text stringlengths 144 682k |
|---|
Film schools » Film Studies » Filmmaking » Post-production
It is a process in which the producer is linked to different technical departments; here, essentially the movie is assembled; to do this exists two variants of the workflow, one uses the movie completely and the other one uses a mixture of movie and video.
The original movie, the negative, is firstly copied to a one-light workprint, and later is edited with a correction machine; this can also be edited with a computerized software edition. A timecode or border code is recorded in the video tape to locate marks position on the frameworks of the picture. The sound and the video are also synchronized during this process.
The film editor builds a "rough cut" taking sequences or scenes based on singular shots having as purpose to select and order the best takings, then, he creates a "fine cut" getting the whole taking which makes flow the history easily. In this process you can cut scenes of some minutes, seconds, or even each frame.
Once the "fine cut" is accepted by the movie director and movie producer, the taking is closed; this means that no significant change can be made. Then the film is transferred to the sound department for its edition as well as begins the building of the soundtrack. |
Great white shark leaps onto research boat
Shark on the research boat - image from Oceans Research
Image caption The shark became stranded between engines at the back of the boat
A great white shark has been rescued by crane after it leapt out of the ocean and became stranded on a boat.
The 500kg (1,100lb), 3m (9.84ft) long animal was attracted to bait thrown by a research team conducting a shark count South Africa's Mossel Bay.
It became lodged on the boat and the researchers eventually towed it to land where it was winched off.
Oceans Research said the shark was last seen swimming strongly out to sea and appeared to be unharmed.
Team leader Dorien Schroder said she and her colleagues were "chumming" - throwing fish matter - into the water around the boat on Monday in an attempt to draw sharks closer so they could be identified and counted, a technique which worked rather too well.
"I heard a splash and looked back to see a shark pretty much mid-air hovering above one of my interns," she told the BBC.
Ms Schroder said she pulled her colleague to safety in the stern of the ship and could see the panicking shark already had half its body on board, head first.
'Incredibly stressful'
Sharks are only able to move forward, so in its thrashing it hauled itself entirely onto the boat until it became wedged between the engines and some containers.
The crew initially tried to drag the fish off the boat once it had calmed down, but then decided to return to port so it could be lifted off by crane.
Rescuers kept it wet and put a hosepipe in its mouth to keep it breathing.
Once back in the water, the shark appeared confused by the busy environment of the harbour, said the researchers. It beached itself and had to be rescued a second time, before it was hauled out to sea and made its way to safety.
"This must have been an incredibly stressful experience for the shark," said Ryan Johnson, who was involved in the rescue. "These sharks belong in the sea, they don't belong on land."
Great whites are known to fully jump out of the water while hunting prey like seals, but the animal is not thought to have attacked the boat deliberately.
The shark damaged fuel lines and some of the fibreglass of the boat, but the vessel was repaired and back in action counting sharks the following day.
Related Internet links
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites |
Stephen J. Schueler, M.D.
Cancer Cervix HPV Testing
Vaginal swabs are tested for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV). The HPV test is a newer molecular test that is done on the sample of cervical cells by an automated system that detects the genetic code of the HPV virus.
Continue to Cancer Cervix PAP Smear
Last Updated: Mar 13, 2008 References
PubMed Cancer Cervix References
1. Eddy DM: Screening for cervical cancer. Ann Intern Med 1990 Aug 1; 113(3): 214-26. [2115753]
2. Ellenson LH, Wu TC. Focus on endometrial and cervical cancer. Cancer Cell. 2004 Jun;5(6):533-8. [15193256]
3. Schiffman MH, Bauer HM, Hoover RN: Epidemiologic evidence showing that human papillomavirus infection causes most cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. J Natl Cancer Inst 1993 Jun 16; 85(12): 958-64. [8388478]
4. Sundar S, Horne A, Kehoe S. Cervical cancer. Clin Evid. 2005 Jun;(13):2285-92. [16135328]
5. Waxman AG. Guidelines for cervical cancer screening: history and scientific rationale. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2005 Mar;48(1):77-97. [15725861] |
Without Brave Rangers Our World Would Look Very Different
27/07/2017 08:55
Copyright: The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Whenever Stephen hears the rumble of an elephant or the roar of a lion, he says 'he's reminded why he does his job'. Without him, and thousands of other brave rangers, scouts and forest guards that watch over our wildlife and protect our environmental heritage, we might not hear these rousing sounds.
As a result of wildlife crime, some of the world's most iconic animals, including tigers, elephants and rhinos, are critically endangered. Encompassing the poaching of elephants for their tusks and tigers for their skins, thousands of other species are affected and, sadly, it's a vast business. The illegal trade in wildlife is the fourth largest global illegal trade after narcotics, counterfeiting of products and currency, and human trafficking.
The importance of boots on the ground cannot be overestimated; for elephants, rhinos and other wild animals, rangers like Stephen are their last line of defence. Over the past 100 years, Africa's elephant population has plummeted to just over 400,000 individuals - a calamitous drop but one that would be even worse had individuals like Stephen not been arresting poachers, confiscating their deadly weapons and reporting injured elephants to Vets. As vital educational campaigns seek to change consumer behaviour and government policy, rangers are actively ensuring the remaining elephants aren't wiped out.
Copyright: The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Tsavo National Park, where Stephen patrols alongside Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Rangers, is located in Southern Kenya and is the world's largest National Park. Perfect for elephants because of its size and terrain that's particularly inhospitable to humans, Tsavo is a stronghold for the species and home to 12,000 individuals. Yet even here, wildlife crime has permeated the park and poaching (bushment and ivory), livestock incursions and charcoal burning are among the threats tackled by our nine DSWT/KWS Anti-Poaching Teams.
Supported by five fixed wing aircraft, two helicopters and a canine unit, making arrests, following up on community intelligence, setting ambushes and camping out in the park to deter intruders are in a day's work for the DSWT/KWS Anti-Poaching teams who also confiscate 1000's of deadly snares laid in the Park each year.
Set to catch, trap and kill wildlife for their meat and body parts, Mwashoti and Mbirikini are two infant elephants the DSWT has rescued over the years who have suffered debilitating injuries from these deadly traps. Grown adults can suffer too. This female elephant is one of 385 animals treated for snare injuries by the DSWT/KWS Vet Units; many more trapped animals are not so lucky and die slow and painful deaths at the hands of these traps.
Whilst boots on the ground might seem a simple solution, especially in the face of technological advances, it works. In Tsavo, more than 125,000 snares have been confiscated and thanks to coordinated patrols, arrests and community outreach between the DSWT, KWS and other NGO's, poaching has fallen dramatically.
Without nature, our world would look vastly different and not for the better. Every day, Rangers like Stephen put their lives on the line to watch over our wildlife but protecting our environmental heritage should matter to all of us. After all, our forests are the Earth's lungs, elephants are Africa's gardeners and ultimately, all animals have as much a right to roam the earth as we do.
World Ranger Day (31st July) is our chance to pause and reflect; to honour those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives in the protection of the planet's flora and fauna and to celebrate and commend the inspiring efforts of scouts, rangers and forest guards the world over who continue to risk their lives to protect wildlife. Thank you Rangers, you are true guardians of our planet.
To learn more out about the Anti-Poaching work of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, undertaken in collaboration with the Kenya Wildlife Service, visit |
In our latest issue:
KIWI magazine
gardeningWork hard now, work less later. Now the fun begins and it’s time to get dirty! If you are installing a container garden, purchase the containers and the soil, put them where you want them and fill them with soil (a container full of soil is hard to move!). With an in-ground garden, you will need to do quite a bit more work—but your hard work will pay off. The Law of the Farm is at work here—thoughtful preparation and hard work in getting the site ready will save you many headaches and frustration as the garden starts growing.
Clear the land. Start with a clean, flat, weed-free site! Weed the site, water it well, wait three weeks for remaining weed seeds to sprout, and then weed again—now you know it is clean.
Lay out the garden. Locate the planting beds, primary walkway (must be 42″ wide to be wheelchair accessible), working areas between beds (36″ is minimum to enable children to work in adjacent planting areas simultaneously), a composting area, tool storage area, and seating or group area.
Build the planting beds—raise those plants high.
Types of Planting Beds
Raised beds—a raised mound of soil. This bed is the simplest and cheapest to build, but it is the least secure and stable when you have kids running around in the garden and is the hardest to maintain. Build by digging out paths between beds down 4-8″ and mounding that soil into the bed area. Mix in your soil amendments.
Planter boxes—build the boxes yourself (use recycled plastic lumber or a wood that holds up well to moisture such as redwood or cedar) or purchase pre-made boxes of recycled plastic. By creating physical barriers between your garden and the rest of the environment, these beds minimize weeds, keep plants in and kids out of the planting area, are easier to work in and maintain, and require minimal ongoing maintenance work after construction.
Size of Planting Beds
Width—Raised beds are generally 18-20″ wide. Planter boxes should be no more than 4 feet wide if children can work from both sides of the box, or 2 feet wide if the box is only accessible on one side.
Length—Raised beds can be any length. To preserve the structural integrity, planter boxes should be no longer than 8-10 feet.
Height—Raised beds should be 4-8″ high. Planter boxes sunk in soil should be built at least 10-12″ high. This allows you to sink the bottom 4-6″ in the ground to minimize weed encroachment and still be at least 6″ finished height off of the ground.
• Wheelchair accessible height is 28″.
• Wood or plastic beds on placed pavement should be at least 30″ deep in order to prevent the heat of the pavement from overheating the roots and to minimize the loss of moisture.
The better your soil, the better your garden will grow! The gardening saying is that you plant a 25¢ plant in a 75¢ hole. Your soil will sustain your plants so give them a good start.
Clean dirt—no weeds, rocks or debris
Soil amendments—improve soil structure to improve water retention and absorption, provide good drainage and supply important plant nutrients. Use a soil test or consult with your local nursery or landscape professional for recommendations specific to your site geology. Cover the entire bed/box with at least 3-4 inches of amendment and work into soil down about a foot. Soil amendments may be purchased in bags or delivered in bulk by the yard.
Fertilizers—if using fertilizers, be careful not to use too much or you can damage tender young plants.
Make watering easy so it gets done! Providing enough water at the right times is critical to a successful growing season. Irrigation can be as simple as moving a hose, or as complex (and costly) as installing a drip system on an automatic timer that keeps the garden watered during school breaks and weekends. Here are some of your options.
Hose and nozzle. This system is the most time consuming and least dependable. It works fine with a container garden, but is not the best option for a large in-ground garden. Adult supervision will be needed for younger students to ensure that the plants get enough water. Dig a small hole in the soil after a watering session to show students that water on the surface does not necessarily mean there is enough water to feed the roots. Hose with sprinkler. A sprinkler attachment on a hose can make it easier to be sure that the water gets to all the plants. Proper location of the sprinkler will be critical.
Soaker hose. A soaker hose lets water percolate through it into the garden. Unlike sprinklers, which waste significant water due to evaporation, a soaker hose delivers the water right to the soil. Test the radius of the water seep to be sure that the water is reaching where you need it.
Drip irrigation system. This is the most efficient way to water your plants. Drip tubing brings the water wherever it is needed, and thoughtfully selected heads deliver the water in the proper quantity and location. Contact local professionals to help you design and install the system.
Timers—”egg” timers, battery operated, electrical. Irrigation timers come in many forms. If you have access to electricity in the garden, an electrical timer is the most reliable. Where you do not have electricity, you may use a battery-operated timer or an “egg timer” that you manually turn on for a set time and then it turns off automatically.
Mulch, mulch, mulch! Minimize water evaporation and weed growth by providing a significant amount (3–4″) of mulch over your beds. Straw, leaf mulch or clippings are all good choices. Check with local gardeners to find out what they recommend that is cheap and easily available.
Cover the walkways between your beds with shredded tree mulch, straw, gravel—anything to help keep down weeds and minimize muddy shoes.
|
• Join over 1.2 million students every month
• Accelerate your learning by 29%
• Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month
How does Shakespeare dramatically present power and authority in the relationship between men and women in Much Ado about Nothing
Extracts from this document...
How does Shakespeare dramatically present power and authority in the relationship between men and women in Much Ado about Nothing? One of the key explorations of power and authority in "Much Ado About Nothing" is the relationship between Hero and Leonato as father and daughter. The play was written in Elizabethan England, and social attitudes of the period, together with long standing tradition, influence Shakespeare's portrayal of the "proper" relationship between father and daughter, and duty they owed to each other. In "Much Ado About Nothing" it is very much a patriarchal society, where rank and position rule supreme and women are submissive position to men, whether fathers or husbands. This "male dominance" is most acutely represented by the nature of arranged marriage. When the suspicion that the Prince wants to woo Hero is born, Leonato instructs her in what she must do. Indeed, Antonio believes that Hero "will be ruled by your father". He automatically assumes that Leonato has the right to command Hero. He decides who she will marry, amply demonstrated again, when after Claudio's denunciation of her he still gives her to him in marriage. Even stranger, to us as a modern audience, is Hero's passive acceptance of what her father decides her fate should be. This is a central point in understanding Shakespeare's representation of social structure at the time, since the authority Leonato had over Hero was absolute, and she as a daughter was indeed completely submissive to her father. ...read more.
Beatrice and Benedict are more mature and confident in themselves, and as such make a much more successful couple. Their conflict is based upon perceptions of male and female shortcomings, and it is those perceptions that make Claudio so susceptible to regard Hero as "sinful". However, Benedict and Beatrice are able to admit their own mistakes and think rationally of each other when faced with their own faults, as is apparent in their reflective soliloquies after their deceptions. Their relationship begins with mistrust and develops into love, while Claudio's and Hero's starts with love and develops into mistrust. This dramatic irony is used to reflect Shakespeare's own attitude on what a relationship should be, which is amplified by Benedict's humorous statement that he and Beatrice are "too wise to woo peaceably". It is clear from the play that Shakespeare criticises the existing customs and advocates that a courtship in which couples communicate would be a far more preferable way, and which would prevent the mistakes of perception evident in Claudio. Benedict's and Beatrice's relationship advocates a society in which women are given more power and authority by the very nature of a "merry war". Shakespeare is ambivalent in his representation of love. He uses it as a necessary component to restore harmony to a community. He also uses it as a challenge to both the males and females in the play, especially with male characters, indicating that male power they possess publicly, such as Claudio's warrior skills and Don Pedro's position doesn't affect matters of the heart. ...read more.
Shakespeare's use of puns and literary patterning when describing Claudio's outrage and pain "most Foul, most Fair" can be seen as an indication of male opinion of all faithless females. This fear of infidelity is also present among women. Beatrice's avowal that she would "rather hear a dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me" illustrates women's distrust. However, women's attitude is considerably different, as the song "Sigh no More" proves. They consider it as a fact of life, and while they distrust men, they don't consider it a "betrayal" to be treated as such, the way that men do. Men expect and demand total fidelity from a woman. However, in contrast, male fidelity is considered as a passing thing, never to truly be expected by any woman. Male honour demands that they protect women, but both Claudio and Leonato fail this task. Benedict, for the sake of his love of Beatrice, agrees to challenge Claudio and fight for the truth of Hero's fidelity. He remembers true honour, and the obligations that come with male power and position. Beatrice and Benedict, in concert, challenge the clearly wrong "honourable" male behaviour. Shakespeare shows that male rage at female betrayal led them to forget their own duty to women, leading to their own betrayal. This is Shakespeare's warning - while men have overt power and authority over women, the power comes with responsibilities which they are bound to fulfil. Beatrice's love reminds Benedict of this duty, demonstrating women's greatest power - to influence men's minds and hearts. ...read more.
The above preview is unformatted text
Found what you're looking for?
• Start learning 29% faster today
• 150,000+ documents available
• Just £6.99 a month
Not the one? Search for your essay title...
• Join over 1.2 million students every month
• Accelerate your learning by 29%
• Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month
See related essaysSee related essays
Related GCSE Much Ado About Nothing essays
1. Peer reviewed
How does Shakespeare challenge the conventional role of women within the patriarchal society of ...
5 star(s)
In the Kenneth Brannagh version, the women all wore white to symbolize the women's innocence at the time. Beatrice's love for picking arguments with people, especially with Benedick could be a sign of her anger against him for abandoning her when they had courted before.
2. Peer reviewed
How does Shakespeare Present Relationships Between men and women in much ado about nothing
3 star(s)
As well as their being force in the relationship it is also very sudden and rushed because no sooner had they arranged to be together, the wedding was to be planned straight away, which isn't a relationship which could last or if it did last would they both still be happy.
1. Much Ado About Nothing clearly shows the attitude of the Elizabethans towards women and ...
shows that in theory he wants to better himself, as he is just a Signor so he has no title but in reality he later proposes to Beatrice who has little wealth. The men in the play are often making sexual innuendoes and this is acceptable because men do not
2. Act 4 Scene 1 is often considered a key scene in 'Much Ado About ...
Benedick does not accept this, but promises to have a duel against him. The love between Hero and Claudio is tested greatly because of deception on both of them, yet they do not know it. Claudio truly believes that what he saw the night before was Hero and does not deny it.
1. Much Ado About Nothing - Elizabethan Women
Her relationship towards Benedick has been described as "...a kind of merry war... they never meet but there's a skirmish of wit between them" (1.1.51-53). She is dismissive of talk of marriage and men. In act 2, scene 1, Beatrice declares, "He that hath a beard is more than a
2. Much Ado About Nothing - the relationships between men and women.
Nobody can believe how horrible they were to her, as they were didn't know what had happened. Claudio is then encouraged to marry the made-up daughter of one of the other characters in the play- the daughter is Hero, but because she is wearing a veil, only those behind the idea of making her play dead know it is her.
1. How does Shakespeare present the relationship of Beatrice and Benedick in "Much Ado About ...
This suggests that maybe he wanted to hear this for quite some time. In the film, he even falls off his deckchair with shock, which is funny. Beatrice is portrayed as a helpless victim. Claudio says that "down upon her knees she falls, weeps, sobs, beats her heart, tears her hair, prays, curses, Oh sweet Benedick, God give me patience".
2. How Does Shakespeare present the relationship between men and women in his play 'Much ...
of marriage by asking Claudio if he has any "intent to turn husband," Shakespeare also uses euphuism as Benedick exaggeratedly says that "fire cannot melt" his heart out of him. He voices his scorn by saying he will never be cuckolded by any woman and will "live a bachelor," but perhaps he "doth protest too much"?
• Over 160,000 pieces
of student written work
• Annotated by
experienced teachers
• Ideas and feedback to
improve your own work |
Transport Fuels
Petrol and diesel fuel are the most common fuels
The global transport system is largely based on fossil fuels. Entirely new fuel and energy options, which require new technology in cars, are only gradually becoming more common. The general impression is that in 2030, still more than 80% of energy consumption in transport will be based on petroleum products.
The most commonly used liquid fuels are petrol, diesel fuel, light fuel oil, heavy fuel oil and jet fuel, i.e., kerosene. The advantages of petrol and diesel fuel include good availability, high energy density and easy handling. Liquid fuels also include a high ethanol blend.
Additionally, natural gas, biogas and liquid gas as well as electricity are used as energy for transport. Various new fuels, such as hydrogen, are being developed for transport purposes.
Fuels suitable for current systems provide a cost-effective way ahead
Fuel producers, the car industry, and other operators in the sector collaborate in the continuous development of fuels with the objective of a highly sustainable and energy efficient transport system. Both traditional and new fuels are developed.
Fuels that are suitable for the existing car fleet and that already have a fuel distribution system in place can easily be introduced immediately. The most cost-effective way to introduce new fuels to the market is to make blends of biofuels and fossil fuel that are suitable for the existing distribution system and the existing car fleet.
When developing fuels, it is important to take into account the suitability of each fuel for its purpose. In road transport, for example, it is easier to increase the use of biofuels for passenger cars than for heavy-duty vehicles.
All transport fuels come with biocomponents in Finland
Transport fuels are developed also in Finland taking into account energy and climate goals, such as increasing the use of renewable energy. Today, all transport fuels distributed in Finland contain biocomponents.
Quality requirements and standards for transport fuels
Liquid fuels are high-tech products, which meet the EU’s strict quality requirements and complementing European and national quality standards. These standards define the minimum requirements to ensure trouble-free operation of fuels.
European standards are drawn up in the technical committees of CEN, the European Committee for Standardization. They are prepared by experts in collaboration with various parties, such as fuel producers and engine manufacturers. In Finland, the quality standards are valid as SFS-EN standards. Quality standard SFS-EN 228 sets out the requirements for motor gasoline and SFS-EN 590 for diesel fuel.
The Fuel Quality Directive supplements the Renewable Energy Directive, setting a target of reducing carbon intensity of fuels by 10% by 2020. Of this, 6% is a binding obligation and 4% is based on voluntary measures. The mandatory share will be implemented in practice by increasing the bio-content of fuels.
The Fuel Quality Directive also determines the concentration limit values for biocomponents in fuels. For example, petrol may contain a maximum of 10% v/v of ethanol. These obligations are recorded in the national fuel quality decree, which entered into force at the beginning of 2011.
Petrol and diesel fuel grades in Finland
Increasing the ethanol content is only one of several ways to achieve the environmental targets for transport. At the beginning of 2011, the ethanol concentration of 95 octane petrol was raised in Finland (95 E10).
The main grades of petrol in Finland are the 95 octane 95 E10 and the 98 octane 98 E5. The suitability of petrol for a car is determined by the octane rating and ethanol content: the octane requirement of the car must be met, and the ethanol content must not exceed the suitability limit set for the car.
The bioethanol content in 95 E10 petrol may vary and can be a maximum of 10% v/v. Alternatively, the E10 petrol may also contain ethers or other alcohols allowed by the Fuel Directive. The E10 petrol is suitable for use in the majority of current vehicle stock running on 95 octane petrol.
The 98 E5 petrol may contain up to 5% v/v ethanol. It is suitable for engines where E10 petrol cannot be used. This is mainly the case with older vehicles.
There are different diesel fuels on the market. For the majority of them, the biocomponent is renewable diesel fuel made by Finnish refineries through hydrotreatment. Waste and residues, such as vegetable oil and animal fats, are used as raw material. The level of biocomponent varies and has no prescribed maximum level, because the product’s chemical composition is similar to normal diesel fuel. Diesel oil that contains the so-called first generation biodiesel (FAME) with up to 7% v/v biocomponent can also be put on the market.
Gas fuels in traffic
Natural gas filling stations are located mainly in the southern parts of Finland in the area covered by the natural gas network. More information:
In Finland, LPG is not used as motor vehicle fuel, and consequently, it is not available even for the tourists' vehicles.
Finnish Petroleum and Biofuels Association | Unioninkatu 22 | 00130 Helsinki | Finland | |
Standing the heat
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 12 June, 2011, 12:00am
UPDATED : Sunday, 12 June, 2011, 12:00am
The news that the United States Department of Agriculture had lowered its recommended cooking temperature to 62 degrees Celsius for whole (unminced) cuts of pork was met with relief among chefs and foodies recently. It could be argued that the new guidelines don't go far enough, even though it's understandable the USDA would err on the side of caution.
Most of the chefs who had been following the department's previous recommendation of cooking pork to 71 degrees were ones working for big restaurant chains, which are afraid of being sued by customers claiming food poisoning from undercooked meat. Chefs at more upmarket restaurants had been ignoring the old recommendations for years and, if a customer ordered a pork dish, the waiter would ask the same question as if the diner had requested a steak: 'How would you like your meat cooked?'
Pork is overcooked at 71 degrees and the new recommendation of 62 degrees gives us meat that is still at least a little pink. Along with the decrease in recommended cooking temperature, the USDA advised a 'rest time' of three minutes before serving, which means the temperature continues to rise although the meat has been removed from the heat.
At 62 degrees, the new pork temperature is now the same as the USDA's recommendation for whole cuts of beef and veal that would be considered cooked to 'medium' (which is overcooked, for my palate).
The main reason for overcooking pork in the first place is trichinosis - a parasitic disease which, in the past, mainly infected pigs and wild animals. Back in the old days, when pigs were allowed to forage for food, they could easily pick up the parasite, which was then passed on to humans who ate undercooked meat from the animal. In terms of taste and texture, fully cooking pork to 71 degrees was less of a problem back then than it is in modern times, because pigs used to be valued for their fattiness, and the fat kept the meat succulent. Domestic pigs are raised in hygienic environments, so the chances of getting trichinosis now is extremely slim, as long as you buy your meat from a reputable source.
As for the USDA's 62 degree recommendation for pork, beef and veal, I'm taking it with a grain of salt. I like pork chops cooked to slightly pinker than the USDA would consider safe, and I like my beef steaks rare (50 degrees), and yet I don't feel I'm taking a risk with my food safety.
Bacteria reside primarily on the surface of meat, not within the tissue, writes food scientist Harold McGee in his book On Food and Cooking. He says that if it's 'an intact piece of healthy muscle tissue, a steak or chop, and its surface has been thoroughly cooked' to 70 degrees or higher, then it's not a risk for a healthy adult to eat whole cuts of beef, pork or veal that the USDA would still consider to be undercooked. Just the process of searing, steaming, stir-frying or browning meat brings the surface into temperatures far above 70 degrees, which will kill off any bacteria.
Ground meat is another matter, McGee writes, because 'the contaminated meat surface is broken into small fragments and spread throughout the mass. The interior of a raw hamburger usually does contain bacteria, and is safest if cooked well-done.' |
Why is it so hard to close the gender wage gap?
By Kate McInturff
The wage gap is pretty easy to understand. I do a job. You do a job. I get paid more. You get paid less. Unfair. Especially if you and I have the same training, work the same hours, and perform the same kind of tasks. And yet, the gender wage gap persists, right here in Canada, even when education, occupation, experience, and hours of work are considered. The gap is even bigger for Indigenous women, racialized women, immigrant women, and women with disabilities.
Still skeptical? Consider McMaster University. They looked at men and women doing exactly the same job (university professor), at the same place, adjusted for years of work, number of publications, tenure, and rank and they still found that women were paid less than men. More than $3,000 a year less.
So the wage gap is a real thing. And it’s pretty easy to understand that it’s not fair. So why is this problem so hard to fix?
Continue Reading (Behind the Numbers, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives):
Kate McInturff is a senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Find out how the federal government can support K-12 students in Canada
On Tuesday, April 21, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation Board of Directors will meet with MPs and Senators on Parliament Hill to urge the federal government to support K-12 students in Canada. Find out more in this advertisement which will appear in the April 20th issue of the Hill Times.
Download PDF Version |
Fear attracts
29 Aug
glass menagerieDid you ever read the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, or did you ever see the movie?
In the story, the mother, Amanda, has raised her two children without their father, who deserted the family when the children were young. The daughter, Laura, had polio as a child, and walks with a limp. Laura is painfully shy and has dropped out of high school, then also dropped out of a secretarial school her mother encouraged her to enroll in. Laura spends her days tending to her collection of glass animals. The son, Tom, is a frustrated poet who works in a shoe factory to help support the family.
The mother has two great fears:
1. Laura will grow up and become a spinster (an old, unmarried, lonely woman).
2. Tom will leave them, just as his father did.
Because of her fears, the mother is full of anxiety and constantly berates her grown children. Because of the anxiety the mother projects on Laura, Laura becomes even more withdrawn and shy. Laura never leaves the house, preferring the company of her glass menagerie.
The mother nags Tom endlessly, asking him to find a suitor for his sister, to better himself, to work harder for the family. Tom brings home a male co-worker, but Laura hides in her room while the mother flirts with the guest. Finally Laura comes out of hiding, only to learn that the guest was someone she had a crush on in high school, and he is already engaged to another. The guest also breaks Laura’s favorite animal, her unicorn. Laura is emotionally demolished and retreats to her room.
The mother blames the whole thing on Tom. Tom should’ve known who the guest was, and that he was already engaged. Tom was innocent of these crimes. Eventually he can’t take it anymore, and he packs his stuff and leaves the household for good.
What I took away from this play: by focusing on her fears, the mother brought them into being. The things which she feared most, she caused to happen by her emotions and behaviors. The mother’s negative energy brought her fears to life.
The law of attraction is the name given to the maxim “like attracts like.” The law of attraction is used to sum up the idea that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts, a person brings positive or negative experiences into their life. In the play, the mother’s constant negativity brought the very things she feared to fruition.
My philosophy, eclectic at its core, is that I trust there is a benevolent Force in the Universe which is taking care of everything. I can let go of my fears and anxieties by confiding them to someone, bringing them to the light of day. That way I can discern my most of my fears are usually needless, often childish, and frequently not based in fact or reality.
I get reminded that “everything, everywhere, is already all right.” The earth is self-correcting. What is supposed to happen is what will happen. I can choose negativity and anxiety, or I can trust that my Higher Power has my back and positive adventures and gifts come my way. This has been true for me so far, and I trust it will continue to be so.
Leave a Reply
WordPress.com Logo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s
%d bloggers like this: |
Cyber101: What Do They Want, Anyway?
Cybersecurity often seems very complicated because of the technical jargon, the specialized domain, and the sometimes bewlidering array of seemingly disconnected threats highlighted by the media. The goal of Cyber101 is to simplify and structure this information in a way that makes it more accessible to normal computer users who do not have a cybersecurity background. One place to start is with the bad guys: what do they want, anyway?
There are essentially only two goals that motivate malicious actors: steal your information or disrupt your business. The types of information malicious actors want to steal can vary. Sometimes the information they want to steal is intellectual property, credit card numbers or personal information; sometimes it is the secrets, such as passwords, that protect your infrastructure or your accounts.
The motivation behind business disruption can also vary. Financial institutions have been frequent targets in this category as malicious actors attempt to prevent bank customers from completing transactions or accessing their accounts. Political targets or occasionally targets of nation-state cyberwarfare also fall into the “disruption” category.
How do these threat actors accomplish their goals? There are some types of attacks that happen outside of any corporate network, “in the wild” on the open Internet. These attacks are described by names such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), SQL injection, Man-In-The-Middle, and more, and target an organization’s public facing web sites, internet traffic, or other publicly exposed aspects of an organization’s presence in cyberspace.
More insidious are the attacks that take place from within an organization’s infrastructure. How does an attacker get inside an organization’s infrastructure? Three ways:
• Attack the network
• Attack the devices that connect to the network
• Attack the people who use the network and devices
There are a few other variations of course, but that is about it. Two main motivations, steal your information or disrupt your business, and four main attack “vectors”. The specific categories and types of attack are more numerous, and some attacks use combinations of the above vectors (targeting people in order to get to the network, for example), but this basic structure provides one way of organizing and beginning to understand most of the cybersecurity attacks you will see in the press.
Later editions of Cyber101 will investigate attacks in more detail, discuss why cybersecurity is so hard, and begin to describe the various categories of cybersecurity techniques that have evolved in the market.
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s |
Open main menu
Wikipedia β
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
(Redirected from Monarch of the United Kingdom)
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom, its dependencies and its overseas territories. The current monarch and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, ascended the throne on the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952.
Queen of the United Kingdom
Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (Both Realms).svg
Queen Elizabeth II March 2015.jpg
Elizabeth II
since 6 February 1952 (1952-02-06)
Style His/Her Majesty
Heir apparent Charles, Prince of Wales
Residence List
Appointer Hereditary
The British monarchy traces its origins from the petty kingdoms of early medieval Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England, which consolidated into the kingdoms of England and Scotland by the 10th century AD. In 1066, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon monarch, Harold Godwinson, was defeated and killed during the Norman conquest of England and the English monarchy passed to the Normans' victorious leader, William the Conqueror, and his descendants.
From the 1080s, the lordships of South Wales were held by a succession of Norman families inter-married with older Welsh houses loyal to the English throne, with many lordships also held by the English King in his own right. The process was completed in the 13th century when the north of Wales, as a principality, became a client state of the English kingdom, while Magna Carta began a process of reducing the English monarch's political powers.
From 1603, when the Scottish monarch James VI inherited the English throne as James I, both the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single sovereign. From 1649 to 1660, the tradition of monarchy was broken by the republican Commonwealth of England, which followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The Act of Settlement 1701 excluded Roman Catholics, or those who married Catholics, from succession to the English throne. In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland joined to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The British monarch became nominal head of the vast British Empire, which covered a quarter of the world's surface at its greatest extent in 1921.
Constitutional roleEdit
In the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom, the Monarch (otherwise referred to as the Sovereign or "His/Her Majesty", abbreviated H.M.) is the Head of State. Oaths of allegiance are made to the Queen and her lawful successors.[1] "God Save the Queen" (or "God Save the King") is the British national anthem,[2] and the monarch appears on postage stamps, coins and banknotes.[3]
The Sovereign's role as a constitutional monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions, such as granting honours. This role has been recognised since the 19th century. The constitutional writer Walter Bagehot identified the monarchy in 1867 as the "dignified part" rather than the "efficient part" of government.[7]
Appointment of the Prime MinisterEdit
In a hung parliament where no party or coalition holds a majority, the monarch has an increased degree of latitude in choosing the individual likely to command the most support, though it would usually be the leader of the largest party.[9][10] Since 1945, there have only been three hung parliaments. The first followed the February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition. Although Wilson's Labour Party did not have a majority, they were the largest party. The second followed the May 2010 general election, in which the Conservatives (the largest party) and Liberal Democrats (the third largest party) agreed to form the first coalition government since World War II. The third occurred shortly thereafter, in June 2017, when the Conservative Party lost its majority in a snap election, though the party remained in power as a minority government.
Dissolution of ParliamentEdit
In 1950 the King's Private Secretary Sir Alan "Tommy" Lascelles, writing pseudonymously to The Times newspaper asserted a constitutional convention: according to the Lascelles Principles, if a minority government asked to dissolve Parliament to call an early election to strengthen its position, the monarch could refuse, and would do so under three conditions. When Harold Wilson requested a dissolution late in 1974, the Queen granted his request as Heath had already failed to form a coalition. The resulting general election gave Wilson a small majority.[11] The monarch could in theory unilaterally dismiss a Prime Minister, but a Prime Minister's term now comes to an end only by electoral defeat, death, or resignation. The last monarch to remove a Prime Minister was William IV, who dismissed Lord Melbourne in 1834.[12] The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 removed the monarch's authority to dissolve Parliament; the Act specifically retained the monarch's power of prorogation however, which is a regular feature of the parliamentary calendar.
Royal PrerogativeEdit
Before a bill passed by the legislative Houses can become law, the royal assent (the monarch's approval) is required.[19] In theory, assent can either be granted (making the bill law) or withheld (vetoing the bill), but since 1707 assent has always been granted.[20]
English monarchyEdit
The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the Norman Conquest of 1066.
Following Viking raids and settlement in the ninth century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex emerged as the dominant English kingdom. Alfred the Great secured Wessex, achieved dominance over western Mercia, and assumed the title "King of the English".[26] His grandson Æthelstan was the first king to rule over a unitary kingdom roughly corresponding to the present borders of England, though its constituent parts retained strong regional identities. The 11th century saw England become more stable, despite a number of wars with the Danes, which resulted in a Danish monarchy for one generation.[27] The conquest of England in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy, was crucial in terms of both political and social change. The new monarch continued the centralisation of power begun in the Anglo-Saxon period, while the Feudal System continued to develop.[28]
William was succeeded by two of his sons: William II, then Henry I. Henry made a controversial decision to name his daughter Matilda (his only surviving child) as his heir. Following Henry's death in 1135, one of William I's grandsons, Stephen, laid claim to the throne and took power with the support of most of the barons. Matilda challenged his reign; as a result, England descended into a period of disorder known as the Anarchy. Stephen maintained a precarious hold on power, but agreed to a compromise under which Matilda's son Henry would succeed him. Henry accordingly became the first Angevin king of England and the first monarch of the Plantagenet dynasty as Henry II in 1154.[29]
The reigns of most of the Angevin monarchs were marred by civil strife and conflicts between the monarch and the nobility. Henry II faced rebellions from his own sons, the future monarchs Richard I and John. Nevertheless, Henry managed to expand his kingdom, forming what is retrospectively known as the Angevin Empire. Upon Henry's death, his elder son Richard succeeded to the throne; he was absent from England for most of his reign, as he left to fight in the Crusades. He was killed besieging a castle, and John succeeded him.
John's reign was marked by conflict with the barons, particularly over the limits of royal power. In 1215, the barons coerced the king into issuing Magna Carta (Latin for "Great Charter") to guarantee the rights and liberties of the nobility. Soon afterwards, further disagreements plunged England into a civil war known as the First Barons' War. The war came to an abrupt end after John died in 1216, leaving the Crown to his nine-year-old son Henry III.[30] Later in Henry's reign, Simon de Montfort led the barons in another rebellion, beginning the Second Barons' War. The war ended in a clear royalist victory and in the death of many rebels, but not before the king had agreed to summon a parliament in 1265.[31]
The next monarch, Edward Longshanks, was far more successful in maintaining royal power and responsible for the conquest of Wales. He attempted to establish English domination of Scotland. However, gains in Scotland were reversed during the reign of his successor, Edward II, who also faced conflict with the nobility.[32] In 1311, Edward II was forced to relinquish many of his powers to a committee of baronial "ordainers"; however, military victories helped him regain control in 1322.[33] Nevertheless, in 1327, Edward was deposed by his wife Isabella. His 14-year-old son became Edward III. Edward III claimed the French Crown, setting off the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
His campaigns conquered much French territory, but by 1374, all the gains had been lost. Edward's reign was also marked by the further development of Parliament, which came to be divided into two Houses. In 1377, Edward III died, leaving the Crown to his 10-year-old grandson Richard II. Like many of his predecessors, Richard II conflicted with the nobles by attempting to concentrate power in his own hands. In 1399, while he was campaigning in Ireland, his cousin Henry Bolingbroke seized power. Richard was deposed, imprisoned, and eventually murdered, probably by starvation, and Henry became king as Henry IV.[34]
Wales – which had been conquered centuries earlier, but had remained a separate dominion – was annexed to England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542.[39] Henry VIII's son and successor, the young Edward VI, continued with further religious reforms, but his early death in 1553 precipitated a succession crisis. He was wary of allowing his Catholic elder half-sister Mary I to succeed, and therefore drew up a will designating Lady Jane Grey as his heiress. Jane's reign, however, lasted only nine days; with tremendous popular support, Mary deposed her and declared herself the lawful sovereign. Mary I married Philip of Spain, who was declared king and co-ruler, pursued disastrous wars in France, and attempted to return England to Roman Catholicism, burning Protestants at the stake as heretics in the process. Upon her death in 1558, the pair were succeeded by her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth I. England returned to Protestantism and continued its growth into a major world power by building its navy and exploring the New World.[40]
Scottish monarchyEdit
Personal union and republican phaseEdit
Elizabeth I's death in 1603 ended Tudor rule in England. Since she had no children, she was succeeded by the Scottish monarch James VI, who was the great-grandson of Henry VIII's older sister and hence Elizabeth's first cousin twice removed. James VI ruled in England as James I after what was known as the "Union of the Crowns". Although England and Scotland were in personal union under one monarch – James I became the first monarch to style himself "King of Great Britain" in 1604[51] – they remained two separate kingdoms. James I's successor, Charles I, experienced frequent conflicts with the English Parliament related to the issue of royal and parliamentary powers, especially the power to impose taxes. He provoked opposition by ruling without Parliament from 1629 to 1640, unilaterally levying taxes and adopting controversial religious policies (many of which were offensive to the Scottish Presbyterians and the English Puritans). His attempt to enforce Anglicanism led to organised rebellion in Scotland (the "Bishops' Wars") and ignited the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In 1642, the conflict between the King and English Parliament reached its climax and the English Civil War began.[52]
After the 1707 Acts of UnionEdit
After Anne's accession, the problem of the succession re-emerged. The Scottish Parliament, infuriated that the English Parliament did not consult them on the choice of Sophia's family as the next heirs, passed the Act of Security 1704, threatening to end the personal union between England and Scotland. The Parliament of England retaliated with the Alien Act 1705, threatening to devastate the Scottish economy by restricting trade. The Scottish and English parliaments negotiated the Acts of Union 1707, under which England and Scotland were united into a single Kingdom of Great Britain, with succession under the rules prescribed by the Act of Settlement.[57]
From 1811 to 1820, George III suffered a severe bout of what is now believed to be porphyria, an illness rendering him incapable of ruling. His son, the future George IV, ruled in his stead as Prince Regent. During the Regency and his own reign, the power of the monarchy declined, and by the time of his successor, William IV, the monarch was no longer able to effectively interfere with parliamentary power. In 1834, William dismissed the Whig Prime Minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, and appointed a Tory, Sir Robert Peel. In the ensuing elections, however, Peel lost. The king had no choice but to recall Lord Melbourne. During William IV's reign, the Reform Act 1832, which reformed parliamentary representation, was passed. Together with others passed later in the century, the Act led to an expansion of the electoral franchise and the rise of the House of Commons as the most important branch of Parliament.[61]
Shared monarchyEdit
Map of the British Empire in 1921
Map of the Commonwealth realms today
At first, every member of the Commonwealth retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom, but when the Dominion of India became a republic in 1950, it would no longer share in a common monarchy. Instead, the British monarch was acknowledged as "Head of the Commonwealth" in all Commonwealth member states, whether they were realms or republics. The position is purely ceremonial, and is not inherited by the British monarch as of right but is vested in an individual chosen by the Commonwealth heads of government.[72] Member states of the Commonwealth that share the same person as monarch are known as Commonwealth realms.
Monarchy in IrelandEdit
In 1155 the only English pope, Adrian IV, authorised King Henry II of England to take possession of Ireland as a feudal territory nominally under papal overlordship. The pope wanted the English monarch to annex Ireland and bring the Irish church into line with Rome, despite this process already underway in Ireland by 1155.[73] An all-island kingship of Ireland had been created in 854 by Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid. His last successor was Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, who had become King of Ireland in early 1166, and exiled Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster. Diarmait asked Henry II for help, gaining a group of Anglo-Norman aristocrats and adventurers, led by Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, to help him regain his throne. Diarmait and his Anglo-Norman allies succeeded and he became King of Leinster again. De Clare married Diarmait's daughter, and when Diarmait died in 1171, de Clare became King of Leinster.[74] Henry was afraid that de Clare would make Ireland a rival Norman kingdom, so he took advantage of the papal bull and invaded, forcing de Clare and the other Anglo-Norman aristocrats in Ireland and the major Irish kings and lords to recognise him as their overlord.[75] English lords came close to colonising the entire island, but a Gaelic resurgence from the 1260s resulted in the island divided between Gaelic-Irish and Anglo-Irish lords by 1400. Many of the latter became completely Gaelicised, and did not recognise England's kings except perhaps nominally. Some, such as Manus O'Donnell and Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone, were kings themselves.
By 1541, King Henry VIII of England had broken with the Church of Rome and declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England. The pope's grant of Ireland to the English monarch became invalid, so Henry summoned a meeting of the Irish Parliament to change his title from Lord of Ireland to King of Ireland.[76] However much of the island was beyond English control, resulting in the extended Tudor conquest of Ireland that only made the Kingdom of Ireland a reality in 1603, at the conclusion of the Nine Years' War (Ireland). Nevertheless, Ireland retained its own parliament, becoming an independent state in 1642-1649 (Confederate Ireland), and again in 1688-91. Only warfare such as the Williamite War in Ireland and subsequent occupation enabled the English crown from 1692, and successive British states from 1707, to retain the country.
In 1800, as a result of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the Act of Union merged the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The whole island of Ireland continued to be a part of the United Kingdom until 1922, when what is now the Republic of Ireland won independence as the Irish Free State, a separate Dominion within the Commonwealth. The Irish Free State was renamed Éire (or "Ireland") in 1937, and in 1949 declared itself a republic, left the Commonwealth and severed all ties with the monarchy. Northern Ireland remained within the Union. In 1927, the United Kingdom changed its name to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, while the monarch's style for the next twenty years became "of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India".
Modern statusEdit
In the 1990s, Republicanism in the United Kingdom grew, partly on account of negative publicity associated with the Royal Family (for instance, immediately following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales).[77] However, polls from 2002 to 2007 showed that around 70–80% of the British public supported the continuation of the monarchy.[78][79][80][81]
Religious roleEdit
Upon the death of a sovereign, his or her heir immediately and automatically succeeds (hence the phrase "The king is dead, long live the king!"), and the accession of the new sovereign is publicly proclaimed by an Accession Council that meets at St James's Palace.[86] Upon their accession, a new sovereign is required by law to make and subscribe several oaths: the Accession Declaration as first required by the Bill of Rights, and an oath that they will "maintain and preserve" the Church of Scotland settlement as required by the Act of Union. The monarch is usually crowned in Westminster Abbey, normally by the Archbishop of Canterbury. A coronation is not necessary for a sovereign to reign; indeed, the ceremony usually takes place many months after accession to allow sufficient time for its preparation and for a period of mourning.[87]
Restrictions by gender and religionEdit
Succession was largely governed by male-preference cognatic primogeniture, under which sons inherit before daughters, and elder children inherit before younger ones of the same gender. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, announced at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011 that all 16 Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom, had agreed to abolish the gender-preference rule for anyone born after the date of the meeting, 28 October 2011.[88] They also agreed that future monarchs would no longer be prohibited from marrying a Roman Catholic – a law which dated from the Act of Settlement 1701. However, since the monarch is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the law which prohibits a Roman Catholic from acceding to the throne remains. The necessary UK legislation making the changes received the royal assent on 25 April 2013 and was brought into force in March 2015 after the equivalent legislation was approved in all the other Commonwealth realms.[89]
Only individuals who are Protestants may inherit the Crown. Roman Catholics are prohibited from succeeding.[90][91][92] An individual thus disabled from inheriting the Crown is deemed "naturally dead" for succession purposes, and the disqualification does not extend to the individual's legitimate descendants.
During a temporary physical infirmity or an absence from the kingdom, the sovereign may temporarily delegate some of his or her functions to Counsellors of State, the monarch's spouse and the first four adults in the line of succession. The present Counsellors of State are: the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Harry and the Duke of York.[94]
Like the Crown Estate, the land and assets of the Duchy of Lancaster, a property portfolio valued at £383 million in 2011,[100] are held in trust. The revenues of the Duchy form part of the Privy Purse, and are used for expenses not borne by the parliamentary grants.[101] The Duchy of Cornwall is a similar estate held in trust to meet the expenses of the monarch's eldest son. The Royal Collection, which includes artworks and the Crown Jewels, is not owned by the Sovereign personally and is held in trust,[102] as are the occupied palaces in the United Kingdom such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.[103]
The sovereign is subject to indirect taxes such as value-added tax, and since 1993 the Queen has paid income tax and capital gains tax on personal income. Parliamentary grants to the Sovereign are not treated as income as they are solely for official expenditure.[104] Republicans estimate that the real cost of the monarchy, including security and potential income not claimed by the state, such as profits from the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and rent of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, is £334 million a year.[105]
Buckingham Palace, the monarch's principal residence
Holyrood Palace, the monarch's official Scottish residence
The Sovereign is known as "His Majesty" or "Her Majesty". The form "Britannic Majesty" appears in international treaties and on passports to differentiate the British monarch from foreign rulers. The monarch chooses his or her regnal name, not necessarily his or her first name – King George VI, King Edward VII and Queen Victoria did not use their first names.
The monarch's official flag in the United Kingdom is the Royal Standard, which depicts the Royal Arms in banner form. It is flown only from buildings, vessels and vehicles in which the Sovereign is present.[123] The Royal Standard is never flown at half-mast because there is always a sovereign: when one dies, his or her successor becomes the sovereign instantly.[124]
The Royal Standard of the United Kingdom: The Monarch's official flag
The Royal Standard of the United Kingdom as used in Scotland
Union Flag of the United Kingdom
The Royal Standard of Scotland
See alsoEdit
2. ^ Symbols of the Monarchy: National Anthem, Official website of the British Monarchy, archived from the original on 2 September 2014, retrieved 18 June 2010
4. ^ Crown Appointments Act 1661 c.6
6. ^ s3. Constitutional Reform Act 2005
7. ^ Bagehot, p. 9.
8. ^ Brazier, p. 312.
9. ^ Waldron, pp.59–60
12. ^ Brock, Michael (September 2004; online edition, January 2008). "William IV (1765–1837)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 October 2008 (subscription required)
13. ^ a b Durkin, Mary; Gay, Oonagh (21 December 2005), The Royal Prerogative (PDF), House of Commons Library, archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2008, retrieved 10 October 2008
14. ^ The Queen's working day > Evening, retrieved March 11, 2013
15. ^ Bagehot, p.75
16. ^ a b c PASC Publishes Government Defence of its Sweeping Prerogative Powers, UK Parliament, 2002, archived from the original on 4 January 2004, retrieved 10 October 2008
17. ^ About Parliament: State Opening of Parliament, UK Parliament, 2008, archived from the original on 19 November 2002, retrieved 27 April 2008
19. ^ Crabbe, p.17
22. ^ Brief overview – Government of Wales Act 2006, Welsh Assembly Government, archived from the original on 26 October 2011, retrieved 30 August 2011
25. ^ Orders of Chivalry, The UK Honours System, 30 April 2007, archived from the original on 19 August 2007, retrieved 9 May 2008
27. ^ Cannon and Griffiths, pp.13–17
28. ^ Cannon and Griffiths, pp.102–127
29. ^ Fraser, pp.30–46
30. ^ Fraser, pp.54–74
31. ^ Fraser, pp.77–78
32. ^ Fraser, pp.79–93
33. ^ Ashley, pp.595–597
34. ^ Fraser, pp.96–115
35. ^ Fraser, pp.118–130
36. ^ Fraser, pp.133–165
38. ^ Fraser, pp.179–189
42. ^ Weir, pp.164–177
43. ^ Ashley, pp.390–395
45. ^ Cannon and Griffiths, p.170
47. ^ Ashley, pp.409–412
48. ^ Ashley, pp.549–552
49. ^ Ashley, pp.552–565
50. ^ Ashley, pp.567–575
52. ^ Fraser, pp.214–231
53. ^ Cannon and Griffiths, pp.393–400
54. ^ Fraser, p.232
55. ^ Fraser, pp.242–245
56. ^ Cannon and Griffiths, pp.439–440
57. ^ Cannon and Griffiths, pp.447–448
58. ^ Cannon and Griffiths, pp.460–469
60. ^ Ashley, pp.677–680
61. ^ Cannon and Griffiths, pp.530–550
62. ^ Fraser, pp.305–306
63. ^ Fraser, pp.314–333
67. ^ Corbett, P. E. (1940), "The Status of the British Commonwealth in International Law", The University of Toronto Law Journal, 3 (2): 348–359, JSTOR 824318, doi:10.2307/824318
68. ^ Scott, F. R. (January 1944), "The End of Dominion Status", The American Journal of International Law, 38 (1): 34–49, JSTOR 2192530, doi:10.2307/2192530
72. ^ a b Head of the Commonwealth, Commonwealth Secretariat, archived from the original on 6 July 2010, retrieved 26 September 2008
79. ^ Monarchy poll, Ipsos MORI, April 2006, retrieved 6 August 2016
80. ^ Monarchy Survey (PDF), Populus Ltd, 14–16 December 2007, p. 9, archived from the original (PDF) on 11 May 2011, retrieved 30 November 2011
82. ^ Queen and the Church of England, Official website of the British Monarchy, archived from the original on 2 December 2010, retrieved 18 June 2010
83. ^ Roles and Responsibilities: Overview, The Archbishop of Canterbury, archived from the original on 3 August 2008, retrieved 9 October 2008
84. ^ Queen and Church of Scotland, Official website of the British Monarchy, archived from the original on 2 December 2010, retrieved 18 June 2010
86. ^ a b Accession, Official website of the British Monarchy, archived from the original on 31 May 2015, retrieved 14 May 2009
89. ^ Baby destined to become a monarch, ITV News, 22 July 2013, retrieved 7 November 2013
96. ^ Royal funding changes become law, BBC, 18 October 2011
97. ^ About Us, Crown Estate, 6 July 2011, archived from the original on 1 September 2011, retrieved 1 September 2011
98. ^ FAQs, Crown Estate, archived from the original on 3 September 2011, retrieved 1 September 2011
99. ^ Royal Finances: Head of State Expenditure, Official web site of the British Monarchy, archived from the original on 14 May 2010, retrieved 18 June 2010
100. ^ Accounts, Annual Reports and Investments, Duchy of Lancaster, 18 July 2011, archived from the original on 12 October 2011, retrieved 18 August 2011
102. ^ FAQs, Royal Collection, retrieved 30 March 2012
Royal Collection, Royal Household, retrieved 9 December 2009
103. ^ a b The Royal Residences: Overview, Royal Household, archived from the original on 1 May 2011, retrieved 9 December 2009
105. ^ "Royal finances". Republic. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
106. ^ Serafin, Tatiana (7 July 2010), "The World's Richest Royals", Forbes, retrieved 13 January 2011
108. ^ "£2m estimate of the Queen's wealth 'more likely to be accurate'", The Times: 1, 11 June 1971
111. ^ a b "Buckingham Palace", Official website of the British Monarchy, The Royal Household, archived from the original on 27 March 2010, retrieved 14 July 2009
112. ^ a b "Windsor Castle", Official website of the British Monarchy, The Royal Household, retrieved 14 July 2009
113. ^ "The Palace of Holyroodhouse", Official website of the British Monarchy, The Royal Household, retrieved 14 July 2009
115. ^ "Ambassadors credentials", Official website of the British Monarchy, The Royal Household, archived from the original on 9 March 2009, retrieved 14 July 2009
116. ^ A brief history of Historic Royal Palaces, Historic Royal Palaces, archived from the original on 18 December 2007, retrieved 20 April 2008
118. ^ Fraser, p.180
122. ^ Debrett's, 2008 edition, p. 43
123. ^ a b Union Jack, The Royal Household, archived from the original on 5 November 2015, retrieved 9 May 2011
124. ^ Royal Standard, Official website of the British Monarchy, archived from the original on 28 December 2009, retrieved 18 June 2010
External linksEdit |
Open main menu
Wiktionary β
Proper nounEdit
Wikipedia has an article on:
forced convection (countable and uncountable, plural forced convections)
1. The convection (carriage) of contents of a fluid, such as mass or (especially) heat, by means of currents induced in the fluid by a force which is not dependent on density changes in the fluid induced by heat.
Transfer of heat from the engine to the automobile radiator occurs by means of forced convection.
Transfer of oxygen from the lungs to the brain in the human body occurs by means of forced convection.
See alsoEdit |
Greater Middle East
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Traditional definition of the Middle East
G8 definition of the Middle East
Areas sometimes associated with the Middle East (socio-political connections)
The Greater Middle East was a political term coined by the second Bush administration in the first decade of the 21st century,[1] to denote various countries, pertaining to the Muslim world, specifically Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan.[2] Various countries in the South Caucasus and Central Asia are sometimes also included. Some speakers may use the term to denote areas with significant Muslim majorities, but this usage is not universal.[3] The Greater Middle East is sometimes referred to as "The New Middle East",[4] or "The Great Middle East Project".[5][6]
This expanded term was introduced in the U.S. administration's preparatory work for the G8 summit of 2004[7] as part of a proposal for sweeping change in the way the West deals with the Middle East.
Former U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, alluded to the modern Middle East as a control lever on an area he calls the Eurasian Balkans.[citation needed][8] The Eurasian Balkans consists of the Caucasus (Georgia, the Republic of Armenia, and Azerbaijan) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan,[citation needed] and Tajikistan). Turkey and Iran form the northernmost part of the Middle East (although some part of both counties lies in the Caucasus).
Countries and territories of the Middle East according to the G8
Countries sometimes associated with the Greater Middle East
See also
1. Haeri, Safa (2004-03-03). "Concocting a 'Greater Middle East' brew". Asia Times. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
2. Ottaway, Marina & Carothers, Thomas (2004-03-29), The Greater Middle East Initiative: Off to a False Start, Policy Brief, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 29, Pages 1-7
3. Dimitri Kitsikis, «Les frontières de sang - Géopolitique d'un Proche-Orient à venir»,Diplomatie, no.24, janvier-février 2007
4. Nazemroaya, Mahdi Darius (2006-11-18). "Plans for Redrawing the Middle East: The Project for a "New Middle East"". Global Research. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
5. “Great Middle East Project” Conference by Prof. Dr. Mahir Kaynak and Ast.Prof. Dr. Emin Gürses in SAU
6. Turkish Emek Political Parties
7. Perthes, V., 2004, America's "Greater Middle East" and Europe: Key Issues for Dialogue, Middle East Policy, Volume XI, No.3, Pages 85-97.
8. Zbigniew Brzezinski, "The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geo-strategic Imperatives"[page needed] Cited in (Nazemroaya, 2006).
External links |
To make sunlight practical as a dominant source of energy a viable storage technology needs to be developed. One promising area of research is imitating the process of photosynthesis to separate the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water to create hydrogen fuel. An MIT team led by Daniel Nocera is now reporting that nickel borate can efficiently and sustainably function as the oxygen-producing electrode in such a process, bringing the dream of energy storage systems that would allow buildings to be completely independent and self-sustaining.
Like many people, Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy and Professor of Chemistry at MIT, believes that solar energy is the only feasible long-term way of meeting the world’s ever-increasing needs for energy. That is why he has focused his research on the development of an efficient way to split water using electricity that could form the basis for new energy storage systems. The systems would use energy from intermittent sources like sunlight or wind to create hydrogen fuel, which could then be used in fuel cells or other devices to produce electricity or transportation fuels as needed.
Nocera pictures small-scale systems in which rooftop solar panels would provide electricity to a home, and any excess would go to an electrolyzer to produce hydrogen, which would be stored in tanks. When more energy was needed, the hydrogen would be fed to a fuel cell, where it would combine with oxygen from the air to form water, and generate electricity at the same time.
For such systems to become viable they must be cheap and reliable. So Nocera has concentrated on the development of less-expensive, more-durable materials to use as the electrodes in devices that use electricity to separate the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water molecules.
Now, along with postdoctoral researcher Mircea Dincă and graduate student Yogesh Surendranath, he is reporting the discovery of yet another material that can efficiently and sustainably function as the oxygen-producing electrode. This time the material is nickel borate, made from materials that are even more abundant and inexpensive than an earlier cobalt-based electrode.
Even more significantly, Nocera says, the new finding shows that the original compound was not a unique, anomalous material, and suggests that there may be a whole family of such compounds that researchers can study in search of one that has the best combination of characteristics to provide a widespread, long-term energy-storage technology.
“Sometimes if you do one thing, and only do it once,” Nocera says, “you don’t know - is it extraordinary or unusual, or can it be commonplace?” In this case, the new material “keeps all the requirements of being cheap and easy to manufacture” that were found in the cobalt-based electrode, he says, but “with a different metal that’s even cheaper than cobalt.”
But the research is still in an early stage. “This is a door opener,” Nocera says. “Now, we know what works in terms of chemistry. One of the important next things will be to continue to tune the system, to make it go faster and better. This puts us on a fast technological path.” While the two compounds discovered so far work well, he says, he is convinced that as they carry out further research even better compounds will come to light. “I don’t think we’ve found the silver bullet yet,” he says.
John Turner, a research fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, calls this a nice result, but says that commercial electrolyzers already exist that have better performance than these new laboratory versions. “The question then is under what circumstances would this system provide some advantage over the existing commercial systems,” he says. For large-scale deployment of solar fuel-producing systems, he says, “the big commercial electrolyzers use concentrated alkali for their electrolyte, which is OK in an industrial setting were engineers know how to handle the stuff safely; but when we are talking about thousands of square miles of solar water-splitting arrays, and individual homeowners, then an alternative electrolyte like this benign borate solution may be more viable.”
The original discovery has already led to the creation of a company, called Sun Catalytix, which aims to commercialize the system in the next two years. The latest research findings appear in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).
View gallery - 2 images |
Tag Archives: technology
Stars are Born!
I believe that we can engage children and have them truly own and demonstrate their learning success by incorporating multimedia learning in the classroom. This belief was reinforced by a few projects that I worked on with a class of Grade One students who I had the pleasure of working with for the past six weeks.
Anytime a child believes he has an audience for his ‘performance’ he will be more engaged and concerned about his production and success. Tell a child that she will be in a movie or on a poster and her eyes will light up. Kids are natural performers. Even the reluctant, shy ones will smile and be excited when they see themselves on the screen or in print.
One of the first activities we did was to create a ‘number hunt’ where the kids had my camera and were in charge of walking around the school to find things that were found in groups of one, two, etc.. After the pictures were taken, I used Sliderocket to put together a presentation that we shared with our class, another class and with the parents and guardians by sending the URL home for them. I was also able to download it and print it so that after it was laminated it became a popular book for the children to read to themselves, reinforcing both counting and number words. Relating to their own environment and relevant objects was important. You can see our presentation HERE.
On Groundhog Day, we used Wallwisher to record the information that we had learned about groundhogs and the traditions around the day. The kids were thrilled to see their names being recorded on the screen and they again shared the URL with their families at home to re-read and share. We used Wallwisher again when doing a KWL session on nutrition, food, and reasons that we eat.
We made Photovisi presentations that we printed out to record our 100th day of school activities and our Valentine’s Day fun. The picture stories with their photos were great for retelling events, ordering events and sharing with our school community and children’s homes.
The most fun we had was producing our very short YouTube video showcasing the digraph /sh/. Going through the process of learning about the sound, watching similar project videos by Kathy Cassidy’s students, brainstorming words, preparing our ‘props’, and then the steps of actually producing our video was intriguing, interesting, and motivational. The video was put together using Movie Maker and uploaded to YouTube. The kids felt like superstars! The joy and pride on their faces while watching the finished product was proof that they were invested in it. They truly had tried their very best, knowing that they would have an audience beyond the immediate classmates and teacher. Sharing the product with their parents and guardians was an exciting event!
These kids were amazing writers, actors, directors and producers. They had not had experience with creating these kinds of multimedia presentations and they were eager to be a part of it. Their enthusiasm and pride was evident and they were completely engaged in learning to share what they knew. These projects were fun and engaging and these children were truly ‘stars.’ The knowledge that they could have an audience beyond their classroom was motivating for them. Their desire to show what they knew and teach others was a huge source of pride. They were superstars and I am very proud of them!
This particular school does not have many technological resources. In a Kindergarten to Grade Eight school with approximately 550 students they have 30 laptops for the whole school and one computer per classroom. There are 4 additional computers in the resource center and one interactive whiteboard housed in a Grade 8 classroom. These could be considered limitations but the amazing projects that we were able to create are proof that there are some wonderful tools that allow us to incorporate learning and technology for kids to create with.
The problem that I have seen isn’t a lack of tools but seems to be a lack of teacher engagement with these tools. Is it fear of the new tools or an unawareness of the tools? How do we get more teachers to see the benefits of their use and to take the risk to try them?
My Learning Addiction
When people find out that I’ve just completed a university class and have registered for another one next term, years after getting my Bachelor of Education degree, they often ask one of the following questions:
Are you getting your Masters? (No.)
Do you *have to* take this class? (No.)
Well then, *why would you* take a class?
The fact that I would invest my time, energy, and money into a course without there being a requirement from someone to do so is shocking to many people, but the truth is, I love learning. I love to be innovative and to try new things and to implement methods and ideas before they become mainstream. And, truth be told, I am hoping to get myself back into a classroom of my own, after being away from the profession for a few years. I have been substitute teaching for over a year and I am really shocked at how few people seem to be embracing and utilizing technology and digital learning in the classroom. I took ECMP355, Technology in the Classroom, to help me understand how digital learning can be utilized to create amazing, motivating learning experiences and environments and now I am excited to start implementing what I have learned. ECMP355 gave me the chance to be quite self-directed and I was enthusiastic and motivated to explore and participate. I love learning, and this was a great way for me to re-enter the formal education arena.
Self-directed learning and exploration is what struck me as being the ‘idea’ behind ds106, which is a free open online course called Digital Storytelling. I’ve heard ds106 thrown around in connection to its live-streaming station that is used to broadcast projects from this course and found that there was a keynote address about the ds106 on the K12 Online Conference 2011.
What strikes me is the sheer numbers of people who are choosing to become involved with ds106. The voluntary participation in the assignments for the course is amazing and the quality of work that is being produced, ‘just because’ is quite astounding!
Jim Groom, who presents the keynote in a light, entertaining fashion, suggests that ds106 might be a ‘cult’ or an ‘addiction’ and as someone who loves to learn, I can see why people get so caught up in it. It’s an amazing creative outlet in a supportive community of people who share and create together.
The theme of the K12 Online Conference 2011 is Purposeful Play, and you can see how people are playing together, sharing ideas, having fun and being engaged in the ds106 community. There is definitely something to be said for using this type of platform to learn. It becomes something that we enjoy doing, want to do more of, continue to do, and yes, perhaps get addicted to doing. And we learn from it and become part of a supportive community as we go.
How can it possibly be shocking to people to want to be involved in something as awesome as all that? |
Summary: Festival of Unleavened Bread - Observance and Spiritual Significance...
Study Tools
Festival of Unleavened Bread - Observance and Spiritual Significance
One common Jewish family tradition in preparing for Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread was for the wife to thoroughly clean the house and then intentionally sprinkle leavened (with yeast) breadcrumbs throughout. Later the leaven were swept up and collectively burned outside.Another tradition is that the wife would perform the process as mentioned above, and then the father would take the children, along with a candle, a wooden spoon, a feather, and a piece of linen cloth, and search for the pieces of leavened bread. This act would typically be performed in the evening, and when the leaven is found, the father sets the candle down by the leaven and lays the wooden spoon next to it. The feather is then used to sweep the leaven onto the spoon. Without touching the leaven, the father then takes these items and wraps them inside the cloth, and casts them outside of the house. The next morning the articles would be gathered from the outside and then burned in a fire (typically at the synagogue).
In the Holy Scripture, leaven symbolizes error or evil (sinful actions) because it is the substance that causes the fermentation and souring of the bread (Matthew 16:6; Mark 8:15).
Christ stated: “Beware of the leaven” meaning beware the false doctrine of the Pharisees and the leaders of their time.
In the above practices, we are cleansing the leaven (sin) from our homes by sweeping it away. The spoon also represents the Messianic fulfillment by way of Christ dying on the cross (wood) and thus taking away our sins. The cloth would be His burial shroud and the burning of the articles is both representative of Christ’s decent into hell prior to His ascending into Heaven, and the symbolic ritual of purification through fire.
The apostle Paul also warned the Church at Corinth that:
(I Corinthians 5:6 KJV).
In this account, Paul was simply saying that if sin goes unchecked, it will permeate and infect everything and everyone around them.
The third feast of the spring occurs on the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 16) and is called the Feast of Firstfruits or “Bikkurim”. Barley, which is the first crop to be planted in winter, is beginning to ripen for its spring harvest. The first sheaf or “Firstfruits” of this harvest is then cut and, in a carefully prescribed ceremony, is presented to the Lord as an offering. The Lord’s acceptance of the Firstfruits is a pledge on His part and covenant for a full harvest to come (Leviticus 23:10-11).
Historical Significance
The Firstfruits offering is part of the Lord’s divine covenant. It was established to convey to Him the first yield of our increase and likewise bestow upon us His promise for provision and prosperity in the coming year (Proverbs 3:9-10).
Talk about it...
Nobody has commented yet. Be the first!
Join the discussion |
Summary: A simple gospel sermon exploring the implications of "always winter-never Christmas."
Study Tools
“What If Christmas Never Came?”
Intro: (play DVD “It’s A Wonderful Life”- where the angel shows George Bailey what it would be like if he had never been born.)
“It’s A Wonderful Life” has stirred hearts since it’s debut in 1946. Year after year people watch as George Bailey is allowed to witness the world, as it would be, without his influence in Bedford Falls.
This year, “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” has begun what will surly be a holiday tradition for many. Entering the mysterious land of Narnia through the magical wardrobe, Lucy finds a fawn named Tumnus. He tells her Narnia is a sad world where, “it is always winter, never Christmas.” Narnia was a hard world until Aslan returned to save his creation.
Transition: What would our world be like if it was always winter and never Christmas? What would our world be like if Jesus had not returned to save His creation?
1. No Christmas means no peace.
A. Jesus said, “I have come to give life, and life to the full” (John 10:10).
B. Paul said, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, Christ Jesus.”
C. In movie, Aslan’s sacrifice did not end all struggle in Narnia. He did however provide: confidence, comfort, hope, joy...
D. Luke 2:1-11 “Good News of Great Joy.”
Luke 2:14 “Peace to men.”
2. No Christmas means no cross.
A. Aslan and the stone table. (Play audio clip from Focus on the Family radio drama series, the sacrifice of Aslan.)
B. I Corinthians 15:1-3
C. Matthew 1:21
3. No Christmas means no resurrection.
A. Aslan lives.
B. Mark 16:1-6
4. No Christmas means no eternity in a perfect world.
A. I Corinthians 15:54-57
B. C. S. Lewis describes it this way in the final book of the Chronicles of Narnia series. The story is called "The Last Battle." The children, along with a great gathering of animals, people, and all sorts of creatures journey deeper and deeper, higher and higher into Aslan’s country, Narnia. In the beginning of the story, the children were riding on a train and hear a great and violent noise, suddenly they return to Narnia.
(Read from "The Last Battle," P.164-165) An incredible journey into Narnia. Conclude the reading with, “now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever and ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
Genesis 3:15 tells the story. The Lion of Judah comes. His heal is bruised on the cross. But before the story is finished he crushes the head of the enemy and leads all who will follow on an eternal journey.
It is winter, but Christmas has come!
Talk about it...
Nobody has commented yet. Be the first!
Join the discussion |
We’d be lost today without our super-efficient network of base stations, which are responsible for transmitting data to and from your trusty smartphone. Some of these base stations are eyesores perched on top of buildings, while others are so cleverly hidden that you’d never know they’re there. Regardless of appearance, to work the most effectively most are positioned in a lofty location. Ranging from minute microcells to giant macrocells, these come in a range of shapes, sizes, and capabilities to provide coverage. It’s helpful to take a closer look at the basics of base station technology, along with upcoming trends, to understand how this service works.
base station basics
Image Source: Pixabay
What is a base station?
Every time you use your cell phone to make or receive calls, connect to the Internet, or send and receive texts, you’ll need to communicate with a network. The base station is the piece of equipment that enables this type of communication. Base stations connect mobile phone users by transmitting and receiving signals, to facilitate the flow of data over the network. Cell phone towers can reach heights of 15 km, with higher positioning allowing the station to cover a wider range.
Size matters
Small cells are a growing trend in base station technology. They provide the provider with the ability to cover smaller ranges as needed, using less power in each station. This is particularly useful in urban areas, where there’s a high demand on the network that a larger macrocell wouldn’t be able to handle on its own without cutting out. Most operators use a combination of sizes to prevent this from happening. A user walking through a city may connect to a larger base station atop a hillside in more remote or open areas, then to a smaller base station that’s attached to the nearest traffic light when walking through more pedestrian-dense areas. This will depend on the city’s infrastructure as well as the networking needs.
A more efficient option
Along with reliability, efficiency is another big concern for network providers, who want to create base stations that use the least amount of power while providing the most seamless service. Some, like Nokia Networks, are looking at renewable power sources like solar or wind energy to power their mobile towers. Others are using lithium ion batteries. The size of the base station as well as its location have an impact on its power needs, so alternative forms of energy are a trend along with the use of small cells.
The bottom line
The future of base stations and cellular service depends on a variety of factors. Efficiency, performance, and user needs all factor into this developing technology. When users are on the go, radio signals can drop off without an efficient network of base stations in place. Service can also drop if too many users are trying to access the same station at the same time. For this reason, technology keeps improving to fill these gaps in the network and ensure that users get the clearest, most reliable, and most efficient service possible. |
The Warren Register of Colonial Tall Ships
Monday, May 28, 2012
COLONIAL TALL SHIPS.
Copyright Raymond J Warren 2012
Welcome to all researchers, historians and readers, this blog has been created for you so that you might more easily find that part of history that you seek. This Blog requires members and followers to support it's existence so please feel free to become a member and give this Blog the support it needs.
This historic work is a unique compilation of the great sailing ships that sailed the world’s oceans from the 15th to the 20th century. It has taken some thirty years to complete and is only now in it's final edit stages.
Enriched by many wonderful tales from the period, it is unique in that it has combined files stored by Lloyds Register, newspaper articles, advertisements and personal diaries from throughout the colonies. Included are many enjoyable tales from those intrepid sea folk and pioneers, who traveled abroad in tall ships.
The Warren Register is centered on those vessels that played an important role in Australia and New Zealand.xs colonial history. Many tall ships are also listed, that were not so well known but never the less, transported people and stores to Australia and New Zealand.
The Register offers the family researcher a more comprehensive work that will is a source of information, not only for famous vessels, but also for the lesser known ships, that brought our ancestors to their new lands. Major focus has been placed upon shipping that had a role to play in the settlement of Australia and New Zealand. Albeit oceanic protector, coastal protector, convict ship, passenger liner or cargo carrier.
There has been no attempt to enter the domain of the professional historian in regard to specialized information on Naval battles or vessels, only data on those vessels that had a direct or in some cases, a little indirect influence on the colonies, have been recorded.
The Warren Register, covers the period beginning with the rise of British naval strength [from about 1500 AD] to the final grain carrier leaving Australia in 1949. The colonial period for Australian and New Zealand bound sailing ships, is of course dated from 1768, to about 1950.
Ships that assisted in the settlement of Australia and New Zealand, including shipboard tales and historic events, dominate the Register. American, African and French Pacific convict settlements or the history of how convicts established those areas, are not included in this colonial work.
Convict Register:
A full and concise work is included herewith, on the 80-year period between 1788 and 1868, for those vessels that were involved in the transportation of people and supplies to the new settlements. Included also, is a small number of convict lists for a selection of vessels that were used as transports.
A section covers the early Battle frigates and Coastal protectors that were important to the colonies and their citizens. These though, are only touched upon as an added enjoyment to the reader, for many wonderful books have been written on the old fighting ships and their heroic deeds.
The colonization of Africa, America, Australia and New Zealand by British stock, is
the result of the English ability to control the worlds oceans. Although other countries did organise their own colonies throughout the world, nothing compared to the empire that Great Britain created.
To many people, Australia stands out as, ‘The’ country that was settled by convicts, the fact is that without convicts; none of the world’s colonies [including America] would have been started. Africa and America, were the main areas for transportation of convicts before the East Coast of Australia was claimed by Captain Cook in 1768, the Americans later rebelled for economic reasons and formed their own nation.
Young men and women from all parts of Great Britain were sent to Australia, where they began new lives in a new country. Boys and girls as young as twelve years, were transported for petty crimes that ranged from the theft of a piece of bread, a handkerchief or stealing a shaving brush from a stable. There were of course, those who committed the worst possible crimes included among them but those who did murder usually ended their days upon the gallows.
Britain, needed a base in the Southern latitudes, so once Australia was seen as a military and naval base that would easily control the South Pacific, England was quick to establish ownership over the great south land, this was done just in advance of French explorers.
Britain’s loss of the American colonies was due purely the political problems of the time. She would not have lost their loyalty had the circumstances been different. The same problems almost arose in Australia during the time of the Eureka Stockade.
Whilst this work has not covered every passenger and cargo vessel that ever sailed upon the worlds oceans, It does try to include the more notable and as many of the not so notable ships as could be found. One should remember that many smaller vessels such as brigantines, schooners, snows and even cutters, were able to sail to Australia quite easily and many families settled for a little more comfort on a small vessel, than the crowded conditions aboard the larger sailing ships. Some Cape Horners have also been included perhaps because of their ability to sail through such powerful seas and also because many of these American ships were bought by the English for use in Australia building.
If perchance, the researcher is unable to find the vessel on which his forebears arrived, it is likely that they came by one of the smaller vessels that were not recorded. These vessels could be as small as a cutter or as large as a Brigantine. After the Suez Canal opened in 1869, steamers and auxiliaries were able to make the journey in much faster time. When steamships arrived upon the scene, the extremes of cold in the southern latitudes were avoided and sea voyaging improved.
Soon even small paddle steamers were making the voyage and as the wealth of the new nation began to trickle back to England, so the emigrant flow to the colonies, became a flood. Although the age of sail had been upstaged by steam and then oil. People still are and perhaps always will be attracted to that wonderful era, when only the thump of wave against hull, winds high in the rigging and the slap of canvas could be heard. Especially whilst it was only these wonderful tall ships, that sailed the worlds oceans.
It is hoped that the Warren Encyclopedic Register of Colonial Tall Ships will ultimately be seen as a very handy work for those who need to know.
May you all enjoy the histories contained herein.
Raymond J Warren.
Tall Ship Historian.
Using the Warren Register is a simple act to accomplish. Simply click on ‘Edit’ at the top of the page and click again on ‘Find’. This will bring up the ‘Find’ box perhaps at bottom left. Type in the name of the ship or subject required and in an instant you will be transported to your destination. You may find that your ship is mentioned more than once and in that case, keep going until your ship is written in capitals with the year of its construction alongside. If you are seeking a particular year of arrival for a convict ship, keep clicking on ‘Find Next’ until you arrive at the correct subject material.
THE SILENT GREEN
By Raymond J. Warren.
My own experiences at sea, have come from perhaps today’s most rugged sea-going work, the humble fish trade. During the late 1960’s, I found my way to Western Australia and joined the Cray fishing [Lobster] fleet at the small coastal town of Geraldton on the central coast of that state. I have recorded my experiences and hope that those who have served aboard any Australian fishing vessel, will be able to find some brotherly sympathy for a would be fisherman and sailor.
Chapter 1
From dust to spindrift.
Whilst still in my early twenties and working amid clouds of dust and flies in the West Australian bush, I decided that it had to be much better and cooler work aboard a fishing boat and so I headed for the deep blue briny to tackle life at sea. Having left my position as a Jackaroo on a central Western Australian sheep station, I arrived at the small town and fishing port of Geraldton, Western Australia at the beginning of the red Crayfish season of 1968.
Almost immediately I began searching for a position as deckhand on one of the local crayfish [lobster] boats. The passage of time has dispersed from memory the exact date I arrived in that quiet little town but it was at the beginning of the red [coastal] crayfish season while most of the cray boats were undergoing their usual clean up and repair work during the lull between seasons.
It appears that the Crayfish change their color at different times of the year, perhaps due to shell growth or maybe it’s the color they choose for the coastal reef sojourn. At any rate, they're color was an already-cooked deep red and that is all to be said on that point. Months later, while taking off for deeper waters at the end of the red season, they change their shell color to a pinkish white and maybe the deeper waters have something to do with that.
I had recently been employed on a desert sheep station and after the dust and flies of the Western Australian outback, I was certainly looking for something a little cooler and different to do. On my first day in town, I spent some hours marching along the waterfront past fishing vessels laden with what seemed to be wooden cages with pieces of railway line tied inside them. Ropes and floats were neatly bundled on top of each of these contraptions, so I assumed rightly, that these were what were used to capture hungry Crayfish.
I had been born and raised in the mining town of Broken Hill, NSW and had little time or experience in, around or with the sea, except for the Christmas holidays. In those years, we spent an ideal two weeks splashing about at Adelaide [South Australia] beaches. Any boating was usually restricted to floating around in a rubber dinghy near the little river town of Menindee on the Darling River. This though, only happened on very rare occasions when our father decided to go fishing for Murray Cod.
I had always dreamed of going to sea as do most young lads who fancy watery excitement. Why, had I not spent my first walking years, strutting around in a Popeye the Sailor suit? I was ready to give a sea-going career a go, I was 23 years old and just crazy enough to think that a life at sea would be easy and much less skin destroying than the bush. Why, if the sun got too warm, you could just slide over the side of the boat and enjoy a leisurely swim for an hour or two and who cared if there were countless fathoms [and countless sharks] beneath your feet.
All round the little seaside town of Geraldton, with its rocky man-made-harbor wall, sounds of hammering and the intermittent flash of brilliant blue light that came from portable welders, gave one the feeling that the fishermen were gearing up for a heavy season of plenty.
After perhaps two hours asking and wandering among the many fishing boats, I eventually found myself directed toward a vessel that turned out to be a thirty six foot Catamaran. The vessel appeared to look very much like a pair of Dutch wooden shoes with wooden planks holding them together and it sat almost completely ashore whilst its owner pottered about the two hulls.
I had never seen such a weird looking vessel [except while making little wooden rafts out of icy-pole sticks as a child]. After stepping over and around tools, boxes and buckets, I was able to broach the owner of this enterprise while he was dabbing red paint onto one of the two steel hulls of his very strange looking craft.
When I first arrived in Geraldton, I was told that it would be very hard to find work as a deckhand or for that matter, any work at all to do with the fishing industry. Each vessel had its regular crew and they did not like having to train new men during the coastal season. Time always seemed to be the problem, for work was hard and was done just as quickly as the sea and weather would allow.
Taking a very deep breath, I introduced myself to the big Australian [whom I was later to find was of very Irish extract] and told him that I had come in from the bush and although I did not know much about being a deckhand, I was strong and an extremely good worker. I told him that he would not regret hiring me, especially if, [as I had been told] he had a position available.
The man looked me up and down as if I were somewhat mad, there seemed to be a kind of quizzical look in his eyes [his name was Kelly] and I could not quite make out what his eyes were saying or just what was going on in them. But then a flicker of a grin touched at the corners of his mouth, it was as if he had realized that a joke had been played on him. Suddenly, he turned away and after a moment with his back still toward me said, “Yeah, okay, your hired, be here tomorrow at 6am to help me get this boat ready”. He then strode away with a stray sand fly trailing like a dutiful sucker fish, behind him.
Up early the following morning, I sat waiting at the beach where the Catamaran lay with its dual bows still perched on the sand like a cat awaiting its breakfast. I watched the sun rise while I slowly counted my lucky stars at having found a job so quickly. Then finally, at about 6am, the skipper arrived and my anticipation was relieved..
Some months later I would realize why the job was so easily found, one thing I did notice about this man was that he was always very quiet when on land. He did not say much to me nor I to him, other than to ask the odd question as to where should I put this or where would I find that and he certainly spoke even less to other men involved in fishing..
Kelly had purchased some drums of foul smelling chemicals and was engaged in preparing some kind of mixture which when combined, had to be poured hurriedly into each hull. This seemed very strange to me, why was he trying to sink the damned thing before we even got it back in the water?
After a few hours of making guesses at just what we were achieving, he suddenly burst out and told me that “These hulls are going to be unsinkable with this stuff inside them!” He then told me that the chemicals were hardening into a type of Polystyrene, the same type of material that the cray boats used for the bowling ball sized floats that were used to hold the ropes that were connected to the crayfish pots.
This of course should have sent warning messages to me, why the hell was he worried about
making his boat unsinkable, why such cautious preparations to save from sinking his boat? Where would we be sailing that could or would cause such concern while pulling up cray pots from the deep?
After two more days of maintenance work that lasted from the early hours of the morning to late into the evening, the repairs and additions were gradually overcome and we were ready to go to sea.
This was the moment I had been waiting for and the closer we came to leaving on our first day of fishing, the more excited I became. One thing I should have noted was that there was no sunshade on the Cat and any bushman will tell you that it is always best to have something around to keep the sun off.
Kelly [my skipper] had been a policeman in his younger years but he did not appear to have the proper authoritative strength required for that line of work, he hardly spoke to anyone at all. But he was a very good worker when it came to manual labor and it was not long before we were off to give the vessel a tryout. She had been given an engine overhaul on the twin Perkins diesels and she needed a good test run for the grueling workdays ahead.
We spent perhaps an hour getting clear of the little harbor and out onto a bowling green flat sea that made me feel like we were sailing on glass except for a slight nudge occasionally to left or right from a small rogue wave or two. This tended to give one the suggestion that the Catamaran was somewhat feminine in the way she wiggled her hips as she danced this way and that across the swell.
Suddenly I realized why sailors have always referred to their vessels as “She”, this realization made me feel that I had suddenly become one with all those who had gone to sea before me. Oh what a chest full of pride I had, here was I, a desert nomad who had found his sea legs and without the slightest touch of sea sickness!
Heading South
The following morning, we set out with our many cray pots stacked high on the deck of our pot carrier which Kelly conveniently named “It”. If ‘It’ could have been a bit longer, "It" would have passed for a ‘Palais de Dans’ floor. The Catamaran was about 36 feet long with wood planking running the whole length of the vessel and “It” had what looked like a Podium behind which the skipper or helmsman stood to steer the vessel.
This is where the wheel had been set, otherwise, the vessel was as flat as a pancake with no cover against the sun or weather. In front of the Podium, there was what Kelly called "the Well” which was a 4 foot square area that housed the two Perkins Diesels. This pit was about 3 or 4 feet deep and was covered by a wooden hatch that kept sea spray off the engines but still allowed air to reach them.
The Podium was set aft, about ten feet from the stern and it was about 5 feet high. There was a rope railing round the vessel which was about 18 inches above the deck and this was all one could take hold of if one happened to get into nasty circumstances. At the rear of the well and below the deck, two outboard “legs” with propellers drove the vessel along.
Fishing Begins
We had been making our way down the coast for about two or three hours when he announced that we had arrived in our fishing area, withing minutes I spotted a line of floats off our starboard side and promptly let him know of their existence, to which he replied that I should not come up with damned nautical sayings until I had been at sea a while.
He told me that the cray pots I could see were in fact ours and that they had been laid very early [about 1 am] that morning by the skipper of a large deep sea cray boat that had left Geraldton the night before. Kelly had done a deal with the Captain and had the pots dropped overboard where we would now commence our red crayfish season. I knew that this was not a legal exercise and that Kelly had far too many pots out but I suppose he felt that he had to compete.
Now it was my turn to learn how to lay pots and how to tie the half sheep heads securely inside them. Hopefully, this would attract and then lure the crayfish inside the pots to their doom. After baiting and pot laying had ended, I began to feel queasy, it had now been sixteen hours since I had been on land and my stomach decided that whatever was still inside should not be there. Suddenly I did not feel the proud sailor anymore and any fish following the Cat did not have to wait long for dinner. I was left with a somewhat weird feeling that continued for the rest of that day, right up until and long after we arrived back at Geraldton.
One of the more noticeable effects my first day at sea had on me, was the odd way my world seemed to be going up and down and from side to side. I could not understand why it continued on, without being still for a single moment, surely my brain knew we were back on land. Before going to bed, I took a nice hot shower thinking that would settle my motion sickness. But no, the shower cubicle seemed to have a rock and roll movement all of its own and I resigned myself to the fact that this must all be part of being a sailor.
The next day, we drove south in two vehicles so that we could leave his four-wheel drive near where we would moor the Catamaran a little south of the town of Greenough, about twenty miles from Geraldton.
After passing through Greenough, we turned in off the main road and headed toward the coast to a place the skipper called Flat Rocks. Here we left the four-wheel drive near a beach house owned by a friend of his and we drove back to Geraldton in my old 1948 Vauxhall, before retiring for an early night in preparation for the hard day to come.
At 5am next morning we headed back to Flat Rocks but this time in the Catamaran and we had loaded up with sacks of sheep heads that we had purchased the evening before from the local slaughter house. We were carrying the last of Kelly’s official allowance of pots and these I baited on the way down to Flat Rocks. I then stacked them ready for throwing overboard. There were about 30 or so pots ready on deck when we finally arrived so I felt that I was in for an easy time.
Sailing on the Catamaran had its pleasures. In fact when there was little to do, it became so enjoyable with the fresh sea breeze in my face and the smell of salt in the air, that soon all the hard work was forgotten, it was so easy then to be at peace with everything and everyone.
Flat Rocks Fishing
When we arrived at our site, I was shown how to retrieve a float with a grapple and how to run the rope around the winch until the pot was dragged up onto a wheelbarrow shaped contraption. The handles of this were pulled back and down and the pot slid aboard a metal plate where it could be emptied, re-baited or taken aboard ready to be transported to a new site.
Once the pot came aboard, it was vacated of whatever was inside, if the catch was good then it would be heaved over board for another try at them. Some of the most amusing scenes took place during this fast and furious work.
This amusement happened mostly because the skipper wanted to keep the vessel moving. He also wanted the job done quickly so we could get the days catch back to the Cray Factory and in his case, to spend as little time at sea as possible.
That evening we left the Catamaran at her mooring just inside the two reefs that ran parallel to the shore and went home in the four-wheel drive. The trip from the mooring to the vehicle took the best part of an hour due to the fact that we had two full bags of crayfish to carry half a mile up through the sand hills to the car.
Chapter 2
Seeing Kelly in action
During the months ahead I would come to realize that the skipper had no real affinity with the sea and I am sure that it hated him just as much as he disliked being on, in or around the ocean. I also believe that he had only given up his career in the police force because of the lure of big money from the cray fishing industry.
The Protagonists [ or ‘Kelly and the Octopus’]
One of the many very funny episodes that occurred during my new career happened one day while we were taking in our catch. I, for the first time ever, found a rather morbid looking, large brown octopus inside one of the pots. This ugly slimy denizen of the deep had a head about the size of a football, with tentacles at least two or more feet long. It kept slithering from one end of the cray pot to the other and the longer I took to catch it, the angrier the skipper became. Finally, in exasperation he bellowed at me to stand by the helm, while he would show me how to handle the situation.
Well now, he did just that, n’all, n’all. He reached in and took hold of that ugly thing and dragged it out of the pot and into what looked like a bad situation for the many-legged creature. The Skipper had, in his other hand, a very evil looking sheath knife.
Well that Octopus had only one thought and that was to get back into the deep blue briny and not to be severed from connection with its eight thrashing tentacles. Then, for some reason, it thought that the quickest way back to the ocean, was along the arm that held it. In seconds, the suckers on that slimy slippery thing were dragging its slimy body out of Kelly's grasp. Suddenly and to my great mirth, the eight arms were wrapped tightly around Kelly's head while the octopus had pressed itself hard up against Kelly's face while it surveyed the area for an escape route.
Astaire and Kelly
At that very moment, began one of the strangest dance routines one could ever see. First the knife clattered to the deck as the skipper reached up in horror with both hands, trying to tear the slippery despicable looking animal from his face. Then a slow beginning to an odd dance, somewhat like a Sailors Hornpipe, evolved to open the ledger on a jig that even professional hoofers would have been proud to do as Kelly's legs kept trying to maintain their footing on the cat until his staggers degraded into god knows what kind of movement.
Round and around they went in a stumbling sprawling version of a wild tribal dance, “Yagrh, Yagrhh, Yagrh, Yah, Yaaaah” he roared, while I tried with all my might to cut the engines down to slow while wiping away the enormous amount of tears rolling down my cheeks. My stomach ached so bad from laughing that even though I was doubled over I could not take my eyes off the incredible scene that was taking place on our promenade deck.
Here I was, witnessing one of the great love hate relationships of all time; Kelly and his Octopus whirled and flapped about in gay abandon like two lovers in a passionate embrace. The glugs and gurgles coming from somewhere within the tightly wound arms of the Octopus almost drove me into hysterics, to which of course, I could not allow sound effects. So all I could do was watch and cry with mirth as the two danced around and around, from one end of the boat to the other.
Finally after what seemed like long minutes, Kelly managed to rid himself of his dance partner, he did so not by pulling at it but by stopping his dance in exhaustion at which time the Octopus decided to beat a hasty retreat. After falling sloppily to the deck, the creature gave him one last glowering look from between the scuppers and then it appeared to bow slightly, before dropping joyfully over the side.
The skipper looked at me so red-faced and angry that I had to bite my lip quickly for he always found little humor in his own mistakes. He glowered and said, “I’ll hear nothing more of this” or words to that effect and returned to the helm. I guess there really was nothing that I could say but for the rest of that day at least and every so often, I would start chuckling and then struggle to suppress it in case the Skipper heard me. I am sure that no greater dance will I ever see no matter how long I live, than that which I will always call ‘Kelly’s Octopus Polka’.
Pottering about
No matter what occurred on a day to day basis, work went on as usual and long hours at sea passed by and each trip brought a new adventure. We would set our pots along one section of the coastal reefs or another and whenever we shifted, something would happen to make the trip interesting.
One morning during the coastal season, we arrived at Flat Rocks and began carting the usual five cray bags of sheep heads down to the beach. We would carry one each for about 100 metres and then return for the others, backward and forwards until we got them to the boat. Thankfully, most of the journey was down hill but it was very sandy, so much so, that the four wheel drive was unable to get over the first ridge of sand and therefore the only way we could get to and from the beach was to walk.
For perhaps two hours we toiled, carting the sheep heads down to the mooring. When we had completed this task one could easily say that a days work had already been done. But into the dinghy we jump with our several hundred pounds of sheep heads and off we did row. Merrily we went, with the Skipper sitting on the stern like Admiral Lord Nelson and directing me this way and that, as I rowed patiently out to the Cat some two hundred meters offshore.
The Skipper told me to swing out and around to the seaward side of the Cat. At this, I protested, we were very low in the water and the waves coming over the reef were about twelve to eighteen inches high. This left me a little concerned that we might be swamped. It was not that I felt that I was more knowledgeable of the sea than the Skipper, it was just plain commonsense. The sea was going to swamp us because we were running too low but the Skipper refused to see what I meant.
‘But no,’ Kelly said. ‘The gate is on the other side and it was easier to unload the bags there’. So instead of trying to manhandle them over the rope, it would be better, in his opinion, to try our luck against the little waves. So I did what I was told but no sooner were we in position at the gate, than sure enough, a two footer came bounding over our side and down we went like a stone.
Perhaps in afterthought I could have placed the dingy stern first against the side of the Catamaran thereby allowing the dingy to face the waves but this was the first time I had ever rowed a boat on anything more than a slightly choppy river.
The dingy tilted over on its side as she went under and all five bags of bait sank ten feet to the bottom along with our food and drinking water. The Skipper had grabbed hold of the Cat as we were going down. He hauled himself out of there without wetting his boots while I was left floundering about cursing silently under my breath. The skipper looked down at me with the churlish look one gets when he has realized his mistake but all he said was; “Well, go down for the bags then, hurry up!”
So down I went with the grapple and one at a time they were retrieved from the bottom. I went back down and brought up our water but the food was ruined and not at all edible. As I pulled myself from the water, I turned to help lift the dinghy up and empty her out. It was then that I saw the large amount of blood in the water. I blessed the fact that it was all from the sheep heads and not from me. Within minutes, two or three sharks were swimming around our Catamaran each of them seemed to be looking up at me, with what appeared to be disappointment in their glassy eyes.
Perhaps I am not the most experienced sailor in the world but commonsense should have prevailed in this matter and it was about now in my cray fishing career, that I began to go on the defensive. We were at sea when we heard that one of the very large crayfish boats had lost one of her deckhands overboard and by the time we were retrieving our catch, there was already an air-sea search taking place in the area where they thought he had gone overboard. He was declared missing at 4am but no one was sure and the vessel had been hurrying to get to her pot site and it was some hours before they noticed he was not on board.
Chapter 3
Now I became somewhat concerned for my own well being, Kelly was not all that safe in his seamanship. I had not thought about death or dying until about this time but my concern turned to dread one morning as we were heading out to lay pots in an area well off-shore in about 35 fathoms of water. The Skipper seemed peeved about something as we came up on a line of pots and I yelled at him to steer away as we were heading straight at the float lines.
The Skipper paid no attention to my yells and just plowed straight into the first line, in fact he seemed to be aiming to cut as many ropes as he could when suddenly, we came to a halt with both engines shutting down. The big ex cop began marching up and down the deck in a rage and he looked at me and said,” What are you waiting for, over the side you go and see what fouled our props”. Well now, I just knew something was going to happen and I also knew damn well what had fouled our outboard legs, so I grabbed the big knife we had for cutting the heads off octopus and slid into the sea alongside the Cat.
I went under the starboard hull and came up in the outboard legs chamber. I found both propellers had been wrapped very tightly with half-inch pot ropes, so tightly in fact, that they were extremely tough to cut.
Slowly, after about twenty minutes, with the Skipper persistently asking how it was coming, I eventually managed to free one of the legs from its bindings. The Skipper kept calling intermittently, “have you finished yet”? After a while, I yelled back to him that that I had completed one side and that I was cutting into the second lot, when suddenly, right in front of my eyes, the freed prop began to rotate.
Slowly at first then faster it went and then my bottom half began being drawn upward toward the spinning metal dervish. I pushed away and downward with my arms using the leg that was still hog-tied, as a lever, while trying to keep my legs from being drawn in toward the propeller. I then commenced screaming at the top of my lungs for Kelly to turn the bloody engine off. My yells though, seemed to go unheeded. Closer and closer the devilish device came, soon I began to fear, first for my manhood and then for my life. I could see myself being completely castrated and gutted by this little metal monster, for I was slowly being dragged closer and closer.
Finally my frantic yelling must have caught his ear for the engine stopped and his disembodied voice inquired as to what all the bellowing was about. It was at this moment that I decided to tell him about his real parentage while deep inside, my thoughts were of the fact that the red season end was coming and that I would begin looking for a new boat as soon as we took our break.
Chapter 4
The Silent Green
Time rolled on until one afternoon as we were heading back to our mooring in fairly bumpy seas; danger reared its head again. The wind had risen dramatically, increasing the swell which was running at about three to four feet on the incoming tide. This was a usual situation at that time of the afternoon on the West Coast of Australia. But this day there appeared to be a little more tension in the air, I could not define it but something was making me feel nervous.
Twin reefs about 100 feet apart, ran the length of the shoreline at Flat Rocks. If my memory serves me well, there was an opening at the northern end of the outer reef, through which we had to pass to run about 800 meters south to a gap in the inner reef. This then, allowed us to pass through to our mooring site. We were about a mile offshore when our troubles began. One of the engines lost its electrical power and we were forced to shut it down. We then had to continue in on one engine and this would make the going a little bit dicey as the seas were getting up. We would be unable to maintain normal steerage with only one prop operating, while trying to make it through the outer reef, it could be done but it would be a difficult operation.
Then, as we were approaching the gap, the skipper had to turn us beam on to the seas. He had misjudged the entrance due to the surf covering the reef and hiding the gap until we were very close. We came up about fifty metres short of the gap and the Skipper then elected to run alongside the reef until we could get through. We were about fifty yards off the rocks as we motored slowly along with both of us praying that we would be able to swing her in through the gap in the reef.
The good engine was now running hot and on his orders, I had to open the hatch and run water directly into her from the pump. I was crouched in that position when I heard a dull roaring sound. When I lifted my eyes, there was a wall of translucent green right there in front of me, then it was surrounding me, then no noise, just a peaceful silence. It was a serene sort of silence, which took hold of me and smothered out all sounds of wind and sea.
There was absolutely no feeling for the need of air; not even a wish for air came to mind, I just marveled at how peaceful it was inside that silent green envelope. There was no feeling of damp not even fear, just peace and quiet. How strange that my thoughts were not for survival or even to breathe. For what seemed an eternity, I seemed to float as if weightless in that pale green world, is this what a child in the womb might feel, was this the same sensation?
Perhaps the shock of seeing such a large wave towering over me had turned on my adrenaline. I still find it hard to understand why I felt no concern at all for my safety or the predicament I was now in, perhaps ignorance is bliss.
Suddenly, like thunder the noisiness of the real world returned. It came crashing in around me like the thunderous fury of an electrical storm. The Skipper had obviously seen it coming and though soaked, was still on his feet except now he was running up and down in the one place yelling “The anchor the anchor”. Kelly had also received a good ducking but had held onto the helm which was extremely solid and his only sufferance, was to look like a large half drowned cat. I was down in the engine well soaked and oily and trying to regain my feet so I could drag myself out of the flooded and very cramped well space.
We now had no engines and we were being driven relentlessly toward the reef, which was about 30-40 meters, distant, and it looked like we were in deep trouble. I looked at his pointing arm and drew myself up out of the well to stagger drunkenly toward the anchor, which I threw overboard while fervently hoping it might catch before we struck. Luckily, it did and we sat there some 20 meters from the reef wondering what would transpire next.
For the first time, the Skipper showed some seamanship or rather mechanical sense that surprised even me. He sprang into the well and began working on the tired and wet little engine while I bailed the well out. The one working engine had seized so he changed the battery leads over to the powerless engine. After an hour or so of salty duckings and showers, we were able to get underway. With no further trouble we made it through the entrance and once that was achieved, we were in waters that were much calmer and we made it safely back to the mooring. There we tiredly unloaded our catch of two well-soaked crayfish laden bags. It had grown dark while we were tying up at our mooring and by the time we got our catch back to the vehicle, it was almost ten o’clock at night, another hour to get home and this day would be well done with.
Chapter 5
The End of Kelly and me
I did not sail with my skipper Kelly for much longer, I had been told on many occasions that I was taking a chance with his seamanship but I always did like a challenge and frankly, I knew that I was no seaman either, I just went with the flow and tried to learn as I went. As I have previously stated, ignorance is bliss. I was surprised some weeks later when the very first boat I approached for the white cray season asked me for whom I had worked. When told, they hired me without the slightest hesitation, my new Skipper had only one question and this he asked in wonderment. “ You worked the whole season on that Catamaran? When I nodded, he only shook his head and smiled.
My memories of the many things that happened while aboard that intrepid Cat, have not dimmed, it is a part of my life that I shall not forget, as sole deckhand I had manhandled 165 cray pots each time we went out and only extremely bad weather stopped us being there. I had lugged up to five full cray bags [150 pound Potato sacks] a half mile up sand hills at the end of tiring days at sea. I received [if my memory is correct] $10 per bag for my effort. We had good days and we had bad days but the experiences that I had, have served to remind me of the joys of just being alive.
Chapter 6
My final days with Crays
My next vessel proved to be one of those special joys, the ‘Helen C’ carried three deckhands and the workload was so much less, I felt extremely lucky to be aboard. I was receiving the same amount per bag but the best we ever pulled in on the Catamaran was five bags [once or twice] and on my new vessel we were doing that almost every day. Sure there were quiet days but deckhands earned a very good wage if they got the right boat. Although I did miss the Catamaran and the quiet companionship of my Skipper, I had not too many feelings of danger and was much less tired at the end of a day aboard this new vessel, besides, the crew were all about my own age and we soon became friends and shipmates. The only time we had danger on board that vessel was when a pot rope from a pot going out wrapped round my foot and dragged me down, my shipmates were on that rope until the skipper slowed enough for me to be set free of the pot.
What happened to our Mr. Kelly? Well the last I heard of him, was about three years later. This was when I met a cray fisherman from Geraldton who was on holiday in Adelaide, to which place I had moved a year or so before. He told me that one of the boats had come across Kelly standing waist deep on a reef near the Abrolhos Islands, he was slapping the water while trying to keep a shark away. The Cat was bottom up and had been put that way by his sailing beam on again, to much heavier surf.
Apparently, they picked him up and he asked them to help him right the Cat which they attempted to do by partially sinking one of the hulls and then tying ropes to the other in the hope of pulling her over. One of the ropes [with a float attached] unwound itself and the float flew through the air like a guided missile and struck our Mr. Kelly right on the forehead knocking him senseless. Kelly was a tough man though and he was soon up and about trying to salvage his boat.
I have never tried to verify the truth to the above event but for the most part, I believe that this is something that would have quite probably eventuated. I myself hold Kelly fondly in my memory and often wonder if he too, had at the time, shared in the eerie feelings aroused by the silent green.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
SETTLEMENT The change in ship design that led to the speedy clippers and powerful windjammers of the 19th century began some four hundred years earlier during the 15th century and this gave form to the wonderful vessels that took us to the end of the tall ship era. One wonders at the seamanship of those intrepid sailors of two or three thousand years ago and of their courage in facing the unknown. We can ponder what type of ship was used by the Phoenician seamen when the Pharaoh Necho of Egypt, sent these hardy explorers to circumnavigate Africa circa 700 bc, we also wonder if these vessels reached the shores of Indonesia and perhaps even Australia while following the spice trail. Evidence is slowly building up in support of the idea that the equatorial nations achieved a trading system long before we had imagined.
From the 12th century onward, only one or two masts were still being used in coastal sailing vessels but by the 15th century, three and four masts became the fashion, as larger ships were required to protect the trade routes.
The battles for Supremacy.
As ships ventured further from their own shores, they needed protection from prize takers and piracy. Warships were sent to establish trade and to protect the trading vessels, allowing trading ships to become larger and faster.
The warships also evolved quickly and were soon equipped with archers, javelin throwers and fighting men who fought from all parts of a ship; some were stationed at the top of each mast in a box known as the ‘Fighting Top’. It was from here that they threw heavy objects down into enemy vessels once they had pulled alongside. Grapples were used to hold a vessel in place while the fighting went on. Heavy stones and lumps of metal, then iron balls or blocks were hurled down into the bottom of the enemy boats by the marines in an effort to sink or badly damage the boat or its occupants. Defensive works were built, as the ships grew larger and the first item used in defence was the decking, this was used to protect the bottom of the boat. Protection for the men who did the fighting quickly followed and all types of breastwork were built onto the vessels. Miniature castles were erected at each end of a ship where archers and javelin throwers were stationed; this caused the builders to enlarge the hull design to make more room for the defenses.
James IV of Scotland.
In 1511, James the 4th of Scotland launched the ‘Great Michael’ which was a wood ship of approximately 1200 Tons. Her length was 200 ft and she was 36 ft in breadth. Her sides were protected with 5-ft thick timbers along her waterline in the form of a belt. She carried 300 seamen, 120 gunners and 1000 men at arms.
When James the fourth was killed in 1513, the ‘Great Michael’ was sold to the French. The building of this mighty ship is said to have taken all the timber left in Fifeshire.
Henry VIII of England.
Henry the 8th of England built his ship, ‘Grace a Dieu’ in 1514; she was a wood ship of 1000 Tons. The figurehead seems to have been of the Mother and Child. [This is based on a very hazy view of the ship's beak shown in her portrait]. She was nicknamed ‘Great Harry’ after King Henry and was the first British built four-mast ship to be launched in England. Her masts were named, Fore, Main, Mizzen and Bonaventure. Her fore and main masts were square rigged and her mizzen and bonaventure were rigged with lateen sails. She had topsails on all four masts with topgallant sails on the first three masts. She went for a refit in 1540 and at that time, she had her guns set in two tiers, which fired through ports cut into her side. She thereby became the forerunner of the battle frigates, which were to rule the seas until the late 19th century. [The ship, ‘Mary Rose’ may have been the first ship to have been given gunports but she did not stay afloat long enough to prove their worth] The ‘Grace a Dieu’ is shown in her portrait at some time between 1540 and 1553 before she was totally destroyed by fire at Woolwich .She had been a favorite ship of the King, as he used her to travel abroad on official business.
Defense and Attack.
Another invention which proved to be of benefit to seamen, the detachable top mast, Captain John Hawkins had the topmasts of his ship set into a cap which was supported by trestle trees which were set fore and aft of the mast to support the cross trees. This in turn supported the spread of the sails in the upper mast areas.
The‘Fighting Top’ was a square or rounded box in which men could stand and that was situated at the top of the main section of each mast. This was the area from which men could throw, fire or ‘put’ missiles onto or into enemy craft.
On a more personal level, the Poop deck got its name from the toilet facilities, which were built out from and around the stern usually below the level of the captain’s cabin. Seats with holes were set out from the hull and these too, evolved to offer more privacy as time went by.
Sails and gunnery;
At first, single sails were used on vessels up to and including the time of the Viking longships. Eventually, the need for faster ships gave rise to more sails on more masts. A second, third and then, a fourth mast were added to the ships of the 16th century. The early masts carried a single sail followed by topsail; royals and etc followed these in turn.
The Spritsail.
By the 17th century, the spritsail had been introduced to the area beneath the bowsprit and this enabled the Mizzenmast to be set further aft, then a small mast was added to the front end of the bowsprit and a topsail spritsail was rigged in place. Through trial and error, three masts came to be preferred and it remained so, with few exceptions until the 19th century.
During the 16th century, new and more powerful ships were built by British ship builders for the East India trade, most were well armed and although really merchantmen, would have been quite a handful for some of the secondary ships of the European naval countries. They were at times, called upon to help the British navy when pirate or other ships intruded into English waters or were harassing coastal towns or vessels.
These events regularly occurred in English waters and the frigate built ships came to resemble naval ships of the line. Soon, the armament lessened considerably as fewer ships challenged them. The outcome was a passenger ship that was painted and arranged to look like a man-o-war but really carried only one or two guns for protection and even these were phased out in a few short years.
Naval armament. The British navy had the honour of being the first to have Muzzle loading cannon aboard their ships. King Henry VII of England was the first Monarch to create a naval fleet and he armed them as well as could be done for the time.
Gunports were at first initiated in the waist section of the vessels but soon they were set along the full broadside [Henry VIII] giving rise to the true multigun warship. The Stern was then rounded so that even the quarters could be protected with cannon. As more armament was added to each vessel, so too, were each ship's defense increased in strength. Some naval battles had ships fighting for many hours, cannonball after cannonball slowly chipping away at the thick protective timbers while new forms of shot were fired at the rigging in the hope of the opponent being desailed or even dismasted.
The early type vessel went from an armament of five short barreled cannon, which operated only at very close range, with an iron cannonball… that weighed about 50 pounds. They also carried the smaller demicannon, which fired a 32-pound ball. Finally there was the ‘Culverin’ which had a long barrel and fired a smaller shot over a longer range though not anywhere like later armaments. The even smaller ‘Demiculverin’, the ‘Saker’, supported them in turn [which was a quarter culverin]. The Falcon gun [which was a half saker], Falconett and Robinett with each bird name, descending with the shot size until shot weighed as little as two or three ounces. These, were the ship destroyers and coastal protectors of the early 16th century Although the number of guns on each of the fighting ships could be as many as 180, most of these were only small weapons and did not operate from gun ports. By the 17th century, ships and their weapons had become more sophisticated. The sum total of 16th century knowledge came with the launching of the ‘Prince Royal’, which was built in 1610.
Then, during the 1630’s the first ever 100 gun Battle Frigate, ‘Sovereign Of the Seas’ arrived on the scene. Both the ‘Prince Royal’ and the ‘Sovereign of the Seas’, had broadside guns on each side of them and on all three decks. The ‘Sovereign of the Seas’ was considered ‘the most formidable fighting ship of her time’. In fact she was one of the largest vessels ever seen and it was said that six men could stand upright in her stern lantern. She weighed in at 1500 Tons and did away with the Bonaventure mizzen, which from that time was to disappear and she now carried the standard three masts. The three masts remained until the demise of sail in warships and acted as the standard rig for British warships
Gun decks too, were changing and the calibre of cannon with them, by the end of the century the larger men-o-war were carrying 32 pounder cannon on their upper decks and 42 pounders on the lowest deck. This was by no means the standard for all three deckers of the time, though it became more popular as time went by.
Rating a naval ship.
When James the first came to the English throne, he arranged his ships into four different ratings and by the middle of the 17th century, six ratings were the accepted idea. The number of guns were the determining factor with a 100 gun ship being a 1st rater and an 18 gun ship being classified a 6th rater. This, applied only to naval vessels, [ratings for frigates, passenger and cargo ships were rated under a different system]. Improvements came with guns being standardized on each deck, rather than having mixed gun sizes as with the ‘Sovereign of the Seas’.
In the 18th century, ships became known by the number of guns they were rated to carry, the great ship, HMS‘Victory’ was rated a 108 gun ship. The great naval battles that took place between the English and the major sea powers of Europe helped to maintain the widely improving naval systems and with the advent of true steam power, naval shipping continued on to the modern fighting ships of the 20th century. The ships shown below, are more an extract from a very long line of naval vessels than a precise list. I have also included some of the heroic deeds [which no historian can disregard] that these noble ships performed.
Why Port and Starboard?
For the researcher who may need to know which end of a ship is which, the front of a vessel is known as the bow or for’ard end and the rear is known as the stern or aft [after] end.
The Port [or lee] side of a vessel got its name from exactly that, the Port or left hand side of the ship [which was the opposite to the steering side or starboard side]. Port side was also known as the Larboard [or loading] side. The starboard side got its name not from the stars but from the large manned ‘Steering board’ or rudder that was to the right hand or seaward side of a ship. The first stern rudder appears to have been British built about 1200 AD and was manned to suit the size of each ship.
BATTLE FRIGATES
The Naval Register
HMS ‘REVENGE’ Built c1577. Wood ship of 500 Tons. Length; approx. 165 ft. Breadth; 32 ft. Depth; approx. 21 ft. She was the flagship of Admiral Drake when his fleet defeated the massive Spanish Armada. She was designed and built by Phineas Pett and Matthew Baker and carried 34 guns and 22 demi-cannon, cannon-perriers, culverins and demi-culverins and twelve sakers. She also had small arms made up of Arquebuses and Hackbuts along with many archers with longbows and arrows. Her cannon fired 32 pound shot down to 9 pound shot. She carried 150 seamen and 24 gunners along with 76 soldiers. This vessel is perhaps the same vessel as the ‘Revenge’ of 1591 as it was only three years after the Armada had been harassed almost out of existence and Drakes flagship [‘Revenge’] was certainly not injured by the Spanish fleet. The fact that Sir Richard Grenville had command of the vessel in 1591, does not in any way, diminish the likelihood of her being the same vessel.
HMS ‘REVENGE’ Built 1577. Wood ship of 500 Tons. Length of keel: 92 ft. Breadth: 32 ft Depth: approximately 27 ft. [probably the same vessel that was Drakes Flagship during the Spanish Armada of 1588]. She was part of a fifteen vessel fleet in the year 1591, that while under the command of Admiral Lord Thomas Howard and Vice-Admiral, Sir Richard Grenville, was sent to intercept a treasure fleet returning from South America. The English had been suffering for sickness was rife among the crews. Many men were down with fever and dysentery and most of the ships had discharged their crews, onto a nearby island to let the men regain their health. It was at this moment that the Spanish fleet was sighted and there was a rush to get the men back aboard their ships.
The British were extremely surprised to find that a force of about 54 Spanish ships had been sent to escort the treasure fleet. On the evening of September 9th, 1591, the two fleets came together at Flores Island in the Azores group. The ships involved on the British side were, HMS ‘Defiance’ [Lord Howard] which was Admiral. HMS ‘Revenge’ [Sir Richard Grenville] Vice-Admiral, then the frigate HMS ‘Bonaventure’ [Captain Crosse] HMS ‘Lion’ [Captain George Fenner] HMS ‘Forsight’ [Captain M. Thomas Vavisour] HMS ‘Crane’ [Captain Duffield] and HMS ‘Raleigh’ a wood bark commanded by Captain Thin. The rest of the English fleet was made up of vessels too small to be of consequence.
The English ships had been taking on ballast when the Spaniards were first seen and it was with difficulty that most of the fleet got underway. The Spanish had two squadrons of ships and this made them a formidable opponent, even if the English had been underway with room to move.
It was soon realised though, that the English were at a great disadvantage, as they had ‘scarce time to weigh their anchors’. So close were the fleets that the escaping English ships sailed across the bows of the oncoming Spaniards. The ‘Revenge’ was found to be in so great a predicament that the officers entreated Sir Richard Grenville to cut his mainsail and cast about, hoping that this would placate a far superior foe. Of course, it was beneath the honour of Sir Richard Grenville to shirk a fight and he ordered his men to arms.
Grenville decided that the best way to fight the Spanish was to drive straight through the centre of the two Squadrons. He had two main reasons for this course of action, the first being that all enemy fire would be directed at the ‘Revenge’ giving the rest of the fleet time to escape. The second being due to the time it had taken to bring those of his men who were ashore, back to the ship. It could be seen that the ‘Revenge’ would have no hope of escape and that she would survive only if she struck her colours. Sir Richard Grenville took the foremost course in an English naval commander’s mind and decided on attack.
The first Spanish vessel to make contact with ‘Revenge’ was the ‘San Philip’ of the Seville squadron. This 1500-Ton ship took the air out of the sails of ‘Revenge’ and she could make no way nor even feel the helm. The ‘San Philip’ was a three decked ship, which carried 11 guns of different ordinance on each deck. She went in to board the ‘Revenge’ at the same time as the ‘Admiral of the Biscaynes’, commanded by Admiral Brittan Dona.
Three more Spanish ships then got alongside the ‘Revenge’ and the fighting intensified. The ‘San Philip’ took a broadside from ‘Revenge’ that shook the Spaniard. Then after she brought down the sails on the ‘Revenge’, the ‘San Philip’ made haste to get off the side of the English vessel. She had received heavy punishment and did not wish to risk more. The Spaniards then decided to continue the attack from all quarters giving ‘Revenge’ no respite.
The Spaniards had many soldiers aboard their ships. After spending much time trying to board the ‘Revenge’ unsuccessfully, they elected to use sniper fire to do as much damage as possible. Sir Richard was wounded while on deck and then was again wounded while his surgeon was attending to him and finally, he was shot in the head with what proved to be a mortal wound. The surgeon was also killed by gunfire at about 11 p.m. The battle raged on all around them and the ‘Revenge’ repulsed one Spanish Galleon after another. When one retired from her side, another took its place.
The battle had begun at three in the afternoon and slowly the ‘Revenge’ was being shot to pieces. Of her 100 fit men and 90 sick that were aboard when the fighting began, forty men of the ‘Revenge’ were dead and little remained of that ships superstructure. Her masts were gone and her sides were shot full of holes. An English brig, the ‘Pilgrim’ under Captain Jacob Whiddon, sat off nearby and watched the fighting until she also came under threat as the new day dawned. Captain Whiddon could scarce believe the extraordinary battle that was taking place but now it was time to run. The little English Brig was fast and she happily escaped the Spaniards, being able to report the events of the battle up until she had to leave.
It was estimated that ‘Revenge’ had received over 800 shot into her tough wooden hull, this did not include small arms fire and by the morning, she had run out of powder. Her supplies were all gone by this time and. Sir Richard Grenville had ordered his Master at arms to fire a shot through the bottom of ‘Revenge’ and sink her when she was done so that the Spaniards might not have any part of her as souvenir.
She had endured 15 hours of continuous light and heavy bombardment and was still not put down while her gallant commander lay dreadfully wounded but still lucid enough to give some orders. Finally, a flag was struck to enable a truce to be negotiated. A few of the officers were sent aboard the Spanish ship, ‘Generale Don Alphonso Bassan’ to negotiate at the behest of the officers of the ‘Revenge’, who deemed that Sir Richard was too badly done to keep the fight going.
The Spaniards accepted the terms and the fighting ceased. They could only marvel at the carnage aboard the ‘Revenge’ and they could not believe that one ship could so gallantly attack so many of her enemy, especially all on her own and with such arrogance. The fight had caused the loss of over 2000 Spanish seamen and soldiers.
Two large Spanish warships, the ‘Admiral Of The Hulks’ and the ‘Ascension’ of Seville were both sunk alongside the ‘Revenge’. One other ship went down as it made it to the road of St Michael and another ran herself ashore so as not to sink, thereby saving her sailors. Sir Richard Grenville, who was born on June 15th 1542, died of his wounds a few days after the surrender. He was presumably buried at sea, on or about September 13th 1591. His ship and crew had enabled the English fleet, time to escape from a large and well-armed enemy. Theirs was a sacrifice that surprised even the most hardened fighters in the Spanish Navy.
PRINCE ROYAL’ Built 1610. Wood ship of approx. 1400 Tons. Length: approx. 230 ft. Breadth: 44 ft. Depth: approx. 22 ft. She was the largest ship of her time and was the first English three decked ship to be part of the Royal Navy. She carried 56 guns and was beautifully decorated and carried the Royal Plumes of the Prince of Wales, she was designed by Phineas Pett who also designed the ship ‘Sovereign of the Seas’ which was launched almost 30 years later. ‘Prince Royal’ is also said by some, to have been a two decked ship, but a painting by the Dutch marine artist, Henrik Cornelius Vroom shows her to be a three-deck ship with four masts.
HMS ‘SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS’ also known as ‘Royal Sovereign’. Built 1637 for King Charles I. She was a wood ship of 1500 Tons. Length: approx. 232 ft. Breadth: 46.5 ft. Draught: 22.2 ft. She was used in the battles against the Dutch during the time in which that nation proclaimed itself ruler of the seas. This though, was during a period when England had its own civil wars, thus leaving the seas more or less open to any claimant. Phineas Pett and his son Peter designed this vessel for King Charles the 1st. Her keel was laid down in the presence of the king on the 16th of January 1636 at Woolwich. Gerard Christmas the master-carver ornamented her, from drawings done by Van Dyck and her figurehead, was of Edward the Peaceful astride a horse trampling seven conquered kings.
‘SAMSON’. Built c 1585. Wood ship owned by George Clifford, the third Earl of Cumberland. He was ordered by his Queen, ‘not to lay any Spanish vessel aboard her Royal ships lest they be consumed by fire. The Earl was annoyed at this and proceeded to hire ships for use against the rich Spanish galleons. He hired the ‘Tiger’ of 600 Tons and along with the ‘Golden Noble’ and a few smaller vessels, he set out to plunder a few of the ships coming from the East Indies. His first conquest was the Portuguese ship ’Santa Cruz’ and hearing from her captured crew that more of these rich East Indiamen were coming. Clifford was met by one of Sir Walter Raleigh’s ships, HMS ‘Roebuck’, which aided in the capture of the ‘Santa Cruz’. They conveyed the good news that more of Raleigh’s ships were arriving on the scene and that one of the Queens ships, ‘HMS ‘Forsight’ under Sir Robert Cross had also arrived.
Five days later, the ‘Madre de Dios came up and a battle began with one of Sir John Hawkins ships under Captain Thompson making the big royal Portuguese ship slow down until the other ships could get into position. The Queens ship with an over zealous Sir Robert Cross charged into the fray only to lose way by getting too near the Portuguese and the ‘Forsight’ was quickly lashed to the ‘Madre de Dios’ by her shrouds and the larger vessel sailed off with her alongside. It took a few hours before the English could come up to the two trussed ships and while one boarded the Portuguese on one side the ‘Tiger’ boarded through the ‘Foresight’ in the ensuing fight, the ‘Forsight’ managed to free herself.
The 'Madre de Dios’ was captured and it was one of the largest ships that the English had ever seen. Her Captain, Don Fernando de Mendoza was perhaps one very unlucky gentleman, he had been twice before captured by the Moors and held to ransom by their king. His ship was a rich prize and was of an unusual dimension, so much so that a Mr. Robert Murray who was a ‘Geometrical Observer’ was given the task of getting the exact size of the big ship.
The ‘Madre de Dios’ turned out to be 165 ft long, her breadth was 46 ft 10 inches and she drew 31 ft of water when laden and she carried a height of seven stories. One main orlop, three close decks, one Forecastle, a spar deck of two floors apiece. Her keel was 100 ft and her mainmast was 121ft. Her mainyard was 106 ft long and was so large that the English felt that she would be too unwieldy to work so they took her to Dartmouth for use as a Hulk. The events took place in 1592.
HMS ‘TRIUMPH’ Wood ship of app 900 Tons. Admiral Blake commanded her when the Dutch fleet was challenged near the Shetland Islands in 1652. The weather turned foul and the English watched as the Dutch fleet was decimated by gale force winds. Admiral Blake and the Dutch Admiral Van Tromp, were to have running battles up and down channel for some time until Blake finally got he upper hand with victories over the Dutch during the period 1652 through 1655. The great ship ‘Sovereign Of The Seas’, which was built by King Charles I of England, also fought during the action.
HMS ‘RESOLUTION’ Wood Ship that was laid down at Harwich. Sir George Ascue who was a member of Admiral Robert Blake’s fleet commanded her. They fought the Dutch over numerous petty items. Although the most likely reason for fighting the Dutch was that they, [the Dutch] felt that they were the true sea power and they had the Admirals to prove it, should England like a fight.
‘BONHOMME RICHARD’ Wood ship that was commanded by the American war of independence hero, Captain John Paul Jones. In an insignificant battle between two American and two English warships, the Americans pulled off a victory when Captain Jones left his sinking vessel and transferred to the British ship ‘Serapis’ which he was able to cause to surrender even though his own vessel was sinking. The losses were heavy, with the American flagship losing over 300 men killed and wounded with British losses thought to be similar. The American boarding parties won the fight. Although the Americans give this battle as one of the great naval battles of history, in reality, it was decided by, as usual, greater fire power which the Americans on this occasion possessed.
The ‘Bon Homme Richard’ was accompanied by the American Frigate ‘Alliance’ and three smaller French ships when they came into contact with a British merchant fleet led by the ‘Serapis’ and the ‘Countess of Scarborough’ both of which were smaller than the two 44 gun vessels commanded by the Americans.
Captain John Paul Jones [originally Captain John Paul] was a Scottish sea captain [born July 6th 1747 at Kirkbean, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland.] who had fallen foul of British justice when he murdered one of his crew in cold blood during an attempted mutiny. He changed his name to avoid detection and when the Americans opted for independence, he became a captain in the new American navy.
Although he fought for his adopted country, he did not remain there long as he seemed to prefer Europe as his home after 1787. He accepted a role, as Rear Admiral in the Russian Navy in 1788 and this period of his life was not one of his best. He returned to Paris in 1790 and died there in 1792. The Americans shipped his remains back to Annapolis, Md. over a century later and created a national shine for their hero. This vessel is included here due to its historic importance and in regard to its effect upon the British transportation policies. The American war of Independence gave rise to a much faster settlement of the great South land and its island neighbors. England could not afford to lose its supremacy on the high seas.
HMS ‘VICTORY’ Built 1765 at Chatham. Wood three-deck 108-gun ship of 2162 Tons. Length: 186 ft. Breadth: 44 ft Depth: approx. 29 ft. This ship was laid down in 1759, on the 23rd of July. She was given her name on the 28th of October 1760. She became the flagship of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson during the battle of Trafalgar. Her launch was on the 7th of July 1765. In his victory at the well documented battle, Admiral Nelson received a mortal wound when he was shot by musket fire from the rigging of the French ship ‘Redoubtable’ which vessel Captain Hardy had selected from among the French fleet as the target of the ‘Victory’. Sea battles of this type sometimes lasted for hours as the vessels sat along side each other [on board] and proceeded to blast the timbers off their opponent. In their fight, four vessels actually sat aboard one another, ‘Victory’, ‘Redoubtable’, ‘Temeraire’ and an un-named French vessel that sat ‘on board’ the ‘Temeraire’.
The ‘Redoubtable’ only fired one salvo from her heavy or ‘great’ guns before closing the ports for fear of being boarded through them. Then the ‘Victory’ ran ‘on board’ the French ship and commenced her firing. The French ship ‘Bucentaure’ and the big Spanish ship, ‘Santissima Trinidad’ began their attack on the ‘Victory’ from the other side and the English flagship began to fire incessantly from both sides as she drummed shot into all three vessels.
The English ship ‘Temeraire’ [Captain Harvey] fell on board the ‘Redoubtable’ from the other side and in quick time, another French vessel had fallen on board the ‘Temeraire’ so that all four ships lay side by side and all facing the same way as they poured shot into one another. The gunnery master on the ‘Victory’ had to depress the charges in his guns on the middle and lower decks to avoid the possibility of shot hitting the ‘Temeraire’.
And so the battle raged, the Admiral’s secretary was having converse with Captain Hardy, when a cannonball, killed him [the secretary] instantly. He was one of the first to fall in the battle and shortly afterward, a party of marines who were gathered on the poop deck, were struck by a double-headed [chained] shot which cut down and killed eight of them in an instant.
To gain insight to what type of commander Admiral Nelson was, can be shown in his effort to have all his men act as one. He made them feel proud to be Englishmen fighting for their country. When having Baron Cuthbert Collingwood aboard the day before the battle at Trafalgar, Nelson was surprised to see that the captain of his second in command's ship was not with Collingwood. When he heard that Collingwood and Captain Rotherham were not on good terms, Nelson sent for the captain immediately and when he arrived he met Rotherham and took him to where Baron Collinwood was looking out over the French fleet. ‘Look, yonder at the enemy’ then he bade them, ‘now shake hands with an Englishman’.
Admiral Nelson did not like to put snipers in the rigging and neglected to do so at Trafalgar feeling that even though it might get a commander or two, it would not decide the battle. It did cost him his life though. Had he also placed snipers they would have been able to keep the enemy pinned down and Nelson would not have been shot from above. The bullet that struck him hit his shoulder epaulet and drove down into his back breaking his spine and dropping him onto his face. Even though this injury should have been enough, he still gave orders for some minutes being held up by three of his men.
Nelson was shot at approximately 1.20pm on the 31st of October 1805. A young man, [Midshipman Pollard] who had seen the Frenchman who fired the fatal shot went after the sniper and managed to bring him down at 1.30pm. For this service, he was rewarded with a silver watch given by Lady Emma Hamilton and Captain Thomas Masterman Hardy. The watch is presently held [among other relics of the battle] by the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, England.
The ‘Victory’ was taken back to England and repaired after the battle was won. Many years after the epic battle, a cannon ball was taken out of her timbers. The ball having been found buried deep from the force of the shot. She was brought out on special occasions to be paraded as one would expect her to be, dressed in her finest war paint which included a black hull with yellow strakes [strips along the side where her gun ports were situated].
Her stern was painted mauve or violet according to the old artists who portrayed her after the battle. In the early days of naval warfare, it was considered the done thing to have your vessel as gaily painted as possible. The French and the Spanish were masters at doing just that. Soon, shipbuilding came to a peak, with more powerful cannon and stronger hulls that could stand the terrible battering from cannonballs for hours on end.
The ‘Victory’ has shown just how strongly built these vessels were and even 50 years after the great battle she was still capable of sailing. She is now part of English history forever and will remain in dock for as long as she can be kept into the future. For as the glory of the British Empire fades and each colonies rises to even greater futures, the ‘Victory’ will commemorate the strength of a nation that has become a mother and grandmother of nations.
USS ‘CONSTITUTION’ Built 1797. Wood ship of the United States Navy. Rated as a 44 gun Frigate, she displaced 2200 Tons. Length: 204 ft. Breadth: approx. 42ft. Depth: approx. 31 ft. She was nicknamed ‘Old Ironsides’ because of the thickness of her hull. This ship was perhaps the best known of all the vessels of the American colonies.
‘SHENANDOAH’ ex ‘Sea King’. Built c1860. British ship that was captured by the Confederate States of America during the civil war. She had her named changed to ‘Shenandoah’ and went on to cause much distress to Union shipping. She was sold to North African interests [To the Sultan of Zanzibar, for use as his royal yacht] and she disappears from that time onward.
HMS ‘WARRIOR’ Built 1860. Iron ship of 9500 Tons. Length: 420 ft [overall] 380 ft 2 inches [between perpendiculars] .She was the first iron hulled naval ship ever built and although she never had to go into battle, she was used very well as a deterrent. She had two telescopic funnels and for two thirds of her length, wrought iron plates protected her 4½ inches thick and these were bolted onto her 18-inch thick teak backing. She had a gunnery officer named Jacky Fisher whose wry comment on the new vessel was ‘it is not appreciated that this, the first armour clad ship of war, would cause a change in what has been the way for over a thousand years’. This ship ended her days as an oil pontoon in South Wales until rescued and made a museum ship.
HMS ‘BOUNTY’ Wood ship of 220 Tons. Length: 94 ft. Breadth: app 18 ft. Depth: app 14 ft. She carried a crew of 44 men and a botanist under the command of Captain Bligh. She left England on the 23rd of December 1787 from Spithead, Hampshire, bound for Tahiti. The voyage was not meant to be a hurried one, she had been sent to transport Breadfruit plants to the West Indies as a source of food supply.
On the 28th of April 1789, the crew under the master's mate, Fletcher Christian, decided to mutiny. It is thought that after many months enjoying the savories of Tahiti that the men did not wish to leave their women behind and so the mutiny took place. Captain Bligh had certainly allowed the men plenty of good time at Tahiti and every English sailor knew where his duty lay but mutiny the men did.
Bligh was put into a longboat with those who wished to remain with him. The mutineers took the ‘Bounty’ back to Tahiti, secured their women and a few helpers and left for the most distant and safest hideout they could find. This turned out to be Pitcairn Island in the Far Eastern Pacific Ocean. The ‘Bounty’ was unloaded and burned and the group of mutineers settled down to an idyllic lifestyle.
HMS ‘TERRIBLE’ Built c1845. Wood paddle steamer of the British navy. She was one of the first steam-driven naval ships of the British navy and helped signal the decline of the true naval sailing ship
THE SOUTH PACIFIC.
HMS ‘SIRIUS’ Wood ship that was used as the flagship of the first convict fleet to Australia in 1788. [See First Fleet Register]
HMS ‘HYAENA’ Wood Frigate that was used as escort to the First Fleet while the eleven vessels were on the run down channel. She broke away and left the Fleet to its own devices once they had cleared land.
HMS ‘NELSON’ Built 1814. Wood battle frigate that was designated 120 guns and was a first rate ship of the line. She was larger and carried twelve more guns than HMS ‘Victory’, the flagship of the Admiral after whom the ‘Nelson’ was named. The ‘Nelson’ was transferred to the Victorian Navy about 1868 and was known as the HMVNS ‘Nelson’ She was then cut down from a three deck ship to a two-decker and she also had her gun numbers reduced. She spent many years in the role of coastal protector and even made visits to New Guinea and some of the South Pacific islands. She was finally broken up in Hobart, Tasmania in 1929.
HMS ‘BASILISK’ Wood Frigate of the English navy that was used as a coastal protector and as a deterrent to the Blackbirder trades. It was this naval vessel that found the drifting 25 Ton schooner ‘Peri’ that had been recruiting natives at Malaita in the Solomons when an uprising by the natives ended the lives of all the white crew while the vessel was at sea. This left the natives with one big problem; no one knew how to navigate the little vessel.
Although it was ‘Taboo’ to eat humans in many of the Solomon islands, the natives aboard the ‘Peri’ were forced through hunger to do just that, they began by killing the women and devouring them one by one until all of them were gone. They then proceeded to kill young and the weaker men while they drifted around the Pacific. After two months, they arrived off the coast of Queensland near Townsville at which point, HMS ‘Basilisk’ found them. Only thirteen of the original eighty persons, who were aboard when they left Malaita, were still alive when they were found on the 5th of February 1872.
HMS ‘CONFLICT’ Wood 120 Ton Sloop of the English navy that was used in keeping the Blackbirder trade under control. She was called to the scene of the murder of an Englishman named William Easterbrook at Tanna Island in 1877. Two other warships arrived, the HMS ‘Beagle’ and HMS ‘Renard’, they called on the Tannese to surrender the murderer which they accepted would happen on the following day. The killer was a man named Yumanga and he did not wish to be hanged for killing the white man so he decided to resist. The British sailors were sent to arrest him and after some running battles in which eight Tannese were killed; they were only able to return with the murderer's brother. As this man had also been on the scene when the murder took place, he was duly tried and hanged from the yard arm and as everyone was now satisfied, the little gunboats left the area. A footnote to this story is that Yumanga was soon after, recruited to Queensland and never did get tried for killing the trader.
HMS ‘FORTITUDE’ Wood ship of approx. 600 Tons. She brought settlers to Brisbane; Queensland in 1849.So close was the association of this ship with Brisbane that the suburb of Fortitude Valley was named after her.
HMS ‘ROYALIST’ Wood ship of the English navy that was used in the South Pacific during the late 1800’s. She was a very good looking and well-presented ship.
HMS’ CONWAY’ ex HMS ‘NILE’ Wood ship of the English navy. She paid a visit to Australian waters during the late 1800’s or early 1900’s.She was used extensively as a training ship.
‘S.S.’ALERT’ Steel twin screw Oiler of 941 Tons. Length; 196.7 ft, Breadth; 31.4 ft, Depth; 20.1 ft. Built by Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson at Newcastle Northumberland for the Post Master General. She was a clipper bowed ship that was well used during the Second World War. She was lost with all hands in 1945. Reg. England as a Cable Vessel. G.R.V.B Engine; 106 Nhp. [General government carrier and Cable layer]
HMS ‘FANTOME’ British warship that was transferred to the Australian squadron to serve in the South Pacific in the 1860’s. She was a 1070-Ton wood sloop and was paid off in the 1920’s in New Zealand. [Coastal Protector]
HMS ‘BEAGLE’ Wood brig of 242 Tons. Length: 100 ft. Breadth: approx. 25 ft. Depth: approx. 17 ft. She was famous for her voyage with Charles Darwin on which, she took him to the Galapagos Islands
HMS ‘BEAGLE’ Wood 120 Ton Sloop that was built between 1873 and 1877 along with four others, the ‘Alacrity’ the Conflict’, the ‘Renard’ and the ‘Sandfly’. They were built in Sydney for the Admiralty and were all fast little schooners with plenty of fire and manpower. They carried a Lieutenant, a Sub-lieutenant and thirty sailors. These vessel were designated the Anti-kidnapping squadron but even they were unable to maintain the law in the region for money speaks louder than any other language.
HMS ‘CORMORANT’ Wood ship of the British navy. Maser: Captain Bruce. She was ordered to Mandoliana Island in the Florida group where the 50 Ton Schooner HMS ‘Sandfly’ had lost her Lieutenant and three of her sailors to Head hunters. Lieutenant Bowers and four of his men had gone ashore to bathe and were enjoying themselves when they were surprised by a war party. Three of the bathers were killed in the first attack and both Bowers and a seaman escaped separately into the Jungle. The Lieutenant hid in the hollow trunk of a tree but was found dragged out and had his head taken.
Captain Bruce aimed to get the matter resolved quickly and sent out a proclamation: ‘In consequence of an English officer and boat crew being murdered by Florida men. The Queen of England declares war on all the tribes of the Florida’s, unless the actual murderers are given up within fourteen days’. The missionaries convinced the tribes to hand over four of the five guilty killers. Only the son of the chief, who had been out to get his first head to make his father proud, was not given up. The others were hung and the matter was considered resolved.
HMS ‘CURACAO’ Wood Steam Frigate that was commanded by Commodore Sir William Wiseman who was commander of the Australian Station in 1865. Captain Jenkin Jones later commanded her.
HMVS ‘CERBERUS’ Built 1870. Iron ship of 2107 Tons. Length: 225 ft. Breadth: 45 ft. Depth: 16 ft 6. Engines: Dual Maulsday, Son and Field horizontal 2 cylinder double action steam engines. Bore 43 inches. Boilers: Four. Twin screws 250 Nhp.
Guns: 4 muzzle loading 10 inch Armstrong guns. Range: Four miles. Charge; 60 Lbs. Shot: 400 Lbs. Gun weight: 18 Tons.
Secondary Armament: 4 Nordenfeld 1-inch machine guns.
2 six pounder cannon.
She was to enjoy a 53-year career before being scuttled at Black Rock, Victoria on the 2nd of September 1926.
HMS ‘DART’ Wood ship that was sent to Malaita island in 1883, to take revenge on the villages of the east coast of Malaita for an attack on the vessel ‘Janet Stewart’. The reprisals were extremely severe and many villages were burned.
HMS ‘FALCON’ Wood ship that was sent to the New Hebrides during her period of service in the South Pacific. Master: Captain William Blake.
HMS ‘MIRANDA’ Wood ship that was sent to the South Pacific on a tour of duty. She went to Oba Island when a feud between the natives and resident traders broke out. The ‘Miranda’ sent a party of seamen overland to burn villages in retribution for the killing of nine men from the blackbirder, ‘May Queen’.
HMS ‘OPAL’ Wood vessel that was also involved as a protector of native interests and upholder of the peace in the South Pacific in 1884.
HMS ‘PEGASUS’ Wood ship of the British navy that went in a combined operation against the Malkulan islanders in 1905. The Malekulans decided to rid themselves of all white men and proceeded to kill and eat the whites that had made their home on Malekula. For this the British sent ‘Pegasus’ with he French ship ‘Meurthe’. The operation was a failure and the natives taunted the seamen who were unable to catch them.
HMS ‘RATTLESNAKE’ Wood vessel of app 200 Tons that was used in survey and exploration of the northern waters of Australia and New Guinea. Captain Owen Stanley who was at sea for over 20 years commanded her. He took ill on his last voyage in her in 1849 when her men brought Barbara Crawford Thompson aboard at Cape York. She had been trapped on Prince of Wales Island for almost five years.
Owen Stanley suffered a stroke at the beginning of the return journey to Sydney and this was sufficient to lay him low until ‘Rattlesnake’ was almost into Sydney Harbour. Captain Owen Stanley raised himself from his sick bed and managed to bring his ship through the heads. Stanley died at 8am on Wednesday the 13th of March 1850. He had been already informed of the death of his brother on the 13th of August 1849 and of the death of his father, the Reverend Sir John Thomas Stanley who died on the 6th of September 1849. All three died within months of each other.
HMS ‘RENARD’ Wood sloop of 120 Tons. She was built in Sydney for the British Navy. The Admiralty arranged for five small Schooners to be built so that they would have a fast and efficient fleet that could negotiate the reefs and islets much faster than the larger frigates. She carried a crew of 30.
HMS ‘SANDFLY’ Wood sloop of 120 Tons. She was one of the fleet of schooners that were built in Sydney for the Admiralty. She carried a crew of 30 men with a Lieutenant commanding.
HMS ‘SWINGER’ Wood ship that was used during the blackbirding years. She was active around New Guinea during the middle 1880’s
HMS ‘WOLVERINE’ Wood ship that was in the Australian Squadron 1873-76. Commodore John Wilson commanded her. She was sent to investigate the murder of John Renton and some of his crew from the ‘Mystery’. The capture of the killer brought reprisals from the local natives on Oba Island and many whites were killed before the feud was settled.
HMS ‘ALECTO’ Wood paddle steamer that was used in an experiment to decide the better between paddlewheel and screw operated steamers. The HMS ‘Rattler was fitted with screw propulsion and the two vessels were pitted against one another in an even duel over three races. The screw propulsion won the day easily but supporters of the paddlewheeler stated that the screw driven vessel would not be able to tow as well as the paddlewheeler. This prompted a new situation in which the two vessels were harnessed together and pulled away in opposite directions. No one vessel seemed to be winning until eventually the screw steamer again won the day by towing the paddlewheeler backward over a marked distance. [British naval vessel]
‘HMVNS ‘VICTORIA’ Wood ship that was brought into the Victorian [state] navy in 1873. She was previously of the British navy. [Coastal Protector]
HMS ‘SUPPLY’ Built c1760. Wood Brig or Snow of 170 Tons. Length; approx. 80 ft. Breadth; approx. 24 ft. Depth; approx. 14 ft. [see First Fleet Register]
HMS ‘TORTOISE’ Wood Frigate of approximately 700 Tons. [See Convict Ships Register]
HMS ‘COROMANDEL’ Wood Frigate of approximately 500 Tons. [See Convict Ships Register]
HMS ‘ANSON’ Wood Frigate of approximately 800 Tons. [See Convict Ships Register]
HMS ‘BUFFALO’ Wood Frigate of approximately 450 Tons. Master: John Hindmarsh. She was used in varied occupations during her life and was constructive in delivering the first settlers to South Australia. [See also; Convict Ships Register]
‘GAYUNDAH’ Built c1870. Iron gunboat of app 150 Tons. Length; app 120 ft. Breadth; app 18 ft. Depth; app 12 ft. Queensland's naval gunboat of the latter quarter of the 19th century. Sister ship to the ‘Paluma’. She was to see many changes in her time and was involved in a ruckus when her first captain decided that he did not like the Queensland Government telling him what to do. He threatened to blow the roof off Parliament house if he could not have his unlimited expenses to fund his high life and carousing. This was something that he must have felt befitted his rank. For a while, things were tense as he positioned the ‘Gayundah’ near Parliament house. After some hasty negotiations, the captain [in a frustrated mood] sailed ‘Gayundah’ to Sydney where he was promptly decommissioned and his ship returned to its primary duties in Queensland. [Coastal Protector]
SS ‘PALUMA’ Built c1875. Iron Gunboat and sistership to the ‘Gayundah’, she was almost lost during the 1893 flooding of the Brisbane River when she was washed ashore with several other vessels. [Coastal Protector]
‘SS ‘CHILDERS’ Built 1883. Steam driven torpedo boat that was rigged as a tall ship for its maiden voyage to Australia. She proved very hard to handle and deemed unsafe by the time she got to Gibraltar. She was towed from Gibraltar to Australia to begin her career. [Torpedo Boat]
HMAS ‘SYDNEY’1914. This ship fought a famous battle with the German raider ‘Emden’ in 1914. The Australian vessel forced the master of ‘Emden’ to run his ship ashore after terrible damage was sustained. The German marines that had been sent ashore to take the wireless station on the Cocos Islands made an incredible escape back to Germany when they commandeered the vessel ‘Ayesha’ from the Clunies-Ross family. They sailed to Sumatra where they waited for seven months before boarding a Chinese steamer on which vessel, [The ‘Choising’] they made it back to Germany.
‘EMDEN’ German raider that was really a well armed light cruiser that disguised itself as a merchant ship. She captured and sank many cargo vessels before biting off more than she could chew when she went in to battle with HMAS ‘Sydney’ in 1914.
HMAS ‘SYDNEY’ 1941. Battle cruiser that became involved in a fight with the German raider ‘Kormorant’ during the early days of World War Two. The German vessel was destroyed but the ‘Sydney’ sustained mortal wounds and sailed off into mystery. She disappeared with all hands after the fight and it is believed that a massive explosion in her magazines blew her to pieces. She has been re-discovered off the West Australian coast c2009.
‘KORMORANT’ German raider of the Second World War, like her sister, ‘Emden’, She went into battle with the Australian warship, HMAS ‘Sydney’. This was a new and faster HMAS ‘Sydney’ and the two vessels were evenly matched in armament. The Australian vessel was destroyed along with the ‘Kormorant’. Kormorant has also been discovered lying not far from her nemesis
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Charting the Nations.
It is well known that European sailors had already visited Australia and New Zealand long before Captain James Cook arrived on the scene. Many maps had already been drawn showing the existence of a great southern continent.
When Captain Cook and other European ships made inroads toward finding the great continent, they did so, using maps that already gave them a very good idea of the size and scope of Australia. In fact the early mapmakers believed fervently, that the great southern continent rivaled Europe in size.
Cartographers had already mapped the Northern Hemisphere by the time Marco Polo began his voyages to Cathay via the Straits of Malachi. His descriptions of the southern islands seem to be more relevant to Indonesia than to anything further south for he talks of elephants and of people speaking a Persian language.
His description seemed to be based more on hearsay than on fact, as he did not venture southward from the China Seas. When Magellan visited the Pacific Ocean in 1520, he invariably opened the way for voyages of discovery by many of the seafaring nations of Europe; all were seeking financial reward and strategic prominence in the Southern Hemisphere.
Captain Alvaro de Mendana de Niera [Captain Mendana] of Spain discovered the Solomon islands in 1568 and then the Santa Cruz group almost thirty years later in 1595. His pilot for that voyage was a young man named Pedro Fernandez de Quiros and he discovered the New Hebrides in 1606. He thought that he had found the great southern continent that was much talked about at the time and he named that part of the New Hebrides, Austrialia del Espiritu Santo after his Austrian king who ruled Spain. This he believed, was the outer section of the Southland, in fact, part of the name stuck and Australia had its identity.
Quiros had Torres as his pilot for that voyage and a few months later, Torres himself discovered the straits above Australia. If the Spanish king had kept his seamen at work in the south, Australia surely would have been Spanish owned.
The Dutch too, were almost owners of the vast expanse of land that lay quietly waiting. They mapped the West Coast, part of the south coast and even some of western side of Cape York in the northeast. They discovered Tasmania and even touched on Staten Land, which eventually became New Zealand. For some reason, the Dutch did not want the southern continent and it was left to the British to secure and chart the last unknown part of the Australian coast, the east.
Only the French were to give England any competition in the race for the great Southland. The French captain Bougainville, arrived at the Great Barrier Reef in 1768 but did not try to get past it to the mainland which he probably saw and recognized as a continent.
The English Admiralty gave Captain James Cook a mission in 1768, he was told to arrange a voyage to the South Pacific to observe the transit of the planet Venus. They also gave him instructions to discover and chart the eastern side of the southern continent. Cook took with him, the Astronomer Green, Naturalist Solander and the Botanist Joseph Banks along with a ships complement of over ninety men.
From that point onward, the British held sway in the South Pacific and Cook, Matthew Flinders, George Bass and others made great discoveries. The settlement of the southern lands now became the only problem the British had to face and in only twenty years, the first settlement would be laid out at Sydney Cove.
When the First Fleet arrived in Port Jackson, many of the Officers began recording their day by day trials in letter and diary form. Some of these officers even sketched the new settlement with the first buildings in position.
Captain Watkin Tench [Marines] wrote; “Our passage to Port Jackson from Botany Bay took but a few hours, which were spent far from unpleasantly. The evening was bright and the prospect before us such as might justify sanguine expectation. Having passed between the capes, which form its entrance, we found ourselves in a port superior, in extent and excellency, to all we had seen before. We continued to run up the harbour about four miles, in a westerly direction, enjoying the luxuriant prospect of its shores, covered with trees to the waters edge, among which many of the Indians were frequently seen. Till we arrived at a small snug cove on the southern side, on whose banks the plan of our operations was destined to commence.
The armed tender, ‘Supply’ had arrived the previous day and its crew were set to work clearing the ground for the erection of the tents that were to serve as temporary homes for the officers until more elaborate accommodation could be put in place.
Surgeon John White wrote: ‘A number of convicts from the different transports were landed to assist in clearing the ground for the encampment. His Excellency marked the outlines, as much as possible to prevent irregularity. And to keep the convicts from straggling, the provost Marshall, aided by the patrol, had orders to take into custody all convicts that should be found without the lines and to leave them in charge of the main or quarter guard.
A convenient place for the cattle being found, the few that remained were landed. The frame and material for the governor’s house, constructed by Smith in St George’s Fields, were likewise sent on shore, and some preparations made for erecting it’.
This day, Captain Hunter and Lieutenant Bradley began to take a survey of the harbor....The laboratory and sick tents were erected and, I am sorry to say, were soon filled with patients afflicted with the true camp dysentery and the scurvy. More pitiable objects were perhaps never seen. Not a comfort or convenience could be got for them, besides the very few we had with us.
The sick have increased since our landing to such a degree, that a spot for a general hospital has been marked out and artificers already employed on it. A proper spot, contiguous to the hospital, has been chosen to raise such vegetables as can be produced at this season of the year; and where a permanent garden for the use of the hospital is to be established.’ Surgeon White.
Into the head of the cove, on which our establishment is fixed, runs a small stream of fresh water, which serves to divide the adjacent country to a little distance, in the direction of north and south. On the eastern side of this rivulet, the Governor fixed his place of residence, with a large body of convicts encamped near him; and on the western side was disposed the remaining part of these people, near the marine encampment.”Captain Watkin Tench.
On the point of the land which forms the west side of the cove…a small observatory has been raised under the direction of Lieutenant Dawes who was charged by the Board of Longitude with the care of observing the expected comet.Captain Arthur Phillip.
THE WAY TO SETTLEMENT
Convict ships to Australia
In the years following the voyage of discovery by Captain James Cook, it was decided that a settlement should be arranged for the East Coast of New Holland [now Australia]. That convicts should first people the settlement, in the same way Britain had populated their colonies in America and South Africa.
It was also decided that upon Captain Cooks recommendation, the island known as Norfolk Island in the South Pacific, should also be populated and used for its timber and strategic position.
Copyright R.J.Warren 2012 |
40 per cent of Cancers Avoidable
Changing diet could cut 40 per cent of cancers | Metro.co.uk
The Metro Reports
"Almost 40 per cent of cancer cases could be prevented by changing diet from red meat and alcohol to fruit and vegetables. A major study from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) found that an estimated 39 per cent of 12 major cancers could be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle."
Yvonne Bishop-Weston Nutritionist London says "It's so tragic that so many people are suffering and dying horrible deaths due to insufficient nutrients and dysfunctional immune systems due to poor diets."
"There will always be those who choose to abuse their bodies with poor food choices, alcohol and smoking but for everyone elase is to insure the information is always there to make an informed choice"
"Too many lunchtime and snack options have no ingredients listings let alone nutritional information. Consumers should avoid retailers who keep tight lipped on the cheap low quality ingredients they use and the nutritional value. They obviously have something to hide.
Health and Beauty |
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Our Racist Trees
Mickey Fearn, the National Park Service Deputy Director for Communications and Community Assistance, made headlines when he claimed that black people don't visit national parks because they associate them with slaves being lynched by their masters.
Yellowstone, the first national park, was created in 1872 in Wyoming. Slavery was over by then and no one had ever been lynching slaves around Old Faithful anyway. But false claims die very hard.
Now Alcee Hastings, an impeached judge, and a coalition of minority groups is demanding increased "inclusiveness" at national parks. High on their list is the claim that, "African-Americans have felt unwelcome and even fearful in federal parklands during our nation's history because of the horrors of lynching." What do national parks have to do with lynchings? Many national parks have trees. People were hung from trees. It's guilt by arboreal association.
The origin of the bizarre racist lynching theory of national parks appears to be Carolyn Finney. Finney was an actress noted for, apparently, little more than an appearance in The Nutt House. Then she became a cause célèbre for race activists when she was denied tenure by Berkeley's Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management because her work didn't meet academic standards.
Her supporters blamed racism, rather than her academic shortcomings, and protested vocally.
These days she's a diversity advisor to the U.S. National Parks Advisory Board. What wasn't good enough for UC Berkeley is good enough for national parks. She is also the author of Black Faces, White Spaces. In it she claims that "oppression and violence against black people in forests and other green spaces can translate into contemporary understandings that constrain African-American environmental understandings."
Finney cites the work of Joy DeGruy Leary who invented a Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome that she claims black people suffer from. Affected by PTSS, black people experience "fear and mistrust of forests and other green spaces." According to Finney, the tree is a racist symbol to black people.
"Black people also wanted to go out in the woods and eat apples from the trees," Finney explains." But black people were lynched on the trees. The tree became a big symbol." Black people are triggered by trees and suffer Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome flashbacks. You can't expect them to go to on a hike.
What shall we do about the racist trees? Finney is front and center at the new "inclusion" initiative, "You're sitting here making up a rule and assuming that everybody is going to feel comfortable to come to the woods and go on a hike," she whined. "Maybe they're not interested in doing that, that's not how they like to come to the woods."
In addition to complaining about the racist trees, the inclusion initiative also claimed that national parks alienate Latinos because of the "color of the uniforms that rangers wear."
What's wrong with the color of park ranger uniforms? According to the Hispanic Access Foundation, they look too much like the border patrol. Even though the uniforms are actually completely different. But much like the lack of lynchings at Yellowstone National Park, the truth doesn't matter here.
None of this is really about the nonsensical pseudoscientific ravings you just read. National parks don't care what race you are. Trees are as blind to color as they are to everything else. Forests don't need to be made more inclusive. This campaign is led by people who hate and reject natural spaces.
Finney claims that Theodore Roosevelt's vision of preserving beautiful natural landscapes was rooted in "privilege". Or as Fearn put it, "Preserving wild places is a white concept, going back to Rome."
Influential figures in the National Park Service reject the fundamental idea of preserving natural beauty. They view a forest as a "white concept" full of scary racist trees. Or at least that's what they claim.
That is what this is really about. The Obama era has rotted the Federal government with radical figures who are at war with fundamental American concepts and values. They intend to use their power to destroy those concepts and values. This is another example of that same ugly phenomenon.
Alcee Hastings complains of a "green ceiling" for hiring minorities. Aside from the usual diversity hiring push and buying from minority businesses in the "inclusiveness" proposals, not to mention nonsense about racist trees and scary uniforms, is a move to divert the focus to urban development. Then there's the flow of money to "community organizations" to engage "culturally diverse communities".
All that is code for robbing parks and moving the money into the same network of corrupt organizations that already swallows all the money that the Federal government can throw at its local projects. This isn't inclusiveness. It's blackmail. Advertise in our publications. Give us grants. Or your trees are racist.
For all the safe space rhetoric, the arguments ultimately come down to money. It's not about racist tree symbolism or uniform colors. It's about creating positions for people like Carolyn Finney or Mickey Fearn so they can lecture us on how parks are privilege and nature is racist. It's about finding yet another unlikely target for baseless claims of racism to be milked for money, grants, ads and contracts.
The Obama era has seen the "Sharptoning" of America as the same ugly shakedown scams that were being practiced in New York or Chicago were suddenly national policy. This is the Sharptoning of the National Park Service. It's happening in every agency and arm of government. We just don't notice it.
The accusations are absurd. And yet the payoffs keep coming. And there's little doubt that this latest "inclusiveness" initiative will also pay off. Our parks will suffer. Our slimiest politicians will prosper.
Finney says that national parks should represent where we want to go collectively as a people. But the beauty of a walk through the woods is that you don't have to "collectively" go anywhere. A hike is not a national mission. It's a place for individuality. And the left never fails to remind us how it loathes the individual and worships the collective impulse of totalitarian movements. This is paired with a hatred for beauty.
Forests and lakes are not about where we want to go collectively. They are where we once were. They represent spaces of imagination and reflection that have nothing in common with Finney's compulsion. They don't have to represent Finney's demands for "demographic and ethnic diversity". They allow us a freedom from the confining urban spaces of leftist identity politics that deny our humanity. They show us that life is pure and simple in ways that defy the convoluted nonsense of political correctness.
It's not hard to see why the left, despite its hollow environmental posturing, hates them.
Conservative Group Fights California AG’s Attempt to ‘Chill’ Speech
Though a federal judge recently ruled that a conservative nonprofit group doesn’t have to disclose its donor list to California’s Democratic attorney general, conservatives believe this case is just the latest in an ongoing fight related to political activity and free speech.
“This was a great victory for free speech for everyone in this country,” said Mark Holden, the general counsel for Koch Industries, and a board member of Americans for Prosperity, the group asked to disclose its donor list.
“This effort to chill our right to the First Amendment is critical to what the left’s whole agenda is,” Holden told The Daily Signal in an interview. “They talk about getting big money out of politics, but what they really mean is going after speech and activity they disagree with, made by groups they disagree with.”
On April 21, U.S. District Judge Manuel Real found that Americans for Prosperity, which was founded by Charles and David Koch, does not have to submit to Attorney General Kamala Harris the names and addresses of its donors who have spent more than $5,000.
In his ruling, Real wrote, “The attorney general’s requirement that AFP submit its Schedule B [donor list] chills the exercise of its donor’s First Amendment freedoms to speak anonymously and to engage in expressive association.”
But the legal fight is not over, because Harris intends to challenge the decision with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The case centers around Harris’ aim to enforce a California state law that requires charities, such as Americans for Prosperity, to file a copy of their IRS tax return with the state, including a so-called Schedule B form that includes the names and addresses of donors who donated more than $5,000 during a year.
Since 2001, Americans for Prosperity has filed the tax form without including the donor list, and until 2010, the state had accepted the charity’s registration in California and listed the group as an active charity in compliance with the law.
In a March 2013 letter, however, Harris declared that American for Prosperity’s 2011 filing was incomplete because it did not include the donor list.
The Arlington, Va.-based nonprofit took that challenge to court in December 2014, arguing the California law requiring disclosure of the Schedule B form is unconstitutional.
Harris contends the state law does not infringe on free speech and helps protect the public from fraud and illegal business practices.
“We are disappointed in Judge Real’s ruling and intend to appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,” said Kristin Ford, a spokeswoman for Harris, in an emailed statement to The Daily Signal. “The filing of the Schedule B is a long-standing requirement that has helped attorneys general for more than a decade protect taxpayers against fraud.”
In his order, Real said Harris had failed to prove that the state needs donor information to properly investigate charities active in California.
“It is clear that the attorney general’s purported Schedule B submission requirement demonstrably played no role in advancing the attorney general’s law enforcement goals for the past 10 years,” Real wrote.
The judge also said the Koch brothers and other donors faced a threat of harm because the state inadvertently disclosed donor lists nearly 1,800 times on a public website that contains charities’ registration forms.
Harris testified that she has implemented procedures to prevent donor information from being disclosed to the public.
While he is satisfied with the judge’s decision, Holden told The Daily Signal he is worried about what he calls one of the unintended consequences of the 2010 Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, where the justices ruled that corporations and unions can spend unlimited money on political actions that are done independent of a party or candidate.
Critics contend that Citizens United has increased the influence of money in politics, and that groups like Americans for Prosperity showcase the problem of non-transparent laws governing donor disclosure by nonprofits.
Holden, meanwhile, argues that liberal politicians and Democratic-minded groups are using the legal system to attack their political opponents.
As an example, he referred to a recent subpoena issued by Claude E. Walker, the U.S. Virgin Islands attorney general, demanding ExxonMobil Corp.’s communications with free-market think tanks including the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and climate change-skeptic scientists.
Walker is part of a network of state attorneys general who are alleging that Exxon has misrepresented its products and activities contributing to climate change “in order to defraud the government and consumers.”
“The bottom line is, over the last six years we have seen a war on speech,” Holden said. “We are even seeing it on climate change, where we see the use of threats and force by law enforcement to silence groups they don’t agree with. This should not be a partisan issue. It’s just free speech.”
School sports carnivals have got a problem
Australian feminist Em Rusciano gets something right
YESTERDAY, I was taught a valuable lesson by a bunch of eight- and nine-year-old kids that I think you may want to hear.
I was helping out at my youngest daughter’s athletics carnival (yes I was an elite hurdler, yes I did qualify for world juniors and win my first national title when I was 10. So what? Stop bringing it up) when something caught my eye.
My kids go to an awesome school. However … how do I put this? It has more of an academic/performing arts/paint pictures of your feelings vibe to it than an incubator for elite athletes vibe.
If it was a “knit your own tampon” or “public speak your way out of a hostage situation” or “re-explain the theory of relativity using five different maths equations” race, they would totally nail that sh*t though.
I was standing at the finish line of the 60m hurdles when the first bunch of kids came barrelling through. They were the under-nine boys and one of the lads caught my eye (he had a knitted green and white striped frog beanie on).
I said hello and asked him how many ribbons he felt he may acquire today. Upon reflection that may have been a thoughtless question as moments before he’d finished exactly last in his event, but I’d already forgotten that because: awesome hat! His response floored me. It amused me so much I nearly had an asthma attack.
He said, with both hands on his hips and a deep sigh that belonged to an 80-year-old war vet, “Probably none, I’ll probably just get a few of those (points to participation ribbon) and a bunch of ‘well dones’.”
The tone was unmistakeable. It said: “I’m sick of your sh*t, don’t patronise me with your well dones and participation awards, I know the score.”
It made me wonder, do we give out participation awards to make the kids or the parents feel better?
I decided to conduct subtle interviews with every kid I saw today and NONE of them wanted the participation ribbon. Most of them down right sneered at it. They all understood that someone is going to get to the line fastest, jump the highest and throw the furthest. They all got that some people are better at sport than others and none of them seemed too fazed by that.
Look, if we weren’t giving out the first, second and third place ribbons and the day was just about having fun and being outdoors, great! Let’s go on an Oprah Christmas special ribbon giving spree: “You get a ribbon, and you get a ribbon and you get a ribbon, riiiibonnnnnn!”
However WE DO give out the first, second and third place awards, so what message are we sending them? “Hey kids it doesn’t matter if you win but if you do win you get a special prize and accolade, but it doesn’t matter, but it does, and the rest of the kids get a generic thing because they’re not special like the kids who won, who aren’t special, but they are ...”
Confusing huh? Imagine being a kid then!
I worry we’re getting to a point with kids sport where we’re attempting to shield them from feeling disappointment and loss. Isn’t that the stuff that builds resilience and resolve? Doesn’t it foster the need to improve and learn and grow?
After my highly scientific research at the track I’m now of the opinion that we don’t need to bother with participation awards.
For three reasons:
1. The kid’s don’t want them. They’re well on to us, the jig is up mates.
2. It’s OK to fail! Don’t be afraid to let your kids feel the sting of defeat. Let their little hearts get a ding or two, help them identify what they can learn from it and then they will grow and be better next time.
3. Don’t reward them for just showing up. It makes them grow up feeling entitled. You’re not doing them any favours — want and need create drive.
All that being said, of course not all kids are going to be the best at all things at all times and that’s OK, as long as your kid finds something he or she likes doing then they’ll be all right.
By the by, old mate frog beanie totally won his 100m … Not that it mattered, but it did, but it didn’t.
David van Gend from The Australian Marriage Forum responds to questions on marriage equality
Q. What is Australian Marriage Forum's opposition to same-sex marriage based on?
The heart of our opposition to same-sex 'marriage' is that such an institution would deliberately deprive future children of either their mother or their father, and that is an injustice we should never contemplate. It hurts children if we break the bond with their mother or father, and same-sex 'marriage' is just a new government policy for breaking that bond. We never learn.
We also oppose same-sex 'marriage' because it is untrue – a legal fiction with no foundation in nature. Marriage is not a social invention to be cut to shape according to political fad; it is a social recognition of timeless natural reality: male, female, offspring. Only a terminally demented culture like the modern West would seek to repeal nature and build our society on an artificial foundation.
We also oppose same-sex 'marriage' because it is a package deal that brings with it the entire radical rainbow agenda. Once homosexual relations are normalised in the central institution of society, that gives the LGBT lobby the big stick of anti-discrimination law to normalise homosexual behaviour in the school curriculum, and to silence conscientious dissenters. Think 'Safe Schools' and Archbishop Porteous. 'Marriage equality' is not ultimately about marriage; it is about sexual radicals getting the legal clout to push their values down society's throat.
Q. Are you only opposed to the proposition of equal marriage or is the opposition to equality under the law for LGBTI in general?
Same-sex couples already have exactly the same legal status and benefits as any de facto or married couple in Australia, with no discrimination whatsoever, and we do not oppose that.
Same-sex couples already have full relationship equality with other couples, but their relationship is a different thing to the great natural project of marriage and family and they need to find a different word.
Q. What are your thoughts on homosexuality? Do you believe it is a normal expression of human sexuality?
My thoughts are that homosexuality does not define a person: he or she is a unique, transient and beloved creature like anyone else, and if a person happens to experience same-sex impulses that is merely a puzzling aspect of their emotional makeup; it is not who they are.
Homosexuality is clearly not normal in a statistical sense, since only 1.2% of the Australian population identify as homosexual while 97.5% identify as heterosexual.[i] In a clinical sense I agree with Dr Robert Spitzer, the gay-friendly psychiatrist who led the campaign to delete homosexuality from the APA's Diagnostic & Statistical Manual in 1973, who described homosexuality as "a form of irregular sexual development". It is not a mental illness, but nor is it normal, and for many years Spitzer argued against "the acceptance of the view that homosexuality is a normal variant."[ii] We should not form public policy on marriage or sex-education based on the false view that homosexuality is normal.
Q. In an Australian Marriage Forum advert it states that "The radicalisation of sex education and usurping of parental authority is (in our view) a main objective of the homosexual revolution." Can you explain this further? What do you believe is the end game for LGBTI advocates? Do you believe that legalising same sex marriage will lead to other reforms, if so what could they be?
The logic is simple: if the law says homosexual "marriage" is normal and right, schools will be obliged, by anti-discrimination law, to teach that homosexual behaviour is normal and right. There is no option. Parents today can push back against the 'Safe Schools' program - but parents will be sidelined and treated as bigots if they object to such material once homosexual 'marriage' becomes the law of the land.
Parents need to understand that the genderless agenda is a package deal: if they vote for 'marriage equality' they are voting for 'Safe Schools' on steroids and agreeing to relinquish control of their child's moral education to sexual radicals.
If they vote for 'marriage equality', based on President Obama's executive order this week to all 96,000 public schools in the US, parents are voting for their daughter to have to share change-rooms with disturbed young men who claim they are women – all on the basis of genderless 'equality'.
The end game of any revolution is to remake society in its own radical image: that is achieved largely through controlling the education of the next generation and by silencing dissenting voices. Think 'Safe Schools' and Archbishop Porteous...
Q. Some commentators have observed that the debate between progressives and conservatives on issues such as Safe Schools, Gayby Baby, marriage equality etc is part of a "culture war" between left and right. What are your thoughts on this?
Wait for my book in a few months time. There will be a chapter on cultural Marxism and its many and varied fellow travellers and their relentless attacks on marriage and family over the last century.
Q. Are you concerned that language used to describe the push for LGBTI inclusion - eg the flyers we saw recently protesting the AFL's upcoming Pride game, comparing legalising same sex marriage to the stolen generation - could be damaging for LGBTI young people and their families?
I am concerned at the emotional blackmail used by supporters of same-sex 'marriage' which claims that any and every statement of opposition to same-sex 'marriage' is "damaging for LGBTI young people and their families" - so we had better just shut up and let them be the only voice in the public square.
Examples: in the Sydney Morning Herald, Justin Koonin, convenor of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, specified our full-page ad in The Australian (10/8/15[iii]) as an example of the "bigoted opinions that we know cause harm to same-sex attracted and gender diverse young people". [iv] In an earlier report about our television ad aired during Mardi Gras in March 2015[v], the director of Australian Marriage Equality, Rodney Croome, said our ad was "actually harming the many Australian children being raised by same-sex couples". [vi]
Do you see how this game works? If anyone makes the case for keeping marriage between man and woman, the mere act of raising such an argument is "actually harming" children. There is only one solution: say nothing. Breathing a word makes us culpable for depression and even death in young people!
That is shameless emotional blackmail designed to silence one side of a serious debate.
I am astonished at the portrayal of LGBT young people and families as so fragile that they must be protected from hearing any discussion about homosexual marriage and parenting. How condescending! And it goes with the pathetic proposition that we should overturn the foundational institution of society as a form of psychological therapy for LGBT young people and their families. There are less radical ways to help them feel loved and respected.
No comments: |
Plato's Confusions , Platonic Solids
Plato's Confusions, Platonic Solids
In this report, I will try to provide an argument for Plato's approach to philosophy, where my main assertion will be that all Platonistic philosophies on the reality hidden behind the appearence are ultimately begging the question. I will try to support this assertion by several evidence from his book Timaeus, and I will mainly focus on his approach to mathematics.
Timaeus, as all other texts of Plato, is hard to read and almost impossible to understand at the first time. This is usually the case about Plato's texts, and Plato's philosophy in general, that they are difficult to follow by a critical mind of today. What he does is to presume weird assumptions, and then by use of valid argumentation and beautiful explanations, draw even weirder conclusions.
An explanation, by its very definition, must be convincing; but in Plato's case, to be able to follow the explanation, the reader has to be convinced already. So, if we read the text without asking any 'why?' questions and accept them true, then and only then are we able to acknowledge the plausibility of his logic. Plato himself once admits it: “I must endeavour to explain to you in an exposition of an unusual type; yet, inasmuch as you have some acquaintance with the technical method which I must necessarily employ in my exposition, you will follow me.”(Tim.53c) Here, of course, he means that the listeners are already studying in his Academy and are accustomed to his methods of thinking.
This kind of an argumentation is essential for idealism; because idealism in itself cannot be comprehended by human beings. It is the clearest expression of the egocentric ideology, and this part I will try to demonstrate during this report.
To begin with, I would like to give a brief summary of Timaeus. First of all, Plato's God is not a Creator in the sense that he creates everything from nothing. Instead, he “only imposes order and system on pre-existing Chaos.”1 Hence, “he brought order from disorder, deeming that the former state is in all ways better than the latter.”(Tim.30a) After that, Plato's argument goes as the following: Everything that exists has a bodily form, i.e. it is visible and tangible. To be visible, it must contain fire, and to be tangible, it must be solid, implying the existence of earth. For both fire and earth to exist, we need a third element to conjoin them.(Tim.31bc) But three objects define a surface and the body of All is solid. Therefore, we need a fourth object and we have the equations air:water = fire:air and water:earth = air:water (Tim.32b). This is indeed a mathematical explanation of the four elements theory of Empedocle, but has no mathematical meaning though. It seems totally impossible to understand what these equations really mean. Then, Plato explains why the universe has the shape of a sphere (Tim.33b). But suddenly, he begins to explain why the universe has no need for eyes, ears, mouth, hands, legs and feets (Tim.33cd). It is in fact typical for a person to give more and more explanations when he/she himself/herself sees that his/her words are not convincing. Indeed, Plato becomes less and less convincing with his exuberancy. Next, having these four elements, “God began by first marking them out into shapes by means of forms and numbers”(Tim53d). Here, Plato introduces the five regular polyhedra, today often referred as Platonic solids. Afterwards, he assigns a solid to each element. To this point, that Plato's God obeys to a certain reasoning, I shall return later. Tim.57c onwards, Plato shortly explains why there are infinitely many kinds of physical objects and discusses sense perception, human (actually, man) physiology and how other animals and women are created from men; demonstrating why Aristotle, being his student, studied Physics and tried to really understand natural phenomena, as Plato's descriptions hardly make any sense.
However, Plato is historically the first philosopher to “attempt to describe natural phenomena by mathematical means and not by mythological means.”2 Mathematical objects, being the objects of Reason and not of physical world, are suitable to his Ideas or Forms. Plato, following Parmenides' distinction between the Way of Truth and the Way of Opinion, distinguishes between the Being and the Becoming (Tim.28a). “Being is changeless, eternal, self-existent, apprehensible by thought only; Becoming is the opposite – ever-changing, never truly existent, and the object of irrational sensation.”3 By these properties, mathematics fits to Being; since a triangle itself cannot essentially be drawn on a piece of paper, but is more an object of abstraction of all the triangles drawn. Hence, Plato elegantly gives a mathematical description to natural phenomena. Moreover, in his “Academy, with the motto “Let no man ignorant of geometry enter” inscribed over its gate”4,geometry was a major subject in higher education.
Before entering a discussion on why Plato's idealism fails to explain natural phenomena, I would like to provide a few evidence on Plato's egocentricism and the reflection of it in his philosophy. First, I would like to recall the Allegory of the Cave in Plato's The Republic. In the allegory, Plato obviously refers to himself as the one who is able to see the reality, and not to someone else; and his justification is valid only when other people believe in the story beforehand. The Republic goes on defining philosopher kings, where we identify that Plato again means himself. He possesses the truth, he doesn't have to justify the truth of his assertions; and he invites us -though sadly, knowing that not every one is able to see the reality behind appearence- to his philosophy without offering any evidence of its truth, neither physical nor metaphysical.
Secondly, Plato is never interested in things which everyone can understand. Therefore, things that can be understood by everyone are, according to Plato, not worth studying; they are not true, not real. And hence his conclusion: “The physical world is an imperfect realisation of the ideal world and is subject also to decay. Hence the ideal world alone is worth of study.”5 Also, as we anticipated: “Only through strenuous, properly trained reasoning can the human mind discover Forms behind their ephemeral and shadowy images presented by the senses.”6 That's one of the reasons why he “disdained applied mathematics and protested the use of moving mechanical instruments in geometry.”7 Contrary to his teacher Socrates -who was known as teaching mathematics to a slave-, Plato's philosophy is not for the average person; because Plato feels a superiority in himself, to which point I will give more evidence later. But before that, I must, in this context, return to the story of the creation of the universe. Recalling the remark that even God follows a certain reasoning while creating the universe, we must definitely notice that God follows Plato's reasoning. So, Plato is quite sure that he has the true knowledge.
Having recalled the description of the creation, I would also like to point out the dodecahedron problem, which a careful reader might have noticed. I already mentioned about God's assigning a solid to each element; now, I would like to give a more extended summary of what Plato describes. He takes two triangles, and after certain procedures that were already known in his time, he constructs four of the regular polyhedra; namely, the pyramid (tetrahedron), the octahedron, the icosahedron, and the cube. The first defect of Plato's reasoning is that the dodecahedron cannot be constructed with his triangles. Furthermore, he knows that there are five regular polyhedra, but he also assumed that there are four elements but not five. Here, Plato's ego shows himself and he finds the solution: “And seeing that there still remained one other compound figure, the fifth, God used it up for the Universe in his decoration thereof.” (Tim.55c) The searchings of the curios reader are in vain, there are no other explanations for that. Plato does not even mention dodecahedron through the text again. This is, in my opinion, the clearest case that, according to Plato, if something does not fit into his story, then his assumption is that it was already a special case for the God in the Creation.
Lastly, Plato directly humiliates people who do not approach to philosophy in his way. After the creation of men, Plato depicts how other animals are created from men: “And the tribe of birds are derived by transformation, growing feathers in place of hair, from men who are harmless but light-minded”(Tim.91d), which is followed by “And the wild species of animal that goes on foot is derived from those men who have paid no attention at all to philosophy nor studied at all the nature of the heavens, because they ceased to make use of the revolutions within the head and followed the lead of those parts of the soul which are in the breast.”(Tim.91e) Here, Plato clearly identifies the people who are not interested in things he does, as inferior to him. He continues: “On this account also their race was made four-footed and many-footed, since God set more supports under the more foolish ones, so that they might be dragged down still more to the earth.”(Tim.92a) It is not incorrect, I suppose, to interpret this statement as an insult to the people who don't philosophise in Plato's way.
Taking the above discussion into consideration, I would like to point out the similarity between Plato's explanations about the creation of the universe, and the typical “God exists because the Bible says so.” arguments. In both of them, the argument begs the question, thus convincing only those who were already convinced. Platonic Idealism, and idealism in general, is based on strange assumptions which are declared as unquestionable. This is, in fact, the main problem of idealism. Interestingly, however, “Plato had criticized the earlier philosophers for their failure to indicate the Cause of the physical processes by which they explained the World.”8
On the other hand, as Plutarch report Plato's famous “God eternally geometrizes”9, Plato was the first philosopher to see the essential connection between mathematical knowledge and natural phenomena. His emphasis on mathematics made it possible for his followers to make effort on finding the right relations between them; whereof one of the longest lasting higher education institutions of Europe, the Academy (B.C.E. 387 – C.E. 529)10, was for centuries the leading institution of mathematics in Europe.
All in all, today's natural sciences owe a lot to Plato's writings, but only in the historical sense as his works encouraged debates and studies on the subjects he discussed, and not in the philosophical sense as his texts offer no help to today's scientists and thinkers.
1Bury, R.G. ; Introduction to the Timaeus in PlatoVII ; Page T.E. , Capps E. ; Rouse W.H.D. et al ; The Loeb Classical Library ; 1952 ; page 7
2Artmann, Benno ; Euclid - The Creation of Mathematics ; Springer ; 1999 ; page 306
4Calinger, Robert ; A Contextual History of Mathematics ; Prentice-Hall ; 1999 ; page 103
5Kline, Morris ; Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Times ; Oxford University Press ; 1972 ; page 44
9Kline, Morris ; Mathematics: The Loss of Certainty ; Oxford University Press ; 1980 ; page 6
10Kline, Morris ; Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Times ; Oxford University Press ; 1972 ; page 42-43
No comments: |
Lokasi Pengoenjoeng Blog
Senin, 06 April 2009
Pisau Cukur Jadul.., Damascene Razor
Pisau cukur model pisau lipat sekarang sudah ketinggalan jaman, sudah jadul. Brewok kini tak lagi dikerok menggunakan pisau yang bisa membahayakan itu, melainkan pakai alat cukur moderen yang lebih aman.
Dan omong2 soal kolesi pisau cukur brewok jadul ini, ada lho yang harganya mencapai 300 juta rupiah, yaitu Damascene Razor yang dibuat dari 128 lapisan besi serta dilapisi platinum. Pisau Damaskus ini mahal karena material metalnya sangat spesial. Dan kalau pengin tehe sejarahnya, silahkan ikuti bacaan dibawah ini dalam versi bahasa Inggris.
History of Damascus Stell.
Traditional Damascus steel, also known as pattern weld or Damascene, was first produced over two thousand years ago. It has lived in legend and is referred to as the steel of the ancients. Damascus swords and knives dominated the weapon industry from the Iron Age to the Viking age. Alexander the Great was said to have a Damascus sword, and even Aristotle commented on the high quality of the Damascus steel blade. Its origins can be traced back as far as 500 A.D. In India, it was called Telangana, Wootz or Ukku steel. It then found its way to Damascus, Syria, which was the center of trade in the region. It was the trade center for war equipment such as knives, swords and armor. However, Damascus steel had been a lost technology since the early 1700's up until the mid 1970's.
Damascus steel combines low and high carbon steels. These steels are folded and forge welded together. The fold-forge cycle is repeated until a large number of layers is obtained. It is then etched to bring out the beautiful grain pattern. This process produces blades with extraordinary toughness and edge-holding ability. The edge of a Damascus blade contains tiny saw-tooth carbides which enables the blade to cut, even if it feels dull to the touch. The flexibility of Damascus is superb. Every piece of Damascus steel is as unique as a finger print
Gitu deh...
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar |
รวมเพลงของ พงษ์เทพ กระโดนชำนาญ
ฟังเพลงเพื่อชีวิต : นกเขาไฟ - พงษ์เทพ กระโดนชำนาญ
ฟังเพลงเพื่อชีวิต : แก้มตุ่ย - พงษ์เทพ กระโดนชำนาญ
ฟังเพลงเพื่อชีวิต : ตายหยังเขียด - พงษ์เทพ กระโดนชำนาญ
ฟังเพลงเพื่อชีวิต : คนชอบเมา - พงษ์เทพ กระโดนชำนาญ
ฟังเพลงเพื่อชีวิต : ศุกร์เมา-เสาร์นอน - พงษ์เทพ กระโดนชำนาญ
ฟังเพลงเพื่อชีวิต : ครูไม่ใหญ่ - พงษ์เทพ กระโดนชำนาญ
History of insurance
In some sense we can say that insurance appears simultaneously with the appearance of human society. We know of two types of economies in human societies: natural or non-monetary economies (using barter and trade with no centralized nor standardized set of financial instruments) and more modern monetary economies (with markets, currency, financial instruments and so on). The former is more primitive and the insurance in such economies entails agreements of mutual aid. If one family's house is destroyed the neighbours are committed to help rebuild. Granaries housed another primitive form of insurance to indemnify against famines. Often informal or formally intrinsic to local religious customs, this type of insurance has survived to the present day in some countries where modern money economy with its financial instruments is not widespread.Turning to insurance in the modern sense (i.e., insurance in a modern money economy, in which insurance is part of the financial sphere), early methods of transferring or distributing risk were practised by Chinese and Babylonian traders as long ago as the and 2nd millennia BC, respectively.Chinese merchants travelling treacherous river rapids would redistribute their wares across many vessels to limit the loss due to any single vessel's capsizing. The Babylonians developed a system which was recorded in the famous Code of Hammurabi, c. 1750 BC, and practised by early Mediterranean sailing merchants. If a merchant received a loan to fund his shipment, he would pay the lender an additional sum in exchange for the lender's guarantee to cancel the loan should the shipment be stolen or lost at sea.monarchs of Ancient Persia were the first to insure their people and made it official by registering the insuring process in governmental notary offices. The insurance tradition was performed each year in Norouz (beginning of the Iranian New Year); the heads of different ethnic groups as well as others willing to take part, presented gifts to the monarch. The most important gift was presented during a special ceremony. When a gift was worth more than 10,000 Derrik (Achaemenian gold coin) the issue was registered in a special office. This was advantageous to those who presented such special gifts. For others, the presents were fairly assessed by the confidants of the court. Then the assessment was registered in special offices.The purpose of registering was that whenever the person who presented the gift registered by the court was in trouble, the monarch and the court would help him. Jahez, a historian and writer, writes in one of his books on ancient Iran: "[W]henever the owner of the present is in trouble or wants to construct a building, set up a feast, have his children married, etc. the one in charge of this in the court would check the registration. If the registered amount exceeded 10,000 Derrik, he or she would receive an amount of twice as much. A thousand years later, the inhabitants of Rhodes invented the concept of the general average. Merchants whose goods were being shipped together would pay a proportionally divided premium which would be used to reimburse any merchant whose goods were deliberately jettisoned in order to lighten the ship and save it from total loss.The Talmud deals with several aspects of insuring goods. Before insurance was established in the late 17th century, "friendly societies" existed in England, in which people donated amounts of money to a generalsum that could be used for emergencies.Separate insurance contracts (i.e., insurance policies not bundled with loans or other kinds of contracts) were invented in Genoa in the 14th century, as were insurance pools backed by pledges of landed estates. These new insurance contracts allowed insurance to be separated from investment, a separation of roles that first proved useful in marine insurance. Insurance became far more sophisticated in post-Renaissance , and specialized varieties developed.Lloyd's of London, pictured in 1991, is one of the world's leading and most famous insurance marketsSome forms of insurance had developed in London by the early decades of the 17th century. For example, the will of the English colonist Robert Hayman mentions two "policies of insurance" taken out with the diocesan Chancellor of London, Arthur Duck. Of the value of £100 each, one relates to the safe arrival of Hayman's ship in Guyana and the other is in regard to "one hundred pounds assured by the said Doctor Arthur Ducke on my life". Hayman's will was signed and sealed on 17 November 1628 but not proved until 1633.Toward the end of the seventeenth century, London's growing importance as a centre for trade increased demand for marine insurance. In the late 1680s, Edward Lloyd opened a coffee house that became a popular haunt of ship owners, merchants, and ships' captains, and thereby a reliable source of the latest shipping news. It became the meeting place for parties wishing to insure cargoes and ships, and those willing to underwrite such ventures. Today, Lloyd's of London remains the leading market (note that it is an insurance market rather than a company) for marine and other specialist types of insurance, but it operates rather differently than the more familiar kinds of insurance. Insurance as we know it today can be traced to the Great Fire of London, which in 1666 devoured more than 13,000 houses. The devastating effects of the fire converted the development of insurance "from a matter of convenience into one of urgency, a change of opinion reflected in Sir Christopher Wren's inclusion of a site for 'the Insurance Office' in his new plan for London in 1667."A number of attempted fire insurance schemes came to nothing, but in 1681 Nicholas Barbon, and eleven associates, established England's first fire insurance company, the 'Insurance Office for Houses', at the back of the Royal Exchange. Initially, 5,000 homes were insured by Barbon's Insurance OfficeThe first insurance company in the United States underwrote fire insurance and was formed in Charles Town (modern-day Charleston), South Carolina, in 1732. Benjamin Franklin helped to popularize and make standard the practice of insurance, particularly against fire in the form of perpetual insurance. In 1752, he founded the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire. Franklin's company was the first to make contributions toward fire prevention. Not only did his company warn against certain fire hazards, it refused to insure certain buildings where the risk of fire was too great, such as all wooden houses. In the United States, regulation of the insurance industry is highly Balkanized, with primary responsibility assumed by individual state insurance departments. Whereas insurance markets have become centralized nationally and internationally, state insurance commissioners operate individually, though at times in concert through a national insurance commissioners' organization. In recent years, some have called for a dual state and federal regulatory system (commonly referred to as the Optional federal charter (OFC)) for insurance similar to that which oversees state banks and national banks
edit @ 30 May 2011 17:51:44 by SongForLife
edit @ 13 Aug 2011 23:12:31 by SongForLife
#4 By วันชัย ( on 2013-09-11 10:07
#3 By สน (| on 2013-05-03 16:41
#2 By chai (| on 2012-12-22 17:51
#1 By chumpol (| on 2012-11-09 18:37 |
NASA Developing Mining Robot for Moon, Mars
October 06, 2016
NASA is developing the RASSOR mining robot to collect soil, or regolith, on the moon or Mars so it can be processed into rocket fuel, breathable air and other commodities. By using materials available at other locations in the solar system, astronauts don't have to carry it all from Earth.
Video Topic: |
Home > Products > AquaData 2000 Series ORP Sensors
Choose a sub category:
General Purpose ORP Sensors Differential ORP Sensors
(Choose a sub category above)
AquaData 2000 Series ORP Sensors
ORP stands for oxidation-reduction potential, which is a measure, in millivolts, of the tendency of a chemical substance to oxidize or reduce another chemical substance.
Oxidation is the loss of electrons by an atom, molecule, or ion. It may or may not be accompanied by the addition of oxygen, which is the origin of the term. Familiar examples are iron rusting and wood burning.
Reduction is the net gain of electrons by an atom, molecule, or ion. When a chemical substance is reduced, its oxidation state is lowered. As is the case with oxidation, substances that can exhibit multiple oxidation states can also be sequentially reduced from one oxidation state to the next lower oxidation state.
Standard Potential
How easily a substance is oxidized or reduced is given by the standard potential of its redox couple. The standard potential refers to half reaction written as a reduction. The negative of the tabulated standard potential gives the standard potential for the oxidation half-reaction.
Measurement of ORP
An ORP sensor consists of an ORP electrode and a reference electrode, in much the same fashion as pH measurement.
The ORP Electrode
The principle behind ORP measurement is the use of an inert metal electrode (platinum, sometimes gold), which, due to its low resistance, will give up reductant. The ORP electrode will continue to accept or give up electrons until it develops a potential, due to the build up charge, which is equal to the ORP of the solution. The typical accuracy of an ORP measurement is ±5 mV.
Sometimes the exchange of electrons between the ORP electrode and certain chemical substances is hampered by a low rate of electron exchange (exchange current density). In these cases, ORP may respond more strongly to a second redux couple in the solution (like dissolved oxygen). This leads to measurement errors, and it is recommended that new ORP applications be checked out in the laboratory before going on-line.
The Reference Electrode
The reference electrode used for ORP measurements is typically the same silver-silver chloride electrode used with pH measurements. In contrast with pH measurements, some offset in the reference is tolerable in ORP since, as seen, the mV changes measured in most ORP applications are large.
In certain specific applications (for example, bleach production), an ORP sensor may use a silver billet as a reference, or even a pH electrode.
The Application of ORP
When considering ORP for a particular application, it is necessary to know the half-reaction involved and the concentration range of all the substances appearing in the half-reaction. It is also necessary to use the Nernst equation to get an idea of the expected ORP behavior.
The oxidation-reduction potential of a solution is a measure of the oxidizing or reducing power of solution. Every oxidation or reduction can be characterized by a half-reaction, which gives all of the chemical substances participating in the reaction. The ORP of the solution depends upon the logarithm of the concentrations of the substances participating in the half- reaction. The ORP can be calculated using the Nernst equation. ORP is not a good method for measuring concentration and its dependence on multiple solution components. The best use of an ORP measurement is in monitoring and controlling oxidation-reduction reactions. |
Our Heritage: Market tradition back to 1190s
William Westall's print of Market Square circa 1829.
William Westall's print of Market Square circa 1829.
Lancaster no longer has a Market Hall, but anyone visiting the town on a Wednesday or Saturday will know that it once again has a busy street market.
The city’s right to hold markets on these days can be traced back to its charters in the 1190s.
Initially their purpose was to provide an opportunity for the towns’s residents to purchase provisions on a regular basis.
The corporation levied tolls on traders who brought in produce to sell and those who took provisions out of town.
Toll houses were situated at the top of Penny Street, the end of St Leonardgate and on Bridge Lane until it was replaced by the new toll house at the end of Skerton Bridge which still stands.
Produce was inspected by market lookers and there were strict rules to stop speculators (or hucksters and higglers) from buying everything up in order to push up prices.
Not all the market was in the square.
wSpeed’s map of 1610 shows the fish market near the mill race on what is now Damside Street.
It was later moved to the Market Square, with fish sold from flat stones around the cross. A covered shed was erected in the 1850s but was not popular.
The landlord of the Royal Oak on Market Street complained about the smell but also that in the evening the shed provided a ‘meeting place for the idle and dissolute in town’.
It mysteriously burnt down.
Animals were slaughtered and sold in Cheapside which used to be called ‘Butchers Street’ or Pudding Lane, ‘pudding’ being used in its original meaning of bowels, entrails or guts of an animal.
During the 1770s the corporation erected purpose-built slaughterhouses and stalls in a new Shambles along a passageway from Market Street to Common Garden Street.
Most of this was later incorporated into the covered market hall but part of the passage still remains by the side of BHS.
Sheep, lambs and calves were killed in front of the shops and cows in the interior so the shambles were still unsavoury and unhygienic and some butchers preferred to slaughter elsewhere in town.
As the town increased in size from the 18th century, the scale and range of produce sold in the market expanded and stalls spread over much of the town.
A potato market was established, initially outside the Assembly Rooms and later in Church Street.
Butter and grain sellers jostled for space in the open space under the Town Hall on Market Square. The streets became overcrowded and by the 1840s there were increasing demands for Lancaster to follow other towns and erect a purpose-built market hall....
To be continued next week. |
Print verison Deutsch
Generally an infrastructure asset can be identified based on common physical characteristics as follows:
• Large scale object which is characterized by a physical network and hence a capital good which is not consumed directly but rather a source of services (e.g. grid network, pipelines, roads, bridges, tunnels, harbors, airports, etc.)
• Long lasting which has major implications with respect to the financing and the valuation of infrastructure assets. Infrastructure facilities are typically installed with a long-term service horizon and exhibit comparatively low technological risk which implies long investment horizons
• Space and use specific since infrastructure assets are generally immobile and the dimension of the infrastructure facility is specified by geography, demography and the specific level of demand. The combination of the long-term life spans and the fact that infrastructure assets are immobile implies that infrastructure shapes the economic geography of a state, region or even a country. In addition infrastructure is generally use-specific which implies that it cannot switch to another function
• Lumpy rather than incremental since adjustments in supply and demand are difficult since lag times in construction are long. Infrastructure projects are typically large scale projects with a comparatively long planning and implementation phase
• Increasing both welfare and aggregate output since infrastructure facilities provide basic goods and services needed for any kind of productive processes. Moreover these goods and services are consumed by both households and enterprises. Accordingly output pricing and continuity of supply are of strategic importance in public policy and political terms
Gehe zu LPX Group Gehe zu Produkt LPX |
The Many Faces of Kindness
The Many Faces of Kindness
By Kater Leatherman
Evidently it’s cool to be kind. This is good news given the self-possessed, self-focused, selfie era that we currently live in. Kindness really is a virtue and, with life being a challenging adventure at times, how can we be anything but?
By definition, kindness means concern for others without wanting anything in return. Wikipedia digs a little deeper and defines kindness as an exchange with essentially unpredictable consequences. However you choose to define it, kindness not only benefits others, but you as well. Why? Because when you are kind, it releases neurotransmitters responsible for feelings of contentment and relaxation.
One of the many facets of kindness is forgiveness. Forgiving can lead to other things, like understanding and compassion for the one who hurt you. But if someone has forgiven you for something that you are hard-pressed to forgive yourself for, then consider it a supreme act of kindness.
Of course, there are acts of kindness that leave an indelible print on the mind. What if you were invited to a birthday party for someone you love? After the food is consumed, the birthday song sung and the cake cut, the birthday person proceeds to go around the table and, one by one, share what she most appreciates about each person and how much they mean to her. You might say that this gesture was thoughtful, but you have to be thoughtful to be kind. Either way, having attended this event where this happened, I can tell you it was well remembered.
Another form of kindness includes good manners, whether you practice them in public, while in traffic or at home. What’s kind about having manners is that they make life easier for others, and making life easier for others requires sensitivity. Emily Post believes that manners are just that, a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others.
“If you have that awareness,” she adds, “you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.”
How about a kind word when someone has lost a loved one? After my brother died, people sent wonderful cards with heartfelt sentiments and acknowledged their condolences face to face. But one person stood out in the crowd.
She wanted to know about my brother, his life and what he loved to do. It turned out that being able to sit down and talk about him with her was very healing. There is kindness in just being there for someone and she knew just what to do.
Sometimes the most extraordinary kindnesses are unexpected. Have you ever received a birthday card from someone with a sentiment that offered a few hours of grateful friendship, celebration and fun? Did you ever send your parents flowers on your birthday? Remember how it felt to receive a card for no other reason than someone was thinking of you? Years ago, when my father gave me a ceiling fan as a housewarming gift, he included the services to have an electrician install it. Very cool.
Let’s not forget that kindness includes restraint. Avoid the need to correct someone in front of others. Practice patience with the young and elderly. Hold your tongue when you’re angry. Give up the need to be right all the time. The tricky thing about life is that it’s harder to be kind when you don’t want to be. Yet, this is the true test of your openheartedness.
There’s a restaurant in Oakland, California, whose mission it is to be the best part of each customer’s day. They aim to please in order to make you happy. They want you to leave feeling fulfilled in heart, body and spirit. There is an element of kindness in wanting to enhance the quality of someone’s day.
Some believe that you have never really lived until you’ve done something for someone who can never repay you. What random act of kindness can you offer today? Let someone have the better parking space. Do something that will make someone’s life easier, even for a moment. Everything counts — an unsolicited smile, a few words of encouragement or an unexpected gesture — can reshape a person’s day, maybe even their life. When you are kind to others, you are also choosing to make the world a better place.
Kater is a professional organizer and home stager, yoga teacher and self-published author who inspires others to live better. Visit her website at or email
Comments are closed
Receive Magazine by Email
$24.95 per year
Bimonthly (6 issues)
Outlook by the Bay, LLC
210 Legion Ave #6805
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone 410-849-3000
Fax 410-630-3838 |
Archive for the ‘Programming’ Category
There are wide choice of programming languages catering to a diverse application domain. This post is an attempt at classifying them based on how much the language/implementation tries to abstract the machine details from the programmer.
We can broadly classify languages as
• Assembly language (x86 assembler AT&T syntax or Intel syntax)
• Compiled (C)
• Compiled to byte code of VM and compiled just in time (Java2)
• Compiled to byte code of VM and interpreted (Python)
• String interpreted (TCL)
Assembly Languages
Such languages need the least amount of work to make them executable. Assemblers like the x86 assembly language is closely tied to the machine code. It is basically a one is to one mapping between machine instruction to a human readable string called mnemonics. Assemblers also make it easy to assign labels to address locations to ease programming effort. Modern assemblers also support macros which can make programming repetitive code easier. There is little scope for optimization or higher order data structures in assembly languages, since they just mirror the target machine code. Such languages are the least portable since they are always tied to a target machine architecture. Few examples of assembly languages would be the x86 assembly language, Motorola 6800 assembly etc.
Compiled Languages
Such languages are a step taken for portability. They abstract the underlying machine instructions and give higher order constructs for arithmetic operations, branching, looping and basic data types. They are compiled in to target machine code directly. Once compiled, the binary can be natively run in the target machine. Arguably they are slower than assembler, since the actual machine code is generated by a compiler and will not be as optimized as hand coded assembler. But in practice, for any modern processor with multiple cores and pipelining, the compiler tends to generate more optimized code. Such languages can have support for higher order data structures like lists, maps etc either natively or via standard libraries. C, C++, Pascal etc are some examples of compiled languages.
Compiled to Byte Code of a VM (JIT compiled)
These languages are another step towards portability. First they are compiled to byte code of a virtual machine. The virtual machine executes the byte code by compiling it in to native machine code Just In Time (JIT). Practically these are slower than compiled languages since there is another layer of abstraction. But they are more portable than compiled languages. The same compiled byte code can be run on any platform that supports the VM, while for compiled languages, different binaries are required for different platforms. Typically they support a full range of higher order data structures. Examples include Java2, Ruby core 1.9.
Compiled to Byte Code of a VM (Interpreted)
The first step of these languages is the same as the above. They are compiled to byte code of a virtual machine. The virtual machine itself executes the byte code by interpreting it. They are generally slower than JIT implementations. They have same portability as JIT implementations. Performance also depends on the optimization effort gone in to the VM implementation. For example Python2 (byte code interpreted) is faster than Ruby core 1.9 (JIT) while Java2 (JIT) is way faster than compiled Lisp (SBCL). Examples include Python, Ruby.
String Interpreted
Such languages interpret the source code string directly. Because of this, these are usually the slowest of the lot. Consider this statement – a = 100 + 2. The 100 and 2 are strings and instead of doing the addition 100 + 2 natively, the interpreter knows how to add integers as strings. The interpreter is easier to implement than byte code compilation but performance is the least. TCL, JavaScript are examples of string interpreted languages.
We can see a pattern emerging. From assembly to string interpretation, the language/implementation abstracts machine details more and more from the programmer. As a result performance keeps decreasing while portability keeps increasing. Beyond a point, performance decreases without any increase in portability, but implementation becomes easier. Also more abstracted languages usually provide higher order data structures and automatic memory management for free.
Also the level of abstraction really depends on the implementation rather than the language itself. For example, Python2 is both byte code interpreted (official CPython) and JIT (PyPy). The implementation can vary not only in the VM. For example Common Lisp has a compiled implementation (SBCL), compiled to C/C++ or byte code interpreted implementation (ECL).
Recently, I decided to take MIT OCW Algorithms course. I wanted to actually measure the performance of various algorithms. So before I dived in to it, I decided to come up with a setup for measuring time taken. For this, we need high precision time measurement. I have used the Read Time Stamp Counter (RDTSC) instruction introduced in Pentium processors before. I have heard about High Precision Event Timers (HPET) introduced by Intel circa 2005. In this post we have a shootout between the two mechanisms.
The metrics we want to compare are
• Resolution
• Accuracy
• Cost (in terms of CPU time)
• Reliability
Before we get in to the actual testing, let us understand how to use HPET and RDTSC. Here is how we use HPET which is a POSIX standard.
#include <time.h>
struct timespec ts;
clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &ts);
And here is how we use the RDTSC instruction. With RDTSC, we actually read the number of CPU clock cycles from a counter (Time Stamp Counter). This keeps incrementing for each CPU clock. This does not directly translate to actual time. This needs to be done by calibrating the number of CPU cycles per nanosecond and dividing the clock ticks by this calibrated value for actual nanoseconds. Since it is not guaranteed that this TSC value will be synchronized across CPU, we bind our process to CPU1 (I have a dual core Inter T7500 CPU) to eliminate TSC mismatch between the two CPU cores.
#include <stdint.h> /* for uint64_t */
#include <time.h> /* for struct timespec */
/* assembly code to read the TSC */
static inline uint64_t RDTSC()
unsigned int hi, lo;
__asm__ volatile("rdtsc" : "=a" (lo), "=d" (hi));
return ((uint64_t)hi << 32) | lo;
const int NANO_SECONDS_IN_SEC = 1000000000;
/* returns a static buffer of struct timespec with the time difference of ts1 and ts2
ts1 is assumed to be greater than ts2 */
struct timespec *TimeSpecDiff(struct timespec *ts1, struct timespec *ts2)
static struct timespec ts;
ts.tv_sec = ts1->tv_sec - ts2->tv_sec;
ts.tv_nsec = ts1->tv_nsec - ts2->tv_nsec;
if (ts.tv_nsec < 0) {
ts.tv_nsec += NANO_SECONDS_IN_SEC;
return &ts;
double g_TicksPerNanoSec;
static void CalibrateTicks()
struct timespec begints, endts;
uint64_t begin = 0, end = 0;
clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &begints);
begin = RDTSC();
uint64_t i;
for (i = 0; i < 1000000; i++); /* must be CPU intensive */
end = RDTSC();
clock_gettime(CLOCK_MONOTONIC, &endts);
struct timespec *tmpts = TimeSpecDiff(&endts, &begints);
uint64_t nsecElapsed = tmpts->tv_sec * 1000000000LL + tmpts->tv_nsec;
g_TicksPerNanoSec = (double)(end - begin)/(double)nsecElapsed;
/* Call once before using RDTSC, has side effect of binding process to CPU1 */
void InitRdtsc()
unsigned long cpuMask;
cpuMask = 2; // bind to cpu 1
sched_setaffinity(0, sizeof(cpuMask), &cpuMask);
void GetTimeSpec(struct timespec *ts, uint64_t nsecs)
ts->tv_sec = nsecs / NANO_SECONDS_IN_SEC;
ts->tv_nsec = nsecs % NANO_SECONDS_IN_SEC;
/* ts will be filled with time converted from TSC reading */
void GetRdtscTime(struct timespec *ts)
GetTimeSpec(ts, RDTSC() / g_TicksPerNanoSec);
Now back to our metrics. This is how each mechanism fares.
HPET API clock_gettime, gives the result in struct timespec. The maximum granularity of timespec is nanoseconds. This is what struct timespec can represent, actual resolution varies depending upon implementation. We can get the resolution through the API clock_getres(). On my Dell XPS 1530 with Intel core2duo T7500 CPU running Ubuntu 10.04, it has a resolution of 1 nanosecond. On the other hand, RDTSC instruction can have resolution of upto a CPU clock time. On my 2.2 GHz CPU that means resolution is 0.45 nanoseconds. Clearly RDTSC is the winner.
From my tests, both seemed to give consistently the same results agreeing with each other correct to 5 nanoseconds. Since I have no other reference, I assume both are equally accurate. So no winner.
I ran a simple test case where I measured the time taken for 1 million calls to both HPET and RDTSC. And here is the result.
HPET : 1 sec 482 msec 188 usec 38 nsec
RDTSC: 0 sec 103 msec 311 usec 752 nsec
RDTSC is the clear winner in this case by being 14 times cheaper than HPET.
Well a quick look at the Wikipedia entry for RDTSC will give us an idea of how unreliable it is. So many factors affect it like
• Multiple cores having different TSC values (we eliminated this by binding our process to 1 core)
• CPU frequency scaling for power saving (we eliminated this by always being CPU intensive)
• Hibernation of system will reset TSC value (we didn’t let our system hibernate)
• Impact on portability due to varying implementation of CPUs (we ran only on the same Intel CPU)
So for application programming, RDTSC seems to be quite unreliable. HPET is a POSIX standard and is the clear winner.
Final score is RDTSC 2 and HPET 1. But there is more to this. RDTSC definitely has reliability and portability issues and may not be very useful for regular application programming. I was affected by CPU frequency scaling during my tests. In CalibrateTicks(), initially I used a sleep(1) to sleep for 1 second to calibrate the number of ticks in a nanosecond. I got values ranging from 0.23 to 0.55 instead of 2.2 (or very close to it since my CPU is 2.2 GHz). Once I switched the sleep(1) to wasting CPU in a for loop, it gave me consistent readings of 2.198 ticks per nanosecond.
But RDTSC is 14 times cheaper than HPET. This can be useful for certain benchmarking exercises as long as one is aware of its pitfalls and is cautious.
For anybody who loves programming, there is a problem of plenty. Naturally we are curious to learn more and there is simply too many options to pursue. When I started my career 4 years ago, the only language I knew fluently (well kinda) was C. I wanted to learn C++ and a scripting language for rapid prototyping. It has been 4 years, and I have learnt C++ and Python.
Now comes the predicament. What to study next. There are plenty of options. Should I study GUI programming via wxWidgets or learn Internet technologies like HTML and JavaScript. Both will not help me in my line of work (carrier class embedded software development in telecom domain). But it will be fun, and turn around time is much quicker. Applications always have this magical aura of being useful directly. Users interact with application directly and the developer gets feedback instantly. With infrastructure like Linux or the iPhone, we have to wait for some application to utilize the new goodies so that end users can appreciate the infrastructure.
Or I can take MIT Open Course Ware course on Operating Systems or strengthen my knowledge of algorithms. Both will help me in my line of work and should be tons of fun. But people around me (friends and relatives) identify with Internet technologies much better. Imagine showing my dad a terminal shell on the basic OS I wrote as part of MIT OCW or red black trees in action. Now imagine showing my dad an iGoogle widget written in HTML and JavaScript that he can interact with. But having a better understanding of the infrastructure OS or the algorithms can make us better programmers in general. This will benefit application programming too.
Another fascinating thread to follow is to learn Lisp. It may not give us any practical benefits. But I trust people when they say that learning Lisp is a profoundly enlightening experience for a programmer. I want to experience it first hand. But should I take it up now? If not now when?
Apart from technology, processes and paradigms are also a good candidate to delve into. Modern software engineering principles, design patterns, architectures, refactoring, software metrics, aspect oriented programming, functional programming, concurrent programming, literate programming etc are also promising. All of them, like investing in infrastructure, will help in general.
One of the things to consider while choosing is, how long will it be relevant. Ideally, we do not want to invest in something that will become irrelevant in the future. Till now I have invested in time proven technologies/tools like C, C++, Python, Vim, Linux… which are here to stay for good. Another aspect of relevancy is that it should be universally useful. It should still be relevant outside of my current organization, without licensing issues. Copyrights and licenses can make a current technology irrelevant for our purposes. Sticking with open standards and open source technologies with strong communities and vision ensures that our investment will not be obsolete quickly. HTML, JavaScript, OS concepts, algorithms and Lisp all are here to stay for good. Processes and paradigms may or may not stand the test of time and can quickly become a fad. Plus they can be picked up while focus is on learning the others.
So we have 3 main streams to pursue. Internet technologies (HTML and JavaScript), infrastructure (OS and algorithms) and Lisp. Well investing in infrastructure seems to be the most logical choice for me. It will directly help me in my line of work. It will help me be a better programmer by providing me a better understanding of the underlying universal principles of computer science. Both will be around for a long time (forever is more like it). Both will help me in my pursuit of the other two streams. So this can be a foundation for the other two streams 🙂
I am not the only on faced with this predicament. I quote Frederick P Brooks Jr from The Mythical Man Month.
The computer-related intellectual discipline has exploded as has the technology. When I was a graduate student in the mid-1950s, I could read all the journals and conference proceedings; I could stay current in all the discipline. Today my intellectual life has seen me regretfully kissing sub discipline interests goodbye one by one, as my portfolio has continuously overflowed beyond mastery. Too many interests, too many exciting opportunities for learning, research, and thought. What a marvelous predicament! Not only is the end not in sight, the pace is not slackening. We have many future joys.
So it is not really a predicament. We are just spoilt for choice. As Brooks predicts, we have many future joys. Amen.
Exuberant ctags is a pretty nifty utility for source code browsing. Especially since it integrates so well with vim. Also exuberant ctags can understand many languages (41 as per the official website). So this is relevant not only for C/C++ or Python but for all 41 languages supported (and future ones too). In this post, we explore yet another popular plugin using exuberant ctags – TagList.
TagList is capable of showing a list of functions/global variables/class/struct towards one side of the vim. This is similar to some IDEs or event editors like Notepad++. This makes browsing and navigation pretty easy. Our aim will be to be able to navigate current file using TagList window and to always display current function name in the status line.
Screenshot of TagList plugin showing current function name in status line
For this, we will need:
TagList will work only with exuberant ctags and not with any other ctags (specifically GNU ctags). Install exuberant ctags if required. Also ensure that ctags command should actually invoke exuberant ctags.
Install TagList plugin (see elaborate steps in the link). Typically vim plugins are installed by simply copying to $HOME/.vim/plugin directory. If any documentation is there, copy that to $HOME/.vim/doc and re-index vim help by giving “:helptags $HOME/.vim/doc” command in vim.
Now we need to customize the TagList plugin options to get what we want.
" TagList options
let Tlist_Close_On_Select = 1 "close taglist window once we selected something
let Tlist_Exit_OnlyWindow = 1 "if taglist window is the only window left, exit vim
let Tlist_Show_Menu = 1 "show Tags menu in gvim
let Tlist_Show_One_File = 1 "show tags of only one file
let Tlist_GainFocus_On_ToggleOpen = 1 "automatically switch to taglist window
let Tlist_Highlight_Tag_On_BufEnter = 1 "highlight current tag in taglist window
let Tlist_Process_File_Always = 1 "even without taglist window, create tags file, required for displaying tag in statusline
let Tlist_Use_Right_Window = 1 "display taglist window on the right
let Tlist_Display_Prototype = 1 "display full prototype instead of just function name
"let Tlist_Ctags_Cmd = /path/to/exuberant/ctags
nnoremap <F5> :TlistToggle
nnoremap <F6> :TlistShowPrototype
set statusline=[%n]\ %<%f\ %([%1*%M%*%R%Y]%)\ \ \ [%{Tlist_Get_Tagname_By_Line()}]\ %=%-19(\LINE\ [%l/%L]\ COL\ [%02c%03V]%)\ %P
Notice the call to Tlist_Get_Tagname_By_Line() within the statuline. This is what displays the current function name (actually tag which can be class name or struct name or any tag) in the status line. With the above settings, pressing F6 will show the prototype of current function at the bottom.
Pressing F5 will open up the TagList window which will show the list of functions/classes/structs/define etc. The focus is automatically switched to the list window and we can quickly jump to the function/class/struct definition we want to. Upon selecting an entry, the list window is automatically closed.shrink the window back to default size.
Screenshot of TagList window
Now with the full prototype display, it is not very easy to read the actual function name. TagList has a zoom feature to overcome this. Press “x” and the TagList window will enlarge, occupying almost the complete vim screen. Selection of an entry or pressing F5 again will close the window. Pressing x again will shrink the window back to default size.
Screenshot of TagList window zoomed using "x" key
TagList generates its own tags file and does not require the user to provide a tags file. This file is generated every time we switch to a buffer. The tags file is created somewhere in /tmp/ folder. TagList cannot work with a user generated tags file.
Omni Completion in Vim
Posted: August 26, 2010 in C/C++, Programming, Vim
Tags: , , ,
Vim 7 onwards, we have Omni Complete feature. This feature is similar to IntelliSense in Visual Studio or other IDEs. It can show a pop up menu displaying the structure, class or scope context. Here is a screenshot of Omni Complete displaying the class scope in CCCC code base .
OmniCppComplete screen shot in CCCC code.
As you can see, it can show all methods and variables including its original context like type, prototype (in case of method), documentation (if documented), private/protected/public, file defined in etc.
For getting Vim to work like this, you will need
Install all 4 by whatever means (apt-get, yum, build from source). OmniCppComplete and SuperTab are Vim scripts, detailed installation steps are given in the respective links. GNU has a version of ctags. But what we need is exuberant ctags which is different from GNU ctags. Most popular Linux distros bundle GNU ctags, but exuberant ctags should be available from the repository.
Vim is an excellent editor, but does not understand C/C++ natively. This is where ctags comes in to the picture. Ctags will generate a “tags” file which is like an index of the project source code. This tags file is used by Vim and OmniCppComplete script to provide contextual data in a pop-up menu.
To build a ctags tags file, give the command from the top directory of the project. This can be done from any subdirectory too (for even more focused tags file).
ctags -R --languages=C,C++ --c++-kinds=+p --fields=+iaS --extra=+q ./
Run vim from the same directory. By default, Vim will search for tags file beginning from current directory to all parent directories. First tags file found will be used. For better usability of OmniCppComplete, put these in your .vimrc file.
if v:version >= 600
filetype plugin on
filetype indent on
filetype on
if v:version >= 700
set omnifunc=syntaxcomplete#Complete " override built-in C omnicomplete with C++ OmniCppComplete plugin
let OmniCpp_GlobalScopeSearch = 1
let OmniCpp_DisplayMode = 1
let OmniCpp_ShowScopeInAbbr = 0 "do not show namespace in pop-up
let OmniCpp_ShowPrototypeInAbbr = 1 "show prototype in pop-up
let OmniCpp_ShowAccess = 1 "show access in pop-up
let OmniCpp_SelectFirstItem = 1 "select first item in pop-up
set completeopt=menuone,menu,longest
The default key mapping for invoking Omni Completion is C-X C-O. SuperTab plugin can help us invoke Omni Complete when we press TAB key. Also in the default color scheme, vim pop-up menu is in pink. Let’s change that to green.
if version >= 700
let g:SuperTabDefaultCompletionType = "<C-X><C-O>"
highlight clear
highlight Pmenu ctermfg=0 ctermbg=2
highlight PmenuSel ctermfg=0 ctermbg=7
highlight PmenuSbar ctermfg=7 ctermbg=0
highlight PmenuThumb ctermfg=0 ctermbg=7
As we edit code, newer types get defined, but vim continues to use the same tags file. So we need to regularly update our tags file. We can add a shortcut map (say pressing F4) in our .vimrc for the same.
function! UpdateTags()
execute ":!ctags -R --languages=C++ --c++-kinds=+p --fields=+iaS --extra=+q ./"
echohl StatusLine | echo "C/C++ tag updated" | echohl None
nnoremap <F4> :call UpdateTags()
Vim is all about customizing it to your tastes. You can never get the perfect .vimrc file or plugin collection and settings from anywhere. The trick is to collect cool stuff for your .vimrc and plugins. Vim tips wiki in wikia is a good place for a lot of info. Play around with them. Find what suits best for you. And never forget to share. Happy coding 🙂
In my previous post, I came up with an enhanced pygenie, which could count total complexity of a Python project as a whole. As explained earlier, my motivation is purely for fun. I took a test run of the enhanced pygenie on some of the popular open-source Python projects. And the results are out 🙂
Django 1.2.1
time ./pygenie/ Django-1.2.1/ -r
Total Cumulative Statistics
Type Count Complexity
X 1431 1629
C 2393 2408
M 6299 13000
F 1144 3600
T 11267 20637
real 0m11.840s
user 0m11.489s
sys 0m0.056s
Zope 2.11.4
time ./pygenie/ Zope-2.11.4-final/ -r
Total Cumulative Statistics
Type Count Complexity
X 3005 4549
C 6453 6500
M 23137 45392
F 4985 12960
T 37580 69401
Totally 5 files failed
FAILED to process file: /home/aufather/Downloads/Zope-2.11.4-final/lib/python/ZEO/scripts/
FAILED to process file: /home/aufather/Downloads/Zope-2.11.4-final/lib/python/zope/app/testing/
FAILED to process file: /home/aufather/Downloads/Zope-2.11.4-final/lib/python/zope/rdb/gadfly/
real 0m37.042s
user 0m36.302s
sys 0m0.140s
Twisted 10.1.0
time ./pygenie/ Twisted-10.1.0/ -r
Total Cumulative Statistics
Type Count Complexity
X 935 1282
C 3736 3922
M 16782 26142
F 1323 3268
T 22776 34614
Totally 6 files failed
FAILED to process file: /home/aufather/Downloads/Twisted-10.1.0/doc/core/howto/listings/udp/
FAILED to process file: /home/aufather/Downloads/Twisted-10.1.0/doc/historic/2003/pycon/deferex/
FAILED to process file: /home/aufather/Downloads/Twisted-10.1.0/twisted/python/test/
real 0m20.794s
user 0m20.525s
sys 0m0.036s
Even though I started this activity for fun, I was surprised by the speed and utility of pygenie. Some of the uses I can think of
• Identify syntax errors within a project. Since pygenie uses the same python compiler, if pygenie could not process a file, the file cannot be processed by Python byte code compiler. Zope has 5 files which will not run while Twisted has 6. Django is clean in this front. When we take a closer look, it is test cases, demo code, tutorials, historical code etc that are broken.
• Object orientation used within a project. The ratio between methods to functions is a fair indicator. The scores for the three projects are Django(5.5), Zope (4.6) and Twisted (12.7). This is a good indicator of existing style of code.
• Overall size of a project. Pygenie report indicates that Zope is 3.4 times and Twisted is 1.7 times as big as Django.
The original pygenie is available here. Enhanced pygenie is available from my dropbox here.
Recently I measured some code metrics of a C/C++ project at work. I used C and C++ Code Counter(CCCC) and it is pretty good. There was a similar project at work which was almost completely in Python. I wanted to compare the two and searched for a suitable tool to measure McCabe’s Cyclomatic Complexity(CC) for Python code and found pygenie.
Original pygenie, by default, prints Files(X), Classes(C), Methods(M), Functions(F) only if their CC exceeds 7. If –verbose or -v is given, it prints CC irrespective of whether it crosses the threshold of 7 or not. But I wanted overall CC. My main motivation is purely for fun or for interesting numbers. Kind of like the calories burnt counter on a treadmill or a cycle computer for a bicycle. But overall CC can be useful in estimating testing effort.
Here is a sample run of original pygenie on its own source code.
aufather@simstudio:~/Downloads/pygenie_orig$ ./ complexity *.py
File: /home/aufather/Downloads/pygenie_orig/
This code looks all good!
File: /home/aufather/Downloads/pygenie_orig/
Type Name Complexity
F main 8
File: /home/aufather/Downloads/pygenie_orig/
This code looks all good!
And here is a sample run of modified pygenie on its own source code.
aufather@simstudio:~/Downloads/pygenie$ ./ * -c
File: /home/aufather/Downloads/pygenie/
This code looks all good!
File: /home/aufather/Downloads/pygenie/
This code looks all good!
File: /home/aufather/Downloads/pygenie/
This code looks all good!
Total Cumulative Statistics
Type Count Complexity
X 3 4
C 8 8
M 31 70
F 13 26
T 55 108
I added the total cumulative statistics and a summary for each file. Total is represented by ‘T’. This gives a fair idea of how complex the overall project is. ‘F’ stands for functions, ‘M’ stands for methods, ‘C’ stands for classes and ‘X’ stands for files. Also while I was at it, added a whole bunch of command line options to pygenie.
Here is the help for original pygenie. Valid commands are “complexity” or “all”.
aufather@simstudio:~/Downloads/pygenie_orig$ ./ all -h
Usage: ./ command [options] *.py
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-v, --verbose print detailed statistics to stdout
And the new options added.
aufather@simstudio:~/Downloads/pygenie$ ./ -h
Usage: [options] *.py
--version show program's version number and exit
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-c, --complexity print complexity details for each file/module
-t THRESHOLD, --threshold=THRESHOLD
threshold of complexity to be ignored (default=7)
-a, --all print all metrics
-s, --summary print cumulative summary for each file/module
-r, --recurs process files recursively in a folder
-d, --debug print debugging info like file being processed
-o OUTFILE, --outfile=OUTFILE
output to OUTFILE (default=stdout)
You can get the full zipped source code from my dropbox here
PS: I based my modification on revision 44 of pygenie. I got the original from
PPS: I could not find a better way of sharing the code in wordpress. I have updated the too so that unit test do not fail. If any one knows a better way of sharing code, please let me know. Dropbox works well for me. |
Water Pollution: Causes, Effects, and Solutions
Water pollution is a horrible disease that affects today’s water sources. By definition, water pollution is water contaminated by any chemicals that can ultimately harm human, plant, and animal life. The chemicals can range from sewage waste to metals such as mercury. As a result of water being contaminated in different ways, there are multiple categories that water pollution can fall under. Those categories are Toxic Substance, Organic Substance, Thermal Pollution, and Ecological Pollution. The effects of water pollution is variable because it can affect many things. It can effect that environment, humans, animals and plants in many different ways. Those ways can harm the health and the well-being of the organisms that consume the contaminated water. The solution that the different organizations and individual people have come up with to control and get rid of the pollution has helped bring the pollution levels down. Organizations and individual people have found ways to filter the sewage pollution that goes into the different bodies of water, helped get environmental laws passed to stop the pollution, among other things. Water pollution is being taken more serious and hopefully it will change and get better for future generations.
<div style=”margin-bottom:5px”> <strong> <a href=”https://www.slideshare.net/lkregula/bh-water-pollution” title=”Bh water pollution” target=”_blank”>Bh water pollution</a> </strong> from <strong><a href=”http://www.slideshare.net/lkregula” target=”_blank”>Lisa Regula</a></strong> </div>
8 thoughts on “Water Pollution: Causes, Effects, and Solutions
1. Water pollution is indeed an important topic of concern for the health of our environment. My hope is that environmental technology and research will continue and lead to cleaner more responsible industrial practices.
2. Water pollution is very important for our environment. Really awesome video and slide show! I hope water pollution is taken seriously and can become a more important topic to change for our future environment.
3. These organizations and agencies can continue to think of ways to lower the levels of water pollution, but until people take this issue serious I do not think the amount of change that we need is going to occur. We have to make ourselves and others around us aware of how important this issue is.
4. Undeniably consider that that you said. Your favourite justification appeared to be at the internet the
easiest factor to take into account of. I say to you, I certainly get irked whilst other people consider issues that
you can earn additional cash every month because you’ve
money, search for: best adsense alternative Wrastain’s tools
Leave a Reply
WordPress.com Logo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s |
What Is Hydraulic Fracturing?
Fracking is mentioned in the news more each day. What is Hydraulic Fracturing and how will it affect operators? According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Hydraulic Fracturing, also known as fracking or fracing, is a well-stimulation process used to maximize the extraction of underground resources – oil, natural gas and geothermal energy. The quantity of water required and the millions of gallons of wastewater produced from fracing can have an impact on both sides of the water industry.
The links below are videos that provide various pros and cons to hydraulic fracturing.
The natural gas extraction from hydraulic fracturing is vital to our nation’s clean energy future. The Safe Drinking Water Act’s (SDWA) Underground Injection Control (UIC) program excluded hydraulic fracturing, except when diesel fuels are used, for oil, gas or geothermal production from regulation under the UIC program, which raised questions about permitting practices. The EPA revised the UIC Class II permitting guidance specific to oil and gas hydraulic fracturing that used diesel fuels. While specific to hydraulic fracturing that require diesel fuels, the guidance recommended the best procedures for hydraulic fracturing in general. Fracking June 2014
How is fracing in Kentucky different that in other states? Get the Frac Facts!
Whether your opinions on hydraulic fracturing are positive or negative, it’s important to stay informed because of the impact it could have on the waters in Kentucky.
This entry was posted in Clayton Getz, Educational Tools and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. |
Battery Safety: The Truth Behind Exploding E-Cigs & How You Can Avoid It
electronic cigarette battery safety
The media love to print scary stories about electronic cigarettes.
For a couple of years we were always hearing that they were as dangerous as smoking, or contained fifteen times the level of carcinogenic chemicals, or would give you the dreaded popcorn lung.
These stories still pop up every so often, but there’s a serious problem with them all; they’re total nonsense.
That didn’t matter three or four years ago because the science wasn’t clear.
But since Public Health England reported that e-cigs are at least 95% safer than old-fashioned tobacco ones, articles like that are getting challenged a lot more vigorously.
Now the media has found something else to focus on, and it does have at least a grain of truth in it.
The new Big Thing in anti-vaping news is explosions, usually accompanied by photographs of alarming burns.
Some stories even have videos of an e-cigarette going off like a firework, which can be quite dramatic. There’s no doubt that explosions can happen.
Is this a serious problem, though? Is it actually a reason to be wary of vaping?
No, it isn’t.
And we’ll explain by going over:
First, it helps to know exactly what’s happening here.
It won’t surprise you to learn that the media are wrong as usual. Electronic cigarettes themselves can’t explode. What can explode is the battery.
There are different kinds of battery, but they all follow the same basic principle. Inside a battery are electrodes and a mixture of chemicals called electrolytes.
Charging the battery by feeding electricity causes changes in the chemicals; usually this involves charged particles called ions moving to one of the electrodes.
When the battery is put into a circuit the ions move to the other electrode, and in the process they release electricity into the circuit.
Some kinds of battery can be recharged when they’re drained, while others are disposable; rechargeable ones cost more to buy but save a lot of money in the long run, because the electricity needed to recharge them costs pennies.
Some types of battery are much more efficient at storing energy than others – engineers say they have a higher energy density.
This is why an alkaline AA battery like a Duracell lasts much longer than a zinc-carbon battery the same size; it’s much more efficient.
The problem is that even an alkaline battery won’t last long in an e-cigarette.
E-cigs use a lot of power, and they also draw a high current. That really beats up standard batteries.
The amount of electricity a battery can store is measured in milliamp hours, or mAh. The more mAh it stores the longer it will last.
A Duracell AA battery delivering a current of 0.1A will give you a total of about 2,350mAh of electricity.
The problem is that if you increase the current to 0.5A that falls by more than half, and at 1A it’s halved again – to about 500mAh.
E-cigarette makers recommend that modern box mods are used with batteries that can deliver at least 20A.
At that kind of current you won’t get much power out of an alkaline battery – in fact you’ll drain it in a few minutes.
Luckily there’s a solution.
Lithium ion batteries. They have a high energy density and can deliver it at high currents.
An 18650 battery is slightly larger than an AA and holds about the same amount of energy, but it can supply much more current.
A Sony VTC5 has a capacity of 2,600mAh and can pump that out at up to 30A. A pair of them will easily run a high-powered box mod all day.
There’s even better news too; unlike alkaline batteries lithium ion ones can be recharged around 300 times, and they don’t need to be fully drained between charges.
Less luckily, lithium ion batteries can explode in certain circumstances. Their electrolyte is a liquid solution of lithium ions, and if that gets hot enough it can boil. When it does, the pressure will blow the battery apart.
Unfortunately the liquid is also flammable, and if the battery bursts the combination of heat and air means it usually catches fire.
The electrolyte burns fiercely enough to cause injuries or set fire to anything it comes in contact with.
Calm down.
Lithium ion batteries are actually pretty safe.
Almost all modern electronic gadgets use them. Your phone, tablet and iPod are all powered by them.
If you take apart the battery pack from a laptop you’ll find anywhere from eight to twelve 18650s inside. (Don’t do this – it’s not very safe).
Electric cars run on lithium ion batteries, and if you have solar panels you can now buy a Tesla Powerwall to store energy and use it overnight.
There are billions of lithium ion batteries in use around the world, and if they were really dangerous most of the planet would be on fire.
Of course anything can fail.
Manufacturing problems can make a battery overheat, although that’s rare.
New batteries are usually charged at the factory, and if a fault was going to cause problems it would probably show up then.
It’s not very likely that your e-cig battery will suddenly catch fire for no obvious reason.
So why is there a story about an exploding e-cigarette in the media every few weeks?
Basically that’s because people are a lot less reliable than lithium ion batteries. By far the most common cause of battery explosions is user error.
As most of us learned at school energy comes in different forms. A battery stores electrical energy by converting it to chemical energy.
When the battery’s put into a circuit, chemical reactions inside turn in back into electrical energy and feed it into the circuit.
The circuit then turns it into some other form of energy – the coil of your e-cigarette converts it to heat, for example.
Your phone generates light from the screen, and kinetic energy in the speaker to create sound.
The thing about energy, however, is that in the end it usually turns into heat.
The light from a bulb heats up everything it hits – usually not enough to notice, but it’s happening.
The sound from your speakers is absorbed by the walls, making them vibrate slightly, and causing friction that generates heat.
If a battery releases its energy in an uncontrolled way, instead of feeding it into a circuit, most of it is released as heat. If there’s enough to boil the electrolyte you get an explosion.
One way to trigger an uncontrolled energy dump from a battery is to charge it the wrong way.
If you look at news stories about exploding e-cigarettes you’ll see that a lot of them involve an eGo-style vape pen that caught fire while it was being charged.
These devices have a steel case that contains the fire button, some circuitry and a small Li-Ion battery.
One end has the connector where you screw on the atomiser, and the other has a light metal cap.
If the battery goes critical the cap usually blows off, and the device can turn into a small rocket.
It’s often pretty dramatic, with a jet of flame erupting from the open end. It can also start a serious house fire very easily.
There are a couple of likely causes of charging fires.
One is pumping too much current into the battery. This upsets the chemical reactions inside, and they can suddenly go into reverse – dumping all the energy that’s been stored.
This is one reason why you need to use the correct charger for your batteries.
Most e-cigs with built in batteries use a USB charger, and it’s not hard to put too much power into these. One easy way is to plug it into your iPad charger, for example.
Pen-type batteries have a maximum charging current of 1A. If you’re charging it from a USB port on your computer it might only get 0.5A, so it will take longer to charge.
But although an iPad charger has a normal USB port and you can plug a standard cable into it, it delivers 2A.
The battery can’t handle that much, so there’s a serious risk of a fire unless the protection circuits are good enough.
If your e-cig kit didn’t come with a wall plug to connect the charger to, it’s safest to charge it from a computer’s USB port. Otherwise use a standard wall plug and make sure it’s not putting out more than 1A.
Another risk is over-charging.
If you put too much energy into a battery, eventually the chemistry becomes unstable and it can dump its charge. To avoid that, e-cigarette charging systems have protection circuitry.
When the battery’s fully charged the circuit either turns off or switches to trickle charging, delivering just enough power to keep it topped up.
But while eGo-type batteries may all look pretty much the same, some types have the protection circuitry in the battery itself and others have it in the charger.
If you mix and match parts you might find yourself charging an unprotected battery with an unprotected charger.
The next thing you’re likely to find yourself doing is standing in the street watching your house burn down.
If you have a kit and your charger breaks, it’s very important to get a replacement from the same manufacturer as your batteries.
That way you know they’re designed to work together and shouldn’t cause any problems.
Also beware of cheap kits from market stalls.
These might be put together from incompatible parts, usually because whoever’s assembling the kits doesn’t really know what they’re doing and just orders parts from whichever factory is selling them cheapest.
Because they all fit together it sometimes doesn’t occur to people that this might not be all that safe.
It’s best to avoid any kit that doesn’t come in a sealed pack with a recognisable brand name on it.
If it’s in a zip-up pouch there’s a risk the battery and charger haven’t been designed to work together.
Finally, some websites sell kits containing a mod, removable batteries for it and a charger.
Unless the charger is a reputably branded model that’s also sold separately, we’d highly recommend that you don’t use it.
Instead, throw it out and get a decent one from a brand like XTAR or Nitecore. They don’t cost a lot and they’re extremely safe.
Problems with replaceable batteries are usually caused by a short circuit.
Shorts happen when power flows out one terminal of the battery, through a circuit that doesn’t contain anything which will use it, then back in the other terminal.
In simple terms, the battery is feeding power into itself – and batteries don’t like that. A short circuit is a very reliable way to cause a battery explosion.
It can happen extremely quickly – within seconds of the battery shorting.
If current is flowing from your battery through your mod’s circuitry and the coil, there’s no risk of a short.
Modern devices have built-in short circuit protection that shuts everything down if it detects a potential problem.
If there’s another way for power to flow between the battery’s terminals, however, things can go wrong very quickly.
The first step to avoiding shorts is to look after your batteries. A standard cylindrical battery like an 18650 has two terminals – positive and negative.
Looking at one, you’d probably assume that the positive terminal is the stud or plate at the top, and the negative is the flat plate at the bottom.
You’re right about the positive terminal. On the other hand, you’re very wrong about the negative terminal. The entire metal case of the battery is the negative terminal.
It’s an open-topped cylinder and the whole thing is the terminal.
Once the electrodes and electrolyte have been put in, the open top is plugged with an insulated ring; the positive terminal is at the centre of that, and the insulator stops power flowing between them.
So the plastic wrap on the battery isn’t just there to look good. It also insulates most of the case, with just the base left uncovered.
If the wrap gets damaged, however, shorts can occur.
If your mod has bare metal inside the battery compartment, and the battery’s wrapping is damaged, there’s potential for current to flow from the battery case straight into the side of the compartment.
Depending on how your mod’s wired up, that can cause a short.
Check your batteries regularly to make sure they aren’t damaged – and if you drop one, examine it right away. Any tears or scratches in the wrap are a potential problem.
If the metal case itself is damaged, dispose of the battery; it’s not safe to use it. If it’s just the wrap there’s a solution – buy some heat-shrink battery sleeves.
These come in various sizes and 18650 ones are easy to get. Put one over the damaged wrap, shrink it with a hair dryer and the battery is safely insulated again.
Even better, put them on all your batteries right away to give them some extra protection.
A few spectacular accidents have also been caused by mechanical mods. These don’t have any electronics in them; the metal case just forms a simple circuit.
Unfortunately, if you haven’t coiled your atomiser properly and the coil resistance is too low there’s a strong chance of a short circuit.
If you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, steer clear of mechanical mods.
There’s no real need to bother with them now anyway; you’ll get much better performance from a good box mod.
Even if you do know exactly what you’re doing, never use a modern atomiser with a fixed centre pin on a hybrid mech mod.
A hybrid is a connector that lets the atomiser’s centre pin rest directly on the top of the battery.
Some people like them because there’s almost no voltage drop and you can have a smaller, neater-looking device, but they can also be very dangerous.
Hybrids are quite old technology, and they were designed to work with atomisers that have an adjustable centre pin that projects out the bottom of the connector.
That way, the centre pin can touch the battery’s positive terminal while the 510 connector around it – which is the atomiser’s negative contact – is safely clear.
Modern box mods have spring-loaded centre pins, though, so there’s no point adding the extra complexity of an adjustable one on the tank.
That means tanks now have a flat, fixed pin that’s pretty much flush with the connector.
Screw it to a hybrid and there’s a good chance the pin and connector will be touching the battery.
If that happens, as soon as you press the fire button the current will take the path of least resistance.
Instead of going through the coil it will flow straight down the mod’s case and into the negative terminal of the battery, instantly shorting it.
And because a mech mod is basically a metal tube with solid end caps, that leaves you holding a pipe bomb.
Finally, let’s look at the most common cause of battery explosions – carrying them loose in your bag or pocket.
This applies to any e-cig battery, but especially removable ones like 18650s.
There have been several incidents where people have done this, and it has resulted in some serious injuries.
Pockets and handbags tend to contain metal things, like coins and keys. If you put a battery in there as well you’re in serious danger.
If a piece of metal bridges the gap between the positive and negative terminals – and remember, that’s the whole metal case – the battery will short.
Even if the wrap is intact when it goes into your pocket, there’s no guarantee it will stay that way when it’s rubbing against the edge of a coin.
It’s even possible for a drop of water to cause a short. And if a fully charged 18650 cooks off in the pocket of your jeans you’re going to get badly hurt.
Never carry loose batteries with you.
If you’re taking spares with you – which is sensible – store them in a proper battery box or silicone sleeves. That will prevent any risk of a short circuit.
Basically, as long as you’re sensible with your e-cigarette batteries, the chances of having any problems with them are extremely minimal.
Every battery accident I’ve ever heard about was caused by one of the mistakes we’ve looked at here – not one involved a battery that just spontaneously blew up.
I’ve owned dozens of batteries.
Some have been used until they started to fade, then honourably retired; another bunch are still in daily use.
None of them have ever done so much as get a bit hot.
Meanwhile, cigarettes start dozens of house fires every month and are the biggest cause of fire-related deaths in the UK.
If you’ve been considering switching to vaping, but the thought of battery explosions was putting you off, you can relax.
As long as you use the right charger and follow some simple precautions, nothing’s going to go wrong.
If you’d like more information on battery safety, or if you’d like to know which batteries are best to buy, we highly recommend checking out Mooch’s facebook page.
Mooch is an authority when it comes to battery safety and testing.
He’s also posted some helpful battery safety articles on vaping360’s website. These articles provide good technical detail as to what it is that affects how safe batteries are to use.
He does a lot of battery testing to help you know which batteries are safe as well as which ones perform better than others.
Do you think the Media is helping or scaremongering by posting these stories? Let us know your thoughts in the comments…
Check out this Battery Safety video by Suck My Mod |
NOAA Goals
NOAA sets the following Goals to meet our Nation's economic, social and environmental needs:
Understand climate variability and change.
Weather & water
Serve society's needs for weather and water information.
Protect, restore, and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources.
Commerce & transportation
Support the Nation's commerce with information for safe, efficient and environmentally sound transportation.
Supporting NOAA's mission
Provide critical support for NOAA's mission.
Additional ESRL links:
Understand climate variability and change.
The NOAA Climate Forcing Program
The objective of NOAA's Climate Forcing Program is to better quantify information on the impact of various atmospheric trace constituents on changes in the Earth's climate. Specifically, the Program seeks to provide the understanding needed to link emissions of climate-altering chemicals to the radiative forcing of climate change, which is key science-based decision support. As the figure indicates, examples of the atmospheric constituents being studied include carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, water vapor, methane, ozone, soot, and other fine-particles (aerosols).
Figure showing the warming or cooling effect of different agents in the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, chemically active greenhouse gases, and aerosols. ESRL scientists study many of the radiative forcing agents in the atmosphere that can have a tendency to either warm or cool the climate over the long term.
The Program's goal is a predictive understanding of the global climate system on time scales of weeks to decades with quantified uncertainties sufficient for making informed and reasoned decisions. A hallmark of the Program is not only carrying out the research to obtain the new scientific information, but also to provide information to the "customer" via state-of-understanding assessments in a user-friendly policy-support format.
ESRL Contributions
The Climate Forcing Program has four major long-term outcomes. The Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) has tailored a major part of its research to assuring that these outcomes are met:
1. Improved understanding of atmospheric carbon dioxide trends for policy support and quantified carbon emission and uptake processes to form the needed input to climate-model improvements. ESRL monitors carbon dioxide trends from sites around the world and focuses on measuring and understanding carbon dioxide uptake in North America.
2. New information on the climate roles of the radiatively important fine-particle aerosols, with an emphasis on aerosol-cloud interaction (the most uncertain of the climate forcing agents), and non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gases to provide decision support associated with options for potential near-term changes in radiative forcing of climate change. ESRL scientists characterize the climate-related properties and processes of tropospheric ozone and aerosols in both the laboratory setting (in Boulder) and with field campaigns in key regions of the world. ESRL also measures the trends in several other greenhouse gases, including methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor.
3. Verification and understanding of the recovery of the ozone layer and the decline of ozone-depleting chemicals in the atmosphere, thereby facilitating compliance with the U.N. Montreal Protocol and its safeguarding the Earth's ultraviolet shield. ESRL observes worldwide trends in both the ozone layer and in ozone-depleting chemicals, as well as surface radiation. ESRL also carries out laboratory and field studies to characterize the atmospheric chemical and dynamical processes involved, which are crucial input to diagnostic and prognostic ozone-layer models.
4. Near-term and mid-term decision support information and assessments of the current understanding of the change in the radiative forcing of the climate system and the recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer.
ESRL scientists not only provide key scientific results, but also serve in several leadership roles in producing decision-support products:
• Science Advisor to the quadrennial Scientific Assessments of Ozone Depletion of the U.N. Montreal Protocol on the ozone layer.
• Leadership and authorship in the Science Working Group for the climate change assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC)
• Leadership and contributors to the carbon cycle, aerosol-climate, and ozone-layer decision-support products of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP).
End-Users and Beneficiaries
• Academia: Complementary partnerships with NOAA researchers and collaborative use of NOAA ships and aircraft. Collaborative research with NOAA Cooperative Institutes. Benefits to Academia: Data, scientific knowledge, resources to carry out research, and educational material/resources.
• Industry: Information about "ozone friendliness" and "climate friendliness" of potential new chemical products prior to decisions and expenses associated with production. Contracts for research-related industry services, such as aircraft, chemicals, field equipment, and facility leasing. Benefits to Industry: Key scientific information for their finance-related decision. Receipt of money for the business.
• International, Federal, state, and local government agencies: Science-based information on gases and aerosols that is decision-support information needed to characterize options for altering radiative forcing, in both the near term (short-lived species like aerosols) and the longer term (carbon dioxide) in effective and efficient ways. Benefits to government agencies: Key decision support information and scientific know-how. |
Daisy Meaning and Symbolism
daisies in a field
In Norse mythology, the daisy is Freya’s sacred flower. Freya is the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, and as such the daisy came by symbolize childbirth, motherhood, and new beginnings. Daisies are sometimes given to congratulate new mothers.
They also mean chastity and transformation because of the Roman myth of Vertumnus and Belides. Vertumnus, god of seasons and gardens, became enamored with Belides, a nymph. He continuously pursued her, and in order to escape his affections she turned herself into a daisy. Daisy’s scientific name Bellis, stems from this story.
Daisy’s are composite flowers, meaning that they actually consist of two flowers combined into one. The inner section is called a disc floret, and the outer petal section is called a ray floret. Because daisies are composed of two flowers that blend together so well, they also symbolize true love.
In Old English, daisies were referred to as “day’s eye” because at night the petals close over the yellow center and during the day they re-open. The phrase “as fresh as a daisy” originated from this, signifying that someone had a good night’s rest.
flower meanings for daisies
The word daisy also made its way into other slang words and phrases. In the 1800s, the phrase “ups-a-daisy” was commonly used to encourage children to get up when they fell. This eventually transformed into “oopsy daisy” or “whoops-a-daisy” — an exclamation after a stumble or mistake.
During this time “daisy” also became English slang for something excellent or appealing. This term made an appearance in 1993 Doc Holliday film Tombstone in which he uses phrases like, “You’re no daisy. No daisy at all.”
The daisy, and its meaning, also inspired renowned authors and poets throughout history. Shakespeare used a daisy chain in Hamlet to represent Ophelia’s innocence. Wordsworth also praised the daisy in his popular poem “To The Daisy.”
But now my own delights I make,
My thirst at every rill can slake,
And gladly Nature’s love partake
Of Thee, sweet Daisy!
Daisies can be eaten and are even medicinal. Daisy leaves are a common addition to salads. Wild daisy tea is used to treat coughs, bronchitis, inflammation, and more. Wild daisies are also sometimes applied to the skin for wounds and diseases.
They are also the April birth month flower.
Legend and Lore of Texas Wildflowers by Elizabeth Silverthorne |
Parshat Lech Lecha: The Covenant of the Halves
“And He said unto him: Take for Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.” (Beresheit 15:9)
Our parasha describes the development of the relationship between Hashem and Avraham. In the opening passages of the parasha, Hashem tells Avraham that he will enjoy His providence. However, despite the influence of Hashem’s providence, Avraham and Sara do not have children. This leads to a dialogue between Hashem and Avraham. Again, Hashem tells Avraham he has earned great merit and He will protect him. Avraham responds that this merit is of little value to him. He has no heir. Hashem tells Avraham that he will have an heir and that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars. Avraham accepts Hashem’s message. Then, Hashem tells Avraham his descendants will occupy Canaan. Avraham asks, “In what will I know?” In other words, he seems to ask Hashem for an additional indication that his descendants will occupy Canaan.
Our passage introduces Hashem’s response to this last question. Hashem instructs Avraham in the Brit ben HaBetarim – the Covenant of the Halves. The instructions for the creation of this covenant are unusual. Avraham is to take various animals. Most are to be split in half. Two birds are to be included among the animals. The birds are not to be split and are to be placed at the beginning and end of the series of split animals. Avraham follows the directions. He arranges the animals and the birds as required. Then, Avraham sees a bird of prey descend upon the dead animals. He chases it away.
The incident of the Brit ben HaBetarim ends with a further prophecy. Hashem tells Avraham that his descendants will be afflicted for four hundred years in a foreign land. They will leave with the wealth of their tormentors and conquer Canaan. The prophecy ends with a flame passing between the halves of the animals.
The Brit ben HaBetarim is not easily understood. It raises a number of questions. One of the obvious problems is that Avraham’s responses to the various messages that Hashem communicated seem inconsistent. It seems that Avraham was comfortable with, and willing to immediately accept the prophecy that he would have an heir and that his descendents would be as numerous as the stars of the heavens. However, Avraham seems to have been less certain of the significance of the message that his descendants would inherit the Land of Canaan. Why was Avraham less certain of the meaning of this second message?
Rabbaynu Ovadia Sforno addresses this question. In order to understand Sforno’s response to this question, a brief introduction will be helpful. Maimonides explains that the Torah provides us with a method by which we can determine the credibility of any prophet. In order for us to accept that a claimant is a true prophet, we assess the accuracy of his prophecies. Every prophecy that the claimant communicates must be fulfilled. If all of the claimant’s predictions become reality, then we are required to assume that the claimant is an authentic prophet. If, at some point, the assumed prophet offers a prediction that is not fulfilled, then we must assume that this person is a false prophet.
Maimonides adds two significant qualifications to this rule. First, he explains that the requirement of absolute accuracy only applies to the positive predictions enunciated by the claimant. However, if the claimant warns of disaster or tragedy and this prediction does not materialize, we do not assume that the claimant is a false prophet. We recognize that a prediction of disaster is intended as a warning to repent. We know that repentance and forgiveness are always possible. We must acknowledge that the fulfillment of the prediction of disaster may have been forestalled by repentance and forgiveness. Therefore, although the claimant must be absolutely accurate in his prediction of positive outcomes and events, inaccuracies in predictions of tragedy and disaster are not of consequence. Such inaccuracies do not undermine the credibility of the claimant.
Second, it is important to recognize that there are two types of prophecy. Some prophecies are designed for communication to others. In such instances, the prophets serve as Hashem’s spokesman to humanity, or to a group or nation. Other prophecies are personal. In these prophecies, the prophet receives information from Hashem for his own benefit. These prophecies are not intended to be communicated to others. Maimonides explains that the requirement for absolute accuracy only applies to prophecies intended for communication to the public. The public must have a means by which to determine the credibility of the claimant. The means is the accuracy of the claimant’s predictions. However, the true prophet himself knows that he is communicating with Hashem. He does not need proof as to the veracity of his prophecy. Therefore, it is possible that some personal prophecies will not be fulfilled.
This seems somewhat bizarre! We can understand why negative prophecies may not be fulfilled. As Maimonides explained, it is possible that through repentance and forgiveness disaster was averted. However, how is it possible that Hashem will communicate a personal prophecy to the prophet and He will not fulfill this prophecy?
Maimonides offers an amazing answer based on the comments of our Sages. Our Sages explain that it is possible that a subsequent sin or wrongdoing will invalidate the prophecy. In other words, Hashem may communicate to the prophet that he will receive a specific reward. This communication is not a guarantee that this reward will be granted. The granting of the blessing or reward remains dependant upon the righteousness and merit of the prophet. If the prophet is deserving, he will experience the fulfillment of the prophecy. However, if he sins, he may be deprived of the predicted blessing.[1]
As an aside, it is worth noting that Maimonides provides a clear basis for differentiating between true prophets and counterfeits. Throughout the generations, various individuals have claimed or implied prophetic powers. Such a claim is not substantiated simply because some, or even many of this claimant’s predictions seem to have been fulfilled. The claimant must be unerring in his predictions. Even a single positive prediction that goes unfulfilled completely undermines any possible claim of authentic prophecy.
Based on Maimonides’ analysis, Sforno explains Avraham’s differing reactions to these two prophecies. First, Sforno assumes that Avraham understood that both of these communications were personal prophecies. They were not intended for communication to his followers. Hashem communicated the future to Avraham for his own benefit. Avraham concluded that these communications were not absolute assurances. Like all personal prophecies, their fulfillment would depend upon the righteousness of the beneficiaries of these blessings. He understood that Hashem’s message that he would have children, and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars, depended upon his own continued righteousness and merit. He accepted this responsibility upon himself without hesitation. However, the message that his descendants would possess the Land of Canaan seemed problematic to Avraham. How could he know that his descendants would follow in his path and merit this reward? Avraham expressed his uncertainty regarding the certainty of this outcome.
Based on this interpretation of Avraham’s question, Sforno offers a novel explanation of Hashem’s response. He asserts that any prophecy that is accompanied by a promise or brit – a covenant – must be fulfilled. Therefore, the brit that Hashem entered into with Avraham provided a definite assurance that the prophecy would come true.[2]
It is possible that Sforno maintains – that by definition – a covenant is a public declaration. Any prophecy that is accompanied by a covenant rises above the level of a personal prophecy. A covenant is an objective and public declaration. It is no longer dependant upon the merit of the beneficiary of the recipient of the blessing. The covenant must be fulfilled.
There is some evidence that this is Sforno’s understanding of the significance of a covenant. In other words, further comments seem to indicate that Sforno understood a covenant as a public declaration, and not just the affirmation of a personal prophecy.
Sforno is bothered by another problem presented by the Brit ben HeBetarim. As noted above, one of the final elements of the brit was a prophecy regarding the future persecution of Bnai Yisrael. Hashem told Avraham that his descendants would experience four hundred years of affliction and exile. This was a revelation of the eventual exile of Bnai Yisrael to Egypt and their persecution at the hands of the Egyptians. Hashem also revealed to Avraham that Bnai Yisrael’s tormentors would be punished. Bnai Yisrael would be redeemed from this exile and would leave the land of their persecution with great wealth. Why was this revelation necessary, and how is it related to Hashem’s covenant with Avraham?
Sforno explains that Hashem foretold Avraham of the suffering of his descendants in a foreign land for a specific reason. During their suffering, they would question the credibility of Avraham’s prophecy that they would possess the Land of Canaan. They would wonder how their suffering could be reconciled with the promises that their forefather, Avraham, had communicated to them. In order to respond to this inevitable question, Hashem revealed the exile and suffering to Avraham. Avraham was to share this revelation with his children, and through them his descendants. This revelation made clear that this suffering was envisioned by Hashem when He made His promises to Avraham. Therefore, it was clearly not a contradiction to those promises.[3]
These comments indicate that Avraham was expected to communicate the prophecy that his descendants would possess the Land of Canaan to his children, and through them to Bnai Yisrael. With the addition of the covenantal element to the prophecy, the message was no longer personal. It became a public declaration for future generations. This necessitated the additional revelation of future exile and persecution. Once the message was transformed into a public prophecy, this additional element – the prophecy of exile and persecution – became essential.
[1] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam / Maimonides) Commentary on the Mishne, Introduciton.
[2] Rabbaynu Ovadia Sforno, Commentary on Sefer Beresheit, 15:6-9.
[3] Rabbaynu Ovadia Sforno, Commentary on Sefer Beresheit, 15:13.
Relief for the Jewish Community of Houston - Donate Now |
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Ground spider, Zelotes sp. (family Gnaphosidae)
Funnel-web weaver, family Agelenidae
Spinybacked Orbweaver, Gasteracantha cancriformis
Western Lynx Spider, Oxyopes scalaris
Thin-legged wolf spider, Pardosa sp.
Jumping spider, Habronattus sp.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wasp Wednesday: Pigeon Tremex Horntail
People who have minimal knowledge of wasps can’t really be faulted for having a startled or panicked reaction when confronted with one of these creatures, especially if it is a large insect. Among the more intimidating of wasps are the horntails in the family Siricidae. They do not sting, but they look like they can. Here in the Front Range of the Rockies, the most common species of Siricidae is the “Pigeon Tremex,” Tremex Columba.
So far, I have encountered only male specimens, resting quietly on foliage at about eye-level. They can be approached easily and closely if you are careful. This is a native species ranging widely from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec, south to Florida, and west to Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. There are even a few records from southern California.
Siricids in general are more closely related to sawflies than any other wasps. The abdomen is joined broadly to the thorax, giving the entire creature a cigar-shaped appearance. They are about a third the size of a stogie, too. Adult females range from 37-50 millimeters (1.5-2.0 inches). Males average smaller, from 18-37 millimeters. Note that western specimens of Tremex Columba are usually much paler in coloration than eastern specimens.
© Andrew Williams
The females are equipped with what looks like two stingers, one short one protruding from the top of the tip of the abdomen, and another longer, needle-like rod at the bottom of the abdomen. The wasps are, in fact, non-venomous. The top “horn” is called the “cornus,” and both genders possess this spur, which gives the family its common name of “horntails.” I have been unable to find an explanation of the function of the cornus, if there is one. The longer appendage is an egg-laying organ called the “ovipositor.” The female uses this complex part of her anatomy to insert eggs into dead, dying, or weakened hardwood trees. Maple, beech, elm, apple, pear, poplar, oak, hickory, sycamore, and hackberry are all known hosts of this wasp, but other deciduous trees in poor condition are probably utilized as well.
The ovipositor acts like a drill and hypodermic needle. It is housed in a two-part sheath that helps to brace the sawtoothed egg-laying organ as it works its way into bark and wood. Lumberjacks have a vulgar nickname for these wasps, owing to what the wasps appears to be doing when they oviposit into a bole or stump. I’ll leave that epithet to your imagination.
© Andrew Williams
Not only does the wasp lay her eggs in the tree, she also delivers a wood-rotting fungus, Cerrina unicolor to the site of each egg insertion. She stores the fungus in special abdominal glands called mycangia, until she is ready to deploy it. The fungus breaks down cellulose, and both fungus and decayed wood are then consumed by the larval wasp.
Larval horntails are grub-like, and easily mistaken for beetle grubs save for the cornus on the very tip of their worm-like bodies. It usually takes more than one year for the horntail to complete metamorphosis.
© Project Gutenberg (Google)
You would think that a larva tunneling inside a tree or log would be safe from its enemies, but such is not the case. Huge wasps called giant ichneumons can drill down and reach the horntail grubs. One of my most popular blog entries chronicles the life cycle of these Megarhyssa wasps. Yet another kind of wasp attacks younger larval stages of horntails. Wasps in the family Ibaliidae (and genus Ibalia) drill down to reach horntail larvae that are at a more shallow depth.
Female Ibalia sp. © Mark MacMillan/Colorado State University
Pigeon Tremex horntails that survive the perils of youth eventually pupate, emerging as adults most often in late summer or fall. Right now is the ideal time to find them, but you have to look at a lot of dead, standing trees to find them. Horntail species that use coniferous trees as hosts are often attracted to wildfires, since fire often weakens trees. Many wood-boring beetles are also active in the wake of conflagrations.
Please help spread the word that with few exceptions (introduced species like Sirex noctilio for example), horntails are not pests, but merely exploit trees that are already damaged by environmental stress, and/or diseases or other destructive insects. They are important to forest ecology and the average homeowner has no need to control them.
Sources: Cranshaw, Whitney and Boris Kondratieff. 1995. Bagging Big Bugs: How to identify, collect, and display the largest and most colorful insects of the Rocky Mountain region. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing. 324 pp.
Drees, Bastiaan M. and John Jackmann. 1999. A Field Guide to Common Texas Insects. Houston: Gulf Publishing Co. 359 pp.
Evans, Arthur V. 2008. National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America. New York: Andrew Stewart Publishing, Inc. 497 pp.
Schiff, Nathan M., Steven A. Valley, James R. LaBonte, and David R. Smith. 2006. Guide to the Siricid Woodwasps of North America Morgantown, WV: USDA Forest Service Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team (FHTET-2006-25). 102 pp.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Spider Sunday: Another Jumper
Further proof that you do not have to look far for fascinating arachnids: I happened to notice an unfamiliar jumping spider (family Salticidae) prowling across the outside of the French doors on our townhouse last Tuesday, September 18. I took a few pictures, and some of the images turned out to be legible! Seriously, it turned out the spider was a male of Habronattus cuspidatus, not uncommon here in Colorado.
I had to do a bit of searching through to find images that matched my critter, but as luck would have it, males of this species possess a fairly conspicuous character that surprised me. The “knee” joint on the third leg has a very large spur that can be easily seen with a little magnification. Here is an image from Bugguide that illustrates this structure:
©Adrian Thysse
Naturally, I am curious what this spur is used for. Jumping spiders in general are nomadic, hunting “on foot” and using their keen eyesight to spy prey. They also take advantage of their sharp vision when it comes to courtship, males often communicating their identity by signaling with legs and palps. Many male jumpers have the first pair of legs heavily decorated with dense brushes of hairs and/or brightly-colored scales, but those in the genus Habronattus have the third pair of legs modified for visual recognition by females.
Habronattus also uses acoustic signals to complement the visual performance. Males drum or tap, sending vibrations through the substrate (surface on which the animal is standing). Dr. Wayne Maddison rendered this wonderful illustration of a male H. calcaratus, a related species, in its characteristic, crouching courtship posture:
©1979 Agriculture Canada
Notice how the third leg is bent to maximize visibility of that knee joint. Meanwhile, the vibratory signals have been likened to an orchestral composition, so complex are they, and synchronized with visual displays. It is possible that this genus of spiders has the most elaborate courthip of any terrestrial invertebrate (Elias, et al., 2012).
Habronattus is a large genus of small spiders. There are approximately 100 species, most of which occur in North America, the rest in the neotropics. The most diversity is in the southwest U.S., but Florida has many species as well. Still others range above the Arctic Circle and east to coastal Canada. Look for them mostly on the ground in areas of scattered vegetation, where they prowl on stones or amid leaf litter.
Sources: Elias, Damian O., Wayne P. Maddison, Christina Peckmezian, Madeline B. Gerard, and Andrew C. Mason. 2012. “Orchestrating the score: complex multimodal courtship in the Habronattus coecatus group of Habronattus jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae),” Biol J Linn Soc 105(3): 522-547.
Maddison, Wayne P. 1995. “Habronattus Version 01,” Tree of Life Web Project
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Wasp Wednesday: A Tropical Social Wasp
Attention: You. Yes, you. I welcome your images of mystery insects and spiders from anywhere in the world, and will blog the answer to share with others if I have your permission to publish the images. The following is one example of how this might appear.
I often receive inquiries through my private e-mail, asking if I could identify this insect or that spider, sometimes from other corners of the world besides the United States. This is always a welcome challenge, but the emphasis is usually on “challenge.” Not long ago, my friend Paul Kaufman sent me three wonderful images of a social wasp taken by Pablo Yoder, a missionary in Nicaragua. At least I recognized it as something in the family Vespidae, but there is a vast number of genera and species in the neotropics.
© Pablo Yoder
Thanks to Google image searches, I eventually pinpointed the wasp as the species Polybia emaciata. It is one of the few social vespid wasps that builds its nest of mud instead of paper. The more durable nature of the mud envelope allows the wasps to “hunker down” or flee when faced with a potential attack by a vertebrate predator. Contrast this behavior with the violent attacks launched by social wasps that build relatively flimsy nests of paper.
Enclosing a nest helps protect the eggs, larvae, and pupae that inhabit each cell in the horizontal layers of combs made by social wasps. Exposed combs are more vulnerable to predators and parasites since the adult wasps cannot be everywhere at once guarding each member of the brood.
© Pablo Yoder
So what is the wasp in two of these images doing with a big drop of water in its jaws? It is essentially bailing out the nest, keeping the mud from becoming saturated. It rains hard and often in the jungle. Even though the nests of wasps are usually ensconced beneath foliage in the rainforest canopy or understory, a good quantity of water still reaches those nests. The workers begin drinking the water, then walk to the edge of the nest and regurgitate droplets. The thick mud walls of the nests of this species take longer to become saturated than do paper nests of other species, but there is still cause for concern on the part of the nest inhabitants.
Nests of Polybia emaciata are typically inhabited by a small number of adult wasps. Colonies usually number between 100 and 500 wasps, while other species would have a much larger number. The nests vary in size from roughly nine centimeters to 22 centimeters in length, as least in one study in Panama (O’Donnell & Jeanne, 2002). The nests may also persist for several years due to their durability.
© Journal of Insect Science
O’Donnell and Jeanne elicited nest defense responses by tapping on the exterior of the nests, or blowing into the entrance hole. Most wasps would respond by rushing out of the nest and either attacking immediately or adopting an agonistic (warning) posture while perched on the exterior of the nest envelope. Not so with Polybia emaciata, which either flew away (though not abandoning the nest), or took refuge inside. Only sustained, escalated provocation resulted in the wasps exiting the nest, then pummeling and attempting to sting the researchers. Natural predators of tropical social wasps include birds, bats, and monkeys.
© Pablo Yoder
The diversity of wasps in the tropics, their survival strategies, and their relationships to other organisms is fascinating. I hope to one day see some of these remarkable insects for myself, but in the meantime I appreciate my readers sharing their own experiences and images.
Source: O’Donnell, Sean and Robert L. Jeanne. 2002. “The nest as fortress: defensive behavior of Polybia emaciata, a mud-nesting eusocial wasp,” J Insect Sci 2.3. 5 pp.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Spider Sunday: Labyrinth Spiders
Oh what a tangled web they weave: meet the labyrinth spiders in the genus Metepeira. It may come as a surprise to learn that these little arachnids are in the orb weaver family Araneidae. The first thing one usually sees when spotting their web is the tangled network of lines surrounding a thimble-like retreat decorated with debris. Sometimes the retreat itself is all that is obvious.
There are apparently thirteen species of Metepeira currently recognized as occurring in North America north of Mexico. Only one of these is called the Labyrinth Spider: Metepeira labyrinthea, which ranges in the eastern half of the U.S. and north to southern Ontario, Canada. Look for it in shrubs and the low branches of trees along forest edges. The genus is most diverse in the west and southwest. I have found other species of Metepeira to be reasonably common, or even abundant, in arid habitats in the western U.S. (eastern Oregon and southeast Arizona).
The cobweb-like snare is only half of the structure of a Metepeira web. A small orb web completes the picture, but it is not often easy to see. The spider hides in its tent-like retreat, connected to the hub (center) of the orb web by a signal thread. When a prey insect impacts the orb, the spider dashes down to secure its potential meal.
The spiders themselves are not very large. Mature females are 5.5-7.2 millimeters in body length, while males measure only 3-4.5 millimeters. Because their color pattern is so variable, labyrinth spiders can be easily confused with other kinds of orb weavers. This is especially true if you find a specimen that has no associated web. Mature males wander in search of females, so they are often encountered on vegetation without a web.
These spiders usually reach adulthood in late summer or early autumn, at least in more northerly latitudes. Mated females create one or more egg sacs, each of which is roughly cone-shaped and covered in brown, papery silk. The spider stacks these above her in her web.
Interestingly, the species Metepeira spinipes, which ranges from southern Oregon into Mexico, sometimes exhibits social tendencies, individual spiders interlacing their webs over large areas. This cooperative behavior tends to be associated with higher-than-normal prey availability, and also certain kinds of habitats. Prey abundance in turn coincides with years in which the El Niño weather phenomenon asserts itself.
The social nature of that species and the Mexican Metepeira incrassata has another benefit: it reduces the likelihood of any one female spider will be killed by a spider wasp (Pompilidae: Poecilopompilus mixtus); or have her egg sacs fall prey to parasitic wasps (Ichneumonidae).
Sociality is not without its costs, however, and Metepeira incrassata colonies are often infiltrated by kleptoparasitic spiders akin to the ”dewdrop spiders: I wrote about last year. Other kleptoparasitic spiders actually kill the labyrinth spiders outright.
Enjoy looking for labyrinth spiders right now, as this is the time of year they are most in evidence. Just don’t become entangled in trying to identify them to species.
Sources: Balaban, John and Jane, et al. 2012. “Genus Metepeira,”
Hieber, Craig S. and George W. Uetz. 1990. “Colony size and parasitoid load in two species of colonial Metepeira spiders from Mexico (Araneae: Araneidae),” Oecologia 82(2): 145-150.
McCrate, Andrea T. and George W. Uetz. 2010. “Kleptoparasites: A two-fold cost of group living for the colonial spider, Metepira incrassata (Araneae: Araneidae),” Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64(3): 389-399.
Rayor, Linda S. 1996. “Attack strategies of predatory wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae; Sphecidae) on colonial orb web-building spiders (Araneidae: Metepeira incrassata),” J Kans Entomol Soc 69(4): 67-75.
Uetz, George W. and Wesley Burgess. 1979. “Habitat structure and colonial behavior in Metepeira spinipes (Araneae: Araneidae), an orb weaving spider from Mexico,” Psyche 86: 79-90.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Wasp Wednesday: Dasymutilla bioculata
Last Sunday I wrote about a brightly-colored jumping spider, Phidippus apacheanus, and suggested that it was probably a mimic of wingless female wasps called velvet ants. Today I would like to introduce you to one of those wasps. Velvet ants comprise the family Mutillidae, and can be found across most of the North American continent. They are most common in arid habitats like deserts and prairies. Here in Colorado Springs, Dasymutilla bioculata is one of the most frequently encountered species.
Many velvet ants are bright orange, red, or yellow, and black. This pattern advertises the fact that females can sting. So powerful is that sting that one of the larger species is called the “cow killer.” Folklore has it that the pain is enough to kill livestock. It is no mystery why less well-defended insects, or spiders, would want to look like velvet ants. No sensible predator wants to mess with them.
I have seen female Dasymutilla bioculata scurrying over sandy paths in open fields, usually on overcast days or around dusk when the air temperature begins to cool slightly. Both genders like to clamber around on the stems and leaves of Common Sunflower, Helianthus annuus. They find the sweet, sticky secretions of the plant to their liking.
Male velvet ants have the customary two pairs of wings and fly well, but they can also be colored very differently from their female counterparts. This has resulted in much confusion, even among experts who seek to associate the males with the appropriate females and vice versa.
Dasymutilla bioculata is an excellent example of “lumping,” whereby scientists decide that several different species are actually variations of just one species. A paper published in 2010 resulted in lumping no fewer than twenty-one former species and subspecies under the name Dasymutilla bioculata. The authors of the publication used molecular analysis to find common nuclear ribosomal RNA markers among all the former species and subspecies. Morphological differences (what you see when you look at the external structure of the insects) were deemed too inconsistent to be the sole determining factors in differentiating species.
No wonder I didn’t recognize these Colorado specimens. George Waldren, a velvet ant expert and volunteer editor at was kind enough to set me straight, identifying my images of the females. The images of the male shown here may or may not be the same species. You just can’t tell from images alone.
Dasymutilla bioculata ranges across the entire continent, and from southern Canada to Mexico. Adults vary in size from about 8 millimeters to 16 or 17 millimeters in body length. The bigger the specimen, the better it fed as a larva.
The life histories of velvet ants are often as mysterious as their classification, or simply unknown. Those species we do know well are parasitic on other insects, especially other solitary wasps and bees. Female velvet ants scour the ground for signs of their hosts, which often dig burrows in the soil. Velvet ants can even detect closed burrows, digging them open to gain access. Once inside, the female lays an egg in the cell or cells at the end of the underground tunnel. The larval wasp that hatches will attack the pupa of the host, or a larva in diapause (inactive state).
The known hosts for Dasymutilla bioculata are sand wasps in the genera Bembix and Microbembex. Should an adult sand wasp discover a velvet ant invading her nest, she will of course attack it. Velvet ants have an extra-thick exoskeleton that effectively deflects the bites and stings of their enemies.
I would advise anyone searching for velvet ants to avoid picking them up. Do scoop one into a vial some time and put it up to your ear. Do you hear that? Both genders of these wasps can “squeak” by rapidly rubbing their abdominal segments together. Music to my own ears anyway.
Sources: Kits, Joel, et al. 2011. “Species Dasymutilla bioculata,”
Krombein, Karl V. and Paul D. Hurd. 1979. Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. 2188 pp.
Williams, K.A., D.G. Manley, E.M. Pilgrim, C.D. von Dohlen & J.P. Pitts. 2010. “Multifaceted assessment of species validity in the Dasymutilla bioculata species group (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae). Syst Entomol, 36(1): 180-191.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Why I do not endorse entomophagy
It has lately become quite fashionable among entomologists to promote entomophagy, the practice of human consumption of insects as food. This is nothing new in Asia, and among many populations in the rural tropics, but is a novel concept among Westernized cultures. I personally know several entomologists who are at the forefront of the “bug chef” phenomenon. They are genuinely nice people, but I am not on board with the idea for a variety of reasons:
1. Fear Factor. Do you remember this television show from NBC? Eating insects, or spiders or other arachnids, was a grotesque challenge to contestants on this “reality” program. Throughout the developed world, eating insects is seen as something starving prisoners do, or people lost in the wilderness without other recourse. It is a punishment or last resort, not a decision one makes when they have other choices. There is good reason for that. Many insects taste horrible, or are downright poisonous if ingested. Mushrooms are a good comparison, except I think they actually taste just fine. There is no question that those pushing bug-eating have an uphill climb in overcoming the “yuck factor.”
2. Nutritional Value. Insects are basically fat and a little protein encased in chitin (the exoskeleton). Proponents of entomophagy will claim there is more to it than that, but I am boiling it down (microwaving it, whatever) to the most simplistic terms. I will not argue that as a supplement to a largely vegetarian diet, eating insects has merit. Still, the chitin, while perhaps pleasingly crunchy, is most reminiscent of those translucent yellow flakes from popcorn that you are still trying to get out from between your teeth days or weeks later. I say this as someone who has personally tried fried mealworms and other “delicacies.”
3. The utilitarian view. What I find truly objectionable about the promotion of entomophagy is the idea that insects must have some anthropocentric, utilitarian use to be of any value. They must also be dead to have value. The living insect is by far more fascinating and important than a dead one with a toothpick through it. Insects pollinate wildflowers and crops. Insects quickly consume dead and decaying flora and fauna before the corpses can breed horrible disease-causing bacteria. Insects are consumed by other animals that we find far more tasty, like fish and poultry for example. Ok, I’m kidding a little bit, but insects are an incredibly important part of the natural food chain.
Insects also produce goods and services that are of great use to humanity. Would we suddenly see the honeybee as food itself, instead of as a maker of food? I know a professor who has had contracts with the Department of Defense to study the employment of insects as detectors of explosives and other substances used by terrorists. This kind of work actually enhances our admiration of insects and their superior chemo-tactile senses. Other scientists study insects to find ways of improving the aerodynamics and mechanics of flying aircraft; and as models of locomotion for robotics. Insects are not products, but that is the only context in which some people think they have value.
I will always hold my fellow entomology colleagues in high esteem, but I do wish they would step off the entomophagy bandwagon for a spell and talk to the public more about the intrinsic value of beetles, wasps, bugs, and flies. Meanwhile, I suspect the comments on this post to offer plenty more “food for thought.”
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Spider Sunday: Apache Jumping Spider
Jumping spiders in the family Salticidae are arguably the most colorful of all spiders, often quite conspicuous despite the fact they are usually rather small in size. Here in North America, the genus Phidippus includes some of our largest jumpers. I have found one bright species to be quite common in recent weeks here in Colorado Springs. Phidippus apacheanus is the Apache Jumping Spider, if I can assume it has that common name.
Just yesterday, September 8, I found two specimens on two separate sunflower plants. They appeared to be basking, but more likely they were waiting for potential prey to come within pouncing range. The male, black on the bottom and legs and bright orange on top, may mimic the velvet ants that also frequent sunflowers. Females have a dark dorsal stripe that runs up the middle of the abdomen.
These are not the largest of our jumping spiders, but still bigger than most salticids. Males range from 5.2-10.6 mm, while females measure 7.1-13.3 millimeters. At least one of the specimens shown here may also be immature, one molt or so away from adulthood. Mature individuals can be found at almost any time of year, though males in particular are most common in autumn.
Despite the western-sounding name, this species ranges over most of the United States save New England and the Pacific coast states. Most records do come from the southern half of the U.S. and into Mexico and Cuba.
The habitat preferences for the Apache Jumper may also explain its abundance in certain regions. It is most often found in grasslands, prairies, plains, and dry fields, up to 6,000 feet or so in elevation. Look for it on shrubs, perennials, cacti, and yucca where it prowls for insect prey. Even wasps can fall victim, like the little crabronid captured by this male on August 27.
Females of Phidippus apacheanus fashion egg sacs in protected niches, such as beneath the bark on oak logs. There they guard the sac and the spiderlings that emerge from it.
This species occurs in areas where other, similar species of Phidippus can also be found, so you can’t always rely on color pattern alone to identify it. The only way to confirm which species a given specimen belongs to is to put it under a microscope and examine its external genitalia. You still might not be able to reach a conclusion if the specimen is immature.
While I am always curious as to exactly what I am taking an image of, I can still delight in the colorful nature and vibrant personalities of jumping spiders. Their alertness is engaging (if not maddening when they dodge to the other side of a stem), and suggests a level of awareness and intelligence that most other arthropods do not possess. Happy spider hunting.
Source: Edwards, G.B. 2004. “Revision of the Jumping Spiders of the Genus Phidippus (Araneae: Salticidae),” Occasional Papers of the Florida State Collection of Arthropods vol. 11. 156 pp. (available for sale here).
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Wasp Wednesday: Perilampid Wasps
Do you remember that old saying that “good things come in small packages?” That is certainly the case with the compact little wasps known as perilampids (family Perilampidae). They range in size from 1.3-5.5 millimeters in length, but oh are they spectacular. Many, if not most, are brilliant metallic green or blue. Some are wholly black in color. They can be easily confused with small cuckoo wasps in the family Chrysididae, and are sometimes found in similar situations, especially around aphid colonies, or the extrafloral nectaries of sunflowers.
My latest encounter with a perilampid was indeed on a sunflower plant, where it was intent on imbibing the sweet excretions from the hairy stem. I recognized it as a perilampid by the short, strongly elbowed antennae, and the abdomen, which in perilampids is shaped more or less like a triangle or an inverted pyramid. Cuckoo wasps have an oval or rounded abdomen without sharp corners.
The beauty of these tiny insects is more than matched by their bizarre lifestyle. They are parasitic in the larval stage, usually on other parasitic insects like the larvae of tachinid flies, or ichneumon wasps or braconid wasps living as parasites inside caterpillars or other insect larvae. This is known as “hyperparasitism,” whereby they are parasites of parasites.
Even stranger is the way the wasps find their hosts. The female perilampid “broadcasts” large numbers of eggs, laying them on leaves, buds, cracks in bark, under lichens, and in other locations where the larvae that hatch might have hope of encountering a host. She may deposit as many as 500 eggs in this manner. A flattened, mobile larva (“planidium” or “planidiform”as scientists call it) hatches from each egg, and attempts to attach itself to any moving object by its mandibles. Obviously, a great many such planidium larvae fail because they glom onto the wrong animal.
Those that are successful in finding the appropriate secondary larval host then penetrate the host’s cuticle. Once inside they begin searching for the primary host, a parasite of the secondary host. They will then enter that larva in the same way. There they wait until this primary host pupates. The perilampid larva then exits, molting into a grub-like larva that feeds as an external parasite. It goes through two or three more instars (the intervals between molts) before pupating itself inside the host cocoon or puparium.
Some perilampids in the subfamily Perilampniae are able to adjust their life cycle in the absence of a primary host, simply feeding as a parasite on the secondary host. Perilampus hyalinus is such an example, able to complete its life cycle as a parasite of certain sawfly larvae (Diprionidae, Tenthredinidae) if no primary host is contained within it. Another species of Perilampus is recorded from immature grasshoppers (Acrididae), gaining access via flesh fly parasites (Sarcophagidae). Still other species in the subfamily are recorded as primary parasites of lacewing larvae (Chrysopidae), wasp larvae (Sphecidae), and beetle larvae (weevils in the Curculionidae).
The life cycles of members of the subfamily Chrysolampinae are less well known, but records indicate beetle larvae (Lycidae, Anobiidae, Nitidulidae) as hosts.
The classification of perilampids has given scientists fits. They are variously set aside as their own family (Perilampidae), or lumped in with the Pteromalidae. Even if ascribed to their own family, those members of the subfamily Chrysolampinae are usually put into the Pteromalidae. I don’t get it either. The number of recognized genera is also up for discussion. Some authorities recognize only fifteen genera in the world, whereas others suggest there may be as many as twice that number (thirty genera). There are 260-277 species currently recognized, with 36 species in North America north of Mexico (in five genera). Many more species await discovery and/or names and descriptions.
Sources: Goulet, Henri and John T. Huber (eds.). 1993. Hymenoptera of the World: An identification guide to families. Ottawa, Ontario: Agriculture Canada. 668 pp.
Pitkin, B.R. 2004. “Perilampidae,” Universal Chalcidoidea Database, Natural History Museum, United Kingdom
Grissell, E. Eric and M. E. Schauff. 2003. “Family Perilampidae,” Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA Agrigultural Research Station, Beltsville, Maryland.
Grissell, Eric. 2010. Bees, Wasps, and Ants: The indispensable role of Hymenoptera in gardens. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. 335 pp.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Spider Sunday: No Spider :-(
Sorry, folks. Family is in town from out of state for this Labor Day weekend, and I didn't find time to create the usual post. "Spider Sunday" will return next week at its regularly-scheduled time. Thank you for understanding. |
In the early years of the twentieth century, the biggest of all the silent movie stars was Charlie Chaplin.
You could make anyone laugh just by imitating Charlie Chaplin.
The cheeky grin, the twirly cane, the funny walk with quick short steps.
In fact so many people copied him that Charlie Chaplin lookalike contests were held all over the world.
This fascinated the real Charlie Chaplin.
In San Francisco, he anonymously entered a Charlie Chaplin lookalike contest.
But he didn’t win.
In fact he didn’t even get to the final.
There were loads of people there who looked more like Charlie Chaplin than he did.
People who could do a better funny walk, cheeky grin, twirly cane, than he could.
So the real Charlie Chaplin was rejected early on.
But how could that be?
Well, the Charlie Chaplin everyone knew was the one on the cinema screen.
Black and white grainy film, quick jerky movements from a hand-cranked camera.
That’s what everyone knew Charlie Chaplin should look like.
But the real Charlie Chaplin didn’t move like the speeded up character on the screen.
Because the old-fashioned movie camera added all that.
All the fake Charlie Chaplins could do that walk, because they’d copied it from the films.
But the real Charlie Chaplin couldn’t do that.
He wasn’t copying what was on film, he was doing the real thing.
The walk before the camera made it black and white and speeded it up.
But no one ever saw the real thing.
All they saw was what was on film.
So the real Charlie Chaplin looked fake, and the fake ones looked real.
That’s how the mind is.
The philosopher Immanuel Kant calls this noumena.
Noumena is the world as it exists without the senses.
But we can’t experience anything except through our senses.
So the actual world out there is something we can never know.
We can only ever know what our senses tell us.
We don’t experience the world, we experience our senses.
This is really important for everyone in the business of communication.
Which, of course, is everyone.
Simply showing the truth, may not be enough.
It may not communicate.
Because people may not experience it as the truth.
We have to simplify and exaggerate the truth.
Just the way Chaplin’s on-screen image became the real Charlie Chaplin.
Mark Lund gives a good example of this.
Stage makeup.
If we let actors walk on stage looking exactly the way they do in real life, everything will be too subtle.
Their facial expression won’t register to the audience sitting between twenty and sixty feet away.
So the actors wear stage makeup.
This brings those subtle facial expressions to life.
It simplifies and exaggerates them so the audience can see them.
And the exaggeration works.
But if we see the same actors in the street, close up, in full makeup, it wouldn’t work at all.
Massive great black eyebrows, big fat red lips, fake rosy cheeks, thick dark eyeliner.
The same people who looked perfectly fine onstage will suddenly look grotesque.
The stage makeup doesn’t work close up.
So, before we try to communicate, we need to work out which world we’re in.
Are we in a close up, subtle, world where our audience has nothing to do but look at but us?
Nothing to do but concentrate on our every little nuance.
Or are we in a world where we need to cut through?
A world where a million things are happening simultaneously.
Where subtlety and nuance will get swamped and disappear unnoticed.
We have to understand which world we’re working in, before we start work. |
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Poorest of the Poor
The sycamore fig has been an important food among the poor of the Near East since prehistoric times, although it is much inferior to the common fig. No one ate it who could afford anything better.
When Amos said he was a gatherer of sycamore figs (“a dresser of sycamore trees,” Amos 7:14), he was describing himself as being among the poorest of the poor.
(Juengst, Sara Covin., Like a Garden: A Biblical Spirituality of Growth, Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 1996, pg 9)
1 comment:
1. God seems to use those, doesn't He? Men choose the ones who "have clothing," God chooses the humble who rely on Him for all things. They know where credit is due. |
Aloe macroclada (part 1 of 2)
Aloidendron dichotomum (part 1 of 2)
Based on genetic research, in 2013 Ronell Klopper and Gideon Smith created the genus Aloidendron to accommodate 6 species of tree aloes, including Aloe dichotoma.
The plants form trees with a rounded crown, with stems to 1 m in diameter at the base and usually 3-4 m tall (sometimes up to 9 m).
The bark on the trunk peels lengthwise, forming large scales with hard and razor-sharp edges. The leaves are about 30 cm long and 5 cm wide at their base.
In winter (May-August), the flowers appear; they are pollinated by starlings, sunbirds, weaver birds and white-eyes.
From the Brandberg Massif in Namibia to Upington, Kenhardt and the Nieuwoudtville area in South Africa, the species forms a conspicuous component 0f the landscape. The plants occur in open sites, usually in rocky terrain but also in flats.
Depending on the area, rainfall (between 50 and 300 mm per year) may occur in either summer or winter.
aloidich 2011-09-30e.v._DSC6667
aloidich 4sept2010 096
aloidich 4sept2010 113
aloidich 2010-09-09#006
Aloe gariepensis
Both the scientific and the vernacular name (Orange River Aloe) refer to its occurrence along the Orange River (from Grootderm in the west to Keimoes in the east). It is also plentiful in the Warmbad area of Namibia. The plants are usually found in steep rocky places and are rather variable, depending on the locality.
Usually solitary, the plants are stemless or short-stemmed (up to 1 m tall).
The leaves are 30-40 cm long and 5-8 cm wide near the base, incurved, dull yellowish-green to reddish-brown with numerous longitudinal lines. In young plants they are
copiously spotted on both surfaces, later on they only have some spots on the upper surface. The margins have small, sharp teeth, but otherwise the leaves are unarmed.
The unbranched inflorescences are up to 1.2 m tall and bear flowers from July to September. These are usually yellow to greenish yellow, but in the eastern part of the distribution area sometimes reddish.
Aloe ballyi
This very distinctive species normally produces one single stem up
to 8 m tall and only 10-15 cm thick. Sometimes, plants branch from the base and form large shrubs.
Each stem bears about 25 leaves, up to 90 cm long and grey-green on both sides; the sap is poisonous.
The inflorescences are much-branched, with carmine to reddish-orange flowers.
The species is found in more or less dense bushland and thickets along rivers in
southern Kenya and northern Tanzania at altitudes between 900 and 1500 m.
aloeballyi 1629
aloeballyi 1630
aloeballyi 1521
aloeballyi 1609
Aloe striata ssp. striata
aloestri 1832
aloestri 1833
aloestri 1846
aloestri 2011-05-04 5528
Aloe peckii
In general, this species is stemless and growing singly or in small groups, but sometimes groups of over 20 rosettes are formed.
Each rosette has 14-16 leaves, about 16 cm long and 6 cm wide at the base, usually olive-green with many whitish-green spots, but in some cases light green and unspotted.
The flowers are very striking and because of their conspicuous stripes apparently unique within the genus.
The plants occur on gypsum soil in the Al Madu (Ahl Medow) Mountain Range (north of Erigavo) in Somaliland, at 1,500 to 1,550 m, mostly in shade.
aloepeck! 2049-Edit
aloepeck! 2051-Edit
aloepeck! scan
Aloe somaliensis
The inflorescences are 60-80 cm tall.
aloesoma DSC_2129-Edit
aloesoma DSC_2139
aloesoma DSC_2132-Edit-2
aloesoma DSC_2128-Edit-2 |
1. menopausealliance.org
2. Std Test
3. Georgia
Local Std Test Near Me Georgia
Viruses are different from bacteria. While bacteria can reproduce by themselves and are independent, viruses cannot reproduce without the aid of a cell. Viruses enter human cells and force them to make more virus. A human cell releases thousands of new viruses before it's killed. Std Test nearest Georgia. The cell death and resulting tissue damage causes the actual sores. The greatest risk for spreading the virus is the time period beginning with the look of blisters and ending with scab formation.
Herpes virus may also infect a cell and instead of making the cell produce new viruses, it hides within the cell and waits. Herpes virus hides in cells of the nervous system called "neurons." This is called "latency." A latent virus can wait inside neurons for months, days, or even years. At some future time, the virus "awakens" and causes the cell to produce thousands of new viruses which causes an aggressive disease. Occasionally an active disease occurs without visible sores. Hence, herpes virus can be spread by an infected person to other people even in the lack of sores.
This process of latency and active infection is best understood by considering the genital sore cycle. An aggressive disease is apparent because sores are present. The first infection is known as the "primary" disease. This aggressive disease is subsequently controlled by the body's immune system and the sores cure. In between active infections, the virus is latent. At some stage in the future latent viruses become activated and once again cause sores. These are called "continual infections" or "outbreaks." Than sores caused by herpes type 2 genital sores caused by herpes type 1 recur much less frequently.
Georgia std test. Several conditions seem to bring on illnesses, though it's unknown what triggers latent viruses to activate. Included in these are tiredness, illness, exposure to sunlight, menstruation, skin damage, food allergy and cold or hot temperatures. Although many individuals think that stress can bring on their genital herpes outbreaks, there is absolutely no scientific evidence that there is a link between anxiety and recurrences. However, at least one clinical study has demonstrated a link between how well people cope with stress as well as their belief that pressure and recurrent diseases are linked.
Std Bumps On Skin near me Georgia
The very first symptoms of herpes usually occur within two to seven days after contact with an infected person but may take up to a couple of weeks. Symptoms of the primary disease are usually more serious than those of recurrent infections. For up to 70% of the patients, the main disease causes symptoms which change the entire body (called "constitutional symptoms") including tiredness, headache , fever, chills, muscle pains, loss of appetite, as well as painful, swollen lymph nodes in the crotch. These symptoms vanish within one week and are greatest during the first three to four days of the infection. The main illness is more severe in women than in men.
Following the prodrome come the herpes blisters, which are similar on men as well as women. First, little red bumps appear. These bulges quickly become fluid-filled blisters. In dry regions, the blisters become filled with pus and take on a white to grey appearance, become covered with a scab, and heal within two to three weeks. In damp areas, painful ulcers which empty before healing burst and form. New blisters may appear over a period of a single week or longer and might join together to form ulcers that are very large. The pain is alleviated within a couple of weeks and also the blisters and ulcers heal without scarring by three to four weeks.
Women can experience a painful and very intense primary illness. Herpes blisters first appear on the labia majora (outer lips), labia minora (inner lips), and entry to the vagina. Blisters often show up on the clitoris, at the urinary opening, around the anal opening, as well as on thighs and the buttocks. Furthermore, women may get herpes blisters on the lips, breasts, fingers, and eyes. The vagina and cervix are almost always required which causes a discharge that is watery. Other symptoms that appear in women are: painful or difficult urination (83%), swelling of the urinary tube (85%), meningitis (36%), and throat infection (13%). Almost all women grow painful, swollen lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy) in the groin and pelvis. About one in ten women get a vaginal yeast infection as a complication of the most important herpes infection.
In guys, the herpes blisters generally form on the member but may also appear on the scrotum, thighs, and buttocks. The symptoms that are constitutional are experienced by fewer than half of the guys with primary herpes. Thirty percent to 40% of men have a discharge from the urinary tube. Some guys develop painful swollen lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy) in the groin and pelvis. Although less often than women, men too may experience painful or difficult urination (44%), swelling of the urinary tube (27%), meningitis (13%), and throat infection (7%).
Syphilis Mental Symptoms in United States
One or more outbreaks of genital herpes per year happen in 60-90% of those infected with herpes virus. Annually about 40% of the men infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 will experience six or more outbreaks. Genital herpes returns are less acute in relation to the primary infection; nevertheless, women still experience pain than guys and more severe symptoms. Constitutional symptoms are not normally present. Blisters will appear at exactly the same sites during each outbreak. Generally there are fewer blisters, less pain, and the period of time from the start of symptoms to healing is briefer than the primary disease. One out of every four women experience painful or difficult urination during continual disease. Both men as well as women may develop lymphadenopathy.
Because genital herpes is indeed common, it's diagnosed primarily by symptoms. It might be diagnosed and treated by the family doctor, dermatologists (doctors who specialize in skin diseases), urologists (physicians who focus on the urinary tract ailments of men and women and the genital organs of men), gynecologists (doctors who specialize in the diseases of women's genital organs) and infectious disease practitioners. The identification and treatment of this infectious disease should be covered by most insurance providers.
Lab tests might be conducted to locate the virus. Std test in Georgia. Because much virus is not spill by curing sores, a sample from an open sore would be taken for viral culture. A sterile cotton swab would be wiped over open sores and also the sample used to infect human cells in culture. Cells which are killed by herpes virus have a certain appearance under microscopic evaluation. The outcomes of the test are available within two to ten days. Other places that might be sampled, contingent upon the ailment symptoms in a specific patient, contain the urinary tract, vagina, cervix, throat, eye tissues, and cerebrospinal fluid.
Direct staining and microscopic assessment of the lesion sample can also be used. A blood test could be performed to see if the individual has antibodies to herpes virus. The results of blood testing are available within one day. The disadvantage of this blood test is the fact that it generally doesn't distinguish between herpes type 1 and 2, and only ascertains that the patient has had a herpes infection sooner or later in his or her life. Thus, the viral culture evaluation should be performed to be entirely sure the sores are brought on by herpes virus.
Living With Hiv Stories
There's no cure for herpes virus diseases. There are antiviral drugs available which have some effect in lessening the symptoms and decreasing the length of herpes outbreaks. There is evidence that some may also prevent future outbreaks. These antiviral drugs are most effective when taken as early in the infection process as possible and work by interfering with the replication of the viruses. During the prodrome stage, drug treatment should begin for the most effective outcome before blisters are visible. Depending on the length of the outbreak, drug treatment could continue for up to 10 days.
Acyclovir (Zovirax) is the drug of choice for herpes infection and may be given intravenously, taken by mouth (orally), or applied directly to sores as an ointment. Acyclovir has been in use for several years and five out of 100 patients experience side effects. Side effects of acyclovir treatment include nausea, vomiting, itchy rash, and hives Although acyclovir is the recommended drug for treating herpes diseases, other drugs might be used including famciclovir (Famvir), valacyclovir (Valtrex), vidarabine (Vira A), idoxuridine (Herplex Liquifilm, Stoxil), trifluorothymidine (Viroptic), and penciclovir (Denavir).
Acyclovir is successful in treating the primary disease and recurrent outbreaks. When taken orally or intravenously, acyclovir reduces the healing time, virus shedding interval, and duration of vesicles. The standard oral dose of acyclovir for herpes that are primary is 200 mg five times daily or 400 milligrams three times daily for a period of 10 days. Recurrent herpes is treated with the same doses for a span of five days. Intravenous acyclovir is given to patients who require hospitalization due to severe primary diseases or herpes complications for example aseptic meningitis or sacral ganglionitis (inflammation of nerve packages).
Patients with regular outbreaks (greater than six to eight per year) may reap the benefits of long-term use of acyclovir that is called "suppressive therapy." Patients on suppressive therapy have longer periods between herpes outbreaks. Every few years the specific dosage used for quelling must be ascertained for each patient and should be reevaluated. Instead, patients may use short term suppressive therapy to lessen the chance of developing an infection that is active during special occasions like holidays or weddings.
Painful Bumps On Penile Shaft
There are several matters a patient may do to reduce the pain of genital sores. Wearing cotton underwear and loose fitting clothes is helpful. Removing clothes or wearing loose pajamas while at home may reduce pain. Soaking in a bath of warm water and using a blow dryer on the "cool" setting to dry the infected area is useful. Putting an ice pack on the affected area for 10 minutes, followed by five full minutes off and then repeating this procedure may relieve pain. A zinc sulfate ointment can help treat the sores. Std test nearby Georgia. Application of a baking soda compress to sores may be soothing.
An imbalance in the amino acids arginine and lysine is thought to be one contributing factor in herpes virus outbreaks. A ratio of lysine to arginine that is in balance (that's more lysine than arginine is present) seems to help the immune system work optimally. Consequently, a diet that's rich in lysine can assist in preventing recurrences of genital herpes. Foods that contain elevated levels of lysine include most vegetables, legumes, fish, turkey, beef, lamb, cheese, and chicken. Std test closest to Georgia. Patients may take 500 mg of lysine daily and increase to 1,000 mg three times a day during an outbreak. Ingestion of the amino acid arginine should be reduced. Foods full of arginine which should be prevented are chocolate, peanuts, almonds, and other nuts and seeds.
Some herbs, including echinacea (Echinacea spp.) and garlic (Allium sativum), are thought to reinforce the body's defenses against viral infections. Red marine algae (family Dumontiaceae), both taken internally and applied topically, is thought to be effective in treating herpes type I and type II infections. Other topical treatments may be useful in inhibiting the growth of the herpes virus, in minimizing or in helping the sores heal. Zinc sulphate ointment seems to aid sores heal and to fight with recurrence. Lithium succinate ointment may interfere with viral replication. An ointment made with glycyrrhizinic acid, a component of licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), appears to inactivate the virus. Topical applications of vitamin E or tea tree oil (Melaleuca spp.) Help dry up herpes sores. Particular combinations of homeopathic remedies can also be helpful treatments for genital herpes.
Georgia std test. Std Test near Georgia. Although physically and emotionally painful, genital herpes is usually not a serious disease. The primary disease could be serious and could require hospitalization for treatment. Complications of the primary infection may affect the nervous system, urinary system, anal opening, along with the cervix. Individuals who possess a reduced ability to create an immune response to illness (called "immunocompromised") due to disease or drugs are at risk for a very acute, and possibly fatal, herpes illness. Std Test nearby Georgia. In spite of antiviral treatment, neonatal herpes infections could be fatal or cause irreversible nervous system damage. Std test near Georgia.
The single method to stop genital herpes will be to avoid contact with infected persons. Std test closest to Georgia. This really is not a simple option because many people are not conscious that they're infected and can easily spread the virus to others. Avoid all sexual contact with an infected individual during a herpes outbreak. Because herpes virus may be spread at any moment, condom use is a good idea to prevent the spread of virus to uninfected partners. As of early 1998 there were no herpes vaccines accessible, although new herpes vaccines are being tested in humans.
Herpes febrilis a variety of herpes simplex normally found on or around the lips and nostrils but sometimes on other mucoid tissues. Although sometimes it may be brought on by human herpesvirus 2, it's usually brought on by human herpesvirus 1. It's usually a concomitant of fever, but might also develop in scenarios of other anxieties without past sickness or fever. Most folks carry the virus but usually lies quiescent. Some medicines increase comfort, although there is absolutely no cure for the illness. Antiviral drugs used in this way include acyclovir and Called additionally fever blisters and cold sores.
abac abbeville acworth adairsville adel adrian ailey alamo
alapaha albany allenhurst allentown alma alpharetta alston alto
ambrose americus andersonville appling arabi aragon argyle arlington
armuchee arnoldsville ashburn athens atlanta attapulgus auburn augusta
austell avera avondale estates axson baconton bainbridge baldwin ball ground
barnesville barney bartow barwick baxley bellville berlin bethlehem
big canoe bishop blackshear blairsville blakely bloomingdale blue ridge bluffton
blythe bogart bolingbroke bonaire boneville boston bostwick bowdon
bowdon junction bowersville bowman box springs braselton bremen bridgeboro brinson
bristol bronwood brookfield brooklet brooks broxton brunswick buchanan
buckhead buena vista buford butler byromville byron cadwell cairo
calhoun calvary camak camilla canon canton carlton carnesville
carrollton cartersville cassville cataula cave spring cecil cedar springs cedartown
centerville chamblee chatsworth chauncey cherrylog chester chestnut mountain chickamauga
chula cisco clarkdale clarkesville clarkston claxton clayton clermont
cleveland climax clinchfield cloudland clyo cobb cobbtown cochran
cogdell cohutta colbert coleman collins colquitt columbus comer
commerce concord conley conyers coolidge coosa cordele cornelia
cotton covena covington crandall crawford crawfordville crescent culloden
cumming cusseta cuthbert dacula dahlonega daisy dallas dalton
damascus danburg danielsville danville darien davisboro dawson dawsonville
de soto dearing decatur deepstep demorest denton dewy rose dexter
dillard dixie doerun donalsonville doraville douglas douglasville dover
dry branch du pont dublin dudley duluth dunwoody east dublin east ellijay
eastanollee eastman eatonton eden edge hill edison elberton elko
ellabell ellaville ellenton ellenwood ellerslie ellijay emerson enigma
epworth esom hill eton euharlee evans experiment fairburn fairmount
fargo farmington fayetteville felton fitzgerald fleming flintstone flovilla
flowery branch folkston forest park forsyth fort benning fort gaines fort gillem fort gordon
fort oglethorpe fort stewart fort valley fortson fowlstown franklin franklin springs funston
gainesville garfield gay geneva georgetown gibson gillsville girard
glenn glennville glenwood good hope gordon gough gracewood grantville
gray grayson graysville greensboro greenville griffin grovetown guyton
haddock hagan hahira hamilton hampton hapeville haralson hardwick
harlem harrison hartsfield hartwell hawkinsville hazlehurst helen helena
hephzibah hiawassee higgston high shoals hillsboro hiltonia hinesville hinsonton
hiram hoboken hogansville holly springs homer homerville hortense hoschton
howard huber hull hunter army air field ideal ila inman iron city
irwinton irwinville ivey jackson jacksonville jakin jasper jefferson
jeffersonville jekyll island jenkinsburg jersey jesup jewell jonesboro juliette
junction city kathleen kennesaw keysville kings bay kingsland kingston kite
knoxville la fayette lagrange lake park lakeland lakemont lavonia lawrenceville
leary lebanon leesburg lenox leslie lexington lilburn lilly
lincolnton lindale lithia springs lithonia lizella locust grove loganville lookout mountain
louisville louvale lovejoy ludowici lula lumber city lumpkin luthersville
lyerly lyons mableton macon madison manassas manchester manor
mansfield marble hill marietta marshallville martin matthews mauk maxeys
maysville mccaysville mcdonough meansville meigs meldrim menlo meridian
mershon mesena metter midland midville midway milan milledgeville
millen millwood milner mineral bluff mitchell molena monroe montezuma
monticello montrose moreland morgan morganton morris morrow morven
moultrie mount airy mount berry mount vernon mount zion mountain city murrayville musella
mystic nahunta nashville naylor nelson nevils newborn newington
newnan newton nicholls nicholson norcross norman park norristown north metro
norwood nunez oakfield oakman oakwood ochlocknee ocilla oconee
odum offerman oglethorpe oliver omaha omega orchard hill oxford
palmetto parrott patterson pavo peachtree city pearson pelham pembroke
pendergrass perkins perry pine lake pine mountain pine mountain valley pinehurst pineview
piney bluff pitts plainfield plains plainville pooler port wentworth portal
porterdale poulan powder springs preston pulaski putney quitman rabun gap
ranger ray city rayle rebecca red oak redan register reidsville
rentz resaca rex reynolds rhine riceboro richland richmond hill
rincon ringgold rising fawn riverdale roberta rochelle rock spring rockledge
rockmart rocky face rocky ford rome roopville rossville roswell round oak
royston rupert rutledge rydal saint george saint marys saint simons island sale city
sandersville sapelo island sardis sargent sasser sautee nacoochee savannah scotland
scottdale screven sea island senoia seville shady dale shannon sharon
sharpsburg shellman shellman bluff shiloh siloam silver creek sky valley smarr
smithville smyrna snellville social circle soperton south base sparks sparta
springfield stapleton state farm insurance co statenville statesboro statham stephens stillmore
stillwell stockbridge stockton stone mountain suches sugar hill sugar valley summertown
summerville sumner sunny side surrency suwanee swainsboro sycamore sylvania
sylvester talbotton talking rock tallapoosa tallulah falls talmo tarrytown tate
taylorsville temple tennga tennille the rock thomaston thomasville thomson
thunderbolt tifton tiger tignall toccoa toccoa falls toomsboro townsend
trenton trion tucker tunnel hill turin turnerville twin city ty ty
tybee island tyrone unadilla union city union point upatoi uvalda valdosta
valona varnell vidalia vienna villa rica waco wadley waleska
walthourville waresboro warm springs warner robins warrenton warthen warwick washington
watkinsville waverly waverly hall waycross waynesboro waynesville west green west point
weston whigham white white oak white plains whitesburg wildwood wiley
willacoochee williamson wilmington island winder winston winterville woodbine woodbury
woodland woodstock woolsey wray wrens wrightsville yatesville young harris
The incidence of active genital herpes is difficult to determine just because symptoms that are light are presented by many cases, are self-limiting, and aren't called to the interest of healthcare personnel. Nevertheless, it's clear that the disease has reached epidemic proportions in America. It is highly contagious and is transmitted by direct person-to-person contact (not limited to sexual contact). Autoinoculation via the hands is possible; for example, from a lip ulcer to the genital region or from genitals or the lip to the eye. Std test nearby Georgia. Once access is gained by the virus to the body it enters the nervous system and invades nerve cells located near the site of disease, such as in the sacral ganglia. The virus lies dormant in nerve cells and can stay there indefinitely, predisposing the individual to continuing outbreaks. Variables leading to recurrent genital herpes are not well understood. Some persons that are infected experience no recurrences while others have frequent and severe outbreaks. Many patients are aware of a correlation between the look of lesions and precipitating factors including exposure to localized trauma, sunlight, fever, or psychological stress. Hormonal changes preceding menses have been correlated with recurrences in women.
Analysis and Symptomatology. Identification is usually predicated on the patient's history and symptoms, which are easily recognized by an experienced clinician. Clinical and serological findings help confirm whether the patient's complaints are an initial phase of a recurrent episode or manifestations of a primary disease. At the first or primary exposure to the virus, the typical cutaneous lesions might or might not be present and no antibodies to the virus are observed in the individual 's serum. Std test near Georgia. The existence of such antibodies during the time of an initial episode suggests a preceding herpes disease. Since the virus dwells in the lesions and nerve cells and not in the blood, cultures taken from the lesions, smears, and antibody titers can be helpful in identifying the period of the illness.
Std Test Near Me Florida | Std Test Near Me Hawaii |
Practical and Helpful Tips: Resources
Learn More About Christian Churches
A form of religion whereby Christian denomination is followed is known as Christianity. A church is a meeting place for Christians to fellowship. The people who fellowship at a church are the ones who form the church not the building. People attend church services in churches where the Christian religion is preached. People across different geographical locations follow the Christian religion. The beliefs of the Christians, faith, ideas and Jesus Christ’s teachings are the constituents of Christianity. Christians who are looking for churches where they can fellowship with the others can find the churches in church directories.
If you are looking for the details of any church, church directories have the pictures, maps and descriptions of the church. The believers of the Christian religion have preached about it making it a religion that is widely adopted. The followers teach about their faith, about God and Jesus Christ. There are different types of Christian churches. Catholic churches, Pentecostal churches and Baptist churches are the different categories of Christian churches. It is recommended that you make use of church directories for your specific state any time you are looking for a church within your locality.
The views and ideas of various people are shared among the followers of the Christian church. Prayers are the means by which Christians share their faith and religion. The Christian church has a long history behind it. It is known to have originated from the Romans from where it was seen as valuable and got spread across the world. For Christians, the church is their safe haven. When they gather together, a feeling of peace and relaxed moods are what the Christians experience.
During the church services Christians are able to share their thoughts and feelings with the others. If you want to listen to sermons and attend prayer sessions, you can visit any church in any of the states. The Lutheran church, charlotte church, Episcopal Church, Florida church, US church, Washington church Roman Catholic Church and the Apostolic church are the churches available today for Christians. Today many people are realizing the need to attend church services as they play a major role in the society. Church sermons improves the morals and behaviours of Christians.
Today people can easily find a church they can fellowship at using the church finder or online directories for churches. A church in your locality is able to facilitate prayers. Even though churches are classified differently they are still Christian churches. The churches also participate in festivals that enable the believers to share their joys and sorrows. Christmas, Easter, Palm Sunday among other festivals are the festivals churches participate in. Churches are involved in societal issues. |
Osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease)
Chronic condition of the joints in which the cartilage deteriorates and leads to pain, swelling and stiffness. It is the most common joint disorder.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Autoimmune, inflammatory disorder in which the immune cells are signaled by the brain to attack the synovial fluid (the fluid that lubricates the joints). It can affect any joint in the body but it usually appears in the small joints of the hands and feet. The disorder’s evolution is progressive although symptoms can have a rapid manifestation.
Ankylosing spondylitis
A type of arthritis that mainly affects the joints in the spine and causes sections of the spine to fuse together. Progressing, it can damage tendons, ligaments, cartilages and bones. The joints and ligaments involved in the back’s mobility become inflamed. When the inflammation subsides new bone is grown in its place. Commonly affects young men between 15 and 30 years old.
Genetic aspects give a predisposition to this disease
A rare defect in collagen production (protein that makes cartilage) can cause osteoarthritis to appear as early as 20 years of age
Slight defects in the way bones fit together cause cartilage to be damaged faster
A gene called FAAH is associated with this disease
Being overweight puts additional pressure on the hips and knees and can cause cartilage damage
Repetitive movement (in jobs that require standing for long periods, heavy lifting, etc) or injuries (repeated fractures, tears in ligaments, surgeries)
Rheumatoid arthritis
Metabolic disorders (such as hemochromatosis – excessive iron absorption)
Acromegaly (over production of growth hormone)
Rheumatoid arthritis
The exact cause is unknown but it is believed that a combination of genetic, environmental and hormonal factors is responsible for the disorder
A specific gene, HLA-DR4, is associated with rheumatoid arthritis
Prolonged smoking is linked to the disorder’s development
Viral or bacterial infections may be triggering causes
Contraceptives have been linked to the predisposition of rheumatoid arthritis in women
Hormonal imbalance
Ankylosing spondylitis
Specific cause is unknown
Gene HLA-B27 is associated with ankylosing spondylitis
Symptoms and signs
Pain and stiffness (mostly in the morning or after resting)
Limited range of motion
Cracking sound in the joints
Bony growths (at the edge of finger joints)
Redness around the joints
Rheumatoid arthritis usually affects the small joints in hands and feet and has three stages:
Stage 1 implies swelling, stiffness and pain in the joints due to the swelling of the synovial tissue
Stage 2: cells multiply in the tissue due to the inflammation causing more pain
Stage 3: the inflamed cells start releasing enzymes that affect bones and cartilages causing deformities of the joints
Physical symptoms:
Joints feel tender, warm, swollen and are red
Rheumatoid nodules appear under the skin (near elbows or fingers)
Stiffness that begins in the morning and lasts 30 minutes or more even if there is moderate activity
Weight loss and loss of appetite
Discomfort is differently perceived – it can be constant or mild with flare-ups
Difficulty in performing simple tasks (such as driving or opening a jar)
Psychological symptoms:
Sleeping problems
Low self-esteem
Feeling helpless/incapable
Ankylosing spondylitis
Sacroiliitis (inflammation of the joint where the spine and pelvis are attached)
Gradual lower back pain
Buttock pain, hip pain
Stiffness and limited movement in the morning
Tenderness in the affected region
Fever and night sweats
Joint pain (in other parts of the body than the back)
Enthesitis (inflammation of the places where ligaments and muscles attach to the bones)
Respiratory difficulties due to an abnormal position
Stiffness in shoulders and knees
Eye pain – eye inflammation (in 25% of the cases)
Health history and symptoms are assessed – when and how the pain started, how it affects daily activities
A physical examination will evaluate the range of motion that the joints have
Diagnostic tests: joint aspiration (fluid is withdrawn from the joint for examination), X-rays and MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging)
A cure is not available, but treatments help with symptom management
Physical activity is highly recommended to improve mobility and reduce pain
Medication: analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid
Alternative therapies: acupuncture, acupressure, massage, relaxation techniques
Assistive devices: canes, splints, jar openers, long shoe horns, steering wheel grips
Surgical interventions imply repair or replacement of the affected joints especially in the cases of hips or knees
Rheumatoid arthritis:
The doctor will do a physical evaluation and follow the patient’s medical history
Tests that can help in diagnosis: blood tests to measure rheumatoid factor levels, erythrocyte (red blood cells) sedimentation rate test, anti-CCP antibody test (can diagnose rheumatoid arthritis before symptoms appear)
Imaging tests: X-rays (detect bone damage), extremity MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), ultrasound (erosions are seen at an earlier stage)
Treatment options are based on the disorder’s stage, symptom severity and the patient’s preferences
The goals are to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, slow down the damaging process and help maintain/improve mobility in the affected joints
Exercise is recommended in the case of milder symptoms, while rest and less stress on the joints is recommended in a later stage of the disorder
Splints can be used to help support the affected joints and relieve pain and swelling
Medication: analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, DMARDS (disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs – used to slow down or stop the disease), biologic response modifiers (Etanercept, Infliximab, Anakinra, Rituximab, Abatacept, Tocilizumab, etc)
Surgery depends on the affected joint in the body: joint replacement (synthetic replacement for the shoulders, hips, knees), arthrodesis (ankle, wrists, toes, fingers; the joint is removed and the neighboring bones are fused together), synovectomy (the inflamed synoval tissue is removed)
Ankylosing spondylitis
Symptoms can appear years before actual bone growth and section fusion can be seen, thus an accurate diagnosis is often challenging
A three-part diagnosis protocol is used by doctors: reviewing the patient’s medical history, performing a physical examination and diagnostic tests such as blood tests, X-rays, CT scans and MRIs (used to see deformation or bone growth)
A general practitioner will evaluate a patient’s posture, assess flexibility and range of motion
Blood tests: C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) – reveal an inflammatory state; testing for the HLA-B27 gene (positive in 90% of the cases that develop ankylosing spondylitis)
Treatments only refer to symptom management and slowing the disease’s progression
Rest and activity periods must be balanced so that pain and other symptoms can be minimized; tai chi, yoga, swimming are recommended activities
Heat/warmth can be applied to ease stiffness or cold packs for swelling
Small changes in daily activities can also help: lifting easier weights, changing a workout routine – from running to swimming, taking more breaks (from a passive activity)
Medication: non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen, prescription drugs (celebrex, indomethacin, tolmetin, sulindac), corticosteroids injections, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) such as sulfasalazine and methotrexate, tumor-necrosis factor alpha blockers (these reduce TNF – a protein that triggers inflammation) such as etanercept, infliximab, adalimumab, golimumab
Support devices: lumbar supports such as special pillows, back braces, support mattresses, zero-gravity chairs
Surgery is an option only in severe cases
There are two types of surgery: joint replacement and osteotomy (surgical correction of the spine itself)
• Osteoarthritis:
Cracking your knuckles can cause osteoarthritis
Your diet and weight do not affect joints
Exercise should definitely be avoided in this case
Weather (damp, rainy) can cause osteoarthritis
Wearing high heels will almost certainly lead to osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis:
It is triggered by unhealthy eating, excess weight and stress
Having rheumatoid arthritis means that you will inevitably end up in a wheelchair
It only implies joint pain and damage
Some treatments can be more damaging than the disorder itself
Exercise should be avoided regardless of the disorder’s stage
Ankylosing spondylitis:
It is a very rare condition
It only affects your back
Lots of rest is recommended in this situation
It eventually leads to a fused spine no matter what you do
In the US, 13.9% of adults aged 25 years and older suffer from osteoarthritis
Over 2 million Americans suffer from rheumatoid arthritis
The HLA-DR4 gene that is associated with rheumatoid arthritis is found in around 67% of Caucasians
More than 200,000 Americans are affected by ankylosing spondylitis
Did you know?
Bee sting venom apparently reduces rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.
Dogs and cats can develop rheumatoid arthritis or other forms of arthritis.
Children can also be affected by rheumatoid arthritis. Usual occurrence: between 1 and 3 years old and 8 to 12 years old.
In ankylosing spondylitis, if the spine fuses in a “hunched forward” position, the heart and lungs can be affected.
Ankylosing spondylitits symptoms often minimize and even disappear with age.
Mick Mars (Motley Crue guitarist) suffers from ankylosing spondylitis. |
So Lab - BEAM Bioinstrumentation Engineering Analysis and Microscopy
Research in the So Lab
Two-photon Image Cytometry
A major direction we are pushing the application of two-photon microscopy (TPM) is in the area of image cytometry. As the name implies, image cytometry is an image-based study or measurement of cells. How image cytometry differs from normal microscopic studies of cells is that very large populations of cells (typically on the order of 104 to 108 cells) are imaged. To make this technically feasible on the two-photon microscope, high-speed imaging techniques are required.
We have previously developed a video-rate two-photon microscope that allows us to acquire images at speeds as high as 30 frames per second1. Below is a schematic of our video-rate microscope, which is based on a standard galvanometer scanner, combined with a high speed polygonal scanner.
When we combine this with a mechanical stage that can translate the sample over several centimeters it becomes possible to image large areas in reasonable amounts of time. Below is a composite image of a population of a genetically modified 3T3 cells, which have had two non-functional yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) cassettes inserted into their genome, and a smaller zoomed-in region:
The cells have been stained with the DNA stain Hoescht 3328. The upper image is a ratio image of the green and blue channel, while the two lower images are the separated green channel and blue channels. One of the main strengths of image cytometry is its ability to identify rare events in a population of cells. The above image shows a cell that is fluorescent yellow that has undergone a recombination event that has restored the fluorescence of the YFP gene. Since this recombination event is a very low probability event (1 cell in 105) a large number of cells must be imaged in order to find such an event. We can also segment the cells and classify them using a cluster plot:
One of the main strengths of TPM is its ability to image thick tissues specimens. This gives us the ability to perform image cytometry in thick 3D samples such as tissues. Below is a composite image of a ex vivo human skin sample 1 cm which has been imaged down to a depth of 70 microns. Thus it is possible to perform image cytometry on cells while they are still in their intact state, preserving many of their biochemical and mechanical inputs, and most importantly their native 3D morphology and its relation to the 3D architecture of the tissue. This provides a wealth of information about tissue biophysics and biology on macroscopic samples that has not been available before.
We are currently extending the capability of the instrument by increasing the scanning speed to make it comparable to processing rates found in flow cytometry, and combing histological sectioning to allow us to evaluate specimens that have an axial extent greater than the standard 200 - 500 micron limit in two-photon microscopy.
An important avenue that we are also pursing is the visualization and image analysis tools necessary to study these types of datasets. A typical dataset can generate tens of gigabytes of data, far too much for a human operator to manually classify. It becomes necessary to use automated segmentation procedures to classify the cell population into various sub-populations of biological interest.
We are currently working on developing the computer algorithms for studying these datasets.
Comments about this webpage? Email us! |
The most prevalent agricultural pests include rodents, moles, birds and flies. They can indirectly cause a loss of revenue for the farmer, either by the reduction of crop yields, contamination of foodstuffs with disease causing bacteria and / or the increase of veterinary costs caused by the transmission of diseases. Rodents can also cause structural damage to buildings and electrical farm equipment and increase fire risks.
We provide professional, reliable and safe pest control services for the agricultural sector. This not only includes eradication of existing infestations, but also advice on hygiene legislation, housekeeping, storage, harbourage reduction and proofing to prevent re-infestations of pests.
Rats and mice
Rodent numbers in an agricultural setting can quickly reach enormous proportions, when an abundance of food and harbourage sites are available. Grain that has been tainted by rodents is unsuitable for human consumption.
Moles not only present a trip hazard for rudiments and horses but contamination of haylage with soil from mole hills makes it less palatable for livestock and increases the risk of disease (i.e. listeriosis).
An abundance of flies not only causes intense distress to lifestock, but they can carry an array of diseases. Maggots can cause myiasis in sheep (invasion of living tissue).
google plus badgetwitterfacebooklinkedinYell Pest Control Wigan Bolton Preston Blackburn
Household garden pest control
Kitchen, commercial and restaurant pest control
Farmer Pest and Wildlife management
We cover the following districtsCoverage
card payments accepted |
Српски / Srpskohrvatski
The history of essential oils
... is inseparable from the history of herbal medicine.
As far back as 3000 B.C., the Egyptians used aromatic plants for medicinal and cosmetic purposes, as well as for the embalming of the deceased.
Hippocrates, venerated today as the father of medicine, cites a number of medicinal plants in his writings.
In the 10th century, Arabic physician Avicenna left us valuable written documents describing 800 plants and their effects on the human body. He is also credited with the development of the distillation process for essential oils. Today it seems more probable that he did not discover the process of distillation, but rather perfected it, for archaeologists have found primitive distillation equipment that dates from before his lifetime.
In the 12th century, the "Fragrances of Arabia" - in other words, essential oils - became famous in Europe.
In the 16th century, there were comprehensive plant catalogs and anyone who could read had access to recipes for oils, perfumed waters and other methods of treating plants.
In the 17th century, Nicholas Culpeper wrote passionate tirades against doctors who prescribed poisonous substances such as mercury; today's concern about the side effects of dangerous (allopathic) pharmaceuticals is, therefore, nothing new. The major witch burnings coincide with the emergence of chemical-therapy and were urged on as a consequence of establishment physicians' desire to suppress the knowledge of the "wise women", as well as by the church's desire to eradicate the heretics.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, chemists researched the active components of medicinal plants and identified many substances (e.g. caffeine, quinine, morphine, atropine). Though these do, indeed, play an important role, the search for isolated substances actually led away from the natural use of the whole plant. Essential oils continued to be used on the side, many remaining in the official pharmaceutical manuals until well into the 20th century, while a small number of them, such as lavender, peppermint and myrrh, are still used pharmaceutically today. More and more, however, they were replaced by synthetically produced medications, the majority of which were actually byproducts of coal-tar refining. This development accelerated in the second half of the 20th century, with the catastrophic consequences we are now well aware of.
In the Far East, especially in India and China, the use of plants for therapeutic purposes looks back on an unbroken, thousand-year-old tradition, in complete contrast to Europe, where we only now are beginning to rediscover this once almost lost knowledge.
What exactly are essential oils?
They are defined as fragrant, volatile products that are created from plants of a certain species by means of physical processes. Frequently they are described as the part of the plant that embodies its soul and concentrated power.
Often referred to as "ethereal" oils -
a term that clearly shows how highly these substances were once regarded. They are also known as "essences" or "herbal essences", for they are indeed the essence of the plant itself.
The fragrances are stored in different parts of the plant. The most precious and captivating are the
• petal oils such as rose, jasmine and Ylang Ylang. You also find them in the
• leaves as is the case with sage or thyme, in the
• roots as with vetiver, in the
• seeds as with angelica, in the
• wood such as sandalwood, in the
• bark as with cinnamon, in the
• resin as with myrrh, or in the
• outer skin of the fruit as with lemon and orange.
The most common way of extracting them is through distillation with steam. This process doesn't only deliver the best, purest products, it also achieves its goal in relatively easy and inexpensive fashion. In some cases, distillation does not achieve its desired success. This happens when the high temperature of the steam destroys sensitive odorants or the amount of the oil contained in the distilled materials is relatively small. Petals are often not suitable for steam distillation.
In order to produce the odorants, other processes are used that involve the use of volatile solvents (such as hexane or, more recently, carbon dioxide) or fat to extract the essential oils, or they can be absorbed into fat. The precise method depends on which plant is involved. Extraction with solvents is generally employed for mimosa or vanilla, while jasmine and tuberose are produced by means of enfleurage.
Probably the oldest method for extracting essential oils involves the ability of fats or fatty oils to absorb and hold fast the fragrant oils of plant petals. Many blossoms, such as jasmine, continue to produce essential oils even after being cut off, which in turn makes the yield far greater using this method. The sensitive, freshly plucked blossoms are pressed into a ca. 3 mm layer of fat, which had previously been spread across a glass plate. Again depending on the type of flower, they are left to stand for a length of time - 24 hours in the case of jasmine. After this time, the petals are removed, either knocked off or by hand, the fat layer then being reapplied. The process is repeated about 30 times, until the fat is saturated with the odorants. Alcohol is then used to reextract the essential oils from the fat, the result being a very high-quality oil.
Steam Distillation
In this process, we take advantage of the fact that steam from water removes the oil droplets from plants and carries them upwards. Distillation equipment consists of a large cylindrical vat, known as an alambic, into which the plants are added on a rack. The steam created at the bottom of the vat permeates the plants and carries a mixture of water and essential oil upwards. The vat is capped off by a special lid. The steam that collects beneath it, along with the essence, is transported away through a water-cooled, tapered tube into a collecting vessel.
In general, the essential oil is lighter than water and floats on the surface. There it is either siphoned off or separated using a florentine flask. The quality of the final product is often determined by the distillation process alone. If distilling is done at too high a temperature, the yield may well be higher, yet the quality is poorer and smokier.
In order to maintain good quality, distillation should be a slow process. Only this guarantees that as many plant components as possible are transferred over to the ultimate essential oil.
When it comes to citrus fruits, the essential oils are actually stored in the skin. The skin is cut into small pieces, mixed with some water and cold-pressed by a machine. The oil-water mixture is then separated out using a centrifuge.
Extraction with Chemical Solvents
Not until the beginning of this century did we begin using solvents to remove essential oils from plants. The plants are poured with substances such as acetone, petroleum ether or hydrocarbon derivatives. Separation is by means of distillation at specific temperatures, with the oil condensing while the solvent does not. We first obtain the creamy "concrete" and, after the concrete is dissolved in alcohol and double filtered, the relatively waxy and solvent-free aslolu. In this method, however, it is impossible to complete exclude the possibility of residual solvents. For aroma therapy, especially, it is much better to use oils extracted by steam distillation, in so far as they are available.
Extraction with Carbon Dioxide
This method has only been developed in recent years. The advantage is that the process takes place at relatively low temperatures, the odorants are almost completely preserved and the oil itself is free of residue. The disadvantage is that it requires high pressure of around 200 bar, along with high-tech and very expensive distilling equipment, which, in turn, comes with a high price tag.
Quality Criteria
When oxygen and light come into contact with essential oils, it reduces their shelf life. Consequently, the oils are generally stored in dark bottles with a dropper, thus minimizing the influx of light and oxygen.
On the other hand, it is possible to artificially age oils that are still unharmonious by opening the bottles. Within a matter of days, the sharpness disappears and you will have a wonderful oil.
If the oil is light and characterless from the very beginning, it will never become a good-quality product.
Most high-quality oils keep for 4 to 5 years if stored correctly (at temperatures as constant as possible).
The color and fragrance of the essential oils may also fluctuate slightly from year to year, depending on weather conditions, even if it comes from the same area of cultivation and the same distilling company. You don't always get the same quality every year. Poor crops, which happen time and again due to climate fluctuations, can immediately drive up the world-wide price for a particular oil.
The most important factor is that we have confidence and trust in a particular supplier of our essential oils. |
PFCs might last in the environment forever...
PFCs have become global pollutants in a short period of time.
They are found in remote islands, forests, and polar regions.
They are more persistent in the environment than PCBs and DDT.
They bioaccumulate.
They are toxic.
They are now found in every person tested.
U.S. residents have the world's highest PFC burdens.
Perfluorinated chemicals are popular for their non-stick and stain-repellant qualities.
The most recognizable are
Polytetrafluoroethylene PTFE, Teflon™
Perfluorooctanoic acid PFOA, C8
Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid PFOS
Nearly 100 PFCs are known.
These include manufacturing precursors, process intermediates, and breakdown products.
Examples are fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) and perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs or PFAs).
PFOS and PFOA receive the most attention.
PFCs have not been adequately studied in regards to toxicity.
Still, the following picture is emerging.
PFCs are especially toxic to developing fetuses and newborns.
The developmental neurotoxic effects of PFCs are similar to those reported for PCBs and PBDEs.
PFOA crosses the placenta unhindered into the fetus, and PFOS is only slightly hindered.
Other PFCs cross the placenta as well.
Some research suggests there is an interactive effect between maternal stress and prenatal exposure to PFCs.
The rate of neonatal survival corresponds to maternal PFC burden.
PFCs are now found in the cord blood of every newborn tested.
There is an association between cord serum concentration and low birth weight and size.
In some cases a deficit in postnatal weight gain becomes a wasting syndrome.
PFCs are teratogenic — prenatal exposure can result in miscarriage and birth defects.
Sometimes offspring are born with enlarged livers, under-developed lungs, or problems with vision.
Cancers may develop relatively early in life, especially liver and testicular.
A contaminated mother exposes her child first during gestation and then again while nursing.
PFCs can alter a mother's milk protein gene expression and stunt her daughter's mammary gland development.
Once inside the body, the half-life for excretion is roughly 4 years.
That means after 4 years only half is eliminated.
After 16 years more than 5% of the original exposure is still in the body.
But exposure happens daily.
That means people will carry PFC burdens for life.
Also, newborns have considerably less ability to eliminate PFCs.
So the most vulnerable population also retains the most.
To the extent that PFCs do deteriorate inside the body, the break down products appear to be more toxic.
PFCs are potent disruptors of gene expression.
A dose of 10 mg/kg per day — just 10 ppm — alters the expression of over 800 genes.
Many of these genes involve
Cell communication
Cell adhesion
Cell growth
Cell apoptosis (death)
Immune function
Hormone regulation
Transport and metabolism of lipids, particularly fatty acids
Adverse effects reported with PFCs can be traced back to these disruptions.
For instance, suppressed expression of cell adhesion proteins can result in changes to the cell membrane.
Membrane permeability is one of the effects seen when cells are exposed to PFCs.
PFCs cause immune system damage.
Pre-natal exposure to PFCs can cause deficits in innate and humoral immunity.
PFC exposure can increase allergic sensitivity to egg white.
It may increase the IgE response to environmental allergens in general.
PFCs disrupt digestive activity which also has a downstream effect on immune function.
Some of the most striking effects involve hormone regulation.
PFCs are endocrine disruptors.
Evidence suggest they may interface directly with estrogen receptors.
Observed effects include
• Incorrect differentiation between male and female during gestation
• Alterations in the physical structure of testes
• Increased estrogen and decreased testosterone — but early puberty in males and not females
• Changes in thyroid function
• Altered cholesterol levels
• Neuroendocrine disruption
In general, many toxics are lipophilic (fat loving) and are bound up in adipose (fat) tissue.
One curious effect of PFC exposure is the atrophy of adipose tissue.
Toxicants are released when fat cells degenerate.
This elevates the concentration of of toxicants circulating throughout the body.
Consequently, PFC exposure can trigger illnesses caused by toxicants other than itself.
PFCs are excitotoxic.
PFCs are neurotoxic to Purkinje (brain) cells.
Methylated forms of PFCs interfere with mitochondrial metabolism.
Observations include
The uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation
Changes in Ca2+ levels
Generation of reactive oxygen species
Oxidative damage
Induced apoptosis
Other effects have yet to be confirmed, but finding them will not be a huge surprise.
For instance, diabetes and certain forms of cancer are associated with derangement of the G-protein signaling pathways suppressed by PFCs.
Note that liver cancer, testicular cancer, and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumors have already been associated with PFCs.
PFCs are familiar by trade names such as
Stain Defender™
PFCs are used in a very broad range of products.
Many of the items off-gas the chemicals constantly.
Indoor air is filled with PFCs.
Airplanes coatings
Appliances curling irons
electric frying pans
hair dryers
hair straighteners
ironing board covers
range hoods
toaster ovens
Automotive bearings
engine parts
oil filters
paint protection
wiper blades
Building materials anti-corrosion agents
solar panel coatings
Cleaning products floor waxes
stain removers
stain repellents
toilet bowl cleaners
Clothing "stain resistant", "waterproof", "water repellant"
Electrical and electronic components computer chips
electrical tape
light bulbs
wire insulation
Food packaging candy wrappers
fast food containers
foil cooking liners
microwave popcorn bags
paper plates
pizza boxes
Fire protection extinguishers
Furniture baby layettes
patio furniture
soft furnishings
Kitchen utensils and gadgets especially nonstick cookware
Personal care anti-wrinkle creams and injections
dental floss
denture cleaners
medicine containers
nail color
nail hardener
nail polish
nail polish removers
prosthetic devices
razor blades
shaving creams
shaving foams
shaving gels
Pets bedding
Various camping equipment
eyeglasses with scratch-resistant lenses
gardening equipment
stadium roof coverings
surgical instruments
Pasta factories use non-stick dies to speed production and simplify cleaning.
The smoother the pasta, the more likely it was made on a PFC surface.
PFOS has been observed to enhance the toxicity of clophosphamide (CPP), a cancer drug similar to mustard gas.
Further research is required to discover additional synergistic toxicity between PFCs and other chemicals.
Wastewater plants are not designed to treat PFCs.
Neither are municipal drinking water treatment facilities.
The PFCs just stream right through.
Experiments show that reverse osmosis (RO) filtration is >99% effective at rejecting PFOS.
But RO is not considered a practical large scale solution for municipal water treatment plants.
Currently there are no successful solutions for water treatment facilities to remove PFCs.
PFOA and PFOS are not broken down by heat, light, or microbes.
Other PFCs can break down but most of them end up giving off PFOA or PFOS in the process.
For example, PTFE (Teflon) is a complex mixture of PFCs.
It releases toxic gases including PFOA when heated.
PFCs have been detected when cookware reaches 446°F (a medium heat).
Heated non-stick coatings have been reported to kill pet birds at 396°F.
That means toxic fumes begin releasing at even lower temperatures.
Humans can experience a severe flu-like illness named polymer fume fever.
Frequent use of non-stick cookware at high temperatures will cause the coating to breakdown quickly.
Dishwashing detergents can also accelerate the process.
All perfluorinated cookware is similarly hazardous regardless of the brand name or marketing claims.
The difference between brands stems from the proportion of PTFE blended with other materials.
3M began to phase out PFOS from its ScotchGaurd fabric protector and other products in 2000-2002.
In January 2006 DuPont and other companies volunteered to phase out the use of PFOA.
However, the target for withdrawal is 2015 and it is not binding.
The EPA has not added PFOA to its Toxics Release Inventory
It has no timetable for doing so.
To learn more about PFCs, consider these starting points |
A Study of the Revolution in Spain, 1936-1937
by Stuart Christie
In July 1936, the popular movement that contained the military and right-wing uprising in Spain triggered one of the most profound social revolutions of the twentieth century. The period that began on 19 July 1936 and ended in August 1937 with the destruction of the revolutionary AragÛn collectives by communist-led republican military forces was one of profound and extended freedom and democracy in the management of social life, work and the economy. The history of the Spain of 1936-7 demonstrates the fate of a revolution that attempted to create a genuinely autonomous society, but did not make a complete break with those bodies that are inherently given to control and manipulation - the state, the political parties and the unions. In other words, the Spanish anarchist movement of the time failed to clarify its radicalism and to pursue the logic of its principles. Why did this happen? How did the republican parties re-establish the authority both of the Catalan regional government and of the central government in Madrid? What brought about the ultimate ascendancy of the Communist Party under the premiership of Juan Negrin?
A key factor in understanding this is the slogan, 'First the war, then the revolution.' This phrase was cynical when it was used by not only by the republicans, socialists and communists, who never wanted a popular revolution anyway, but also by those anarchists who were so far removed from the people that they no longer identified with them.
More dangerously, though, the slogan was ingenuous when it was mouthed by many other, entirely committed anarchists, because it obscured the reality that a war is a very political phenomenon, and that how it is fought is determined by political alignments.
First published in Great Britain 1998 by The Meltzer Press, PO Box 35, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 2UX Fax: (01424) 442913, E-mail 100104.1406@Compuserve.Com
It is ingenuous to believe that the only possible anti-fascist front is one made among leaders at governmental level. Such a point of view sees efficiency in obedience, and fails to take account of the importance of the will to fight, which derives from what is being fought for. In fact, there were only three major victories by the republican side in the war: the original defeat of Franco's revolt, the defence of Madrid and the battle of Guadalajara. The first two were won by the spontaneous action of the people, by the committees and militias and through revolutionary enthusiasm, while even in the third, which came after revolutionary hopes began to die, political subversion of enemy troops played a decisive role.
The political decision to organise a hierarchical, traditional army placed political limitations on the way the war was fought. A war of movement was excluded. It would have required highly independent units. But in the war of positions that took place instead, the technical advantages of the Francoists were maximised and the main advantage of the anti-fascists - the fact that most of the population were anti-Franco - was lost. Political factors also entered into play very directly in another way: the fronts held predominantly by anarchist troops, such as in AragÛn, were starved of arms and ammunition, and the central front, where Stalinists ruled, was heavily supplied, even though it was less vulnerable and the fighting had moved elsewhere. This prevented the possibility of action in the north, which might have united the isolated republican region in the north-west (with its mining and industrial base) with the main area. But this would also have united revolutionary Asturias with revolutionary AragÛn and Catalonia.
There was much else also to be gained for the republican state in avoiding a dynamic approach. The prospect of a victory over fascism while the state was shaky and the revolutionary movement organised, active and armed could only strike fear into the hearts of the politicians. Thus not only were anarchist troops deliberately used in such a way as to decimate them, but there was an immense concentration of weaponry retained for repressive purposes in the rear while the fronts went without. This is a genuine irony given all the allegations by the Stalinists that weaponry was being hoarded in the rearguard by the revolutionaries. Competitive political interests at great cost dominated military planning. At the end of the war, lives continued to be wasted because hostilities were pointlessly prolonged for the sake of illusory diplomatic ends. The point here is not that victory would have been possible if these obstructions had been removed. The limitations of the revolution, already mentioned, would themselves have placed curbs on the military possibilities. The point is that the slogan 'First the war, then the revolution' was no innocent plea made from practical necessity. Instead, it was the most vital ideological weapon that the republican state and its restorers, including the 'leadership' of the CNT/FAI, possessed. Probably the most important element in the argument it represented was that of foreign policy.
Meltzer Press shall soon (2000) be publishing the first volume of the CNT (edited and anotated by Dr Chris Ealham), and it will be the most comprehensive and up-to-date commentary on the CNTand the anarchist role in the Spanish Civil war and revolution in the English language. We are looking for around £5,0000 to get the first issue of 1000 copies printed and bound so if anyone wants to contribute our postal details are below and our bank details are on the site - The Meltzer Press, PO Box 35, Hastings, East Sussex, TN 34 2UX
Britain and France, it held, would not supply arms or assist Spain diplomatically if there was any talk of revolution. However, the 'non-intervention' of the West soon showed itself to be a means of doing nothing to aid Spain, while allowing Germany and Italy relatively undisrupted intervention. Moreover, wisdom on this score was soon beside the point, for it was Stalin who the Spanish were reassuring by placating the international bourgeoisie, once Russian aid began to flow in September 1936. Stalin was out to suppress any true, autonomous revolution, and wanted to use Spain to achieve a western anti-fascist commitment. A counter-revolutionary policy served both these desires, and it was imposed both through the lever of aid and by Communist Party and secret police terrorism. Though the revolutionaries at least should have understood that the West was more anti-Russian than anti-fascist, the 'foreign policy' argument against revolution continued to be used even after Stalin started laying the basis for the Nazi-Soviet Pact and let aid to Spain drop.
For the sake of this deluded hope (which became an excuse for counter-revolution), real opportunities were lost, and the revolutionary gains for which the people fought so hard and sacrificed so much were reviled, eroded and subject to repression. The Italian anarchist Camillo Berneri wrote the following to Federica Montseny shortly before his murder during the Stalinist police terror of the May Days of 1937: 'The war in Spain, thus stripped of all new faith, of all ideas of social change, of all revolutionary greatness, of all universal meaning, is no more than a common war of national independence, which must be carried out to avoid the extermination which the world plutocracy has in mind. There remains the terrible question of life or death, but it is no longer a war to assure a new regime and a new humanity...' He added: 'The dilemma: war or revolution no longer has any meeting. The only dilemma is this one: either victory over Franco thanks to the revolutionary war, or defeat'.
The author wishes to thank Mark Hendy, Chris Ealham and Greg George for their invaluable input and comments during the drafting of this work.
Chapter 1 July 1936
Chapter 2 August 1936
Chapter 3 September 1936
Chapter 4 October 1936
Taken from the Meltzer Press site with permission of the author
To the Spanish Revolution archive |
US Navy aims to make jetfuel from seawater uranium
Vampire-lust tales will rot your brain
Analysis Coverage of recent US Navy research into producing jet fuel from CO2 and hydrogen has been widely reported under headlines such as "making jet fuel from seawater". The coverage illustrates not only declining modern understanding of science and technology, but also the sad eclipse of proper science fiction by vampire-lust fantasies.
The stories arise from a paper presented at the weekend by Robert Dorner and colleagues at the Naval Research Laboratory. According to the Navy boffins:
The impact CO2 is having on the environment has been thoroughly documented over the last years. Many different technologies have been proposed to reduce its impact on global warming such as geological sequestration. However, an interesting and attractive alternative would be the recycling of the gas into energy-rich molecules.
Dorner and Co have been working on mixing CO2 and hydrogen to produce light hydrocarbons which could then be processed into jet fuel. As jet fuel is rich in energy, doing this uses a lot of energy - and even then, a lot of the CO2 and hydrogen actually turns to methane. Methane can actually be a useful fuel, but not as useful as jetfuel - and as a waste product it's far more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide, being a hugely more powerful greenhouse gas.
But Dorner and his colleagues have managed to get the amount of methane produced down to 30 per cent or so, using special catalysts. The "sea water" bit comes from the fact that Dorner has also noted that there's a fair bit of CO2 in sea water, plus hydrogen too if you have even more energy to crack water molecules apart.
If you were interested in being green, and had a whole load of energy which you considered green and wanted to make liquid fuel with, you probably wouldn't bother harvesting your CO2 from the sea - you'd get it from coal power stations or other hydrocarbon-burning powerplant exhausts. Such ideas are already commonly touted among researchers.
Enormous amounts of cheap carbon-free power aren't normally to be had, however, which is why such ideas remain mainly notional.
They aren't quite as notional for the US Navy, however. That's because US Navy aircraft carriers have powerful nuclear reactors aboard, potentially able to supply large amounts of energy if the ship wasn't going at full speed and launching planes (the reactors power the catapults as well as the ship's props).
As a result the primary limiting factor on how long a US carrier can keep flying its planes is actually the amount of jet fuel it can carry. The reactor's uranium lasts for years.
Thus it would actually be useful if you could build a plant on a carrier which could scoop CO2 out of the water, crack hydrogen from it too, and combine these to top off the ship's jet-fuel tanks. The carrier would be able to keep dominating airspace without needing to break off and replenish its supplies so often.
That's how Dorner may have presented the ideas to his bosses at the navy lab, perhaps. But when speaking to people concerned primarily about the environment, it's generally seen as silly to start mentioning nuclear power.
But there aren't really any other options for processes like this. Making synthetic liquid hydrocarbon fuels always consumes a lot more energy than you could get by burning the fuel, so it's mostly witless to make them using fossil power. (The US military is interested in making jet fuel using coal, but this is merely because America has a lot of coal mines and potentially not enough oil wells. The Germans who developed such processes originally did so for similar reasons.)
Biting the hand that feeds IT © 1998–2017 |
Skip to main content
C++11 Performance tip: Update on when to use std::pow ?
A few days ago, I published a post comparing the performance of std::pow against direct multiplications. When not compiling with -ffast-math, direct multiplication was significantly faster than std::pow, around two orders of magnitude faster when comparing x * x * x and code:std::pow(x, 3). One comment that I've got was to test for which n is code:std::pow(x, n) becoming faster than multiplying in a loop. Since std::pow is using a special algorithm to perform the computation rather than be simply loop-based multiplications, there may be a point after which it's more interesting to use the algorithm rather than a loop. So I decided to do the tests. You can also find the result in the original article, which I've updated.
First, our pow function:
double my_pow(double x, size_t n){
double r = 1.0;
while(n > 0){
r *= x;
return r;
And now, let's see the performance. I've compiled my benchmark with GCC 4.9.3 and running on my old Sandy Bridge processor. Here are the results for 1000 calls to each functions:
We can see that between n=100 and n=110, std::pow(x, n) starts to be faster than my_pow(x, n). At this point, you should only use std::pow(x, n). Interestingly too, the time for std::pow(x, n) is decreasing. Let's see how is the performance with higher range of n:
We can see that the pow function time still remains stable while our loop-based pow function still increases linearly. At n=1000, std::pow is one order of magnitude faster than my_pow.
Overall, if you do not care much about extreme accuracy, you may consider using you own pow function for small-ish (integer) n values. After n=100, it becomes more interesting to use std::pow.
If you want more results on the subject, you take a look at the original article.
If you are interested in the code of this benchmark, it's available online: bench_pow_my_pow.cpp
Comments powered by Disqus |
Category Archives: Philosophy
Discussions on philosophy and religion
Aquinas on Imagination Part 2
A detailed look into translating imaginarius, imaginatio, and imaginativus from Aquinas Latin into equivalent English.
There is much more to these words than previously thought.
The etymologies of the words imaginarius, imaginatio and imaginativa have a rich history. These are words that have significantly evolved and its difficult to pinpoint the meaning during Aquinas’ period because the interpretations of these words are so diverse and no one author explains these words in similar fashion to another. There is also a problem of translating the equivalent from Latin. There is no corresponding English word that captures the nuance. It has been lost in the modern English vocabulary. The following authors demonstrate this difficulty. However, a common unity can be found from these and one should be able to build a proper framework for coming up with a solution that can create something in English that is similar.
The publication, Medieval Latin: an introduction and bibliographical guide, by Frank Anthony Carl Mantello and A. G. Rigg give the first good clue, “the sensus imaginativus, imagination, combines disparate sensory data to form arcane concepts (e.g., a purple cow).”(1)Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide
A second clue can be gleaned from the book, Sir Matthew Hale, 1609-1676: law, religion, and natural philosophy, by Alan Cromartie.
1. Simple apprehension of an object, which happens through the making of sensible images from objects percieved by sense. 2. The putting together of images which they call propositio imaginativa. 3. The putting together of propositions with a deduction or practical conclusion which they call discursus imaginativus and hense arises the appetite.(2)Sir Matthew Hale, 1609-1676: law, religion, and natural philosophy
A third definition can be found in the 1751 publication, “Thesavrvs lingvae Latinae compendiarivs or, A compendious dictionary of the Latin Tongue,” by Robert Ainsworth. It promotes imaginarius as to think or to invent.(3)Thesavrvs lingvae Latinae compendiarivs
A historical analysis on the subject is found on a math website by James Franklin, Diagrammatic Reasoning and Modelling in the Imagination: the Secret Weapons of the Scientific Revolution. Here he goes in detail through the history of observation which includes imagination. His portrait follows the same path as the other writers listed, and adds, “The western scholastics, following Avicenna, produced a very elaborate, and widely known, theory of the ‘inward wits’. It involved five internal faculties, including the ‘imagination’, which stored images, and the ‘phantasy’, (English ‘fancy’), which recombined them.”(4) Franklin then goes on to explain how this process has an inherent weakness and its contribution to the witch hunts.
The Middle English Dictionary by Hans Kurath, touted as “the most important modern reference work for Middle English studies,” gives some good illustrations.
He first of all demonstrates a general account of the concept by defining the word imaginacioun which comes from Old French.:
” (a) Phil. The faculty of forming mental images from sense data and of retaining them either immediately or when recalled from memory; (b) more narrowly; the faculty of receiving images from the commune wit [i.e., communis sensus…] and of retaining them; (c) the power of forming mental images of things not experience, e.g. of future or past events, of spirits, etc.; also, the location of the images so formed; (d) an image or thought resulting from the operation of this faculty; (e) the operation of this faculty.(5)Middle English Dictionary
Imaginativus is the:
“Employing mental images; vertu ~ the ability to form and retain images formed from data supplied to the senses or the communis sensus; also, the faculty of combining images into composites having no correspondence in external phenomena…”(6)IBID Middle English Dictionary
Then he went to explain what Imaginarius is:
“Existing in the imagination only,” such as when one is sleeping or awake and has an epiphany.(7)IBID Middle English Dictionary
It must be noted that Hans Kurath supplies a much more developed doctrine after the time of Aquinas. Aquinas had a more primitive version.
Imaginativus is only used once by Aquinas in the small amount of passages that I have translated on I Corinthians and it is a colloquialism. It is found written as, “virtus imaginativa,” which many medieval writers used as a synonym or alternative to imaginatio.(8)
Finding a definition for Imaginatio. Robyn Neville, author of Monastic Imagination? A Pedagogical Reflection believed this word to mean the processing of the information that was collected inside the mind. He also stressed that Aquinas usage of of imaginatio was a synonym to phantasm.
“Thomas Aquinas’ theory of imagination was indebted in large part to Augustine, but also to the scholastic thinkers, whose work he attempted to synthesize. In particular, Thomas understood the imaginative power to function not only in the creative production of images, but also in the analysis of creative possibilities that the senses alone cannot perceive. For Thomas, imagination (which Thomas terms both phantasia and imaginatio) was a “storehouse” in which to incorporate and recall sense data, as part of the system that processed information.”(9)
Denis L. Sepper wrote in his, Descarte’s Imagination: Proportion, Images and the Activity of Thinking, that imagination is a “name traditionally given to one of the powers of the mind enumerated in so-called faculty psychologies.”(10) Descarte’s Imagination Pg. 13 He went on to describe imagination is the “the power or habit by virtue of which images are formed in us, is a power of discrimination, it is nevertheless different from other discriminating powers, like the external senses and common sense, because it does not require the presence of an object, although it does depend on the previous activity of these (i.e., if one has never sensed anything, one cannot have images). Because imaginings are not inherently true, imagination must also be differentiated from the cognitive faculties that are always true, like knowledge and intellection. “(11)Descarte’s Imagination Pg. 17.
It has been found only once where Aquinas used the word phantasm in the chapters translated so far which is typically used to bring meaning to a mental image. This would not be surprising to Neville who wrote that phantasm was becoming antiquated and was in the process of being replaced by imaginatio. However, this does not appear to be a strict case with Aquinas. Phantasm was not necessary in his prophetic framework. Although he does briefly use the word imaginatio in the passages translated so far, Interpretatio is the more common word used. A prophet can have a mental multidimensional-image, and has the ability to interpret them, while a tongues speaker may have the ability to speak from a one dimensional-image, but not always has the ability to interpret. Thus, he considered prophecy a higher office because of this. Interpretatio is typically the equivalent of phantasm/imaginatio in Aquinas’ lectures in I Corinthians.
This whole concept is taken to a new level by John F. Wippel in his book, The metaphysical thought of Thomas Aquinas:
“According to Aquinas’s general theory of knowledge, however, other steps are required for this to happen. Still at the level of the internal senses, another internal sense power will produce an image or likeness in which the form of the external object, as appropriately distinguished and organized by the common sense, is preserved. This likeness is known as a phantasm and is produced by the internal sense known as the imagination. This phantasm in turn is submitted to the light of the intellect’s active or abstractive power, the agent intellect, which abstracts the potentially intelligible content contained therein from its individuating conditions and renders it actually intelligible. This abstracted intelligible content in turn is impressed on the other intellective power, the possible intellect (intellectus possibilis), and is grasped or apprehended by it. At this point one will have arrived at some kind of general or universal knowledge of the whatness or quiddity of the thing in question, though one will not yet know it intellectually as this thing, or as an individual.”(12)The Metaphysical Thought of Thomas Aquinas Page 37
With all this information at hand, it explains what Aquinas meant by these key-words. Imaginativus and Imaginatio is about making a mindful observation from seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, spiritual illumination or the combination of these.
Imaginarius is about the actual images stored in the mind whether derived from the senses or created internally. It does not mean that the person understood or brought together this image into a cohesive definition.
Another way of describing it is as a contemporary database structure. Contemporary databases are typically linear, whereas what Aquinas described contains data stored in the mind as a multidimensional-image, a format that contains visual, touch, smell, spirit and hearing data. Imaginarius is a row of data that are neutral to any other data outside its primary key. It is stateless, neither true or false. Imaginatio is a view that connects the primary and foreign keys, uniting certain bits of information together to bring structure and meaning for a specific purpose.
A third aspect must be explained and that is the role of the intellect and how it differs from imaginatio. Imaginatio refers to an object. For example a dog is composed of a number of physical traits, four legs, wet nose, a distinct bark, smooth fur, and a tail (these traits are derived from the imaginarius). Imaginatio recognizes that these traits combined together defines it as a dog object. Intellectus is an abstraction layer that goes beyond objects, for example, “Lassie the Dog may be treated as a Dog much of the time, a Collie when necessary to access Collie specific attributes or behaviors, and as an Animal (perhaps the parent class of Dog) when counting Timmy’s pets.”(13) It speaks about the idea, or concept of a dog and how it applies in a given situation.
The big difference between Aquinas and the modern English usage of imagination is with the concept of reality. Imagination according to Aquinas was the mental snapshot of things that would lead to understanding and solutions, whereas the modern mind equivocates imagination as those things created by the mind which are illusory and have no meaning for real-world situations. Also, Aquinas, along with Medieval writers added the spiritual dimension as a valid sense which they believed had both positive and negative attributes, which today is rejected by most contemporary western minds.
For translating purposes the definition is too long. Seeing with the mind’s eye is a shorter alternative, but it is still too bulky. Wikipedia takes the definition of mind’s eye and reduces it to visualization, “The phrase “mind’s eye” refers to the human ability for visualization, i.e., for the experiencing of visual mental imagery; in other words, one’s ability to “see” things with the mind.”(14) Visualization still brings some baggage in the English language but not so much as imagination does. Visualization still feels too clinical. Mind’s eye seems closer to his intent.
With all this information now processed, the semantic range of these difficult adjectives can mean mental image, pictorial, seeing with the mind’s eye, mind’s eye, and visualization. Database terms such as tuple, row, and view could also be valid and is actually my personal preference but would fail the general reader in many cases. Pictorial seems out-of-place with the others and does not give the full nuance, but when combined with visiones it makes good sense.
Now that the definitions have been established, here is an example from Aquinas Lectures on I Corinthians, chapter 14, 1C3 (Reportationes 088, R1C cp. 14, 1C3 Pg. 388):
° spiritus meus, id est ratio mea, ° orat, id est dictat mihi quod ego loquar ea quae ad bonum sunt, sive verbis propriis sive aliorum sanctorum. vel ° spiritus meus, id est virtus imaginativa, ° orat, inquantum voces seu similitudines corporalium sunt tantum in imaginatione absque hoc quod intelligantur ab intellectu; * et ideo subdit: ° mens autem mea, id est intellectus meus, ° sine fructu est, quia non intelligit. et ideo melius est in oratione prophetia seu interpretatio, quam donum linguarum.
Fabian Larcher has translated this piece as:
Or my spirit, i.e., my reason, prays, i.e., tells me that I should ask for things which are good, either in my own words or those of other saints. Or my spirit, i.e., the imagination, prays in the sense that words of the likenesses of bodily things are only in the imagination without being understood by the intellect. Therefore, he adds: but my mind, i.e., my intellect, is unfruitful, because it does not understand. Therefore, prophecy or interpretation is better in prayer than is the gift of tongues.(15) Pg. 174
The use of imagination here in Larcher’s translation does not represent Aquinas’ thoughts within this context. It demonstrates the need for a better alternative.
“Or “my spirit” that is my reasoning “prays,” which means [my reason] organizes in me so that I may frequently say those things that are for the purpose of good, whether by one’s own words or of the other holy ones. Or “my spirit” that is the viewpoint stored in the mind. “prays,” inasmuch if voices are the likeness of physical things only as a record [in the mind] separate from this which is being understood by the intellect. Therefore he adds, “but my mind,” that is my intellect, “is without fruit,” because he does not understand and therefore prophecy or interpretation is better than the gift of tongues.”
What does Aquinas mean here? The viewpoint stored in the mind, and the actual record of an event, circumstance, or thought remains unprocessed. It is a stored piece of data that has been given no meaning. Tongues remains in the realm of simply dealing with unprocessed data. Prophecy or interpretation is a much better tool because it takes the data and makes sense of it.
References [ + ]
Death, Religion and the Modern Man
A look at death from contemporary, religious, philosophical, and personal perspectives.
Death is the one question that modern science still has yet to answer in the most preliminary way. Religion answers questions about death, but this is largely ignored. Philosophy touches on the subject, but this falls short.
In modern western society, our thoughts on the subject are so thoroughly deficient, that we are not only unprepared, we emotionally flee.
It also produces many outcomes in the modern mind which are mainly on the subconscious level.
The fear of death highly influences our emotions and decision-making. Ernest Becker, contributor to the publication, Death: Current Perspectives, would prefer to use the word terror instead. Terror demonstrates how tightly gripped the subject of death is in all our decision making, and is not restricted by ethnic or socio-economic boundaries.(1) Edwin S. Schneidman, Ph.D., ed. Death: Current Perspectives, 3rd ed. NP: Mayfield Publishing Company. 1984. pg. 18
The fear of death is followed by the avoidance of death. David Gordon, author of Overcoming the Fear of Death, believes that avoidance permeates our lives.
“Our lives are poisoned by a fear of death, and much of our culture represents a response, however inadequate, to this fear. Most of us are afraid to contemplate our own ending, and when anything reminds us that we too shall die, we flee and turn our thoughts to happier matters.”(2) David Cole Gordon, Overcoming the Fear of Death. New York: The Macmillan Company. 1970. pg. 13
This dreadfulness is directly responsible for many mental illnesses. Noted Psychoanalyst Gregory Zilboorg remarks:
“No one is free of the fear of death… the anxiety, neuroses, the various phobic states, even a considerably number of depressive suicidal states and many schizophrenias amply demonstrate that ever present fear of death.”(3) IBID pg. 18
It has built some of the greatest monuments, produced incredible works of art, powerful works of literature, and marvels of engineering. The late controversial philosopher, writer, and political activist Arthur Koestler observed: “If the word death were absent from our vocabulary, our great works of literature would have remained unwritten, pyramids and cathedrals would not exist”.(4)
Our anxiety is so great that even the words death,, or died is avoided. A study of any newspaper on any given day demonstrates this. For example, my local newspaper, the Winnipeg Free Press’s November 25th, 2007, Obituary section lists seventeen notices with only four that included the words ‘died’, or ‘death’. The dominant words were ‘passing’, or ‘passing away’. This weakened version of death takes away the significance of the event.
One of our greatest apprehensions about death is being buried alive. Edgar Allan Poe, the revered horror writer of the middle 1800s, was consumed by the this. In his popular short story, The Premature Burial, he worked on this fear and that the idea “should be forced to slumber”, otherwise “they will devour us”.(5) The Premature Burial: 1850, Although his works are fictional, they may be representative of his life and his unfortunate early demise.
This theme was also in his Cask of Amontillado, where one of the central characters was tricked and sealed in an ancient cave, forced to resign to the reality of death while still conscious — a powerful and scary metaphor that has been a classic horror story over the centuries.
Countless western philosophers have attempted to address the meaning and purpose of death, such as Martin Heidegger, who concluded in the mid-1900s, “It is only in full… awareness of our own mortality that life can take on any purposive meaning.”(6) Paul Whittle, ed. Philosophy: 100 Essential Thinkers. London: Arcturus Publishing Ltd. 2004. pg. 151 This becomes more clearly defined in the teachings of Albert Camus, who had a major influence on the hippie generation. Camus taught that life is absurd and meaningless; any attempt to understand it is futile. He urged readers to revolt against the meaninglessness of death. His idea of revolt is to be aware of the crushing fate that awaits us, “but without the resignation that accompanies it”.(7) IBID. Whittle. Pg. 155 It is a pessimistic outlook on life that basically teaches that life is unfair and sad, but we must make the best of what we have, even if one has to pretend.
Another popular contemporary writer during Camus’s time, Aldous Huxley promoted that one should, “Ignore death up to the last moment; then, when it can’t be ignored any longer, have yourself squirted full of morphia and shuffle off in a coma.”(8) Which he followed, writing to his attendants for LSD at the last moments of his life.(9) Death was an important part of his psyche, culminating in his final piece of literature entitled, Death and Shakespeare.
Jim Morrison, lead singer for the Doors, who named his band from the inspiration of Huxley’s book, The Doors of Perception, was influenced by Huxley and also author William Blake, who wrote that the “road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”(10) Morrison mysteriously died at the age of 27 due to heart failure — arguably his pursuit of happiness led to an over-indulgence in stimulants that cost him his life.
This representation of the 1960s promotes the idea that since death is inevitable, simply ignore this reality and live life to the utmost pleasure with few restrictions as possible because this is your one shot at life. This insatiable pursuit of happiness by Morrison and many contemporaries has been existent for at least 2,800 years. One of the first records of this wave of thought can found in writings as early as 800 BC. It was written in the Biblical book called Isaiah, “Let us eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die,”(11) Isaiah 22:13 which stressed the senselessness of life and any attempt to understand it was meaningless.
Ernest Hemingway, considered the heir apparent of Mark Twain as a literary American giant, based one of his foremost books, “The Sun also Rises”, from a reading of the 2,800 year old or so Book of Ecclesiastes. This book is found in the Bible. The unknown writer of Ecclesiastes parodied that all life lacked any meaning. Some book reviewers clearly correlate the analogy of Ecclesiastes with Hemingway’s philosophy on life:(12) a book review of the “Sun also Rises” by Michael JR Jose
Hemingway celebrated life in the same way, and when he was unable to enjoy life any longer due to physical limitations in his early sixties, committed suicide.
Specialists in the realm of death and dying believe that the anxiety of death is only one of several features concerning death. Death Attitudes Among Mid-Life Women as found in the Journal of Death and Dying, has it broken into seven categories, death as:
• a concern
• anticipation
• depression
• loss
• a physical reality
• denial
• and dimension of time.(14)OMEGA–Journal of Death and Dying
It correctly suggests that death is a complex subject. However, with the exception of the seventh category, they all relate to a form of anxiety and loss. It doesn’t go into the meaning or purpose of death itself.
Gregory Campbell III, has researched extensively on the subject and has observed some common trends:
“When analyzing the “over 50 death fear,” the students thought it was related to the fact they are so close to death the fear increases. The truth of the matter is the group of 30 to 50 year olds are the ones with the greatest fear of death. They have contributed their share of toil on the planet and now it is time for their reward (retirement, relaxation, etc.). To suddenly be confronted with death is a real tragedy. That is the responsible agent for the heightened fear. Also, as so aptly brought out in class, the individuals at this age oftentimes try for that one last fling in order to try to beat out the suddenly-realized approach of the end of their life. Men around the age of 40 may resort to affairs (to prove their vitality), major changes in lifestyle, daredevil acts, and other abrupt changes in behavior.”(15)
“…wherever or however death comes, Americans try to handle it with cool, efficient dispatch. Death in America is no longer a metaphysical mystery or a summons from the divine. Rather, it is an engineering problem for death’s managers—the physicians, morticians and statisticians in charge of supervising nature’s planned obsolescence. To the nation that devised the disposable diaper, the dead are only a bit more troublesome than other forms of human waste.”(16)IBID
“…People are now relying less upon religion and must now rely upon themselves for death explanations. If one takes the Heaven and Hell concept away people will concentrate on this life rather than the afterlife. The focus will become the avoidance of death which leads to the problem Americans have with it.”(17)IBID
These thoughts by Campbell reflect the important role of religion on the discussion of death. Most contemporary minds are unfamiliar with the fact that the traditional dominant western religions were formed and have evolved to resolve the tension of death and the afterlife. The next section deals with this aspect.
The Jewish writers, especially the Talmudic one provide the most detailed answers. Death is the strongest thing made by God and cannot be overcome.
“Ten strong things have been created in the world; a mountain is strong but iron can break it; iron is strong but fire can melt it; fire is strong but water can extinguish it; water is strong but clouds can bear it; clouds are strong but the wind can scatter them; wind is strong but the body can carry it (as breath); the body is strong but terror can break it; terror is strong but wine can drive it out; wine is strong but sleep can counteract it; death, however, is stronger than them all.”(18)A. Cohen, Everyman’s Talmud, New York: Shocken Books, 1975. (Reprint of the 1949 edition). Pg. 73. The quotation is taken from Baba Batra 10a
The Jewish Sages speculated on death and gave important details on life and the hereafter. Questions such as, “is death the opposite of life?”, “how shall the body be re-formed?” “Will the body be clothed or naked when it first rises?” “What old corpus material is required to allow for resurrection?” “Will the corporal defects in this world be transferred to the next world?” “Who will be resurrected?” These were discussed in-depth.
In reference to the existence of the afterlife, the ancient Jews believed that death was not considered the opposite or end of life. Ephraim E. Urbach, a reputable scholar on Jewish thought, claims that the Jewish sages thought death to be the narcotinization of the power of life.(19)Ephraim E. Urbach. The Sages: Their Concepts and Beliefs. Trans. By Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: Magnes Press. 1979. Book I, pg. 216. See also Isaiah 14:9, 26:19, 53:5, 57:17, and Psalm 88:10 In other words death attempts to subjugate life to the lowest levels of existence but it does not have the ability to destroy it. A created life is a permanent entity.
The Talmud generally considered death to be an extreme enfeeblement of life, robbing life from most of its power. This is why the dead are sometimes called in Hebrew repha’im, that is, the weak.(20) IBID, The Sages: Their Concepts and Beliefs. Pg. 216
Repha’im is a Hebrew word used primarily for those who have a disease or ill and in need of healing, and sometimes utilized, especially in the 8th century BC, to describe death.
Going back to the first century and into the time of Christ’s time on earth, one finds that the word death is oddly replaced by the word sleep.
Christ described the state of a dead girl as “sleeping”(21)Matthew 9:24—which evoked laughter from the audience that surrounded Him. Whether the use of sleep as a reference to death was not used often, or the general public was not familiar with it, or the people understood the term but believed its application to be for the imagination, such as Mary, the brother of Lazarus, who asserted that she knew that her brother would be raised on the last day—a time and place outside her lifetime and senses. Mary did not have any comprehension that Christ could and would raise Lazarus immediately.
The Apostle Paul also used the word ‘sleep’ instead of dead. He tried to posture this against those who believe death to be the terminal end of existence, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.”(22) I Thessalonians 4:13
It is difficult to know why both Paul and Christ used the word sleep on numerous occasions instead of dead. This term confused even Christ’s followers when He discussed with them to go see Lazarus because he had “fallen asleep”. Christ had to further clarify His terminology and use the word “dead” in order for His disciples to understand.(23) See the Gospel of John, Chapter 11 for more info As previously stated, this phrase was newly coined to separate the thought of death as a terminal end than continued life in a weakened form. Perhaps the use of sleep was a Pharisaic distinctive that both Christ and Paul continued, or Paul had acquired directly from Christ’s teachings.
The Latin translators carefully captured this in their rendering of the controversial passage in Matthew 27:52 “and many of the bodies of the saints, who had fallen asleep”(24) Biblia Sacra: Vulgata Editionis. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons. ND. Pg. 23 referring to the death of others—sleep here is from dormio, which has the semantic range to not only mean sleep but also to be dormant, or inactive.
Any attempt to correlate sleep with death from a Talmudic perspective is difficult. The Talmud is quiet about the correlation of sleep and death in any significant way, only suggesting that sleep is a 1/60th experience of death.(25)IBID, The Sages: Their Concepts and Beliefs, Pg. 222
Jewish thought refrained from defining death using the Greek dualistic model, that man is mortal concerning his body and immortal in reference to the mind.(26)IBID, The Sages: Their Concepts and Beliefs, Pg. 222 Rather they preferred to believe that the soul, known in Hebrew as nepesh, is everything that a person is made of—the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. It is the complete product. Man has to await the resurrection on the last day to be restored to completeness.
One of the most difficult questions each one has to ask is, what happens when the body ceases to function? The best systematic literature at least from the Scripture can be found from Paul the Apostle, who outlined two stages of death and the hereafter. First, after one dies, there is a stasis: an incorporal static state awaiting the end of the world.
The second state is the resurrection from an inactive condition into a corporal being.
The time waiting between an incorporeal, unconscious state from death to resurrection, whether one day or a thousand years, may just feel momentary, as the dead are not governed by time.
This waiting state is a point of controversy within some theological circles, many theologians believe that when you die, there is no waiting time and you automatically begin the next life.
The Jewish writers, including those of the Bible, emphasize the resurrection of the dead over immortality of the soul. When we die, we temporarily remain in an inactive condition. We do not live in semi-form such as a ghost, or wander the earth as liberated spirit or go to another dimension.
The Jewish sages also discussed what dead bodily material should be available so that they will rise in the day of resurrection and believed it to be part of the spinal column named Luz.(27)IBID, Everyman’s Talmud, Pg. 363 It is unclear what part this exactly was but they thought it to be indestructible.
It is clear from the Sages that material from the original body is required for the resurrection.
One can speculate, similarly to the ancient Jewish sages, on how God will physically perform the resurrection. One could argue that the resurrection of the dead is the stimulation of a personal cell to reproduce and restore to its previous physical state. God, the ultimate scientist, only needs one cell to transform a person being from an inactive, weak state into a complete one again. Perhaps all our information about our physical selves and our thoughts are stored within the memory of each cell.
In the Bible, in an old writing called the Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel had a dream about this very concept.(28) Ezekiel 37 He saw himself in the midst of a valley of human bones. God asked him in the dream if these bones can live and then the bones proceeded to reconnect, and build layer upon layer back into human form. He saw an army of people that came back to life. The description here sounds like cloning or something above this technology.
But this seems to be an oversimplification of a very difficult and vexing question from a scientific perspective.
Part of the problem of death, and the lack of definition thereof, reflects our finiteness. If we could define it, then we have some sort of mastery over it. But the lack demonstrates that we have no control, nor any comprehension of this power. Even as an overt Christian with hope of the resurrection, the lack of definition and control over our final destination is scary. It is hard to imagine how those with no concept with the hereafter deal with this.
As King David wrote over 2,900 years ago “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me”(29) Psalm 23:4 This passage exudes some confidence but fear as well. The “valley of the shadow of death” is not a nice place. It demonstrates that pain, suffering and insecurity are not removed from the religious vernacular when referenced to dying, but a confidence that this is only temporary and we will pass through to a better place. Even Christ, moments before being led away and the events unfolded for His crucifixion, was in angst, and wanted to refuse such an outcome.(30) Matthew 26:39
Another factor about death is its timing and nature. None of us know when and how we are going to die. Insurance companies have given proven statistics that detail the odds of when the typical person should live and die but it is too general to be a guideline on every individual’s specific demise. Some will die very early in life, while others very long and some in-between. Death is entirely not consistent, predictable or fair in its arrival.
Death is often described as a special function carried out by an angel. It is called the Angel of Death. Many movies have been created that demonstrate a connection with the Angel of Death such as “Final Destination”—a movie which suggests some people’s responses could passively evade it. The actual words “Angel of Death” only appears similarly once in the Bible,(31) I Chronicles 21:15 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ὁ Θεὸς ἄγγελον εἰς ῾Ιερουσαλὴμ τοῦ ἐξολοθρεῦσαι αὐτήν (Septuagint) the other few times, it is a loose translation of the Greek word for destroyer, or slayer with no reference to angel.(32) I Cor 10:10, Hebrews 11:28 is ὀλοθρεύων The concept of the angel of death was probably evoked from a mystical-medieval-Christian legend.
Resurrection and oblivion has been in dispute for millenniums and societies have vacillated between these concepts throughout history. Israel during the time of Christ was deeply divided on the subject. On at least one occasion Jesus went out of his way intellectually to address it, “but regarding the fact that the dead rise again,” and then went on to say, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living…”(33) Mark 12:26-27 These quotes offer two observations. First of all that the community Jesus spoke to were not convinced about the hereafter, and secondly, death is a transitory state.
The Apostle Paul used the controversial concept of eternal life to his political advantage while appearing before a hostile judicial court, “I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!’(34)Acts 23:6 He knew that the Jewish assembly judging him was deeply divided on the subject and distracted them from his case. He succeeded and avoided prosecution. He also discussed the matter with the Roman Governor Festus, “Why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead?”(35)Acts 26:8 The Governor replied about this statement, combined with a number of other comments Paul had made, that he had gone mad.
Obviously the whole Christian religious movement is based on Jesus rising and having mastery over all elements of death.(36)Romans 6:9 The Apostle Paul not only passionately tried to reinforce the point that Christ rose from the dead but to assert this, he had to convince a contemporary and skeptical mindset that a hereafter even exists, “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless.”(37) I Corinthians 15:16-17
The reality is we all have to die. It is not a nice experience for anyone, whether religious or not. But what we do here on earth determines one’s future state. It is the biggest question we all have to answer and it cannot be avoided. Those who do not, risk missing out on something much better. ■
References [ + ]
Thomas Aquinas on the Prophet and “Imaginary Visions”
Imaginarias visiones routinely occurs in many of Aquinas’ writings, however, this discussion will concentrate on the usage in his Commentary of I Corinthians, Chapter 14:1-4. The actual discussion is based on the Latin as found in Robert Busa’s, S. Thomae Opera. Fromman-Holzboog, 1980. An identical online edition can be found at the Vatican’s website,
Here is one of the better examples of Aquinas’ use of imaginarias:
secundum ergo hos modos prophetiae, dicuntur aliqui diversis modis prophetae. aliquando enim aliquis dicitur propheta, qui habet omnia ista quatuor, scilicet quod videt imaginarias, et habet intelligentiam de eis, et audacter annuntiat aliis, et operatur miracula, * et de hoc dicitur num. xii, 6: si quis fuerit inter vos propheta, etc.. aliquando autem dicitur propheta ille, qui habet solas imaginarias visiones, sed tamen improprie et valde remote aliquando etiam dicitur propheta, qui habet intellectuale lumen ad explanandum etiam visiones imaginarias, sive sibi, sive alteri factas, vel ad expondendum dicta prophetarum, vel scripturas apostolorum.
Now here is an English translation by Fabian Larcher, who is considered one of the leading authorities on Aquinas:
“Therefore, according to these modes of prophecy some are called prophets in various ways. For sometimes one is called a prophet, because he possesses all four, namely, that he sees imaginary visions, and has an understanding of them and he boldly announces to others and he works miracles. Concerning such a one it says in Num. (12:6): “If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will appear to him in a dream, or will speak to him by means of a dream.
But sometimes one who has solely imaginary visions is called a prophet, but in an improper sense and very remotely so. Again, one is called a prophet, if he has the intellectual light to explain even imaginary visions made to himself or someone else, or for explaining the sayings of the prophets or the Scriptures of the apostles.”
Fabian left imaginarias visiones untranslated. This anglicization of a Latin word distorts the intention of Aquinas. Larcher demonstrates a real problem. If imaginarias visiones left unchanged does not represent Aquinas intent for the English reader, what alternative is there? This requires some further investigation. A good place to start is consulting an English dictionary.
The traditional definition, as found at Miriam Webster is:
The focus on Miriam Webster’s definition is a person’s perception of reality, not what really is true, which goes against the sense Aquinas meant. However, the portion about how the mental image or sense is stimulated is closer to Aquinas’ intent. In Aquinas’ case, he is referring to a deity or an external influence that has planted inside a person a mental image. There is no modern English equivalent that aligns to what Aquinas is attempting to explain, partially due to the fact that most modern readers assign divine or mystic illumination in the realm of legend. A better English word that would reflect Aquinas’ intention would be illumination, which correctly signals an outside influence. However, the modern English word, illumination is the prodigy from the Latin word illuminatio. This is frequently used in Latin literature and has a slightly different nuance than our modern English usage. It just causes more confusion. So illumination cannot be used.
If one searches the internet for a good definition, it is difficult to find. The majority of searches will direct one to readings of Aquinas’ actual texts with no variance in the English translations. They all read imaginary visions.
Teresa of Avila’s, The Interior Castle, has an editorial insert that provides some insight on how to understand it from a later Catholic perspective:
“AN IMAGINARY VISION OR LOCUTION is one where nothing is seen or heard by the senses of seeing or hearing, but where the same impression is received that would be produced upon the imagination by the senses if some real object were perceived by them. For, according to the Scholastics, the Imagination stands half-way between the senses and the intellect, receiving impressions from the former and transmitting them to the latter. This is the reason why imaginary Visions and Locutions are so dangerous that, according to St. Teresa, St. John of the Cross, and other spiritual writers, they should not only never be sought for, but as much as possible shunned and under all circumstances discountenanced. For the Imagination is closely connected with the Memory, so that it is frequently impossible to ascertain whether a Vision, etc., is not perhaps a semi-conscious or unconscious reproduction of scenes witnessed. It is here also that deception, wilful or unwilful, self-deception or deception by a higher agency, is to be feared. Hence the general rule that such Visions or Locutions should only be trusted upon the strongest grounds. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, (Summa theol. IIa IIæ, gu. 175, art. 3 ad q.) the visions of Isaias, St. John in the Apocalypse etc., were Imaginary.”
This definition is far from satisfactory. It does not define the word imagination for the English mind. It assumes the reader understands already its religious significance, which most do not. It also demonstrates a more formative doctrine has developed on the subject centuries later after the time of Aquinas.
The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought has one of the few concise definitions: “an inner picture observed by the mind’s eye” — though it once again does not indicate any role of the supernatural.
Evelyn Underhill described yet another definition in her book, Mysticism:
“. . . Imaginary Vision, as in “interior words,” there is again no sensorial hallucination. The self sees sharply and clearly, it is true : but is perfectly aware that it does so in virtue of its most precious organ – “that inward eye which is the bliss of solitude.” Imaginary Vision is the spontaneous and automatic activity of a power which all artists, all imaginative people, possess. So far as the machinery employed in it is concerned, there is little real difference except in degree between Wordsworth’s imaginary vision of the “dancing daffodils” and Suso’s of the dancing angels, who “though they leapt very high in the dance, did so without any lack of gracefulness.” Both are admirable examples of “passive imaginary vision” : though in the first case the visionary is aware that the picture seen is supplied by memory, whilst in the second it arises spontaneously like a dream form the subliminal region, and contains elements which may be attributed to love, belief, and direct intuition of truth.
Such passive imaginary vision-by which I mean spontaneous mental pictures at which the self looks, but in the action of which it does not participate. . .”
Underhill gives some good direction here. However, she is appraising such a definition from a clinical perspective, undervaluing the spiritual or the divine influence in the process. The author may be correct in the final analysis that the imaginary vision is self-derived, but to Aquinas and others it was perceived that this external influence was real. One cannot give meaning to Aquinas without this fact.
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas is more detailed in his analysis. He builds a larger framework concerning prophecy based on these key-words. However, once again, the word imagination fails to be properly qualified. It is assumed the reader understands its special semantic place in this teaching, which misses most modern minds.:
“Imaginary visions are produced in the imagination by God or by the angels when a person is either awake or asleep. According to the Gospel, St. Joseph was on several occasions supernaturally instructed in a dream. Although the divine origin of a dream may be difficult to discern, ordinarily when the soul seeks God sincerely, He makes Himself felt either by a feeling of profound peace, or by events that confirm the vision; thus in a dream a sinner may be warned of the urgent necessity of conversion.
A divine imaginary vision, granted while a person is awake, is almost always accompanied by at least partial ecstasy (for example, the momentary loss of sight) so that the soul may distinguish the interior apparition from external impressions; there is ecstasy also because a soul enraptured and united to God loses contact with external things. No perfect imaginary vision occurs without an intellectual vision, which makes the soul see and penetrate its meaning: for example, the former may concern the sacred humanity of Christ; the second, His divinity.
Imaginary visions should not be desired or asked of God any more than sensible visions; they are in no way necessary to holiness. The perfect spirit of faith and infused contemplation are of superior order and prepare the soul more immediately for divine union.(1)
It is clear from at least Aquinas’ Commentary on I Corinthians 14 that imaginary vision means a divine source speaking to man inside his mind through a picture narrative. It is a pictorial vision.
How would this then affect the translation noted above on I Corinthians 14 above? A modified Larcher translation should read like this:
But sometimes one who has solely pictorial visions is called a prophet, but in an improper sense and very remotely so. Again, one is called a prophet, if he has the intellectual light to explain even pictorial visions made to himself or someone else, or for explaining the sayings of the prophets or the Scriptures of the apostles.”
This is an important distinction that must be corrected in the English translations of Thomas Aquinas.
Aquinas devoted a significant amount of space for defining prophecy in the book of Corinthians. It clearly demonstrated that it was an important subject for faith and piety during the 13th century.
This is also a reasoned defense for my translation and commentary of Aquinas’ Lectures on I First Corinthians Chapters 13-14.
Aquinas’ work on prophecy is a piece of literature that has withstood the test of time. It remains a more advanced version than what modern Pentecostalism has so far developed.
Further investigation revealed a family of words used by Aquinas on prophecy. This is covered in the following article, Aquinas on Imagination: Part 2.
References [ + ] |
, ,
The malicious software of computer can arrive in various names like malware, spyware, viruses, Trojans, worms, etc. The name, spyware is used to denote every malicious software apart from viruses. The term Malware is also preferred as it is very descriptive. Given here is the description of a method for removal of Malware/Spyware.
Malware is equally worthy of protecting itself from getting destructed, so the very best way to get rid of it is not giving any scope to enter your system. The word Malware stands for malicious software that includes Trojan, spyware, adware, and other malicious programs. They can cover themselves as .exe program files, and they do not duplicate themselves inside the system. Thus to make your computer free from any of these infections, malware removal programs are necessary.
The Internet has made info extensively available,and it comes with its set of threats. Any exposed computer linked to the Internet is defenseless to infection. You can take the example of spyware it is designed in such a way that it secretly monitor a computer and Internet. It secretly gets installed on an unprotected computer and performs its activities in the background without the users’ knowledge. Spyware tracks your surfing habits, collect your personal and confidential information, such as email addresses, passwords, and credit card numbers. After that, the program passes this information via your Internet connection to its initiator. To get rid of this kind of problem you need to take the help of spyware removal program.
A computer affected by viruses have been a typical scenario to all computer users. If you suspect that you may have a computer has been affected with virus, please confirm it first by the common symptoms that computer is running slow, popping up with errors, random PC reboots, consistently displaying ads windows, or blue error screens, etc.You should take the help of virus removal programs available in the market.Select the best one and make your computer free of trouble. |
Gender Differences
Is this accurate? I don’t believe it is completely true. Yes we a biologically different but I don’t think gender makes a difference. I’m pretty sure I can find a man that can knit and I can find a woman that can operate a wrecking ball. Gender differences is such a hard topic because like the professor said we can’t assign someone a sex so how are gender difference really studied? There would be no controlled group in an experiment without being able to control the subject. I would like to see a man knitting as much as I would like to see women haul lumber. I don’t think our biological make-up gives us better trait for certain jobs. I think experience is what gives a person better trait.
One thought on “Gender Differences
1. This is a cute picture. Outside of cognitive psychology, I don’t think that sexes are equally. With certain jobs, it is hard for a woman to get because some might think a woman can not handle it or they prefer to work with a man. With some, women are not taking serious because they are not a man. For instance, when a woman goes and buy a car, a car dealer ship will try to take advantage of a woman and overcharge her because they figure that women do not know much about car prices or cars period. Nevertheless, this would not happen to a man.
Comments are closed. |
Back in 2010, when Benjamin Wiley, an assistant professor of chemistry at Duke University developed the water-based copper nanowire production process with his students, PhD candidate Aaron Rathmell and undergraduate Stephen Bergin, he said that once the clumping problem was solved, he believed the conductivity of the copper nanowires would match that of ITO and silver nanowires - an also expensive alternative to ITO. That belief appears to have now been borne out with a new technique that eliminates the clumping problem resulting in copper nanowire films that have the same properties as those currently used in electronic devices and solar cells.
The new technique organizes copper atoms in water to form long, thin, "non-clumped" nanowires that are then transformed into transparent conductive films and coated onto glass or plastic substrates. Unlike ITO films, which are generally created using a slow and expensive vapor disposition process, the copper nanowires could be coated in a roll-to-roll process as the new technique is water-based and the copper nanowires are flexible.
This flexibility also means copper nanowires could be used to build flexible electronics - another advantage over ITO films, which are fragile and lack flexibility. Whereas ITO films' structure break after just a few bends, the copper nanowires maintain their conductivity and form when bent back and forth 1,000 times.
But it's cost where the big gains lie. Indium is a rare earth element, costing as much as US$800 a kilogram, while the silver used to create inks containing silver nanowires that can serve as an alternative to ITO costs around $1,400 per kilogram. Compare this to copper, which costs around $9 a kilogram and it's easy to see why Wiley says the copper nanowires are a natural choice for use in the next generation of displays and solar cells.
Wiley says that, with continuing development, copper nanowires could be in screens and solar cells in the next few years, which could lead to lighter and more reliable displays and make solar energy more competitive with fossil fuels. He co-founded a company called NanoForge Corp in 2010 to manufacture copper wires for commercial purposes. The company received a US$45,000 North Carolina IDEA grant earlier this year for the refinement and scaling up of the manufacturing process of copper nanowires and is now filling orders.
The results of the Duke team's research showing the properties of the copper nanowires produced using the new technique is published online on September 23 in Advanced Materials. |
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Science Proves Keen Interest in Animals "Vestigial"
Well, not really.
But a conclusion to that effect was drawn from research published recently in the (online) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
From the story by Jeanna Bryner of LiveScience.com:
The research...reveals that humans today are hard-wired to pay attention to other people and animals much more so than non-living things, even if inanimate objects are the primary hazards for modern, urbanized folks.
'We're assuming that natural selection takes a long time to build anything
anew and that's why this is left over from our past,' said study team member Leda Cosmides, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).
Immersed in a rich, biotic environment, it would have been imperative for our ancestors to monitor both humans and non-human animals. Predators and prey took many different forms—lions, tigers and bears—and they changed often, so constant eyeballing was critical.
While the environment has changed since then, with high-rises emerging where forests once took root and pampered pets taking the place of stalking beasts, our instinct-driven attention has not followed suit.
'Having this pop-out attentional bias for animals is sort of a vestigial behavior,' said study team member Joshua New of Yale University's Perception and Cognition Lab.
New's conclusion is based on the measured speed and accuracy with with test subjects correctly identified changes to projected scenes of animate and inanimate objects: Subjects tested better at identifying changes when people and animals were present.
This study should surprise no one, not even "modern, urbanized people" in more danger from large cars than from large animals.
Certainly everyone in advertising knows that people stare at other people and at animals. How many commercials can you recall that don't feature either? Cutout ads for wheelbarrows and car tires can run without a smiling face or a puppy, but those are pricepoint appeals to the head. When the goal is basic, visceral reaction---heart and gut---smart ads feature emotive people and cuddly or cool-looking animals.
Consumers of great literature will concur. How many classic stories can you name with neither people nor animals in them? And how many have both?
The preponderance of people, plants and animals in other works of art is obvious. Isn't it, in fact, the absence of these familiar subjects that partly defines "abstract" art, and partly what makes it a challenge for many to enjoy?
Despite the curious conclusions of some, human interest in living things is hardly comparable to our appendix or coccyx---it is central to the human condition.
What else is there? Should we fall in love with buildings or keep telephones as pets?
Can we eat rocks?
No comments: |
Motorcyclists also Deserve Safe Roadways
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motorcylists are 35 times more likely to be involved in a serious traffic accident than drivers of cars. The main reason is obvious – motorcycles unlike cars, offer no physical protection to the rider in an accident. Motorcyclists must drive defensively in order to minimize the likelihood of a deadly collision. Putting aside accidents that are the fault of the motorcyclist, certain actions by car drivers pose serious danger to motorcyclists. One common cause of serious injuries to motorcyclists occurs when a car drive turns left into a driveway, usually a commercial driveway, without noticing the motorcycle going straight ahead from the opposite lane. In that situation, legal fault is almost always with the car driver, who must be aware of oncoming traffic before making the turn. Drivers who follow motorcycles too close are another significant hazard for motorcyclists, as are car drivers who pass the cyclist too close leaving little margin for error if the motorcycle or car swerves to avoid a road hazard or for any other reason.
The oft-heard advice to motorcyclists to wear helmets is sound. Helmet wearing cyclists are far less likely to die or to receive a severe head injury in a crash, than are helmetless riders. There is little data available on the effectiveness of the occasional signs cautioning motorists to watch for motorcycles, though they can do no harm. Given the increasing motorcycle use in the past two decades, perhaps driver awareness of motorcycles and how their visibility and movements differ from cars, should be part of basic driver education and license tests. For their part, motorcyclists would be wise to educate themselves about the types of actions by drivers that put motorcyclists most at risk. In the legal arena, there is undoubtedly some juror bias against motorcyclists. Still, a motorcyclist injured in a collision with a car should always pursue a legitimate claim. If the driver was at fault for a motorcyclists injuries, and the cyclist’s case is well-presented, an injured motorcyclist can gain justice in the courts.
Contact Us |
Diamond Aircraft
v1.0.0 / 01 mar 16 / greg goebel
* In the 1980s, an Austrian aircraft designer named Wolf Hoffman went into production with the "H36" two-seat motor glider, which proved popular. The H36 was followed by improved variants, and then the "D20" two-seat light airplane derived from it, the Hoffman firm having become "Diamond Aircraft" in the interim. The DA20 was followed by the "DA40" four-seater, and then the "DA42" twin-engine four-seater, with the DA42 proving notably popular in both civil and military roles. This document provides a history and description of the Diamond Aircraft family.
Diamond DA42
* The Diamond aviation firm of Austria traces its origins back to 1981, when aircraft designer Wolf Hoffman founded "Hoffman Flugzeugbau" in Friesach, Austria, to build his "H36 Dimona (Diamond)" motor glider, which Hoffman had flown the year before. It featured a fiberglass airframe, with side-by-side seating under a bubble canopy; wings that could fold for storage; airbrakes / lift dumpers above the wings; a tee tail; and fixed taildragger landing gear, with the main gear in spats.
Hoffman H36 Dimona
The H36 was powered by a flat-four air-cooled engine driving a two-bladed variable-pitch prop. Powerplant options including a Limbach L2000 EB1C engine providing 60 kW (80 hp); a Rotax 912A, providing 60 kW (80 hp); or a Limbach L2400 EB, providing 65 kW (87 hp); the engine drove a two-bladed variable-pitch prop. The original wingspan was 16 meters (52 feet 6 inches), though later variants would have longer spans, and gross weight was 770 kilograms (1,700 pounds). Production switched to a "Mark 2" in 1985, with 275 H36s built to end of manufacture in 1989.
The H36 proving succesful, the design was revamped by an engineer named Dieter Koehler, with the "HK36R Super Dimona" performing its initial flight in in October 1989. The HK36R had a modified fuselage and a carbon-fiber wing spar -- with the wingspan extended to 16.2 meters (53 feet 1 inch), or optionally to 17.6 meters (57 feet 8 inches). It was powered by a 60 kW (80 HP) Rotax 912A engine.
KH36TC Super Dimona
The HK36R led to a confusing range of follow-on variants, roughly as follows:
The Super Dimona was marketed as the "Katana Xtreme" -- a "katana" being a samurai sword -- in North America. During the period of development of the Dimona series of motor gliders, Hoffmann Flugzeugbau underwent a set of buyouts and changes of names, becoming "Hoffman Aircraft LTD", and then "HOAC AG" -- with headquarters ending up in Vienna, and a factory set up in Wiener Neustadt.
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
spec metric english
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
wingspan 16.33 meters 53 feet 7 inches
length 7.28 meters 23 feet 10 inches
wing area 15.3 sq_meters 164.7 sq feet
height 2.35 meters 7 feet 8 inches
empty weight 568 kilograms 1,252 pounds
gross weight 770 kilograms 1,697 pounds
cruise speed 260 KPH 160 MPH / 140 KT
service ceiling 5,000 meters 16,400 feet
range 920 kilometers 570 MI / 495 NMI
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
In 2008, Boeing flew a "Fuel Cell Demonstrator (FCD)" aircraft based on the Super Dimona, but with an electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Given the difficulties of producing and distributing hydrogen, that exercise went nowhere; more practically, in 2011, a "DA36 E-Star" hybrid aircraft took to the air, driven by a Siemens electric motor producing 70 kW (94 HP), with the power provided by a battery pack and an Austro Engines Wankel rotary motor, provided 30 kW (40 HP) to drive a generator. The objective was to cut fuel consumption and emissions by 25%. The Super Dimona remains in production, with over 900 sold to date.
* HOAC officials were encouraged by the success of the Super Dimona, and decided to develop a two-seat light aircraft based on it. The result, the "DV20-A1 Katana", performed its initial flight on 16 March 1991, and was certified in 1993. In 1992, HOAC had set up a manufacturing facility in London, Ontario, Canada, to serve the North American market, with the Katana being produced there as the "DA20-A1" -- for simplicity, this designation is preferred here. The Canadian operation, named "Diamond Aircraft", delivered its first DA20 in 1995. In 1996, time, the Austrian parent company took on the name of "Diamond Aircraft GMBH", which it still retains.
Diamond DA20 Katana
The DA20 Katana was, in effect, just a Super Dimona in fixed tricycle landing gear configuration with short wings, featuring winglets. The DA20-A1 was powered by a Rotax 912 engine providing 60 kW (80 HP), driving a two-bladed variable-pitch propeller -- from late in the decade, a re-engining program was offered to upgrade older Katanas with a 75 kW (100 HP) Rotax 912S engine.
The DA20-A1 was followed in 1998 by the "DA20-C1", the primary change being introduction of the Continental IO-240 flat-four air-cooled engine, providing 95 kW (125 HP). The more powerful and heavier engine required some internal re-arrangement of systems; a slightly increased wing sweep; and slotted flaps, instead of the simple hinged flaps of the DA20-A1.
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
spec metric english
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
wingspan 10.87 meters 35 feet 8 inches
length 7.16 meters 23 feet 6 inches
wing area 11.6 sq_meters 125 sq feet
height 2.18 meters 7 feet 2 inches
empty weight 528 kilograms 1,164 pounds
gross weight 800 kilograms 1,764 pounds
cruise speed 255 KPH 160 MPH / 140 KT
service ceiling 4,000 meters 13,100 feet
range 1,015 kilometers 630 MI / 545 NMI
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
There were several subvariants of the DA20-C1, including:
From 1999, the Aspen E1000 flight display or, for more money, Garmin G500 glass cockpit were offered as options for the DA20. The DA20 remains in production.
* The DA20 was followed later in the decade by the "DA40 Diamond Star", which was a four-seat aircraft derived from the DA20. Its general configuration was much like that of the DA40 -- composite construction, fixed tricycle landing gear, tee tail -- but it was about 50% heavier, and could be recognized by the substantially bigger cockpit. Flight controls remained conventional and manual, including flaps, ailerons, elevators, rudder, and pitch trimmers. Seating is in a 2 x 2 arrangement, with the canopy hinging forward to give access to the front seats, and an upward-hinged door to give access to the rear seats. Fuel was in a tank in each wing.
Initial flight of the first prototype, powered by a Rotax 914, was on 5 November 1997, being followed by a second prototype with a Continental IO-240, and a third with a Lycoming IO-360 flat-four air-cooled engine. The initial production variant, the "DA40-180", was powered by a Lycoming IO-360 M1A engine with 135 kW (180 HP), driving a three-bladed variable-pitch propeller from MT of Germany. Unlike the DA20, the DA40 was also kitted and qualified for instrument flight in low-visibility conditions.
In 2006, the DA40-180 was replaced by two new models, both of which featured small airframe tweaks acquired during production, the high-end "DA40 XL" and the low-end "DA40 FP". The DA40 XL improved performance by adding a "tuned" exhaust system, which reduced back pressure and improved engine efficiency. It didn't result in any increase in top horsepower, but it allowed the aircraft to sustain higher cruise horsepower, and provided an increment of maximum takeoff weight.
Diamond DA40
Other changes included winglets and a new MT three-bladed scimitar prop that was lighter and more efficient, as well as making a range of tweaks in kit. Elements of the DA40 XL could be retrofitted to the DA40-180. The Garmin G1000 glass cockpit was standard.
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
spec metric english
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
wingspan 11.9 meters 39 feet 2 inches
length 8.1 meters 26 feet 5 inches
wing area 13.5 sq_meters 145.3 sq feet
height 1.98 meters 6 feet 6 inches
empty weight 795 kilograms 1,755 pounds
MTO weight 1,198 kilograms 2,645 pounds
cruise speed 280 KPH 175 MPH / 150 KT
service ceiling 5,000 meters 16,400 feet
range 1,340 kilometers 830 MI / 720 NMI
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
The "DA40 FP" was fitted with a two-bladed fixed-pitch Sensenich prop, hence the "FP" suffix. It also was powered by an IO-360-A4M engine, which was carbureted instead of fuel-injected, and featured a low-price cockpit and trim fit.
The DA40 XL was quickly followed by the "DA40 XLS", which was more of the same, featuring a new canopy that provided more room; new "Platinum" interior and fancy trim; and a Garmin G1000 system with new bells and whistles, such as an engine-monitoring display. It led in 2013 to the "DA40 XLT", with an updated interior and more bells and whistles.
DA40 Garmin G1000 glass cockpit
The DA40 XLS was accompanied by the "DA40 CS", which was effectively a stripped-down DA40 XLS -- fitted with a two-bladed Hartzell constant-speed prop -- that could be selectively enhanced from a menu of options. The DA40 FP was discontinued; it appears the bare-bones fixed-pitch prop option wasn't popular.
From early on, the DA40 also featured a diesel-powered line, starting with the "DA40 D" AKA "DA40 TDI", powered by a Thielert Centurion TAE-125 engine providing 100 kW (135 HP), and a three-bladed MTV propeller. As discussed below, Thielert went broke, and so Diamond introduced the "DA40 NG", with an Austro Engines AE300 diesel, providing 125 kW (170 HP). A "DA40 Tundra Star" was also introduced, with the same powerplant, but ruggedized landing gear, larger low-pressure tires, and other optimizations for rough-field operation.
* The DA40 remains in production. Diamond developed a "DA50 Superstar" -- an enlarged DA40 with five seats -- with a prototype flying in 2007, powered by a Continental TSIOF-550 flat-four engine, featuring dual turbochargers and 260 kW (350 HP). Its dimensions were increased by about 7%, with a wingspan of 11.68 meters (38 feet 4 inches) and a length of 8.81 meters (28 feet 11 inches). It featured a pressurized cockpit, with an upward-hinged door on the left front -- replacing the forward-hinged canopy -- and upward-hinged doors on both sides of the rear.
The Superstar prototype was followed by a prototype of the "DA50 Magnum", with initial flight on 14 March 2008, the primary change being fit of the AE300 diesel. Due to the economic downturn and a temporary shift in focus, the DA50 was put on the back burner in 2009; however, it was revived, with certification expected in 2016. Tundra and trainer versions are expected to be offered.
However, what actually will happen remains a bit uncertain for the moment, since Diamond went on to develop a turboprop-powered version, the "DA50-JP7", the engine being an AI-450S turboprop from Motor Sich of the Ukraine, with 345 kW (450 HP). Initial flight was on 19 January 2015. It is unclear whether the diesel or turboprop variant -- or both of them -- will be certified. That matter should be clarified in the near future.
* Following up on the DA40, Diamond went on to a four-seat twin, the "DA42 Twin Star", which performed its initial flight on 9 December 2002, and was certified in 2004. The Twin Star features an elegant airframe, made largely of composite materials, and retractable tricycle landing gear. The wing features winglets; the tailfin is swept, with a forward fillet, and a ventral fin. All landing gear assemblies have single wheels, the nose gear retracting forward, the main gear hinging in from the wings toward the fuselage. The main wheels have no covers. There was talk of a floatplane version, but little evidence it ever happened.
The general seating and access configuration is as per the DA40. The cockpit features a roll bar. There's a baggage hold behind the rear seats and in the nose, with upward-hinged doors on each side of the nose. The DA42 features a Garmin G1000 glass cockpit as standard.
Diamond DA42 Twin Star
Originally, the DA42 was powered by twin Thielert Centurion diesel engines, driving MT three-bladed composite variable props, with the Lycoming IO-360 gasoline engine offered as an option. The original Thielert powerplant had 1.7 liters displacement and provided 100 kW (135 HP); it was later replaced by a 2-liter version, derated for the DA42 to the same power levels. However, Thielert went bankrupt in 2008; Diamond was already in a difficult position, the global recession that began in 2007 having squeezed the company. DA42 production was shut down for the time being, with many workers laid off.
The company decided to manufacture their own diesel engine, the "Austro Turbo (AE300)", with 125 kW (168 HP) and improved fuel economy, through the firm's Austro Engine GMBH spin-off. The aircraft was re-certified in 2009 as the "DA42 NG". Diamond has worked to reduce airframe weight of the DA42, while increasing maximum takeoff weight to provide more payload or endurance. Development is also underway for a fly-by-wire flight control system for the DA42 NG, the focus being on improvement of flight safety, with features such as flight envelope protection, automatic turbulence righting, auto-landing, and "bypass" flight control when the aircraft's control system is damaged.
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
spec metric english
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
wingspan 13.5 meters 44 feet 4 inches
length 8.56 meters 28 feet 1 inch
wing area 16.4 sq_meters 176.6 sq feet
height 2.5 meters 8 feet 2 inches
empty weight 1,430 kilograms 3,155 pounds
MTO weight 1,900 kilograms 4,190 pounds
cruise speed 275 KPH 170 MPH / 150 KT
service ceiling 5,485 meters 18,000 feet
take-off run 700 meters 2,300 feet
landing roll 570 meters 1,870 feet
range 1,695 kilometers 1,050 MI / 915 NMI
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
The newest version is the "DA42-VI", introduced in 2012, with aerodynamic improvements to enhance cruise speed, along with updated avionics and trim.
Diamond DA62 Twin Star
In 2013, Diamond unveiled a "DA52", later "DA62", derivative of the DA42, modified for five or seven seats. It is hard to distinguish from the DA42, but it is stretched about 7% -- with a wingspan of 14.5 meters (47 feet 7 inches) and a length of 9.19 meters (30 feet 2 inches) -- and of course has a completely redesigned cabin, much like that of the DA50, with three upward-hinged doors. It features uprated AE330 engines, with 135 kW (180 HP), to handle the increased takeoff weight. Initial deliveries are expected in 2016. Diamond has mentioned a turboprop derivative, presumably with the AI-450S.
* While the DA42 was designed for civil use, it has proven popular in military and paramilitary roles, and indeed the company is now heavily reliant on government orders. In 2005, Diamond -- working with Rheinmetall Defense Electronics GMBH -- flew a special mission demonstrator designated the "Optionally Piloted Surveillance & Reconnaissance System (OPALE)", with an undernose imager turret, a datalink system, and provision for drone operation.
The OPALE demonstrator led to the "DA42 Guardian Multi-Purpose Platform (MPP)". It features an engine "hushkit" and exhaust infrared suppressors, though the suppressors are mainly intended to prevent interference with sensors and not to foil heat-seeking missiles. The basic sensor is a laser scanner system linked to GPS; electro-optic or infrared sensors, or a synthetic-aperture radar (SAR), can be carried as well. Sensors are carried in the nose, which can be fitted with an undernose turret, or under the belly, a radar being often fitted in the belly position. Sensor data can be downloaded to a ground station via a datalink. The tailfin features inverted winglets, presumably to compensate for the aerodynamic interference of sensor payloads.
Diamond DA42 Guardian MPP
The aircraft can accommodate a pilot, copilot, and one or two sensor operators -- the number of crew depending to a degree on the weight of payload. An ocean surveillance configuration has also been promoted, equipped with a maritime search radar and a satcom datalink. A long-range fuel tank with 50% more capacity is offered as an option.
The DA42 MPP is being offered for both military and civilian users, with users able to install their own payload suites. The relatively low purchase and operating cost of the DA42 makes it attractive, particularly to military services on a budget; the fact that it is such a pretty aircraft can't hurt. The DA42 MPP has been obtained by Ghana, Niger, Thailand, Switzerland, and Ukraine. The British Royal Air Force leased two for surveillance in Iraq and Afghanistan during 2008:2009, and one was also used for surveillance of the London Olympics in 2012.
* Aeronautics Defense Systems of Israel has developed a drone version of the DA42 named the "Dominator 2", with a faired-over canopy and drone avionics systems, including an EO turret under the nose. Other payloads of up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds) are possible. Mission endurance is up to 28 hours.
ADS Dominator 2
The Chinese defense electronics firm CETC plans to introduce special-mission aircraft based on the MPP Guardian platform in 2016. CETC will offer Guardians with kit as per customer requirement, with at least four basic configurations:
CETC will produce the AE300 engines for the DA42s under license in China.
* As a footnote, in 2003 Diamond Aircraft announced that development had begun on a "very light jet (VLJ)" -- essentially a small business jet -- to be named the "Diamond D-Jet", with most of the work conducted at the Ontario facility. The effort was publicly announced in 2003, with initial flight on 18 April 2006.
The D-Jet was a low-wing aircraft of composite construction, the wing being moderately swept and with winglets, with a swept tailfin featuring a forward fin fillet, and a straight tee tailplane. It was powered by a Williams FJ33-4 turbofan, with 6.23 kN (635 kgp / 1,400 lbf) thrust, fed by inlets in the wing roots. It had tricycle landing gear, all gear assemblies with single wheels, the nose gear retracting forward, the main gear pivoting in the wings towards the fuselage.
There were seats for four passengers, along with a pilot, in a pressurized and climate-controlled cabin. There was a split door on the left front fuselage, the bottom half of the door acting as an airstair. There was a baggage hold in the rear, with a door on the left, and baggage storage in the nose, with doors on both sides. The D-Jet was fitted with a Garmin 1000 glass cockpit. Span was 11.43 meters (37 feet 6 inches), length was 10.69 meters (35 feet 1 inch), and empty weight was 1,175 kilograms (2,590 pounds). Cruise speed was 585 KPH (365 MPH / 315 KT), and range was 1,875 kilometers (1,165 miles / 1,010 NMI).
Diamond D-Jet 2
Trainer and drone derivatives were considered -- but due to the recession and other difficulties, the D-Jet program was suspended in 2011, with most of the staff laid off. Diamond executives say the program may be revived in the future; the revival of the DA50 after being put on ice gives some basis for hope that will happen.
* Most of the details in this document were obtained from various volumes of JANE'S ALL THE WORLD AIRCRAFT, from the online Wikipedia, and the Diamond website.
* Revision history:
v1.0.0 / 01 mar 16 / gvg |
Bandsaw machines are used in woodworking, machine shops, and to form cut. Bandsaw operation can also differ depending on the model used. Most applications associated with speed and blade control are relatively similar, though, and based primarily on the materials being cut.
The speed of the blade is expressed in surface feet per minute (SFPM).
The tooth pattern and blade speed required are determined by the texture, density, hardness, and porosity of the material being cut.
There are a variety of speeds available for bandsaw machines. They include fixed, variable pulley, infinite variable, and electronic drive.
The speed of the band is something that can be controlled and should be optimized for the material being cut in order to maximize cutting performance and blade life.
If the band speed is not right or too high, or when cutting hard metals, excessive heat is being produced and will result in shortened blade life.
Operators should make sure that the SFPM is optimum for the application to help avoid stripping of blade teeth.
The cutting edge of the blade (the blade face) governs blade speed.
For flexback saw blades, use the slowest cutting speed. For carbide saw blades, use the fastest cutting speed.
Calculating speed to SFPM is another of the processes a bandsaw operator needs to master, and here are two way in which to do that.
• Mark the band with a stripe or use the weld as a point guide
• Count the number of times that mark comes around in one minute
• Multiply that number by the length of the band in feet and inches
Example: using a 12′ 6″ saw blade length, the weld came around 14 times in a minute, so 12.5 x 14 = 175 SFPM
• Mark the idler wheel in the same manner
Example: if the mark came around 34 times, then multiply 3.1416 x 20” wheel and then divide by 12 = 178 SFPM.
Noise or vibration are the two leading causes of inaccurate cut and unsatisfactory output. If either present themselves during the cutting process, it is imperative that band speed be decreased.
Using coolant or cutting fluid during the cutting of extra hard materials is adequate. Be sure to adhere to the standard cutting chart band speeds provided by the bandsaw manufacturer.
If the cut is to be made dry, it is important to reduce the speed by 40-50 %.
• Hard Materials — set the blade for 100 SFPM to start (30 M / Min)
• Medium Materials — 200 SFPM to start (60 M / Min)
• Soft Materials — 300 SFPM to start (100 M / Min)
Then adjust the band speed as needed to obtain the desired results.
How to know if the right band speed is in use: look at the chips being produced from the cut material. Check their shape and color. The goal is to have thin, tightly curled chips that are warm to the touch. If they change from silver to golden brown, it means a forced cut is generating too much heat. Blue chips are an indication of extreme heat that will definitely minimize saw blade life.
|
The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
As a mathematician, my field of research rarely brings me into contact with controversial ethical topics. However, recent developments in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) threaten to alter the neutrality of my profession. AI refers to complex computer algorithms designed to act or mimic human behaviors such as learning or pattern recognition.
Like most technical buzzwords, AI has received more hype in recent years than it deserves (modern society is notorious for overplaying new technologies). Nonetheless, AI is a powerful new tool that will change the way humans learn, work and play. The technology also raises a host of ethical questions: “Can consciousness be replicated?”, “Do computers have the same rational capacity as humans?”, etc… As the field of AI develops, the faithful will look to the Church to provide clarity regarding this new technology. While the Church’s teaching will potentially strike controversy, it will ultimately be a light in the darkness for those who are seeking answers to the age-old question of what it means to be human in a fast changing technological world.
In early December, the Vatican hosted a conference entitled “Power and Limits of Artificial Intelligence” which brought together technical experts to discuss the emerging area of Artificial Intelligence. Members included the renowned author Stephen Hawking, as well as executives from Google, Facebook and other leading companies in AI development. The conference sought clarification of some of the ethical issues connected with new technologies that can replicate or even exceed human performance. In the words of the Conference, “Major research is underway in areas that define us as humans, such as language, symbol processing, one-shot learning, self-evaluation, confidence judgment, program induction, conceiving goals, and integrating existing modules into an overarching, multi-purpose intelligent architecture.”
A key topic the conference tackled was that of computers replacing humans in the workforce. Computers have been around for some time now, and the notion of automation is nothing new. For example, economies of scale make manufacturing cars at giant factories with cutting edge robots much more profitable than the traditional method of by-hand production. What is new is the idea that robots will replace not only so-called blue-collar jobs, but white-collar ones as well.
A study conducted by Citi and Oxford, released January 2016, predicts that 47% of jobs in the U.S. will be replaced by computer automation. Other countries will be hit harder, however, with a projected 87% of jobs being replaced in Ethiopia, 77% in China and 65% in Argentina. Rome is concerned about the humanitarian impact this loss of jobs will have on society. In the words of the Conference, “Unless channeled for public benefit, AI will soon raise important concerns for the economy and the stability of society. We are living in a drastic transition period where millions of jobs are being lost to computerized devices, with a resulting increase in income disparity and knowledge gaps. With AI in the hands of companies, the revenues of intelligence may no longer be redistributed equitably. With AI in the military, we may witness a new and costly arm race. While intelligent assistants may benefit adults and children alike, they also carry risks because their impact on the developing brain is unknown, and because people may lose motivation in areas where AI is superior.”
The Conference acknowledged deeper philosophical issues related to AI, but claimed that the technology is still nowhere near creating a computer replicating human rational functions. As Yann LeCun the first director of AI research at Facebook said, “Frankly these are questions that we are not worried about right now because we just don’t have the technology that’s anywhere near the kind of power that’s required. So these are philosophical discussions but not immediate problems.” For believers, some questions are easy to answer. Can a computer program be created with the same dignity as a person? The answer is no. Man is created in the image of God, and no snazzy algorithm will be able to truly replace the soul of man.
AI promises to be an incredibly useful tool that, if used properly, can enhance our lives tremendously. As the Conference stated in its closing remarks, “The value functions that AI is asked to optimize require special attention, as they may have unexpected biases or inhuman consequences. Just like crash tests for transportation, the passing of ethical and safety tests, evaluating for instance social impact or racial prejudice, could become a prerequisite to the release of AI software.” Ultimately, like any technological tool, AI is neutral; it is up to the human users to decide if it will be a force for good or for evil.
Apart from being a practicing Catholic, Patrick has a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from the University of New Mexico, and is a Master’s of Science candidate with a concentration in Statistics also at UNM. Patrick is a grant reader, and has taught introductory statistics. He also has professional experience in software development and computer modeling
Previous article
Next articleFell On A Black Day: A Reflection on Chris Cornell’s Suicide
Mr. Doherty is a mathematician and occasional writer. He lives in central New Mexico, where he is pursing a master’s in statistics. He is a member of the Albuquerque Historical Society and the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. In his free time, he enjoys jazz and watching old film noir movies |
Greenland Melting? Not so Fast, It’s Gaining Mass. So is Antarctica.
Greenland Ice Study
The treat of rising sea levels is link to land supported ice only, since floating fresh water ice has already displaced the sea water it floats on.
All of Greenland ice has the capacity to raise ocean levels 8 feet. But in reality the ice mass is at record level.
You have been lead to believe differently. Here is the daily and seasonal change in Surface Mass Budget giga-tons (Billion Metric Tons)
The blue areas show recent zone of ice buildup:
The ice sheet is melting only along the westerly and northerly margin.
NASA Study: Mass Gains of Antarctic Ice
Sheet Greater than Losses
According to the new analysis of satellite data, the Antarctic ice sheet showed a net gain of 112 billion tons of ice a year from 1992 to 2001. That net gain slowed to 82 billion tons of ice per year between 2003 and 2008. But contrary to the common news reports of Antarctica melting, it is gaining land supported ice, and therefore ocean levels are not in a run-away rise.
Sums are for all of Antarctica:
—-Credits: Jay Zwally/ Journal of Glaciology
Leave a Reply
|
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Interdependence of Literature, by
Georgina Pell Curtis
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Interdependence of Literature
Author: Georgina Pell Curtis
Posting Date: May 15, 2009 [EBook #3778]
Release Date: February, 2003
First Posted: September 4, 2001
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
Produced by Dianne Bean. HTML version by Al Haines.
B. Herder,
17 South Broadway, St. Louis, Mo.
and 68 Great Russell St., London, W.C.
Chicago, Ill., June, 1916.
Ancient Babylonian and Early Hebrew
The New Testament and the Greek Fathers
Heroic Poetry
Chivalrous and Romantic Literature of the Middle Ages
The Drama
Latin Literature and the Reformation
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Philosophy
And again in the seventeenth Psalm, he says:
Decimal cyphers originated in Hindostan.
A modern writer says of the Greeks:
'The queen was in her parlor,
Eating bread and honey.'
Corneille and Racine seem to consider his works real tragedy.
"'Tuned to please a peasant's ear
The harp a King had loved to hear."
Schlegel says of the Russian Nation:
In tragedy the French stand pre-eminent; but it is matter for regret that their subjects are never taken from their own nation—they rarely represent French heroes; and it is a weakness of their literature that they make no direct appeal to the national feeling. There is a close connection between the classical dramas of Racine and Corneille, and such works as Pope's Iliad, Addison's Cato and Dryden's Alexander's Feast, showing the general interest in Greek and Roman subjects during their time.
The older poetry of the chivalric period was entirely discarded, though it would have been possible to unite the old chivalric spirit, the freedom and romance of mediaeval times, with the later renaissance, as was done by other nations. The French literature is more closely formed on the model of the earlier refined nations of antiquity, as the Roman was on the Greek.
The later French poetry of the seventeenth century came into opposition with the teaching of Rousseau, this gave birth to a taste for English poetry and the classic poetry of France was a copy of the descriptive poetry of England. In the eighteenth century prose writings superseded verse. At this time the English had taken the lead in literature, and modern French philosophy was built on that of Bacon and Locke. It was no part of the plan of the English philosophers, however, to inculcate such ideas as the French philosophers drew from their writings. Bacon, who was profoundly Christian, believed that man alone was the type of God, and nature the work of God's hands; but the French leaders in philosophy went beyond this, they deified nature, and threw aside as mysticism whatever could not be proved by sense. Voltaire made use of all the wonderful greatness of science, as revealed by Bacon and Newton, not to exalt the Creator; but to lower man to the level of the brute. Like the old Greek sophists, who defended first one side of a question, and then the one diametrically opposed to it, Voltaire would write one book in favor of God, and another to deny Him; but it is not difficult to see which is his real belief. This perverted philosophy of Voltaire in turn reacted on the English mind, and particularly on history. We see its workings in both Gibbon and Hume. The "little philosophy" which "inclineth a man's mind to atheism," led the eighteenth century philosophers to fancy that Newton's discoveries meant that everything could be attained without religion, and that the only true and wide vision could be reached by the senses alone. They taught a pure materialism, to their own undoing; for it is not possible to thus lightly throw aside our great links with the past, in which both Christian and heathen, knowingly and unknowingly, in mediaeval poetry, in heroic ballad, and in Egyptian prose, testified to the existence of God.
The nineteenth century in France has been rich in dramatists, novelists, historians and poets, as well as in science and learning of all kinds; but it has had no especial power, or aim, and its opinions are constantly changing. The early novelists were strongly directed by the writings of Sir Walter Scott, while later ones have sought to imitate Victor Hugo and George Sand. The literature of this period has had no effect outside of France. Poetry has not risen any higher than Alfred de Musset; and any further greatness in French poetry must come from a revival of their own ancient poems and legends.
Poetry that deals only with the present becomes local, and in the end is influenced by the constant caprice and change of fashion instead of by the deep, heart-stirring beliefs of a strong and united people.
The first general language of Italy was the Latin, and so strongly was the Italian mind dominated by the influence of ancient Rome that her earliest writers sought to keep alive the Roman tradition. This spirit of freedom led to the establishment of the Italian Republics, and after the Lombard cities threw off the yoke of Frederick Barbarossa they turned their chief attention to education and literature. The spirit of chivalry and chivalric poetry never took such root in Italy as it did in other European countries. Nevertheless, Italy was not uninfluenced by the Crusades, and the Arabs, establishing a celebrated school of medicine at Salerno, gave a new impetus to the study of the classics. In Bologna was opened a school of jurisprudence, where Roman law was studied, and these schools, or universities soon appeared in other parts of Italy.
The Italians devoted more time to the study of law and history, and to making translations from the Greek philosophers, than to the cultivation of chivalric poetry, although many of the Italian poets wrote in Provencal and French; and Italian Troubadours made journeys to the European Courts.
It has been said that the only poetry that has any real power over a people is that which is written or composed in their own language. This is especially true of Italy. Following this early Latin period came Dante, the most glorious, and inventive of the Italian poets, and indeed one of the greatest masters of verse in the world. He perfected the Tuscan, or Florentine dialect, which was gradually becoming the literary language of Italy. Petrarch, who succeeded Dante, is greatest in his Italian poems, and it is by these that he is best known, while his Latin works, which he hoped would bring him fame, have been almost forgotten.
In the fifteenth century the use of the national language in literature entirely died out, through the rise of the Humanists, and the craze for Greek and Latin classics; but toward the end of the fifteenth century, under Lorenzo de'Medici and Leo X, interest in their own literature among the Italians began to revive again. Ariosto and Tasso wrote their magnificent epics; and once more Italian poetry was read and appreciated, and reached the height of its renown. Again in the seventeenth century it declined under the influence of the Marini school; whose bad taste and labored and bombastic style, was unfortunately imitated in both France and Spain. In the eighteenth century, under the patronage of Benedict XIV, the Arcadian poets of the Marini school were banished from literature, and other and more brilliant writers arose, possessed of the true national feeling. Under Pope Pius VI, by whom he was liberally patronized, Quirico Visconti undertook his "Pio Clementine Museum," and his "Greek and Roman Iconography," said to be the two greatest archaeological works of all ages.
With the rise of Napoleon, Italy was flooded with French writings, and French translations, not always of the best, and even the French language was used instead of the Italian. The Italian literature again suffered a decline, and it was not until after the treaty of Vienna in 1815 that the foreign influence was again shaken off. It will thus be seen that it was when Italian poets wrote in their own language that their greatest and most lasting success was attained. During the periods when a craze for imitating foreign works existed, the national languages deteriorated. In Germany, under the Emperor Maximilian, a crown was publicly bestowed on any poet who achieved success in Latin verse, while no reward or emolument was given to those who wrote in German. The religion of Humanism in Italy went to such lengths that many seemed to lose not only their belief but also their good sense, as they considered it vulgar to talk of the Deity in the language of the Bible. God was spoken of in the plural—gods. The Father was Jupiter, the Son, Apollo; and the Devil, Pluto; but these various errors had no lasting or far-reaching influence. The Divine Comedy, the most powerful and lifelike exponent of the thoughts and feelings of the age in which Dante lived—an allegory, written in the form of a vision, at a time when men believed that the things that are unseen are eternal—is the most perfect and magnificent monument of earthly love, refined and spiritualized, that has ever been written. It stands alone; for no man of any country, coming after Dante, has been able to write from the same motive, and in the same spirit, that he did. Petrarch, the next greatest after Dante, is chiefly celebrated for his lyrical poems, which were used as models by all the most celebrated poets of the South of Europe. They are written in two forms, the canzone taken from the Provencals, and the sonnet, taken from the Sicilians. Petrarch kept up a wide correspondence with the literary men of Europe; and through his influence a sort of literary republic arose which joined together the literati of many different countries. Boccaccio, next in rank to Petrarch, evolved a poetry consisting of Norman wit and Provencal love, joined to an elaborate setting of his own. He took Livy and Cicero for his models, and tried to combine ancient mythology with Christian history, the result being that his writings were not so fine as they would have been had they displayed a greater freedom a of style. His most celebrated work is the Decameron, the idea of which is taken from an old Hindu romance which was translated into Latin in the twelfth century. Most of these tales have also been found in the ancient French fabliaux, and while Boccaccio cannot be said to have really invented them, he did clothe them anew, and his tales in their turn have been translated into all the European languages.
It is due to Cosmo and Lorenzo de' Medici, and to Pope Leo X, that there was such a glorious development of the fine arts in the fifteenth century, an era whose benefits have been felt among the cultivated nations for over three hundred years.
At the same time Poliziano created the pastoral tragedy, which served to revive the study of Virgil. Other poets seizing on the old romance of the Trouveres, added to them an element of mockery, in place of the old religious belief. This new spirit was adopted by Ariosto. From the East he borrowed the magic and sorcery interwoven in the adventures of his knights and ladies, giants and magicians. It remained for Torquato Tasso to revive the heroic epic in his Jerusalem Delivered, in which he depicts the struggle between the Christians and Saracens. Neither the Siege of Trod, nor the Adventures of Aeneas could compare with the splendid dramatic element in Tasso's immortal poem, which has been said to combine the classic and the romantic style in a new and unusual degree.
In the sixteenth century Strapparola, an Italian novelist, wrote a number of fairy tales, which have been a treasure house for later writers, and to which we are indebted for Puss in Boots, Fortunio, and other stories which have now become familiar in the nursery lore of most modern nations. Bandello, in the same century, was a novelist from whom Shakespeare and other English dramatists have borrowed much material.
One thing which is peculiar to Italy, and which has found its way into nearly the whole civilized world, is Italian Opera or melodrama. It was an outcome of the Pastoral drama, and first took shape in 1594 under Rinuccini, a Florentine. But the true father of Italian opera is Metastasio, who flourished in the eighteenth century. He regarded opera as the national drama of Italy, and raised it to a plane that it has ever since retained; though of late years it has become more the fashion to cultivate German opera.
Germany, like the other Northern nations, had primitive war songs sung by the bards. Her mythology is akin to the Scandinavian, and like the latter she assigns a high place to women. Tacitus says: "It is believed that there is something holy and prophetic about them, and therefore the warriors neither despise their counsels nor disregard their responses."
This German paganism was eminently fanciful—it peopled the earth, air and sea with supernatural beings—the rivers had their Undines, the caverns their Gnomes, the woods their Sprites, and the ocean its Nixes. Besides these, there were a host of mythological figures—the Walkyres or bridal maidens, the river maids; and the white women, Hertha and Frigga. These legends have formed a rich treasure house from which later German authors have freely drawn for song or story. Before the Christian age Germany had no literature and the first national work that can be dignified by the name is a translation of the Bible into Moeso-Gothic by Ulphilas, a bishop of the Goths, in the fourth century A.D. This is a Catholic work that antedated Luther by a thousand years.
Bishop Ulphilas invented an alphabet of Runic, Greek and Roman letters, and this translation of the Bible remained the only literary monument of the Germans for four hundred years. The minstrel lays of this period were later collected by Charlemagne, of which two specimens have come down to us. Like the Icelandic, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian, old English, and old Saxon, they are in a measure called alliteration, that is, a repetition of the sound without the regular rhyme at the end of lines, or such as we call rhyme. This circumstance made Klopstock, at a later period, try to banish rhyme as not being correct according to ancient usage. One of these poems, the Hildebrand-lied, belongs to the time of Theodoric the Great. The songs collected by Charlemagne, were later remodelled and have come down to us as the Heldenbuch and the Nibelungen-lied. The intellectual light in Germany went out with the death of Charlemagne, except in the cloisters.
The Normans on the West and the Hungarians in the East menaced the country, and the only important literary work of the time is a poem written by a monk at the close of the ninth century. It is called "Ludwig's Lied;" and celebrates the triumph of Louis over the Normans. Roswitha, a nun in the tenth century, wrote some Christian dramas in Latin that are remarkable as coming from the pen of a woman in the Middle Ages.
The invasions of the Hungarians and Slavs in the eleventh century effectually prevented the blossoming of any literary effort, except for some poems known as the Lombard Cycle, in which the rude pagan legends of antiquity were blended with the dawnings of Christianity. But in 1138, when Conrad III became Emperor of Germany, his accession was followed by the Crusades, which spread a flame of enthusiasm and chivalry among the Germans.
In 1149 Conrad and Louis VII of France joined forces to lead a Crusade to the Holy Land, and thus the German and French nobility became intimately acquainted, and Provencal poetry soon began to have an effect on German literature.
Emperors and nobles held court and received their foreign guests with splendid display and hospitality. Poets and singers were welcomed, and the chivalric literature was soon taken up by the Suabian minstrels who became known as the Minnesingers.
From 1150 to 1300 was the golden age of Suabian literature and German chivalry. During this period numerous romances of chivalry were translated into German.
They have been divided into different classes, or cycles.
The first, and most ancient, have to do with Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Their origin is Anglo-Norman, and they were probably taken from old Welsh chronicles in an early age, and were known in Britain and Brittany before the poets began to put them in rhyme.
The most popular of these romances was the San Graal, or Holy Grail, a subject that has engaged some of the best poets of all countries. In this legend the Cup, which was supposed to have been used at the Last Supper, in some way is brought to Golgotha during the Crucifixion, and is used to preserve some of the blood that flows from Christ's side, when it is opened by the soldier's spear. Joseph of Arimathea is thought to have brought this precious Cup to Europe, and to have given it into the keeping of Sir Parsifal. Knowledge of its whereabouts was then lost, so that knights and heroes make it the object of long and fruitless quests.
The second cycle of romance has to do with Charlemagne, and is mostly in the form of translations from French literature.
The third, or classic cycle, relates to the great ones of ancient times, presented in the role of chivalry. These embrace stories of Alexander the Great, the Aeneid, and the Trojan war. During this period there were two classes of songs in Germany; the minstrelsy, most in favor with the nobility; and the old ballads, which were most popular with the people. The latter were gradually collected by different poets of the time, especially by Wolfram of Eschenbach and put into epic verse, in which form they have come down to us as the Heldenbuch (or book of heroes), and the Nibelungen-lied.
The Heldenbuch relates the deeds of Theodoric and Attila and the outpouring of the Goths into the Roman Empire. In the Nibelungen-lied the hero is Siegfried, the Achilles of the North, the embodiment of beauty, courage and virtue. The same personages are met with in these German legends, as in the Scandinavian mythology, only in the latter they take on a more godlike form. The German Brunhild, in the Scandinavian story becomes a Valkyriur.
The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries witnessed the decline of the romanticists, the loss of most of the Southern culture, and all the literature of this time is at a low ebb, partly owing to the wars of the Germans against the Huns.
The fourteenth century was productive of one class of literature that was common to all Europe; namely, simple and humorous fables and satires. "Reynard the Fox" was one of the earliest of these fables, and remained a great favorite with the Germans, being finally immortalized by Goethe. The same author has made us familiar with a personage who figures in an interesting legend of the fifteenth century. Doctor Faust, or Faustus, is a magician who by unlawful arts gains a mastery over nature. This legend became the foundation of a number of stories and dramas, and was put into verse by Christopher Marlowe, the English dramatist.
The end of the sixteenth century saw a craze for Latin in Germany. The national tongue was neglected and national poetry was translated into Latin verse. German poets wrote in the same classic language, and the university lectures were all delivered in the same tongue. The seventeenth century saw the Thirty Years' War, during which all literary activity was completely paralyzed, and in the course of these thirty years a whole generation, especially among the lower classes, had grown up unable either to read or write. But after the Treaty of Westphalia matters began to improve, and a desire to cultivate the native language awoke. In 1688 German superseded Latin in the universities. Novels were published; and about this time appeared a German translation of Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" that became very popular. Poets wrote plays in the style of Terence, or copied English models; and even in the present day the Germans recall with pride the fact that the Shakespearean plays were appreciated by them during and after the Elizabethan age much more than they were by the English Nation.
Science under Leibnitz also began to take shape in this century, while Opitz wrote operas in imitation of the Italian style; and translations from the Italian Marini came into vogue. In the eighteenth century arose the Saxonic and Swiss schools of literature, neither of which was devoted to national works. Gottsched, the founder and imitator of French standards in art and poetry, is known as the leader in the Saxonic school at Leipsic, and an advocate of classical poetry.
Bodmer cultivated the English style, and retired to Switzerland with his friends, where they founded the Swiss school. The English lyric and elegiac poets had a wonderful influence in Germany. The followers of this school who were, or pretended to be, poets, began to write "Seasons" in imitation of Thomson; and the novels of the time were full of shepherds and shepherdesses. The craze spread to France, where the French Court took up the fad of living in rustic lodges, and Marie Antoinette posed as a shepherdess tending sheep. Each of these poets had numerous followers, of whom Rambler is known as the German Horace.
Frederick the Great preferred French works, and no one seems to have thought of starting a German school except Klopstock, who stands almost alone in the literature of his time and country. A man of lofty ideals, he believed that Christianity on the one hand and Gothic mythology on the other, should be the chief elements in all new European poetry and inspiration. Had he been encouraged by the German Court he would have been as powerful for good in German literature during the eighteenth century, as Voltaire was powerful for evil in France. Wielland, a friend of Klopstock, and a romantic poet, might have been the German Ariosto had he not abandoned poetry for prose. He tried to copy the Greek, in which he failed to excel. During this conflict in Germany between the French and English school, German literature was much influenced by Macpherson's Ossian, and Scotch names are found in a great many German works of this period. The literature of Germany attained its highest beauty and finish in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and its people may well be proud of the splendid names that adorn that period. The Gottingen School, which embraced Goethe and Schiller, includes love, philosophy and the classics for its theme, with a touch of the bucolic, modelled after Virgil, as in the "Louise" of Voss. But it remained for the Romantic School, founded by Novalis, the two Schlegels and Tieck, to oppose the study of the classic antique on the ground that it killed all native originality and power. They turned to the Middle Ages, and drew from its rich stores all that was noblest and best. The lays of the Minnesingers were revived—the true German spirit was cultivated, and the romantic German imagination responded readily, so that during the dark period of the French invasion, the national feeling was preserved pure and untouched by means of these stirring and patriotic songs of the past.
About the same time as the advent of the Romanticists in Germany appeared Walpole's "Castle of Otranto" in England, which is supposed to belong to the same school of literature and to have been influenced by the German. Scott was also numbered in this class; and it is from these old German legends of the Minnesingers that Richard Wagner has drawn the material for Lohengrin, Parsifal, and others of his magnificent operas. In one department German scholars have attained a high standard, and that is as historians of ancient classical literature.
Their researches into the language, religion, philosophy, social economy, arts and sciences of ancient nations, has brought to light much for which the student of literature will always be their debtor.
It has been said that the literati of the Middle Ages—the monks and schoolmen—sought to keep the people in ignorance by writing in Latin. Those who so think can ill have studied the trend of events in Europe for several hundred years before the Reformation, or its bearing on literature.
Eighteenth century philosophy in France, Germany and England was a very different thing from the philosophy of the Ancients. The latter, says a profound German writer, "recognized in time and space an endless theatre for the display of the eternal, and of the living pulsation of eternal love. By the contemplation of such things, however imperfect, the natural, even the merely sensible man, was affected by a stupendous feeling of admiration, well calculated to prepare the way for religious thoughts. It extended and ennobled his soul to thus regard the past, present, and future."
French philosophy took its rise in the seventeenth century, but the philosophers of that age—Descartes, Bayle and others—assumed the soul of man to be the starting point in all investigations of physical science. The eighteenth century philosophers went a step further and rejected all idea of God and the soul. Voltaire, De Montesquieu, D'Holbach, D'Alembert, Diderot, Helvetius and the Abbe Raynal, are the chief minds who shaped the thought of France in the eighteenth century, and by their cynicism, sensuality, and contempt for law and order, helped to pave the war for the horrors of the French Revolution. What they offered to the world the lower classes could only grasp in its most material sense, and they wrested it indeed to their own, and to others, destruction.
Voltaire, Diderot, D'Holbach and their school in France, with Hume, Bolingbroke and Gibbon in England, formed a coterie whose desire it was to edit a vast encyclopaedia, giving the latest discoveries, in philosophy and science in particular, and in literature in general. These men became known as the Encyclopaedists, and their history is fully set forth by Condillac. They rejected all divine revelation and taught that all religious belief was the working of a disordered mind, and that physical sensibility is the origin of all our thoughts. Alternately gross or flippant, or else both, the French philosophers offered nothing pure or elevating in philosophic thought. Their teaching spread to England, where the philosophy of the eighteenth century, less gross than the French, is chiefly distinguished for being cold and indifferent, rather than actively opposed, to religion. Hume is a type of the class of thinkers whom we find uncertain and unworthy of confidence. The histories of Hume, Robertson and Gibbon are the offspring of this degraded material philosophy of the eighteenth century. They surpassed the histories of other nations in comprehensiveness and power, and became standard works in France and Germany, but in all of them we can trace a lack of true philosophy, due to the blighting influence of the eighteenth century skepticism; for, as the greatest minds, in which Christianity and science are blended, have agreed—"without some reasonable and due idea of the destiny and end of man, it is impossible to form just and consistent opinions on the progress of events, and the development and fortunes of nations. History stripped of philosophy becomes simply a lifeless heap of useless materials, without either inward unity, right purpose, or worthy result; while philosophy severed from history results in a disturbed existence of different sects, allied to formality."
The originator of English philosophy was John Locke, whose teachings were closely allied to the sensual philosophy of the French. It remained for the Scottish school under Thomas Reid to combat both the sensualistic philosophy of Voltaire and Locke, and the skepticism of Hume. Reid was a sincere lover of truth, a man of lofty character, and his philosophy, such as it is, is the purest that can be found, more akin to the profound reasoning of Plato.
In Italy, during the eighteenth century, the theory that experience is the only ground of knowledge, as taught by Locke and Condillac, gained some followers; but none of them were men of any great influence. Gallupi in the beginning of the nineteenth century endeavored to reform this philosophy; others took up his work, and the result was a change of thought similar to that brought about by Reid in England and Scotland.
The earlier German philosophers were influenced by the grosser forms of the science, as found in Locke and Helvetius. Leibnitz and Wolf taught pure Idealism, as did Bishop Berkeley in England. It remained for Kant to create a new era in modern philosophy. His system vas what has become known as the Rationalistic, or what we can know by pure reason. Kant was followed by Lessing, Herder, Hegel, Fichte, and a host of others.
These German philosophers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have had a powerful influence in shaping literature in England, France, Denmark, Sweden and America. The mystic and profound German mind has often been led astray; but its intellectual strength cannot be questioned. Schelling was the author of theories in philosophy that have been adopted and imitated by both Coleridge and Wordsworth, while Van Hartmann teaches that there is but one last principle of philosophy, known by Spinoza as substance, by Fichte as the absolute I., by Plato and Hegel as the absolute Idea, by Schopenhauer as Will, and by himself as a blind, impersonal, unconscious, all-pervading Will and Idea, independent of brain, and in its essence purely spiritual, and he taught that there could be no peace for man's heart or intellect until religion, philosophy and science were recognized as one root, stem and leaves all of the same living tree.
It is curious to trace how these various philosophies, recognized by Van Hartmann under different names to be one, can be merged into the sublime Christian philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, who taught that religion, philosophy and science were indeed one—root, stem and leaves of the one life-giving tree, which is God.
All that is deepest and most profound is to be found in this modern German philosophy, which is diametrically opposed to the flippant and sensual philosophy of the Voltarian school. However far the German philosophers are from true philosophy as seen in the light of Christian truth, they command a respect as earnest thinkers and workers, which it is impossible to accord the eighteenth century French school.
No country in the beginning owed so much to the language and literature of other nations as the English.
Anglo-Saxon, Latin, Norman-French, Cymric and Gaelic have all been moulded into its literature.
Three periods stand out in its history—the first beginning with the end of the Roman occupation, to the Norman conquest—this includes the literature of the Celtic, Latin and Anglo-Saxon tongues. The second from the Norman conquest to the time of Henry VIII, embracing the literature of the Norman-French, the Latin and Anglo-Saxon; the gradual evolution of the Anglo-Saxon into English; and the literature of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
The third period includes the Reformation, and the golden age of Elizabethan literature; followed by the Restoration, Revolution, and the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Another division is called the Old English, Early English, and Middle English. The latter was used by Chaucer, and with a little care in reading can readily be understood by any educated person at the present day, though it contains many words nationalized from the French. It is a curious fact that the Anglo-Saxons, who in the present day, through their descendants, the English, have the strongest national life and literature, cannot boast of such a treasure house of ancient literature as is possessed by the Irish and Welsh.
Ireland has its bardic songs and historical legends older than the ninth century, at which time appeared the "Psalter of Cashel," which has come down to the present day.
There are also prose chronicles, said to be the outcome of others of a still earlier period, and which give a contemporary history of the country in the Gaelic language of the fifth century. There is no other modern nation in Europe that can point to such a literary past. The Scotch Celts had early metrical verse, of which the Ossian, wherein is related the heroic deeds of Fingal, was supposed to have been sung by all the ancient Celtic bards. In the eighteenth century, Macpherson, a Scotchman, found some of these poems sung in the Highlands of Scotland; and, making a careful study of them, he translated all he could find from the Gaelic into English, and gave them to the world. At the time of publication, in 1762, their authenticity was questioned, and even at the present day scholars are divided in their opinion as to their genuineness. The literature of the Cymric Celts, the early inhabitants of Britain, has given us the glorious legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. All the bardic songs refer to this mighty prince, who resisted the Saxon invaders, and whose deeds were sung by all the Welsh Britons. Some of these people took refuge in France, and gradually the fame of their legends spread all over Europe, and were eagerly seized upon and rendered into song, by the chivalric poets of all countries. From these tales Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth century compiled a Latin historical work of Britain, while in later times Tennyson in England, and Richard Wagner in Germany, have made the deeds of Arthur and his Knights the theme of some of their most magnificent creations.
Other ancient Welsh writings are still extant, among them the Triads, which is a work that has come down from primitive times. It comprises a collection of historical and mythological maxims, traditions, theological doctrines, and rules for constructing verse.
The Mabinogi, or "Tales of Youth," are old Welsh romances similar to the Norse Sagas, which are supposed by critics to date from a very rude and early age.
The Anglo-Saxon is very different from these ancient literatures. It has no legends or romances, no national themes, and its early prose and verse were written more in the style of religious narrative, and to give practical information, than to amuse.
The poems of Beowulf, a thorough Norse Saga, embodies the doings of the Anglo-Saxons before they emigrated to England, and must have been written long before they set foot on English soil. Older than Beowulf is the lyric poem of Widsith, which has some historical interest as depicting the doings of kings, princes and warriors. It contains traces of the epic, which in Beowulf, whose English poem is next in point of time, is more markedly developed.
During the fifth and sixth centuries the Germanic tribes who emigrated to Britain brought with them a heathen literature. The oldest fragment now extant are the Hexenspruche and the Charms. They have elements of Christian teaching in them, which would seem to imply that the Church tried to give them a Christian setting. In some respects they resemble the old Sanskrit, and are supposed to be among the earliest examples of lyric poetry in England.
Alfred the Great improved the Anglo-Saxon prose and soon after his time a translation of the Bible in that language was made, forming the second known copy in a national language, the first being the Moeso-Gothic of Bishop Ulphilus. The Saxon Chronicles, dating from the time of Alfred to 1154 were copies of the Latin Chronicles kept in the monasteries.
The twelfth and thirteenth centuries saw the age of the Crusades, which added a new impulse to learning through the co-mingling of different races. French poetry was translated into English, which, in the thirteenth century, in its evolution from the Anglo-Saxon became a fixed language. Classical learning in this age was generally diffused through the schoolmen, of whom Lanfranc, Anselm, John of Salisbury, Duns Scotius, William of Malmesbury, and other great names of this period, mentioned elsewhere, are instances.
In the thirteenth century appeared also the Gesta Romanorum, a collection of fables, traditions, and various pictures of society, changing with the different countries that the stories dealt with. The romance of Apollonius in this collection gave Chaucer the plots for two or three of his tales, and furnished Cowers with the theme for most of his celebrated poem, the Confessio Amantis. This poem, in its turn, suggested to Shakespeare the outlines for his characters of Pericles, Prince of Tyre, and the Merchant of Venice. Other and less celebrated works are also taken from the Gesta Romanorum.
After the accession of the Norman kings of England, the chief literary works in England for two centuries are those of the Norman poets. Wace in the twelfth century wrote in French his "Brut d'Angleterre." Brutus was the mythical son of Aeneas, and the founder of Britain. The Britons were settled in Cornwall, Wales and Bretagne, and were distinguished for traditionary legends, which had been collected by Godfrey of Monmouth in 1138. They formed the groundwork for Wace's poem, which was written in 1160, and from that time proved to be an inexhaustible treasury from which romantic writers of fiction drew their materials.
From this source Shakespeare obtained King Lear; Sackville found his Ferrex and Porrex; and Milton and other poets are also indebted to these legends. They furnished, also, the romances of chivalry for the English Court, and have had an effect on English poetry that can be seen even in the present day. The six romances of the British cycle, celebrating Arthur, his Knights, and the Round Table, were written in the last part of the twelfth century, at the instigation of Henry II. They were the work of Englishmen; but were composed in French, and from them the poets of France fashioned a number of metrical romances.
Geoffrey Chaucer in the fourteenth century borrowed freely from French, Latin and Italian works. The comic Fabliaux and the allegorical poetry of the Trouveres and Troubadours furnished him with many of his incidents and characters. The Romance of the Rose was taken from a French poem of the thirteenth century.
Troilus and Cressida is regarded as a translation from Boccaccio, and Chaucer's Legend of Good Women is founded on Ovid's Epistles. John Lydgate, a Benedictine monk in the fifteenth century, wrote poetry in imitation of Chaucer, taking his ideas from the Gesta Romanorum, while Thomas Mallory, a priest in the time of Edward IV, has given us one of the best specimens of old English in the romantic prose fiction of Morte d'Arthur, in which the author has told in one tale the whole history of the Round Table.
The "Bruce" of the Scotch John Barbour in the same century, gives the adventures of King Robert, from which Sir Walter Scott has drawn largely for his "Lord of the Isles."
The close of the fifteenth century saw a passion develop for Scotch poetry, which speedily became the fashion. Henry the Minstrel, or Blind Harry, wrote his "Wallace," which is full of picturesque incident and passionate fervor.
Robert Henryson wrote his Robin and Makyne, a charming pastoral, which has come down to us in Percy's Reliques.
Gavin Douglas, Scotch Bishop of Dunkeld in the beginning of the sixteenth century, translated the Aeneid into English. This is the earliest known attempt in the British Isles to render classical poetry into the national language.
In the sixteenth century Erasmus gave a new impulse in England to the study of Latin and Greek, and Sir Thomas More in his "Utopia" (wherein he imagines an ideal commonwealth with community of property), unconsciously gave birth to a word (utopia), which has ever since been used to designate the ideally impossible.
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, in the same century made a translation of the Aeneid and wrote sonnets and lyrical poems. The sonnet he borrowed from Petrarch, giving it the amatory tone common to the Italians. He also took from the Italian poets the blank verse of his Aeneid, a style in which the best poetry of England has since been written.
The genius of John Milton has been greatly hampered by the self-inflicted laws under which he labored, conditions which did not affect Dante and Tasso, who were his models; for Milton denied in a great measure the use of history, tradition and symbolism. Of this defect he was sensible, so he tried to make amends for it by borrowing fables and allegories out of the Koran and Talmud. English poetry has inclined more to the style of Milton than to that of Spenser, who was thoroughly embued with the romantic spirit of the Teutons and the Troubadours, though, like Milton, he was influenced by Tasso; and unlike him, by Ariosto. His Faerie Queene, Gloriana, is supposed to be the beloved of the courtly Arthur of the British legends.
The English poets of the Elizabethan age were under deep obligations to the Italian poets, especially Tasso; and this is particularly true of Spenser, many critics think his eighty-first sonnet is almost a literal translation of Tasso. Be that as it may, the obligations of many English poets of the age to the Italians, is unmistakable.
After the Puritan period the English language and literature was strongly influenced by the French, and in both Pope and Addison there is a marked leaning toward French poetry. Pope's translation of Homer while it lacks the simple majesty and naturalness of the original (a trait which Bryant in the nineteenth century happily caught), nevertheless gave to the English world the opportunity to become somewhat acquainted with the incomparable poet of antiquity.
Thomson's descriptive poetry of nature found many imitators in Germany and France, and a taste for outdoor life and simplicity became the rage, so that some years after the author of the "Castle of Indolence" had passed away, Marie Antoinette in her rustic bower, "Little Trianon," pretended to like to keep sheep and pose as a shepherdess, as has been said elsewhere.
Percy's Reliques of ancient English poetry, in 1765 opened a storehouse of the fine old English ballads, which speedily became popular through the patronage of Scott, who made them his textbook for a variety of subjects. These poems, with Macpherson's "Fingal" introduced a new school of poetry into England. The originals of Scott were these romances of chivalry, and even Byron has not disdained to follow the same trend in the pilgrimage of his "Childe Harold." The nineteenth century poets and novelists do not seem to have borrowed especially from any foreign element; but in history Niebuhr's researches in Germany have greatly influenced Arnold in his "Roman History." The close of the nineteenth century and opening of the twentieth is chiefly remarkable for the interdependence of literature through the magazines and reviews. Translations of any striking or brilliant articles are immediately made, and appear in the magazines of different countries almost as soon as the originals, so that the literature of the future bids fair to become more cosmopolitan, and perhaps less strongly directed by racial and social influence than in the past.
And yet—in studying the literature of ancient and modern times—we are struck by the unity in diversity of its history, just as a world-wide traveller comes to see the similarity of nature everywhere. In literature strange analogies occur in ages and races remote from each other, as, when the mother in the old North country Scotch ballad sings to her child, and says:
And we find nearly the same verse in the song of Danae to the infant Perseus:
"The salt spume that is blown o'er thy locks,
Thou heedst not, nor the roar of the gale;
Sleep babe, sleep the sea,
And sleep my sea of trouble."
There is also the story of the Greek child who in ancient times sang nearly the same invocation for fair weather that we used in our nursery days, when, with noses flattened against the window pane, we uttered our sing-song:
"Rain, rain, go to Spain."
And in blindman's buff, perhaps the most ancient of games, we have words that have come down from remote times. The blindfolded one says:
"I go a-hunting a brassy fly."
To which the others answer:
And there are the marvellous stories of the Giant Killer, and the wonders of Puss in Boots and Cinderella, which have descended to us from that vast cloud-country of bygone ages; that dreamland of fairy imagery, which is as real to the little maid in the twentieth century as it was to her young sisters in the shadow of the Pyramids, on the banks of the Tiber and the Ganges, in the neighborhood of solemn Druid Temples, or among the fjords and floes of the far-off Icelandic country, in centuries long since gone by.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Interdependence of Literature, by
Georgina Pell Curtis
***** This file should be named 3778-h.htm or 3778-h.zip *****
Produced by Dianne Bean. HTML version by Al Haines.
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
electronic works
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works. See paragraph 1.E below.
copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
copied or distributed:
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg-tm License.
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is
has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments
must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
License. You must require such a user to return or
destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
Project Gutenberg-tm works.
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
of receipt of the work.
- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
your equipment.
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with
opportunities to fix the problem.
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at
business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact
information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
page at http://pglaf.org
For additional contact information:
Dr. Gregory B. Newby
Chief Executive and Director
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To
SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
particular state visit http://pglaf.org
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |
The Hidden Polarities of Nature
by Margaret K. Chaney
CHAPTER 5: Polarities of Body and Spirit
Now comes the fun part -- the shortcuts. It is a rule of nature that all creatures' bodies adapt to their food supplies. What better way to eat ants than to have a snout like an anteater? A giraffe is elegantly designed for browsing tender leaves from the tops of young trees. If REDLIST and GREENLIST food supplies are different -- and they are -- wouldn't there be differences in our bodies? Absolutely.
Our diets are so similar we have erroneously assumed they were interchangeable. Our bodies are equally similar. Although the differences are subtle, differences there are indeed. REDLIST and GREENLIST bodies vary in eye motion, cranial balance, shoulder shape, knee structure, thigh-muscle formation, and patterns of male baldness. What these differences have to do with diet is hard to tell, but they all go together to make two separate patterns.
The easiest way to identify the differences is to start with an extreme GREENLIST example. Look for someone whose back forms a straight line from the top of the head to the base of the spine. The shoulders are straight across and the arms dangle, leaving space next to the body. The back of the neck is flat between the skull and the rest of the spine and the chin rests against the neck and chest. When a GREENLIST person has been holding still, the next move of the head is a pivot to the right or left as on a surveying tripod, the top of the head holding level. If the head tilts sideways, the shoulders and even the whole body are involved. Sometimes the head holds still and the body rotates.
GREENLIST eyes stay round and wide open. Looking around, the head holds still and the eyes move. If the person develops poor posture, the back will break below the shoulder blades and fall forward. The chin then will not hug the neck or chest but still will maintain other characteristics. REDLISTs are then most easily described by their contrast to GREENLISTs.
REDLIST heads move around in an animated manner, especially during conversation. After holding still, the first motion of the head will be a change of axis from both the vertical and horizontal plane. The back of the neck curves in between body and head. With poor posture, the shoulders slump forward and the chin and nose rock upward.
REDLIST eyes are not totally open and seem to close from the bottom up when the person is thinking or laughing. When looking around, the person's eyes hold still, give a tiny blink, and the head moves. Shoulders slope away from the neck, arms curve around the sides of the chest, probably due to a heavier trapezius muscle.
Thigh muscles originate or are attached to the patella in such a way that GREENLISTs have depressions above and below the kneecap. If this party is thin, this creates a knobby knee appearance. REDLISTs have a depression below the knee but quadriceps muscles cover the top of the kneecap.
GREENLIST thighs are cylinders; REDLIST thighs are cones. GREENLIST thighs are essentially the same size from knee to torso. The gracilis muscle on the inner thigh lies flat and creates a space between the legs. The hamstring muscles in back are long and tendinous, creating the appearance of a break, a crease, below the gluteus maximus. GREENLIST people always have a handful of empty cloth under the seat, but they have a fashionably narrow look that REDLIST people envy.
REDLIST thighs, even when slender and well exercised, slope upward from knee to torso in all directions. The top inch is a dead giveaway, wearing out blue jeans, squeaking corduroys, and bulging at the sides to the delight and enrichment of exercise salons who promise to make it go away. Don't give them a nickel! They will have the nickel and you will still have the bulge! This formation keeps skirts and slacks from hanging fashionably straight, but on hard benches they pad us while our GREENLIST friends squirm.
People try to explain these differences by exercise: the GREENLIST ones are slender because of exercise; the REDLIST ones are muscular because of exercise. However, a glance around an athletic training camp will demonstrate that athletes in top physical condition still display the two distinctive thigh formations. Only one advantage shows up: the GREENLISTs seem to be favored as runners. Their hips must work differently in the sockets -- more like pistons.
As we will elaborate in our discussion of relationships, we usually team up romantically or professionally with someone of the opposite type. Watching ice dancers , one usually has cylindrical thighs and the other one, cones. Yet both bodies get the same workout and both move with the same grace and power. Once in a while, both will be GREENLIST and the announcers use the word, elegant, so often it becomes trite. One more thing: GREENLIST ankles and lower legs have about a one-to-two ratio in circumference; a REDLIST ratio is more apt to be one-to-three.
In two classic patterns of male baldness, the high forehead is GREENLIST and the bare circle at the crown is REDLIST. Oriental lore says the high forehead is from eating too much fruit and the bare crown is from eating too much meat. My observation is that that matches the food lists in this book, but not because the men DO eat that way, but because they were DESIGNED to eat that way.
Muscle-function tests show identical twins to be bookends, reversed pairs, one of each type. The 58 sets I have tested were all 58, one REDLIST, one GREENLIST. We concentrate on how much they look alike and how much they are psychically in tune with each other, we don't notice they live in separate worlds metabolically. A study done at the Monell Chemical Senses Center at the University of Pennsylvania revealed identical twins eat far from identically. The researchers surmised the twins were just trying to be different from each other, but the double-blind study would not have let them know each other's choices. They eat differently as a matter of biochemistry, not of whim.
Your first reaction to these generalizations might be to point out exceptions in details you have found in your friends or yourself. Try working from a broader base. Test a group of people and give each person a red or green marker. Then ask them to gather in two separate groups and look over their group and the opposite group carefully. You will be astonished. They will appear as different as two separate species. Once you see it, you can never stop seeing it. When you recognize the two patterns visually, it is fun to gather data as you people-watch. I enjoy scanning the contents of grocery carts in the check-out lines at the grocery store. One day an obviously REDLIST lady leaned across a bin of avocados and asked of no one in particular, I wonder whether I can eat those. I surprised her by saying, "Yes, you can, but stay away from the green grapes and iceberg lettuce."
Jack Spratt could eat no fat;
His wife could eat no lean.
And so betwixt them both
They licked the platter clean.
In all of scriptures, legends, folklore, myths and other literature, this is the only reference I have found to the two sets of people, especially as they match up to food choices. In this reference, the illustrations usually depict the wife as roly-poly and Jack Spratt as emaciated. Actually, the verse doesn't suggest it and the distortions are not typical.
Muscle-function tests are the most accurate indicators of the two types. Body shapes are useful as a preliminary appraisal, also temperament is somewhat of a clue. REDLIST people are apt to be more animated; GREENLISTs might be more composed.
Were five men talking in a group and four were GREENLIST, they would appear to be beautifully poised, like statuesque reeds undulating in a gentle breeze. The fifth man, if REDLIST, would seem like a character darting around in a video game. If the four were REDLIST, they would look like high-energy leaders trying to animate the one GREENLIST zombie.
In narrow aisles of stores, REDLISTs bend and weave to accommodate passers-by; GREENLISTs hold their ground. Unbidden, REDLISTs often give way to GREENLISTs because they see they cannot be swayed and interpret this as a position of earned power. GREENLISTs, in turn, watch REDLISTs' dynamism and constant intensity with some anxiety, often responding by trying to control or subdue this natural REDLIST energy. It's a wonder the relations between the two kinds do not turn to complete mayhem!
Along with the folk saying, "Opposites attract" should be another, "Opposites intimidate". As you read over the attributes of the two patterns, think back to the times you despaired because you could not attain the qualities of the other profile. Studies show 90% of women to be unhappy with their bodies. We are unhappy because we don't have their good points and they are unhappy because they don't have ours. Just take another look at your strong points and, if you've got it, flaunt it! As I counted all but ten models in a thick fashion magazine to be GREENLIST, I was consoled by the fact that the cover girl was REDLIST.
Once you can identify the players, watch the ballet as the two sets of people weave in and out of each other's lives. This discovery of a new polarity is like being given a new key to life's mysteries; dash around to see what locks it will fit. The most interesting area of inquiry is learning about relationships. There seem to be two kinds: a dynamic one between two people of opposite types, and a supportive one between two people alike. My testing so far indicates that in marriages, friendships, business partnerships, even ice dancing, five out of six couples are in the more dynamic relationship of one REDLIST and one GREENLIST. Thus, one pair in six, both of the same pattern, are in the more supportive relationship.
There seem to be numerous advantages to relationships where the parties are matched. Living in a dietary relationship with someone of the same metabolic process reinforces the natural selections. These couples develop a rhythm in their lives from shared metabolic styles. They both want to stop for a snack after a movie or they both want to go straight home; they both prefer to sleep late and skip breakfast, or to be on the tennis court at dawn. They display a lifestyle resembling the unison behavior of a school of fish and aptly fit the description, "They get along swimmingly."
People living alone or eating with a matched partner will not even recognize what I am talking about; the subject simply does not crop up as a problem in their lives. Since their chemical fuel supply is good for both of them, their health and energy level are fine and calmly regular. Families with matched biotypes drift into natural food selections and appear to escape many of the crises of daily life that beset the rest of us.
As I watch relationship choices, I am absolutely astonished by two insights: what a lovely, smooth life it is for couples who are the same type,-- and how seldom that happens! There may be fewer couples of the same pattern because it seems like looking in a mirror. A pair both of the same list must beware of narcissism on the one hand and monotony on the other.
"Opposites attract" comes to mind again. That saying has traditionally been applied to extreme opposites and attended by bewildered head-shaking. We wonder how, in light of such impediments, couples could still choose to attempt going that route. Actually, in milder form, it happens all the time. And frequently the differences create a nice balance. It may be we look at another person, instinctively recognize qualities we lack, and know at some deep level those qualities could provide security in an emergency. Or, on a darker side, perhaps we see a worthy adversary with whom to contend to sharpen our strengths or satisfy a need for conflict. Or, as part of the survival design of the species, we might subconsciously seek a mate who would not compete for the same foods. I doubt we will ever know.
People with opposite characteristics energize each other. The dynamics of mixed relationships stimulate personal growth. But at some point an alien ambiance can cease to be an energy source and become an irritant mentally, physically, emotionally and socially. I am disturbed at the price sometimes extracted from individuals negotiating such relationships, feeling their way with so few clues to guide them.
In spite of the great potentials mixing dispositions might have, we should not be obliged to eat each other's food. We must honor our chemical differences and search out our proper fuel if we are to function at full capacity. The wrong fuel in a car can be destructive so they are often fitted with distinctive fuel-tank necks for different gas types. We should be born equipped with differently designed mouths that would allow us to eat only our REDLIST or GREENLIST foods!
It is not uncommon when a new corporation is being formed for each person invited into the planning executive process by a GREENLIST leader, to be a REDLIST person, and vice versa. This confirms the effectiveness of working relationships between people of opposite natures. On the other hand, sometimes we come together with our peers in a common interest, looking for support rather than dynamic exchange.
What relationship do we seek when we select our pets? Since they come into our lives, often unbidden, in such a variety of ways and wiggle into our hearts regardless of their origin, I wondered how we would choose if we went about it intentionally. The local dog show gave me the opportunity to check, as breeders make considered choices. I was able to test twelve breeders and surrogate-test their dogs. In all twelve pairs, the breeder and dog were the same type. Apparently, given a choice, we would pick a pet who reinforces our strengths and provides a supportive relationship instead of the dynamic interaction more common among human pairs.
When our relationship choices lock us into a partnership with the opposite biotype, we are always forced to negotiate, compromise, and manipulate. Perhaps it is that dynamic that keeps the folkways and mores stirred up and fresh. Maybe the five mixed couples, struggling away, make the world go 'round, while the sixth couple simply smiles and gets a free ride.
Polarities of
Planet Earth
The Lists
Polarities of
Body and Spirit
Polarities of
Daily Life
Order the Book
Links Page
E-Mail Margaret
Order the Book
Copyright 2005 Margaret K. Chaney |
Trans Fatty Acids
Twisted Fats
Trans fatty acids result from a refining process called hydrogenation, which forces extra hydrogen atoms onto plant oils using intense heat and pressure. This allows companies make inexpensive solid fats out of cheap liquid oils. The problem is that some of the fat molecules become twisted into an incorrect shape.
Do trans fats let companies make cheaper cup cakes? Yes! Are they good for you? No!
Ever try building a house out of bent, twisted lumber? The material is simply the wrong shape, and the results are predictably bad. With fats, the biochemical effect is the
same. This is why partially hydrogenated oils are bad and why they play a significant role in heart disease, make blood platelets more sticky and impair immune function. Trans fats show up in junk foods, in margarine, and in deep frying oils used at many fast food restaurants.
Unfortunately, the average fast food nutrition guide does not show trans fatty acid content.
Butter vs Margarine
What about butter vs margarine? The question of butter vs margarine is really a trade off between the trans fats in margarine, vs the saturated fats in butter. Neither is desirable. Between the two I think the trans fatty acids are worse, but don't overdo either one.
Fake Fats
How about the new, so called fake fats, such as Olestra and Simplesse? These modified fats are calorie free simply because they pass straight through the entire intestinal tract, foiling your body's digestive efforts. Olestra side effects reportedly include reduced absorption of fat soluble vitamins, among other bowel problems. Despite the reported olestra side effects, more and more foods are using these unnatural fake fats. The human intestinal track is an amazingly sophisticated piece of machinery, deserving of care. The last thing it needs is yet another fake food.
Audio running time... 2 min, 29 sec
Health Foods
Refined Grains
Trans Fatty Acids
Juicing Benefits
Obesity Rates
Nature Vs Nurture
Other Factors
The Bottom Line
Making Changes
Food Fight
Contact Info |
Brushy Creek Lake Park, Zilker Metropolitan Park, Farm
Under ideal conditions, deer may be able to detect human scent from half a mile away. Deer seldom react to human scent unless it is within 50 to 100 yards. With millions (297 million) of olfactory receptors in the wet nose, the deer can differentiate 6 smells at one time. In comparison, dogs have 220 million olfactory receptors and humans have 5 million olfactory receptors. Deer have 2 large scent processing areas in their brains. These processing areas are 9 times larger than a human's scent processing area.
The cow eats the grass. The chicken catches and devours insects attempting to escape.
The small, cylindrical egg sac may contain hundreds of baby Black Widows. The female black widow is a highly venomous species of spider with distinct red and black coloring that will occasionally eat her mate after reproduction. She is shiny and black in color, with a red marking in the shape of an hourglass on the underside of her abdomen. Black widow venom is an extremely potent neurotoxin. Neurotoxin activity can be characterized by the ability to inhibit communication between neurons across a synapse.
|
Pearson - Always learning
All your resources for Economics
RSS icon Subscribe | Text size
Posts Tagged ‘CPI inflation’
Rising inflation
The latest figures from the ONS show that UK inflation rose to 2.3% for the 12 months to February 2017 – up from 1.9% for the 12 months to January. The rate is the highest since September 2013 and has steadily increased since late 2015.
The main price index used to measure inflation is now CPIH, as opposed to CPI. CPIH is the consumer prices index (CPI) adjusted for housing costs and is thus a more realsitic measure of the cost pressures facing households. As the ONS states:
CPIH extends the consumer prices index (CPI) to include a measure of the costs associated with owning, maintaining and living in one’s own home, known as owner occupiers’ housing costs (OOH), along with Council Tax. Both of these are significant expenses for many households and are not included in the CPI.
But why has inflation risen so significantly? There are a number of reasons.
The first is a rise in transport costs (contributing 0.15 percentage points to the overall inflation rate increase of 0.4 percentage points). Fuel prices rose especially rapidly, reflecting both the rise in the dollar price of oil and the depreciation of the pound. In February 2016 the oil price was $32.18; in February 2017 it was $54.87 – a rise of 70.5%. In February 2016 the exchange rate was £1 = $1.43; in February 2017 it was £1 = $1.25 – a depreciation of 12.6%.
The second biggest contributor to the rise in inflation was recreation and culture (contributing 0.08 percentage points). A wide range of items in this sector, including both goods and services, rose in price. ‘Notably, the price of personal computers (including laptops and tablets) increased by 2.3% between January 2017 and February 2017.’ Again, a large contributing factor has been the fall in the value of the pound. Apple, for example, raised its UK app store prices by a quarter in January, having raised prices for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers significantly last autumn. Microsoft has raised its prices by more than 20% this year for software services such as Office and Azure. Dell, HP and Tesla have also significantly raised their prices.
The third biggest was food and non-alcoholic beverages (contributing 0.06 percentage points). ‘Food prices, overall, rose by 0.8% between January 2017 and February 2017, compared with a smaller rise of 0.1% a year earlier.’ Part of the reason has been the fall in the pound, but part has been poor harvests in southern Europe putting up euro prices. This is the first time that overall food prices have risen for more than two-and-a-half years.
It is expected that inflation will continue to rise over the coming months as the effect of the weaker pound and higher raw material and food prices filter though. The current set of pressures could see inflation peaking at around 3%. If there is a futher fall in the pound or further international price increases, inflation could be pushed higher still – well above the Bank of England’s 2% target. (Click here for a PowerPoint of the chart.)
The higher inflation means that firms are facing a squeeze on their profits from two directions.
First, wage rises have been slowing and are now on a level with consumer price rises. It is likely that wage rises will soon drop below price rises, meaning that real wages will fall, putting downward pressure on spending and squeezing firms’ revenue.
Second, input prices are rising faster than consumer prices. In the 12 months to February 2017, input prices (materials and fuels) rose by 19.1%, putting a squeeze on producers. Producer prices (‘factory gate prices’), by contrast, rose by 3.7%. Even though input prices are only part of the costs of production, the much smaller rise of 3.7% reflects the fact that producer’s margins have been squeezed. Retailers too are facing upward pressure on costs from this 3.7% rise in the prices of products they buy from producers.
One of the worries about the squeeze on real wages and the squeeze on profits is that this could dampen investment and slow both actual and potential growth.
So will the Bank of England respond by raising interest rates? The answer is probably no – at least not for a few months. The reason is that the higher inflation is not the result of excess demand and the economy ‘overheating’. In other words, the higher inflation is not from demand-pull pressures. Instead, it is from higher costs, which are in themselves likely to dampen demand and contribute to a slowdown. Raising interest rates would cause the economy to slow further.
UK inflation shoots above two percent, adding to Bank of England conundrum Reuters, William Schomberg, David Milliken and Richard Hunter (21/3/17)
Bank target exceeded as inflation rate rises to 2.3% ITV News, Chris Choi (21/3/17)
Steep rise in inflation Channel 4 News, Siobhan Kennedy (21/3/17)
U.K. Inflation Gains More Than Forecast, Breaching BOE Goal Bloomberg, Dan Hanson and Fergal O’Brien (21/3/17)
Inflation leaps in February raising prospect of interest rate rise The Telegraph, Julia Bradshaw (21/3/17)
Brexit latest: Inflation jumps to 2.3 per cent in February Independent, Ben Chu (21/3/17)
UK inflation rate leaps to 2.3% BBC News (21/3/17)
UK inflation: does it matter for your income, debts and savings? Financial Times, Chris Giles (21/3/17)
Rising food and fuel prices hoist UK inflation rate to 2.3% The Guardian, Katie Allen (21/3/17)
Reality Check: What’s this new measure of inflation? BBC News (21/3/17)
UK consumer price inflation: Feb 2017 ONS Statistical Bulletin (21/3/17)
UK producer price inflation: Feb 2017 ONS Statistical Bulletin (21/3/17)
Inflation and price indices ONS datasets
Consumer Price Inflation time series dataset ONS datasets
Producer Price Index time series dataset ONS datasets
European Brent Spot Price US Energy Information Administration
Statistical Interactive Database – interest & exchange rates data Bank of England
1. If pries rise by 10% and then stay at the higher level, what will happen to inflation (a) over the next 12 months; (b) in 13 months’ time?
2. Distinguish between demand-pull and cost-push inflation. Why are they associated with different effects on output?
3. If producers face rising costs, what determines their ability to pass them on to retailers?
4. Why is the rate of real-wage increase falling, and why may it beome negative over the coming months?
5. What categories of people are likely to lose the most from inflation?
6. What is the Bank of England’s remit in terms of setting interest rates?
7. What is likely to affect the sterling exchange rate over the coming months?
Share in top social networks!
Fuelling the absence of inflation
The latest inflation figures, as detailed in February’s Consumer Price Inflation Statistical Bulletin, show that the annual rate of CPI inflation hit zero in February. This is down from 0.3 per cent in January. While inflation is now well outside the 1-3 per cent target range that the Bank of England is charged with meeting, perhaps a more pertinent question is whether the UK is teetering on the brink of deflation – and the risks that may carry.
To get a better sense of the latest inflation picture we need to delve deeper into the numbers and look at the patterns in the prices that make up the overall Consumer Price Index. Interestingly, these shows that five of the 12 principal product groups that make up the index are currently experiencing price deflation.
As explained in Consumer Price Inflation: The 2015 Basket of Goods and Services, produced by the ONS, around 180,000 prices quotations are collected each month for around 700 representative items. These goods and services fall into one of 12 broad product groups. These include, for example, food and non-alcoholic beverages and transport.
The items included in each of the 12 product groups are reviewed once a year so that the chosen items remain representative of today’s spending patterns. A monthly price index is calculated for these 12 broad groupings, known as divisions, and for sub-categories of these. For example meat is a category within food and non-alcoholic beverages. The overall CPI is a weighted average of the 12 broad groupings.
The annual rate of CPI inflation in February 2015 was zero. This means that the price of the representative basket of goods and services was unchanged from its level in February 2014. As Chart 1 shows (click here for a PowerPoint of the chart), the annual rate of CPI inflation series goes back to January 1989 and this is the first time it has fallen to zero. Its average over this period is in fact 2.7 per cent. The recent fall is quite stark with the rate of CPI inflation in June 2013 close to the top-end of the Bank of England’s target range at 2.9 per cent.
Of the 12 product groups, five constitute 10 per cent or more of the overall weight of the CPI index. These weights are dependent on the relative level of expenditure comprised by each division.
Chart 2 shows the annual rates of inflation for these five groups (click here for a PowerPoint of the chart). The most heavily-weighted component is transport (14.9%), which includes the price of fuel and passenger transport. Here we observe deflation with prices 2.7 per cent lower year-on-year in February. This is the fourth consecutive month where its annual rate of price inflation has been negative.
The second most heavily-weighted component within the CPI index is recreation and culture (14.7%), which includes games, toys and audio-visual equipment. Here too we see the emergence of deflation. In February 2015 prices were 0.8 per cent lower than in February 2014. Deflation is most prevalent in the fifth most heavily-weighted component (11.0%): food and non-alcoholic drinks. The price for this division of the CPI was 3.3 per cent lower in February 2015 as compared with February 2014. In nine of the last ten months the price of food and non-alcoholic drinks, helped by aggressive price competition in the grocery sector, has been lower year-on-year.
February also saw a negative annual rate of inflation emerge for the first time in the CPI division capturing furniture and household equipment and appliances (-0.3 per cent). Further, miscellaneous services, which include personal care and personal effects (e.g. jewellery) saw an annual rate of deflation for the eight consecutive month. The annual rate of inflation for miscellaneous services stood at -0.4 per cent in February. However, February did see an upturn in price inflation for clothing and footwear with prices 1.7 per cent higher than a year earlier while the price of alcohol and tobacco was 3.8 per cent higher year-on-year.
The detailed inflation numbers do reveal the extent to which many CPI divisions are already characterised by deflation. It is interesting to note that in A Comparison of Independent Forecasts published monthly by HM Treasury, the forecast for the final quarter of 2015 is for the annual rate of CPI inflation to be running at 0.8 per cent. An important reason for this is that the effect of falling fuel prices from November 2014 will begin to drop out of the year-on-year inflation rate calculations. The removal of this effect should help to prevent the specter of deflation provided that peoples’ inflationary expectations remain anchored, i.e. exhibit stickiness. If these were to be revised down, however, this would further contribute to downward pressure on prices since input price inflation – including wage inflation – would again be expected to fall.
U.K. on Brink of Falling Prices as Inflation Rate Drops to Zero Bloomberg, Tom Beardsworth (24/3/15)
UK inflation rate falls to zero in February BBC News (24/3/15)
Britain sees no inflation in February for first time on record Reuters, David Milliken and Andy Bruce (24/3/15)
Inflation hits a record zero boosting household incomes Independent, Clare Hutchinson (24/3/15)
Inflation Hits 0% As Food Costs Fall Further Sky News (24/3/15)
Inflation falls to zero in February as Britain heads to deflation Telegraph, Szu Ping Chan (24/3/15)
UK inflation hits zero for the first time on record Guardian, Angela Monaghan (24/3/15)
Consumer Price Inflation, February 2015 Office for National Statistics
Consumer Price Indices, Time Series Data Office for National Statistics
1. Explain the difference between a decrease in the level of prices and a decrease in the rate of price inflation. Can the rate of price inflation rise even if price levels are falling? Explain your answer
2. Explain what is meant by deflation.
3. In what ways might deflation affect the behaviour of people? What effect could this have on the macroeconomy?
5. What factors do you think lie behind the fall in the transport component of the CPI?
6. Explain why the rate of inflation would be expected to rise in the late autumn, a year on from when the transport component of the CPI began falling.
7. Does the possibility of deflation mean that inflation rate targeting has failed?
Share in top social networks!
Good news and bad news on the labour market front
First the good news. Employment is rising and unemployment is falling. Both claimant count rates and Labour Force Survey rates are down. Compared with a year ago, employment is up 279,092 to 29,869,489; LFS unemployment is down from 7.87% to 7.69%; and the claimant count rate is down from 4.7% to 4.0%.
Now the bad news. Even though more people are in employment, real wages have fallen. In other words, nominal wages have risen less fast than prices. Since 2009, real wages have fallen by 7.6% and have continued to fall throughout this period. The first chart illustrates this. It shows average weekly wage rates in 2005 prices. (Click here for a PowerPoint of the chart.)
The fall in real wages is an average for the whole country. Many people, especially those on low incomes, have seen their real wages fall much faster than the average. For many there is a real ‘cost of living’ crisis.
But why have real wages fallen despite the rise in employment? The answer is that output per hour worked has declined. This is illustrated in the second chart, which compares UK output per worker with that of other G7 countries. UK productivity has fallen both absolutely and relative to other G7 countries, most of which have had higher rates of investment.
The falling productivity in the UK requires more people to be employed to produce the same level of output. Part of what seems to be happening is that many employers have been prepared to keep workers on in return for lower real wages, even if demand from their customers is falling. And many workers have been prepared to accept real wage cuts in return for keeping their jobs.
Another part of the explanation is that the jobs that have been created have been largely in low-skilled, low-wage sectors of the economy, such as retailing and other parts of the service sector.
But falling productivity is only part of the reason for falling real wages. The other part is rising prices. A number of factors have contributed to this. These include a depreciation of the exchange rate back in 2008, the effects of which took some time to filter through into higher prices in the shops; a large rise in various commodity prices; and a rise in VAT and various other administered prices.
So what is the answer to falling real wages? The articles below consider the problem and some of the possible policy alternatives.
Inflation, unemployment and UK ‘misery’ BBC News, Linda Yueh (16/10/13)
Employment is growing, but so are the wage slaves The Guardian, Larry Elliott (16/10/13)
Living standards – going down and, er, up BBC News, Nick Robinson (26/7/13)
Revealed: The cost of living is rising faster in the UK than anywhere in Europe, with soaring food and energy bills blamed Mail Online, Matt Chorley (16/10/13)
Cutting prices to raise living standards is just a waste of energy The Telegraph, Roger Bootle (6/10/13)
Downturn sees average real wages collapse to a record low Independent, Ben Chu (17/10/13)
Why living standards and public finances matter Financial Times, Gavin Kelly (29/9/13)
Social Mobility Tsar Alan Milburn Calls on Government to Boost Wages to End UK Child Poverty International Business Times, Ian Silvera (17/10/13)
Do incorrect employment growth figures explain low UK productivity? The Guardian, Katie Allen (23/10/13)
Unemployment data ONS
Average Weekly Earnings dataset ONS
Consumer Prices Index ONS
International Comparison of Productivity ONS
1. How are real wages measured?
2. Why have real wage rates fallen in the UK since 2009?
3. What factors should be included when measuring living standards?
4. Why has employment risen and unemployment fallen over the past two years?
5. What factors could lead to a rise in real wages in the future?
6. What government policies could be adopted to raise real wages?
7. Assess these policies in terms of their likely short-term success and long-term sustainability.
Share in top social networks!
The art of letter writing lives on
Letter writing has, in many walks of life, rather gone out of fashion. For instance, many of us of a slightly older disposition remember how putting pen to paper was an important part of courtship and the building of relationships. Well, one modern-day couple who are getting very used to an exchange of letters is the Governor of the Bank of England and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The latest inflation numbers from the Office for National Statistics show that the annual rate of CPI inflation for July was 3.1%. While the inflation rate is down from the 3.2% recorded in June it remains more than 1 percentage point above the government’s central inflation rate target of 2%. Consequently, Mervyn King will again be writing to the Chancellor to explain why this is the case.
Since the turn of the year, the annual rate of CPI inflation has, with the exception of February, been consistently above 3%. Even February was a narrow escape for the Governor because inflation came in at exactly 3%! Another way of putting the recent inflation record into perspective is to note that over the first seven months of 2010 the average annual rate of CPI inflation has been 3.3%.
The slight fall in July’s annual inflation rate is attributed, in part, to falls during July in the prices of second-hand cars and petrol whereas these prices were rising a year ago. Furthermore, the average price of clothing and footwear fell by some 4.9% between June and July of this year as compared with a fall of 3.2% in the same period a year ago. The result is that the annual rate of price deflation for clothing and footwear went from 1.4% in June to 3.1% in July.
Of course, within the basket of consumer goods price patterns can vary significantly. One significant upward pressure on July’s overall annual inflation rate was the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages, especially vegetables. The average price of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 1% between June and July which has seen the annual rate of price inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages rise from 1.9% in June to 3.4% in July.
The fact that July shows inflation running in excess of 3% will surprise very few. In the latest Inflation Report the Bank of England reports that the Monetary Policy Committee’s view is that ‘the forthcoming increase in VAT was expected to keep CPI inflation above the 2% target until the end of 2011’. The Committee then expects what it describes as a ‘persistent margin of spare capacity’ to force inflation to fall back. But, the Committee also feels that the prospects for inflation are ‘highly uncertain’. Therefore, it is difficult to gauge just how many more letters will be passing across London between the Governor and the Chancellor in the coming months. Nonetheless, it would be probably be advisable for the Governor to make sure that he has a sufficient supply of postage stamps at his disposal, just in case!
UK inflation rate slows again in July BBC News (17/8/10)
Bank of England’s King forced to write another letter to Osborne as prices stay high Telegraph (17/8/10)
Inflation falls to 3.1% in July Financial Times, Daniel Pimlott (17/8/10)
Dearer food keeps inflation high UK Press Association (17/8/10)
Bank ‘surprised’ at inflation strength Independent, Russell Lynch (17/8/10)
Letter from the Governor to the Chancellor and the Chancellor’s reply Bank of England (17/8/10)
Latest on inflation Office for National Statistics (17/8/10)
Consumer Price Indices, Statistical Bulletin, July 2010 Office for National Statistics (17/8/10)
Consumer Price Indices, Time Series Data Office for National Statistics
HICP European Central Bank
1. What does the Bank of England mean by a ‘persistent margin of spare capacity’? By what economic term is this phenomenon more commonly known?
2. Why do you think the current rate of inflation is above target despite the spare capacity in the economy?
3. Since the annual rate of CPI inflation remains in ‘letter-writing territory’ would you expect the Monetary Policy Committee to be raising interest rates some time soon? Explain your answer.
4. What impact might the persistence of above-target inflation have for the public’s expectations of inflation?
5. What impact can we expect the increase in the standard rate of VAT next January to have on the annual rate of CPI inflation? Is such an effect on the rate of inflation a permanent one?
Share in top social networks! |
Military Units Formed In Utah
We have identified 3 Union units formed in Utah.
In 1863 a "3 months unit", Smith's Company Cavalry was formed to protect the US Mail route from Salt Lake City, Utah to Ft. Bridger Wyoming. The roster of this company contains the names of 96 men.
Smith's Company Cavalry
The Iron County Militia
The Nauvoo Legion |
Fork me on GitHub
Animini Features
Usage Example
animini('myDiv', 'top:100px; color:#008C00', 1000, 'top:200px; color:#ff0000');
The animini() factory method
Use this method to create a tween animation between several styles. The styles can be written in the css notation (e.g., margin-top) or the property notation (e.g., marginTop). You can have as many style properties as you like, and the order of these properties is not important.
Arguments can be supplied in any order, and each argument can be supplied more than once:
Animation functions
The animini() factory method returns an animation function. If the animation has enough parameters to run, then it will automatically start:
// calling animini with a couple of styles and an element ID is enough to get the animation started.
// no need to use the returned animation function, because the animation is already running
animini('margin:0px 0px 30px 30px', 'margin:30px 30px 0px 0px', 'myImg');
However, if the animation does not have enough parameters to run, it will wait for further arguments to be supplied:
var animation = animini('left:20px'); // not enough arguments to run: needs a finish style
animation(300, animini.quad.o, 'left:50px'); // still not enough arguments: needs an element
animation(300, animini.quad.i, 'left:20px'); // still not enough; still no element
animation('myFirstElement'); // now the animation has enough arguments, so it will start
animation('mySecondElement'); // run the same animation on element with ID 'mySecondElement'
Notice the last line above: An animation function keeps all of the animation information, except for the elements on which it should operate. This means that you can reuse the same animation for different elements.
Animation functions as DOM event handlers
Animation functions can also get the element to work on from the this value. This is what causing the animations below to run (the event handler is being called with this pointing at the DOM element on which the event was fired):
var hoverIn = animini('background-color:#fff; color:#00f', 300, 'background-color:#00f; color:#fff');
var hoverOut = animini('background-color:#00f; color:#fff', 300, 'background-color:#fff; color:#00f');
document.getElementById('mySpan').onmouseover = hoverIn;
document.getElementById('mySpan').onmouseout = hoverOut;
Animating several style properties in parallel
To animate several properties in parallel, simply specify them:
'color:#880088; margin-top:20px; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #000;',
'color:#ff0020; margin-top: 0px; text-shadow:20px 20px 40px #888;'
From animini's point of view, this animation includes 9 animated properties: color's red component, color's blue component, margin top, text shadow's x offset, y offset, blur size, and three shadow color components. Animini simply creates an animation with nine parallel stages.
Animini parses the supplied styles, so it really does not care about the order in which style properties are defined. However, it does care about the order of values in shorthand styles:
animini('top:8px; border:1px solid #000', 'border:8px solid #fff; top:0px'); // RIGHT: order of properties is unimportant
animini('top:8px; border:1px solid #000', 'border:#fff solid 8px; top:0px'); // WRONG: order of values inside each property is!
Adding pauses to an animation
To add pauses inside an animation, add a transition without changing the style:
// create an animation that fades in for a quarter of a second, waits half a second, and then fades out again
var transparent = 'opacity: 0.0';
var opaque = 'opacity: 1.0';
var fadeInOut = animini(transparent, 250, opaque, 500, opaque, 250, transparent);
// activate the animation
Using callbacks
To have a function be called upon the animation end, simply add it as an argument:
function myCallback(elem) {
// do something
// create the animation
var animation = animini('top:-2em', 'top:0em', myCallback);
// activate the animation
animation('myDiv'); // myCallback will be called with the element 'myDiv' once the animation is finished
// you can also create an inifinitly looping animation by supplying the animation itself as a callback function
animation('myDiv', animation);
Note that you can add multiple callbacks. All of them will be called when the animation ends.
Easing functions
The animini library includes the following easing types:
Each easing type includes a triplet of functions:
So for example, the linear easing triplet animini.expect includes the functions animini.expect.i, animini.expect.o and The type itself is equivalent to the in-out function, so you can use animini.expect and interchangeably.
See demo-easing.html for a demonstration of all easing functions included in animini.
You can also create your own easing function
An easing function is any function that takes a single numeric argument and returns a numeric result. Both the argument and the return value should be between 0 and 1. Some easing function (for example elastic) return sometimes values below 0 or above 1, but this does not always make sense for all properties (for example for opacity). In any case, the easing function should return 0 for 0, and 1 for 1.
Note that you must register an easing function before you can use it in animations:
function randomEasing(x) {
return x == 1 ? 1 : Math.random() * x;
// registering the new easing function
animini.easing('random', randomEasing);
// note that by registering the easing function, animini creates the easing triplet .i, .o and .io,
// under the supplied name under animini (e.g.,
// using the new easing function
animini('myDiv', 'margin-top:50px',, 'margin-top:0px');
The friendly MIT License. |
• Increase font size
• Default font size
• Decrease font size
IPSC was founded at a conference held in Columbia, Missouri, in May 1976. Practical shooting enthusiasts from around the world participated, creating a constitution and establishing the rules governing the sport. Jeff Cooper served as the first IPSC President.
While IPSC is an international organization, countries have their own organizations under the IPSC umbrella. In the United States, this is the United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA). In the United Kingdom, this is the United Kingdom Practical Shooting Association (UKPSA).
Major and Minor.
Power is a requirement in IPSC competition, along with speed and accuracy. The power of a given cartridge is measured by both bullet weight and velocity. The weight of the bullet fired in grains (7,000 to the pound) is multiplied by the velocity (feet per second) and the total must exceed certain thresholds. A competitor's ammunition is fired, in the competitor's firearm (velocities can vary slightly from one firearm to another) to measure the velocity for scoring. A Major load is one that exceeds the threshold of 160,000 or 170,000 (depending on the division competed in). To shoot Minor, a competitor's ammunition must exceed 125,000. Extra scoring is not given for exceeding the threshold. A competitor declaring Major, but who fails the threshold, has his/her score re-calculated at Minor. A shooter who declares Minor, but fails that threshold, is given a score of zero for the match.
Procedure and scoring
The typical course of fire is an array of targets, which the competitor must engage with two hits each (Sometimes more.) Also, steel plates that fall when struck can be added to a course of fire, or stage. The shooters time is recorded electronically, by means of a timer that "hears" the sound of the shots. Scoring is relatively simple to explain, but involved to calculate for a match. Known as "Comstock" scoring, the points generate by hits on the targets are totalled. Penalties (if incurred) are subtracted. Then the points total is divided by the time it took the competitor to engage the stage. This calculation, called a "Stage Factor", is essentially the ratio of points per second. The highest Stage factor wins the stage and the full total of Stage Points assigned to it, and lesser scores are awarded Stage Points according to the percentage stage factor they fired, compared to the winner.
The points from shots fired and hits generated vary slightly. A center hit for both Major and Minor is five points. However, lesser scoring rings are not rewarded as much for Minor as for Major. The A-C-D rings are scored 5-4-2 for Major, and 5-3-1 for Minor. A shooter who has declared Minor must either shoot all "A" hits, or shoot faster than one who has declared Major, in order to make up for lesser hits being so punished.
Each competitor then has his/her stage points totalled for all stages of the match, to calculate the match standings. The highest total of points wins the match. Comparing each shooter directly to the performance of the fastest shooter of each stage allows for precise gradation of performance across a match, but requires a computer and software to do in a timely fashion. |
Stink bugs are moving in to Michigan homes this fall
- Michigan State University researchers are asking you to keep an eye - and maybe a nose - out for stinkbugs, an invasive species that will soon be moving from the outdoors to the indoors.
The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) sucks plant juices from fruits, seed pods and nuts on a wide variety of wild and cultivated plants. What it's really known for is it's very distinct smell when you kill it - it's very pungent and when you smell it, you'll know.
Aside from the odor, stink bugs are identified by their black and white pattern around the abdomen, a smooth 'shoulder' and white bands on dark antennae. The bugs are 0.5- by 0.625-inch and their bodies have a distinct shield-shape to them.
Check out the picture here for more details:
The stink bugs live outside during the warm months but as summer turns to fall and then in to winter, the stink bugs are looking for a way to survive. As the outdoor temperatures cool, stink bugs will do like humans - spend time indoors.
This fall, you'll likely see them outside your homes on the south and west sides and the groupings can be quite large.
Don't worry, they don't nest or reproduce inside your home, they're just looking for shelter from the cold.
The stink bugs look for south-facing, manmade structures. In their natural habitat, they search for rocky outcroppings and other protected areas.
They also won't bite you or your pets. They only feed on plants. That makes them a problem for the agriculture and is why you're asked to report them if you see them. They stain walls when killed and can contribute to airborne allergies.
Once they invade, they search for secluded, dark places and are relatively inactive so they may go unnoticed. Once it warms, they start crawling and flying again and try to leave so they can feed and reproduce.
Here's the deal though: in most of the Lower Peninsula, they're already well established. Check out this map that shows the stink bug is already well established and that no other reports are needed:
But if you're headed up north for the fall or up to the Upper Peninsula and you spot any, submit a report here.
The best way to manage stink bugs to keep them out of the house. Repair broken screens on doors, black access through AC units, chimneys, and vents to the outside, fill gaps around air conditioners, utility interfaces, or other cracks using caulk or foam sealant.
If they get in and you want to kill them without the stink or stain, that's easy too. Get a shop vac and suck them up. You can also catch them or drop them into soapy water or get really innovative and put a pan of soapy water under a light. Leave the light on and the stink bugs will flock to the light and eventually fall into the pan and drown.
Up Next:
• Popular
• Recent
Stories you may be interested in - includes Advertiser Stories |
(redirected from Macheted)
Also found in: Thesaurus, Encyclopedia.
(mə-shĕt′ē, -chĕt′ē)
tr.v. ma·chet·ed, ma·chet·e·ing, ma·chet·es
1. To cut with a machete: macheted the undergrowth.
2. To attack, wound, or kill with a machete.
[Spanish, diminutive of macho, sledge hammer, alteration of mazo, club, probably from maza, mallet, from Vulgar Latin *mattea, mace; see mace1.]
(məˈʃɛtɪ; -ˈtʃeɪ-) or
(Arms & Armour (excluding Firearms)) a broad heavy knife used for cutting or as a weapon, esp in parts of Central and South America
[C16 macheto, from Spanish machete, from macho club, perhaps from Vulgar Latin mattea (unattested) club]
(məˈʃɛt i, -ˈtʃɛt i)
n., pl. -chet•es.
a heavy swordlike knife used as a cutting implement and weapon.
[1825–35; < American Spanish, Sp, macho hammer « Vulgar Latin *mattea; see mace1]
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.machete - a large heavy knife used in Central and South America as a weapon or for cutting vegetationmachete - a large heavy knife used in Central and South America as a weapon or for cutting vegetation
knife - a weapon with a handle and blade with a sharp point
bozótvágó késmachete
[məˈtʃeɪtɪ] Nmachete m
[məˈʃɛti] nmachette f
nMachete f, → Buschmesser nt
[məˈʃɛtɪ] nmachete m inv
References in periodicals archive ?
Some of them aren't waiting: In September, 100 of the trees were macheted down during the night.
The militias had set fire to a small group of macheted victims - men, women and children - in the back of a pickup truck, but the fire had gone out prematurely.
Traumatic death, where they were trampled to death, stabbed, macheted, shot or hung, or whatever .
I got macheted to death and I spent a day with fake intestines hanging out of me, which was pretty gory but good fun.
The animals are often captured in steel traps in the jungles of India, and then clubbed or macheted to death by poachers. |
Yes, that is true! Canadian milk, regardless of whether it is organic or conventional milk, undergoes strict milk quality production procedures and rigorous testing to assure that you have the highest quality milk to enjoy.
If a dairy cow is being given antibiotics for an illness, she is temporarily removed from the milk producing herd and her milk is discarded. Once she has recovered and the antibiotics have cleared her system, her milk is again suitable for human consumption. All milk is rigorously tested for antibiotic residues prior to it being accepted at the milk processing plant. If milk contains traces of antibiotics, the milk is dumped and the producer is penalized. All Alberta producers participate in the Canadian Quality Milk program. This is a science-based, on farm food safety program that uses a preventative approach to minimizing food safety hazards. It helps to ensure the high quality of Canadian milk.
Synthetic growth hormones to stimulate production are not legal for use in Canada. Check out Bea’s question and Nick’s question for more detail. Furthermore, dairy products that carry the 100% Canadian Milk logo will only contain Canadian milk and no imported milk ingredients.
Milk Logo
Regarding steroids, these may be used by veterinarians to treat some dairy cow illnesses, such as milk fever and bovine ketosis, as well as used as an anti-inflammatory agent (like when humans use an anti-inflammatory medicine to reduce inflammation.) The prescription’s label explains the milk withdrawal times that must be adhered to before the cow’s milk can be used again.
With organic and conventional milks, the only difference between the two is the way in which the milk is produced. Check out Trina’s question for more detail. |
Type of Therapy – Anger Management Therapy
Everyone grows angry from time to time. Although anger is a normal emotion that it is perfectly healthy to experience, holding onto anger for too long can create an emotional barrier that prevents individuals from engaging happily in many areas of life. When an individual experiences difficulty moving past feelings of anger and finds that being angry is interfering with the ability to maintain healthy relationships, employment, or personal happiness, then anger management therapy may be a useful tool. More specifically, when anger with a single person, situation, or idea starts to create tension and unhappiness in other areas of a person’s life, then it is often helpful to engage in some sort of anger management therapy to learn how to quell that emotional response.
There is nothing wrong with experiencing anger, but uncontrolled anger or anger that does not subside is a sign that a person should seek professional support to deal with the source of the volatile emotion and find healthy ways to cope with it.
What Is Anger Management Therapy?
Anger management therapy is a goal-oriented therapeutic strategy that targets the emotional response to external factors that cause anger. Factors such as the setting, number of sessions, length of sessions, and even whether the sessions are individual or group vary depending on individual circumstances.
The goal of anger management therapy is to help individuals:
• express their feelings and needs in an assertive and appropriate way;
• identify situations that are likely to upset them, so they can be emotionally prepared;
• recognize when they aren’t thinking logically;
• focus on problem-solving rather than on the problem itself; and
• calm down when faced with situations that cause them to become upset or angry.
• Anger management therapy is available as individualized counseling or via group therapy. There are benefits to both forms of anger management counseling. Individualized therapy offers an excellent platform to discuss personal concerns and to develop highly individualized strategies for coping with and responding to anger. Group therapy provides an opportunity to gain insight into how other people feel and how they react to similar situations, and it can help individuals understand their anger better by relating to others with similar emotional responses.
Anger Management Strategies
Anger management therapy focuses on helping the client overcome an emotional block. The goal of the therapy is to help the individual identify and overcome emotional stressors, especially stressors that cause hyperemotional reactions such as anger.
Common strategies introduced during anger management therapy include:
• impulse control,
• increased self-awareness,
• meditation,
• breathing techniques,
• relaxation strategies,
• personal reflection, and
• emotional awareness.
Counselors often use similar therapeutic intervention approaches to help clients deal with other emotions, such as sadness and fear, that may be interfering with their quality of life. The difference between anger management therapy and more global therapeutic support is that during anger management therapy, the entire focus of the clinical session is on addressing the cause of and response to anger. The most commonly utilized form of therapy for anger management is cognitive behavioral therapy, as this form of therapeutic intervention uses individualized strategies to help individuals identify and overcome emotional stressors.
Coping With Anger
People become angry for different reasons. Mental health counselors help clients develop individualized anger management strategies to help them identify the particular stressors that lead to anger in their lives. Often, what individuals believe to be the primary source of their anger is in fact only one component of what leads to the anger. By taking a step back, evaluating the different external factors at play, and coming up with healthy coping strategies, individuals are able to let go of their anger and move on in a more emotionally healthy way.
Because anger is a perfectly normal emotional response, the goal of anger management therapy is not to eliminate anger from people’s lives but to help them find healthier ways to cope with anger. These improved coping strategies help individuals respond in less damaging ways to situations that make them angry.
Coping strategies introduced during anger management therapy typically include:
• journaling,
• exercise,
• mindfulness meditation,
• finding a constructive hobby, and
• emotional reframing.
Who Can Benefit From Anger Management Therapy?
It is commonly assumed that people only pursue anger management therapy when mandated to do so by a court order or an employment requirement, but this is not the case. Many people voluntarily turn to anger management therapy as a way to cope with trying circumstances in their lives.
Those who are experiencing anger that interferes with their quality of life are most likely to benefit from anger management therapy. Although individuals sometimes attend mandated or recommended anger management classes following work-related or legal confrontations, the majority of people who attend anger management therapy do so voluntarily.
Anger management therapy is often recommended for:
• violent offenders,
• individuals who display bullying behaviors,
• people with cognitive disorders or mental health issues who have difficulty regulating their emotional responses,
• individuals coping with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
• people coping with emotional or behavioral changes following a traumatic brain injury (TBI),and
• individuals who are experiencing addictionor substance dependency or who are in the process of recovery.
Understanding Anger
It is not uncommon for anger to incite a violent or hurtful response. Unfortunately, when people act out of anger, they often insult or even physically hurt others, often without intending to do so. Such reactions to anger become more about the emotional moment than about finding a solution to what caused the anger.
Anger in and of itself is not unhealthy, but when people let it dominate their lives, they are not dealing with their anger in a healthy manner. It is important for individuals to understand the root of their anger as well as the reasoning behind their emotional response. Gaining understanding in these areas can help individuals take control over how they react to situations that make them upset.
What Causes Anger?
Anger is caused by either internal or external factors.
Internal events are thought patterns, including perceived failures or injustices; individuals can largely learn to take control of these thoughts. External events are upsetting incidents caused by other people and are generally outside of the individual’s control.
Learning what is and what is not within an individual’s control is one of the first steps in anger management therapy. Individuals must learn that it is acceptable to get upset by something that is outside their locus of control, but that it is not healthy to let that lack of control interfere with their quality of life.
Anger management therapy teaches individuals coping strategies, such as letting go of things that are outside of their control, and encourages people to instead focus on things that they can actively control and change, including their personal perspective on what happens to and around them.
Common Presentations of Anger
There are several ways that people commonly express anger. These include:
• aggressiveness,
• passive-aggressiveness
We commonly associate anger with violence, but violent behavior is not, in fact, the most common way that anger presents itself. There are many other more subtle expressions of anger, each of which can disrupt healthy relationships.
These more subtle or passive indicators of anger may include:
• insults,
• sarcasm,
• spreading rumors,
• gossiping,
• ignoring or avoiding another person, and
• damaging another person’s property.
Furthermore, anger can sometimes become displaced, meaning that anger with one person or due to one event spills over and leads the individual to become angry with another person or with regard to a different situation. Typically, displaced anger causes people to shift their emotional response such that they react negatively toward a person or situation over which they have more control or where the consequences of expressing anger are less serious. This is not a healthy way to cope with anger, and it is the reason why so many people who struggle with anger have difficulty maintaining positive relationships.
Risks and Limitations of Anger Management Therapy
Anger management therapy can be a helpful strategy for assisting individuals in overcoming emotional barriers that may be preventing them from maintaining healthy relationships or steady employment. However, teaching coping strategies and healthy behaviors for dealing with anger is only half of the equation. Just as it is important to learn how to cope with anger when it strikes, it is equally important for individuals to learn the cause of their anger. Discovering the root of what makes them upset can help individuals prevent themselves from growing angry in the future and may bring more peace to their lives than simply learning how to change their behavioral response to anger.
Many people develop anger issues in response to a traumatic event that is difficult to process. For example, soldiers often deal with excessive anger after returning home from war. This issue may be amplified in individuals suffering from TBI or PTSD. For such individuals, identifying and working through the causes of their anger is just as important as learning how to cope with their emotional responses. These individuals are best served by incorporating anger management therapy as a component of a more comprehensive therapeutic program. Therapists sometimes recommend that individuals attend group anger management therapy sessions in addition to weekly individualized sessions to ensure that they receive the individualized support they need.
Most anger management therapy sessions introduce helpful strategies and coping devices to help ease the severity of a person’s anger, but these strategies will only be effective when the individual uses them in the correct context. To make anger management therapy work, individuals must want to overcome their anger.
In conclusion, the effectiveness of anger management therapy depends largely on the willingness of the individual to learn and employ the strategies and coping devices learned in therapy sessions. The decision to overcome anger and to find a corrective emotional response is the fundamental factor that will determine therapeutic success. |
New Alzheimer’s discovery
New Iceland discovery offers Alzheimer’s hints
A genetic picture of the Icelandic population has aided scientists to discover rare gene patterns linked with common diseases like Alzheimer’s. A team of researches working with deCOD, a genetics company in Reykjavik, Iceland, found the genetic information of 2,636 Icelanders. One thing that their data disclosed was that rare variants of a gene called ABCA7 doubles the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, the team says online March 25 in one series of papers Nature Genetics. The study’s coauthor Kári Stefánsson, a neurologist at the University of Iceland explained that ABCA7 variants can inactivate this gene which seems to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. In another report, Stefánsson and his colleagues identified Icelanders with the genetic variants. They found out that the variant blocked the gene’s ability to make a functional protein. The most affected were the ones with smell discrimination which probably tells why some people with Alzheimer’s lose their sense of smell when the disease inhibits them. While the data may be limited right now, we are getting closer and closer to a possible solution.
Featured image
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s |
Society and Dreams Dianna hernandez
UniVersal Theme:
Society is cruel and people hurt you, you just have to pursue your dreams and always make sure to keep your head up high. People say that the ones that cry are weak, but it's okay not to be okay. Just make sure to always get back up when life knocks you down.
"Of mIce and men":
"The voices came close now. George raised the gun and listened to the voices. Lennie begged, 'Le's do it now. Le's get that place now.' 'Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta." And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head...he pulled the trigger."
What the author tries to teach us in this piece of evidence is that you can't always trust your own "friends." George had promised Lennie ever since the beginning that they would have gotten a place of their own, with rabbits and cows and different types of animals, but at the end George betrayed Lennie. Dreams don't always come true. In this case, the dream was for George and Lennie to get through obstacles together, except Lennie didn't know his only obstacle in life was George and for George, it was Lennie.
"'Well, I think Curley's married...a tart.'...'I don't want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble jus' like George says you will'...And she continued to struggle, and her eyes were wild with terror. He shook her then, and he was angry with her...for Lennie had broken her neck."
This is also an example of society and dreams. In the beginning when Lennie and George arrived at the ranch, the guys had warned both George and Lennie about staying away from Curley's wife. The only problem, was that Lennie did not listen to George. One of Lennie's "dreams," was for George to let Lennie tend the rabbits, and Curley's wife had told Lennie George was not going to let him tend no rabbits. Of course, Lennie got furious and scared, so he overreacted and ended up killing Curley's wife. Society in this case, was trying to be helpful with Lennie, but one woman made the difference and the turning point in Lennie's destiny.
"The Necklace":
"...but was as unhappy as a woman who has come down in the world...she grieved incessantly, feeling that she had been born for all the little niceties and luxuries of living."
This quote from the short story "The Necklace," shows how Madame Loisel is a pretty and charming woman, but she thrives to be filled with luxury. Society was very picky and unequal. People of a higher class did not view the lower class in the same way. Madame Loisel's dream was for her to be filled with expensive and luxury things, yet little did she know destiny would play her wrong.
"They found nothing...Mme. Loisel experienced the horrible life the needy live. She played her part...And this went on for ten years...Mme. Forestier, quite proud clasped her by the hands. 'Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine was only paste. Why, at most it was worth only five hundred francs!'"
In the story, Madame Forestier lend her necklace to Madame Loisel for her to attend a very important and fancy place filled with higher class guests. After the event, Madame Loisel lost the necklace and decided to work hard to get her a new one, only for her to find out the necklace her friend lend her was only a paste of the actual one. She realized that her being obsessive over being rich and filled with luxuries had been a bad choice and because of that, she learned a very good lesson. Society, in this case Madame Forestier, was messed up and cruel to Madame Loisel, for not telling her that the necklace was a copy.
In the movie Tangled, all Rapunzel ever wanted was to see the lights that shined bright on her birthday since she thought they were only meant for her. She was kidnapped when she was a baby and her "mom" hid her in the tower. Rapunzel's dream was for one day to be let out of the tower and see the lights that shine bright but the cruelty of her "mom" achieved her kindness and was selfish enough to not let her out. She knew for a fact Rapunzel will never be let out of the tower...or so she thought.
Society in this movie was both evil and good. The goodness part came from Flynn Rider, who helped Rapunzel out of the tower. He made Rapunzel's dream come true, showed and proved to her that not every person out there in the world will be evil and cruel. She grew up with the influences of her mother, thinking that everyone out there will try to hurt her. At the end, she realized that dreams do come true and that there will be both good and bad people who try to hurt you. You just have to find out who are the ones worth hurting for.
Overall, there will always be both good and bad people in this world. People make you think that dreams won't ever come true, but if you thrive and don't let any one knock you down, you can accomplish whatever goals you have for yourself in this life. Anything is possible. People will be with you during the good and bad times. Yet, there will be people who will only be there to hate on your accomplishments. At the end, not everyone will be there for you, but those who are, keep those close.
Created with images by andyarthur - "Blue Skies and Folleage" • Unsplash - "window view sitting indoors"
Made with Adobe Slate
Make your words and images move.
Get Slate
Report Abuse
|
Sentence Examples with the word Statements
Christendom would welcome gladly the intelligence of a counterpoise arising so unexpectedly to the Mahommedan power; while the statements of the letter itself combined a reference to and corroboration of all the romantic figments concerning Asia which already fed the curiosity of Europe, which figured in the world-maps, and filled that fabulous history of Alexander which for nearly a thousand years supplanted the real history of the Macedonian throughout Europe and western Asia.
The longevity of the fish has probably been much exaggerated, and the statements of carp of 200 years living in the ponds of Pont-Chartrain and other places in France and elsewhere do not rest on satisfactory evidence.
Together with these statements in our sources are still mingled fragments of the more ordinary cataclysmic, apocalyptic conceptions, which in spite of much ingenious exegesis, cannot be brought into harmony with Christ's predominant teaching, but remain as foreign elements in the words of the Master, possibly brought back through his disciples, or, more probably, used by Jesus uncritically - a part of the current religious imagery in which he shared.
View more
Jenny didn't look as if she believed their story but Dean was a detective so she simply took their statements and refrained from asking embarrassing questions.
With regard to the first question no satisfactory proof has as yet been given that Saccharomycetes are derivable by culture from any higher form, the recent statements to that effect not having been confirmed.
The history of the dynasty of the Danishmand is still very obscure, notwithstanding the efforts of Mordtmann, Schlumberger, Karabacek, Sallet and others to fix some chronological details, and it is almost impossible to harmonize the different statements of the Armenian, Syriac, Greek and Western chronicles with those of the Arabic, Persian and Turkish.
Palacky, though entirely national and Protestant in his sympathies, was careful to avoid an uncritical approbation of the Reformers' methods, but his statements were held by the authorities to be dangerous to the Catholic faith.
Lenard and Helmholtz, contain many biographical details, together with statements of the scope and significance of his investigations.
These extracts contain all the original statements made by Napier, Robert Napier and Briggs which have reference to the origin of decimal logarithms. It will be seen that they are all in perfect agreement. |
What does artois mean?
artois meaning in General Dictionary
a former province of northern France nearby the English Channel (between Picardy and Flanders)
artois - German to English
Sentence Examples with the word artois
After having, despite so many reverses and mistakes, saved Burgundy, though not Artois nor Flanders, and joined to the crown lands the domains of the constable de Bourbon Further who had gone over to Charles V., Francis I.
View more Sentence Examples |
Sludge monitoring for water and wastewater industry - Water and Wastewater - Sludge Management
There is a need to monitoring the sludge blanket level in primary and secondary settlement tanks to identify a rising blanket which can affect the physical quality of effluent discharge and also to ensure correct surplusing of sludge. A simple optical sensor can be position to alarm when the sludge blanket rises to at a critical level but this technology is limited in the information it can report. The ability to track the blanket and raise a number of alarms before the critical limit is reached is preferential. Ultrasonic techniques are therefore advantageous by tracking the blanket allowing operators a greater certainty that correct process control is in place.
Biological treatment is extensively used to treat sewage and industrial effluent, principally to remove ammonia and reduce organic loading. Controlling aerobic and anaerobic digestion using Dissolved Oxygen and more recently ammonium probes is extensively installed to optimise treatment and regulate aeration - saving money. Many sites could also benefit from the installation of reliable suspended solids monitoring to ensure the correct solids concentrations are maintained. The ability to set multiple points of correlation against gravimetric dry solids (establishing a calibration curve) is key to delivering a reliable installation.
The Visolid 700 IQ sensor can also be used to monitor in-pipe when used with special weld on sockets allowing correct insertion and removal. The technology continuously reports concentrations against a site correlation taking into account site specific sludge characteristics. The continuous ultrasonic cleaning is an important feature to maintain the sensor and minimise bio-fouling of the optical sapphire window. |
On the other hand, a few storage systems use flash memory for write caching. Here I describe what compels these systems to use flash in this manner and the cost-benefit tradeoff it entails.
In general, storage systems implement write caching using a non-volatile “write buffer.” On a write request, the system stores the data into the write buffer anacknowledges the request. In the background, as the buffer fills up, the system drains the buffer to the underlying storage. The speed at which the write buffer can be drained to underlying storage constrains the sustainable write throughput.
The write buffer helps in following ways:
1. It enables the storage system to acknowledge a write request with very low latency.
2. It can absorb a high-throughput burst of writes, while it drains less speedily to disk-based storage over a longer period of time.
3. It absorbs overwrites (multiple writes to the same blocks), thereby reducing the amount of drainage, which may support a higher write throughput.
4. It allows the data being drained to be sorted by logical addresses, thereby improving the sequentiality of drainage, which may improve the speed of draining and support a higher write throughput.
The latency advantage depends on the buffering medium. NVRAM (DRAM made non-volatile with battery backup or flash backup) provides latency of a few tens of microseconds. Flash a few hundreds of microseconds. Disk a few milliseconds. Most storage systems use NVRAM for write buffering. However, file systems that are not tied to a hardware platform cannot assume the availability of NVRAM, and may buffer writes on flash or even on disk. E.g., the write buffer in ZFS, called ZFS Intent Log (ZIL), is generally stored on flash or disk.
A few storage systems now use flash as a secondary write buffer in addition to using NVRAM. E.g., EMC “FAST cache” uses flash as both a read cache and a write buffer. In such systems, written data is staged through the NVRAM-based buffer, the flash-based buffer, and finally to disk. The flash-based buffer is much bigger than the NVRAM-based buffer, and therefore provides higher levels of burst absorption, overwrite absorption, and sequentiality improvement, which in turn may support a higher write throughput. These advantages are based on the assumption that the NVRAM-based buffer cannot be drained directly to disk-based storage at high throughput.
Most storage systems employ a simplistic disk layout such that draining the write buffer results in random writes on disk. Furthermore, these systems amplify the IO load in order to support parity RAID and copy-on-write snapshots. The resulting load cripples the speed at which data can be drained to disk. (NetApp’s WAFL performs better by concatenating random data blocks and writing them into free space, but it too degenerates gradually as the free space becomes fragmented.) Because these systems cannot drain to disk at high speed, they stand to benefit from adding a larger write buffer. Even so, this benefit is limited because it does not eliminate random writes to disk—it only reduces them by some modest amount.
Furthermore, many of these storage systems could instead use a disk-based write buffer, which would be similar to a write-ahead log used in database systems. The log is written sequentially, which disks perform just as well as flash drives (about 100MB/s per drive). One advantage of a flash-based buffer over a disk-based buffer is that it also serves as a read cache for newly written data. However, as described later, there are cheaper ways of building a read cache. Another advantage is that the draining process can read the flash-based buffer in random order, so it supports a more thorough sorting of the data, thereby extracting more sequentiality.
Now consider the cost of write buffering. A flash-based buffer is expensive. First, because it holds the only copy of newly written data, it must employ the more expensive forms of flash and controllers, and also some RAID-like redundancy in the form of parity or mirroring. (In fact, a flash-based buffer needs to be even more reliable than an NVRAM-based buffer, because it is larger and the overwrite-absorption and re-sorting might make it difficult to recover the system to a consistent state upon loss.) On the other hand, a read cache does not ever store the only copy of any data, so it can be constructed inexpensively without sacrificing reliability: add a checksum to every block, verify the checksum on every read, and toss the cached block if the checksum does not match. Second, pushing the writes through flash burns through its limited write endurance, again requiring expensive, high-endurance, flash. Third, to obtain a significant edge over NVRAM-based log, the flash-based log must be much bigger. E.g., it may need to be large enough to absorb all writes during a busy period lasting hours.
The questionability of using flash as a write cache for disk is epitomized by a research paper, Extending SSD Lifetimes with Disk-Based Write Caches, which states the following:
“We present Griffin, a hybrid storage device that uses a hard disk drive (HDD) as a write cache for a Solid State Device (SSD).”
In other words, the authors are proposing just the opposite of using a flash-based write cache for disk! These authors are reputable researchers from the academia and Microsoft Research, and they exhibit a deep understanding of flash characteristics as a storage medium. There are practical issues with following their proposal, but the mere existence of this proposal questions the wisdom of using flash for write caching.
Nimble’s CASL™ filesystem uses the entire disk storage as a log, and always writes data to disk in large sequential chunks. This enables it to drain data from NVRAM buffer to disk storage at high throughput. This avoids the need for a secondary write buffer. It is as if the entire disk subsystem is at once a write buffer and the end point of storage.
In summary, flash-based write caching addresses burst throughput but only partially improves sustained throughput, while a write-optimized disk layout addresses both with little cost. However, systems with legacy disk layouts are forced to cache writes in flash as a costly fix to improve their write performance partially. |
Dismiss Notice
Join Physics Forums Today!
Length contraction question?
1. Jun 9, 2013 #1
If an object were to approach the speed of light, its length, as measured by an observer, would become shorter and shorter. But what about the view of the speeding object? If the object is approaching the speed light, then would the world surrounding it appear to be shorter as well?
I say this because, in a speeding object's R.F, its surroundings are going to towards him near the speed of light while it is stationary. So, if its surroundings are going at such high speeds, then would that mean there would be length contraction as seen by the object?
2. jcsd
3. Jun 9, 2013 #2
User Avatar
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
Hi Dgonzo15! :wink:
Yes, that's completely correct. :smile:
(i have a feeling there's going to be a supplementary question …
but i'm off to bed :zzz:)
4. Jun 9, 2013 #3
So what if I'm driving on the road in a car near the speed of light? I can't see how the road would contract, since, eventually, the car itself would have to contract in width in order to fit within the boundaries of the road; and I believe that I would not experience myself contracting in my own reference frame. So what happens in this case?
5. Jun 9, 2013 #4
User Avatar
Staff: Mentor
The contraction is only in the direction of motion. Thus, the width is unaffected and both you and an observer at rest relative to the road (think guy standing at the side of the road) will agree about the width of the car.
Similar Discussions: Length contraction question? |
Vaccum assisted delivery using Ventouse
Vaccum assisted delivery using Ventouse
A ventouse is a suction device that can be used instead of forceps to assist in the delivery of a baby during labour.
The equipment consists of a small rubber cup about 8 cm. in diameter to which is attached a tube and a chain.
The tube leads to a suction device, which can create a vacuum, and the chain is attached to a handle that is held by the doctor.
The rubber suction cap is placed on the baby’s head as it emerges from the dilated cervix of the mother, and the vacuum pump is turned on to firmly attach the cup to the baby’s scalp. The doctor can then pull on the chain and therefore the baby to assist the mother who is pushing the baby out. The vacuum pressure is adjusted so that if the doctor pulls too hard on the chain the suction cap detaches from the baby’s head.
Because there is no increase in the diameter of the cervix the use of a ventouse is more comfortable for the mother (not that the labour itself is comfortable!) than using forceps, which further stretch the cervix, and because no artificial twisting forces are applied to the baby’s head it is safer for the baby. Forceps are still essential if the baby’s head is not in the correct position or rapid delivery is essential.
Most babies who have a ventouse applied develop a lump on their scalp from the vacuum suction. This settles over the next week or two and has no lasting effect.
Comments are closed |
Este site utiliza cookies. Fechar
Home/Technical Information/Industrial Ecology
Industrial Ecology
The fundamental principle of Industrial Ecology is the closure of the life cycle of materials through their reuse, recycling or energy recovery after use in order to make the most of the value of materials / waste. The waste ceases to be regarded as such and passes to be seen as feedstock for other activity.
Industrial Ecology requires a plant to be examined in conjunction with the industrial plants that surround it. This is a systemic approach that seeks to optimize the entire cycle of materials, from virgin material, passing through the material in its final form, its components, the product when its obsolete until processing in its end of life.
Waste may become new raw materials that should be used efficiently by another industry. In a time where prices of raw materials continue to rise, and reserves to decline, it is necessary to find alternatives that can meet the needs of productive sectors. A policy of reuse, recycling and material recovery is the most advisable strategy to reduce costs and promote appropriate solutions to the waste produced.
Belavista Office
Estrada de Paço de Arcos 66 e 66A
2735-336 Cacém
Lisboa - Portugal
+ 351 210 920 656
+ 351 210 920 609 |
Zone Diet Review
Excess insulin leads to a decrease of blood sugar (glucose) in the blood, which is converted into fat and simultaneously blocks access our fat stores, all ultimately leading to disease.
This is the explanation of why diets high in carbohydrates, produce feelings of fatigue, increasingly makes us feel less physical energy and increasingly accumulate body fat.
The Zone Diet has easier access to stored fat reserves (instead of accumulated carbon hydrates) as an energy source, which also translates into greater mental concentration, which not only helps them to be more productive, but enhance physical performance.
In the Zone diet, you are advised to make five meals a day, two of which will be lighter. You should never let more than 4 or 5 hours between them, since otherwise the rate is triggered insulin and sugar levels in the blood are altered.
The recommended Zone diet food places including :
Carbohydrates: the benefit of carbon hydrates depends on your speed entering the bloodstream (indicating its glycemic index) of the speed at which they are converted into glucose depends on the degree of insulin secretion.
You have to avoid foods with a high glycemic index that is increasing much too quickly blood sugar levels like refined sugar, honey, glucose, white bread, potatoes and all the cereals & pasta.
Instead, take those more slowly absorbed and found in fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains and fiber that helps to lower the absorption of sugars and fats.
Proteins: within plant have gluten or seitan, the alga Spirulina, tofu, Yeast beer or sprouted lentils or soy & all legumes (soy, lentils, chickpeas, beans, etc.) .
The recommended animal protein are meat chicken, turkey and rabbit, as well as oily fish and lean ham. Yogurts and fermented milks, flee from other full-fat dairy products such as cheeses. Red meat should be avoided.
Fats: fats will get them in olive oil, olives, or mayonnaise.
Example of zone diet Food Lists
Toasted bread with ham or sweet (no fat) and only some strong coffee.
Two-fat kefir or yoghurt, muesli (unsweetened) and tea or red tea.
Mid-morning – afternoon
A piece of fruit (pear, apple) and five almonds or hazelnuts.
A dessert of soy and nuts.
You can replace the snack bar by the regime, always carrying a protein ratio between 50% and 100% of carbohydrates.
Food – Dinner
A protein (chicken breast 120 g., 120 g turkey breast., Chicken or turkey burger, tuna 140 g., Salmon 180 g., Hake 180 g.)
More carbohydrate: broccoli, tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, green beans) and any fruit. |
Can Alcohol Cause Anxiety?
Alcohol abuse and anxiety are often linked. While even a single instance of acute alcohol intoxication can lead to anxiety, mental health issues are more frequently associated with the recurrent alcohol abuse that is symptomatic of alcohol addiction. Alcohol addiction, also referred to as alcoholism, is an affliction that affects both the body and the mind. Alcohol addiction has a variety of potential mental and physical symptoms, as well as a number of withdrawal symptoms that can be severe. Among the most common psychological symptoms of alcohol addiction are acute anxiety and depression.
How Does Alcohol Lead to Anxiety?
People who experience occasional anxiety in social or other situations will often self-medicate the problem with a drink of alcohol. While alcohol may ease the mind temporarily, it can actually make anxiety worse, both in the short term and in the long term.
Alcohol consumption can cause a number of physical issues that may lead to anxiety. Anxiety problems are most common when alcohol consumption is a frequent habit and when the levels of consumption are high enough to constitute alcohol abuse. For some, alcohol drops the level of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is a chemical that many believe to be responsible for happiness, so a drop in serotonin levels can negatively affect mood in such a way that may cause anxiety.
A few of the common side effects of drinking excessive alcohol can often combine and cause an unpleasant physical condition that leads users to become anxious about their physical wellbeing. These common symptoms of alcohol abuse can include dehydration, low blood sugar and increased heart rate, which may lead to dizziness, lightheadedness, weakness, numbness, shaking and nausea.
How to Treat Alcoholism and Anxiety
When anxiety becomes a frequent problem, a person may be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Whether or not the anxiety is a direct result of alcohol abuse, an alcohol addiction and an anxiety disorder can affect each other in negative ways. Essentially, each medical condition may continue to drive the other to continue and worsen. When a person has a substance addiction and a mental health issue, they may be diagnosed with a co-occurring or Dual Diagnosis disorder. A Dual Diagnosis disorder can be treated most effectively if it is fully understood, and some rehabilitation facilities specialize in integrated treatment specifically for patients with co-occurring disorders. Such a facility addresses each patient individually and has a medical team that can study him and decide on the best course of action for treatment. An individualized and specialized experience at such a facility is often the most effective treatment option for someone with a Dual Diagnosis disorder.
Finding Help for Alcohol Addiction
If you struggle with alcohol addiction and also experience acute anxiety, please call our toll-free helpline now. Our counselors are available 24 hours a day to answer your questions and help you find the best treatment options for your situation. Please call now.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email |
Other places I blog
web stats
Follow Me on Twitter
Entries in History (12)
Women victimizing women
Recently, I watched a movie called The Magdalene Sisters. It was a compelling story. My curiosity piqued, after seeing the movie, I read a book called Ireland's Magdalen Laundries, which exposed how these laundries functioned as part of an attitude that wished to confine and contain elements of society deemed unfit, i.e., people on the margins of society.
The Magdalene Laundries
The Magdelene Laundries were run by four different female religious orders in Ireland. They were founded in the mid-nineteenth century as a refuge for prostitutes, but ultimately became a place where women from the fringes of society were placed. Some women had given birth to illegitimate children, were orphans, had been raped, or were viewed as "mentally defective." Some of them were put in those institutions by their own families, because they were viewed as being at risk for having sex outside of marriage. As one survivor said, other than having a baby outside of wedlock, the worst sin in Ireland was to have sex outside of marriage.
The Magdelene laundries were private institutions, which meant that officially there was no state intervention or accountability. The nuns in the laundries had free labour, but were really not responsible to any outside governing body. There was no recourse for the women in the laundires except the Catholic Church.
A Brutal Life
Life there was, in a word, brutal. These were not coin-operated, Maytag laudromats; these were industrial laundries, utilizing equipment that girls as young as 12 should not have had to use. The girls received no financial remuneration, nor were they given any education. Some girls were told they were being sent to the laundry to learn life skills, but the laundry prepared them for nothing but more of the same hard, demanding work. Having been in a Magdalen laundry was a mark of shame that no girl wanted to admit. Many never told others of where they had been. They were told they were not prisoners, yet they could not leave. And ultimately, with no education and no one to advocate for them, what was the benefit of leaving? They were not allowed to talk to each other while they worked or even in bed at night. There was physical abuse. Their names were changed. Their hair was cut off. They were told they were doing "penance" for sins they didn't understand. Some became so institutionalized that they found it difficult to function outside of the laundry once they did leave.
While the book Ireland's Magdalen Laundries provided analysis of this situation, the book Whispering Hope shared personal accounts of five women who were in a Magdalen Laundry. I couldn't put it down. It was both riveting and disturbing. In one of the accounts, the survivor noted with bitter irony that the order she was placed with, The Sisters of the Mercy, had nothing merciful about it. One woman recounts how she watched one of the other girls, recently having been forced to give up her baby for adoption, try to escape one night by tying sheets together to climb out of a sixth story window. She ended up falling, breaking her neck, and dying. There was no mention of the girl again, and no funeral.
The saddest story came from a woman named Nancy, who was an orphan. She tried to run away on a couple of occasions, but because she had nowhere to go, she ended up returning to the laundry, facing even harsher treatment. When she was about 16, the nuns sent her to work on a farm with a man who beat her brutally, and who at one point, hung her dog in the barn (where she slept) as a punishment. This woman eventually ran away, and was able to find work as a housekeeper and nanny. She remained with this family long after the children grew and moved away. She was never able to form any kind of relationship with a man, or most people, for that matter.
Theology in Action
As I have read and thought about this matter, I am reminded that theology is evident in our conduct. The nuns had a particular view of God, sin, and humanity, and it is reflected in how they treated the girls. There was an overly punitive, harsh attitude toward them, despite the fact that not one of them had done anything to warrant being incarcerated. The nuns seemed to believe the premise that by making the girls suffer physical and emotional abuse, they were helping them do penance. The nuns clearly did not have a biblical understanding of sin or atonement or else they would not have presumed to dole out brutality in the name of penance. If a girl was born out of wedlock, it was cast upon her as her own sin and she was made to pay, and pay frequently. Anyone who has read the Bible recognizes that as an unbiblical attitude. The nuns were not kind. That says something about their belief regarding being made in God's image and loving others as we love ourselves. They reminded me of the Pharisees who were were preoccupied with washings and rituals, but were hard and unmerciful.
I don't know what kind of religious education nuns in Ireland were given, but from the way they treated the girls in the Magdalen laundries, it bares little resemblance to Jesus's attitude toward their namesake, Mary Magdalen, who was indeed shown mercy. I think it is an irony that the laundries bear her name despite clearly being such a harsh place. Part of me is a little shocked at women victimizing other women. It just goes to show that sin is in the heart of us all, and given the right circumstances, it can really run amok.
In 2013, Enda Kenny, the then Irish Taoiseach apologized to the victims of Magdalen laundries. There is a group for survivors, and as their stories are being told, more seem to come forward with their own stories. It is such a sad story, and yet some of the women are so admirable, pressing on and surviving in the midst of something I cannot fathom.
Before you indulge in shamrocks or green beer...
Ever since I took a few semesters of Irish history in university, the typical St. Patrick's Day fare has irritated me a little. I don't know what's worse: green beer, leprechauns, or Shamrock Shakes.
If you are at all interested in Ireland or St. Patrick's Day, before you go out and purchase those Kelly green napkins and buy Lucky Charms to feel like you're in the season, check out a few other resources.
Who Was St. Patrick? This book by E.A. Thompson is my favourite book about Patrick. It reveals the very human side of the man and it is honest about how difficult it is to piece together who he was simply because there isn't a lot of information about him.
How the Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas Cahill. This talks not only about Patrick but how the monks in Ireland were instrumental in preserving texts after the fall of the Roman Empire. It's not written like a textbook, and is thoroughly enjoyable.
Rediscovering the Church Fathers, Michael Haykin. It's not a book just about Patrick, but other church fathers as well. Michael Haykin is worth reading no matter what the subject matter.
The Irish Experience. This is a general history of Ireland beginning at 200 B.C. to contemporary times. It was written in 1989, so it's before the Good Friday Agreement, but if you are interested in the politics of Ireland, this will give a little background. It's definitely got a textbook feel to it.
Angela's Ashes, Frant McCourt. In case you are tempted to romanticize life in Ireland, this will give you a real life picture into the very harsh poverty faced by McCourt in the 1940's. This is one of my favourite books ever. McCourt has the ability to make you see a lot of laughter in the midst of poverty that most of us are thankfully ignorant.
St. Patrick's Day has become more of a celebration of Ireland than Patrick himself. If you want to partake of Irish culture, look for something truly Irish. There's lots out there.
Moms, please don't stop using paper
I've been doing some reading about Nellie McClung. I've been doing it for a while. I just finished another biography. This, after having read her two volume autobiography and a collection of her essays regarding her thoughts on the role of women.
One of the things I enjoyed very much about the most recent biography was that the authors had delved into the private papers of McClung and were able to quote things she had written down in sources that were not public. This gives insight into her that published works don't have. To find these snippets of her own words is a treasure.
Women of the past tended not to write things down. Those who did were in the minority. There was in most cases a time issue, and for some an ability issue, and for some a cost issue. There was no Office Depot back then. I'm thankful for the ones who did manage to keep a record.
I wish that my female ancestors had kept journals. I am interested particularly in my father's mother, who I think passed on to me my love of handiwork and baking. Last week, as I removed a beautifully formed loaf of honey wheat bread, I remembered how good her bread was. I was only 7 when she died, but I do remember watching her cut the unsliced bread perfectly. That's one thing I didn't get from her: my loaf always ends up with a big fat chunk at the end which is too thick to eat and too thin to slice. I wish she had kept journals. She was mothering back then even if she didn't keep a record.
Today, women can avail themselves of the internet to share their stories. There are so many places to find such reading material. I hope women still keep journals. There is something much more precious about a woman's stories, on smooth white paper, in her own handwriting. The finished product becomes a beautiful artifact. In the pages of a journal, we can be more honest, at least ideally that is how it works. Online, many people are discrete, but occasionaly not. I'm often a little taken aback and sometimes put off by too much honesty. The reason Nellie McClung had private papers in addition to hundreds of articles she had published was because she knew some things were better left private. Sometimes, I look back at what I have published on my blog and thought, "I should have waited until I was older to write that."
Nellie McClung's oldest son went away to war in 1914. He was gone for four years. When he returned, he was changed. Nellie wrote very sensitively about this:
I knew there was a wound in his heart - a sore place. That hurt look in his clear blue eyes tore at my heart strings and I did not know what to do. When a boy who has never had a gun in his hands, never desired anything but the good of his fellow men, is sent out to kill other boys like himself, even at the call of his country, something snaps in him, something which may not mend.
A wound in a young heart is like the wound in a young tree. It does not grow out. It grows in.
If this was today, that beautiful piece of prose would have been well read online. As it is, it is tucked away in a battered volume I had to buy second hand because it's out of print. I am so glad Nellie chose to keep a journal so she could write this book. Moms have been doing the mom thing for hundreds of years, no matter how quietly they do it. When we get a glimpse into it, I think we are the ones who benefit.
Was Nellie a "Jesus Feminist?"
I finished The Stream Runs Fast, Nellie McClung's second volume of her two-volume autobiography. I enjoyed this second volume, but was disappointed by the fact that she wrote very little of her work in The Person's Case. I found it odd that she spent an entire (long) chapter describing how beautiful Nova Scotia was, yet she said very little about the fight to name women "persons" in the law.
As I read Nellie's books, I was looking for expressions of her Christianity. This is one of the things I like reading about women of the past, to see how Christ was reflected in their lives. While I came across a lot of comments which demonstrated her faith, there were things here and there which made me stop and scratch my head. There were times when I found myself thinking she could very easily fit into the Christian feminist circles of today, except for the fact that she was not one to disdain women staying at home, being "kitchen wives." She doesn't use the word "feminist" at all. This was in the days long before Simone deBeauvoir or Betty Friedan wrote.
Near the end of the book, she discusses a visit to the United States. In this chapter, she provides a glowing description of Aimee Semple McPherson. Nellie had first seen McPherson many years before, when McPherson was a younger woman. This description is following an occasion when McClung was in California:
I liked her the first time I saw her, and felt the impact of a great personality. Surely no woman ever received more admiration and loyalty on the one hand, derision and persectuion on the other. If Aimee had been a homely woman dressed in rusty black, with her hair pulled back unbecomingly, and carried on her missionary work in a back street in unattracive surroundings, she would have passed into history as a great saint. But Aimee was beautiful and knew how to dress and did not let the passing of the years destroy her beauty; she was also a great showman and a great financier and so the world in general found it hard to forgive her success.
I regret to have to record that she was bitterly criticized by many of the "good"people who failed to see that she used her talents and all her powers to spread the Gospel of the Lord.
Can you not hear echoes of Nelliie's words today in the objections of those who don't like to hear their favourite female teacher critiqued? I found Nellie's description of McPherson, "showman," interesting.
Not long ago, I read an article at First Things, discussing Sarah Bessy's book Jesus Feminist. In this article, the writer links Bessy and women who share similar convictions to the holiness-pentecostal movement. In the article, Dale Coulter names Aimee Semple McPherson as one of those who promoted this movement, which he sees as influening Sarah Bessey.
Of course I know who Aimee Semple McPherson is. Actually, I have driven often on the highway that passes by Salford, Ontario, where she was born.
Was Nellie a Jesus Feminist? I don't know. I have not read enough of her material to draw conclusions. Her autobiography is peculiar, in that it doesn't follow a chronological path in this second volume, as much as a topical one, and she didn't discuss the things I was eager to learn about. Honestly, I felt like it could have used a good editor.
I do think she would have had a lot of common ground with Christian feminists today, although there are some differences. I found it refreshing that when she describes her reaction to losing an election after having sat in the Alberta legislature for five years, she turns to her kitchen for comfort:
No woman can be utterly cast down who has a nice bright kitchen facing west, with a good gas range and a blue and white checked linoleum on the floor, a cook book, oil cloth covered and dropsical with looseleaf editions... no woman can turn out an oven full of good flaky pies with well-cooked under crusts, and not find peace for her troubled soul.
I don't know as if some of the current Christian feminists would applaud Nellie or scoff at her.
While I don't know as if I agree entirely with some of her doctrinal positions, I think I liked Nellie. I admire her compassion, her energy, and her love of home and family. I am thankful she was instrumental in helping me become a "person" under the law. But I don't know as if I think she would have necessarily embraced the term "feminist" according to today's standards.
A boy who has never had a gun in his hands
In her autobiography, The Stream Runs Fast, Nellie McClung comments about her oldest son, who returned from World War I:
The other boys could tell us incidents of their experiences in the trenches and happenings on their brief leaves, but Jack, the best story-teller of them all, had nothing to say. He sat silent, with a strange tension on his young face.
A wound in a young heart is like a wound in a young tree. It does not grow out. It grows in.
I cannot imagine how she felt. I have only the slightest of glimpses of that feeling of helplessness, watching a child struggle. Living through a horrible war is not among the burdens my children have had to bear.
There are things about Nellie that I'm not quite sure of; I think if I had known her, I might have disagreed with some of what she said. But she was an observant woman, and was so eloquent. It was apparent that she had a lot of compassion for others.
Some people may wonder what is the use of quoting a woman long dead, regarding her son, also long dead, regarding a war long ago. To find a woman writing in the early decades of the 20th century about her thoughts on such issues is not a common thing. There were not many mothers who had time and means to write about such things, let alone be given the voice that Nellie was given in Canada.
History is important. We didn't arrive where we are on our own efforts alone. To think what happened before us had no impact on where we are now is pride, indeed. |
Friday, December 11, 2015
Definition of Political Communication, Papers, Theory According to the Experts Nimmo
Definition Definition of Political Communication, Papers, Theory According to the Experts Nimno - Political derived from the word "polis" meaning the state, the city, which in totality is a unity between the state (city) and its people. The word "policy" was developed into the "politicos" which means citizenship. From the word "politicos" to "politera" which means that the rights of citizenship (Sumarno, 1989: 8). (Political Communication Theory According to Experts)
Definition of Political Communication - By definition, there are several views of political scholars, including Nimmo (2000: 8) defines politics as the activity of the collective governing their actions in the conditions of social conflict. In many ways people differ from each other - physically, talents, emotions, needs, goals, initiatives, behaviors, and so on. Furthermore Nimmo explained, sometimes these differences stimulating arguments, disputes and squabbles. If they consider it a serious dispute, their attention by introducing conflicting issues, and complete; This is political activity.
For Lasswell (in Varma, 1995: 258), political science is the science of power. In contrast to David Easton in Sumarno (1989: 8), defines politics as follows:
"Political as a process Reviews those developmental processes through the which persons acquire political orientation and patterns of behavior"
David Easton in this definition emphasizes that politics as a process in which the development of the process a person receives a certain political orientation and behavior patterns.
If the definition of communication and the definition of politics that we associate with political communication, there will be a formula as follows: Political communication is communication that is aimed to achieve an effect such that the issues discussed by the type of communication activities, can be binding on all citizens through a sanctions are determined jointly by political institutions (Astrid S. Susanto, 1980: 2).
Regarding political communication (political communication) Kantaprawira (1983: 25) to focus on their role, which is to connect the political mind living in the community, both intra-class mind, institution, association, or sectors of the political life of the society with the government's political life sector.
Thus all patterns of thoughts, ideas or efforts to achieve the effect, only with communication can achieve everything expected, because essentially any thoughts or ideas and policies (policy) must exist that deliver and there received it, the process is a process of communication.
Viewed from a political goal "an sich", the essence of political communication is a group effort of man who has the orientation of political thought or a particular ideology in order to master or gain power, by which the power of the purpose of political thought and ideology can be realized.
Lasswell (in Varma, 1995: 258) considers the orientation of political communication has made two things very clear: first, that political communication is always oriented to the value or trying to reach the goal; values and objectives established itself in and by the behavior of the actual process is a part; and secondly, that aims to reach a political komunikai future and are anticipating and dealing with the past and always pay attention to past events.
In this case, R.S. Sigel (in Sumarno, 1989: 10) gave the following views:
"Political socialization Refers to the learning process, by the which the political norms and behavior acceptable to an ongoing political system are transmitted from generation to generation."
Sigel of limitation shows that political socialization is not just focused on acceptance of political norms and behaviors on the ongoing political system, but also how merwariskan or transfer values from one generation the next state.
a. Political communicator
According to Nimmo, one feature of the communication is that people rarely can avoid and keturutsertaan. Only attended and taken into account by one else has the value of the message. In the most general sense we all are communicators, as well as anyone in the political setting is a political communicator (2000: 28). While recognizing that every person is able to communicate about politics, we recognize that relatively few are doing so, at least to do so as well as permanent and continuous. They were relatively few are not only exchanging political message; they are opinion leaders in the process. This political communicators, compared to citizens in general, were taken more seriously when they speak and act.
As a supporter of a greater understanding of the role of political communicators in the opinion process, Leonard W. Dood in Nimmo (2000: 30) suggest the kinds of things that should be known about them: "Communicator can be analyzed as himself. His attitude to the potential audience, which gave them dignity as a human being, can affect the resulting communication; so if he thought they were stupid, he would adjust the tone of the message with the same level low. He himself thinking about certain abilities that can be conceptualized according to the ability of his wits, his experience as a communicator with audience similar or dissimilar, and the role played in his personality by the motive for berkomukasi.
Based on the recommendation Doob, it is clear that komukator or communicators should be identified and their position in society should be established. For this purpose Nimmo (2000: 30) identifies three categories of politicians, namely that acts as a communicator pilitik, professional communicators in politics, and activists or communicator part-time (part time)
b. Politicians as a communicator Politics
The first group are those who aspire to hold public office and hold government should communicate about politics and called the politicians, no matter whether they are elected, appointed, or career positions, both positions the executive, legislative or judicial. Their work is a major aspect aspect in this activity. Although politicians serve various purposes to communicate, there are two things that stand out. Daniel Katz (in Nimmo, 2000: 30) suggests that political leaders directing influence in two directions, that affects the allocation of rewards and change the existing social structure or prevent such changes.
In the first politician's authority to communicate as a representative of the group; messages politician was filed and protect the political interests of the destination, meaning that political communicator to represent the interests of the group. Conversely, politicians who act as ideology is not so concentrated attention to the demands pushing the group, he busied himself over to set the broader policy objectives, pursue reforms and even supporting revolutionary change.
Included in this group, politicians who do not hold positions in the government, they are also political communicator on issues of national and international scope, the problem of multiple and narrow its scope.
So many kinds of politicians who act as political communicator, but for simplicity we classify them as a politician (1) is located inside or outside the office of the government, (2) holds a national or sub-national, and (3) dealt with the issue of multiple or single issues ,
Definition of Political Communication
c. Professionals as a political communicator
Professional communicators are a relatively new social role, a byproduct of the communications revolution that has at least two main dimensions: the advent of the mass media that crosses the boundaries of race, ethnicity, occupation, region, and classes to raise awareness of national identity; and development necessarily special media that creates a new public to be consumers of information and entertainment (Nimmo, 2002: 33).
A professional communicator, according to James Carey (in Nimmo, 2000: 33) is a realtor symbol, people who translate the attitudes, knowledge, and interest in a language community in terms of other linguistic communities and different but interesting and understandable. Professional communicators linking elites in organizations or any kominitas with the public; horizontally it connects two language communities that are differentiated on the same level of social structure.
However, since becoming a professional communicator, not a politician, a professional who communicates sets itself apart from the types of other political communicator, especially political activists.
No comments:
Post a Comment |
Study your flashcards anywhere!
Download the official Cram app for free >
• Shuffle
Toggle On
Toggle Off
• Alphabetize
Toggle On
Toggle Off
• Front First
Toggle On
Toggle Off
• Both Sides
Toggle On
Toggle Off
• Read
Toggle On
Toggle Off
How to study your flashcards.
H key: Show hint (3rd side).h key
A key: Read text to speech.a key
Play button
Play button
Click to flip
161 Cards in this Set
• Front
• Back
What is an involucrum? How is it different from a sequestrum?)
Rim of living bone that surrounds the sequestrum is an involucrum
DDx for a bony sequestrum?
1) osteomyelitis
2) LCH ("button" sequestrum)
3) osteoid osteoma
4) lymphoma
5) fibrosarcoma
How do you differentiate periosteal reaction in infection from physiologic etiology?
Infectious periosteal rxn affects the metaphysis.
What is Caffey disease? How is it different from physiologic periosteal reaction?
1) infantile cortical hyperostosis.
2) coarse, irregular, asymmetric periosteal reaction
and soft tissue swelling
DDx for diffuse periosteal rxn in the newborn/infant?
1) physiologic (1-6 months, no metaphyseal involvement)
2) trauma
3) infection
4) PG therapy
5) Caffey disease (infantile cortical hyperostosis)
Spine appearance:
1) "Rugger jersey"
2) "Sandwich"
3) "Picture frame"
1) renal osteodystrophy
2) osteopetrosis
3) Paget disease
*Don't forget about mets!
DDx for b/l symmetric sacroiliitis?
1) ank spondylosis
2) IBD
3) RA
4) hyperparathyroidism
DDx for b/l asymmetric or unilateral sacroiliitis?
1) reactive arthritis
2) psoriatic arthritis
3) OA
4) septic arthritis
DDx for proximal arthropathy in the hands/feet?
1) RA
3) gout
4) CVD
5) hemochromatosis
DDx for distal arthropathy in the hands/feet?
1) OA
2) erosive OA
3) psoriatic arthritis
4) reactive arthritis
5) RA
What feature of gout separates it from other erosive arthropathies?
joint preservation
Fluffy periostitis and erosions in the hands/feet is characteristic of which 2 arthropathies?
1) reactive arthritis
2) psoriatic arthritis
Which arthropathy can lead to a SLAC wrist?
What does CPPD stand for?
calcium pyrophosphate dehydrate
What differs beaklike osteophytes in CPPD from hemochromatosis?
CPPD beaklike osteophytes often spare the 4th and 5th MCP joints
DDx for chondrocalcinosis?
1) CPPD arthropathy
2) hyperparathyroidism (usually primary)
3) hemochromatosis
4) Wilson disease
DDx for vertebra plana in a child?
1) LCH
2) leukemia/lymphoma
3) infection
4) mets
How do you tell the difference between TB and other infectious processes of the spine?
preservation of disk space
What disease demonstrates wormian bones and hypoplasia/absence of the clavicles?
cleidocranial dysostosis
What disease demonstrates wormian bones and "bullet" vertebrae at the thoracolumbar junction?
DDx for wormian bones (at least a couple of things):
1) Down's syndrome
2) OI
3) Rickets
4) Cleidocranial dysostosis
5) hypothyroidism
What is a Madelung deformity?
Triangular configuration of the distal radius and ulna articulation with wedging of the proximal carpal bones between the distal radius and ulna
DDx for Madelung deformity?
1) idiopathic
2) Turner syndrome
3) skeletal dysplasia
4) trauma
5) infection
What are three eponyms found in scurvy?
1) metaphyseal spurs (Perlkan spur)
2) osteopenic epiphysis with dense peripheral calcs (Wimberger ring)
3) lucent metaphyseal bands adjacent to a thickened zone of provisional calc (zone of Frankel)
What is the Wimberger sign that is found in syphilis?
bilateral upper medial tibial destruction
What metabolic disease causes cupping and fraying of the distal metaphysis?
DDx for lucent metaphyseal bands?
1) Leukemia
2) Rickets
3) Infection
4) neuroblastoma mets
5) Scurvy
6) Syphilis
DDx for a chondroid, medullary lesion?
1) enchondroma
2) chondrosarcoma
3) bone infarct
4) chronic osteomyelitis
DDx for acro-osteolysis?
1) hyperparathyroidism
2) scleroderma
3) trauma (burn, frostbite)
4) psoriasis
5) Hajdu-Cheney syndrome
What is another name for PVNS affecting a tendon sheath?
Giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath
What are the hallmarks of PVNS?
1) joint effusion
2) subchondral cysts
3) erosions
4) preservation of the joint
DDx for a dense joint effusion?
1) hemarthrosis
2) chronic juvenile arthritis or hemophilia
4) septic arthritis
5) crystalline arthropathy
Where does juvenile arthritis cause damage?
1) knee
2) facet joints in the spine
3) hands/wrists
4) odontoid process
Loose bodies in a joint effusion with endplate erosions ddx?
1) synovial osteochondromatosis
2) pigmented villonodular synovitis
3) RA (rice bodies)
Expansile rib lesion in a child ddx?
1) fibrous dysplasia
2) enchondroma
3) bone cyst
4) LCH
5) Ewing sarcoma
6) mets
Posterior element lytic lesion ddx?
1) ABC
2) osteoblastoma
3) infection
4) mets
5) LCH
What should be suspected when the lunate and the capitate are malpositioned on the lateral wrist view?
midcarpal dislocation (ligamentous injury at the lunotriquetral jt)
What is the "triple signal intensity" seen on T2 with synovial sarcoma?
1) hemorrhage
2) fibrous tissue
3) cystic components
How do you tell the difference between extraskeletal osteosarcoma and myositis ossificans?
MO should demonstrate a zone of mature ossification peripherally.
The opposite is true for sarcomas.
DDx for periarticular soft tissue calcifications?
1) hemangioma
2) scleroderma
3) myositis ossificans
4) gout
5) soft tissue sarcomas
6) tumoral calcinosis
What are the different types of osteosclerotic dysplasias?
1) osteopoililosis
2) melorrheostosis
3) osteopathia striata (Voorhoeve syndrome)
What are 4 features of a pathologic spinal fx on MR?
1) abnormal marrow signal with ill-defined margins
2) extension of abnormal marrow signal into the pedicles
3) associated soft tissue lesion
4) marked abnormal enhancement
Epiphyseal lucent lesion in a child ddx?
1) chondroblastoma
2) GCT
3) LCH
*Adults, think also infection, mets, chondrosarcoma
What is the difference between parosteal and periosteal osteosarcoma?
-arise from outer layer of periosteum
-low grade tumor
-cauliflower-like with lucent cleavage plane between lesion and cortex
-arise from inner layer of periosteum
-intermediate grade
- saucerized cortex with cortical thickening and periosteal reaction adjacent to chondroblastic soft tissue mass
What is the "trough sign" and where is it found in?
1) posterior shoulder dislocation
2) linear impaction fx of the anterior humeral head
What is a Monteggia fx?
ulnar fx with prox radial dislocation
What is a Galeazzi fx?
radial shaft fx with distal radioulnar dislocation
What is a Essex-Lopresti fx?
radial head fx and distal radioulnar dislocation
What is a Colles's fx? Smith?
distal radius fx with:
1) dorsal angulation
2) ventral angulation
What is a Barton's fx?
IA distal radius fx/dislocation
What is a Bennett's fx?
Fx/dislocation at base of 1st MC
What is a Rolando fx?
comminuted Bennett fx
What is a gamekeeper's thumb?
ulnar collateral ligament injury at the 1st MCP
What is a Chauffeur's fx?
IA fx of radial styloid (can have dorsal displacement).
Comes from car drivers getting kick-back when they started the engine using a lever
What is a Duverney's fx?
iliac wing fx
What is a Malgaigne's fx?
SI jt or sacral fx with both ipsilateral pubic rami fx
What is a Straddle fx?
Fx of all four pubic rami (both obturator rings)
What is a Segond fx?
Fx at the lateral tibial condyle.
Associated with ACL injuries
What is a Pilon fx?
IA, comminuted distal tibia fx
What is a Tillaux fx?
SH-3 fx of the lateral distal tibia
What is a triplane fx?
Tillaux fx with extension into the tibial metaphysis (SH-4 fx)
What is a Wagstaffe-Le Fort fx?
avulsion of the medial margin distal fibula
What is a Dupuytren's fx?
fx of fibula above tibiofibular ligament
What is a Lisfranc fx?
tarsometatarsal fx/dislocation
What two ways can help you identify the supraspinatus tendon from the infraspinatus tendon on the coronal oblique sequence?
1) usually on same plane as the AC joint
2) the biceps anchor is in view
What represents the fluid collections sometimes seen lateral to the biceps tendon on axial imaging of the shoulder?
anterolateral branch of the anterior circumflex artery and vein
What is the rotator interval? What makes up its contents?
1) space between the supraspinatus and subscapularis tendons
2) biceps tendon, coracohumeral ligament, SGHL
What makes up the boundaries of the coracoacromial arch? What are its contents?
1) coracoacromial ligament anteriorly
2) HH posteriorly
3) acromion superiorly
Part 2:
1) subacromial/subdeltoid bursa
2) supraspinatus
3) LH of biceps tendon
Impingement occurs when there is a decreased size of the coracoacromial arch.
What are some causes of shoulder impingement?
1) acromial shape/orientation
2) os acromiale
3) AC deg changes
4) post-traumatic etiology
5) shoulder instability
6) muscle overdevelopment
7) thick coracoacromial ligament
How do you tell the difference between tendon degeneation or partial thickness tears from magic angle?
1) magic angle occurs at specific location (1 cm from SS insertion onto HH)
2) no irregularity to tendon with magic angle
3) signal abnormality disappears on T2W imaging with magic angle
What is a rim rent tear?
partial thickness tear of the insertional fibers onto the greater tuberosity
What's the problem with keeping the shoulder in internal rotation during an MR?
can miss a rim rent tear of the SS tendon because it approximates the bicipital groove
What hold the biceps tendon in the bicipital groove?
transverse humeral ligament
What is posterosuperior impingement syndrome?
impingement of the IS/SS tendons between HH and posterosuperior labrum
Common in pitchers
Subcoracoid impingement is associated with tears of what RC tendon?
subscapularis tendon
Absence of subcoracoid fat on T1W sagittal images indicates what disease?
adhesive capsulitis
What represents thickenings of the anterior shoulder joint capsule?
the glenohumeral ligaments
(Note: the IGHL arises from both the anterior and posterior inferior labrum.)
What is the main stabilizing ligament of the shoulder?
inferior glenohumeral ligament
What anatomic landmark helps to tell the difference between SGHL and MGHL on axial MR imaging?
coracoid process.
SGHL is at the level of the coracoid, while the MGHL is at the inferior tip of the coracoid.
What is a sublabral foramen?
where the anterosuperior labrum is not attached to the glenoid
What is a Buford complex?
Anterosuperior labrum congenitally absent with a thick MGHL
What is a HAGL lesion?
Humeral avulsion of the glenohumeral ligament, particularly the anatomic neck of the humerus avulsing with the IGHL
What is a Bennet lesion (of the shoulder)?
mineralization of the posterior band of the IGHL from chronic traction (usually from pitching).
May be associated with a posterior labral tear.
What is a Bankart lesion?
Tear of the anteroinferior labrum with torn periosteoum. May have an associated fracture (bony Bankart).
What is an ALPSA lesion?
Stands for Anterior labroligamentous periosteal sleeve avulsion.
Variation of the Bankart lesion with injury to the anteroinferior labrum, but the periosteum remains intact.
What is a GLAD lesion?
Stands for Glenolabral articular disruption.
Tear of the anteroinferior labrum with a glenoid chondral defect.
What is the condition where there is a congenital absence of the bony posterior lip of the inferior glenoid?
glenoid dysplasia.
Associated with an increased incidence of posterior labral tears or detachments.
What is a SLAP tear? What are the four types?
Tear of the superior labrum, oriented in an anterior and posterior direction, occurring at the attachment site of the LH of the biceps tendon.
Part 2:
1) fraying of the free edge of the superior labrum
2) detachment of the superior labrum from the glenoid. Note that detachment indicates extension to the biceps anchor.
3) bucket-handle tear of the superior labrum.
4) bucket-handle tear extending into the LH of the biceps tendon
Note: A "bucket-handle" tear of the labrum is a full thickness tear, separating the labrum into medial and lateral components.
Just remember the important features of SLAP lesions:
1) labrum: detached or torn? If torn, partial thickness or bucket handle?
2) biceps anchor: torn? Not torn?
What is Parsonage-Turner syndrome?
acute brachial neuritis, usually affecting the suprascapular, axillary, subscapularis, and long thoracic nerves
The scapholunate ligament is separated into three parts: volar, middle, and dorsal.
Which part is the strongest? Which part can have perforations, which may be a normal variant?
1) dorsal
2) middle
Discontinuity of the scapholunate ligament is associated with which 2 instability patterns?
1) DISI (dorsal intercalated segmental instability)
2) SLAC (scapholunate advanced collapse)
What is associated with a tear of the lunotriquetral ligament (name 2)?
2) TFC tear
What are the most important intrinsic ligaments of the wrist?
1) scapholunate ligament
2) lunotriquetral ligament
What is Parsonage-Turner syndrome?
1) dorsal
2) middle
1) DISI (dorsal intercalated segmental instability)
2) SLAC (scapholunate advanced collapse)
2) TFC tear
What are the most important intrinsic ligaments of the wrist?
1) scapholunate ligament
2) lunotriquetral ligament
What are the most important volar extrinsic ligaments of the wrist?
1) radioscaphocapitate
2) radiolunotriquetral
Part 2: radioscaphoid, radiolunate, and radiotriquetral
What are the components of the triangular fibrocartilage comples (TFCC)?
1) TFC
2) radioulnar ligaments (dorsal and volar)
3) extensor carpi ulnaris tendon sheath
4) ulnar collateral ligament
5) meniscus homologue
Where does the TFC attach?
1) medial aspect of the ulnar styloid
2) lateral radial cartilage (emphasize "cartilage" and not "bone." Do not confuse high signal of cartilage with a tear.)
How do you tell the difference between the TFC and the radioulnar ligament?
The RU ligaments attach directly to bone, while the TFC attaches to the cartilage (of the radius).
How do you tell the difference between the adductor aponeurosis and the ulnar collateral ligament of the thumb?
The UCL is found deep to the adductor aponeurosis
What is a Stener lesion?
Tear and retraction of the UCL, which is displaced superficial to the adductor aponeurosis (switch places)
Which condition of the thumb is described as a "yoyo on a string"?
The Stener lesion.
The yoyo is the retracted UCL. The string is the adductor aponeurosis.
What are the 6 extensor compartments of the wrist?
1) abductor pollicus longus, extensor pollicus brevis
2) extensor carpi radialis longus and brevis
3) extensor pollicus longus
4) extensor indicis and extensor digitorum
5) extensor digiti minimi
6) extensor carpi ulnaris
Where is Lister's tubercle?
Between the 2nd and 3rd extensor component on the dorsal aspect of the radius
de Quervain's syndrome affects which extensor compartment?
What are some findings in carpal tunnel syndrome?
1) focal or segmental swelling of the median nerve
2) flattening or angulation of the median nerve at the distal carpal tunnel (level of the hook of the hamate)
3) bowing of the flexor retinaculum (increased bowing ratio)
4) increased T2 signal of the median nerve
Which nerve is most commonly affected by a fibrolipomatous hamartoma?
median nerve
What goes through Guyon's canal? What makes it up?
1) ulnar nerve, artery, and vein
2) flexor retinaculum, hypothenar musculature, pisiform, and hook of the hamate
What is an os styloideum?
bony proturberance on the dorsal aspect of the wrist, located at the base of the 2nd and 3rd metacarpals
What are the two most common locations for osteonecrosis in the wrist?
1) proximal pole of the scaphoid
2) lunate
What are the signal characteristics of a giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath?
low T1 and T2
Remember, think PVNS.
What is the most common mass found in the wrist?
2nd most common?
1) ganglion cyst
2) Giant cell tumor of tendon sheath
What describes a glomus tumor in the finger on MR?
1) high T2, low T1
2) intense enhancement
3) bony erosion
4) usually located on the dorsal aspect of the fingertip, beneath the nail
Which synovial cyst of the wrist is very common, but not associated with inflammatory arthritis?
pisotriquetral synovial cyst
What is the tendon found medial to the Achilles tendon?
Plantaris tendon.
Don't confuse this for an Achilles tear!
Which tendons tend to be affected by xanthomas?
1) Achilles tendon
2) extensor tendons of the hands
What is Haglund's deformity?
Triad of retro-Achilles bursitis, retro-calcaneal bursitis, and thickening of the Achilles tendon distally
AKA "pump bumps"
What is the most commonly abnormal medial tendon of the ankle?
posterior tibial tendon
Tears can lead to flat foot. Tears are associated with sinus tarsi syndrome and abnormalities of the spring ligament. Tears are more common with accessory navicular bones.
Where does the posterior tibial tendon insert most importantly?
navicular bone.
It also inserts onto all the cuneiforms and the 1st through 4th metatarsals, but can't really see this with MR.
Which ankle tendon sheath commonly communicates with the ankle joint?
flexor hallicus longus
Which ankle tendon is associated with the os trigonum syndrome?
flexor hallicus longus
How do you diagnose a dislocated peroneal tendon?
1) identify a tear of the retinaculum
2) the tendons are located lateral to the distal fibula, instead of posterior to it
What makes up the deltoid ligament in the ankle?
Which is most medial?
1) tibiotalar ligament
2) tibiocalcaneal ligament
3) talonavicular ligament
4) spring ligament (most medial)
Which lateral ankle ligament can be confused for a loose intra-articular body on sagittal MR imaging?
posterior tibiofibular ligament
Which lateral ankle ligament is best seen on coronal sequences (if at all), as opposed to the other ligaments which are best seen on axial sequences?
calcaneofibular ligament
Think: C is for calcaneofibular and coronal.
What are the contents of the tarsal tunnel?
1) PTT
2) post tibial artery/vein
3) post tibial nerve
4) FHL tendon
5) flex digitorum tendon
What is a Morton's neuroma?
chronic plantar digital nerve entrapment, leading to perineural fibrosis.
Usually found in and plantar to the metatarsal heads.
What is the most common soft tissue abnormality to occur in the region of the hallux sesamoids?
turf toe
(hyperdorsiflexion at the 1st MTP joint
What MR features of an osteochondral lesion suggest instability?
1) high T2 signal surrounding the fragment
2) absent or displaced fragment
3) crack in the overlying cartilage
4) large subchondral cysts deep to the fragment
Where do osteoid osteomas like to present in the foot and ankle?
talus and calcaneus
DDx for tumor in the calcaneus?
1) lipoma
2) UBC
3) ABC
4) giant cell tumor
5) chondroblastoma
What is the most common malignant soft tissue tumor of the foot?
synovial sarcoma
DDx for tumor in the hip/pelvis?
1) enchondroma
2) giant cell tumor
3) chondroblastoma
4) mets
5) myeloma
6) chondrosarcoma
What is the largest bursa in the body?
Which arthropathy affects the hips, is bilateral, is low on T1 and T2, and has erosions?
amyloid arthropathy
What are the regions of the femoral neck with regards to fracture classification?
Divided into intra-capsular and extra-capsular.
1) subcapital
2) transcervical
3) basicervical
Inter-trochanteric are extra-capsular
What are the three articulations of the elbow?
1) proximal radioulnar jt
2) radiocapitellar jt
3) ulna (olecrenon) with the trochlea of the humerus
Where does an osteochondral lesion most commonly occur in the elbow?
What is Panner's disease?
Osteochondrosis of the capitellum, which occurs in throwers as a result of trauma.
Other info:
-5-10 yr olds
-No loose body formation (seen in an osteochondral lesion)
-diffuse low T1 and high T2 signal of the capitellum.
What ligaments make up the radial collateral ligament complex in the elbow?
Which is most important? Where does it originate?
1) radial collateral ligament proper
2) lateral ulnar collateral ligament (most important)
3) annular ligament
4) accessory collateral ligament
Part 2: lateral epicondyle, deep to the common extensor tendon
What makes up the ulnar collateral ligament complex?
Which is most important? Where does it originate and insert?
1) anterior bundle (most important)
2) posterior bundle
3) transverse bundle
The anterior bundle originates at the medial epicondyle and inserts onto the medial coronoid process of the ulna.
Where does the biceps tendon insert? What lies deep to the biceps tendon? What keeps the biceps tendon in proper position? Is there a tendon sheath distally?
1) radial tuberosity
2) brachialis muscle/tendon
3) bicipital aponeurosis
4) no
What muscle helps you to determine laterality on a elbow MR?
anconeus muscle is lateral, and arises from the lateral epicondyle, inserting onto the olecrenon
Which muscle is partially avulsed in lateral epicondylitis?
extensor carpi radialis brevis
What are the four muscle components in the elbow?
Place these muscles into their respective compartment:
a) biceps
b) triceps
c) supinator
d) anconeus
e) brachialis
f) pronator teres
g) common extensor
h) common flexor
i) brachioradialis
1) anterior, posterior, medial, lateral
2) answers:
a) biceps -- anterior
b) triceps -- posterior
c) supinator -- lateral
d) anconeus -- posterior (and lateral)
e) brachialis -- anterior
f) pronator teres -- medial
g) common extensor -- lateral
h) common flexor -- medial
i) brachioradialis -- lateral
High signal in the pronator quadratus muscle on T2W imaging is indicative of what disease?
anterior interosseous nerve syndrome
What makes up the roof and floor of the cubital tunnel in the elbow? What nerve goes through it?
Roof -- flexor carpi ulnaris aponeurosis
Floor -- ulnar collateral ligament and capsule
Ulnar nerve
What is the arcade of Struthers? Why is it important?
thin aponeurotic band extending from the medial head of the triceps to the medial intermuscular septum.
Cause for ulnar neuropathy
How many bow ties should be seen on sagittal MR images of knee menisci?
Abnormalities with too few bow ties?
Abnormalities with too many bow ties?
1) 2
2) bucket handle tear, radial tear, medially flipped flap tear, and meniscal cyst
3) discoid meniscus
What is a cyclops lesion?
arthrofibrosis in Hoffa's fat pad after ACL reconstruction
Where does the IT band insert?
Gerdy's tubercle of the tibia
What are the components of the posterolateral corner of the knee?
What is a reliable indicator of a arcuate ligament tear?
1) LCL
2) arcuate ligament
3) popliteofibular ligament
4) popliteus tendon
Part 2: disruption of the joint capsule at the lateral joint line on axial imaging.
What are the three plicae of the knee?
1) medial
2) suprapatellar
3) infrapatellar
Where does osteochondritis dissecans affect the knee joint?
What other disease is confused with this one, but occurs on the opposite side?
1) non-weight bearing surface (lateral aspect) of the medial femoral condyle
2) spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee, now known as insufficiency fx of knee, which occurs on medial side (wt bearing surface)
Pt with gracile bones, fatty infiltration of musculature. Refused vaccines.
Soft tissue calcs with marked muscle edema. Dx?
Pt with 2nd digit enlargement and OA changes. No skin findings.
macrodystrophia lipomatosa
Bone within a bone DDx?
1) sickle cell
2) osteopetrosis
3) Paget's
4) hypervitaminosis D |
Star Medical Services
Cholesterol Guidelines, LDL Cholesterol Levels, Guide to Raise HDL Cholesterol
Cholesterol GuidelinesSince the type and amount of Cholesterol in our body can have important health effects on our cardiovascular system, it's a good idea to understand what Cholesterol is, how it affects our health and how to manage our blood Cholesterol levels. Such understanding helps us take better care of our heart and live a healthier life, reducing our personal risk for heart attack and stroke in the process.
What is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a waxy substance that belongs to the fat family or to a class of molecules called steroids. Cholesterol plays an important role in the body. It is an essential building material of the body's every cell and necessary for manufacturing a number of important hormones, bile and vitamin D that are essential for normal body functions. Cholesterol is naturally present in cell walls or membranes everywhere in the body, including the brain, nerves, muscles, skin, liver, intestines and heart.
What are the functions of Cholesterol?
• It is involved in the production of sex hormones (the body's chemical messengers e.g. Estrogens and Androgens)
• It is essential for the production of hormones released by the adrenal glands (cortisol, corticosterone, aldosterone and others)
• It aids in the production of bile. It converts sunshine to vitamin D and it insulates nerve fibers
Where does our body get Cholesterol from?
We get Cholesterol in two ways. The first source is the body itself, mainly the liver, which produces varying amounts, usually about 1000 milligrams a day. The second source is the food that we eat which is derived from animals (especially egg yolks, meat, poultry, whole-milk and dairy products). Foods from plants (fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds) do not contain Cholesterol. After a meal, Cholesterol is absorbed by the intestines into the blood circulation and is then packaged inside a protein coat. This Cholesterol-protein coat complex is called a chylomicron.
The liver is capable of removing Cholesterol from the blood circulation as well as manufacturing Cholesterol and secreting Cholesterol into the blood circulation. After a meal, the liver removes chylomicrons from the blood circulation. In between meals, the liver manufactures and secretes Cholesterol back into the blood circulation. Too much Cholesterol can have negative impacts on our health.
What are the different types of Fats in our Body?
Fats travel in the blood in two forms; Cholesterol and triglycerides.
Blood is watery and Cholesterol is fatty. Just like oil and water, the two do not mix. To travel in the bloodstream, Cholesterol is carried in small packages called lipoproteins. The small packages are made of fat (lipid) on the inside and proteins on the outside. There are two main types of lipoproteins: low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL).
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is also known as 'bad' Cholesterol. LDL carries Cholesterol from the liver to cells. If too much LDL circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up on the walls of the arteries feeding the heart and brain and result in the formation of fatty streaks. These fatty streaks slowly increase in size and produce raised areas called fibrous plaques. Over the years these plaques increase in size and ultimately can block the blood flow to part of the heart and cause a heart attack. If the blood flow to the brain is blocked, a stroke can result.
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is also known as 'good' Cholesterol as it helps so carry Cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver, where it is processed and excreted from the body. It removes excess Cholesterol from the blood thus providing protection against a heart attack or stroke. Thus, high levels of LDL Cholesterol and low levels of HDL Cholesterol (high LDL/HDL ratios) are risk factors for atherosclerosis, while low levels of LDL Cholesterol and high level of HDL Cholesterol (low LDL/HDL ratios) are desirable.
Triglycerides - these are the chemical forms in which most fat exists in the body, as well as in food. They are present in blood plasma. Triglycerides, in association with Cholesterol, form the plasma lipids (blood fat). Triglycerides in plasma originate either from fats in our food or are made in the body from other energy sources, such as carbohydrates. Calories we consume but are not used immediately by our tissues are converted into triglycerides and stored in fat cells. When our body needs energy and there is no food as an energy source, triglycerides will be released from fat cells and used as energy - hormones control this process.
How does high blood Cholesterol cause Heart Disease?
Our body makes all the Cholesterol that it needs. However, over a period of years, extra Cholesterol from the animal products that we eat builds up on the walls of the arteries in the form of plaques. These plaques gradually increase in size and make the arteries supplying blood to the heart narrower and narrower. As a result, less blood gets to the heart. Blood carries oxygen to the heart and if enough oxygen-rich blood cannot reach to heart, you may suffer chest pain called 'Angina'. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off the result is a heart attack.
Sometimes, plaques dislodge or produce a clot and obstruct the arteries resulting in 'Angina' or a heart attack. A raised level of Cholesterol has also been linked to other diseases including dementia and kidney failure.
Besides Cholesterol, a high level of triglycerides in the blood may also increase the risk of heart disease.
LDL Cholesterol LevelsWhat makes our Blood Cholesterol High?
There ore several factors that can raise our blood Cholesterol level:
• Diet rich in saturated fats
• Obesity
• Physical inactivity
• Smoking
• Stress
• Alcohol
• Certain diseases e.g. diabetes, diseases of the kidney and the thyroid gland
• Use of oral contraceptives
• Increased age
• Gender - women during childbearing age usually have a lower Cholesterol level than those of men of the same age.
• Hereditary factors
What are the symptoms of High Blood Cholesterol?
Generally high blood Cholesterol itself does not cause any symptoms and that is why it is known as the "silent killer".
How is Blood Cholesterol measured?
It is recommended that every adult should be screened for blood Cholesterol. The Cholesterol level in the blood is measured in a sample token in the morning after a 12-hour fast.
It is best to have a blood test called a 'lipoprotein profile'.
This test gives information about our: Total blood Cholesterol, LDL (bad) Cholesterol, HDL (good) Cholesterol and Triglycerides.
What are the healthy levels of Cholesterol and Triglycerides?
Total Cholesterol is the sum of LDL (low density) Cholesterol, HDL (high density) Cholesterol, VLDL (very low density) Cholesterol and IDL (intermediate density) Cholesterol.
It is important to know that there are two main methods of describing concentrations of Cholesterol: by weight i.e. milligrams (mg) of cholesterol per deciliter (dL) of blood and by molecular count i.e. millimoles (mmol) of cholesterol per liter (L) of blood. To understand and describe the test results you should remember the units used for the measurement of your Cholesterol level. See how your cholesterol numbers compare to the tables below.
Total Cholesterol Level Total Cholesterol Category
Less than 200 mg/dL
(less than 5.2 mmol/L)
200-239 mg/dL Borderline High
240 mg/dL and above High
LDL Cholesterol Level LDL Cholesterol Category
Less than 100 mg/dL Optimal
100-129 mg/dL Near optimal/above optimal
130-159 mg/dL Borderline High
160-189 mg/dL High
190 mg/dL and above Very High
HDL Cholesterol Level HDL Cholesterol Category
40-59 mg/dL The higher, the better
60 mg/dL and above Considered protective against heart disease
TriglyceridesTriglycerides: Desirable value - Less than 150 mg/dL (less than 1.69 mmol/L)
Triglycerides can also raise your risk for heart disease. If you have levels that are borderline high (150-199 mg/dL) or high (200 mg/dL or more), you may need treatment.
What are the different types of Dietary Fats in the Food we eat?
Saturated fats are found mainly in foods of animal origin. Two vegetable oils, coconut and palm oil, are also high in saturated fat. It is the saturated fats that increase 'bad' (LDL) Cholesterol in the blood and cause narrowing and blockage of arteries.
Examples: Milk, butter, meat, palm oil, coconut oil, vegetable ghee.
Polyunsaturated fats occur in the oils of seeds and grains. Polyunsaturated fats are good for our heart as they decrease 'bad' (LDL) Cholesterol, but at very high levels they may also reduce the level of 'good' (HDL) Cholesterol. Therefore, they should be eaten in moderation.
Examples: Corn oil, Sunflower oil, safflower oil, Soya bean oil.
Monounsaturated fats are mainly found in plants. Monounsaturated fats are also good for our heart as they decrease 'bad' (LDL) Cholesterol and increase 'good' (HDL) Cholesterol. However, they should be eaten in moderation.
Examples: Olive oil, Canola oil, almonds, cashew nuts, peanuts, pistachio nuts.
Omega 3 fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fat that are mainly found in oily fish. They help reduce the risk of heart disease.
Examples: Tuna, kingfish, Salmon, Sardines.
Hydrogenated fats are made by adding hydrogen to polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats to make the fat firmer and stop it going rancid. The process of hydrogenation effectively turns unsaturated fats into saturated fats and is commonly applied to fast foods.
Guide to Raise HDL CholesterolWhich cooking oil is good for our health?
We should choose oil rich in either mono or polyunsaturated fats because they help reduce blood Cholesterol. Examples of such oils are:
• Canola oil - rich in monounsaturated fat
• Corn oil - rich in polyunsaturated fat
• Sunflower - rich in polyunsaturated fat
• Safflower oil - rich in polyunsaturated fat
• Soya bean oil - rich in polyunsaturated fat
What can we do to control our Cholesterol level?
We should take the following steps in order to help control our blood Cholesterol level and lower our chance of heart disease.
Choose the right Foods
• Avoid foods rich in saturated fat
• Remove the skin and fat from meat and poultry
• Eat fish at least twice weekly
• Boil, bake, roast or poach instead of frying foods
• Use monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oil for cooking. Use them in moderation
• Use skimmed or low-fat milk, cheese and yoghurt
• Avoid doughnuts, muffins, pastries and fast food
• Eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, cereals, bread, rice and pasta
• Use liquid or soft margarine instead of butter
• Eat more egg whites and less egg yolks
• Read food labels so learn how much fat is in the food you eat
• Try to reduce your sugar intake
Do regular exercise
Regular physical activity is recommended for everyone. It can help raise 'good' (HDL) Cholesterol and lower 'bad' (LDL) Cholesterol and also help to control our body weight.
• Start slowly and progress gradually. Our goal is to be active every day.
• Plan to be active for at least 30 minutes every day.
• Activities should be moderate in intensity. These activities should make you breathe faster than normal, like when you are walking quickly. But don't overdo it. Make sure that you can still talk easily.
• You don't have to do 30 minutes of activity all at once. You can work up to this by doing small amounts several times a day. Try to do at least 10 minutes of activity each time.
• Choose activities that you enjoy and that are right for you. The best ones are those that use the large muscles, especially those in the legs. When these muscles working, they require more oxygen, so the heart has to beat faster. This way you heart becomes a stronger, more efficient pump.
• Before you start an activity program, talk with your doctor and get advice.
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)Control your body weight
Check your Body Moss Index (BMI) to determine if your weight is correct for your height. You can check your BMI by the following formula:
BMI = Weight (Kilogram) / Height (meters) X Height (meters)
If your BMI is less than 18.5, you ore considered underweight.
If your BMI is from 18.5 and 24.9, you are considered to be in a healthy weight range for your height.
And, if your BMI is 30 or greater, you are considered obese.
Stop Smoking
Smoking doubles our risk of heart disease and stroke. It lowers 'good' (HDL) Cholesterol and raises bad (LDL) Cholesterol. Smoking also increases the risk of developing lung cancer. There is really only one way to lower these risks: stop smoking.
Passive smoking is also dangerous for health. Children are at particular risk due to adults smoking and can develop adverse health effects including coughing, pneumonia, bronchitis, worsening of asthma, middle ear disease and possibly heart disease in adulthood.
Women who smoke or are exposed to other people smoking have a greater risk of having a miscarriage, premature birth and low birth weight babies.
Talk to your healthcare provider about a stop-smoking program.
Quitting smoking is the single most important step that you can take to safeguard your health.
Manage your Stress
Stress over the long term has been shown to raise blood Cholesterol levels. One way that stress may do this is by affecting your habits. For example, when some people are under stress, they console themselves by eating fatty foods. The saturated fats in these foods contribute to higher levels of blood Cholesterol.
Medications for lowering Cholesterol Levels
If the above measures don't lower your Cholesterol levels enough, your doctor my also prescribe medication. Be sure to take it exactly as directed.
Healthy Eating Food Guide: Your complete Healthy Nutrition and Food Guide
Healthy Eating Food Guide: Healthy Nutrition Guide
Different kinds of Medical Doctors & what they do?
12 Important Human Body Organs
Is laughter the best medicine? Benefits of Smiling
Prayer and Medical Science: A prayer for healing
Medical Health Trivia, Human Anatomy Facts
High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
Diabetes, Blood Sugar (Glucose) Level
Oral Health: Dental Hygiene: Sensitive Teeth
Eye health, Eye strain and vision problems
Kidney Stones, Treatment for kidney stones
Breast Cancer Symptoms, Risk Factors
Prostate Cancer Prevention and Treatment
Chemotherapy Treatment or Chemo Treatment
India has become dumping ground for banned drug
Interactive Medical Health (Diseases, Surgery) Tutorials |
Commuitarian vs. Individualistic
Only available on StudyMode
• Download(s) : 51
• Published : April 4, 2002
Open Document
Text Preview
Communitarian Vs. Individualistic Ideologies
A Comparative Analysis: Norway Vs. United States
The intent of this paper is to examine individualistic and communitarian cultural ideologies within two distinctly different political environments. The first challenge in comparing two nations is deciding which approach is most appropriate. There are several approaches in political science that have proven most beneficial when making comparisons. This study will use a comparative government approach to examine the political institutions, processes, constitutions, and functions of government within each of the two countries selected. The countries that have been chosen for this study are United States and Norway, respectively.
Gregory Scott believes that the fundamental aspects of human interaction in society are the need for community (unity) and the need for individuality. The argument is that the entire history of politics is largely the story of how communities and nations resolved the inherent conflict between the universal needs for community and individuality. With that, the topic that this paper tends to address has emerged, within the study of politics in this class and others, as the single most dynamic in scope and in implication. Freedom, equality, and justice combine to build a substantial argument for the individualistic ideology. Authority, order, and democracy are all building blocks for the argument of the communitarian. Scott notes that much of what motivates individualist is a strong desire for freedom. This author also argues that we are all interdependent and authority is justified by the need to bring order to societies competing values and thoughts. In studying the history of humanity, the battleground that has been formed between the need for individuality and unity is undeniable. A person's view of the nature of humanity is fundamental to their view of government, and its scope. If people are seen as dangerous, then a government to protect people from that danger is most appropriate. If people are viewed as capable of fulfilling their own creative potential, you may want a government that protects individual liberties (Scott, 47). These are all examples of core values for the entire foundation of government and of politics. This argument, for the use and scope of government, is divided into many different arguments that address basic issues of political science. Political scientists believe that individuals and their actions are what lead to collective problems. The problem is that our individual actions, each perfectly consistent with our individual preferences, can and often do combine to produce collective outcomes that none of us would have chosen (Bickers, 11). And thus lead to the need for protection against those outcomes, administered through a democratic government. There are several authors that are noted for their dynamic research on the communitarian movement. The spokesperson for the contemporary communitarian movement is Amitai Etzioni. He explains that communitarians believe that the fundamental and central political problem is finding the right amount of togetherness and common concern. He continues, if people are to individualistic, they fail to support each other's efforts and to respect each other's needs. If people are too unified, they become authoritarian and attempt to use the state to impose a common set of beliefs and practices.
Like ancient philosophers, communitarians find the lack of unified purpose and direction in society to be a crucial problem. Those who speak of the joys of not associating with others, but of being left alone by them, are most closely associated with individualism. And their noteworthy spokesperson is author and abolitionist Henry David Thoreau. This early author, observing the pressures, expectations, and demands made upon us by the societies in which we live, concluded that "the mass of men lead lives of quiet...
tracking img |
By Ajai Chopra
Potential output seems to be on everybody’s mind these days, at least if you talk to economists. What would be merely a curiosity during better times—after all, potential output is a largely abstract concept measuring the level of output an economy can produce without undue strain on resources—has become a particular worry in the context of the global economic crisis.
So what is all the fuss about? In a nutshell, policymakers across Europe are concerned that the deep and long recession will affect supply capacity and weigh down the prospects for recovery.
But even if the danger seems clear and present—people are still losing their jobs and businesses are still closing down with alarming speed—there is little clarity about just how big the drop in potential output is likely to be. For instance, Davide Furceri and Annabelle Mourougane at the OECD estimate that potential output in a typical financial crisis will drop between 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent for most countries. And Gert Jan Koopman and Istvàn Székely at the European Commission reckon that the level of losses for the European Union as a whole during the current crisis could be between 0.5 percent to 4.5 percent.
Policymakers dislike this kind of uncertainty because it muddies the waters and makes it harder for them to make the right decisions. Right now, budget planners across Europe are scrambling to estimate the strength of the blow the crisis has dealt to public finances, and not knowing the growth potential of their economies greatly complicates their task. If they overestimate potential growth, they would underestimate the need for fiscal adjustment once the crisis has dissipated, raising thorny issues of fiscal sustainability in the longer run.
Central bankers, too, are looking for guidance on the path of potential output. Their decision on when to start winding down current crisis policies depends on the difference between potential and actual output, the so-called output gap. If the output gap is closing faster because of a drop in potential, policymakers might decide to increase interest rates a little earlier and a little higher to prevent inflation from rising. Although this might sound farfetched at a time of falling headline inflation in Germany, the United Kingdom and elsewhere, those who are charged with safeguarding price stability have to look ahead to when the recovery will finally happen.
Bank of England: central banks' decision on when to start winding down current crisis policies depends on the difference between potential and actual output (photo: Shaun Curry/AFP)
Central banks' decision on when to start winding down current crisis policies depends in part on the difference between potential and actual output. Photo shows Bank of England (photo: Shaun Curry/AFP)
So what are policymakers to do? The first step is to ask economists to do their best to correctly estimate potential output in the aftermath of the crisis. The more that is known about what is happening to potential output, the less reason there is to worry about getting it wrong. The IMF is one such source of independent advice on potential output. Recent country reports produced by IMF staff have used a variety of methodologies to produce such estimates. Examples from the European Department include reports on France (Box 3 of the report), Ireland (Box 1), Sweden (Box 5), the United Kingdom (Annex 3), and similar work is in the pipeline for other countries. Another example is the report on the United States.
Naturally, the assessments by individual country desks take into account specific country circumstances. For instance, the hit to potential output in the United Kingdom is estimated to be larger than in, say, France because of the larger role of the financial sector as an engine of growth of value added in the United Kingdom in recent years, implying a bigger hit to the capital-labor ratio and total factor productivity after the crisis. Complementing such individual country analysis, the forthcoming World Economic Outlook and the Regional Economic Outlook for Europe, both to be released in early October 2009, will have a deeper discussion of the impact of the crisis on potential output in a cross-section of countries.
The second step for policymakers is to deal with the unavoidable uncertainty. For fiscal policy, there is a good case to err on the side of caution. Enough is known about the fiscal costs of the crisis to suggest that the need for consolidation is large, even if its precise size is still debated. In light of the looming fiscal pressures from Europe’s aging societies, this calls for decisive action as soon as the cycle allows.
As for central bankers, they should also act on the information they have, although researchers such as Athanasios Orphanides (now Governor of the Central Bank of Cyprus and member of the ECB’s Governing Council) have sensibly suggested that central banks should tread carefully by reducing the importance of the output gap in their decision making.
More generally, policymakers—be they in the central bank or in the ministry of finance—would do well by communicating their assumptions about potential output growth to the public. When the time comes to wind down stimulus packages and raise interest rates, the public will be better prepared to understand why fiscal adjustment has become necessary and will better absorb the guidance they receive on inflation expectations.
Again, these issues will be discussing more fully in the forthcoming October issue of the Regional Economic Outlook for Europe—so stay tuned. |
Tracing the history of Amman
Just 33 days. Unbelievable.
It’s starting to feel more real the more I think about it. The days seem to fly by with work, studying Arabic & for the GRE before I leave, and I am always wavering between excitement and anticipation, & nerves and anxiety. Hopefully the more I learn about Jordan & Amman through this blog will help me overcome those feelings of anxiety when I arrive.
So this post will be all about Amman & its rich history. I learned a lot by writing about this, and I hope it benefits you as a resource for any questions you may have.
Amman’s History
Amman has a long and rich history, which today is traced all the way back to around 7250 BC, when the ‘Ain Ghazal settlement was built and inhabited for the next 2,000 years by about 3,000 people just outside of modern metropolitan Ammanammon.png. Later, the Ammonites would control the territory, and Amman was their capital, known as “Rabbath Ammon,” from which Amman drew its name. It was an ideal location for the Ammonites, as it was directly along the King’s Highway, a trade route connecting Egypt to the Sinai Peninsula, Syria, and greater Mesopotamia. Even today, there are ruins of the Ammonite society throughout Amman. At this time, the Kingdom of Jordan did not yet exist as a unified entity; instead, today’s modern Jordanian territory was made up of the Kingdoms of Ammon, Moab, and Edom.
Later, Amman would be conquered by the nearby Assyrian Empire, then the Persian Empire, and eventually by Alexander the Great of the Greek Empire. The Greeks rebuilt the city with the strong influence of their Hellenistic culture, and renamed it “Philadelphia.” One such monument to the Hellenistic
Hyrcan palace
Qasr al-Abd. Source.
influence is Qasr Al-Abd (Castle of the Slave), believed to be built by Hyrcanus of Jerusalem and of the Tobiad family, who left it unfinished after his untimely suicide. The Tobiads fought the Nabateans (whose capital was at Petra) for two decades, until they lost Philadelphia to them.
After the Greeks came the Romans, who conquered Philadelphia in 63 BC and ruled for 400 years, leaving behind such ruins as the Roman Theatre, the Temple of Hercules, and the Nymphaeum. Next came the Rashidun army, which integrated Philadelphia into its Islamic caliphate and renamed it “Amman.” The Umayyad caliphs built many desert castles throughout Jordan – many of which are well-preserved today. However, Amman was the victim of many deadly earthquakes in the 8th century, which rendered it uninhabitable. Eventually, Bedouins and others returned to Amman, and it became a city once again.
Crusaders are said to have occupied Amman, particularly Citadel Hill, in the 12th century, though mostly only ruins remained. From the 13th to 16th centuries, the city was incorporated into Balqa of the Damascus Province, and by the 14th century had become an inhabitable city once again. Emir Sirghitmish bought the city outright, and financed many renovations to the city. After his death, Amman changed hands between Syrian and Egyptian princes until tCircassiahe 15th century, when it was annexed by the Ottoman Empire. However, it lay abandoned and in ruins, inhabited only by Bedouin tribes, until 1878 when thousands of Circassians arrived there as refugees from historical Circassia (modern south-west Russia – on the right, in green), and settled.
Amman transformed from a small town, inhabited almost exclusively by non-Arabic-speaking Circassians, into a major city when the Ottomans constructed the Hejaz Railway hejaz railwayfrom Damascus to Medina, through Amman, in 1908. Amman was a key city during World War I; British forces captured it and used its location along the railway to access Damascus. Britain’s eventual victory in the Second Battle of Amman led to the British Mandate of Transjordan (see my last post). In 1921, King Abdullah I designated Amman as Transjordan’s capital, rather than al-Salt.
Over time, Amman has attracted immigrants from throughout the Levant, particularly from Palestine and Kuwait during the 20th century. In the 1970s, it was a live battleground for PLO and Jordanian forces in Black September; in the 2000s, it has also been a target for attacks from terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda. Since al-Qaeda’s attacks on hotels in Amman in 2005, Jordan has substantially increased its security forces in the city, and no major attacks have occurred since then.
Today, Amman is the capital of Jordan, as well its most highly populated city. It is the political, economic, and cultural center of the country, as well as a major tourist destination. Recently, thousands of Syrian refugees have arrived in Amman.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
One thought on “Tracing the history of Amman
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s |
The effects of good teacher professional development on student achievement
Prior research has shown that one of the most important indicators of effective teachers is that they know their subject matter. This study, by American Institutes for Research (AIR), examines whether content-intensive math professional development (PD) can impact that subject matter knowledge, as well as teachers’ instructional practice and their students’ achievement.
Analysts study a popular PD program called Intel Math, which is focused on deepening teachers’ knowledge of K–8 mathematics. It offers ninety-three hours of total PD time—eighty hours of which was delivered over the summer of 2013, with the other thirteen delivered during the 2013–14 school year. The PD focuses on the conceptual foundations of math and its interconnectedness across grades K–8. Teachers also get time to analyze student work on topics covered in the PD and receive video-based coaching during which they get individual feedback, particularly on the quality and clarity of their mathematical explanations.
Roughly 220 fourth-grade teachers from ninety-four schools in six districts and five states participated and were randomly assigned within schools to either the treatment group that received the PD or the control group that did not, receiving instead business-as-usual professional development.
One of the three key findings is that the professional development—which was deemed as having been implemented with fidelity—had a positive effect on teacher knowledge. Treatment teachers overall participated in a whopping ninety-five more hours of math PD than did control teachers. On average, treatment teachers’ knowledge scores on a study-administered math test were 21 percentage points higher than the control teachers’ scores after the professional development was completed. Second, the PD also had a large positive impact on some aspects of instructional practice, particularly relative to the conceptual aspects of math and the quality of teachers’ math explanations to students.
The third key finding is not so positive. The boost to teacher outcomes did not translate to student achievement gains, as measured on both state math assessments and a study-administered test. Unfortunately, we can’t be sure why. But this study does suggest that professional development alone on discrete aspects of math knowledge is unlikely to move the needle much on student achievement.
Targeting content knowledge only—not instructional delivery, rapport with kids, school or classroom culture, or a myriad of other things that professional development could feasibly target—is only a small and perhaps misunderstood piece of this very complex achievement puzzle.
SOURCE: Michael S. Garet et al., "Focusing on Mathematical Knowledge: The Impact of Content-Intensive Teacher Professional Development," U.S. Department of Education (September 2016).
Amber M. Northern, Ph.D. |
Page:A Desk-Book of Errors in English.djvu/203
From Wikisource
Jump to: navigation, search
This page has been validated.
Errors in English
phrase being adjectival; as, "The Reverend Thomas Jones"; or, if the first name is not used, "The Reverend Mr. Jones"; but Rev. Jones," used widely in the United States, is harsh if not rude. The title or distinction of a husband is not correctly applied to the wife. Never say The Rev. Mrs[.] Smith or Mrs. General Brown, etc.
reverse should not be confounded with converse. Reverse is the opposite or antithesis of something; minus is the reverse of plus. The "converse" is "the opposite reciprocal proposition," reached by transposition of the terms of the proposition, the subject becoming predicate and the predicate subject. The converse of the proposition, "If two sides of a triangle be equal, the angles opposite to those sides are equal," is, "If two angles of a triangle be equal, the sides opposite to those angles are equal."
revolts: The use of this word as a transitive verb, although supported by high authority, is not favored. "This revolts me" is far better expressed by "This is revolting to me."
ride, drive: One rides in a saddle or drives in a carriage; a distinction drawn by English people but condemned as "mere pedantry without a pretense of philological authority" by Gould ("Good English," p. 84). Compare drive.
rigged out. Compare togged out.
right: In the adverbial sense of in a great degree, |
Musings on the Emotions
Emotions are the background context in which our subjective experiences take place. They paint, and possibly distort, virtually every moment of our existence. Can we say that we ever have an emotion-less moment? Emotions are not always characterized by their excesses or their extreme states, which is how we often think of them. For example, anger, sadness, jealousy, joy, etc., are emotions with distinct names, because they are distinct emotions; separated from the other, more nuanced emotions, by their very vividity and starkness. If one introspects upon their emotions enough, they begin to discover these other, more nuanced, blurry, and inexact emotions that are constantly at play. The mark of a healthy mind is the stability of those emotions which are more or less positive or neutral, and are also, to a greater or lesser extent, resistant to negative external pressure. If we take all of this into account, it seems less likely that an “emotionless” state is possible. I would be open to arguments or evidence to the contrary, of course. Either way, its safe to say that emotions play a much bigger role in our existential experience then we generally acknowledge.
I have also come to notice that some of the aforementioned “distinct” emotions for which we have clear definitions and meanings are not emotions unto themselves, but composed of a constituency of other emotions. Jealousy, for example, is a perfect example of an emotion that we generally think to be entirely distinct from others (and Love, Anger or Hate are perfect examples of emotions that can be said to exist in their own right, irreducible to other more basic emotions.) In reality, I think it can be said that jealousy is actually an emergent property that presents itself when a few different, and possibly contradictory, emotions bubble up simultaneously. Surely both love and hate, or at least some aspect of those emotions, are at play in jealousy. These are contradictory emotions (love and hate), giving us that odd, perplexing and unsavory feeling in our gut that we get when we become victims of jealousy. In addition to love and hate, a pinch of bitterness or envy are present as well, along with a dash of anger and a sprinkling (sometimes more than a sprinkling) of possessiveness (which can be seen both as a trait and an emotion, in my opinion. Surely we have felt a unique emotion associated with the possession of certain dearly valued object that is not really love, but a certain other sort of desire or longing). This emotion is often felt in relation to humans instead of to objects, when we feel a certain entitlement to another person. In romantic relationships especially, this emotion of possessiveness is ever-present and can get out of control rather easily. It’s a curious effect of the human mind that we direct an emotion reserved for the possession of inanimate objects towards a human being, but it is not surprising. This need to possess, and its contingent emotional baggage, probably has its roots in the human desire to control the chaos of reality. We exercise this need for control in a myriad of ways, but our affection towards certain objects is one of the more peculiar manifestations of this need for control, in my opinion. Objects don’t die, they tend to stay around, and if we can possess something that does not get old and die, in contrast to ourselves, we can have a subconscious calming. We can attach our transient selves to a not-so-transient object , and thus get an illusory, albeit sedating, sense of control over our own inevitable fate. We invest our very selves into objects such that our most prized possessions are not just possessions, but externalizations of our own selves. It is not a surprise, when viewed from this perspective, that we should do the same to our lovers and friends. Our selves are intimately tied up in “the other”, and this can lead to a certain sense of entitlement to, or possessiveness over, that person, because in them we view a part of our selves, and what do we own in this world if not our own selves?
Emotions of the sort we have been discussing, as well as emotions generally, are absolutely vital for the way we interact socially. We like to fancy ourselves as rational agents, more or less reasonable creatures with a very potent intellect. We emphasize the rational over the emotional because the rational is what sets us apart of the animal world. Emotions seem more base, more instinctual, and thus more animalistic, and so we downplay their importance to our intellectual lives. However, all reason exists in an emotional context. Emotions play a very significant role in our decision-making, our reasoning, and our thinking generally. To be rational without any emotion would be a very different sort of “rational” than we assume. It would be cold, distant and calculating because it would not have the emotional under-current to give it direction, morality, and “heart”. Therefore, as much as we try, we cannot separate our rational selves from our emotional selves, they are inexorably interconnected, and that is actually a very good thing.
This dominance of the emotions is what makes human relationships so god damn hard. Especially romantic relationships. It is hard enough for most of us to deal with our own emotional ups and downs and keep the mental ship steady, let alone doing that laborious work for another person as well. The human emotional complex is a complicated beast; its messy, difficult to understand let alone navigate, and so strong at times as to make us chemical puppets to our emotional surges for a period of time. One day we are passionate, engaged, motivated and excited with life and the next we wax cynical, retreat from the world, and experience a sort of mental apathy. Such is the plight of the emotional ape.
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s |
Latte Art & Milk Chemistry
Milk plays a significant role in most coffee beverages. Next to coffee, it is probably the most used ingredient in a café setting. “Milk Chemistry” is an in-depth exploration on what exactly goes on in the milk pitcher as you stretch and texture the milk. The course will also look into proper milk use and storage, minimizing wastage, proper stretching and texturing skills and using alternative milk options. Latte Art drawing techniques will also be discussed during the session and will focus on the following patterns - heart, heart in a heart and tulips.
• Duration: 180 minutes
• Cost Per Student: P6000
Other products
You may also like |
The Birth of Isaac
1The Lord blessed Sarah, as he had promised, 2#He 11.11 and she became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham when he was old. The boy was born at the time God had said he would be born. 3Abraham named him Isaac, 4#Gn 17.12; Ac 7.8 and when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded. 5Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born. 6Sarah said, “God has brought me joy and laughter.#21.6: laughter: The name Isaac in Hebrew means “he laughs” (see also 17.17-19). Everyone who hears about it will laugh with me.” 7Then she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Hagar and Ishmael Are Sent Away
9One day Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, was playing with#21.9: playing with; or making fun of. Sarah's son Isaac.#21.9: Some ancient translations with Sarah's son Isaac; Hebrew does not have these words. 10#Ga 4.29,30 Sarah saw them and said to Abraham, “Send this slave and her son away. The son of this woman must not get any part of your wealth, which my son Isaac should inherit.” 11This troubled Abraham very much, because Ishmael also was his son. 12#Ro 9.7; He 11.18 But God said to Abraham, “Don't be worried about the boy and your slave Hagar. Do whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I have promised. 13I will also give many children to the son of the slave woman, so that they will become a nation. He too is your son.”
14Early the next morning Abraham gave Hagar some food and a leather bag full of water. He put the child on her back and sent her away. She left and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15When the water was all gone, she left the child under a bush 16and sat down about a hundred yards away. She said to herself, “I can't bear to see my child die.” While she was sitting there, she#21.16: she; one ancient translation the child. began to cry.
The Agreement between Abraham and Abimelech
24Abraham said, “I promise.”
32After they had made this agreement at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol went back to Philistia. 33Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and worshiped the Lord, the Everlasting God. 34Abraham lived in Philistia for a long time. |
Stress, anxiety and depression
Moodzone logo
What is mindfulness?
How mindfulness helps mental wellbeing
How to be more mindful
Different mindfulness practices
Is mindfulness helpful for everyone?
More tips on wellbeing
What is mindfulness?
How mindfulness helps mental wellbeing
See the NICE guideline on depression in adults.
How to be more mindful
Notice the everyday
"Even as we go about our daily lives, we can notice the sensations of things, the food we eat, the air moving past the body as we walk," says Professor Williams. "All this may sound very small, but it has huge power to interrupt the 'autopilot' mode we often engage day to day, and to give us new perspectives on life."
Keep it regular
Try something new
Watch your thoughts
"Some people find it very difficult to practice mindfulness. As soon as they stop what they're doing, lots of thoughts and worries crowd in," says Professor Williams.
"It might be useful to remember that mindfulness isn't about making these thoughts go away, but rather about seeing them as mental events.
"Imagine standing at a bus station and seeing 'thought buses' coming and going without having to get on them and be taken away. This can be very hard at first, but with gentle persistence it is possible.
"Some people find that it is easier to cope with an over-busy mind if they are doing gentle yoga or walking."
Name thoughts and feelings
To develop an awareness of thoughts and feelings, some people find it helpful to silently name them: "Here’s the thought that I might fail that exam". Or, "This is anxiety".
Free yourself from the past and future
You can practise mindfulness anywhere, but it can be especially helpful to take a mindful approach if you realise that, for several minutes, you have been "trapped" in reliving past problems or "pre-living" future worries.
Different mindfulness practices
As well as practising mindfulness in daily life, it can be helpful to set aside time for a more formal mindfulness practice.
Yoga and tai-chi can also help with developing awareness of your breathing.
Visit the Mental Health Foundation’s website for an online mindfulness course or details of mindfulness teachers in your area.
Is mindfulness helpful for everyone?
"Mindfulness isn't the answer to everything, and it's important that our enthusiasm doesn't run ahead of the evidence," says Professor Williams.
"There's encouraging evidence for its use in health, education, prisons and workplaces, but it's important to realise that research is still going on in all of these fields. Once we have the results, we'll be able to see more clearly who mindfulness is most helpful for."
More tips for wellbeing
There are other steps we can all take to improve our mental wellbeing. Learn more about the five steps for mental wellbeing.
Page last reviewed: 06/01/2016
Next review due: 06/09/2018
How helpful is this page?
Average rating
Based on 1123 ratings
All ratings
533 ratings
291 ratings
79 ratings
62 ratings
158 ratings
Add your rating
Beditation: getting a better night's sleep
Beditation is a class that can get you one step closer to a good night's rest. This class takes you step by step towards a comfortable seated practice of meditation ready for a perfect night's sleep.
Media last reviewed: 01/06/2016
Next review due: 10/03/2019
Services near you
Find emotional support services in your area
Help others for mental wellbeing
Little acts of kindness to others can give you a sense of purpose and make you feel happier
A guide to yoga
Boost your mood with online therapy
|
Will Cryptocurrency replace banks?
Will cryptocurrency replace the banks? written by: Grefein Will cryptocurrency replace the banks?
Trade and banking have been around for many years now. However, the mode of exchange ” currency” has always been changing. In the ancient ages, people traded goods for goods. The tradition evolved to goods for gold and silver, and today people use flat currency. An example of flat currency is the American dollar, where government printed notes are used as the standard rate for exchange. The flat currency is not static in value, for instance, the amount of goods a dollar could buy ten years ago is not the same today. Another important factor to note about flat currency is that it has no global standard. The American dollar, some will say is used as a global standard, but then the dollar is vulnerable to drastic changes due to economic factors. One constant factor throughout time is banking. The banks have always acted as middlemen between people their assets and their money.
Dawn Cryptocurrency
The coming of digital currencies” cryptocurrencies” has entirely shifted the balance of power in the business world from the banks to the money owners. While banks controlled the traditional money market, the digital currency world has no place for banks. In the digital currency world, money can be transferred from one person to another without the need of a middleman. Furthermore, digital currency can be used in the trading of stocks and accumulation of interest. For instance, a person who owned $100 worth of bitcoins one year ago, would cash thrice the same amount today. This makes cryptocurrency much more profitable than any bank interest rate.
Will Cryptocurrency Replace Banks;
Now, when it comes to the question of cryptocurrency replacing banks, there are a lot of dynamics to be looked at. Let’s look at what happened to the post office with the coming of emails. It ends up that, the post office became useless since everyone would send an instant mail without having to pay for a postage stamp. However, the post office still exists forty years on after the discovery of the email. While the post office may not be used as much, several aspects of the world will not run without a physical post. The same issue applies to crypto currency and banking.
For cryptocurrency to replace banking, the crypto currencies will have to replace flat currencies.Here is where the major problem lies, while a larger percentage of the world is now shopping online, the number of peop[le who are not ready for online shopping is also enormous. Online shopping and cryptocurrency may be feasible in many developed countries, on the other hand, underdeveloped countries may not be able to achieve that goal sooner.
Another big problem is the local economy, While most of the large and well-established cooperations may easily deal with cryptocurrency as a form of exchange, the small coffee vendor may find it hard to incorporate crypto to their business.
To answer the question of whether cryptocurrency will replace banking, the answer is yes. Slowly by slowly, more people will desire to have more control over their money. As time goes by, many banks will lose their major clients and find it hard to exist in the market. However, those who are wise in the banking industry are taking control of the cryptocurrency market while they still have muscle power. |
[MEDSCAPE]: 10种中毒或疾病的皮肤表现 | 中国病理生理学会危重病医学专业委员会
2017年04月17日 临床话题, 模拟诊室 暂无评论
Poisoning Clues on the Skin: 10 Cases
Jessica Harmon, MD; Raffi Kapitanyan, MD | April 6, 2017
This image shows an individual suffering a severe allergic reaction 4 days after exposure to poison oak. Acute poisonings often manifest on the skin, with presentations that can provide vital diagnostic clues to the clinician. Sinister or dangerous etiologies may be responsible for cutaneous signs, and consultation with the local poison control center (USA: 1-800-222-1222) is often warranted. Can you correctly diagnose the underlying toxicity for the following critical cases?
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons | Abm6868.
A 45-year-old man presented to the emergency department (ED) in February complaining of vomiting, watery diarrhea, lightheadedness, and headache. He had arrived in town the previous night to present at a conference and was staying at a local hotel. His roommate experienced similar, but less severe, symptoms. The patient received intravenous (IV) fluids, ondansetron, and ketorolac, and he was discharged a few hours later after feeling much better. The next morning, the patient failed to show up for his conference presentation. He was found in bed without a pulse and could not be resuscitated. His skin appeared pink and blotchy in places (shown).
Which of the following tests could have made the diagnosis on his initial presentation to the ED?
1. Carboxyhemoglobin (COHb)
2. Hemoglobin (Hb)
3. Serum bicarbonate
4. Methemoglobin (metHb)
5. White blood cell (WBC) count
Answer: A. Carboxyhemoglobin (COHb)
Two classic, but rare, dermatologic findings that are associated with CO poisoning are a cherry-red skin coloring (shown) and the development of cutaneous bullae; these occur only after excessive exposure.[1]
Carbon monoxide (CO), an odorless, colorless, poisonous gas, can cause sudden illness and is the leading cause of US poisoning deaths.[2,3] The patient in this case had a COHb level of 68% (normal range: 0-5%). The most common and earliest symptoms of CO poisoning are usually nonspecific (headache, confusion, dizziness, weakness, nausea/vomiting, chest pain),[2,3] and they are often diagnosed as a viral syndrome. Initial therapy consists of administering 100% oxygen via mask or endotracheal tube until the patient is symptom-free, and performing serial neurologic exams.[2,4,5]Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may be necessary in severe cases (eg, COHb level >25-30%, cardiac involvement, neurologic impairment).
Image courtesy of Dr. Abbas Koronfel.
This patient has patchy skin hyperpigmentation on his back (shown), chest, and neck. His pertinent medical history includes water ingestion from a well over a prolonged time period.
Which of the following contaminants should be suspected in the water?
1. Strychnine
2. Foxglove
3. Arsenic
4. Cyanide
5. Belladonna
Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) | Arsenic Foundation.
Answer: C. Arsenic
The pigmented lesions in arsenic poisoning often present as bilateral, symmetrical, finely freckled or raindrop-like macules (shown).
Arsenic poisoning is often caused by industrial/workplace exposure;[6-8] ingestion of contaminated groundwater, food, or moonshine;[6-8] or malicious intent.[8] Arsenic affects nearly all organ systems,[8]but the skin is most sensitive to its effects.[7] Patchy hyperpigmentation,[6-8] a pathologic hallmark of chronic exposure, may be found anywhere on the body, but it occurs particularly on the eyelids, temples, neck, nipples, axillae, and groin. In severe cases, it extends broadly over the chest, back, and abdomen. Dark-brown patches with scattered pale spots are sometimes described as "raindrops on a dusty road." Other signs/symptoms include vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, paresthesia of the extremities, muscle cramping, and cardiac, neurologic, pulmonary, hepatorenal, and hematologic dysfunction.[6-8] A garlic odor may be present in the breath and body tissues.[8]
Image courtesy of Dr. Ken Greer | Visuals Unlimited.
In addition to hyperpigmentation, the skin lesions that most often occur with chronic arsenic exposure are hyperkeratosis and several types of skin cancer[6-8] (eg, basal cell carcinoma, Bowen disease, Merkel cell carcinoma).[9] Liver, bladder, and lung cancer can also arise.[6] Arsenical keratoses (shown) are usually multiple lesions and typically occur at sites of friction and trauma, especially on the palms and the soles,[6-8] as well as on the dorsum of the hands and the arms and legs. The keratoses usually appear as small, nontender, horny, hard, yellowish, 0.2- to 1-cm papules; the lesions may coalesce into larger verrucous papules or plaques. Benign arsenical keratoses may progress to malignancy. Workup for arsenic poisoning includes urinary and serum arsenic levels, hematologic studies, arterial blood gases (ABGs), electrocardiography (ECG), and chest and abdominal radiographs.[8] In acute cases, aggressively monitor/support the patient's cardiopulmonary and hemodynamic functions, irrigate exposed areas, provide IV hydration, and, in symptomatic patients, administer chelation therapy.[10] For chronic cases, identify and, if possible, remove the toxic source.
Image courtesy of Medscape.
This patient presented with the skin discoloration shown. When taking his history, you should inquire about possible routes of exposure to which of the following metals?
1. Silver
2. Gold
3. Mercury
4. Nickel
5. Zinc
Image courtesy of Rice University | Herbert L. Fred, MD, and Hendrik A. van Dijk.
Answer: A. Silver
The patient (right) had used silver-containing nose drops for many years. Skin biopsy showed silver dermal deposits, which confirmed argyria, a permanent bluish-gray skin discoloration that is the primary manifestation of chronic silver overexposure. Silver is a naturally occurring element that may be released into the air, food, and water.[10] Industrial activity and hobbies (jewelry-making, soldering, photography) are other sources of exposure. Argyria develops in stages, beginning with a gray-brown gingival staining, followed by a bluish gray discoloration in sun-exposed areas.[11,12] Eventually, the sclera, nail beds, and mucous membranes become hyperpigmented. Although the pigmentary changes are permanent, argyria has no known effect on health. However, high-level silver exposure in the air can cause respiratory and gastrointestinal (GI) irritation, and skin contact may result in mild allergic reactions.[10] Workup includes urinary and serologic silver levels[10] and skin biopsy.[11]Treatment may include use of 5% hydroquinone and Q-switched 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser.
A 25-year-old man who worked in a semiconductor manufacturing plant developed mild, persistent abdominal pain with intermittent severe pain and constipation. Three days after the initial painful episode, his hair started to fall out (shown); 2 days later, he was completely bald. One month later, he felt pain and tingling in his hands and feet and developed difficulty speaking, blurred vision, and trouble walking. He was hospitalized; 2 weeks later, he became comatose. Which of the following was responsible for his signs/symptoms?
1. Selenium (Se)
2. Acute intermittent porphyria
3. Thallium (Tl)
4. Arsenic
5. Thiamine deficiency
Image courtesy of Medscape.
Answer: C. Thallium (Tl)
Mees lines, white lines that traverse the width of the nails (shown) (first described in arsenic poisoning), appear within 2-4 weeks after Tl exposure.[13]
Tl can be absorbed into the body by inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact.[14] Alopecia is the most common and classic manifestation of Tl toxicity; it occurs 7-12 days after the initial onset of symptoms, and complete hair loss often occurs by 1 month.[13] (Se and arsenic toxicity can also cause rapid-onset alopecia.) A painful ascending neuropathy and GI symptoms are also characteristic. In severe cases, death may occur 5-7 days after exposure.[14] Although many effects of Tl poisoning are nonspecific and occur over a variable time course, a clear toxic syndrome can be defined when the effects are combined. Workup includes urinary, blood, and quantitative atomic absorption levels of Tl; liver function tests (LFTs); complete blood count (CBC); ECG; plain abdominal radiography; and electromyography (EMG). Therapy includes cardiopulmonary support, activated charcoal, whole bowel irrigation with polyethylene glycol solution, Prussian blue (antidote), and hemodialysis/hemoperfusion.[13,14]
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons | Yannick Trottier.
A 74-year-old female with dermatitis herpetiformis presented to the ED with confusion, lightheadedness, weakness, and mild headache, as well as a grayish discoloration of the skin. She recently started dapsone, and her CBC was within normal limits. Despite treatment with 100% oxygen, the discoloration remained. What is the most likely diagnosis?
1. Drug-induced dyspigmentation
2. Methemoglobinemia
3. Raynaud disease
4. Metabolic acidosis
5. Congestive heart failure
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons | James Heilman, MD.
Answer: B. Methemoglobinemia
In this image, the metHb fraction in tubes one and two is 70%, with the blood appearing brown. In tube three, the metHb fraction is 20%, while in tube four, it is normal.
Methemoglobinemia is a congenital or acquired condition in which red blood cells contain over 1% metHb[15] and hemoglobin (Hb) is unable to effectively release oxygen to body tissues.[16] Acquired causes include exposure to various chemicals (eg, organic and inorganic nitrites/nitrates, chlorates), foods, and drugs, including dapsone.[15,16] Symptoms are proportional to the metHb level; the most striking physical finding is discoloration of the skin (cyanosis or a grayish pigmentation) and blood (brown or chocolate).[15] At metHb levels of over 15%, neurologic and cardiac symptoms develop due to hypoxia; levels of over 70% are usually fatal. Suspect this condition when 100% oxygen fails to correct cyanosis. Workup includes routine blood tests (eg, CBC with reticulocyte count, electrolyte levels), liver and renal function tests, Hb electrophoresis and/or DNA sequencing, ABGs and/or pulse oximetry, potassium cyanide test, and head, chest, and cardiac imaging studies.[15] Therapy includes administration of supplemental oxygen, IV hydration, and IV methylene blue; identification and, if possible, removal of the underlying cause; exchange transfusions; and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.[15,16]
Image courtesy of Medscape.
While on vacation in the Caribbean, a couple had a local dinner of rice, cooked vegetables, mahi-mahi, and wine. An hour after eating, they both developed headaches and palpitations, and they started to feel a tingling sensation in their mouths. In addition, they noticed that their faces, necks, and chests had turned intensely red (the husband's eyes are shown). Because their skin also felt itchy, they took some diphenhydramine after returning to their hotel. A few hours later, their symptoms were almost gone. Which of the following types of poisoning was the couple likely exposed to?
1. Paralytic shellfish
2. Tetrodotoxin
3. Ciguatera
4. Scombroid
5. Vibrio parahaemolyticus
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons | Grook Da Oger.
Answer: D. Scombroid poisoning
Scombroid poisoning results from eating cooked, smoked, canned, or raw fish from temperate or tropical waters that have a high concentration of histidine in their dark meat (eg, tuna, mackerel, mahi-mahi, sardine, anchovy, herring, bluefish, amberjack, marlin, albacore).[17,18] Certain bacteria commonly found on the surface of the fish contain a heat-stable histidine decarboxylase enzyme that acts on warm (not refrigerated), freshly killed fish, converting histidine to histamine. The onset of symptoms usually occurs 10-60 minutes after ingestion of the contaminated fish. Aside from cutaneous manifestations, symptoms include severe headache, palpitations, blurred vision, and GI features. Rarely, pruritus, urticaria, angioedema, and cardiopulmonary compromise may occur. Symptoms often resolve without treatment within 12 hours. Therapy includes supportive care (eg, IV fluids, antiemetics, cardiopulmonary support) and antihistamines.[17,18]
Image courtesy of Medscape | Amanda Oakley, MBChB, FRACP.
A politician became seriously ill in the midst of a bitter campaign for presidency. After a dinner meeting, he complained of a headache, severe abdominal pain, and severe backache. He was initially diagnosed with acute pancreatitis. Then, a few weeks later, his face became jaundiced, bloated, and pockmarked (shown). He claimed to have been poisoned at the dinner meeting by government agents.
Which of the following chemical agents should be the suspected toxin?
1. Cyanide
2. Dioxin
3. Strychnine
4. Lead
5. Barbiturates
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons | Muumi.
Answer: B. Dioxin
On the basis of the distinctive facial cysts (chloracne) (shown), toxicologists suspected dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin [TCDD]) poisoning. Testing confirmed blood dioxin levels that were 6000 times above the normal concentration.[19] Dioxins are a group of highly toxic, colorless organic compounds that are byproducts of some industrial processes and waste incineration; they are significant environmental pollutants.[20,21] Agent Orange is a dioxin that was used in the Vietnam War.[22] These agents can cause organ disease, increase the risk of cancer and heart attacks, suppress the immune system, interfere with hormones, and lead to diabetes, menstrual problems, increased hair growth, and weight loss.[20,21] Workup includes LFTs, CBC, coagulation studies, and electrophysiologic studies, as well as the use of gas chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry to measure levels of TCDD and its metabolites in blood serum, adipose tissue, skin, and other biologic samples (urine, feces, sweat).[23] Treatment primarily consists of supportive care and symptomatic management. Unfortunately, chloracne is resistant to methods that are used to treat acne vulgaris.[24]
Image courtesy of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
A patient presented with a lesion on his finger (shown). The lesion had a moist base.
Which causative agent should be suspected?
1. Typhus
2. Q fever
3. Brucellosis
4. Anthrax
5. Tularemia
Image courtesy of Medscape | American Academy of Dermatology | Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia.
Answer: D. Anthrax
Cutaneous anthrax is typically caused when individuals handle infected animals or contaminated animal products (eg, wool, hides, hair), and Bacillus anthracis spores enter through microscopic or gross breaks in the skin;[25,26] the head/neck and forearms/hands are most often affected.[25] A pruritic papule develops at the infection site and enlarges within 24-48 hours (range, 1-7 days) to form a 1-cm vesicle; subsequently (≤7-10 days), a large, painless, necrotic ulcer with a black center (eschar) develops (shown).[25,26] Cutaneous anthrax often remains localized, but it can disseminate and result in bacteremia. Workup for cutaneous disease includes detection/isolation of B anthracis, culture identification/genotyping, and serology.[25] Therapy for local disease includes a 7- to 10-day course of an oral antibiotic (fluoroquinolones, doxycycline, or, if the organism is susceptible, penicillin/amoxicillin/penicillin VK) and/or an antitoxin (raxibacumab, anthrax immune globulin intravenous [AIGIV]).[27] Cutaneous anthrax is rarely fatal (<2% mortality) if treated.[26] Left untreated, however, about 20% of cutaneous cases progress to toxemia and death.[25,26]
Image courtesy of the Medscape | American Academy of Dermatology.
This patient presented with severe malaise, headache, shaking chills, and fever. Five days earlier, he had noted a swollen, ruptured inguinal lymph node. The patient is currently experiencing adenopathy in the affected regional lymph nodes. Which of the following gram-negative bacilli should be suspected?
1. Coxiella burnetii
2. Yersinia pestis
3. Francisella tularensis
4. Rickettsia prowazekii
5. Brucella melitensis
Image courtesy of the CDC.
Answer: B. Yersinia pestis
This image shows the right hand of a patient with acral gangrene recovering from bubonic plague (a disease caused by Y pestis) that disseminated to the blood and lungs.
Y pestis causes three types of plague: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic.[28,29] Bubonic plague is transmitted from the bite of an infected rodent flea; signs/symptoms (incubation period, 2-5 days) include fever/chills, malaise, headache, and painful, enlarged (often inflamed, necrotic, hemorrhagic) regional lymph nodes called buboes (shown on the previous slide).[28,29] Y pestis can spread along the lymphatic channels and cause bacteremia and septicemia. Workup includes cultures and/or microscopic examination of blood samples and/or lymph node aspirates;[28,29] serology is another option.[28] First-line antibiotic therapy is intramuscular (IM) streptomycin or IM/IV gentamicin; alternative agents include IV doxycycline, ciprofloxacin, and chloramphenicol.[28] Left untreated, about 50% of patients with bubonic plague die.[29]
Image courtesy of the CDC | William Archibald.
This patient is shown 12 days after the onset of skin lesions on her face and extremities. The facial lesions are sparser and evolved more rapidly than the lesions on her extremities. What disease, considered to be a potential biologic weapon, is shown?
1. Yellow fever
2. Dengue
3. Venezuelan equine encephalitis
4. Ebola virus
5. Smallpox
Image courtesy of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Answer: E. Smallpox
The images demonstrate smallpox rash at days 3, 5, and 7 of evolution, respectively.
Smallpox is a highly contagious, sometimes fatal disease that is spread through direct contact with infected bodily fluids or contaminated objects or via the air.[30,31] Owing to the efficacy of worldwide immunization, however, smallpox has been eradicated, with the last naturally acquired case reported in 1977 (although small quantities of the virus have been kept for research purposes).[30, 31]
Variola major is the more severe (30% fatality) form of smallpox; variola minor is a milder disease (≤1% fatality).[32] The characteristic and contagious smallpox rash first appears as small, red spots in the oropharynx that spread to the face and forearms and become small papules. The papules change into vesicles and pustules within 1-2 days and, in turn, form crusts and then scabs.[30] Patients are no longer contagious after all of the scabs fall off.[30,31] Workup includes coagulation studies, D-dimer and fibrinogen levels, WBC count with platelet count, and identification of variola DNA via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay or isolation of the variola virus, with PCR assay confirmation, in a CDC Laboratory Response Network facility.[33,34] No specific treatment exists; the only prevention is vaccination. Because of the ease of production and aerosolization of the smallpox virus, there is concern about its potential use as a bioterrorism agent.
Images courtesy of the WHO.
|
Menopause - problems and how to tackle them
From DoctorMyhill
Jump to: navigation, search
The menopause is a natural process that results when the ovaries run out of eggs. It is possible to predict when this will happen by measuring antimullerian hormone, inhibin B and FSH.
As the ovaries run out of eggs, the pituitary senses this and sends out hormones to try to kick them into action. Measurement of these hormones [follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and lutenising hormone (LH)] is the basis of tests to diagnose the menopause. However, the ovaries do not run out of eggs in a smooth way - sometimes they get a "second wind" after a few months of missed periods to release another egg and another menstrual cycle so that FSH and LH come back to normal for a short while. In other words, do not rely too heavily on high levels of FSH and LH to diagnose the menopause!
The menopause may also occur to protect the woman from her own hormones. Oestrogen and progesterone are both growth promoters and therefore risk factors for cancer. The reason why men do not get breast cancer as often as women is not because they don't have breasts (they do!) but because they don't have so many female sex hormones. See Contraceptive Pill and HRT
The problems and symptoms of the menopause occur because of falling levels of oestrogen and progesterone. There are many symptoms which are ascribed to the menopause. However, the only symptoms which have been clearly linked with the menopause are the hot flush and dry vagina. This is an important point because it means that should other symptoms arise at this time of life, they should not be put down to the menopause. This is because the gut reaction for many doctors and indeed patients is to prescribe HRT when there are many other much safer environmental treatments available such as correcting nutritional deficiencies, identifying food allergies, correcting thyroid problems and disturbed sleep.
Even when HRT is used, it only postpones the symptoms of the menopause - it is the declining levels of oestrogen and progesterone which cause problems.
Management of the menopause
I'm coming to the view that as we age we acquire "metabolic dyslexias". That is to say that we get less good at making certain key molecules. Some of these molecules, such as melatonin, DHEA, D-ribose and Co Q 10, I am fairly sure about; but there are bound to be others. As we age, our metabolism becomes less efficient and therefore we need more raw materials in order to produce the essential molecules. This means we have to work even harder at the general approach to health, and now is the time to review diet and lifestyle!!
Wobbly Hormone Levels
The major symptom of the menopause which is a nuisance by day and can disturb sleep by night is hot flushes and sweating. This is probably caused by what I call wobbly hormone levels and explains why some of the herbal remedies are helpful. Herbal remedies such as Black Cohosh (up to 2400mgs daily), Agnus Castus (20mgs daily), Red Clover, Wild Yam and so on, are partial agonists. In pharmacology, an agonist is a drug that has an affinity for and stimulates physiologic activity at cell receptors normally stimulated by naturally occurring substances, such as female sex hormones. A partial agonist is a compound which has an affinity for a cell receptor, but unlike a full agonist, will elicit only a small degree of the pharmacological response peculiar to the nature of the receptor involved, even if a high proportion of receptors are occupied by the compound. This means that when hormone levels are high, partial agonists occupy relevant cell receptors and block the effects of the hormones. Conversely, when hormone levels are low, then these partial agonists still occupy hormone receptors but produce mild agonist activity. The idea here is that we iron out and flatten some of the wobbles. This can be very helpful in preventing hot flushes.
Having said that I am increasingly coming to the view that many hot flushes are triggered by hypoglycaemia. The clue here is that diabetics, who don't control their blood sugar levels very well, often flush with alcohol. Alcohol is extremely good at destabilising blood sugar levels and the diabetic flush is very similar clinically to the menopausal flush. So, work hard on doing a Stone Age Diet, which is of low glycaemic index. There are also nutritional supplements which can be taken to stabilise blood sugar level Hypoglycaemia
What happens if you have a late period?
As hormone levels decline, the periods may become irregular, heavier or lighter. So long as the "pattern" of the period is the same (i.e. heavier on the first day or two, then lighter for the next few days), then I am happy to think this is a normal period. However, if there is irregular vaginal bleeding (i.e. dribs and drabs, not related to a period), or any bleed for more than one year after a period, then this should be fully investigated by a gynaecologist. See Vaginal bleeding
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
My view is that there is now no good clinical reason for starting a woman on HRT. Indeed the Million Women HRT Study had to be stopped early because the excessive number of cancers in the hormone taking group. (Please see Breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy in the Million Women Study ) As a result world prescriptions of HRT fell by 75%. Progesterone has now been classified as a class one carcinogen by the World Health Organisation. This applies to progesterone whether they are synthetic, natural, given by pill or patch. Progesterones and oestrogens are addictive, which is why it can be very difficult for some women to stop their prescriptions, but applying the above interventions eases withdrawal symptoms.
Prevention of Cancer
See also Cancer - the principles of prevention and treatment
Female cancers
The greatest worry when using sex hormones is the long term risk of cancer. Oestrogens are converted in the body to different oestrogens, some "good", such as 2-hydroxyestrone, some "bad", such as 16-alpha-hydroxyestrone. The enzyme which controls this balance is inhibited by a natural substance indole-3-carbinol found in cabbage and all brassicas. Indeed, a study by Dr Marie Bell demonstrated complete regression of cervical cancer in over 40% of women simply as a result of taking indole-3-carbinol. This ration of 2/16-alpha-hydroxyestrone is critical and improved by eating cabbage. So the message is, if you want to prevent breast, cervical and womb cancer, eat up your cabbage!
Prostate Cancer
It has long been thought that testosterone is the cause of prostate cancer. But this does not really make sense since it is the older men with declining levels of testosterone who get prostate cancer. It appears to be abnormal metabolism of testosterone which is the cause of the problem. As men age, their metabolism goes awry and a disproportionate amount of testosterone is metabolised (by an enzyme aromatase) to oestrone and oestradiol. It is these female hormones which are the culprits in prostate cancer.
Therefore, it is important to monitor levels of not just testosterone but also oestrogens in men on testosterone. If the oestrogens are raised, then the offending enzyme aromatase can be inhibited by crysonine (a natural constituent of passion flower) 4 capsules of 500 mg daily. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that, as with oestrogens and female cancers, men also have "good" and "bad" oestrogens and the 2/16-alpha-hydroxyestrone ratio is also important. As stated above, the ratio can be improved by eating cabbage and other brassicas - so keep chewing!
Related Tests
Related Articles
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.