed most strongly to biological humans, and ascriptions of happiness to robots or cyborgs were less common than ascriptions of beliefs.[42]:142
See also
1. In his second edition (1973/1924, pp. 180–81), Brentano added this explanation of "intentional" to his 1911 edition: "This expression had been misunderstood in that some people thought it had to do with intention and the pursuit of a goal. In view of this, I might have done better to avoid it altogether. Instead of the term 'intentional' the Scholastics very frequently used the expression 'objective'. This has to do with the fact that something is an object for the mentally active subject, and, as such, is present in some manner in his consciousness, whether it is merely thought of or also desired, shunned, etc. I preferred the expression 'intentional' because I thought there would be an even greater danger of being misunderstood if I had described the object of thought as 'objectively existing', for modern day thinkers use this expression to refer to what really exists as opposed to 'mere subjective appearances'."
2. In addition to cogitations (such as judgement, recollection and inference) and emotions (such as joy and sorrow and fear), Brentano (op.cit. p. 79) includes things such as "hearing a sound, seeing a colored object, feeling warm or cold" in his category of physical phenomena.
3. By contrast, Brentano (p. 80) includes things such as "a color... a chord which I hear, warmth, cold, odor which I sense" in his category of mental phenomena.
4. Note that, whilst the term "inexistence" appears haphazardly right throughout the text of Bretano's work as both in-existence and 'inexistence, it very clearly always carries the "inherence" meaning (i.e., the fact or condition of existing in something), rather than the "non-existence" meaning (i.e., the fact or condition of not existing).
5. Searle (1999, pp. 85–86) clarifies his usage: "Intentionality is an unfortunate word, and like a lot of unfortunate words in philosophy, we owe it to the German-speaking philosophers. The word suggests that intentionality, in the sense of directedness, must always have some connection with 'intending' in the sense in which, for example, I intend to go to the movies tonight. (German has no problem with this because Intentionalität' does not sound like Absicht', the word for intention in the ordinary sense of intending to go to the movies.) So we have to keep in mind that in English intending is just one form of intentionality among many.
Foss and Bow (1986, p. 94) present a far more A.I.-oriented view:
"We assume that people understand the actions of others by viewing those actions as purposive, as goal directed. People use their knowledge of human intentionality, of the types of goals people have and of the types of plans they devise in service of those goals, to understand action sequences that are described in narratives or observed directly. Many recent approaches to comprehension emphasize the role of goal planning knowledge when understanding narratives and conversations, and when remembering observed sequences and goal directed actions. According to these approaches, understanding involves inferring the intentions (i.e. the plans and goals) of the characters, speakers, or actors. Such inferences are ubiquitous because narratives frequently provide only sketchy descriptions of the character's actions and goals; speakers rarely state their intentions directly; and observers rarely see all the events preceding or following the action to be explained. Therefore, people are forced to use their general knowledge of human intentionality to fill in the missing information; they do this by generating expectations and drawing inferences in order to come up with a plan that explains an actor's behavior. Although the importance of this type of knowledge for understanding natural discourse and action sequences has been recognized, only recently have cognitive scientists begun examining the psychological processes involved in drawing inferences about human intentionality..."
6. Because we use folk psychology effortlessly all the time to systematically predict actions, and because this way of thinking about things seems to be so very effective – Fodor (1987, p. 3) speaks of its "extraordinary predictive power" – Dennett is certain that the practice of treating others as rational agents must have evolved and developed over time: "we treat each other as if we were rational agents, and this myth – for surely we are not all that rational – works very well because we are pretty rational" (p. 50). Siegert (2001, p. 183), agrees: "Evolutionary psychology argues that the ability to form a representation of what another human is thinking is an ability that has been acquired and developed through natural selection. The ability to interpret other people's facial expressions, their body language, and their tone of voice, has obvious advantages for survival. In earlier environments, our ancestors had to be able determine who was a friend and who was an enemy, who was a potential mate and who was not. The ability to distinguish between facial expressions associated with suspicion and curiosity, fear and anger, or disgust and sadness, may have been the difference between life and death. In modern society we also rely on this ability for surviving socially, if not literally. Our ability to accurately express our emotions, to know how and when to express them, to know when to conceal our emotions, and to be able read and interpret the emotions of other people are skills that impact hugely on our ability to form lasting relationships, breed and raise healthy children, and gain high status in our careers" (p. 183).
7. Dennett stresses how research into artificial intelligence has shown just how rational humans actually are: "Even the most sophisticated AI programs stumble blindly into misinterpretations and misunderstandings that even small children reliably evade without a second thought" (1987, p. 52).
8. Note that it is irrelevant whether the agent actually holds these particular beliefs or not; the critical feature is that the observer ascribes them to the agent. The intentional stance involves an observer amassing a constellation of subjective, observer-centred assumptions, unique to that specific observer, that are expressed in the form of a set of supposed beliefs and desires which are attributed to (and projected upon) the object of that observation in order to explain something to the observer. The observer is not trying to objectively determine the agent's actual state of mind. His only need is to be able to represent the agent's behaviour to himself in such a way that he can respond to the agent's behaviour. Consequently, these attributions rarely describe any actual belief or desire an agent might maintain at any time; and the objective truth of the observer's subjective assumptions about the agent's "inner life" is entirely irrelevant – always provided, of course, that his response to the agent's behaviour has been appropriate.
9. See Heider & Simmel (1944); the animation used in the experiment is at "".
10. In other words, humans have a propensity to systematically think as follows: X has performed action A because they believe B, and desires D, and (on the basis of their desire for D, and their belief that B is how things obtain in the real world) X has chosen to A, with the intention of achieving goal G (which, as they understand things, will produce outcome D). This deep desire to eschew disorder and make things systematic has a parallel in the way that humans assess the concept of "randomness". In many circumstances, according to Falk and Konold (1997; 1998), an individual's concept of what is "random" is, in fact, far from it – and this "subjective randomness" is, often, far more disordered than a truly random sequence. Lisanby and Lockhead (1991), also differentiate between subjective randomness and genuine randomness (upon which they which they bestow the tautologous title of "stochastic randomness").
"That subjective randomness results from people's failure to make sense of their observations is not a new idea. Piaget and Inhelder [viz., 1951/1975] attribute the origin of the idea of chance in children to their realizing the impossibility of predicting oncoming events or finding causal explanations. The experience of randomness is thus construed as an admission of failure of our intellectual operations" (Falk and Konold, 1988, p. 658).
11. Swinburne (2001, pp. 39–40) argues that one of the most important features of beliefs is that they are involuntary: "Belief is a passive state; believing is a state in which you are, it is not a matter of you doing something. And it is an involuntary state, a state in which you find yourself and which you cannot change at will at an instant. I believe that today is Tuesday, that I am now in Oxford, that Aquinas died in AD 1274, and so on and so on. I cannot sudden-ly decide to believe that today is Monday, that I am now in Italy, or that Aquinas lived in the eighteenth century. That belief is involuntary was a claim of Locke, Leibniz, and Hume. "Belief consists", wrote Hume, "merely in a certain feeling or sentiment; in something that depends not on the will, but must arise from certain determinate causes and principles of which we are not masters."
12. In addressing cases where an agent's beliefs are not "both true and relevant to [their] life", Dennett (1987, p. 49) notes that "when false beliefs are attributed, special stories must be told to explain how the error resulted from the presence of features in the environment that are deceptive relative to the perceptual capacities of the system."
13. Dennett also addresses the cases in which the desires are "abnormal" and remarks that "[these] 'abnormal' desires are attributable if special stories can be told" (1987, p. 49).
14. Dennett, D. C., (1987) "Three Kinds of Intentional Psychology", pp. 43–68 in Dennett, D. C., The Intentional Stance, The MIT Press, (Cambridge), 1987.
15. Perkins (1983, p. 360), refers to the results of this "machine style" of perception as a "physicist's system".
16. Like Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, the theme of the "design" category is that things are simply just that way: a parallel to the doctoral candidate in Molière's Le Malade imaginaire, who, when asked why opium made people go to sleep, spoke of it having a "dormitive virtue" (a sleep-inducing factor): "If you know something about the design of an artifact, you can predict its behavior without worrying yourself about the underlying physics of its parts. Even small children can readily learn to manipulate such complicated objects as VCRs without having a clue how they work; they know just what will happen when they press a sequence of buttons, because they know what is designed to happen. They are operating from what I call the design stance" (Dennett, 1995, p. 229).
17. Perkins (1983, p. 360), refers to the results of this "human style" of perception as a "pragmatist's system".
18. Observing that the term "belief" has a very wide range of meanings – and remarking that "we seldom talk about what people believe, we [usually] talk about what they think and what they know" – Dennett (1987, p. 46) produces a precise definition: "folk psychology has it that beliefs are information-bearing states of people that arise from perceptions and that, together appropriately related desires, lead to intelligent action".
19. Papineau (1995) defines instrumentalism as: "The doctrine that scientific theories are not true descriptions of an unobservable reality, but merely useful instruments which enable us to order and anticipate the observable world": a parallel to Perkins' "pragmatist's system" (Perkins, 1983, p. 360).
21. Glass et al. (1979, p. 3) distinguish between content and code as follows: "A simple English word like cat is a representation. It represents a certain concept or idea, namely the concept of a furry house-hold pet that purrs. Note that this same concept can be represented in many different ways. We could use a picture of a cat to represent the concept. We could translate cat into Spanish and represent it by gato. We could represent it in Morse code by a series of dots and dashes, or in Braille by a certain tactile pattern. Across all these examples the information being represented stays the same. This common information is called the content of the representation. Each different way the information can be expressed is called a representational code. So the words cat and gato represent the same content, but in different codes (i.e., written English vs. written Spanish). In contrast the words cat and lawyer represent different contents, but in the same code (written English)."
22. Glass et al. (1979, p. 3) distinguish between code and media as follows: "Listen to someone singing. Then listen to a recording of the same person singing the same song. The two sounds would probably be virtually identical. Yet the sound would be produced in very different ways – in one case by human vocal cords, in the other by electronic components. These are two different media for producing the same auditory code." Glass et al. also make the point that "cognitive psychology primarily explores representational codes" (p. 24) and "cognitive psychologists study representational codes rather than media" (p. 7).
23. In the case of both Dennett and Pylyshyn's terminology the designation "physical" means "relating to physics" (as in "physical laws"), with the strong implication that we are speaking of "hard science".
24. "The structure and the principles by which the physical object functions correspond to the physical or the biological level" (Pylyshyn, 1989, p. 57). "We obviously need the biological level to explain such things as the effects of drugs or jet lag or brain damage on behavior" (p.6 1).
25. Essentially the same as Pylyshyn's Physical Level or Biological Level.
26. Specifies the algorithm's physical substrates (Marr, 1982, p. 24): "How can the representation and algorithm be realized physically?" (p. 25).
27. In "Brain Writing and Mind Reading" (1975), Dennett very clearly states that he is agnostic about what he terms "Brain Writing".
28. "The semantic content of knowledge and goals is assumed to be encoded by symbolic expressions" (Pylyshyn, 1989, p. 57). "We need the symbol level to explain such things as why some tasks take longer or result in more errors than other tasks" (p. 60). "Information processing psychology is full of examples of discovering that the form of the representation makes a difference to their [sic] behavior in experiments. For example, in problem-solving experiments it makes a difference whether subjects encode the fact that all the objects in a box are red or the equivalent fact that none of the objects is blue" (p. 61).
29. Essentially the same as Pylyshyn's Symbol Level.
30. Specifies how the device does what it does (Marr, 1982, p. 23): "How can this computational theory be implemented? In particular, what is the representation for the input and output, and what is the algorithm for the transformation?" (p. 25).
31. Dennett stressed "that the intentional stance presupposes neither lower stance" (Dennett 1971/1978, p. 240)
32. "Although the cognitive science community tends to use the term knowledge quite freely in discussing semantic level principles, it is sometimes worth distinguishing those semantic entities that are knowledge from those that are goals, percepts, plans, and so on. The more general term semantic level is used in contexts where such distinctions are important. Philosophers even talk about the 'intentional' level or 'intentional' objects, but because the use of that terminology tends to raise a large, ancient, and not entirely relevant set of issues, we [viz., Pylyshyn and Newell] shun that term here" (Pylyshyn, 1989, p. 86).
33. Pylyshyn (1989): "[Explains] why people, or appropriately programmed computers, do certain things by saying what they know and what their goals are and by showing that these are connected in certain meaningful or even rational ways." (p. 57) "We need the knowledge level to explain why certain goals and beliefs tend to lead to certain behaviors, and why the behaviors can be changed in rational ways when new beliefs are added by telling things." (p. 60)
34. Newell was aware of Dennett's views prior to Newell's (1980) address that was, later, published in full 1982: "Before I finished preparing that address I found and read Brainstorms. It was instantly clear to me that the knowledge level and the intentional stance are fundamentally the same, and I indicated as much in the talk." (Newell, 1988, p. 521)
35. Newell (1982), p. 98: "The system at the knowledge level is the agent. The components at the knowledge level are goals, actions, and bodies. Thus, an agent is composed of a set of actions, a set of goals and a body. The medium at the knowledge level is knowledge (as might be suspected). Thus, the agent processes its knowledge to determine the actions to take. Finally, the behavior law is the principle of rationality: Actions are selected to attain the agent's goals.
"To treat a system at the knowledge level is to treat it as having some knowledge and some goals, and believing it will do whatever is within its power to attain its goals, in so far as its knowledge indicates."
36. This level specifies "what the device does and why" (Marr, 1982, p. 22): "What is the goal of the computation, why is it appropriate, and what is the logic of the strategy by which it can be carried out?" (p. 25)
37. Daniel Dennett, The Unimagined Preposterousness of Zombies
38. 1 2 Philip Robbins; Anthony I. Jack (Jan 2006). "The phenomenal stance". Philosophical Studies. 127 (1): 59–85. doi:10.1007/s11098-005-1730-x.
39. 1 2 Alex Martin; Jill Weisberg (2003). "Neural Foundations For Understanding Social And Mechanical Concepts". Cogn Neuropsychol. 20 (3-6): 575–87. doi:10.1080/02643290342000005. PMC 1450338Freely accessible. PMID 16648880.
40. Anthony I. Jack; Philip Robbins (Sep 2006). "The Phenomenal Stance". Philosophical Studies (127): 59–85. doi:10.1007/s11098-005-1730-x.
41. Anthony I. Jack; Philip Robbins (Sep 2012). "The Phenomenal Stance Revisited" (PDF). Review of Philosophy and Psychology. 3 (3): 383–403. doi:10.1007/s13164-012-0104-5.
42. 1 2 3 4 Bryce Huebner (Mar 2010). "Commonsense concepts of phenomenal consciousness: Does anyone care about functional zombies?" (PDF). Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. 9 (1): 133–55. doi:10.1007/s11097-009-9126-6.
• Bolton, D. & Hill, J., Mind, Meaning, and Mental Disorder: The Nature of Causal Explanation in Psychology and Psychiatry, Oxford University Press, (Oxford), 1996.
• Brentano, F., (1973/1924) Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint (Second Edition), Routledge & Kegan Paul, (London) 1973 (The German version of the Second Edition was published in 1924).
• Dennett, D.C., (1971) "Intentional Systems", The Journal of Philosophy, Vol.68, No. 4, (25 February 1971), pp.87-106.
• Dennett, D.C., (1971/1978) "Mechanism and Responsibility", reprinted in pp. 233–255 in Dennett, D.C., Brainstorms: Philosophical Essays on Mind and Psychology, Bradford Books, (Montgomery), 1978 (originally published in 1971).
• Dennett, D.C., (1975) "Brain Writing and Mind Reading", Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 7: 403-415.
• Dennett, D., (1987) "True Believers" in Dennett, D. The Intentional Stance, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1987
• Dennett, D.C., (1995) Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life, Simon & Schuster, (New York), 1995.
• Falk, R. & Konold, C., "Making Sense of Randomness: Implicit Encoding as a Basis for Judgement", Psychological Review, Vol.104, No.2, (April 1997), pp.301-318.
• Falk, R. & Konold, C., "Subjective Randomness", pp. 653–659, in Kotz, S., Read, C.B. & Banks, D.L., Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences: Update Volume 2, John Wiley & Sons, (New York), 1988.
• Foss, C.L. & Bow, G.H., "Understanding Actions in Relation to Goals", pp. 94–124 in Sharkey, N.E. (ed.), Advances in Cognitive Science 1, Ellis Horwood, (Chichester), 1986.
• Glass, A.L., Holyoak, K.J. & Santa, J.L., Cognition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, (Reading), 1979.
• Heider, F. & Simmel, M., "An Experimental Study of Apparent Behavior", American Journal of Psychology, Vol.57, (1944), pp.243-259.
• Lisanby, S.H. & Lockhead, G., "Subjective Randomness, Aesthetics, and Structure", pp. 97–114 in Lockhead, G.R. & Pomerantz, J.R. (eds.), The Perception of Structure, American Psychological Association, (Washington), 1991.
• Marr, D., Vision: A Computational Investigation into the Human Representation of Visual Information, W.H. Freeman & Company, (New York), 1982.
• Newell, A., (1982) "The Knowledge Level", Artificial Intelligence, Vol.18, No.1, (January 1982), pp.87-127.
• Newell, A. (1988), "The intentional stance and the knowledge level", Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Vol.11, No.3, (September 1988), pp. 520–522.
• Papineau, D., "Instrumentalism", p. 410 in Honderich, T. (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Oxford University Press, (Oxford), 1995.
• Perkins, David N., "Why the Human Perceiver is a Bad Machine", pp. 341–364 in Beck, J. Hope, B. & Rosenfeld, A. (eds.), Human and Machine Vision, Academic Press, (New York), 1983.
• Piaget, J. & Inhelder, B. [(Leake, L., Burrell, P. & Fishbein, H.D. eds.), The Origin of the Idea of Chance in Children, Routledge & Kegan Paul, (London), 1975 [French original 1951].
• Pylyshyn, Z.W., "Computing in Cognitive Science", pp.51-91 in Posner, M.I.(ed.), Foundations of Cognitive Science, The MIT Press, (Cambridge), 1989.
• Searle, J., Mind, Language and Society: Philosophy in the Real World, Phoenix, (London), 1999.
• Siegert, R.J., "Culture, Cognition, and Schizophrenia", pp. 171–189 in Schumaker, J.F. & Ward, T. (eds.), Cultural Cognition and Psychopathology, Praeger, (Westport), 2001.
• Swinburne, R., Epistemic Justification, Oxford University Press, (Oxford), 2001. |
What is the sale purchase over the internet?
What is the sale purchase over the internet?
What are online sales called?
E-commerce is the buying and selling of good or services via the internet, and the transfer of money and data to complete the sales. It?s also known as electronic commerce or internet commerce.
What is internet retailer?
Electronic retailing is the sale of goods and services through the Internet. E-tailing can include business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) sales of products and services.
Can you die from eating an ant?
What is buying on the internet?
Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Online stores usually enable shoppers to use ?search? features to find specific models, brands or items.
What is an online business called?
At its core, electronic commerce or e-commerce is simply the buying and selling of goods and services using the internet, when shopping online. However, the term is often used to describe all of a seller?s efforts, when selling products directly to consumers.
What are examples of retail?
The most common examples of retailing are traditional brick-and-mortar stores. These include giants such as Best Buy, Walmart, and Target. But retailing includes even the smallest kiosks at your local mall. Retailers don?t just sell goods; they also sell services.
How do online stores work?
An online store is a website through which customers place orders. It may represent a small local store, a major retailer, an e-commerce store or an individual who sells projects through a third-party site, such as eBay. To operate an online store, you?ll need a product catalog, a shopping cart and other items.
What does buying or selling goods over the Internet mean?
Buying Or Selling Goods Over The Internet Is Called: A) E-commerce. B) E-business. C) An Intranet. D) An Extranet. 12. You Work For A Highly Successful Advertiser That Is Just About To Expand Nationally.
What was the first product to be sold on the Internet?
What are independent variable examples?
When did the Internet Shopping Network get acquired?
(The Internet Shopping Network was later acquired by the Home Shopping Network, while NetMarket lives on under a subsidiary of hotel and rental car company Cendant.) And CDconnection.com claims on its home page to have been selling CDs online since 1990.
Which is the best definition of online shopping?
For the W3C storage standard, see Web storage. Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser.
What is the sale mix?
The sales mix is a calculation that determines the proportion of each product a business sells relative to total sales. The sales mix is significant because some products or services may be more profitable than others, and if a company?s sales mix changes, its profits also change.
What is the sales mix variance?
Sales mix variance is the difference between a company?s budgeted sales mix and the actual sales mix. Sales mix is the proportion of each product sold relative to total sales.
What sales mix is most profitable?
The most profitable sales mix is the one which gives maximum sales. Contribution. Fixed cost.
What is sales mix in CVP analysis?
Sales mix is the proportion in which two or more products are sold. For the calculation of break-even point for sales mix, following assumptions are made in addition to those already made for CVP analysis: The proportion of sales mix must be predetermined. The sales mix must not change within the relevant time period.
What is an example of a covenant in real estate?
How do you determine the best product mix?
Actual sales mix percentage: the number of actual units sold of a product divided by total units sold of all products. Budgeted sales mix percentage: the number of budgeted units sold of a product divided by budgeted total units sold of all products. Profit margin per unit (in dollars, not percentage)
What is the formula for sales price variance?
The sales price variance is calculated as: Actual quantity sold * (actual selling price ? planned selling price). In the example, the sales price variance was 6*($2?$3)= -$6 (U)nfavourable or minus $6, since the sales price was less than planned.
How do I calculate price variance?
The price variance (Vmp) of a material is computed as follows: Vmp = (Actual unit cost ? Standard unit cost) * Actual Quantity Purchased. or. Vmp = (Actual Quantity Purchased * Actual Unit Cost) ? (Actual Quantity Purchased * Standard Unit Cost).
How do you calculate a mix shift?
To calculate sales-mix variance, start with the actual number of units your business sold of each product. Multiply that number by the actual sales mix percentage for the product minus the budgeted sales-mix percentage. Remember that the sales mix percentage is the product?s percentage of total sales.
What is sales volume?
An organization?s total sales, in terms of units or revenue, for a specified period. Sales volume (by sales region or territory, industry, customer type, etc.) is commonly used as an aid in determining the effectiveness of the selling effort.
How to calculate sales mix for a business?
Subtract budgeted unit volume from actual unit volume and multiply by the standard contribution margin. Do the same for each of the products sold. Aggregate this information to arrive at the sales mix variance for the company. (Actual unit sales ? Budgeted unit sales) x Budgeted contribution margin
What is the biggest reason to make your offer contingent on a professional?
How to calculate sales mix variance in Excel?
The sales mix variance is: Blue widget: (80 actual units ? 100 budgeted units) x $12 contribution margin = -$240 Green widget: (500 actual units ? 400 budgeted units) x $6 contribution margin = $600
What do you need to calculate sales percentage?
To calculate a sales percentage, you need two main data points: the sales rate and the base cost. The basic formula for how to calculate a sales percentage is: This formula is important for applying discounts and calculating the sales tax you?ll pay on certain purchases or collecting on your customers? purchases.
How to calculate profit margin for sales mix?
Profit Margin = 33.3% By analyzing your hamburgers, you see the profit margin is less than 50%, the profit margin for the sales mix of all items sold. Therefore, you are making less from the hamburgers than from other items. Let?s look at another item, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.
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How the SAT and ACT Differ (and How to Choose)
By Huntington Learning Center
How the SAT and ACT Differ (and How to Choose)
If your student is gearing up to take the SAT or the ACT this summer, you’re probably wondering…
• How are these exams similar?
• How are they different?
• How should your student choose which one to take?
Let’s address each of these questions!
How are the SAT and ACT similar and different?
At a glance, the SAT and ACT seem quite similar—and they are in many ways. But there are some important distinctions, summarized below:
How should your student choose which exam to take?
First things first: both exams are widely accepted at U.S. colleges and universities and both measure what students learn in high school and need to succeed in college. But the answer to which one to take comes down to preference. A few things to note:
• The SAT tends to be better for strong, analytical readers and critical thinkers.
• The ACT tends to appeal to strong writers since it has an optional essay where they can showcase their writing abilities.
• Students who are less skilled at pacing themselves might prefer the SAT, which allows more time per question.
• Students who are good at science (especially analyzing data, graphs and hypotheses) might prefer the ACT, since it has an entire section devoted to science. The SAT incorporates science into all areas of the exam.
• Students who find doing math without a calculator to be difficult might prefer the ACT, which allows students to use a calculator on all math questions. The SAT Math Test is broken into a calculator section and a no-calculator section.
The best approach to making the decision on which exam to take? Have your student take a practice SAT and a practice ACT. This can help determine which exam suits their strengths better. That way, your student can focus their study efforts and achieve their best score.
If your student needs help deciding on which exam to take as well as preparing for that exam, call Huntington at 1-800 CAN LEARN. We’ll evaluate your student’s strengths and weaknesses and help them prepare for whatever exam they choose. We’ve helped thousands of students raise their SAT/ACT scores and earn admission into their colleges of choice. We can help your student do the same! |
How Big Data and AI is Disrupting the HealthIT
Aug 11, 2017 6:13:52 PM
Big Data and AI in Healthcare
Despite the fact that our brain has got immense storage and processing power, we prefer storing our data on digital space. In consequence, the digital data is enlarging in size and is estimated to reach 44 trillion GB by 2020. Surely, such big data is impossible for humans to handle and thus Artificial Intelligence (AI) would be needed to track, manage, and probably, process it as well.
While ‘real’ AI is a near future, we have started to use the best of narrow AI in the form of self-driving cars, search engines, security surveillance, and other devices. Similarly, we could see a number of potential implications of AI in healthcare that showcase an optimistic future of diagnosis, curing, and delivery of care. Let’s peek into some of the revolutionizing examples in healthcare that are surely disrupting the industry and leading the way to more inventive solutions.
a. Mining Medical Records for Treatment Plans
One of the most apparent applications of AI in healthcare is data management. Gathering, storing, and normalizing data is the primary step in transforming the existing system of care. We could see this job being done phenomenally by the Google Deepmind Health project, that mines the medical big data to render better solutions.
Every test or scan conducted on a patient comprises of a set of information, indicating if the patient is at risk or what are the decisive steps in treatment. If this information (in the form of big data) is available, it can assist hospitals and physicians to save lives. In order to sort this data and offer relevant suggestions/solutions, AI helps. Instead of programming the systems to recognize the potential symptoms or signs of a problem, AI systems are trained to interpret the data into significant results. This would enable doctors to learn the issue and provide efficient treatment possible.
Currently, this deep learning research is being deployed for eye scans at Moorfields, and head/neck scans at University College London Hospitals. The issues are recorded, stored, and are sorted to recommend the right course of action to the clinicians.
b. Assisting Physicians in Performing Repetitive Tasks
Cognitive assistance, another application of AI has been aiding the HealthIT with analytical and reasoning capabilities. One of the potential and active examples of this is Medical Sieve, which aims to simplify decision making in cardiology and radiology. The project under IBM will analyze the radiology images (based on cognitive learning) and will spot and detect the issues, faster. This will consequently spare the radiologists from handling minor cases and have their focus on complicated cases either, where human supervision holds more significance.
c. Diminishing the In-Person Consultation Gap
Suppose you have headache, you feel dizzy, but you are uncertain about the malady. You need to visit the doctor but you get the appointment after two days. Now that’s where AI is filling the gap.
There are apps like Babylon that are making in-person and online consultation easy. Backed with AI, the apps let the users report the symptoms of illness, which is then checked against the database of disease through speech recognition. Once the history of the patient is analyzed along with the current circumstances, Babylon offers relevant recommendation to them. Together with this, the app also reminds the patients for mediation, follow ups, and change in the course of action, accordingly. Such apps are programmed with Machine Learning (ML) to understand issues confronted by varied patients, studies them, and use this database for relevant suggestions. And with such examples, we can have some reasons to justify that mobile applications in healthcare are making for new opportunities and innovations.
d. Advancing Genomics for Healthier, Longer Living
AI is immensely impacting genetics and genomics. Take example of Deep Genomics, which analyzes the data patterns of genetic information and medical records so sa to verify the variations and linkages to a disease. With this, a new generation of computational technologies is introduced that will let the geneticists, predict what will happen within a cell when a DNA is undergoes any genetic variation, either natural or therapeutic.
In similar context, Craig Venter, an American geneticists is working on an algorithm that could design physical characteristics of a patient, based on their DNA. As an extension to his work, he has his enterprise, known as Human Longevity Inc. The scientists at HLI have created the largest database of sequenced genomes and phenotypic data, that can enable spotting cancer or other vascular disease at an early stage.
e. Drug Creation
Clinical trials for developing pharmaceuticals is a long process, which can sometimes take a decade or more and even cost million dollars. To make his process cost-effective and ascertain that innovation reaches the healthcare industry as fast as possible (especially in epidemic), AI has been making some amazing contributions.
One of the popular example of this one is Atomwise, which uses supercomputers for examining the database of molecular structure to find relevant therapies. Atomwise has made use of virtual search in the past to look out for safe and existing medicine to lessen down the effect of Ebola virus. The drugs suggested by the AI technology proved to have offered positive effects in just one day, which could have otherwise taken months or years.
ALSO READ: Major Challenges in Healthcare Application Development
How is AI Defining the Future of Healthcare?
At first, Artificial Intelligence had to breakdown the prejudices and fears that were linked with its potential and involvement in a critical domain like healthcare. However, with the examples discussed above, AI is surely manifesting its significance and real time applications in maintenance, diagnosis, and treatment. In the following time, we can certainly have some interesting innovations in the domain through healthcare mobile app development and will have huge medical discoveries happening, backed and managed by AI.
Topics: Healthcare
Kartik Kakar
Written by Kartik Kakar
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Ounce of Prevention MD: Long COVID Sufferers Endure a Long Haul
Long COVID Sufferers Endure a Long Haul
At my former medical practice, we had a medical assistant who was a force of a person. She worked out 2-3 hours/day, and was a black belt in martial arts. She always had a smile, worked hard, and never called in sick. Then she got COVID in March of 2020, before the vaccines were available. She was in the ICU for three weeks, and had heart and lung damage. Her lungs only worked at 50% for months afterwards, and she was no longer able to walk a mile. She developed a chronic cough, crushing fatigue, and persistent chest pain, which forced her to stop working. It wasn’t until a year after her infection that she was able to start working again.
She’s not alone; this has been a common story among survivors of COVID. The infection resolves, but symptoms persist for months afterwards. You may have heard of Long COVID, also known as Long Haulers, or “Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID” (PASC). But no one has a good sense of what exactly it is. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Long COVID as “persistent symptoms that last at least 2 months after suspected or confirmed infection with COVID-19 and cannot be explained by an alternate diagnosis.” These symptoms commonly include fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, and cognitive impairment (or “brain fog”), but can include any symptom that can limit daily activities.
How does “Long COVID” happen?
The definition is somewhat vague, and does not explain why it happens. There isn’t even consistency among researchers regarding how common it is. Studies indicate that Long COVID occurs in anywhere between 5-57% of recovered COVID cases. Other than increasing age, there is nothing to help predict who will get long COVID. It can occur after mild or moderate cases of COVID, and symptoms can develop up to three months after the infection resolves. Symptoms can last for months, or even become permanent.
This is not a commonly discussed impact of COVID, but it should be. According to the CDC, there have been over 53 million cases of COVID in the U.S. since it’s onset. If we assume, conservatively, that 15% of all cases develop into Long COVID, that would represent nearly 8 million cases over the past 2 years. That’s more than double the total of all cancer diagnoses in the U.S. over the same period. That is a staggering number, with the potential to further overwhelm our already strained healthcare system, especially if COVID persists at its current rate.
Vaccines work
The good news is that there are ways to prevent, and possibly treat, Long COVID. The most obvious way is to get vaccinated. Fully vaccinated people have an 80% decreased risk of getting COVID, and a 50% lower risk of getting Long COVID versus the unvaccinated if infected. That translates into a 90% lower risk of Long COVID in vaccinated individuals, which is an impressive, and hopefully motivating, statistic. And these statistics do not include patients who received a booster, which almost certainly improves these risks even more. And, obviously not getting COVID will protect you as well. So be sure to avoid large crowds and wear a mask in public, especially indoors.
There may also be good news for patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis, aka “fibromyalgia” or “chronic fatigue syndrome.” This condition affects over 4 million people in the U.S., and often starts after a viral infection. It has been recognized for over 200 years, but we still don’t know much about it. That may be about to change. Because Long COVID is so prevalent, there has been a strong push to learn more about it, and possibly develop treatments. It looks like Long COVID is a variant of fibromyalgia. And there are some promising breakthroughs that warrant further study, and likely will lead to effective treatments for Long COVID and Fibromyalgia. So, like advances in immunizations and virology, COVID may lead to advances in treatment of other conditions.
In the meantime…
However, we are still a few years away from routinely available treatments for Long COVID. In the meantime, we can provide pain control, help with mood and sleep issues, and encourage a gentle exercise routine. These can certainly help, but are far from slam dunk treatments we would like.
As with most aspects of COVID, there is good and bad news with Long COVID. For sufferers of this condition, there is not much good news currently. They can have a multitude of symptoms that wreak havoc with their ability to live a normal life. But there are likely to be huge advancements soon, which may carry over into other areas of medicine. Also, though it can be a devastating condition, Long COVID can be prevented by getting vaccinated (and boosted), and taking precautions to prevent getting COVID.
Long COVID can be another scary aspect to COVID, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be prevented, treated, and hopefully soon, cured. The prevention part is up to you.
Stay safe, stay healthy, and Happy New Year!
L. Kenneth Zweig, M.D.
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A.I, Data and Software Engineering
A.I – A Few Thoughts on its future impacts
machine_learning A.I
machine_learning A.I
The concept of artificial intelligence – A.I – has been around for decades. Historically, scientists filled the outlook for the future with predictions of machine intelligence, robotics and automation. Society watched the interpretation of such visions through Hollywood’s science fiction movies where robots which were designed to help people, went rogue and took over. Now, these sci-fi scenarios do not seem so far-fetched after all.
The technological development of hardware combined with the emergence of cloud computing and social networks has led to the creation of a massive amount of data, which in turn fuels A.I algorithms. In this data-driven economy, A.I provides the technology means for businesses to improve productivity at a never-before rate. Equipped with better insights into internal operations and external markets, companies can now make informed decision to respond to the changes in the economy and meet the demand of customers. Automation enabled by AI also allows companies to reduce red tape, streamline processes and minimise time-to-market (e.g. A.I in agriculture).
AI does not only stop at assisting businesses in optimising their operations. It has the power to help companies to transform and create disruptions across various industries and change how traditional society works. Already we have witnessed major revolutions in the way we live our lives. Self-driving vehicles are no longer products of science fictions novels and movies. Technology companies and various technology R&D centres have been working on self-driving cars, the sights of which have been less unusual to some people. Tesla is leading the race in autonomous vehicles with most of its existing vehicles are one click away from being fully self-driving (Delgado 2018).
The readiness of autonomous cars combined with the rise if ride-share transportation models promise to change the way cities are structured: people will be more willing to live further away from the city centres as commute becomes more accessible and faster. Furthermore, AI has made personalisation a prerequisite for any service and product supplier. Never before have we witnessed such a high level of seamless customer experience across different multiple sales channels, from offline to online. Customers’ personalisation is optimized to the level where suppliers can even predict and create new demands even long before customers know it.
AI is far from being a magic wand. Just like any technology, it has its good and dark sides. I think that the most prominent threat posed by AI is associated with data privacy, as we have seen firsthand how private information can be leveraged by algorithms to manipulate people’s behaviours, through the examples of Cambridge Analytica. Targeted content and advertising had never been perceived as a threat until Cambridge Analytics used the same method to target voters and alter the outcomes of various political elections across the world.
The conduct of Cambridge Analytica’s, and possibly of many other organisations that have yet to be revealed, pose a direct threat to the integrity of social democracy and it shows how vulnerable people are to digital manipulations using their own data. The combination of data privacy misuse and the incredible power of AI has led to a tool that is defined as “weapon-grade” in Amer and Noujaim (2019)’s documentary – The Great Hack. Unlike most of the other issues, this dark side of AI has been fully realised and shown for the whole world to see. And most importantly, it also reveals how unprepared governments are to deal with AI-related incidents, no matter how damaging they are.
So which AI future is awaiting us? According to Makridakis (2017), there are four scenarios that AI can bring. The Optimists believe in a utopian technology future in which technologies revolutionise the entire society, and humans are free to do what they want and when they want. The Pessimists paints a picture of a complete opposite future where machines become increasingly smart enough to take over everything and humans’ roles in society will reduce gradually. The Pragmatists posit that it is possible to use technologies and regulation to maximise its positive impacts while minimising the potential dangers of AI and staying one step ahead of thinking machines. The doubters, on the other hand, dismiss the capability of AI and its ability to complement and replace humans’ minds; thus, they will never pose a threat to humankind.
The current impacts that AI inflicts on our society are only the tip of the iceberg. After all, we have only been familiarising ourselves with this new tool for the last decade and are still very far from mastering it. The full potential of AI is yet to be unveiled, and thus, its effects on our society are expected to deepen. There is no telling if our future will change for the better or for worse. We can only be sure that the structure of our society will change: the labour market has changed with increases in new skillsets and is expected to shift even further; public and private transportation will be reinvented; everything from our houses to our cities will become much more connected, personalized and smarter; and quite possibly, a new set of social values will emerge.
Just like any earlier industrial revolutions, the current revolution of automation and A.I will be beneficial to some and unfavourable to others. I am of the opinion of The Pragmatists’ – and believe that we can harness the power of AI for good, and reduce the potential threats by ensuring our legal and policy frameworks are one step ahead, or at the very least, on par with the pace of technologies.
[1] Makridakis, Spyros. (2017). The Forthcoming Artificial Intelligence (AI) Revolution: Its Impact on Society and Firms.
[2] “Netflix documentary The Great Hack turns the Cambridge Analytica scandal into high drama”. The Verge. July 8, 2019.
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A.I, Data and Software Engineering
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The Children's War: British children's experience of the Great War
Kennedy, Rosalind Joan Sarah. 2006. The Children's War: British children's experience of the Great War. Post-Doctoral thesis, Goldsmiths, University of London [Thesis]
KennedyR.pdf - Accepted Version
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Abstract or Description
The First World War placed children at the heart of the debate about Britain's
future. In the face of the enormous destruction of human life and the sacrifice of
the economy to the needs of war, children held the promise of a brighter future.
Britain was looking not just to rebuild what it had lost but to rebuild a Britain
better than it had been before. Children were seen as the key to that process of
To prepare them for the task children needed to understand the sacrifices that had
been made for them and the importance of accepting their role as responsible
citizens of the future. The ways war was represented to children through the
school curriculum, their participation in school/youth organisations, and the
production of toys and games highlight the way adults felt this could be
achieved. Teachers and youth group leaders harnessed children's genuine
interest in the war to teach them lessons at school and give them practical
examples of the desired characteristics of obedience and self-sacrifice that would
help Britain win the war and maintain its Empire in the future.
Children were surrounded by the war everyday, at home, at school and in their
youth groups. They read about it in books, magazines and newspapers, studied it
at school and re-enactedi t in their private games.T he separationf.r om fathers
and brothers, when they volunteered or were conscripted to fight, meant that the
wider international conflict took on a personal significance, endangering the men
these children loved. Children's experience explored through memory, personal
documents, institutional experience and play, shows the diversity of children's
response to war and the significance of war in the context of their lives. Children
struggled to make sense of the war by combining what they learnt from adults
with. what they came to understand about it for themselves.
Item Type:
Thesis (Post-Doctoral)
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Date Deposited:
02 Dec 2014 13:10
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29 Apr 2020 16:03
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Recognizing Untimely Labor
contractionsBeing pregnant is stuffed with bizarre aches, pains, and twinges, and some are a bit of scarier than others. Write like you discuss is a common rule of writing readably, and the easiest way to do this is to make use of contractions. Although there are a lot of indicators that you’re in labor, one of the most reliable is once you start experiencing constant contractions.
Braxton Hicks contractions might be described as tightening within the stomach that comes and goes. Bear in mind: Working along with your physique and adopting upright positions will encourage efficient common contractions, leading to a faster, much less painful labour.
Also known as false” or follow” contractions, Braxton Hicks contractions (which are named after the physician who first identified them) will not be precise labor contractions, however they’re attributable to the muscle tissue of the uterus tightening, simply as actual labor contractions are.
When you’ve got had a child before, when contractions are six to eight minutes apart for one hour. Some girls describe contractions as sturdy menstrual cramps, whereas others describe them as sturdy waves that feel like diarrhea cramps. False labour will be onerous to inform aside from early labour, notably if the tightening of your uterus feels uncomfortable.
Real moms and a physician explain what to anticipate in terms of contractions. They’re going to come at irregular times and aren’t intense – each signs they are not labour contractions. As your labour gets going, your contractions will usually get stronger, longer and closer collectively. |
Why do we still have offshore oil wells? How do they work?
On the horizon, container ships and an oil derrick off Huntington Beach
A cleanup crew in Huntington Beach searches for oil.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The oil spill that’s fouling Southern California beaches has many Californians wondering why the state still has offshore oil wells more than 50 years after the state declared an end to new drilling, and more than 35 years after the federal government stopped issuing new leases.
The reason is that once a lease is issued and permits are granted, they remain in use until they are revoked or a well is no longer generating profits. And the decades-old wells continue to produce, contributing thousands of barrels of crude oil each day to the U.S. output.
Here are the answers to some basic questions about offshore wells and the role they play in the larger energy picture.
Why drill in the ocean?
The simple answer is that there’s oil. Although sizable reserves remain on land, Alexei Milkov, a professor of geology and geological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, said people have been searching onshore for oil fields for 150 years, “so any large accumulations onshore have been found and exploited.” Offshore, there’s still the chance to find big new fields. Hence the interest in offshore development.
Nevertheless, offshore oil drilling accounted for only about 16% of the 12.2 million barrels of oil produced each day in the U.S. in 2019, according to federal records. The vast majority of that came from the Gulf of Mexico; the offshore wells in the Pacific, which produced an average of 12,200 barrels a day, contributed one-tenth of 1%.
There’s nothing special about undersea oil, Milkov said. It can be heavy or light, more or less biodegraded, depending on the same factors that affect oil in land-based deposits.
A developing list of what Southern Californians can do to help with the O.C. oil spill.
Isn’t it too costly to extract oil offshore?
No, it can be less expensive than some kinds of onshore development, such as extracting oil from shale deposits. Which is not to say that it’s easy and cheap to drill in the ocean; according to the American Geosciences Institute, it can take 10 years and cost several billion dollars to develop a well in deep water — in other words, deeper than 300 meters (about 1,000 feet).
The profitability of an offshore well depends on several factors, including how much it can produce, the quality of the oil and the cost of pumping it out. But a key determinant is the price the operator can collect for each barrel of crude oil it produces. According to the research firm Rystad Energy, a deep-water well can break even if oil is selling for $43 a barrel. Crude oil is currently selling for about $79 a barrel.
How do offshore wells work?
The rigs off the California coast are planted into the ocean floor on a tower, rather than floating as some newer deep-water rigs do. The interconnected Ellen and Elly platforms off the coast of Huntington Beach stand in 265 feet of water; the nearby Eureka platform is in 700 feet of water.
The Ellen and Eureka platforms each operate dozens of wells, producing both oil and gas. Pipes extend from the underside of each platform at various angles to reach multiple points on the floor hundreds of feet below; each one stretches considerably deeper into the ground, reaching into a hidden chamber where oil had collected after rising from petroleum-forming rocks even farther below.
The oil enters through perforations in the pipe, then is typically forced up to the surface by a submersible pump. At the surface, the oil may be piped to another platform for processing — that’s the case off the coast of Huntington Beach, where equipment on the Elly platform tests, separates, measures and treats the oil and gas brought to the surface, while also generating the power for the undersea pump.
Elly also pumps the collected oil and gas to shore at the Port of Long Beach through a pipeline that runs along the seabed.
Investigators believe that a tear in that pipeline caused the massive leak over the weekend, and they’re looking at whether the culprit was an anchor from one of the many ships waiting to enter the backlogged Long Beach port. The system is supposed to prevent this kind of accident, however. The pipelines in the area are marked on nautical maps, and ships aren’t allowed to set anchor randomly; instead, they are assigned spots by the Marine Exchange of Southern California.
In the back of the plane with the cargo door open, two flight mechanics looked for oil sheens in the dark teal ocean while reporters on board watched.
Whose permission is required to drill?
U.S. territorial waters stretch 12 nautical miles out from the coastal low-tide line. California, however, has jurisdiction over the first 3 nautical miles, meaning that it controls the leases and the permits within that zone.
As noted above, no new leases have been awarded in either state or federal waters for decades, which means no rigs have been added to the mix. Congress has imposed a number of temporary bans on offshore drilling in much of the U.S., although some Republican presidents have sought to allow new rigs off the coast of California and other states. The Biden administration recently restarted offshore lease sales under pressure from a federal judge, but only in the Gulf of Mexico.
Before new leases could be awarded in state waters, the state Legislature would have to pass a bill lifting the current ban, and the governor would have to sign it into law.
It’s worth noting, however, that both the state and the federal governments have continued to issue permits that extend the life of offshore rigs by allowing operators to repair, modify or upgrade their wells. According to Consumer Watchdog and the Pittsburgh-based research firm Fractracker Alliance, the state has issued 145 permits for reworking offshore rigs since Jan. 1, 2019, about half them for wells that were idle. Five additional permits in that period allow the drilling of new wells.
“A lot of the wells that are still producing were drilled in the 1960s,” said Kyle Ferrar, western program coordinator for Fractracker, adding that the safety requirements and the technologies used have changed drastically since then. “Just the fact that they’ve existed for so long means that you run into a lot of operational issues.”
How are oil rigs monitored?
In state waters, the Geological Energy Management Division, part of the California Department of Conservation, regulates all oil and gas operations.
In federal waters off the coast of California, the responsibility falls on the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, part of the Interior Department. Its work has been hindered by a staffing shortage and outdated regulations.
Although the companies that own and operate their oil and gas facilities are in charge of the safety of their employees and pollution prevention, the bureau monitors compliance.
According to the bureau, its inspectors are on site at least once a week, overseeing drilling and production operations on unannounced routine inspections. There is also an extensive annual inspection of each facility that can last two to three weeks, depending on the complexity of the facility.
A final determination for the cause of the spill may take months, but Coast Guard investigators have come up with no other explanation than anchor drag, federal sources said.
Where are offshore rigs in California now?
There are four offshore oil platforms in state waters off the coast of California: Holly in Santa Barbara County, Eva and Emmy in Huntington Beach and Esther off Seal Beach.
There are also four large artificial islands in Long Beach Harbor, known as the THUMS Islands or Astronaut islands, and one small artificial island, Rincon Island, off Rincon Beach in Ventura County.
In federal waters, or the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf Region, there are 23 platforms. Of the 23 facilities, 22 produce oil and gas, while the remaining one is a processing facility.
These include the following:
Could the government shut down offshore platforms?
The state and federal government both have the power to force wells within their jurisdictions to cease operating under certain circumstances if needed to protect the public. Doing so to a well that was still producing oil, however, could cost the taxpayers a bundle.
Federal law authorizes the secretary of the Interior to suspend and, eventually, cancel an offshore lease or permit in the case of a serious threat to human or aquatic life, property, the environment or national security. But the law also entitles the lease holder to be compensated for lost profits, which could be enormous for a productive well.
“Trying to shut down an existing facility that has its leases and drilling permits is exceedingly difficult,” said Deborah A. Sivas, a professor of environmental law at Stanford Law School. “No facility’s going to take that lying down. There’s a pretty robust takings claim here.”
State agencies hold similar authority over platforms and pipelines in state waters; in fact, their authority over pipelines and the coastal zone in general could conceivably be used to regulate aging platforms in federal waters, said Richard Charter of the Ocean Foundation. Still, the state would face a fight over future earnings if it forced an operator to close a productive platform, Sivas said.
Even when the operator shutters an old platform voluntarily, the cost can be significant. According to a consultant’s report about the platforms in federal waters off the California coast, decommissioning costs ranged from $19 million to $189 million per platform. The cost for the two drilling platforms near Huntington Beach was estimated at $182 million.
The same report indicated that seven of the 23 platforms in federal waters are no longer pumping oil and their operators are in the process of plugging wells pending decommissioning, and an eighth is in a state of “preservation.”
When it’s time to decommission a platform, the company holding the lease is required to cap the wells there and return the environment to its previous condition. And there are provisions in both federal and state rules for lease holders to offer financial assurances that they can pay the costs, typically by posting bonds.
Whether those bonds will actually cover the cost of shutting down a platform is an open question. For example, court records from last year indicate that $150 million has been set aside for the decommissioning costs of the three platforms near Huntington Beach, well short of the consultants’ estimated of those costs.
Michael Salman, professor emeritus of history at UCLA, noted a number of factors that could leave taxpayers on the hook for decommissioning costs, including performance bonds being disputed or insufficient. Bankruptcies are an issue too, he said, noting that many offshore platforms developed by major, deep-pocketed oil companies have been sold to much smaller operators as they aged.
Federal lawmakers are demanding more information on the massive oil spill off the coast of California as a legislative battle looms over whether to include a ban on future offshore drilling in a scaled-down $3.5-trillion bill.
Are there criminal penalties for oil spills?
Yes, both in state and federal law. In fact, the state’s penalties are much stiffer than the federal government’s.
Under federal law, it’s a crime punishable by fines and imprisonment to negligently or knowingly discharge oil into federal waters or to fail to report such a discharge immediately to federal officials.
Under California law, it’s a felony to knowingly cause oil to discharge into state waters or fail to begin cleanup of a spill. It’s also a felony to fail to notify the state Office of Emergency Services about a spill or to not follow “material provisions” of a spill contingency plan.
The state Legislature upped the law’s penalties last year. Under AB 3214 by then-Assemblymember (now Sen.) Monique Limón (D-Goleta), the penalty for such offenses doubled to a maximum of $500,000 to $1 million per day, plus a fine of up to $1,000 per gallon after the first 1,000 gallons.
What’s California’s history with offshore oil?
Oil has long played a role in California’s identity and economy. And the Golden State made history in 1896 when oil extraction from the ocean began from piers near Santa Barbara. It would be decades longer before drilling from platforms began, according to the 1998 book “Listening to the Sea,” by Robert Jay Wilder.
Spills have also been part of the state’s history.
1969: A major spill off Santa Barbara led to significant changes in policy. A Union Oil Co. well had a blowout and dumped almost 80,000 gallons of oil into the Santa Barbara Channel. It was the worst oil spill in American waters (until the Exxon Valdez spill off Alaska in 1989).
In response, California lawmakers prohibited new offshore leases. The spill also partly inspired U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson to establish Earth Day.
1971: Just two years later, another oil spill occurred after two tankers collided, causing 800,000 gallons of oil to spill into the San Francisco Bay.
1984: As president, Ronald Reagan sought to expand offshore oil drilling, but his efforts were blocked by California lawmakers in 1984 when they expanded the 1969 ban to include federal waters.
1990: The Orange County coast was hit by an oil spill in 1990 when the tanker American Trader ran its anchor over a pipeline, causing nearly 417,000 gallons of oil to seep out and foul the coastline and kill wildlife.
1994: The state Legislature passed the California Coastal Sanctuary Act in 1994, which reinforced the ban on new offshore oil drilling in state waters originally passed in 1969.
2007: The San Francisco Bay was hit with another spill in 2007 when a cargo ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, causing 58,000 gallons of fuel to leak into the waters.
2015: A pipeline ruptured, causing 143,000 gallons of crude oil to taint the waters off the coast of Santa Barbara yet again.
2018: During Donald Trump’s presidency, attempts to reestablish offshore drilling leases off California failed.
2021: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who this year introduced the West Coast Ocean Protection Act, said in a statement Monday that the recent spill “highlights why we must also take action to prevent future spills, including passing the West Coast Ocean Protection Act. Our bill would permanently ban oil and gas drilling in federal waters off the coast of California, Oregon and Washington.”
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Spherical Display Brings Virtual Collaboration Closer To Reality
Spherical Display Brings Virtual Collaboration Closer To Reality
Virtual reality can often make a user feel isolated from the world, with only computer-generated characters for company. But researchers at the University of British Columbia and University of Saskatchewan think they may have found a way to encourage a more sociable virtual reality.
The researchers have developed a ball-shaped VR display that supports up to two users at a time, using advanced calibration and graphics rendering techniques that produce a complete, distortion-free 3D image even when viewed from multiple angles.
Most spherical VR displays in the market are capable of showing a correct image only from a single viewpoint, said lead researcher Sidney Fels, an electrical and computer engineering professor at UBC.
“When you look at our globe, the 3D illusion is rich and correct from any angle,” explained Fels. “This allows two users to use the display to do some sort of collaborative task or enjoy a multiplayer game, while being in the same space. It’s one of the very first spherical VR systems with this capability.”
Source: Science Daily
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The Age of Intelligent Machines is (almost) here.
Folks at Google are real visionaries. What I love about them is that they're truly driven by making lives better with the technology they invent. And I'm not talking only about high-end, luxury technological goods that only a handful of people can afford. Their innovations are already changing the way we work, learn, govern our communities, and live our daily life. But without exaggeration, some of those announced at this year’s Google I/O conference might even change the course of human history. But I'll get to that in a minute.
Google I/O is an annual developer conference held in Mountain View, California. "I/O" stands for input/output, as well as the slogan "Innovation in the Open". After listening to this year’s keynote, I couldn't shake off the feeling that the singularity is truly closer than we think.
Some may fear the dystopian scenarios when intelligent machines destroy humanity. I believe in the complete opposite when technology merges with nature and becomes just another milestone in the evolution of humankind for the better. It seems like we are one step closer towards this becoming a reality and I really can't wait to see this happen.
There were many exciting announcements made, so you'll have to forgive me for picking a few that are on my personal top list. If you want to hear them all, you can still watch the entire keynote here.
Advancing AI for better human vs computer interaction
Being a language geek, I got super-excited about the level of progress Google made in the field of AI and natural language processing capabilities of computers. Language with all its nuances and complexities is one of humanity’s greatest tools — and one of computer science’s most difficult puzzles.
The latest breakthrough innovation called LaMDA, brings scientists and engineers a bit closer towards putting this puzzle together by solving a crucial section of it: conversation. LaMDA — short for “Language Model for Dialogue Applications” — is an AI that can engage in a free-flowing conversation about a seemingly endless number of topics. Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, demonstrated the power of LaMDA by letting us listen to a conversation his team had with the program about the planet Pluto and a paper plane. LaMDA already knows a lot about space, planets and millions of other topics and had the conversation with humans as the subject and the object of the conversation itself. Have a listen here.
The level of understanding of not just words, but the emotional context of the dialogue is truly remarkable. The company is looking not only at how specific and sensible the AI’s answers are, but also how interesting they are and whether the responses are insightful, unexpected, or witty.
This ability could possibly unlock more natural ways of interacting with technology and entirely new categories of helpful applications in the future. Pichai explained that the company is exploring how it could be integrated into Google’s search engine, voice assistant, or Google Workspace and how it could provide new capabilities to developers and enterprise customers.
More than just words - multimodal systems
Language can be a significant barrier to accessing information. But people don't communicate only through language. Information is conveyed also in images, audio and video. Google announced the progress they made in how their search engine understands complex queries on the web- they are calling it MUM - Multitask Unified Model.
MUM has the potential to transfer knowledge across languages. It can learn from sources that aren’t written in the language you wrote your search in, and help bring that information to you. MUM is multimodal, which means it understands information across text and images. In the future, it can expand to more modalities like video and audio. Soon, your google searches could look something like this:
Let’s say you wanted to know if you could use a particular set of boots to climb a mountain. You'd take a photo of your boots and ask your Google assistant if they are suitable for a trip you are about to take. MUM understands the image and connects it with your question to let you know your boots would work just fine. It then points you to a blog with a list of recommended gear. It could also tell you that the weather on the mountain at this time of year is usually rainy. It would suggest that you should probably wear a waterproof jacket.
Or maybe while you're on a road trip you could ask about routes with beautiful mountain views. The AI with its deep understanding of complex concepts would not only suggest a route with landmarks worth visiting but also give you links to resources on the web about other sites worth exploring in the area.
Google Maps, but even more helpful
Beyond search, Google announced new ways that AI was being used to increase the level of sophistication of Google Maps. The company said it’s planning to make more than 100 different improvements to boost the detail of routes available in Maps using AI in 2021. Maps will now incorporate sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian islands. For a wheelchair user, for example, who needs to carefully plan their trip, this would become a game-changer. Maps will also help you move around the inside of buildings that are usually hard to navigate like train stations or airports. Depending on what you are interested in, Google Maps could show you how busy certain areas or shops/services are at certain times. When considering which routes to recommend, Google Maps will also now factor in the safety of the recommended routes. At the conference, Google announced that these details will be added to more than 50 cities this year.
Health tool to identify skin conditions
Another helpful way of utilising AI is in healthcare. The company previewed the tool that will help people identify skin, hair, or nail conditions.
You will be able to use your phone’s camera to take pictures of the problem area — for example, a rash on your arm. You’ll then answer a series of questions about your skin type and other symptoms. The tool then gives you a list of possible conditions from a set of 288 that it’s trained to recognize.
When it was tested on around 1,000 images of skin problems from patients, it identified the correct condition in the top three suggestions 84 per cent of the time. It included the correct condition as one of the possible issues 97 per cent of the time. Google is working with a Stanford University research team to test how well the tool works in a health care setting.
A more powerful Google Cloud
Google’s computing infrastructure is how the company drives and sustains this kind of advances. And Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) are a big part of that. Google's CEO announced that they have developed a next-generation Tensor Processing Unit TPUv4 which is twice as fast as the previous generation TPUv3. TPUs are connected together into supercomputers called pods. TPUv4 pod is more than 1 exaflop of computing power (1 exaFLOP = 1018 floating-point operations per second) What does this mean in layman's terms? To give you a rough idea- 1 exaflop is an estimated processing power of the human brain at the neural level.
This truly is a historic moment, as no single machine ever reached this kind of computing power before. Previously to reach 1 exaFLOP you'd have to build a custom supercomputer. Google Cloud users will be able to use TPUv4 pods later this year. Most of them will be operating at 90 per cent (or near) carbon-free energy.
One step closer towards building the first quantum computer
I was saving the best for last. During this year’s keynote, we had a chance to have a look inside Google's quantum AI campus in Santa Barbara, California. Quantum computing, even though still in its early stages, is a promising field that can influence our ability to deal with complex problems better in future.
“To build better batteries (to lighten the load on the power grid), or to create a fertilizer to feed the world without creating 2% of global carbon emissions (as nitrogen fixation does today), or to create more targeted medicines (to stop the next pandemic before it starts), we need to understand and design molecules better. That means simulating nature accurately. But you can’t simulate molecules very well using classical computers. As you get to even modestly sized molecules, you quickly run out of computing resources. Nature is quantum mechanical: The bonds and interactions among atoms behave probabilistically, with richer dynamics that exhaust the simple classical computing logic.” - says Erik Lucerno, a main engineer at the campus in his blogpost.
Quantum computers will operate totally differently than computers we know today. The result of a computation is not the direct result of mathematical operations between inputs encoded as bits set to 0 or 1. Instead, a quantum computer works by transforming a state composed of particles that can be seen as 0 and 1 at the same time - a physical phenomenon called superposition in the context of quantum mechanics. The type of transformation and the interference between particles then gives a result that classical computers just cannot reach efficiently.
Within the decade, Google aims to build a useful, error-corrected quantum computer. This will allow scientists to mirror the way molecules behave in nature and thus help them design new chemical processes and new materials before investing in costly real-life prototypes. It will significantly propel the process of coming up with solutions for some of the world's most pressing problems, like sustainable energy and reduced emissions to feed the world's growing population and unlocking new scientific discoveries.
To put this in simpler words, these quantum computers compared to the ones we know today are what shinkansen or self-driving cars are to the first wheel ever invented. The successful development of a quantum computer will pose a historic milestone of similar significance to the discovery of the use of fire. We will have machines capable of simulating nature itself. My imagination goes wild thinking about what sort of implication this will have on our everyday life.
“Nature isn't classical, dammit, and if you want to make a simulation of nature, you'd better make it quantum mechanical, and by golly, it's a wonderful problem, because it doesn't look so easy” Richard Feynman. |
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The victorious truther
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1. Lately I've been interested in investigating the more intricate parts of special relativity beyond what is readily apparent on wikipedia or physics 101 videos. So, besides mathematical treatments, I want to investigate the extensive experimental support that has been built up for special relativity over the 20th and 21st centuries. I have had my eyes on Y.Z. Zhang's Special relativity and its experimental foundation seen here on amazon. Does anyone else have any other suggestions on further choices (Books and Papers alike) or comments on the viability or quality of the book above?
2. Dear mordred, if time is just a concept we use to measure duration then how would you interpret time dilation close to the speed of light or in a strong gravitational field.
3. "What do you mean, what is it made of"? So is it immaterial, is it like invisible undetectable squirrels that are causing things to decay. Distance is just a word we use to describe the separation of two physical objects. I could say these objects are a meter apart or a few yards but these are concepts we use to relate certain distances. So as with the second which is used to distinguish a certain scale to measure the changes in the position of an object. Speed is the change in position over the change in the oscillation of a physical object which you continue to suppose some metaphysical field is causing. When I say that time is not measured by a clock, I mean that there isn't a metaphysical presence that warps or causes it or allows it to change. We have two different views on a clock, you say it is time that is causing the change and thus a measurement of it while i'm saying that the clock is changing and thus we use this oscillatory motion to compare other changing objects to. You say it is dependent while I say it is independent.
4. So time is physical? What is it made of? A clock does not measure time it is a device that has replicable oscillatory capabilities. Well, one is something that can and possibly does have physical consequences in the known world. While the other is just an abstract concept used to describe or help in calculating certain variables.
5. But the measurement of a second does require the counting of a number of changes in the position of a cesium atom. How else do you measure time or know the units of time without measuring it from what you consider an objective clock which changes at a set rate which you can then use to compare certain processes.
6. Thank you modred for some common sense.
7. Do you mean a dimension as in a literal sense or in a mathematical way?
8. And so what is time? Is it the measure of change or the cause of change?
9. I agree with Eise that time and space do not deserve the place of what we would consider real physical presences. Time is only relevant when we can observe change and compare that to a set value of change from a certain physical oscillator, like a cesium clock or a pendulum, to better record or compare the phenomenon. When we say that something took a whole day to complete, we can imagine that, as we have experienced and have a set value to how long that would be. If I said that someone was very tall, you wouldn't be able to imagine a concrete and absolute view of it. Although, if I said that he was four meters tall, using this set scaling system allows me to compare and contrast with other objects that I know of to get a good grip on the reality of it. The fact that we have these set SI units allows us to create concrete pictures of the world around us using these concepts which could be abstract, physical, or emergent of other physical phenomenon. The meter is a length scale that is now defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299792458 of a second. Where a second is defined as 9,192,631,770 periods of the hyperfine state of the ground state in a cesium atom which is in turn, once again, a measure of the change or movement of an object.
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Huge Solar Storm Blasted Earth 2,600 Years Ago Could Strike Again, Researchers Warn
by | Mar 19, 2019 | Headline News | 27 comments
This article was originally published by Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge
The most significant known geomagnetic storm to blast Earth occurred in 660 B.C., researchers say, based on traces of the storm’s particles preserved in both ice cores and tree rings. Though it had no impact on the pre-industrial and pre-technological world, such an event today would trigger widespread power outages and collapse communication and navigation systems. In short, modern society would come to a screeching halt.
The study, titled Multiradionuclide evidence for an extreme solar proton event around 2,610 B.P. (∼660 BC), was published online March 11 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Lead author Raimund Muscheler, a professor of Quaternary Sciences at Lund University in Sweden, said a burst of solar energy from the sun could overwhelm power grids, air travel, and disrupt satellite communications if this were to happen.
“Today, we have a lot of infrastructures that could be badly damaged, and we travel in air and space where we are much more exposed to high-energy radiation,” Muscheler told LiveScience.
Researchers analyzed ice cores from Greenland to uncover the mystery of Earth’s most powerful solar storms. One ice core, in particular, dated back more than 100,000 years and contained radioactive isotopes that showed a massive solar storm struck the planet around 2,700 years ago.
“If that solar storm had occurred today, it could have had severe effects on our high-tech society,” said Muscheler, a geologist at Lund University in Sweden.
One example of a documented severe geomagnetic storm was known as ‘the Carrington Event,’ occurred in 1859 and knocked out telegraph circuits around the world, starting fires and causing massive auroras as far south as Hawaii.
Another example was a solar storm that knocked out power stations across Quebec, Canada, in 1989 and Malmö, Sweden, in 2003.
The Daily Telegraph said more recently, a blast of plasma from the sun, narrowly missed Earth during London’s 2012 Olympic Games, which at the time, the London region was Earth-facing, could have crippled communication networks and caused widespread panic.
Earth’s magnetic field protects the plant from the sun’s harmful blasts of energy, but sometimes the sun overpowers the planet’s defenses.
In April 2017, we reported that San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles, simultaneously experienced a power grid failure.
It was convenient at the time for many to blame the Russians; however, our report showed readers how the broad power outage was likely caused by a geomagnetic storm.
The report ends by warning that the next severe solar storm could be imminent and “threaten modern society.”
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1. Old Guy
It might be a blessing?
• Anonymous
In severe EMP
Famine would be the killer.
90% USA population gone within three years.
NWO masters would be very happy.
How about you disappoint them?
Get squared away NOW.
Preperation Planning Practice
• TharSheBlows
Well you sure don’t want to be living under an airport flight path when this goes down, and all these planes scrambling back to the airports at the same time, trying to land, dropping like flies around the airports for 20 miles. I prefer to be barricaded and safe at my country remote BOL, with my solar, guns gold and ammo, and if my Solar System crashes, so what. My system’s electronics are in a metal box. Got Cast Iron skillets and a Dutch oven and 2 years of canned food? Plenty of fire wood here and just resupplied on a few extra propane tanks. I also have 2x new 100 Lb tanks I bought that need to be filled yet, but working on that.
Get your popcorn folks and get ready to watch the Grid Down Show, Live and in your face, very soon.
• Stuart
EMP will not make any airplanes “fall out of the sky”. Might – I said might – interfere with Navaids but that won’t make them crash.
• Anonymous
are you sure about that?
In the past control surfaces controlled by
cables and pully
Wires to activate analog type tech
hyraulics on large aircraft
today an airbus for example is all computer controlled, electronic signals.
Recent crashes of Boeing have been attributed to computer management/sensor issues. American and Soouthwest have grounded that airframe type. That was just ONE system malfunctuion. What happens when poorly trained third world airline pilots who rely on technology of the Airbus to fly, then all computrers fried by emp. Maybe limited basic flight controls available? But could that type of pilot still navigate, land safely, without aid of technology? Pacific ocean very big. No gps or other navaide tech would max out skill level of those type of pilots. EMP would be horrific terrible beyond comprehension. I live in a city that can’t even sweep the streets of fix road way potholes during good times. A emp would “bring down the house”. And a Russia-China-North Korea, would likely air burst for emp effect at first strike.
Not to mention Sun activity could cause, will cause, at some time in future. We all may be on borrowed time?
Military aircraft are emp hardened, so even though the newest military planes are all “fly by wire/computer” they might be ok?
Civilian comercial aircraft are not, as far as i know?
One hell of a potential mess.
May God protect us.
• Abaddon
Personally, I think this is just what is needed for the world today. I am as ready as I am ever going to be for it.
• Sarcastic1
I’m with you. This, or the “dinosaur killer” asteroid repeat. We need SOMETHING to shock society out of this downward spiral. People getting stressed about their phone’s internet running slow. Focusing on gender identity and other identity politics. These aren’t issues! We’ve had it too good for too long and people are losing their minds. I think we don’t have enough to occupy ourselves any longer now that life is so relatively easy. No fight for survival, etc.
Will this happen before ? during ? or after WW3 which is coming.
3. Anonymous
Every peppers dream. Until it happens.
• Whatever Works
Truer words were never spoken.
4. rellik
We live, thanks to an uncontrolled Fusion reaction, that acts as
it darn well pleases. Somehow we are more “special” than Venus or Mars.
Our Sun is more than capable of destroying the Earth, indeed it will at a very future date.
Nobody gets out of here alive.
Work at things you can control, admit there are things you can’t, and be wise enough to differentiate between the two. Not my words but a re-phrase of an old quote.
• Ketchupondemand
good advice, rellik.
About your previous question…things have been back to normal for over a year now. Repairs are still being made to rural roads but all in all, no complaints.
But the power generation is giving us about 109-110 volts most of the time, so the toaster won’t work, nor the oven, which is propane but the electronics to start the igniter need 115v.
So we use the solar when we need it.
(We were without electricity for 4&1/2 months so this is nothing.)
Have plenty of water available, one way or another, because you can never have too much. More than one good filter, too.
Plus all the stuff on buttcrackofdoom’s list! 🙂
• Stuart
Testify Brother!
5. THE Preacher
I’d be more worried about the thugs in Washington DC blasting the Earth with 5,000 nukes.
6. Kevin2
I assume that the most damage, or undesirable effects, will occur on the side of the earth facing the sun when it “farts”. If this is true and significant then it’s probable for Europe to the Pacific or the Western Hemisphere to be isolatedly effected. Of course it could be most of the US to Western Europe or Eastern Europe through Asia. For many parties concerned, including the US there may be a temptation to “solve international differences” once and for all. I can imagine a Dr Strangelove type George C Scott character like the general in the LeMay mold advocating such an action. I think likewise there can be a similar type with a difficult to pronounce name on the other side of the world advocating the same thing.
It would be in the madness of men to take a natural tragedy and compound it.
• Charles Martel
Unfortunately not for a Carrington style event. Charged particles from a CME have mass and are affected by gravity. The particles will gravitate toward earth’s mass and envelop the planet. No satellite, or power plant, will be safe.
That being said, affects aren’t distributed 100% evenly. Some computerized cars(post ’82, right?) may still operate.
Regardless, you would still be in a “One Second After” type situation all over the planet.
Take care,
• Kevin2
Charles Martel
Thanks for clearing that up. The upside is that the entire plant is in the same boat. The downside is the entire planet is in the same boat.
• Kevin2
Planet not plant
7. Sgt. Dale
If it would happen? Can you say 1875?
• ANGRY FROG
SGT. It was 1859
• grandee
it would be worse than the 1800’s, I think.
There was infrastructure in place back then to help the world along.
We won’t have it this time around.
We will be cavemen.
those of us who are left.
8. Jim
We have always been and will always be at the mercy of mother nature, and she can be a cruel bitch. The good news is mankind will survive, even if you don’t.
9. Sean Hayes
2600 years ago is roughly post biblical flood. Prior to the flood the world had a permanent cover that caused a mist with no need for rain which would have provided solar radiation protection. The flood removed that causing water to come up from the deep seperating the continents and causing rains. Lack of solar radiation would have also extended life, hence the biblical record of longer life before the flood. I have read from Christian scientists that all of this could have been caused by simply knocking the earth from a perfect circular orbit into its current oval orbit. Secular science makes assumptions based on the earth being the same for eons. The flood changes everything.
10. Bilge Pump McCoy
The next solar flare “could be imminent”. That’s not really helpful information since virtually everyone with an IQ over 80 already knows that. If it happens it happens. I will be just fine. It’s the masses of unprepared morons that do idiotic things in response to a power outage that I worry about.
11. bb in GA
Just a minor carp…
2610 BP is a fairly useless, PC (anti-Christ) date convention that is just plain silly.
What happens if you read the article 10 years, 100 years from now ?
At least the BCE, CE designation used to avoid the current BC, AD convention is tied down and not relative…
12. jw
BS….the Solar observation platform (SOHO) would give us plenty of advance warning that we would be hit by an SME flare. In which case, all the interconnecting breakers and protective relays on the grid system would be tripped and set to isolate the grid system into smaller (local) sub-system grids. We would then have about 12-24 hrs of a grid down situation. Hardly a disaster. An inconvenience to all the snowflakes that cant be without their smart phones for 2 minutes.!!!!!
• Sigproshooter
Hahahahahaha… That’s a very nice theory. Would is replaced with could. Now that’s nearly impossible to coordinate too. I work in the electrical world, utilities today couldn’t manage a fucking lemonade stand successfully. They won’t do what you’re saying above. And that is assuming they actually got the memo of said incoming burst. You/we are on our own, the end.
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Moving Walks
Most of us are familiar enough with moving walkways to understand that they are horizontal and mechanical paths that transport passengers from one end to another. But have you ever heard of a moving walkway with seats readily available or seen one with a massive incline? The history and development of the moving walkway originally came from ideas such as this and made its debut in 1893 through the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.
The aforementioned first moving walkway that debuted in Chicago was one that brought its passengers straight to a casino without the effort of walking. The passengers could sit or stand while watching the beautiful scenery until they reached their destination. This created a new innovative way to allow passengers to enjoy the time it took to transport them from one place to another. The invention opened up new ways of thinking and bettered society for many.
This daring form of transportation can come in varying types of moving walk arrangements as well as with different applications depending on the need for the machine. The type of moving walkway and the materials used for it, can be determined by a couple of simple factors like its location. Perhaps the three most crucial rules of determining which moving walkway should be installed at any given time or place are: application, location and persons per hour.
The application portion of settling on the best moving walkway for you is simple. There are only two categories to choose from when it comes to the application, this is public and commercial. Although these can overlap, you will still be able to choose the correct moving walkway since there is a major difference in the length of distance that each of these serves. Just keep in mind that it matters greatly which environment you’re installing this machine in.
Just as we would wear a scarf in the winter or put on sunscreen on sunny day, climate and surroundings will inevitably affect how a moving walkway is made and what it’s made with. Material and design can be heavily altered because moving walkways are purposed to withstand the specific weather conditions of the area when manufactured.
Number of persons: Lastly, the number of persons that will be moved per hour should be estimated to the best of your ability and then given to the manufacturer. Ensuring that this number is correct will prevent pedestrian traffic back-ups and unsafe operation. These three functions being set will lead to the perfect moving walkway for each unique application. |
China National Program for Women's Development (2011-2020)
|ChinaNews|Published:2020-11-16 11:24:56
China National Program for Women's Development (2011-2020)
Equality between men and women is a fundamental State policy in China. The level of gender equality is an important indicator of social civilization and progress. Women account for half of the Chinese population, constituting an important force in China's economic and social development. Safeguarding women's lawful rights and interests while promoting their development, and advancing women's development while protecting their rights and interests, is an intrinsic driving force, and important channel towards women's liberation. Protecting the rights and interests of women, promoting women's development, and pushing forward gender equality are vital to the country's economic and social development as well as to the civilization and progress of the Chinese nation.
In 2001, the State Council, promulgated the National Program for Women's Development in China (2001-2010) (hereinafter referred to as The Program). The Program major objectives, strategies and measures were set down according to six priority areas of development, namely: women and the economy; women's participation in decision-making and management; women's education; women and health; women and the law; women and the environment.
Over the past ten years, China has incorporated women's development into its overall national economic and social development plan. To vigorously implement The Program, the legal system safeguarding women's lawful rights and interests has been constantly improved, and the government has strengthened its managerial responsibility, expanded funding, and enhanced social advocacy. By 2010, most major targets set out in The Program were achieved with significant progress in women's development and gender equality. Women enjoyed more social security benefits and the situation of impoverished women improved. The level of women's political participation raised, and their awareness of participation in social affairs enhanced. Women's educational level became steadily higher, and the education gap between the sexes narrower. Women enjoyed a better health and greater average life expectancy. Legislation and law enforcement relative to women's rights and interests were consistently strengthened, and women's rights and interests better guaranteed. Equality between men and women, as a fundamental State policy, became more popularized in China, and the social environment for women's development further improved. The period from 2001 to 2010 was one of the most outstanding historical periods of women's development in China.
Restricted and affected as they are, however, by the level of productive forces and that of social civilization at the primary stage of socialism, women's development still faces many problems and challenges. Sex discrimination in employment still exists, in terms of income and access to resources. Women's participation in decision-making and management is still low, and the gender gap in education exists. Women's health care needs are yet to be better met, the social environment for women's development to be optimized, and further improvements are called for in levels of social security available to women. The interests-related demands of women of different social strata have become increasingly diversified, and urban-rural imbalances in women's development are yet to be fully addressed.
In the coming ten years, as economic globalization grows and international competition becomes more and more intense, the international community will in the process of promoting human development pay more attention to women's development and gender equality. The period from now till 2020 is crucial to the drive to comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society in China. As economic and social development rapidly advances, rare opportunities and new challenges for women's development coexist. There is still a long way to go in promoting women's comprehensive development and realizing equality between men and women.
National Program for Women's Development (2011-2020) has been formulated on the basis of the basic principles prescribed in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, the stipulations of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women and other related laws, the purposes of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women and other international conventions and documents, the general objectives and requirements of economic and social development, and the actual situation concerning women's development and gender equality in China.
I. Guidelines and Basic Principles
1. Guidelines
Hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics; be guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thought of the "Three Represents"; thoroughly apply the Scientific Outlook on Development; carry out the fundamental State policy of equality between men and women; safeguard women's lawful rights and interests; improve the environment for women's development; enhance women's social status; encourage women to exercise democratic rights on an equal footing and according to law, and to equally participate in economic and social development so as to equally benefit from the achievements of reform and development.
2. Basic Principles
(1) The principle of comprehensive development. Based on the basic needs of women's survival and development, focus on addressing practical problems bearing on the immediate interests of women, with a view to achieving women's comprehensive development in political, economic, cultural, social and other spheres.
(2) The principle of equal development. Improve and implement the laws, regulations and policies promoting equality between men and women, pay more attention to social equity, construct a civilized and advanced gender culture, create a favorable social environment, narrow the gap in social status between men and women, and promote the harmonious development of men and women.
(3) The principle of coordinated development. Intensify support for women's development in rural poverty-stricken and ethnic minority areas; narrow the gaps between urban and rural women in per capita income, life quality, culture and education, medical and health services, and social security through improving the rules and regulations, increasing financial input and optimizing project layouts.
(4) The principle of women's participation. Ensure women's rights to participate in economic and social development according to law, respect women as a major social force, and instruct and support women in achieving individual progress and development while promoting socialist construction in economic, political, cultural, social and ecological civilization fields.
II. General Objectives
Incorporate gender awareness in the legal system and public policies, promote women's comprehensive development, enhance harmonious development between men and women, and promote the synchronizing of women's development with economic and social development. Ensure women's equal access to basic medical and health care services to significantly improve women's life quality and health; ensure women's equal rights and access to education to continuously raise their educational level; ensure women's equal access to economic resources and equal participation in economic development to manifestly enhance their economic status; ensure women's equal participation in the administration and management of State and social affairs to increase their level of political participation; ensure women's equal access to social security to notably improve their level of social welfare; ensure women's equal participation in the decision-making and management of environmental affairs to improve the environment for their development; and ensure the improvement of the legal system on the protection of women's rights and interests to steadfastly safeguard their lawful rights and interests.
III. Areas for Development, Major Objectives and Strategies and Measures
1．Women and Health
Major Objectives:
(1) Ensure women's access to good basic medical and health care services throughout their life cycle, and prolong women's life expectancy.
(2) Reduce the maternal mortality rate to less than 20 per 100,000. Gradually narrow the gap between urban and rural areas in maternal mortality, and reduce the maternal mortality rate among the migrating population.
(3) Raise regular screenings for common gynecological diseases to over 80 percent. Increase the early diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer and breast cancer, and reduce the mortality rate.
(4) Control the spread among women of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
(5) Bring down the incidence of moderate and severe anemia among pregnant and lying-in women.
(6) Ensure that more women are informed about psychological health and ways of avoiding mental illness.
(7) Ensure women's rights to make informed choices on contraception and birth control, reduce unwanted pregnancies and induced abortions.
(8) Increase the proportion of women regularly participating in physical exercises.
Strategies and Measures:
(1) Step up maternal and child health care. Optimize distribution of resources and expand maternal and child health care funding in rural and remote areas. Strengthen construction of non-profit maternal and child health care institutions at all levels, improve maternal and child health care service networks and grassroots health service systems, and provide all women with a consistent standard of health care services. Expedite training of maternal and child health care workers, and improve the quality and quantity of the staff of health care institutions. Step up law enforcement and supervision and thoroughly investigate and deal with any illegal acts that threaten women's health.
(2) Strengthen sci-tech research on women's health. Relying fully on sci-tech progress, extensively plan and optimize the distribution of sci-tech resources, organize cross-departmental, cross-regional, and cross-disciplinary cooperation in key research projects, and strengthen research on major factors affecting women's health and relevant intervention measures. Encourage independent innovation, promote the application of research achievements, and spread new and appropriate technologies that are beneficial to women's health.
(3) Improve women's reproductive health services. Widely disseminate reproductive health knowledge, improve women's self-health-care consciousness and abilities, based on their physiological characteristics. Provide a standard reproductive health care service for women at adolescence, at child-bearing age, pregnancy and delivery, menopause, and old age, and help solve their health problems at each physiological stage.
(4) Guarantee pregnant and lying-in women's safe child-delivery. Strengthen the construction of grassroots obstetric institutions and the training of their staff, and improve obstetric services and health care for pregnant and lying-in women. Endeavor to raise the rate of pregnant and lying-in women under systematic medical care management to above 85 percent, the rate of childbirth in hospitals to above 98 percent nationwide, and the rate of rural hospitalized delivery to above 96 percent. Improve first aid networks for pregnant and lying-in women, disseminate appropriate midwifery techniques, and enhance rescue and treatment of pregnant and lying-in women in critical situations. Implement the subsidy policy for rural pregnant women giving birth in hospitals. Provide pregnant and lying-in women with necessary psychological guidance and health education, disseminate knowledge on spontaneous vaginal delivery, help them to choose a scientific mode of child delivery, and control the number of cesarean deliveries.
(5) Improve prevention and treatment of common gynecological diseases. Disseminate knowledge on prevention and treatment of common gynecological diseases and establish a regular screening system for such diseases. Increase input on special projects, and expand women's cervical and breast cancer screening coverage. Strengthen training on professional knowledge and quality service among grassroots maternal and child health care workers and family planning service providers. Promote the cervical and breast cancer diagnosis and treatment capability of medical institutions and provide subsidies for treatment of critical impoverished patients according to regulations.
(6) Prevent and control the spread of HIV/AIDS and STDs. Improve the operating mechanism for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and STDs. Improve education for target groups of women on disease prevention and treatment, and disseminate effective intervention measures. Intensify supervision on places of entertainment, and severely crack down on drug abuse, prostitution, whoring and other illegal behaviors. Include blocking mother-to-infant transmission of HIV/AIDS, syphilis and hepatitis B in regular maternal and child health care work, step up provision of comprehensive preventive health services, increase HIV/AIDS screening of pregnant and lying-in women to 80 percent and syphilis screening to 70 percent, and raise the application rate of intervention measures to pregnant and lying-in women infected with HIV/AIDS or syphilis, as well as their new-born babies, to above 90 percent.
(7) Improve women's nutrition level. Promote education on and dissemination of health and nutrition knowledge, and advocate scientific and appropriate dietary schemes and regimens. Provide nutrition guidance and intervention to target social groups including pre-natal, pregnant and lying-in, and breast-feeding women according to their specific needs. Prevent and treat anemia among pregnant and lying-in women. Step up supervision on production and distribution of nutrition-enhanced food.
(8) Ensure women's access to quality family planning services. Conduct research and popularize safe, effective and appropriate new contraception and birth-control technologies and methods, advocate informed choices on forms of contraception and birth control, and provide quality contraceptive and birth-control services. Improve dissemination of contraceptive and birth-control knowledge, raise women's self-protection awareness and improve their ability to choose scientific and rational contraceptive methods, and prevent and control unwanted pregnancies and induced abortions. Strengthen men and women's awareness of their common responsibilities with regard to contraception and birth control, research and develop male contraceptives and birth-control products, and encourage men's adoption of birth-control measures to increase the proportion of male contraception.
(9) Improve women's mental health services. Establish a fully-functioning mental illness prevention-treatment-recovery service network covering both urban and rural areas. Provide counseling and services based on women's physiological and psychological traits. Improve mental health training for workers at professional mental health institutions as well as medical and health care institutions. Develop prevention, early discovery and intervention in women's post-natal depression.
(10) Improve health care services among migrant women. Improve the administrative mechanism and security system among migrant women, and ensure that migrant women have access to the same level of health care services as local women residents. Step up the dissemination of health care knowledge among migrant women.
(11) Guide and encourage women's regular participation in physical exercises. Strengthen scientific guidance on women's fitness activities, and raise their fitness awareness. Proactively develop urban and rural community fitness activities, and encourage women to participate in the nationwide fitness drive. Strengthen guidance and services on fitness activities among elderly women and women with disabilities.
2. Women's Education
Major Objectives:
(1) Ensure comprehensive implementation of the gender equality principle in education work.
(2) Work to ensure that the gross enrollment rate of children in kindergartens rises to 70 percent, and that girls enjoy equal access to three-year preschool education.
(3) Increase to 95 percent the retention rate of children in nine-year compulsory education, ensure that girls enjoy equal access to nine-year compulsory education, and eliminate the phenomenon of girls dropping out of school.
(4) Work towards ensuring that the gross enrollment rate of children in senior high school education rises to 90 percent, and that girls enjoy equal access to senior high school education.
(5) Work towards ensuring that the gross enrollment rate of children in higher education rises to 40 percent and that girls enjoy equal access to higher education, and strive to achieve a balanced gender ratio in higher education institutions.
(6) Step up the popularization of women's studies courses in higher education institutions.
(7) Expand the proportion of women in vocational school education and vocational training.
(8) Ensure that women receive an average 11.2 years of education before working age.
(9) Reduce the illiteracy rate of young and middle-aged women to less than 2 percent.
(10) Ensure that the gender equality principle and concept are fully reflected in the standards and teaching processes of education courses of all categories and levels.
Strategies and Measures:
(1) Include gender perspective and carry out the gender equality principle in the formulation, revision, implementation and evaluation of educational laws, regulations, policies and programs.
(2) Ensure girls' equal access to preschool education. Provide financial support to ensure that impoverished girls and girls with disabilities receive universal preschool education. Enhance the popularization of preschool education in rural areas, expand rural preschool education resources in various ways, and make efforts to ensure that "left-behind girls" (girls whose parents have moved to other regions of China to work) have access to kindergartens.
(3) Ensure that school-age girls have equal access to compulsory education. Expand the dissemination of the Education Law of the People's Republic of China, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Compulsory Education, and other laws and regulations, raise parents' legal awareness and promote their consciousness of the need to secure girls' right to compulsory education.
(4) Ensure girls' equal access to high school education. Boost support for high school education in impoverished areas in central and western China, and ensure that the demand of girls in rural and poverty-stricken areas for high school education is met. Provide financial support to impoverished girls and girls with disabilities in high school education, and ensure that girls do not drop out of school because of poverty and/or physical disabilities. Progressively provide free secondary vocational education and ensure that girls who fail to go on to senior high school receive the necessary vocational education before seeking employment.
(5) Improve women's access to higher education. Take proactive measures to protect women's equal access to higher education, and increase the proportion of women with higher education among the working-age population. Provide financial support to impoverished and/or disabled women college students in various forms and through multiple channels.
(6) Satisfy women's vocational education needs. Ensure equal emphasis on the importance of vocational school education and vocational training, and provide women with more opportunities and resources for vocational education. Support women in remote poverty-stricken areas and women with disabilities seeking vocational education. Provide compensatory education for overage girl dropouts, and expand their vocational training opportunities. Organize various forms of vocational training for unemployed women, and improve their ability to start their own businesses or to become re-employed. Offer vocational education majors applicable to the physiological and psychological characteristics of women with disabilities.
(7) Enhance life-long education for women. Construct an open and flexible life-long educational system that provides women with diversified, life-long education opportunities and resources. Encourage women to take up various forms of continuing education, and support employing units in providing such education opportunities for their women employees. Improve women's ability to use new media for access to modern distance education.
(8) Promote women's participation in community education. Integrate and optimize community education resources, develop diversified community education modes, enrich community education contents, and satisfy women's individualized study and development needs. Strengthen the development of community education for senior citizens, and provide convenient and flexible learning conditions for female senior citizens.
(9) Step up literacy programs for women. Innovate and improve the operating mechanism for literacy, formulate favorable policies, and reinforce work to provide literacy programs for young and middle-aged illiterate women. After eliminating illiteracy, consolidate the achievements of literacy programs, and carry out in-depth literacy drive and post-drive continuing education through organizing compensatory study.
(10) Improve training for female technological and technical talents. Improve policies for talents in the field of science and technology, and explore the establishment of a multi-layered, multi-channel training system for female sci-tech talents. Gather and train female professional talents by utilizing State key laboratories, key scientific research projects, and key engineering and construction projects.
(11) Improve women's theoretical research in gender theories and the building of women's studies in higher education institutions. Include projects and subjects on gender and women's development in State social science funds and other related funds to promote women's theoretical studies. Expand the discipline ranking of women's studies, and encourage higher education institutions to offer a major or a course on women's studies with a view to cultivating women's studies professionals.
(12) Implement gender evaluation of education contents and process. Include gender experts in the staff of institutions providing guidance on school courses and textbooks. Fully reflect the gender concept in education contents and modes, and guide students to foster gender equality ideas.
(13) Improve gender awareness among education workers. Step up training among education administrators on gender theories, include gender equality content in teacher training programs and courses in normal colleges, and strengthen gender awareness among education administrators. Increase the percentage of women among decision-makers and administrators in schools of all levels and categories, and in education administration departments.
(14) Balance the gender structure of students in areas of study in secondary and higher education. Encourage students' comprehensive development, and reduce the influence of gender on students' choices of majors. Adopt diversified means to encourage more women to participate in high-tech study and research.
3. Women and the Economy
Major Objectives:
(1) Ensure women's equal right to work, and eliminate gender discrimination in employment.
(2) Ensure that women account for more than 40 percent of employees, and that the number of urban female workers progressively expands.
(3) Reduce the gap in employment rate and the income gap between men and women in non-agricultural sectors.
(4) Raise the proportion of women among skilled laborers.
(5) Guarantee that the proportion of women among high-level professional and technical personnel reaches 35 percent.
(6) Ensure female workers' safety at work, and reduce the incidence rate of occupational disease among women workers.
(7) Ensure rural women's equal access and right to contracted land management.
(8) Significantly reduce women's poverty level.
Strategies and Measures:
(1) Strengthen legal protection of women's economic rights. Enact and improve regulations and policies that guarantee women's equal participation in economic development and their equal labor rights. Ensure women's equal access to economic resources and effective services. Strictly implement employment-promotion and labor contract laws and regulations.
(2) Eliminate gender discrimination in employment. Other than in jobs and posts proscribed by law as unsuitable for women, no unit must refuse to employ women or raise the recruitment standards for women job applicants for gender reason or spuriously for gender reason; and no unit must, in labor contract or other forms, constrain women from marriage and childbearing. Intensify supervision over the enforcement of the labor protection laws, and investigate and deal with, according to law, acts of gender discrimination on the part of the employing units and employment agencies.
(3) Expand women's employment channels. Proactively develop tertiary industry with a view to creating new job opportunities and posts for women. Make continuous efforts to improve the abilities of small and medium-sized enterprises and non-public enterprises to absorb female workers, and adopt effective measures to promote women's employment in pioneer industries and emerging trades. Formulate and bring into effect employment policies favorable to women who experience difficulties in finding employment and provide more help for them in this respect. Improve policies that support women starting their own businesses, and support and help women starting their own undertakings through such measures as skills training, taxes and fees reduction or exemption, subsidized loans, and follow-up guidance.
(4) Promote full employment of female university graduates. Strengthen employment guidance, training and services oriented to female university students and help them make the right decisions for future occupations. Improve policies supporting female university students starting their own businesses, and offer training to help them to that end.
(5) Create favorable employment conditions for women experiencing difficulties in finding jobs. Bring into effect policies on public welfare jobs and help such groups as women at disadvantageous age and with disabilities. Conscientiously implement relevant legal provisions on women returning to their original posts after giving birth. Carry out such supporting provisions and policies as social insurance subsidies, training subsidies and subsidized micro-credit to help laid-off women start their own businesses or become reemployed.
(6) Improve women's employment structure. Accelerate the process of integrating urban and rural areas, and explore various channels to guide and support rural women make an orderly shift to non-agricultural industries. Improve State policies on training, evaluating and stimulating skilled talents. Strengthen the training of women's vocational skills, and raise the proportion of women among primary, medium, and high-level skilled workers. Guide women to actively participation in scientific research and technological development, and create favorable conditions for them to improve their qualifications.
(7) Fully implement the policy of equal pay for equal work for men and women. Establish a sound, scientific and rational income distribution system. Ensure that employing units offer equal remuneration to workers doing the same work, making the same amount of effort and achieving the same results.
(8) Guarantee female workers' occupational health and safety. Spread education on occupational diseases prevention and control and raise female workers' self-protection awareness, especially those without fixed employment. Strengthen administration and supervision over the hazards of occupational diseases. Include special labor protection for female workers as an important part of labor protection and labor security supervision. Strengthen labor protection for female workers, forbid employing units to assign female workers to tasks prohibitive to them, and reduce the incidence of occupational diseases among female workers.
(9) Safeguard female workers' labor rights and interests. Make continuous efforts to improve laws and regulations on female workers' labor protection and raise female workers’ self-protection awareness through education and training in laws and regulations and knowledge on labor safety and health. Regulate enterprise recruitment behavior, make the signing of labor contracts between enterprises and their employees standard practice, and encourage enterprises with trade unions to sign and fulfill special collective contracts on protecting female workers' rights and interests. Deal with violations of female workers' rights and interests according to law.
(10) Ensure rural women's land rights and interests. Carry out and improve relevant policies on protection of rural women's land rights and interests, and rectify village regulations or villagers' private agreements that violate the provisions of relevant laws and regulations. Set up and improve various rules and regulations on management of rural collective funds, assets, and resources, and push local authorities to work out measures on the distribution and use of land acquisition compensation within rural collective economic organizations, and ensure rural women enjoy gender-equal rights with respect to contracted management of land, use of housing sites and distribution of collective income.
(11) Raise rural women's income. Promote the development of agricultural production mutual-aid and cooperation organizations, expand agricultural production scales and improve operating incomes. Ensure rural women enjoy all government-stipulated agricultural subsidies. Create suitable posts for rural women while centering on the development of rural secondary and tertiary industries, such as primary processing of farm products at their site of production, and rural recreational and tourist activities. Offer training courses on practical and professional skills that are easily accessible to rural women to help both "left-behind women" (women whose husbands have moved to other regions of China to work) and women returning to their hometowns to start their own businesses or find other employment. Encourage financial institutions, enterprises and other organizations to offer, in cooperation with women's organizations, rural women-oriented financial services and relevant training.
(12) Step up support for poverty-stricken women. Develop anti-poverty measures to help impoverished women, and guarantee sufficient supply of living resources. Support poverty-stricken women in taking part in anti-poverty projects in rural areas. Offer subsidized micro-credit and capital and other preferential projects specially to urban and rural poverty-stricken women.
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There is a definite link between paternal and maternal smoking and the development of problems with pregnancy, low birth weight and birth defects.
In the United States, cigarette smoking is estimated to account for between 21% to 30% of the incidences of low birth weight babies (newborns weighing less than five pounds, eight ounces, approx 5.5kg). It is thought that cigarette smoke has a direct retarding effect on fetal growth. Women who smoke when pregnant have a greater risk of complications such as spontaneous abortion, stillbirth (where the baby dies prior to delivery), preterm birth (where the baby is delivered before 37 weeks), placenta previa (where the placenta is implanted in the lower, rather than upper, segment of the uterus), premature rupture of the membranes containing the fetus and amnionitis (inflammation caused by infection of the amniotic sac). Babies born to women who smoke are more likely to have brain and heart defects present from birth and birth defects of the face such as cleft lip. Smoking is also associated with SIDS .
Secondhand cigarette smoke in the air an infant breathes increases his/her risk of developing respiratory problems such as bronchitis and pneumonia during the first year of life.
A man who is a smoker prior to conception may develop sperm mutations which can contribute to the development of birth defects.
In no way is this information intended to replace the advice of a medical practitioner. Always consult your Doctor for diagnosis and advice.
Pregnant women should seek to quit smoking as it places their health and the health of their baby at risk. Ask your Doctor for advice about ways to stop smoking.
Diet Tips
See our Quitting Smoking page (insert link)
Quitline is a telephone information and advice or counselling service for people who want to quit smoking.
You can phone the Quitline on 13 7848 confidentially from anywhere in Australia for the cost of a local call only.
Ask Calanna
Ask your Pharmacist for advice.
• Follow the diet hints.
• If you need help to stop smoking, ask your Pharmacist for suggestions.
DISCLAIMER: This information is an educational aid only. It is not intended to replace medical advice for individual conditions or treatments. Talk to your doctor, pharmacist, nurse or naturopath before following any medical regimen to see whether it is safe and effective for you. |
Home > astronomy, NASA > NASA’s buzz about comet Elenin
NASA’s buzz about comet Elenin
March 28, 2011
NASA posted a video on their website Buzzroom last week, bringing attention to a recently discovered comet in our solar system. The comet was discovered by Russian astronomer Leonid Elenin in December last year. Comet Elenin, as it is called, is of particular interest to NASA because of the close proximity to Earth that its orbit will reach during its turn around the sun on its way back out through the solar system later this year.
Most orbits of planets are not circles; they are ellipses. The elongated ends of elliptical orbits are called aphelions and perihelions; the aphelion being the end farthest away from the stationary object being orbited, and perihelion being the end closest to the stationary object. In Elenin’s case, its trip around our sun represents the comet’s perihelion.
NASA’s put a video up in their Buzzroom about Elenin, but it is not there anymore [it is on YouTube]. It was probably pulled down more due to its amateur nature rather than as part of any grand conspiracy theory, but the relative silence by NASA and the mainstream media regarding Elenin has the Armageddon chatrooms abuzz with theories of doom and gloom.
The fact, though, that conspiracy and end-of-the-world chatrooms are abuzz with tales of human annihilation does not discount the reality of this space object. It is real.
Elliptical orbits with very long-periods, meaning the length of time it takes for them to complete their elliptical journey back to the starting point, are very difficult to calculate on moving bodies. Slight variations in measurements relating to the placement of the object over a given time can result in substantial differences in the measurement of the orbital period, meaning the length of time it takes the object to travel from perihelion to aphelion and back again.
In Elenin’s case, due to its recent discovery, not enough information has been taken to accurately define its period. In addition, measurements of Elenin’s path within our solar system have varied wildly since its discovery due to perturbation by the planets, meaning the gravity of larger objects in space can push and pull the comet, giving astrophysicists on Earth who are trying to measure its path difficulty in calculating its future position based upon its present trajectory.
While astrophysicists have identified the current path of Elenin with some degree of accuracy, the length of time it takes Elenin to complete its ellipse is not so well defined. Based upon one set of data, Elenin’s period could be 11,000 years; based upon another set of data, the period is 600,000 years. The truth is probably somewhere in between, but that is a large margin of possibilities. Most likely, this is why NASA is mum on the object; no one likes to look dumb, and astrophysicists are particularly sensitive in this area. Me, I’m genuinely curious on this one, so I’ll take the risk.
Space distance is measured in astronomical units [a.u.], with 1 a.u. being the distance from the Earth to the sun. That being said, Elenin is currently estimated to pass within 0.24 a.u. of Earth after it makes its turn around the sun and begins heading back out into space. It should be clarified here that the exact position of Elenin as it passes by Earth is still unknown, so people who say it will hit Earth are just as inaccurate as those that are saying it will not.
There is a lot of space and a lot of objects in between where it is now and its approach to Earth that could affect its path, and the slightest push or pull could magnify dramatically over the course of 100 million miles. In addition, gravitational forcings of planets in the inner solar system as they align themselves during the comets incoming path could act as a forcing mechanism that either causes the 0.24 a.u. to either widen or shrink.
Elenin has recently entered the inner solar system and should pass through Mars orbit by the end of June sometime. There are several alignments that happen between then and its rendezvous with Earth that could alter its trajectory slightly.
The ecliptic is a horizontal field created by the planets and sun orbiting on a relatively flat plane. Many of these long-period objects do not travel along the ecliptic plane. They either come up from below the ecliptic, cross the ecliptic, and travel out above the ecliptic plane, or they do the opposite. In Elenin’s case, it will cross the ecliptic on September 11, 2011, and shortly thereafter line up with Mercury, the Sun, and the Earth. There is no telling how such an alignment on the ecliptic plane will affect the trajectory of Elenin.
You have reached the end of factual information on Elenin.
In the modern world that we are living in, Elenin is simply a comet, but since the beginning of time, space objects have fascinated mankind, inspiring stories that have been passed down for millenia. Even though technology has taken over our lives and the magic has been sucked out of the natural world, the stories still exist, and on a certain plane, long-period time, these stories ARE reality. We just happen to be living in a time when our short-sightedness is running headstrong into long-period time, and in some ways, our space knowledge through technology is just beginning to catch up to that held by the ancients.
There are two stories that describe human short-sightedness within long-period time I want to mention; the first is the story of the Blue Star and Red Star Kachinas in Hopi Prophecy. According to these stories, the Blue Star Kachina acts as a warning, an alarm bell, that announces the imminent arrival of the Red Star Kachina. The story is about the cyclical nature of life; it is a story about humanity forgetting to remember its purpose; it is a story of destruction and purification; it is a story repeated a thousand times throughout history; and as always, it is ultimately a story of renewal.
Combining the two stories, this is the Red Star Kachina that sits in judgement as life on Earth is reset.
There is a lot of the information online regarding stories relating to near-earth misses from heavenly bodies, and it is all incredibly cryptic and mostly contradictory when compared together. The information provided here on the Hopi and Sumerian is done so as to give a sampling of the saner rambling explanations of an incredibly complex topic, that is, long-period time, a topic coming to light more so each day as the end of the Mayan calendar approaches 12.21.2012, a topic based upon such complex heavenly motions that NASA can’t even explain its meaning yet using modern world high-tech gadgetry. To dismiss these ancient stories is to dismiss the majesty and complexity of the planet, solar system, galaxy, and universe that we live within.
1. GabachoMike
September 15, 2011 at 12:52 am
There’s really nothing to worry about.
If it’s really meant to be, that we’re all going to die in some cosmic traffic-accident, well…there’s nothing we can do.
Dig your holes, drink your Kool-Aid, put on those brand new sneakers and squirrel-away your MRE’s. It’ll all be over soon.
…and if it does not come to pass…You’re gonna look really foolish believing in all this nonsense.
2. drydenglover
April 28, 2011 at 11:17 am
I just discovered that magnetic north is now off about 35 degrees counterclockwise from where it used to be. I took a map of my major roads and cross-streets and lined it up with the actual roads. I then took a compass and laid it alongside. Sure enough, Magnetic north now points to about 11:00 when it used to point around the 1:00 direction of where I reside and where it indicates on the map. Also, the phases of the moon are going in a diagonal (5:00 to 10:00) movement now instead of horizontal (3:00 to 9:00) like it used to. You don’t have to be a RS to understand that something amiss is clearly happening. The earthquakes, aftershocks, volcaninc activity, tornadoes, unusual weather patterns and storms are all a part of this! WAKE UP, get informed and above all SPREAD THE NEWS!!!
• drydenglover
April 28, 2011 at 11:19 am
Also, the sun now sets in the northwest direction (11:00) when, this same time last year, it was still setting in the west (9:00)! WTF!!!
• Jase
June 20, 2011 at 10:11 am
Ive noticed that too.. also since december the birds have ther dawn chorus at 1:30am.. we are either wobbling or we have actually shifted.
3. howard
April 17, 2011 at 2:15 pm
• April 17, 2011 at 7:53 pm
No one knows the actual size but it appears to be a very massive entity due to the connection of solar alignments and seismic activity. According to NASA they are silent regarding the size of the brown dwarf/ comet and have not released any data regarding that. They only acknowledge that it exists.
4. howard
April 17, 2011 at 2:10 pm
if our entire solar-system consisted of one sun and 8 or 9 planets spinning counter-clockwise around it we would all be dead, the earth and all the other planets would slow down and stop spinning around the sun think about it five billion years and they want us to believe all these planets continue spinning around the sun without help “HOGWASH” when i was 0 years old i knew there had to be another sun and another set of planets spinning clock-wise around it simple logic people take two plates glue magnets around the perimeter of both plates and put a shaft at the center between them you will see if you spin the top one clockwise the bottom one spins counter-clockwise and vis-versa in fact most if not all systems of energy work in the same manner wake up wake up WAKE UP!!!!!
5. astroboy
April 6, 2011 at 6:44 pm
Pamela :Please view a video I made of an object/planet/comet 2 days ago. I have been following up elenin/nibiru info and frequently filming sun at sunset to see if I could see what people were seeing as per youtube. I got the shock of my life two days ago and I am very excited about it. Youtub
username: pamela3pmThanks
Why would you find something that may cause catastrophic earth changes such as earthquakes exciting?
6. FWJ
April 5, 2011 at 4:56 am
hi,im in astro physics im in capetown south africa-this is the current estimated close call path of elenin .0004AU = 37182.33 miles== 59 839.1597 kilometers-its a close pass,elenin itself isnt what the concern is the concern from credible global sources are what is elenin dragging along with it,and what is dragging it down,from july 2011 onwards are the critical timeline events that must be monitored 24-7 globally
7. April 2, 2011 at 12:51 pm
1. September 17, 2011 at 6:39 pm
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Sapphires, are they an Ethical Choice?
With sapphire’s rising popularity, especially as an alternative to diamonds, you might be wondering about the stone’s ethical background. Ever since princess Diana chose her stunning 12 karat sapphire wedding ring, the magnificent blue gemstone has made a strong comeback in the jewelry industry. With the growing traction for sapphires and the more recently emerging sustainability and responsible sourcing trends, there has been more demand for ethical sapphires than ever before. But, where exactly do these gemstones come from? Who produces ethical sapphires? We’re here to explain it all.
Before we dive into sapphires, it is important to understand why the ethical and sustainable movement hit the gemstone industry and why it is important today.
As you may know, diamonds rose in popularity rapidly around 1938 due to a marketing campaign for diamond engagement rings (remember “A Diamond is Forever”?). With this rapid rise in demand many companies sought out ways to decrease costs and raise profits. The term “blood diamond” first came into play during the bloody civil wars in Angola, Sierra Leone, Republic of the Congo, and Central African Republic, where diamonds mined under brutal conditions were being used to fund these conflicts. These inhumane practices gained more attention and lead to a public outcry for more transparent and ethical diamond mining and sourcing.
However, the slow changes in diamond regulations led some consumers to decide to search for more sustainable options to diamonds, including lab-grown diamonds (although their carbon footprint and economic impact compared to their mined counterparts is still a matter of debate), colored gemstones, and synthetic stones. This movement also helped bring more awareness to sapphires as an alternate choice for consumers who shied away from diamonds.
Ethical Sapphires
Sapphires have a distinct advantage that diamonds do not have and are in general more traceable than diamonds. Diamonds are difficult to trace back to their origin due to the many mines in existence and the routes they take around the world on their journey from a rough diamond through many hands and many steps until it becomes like the polished and faceted ones you often see in jewelry. This makes it almost impossible to know exactly where that diamond came from and while only an estimated 1-5% of diamonds in the supply chain actually fund wars and armed conflicts (making them true “blood diamonds”), you often still can’t be certain what conditions the stones were mined, transported, and cut under.
Sapphires, like many colored gemstones, on the other hand tend to come from small and independent family mines and therefore are easier to trace than diamonds. This means that with each sapphire purchase you likely support a local family and small business. Supporting these small mines and mining communities is crucial for stimulating their local economy.
It is also unpopular to create synthetic or lab created sapphires for jewelry, so any sapphire you buy is more likely natural. Natural sapphires can also cost less since many lower quality sapphires can be enhanced by heat treatments.
This doesn’t mean that all sapphires are ethical as there is always a risk, and we always have to do our due diligence, but it is definitely a step in the right direction. Who doesn’t like supporting small businesses instead of a handful of large multinational mining conglomerates?
Sapphire Sources
Some of the most popular sources for sapphires are Australia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Madagascar. Sri Lanka is one preference of many looking for ethical sapphires because this is where the government has the most control over gemstone regulation. This site to also has a strong preference because the sapphires are mined by family owned businesses or small companies.
The reason there are many small operations is largely due to the fact that Sri Lanka favors small operations over large companies and automated machinery. GIA stated that “Mining licenses in Sri Lanka are regulated by the National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA). Of the more than 6,500 licenses issued in 2013, more than 6,000 were for pit-mining operations using traditional methods. The remainder went to river and mechanized mining,” this means that the large companies are not competing with small mines.
More smaller mines mean less large scale mines that destroy and disrupt the land, surround communities, and fuel wars. With each license application miners must give a cash deposit. These deposits are returned when the mining is complete and the land has be restored. Any deposit fees left behind are used to rehabilitate the land.
Another sources that is preferred by jewelers is natural Montana mined sapphires. Sapphires from Montana are often not your traditionally mined gemstones. They are often collected from a river with little impact to the environment.
The reason the environmental impact is low is due to natural weathering processes. Unlike traditional mines where you have to dig deep to reach sapphire deposits, Montana relies on alluvial deposits. Alluvial deposits happen when a large portion of sapphire is exposed to weather processes that break up the stone. These smaller portions end up in rivers, streams, and lakes when it rains. Any one mining for sapphires or minerals must adhere to the strict Montana mining laws and guidelines. And to top it off, it supports local industry as many sapphires mined in Montana are also cut in the US, so they don’t have the same carbon footprint as stones that travel all around the world, from the mine, to the cutting facility, to the dealer, to the jeweler and then to you. |
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John Krull commentary: A Roman myth, redistricting and renunciation
The ancient Romans had a myth they revered.
It concerned the patrician farmer turned general, Cincinnatus. In a time of extreme threat, the Romans offered Cincinnatus absolute power.
He was reluctant to assume it. When he defeated the enemy, he relinquished the power he held and went back to his farm.
Historians now doubt the veracity of some parts of the Cincinnatus tale.
But there is no doubting the power of his legend.
It helped shape the young United States because it inspired George Washington. Like the mythical Cincinnatus, Washington always seemed hesitant to take power and eager to give it back.
His repeated renunciations of office and authority added to his appeal.
Americans wary of tyranny felt they could trust a man reticent about using power and happy to surrender it.
That trust helped a fledgling republic find its feet.
I thought about the myth of Cincinnatus the other day.
It was on a day when Hoosiers gathered to rally and testify at the Statehouse regarding the redistricting process. Many are concerned that the legislative maps that will determine Indiana’s representation for the next 10 years will be drawn to favor Republicans even more.
It’s a valid concern. The current maps, which also were drawn by the GOP, are so gerrymandered that, in most legislative districts, they make voting all but pointless.
The Republicans who already have overwhelming power in every part of state government are itchy for still more unquestionable and unassailable authority.
While the rally at the Statehouse was going on, I was recording a Zoom discussion with former Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard. The conversation primarily was about the balance and separation of powers in the Indiana and U.S. Constitutions.
Shepard is one of the most astute students around of law and history.
At the beginning of our discussion, he noted—correctly—that America’s commitment to portioning power out to three branches of government sprang from a desire to keep one person or one group of people from having too much control. The founders of this country feared arbitrary authority. They sought ways to fashion a government that could function and, at the same time, represent the will of the people.
That is not an easy task.
Because the government depends upon the consent of the governed for its legitimacy, there must be a relationship of some good faith between those who lead and those who follow. Trust and acts of good faith are essential.
I asked Shepard at one point what happens in our system when people in power don’t act in good faith. I cite President Andrew Jackson’s refusal to enforce a Supreme Court decision in the early 1830s.
Shepard didn’t have an easy answer because there isn’t one.
Much of our system of government depends upon people in power being willing to do the right thing. When those in power refuse to honor their obligations, refuse to play by the rules, our country struggles to function.
Which brings me back to the question of redistricting and the thought of Cincinnatus.
Republicans in this state—like Democrats who hold sway in other states—want to draw maps that favor them because they hunger for power. They see short-term things—lowered tax rates, etc.—as the end of the process.
The founders of this country had a different end in mind. Their fundamental goal was to prove that a nation with a government that drew its authority from the consent of the people could survive.
They feared those who would be monarchs or autocrats and who would abuse the authority entrusted to them in the service of narrow or personal ambitions. They felt they could trust only those leaders who hesitated to assume power.
That’s why the story of Cincinnatus spoke to them with such force.
And that’s why Cincinnatus’s example, real or myth, seems so attractive to me now.
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In this section, you will learn how the basics of the Dart programming language. We will take a look at its syntax and learn how to use data types like strings and integers. We will also look at how to perform string interpolation, how to build collections, and how to create functions.
To follow this course, you can download the source file, which will help you compare your progress.
Source Code
You can also view the source code for each section in the course in my GitHub repository.
Getting Started
The code we will be writing is not directly linked to the project we are building but it’s still good to gain a practice. Selecting the top-level folder (mine is simply called designcode), press CMD+N on your keyboard and select Dart file. Name this file scratch.dart. You should have a new empty Dart file now that can be used as a playground to test and run code. Inside the file, type the following:
void main() {
This main function will let Dart know that this is the entry point function to run. The void keyword means that this function will return nothing.
Variables can be thought of as boxes that hold a particular value. Below, I’ll define a variable called name that will hold a String value of my name. Then, I will print it to the console.
void main() {
var name = 'Sai';
To run code, click on the Terminal menu at the bottom of Android Studio and run the following:
dart run scratch.dart
• Dynamic: This keyword lets Flutter know that even though name contains a value of type String, it can be allowed to change to a value of a different data type.
• Final: This keyword lets Flutter know that this variable cannot be changed later on making the variable immutable. Final is initialized at run-time meaning that every time the state of the app reloads, so do the variables marked final.
• Const: This is similar to the final keyword. Const is initialized at compile-time so when the code compiles, the variable is initialized and is never reinitialized again.
Note: You can also mark variables by the data type they hold. For example, the name variable can be marked String to let the code know this variable should always hold a value of type String.
final String name = 'Sai';
Integer Data Type
Setting a variable to hold a value of type integer is very simple. All it takes is marking a variable int and setting its value.
int age = 19;
String Interpolation
String Interpolation refers to creating string objects which can dynamically be changed by including variables within the string.
print('My name is $name and my age is $age!')
Many programming languages include some form of collections. While Swift has arrays, Dart, similar to Python, has lists. To create a list, set a variable equal to a multiple objects of the same data type wrapped in square brackets and separated by commas.
var hobbies = <String>['coding', 'biking', 'reading'];
Functions can be handy when you want to perform a particular operation repeatedly without having to write the same lines of codes over and over again. Let’s delete everything inside the main function. We’ll create a showInfo function that simply prints a statement to the console.
void main() {
void showInfo() {
print('My name is Sai and I am 19 years old');
If we run the Terminal command dart run scratch.dart, we should see the statement printed to the console.
Functions with Arguments
We can customize our functions by providing arguments. This can customize small portions of our function to change based on the arguments provided. We’ll add an argument called name that will be used to change the print statement in our function.
void showInfo({String name}) {
print("My name is $name and I am 19 years old");
showInfo(name: 'Sai');
Functions that return values
Let’s remove everything inside the main function for the last time. We’ll now create a function that will take a number as an argument and return the value of that number plus 5. To make a function return a value, we have to replace the void keyword with the data type we expect the function to return.
void main() {
int addFive({int number}) {
return 5 + number;
print('5 + 5 is ${addFive(number: 5)}');
We used the int keyword since we want our functions to return an integer value. Now if we run the Dart code, the arithmetic operation will be printed to the console. |
Vitamins and minerals are the most essential nutrients for our body since they perform a number of roles. But the most important factor to consider is that you should understand the difference between getting enough of these nutrients which turns out to be healthy and getting more than enough of these nutrients that may end up harming you. However, consuming a healthy diet remains the best way to get enough vitamins as well as minerals.
Most Important Nutrients
Each day our body produces muscle bone and skin. This makes the use of rich red blood that carries a lot of nutrients as well as oxygen to the remote places while sending the nerve signals. However, the nutrients also formulate chemical careers that shift from one organ to another while conveying the instructions in sustaining your life.
But, for this, your body needs to require some raw materials that embrace at least 30 Vitamins, dietary components, and minerals that cannot get manufactured on their own in enough amounts.
Role Of Micronutrients
Minerals and vitamins are also called micronutrients since the body needs small amounts of them but if you fail to manage small quantities it will undoubtedly bring disease. Owing to the deficiency of Vitamin A, people may develop blindness. While having a deficiency in Vitamin D causes rickets. Rickets is a situation that gets marked by weak bones that may lead to skeletal deformities.
Strong Benefits
There are a number of substantial benefits of consuming these micronutrients. The major benefits include-
Develop strong bones- Micronutrients bring a combination of Vitamin D, Phosphorus, Calcium, Vitamin K, and Magnesium builds up your bones against any kind of fractures.
Builds strong teeth- Fluoride is the most essential mineral that helps bone formation while keeping dental cavities from getting worse.
Birth defects- Consuming folic acid supplements during early pregnancy assists prevent all kinds of spinal and brain defects in offspring.
Difference Between Minerals & Vitamins
Though these vitamins and minerals are considered micronutrients, they show different properties. Vitamins are completely organic and can be easily broken by air, heat, or acid. However, minerals are inorganic and can hold on to the chemical structure. With these different and important properties, it showcases that the minerals in water and soil can get their way in your body via animals, fish, plants, and fluids you consume. Hence, it becomes very hard to stop vitamins from food as well as other sources in your body. It is because storage, cooking, and exposure to air can easily make fragile compounds inactivate.
Down The Line
Consumption of a major mineral may create a deficiency of another and can bring a different level of imbalances caused by supplements. For instance, if you are intaking high levels of sodium through processed foods, then it will end up saturating excessive sodium in your body while affecting your health in an adverse manner.
This way, we can say that with the proper consumption of vitamins and minerals, we can make our immunity strong and can enjoy a healthy lifestyle. |
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Baseline Concussion Testing: Why All Athletes Should Get One
Concussions are traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) that result in a number of symptoms, including headache and loss of consciousness. They interfere with the brain’s normal function, which can have an effect on sleep patterns, memory, coordination, judgment, reflexes and balance. While they’re usually classified as “mild” TBIs, concussions can have serious and long-term effects if left untreated. Any athlete knows that playing sports comes with a risk of concussion—some sports more than others—but few know that taking a baseline concussion test in Brampton can dramatically help if they ever suffer from a TBI.
What is a baseline concussion test?
Baseline concussion tests are similar to concussion tests, in that they test the same areas—memory, concentration, coordination, judgment, reflexes and balance, among other qualities—but they’re administered by a professional before the sports season starts and/or any injuries are sustained.
Baseline testing in Brampton is useful because it provides doctors with a starting point to compare against if an athlete does sustain a TBI. In some cases, the tools and techniques will only be appropriate for athletes ages 10 and up.
If an athlete suffers from a concussion during the season, doctors will evaluate both test results to see where concussion symptoms might be present or especially prevalent. This allows doctors to make recommendations as to when the athlete can return to school, work and their sport. It also provides doctors with an opportunity to educate the athlete and/or their parents about the signs and symptoms of a concussion, when to seek emergency treatment and more.
Typically, doctors advise having a baseline concussion test performed every two years, but if the patient has already suffered a concussion or has a medical condition that could affect test results, they may be advised to perform a test more often.
What else can I do?
Obviously, no one wants to suffer a TBI, but if you’re playing a contact sport, you’re far more likely to have one than the average citizen. Doctors recommend that any athlete’s parents and/or family members, as well as teammates and coaches, be educated about the signs of concussion, risks involved in play, and how to treat a concussion until medical help can be secured.
Athletes should also take care to wear the appropriate safety gear, including but not limited to helmets. When you take all the necessary precautions, you lessen the chances of a TBI as well as the odds of suffering lasting effects.
Baseline concussion testing in Brampton
At Paramount Physiotherapy & Sports Injuries Clinic, we offer baseline concussion testing in Brampton to determine an athlete’s baseline cognitive function before any injuries are sustained. We’ve been serving the Brampton area since 2009, focusing on physiotherapy to help athletes and members of the public get back to their daily activities. Our team works with each individual to formulate a rehabilitation plan that’s right for them. Call us today to schedule your baseline concussion test, and take a critical first step toward protecting your health. We look forward to working with you.
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The Passive House Key Design Principles
Passive House is a holistic construction certification standard, allowing Certified Passive House professionals flexibility to determine the most suitable building geometry based on usage and location. Passive buildings are thus comprised of a set of design principles used to attain a quantifiable and rigorous level of energy efficiency within a specific quantifiable comfort level under a “fabric first” design philosophy. To that end, a Passive House building is designed and built in accordance with five building-science principles:
An essential part of every Passive House is an air tight building envelope (see the requirement in the certification criteria). This ensures that there are only a very limited amount of gaps and cracks within your envelope, giving you full control over your internal environment and significantly improving thermal comfort – no more draughts!
Now this doesn’t mean that you can’t open your windows! The incorporation of a mechanical ventilation unit means that you simply don’t need to rely on opening them to achieve good indoor air quality. The unit effectively recovers heat and coolth that would otherwise be wasted whilst also filtering the air that’s coming into the building. This leads to fewer pollutants in the air and a lower risk of condensation meaning a healthier indoors.
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Jenison Pediatric Dentist Brushing Guide
How to choose a toothbrush for your child:
Jenison Pediatric Dentist Brushing Guide
February is National Children’s Dental Health Month. When it comes to children’s dental health, nothing is more important than choosing the right toothbrush for your child.
Selecting the right toothbrush for your child might be challenging, since there are so many available. Here are some tips to help you pick out the perfect toothbrush for your child!
1. A finger toothbrush for newborns can be used even if your child does not yet have teeth, or they are just beginning to erupt. This is the ideal moment to introduce your infant to a finger toothbrush. To clean a baby’s teeth, a finger toothbrush is a little brush that fits over the finger of an adult. By massaging their gums with a baby toothbrush from an early age, you can ensure that their gums and teeth have a healthy environment to grow in. It can also help ease discomfort for teething too.
1. Brushing with children can be challenging, especially when learning proper methods. Using toothbrushes with soft bristles, and a small head, is essential because they’re small enough to fit in a small mouth and hard-to-reach areas. Softer bristles are especially beneficial for developing mouths because they are kinder on the gums and the delicate enamel.
1. Children’s attention spans are short and keeping their interest on brushing can be tough. On the other hand, electric toothbrushes can make this task a little easier. Using electric toothbrushes can encourage children to brush their teeth, making the task more enjoyable. They are also easier to use to clean the teeth on a wiggly child. It is common for electric toothbrush suppliers to produce kid-friendly models that include smaller brushing heads and colorful, character-themed grips. Aside from that, your kids will naturally want an electric toothbrush if you have one.
1. Brushing for two minutes at a time may be a challenge, even as your child grows more independent. A “countdown” timer on a kid’s toothbrush encourages them to brush their teeth for the recommended two minutes. Brushing time is indicated by a light, vibration, or sound on the timer. The child can brush until they are prompted to stop.
1. Using a smartphone or tablet, children can even play games with their brushing motions using an electric toothbrush app. Children receive a reward and thorough feedback every time they clean their teeth. Children are more likely to brush their teeth if they see their favorite characters in shows or games, and if they have a reward system in place.
If you still have questions, please feel free to call us; we are always here to help create a healthier smile and happier kids! |
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Are Flu Shots Safe?
By September 5, 2019September 15th, 2021No Comments
If you’ve ever wondered if the flu vaccine is safe, you’re not alone. Whether or not flu shots are safe has always been a topic of much debate, with some parents choosing to opt-out of flu shots and vaccinations for their children and families. The Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics reports that two of the most common reasons why people elect not to get vaccinations are “safety concerns and a desire for more information about healthcare providers.”
Despite these rising concerns, the truth is that flu shots are safe! Getting the flu vaccine is safe and will not give you the flu. These vaccines contain viruses that are unable to replicate in people, as they have been deactivated, or killed, so to speak. In the case of nose sprays that contain a flu vaccination, the virus contained in the nose spray is severely weakened and is unable to survive in one’s lungs.
But what happens when you get a fever, muscle aches, or other side effects from the shot? These side effects are not uncommon, but they aren’t the flu, and they do not last very long. While some people may claim that they got the flu after receiving a flu shot, cold symptoms are often mixed up with flu symptoms, as they are similar in nature, and many are the same. However, due to how the flu shot is designed, the flu shot is safe and does not give one the flu. While the viruses that are put into the flu shot change each year, they always provide a line of biological defense for your immune system, preventing other illnesses such as pneumonia. Flu shots are designed to be safe and to provide greater biological safety to the recipient.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) (3) reports that flu vaccines have been used by hundreds of millions of Americans for the past half-century with extensive research that supports the safety of flu shots and vaccines. They also strongly advise that any person older than six months old receive annual flu shots to increase public safety and reduce the risk of a preventable illness. (Children younger than six months should not receive the vaccine.) To further ensure the safety of flu shots, the CDC closely oversees the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD). These systems allow the CDC to track any negative events that may have been caused by a vaccine, determine whether or not an investigation needs to be held to question the vaccine at hand, investigate if necessary, and collaborate with nine other health organizations to increase our knowledge of vaccine and flu shot data. The systems in place to ensure the safety of the general public also ensure that flu shots are safe and effective.
*Reviewed and approved by Dr. Rob Lapporte
Get your flu telemedicine consultation kit and Physician Consult NOW, and get diagnosed and a prescription filled within 24 hours without ever leaving your home! FREE overnight shipping when you use the code “FREEOVERNIGHT” at checkout. Click HERE to start feeling better now. |
Health News
Study finds singing and imagining improvised music elicits flow-like brain states
A research team at Georgia State University has identified how the brain changes when artists are in a state of “flow” and found that simply imagining improvised performances elicits the same flow-like brain states as when musicians are singing.
In the new study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers recruited 21 advanced jazz musicians, who were prompted to vocalize or imagine one of the four scores from the Bebop era of jazz based on a standard 12-bar blues chordal progression while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The multidisciplinary research team—which includes experts in mathematics, physics, music, neuroscience and computer science—then used the fMRI data to identify how a musician’s brain reconfigures connectivity depending on the degree of creativity required during jazz performances, focusing on two major brain networks: the default mode network and the executive control network.
“We estimated static functional network connectivity as jazz musicians were vocalizing, imagining, improvising or performing pre-learned, memorized scores,” said principal investigator Victor M. Vergara.
Martin Norgaard, associate professor in the School of Music and co-author of the study, says the work provides new insight into the minds of expert jazz musicians at work.
“The executive control network is typically active in many tasks, including solving problems. The default mode network seems to be more active when a subject is in the resting state,” said Norgaard. “We saw that when expert musicians are improvising, the brain is interfering less with their creativity.”
The study was conducted in collaboration with the Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), which is supported by Georgia State, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Vince Calhoun, founding director of TReNDS and a Distinguished University Professor in Psychology and Neuroscience, said the new study allowed researchers to observe widespread and richer effects of connectivity. It is the first analysis of whole brain connectivity during vocalized and imagined real-time production of creative output.
As part of the team at TReNDS center, Vergara and his colleagues were able to extract signals from the brain using a non-invasive method to reduce any interference in the creative process. The team created a custom algorithm to identify the resting state networks.
“Brain imaging produces vast amounts of time-varying measurements that are difficult to parse. Pattern recognition algorithms were necessary to pinpoint the relevant brain areas involved in the creative process,” said Vergara. “We then compared the different patterns to understand the differences between performing improvisation and pre-rehearsed music.”
“Now there are more specific questions we can consider, like what changes are happening in the brain while someone improvises or which different networks are involved,” said Norgaard. “That’s called dynamic connectivity, and that’s what we’re hoping to research next.”
Source: Read Full Article |
Saturday, 2 July 2022
Transitional Fossil News - Sorry Creationists, But It's Yet Another One of Those 'Non-Existent' Transitional Fossil Things!
An artist reconstruction of Ailurarctos from Shuitangba. The grasping function of its false thumb (shown in the right individual) has reached to the level of modern pandas, whereas the radial sesamoid may have protruded slightly more than its modern counterpart during walking (seen in the left individual).
Illustration by Mauricio Anton
Eating bamboo? It's all in the wrist. | Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County
Technically, of course, all fossils are transitional since they represent a species at a given point in time and come precisely between its parent's generation and it's descendants, but creationists continue to demand examples of 'transitions' that illustrate their childish parody of evolution - one species, or order, changing into another with individuals midway between the two - a half fish - half monkey, or something equally ludicrous that no-one in their right mind would expect to see.
In other words, as often with creationists, they have been conditioned to demand proof of something that no scientists has ever claimed happened and something that is so different to what the TOE actually predicts, it would actually falsify the TOE if it were found.
But of course, real 'transitional' fossils abound because, like the example in this article, there are abundant examples of gradual changes in morphology over time. In this instance, the example is of the evolution of the pseudo-digit or 'thumb' in the panda, which is one of the anatomical differences between pandas and the other bears. Clearly, if, pandas, which are no known to be closely related to bears, share a common ancestor with them, we should expect an ancestor of the pandas to have a pseudo thumb, which is a development of the radial sesamoid bone of the wrist, somewhere between that of bears, which don't have one, and that of modern pandas.
And this is exactly what has been found in a fossil from the Shuitangba site in the City of Zhaotong, Yunnan Province, China dated to about 6-7 million years old. The only thing is that it is actually longer that that of modern pandas, although this doesn't necessarily mean it isn't intermediate, since a long pseudo thumb might not have been especially well adapted for both walking and gripping which involves a compromise.
The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County news release explains:
When is a thumb not a thumb? When it’s an elongated wrist bone of the giant panda used to grasp bamboo. Through its long evolutionary history, the panda’s hand has never developed a truly opposable thumb and instead evolved a thumb-like digit from a wrist bone, the radial sesamoid. This unique adaptation helps these bears survive entirely on bamboo despite being bears (members of the order Carnivora, or meat-eaters). In a new paper published in Scientific Reports, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology Xiaoming Wang and colleagues report on the discovery of the earliest bamboo-eating ancestral panda to have this “thumb.” Surprisingly, it’s longer than its modern descendants.
While the celebrated false thumb in living giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) has been known for more than 100 years, how this wrist bone evolved was not understood due to a near-total absence of fossil records. Uncovered at the Shuitangba site in the City of Zhaotong, Yunnan Province in south China and dating back 6–7 million years ago, a fossil false thumb from an ancestral giant panda, Ailurarctos, gives scientists a first look at the early use of this extra (sixth) digit–and the earliest evidence of a bamboo diet in ancestral pandas–helping us better understanding the evolution of this unique structure.
Deep in the bamboo forest, giant pandas traded an omnivorous diet of meat and berries to quietly consuming bamboos, a plant plentiful in the subtropical forest but of low nutrient value. Tightly holding bamboo stems in order to crush them into bite sizes is perhaps the most crucial adaptation to consuming a prodigious quantity of bamboo.
Panda’s false thumb must walk and ‘chew’. Such a dual function serves as the limit on how big this ‘thumb’ can become.
Evolving from a carnivorous ancestor and becoming a pure bamboo-feeder, pandas must overcome many obstacles. An opposable ‘thumb’ from a wrist bone may be the most amazing development against these hurdles.
Dr. Xiaoming Wang, lead author
Department of Vertebrate Paleontology
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA
How to Walk and Chew Bamboo at the Same Time
This discovery could also help solve an enduring panda mystery: why are their false thumbs so seemingly underdeveloped? As an ancestor to modern pandas, Ailurarctos might be expected to have even less well-developed false “thumbs,” but the fossil Wang and his colleagues discovered revealed a longer false thumb with a straighter end than its modern descendants' shorter, hooked digit. So why did pandas’ false thumbs stop growing to achieve a longer digit?
Five to six million years should be enough time for the panda to develop longer false thumbs, but it seems that the evolutionary pressure of needing to travel and bear its weight kept the ‘thumb’ short–strong enough to be useful without being big enough to get in the way.
Denise Su, co-project leader
Associate professor
School of Human Evolution and Social Change
Institute of Human Origins
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
Wang and his colleagues think that modern panda’s shorter false thumbs are an evolutionary compromise between the need to manipulate bamboo and the need to walk. The hooked tip of a modern panda’s second thumb lets them manipulate bamboo while letting them carry their impressive weight to the next bamboo meal. After all, the “thumb” is doing double duty as the radial sesamoid–a bone in the animal’s wrist.
Photo: Sharon Fisher
Hand bones of a living giant panda.
Photo: Natural History Museum of L.A. County.
Panda gripping vs walking
(white bone is the false thumb).
Natural History Museum of L.A. County.
The authors of this article are affiliated with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA; Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China; Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Kunming, Yunnan, China; Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Copyright: © 22 The authors.
Published by Springer Nature Ltd. Open access (CC BY 4.0)
In the abstract to their open access paper in Scientific Reports, the authors say:
Of the many peculiarities that enable the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), a member of the order Carnivora, to adapt to life as a dedicated bamboo feeder, its extra “thumb” is arguably the most celebrated yet enigmatic. In addition to the normal five digits in the hands of most mammals, the giant panda has a greatly enlarged wrist bone, the radial sesamoid, that acts as a sixth digit, an opposable “thumb” for manipulating bamboo. We report the earliest enlarged radial sesamoid, already a functional opposable “thumb,” in the ancestral panda Ailurarctos from the late Miocene site of Shuitangba in Yunnan Province, China. However, since the late Miocene, the “thumb” has not enlarged further because it must be balanced with the constraints of weight bearing while walking in a plantigrade posture. This morphological adaptation in panda evolution thus reflects a dual function of the radial sesamoid for both bamboo manipulation and weight distribution. The latter constraint could be the main reason why the panda’s false thumb never evolved into a full digit. This crude “thumb” suggests that the origin of the panda’s dedicated bamboo diet goes back to as early as 6–7 Ma.
This example neatly illustrates how evolution can work, firstly to produce a modified structure to produce a new function, then, because that structure is sub-optimal it becomes subject to more subtle environmental selectors working in opposition to the original selectors that produced the new structure in the first place.
In this instance, there were competing selectors for gripping and for walking, so the result today is a compromise. Of course, if this was an intelligent design process there would be no need to refine and improve on an original design, since the design would be perfect in the first place. But the process that actually produced the panda’s ‘thumb’ is not sentient and could not have predicted the need to modify a crude, initial utilitarian design.
In fact, of course, there is no reason why an intelligent designer could not have given the panda a fully opposable 6th digit, or even an opposable thumb like humans have, to begin with, so would not have needed to modify a bone designed for another function.
Contrary to creationist claims, this is a perfect example of the sort of transitional fossil that Darwin was referring to and which the Theory of Evolution predicts. Admittedly, it's not an example of the sort of 'transitional' fossil that the childish parody of evolution with which creationist frauds fool their scientifically illiterate dupes in the creationist cults leads creationist to claim have never been found.
Wednesday, 29 June 2022
Malevolent Designer News - The SARS-CoV-2 Virus is a Sophisticated Design For Increasing Suffering
Illustration of a SARS-CoV-2 viral particle entering a cell. The particle pierces through a cell’s membrane, made of two layers of lipids. A PNNL-OHSU team has shown how lipids are key to the ability of the virus to replicate.
Illustration: Michael Perkins | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
COVID-19 Fattens Up Our Body’s Cells to Fuel Its Viral Takeover | PNNL
Creationist mode:
No doubt the more they learn about the SARS-CoV-2 which is causing the current COVID-19 pandemic, the more creationists will come to admire the sheer brilliance of the divine malevolence they believe created it for the sole purpose of killing millions of people and making hundreds of millions sicker, to generally increase the suffering in the world. At least that's what it achieved and is still achieving so, since it is supposedly omniscient, we have to believe it knew precisely what it would do and designed it for that purpose.
Now a group of scientists has discovered yet another example of just what a brilliantly sophisticated machine for making us sick this nasty little virus is. They have found that it
undertakes a massive takeover of the body’s fat-processing system, creating cellular storehouses of fat that empower the virus to hijack the body’s molecular machinery and cause disease.
but before creationists get too excited, the scientists from Oregon Health & Science University and the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory caution that these results were obtained from cell cultures, not living humans, so must be treated with caution pending more research. Nevertheless, what they found should be enough to impress devotees of the malevolence that they believe designed this virus.
The news release from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory explains:
Tuesday, 28 June 2022
Evolution News - Human Origins Just Got More Complicated.
The skull of 'Little Foot', Australopithecus prometheus, from south Africa, now believed to be a contemporary of 'Lucy', Au. Afarensis, from Ethiopia.
Fossils in the ‘Cradle of Humankind’ may be more than a million years older than previously thought - Purdue University News
As I have pointed out many times here and on the social media, as well as in my popular book, What Makes You So Special: From The Big Bang to You., far from the often repeated creationist lie that there are no transitional fossils, there are actually so many of them that they serve only to cloud, not clarify the picture. Just when you think there is a nice direct line from a species of Australopithecus up to say, Homo erectus and thence to us, up pops another Australopithecus that might be a side branch or it might be an early ancestor of Homo sapiens. In the end we are left with a confusing collection of ancient African fossils that might or might not be our direct ancestors or might or might not be the ancestors of am extinct side branch, with no real way to determine which.
The picture is confused further when the fossils from which DNA has been extracted show that early hominins had a tendency to spread over a very wide range, evolve for a while in isolation, but not enough to be incapable of interbreeding with a cousin species, then come back together again and exchange DNA by interbreeding, so we may in fact never have had a single original distinct ancestral species but we are the descendants of two or more that hybridized.
Now the picture has been clarified a little by a scientists from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, and the University Toulouse Jean Jaurès, Toulouse, France, who have used a new dating method developed by Dr Darryl Granger of Purdue University to reassess the date of several hominin fossils found in the Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa and pushed their dates back more than a million years. This makes them older that 'Lucy' (Au. afarensis) who is believed to be close to our direct Australopithecine ancestor, if not actually our ancestor. It is hoped, that more accurate dating will leader to a more accurate placing of these fossils over time, so making lineages easier to identify.
From the Purdue University news release:
Climate Emergency News - Temperature Change Will Impact on Bumble Bees
Climate change negatively impacting bumblebees: Study - SFU News - Simon Fraser University
A stark reminder of the effects of climate change and the danger this represents to life on Earth, was published recently in the form of a study into the effects of global warming on the population of bumblebees in North America. The study was conducted by scientists from Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada, led by Hanna Jackson, in collaboration with scientists from the U.S.-based Pollinator Partnership, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, and the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Southern California.
Their findings were published, open access, in the Royal Society's Biology Letter
bumblebees are essential pollinators on which many plants depend for their reproduction and without which many plants would not produce the next generation. They are also essential for pollinating a number of human food crops from oilseed rape to fruit, so a significant loss of bumblebees would be economically catastrophic.
The Simon Fraser University press release explains the team's methodology and main findings:
Atheism - Winning in Australia
Census 2021 results: Christianity plummets as ‘non-religious’ surges
Figures released today show that, like elsewhere in the civilised, advanced world, Australians are abandoning religion in droves. The percentage of Australians who described themselves as 'Christian' in the 2021 census fell below 50% to 44% for the first time in Australia's history.
This figure has fallen from 52% in just 5 years. In 2011 it stood at 61%. When a census was first conducted in Australia in 1911, 96% of Australians identified themselves as Christian.
These figures are revealed in the first tranche of data to be released from last years census. The percentage who ticked the 'no religion' box stood at 39%, up from 30% just 5 years ago, and almost double what it was in 2011. Those who identified as Catholic fell 3 percentage points to 20% and Anglican fell 3 percentage points to 10%. Falls in other minor Christian denominations brought the total figure for Christians as a whole down to 44% from the 52% recorded just 5 years ago.
The percentage of Australians self-identifying as 'non-religious' is highly significant because it shows the extent to which 'non-religious' has become acceptable in Australia. In the mid-1960s only 1% of Australians so self-identified. What we are seeing in Australia is what we saw in the UK, where the social stigma of having no religion, so being perceived wrongly as immoral and untrustworthy, has gone, to be replaced by a more realistic perception of intelligence, compassion and integrity, so more and more people are coming out of the closet.
These figures are even more scary for the churches and those who earn a living pushing religion in Australia. Crudely projected forward they show an accelerating trend away from religion, so the percentage of Australians identifying as Christian will be approaching zero within 3-4 years while those admitting to having no religion will exceed 80% over the same timescale. No-one would seriously expect these figures to be realised in practice, because religions tend to lose a percentage of their members each year so the number leaving in any one year tends to get smaller and the number remaining in the faith never reaches zero, but this shows how Christianity at least will be functionally extinct in Australia within the next 10 years.
As more people openly identify as Atheist, so Atheism loses its stigma as more and more people come to see that not only do you not need God to be good, but that Atheists lack the hypocrisy, sanctimonious judgementalism and a tendency to abuse, now closely associated with religiosity. In the UK, a poll a few years ago showed that people now find Atheists to be more honest and trustworthy than devout Christians, with even some devout Christians now trusting atheists more than their fellow Christians.
Completing the census form on the designated census day is compulsory in Australia but the question about religion was voluntary. It may be significant that the percentage of Australians who volunteered this information rose from 91% to 93%. This is probably not enough to account for the jump in 'no religion' but it could be partly the result of people being more inclined to declare it publicly, albeit on a confidential form, the personal details of which will not be released for 100 years.
An animated representation of the first tranche of Australian Census 2021 data can be seen here.
Sunday, 26 June 2022
Covidiot News - Another Reason Why Pregnant Women Should Be Vaccinated Against COVID-19
Covid-19 vaccination during pregnancy reduced the risk of hospitalisation with COVID-19 for babies under 6 month-old by 80% for the Delta variant and by 40% for the Omicron variant.
COVID-19 Vaccination in Pregnancy Helps Protect Infants from Needing Hospital Care for COVID-19 | Lurie Children's
Contrary to the antivaxx propaganda coming from the extreme right in the USA, a new study, sponsored by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has shown that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy reduced the risk of babies under 6 month old needing hospitalization due to COVID-19 infection, by 80% during the Delta wave and 40% during the Omicron wave.
The study, led by Dr. Bria M. Coates, MD, was conducted by investigators from the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, Chicago and the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago. It included infants younger than 6 months of age who were admitted to 30 paediatric hospitals in 22 states from July 1, 2021, to March 8, 2022. Dr Coates and his colleagues found that most infants (90 percent) who needed intensive care due to COVID-19 infection were born to mothers who were not vaccinated during pregnancy.
The results were published a few days ago in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital press release explains the importance of these findings:
Saturday, 25 June 2022
Fake News - Why People Believe False Stories and Disinformation
Why We Fall for Disinformation | Psychology Today
In a report published recently by the US Center for Naval Analysis (CNA) a team of psychologists analysed the reasons why so many people are falling for disinformation. The problem us due to the way we have evolved to deal with information and the fact that this has ill-prepared us to deal with the vast amount of information now being directed at us by modern technology.
In fact, some of the time-tested tools make us dangerously vulnerable to disinformation, especially disinformation designed to mislead and garner support for extremist groups for whom the truth would be toxic. We see this today in the form of disinformation about, for example, COVID-19, the measures to reduce its spread and the vaccines designed to protect us from it. We also see it in relation to politics, political movements and parties, international affairs, religious fundamentalism and anti-science propaganda, such as climate change and evolution, and especially conspiracy theories such as those promulgated by QAnon and former President, Donald Trump's supporters, intended to radicalise, undermine confidence in institutions, and garner support for extreme solutions to non-existent problems.
In other words, disinformation campaigns are designed to benefit those whom the report calls 'malign actors', for whom the truth would be dangerous and who know they need their target marks to believe falsehoods and mistrust the evidence.
In the abstract to their report, the psychologists, Heather Wolters, Kasey Stricklin, Neil Carey, and Megan K. McBride, say:
Friday, 24 June 2022
Confidence in U.S. Supreme Court Sinks to Historic Low
Confidence in U.S. Supreme Court Sinks to Historic Low | Gallop
According to the latest Gollop Poll, the damage the disastrous president, Donald Trump, did to American democracy continues to fester.
This time it is a dramatic collapse in the level of trust in the Supreme Court that Americans have, since Trump appointed overtly partisan Republican placemen to SCOTUS while in office. A flourishing democracy needs an independent judiciary, not an overtly partisan one, but SCOTUS is now expected to deliver verdicts demanded by the right-wing political fringe and religious fundamentalists, while ignoring the wishes and opinions of mainstream Americans. Consequently, the percentage of Americans who say they have a great deal or quite a lot of trust in SCOTUS has fallen to a new low of just 25%, an 11 percentage point fall in just the last year.
Thursday, 23 June 2022
Evolution News - How Humans Evolved to Get Along With Neighbours
Shared grooming among bonobos is indicative of their group dynamics, which includes tolerance and cooperation.
Photo: Martin Surbeck
Bonobos’ tolerant, peaceful group relationships paved way for human peacemaking – Harvard Gazette
Despite our long history of often religiously-inspired wars, and divisions into mutually-hostile camps, humans are actually quite good at getting along with neighbouring social groups, and peace-making is generally considered a noble activity, while war-mongering is generally despised.
In this respect we much more closely resemble the peaceable bonobos with whom we share 99% of our genes, than the equally closely related chimpanzees.
Not surprisingly, because it is an innate human trait, early Christians tried to claim credit for the idea that peace-making is a skill to be admired, with "Blessed are the peace-makers". The pity is, because they only saw things in selfish terms, they made it look like something only worth doing for a personal reward and not for the greater social good, because it leads to greater human happiness. Ironically, with peace-making featuring in their Beatitudes (Matthew 5:9), it may well be the result of evolution and an indication of our common ancestry with the bonobo.
But how did we get this way?
Evolution News - Many Human Groups Show Evidence of a Sharp Dip in the Population
Distribution of the oldest founder events dated at different locations of the world using ancient and present-day samples. Smaller sized points with warmer color correspond to more recent founder events.
Credit: Rémi Tournebize and Priya Moorjani (CC-BY 4.0)
Many human genomes shaped by past events that caused sharp dips in the population | Plos Genetics.
In a paper published today in Plos Genetics, the author report finding evidence that many human populations show evidence of founder effects with a small number of founders and a consequent genetic bottleneck with a high level of inbreeding.
The problem this presents for YECs is that some of their claimed 'evidence' for a young Earth is based on projected population growth using highly suspect models which assume the current rate of growth has been constant for all of history, and which take no account of highly variable infant mortality and the effects of plagues. So, starting with the answer they want they project the current population of the Earth backwards and end up with humans being created just a few thousand years ago. It's a mathematical sleight of hand designed to fool the statistically illiterate.
This research also shows that many human groups would have suffered from genetic defects and low genetic diversity, due to the inbreeding inherent in descent from a small founder population.
According to information provided by PLOS ahead of publication:
Representation of the impact of a founder event on genetic data with an initial population made of various genomic segments that were inherited identical-by-descent (IBD) from a common ancestor. Following a founder event, the diversity of IBD segments is reduced and due to recombination events, the length of these IBD segments shortens gradually—these two parameters are thus informative about the founder strength and age, respectively.
The genomes of many human populations show evidence of founder events, which occur when a small number of initial members start a new population, and can lead to low genetic diversity as well as increase the risk of certain genetic diseases in the new population. Rémi Tournebize and Priya Moorjani of the University of California, Berkeley, U.S. report these new findings June 23rd in the open access journal PLOS Genetics.
Founder events can occur when a population experiences a sharp decrease in numbers or when a few individuals colonize an isolated environment, such as an island. Despite the large impact that founder events can have on a population’s genetics, we know few details of how these events have shaped the evolution of humans and other species. To better understand these past events, researchers developed a new technique called ASCEND that uses genomic analysis to estimate the timing and strength of founder events. In the new study, they applied ASCEND to analyze about 460 human populations worldwide. The researchers found that over half of the populations that they analyzed had evidence of recent founder events, including most living hunter-gatherer, nomadic and indigenous groups that were sampled. These founder events are associated with geographic isolation, a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, or the cultural practice of marrying within your own group or religion.
Some human populations like Ashkenazi Jews or Finns have been extensively studied in population genetics and have helped researchers identify many disease-causing mutations. Hence, we wanted to study if other populations have a similar history that could enable further progress in medical genetics. We were surprised to see how widespread the history of founder events is in humans, both in present-day and ancient DNA samples, suggesting that investigation of disease-causing variants will be fruitful to identify and reduce disease burden among contemporary groups.
Rémi Tournebize and Priya Moorjani, co authors
The researchers also analyzed about 200 modern dog populations and found that most populations show signs of extreme founder events. These events occurred within the last 25 generations, coinciding with the start of dog breeding during Victorian times, and may be related to inbreeding and the use of a few highly prized males to sire numerous litters.
The new analysis technique will help scientists to identify groups that experienced strong founder events and that may be at high risk of certain genetic diseases. Ashkenazi Jews and Finns, who experienced strong founder events, often undergo genetic screening to learn about their predisposition to certain genetic diseases. The study found that several populations among Native Americans, Oceanians, and South Asians have experienced even more extreme founder events than Ashkenazi Jews, and so these populations may also benefit from genetic screening.
In their open access paper in PLOS Genetics, the authors say:
Founder events play a critical role in shaping genetic diversity, fitness and disease risk in a population. Yet our understanding of the prevalence and distribution of founder events in humans and other species remains incomplete, as most existing methods require large sample sizes or phased genomes. Thus, we developed ASCEND that measures the correlation in allele sharing between pairs of individuals across the genome to infer the age and strength of founder events. We show that ASCEND can reliably estimate the parameters of founder events under a range of demographic scenarios. We then apply ASCEND to two species with contrasting evolutionary histories: *460 worldwide human populations and *40 modern dog breeds. In humans, we find that over half of the analyzed populations have evidence for recent founder events, associated with geographic isolation, modes of sustenance or cultural practices such as endogamy. Notably, island populations have lower population sizes than continental groups and most hunter-gatherer, nomadic and indigenous groups have evidence of recent founder events. Many present-day groups––including Native Americans, Oceanians and South Asians––have experienced more extreme founder events than Ashkenazi Jews who have high rates of recessive diseases due their known history of founder events. Using ancient genomes, we show that the strength of founder events differs markedly across geographic regions and time––with three major founder events related to the peopling of Americas and a trend in decreasing strength of founder events in Europe following the Neolithic transition and steppe migrations. In dogs, we estimate extreme founder events in most breeds that occurred in the last 25 generations, concordant with the establishment of many dog breeds during the Victorian times. Our analysis highlights a widespread history of founder events in humans and dogs and elucidates some of the demographic and cultural practices related to these events.
Author summary
A founder event occurs when small numbers of ancestral individuals give rise to a large fraction of the population. Founder events reduce genetic variation and increase the risk of recessive diseases. Despite their importance in evolutionary and disease studies, we still only have a limited comprehension of their prevalence and properties in humans and other species, as most existing methods require large sample sizes or phased genomes. Here, we present a flexible method, ASCEND, to infer the timing and the strength of founder events that is suitable for sparse datasets with few samples or limited coverage. ASCEND provides reliable estimates across a wide range of demographic scenarios. By applying it to data from two species (humans and dogs), we document a widespread history of recent founder events in both species and provide insights about the demographic processes related to these events. Our analysis helps to identify groups with strong founder events that should be prioritized for future studies as they offer a unique opportunity for biological discovery and reducing disease burden through mapping of recessive disease causing genes and pathways, as previously shown in studies of Ashkenazi Jews and Finns.
Of course, this study wasn't undertaken to refute a YEC claim, but to help predict what sorts of genetic disorders can be expected in different populations, and so extend to these other groups what is already being done for Ashkenazi Jews and Finns. Like all other factual science papers of course, it refutes creationism quite incidentally simply by revealing the real-world facts - which is exactly what we would expect for a superstition that has no basis in reality.
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Wednesday, 22 June 2022
Covidiot News - More Figures Show How Antivaxxer Covidiots Were Culling Their Own Supporters with COVID-19
High vaccination rates blunted Delta variant surge in some US states | For the press | eLife
Figures published yesterday in eLife, show that, during the Delta variant wave of COVID-19 in the summer of 2021, areas with a high level of vaccine take-up in the USA had a lower peak of hospitalisations and deaths, and a shorter duration of the wave, compared to areas where the take-up was low.
The summer of 2021 was of course when pro-Trump QAnon, antivaxxers and evangelical Christians were loudest in campaigning to mislead people about the severity of the pandemic and the effectiveness/harmful effects of the COVID-19 vaccine, as a direct consequence of then president Trump's incompetent response to the crisis where he was out of his depth, so sought to minimise it to justify his inaction and indecision, so setting the scene for his supporters in the far right Trumpanzee cults. Consequently, those parts of America where a large number of people, mostly Trumpanzee Republicans, were refusing to get vaccinated or take sensible precautions against catching the virus and passing it on to others.
Now figures are showing the harm that did to those who fell for the lies emanating from the White House, and so made themselves vulnerable to the potentially life-threatening condition.
As the eLife press release says:
Malevolent Designer News - What a Devilishly Good Job Creationism's Divine Malevolence Made of Malaria!
This false-colored electron micrograph shows a sporozoite of Plasmodium bergei migrating through the cytoplasm of midgut epithelia of an Anopheles stephensi mosquito.
© Ute Frevert/Margaret Shear/Wikipedia
Why vaccination against malaria quickly loses its protective effect
Scientists in Germany have worked out why immunity to malaria is not very effective and has a very short duration.
Malaria is one of the world's biggest killers. It is caused by a number of different, closely related Plasmodium parasites, normally transmitted by Anopheles mosquitos. The commonest parasite is Plasmodium falciparum and the most efficient vector is Anopheles gambiae. According to the US Center for Disease Control (CDC):
Malaria is one of the most severe public health problems worldwide. It is a leading cause of death and disease in many developing countries, where young children and pregnant women are the groups most affected. According to the 2021 World Malaria Report:
• Nearly half the world’s population lives in areas at risk of malaria transmission in 87 countries and territories.
• In 2020, malaria caused an estimated 241 million clinical episodes, and 627,000 deaths. An estimated 95% of deaths in 2020 were in the WHO African Region.
Now Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) who studied the human immune response after immunization with the malaria pathogen Plasmodium falciparum have discovered that the immune response has a very short duration. They concluded:
Tuesday, 21 June 2022
Evolution News - How Plants Colonised the Land.
The diversity of flora and fauna as we know them today and the substrate on which thrive are thanks to a single species of algae that first went ashore more than 500 million years ago. This and all other drawings in the publication are by the paper’s first author, Dr. Mona Schreiber.
Image: HHU /Dr Mona Schreiber
Universität Düsseldorf: The Greening Ashore.
A team led by evolutionary biologist Prof. Dr. Sven Gould of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) has been studying the current state of research on the plant colonisation of land that occurred some 500 million years ago. The findings from this illustrated overview study published by Dr. Mona Schreiber as lead author have now appeared, open access, in the latest issue of the journal Trends in Plant Science.
It was to take several hundred million years for Earth to cool sufficiently for oceans and landmasses to form then the conditions on land were far from conducive to the life that was evolving in the oceans to begin to colonise that land. Until about 500 million years ago, seismic activity meant the atmosphere was toxic and a weaker magnetic field meant UV light was more intensive. Then things began to change, and all terrestrial plant life has developed from the first plant species, a streptophyte alga, that began to move out of the oceans onto land. This was followed by simple animal life which in turn created the opportunities for tetraploid vertebrates to exploit by coming onto the land, developing air-breathing and a tetrapodal lifestyle.
The Heinrich Heine Universität news release explains:
Evolution News - Why Cave-Dwelling Species Appear to be Degenerate
The olm, Proteus anguinus
Photo: Nacionalni park Una/Wikicommons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
White, fat and blind — Economy and evolution in caves: Current Biology
One of the aspects of evolution that creationists find difficult to cope with is the fact that, in the right environmental conditions, evolution can result in a loss of complexity, whereas, to make it easier to attack, creationist dogma defines evolution as an increase in complexity (which they then claim is impossible due to misrepresentation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics and Shanning Information Theory). For example, many parasitic organisms, particularly intestinal worms, have lost their digestive systems and absorb nutrients directly from the pre-digested contents of their host’s gut.
Other examples can be found in species adapted for living in caves which often lose their eyes and/or pigmentation. Once it was thought that these were examples of regression as these were the remnants of competition with their fitter, surface-dwelling relatives which had taken shelter in the safety of caves. Darwin found them difficult to explain because there seemed to be no obvious way in which a loss of function could be advantageous. At one point, Darwin seemed to accept a Lamarckian explanation for the loss of eyes in that their loss was a direct consequence of their lack of use.
Saturday, 18 June 2022
Malevolent Designer News - Where Creationism's Favourite Sadist Released the Black Death on Humanity
Origins of the Black Death identified | Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
View of the Tian Shan mountains.
Studying ancient plague genomes, researchers traced the origins of the Black Death to Central Asia, close to Lake Issyk Kul, in what is now Kyrgyzstan.
© Lyazzat Musralina
The Black Death was one of Creationism's divine malevolence's earlier attempt to kill millions of people, and it was spectacularly successful, reducing the population of Eurasia by up to 60% between 1346 and 1353, and wiping out some villages completely - that is, of course, if you buy into the intelligent [sic] design hoax that says complex organism must have been designed because evolution doesn't happen, and even if it does, it can't account for complexity [sic].
The Black Death, which theologians at the time were in no doubt was some form of divine retribution - for whatever they said it was for. The shock of it to devout European Christian culture caused all sorts of obscure sects to arise, like the flagellants, who walked about beating themselves with whips. The obvious fact that praying to dead ancestors called saints and begging them to intercede with God and put a stop to the plague, wasn't working, coupled with a widespread belief that it was the routine debauchery and corruption within the Catholic Church that had resulted in divine retribution, eventually led to a fundamental reassessment of how people saw their relationship with God, culminating in the Protestant Reformation.
The pandemic was caused by the organism Yersinia pestis and a large team of researchers, including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, the University of Tübingen, Germany, and the University of Stirling, Scotland, UK have worked out exactly where it started, something that has long been a mystery. They did this by studying the genome of ancient samples of Y. pestis
From the Max Planck-Gesellschaft news release:
Friday, 17 June 2022
Superstition News - Abandonment of Religion Accelerating in USA
Belief in God in U.S. Dips to 81%, a New Low
A new Gallop survey shows an accelerating fall in belief in God amongst American adults, and this trend hold true across all demographic grouping, whether age, race, geography of political leaning.
Belief in God is now at it's lowest (81%) since Gallop started polling on the issue. During the years 1944 to 2011 it had averaged just over 93% (range 92%-98%) but since then it has fallen by 12 percentage points, with half that fall occurring over the last year. To put that another way, the number of people admitting to not believing doubledlast year and now stands at 19% of American adults. An astonishingly high level of belief for an advanced economy, compared to that in most of Europe, but a very encouraging recent trend.
Thursday, 16 June 2022
Covidiot News - How Antivaxxer Trumpanzee Covidiots Continue to Harm Their Gullible Supporters
Factors causing low COVID-19 vaccination have spilled over to lower flu vaccination rates | UCLA Health
A new study from UCLA researchers indicates a previously undocumented impact of widespread Covid-19 vaccine promotion on other public health behaviours. Adult flu vaccination rates have declined in states with low rates of Covid-19 vaccination, which the authors say may be a harbinger of declining trust in public health, suggesting that Covid-19 vaccination behaviour has spilled over to flu vaccination behaviour. The finding is published in The New England Journal of Medicine as a letter to the editor.
States with a low COVID-19 take-up are, of course, mostly red states where a majority of voters think Trump was a good president, so have been easy victims for the right-wing frauds who spread antivaxx disinformation and claim the pandemic was a conspiracy and the measure to combat it were unnecessary and an attack on their freedoms. These are also the fools who believed the right-wing political rhetoric of the pro-Trump evangelical white Christian churches who said it was all a plot to close the churches and to prevent Christians from practicing their faith.
It is alarming that controversy surrounding Covid-19 vaccination may be undermining separate public health efforts that save thousands of lives each year. Many Americans who never before declined a routine, potentially life-saving vaccine have started to do so. This supports what I have seen in my clinical practice and suggests that information and policies specific to Covid-19 vaccines may be eroding more general faith in medicine and our government’s role in public health.
Much as someone’s decision to wear or forgo a mask in public during the early pandemic was linked with their more general beliefs through the idea of ‘belief signaling’, we propose that ‘belief generalization’ may account for Covid-19 vaccine-specific opinions being generalized to other vaccines. People who feel compelled to oppose or support Covid-19 vaccines may feel that they should in turn oppose or support other vaccines.
Dr Richard Leuchter, MD, lead author
A resident physician at UCLA Health
And the David Geffen School of Medicine.
The letter to the editor of The New England Journal of Medicine points out how these fools have been victimised twice - one over the COVID-19 vaccine and again over the trustworthiness of medical science and in particular the flu vaccines which have done so much to prevent a serious flu pandemic by giving annual flu jabs to combat the latest, or most likely new flu variants.
According to the UCLA Health press release:
The authors used publicly available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collected through January 2022 to evaluate how flu vaccination rates changed during the pandemic based on state-wide rates of Covid-19 vaccination.
Flu vaccination rates for the first flu season of the pandemic (2020-2021), which pre-dated the widespread availability of Covid-19 vaccines, remained relatively stable across all states. However, in the second flu season of the pandemic (2021-2022), which was after widespread promotion of Covid-19 vaccines, flu vaccination rates dropped 4.5 percentage points (from 43.7% to 39.2%) in states with below-average rates of Covid-19 vaccination. Conversely, states with the highest uptake of Covid-19 vaccines saw increases in average flu vaccination rates of 3.8 percentage points (from 49.0% to 52.8%).
The authors say these findings taken together suggest that Covid-19 vaccination behaviors have spilled over to other public health behaviors, in this case flu vaccination. They explain that this relationship works in both directions: factors causing low Covid-19 vaccination rates (e.g., mistrust of Covid-19 vaccines, concerns about side effects, lack of trust in government) are linked to declines in flu vaccination compared to pre-pandemic times, whereas factors causing high rates of Covid-19 vaccination are spilling over to increase flu vaccination rates.
The authors propose that both of these trends may be explained by something called belief generalization.
It takes a special kind of stupid to think that, even if COVID-19 vaccinations are unnecessary and/or don't work or are part of some nefarious Satanic plot (which admittedly takes a high level of credulous gullibility in the first place) that this means flu jabs should be avoided too. But then we are still talking about people who think Trump was a good president, so for whom evidence is of no consequence and what they're taught to think from the pulpit is definitive truth.
The press release continues:
This is compelling evidence that the vaccination behaviors for flu and Covid-19 vaccines are inextricably linked.
Dr Richard Leuchter, MD
Rates of full vaccination against Covid-19 (i.e., both doses of a two-dose vaccine or one dose of a single-dose vaccine) varied from 50% (Alabama) to 81% (Rhode Island) through January 2022. Flu vaccination rates through January of the 2021-2022 flu season were also highly variable, ranging from 31% (Mississippi) to 59% (Connecticut). The study authors found that 60% of the variation in a state’s flu vaccination rate could be explained solely by that state’s average Covid-19 vaccination rate.
The authors note that these findings apply only to the general adult population. Flu vaccination rates among children fell uniformly and precipitously across both the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 flu seasons, regardless of when Covid-19 vaccines were introduced or state-wide rates of Covid-19 vaccination. The authors point out that previous studies have reported similar dramatic national declines in rates of childhood vaccination against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). Leuchter says that while belief generalization in the negative direction may partially explain why parents are opting out of routine vaccines for their children, the fact that childhood flu vaccination declined even among states with high rates of Covid-19 vaccination suggests that belief generalization from Covid-19 vaccines does not fully account for this trend. Reassuringly, flu vaccination rates among adults over 65 years of age remained relatively stable during these two flu seasons compared to the 2019-2020 season, albeit persistently underutilized in this population.
This study had some limitations. For instance, it did not directly measure individuals’ beliefs or reasons for forgoing vaccination. As an observational study, it does not prove that lack of trust of the vaccines or government caused the new decline in flu vaccination rates. In addition, the CDC reports flu vaccination rates based on self-report surveys and has not made county-level data for the 2021-2022 flu season available, so only state-wide data were used.
Despite these limitations, the researchers state that these findings should raise alarm and prompt rigorous study of the causes of decreases in non-Covid-19 vaccination rates to inform urgent action and corrective policies.
Sadly the letter in The New England Journal of Medicine is protected by copyright so can't be reproduced here. However, in their open paragraph, the authors make it clear that they place responsibility for this situation on the polarization of opinion over COVID-19:
The polarizing nature of vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) within the United States threatens public health and has contributed to variable statewide vaccine uptake that ranged from 50 to 80% as of January 2022.1 Given the divided national landscape and anecdotal evidence from our own patients, we hypothesized that low Covid-19 vaccination rates would be associated with decreases in influenza vaccination rates.
This polarization was a deliberate attempt by the Trump administration and his allies on the extreme right to politicise the pandemic, believing they would make political capital from such polarization. As things turned out, all they achieved was fooling their own supporters into risking serious illness and death from COVID-19, and now, as this article shows, from a seasonal flue epidemic.
The American Republican Pary is probably the first political party in history to promote policies that make their own supporters sick and take part in what some commentators have likened to a self-inflicted genocide of right-wing covidiot Trumpanzees, and Trumpanzee cultists are probably the first political faction who think policies which seem designed to harm them, are good things to vote for.
Tuesday, 14 June 2022
Religious Sexual Abuse News - #ChurchToo is Revealing an Epidemic of Routine Sexual Abuse in Christian Churches
A 'washing line' of women’s' dresses donated by sexual assault survivors from Amish and other plain-dressing religious groups beneath a description of each survivors' age and church affiliation, on Friday, April 29, 2022, in Leola, Pa. The exhibit's purpose was to show that sexual assault is a reality among children and adults in such groups. Similar exhibits held nationwide aim to shatter the myth that abuse is caused by a victim's clothing choice.
AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski
#ChurchToo revelations growing, years after movement began
Far from routine sexual abuse being the preserve of the Catholic Church, the #ChurchToo movement is revealing a culture of routine sexual abuse in America's fundamentalist Protestant churches to equal anything a Catholic diocese can produce.
About the only thing they have in common is hypocritical pastors pretending to act with God's authority and so having a hold on superstitious and gullible people, conditioned to accept that 'men of God' act from the purist of motives and would never knowing harm anyone or exploit their vulnerabilities.
In a video which has had well over 1 million hits worldwide, pastor, John B. Lowe II, of an independent church in Illinois, confessed to years of “adultery,” moments before his victim, Bobi Gephart, who was 16 when the abuse started, went on stage with her husband and took the microphone because Lowe was being 'economical' with the truth.
Lowe subsequently resigned from the New Life Christian Church & World Outreach in Warsaw, Illinois.
This has encouraged many more abuse victims to come forward in much the same way the #MeToo movement encouraged abuse survivors in other walks of life to come forward and talk about their abuse.
The Amish, of course, whom many people assume are gentle, kind and sincere followers of Jesus in all they do, if a little fanatical, are not immune to accusations of sexual abuse, as this documentary shows:
Possibly motivated by concern for the damage these abuses do to the survivors, although the damage they are doing to the Christian churches in the USA where church attendance and affiliation are now dropping at the rate they did in Europe in the late 20th century, can't have gone unnoticed, ministers like Jimmy Hinton of the Church of Christ in Somerset, Pennsylvania are becoming active advocates for abuse survivors and see the #ChurchToo movement as a good thing which will help expose the "absolute epidemic of abuse in the church, in religious spaces". He says that “Survivors have far more power than they ever think imaginable", on his Speaking Out on Sex Abuse podcast.
Hinton turned in his own father, then a minister, now serving jail time for aggravated indecent assault.
Although 'liberal' churches have had their share of abuse cases with the Episcopal Church releasing details of abuse allegations during its 2018 Conference, and an Anglican Church of Canada archbishop, Mark MacDonald, resigning in April following "acknowledged sexual misconduct", the majority of abuse cases are coming from the conservative Protestant churches - the very churches that saw no problem with Donald Trump's serial adultery, sexual assaults on women, using the services of prostitutes and criminal conspiracies.
Duggar Family, 2004. A highly sexualised, conservative Christian 'purity' culture which advocated male authority and female modesty and subservience and a "Don't tell" code of silence.
In these churches there is a 'purity culture' which advocates male authority and female modesty, where dating is discouraged in favour of traditional courtship and marriage.
It was from this background that the reality TV star of 19 Kids and Counting, Josh Duggar, came. The Duggar family were the darlings of American conservative Christians and advocates of chastity, home-schooling and traditional courtship. Josh Duggar is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for child pornography offences. As a teenager, he is alleged to have molested his younger sisters. Prosecutors said he had a 'deep-seated, pervasive and violent sexual interest in children'. Among the images on his laptop were videos of toddlers being raped.
This unhealthily sexualised culture of male authority and female subservience, coupled with a reluctance to complain or inform the law enforcement authorities, and a willingness to 'forgive' and stay silent, creates a culture where the men feel entitles to sexual relations with women and the women feel they don't have the right to refuse or a right to redress, but should just forgive and move on. And all with good biblical authority in God’s Holy Word. An ideal culture for sexually predatory men to find and exploit vulnerable women and children.
Give these men the title ‘pastor’ and put them in positions of even greater authority as God’s personal representatives, over the women and children in their congregations and the temptations to abuse are too great to be resisted, and anyway, she won’t tell, and if she does, no-one will do anything and all will be forgiven. The result of this is the current deluge of abuse allegations coming out under the #ChurchToo movement.
As good an example as you could wish for of how, far from providing a decent moral compass and a decent, kind, caring and compassionate society:
Religions provide excuses for people who need excuses!
Another Christian Megachurch Cult, Another Clutch of Sexually Predatory Pastors
Pastor Bruxy Cavey, former leader of the The Meeting House
Charged with the sexual assault of an adult woman
Canadian megachurch discloses 38 reports of sexual misconduct by 4 pastors
Religions provide excuses for people who need excuses. This holds true across all denominations and all flavours of Christianity
Only days after we had news that the leader and founder of the Mexican-based La Luz del Mundo cult had been sentenced to almost 17 years in jail by a Californian court, for the rape and sexual abuse of minors, we have news that the former leader of the Canadian Anabaptist megachurch, The Meeting House, has been charged with sexual assault against an adult woman and an inappropriate sexual relationship with a woman who had gone to him for counselling.
And the church's leadership have now revealed that investigations have found credible evidence of the sexual misconduct of three more pastors, two of whom have been convicted, giving a total of 38 instances of sexual misconduct.
The former leader, of the cult, Bruxy Cavey, was suspended last March when an independent investigation found that he had a year-long sexual relationship with a woman who had sought counselling. It is not clear whether the woman is the complainant in the assault charge.
According to this report in Religion News Service, Jennifer Hryniw, a member of the Board of Overseers, told a meeting on 7 June, in Oakville, Ontario, Canada:
Monday, 13 June 2022
Evolution News - New Study Shows that Human Morality is Innate, Not Learned.
Are we born with a moral compass? - ResOU
To the great discomfort of Creationists and religious apologists, who claim human morality is God-given, researchers at Osaka University, Japan, in collaboration with Otsuma Women’s University, NTT Communication Science Laboratories, and the University of Tokyo, have shown that human morality is almost certainly an evolved trait because preverbal infants can make moral judgements on behalf of others.
Christian fundamentalists often tie themselves in knots trying to prove that they are the moral superior of others by claiming their faith gives them objective morals, without seeming to realise that trying to put yourself above others and exercise judgement over them without knowing them, is itself a deeply immoral act.
That well-known Christian apologist, C. S. Lewis, even went so far as to assert that because he didn't understand how he knew right from wrong, it must have been determined by God and inserted into his psychology in some unexplained way.
Paradoxically though, Christians (and Moslems) also claim the 'Ten Commandments' are the basis of their morality, yet the 'Ten Commandments' contains the invocation to do unto others that which you would they do unto you - the 'Golden Rule' common to just about all human groups. And Jesus reputedly told his followers to 'Love one another' (John 13: 34) (although it's not at all clear that this applies to all his followers or just to the small group he was addressing).
Whatever, these invocations presuppose that we have the necessary instinctive empathy to understand the needs of another person - which we do, of course, hence it is also central to Humanist thinking. And this view seems to have been well founded judging by what the research team found.
According to the Osaka University press release:
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Monthly Archives: February 2018
English words with Latin and Greek-derived plurals
I guess I’m on a language kick… After my recent post about the misuse of “similar to”, I’m going to tackle some Greco-latin plurals that lots of people don’t know how to use.
English is a lovely mongrel of a language, having adopted words and grammar from every invader who ever set foot on the island of Great Britain. The Romans ruled over England and Wales for about 350 years, so naturally, Latin left its mark on English. Some words were also adopted from Greek through the scholarly community. Most Latin and Greek words were eventually anglicized, and English-style pluralization rules applied, but a few retained their Greco-latin plurals. Some of these are heavily (mis)used in scientific writing. I’m going to try to sort out for you some of the ones that are most often used in the texts I read.
If you have a standard for judging something, you have a criterion. That’s right. Criterion. It’s possibly you have never seen this word and would have expected criteria instead, but criteria is the plural of criterion. It’s particularly important to get this right because English has just one definite article, “the”. Thus, “the selection criterion” and “the selection criteria” imply, respectively, one criterion and many. The meaning of the sentence is therefore altered if you use the wrong word. As another example, “a criteria”, which I see a lot, is wrong because “a” is a singular indefinite article, and “criteria” is plural. If you have one rule you use for making a decision, you have a criterion.
Erosion is a natural phenomenon. It’s one of the many geological phenomena that shape our Earth. So again, you would never write “a phenomena”.
Do you grow cells in a medium, or in a media? Hopefully, you would choose the singular “a medium“, media being the plural of medium. We might prepare media (if we are preparing several different media, or possibly several batches of a particular medium), but more commonly we might prepare a medium. It’s surprising how often media is used given how rarely it’s actually the syntactically and grammatically correct choice.
We can search for minima on a potential energy surface, on the assumption that there might be more than one, but when we find one, it’s a minimum. Obviously, the same comment would apply to maximum and its plural maxima, as well as optimum/optima. Incidentally, outside of science, people tend to say minimums and maximums for the plurals of these words—a usage that is sanctioned by modern dictionaries—so perhaps it’s time for us to stop trying to sound learned by using the Latin plurals. Errors in the singular would almost certainly vanish if we did so.
But please, no “criterions”, “phenomenons”, or “mediums”. Unless, in the latter case, you want to get together a group of people who can talk to the dead. |
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Public Art and Communities’ Needs
Art is a visual expression of creative skills or imagination that viewers appreciate for its beauty. People also appreciate art, such as sculptures, paintings, murals, architectural art, or drawings, for their emotional power or aesthetics (Alle, 2012). Public art is a form of art displayed in physical public domains. The public nature of the art means that anyone can access it freely. According to Alle (2012), public art with a greater sense of identity creates memorable experiences. For instance, ‘the Death of Cleopatra’ by Edmonia Lewis fulfils the definition of art. Edmonia Lewis creates a sculpture with expressive and emotional power.
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The over-size representation of the ancient Egyptian queen depicts the memorable moment when Cleopatra let a poisonous asp bite her (Gold, 2012). The Queen chose death over humiliation in the hands of the Roman conquerors. The sculpture of Cleopatra is an art by Edmonia Lewis, an artist among the first professional African-American female sculptors. She learnt her style, of sculpturing Greco-Roman art from various renowned sculptures. She is well known not only in her motherland, but also abroad. Her artistic career serves as an example of how to overcome obstacles on the way to success and respect.
How the art serves the needs of the community
Public art heightens the awareness of a viewer, whatever the meaning it tries to instill. ‘The Death of Cleopatra’ is a good public art, because it meets the subject, style, and medium associated with public art. The art is a representation of nineteenth century Victorian standards that shaped the view of public art in history (Gold, 2012). In relation to identity, the art meets the criteria through its display of the historical circumstances surrounding the end of the reconstruction era. The centurial context of Edmonia’s sculpture illuminates on the national ideologies and creoles of the nineteenth century. The art also reflects the ideas of the period, by conveying an undeniable majesty in the life and death of the queen (Gold, 2012). The pastiche with Greco-Roman details is an ambitious undertaking of an illustrious public art. Edmonia’s sculpture definitely meets the definition of public art.
How the public art is practical and challenging
Public art engages the community beyond permanence to serve its present needs (Fleming, 2007). Depicting the art as part of a community brings it to life. Artists and viewers appreciate Edmonia’s work for its direct attention in its own space. The art is imbued with deeper meaning that gives viewers new cultural knowledge. Fleming (2007) asserts that relating the art to the culture of the people gives a meaning that enhances the underlying identity of individuals. The sculpture depicts a sense of space that has evolved over time and reflects the social values that the community holds. The community character of the centurial era is a narrative of the Greco-Roman emperor. This narrative is further expressed by its historic and cultural context. Hume’s (1757) work supports that public art should create a harmony between the culture of the community at the present and before.
Harmonizing space and the subject
The death of Cleopatra balances conflicts between values and cultures of the past and future communities. The vision of the sculpture embraces the evolving culture of Egypt. The art challenges the local identity through its uniqueness, and requires a reflection upon the communal character represented in the art (Flemming & Goldman, 2005). How the art helps the community understand its historic and cultural context adds value to the development of a sense of place. Edmonia makes an art that serves the viewer’s cultural and historical needs. The public art expresses social ideals that symbolize a communal identity, which transforms individual relationships with the society. The art presents the cultural fascination of European and American countries with ancient Egypt.
The relation between the content and audience defines the ability of the art to respond to a place where a community resides. The art may be created to reflect the ideas of the period in which it was created. In the current study, the culture around the sculpture is intrinsically aesthetic as the art has closer ties with the community. Visitors to the site get the opportunity to interact with the culture and history of the community. Edmonia mixes the twist of fate with a curatorial concern that brings out an art that embodies beautiful expressions. The subject fulfills the definitions of art, making it a good public art. The space and subject harmoniously reflect the historic and cultural needs of the society. The representation makes the art practical and challenging.
Alle, E. (2012). Spatial, Temporal, and Social Dimensions of the Landscape Influenced By Contemporary Art. Science-Future of Lithuania, 4(2), 176-18.
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Fleming, R. (2007). The Art of Placemaking: Interpreting community through public art and urban design. London: Merrell.
Flemming R. L., & Goldman, M T. (2005). Public art for the public. Public Interest, 159, 55-78.
Gold, S, W. (2012). The Death of Cleopatra / the Birth of Freedom: Edmonia Lewis at the New World’s Fair. Web.
Hume, D. (1757). Of the Standard of Taste. Web.
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PARCC`s ELA/Literacy Cognitive Complexity Framework
Proposed Sources of Cognitive Complexity in PARCC Items and Tasks: ELA/Literacy (Summary)
The goals and uses of cognitive complexity are:
Provide a systematic, replicable method of determining item cognitive complexity
Provide measurement precision at all levels of the test score scales
Command of Textual Evidence
(45% of Processing Complexity Score)
The amount of text a student must
process in order to respond correctly to
an item
Processing Complexity
(50% of score)
Sources of
Combines the sources of Textual
Evidence, Response Mode, and
Processing Demand
Text Complexity
(50% of score)
- Readily Accessible
- Moderately Complex
- Very Complex
Response Mode
(45% of Processing Complexity Score)
The way in which students are expected
to complete assessment activities
Processing Demands
(10% of Processing Complexity Score)
The linguistic demands and reading load
in item stems, instructions, and response |
Pros and Cons of Suspension Bridges
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge where the deck (the load-bearing portion or essentially, the road) hangs below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. One of the most famous examples of this kind of bridge is the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. While modern examples have been built since the early 19th century, simple suspension bridges (ones that lack vertical suspenders) are used in several mountainous regions of the world. But what is the reason for choosing suspension bridges over other kinds of bridges?
List of Pros of Suspension Bridges
1. It can extend long distances.
A suspension bridge can span between 2,000 to 13,000 feet (the farthest any kind of bridge can accommodate). As such, this is the bridge type preferred when considering the coverage of very long distances. Three suspension bridges with the longest spans are the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge in Japan (more than 1,991 meters), the Xihouen Bridge in China (1,650 meters) and the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark (1,624 meters).
2. It is not expensive to build.
While it does cost a lot of money to make, building a suspension bridge only requires a minimal amount of materials. To build one, anchorages, cables and roadways are the minimum requirements. Because of this, communities without much funds that want to build a functional bridge can look at this option. Despite not costing much, suspension bridges can still look visually appealing as well.
3. It is not high maintenance.
Not much is needed to ensure the longevity and integrity of suspension bridges. However, proper maintenance is required for it to last long. The main point here is that communities don’t need large expenses to maintain this kind of bridge.
List of Cons of Suspension Bridges
1. Wind makes it vulnerable.
A suspension bridge is fitted with a truss system beneath the roadway so it doesn’t bend and twist. However, the concept of a suspension bridge is to make it flexible enough to move with the wind but not break up. This simply means that a bridge can be susceptible to damage when the wind is too strong or high. In addition, putting too much weight on this kind of bridge can trouble its cables and as such, they can break (especially when there are strong winds).
2. Limitations are put on suspension bridges.
Suspension bridges are held by cables and they can only hold up as much. This is one of the reasons why roads on these kinds of bridges are light. Because of this, suspension bridges can’t accommodate heavy loads and have weight restrictions. This is why only certain types of traffic can pass through a suspension bridge. In fact, some communities have put restrictions on what can pass through the bridge at a given time.
3. Application is limited.
Suspension bridges are susceptible to strong winds. This is why they can’t be built strong and stiff and because of that, they can only support general traffic. In short, they can’t support heavy freight that is possible with rails.
Suspension bridges also require anchorages which need a huge land area. Without this, this kind of bridge cannot be constructed. |
Commentary: Why a carbon fee-and-dividend plan could save planet
A carbon fee-and-dividend program would shift consumer habits, boost renewable energy sources and save the planet, at little to no cost for many Americans.
Charlie Riedel /Associated Press
Re: “Disasters highlight inability to slow warming,” Front Page, Sunday:
This article, once again, reveals the critical precipice upon which the world stands.
We have already reached the 2-degree threshold of the 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit scientists say we must not exceed by 2030. That leaves a mere 0.7 degrees of wiggle room. I will not repeat the many examples of severe weather attributed to climate change. Instead, I believe we still have time and can beat this crisis if, and only if, our political leaders have the fortitude to do what is needed to save our country and the world. Just as NASA talks about missions to Mars and billionaires fly their rockets into space, we certainly can address the climate crisis. But how do we?
Climate Interactive, a not-for-profit think tank that grew out of MIT Sloan, provides a climate solutions simulator called En-ROADS that permits anyone to explore myriad ways to address the climate problem.
Some say we can plant enough trees to remove carbon. This helps but will not, by itself, be the solution. How about incentives for more renewable energy? Again, helpful but, as with planting trees, this alone will not solve the problem. There is much talk of carbon capture and storage, which is the mechanical/chemical removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and permanent storage underground, or by mineralizing the carbon, essentially turning it to stone. Again, important but not enough. Increasing energy efficiency of transport, more electric vehicles, improving energy efficiency of buildings, electrifying the heating of buildings, and removing methane from agricultural practices and leakage from oil production are all mitigation tools. Again, though, individually they are not enough.
What each of these approaches has in common is the need for regulations and/or government incentives. A far better approach is placing an escalating price on carbon pollution, which is the single most effective strategy in the En-ROADS simulator. This allows market forces to identify the best means to address the problems. Rising energy costs will create an incentive for renewable energy sources, carbon capture and storage, methane reduction, better energy efficiency and electrification of transport. Combining these and other strategies will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent continued temperature rise. To protect our international commerce, a carbon border adjustment mechanism, such as that recently proposed by the European Union, will level the playing field and penalize carbon polluting nations such as China. What En-ROADS shows is that to prevent the most severe impacts of climate change, fossil fuels must remain in the ground.
Raising energy costs also have negative impacts, and politicians point to these as reasons to do little. Yes, things will cost more. Yes, transportation will cost more. And, yes, your CPS Energy bill may rise. To avert this problem, economists overwhelmingly support returning carbon pricing fees to taxpayers with a carbon cash-back dividend. Much as the new child tax credit is paid monthly, the carbon dividend could be paid monthly. Analyses show most households will either break even or come out slightly ahead with the dividend. Only those with the largest carbon footprints would be out of pocket.
There are several such “fee and dividend” bills in the House and Senate, and I urge you to call your congressional representative and senators to tell them that climate change is a priority issue and they should support a price on carbon. Doing nothing is not an option.
Stuart Birnbaum is co-leader of San Antonio Chapter, Citizens’ Climate Lobby and an emeritus associate professor of geological sciences at the University of Texas at San Antonio. |
Bhagavad Gita Online Class 69
The six principles that govern the universe and a study of prakruti (nature) and its two parts: maya (illusion) and svabhav (own-being) (chapter 9 verses 7 to 10)
• A study of the Chandogya Upanishad about the cycle of existence and what happens to our karmas at the end of the cycle.
•How destiny is controlled entirely by karmas and the three modes of nature.
•The two meanings of prakruti (nature) and where it comes from.
•The five factors that affect our svabhav (own-being). How the people we keep around ourselves affect our nature.
•How the cycle of existence comes to an end.
•How God created the world and how it is a perfect system and not coincidence or chaos. How trees grow from seeds and what is inside the seeds. A study of the human anatomy.
•How can one control prakruti (nature)?
•A study of the works of Nimbākāchārya, Madvāchārya and Vallabhacharya about whether the Supreme Soul created the world using prakruti (nature).
•Shrimad Adi Shankracharya's explanation of how human beings with a sense of mineness are helpless under the control of prakruti (nature).
Six principles about how the universe is regulated.
•How the universe is a conscious evolution and how it is slowly and slowly evolving.
•How the universe is a strong intention. How there has never been a person in the universe who has had a strong intention for something and has not got that thing.
•How life is central to existence and that if you want to do anything in the world then you must be lively.
•The meaning of the name Dhananjaya (winner of wealth) for Arjuna.
•Two reasons why works do not bind the Supreme Soul and how the Supreme Soul is utasina (seated as if indifferent).
•The example of how silkworms tie themselves and nobody comes to tie them.
•A study of the Shwetasharo Upanishad about how everything can happen in the world only with God's presence.
•Why women are more religious than men and why there are far fewer female atheists than male atheists: women are closer to the process of creation through giving birth.
•Purushupta's definition of Bhut Maheshwaram (the Lord of all existences)
•When the Supreme Soul comes in front of us in the form of friends then we should welcome them and when the Supreme Soul comes in front of us in the form of our enemies then we must resist them and only if we do so when we get the blessings of the Supreme Soul. The story of when Shivji came to test Arjuna in the Mahabharata. Why you should oppose the attitude and not the person.
•The definition of Bhagavan (God) according to the Vishnu Purana.
Chapter 9 verse 7: http://youtu.be/fR76sPNg1WA
Chapter 9 verse 8: http://youtu.be/N9ZsFRpE-V8
Chapter 9 verse 9: http://youtu.be/BdcwsfL0kj4
Chapter 9 verse 10: http://youtu.be/IS7PpG0n33Y |
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AEROSPACE MANUFACTURERS USING DEEP TECH Design to build - The science of aircraft engineering
Mar 28, 2022
The aerospace sector has been facing new complexity in designing while adhering to statutory, environmental, financial and operational requirements. Advances in technologies, such as AI, are helping various sectors adapt to the changes effectively, and the aerospace sector is no different. The article elaborates on how aerospace manufacturers use AI, ML and other associated technologies and how they can be applied effectively. - Arun Krishnamurthi, MD & CEO, Axiscades Technologies
The aerospace industry is a diverse and dynamic sector that encompasses the design and manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft. Today’s new aerospace designs have increased complexity and need to address more stringent statutory, environmental, financial and operational requirements. Aircraft manufacturers are looking for simpler ways to have complex systems designed. Advances in computing power, computational analysis and digital environments have also significantly transformed and impacted how design is conducted, bringing new challenges and opportunities to designing efforts.
The evolving technology landscape, like Artificial Intelligence (AI), has played a major role in altering the aerospace industry by providing valuable information that might otherwise be difficult to obtain via conventional methods. AI systems can evaluate feedback from multiple assets and process large volumes of data in a shorter span of time when compared to manual inspections, and aid aerospace businesses to carry out effective and quicker inspections of multiple assets. AI plays a significant role in cutting costs, reducing the design cycle time, simulation, prototyping, optimisation, maintenance, manufacturing and updating products and is all set to drive many developments in the aerospace sector in the next 15 years.
AI aiding aerospace manufacturers
Advances in AI could help aerospace companies optimise their manufacturing processes. However, there is limited adoption of Machine Learning (ML) techniques in the aviation industry. The main reason for this is the lack of access to high-quality data, increased dependability on simple models compared to complex models and a lack of skilled workforce & partners to implement it effectively.
Key areas where AI is being used by aerospace manufacturers today include:
• Predictive maintenance - Aviation companies use predictive maintenance enabled by AI to resolve maintenance and safety issues. Predictive maintenance allows for faster identification and reports of potential failures in real-time. It predicts the repair timeline and ensures that the process is smoother & faster. A huge amount of data is given as the input, and with the use of AI and predictive maintenance solutions, data points and meaningful insights are deduced as output. The entire process helps in fixing an issue before it arises.
• Optimised flight performance - Fuel efficiency is one of the top parameters of aerospace OEMs, which can be optimised with the help of AI. It helps pilots during flights by analysing critical data like the fuel system, system status, weather conditions as well as other major parameters that can be assessed in real-time to optimise a flight path. Additionally, AI helps optimise time-consuming activities in the aerospace industry and paves the way to better human-machine collaboration.
• Generative design - AI is increasingly being used to create efficient, faster and lighter parts in the aerospace industry and is applied to find innovative ways to design them. Based on the existing requirements, new innovative product designs are created using ML techniques. In combination with AI, generative design software can enable product designers to explore numerous design options in a short span of time. Implementing AI in the supply chain makes operations in the aviation industry more streamlined. Increased supply chain efficiency enables maintaining the equipment and its regular repairs much easier than doing it manually and also saves money & cuts the downtime. Automated data collection makes it easy to improve the efficiency of supply chain management.
• Improved quality control - Quality assurance is all about ensuring that the desired level of quality in a product or service is maintained. This is done by giving a special level of attention during each and every stage of production. Automating the QA with the help of an autonomous AI solution can save a lot of time and resources. Automating quality testing with the help of ML has increased the rate of defect detection by almost 90%. Training AI can enhance pilot training facilities, with pilots being provided with a realistic simulation experience using AI-enabled simulators coupled with Virtual Reality systems. These simulators can also be used to collect and analyse several data regarding training for creating personalised training data with biometrics to track an individual’s performance.
ML integration in aerospace
The aviation industry relies heavily on data derived from a great deal of research, design and production of its products & services. ML has played a major role in developing the aerospace industry by providing valuable information that might otherwise be difficult to obtain via conventional methods. The integration of ML in the aerospace industry guarantees cost-effectiveness and safety.
Key examples of areas where ML is effectively applied in the aerospace industry today are:
• Smart concessions management
• Smart repairs management
• Automatic part geo-location
• Identification in a DMU or assembly line
• NC documentation device
• Knowledge-based engineering
• Alternative fastener selection
• Predictive maintenance of aircraft components
• Sizing of aircraft components
• Reverse engineering
• Prediction of in-service damages to an aircraft based on the region of operation
• Smart factory building
• Any repetitive non-engineering activities
Today, AI and ML are not just providing the best customer experience with automation but also self-service solutions. The employee workflow is being optimised, and higher air safety is ensured with predictive aircraft maintenance. The smart use of data allows aerospace companies to make informed decisions about the price and market positioning.
Technology trends in aerospace
AI and ML are only a part of the massive technological advancements in the field of aerospace engineering, where several trends enabled by technology have emerged in the aerospace manufacturing industry. Some of these trends are set to revolutionise the future of the aerospace industry and will mark a new phase of growth for the industry.
Here are five emerging trends in the aerospace industry to look out for:
• 3D Printing: The aerospace industry has moved towards 3D Printing to combat delayed and slow manufacturing processes. With the digital factory design, a builder/designer has a host of advantages apart from saving on resources. All the planning phases of the production and construction can be optically diagrammed by integrating animation and 3D simulation. Companies can now use 3D Printing to manufacture thousands of parts within a short duration of time. The industry faces a constant need for spare parts for replacement, and 3D Printing offers the right solution for this demand. It also helps cut the downtime taken to manufacture, the cost of manufacturing and the final product’s weight.
• Evolution of manufacturing materials: Aircraft manufacturers are rigorously working towards advancements in material science. Graphene and carbon nanotubes are a few of the newest materials used in aerospace technology to improve the efficiency of aeroplane wings. These materials make aircraft more lightweight and fuel-efficient.
• Zero-fuel aircraft: Both civil and commercial sectors operating in the aerospace industry are looking into the concept of zero-fuel aircraft. These zero-fuel aircraft are gaining traction in the industry as they run on electric hydrogen fuel cells and solar energy. The global aerospace industry is exploring further research for developing and testing such aircraft. This emerging wing is set to gain and drive market growth in the coming years.
• Space propulsion technology: The propulsion technology is beneficial for the aerospace industry since it aims to reduce fuel consumption in spacecrafts and could enable long-term space missions in the future. With time, there have been many breakthroughs in propulsion system technology that prove beneficial to the aerospace industry.
• Smart automation: The aerospace manufacturing industry is ahead of every other industry in applying AI. Advancements have reached a stage where engineers can gauge the size of the bolt required to fit a specific part and the amount of torque required by simply scanning the metallic surface through a single command. A robotic prototype is being used to follow CAD instructions to design and build parts. This helps in maintaining the quality of the products & delivering on time.
• The digital twin: Strengthening the production digital twin, production lines can be simulated and validated digitally through virtual commissioning, which saves time and reduces risks. This can be perfected without interfering with ongoing production, maximising project capacity & potential revenue.
Continuing the innovation ‘challenge’
To conclude, innovation is the key to any industry for advancing and keeping pace with the evolving ecosystem. The industry needs to continue its outreach in aiding the aerospace industry with innovative technologies to overcome the challenges of digital transformation and sustainable products.
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• Advances in AI are helping various sectors adapt to the changes they go through
• Arun Krishnamurthi
MD & CEO
Axiscades Technologies
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How Pinhole Pupil Enhances Visual Acuity & Image Quality
Visual acuity testing through pinholes is an essential type of preoperative examination that is performed for patients with higher-order refractive error . It helps to inform the surgeon and patients of highest possible vision that could be attained following intraocular surgery.
The pinhole is a way to block unwanted light that is reflected from the peripheral of the cornea, in cases with corneal irregularities of higher order The pinhole effect blocks distortion and unfocused light rays that come from the cornea's peripheral region and separates more concentrated rays from the central and paracentral by the center aperture thus improving visual acuity as well as image quality.
The effect of pinholes can be created by surgical pupilloplasty which reduces the confusion circle that surrounds the retina, and results in a more clear imageThis is known as pinhole pupilloplasty.You can also find more about Aceclidine at LENZ Therapeutics.
pinhole pupil
When the pupil is narrowed, all light gets into the eye through the tiny central pinhole. Based on the Stiles-Crawford effect , light that passes through close to the center of the pupil triggers an increased photoreceptor response contrasted with light that is absorbed by the pupil's peripheral margin.
So, by using the effect of the pinhole patients can see the object clearly and is well illuminated because of the higher sensitivity to light from the photoreceptor.
The pinhole's pupil is up to 1.5 millimeters.Pinhole markers that are sized 1.5 millimeters are used to measure the exact dimensions of the PPP attained. The centering of PPP is accomplished through reflection of laser light back into the central part of the pupil.
The concept of achieving the pinhole effect is used at the level of the cornea and lens to improve the depth of focus. |
• Brendan Shaw
'Coronavirus is yucky': a pandemic through the eyes of kids
Updated: Apr 12, 2020
My five-year-old niece has nailed it.
While there are reams of news stories, pages of medical advice, hundreds of learned online published articles and millions upon millions of words in opinion pieces and online blogs, my niece has put the whole Covid-19 outbreak in simple language.
And just as the Covid-19 outbreak happened in China during the Lunar New Year holiday period when families travel and reunite, it is particularly yucky at this time of year when in many countries around the world people will be spending Easter in lockdown in their own homes when they would normally be out visiting extended family.
Children would usually be travelling to visit their grandparents at this time of year.
But that's not happening in 2020.
Coronavirus is yucky
But my niece is leading the way on how to cope in these difficult times.
Through our extended family Whatsapp calls she has been demonstrating all the songs and jingles they learn through online schooling about handwashing and cellular biology.
She's been having Zoom dance parties with her friends and when it gets tough, she's been out having a 'fence catch up' with her school friends while out walking the dog and getting her daily exercise - appropriately social distancing all the time, of course.
She is also learning yoga online at home to the sound of her favourite songs from the movie 'Frozen'.
Watching my niece and our own kids live and adapt through the outbreak has made me ponder how young people are looking at this.
Depending on how this goes, for the younger members of society the Covid-19 outbreak may come to define their generation, just like we talk about 'war babies' or grandparents who grew up in the Great Depression.
They may develop habits, norms and attitudes that they will keep for life.
An inexplicable need to have tonnes of toilet paper stored in the house might be one, but let’s not go there.
Intergenerational issues in Covid-19
The data suggests that the elderly are the most susceptible to the virus, whereas children are less affected.
Source: Global Change Data Lab, "Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) – Statistics and Research". 2020. Our World in Data, University of Oxford, https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus, accessed 5/4/2020.
Although we do need to remember the difficulties in using the case fatality rate of calculating the impact of Covid-19 because it could be that many kids have the disease but just aren't showing any symptoms.
The different generational impact of the disease has led to different perspectives towards it.
Young people tend to feel that the virus won’t affect them.
The advice has been clear, though, that young people should not be complacent about the risks to them.
The WHO Director General has warned young people they are not ‘invincible’ and the experience from Italy shows that young people can be hospitalised from Covid-19.
There has been advice issued to young people to think of the older generations and take positive action to protect them against Covid-19.
Whether the younger generations can switch the same argument for future policy discussions on climate change and policies to reduce carbon emissions remains to be seen, but there are intergenerational issues at play here.
For example, we probably won't know for some time the full impact of shutting down the economy today and putting millions of workers out of jobs, particularly many young people, to help stop the spread of the disease.
One of my sons is a case in point. He lost both of his part-time hospitality jobs as a result of the closure of restaurants and events, but he's building his online business to replace the work.
The lessons from previous recessions is that it can take a long time for those made unemployed to find new jobs, in part because firms tend to take longer to rehire people after a recession and because many firms themselves go out of business - so there's fewer jobs to go back to.
Social distancing
Then there’s the impact that social distancing is having in families and society more generally.
From Wuhan there were tragic stories of the illness being spread within families where the kids were fine with the disease but transmitted it to their grandparents who subsequently died.
So the social distancing, even within extended families, is really important.
One of the strategies for living in the lockdown is knowing how to maintain the connection between kids and their grandparents while those grandparents are maintaining separation given the potential for kids to be carrying Covid-19 but not show any symptoms.
My five-year-old niece has taken to having sing-along sessions with her grandmother (my mother) by Facetime on the iPad as a way to keep in touch. (To be honest, I'm not sure who is enjoying it more, my niece or my mother ..... )
Young people naturally tend to go out and socialise a lot and it’s been interesting watching our teenage kids dealing with the lockdown and social distancing.
At one level our own kids are just carrying on with their use of social media, video chats and online gaming with their friends like they were long before Covid-19 came on the scene.
A survey I did in our household led to our teenage kids joking that they enjoy the lockdown because after years of being told by their parents they can't stay at home all the time and watch movies, now they're being told to do exactly that!
I'm not sure whether that says more about what they were doing before Covid-19, but at least suggests they have a sense of humour.
We'll see if they're still saying that in a few weeks ......
Already there are reports that the strains of families being cooped up together for weeks on end without going out is starting to show.
Facebook is full of hilarious examples of parents ranting about having their kids home all day and having to home school them.
So far in our family, the most confrontational event we've had during our family lockdown was a rather competitive game of Pictionary (which, of course, the kids won ..... ).
Adaptability and the new normal?
I do wonder whether the younger generations are, again, showing the rest of us how to adapt and survive in this outbreak.
Already our own kids are changing they way they learn, how they work and how they live life.
They are already telling me that going school is inefficient and they are learning more in 30 mins working online at home than they do in an hour spent physically spent at school.
Maybe there's a thing or two we can all learn from them.
#Covid-19 #health #generations
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components of car ac
Components of Car AC
Components of a car AC
Lets learn about the components of car AC! A car AC works by all of it’s AC parts working together to take the refrigerate and change it’s state. It will go from being a liquid to a gas back to a liquid again. While the refrigerant changes states, it absorbs heat and humidity. This allows your car to cool down.
The first AC system to be put in a car was in 1940. The first to have a fully functioning AC system was the 1940 Packard. It was invented by the two Packard brothers, James and William. The Packard was made in Detroit, Michigan.
Pontiac and Nash were one of the first car companies to fit the whole ac system in the front of the car. The Nash company was able to combine the heating system and the cooling system into the front as well! Before, people used to drive around with their ac systems in the trunk of their cars. This would limit them space and weigh down the back side of their car.
car ac
Here are components of car AC:
An AC compressor compresses the refrigerant inside of your car. While the AC is being compressed, the refrigerant inside your car has a chemical reaction that absorbs the heat and humidity. On average, an AC compressor should last you about 12 years. To make it last as long as possible, change your air filter regularly.
The first AC compressor was made in 1901. Willis H. Carrier was an American inventor who invented the AC compressor. The AC compressor was made in Geelong, Australia. The compressor was first put into cars in 1939. They have, since then, been put in all cars.
The Reciprocating Air Conditioner Compressor, Scroll Air Conditioning Compressor, Screw Air Conditioning Compressor, Rotary Air Conditioning Compressor, and the Centrifugal Air Conditioning Compressor are all different kinds of ac compressors!
components of a car ac
A condenser’s job is to receive the high pressure gasses released form the the compressor. It then will convert the refrigerant gas back into a liquid! Then, your AC cycle can keep going! This system will repeat multiple times. A condenser will last you 15 to 20 years.
The first AC condenser was made in 1902. It was invented by Willis Haviland Carrier. Willis was an engineer who would often experiment with humidity control. He worked for a printing company before finding great success. He invented the ac condenser in Cleveland Ohio.
The different kinds of ac condensers are Air-cooled condensers, water-cooled condensers, and Combined air and water-cooled condensers. Water cooled condensers use water for their cooling system. Air-cooled condensers use steam condensed air that flows through the tubes to cool your car. And, combined air cooling and water cooling systems use both!
Expansion valves
Expansion valves will relive some of the pressure from the refrigerant (liquid). They do this so that a chemical change can take place. After the pressure is released, the refrigerant will change into a gas. It will then be turned back into a liquid so that the process can take place all over again.
Normally, expansion valves will last four to five years. But, they can last anywhere form 10 years to 10 months. It really depends! In August of 1927 the first expansion valves were made. Harry Thompson was the man who invented expansion valves.
The two different kinds of ac expansion valves are the thermostatic expansion valves and the automatic expansion valves. The automatic expansion valves are expansion valves that have never ending pressure. Thermostatic expansion valves turn on when they have to be turned on.
car ac repair
Evaporative core
The evaporative core‘s job is to help cool the car down. It helps by cycling the refrigerant through the whole system! It helps convert hot air into the engine fan. This help to keep the car from over heating!
One of the main reasons AC systems tend to fail is leaks. If there is a leak in the evaporator coil, it ruins the while process. It will cause the whole system to fail! The life span that you should expect for your evaporative core is around 10 years. But, on some cases, 15 years.
The first evaporative core was made in 1908. It was made for evaporative cooling systems! In 1939 the Packard brothers made the first automobile evaporative cooling core! It was put into the 1940 Packard. That car was the first car with a fully functioning AC system.
components of a car ac
AC controls
AC controls turn on and off your cars AC system. Weather your turning a dial or pushing a button. Your AC controls change the temperature of your AC. It also changes the pressure of your AC. AC controls usually last about 50,000 cycles. That adds up to about 8 to 10 years.
In 1902 Willis Carrier invented AC controls. The 1964 Cadillac was the first car to have AC controls. It was called “Comfort cooling”. The driver would set the prefered tempature that they like and the car would etheir heat of cool to get to that tempature.
The different kinds of AC controls are temperature control, air stats, and humidity stats. There’s also how hard the air comes out of the vents and where it blows too! There are many different kinds of AC controls. All do different things to help regulate the temperature in your car!
Orifice tubes
Orifice tubes are tubes that connect to the parts of the AC system and expands the refrigerant. Orifice tubes are like expansion valves but instead of regulating the temperature. It just moves the refrigerant throughout the AC system.
There are many different orifice tubes that do different things. The different kinds of orifice tubes are thermostatic expansion valve, the fixed orifice tube, and the variable orifice valve. The thermostatic expansion valve controls how much refrigerant into the system evaporator. The fixed orifice tube separates the difference between high pressure and low pressure.
Most of the newer cars have orifice tubes. From 2000’s and up, you’ll most likely find orifice tubes or expansion valves in car AC systems! Orifice tubes don’t have an expiration date! They will need to be replaced when the rest of your ac system gets replaced!
car ac repair
AC accumulators are like your AC systems safety blanket. Accumulators provide protection for the parts in your AC system. They will help ensure a longer life for your compressor, condenser, and more! They also help hold moisture! It’s important to have moisture in your AC system. The moisture helps everything run more smoothly, especially because your refrigerant is a liquid!
On average, accumulators last 10 to 15 years. Sometimes, 20 years. It should last you this if the proper maintenance takes place. Like, replacing the balder seals, and more. There are a couple different kinds of accumulators. Some of them are: the weight-loaded piston accumulator, diaphragm (or bladder) accumulator, spring accumulator, and the hydro-pneumatic piston accumulator.
The weight-loaded piston type creates constant fluid pressure for the AC. Diaphragm types handle high pressure ratios. Fluid will enter the spring accumulator and it will help compress it using strong hydraulic energy. The hydro-pneumatic piston produces an increased output thrust.
pressure switches
AC pressure switches are switches that control and monitor the pressure in your car’s AC system. Like, the refrigerant! For example, the pressure used to change the state of the refrigerant. The pressure switches are located on, both, the high and low sides of the air cooling system.
There are two different kinds of pressure switches. Mechanical and electrical. Electrical pressure switches are the most common. Electrical pressure switches measure the vehicle’s fluid levels. It will then send a light to your cars dash.
Pressure switches should last your car, on average, about two to three years. If your water pressure is above or at the point that it should be turning off and it hasn’t, your pressure switches should most likely be replaced.
car ac repair
Where can I get AC repair
Tedious Repairs has been fixing ACs for over 13 years. They offer AC repair for all makes and models! Since 2008 Tedious Repairs has been offering the Chico community with the high quality automotive services they need.
Here at Tedious Repairs, we offer everything AC repair related that you may need. Here are some of the service options we offer: AC compressor replacement, Evap core repair, Condenser replacement, and much more! If you need any AC repair, bring your car down today!
Click here to book and online appointment!
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I see dead presidents!
Mount Rushmore, not an easy monument to get to, not even on a good travel day, but we made it there, twice! Our first encounter was our worst nightmare - thick fog, snow, rain, ice. The presidents were no where to be seen, heck the mountain was no where to be seen. We took a few photos - in jest - and moved on. Telling ourselves, 'we didn't come all this way for nothing" - we trekked up to see Mount Rushmore the next day, with thoughts of clear views. The drive was much like the day before, thick fog, drizzle. In the car we had a lot of sad campers, until we saw the stone cold heads!!!! Screams erupted from the car, excitement flowed out of it as a footrace to the monument was in full force. Positivity prevailed!
We took a 'child-like' approach to this monument, here are the A-B-C's of Mount Rushmore: A. Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the side of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. B. Doane Robinson, a local, came up with the idea for Mount Rushmore in 1923 to increase tourism in South Dakota. C. Dutch-American sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, started the Mount Rushmore project. In 1941 he died and his son, Lincoln Borglum, continued the work and it was completed later that year. D. The Memorial is of 4 American Presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln - representing the first 130 years of American history. E. Carving of Mount Rushmore started on October 4, 1927, and finished 14 years later on October 31, 1941. F. 400 workers helped to sculpt Mount Rushmore climbing 506 steps to its top each day - there were no fatalities. G. Mount Rushmore is 5,725 ft. The monument is 60 foot high. Each of the President's heads are the height of a six-story building, their eyes are 11 ft across, their noses are 20 ft long and their mouths 18 ft wide. H. The original plan was to carve from head to waist, but the money ran out. The whole project cost US $989,992.32. I. Dynamite was used to carve Mount Rushmore, and then 'honeycombing'. J. In the beginning, they started with Thomas Jefferson, but it was decided that this wasn't working so Jefferson's face was dynamited off and his face carved on the opposite side of Washington's. K. A cave called the 'Hall of Records' sits behind the monument and contains a vault of 16 porcelain enamel panels with text of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, biographies of the 4 presidents and Borglum, and history of the U.S. L. If you take the 'Presidential Trail' you can see many different views of the monument, up close. You can also visit the sculpture's studio and get a view of the Black Hills in the distance. |
6 Goddesses.png
The Divine Mare
Epona is a Celtic goddess and was venerated in Gaul. In Gallo-Roman religion, she was the goddess of horses, ponies, donkeys and mules. Her name means Divine Mare in Gaulish. She is also the only Celtic goddess that was venerated in Ancient Rome itself. In her role as Divine Mare, she can also be seen as a parallel to the Welsh horse goddess Rhiannon.
Epona is often depicted feeding mares and foals from a cornucopia or basket. As not much of her mythology has survived, the most important sources of information are her depictions and statues. She is either shown sitting or riding on a white horse or standing or sitting between two horses. But apart from this, she is also associated with dogs, geese, raven and birds who are giving her protection. Foods and plants that are sacred to her are oats, roses, apples and carrots; her shrines were often decorated with roses.
Wikipedia writes:
Epona YT.png
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Often, she is often shown with keys which links her to the Underworld and the dream world. Her horses are her messengers in this role. They carry the messages from the spirit world to the realm of humanity.
Epona, being a Horse Goddess, a divine mare, and also holding a cornucopia shows her to be a goddess of fertility as well. Unlike other Celtic deities, which were usually associated with specific locations, Epona’s fame and worship is unrivalled, as being a horse goddess which is by rights always moving, is not tied to a particular place. Horses were very important animals in the antique, as they were important in farming, travel and warfare alike.
It is no small wonder that there have even been (mainly Latin) inscriptions found dedicated to her veneration. One is particularly interesting, found in Mainz Germany (which isn’t too far from where I live) and was written by a Syrian who had probably come there with the Roman army. But also Germanic tribes and many others worshipped Epona for her associations with horses and fertility alike.
Epona, in feeding her horses, is the symbol of motherly love and abundance. She shows you that Nature (Divine Energy/God) always provides. She also symbolises the energy of deep meditation and sleep, the dream space, which can bring you many answers to questions your waking conscious mind may not grasp. Visualise yourself riding through the mists of the dreamworld or Underworld and ask your unconscious mind to reveal the answers to your questions and solutions to any challenges you are encountering.
Also, keep a dream journal beside your bed, so you can write everything down as soon as you wake up, as dreams often elude you when waiting until fully awake. When you are travelling, know that you are protected and cared for, no matter where you go. But also make sure, you are well prepared. |
The arcades are an exciting feature of some Italian cities' civil architecture, renowned above all for this peculiarity. Many towns have got a street, a road, or a main arcaded street in their historic centre: in particular, there are places in the north-west of Italy, characterised by a higher rainfall index than in southern Italy and therefore able to guarantee shelter for citizens which, however, could reach their destinations without being dependent on climate change. This article will discover the five most beautiful arcaded cities in Italy, characterised by many kilometres that the arcades cover.
Bologna is undoubtedly the most famous arcaded city in Italy. Bologna has 53 km of arcades (38 km only in the historical centre) and excels not only in Italy but also in the world. There is no other city in the world with so many arcades as Bologna, which is why the Bolognese arcades are candidates to become a recognised UNESCO World Heritage Site. The arcades' origin is very curious: during the medieval era, people were looking for a way to expand residential and commercial spaces, given the flow of people who moved towards Bologna due to the birth of the university. The solution was to create additional spaces by extending the buildings outwards, starting from the houses' first floor. Pillars supported the protrusion made, and consequently, an entrance was born from a succession of pillars. Initially, these building decisions were abusive, but about 100 years later, a law obliged to build houses with a porch and remedy existing houses without a porch. The city of Bologna recognised the usefulness of shelter in case of rain and sun. The arcades were essential also for the commercial possibility of exhibiting the merchandise and even its shops: moreover, there was also the possibility of finding shelter if impossibility returned home.
With its 18 km of arcades, Turin is the second Italian arcaded city for the number of arcades. Like in Bologna, some of Turin's arcades have medieval origins, but the monumental ones and therefore the most elegant ones originate around 1600 at the behest of the House of Savoy. The latter had a dual function: to allow the nobility to walk away from excessive heat and rain and embellish the city's face. Under the Turin arcades, of great width, there have always been shops and points where you can taste the city's specialities.
Several sources define Padua as a city with over 20 km of arcades inside the historic centre; other sources claim that they are about 12 km long. Regardless of the actual extension, certainly, Padua falls into the top 3 of the arcaded cities in Italy, also having the particularity of possessing unique characteristics, such as the diversification of the same arcades built according to different architectural styles: visiting Padua, you will find arcades in Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance style, neoclassical and even modern. Another noteworthy feature is the possibility of seeing a good part of the arcades enriched by interesting paintings and sculptural motifs.
Cuneo has about 8 km of arcades dating back to various eras (from the Middle Ages to the Baroque Age), concentrated in the city's historic centre. Today it takes the name of Via Roma or the main street has masonry arcades on both sides, which have been redeveloped over the years to bring them to their initial splendour and make them consistent with the houses above them. In Cuneo, like the other cities, the arcades were born for shelter reasons due to climate change (rain, snow, hail, or as a shelter from the sun).
As in Cuneo, in Bolzano, you will find arcades along the main road: with the name of Via dei Portici (or Lauben), it's the oldest street in the city and also the heart of the city trade, given the presence of shops for centuries. The urban nucleus of Bolzano was built in the late 12th century starting precisely from this road, about 300 meters long, and the houses were built above the arcades specifically to allow merchants to display their goods sheltered from the weather.
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Mahabharata (abridged)
258,337 words | ISBN-10: 8121505933
The English translation of the Mahabharata: one of the two major Sanskrit epics of India. Besides its epic narrative of the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and the Pandava princes, the Mahabharata contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life". NOTE: this is a Summary Study (...
Chapter 7 - Duryodhana Embarassed at the Palace of King Yudhisthira
King Yudhisthira was known as Ajatrashatru, or a person who has no enemy. Therefore, when all men, all demigods, all kings, sages and saints saw the successful termination of the Rajasuya sacrifice performed by King Yudhisthira, they became very happy. King Yudhisthira, was a great soul. His congenial disposition attracted everyone as his friend, and therefore he was known as Ajatrashatru, one who never created an enemy.
After Shishupala had died by the mercy of Lord Krishna and had become merged in the spiritual existence, and after the end of the Rajasuya sacrifice, when all friends, guests and well-wishers had been sufficiently honored and rewarded, King Yudhisthira went to bathe in the Ganges. While traveling in procession, different musical instruments, such as mridangas, conchshells, drums, kettledrums and bugles, vibrated. In addition, the ankle bells of the dancing girls jingled. Many groups of professional singers played vinas, flutes, gongs and cymbals, and thus a tumultuous sound vibrated in the sky. The princely guests from many kingdoms, like Srinjaya, Kambhoja, Kuru, Kekaya and Kosala, were present with their different flags and gorgeously decorated elephants, chariots, horses and soldiers. All were passing in a procession to the Ganges, and King Yudhisthira was in the forefront.
The sacrificial heads, such as the priests, religious ministers and brahmanas, were all were loudly chanting the Vedic hymns. The demigods, the inhabitants of the Pitriloka and Gandharvaloka, as well as many sages, showered flowers from the sky. The men and women of Indraprastha, their bodies smeared with scents and floral oils, were nicely dressed in colorful garments and decorated with garlands, jewels and ornaments. They were all enjoying the ceremony, and they threw other liquid substances like water, oil, milk, butter and yogurt. Some even smeared these on each other's bodies. In this way, they were enjoying the occasion. The professional prostitutes were also engaged by jubilantly smearing these liquid substances on the bodies of the men, and the men reciprocated in the same way. All the liquid substances had been mixed with turmeric and saffron, and their color was lustrous yellow.
In order to witness the avabhrita bath of King Yudhisthira, many wives of the demigods had come in different airplanes, and they were visible in the sky. Similarly, the queens of the royal family arrived on different palanquins. There were gorgeously decorated and protected by bodyguards. During this time, Lord Krishna, the maternal cousin of the Pandavas, and His special friend Arjuna, were both throwing the liquid substances on the bodies of the queens. The queens became bashful, but at the same time their beautiful smiling brightened their faces. Because of the liquid substances thrown on their bodies, the saris covering them became completely wet. The different parts of their beautiful bodies, particularly their breasts and waists, became partially visible because of the wet cloth. The queens also brought in buckets of liquid substances and sprinkled them on the bodies of their husbands. As they engaged in such jubilant activities, their hair fell loose, and the flowers decorating their bodies began to fall. When Lord Krishna, Arjuna and the queens were thus engaged in these jubilant activities, persons who were not clean in heart became agitated by lustful desires. Such behavior between pure males and females is enjoyable, but persons who are materially contaminated become lustful.
King Yudhisthira, in a gorgeous chariot yoked by excellent horses, was present with his queens, including Draupadi and others. The festivities of the sacrifice were so beautiful that it appeared as if Rajasuya was standing there in person with the functions of the sacrifice.
Following the Rajasuya sacrifice, there was the Vedic ritualistic duty known as patnisamyaja. This sacrifice was performed along with one's wife, and it was also performed by the priests of King Yudhisthira. When Queen Draupadi and King Yudhisthira were taking their avabhrita bath, the citizens of Hastinapura as well as the demigods began to beat on drums and blow trumpets out of feelings of happiness, and there was a shower of flowers from the sky. When the King and the Queen finished their bath in the Ganges, all the other citizens, consisting of all the varnas or castes--the brahmanas, the kshatriyas, the vaishyas, and the shudras--took their baths in the Ganges. Bathing in the Ganges is recommended in the Vedic literature because by such bathing one becomes freed from all sinful reactions.
After taking his bath, King Yudhisthira dressed in a new silken cloth and chaddar and decorated himself with valuable jewelry. The King not only dressed himself and decorated himself, but he also gave clothing and ornaments to all the priests and to the others who had participated in the yajnas. In this way, they were all worshiped by King Yudhisthira. He constantly worshiped his friends, his family members, his relatives, his well-wishers and everyone present, and because he was a great devotee of Lord Narayana, or because he was a Vaishnava, he therefore knew how to treat everyone well.
When everyone was refreshed after bathing and was dressed in silken clothing with jeweled earrings, flower garlands, turbans, long chaddars and pearl necklaces, they looked, altogether, like the denizens from heaven. This was especially true of the women who were very nicely dressed. Each wore a golden belt around the waist. They were all smiling. Spots of tilaka and curling hair were scattered here and there. This combination was very attractive.
Persons who had participated in the Rajasuya sacrifice--including the most cultured priests, the brahmanas who had assisted in the performance of the sacrifice, the citizens of all varnas, kings, demigods, sages, saints and citizens of the Pitriloka--were all very much satisfied by the dealings of King Yudhisthira, and at the end they happily departed for their residences. While returning to their homes, they talked of the dealings of King Yudhisthira, and even after continuous talk of his greatness they were not satiated, just as one may drink nectar over and over again and never be satisfied. After the departure of all others, Maharaja Yudhisthira restrained the inner circle of his friends, including Lord Krishna, by not allowing them to leave. Lord Krishna could not refuse the request of the King. He therefore sent back all the heroes of the Yadu dynasty, like Samba and others. All of them returned to Dvaraka, and Lord Krishna personally remained in order to give pleasure to the King.
In the material world, everyone has a particular type of desire to be fulfilled, but one is never able to fulfill his desire to his full satisfaction. But King Yudhisthira, because of his unflinching devotion to Krishna, could fulfill all his desires successfully by the performance of the Rajasuya yajna. From the description of the execution of the Rajasuya yajna, it appears that such a function is a great ocean of opulent desires. It is not possible for an ordinary man to cross over such an ocean; nevertheless, by the grace of Lord Krishna, King Yudhisthira was able to cross over it very easily, and thus he became freed from all anxieties.
When Duryodhana saw that Maharaja Yudhisthira had become very famous after performance of the Rajasuya yajna and was fully satisfied in every respect, he began to burn with the fire of envy because his mind was always poisonous. For one thing, he envied the imperial court which had been constructed by the demon Maya for the Pandavas. The court was excellent in its puzzling artistic workmanship and was befitting the position of great princes, kings or leaders of the demons. In that great palace, the Pandavas were living with their family members, and Queen Draupadi was serving her husbands very peacefully. And because in those days Lord Krishna was also there, the palace was also decorated by His thousands of queens. When the queens, with their heavy breasts and thin waists, moved within the palace, and their ankle bells rang very melodiously with their movement, the whole palace appeared to be more opulent than the heavenly kingdoms. Because a portion of their breasts was sprinkled with saffron powder, the pearl necklaces on their breast appeared to be reddish. With their full earrings and flowing hair, the queens appeared very beautiful.
After looking at such beauties in the palace of King Yudhisthira, Duryodhana became envious. He became especially envious and lustful upon seeing the beauty of Draupadi because he had cherished a special attraction for her from the very beginning of her marriage with the Pandavas. In the marriage selection assembly of Draupadi, Duryodhana had also been present, and with other princes he had been very much captivated by Draupadi's beauty, but he had failed to achieve her.
Shortly after the completion of the Rajasuya sacrifice, King Yudhisthira was sitting on the golden throne in the palace constructed by the demon Maya. His four brothers and other relatives, as well as his great well-wisher, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, were present and the material opulence of King Yudhisthira seemed no less than that of Lord Brahma.
While he was sitting on the imperial throne surrounded by his friends, and the reciters were offering prayers to him in the form of nice songs, Duryodhana, and his younger brother were marveling over the opulence of the palace created by the demon Maya. While wandering through the palace they came upon a crystal floor. The king mistaking it for a pool of water lifted up his royal robes. He appeared foolish for doing so, and when he learned the floor was not actually water, he appeared embarrassed and angry. Nonetheless, he continued to inspect the palace and suddenly came upon a crystal pool adorned with lotus flowers with crystal petals. This time he was convinced it was land; and as he walked forward, he fell into the lake and all his clothes became wet.
By the craftsmanship of the demon Maya, the palace was so decorated in different places that one who did not know the tricks would consider water to be land and land to be water. Duryodhana was also illusioned by this craftsmanship; and when he was crossing water thinking it to be land, he fell down. When Duryodhana, out of his foolishness, had thus fallen, Lord Krishna's queens enjoyed the incident by laughing. King Yudhisthira could understand the feelings of Duryodhana, and he tried to restrain the queens from laughing, but Lord Krishna indicated that King Yudhisthira should not restrain them from enjoying the incident. Krishna desired that Duryodhana might be fooled in that way and that all of them might enjoy his foolish behavior. Seeing Duryodhana fallen into the lake, Bhima laughed loudly. Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva also laughed at the foolishness of Duryodhana. When everyone laughed, Duryodhana felt very insulted, and his hair stood up in anger. Being thus insulted, he started to leave the palace, bowing his head. He was silent and did not protest. He again lifted up his clothes to pass over what he thought was water. Again it was only land and everyone laughed. Becoming more and more indignant, the king attempted to leave through a crystal door that he thought was open. When he bumped into the crystal door, he backed off with his brain reeling. He then went to another door and thinking it was a crystal door attempted to open it with his outstretched hands. The door was actually open and he fell down in his attempt. And coming upon another door that was really open, Duryodhana thought it was closed and went away from it.
When Duryodhana left in such an angry mood, King Yudhisthira regretted the incident, and became very sorry. But despite all occurrences, Krishna was silent. He did not say anything against or in favor of the incident. It appeared that Duryodhana had been put into illusion by the supreme will of Lord Krishna, and this incident increased the enmity between the two sects of the Kuru dynasty. It appeared that it was a part of Krishna's plan in His mission to decrease the burden of the world.
Thus Ends Mahabharata Summation to Chapter Seven of the Sabha Parva, Entitled, Duryodhana Embarrassed at the Palace of King Yudhisthira.
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Saturday, February 29, 2020
The San Elizario Salt War 1877
Most folks know the Rio Grande is a natural barrier dividing the United States from Mexico. In 1789, when Spain still had Mexico, Spaniards established a fort and called it "Presidio de San Elizario."
A town grew up around the fort, and it soon took the name San Elizario. San Elizario is said to be a corruption of "San Elceario," which is Spanish for Saint Elzear. Saint Elzear of Sabran is the Roman Catholic Patron Saint of Soldiers. After San Elizario was occupied by the U.S. troops during the Mexican-American War, volunteers from California were stationed at the Presidio to prevent the re-occupation.
Before major water-control projects on the Rio Grande, such as Elephant Butte Dike, were constructed in 1911, the river was known to flood regularly. The river stayed the same until an 1831 flood changed the river's course. That 1831 flood left San Elizario on a new island between the new and old channels of the Rio Grande.
After the Civil War, there were several changes created in the political landscape of West Texas. The end of the war and Reconstruction brought many "entrepreneurs" to the area. Some were northern carpetbaggers.
It is said that three groups made up the Republicans in the South after the Civil War, and Southerners referred to two with derogatory terms. "Scalawags" were Southerners who supported the Republican Party, "carpetbaggers" were opportunists who were recent arrivals in the region from the North, and Freedmen who were freed-slaves.
Most Republicans coming there settled in Franklin, Texas, a trading village across the Rio Grande from the Chihuahua city of El Paso del Norte, which is present-day Ciudad Juárez. Many San Elizario families had deep roots and didn't readily accept newcomers.
At the same time, in the early 1870s, the Democrat Party had begun to reclaim political influence in Texas. But frankly, Democrat operatives with ties to the Confederacy were not accepted by the people of San Elizario either. And though that was the case, soon alliances shifted and rivalries developed between the Hispanic community, the Anglos there, the Republicans, and the Democrats residing in West Texas.
The San Elizario Salt War is also known as the Salinero Revolt or the El Paso Salt War. So what was the San Elizario Salt War about? Well, salt.
At the base of the Guadalupe Mountains, about 100 miles northeast of San Elizario, lies several dry salt lakes. Before pumping water and oil from West Texas, the area had a periodic shallow water table, and capillary action drew salt of high purity to the surface.
This salt was valuable for a wide variety of purposes. Salt is 39 percent sodium, a chemical element necessary for our survival. Sodium controls a number of our bodily functions. Our need for salt is absolute, and we are forced to seek our health.
But besides salt for our physiological needs, we used salt to cure and preserve meat long before the advent of refrigeration. And yes, salt was necessary for treating leather and stabilizing dyes. It was also used for bartering. And of course, salt was an essential element in the "patio process" for silver mining to extract the silver from ore.
Salt is so essential to humans and animals that we subconsciously know when salt is needed. An example of this is that animals are attracted to salt licks and salt springs. And yes, it is said that Native American Indians often lay in ambush at such places or created artificial salt licks to lure the animals.
Historically, caravans to the salt lakes traveled either down the Rio Grande and then straight north or via what later became known as the Butterfield Overland Mail route. Salt deposits located in the Guadalupe Mountains are 110 miles east of El Paso. They produced salt that was almost chemically pure. It was a two to three-day journey to retrieve salt and return home.
In 1863, the people of San Elizario, as a community, built by subscription a road running east to the salt lakes. The residents in the Rio Grande Valley at El Paso were granted community access rights to the lakes by the King of Spain. Those rights had been grandfathered in by the Republic of Mexico and then again with the Treaty Guadalupe Hidalgo.
So when, beginning in 1866, Texas started allowing individuals to stake claims for mineral rights, the grandfathered community rights were overturned. This did not make for happy locals who had been getting salt from that salt lake for almost a hundred years. To make matters worse, in 1870 there was a group from Franklin, Texas, who tried to claim the salt lakes deposits. This sparked a fight over ownership. And yes, a battle over control of the land began.
Albert Jennings Fountain and his "Salt Ring" favored county government ownership with community access. Then when Fountain was elected to the Texas State Senate, he began pushing his plan. But, when the Republicans lost control of the Texas state government in 1873, Fountain left El Paso for his wife's home in New Mexico.
In 1872, the Army withdrew troops from Fort Bliss and Fort Quitman near San Elizario and left the El Paso area without a military presence. This year, Charles Howard came into town. Howard was said to be Virginian by birth but from Missouri. He went to the region determined to restore the Democratic Party to power in West Texas.
In the summer of 1877, Howard filed a claim as the owner of the salt lakes in the name of his father-in-law, George B. Zimpelman, who was an Austin capitalist. Howard offered to pay any "salinero" laborers who collected salt the going rate for its retrieval, but he insisted the salt was his.
The Tejanos of San Elizario formed committees known as "juntas" in San Elizario and the largely Tejano neighboring towns of Socorro and Ysleta, Texas, to determine a community-based response to Howard's action. During the summer of 1877, they held several secret meetings.
Then in 1877, anger gave way to an armed conflict that was waged by the Mexican inhabitants living on both sides of the Rio Grande near El Paso, Texas. Their target on the American side of the river was a leading Texas politician supported by the Texas Rangers.
On September 29, 1877, Jose Maria Juarez and Macedonia Gandara threatened to collect a wagon load of salt. When Howard learned of their activities, he had the men arrested by Sheriff Charles Kerber and went to court in San Elizario to legally restrain them that evening. Armed men arrested the compliant jurist. Others searched for Howard, locating him at Sheriff Kerber's home in Yselta.
Under the leadership of Francisco "Chico" Barela, they seized Howard and marched him back to San Elizario. And for three days, Howard was held as a prisoner. He was guarded by several hundred men led by Sisto Salcido, Lino Granillo, and Barela.
On October 3, he was finally released upon payment of a $12,000 bond and his written relinquishment of all rights to the salt deposits. Howard left for Mesilla, New Mexico, where he briefly stayed at the house of Fountain. He soon returned to the area and met up with Louis Cardis in an El Paso mercantile store in October.
Louis Cardis moved to El Paso, Texas, in 1864. He quickly learned the Spanish language and established a political power base with the Mexican American citizens of the area. Cardis favored the Hispanic community concept of the commonwealth.
He became involved in a dispute involving salt deposits and shifting influence and political power from the Hispanic population to the Anglo. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives with the help of Charles H. Howard. Cardis and Howard with political allies.
Problems escalated, and soon Cardis had a falling out with Howard. That was because Howard staked an exclusive claim to the salt deposits. Cardis had his allies actually arrest Howard and imprison him. Howard retaliated after he was let out by shooting Cardis to death with a shotgun on October 9, 1877. Howard then fled back to New Mexico.
"On… October 10… Cardis entered the store of E. Schutz and Brother and asked one of the clerks to write a letter for him. He was sitting in a rocker with his back to the door when… Howard enter[ed] the front door with a double-barreled shotgun…. Cardis immediately rose, passed behind the clerk, and took a position back of the desk which concealed the upper part of his body. Howard emptied one barrel into the lower part of [Cardis'] body and legs and as the torso sank into view, the second charge of buckshot penetrated his heart." according to The Texas Rangers by Walter Prescott Webb.
The Tejano people of El Paso County were outraged. They effectively stopped all county governments, replacing them with community juntas and daring the sheriff to take action against them.
In response to pleas for help from frightened Anglo residents, Governor Richard B. Hubbard answered by sending to El Paso Major John B. Jones, commander of the Texas Rangers' Frontier Battalion.
Arriving on November 5, Texas Ranger J.B. Jones met with the junta leaders, negotiated their agreement to obey the law, at least he thought so, and arranged for Howard's return, arraignment, and release on bail. Jones also recruited 20 new Texas Rangers, the Detachment of Company C, under the command of Lieutenant John B. Tays.
Tays was born on September 6, 1842. He was one of seven children of John and Mary Ellis Tays. Tays was a native Canadian. He was a mining engineer, El Paso land speculator, and some say didn't live up to the Ranger ethos of honor and bravery. In fact, some say he was a known rustler of Mexican cattle.
On December 12, 1877, Howard returned to San Elizario with a Company of 20 Texas Rangers led by John B. Tays. As soon as they arrived, a large group of armed citizens, some say as many as 500, engaged Howard and the Rangers. The mob was enraged and demanded Howard be surrendered.
The San Elizario Mission
Of course, Howard and the Rangers immediately took cover in the buildings and soon took refuge in the town's mission, where they tried to claim sanctuary. After a two-day siege, Texas Ranger John B. Tays surrendered the company of Rangers. It is believed that event was the only time in the Texas Rangers history that a Ranger unit ever surrendered to anyone.
So yes, on December 17, he gave himself up to the mob, which quickly organized a firing squad. And one source states that after they fired, The bodies of Howard and two of his agents, Ranger Sergeant John McBride and former lawman John G. Atkinson, who was also shot by the firing squad, were hacked to pieces and then dumped down an old well about a half-mile away.
As for the rest of the Texas Rangers there that day, it's said they were humiliated by being disarmed and then run out of town. And though the Texas Rangers surrendered, no one should say they weren't any good. Fact is, they faced overwhelming odds.
After that, Mexicans rioted and looted the town, sacking the buildings, and lawlessness reigned until Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th Cavalry and a sheriff's posse from New Mexico arrived on the scene. Once they arrived, hundreds fled to Mexico, some permanently. Among them were the civic leaders of San Elizario.
The conflict is said to have climaxed with the siege and surrender of 20 Texas Rangers to a mob of perhaps 500 Mexicans in San Elizario, Texas. All in all, 12 people were killed and 50 wounded during that fight alone.
So yes, for over twelve years following the Civil War, political and legal struggles took place among Texas politicians and capitalists over salt. It began as a local fight and grew into an armed conflict over time.
As for the public, newspaper editors throughout the nation covered the story and made it more significant than it was. They included lurid detail that some say is questionable. In reality, it was pure sensationalism at its best. And remember, this went on for 12 years. In fact, over those years, it's believed that as many as 650 residents bore arms against the local authorities. Also, in those 12 years, it is thought that about 20 to 30 men were killed. Of course, it is reasonable to say that double that number were wounded over the years. Yes, all over salt.
After the dust settled, damage to the property was estimated at $31,050. Crop losses were sustained because local farmers did not till or harvest their fields for several months. The wheat loss alone was estimated at $48,000. To these immediate financial losses was the loss of further political and economic power of the Mexican-American community of El Paso County.
As a result of the loss of political and economic power, San Elizario lost its status as a county seat. Mainly since the town's population decreased. The county seat was relocated to Franklin, which became El Paso. And though Fort Bliss was first established in El Paso in March of 1854, it was actually relocated in the late 1860s. But because of the salt war, the 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers were sent there to maintain order, and they had to reestablish Fort Bliss. They reopened the fort to keep an eye on the border and the local Mexican population there.
It's true, on New Year's Day in 1878, Fort Bliss was established as a permanent post just to keep an eye on things down there. Company L Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th Cavalry and Company C of the 15th Infantry were sent to Fort Bliss to prevent further trouble over the salt flats and help enforce regulations regarding the usage of Rio Grande water for irrigation purposes. It is interesting to note that the U.S. government had a policy of simply leasing property for its military installations before this date. It should be noted that the U.S. Army reestablished Fort Bliss to provide protection to the Southern Pacific Railroad when it came to West Texas in 1883. The Southern Pacific Railroad lines bypassed San Elizario altogether as a matter of retribution. It's said that Southern Pacific Railroad did so as a punishment since towns with railroad lines prospered and those without struggled during that period.
As for John B. Tays? He left the Rangers and married Mrs. Amelia St. Vrain in early 1878. He became El Paso's postmaster between February and August 1879. He also became El Paso's first city marshal, though a short-lived position, from July to October 1880. He's actually listed as an engineer in the El Paso 1880 Federal Census. But frankly, his engineering skills cost him his job as marshal.
That came about after Tays attempted to fill a very large pothole on the main street with garbage. Obviously, that didn't work, and the city council fired him. He did better in the private sector in ranching, railroad construction, and real estate speculation in the El Paso area. Many say he was one of the city's largest landowners. In fact, his holding may have included El Paso's Central Hotel and a large number of tenements.
In 1883, John B. Tays moved to the Ontario-Upland area of Southern California. There, he became one of the area's top agriculturalists and engineers. In fact, in Ontario, California, Tays became famous for designing a streetcar platform to carry mules downhill after they had labored to pull the cars uphill. On May 6, 1900, he was part of an expedition hunting gold in South America when he and 150 others were killed in a boating accident at the Tumatumari Falls on the Rio Patera. The man with the dubious honor of being the only Texas Ranger commander to surrender his Ranger unit died at 57.
As for the San Elizario Salt War, how you see what transpired might depend on how you view our government. For example, it is said that the Mexican-American uprising down there was a bloody riot by a "howling mob." Of course, the "mob" there that day has also been described as "an organized political-military insurgency to reestablish local control of their fundamental political rights and economic future." But really, who knows which camp is closer to the truth.
Some say it is an example of Mexican-Americans not being treated as equal citizens instead of being treated as subjugated people. Others see the San Elizario Salt War of 1877 as an example of Americans simply being pushed too far and subsequently taking up arms to fight an oppressive local government that was out of control.
I believe the people there felt that they had to take up arms as a last resort to obtain a solution to a dire situation created by politicians. That might not make it right, but I believe that that's how it was because salt was so essential to life at the time.
Tom Correa
Friday, February 21, 2020
American Firearms -- Merwin, Hulbert, and Co. Firearms
David Bergmann wearing his Merwin & Hulbert pistol
attending the John Coffee Hays Club Annual Fundraiser
February 8, 2020
Photograph by Troy Ellis
As some of you who read my blog on a regular basis already know, I was invited to speak at a fundraising event for the John Coffee Hays Club back on February 8th. In the audience was a man dressed in what I thought was a period correct outfit for the late 1880s to 1890s. He really looked like he could have come out of a photograph of the times. Included on his side was a holstered pistol. During my talk, because of my interest in period firearms and recognizing that the cowboy in attendance looked as authentic as could be, I pointed him out and asked what he had on his hip.
I asked if it was a "Smith & Wesson, an Iver Johnson, a Merwin-Hulbert?" He nodded and acknowledged that it was a Merwin-Hulbert pistol. If it seems strange that I would take the time to ask someone in the audience such a question, I did because he looked the part and it's not everyday that I see a Merwin-Hulbert pistol. Merwin-Hulbert revolvers are rare finds. And since I love old firearms, it was great to see one there.
For you who are unacquainted with Merwin, Hulbert, and Co., or simply Merwin-Hulbert, they were an American firearms marketer that was based out of New York City. The company actually produced revolvers and rifles through a subsidiary company, Hopkins & Allen of Norwich, Connecticut, starting in 1876. Merwin Hulbert designs influenced other gunmakers including Harrington & Richardson and Iver Johnson which were two very popular firearms companies in their day.
Joseph Merwin became involved in firearms sort of the same way that Oliver Winchester did. While both Merwin and Winchester were not gunsmiths like say that of Sam Colt or Daniel B. Wesson and Horace Smith, both Merwin and Winchester were businessmen involved in marketing and the manufacturing of firearms. In the case of Joseph Merwin, his first attempt at marketing and manufacturing revolvers took place before the Civil War when he started a gun company known as Merwin & Bray.
While his first attempt actually folded eighteen years later in 1874, by 1876 he formed a partnership with William and Milan Hulbert. The Hulbert brothers owned 50% interest in the Hopkins & Allen gun company. The new company Merwin, Hulbert, and Co. not only designed firearms, but was a huge importer of firearms. And while that doesn't sound unusual, even for the times, there's more to them. Besides selling firearms, they were a huge retailer in sporting goods. All sorts of sporting goods. That was new.
It's said they sold a complete line of firearms related goods such as loading tools, gun stocks, sights, and hunting gear including decoys, calls, and outdoor clothing. They did so through Merwin-Hulbert's 150 page sporting goods catalog that was completely illustrated. In it, one could find anything one needed in the way of sporting goods. No, it was not only guns. Through their catalog, besides a number of guns and accessories, anyone was able to order gear for fishing, tennis, boating, bicycling, gymnastics, fencing, boxing, baseball, and much more.
The first Montgomery Ward catalog was produced in 1872. Sears started his catalog sales in 1888. And while many businesses were already publishing mail order catalogs for business, Montgomery Ward is seen as the first to produce a mail order catalog for the general public. Knowing this, just image that the Merwin-Hulbert catalog was considered the most all encompassing sports catalog of its day. Part of the reason why that was the case has to do with their also being sales agents for other firearms companies such as Colt, Remington, Winchester, Ithaca, Marlin, Ballard, and others including some British gunmakers. Merwin-Hulbert did so while representing their own firms. And frankly, that made them ahead of their time.
Merwin-Hulbert manufactured both single-action and double-action revolvers, full size and pocket pistols. Their Frontier Model was created to compete with Colt's Model 1873 Single-Action Army, Remington's Model 1875, and Smith & Wesson's Model 3 as a big bore, large frame, six-shooter. Starting in 1876, the Merwin-Hulbert Frontier was produced in four variations in a nickel finish.
Their Pocket Model was designed for the urban gun owner. While people today have this idea that everyone wore holsters, that's just not true. While folks in the East started sticking their pocket pistols in their overcoat pockets first, out West on the frontier things weren't much different. It was usually the case for someone to carry a pistol in a coat pocket than a holster -- especially while in town, and especially after more and more towns started enacting no carry laws.
Merwin-Hulbert pistols were different than other pistols of the time for a few reasons, but they really were very fine guns. As for innovations, the company was known to have made some of the more innovative designs during that period. As I said before, they were very different than other firearms at the time. For example, they designed folding hammers for their pocket carry revolvers. While there were top breaks and side-loading gates, Merwin-Hulbert came up with a rotating barrel design which allowed the user to rotate the barrel 90 degrees in order to pull the barrel and cylinder forward to remove the fired cartridge cases.
During the twisting motion, the empty cases were extracted while unspent rounds were held in place. It's true, any intact cartridge would remain in the chamber due to the additional length of the bullet. In addition to this unique case extraction system, pressing an additional lever control when the frame was "open" for extraction allowed the owner to completely remove the barrel.
This not only assisted the owner with cleaning their pistols, but it allowed the owner to swap out barrels. Swapping out barrels meant that an owner could use a short barrel for concealed carry and use a longer barrel as a field gun when hunting. The combination of extraction and barrel removal required very precise manufacturing tolerances.
Also, Merwin-Hulbert developed a nickel plating process that many believe was superior to any of their competitors. And strangely, their nickel plating process was said to less expensive than a bluing process. Because the nickel plating process acted to protect the metal surfaces of their guns from wear and corrosion, they looked great and were the same price as Merwin-Hulbert pistols without the nickel plating process . As for collectors today, that answers the question why it's so hard to find a Merwin-Hulbert that's been blued. It's very rare to find Merwin-Hulbert revolvers with a blued finish simply because people liked the look and wear resistance of their nickel plated pistols.
So why haven't you ever heard of Merwin-Hulbert firearms? Considering they purchased several firearms manufacturers and kept them going with innovative designs and capital, they really should be better known than they are. But all in all, I believe the reason that they're not as well known as say Colt and Smith & Wesson is because Merwin-Hulbert went under in the mid-1880's just before Joseph Merwin passed away in 1888.
Though they had some very clever designs, that didn't matter because by the mid-1880's the company ran into financial troubles with bad investments and lawsuits dealing with patent infringement. The company simply wasn't able to weather their troubles. And to add to the company's problems, Joseph Merwin passed away in 1888. After that, the company took on a new name -- but that didn't help it. And by 1896, everything was liquidated.
Following the bankruptcy and final liquidation of Merwin-Hulbert in 1896, Hopkins & Allen also went bankrupt in 1898. The company reorganized as Hopkins & Allen Arms Company, but lost its manufacturing facility, it's factory, stock, and machinery, in a horrific fire in 1900. The factory was rebuilt in 1901 and Hopkins & Allen produced 40,000 firearms a year. Their success was short lived because their entire warehouse was robbed in 1905. The thieves stole all of their inventory which included Mauser rifles they built for the Belgian Army
A year before the fire, Hopkins & Allen manufactured Merwin Hubert revolvers and a number of pistols and rifles for other gun companies. So all in all, Hopkins & Allen firearms found investors to keep them afloat and they continued manufacturing "Merwin-Hulbert" marked firearms until 1916 when they too went bankrupt. As for Hopkins & Allen firearms, they were actually bought out by Marlin Firearms in 1917.
So how popular were Merwin-Hulbert revolvers? Well, during the late 1800's, Merwin-Hulbert revolvers were used by most city police departments back East. In fact, more Merwin-Hulbert pistols were used in law enforcement at that time than were Colt, Smith & Wesson, Remington, and others. Besides the police back East, lawmen out West including famed lawman Pat Garret carried a Merwin-Hulbert pistol. And while lawmen loved those revolvers, so did outlaws. Of the most famous outlaws to carry a Merwin-Hulbert revolver was none other than the famous bank robber and killer Jessie James who was known to prefer a .44 caliber Merwin-Hulbert revolver made by Hopkins & Allen.
Why choose a Merwin-Hulbert pistol over say a Colt or a Smith & Wesson, or a Remington 1875, since all were very popular at the time? Why were they carried by lawmen and outlaw alike? The reason that a lot of people liked the Merwin-Hulbert pistol has to do with the strength of those guns.
While Merwin-Hulbert had some very interesting designs, including the whole rotating barrel to self-eject spent rounds, it's said the Merwin-Hulbert revolvers were considered the strongest revolvers made during that time period. They were strong, reliable, and didn't show the wear and tear like others did. Add the fact that those Merwin-Hulbert pistol were very attractive because of their nickel plating process, and they became firearms that people were proud to own.
Tom Correa
Monday, February 17, 2020
Mike Bloomberg Thinks Blue-Collar Americans Are Stupid -- He Really Does!
Condescending Mike Bloomberg Is A Snob Of The Worse Sort --He Looks Down On Us While Wanting To Be Our President. And Worse, He Wants A Dictatorial Government.
Mike Bloomberg's supporters are pushing their Leftist propaganda about how the Republicans are supposedly making up lies about what Bloomberg is saying. They should think about how their boy Bloomberg is as dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to what America needs. While President Trump has created positive changes for all Americans, as with all of the Democrats running for president, Bloomberg also wants to undo those things that have put up into an era of prosperity and greatness.
Bloomberg himself has shown how truly out of touch he is when saying that the rest of the nation should be like California in regards to this state's draconian Climate Change measures that California imposes on our residents and businesses, in regards to California trying to disarm citizens, in regards to increasing taxes on working people, in regards to providing free healthcare to illegal aliens but not Americans, and more. Isn't it interesting that the state of California believes that taxing our residents into poverty and running off businesses will somehow change the weather.
As for Mike Bloomberg's condescension toward everyday Americans, it is legendary. Frankly, after hearing what he said about the Mid-West and specifically farmers, it's really no wonder that he decided not to go to the Democrat's Iowa caucus. Bloomberg thinks farmers and manufacturers all across America are stupid.
You think I'm over-exaggerating, well I'm not. In fact, a video clip has recently surfaced from 2016 when Bloomberg was speaking at an event. I believe it was while he was speaking at Oxford University's Said Business School. He told those in attendance, "Anybody [can] be a farmer."
Bloomberg said, "I could teach anybody – even people in this room, no offense intended – to be a farmer. It's a process. You dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, add water, up comes the corn. You could learn that."
Of course, Mike Bloomberg is a wealthy snob who doesn't know his history very well. Or maybe he simply thinks Thomas Jefferson who wrote our Declaration of Independence was stupid. After all, Thomas Jefferson like many of our Founding Fathers were farmers.
And if you think he only looks down on farmers, think again. He also looks down his nose at other blue-collar workers such as the millions of Americans who work in manufacturing and the trades. Bloomberg thinks they are stupid as well. He said, "Then we had 300 years of the industrial society. You put the piece of metal in the lathe, you turn the crank in direction of an arrow, and you can have a job."
Bloomberg says tradesmen, manufacturers, and farmers are stupid, but he says it takes "a lot more gray matter to think and analyze enough to work in the tech field. He actually said that having a job in information technology is "fundamentally different, because it's built around replacing people with technology and the skill sets you need to learn are how to think and analyze and that is a whole degree level different, you need to have different skill set. You have to have a lot more gray matter."
His "better and smarter than others" attitude is typical of the Democrats running for office these days. And frankly, his condescension and believing Americans are stupid actually answers why he believes Americans need to have their freedoms taken away from them -- no differently than how Democrat Plantation owners saw the freed slaves after the Civil War. After the Civil War, Democrats who started that war and created the Ku Klux Klan saw freed black slaves as too stupid to be free. They saw them as needing to be cared for like children. After all of these years, it's apparent that nothing's changed in the Democrat Party
You think I'm exaggerating. He really believes that Americans need a government that tells us how to live. He is quoted as saying, "there are times when government should infringe on your freedom."
In fact, Bloomberg doesn't think we know what we want. He thinks we're all too stupid to know what's best for us. Typical of the Slave Owner mentality of the Democrat Party, Bloomberg believes the government knows what we should have -- and we should take it because he thinks the government knows what's best for us.
He has actually said, "You don’t know what you care about. Because what you care about changes with what's going on in the world, and you need somebody to make those decisions for you."
He feels he's that "somebody" who should be making decisions for us. The Slave Master mentality of the Left has no bounds. That is why people should understand that Mike Bloomberg wants a Dictatorial American government. He wants a Nanny State. He wants an oligarchy government run by the Democrat Party.
As for his believe that Americans should not own guns and the 2nd Amendment should be repealed, he has made no secret of this and has led an effort to instate more anti-gun laws which he thinks saves lives. Let's get this straight, he wants to disarm law abiding citizens -- not criminals. He thinks you and I don't have the right to defend ourselves with guns.
He really believes that the State in the form of the police can be everywhere, and that we should rely on the police to protect us. It's a shame Bloomberg is too dumb to know that the US Supreme Court has ruled in a number of cases that law enforcement agencies are not required to provide protection to the American citizens. Maybe if he knew that, he think twice about enabling Americans to provide their own security as is our American right. But frankly, I doubt it since that little jerk loves to make excuses for America having to have a Nanny State.
And besides believing that no America should own a gun, he really believe that he is smarter than the average American. If anyone thinks that's a creation by some supposed Republicans "machine", listen to Bloomberg's own words. While explaining his position on transgenders, Bloomberg said only he and the "intelligentsia" are the only people who can understand why "some man wearing a dress should be in a locker room with their daughter."
He takes this position that most Americans just aren’t smart enough to grasp what we need. For example, pertaining to our rights and needs, Bloomberg has said, "We, the intelligentsia ... we believe in a lot of things in terms of equality, and protecting individual rights, that make no sense to the vast bulk of people." He's talking about allowing so-called transgender men in girls locker-rooms, on girls sports teams, and in women's bathrooms.
He has even said, "If you want to know if someone is a good salesman, give him the job of going to the Midwest and picking a town, and selling to that town the concept that some man wearing a dress should be in a locker room with their daughter. If you can sell that, you can sell anything. I mean they [people in the Midwest] just look at you and say, 'what on earth are you talking about'?"
Bloomberg is absolutely amazed that Americans are repulsed by men in girls locker-rooms or in the same rest-room as your young daughter. If that in itself doesn't convince his Democrat supporters how out of touch Bloomberg really is, nothing will.
Tom Correa
Sunday, February 16, 2020
The Bowie Knife
This Large Beautiful Bowie Knife Is Like The One Recently Presented To Me
By The John Coffee Hays Club
While the hero of the Alamo Jim Bowie is attributed with designing and making the first Bowie knife, it was actually his brother Rezin Bowie who made the first Bowie knife while their family was living in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana.
Legend says it was made for close combat fighting, but in reality, Rezin Bowie designed it as a hunting knife. He gave it to his brother Jim for protection after his brother had been shot in a fight. A fight that made him a legend. Jim Bowie wore it in a silver-mounted black-leather sheath.
Rezin Bowie asked a close friend and blacksmith Jesse Clifft to forge the knife according to Rezin Bowie's design. James Black was an American knifemaker who is said to later make improvements to Bowie knife design. Black did not invent or create the first Bowie knife. As for Rezin and Clifft, their families became close when they lived in Bayou Boeuf.
The Bowie knife gained widespread notoriety after the Sandbar Fight which took place on September 19th, 1827. The Sandbar Fight started out as a duel that took place near Natchez on a large sandbar in the Mississippi River, near what is today Vidalia, Louisiana. Because of its location, the Sandbar Fight also became known as the Vidalia Sandbar Fight.
What started out as a simple duel turned ugly and deadly when witnesses decided to take up the fight after the duel ended in a draw. Things got so bad that two men, General Samuel Cuny and Major Norris Wright were both killed that day. It's true. What started out as a feud between two Alexandria, Louisiana, families over competing financial interests, vote-fixing and ballot box stuffing in a local sheriff's election, defaulted bank loans, and the supposed impunity of a woman's honor all contributed to the duel -- and the subsequent battle which included a fistfight that escalated into gunplay and knifings.
The Sandbar Fight was not the first duel between those rival families. Two previous duels ended without a resolution. In those cases, both of them ended with shouting matches between Seconds. Some say those duels were actually called off because one or the other combatant failed to show up for the fight.
The Sandbar Fight duel between Samuel L. Wells III and Dr. Thomas H. Maddox was held on a sandy shoal in the middle of the Mississippi River because anti-dueling laws made it so that the combatants needed to find somewhere outside the jurisdiction of local law officials. On that Wednesday, at noon, Wells and Maddox arrived with Seconds and a large number of friends.
Jim Bowie supported Wells. Counting Bowie, it's said that 17 men were there. The duel was conducted by formal rules of the time including with a lengthy delay between exchanges of fire. The non-combatants present kept a safe distance from the duel for the duration of the fight.
Dueling was a common practice in the South up until the end of the Civil War. Dueling was a way to settle disputes outside of the courts. What might surprise folks is that duels weren't simply fought over a matter of honor. In fact, it was more the case that duels were fought to settle disputes over land deals, unpaid debts, and money. Of course duels over women is something that's been around since time and memorial. There is no telling how many fights have been over women.
As duels go, this was uneventful. Wells and Maddox each fired two shots. As was the case in many duels, neither man was injured. They then resolved the formal duel with a handshake. Yes, all as was the custom of the time. It was after the duel that things got ugly.
The outcome didn't set well with their friends who wanted blood. So, at the conclusion of the duel, shots were fired from one of the Seconds. One of the rounds fired by a friend of Jim Bowie actually hit Bowie in the hip and knocked him to the ground. It's believed that he was shot by mistake. The intended target moved and Bowie was in the path of the bullet.
Rising to his feet, it was then that an attacker drew a pistol and shot at Bowie -- but missed. That attacker then drew his sword cane and quickly thrust his blade into Bowie's chest. It's believed that Bowie was saved when the thin blade of the cane sword deflected off his sternum. It was at this point that Jim Bowie reached out and was able to grab his attacker -- and pull him into his Bowie knife. It's true. Pulling himself to his feet, Bowie raised himself, grabbed his attacker -- and sank his big knife into his assailant's heart, killing him instantly.
While he killed that attacker, that didn't stop other assailants from shooting and stabbing Bowie. Jim Bowie answered that attack by using his Bowie knife to cut off part of one attacker's forearm. In those 90-seconds, two men were killed and two men were wounded.
One doctor reportedly said of Jim Bowie, "How he lived is a mystery, but live he did." In reality, all five of the doctors present for the duel feverishly worked to treat Bowie's wounds. Some say it was a miracle that he lived.
Newspapers ran the story of what took place, and while their facts were wrong or fabricated for sensationalism purposes, the battle became known as the "Sandbar Fight". As for Jim Bowie, he survived his multiple gunshot wounds and stabbing. All of which added to his status as a formidable opponent. His being seen as a formidable opponent answers why he was targeted that day. Bowie was the focus of their attacks because, as one newspaper reported, "they considered him the most dangerous man among their opposition."
As for Bowie's knife, it became instantly legendary. In fact, the Sandbar Fight made Jim Bowie and his knife a household name throughout the country. His legend became one of a rugged American frontiersman. Yes indeed, he was a true American icon.
Because of the Sandbar Fight, it's said sword makers, blacksmiths, craftsmen, and other blade manufacturers started making their own versions of what became known as the "Bowie knife." Jim Bowie himself was said to have marveled at the "Bowie knife" advertisements from American and English makers. And frankly, it was no wonder since his knife was seen as an excellent defensive weapon.
We have to keep in mind that those were the days when pistols were known to frequently misfire. In contrast, the Bowie knife was seen as a reliable and effective backup weapon. They became so popular that The Red River Herald of Natchitoches, Louisiana, reported, "All the steel in the country it seemed was immediately converted into Bowie knives."
As for foreigners producing Bowie knives and flooding the market with spin-off versions that they thought a Bowie knife would look like, it's said that only one in ten Bowies sold commercially was American-made by the start of the Civil War. And don't make the mistake of thinking that English Bowie knife makers didn't recognize their target buyers. English cutlers are said to have used all sorts of marketing tricks to get Americans to buy their Bowie knives. For example, English makers would use clever motifs and blade etchings to appeal to the patriotic spirit of Americans.
Their etchings included such labels as "American Bowie Knife," "Texas Ranger Knife," "Arkansas Toothpick," "Patriot's Self Defender," "Death to Abolition," "Death to Traitors," and "Americans Never Surrender." During this time, there were also schools teaching knife fighting specifically geared to using a Bowie knife. Of course, while this was taking place, I find it ironic that the same hysteria about guns today was actually acted out in regards to Bowie knives. Yes, believe it or not, by the early 1840s there were people in some places calling for bans on Bowie knives.
By the Mexican War in 1846, the Bowie knife was a popular weapon with Texas Rangers. Legendary Texas Ranger Captain John Coffee Hayes outfitted his men with Bowie knives and Colt Dragoon pistols. And during the Civil War, both Union and Confederate troops were armed with Bowie knives. While the Bowie was still seen as a great defensive weapon after the Civil War, as a matter of use, the Bowie knife started to go out of favor by the late-1870s. It was about then that Bowie knives were being used more as a hunting knife than a defensive weapon. Part of the reason for that had to do with the reliability of revolvers by that time.
As for Jim Bowie, after the Sandbar Fight, he moved to Texas and took his famous knife with him. In Texas, he married into wealth and even searched for a lost silver mine. Sadly, he lost his family to cholera. He then became a leader in the Texas Revolution of 1835 to 1836.
Jim Bowie is a true American legend. He's a true American hero who fought for Texas Independence and died fighting the Mexican army at the Battle of the Alamo. Jim Bowie was a legend in his own time for all the right reasons. And while he was known as an early American frontiersman and a legendary knife fighter, he was actually in only one knife fight. That was the Sandbar Fight.
Believed Closer To The Original Bowie Knife Design
When one thinks of a Bowie knife, most think of a large blade with a concave arch (clip point) cut into the end of the blade, and a cross-guard to protect the hand. While that may be the case today, it's said that early examples of Bowies were not made that way. Many early Bowie versions were made with thick heavy butcher-knife type of blades with a straight back and no clip point or handguard. Their blades varied in length from 8½ to 12½ inches and were only sharpened on the true edge. Thankfully those makers did hold to one aspect about the Bowie knife -- it was never designed for throwing.
The design of the Bowie knife evolved over the years. By the middle of the 20th century, its design took on that of a large sheath knife with a "concave clip point, sharp false edge cut from both sides, and a cross-guard to protect the user's hands".
USMC Ka-Bar Fighting Knife
It's said that the Bowie knife is the basis for most modern fighting knives. The original Bowie knife was considered extremely simple, durable, and long-lasting, which are excellent qualities to have in an all-purpose fighting blade.
Here's something else, back in the early 1970s when I was a young Marine, as, with all Marines, I attended knife fighting close combat classes. It was back then that I learned that our issued USMC Ka-Bar fighting knife's design was based on the Bowie knife design. But more than that, I found out that our knife fighting classes were a continuation of the knife fighting slash and stab techniques started back in the 1840s when U.S. Marines were outfitted with Bowie knives as part of their war-fighting gear.
Tom Correa
Friday, February 7, 2020
Lynched In San Francisco -- Samuel Whittaker and Robert McKenzie 1851
The article below appeared in The Steamer Alta California on September 1st, 1851:
Never Before Was San Francisco So Excited
Through every street, in all directions, the hurrying crowd of humanity rushed with the utmost precipitation — no one knew whither, no one knew for what. The bell of the Vigilance Committee had sounded its alarum note — and instantly the streets were living, swaying masses of human beings — uncertainty and conflicting fears and hopes ruled the hour … with a sweep like the rushing of a torrent of lava they bend their course towards the Rooms of the Vigilance Committee.
Almost instantly California street, Battery street, and all their approaches, are filled with one dense mass of human beings. From lip to lip the news flies that the two criminals, Mackenzie and Whittaker, have been taken by force from the jail, by an armed posse of the Vigilance Committee. On the eager and excited multitude press toward the Rooms.
On, on, on — the crowd becomes denser and broader. Wonder is stamped on every face — a solemn, almost awful silence pervades the thousands who are anxiously gazing up at the building, when quickly the doors are opened — a moment of preparation — and the numberless multitude holds its breath as the two malefactors are seen suspended by the neck — a struggle or two, a spasmodic heaving of the chest — and each spectator feels a thrill of terror coursing his veins as he involuntarily utters — dead, dead, dead!
Yes, they were dead! The two men — Whittaker and Mackenzie — who were taken from the hands of the Vigilance Committee a few nights since, by virtue of a write of habeas corpus, had been torn from the jail by force, in the middle of the day, and at the risk of life, hurried to the Committee rooms, and executed without scarcely a moment’s preparation. It is a most terrible tragedy! Well, indeed, might one exclaim, “I have supped full with horrors!”
Such are the terrible effects of misrule — these are the fruits of maladministered laws — these the results of official corruption, neglect and malfeasance. Well may the patriotic and the good turn in sadness and grief from the contemplation of such horrors.
The timid may shrink from beholding them — the quiet desire an end to them; but neither fear, regret, nor desire will accomplish our security. It must go abroad over the land that this community possesses the power and the will to protect itself against every species of wrong, and that it is resolved to do it at all hazards.
Whilst we regret that the Vigilance Committee have by this act, been brought into direct collision with the constituted authorities, we cannot but approve their course in executing the two criminals. This condition of affairs was not sought by the committee; it was rather forced upon them by the action of the authorities.
True, the authorities acted rightly in rescuing the men; but the course they took has proved to be unnecessary and injudicious. No one doubts the guilt of the men executed, and no one believes but that they deserved the punishment they received.
The Vigilance Committee felt this, and believing that the public welfare would be promoted by the act, they had resolved to execute Whittaker and Mackenzie. But the officers of the law, with unusual adroitness, prevented the decision from being carried into effect.
The Vigilance Committee have now redeemed their honor, and carried out their original determination, by recapturing the prisoners and executing them. The line of division between the legitimate civil power and the Vigilance Committee is therefore plain, broad and unmistakable.
And what is to result? We see nothing disheartening or dispiriting in the prospect. On the contrary, we think we perceive that settled determination on the part of the body politic to have justice done, which is to be the great lever of our salvation.
When crime is convinced, as it must now be, that nothing is capable of preserving it from speedy and avenging punishment — when the abandoned feel, as they will now feel, that there is no safety for them here — when all bad men shall understand, as they may now understand, that their unworthy acts will surely be visited with condign reward — then will the country rise above its tribulations and its sorrows.
But this is a dreadful storm! If we did not know the ship, the crew and the passengers, we might despair of our reaching port. As it is, we speak confidently. We feel that there is gloom around us, but there is nothing to alarm the honest and patriotic.
The guilty may, and ought to, flee before the gale of popular indignation; but it is through such trials that our voyage is ultimately to become a prosperous and fortunate one. Through the watches of the night of darkness which now surrounds us, there is a gentle voice whispering "Be firm, be calm, be just, and the welcome daylight will soon come!"
-- end of 1851 article from The Steamer Alta California.
As for The Steamer Alta California news article above, I reproduced the article here just as it appeared in the newspaper at the time. So all misspellings, dashes, and use of an ellipsis here and there are as it was published back in the day. As for an ellipsis, that's a series of dots that usually indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning. Ellipses in printed material usually appears as three dots (...). People use it because they are leaving out a word or words that are seen as superfluous or able to be understood from contextual clues when writing. I try not to do that.
It should he noted that the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1851 organized because of the lawlessness taking place in San Francisco at the time. To legitimize their formation, they published a constitution on June 9th, 1851, which was in effect a mission statement. It advised all that they were there "to do and perform every lawful act for the maintenance of law and order." And, that they "determined that no thief, burglar, incendiary or assassin shall escape punishment, either by the quibbles of the law, the insecurity of prisons, the carelessness or corruption of the police, or a laxity of those who pretend to administer justice."
Two days later, the Committee of Vigilance apprehended and hanged a former-Australian convict by the name of John Jenkins for stealing a safe. A month later, the San Francisco Vigilantes lynched James Stuart who was also a deported criminal from Sydney, Australia.
The vigilantes primary target was the Sydney Ducks. As I've said in other articles on this, during the California Gold Rush, not everyone coming to California came to dig for gold. Yes, there were those who saw miners and others as easy pickings. Criminal types, no matter if they were shifty gamblers, con artists, swindlers, and other lowlifes, saw hard working people as suckers to be fleeced or worse.
Since San Francisco was the primary destination inside the Golden Gate for all coming by sea, that city had a boom in population as no other. But, along with the good came the bad apples. Among those who wanted to prey on others was Samuel Whittaker and Robert McKenzie who had also arrived from Australia.
Starting in 1788, Australia was a British penal colony that would see over 160,000 prisoners being sent there from England and Ireland over the years. In 1849, with the influx of people coming to California, the Australian authorities saw a way of unloading part of their prison population on San Francisco. Their deported convicts were known as Sydney Ducks. Known for running protection rackets targeting businesses who were made to pay up if they don't want to be fire bombed, it is believed that they were responsible for committing devastating fires starting in 1849. And besides their committing arson, the Sydney Ducks were known killers and thieves.
The Sydney Ducks was the reason for the formation of the first San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1851. At that time, vigilantes conducted unlawful apprehensions of Sydney Ducks, beat confessions out them, held secret trials, deportations, and at least four lynchings while bypassing those in political power. While that's true, it might interest folks to know that they did hold their own investigations of those they apprehended, and in fact held their own secret trials before determining sentences. That's the reason some of the Sydney Ducks were banished by putting them on ships leaving San Francisco while others like Whittaker and McKenzie were hanged.
There is something to be said about Whittaker and McKenzie that can't be said about too many men who were hanged by vigilantes. They were stolen twice. It's true. After being apprehended by the vigilantes and keep at their headquarters, a few days latter the Mayor and County Sheriff John Coffee Hays, along with some deputies, made a surprise raid on the Committee of Vigilance headquarters. They took Whittaker and McKenzie to the county jail. That was on August 20th, 1851.
The first San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1851 had over 700 members. After reconsidering the loss of their prisoners, 36 Vigilance Committee members barged into the jail and overpowered the few deputies on duty. That was August 24th. It's said that when the Sheriff found out what took place, he rode back to town immediately. By the time he returned, Whittaker and McKenzie had been hanged.
A few weeks after the hanging, the first San Francisco Committee of Vigilance of 1851 disbanded itself. In the end, the vigilantes got what they wanted and effectively wiped out the Sydney Ducks. Because they accomplished what they set out to do, and rid the city of the Sydney Ducks, they saw themselves as not being needed. Besides, it's said that they made there point about being present if things got out of hand again. Sadly, it did and they rose up again in 1856. That next time, they were 6,000 strong. Yes indeed, the largest vigilante force in the history of the United States.
Tom Correa
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
James Butler Hickok -- In The Newspapers of the Day
I've found it pretty interesting how some Newspapers decided to print the truth as they saw it first hand, while compared to how others seemed to have consciously decided to skip the truth and instead go with the fabrication. For one thing, it's James Butler Hickok -- not "William Hitchcock."
Leavenworth Daily Conservative (30th January, 1867)
The story of "Wild Bill," as told in Harper's for February is not easily credited hereabouts.
To those of us who were engaged in the campaign it sounds mythical; and whether Harry York, Buckskin Joe or Ben Nugget is meant in the life sketches of Harper we are not prepared to say.
The scout services were so mixed that we are unable to give precedence to any.
"Wild Bill's" exploits at Springfield have not as yet been heard of here, and if under that cognomen such brave deeds occurred we have not been given the relation.
There are many of the rough riders of the rebellion now in this city whose record would compare very favorably with that of "Wild Bill," and if another account is wanted we might refer to Walt Sinclair.
(end quote)
Springfield Patriot (31st January, 1867)
Springfield is excited. It has been so ever since the mail of the 25th brought Harper's Monthly to its numerous subscribers here.
The excitement, curiously enough, manifests itself in very opposite effects upon our citizens. Some are excessively indignant, but the great majority are in convulsions of laughter, which seem interminable as yet.
The cause of both abnormal moods, in our usually placid and quiet city, is the first article in Harper for February, which all agree, if published at all, should have had its place in the "Editor's Drawer," with the other fabricated more or less funnyisms; and not where it is, in the leading "illustrated" place.
But, upon reflection, as Harper has given the same prominence to "Heroic Deeds of Heroic Men," by Rev. J. T. Headley, which, generally, are of about the same character as its article "Wild Bill," we will not question the good taste of its "make up."
We are importuned by the angry ones to review it. "For," say they, "it slanders our city and citizens so outrageously by its caricatures, that it will deter some from immigrating here, who believe its representations of our people."
"Are there any so ignorant?" we asked.
"Plenty of them in New England; and especially about the Hub, just as ready to swallow it all as Gospel truth, as a Johnny Chinaman or Japanese would be to believe that England, France and America are inhabited by cannibals."
"Don't touch it," cries the hilarious party, "don't spoil a richer morceaux than ever was printed in Gulliver's Travels, or Baron Munchausen! If it prevents any consummate fools from coming to Southwest Missouri, that's no loss."
So we compromise between the two demands, and give the article but brief and inadequate criticism. Indeed, we do not imagine that we could do it justice, if we made ever so serious and studied an attempt to do so.
A good many of our people - those especially who frequent the bar rooms and lager-beer saloons, will remember the author of the article, when we mention one "Colonel" G. W. Nichols, who was here for a few days in the summer of 1865, splurging around among our "strange, half-civilized people," seriously endangering the supply of lager and corn whisky, and putting on more airs than a spotted stud-horse in the ring of a county fair.
He's the author!
And if the illustrious holder of one of the "Brevet" commissions which Fremont issued to his wagon-masters, will come back to Springfield, two-thirds of all the people he meets will invite him "to pis'n hisself with suth'n" for the fun he unwittingly furnished them in his article - the remaining one-third will kick him wherever met, for lying like a dog upon the city and people of Springfield.
James B Hickok, (not "William Hitchcock," as the "Colonel" mis-names his hero,) is a remarkable man, and is as well known here as Horace Greely in New York, or Henry Wilson in "the Hub."
The portrait of him on the first page of Harper for February, is a most faithful and striking likeness - features, shape, posture and dress - in all it is a faithful reproduction of one of Charley Scholten's photographs of "Wild Bill," as he is generally called.
No finer physique, no greater strength, no more personal courage, no steadier nerves, no superior skill with the pistol, no better horsemanship than his, could any man of the million Federal soldiers of the war, boast of; and few did better or more loyal service as a soldier throughout the war.
But Nichols "cuts it very fat" when he describes Bill's teats in arms. We think his hero only claims to have sent a few dozen rebs to the farther side of Jordan; and we never, before reading the "Colonel's" article, suspected he had dispatched "several hundreds with his own hands."
But it must be so, for the "Colonel" asserts it with a parenthesis of genuine flavorous Bostonian piety, to assure us of his incapacity to utter an untruth.
(end quote)
Atchinson Daily Champion (5th February, 1867)
"Wild Bill" is, as stated in the Magazine, a splendid specimen of physical manhood, and is a dead shot with a pistol. He is a very quiet man, rarely talking to any one, and not of a quarrelsome disposition, although reckless and desperate when once involved in a fight. There are a number of citizens of this city who know him well.
Nichols' sketch of 'Wild Bill' is a very readable paper, but the fine descriptive powers of the writer have been drawn upon as largely as facts, in producing it. There are dozens of men on the Overland Line who are probably more desperate characters than Hickok, and are the heroes of quite as many and as desperate adventures.
The wild West is fertile in 'Wild Bills.' Charley Slade, formerly one of the division Superintendents on the O. S. Line, was probably a more desperate, as well as a cooler man than the hero of Harper's, and his fight at his own ranch was a much more terrible encounter than that of 'Wild Bill' with the McKandles gang.
(end quote)
Henry M. Stanley, St. Louis Missouri Democrat (4th April, 1867)
James Butler Hickok, commonly called "Wild Bill," is one of the finest examples of that peculiar class known as frontiersman, ranger, hunter, and Indian scout. He is now thirty-eight years old, and since he was thirteen the prairie has been his home. He stands six feet one inch in his moccasins, and is as handsome a specimen of a man as could be found.
We were prepared, on hearing of "Wild Bill's" presence in the camp, to see a person who might prove to be a coarse and illiterate bully. We were agreeably disappointed however.
He was dressed in fancy shirt and leathern leggings. He held himself straight, and had broad, compact shoulders, was large chested, with small waist, and well-formed muscular limbs.
A fine, handsome face, free from blemish, a light moustache, a thin pointed nose, bluish-grey eyes, with a calm look, a magnificent forehead, hair parted from the centre of the forehead, and hanging down behind the ears in wavy, silken curls, made up the most picturesque figure.
He is more inclined to be sociable than otherwise; is enthusiastic in his love for his country and Illinois, his native State; and is endowed with extraordinary power and agility, whose match in these respects it would be difficult to find.
Having left his home and native State when young, he is a thorough child of the prairie, and inured to fatigue. He has none of the swaggering gait, or the barbaric jargon ascribed to the pioneer by the Beadle penny-liners.
On the contrary, his language is as good as many a one that boasts "college laming." He seems naturally fitted to perform daring actions. He regards with the greatest contempt a man that could stoop low enough to perform "a mean action." He is generous, even to extravagance. He formerly belonged to the 8th Missouri Cavalry.
The following dialogue took place between us; "I say, Mr. Hickok, how many white men have you killed to your certain knowledge?"
After a little deliberation, he replied, "I suppose I have killed considerably over a hundred."
"What made you kill all those men? Did you kill them without cause or provocation?"
"No, by heaven I never killed one man without good cause."
"How old were you when you killed the first white man, and for what cause?"
"I was twenty-eight years old when I killed the first white man, and if ever a man deserved lolling he did. He was a gambler and counterfeiter, and I was then in an hotel in Leavenworth City, and seeing some loose characters around, I ordered a room, and as I had some money about me, I thought I would retire to it.
I had lain some thirty minutes on the bed when I heard men at my door. I pulled out my revolver and bowie knife, and held them ready, but half concealed, and pretended to be asleep. The door was opened, and five men entered the room. They whispered together, and one said, "Let us kill the son of a bitch; I'll bet he has got money."
"Gentlemen," said he, "that was a time - an awful time. I kept perfectly still until just as the knife touched my breast; I sprang aside and buried mine in his heart, and then used my revolver on the others right and left.
One was killed, and another was wounded; and then, gentlemen, I dashed through the room and rushed to the fort, where I procured a lot of soldiers, and returning to the hotel, captured the whole gang of them, fifteen in all.
We searched the cellar, and found eleven bodies buried in it - the remains of those who had been murdered by those villains."
Turning to us, he asked: "Would you not have done the same? That was the first man I killed, and I never was sorry for that yet."
(end quote)
Henry M. Stanley, St. Louis Missouri Democrat (11th May, 1867)
"Wild Bill," who is an inveterate hater of the Indians, was chased by six Indians lately, and had quite a little adventure with them. It is his custom to be always armed with a brace of ivory-handled revolvers, with which weapons he is remarkably dexterous; but when bound on a long and lonely ride across the plains, he goes armed to the teeth.
He was on one of these lonely missions, due to his profession as scout, when he was seen by a group of the red men, who immediately gave chase.
They soon discovered that they were pursuing one of the most famous men of the prairie, and commenced to retrace their steps, but two of them were shot, after which Wild Bill was left to ride on his way.
The little adventure is verified by a scout named Thomas Kincaid.
(end quote)
Kansas Daily Commonwealth (11th May, 1873)
It is disgusting to see the eastern papers crowding in everything they can get hold of about so-called "Wild Bill."
If they only knew the real character of the men they so want to worship, we doubt if their names would ever appear again. "Wild Bill," or Bill Hickok, is nothing more than a drunken, reckless, murderous coward, who is treated with contempt by true border men, and who should have been hung years ago for the murder of innocent men.
The shooting of the "old teamster" in the back for a small provocation, while crossing the plains in 1859, is one fact that Harpers correspondent failed to mention.
And being booted out of a Leavenworth saloon by a boy bar tender is another; and we might name many other similar examples of his bravery.
In one or two instances he did the U. S. government good service, but his shameful and cowardly conduct more than overbalances the good.
(end quote)
Tom Correa |
perlite is a natural and ecological building material.
Perlite is characterized by high heat insulation properties.
Perlite use in housing, allows for building and cooling up to 60% energy-saving.
Building constructions in the process of construction using perlite are simpler, lightened, the center of the gravity of the building is falling down, which increases the seismic sustainability of the building.
Perlite use in construction process significantly reduces construction costs.
The house or house constructed perlite creates the best ecological housing environment.
Perlite container materials – perlite block, salte perlite and others have high fire resistance.
Perlite is not old, does not break down over time, it can not affect any of the different pests of animal and plant origin.
For example: 20 cm Perlite wall is equivalent to a 60 cm pedestal block wall with its insulation, sound and nest isolation properties. Perlite and cooled walls have long retained the room’s internal temperature (temperature loss of 24 hours in 18% to 24 hours, 0.11 – 0.14 W / m ° C.) Perlite, sand and cement mixture (3: 1: 1 ) Is effective at external facial lashes, does not carry the nest and moisture.The high voltage indicator (200-2000 Hz frequency indicator is 0-35-0.65 dB), and the perlite block eliminates the noise and prevents the sound waves in the wall.
Remember, Perlit is a natural mineral that is ecologically clean, cheap, and in the construction and repair process, thanks to its small weight and lightness, is easy and cheap. Perlite light thermal insulation construction block (20 “) weight 7-8 kg, strength of 25-35kg / cm2 on the compression of the concrete volume in dry condition 550-750 kg / m3.
Perlitonet used for placing the building will be exploited for many years because it has high frost resistance, biomass, stability, corrosion, high temperatures, temperature changes and environmental adverse impacts.
Residential buildings constructed from this material are not burnt in the bricks or blocks built in blocks and are not in the case of fire. As a result of the experiments, it was found that 1 cm perlitetone wall in 2 hours can withstand the direct impact of fire flame without the structure.Its melting temperature is + 1260 ° C, so the block is not burning and prevents fire spread. It can be used to isolate metal constructs and to build fire and crash gear and stairs.
The house built by him because of the properties of the permeability of the pelletbone is “breathed” as a wooden structure. This feature “breathe”, distinguishes it from other traditional building materials. It works intensively to steam the steam outside the inside of the building, making it even more effective. |
The light of Q1634+706 has taken 8.6 billion years to reach Earth, a discrepancy attributable to the expansion of the universe.[4]. The film also reveals that Draco is actually a dragon heaven, where dragons go when their time in this world is complete, and if they have upheld the oath of an ancient dragon to guard mankind, with dragons otherwise fading into nothing upon their deaths. And More…, Episode 691: Interview: Seth Shostak from the SETI Institute, Episode 690: The Opposition of Mars with Ralph Crewe, Episode 689: Open Space 90: Could We Drill for Life on Mars? In 2007, a planet comparable in size to Jupiter was discovered around Alsafi (Sigma Draconis). These two components are designated Athebyne (Eta Draconis A and B), are at least 140 AUs apart and have an orbital period of least 1000 years. Eta Draconis (the proper name is Athebyne[3]) is a double star with a yellow-hued primary of magnitude 2.8 and a white-hued secondary of magnitude 8.2 located south of the primary. [8], Sometimes, Draco is represented as the Titan son of Gaia, Typhon.[8]. 00:19:20 Why is the Moon the same visual size as the Sun? There are several faint galaxies in Draco, one of which is the lenticular galaxy NGC 5866 (sometimes considered to be Messier Object 102) that bears its name to a small group that also includes the spiral galaxies NGC 5879 and NGC 5907. To the ancient Greeks, Draco was associated with Ladon, the mythical dragon who guarded the golden apples of Hesperides. The constellation Draco from Uranographia by Johannes Hevelius, 1690, via Wikimedia. The name Draco literally means “Dragon” (translated from Latin). Constellation Draco Astrology. This star, along with Beta (Rastaban), Epsilon, and Nu Draconis, forms the dragon’s head. The … One such massive cluster is Abell 2218, located at a distance of 3 billion light-years (redshift 0.171). Draco is Latin for dragon. [1], Draco is home to several double stars and binary stars. To find Boötes, first locate the Big Dipper in the northern part of the sky. 00:00:00 Start Despite being one of the largest constellations it is not particularly noticable in the night sky due to the dimness of most of its stars. See no ads on this site, see our videos early, special bonus material, and much more. [1] Draco is circumpolar (that is, never setting), and can be seen all year from northern latitudes. 00:03:00 Thoughts on Bridenstine leaving NASA? The nearby tripod of stars, composed of Upsilon, Tau, and Sigma Draconis, represented the nomads who owned the camels and were camped nearby. A dragon in Greek mythology that may have inspired the constellation's name is Ladon, the dragon who guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides. Draco spans over 250 degrees of the Zodiac from the Signs of Aries to Sagittarius, and contains 18 named fixed stars. Nu Draconis is a similar binary star with two white components, 100 light-years from Earth. Along with Edasich (iota Draconis), which is to the right and down from the constellation’s alpha star, Thuban marks the boundary between the dragon/serpent’s tail and its coiled body. It is said that this dragon protected Hesperides’ garden, which had a tree with golden apples. The two are separated by 1.2 arcseconds at their maximum and have an orbital period of 420 years. As part of Hercules’ Twelve Labors, the dragon is killed while protecting the golden apples from Hercules. [4] 39 Draconis is a triple star 188 light-years from Earth, divisible in small amateur telescopes. 00:48:00 Give Venus an artificial satellite? Many prominent stars and Deep Sky Objects are associated with the Draco constellation. Named for its appearance, which features a "tail" of stars 280,000 light-years long, the Tadpole Galaxy is at a distance of 420 million light-years (redshift 0.0314). The dragon was one of the Gigantes, who battled the Olympic gods for ten years. It is also related to IC 4677, a nebula that appears as a bar 1.8 arcminutes to the west of the Cat's Eye nebula. The Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall, possibly the largest known structure in the universe, covers a part of the southern region of Draco. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. [2] Due to the effects of precession, it will again be the pole star around the year AD 21000. 00:55:00 Is Mercury a good source of metals? A personalized star registration in the Online Star Register is widely considered one of the most original, emotional, and personal gifts you can give to your partner, a friend, family member, or coworker. Its parent is a previously unknown long-period comet. It can be seen at latitudes between +90° and -15° and is best visible at 9 p.m. during the month of July. Next up is Rastaban (Beta Draconis), a yellow giant star located 362 light-years from Earth. The traditional name of Alpha Draconis, Thuban, means "head of the serpent". Gamma Draconis). It's part of the Ursa Major constellation family. The constellation of Hercules is depicted near Draco. Draco is best seen in July (from latitudes +90° to -15°). The brightest star in the constellation is gamma Draconis or Eltanin ("the serpent"), an orange giant 148 light-years … For many observers in the northern hemisphere, Draco never sets below the horizon. In long-term exposures, IC 4677 appears as a portion of a ring surrounding the planetary nebula.[4]. Psi Draconis (the proper name is Dziban[3]) is a binary star divisible in binoculars and small amateur telescopes, 72 light-years from Earth. Primordial Black Holes, Episode 687: Open Space 89: Scott Gaudi and the HabEx Mission, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This treatise, known as the Almagest, would be used by medieval European and Islamic scholars for over a thousand years to come, effectively becoming astrological and astronomical canon until the early Modern Age. For more information, check out the IAUs list of Constellations, and the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space page on Canes Venatici and Constellation Families. The February Eta Draconids is a meteor shower that was discovered on February 4, 2011. The Alrakis system is 88 light-years from Earth. The star’s name means “the hyenas” in Arabic and is also sometimes called Nodus III (the Third Knot), referring to a loop in Draco’s tail. According to other accounts, however, it is either the dragon thrown by the giants at … Here is What Are The Constellations?, What Is The Zodiac?, and Zodiac Signs And Their Dates. 00:25:48 Any hard sci-fi 00:51:00 What is the Great Attractor? 00:53:16 Live underground on Venus? Then there is Thuban (alpha Draconis), a double star system consisting of a blue-white giant star and a companion (either a red or white dwarf) located about 309 light-years from Earth. Join our 836 patrons! Draco by Johannes Hevelius - Adaptation by Online Star Register ©. One of deep-sky objects in Draco is the Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543), a planetary nebula approximately 3,000 light-years away that was discovered by English astronomer William Herschel in 1786. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Its name is Latin for dragon. In 2004, this cluster was used as a gravitational lens to locate the most distant object ever observed in the Universe – a galaxy that formed just 750 million years after the Big Bang. The main character in the 1996 film Dragonheart gets his name from this constellation. In this week's live QA, I talk about Elon Musk's hope of establishing a free Mars, the future of gravitational wave detectors, and what do I think about trying to live in other places in the Solar System? The second brightest star is Aldibain (Eta Draconis), a binary system composed of a yellow giant star and a yellow subdwarf located approximately 92.1 light years distant from Earth. In the course of this battle, Draco was killed by the goddess Minerva who then cast him into the sky. [6], Q1634+706 is a quasar that holds the distinction of being the most distant object usually visible in an amateur telescope. The complex shape of this nebula is due to the gravitational interactions between the multiple star system at its center. Join us at You can download the app for FREE in the AppStore or the Play Store! [9] In some mythology, Draco had one hundred magnificent heads, guarded the golden apple tree, and was put in the sky as a constellation for protecting the apples with valor. In traditional Arabic astronomy, Draco is not depicted as a dragon. 16 Draconis and 17 Draconis are part of a triple star 400 light-years from Earth, divisible in medium-sized amateur telescopes. As of 2012, the two components are approaching their maximum separation.
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10 Fascinating Facts About Koalas
Keen to know some interesting facts about koalas? Stay and read till the end and all your queries would be answered.
Koalas or the widely known koala bears are marsupials native to Australia. Koalas are mostly found in eucalyptus forests in Australia. The scientifical name given to them is Phascolarctos cinereus. As they belong to the phascolarctidae family.
There are many amazing facts about koalas. Some of the facts about koalas are mentioned below for your knowledge. Koalas have well-developed senses and inborn senses regarding things around them. Koalas aren’t bears or kangaroos.
They are herbivorous marsupial mammals while bears are omnivorous placental mammals. They are found in coastal areas of the mainland southeastern and eastern Australia, inhabiting mostly Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.
Facts about koalas
Facts about koalas//Photo by Valeriia Miller on Unsplash.Copyright 2022
These cute, baby animals are easily recognized by their tailless body, round fluffy body, big black button nose, and big furry ears. Mostly seen in their grey furs, but in reality, ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. The koala weighs between 4-15 kg (9-33 lb). The male koala is referred to as a ‘buck’ and a female koala is known as a ‘doe’.
Northern Koalas are typically smaller and lighter in color than their fellow species in the south. They are asocial animals and usually like to stay among their family itself.
More interesting facts about Koalas are that their habitat is mostly located in Eucalyptus trees. The koalas’ diet consists of eucalyptus leaf. As the eucalyptus leaves have the perfect amount of nutritional and caloric content for these sedentary lifestyle animals.
Now let’s find out some interesting facts about koalas. These animals are the cutest, most silly, entertaining, and most loved animals you would find in the world.
1. Cute paws of koalas
Koalas have 5 fingers on each front paw, two of which are opposed to the others, much like us humans their thumbs are also able to move differently from the fingers. This helps them have a good grip on the trees, as that is their natural habitat. They need to grip firmly onto the branches and grip their food. Their hind paws’ second and third digits are fused to form a grooming claw.
One more interesting koala fact is that koalas have fingerprints. They are the only animals other than anthropoids that have them. Each one of them has a unique fingerprint and also has a unique pattern to them. They also have unique patterns or designs on their noses, which wildlife biologists usually use to identify and track them.
They have opposable thumbs, unlike most mammals. They have two opposable thumbs. This helps them have a better gripping ability. Their paws are bear-like but they mostly are designed for climbing trees than attacking other koalas or animals.
Koalas have strong arms, powerful legs, and sharp claws needed for climbing trees. As koalas live on trees most of the time. However, they do climb down and walk on the ground to move between different trees.
As their paws are made to help them climb trees they’re not habituated to walking on the ground. Therefore, they walk slowly on the ground as they are poorly adapted to walking on the ground. But a disturbed koala can move at a speed of 30km per hour.
Cute paws
Cute paws//Photo by Quentin Grignet on Unsplash.Copyright 2022
2. Baby koalas are the cutest
Yes, it is a fact that baby koalas are the cutest. Baby koalas stay in their mother’s pouch for most of their infancy stage. Even after seven months of its birth the baby koala rides on its mother’s back and lives in its mother’s pouch for food, survival, and for sleeping.
Baby koala mostly stays with their families as they’re very attached to their family, especially their mothers and offsprings. Baby koala has a habit of hugging their caregivers when they fall or get hurt.
Baby koalas aren’t huge in size when they’re born. They’re just the size of our palms and need to be taken care of fr their moms. Therefore they spend their early childhood in the pockets of their moms Or being playful around them.
An adult koala eats between 200 to 500 grams of eucalyptus leaves each day. Baby koalas are known as joeys- in fact, all baby marsupials are called joeys- sugar glider joeys, etc. these baby koalas stay in their mothers’ pouch for almost six to seven months of their lives.
They need the physical warmth of someone to reassure them. As they have been sheltered their whole life, they aren’t comfortable with new people. They crave familiarity.
Cute baby koala
Cute baby koala//Photo by Roland Kay-Smith on Unsplash.Copyright 2022
3. Koalas being fussy eaters—Eucalyptus trees
Koalas are very fussy eaters. They mostly depend on eucalyptus trees’ leaves. It is a splendid fact as eucalyptus leaf is poisonous to most animals. Koalas have a special fiber digesting organ, called caecum, which helps them to detoxify the chemicals in the leaves.
The diet of koalas is mostly eucalyptus leaf, lophostemon, melaleuca, and corymbia species (such as brush box, paperbark, and bloodwood trees).
But even they can be picky eaters as koalas eat less than 50 eucalypt species out of the 700 known. They would even often choose the leaves at the top of the tallest trees that contain more liquid and nutrients.
Therefore the koala habitat needs to be taken under due consideration as they are the most important for the koala bears to survive. Individual koalas usually have one to three specific eucalyptus species that they will eat regularly, and preserve others for special occasions or occasional snacks or resting spots.
Facts about koalas
Facts about koalas//Photo by Laura Barry on Unsplash.Copyright 2022
4. Koalas don’t drink much water
The word koala is thought to be meant “no drink” or something which means to not drink. This was originated by Aboriginal people, who are believed to coexist with the koala bear for thousands of years.
And it is also scientifically proven that koalas don’t need to drink much water as their diet already contains juicy eucalyptus leaves. Koalas have been seen drinking water from creeks and water holes in captivity, and wild koalas may also come and accept water from humans during drought or after a forest fire.
But such behavior has been considered unusual and mostly means that the koala is disease-stricken or stressed. Some reports state that koalas in the wild drink from waterholes in summer when the temperature rises above 40 degrees celsius.
Drinking from free-standing water or licking trees may be considered natural behavior. The lack of natural water may be detrimental to the koala populations as it would affect their abilities to access free water.
Healthy Koala
Healthy koala//Photo by Benjamin Sow on Unsplash.Copyright 2022
5. Koalas sleep a lot
Koalas are capable of sleeping up to 20 hours a day. It is mostly due to their low-energy diet of Eucalyptus leaves. They also need an intense amount of energy to break down the toxic oils present in the eucalyptus leaves.
Koalas are mostly nocturnal animals and are hence most active at night and around dusk and dawn. They may be seen moving in the day as well if the conditions around them aren’t satisfactory.
They also do this to conserve energy. They use all the extra time for digesting their food and dozing off. There are common-known facts about koalas that due to their well-known features and their ability to sleep for as long as 20 hours a day, koalas are considered a symbol of Australia worldwide. Don’t you too wish to be a koala for some time?
Sleepy koala
Sleepy koala//Photo by David Clode on Unsplash.Copyright 2022
6. Koalas’ living habits
Each Koala’s home is made up of several trees and is hence called “Home Trees”. They frequently visit these same trees regularly. The area which is covered by these trees is called the Koala’s Home Range.
Koalas are reclusive animals living within a network of overlapping home ranges, which allows contact between the male and female koalas for mating. Males will try and establish dominance over the home ranges of several female koalas during the mating season.
This home range varies from southern and central Queensland varying in size from 1km to 135 km, depending on the koala population and the abundance of suitable eucalyptus or food trees around.
These home ranges are a safe place for koalas. But sometimes the male koalas may fight other koalas to establish their rule.
The Koalas have already established their territory and don’t let anyone enter it without putting up a good fight. Therefore one should be careful while crossing paths with the koalas.
Habitat of koalas
Habitat of koalas//Photo by Ellicia on Unsplash.Copyright 2022
7. Koalas smell like eucalyptus leaf
Some facts about koalas are that they mostly smell like eucalyptus leaves. More mature males tend to have a muskier, stronger smell, while females and adolescent males give off a slight eucalyptus smell. It in turn works as a natural insect repellent.
A mature male has a dark scent gland in the center of his white chest which excludes a dark, sticky substance. He then rubs this substance on the trees to mark his territory and let other koalas about the same.
These marsupials have a unique scent according to their age, size, habitat, etc.
8. Koalas have lush butts
As koalas stay on the branches of the trees they would have very sore bottoms. That’s why they have strong cartilage at the end of their curved spine. Which in turn helps them to be comfortable in their habitat.
Due to this extra cushion, they can happily make the eucalyptus forest their home range. This also helps them when they tumble down or fall from the trees while playing around or while climbing down.
These extra lush butts help them cushion their fall and makes sure that they aren’t hurt severely.
Koalas with lush butts
Koalas with lush butts//Photo by Quentin Grignet on Unsplash.Copyright 2022
9. Koala habitats have been decreasing
Most koalas have nowhere to go when their natural habitat is being destroyed by deforestation and by mindless cutting of trees and forests. Only in the last two to three years, tree-cutting has tripled in South Australia and Western Australia.
With the constant decline in the number of trees, even the koala numbers have been decreased. Koalas now spend more time on the grounds in search of food and shelter. And in turn, being victims of car accidents, being attacked by other animals, and getting ill due to stress-induced diseases like chlamydia.
Almost 80% of their natural habitat has been demolished due to human homes, bushfires, and droughts. Australia has recently had one of the highest land clearing rates in the world. These all have made it difficult for the Koalas to reproduce or to live a longer life.
10. Koalas are slowly diminishing at an alarming rate
Koalas have been decreasing ever since the demolishing of forests started in early 2010. Even though they are under the government protection act, they still live on privately owned lands. And due to Australia’s massive bushfires had further dwindled the numbers. Nearly 3 billion animals found in the world perished.
The number of koalas dying due to car accidents and being attacked by other animals, especially dogs has increased in recent years. The Australian Koala Foundation establishes that nearly 4000 koalas die due to this.
The increase of diseases in koalas is also a major concern. As the koalas are lonely animals from the start they can’t fathom the thought of being separated from their family. They like to stay with their closest relative. There are less than 100,000 koalas alive today.
The national geographic experts should look into this matter and ensure that appropriate steps are taken and laws are made for the same. The conservation status should be monitored regularly.
The good news is that they can be restored if taken care of properly. The Australian government should look into this matter seriously and take the necessary steps to save them.
In February 2022, the koalas are officially listed as endangered species in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, and Queensland koalas. Koala populations have been decreasing since early 2010. Even koala habitat loss has come across as being a big concern for the Australian government.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature now lists koalas as a vulnerable species. The most known cause of their near extinction is habitat destruction caused by agriculture, urbanization, droughts, and recent bushfires, some due to climate change.
There are many steps that can be taken to save koalas from being added to extinct animals. We can still bring back the population of koalas to a good number.
Linked below is another one of our articles please make sure to have a read of that as well.
20 Incredible Things To Do In Sunshine Coast—You Should Not Miss
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Not merely do various cell types exhibit distinct modes of migrat
Not simply do distinct cell types exhibit distinctive modes of migration, but the very same cell may also modify the way it migrates at distinct developmental stages . These observations recommend that the variety of migratory conduct is often a marker of differentiation, but its significance is poorly understood. Endodermal cells while in the early zebrafish embryo exhibit many modes of migration and consequently constitute an ideal model for investigating how diverse migratory behaviors are regulated. Just just before gastrulation, large amounts of Nodal signaling at the blastoderm margin induce endoderm specification . As gastrulation begins, endodermal cells undergo ingression and migrate involving the yolk and epiblast. At first, cells migrate inside a random walk pattern, leading to the dispersal of endodermal cells across the yolk surface in the discontinuous salt and pepper pattern .
By epiboly, endodermal cells commence a second phase of migration characterized by convergent movements toward the embryonic axis. Lastly, these person migratory cells must adhere together to in the end kind the epithelial lining from the gastrointestinal tract. These progressive modifications in migration conduct are most likely subject to tight regulation. Nevertheless, while our site significantly deliver the results has become accomplished to understand how developmental signaling molecules induce differential gene expression through endoderm differentiation and patterning , the downstream cellular responses, like migration, remain for being explored. Cell migration will involve the complex rearrangement in the actin cytoskeleton, which is coordinated by many actin regulatory proteins .
The Rho household of compact GTPases, including RhoA, Rac, and Cdc, perform a variety of effectively characterized roles in regulating actin dynamics during cell migration. As an example, Cdc and Rac advertise actin polymerization to drive membrane protrusion in the major edge , whereas Fesoterodine RhoA induces actomyosin contraction, which offers the force important for cell translocation . Nearly all scientific studies investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying these actin dynamics have largely implemented cells cultured on D or D substrates. Then again, it will be known that cell migration can differ markedly in vivo , but, until finally a short while ago, it’s been difficult to examine subcellular actin dynamics within residing organisms. In this examine, we implemented a novel transgenic zebrafish line in which F actin is fluorescently labeled particularly in endodermal cells.
Utilizing this line, we have been capable to track actin dynamics and cell motility at large resolution inside the establishing zebrafish embryo. We located that Nodal signaling can impact actin stability and retrograde flow in endodermal cells, which correlated with Nodal dependent changes in cell migration.
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Why It’s Important to Vote
Nicole Mountford
Around this time of year is when you see commercials start to go up about who to vote for and which candidate is more qualified than the other to not only help out the state and the people, but also the country. Even celebrities on social media are telling people to go vote and get out there to state their voice. However, do we really need to be told to go out there and vote or should we already know to go do it? Many people know to go vote but do not actually go and participate in it. Voting is a constitutional right and privilege that us as Americans have so let’s not waste it. Here are a few reminders of why voting, no matter who you vote for, is important:
First off, it is important for us college students and young adults to vote because the millennial generation accounts for one-third of the electorate. Many people think, “Oh we don’t have as large an impact as the older generation because there are so many more of them in comparison to us.” However, people our age really do make up a decent amount of the electorate. In 2012, less than fifty percent of eligible young voters ages 18 to 29 cast a vote, and overall nineteen percent of all votes cast in 2012 came from young voters. People at our age are more likely to support issues such as legalizing same-sex marriages, supporting a pathway to citizenship for immigrants and legalizing abortion than any other age demographics. No matter what you believe or support, our age group is the change and the future and we can make it what we want. Voting is one of the major ways we can influence the government and the “higher ups” of this country. Voting also keeps the power in the citizens hands’ rather than the government having the only say in everything we do. If we stop voting, we are not using our power as citizens.
In addition, you may think that since you are one person, you can’t have a big impact. I am here to tell you that even though you may be just one person and I am just one person, we can make a gigantic difference. For example, there have been several cases in United States history where races have been decided by one or two votes in the end. In 2008, an Alaskan congressional race was decided by a single vote out of 10,035 cast. Out of over 10,000 people one person’s vote decided the race and proves that every vote does matter. Overall, voting is important because it allows citizens to say their opinions on a variety of issues. It also allows citizens to cast their vote for a political leader who they think will impact the country in the best way.
Lastly, there are thousands of individuals who have ability to vote yet do not. Let’s be the generation that changes this and gets more of the power back into our own hands. |
1. The haemolymph of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, has been analysed for Na+, K+ and Ca2+ ions in different experimental conditions.
2. The ionic content of the haemolymph is maintained constant after the first larval instar. It is characterized by a rather high K+ level and a particularly large variability which could be related either to the nature of the diet (lettuce) or to numerous alterations of the blood and tissues in relation to the moulting cycle.
3. The regulation of this ionic content when the animal is given different diets is particularly effective. Starvation results in a decrease in the mean ionic concentration in the blood, this decrease following a pronounced increase of the Na+ and K+ levels when starvation is associated with dehydration. The blood K+ level can be raised artificially with high K+ diets (lettuce leaves or high K+ saline) but is then very variable. These results are discussed in terms of absorption, excretion and storage mechanisms.
4. The analysis of blood samples collected successively from the dorsal thorax of different individuals shows that, when the animals are fed normally, the ionic composition varies widely, showing that in these conditions the haemolymph is not homogenous.
5. Serial measurements of blood ions in different regions of the animal show unequal distribution of Na+, Ka+ and Ca+. This result is discussed in view of the very special circulatory system of insects when compared with that of vertebrates.
6. The overall picture of insect blood which can be drawn from these experiments is that the complexity of the regulatory system together with the fact that the circulatory system is open and lacunous allows relatively wide variations in the ionic concentration to occur on both sides of a genetically fixed mean. This particular feature must be taken into account when one considers the physiological role of blood ions in mechanisms such as excitation, conduction or muscular contraction.
This content is only available via PDF. |
To be strictly silent about Christ is not very evangelistic. Why, then, does Jesus instruct his disciples to keep quiet regarding his identity? The disciples will eventually be Christ’s witnesses to the whole world, but they have not yet fully witnessed Christ, so they don’t understand that he must die....
Jesus, I want to stand with Peter and your holy church today and always. Amen.
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Leccionario Semanal
August 17–23, 2020
Resumen de la Escritura
Genesis now introduces a painful turn in the story of God’s people. The Israelites are forced into slavery; yet amid this dark time, a baby boy, Moses, is born. God has already begun the story of their deliverance. The psalmist recognizes that the Israelites would be overwhelmed and swept away without the help of the Maker of heaven and earth. Paul gives the Romans two specific instructions: First, they should be changed so that they follow God’s ways, not the world’s. Second, they must understand that they all need one another. Each child of God has a part to play in the overall body of Christ. In a famous passage in Matthew, Peter makes the basic Christian confession: Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God.
Preguntas para la reflexión
Read Exodus 1:8–2:10. How can you serve in a priestly role?
Read Psalm 124. Reflect on the many ways God has blessed you and your community. Consider writing your own song of ascent.
Read Romans 12:1-8. What part of yourself are you holding back from God? How can you bring your whole self to your faith?
Read Matthew 16:13-20. Why do you think it is important to fully understand Christ’s identity before witnessing to Christ’s mission?
Respond by posting a prayer.
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See also |
Deoxyribonucleic acid that makes up the genetic material of algae.
A genus of GREEN ALGAE in the family Ulvaceae. Commonly know as sea lettuces, they grow attached to rocks and KELP in marine and estuarine waters.
Free-floating minute organisms that are photosynthetic. The term is non-taxonomic and refers to a lifestyle (energy utilization and motility), rather than a particular type of organism. Most, but not all, are unicellular algae. Important groups include DIATOMS; DINOFLAGELLATES; CYANOBACTERIA; CHLOROPHYTA; HAPTOPHYTA; CRYPTOMONADS; and silicoflagellates.
A phylum of photosynthetic EUKARYOTA bearing double membrane-bound plastids containing chlorophyll a and b. They comprise the classical green algae, and represent over 7000 species that live in a variety of primarily aquatic habitats. Only about ten percent are marine species, most live in freshwater.
Any of a group of plants formed by a symbiotic combination of a fungus with an algae or CYANOBACTERIA, and sometimes both. The fungal component makes up the bulk of the lichen and forms the basis for its name.
Higher plants that live primarily in terrestrial habitats, although some are secondarily aquatic. Most obtain their energy from PHOTOSYNTHESIS. They comprise the vascular and non-vascular plants.
A genus of crescent-shaped algae in the family Closteriaceae, order DESMIDIALES.
An order of mostly unicellular, microscopic, freshwater algae that have highly symmetrical and varied shapes.
A class of free-living freshwater flatworms of North America.
A family of gram-negative, gliding bacteria in the order Cytophagales, class Cytophagia. They are found in SOIL and SEA WATER.
A plant genus of the family ERICACEAE.
A plant genus of the family FABACEAE that is a source of SPARTEINE, lupanine and other lupin alkaloids.
A family of wingless, blood-sucking insects of the suborder HETEROPTERA, including the bedbugs and related forms. Cimex (BEDBUGS), Heamatosiphon, and Oeciacus are medically important genera. (From Dorland, 28th ed)
A genus of destructive parasitic OOMYCETES in the family Peronosporaceae, order Peronosporales, affecting numerous fruit, vegetable, and other crops. Differentiation of zoospores usually takes place in the sporangium and no vesicle is formed. It was previously considered a fungus.
Anomaly of the tooth, found chiefly in upper lateral incisors. It is characterized by invagination of the enamel at the incisal edge.
An artifical implanted device, usually in the form of an inflatable silicone cuff, inserted in or around the bladder neck in the surgical treatment of urinary incontinence caused by sphincter weakness. Often it is placed around the bulbous urethra in adult males. The artificial urinary sphincter is considered an alternative to urinary diversion.
A form species of spore-producing CYANOBACTERIA, in the family Nostocaceae, order Nostocales. It is an important source of fixed NITROGEN in nutrient-depleted soils. When wet, it appears as a jelly-like mass.
A genus of intestinal nematode worms which includes the pinworm or threadworm Enterobius vermicularis.
Infection with nematodes of the genus ENTEROBIUS; E. vermicularis, the pinworm of man, causes a crawling sensation and pruritus. This condition results in scratching the area, occasionally causing scarification.
A plant genus of the family APIACEAE. The roots are used as food.
A non-taxonomic term for unicellular microscopic algae which are found in both freshwater and marine environments. Some authors consider DIATOMS; CYANOBACTERIA; HAPTOPHYTA; and DINOFLAGELLATES as part of microalgae, even though they are not algae.
Nonmotile unicellular green algae potentially valuable as a source of high-grade protein and B-complex vitamins.
Devices for generating biological products that use light as the energy source. They are used for controlled BIOMASS production such as growing cyanobacteria, mosses, or algae.
A family of DNA plant viruses that infect eukaryotic algae.
The outer layer of the woody parts of plants. |
Lagertha: Viking Shieldmaiden
Lagertha (also spelt Lathgertha or Ladgerda) is a legendary Viking shieldmaiden known from Saxo Grammaticus’ early 13th-century CE Gesta Danorum. In this work, written in Latin and concerning Danish history, she is the first wife of Ragnar Lothbrok, a legendary Viking king said to have lived during the 9th century CE. Contrasting with the prominent role Lagertha plays in the ongoing Vikings TV series, where she is portrayed by Katheryn Winnick, the Gesta Danorum is the only historical source that even mentions her and ties her in with the more broadly-known Ragnar mythos, making her more of a footnote within his legend rather than a core element. She makes for a bold footnote, though, and an interesting character in her own right; brave and skilled, she is twice responsible for ensuring victory for Ragnar in battle. Although classical concepts of Amazons underlie Saxo’s warrior women, his stories are rooted in the Old Norse traditions known from medieval Icelandic literature. Specifically, Lagertha herself may have been inspired by the Norse goddess Thorgerd, local to Hálogaland, Norway.
Saxo Grammaticus sets the stage for Ragnar and Lagertha’s meeting by describing how the Swedish King Frø has slain Siward, King of the Norwegians, who was Ragnar’s grandfather, and has publically humiliated Siward’s female family members by putting them in a brothel. Ragnar, having just succeeded his father Siward Ring (Sigurd Hring or Ring in other Ragnar stories) to the throne of Jutland in Denmark, hears of this and is obviously not pleased. Coming to Norway with vengeance on his mind, Ragnar is met at his camp by some of the women who had been scorned, dressed up in male attire and ready to join him to hunt down the Swedish king. In the ensuing successful battle, it is one maiden in particular who stands out to Ragnar; he even goes so far as to attribute the victory to her might alone.
Lagertha’s origins aside, it is clear that in Saxo’s work she fulfils a role not immediately expected of historical women of that time but instead of a more legendary proportion: that of the warrior woman. Despite present-day popular imagination running wild with the image of the ‘strong Viking woman’, when critically evaluated the archaeological and historical material is not at all sufficient to support their existence. The Old Norse sagas, however, are a different beast altogether and show strong women taking action, stoking up revenge, standing up to their husbands or even engaging in fights. The popular TV series Vikings, although creatively expanding Lagertha’s role massively from that which it is in the Gesta, does take her reputation as shieldmaiden on board and shows her as a strong fighter who can hold her own, even participating in the raid on Paris (in the show, inspired by the historical siege of Paris of 845 CE).
Within the other legends revolving around Ragnar Lothbrok, Lagertha does not stand alone as a shieldmaiden. Aslaug (Kráka) is another wife of Ragnar, and she eventually leads her sons into battle against the Swedes.
Famous Trolls of Mythology
Legend has it that a Christian can kill a troll if they say its name aloud, so as you can imagine troll names are some of the best-kept secrets in the world. Despite that, the names of some trolls from literature and Norse Mythology are known:
Grendel – the troll from Beowulf and one of the three main antagonists of the epic poem
Dunker – a troll mentioned in an old folktale from Fosen
Ymer – a jötunn and the largest creature from Norse Mythology
Dovregubben – the troll king in Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt
Hrungnir – a jötunn and the largest of its kind in Old Norse texts
Trym – king of the jötnar, reigned in Jötunheimr
Geirröd – another jötunn from Norse mythology, father to Gjálp and Greip
The Myth of Marie Laveau, Part I
“Marie Laveau was a negress of café au lait tint, handsome in face, commanding in figure, and of remarkable intellect and force of character. She masqueraded as a hairdresser, thus learning the secrets of many a proud old New Orleans family. In helping sweethearts to secret meetings and forwarding clandestine correspondences, she had no equal and cared not whether the men and women she aided were old in coquetry and vice or young and innocent.”
~ Richmond Daily Palladium, 1900
The Originals (2013-2018)
The Originals is the first spin-off from the supernatural drama The Vampire Diaries, and it further expands the universe by providing a rich background story to many of the characters first met in the parent series.
In particular, we learn more about Klaus Mikaelson and his family, the first vampires to ever exist.
Their story unfolds in the French Quarter of New Orleans, a neighborhood they built and once ruled over but has since been taken over by Klaus’ own protege, Marcel.
Klaus is determined to regain control, but must also fight to keep his daughter safe from external threats against his family and the entire supernatural world.
Aegir and Ran
In Norse mythology, Aegir and Ran are a married couple that lives under the sea. Ran is a sea goddess, and her husband Aegir is a jotünn, and together they have nine daughters who all are named after the waves of the sea.
Their names are bloody-hair (Blóðughadda), wave (Bylgja), foaming sea (Dröfn), pitching wave (Dúfa), the lifting one (Hefring), transparent wave (Himinglæva), welling wave (Hronn), cold wave (Kolga) and frothing wave (Uðr). They are sometimes referred to as the spirits of the waves or the nine billow maidens.
Ran whose name means robbery, loves to spend her day catching and dragging drowning sailors with her huge fishing net down into her realm on the bottom of the sea.
This is the same fishing net as the trickster Loki once borrowed because he wanted to capture the dwarf Andvari who had turned himself into a pike.
Aegir means “sea” in Old Norse, is not a sea god, but he is a jötunn. Even Though Aegir is a jötunn (giant) the couple has befriended the Aesir, they are actually very well-liked among them, and they are often invited to the feasts in Asgard.
Aegir and Ran are often the hosts of the feasts themselves, and they send out invitations to the Aesir to visit them in their great hall in their underwater realm. The Norse gods never decline an invitation, they love to come and visit and drink the beer that Aegir brews.
For you see, Aegir is very well-known for his astonishing beer throughout the nine realms. He might be using his magic as his secret ingredient when he is brewing the beer in his huge cauldron.
His immense knowledge in the art of magic is known among the Aesir, probably one of the reasons why Odin wants to be around him. Odin does not come to the feasts for the beer, he only likes wine, but he probably comes to learn some of Aegir’s magic.
Li Grande Zombi
Li Grande Zombi is the major serpent spirit of worship among New Orleans Voodooists. In New Orleans Voodoo, snakes are not seen as symbols of evil as in the story of Adam and Eve. Snakes are considered to be the holders of intuitive knowledge—knowing that which cannot be spoken. Women often dance with serpents to represent the spiritual balance between the genders. Voodoo rituals in New Orleans almost always include a snake dance to celebrate the link to the ancient knowledge. The origin of Li Grande Zombi can be traced to the serpent deity Nzambi from Whydah in Africa. According to the Bantu Creation story, Nzambi is the Creator God:
Nzambi exists in everything and controls the universe through his appointed Spirits. In the beginning only Nzambi existed. When he was ready to create, millions and millions of pieces of matter swirled around him counterclockwise until Ngombe was born. Ngombe is the universe, the planets, the stars and all physical matter. Nzambi then created movement, and the matter that he had created began to change and drift apart. So, he decided to create a being that could traverse the universe and mediate between matter and space. Nzambi focused on a fixed point and gave life to a being who was simultaneously man and woman, a manifestation of the nature of Nzambi, called Exú-Aluvaiá.
Sources: The Voodoo Hoodoo Spellbook
Hares As Familiars
According to “The Country Justice”, that was responsible for the legal aspect of witchcraft prosecutions in the New England colonies, owning a hare could be seen as a witch mark for hares were considered magical familiars.*
* Based upon European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic.
The Empusa is a shapeshifting creature of the night, though she also appears at midday. She is an eidolon, an illusory phantom, with an appetite for the flesh of her victims. All of which aligns well with the Titaness Hekate, who is sometimes the mother of Skylla, and often associated with ghosts and haunts.
The Empousa appears in The Frogs by Aristophanes and may have had a role in the Eleusinian Mysteries, which may stem from her association with Hekate. She can appear as a cow, mule, woman, or a dog. With the exception of the mule, Hekate can appear as any of those animals according to lore. In each of these roles, the Empousa is a fearsome creature who resides in the underworld, another connection to Hekate, who is sometimes known as the Queen of that realm. The Frogs puts Empousa in Hekate’s train, a creature bound to Hekate’s will.
Some scholars believe that Hekate and Empousa began as one, with the monstrous creature being an epithet for the Goddess. Yet, Empousa is also described as a vampire-like daimon who will devour her victim. Most surviving stories suggest that the Lamiai, including Empousa, were used as boogy-men, to scare children into following rules.
Hekate and Empousa share an underworldly nature, an association with the Dead, with the same figures of cow, woman, and dog, as well as both wearing bronze sandals, and being an, at times, fearful figure. It is no surprise that scholars believe that they, at the very least, have some common origin.
Who haunts the day and night,
Come forth from the Underworld,
You who attends the sacrifices for the Dead,
Stay your hand from those I love,
And be kind,
And many will be the offerings poured in your honor,
Oh Hekate-Empousa,
Bless us,
Phantasmal Goddess. |
5 common feline illnesses that need attention.
5 common feline illnesses that need attention.
As cat parents, we'd like to think we would notice when something’s not quite right about our four-legged friends. There are, however, some diseases that may go unnoticed or dismissed, leading to more serious health issues for our cats.
It’s important when sharing a home with a cat companion to keep an eye out for changes in his appetite, his bathroom habits, and his temperament, all of which can signal an underlying health problem that needs addressing.
Here are five common cat illnesses that can slip by undetected but are easily treatable:
1. Thyroid disease
Is your cat losing weight even though he seems to be eating like a bear? A cat with a voracious appetite, an unquenchable thirst, and an energy level that rivals the Energizer Bunny could be suffering from hyperthyroidism. This disease causes an increase in a cat’s thyroid hormones, resulting in an elevated heart rate, which can affect his vital organs.
To confirm a diagnosis, the vet will conduct blood tests and a physical exam. If kitty does have the disease, she could be treated with medications, surgery, radioactive-iodine therapy, and/or a special diet.
2. Urinary tract infection
Like humans, cats can also develop a urinary tract infection (UTI) that causes lethargy, vomiting, the inability to urinate, and other symptoms. Called Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD), this illness may be caused by bladder stones, bladder crystals, a blockage, or worse, cancer.
Cats suffering with a FLUTD will frequent the litter box to urinate but without success. If your cat appears to be squatting for a prolonged period of time but passes no urine or cries out when trying to eliminate, a trip to the vet is warranted. The vet will complete a physical exam, urinalysis, and other tests to confirm. Treatment includes dietary changes and antibiotics.
3. Tapeworms
If your cat is vomiting frequently, experiencing diarrhea or constipation, and losing weight despite having a normal appetite, she could have a worm infestation. If left untreated, tapeworms can cause anemia from loss of blood or a blockage.
You can look for evidence of worms by inspecting your cat’s feces or checking the area around the anus while your cat is resting. The worms look like grains of white rice. The good news is that a worm infestation is treatable. Your vet will likely prescribe a course of deworming therapy and recommend you wash or replace your cat’s bedding to eliminate the presence of residual eggs that can lead to reinfestation.
Tapeworms are caused when your cat swallows a flea carrying worm larvae. To prevent a recurrence, talk to your vet about flea control methods and treatments.
4. Upper respiratory infection
Sniffling, sneezing, and a disinterest in food are red flags signalling that your cat might have something similar to the human common cold. Either viral or bacterial, a feline upper respiratory infection mimics the symptoms of the common cold. Additional symptoms might include coughing, lethargy, and eye and nose discharge.
URIs typically resolve in a week to 21 days. More severe cases, however, need your vet’s attention. Antibiotics are the usual prescription for a URI. You can also help alleviate symptoms by using a humidifier in your home, clearing discharge from your cat’s eyes and nose, and offering wet food to stimulate your cat’s appetite.
Multi-cat households require a few more precautionary measures because URIs are highly contagious. The infected cat should be kept away from his feline buddies. Disinfect water and food bowls, bedding, and litter boxes as well.
5. Diabetes
Your cat’s excessive thirst, frequent urination, odd smelling breath, and inappropriate marking could be tell-tale signs he’s diabetic. Being male, older, or overweight all make diabetes a bit more likely.
It is one feline disorder that often goes undetected until your cat is pretty ill. Your vet will do a series of tests, including blood work and a urinalysis. Treatments may include oral medications, dietary changes, and insulin injections in more severe cases. If left untreated, your cat will go on to develop other illnesses that they could not survive.
Routine vet visits are critical in helping to detect illnesses that frequently impact cats. In between visits, it’s also important to keep a close eye on your kitty’s eating and drinking habits, his weight, and his litter box activity. If you suspect the slightest issue, make a trip to the vet. Waiting it out may lead to a sicker kitty, but the vet can solve many issues that frequently affect our feline friends. 🖤🐈 |
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Helmond Castle and Het Oude Huys
Helmond Castle and Het Oude Huys
Helmond Castle (Kasteel Helmond) was built nearly 700 years ago in the city of the same name. This square structure with circular corner towers is something straight out of a children’s drawing.
It is the largest moated castle in the Netherlands and is easily accessible by foot, car, and public transport thanks to its strategic location. Helmond Castle is an urban castle with a beautiful garden that is open to the general public. In addition to offering a place to relax, the garden also features several statues by various artists.
Together, Helmond Castle and the art gallery Kunsthal Helmond form Helmond Museum. Both museums are within walking distance of each other, separated by the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal in the city centre and close to shops, cultural hotspots, restaurants, and sports and leisure facilities.
The castle was most likely built between 1325 and 1350 by Lodewijk Berthout van Berlaer, the lord of Helmond. The square structure, the round corner towers, and the moat were planned from the beginning. The structure symbolized the family’s wealth and power and helped to create a strong and strategic line of defence along the north-eastern border of the Duchy of Brabant. The castle’s design was in keeping with the prevailing architectural aesthetic of the time. In addition, the stone structure considerably improved the living situation of the Berlaer family.
‘t Oude Huys
Before the Berlaer family moved into the castle, they lived in ‘t Oude Huys (‘the old house’), an outdated wooden castle with a keep located just a few hundred metres from the new castle in a moor in the Aa river valley. ‘t Oude Huys was a complex of wooden buildings. A wooden bridge led past a wooden palisade to the courtyard. This was the first castle in Helmond, built between 1170 and 1175. Maria of Brabant was the first resident of ‘t Oude Huys. She was the daughter of Duke Henry I of Brabant and briefly served as Holy Roman Empress following her marriage to Emperor Otto IV. After his death in 1218 she married Count William I of Holland. Maria was known as a deeply religious woman, a characteristic that sparked a local legend: Maria was hunting with her knights when her horse became stuck in a bog. She promised to open an abbey at this very spot if she were to be freed from her plight. She made good on her promise and established Binderen Abbey, the name inspired by her heartfelt cry when she was stuck in the swamp: ”k binder in’.
Castle families
The new castle took a long time to construct, with its current form only beginning to take shape towards the end of the seventeenth century. The castle, which originally served as a military defence, managed to stand the test of time despite a brief siege by Prince Maurits of Orange during the Eighty Years’ War and a devastating fire in 1549.
Helmond Castle was owned by four distinct noblemen over the years who lived there with their families and their servants: the Van Berlaers, the Van Cortenbachs, the Van Arbergs, and the Wesselman van Helmond family. Each family left their own unique mark on the castle. The Van Arberg family, for instance, was largely absent and left the castle’s management to a steward. The Wesselman van Helmond family was ennobled by King William II and did a lot for the Helmond economy, such as constructing the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal.
City hall
When the last members of the Wesselman van Helmond family sold the castle gardens to Vlisco and bequeathed the castle itself to the municipality of Helmond in 1923, it began serving a new purpose as a city hall. The ancient building was first thoroughly restored and renovated, during which a new entrance, a large staircase, several corridors, and huge windows were added. This was at the expense of the spacious courtyard, which is now much smaller.
I do!
Since becoming a city hall, the castle could be rented as a wedding venue. At first, castle weddings were purely a formality and the real wedding, complete with wedding dress, took place in the church. This began to change in the 1960s, when weddings were increasingly viewed as exuberant and personal celebrations. These days, Helmond Castle is a popular venue to host both the wedding ceremony and the reception. After all, the most beautiful day of your life should be celebrated in style!
Renting the castle
The ballrooms can be rented for special occasions, events, conferences, symposiums, and company parties. For more information about weddings and event rentals, dial +31 492 587716. |
Alien invasions: Could they happen, and could we survive?
July 30, JDN 2457600
It’s not actually the top-grossing film in the US right now (that would be The Secret Life of Pets), but Independence Day: Resurgence made a quite respectable gross of $343 million worldwide, giving it an ROI of 108% over its budget of $165 million. It speaks to something deep in our minds—and since most of the money came from outside the US, apparently not just Americans, though it is a deeply American film—about the fear, but perhaps also the excitement, of a possible alien invasion.
So, how likely are alien invasions anyway?
Well, first of all, how likely are aliens?
One of the great mysteries of astronomy is the Fermi Paradox: Everything we know about astronomy, biology, and probability tells us that there should be, somewhere out in the cosmos, a multitude of extraterrestrial species, and some of them should even be intelligent enough to form civilizations and invent technology. So why haven’t we found any clear evidence of any of them?
Indeed, the Fermi Paradox became even more baffling in just the last two years, as we found literally thousands of new extrasolar planets, many of them quite likely to be habitable. More extrasolar planets have been found since 2014 than in all previous years of human civilization. Perhaps this is less surprising when we remember that no extrasolar planets had ever been confirmed before 1992—but personally I think that just makes it this much more amazing that we are lucky enough to live in such a golden age of astronomy.
The Drake equation was supposed to tell us how probable it is that we should encounter an alien civilization, but the equation isn’t much use to us because so many of its terms are so wildly uncertain. Maybe we can pin down how many planets there are soon, but we still don’t know what proportion of planets can support life, what proportion of those actually have life, or above all what proportion of ecosystems ever manage to evolve a technological civilization or how long such a civilization is likely to last. All possibilities from “they’re everywhere but we just don’t notice or they actively hide from us” to “we are actually the only ones in the last million years” remain on the table.
But let’s suppose that aliens do exist, and indeed have technology sufficient to reach our solar system. Faster-than-light capability would certainly do it, but it isn’t strictly necessary; with long lifespans, cryonic hibernation, or relativistic propulsion aliens could reasonably expect to travel at least between nearby stars within their lifetimes. The Independence Day aliens appear to have FTL travel, but interestingly it makes the most sense if they do not have FTL communication—it took them 20 years to get the distress call because it was sent at lightspeed. (Or perhaps the ansible was damaged in the war, and they fell back to a lightspeed emergency system?) Otherwise I don’t quite get why it would take the Queen 20 years to deploy her personal battlecruiser after the expeditionary force she sent was destroyed—maybe she was just too busy elsewhere to bother with our backwater planet? What did she want from our planet again?
That brings me to my next point: Just what motivation would aliens have for attacking us? We often take it for granted that if aliens exist, and have the capability to attack us, they would do so. But that really doesn’t make much sense. Do they just enjoy bombarding primitive planets? I guess it’s possible they’re all sadistic psychopaths, but it seems like any civilization stable enough to invent interstellar travel has got to have some kind of ethical norms. Maybe they see us as savages or even animals, and are therefore willing to kill us—but that still means they need a reason.
Another idea, taken seriously in V and less so in Cowboys & Aliens, is that there is some sort of resource we have that they want, and they’re willing to kill us to get it. This is probably such a common trope because it has been a common part of human existence; we are very familiar with people killing other people in order to secure natural resources such as gold, spices, or oil. (Indeed, to some extent it continues to this day.)
But this actually doesn’t make a lot of sense on an interstellar scale. Certainly water (V) and gold (Cowboys & Aliens) are not things they would have even the slightest reason to try to claim from an inhabited planet, as comets are a better source of water and asteroids are a better source of gold. Indeed, almost nothing inorganic could really be cost-effective to obtain from an inhabited planet; far easier to just grab it from somewhere that won’t fight back, and may even have richer veins and lower gravity.
It’s possible they would want something organic—lumber or spices, I guess. But I’m not sure why they’d want those things, and it seems kind of baffling that they wouldn’t just trade if they really want them. I’m sure we’d gladly give up a great deal of oregano and white pine in exchange for nanotechnology and FTL. I guess I could see this happening because they assume we’re too stupid to be worth trading with, or they can’t establish reliable means of communication. But one of the reasons why globalization has succeeded where colonialism failed is that trade is a lot more efficient than theft, and I find it unlikely that aliens this advanced would have failed to learn that lesson.
Media that imagines they’d enslave us makes even less sense; slavery is wildly inefficient, and they probably have such ludicrously high productivity that they are already coping with a massive labor glut. (I suppose maybe they send off unemployed youths to go conquer random planets just to give them something to do with their time? Helps with overpopulation too.)
I actually thought Independence Day: Resurgence did a fairlygood job of finding a resource that is scarce enough to be worth fighting over while also not being something we would willingly trade. Spoiler alert, I suppose:
Molten cores. Now, I haven’t the foggiest what one does with molten planet cores that somehow justifies the expenditure of all that energy flying between solar systems and digging halfway through planets with gigantic plasma drills, but hey, maybe they are actually tremendously useful somehow. They certainly do contain huge amounts of energy, provided you can extract it efficiently. Moreover, they are scarce; of planets we know about, most of them do not have molten cores. Earth, Venus, and Mercury do, and we think Mars once did; but none of the gas giants do, and even if they did, it’s quite plausible that the Queen’s planet-cracker drill just can’t drill that far down. Venus sounds like a nightmare to drill, so really the only planet I’d expect them to extract before Earth would be Mercury. And maybe they figured they needed both cores to justify the trip, in which case it would make sense to hit the inhabited planet first so we don’t have time to react and prepare our defenses. (I can’t imagine we’d take giant alien ships showing up and draining Mercury’s core lying down.) I’m imagining the alien economist right now, working out the cost-benefit analysis of dealing with Venus’s superheated atmosphere and sulfuric acid clouds compared to the cost of winning a war against primitive indigenous apes with nuclear missiles: Well, doubling our shield capacity is cheaper than covering the whole ship in sufficient anticorrosive, so I guess we’ll go hit the ape planet. (They established in the first film that their shields can withstand direct hits from nukes—the aliens came prepared.)
So, maybe killing us for our resources isn’t completely out of the question, but it seems unlikely.
Another possibility is religious fanaticism: Every human culture has religion in some form, so why shouldn’t the aliens? And if they do, it’s likely radically different from anything we believe. If they become convinced that our beliefs are not simply a minor nuisance but an active threat to the holy purity of the galaxy, they could come to our system on a mission to convert or destroy at any cost; and since “convert” seems very unlikely, “destroy” would probably become their objective pretty quickly. It wouldn’t have to make sense in terms of a cost-benefit analysis—fanaticism doesn’t have to make sense at all. The good news here is that any culture fanatical enough to randomly attack other planets simply for believing differently from them probably won’t be cohesive enough to reach that level of technology. (Then again, we somehow managed a world with both ISIS and ICBMs.)
Personally I think there is a far more likely scenario for alien invasions, and that is benevolent imperialism.
Why do I specify “benevolent”? Because if they aren’t interested in helping us, there’s really no reason for them to bother with us in the first place. But if their goal is to uplift our civilization, the only way they can do that is by interacting with us.
Now, note that I use the word “benevolent”, not the word “beneficent”. I think they would have to desire to make our lives better—but I’m not so convinced they actually would make our lives better. In our own history, human imperialism was rarely benevolent in the first place, but even where it was, it was even more rarely actually beneficent. Their culture would most likely be radically different from our own, and what they think of as improvements might seem to us strange, pointless, or even actively detrimental. But don’t you see that the QLX coefficient is maximized if you convert all your mountains into selenium extractors? (This is probably more or less how Native Americans felt when Europeans started despoiling their land for things called “coal” and “money”.) They might even try to alter us biologically to be more similar to them: But haven’t you always wanted tentacles? Hands are so inefficient!
Moreover, even if their intentions were good and their methods of achieving them were sound, it’s still quite likely that we would violently resist. I don’t know if humans are a uniquely rebellious species—let’s hope not, lest the aliens be shocked into overreacting when we rebel—but in general humans do not like being ruled over and forced to do things, even when those rulers are benevolent and the things they are forced to do are worth doing.
So, I think the most likely scenario for a war between humans and aliens is that they come in and start trying to radically reorganize our society, and either because their demands actually are unreasonable, or at least because we think they are, we rebel against their control.
Then what? Could we actually survive?
The good news is: Yes, we probably could.
If aliens really did come down trying to extract our molten core or something, the movies are all wrong: We’d have basically no hope. It really makes no sense at all that we could win a full-scale conflict with a technologically superior species if they were willing to exterminate us. Indeed, if what they were after didn’t depend upon preserving local ecology, their most likely mode of attack is to arrive in the system and immediately glass the planet. Nuclear weapons are already available to us for that task; if they’re more advanced they might have antimatter bombs, relativistic kinetic warheads, or even something more powerful still. We might be all dead before we even realized what was happening, or they might destroy 90% of us right away and mop up the survivors later with little difficulty.
If they wanted something that required ecological stability (I shall henceforth dub this the “oregano scenario”), yet weren’t willing to trade for some reason, then they wouldn’t unleash full devastation, and we’d have the life-dinner principle on our side: The hare runs for his life, but the fox only runs for her dinner. So if the aliens are trying to destroy us to get our delicious spices, we have a certain advantage from the fact that we are willing to win at essentially any cost, while at some point that alien economist is going to run the numbers and say, “This isn’t cost-effective. Let’s cut our losses and hit another system instead.”
If they wanted to convert us to their religion, well, we’d better hope enough people convert, because otherwise they’re going to revert to, you guessed it, glass the planet. At least this means they would probably at least try to communicate first, so we’d have some time to prepare; but it’s unlikely that even if their missionaries spent decades trying to convert us we could seriously reduce our disadvantage in military technology during that time. So really, our best bet is to adopt the alien religion. I guess what I’m really trying to say here is “All Hail Xemu.”
But in the most likely scenario that their goal is actually to make our lives better, or at least better as they see it, they will not be willing to utilize their full military capability against us. They might use some lethal force, especially if they haven’t found reliable means of nonlethal force on sufficient scale; but they aren’t going to try to slaughter us outright. Maybe they kill a few dissenters to set an example, or fire into a crowd to disperse a riot. But they are unlikely to level a city, and they certainly wouldn’t glass the entire planet.
Our best bet would probably actually be nonviolent resistance, as this has a much better track record against benevolent imperialism. Gandhi probably couldn’t have won a war against Britain, but he achieved India’s independence because he was smart enough to fight on the front of public opinion. Likewise, even with one tentacle tied behind their backs by their benevolence, the aliens would still probably be able to win any full-scale direct conflict; but if our nonviolent resistance grew strong enough, they might finally take the hint and realize we don’t want their so-called “help”.
So, how about someone makes that movie? Aliens come to our planet, not to kill us, but to change us, make us “better” according to their standards. QLX coefficients are maximized, and an intrepid few even get their tentacles installed. But the Resistance arises, and splits into two factions: One tries to use violence, and is rapidly crushed by overwhelming firepower, while the other uses nonviolent resistance. Ultimately the Resistance grows strong enough to overthrow the alien provisional government, and they decide to cut their losses and leave our planet. Then, decades later, we go back to normal, and wonder if we made the right decision, or if maybe QLX coefficients really were the most important thing after all.
[The image is released under a CC0 copyleft from Pixabay.]
Believing in civilization without believing in colonialism
JDN 2457541
In a post last week I presented some of the overwhelming evidence that society has been getting better over time, particularly since the start of the Industrial Revolution. I focused mainly on infant mortality rates—babies not dying—but there are lots of other measures you could use as well. Despite popular belief, poverty is rapidly declining, and is now the lowest it’s ever been. War is rapidly declining. Crime is rapidly declining in First World countries, and to the best of our knowledge crime rates are stable worldwide. Public health is rapidly improving. Lifespans are getting longer. And so on, and so on. It’s not quite true to say that every indicator of human progress is on an upward trend, but the vast majority of really important indicators are.
Moreover, there is every reason to believe that this great progress is largely the result of what we call “civilization”, even Western civilization: Stable, centralized governments, strong national defense, representative democracy, free markets, openness to global trade, investment in infrastructure, science and technology, secularism, a culture that values innovation, and freedom of speech and the press. We did not get here by Marxism, nor agragrian socialism, nor primitivism, nor anarcho-capitalism. We did not get here by fascism, nor theocracy, nor monarchy. This progress was built by the center-left welfare state, “social democracy”, “modified capitalism”, the system where free, open markets are coupled with a strong democratic government to protect and steer them.
This fact is basically beyond dispute; the evidence is overwhelming. The serious debate in development economics is over which parts of the Western welfare state are most conducive to raising human well-being, and which parts of the package are more optional. And even then, some things are fairly obvious: Stable government is clearly necessary, while speaking English is clearly optional.
Yet many people are resistant to this conclusion, or even offended by it, and I think I know why: They are confusing the results of civilization with the methods by which it was established.
The results of civilization are indisputably positive: Everything I just named above, especially babies not dying.
But the methods by which civilization was established are not; indeed, some of the greatest atrocities in human history are attributable at least in part to attempts to “spread civilization” to “primitive” or “savage” people.
It is therefore vital to distinguish between the result, civilization, and the processes by which it was effected, such as colonialism and imperialism.
First, it’s important not to overstate the link between civilization and colonialism.
We tend to associate colonialism and imperialism with White people from Western European cultures conquering other people in other cultures; but in fact colonialism and imperialism are basically universal to any human culture that attains sufficient size and centralization. India engaged in colonialism, Persia engaged in imperialism, China engaged in imperialism, the Mongols were of course major imperialists, and don’t forget the Ottoman Empire; and did you realize that Tibet and Mali were at one time imperialists as well? And of course there are a whole bunch of empires you’ve probably never heard of, like the Parthians and the Ghaznavids and the Ummayyads. Even many of the people we’re accustoming to thinking of as innocent victims of colonialism were themselves imperialists—the Aztecs certainly were (they even sold people into slavery and used them for human sacrifice!), as were the Pequot, and the Iroquois may not have outright conquered anyone but were definitely at least “soft imperialists” the way that the US is today, spreading their influence around and using economic and sometimes military pressure to absorb other cultures into their own.
Of course, those were all civilizations, at least in the broadest sense of the word; but before that, it’s not that there wasn’t violence, it just wasn’t organized enough to be worthy of being called “imperialism”. The more general concept of intertribal warfare is a human universal, and some hunter-gatherer tribes actually engage in an essentially constant state of warfare we call “endemic warfare”. People have been grouping together to kill other people they perceived as different for at least as long as there have been people to do so.
This is of course not to excuse what European colonial powers did when they set up bases on other continents and exploited, enslaved, or even murdered the indigenous population. And the absolute numbers of people enslaved or killed are typically larger under European colonialism, mainly because European cultures became so powerful and conquered almost the entire world. Even if European societies were not uniquely predisposed to be violent (and I see no evidence to say that they were—humans are pretty much humans), they were more successful in their violent conquering, and so more people suffered and died. It’s also a first-mover effect: If the Ming Dynasty had supported Zheng He more in his colonial ambitions, I’d probably be writing this post in Mandarin and reflecting on why Asian cultures have engaged in so much colonial oppression.
While there is a deeply condescending paternalism (and often post-hoc rationalization of your own self-interested exploitation) involved in saying that you are conquering other people in order to civilize them, humans are also perfectly capable of committing atrocities for far less noble-sounding motives. There are holy wars such as the Crusades and ethnic genocides like in Rwanda, and the Arab slave trade was purely for profit and didn’t even have the pretense of civilizing people (not that the Atlantic slave trade was ever really about that anyway).
Indeed, I think it’s important to distinguish between colonialists who really did make some effort at civilizing the populations they conquered (like Britain, and also the Mongols actually) and those that clearly were just using that as an excuse to rape and pillage (like Spain and Portugal). This is similar to but not quite the same thing as the distinction between settler colonialism, where you send colonists to live there and build up the country, and exploitation colonialism, where you send military forces to take control of the existing population and exploit them to get their resources. Countries that experienced settler colonialism (such as the US and Australia) have fared a lot better in the long run than countries that experienced exploitation colonialism (such as Haiti and Zimbabwe).
The worst consequences of colonialism weren’t even really anyone’s fault, actually. The reason something like 98% of all Native Americans died as a result of European colonization was not that Europeans killed them—they did kill thousands of course, and I hope it goes without saying that that’s terrible, but it was a small fraction of the total deaths. The reason such a huge number died and whole cultures were depopulated was disease, and the inability of medical technology in any culture at that time to handle such a catastrophic plague. The primary cause was therefore accidental, and not really foreseeable given the state of scientific knowledge at the time. (I therefore think it’s wrong to consider it genocide—maybe democide.) Indeed, what really would have saved these people would be if Europe had advanced even faster into industrial capitalism and modern science, or else waited to colonize until they had; and then they could have distributed vaccines and antibiotics when they arrived. (Of course, there is evidence that a few European colonists used the diseases intentionally as biological weapons, which no amount of vaccine technology would prevent—and that is indeed genocide. But again, this was a small fraction of the total deaths.)
However, even with all those caveats, I hope we can all agree that colonialism and imperialism were morally wrong. No nation has the right to invade and conquer other nations; no one has the right to enslave people; no one has the right to kill people based on their culture or ethnicity.
My point is that it is entirely possible to recognize that and still appreciate that Western civilization has dramatically improved the standard of human life over the last few centuries. It simply doesn’t follow from the fact that British government and culture were more advanced and pluralistic that British soldiers can just go around taking over other people’s countries and planting their own flag (follow the link if you need some comic relief from this dark topic). That was the moral failing of colonialism; not that they thought their society was better—for in many ways it was—but that they thought that gave them the right to terrorize, slaughter, enslave, and conquer people.
Indeed, the “justification” of colonialism is a lot like that bizarre pseudo-utilitarianism I mentioned in my post on torture, where the mere presence of some benefit is taken to justify any possible action toward achieving that benefit. No, that’s not how morality works. You can’t justify unlimited evil by any good—it has to be a greater good, as in actually greater.
So let’s suppose that you do find yourself encountering another culture which is clearly more primitive than yours; their inferior technology results in them living in poverty and having very high rates of disease and death, especially among infants and children. What, if anything, are you justified in doing to intervene to improve their condition?
One idea would be to hold to the Prime Directive: No intervention, no sir, not ever. This is clearly what Gene Roddenberry thought of imperialism, hence why he built it into the Federation’s core principles.
But does that really make sense? Even as Star Trek shows progressed, the writers kept coming up with situations where the Prime Directive really seemed like it should have an exception, and sometimes decided that the honorable crew of Enterprise or Voyager really should intervene in this more primitive society to save them from some terrible fate. And I hope I’m not committing a Fictional Evidence Fallacy when I say that if your fictional universe specifically designed not to let that happen makes that happen, well… maybe it’s something we should be considering.
What if people are dying of a terrible disease that you could easily cure? Should you really deny them access to your medicine to avoid intervening in their society?
What if the primitive culture is ruled by a horrible tyrant that you could easily depose with little or no bloodshed? Should you let him continue to rule with an iron fist?
What if the natives are engaged in slavery, or even their own brand of imperialism against other indigenous cultures? Can you fight imperialism with imperialism?
And then we have to ask, does it really matter whether their babies are being murdered by the tyrant or simply dying from malnutrition and infection? The babies are just as dead, aren’t they? Even if we say that being murdered by a tyrant is worse than dying of malnutrition, it can’t be that much worse, can it? Surely 10 babies dying of malnutrition is at least as bad as 1 baby being murdered?
But then it begins to seem like we have a duty to intervene, and moreover a duty that applies in almost every circumstance! If you are on opposite sides of the technology threshold where infant mortality drops from 30% to 1%, how can you justify not intervening?
I think the best answer here is to keep in mind the very large costs of intervention as well as the potentially large benefits. The answer sounds simple, but is actually perhaps the hardest possible answer to apply in practice: You must do a cost-benefit analysis. Furthermore, you must do it well. We can’t demand perfection, but it must actually be a serious good-faith effort to predict the consequences of different intervention policies.
We know that people tend to resist most outside interventions, especially if you have the intention of toppling their leaders (even if they are indeed tyrannical). Even the simple act of offering people vaccines could be met with resistance, as the native people might think you are poisoning them or somehow trying to control them. But in general, opening contact with with gifts and trade is almost certainly going to trigger less hostility and therefore be more effective than going in guns blazing.
If you do use military force, it must be targeted at the particular leaders who are most harmful, and it must be designed to achieve swift, decisive victory with minimal collateral damage. (Basically I’m talking about just war theory.) If you really have such an advanced civilization, show it by exhibiting total technological dominance and minimizing the number of innocent people you kill. The NATO interventions in Kosovo and Libya mostly got this right. The Vietnam War and Iraq War got it totally wrong.
As you change their society, you should be prepared to bear most of the cost of transition; you are, after all, much richer than they are, and also the ones responsible for effecting the transition. You should not expect to see short-term gains for your own civilization, only long-term gains once their culture has advanced to a level near your own. You can’t bear all the costs of course—transition is just painful, no matter what you do—but at least the fungible economic costs should be borne by you, not by the native population. Examples of doing this wrong include basically all the standard examples of exploitation colonialism: Africa, the Caribbean, South America. Examples of doing this right include West Germany and Japan after WW2, and South Korea after the Korean War—which is to say, the greatest economic successes in the history of the human race. This was us winning development, humanity. Do this again everywhere and we will have not only ended world hunger, but achieved global prosperity.
What happens if we apply these principles to real-world colonialism? It does not fare well. Nor should it, as we’ve already established that most if not all real-world colonialism was morally wrong.
15th and 16th century colonialism fail immediately; they offer no benefit to speak of. Europe’s technological superiority was enough to give them gunpowder but not enough to drop their infant mortality rate. Maybe life was better in 16th century Spain than it was in the Aztec Empire, but honestly not by all that much; and life in the Iroquois Confederacy was in many ways better than life in 15th century England. (Though maybe that justifies some Iroquois imperialism, at least their “soft imperialism”?)
If these principles did justify any real-world imperialism—and I am not convinced that it does—it would only be much later imperialism, like the British Empire in the 19th and 20th century. And even then, it’s not clear that the talk of “civilizing” people and “the White Man’s Burden” was much more than rationalization, an attempt to give a humanitarian justification for what were really acts of self-interested economic exploitation. Even though India and South Africa are probably better off now than they were when the British first took them over, it’s not at all clear that this was really the goal of the British government so much as a side effect, and there are a lot of things the British could have done differently that would obviously have made them better off still—you know, like not implementing the precursors to apartheid, or making India a parliamentary democracy immediately instead of starting with the Raj and only conceding to democracy after decades of protest. What actually happened doesn’t exactly look like Britain cared nothing for actually improving the lives of people in India and South Africa (they did build a lot of schools and railroads, and sought to undermine slavery and the caste system), but it also doesn’t look like that was their only goal; it was more like one goal among several which also included the strategic and economic interests of Britain. It isn’t enough that Britain was a better society or even that they made South Africa and India better societies than they were; if the goal wasn’t really about making people’s lives better where you are intervening, it’s clearly not justified intervention.
And that’s the relatively beneficent imperialism; the really horrific imperialists throughout history made only the barest pretense of spreading civilization and were clearly interested in nothing more than maximizing their own wealth and power. This is probably why we get things like the Prime Directive; we saw how bad it can get, and overreacted a little by saying that intervening in other cultures is always, always wrong, no matter what. It was only a slight overreaction—intervening in other cultures is usually wrong, and almost all historical examples of it were wrong—but it is still an overreaction. There are exceptional cases where intervening in another culture can be not only morally right but obligatory.
Indeed, one underappreciated consequence of colonialism and imperialism is that they have triggered a backlash against real good-faith efforts toward economic development. People in Africa, Asia, and Latin America see economists from the US and the UK (and most of the world’s top economists are in fact educated in the US or the UK) come in and tell them that they need to do this and that to restructure their society for greater prosperity, and they understandably ask: “Why should I trust you this time?” The last two or four or seven batches of people coming from the US and Europe to intervene in their countries exploited them or worse, so why is this time any different?
It is different, of course; UNDP is not the East India Company, not by a longshot. Even for all their faults, the IMF isn’t the East India Company either. Indeed, while these people largely come from the same places as the imperialists, and may be descended from them, they are in fact completely different people, and moral responsibility does not inherit across generations. While the suspicion is understandable, it is ultimately unjustified; whatever happened hundreds of years ago, this time most of us really are trying to help—and it’s working.
The challenges of a global basic income
JDN 2457404
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A point to reading
Reading hands
Editor's Introduction
Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind
annotated by
The books we read change our minds, but in what ways? This study shows that certain types of books (nonfiction, popular, literary classics) affect the minds of readers differently. Although reading fiction has long been a requirement in education and a pastime for many, little empirical research has investigated the ways in which interacting with characters who are not really real can affect our ideas about real people in real life. This study shows causal effects of reading on a social cognitive process called Theory of Mind, “mind-reading,” or our ability to imagine the thoughts and emotions of others. The researchers found that literary fiction improved Theory of Mind.
UPDATE: The Social Sciences Replication Project attempted to replicate the results of 21 social science studies published between 2010 and 2015. This paper, "Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind" was among those replication attempts that did not reproduce the original results. Read more on our blog.
Paper Details
Original title
Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind
Original publication date
Vol. 342 no. 6156 pp. 377-380
Issue name
The capacity to identify and understand others’ subjective states is one of the most stunning products of human evolution. It allows successful navigation of complex social relationships and helps to support the empathic responses that maintain them (15). Deficits in this set of abilities, commonly referred to as Theory of Mind (ToM), are associated with psychopathologies marked by interpersonal difficulties (68). Even when the ability is intact, disengagement of ToM has been linked to the breakdown of positive interpersonal and intergroup relationships (9).
Researchers have distinguished between affective ToM (the ability to detect and understand others’ emotions) and cognitive ToM (the inference and representation of others’ beliefs and intentions) (78). The affective component of ToM, in particular, is linked to empathy (positively) and antisocial behavior (negatively) (78). It is thus not surprising that we foster ToM in our children by having them attend to the emotional states of others: “Do you think he is happy or sad as a consequence of your action?” Such explicit encouragements to understand others usually diminish when children appear to skillfully and empathically engage in interpersonal relationships. Cultural practices, though, may function to promote and refine interpersonal sensitivity throughout our lives. One such practice is reading fiction.
Familiarity with fiction, self-reported empathy, and performance on an advanced affective ToM test have been correlated (10, 11), and limited experimental evidence suggests that reading fiction increases self-reported empathy (1213). Fiction seems also to expand our knowledge of others’ lives, helping us recognize our similarity to them (101114). Although fiction may explicitly convey social values and reduce the strangeness of others, the observed relation between familiarity with fiction and ToM may be due to more subtle characteristics of the text. That is, fiction may change how, not just what, people think about others (101114). We submit that fiction affects ToM processes because it forces us to engage in mind-reading and character construction. Not any kind of fiction achieves that, though. Our proposal is that it is literary fiction that forces the reader to engage in ToM processes.
The category of literary fiction has been contested on the grounds that it is merely a marker of social class, but features of the modern literary novel set it apart from most best-selling thrillers or romances. Miall and Kuiken (15–17) emphasize that through the systematic use of phonological, grammatical, and semantic stylistic devices, literary fiction defamiliarizes its readers. The capacity of literary fiction to unsettle readers’ expectations and challenge their thinking is also reflected in Roland Barthes’s (18) distinction between writerly and readerly texts. Although readerly texts—such as most popular genre fiction—are intended to entertain their mostly passive readers, writerly—or literary—texts engage their readers creatively as writers. Similarly, Mikhail Bakhtin (19) defined literary fiction as polyphonic and proposed that readers of literary fiction must contribute their own to a cacophony of voices. The absence of a single authorial perspective prompts readers to enter a vibrant discourse with the author and her characters.
Bruner (20), like Barthes and Bakhtin, has proposed that literature engages readers in a discourse that forces them to fill in gaps and search “for meanings among a spectrum of possible meanings” (p. 25). Bruner argues that to elicit this writerly stance, literary fiction triggers presupposition (a focus on implicit meanings), subjectification [depicting reality “through the filter of the consciousness of protagonists in the story” (p. 25)], and multiple perspectives (perceiving the world simultaneously from different viewpoints). These features mimic those of ToM.
To test our general hypothesis that literary fiction would prime ToM, we first compared the effects of reading literary fiction with reading nonfiction (experiment 1) and then focused on testing our predictions about the different effects of reading literary and popular fiction (experiments 2 to 5).
Difficulty in precisely quantifying literariness notwithstanding, some works are considered particularly good examples of literature and are recognized with prestigious awards (e.g., the National Book Award). Although selected through an inherently inexact process, prize-winning texts are more likely to embody general characteristics of literature than bestsellers of genre fiction (e.g., romance and adventure stories). In the absence of a clear means of quantifying literariness, the judgments of expert raters (i.e., literary prize jurors) were used. Accordingly, to study the effects of reading literary fiction, we selected literary works of fiction by award-winning or canonical writers and compared their effects on ToM with reading nonfiction, popular fiction, or nothing at all.
In experiment 1 (22), 86 participants were randomly assigned to read one of six short texts (three literary fiction and three nonfiction). Next, participants completed a false-belief test as a measure of cognitive ToM (23) and an advanced affective ToM test, the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test [RMET (6)], in which they were asked to identify facially expressed emotions. Participants’ familiarity with fiction was assessed using the Author Recognition Test (24), an index of general exposure to fiction that avoids problems of socially desirable responding. Affect (25), engagement with the text (transportation scale) (26), and demographic information were assessed.
For the cognitive ToM task, participants were asked to indicate the probability that a character would act according to the character’s own false belief or the participant’s true belief. Participants (n = 13) who failed to give probabilities and univariate outliers (>3.5 SD from the mean; n = 6) were excluded from the analysis. Probabilities were compared in a 2(false-belief versus no false-belief condition) × 2(fiction versus nonfiction) analysis of variance (ANOVA). There was no main effect for the type of scenario, which suggests no evidence of egocentric bias (F1,63= 1.47, P = 0.22). The level of false estimates was low across conditions (grand mean ± standard deviation, 6.61± 9.79).
Scores for the affective ToM task were computed by summing the number of correct identifications of facially expressed emotions (6) and analyzed using ANOVA, with condition and Author Recognition Test as between-participants factors (Table 1). Scores were higher in the literary fiction than nonfiction condition (Table 2). Higher Author Recognition Test scores (indicating more familiarity with fiction) predicted higher RMET scores. When entered as covariates; education, gender, age, transportation, negative affect, self-reported sadness, and average time spent on RMET items did not significantly alter the main effect of condition (P = 0.05). More time spent on RMET items predicted better performance (β = 0.23, P = 0.02). No other covariates approached significance (Pvalues of >0.14).
Table 1. RMET and DANVA2-AF analyses.
This is the test statistic used in ANOVA, the F-ratio, and it is reported with the degrees of freedom as subscript.
If the F-ratio is greater than 1, the experimental manipulation had some effect above and beyond the effect of extraneous factors.
It can be compared against a critical value based on its degrees of freedom.
Beta represents the standardized regression coefficient.
Basically, this is the slope of the line that describes the relation between scores on the Author Recognition Test and scores on the RMET.
In this case, for every one standard deviation of increase in Author Recognition Test , there will be a .36 standard deviation increase in RMET.
The Probability value or P-value.
If the probability of obtaining the value of our test statistic by chance is less than .05, or if P<.05, then we generally reject the null hypothesis that nothing happened as false: There is an effect in the population.
An effect size measure that measures the overall effect of ANOVA.
It has been suggested that values of .01, .06, and, .14 represent small, medium, and large effects, respectively.
Remember that these are rough guidelines and that effect sizes need to be interpreted within the context of the research literature.
Table 2. Means (adjusted for other terms in the models) and standard deviations of RMET and DANVA2-AF scores. 95% confidence intervals are reported in brackets. X, no data. Means in the same row that share the same superscripts differ at P < 0.05.
Literary fiction
Scores (means) were higher on the RMET in the literary fiction condition than in the nonfiction condition in Experiment 1.
They were also higher in the literary fiction conditions than the popular fiction conditions in experiments 3, 4, and 5.
Exploring RMET (25.90)
The mean is a simple statistical model of the center of a distribution of scores. It is a hypothetical estimate of the "typical" or average score.
Means should be compared across conditions.
In conditions with the higher means, participants performed better than participants in conditions with lower means (except in Experiment 2, where the reverse is true). ones.
Exploring RMET (4.38a)
Standard deviation: an estimate of the average variability (spread) of a set of data measured in the same units of measurement as the original data.
Small standard deviations (relative to the value of the mean itself) indicates that most of the data points are close to the mean (i.e. the mean is an accurate representation of the data).
A standard deviation of 0 would mean that all of the scores were the same.
Exploring RMET ([24.55, 27.24])
Confidence Intervals for the given (means) are the range of values around that statistic that are believed to contain, with a certain probability (95%), the true value of that statistic.
If the confidence interval is small, the sample mean must be close to the true mean.
Experiment 2 aimed to replicate and extend the findings of experiment 1 by using different texts and a different measure of affective ToM, the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy 2—Adult Faces test (DANVA2-AF) (27). Experiment 2 was also designed to directly differentiate between the effects of popular versus literary fiction (28).
Participants (n = 114) were randomly assigned to read one of three excerpts from recent finalists for the National Book Award (literary fiction condition), one of three excerpts from recent bestsellers on Amazon.com (popular fiction condition), or nothing at all (no-reading condition) (22). Participants then completed the measure of cognitive ToM used in experiment 1 and the DANVA2-AF before completing the Author Recognition Test, the transportation scale, and demographic questions. Performance on the false-belief cognitive ToM task was analyzed as in experiment 1, but no significant effects were detected (P values of >0.13).
DANVA2-AF scores were computed by summing errors on all of the negative affect items (22). Untransformed means are reported, but log-transformed scores were used in an ANOVA with experimental condition and Author Recognition Test as between-participants factors (see Table 1). No interaction emerged, but higher scores on the Author Recognition Test were weakly associated with fewer errors on the DANVA2-AF. The omnibus main effect of condition was marginally significant, and the pairwise comparisons revealed significant differences between conditions consistent with our hypothesis. Fewer errors were made in the literary fiction condition than in the no-reading and popular fiction conditions, whereas there was no difference between the latter two (P = 0.98) (seeTable 2). As in experiment 1; education, gender, and age were not significant covariates (P values of >0.34) and did not alter the critical, omnibus main effect of condition (P = 0.08). Transportation did not correlate with DANVA2-AF scores (P = 0.94).
Experiment 3 (N = 69) aimed to replicate the literary fiction versus popular fiction comparison (22). The popular fiction texts were three stories from an edited anthology of popular fiction (29), and literary fiction texts were three stories from a collection of the 2012 PEN/O. Henry Award winners for short stories (30). Participants’ affect was assessed using the Positive Affect Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) and a single-item report of sadness. Using the same analytical strategy used in experiment 1, it was found that RMET scores were higher in the literary fiction condition than in the popular fiction condition. There were no effects involving the Author Recognition Test (for test, Table 1; for means, Table 2). Education, gender, and the average time spent on RMET items were not significant covariates (P values of >0.12) and did not alter the effect of condition (P = 0.04).
In experiments 1 and 2, no effects were observed on the cognitive ToM measure, a false-belief task. Since participants in neither condition clearly failed to recruit cognitive ToM, it is possible that the task may have been insufficiently sensitive. Therefore a fourth experiment included the Yoni test (7). The Yoni test is a new measure that has been used in only a handful of studies. However, it has been validated (7831) and has the advantage of assessing both cognitive and affective ToM.
In experiment 4, four of the texts used in experiment 3 along with two new stories, one for each condition (i.e., literary fiction and popular fiction), from the same sources were used (22). Participants (N = 72) completed the RMET and the Yoni test. For the 24 cognitive and 24 affective ToM trials in the Yoni test, participants must draw from minimal linguistic and visual cues to infer a character’s thoughts and emotions, respectively. An additional 16 control trials require the identification of spatial relations. For each type of item, there are equal numbers of trials requiring first-order and second-order (more difficult) inferences.
RMET scores were higher in the literary fiction condition than in the popular fiction condition (for tests, see Table 1; for means, see Table 2). Author Recognition Test scores predicted RMET scores. Entered as covariates, subject variables (i.e., education, age, and gender) did not reach significance (P values of >0.14), though time spent on RMET items did (β = 0.21, P = 0.04). However, the effect of condition was only slightly altered and remained significant (P = 0.05).
Yoni performance was analyzed via a mixed analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with type (affective versus cognitive) and level of difficulty (first order versus second order) of trials as within-participants factors, condition and Author Recognition Test scores as between-participants factors, and scores on the control task as a covariate (31). A main effect of condition emerged (F1,67 = 4.47, P = 0.03, ωp2 = 0.04) but no other effects involving condition or Author Recognition Test scores approached significance (P values of >0.27). Other significant effects, which are not relevant to the hypotheses, are described in the supplementary materials (22). Participants in the literary fiction condition [0.89 ± 0.08, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.86, 0.92] performed with greater accuracy on all ToM trials than those in the popular fiction condition (0.85 ± 0.10, CI = 0.82, 0.87).
A fifth experiment (22) aimed to replicate experiment 4 and test for the influences of subject variables (i.e., education, age, gender) and possible confounds with a larger sample (N = 356). As in experiments 3 and 4, three works of literary fiction were taken from a collection of the 2012 PEN/O. Henry Prize winners (30) and three works of popular fiction from an anthology (29). Participants were randomly assigned to the literary fiction, popular fiction, or no-reading control condition; completed the RMET and Yoni tasks; reported their current affect (PANAS), along with two additional items assessing sadness and happiness; and completed the Author Recognition Test. Participants in the two reading conditions completed the transportation scale and two additional items assessing the extent to which they enjoyed reading the text and how much they thought it represented “excellent literature.” All participants reported their age, gender, ethnicity, and highest level of attained education before being debriefed and compensated.
Literary texts (3.54 ± 1.31, CI = 3.28, 3.80) were enjoyed less than popular texts (4.07 ± 1.53, CI = 3.80, 4.34;F1,223 = 7.62, P = 0.006, ωp2 = 0.02), but they were seen as better examples of literature (4.84 ± 1.40, CI = 4.56, 5.11) than popular texts (4.43 ± 1.60, CI = 4.15, 4.72; F1,223 = 4.04, P = 0.04, ωp2 = 0.01). Reported transportation did not significantly differ across conditions (F1,223 = 3.20, P = 0.07, ωp2 = 0.00), although it was slightly higher in the literary condition (3.90 ± 0.41, CI = 3.83, 3.98) than the popular condition (3.81 ± 0.39, CI = 3.73, 3.88). None of these variables were correlated (P values of >0.11) with performance on either the RMET or the Yoni task (controlling for performance on physical trials).
Results on the RMET were analyzed as in the previous experiments. The effect of condition was significant (seeTable 1). Scores were significantly higher in the literary fiction condition than in the popular fiction and no-reading conditions (see Table 2). The latter two conditions did not differ (P = 0.65). A significant main effect of Author Recognition Test scores emerged (see Table 1). Added as covariates, gender, education, age, positive affect, negative affect, sadness, happiness, and time spent on RMET items did not significantly relate to RMET scores (P values of >0.23), and the effect of condition was only slightly altered (P = 0.06).
The analytical strategy used in experiment 4 was also used for the Yoni task. The main effect of condition (F2,351= 0.64, P = 0.52) was not significant, but there was a significant interaction of condition and the two within-subjects factors, trial difficulty and trial type (F2,351 = 3.42, P = 0.03). The interaction of Author Recognition Test scores, trial difficulty, and trial type approached significance (F1,351 = 2.88, P = 0.09), but no other effects involving condition or Author Recognition Test did (P values of >0.11). Other significant effects, which are not relevant to the hypotheses, are described in the supplementary materials (22). To disentangle the three-way interaction including the experimental condition, a repeated measures ANCOVA, with item type (cognitive, affective) and condition as factors, and performance on the control task as covariate, was conducted separately for first-order and second-order trials. On first-order trials, there was a main effect of the covariate (β = 0.20, P < 0.001, ωp2 = 0.03) and of condition (F2,351 = 4.21, P = 0.01, ωp2 = 0.01). No other effects approached significance (P values of >0.87). Pair-wise comparisons revealed that scores were higher in the literary fiction condition (0.98 ± 0.02, CI = 0.97, 0.99) than in the popular fiction condition (0.96 ± 0.06, CI = 0.95, 0.97; t = 2.85,P = 0.004) and the no-reading condition (0.97 ± 0.05, CI = 0.96, 0.98; t = 2.01, P = 0.04). The popular fiction condition and no-reading condition did not differ (P = 0.33). On second-order trials, no effects involving condition or Author Recognition Test scores approached significance (P values of >0.16).
The difference between first- and second-order trials, which appeared only in experiment 5, might be due to its higher statistical power, which allowed for this difference to be detected. The second-order Yoni trials may require a set of more advanced cognitive skills (e.g., metarepresentation) that are less easily influenced by manipulation than the other tasks, all of which are first-order ToM tasks.
Experiment 1 showed that reading literary fiction, relative to nonfiction, improves performance on an affective ToM task. Experiments 2 to 5 showed that this effect is specific to literary fiction. On cognitive measures, no effects emerged on the false-belief task used in experiments 1 and 2. Because error rates on the false-belief task were very low, the measure may have been insufficiently sensitive to capture the effects of the manipulations. However, on the more-demanding Yoni task used in experiments 4 and 5, the effect on cognitive trials was present and indistinguishable from that on affective trials.
The Author Recognition Test predicted RMET scores in experiments 1, 4, and 5, and success on the DANVA2-AF (marginally) in experiment 2; but it did not predict performance on the Yoni task or, anomalously, the RMET in experiment 3. Thus, although generally consistent with previous findings (1012), our pattern of results suggests the need for further research into the relation between measures of familiarity with fiction and performance on different ToM tasks.
First, our findings demonstrate the short-term effects of reading literary fiction. However, taken together, the relation between the Author Recognition Test and ToM performance and the finding that it is specifically literary fiction that facilitates ToM processes suggest that reading literary fiction may lead to stable improvements in ToM. Because the Author Recognition Test does not distinguish between exposure to literary and popular fiction, additional research with refined methods is necessary to test this hypothesis.
Second, literary fiction, like many stimuli drawn from the real world, is heterogeneous and complex. Although it is not clearly quantifiable, literariness has ecological validity as a construct, as suggested by participants’ agreement with prize jurors on the literariness of the texts in experiment 5. On the basis of strategies used by researchers studying violent video games [e.g., (32)] and fiction (12), literariness was held relatively constant in each condition while potentially confounding features varied. Self-reported affect along with transportation into, enjoyment, and perceived literariness of the texts did not account for the effects of condition. Further analyses tested the roles of superficial linguistic features of the texts. Frequencies of negative and positive emotion terms, social words, cognitive words, big words (more than six letters), and self-references were computed in each text using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software (33). Standardized RMET or DANVA2-AF scores from all experiments were analyzed using ANCOVA, with experimental condition and Author Recognition Test scores as factors and all six LIWC variables as covariates (data from the no-reading conditions was not included). The frequency of negative emotion words (β = 0.09, P = 0.05, ωp2 = 0.00) positively predicted ToM scores, but no other effects of LIWC variables approached significance (P values of >0.17). The main effects of condition (F1,515 = 12.02, P < 0.001, ωp2 = 0.02) and Author Recognition Test scores (β = 0.23, P < 0.001, ωp2 = 0.05) remained significant. This result suggests that the effect of literature observed across experiments may not be easily reduced to superficial linguistic characteristics. Future research, notably following the lead of Miall and Kuiken (1517), as well as Bruner (20), may reveal more subtle, but nonetheless quantifiable, features that set literary fiction apart.
The present findings mark only one step toward understanding the impact of our interactions with fiction, the experiences of which are thought to contribute to the development of consciousness and to enrich our daily lives (34). Indeed, there are surely many consequences of reading on cognitive and affective processes that are independent of its effects on ToM, and it seems likely that many of those may result from popular, as well as literary, fiction. Similarly, whereas literary fiction appears able to promote ToM, this capacity does not fully capture the concept of literariness, which includes, among others, aesthetic and stylistic matters not addressed in this research. It is our hope that further research will focus on other forms of art, such as plays and movies, that involve identifying and interpreting the subjective experiences of others (1028).
Literature has been deployed in programs intended to promote social welfare, such as those intended to promote empathy among doctors (35) and life skills among prisoners (36). Literature is, of course, also a required subject throughout secondary education in the United States, but reformers have questioned its importance: A new set of education standards that has been adopted by 46 U.S. states (the Common Core State Standards) controversially calls for less emphasis on fiction in secondary education [see (37)]. Debates over the social value of types of fiction and the arts more broadly are important, and it seems critical to supplement them with empirical research. These results show that reading literary fiction may hone adults’ ToM, a complex and critical social capacity.
Supplementary Materials
Materials and Methods
Supplementary Text
References (3851)
References and Notes
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52. Acknowledgments: Data are available in spreadsheet format from authors by request. This research was funded by a Prize Fellowship and a Dissertation Fellowship by the New School for Social Research to the first author, and a Faculty Development Award by the New School for Social Research to the second author. We are grateful to Andrew Marzoni for his insight into literary criticism and pointing us toward Barthes’s S/Z (19). |
Creation and the Existence of God
The Bible tells us that God is the cause of the existence of the universe and everything in it.
One of the most important and essential concepts that we can believe and understand is that God exists and that God created all things. All doctrine is built upon this foundation. If we do not believe in the existence of God, nothing else matters. The scriptures do not attempt to prove that God exists. Instead, we see by creation itself that there must have been a creator (Rom. 1:20).
There are three explanations for the existence of the universe:
1. It has always existed. This requires the universe to be eternal, making the universe itself God.
2. It came into existence by itself. This is a self-creating universe, which also requires the universe to be God.
3. God created it. This requires the existence of an all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere-present God.
None of these explanations can be proven scientifically; however the evidence points toward the universe being spoken into existence by an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent being. It is more logical to believe in a creator than to believe that the universe has always existed or created itself from nothing on its own.
The universe itself points to a designer. The vast complexities of the planets, elements, life, laws, and the orderliness of the universe could not have happened by random chance.
Here are just a few examples of why evolution does not work:
The law of Biogenesis says that life can only come from life (Moehlenpah, p.47). The idea that life can spontaneously generate from non-life has never been observed, repeated, or verified, which means it is not scientific (Moehlenpah, p.47). There are also genetic barriers that will not allow one type of animal to slowly become another type of animal. The information in the genes is simply not there for a horse to grow wings and no amount of small variations (small variations are scientific) or harmful mutations (which are a loss of information- not a gain that is needed to evolve) can help (no matter how many years you give it). It’s not that there is a ‘link’ missing. The ‘whole chain’ is missing.
The first law of Thermodynamics says that matter cannot be created or destroyed (Moehlenpah, p.52). This means that nothing new is being created by evolving (Moehlenpah, p.52). This also means that nothing came into existence without God, for God is the only being or power that can overcome the first law of Thermodynamics. Matter could not come into existence on its own by any amount of wishing, dreaming, or imagining on the part of evolutionists.
The second law of Thermodynamics shows that everything moves toward disorder (Moehlenpah, p.52). No amount of probability and randomness is going to bring order to chaos on the level that would be needed to create a universe full of stars, planets, and life on Earth. It takes intelligent input to bring order to chaos. Random energy will not change a chaotic state to the state of order that we see in the universe. My PC was built from intelligence- not from placing electronic components in a room for a hundred years and hoping they would form into something useful. My car was built from intelligence- not from an explosion in a metal shop that by random chance happened to make a car. Rubik’s Cube can be twisted and turned at random for 1000 years, but it is impossible to accidently solve the cube (let alone see all 43 quintillion combinations). However, with intelligently designed patterns, Rubik’s Cube can be solved within seconds. It takes intelligence to bring order to chaos.
Arlo Moehlenpah says it best: “True science has never discovered anything that contradicts the Word of God” (Moehlenpah, p.52). The Word of God is scientifically sound. And the Word of God proclaims that this universe was spoken into existence by our loving Creator.
If we do not believe that God created all things, we call God’s word a liar. The Bible declares God as the creator. The Bible says that God created everything in the universe in six literal days (Ex. 20:11).
The scriptures further declare that Jesus is the Creator.
This does not give room for man’s teachings of evolution and the universe being billions of years old, which is non-scientific since science is something that can be observed and tested. Creation is a past event. All we have are the results of creation. No one can go back in time and witness the creation of the universe, but we do have the word of God that proclaims God as the creator of all things, and the evidence backs up that claim.
Man was created in God’s image. Man’s moral nature shows that we have a conscience and a sense of morality (Rom. 2:15).
We can see the proof of God’s existence in our lives. Many have lived better lives because of God’s influence. Many have had a personal relationship with God that can’t be explained any other way. God has performed miracles and healings, and has given the Fruit of the Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit as evidence of his work in our lives.
Above all, we accept God’s existence by faith (Heb. 11:6).
Belief in creation by an intelligent being is a religion- not a science. Belief that the universe and everything in it evolved from nothing on its own is a religion- not a science. Creation cannot be proven scientifically. Evolution cannot be proven scientifically. Those that want science to prove creation do not fully understand what science is. Those that want science to prove evolution do not fully understand what science is. Science cannot prove anything. Science can test. Science can predict. Science can support ideas. Evolution defies known scientific laws. Science does not support ideas that contradict known scientific laws. Creation requires a supreme intelligent designer. The evidence supports this belief. I will except by faith that God is the creator of the universe. I don’t have enough faith to believe in evolution.
Moehlenpah, Arlo (1998). Creation verses Evolution. Scientific and religious considerations.
Chula Vista: Doing Good Ministries
Arlo Moehlenpah Creation vs Evolution
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1. Wow! this is great…. I’m definately using this for my sermon!
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The methanization, a challenge for the future?
Unité de méthanisation
Publié le 7 August 2019
In a more and more alarming context about climate change and preservation of the planet for future generations, the methanization is increasingly becoming a relevant solution for both waste management and renewable energy production. Although promising, the methanization does not enjoy unanimous support.
Then, what is methanization? Why is this process booming? What are the arguments of the detractors of methanization? Many questions are answered by Brandon Valorisation in this article.
What is methanization?
The methanization, or aerobic digestion, is a natural, biological process by which the fermentation and degradation of organic wastes will lead to the combined production of a biogas and a digestate.
Organic wastes need to be fresh. It can be composed of agricultural residues (muck, manure, crop residues…), by-products from the food and beverage sector, grass cuttings, domestic biowaste (food leftovers, fruit and vegetable peels), wastes from catering or retail sectors, or even sewage sludges).
To make the methanization happen, these wastes are stored in a digester, a hermetically sealed equipment in which they are deprived of oxygen. Then bacteria, naturally present or added in these wastes, will grow and produce biogas, a mixture of gases with a significant proportion of methane.
This biogas can then be used in three ways:
• If it contains enough methane, it can be injected in a small proportion into the gas network. You probably consume a bit without knowing it.
• Or, it will be purified in order to only keep the methane and obtain the same quality as natural gas. It is the biomethane. This can, for example, feed a station for electric vehicles running on CNG (Compressed Natural Gas).
• Otherwise it can be burnt in a co-generation facility in order to produce both renewable power, integrated in the electrical grid, and heat that will be used in nearby buildings or installations.
Another residue arises from this process: the digestate. It amounts to between 70% and 90% of total weight introduced in the digester and could be used as a natural fertilizer by farmers in their fields.
France Biogaz
Source of the diagram: France Biogaz
The methanization is a very common process in the natural environment. This phenomenon is supposed to have been highlighted by Alessandro Volta in the 18th century, which, when walking, would have observed some gas escaping from a swamp. And it is in the early 20th century that the first facility for the production of biogas began its operation in Great Britain for lighting the streets of London.
What are the benefits of the methanization?
There are several advantages associated with the methanization.
Firstly, this natural process enables farmers to treat the wastes generated in their farms. These organic wastes, when decomposing, naturally produce methane, a greenhouse gas far more powerful than carbon dioxide. Thanks to the methanization process, this gas is valorized and does not go up into the atmosphere any more. It is therefore a real benefit in the fight against global warming.
Also, the heat generated in the same time is not lost. It can be used as an alternative source of heat for surrounding buildings, reducing energy costs in natural gas from fossil sources or in electric heating.
Finally, in addition to the green energy creation (biomethane), this process produces the digestate, which is used to fertilize crops. The digestate replaces synthetic fertilizers and gives off less odors than untreated manures.
In an economic level, methanization has several advantages. It might be a local solution for revitalizing employment. But the main advantage is for farmers. Indeed, this process brings them additional revenues while some farm operations are struggling in difficult context. The methanization enables them to diversify their activities and maintain employment.
Methanization - Auteur : GrandBout
A sometimes criticized process
Like every new growing sector, concerns arise from inhabitants and collectivities.
The anaerobic digester is hermetically sealed, so the odors generated during the fermentation should not disturb the residents. However, there may be biogas leakages and this mixture has a strong smell due to the presence of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide.
The main concern is about the digestate and the pollution that its land application might cause (drinking water pollution by infiltration, impact on the biodiversity…). The digestate is made from organic wastes that can contain nitrates, bacteria, pesticides or even drug residues.
These concerns are primarily due to the relative lack of public knowledge and are partially responsible for the long administrative delays in France (between 2 and sometimes more than 4 years).
An evolving sector
If the methanization sector is well developed in some countries like Germany, it experiences a slow growth in France.
New young companies enter the methanization market, including Tryon, a French start-up, which offers methanization units for urban districts in small containers. These local units, thanks to their size, can indeed be installed near private homes and SMEs. The society recently received an innovation award from Paris Ouest La Défense territory.
In order to accelerate the growth of biogas in France, the innovation platform CertiMétha is expected in 2019.
Lastly, some partnerships are signed in order to invest in methanization. It is for example the case in the Ardennes where the Pacte Ardennes aims to finance 27 actions at 12 million euros. Also, in 2019, the Ile-de-France region and ADEME Regional Office launched a third unified call for projects to develop methanization. And the Ministry of Agriculture has launched, with the Public Investment Bank, a non-guaranteed loan offer for 400 new methanization projects.
To learn more about the methanization, see the video (in French) “La méthanisation, un enjeu d’avenir” (The methanation, a challenge for the future), produced by the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Chamber of Agriculture. |
The Real Reason Why Kansas City Is In Missouri
When the Kansas City Chiefs were proclaimed the victors of the 2020 Super Bowl, President Trump made a rather embarrassing blunder on Twitter: he congratulated the wrong state, crediting the victory to the "Great state of Kansas." Oops. Now, as any Midwesterner will tell you, the Kansas City that the Chiefs hail from isn't in Kansas. It's in Missouri. This is relatively common knowledge, but how did it become the case? And, perhaps most importantly, which Kansas came first?
It's all about the Kansas River
Okay, so first off, the name "Kansas" has indigenous roots. By the mid-18th century, as documented by the Kansas Historical Society, much of the territory that is now considered the state of Kansas was formerly the home of the "People of the Southwind." Translations being what they are, there were a number of European translations for their name, ranging from the Kaw people, to Kanza, to Kansa. As you can imagine, this being American history and all, relations with the United States government went badly, resulting in widespread starvation and death, but that's another, rather depressing topic.
Regardless, the first geographic location to be titled after them wasn't a state nor a city, but the Kansas River. On the Missouri side, according to the Kansas City Star, when the proprietors first designated the location for a new town at the mouth of the Kansas River, they considered the name "Kawsmouth," but ended up settling on Kansas. That name has lasted to this day, with Kansas City now boasting a population of 490,000, according to Printers Row Publishing Group, but there's a catch: on the opposing side of the river, in the state of Kansas, there is a second (and much smaller) Kansas City. To make matters even more complex, both of these Kansas Cities are designated as part of the so-called "Kansas City Missouri metropolitan area," with the Missouri one being the unofficial capital of the whole shebang.
So, while the Kansas people clearly came first, followed by the Kansas River, which location came third?
Which Kansas ripped off which?
The answer, frankly, is a lot easier than one might think. Missouri's Kansas City was founded in 1850. Kansas' Kansas City, often shortened to KCK, didn't get the ball rolling until 1872. So, yes, Missouri had a Kansas before Kansas did.
Keep in mind, by the way, that the state of Kansas didn't even exist at the time that Kansas City came about, nor was the geographic location even called the Kansas territory yet. Now, explaining the state's origins means getting into the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, and opening up a whole conversation about the U.S. Civil War. That said, it's worth noting that before Kansas became a state, the Missouri metropolis actually just called itself "Kansas," and only changed its name to "Kansas City" after the Kansas territory was established. So it goes. |
stuffed grape leaves
Mediterranean Food
The Jews of Turkey and Greece ate foods inspired by Ottoman cuisine.
Looking for Mediterranean Jewish recipes? Scroll down to the bottom of this article!
At the time that the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, Turkey was the center of the Ottoman Empire, which existed from the late 13th century to its decline in 1924, when Kemal Ataturk, the designer of modern Turkey, abolished the Ottoman caliphate. Sultan Beyazit II, who reigned from 1482‑1512, responding to the expulsion with compassion but also a degree of opportunism, rescued the Jews from the Inquisition, causing the famous 16th‑century historian Rabbi Eliyahu Capsali to relate:
So the king of Turkey heard of all the evil that the Spanish king had brought upon the Jews and heard that they were seeking a refuge and resting place. He took pity on them, and wrote letters and sent emissaries to proclaim throughout his kingdom that none of his city rulers may be wicked enough to refuse entry to the Jews or expel them.
After that edict, Turkey, the Middle East, and the Balkans opened up their borders. Tens of thousands of expelled Jews came to Turkey. (Were they the boat people of the 15th century?) Istanbul, Salonika, Greece, and Izmir (formerly Smyrna) became important centers of the Sephardim.
stuffed grape leaves
The Iberian Jews of Spain and Portugal were highly educated in the professions, in international trade, finance, and medicine, and Sultan Beyazit, knowing this full well, welcomed this transfusion of human talent into Turkey. The Jews brought the first printing press to the Ottoman Empire, for example, and established a printing industry in 1494, two years after the expulsion.
They were not alone in their religion. They found, upon arrival in Turkey, Jews who were long‑time inhabitants of the region and known as Romaniates, pre‑Ottoman Empire Jews who were named thus through their early Roman connections. These Romaniates were ultimately, after some years, absorbed by the Sephardim.
The Jews lived in their own areas, maintained their own organizations, and created their own cuisine. Jewish men went forth into the cities to work, while the women for the most part remained at home. A lady from Izmir explained the Jewish cooking by saying that “The Turks borrowed from us and we from them.” Cooking rules and recipes were passed down from mother to daughter and resulted in a continuity of culinary ideas throughout the centuries and to the present.
There were two components that combined to develop Sephardic cooking in Turkey — Spanish heritage and Turkish culture. This was a gradual osmosis and not a rapid modification of existing cooking styles. The availability of fresh produce is an important factor in the creation of a cuisine and, in this case, new ideas were developed around ingredients that were available and inexpensive, like the eggplant.
Jewish desserts were strongly influenced by the extraordinary capacity for sweets so dear to the Turkish palate. Syrups are lavishly used to enrich the pastries and provide a melting texture to cakes. Strong seasonings are hardly ever used in the Sephardic cuisine except for an occasional sprinkling of hot chili flakes. Chicken, beef, and lamb are the meats of choice, but in recent years less beef and lamb are used since red meat is now considered unhealthy. Cholesterol has entered the thinking of the Sephardic kitchen, and has even influenced the choice of cooking oil — sunflower has become the most popular. Duck is never eaten. I never saw a duck in Turkey (nor did I see a turkey!).
The Sephardic kitchen relies on appealing combinations of meats, vegetables or fish served up in casseroles, pies, stuffed vegetables or pastries, and Yufka (wrapped appetizers and snacks). The tendency is to bake foods or simmer them on top of the stove. The large meat roasts of European cooking are unknown. Bread is the staff of life, and rice, in the form of seasoned and garnished dishes, is not far behind.
There was an overlapping, rather than a sharp differentiation, between Jewish life in Greece and Turkey. Both countries were of the Ottoman Empire and there was a homogenization of both culinary and cultural Judaic activities. Without doubt, the Ottoman was the single strongest influence on the cooking—with emphasis on the sweets. But the native recipes were supplemented by those brought from Spain by the Jews, and those recipes continued to carry Ladino titles.
As in Turkey, the cooking consists largely of casseroles in the ovens, stews on top of the stove, and preparations wrapped in phyllo (culminating in the great classic Spanakopita). Vegetables are important ingredients in this cooking, stewed or enrobed in phyllo. Strong seasonings are even less important to the Greek palate than to the Turkish. The flavors result from the natural combinations of poultry, lamb, or fish and a variety of herbs and greens. The reign of the eggplant in Greece and Turkey is permanent. There are those who say that Greek cooking is no more than a satellite of the Turkish, but I am not of this opinion.
No cuisine is established in isolation nor is Sephardic cooking in Greece a carbon copy of that found in Turkey, although both clearly show the Ottoman influence.
Mediterranean Jewish Recipes
Stuffed Grape Leaves
Stuffed Cigars
Fried Eggplant
Zucchini Boats Stuffed with Ricotta and Pine Nuts
Sephardic Passover Meat Pie
Turkish Coffee Ice Cream from Michael Solomonov’s New Israeli Cookbook
Lahmacun–Turkish Pizza with Chopped Salad and Herb Tahini
How to Make Bourekas
Spinach Goat Cheese Tart with Herb Butter Crust
Baklava with Honey and Cardamom
Excerpted and reprinted with permission from Sephardic Cooking, published by Donald I. Fine, Inc.
Discover More
The Jewish Cuisine of the Mediterranean Sea
Greek and Turkish cooking has a special way of celebrating the simple, fresh flavors of vegetables and meats, adding little ...
Red Sea Cuisine
Jewish foods of Yemen, Ethiopia, and Egypt.
Jewish Food 101
Jewish cuisine is influenced by the foods in the many countries where Jews have lived. |
Learn C Programming
Jimmy/ September 14, 2020/ programing language
programing language
TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript is an object-oriented language that was launched to increase the capabilities of JS. The language makes it straightforward for builders to put in writing and maintain codes.
As a end result, high-stage languages do the trick in most eventualities. And programming languages are the tools we use to put in writing instructions for computers to comply with. Programming languages allow us to translate the 1s and 0s into one thing that humans can understand and write. A programming language is made up of a collection of symbols that serves as a bridge that permit humans to translate our thoughts into directions computer systems can perceive. Go is pretty a brand new system-degree programming language that has a centered vocabulary and easy scoping rules.
Scala allows for concurrent programming, allowing advanced procedures to be executed in parallel. Engineers can create and customise their own knowledge varieties, allowing them to have the peace of thoughts figuring out entire swaths of bugs are impossible at runtime. If you’re interested in Apple merchandise and cellular app development, Swift is an efficient place to start.
By learning one or more of these languages, you’ll be in a superb position not only for this yr, however within the years to return. Python is probably essentially the most person-pleasant programming language of any on this listing. It’s often stated that Python’s syntax is clear, intuitive, and virtually English-like, which, like Java, makes it a preferred alternative for newbies. As a practical programming language, Scala allows engineers to raise the quality of their code to resemble pure math.
What Is Python? Executive Summary
• Developed by Microsoft, C# rose to fame in the 2000s for supporting the ideas of object-oriented programming.
• It is likely one of the strongest programming languages for the .NET framework.
• And since programs range from Python for the beginner to Java for the skilled, you’ll find the proper fit for you.
TypeScript offers an entire description of each element of the code and can be utilized for developing giant applications with a strict syntax and fewer errors. Although the sphere of pc programming changes quickly, the languages that we’ve discussed above have quite a lot of staying power.
First announced by Apple in 2014, Swift is a relatively new programming language used to develop iOS and macOS functions. One of crucial issues you are able to do is to analysis which programming languages are favored by that firm. If you could have a specific employer in mind, it’s all the time greatest to check with them directly to see what their programming preferences are.
It blends the best elements of useful programming and object-oriented kinds. Go is the quickest-growing language on Github, meant to replace languages like Java and C++.
We’ve compiled overviews of the 12 most important, related and in-demand of these languages beneath. Check out our sorting quiz to find out what language fits your personal interests and strengths. Or, get began with our Code Foundations Career Path — an summary course that’ll assist you determine the right path in your unique goals. As computer systems have turn into extra powerful, the distinction in runtime between low-degree and excessive-degree programming languages is usually only milliseconds.
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Back when the natural world could be neatly divided into plants and animals, the corals were a source of puzzlement. Like the related sea anemones, these animals look more like plants. What are they? In the 1700s, the great Swedish botanist and founder of modern taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus, dodged the question by classifying them in a group called Zoophyta (animal plants). Truth is, they are both.
By that I mean that the coral animal hosts algae that live inside its cells. (The technical term for this sort of mutual arrangement is endosymbiosis.) These microscopic, single-celled algae gave up their free-living lifestyle in exchange for accommodations provided by the coral. Algae aren't exactly plants, but like plants they contain chloroplasts and carry out photosynthesis. Being microscopic, they fall into that catch-all category-microbes. They are the zooxanthellae, their name coming from the Latin for animal-yellow-small.
They are the coral's internal farm. You might say that the coral exploits them. More than 90% of the sugars they produce via photosynthesis is appropriated by the coral. The coral limits their growth by restricting their supply of nitrogen. Without nitrogen, the algae can't make more proteins and DNA, and thus can't make more algae. But they can keep on photosynthesizing, which they do far more rapidly than their relatives that live free in the water column. The coral sees to that by providing them with the raw materials they need: carbon dioxide, inorganic nutrients, and sunlight.
The corals need those sugars, in abundance. The sugars provide both carbon and energy. Although corals can capture even fast-swimming protists with their harpoon-armed tentacles, and although they can snag other small prey with their mucus nets, the clear waters of tropical coral reefs simply don't harbor enough potential prey. Besides, the corals need a lot of food in order to build their skeletons faster than the waves and the bioeroders wear them away. Also, a third of those sugars is used to produce the coral's protective surface mucus.
How do corals get their zooxanthellae? In some species, the females package zooxanthellae in the eggs-a guaranteed supply for the coral larva. In most species, the larvae have to get them for themselves, by eating them. The larvae digest most algae, but the right kinds for their farm are instead taken into their cells and put to work.
All the zooxanthellae look pretty much alike under the microscope, so it was thought that they were all one species. Recently, comparison of their DNA sequences revealed that they are a diverse lot, some found only with particular species of corals or in certain geographical regions, others being generalists. They have their preferences with respect to sunlight, too. Thus different kinds are found in corals at different depths, or even in different regions of the same coral head.
For a long time, the spectacular success of the corals was viewed as the work of this two-member team. But there are more microbial partners, and they will be the subject of a future post.
Merry Youle is a collaborator with Small Things Considered, a microbe blog that showcases an appreciation for the width and depth of microbiology. She spends her time reading, writing, researching, freelance editing, and constructing her owner-built house in a lava field on Mauna Loa, Hawaii.
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High in Antioxidants
Study conducted on rats revealed hibiscus extract increased the number of antioxidant enzymes and reduced the harmful effects of free radicals.
Another study on rats had similar findings, showing that parts of the hibiscus plant, such as the leaves, possess potent antioxidant properties.
May Lower Blood Pressure
Hibiscus tea had shown a decrease in systolic blood pressure during a study on people. Five other studies discovered that hibiscus tea decreased both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
Hibiscus may be seen as a safe and natural way to help lower blood pressure, though it is not recommended for those taking hydrochlorothiazide, a type of diuretic used to treat high blood pressure, as it may interact with the drug.
Cross Reference:
Hibiscus Flower Tea Benefits Research Reference
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (Korean Central News Agency /Reuters)
Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, is founder of the nonprofit Carter Center.
As the world knows, we face the strong possibility of another Korean war, with potentially devastating consequences to the Korean Peninsula, Japan, our outlying territories in the Pacific and perhaps the mainland of the United States. This is the most serious existing threat to world peace, and it is imperative that Pyongyang and Washington find some way to ease the escalating tension and reach a lasting, peaceful agreement.
What the officials have always demanded is direct talks with the United States, leading to a permanent peace treaty to replace the still-prevailing 1953 cease-fire that has failed to end the Korean conflict. They want an end to sanctions, a guarantee that there will be no military attack on a peaceful North Korea, and eventual normal relations between their country and the international community.
I have visited with people who were starving. Still today, millions suffer from famine and food insecurity and seem to be completely loyal to their top leader. They are probably the most isolated people on Earth and almost unanimously believe that their greatest threat is from a preemptory military attack by the United States.
The top priority of North Korea’s leaders is to preserve their regime and keep it as free as possible from outside control. They are largely immune from influence or pressure from outside. During the time of the current leader, Kim Jong Un, this immunity has also applied to China, whose leaders want to avoid a regime collapse in North Korea or having to contemplate a nuclear-armed Japan or South Korea.
Until now, severe economic sanctions have not prevented North Korea from developing a formidable and dedicated military force, including long-range nuclear missiles, utilizing a surprising level of scientific and technological capability. There is no remaining chance that it will agree to a total denuclearization, as it has seen what happened in a denuclearized Libya and assessed the doubtful status of U.S. adherence to the Iran nuclear agreement.
There have been a number of suggestions for resolving this crisis, including military strikes on North Korea’s nuclear facilities, more severe economic punishment, the forging of a protective nuclear agreement between China and North Korea similar to those between the United States and South Korea and Japan, a real enforcement of the Non- Proliferation Treaty by all nuclear weapons states not to expand their arsenals, and ending annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises.
All of these options are intended to dissuade or deter the leadership of a nation with long-range nuclear weapons — and that believes its existence is threatened — from taking steps to defend itself. None of them offer an immediate way to end the present crisis, because the Pyongyang government believes its survival is at stake. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's statement last week that "we have lines of communications to Pyongyang. We're not in a dark situation" is a good first step to defusing tensions.
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Does ADHD affect women differently?
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Women with ADHD often have different symptoms to men. This doesn't mean that fewer women have ADHD compared to men - it is a common misconception that men are more likely to have ADHD than women. This is not strictly true, as although women do not typically exhibit the hyperactivity and impulsiveness that can be associated with ADHD, this does not mean that they do not have it. The condition is sometimes mistaken for other mental health problems such as anxiety or depression in women.
Some of the symptoms typically linked to women with ADHD may include:
• Being disorganised, forgetful and possibly introverted / withdrawn.
• Zoning out or daydreaming.
• Anxiety, being more likely to get upset, or crying easily.
• Being intelligent but struggling with structured events like exams due to concentration issues.
• Being disorganised and messy, either with their environment and personal appearance.
• Being forgetful, jumping from one task to another, or difficulty time-keeping.
• Having a lot to say, interrupting, and doesn't reciprocate in a conversation by listening.
Why are the symptoms of ADHD different for women?
Symptoms for women can manifest in different ways that relate to the different societal expectations of boys and girls. Although society is changing to dispel these associations, typically boys are expected to be more outgoing and rambunctious, whereas girls are expected to be more reserved. In order to fit in and to avoid being seen as unusual, some girls are able to suppress their behaviours to be more inward-looking, displaying in ways that seem like shyness, daydreaming, or inattentiveness.
There are still some similarities between men and women with ADHD in that both can feel overwhelmed and exhausted by ADHD, and there is plenty of room for crossovers in symptoms. In some cases, while symptoms of ADHD may decrease during puberty for boys, it can have the opposite effect on girls and become worse or symptoms may even begin for the first time. ADHD can also become more challenging to cope during periods.
If you are concerned that you or someone you know may have symptoms of ADHD, get in touch with our team today.
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Raising Hand Hygiene Standards
Thursday 10th May 2018
For most people, hand washing is as routine as teeth brushing twice a day, but research has found that only five per cent of people actually wash their hands correctly.
With the average person having between two and 10 million bacteria between fingertip and elbow, hand washing is not something that should be ignored.
A Michigan State University Study found that whilst washroom users were likely to make use of hand washing facilities available, 95% of them didn't wash their hands adequately or for long enough to actually kill bacteria.
The study also found:
• People were more likely to wash their hands in the morning
• People were more likely to wash their hands if there was sign to remind them
• A lack of hand washing can lead to all sorts of health issues as well as absence from work and the spreading of bacteria, the correct washroom solution is essential in encouraging users to wash and dry their hands effectively.
foam soap dispenser and an intelligent paper towel dispenser, that keeps paper enclosed and increases efficiency, will urge washroom users to raise hand hygiene standards. Hygienic dispensing solutions provide a constant reminder that washing hands is not something that you can afford to skip.
Perfect your hand washing technique
• Wet your hands with running water and apply soap
• Rub your hands together and scrub them well. Scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails
• Continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds
• Rinse your hands under running water
• Dry your hands using a paper towel
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Home » Presentations » What We Don’t Know About Driveway Design
Presentation | 2013
What We Don’t Know About Driveway Design
NCHRP 15-35, Geometric Design of Driveways
Many years since comprehensive national guidelines for the geometric design of driveways
• Has been a growing emphasis on
• access management
• designing for pedestrians with disabilities.
Issues to Address
1. Plan-view connection transition design
1. Document the operational attributes of the curve radius and the flare/taper designs, and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each in various environments
2. Evaluate connection-transition dimensions (e.g., radius or flare size), width of the outer through lane, and driveway lane width to determine minimal acceptable dimensions
3. Determine at what connection-transition dimension and lane width entry speeds began to increase
4. Accommodating pedestrians and pedestrians with disabilities
2. Accommodating pedestrians and pedestrians with disabilities
1. Determine how the placement of the sidewalk relative to the edge of the traveled way affects safety and operations
2. Assess the degree to which driveway width affects pedestrian safety
3. Determine if 2% is the best value for sidewalk cross slope
4. Test effectiveness of treatments proposed to assist pedestrians with disabilities as they cross driveways
3. Truncated radius designs
1. Validate or refute the assumptions upon which these designs are predicated
4. Driveway-connection length
1. Rationale and dimensions for minimum throat lengths in various situations
2. Guidelines for the minimum length of paved connections for gravel and dirt driveways
5. Triangular islands to prohibit left-turns
1. Evaluate triangular pork-chop islands intended to restrict left-turn movements
6. Multiple exit lanes
1. Do side-by-side exit lanes at Stop-controlled driveways create problems?
7. Driveway divider-median widths
1. When does median become too wide?
8. Vertical alignment at driveway thresholds
1. How much vertical lip is acceptable, and under what conditions?
2. Evaluate increased gutter slopes.
9. Justification for multiple driveways
1. What combination of factors?
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Mandabi (1968) Ousmane Sembène
The first ever movie made in the Wolof Language, Mandabi, by Senegalese director Ousmane Sembene is considered a seminal work in the dream of creating a cinema about and for Africans.
1hr 31min | Movie, Drama | 1968
An unemployed Senegalese Muslim, Ibrahima Dieng, lives with his two wives and seven children in Dakar. His nephew, Abdou, sends him a money order from Paris worth 250 francs, which he has saved from working as a street sweeper. Ibrahima is to keep some of the money for himself, save a portion for his nephew, and give a portion to his sister.
However, Ibrahima faces numerous difficulties trying to obtain the money order. Not having an ID, Ibrahima must go through several levels of Senegalese bureaucracy to try to get one, only to fail after spending money he does not have. Meanwhile, neighbors come over asking for money and Ibrahima is further indebted. In the end, he is swindled by Mbaye, a Senegalese businessman, who promised to cash the money order for him. Mbaye sells Ibrahima’s house to a French man and steals the money order, saying that he was pickpocketed. The film leaves Ibrahima in debt and without a home. The film explores themes of neocolonialism, religion, corruption, and relationships in Senegalese society.
Ousmane Sembène was born in 1923 in southern Senegal. He chose not to follow the profession of his father, who was a fisherman and instead became a mechanic, then a mason, joined the French Army in 1942, and later became an active militant in the labor movement. In 1948, he left for France, where he worked as a longshoreman and helped to organize the African dock workers in Marseille. He published his first novel in 1956, Le Docker Noir, based on these experiences. Realizing that much of his target audience was illiterate, he decided to become a filmmaker and went to study in Moscow. Upon his return to Africa, Sembène began a long and illustrious career as a filmmaker.
He is often regarded as the “Father of African Cinema,” a title befitting the first African to make a fiction film distributed outside Africa, Borom Sarret (1963). His novels and films examine the many faces of a continent emerging from the colonial era, at grips with the tensions of independence and modernity. His work is an impassioned history of Africa’s political and social transformation throughout the 20th century.
Ousmane Sembène passed away in 2007 in Dakar, Senegal. After two short films, he wrote and directed his first feature, La Noire de… (1966)(Black Girl). Received with great enthusiasm at a number of international film festivals, it also won the prestigious Jean Vigo Prize for its director. Shot in a simple, quasi-documentary style probably influenced by the French New Wave, Black Girl tells the tragic story of a young Senegalese woman working as a maid for an affluent French family on the Riviera, focusing on her sense of isolation and growing despair. Her country may have been “decolonized,” but she is still a colonial — a non-person in the colonizers’ world. Sembene’s next film, Mandabi (1968) (The Money Order), marked a sharp departure. Based on his novel of the same name and shot in color in two language versions – French and Wolof, the main language of Senegal – The Money Order is a trenchant and often delightfully witty satire of the new bourgeoisie, torn between outmoded patriarchal traditions and an uncaring, rapacious and inefficient bureaucracy. Emitaï (1971) records the struggle of the Diola people of the Casamance region of Senegal (where Sembène grew up) against the French authorities during WWII. Shot in Diola and French from an original script, Emitaï offers a respectful and unromanticized depiction of an old culture, while highlighting the role of women in the struggle against colonialist oppression. In Xala (1975), Sembène again takes on the native bourgeoisie, this time in the person of a rich, partially Westernized Muslim businessman afflicted by “xala” (impotence) on the night of his wedding to a much younger third wife.
Many of Sembène’s other films deal with the themes explored in the aforementioned films and have inspired generations of African and diaspora filmmakers. Ousmane Sembène passed away in June 2007 at the age of 84 in Dakar, Senegal.
Borom Sarret (1963)
The Songhay Empire / L’Empire Songhaï (1963)
Niaye (1964)
Black Girl / La Noire de… (1966)
Mandabi / The Money Order (1968)
Polygamie [Traumatisme de la femme face à la polygamie] (1969)
Employment Problem [Problème de l’emploi/Les Dérives du chômage] (1969)
Taaw (1970)
Emitaï (1971)
Olympic Games in Munich [Jeux Olympiques de Munich/L’Afrique aux Olympiades, Basket africain aux J.O. de Munich, RFA] (1971)
Xala / The Curse (1974)
Ceddo (1977)
Camp de Thiaroye (1987)
Guelwaar (1992)
Faat Kiné (2000)
Moolaadé (2004)
Halal Tourism: The Muslim Traveller's Guide to Granada is an immersive and fun way to explore historic and present-day Muslim Granada
Malika-e-Noor is a young Pakistani footballer hailing from the Karakorum mountains on the outskirts of Islamabad. This 2017 documentary highlights the difficulties facing young female footballers in Pakistan and the irrepressible spirit with which they pursue their sport.
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India VS England
India and England both have rich, glorious histories. In today’s India VS England blog title, I will discuss the current situation by comparing the two countries.
India is the largest democracy in South Asia, officially the Republic of India. It is the largest in South Asia in terms of geographical size. On the other hand, India is the seventh largest country in the world. In terms of population, this country is the second most populous country in the world and the largest democracy in the world. Pakistan is located on the western border of India and China, Nepal and Bhutan are located on the northeast. Bangladesh and Myanmar are located east of India. There are also Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia in the Indian Ocean. Surrounded by the Indian Ocean to the south, the Arabian Sea to the west, and the Bay of Bengal to the east, the combined length of the Indian coastline is 7,517 km (4,671 miles).
Inside Indian history
From time immemorial, the Indian subcontinent has been in the spotlight of other nations of the world for its economic prosperity and cultural heritage. The historical Indus Civilization developed in this region and lasted for many years.
Multiple giant empires were established here in different periods of history. It is known from history that various famous trade routes maintained trade and cultural relations of this region with other civilizations of the world. India is the birthplace of these four world religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.
In the first millennium AD, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam entered the country and made a significant impact on Indian culture. From the first half of the eighteenth century, the British East India Company was gradually able to bring most of the Indian Territory under its control. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the country became a full-fledged British colony. Then, after a long struggle for independence, India emerged as an independent state in 1947. With the enactment of the Constitution in 1950, India became a sovereign democratic republic.
Present India
India is currently the largest democracy in the world with a parliamentary republic with 28 states and 8 union territories. The Indian economy is the twelfth largest in the world in terms of market exchange rates and the fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity. Today, India is the second fastest growing economy in the world in terms of economic growth as a result of the fiscal reform policy adopted by the Government of India in 1991. However, extreme poverty, illiteracy and malnutrition are still major problems in India. Culturally, India is a multi-religious, multilingual, and multinational country. The diversity of wildlife and flora is also observed in this country.
England is a developed country in the United Kingdom. The country is bordered by Wales to the west, Scotland to the north, the Irish Sea to the northwest, and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. The North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south have separated England from the mainland of Europe. Its population is 83% of the total population of the United Kingdom and the country consists of two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and more than a hundred small islands. London, the capital of England, is one of the largest cities and economic centers in Europe.
England, rich in knowledge and science, has ruled many countries in the world. People all over the world are eager to live in this dream country. The tremendous progress of this country in the field of education and medical sector surprised all the states of the world.
England has made significant contributions to world sports. This country is the origin of many games. Football and cricket are especially popular here. Lord’s Cricket Ground is globally known as the home of cricket.
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About the Author: K.Homer
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Smallest horse in the world
The horse is a symbol of speed. There was a time when horse racing would bring speed to every life. Horses are royal animals. The power of this royal species is manifested in their speed of running. We are basically aware of large breeds of horses. But there are some rare horse breeds in the world that are very small, beautiful and expensive. The smallest horse in the record is Einstein.
Thumbelina is another one who is hold the record of smallest horse in the world.The smallest horse is Thumbilina, who sadly died in 2018.
Small breed of horse
Horses are in a variety of colors and sizes. Some are huge sized like
Clydesdales that pull grand carriages and others can be relatively small.
On the other hand, a few smaller breeds of horses may not be large enough to move speedily, they can make for great companions.
How is a Small Horse Breed named?
A horse is named small breed when it stands 20-57 inches or 5-14.25 hands in horse measurements — from the ground to its wither.
I have listed here the names of 12 horse breeds which are small horse breeds.
1. Shetland Pony
2. Miniature Horse
3. Icelandic Horse
4. Noma Pony
5. Fjord Horse
6. Haflinger
7. Falabella
8. Yonaguni Horse
9. Class B Kentucky Mountain Horses
10. Guoxia
11. Pony of the Americas
12. American Quarter Pony
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About the Author: K.Homer
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An e-bike is a bike with an integrated electric motor offering the rider assistance. You control your speed with your feet like a regular bike, but when you push the pedals on an e-bike, a small motor engages and gives you a boost. Assistance can be delivered in two ways:
1. Hub assistance — power is sent to a wheel hub for help.
2. Pedelec — the power assistance is relative to the amount of energy the rider is putting into the pedals.
Is riding an e-bike cheating?
One of the most common misconceptions is that e-bikes are ‘cheating’. In fact, there is little evidence to support this claim. Because cycling is more accessible on an e-bike, studies show that many users get more exercise than those who ride regular bikes and are less likely to drive a car or catch public transport. Many e-bike riders also ride traditional bicycles which result in higher weekly activity levels than their non-electric counterparts.
Are e-bikes good for the environment?
With a growing need to reduce congestion on our roads and promote alternative modes of transport, battery electric vehicles (BEV) are presenting themselves as the go-to option. The emissions produced through the manufacturing process of e-bikes and batteries are substantially offset by other environmental benefits, including vastly reduced energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The negative effects of these processes are insignificant compared to the excavation and manufacturing processes of traditional gas cars, trucks, and even larger electric vehicles.
Are e-bikes a good fit for everyone?
E-bikes are now being made for all riding styles. There is an e-bike for everyone, and they are more affordable than ever. For people affected by illness or impaired by other health conditions, the introduction of the e-bike has been a lifesaver. The added power makes carrying a load or going uphill doable. Trends in Europe show that e-cargo bike sales grew by 60% in 2019, boosted by the inclusion of cargo e-bikes into the FedEx and UPS fleet. Not only is this good for the industry, but it could mean one less delivery truck on the road.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I buy an e-bike?
There are plenty of great reasons to buy an e-bike. Offering many of the same benefits as traditional bicycles, e-bikes help reduce the cost and environmental impact of transport, improve well-being, and strengthen community connectivity. However, for riders, the real advantage of an e-bike is the ability to climb hills or fight headwinds with ease, while providing the capability to ride longer and further. With motor assistance, you can easily commute without breaking a sweat, so you can dismount and continue straight into the office or coffee shop without the need to shower or change. E-bikes are also a great option for people who want to get into riding but feel they can’t due to fitness or health challenges.
How is it powered?
Battery packs are connected to the bike via the frame tubes or pack rack, and can be charged in conventional power points over a couple of hours. Most e-bikes have a range between 50-120km on a single charge. Lithium-ion batteries can absorb between 500-800 charging cycles before performance reduces.
What are the rules with e-bikes?
You can travel on any roads and paths unless signage states otherwise. A pedelec bicycle is only powered when the rider turns the pedals, and the assistance cuts out at 25km/h. These e-bikes can generate 250 watts of power and fall into the European (EU) standard (EN 15194). If the e-bike exceeds these regulations, it is considered a motor vehicle and regulated by standard road rules. The EU standard must be recognised on the bike to show that it complies. If the motor is the primary power source, you cannot use it on roads or paths.
How fast will they go?
To be ridden on all roads and paths in Queensland, e-bikes must be speed limited to 25km/h. This means, once the rider reaches 25km/h the electrical assistance will cut out completely. However, the rider may continue to pedal without electrical assistance or if the battery is flat.
What type of e-bike is right for me?
Due to the popularity and innovation in the e-bike sector, there are many different categories of e-bikes. To make sure you chose the right e-bike for you, determine the primary purpose of the e-bike before choosing a style of e-bike. To help make this easier check out our quick quiz that will help you identify which type of e-bike suits you best.
Why ride an e-bike?
We sat down with Jake, Jill and Simon to get an insight into their e-bike journeys and how it’s impacting their lives. From commuting to mountain biking, they explain how e-bikes are changing how they travel, saving them thousands and reducing their carbon footprint. If you’re thinking of buying an e-bike, this is a must watch!
Simon’s Story
It is amazing how a simple change can make a big impact. My wife rides an e-bike (she doesn’t drive anymore). She suggested if I get one, then we could drastically reduce our car usage. Remember, we aren’t the lycra brigade — I am an overweight middle-aged male — so biking isn’t an obvious choice for commuting. So far, in just under five months, I have done 1500km on the e-bike. Most of it locally (within a 5-8km radius) and commuting to the city occasionally. That’s trips to go grocery shopping, outings (e.g. coffee shop), medical appointments etc. All things you tend to do close to home.
Eleven months later, I am still thoroughly enjoying the use of my e-bike. I even took it last week up to Tewantin/Noosa and used the e-Bike for trips to the beach, the RSL for dinner (yes, they had a bike rack in the car park!), general sightseeing and more. The experience is going well, and I thought I’d show you the benefits through some numbers and stats.
Simon English riding his e-bike
Simon's e-bike journey
How my e-bike use stacks up against using my car?
e-Bike UseCar Use
11 months11 months
Distance Travelled – 4306kmDistance Travelled – 4306km
Electricity charging costs — $0 because I have PV (solar) and a home batteryFuel Consumption (L/100km) – 18 with an average price of petrol at $1.6/L.
Maintenance — approx. $300 (I live on some big hills, so I’ve already been through a set of brake pads, and I managed to break a couple of spokes — long story…)C02 Emissions (g/km) – 260
CO2 savings — 1.12 Tonnes
Fuel Savings — $1240
The above data is based on my car alternative, a 2007 Petrol Toyota Prado. Visit the Australian Governments Fuel cost and CO2 calculator to find out what your total fuel cost and CO2 Emissions are.
Want to test your e-bike on one of Queensland’s most iconic rides? Join this year’s Downer Brisbane to Gold Coast Cycle Challenge.
Proudly supported by the Queensland Government |
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The Benefits of Empathy
When was the last time you sat alongside someone you didn’t know? Someone who had a story that was completely different to yours, or whose background was a stark contrast to your own?
We live in a world of such diversity and culture that one would think that every day in the world was an adventure and that every person we met was a new experience. In an ideal (or open-minded) environment people’s differences are embraced. However, there are still many cases where differences are rejected. Sometimes this is a result of deliberate hostility and ignorance and most times a result of fear, institutionalization and the desire to maintain a comfortable mindset.
Because of the human obsession with categories and differentiation we habitually place people in boxes which we often accept as true and allow these stereotypes to drive our interaction with the people we share an existence with. The more we separate ourselves from people and continue to accept the ‘us and them’ dynamic, the least receptive we become to others and (because the world is too diverse for us to avoid people from different backgrounds) the more negative our social connections become.
Admittedly, it might be more challenging for people from traditional backgrounds to accept the ideals of those from seemingly opposing backgrounds, but developing an open-mind and empathetic spirit is immensely more beneficial to our wellbeing than simply accepting the dividing lines.
Here is why:
1. Makes you happier
We’re all having the human experience, no matter what our background; we’re all experiencing a physiological and psychological existence that is only separated by circumstances. We are all thinking and feeling individuals who grapple with similar emotional concerns.
We only get to know this when we take an approach of understanding to our daily interactions. Everyone has a story. The man on the street, that bumped your coffee because he was in a hurry to get to his first interview in months, has a story. The cashier, who didn’t give you a smile and quality service because she was too concerned about how she would come up with the money to pay for her three-year-old daughter’s hospital bill, has a story. The business man, who lashed out at you because, after a lifetime of being shot down by his own father, this is the only way he has learned to deal with anything, has a story.
To extend this kind of understanding to others before judging them by their physical and socioeconomic circumstances is not only helpful to them, but also to you.
In this way you suppress feelings of hostility or distrust that may automatically arise from years of stereotypical mental conditioning and avoid being confronted/affected by negative social connections.
Your mind is opened and sympathetic to the daily lives of others, and because we are all sharing the same experience, it is easier, as a human being, to understand the plight of another.
You’re happier in the sense that you don’t take negative interactions personally.
You’re happier in the sense that you are able to embrace the differences you share with others while appreciating your similarities.
You’re happier in the sense that you’re able to meet people on a level of understanding, meaning that your social interactions are more amiable and less apprehensive.
2. Makes you healthier
A new study published in Psychological Science has come up with results that show a direct link between health, positive emotions and positive social connections. Participants of a study by researcher Barbara Fredrickson and others were made to take part in Loving-Kindness Meditation, daily contemplative exercises where each participant focuses on generating feelings of love, compassion, and goodwill toward themselves and others.
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What was observed in participants, who self-generated positive emotions through thoughts of compassion and then went out and had positive social experiences, was that they experienced an increase in vagal tone.
Vagal tone reflects the functioning of the vagus nerve, the primary component of the parasympathetic nervous system which regulates heart rate to signals of safety and interest. While a low vagal tone is linked to high inflammation, an increased vagal tone is linked to fewer colds, reduced inflammation and less cardiovascular disease.
So essentially, people who experience warm, upbeat emotions live longer and healthier lives. Just by practicing a mindset of compassion, you expose yourself to the same kind of benefits one gets out of exercise and eating healthy.
3. Makes you smarter
Compassion begins with having an open mind. Spending time and having meaningful discourse with others from different backgrounds is somewhat of a mental exercise. Speaking to others who challenge your own perceptions increases your knowledge of the world; of culture, keeping your mind sharp.
Consider this: You meet people from your background, who you relate to easily because their story is so similar to yours. You don’t deviate from this group of people because they represent, confirm and compliment everything that you are. How much more do you learn about the world every day from this group of people who are exactly like you?
Being positive may not necessarily increase your I.Q, but being open-mined and compassionate will certainly increase your emotional intelligence, which is just as important.
How do you cultivate compassion?
Keep an open mind – allow each interaction you encounter to start on a blank canvas. Instead of judging the person from what you’ve previously heard about ‘their kind’, be genuinely interested in who they are.
Meditate – Self-generate feelings of positivity by setting aside time daily (whether it is 5 minutes or an hour) to remind yourself that people are not that much different than you are. Meditate on kindness and understanding.
Practice Empathy – You will encounter trying or uncomfortable social circumstances. Take a moment to empathize with the person. Remember that just like you, they have something that they’re dealing with, but might be just a bit more overwhelmed by it. If you cannot comfort them, move on, but don’t allow their emotions to upset yours. Don’t take everything personally – most of the time, it’s not about you but what they’re going through.
Compassion is a life exercise; its effects stretch much farther than the action of it and have a way of weaving more emotional and physical profits than one would anticipate. Extend your kindness because you understand daily struggle, and also maintain your peace because you understand daily struggle.
tlmntim9 on September 11, 2013:
Understanding and recognizing an evil is not hate, it is reality. You have spun a wordy and intellectually sounding collection of complete and total nonsense. Bravo!
MaryBeth Walz from Maine on September 11, 2013:
What a truly wonderful Hub! I just commented to some very ignorant and prejudiced souls about their ignorance of Islam the last few days. It's amazing - albeit understandable - how such people spew such hate. Our brain is amazing, but due to the overwhelming amount of data it receives every minute, it automatically needs to categorize that input. Thus, it is a lot of effort to break that data into individual pieces that can be analyzed differently. It's very possible to do, but the person needs to feel the effort is worth it. Having traveled as a kid, when my mind was still so fertile, my brain just accepted these differences with great interest. But what's easy for me will not be easy for others. So my greatest challenge is always "empathizing" with the people who don't show empathy.
Voted up and shared!
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Are potato eyes poisonous?
In this short article, we will provide an answer to the question “Are potato eyes poisonous?” and the information on protecting potatoes from sprouting.
Are potato eyes poisonous?
Yes, The eyes of potatoes contain a poisonous substance. Potato eyeballs are toxic to humans because they contain the poisonous chemical solanine, and they should be avoided even in little doses. As a result of the high concentration of solanine found in the skin and sprouts, solanine can cause headaches as well as stomach troubles and vomiting. Sprouts should be removed from the dish before cooking.
Potatoes contain chaconine, a type of glycoalkaloids that can be found in the stem, sprouts, and leaves, among other places. Green potatoes contain significantly larger levels of solanine compounds than non-green potatoes. It has the potential to create problems with the digestive system, the nervous system, and the kidneys, among other things.
Is it feasible to remove solanine?
Boiling will not eliminate solanine from the body. When you fry a potato, the solanine in the potato is destroyed, so the potato is no longer edible. It is not fatal if you take up to 5g per day per kilogram of body weight, even though solanine should be avoided at all costs.
What is the most effective method of planting sprouting potatoes?
Wait until the potato sprouts before planting the sprouted potato into the soil to ensure that it grows well in the future. The term “chitting” refers to the process of sprouting potatoes.
You can plant a potato or a piece of potato with one or two eyes, depending on your preference. For the sprouts to take root, they require a portion of the potato or the full potato. During the formation of the sprout’s roots and subsequent photosynthesis, the sprout turns green and begins to produce food for the organism.
Is it possible to eat potato sprouts in their raw form?
Potato sprouts are not edible due to the presence of dangerous elements in them; therefore, they are not a healthy option for you. If your potatoes have sprouted, don’t discard them; instead, remove the sprouts and use the potatoes in your cooking. It will not cause any harm to you.
In the presence of sprouts, the starch in non-potatoes is converted to sugar, lowering their nutritional value and rendering the majority of potato parts inedible. When the sprouts get more potent, refrain from eating them anymore.
How to prevent potatoes from sprouting?
Keeping potatoes in a cool environment will help to prevent them from sprouting. Potatoes should be kept at a lower temperature to preserve their quality. Potatoes should be stored at a temperature ranging from 45°F to 50°F during their shelf life. Potatoes can also be stored at temperatures ranging from 38 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit.
To ensure that the temperature is maintained during the duration of storage, Temperature changes can cause sprouting or rotting in potatoes, depending on the variety. If potatoes are stored below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, they can be utilized within 6 to 8 months of being harvested. The potatoes should be used within three to four months if they are stored at a temperature above 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
When storing potatoes, they should be kept in a cool, dry atmosphere and should not be washed before storing. When you wash potatoes before cooking them, you are adding moisture to the potatoes, which may cause them to decay faster than they would have otherwise. If potatoes are stored in an excessively dry atmosphere, they will shrivel.
If this occurs, place the potato in a moist area until the problem is resolved. Make certain that the storage facility is well ventilated to avoid degradation.
Baskets or cotton bags can be used to keep them until they are needed. To prevent rotting and sprouting in your product, you should avoid using plastic bags for storing it. Plastic can retain moisture, causing the degradation of your product. instead of solid material, go for a perforated material that allows air to readily pass through it When it comes to storing potatoes, cotton boxes, cotton bags, and hardwood crates are the finest options.
Potatoes should be stored in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. Basements, cabinets, and garages are all good places to keep them. Your product may develop and decay as a result of exposure to light. The production of solanine, which is harmful if swallowed, is also a result of this enzyme’s activity. You should avoid consuming it if you notice green skin on your body because it is incredibly hazardous.
Avoid storing them near large appliances such as the refrigerator and stove, and keep them out of the cabinet beneath the sink as much as possible. It’s possible that storing potatoes in this location will cause them to go bad.
Potatoes should be stored separately from other products such as onions, apples, pears, bananas, and other fruits. These fruits can begin to sprout in the potatoes if they are kept warm. An apple ripens and releases ethylene gas, which may induce the potato to sprout if it is planted too close to it. Potatoes can soften apples.
Herbs such as rosemary, lavender, and sage can be kept as houseplants. Potatoes are protected from rot and sprouting by the use of these plants.
The use of essential oils such as spearmint or peppermint can help prevent potatoes from sprouting. Soak the bottler paper in water for a few minutes before inserting it into the potato canister. It can prevent the sprouting of potatoes in certain situations. The use of this product should not be in a metal container. It will last for approximately 2 to 3 weeks. The use of clove oil at home is discouraged since it requires a thermal or aerosol application.
In this short article, we provided an answer to the question “Are potato eyes poisonous?” and the information on protecting potatoes from sprouting
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Plant propagation for beginners
Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants through a variety of sources. There are many benefits to propagation and it is not difficult depending on the plant. The different ways to propagate plants include rhizome division, tuber division, stem cuttings and water propagation.
Some of the benefits of propagation include :
Gardening methods
It is a good way to save money as you can often end up spending a lot of money on plants and seedlings in any garden centre. It is also a quick and easy way to populate and establish any garden. Propagating plants can also be good as it can make for an excellent gift for a friend or family as a birthday present or house warming gift.
Supply of plants
Majority of plants have slow growth and germination periods. You may always have your favourite plants flowering and growing in your garden if you plan ahead and propagate them. Planting cuttings or removing and replanting shoots also allows you to start new plants and trees. By allowing blooms to go to seed increases the likelihood of the plants returning the following year.
Plant extinction
While many people understand the necessity of maintaining endangered animal species, endangered plants receive significantly less attention. Although most home gardeners are unlikely to help in propagating endangered plants, it is an important consideration for many botanists and environmentalists.
Plants may face extinction for a variety of reasons, including climate change, habitat loss due to development or invasive species, or pollinator extinction or migration.
One of the easiest ways to propagate plants is by stem cutting. Some of the easiest plants to propagate include pothos, snake plant, spider plant, etc. |
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Children's Dictionary
hail1 to welcome or greet. [4 definitions]
hairdo the style or shape in which hair is arranged.
hairstyle a particular way that a person wears their hair, or a particular way that is or was in fashion at one time.
hairy covered with or having a lot of hair.
halfhearted done with or showing little interest or enthusiasm.
half time the rest period between the two halves of football and basketball games and certain other sports events.
halfway to or at the middle point between two ends or conditions. [4 definitions]
halibut a flatfish that lives in the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Halibut are used for food.
hall a narrow passageway in a building; corridor. [3 definitions] |
Painting of Mona Lisa
Category: Culture
Date added
Pages: 2
Words: 730
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A painting which doesn’t have words but can explain everything just by a view of the true artist. One of the most beautiful works in history is a painting of Mona Lisa by Leonardo in the city Florence between 1503 and 1505. Mona Lisa was beautiful wife of Francesco del Gioconda, but Leonardo never gives the portrait to Francesco. Instead, he kept it with himself. They are the much more profound meaning of the painting some say it is the female version of the artist himself, and other were searching some hidden images in the art. Till now Mona Lisa painting is admired by many people as it shows true simplify and uniqueness. The picture attracts people because it is a real and beautiful piece of art in which the expression of women’s face clearly explained impressively.
The most beautiful, clear representing of oil painting is Mona Lisa. The technique used by the artist in his painting is almost invisible and changing one color to another so smoothly in “A Great Work of Art” by Petronius Arbiter, he states “invests the picture with that perennial lifting power.” The evident throughout the painting, the soft coloring used on Mona Lisa’s around the eyes and mouth.
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The portrait face expression and the color used shows the calmness which leads to the mystery. Also, he says, “The women’s eyebrows appear almost nonexistent, and she resonates of a fleshy. Which seems that the portrait is looking directly to the viewer. Her hands were slightly unreal, almost sounds like lifeless or it belonged to a different body. The smile and dark eye which can capture so many people together and the painting has an apparent ability to make people think that Mona Lisa painting was done with the feeling of being a woman by the artist.
Another technique of the painting which can be identified by analyzing that the portrait on the landscape. The landscape can be seen throughout the hair and clothing are emulated in the waves of the scene and the curves in the river and the hills behind Lisa. She is seating in the mid as it can be shown as pillars are appearing on either side of her and vast landscape out towards an icy mountain range. The painting of the Mona Lisa indicates that the world filled with beauty such as mountains, beautiful roads in the background. The picture is made up of three triangles. The left top corner shaded darker than the other hole which indicates the trouble or decision and on the other hand the top side corner is lighter which shows the clear or straight path. The artist had created a masterpiece by creating a balance in the painting with symmetry and beautiful color usage.
The subject’s expression, create an illusionism atmosphere amongst the audiences which provokes them to understand and do the study of this beautiful work. However, the artist creates a sense of distance between Mona Lisa and the audience or the armchair on which she rests. Except for the face, everything around her is dark which bring the attention directly to the front and make it the center of attraction. Moreover, the beauty of her expression which draws the focus of light on her but, it can immediately contrasted with the distance.
The question arises with such grace is just that is the portrait described as same the person or opposite. Whatever the painting shows may be is not real because it is showing as what the artist wants to show the beauty of the outside of the person, but we are not able to see the inner beauty by the painting. Only the landscape behind her created which can be seen by the detail of her mouth and famous smile.
Everyone for decades is working on the theories as the painting still exist and in good condition. All the artist is still trying to figure the sign of the smile in the portrait. The picture has been a mystery for the years and will remain for the rest of the life. The smile of Mona Lisa is seen differently by everyone and had a different meaning to every different viewer. Even the science has no answer for the special relations that personal pick for the smile on them. Margaret Livingstone, a professor at Harvard, claims that the painting is the most effective when viewed peripherally.
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Research Highlights
Research Highlights
Genetic Markers Improve Development of Chloride-Tolerant Soybean Varieties
By Laura Temple
Salts in irrigation water, soil types and soil drainage in Arkansas combine to make salt stress a challenge in many soybean fields. As the crop uses water, salt minerals build up in the soil and the plants themselves.
“Based on how soybeans handle salts, it appears that chloride is the main culprit behind this stress,” says Dr. Ken Korth, professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. “Farmers need soybean varieties that can tolerate chloride.”
Work in Korth’s lab measured how salt negatively impacts chloride-sensitive soybeans.
“Chloride stress reduces photosynthesis in soybeans,” he explains. “This physiological stress can occur well before visible signs appear. Eventually symptoms will mimic drought stress, and the plant dies.”
The rate of photosynthesis, as measured by CO2 exchange, differs significantly between chloride-sensitive (right) and chloride-tolerant (left) soybeans. Measurements were taken at the V1 stage from leaves showing no damage after 7 days of exposure to salt water. Source: Ken Korth, University of Arkansas – Division of Agriculture
Korth is working closely with the University of Arkansas Soybean Breeding Program to identify genes that help soybeans tolerate chloride. The Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board supports this research to provide farmers access to an improved selection of soybean varieties with chloride tolerance.
“The checkoff invests in research to keep soybean farmers on the leading edge,” says Doug Hartz, a professional farm manager based in Stuttgart and member of the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board. “As a board, we fund practical independent research that addresses challenges we are seeing in producers’ fields to improve their operations.”
Exploring variability in chloride tolerance
Previous work identified a single gene, called GmSalt3, as the primary determiner of salt tolerance in soybeans. Its presence allows soybean roots to pump out, or exclude, chloride from the plant. These salt-tolerant lines are labeled “excluders.” Its absence means that soybean roots absorb chlorides, causing photosynthesis reduction and other damage. These salt-sensitive soybean lines are labeled “includers.”
However, ongoing research has found substantial variation in chloride tolerance within some soybean varieties and populations. Those lines are considered “mixed,” and Korth’s current work focuses on determining if other genes also influence chloride tolerance. Identifying markers for these genes would arm soybean breeders with additional knowledge and genetic material to develop chloride-tolerant varieties.
“It appears that other genes either create synergy with GmSalt3 to improve chloride tolerance, or they may interfere with its function, reducing tolerance,” Korth says. “We want to learn what genes or DNA segments contribute to chloride tolerance, because as minerals continue to build up in our fields over time, more tolerance is better.”
10-day time-lapse shows how “excluders” and “includers” typically respond to salt stress.
Source: Ken Korth, University of Arkansas – Division of Agriculture
To determine what other genetics may be involved in chloride tolerance, the Soybean Breeding Program crossed a known “excluder” with a known “includer” to create a variety of mixed seeds for Korth’s team to test. They grow out those seeds in the greenhouse, treating them with salt water and recording salt sensitivity results. Then they share the results with the breeding program. Mapping the genetics of specific crosses, correlated to chloride tolerance levels supports identification of quantitative trait locus (QTL), or specific regions on chromosomes where genes influence chloride tolerance are located. This allows breeders to see existing known markers and identify potential markers that can be associated with improved tolerance in the same genomic region.
“As our understanding of chloride tolerance in soybeans grows, so will our ability to provide better soybean varieties for farmers to choose from,” Korth says. “Farmers will be able to select the best-performing salt-tolerant varieties for the fields where they are most needed.”
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Traffic accidents when travelling
Reading time: 2 min
Every year there are more than a million road deaths around the world. The majority of deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Traffic accidents are the main cause of death amongst travellers. It is estimated that around 25,000 of the deaths caused by road accidents are tourists.
It should be remembered that traffic rules are not always applied in all countries and that, in some areas, there may be significant deficits in the quality of roads or other conditions (traffic signals, lighting, pavements, etc.).
There are often different kinds of vehicles on the same road: motorised vehicles of all kinds, vehicles pulled by animals, bicycles, as well as pedestrians.
Furthermore, if there is an accident, medical attention may be inadequate due to difficulties in quickly reaching a well-equipped medical centre.
Travellers must take certain measures to minimise the risk of being a victim, or of being involved in a traffic accident. Both drivers and pedestrians must be well informed and act prudently.
Car in a circle
Find out about local traffic regulations, vehicle maintenance and the condition of the roads. It is also important to learn about unofficial rules, for example in some places the horn is sounded or lights are flashed before going forward.
Check the car with a magnifying glass
Before renting a vehicle, you are advised to check the condition of the wheels, seatbelts, spare wheels, lights, brakes, etc.
Car and glass of alcohol crossed out
Take the usual precautions. Do not drive under the effects of alcohol or other toxic substances, respect speed limits, wear a seatbelt (when available). Furthermore, you are advised to avoid unfamiliar or unlit roads, avoid riding a motorbike and to take care with wandering animals.
All travellers who are planning to drive a vehicle abroad must take their driving license and international driving permit, and should also have medical insurance that covers the potential damages of an accident.
The donations that can be done through this webpage are exclusively for the benefit of Hospital Clínic of Barcelona through Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica and not for BBVA Foundation, entity that collaborates with the project of PortalClínic.
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Variable Rate
A variable interest rate, otherwise known as a floating rate or adjustable rate, is an interest rate that may fluctuate over the course of the loan, credit card, or mortgage term. Whether the rate increases or decreases is based on the current financial markets.
What Is A Variable Rate?
Variable interest rate (or adjustable or floating interest rate) is an interest rate on a loan or credit card that changes. The variable interest rate changes over time because it is based on an underlying benchmark interest rate or index that changes periodically. This means that an array of factors can influence your interest rate. The most important factors are:
• The economy
• Inflation
• Stock market conditions
• International borrowings
• Fiscal deficit and government borrowing
At a first glance, it might seem complicated — but it isn’t. If the economy is strong, lending standards follow suit. This causes potential rises in interest rates. If there is a lot of international debt leading to fiscal deficit and inflation, interest rates will decrease. This will ultimately lower an individual’s ability to both buy and pay for goods.
These are the factors that influence the exact percentage of variable rate. Variable rate usually changes over three, six, or 12 months, depending on your deal and your lender. Variable interest rate normally changes based on a reference rate. The most common is the LIBOR — London Interbank Offered Rate. This anagram is what you should remember and pay attention to, since it represents the changing percentage.
Let’s say that you are taking the loan, and at the moment the LIBOR stands at 3%. Besides LIBOR, one more percentage depends on your lender. Let’s say that the terms of your loan, defined by the lender, for a 12-month period are equal to LIBOR plus an additional 3%. It means that you will pay the rate of 6% on your loan.
Since this is a variable rate, after the 12-month period LIBOR can change. If LIBOR decreases to 2%, you will pay 2+3%, instead of 3+3% as last year. Variable rates aren’t unusual. It’s quite the opposite. It is the standard in many countries worldwide. And, in the US, adjustable rate mortgage loans are much more common than fixed-rate loans.
Should I Take A Fixed Or Variable Interest Rate Loan?
The decision mostly depends on the specifications of your loan. You will also want to consider the current state of the economy.
You will want to both see historical LIBOR data and analyze the current situation. If LIBOR is currently low and has been that way for some time, then it can seem promising to opt for variable rate. Especially if you are taking a relatively small loan.
It is more secure to take out a loan with a static rate. That way you will avoid any potential rate changes that could affect your loan conditions. These changes could be positive, but may also prove very costly in terms of interest.
If you believe that you can avoid high interest by taking an adjustable rate, your decision should be based on the facts. If you prefer security and transparency, it’s better to keep things simple and opt for the fixed rate.
What Should I Do When Considering A Variable Rate Loan?
Even though you cannot influence LIBOR, you can inform yourself. That way it will be easier to decide whether to opt for a fixed rate or adjustable rate.
First, figure out your expenses. Now, with expenses in mind, decide which interest rate option best suits your goals and then decide whether to opt for a fixed or variable rate.
When taking out a loan you should discuss all the details with your lender. Visit our FAQ and blog to inform yourself of all options. Remember that both rates have two parts: LIBOR (which you can’t change) and percentage that you agree to, set by your lender.
If you opt for a fixed rate loan, you’ll have the same interest percentage the whole repayment period. But, if you opt for an adjustable rate, your rate percentage will vary periodically — potentially going down, lowering your rate.
The cash you need at ninja speed. |
sustainable healthcare and mental health links
Mental health and sustainable healthcare
Turns out it's a vastly under-researched and under-reported topic. We know that air pollution affects the lungs. But such pollution also affects every bodily system, including the brain.
And then there's stress: Stress of coping with a changing climate, stress of living near fracking operations, stress of fighting for clean air and water, stress of wondering whether living in a particular house or neighborhood hurts the health of your kids.
All that has an impact on mental health, too.
Mental health & healthcare: An unlikely pairing
What sort of connection, I wondered, exists between our mental health and efforts to make healthcare more sustainable and healthy?
It's an unlikely pairing, I'll admit: I can't say, for instance, how efforts by my local hospital to reduce plastic affect my mental health.
But that kind of thinking on pollution and mental health has left a collective blind spot, our reporting team found. And I wondered if something similar existed on healthcare.
It’s common for people in fracked communities to experience "worry, anxiety, and depression about lifestyle, health, safety, and financial security," a literature review on fracking and mental health reported. “Entire communities can experience collective trauma as a result of the boom/bust cycle that often occurs when industries impinge on community life."
'Stress creates its own health impacts'
A lead author of a Pennsylvania fracking study relayed a story about a community member who suddenly understood, after fracking moved in, why sleep deprivation is used as a torture technique.
"That kind of stress creates its own health impacts," the researcher told our reporter. "When we document that someone has a headache, for example, is that because of a chemical exposure or because they haven't slept and their neighbors don't trust them anymore?"
So when I searched our databases for news stories about sustainability and either healthcare or mental health, I was pleasantly surprised to find nearly 33,000 stories in the last month.
More than one third – 22,000 – focused on healthcare and sustainability. About 10,500 focused on mental health.
Shared themes and concepts
Mental health and healthcare sustainability reportingMental health and sustainable healthcare
The real shock came when our AI software mapped a representative sample of 2,869 of those stories.
They were all clustered in a tight circle, suggesting a number of shared themes and concepts.
The screengrab above shows all 2,800 stories, sorted by our software into thematic, color-coded clusters, with lines connecting related stories.
Connections with healthcare
sustainability and mental health reporting
Stories focusing specifically on mental health, highlighted in the above screengrab, sit clustered in the southern hemisphere.
But they're not islands: Many of the mental health clusters spider into and connect with healthcare clusters.
Links to plastic pollution, climate action
mental health plastic climate links
This screengrab highlights one such cluster – stories focusing on mental health research. Notice how the links stretch up and out to touch on clusters focused on plastic pollution, climate action and universal health coverage? That's an encouraging sign.
DEHP and mental health?
I'm not one to say where the promising research or reporting on mental health and sustainable healthcare needs to happen. But I think this area offers rich potential for discovery and discussion.
I think back to an alarming bit of science published earlier this month suggesting that the phthalate DEHP, commonly added to IV tubing and bags, contributes to breast cancer mortality and recurrence.
If you're fighting breast cancer and it flares up again, that's a huge mental burden for you and your loved ones.
And if your healthcare delivery system played a small role in that recurrence? That seems worth exploring.
An unlikely pairing offers potential for discovery and insight.
Sunrise in the woods
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Climate data gathering on Everest
Allan Grey/Flickr
Climate data on top of the world: Wyoming students trek to Everest
Five Fremont County college students traveled to world’s highest peak to test climate sensors in partnership with historic all-Black expedition.
World Bank approves $200 million IFC loan for industrial agriculture in Brazil’s Cerrado
Corn, soy and cattle ranching have been connected to a long list of human rights violations, as well as the acceleration of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.
wind farms that float
The race to build wind farms that float on the open sea
There’s huge potential to generate renewable energy far out in the ocean. But designing turbines that can survive rough waters isn’t exactly a breeze.
Permit denied: New York says Bitcoin mining operation in Finger Lakes violates climate law
Greenidge Generation, the natural gas-fueled facility, is supposed to close under the decision. But its owners plan to keep operating, as they fight for an appeal.
Study: Drilling waste on Pennsylvania roads bad for health, land
A long-anticipated health study commissioned by Pennsylvania environmental officials examined the practice of spreading wastewater from conventional gas– and oil-drilling on thousands of miles of rural dirt roads in the state.
Oregon residents depend on a state program that trucks in water
As wells run dry, Oregon residents depend on a state program that trucks in water
The Department of Human Services said 200 residential wells in southern Oregon have run dry and the number could double within the year
From our Newsroom
environmental injustice
Centering biodiversity and social justice in overhauling the global food system
Colorado fracking
Colorado is the first state to ban PFAS in oil and gas extraction
The toxic “forever chemicals” are used in fracking wells across the country.
gun control
Peter Dykstra: Gun and climate change delusions
Millions here suffer from twin hallucinations: Guns don’t cause our mass shootings, and the climate isn’t changing.
Op-ed: An engine for social justice leads the way to change
Engine for social justice leads to change
Virginia Organizing's 27-year history as a role model for The Daily Climate
Using comedy to combat climate change
Using comedy to combat climate change
The Climate Comedy Cohort aims to help comedians infuse climate activism into their creative work.
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Home » Articles » Politics and International Relations » Coalitions, do they work? A Brief Analysis on the History of Coalitions in Ireland
Published on 5 November 2020 at 12:04
We live in a system of government known as “representative democracy.” This means we, as a population are split into various municipal regions and vote for individuals to represent us in our Legislature. This is the law and policy making body of our tripartite system of government which stems initially from Aristotle in his work Politics and further expanded upon by Montesquieu in Spirit of Laws. In turn, the Legislature vote for the Executive which is the governing body of our land.
Ireland has a rather unique system in comparison with other nations. We have a parliamentary democracy which involves the Legislature and the Executive being intertwined. All members of the Cabinet are members of the Oireachtas. As per Article 28.10° of the Constitution, once the Taoiseach loses their majority in the Dáil, they must resign the post thus, all cabinet ministers are forced to resign also. In modern day Irish politics, this plays a key role in the way the State is governed and who governs it. In years previous, majorities were not hard to come by, as we will discover later in this article. Today, contemporary politics relies heavily on coalitions in order to keep a government in a position to govern.
Throughout the country’s lifetime, the way governments were be formed in Ireland can be split into to two distinct periods, 1921-1948 and 1948 to the present day. Throughout our early years of independence after the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed by the plenipotentiaries sent by Eamonn de Valera, Ireland was dominated by two major political parties. Cumann na nGaedheal[1] and Fianna Fail. During the formative years of this countries life, W.T. Cosgrave’s government enjoyed a complete majority in the Oireachtas as the Anti-Treaty realm walked out of the Dáil after the vote for the Treaty was won 64 to 57 and thus the Civil War commenced.
The Pro-Treatites under Cosgrave’s party were left to set up the Free State. For a decade, spanning from 1923-1933, this party dominated General Elections and was able to consolidate power within and did not rely on any independents or the help of another party’s members of the Oireachtas to retain a valid Cabinet. Following the 1933 General Election, a new player was on top of the table.
Fianna Fáil was formed from the ambers of the Anti-Treaty side of the Civil War under de Valera and won a landslide victory. Thus followed a period of rather unfettered dominance. From 1933 all the way to 1944 there was not a single election that Fianna Fáil did not have a comfortable win. They held power completely within the firm grasp of de Valera for eleven years.
The single party government tradition that the State had been founded on was shell-shocked with the 1948 General Election. This election saw a Fine Gael, Labour Party, Clann na Poblachta, Clann na Tahlman, National Labour Party[2] and various independents. This group of political entities, with differing views on various contentious areas and asynchronous priorities came together to form what became known as the First Inter Party Government. This changed the shape and composition of many future governments we would see make the decisions and call the shots for the future of Irish politics.
In all, since the first coalition, there have been only a handful of singular party governments. We have not have had a mono-party government since the 1987 General Election. Every government we have had has been at least two parties working together to collect the necessary votes to have a majority in any proposal they put forward in the Oireachtas.
What problems does this entail? Logically, if you gather a bunch of people with concurrent views and give them a problem to solve, they will have a consensus rather easily. Be it a good or bad solution, there will be little time wasted on climatising and consideration on different objectives at play. However, in a coalition there are different parties who were elected by different people to represent them and their believes. Members of the Oireachtas are responsible to and receive their mandate from the people who put them in office as they can just as quickly as they put them in office, remove them. That is a representative democracy. Clash of heads are inevitable and obstacles on the road are almost certain, is it worth all this trouble?
The government in which we reside under as of the writing of this article is the Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Green Party Coalition which is remarkable for a number of ways. The first being the two historical titans of Irish politics, poised against each other with deep and spiteful divides in place since the Civil War are playing on the same team. Secondly because of how tight the election was. Fianna Fail received 38 seats in the Dáil, Fine Gael with 35 and the Greens joined forces to sweep a majority. Sinn Fein received 37 Although, none of the parties involved received a complete majority, is a coalition a valid form of representative democracy, is it what the people want?
The election occurred, in February 2020 in a time of uncertainty due to the ensuing Covid-19 Pandemic. Is a pragmatically slower and prima facia hesitant Executive right for the time? There has never been a time when such quick reactions were needed from an Executive composed of a coalition. The only comparison is The Emergency from 1939-1945 in which Eamonn de Valera led the Fianna Fail leadership during a time of grand and harrowing uncertainty but did not have to contend with any differing views from any other party leaders in a coalition as they had a healthy majority in the Dáil.
Lockdowns and major decisions take weeks to discuss. Three party leaders have to have their voices heard when making these decisions. Unanimous views are needed to conclude a matter. This takes valuable time when time is of the essence.
Alternatively, there is another side to this. Such decisions evidently have drastic consequences on peoples freedoms, lives and livelihood, the economy and numerous other potential areas. The list is not exhaustive, it would be impossible to list all of them. It may be a good thing that there is a degree of hesitancy. It acts as a safeguard to ensure that no decision is made without consideration and due process.
Whether or not coalition works is a matter of ones values and own views. It can be contended that there are pros and cons, both good and bad aspects but there is a certainty, coalitions are necessary to be able to govern in today’s political playing field.
[1] Merged into Fine Gael in 1933
[2] Separate from the Labour Party
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Social Cognitive Theory
Motivation and human actions are largely regulated by the provident. The main factor to influences behavior is perceived self-efficacy, that is to say, that belief on the part of their capacities to carry out a specific action required to achieve the desired result. Self-effectiveness is prospective and operational in nature (for example, "I am sure that I can do exercise regularly, even if my exercise partner returns to a sedentary lifestyle").
Thus, perceived self-efficacy can be characterized as being based on skills, perspective, and linked to action (Bandura). Self-effectiveness is generally understood as being specific to the task or specific to the field. However, some researchers have also conceptualized a generalized feeling of self-efficacy which refers to a large feeling of stable personal competence to effectively treat a variety of stressful situations (Schwarzer and Jerusalem, 1995; Sherrer et al., 1982). General self-efficacy (GSE) reflects a generalization in various operating areas in which people judge how effective they are.
For the majority of applications, the perceived self-efficacy must be conceptualized in a specific way to the situation (Bandura, 1997). GSE, however, can explain a wider range of human behavior and adaptation results when the context is less specific. It may be useful to focus on several behaviors simultaneously (Luszczynska, Gibbons, Piko, and Tekozel, 2004) or when studying the well-being or behavior of patients who must adjust their lives to several requests due to the disease (Bonetti et al., 2001).
In this study, we explored the relationships between GSE and a variety of other psychological constructions. We describe why and how certain variables should be linked to the GSE. According to SCT, people are considered self-organized, self-conflicting, and self-eating in that they carry judgments on themselves on the basis of their own activity. In addition, self-efficacy beliefs influence other cognitions, assignments, and behaviors and can also help meet stressful circumstances (Bandura, 1997).
GSE is a universal construction, which means that it characterizes a fundamental belief inherent in all individuals. An intercultural common point of beliefs on efficiency to produce effects by personal action could be expected (Bandura, 2002). Consequently, it could be assumed that associations between self-efficacy and related constructions would be similar in all crops and samples.
Relations between general self-efficacy and social-cognitive constructions
The SCT implies that self-efficacy is the crucial and proximal predictor of behavior. Its influence on behavior is also indirect. Self-effectiveness affects the objectives and expectations of results which are also behavioral predictors (Bandura, 1997, 2002). Auto-effectiveness beliefs indirectly affect behavior through their impact on the intentions of the objective. The structure "I intend to" or "I aim at" reflects proximal objectives (or intentions). Self-efficiency, among other factors, influences that challenge people to decide to meet and to what height they set their goals. People with high self-efficacy in a specific field select more difficult and ambitious objectives.
A high self-efficacy improves not only the establishment of objectives but also leads to more persistence to pursue the objective. Consequently, self-efficient individuals have stronger intentions. According to Gollwitzer (1999), the intentions of implementation (or action plans) refer to the translation of objectives or intentions into specific actions (how should I behave?) And in the situational circumstances of performance (Where and when should I do the action?). Self-effective individuals focus on their future and develop possible success scenarios for their actions. Therefore, they should be more determined to plan.
Self-efficacy and its relationship with well-being, health behavior, and overcome
Self-efficacy has a regulatory function in different health domains, such as compliance with medical recommendations (eg, adoption of a physically active lifestyle), positive and negative influences, dealing with pain, and overcoming stress. According to SCT, the adoption of behavior promoting health depends on the belief to be able to do certain behaviors precisely (Bandura, 1997). Individuals with stronger self-efficacy are more likely to be involved in healthy behavior, maintain it, and recover after setbacks.
Optimistic self-confidence about competence itself creates positive affective conditions instead of negative, such as anxiety. Individuals who are effective may experience a low level of negative emotions in threatening situations and, as a result, may feel able to master the situation (Bandura, 1997). Individuals who are burdened with self -doubts suffer from difficulties and negative emotions, such as anxiety and depression (Bandura). In addition, negative emotions can produce cognitive confusion, which leads to a worse solution to the problem.
The patient's belief in their ability to overcome and tolerate pain is the predictor of pain behavior, pain intensity, and pain tolerance (Bandura, 1997). Those who are very effective are involved more easily in different activities regardless of pain, thereby reducing the intensity of pain and disability. People with high self-efficacy might overcome more active with pain, which leads to reducing the intensity of the pain received.
Self-efficacy is felt to represent the belief that a person can use the skills needed to fight the temptation, overcome stress, and mobilize the resources needed to meet the situational demands (Bandura, 1997). After the action has been taken, people with high self-efficacy invest more effort and last longer than those who are low self-efficacy. Therefore, people might hope that the first will choose an active coping strategy and useless passive strategies or focus on negative emotions than the last. People with strong self-efficacy recognize that they can overcome obstacles and focus on opportunities. Self-efficacy leads to effective problem solving (bandura).
Luszczynska, A., Scholz, U., & Schwarzer, R. (2005). The general self-efficacy scale: multicultural validation studies. The Journal of psychology139(5), 439-457.
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How Aristotle Created The Computer
A computer is a device that may be instructed to hold out arbitrary sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. The power of computers to observe generalized sets of operations, known as packages , enables them to perform an especially wide selection of duties. After all, the mechanism must decode the resonance frequency of every particular website to modulate the insertion of information in that specific location of the mind. RNM also can detect hearing by way of electromagnetic microwaves, and it additionally features the transmission of specific instructions into the subconscious, producing visual disturbances, visual hallucinations and injection of phrases and numbers in to the mind by means of electromagnetic radiation waves. Also, it manipulates emotions and thoughts and reads thoughts remotely, causes pain to any nerve of the body, allows for distant manipulation of behaviour, controls sleep patterns via which control over communication is made straightforward. This can be utilized for crime investigation and security administration.
As the world goes cellular, there will likely be a rise in cell phone usage and likewise good phone usage. You can position as a restore professional and make cool cash. Don’t be stunned to see this new technology applied into bendy screen tablets released shortly after. Then computers became smaller and more subtle till we had the desktop PCs after which the laptops and notebooks. Now, we have now the pill PCs—lightweight gadgets that can be taken wherever and may carry out various refined functions. Tablets are still very a lot in vogue, so manufacturing or promoting them is big business in the mean time.
Imagine it or not, this freelance bike messenger makes more money than some folks glued to their work desks. You won’t rake in a whopping $50,000 as this guy does by just doing this in your free time, but you may absolutely get a chunk of the motion. Even Uber is trying out a blueprint for a supply service, and firms like WunWun and Amazon are stepping up their efforts to develop same-day supply. If in case you have an honest bicycle, these pair of pedals might simply earn you a healthy side hustle earnings.
If maintaining your own home organized comes naturally and also you get pleasure from helping other folks, consider changing into a professional organizer. As the need for baby boomers to begin downsizing grows, you should use your organizing and decluttering expertise to start out making an business standard $50-125 an hour with very little startup costs and some free skilled advice from Jen Kilbourne Imagine it or not, pro organizers do not just work with hoarders. Increasingly more people are hiring skilled organizers so as cease losing money and time due to the stress of on a regular basis disorganization. What’s even higher, is that you could take this on as a aspect hustle in the course of the nights and weekends when your shoppers shall be at residence.
The process is extra simple. Fewer skills are needed to carry out the sales activity and the cost per sale when it comes to operating staff can be lowered. However with our brains now below such widespread attack from the fashionable world, there is a danger that that cherished sense of self could possibly be diminished or even lost. Compass Data Facilities – new 3,000 Square Foot heart in New Albany on the edge of NE Columbus. |
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