long wooden sticks which they fought with and over which they hopped. in most of the mediterranean the moreska survived until the end of the 18th century, and in italy and dalmatia till the close of the 19th. today, korcula is the only island where it is still danced with real swords in its original war - dance form and where it has enjoyed a proud and almost unbroken tradition for over four centuries, though the text, music and pattern of the dance have been slightly altered and shortened ( the contest used to last for two hours! ) over the years. the introduction to the dance is a short drama in blank verse which sets the scene - - four characters recite the verses : the enemy or the black king, his father, otmanovic, ( a kind of balkan mediator ), the hero or the white king, and the bula or moslem maiden, who is a peace - maker as well as a heroine ( and a possible convert to christianity? ). the moreska arrived in korcula in the 16th century, at the same time as it did in dubrovnik, most probably from sicily or southern italy, via venice. an indication of this is that two of the dance " figures " have italian names : the " rujer " and the " rujer di fori via ". " ruggero " was the name of a sicilian war - dance, a version of the moreska, in which the saracens are shown fighting against the norman prince ruggiero d ' altavilla - - a powerful family who ruled over sicily and southern italy in the 11th and 12th centuries, which suggests a possible link. there are, however, no written records of the korculan dance until the beginning of the 18th century. latterly and up to the first world war the moreska was " fought " only every few years - - protagonists were often wounded and replaced by ' seconds ' during the dance - - between 1918 and 1939 it was performed every year under the aegis of the gymnastic society of korcula. nowadays it is an exclusive society ( and ' club ' ) of its own and the moreska is performed much more frequently for the benefit of the many tourists who visit the island. every family in korcula is proud to have one of its members dance in the moreska, especially one of the key roles, which demand considerable talent and stamina. when the black or the white kings " retire " they are allowed to keep their crowns and these become valued


is proud to have one of its members dance in the moreska, especially one of the key roles, which demand considerable talent and stamina. when the black or the white kings " retire " they are allowed to keep their crowns and these become valued family possessions. during the second world war costumes, swords, even musical scores and instruments had all been lost in the bombing and fighting and for the first time in its history only very young lads of between twelve and seventeen were available to dance the moreska, and they had to be taught from scratch. it was the undefeatable and indefatigable spirit of ivo lozica, the town barber, and bozo jerirevic, a school - teacher, with the help of a local policeman, zdravko stanic, and josip svoboda the conductor of the town orchestra, that somehow got the moreska dancing again and in a very short time the poor, thin undernourished youths were growing into splendid young men and were taking the moreska to youth conferences and festivals at home and abroad. the moreska dance the revised score of the moreska was composed by krsto odak who, working with josip svoboda, conductor of the town orchestra at the time, reconstructed an earlier score lost in the war. the moreska from korcula opens with a scene in which the black king is seen dragging the captured bula ( moslem maiden ) along in chains trying to persuade her to respond to his love. the bula refuses because she loves the white king and knows that he loves her. the white king and his army and the black king ' s army with banners and swords enter from either side. the two kings confront each other and a dialogue of hurled insults and scorn ensues. the kings are the first to cross swords while their armies stand facing each other and ready for battle. when the white king calls on his men to fight, the two armies clash swords and then break away from one another in order to make way for the dance of the black king, the graceful but menacing ' sfida '. in this dance, which is performed in 6 / 8 rhythm, the black king challenges the white king to a contest. the white king accepts the challenge, and then the black king ' s father, otmanovic and a soldier from the white king ' s army join the fight. they dance in a circle threatening one another with swords. the soldier withdraws leaving the two kings and otman


challenge, and then the black king ' s father, otmanovic and a soldier from the white king ' s army join the fight. they dance in a circle threatening one another with swords. the soldier withdraws leaving the two kings and otmanovic. at a given moment both armies, who are facing each other, leap forward and clash swords and then the black king, still dancing, forms a circle with all the soldiers of both armies gradually joining in. after this, seven kolaps or " strokes " of the moreska are danced in different and complicated rhythms and patterns and all are performed within this circle. the fight consists of alternating sword thrusts and parries. it is performed in pairs, i. e. one white against one black fighter. the seventh kolap is performed in a speedy 4 / 4 rhythm and the swords clashes are fast and furious. the black soldiers, facing outwards, defend themselves from within the circle which becomes smaller and tighter as they withdraw from the charges of the white army. finally the black soldiers fall down wounded, dying and defeated, laying their swords at their enemy ' s feet. the black king admits defeat and surrenders, the white king, the victor, frees the bula from her chains and kisses her. the following dialogue is translated from pat of the 19th century croatian text of the moreska published in zadar in 1869. bula : leave me alone! your demands are in vain my charms belong to another man. sweet osman, my beloved, if you could see now how my heart is breaking and full of sorrow for you! although this odious steel binds my hands, my heart is always with you and yours with me. i shall bear you in my heart as long as i have life. moro : stop wailing, my lady i have had enough! it is painful for me to listen when you call my opponent your pride here, in front of my face but i bear and endure it all for the love i feel for you my dear nymph, i give you my heart for your sweet charms. bula : if you will but one favour grant me, all i ask is that you stop loving me. of far more pain for me is your unwanted love than the steel that weighs upon my hands. moro : i will not leave you nor will i stop loving you. i love honorably your everlasting beauty. ask whatever you wish, even my father ' s kingdom. drums are heard. enter the white army. otmanovic :


moro : i will not leave you nor will i stop loving you. i love honorably your everlasting beauty. ask whatever you wish, even my father ' s kingdom. drums are heard. enter the white army. otmanovic : there is no fear in otmanovic! osman : do not trust your sword without honour and without honesty. treacherously, you wished to steal my betrothed, by torturing her. where is your knightly honesty, where your bravery? how did you dare to enslave her? let me remind you that the army from my court is ready to rescue her. moro : you ask me to return her to your hands. never! i would rather lose my head. bula : ah, you wicked man! osman : if it were not that i disdain to darken my sword with your blood, and stoop from my might, i should destroy you. otmanovic : useless to be angry, osman, listen to me. there is no difference between your two crowns, both are full of glory i am an emperor as you are! osman : how dare you compare my crown with yours me, who reign over all the world, from east to west, and fear nobody. moro : ah! i cannot bear your offenses any more. fall then! osman : now defend, come my army. bula : from this sharp sword i will willingly receive the wound of death ; come, deadly steel if it will stop their mutual rage. moro : console yourself, dear nymph, i could not bear to look at your dead body in my lap. now, knight, gather your armour. a fierce war is about to begin. bula : then render me to him i my death would afflict you. my affliction is the greatest because i would rather choose death than your unwanted love. osman : to your arms, my soldiers, let everyone be witness to my honesty, which is as big as my empire. now, knight, gather your armour. a fierce war is about to begin. moro : willingly, oh knight, i shall be fighting for the nymph. * * together i am ready to fight for the damsel who arouses my love and noble passion ; willingly, oh knight. * * at the end of the 4th kolap bula : oh, knights! do something to stop your wars which wound my heart and draw tears of blood from my eyes. turn your sword on me and let him live


changes to your lifestyle can help you manage symptoms and prevent flare - ups or worsening of symptoms. your coping skills and attitude toward your illness are important factors in successfully managing the disease. habits to consider include : - get regular, moderate exercise. - eat a healthy diet. - practice stress - reduction techniques. - avoid excessive heat. - avoid infections. - get adequate rest. talk to your doctor before beginning an exercise program. regular exercise can help with muscle strength, balance, endurance, and fatigue. swimming is especially beneficial. the water helps keep your body cool during exercise. omega - 3 fatty acids, found in fish oil, are sometimes recommended for people with ms. it is not clear if omega - 3s are helpful for this condition. it is also important that you drink plenty of water. aim for 62 ounces per day, about 8 glasses. avoid drinks that cause dehydration, like caffeinated beverages. many people with ms notice that stress makes symptoms worse. consider getting regular massages and participating in other stress reducing practices, such as meditation, yoga, and relaxation. you may also find it helpful to join a support group. these groups can provide emotional support for you and your family. heat worsens ms symptoms in many people. the heat may be external or internal. tips to avoid heat include : - avoid hot weather. - stay in air - conditioned places during periods of hot weather. - do not take hot showers or baths. - seek treatment for infections or fever. - drink plenty of liquids. - avoid overexertion. smoking may worsen ms symptoms. it can make ms progress to a more severe form. if you smoke, talk to your doctor about your options for quitting. there are smoking cessation classes, online self - help programs, nicotine replacement products, prescription medicines, and many other options. when to call your doctor call your doctor if your symptoms worsen or if new symptoms develop. - reviewer : rimas lukas, md - review date : 10 / 2012 - - update date : 10 / 11 / 2012 -


news & tips a collection of helpful articles on teachers and teaching iste nets * s part 4 : critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making this is my fourth article in a series of six about iste ’ s nets * s ( national educational technology standards for students ). the fourth standard is “ critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. ” critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources. - identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation. - plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project. - collect and analyze data to identify solutions and / or make informed decisions. - use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions. ( excerpted from http : / / www. iste. org / content / navigationmenu / nets / forstudents / 2007standards / nets _ for _ students _ 2007. htm ) i don ’ t know if you ’ ve been reading all the articles up to this one, but you need to know that i have approached each topic with varying levels of confidence. i concluded that we ’ re not doing enough to encourage creativity and innovation, we ’ re somewhat better with communication and collaboration, and we ’ ve come a long way with research and information fluency. but as i sat down to write this installment, i had a bit of an epiphany. our success with this technology standard depends completely on how willing we are to let go of the reins and let the students drive their own learning. i wish i knew the source of the now - famous “ sage on the stage versus guide on the side ” metaphor for the shift we need to see in education. oh look, here ’ s a webpage that claims to know the origin of the saying. i ’ m not even a little surprised that it came out of using inquiry as a tool for critical thinking. that was apparently written in 1993 about changing college teaching. but we now have the tools and the experience to know that we should be using inquiry and critical thinking with our youngest students as well. my epiphany had a “ part two ” : we don ’ t do this enough because our society and culture have conditioned students to be afraid of failure. most of my students are afraid to bring home anything less than an a. the grades are what drive their achievement, not the learning. what they cram for a test is gone within


our society and culture have conditioned students to be afraid of failure. most of my students are afraid to bring home anything less than an a. the grades are what drive their achievement, not the learning. what they cram for a test is gone within weeks, and all they have learned is how to do well on tests. are they using what they ’ ve learned? have they retained anything of value? my middle school students just finished up a project in which they created short surveys, had fifty or more people respond to them, and then graphed the results for an analysis report. the older students had a proposed independent variable and dependent variable. their graphs should have helped them determine if there was any kind of correlation between the two variables. i have a speech i give several times over the course of the project, which goes a little something like this : “ sometimes all you find out is that these two things have nothing in common, or if they do, you can ’ t prove it based on your data. to say otherwise would be a lie, and will cost you points on the grade. ” i remind them that thomas edison had a thousand failed ideas before every successful patent achieved. i still suspect they don ’ t believe me. we are fighting an uphill battle on this one, folks. how can we get our students to think critically, solve problems, and make decisions, when the dialog inside their minds sounds like this : “ which choice will get me the best grade with the least work? which choice will make my parents happy? how can i still get an a if i start on this project two days before it is due? which of my friends is on facebook right now? ” we need to encourage students to try things out, with the goal of failing more than they succeed, so that they can come to appreciate that we learn and retain much more from our failures than we do from our victories. for my graduate school cumulative portfolio, i ’ ve been reviewing keller ’ s arcs model of motivation a lot recently. arcs stands for attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. as i look at the fourth standard, it ’ s clear to me that if we can apply these four principles of learner motivation to any problem - based project, we can achieve all the goals of the standard while also providing a very meaningful, motivating learning experience for students. by allowing them to find and choose a problem to solve, we get their attention, keep it relevant to them, enable them to gain confidence by trial and error, and


the microwave gets a bad rap in cooking circles because it tends to make most foods soggy and nearly inedible. however, the new york times suggests the microwave might be far better at cooking than most of us think, and all you need to do is familiarize yourself with the power button. we ' ve mentioned before that your microwave is often just as good ( if not better ) at cooking certain foods than your stove. but the new york times points out that the most important thing you can do is learn exactly what all the different power settings on your microwave really mean : a general rule of thumb : the lowest power settings, 500 watts and under, turn your oven into a makeshift dehydrator... at higher settings, 500 to 800 watts, the device can fry and steam. and if you simply want to heat something quickly, use the highest setting possible, as you do for tea and coffee. some microwaves might have special settings for fry and steam, but not all do. of course, most microwaves don ' t give you the ease of actually showing you the wattage and instead let you choose a level ( 1 - 10 or so ). thankfully, it ' s not that hard to figure out what wattage that means. first, find your microwave ' s wattage. it ' s usually on the inside the door or displayed proudly on the front of the unit. then you need to do some math : if you want to steam something at 800 watts and have a 1, 000 - watt microwave, set the power level to 80 percent, or 8. ( level 9 is 90 percent, and so on. some microwaves also have shortcut buttons like " medium " and " medium high " that correspond to specific percentages. ) for an 1, 100 - watt microwave, the math is a bit trickier : 800 watts is about 73 percent of the top output, so you may have to round down and set the power level to 7. ( by the way, adjusting the level does not actually change the wattage. it simply means the microwave will pulse on and off at its fixed wattage until the desired level is reached. ) once you crack the wattage code of your microwave, you can treat it just like an oven or stove for certain dishes. if you ' re looking for meal inspiration, check out the new york times post. creating a dish, not just reheating one | the new york times photo by chris kelly.


interfaith dialogue hindu jewish contactus at equalsouls. org contactus at equalsouls. org mon may 11 03 : 23 : 18 utc 2009 " equality based on the soul " historically christian and muslim faiths have their roots in so at their core concepts about the soul, creation and god are all * i would like to address certain linguistic and philosophical similarities common to both jews and hindus, which may open up a 1. names of god, a. the most holy of all names of god for a jew is kna or kana, rabbi ' s have slapped my face when i have said this name out loud. this is considered to be the most intimate name for god in the old testament. where it is translated, " i am a jealous god, have no other gods before you ", the literal hebrew translation is, " my name is el kna ( kana ), have no other gods before you. " this name expands to kre shtn as rabbi aryeh kapln, in meditation and the kabbalah explains " on monday, you must intertwine the associated name " kre shtn " " b, from a vedic ( hindu ) view point, kana is also an affectionate name of krishna, the pronunciation used above " kre shtn " is very similar to the way south indians pronounce krishna. 2. abraham and brahma : very few know that there are two abrahams in a. there is a description of how the universe was in chaos until abraham appeared. it is said, " over the whole, there hovered tohu ( chaos ) and as long as tohu dominated, the whole world was not in being or existence. when did that key open the gates and make the it was when abraham appeared. " [ genesis ii 4 ] as explained in the introduction to the zohar the soncino press ltd - - london new york there is also this reference one needs to ponder it is said, " angels are supposed to have no back and four faces, so always to be able to [ talmud, cf. ezek i. 6 ] b. in the first canto of the srimad - bhagavatam, there is a long description of how brahma created the planets, stars etc. it is well known that the brahma of this universe has 4 heads. 3. demigods and angels have the same function in both trations. a. the midrash teaches, " there is no blade of


planets, stars etc. it is well known that the brahma of this universe has 4 heads. 3. demigods and angels have the same function in both trations. a. the midrash teaches, " there is no blade of grass that does not have a constellation ( mazal ) over it, telling it to grow. " [ sefer " as commentaries explain, ' god ' s providence works through the angels, but the angels, in turn, work through the stars and planets. as some authorities put it, the angels are, in a sense, like souls to the stars. thus, for example, some sources speak of the stars as having intelligence, but the commentaries note that this is actually speaking of the angels that are associated with them. ' " [ sefer b. the vedic conception is that there are many specially empowered demigods who help manage the affairs of the universe including the planets of our solar system. the controlling demigods, although not eternal them selves, function within various posts that exist as long as the universe exists. for example, one of the principle demigods is lord indra. indra is the name of the post, but the particular demigod who occupies that post during a given period has his own personal name. just like president of the united states is a post, but there have been many presidents 4. durga in the bible? a. " he summoned to issue from the side of darkness a kind of female moon, which rules over the night, and is associated with adonai, the lord of all the earth. in his days, the moon was magnified and reached her fullness. a thousand mountains rose before her, and she blew them away with a puff. a thousand mighty rivers flowed before her, and she swallowed them at a draught. her nails reached out in a thousand and seventy directions and her hands in twenty - four thousand, so that nothing could escape her. thousands of bucklers clung to her hair. from between her feet went forth a youth who stretched from one end of the world to the other with sixty clubs of b. the vedas describe the ghastly form of goddess kali, another name for the goddess durga. there is a reference of goddess kali in the srimad - bhagavatam in the history of jada bharata, when she manifested herself to protect him. it is stated, " intolerant of the offenses committed, the infuriated goddess kali flashed her eyes and displayed her fierce


- bhagavatam in the history of jada bharata, when she manifested herself to protect him. it is stated, " intolerant of the offenses committed, the infuriated goddess kali flashed her eyes and displayed her fierce, curved teeth. her reddish eyes glowed, and she displayed her fearsome features. she assumed a frightening body, as if she were prepared to destroy the entire creation. leaping violently from the immediately decapitated all the rogues and thieves with the very sword with which they had intended to kill jada bharata. she then began to drink the hot blood that flowed from the necks of the beheaded rogues and thieves, as if this blood were liquor. 5. ( brahman ) effulgence a. " the most recondite is beyond cognition, but reveals of himself a tenuous and veiled brightness shining only along a narrow path which extends from him, and this is the brightness that irradiates all. this is the starting point of all esoteric mysteries, itself being unknowable. " [ zohar iv 146b ] b. the absolute truth is expressed as brahman, paramatma, and bhagavan. " [ srimad bhagavatam. 1. 2. 11 ] brahman refers to the impersonal all - pervasive spirit. that is the same as the brahmajyoti, the effulgence of the lord. 6. metatron and maha - vishnu a. it is said that a personality named metatron cooperates with god to teach the young. while god devotes the last three hours of the day to this work, metatron is in charge during the remainder of the day. ( a. z. 3b ) [ everyman ' s talmud, ii, iii ] regarding the revolving sword or flaming sword that revolves, it is said " the manner in which the sword rotates depends on the readiness of the individual attempting to enter. if he is worthy, it becomes the mirror through which he perceives, while if he is not worthy, he is burned out and cut off by the fire of this sword. the one who oversees the sword, preventing the unworthy from entering, is the angel metatron. " [ meditation and kabbalah p 80 chapter 4, teachings of rabbi abraham abulafia ] " metatron is therefore not a proper name at all but a designation for the whole category of celestial powers performing a mission. " [ origins of the


" [ meditation and kabbalah p 80 chapter 4, teachings of rabbi abraham abulafia ] " metatron is therefore not a proper name at all but a designation for the whole category of celestial powers performing a mission. " [ origins of the kabbalah, iii, 6 ] b. in the creative process, it is from maha - vishnu that all of the universes emanate, sudarshan cakra ( flaming sword that revolves ) controlled by visnu similarly punishes and grants liberation. " without illumination, nothing can be seen, especially in this the illumination in this world emanates from the effulgence of sudarshan, the original vision of the supreme personality of godhead. the illuminating principles of the sun, the moon and fire emanate similarly, illumination by knowledge also comes from sudarshan. " [ srimad bhag. 9. 5. 7, purport ] also there is a series of visnu expansions each with a chakra. 7. the lord in the heart a. when the soul is about to descend to this world, it first goes down to the terrestrial garden of eden and sees there the glory of the souls of the righteous, and then goes down to gehinnom and sees the wicked who cry " woe, woe ", and find no compassion. that holy form ( god ) stands by him until he emerges into the world, after which it keeps him company and grows up with him. " [ the zohar 43b ] [ ki tazria b. in the bhagavad - gita " yet in this body there is another, a transcendental enjoyer, who is the lord, the supreme proprietor, who exists as the overseer and permitter, and who is known as the supersoul, paramatma. " [ bg. 13. 23 ] 8. guru and rabbi a. in judaism, knowledge is also passed from the rabbi to his students, but not everyone is qualified to become a student. " as a matter of law, the sages state that these mysteries ' cannot even be taught to a single individual, unless he is wise enough to understand with his own knowledge. ' even in such a case, the complete tradition was only given over to the head of the group, and he would then only instruct those whom he saw fit. only individuals possessing the highest qualities of scholarship and piety would be admitted to the circle of initiates. " [ introduction


complete tradition was only given over to the head of the group, and he would then only instruct those whom he saw fit. only individuals possessing the highest qualities of scholarship and piety would be admitted to the circle of initiates. " [ introduction to the bahir, rabbi aryeh kaplan ] it is also stated that " one who reaches the highest level cannot reveal it to anyone. all he can do is give over the keys, so that the can open the gates which are sealed to exclude the unworthy. " [ meditation and kabbalah, p 79 ] b. in vedic culture, although a guru would speak to whoever wanted to learn the vedic science, he was traditionally very selective whom he would initiate as his disciple. he would only accept those persons who qualified themselves by humble submission and service. lord krishna states in the bhagavad - gita, " just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master, inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. the self - realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth. " 9. vedic and jewish calendars a. the current hebrew year is 5767. in this calendar, the year in which adam was created is counted as year one. if we then count the biblical genealogies from the time of adam, we find that over 5, 000 years have elapsed since the time he was formed. however, the kabbalists clearly say that other human beings existed before adam, and this is even supported in scripture the fifth cycle was the one that brought life, and this took place around two and a half billion years ago. around 974 generations before adam, or some 25, 000 years ago, man developed all of the physical and mental capabilities that we possess today... but he still lacked the divine soul that would make him a spiritual being. god then created adam, the first true human being with a soul, ' and he blew in his nostrils a soul of life '. [ genesis 2. 7 ] [ sefer b. the vedic calendar states that kali - yuga lasts 432, 000 years, out of which we have passed about 5, 000 years. 10. the ecstasy of chanting the names of god a. people who have dedicated their lives to the service of god may at times feel unlimited joy or ecstasy while engaged in prayer. it is said, " permute the letters back and forth, and in this manner, you will reach the first level. as


people who have dedicated their lives to the service of god may at times feel unlimited joy or ecstasy while engaged in prayer. it is said, " permute the letters back and forth, and in this manner, you will reach the first level. as a result of the activity and your concentration on the letters, your mind will become bound to them. the hairs on your head will stand on end and tremble. your lifeblood is in your heart, and regarding this it is written, " the blood is the soul " [ deuteronomy 12 : 23 ]. it is likewise written, " the blood in the soul will atone " [ leviticus 17 : 11 ]. this blood within you will begin to vibrate because of the permutations that loosen it. your entire body will then begin to tremble, and all your limbs will be seized with shuddering. you will experience the terror of god and will be enveloped with fear of him. you will then feel as if an additional spirit is within you, arousing you and strengthening you, passing through your entire body and giving you leisure. it will seem as you have been anointed with perfumed oil, from head to foot. you will rejoice and have great pleasure. you will experience ecstasy and trembling - - ecstasy for the soul, and trembling for the body. [ meditation and kabbalah, treasury of the hidden eden p85 - 86 ] b. the stage of bhava, love of god, is manifested by eight transcendental symptoms, namely inertness, perspiration, standing of hairs on end, failing in the voice, trembling, paleness of the body, tears in the eyes, and finally trance. [ srimad bhag. 2 : 3 : 24 purport ] 11. god ' s beauty a. the jewish scriptures describe a vision of god. " his head is a treasure of fine gold. his locks are hanging, black like the raven. " in both talmudic and kabbalistic traditions, one of the interpretations is that it relates to a vision of god ; " when he is visualized in battle, he is seen as a young man with black hair. " [ sefer yetzirah ch 6. 1 ] b. the vedas refer to the form of the lord. in the srimad - bhagavatam it is stated, " the lord is super excellently beautiful on account of his open and merciful smile and his sidelong glance upon his devotees. his


##das refer to the form of the lord. in the srimad - bhagavatam it is stated, " the lord is super excellently beautiful on account of his open and merciful smile and his sidelong glance upon his devotees. his black hair is curly, and his garments, waving in the wind, appear like flying saffron pollen from lotus flowers. his glittering earrings, shining helmet, bangles, garland, ankle bells, waist belt and various other bodily ornaments combine with the conch shell, disc, club, and lotus flower to increase the natural beauty of the kaustubha pearl on his chest. " [ srimad bhag. 2. 24. 47 - 48 ] williamglick at gmail. com < mailto : williamglick at gmail. com > if you do not want to receive any more newsletters, to update your preferences and to unsubscribe visit forward a message to someone powered by phplist, www. phplist. com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - next part - - - - - - - - - - - - - - an html attachment was scrubbed... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - next part - - - - - - - - - - - - - - a non - text attachment was scrubbed... size : 2408 bytes desc : not available more information about the pkg - gnome - maintainers


meiser repeats the " reported history " of the apollo : hicham and ali aboutaam readily admitted to gaps in the apollo ' s ownership record. from what they were able to determine, the statue was owned by a german family in the early 1900s. world war ii forced them to flee, leaving their belongings behind. it could be true. but where is the certified documentation? in the 1990s, a surviving member returned to the family estate after the fall of east germany. in the backyard lay a pile of debris. he could only make out the bronzed head of a young man, a sculpted hand, the outline of a lizard. the man vaguely recalled seeing the statue in the garden as a child, but he knew nothing of its history. believing the cost of repair would be greater than its value, he sold the statue to a dutch dealer in 1994, who in turn sold it to another collector, who then sold it to the aboutaams in 2001 with the understanding that he ' d remain anonymous. and are all the investigations about the apollo compelling? meiser reports : the international art loss register in new york, which tracks stolen art, found no claims on the piece. but, as i have pointed out before, absence from the art loss register does not signify anything when it comes to recently surfaced antiquities. one thing is clear. there appears to be no evidence that the statue had spent time underwater and it thus looks like the greek government ' s claim that it came from a shipwreck is without foundation. meiser then reviews some of the cases of antiquities handled by the aboutaams, though she does not note an etruscan architectural terracotta that has been returned from princeton, or the italian claim that some of shelby white ' s antiquities came from " the aboutaam family, the owners of the phoenix ancient art gallery ". meiser quotes neil brodie who said that he " would be acutely " suspicious " of anything that passed through the brothers ' hands ". in contrast : bennett dismissed the allegations. he ' d been dealing with the brothers for years. in his experience, they ' d been nothing but forthcoming and ethical. if that is the case, what else has the cleveland museum of art purchased from the brothers? will the cleveland museum of art make that list public? and, if transparency is important, there is every reason to place this information in the public domain. meiser also touches on the italian government ' s request for the return of other items. during the trial of dealer robert


art make that list public? and, if transparency is important, there is every reason to place this information in the public domain. meiser also touches on the italian government ' s request for the return of other items. during the trial of dealer robert hecht, the italians cited eight pieces hecht had sold to cleveland. a much longer list of requested returns includes some material that has been around for quite a long - time ( see, for example, suzan mazur, " italy will contest medea vase at cleveland museum ", scoop. co. nz, october 9, 2006 ). among the antiquities is the head of the emperor balbinus from a marble sarcophagus ( 1925. 945 ; gift of j. h. wade ) and a roman silver cup from vicarello acquired in 1966 ( 1966. 371 ) but first known in 1866. but many of the other pieces have surfaced more recently and certainly after 1970. cleveland has apparently refused to comment on the italian list, and seems to be taking a firm stand. but talking to bennett, one gets the sense that the museum won ' t be quick to wave a white flag. " our policy is really straightforward, " he says. " anyone at anytime " can protest an item ' s status. and " if someone has information that proves [ the piece was illegally purchased ], the museum has an obligation to look at that evidence... the cleveland museum of art wants to know as much as possible about the items in our exhibits. " but bennett misses the point. can the cleveland museum of art be certain that the pieces in question had not been looted? what was the museum ' s due diligence process? are the pieces documented prior to 1970? who sold them? at the same time, bennett claims that all pieces are vigorously researched. just because a dealer is charged doesn ' t mean all his deals were tainted. hecht ' s case is ongoing. the museum needs to make this information available.


early learning branch overview a growing body of research shows that the first years in a child ' s life are the foundation for school success. actions taken before children enter kindergarten affect their abilities to thrive during the elementary school years and beyond. the early learning branch of msde ' s division early childhood development ( decd ) oversees the following early childhood programs and initiatives, which promote best practices in early pedagogy and support maryland ' s school reform efforts to help ensure that all of maryland ' s youngest citizens will be successful in school and in life. click here for the 2012 - 2013 school readiness report. click on the links below for program - specific information. new! the msde division of early childhood development has completed a draft of the early learning standards for the social foundations domain. click here for information about the draft standards and how to submit comments on them. comments will be accepted through may 15th. maryland model for school readiness enhancing school readiness for all children in maryland the maryland model for school readiness ( mmsr ) is a research - based assessment and instructional system designed to provide teachers, families, and the early childhood community with a common understanding of what children know and are able to do upon entering kindergarten. all kindergarten children are assessed in the fall of their kindergarten year to determine their level of readiness across seven domains. this assessment reflects the ability of each child to demonstrate skills, knowledge, behaviors, and interests that are indicators of future school success. the early learning office coordinates and monitors the implementation of the mmsr at the local school level, provides professional development and technical assistance to the early childhood community, and analyzes and publishes the mmsr assessment results. click here for an mmsr school readiness powerpoint presentation. public prekindergarten / kindergarten programs maryland ' s prekindergarten program ( pre - k ) is a state - funded program for four year - old children who are from families that are economically disadvantaged or homeless. the over - all goal of the pre - k program is to provide learning experiences that help children develop and maintain the basic skills necessary to be successful in school. the early learning branch monitors and helps coordinate the local school system pre - k program and provides support for public pre - k initiatives. maryland ' s public schools provide a full day kindergarten program for children who are 5 years of age on or before september 1st of the year in which the child enrolls in school. judith p. hoyer program and judy centers the judith p. hoyer early child care and education enhancement program is a statewide effort to help


interpreting book of mormon geography reviewed by randall p. spackman mormon ' s map is john l. sorenson ' s most recent compilation and discussion of book of mormon passages relating to geography. the book is composed of 128 pages of understandable text ( including seventeen maps illustrating geographical features mentioned in the text ). fifty - four endnotes ( pp. 129 - 34 ), a scripture index ( pp. 135 - 42 ), a subject index ( pp. 143 - 54 ), and various other resources make this book a compact research tool. the inside front cover contains " mormon ' s map, " a blue - and - green graphic resembling the maps of biblical lands found at the end of the king james version of the holy bible published by the church in 1979. a legend listing geographical details ( that are indicated on the map only by numbers ) accompanies this map. another multicolored map entitled " major physical features " is placed on the inside back cover, permitting the reader to refer quickly to general topographic features. mormon ' s map revisits many of the verses in the book of mormon that were mined for geographical meaning in the author ' s earlier and larger volumes : an ancient american setting for the book of mormon ( 1985 ) and the geography of book of mormon events : a source book ( 1992 ). 1 indeed, the concluding paragraph in mormon ' s map asserts that " the features found on ' mormon ' s map ' as presented in this book are more carefully defined, more logically cross - checked, and more numerous than the criteria in the 1992 work " ( p. 128 ). my first impression of mormon ' s map — the sort of impression one would get in a bookstore after browsing through the book for a few minutes — was that it provided an attractively packaged, readable, and relatively thorough guide for anyone interested in a reasoned interpretation of book of mormon geography. what is mormon ' s map? sorenson indicates that what he has called " mormon ' s map " would, in its ideal form, be a " two - dimensional rendering of the body of information about geography that mormon possessed in his mind " ( p. 125 ). however, the version of mormon ' s map set forth in sorenson ' s book can only be " a reasonable approximation " ( p. 126 ) of " the nephites ' conception of their geography " based on " all the information [ sorenson has ] been able to elicit from mormon ' s words and those of other book of mormon writers " ( pp


" ( p. 126 ) of " the nephites ' conception of their geography " based on " all the information [ sorenson has ] been able to elicit from mormon ' s words and those of other book of mormon writers " ( pp. 17, 126, emphasis in original ). sorenson acknowledges that mormon ' s map is " simplified " and " partial " because " even mormon could not have recalled at the time he was writing all the knowledge he had acquired about the lands he personally traversed " ( p. 125 ). in addition, " mormon drew on what he knew of geography and shed light on those matters only when it seemed required in order to formulate his account.... he wanted to teach moral lessons to future readers, not instruct them about sheer facts of history and geography. geography was significant for his task at some points, but not central to it " ( p. 125 ). finally, the map is " incomplete " because it " can be improved, and will be if we discover new points in the text of the book of mormon that require change in the map " ( p. 126 ). does book of mormon geography matter? mormon ' s map begins with a crucial question : does geography in the book of mormon matter? sorenson supports his affirmative response by discussing five concepts : ( 1 ) joseph smith ' s characterization of the book of mormon as " the keystone of our religion " ; ( 2 ) brigham young ' s questioning challenge to engage all our faculties as readers of scripture ( p. 1 ) ; ( 3 ) sorenson ' s belief that the promise of the book of mormon ( interestingly, he cites 2 nephi 11 : 8 rather than the more often utilized moroni 10 : 3 - 5 ) can be more powerfully fulfilled if the reader ' s understanding and sense of realism are enhanced by a clearly delineated geographical setting ( pp. 2 - 3 ) ; ( 4 ) the importance of geography ( " precious lands " ) for the working out of the lord ' s purposes ( 1 nephi 17 : 23 - 26, 32 - 38 ) ( pp. 3 - 4 ) ; and ( 5 ) the " limited and unsystematized " state of our knowledge concerning book of mormon geography. sorenson notes that " a superb set of maps " is included in our edition of the holy bible and additional maps began to be included in the doctrine and covenants with the 1981 edition of those scriptures. " but our copies of the book of mormon still lack even


that " a superb set of maps " is included in our edition of the holy bible and additional maps began to be included in the doctrine and covenants with the 1981 edition of those scriptures. " but our copies of the book of mormon still lack even the most basic map to clarify the complicated goings and comings reported in our keystone scripture " ( p. 4 ). i would add a proposition to the concepts discussed by sorenson. book of mormon geography is vital because it helps to reveal accurate information and to establish rational inferences related to the meaning and truthfulness2 of the book of mormon as an ancient text. as to geography, the book of mormon is joseph smith ' s translation of an ancient document that was originally written by record keepers who perceived events happening in real locations. book of mormon geography provides the internal clues from which theories can be constructed as to where such locations might be found. external sources ( historical, archaeological, geological, geographical, ethnological, and so forth ) may then be examined for corroboration or correction of the theories. for example, in the near eastern setting in which lehi originated, we now have several proposed locations in the same general vicinity for the so - called " valley of lemuel " ( 1 nephi 2 : 10 ), and one of the locations appears to contain a river running " continually " ( 1 nephi 2 : 9 ) from a spring. 3 in another example, nephi refers to the followers of lehi passing through " the place which was called nahom " ( 1 nephi 16 : 34 ) and then turning " nearly eastward " and enduring " much affliction in the wilderness " before finally reaching " the land which [ they ] called bountiful " on the seacoast ( 1 nephi 17 : 1 - 6 ). now it has been found that in a setting where book of mormon geography would place the location of nahom, a place called " nehhm " existed ( according to an eighteenth - century map ). references in related writings from several centuries earlier mention a pagan god ( " nuhum " ), a tribal ancestor ( " nuham " ), and a region and tribe ( " nihm " ). most recently, archaeological investigations in the area have unearthed an inscribed stone altar from the seventh or sixth century b. c. ( about the time of lehi ) referring to the tribe of " nihm. " 4 such tangible support indicates that the events described in the book of mormon were not the imagined novel


inscribed stone altar from the seventh or sixth century b. c. ( about the time of lehi ) referring to the tribe of " nihm. " 4 such tangible support indicates that the events described in the book of mormon were not the imagined novelties of joseph smith but reasonably could have happened just where and when the book says they occurred. such evidence ( whether geological, topographical, cultural, geographical, or environmental ) is not a prerequisite for the development of a basic understanding and spiritual acceptance of and loyal commitment to the religious message of the book of mormon. the workings of the holy spirit are not dependent on educational attainments, scholarly acceptance, or scientific advances. perhaps these facts are related to sorenson ' s reasons for not expressly mentioning this line of argument. his book seems primarily addressed to latter - day saints who, in the overwhelming majority, are neither educationally ready nor sufficiently funded to develop carefully drawn theories, to pursue and examine potential data, to recognize physical substantiation, and, where necessary, to suggest modifications to prevailing interpretations of book of mormon geography. for such readers, mormon ' s map fills the purpose of providing a reasonably careful guide to current views about the geography of the book of mormon. nonetheless, book of mormon geography is vital to the establishment and management of an efficient and productive process for developing theories about, and seeking and finding material evidence related to, the book of mormon. the lord has declared that the book of mormon " contains the truth and the word of god " ( d & c 19 : 26 ), and he has commanded us to " grow... in the knowledge of the truth " ( d & c 50 : 40 ). surely that divinely intended growth may involve an organized process for extending our knowledge about the people and geography described in the book of mormon. sorenson does address the issue of latter - day saint church leaders having already settled questions about nephite geography. he makes it clear that early suppositions of church members about a hemispheric geography ignored the evidence to be found in the text of the book of mormon. sorenson also quotes church leaders and publications to show that no authoritative map or geography has ever been revealed or adopted, remarking that " what logically would seem to be one of the first steps in a systematic investigation — to construct a map of the american ' land of promise ' based solely on statements in [ the book of mormon ] ( at least 550 passages are relevant ) — seems not to have occurred to anyone during the


of the first steps in a systematic investigation — to construct a map of the american ' land of promise ' based solely on statements in [ the book of mormon ] ( at least 550 passages are relevant ) — seems not to have occurred to anyone during the church ' s first century " ( p. 4 ). the investigative efforts in the second century have resulted in " tremendous confusion and a plethora of notions that holds no promise of producing a consensus " ( p. 5 ), primarily because most writers fail to take the first step of detailed textual examination. mormon ' s map is sorenson ' s most recent effort to provide such a first - step analysis for a general latter - day saint audience. 5 a comprehensive process in the book ' s second chapter, sorenson describes the process for developing " mormon ' s map. " the starting point, certainly, is the text itself. " whatever the book of mormon says about its own geography... takes precedence over anything commentators have said of it " ( p. 9 ). sorenson advises that we must " intensively examine the text mormon left us ( of course, we have access to it only as it has been transmitted to us in english through joseph smith ) " ( p. 12 ). this is a premise he also sets forth in the geography of book of mormon events : if we are serious about answering the question [ where were the lands in which book of mormon events took place? ]... what should we do...? well, the question itself has two sides to it. our goal has to be to construct an equation involving the two sides : nephite locations a, b, c, etc. = new world locations x, y, z, etc. we cannot work on the whole equation without first attaining thorough definition of the variables on either side of the equal sign. equipping ourselves with that thorough knowledge demands different capabilities on the one side and on the other. for the external world, we cannot substitute knowledge of scripture for knowledge of climate, topography, hydrography, etc. unavoidably, we must have a profound grasp of the elements of the physical and cultural scene in its own terms — without any reference to the scripture. most people offering [ geographic ] models show that they have limited knowledge of that world. on the other side, we must know all there is to know about the statements in the book of mormon on the matters at hand — without any reference to external geography, archaeology, or history. everything done so far in


limited knowledge of that world. on the other side, we must know all there is to know about the statements in the book of mormon on the matters at hand — without any reference to external geography, archaeology, or history. everything done so far in studying the geography of book of mormon events [ presumably including sorenson ' s earlier writings ] has been inadequate by reason of incompleteness, if not of real errors. 6 john e. clark addresses the same issue in his article " a key for evaluating nephite geographies, " published in 1989. 7 he examines the book of mormon passages he thought were important in developing an understanding of an " elemental " geography described in the book. clark seems to be the first to attempt to treat the geography of the book of mormon solely from an internal standpoint and to base his thoughts on " all the geographical passages in the book of mormon. " 8 because of the importance of clark ' s 1989 article and sorenson ' s 1992 book with respect to the topic treated in mormon ' s map, this review will refer to these earlier studies. for example, clark addresses the issue of textual examination as follows : it has been my experience that most members of the church, when confronted with a book of mormon geography, worry about the wrong things. almost invariably the first question that arises is whether the geography fits the archaeology of the proposed area. this should be our second question, the first being whether the geography fits the facts of the book of mormon — a question we all can answer without being versed in american archaeology. only after a given geography reconciles all of the significant geographic details given in the book of mormon does the question of archaeological and historical detail merit attention. the book of mormon must be the final and most important arbiter in deciding the correctness of a given geography ; otherwise we will be forever hostage to the shifting sands of expert opinion. 9 with the fervent injunction ( and leadership ) of clark and sorenson requiring us to focus our attention on the text of the book of mormon as a first step in creating a realistic geography, the next crucial issue seems to be finding all the passages of text on which our focus is to rest. both authors begin with alma 22 and quickly build interpretative links to other passages of text. according to mormon ' s map, the nearest thing to a systematic explanation of mormon ' s geographical picture is given in alma 22 : 27 - 34. in the course of relating an incident involving nephite missionaries and the great king over the lamanites


to mormon ' s map, the nearest thing to a systematic explanation of mormon ' s geographical picture is given in alma 22 : 27 - 34. in the course of relating an incident involving nephite missionaries and the great king over the lamanites, mormon inserted a 570 - word aside that summarized major features of the land southward. he must have considered that treatment full and clear enough for his purposes, because he never returned to the topic. overall, over 550 verses in the book of mormon contain information of geographical significance : the account is steeped with information about the where of nephite events. ( p. 9 ) having read sorenson ' s analysis, my assumption was that i could readily find the more than 550 verses mentioned by sorenson if i looked in the scripture index to mormon ' s map. in fact, i found 637 verses. 10 clark used 318 verses to develop his " elemental " geography of the book of mormon. in light of this discrepancy in number of verses, i began to wonder how many verses in the book of mormon have been thought to hold meaning for someone intently seeking an understanding of the book ' s geography. more importantly, i wondered which verses they were. before reading mormon ' s map, i had been aware of the proposed internal or textual examination of book of mormon geography primarily through sorenson ' s geography of book of mormon events ; i therefore turned to part 4 of his 1992 study and counted the textual references : 725 verses. at this point, i questioned to what extent the verses identified by sorenson matched those of clark. i wondered whether sorenson ' s 1992 study and mormon ' s map referred to essentially the same textual passages. while sorenson and clark both started with alma 22, they went on to examine quite different sets of verses. of clark ' s 318 verses, 85 did not show up in sorenson ' s geography of book of mormon events and 140 verses were not cited in mormon ' s map. of the 725 verses cited in geography of book of mormon events, 233 were listed in clark ' s paper and 492 were " new " verses. looking at mormon ' s map, i found that only 178 cited verses were listed in clark ' s paper and only 201 verses came from the " new " verses listed in geography of book of mormon events. that is, of the 637 verses cited in mormon ' s map, neither clark nor sorenson had identified 258 verses earlier as being relevant to book of mormon geography. furthermore, of the 492


verses listed in geography of book of mormon events. that is, of the 637 verses cited in mormon ' s map, neither clark nor sorenson had identified 258 verses earlier as being relevant to book of mormon geography. furthermore, of the 492 " new " verses listed in geography of book of mormon events, fully 291 did not receive any mention in mormon ' s map. table 1 below shows the distribution of verses with potential geographical significance cited in clark ' s article and in sorenson ' s geography of book of mormon events and mormon ' s map. as the table depicts, clark ' s study of book of mormon passages relevant to geography relies almost entirely on verses in the books of alma and mosiah ( 86 percent of the cited verses ). these books are also vital to sorenson ' s geography of book of mormon events ( 63 percent of the cited verses ) and mormon ' s map ( 53 percent of the cited verses ). nonetheless, sorenson ' s work indicates a capacity to expand the scope of inquiry outside the books of alma and mosiah and to find geographical inferences in a wide variety of scriptural contexts. this does not mean that clark ' s work is defective ; he apparently did not intend to go beyond an " elemental " geography. sorenson, on the other hand, has dedicated a tremendous amount of time to the study of an internal nephite map of book of mormon events. | clark 1989 | | sorenson 1992 | | sorenson 2000 | | word of mormon | | 0 | | 1 | | 0 | after i eliminated duplications and identified all geographically relevant verses used by clark and sorenson combined, i compiled a table of 1, 068 verses that have been thought to carry potential meaning for constructing a nephite conceptual geography. 11 it seems to me that if we are going to become conscious of and accept the idea that we are searching for as good an internal map as we can find, then we really need to be reading these 1, 068 verses in the book of mormon. they would now seem to be the best place to start. are the 637 verses cited in mormon ' s map ( 60 percent of the total ) sufficient to develop an adequate internal map? sorenson clearly believes that his book examines " mainly the most decisive and clearest statements " ( p. 15 ). i do not know who could answer the question in any better manner today. a new level of book of mormon interpretative scholarship will have to be reached before our comprehension of the book


the most decisive and clearest statements " ( p. 15 ). i do not know who could answer the question in any better manner today. a new level of book of mormon interpretative scholarship will have to be reached before our comprehension of the book ' s internal geography will be more accurate. today, we can primarily refer just to the somewhat different views of clark and sorenson. a comprehending process in addition to including a comprehensive reading of textual passages, the process of reading the book of mormon for geographical meaning must provide us with comprehension of the meanings denoted and connoted by the words in the text. necessarily, this raises the issue of how to interpret the text. sorenson identifies several important principles that guide his interpretation of the book of mormon text. clark also sets forth his assumptions on how to interpret the text. at their most basic level, these principles or assumptions fall into four common categories. the assumption of simplicity rational simplicity and economy are to be assumed. mormon ' s map states : " we should avoid needlessly complicated synthesis. if two explanations occur to us for solving a geographical problem, the simpler solution — the one with the fewest arbitrary assumptions — is probably better " ( p. 14 ). clark words the assumption of simplicity as follows : " the best internal reconstruction is one which reconciles all of the data in the book of mormon with a minimum number of additional assumptions. " 12 these assumptions represent ockham ' s razor, the " principle attributed to the fourteenth - century english philosopher william of ockham... that one should choose the simplest explanation, the one requiring the fewest assumptions and principles. " 13 it is the rational principle of parsimony that ought to guide our interpretations of the book of mormon text unless, of course, the text itself unambiguously requires a more complex interpretation. the assumption of consistency in the geography of book of mormon events, sorenson presents the assumption of consistency this way : " minor slips of the ' pen ' aside, all the information on geography will prove to be consistent. " 14 in mormon ' s map, he sets forth his assumption in the form of a conclusion about consistency : my personal experience with the text of the book of mormon is that all the geographical information does prove to be consistent, so i conclude that mormon possessed an orderly " mental map " of the scene on which his people ' s history was played out.... mormon leaves no evidence of confusion about geography ; he easily persuades me that he could have told us more had


i conclude that mormon possessed an orderly " mental map " of the scene on which his people ' s history was played out.... mormon leaves no evidence of confusion about geography ; he easily persuades me that he could have told us more had he chosen to do so. even when particular lands or cities are mentioned at widely separated places in the text, the statements fit comfortably together into a plausible whole. he never hints that he did not understand the geography behind the records of his ancestors that he was abridging ; rather, his writing exudes an air of confidence. ( pp. 10 - 11 ) clark also expresses this assumption in his study of book of mormon geography : " assume that all passages are internally consistent and can be reconciled. " clark adds two closely related propositions : " assume no scribal errors unless internal evidence indicates otherwise.... assume no duplication of place names unless the text is unambiguous on the matter. " 15 i would add the word unmistakably to clark ' s " scribal error " assumption. internal evidence must unmistakably indicate an error. that which a reader might initially think is a " slip of the pen " ( because of an insufficiently examined interpretation ) usually turns out to be reconcilable when more evidence from the text of the book of mormon is carefully considered. the assumption of uniformity both clark and sorenson rely on the assumption that at the time of the book of mormon, the natural world existed, operated, and was described in ways similar to the natural world we study and understand today. clark makes this a general assumption and mentions, as examples, " that the locality where the book of mormon events took place was not unrecognizably altered at the time of the crucifixion, that geographic details in the small plates and in the book of ether are therefore compatible with those in mormon ' s and moroni ' s abridgment, and that the principles of natural science that apply to today ' s environments are also pertinent to nephite lands. " 16 in mormon ' s map, sorenson expresses the sense of a general uniformitarian assumption with two rather simple propositions : " the expressions ' up, ' ' down, ' and ' over, ' when used in a geographical context, refer to elevation.... nature worked the same anciently as it does today. " sorenson elaborates with examples : " we can be sure that the headwaters of rivers were at


and ' over, ' when used in a geographical context, refer to elevation.... nature worked the same anciently as it does today. " sorenson elaborates with examples : " we can be sure that the headwaters of rivers were at a higher elevation than their mouths, and a river implies the presence of a corresponding drainage basin " ( p. 13 ). sorenson also confronts the idea that " we cannot hope to attain clarity because of the great destruction that took place at the time of the savior ' s crucifixion. " those who suggest such a notion may feel that the destruction " so changed everything that what could be seen of the landscape in former times would not be recognizable afterward. mormon lets us know that this concern is unfounded " ( p. 11 ). sorenson then leads us through the textual evidence to conclude that " most of the basic land forms and ecological conditions had [ not ] been rendered unrecognizable " ( p. 12 ). hence, both textual evidence and logic require an assumption of uniformity in the way nature operates today and operated in book of mormon times. if one were to assume otherwise, one ' s geographical theory would have to be categorized as being in the realm of science fiction. a fictional geography may be appropriate for a literary work about imaginary characters, but such a geography would not be appropriate for the book of mormon. the events set forth in the book of mormon were perceived to have happened by actual nephite historians and their sources. such events occurred in real geographical settings subject to the normal laws and processes of nature. the assumption of an uncertain cultural comprehension clark suggests, without elaboration, that one should " assume a literal meaning " for book of mormon terminology. 17 sorenson seems to recommend otherwise. " ideas in the record will not necessarily be familiar or clear to us.... book of mormon terminology will not necessarily be clear to us, even in translation, because language and cultural assumptions change.... we must seek to overcome any problems this causes us by striving to think, feel, and see as if we were mormon, rather than supposing that we can read the text ' literally ' ( which actually turns out to mean ' according to unspoken assumptions of our current culture ' ) " ( pp. 13 - 14 ). neither author is consistent in following his own advice, as will be discussed below. naturally, if one strives to think, feel, and see like mormon, one might simply be thinking,


culture ' ) " ( pp. 13 - 14 ). neither author is consistent in following his own advice, as will be discussed below. naturally, if one strives to think, feel, and see like mormon, one might simply be thinking, feeling, and seeing in accordance with one ' s own cultural preconceptions ( including those one has about mormon ). to actually accomplish what sorenson suggests, we must know something about how mormon thought, felt, and viewed the world ; to do that, we should know at least the basics about how others in his part of the world perceived themselves and their world. thus, we must know where mormon lived in order to discover from all this internal book of mormon research where mormon lived! the process is circular and moves forward only with the acceptance and incorporation of more completely developed and understood information. as a result of this circularity, sorenson ' s assumption of uncertainty in cultural terminology and ideas necessarily leads to a delicate exercise in determining when to rest ( one cannot stop entirely ) in this cyclical process of interpreting the text, associating the text with a theoretical world, examining the remains of the real world related to such a theoretical world, and then reinterpreting the text, modifying the theory, conducting further research, reinterpreting the text, etc. these are not tasks that most readers want to or can undertake. hence, sorenson ' s assumption imposes a requirement of special knowledge or expertise and turns the process of reading the book of mormon for geographical purposes into a process that must fundamentally be a scholarly pursuit. while i think sorenson ' s assumption is a correct one, as a general reader of book of mormon geography i also think the assumption is not without interpretative risk ( clark ' s " shifting sands of expert opinion " referred to above ). we cannot continue to rely indefinitely on individual scholars working independently to bring about an improved understanding of book of mormon cultural ideas and terminology ( whether having to do with geography or otherwise ). the need for collaborative work continues to grow. the institutions necessary to produce such work ought to be identified, promoted, supported, and managed. but here i am really taking off on a tangent — an important tangent, nonetheless, that is directly related to sorenson ' s work in mormon ' s map. sorenson is surely correct that we have to take mormon ' s terminology and ideas into account. we must also bear in mind the transmission of the text from mormon ' s language into the english of joseph smith and from there into the


' s map. sorenson is surely correct that we have to take mormon ' s terminology and ideas into account. we must also bear in mind the transmission of the text from mormon ' s language into the english of joseph smith and from there into the english of our contemporary culture. as mormon ' s map briefly observes, " english has changed between 1829 and 2000 " ( pp. 13 - 14 ). does this mean we must strive to think, feel, and see like joseph smith, too? the answer is yes. where did joseph smith live? how did people think, feel, and see in his culture? how did they express themselves? what did they know of mormon ' s world? we must also question how people today think, feel, see, and communicate. indeed, what do we know today about mormon ' s world? thus, we must be aware of three cultural screens — mormon ' s ( or the nephites ' ), joseph smith ' s, and our own — standing between us and the world of the book of mormon. we must assume an uncertain comprehension at our own level, at joseph smith ' s level, and, perhaps to a much lesser extent, even at mormon ' s level. all three cultural screens must be taken into account in any serious interpretative process. my own research provides a clear example of the kinds of issues that need to be examined when attempting to interpret passages in the book of mormon and place their meaning into current english language and concepts. mormon ' s map mentions the particular issue of the differences between contemporary and ancient notions about " many days " of travel. " similarly, we might ask, would ' year ' have meant the same to [ mormon ] as it does to us? lasting how long? beginning and ending when? composed of what seasonal variations in climate? " ( p. 78 ). when i began studying book of mormon chronology, 18 i started with a naive awareness that part of nephite record keeping included the measurement of years. that ' s an english word familiar to me and the same word that joseph smith used to represent calendrical periods expressed by nephi in the sixth century b. c. ( e. g., 2 nephi 5 : 28 — " thirty years " ), by mormon in the fourth century a. d. ( e. g., mormon 6 : 5 — " three hundred and eighty and four years " ), and by moroni in the fourth or fifth century a. d., when he abridged records


the fourth century a. d. ( e. g., mormon 6 : 5 — " three hundred and eighty and four years " ), and by moroni in the fourth or fifth century a. d., when he abridged records based on historical reports from roughly one to two thousand years earlier ( e. g., ether 9 : 24 — " an hundred and forty and two years " ). while joseph smith and the vast majority of his contemporaries surely understood the common notion of a solar or seasonal year as the repeating period indicated by the term year, they were not acquainted to any significant degree with ancient timekeeping systems. the idea that ancient cultures may have used a variety of different calendars or years ( at separate times or at the same time ) probably did not cross the minds of more than a few of joseph smith ' s contemporaries in north america. and if such an idea did cross their minds, what word other than years would they have chosen to describe simply and accurately the meaning of recurring calendrical periods that were significantly longer than a few months? hence, an important question for interpreting book of mormon chronology is whether one can reasonably conclude that joseph smith ' s use of the word he knew and understood ( years ) necessarily requires the conclusion that we must understand that word in the book of mormon in exactly the same way that joseph smith and his contemporaries did or the conclusion that the exact same calendar was used by nephi, mormon, and the jaredites described by moroni in the book of ether. my research, which has undergone several interpretative cycles, indicates that in each of the three citations above, the word years describes a period of time measured with a distinctly different calendar and that for most of nephite history all three calendars were in use by the timekeepers. is a " literal " interpretation of the word years, such as clark proposes, even possible? i would say yes — in a sense it is. whatever period of time is indicated, it must literally be some form of a year. but several dissimilar types of years eventually must be understood. a " literal " use of joseph smith ' s calendar, which is our calendar ( the dionysian / gregorian calendar introduced by pope gregory xiii in a. d. 1582 ), must necessarily lead to a distorted book of mormon chronology because it was not the calendar used by the ancient record keepers. nephi, mormon, and the jaredites used distinctive calendars for separate purposes. our interpretative experience can add rich levels of


, must necessarily lead to a distorted book of mormon chronology because it was not the calendar used by the ancient record keepers. nephi, mormon, and the jaredites used distinctive calendars for separate purposes. our interpretative experience can add rich levels of meaning to our literal reading of the word years. can i also, as sorenson proposes, think, feel, and see as mormon did? again, i would say yes — in a way i can. but sitting in my easy chair and urging myself into some sort of imaginary late - nephite reverie is certainly not the way. once the terminology and ideas expressed in the book of mormon with respect to a specific topic have been fully examined from a textual standpoint, then careful study of external sources ( including other scriptures ) and thoughtful synthesis must be undertaken. that is one of the reasons why mormon ' s map is such a valuable book — a scholar of sorenson ' s stature has taken the time and effort to clarify his thinking regarding the textual evidence he has examined and interpreted concerning the book of mormon land of promise. interpreting book of mormon directions the assumptions of clark and sorenson appear to differ most in their interpretative effect in relation to issues about directions in the book of mormon. these issues require the adoption of interpretations that are more complex and uncertain because the book of mormon seems, at least on the level of construal undertaken so far, to provide relatively little information about the nephite directional system. as a result, clark and sorenson bring significant external assumptions to their interpretative tasks. these assumptions are valuable for the light they shine on the interpretation process. sorenson ' s treatment of the nephite directional system in mormon ' s map is for me the least satisfying discussion in the entire book. it is not a step forward. 19 to explain my disappointment and to help elucidate the interpretative process yet to be commenced with respect to directions in the book of mormon, i will contrast sorenson ' s treatment of nephite directions with the very limited interpretation undertaken by clark. in mormon ' s map, sorenson devotes a short section to nephite directions. he begins, not with an examination of the text relating to directions, but with textual passages that indicate how limited our understanding of nephite ideas and terminology might be. " when we examine the text of the book of mormon carefully, we can detect numerous places where cultural assumptions that were second nature to the nephites are quite different than those we hold. we latter - day


of mormon having something to do with directions. he begins by mentioning the obvious difference between terms such as north and northward, south and southward. he then jumps to what i consider an unsupportable conclusion. " by their frequency of using the ' - ward ' suffix, we can infer that mormon and his ancestors used a somewhat different cultural scheme for directions than we do " ( p. 80 ). why is this a reasonable inference? did mormon use the suffix or did joseph smith, in his attempt to express a nephite concept? how does frequency of use necessarily require a different directional system? what if the nephite directional scheme were exactly the same as ours, but the more important geographic areas were not directly north or south of the nephites? wouldn ' t joseph smith then refer to northward and southward as a matter of accuracy and fact, rather than to indicate a different directional scheme? indeed, in an earlier chapter of mormon ' s map, sorenson uses the term northward to help explain his reason for tilting the hourglass - shaped nephite lands away from a strict north - south axis ( pp. 18 - 20 ). that is, his argument about the need for a tilt in the axis of the nephite land of promise is founded on an interpretation of the nephite directional system so that it included cardinal directions. clearly, this matter has not been thoroughly examined, and we have no reason at this point to disregard a directional system based on cardinal directions. sorenson then provides a second example that he thinks should lead us to be cautious when interpreting the nephite directional system. he contrasts the use of the terms came and went in the book of mormon. he speculates that the distinction may have something to do with the place where the historian was recording the events, but then he notes that this contrast has not yet been analyzed systematically. the best that sorenson seems to be able to muster in this section is an expression of caution. " beware of making assumptions about meanings that may prove to be misleading because they spring from modern - day assumptions rather than from ancient ways " ( p. 81 ). however, sorenson has not guided us through an examination of passages leading to the conclusion that a literal reading is not appropriate when it comes to the nephite directional system. in fact, he acknowledges that not enough work has been done on this topic. while commenting that " directional matters " are often " subtle, " he expressly notes that there is much yet to be considered " before


the nephite directional system. in fact, he acknowledges that not enough work has been done on this topic. while commenting that " directional matters " are often " subtle, " he expressly notes that there is much yet to be considered " before we even know all the right questions about nephite direction systems " ( p. 81 ). in contrast, clark ' s interpretation of the directions used by nephite authors is, at least initially, " literal " and thus builds on the foundation of textual analysis. clark specifies his directional assumptions as follows : i assume that the nephite directional system was internally consistent and that this consistency persisted throughout the period of their history. i do not pretend to know how nephite " north " relates to the north of today ' s compass, and such information is irrelevant for my present purpose of reconstructing an internal geography. i do assume, however, that regardless of what any " real " orientation may have been, nephite north was 180 degrees from nephite south, and both were 90 degrees off of east and west. the directional suffix " - ward " is here loosely interpreted to mean " in the general direction of. " thus, i read " northward " as " in a general northerly direction. " finally, all directions are directions from " somewhere. " i assume the central reference point was the city of zarahemla, located in the " center " of the land of zarahemla ( helaman 1 : 24 - 27 ). 20 clark ' s initial view of nephite directions relies precisely on our own culture ' s cardinal directions. our " literal " understanding is, and to my mind must be, our first and most unsophisticated interpretation of the meanings associated with words used in the book of mormon. this " literal " approach to book of mormon directions also happens to be consistent with concepts of direction and geographical organization that were familiar to joseph smith and his contemporaries. 21 as joseph translated the book of mormon, he seems to have used the directional and geographical concepts familiar to him. this is, and must be, our second level of interpretation of a word or phrase mentioned in the book of mormon. in most cases, the first and second levels of interpretation probably will be identical, but this need not always be the case. the english language has changed in some respects since the time of joseph smith. near the end of his article, clark describes in much greater detail another related directional pattern when he seeks to interpret helaman


, but this need not always be the case. the english language has changed in some respects since the time of joseph smith. near the end of his article, clark describes in much greater detail another related directional pattern when he seeks to interpret helaman 3 : 8. in that verse, the nephites are said to have expanded " from the land southward to the land northward, and... spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east. " clark acknowledges that his reading of the book of mormon directional system can be literal only to a point. then another level of interpretation is called for and additional assumptions must be made. clark refers to this change in interpretative process as requiring an explanation that is metaphorical : the passage in helaman may have been meant in a metaphorical rather than a literal way. explaining away difficult passages as metaphors goes against one of my guiding assumptions for dealing with the text, but in this case i think it is well justified. north and south sea probably have no more concrete meaning than the phrases " filling the whole earth " and " as numerous as the sands of the sea. " mormon waxes poetic whenever describing the nephites ' peaceful golden age of uninterrupted population growth and expansion. this is understandable given the circumstances under which he wrote, and his knowledge of the certain doom of his people. it is interesting that in a parallel passage describing the same sort of population expansion [ helaman 11 : 20 ] no north or south sea is mentioned.... i am convinced that the reference to a north sea and a south sea is devoid of any concrete geographical content. all specific references or allusions to book of mormon seas are only to the east and west seas. any geography that tries to accommodate a north and south sea, i think, is doomed to fail. but we cannot dismiss the reference to these seas out of hand. if they are metaphorical, what was the metaphor? 22 with this piling up of inferences, clark theorizes that the north and south seas mentioned in the text are not physical bodies of water. he bases this theory on the slim fact that these seas are not mentioned in one similar passage in the book of mormon. hence, he moves his interpretation of book of mormon directions from a literal one consistent with our culture ( and joseph smith ' s culture 175 years ago ), where cardinal points are the principal directions


not mentioned in one similar passage in the book of mormon. hence, he moves his interpretation of book of mormon directions from a literal one consistent with our culture ( and joseph smith ' s culture 175 years ago ), where cardinal points are the principal directions, to a third level of cultural understanding ( a nephite metaphorical level ) that still may have been somewhat accurately depicted by english words describing a cardinal direction system. clark also notes that this metaphorical interpretation " would not be out of place in the middle east at the time of lehi ; and it is remarkably close to the mesoamerican view of their world. " 23 that is, at this third level of interpretation, a nonliteral theory has been created and compared favorably with what clark would consider appropriate external cultures to lend credence to his further sense of the meanings that might be associated with our ( and joseph smith ' s ) cardinal directions. clark ' s conceptualized nephite world, " as part of a metaphor for the whole earth, " places zarahemla at the center and expands outward ( in the four cardinal directions ) through lands and wildernesses to the four seas mentioned in helaman 3 : 8. 24 clark ' s literal interpretation of a couple of verses that mention ( and don ' t mention ) north and south seas, his identification of an interpretative problem, and then his creation of a metaphorical solution or theory are procedurally sound ( but not necessarily substantively correct ). he then compares the metaphorical theory with ideas from external sources he assumes were related to the book of mormon. this is a valid interpretative process, but not necessarily one that leads to an accurate interpretation. from a substantive point of view, one must also note that clark ' s problem with the text of helaman 3 : 8 is based on his inference from helaman 11 : 20 that the north and south seas " probably " had no real existence. why is that inference " probably " accurate? are there no other passages in the book of mormon that might bear on this question? in how many other ways is the term north used in the book of mormon? what about uses of the term south? is it impossible or just unlikely that there were north and south seas? the interpretative process dealing with north and south seas has actually just begun. in mormon ' s map, sorenson seems to throw his required caution to the wind when he interprets north and south seas literally. these seas seem to serve his purpose of tilting the axis of


dealing with north and south seas has actually just begun. in mormon ' s map, sorenson seems to throw his required caution to the wind when he interprets north and south seas literally. these seas seem to serve his purpose of tilting the axis of the nephite promised land to an orientation similar to that of mesoamerica. he first identifies a difference between the land north ( five references ) and the land northward ( thirty - one references ). there is, of course, a distinction ; " land northward " implies a direction somewhat off from literal north. this implication that the lands are not simply oriented to the cardinal directions is confirmed by reference to the " sea north " and the " sea south " ( helaman 3 : 8 ). these terms are used only once, in reference to the colonizing of the land northward by the nephites, but not in connection with the land southward. the only way to have seas north and south on a literal or descriptive basis would be for the two major bodies of land to be oriented at an angle somewhat off true north - south. that would allow part of the ocean to lie toward the south of one and another part of the ocean to lie toward north of the other. ( pp. 19 - 20 ) sorenson makes this argument from a literal point of view because he seems to be seeking to confirm the tilt he wants to give to his hourglass - shaped lands. ( note that in map 1 and all subsequent maps in the text, he does not tilt the lands the opposite way from mesoamerica, which would seem to be an equally likely possibility under his interpretation of north and south seas. ) i could not find any of the maps in mormon ' s map that actually show where the north and south seas were supposed to be. how were they related to the east and west seas? why would the nephites have referred to a land northward or southward if they didn ' t want to distinguish them from other lands that were literally north or south? in other words, isn ' t the whole concept of nephite directions founded on a basic four - part directional system that joseph smith was content describing as north, south, east, and west? frankly, my conclusion from this very brief review of book of mormon directions is identical to sorenson ' s in one regard : so little work has apparently been done on the topic that we do not yet know all the right questions to ask. where does sorenson think we are today? i have not attempted to provide a


is identical to sorenson ' s in one regard : so little work has apparently been done on the topic that we do not yet know all the right questions to ask. where does sorenson think we are today? i have not attempted to provide a substantive evaluation of the chapters of mormon ' s map that deal with sorenson ' s detailed views of book of mormon land forms, topography, environment, distances, and civilization. i have no training or expertise in those subjects. frankly, the task would have to begin with comparisons of sorenson ' s inferences and the 1, 068 verses identified as having potential geographical relevance. that will take a great deal of impartial ( hopefully collaborative ) work. thus, i find myself in the position of virtually every other reader of mormon ' s map ( sorenson excepted ). i must rely on my own rational responses to sorenson ' s detailed interpretations and those responses include " interesting, " " challenging, " and " what if... " but hardly anything substantive. to his credit, sorenson also helps us in this area by concluding mormon ' s map with a chapter entitled " so how much do we know? " in essence, he reviews his own work. he compares the version of " mormon ' s map " he has been able to construct with the widely duplicated maps that early european cartographers produced : " they drew in coastlines on the basis of reports that were not very clear or full from voyagers who had traversed portions of the coast. where they did not possess direct information, those mapmakers made inferences — guesses may be more accurate. as for the interior spaces beyond the coasts, their information was even sketchier. still, the maps they drafted were avidly sought by later voyagers and served them well enough. the comprehensive ' mormon ' s map ' on the inside front cover of this book can prove useful too " ( p. 126 ). sorenson then lists the three uses to which he thinks " a map in this tentative condition " ( p. 127 ) can be put. first, it provides " a model that we can apply to stories from the record to check their consistency and perhaps shed new light on factors [ the stories ] involved that had not occurred to us before. " second, " we may discern new questions about geography... gaps in our knowledge for which we might seek answers by consulting mormon ' s text anew. " third, " the map summarizes a set of criteria... against which


, " we may discern new questions about geography... gaps in our knowledge for which we might seek answers by consulting mormon ' s text anew. " third, " the map summarizes a set of criteria... against which to evaluate proposals for where in the external world nephite lands were located " ( p. 127 ). this is a succinct summary of where we are today. " mormon ' s map " is surely " tentative, " but we may finally be in a position to begin filling in the blank spots in our understanding through a reasoned process. by combining clark ' s " elemental " geography and interpretative process with sorenson ' s more comprehensive geography of book of mormon events and mormon ' s map, we have a solid foundation for a collaborative project to consciously produce a generally acceptable interpretation of the nephite map described in the text of the book of mormon. we have a method for identifying interpretative issues, pulling together the textual passages that have been identified on each issue as controlling, determining various interpretative theories about those passages, and then comparing the theories for simplicity, consistency, uniformity, and uncertainty in our interpretation of ideas and terminology. will such a collaborative project necessarily produce a duplicate of clark ' s " elemental " geography or sorenson ' s mormon ' s map i have met john clark and john sorenson and admire them both, but i don ' t think i know anyone who could answer that question today. why don ' t we find the answer? when one approaches a landfall from the sea, the barest edge of land first appears as a dark contour rising up on the horizon. mormon ' s map leaves me with a clear sense that it represents just the first contour of a wonderful, exciting, and " promised " land filled with information and levels of meaning that are yet to be discovered, understood, and communicated. thank you, professor clark, for your attention to the interpretative process. thank you, professor sorenson, for extending that process into mormon ' s map. " land ho! "


( medical xpress ) - - cambridge scientists have, for the first time, created cerebral cortex cells those that make up the brains grey matter from a small sample of human skin. the researchers findings, which were funded by alzheimers research uk and the wellcome trust, were published today in nature neuroscience. diseases of the cerebral cortex range from developmental conditions, such as epilepsy and autism, to neurodegenerative conditions such as alzheimers. todays findings will enable scientists to study how the human cerebral cortex develops, how it wires up and how that can go wrong ( a common problem leading to learning disabilities ). it will also allow them to recreate brain diseases, such as alzheimers, in the lab. this will give them previously impossible insight, allowing them to both watch the diseases develop in real time and also develop and test new drugs to stop the diseases progressing. dr. rick livesey of the gurdon institute and department of biochemistry at the university of cambridge, principal investigator of the research, said : this approach gives us the ability to study human brain development and disease in ways that were unimaginable even five years ago. for their research, the scientists took skin biopsies from patients and then reprogrammed the cells from the skin samples back into stem cells. these stem cells as well as human embryonic stem cells were then used to generate cerebral cortex cells. dr. livesey added : we are using this system to recreate alzheimers disease in the lab. alzheimers disease is the commonest form of dementia in the world, and dementia currently affects over 800, 000 people in the uk. its a disease that primarily affects the type of nerve cell weve made in the lab, so weve the perfect tool to create a full, human model of the disease in the lab. dr. simon ridley, head of research at alzheimers research uk, the uks leading dementia research charity, said : we are really pleased to have contributed funding for this work and the results are a positive step forward. turning stem cells into networks of fully functional nerve cells in the lab holds great promise for unravelling complex brain diseases such as alzheimers. dementia is the greatest medical challenge of our time we urgently need to understand more about the condition and how to stop it. we hope these findings can move us closer towards this goal.


americans work longer hours, take fewer vacation days, and retire later than employees in other industrialized countries around the globe. with such demanding careers, it ' s no surprise that many experience job burnout — physical, cognitive, and emotional exhaustion that results from stress at work. researchers have found that burnout is also associated with obesity, insomnia, and anxiety. now dr. sharon toker of tel aviv university ' s faculty of management and her fellow researchers — profs. samuel melamed, shlomo berliner, david zeltser and itzhak shpira of tau ' s sackler faculty of medicine — have found a link between job burnout and coronary heart disease ( chd ), the buildup of plaque in the coronary arteries that leads to angina or heart attacks. those who were identified as being in the top 20 percent of the burnout scale were found to have a 79 percent increased risk of coronary disease, the researchers reported in the journal psychosomatic medicine. calling the results " alarming, " dr. toker says that these findings were more extreme than the researchers had expected — and make burnout a stronger predictor of chd than many other classical risk factors, including smoking, blood lipid levels, and physical activity. taking a toll on the heart some of the factors that contribute to burnout are common experiences in the workplace, including high stress, heavy workload, a lack of control over job situations, a lack of emotional support, and long work hours. this leads to physical wear and tear, which will eventually weaken the body. knowing that burnout has been associated with other cardiovascular risk factors, such as heightened amounts of cholesterol or fat in the bloodstream, the researchers hypothesized that it could also be a risk factor for coronary heart disease. over the course of the study, a total of 8, 838 apparently healthy employed men and women between the ages of 19 and 67 who presented for routine health examinations were followed for an average of 3. 4 years. each participant was measured for burnout levels and examined for signs of chd. the researchers controlled for typical risk factors for the disease, such as sex, age, family history of heart disease, and smoking. during the follow - up period, 93 new cases of chd were identified. burnout was associated with a 40 % increased risk of developing chd. but the 20 % of participants with the highest burnout scores had a 79 % increased risk. dr