goose creek, s. c., recently was the scene of a horrific event spotlighting two government institutions : schools and the war on drug users. on a quiet day early in november a squadron of policemen stormed into stratford high school, automatic pistols and shotguns drawn. they ordered the students to the floor and forcibly placed some there themselves. then the police searched for drugs. they found none. ( had they found ritalin it wouldn ’ t have counted. that ’ s an approved drug, administered by compulsion when “ necessary. ” ) police and school officials later explained that they conducted the raid, which was captured by a security video camera, because marijuana and pills had allegedly been bought and sold by students previously. this justified an armed invasion? school principal george mccrackin said he ’ d use “ any means ” to keep his school “ clean. ” in television interviews several parents angrily pointed out that a tragedy could easily have occurred. the image of belligerent cops pointing loaded guns at children was not what they had in mind when they sent their kids off to school that day. yet we really shouldn ’ t be surprised. concern about the schools ’ inability to teach reading and arithmetic has overshadowed the fact that those schools were not set up mainly for that purpose. before there were “ public schools ” literacy and numeracy were high and growing. the government set up schools to accomplish something that the flourishing private - school market wouldn ’ t do : indoctrinate children so that they would become pliant subjects of the state. as education historian ellwood cubberly wrote approvingly in 1919, “ only a system of state - controlled schools can be free to teach whatever the welfare of the state may demand. ” or as the 19th - century sociologist edward ross said, the job of schools is to gather “ little plastic lumps of human dough from private households and shap [ e ] them on the social kneadingboard. ” or as the u. s. bureau of education put it in 1914, “ the public schools exist primarily for the benefit of the state rather than for the benefit of the individual. ” that ’ s why “ socialization ” was always the first objective of government school systems. academic subjects were a distant second. “ socialization ” has two meanings. the benign sense denotes teaching children social skills so they can get along with others at work and play. the malignant sense means instilling collectivism in children so they will see themselves not as autonomous individuals, but rather as more or less


meanings. the benign sense denotes teaching children social skills so they can get along with others at work and play. the malignant sense means instilling collectivism in children so they will see themselves not as autonomous individuals, but rather as more or less identical worker bees serving the nation. the latter sense, promoted last century by education philosopher john dewey, directly conflicts with america ’ s founding tradition of individualism and freedom. such collectivism sometimes becomes the overt theme of presidential campaigns, such as john mccain ’ s in 2000 and wesley clark ’ s in 2003. given this mission — the conditioning of each child to believe his own life is less important that the nation — the raid in goose creek is no surprise at all. for decades the government has conducted a ruthless war against the distributors and users of certain drugs ( but not others ). like the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s, this war has no basis in pharmacology ; outlawed drugs are no less capable of moderate and responsible use than scotch or bourbon. even former drug czar william bennett admits that most users of illegal drugs are not addicts. ( the quotation is in jacob sullum ’ s book saying yes. ) what counts with any substance is the sense of responsibility in the individual using it. we don ’ t need prohibition aimed at adults to prevent children from using drugs, just as we don ’ t need it to prevent children from drinking. in fact, prohibition encourages drug use because forbidden fruit is the most tempting. thus the “ war on drugs ” is an exercise in authoritarianism that has nothing to do with the welfare of the american people. of course it is a big part of the school curriculum : schooling ’ s main purpose is to mold children into good citizens who will obey the state without question. what better way to teach that lesson than to have gun - pointing cops dropping in at the schools every now and then?


george washington carver main press release for immediate release contact : nancy o ' shea ( 312 ) 665 - 7100 ( for media use only ) george washington carver an extraordinary man with a mighty vision we are the architects of our own fortune and the hewers out of our own destiny. george washington carver many people today know george washington carver largely from the myths that have grown around him... none of them true. the fact is, he didn ’ t invent peanut butter ; it had existed in many cultures for centuries. neither did he create 300 new products from peanuts — though he created some, and collected many others. the truth about carver is much more interesting than the myths. he was a man with a fascinating life story and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, who overcame tremendous odds to become one of america ’ s most versatile scientists. he was a trail - blazing proponent of sustainability, who believed that “ nature produces no waste ” and neither should man. he was a humanitarian whose primary goal was, as he put it, “ to help the farmer and fill the poor man ’ s empty dinner pail. ” this complex and intimate portrait of one of america ’ s best known names — and least - studied men — emerges from the field museum ’ s new exhibition : george washington carver. it follows carver ’ s entire life and career, revealing both his struggles and his remarkable achievements as scientist, conservationist, educator, and humanitarian. it brings together more than one hundred artifacts from carver ’ s personal life and work, along with animated and live videos, interactive displays, a diorama of carver ’ s childhood farm, and a re - creation of the jesup wagon, his mobile classroom. the exhibition is organized by the field museum in collaboration with tuskegee university and the national park service. it is sponsored in chicago by motorola foundation and sara lee foundation. a thirst for knowledge carver ’ s childhood was both dramatic and protected. a frail child born into slavery, george and his mother were kidnapped by slave raiders when he was still an infant. george was abandoned by the kidnappers and rescued by his owners, moses and susan carver, who adopted both george and his brother. george ’ s real mother was never found. moses was a farmer in a missouri frontier town, a frugal man who abhorred waste of any kind. since george was a sickly child, unable to help much on the farm, susan taught him handiwork such as embroidery, knitting, and crocheting. george also


, a frugal man who abhorred waste of any kind. since george was a sickly child, unable to help much on the farm, susan taught him handiwork such as embroidery, knitting, and crocheting. george also spent a lot of his time outside, collecting rocks, observing nature, and creating a “ secret garden. ” his sensitivity and curiosity were apparent, and even as a child he was known throughout the area for his remarkable skill with plants. “ i wanted to know the name of every stone and flower and insect and bird and beast. i wanted to know where it got its color, where it got its life — but there was no one to tell me, ” carver later wrote. his foster parents had no formal education, and there were no schools close to their home — only a blue - back speller in which george found few answers to his endless questions. so at the age of thirteen he left home, with the carvers ’ blessings, to seek an education. with a rich collection of artifacts, the exhibition traces carver ’ s path and passions as he worked his way through elementary and high school, through rejection and welcome, to simpson college in iowa, then to iowa state university, and finally to a research and teaching position at tuskegee institute ( now tuskegee university ). a driving vision given his drive and education, carver could have become a theoretical chemist, an academic botanist, or an inventor. but that wasn ’ t his bent. he had decided early on that his calling was to help “ the man farthest down. ” on his way to tuskegee carver saw fields of scraggly cotton in exhausted soil and poor black farmers struggling to survive. he had what he called a “ mighty vision ” — of barren fields turning green with crops, whitewashed farmhouses gleaming in the sun, gardens sprouting with vegetables and flowers. “ carver was driven by the needs he saw around him, ” says michael dillon, chair of the botany department at the field and one of the curators for the carver exhibition. “ his research was very goal - oriented. ” one of the ideas that carver seized upon, dillon says, was crop rotation — a practice long known to other cultures but not used in the south, where cotton truly was king. carver understood that cotton had depleted the soil of the nitrogen that plants need in order to grow. and he knew that legumes, such as peanuts and peas, had a symbiotic relationship with bacteria that could take in


truly was king. carver understood that cotton had depleted the soil of the nitrogen that plants need in order to grow. and he knew that legumes, such as peanuts and peas, had a symbiotic relationship with bacteria that could take inert nitrogen molecules from the atmosphere and convert them into a form plants can use. it was the desire to make these alternative crops more useful to farmers and others that led to carver ’ s famous work with peanuts, cow peas or black - eyed peas, and sweet potatoes. ( sweet potatoes, though not a legume, grow easily with little or no fertilizer. ) he sought many other practical solutions as well, experimenting with seeds, soil enrichment, natural fertilizers, and more. in every aspect of his research, carver sought to make his findings accessible to the communities around him. he put plain - language information and instructions into bulletins that were distributed widely. and he took the jesup wagon to farms and public spaces, demonstrating farming and composting techniques, cooking, canning — even home makeovers with paints, furniture, and decorative items made from plants and minerals. sustainable resources for food, fuel, and much more carver ’ s ideas on conservation were ahead of their time. “ i believe the great creator has put oil and ores on this earth to give us a breathing spell, ” he said. “ as we exhaust them, we must be prepared to fall back on our farms... for we can learn to synthesize materials for every human need from the things that grow. ” carver blazed a trail for the development of products from plants, a field known as chemurgy. he found hundreds of new uses for peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soy beans, including milk and cheese, laundry soap and linoleum, wallboard and rubber, and much, much more. carver worked on biofuels with henry ford, and made a massage oil for polio victims — though it turned out to be the masseur, carver himself, as much as the oil, that was effective. after carver, interest in plant products went out of fashion for decades — only to be rediscovered at the end of the twentieth century. today ’ s accelerating research on plant - based fuels, medicines, and other products is rooted in carver ’ s work — though not always with his altruism. “ the most important gift carver gave to people wasn ’ t any particular product, ” michael dillon says. “ it was the gift of self - worth. ” carver crossed


rooted in carver ’ s work — though not always with his altruism. “ the most important gift carver gave to people wasn ’ t any particular product, ” michael dillon says. “ it was the gift of self - worth. ” carver crossed racial and class boundaries. he gave of himself so that others could become educated, self - sufficient, and proud. he followed his own vision to improve the lives of others. a variety of programs are planned for all ages. see attached file for details. admission to george washington carver is free with general admission to the field museum ( $ 12 for adults, $ 7 for children 4 - 11, seniors, and students with id ). discounts are available for chicago residents. visit www. fieldmuseum. org or call 312 - 922 - 9410 for details. to purchase tickets visit fieldmuseum. org. special rates are available for tour operators and groups of 15 or more. call our group sales office toll - free at 888 - field - 85 ( 888 - 343 - 5385 ). hours and general information the field museum is open from 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. daily except christmas day. last tickets are sold at 4 p. m. for general museum information call 312 - 922 - 9410 or visit our interactive web site at www. fieldmuseum. org. location and travel information the field museum is located at 1400 s. lake shore drive, on cta bus lines # 6, # 12, and # 146, and close to other routes and the metra electric and south shore lines. an indoor parking garage is located just steps from the main entrance. for more travel information, call the illinois department of transportation, 312 - 368 - 4636, or the rta travel center hotline, ( 312 ) 836 - 7000.


i read a great article from imprimis, the free publication put out by hillsdale college in michigan, titled the floating dollar as a threat to property rights. the article started out with the curious case of the incredible shrinking kilo ( a problem normally faced only by drug lords that employ users as traffickers ). apparently this one particular metallic cylinder securely housed at the international bureau of weights and measures near paris, france, is the " reference kilo " for not only the global metric system, but even the u. s. customary system in which 2. 2 pounds equals this particular kilo. the problem is, it ' s shrinking! so far it has only shrunk by 50 micrograms, about the weight of a fingerprint on earth. but even so, this is a big problem for scientists that deal in exacting calculations that require global standardization. the problem boils down to the definition of a kilogram. the global standard definition of a kilo is this particular cylinder! it was cast in platinum and iridium by johnson matthey in 1879, adopted by the first general conference for weights and measures in 1889, and has been the global reference point for the measurements of mass ever since. but some scientists are now complaining that with the exacting tolerances of today ' s high - tech world, the 21st century kilo needs a new definition. modern science needs a better reference point for mass. this got me thinking about reference points, and how they have all — in every single case ; temperature, distance, force, pressure, time, etc. — changed and evolved their definitions throughout history to best fit the cutting - edge needs of the time. this is a trend that always faces the opposing forces of inertia — the resistance to change — and progress — the need for change. another obvious trend in the evolution of reference points, when viewed in a long - line historical context, is the expansion from local to national to regional and finally to global standardization. this trend, especially, faces the opposition of inertia as national reference points have become part of the national identity of their people. the remnants can be seen everywhere. for temperature we have fahrenheit and celsius. for mass we have avoirdupois ounces, troy ounces and metric grams. the world is littered with national currencies. and even foreign languages are a good example of our innate resistance to global standardization. this trend toward global reference points is a practical — not a moral — evolution. it will continue


dollar was defined as 371¼ grains of silver, with the u. s. adopting the spanish dollar ' s definition because of its widespread use as a reference point for value. later the dollar was redefined as 1 / 20th of a troy ounce of gold, and then degraded to 1 / 35th. then in 1971 the de facto definition of a dollar was removed and the u. s. dollar began to " float " ( or more appropriately, " sink " ) as a reference point. throughout the various definitions above, the dollar was gradually adopted by other nations until it became the de facto global reference point for value. or so we in america and the west think. in fact, gold was always the global reference point and the u. s. dollar ' s definition — a definition that was defended at the u. s. treasury gold window by spewing gold — became a means to the acquisition of the value reference point itself. if the dollar had been that global reference point, the world would have been happy merely accumulating dollars, and nixon would have never had to close the gold window. it turns out that the dollar was always a poor reference point for value because its definition could simply be changed or removed altogether for political expedience, over and over, again and again. yet some in the u. s., some with a patriotic yet myopic perspective, think that all we need to do is redefine the dollar so that it can once again become the global benchmark of value. something it never was in the first place. and something it never will be. ( all the dollar ever did was adopt the reputation of an external reference point and then fail to live up to it. over and over, again and again. ) long in the past, before telephones and air travel, before computers and the internet, local and national reference points were far more important and relevant than what was happening on the other side of the planet. but today, and moving forward, it matters more how the many national currencies will relate to each other, how they will exchange, on what reference point their exchange will be judged, than what any individual locality or nation does to change or manipulate its own currency. as i wrote above, the trend toward global reference points is a practical — not a moral — evolution. it will continue whether we like it or not. it is an artifact of the human superorganism. and this got me thinking about the concept of purchasing power parity, or ppp.


is a practical — not a moral — evolution. it will continue whether we like it or not. it is an artifact of the human superorganism. and this got me thinking about the concept of purchasing power parity, or ppp. with the advent of global air travel, i can take $ 10, 000 out of my bank in the morning, get on a plane, and get off in another country in the evening, exchanging my $ 10, 000 at the airport for the local currency. this little exchange should not cost me anything in purchasing power, it should essentially be free, or else i wouldn ' t do it. or perhaps if i actually gained purchasing power by flying somewhere, i would do it more often! but the fact of the matter is that while the ppp concept works in principle, it doesn ' t always work in practice. especially given a variety of purchasing choices in the marketplace, some of which are more native to one country than another. the question comes down to the overvaluation or undervaluation of various economic currencies. the way ants — and by ants i mean economists ( see footnote # 5 ) — try to deal with this question is by using " baskets " of goods or currencies. but the problem with baskets is that i ) they present too many moving parts, and ii ) they present the option ( temptation ) for political manipulation ( e. g. cpi " basket " and sdr " basket of currencies " ). and for these two ( obvious? ) reasons, baskets make poor reference points for value. just yesterday, professor michael pettis wrote in is loan growth in china slowing? : " … a few years ago people suggested that the rmb might be undervalued by 30 %. since then the rmb has appreciated by 20 - 25 %. and yet today people are still arguing that the rmb may be undervalued by 30 %. how is it possible that so much appreciation has not seemed to affect the estimates of undervaluation? " before answering it is worth pointing out that there is no way that anyone can determine precisely the amount of undervaluation of the rmb, or any other currency, and so any estimate can be nothing more than that – an estimate based on many moving parts. there are plausible reasons for arguing that a currency is undervalued or overvalued, but there is absolutely no way to determine with any precision by how much. " this difficulty is compounded by the fact


based on many moving parts. there are plausible reasons for arguing that a currency is undervalued or overvalued, but there is absolutely no way to determine with any precision by how much. " this difficulty is compounded by the fact that many analysts are simply getting the math wrong. so for example when people say the rmb is undervalued by 30 %, they often mean that the dollar is overvalued by 30 %. these two claims may sound like the same, but of course they aren ’ t. if the rmb is undervalued by 30 %, it means that the dollar is overvalued by 43 %, not 30 %. i have seen so much confusion on this issue that i pretty much give up on trying to understand what people mean when they discuss currency changes without seeing their actual numbers. " that ' s right! we need a single moving part! and by we, i mean not just the ants, but the colony, the superorganism. the human superorganism desires to streamline the concept of ppp as much as possible, for its own benefit. and the way that is done is by using a single global reference point. but as i wrote in life in the ant farm, we individuals are not nearly as smart as the superorganism. case in point — reference point : big mac! at any given point in time every currency has a certain purchasing power inside its own legal tender zone, and then it has a different purchasing power outside the zone. the economist magazine has been publishing the big mac index every year since 1986. the index is a humorous way of looking at the purchasing power parities of various currencies using the mcdonald ' s big mac as the reference point. other variants of this index have used as the reference point, the apple ipod, a cup of starbucks coffee, and even ikea ' s billy bookshelf. the economist describes its original, ground - breaking index thusly : the big mac index is based upon the theory of purchasing - power parity ( ppp ), the notion that a dollar should buy the same amount in all countries. supporters of ppp argue that in the long run, the exchange rate between two currencies should move towards the rate that would equalise the prices of an identical basket of goods and services in each country. our “ basket ” is a mcdonald ’ s big mac, produced in 110 countries. the big mac ppp is the exchange rate that would leave


towards the rate that would equalise the prices of an identical basket of goods and services in each country. our “ basket ” is a mcdonald ’ s big mac, produced in 110 countries. the big mac ppp is the exchange rate that would leave hamburgers costing the same in america as abroad. comparing actual rates with ppps signals whether a currency is under - or overvalued. two of the economist ' s findings for 2010 were that the most expensive place to buy a big mac ( with u. s. dollars ) was in norway, where it cost us $ 7. 20 ( on 7 / 21 / 10 after exchanging your dollars into the local kroner currency ), and the cheapest was in the ukraine at us $ 1. 84. interpreting this data is where it gets a little tricky. click on images to enlarge depending on your cognitive agility, there are any number of mental contortions that you can do with this data while extracting whatever value may be hiding in it. for example, you can imagine that big macs are a currency and the local currencies are the object of desire. or that u. s. dollars purchased with big macs transported to foreign countries are the goal. you can pretend that big macs have the properties of gold, like durability, divisibility and portability, and imagine the arbitrage opportunity based on these charts, and how that arbitrage would affect the currency exchange. in fact, there is a bit of real value that can be extracted from this little exercise that i ' ll get to in a moment. but first, the clearest lesson is that big macs make a poor global reference point for value for many obvious reasons. what makes something a reference point is that everything else in its category is measured against it. like the cylinder at the top of the page, all mass everywhere is ultimately measured against this one cylinder. for the category of value, the value of anything anywhere would be measured against the value of the reference point. and in the case of value, this reference point should be a thing that can be owned and valued by anyone anywhere, so that it acts properly as a baseline reference point for the value of everything else. it should also, ideally, provide the same utility to anyone anywhere. the point is that it can ' t be something that is only found in asia, or something that is only made in the us. and it can ' t be a product like a big mac that would not be


the same utility to anyone anywhere. the point is that it can ' t be something that is only found in asia, or something that is only made in the us. and it can ' t be a product like a big mac that would not be valuable to vegetarians or food snobs. it needs to be something that has the same utility to everyone, that utility being that it is only something valuable to buy and store so that later you can redeem that value in some other way. a reference point can be used in its unit of account function even without the presence of the physical item. but the focal point item for a value reference point needs to be something that can actually be gotten and used exactly the same by anyone anywhere. and as we continue on this train of thought, it becomes clear that the ideal reference point for value is, in fact, the single focal point reserve asset chosen by the human superorganism. it also becomes clear that today the u. s. dollar is filling this role, somewhat haphazardly, and also under the opposing forces of inertia — the resistance to change — and progress — the need for change. it could be said that we in the west are providing the inertia while the rest of the world is pushing for change. at least that ' s what i see happening. clearly, we in the west still measure the value of anything anywhere against the dollar. think about it for a second. can you tell me the value of a condo in hong kong? how about the value of a night in a five - star singapore hotel? and what ' s the value of a 50 ' yacht in dubai? you ' d likely quote me all three in dollars, especially if you are a westerner. as foa pointed out, we assess the relative values of any two things — like an apple versus a banana — by mentally converting them into dollars. and while our western minds have been trained to use the dollar quite efficiently in this way, there are a few technical problems with the dollar being the reference point of value. not unlike the kilo cylinder at the top which is causing problems for some scientists, the dollar, too, is shrinking. the main problem, which the imprimis article points to, is that the dollar is no longer defined as anything other than how the market decides to value it on any given day. this could be called a floating definition. so the article proposes that the needed fix is to redefine the dollar. perhaps we could redef


dollar is no longer defined as anything other than how the market decides to value it on any given day. this could be called a floating definition. so the article proposes that the needed fix is to redefine the dollar. perhaps we could redefine the dollar to be equal to one big mac! the u. s. treasury could then buy all mcdonald ' s restaurants everywhere and defend the dollar by globally spewing big macs for a buck. can you think of any problems with this plan? okay, let ' s imagine they redefined the dollar to be 1 / 5, 000th of an ounce of gold. can you think of any problems with this? i can. what will be the definition of gold? does this sound like a silly question? well, today " gold " is trading at around $ 1, 435 per ounce, and this price is discovered through the dynamics of supply and demand in a market that includes claim checks on unallocated pools of gold, shares of funds that are physically non - divisible below 10, 000 ounces, and promises of future delivery of gold from a variety of sources including mines ( gold that is still underground ), hedgefunds ( gold that will have to be sourced if demanded ) and banks ( gold which is fractionally reserved ). these markets all trade ( fluctuate ) in dollars. if the dollar is suddenly defined as a piece of gold, what will happen to these markets? maybe they should just define the dollar as 1 / 500th of a share of gld! then the u. s. treasury could defend the definition by spewing gld shares! or they could define the dollar as 1 / 500, 000th of a comex contract! or better yet, they should just define the dollar as 1 / 5, 000th of a bullion bank liability for an ounce of gold. the treasury could partner with jp morgan and defend the definition by spewing liabilities! what we have here is not a problem with the definition of the dollar, the quaint and sentimental reference point artifact of the past. what we have is a problem with the definition of gold, the 21st century ( and all others too ) reference point of value! i said earlier that there was a bit of real value to be discovered by thinking about the big mac index. and that discovery is that a big mac hamburger actually has one characteristic or property that makes it a better reference point for value than either the dollar or even the modern definition of " gold. "


value to be discovered by thinking about the big mac index. and that discovery is that a big mac hamburger actually has one characteristic or property that makes it a better reference point for value than either the dollar or even the modern definition of " gold. " that property is physicality! big macs only come in one variety, a discrete, physical hamburger. there are no big mac futures or forward sales, no unallocated big mac pool accounts, and the only way to deliver a big mac is to either make it on the spot or physically transport it to where it is demanded. can you imagine if they handed you a bb ( big mac bank ) liability at the drive - thru window? i wrote above, " pretend that big macs have the properties of gold, like durability, divisibility and portability, and imagine the arbitrage opportunity based on these charts, and how that arbitrage would affect the currency exchange. " such an arbitrage would ultimately flatten that first chart, making a big mac cost the same number of dollars in any country you traveled to. in fact, gold ( under its modern definition ) acts just this way. the definition of " gold " today, at least in financial circles, is completely messed up. why do you think i have to constantly say physical gold? and not only that, i continuously have to define what i mean by physical whenever i say it! it ' s ridiculous. ask any fund ' s manager how much they have in gold. he ' ll likely quote you a number around 5 - 10 % that includes mining stocks, paper promises and a host of other precious metal stocks. ask him about physical gold bullion, specifically, and he ' ll quote you a much lower percentage that likely includes only phys and gld. those are the financial definitions of " gold " and " physical gold " today. the problem is that the arbitrage that makes ppp work with gold today is too easily and asymmetrically achieved, which ends up favoring some currencies over others. what i mean is that hamburgers are actually a " harder currency " today ( harder = more difficult ) than " gold " under the common western understanding of " gold investments. " like i said, to be delivered big macs must either be produced on the spot or physically delivered from another place. gold, on the other hand, can be sold into demand with the click of a mouse that creates a new liability on the balance sheet of jp morgan or one of


big macs must either be produced on the spot or physically delivered from another place. gold, on the other hand, can be sold into demand with the click of a mouse that creates a new liability on the balance sheet of jp morgan or one of the other bullion banks. this is asymmetric in that most bullion bank gold liabilities originate from london and new york, and it is a definitional problem that makes it impossible for the term " gold " to be used to define anything else, like the dollar. so before we can even consider the definition of the dollar, we must first solve the problem with the definition of " gold. " and once solved, we may find the question of redefining the dollar to be a moot point. but whether you believe me or not about it becoming moot, we must still face first things first. in order for a thing to perform as a reference point for value, when market demand for that thing rises it must be met with the difficulty of the physical, not satiated with the ease of promises. this is the main reason currency makes a poor reference point for value. when demand for currency rises it is hoarded which slows the economy. value is the output of the economy. it is the opposite of currency. when the demand for currency is collapsing, the demand for value is rising, and vice versa. this is why central banks came into being in the first place ; to make sure that rising currency demand does not hurt the economy. this is why the boj injected trillions of yen after the earthquake ; to protect vital economic activity from the spiking demand for currency. i know this is a difficult concept to swallow, but value and currency are polar opposites, which is why, if gold is the reference point for value — which it is — it cannot function properly and also be an economic currency — or tied at a fixed parity ( price ) to currency in any way! to view an economic currency built to function properly alongside the reference point gold, look no further than the architecture of the euro. this is why the first ecb president stated clearly and publicly that the euro " is the first currency that has … severed its link to gold. " i want to mention one more very significant advantage to physical gold being the global reference point for value. in another recent article by michael pettis, who i mentioned earlier, titled the dollar, the rmb and the euro?, talking about the struggles ahead for the rmb, he writes : "


physical gold being the global reference point for value. in another recent article by michael pettis, who i mentioned earlier, titled the dollar, the rmb and the euro?, talking about the struggles ahead for the rmb, he writes : " although china will struggle to bring its current account surplus down, there are only two ways it can do so ( remember that the current account surplus is equal to savings less investment ). " the two ways he lists are 1 ) increase internal investment, a non - starter in china right now, or 2 ) get the people to spend their money ( consume ) rather than saving it — decrease savings. it ' s a shame that he can ' t see that china is already doing this by encouraging its people to buy the physical reference point of value itself. by buying physical gold, chinese savings don ' t raise the current account surplus, they lower it. it ' s still very real savings, but it acts like consumption on the balance pettis describes. more correctly, his " accounting identity " should read, " current account surplus is equal to non - gold monetary savings less investment. " or stated another way, " paper savings = production – consumption ( including physical gold purchases ). " and surprise - surprise, china is apparently already ahead of the game. by encouraging savings in gold, this raises demand for gold inside china and uses up some of the dollars that would have otherwise been recycled back to be borrowed and spent by the us treasury. in other words, every ounce of gold that flows into china today represents $ 1, 430 that bernanke will have to print via qe rather than borrowing from china. what it means what this reference point revolution ( rpg / freegold ) means for western savers like you and me is that at some time this year or next ( see footnote # 7 ) perceptions of value will likely be shattered : " like a mirror in pieces on the floor, revealing another mirror standing right behind it, providing another perspective … the perspective will be of necessity, a rude awakening, so to speak … so much value is just perception only, not reality, and that perceived value will go up in flames, to reveal this perspective from which more accurate valuation will spring … the mass of acting humans ( aka economy ) will better understand money and savings, intuitively, through this perspective … gold will no longer be talked about, treated, and therefore viewed as a commodity, it will cross over to the other side of the fence … most won ' t care to really understand in any


money and savings, intuitively, through this perspective … gold will no longer be talked about, treated, and therefore viewed as a commodity, it will cross over to the other side of the fence … most won ' t care to really understand in any detail, they will just know that it is reality and will approve of its prospects … the value of gold will change as people ’ s perception of its utility to them changes. " " can you imagine a gold price of at least $ 100, 000 per ounce? how about a real purchasing power increase, measured in today ' s dollar purchasing power, to somewhere between $ 10, 000 and $ 100, 000? in the bell curve below we can see that the most probable pp landing zone is between $ 25, 000 per troy ounce and $ 85, 000 per troy ounce. can you think of a better reason to invest in physical gold coins right now? how about protection from hyperinflation? $ 100, 000 is the bare minimum in this case. the top is infinite! imagine $ 12 trillion per troy ounce... the size of today ' s us national debt reduced to one single gold coin you could buy tomorrow! can you imagine it? it doesn ' t really matter if you can ' t see it like i do, as long as you buy the coin. as jfk liked to say, ' a rising tide lifts all boats ', not just the ones that believe in rising tides. " " so how much of your perceived wealth have you locked into a real, solid, " good as gold " wealth reserve? i shouldn ' t have to say this because it is so obvious, but it is clearly better to " cash out " of the paper game and " lock in " your profits before the two biggest bubbles in history pop. that way you beat the rush, so to speak. " the demand necessary to perpetually sustain a revaluation of gold at, say, $ 55, 000 per ounce is already present in the gold market. one only has to understand why giants — people with enough money to actually move the price of gold — do not find it in their best interest to use their money to move the price of gold. " gold is neither expensive nor cheap today. it is theoretically free. it is a monetary conversion, like buying a treasury or a money market fund. to the giants, do you think gold is a game of " how big is my slice of the pie? " or is it " how much is my slice of the pie worth


a monetary conversion, like buying a treasury or a money market fund. to the giants, do you think gold is a game of " how big is my slice of the pie? " or is it " how much is my slice of the pie worth? " is it better to have a 15 % slice of a commodity pie, or a. 4 % slice of the global wealth pie? is it more likely that all the gold in the world combined, when used as a wealth reserve, will be worth a large percentage of everything? or that it is worth only 30 % of the known oil reserves? " " but right now, for perhaps the first time in history, individuals can join central bankers and the true giants of the world by participating in the ultimate hedge fund. one that, like modern hedge funds, focuses on the hedge itself as the key investment with the most leverage, with the expectation of life - changing returns. and the main differences between this and traditional hedge funds are 1 ) much less risk, and 2 ) it is open to all individuals, including you! " " freegold is our destination with or without the euro. even on the outside chance that an sdr or a similar super - sovereign currency is accepted as the new global reserve currency, it would have to contain gold at freegold valuations in order to be viable, accepted and trusted, in the same vein as randy ' s comment about an emf. so any way you cut it, the future comes to us with really high value gold by today ' s standards. " " anyway, this is what freegold is all about. it is about deducing the inevitable implications of an unstoppable avalanche. and it is about fiat currency finally finding its natural equilibrium with a parallel physical gold wealth reserve. and trust me, fractional paper gold promises won ' t work in this new world, so equilibrium will likely be somewhere north of $ 50, 000 per ounce ( and that ' s from just the functional change, don ' t even ask me about the inflation - adjusted price ). " " take it for whatever it ' s worth, which, of course, only you can decide for yourself. the $ imfs is failing. please don ' t let the fears, envy or baseless doubts of others obscure this reality. you can choose to participate in the recapitalization of world finance or you can be a victim of it when the lights go out. the choice is right in front of you. so decide what you ' d rather be


others obscure this reality. you can choose to participate in the recapitalization of world finance or you can be a victim of it when the lights go out. the choice is right in front of you. so decide what you ' d rather be : a participant in the rebuild, or a victim of the collapse. amazingly you still have this choice available as i type these words. " " as another and foa taught us, a time of systemic transition is completely wrong for trading on technicals. instead, it is the perfect time to consolidate on fundamentals, then sit back and wait. the reward, as another put it, will be enough for one ' s lifetime. and what is gold? oh yeah, it ' s the ultimate wealth consolidator. " and now, for all you fofoa noobs, i will close, as i so often do, with another mind - blowing excerpt from foa ' s gold trail. my friends and i are physical gold advocates. we own physical outright and do so employing the same reasoning mankind used in owning gold throughout most of history. however, there is a major difference between our perceptions of this historic reasoning and the current western perceptions so many of you are attuned to. our ' s is not a mission to unseat the current academic culture concerning money teachings ; rather it is to present the historic and present day views of the majority of gold owners around the world. those of simple thought and not of western education. plain people that, in bits and pieces, own and use the majority of above ground gold. most contemporary western thought is centered around gold being money. that is ; gold inherently has a money use or money function ; built into it as part of the original creation. this thought presents a picture of ancient man grasping a nugget of gold, found on the ground, and understanding immediately that this is a defined " medium of exchange " ; money to buy something with. this simple picture and analysis mostly grew in concept during the banking renaissance of the middle ages and is used to bastardize the gold story to this day. even the term " money ", as it is used in modern bible interpretations, is convoluted to fit our current understandings. much in the same way we watch social understandings of music, literature, culture and dress evolve to fit current lifestyles, so too did gold have a money concept applied to it as it underwent its own evolution in the minds of political men. this is indeed the long running, background


social understandings of music, literature, culture and dress evolve to fit current lifestyles, so too did gold have a money concept applied to it as it underwent its own evolution in the minds of political men. this is indeed the long running, background story of our gold trail ; an evolution, not of gold itself, but of our own perceptions of this wealth of ages. a evolving message of gold that is destined to change world commerce as it has never changed before. onward my friends in ancient times there was no concept of money as we know it today. let me emphasize ; " as we perceive money today ". back then, anywhere and everywhere, all things known to people were in physical form. all trade and commerce was physical and direct ; barter was how all trade was done. if one brought a cart to market, loaded with 20 bowls and 20 gold nuggets, he used those physical items to trade for other valued goods. the bowls and gold had different tradable value ; as did every other thing at the market. indeed, gold brought more in trade than bowls. also true ; if a barrel of olive oil was in short supply, it might bring even more in trade than all the gold in the market square. the understanding we reach for here is that nothing at the market place was seen as a defined money value. all goods were seen simply as tradable, barterable items. gold included. truly, in time, some items found favor for their unique divisible value, greater worth and ease of transport. gems, gold, silver and copper among others, all fit this description. these items especially, and more so gold, became the most tradable, barterable goods and began to exclusively fill that function. but the main question is : was there money in that market place? sure, but it was not in physical form. money, back then and today, was a remembered value in the minds of men. cumbersome it may have been, but even back then primitive man had an awesome brain and could retain the memory values of thousands of trades. in every case, able to recall the approximate per item value of each thing traded. that value, on the brain, was the money concept we use today. eventually gold climbed to the top of in the most tradable good category. was gold a medium of exchange? yes, but to their own degree, so were the bowls. was gold a store of value? yes, but to a degree, so were dinner plates


the top of in the most tradable good category. was gold a medium of exchange? yes, but to their own degree, so were the bowls. was gold a store of value? yes, but to a degree, so were dinner plates. was gold divisible into equal lesser parts to define lesser barter units? yes, but to a degree one could make and trade smaller drinking cups and lesser vessels of oil. perhaps gold became the most favored tradable good because the shear number of goods for good traded made a better imprint on ones memory ; the worth of a chunk of gold in trade became the value money unit stored in the brain. seeing all of this in our modern basic applications of " money concept ", almost every physical item that naturally existed or was produced then also held, to a lesser degree, gold ' s value in market barter. but most of us would have a hard time remembering a bowls value and thinking of a bowl as money. the reason this is such a stretch for the modern imagination is because bowls, like physical gold, never contained or were used in our " concept of money ". back then, as also today, all physical items are simple barterable, tradable goods ; not of the money concept itself. their remembered tradable value was the money. money, or better said " the money concept ", and all physical goods occupy two distinct positions in our universe of commerce and trade. they have an arms length relationship with each other, but reside on different sides of the fence and in different portions of the brain. for example : say i take a bowl to the mint and place an official government money stamp on the underside. the bowl now is stamped at $ 1. 00. then i take one tiny piece of gold to the mint ; one 290th of an ounce or at today ' s market a dollar ' s worth. they stamp that gold as $ 1. 00. which physical item would be money? answer ; neither. using ancient historic reasoning and the logic of a simple life ; the bowl could be taken to the market square and bartered for another good. perhaps a dinner plate. in that barter trade, we would most likely reach an understanding ; that the " bowl for plate trade " imprinted our memory with what a digital, numeric dollar concept is worth. again, the 1. 00 unit was only stamped on the bottom for reference. while the dollar concept is only a rateable unit number to compare value to ; like saying a painting is


memory with what a digital, numeric dollar concept is worth. again, the 1. 00 unit was only stamped on the bottom for reference. while the dollar concept is only a rateable unit number to compare value to ; like saying a painting is rated from one to ten when judging appearance. we could do the exact same thing without 1 / 290th ounce piece of gold as with the bowl above. in the process we again would walk away with the knowledge of what a $ 1. 00 unit of money value was worth in trade. the physical gold itself was not the money in trade ; the value of the barter itself created the actual money value relationship. again, the most important aspect for us to grasp here is this : - - - - - the use of physical gold in trade is not the use of money in trade. we do not spend or trade a money unit, like the dollar, to define the value of gold and goods : we barter both goods and gold to define the worth of that trade as a remembered association to the dollar money unit. that remembered worth, that value, is not an actual physical thing. a dollar bill nor an ounce of legal tender gold represent money in physical form. money is a remembered value relationship we assign to any usable money unit. the worth of a money unit is an endless mental computation of countless barter trades done around the world. money is a remembered value, a concept, that we use to judge physical trading value. - - - - - naturally, for gold to advance as the leading tradable good it had to have a numerical unit for us to associate tradable value with. we needed a unit function to store our mental money value in. in much the same way we use a simple paper dollar today to represent a remembered value only. dollars have no value at all except for our associating remembered trading value with them. a barrel of oil is worth $ 22. 00, not because the twenty two bills have value equal to that barrel of oil : rather we remember that a barrel of oil will trade for the same amount of natural gas that also relates to those same 22 units. money is an associated value in our heads. it ' s not a physical item. the first numerical money was not paper. nor was it gold or silver ; it was a relation of tradable value to weight. a one ounce unit that we could associate the trading value to. it was in the middle ages that bankers first started thinking that gold itself was a " fixed " money


it gold or silver ; it was a relation of tradable value to weight. a one ounce unit that we could associate the trading value to. it was in the middle ages that bankers first started thinking that gold itself was a " fixed " money unit. just because its weight was fixed. in reality, a one ounce weight of gold was remembered as tradable for thousands of different value items at the market place. the barter value of gold nor the gold itself was our money, it was the tradable value of a weight unit of gold that we could associate with that barter value. we do the very same thing today with our paper money ; how many dollar prices can you remember when you think a minute? this political process of fixing money value with the singular weight of gold locked gold into a never ending money vs gold value battle that has ruined more economies, governments and societies than anything. this is where the very first " hard money socialist " began. truly, to this day they think their ideas are the saving grace of the money world. it isn ' t now and never was then. when investors today speak of using gold coin as their money during a full blown banking breakdown, what are they really speaking of? in essence, they would be bartering and trading real goods for real goods. the mention of spending gold money is a complete misconception in western minds. many would bring their memories of past buying with them and that is where the trading values would begin. still, it would take millions of trades before the " market place " could associate a real trading value to the various weight units of gold. it took mankind hundreds of years to balance the circulation of gold against its barterable value. only then could a unit weight value become a known money concept. in that process, in ancient times, gold had a far higher " lifestyle " value than it has seen in a thousand years. this value, in the hands of private owners, is where gold is going next. if you are following closely, now, we can begin to see how easy it is for the concepts of modern money to convolute our value and understanding of gold. it is here that the thought of a free market in physical was formed. using the relationship of a free physical market in gold, we will be able to relate gold values to millions to goods and services that are currency traded the world over. instead of having governments control gold ' s value to gauge currency creation ; world opinion will be free to associate the values of bart


in gold, we will be able to relate gold values to millions to goods and services that are currency traded the world over. instead of having governments control gold ' s value to gauge currency creation ; world opinion will be free to associate the values of barter gold against barter currency. in this will be born a free money concept in the minds of men and governments. a better knowledge and understanding of the value of all things. hillsdale college is a small liberal arts college with a student body of about 1, 300. it does not accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies for any of its operations. imprimis is dedicated to promoting civil and religious liberty by covering cultural, economic, political and educational issues of enduring significance. the content is drawn from speeches delivered at hillsdale college events. imprimis is one of the most widely circulated opinion publications in the nation with over 1. 9 million subscribers. that ' s a lot of readers for this type of monetary article. and this article was the only content in the feb. edition. a kilogram is a scientific measure of mass, not weight, because weight is not universal while mass is. an ounce of gold on the moon, for example, would only weigh as much as 5 grams on earth. one of the leading alternatives for a 21st - century kilogram is a sphere made out of a silicon - 28 isotope crystal, which would involve a single type of atom and have a fixed mass. another is to link the kilogram to a fundamental unit of measurement in quantum physics, the planck constant. this redefinition would bring the kilogram into line with the six other base units that make up the international system of units ( si ) – the metre, the second, the ampere, the kelvin, the mole and the candela. none of these are now based on a physical reference object – the metre is defined in terms of the speed of light, for example, while the second is based on atomic clocks. an appropriate example is that before the metallic cylinder, a gram was defined as " the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to the cube of the hundredth part of a metre, and at the temperature of melting ice. " for an explanation of the term superorganism, please see my post life in the ant farm. for an explanation of the term focal point, please see my post focal point : gold. punctuated equilibrium is a good description of how monetary evolution proceeds. here ' s an example of what i mean. notice the regularity


in the ant farm. for an explanation of the term focal point, please see my post focal point : gold. punctuated equilibrium is a good description of how monetary evolution proceeds. here ' s an example of what i mean. notice the regularity of the cycle. your homework assignment is to uncover what the dates represent in the monetary evolutionary cycle : from the cyclical pattern above, it seems to me like _ _ _ _ should be either 2011 or 2012. what do you think? should we ask marty? for an explanation of the term punctuated equilibrium, please see my post evolution. for an explanation of the terms " hard and easy money camps, " please see my post the debtors and the savers. " when we talk about gold money we often use the term " hard money. " and one misconception that pops into most people ' s mind is that " hard " money means hard like a rock, or hard like a piece of metal versus " soft " like a piece of paper that folds nicely into my wallet. or the ultimate soft, a digital electron that moves at the speed of light. " this may not seem like a big deal, but i think it is. what is actually meant by " hard " money is that it is difficult, or hard to get. the opposite of hard being easy, not soft. hard money cannot be expanded easily ( without risk ) because it has an anchor in the physical world. " from just another hyperinflation post - part 2 for more on the euro ' s architecture, please see my post reference point : gold - update # 1 the full line was, " it is the first currency that has not only severed its link to gold, but also its link to the nation - state. " see acceptance speech by dr. willem f. duisenberg, president of the european central bank, aachen, 9 may 2002 quoted from julian ' s excellent comment. from gold is wealth from gold : the ultimate un - bubble from gold : the ultimate wealth reserve from gold : the ultimate hedge fund from synthesis from equilibrium from how can we possibly calculate the future value of gold? from gold : the ultimate wealth consolidator please see the top of this blog for to whom it is a tribute. from 44 : 50 to 47 : 00 robert zoellick discusses his rpg comment. the video will automatically start at 44 : 50.


by offering religious education / instruction, we could hopefully convince parents that the public school system is where their kids should be. further, we can hopefully expose the children to different ideas about religion and morality, which, demonstrated by the uproar over the comparative ethics course in quebec, can challenge the basic notions of faith as a virtue. i happen to agree with ian on this point ( small wonder, we tend to agree with each other generally ). comparative religious education is like comparative literature or anthropology or history – presenting overlapping but non - redundant narratives presents fertile ground for developing a skeptic mind. teaching kids that there may not always be a “ right answer ”, particularly when talking about humanity, invites them to consider and critique the evidence for the answers they are presented with. in the context of society, religion is something we should be particularly skeptical about. many atheists are wary of religious education in public schools, arguing that there ought to be an inviolable barrier between church and state. while those of us living in canada do not enjoy that separation as a matter of law ( we don ’ t have an equivalent of the first amendment in the canadian charter ), many of us still feel it would violate an important principle of a just society. maybe those opposed to teaching religion in public schools are worried about something like this : bbc panorama found that more than 40 saudi students ’ schools and clubs are teaching the official saudi national curriculum to about 5, 000 pupils. one text book shows how the hands and feet of thieves are chopped off … one of the text books asks children to list the “ reprehensible ” qualities of jewish people. a text for younger children asks what happens to someone who dies who is not a believer in islam – the answer given in the text book is “ hellfire ”. another text describes the punishment for gay sex as death and states a difference of opinion about whether it should be carried out by stoning, burning with fire or throwing the person over a cliff. well at least they ’ re teaching kids about their options … i think the problem with the blanket objection to religion in schools is a failure to articulate the difference between teaching religion and teaching about religion. religion, like science, or math, or art, or history, is an important subject to have a factual grasp on. i myself took a course on world religions in high school. of course by the time i was that age i had pretty much dismissed all religions as having any claim to exclusive truth. however, learning about the historical roots of the


a factual grasp on. i myself took a course on world religions in high school. of course by the time i was that age i had pretty much dismissed all religions as having any claim to exclusive truth. however, learning about the historical roots of the different religions helped me better understand both the various faiths and their respective adherents. i would argue that a proper understanding of religion requires a comprehension of world history and an appreciation for humanity ’ s foibles. the kind of education ( for the former ) and critical appraisal and mature cognition ( for the latter ) that is required for this kind of deep understanding might be beyond the mental capabilities of an elementary school child. however, kids can understand ethics on a more - or - less intuitive level. i would suggest instruction in ethics at that age – not simply a list of things that are right and wrong ( the religious equivalent of “ ethical instruction ” ), but instruction on how the kids can work their way through ethical dilemmas. this would accomplish two things. first, it would help ingrain moral behaviour by equipping children with the tools to make good judgments in the absence of supervising authority. second, it would help dispel the idea that morals come from religion, by showing the actual process by which we decide morality. i am not opposed to instruction about religion in public schools. just like we teach the orbital model of atomic structure as a way of showing what we used to believe, we can teach religion as one of mankind ’ s many failed models of the world, and what we ’ ve learned since then. like this article? follow me on twitter!


following in the footsteps of lewis and clark can be a fascinating day trip, or the theme of an entire vacation. visiting the many historic markers, interpretive centers, and monuments along this long trail is a marvelous way to learn more about their journey through present - day montana, idaho, washington, and oregon. as you stand at the same sites where they once stood, look out at landmarks recorded in their journals, and view artifacts from their actual trip, their amazing story comes alive in a remarkable way. the long journey into uncharted lands the journey of lewis and clark and the corps of discovery stands as one of the united states ' great adventure tales, its fascinating history gripping our imagination as both children and adults. many of us fantasize about what it must have been like to travel into uncharted territory, surviving on our wits, teamwork, and the help of people met along the way. the journey took lewis and clark through the present - day states of missouri, kansas, iowa, south dakota, and north dakota, which had already been traveled and charted by white explorers. they then moved into the uncharted lands of montana, idaho, and washington, culminating with a passage along the columbia river to the pacific ocean. plan your own lewis and clark adventure you can choose from a long list of lewis and clark sites to visit on your own adventure. along the way, you ' ll see amazing scenery, fabulous wildlife, and diverse landscapes. some sites along the lewis and clark trail are easy to get to, others require off - road or water transportation. these travel guides, broken down by region, will help you plan your itinerary for one or more lewis and clark - themed trips.


first great seal committee july / august 1776 " resolved, that dr. franklin, mr. j. adams and mr. jefferson, be a committee, to bring in a device for a seal for the united states of america. " july 4, 1776, journals of continental congress for the design team, congress chose three of the five men who were on the committee that drafted the declaration of independence. although these distinguished committee members were among the ablest minds in the new nation, they had little knowledge of heraldry. to help convey their vision, they chose the artist pierre eugene du simitiere to work with them. the four men consulted among themselves between july 4 and august 13, then each brought before the committee a suggestion for the design of the great seal. benjamin franklin ' s proposal is preserved in a note of his own handwriting : " moses standing on the shore, and extending his hand over the sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm pharaoh who is sitting in an open chariot, a crown on his head and a sword in his hand. rays from a pillar of fire in the clouds reaching to moses, to express that he acts by command of the deity. thomas jefferson also suggested allegorical scenes. for the front of the seal : children of israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. for the reverse : hengist and horsa, the two brothers who were the legendary leaders of the first anglo - saxon settlers in britain. john adams chose the allegorical painting known as the " judgment of hercules " where the young hercules must choose to travel either on the flowery path of self - indulgence or ascend the rugged, uphill way of duty to others and honor to himself. du simitiere designed a proper heraldic seal, " the shield has six quarters... pointing out the countries from which these states have been peopled. " the shield is bordered with the initials for " each of the thirteen independent states of america. " in du simitiere ' s second design ( below ) the one submitted to congress the soldier was replaced with the goddess of justice. also, the anchor was removed, so the goddess of liberty ' s left hand is " supporting the shield of the states. " the above realization drawn in 1856 by benson j. lossing has an error. the initials of the states are supposed to surround the shield, not the seal, as lossing showed. he also drew the below realization of the committee ' s reverse side. the reverse side


a dominantly inherited genetic condition that results in markedly elevated ldl ( low - density lipoprotein ) cholesterol levels beginning at birth, and cause heart attacks at an early age. type ii hyperlipoproteinemia ; hypercholesterolemic xanthomatosis ; low density lipoprotein receptor mutation affected people have consistently high levels of low - density lipoprotein ( ldl or " bad " cholesterol ), which leads to premature atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. typically in affected men, heart attacks occur in their 40s to 50s, and 85 % of men with this disorder have experienced a heart attack by age 60. the incidence of heart attacks in women with this disorder is also increased, but happens 10 years later than in men. individuals from families with a strong history of early heart attacks should be evaluated with a lipid screen. proper diet, exercise, and the use of newer drugs can bring lipids ( fats in the blood ) down to safer levels. the mutation that causes this genetic abnormality occurs on chromosome 19. it is possible for a person to inherit copies of the mutated gene for this disorder ( one from each parent, making them genetically " homozygous " ). in homozygous individuals the condition is more severe, and cholesterol values may exceed 600 mg / dl. these individuals develop waxy plaques ( xanthomas ) beneath the skin over their elbows, knees, buttocks. these are deposits of cholesterol in the skin. in addition, they develop deposits in tendons and around the cornea of the eye. atherosclerosis begins before puberty and heart attacks and death may occur before age 30, or they may require highly invasive surgery such as a liver transplant. those who have inherited only one copy of the mutated gene ( from one parent ) are called heterozygous. these individuals may respond well to diet modifications combined with statin drugs. - a strong family history of familial hypercholesterolemia or early heart attack - elevated and therapy - resistant levels of ldl in either or both parents - xanthomas ( lesions caused by cholesterol rich lipoprotein deposits ) - cholesterol deposits in the eyelids ( xanthelasmas ) - chest pain ( angina ) associated with coronary artery disease - evidence of obesity exams and tests a physical examination may reveal xanthomas, xanthelasmas and


cholesterol deposits in the eyelids ( xanthelasmas ) - chest pain ( angina ) associated with coronary artery disease - evidence of obesity exams and tests a physical examination may reveal xanthomas, xanthelasmas and cholesterol - laden deposits called a corneal arcus. laboratory testing may show : - elevated triglycerides - protein electrophoresis may show abnormal results - total plasma cholesterol that is greater than 300 mg / dl ( adult ) - total plasma cholesterol that is greater than 250 mg / dl ( children ) - serum ldl that is higher than 200 - studies of heart function, such as a stress test, may be abnormal - special studies of patient cells ( fibroblasts ) may show decreased uptake of ldl cholesterol - genetic testing for mutations in the ldl receptor gene the goal of treatment is to reduce the risk of atherosclerotic heart disease and heart attack. the first step is to change what you eat. this is tried for several months before drug therapy is added. diet changes include reducing total fat intake to less than 30 % of the total calories consumed. saturated fat intake is reduced by decreasing the amounts of beef, pork, and lamb ; substituting low - fat dairy products ; and eliminating coconut and palm oil. cholesterol intake is reduced by eliminating egg yolks, organ meats, and sources of animal - derived saturated fat. further reductions in the percentage of fat in the diet may be recommended after the initial trial period. dietary counseling is often recommended to assist people with these adjustments to their eating habits. exercise, especially to induce weight loss, may also aid in lowering cholesterol levels. drug therapy may be initiated if diet, exercise, and weight - loss efforts have not reduced the cholesterol levels after an adequate trial period. various cholesterol - reducing agents are available including : - bile acid sequestrant resins ( cholestyramine and colestipol ) - nicotinic acid ( niacin ) - statin drugs medped ( make early diagnosis to prevent early death ) university of utah the outcome is likely to be poor in people with the homozygote type of familial hypercholesterolemia because it causes early heart attacks and is resistant to treatment. the outcome of other types of familial hypercholesterolemia depends in part on the patient ' s compliance with treatment, but reduction in serum cholesterol levels can be


familial hypercholestedolemia, familial hypercholestefolemia, familial hypercholestetolemia, familial hypercholeste5olemia, familial hypercholeste4olemia, familial hypercholesterilemia, familial hypercholesterklemia, familial hypercholesterllemia, familial hypercholesterplemia, familial hypercholester0lemia, familial hypercholester9lemia, familial hypercholesterokemia, familial hypercholesteropemia, familial hypercholesterooemia, familial hypercholesterolwmia, familial hypercholesterolsmia, familial hypercholesteroldmia, familial hypercholesterolrmia, familial hypercholesterol4mia, familial hypercholesterol3mia, familial hypercholesterolenia, familial hypercholesterolekia, familial hypercholesterolejia, familial hypercholesterolemua, familial hypercholesterolemja, familial hypercholesterolemka, familial hypercholesterolemoa, familial hypercholesterolem9a, familial hypercholesterolem8a, familial hypercholesterolemiz, familial hypercholesterolemis, familial hypercholesterolemiw, familial hypercholesterolemiq, amilial hypercholesterolemia, fmilial hypercholesterolemia, failial hypercholesterolemia, famlial hypercholesterolemia, famiial hypercholesterolemia, familal hypercholesterolemia, familil hypercholesterolemia, familia hypercholesterolemia, familialhypercholesterolemia, familial ypercholesterolemia, familial hpercholesterolemia, familial hyercholesterolemia, familial hyprcholesterolemia, familial hypecholesterolemia, familial hyper


, familial hpercholesterolemia, familial hyercholesterolemia, familial hyprcholesterolemia, familial hypecholesterolemia, familial hyperholesterolemia, familial hypercolesterolemia, familial hyperchlesterolemia, familial hyperchoesterolemia, familial hypercholsterolemia, familial hypercholeterolemia, familial hypercholeserolemia, familial hypercholestrolemia, familial hypercholesteolemia, familial hypercholesterlemia, familial hypercholesteroemia, familial hypercholesterolmia, familial hypercholesteroleia, familial hypercholesterolema, familial hypercholesterolemi, afmilial hypercholesterolemia, fmailial hypercholesterolemia, faimlial hypercholesterolemia, famliial hypercholesterolemia, famiilal hypercholesterolemia, familail hypercholesterolemia, familila hypercholesterolemia, familia lhypercholesterolemia, familialh ypercholesterolemia, familial yhpercholesterolemia, familial hpyercholesterolemia, familial hyeprcholesterolemia, familial hyprecholesterolemia, familial hypecrholesterolemia, familial hyperhcolesterolemia, familial hypercohlesterolemia, familial hyperchloesterolemia, familial hyperchoelsterolemia, familial hypercholseterolemia, familial hypercholetserolemia, familial hypercholesetrolemia, familial hypercholestreolemia, familial hypercholesteorlemia, familial hypercholesterloemia, familial hypercholesteroelmia, familial hypercholesterolmeia, familial hypercholesteroleima, familial hypercholesterolemai, ffamilial hypercholesterolemia, faa


##lesteroelmia, familial hypercholesterolmeia, familial hypercholesteroleima, familial hypercholesterolemai, ffamilial hypercholesterolemia, faamilial hypercholesterolemia, fammilial hypercholesterolemia, famiilial hypercholesterolemia, famillial hypercholesterolemia, familiial hypercholesterolemia, familiaal hypercholesterolemia, familiall hypercholesterolemia, familial hypercholesterolemia, familial hhypercholesterolemia, familial hyypercholesterolemia, familial hyppercholesterolemia, familial hypeercholesterolemia, familial hyperrcholesterolemia, familial hyperccholesterolemia, familial hyperchholesterolemia, familial hyperchoolesterolemia, familial hyperchollesterolemia, familial hypercholeesterolemia, familial hypercholessterolemia, familial hypercholestterolemia, familial hypercholesteerolemia, familial hypercholesterrolemia, familial hypercholesteroolemia, familial hypercholesterollemia, familial hypercholesteroleemia, familial hypercholesterolemmia, familial hypercholesterolemiia, familial hypercholesterolemiaa, etc.


are you intimidated by computers? do you worry that computers might eventually take over everything? see what these textbook authors, computer scientists, have to say on the subject. although computer technology has become increasingly more sophisticated since this selection was written, the principles described in it remain as true today as when they were first written. 1 computers exist to benefit and assist people, not to replace them. computers cannot, for example, make emotional judgments, disobey instructions entered by humans, read people ' s minds, or replace interpersonal relationships. on the contrary, people must be extremely explicit in instructing a computer to perform even the simplest commands. what computers can do, however, is extremely helpful. they can - store data in vast amounts - process data quickly and accurately - simulate possible outcomes based on a given set of conditions - recommend or take action based on output 2 computers cannot be effective unless the people using them are able to identify the results they need and how to achieve those results. ultimately, computers are dependent upon people. 3 accordingly, people should not relinquish their decision - making responsibilities to computers. humans need to be on hand to interpret conditions reported by computers, particularly if medical treatment, national defense, air traffic control, or even loan processing is involved. nonprogrammable, human factors must complement computer read - outs for a complete and fair analysis. 4 at times computers may appear to make decisions. for example, in monitoring a refinery ( a site where substances such as oil are processed ), a computer might trigger a fire - extinguishing system. another computer, used for monitoring vital signs, might regulate the flow of oxygen to a patient. in both cases, however, although the computer initiates action, it does not make a decision. rather, the decisions of these process control systems were made by the human beings who programmed the machines to respond to a particular set of conditions. therefore, people must take complete responsibility for a computer ' s actions. they must anticipate all potential problems and direct computers to avoid them. 5 while computers may be able to enhance a person ' s capabilities, they can never adequately replace interpersonal relationships. even the most sophisticated computing machinery cannot supplant parent - to - child and teacher - to - student relationships. similarly, the rapport between physician and patient is essential for successful treatment. 6 people, then, are an integral part of any computer system that accepts input, processes it, and delivers output. people control computer systems through program design, by monitoring operations, and


in 1927, the denver & salt lake railroad ( later merged with the denver & rio grande western ) completed the moffat tunnel in colorado. the six - mile bore eliminated the treacherous main line over rollins pass, providing a shorter route from the midwest to the salt lake basin. in the nineteenth century, denver had been bypassed by the union pacific, the first transcontinental railroad. while it grew to become the great city of the rocky mountain west, it had only roundabout lines westward across the mountains. after lengthy court battles and bruising political fights, david moffat was able to begin construction of the tunnel that bears his name. for three years, miners labored far beneath the blazing summer sun and frigid winter storms to carve a mainline railroad tunnel, through mostly solid rock, at an elevation of more than 9, 200 feet above sea level. when the miners broke through in february of 1927, they had managed to drive two working faces 32, 800 feet through the continental divide - and meet dead - on in the middle of the mountain. denver feted the men, holding a great parade and entertaining them at the cosmopolitan hotel. this was a symbolic triumph, for the 38 - mile dotsero cutoff linking the line west of the tunnel with the railroad to salt lake city would not be finished until 1934. but it opened the way for a far easier crossing of the rockies. the moffat tunnel today carries both amtrak and freight trains. read more about the history of railroads with these articles :


guidelines for the implementation of section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973 the rehabilitation act of 1973 required that federal fund recipients make their programs and activities available to all individuals with disabilities. section 504 of the act protects persons from discrimination based on their disability status. a person is disabled within the definition of section 504 if he or she : - has a mental or physical impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person ’ s major life activites. - has a record of such impairments. - is regarded as having such an impairment. “ major life activities include functions such as caring for one ’ s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working. ” when a condition does not substantially limit a major life activity, the individual does not qualify under section 504. points to consider - services that are provided under section 504 are to occur within the regular classroom setting. - students that are suspected of having a disability that falls under section 504 will need to be evaluated by the district. - a group of educators ( preferably a student assistance team or group of educators that is familiar with the student ) must review the nature of the disability and how it affects the student ’ s education. - all decisions about section 504 eligibility and services must be documented in the student ’ s file and reviewed periodically. - although section 504 does not require school districts to develop an iep with annual goals and objectives, it is recommended that the school document the services and / or accommodations for each eligible section 504 student as provided. section 504 requires appropriate accommodations for student assistance and success. - procedures that have been outlined for the verification of students suspected of having a verified disability ( the student assistance process ) may also be used to evaluate students that are suspected of qualifying for services under section 504. it is important to remember that special education and section 504 programs are not combined, since section 504 services are provided within the regular classroom setting. parent rights afforded by section 504 of the rehabilitation act of 1973 the following is a description of the rights granted by federal law to qualifying students with disabilities. the intent of the law is to keep you fully informed concerning the decisions about your child and to inform you of your rights if you disagree with any of these decisions. you have the right to : - have your child take part in, and receive benefits from, public education programs without discrimination because of your child ’ s disability. - have the school district advise you of your rights under federal law.


of these decisions. you have the right to : - have your child take part in, and receive benefits from, public education programs without discrimination because of your child ’ s disability. - have the school district advise you of your rights under federal law. - receive notice with respect to identification, evaluation or placement of your child. - have your child receive a free appropriate public education. - have your child receive services and be educated in facilities which are comparable to those provided to students without disabilities. - have your child receive an individualized evaluation and receive section 504 accommodations and related services if your child is found eligible under section 504. - have evaluation, eligibility, educational and placement decisions made based on a variety of information sources and by persons who know your child and who are knowledgeable about the evaluation data and placement options - have transportation provided to and from an alternative placement setting at no greater cost to you than would be incurred if your child were placed in a program operated by the school district. - have your child be given an equal opportunity to participate in nonacademic and extracurricular activities offered by the school district. - examine all relevant records relating to decisions regarding your child ’ s identification, evaluation and placement. - receive a response from the school district to reasonable requests for explanations and interpretations of your child ’ s records. - request amendment of your child ’ s educational records if there is reasonable cause to believe that they are inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the privacy rights of your child. if the school district refuses this request, it shall notify you within a reasonable time, and advise you of the right to a hearing. - file a local grievance in accordance with school policy. - request an impartial hearing related to decisions regarding your child ’ s identification, eligibility, and educational program or placement with opportunity for participation by the person ’ s parents or guardian and representation by counsel, and a review procedure. this is provided in the local grievance procedure. ( hearing requests are to be made to the department of student services ). for additional information … if you have additional questions, contact an administrator or counselor at your school or contact the office of student services at 436 - 1688. for additional information regarding the section 504 process download the following tri - fold leaflet :


niemann - pick disease is an inherited condition involving lipid metabolism ( the breakdown and use of fats and cholesterol in the body ) in which harmful amounts of lipids accumulate in the spleen, liver, lungs, bone marrow, and brain. there are three variants of niemann - pick disease based on the genetic cause and the symptoms exhibited by the patient. all variants are inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. mutations in the npc1, npc2, and smpd1 genes cause niemann - pick disease. this condition is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, which means two copies of the gene must be altered for a person to be affected by the disorder. most often, the parents of a child with an autosomal recessive disorder are not affected but are carriers of one copy of the altered gene. if both parents are carriers, there is a one in four, or 25 %, chance with each pregnancy for an affected child. genetic counseling and genetic testing is recommended for families who may be carriers of niemann - pick. type c is characterized by onset in childhood, although infant and adult onsets are possible. other signs include severe liver disease, breathing difficulties, developmental delay, seizures, increased muscle tone ( dystonia ), lack of coordination, problems with feeding, and an inability to move the eyes vertically. people with this disorder can survive into adulthood. the incidence of niemann - pick disease, type c is estimated to be 1 in 150, 000 people. the disease occurs more frequently in people of french - acadian descent in nova scotia. mutations in either the npc1 or npc2 gene cause niemann - pick disease, type c. the npc1 gene produces a protein that is located in membranes inside the cell and is involved in the movement of cholesterol and lipids within cells. a deficiency of this protein leads to the abnormal build up of lipids and cholesterol within cell membranes. the molecular basis for this disease is extremely complex due to the role that endosome formation has on affected patients. recently, three theories have attempted to explain the buildup of cholesterol in the lysosomes of affected patients of niemann - pick disease type c due to the malfunction of the protein npc - 1. * the contention by neufel et al is that the buildup of mannose 6 - phosphate receptors ( mprs ) in the late endosome suggests that the retrograde breakdown of choles


egypt / politics / muhammad ' anwar ' as - sadat ( 1918 - 1981 ) president of egypt from 1970 to 1981. in the 1930 ' s, sadat as a military cadet. in 1946, during a trial accused for planned assassination of a politician. in 1977, addressing the knesset. in 1981, moments before the assassination. the assassination of sadat. sadat ' s background was military education. he was active in the dissident officer ' s actions of freeing egypt from british control, together with gamal abdel nasser. after becoming president in 1970, sadat set a new course independent from nasser, to the surprise of many. while nasser had oriented himself away from the west, and started cooperation closely with the soviet union, sadat sacked 20, 000 soviet military personnel within two year. the 1973 yom kippur war against israel was the first war of the middle east in which the arabs made great advances, israel needed us aid to fight back. the war did not give back control over the suez canal, which was very important aim for sadat, but it demonstrated that the arab military now had reached a level of equality with the israeli. all in all, the war was regarded as a victory for sadat, especially compared to the falling star of nasser in his last years at power. sadat ' s rising star on the arab sky, dropped to the ground in 1977, when he surprised the world by visiting israel. this visit was to a large degree motivated by the economic problems after many wars with israel. the visit would lead to the signing of the egyptian - israeli peace treaty in 1979. the treaty with israel isolated egypt in the arab world, and strong opposition was expressed from the islamists. 1918 december 25 : born in mit abu al - kawm, al - minufiyya into a poor family of 13 children. 1939 - 45 : active in egyptian resistance, twice arrested for cooperating with the germans. 1946 : put to trial for having planned to assassinate a politician, but was acquitted. 1952 july 23 : army coup led by nasser, against king faruk, in which sadat is a close partner. 1954 february : central in deposing of naguib. 1964 : sadat is appointed vice president. 1966 : steps down as vice president. 1969 : appointed vice president for the second time. 1970 october 15 : becomes president following the death of nasser. 1973 october 6 : in 1973 sadat was one of the instigators of the yom kippur war


peptic ulcer is a sore in the inner lining of the stomach or upper small ulcers form when the intestine or stomach ' s protective layer is broken down. when this happens, digestive juices — which contain hydrochloric acid and an enzyme called pepsin — can damage the intestine or stomach tissue. treatment cures most ulcers. and symptoms go away peptic ulcers that form in the stomach are called gastric ulcers. those that form in the upper small intestine are called duodenal ( say " doo - uh - dee - nul " or " doo - aw - duh - nul " ) ulcers. the two most common causes of peptic ulcers are : h. pylori and nsaids break down the stomach or intestine ' s protective mucus layer. different people have different symptoms, and some people have no symptoms at all. your doctor will ask you questions about your symptoms and your general health, and he or she will do a physical exam. your symptoms aren ' t severe and you are younger than 55, your doctor may do some simple tests ( using your blood, breath, or stool ) to look for signs of h. pylori infection. the only way for you and your doctor to know for sure if you have an ulcer is to do a more complicated test, called an endoscopy, to look for an ulcer and to test for h. pylori infection. an endoscopy allows the doctor to look inside your esophagus, stomach, and small intestine. an endoscopy is usually done by a gastroenterologist, a doctor who specializes in to treat peptic ulcers, most people need to take medicines that reduce the amount of acid in the stomach. if you have an h. pylori infection, you will also need to help speed the healing of your ulcer and prevent it from coming back if you quit smoking and limit alcohol. continued use of medicines such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen may increase the chance of your ulcer coming ignoring symptoms of an ulcer is not a good idea. this condition needs to be treated. while symptoms can go away for a short time, you may still have an ulcer. left untreated, an ulcer can cause life - threatening problems. even with treatment, some ulcers may come back and may need


be treated. while symptoms can go away for a short time, you may still have an ulcer. left untreated, an ulcer can cause life - threatening problems. even with treatment, some ulcers may come back and may need more learning about peptic ulcers : the two most common causes of peptic ulcers are : a rare cause of peptic ulcers is zollinger - ellison syndrome. in this condition, the stomach makes too much acid, damaging the stomach lining. although there is no evidence to prove that emotional or mental stress causes ulcers, it does seem to make ulcers worse in some people. but the connection is still controversial. common ulcer symptoms include : less common but more serious symptoms of ulcers symptoms of ulcers in the upper small intestine ( duodenal ulcers ) and in the stomach ( gastric ulcers ) are similar, except for when pain some ulcers don ' t cause symptoms. these are known as silent ulcers. silent ulcers are more common in : in children, symptoms vary with age : the symptoms of an ulcer often can be confused with other abdominal conditions, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease ( gerd ). many people who have peptic ulcers may not see a doctor when their symptoms begin. their symptoms, such as belly pain, may come and go. even without treatment, some ulcers will heal by themselves. and even with treatment, ulcers sometimes come back. certain factors such as cigarette smoking and continued nonsteroidal anti - inflammatory drugs ( nsaids ) increase the risk of ulcers coming back. ulcers can cause complications, such as bleeding, perforation, penetration, or obstruction. that ' s why it ' s important to treat an ulcer, even if you have one that isn ' t causing any symptoms. most peptic ulcers without complications heal, regardless of the cause. but an ulcer is likely to come back if you have an h. pylori infection that is not successfully treated. recurring ulcers caused by reinfection with h. pylori are not common in the united states, except in areas that are overcrowded or have poor ulcers in the stomach ( gastric ulcers ) often heal more slowly than ulcers in the upper small intestine the following things can increase your chance of getting a peptic


in areas that are overcrowded or have poor ulcers in the stomach ( gastric ulcers ) often heal more slowly than ulcers in the upper small intestine the following things can increase your chance of getting a peptic ulcer and may slow the healing of an ulcer you already have : in the past, spicy foods, caffeine, and moderate amounts of alcohol were thought to increase ulcer risk. this is no longer believed to be some things that you cannot control may increase your risk of getting an ulcer. these if you have been diagnosed with peptic ulcer, call 911 or other emergency services immediately if you have : call your doctor or seek medical attention right away if you have : call your doctor if you have been diagnosed with a peptic if you have been diagnosed with a peptic ulcer and medical treatment is not helping, call your doctor. waiting until your symptoms get worse can be serious. if you don ' t know if you have a peptic ulcer and you don ' t have any of the emergency symptoms listed above, you may try taking an antacid or nonprescription acid reducer and other home treatment, such as making changes to your diet. to evaluate your symptoms, see your : if further testing or treatment is needed, you may need to see someone who specializes in the treatment of diseases of the digestive tract ( gastroenterologist ). if surgery is needed, your doctor may refer you to a general surgeon. but surgery is rarely needed to treat ulcers. to prepare for your appointment, see the topic making the most of your appointment. although not all peptic ulcers are caused by bacteria, it ' s getting more common to do a test for helicobacter pylori whenever someone has ulcer symptoms. this includes testing your blood, breath, stool, or a sample of tissue from your digestive tract ( biopsy ). an endoscopy may be done so that a if you are older than 55, you may need an endoscopy because of a higher risk for stomach cancer. this is especially true if you have : other tests that may be done include : left untreated, many ulcers eventually heal. but ulcers often recur if the cause of the ulcer is not eliminated or treated. if ulcers keep coming back, you have an increased risk of developing a serious complication, such as bleeding or a hole in the wall of your stomach or


caused by frequent use of aspirin or other nsaids include : you can get some h2 blockers and ppis without a prescription ( over the counter or otc ). if you are using otc acid reducers ( such as prilosec or pepcid ) to help with your symptoms for more than 10 to 14 days at a time, or if your symptoms are very bad, be sure to see your doctor. surgery is rare, but it is needed sometimes to treat : if surgery is suggested, you may want to : when surgery is done, it usually involves one or more of the following : the american college of gastroenterology is an organization of digestive disease specialists. the website contains information about common gastrointestinal problems. the american gastroenterological association is a society of doctors who specialize in the digestive system ( gastroenterologists ). this web site can help you find a gastroenterologist in your area. they also have patient information on many gastrointestinal diseases this clearinghouse is a service of the u. s. national institute of diabetes and digestive and kidney diseases ( niddk ), part of the u. s. national institutes of health. the clearinghouse answers questions ; develops, reviews, and sends out publications ; and coordinates information resources about digestive diseases. publications produced by the clearinghouse are reviewed carefully for scientific accuracy, content, and readability. other works consultedyang yx, et al. ( 2006 ). long - term proton pump inhibitor therapy and risk of hip fracture. jama, january 4, 2012 e. gregory thompson, md - internal medicine & jerome b. simon, md, frcpc, facp - gastroenterology how this information was developed to help you make better health decisions. to learn more visit healthwise. org © 1995 - 2013 healthwise, incorporated. healthwise, healthwise for every health decision, and the healthwise logo are trademarks of healthwise, incorporated.