yick wo re - revisited : nonblack nonwhites and fourteenth amendment history thomas wuil joo university of california - davis law school september 3, 2008 university of illinois law review, fall 2008 uc davis legal studies research paper no. 171 the 1886 supreme court case yick wo v. hopkins is often viewed as a precursor of the racial civil rights era represented by brown v. board of education. in fact, the case was primarily about economic rights. in a new article, unexplainable on grounds of race : doubts about yick wo, * forthcoming in the illinois law review, professor gabriel chin argues that yick wo " is not a race case at all. " i argue that it is a " race case " because the court ' s use of the fourteenth amendment to vindicate economic rights necessarily entangled economic rights with race - in an ultimately pernicious way. while issues of " race " in american law tend to focus on nonwhiteness, the " race " of the chinese plaintiffs in yick wo was legally significant in its nonblackness. the reconstruction court had previously refused to apply the amendment to whites or to economic rights in the slaughter - house cases. but yick wo both revived the literal meaning of the amendment ' s phrase " all persons " and applied it to economic rights. it thus ushered in a two - pronged civil rights counter - revolution symbolized by lochner v. new york ' s protection of economic " substantive due process " for white persons and corporations and plessy v. ferguson ' s denial of civil rights protection to blacks. the counter - revolution also turned against the nonblack nonwhites who had helped create it, allowing the exclusion of asians from immigration and naturalization, state laws prohibiting asians from owning land, and the internment of japanese americans during world war ii. number of pages in pdf file : 22 keywords : fourteenth amendment, legal history, substantive due process, civil rights, raceaccepted paper series date posted : september 5, 2008 ; last revised : april 20, 2009 © 2013 social science electronic publishing, inc. all rights reserved. this page was processed by apollo2 in 0. 360 seconds


social security basics - social security benefits provide a critical safety net for millions of americans, including many with pd. - administered by the u. s. social security administration there are two key sources of government paid ( income ) benefits for people with disabilities : 1. the first is social security disability income ( ssdi ), which “ pays benefits to you and certain family members if you worked long enough and paid social security taxes. ” 2. the second is supplemental security income ( ssi ), which “ pays benefits to disabled adults and children who have limited income and resources. ” - in addition, persons who have been entitled to social security benefits for 24 months are eligible for free medicare benefits. - the medicare health benefit can be invaluable to pwps. - for most people, the medical requirements for disability payments are the same under both ssdi and ssi, and disability is determined by the same process. - in either case, ssa asks for information about your medical condition, work and education history to help it decide if you are “ disabled. ” - keep in mind that the ssa definition of disability stands on its own, separate and apart from the ada definition or other contractual definitions that may apply to you in other contexts. how social security defines “ disability ” while the specific definition of “ disability ” for social security purposes is in the law itself, here is ssa ’ s plain language description : “ we consider you disabled under social security rules if, due to a medical or mental condition : - you cannot do work that you did before and we decide that you cannot adjust to other work because of your condition ( s ), and - your disability is expected to last for at least one year or to result in death. ” content for this section provided by mark rubin, j. d.


in my first year of teaching, i assigned a group of eighth grade students what i thought was a rather straight - forward assignment : a five paragraph essay on the causes of the civil war. i had brilliantly lectured on the three chief causes of the war and so had high expectations that my students would be able to both regurgitate my content and then analyze with a modicum of creative thought. i even was kind enough to jot down this brief organizational structure on the board : paragraphs : # 1 introduction # 2 first cause # 3 second cause # 4 third cause # 5 conclusion. stop laughing. the results were not as i expected. most students came up with five paragraphs. well, at least they were indented. the introductory paragraph largely consisted of either “ in this essay i ’ m going to talk about the chief causes of the civil war ” or “ once upon a time there was a great civil war. ” the body paragraphs briefly summarized their notes on what i had said. the concluding paragraph largely consisted of “ in this essay i talked about the chief causes of the civil war. ” the structure was relatively easy to master, but there was no analysis. the students had no clue about what to put into an introduction and a conclusion. i confess i had no clue either. i could “ do them ” ( at least my college professors seemed to think so ), but i certainly could not “ teach them. ” many intermediate, middle, and high school teachers fall into the same trap. our content papers, on - demand writing fluencies, and standardized tests push us to teach the various domains ( genres ) of essays as end - products. we wind up teaching these structures, but fail to scaffold the essay strategies that enable students to write coherently with originality and authentic voices. let ’ s spend more time on the process, rather than on the product, with respect to essay instruction and practice. it ’ s hard and sometimes tedious work for students and teacher, but the pay - off is worth the effort. following are articles, free resources, and teaching tips regarding how to teach essay strategies from the pennington publishing blog. bookmark and visit us often. oh, and don ’ t forget to copy down the 10 % discount code found only on this blog to purchase the quality curricula and resources offered by pennington publishing. how to teach essay strategies coaching writing, especially essay strategies, is a lot like coaching football. ask any football coach what wins football games and you are likely to get


this blog to purchase the quality curricula and resources offered by pennington publishing. how to teach essay strategies coaching writing, especially essay strategies, is a lot like coaching football. ask any football coach what wins football games and you are likely to get practice as the answer. football coaches live for the conditioning, the blocking sled, the tackle practice, and the omnipresent videotape. perhaps we ela teachers should take a page from our coaches ’ playbooks and be a bit more process - centered. now, i ’ m not talking about the writing process ; i ’ m talking about teaching the essay strategies that will prepare students for the big game. how many essay comments and what kind so, to summarize how many essay comments and what kind, writing research would suggest the following : comment on rough drafts, not final drafts. limit the amount of comments and individualize those to the needs of the student writer. balance the types of comments between writing errors and issues of style, argument, structure, and evidence. hold students accountable for each mark or comment. comments are better than diacritical marks alone. comments should explain what is wrong or explain the writing issue. how to write an introduction few teachers know how to teach essay introductions. simply stating a “ hook ” or a “ lead ” and then stating the thesis make a rather weak introductory paragraph. the article shares the best strategies to include in an essay introduction in a memorable and easy - to - understand format. how to write a conclusion few teachers know how to teach essay conclusions. simply re - stating the thesis and summarizing make a rather weak conclusion. the article shares the best strategies to include in a conclusion in a memorable and easy - to - understand format. how to write body paragraphs writing good body paragraphs is more than using proper paragraph structure. that structure should also provide the evidence to develop the points of the essay. a variety of evidence is necessary to convince the reader of your thesis. this article teaches how to write effective body paragraphs with eight different types of evidence. how to use numerical values to write essays many developing writers get lost in the jargon of writing instruction. simplify the terms and anyone can write a well - structured multi - paragraph essay. using an intuitive numerical system, this easy - to - understand and teach system of essay development will quickly take writers from complete sentences to the five - paragraph essay and beyond. it just makes sense. how to write effective essay comments conscientious teachers know that merely completing a holistic


easy - to - understand and teach system of essay development will quickly take writers from complete sentences to the five - paragraph essay and beyond. it just makes sense. how to write effective essay comments conscientious teachers know that merely completing a holistic rubric and totaling the score for a grade is not effective essay response or writing assessment. teachers may choose to grade and / or respond with essay comments after the rough draft and / or after the final draft. using the types of comments that match the teacher ’ s instructional objectives is essential. additionally, keeping in mind the key components of written discourse can balance responses between form and content. finally, most writing instructors include closing comments to emphasize and summarize their responses. here ’ s how to write truly effective essay comments. how to write a summary learning how to write a summary is a valuable skill. california even includes the summary as a writing application on its cst writing exam. learning how to teach what is andwhat is not a summary may be even more valuable. a summary is the one writing application that focuses equally on what should be included and what should not be included. how to teach transitions transition words are essential ingredients of coherent writing. using transition words is somewhat of a writing science. teachers can “ teach ” the nuts and bolts of this science. however, using transition words is also somewhat of a refined art. matters of writing style don ’ t “ come naturally ” to most writers. with targeted practice, students can learn to incorporate transitions as important features of their own writing styles. how to teach thesis statements the most important part of the multi - paragraph essay is a well - worded thesis statement. the thesis statement should state the author ’ s purpose for writing or the point to be proved. learn how to teach the thesis statement and get three thesis statement worksheets to help your students practice. how to teach proofreading strategies writers make errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, proper use of quotes, paragraphs, usage, and word choice for a variety of reasons. effective proofreading strategies can help writers find and make corrections to improve their writing. how to teach students to write in complete sentences developing writers often have problems writing in complete sentences. three teaching techniques will help your students write coherent and complete sentences. how to write complex sentences writers can increase the maturity of their writing by learning how to convert simple sentences into complex sentences. the article uses easy - to - understand language and clear examples to help developing writers. more articles, free resources,


complete sentences. how to write complex sentences writers can increase the maturity of their writing by learning how to convert simple sentences into complex sentences. the article uses easy - to - understand language and clear examples to help developing writers. more articles, free resources, and teaching tips from the pennington publishing blog - english - language arts standards - english - language arts instruction - essay strategies - the writing process / writers workshop - writing style - grammar and mechanics - structural analysis / syllabication / oral language - teaching reading in the ela classroom - ela / reading assessments - reading intervention - independent reading - response to intervention - differentiated instruction ( rti ) - critical thinking - study skills - test preparation - educational issues and teaching trends - developmental characteristics - professional development teaching essay strategies is the comprehensive writing curriculum, designed to teach your students how to write coherent multi - paragraph essays. students progress at their own pace through 42 sequential essay strategy worksheets and skill lessons ( including writing style, parallelism, coherency, unity, and writing evidence ) to compose 8 complete essays in the different essay genres. also get 64 sentence revision ( sentence combining and grammatical sentence patterns ) and 64 rhetorical stance “ opener ” lessons, 8 on - demand writing fluencies, remedial writing worksheets, writing posters, holistic and analytical rubrics, graphic organizers, and editing resources. no other writing program matches the comprehensive resources of this curriculum. truly individualize instruction with the resources found in this large three - ring binder. 359 pages


may 26, 2010, 6 : 13 am post # 4 of 6 please use the code tags whenever you post code. start by adding these 2 lines, which should be in every perl script you write. those pragmas will point out lots of coding errors that can be difficult to track down. the strict pragma forces you to declare your vars, which is done with the ' my ' keyword. you should always check the return code of an open call to make sure it was successful and take action if it wasn ' t. it ' s best to use the 3 arg form of open and a lexical var for the filehandle instead of the bareword. open my $ file1, ' < ', $ argv or die " failed to open ' $ argv $! " ; open my $ file2, ' < ', $ argv or die " failed to open ' $ argv $! " ; that is normally written as : since the print function is a list operator, your attempt to read in the employee number from file to in the print statement will slurp and print the entire file. instead, you should assign the employee number to a scalr var and use that var in the print statement.


european decorative arts and sculpture tile panel : animals and bird in scalloped roundelsmade in netherlands, europe artist / maker unknown, dutch tin - glazed earthenware with blue decoration 1979 - 50 - 59 - - 62, 73, 74, 130, 131gift of mrs. francis p. garvan, 1979 following the 1609 twelve year truce with spain, and the treaty of munster which ended the 80 year war in 1648, the war - damaged cities of the dutch republic were rebuilt and began to enjoy a new - found economic prosperity based on sea and river trade. the reconstruction and subsequent development of towns also required the increased use of tiles as a building material. the earliest tiles were made of clay found along the floodplains of riverbeds ; the clay was a blend of eroded rock fragments infused with minerals and organic matter, including iron, which produced the red color of tiles after firing. the first dutch tiles were unglazed and used on the floor. because the porous tiles deteriorated rapidly, however, lead and tin - glazing were quickly introduced to protect and waterproof the tiles. the technique of tin - glazing was first used in europe by moorish craftsmen in the early middle ages, but this method was introduced to the northern provinces of the netherlands only in the beginning of the sixteenth century. the dutch craze for tiles in the home as objects of both utility and decoration – as a building material tiles reduced fire risk, kept out the damp and were an easy surface to keep clean - resulted in the establishment of factories not only in delft, but throughout holland to satisfy a constantly increasing demand. the process of manufacturing and decorating dutch tiles rarely strayed from several unvarying steps : the clay was first washed and left to mature, followed by massaging in a pug mill, which consisted of a large vertical wooden barrel containing metal cutters that were moved through the clay by a horse walking around the barrel. the prepared clay was then pressed into square wooden or metal frames and rolled flat. the frames were then lifted away and the clay was left to dry. once firm, the clay was trimmed to size and biscuit fired at 1000 degrees celsius for 20 to 40 hours, followed by up to three days of cooling within the kiln. following this, tin glaze, which is a lead glaze to which tin oxide has been added, was applied. after the second firing, the tiles gained an opacity which provided an excellent background for decoration. social tags [


connected knowledge : science, philosophy, and education oxford university press ( 1997 ) | abstract | | when physicist alan sokal recently submitted an article to the postmodernist journal social text, the periodical ' s editors were happy to publish it - - for here was a respected scientist offering support for the journal ' s view that science is a subjective, socially constructed discipline. but as sokal himself soon revealed in lingua franca magazine, the essay was a spectacular hoax - - filled with scientific gibberish anyone with a basic knowledge of physics should have caught - - and the academic world suddenly awoke to the vast gap that has opened between the scientific community and their mould - be critics. but the truth is that not only postmodern critics but americans in general have a weak grasp on scientific principles and facts. in connected knowledge, physicist alan cromer offers a way to bridge the chasm, with a lively, lucid account of scientific thinking and a provocative new agenda for american education. science, cromer argues, is anything but common sense : it requires a particular habit of mind that does not come naturally. for example, something as simple as buoyancy can only be explained through archimedes ' principle - - that a body in a fluid is subject to an upward force equal to the weight of fluid it displaces - - yet few scientists could arrive at this ancient concept by trial and error. school children, however, are often given a ball and a tank of water, and asked to explain buoyancy any way they can. today ' s de emphasis on teaching pupils necessary facts and principles, he argues, " far from empowering them, makes them slaves of their own subjective opinions. " this movement in education, known as constructivism, has close ties to postmodern critics ( such as the editors of social text ) who question the objectivity of science, and with it the existence of an objective reality. cromer offers a ringing defense of the knowability of the world, both as an objective reality and as a finite landscape of discovery. the advance of scientific knowledge, he argues, is not unlike the mapping of the continents ; at this point, we have found them all. he shows how the advent of quantum mechanics, rather than making knowledge less certain, actually offers a more precise understanding of the behavior of atoms and electrons. turning from philosophy to education, he argues that instead of allowing students to flounder, however creatively, schools should follow a progressive curriculum that returns theoretical knowledge


knowledge less certain, actually offers a more precise understanding of the behavior of atoms and electrons. turning from philosophy to education, he argues that instead of allowing students to flounder, however creatively, schools should follow a progressive curriculum that returns theoretical knowledge to the classroom. connected knowledge, however, goes much farther. as a discipline that insists upon connecting theory with measurable reality, physical science offers a new direction for reforming the social sciences. cromer also shows how some of the hottest issues in public policy - - including the debates over special education and group variations in i. q., can be resolved through clear, hard headed thinking. for example, he argues for use of the g. e. d. as a national educational standard, with a new " politics of intelligence " to guide the distribution of school resources. always forthright and articulate, alan cromer offers a startling new vision for integrating science, philosophy, and education. | | keywords | | science philosophy education philosophy science philosophy science social aspects | | buy the book | | $ 3. 58 new ( 89 % off ) amazon page | | call number | | q175. c894 1997 | | external links | | this entry has no external links. add one. | | through your library | | configure | similar books and articles donald gray, laura colucci - gray & elena camino ( eds. ) ( 2009 ). science, society, and sustainability : education and empowerment for an uncertain world. routledge. robert shaw ( forthcoming ). the implications for science education of heidegger ' s philosophy of science. educational philosophy and theory. caragh brosnan ( 2011 ). the significance of scientific capital in uk medical education. minerva 49 ( 3 ) : 317 - 332. sharon l. crasnow ( 1993 ). can science be objective? longino ' s science as social knowledge. [ review ] hypatia 8 ( 3 ) : 194 - 201. michael martin ( 1986 ). science education and moral education. journal of moral education 15 ( 2 ) : 99 - 108. alan irwin & brian wynne ( eds. ) ( 1996 ). misunderstanding science? : the public reconstruction of science and technology. cambridge university press. michael r. matthews ( 1994 ). science teaching : the role of history and philosophy of science. routledge. alan h. cromer ( 1993 ). uncommon sense : the heretical nature of science. oxford university press. sorry, there are not enough data points


history of the earth & the galaxy. history of the earth & the galaxy. the following dates are interesting as reference points. they are not intended to be more than that as they are somewhat difficult to verify! critical dates in the history of man - ( history of the galaxy is shown in italics while the history of the earth is in standard text ) a : period prior to 500, 000 years ago. before time : in the beginning, before there was even the thought of time, there was thought. there was being. there was thought to bring forth creative energy for energy cannot be contained, not even in the sphere of time 17, 000, 000, 000 / 14, 000, 000, 000 y. a. the halo of the milky way starts to 4, 800, 000, 000 y. a ( years ago ). explosion of a supernova preceding the 4, 560, 000, 000 y. a. formation of the earth and of the moon. archean 4, 000, 000, 000 y. a. the first simple dna cells appeared on earth.. 3, 460, 000, 000 y, a,. the first fossils found were dated from this period. photosynthesis starts. 2, 500, 000, 000 y. a. cyanobacteria start forming o2. 2, 233, 000, 000 y. a.. our spiral galaxy and related globular clusters were seeded with pre - programmed dna mechanisms by an unknown race or 1, 055, 254, 400 y. a. around this period five cultures emerged in widely separated areas of the galaxy. they all claimed being in contact with the culture of the creators. 1, 033, 112, 250 / 1, 019, 925, 000 y. a. the first truly galactic society, the old galactic culture ( ogc ) embracing over 3, 000 planets and 150 species and cultural groupings. the ogc continued to prosper and expand, exploring the galaxy and searching for the now elusive creators for the next 13, 000, 000 years 1, 012, 862, 250 y. a. the foundation of the federation of galactic cultures. it took about 19 milliom years for this federation to form. its days of glory lasted over 550 million years. 885, 200, 000 y. a. : the ssh ' h, a renegade " elder race " appeared, heralding the beginning of the end for the ogc. it was focused on the physical and the material aspects, making


. 885, 200, 000 y. a. : the ssh ' h, a renegade " elder race " appeared, heralding the beginning of the end for the ogc. it was focused on the physical and the material aspects, making it aggressive, violent and possessive. their wars of conquest eroded the ogc and the stability of the galaxy 657, 155, 250 y. a. a group of cultures near the galactic core, the coalition of central core cultures ( c3 coalition ) became the only civilizing force left in the galaxy, and in 339, 828, 750 began to reshape galactic civilization and helped reunify the archons. 267, 671, 250 y. a. the age of the archons which ended in the dark night of galactic history, exploded into a civil blood bath which laid waste to much of the galaxy. 1, 000, 000, 000 / 543, 000, 000 y. a. neoproterozoic period on earth increased oxygen availability in the air resulted in the starting off of animal diversification. 660, 000, 000 y. a. sponges make their first appearance 580, 000, 000 y. a. a meteorite 4 km in diameter strikes australia, causing a huge 100m high tsunami. 560, 000, 000 y, a. the paleozoic / cambrian period sees the explosion of a large variety of creatures. the vetulicolia, the ancestors of the vertebrates, make their first appearance. 500, 000, 000 y. a. the paleozoic / ordovician period sees the start of 440, 000, 000. y. a. the end of the ordovician period sees the first mass extinction of life. 435, 000, 000. y. a. in the paleozoic / silurian period, the levels of co2 and ch4 were 360 & 435 ppmv respectively. these values are comparable with todays rising levels. 370, 000, 000. y. o. the late devonian saw the second mass extinction of 286, 000, 000 / 250, 000, 000 y. o. the paleozoic / permian period saw the third dramatic extinction of life. from the 50 % of the phyla that survived, life later bounced back. 250, 000, 000 y. a. the dark night of galactic history. a civil blood bath decimated the archons. following the collapse of the archonic empire, galactic civilization revived slowly 215,


to mars where two / thirds of the atmosphere was wiped out. the galactic alliance responded and sent erran and scenarian warships and wiped out the planet, which exploded. residues of the planet went into the asteroid belt, into jupiter, and into some of the moons of jupiter, of saturn, and into some of its 65, 000, 000 y. a. : here we see the fifth extinction of most life forms on earth. it appears that the human race became also extinct except for remnants in africa. all humans appearing after this period originated from the descendants of the african humans. 50, 000, 000 y. a.. huge marine mammals and small land mammals dominate the sea and land life forms. 28, 298, 250 y. a. a c3 culture from the canopan system colonized the earth. a settlement by the federal disputes designated it an evolving sentience preserve under the joint administration of canopan and sirian researchers. the planet itself was used as a recreation and resource location for local citizens. an orbital station was established for remote viewing and for biological stimulation to some small groups of 26, 000, 000 y. a. : it could be that jesus incarnated on earth as sananda at the time of the original civilization on earth. the elder race of the cains and the abels. however indications are vague. 7, 000, 000 y. a. human dna shows that humans diverged from chimps in this 6. 000. 000 y. a. : two species of hominids, the sahelanthropus, then the orrorin have had their skeletons dated back to this period.. 5, 000, 000 y. a.. most of the animal types known today are already represented on earth, including homo habilis or its earlier variants. 5, 400, 000 to 4, 400, 000 y. a. : a third species of hominid, ardipithecus 4, 500, 000 to 3, 850, 000 y. a. :, the next human race, austrolipithecus aramensis makes its appearance. 3, 800, 000 to 2, 950, 000 y. a. : austrolipithecus afarensis, a small brained & big faced species of human appears 3, 000, 000 y. a.. austrolipithecus africanus is dated back to this 2, 500, 000 to 2, 400, 000 y. a.. austrolipithecus garhi,


of human appears 3, 000, 000 y. a.. austrolipithecus africanus is dated back to this 2, 500, 000 to 2, 400, 000 y. a.. austrolipithecus garhi, an intermediate species between afarensis & homo starts appearing. 2, 300, 000 to 1, 200, 000 y. a.. austrolipithecus boisei. this is the first homo to appear. and continues its evolution up to today they are the makers of the first recognizable stone tools. 2, 200, 000 to 1, 600, 000 y. a. : austrolipithecus robustus. the next evolution in the human race also makes its appearance, homo habilis ( lucy ), leaving the earliest stone tools in eastern africa. 2, 000, 000 to 1, 400, 000. y. a. paranthropus boisoi. this humanoid is recognizable by its massive jaws & huge teeth. 2, 000, 000 y. a : the third human race, homo erectus, appeared as indicated by the standardized stone tools found in france. brain capacity was 1185cm3 as compared to modern humans ' capacity of 1, 900, 000 to 1, 600, 000 y. a. homo ergaster. this is the first essentially modern human body, with a high rounded cranium. he was a 1, 800, 000 y. a. homo rudolfensis. his cranium was 1470cm3. larger than homo habilis. characterised by being the maker of sharp flaked stone 1, 000, 000 y. a.. homo erectus was found to have established himself in java & china 974, 250 y. a. homo erectus was developing into a very smart 800, 000 y. a. homo antecessor was found in spain b : period from 500, 000 years ago to the birth of christ 500, 000 to 250, 000 y. a. : neanderthal man appeared and was recognized by typical stone tools found in uk, in europe, in jordan, and in australia. in this period there were also highly evolved civilizations in antarctica and in the gobi desert 416, 000 y. a. ( 433, 600 according to another source ). gold production on planet nibiru falters. as this planet is now on an elliptical orbit round the sun, its inhabitants, the annunaki, come to earth to start mining operations. enlil is in


to another source ). gold production on planet nibiru falters. as this planet is now on an elliptical orbit round the sun, its inhabitants, the annunaki, come to earth to start mining operations. enlil is in command of the earth mission, and enki is relegated to africa where rich veins of gold were found in 432, 000. 410, 000 / 400, 000 y. a. there are now seven important settlements in southern mesopotamia : a spaceport, ( sippar ), mission control center, ( nippur ), a metallurgical center ( shurrupak ). the gold ores came by ships from africa, and were then transferred periodically to the nibiru 350, 000 y. a.. a mass of violent, arrogant rebels in our sector of the galaxy develop destructive weapons and mind control technology 350, 000 / 300, 000 y. a. the annunaki working in the mines mutiny against the older gods. enki creates primitive workers by genetic manipulation of ape women, either homo habilis or austrolopithecas. they were called lu lu slaves. enlil brings primitive workers to mesopotamia, & enables them to procreate and multiply into homo erectus. according to zecharia sitchin an enigmatic 223 alien genes out of the odd 30, 000 of the human genome were " horizontally transferred " by the annunaki as described in detail in the clay tablets of the sumerians and the akkadians 300, 000 y. a.. sorcerer scientists on the island continent of atlantis open up a rift in hyper - space as an experiment with crystal - based electromagnetic manipulation, which goes out of control, releasing " subspace fallout " for thousands of years to come. many of these atlanteans escape by taking refuge in underground caverns below the east coast of north america and western europe 300. 000 y. a. creator gods raided earth, starting modern history. they fed on chaos and fear, and rearranged the human dna for their own purposes into 2 strands instead of the original 12. archeological discoveries detected man ' s presence in jordan between 450, 000 and 272, 000 y. a. adam and eve were expelled from eden by enlil. enki later creates giants with a life span of 100, 000 years 271, 000 / 206, 600 y. a. the first city of the gods, eridu. ruled by alulim, then by alaljar. adam


. enki later creates giants with a life span of 100, 000 years 271, 000 / 206, 600 y. a. the first city of the gods, eridu. ruled by alulim, then by alaljar. adam and eve were " recreated " by enki to enable them to produce children. cain & abel are born in this period. 260, 000 y. a. a new version of homo erectus ( lucy? ) is created by enki and his wife. he was a homo erectus human called ninhursag 250, 000 y. a. : et alchemists, using earth as a base, genetically engineer a race of reptilian humanoids using a reptilian and / or saurian dna base. these " reptiloids " rebel and become uncontrollable. astral parasites incarnate into these creatures, assimilating their physical natures into their own beings. these poltergeist, reptilian, & human beings, superimposed into one entity, develop methods for blending in with the human population. some escape to antartica, at the time a semi - tropical continent, and develop a powerful empire there. 250, 000 y. a. : the 4th. human race, homo sapiens makes its appearance. their distinguishing features were : a steep forehead, a delicate brow, a vertical midface, and a protruding chin figurines found in the golan were dated as 233, 000 & europeen artifacts were dated as being from the 231, 750 y. a. the sirian federation declared its independance status and included earth. a federation colony was then established on planet earth. the federation later applied for aid from the c3 to complete their sentient project. 225, 000 y. a. : the pleiadians discovered on earth three groups of uncivilized people, one of which was of light skinned lyran descent like them and living in bali, hawaii, samoa & india. they also developed the four civilizations of lemuria, of the mayans, of the incas. and that of machu picchu. 206, 600 to 98, 900 y. a. the second city of the gods ( the annunaki ), bad - tibira, came into being, and was ruled by enmenluana, then by enmengalana, then by dumuzid. 200, 000 y. a. the center of human civilization now


. a. the nordics underneath the gobi region ( within the " agharti " kingdom and its capital " shambala the lesser " ) and the reptiloids under the region of nepal ( the seven - leveled reptilian underworld of " patala " with its capital of " bhoga - vita " ) continued to wage war against each other, first within the caverns of asia, then within the caverns of the americas and other continents. finally their war became for the domination of the air, and they even took their conflict to the moon and mars. 150, 000 to 30, 000 y. a. to enlil ' s growing annoyance the annunaki marry with humans, bearing giants, demons and half - gods. he tries to punish them as the result becomes embarrassing. however many of them escape to other continents 100, 000 y. a. prehistoric glass tools from this period were found in the 100, 000 y. a : around this period, both the nordics and the reptiloids discover hyperspace travel. ( accessing hyperspace is relatively easy, the problems being in how to manipulate it without side effects ) during the next 70, 000 years a large segment of the galaxy and several dimensions are colonized thanks to this instantaneous interstellar and inter - dimensional travel. however most of the planets were kept in technological darkness and poverty and in eco - political servitude by the malevolent star - faring groups so as to provide a constant supply of slaves. only the more intelligent were initiated and recruited into secret societies operating underground, off - planet, or in other dimensions. the malevolent aliens and the nordic - backed free society were terrified of each other. a nazi - bavaria space force based in antarctica was eventually responsible for helping the draco collective to enslave several worlds within the immediate 21 star - system sector of the galaxy. on earth atrocities were being carried out by a third faction, the astart or ashtar cult ( no connection to the ashtar command ) in caverns below the egyptian / giza desert. this cult collaborated much later with nazi occult societies, conventional religiosities, and international bankers, the real controllers of the planet, to form an interplanetary masonic style organization. grey aliens : these were developed by fallen elements of the human & serpent ( beast ) races to be used by their luciferian masters to enable these to operate in the 3rd. dimension as part of lucifer ' s rebellion against the creative plan.


organization. grey aliens : these were developed by fallen elements of the human & serpent ( beast ) races to be used by their luciferian masters to enable these to operate in the 3rd. dimension as part of lucifer ' s rebellion against the creative plan. the geys are a frankensteinian combination of reptiloid, insectoid, humanoid, and even plant - like dna combined with sophisticated cybernetics and implant technology which links them into a group mind controlled and incarnated by fallen verities - satanaku ' s perverted imitation of god ' s creation. by masquerading as ascended masters they infiltrated the ashtar collaboration and established a large network based on sirius - b. a faction in sirius - a however resists the expansionist philosophy of the main ashtar alliance, and becomes known as the sirius - a alliance. many of the nordics who adhere to strict non - interventionist ethics establish the core of their civilization near the ring - nebula of lyra. and the reptiloids establish the base of their empire in alpha draconis. other reptilian factions in disagreement with the draconians establish independent colonies in other star systems such as capella. ( these reptilian factions now serve tirelessly with the cosmic hierarchy to end the dis - harmony ). the next 1000 years see the ashtar collective largely ineffectual due to internal fighting. over time however the integrity of the collective was re - established, and they became the foremost authority in the galaxy on the subversive tactics of the 98, 800 / 70, 000 y. a. the third city of the gods, larak, ruled by 70, 000 y. a.. climate warms again. the annunaki ( the nefilim of the bible ) marry with a new outgrowth of man to the annoyance of enlil. regressive types of man roam the earth, homo habilis and homo erectus. a new ice age begins. cro - magnon man survives this is their last human creation. noah is born with a white skin as a result of a genetic manipulation by enki. cro - magnon is recognizable by his steep forehead, in contrast to the previously receding forehead, a delicate browridge, as against the previous strong browridge, a vertical midface and a protrotruding chin as against the previous projecting mid - face and absence of chin. 70, 000 to 49, 000 y. a.. the fourth city of the gods


as against the previous strong browridge, a vertical midface and a protrotruding chin as against the previous projecting mid - face and absence of chin. 70, 000 to 49, 000 y. a.. the fourth city of the gods, zimbir ( sippar ) is now ruled by enmendurana. enki elevates humans of annunaki parentage to rule in shuruppak. this enrages enlil who now decides to destroy mankind. enki cannot stand in his way and promises to keep the secret from man so that enlil can succeed, but only providing homo sapiens, his last creation, should survive. this creation of homo sapiens, about 50, 000 years ago, happened when shem, cham and japheth were beget by enki with the seed of noah by three different women. and this is how modern man, homo sapiens was created. 49, 000 y. a. mu sank into the ocean. 60, 000 y. a. prehistoric art in australia was dated by thermoluminecence to 60, 000y. a. other painted walls in caves in s. australia were estimated to be 43, 000 and 39, 000 years old.. 50, 000 y. a. human presence in america was found to be from 50, 000 and 47, 000y. o. as for brazil, human presence was found to be from 50, 000 y. a. the alpha draconian empire destroys in a surprise attack three nordic colonial worlds in the lyra region killing over 50 billion men, women, and children. the draco borg collective also ravage many other planets. they did this by infiltrating all stratas of society, then by using implants, eroding the soul matrix, then assimilating the population into their group memory complex, turning them into drones. this is exactly what elements of that collective are attempting to do here now on this planet. you can see many people who seem oblivious to the highest good and are seen driven uniquely by selfish ambition. many world leaders are totally under the control of the dark forces and negative et ' s, many having actually had surgery to implant cybernetic control mechanisms. a group who were not affected by this primitive form of mind control, established an outpost of the sirian high command on earth, with the objective of education and peace keeping, which they have been doing ever since. vega lyra escapes the destruction and is able


who were not affected by this primitive form of mind control, established an outpost of the sirian high command on earth, with the objective of education and peace keeping, which they have been doing ever since. vega lyra escapes the destruction and is able to put up a defense, and receives some of the surviving refugees from the devastated worlds. other refugees escape to rigel orion, and to the pleiades cluster where they terraform several worlds which then become the base of a large federation of worlds. the hyades and andromeda constellations ( not necessarily the andromeda galaxy ) are colonized, as are also several worlds in the anti - matter ( dal ) universe. much later in this period an elite high command is formed, later to be known as the circle of sirius. membership is strictly limited to monadic groups which due to their unalterable loyalty to the creater ' s plan, are immune to the negative ego and mind control technology of the fallen verities. 49, 000 to 30, 400 y. a. ubara - tutu ruled until the flood. about 30, 400y. a. nibiru appeared again and this time lost its moon ingu which was captured by earth and became our moon. the resulting tidal waves and floods were responsible for the death of nearly all life on earth. the annunaki needed time to " heal " nibiru. some of them decided to stay on earth permanently. gravity change on earth resulted in a shorter lifetime for humans and mammals. 30, 378 / 1, 578y. a. the nibiru and their human creations destroyed the pre - diluvium creatures until eventually the last giants died out. around 1, 000 bce 37, 000 / 21, 000 y. a. the mesoamerican civilization flourished. then again between 24, 000 34, 000 y. a. ( 32, 000 bc ) : the nordics in rigel, lose a desperate war against reptilian and grey forces. survivors are forced out of the orion open cluster and take refuge on the jovian moons of sol in sirius a, and in procyon. other humanoids flee to the outer orionite systems, but have to capitulate much of their sovereignty over to the draconian collective where they have to serve as under a dictator 30, 000 y. a. the famous paintings in grotte chauvet were dated to this 29, 000 y. a. hand tools were found in numerous locations


over to the draconian collective where they have to serve as under a dictator 30, 000 y. a. the famous paintings in grotte chauvet were dated to this 29, 000 y. a. hand tools were found in numerous locations recently, and were dated to be between 29, 000 and 27, 000 y. a. 25, 000 y. a. the statue of the king of hesse was dated to this period. also found were jewels and preceltic armaments. skeletons of homo sapiens sapiens were found in algeria. 25, 000 y. a. the galactic republic began as an alliance between the systems of coruscan, corellia, alderaan, and chandrila. the development of faster than light travel by the corellians made a galactic 24, 900 y. a. several major armed conflicts arise and the whole system gets corrupted and inefficient. 24, 840 y. a. a new supreme commander of inflexible integrity and honor is elected. he puts things back on track but later decides that the situation can not be salvaged by a republic and only an empire can put things back in order. the galactic empire embodying the new order, is 23, 000 y. a. : cro - magnon man appears in europe, and neanderthal man 20, 000 y. a.. ( 18, 000 bc ). the orion cluster is now controlled by the united worlds of orion, which serves under the alpha draconian empire, rigel and bellatrix being major centers of orionite power. six orionite star systems are at the core, having succeeded in conquering and subduing several worlds in this sector of the galaxy, lusting for conquest, and turning many of these worlds into slave planets where descendants of humans lived under horrifying conditions. the atrocities of the draco - orion empire have earned them the title of the " unholy six " devastating battles are waged between the pleiadians and the orionites, devastating whole worlds. the sirians, descendents of refugees from rigel orion now begin a long interstellar conflict with the orionites over a star cluster in the vicinity of sol containing 21 star systems and 287 inhabited worlds. 17, 000 y. a. wall paintings in grotte de lascaux are dated to this year. amerindians crossed along the glaciated alaska passage. 14, 000 y. a. : the end of the last ice age


, 000 y. a. wall paintings in grotte de lascaux are dated to this year. amerindians crossed along the glaciated alaska passage. 14, 000 y. a. : the end of the last ice age. the co2 level was 13, 000 and the ch4 level was 25, 000. giant floods engulfed america and eurasia. 13, 000 y. a. ( or 30, 000 according to a different version ) enki plans to use the tidal wave expected as a result of the impending passage of nibiru a secret from mankind. 12, 000 y. a. ( 10, 000 bc ) the collapse of atlantis. some accounts place this at 40, 000 y. a. the lemurian civilization had connections with atlantis. they established cultures in india, china, south, central, and north america. not much is known about lemuria and atlantis, except that they both had advanced civilizations. 12, 000 y. a. the galactic networks can now be divided in three : first, the draconian collective including alpha draconis, rigel orion, epsilon bootes, zeta ii reticuli, with as their main focus material conquest. second : the ashtar alliance including sirius b, arcturus, aldibaran, altair, with as their main focus intellectual advancement and the development of the ideal of a christed civilization. thirdly the united federation including taygeta pleiades, tau ceti, vega lyra, and procyon whose focus is on spiritual development. the main thing for man to remember is that spirit must dominate over matter, and not the opposite as advocated by the fallen verities. 11, 000 y. a. ( or 28, 000 ). enki instructs noah to build a submersible ship. enlil witnesses the total destruction from his orbiting ship. he later agrees to supply seeds for agriculture, and enki helps domesticate earth animals.


drug shared by addicts seems to protect against hiv brain dementiaapril 15th, 2010 in medicine & health / hiv & aids to their surprise, researchers at georgetown university medical center ( gumc ) have discovered that morphine ( a derivate of the opium poppy that is similar to heroin ) protects rat neurons against hiv toxicity - a finding they say might help in the design of new neuroprotective therapies for patients with the infection. the discovery, being presented at the annual meeting of the society of neuroimmune pharmacology, also helps explain why a subset of people who are heroin abusers and become infected with hiv through needle sharing don ' t develop hiv brain dementia. this brain disorder includes cognitive and motor abnormalities, anxiety and depression. " we believe that morphine may be neuroprotective in a subset of people infected with hiv, " says the study ' s lead investigator, italo mocchetti, phd, professor of neuroscience at gumc. " that is not to say that people should use heroin to protect themselves - that makes no medical sense at all - but our findings gives us ideas about designing drugs that could be of benefit. " needless to say we were very surprised at the findings, " he added. " we started with the opposite hypothesis - that heroin was going to destroy neurons in the brain and lead to hiv dementia. " the researchers conducted the study because they knew that a number of hiv - positive people are also heroin abusers, and because of that, some are at high risk of developing neurological complications from the infection. others, however, never develop these cognitive problems, mocchetti says. because little is known about the molecular mechanisms linking opiates and hiv neurotoxicity, mocchetti and his team conducted experiments in rats. they found that in the brain, morphine inhibited the toxic property of the hiv protein gp120 that mediates the infection of immune cells. with further investigation, they concluded that morphine induces production of the protein ccl5, which they discovered is released by astrocytes, a type of brain cell. ccl5 is known to activate factors that suppress hiv infection of human immune cells. " it is known to be important in blood, but we didn ' t know it is secreted in the brain, " says mocchetti. " our hypothesis is that it is in the brain to prevent neurons from dying. " they say morphine blocked hiv from binding to ccr5 receptors


on friday, we posed the following back - to - school - themed fermi problem : assuming you ' re not in a big lecture hall and the professor shuts the door at the start of class, how long does it take for you and your classmates to deplete the oxygen enough to feel it? we promised a surprising answer, and here it is. you decide if our back - of - the - envelope calculations are reasonable. let ' s build our classroom first. it ' s 16 feet wide and long, and 10 feet tall. in handy metric dimensions, that ' s : 5 meters by 5 meters by 3 meters, or 75 cubic meters. a cubic meter is 1000 liters, so now we ' ve got 75, 000 liters of fresh air. the oxygen content of air is about 21 percent, and at about 17. 5 percent you ' ll run from the room screaming. to get from fresh and breathable to absolutely stifling, take the difference between 21 percent of 75, 000 liters and 17. 5 percent of 75, 000 liters. that gives us 2, 625 liters of oxygen to get through. how much oxygen does a human consume? it was tough finding a reliable source, but this press release about the 2006 installation of a new oxygen generation system on the international space station provides a clue : during normal operations, it will provide 12 pounds daily ; enough to support six crew members. aha! so one person needs about 2lb of oxygen a day, or. 9 kg. but how many liters is that? oxygen has a molar mass of 16 grams, so oxygen gas, or o2, has a mass of 32 grams per mole. one mole of gas at standard pressure and temperature takes up 22. 4 liters. now, as my high - school chemistry would say, it ' s time to hop on the mole - train :. 9 kg x ( 1000 g / 1 kg ) x ( 1 mole o2 / 32 g o2 ) x ( 22. 4 l / 1 mole o2 ) this gives us a daily oxygen intake of 630 liters per person. let ' s get a more reasonable rate : ( 630 l / day ) x ( 1 day / 24 hours ) x ( 1 hour / 60 mins ) now we have the serviceable rate of oxygen consumption of. 4375 liters per minute. we ' re almost there. now populate the classroom with 34 students and 1 teacher. the 35 occupants consume 15. 3125 liter


diabetic neuropathies ( say : die - uh - bet - ik noo - rop - e - thees ) are a group of disorders that can cause pain, along with numbness, weakness, or odd sensations. up to 70 % ( 7 out of 10 ) of people who have diabetes ( both type 1 and type 2 ) have some form of neuropathy. this can involve the hands, feet, arms, and legs. it can sometimes also affect the digestive tract, heart, or sex organs. signs and symptoms some patients who have diabetic neuropathy have no symptoms at all. others may have : - numbness and tingling in the hands and feet - pain in the hands and feet, especially burning, electric shock - like pain - extreme sensitivity of the skin, similar to a bad sunburn - weakness in the muscles of the hands or feet - erectile dysfunction ( problems having or keeping an erection ) in men, or vaginal dryness in women - difficulty urinating ( peeing ) - constipation or diarrhea - feeling dizzy or lightheaded when standing quickly because there are so many possible symptoms of diabetic neuropathy in different people, researchers think there are likely a number of ways that diabetes causes nerve damage. but in general, high levels of blood sugar are toxic to nerves and impair their ability to heal and recover from injury. there is also damage to blood vessels in diabetes. this means that nerves can not get the oxygen they need to survive. if you smoke cigarettes or drink beyond the usual amounts of alcohol, this can also be damaging to small nerves in the hands and feet, and can make diabetic peripheral neuropathy worse. some people with diabetes do not develop neuropathy. this may mean that part of the cause is genetic as well. this may make some people more prone to nerve injury than others. there are a number of tests that can help to diagnose diabetic neuropathy and guide treatment. the simplest test is a small filament, which your doctor can use in the office to test your sensation. the device applies a consistent amount of pressure so your doctor can compare how sensitive your skin is to that of a person without neuropathy. often this is the only test that needs to be done. quantitative sensory testing ( qst ) quantitative sensory testing ( qst ) can be used to make note of changes in your condition over time. this test checks your sensitivity to light touch, pin


often this is the only test that needs to be done. quantitative sensory testing ( qst ) quantitative sensory testing ( qst ) can be used to make note of changes in your condition over time. this test checks your sensitivity to light touch, pinprick, pressure, vibration, and temperature. it is very rarely needed, but is helpful in research studies to look at disease progression. nerve conduction studies ( ncs ) or electromyography ( emg ) nerve conduction studies ( ncs ) or electromyography ( emg ) check how well an electrical signal is being passed through a nerve or how well the muscles respond to the nerve signal. most often, these tests are not needed but may help to rule out other causes of nerve damage, if needed. how much your blood pressure and heart rate change over time can suggest problems with your autonomic nerves. these nerves control those non - voluntary functions. control of blood sugar the most important way to prevent and treat diabetic neuropathy is good control of blood sugar. this can prevent further damage. when sugars are controlled for the first time, some patients find that the pain is worse for a little while, then improves. there are a number of medicines that are used to control nerve pain. some patients may benefit from : - tricyclic antidepressants ( such as amitriptyline or nortriptyline ) - gabapentin or pregabalin - tramadol or other opioid - like medicines ( such as morphine ) - serotonin - norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors ( such as venlafaxine or duloxetine ) - gels or creams that include a local anaesthetic such as lidocaine acupuncture and tens some patients find things like acupuncture or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation ( tens ) helpful as well. studies have shown that non - drug therapies can help to reduce pain levels and enhance pain coping. these include : - activity pacing - cognitive behavioural therapy these self - management strategies can help you to improve your function so you can do more and enjoy life more. for more information the neuropathy association american pain foundation trip database ( resources for evidence based medicine ) national institute of neurological disorders and stroke national diabetes information clearinghouse canadian diabetes association american diabetes association figueroa - romero c, sadidi m, feldman el. mechanisms of disease : the oxidative stress theory of diabetic neuropathy


propublica analyzed federal education data from the 2009 - 2010 school year to examine whether states provide high - poverty schools equal access to advanced courses and special programs that researchers say will help them later in life. this is the first nationwide picture of exactly which courses are being taken at which schools and districts across the country. more than three - quarters of all public school children are represented. read our story and our methodology. from http : / / projects. propublica. org / schools. © copyright 2011 pro publica inc. find a school bainbridge high school 9330 ne high school rd, bainbridge island, wash., 98110 | grades 9 - 12 | students | | total teachers | | inexp. teachers | | ap courses | percentage of relevant students who... bainbridge high school, part of the bainbridge island school district, is located in bainbridge island, washington. the school reports an enrollment number of 1, 375 students in grades nine through 12, and it has 64 teachers on staff. bainbridge high school is below both the state and district averages in terms of the percentage of its students who are eligible for free or reduced - price lunches. on average, 38 percent of students in washington are eligible for free or reduced - price lunch programs, while 4 percent of bainbridge high school students are eligible. at the district level, 5 percent are eligible. propublica ' s analysis found that all too often, states and schools provide poor students fewer educational programs like advanced placement, gifted and talented programs, and advanced math and science classes. studies have linked participation in these programs with better outcomes later in life. our analysis uses free and reduced - price lunch to estimate poverty at schools. we based our findings on the most comprehensive data set of access to advanced classes and special programs in u. s. public schools — known as the civil rights data set — released by the u. s. department of education office for civil rights. bainbridge high school offers 10 ap courses, and 21 percent of students participate in those classes. the school ' s pass rate for ap exams is 76 percent. this is higher than the district average of 75 percent. a school ' s ap pass rate is determined by the number of students who both sat for ap exams and passed some or all of those exams. bainbridge high school enrolls 18 percent of students in advanced math classes, and 20 percent of students take chemistry. the enrollment rate for physics at the school is 9 percent. toppenish high school, in


proponents of drilling in the arctic national wildlife refuge are happy to make whatever outlandish claims are convenient to advance their cause. a few years ago, they were pushing the line that drilling in the refuge would generate 500, 000 - 750, 000 jobs, citing a study by wefa, one of the country ' s leading economic forecasting firms. we did a short analysis showing the faults of this study. when wefa refused to stand behind its study, this outlandish job claim quickly disappeared from the debate. but the nonsense continues. president bush claimed today that the country would be producing another million barrels of oil a day if president clinton had allowed drilling in the refuge. he presumably meant this claim to impress his audience, implying president clinton ' s opposition to drilling in the refuge is a major factor behind today ' s high oil prices. a few simple facts indicate otherwise. first, there is a world market for oil. what matters in determining the price of oil is how much oil is supplied in the world, not how much is supplied in the united states. if we were getting an additional 1 million barrels of oil a day, then its impact would be the same on prices in the united states whether the oil comes from alaska or anywhere else. one million barrels is less than 1. 2 percent of world oil supply. that is not trivial, but it will not hugely affect the world price of oil. the second point follows directly from the first. iraq ' s average oil output is approximately 1 million barrels a day less than it was before the war. in other words, the iraq war has reduced world oil supplies by approximately the same amount that drilling in the refuge might have increased it. the third point is that the oil in the refuge is a temporary fix. according to the energy information agency, it would take approximately 10 years to reach the peak production of 1 million barrels a day. this peak production would continue for approximately 10 years, and then it would trail back down to zero over roughly 10 years. this means that if we had begun drilling in the refuge the day clinton took office in 1993, then we would have hit peak production just over three years ago, and we would begin to see a decline in output beginning in 2013. this is not exactly long - term energy security. of course, there is plenty that clinton can be blamed for regarding energy policy. for example, if he had introduced mileage standards that increased average mileage by just 10 percent, this would save the country 1 million barrels a day of oil consumption, which would


the current enforcement of environmental laws often violates basic principles of fairness, with perverse consequences for everyone. - businesses suffer from the high costs of attempting to comply with vague and ambiguous environmental regulations to avoid prosecution. - individuals suffer by being subject to civil and criminal penalties unjustly imposed, and out of proportion to the severity of their violations. - government suffers by failing to improve the environment, while spending vast sums of money on sometimes useless litigation efforts. - we all suffer by having dirtier water, more polluted air and a less clean environment than we should have for the tremendous sums we spend. environmental enforcement encompasses the range of measures which government uses to punish noncompliance with environmental laws or regulations. when faced with a violation of environmental laws, enforcement agencies can often choose from a range of options — from administrative action to civil fines to criminal prosecution. the question is not whether we need environmental enforcement — of course we do. as in any regulatory regime, the possibility of violations exists ; wherever there is an intent to harm people or intentionally violate the law, a mechanism for enforcement ( and, sometimes, criminal enforcement ) must exist. but how do we judge whether a particular enforcement regime, whether for environmental or other laws, is effective and appropriate? some of the criteria we should use in answering this question are : - is it procedurally fair? - is there some reasonable relationship between the “ crime ” and the “ punishment ”? - does it effectively prioritize enforcement efforts, concentrating the most resources on punishing the worst actors and protecting us from the worst risks? - do enforcement agencies have appropriate incentives? - does the regulated community have appropriate incentives? these issues exist in some degree for all enforcement efforts, and there ' s little about environmental law that differs inherently from the issues raised by other substantive areas of the law. yet environmental enforcement has seldom been held up to the same scrutiny as other government enforcement programs. the problems of environmental enforcement fall into two main categories : - the current environmental enforcement system often fails to improve the environment — because of unclear regulations, and because environmental enforcers inappropriately concentrate on technical compliance with regulations and not on improving environmental quality. - current environmental enforcement policy often violates fundamental principles of fairness and justice — by using criminal punishments where they ' re not appropriate, by abandoning traditional concepts of intent and responsibility, and by eroding constitutional protections. the numbers of cases filed, penalties collected, and years of imprisonment obtained are largely irrelevant to measuring the success of the environmental enforcement program. one would think, from the fact


abandoning traditional concepts of intent and responsibility, and by eroding constitutional protections. the numbers of cases filed, penalties collected, and years of imprisonment obtained are largely irrelevant to measuring the success of the environmental enforcement program. one would think, from the fact that these figures climb year by year, that american businesses are becoming increasingly lawless and disdainful of environmental protection. yet the opposite is actually true. year by year, american businesses improve their environmental record and spend more on environmental protection than in any previous year. what these statistics prove is that the environmental enforcement program is pushing the margins of judicial deference, regulatory interpretation, and strict liability, to achieve essentially meaningless results of greater penalties and more convictions. environmental enforcement is responding to the first principle of any government bureaucracy : bigger budgets and more employees. new measures of success must be found. there is no one way to achieve effective and fair environmental enforcement ; reality is complicated. the principles to keep in mind, though, are relatively simple. to be effective, an enforcement regime must : - be clear in what it mandates and prohibits ; - be predictable in how it punishes violations of the regulations, and rely where possible on cooperative, problem - solving approaches ; and, - seek environmental improvement, not numerical enforcement targets. and to be fair, an enforcement regime must : - reserve criminal penalties for the morally blameworthy, and punish others with civil or administrative penalties ; - restore specific criminal intent as a necessary condition of a criminal prosecution, and only punish those who are truly responsible for the criminal acts ; and, - respect the bill of rights. reforms based on these principles would make environmental enforcement more predictable for businesses and more cost - effective for governments. environmentalists would benefit from these reforms, because a misguided enforcement regime that leads to unjustified punishments is, after all, bad press. the environment need not suffer as a result, and would, in fact, probably improve as the government starts to send a clearer and more consistent deterrent message. most importantly, these reforms would make environmental enforcement more fair for all concerned.


martha rushing walters sumrall by ed payne the life of civil war widow martha rushing walters sumrall was short. born in 1844, she would be laid to rest in a now forgotten texas grave in the mid - 1870s. it might well have been otherwise. when she married george warren walters in late 1860, the event seemed a promising union between the offspring of two of the more prominent families in the area : the powell and walters lines. in the piney woods ‘ prominent ’ did not equate to ‘ wealthy ’ in any sense that the term would have been understood in, say, natchez. but both families had risen to the upper rungs of the yeoman - farmer society of jones county. martha was the grand - daughter of john hathorn powell, who was born in edgefield county, south carolina, in 1800. by 1819 he had moved to central georgia, a way station for many who would eventually settle in the mississippi piney woods. there he married and continued to live until 1843, when he resettled in jones county. he served as post master for three years before moving to the gulf coast. but after several years he returned to jones county, where he remained until events forced him to leave the state. martha ’ s husband was a member of the large jones county walters clan. originating with the arrival of four males from south carolina into the piney woods in the early 1800s, it had expanded by 1860 to 125 individuals in 21 households. one of the four progenitors was willoughby walters. his son, george willoughby walters, had married sarah collins in 1830. the couple prospered for two decades, to the extent that by 1850 their livestock holdings and agricultural yields were among the largest in the county. this even though george willoughby, like the majority of those in the walters and collins lines, did not own slaves. but during an 1853 epidemic, george willoughby walters and three of the six children died. his widow then undertook a brief, disastrous marriage to james parker. she abandoned parker after one year and operated her own farm with her sole surviving son, george warren, and hired men. when faced with the prospect of her son ’ s marriage, sarah collins walters parker purchased a slave couple as farm laborers. she thereby entered the small circle of jones county slave owners that also included john h. powell. like her new husband, martha rushing walters had experienced the childhood loss of her father. her mother was samantha powell, born in georgia in 1824, who married joel eli rushing there around 1840. based on


slave owners that also included john h. powell. like her new husband, martha rushing walters had experienced the childhood loss of her father. her mother was samantha powell, born in georgia in 1824, who married joel eli rushing there around 1840. based on the birth states listed for their children, the couple remained in georgia until sometime after 1846. they then followed the trail of samantha ’ s father to jones county. by the time of the 1850 census, however, joel had died and left samantha as the head of household with five children ranging in age from one to ten years old. the middle child was martha, age six. within two years samantha had embarked on a new marriage. and, compared to the second marriage of george warren ’ s mother sarah, this one proved more successful. samantha wed widower marton w. owens around 1852 and the couple started a second family. three of her unmarried daughters by joel rushing moved in with their grandfather, john h. powell, with whom they were recorded living on the 1860 census. a short time after the october census enumeration, martha rushing married george warren walters. she had just turned seventeen ; he was nineteen. although john h. powell was a minor slave owner — he possessed a female slave and two children — he opposed secession. when voting was held to elect delegates to the state convention on secession in december of 1860, powell ran on an anti - secessionist platform and won by 166 to 89 over his secessionist opponent. upon his arrival in jackson, however, he quickly judged that the sentiment for secession was overwhelming. after siding with his fellow anti - secessionist on two test votes, powell joined with the majority in the final 84 - 15 vote for secession — much to the displeasure of those who had elected him. once war became a fact in the spring of 1861, the opportunity to test one ’ s courage in combat which often motivates young men resulted in the formation of several volunteer companies in jones county. but most males in the walters and collins families were not swept up in this initial wave of enthusiasm. george warren and his bride had given birth to a daughter, isabelle, in february of 1862. * when the confederate conscription law went into effect that april, however, he had little option but to enlist. he joined company k ( the ellisville invincibles ) of the 8th mississippi infantry regiment. after nine months of service, he returned home for the holidays in late 1862. this brief stay produced a second child, warren vinson walters, who would be born in august of 1863


the ellisville invincibles ) of the 8th mississippi infantry regiment. after nine months of service, he returned home for the holidays in late 1862. this brief stay produced a second child, warren vinson walters, who would be born in august of 1863. george warren walters remained with his unit throughout 1863 and 1864 as it took part in the battles of chickamauga and atlanta. but he was captured at the battle of franklin, tennessee, and had the misfortunate to be shipped to camp douglas, illinois. the grim, protracted nature of the war had provoked increasing brutality on both sides and camp douglas mirrored some of the deadly aspects of its southern counterpart, andersonville. over the winter of 1864 - 65 confederate prisoners were inadequately clothed and fed, which resulted in high death rates from exposure and disease. george warren walters arrived in early december, 1864, and was listing as having died of “ genl debility ” on february 6, 1865. he was buried in a mass grave along with 6, 000 others who died at camp douglas. martha ’ s brother, eli franklin rushing, demonstrates the way in which jones county civil war paths could converge and diverge. eli was among the early volunteers in the spring of 1861, when he joined capt. samuel prince ’ s company of the 8th mississippi infantry regiment. it was the same company, re - designated as company k, which george warren walters would join a year later. in april of 1862 eli re - enlisted for two years and was promoted to 3rd corporal. but on february 28, 1864, he deserted and within three months enlisted as a sergeant in the union 1st new orleans infantry regiment. he remained with the unit until his discharge in june of 1866. he moved to texas in 1869 and died there in 1903. martha rushing walters was more fortunate than many of the war widows. within three years she was able to remarry to jacob sumrall. on the 1870 census, jacob listed himself as age eighteen. this implies he was no more than thirteen at the end of the war and probably about sixteen, compared to martha ’ s twenty - four, when they wed. perhaps trying to minimize this eight - year age difference, martha deducted two years from her reported census age. in addition to martha ’ s two children by george warren walters, the couple had a one - year - old son, joel. the background of jacob sumrall ( jacob theodore sumrall, according to some genealogical accounts ) remains something of a mystery, due in part to the frequency with


george warren walters, the couple had a one - year - old son, joel. the background of jacob sumrall ( jacob theodore sumrall, according to some genealogical accounts ) remains something of a mystery, due in part to the frequency with which the members of the sumrall line bestowed the names jacob and elisha. the most reasonable lineage is that he was the son of an elisha sumrall who married nancy mccary in wayne county. this elisha sumrall was a son of a jacob sumrall born circa 1804 in south carolina who had married mary ann friday. elisha was born in mississippi around 1831. confusing things further is the fact that elisha ’ s mother gave birth to a son named jacob in 1849. it seems likely that the jacob sumrall who married martha rushing was the eldest son of elisha, rather than his uncle of the same name who was only three or four years older. the 1860 census might have offered support for this hypothesis, but no records have been found for the elisha sumrall family. however, it can be noted that on the 1870 enumeration elisha ’ s widow, who had remarried to moses holyfield, was listed with four sumrall sons just seven households down from the farm of jacob and martha. shortly after the 1870 census, jacob loaded up his family and set out for texas. they settled in kaufman county, southeast of dallas. it was less than 70 miles east of the community where martha ’ s grandfather and family had settled. john h. powell had died in alvarado, johnson county, texas in 1867 but his wife and several other members of the family continued to reside there. the year before, in 1869, martha ’ s brother eli had moved to falls county, about 90 miles to the south. but rather than settling near either of martha ’ s relatives, the sumrall family chose to set up housekeeping in kaufman county. martha gave birth to another son, eli theodore, soon after their arrival. in may of 1873 she gave birth to a daughter, mary magdalene. but within two years, as later census records reveal, jacob had remarried to lucy jane williams. it is apparent that martha rushing walters sumrall, mother of five and piney woods civil war widow, had died of unknown causes. efforts to find any information concerning her burial site have thus far been unsuccessful. the two walters children who accompanied their mother and step - father to texas remained there for several years, but by 1880 were back in mississippi


widow, had died of unknown causes. efforts to find any information concerning her burial site have thus far been unsuccessful. the two walters children who accompanied their mother and step - father to texas remained there for several years, but by 1880 were back in mississippi living with their 70 - year - old grandmother, sarah parker. also listed in the household was two year old carley ( charley ) walters, born in texas. he was cited, like isabelle and warren, as sarah ’ s grandchild, but circumstances suggest he was isabelle ’ s son. isabelle walters married james bush and gave birth to another thirteen children. the couple did not attempt to obscure the chronology of charley bush ’ s birth. on the 1900 census they identified themselves as having been married for eighteen years, while charley ’ s age was given as twenty - one. isabelle walters bush died on march 4, 1915 at age fifty - three. her brother warren vinson walters married jessie hattie pack in 1890. they had two children, only one of whom survived to adulthood. warren walters served in various elective posts in jones county before moving to hattiesburg, where he died on august 26, 1937 at age seventy - three. although the two families of martha rushing walters sumrall had separated in texas nearly sixty years before, there is evidence in warren walter ’ s obituary of his continuing bond with his half - sister. it listed mrs. w. e. roundtree of vera beach, florida as his surviving sister. mrs. roundtree ’ s maiden name was mary magdalene sumrall. * note : on the 1900 census, isabelle walters bush gave her birth month and year as february, 1863. on the same census warren walters gave his birth month and year as august, 1864. however, their gravestones list 1862 and 1863, respectively, which other circumstances suggest are the more reliable dates.


the church of england found itself in an uncomfortable position at the turn of the nineteenth century and was especially slow to recognise the significance of the changes taking place in the population structure of the country. it had been fully integrated into the social environment of the eighteenth century with village and parish normally coterminous. its great strength lay in southern england as it was there the bulk of the population and wealth was located. every settlement had its own church and so the population of each parish was of a manageable size. the situation in northern england was less favourable and there was a long - term failure to retain the loyalty and affections of many men and women in the country ’ s industrialising areas. parishes were large, were badly endowed and consequently attracted few clergy and many livings were held in plurality or by non - resident incumbents. for example, in 1831 leeds, with a population of over 70, 000 people, had only three places of anglican worship. the elaborate legal procedure for creating new parishes further hindered its ability to cope with the changing situation. the church hierarchy had little comprehension of the nature of the city and of the 104 bishops of between 1783 and 1852, only 17 had ever held an urban living. the diocesan system of the north was equally inflexible and unable to meet the new situation. until 1836, the whole of lancashire, large parts of cumberland and westmoreland and the north - west part of yorkshire were all included in the unwieldy diocese of chester. there was no bishop based in lancashire and the west riding until the dioceses of ripon and manchester were established in 1836 and 1847 and liverpool and newcastle did not gain episcopal status until 1880 and 1882. it was not just in the large towns that the anglican church ’ s position was serious. excessive emphasis has been placed on the alienation of urban society and this has tended to deflect attention away from the situation in the countryside. the real tragedy for the church was not the failure to meet the needs of people in the growing cities but rather its failure in the countryside where all its resources were concentrated. among the lower clergy, the curates and the holders of small benefices, there remained a degree of poverty that continued to cause hardship, despite the various pieces of legislation that sought to regulate curates ’ stipends. many church buildings were in disrepair and pluralism and absenteeism were rife. where dissent established support in a village, competition from the church was often limited. enclosure had reduced the hold of the church since improvements in farming led


stipends. many church buildings were in disrepair and pluralism and absenteeism were rife. where dissent established support in a village, competition from the church was often limited. enclosure had reduced the hold of the church since improvements in farming led to the commutation of tithes for land and many contemporaries believed that the increase in the clergy ’ s land was at the expense of the small tenant farmer. an even worse reaction against the church of england resulted from the collection of the tithe in kind, generally regarded as the ideal way of alienating the parson from his flock. an unresponsive and less than efficient pastoral system was exacerbated by a widespread belief that the church must be defended at all costs. like the unreformed parliament, the unreformed church had its own elaborate defence of the status quo. the french revolution had deeply frightened the propertied classes and strengthened their belief that the society under their control must be defended as a divinely ordained hierarchy. in this situation suggested reforms, including those of modest dimensions, could easily by identified with revolution and revolution with the destruction of christianity. even those who avoided the extremes of reaction felt it was their religious duty to preserve the constitution, the social order and the morality now under threat. in 1834, a fifth of the magistrates in england were anglican clergymen, embodying an enormous investment in social stability. to critics like the journalist john wade, whose polemic the black book appeared in 1820 and in a revised form as the extraordinary black book in 1831, the abuses of the church, its ineffective organisation and its conservative views were in need of reform. this was not the view of the church : its property rights had to be defended ; it was not accountable to the public ; it had, as an established institution, a prescriptive right to authority. by a series of instinctive, but ill - judged actions, the church identified itself with extreme toryism and alienated opinion further in the 1820s and early 1830s. abused by the radicals from outside parliament, the events of 1828 - 1829 showed how little the church could expect from its political friends. the repeal of the test and corporation acts and catholic emancipation ended the special relationship between the church and parliament establishing, in effect, free trade in religion. dissenters and catholics would now participate in legislation affecting the church. the attitude of the bishops during the reform agitation of 1830 - 1832 further tarnished the reputation of the church and reinforced its identification in the eyes of the public with reaction. on the church of


georgian period, with special reference to the clergy of the church of england. see, for example, brown, callum g., ‘ the mechanism of religious growth in urban society : british cities since the eighteenth century ’, in mcleod, hugh, european religion in the age of the great cities, 1830 - 1930, ( routledge ), 1994, pp. 237 - 260, a synoptic overview. see also, burns, arthur, the diocesan revival in the church of england c. 1800 - 1870, ( oxford university press ), 1999. lee, robert, rural society and the anglican clergy, 1815 - 1914 : encountering and managing the poor, ( boydell ), 2006, considers the church in norfolk. on this issue see evans, e. j., the contentious tithe : the tithe problem and english agriculture 1750 - 1830, ( routledge ), 1976, pp. 16 - 41 and 94 - 114. see, stafford, william, ‘ religion and the doctrine of nationalism in england at the time of the french revolution and napoleonic wars ’, in mews, stuart, ( ed. ), religion and national identity : papers read at the nineteenth summer meeting and twentieth winter meeting of the ecclesiastical history society, ( oxford university press ), 1982, pp. 381 - 395. clayson, jim, frow, edmund, and frow, ruth, ‘ john wade and the black book ’, labour history review, vol. 59, ( 2 ), ( 1994 ), pp. 55 - 57. simon, w. g., ‘ the bishops and reform ’, historical magazine of the protestant episcopal church, vol. 32, ( 1963 ), pp. 361 - 370, considers the period between 1820 and 1850.


we ' ve been talking about confirmation bias, which is the tendency to seek out data that confirm one ' s preconceptions, while ignoring data that conflict with those preconceptions. but there is a flip - side to this phenomenon known as disconfirmation bias. yes, we ' re quite knowledgeable about confirmation bias, and we routinely deal with denialism, which is ignoring contradicting evidence. of course, on the topic of evolution versus creationism, creationists, to my knowledge, have never bothered coming up with examples of what would be confirming or contradicting evidence for their unfalsifiable " hypothesis. " quotes from some psychologists : when evaluating an argument, can one assess its strength independently of one ' s prior belief in the conclusion? a good deal of evidence indicates the answer is an emphatic no. this phenomenon, which we refer to as the prior belief effect, has important implications. given two people, or groups, with opposing beliefs about a social, political, or scientific issue, the degree to which they will view relevant evidence as strong will differ. this difference, in turn, may result in a failure of the opposing parties to converge on any kind of meaningful agreement, and, under some circumstances, they may become more extreme in their beliefs. the history of science says otherwise. new ideas come up quite often, get rigorously tested, and if they keep passing tests, they become accepted. i ' m sensing the usual sour grapes involved in psychobabble arguments instead of honest inquiry, but that ' s mostly because i have a lot of prior experience with creationists. cynicism is no substitute for a sound, logical argument based on evidence. science and skepticism may be conservative, but they ' re inherently expansive. more psychobabble follows, including one example involving the death penalty. of course, that ' s an ethical / moral argument for the most part, not one of science. back to telic thoughts ' commentary : it makes sense that a disconfirmation bias would exist. if the human brain is wired to defend its preconceptions with confirmation bias, attacking beliefs that threaten those preconceptions would likely be part of the same strategy. this undercuts michael shermer ' s belief that " skepticism is the antidote for the confirmation bias. " in reality, hyper - skepticism, or selectively applied skepticism, may simply be another facet of the same brain processes that generate confirmation bias. what is " hyper - skepticism "? where


" skepticism is the antidote for the confirmation bias. " in reality, hyper - skepticism, or selectively applied skepticism, may simply be another facet of the same brain processes that generate confirmation bias. what is " hyper - skepticism "? where are shermer and my fellow skeptics applying our skepticism selectively? that ' s what i ' d like to hear you talk about. what does disconfirmation bias look like? i would like to propose three possible signs that disconfirmation bias is taking place, where one may be defending their preconceptions more so than playing the honest skeptic who is simply trying to " follow the evidence. " the difficulty with this is that sometimes people actually live up to negative stereotypes, and i can ' t recall the last time a creationist broke from the mold. in contrast, skeptics rarely ever act according to the predictions of creationists. 1. according to edwards and smith, " when one is presented an argument to evaluate, there will be some automatic activation in memory of material relevant to the argument. " searching one ' s " memory banks " can easily become relying on stereotypes. a stereotype, after all, is the brain ' s " summation " of previous experience that is linked by certain cues. thus, i hypothesize that when one is confronted with an argument that challenges their preconceptions, the more that person relies on stereotypes, the more it is likely they are exhibiting disconfirmation bias to protect a preconception. how can you tell if stereotype is involved? often, it is obvious. for example, if a critic on the internet poses his own argument against my design hypothesis, and i begin to rail against richard dawkins, obviously my brain has been tapping into information about dawkins to interpret my opponent. often times, however, the evidence is more subtle. and that takes me to my second sign. just a note : i have yet to meet a creationist who knows anything whatsoever about dawkins ' s views. from what i ' ve seen, they ' ve done everything they can to shove dawkins into their straw man molds and failed. at least he deserves kudos for demonstrating some sliver of self - awareness. 2. if one ' s brain is on " a deliberative search of memory for material that will undermine the argument simply " and the " search include stored beliefs and arguments that offer direct evidence against the premises and conclusion of the presented argument


awareness. 2. if one ' s brain is on " a deliberative search of memory for material that will undermine the argument simply " and the " search include stored beliefs and arguments that offer direct evidence against the premises and conclusion of the presented argument, " it stands to reason the person with disconfirmation bias will have a strong tendency to link a current argument with the perceived failures of previously - experienced arguments. this creates a mental inertia that leads to two expressions of disconfirmation bias : oh, boy. have you ever considered that the presented argument is exactly the same as a previously experienced and refuted argument? that ' s why we ' ve got things like the index to creationist claims. i haven ' t seen anything new in creationism in decades aside from this one guy claiming ice is magnetic. and even then, it seems he was copying kent hovind or someone of his ilk, trying to defend the " vapor canopy " tripe. a. misrepresentation " “ let ' s say that jones develops an argument that threatens the preconceptions of smith. but let us also say that smith had previously successfully dismantled a similar, but different, argument that was once posed by miller. the memory of this experience will shape the way smith reacts to jones. the brain processes involved in disconfirmation bias will cause smith to morph jones ' position into that of miller ' s. smith will feel vindicated by the disconfirmation bias, while jones will recognize that smith is attacking a " straw man. " the problem i experience with this : all subtle variations of creationism have almost all the same underlying faults. usually, if they ' re making a straw man claim on me, it ' s for an unimportant detail. even if i concede that minor inaccuracy, they tend to continue whining about it for the rest of the thread while ignoring any questions about their premises. b. faulty extrapolation " “ this is a more subtle version of misrepresentation, where smith ' s brain is so highly activated that it is sensitized to " cues " from jones that lead smith to believe that jones is reaching for miller ' s point. smith will not focus on the actual argument jones is making, but will be trying to " anticipate " where he thinks the argument is going in order to cut it off. in this case, smith is not really disconfirming jones ' argument ; he is creating an illusion of


jones is making, but will be trying to " anticipate " where he thinks the argument is going in order to cut it off. in this case, smith is not really disconfirming jones ' argument ; he is creating an illusion of disconfirmation in his mind because he thinks he knows where the argument is going ( when it may not even be going in that direction ). i ' m sometimes guilty of this, but mostly in an effort to rouse the creationist from his circular mill by shock. of course, much of the time, the extrapolation is something the creationists never thought of, and never made a cutoff limit for. they tend to make up principles that only seem to apply when it ' s convenient for them. 3. finally, to put this lengthy blog ( and tired blogger ) to bed, there is the dead give - away of personal attack. when someone attacks another person by questioning their motivations or with ridicule ( and more ), they are seeking to discredit the argument by discrediting the person who makes the argument. if such personal attacks are linked to stereotypes, it becomes clear the person ' s brain is adopting an " end justifies the means " approach to disconfirmation bias. there ' s a difference between an ad hominem fallacy and an insult. none of my arguments are based on the stupidity of the opponent. sometimes i have to use ridicule to shock someone awake at the absurdity of their arguments. or to keep my sanity with laughter when faced with someone who parrots debunked arguments over and over and over. when i lob an insult at someone, it ' s a conclusion based on their poor logic, stereotypical robotic behavior, ignorance of the most basic knowledge, etcetera. i never use it as a premise to disregard someone ' s opinion. in summary, skepticism is a good thing, but skepticism can be just another facet of the way brains defend " their territory. " add tribalisitic group behavior to the picture and the whole process is amplified and entrenched. i propose that you can detect disconfirmation bias at work, in individuals or groups, when hyper - skepticism, stereotype, misrepresentation, faulty extrapolations, and personal attacks occur more often than not. there ' s a difference between skepticism and rationalization. skepticism requires that someone make an escape route in the form of specific types of evidence that would openly contradict a false belief. without


extrapolations, and personal attacks occur more often than not. there ' s a difference between skepticism and rationalization. skepticism requires that someone make an escape route in the form of specific types of evidence that would openly contradict a false belief. without leaving room for falsification of a bias, you can never get out of it. that ' s why creationism is a bad idea : it ' s unfalsifiable. there ' s no telling what kind of evidence would support or contradict it, since they tend to fall quiet or change the subject in the matter. that ' s why creationists use stereotypes, misrepresentation, faulty extrapolations, straw men, and ad hominem fallacies to defend themselves. there was a time in my life when i was willing to entertain some of the fluffier forms of creationism like theistic evolution. the fact that i could be convinced to join the ranks of atheism means that i was perfectly able to listen to the other side. cynicism is no substitute for a collection of good, logical arguments. i write the way i do because i seek to emulate the wonderful people who won me over with unapologetic vigilance and irreverence in the face of would - be pc police.


in the united states, more people watch nascar racing than baseball, supposedly " america ' s pastime. " it ' s second only to football, with 75 million dedicated fans who tune in ( or show up ) almost every weekend of the year to watch stock cars race around a track at speeds up to 190 mph ( 306 kph ) [ sources : fulton, eaton ]. the cars ' non - epa - regulated engines and dangerously high speeds make the sport exciting to watch. they also make it one of the least environmentally friendly sports out there. nascar drivers make a living doing exactly what the rest of us are supposed to avoid in order to stave off global warming : drive ridiculously powerful, gas - guzzling sports cars at extremely high speeds for entertainment value. the sport burns so much fuel that the u. s. government labeled nascar a waste of gas during the fuel shortage of the 1970s. as a result, nascar shortened one of its races from 500 miles ( 804 kilometers ) to 450 miles ( 724 kilometers ) as a goodwill gesture. ( it was a temporary change. ) so, just how much fuel does it take to hold a nascar race, and what effect does it really have on the state of the atmosphere? is it a major co2 contributor, or does it just get a bad rap because of the nature of the sport? in this article, we ' ll find out whether nascar is as big an emitter as it seems. we ' ll check out the fuel and co2 numbers, see how it compares to other activities, and look at the potentially " greener " future of the sport. the first thing to understand when looking at nascar ' s carbon footprint is that race cars are even less like regular cars than some of us think. that speed comes at a price.