Since 1976, every U.S. president has designated February as Black History Month. From slavery to civil rights, and science to music, the following books for young readers honor the accomplishments of African Americans.
On the Radar: Top Picks from the Editors at Junior Library Guild: K-8 Books on African Americans Who Inspire
Show Way. DVD. 12 min. Weston Woods. 2012. ISBN 978-0-545-47811-3. 59.95. CD, ISBN 978-0-545-47810-6: $12.95; CD with hardcover book, ISBN 978-0545-47827-4: $29.95.
Gr 2-5–A Show Way was a quilt that had messages stitched into it showing the family’s journey North to freedom, offering hope and a guide for slaves in the South. That theme of “leading the way” is a thread running through Jacqueline Woodson’s carefully woven story (Putnam, 2005). Soonie’s great-grandma was only a child when she was sold away [...]
BOLDEN, Tonya. Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty. 120p. bibliog. chron. glossary. illus. index. notes. photos. reprods. Abrams. Jan. 2013. RTE $24.95. ISBN 978-1-4197-0390-4. LC 2012000845.
Gr 5-9–After a dramatic opening description of abolitionists waiting for word that the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed, this title reviews the events that led up to the Civil War, examines Lincoln’s reasons for writing it, and details the role of abolitionists. Bolden makes excellent use of primary sources; the pages are filled [...]
The Freedom Maze. By Delia Sherman. 8 CDs. 8:19 hrs. Prod. by Listening Library. Dist. by Listening Library/Books on Tape. 2012. ISBN 978-0-499-01463-9. $55.
Gr 5-8–Sophie’s mother drops her off to spend the summer at her grandmother’s house in the Louisiana Bayou. Once a prolific sugar plantation, the property is derelict and overgrown. In the garden, Sophie discovers a maze, now in ruins, much like Sophie’s life since her parents’ divorce. It’s 1960, and the stigma of the divorce, combined with [...]
Baseball season may be coming to an end, but a true fan’s enthusiasm for the sport never wanes. Reason enough to consider two new digital products for your iPad: Ryan Woodward’s Bottom of the Ninth and The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The first is an animated graphic novel, the second, a reference guide. Here’s what our reviewers had to say about these releases.
My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey. By Jeanne Walker Harvey. cassette or CD. 15 min. Recorded Books. 2012. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4640-0209-0, CD: ISBN 978-1-4640-0206-9. $15.75; hardcover book, ISBN 978-0-7614-5810-4: $17.99.
K-Gr 3–In a first-person narrative that incorporates some of artist Romare Bearden’s phrases and ideas, and using his famous painting “Watching the Good Trains Go By” as her inspiration, Jeanne Walker Harvey gives voice to the history and experiences that inspired his famous collages. Born in North Carolina, [...]


Haga Palace. Drawing by Princess Eugenia (daughter of Oscar I and Queen Josefina).
Gustav III's palace building - the ruin The history of Haga differs somewhat to that of the other Royal retreats. At Drottningholm, for example, the palace was built first and then surrounded by extensive grounds.
At Haga, the original feature is the park, which over time has gradually been joined by buildings of various different characters. Gustav III's dream palace was never completed and today it is known as the ruin, with only the cellar and foundations finished.
Gustav III's Pavilion. Photo: Charless Hammarsten, IBL.
Gustav III's Pavilion Gustav III's Pavilion (originally the King's Pavilion) could be regarded as The King's private residence at Haga and was intended to complement the official palace that was never finished. Today this pavilion is an excellent example of Gustavian architecture and interiors.
Haga Palace Gustav III's Pavilion in Haga Park was often used by Gustav III's son and successor, Gustav IV Adolf.
Gustav IV Adolf ordered the construction of a second pavilion close by for his wife, Queen Fredrika, and their children. This building, which is now called Haga Palace, was erected between the years 1802 and 1805 according to plans drawn by the architect Carl Christoffer Gjörwell. Haga is slightly different in this respect as well. The palace was constructed as a home at Haga for the Queen and her children, and not as an official residence. It is also around the time of Gustav IV Adolf and his family that we get a first glimpse of family life in the modern sense.
Italian villa style In terms of its style, the palace building is most like an Italian villa, where family life is focused around the central living room. The white colouring and the temple-like design of the central part, with its temple gables and classic columns, emphasise the Italian nature of the building
Haga Palace and the Bernadotte dynasty Haga Palace has been a much-used and loved home for the Bernadotte dynasty. Oskar I and his family often stayed at Haga and for several years the palace was occupied by King Oskar's son, the 'song Prince' Gustaf. Prince Gustaf's youngest brother August and his wife Theresia lived at Haga for many years, and the first interior photographs from their home were taken during their time there in the late 19th century. These images convey a feeling of homeliness according to the ideal that was characteristic of the end of the 19th century.
The Green salon at Haga Palace. Photo: the Royal Court
The Haga princesses In 1932, heir presumptive Prince Gustaf Adolf married Princess Sibylla of Sachsen Coburg and Gotha and Haga Palace was renovated in order to function as their family home. The building underwent a transformation, which meant that the interiors reflected the more functional style of the time rather than the historical heritage of the early 19th century. Family photographs from Haga that were published in books and magazines, and perhaps even more so shown on cinema newsreels, spread the image of a royal family idyll at Haga.
Guest house for Swedish government Haga Palace functioned as the Swedish government's guest house for distinguished visitors between 1964 and 2009. In 2009, the government transferred the royal right of disposal to Haga Palace back to H.M. The King and the palace was placed at the disposal of the Crown Princess Couple for use as a home following the wedding on 19 June, 2010.
For further information about Haga Palace and Haga in general, see 'Haga: a Royal Cultural Heritage', from the book series, 'The Royal Palaces', published 2010.


This is the second part of two posts examining how North Korea fell behind South Korea. The previous part can be found here.
As the previous post found, for several decades North Korea kept up with South Korea. Then, during the mid-1970s, the country started falling behind. Ever since then the gap between the two countries has widened.
This post will explore several factors behind what caused North Korea to fall behind. There seem to be three main causes: the failed ideology of juche (self-reliance), the end of Soviet aid, and Kim Jong-Il’s incompetent rule.
If one looks at Gapminder’s graphic, North Korea and South Korea are neck-and-neck until the mid-1970s:
Then North Korea falls behind:
What caused this? Well, in 1972 North Korea adopted the ideology of juche into the constitution. Juche stands for self-reliance. There’s a lot of fancy Marxist philosophical complexity behind the idea, but in its essence it seems to be basically a fancy form of protectionism.
Juche was very harmful to the North Korean economy. Here is North Korea before the official adaptation of juche:
As is evident, North Korea was progressing during this period. This is not to say that juche wasn’t part of the state’s ideology in these years. Rather, it seems to have played less of a role.
A description on this website provides a good description of the progress during this time:
The 1954-56 three year plan repaired the massive damage caused by the war and brought industrial production back to prewar levels. This was followed by the five- year plan of 1957-61 and the seven year plan of 1961-67. These plans brought about further growth in industrial production and substantial development of state infrastructure. By the 1960s North Korea was the second most industrialized nation in East Asia, trailing only Japan. While a number of internal limitations appeared, such as in the production of consumer goods, the national standard of living was considered by many third-world nations as an alternative to the capitalist model of development sponsored by the United States. Building upon the ruins left by the Korean War, the North Korean economy by the late 1960s provided its people with medical care, universal education, adequate caloric intake, and livable housing.
Here is what happens after the official adoption of juche:
The website continues with a description of North Korea’s economic decline. I will quote the discussion in full because it’s quite comprehensive:
In the 1970s the expansion of North Korea’s economy, with the accompanying rise in living standards, came to an end and a few decades later went into reverse. A huge increase in the price of oil following the oil shock of 1974 hurt the economies of countries throughout the world, North Korea among them. North Korea has no oil of its own, and it had few export commodities of interest to the west. Compounding this was a decision to borrow foreign capital and invest simultaneously in the military and mining industries. North Korea’s desire to gain as much independence as it could from China and Russia prompted the expansion of its military power. They believed such expenditures could be covered by foreign borrowing and increased sales of its minerals in the international market. North Korea invested heavily in its mining industries and purchased a large quantity of extractive machinery and tools from abroad. However, soon after making these investments, the international prices of for many of these minerals fell, leaving North Korea with large debts and an inability to pay off the debts and provide a high level of social welfare to its people.
Adding to the above, the centrally planned economy, which emphasized heavy industry, had reached the limits of its productive potential in North Korea. Juche repeated demands that North Koreans learn to build and innovate domestically had run its course as had the ability of North Koreans to keep technological pace with other industrialized nations. By the mid to late-1970s some parts of the capitalist world, including South Korea, were advancing into new phases of technology and economic development and phasing out the coal-and-steel-based economies of the earlier period.
Kim ll-sung, trapped in an ideology that had once been highly successful, was unable to respond effectively to the challenge of an increasingly prosperous and well-armed South Korea, which undermined the legitimacy of his own regime. Having failed at their earlier attempt to turn to the market and conduct market-economy reforms such as those carried out in China by Deng Xiaoping, Kim opted for continued ideological purity. The DPRK by 1980 was faced with the choice of either repaying its international loans, or continuing its support of social welfare for its people. Given the ideals of Juche, North Korea chose to default on its loans, and by late 1980s its industrial output was declining.
One should note that the images above are models of North Korea’s economic path rather than based on North Korean statistics. Since North Korea doesn’t reveal its GDP, people have to make educated guesses. The people on Gapminder put North Korea as slightly wealthier than South Korea in 1944 and then modeled equal economic growth rates until the mid-1970s. At that point they put 0% GDP per capital growth to model North Korea’s stagnation during that period. Finally, they use slightly more accurate estimates after the fall of the Soviet Union to model North Korea’s famine and its most recent years.
Nevertheless, these models are based off what happened in real life. It’s undeniable that North Korea was stagnating during the late ’70s and ’80s. It’s also undeniable that there was a famine during the late ’90s. So while the graphic isn’t perfect, it’s a decent representation of reality.
The End of Soviet Aid
Juche seems to have been the main turning point in North Korean economic history. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that there are in fact two “parts” of North Korean economic decline. The first part, during the late ’70s and 80s, is stagnation – when North Korea doesn’t go forward but doesn’t go backwards. The second part starts in the ’90s, when North Korea actually starts going backwards.
What caused this?
Well, for all of its economic history North Korea depended extensively on communist aid. The Soviets were determined to prove that their system was superior and, like the Americans, gave lots of aid to their allies. Eventually it turned out that their system was in fact not superior, and by the end the Soviet Union couldn’t really afford to give out that aid. In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed and all Soviet aid withdrew.
This hit North Korea hard:
In fact, it eventually created a famine. This graphic shows North Korea after the fall of the Soviet Union. This is the second part of the country’s economic decline, when it actually starts going backwards. Soviet aid was particularly important because the Soviet Union sold North Korea oil at low prices. North Korea’s inefficient economy and agricultural system depended badly on petroleum, but it couldn’t afford to buy petroleum at market prices. When the Soviets stopped giving North Korea oil, North Korea collapsed.
Here’s a comparison with South Korea:
Kim Jong-Il’s rule was incompetent and terrible for North Korea. Let’s take a look at North Korea under his father Kim Il-sung, until his death in 1994.
We see progress throughout most of Kim Il-sung’s rule. During his final years, however, stagnation and finally decline sets in. Nevertheless, one could say that Kim Il-sung did good for North Korea.
What happens under Kim Jong-Il?
Decline. Indeed, there’s a startling coincidence between Kim Jong-Il’s path to power and North Korea’s economic decline. Kim Jong-Il began taking power during the 1980s. During that time North Korea is well into stagnation. He takes over the armed forces in 1991. North Korea then begins going backwards. His father dies in 1994, leaving him in absolute control. North Korea then suffers a famine from 1994 to 1998.
Here’s North Korea and South Korea during Kim Jong-Il’s rule:
It seems that there were three main events that caused North Korea’s economic decline: juche, the end of Soviet aid, and the incompetence of Kim Jong-Il. Juche turned economic growth into stagnation. The end of Soviet aid turned stagnation into absolute decline. This backwards path gained momentum as Kim Jong-Il gained power and ruled incompetently.
North Korea’s tale is fairly unique. It’s the story of a country which achieved a decent standard of living and high industrialization under communism. Then the strains of the system became apparent, such as the overreliance on petroleum, and it eventually collapsed. This is why one hears of a lot of North Korean factories that used to work but now don’t. One hopes that the new leader Kim Jong-un will turn things around for his people.


The mendelschen laws became in the 60's 19. Century of the scientifically interested Augustinermönch Gregor Mendel by crossing attempts at Erbsenpflanzen determines and ina first little considered publication formulated. Only over 1900 was confirmed these innovative realizations, brought with the Chromosomentheorie the transmission in connection and to the common property of the classical genetic science.
Table of contents
the mendelschen the laws or rules
the discoveries Mendels is based on statisticValues. Therefore they are called frequently also rules, with the reason that laws - differently than rules - would apply without reservation. Nevertheless they are well-known in the vernacular also as “Mendel pea equation”.
1. mendelsches law (uniformity law and/or.Reciprocity)
if two individuals of a kind (“parents “or Parentalgeneration P called) to be crossed with one another, in a characteristic, for which it pure-bend (homozygot) are, differ, then are the descendants of the first generation (“children” or first branch generation F1called) uniformly, i.e. both genotypisch and related to the phenotype directly. It is irrelevant, which represents the two individuals nut/mother or father. (Exception: The characteristic is on a Geschlechtschromosom (Gonosom). Then it can be that thoseF1 is not really uniform!)
2. mendelsches law (splitting law)
is crossed if the first descendant generation among themselves, then the individuals of the second generation (“grandchild “or second branch generation, F2) are no longer uniform, but point again thoseCharacteristics of the parents generation in certain numerical ratios up. There the uniformity is lost
- concerns it thereby dominance rezessive transmission, then three quarters form the dominant factor and a quarter the rezessive variant out (relationship of 3:1).
- of the 1 points second ) generation with intermediate transmission per a quarter of the descendants one of the two pure-curved variants and half of the individuals. Generation on (relationship by 1:2: 1).
3. mendelsches law (independence law/new combination law)
of two characteristics is separately from each other left, whereby starting from the 2. Generation (“grandchild”) new, pure-bends combinations to arise can. This law applies however then only if forthe characteristics responsible persons of genes on different Chromosomen sit (polyhybride hereditary courses). If the genes lie on the same Chromosomen, they are left in groups of couplings.
Mendel could do neither the term of the genes nor that of the Chromosomen. The actual nature of the hereditary factors was thus not well-known it. Only 1904 became by Suez clay/tone andBoveri the Chromosomentheorie of the transmission justifies. With the help of this theory the Mendelregeln can be explained without contradiction.
The Chromosomen are the units on those the hereditary factors (genes) to be passed on. (This explains the groups of couplings.) in the body cells the Chromosomen arise in pairs.Thus humans possess 23 Chromosomenpaare thus 46 Chromosomen. One speaks of a double Chromosomensatz. The Chromosomen are present in pairs in the body cell, because a Chromosom from the father and one from the nut/mother come. These two Chromosomen become also ashomologous Chromosomen designates. In a body cell the hereditary factors per characteristic are thus always doubly present.
With the formation of the sex cells the homologous Chromosomenpaare is separated. In an egg and/or one Spermium is thus only the simple Chromosomensatz. In a sex cellthe hereditary factors per characteristic are thus always once present. (The splitting rule becomes so understandable.) with fertilization thus the fusion of egg and Spermium to bring both sex cells in each case a hereditary factor per characteristic also. The body cell resulting from this fusion has thusagain the double Chromosomensatz. The hereditary factors can so again be combined. (Independence rule, free combination of the genes)
With large homogeneity of the genes of respective parents:
If A is dominance, each combination, which at least one A contains, has the appropriate characteristicthe parents AA. If AA stands for example for red blooms, and BB for blue blooms, and the gene for red blooms dominance is, have all “children” from AA and BB red blooms, but a quarter of the “grandchildren” again blue blooms.If none of the genes dominates, also mixtures develop - in this case possibly for lila blooms with the combination OFF.
If several genes on different Chromosomen result in together a characteristic, also completely new results can develop - for z. B. yellow blooms.The same applies to mutations.
The use of this recombination - thus the sexual Vermehrung - lies in the fact that more different gene combinations contribute to the evolution. Without sexual Vermehrung there would be only to a large extent identical copies from each organism. With sexual Vermehrung it givesa high range at descendants, and thus at survival strategies and - possibilities. To it comes that errors or weaknesses in hereditary property with sexual Vermehrung very much uneven on descendants distributed are - so that some descendants of clearly fewer problems have than their parents,and thus a reconciliation for errors when copying the heiress formations is created. Finally the sexual Vermehrung makes possible the assumption of the best characteristics of two occasionally separate populations into a common population and concomitantly a faster appropriation of abilities, those elsewherebefore already developed.
the mendelschen laws are used in particular in the animal and plant breeding, e.g. with the breed of hybrids. They can be used also for descending appraisals, e.g. in order to prove that did not determine humansas parents of a certain child are applicable. DNA.
which by Mendels theory not be explained could, became only understandably because of the Chromosomentheorie of the transmission. The genes for for example the stature height and fruit form of the tomatoes(A/a and/or. B/b) lie on the same Chromosom and therefore coupled to the germ cells are passed on. The germ cells can contain then only the combination OFF or off, not however off or off. 3. mendelsche rule must be limited therefore: Alleles are freely combinable, if the genes lie on different Chromosomen.
- H. Frederik Nijhout: The context macht's! Spektrum der Wissenschaft, April 2005, S. 70 - 77 (2005), ISSN 1702971
- biology book six-form high school Baden-Wuerttemberg class 9-10.
thus “everything” is written. (above in the text with reference)


The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1945
Artturi Ilmari Virtanen
Born: 15 January 1895, Helsinki, Russian Empire (now Finland)
Died: 11 November 1973, Helsinki, Finland
Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Prize motivation: "for his research and inventions in agricultural and nutrition chemistry, especially for his fodder preservation method"
Field: Agricultural chemistry
Artturi Ilmari Virtanen
was born in Helsinki on the 15th of January, 1895, as the son of
Kaarlo Virtanen and Serafiina Isotalo. He was educated at the
Classical Lyceum at Viipuri, Finland. After finishing school, he
studied chemistry, biology, and physics at the University of
Helsinki, where he took his M.Sc. in 1916 and obtained his
D.Sc. in 1919. Subsequently he studied physical chemistry in
Zurich in 1920 under G. Wiegner, bacteriology in Stockholm in
1921 under Chr. Barthel, and enzymology in Stockholm during
1923-1924 under H.
von Euler. Since 1923, his interest turned to
He was first-assistant of the Central Laboratory of Industries at Helsinki during 1916-1917, and chemist in the Laboratory of Valio, Finnish Cooperative Dairies' Association, during 1919-1920. In 1921 he became Director of this laboratory, and in 1931 of the Biochemical Research Institute at Helsinki. After having been docent in chemistry at the University of Helsinki since 1924, he was appointed Professor of Biochemistry at the Finland Institute of Technology at Helsinki in 1931, and at the University of Helsinki in 1939. Since 1948 he has been member and President of the State Academy of Science and Arts in Finland.
Professor Virtanen is a member of the Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Flemish, Bavarian, and Pontifical Academies of Science, and of the Swedish and Danish Academies of Engineering Sciences. He is an honorary member of learned societies in Finland, Sweden, Austria, Edinburgh, and the U.S.A., and holds honorary degrees of the Universities of Lund, Paris, Giessen, and Helsinki, the Royal Technical College at Stockholm, and the Finland Institute of Technology. Numerous medals and other distinctions have been conferred upon him from Sweden, Finland, Belgium, and Italy.
Virtanen established the indispensability of cozymase in lactic and propionic acid fermentations, as well as the phosphorylation of sugar (1924). In these works the similarity of different fermentation processes as to the first stages in the decomposition of sugar became apparent. Together with his collaborators he continued the fermentation experiments, special attention being paid to the mechanism of different bacterial fermentations. The fermentation of dioxyaceton to glycerol and glyceric acid in the presence of phosphates by the effect of Coli bacteria (1929) was the first sugar fermentation which was elucidated chemically from beginning to end. In this work attention was also paid to the adaptive formation of enzymes, which phenomenon his collaborator H. Karström treated in great detail in his doctor's thesis (constitutive and adaptive enzymes). The phenomenon of adaptation, and in connection with it the uptake of nutrients by cells, is still subjected to investigations in his laboratory. The concept that almost all proteins in bacterial cells are enzyme proteins led to investigations on the relation between the protein content and enzymic activity of cells.
Since 1925, the biological nitrogen fixation which takes place in the root nodules of leguminous plants has been subjected to many-sided investigations in his laboratory. The importance of the red pigment, leghaemoglobin, in active root nodules for the fixation of nitrogen was proved.
The formation of vitamins in plants, as well as the ability of plants to utilize organic nitrogen compounds as their nitrogen source, have been treated in many publications from his laboratory.
Since the end of the 1940's, the chemical composition of higher plants has been given special attention in his laboratory. A large number of new amino acids have been isolated from different plants, and have been characterized chemically. Numerous organic sulphur compounds, which may be of importance for the nutrition of man and domestic animals, have also been isolated from vegetables and fodder plants.
The application of biochemistry to agriculture and the dairy industry belongs to the practical activities of his laboratory. Among works performed in this field are the creation of a theoretical basis for the preservation of fresh fodder and the development of a practical method on this basis (the AIV method), with the aim to promote an effective utilization of protein-rich crops, and to produce milk of the same vitamin content in winter as that produced on summer pastures. Investigations aiming at the improvement of the quality of dairy products also have to be mentioned as belonging to the field of applied research.
Virtanen married Lilja Moisio in 1920; they have two sons, Kaarlo and Olavi.
From Nobel Lectures, Chemistry 1942-1962, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1964
This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
Artturi Virtanen died on November 11, 1973.
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1945
MLA style: "Artturi Virtanen - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 25 May 2013 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1945/virtanen.html


Bronze Age use of a cave in the limits of the present village marks the earliest evidence for settlement in this area. The population appears to have flourished in Phoenician times, a fact revealed by the presence of a number of tombs found during this century at Hal-Qormi Beyond that, the history of this village remains obscure until it emerges as one of the first parishes in fifteenth century Malta.
Despite a number of adverse events, the villagers managed to build the largest parish church in the countryside at the time. Inspired by the works of Sebastiano Serlio, an as yet anonymous architect managed to design a church which has a facade that combines elegance and grace with an underlying mannerist style. In the seventeenth century the church was crowned by a dome designed by Malta's foremost architect Lorenzo Gafa. Through the years the church managed to gather a number of paintings by the islandsí leading artists namely Stefano Erardi, Francesco Zahra, Giuseppe Cali and Joseph Briffa. The titular painting is a work by Mattia Preti.
The village's population grew over the years and earlier this century the eastern part of the village was proclaimed as a new parish. A new church was built and dedicated to St. Sebastian. Imposing on the surrounding landscape, the church's interior has remarkable pieces of sculpture in local limestone.
Qormi is known for its numerous bakeries which until recently supplied most of the southern side of the island. The life in the village is punctuated by a number of events. In Holy Week, one of the largest Good Friday processions occurs at Hal-Qormi, an event which attracts a large number of maltese people and tourists .
In the summer months the Maltese celebrate a number of
traditional festas. Hal-Qormi also makes its contribution. For two
weeks the village's life rotates around celebrations dedicated to the two
patron saints. Street and church decoration ,
fireworks and brass band marches make this occasion an unforgettable
Contact author by E-Mail


Alcohol abuse affects the whole family. The health effects of alcohol abuse can include heart disease, liver disease, and even cancer. Treatment consists of medical attention, prescription medications, or treatment centers.
It's not clear why some people
abuse alcohol or become
addicted to it and others do not. Alcoholism often
runs in families (genetic), but your drinking habits also
are influenced by your environment and life situations, such as friends or


In a heartbreaking case of parental neglect, a 12-year-old girl in Scotland has been admitted to a hospital after a life-long vegan diet left her with the spine of an 80-year-old. Raised on meat- and dairy-free meals since birth, the young child is said to have developed a severe case of rickets (a degenerative bone condition) and numerous bone fractures as a result of her nutritional deficiencies. Sadly, this is not the first time a child has suffered a vegan-related health calamity.
In a similar case five years ago, a 15-month-old child was taken into foster care after a strict vegan diet left her with internal injuries, broken bones, missing teeth, and rickets. And since then, at least two vegan children have died from similar complications. In one Florida case, a 5-month-old girl was still at newborn weight when she died from malnutrition. Her siblings were severely malnourished, and at least two had developed rickets.
These grievous examples show how important it is to exercise caution when promoting vegetarian and vegan diets—especially for children. A New York Times columnist explained after a 6-week-old Atlanta vegan died last year:
A vegan diet may lack vitamin B12, found only in animal foods; usable vitamins A and D, found in meat, fish, eggs and butter; and necessary minerals like calcium and zinc. When babies are deprived of all these nutrients, they will suffer from retarded growth, rickets and nerve damage.
As animal activists tout the supposed superiority of meatless eating, it’s important to note that a vegan diet can be downright dangerous unless it’s undertaken with caution. Extra steps like vitamin supplements and careful planning are particularly crucial for kids, since their bodies are not fully developed. Yet vegan activists at PETA and the woefully misnamed Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) continue to push vegan diets without emphasizing the special needs of growing children.
That PETA aggressively markets its messages to children is nothing new. PETA activists have been instrumental in promoting the misleading idea that going vegetarian or vegan is a hip style statement, or a way to stay thin. Regardless of its (lack of) merits, that notion seems to be catching on. According to the American Dietetic Association, eleven percent of girls ages 13 to 17 identify themselves as vegetarian or vegan. But nowhere in today’s animal-rights propaganda will you find sufficient warning about the drawbacks, including protein and vitamin deficiencies.
PCRM has been particularly irresponsible in promoting vegan diets for kids. Despite ample evidence to the contrary, the group’s psychiatrist president even insists that "vegan diets are not only good for kids, it’s a preferable diet for kids."
As the recent news from Scotland so tragically illustrates, this advice is dangerously misleading. Vegan advocacy groups should stop glossing over the potentially disastrous details of their dietary agenda.


A Probabilistic Relational Model (PRM), , , is a directed probabilistic graphical model used in the field of Statistical Relational Learning (SRL). PRMs define a language that can be used to describe the relationships - structural and probabilistic - between classes and variables, and thus allows representing dependencies between sets of objects. Heckerman et al. introduced the directed acyclic probabilistic entity-relationship (DAPER) model which is based on the entity-relationship model used to design relational databases.
ProbReM is built on the DAPER specification of a PRM, thus it requires the data to be modelled with a entity-relationship diagram. The probabilistic structure defines the dependencies among the probabilistic attributes of the entity-relationship model.
The parent and the child attribute of a dependency can be associated with different entities or relationships; Getoor et al. refer to the path from child to parent attribute the slotchain whereas Heckerman et al. associate a more general constraint with the dependency instead. The traditional slotchain is the most common constraint, ProbReM makes use of both expressions depending which one is more appropriate in the context.
Relationships are either of type 1:n or m:n, therefore it is possible that attribute objects have multiple parent attribute objects for the same probabilistic dependency. Aggregation of the parent attribute objects is a common way to deal with this problem, ProbReM allows to define generic aggregation functions (avg, min, max).
Different inference methods have been implemented, all of which are based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods.
The section Using ProbReM illustrates the approach used in ProbReM, and the example model is a walkthrough with an applied example. For theoretical background, we recommend Introduction to Statistical Relational Learning by Lise Getoor & Ben Taskar for an excellent introduction to the different approaches introduced in the SRL field. For more background on using MCMC in graphical models, D. Koller & N. Friedman’s Probabilistic Graphical Models: Principles and Techniques is an excellent reference.
- Numpy / Scipy
- Matplotlib / Pylab
It is hard to draw a line between the core functionality of the framework and the functionality needed by a specific ProbReM project. For this reason the source code will be provided as a folder and the framework has to be added to the PYTHONPATH of the ProbReM project. In the future it might be useful to create a proper Python package. The code is available as is on github.
See Using ProbReM for how to start a new project.


Today, there’s a chance that the U.S. Senate will return to some semblance of a functioning legislative body. A majority of senators could vote to eliminate Rule XXII, which authorizes the notorious filibuster.
Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution, which gives to both houses of Congress the determination of “the rules of its proceedings,” offers that opportunity on the first day of each new Congress.
The filibuster, which requires a supermajority to cut off debate, entered the Senate’s rules in 1807 as a courtesy to speakers. Since then, Rule XXII has metastasized into a procedural vise that threatens the democratic foundation of our government.
The filibuster lost all semblance of being an aid to discussion in the middle of the 19th century, when some senators began using the rule to hold the floor for lengthy speeches to prevent voting on bills they didn’t like.
Until 40 years ago, this partisan weapon was used sparingly — no more than 10 times in any two-year congressional session. Then, in the 1970s, frustrated by even that small number of interminable talkathons, senators introduced the concept of the “silent filibuster” which enabled members to merely indicate that they intended to filibuster to block a measure.
Since 2007, the Republican minority has expanded the use of the filibuster beyond any recognizable procedural rule. In the 110th, 111th and 112th Congress, they filibustered 380 times. Today no legislation can be introduced, no nominations considered, no votes taken without a supermajority of 60 votes.
This formidable, partisan tactic has become so common that bills like the Dream Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act have failed in the Senate despite having enough votes for passage because of the deadly filibuster.
The Founding Fathers, rebelling against monarchy, were so partial to majority rule that they specified in the Constitution only five instances requiring a supermajority. They were: to override a presidential veto, to expel a member, to approve treaties, to convict in an impeachment and to propose a constitutional amendment.
The Constitution does not require a supermajority for adopting the rules for Senate proceedings. When senators insist upon supermajority votes for rule-changes and filibusters, they are stealthily amending the Constitution.
Two years ago, Sens. Tom Udall, Jeff Merkley and Tom Harkins mounted a campaign for rules reform. They succeeded in getting rid of the anonymous filibuster, an even more egregious practice. Now, after two additional years of accelerating legislative obstruction, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has finally called for ending the silent filibuster.
Reid’s proposal would prevent the use of the filibuster to block the introduction of new measures. More important, it would require a senator to speak if he or she wished to halt a vote, instead of effortlessly indicating an intention to demand supermajority concurrence to continue any action.
Newly elected Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Angus King, Heidi Heitkampf and Martin Heinrich have joined the filibuster’s foes, but the outcome of even Reid’s mild proposal is far from certain. Sen. Carl Levin is now assembling a bipartisan group to oppose any substantive change in the Senate’s rules.
Far more promising than Reid’s “make them talk” effort is the lawsuit filed by the public advocacy group Common Cause. Contending quite correctly that the Senate’s arcane rule is actually threatening our democratic process, their case highlights the stake that we American citizens have in the filibuster issue.
Suing on behalf of Reps. John Lewis, Michael Michaud, Hank Johnson and Keith Ellison and three young people hurt by the use of the filibuster to block the Senate from passing the Dream Act in 2010, Common Cause must demonstrate that its case does not fall under “the political question doctrine,” which posits that the judiciary can’t interfere with Congress’ procedures. Lawyers for Common Cause are arguing in the litigation that the Senate’s rule-making powers are not absolute, particularly when they violate actual constitutional law, in this case the principle of majority rule.
Resistance to changing the pernicious rule that is stifling the will of the majority rests on a historical myth and both parties’ fear of being curtailed when they are in a minority.
The myth teaches that the Senate was meant to counteract the democratic structure of the House. The opinions of the Founding Fathers tell otherwise.
The so-called Great Compromise at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which granted each state two Senate seats regardless of its population, reflected a concession, not a principle. Because there were far more small states in the original 13 than large ones, the arrangement proved necessary to getting the delegates in Philadelphia to agree on a draft constitution.
As a consequence, Wyoming’s 180,000 registered voters have the same number of senators as California’s 18 million. Today’s filibustering senators are only furthering this imbalance.
The Founders designed the Senate to be a steadying force in Congress, with six-year terms and a requirement that members be at least 30 years old, but no Founding Father ever spoke in favor of minority rule.
James Madison, the father of the Constitution, recognized that majorities could err, but insisted persuasively that majority rule was far superior to any other mechanism for making legislative decisions. His views anticipated Winston Churchill, who noted that democracy might be considered the worst form of government except for all the others.
The rationales for the filibuster are but fig leaves to hide the fact that substantial numbers of senators in both parties want an insurance policy against minority impotence, and they are willing to curb the workings of our democracy to get it.
Now only an aroused public can get Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to see the damage that the filibuster is doing to our political order.
Majority rule is the bedrock democratic principle. When we citizens of the United States elect a majority, we want it to govern. Wisdom, experience, and the Constitution are on our side; let’s hope that enough members of the Senate move there also by Jan. 3 when the opening of the 113th Congress gives them a chance to vote with their hopes instead of their fears.
Joyce Appleby is an emeritus professor of history at UCLA and author of “The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism.” She lives in Taos, N.M., and she wrote this for the Los Angeles Times.


|The following information - excerpted from NutriBase Software - is a discussion about "desirable" body weights and "desirable" percentage body fat contents for men. (Information and body weight/fat charts for women are also available.)
In 1942, Louis Dublin, a statistician at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, grouped some four million people who were insured with Metropolitan Life into categories based on their height, body frame (small, medium or large) and weight. He discovered that the ones who lived the longest were the ones who maintained their body weight at the level for average 25-year-olds.
These Metropolitan Life tables became widely used for determining recommended body weights. In 1942, the tables gave "ideal body weights." In 1959, they were revised and became "desirable body weights." And in 1983, they were revised once again, this time called "height and weight tables." The weights given in the 1983 tables are heavier than the 1942 tables because, in general, heavier people live longer today.
Experts have criticized the validity of these tables for several reasons:
Many experts say the 1942 tables are more accurate because they indicate lower "ideal weights." Many experts support the use of the 1983 tables, citing that these are the latest statistical sampling of such matters. The American Heart Association recommends using the 1959 tables rather than the newer tables that suggest somewhat higher weights. This Guide shows you the 1959 tables.
Some experts criticize the Metropolitan Life tables stating that they are okay for persons in their forties, but that the numbers are too heavy for younger persons and too light for older persons. For this and other reasons, NutriBase shows you recommended body weights from four sources: the 1959 Metropolitan Life Insurance chart, the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, North American Association for the Study of Obesity, and the U.S. Department of the Army. NutriBase displays the heights and weights from these charts, showing you the entries that are appropriate for your sex, height, frame size, and age.
The Metropolitan Life chart is organized by sex and body frame size (small, medium, or large frame) and all the other charts are sex and age-graded except for the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, which lists weights by sex only.
Weight Charts for Men
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 1959 - Male
US National Center for Health Statistics - Male
North American Association for the Study of Obesity - Males
US Army - Males
Body Fat Content Chart for Men and Women


Worksheets and activities
If you want to support your child’s learning at primary school with some extra practice at home, TheSchoolRun has hundreds of resources for you to choose from.
Our free English worksheets cover phonics, spelling, handwriting, grammar, reading comprehension and more.
Our free maths worksheets for Reception, KS1 and KS2 offer activities and games to help with multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, times tables and all other areas covered in the national curriculum.
Our free primary science worksheets will help you revise key science concepts with hands-on experiments.
Browse through all our worksheets and filter your search by subject and year group to find the best resources for your child.
These SATs past test papers can be downloaded for free and used to help with SATs revision.
The Learning Journey is a guided revision programme for primary English and maths. Every week of the school year we suggest two activities to offer your child at-home practice; we'll also email you worksheet suggestions and teachers' tips to help you get the most from our resources.
The Learning Journey is exclusive to TheSchoolRun subscribers. Find out more by watching our introductory video.
Start your child's Learning Journey today!
Fractions? Punctuation? Telling the time? Handwriting? If there’s a specific area of learning your child needs support with, our packs offer information, advice and plenty of engaging practical activities to help you.
Written by teachers and experts and exclusively available to TheSchoolRun subscribers, learning packs (each 50+ pages long) are fun as well as practice-packed.
About TheSchoolRun: If you’re passionate about helping your children achieve their full potential with fun but educational activities, TheSchoolRun.com is the parenting website for you. TheSchoolRun aims to demystify school for parents, giving you all the tools you need to understand what and how your child is learning at primary school. Our informative articles, packed with advice from experts and practical tips from teachers, help parents get to grips with new educational techniques and feel confident about supporting their kids’ schoolwork.


Thirty years ago, a summertime rain could produce huge gullies, badly eroded slopes dotted much of the region, and on average, a Tennessee farmer was losing almost 2,000 tons of soil per year.
But that was before no-till farming.
These days, thanks to extensive work by researchers with the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, and educational forums like the Milan No-Till Field Day, those sights and stats are a thing of the past.
In 2009, more than 70 percent of Tennessee farmers used no-till practices, and an additional 20 percent used some type of conservation tillage. The results can be seen in better production efficiency, cleaner water and air, and drastic improvements in our soils.
When the 30th Milan No-Till Crop Production Field Day rolls around on July 22, most visitors to the AgResearch and Education Center will be familiar with no-till practices, but this event is about more than no-till education. It’s about helping farmers determine the best methods for agricultural production.
“We’re proud of our heritage as the birthplace of Tennessee No-Till,” says Blake Brown, director of the AgResearch and Education Center at Milan, Tenn. “As no-till becomes the conventional tillage method in Tennessee, we hope to continue in the footsteps of those early no-till researchers whose main goal was to help the farmers of this state produce crops more efficiently and economically.”
Visitors to Milan No-Till Field Day will have the opportunity to hear presentations on research involving every major row crop grown in Tennessee, delivered by leading crop experts from across the Mid-South.
Tours will also feature workshops on weed, insect and disease management. Plus, sessions will be offered on topics like financial planning and emerging biofuels markets.
In addition to the array of educational tours, visitors can also enjoy a large tradeshow or a walk through the West Tennessee Agricultural Museum, which features more than 20,000 agricultural antiques.
As always, the field day will be held at the AgResearch and Education Center at Milan. The Milan No-Till Field Day begins at 7 a.m. on Thursday, July 22. Admission is free and open to the public.
For more information, including directions to the AgResearch & Education Center, visit the website: http://milan.tennessee.edu or call (731) 686-7362. You can also check out the Milan No-Till page on Facebook for the latest updates.
The UT AgResearch and Education Center at Milan is one of 10 outdoor laboratories operated by the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station system as part of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. In addition to its agricultural research programs, the UT Institute of Agriculture also provides instruction, research and public service through the UT College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the UT College of Veterinary Medicine, and UT Extension offices in every county in the state.


Debates about energy often get testy. That’s because the arguments are usually clouded by emotions. The number one reason people buy mileage efficient hybrid cars, for example, is that it makes them feel good about themselves; the purchase provides for a moral superiority especially over those who continue to drive gas guzzlers. The fact that the premium paid over a comparable non hybrid vehicle cannot be economically justified with gas prices at current levels is irrelevant. It’s the environment that’s important even though the ecological benefit of driving a hybrid cannot be quantified.
As with hybrid cars, most arguments about energy are devoid of facts about cost. Politicians love to spout their support for alternative environmental friendly energy development, particularly ethanol, wind, and solar. They never mention the reality that these energy sources cannot be developed without enormous government subsidies and delivery consumption prices that will be a multiple of present energy costs. Add in other development problems such as land use, delivery unreliability, other adverse environmental effects and it obvious that these energy alternatives will never supply more than a fraction of our power needs.
If energy independence and protecting the environment is truly important it is necessary to recognize that costs do matter as a conservation motivator. For example, higher gasoline prices-say $5.00 per gallon- would drive more people to hybrid and smaller more fuel efficient cars purchases than any environmental benefit factor. Of course few politicians would support a consumption tax on gasoline and oil companies and speculators would be vilified if market prices got that high. Needless to say, the public wouldn’t like it either.
But there are other area where cost rationality is making progress. One example is the planned installation by utilities of smart meters in some 10 million homes and businesses. These devices are programmed to measure a customer’s use of electricity incrementally during the day, say every ten minutes or hour. This information is automatically forwarded to the utility which will charge different prices for energy depending on peak or non peak power demand. Customers opting for lower bills could reduce energy usage during the higher cost peak period. Ultimately, smart meters could directly control a household’s appliances making the home more energy cost efficient. This is real energy smarts.


Questions for Photo 1
1. This view is looking from the area around the railroad crossover up the tracks of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. Locate this view on the map shown in Illustration 1. Can you identify Battery Williams (to the left of the tracks) and Battery Robinett (behind the tent camp on the right) in the photo?
2. What clues can you identify in the photo to suggest why the two batteries were located where they were?
3. The tent camp is located between Battery Robinett and Battery Williams, near the tracks. Why do you think that might be the case?
4. The objects next to the tracks on the right side of the photo appear to be wheels for railroad cars. Why do you think there are so many of them? What might they be used for? How do you think they would have been transported to Corinth?
* The photo on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Photo 1, but be aware that the file will take as much as 35 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.


Upper Level Low - Meteorological Physical Background
by ZAMG and FMI
Upper Level Lows are closed cyclonically circulating eddies in the middle and upper troposphere. They are sometimes also called "cold drops", because the air within an Upper Level Low is colder than in its surroundings.
The development of a typical Upper Level Low goes through four stages, during which a bottom of an upper trough is detached from the main stream, until it finally fills up or merges with another trough:
- Upper level trough
- Final stage
1. Upper Level Trough stage
The prerequisite of the forming of the Upper Level Low are unstable waves within the main stream, where the temperature wave is behind the geopotential wave.
- There is cold advection within the trough and warm advection on the ridge of the geopotential wave.
- The vertical axis of the trough has a backward-oriented inclination with height.
- The amplitudes of the waves increase; the wavelenght can decrease.
Cyan: 500 hPa geopotential height, green: 500 hPa temperature
2. Tear-off stage
- The amplitudes of the waves increases further.
- The isohypses form an inverse omega-shape and the cold air flows into the middle of this omega.
- Often at the same time the ridge behind the main upper trough continues to move eastward quicklier than the trough, appearing to "fall
- In the end of this stage the cold bottom of the trough is detached from the main stream.
3. Cut-off stage
- The bottom of the upper trough is completely detached from the main stream forming a closed circulation.
- If there is a strong forward-falling ridge behind, it may also separate from the main stream and form an upper level high (a counterpart for the
upper level low). This happens in most of the ULL cases.
- The cold core of the Upper level Low warms up slowly because of the diabatic warming of the sinking clod air.
- If a cold Upper Level Low is situated over a warm surface, convection arises within the core. This occurs especially over the Atlantic Ocean
(Canarian Isles) and over the Mediterranean in summertime.
- Another location for convection is ahead of the low within the area of a thickness ridge.
4. Final stage
Within an Upper Level Low there is convection, unless the surface is very cold. The air near the surface is warm and the circulation is slowed down by the friction. The convection brings warm air and friction upwards. Consequently, the Upper Level Low weakens slowly.
- In most cases the Upper Level Low merges with the main stream before it has completely dissolved by the convection. Usually a large trough in
the main stream approaches from the rear and catches the upper level low.
- The Upper Level Low can also merge with another Upper Level Low.
For an example see Key Parameters.
If the Upper Level Low is far from the main stream, it can dissolve solely by convection. This kind of development occurs mostly in southern areas; in Europe they can be found over the Mediterranean.
Upper Level Lows can be divided into two classes according to their size and lifetime:
- small lows with a lifetime of 2-4 days
- big lows with a lifetime of 5-14 days
Big lows are slightly more common than small ones.
Note that over land an Upper Level Low can also form when a surface low of an extratropical cyclone disappears due to friction. This is just a late stage of a cyclone development and the upper low fills up relatively quickly.


There are so many ways that you can do extra research and investigate into many more aspects of Clare. Below are some ideas.
Your local library is an excellent source for all the information you may need: it may have some maps you can look at. Perhaps you could do a project about aspects of Clare.
There might be some more photographs or images related to Clare in the Media Bank.
Maybe you need some tips on how to be a researcher? Click on one of the icons below.
Ask Your Librarian or Teacher
Ask your librarian or teacher if they can help you find out about Clare.
Information you can look out for includes photos and media publications, such as old newspapers, which may provide you with interesting insights.
Not sure exactly what you can ask the librarian for? Click on the icon for some suggestions.
http://www.museum.ie has loads of artefacts and evidence from Ireland throughout the centuries, even before your grandparents were born.


DIY Industrial Art Pieces Made from Rubbings
I was in a used book store one day and I saw a book on art rubbings. Of course, I was familiar with the idea of putting a penny or leaf under a paper and running a pencil over the top to transfer the image, but this book was taking it to a whole new level. So we grabbed our art supplies and went outside to make some new art pieces from rubbings!
- Paper … and plenty of it. I found that I like using very thin paper, personally. I bought a cheap sketchpad and I really liked the texture and thinness of the paper for this project.
- Rubbing Materials. There are all sorts of rubbing materials you could use! Take a bunch with you and try them out to see what you prefer. Graphite, colored pencils, pastels, chalks, wax, you name it! Although I did not expect it, I ended up preferring crayons for larger pieces. Colored pencils were nice for more detailed/smaller items.
- A Kneeling Pad. If you’re going to be crouching on sidewalks and streets making your rubbings, it’s a little more comfortable if you have something under your knees.
- A Folder. Or something to put your finished rubbings in to prevent them from getting bent up and wrinkled.
- Masking Tape. You need for need something to hold the paper still while making a rubbing, and I found masking tape to work very well. It’s especially helpful for working on vertical surfaces, of course, but even on a flat horizontal surface, it is a good idea. Be aware, though, that depending on the kind of paper you are using, the area with the masking tape may need to be trimmed away. This is usually fine because of the nature of rubbings, often the edges are not the most attractive part, anyway, and can be cut away.
- Scissors. This is helpful to have so you can trim away the excess masking tape to prevent the papers from sticking together in the folder.
- A Tote. Or something similar to carry all these supplies!
You could do a variety of themes out of rubbings, such as a nature theme where you make rubbings of tree bark and feathers and other natural objects.
But I wanted to do a more urban and industrial theme. Of course, this works best if you live in a fairly urban area. However, even in a small town we were able to find some interesting subjects for rubbings.
Try man hole covers, engraved signs, and plaques for more definite rubbings, or try brick walls, metal plates and concrete for more textural subjects. Be aware, though, that you need to know what you are allowed to make rubbings of; it is illegal some places to make rubbings of gravestones, and, of course, you shouldn’t wander onto private property to make rubbings.
Still, it is a unique way to wander around a town, looking for interesting spots to make into rubbings – you notice all sorts of things you would not have seen before.
A few tips on making rubbings:
- Look for a subject for the rubbing that has texture or relief to it, and tape the paper over the area you want to transfer to the paper. Choose which art medium you want to use for the particular rubbing.
- Don’t use a sharp point of whatever art medium you are using, but rather use a blunt point or use it on an extreme angle as you begin to make the rubbing.
- Move your pencil, or other rubbing tool, smoothly and evenly over the surface of the paper. Start out marking lightly. If you press too hard, you’ll just be drawing on top of the surface, not really picking up the texture. But if you start lightly and gradually get to darker/harder strokes, you’ll get a better feel for what works well.
- While making the rubbing, try to keep your hand moving in the same plane. In other words, if you’re rubbing right to left, do not suddenly switch to up and down, or you will probably end up with some unattractive competing lines.
- When you are finished, gently remove the paper from the surface and trim away the masking tape. Place the rubbing your folder for safe keeping.
So try exploring your local area and think outside the box of what you can turn into rubbings!
This tutorial is brought to you by April Starr.
She likes to say that her motto is "living the amazement" She never wants to lose her sense of wonder and adventure.
April Starr is a designer, writer, creative entrepreneur of FlourishCafe, lover of spicy food, amateur explorer and worth very little in the early mornings. Her husband and four year old daughter are always up for trying a new dish she has created, or working on a project together. She is learning, laughing, and living the amazement every day!