istock, and not to be reproduced without their permission. ) heat flow to space this physics that everyone knows is not only true of pots and radiators. it is true of the earth as well. the earth is warmed by our remarkably stable sun. as a result, the earth ' s surface radiates energy to space, and over time the incoming energy balances the outgoing energy. the process is made more complicated, however, by the existence of infra red ( ir ) absorbing molecules in the atmosphere. without those molecules, infra red radiation from the earth ' s surface would travel directly to space, cooling the earth quickly and efficiently. at certain wavelengths of infra red radiation, however, those molecules absorb many, or all, of the photons emitted from the earth ' s surface. that energy is often redistributed among other molecules by collision, but eventually some of the redistributed energy will be reradiated by the infra red absorbing molecules. this process absorption, redistribution and then re - emission may occur many times before the energy escapes the atmosphere, but eventually it will either by being emitted to space, or back to the surface. intuitively, the energy that goes through multiple stages of absorption, redistribution and re - emission will not escape to space as fast that which is emitted directly to space from the surface. this intuition is sound, but it depends essentially on one factor, the temperature of the atmosphere. we can see this by considering a fundamental law that governs the radiation of energy, the stefan - boltzmann law : in words, that is j - star equals epsilon sigma t to the fourth power, but we don ' t need to worry about that. what we need to notice is that j - star, which is the energy radiated over a given time from a given area, is proportional to the fourth power of t, ie, temperature. if the temperature doubles, the energy radiated increases sixteen - fold. if it triples, it increases eighty - one - fold. and so on. so, if the temperature of the atmosphere is different from that of the surface, the absorption, redistribution and re - emission of ir radiation by molecules in the atmosphere will certainly change the rate at which heat escapes to space. higher is colder there is another piece of physics everyone knows. it is that as you go higher in the atmosphere, the atmosphere gets colder. that is the reason why some mountain peaks are snow covered while their bases are still warm. this is not a universal law


colder there is another piece of physics everyone knows. it is that as you go higher in the atmosphere, the atmosphere gets colder. that is the reason why some mountain peaks are snow covered while their bases are still warm. this is not a universal law. it is not true, for example, in the stratosphere where the absorption of ultraviolet radiation from the sun causes temperatures to rise with increased height. but eighty percent of the earth ' s atmosphere is in the troposphere ( the lowest layer of the earth ' s atmosphere ), and most radiation leaving the top of the troposphere escapes to space. and in the troposphere, as you get higher, the temperature gets lower. on average, the temperature drops by 6. 5 degrees c for every thousand meters of altitude you climb. that means, for example, that the temperatures fall by about 24. 5 degrees c as you climb to the summit of mount fuji, and by 50 to 100 degrees as you rise to the top of the troposphere. we have already seen that temperature significantly effects the radiation of heat. colder objects radiate less energy, and the infra - red absorbing molecules in the atmosphere are colder than the surface. therefore it is no surprise that the infra - red absorbing molecules in the atmosphere radiate less energy to space than they absorb from the warmer surface. that difference is the essence of the greenhouse effect. no more arm waving it would be helpfull to recapitulate at this point. so far we have noted four simple facts : - that if you reduce the escape of heat, but do not reduce the incoming heat, things warm up ; - that the atmosphere contains molecules that absorb infra - red radiation ; - that radiated energy depends on the temperature of the radiating object ; and - that the atmosphere gets cooler as you get higher, so that the infra - red absorbing molecules in the atmosphere radiate less energy to space than they absorb from the surface. these four facts imply the existence of an atmospheric greenhouse effect, ie, that the presence of infra - red absorbing molecules in the atmosphere results in the surface being warmer than it otherwise would be. in science, however, purely verbal reasoning like this is considered suspect. the reason is that sometimes odd effects occur that render verbal reasoning moot. so in science, there is no substitute for putting the theory into a mathematical form. it gets rid of the arm waving. fortunately for us, scientists have already put this theory into mathematical form, at a very detailed level.


verbal reasoning moot. so in science, there is no substitute for putting the theory into a mathematical form. it gets rid of the arm waving. fortunately for us, scientists have already put this theory into mathematical form, at a very detailed level. we can access this work, free of charge, by using the modtran model. the modtran model shows the radiation up or down over a column of atmosphere under particular conditions. by changing the conditions, you can explore the predicted effects of those changes on upward or downward radiation at any level of the atmosphere from 0 to 70 kilometers altitude. setting the altitude to 70 kilometers effectively shows the radiation upward to space from the top of the atmosphere, or downward from space at the top of the atmosphere. setting the altituded to 0 kilometers effectively shows the radiation upward, or downward at the surface. using modtran, i determined the energy output looking downwards from an altitutude of 70 kilometers using the us standard atmosphere ( 1 ). the result can be seen on the following graph as the green shaded area. i repeated the model run, but this time with the altitude set at 0 km. the result is shown by the outer curve defining the red area in the graph below. that means that the red area itself, which is the upwards radiation from the surface minus the upward radiation to space, is the reduction in energy radiated to space because of the presence of infra - red absorbing molecules in the atmosphere. that is, it is the greenhouse effect. we have all heard how inaccurate models can be. therefore the fact that a particular model predicts this difference in radiation only shows what the theory predicts. it does not show what is actually happening. scientists are not happy with theories whose only support is a model. so in 1969, conrath and associates compared the results of model calculations of radiation to space with the actually observed radiation using the iris instrument on the nimbus 3 satellite. the following graph shows the result of their comparison. the dotted line shows the modelled values, while the solid line shows the observed values : the effect of a particular infra - red absorbing molecule, carbon dioxide, is clearly visible. with the publication of this data in 1970, the greenhouse effect ceased to be theoretical. it was an observed fact. ( 1 ) default settings except for adjusting surface temperatures ( ground t offset, c ) to approximately match the earths global mean surface temperature ( about - 10 degrees c offset ).


to the people of the ancient world, every bright star had a personality. some stars were welcomed into the dawn sky like a lost child, while some were treated more like a mother - in - law packing a month ' s worth of luggage. and sometimes, a single star could bring both responses. a prime example is sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. it ' s lost in the twilight now, but it ' ll start popping into view before sunrise within a few days or weeks, depending on your location. thousands of years ago, the star made its first morning appearance a little earlier in the year. from ancient greece and rome, it showed up at the start of summer ' s heat - - a time that could bring disease and famine. since sirius is known as the dog star, this time of year was known as the dog days - - a time that hardly brought rejoicing. even earlier, though, the star did bring rejoicing to the people of egypt. sirius first appeared around the time of the annual nile floods, which deposited fertile soil on the fields. this time was so important that the first appearance of sirius marked the beginning of the egyptian year. because of its role in resurrecting the land, the star itself represented the goddess isis. in egyptian lore, she resurrected her husband osiris, and bore their son, horus, who united upper and lower egypt into a single kingdom. so sirius was a welcome presence in the morning sky - - a star with a pleasant personality. script by damond benningfield, copyright 2008 for more skywatching tips, astronomy news, and much more, read stardate magazine.


this fascinating documentary presents the details of eric ’ s life, who was perhaps best known as an athlete in the 1924 olympics, as depicted in the academy award - winning film, chariots of fire. his story is told by david mccasland, author of eric liddell : pure gold, eric ’ s daughter patricia, and rev. john keddie, consultant on chariots of fire, along with fellow prisoners form the internment camp in china. growing up, eric was a gifted athlete, excelling in rugby and later in track. he entered the 1924 olympics in paris and was favored to win the 100 - meter race. but when he learned that he would have to race on sunday, he refused. instead, he competed in other races and still brought home gold for scotland. now a national hero, eric announced his intentions to go to china as a missionary. there he taught chemistry and oversaw the school ’ s sports programs, sharing his faith at sporting events. he later married, then left teaching to become an evangelist by 1941, china was becoming more unstable and japan was increasing its control. concerned for his family ’ s safety, he sent them off to canada while he remained in china. it wasn ’ t long until the japanese began moving people into internment camps. there, eric became friend and mentor to 300 children, many of whom were separated from their missionary parents. fellow prisoners observed as he rose early each day to read and pray. he continued living out his faith in the camp and was admired and respected by all. in 1944, however, he began showing signs of a possible brain tumor and died the following year. eric liddell was a humble man with a simple and personal faith whose life ’ s purpose was to glorify god. his life and legacy continue to impact people ’ s lives around the world. studio : christian history institutue time : 100 minutes eric liddell : champion of conviction ( dvd ) : - item price : $ 12. 95 - listed on : march 14, 2012


( this post was prepared in collaboration with dan drinkard ) congress now speaks at almost a full grade level lower than it did just seven years ago, with the most conservative members of congress speaking on average at the lowest grade level, according to a new sunlight foundation analysis of the congressional record using capitol words. of course, what some might interpret as a dumbing down of congress, others will see as more effective communications. and lawmakers of both parties still speak above the heads of the average american, who reads at between an 8th and 9th grade level. today ’ s congress speaks at about a 10. 6 grade level, down from 11. 5 in 2005. by comparison, the u. s. constitution is written at a 17. 8 grade level, the federalist papers at a 17. 1 grade level, and the declaration of independence at a 15. 1 grade level. the gettysburg address comes in at an 11. 2 grade level and martin luther king ’ s “ i have a dream ” speech is at a 9. 4 grade level. most major newspapers are written at between an 11th and 14th grade level. ( you can find more comparisons here ) all these analyses use the flesch - kincaid test, which produces the ' reads at a n - th grade level ' terminology that is likely familiar to many readers. at its core, flesch - kincaid equates higher grade levels with longer words and longer sentences. it is important to understand the limitations of this metric : it tells us nothing about the clarity or correctness of a passage of text. but although an admittedly crude tool, flesch - kincaid can nonetheless provide insights into how different legislators speak, and how congressional speech has been changing. to see how different legislators rank, click here for a full database of all current members of congress. to see how many top sat words lawmakers speak, click here. overall, the complexity of speech in the congressional record has declined steadily since 2005, with the drop among republicans slightly outpacing that for democrats ( see figure 1 ). through april 25, 2012, this year ' s congressional record clocks in at a 10. 6 grade level, down from 11. 5 in 2005. between 1996 and 2005, republicans overall spoke at consistently 2 / 10ths of a grade level higher than democrats, except for 2001, when a rare moment of national unity also seems to have extended to speaking at the same grade level. but following 2005, something happened, and congressional speech has been on the decline since. for republicans as a


level higher than democrats, except for 2001, when a rare moment of national unity also seems to have extended to speaking at the same grade level. but following 2005, something happened, and congressional speech has been on the decline since. for republicans as a whole, the decline was from an 11. 6 grade level to a 10. 3 grade level in 2011 ( up slightly to 10. 4 in 2012 so far ). for democrats, it was a decline from 11. 4 to 10. 6 in 2011 ( also up slightly to 10. 8 in 2012 so far. ) figure 1. congressional speech grade level by year ideology and speech complexity to analyze the relationship between ideology and speech level, we took the first dimension dw - nominate scores ( dw1 ) for the current congress, as of april 25, 2012. for the non - political scientists in the audience, dw1 scores take roll call voting data to place members of congress on a liberal - conservative scale. on this scale, - 1 is most liberal and 1 is most conservative. a negative value on the scale implies that the member votes most often with democrats ; a positive value implies that the member votes most often with republicans. turning to figure 2, we can immediately notice that grade level of congressional record speeches declines among republicans as the voting record becomes more conservative. among republicans, the drop from the most moderate to most conservative is, on average, almost three whole grade levels, from 13th to 10th grade. among democrats, the scatterplot does not reveal any relationship between grade level and ideology. however, when we hold all other factors constant in the regression analysis ( see further below ), we find that being on the far left is associated with lower speech grade levels. there is also a clearer correlation between further left voting score and lower grade level among more junior members. figure 2. the relationship of ideology to speech grade level changing members and members ’ changes it ’ s hard to pinpoint the exact cause of the decline. perhaps it reflects lawmakers speaking more in talking points, and increasingly packaging their floor speeches for youtube. gone, perhaps, are the golden days when legislators spoke to persuade each other, thoughtfully wrestled with complex policy trade - offs, and regularly quoted shakespeare. the data indicate that part of the decline has to do with new junior members speaking at a lower grade level than more senior members, and some of it has to do with individual senior members simplifying their speech over time. figure 3 ( below ) breaks congress into four seniority cohorts and details


with new junior members speaking at a lower grade level than more senior members, and some of it has to do with individual senior members simplifying their speech over time. figure 3 ( below ) breaks congress into four seniority cohorts and details the relationship between ideology and grade level for speeches in the 112th congress. here, a telling pattern emerges. among the newest members ( those with 1 - 3 years in their seat ), there is drop off in speech level as we move from the center out to either extreme of the political spectrum, though the pattern is more pronounced on the far right. for the next cohort ( 4 - 10 years of experience ), the same pattern continues on both the political right and left, though the relationship is much stronger among republicans. for the next cohort ( 11 - 20 years in their seat ), the pattern on the right ( more conservative, simpler speech ) remains, but the pattern on the left reverses ( there is a slight correlation between more liberalism and higher speech grade level ). in the most senior cohort ( more than 20 years in their seat ), republicans speak, on average, at a higher level than democrats, with only the slightest relationship between conservatism and more simple speech. figure 3. ideology and seniority at the individual level, prior to the 109th congress ( 2005 - 2006 ), both individual democrats and republicans on average grew more sophisticated in their speech with each passing session of congress. individual democrats gained on average 0. 06 grade levels per session, and republicans gained on average 0. 12 grade levels per session. then, starting with the 109th congress, the trends reversed. individual democrats began dropping 0. 07 grade levels of speech per session and individual republicans began dropping 0. 12 grade levels per session. table 1. average estimated effect of each passing congress on individual member grade level ( results from regression analysis estimating annual member change with member fixed effects ) the top and bottom lawmakers by grade level table 2 ( below ) shows the 20 members of congress with the lowest grade level score for their congressional record corpus dating back to 1996. of them, 85 % ( 17 of 20 ) are republicans ; 65 % ( 13 / 20 ) are freshmen, and another 15 % ( 3 / 20 ) are sophomores. additionally, 90 % ( 18 / 20 ) are house members. the two senators to make the bottom 20 are rand paul ( r - ky ) and ron johnson ( r - wi ), both tea party - supported freshmen. table 2.


point from the regression analysis is that the more a member speaks overall, the more simply that member is likely to speak, all else being equal. for just the 112th congress, going from least to most talkative is associated with a decrease in almost a grade level and a half. for the historic corpus, going from the least talkative to most talkative member is associated with a decrease in a full grade level. socioeconomic status of member district does not play much of a role, so there is no story to tell of members speaking to their constituents. if anything, the reverse is true. having a higher percentage of high school graduates in the district or state is associated with members speaking at a slightly lower grade level ( though since half of the districts have high school graduation levels between 82 % and 90 %, this doesn ’ t add up to all that much ). district median income ( which is closely correlated with education generally ) has no relationship to speech grade level. there is also no statistically significant difference between chambers. members of congress from the northeast speak at a slightly higher grade level than their colleagues from the rest of the country. of course, a fair amount of variation remains unexplained. there are many reasons why members speak at different levels, and these explanations only tell part of the story. table 4. ols regression explaining member speech level ( standard errors in parenthesis, significant variables bolded ) does it matter? earlier this year, the university of minnesota ’ s smart politics noted that obama ’ s 2012 state of the union address clocked in at an eighth - grade level for the third year in a row, and that obama ’ s average grade level of 8. 4 was well below the average of 10. 7 for the previous 67 addresses. fox news ran the story alongside the image of a child in a dunce cap, and right - wing blogs mocked the president ’ s intelligence. others pointed out that maybe speaking clearly was a good thing. after all, the sotu speech was pretty much right at the level of the average american ’ s reading level. and writing gurus like george orwell ( “ if it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out ” ) and strunk & white ( “ omit needless words ” ) famously advise simplicity. but whether you see it as plain speak or you see it as a dumbing down, the data are clear : the overall complexity of speech in the congressional record has dropped almost a full grade level since 2005. and those on


) famously advise simplicity. but whether you see it as plain speak or you see it as a dumbing down, the data are clear : the overall complexity of speech in the congressional record has dropped almost a full grade level since 2005. and those on the political extremes, especially those on the far right, tend to be associated with the most simple speech patterns. methodology for generating grade level scores ( by dan drinkard ) grade levels were calculated using flesch - kincaid readability tests applied to various facets of text queries against the capitol words api. for example, barbara lee ' s entire corpus of words spoken can be retrieved by paging through the following url : http : / / capitolwords. org / api / text. json? bioguide _ id = l000551 & apikey = # # # #. flesch - kincaid scores can be determined as : 0. 39 * ( words / sentences ) + 11. 8 * ( syllables / words ) - 15. 59. to derive counts : the python natural language toolkit ( nltk ) ' s sentence tokenizer was used to count sentences, the capitol words ngram tokenizer was used to count words, and the carnegie mellon pronouncing dictionary was used to count syllables. for fallback syllable counting when a word wasn ' t present in the dictionary, three different sets of calculations employing different methods were tried — discarding unknown words, treating unknown words as the average word of 1. 66 syllables, and using a trained fallback syllable counter from nltk _ contrib. we found the results of each method to be nearly indistinguishable from the others. an example f - k calculator ( this one using the aforementioned ' padding with averages ' method ) can be found at https : / / gist. github. com / 2483508.


see here for an explanation of the bengali transliteration scheme used before discussing bengali history, it is useful to define the scope of the investigation. in these pages, bengal, as a historical entity, refers to the land bounded on the north by himalaya and the lands of nepala, sikima, and bhotana ; on the north east by the brahmaputra river and its highlands ; extending to the northwest along the northern plains of bhagirathi upto dvarbhagga ; bounded on the east by the garo, khasia, jaintia, tripura, and cattagrama ranges ; and on the west by mountaineous forests of rajamahala, sa ~ otala pargana, chotanagpura, manabhuma, dhalabhuma, keojjar and mayurabhajja. it thus extends beyond the combined region comprising the present state of west bengal in india and the country of bangladesha ; and is a people united by a common language, bengali, a common social structure, a common religious mixture of hindus and muslims, and a largely shared history. little is known about the prehistory of bengal, or the origin of the name itself. the name may be of austrasiatic or dravidian origin, which form a substratum to the predominantly indoeuropean bengali language. archaelogy shows that parts of this land supported an agricultural culture since at least 1250 b. c. however, the identity of these people can only be guessed from anthropological and linguistic evidence. the historic period of bengal is usually classified into the ancient, medieval and modern periods : as opposed to the custom in indian history, the customary beginning of the medieval period in bengal starts with the period of muslim domination. you are visitor number since i started counting. for other pages discussing bengali history, you can also look at novo ' s page and bongoz ' page about the history of bengal. palash biswas ' s blog often cuts and pastes information about bengal : see this as an example. the official pages of the west bengal government also have a short history section. finally, there is a site giving a timeline of indian history in general. among the various sources, i should especially acknowledge extensive help from the classic work by nihararajjana raya, a book by irfan habib, and the textbooks by ramezacandra majumadara. research by various individuals and / or their views have often been consolidated into my understanding, and that understanding


" a hologram is a flat surface that, under proper illumination, appears to contain a three - dimensional image. a hologram may also project a three - dimensional image into the air — a lifelike image that can be photographed although it cannot be touched. because they cannot be copied by ordinary means, holograms are widely used to prevent counterfeiting of documents such as credit cards, driver ' s licenses, and admission tickets. the word hologram comes from the greek roots holos meaning whole and gramma meaning message. the process of making a hologram is called holography. when a hologram is made, light from a laser records an image of the desired object on film or a photographic plate. " each cell of a hologram contains the whole message - - the entire picture. when light is shined on it, it reaches into a new dimension ( e. g. a two dimensional picture becomes three dimensional ). in a normal photograph, each cell contains a portion of the picture. in a hologram, each cell contains ' the whole message. ' sheep follow the leader. they go unthinkingly where the leader goes. if the leader is bad, the sheep will follow him to their destruction. my people hath been lost sheep : their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains : they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place. only the good shepherd leads the sheep in the paths of righteousness. 1the lord is my shepherd ; i shall not want. 2he maketh me to lie down in green pastures : he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3he restoreth my soul : he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name ' s sake. yet, the object is not to remain sheep but to grow up into the head of christ. the object is for each cell ( person ) to become a complete image of christ, as in a hologram. the object is for each part of the body ( each person ) to become complete and perfected. 2 corinthians 3 : 18 but we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the lord. it is my hope that when this happens to enough people ( a critical mass? ), the light of christ will shine on the hologram, showing a picture of christ that will fill the whole earth


, even as by the spirit of the lord. it is my hope that when this happens to enough people ( a critical mass? ), the light of christ will shine on the hologram, showing a picture of christ that will fill the whole earth, and our prayer will be answered - - on earth as it is in heaven. it is my hope that truth will fill the whole earth, bringing down the kings of satan whose feet of clay ( lies ) is their fatal flaw. the sons of god will stand for truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 34thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors ; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them : and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 44and in the days of these kings shall the god of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold ; the great god hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter : and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.


cold weather can be tough on everyone, but it is particularly tough for the older population. the snow looks pretty, but winter can be a scary season due to increased chances of falling on snow or ice. but there are a few things you can do to help prevent falls besides being homebound or packing up and moving to warmer climate. take a moment to look at your shoes and boots. are they worn smooth? if you can answer " yes " to this question, then it is time to purchase a new pair. shoes with better traction will grip the ground better ; you might want to avoid dress shoes as they tend to be quite slippery. remember to wear proper foot wear for the winter, which should include winter boots or similar winter shoes. if you have stairs with a railing leading up to the entrance of your home, have your railing checked to make sure it is sturdy. you may ask yourself this question would it hold you if you were to slip? could the railing catch you? shovel and salt keep your shovel and salt in your home so it is available for you to use. what good is your shovel and salt when it is in your garage away from your home and you have to walk through the snow and ice to get to them? cellphone or emergency response system yes, the older population should have and carry a cellphone. if you do not have a cellphone you may want to consider getting an emergency response system installed. one may slip and fall ; it can sometimes be difficult in getting back up. carrying your cellphone or wearing an emergency response system personal help button, can give you peace of mind, knowing that you can call for assistance. modification of cane if you need a cane to assist you with walking, you can modify your cane by adding a metal grip to the bottom of your cane. the metal grip will help increase stability. in addition, you may want to take a look at the handle grip. if it is worn, take a moment to replace it, this will help you maintain your balance especially if you walk on patches of snow or ice. the weather can change in a matter of a few minutes. if you are walking out of a restaurant, shopping mall, church, etc. and the parking lot has turned into an ice rink, you should ask for a steady arm to help guide you. this could be a friend, a family member, employee or even a passerby walking in your direction. don ' t be afraid to ask for help. what ' s your plan? during the winter months you


steady arm to help guide you. this could be a friend, a family member, employee or even a passerby walking in your direction. don ' t be afraid to ask for help. what ' s your plan? during the winter months you need to think about where you are going and ask yourself, " if i were to fall, what would i do? did i remember my cellphone? if i ' m close to my home, do i have my personal emergency response help button on me? " when running behind scheduled you may end up hurrying and sometimes pushing the limits of what you can handle. allow extra time getting to your appointments, especially in inclement weather. if you are a little late it ' s better than rushing and causing a fall and a potentially serious injury. what can you do to help strengthen your leg muscles so you can catch yourself before you hit the ground? exercising your leg muscles regularly should be done to keep them strong. a few simple exercises you can do help strengthen your leg muscles would be to walk up and down the stairs repeatedly and / or getting up out of a chair. the best thing to strengthen your legs is use them other wise you will loose them. remember falls can affect seniors in many ways. if a senior falls and is injured, this can limit their confidence and ability to live independently. my hope for each senior after reviewing these winter safety tips is that they are able to reduce if not avoid their chances of any falls. wayne l. shepard is director of the delaware county office for the aging. ' senior scene ' columns can be found at www. thedailystar. com / seniorscene. cold weather can be tough on everyone, but it is particularly tough for the older population. why did you serve? numerous local residents have spent time in service to our country in the military. some joined out of a duty to our county, others were pressed into service through the draft, still others wanted to take advantage of the g. i. bill. in honor of their service and armed forces day on saturday, we asked our readers why they served and what they took away from their service. continued... fitness key during pregnancy women have been having babies since well before time has been recorded by humans. continued... beyond the stacks : local libraries offer everything from history to technology the local libraries within the four county library system still make information available to their patrons in the traditional way - - books. they are also storehouses of local history : old photos, newspapers, genealogy records


stacks : local libraries offer everything from history to technology the local libraries within the four county library system still make information available to their patrons in the traditional way - - books. they are also storehouses of local history : old photos, newspapers, genealogy records, diaries and letters. continued... romantic times at fenimore when one thinks of the romantic, usually one ponders wistfully the early days of a courtship and marriage. continued... prom fashions bright, blingy, different prom night can be one of the biggest events of a high school student ' s life. it is the last bash before college for many, and the memories are often recorded. that is why prom fashion is so important to high school seniors. continued... - why did you serve? - around the arts local programs help children ' s creativity grow i am not a stage mom. but, the other day i ended up in the middle of a discussion with a stage dad who, for many years, has designated a great deal of his time and resources to support his teenage sona€™s performing career. the cry of the stage parent : chauffeuring from one rehearsal to the next, scouting costumes, building sets, selling tickets and program ads, and, of course, sitting in the audience for the entire production run. then, without a breath, off to the next one! continued... an artist label can be placed on many types of people " you are such an artist. " continued... dip your toe in the art world through pinterest i am a magazine ripper. i always have been. i have shoesboxes and file folders filled with decorating ideas, recipes and other miscellaneous projects. no matter how hard i ' ve tried, i can never seem to organize or tame the scraps of inspiration floating around my house. continued... arts encompasses so much more than visual, performing, musical things this column was due when i was in the throes of our season at the glimmerglass festival, when all we are thinking about is the arts - - how to make people more aware of the arts, to engage in the arts. and - - what exactly do " the arts " entail? continued... school may be out, but there ' s lots to do to keep kids busy by june dzialo now that school ' s out for the summer, my daughter is proclaiming that we are, " the most boring family on earth. "


. school may be out, but there ' s lots to do to keep kids busy by june dzialo now that school ' s out for the summer, my daughter is proclaiming that we are, " the most boring family on earth. " continued... - local programs help children ' s creativity grow - music beat music industry tips about professional musicians musicians know that every performance they play is an audition for their next engagement. continued... practice really does make perfect for professionals shortly after i was hired at the age of 25 to work in the music department at state university college at oneonta, i played a concert for members of this community. at the end of the concert, a young audience member said to me, a€œhow many years have you been playing the cello and do you still have to practice? a€continued... stepping on the flag, and other memories if we are to be defined all our lives by our high school mascots, then i suppose i am a viking. but i ' m also a panther, having transferred schools after my freshman year. continued... from suny oneonta to cbs sports some people say the music business is failing, but i don ’ t agree with that point of view. neither does joseph miller. continued... - 12 music industry tips from joseph miller - music industry tips about professional musicians - parenting imperfect i ' m relieved it ' s not just me for the last few years, i ' ve been convinced that i ' m just harder on things than other people are. continued... a tactical error in the handoff my kids are lucky enough to have half of their grandparents within a three - hour drive. continued... a potentially quiet afternoon interrupted by a dog and a balloon the kids spent most of martin luther king jr. day bickering. continued... the dog is a getting to be an expert at training this sentence took 20 minutes to type. continued... bad things can happen when trends are no longer trendy when i was a kid, it used to drive me bonkers that my mom didn ' t know anything about the most important things in my world. she had no idea what a friendship pin was or how you ' d make one. she couldn ' t name any good band, i. e., the ones a pre - teen would listen to like duran duran or wham. and she didn ' t find robert downey jr. nearly as dreamy as i did


one. she couldn ' t name any good band, i. e., the ones a pre - teen would listen to like duran duran or wham. and she didn ' t find robert downey jr. nearly as dreamy as i did. continued... - i ' m relieved it ' s not just me - senior scene looking back : a sad ending for adorable, sweet taffy - toes another unwanted drop - off? yes and so i must write this. continued... as time goes by : dealing with side effect of pills can really be a pain at age 76, i find myself incontinent. actually the problem started well before that date but now it has gone beyond " a problem, " to " holy smoke the dam broke. " continued... - from the office : try spring cleaning, organizing for stress release looking back : take your time, think ahead before making decisions a lifetime may seem forever for some, especially when we were young and couldn ' t wait to grow up and get to do all things we saw the adults do. come to think of it, perhaps that wasn ' t too good. continued... as time goes by : getting sick in the southern sun i went and did it - i have heard about southern hospitality so much that i thought i would see if it extended to the hospitals as well. continued... - looking back : a sad ending for adorable, sweet taffy - toes - tech, gp thankful hard - disk shortage is about over, and counting my blessings well, i ' m almost ready to let out a cheer. continued... businesses need backups for their computer people, systems in the interest of full disclosure, i want to let you know that i have taken a new position, professionally. i recently joined eastman associates, a local general contractor, to do its it work, as well as taking care of some other functions of the business. continued... windows 8 seems to be made for the good of microsoft, not the user by bruce endries the software company everybody loves to hate, microsoft, recently released what it calls a " consumer preview " of their next operating system, windows 8. continued... the granite state got it right on software purchases believe it or not, i have found a bright spot in the political landscape, amid all the vitriolic partisan fighting. continued... visit a construction site and you ' ll probably find an ipad it was just about two years ago now, that the ipad came


, i have found a bright spot in the political landscape, amid all the vitriolic partisan fighting. continued... visit a construction site and you ' ll probably find an ipad it was just about two years ago now, that the ipad came out, and i wrote a column about it. at that time, i went out on a limb and said that thought it was a product which would fill certain niches very well, but that it wasn ' t very likely to fill in for what is normally considered a computer. continued... - thankful hard - disk shortage is about over, and counting my blessings - teen talk on the go : patriotism doesn ' t mean keeping status quo i ' ve been labeled many things, but when anti - american and unpatriotic came into the picture recently i was surprised. i know i have some controversial opinions, but since when does that equate to not loving america? i ' m a born and raised american kid, and i love america. continued... luhrmann brings gatsby new life sure, you would think that being a college student and having finals rapidly approaching would equate to my growing anticipation for the summer and being done with my first year of college. continued... teenhood today : only you can determine your impact the question i am most often asked is, " what do you want to do with your life? " continued... a word of advice : just do something if you ' re not going upward, the only direction you can go is down. to stagnate is to surrender ; to do nothing for yourself ; to give up on a better day completely. if we sit around feeling good enough in all aspects of life, or just too lazy to fix them, well, as albert einstein put it, " insanity : doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. " continued... on the go : life is like the cliff walk over spring break, my family and i spent time in newport, r. i. while we were there, we walked a path known as the cliff walk. this walk is nestled between some newport mansions and some cliffs overlooking the ocean. while we were walking, my sister and i noticed how this path was a perfect metaphor for life and the journey it is. continued... - on the go : patriotism doesn ' t mean keeping status quo


by begum burak in the contemporary world, the relations between nations have become much more as borders have become less important in a globalizing world. on the other hand today, people around the world share some common values such as the importance of democracy, human rights, rule of law and freedom in a much more challenging way compared to yesterday. however, despite the existence of such hopeful developments, world politics also witnesses inhumane practices that cause global reactions but cannot be ended immediately, like the esad terror in syria. what is obvious is that global problems today – be they political, environmental, economic or related to scarce resources such as poverty and hunger – need the establishment of a global cooperation in order to get solved. that is why charity organizations organize worldwide programs with the aim of helping the needy in different parts of the world, regardless of their nation or ethnic origin. it can be argued that in today ’ s world, non - state units such as non - governmental organizations ( ngos ) and other civil society associations, all play an undisputedly major role in the management of global crises and the establishment of global order and stability. the gulen movement is the most reputable and widespread civil society movement in turkey. despite having its roots in anatolia, the movement ( which is also called as the ‘ hizmet movement ’ – service movement : service for humanity ) has succeeded to have a global outreach thanks to the education activities it has been performing for several decades. the gulen movement and millions of supporters of this movement follow and treasure mr. fethullah gulen ’ s principles and values. fethullah gulen is an authoritative mainstream turkish muslim scholar, author, thinker, poet, opinion leader and educational activist who supports interfaith and intercultural dialogue, science, democracy and spirituality while opposing violence and turning religion into a political ideology. the movement is a faith - based movement and it embraces all nations, races, colors, etc. the reason why this is so is that this movement is engaged in education activities all over the world from africa to asia and it inevitably has got an embracing character. some other features of the hizmet movement can be summarized as follows : “ first of all, hizmet is a voluntary movement without neatly defined borders, a hierarchy, central organization or membership. it is based on hearts, minds, volunteer work and donations by people from all walks of life. there are of course several organizations, schools, charities and media outlets that are affiliated with the movement, and they employ professional


, central organization or membership. it is based on hearts, minds, volunteer work and donations by people from all walks of life. there are of course several organizations, schools, charities and media outlets that are affiliated with the movement, and they employ professional staff, who are salaried. but they can only represent their own institutions if they are in managerial positions. writers, columnists, journalists and academics working in these institutions are not engaged in social, intellectual and political life on behalf of the movement. they only represent themselves. sometimes they may agree on certain points so that one can faintly deduce the stand of the movement, but this is not definitive and binding for the movement as a whole. ” on the other hand, the education activities of the movement have been betting stronger and stronger every year. every year turkish olympiads are organized and the number of the participants has been increasing. it is so obvious that the movement treasures education. according to the philosophy of the gulen movement, education is the key to the solution of our main problems which are ignorance, division, and poverty. the educational activities of the movement can be described as follows : “ around half of gulen schools are located abroad, and of those the majority are found in turkic central asia and azerbaijan, where there are also half a dozen gulen - sponsored universities and numerous other educational, welfare, and economic institutions and activities. indeed, the movement ’ s focus is on turkic communities, including those of the russian federation such as dagestan, karachay - cherkessia, tatarstan, and bashkotorstan, and other former soviet states containing turkic or formerly ottoman muslim minorities such as ukraine, georgia, and moldova, and in the balkans. one can readily see why the movement targeted turkic central asia and azerbaijan for the main thrust of its activities. after all, many in turkey ’ s political class made a similar assessment of turkish prospects in the region in the immediate aftermath of the soviet collapse. it shares a linguistic and ethnic root with turkey, and a “ folk islam ” that, as in turkey, incorporates numerous sufisects and has absorbed pre - islamic traditions, beliefs, and rituals. furthermore, the soviet era left behind a legacy of secular education and a commitment to science and modernity that broadly corresponds with the gulen movement ’ s aspirations. ” it can be said that the gulen movement contributes to global peace through building interfaith dialogue on the basis of education and this contribution is supposed to go ahead in a much more vibrant way in the following


the gulen movement ’ s aspirations. ” it can be said that the gulen movement contributes to global peace through building interfaith dialogue on the basis of education and this contribution is supposed to go ahead in a much more vibrant way in the following years. * i use “ the ” not “ a ” in the title. that is because i see the gulen movement as the only real actor in promoting global tolerance and peace. in terms of politics, gulen advises his movement to remain non - partisan and apolitical. unlike other islamic groups, gulen argues that there is no such as thing as a puritan islamic state, and that therefore there can be no ultimate goal to work for its fulfillment. instead, gulen argues that states and governments should follow certain fundamental principles as espoused by islam, see ozcan keles, “ promoting human rights values in the muslim world : the case of the gulen movement ”, gulen conference, house of lords, soas, lse, october 2007, at http : / / gulenmovement. info / userfiles / file / proceedings / prcd % 20 - % 20keles, % 20o. pdf, [ last access, june 22, 2012 ]. an analysis about m. fethullah gulen and his understanding of tolerance : jane b. schlubach, “ tolerance is love : gulen, ghazali, and rumi ”, rumi forum, november 12, 2005, at http : / / www. rumiforum. org / gulen - movement / tolerance - is - love - guelen - ghazali - and - rumi. html [ last access, june 22, 2012 ]. a piece about interfaith dialogue and peace - building : fr. thomas michel, “ the contribution of interfaith dialogue to peace building ”, at http : / / www. thomasmichel. us / interfaith - dialogue. html. fethullah gulen official website, “ introducing fethullah gulen ”, at http : / / en. fgulen. com / about - fethullah - gulen / introducing - fethullah - gulen, june 22, 2012. for an overview of the movement, see yuksel a. aslandogan, “ the gulen movement ”, centre for strategic and international studies, june 17, 2009, at http : / / csis. org / files / attachment


. for an overview of the movement, see yuksel a. aslandogan, “ the gulen movement ”, centre for strategic and international studies, june 17, 2009, at http : / / csis. org / files / attachments / 090617 _ overview _ gulen _ movement. pdf, [ last access, june 22, 2012 ]. ihsan yilmaz, “ hizmet, forming a party and capturing the state ”, today ’ s zaman, february 15, 2012, at http : / / www. todayszaman. com / columnist - 271536 - hizmet - forming - a - party - and - capturing - the - state. html, [ last access, june 22, 2012 ]. turkish language olympiads, wikipedia, at http : / / en. wikipedia. org / wiki / turkish _ language _ olympiads, [ last access, 22, 2012 ]. bill park, “ the fethullah gulen movement ”, the middle east review of international affairs, vol. 12, no. 3, september, 2008, at http : / / www. worldsecuritynetwork. com / documents / movement. pdf. this contribution is highly respected by different groups too : http : / / www. interfaithdialog. org / press - room - main2menu - 29 / 898 - texas - senate - honors - mr - fethullah - gulen - and - the - gulen - movement, june 22, 2012.


the lion ’ s mane season has arrived, bringing white, cascading icicles from the forest to my plate! i conveniently use the common name “ lion ’ s mane ” to refer to a constellation of fungi of the genus hericium, including the native northeastern representatives h. americanum and h. coralloides, as well as the commonly cultivated h. erinaceus. most mycology texts call these three mushrooms bear ’ s - head tooth, comb tooth, and bearded tooth, respectively. distinguishing amongst hericium species can be difficult at first, but this is irrelevant to the forager interested in a good meal. lion ’ s mane has no look - a - likes, edible or poisonous, and all forms are edible and delicious in the kitchen. with that said, jenna does prefer the texture of h. erinaceus, which looks like a faceless hedgehog or a truffula tree out of dr. seuss ’ the lorax. instead of h. erinaceus ’ tight, pom - pom shaped clusters, h. americanum forms looser, interconnected clumps that look like the tufted form of a weeping willow tree. h. coralloides resembles h. americanum, but reminds me of branched brain coral with its shorter teeth. fruiting occasionally in the spring but typically in the fall in the northeast, lion ’ s mane is fairly common and easy to spot. this saprophytic fungus is not very discriminating when it comes to log selection, growing on many dead or dying hardwood trees including maple, beech, oak, birch, walnut, and sycamore. it can be cultivated indoors on sawdust or outdoors on logs or totems, though h. erinaceus is the only lion ’ s mane species you can readily buy spawn for on the internet. however, jeanne grace, a recent masters student of dr. ken mudge in horticulture at cornell university, cloned several strains of wild h. americanum growing near ithaca and has had great success cultivating it on hardwood totems in its native habitat. the totems, which are created by sandwiching spawn between two large log butts, produced bumper crops both this summer and last, forming much bigger fruits than i have ever seen with h. erinaceus. the wild hericium strains did not perform as well in her indoor experiments on sawdust in “ the mushroom, ” a grow room in the cornell department of horticulture ’ s


fruits than i have ever seen with h. erinaceus. the wild hericium strains did not perform as well in her indoor experiments on sawdust in “ the mushroom, ” a grow room in the cornell department of horticulture ’ s plant science building. in this environment they “ pinned, ” but were unable to find their way out of the plastic bag to grow as their cultivated relative does. you usually have to wait a year from the inoculation date to enjoy cultivated lion ’ s mane, but the impatient mycophile can find lion ’ s mane in the woods right now! last fall i stumbled upon a large, rotting log covered in frozen waterfalls of lion ’ s mane. i was so transfixed by the sight that it took me a few minutes to notice a hidden pocket in the log, harboring the biggest lion ’ s mane i have seen to date. the mushroom was bigger and heavier than a soccer ball! today i returned to the spot, expecting either nothing or another jackpot. i got something in between ; four medium sized lion ’ s mane clusters had fruited in the hollowed out portion of the log, all perfectly ripe. two were covered in debris from the eroding ceiling of the log cavity in which they had formed, so i took the cleaner two and walked out of the forest a satisfied man. when not overripe, lion ’ s mane has a delicate seafoody flavor and sublime texture that reminds me of scallops. cooking it perfectly takes practice, however. i like it best sauteed in butter and garlic on a medium heat, until it gets just slightly brown and crispy on the tips. today ’ s lion ’ s mane i sauteed with sliced local apples in ginger, garlic, and butter. yum! all lion ’ s mane species are very absorbent, so specimens should be squeezed out like a sponge after washing ( or not washed at all if fairly clean when found ). the mushroom holds up to a good wringing out surprisingly well, whereas sauteing wet lion ’ s mane spoils the texture. if you are fairly new to mushroom foraging, lion ’ s mane is a great species to start with. in the words of mycologist david fischer, “ if it looks like a cluster of white fungal icicles hanging off a decaying log, stump, or dead tree trunk, and it seems very fresh, bake it ( or fry it slowly in a mix of butter and oil ) and enjoy! ”


the fifth saying of jesus as he hung on the cross, living up to his name, which was to save his people from their sins was a request in which jesus expressed a need. his saying was ‘ i thirst ’ ( john 19 : 28 ). though cursorily it may seem like an expression of his physical condition, is there more to this than what is evident. one of the dictionary definitions of the word, ‘ thirst ’ is an ardent desire, craving or longing. interestingly, one can go without food for days, but not without water. thirst is a physical condition that can bring the strongest of the strong to their knees, some even to the point of death. samson the strong after killing a thousand warriors in battle cried to the lord when he felt thirsty, questioning, now shall i die of thirst? ( judges 15 : 18 - 20 ). the grumbling israelite pilgrims questioned moses, if he had led them out of egypt to kill them and their children and cattle with thirst ( exodus 17 : 3 ). when no water in the desert of beersheba was found, hagar, unable to bear the possibility of her son, ishmael dying of thirst, goes a bow shot length away until god miraculous opens her eyes and she sees a well ( genesis 21 : 14 - 16 ). so thirst can make the strong weak, and the living dead. and here we hear jesus saying that he thirsted. why did jesus say that he thirsted? the logical human explanation was that he experienced a human physical condition and that is certainly plausible. jesus hungered ( matthew 4 : 2 ), slept ( mark 4 : 38 ), grew ( luke 2 : 42 ), groaned ( john 11 : 33 ), wept ( john 11 : 35 ) and so in his humanity also thirsted ( john 19 : 28 ). now if this was merely a personal physical need to be satisfied, isn ’ t it interesting that jesus only asks for being quenched after he accomplished all the things he knew he had to fulfill ( john 19 : 28 ). jesus ’ personal needs came only after doing what god wanted him to do. he satisfied god before he prayed to be satisfied himself. we must have the same attitude as well. but the scripture gives us evidence that there is more. jesus said, ‘ i thirst ’ so that the scripture may be fulfilled ( john 19 : 28 ). jesus came to fulfill the scripture and fulfilled it ( psalm 69 : 21 ). jesus, who knew no sin was made sin


there is more. jesus said, ‘ i thirst ’ so that the scripture may be fulfilled ( john 19 : 28 ). jesus came to fulfill the scripture and fulfilled it ( psalm 69 : 21 ). jesus, who knew no sin was made sin for us ( 2 corinthians 5 : 21 ) and the imputation of our sins on him made him experience a separation from god the holy father as expressed by the prophet isaiah who said “ … your iniquities have separated between you and your god, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear ” ( isaiah 59 : 2 ). so jesus ’ relationship with god the father had been broken because of our sins. this is further substantiated by the fact that jesus addressed god, in his previous saying as my god, my god ( eloi, eloi ) and not as father ( which is how he addressed god in the first saying from the cross ). jesus very well could have thirsted for the oneness he had with god the father ( john 10 : 30 ). another explanation as to why jesus thirsted is that he experienced the thirst of hell. acts 2 : 27 and 31 are very explicit that god would not let soul of his holy one ( jesus ) in hell. in matthew 12 : 40, we hear jesus saying that “ for as jonas was three days and three nights in the whale ’ s belly : so shall the son of man ( jesus ) be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ” revelation refers to hell as the bottomless pit or abyss ( revelation 9 : 1 - 2 ). ephesians 4 : 9 tells us that jesus ascended into heavens, but that he also first descended into the lower parts ( heart ) of the earth. so jesus descended down to hell on our account, but what is the state of affairs in hell? an overbearing need to be quenched. we see this in the parable that jesus told about lazarus and the rich man. the rich man died and was buried and in hell he was tormented by thirst. ( luke 16 : 19 - 31 ). so it is not implausible that when jesus ’ soul descended to hell, he thirsted as well. but in hell, the thirst that is to be quenched is not physical as the rich man describes but more in the spiritual realms. jesus spiritually thirsted that his desire to bring many sons unto glory be quenched ( hebrews 2 : 10 ) ; that all are


thirst that is to be quenched is not physical as the rich man describes but more in the spiritual realms. jesus spiritually thirsted that his desire to bring many sons unto glory be quenched ( hebrews 2 : 10 ) ; that all are saved and none perish ( 2 peter 3 : 9 ) ; that god ’ s eternal wrath would now be quenched as he accomplishes his task of saving all men and women in totality and that all will drink of him ( jesus ) and receive from him living water ( the holy spirit – john 7 : 38 - 39 ) so that they will no longer be thirsty. finally, when the curtain falls, we can find ourselves in only one of two states – eternally thirsty or eternally quenched and this depends on whether we agree to drink of ( believe ) him, jesus christ, who with a craving, a longing and an ardent desire said, ‘ i thirst ’ [ for you ]. filed under : christian, seven sayings | tagged : i thirst, jesus in hell, living water, seven last words of jesus christ, seven sayings of jesus from the cross, the power of thirst, the source of living water, the state of affairs in hell, the two states when we die, what did jesus thirst for?, who is the living water?, why did jesus say i thirst? | 2 comments »


the art of ancient civilizations reproduced by thomas baker thomas baker paintings home page reproduction of a theran wall mural " woman with a necklace " ( approx. 3600 years old ) by thomas baker 48 x 48 inches, oil on plaster - textured wood panel this painting is available for purchase ; price $ 6500. 00 ( u. s. ) contact thomas baker prints of this painting are available - - click here for info the minoan dress shown in the above fresco was replicated and worn by a model to create a new painting, " ariadne " ( see thumbnail below ; click to enlarge ) prints of this painting are available - - click here for prices and ordering info contact thomas baker the theran frescoes : a tantalizing glimpse of atlantis thera was an island colony of the minoan civilization of seafarers that was centered on the island of crete, off the southern coast of greece, and was the forerunner of classical greek culture. located on the island known today as santorini, thera was destroyed and buried when the island exploded in a catastrophic volcanic eruption around 1630 bc., an event that may have ultimately doomed the entire minoan world, and which many scholars now believe gave rise to the legend of atlantis. the buried city of akrotiri was discovered on thera in the early 1970 ' s, and the greek government began excavation. the work continues today, made difficult by overlaying volcanic ash as much as fifty feet deep in places. fragments of beautiful wall murals such as this one, that i have named " woman with a necklace, " have been found in many of the houses, and are being painstakingly reassembled in archaeological laboratories like large jigsaw puzzles ( although, as this reconstruction shows, sometimes not all the pieces can be found ). i have recreated some of these murals as they appear today in the athens museum of archaeology. ( for more information on thera, see this website, and there are more links in the text beneath my girl gathering crocus flowers reproduction ). as noted above, i also replicated the clothing shown in this and other theran paintings and used it as the basis of my modern painting " ariadne. " unlike egyptian, hittite, and similar art of the time, which usually featured stiff, symbolic representations of humans and military themes, the minoans painted light, natural, airy scenes of everyday life, showing flowers, birds, monkeys, and sea life such as octopi and leaping dolphins


- the flight of moses to midian. moses made the first effort to emancipate his enslaved brethren. at the age of forty he forsook the court of pharaoh and attempted to ally himself with the chosen people ( exodus 2 : 11, 12 ; acts 7 : 22 - 25 ; hebrews 11 : 23 - 27 ). his brethren understood him not ; his efforts on their behalf were futile, and he was compelled to flee for midian for his life ( exodus 2 : 11 - 15 ). - sojourn in midian. moses spent forty years in midian ( acts 7 : 29, 30 ). he married zipporah, the daughter of jethro, a descendant of abraham by his wife keturah ( genesis 25 : 1 - 3 ; exodus 2 : 16 - 25 ), and became the father of two sons ( exodus 2 : 22 ; exodus 4 : 20 ; exodus 18 : 1 - 4 ). - moses commission '. while in the land of midian, moses led the quiet and peaceful life of a shepherd ( exodus 3 : 1 ). the angel of the lord appeared to him in the burning bush and commanded him to return to egypt and lead his brethren out of their bitter bondage ( exodus 3 : 2 - 10 acts 7 : 30 - 35 ). moses declined to go because of - his insignificance, ( exodus 3 : 11, 12 ), - the fear that his brethren would not believe him ( exodus 4 : 1 ), - and his inability to speak with fluency ( exodus 4 : 10 - 12 ). - aaron chosen. the lord met every objection urged by moses, but still he persisted in his desire to shrink from the task ( exodus 3 : 2 - 22 ; exodus 4 : 1 - 13 ). aaron was therefore selected to assist him and to be the spokesman ( exodus 4 : 14 - 16 ). - the return to egypt. moses departed from midian, taking his wife and two sons with him. on the way the lord met him and was about to take his life, but this calamity was averted by zipporah, who took a sharp stone and circumcised her son ( exodus 4 : 18 - 26 ). - brothers meet. moses and aaron met at the mount of god. after an affectionate greeting moses communicated to him the word of the lord and showed him the signs that had been given him ( exodus 4 : 27, 28 ). - arrival in egypt. they arrived in


and aaron met at the mount of god. after an affectionate greeting moses communicated to him the word of the lord and showed him the signs that had been given him ( exodus 4 : 27, 28 ). - arrival in egypt. they arrived in egypt and informed the elders of israel of the revelation from god, and the people believed and bowed their heads in worship ( exodus 4 : 30, 31 ). - demand on pharaoh. moses and aaron approached the king and in the name of god demanded the release of his children. pharaoh insolently and rebelliously refused the request, and the great contest between the king of heaven and the mighty earthly potentate began ( exodus 5 : 1 - 6 ). - ten plagues. the lord plagued the egyptians in order to multiply his signs and wonders, and that they might known that he is god ( exodus 7 : 1 - 5 ). the first nine plagues were - the waters turned to blood ( exodus 7 : 15 - 25 ), - frogs filled the land ( exodus 8 : 1 - 14 ), - lice afflicted people and beasts ( exodus 8 : 16 - 19 ), - flies filled the land ( exodus 8 : 20 - 24 ), - murrain destroyed the cattle ( exodus 9 : 1 - 7 ), - people afflicted with boils and blains ( exodus 9 : 8 - 14 ), - hail smote the growing crops ( exodus 9 : 13 - 35 ), - locusts filled the land ( exodus 10 : 13 - 15 ), - and darkness covered egypt ( exodus 10 : 21 - 23 ). - special command to moses. the lord commanded moses to tell the people to borrow of their egyptian neighbors jewels of silver and gold ( exodus 11 : 1, 2 ). the justice of this command can be seen in the fact that they had served the egyptians many years without remuneration ( exodus 1 : 6 - 14 ; exodus 5 : 1 - 19 ). - harmony of exodus 9 : 6, 19, 25. it is asserted that all the cattle of egypt died. but is is plain that only the cattle died that remained ( exodus 9 : 3 ) in the field during the murrain. the cattle that were destroyed by the hail - storm were those that were saved from the murrain ( exodus 9 : 17 - 25 ). - explanation of exodus 9 : 16 ; romans 9 : 17. the egyptians were idolaters ( exodus 5 : 1 - 3 ; exodus 9 : 30 ;


those that were saved from the murrain ( exodus 9 : 17 - 25 ). - explanation of exodus 9 : 16 ; romans 9 : 17. the egyptians were idolaters ( exodus 5 : 1 - 3 ; exodus 9 : 30 ; exodus 14 : 18 ). pharaoh was " raised up " in order that god might manifest his power and glory. " raised up " has no reference to his birth or his elevation to the throne of egypt. it means " roused up " or " made to stand. " when moses and aaron demanded the release of the hebrews he wickedly, rebelliously, and insolently denied the true god and refused to let them go ( exodus 5 : 1 - 3 ). he had already made himself a vessel of wrath fitted for destruction ( romans 9 : 22 ). god listened to the cries of his people and endured for a while this vessel fitted for destruction, and at last, when the time came, unloosed the burning fires of judgment, roused pharaoh up from his infidelity, and proclaimed his name throughout egypt, and in the ears of israel ( exodus 7 : 5 ; exodus 14 : 17, 18, 31 ). - the passover. the lord commanded moses to speak unto the children of israel and command them to select a lamb for each household on the tenth day of the month, assuring them that this should be to them the first month of the year ( exodus 12 : 1 - 5 ). they were to keep the lamb until the fourteenth day of the month and kill it at the going down of the sun. they were to strike the posts of the doors of their dwellings with the blood. they were to roast the flesh and eat it in haste, with bitter herbs and unleavened bread ( exodus 12 : 6 - 20 ). on that night the lord passed through the land and smote the firstborn of man and beast ( exodus 12 : 21 - 29 ). - the emancipation proclamation. when pharaoh heard the mighty cry he called for moses and aaron and gave them permission to depart and take their property with them ( exodus 12 : 30 - 33 ). - the departure. the children of israel departed from rameses 2513 years after the creation of adam ( genesis 5 : 3 - 32 ; genesis 7 : 6 ; genesis 11 : 10 - 32 ; genesis 12 : 4, 5 genesis 21 : 5 ; genesis 25 : 26 ; genesis 41 : 46, 53, 54 ; genesis 45 : 4 - 6 ; genesis 47 : 9


32 ; genesis 7 : 6 ; genesis 11 : 10 - 32 ; genesis 12 : 4, 5 genesis 21 : 5 ; genesis 25 : 26 ; genesis 41 : 46, 53, 54 ; genesis 45 : 4 - 6 ; genesis 47 : 9 ; genesis 50 : 26 ; exodus 7 : 7 ; exodus 12 : 40, 41 ; galatians 3 : 17 ). there were six hundred thousand men. allowing one woman to each man, and two children to each family, the population was at least two million four hundred thousand ( exodus 12 : 37 ). - sanctification of the firstborn. in memory of the preservation of the children of israel during the last night in egypt, the lord took unto himself the first born of man and beast ( exodus 13 : 1 - 16 ). - the precious burden. the triumphant host of israel carried the remains of their great benefactor joseph with them ( genesis 50 : 24 - 26 exodus 13 : 19 ). - the great leader. as they departed from egypt the lord went before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night ( exodus 13 : 20 - 22 ). - at the red sea. moses and his mighty host encamped by the red sea. pharaoh and his army drew near. the people were afraid, but moses commanded them to stand still and see the salvation of the lord, assuring them that they would see the egyptians no more, for the lord would fight for them, and they should hold their peace ( exodus 14 : 1 - 18 ). the angel of the lord took his position between the two camps, appearing as darkness to the egyptians and light to the children of god. the lord opened the sea, and the children of israel went forward on dry ground, but the egyptians following were drowned ( exodus 14 : 19 - 31 ). - apostolic endorsement. this mighty historical event was endorsed by the apostle paul ( 1 1 1 corinthians 10 : 1 - 12 ). - salvation of israel. - the lord saved the children of israel by opening up the way for them ; - and they saved themselves by using the means placed within their reach ; god opened the way, and they passed through! of the israelites from egypt. the common chronology places the date of this event at b. c. 1491, deriving it in this way : - - in ( 1 kings 6 : 1 ) it is stated that the building of the temple, in the forth year of solomon, was in the 480th year after the


at b. c. 1491, deriving it in this way : - - in ( 1 kings 6 : 1 ) it is stated that the building of the temple, in the forth year of solomon, was in the 480th year after the exodus. the fourth year of solomon was bout b. c. 1012. add the 480 years ( leaving off one years because neither the fourth nor the 480th was a full year ), and we have b. c. 1491 as the date of the exodus. this is probably very nearly correct ; but many egyptologists place it at 215 years later, - - about b. c. 1300. which date is right depends chiefly on the interpretation of the scripture period of 430 years, as denoting the duration of the bondage of the israelites. the period of bondage given in ( genesis 15 : 13, 14 ; exodus 12 : 40, 41 ) and gala 3 : 17 as 430 years has been interpreted to cover different periods. the common chronology makes it extend from the call of abraham to the exodus, one - half of it, or 215 years, being spend in egypt. others make it to cover only the period of bondage spend in egypt. st. paul says in ( galatians 3 : 17 ) that from the covenant with ( or call of ) abraham the giving of the law ( less than a year after the exodus ) was 430 years. but in ( genesis 15 : 13, 14 ) it is said that they should be strangers in a strange land, a nd be afflicted 400 years, and nearly the same is said in ( exodus 12 : 40 ) but, in very truth, the children of israel were strangers in a strange land from the time that abraham left his home for the promised land, and during that whole period of 430 years to the exodus they were nowhere rulers in the land. so in ( exodus 12 : 40 ) it is said that the sojourning of the children of israel who dwelt in egypt was 430 years. but it does not say that the sojourning was all in egypt, but this people who lived in egypt had been sojourners for 430 years. ( a ) this is the simplest way of making the various statements harmonize. ( b ) the chief difficulty is the great increase of the children of israel from 70 to 2, 000, 000 in so short a period as 215 years, while it is very easy in 430 years. but under the circumstances it is perfectly possible


. ( b ) the chief difficulty is the great increase of the children of israel from 70 to 2, 000, 000 in so short a period as 215 years, while it is very easy in 430 years. but under the circumstances it is perfectly possible in the shorter period. see on ver. 7 ( c ) if we make the 430 years to include only the bondage in egypt, we must place the whole chronology of abraham and the immigration of jacob into egypt some 200 years earlier, or else the exodus 200 years later, or b. c. 1300. in either case special difficulty is brought into the reckoning. ( d ) therefore, on the whole, it is well to retain the common chronology, though the later dates may yet prove to be correct. the history of the exodus itself commences with the close of that of the ten plagues. [ plagues, the ten, the ten commandments ] in the night in which, at midnight, the firstborn were slain, ( exodus 12 : 29 ) pharaoh urged the departure of the israelites. vs. ( exodus 12 : 31, 32 ) they at once set forth from rameses, vs. ( exodus 12 : 37, 39 ) apparently during the night v. ( exodus 12 : 42 ) but towards morning on the 15th day of the first month. ( numbers 33 : 3 ) they made three journeys, and encamped by the red sea. here pharaoh overtook them, and the great miracle occurred by which they were saved, while the pursuer and his army were destroyed. [ red sea sea, passage of ] 1841. exodos - - a departure... phonetic spelling : ( ex ' - od - os ) short definition : an exit, departure, death definition : ( a ) an exit, going out, departure from a place ; the exodus, ( b ) death.... / / strongsnumbers. com / greek2 / 1841. htm - 6k... exodus.... i. 19 ). it may therefore originally have stood after exodus 34 : 9 or before numbers 10 : 29. ] [ footnote 2 : or rather, the ten words.... / / christianbookshelf. org / mcfadyen / introduction to the old testament / exodus. htm... the exodus. a sermon ( no. 55 ). delivered on sabbath morning, december 9, 1855, by the. rev. ch spurgeon. at new park street chapel


/ introduction to the old testament / exodus. htm... the exodus. a sermon ( no. 55 ). delivered on sabbath morning, december 9, 1855, by the. rev. ch spurgeon. at new park street chapel, southwark.... /... / / christianbookshelf. org / spurgeon / spurgeons sermons volume 2 1856 / the exodus. htm exodus iii. 6... lecture xxviii. exodus iii. 6. exodus iii. 6. and moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon god. luke 23 : 30. then shall... /... / arnold / the christian life / lecture xxviii exodus iii 6. htm... book i. chapter xxxv. " the exodus. " after this, moses, by the command of god, whose providence is over all, led out the people... /... / unknown / recognitions of clement / chapter xxxv the exodus. htm who is on the lord ' s side? exodus 32 : 26.... who is on the lord ' s side? exodus 32 : 26. the question was addressed by moses to the professed people of god, immediately after their... /... / finney / lectures to professing christians / who is on the lords. htm who is on the lord ' s side? exodus 32 : 26.... who is on the lord ' s side? exodus 32 : 26. last friday evening, you will remember, that in discoursing from this text, i mentioned... /... / finney / lectures to professing christians / who is on the lords 2. htm lii. manna. exodus xvi. 4.... lii. manna. exodus xvi. 4. i. " manna like salvation, because undeserved. the people murmured at the very first difficulty. if they... / / christianbookshelf. org / champness / broken bread / lii manna exodus xvi 4. htm... for the outline study of the bible by books. * * * * chapter ii. exodus. chapter 2. exodus. name. the name exodus means a going out or departure.... /... / gerberding / the way of salvation in the lutheran church / chapter ii exodus. htm it


chapter ii. exodus. chapter 2. exodus. name. the name exodus means a going out or departure.... /... / gerberding / the way of salvation in the lutheran church / chapter ii exodus. htm it is proved that jesus was the name of god in the book of exodus.... chapter lxxv. " it is proved that jesus was the name of god in the book of exodus.... footnotes : exodus 23 : 20, 21. [ numbers 13 : 16. ].... /... / chapter lxxv it is proved that. htm of the old testament, therefore, first of all there have been...... of the old testament, therefore, first of all there have been handed down five books of moses, genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy ; then jesus nave... /... / 37 of the old testament. htm the after life the age of accountability the age of earth the alabaster box the amorites amorite the angel of death the angel of light the appearance of evil the ark of covenant the armor of god the babylonish captivity the baptize john the battle is the lords the bermuda triangle the big bang theory the birth of christ the blood covenant the blood of jesus the body of christ the body of the church the book of the book of daniel the book of enoch the book of esther the book of jeremiah the book of judith the book of micah the book of nehemiah the book of numbers the book of proverb the book of psalms the book of the secrets of the book of zechariah the bride of christ the brook besor the brook cherith the brook of the willows the canon of scripture the christian family the christmas tree the city underwater the cliff of ziz the color blue the color purple the color yellow the consequences of sin the cost of discipleship the cost to follow jesus the daniel fast the day of atonement the day of judgement the day of pentecost the earth orbiting the sun the end of days the epistle of james the epistle of paul to philemon the epistle to the colossians the epistle to the ephesians the epistle to the galatians the ethiopian eunuch the feast of tabernacles the first epistle general of john the first resurrection the five senses the fivefold ministry the four seasons the fruit of the spirit the fullers field the garden of uzza


to the galatians the ethiopian eunuch the feast of tabernacles the first epistle general of john the first resurrection the five senses the fivefold ministry the four seasons the fruit of the spirit the fullers field the garden of uzza the general epistle of james the great commission the great synagogue the great tribulation the greek language the hebrew monarchy the hill gareb the hill hachilah the holy land the holy spirit the holy trinity the house of millo the ice age the jews of the dispersion the kingdom or church of christ the land of benjamin the land of canaan the land of shalim the land of shalisha the land of shual the last supper the law of moses the lord of sabaoth the lords brother judas the lords day the man of god moses the moabite stone the new jerusalem the number 10 the number 12 the number 30 the number 5 the number 7 the number one the plain of tabor the pool of siloah the potters field the power of prayer the prodigal son the prophet isaiah the red heifer the rock etam the rock oreb the rose of sharon the salt sea the sea of tiberias the second and third epistles of john the second book of esdras the ten plagues the three taverns the tribe of benjamin the tribe of gad the twelve apostles the two thieves the valley eshcol the valley of charashim the valley of elah the valley of rephaim the valley of zared the waters of shiloah the wife of pharaoh the wisdom of solomon the wood of ephraim the world ending the year 2012 the year of jubilee


the united states supreme court ' s decision to review grutter v. bollinger could have long - term consequences in how our society approaches issues of race, affirmative action, quotas and diversity as we enter this new millennium. the case began when barbara grutter, a 43 - year - old white woman, sued the university of michigan law school for racial discrimination when it denied her admission while accepting many other applicants with objectively inferior academic credentials. the school admitted that it considered the applicant ' s race as one of many factors in its admissions decisions but denied that it used quotas. it sought to justify its consideration of race to promote diversity, which it contended created a better educational environment. the united states district court didn ' t buy the school ' s arguments. while the court didn ' t find that the school was using quotas per se, it did reject the school ' s attempt to downplay race as a factor in its admission decisions. the court found " the evidence indisputably demonstrates that the law school places a very heavy emphasis on an applicant ' s race in deciding whether to accept or reject. " such " racial classifications, " by a state - funded institution, according to the court, can only be justified under the law if they serve the " compelling state interest " of remedying past discrimination committed specifically by that institution. promoting diversity, in other words, was not a " compelling state interest " to warrant this " reverse " discrimination. since there was no proof that the law school had ever discriminated against the favored groups : african - americans, native - americans or hispanics, the court ruled that the school ' s admissions policy was unconstitutional and in violation of title vi of the 1964 civil rights act. the sixth circuit united states court of appeals reversed the district court, holding that a race - conscious admissions program could be justified for reasons other than to remedy past discrimination and promoting diversity is one of those reasons. the united states supreme court, presumably, will tell us which court is correct. how will the supremes rule? well, there seems to be a consensus that the 1978 bakke case ( regents of the univ. of cal. v. bakke ) outlawed quotas. but what about the use of racial classifications that don ' t quite rise to the level of quotas? can such classifications ever be justified in the absence of evidence of past discrimination by the specific institution involved? the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment has been interpreted to mean that the " constitution is color - blind,


rise to the level of quotas? can such classifications ever be justified in the absence of evidence of past discrimination by the specific institution involved? the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment has been interpreted to mean that the " constitution is color - blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. " but the actual decision in this case will turn on the exceptions to that principle. the supreme court will have to decide whether the goal of promoting diversity will become another exception ( along with the goal of remedying past discrimination ) to the rule against racial discrimination. when it ' s all said and done, the court ' s decision will likely be based more on policy than legal considerations. it will involve value judgments having little to do with the law. sure, the decision will be couched in esoteric legalese, but it will ultimately be a question of whether the court determines that diversity is an essential policy. the supreme court in these types of issues, like it or not, often becomes a super legislature. if it were merely an interpreter of the law - - strictly a judicial body as i believe it was intended to be - - it would be hard pressed to carve out exceptions to the constitutional and statutory prescriptions against racial discrimination. it is clearly the court ' s prerogative to decide whether racial classifications violate the equal protection clause in the first place. but once that decision is made, the court crosses the line when it invents exceptions, no matter how socially desirable it deems them to be. but while we ' re talking about these value judgments, i remain firmly convinced that our society is thinking way too much in terms of groups and classes than individuals. this is not only foreign to the american ideal of equal opportunity, but is insulting and destructive to the individuals comprising these favored groups and classes, as well as damaging to race relations overall. america will be a better place in the long run if it resists the temptation to yield to societal pressure to impose politically correct value judgments and musters the courage to adhere to colorblindness.


april 12, 2011 5 : 43 am kathryn hobgood ray imagine a future where buildings are smart enough to “ talk ” — at least to tell you when you are wasting precious natural resources and need to adjust temperature, water consumption, power or lighting. the tulane university school of architecture has teamed up with ibm to launch a pilot program to do just that, by uniting computer technology with green building practices. richardson memorial hall, the home of the school of architecture, will be the first tulane building to go online in the pilot program, officially called “ smart building solutions. ” technology is being installed in the building now, with an eye toward a future renovation project. “ richardson memorial will undergo a major renovation starting in a few years, ” says architecture dean kenneth schwartz. “ the challenge for us is to take a structure that ’ s over 100 years old and make it smarter, more efficient and effective in the way it operates. ” according to schwartz, tulane ’ s opportunity to participate in the program came about thanks to randall dalia, an ibm executive who is an alumnus of the architecture school and the a. b. freeman school of business. two tulane departments are involved in the project — technology services will oversee the computer programming and databases, while facilities services will manage the building. “ we ’ re operating under the mantra, ‘ if you can ’ t measure it, you can ’ t manage it, ” ’ says charlie mcmahon, tulane ’ s chief technology officer. “ we ’ ll be able to collect data about usage and incorporate what we learn into the renovation project so we can have a more energy efficient building when we are done. ” mcmahon says that richardson memorial will serve as a “ living laboratory ” for the architecture faculty and students to see firsthand the impact of building energy management techniques into a historic structure. says mcmahon, “ they ’ ll learn about what works and doesn ’ t work in energy management in an older building like richardson. ” tulane university, new orleans, la 70118 504 - 865 - 5000 firstname. lastname @ example. org


one hundred years ago, at the beginning of the history of the national art museum of ukraine, which was first called the city museum of antiques and art, there was hardly any concept of ukrainian professional art. ukraine was always famous for its national ethnographical applied art. the founders of the museum ’ s collections decided to prove that this opinion was wrong and defined the list of main representatives of ukrainian fine art. these scientists have included in the list not only those who were born and worked in ukraine, but also those national - conscious artists who lived abroad. they thought that foreigners who worked in ukraine have enriched a national culture too. these principles were the basis of their collective work. so works of t. shevchenko, i. repin, v. borovikovskiy, v. tropinin, n. pimonenko, m. vrubel, n. ge, g. narbut, a. murashko and v. krichevskiy became a part of the museum ’ s collection. the collectors have found even some older works ranging from medieval icons to cossacks times portraits of military and church leaders and humorous comic pictures “ cossack mamay ”. things came to collection from different areas ranging from far western galitsia to eastern tchernigovshina areas. they looked for masterpieces of ukrainian art in moscow and saint petersburg and even wrote correspondence to ukrainian artists living in europe and america. though this activity was stopped during the stalin ’ s repressions, and a big part of collection was dispersed or hidden, the tradition is still alive. today there are a lot of new works of art coming to museum ’ s collections. among these new comings are : unique icon relief “ st. george in his lifetime ” dating to the 12th century ; works of the founder of international abstractionism kazimir malevitch, who was native ukrainian ; masterpiece of ukrainian rococo “ the great martyr ” icon, graphics of world famous ukrainian living in the usa, y. gnizdovskiy. now there are thousands of exhibits presented in the museum ’ s collection. the 1990s, the first decade of ukrainian independence, were the time when museum came to an international level. for the first time in the museum ’ s history its collections were exhibited in famous museums of canada, france, denmark, croatia. the world discovered an advanced culture of the country with 10, 000 years of history. as a result, some previously infamous artists became a part of international art


the obvious answer to drought stress on lawns is to apply water. deep, infrequent watering to the depth of the root system is the ideal situation. this should be done when lawns show the first signs of drought stress, such as wilting, darkening color, and footprints remaining after walking across the lawn. a variety of factors, including budgets, site factors, and watering restrictions all might make this impossible. when an organic lawn care program is in place, the organic matter used to topdress and the resulting improved soil structure will likely extend the greening period farther into the summer before the lawn goes dormant. this improved soil structure will also allow the grass plant to take full advantage of the moisture present and food uptake into the grass plant. good soil structure will allow the lawn to return to active growth and recover quickly. once cool - season turfgrasses have gone dormant ( stopped active growth, turned off - color ) it ' s best to leave them in that condition rather than watering heavily to cause the grass to green - up again. breaking dormancy actually drains reserves within the plant, and if conditions remain dry and the weather is hot, the plant is not likely to replace those reserves. in a ' typical ' summer, lawns go dormant and resume active growth when conditions improve. the downside of dormancy is the appearance of the lawn and the risk of problems arising on the inactive lawn, such as weed invasions. the common question is how much water is enough to keep the turf alive? applying 1 / 4 to 1 / 2 inch every two to four weeks should be enough to maintain moisture in the crown and roots so the turf can survive and resume growing when conditions improve. mow lawns higher for the summer. a range of 2. 5 to 3 inches would be suggested for most turf stands where kentucky bluegrass is the primary species. as always, mowing should be on a frequent basis so that no more than one - third of the leaf blade is removed in any one cutting. taller turf allows more shading of the soil, conserving what moisture is in the soil. avoid applying excess nitrogen fertilizer during hot, dry conditions. lawn grasses will respond by putting out excessive growth when they should be going dormant. wait until the early september period for fertilizing most lawns, rather than summer. use fertilizers providing adequate potassium, in addition to nitrogen. when growing using organic materials, nitrogen will be available as needed but never in excess. whenever possible, limit traffic of any


enlistment data on soldier from the 27th us colored infantry source : military service record, pvt. jacob thomas, national archives publication m1824 as one who has researched their ancestors ' involvement in the civil war, i have come to understand something about the myths and the realities of who did and did not serve in the civil war. the reasons why some stories are not refuted even when they are purely nonsensical, and downright untrue, is because many of us who descend from enslaved people, have never studied the civil war. for example - - - in a recent genealogy chat, the involvement of black men who enlisted in the union army came up. one member described information about her ancestor who served in a unit from mississippi. another member of the same group - - - a regular to the chat for over 10 years, remarked that it was amazing to him, to hear that her mississippi ancestor enlisted in the union army. soldier is buried in dripping springs cemetery in crawford county arkansas. ( cemetery was documented by tonia holleman ) i asked him why that was so unusual. and he replied that " well, her ancestor was not from the north, but he lived in the south. " i wanted to make sure that i understood what he meant, and i wondered if he was going to start talking about the infamous mythical confederate issue, but he did not. he then innocently and sincerely asked the question, " well - - - - weren ' t most black soldiers in the union army from places in the north, like massachusetts? " i pointed out to him that a majority of the united states colored troops were units that were organized in the south. he was surprised, amazed and confused! he was truly trying to understand - - - - " but how could that be? " he asked. i was stunned by his word. but then i got it - - - - i realized that other than what he had learned from the movie " glory! " his knowledge of the role of african american soldiers from the south, in the civil war, was non - existent! he knew nothing! and this is a man in his 60s, who has been dabbling in family history for more than a decade! he was curious and asked honest and innocent questions - - - how could they get up north to enlist? the impression that he had, was that black men had to escape to the north to enlist in the union army. his sense was that all black civil war soldiers were organized in the north like the soldiers of the


could they get up north to enlist? the impression that he had, was that black men had to escape to the north to enlist in the union army. his sense was that all black civil war soldiers were organized in the north like the soldiers of the 54th massachusetts colored infantry. famous image of the 54th massachusetts at ft. wagner. source : library of congress there was no sense of time, nor place - - - - and i pointed out to him that the war was fought in the south, on southern soil, and as federal soldiers came into an area, that provided the opportunity for them to enlist! this was foreign to him. now i must point out, this is a gentleman whom i have respected as being a long lasting researcher, but i was so surprised at how there was almost no concept of how black men entered the civil war, and where and under what circumstances. he did ask good questions - - - - - how did they get a chance when they were still held as slaves? wouldn ' t the slave masters have prevented their leaving to fight? another member then reminded him - - - - this was wartime! the slave masters and the overseers were not there - - - - they had entered the confederate army to fight! when union soldiers came - - they could raid area farms both large estates and small farms, and so many times the white men folk were not present, and slaves had access to the union lines for the first time! recruitment handbill, for soldiers to join union army this small concept had never occurred to him, and he had never read anything about the recruitment of black soldiers - - - and up until that time - - - - he always thought that a majority of black soldiers came from new england!!! it was pointed out that the 130 + regiments of united states colored troops, were organized in the south and he was truly amazed! i too was amazed, but for another reason - - - i had to ask, how many of our own elders in our communities were also under the impression that either we had no role in the war, or that only a few blacks from new england enlisted in the union army to fight? was he alone in his misconception of black participation? is this why the black confederate myth went unchallenged for so long? could it be, that our lack of knowledge of the true involvement of our ancestors in the fight for freedom, assisted the myth makers and revisionists in creating confederate regiments that never existed? after all, the story was created by hobbyists, re