longer. we carefully pack very tiny or fragile seeds in crush - proof vials to ensure safe delivery to your home. some of the small seeds are also offered as " pellets " ( have a clay coating ) to make sowing and growing easier. when it comes to the kinds of seeds we offer, we are constantly seeking something new and provide many unique and hard - to - find varieties from all around the world. our on - staff horticulturists are ready and available to share their expertise to help you with the success of these seeds, so you can grow a beautiful and productive garden! does park sell gmo ' s or treated seeds? it is important for our customers to know that park seed does not sell gmo or treated seed. we do buy a small amount of traditional hybrid seed from seminis, a division of monsanto co., but that is all we purchase from them. what are the differences between organic, heirloom, and hybrid seed? basically, organic seeds are seeds that are produced without the use and exposure to artificial / chemical fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, and other chemicals. they have to be grown, harvested, stored, and handled under very strict organic rules and procedures. all of our organic seeds are usda 100 % certified organic through clemson university and the certificate has to be renewed yearly. heirloom seeds are open - pollinated - - they are not hybrids. you can gather and save heirloom seed from year to year and they will grow true to type every year, so they can be passed down through generations. to be considered an heirloom, a variety would have to be at least from the 1940 ' s and 3 generations old ( many varieties are much older - - some 100 years or more! ). hybrid seed are the product of cross - pollination between 2 different parent plants, resulting in a new plant / seed that is different from the parents. unlike heirloom seed, hybrid seed need to be re - purchased new every year ( and not saved ). they usually will not grow true to type if you save them, but will revert to one of the parents they were crossed with and most likely look / taste different in some way. what are pelleted seeds? why do you use them? how do i handle / sow them? extremely small seed such as petunias and pentas are shipped as pelleted seed to make them easier to handle and sow. pe


are pelleted seeds? why do you use them? how do i handle / sow them? extremely small seed such as petunias and pentas are shipped as pelleted seed to make them easier to handle and sow. pelleted seed are coated, usually with clay, to make them larger in size. after sowing, the coating will dissolve when wet and the seed will germinate. pelleted seeds are shipped in vials placed inside seed packets, which protects them from being crushed. when preparing to sow pelleted seeds, it is recommended to place seeds between 2 sheets of paper, and using your hand, lightly roll the seeds back and forth between the 2 sheets for a few moments. this slightly cracks the clay coating so that moisture will penetrate the seed coating faster to help speed up the germination process and increase the germination rate. when sowing, be certain to use thoroughly moistened soil, to be sure that the clay coating absorbs enough moisture to dissolve. for sowing pelleted petunia seeds, place the seeds directly on the soil surface and do not cover with soil, as light aids in the germination. what is ideal temperature to germinate most seeds? the ideal temperature to germinate most seeds is approximately 70 degrees f ; give or take 1 - 2 degrees either way. this would be a good germination temperature for most flower and vegetable seeds and would be the most practical and feasible temperatures achieved for gardeners starting seeds in the home. you will notice for some seeds that it is recommended to use alternating day ( warmer ), night ( cooler ), temperatures, which is fine if one can provide such conditions. but most people are unable to provide those temperatures in a home setting, so just use the overall 70 degree f recommendation and the seeds should germinate well. how long should grow lights be kept on per day and how close to the plants should the light be kept? for germination and seedling / plant growth, you want to simulate the natural day - night cycles, and as a general rule, grow lights should be on 8 - 12 hours per day and off at night. you can vary this timing, as some seeds such as tomato, pepper, petunia, impatiens, and others, benefit from 14 - 17 hours of light per day ( and the remainder of the 24 hour period in darkness ). the most common grow lights used are fluorescent ; using cool white, warm white, and


##unia, impatiens, and others, benefit from 14 - 17 hours of light per day ( and the remainder of the 24 hour period in darkness ). the most common grow lights used are fluorescent ; using cool white, warm white, and wide - spectrum fluorescent tubes. these lights work well for germination and for growing plants up to a transplantable size. fluorescent lights should be kept close though, 3 - 6 inches above the soil or the growing plants, adjusting the height as the plants grow. how long will seeds keep in storage? park seed stores seed in a special temperature - and humidity - controlled storage facility, which keeps seeds in excellent condition. our seeds should be good for at least 1 - 2 years on average. seed viability and storage time will vary depending on the seed item ; some will keep a shorter time and some will keep longer. seeds should be stored in a cool, dark, dry place. a basement will do ( if not too humid ), or a cool, dark room or closet. we recommend the best way to extend seed storage life is to store them in something air tight, such as a plastic zipper storage bag or canning jar, and place it in the refrigerator. this will extend the life of seeds for many years. what is the best way to store seeds over a longer time period? we recommend the best way to extend seed storage life is to store seeds in something air tight, such as a plastic zipper storage bag or canning jar, and place it in the refrigerator. this will extend the life of seeds for many years. what depth should i sow various seeds? when sowing seed outdoors, we recommend a maximum planting depth of 4x the width of the seed. when sowing seed indoors, the planting depth can be less, depending on the seed being sown, so it is always best to check specific directions. here are some general guidelines concerning planting depth in relation to seed size : tiny, dust - like seeds need to be sown on the surface of the growing medium or soil, uncovered, as they need light to germinate. the planting depth for small seed can be anywhere from barely covering, to 1 / 8 - inch deep, to possibly 1 / 4 - inch deep, depending on the recommendation. medium seed should be planted at 1 / 4 - to 1 / 2 - inch deep, depending on the recommendation. larger seeds can be planted 1 - inch or deeper, depending on the recommendation.


have you ever gotten really mad about something, but kept your feelings bottled up inside? maybe you weren ' t sure how to deal with your anger, or you didn ' t want to " rock the boat. " maybe you didn ' t feel like you had a right to be angry in the first place. keeping anger inside usually just makes it worse, and when people do it over and over again, for long periods of time, there can be very serious results. for example : hurting ourselves emotionally and physically sometimes, instead of pointing our anger at another person, we point it at ourselves. a guy who ' s mad all the time might convince himself that he ' s worthless, or a loser, or that he doesn ' t deserve to be happy. of course, telling himself all these things might just make the feelings of anger more intense. sometimes these feelings are so painful that a person believes that hurting himself physically is the only way to get all the anger out. withdrawing from life being angry can make it hard to be around other people. if someone ' s angry, she might pull away from friends or family members and start spending a lot of time alone. being alone isn ' t a bad thing, but if she never works through her anger, and if the anger keeps her from leading a complete life, she has a problem that needs to be dealt with. people with a lot of rage inside them can sometimes do crazy, dangerous things. they might try to start fights they have no hope of winning, or go places that aren ' t safe. the pumped - up feeling of being mad might make someone think that he or she can ' t be seriously hurt in these situations - which of course isn ' t true. many experts believe that people sometimes eat too much because they ' re trying to fill some emotional need. if you find yourself pushing feelings of anger inside and then eating lots of food or snacks to feel better, it ' s a sign that you need a better way to cope with your anger. using alcohol or drugs many people think that numbing their minds with drugs or alcohol will " quiet " the anger inside of them. this never works, because alcohol and drugs come with many problems of their own, and can often make people even angrier. using drugs and alcohol to control emotions is just a way to avoid the problem, not face up to it. people who try to ignore their anger and keep it all bottled up might develop other problems, including : so it ' s clear that keeping our anger inside is not the way


european painting before 1900, johnson collection adoration of the magi predella panel of an altarpiece ; companion to two panels in the john g. johnson collection, philadelphia museum of art ( inv. 1290, 1292 ) made in italy, europe cenni di francesco ( cenni di francesco cenni di ser cenni ), italian ( active florence, volterra, and san gimignano ), first documented 1369, died 1414 tempera and tooled gold on panel with horizontal grain inv. 1291john g. johnson collection, 1917 labelthis panel was originally part of a long, horizontal plank that was the predella, or base, of an altarpiece. the subject of this scene and the two others that completed the predella — one showing the martyrdom of saints john the baptist and lawrence and the other representing the martyrdom of saint bartholomew and the miracle of the bull ( philadelphia museum of art, inv. 1290, 1292 ) — indicate that the main sections of the altarpiece depicted, from left to right : saint john the baptist, saint lawrence, the virgin and child, saint bartholomew, and saint michael archangel. the presence of saint lawrence to the right of the virgin, the traditional place of honor, suggests that the altarpiece was originally in a chapel or church dedicated to that saint, most likely in or near the artist ’ s hometown of florence. social tags [? ] cow [ x ] crown [ x ] dog [ x ] donkey [ x ] figures [ x ] horse [ x ] landscape [ x ] magi4 [ x ] mary [ x ] monks [ x ] stable [ x ] [ add your own tags ] * works in the collection are moved off view for many different reasons. although gallery locations on the website are updated regularly, there is no guarantee that this object will be on display on the day of your visit.


american journal of bioethics 7 ( 1 ) : 29 – 32 ( 2007 ) | abstract | | the author comments on the article “ the neurobiology of addiction : implications for voluntary control of behavior, ‘ by s. e. hyman. hyman presents that addiction is a brain disease or a moral condition. the authors present that addiction is a strong preference, similar to appetitive preferences. they state that addiction is merely a form of pleasure - seeking. the authors conclude that the problem of addiction is the problem of the management of pleasure, not treatment of a disease. accession number : 24077914 ; authors : foddy, bennett 1 ; email address : email @ example. com savulescu, julian 2 ; affiliations : 1 : university of melbourne, monash university, australia ; 2 : university of oxford ; subject : editorials ; subject : addictions ; subject : hyman, s. e. ; subject : brain - - diseases ; subject : pleasure ; subject : neurobiology ; subject : behavior ; number of pages : 4p | | keywords | | editorials addictions hyman, s. e. brain - - diseases pleasure neurobiology behavior | | through your library | | configure | similar books and articles bennett foddy & julian savulescu ( 2010 ). relating addiction to disease, disability, autonomy, and the good life. philosophy, psychiatry, and psychology 17 ( 1 ) : 35 - 42. eric matthews ( 2010 ). explaining addiction. philosophy, psychiatry, and psychology 17 ( 1 ) : 23 - 26. malcolm horne ( 2010 ). johnny wilkinson ' s addiction. philosophy, psychiatry, and psychology 17 ( 1 ) : 31 - 34. steven e. hyman ( 2007 ). the neurobiology of addiction : implications for voluntary control of behavior. american journal of bioethics 7 ( 1 ) : 8 – 11. a. m. viens ( 2007 ). addiction, responsibility and moral psychology. american journal of bioethics 7 ( 1 ) : 17 – 19. adrian carter & wayne hall ( 2007 ). the social implications of neurobiological explanations of resistible compulsions. american journal of bioethics 7 ( 1 ) : 15 – 17. neil levy ( 2007 ). the social : a missing term in the debate over addiction and voluntary control. american journal of bioethics 7 ( 1 ) : 35 – 36. louis c. charland ( 2007 ). affective


acta biotheoretica 30 ( 2 ) ( 1981 ) | abstract | | the problem of modifier evolution was examined with regard to the idea that modifier evolution can be considered as a result of selection for adaptation speed in populations far from equilibrium. this kind of selection was called feedback selection in order to emphasize the difference to theories which consider modifier evolution near the equilibrium. the basic principles of this kind of selection are derived for asexual populations and the problem of dominance is discussed in the light of this concept. in general the results support the view, that the genetic properties of a character are selected along with the character itself. | | keywords | | no keywords specified ( fix it ) | | through your library | | configure | similar books and articles elliott sober ( 2011 ). realism, conventionalism, and causal decomposition in units of selection : reflections on samir okasha ' s evolution and the levels of selection. philosophy and phenomenological research 82 ( 1 ) : 221 - 231. david sloan wilson ( 1999 ). a critique of r. d. alexander ' s views on group selection. biology and philosophy 14 ( 3 ). robert n. brandon ( 1999 ). the units of selection revisited : the modules of selection. biology and philosophy 14 ( 2 ). john beatty ( 1984 ). chance and natural selection. philosophy of science 51 ( 2 ) : 183 - 211. david l. hull ( 2001 ). science and selection : essays on biological evolution and the philosophy of science. cambridge university press. jerry a. fodor ( 2010 ). what darwin got wrong. farrar, straus and giroux. david b. resnik ( 1992 ). discussion : leo buss ' s the evolution of individuality. biology and philosophy 7 ( 4 ) : 453 - 460. jerry fodor ( 2008 ). against darwinism. mind and language 23 ( 1 ) : 1 – 24. wim j. steen & bart voorzanger ( 1984 ). methodological problems in evolutionary biology iii. selection and levels of organization. acta biotheoretica 33 ( 3 ). denis m. walsh ( 2003 ). fit and diversity : explaining adaptive evolution. philosophy of science 70 ( 2 ) : 280 - 301. added to index2009 - 01 - 28 total downloads2 ( # 232, 684 of 549, 699 ) recent downloads ( 6 months ) 1 ( # 63, 425 of 549, 699 ) how


( physorg. com ) - - a research team led by nancy speck, phd, professor of cell and developmental biology at the university of pennsylvania school of medicine, has identified the location and developmental timeline in which a majority of bone marrow stem cells form in the mouse embryo. the findings, appearing online this week in the journal nature, highlight critical steps in the origin of hematopoietic ( or blood ) stem cells ( hscs ), says senior author speck, who is also an investigator with the abramson family cancer research institute at penn. because hscs, found in the bone marrow of adult mammals, generate all of the blood cell types of the body, unlocking the secrets of their origin may help researchers to better manipulate embryonic stem cells to generate new blood cells for therapy. “ the ultimate goal for stem cell therapies is to take embryonic stem cells and push them down a particular lineage to replace diseased or dead cells in human adults or children, ” says speck. for instance, in theory embryonic stem cells could be tweaked in a lab to provide a patient with bone marrow failure a fresh supply of compatible hscs. to date, however, speck says scientists have been unable to coax embryonic stem cells to become hscs without significant genetic manipulations that are too risky for clinical therapies. first things first, speck says : “ you have to understand what ' s happening in the embryo. ” previous studies hinted that hscs originated from a small population of cells lining the blood vessels, called endothelial cells. but, it was unclear how endothelial cells transitioned to blood stem cells during early development. before joining penn in september 2008, speck, then at dartmouth medical school, led a team that confirmed that hscs in bone marrow were originating from the endothelial cells and determined whether the activity of a protein called runx1, which is known to be critical in the formation of blood cells, was responsible for this important transition. first, the researchers inactivated the gene that codes for the protein runx1 in the endothelial cells of mouse embryos. during development, some endothelial cells express runx1, signaling the production of grapelike clusters of hscs along the interior walls of several major blood vessels. upon release from the vessel walls hscs enter the blood circulation and travel to the fetal liver, and upon birth they relocate to the bone marrow. by selectively blocking the ability of endothelial cells to express run


walls of several major blood vessels. upon release from the vessel walls hscs enter the blood circulation and travel to the fetal liver, and upon birth they relocate to the bone marrow. by selectively blocking the ability of endothelial cells to express runx1 during embryo development, the researchers halted hsc production, demonstrating that runx1 is vital to the endothelial cell to hsc transition. next, speck ’ s team shut off runx1 expression in mouse embryos at day 11. 5 of gestation - - a time when most newly born hscs have detached from the vessel wall and migrated to the fetal liver. the researchers found that blocking runx1 expression had no effect on hsc formation, suggesting while runx1 is required for the transition from endothelium to hscs, the process is complete by the end of the 11th day of gestation. the researchers also showed that at least 95 percent of all adult hscs ( and therefore almost all adult blood ) originate in the endothelium, during this short window of time during development. “ this study helps illustrate a very important step in the transitional stage from embryonic stem cells to hscs - the need to move through endothelial cells as an intermediary, ” speck says. understanding the location and developmental timeline of the origin of blood stem cells will help guide future efforts to coax embryonic stem cells to produce mature blood cells, she says. co - authors include michael chen and brandon zeigler from dartmouth medical school ( departments of biochemistry and genetics ) and tomomasa yokomizo and elaine dzierzak from erasmus medical center in rotterdam, netherlands. provided by university of pennsylvania explore further : healthy five - pound gorilla born at central ohio zoo


| the dip needle is a compass pivoted to move in the plane containing the magnetic field vector of the earth. it will then show the angle which the magnetic field makes with the vertical. the needle must be accurately balanced so that only magnetic torques are exerted on it. some texts suggest that the dip angle be measured twice, with the poles of the needle reversed by remagetization between trials, and the results averaged. some instruments allow the needle and circle to be rotated to allow use as a compass. the miami apparatus was made by w. & j. george of london and birmingham. | this dip needle was made by ferdinand ernicke of berlin, and was on display at the university of colorado physics department in 1975 when this picture was taken. | | the dip needle ( or inclination compass ) at the left was purchased from ruhmkorff of paris, probably in 1875, for vanderbilt university. it is now on display in the garland collection of classical physics apparatus at vanderbilt. " in carrying out a measurement one sets the needle in the magnetic meridian by turning the support until the needle is vertical, in which case the needle is in a magnetic east - west plane, and then turns the support exactly 90°, at which point the vertical scale circling the needle is in the magnetic meridian. thereupon the angle the needle makes with the horizontal is the angle of inclination.... the horizontal circular scale is marked off in half degrees. the associated vernier allows readings to one minute. the vertical scale is marked off in ten - minute intervals. " ( from robert a. lagemann, the garland collection of classical physics apparatus at vanderbilt university ( folio publishers, nashville, tn, 1983 ) pg 152 ) the instrument at the left appears to be exactly the same as the one above it. however, it is marked " gambey a paris ". it is in the apparatus collection of case western reserve unversity in cleveland, ohio. this phelps and gurley ( troy, new york ) dip needle was bought by dartmouth college in 1862. with its case and extra needle it was valued at $ 20. 00. attached to this apparatus when i looked at in june 2001 was the following information : " provided it is well removed from local influences such as iron, magnetite and other ferromagnetic materials, a compass needle that is free to rotate in a vertical plane will point downward in the northern hemisphere at an angle from the horizontal along the line of the earth ' s magnetic field. the


iron, magnetite and other ferromagnetic materials, a compass needle that is free to rotate in a vertical plane will point downward in the northern hemisphere at an angle from the horizontal along the line of the earth ' s magnetic field. the instrument for measuring this angle is called an inclinometer, dip needle or, most frequently, dip circle. " | | the dip needle at the left is on display at the university museum at the university of mississippi in oxford. the mechanism pivots so that it can be used either as a dip needle, or, in the horizontal orientation, as a compass. the accompanying placard identifies it as being made by lerebours et secretan of paris, but it is not in the 1853 l & s catalogue where so much of the apparatus purchased by frederick a. p. barnard in the second half of the 1850s can be found. | the dip needle at the right is at the department of physics at the university of texas at austin. the 1888 queen catalogue lists it as " inclination compass. vertical circle, ten inches in diameter, horizontal circle, five inches ; brass posts, base and leveling screws, all delicately finished... this dip needle is at westminster college in new wilmington, pennsylvania. it is about 30 cm high and has no maker ' s name. it can be flipped horisontally for use as a compass.


or in other words, are there differences in average lyapunov timescale between orbits interior to jupiter and orbits exterior to jupiter? i ' m trying to answer a question at http : / / www. quora. com / why - does - pluto - have - so - many - satellites / answer / alex - k - chen but i ' m not totally sure if the last part of my answer is right. i ' ll quote the last part of it : if the 2nd theory is true, then it ' s harder to answer this. one thing for sure though : jupiter is much farther away, so its tug on the system is a much smaller factor than it is for the inner planets ( where it can be a major source of instability over the solar system ' s lifetime ) in fact - i suspect that another factor is that from pluto ' s perspective, jupiter is practically in the center of the solar system anyways, so you ' re unlikely to see periods of time where jupiter is in such a position where its constant gravitational tugs ( over several jupiter orbits ) can accumulate and tug a satellite into an unstable orbit ( which is what can happen with planets that orbit the sun at distances interior to jupiter ). anyways i don ' t fully know the physics on this ( yet ) so some of my details could be wrong - what i do know is that it could happen to both asteroid belt objects and to mercury ' s orbit - http : / / en. wikipedia. org / wiki / stability _ of _ the _ solar _ system # mercury. e2. 80. 93jupiter _ 1 : 1 _ resonance - perhaps because there are positions where jupiter ' s pull on interior bodies is in a direction opposite to that of the sun ' s pull ( we never hear about the sun creating any orbital instabilities ). and mercury is much closer to jupiter than pluto is. of course, pluto is vulnerable to neptune ' s influence, but pluto and neptune have a 3 : 2 orbital resonance so it ' s relatively safe from collisions with neptune ( although the resonance may not be constant over the solar system ' s lifetime ) anyways, we might finally know more once new horizons reaches pluto in a few years http : / / www. alpheratz. net / murison / papers / lyapunov / lfm. pdf says that there is something special about asteroids with orbits interior to jupiter - i ' ll try to find more information on this.


this is the third in a 3 part series. part 1 : pagan origins of christmas, part 2 : christian origins of christmas, and part 3 : santa claus and his ilk. in part 1, i discussed the pagan origins of christmas. in part 2, we discussed the practices of christmas that were christian in origin. in this piece, we ’ ll talk about the characters of christmas, particularly santa, but with notable others as well. santa claus has, for better or worse ( who are we kidding, its worse ), become ubiquitous with christmas. it is usually the first image that pops into little heads when the c - word is mentioned. but from whence did he come? so many names for him, too : saint nicolas, father christmas, kris kringle, among others. so what is the origin of the fat one? let ’ s start at the beginning. yes, there was in fact, a real person named saint nicolas. he was born in 270 ce, and died in 343 ce. he was the bishop of myra, in what is now turkey. he was very devout, even at an early age, and after his parents died while he was young, he was tutored in bishoprickery by his uncle, and soon was ordained. he was at the council of nicea, and was among the signers of the titular creed. he was also known as nicolas the wonderworker, on account of the miracles he was said to have done, but probably more well known for using his considerable wealth ( which he inherited ) to help those less fortunate. in the most popular story, saint nicolas heard of a poor man being unable to provide dowry for his daughters, and feared them becoming prostitutes. so nicolas, in secret, provided the money for the dowries in three separate purses for the girls. now, here is where the magic starts to kick in. st. nick became something of a church rock star. and often, when this happened, there came followers, who wished, not to follow st. nicolas, as it were, but were so inspired by him, that they desired to follow god in the same way that st. nicolas did. so a “ cult ” of st. nick began. nicolas, after his death, became quite popular as the patron saint of navigation. around the mediterranean this was quite important. so in the eastern part of christendom, nicolas was gathering quite a following. however, turkey fell to the turks in the 11th century, and in 1087, nicolas


as the patron saint of navigation. around the mediterranean this was quite important. so in the eastern part of christendom, nicolas was gathering quite a following. however, turkey fell to the turks in the 11th century, and in 1087, nicolas ’ bones were moved to the western part of the empire, where, between the pope ’ s to - do made about the bones, and the popular feast days associated with him, nicolas ’ cult exploded in popularity, rivaling that of even the blessed mother mary. this cult ( in this sense, simply an atypical way of practicing religion ) began spreading quite far across christendom and in the medieval period, spread across northern europe quite fast. once there, the cult and myths of nicolas crashed into more local and pagan expressions of culture and myth. around the same general times of nicolas ’ feast days, the great hunt of the god odin was held. odin was said to ride in his chariot, pulled by his 8 - legged horse, sleipnir. often, children would fill their boots with gifts for sleipnir, usually carrots, straw, and sugar, and in return, odin would leave gifts or candy in the boot. as christendom ’ s influence became dominant, the practices that once accompanied the veneration of odin were still celebrated, but the attributes of odin were shifted onto st. nicolas in order to make his cult more popular and to give a reason for christians to keep traditions alive and still remain faithful to their religion. so it was that st. nicolas gained a nordic look, a white beard, a sleigh, and a penchant for putting goodies in stockings. around this time, his name became skandinavian - ized to sinterklaas. odin ’ s raven helpers became sinterklaas ’ various helpers and odin ’ s spear became sinterklaas ’ staff. interestingly, woden, the counterpart of odin in many other areas of northern europe, did not merge with st. nicolas, but a similar process occurred. while woden ’ s influence waned in places like england, a new character, father christmas, was created. father christmas appeared as a tall man, usually very old. he usually wore green suit trimmed with fur and dark boots. he often had a large sack with him, and many times had a beard, with or without mustache. this father christmas appears in dickens ’ novel as the ghost of christmas present, and also in lewis ’ the lion, the witch


and dark boots. he often had a large sack with him, and many times had a beard, with or without mustache. this father christmas appears in dickens ’ novel as the ghost of christmas present, and also in lewis ’ the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. to various degrees, when the father christmas myths and the sinterklaas myths made their way to america, the stories began to merge. in 1773, sinterklaas was first americanized into santa claus, and as a parody of dutch culture of the time, was made to look stout instead of lean. in 1821, a poem called santeclaus described this chap as having a sleigh with reindeer. it is interesting to note that santa had 8 original reindeer to pull his sleigh and odin had a horse with 8 legs to pull his. in 1823, various myths were cemented in the poem “ night before christmas. ” santa began landing on roofs and using chimneys. toys now figured prominently. st. nick is called “ chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf ” with “ a little round belly ”, that “ shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly ”, while “ miniature sleigh ” and “ tiny reindeer ” might indicate that he was still considered short. the reindeer recieved names : dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, dunder and blixem ( meaning thunder and lightning, were likely the common names for thor ’ s chariot goats in norse mythology, but later changed to donner and blitzen ). thomas nast, in the 1860 ′ s, popularized and / or created a number of other santa claus myths with his cartoons. from nast, santa gained his home at the north pole, and has santa as a large, fat guy. in one cartoon, santa is even seen wearing an american flag. no comment. while coca - cola was not the first company to feature santa claus in advertisement, they were the ones that so popularized the red and white fur suit that all other dresses for santa virtually disappeared in the 20th century. mrs. santa claus first appeared in 1849, in “ a christmas legend, ” a short story. she gained a more popular appearance in the poem “ goody santa claus on a sleigh ride ” in 1889, where she nags santa into letting her ride with him on the sleigh one year. interestingly enough, one of her earliest appearances gives her first name as “ layla. ”


began portraying him, not as an elf, but rather as a ” moor. ” this tradition carries on to today, where black peter can be seen being portrayed in black face ( judge the taste with which this is done in for yourself ) at some christmas parades. knecht ruprecht is a character who helped sinterklaas, much like krampus and black peter, but is human, rather than creature. he dresses in brown, dirty robes or straw, and gives bad children swats, or gives their parents sticks to beat their kids. he is also known simply to give bad gifts. he is also known as farmhand rupert, and often carries a bag of ashes with him to hit children who don ’ t pray. interestingly, ruprecht is a common name of a devil in many mythologies from germany, where knecht ruprecht originates, so perhaps there is a connection to krapus and black peter in ruprecht ’ s original form, but that is my speculation. as early as 1850, elves have been depicted as helpers of santa claus. of course, these smaller, kinder, and more creative elves were sanitized and sweet versions of the helpers that came from across the atlantic, but is seems that americans had no stomach for the more evil appearing helpers, especially with the calvinistic assaults on christmas celebrations common in american history. so the elves continued to evolve with each new appearance gaining hats, then appearing all green, then depicted, alongside developments in santa myths, in workshops, etc … i still advocate that these are gnomes, not elves, but i digress … now you know, and knowing is half the battle. i think the point of all this, is that … we should be honest with our kids about santa claus. unless of course, you take the good with the bad and tell them about santa ’ s helpers, too ….


in order to understand the degeneration of the socialist ( second ) international, karl korsch in 1920 applied an historical materialist analysis to marxism. he related marxist praxis to the level and nature of class struggle. he posited three periods of marxist activity. the first period ended about 1850, involved the revolutions of 1848 and the chartist movement. this revolutionary period gave rise to the “ original ” and revolutionary marxism of marx and engels. the second period lasted until the 1917 russian revolution, and was characterized by the defeat of the paris commune and a partial absorption of the working class into simple trade unionism. marxism, in its turn, became reformist during this period. the third period began with the russian revolution and revolutionary marxism was restored with revolutionary thinkers like lenin and rosa luxemburg. this is not the place to debate the merits of korsch ' s three stages, but only to consider applying historical materialist analysis to the anarchist movement in an attempt to understand its ideological odyssey. can the anarchist movement be placed in periods related to the level of class struggle in those countries where it had some prominence? like marxism, anarchism developed just prior to and during the revolution of 1848. this early anarchism was based mainly on the writings of pierre proudhon. but unlike marxism, “ proudhonism ” was not a fully developed revolutionary anarchism. in many aspects it was gradualist and reduced class struggle to the formation of worker mutualist societies. ( proudhon was opposed to strikes ) most workers at this time were artisans and mutualism was natural to them. anarchism ' s first period would be roughly 1840 until the late 1860 ' s. during this time, proudhon influenced the nascent workers movement in france, southern europe and part of latin america. by the late 1860 ' s, however, a growing class struggle in those countries where proudhon ' s thought had influence, began to move anarchism in a more militant direction. ( 1 ) bakunin is the chief anarchist theoretician of this period which lasts until the defeat of the paris commune and the crushing of the spanish and italian revolts. thus anarchism ' s second period lasts from about 1868 to 1874. post - 1874 sees a period of reaction, as well as the “ long depression ” which effects many of the advanced economies up until the mid - 1890 ' s. class struggle wanes, or is severally repressed in the countries where anarchism has any presence. but rather than heading in


well as the “ long depression ” which effects many of the advanced economies up until the mid - 1890 ' s. class struggle wanes, or is severally repressed in the countries where anarchism has any presence. but rather than heading in a reformist direction, an important section of the movement goes the opposite way, into ultra leftism. two crucial aspects of revolutionary anarchism are ignored, seemingly pushed aside as irrelevant, these are the need to be directly involved in the people ' s struggles and the need for organization, rejected for “ propaganda of the deed ” and small autonomous action groups. this third period lasts until the late 1890 ' s. propaganda of the deed proves an abject failure. anarchists are marginalized and the social democratic parties get the upper hand, except for southern europe and latin america. at the same time, the 1880 ' s and 90 ' s see a process of industrialization occurring, almost world - wide. former peasants and artisans are converted into wage workers and the class struggle heats up. anarchists return to the working class and involve themselves in the formation of revolutionary labour unions, ( syndicalism ). we can date anarchism ' s fourth period from the late 1890 ' s. syndicalism develops into a mass movement comprising millions of workers. anarcho - syndicalists are involved in the mexican and russian revolutions, as well as risings in other countries such as argentina and brazil. but fourth period anarchism had a flaw. while involved in the people ' s struggles and the creation of mass organizations, most syndicalists fell into a kind of economic determinism and also underestimated the need for a distinct revolutionary organization. for most third period syndicalists, revolution meant the workers occupying and running the work places and the need to deal politically with the state was ignored. the defeat of the spanish revolution in 1938 brings the third period to a close. at the same time, with few exceptions, workers become integrated into communist, social democratic or even worse, business unions and the parties supported by these tendencies. autonomous class struggle, which found its theoretical and practical expression in syndicalism, for all intents and purposes, ends at this time, with the defeat of syndicalism, anarchism once more becomes separated from the working class. essentially, the end of autonomous struggle is the end of anarchism as a proletarian movement. the fifth period begins in 1939 and goes until 1968. this time, unlike the


, anarchism once more becomes separated from the working class. essentially, the end of autonomous struggle is the end of anarchism as a proletarian movement. the fifth period begins in 1939 and goes until 1968. this time, unlike the propaganda of the deed period, anarchists do two things – they immerse themselves in theory and attempt to develop a reformist anarchism, a “ practical ” anarchism that can be applied in a time when mass working class revolt, let alone revolution seems a hopeless fantasy. a major concern is why the working class failed to bring about the libertarian socialist revolution. sexuality, child rearing practices, pedagogy, and culture are all examined and it is shown how these have an effect upon the workers consciousness and practice. a gramcian struggle for hegemony ensues as anarchists strive to bring liberatory practice into daily life and overcome those factors which create a subservient population. ( the one area where anarchism does have some input into the working class is the promotion of workers control and these ideas begin to resurface in the mid - 1960s. ) the post 1939 “ movement ” allows anarchism to survive. its ideas have an influence far beyond the small numbers of adherents. liberatory practices begin to permeate society and the most obvious example of this is the formation of early new left and the counter - cultures of the 1960s. 1968 signals that anarchism has entered a new phase, the sixth period. autonomous class struggle is back again. non - syndicalist unions start talking about workers control. syndicalist unions begin recruiting again, though they remain very much a minority tendency within anarchism. anarchism at this time is overwhelmingly counter - cultural, except for countries where it has deep roots like france, italy and spain. permanent anarchist organization begins in countries that had not seen such in 40 years. the far - left is largely marxist leninist during this period, but anarchism is now a contender, something it wasn ' t in the fourth period. the seventh period begins in 1980 and sees the complete defeat / capitulation of the orthodox left everywhere. the working class, at first combative, is beaten down and defeated. anarchism suffers as well. while not eliminated, numbers are down and some organizations fragment. but the collapse of the eastern bloc, and the re - establishment of “ democracy ” in latin america leads to a proliferation of anarchist groups. anarchists are now found almost


suffers as well. while not eliminated, numbers are down and some organizations fragment. but the collapse of the eastern bloc, and the re - establishment of “ democracy ” in latin america leads to a proliferation of anarchist groups. anarchists are now found almost everywhere, but the movement is “ a mile wide and an inch deep ” and is still largely counter - cultural. ( counter - culture seems to be the way that anarchism enters new areas and attracts youth. ) the eighth ( and present ) period is signaled by the battle of seattle in 1999 and the argentine revolt of 2000. seattle makes vast numbers of people aware of anarchism. the rebirth of class struggle in france, spain and mexico 1994 - 5 gave rise to the invigorated syndicalism of the french cnt, the spanish cgt and the libertarian communalism of the zapatistas, and laid the base for this period. the far left is now basically “ the anarchists, ”. more than a decade into the sixth period, the growing, if not dominant tendency in anarchism is working class oriented, and organizational. furthermore, the influence of anarchist ideas goes far beyond the actual number of anarchists. today, it is a rare socialist who is not in favor of worker - management, worker coops and popular power exercised through neighborhood councils. even if, as some cynical anarchists claim, these socialists are not sincere, it still shows the influence of these ideas that they have to raise them in the first place. looking at anarchism in relation to the actual level of class struggle and how this struggle is reflected in anarchist praxis enables us to have a deeper understanding and appreciation of our movement. western society has an underlying notion of free will and thus we have a culture of finger - pointing and blame. ( you freely chose to do this, you vile creature! ) unconsciously, the left shares this culture. people who deviate from what is considered correct in terms of theory and practice are deemed to have done so for negative motives. while “ selling - out ”, ignorance and stupidity are factors, they don ' t explain everything. by examining anarchist praxis in the manner above, we realize that most of what happens, including those aspects we disagree with, are the natural responses to a given set of conditions rather than malfeasance and stupidity. the worst we can say about our past errors is that they were short - sighted. realizing the almost cyclic nature of the movement and the different periods that it can be divided


responses to a given set of conditions rather than malfeasance and stupidity. the worst we can say about our past errors is that they were short - sighted. realizing the almost cyclic nature of the movement and the different periods that it can be divided into, can help us overcome any future errors made as a short - sighted reaction to changed conditions. for example, no period of reaction is so all - encompassing that we have to resort to propaganda of the deed to keep anarchism alive. while anarchism lost its proletarian base in the 1950 ' s, this did not mean this was permanent and that militant, class struggle anarchism was gone forever. at the same time, aside from the disastrous propaganda of the deed, much has been gained from anarchism ' s various phases, in spite of the errors committed. an incredible amount was learned from the fourth or syndicalist phase. indeed, this period really put anarchism on the map as a serious tendency in the workers movement. the fifth period developed anarchist understanding of society to a remarkable degree, making much of the earlier anarchism seem crude by comparison. without the counter - culturalism of the sixth and seventh periods, it is unlikely that so many youth would have become attracted to anarchism. 1. many of these proudhonist associations began to take on a more militant stance.


richard axel and linda buck honored for discovering genetic coding that allows us to identify and distinguish thousands of smells new york, ny, october 4, 2004 – richard axel, m. d. of columbia university medical center has won the 2004 nobel prize in physiology or medicine along with linda b. buck, ph. d., of the fred hutchinson cancer research center for clarifying how the olfactory system works. dr. buck was a postdoctoral fellow at columbia when she and dr. axel jointly published the fundamental paper on the subject in 1991. the sense of smell has remained the most enigmatic of the senses. the work of drs. axel and buck has provided understanding on how the nose is able to distinguish more than 10, 000 distinct smells. the researchers discovered a gene pool of more than 1, 000 different genes that encode olfactory receptors in the nose that detect odors and olfaction. this is believed to be the largest gene family in the human genome. " i ' m deeply honored and very pleased, " said dr. axel. " this honor represents the long efforts of the many faculty, students and fellows who have worked within our laboratories at columbia university medical center. i have received enormous support over the years beginning with the scholarship i received to attend columbia college. i have to also thank the national institutes of health and the howard hughes medical institute that allowed the performance of truly novel experiments by our research team. " dr. richard axel is university professor, columbia university, and investigator, howard hughes medical institute at the college of physicians and surgeons, columbia university medical center. he has been at columbia university medical center his entire career, and was an undergraduate at columbia college. axel and buck join a group of 70 notable columbians whose work has been recognized by the nobel foundation, including 19 in the category of physiology or medicine. " columbia university is honored that our esteemed faculty member, richard axel, has received the nobel prize for his pioneering studies clarifying how our sense of smell works, " said columbia university president lee c. bollinger. " dr. axel ' s groundbreaking research solves the puzzle of how we translate the sensations around us into knowledge that is key for our survival and quality of life. " " dr. axel ' s work is among the most important discoveries of the past 50 years, providing insights regarding how individuals perceive their external environment, " said gerald d. fischbach, executive vice president, columbia university medical center. " he has been an enormously important influence for all the sciences here at columbia university


the past 50 years, providing insights regarding how individuals perceive their external environment, " said gerald d. fischbach, executive vice president, columbia university medical center. " he has been an enormously important influence for all the sciences here at columbia university, the medical center and the college of physicians and surgeons. his wide range of interests and enormous skills in molecular biology have influenced faculty throughout the university. " " we congratulate richard and linda for their profoundly important discovery, and for the way in which they achieved it, " said david hirsh, executive vice president for research at columbia university. " their experiments represent the highest form of creativity, scientific discipline and scholarship. this is science at its most beautiful. " the sense of smell is possible because neurons directly connect the brain to the outside world. in the nose, receptors on the neurons pick up odors from the environment and send that information directly to the olfactory bulb, the first relay station in the brain. drs. axel and buck determined how neurons converge in the olfactory bulb, which gave them further insights into how smell is processed in the brain. each olfactory receptor cell possesses only one type of odorant receptor, and each receptor can detect a limited number of odorant substances, so the olfactory receptor cells are highly specialized for a few odors. most odors are composed of multiple odorant molecules, and each odorant molecule activates several odorant receptors, leading to a combined odorant pattern, which allows us to recognize and form memories of approximately 10, 000 different odors. the combination of odorant receptors activated when we smell a rose tell us that it smells nice and is different from the combination of receptors activated by rotting fish. the sense of smell is essential to the survival of most species, who use their olfactory systems to identify food, smell predators and observe and interpret their environments. in humans, smells warn us if food has gone bad and can be powerful enough to trigger distinct memories years later. axel and his colleagues also developed gene transfer techniques that permit the introduction of virtually any gene into any cell, allowing the analysis of gene function in vivo. these experiments in cell transformation led to the isolation and functional analysis of the gene for the t - cell surface protein, cd4, the cellular receptor for hiv. he then began to apply the techniques of molecular biology to problems in neurobiology. he identified the peptide genes responsible for eliciting an innate behavior in a marine snail, and molecular analysis of these genes suggests how diverse behavioral patterns may be


even in the largest american cities, a historically maligned beast is thriving, despite scientists ' belief that these mammals intently avoid urban human populations. this animal ' s amazing ability to thrive in metropolitan areas has greatly surprised scientists, says stanley gehrt, an assistant professor of environmental and natural resources at ohio state university. gehrt is in the sixth year of a multi - year study of coyote behavior in urban chicago. since the study began, gehrt and his colleagues have found that urban coyote populations are much larger than expected ; that they live longer than their rural cousins in these environments ; and that they are more active at nighttime than coyotes living in rural areas. coyotes also do some good – they help control rapidly growing populations of canada geese throughout north america. and while his coyote research is concentrated in chicago, the results likely apply to most major metropolitan areas in north america. gehrt has even seen a pack of about a dozen on ohio state ' s campus in columbus. the study began in chicago in 2000 when gehrt was a research biologist for the max mcgraw wildlife foundation in dundee, ill. in the 1990s the foundation was increasingly inundated with complaints about coyotes taking pets and reportedly stalking children. the number of calls grew, and in the late 1990s the cook county animal control agency asked gehrt to gather information on coyote populations in metropolitan chicago. the study was only supposed to last for a year. " nine million people live in the greater chicago area, " said gehrt, who is also a wildlife extension specialist at ohio state. " we didn ' t think very many coyotes could thrive in such a highly urbanized area. we also thought that the few animals that were causing problems were probably used to living around people. " the problem with studying coyotes in general is that the animals are incredibly difficult to catch. they quickly learn how to avoid traps. but gehrt and his colleagues distributed their traps widely throughout the greater chicago area and successfully caught several animals. they put radio - tagged collars on the captured coyotes and then let them go. the original estimates of the greater chicago coyote population were woefully low. the researchers had expected to find a few small coyote packs here and there throughout the city, with total population numbers in the range of several dozen. but the animals were everywhere. " we couldn ' t find an area in chicago where there weren ' t coyotes, " gehrt said. " they ' ve learned to exploit all parts of their landscape. " since the beginning of the study,


but the animals were everywhere. " we couldn ' t find an area in chicago where there weren ' t coyotes, " gehrt said. " they ' ve learned to exploit all parts of their landscape. " since the beginning of the study, the researchers have caught and tagged more than 200 coyotes. they estimate that there may be somewhere between several hundred and a couple thousand coyotes living in chicago. some of the animals live in city parks, while others live among apartment and commercial buildings and in industrial parks. the funding agency, cook county animal control and conservation medicine coalition, renews the study every year because the researchers keep finding results that surprise them. this spring, gehrt will publish the first round of papers from the last six years ' worth of research. the major findings include : those urban coyotes that don ' t hunt in packs can cover ranges of 50 square miles or more, often in just one night. " the first solitary coyote we tracked covered five adjacent cities in a single night, " gehrt said. urban coyotes survive far longer than their rural cousins. a coyote living in urban chicago has a 60 - percent chance of surviving for one year, while a rural coyote has a 30 percent chance of living for another year. most coyotes pose little threat to humans. the problems generally start when people feed coyotes, even if that feeding is unintentional. " a coyote may eat the food that ' s left outside for a pet, " gehrt said. " it ' s not uncommon to see a coyote pass through an urban or suburban neighborhood. " but most coyotes aren ' t thrilled about being seen by people, " he continued. " urban coyotes are more active at night than their rural counterparts, so humans don ' t see a lot of their activity. in many cases, coyotes are probably doing us favors that we don ' t realize – they eat a lot of rodents and other animals that people don ' t want around. " the next phase of the study is already underway. gehrt and his colleagues are conducting genetic study of coyotes ' social system. the researchers want to know if members of a pack are closely related – having such information could help to further explain coyote behavior. written by holly wagner, 614 - 292 - 8310 ; wagner. email @ example. com last reviewed : by john m. grohol, psy. d. on 21 feb 2009 published on psychcentral. com. all rights reserved.


most ads are false inferences, half truths or worse. solar panels and wind turbines are rarely an exception. you need a million dollar facility to make pv panels out of sand or wind turbines out of scrap metal. unless someone owes you a favor or you are very lucky, buying components and assembling them typically costs about as much as buying a finished product / lots more if you make some errors. in typical locations, alternative energy will cost several times as much as buying it from the utility. exceptions are rare. you can do alternative energy as a hobby. what you learn may help you get a better paying job. while trees help absorb carbon dioxide, they are bad for alternative energy as they block the wind and shade the solar panels. in most locations the wind is quite weak most of the time and clouds obscure the sun ten or more hours per week. large wind turbines typically need a permit which is likely to be refused and neighbors up to a mile away may sue you for vibrating their house, causing epileptic seizers from the flickering light etc. so start with a small system = a 100 amphour, 12 volt deep cycle battery and a few square feet of solar panel or a tiny wind turbine you need a diode to keep the battery from powering the wind turbine when the wind stops. many small solar panels come with the diode built in. you don ' t need a charge controller if you draw some power from the battery weekly or oftener. a new fully charged battery can supply up to one kw briefly, so there is little point in buying an inverter rated much more than 1000 watts, unless you expect to add more batteries soon. several batteries of the same type in parallel are ok until one of them is bad, which may discharge the other batteries. it will take weeks to recharge your batteries with one square foot of solar panel = a tiny 15 volt dc power cube will charge them about as fast. you can connect both until your batteries all measure a bit over 13 volts. check each battery as a low voltage while charging is usually due to a poor connection, which is a frequent problem. neil


about the charts and nutrition facts - for accuracy, the calorie chart and fat chart are based on the biggest serving size available. - these nutrition facts came directly from the usda or manufacturer / restaurant. - if you ' re using a calorie counter, remember that fat, carbs, and protein calories are just close estimations based on the atwater factors : fat : 9 cal / g carb : 4 cal / g protein : 4 cal / g - percent daily values are based on a 2, 000 calorie diet. please remember this when using this information to make healthy food choices for your diet. calories - total calorie count at this serving size : 220 calories. the calorie chart below shows the breakdown for fat, carbs, and protein. in this case, calories from fat = 100, calories from protein = 48, and calories from carbohydrate = 76. fat - the total fat grams for one serving is 11 grams. of this, 4 grams are from saturated fat and unfortunately trans fat is unknown. the remaining 7 grams are unaccounted for. cholesterol - the amount of cholesterol in one serving is 30 mg. carbohydrates - for this food, the total carbohydrate count is 19 grams, which includes 1 gram of sugar and 2 grams of fiber. there are 17 net carbs per serving ( total carbs minus fiber ), which is good to know if you are watching your blood sugar or on a low carb diet. protein - at this serving size you ' ll get 12 grams of protein per serving. minerals - at this serving size calcium is 20 mg and iron is 2 mg. in addition, this food has 680 mg of sodium in each serving. vitamins - this food has both vitamin a and vitamin c. one serving contains 320 international units of vitamin a and 3 mg of vitamin c.


wordly wise 4th grade - lesson 1 | benefit | | to help or be helpful to ; to be useful to. | to be finished. | complete | | having no missing parts ; whole. | | develop | | to go through a process of growth. | to bring or come into being. to apply chemicals to photographic material film to bring out a picture. | dismay | | to cause feelings of fear, worry or surprise. | a sudden loss of courage because of fear or worry. | ease | | a state of being comfortable - without worry, pain or trouble. | to make less worried, pained or troubled. | hail | | small lumps of frozen rain. | to fall as frozen rain. to greet or welcome, usually with admiration. | lack | | to be without. | | master | | chief, main. | having or showing great skill. to become skilled at. | patriot | | one who loves, supports, and is loyal to his or her country. | | patriotic | | having or showing love of one ' s country. | | patriotism | | love of one ' s country. | | project | | a plan or idea for doing something. | to stick out. to cause an image to be shown on a screen. | recommend | | to make a statement of praise. | to give advice, to suggest. | remark | | to say, to make a comment. | something said, a comment. | remarkable | | deserving of being noticed, unusual. | | represent | | to stand for or in place of. | to act in place of. | sufficient | | enough to fill a need. | | utter | | to make sounds with the voice, to speak. |


significant anniversaries are solemnly commemorated — japan ’ s attack on the u. s. naval base at pearl harbor, for example. others are ignored, and we can often learn valuable lessons from them about what is likely to lie ahead. right now, in fact. at the moment, we are failing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of president john f. kennedy ’ s decision to launch the most destructive and murderous act of aggression of the post - world war ii period : the invasion of south vietnam, later all of indochina, leaving millions dead and four countries devastated, with casualties still mounting from the long - term effects of drenching south vietnam with some of the most lethal carcinogens known, undertaken to destroy ground cover and food crops. the prime target was south vietnam. the aggression later spread to the north, then to the remote peasant society of northern laos, and finally to rural cambodia, which was bombed at the stunning level of all allied air operations in the pacific region during world war ii, including the two atom bombs dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki. in this, henry kissinger ’ s orders were being carried out — “ anything that flies on anything that moves ” — a call for genocide that is rare in the historical record. little of this is remembered. most was scarcely known beyond narrow circles of activists. when the invasion was launched 50 years ago, concern was so slight that there were few efforts at justification, hardly more than the president ’ s impassioned plea that “ we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence ” and if the conspiracy achieves its ends in laos and vietnam, “ the gates will be opened wide. ” elsewhere, he warned further that “ the complacent, the self - indulgent, the soft societies are about to be swept away with the debris of history [ and ] only the strong … can possibly survive, ” in this case reflecting on the failure of u. s. aggression and terror to crush cuban independence. by the time protest began to mount half a dozen years later, the respected vietnam specialist and military historian bernard fall, no dove, forecast that “ vietnam as a cultural and historic entity … is threatened with extinction … [ as ] … the countryside literally dies under the blows of the largest military machine ever unleashed on an area of this size. ” he was again referring to south vietnam. when the war ended eight horrendous years later, mainstream opinion was divided between those who described the war as


dies under the blows of the largest military machine ever unleashed on an area of this size. ” he was again referring to south vietnam. when the war ended eight horrendous years later, mainstream opinion was divided between those who described the war as a “ noble cause ” that could have been won with more dedication, and at the opposite extreme, the critics, to whom it was “ a mistake ” that proved too costly. by 1977, president carter aroused little notice when he explained that we owe vietnam “ no debt ” because “ the destruction was mutual. ” there are important lessons in all this for today, even apart from another reminder that only the weak and defeated are called to account for their crimes. one lesson is that to understand what is happening we should attend not only to critical events of the real world, often dismissed from history, but also to what leaders and elite opinion believe, however tinged with fantasy. another lesson is that alongside the flights of fancy concocted to terrify and mobilize the public ( and perhaps believed by some who are trapped in their own rhetoric ), there is also geostrategic planning based on principles that are rational and stable over long periods because they are rooted in stable institutions and their concerns. that is true in the case of vietnam as well. i will return to that, only stressing here that the persistent factors in state action are generally well concealed. the iraq war is an instructive case. it was marketed to a terrified public on the usual grounds of self - defense against an awesome threat to survival : the “ single question, ” george w. bush and tony blair declared, was whether saddam hussein would end his programs of developing weapons of mass destruction. when the single question received the wrong answer, government rhetoric shifted effortlessly to our “ yearning for democracy, ” and educated opinion duly followed course ; all routine. later, as the scale of the u. s. defeat in iraq was becoming difficult to suppress, the government quietly conceded what had been clear all along. in 2007 - 2008, the administration officially announced that a final settlement must grant the u. s. military bases and the right of combat operations, and must privilege u. s. investors in the rich energy system — demands later reluctantly abandoned in the face of iraqi resistance. and all well kept from the general population. gauging american decline with such lessons in mind, it is useful to look at what is highlighted in the major journals of policy and opinion today. let us keep to the most prestigious of the establishment journals,


all well kept from the general population. gauging american decline with such lessons in mind, it is useful to look at what is highlighted in the major journals of policy and opinion today. let us keep to the most prestigious of the establishment journals, foreign affairs. the headline blaring on the cover of the december 2011 issue reads in bold face : “ is america over? ” the title article calls for “ retrenchment ” in the “ humanitarian missions ” abroad that are consuming the country ’ s wealth, so as to arrest the american decline that is a major theme of international affairs discourse, usually accompanied by the corollary that power is shifting to the east, to china and ( maybe ) india. the lead articles are on israel - palestine. the first, by two high israeli officials, is entitled “ the problem is palestinian rejection ” : the conflict cannot be resolved because palestinians refuse to recognize israel as a jewish state — thereby conforming to standard diplomatic practice : states are recognized, but not privileged sectors within them. the demand is hardly more than a new device to deter the threat of political settlement that would undermine israel ’ s expansionist goals. the opposing position, defended by an american professor, is entitled “ the problem is the occupation. ” the subtitle reads “ how the occupation is destroying the nation. ” which nation? israel, of course. the paired articles appear under the heading “ israel under siege. ” the january 2012 issue features yet another call to bomb iran now, before it is too late. warning of “ the dangers of deterrence, ” the author suggests that “ skeptics of military action fail to appreciate the true danger that a nuclear - armed iran would pose to u. s. interests in the middle east and beyond. and their grim forecasts assume that the cure would be worse than the disease — that is, that the consequences of a u. s. assault on iran would be as bad as or worse than those of iran achieving its nuclear ambitions. but that is a faulty assumption. the truth is that a military strike intended to destroy iran ’ s nuclear program, if managed carefully, could spare the region and the world a very real threat and dramatically improve the long - term national security of the united states. ” others argue that the costs would be too high, and at the extremes some even point out that an attack would violate international law — as does the stand of the moderates, who regularly deliver threats of violence, in violation of the u. n. charter. let us review these


be too high, and at the extremes some even point out that an attack would violate international law — as does the stand of the moderates, who regularly deliver threats of violence, in violation of the u. n. charter. let us review these dominant concerns in turn. american decline is real, though the apocalyptic vision reflects the familiar ruling class perception that anything short of total control amounts to total disaster. despite the piteous laments, the u. s. remains the world dominant power by a large margin, and no competitor is in sight, not only in the military dimension, in which of course the u. s. reigns supreme. china and india have recorded rapid ( though highly inegalitarian ) growth, but remain very poor countries, with enormous internal problems not faced by the west. china is the world ’ s major manufacturing center, but largely as an assembly plant for the advanced industrial powers on its periphery and for western multinationals. that is likely to change over time. manufacturing regularly provides the basis for innovation, often breakthroughs, as is now sometimes happening in china. one example that has impressed western specialists is china ’ s takeover of the growing global solar panel market, not on the basis of cheap labor but by coordinated planning and, increasingly, innovation. but the problems china faces are serious. some are demographic, reviewed in science, the leading u. s. science weekly. the study shows that mortality sharply decreased in china during the maoist years, “ mainly a result of economic development and improvements in education and health services, especially the public hygiene movement that resulted in a sharp drop in mortality from infectious diseases. ” this progress ended with the initiation of the capitalist reforms 30 years ago, and the death rate has since increased. furthermore, china ’ s recent economic growth has relied substantially on a “ demographic bonus, ” a very large working - age population. “ but the window for harvesting this bonus may close soon, ” with a “ profound impact on development ” : “ excess cheap labor supply, which is one of the major factors driving china ’ s economic miracle, will no longer be available. ” demography is only one of many serious problems ahead. for india, the problems are far more severe. not all prominent voices foresee american decline. among international media, there is none more serious and responsible than the london financial times. it recently devoted a full page to the optimistic expectation that new technology for extracting north american fossil fuels might allow the u. s. to become energy independent, hence to retain its global hege


none more serious and responsible than the london financial times. it recently devoted a full page to the optimistic expectation that new technology for extracting north american fossil fuels might allow the u. s. to become energy independent, hence to retain its global hegemony for a century. there is no mention of the kind of world the u. s. would rule in this happy event, but not for lack of evidence. at about the same time, the international energy agency reported that, with rapidly increasing carbon emissions from fossil fuel use, the limit of safety will be reached by 2017 if the world continues on its present course. “ the door is closing, ” the iea chief economist said, and very soon it “ will be closed forever. ” shortly before the u. s. department of energy reported the most recent carbon dioxide emissions figures, which “ jumped by the biggest amount on record ” to a level higher than the worst - case scenario anticipated by the international panel on climate change ( ipcc ). that came as no surprise to many scientists, including the mit program on climate change, which for years has warned that the ipcc predictions are too conservative. such critics of the ipcc predictions receive virtually no public attention, unlike the fringe of denialists who are supported by the corporate sector, along with huge propaganda campaigns that have driven americans off the international spectrum in dismissal of the threats. business support also translates directly to political power. denialism is part of the catechism that must be intoned by republican candidates in the farcical election campaign now in progress, and in congress they are powerful enough to abort even efforts to inquire into the effects of global warming, let alone do anything serious about it. in brief, american decline can perhaps be stemmed if we abandon hope for decent survival, prospects that are all too real given the balance of forces in the world. “ losing ” china and vietnam putting such unpleasant thoughts aside, a close look at american decline shows that china indeed plays a large role, as it has for 60 years. the decline that now elicits such concern is not a recent phenomenon. it traces back to the end of world war ii, when the u. s. had half the world ’ s wealth and incomparable security and global reach. planners were naturally well aware of the enormous disparity of power, and intended to keep it that way. the basic viewpoint was outlined with admirable frankness in a major state paper of 1948 ( pps 23 ). the author was one of the


naturally well aware of the enormous disparity of power, and intended to keep it that way. the basic viewpoint was outlined with admirable frankness in a major state paper of 1948 ( pps 23 ). the author was one of the architects of the new world order of the day, the chair of the state department policy planning staff, the respected statesman and scholar george kennan, a moderate dove within the planning spectrum. he observed that the central policy goal was to maintain the “ position of disparity ” that separated our enormous wealth from the poverty of others. to achieve that goal, he advised, “ we should cease to talk about vague and … unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of the living standards, and democratization, ” and must “ deal in straight power concepts, ” not “ hampered by idealistic slogans ” about “ altruism and world - benefaction. ” kennan was referring specifically to asia, but the observations generalize, with exceptions, for participants in the u. s. - run global system. it was well understood that the “ idealistic slogans ” were to be displayed prominently when addressing others, including the intellectual classes, who were expected to promulgate them. the plans that kennan helped formulate and implement took for granted that the u. s. would control the western hemisphere, the far east, the former british empire ( including the incomparable energy resources of the middle east ), and as much of eurasia as possible, crucially its commercial and industrial centers. these were not unrealistic objectives, given the distribution of power. but decline set in at once. in 1949, china declared independence, an event known in western discourse as “ the loss of china ” — in the u. s., with bitter recriminations and conflict over who was responsible for that loss. the terminology is revealing. it is only possible to lose something that one owns. the tacit assumption was that the u. s. owned china, by right, along with most of the rest of the world, much as postwar planners assumed. the “ loss of china ” was the first major step in “ america ’ s decline. ” it had major policy consequences. one was the immediate decision to support france ’ s effort to reconquer its former colony of indochina, so that it, too, would not be “ lost. ” indochina itself was not a major concern, despite claims about its rich resources by president eisenhower and others. rather, the


’ s effort to reconquer its former colony of indochina, so that it, too, would not be “ lost. ” indochina itself was not a major concern, despite claims about its rich resources by president eisenhower and others. rather, the concern was the “ domino theory, ” which is often ridiculed when dominoes don ’ t fall, but remains a leading principle of policy because it is quite rational. to adopt henry kissinger ’ s version, a region that falls out of control can become a “ virus ” that will “ spread contagion, ” inducing others to follow the same path. in the case of vietnam, the concern was that the virus of independent development might infect indonesia, which really does have rich resources. and that might lead japan — the “ superdomino ” as it was called by the prominent asia historian john dower — to “ accommodate ” to an independent asia as its technological and industrial center in a system that would escape the reach of u. s. power. that would mean, in effect, that the u. s. had lost the pacific phase of world war ii, fought to prevent japan ’ s attempt to establish such a new order in asia. the way to deal with such a problem is clear : destroy the virus and “ inoculate ” those who might be infected. in the vietnam case, the rational choice was to destroy any hope of successful independent development and to impose brutal dictatorships in the surrounding regions. those tasks were successfully carried out — though history has its own cunning, and something similar to what was feared has since been developing in east asia, much to washington ’ s dismay. the most important victory of the indochina wars was in 1965, when a u. s. - backed military coup in indonesia led by general suharto carried out massive crimes that were compared by the cia to those of hitler, stalin, and mao. the “ staggering mass slaughter, ” as the new york times described it, was reported accurately across the mainstream, and with unrestrained euphoria. it was “ a gleam of light in asia, ” as the noted liberal commentator james reston wrote in the times. the coup ended the threat of democracy by demolishing the mass - based political party of the poor, established a dictatorship that went on to compile one of the worst human rights records in the world, and threw the riches of the country open to western investors. small wonder that, after many other horrors, including the near - genocidal invasion of east timor,


that went on to compile one of the worst human rights records in the world, and threw the riches of the country open to western investors. small wonder that, after many other horrors, including the near - genocidal invasion of east timor, suharto was welcomed by the clinton administration in 1995 as “ our kind of guy. ” years after the great events of 1965, kennedy - johnson national security adviser mcgeorge bundy reflected that it would have been wise to end the vietnam war at that time, with the “ virus ” virtually destroyed and the primary domino solidly in place, buttressed by other u. s. - backed dictatorships throughout the region. similar procedures have been routinely followed elsewhere. kissinger was referring specifically to the threat of socialist democracy in chile. that threat was ended on another forgotten date, what latin americans call “ the first 9 / 11, ” which in violence and bitter effects far exceeded the 9 / 11 commemorated in the west. a vicious dictatorship was imposed in chile, one part of a plague of brutal repression that spread through latin america, reaching central america under reagan. viruses have aroused deep concern elsewhere as well, including the middle east, where the threat of secular nationalism has often concerned british and u. s. planners, inducing them to support radical islamic fundamentalism to counter it. the concentration of wealth and american decline despite such victories, american decline continued. by 1970, u. s. share of world wealth had dropped to about 25 %, roughly where it remains, still colossal but far below the end of world war ii. by then, the industrial world was “ tripolar ” : us - based north america, german - based europe, and east asia, already the most dynamic industrial region, at the time japan - based, but by now including the former japanese colonies taiwan and south korea, and more recently china. at about that time, american decline entered a new phase : conscious self - inflicted decline. from the 1970s, there has been a significant change in the u. s. economy, as planners, private and state, shifted it toward financialization and the offshoring of production, driven in part by the declining rate of profit in domestic manufacturing. these decisions initiated a vicious cycle in which wealth became highly concentrated ( dramatically so in the top 0. 1 % of the population ), yielding concentration of political power, hence legislation to carry the cycle further : taxation and other fiscal policies, deregulation, changes in the rules of corporate governance allowing huge gains for executives, and so


the top 0. 1 % of the population ), yielding concentration of political power, hence legislation to carry the cycle further : taxation and other fiscal policies, deregulation, changes in the rules of corporate governance allowing huge gains for executives, and so on. meanwhile, for the majority, real wages largely stagnated, and people were able to get by only by sharply increased workloads ( far beyond europe ), unsustainable debt, and repeated bubbles since the reagan years, creating paper wealth that inevitably disappeared when they burst ( and the perpetrators were bailed out by the taxpayer ). in parallel, the political system has been increasingly shredded as both parties are driven deeper into corporate pockets with the escalating cost of elections, the republicans to the level of farce, the democrats ( now largely the former “ moderate republicans ” ) not far behind. a recent study by the economic policy institute, which has been the major source of reputable data on these developments for years, is entitled failure by design. the phrase “ by design ” is accurate. other choices were certainly possible. and as the study points out, the “ failure ” is class - based. there is no failure for the designers. far from it. rather, the policies are a failure for the large majority, the 99 % in the imagery of the occupy movements — and for the country, which has declined and will continue to do so under these policies. one factor is the offshoring of manufacturing. as the solar panel example mentioned earlier illustrates, manufacturing capacity provides the basis and stimulus for innovation leading to higher stages of sophistication in production, design, and invention. that, too, is being outsourced, not a problem for the “ money mandarins ” who increasingly design policy, but a serious problem for working people and the middle classes, and a real disaster for the most oppressed, african americans, who have never escaped the legacy of slavery and its ugly aftermath, and whose meager wealth virtually disappeared after the collapse of the housing bubble in 2008, setting off the most recent financial crisis, the worst so far. in the years of conscious, self - inflicted decline at home, “ losses ” continued to mount elsewhere. in the past decade, for the first time in 500 years, south america has taken successful steps to free itself from western domination, another serious loss. the region has moved towards integration, and has begun to address some of the terrible internal problems of societies ruled by mostly europeanized elites, tiny islands of extreme wealth in a


america has taken successful steps to free itself from western domination, another serious loss. the region has moved towards integration, and has begun to address some of the terrible internal problems of societies ruled by mostly europeanized elites, tiny islands of extreme wealth in a sea of misery. they have also rid themselves of all u. s. military bases and of imf controls. a newly formed organization, celac, includes all countries of the hemisphere apart from the u. s. and canada. if it actually functions, that would be another step in american decline, in this case in what has always been regarded as “ the backyard. ” even more serious would be the loss of the mena countries — middle east / north africa — which have been regarded by planners since the 1940s as “ a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history. ” control of mena energy reserves would yield “ substantial control of the world, ” in the words of the influential roosevelt advisor a. a. berle. to be sure, if the projections of a century of u. s. energy independence based on north american energy resources turn out to be realistic, the significance of controlling mena would decline somewhat, though probably not by much : the main concern has always been control more than access. however, the likely consequences to the planet ’ s equilibrium are so ominous that discussion may be largely an academic exercise. the arab spring, another development of historic importance, might portend at least a partial “ loss ” of mena. the us and its allies have tried hard to prevent that outcome — so far, with considerable success. their policy towards the popular uprisings has kept closely to the standard guidelines : support the forces most amenable to u. s. influence and control. favored dictators are supported as long as they can maintain control ( as in the major oil states ). when that is no longer possible, then discard them and try to restore the old regime as fully as possible ( as in tunisia and egypt ). the general pattern is familiar : somoza, marcos, duvalier, mobutu, suharto, and many others. in one case, libya, the three traditional imperial powers intervened by force to participate in a rebellion to overthrow a mercurial and unreliable dictator, opening the way, it is expected, to more efficient control over libya ’ s rich resources ( oil primarily, but also water, of particular interest to french corporations ), to a possible base for the u


overthrow a mercurial and unreliable dictator, opening the way, it is expected, to more efficient control over libya ’ s rich resources ( oil primarily, but also water, of particular interest to french corporations ), to a possible base for the u. s. africa command ( so far restricted to germany ), and to the reversal of growing chinese penetration. as far as policy goes, there have been few surprises. crucially, it is important to reduce the threat of functioning democracy, in which popular opinion will significantly influence policy. that again is routine, and quite understandable. a look at the studies of public opinion undertaken by u. s. polling agencies in the mena countries easily explains the western fear of authentic democracy, in which public opinion will significantly influence policy. israel and the republican party similar considerations carry over directly to the second major concern addressed in the issue of foreign affairs cited in part one of this piece : the israel - palestine conflict. fear of democracy could hardly be more clearly exhibited than in this case. in january 2006, an election took place in palestine, pronounced free and fair by international monitors. the instant reaction of the u. s. ( and of course israel ), with europe following along politely, was to impose harsh penalties on palestinians for voting the wrong way. that is no innovation. it is quite in accord with the general and unsurprising principle recognized by mainstream scholarship : the u. s. supports democracy if, and only if, the outcomes accord with its strategic and economic objectives, the rueful conclusion of neo - reaganite thomas carothers, the most careful and respected scholarly analyst of “ democracy promotion ” initiatives. more broadly, for 35 years the u. s. has led the rejectionist camp on israel - palestine, blocking an international consensus calling for a political settlement in terms too well known to require repetition. the western mantra is that israel seeks negotiations without preconditions, while the palestinians refuse. the opposite is more accurate. the u. s. and israel demand strict preconditions, which are, furthermore, designed to ensure that negotiations will lead either to palestinian capitulation on crucial issues, or nowhere. the first precondition is that the negotiations must be supervised by washington, which makes about as much sense as demanding that iran supervise the negotiation of sunni - shia conflicts in iraq. serious negotiations would have to be under the auspices of some neutral party, preferably one that commands some international respect, perhaps brazil. the negotiations would seek to resolve the conflicts between the two


that iran supervise the negotiation of sunni - shia conflicts in iraq. serious negotiations would have to be under the auspices of some neutral party, preferably one that commands some international respect, perhaps brazil. the negotiations would seek to resolve the conflicts between the two antagonists : the u. s. - israel on one side, most of the world on the other. the second precondition is that israel must be free to expand its illegal settlements in the west bank. theoretically, the u. s. opposes these actions, but with a very light tap on the wrist, while continuing to provide economic, diplomatic, and military support. when the u. s. does have some limited objections, it very easily bars the actions, as in the case of the e - 1 project linking greater jerusalem to the town of ma ’ aleh adumim, virtually bisecting the west bank, a very high priority for israeli planners ( across the spectrum ), but raising some objections in washington, so that israel has had to resort to devious measures to chip away at the project. the pretense of opposition reached the level of farce last february when obama vetoed a security council resolution calling for implementation of official u. s. policy ( also adding the uncontroversial observation that the settlements themselves are illegal, quite apart from expansion ). since that time there has been little talk about ending settlement expansion, which continues, with studied provocation. thus, as israeli and palestinian representatives prepared to meet in jordan in january 2011, israel announced new construction in pisgat ze ’ ev and har homa, west bank areas that it has declared to be within the greatly expanded area of jerusalem, annexed, settled, and constructed as israel ’ s capital, all in violation of direct security council orders. other moves carry forward the grander design of separating whatever west bank enclaves will be left to palestinian administration from the cultural, commercial, political center of palestinian life in the former jerusalem. it is understandable that palestinian rights should be marginalized in u. s. policy and discourse. palestinians have no wealth or power. they offer virtually nothing to u. s. policy concerns ; in fact, they have negative value, as a nuisance that stirs up “ the arab street. ” israel, in contrast, is a valuable ally. it is a rich society with a sophisticated, largely militarized high - tech industry. for decades, it has been a highly valued military and strategic ally, particularly since 1967, when it performed a great


, in contrast, is a valuable ally. it is a rich society with a sophisticated, largely militarized high - tech industry. for decades, it has been a highly valued military and strategic ally, particularly since 1967, when it performed a great service to the u. s. and its saudi ally by destroying the nasserite “ virus, ” establishing the “ special relationship ” with washington in the form that has persisted since. it is also a growing center for u. s. high - tech investment. in fact, high tech and particularly military industries in the two countries are closely linked. apart from such elementary considerations of great power politics as these, there are cultural factors that should not be ignored. christian zionism in britain and the u. s. long preceded jewish zionism, and has been a significant elite phenomenon with clear policy implications ( including the balfour declaration, which drew from it ). when general allenby conquered jerusalem during world war i, he was hailed in the american press as richard the lion - hearted, who had at last won the crusades and driven the pagans out of the holy land. the next step was for the chosen people to return to the land promised to them by the lord. articulating a common elite view, president franklin roosevelt ’ s secretary of the interior harold ickes described jewish colonization of palestine as an achievement “ without comparison in the history of the human race. ” such attitudes find their place easily within the providentialist doctrines that have been a strong element in popular and elite culture since the country ’ s origins : the belief that god has a plan for the world and the u. s. is carrying it forward under divine guidance, as articulated by a long list of leading figures. moreover, evangelical christianity is a major popular force in the u. s. further toward the extremes, end times evangelical christianity also has enormous popular outreach, invigorated by the establishment of israel in 1948, revitalized even more by the conquest of the rest of palestine in 1967 — all signs that end times and the second coming are approaching. these forces have become particularly significant since the reagan years, as the republicans have abandoned the pretense of being a political party in the traditional sense, while devoting themselves in virtual lockstep uniformity to servicing a tiny percentage of the super - rich and the corporate sector. however, the small constituency that is primarily served by the reconstructed party cannot provide votes, so they have to turn elsewhere. the only choice is to mobilize tendencies that have always been


a tiny percentage of the super - rich and the corporate sector. however, the small constituency that is primarily served by the reconstructed party cannot provide votes, so they have to turn elsewhere. the only choice is to mobilize tendencies that have always been present, though rarely as an organized political force : primarily nativists trembling in fear and hatred, and religious elements that are extremists by international standards but not in the u. s. one outcome is reverence for alleged biblical prophecies, hence not only support for israel and its conquests and expansion, but passionate love for israel, another core part of the catechism that must be intoned by republican candidates — with democrats, again, not too far behind. these factors aside, it should not be forgotten that the “ anglosphere ” — britain and its offshoots — consists of settler - colonial societies, which rose on the ashes of indigenous populations, suppressed or virtually exterminated. past practices must have been basically correct, in the u. s. case even ordained by divine providence. accordingly there is often an intuitive sympathy for the children of israel when they follow a similar course. but primarily, geostrategic and economic interests prevail, and policy is not graven in stone. the iranian “ threat ” and the nuclear issue let us turn finally to the third of the leading issues addressed in the establishment journals cited earlier, the “ threat of iran. ” among elites and the political class this is generally taken to be the primary threat to world order — though not among populations. in europe, polls show that israel is regarded as the leading threat to peace. in the mena countries, that status is shared with the u. s., to the extent that in egypt, on the eve of the tahrir square uprising, 80 % felt that the region would be more secure if iran had nuclear weapons. the same polls found that only 10 % regard iran as a threat — unlike the ruling dictators, who have their own concerns. in the united states, before the massive propaganda campaigns of the past few years, a majority of the population agreed with most of the world that, as a signatory of the non - proliferation treaty, iran has a right to carry out uranium enrichment. and even today, a large majority favors peaceful means for dealing with iran. there is even strong opposition to military engagement if iran and israel are at war. only a quarter regard iran as an important concern for the u. s. altogether. but it is not unusual