You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2016.

Roy asked:

I’m writing this in hopes of getting a response, over the past few years I’ve grown increasingly interested in philosophy. Books from Socrates and Plato have captured my imagination, along with leaving me with more questions than I already had. As I dive down deeper into philosophy I find myself wanted to know more, wanting to read more into philosophy. My question is where should I start, how can I become more infatuated with philosophy?

Answer by Geoffrey Klempner

You remind me of myself, Roy. Around 1971. I’d just left my job as a photographer’s assistant. I think the first book I picked up from the local library was ‘Volume something’ of the collected dialogues of Plato translated by Benjamin Jowett. As I wrote back in 1999,

“I discovered that philosophy and I were made for one another. It was a whirlwind romance. I revered Kant and idolized Plato. I went on endless philosophical walks. Instead of my beloved camera, I carried a notebook. In October 1972, I enrolled as an undergraduate at Birkbeck College London. From day one, I had set my heart on becoming an academic philosopher.” (My Philosophical Life).

Things didn’t turn out quite the way I’d planned, but that is another story. If you are very bright, then maybe a life in academia might suit you. But it can also be a recipe for heartbreak. A recent message posted to the Philos-L list described the suicide of a mid-40s member of the ‘academic precariat’ in Australia:

Where to start? It actually doesn’t matter too much. Follow up leads. Follow your nose. The Pathways Introductory Book List has some suggestions for reading. Or you could join Pathways to Philosophy and have the opportunity to have up to 30 essays reviewed — and shared with other Pathways students if they are up to the required standard.

The most important thing is to sort out your motivation. I once wrote:

“You can philosophize for sheer enjoyment. Or because you want to change the world. Or to develop and hone your mental powers. Or out of insatiable, childlike curiosity. Or because your very life depends upon it” (Pathways to Philosophy: Seven Years On).

Each of these alternatives (they are not mutually exclusive) will determine the approach you take to study. Infatuation is a great thing but will it last? How will you feel about this after four decades? The best advice I can give is don’t let your other interests fall by the wayside. Keep up a lively interest in the world around you. Don’t neglect your friends and your relationships. In other words, be as Normal as you can be — in a world where many of the good people you will meet don’t care too much about the ultimate questions of philosophy.

David asked:

I have a question about the implications of John Rawls’ two ‘principles of justice’ namely:

My question concerns the second part of principle 2. Suppose there is a social or economic inequality which, if allowed, would reduce the wellbeing of the worst off 1 per cent of society by (say) 1 per cent, but would increase the wellbeing of everyone else by (say) 10 per cent. Suppose this inequality has not much to do with the principle 1. Would it be disallowed under Rawls’ theory?

Answer by Paul Fagan

The questioner here is focussing upon Rawls’ ‘difference principle’ which may be understood quite simply as a mechanism whereby any moves to benefit society must principally benefit the disadvantaged sectors of society. In A Theory of Justice (1999 Belknap Press) Rawls states that:

“An inequality of opportunity must enhance the opportunities of those with the lesser opportunity” (p.  266).

Taken at face value, we should really consider the least advantaged to hold a veto over society. For any planned move, if least advantaged’s position does not improve, then the move should not go ahead.

Hence, the suggestion here would almost certainly be disallowed in any form of Rawlsian governance. The suggestion is seemingly grafting a form of utilitarianism onto the second principle whereby the whole stock of goods in a society increases and the average holding would increase. Rawlsian philosophising moved away from the existing utilitarian distributions of goods.

That said, actually measuring how the least advantaged’s position has improved may provide some practical problems and Rawls himself suggested at least two measures: In illustrating the difference principle via the ‘distribution of income’ (pp. 67-68), should it be gauged in terms of monetary improvement? Or should it be measured over  longer timescale where the ‘appropriate expectation in applying the difference principle is that of the long-term prospects of the least favored extending over future generations’ (p. 252).

An interesting essay by Christopher Heath Wellman entitled ‘Justice’, that differentiates between differing types of distributions in society, including Rawls and Utilitarianism, may be found in The Blackwell Guide to Social and Political Philosophy.

Makheu asked:

Discuss the claim that what historians of philosophy do is not philosophy, and that contemporary philosophers can learn little if anything from the history of their subject. Philosophers should concern themselves with real problems not with history.

Answer by Geoffrey Klempner

This is a nice question. From my own experience of study, the heyday for the attitude you describe was the 50s, during the period of so-called ‘ordinary language philosophy’. There may well have been other times when this attitude was prevalent.

Inspired the later work of Wittgenstein in Cambridge, a parallel movement in Oxford headed by J.L. Austin saw the job of the philosopher as untangling the knots (for Wittgenstein, ‘therapy’) which our thinking gets into because we misunderstand our own language. We repeatedly fall victim to illusions generated by idiom and grammar.

On this view, the history of philosophy is the history of error. Undergraduates studied Locke or Berkeley, Descartes or Leibniz in order to learn to identify the points where misunderstanding of language led these thinkers astray. It was not considered important to understand historical context (as Russell had sought, brilliantly, to do in his History of Western Philosophy). Social milieu and history were irrelevant. The value of the study of history was as a source of useful examples for the philosopher to learn from.

This was a philosophy more radical that Marx, who believed in the importance of the history of philosophy, even though according to his ’11th thesis on Feuerbach’ all previous philosophers in his view had erred. The young Marx’s doctoral thesis on the Greek philosophers Democritus and Epicurus was a model of scholarship.

As it happens, I subscribe to the Philos-L e-list for professional philosophy. From the constant stream of posts on the list, one gets the impression that every obscure aspect of the history of philosophy is now an object of intense study. There aren’t enough topics to go round, in contemporary philosophy or history of philosophy, to satisfy academic philosophers labouring to meet publishing requirements for tenure — not to mention the constant flow of new PhD students looking for original thesis topics.

Real problems? Ask a professional philosopher and they will tell you that all the problems they study are real. If some, or most of the problems seem too obscure to the layperson that is only because without the benefit of a doctorate one lacks the discernment necessary to see them. — Of course, they would say that, wouldn’t they?!

After forty plus years of study, I would be hesitant in identifying the ‘real’ problems of philosophy. My supervisor in my Oxford days, John McDowell, once told me that the main source of his motivation to philosophize was the things other philosophers said. (A few decades earlier, G.E. Moore had said something similar.) It’s a view and an approach that I can understand, even though my motivation is different. I find myself gripped by problems: that is the source of my impulse to philosophize.

On either of these two views, McDowell’s or mine, it isn’t necessary to be disrespectful to the history of the subject. For that one needs to be in the grip of an ideology, for example the ideology of ‘ordinary language philosophy’.

As a physicist, you can study the history of physics if that aspect of the subject interests you. There are always lessons to learn from the past. But you don’t do physics by studying what Newton or Rutherford said. You design and perform experiments, put questions to nature.

By contrast, there’s no equivalent in philosophy to the Large Hadron Collider. You have to look into your own mind. What philosophers said in the past is important because you don’t want to repeat their mistakes. On the other hand, any progress they did make with a problem that grips you is something you can build on. It’s not necessary to start from scratch. That’s pretty valuable, provided that you are not blinded by ideology.

As a postscript I would like to insert a plug. Our own Philosophical Connections on the site authored by Dr Anthony Harrison-Barbet gives a very good overview of the interconnections of 100 plus philosophers in the Western tradition, using a unique hyperlinked index. Look up your favourite philosopher and try it out for yourself. I warn you, it’s addictive!

Kamyar asked:

I have two questions if it’s all right.

First of all, I want to know do humans really need god and in a bigger sense absolute faith in something other than the physical world (let’s call it religious beliefs).

And if we indeed need it, will there ever be a time that we can truly be free of every form of religion and religious beliefs?

Answer by Gideon Smith-Jones

Kamyar, first of all I want to say that it is brave of you to give your location as Teheran, Iran. You must know that Iran is one of the countries where ‘apostasy’, i.e. atheism, is punishable by death according to the Iranian state’s enforcement of religious law.

You must also know (unless you are very naive) that right now in Iran there are persons who spend their working days in darkened rooms in front of computer monitors, whose only job is to scour the internet for evidence of any Iranian national who expresses his or her belief in atheism. Iranian bloggers have been arrested, beaten up, subject to kangaroo ‘religious’ courts.

From my own experience, I know that there are many Iranians, both those of faith and those without faith, who are devoted to the pursuit of truth. In Iran, they keep a low profile. Whatever passes as study of ‘philosophy’ in Iranian universities is something that has no place in any genuine philosophical tradition.

Would we be better off getting rid of religion?

Karl Marx, looking forward to a time when religion would no longer be needed described religion as the ‘heart in a heartless world.’ Things are still so bad for so many people that I would not take away the comforts of religion from them, even though it is a false comfort.

The sad fact is that human beings are weak. Those of us who reject religion are tempted make a god out of something else. Even materialism, or science, have an innate tendency to be deified, so I would not even consider ‘faith in a physical world’ as free of the taint of religion.

That said, I believe that the time will come when gods are no longer needed, when human beings accept their finitude and the inevitability of death without recourse to fantastical fairy tales about punishment and reward, ‘holy’ texts whether of science or religion, obsessive-compulsive ritual — and judicial murder.

Santy asked:

Were the Ancient Greeks correct in thinking that mathematics is an absolute truth?

Answer by Helier Robinson

Yes, definitely. But you have to understand that the truth that is absolute is mathematical truth, not empirical truth. All the mathematical truths that the ancient Greeks discovered are as true today as they were then — Pythagoras’ Theorem, for example. It does not matter what language a mathematics book might be written in, the mathematical statements proved in it will be true in any other language.

It does not matter what mathematician discovers a new mathematical truth, if he proves it then all other mathematicians will agree that it is true. It may be modified under special circumstances, but is otherwise absolutely true: for example, a right-angled equiangular triangle is impossible in Euclidean geometry, and that is absolutely true; but it is possible in spherical geometry. In spherical geometry, which is geometry on the surface of a sphere, the shortest distance between two points is a great circle; lines of longitude are great circles, as is the equator. One equilateral triangle is formed by the lines of zero longitude, longitude 90 west, and the equator — and this is a right-angled equiangular triangle, possible in this geometry because all triangles in this geometry have their interior angles sum to more than 180 degrees, unlike Euclidean triangles which sum to exactly 180 degrees.

The history of logic is interesting in this context. Formal logic was invented by Aristotle and developed by the medieval philosophers. It is a logic of classes (hence our word ‘classification’). Modern symbolic logic is a logic of truth-functions and, in quantificational logic, a logic of sets — and sets, basically, are classes. All of this is derivative from the logic used by mathematicians, which has never been formalised but which includes sets and functions and valid argument forms such as modus ponens and modus tollens and all the other valid argument forms of formal logic — as well as purely mathematical argument forms such as mathematical induction, and concepts not appearing in formal logic, such as numbers, shapes, equations, and algebraic and topological structures. So if you are interested in reasoning, study mathematics, not logic.

Polly asked:

I was wondering if there is any other way of thinking besides deduction and induction, and I want an example.

I understand by “thinking” the action of being able to comprehend smthg, and explain it. I know that by “comprehend” you could think about many things (the same for explaining) but what I want to grasp is if there is any other method besides the ones named above but parallel to them.

Could be an example from mathematics or chemistry or.. well…

Answer by Craig Skinner

There is indeed, namely abduction.

Put simply, the essential features of each are as follows.

Deduction: a conclusion necessarily follows from (is entailed by; is a logical consequence of) the premises. So, if premises are true, conclusion must be true. But deduction tells us nothing new, because the conclusion is implicit in, is already contained in, the premises.

eg  Premise 1.    All Scots are drunks

Premise 2.    Craig is a Scot

Conclusion: Craig is a drunk

Induction:  from “expect more of the same” or “the future will resemble the past” we infer a likely, but not guaranteed conclusion. Unlike deduction this is not logically watertight, it is only probabilistic, but on the other hand it tells us something about the world.

eg   Premise: the sun has risen every morning for as long as we can remember.

Conclusion: the sun will rise tomorrow morning.

Because the world has exhibited regularities for eons, evolution has hardwired induction into sentient species. My dog for instance, is right now looking expectantly for her walk because she has had one around this time of day for years.

Induction notes regularities but doesnt explain them eg why the sun rises.

Abduction: here we infer the best explanation for the facts, so that abduction is also called “inference to the best explanation (IBE)”. It may not always be the right explanation, so that the conclusion, as with induction, and unlike deduction, is not guaranteed. However, unlike deduction and induction, it explains things, and is widely used in everyday life, in science, in medical diagnosis. Most of Sherlock Holmes’s “deductions” are actually abduction eg

Premise 1: the dog didnt bark in the night

Premise 2: dogs dont bark at friends

Best explanation: the intruder was known to the dog

We can update our estimate of the likelihood of our explanation in light of new evidence, and this iterated process can be systematized using Bayesian analysis. Abduction and Bayesian analysis are widely used in the field of Artificial Intelligence.

Books by Geoffrey Klempner

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Greek ELSTAT released the unemployment figures for 2014Q3 today which marked the fall of the unemployment rate to 25.5%, down from 27.2% during the corresponding quarter of 2013. Given the positive outlook of the release I ‘d like to take a closer look at the details of Greek employment and if this drop of the unemployment rate really signifies a substantial improvement of the economy.

Based on various tables of the quarterly employment figures I have constructed the following table of certain numbers that I feel are important:

Greek employment 2013Q3 - 2014Q3

Personally I usually pass through the unemployment rate and go straight to the employment figure. As we can see, although unemployment dropped by 91 thousand people (compared to the same quarter of 2013), employment increased by 53 thousand which resulted in the labor force decreasing by 38,000. What is even more interesting is the fact that a large part of the drop in the labor force was due to a fall of the population over 15yr (-30,000). Obviously the fall in the unemployment rate becomes much less impressive if one looks only at employment while the (steady) fall in the 15+ population and the labor force are certainly not positive signs for the future.

Taking a closer look at the unemployed we see that the fall in that category was only due to people who were unemployed for less than a year while the long-term unemployed actually increased by another 10 thousand to reach close to 930,000 persons. These opposite movements are a worrying sign for the future since they might be indicators for the presence of hysteresis among the long-term unemployment. This will make reducing unemployment much more difficult (given that short-term unemployed are only 6% of the labor force with long-term unemployment reaching 19%).

Moving to employment we observe that the increase came almost entirely from part-time employment. If one also notices that under-employment was the major driver of employment (with under-employed now being close to 6.8% of employment) it is clear that employment growth is driven mainly by short-term, part-time unsecured jobs which probably pay very low salaries. The fall in the unemployment rate actually hides an increase in under-utilization of labor which finds it very hard to enter into full-time steady jobs while long-term unemployed seem to be left out of even these part-time employment opportunities.


Crime Scene Cleanup and why it’s important to get it cleaned up fast

Death can be messy. Not just figuratively, but literally in many shocking ways, eg., blood on the walls of a living room. Luckily, for many people, they have only seen this from watching TV shows like “Law & order” and “CSI.” These shows show you what happens after the death of an individual. Crime-scene investigators, police officers, coroners, paramedics show up collect evidence, check on the victim, ask questions, record the crime scene and remove the body. But what happens after that is rarely shown. Learn More.


Q: Is abortion proportionalism, utilitarianism or natural law?

A:Kind of a mixture between utilitarianism and natural law I'd say. There are many reasons people seek abortion. Usually what it comes down to is that they know c...Read More »

Q: Why do our intuitions about the morality/legality of abortion sup...

A:Everyone would prefer if no moral consequences attached to the things they want to do. Or calories to the things they want to eat. Alas, it's not so. So, there ...Read More »

Q: What advise would a utilitarian give a pregnant teen that wants a...

A:Depends on what life the teen would have by having the baby. If it would be like today in the US with the majority quit school, not go to college, ending up on ...Read More »

Q: To what extent is Utilitarianism a useful method of making decisi...

A:Well let's see the greatest good for the greatest number - does the foetus (UK spellin) have the same claim to happiness as a fully formed person such as it's m...Read More »

Q: Utilitarianism and Kantianism applied to abortion.

A:I'm not sure where you get this. A Kantian presumably would say that no one should adopt a rule for themselves regarding abortion that could not also be a unive...Read More »

abortion and utilitarianism

Abortion. This essay is an analysis of abortion in utilitarian terms. Compared to some writings on abortion, it is very short. And it is short for good reason: .
Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is teleological, concerned with ends or outcomes. Utilitarians would ask whether having an abortion brings about the greatest good. Utilitarianism - Kant - Natural Law - Situation Ethics
Ethical issues include Abortion, Euthanasia, Genetic Engineering, War, Infertility .Bentham s Hedonic Calculus makes Utilitarianism the easiest ethical theory to .
If abortion caused more general misery than happines (and this might be the case if a majority is dismayed by it), a utilitarian would have to .
On Singer s Utilitarian Argument about Abortion. Richmond Journal of Philosophy 17 (Spring 2008). Keith Crome. Is Peter Singer s Utilitarian Argument about .
Its provisions allowed an abortion to take place if two doctors agreed that. the mother s life is.Utilitarianism is a teleological approach to ethics. They would say .
In this case there are several different factors that contribute to the decision to have an abortion. First you have the four children that already .
Popular Q&A

Any more abortion stories like this?
Is there even anything wrong with this baby? Just because the other pregnancies were unsucessiful doesn't mean that this one will be. I would definitely at least wait to see if there was something majorly wrong with this baby or not before even considering it.

Do abortion clinics refuse service to mothers in their third trimester?
In the US, most states refuse abortions beyond 20 weeks, because after that they are deemed partial birth abortions. Very rarely will you ever find a doctor or clinic willing to do it after 16 weeks. Some say it is because that is around the time a gender can be determined making the fetus...

Twin abortion?
Yes, it's called selective abortion. Most women can carry twins without serious complications so this is done more commonly in women with carrying 3 or more babies. Usually they were getting fertility treatments and had several eggs "take." The embryos which are not growing as well are the...

How much does a chemical abortion cost in Arizona clinics?
After checking with Google, it appears that there are a number of different prices for a medical abortions in the AZ area, which is the same nationwide. The cost varies from $295 to $800 depending on the type of treatment you are looking for. I listed a few sites including the Google that I...

Judaism Views on abortion?
The orthodox and many of the conservative follow the scriptures and view abortion as sin. While most of the reform consider it ok. Psalms 139:13-16 For You formed my inward parts- You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made- Marvelous...


an essential mineral in human nutrition with a wide range of biological functions. Magnesium is involved in over 300 metabolic reactions. It is necessary for every major biological process, including the production of cellular energy and the synthesis of nucleic acids and proteins. It is also important for the electrical stability of cells, the maintenance of membrane integrity, muscle contraction, nerve conduction and the regulation of vascular tone, among other things.

Foods Referencing magnesium

Orange   Pineapple   Prune   Raisin   White Potato


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Related to Guamanian: Guahan

(gwäm), Chamorro Guåhan, officially Territory of Guam, the largest, most populous, and southernmost of the Mariana Islands (see also Northern Mariana IslandsNorthern Mariana Islands
, officially Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a self-governing entity in association with the United States (2010 pop. 53,883), c.185 sq mi (479 sq km), comprising 16 islands (6 inhabited) of the Marianas chain (all except Guam), in the W
..... Click the link for more information.
or Agaña
, city (2010 pop. 1,051), capital of the island of Guam, W Pacific, in the Mariana Islands. It is the administrative center of Guam, and many of the city's economic activities are related to the provision of goods and services to
..... Click the link for more information.

Human artifacts dating from c.1500 B.C. have been found on Guam, but the first settlement may have occurred as much as 500 or more years earlier. Archaelogical evidence suggests that early settlement may have occurred in two waves, with the first occurring c.1500 B.C. or before and the second occurring c.A.D. 1000. Visited in 1521 by Ferdinand MagellanMagellan, Ferdinand
, Port. Fernão de Magalhães, Span. Fernando de Magallanes, c.1480–1521, Portuguese navigator who sailed for Portugal and Spain. Born of a noble family, he was reared as a page in the royal household.
..... Click the link for more information.
, Guam was claimed and controlled by Spain until 1898, when it was taken by the United States in the Spanish-American WarSpanish-American War,
1898, brief conflict between Spain and the United States arising out of Spanish policies in Cuba. It was, to a large degree, brought about by the efforts of U.S. expansionists.
..... Click the link for more information.

an island in the western Pacific, the largest in the Mariana Islands; US possession. Area, 533.5 sq km. Principal city, A gaña.

The southern portion of the island, with higher elevation (up to 405 m), is of volcanic origin and composed of andesites, whereas the north is low lying with a structure of coral limestone. The coast is for the most part precipitous and fringed with coral reefs. Earthquakes are frequent. The island has a tropical, trade-wind climate, with an average temperature every month of the year of about 26° C and annual precipitation of about 3,000 mm. There are tropical rain forests on the southern and eastern mountain slopes; in the north there are xerophytic grassy savannas.

Guam was discovered in 1571 by Ferdinand Magellan. At the end of the 17th century it was seized by the Spaniards; in 1898, as an outcome of the Spanish-American War, it became a possession of the USA. In the course of World War II it was occupied from December 1941 to July-August 1944 by Japanese forces, and after the war it became one of the largest US naval and air bases in the Pacific.

Approximately one-half of the island’s population consists of indigenous Chamorros (about 50,000; 1969 estimate). Some 40,000 are Americans, primarily military people and personnel servicing the naval base. The inhabitants also include Filipinos, mainly Ilocanos (about 10,000), and Ha-waiians. English is the official language. Catholicism is the religion of most (about 95 percent) of the people. Economic activities include the growing of corn, coffee, bananas, sugarcane, taro, and other tropical crops, as well as fishing and logging.

Guam has been a territory of the U.S. since 1898, but has been allowed autonomy in local affairs since 1950; native inhabitants are citizens of the U.S. but cannot vote in U.S. elections.

Capital: Hagatna (Agana)

Nicknames: Tano I’ManChanorro (Land of the Chamorros); Where America’s Day Begins; America’s Paradise in the Pacific

Bird: Totot (also known as the Mariana fruit dove or love bird; Ptilinopus roseicapilla) Flower: Puti tai nobio or bougainvillea (bougainvillea spectabilis)

Hymn: “Guam Hymn” (“Fanohge Chamorro”)
Languages: Chamorro; English
Tree: Ifil or Ifit (Intsia bijuga)

Government web site:

Office of the Governor
Ufisinan Maga’lahi
Executive Chambers
PO Box 2950

Hagatna, Guam 96932 011-671-472-8931 fax: 011-671-477-4826

Lieutenant Governor PO Box 2950 Hagatna, Guam 96932 011-671-475-9380 fax: 011-671-47-2007

Public Library System Nieves M. Flores Memorial Library 254 Martyr St Hagatna, Guam 96910 011-671-475-4573 fax: 011-671-477-9777

Legal Holidays:

. Our Lady of Camarin DayDec 8
All Souls DayNov 2
Liberation DayJul 21

an island in the N Pacific, the largest and southernmost of the Marianas: belonged to Spain from the 17th century until 1898, when it was ceded to the US; site of naval and air force bases. Capital: Aga?a. Pop.: 165 000 (2004 est.). Area: 541 sq. km (209 sq. miles)
References in periodicals archive ?
What's more, the Guamanians are offended that Iran hasn't scheduled the game for the usual venue--Azadi Stadium in Tehran.
He continued by asserting that there is a divergence in the degree to which Chamorros want to exert more influence or control of Chamorro identity within Guamanian institutions.
Table 2: Number of Articles, by Thematic Content for Native, Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders Population Focus Asian/Pacific Native Theme/Subtheme Islanders Hawaiians Samoans Social problems Cultural conflict 2 4 1 Health 5 0 0 Elder care 3 0 0 Cultural competence Individuals 0 0 1 Families/groups 4 3 1 Communities 3 2 1 Total 17 9 4 Population Focus Chamorros/ Theme/Subtheme Guamanians Total Social problems Cultural conflict 1 8 Health 0 5 Elder care 0 3 Cultural competence Individuals 0 1 Families/groups 1 9 Communities 0 6 Total 2 32
pdf#search='ORGANIC% 20ACT%20OF%20GUAM%20AND%20RELATED%20FEDERAL%20 LAWS' (noting Guamanian disapproval of constitution).
Guamanian populations also gleaned insects from the host web, stole host food bundles, fed with the host and appeared to occasionally attack, kill and feed on the host.
Why, then, collect the information, much less pry further into whether we are Guamanian or Cambodian or some other type of Asian/Pacific Islander?
In the Laotian community, for example, 19 percent of births are to teen mothers and in the Guamanian community, 17 percent of births are to teen mothers.
Since long before the first contact of westerners with native Guamanians (or Chamorus(1)) in 1521, fish has been the primary source of protein for the islanders.
1%) ([dagger]) Polynesian alone Native Hawaiian alone Samoan alone Tongan alone Micronesian alone Guamanian or Chamorro alone Some other race alone 14,619 (5.
Concentrations of zinc and iron in the brains of Guamanian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism-dementia.
Asian Pacific Islander Chinese Hawaiian Filipino Samoan Japanese Guamanian Asian Indian Carolinian Korean Fijian Vietnamese Kosraean Cambodian Melanesian Hmong Micronesian Laotian Northern Mariana Islander Thai Palauan Bangladeshi Papa New Guinean Bhutanese Ponapean (Pohnpeian) Borneo Polynesian Celebesian Solomon Islander Ceram Tahitian Indochinese Tarawa Islander Indonesian Tongan IwoJiman Trukese (Chuukese) Javanese Yapese Malayan Maldivian Nepali Okinawan Pakistani Sikkim Singaporean Sri Lankan Sumatran
All eyes will be on the new generation of Guamanian athletes to see if they can go further at the 5th EAG in Hong Kong.


Friday, June 22, 2012

Baucus Farm Bill Amendment Bad for Forests

Despite the ecological reality that beetle-kill is part of healthy functioning forest ecosystem, Montana Senator Max Baucus successfully added an amendment to the Farm Bill that would provide additional funds ($200 million) to log beetle-killed trees as well as “stream line” the process of getting out timber sales. Baucus stated this would be “good news” to the timber industry. Here’s a link to one news report on the Baucus amendment.

I don’t blame the Senator for his lack of ecological knowledge. And I am sure he had the best intentions, however, his amendment is “bad news” for our forests.
Among the incorrect assertions made by Baucus is the idea that dead beetle-killed trees increases fire risk. Except for the “red needle” stage, there is no conclusive evidence that dead trees contributes to any greater fire risk. Indeed, there is some research that suggests that dead trees are less prone to fire, especially once the needles and small branches are worn off over time.

Green trees, by contrast, have flammable resins that under conditions of drought and high winds can sustain high intensity blazes.

Baucus’s press release also furthered the misconception that beetle kill leads to a “loss” of the forest. In fact, beetle related mortality is seldom more than 50% of the trees in any forest. The naturally thinned forests that beetles create leads to increased growth rates among the remaining trees.

Dead trees not a wasted resource as implied by timber industry propaganda. Rather they are important for many wildlife species. Up to 45% of all bird species depend on dead trees for some part of their survival including feeding, roosting, and nesting. Dead trees that fall into streams contribute to as much as 50% of the fish habitat in aquatic ecosystems. Dead trees in streams also provide bank stability reducing water velocity and thus erosion.

In addition, dead trees are an important biological legacy to the future forest. The physical presence of dead trees is critical to future forest growth. Dead trees stacked on the ground capture water and concentrate it on the ends of logs where it can enhance seedling growth. The snags left by beetles provides some shade for tree saplings, and acts like a snow fence to trap snow in the winter adding to the water infiltration of the forest soil. The slowly decomposing boles are an important source of nutrients to the future forest.

Logging is not a benign activity. The disturbance that accompanies logging can enhance the spread of weeds. Logging roads are a major source of sedimentation in our streams and one of the major factors in the decline of many native fish populations. Logging activities can displace or disturb sensitive species from grizzlies to elk. Logging removes biological legacy, in effect, starving the forest.

Finally, to put the $200 million Baucus proposes to subsidizes timber operations in perspective, consider that in 2011 the entire 151 million acre national wildlife refuge system cost only around $500 million to operate. Could we not better spend $200 million on other conservation work?

While Senator Baucus’ amendment may have had the best intension, it’s bad news for taxpayers who will pay for the destruction of our forests, not to mention the long-term degradation of our forest ecosystems.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Population and Biodiversity Loss

Population and Biodiversity
The Parable of Isle Royale

Isle Royale in Lake Superior is a national park. Besides its fame as a park, Isle Royale is also famous for its wolf and moose populations. The island provides a unique experimental design of what happens when populations are permitted to grow without restraint.

The story begins with the immigration of moose to the island sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Some speculate that moose swam to the island or crossed on ice in winter. No matter how they got there, they existed on the island for five decades without wolves. By the 1920s the moose population increased to more than 3000 and as a consequence of over browsing, the moose population crashed in the 1930s. The moose population languished for a while, and then began to grow again.

Just after World War II, wolves migrated to the island, most likely over the ice in winter. Wolves preyed on moose, and for a few decades, wolves and moose seems to sustain a relative equilibrium. Then in 1980, the wolf population crashed after the introduction of canine parvovirus.

Released from wolf predation, the moose population soared to new heights inflicting tremendous damage to the island’s plant communities. As before the moose population crashed with 2000 moose starving to death in one four month period! The moose population now remains at around 500 animals, far below their original high numbers due to the damage sustained by the island’s plant community as a consequence of too many moose.

There are lessons for human population in the Isle Royale example as well as other tales that could be told. Continuous population growth can lead to habitat degradation, great suffering for the dominant animal, and eventually a lowered carrying capacity due to habitat destruction.

Human populations may be like the proverbial moose population. We have been released from predators that might otherwise keep our numbers in check and somewhat sustainable. Mind you I have no wish for a major pandemic, famine, warfare or other factors that once held human numbers in check. But I do think there are plenty of signs, that humans, like the moose of Isle Royale, are degrading the carrying capacity of Planet Earth—which is, after all, the only habitable island we know of in the Universe.

Despite the seriousness of population growth as an agent of planetary damage with serious potential repercussions for human survival, there is a tendency for the majority of people to ignore the issue.

There are many on both the left and right ends of the political spectrum who feel human population growth is not a problem or at the very least a manageable problem. Typically the right opposes any discussion of population reduction because of conservative religious views or a business model that requires endless growth to maintain economic prosperity. The left tends to downplay population based on social justice grounds—that the world’s poor are blamed for population growth, while the world’s richest countries enjoy the benefits of excessive consumption.

Both support their respective positions often by arguing that as a result of technology we will rise to the occasion and help us get through any shortages we may face be it energy, food, or space. In a sense the worldviews of the left and right are not appreciably different when it comes to techno optimism.

I am inclined to agree that technological advances often change assumptions about limiting factors—what’s available to use and at what cost can change dramatically due to technological innovations. At one time salt was more valuable than gold, but technological innovations has made it so common we can buy it for pennies. So I am loath to discount how technology can rapidly change predictions and assumptions about the availability of critical resources.

But the problem is that technology does not come free. There’s a huge ecological cost to technological fixes. Even if you could grow sufficient food for 10 billion people, one has to consider what’s driving that food production. The price of food does not reflect the real costs.

It’s the mining that produces the metal to make the plow. It’s the gas drilling that provides the fertilizer. It’s the oil drilling that provides the fuel to power the trucks that moves the food to people. It’s the dams that provide the water storage for irrigation of fields. And even more so today the computers that calculate the amount of water to spread or the exact percentage of pesticide to apply and so on. Behind that food production is long technology train that is pulling a lot of cars—each taking a bite out of the Earth’s biodiversity, land and water to feed a growing human population.

Of course, I’m generalizing here, and there are many shades of gray and degrees of buy-in to the various perspectives. But there are few on either side of the right or left who agree that human population growth poses a grave danger to the Earth’s ecosystems and biodiversity, much less a threat to humanity as well.

The debate over population has largely focused on whether outright population growth—primarily in the less developed countries is a threat– and/or whether consumption of natural resources by developed countries is really the problem for sustainability. In reality this debate is not helpful since both are problematic. Both issues need to be addressed. Depending on how you define sustainability, we are already likely well past any sustainable society.

There are physical limits to the Earth and its life support systems. And though technology can unleash abundance where previously there was scarcity, ultimately this means there are limits to population growth. There is only so much agricultural land, fish in the sea, fresh water to drink, oil and coal to burn, and so forth. Where and when we reach those limits is a matter of debate, and for many of these resources, limits may be more regional in nature. But what can’t be debated is that all of these are finite. I don’t doubt that humans are clever and innovative, and some of these resources will be replaced or used far more efficiently in the future.

Nevertheless, just the physical need for housing, and providing basic needs for an expanding human population will place new demands on Planet Earth whether we impose strict limits or not. What we have in terms of ecological limitations is a planet that is already overtaxed if one uses the appropriate metrics like biodiversity loss.

It would be unfortunate to simply try to determine what number of humans could be supported on Earth if we were to completely exploit any of these resources. I think it misses an important philosophical question.

In the simplest terms, some define sustainably only in terms of human population. Can the Earth sustain 10 billion or whatever number one chooses to use? I think it probably can.

However that may be the wrong question. Human sustainability ought to be a question of quality of life. And when that is the objective, we clearly need to reduce our population and consumption. For human impacts on the planet’s natural capital; its forests, its oceans, its ecosystems, as well as air, water, air, and wildlife are already showing severe degradation and/or loss of resources that are critical to human health and happiness. Impoverishment of ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, loss of beauty and exhaustion of critical minerals, and energy supplies all threatens to jeopardize the continued habitation of humans on the planet.

Even if we could succeed in supporting a population of 9 or 10 billion people that doesn’t mean that number is good for the Earth and good for people. Do you really want to live in a mega city with wall-to-wall apartments much like a packing plant at a CAFO factory (Confined Animal Farming Operation)? Can anyone argue that this provides a quality of life?

If one answers in the negative, and says they would prefer to live in less crowded conditions with abundant clear air, clean water, abundant wildlife, and beautiful surroundings than it really demonstrates that we must do something about population. It is a choice. Inaction is a choice by default.

There are other considerations other than merely whether human population can be sustained in some fashion. We have a moral obligation not only to the overall quality of life for humans, but also a responsibility for other life on Earth. As many have pointed out we are on the verge of a massive new extinction. The world is losing species at a rate that is 100 to 1000 times faster than the natural extinction rate. Studies have shown that biologically diverse ecosystems are more productive, so these losses, if nothing else, have the potential of reducing the ability of the Earth to sustain human population.

Habitat loss is the biggest driver of extinction. And much of this habitat loss is a direct consequence of human population growth and the need to support more and more people. For instance, agriculture already claims an astounding 40% of the Earth’s total land area. This figure is not difficult to doubt if you have ever stared out of a plane window while flying over the Great Plains and Midwest. What you see is mile upon mile—for thousands of miles—is croplands that have virtually replaced the native prairie ecosystem.

When you consider there are huge areas of permanent ice like Antarctica as well as the boreal forests that cover much of Siberia and Canada, such numbers are shocking. Agriculture, by its definition, is the production of one or a few species of plant and/or animal at the expense of native species. And the amount of land devoted to agriculture is expanding as a direct result of human population growth. The existing agricultural land use is a major driver of species extinction and biodiversity loss. Increasing agricultural conversion will likely hasten biodiversity losses.

No one wants to say to anyone that they have to suffer hunger or even starvation. And it seems sensible to suggest that population reduction is really the only way we can guarantee adequate nutrition for people without continuing to drive more and more species over the brink to extinction.

And even when species are not driven to extinction, they may be so reduced that they are functionally extinct. Globally, large predators have been shown to have significant influence upon ecosystem function. Yet large predators are among the most imperiled animals on the Earth. In many parts of the world they are functionally extinct.

Thus far I’ve mostly made the argument for population reduction based on how it might improve things for human society. But humans are not the only species on the Planet. Ethically we have a moral obligation to share the Planet with other life. I recognize that most people will see human life as most important, and that is completely natural. Yet it’s also an important human trait that we have compassion for other lifeforms. And if one feels that we have a moral obligation to share the Earth with the other millions of species inhabiting the Earth and being an agent of their extinction is morally wrong than we should look again at how population growth is contributing to species extirpation.

Proponents who discount population growth or suggest that the rising tide of humanity is already self- correcting and that globally population growth is tapering off. Tapering off isn’t good enough. While some countries are experiencing reduced fertility and in some places like northern Europe or Japan, population growth is no longer at replacement, globally human population is still growing at an astounding rate.

Despite these positive shifts in demographics in some countries, we are still adding 80 million people to the Earth every year! And some suggest that somewhere on the planet we’ll be building the equivalent of a city of a million inhabitants every five days from now until 2050. This multiplier effect due to demographic inertia will cause significant population expansion for decades to come.

A good example is the country of Ghana. In 2010 there were 20 million people in this impoverished country. The average number of children born per woman was 4. Even if the fertility level decreased dramatically to replacement rate of 1.1 children per mother 2020, we would see Ghana’s population continue to grow for 40 more years before it would stabilize at 40 million.

There are additional social issues, particularly concerning pregnancy and women’s health. An alarming 1400 Afghanistan women per 100,000 die in childbirth or complications from pregnancy, compared to 5 deaths per 100,000 in countries like Denmark. Of course, that is mostly a factor of poverty and lack of good medical care, but it is also a factor of how many children women in each country typically have. The more children you birth, the higher the chances that one of them will be problematic. Maintaining and providing good medical care while your population is exploding is difficult if not impossible as well.

As many note, education of women can significantly reduce population growth. But there is a chicken and egg situation here. One of the main barriers to education is poverty. In poor countries providing even a minimum education for women is made more difficult by the sheer number of children requiring schooling.

Happy pronouncements that we can feed more people through new agricultural techniques and other techno-fixes, ignore the fact that more a billion people already live in extreme poverty. It’s difficult to see how adding 2-3 billion more people can make it any easier to relieve poverty.

There is evidence that overall mortality and absolute poverty are declining, especially for the world’s poorest people. However, with that decline in mortality and economic growth come new demands upon the Earth.

Despite the fact that some parts of the world consume the bulk of natural resources, per capita consumption is increasing even among the poorest people. While this is likely a good thing given the extreme poverty, it does not bode well for the Earth.

In addition, most assertions that we can feed, house, cloth, educate, and employ 9 or 10 billion people requires continuing ever deeper into dependency on high tech solutions and massive inputs of energy. Intensive agriculture using genetically modified crops, an abundance of pesticides, irrigation, and the conversion of more and more the Earth’s surface to growing crops at the expense of native ecosystems. We are already nearing the limits or perhaps exceeding the limits on what can be captured by nets and trollers from the world’s oceans. Decline in larger fish across the world has serious implications for ocean ecosystems. And most of the world’s grazing lands are suffering from livestock induced degradation, soil erosion, and weed invasion.

And unless one presumes everyone is going to live a bare existence lifestyle, providing even a reasonable amount of light, heat, and power for production and transportation of “things” requires more and more energy production. Whether this is derived from burning of more fossil fuels or nuclear energy and/or massive wind farms, solar fields, hydroelectric, and other more renewable energy sources, the end result is more and more of the Earth is mined, drilled, and/or converted to energy production.

Part of the hysteria over population voiced by some is that declining population growth will lead to economic stagnation. As one commentator said recently “ It’s an irony that aging doomsayers like Ehrlich and Holdren may not live long enough to behold come to fruition in their lifetime, but to achieve the very goals they claim to be aiming toward, there may be only one hope for the human species: Bring on the babies. “

The Population Reference Bureau reported that in 2011 US population grew by just 0.7%. Immigration was down, and more people survived than were born. This is causing some to wring their hands over what is sometimes called the demographic decline. They predict that aging population and lack of births will lead to economic decline and a collapse of society. Just look at the aging population of Japan and its slowing economy we are told, ignoring the fact that Germany and a number of other European countries have low reproduction rates as well as strong economies.

I’m generally an advocate of natural regulation—or letting nature take its course. But when it comes to human population collapse, I’d rather see alternatives. We are, we are told by those who suffer from too much hubris, (often the same ones saying we don’t have a population problem) that we are clever and intelligent. Well an intelligent person, and even one that might not believe we have a serious population problem, would at least use the precautionary principle which says in the absence of better information you seek the alternative that has the least potential for long term damage.

Certainly advocating population reduction can have few down sides that I am aware of, especially if done with a sense of justice and fairness. Even though I do not want to be viewed as a techno optimist, I have to admit that we have the “technology” in the form of birth control, plus education, and access to medical facilities to limit our population. It seems in light of the on-going biodiversity loss as well as other crisis’s exacerbated by population growth (like global climate change) that we can begin a global effort to bring human population more in line with global carrying capacity. And global carrying capacity in my view means not significantly contributing to accelerated species extinction, excessive pollution, and the rapid consumption and/or degradation of finite resources.

I’m afraid that if we don’t use our brains, we’ll follow a path much like the Isle Royale moose—a major population crash with a much depressed and infinitely poorer surviving population of humans. But even worse, we may be taking down a lot of the Earth’s heritage of diversity and landscapes in the process.


Jens Ambrosius Underbjerg & Klaus Vejlgaard Just

Where did we come from? How have humans and the rest of life on Earth evolved through time? What is the link between the development of life and the geological phenomena and processes that have taken place over millions of years.
In the book Evolution - The Development of Life and Earth, the focus is on these issues.
The book is designed in such a way that it can be used at several educational levels in biology and geography classes in upper secondary or high school, as well as further education colleges and adult education centres, or in interdisciplinary courses related to the topic of evolution and the development of life and earth.
The book acts as a journey back in time illustrating the impact of major geological events and the biological stages of evolution. In the course of working through the book, readers will gain an understanding of the development of the earth and the development of its life, and be able to recognize the connection between geological events and biological evolution. The reader will specifically work with evolution and evolutionary principles, such as "natural selection". Acquaintance is also made with some of the evolutionary scientists  who have had the greatest impact on the theories’ development, for example Charles Darwin.
Throughout the book there is focus on knowledge not only being conveyed through the text, but also through a series of interactive features in the form of images, film, animations and student-motivating assignments. The reader is actively  involved in examining the issues that the book explains.

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006: Estate Planning w/ Matthew Bogin

Today we talk to Matthew Bogin about Estate Planning

1) What are the basics to an Estate Plan?

2) What are some things to consider when getting a Power of Attorney?

3) How often should you review your estate plan?

4) What can you do prior to meeting with an attorney to create an estate plan, to streamline the process?

5) What are some of the objections you hear most frequently?

6) Are there any additional considerations for families with children who have disabilities or aging parents who may be losing mental capacity?

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Elasmosaurus sm

Elasmosaurus as it appeared in Sea Monsters: A Walking with Dinosaurs Trilogy

Elasmosaurus was a large plesiosaur (the largest of the long necked Plesiosaur kind) from the Late Cretaceous Period. Its neck was so long that when it was discovered, it was thought to be the tail, leading American Palaeontologist Edward Drinker Cope to humiliate himself when he published a reconstruction of the great marine reptile with the neck being the tail and the head being on back-to-front on the end of the tail - which is archenemy Othneil Charles Marsh picked up on when he got to handle the specimens himself and realised (much to his amusement at the expense of his great rival of the 'Bone Wars' no doubt) Thanks to Othneil Charles Marsh, we have an accurate reconstruction of the huge 14 metre long Elasmosaurus - last and largest of the Plesiosauroid Plesiosaurs. There is a similar species of almost the same size as Elasmosaurus called, Thalassomedon, from a slightly earlier part of the Late Cretaceous (the two cousins probably met)

Walking with DinosaursEdit

Elasmosaurus didn't appear in the main walking with dinosaurs series.

Elasmosaurus was one of the hazards in Hell's Aquarium (Nigel's nickname for the Most Dangerous Sea of all time), in Sea Monsters: A Walking with Dinosaurs Trilogy Even so, they seem to be benign and passive creatures, gently migrating through the sea; however, this could be due to their task of migrating and nothing else. Still, as their primary prey is small fish, there is no apparent reason for them to attack the humans (though one is seen to investigate the ROV Camera with its jaws open)

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Page Hero - Credit by Exam

Credit by Exam

XSL Content

Research Methods in Psychology

Catalog number: PSYx365

Description: Corresponds to a one-semester course in research methods in psychology. Measures understanding of the course material as well as the ability to apply this understanding in specific research situations. Focuses on the following content areas: experimental psychology and the scientific method, research ethics (APA Guidelines), alternatives to experimentation (nonexperimental designs), basic concepts of experimental research, experimental research designs, data analysis and interpretation, and writing research reports. Assumes knowledge of content typically learned in courses in introductory psychology and elementary statistics. (M


A 400-year-old painting that might have been executed by Italian master Caravaggio has been found in an attic in southern France.

Eric Turquin, the French expert who retrieved the painting two years ago, says it is in an exceptional state of conservation and estimates its value at around €$120 million (NZ$197 million).

It was revealed at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday (local time).

Called "Judith Beheading Holofernes," it depicts the biblical heroine Judith beheading an Assyrian general.

It is thought to have been painted in Rome circa 1604-05.

Turquin told the press conference that there "will never be a consensus" about the name of the artist.


I wanted to introduce you to a short three part series detailing the steps to take a paper report and re-create it in the TapRooT® VI software.

Technically Speaking is a weekly series that highlights various aspects of the TapRooT® VI software and occasionally includes a little Help Desk humor.


Solved thread

Do model relationships only work with ids (numbers) ?

I have an existing database that works with varchars(255) as foreign keys. When I try to build relations with "$this->belongsTo('publisher', 'Publisher', 'name');" and "$this->hasMany('name', 'Modpack', 'publisher');" I get a non object error when I use: {{ }}. In other projects where the foreign keys are based on ints I never had an issues with it, which is makeing me wonder.

Ohh wow. I only needed to writhe Publisher uppercase that it understands I want the relation and not the column..


Joint Committee on The Draft Communications Bill Minutes of Evidence

Note by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the meaning of "Customer", "Consumer" and "Citizen"

In the draft Bill

  Generally, the term "customer" is used throughout the Bill to refer to individuals or businesses who use or seek to use electronic communications networks and services or associated facilities, or whom providers seek as users of those things.

  The draft Bill only uses the terms "consumer" and "citizen" (except in the term "Consumer Panel") when referring to existing legislation that uses these terms: clause 248 uses consumer in applying concurrency under the Fair Trading Act and clause 4(5) uses the term "citizen" in implementing the EU Directives.

  The exception to this is the name "Consumer Panel". The duties of the Consumer Panel are all set out in terms of "domestic and small business customers", which are any customers who do not themselves provide networks, services or associated facilities or have more than 50 workers (workers in this context includes employees and volunteers). The Panel is called the Consumer Panel because we believe that this will be more meaningful to those customers, and to align it with the terminology used for similar bodies elsewhere (eg the Financial Services Authority Consumer Panel).

In the Policy document

  In the Policy document we have generally used the terms "consumer" or "citizen" rather than "customer" when talking about interest of members of the public. This follows the general approach in the White Paper. Whilst there is no absolutely definitive boundary between how the two terms are used, generally the term "consumer" is used to indicate the purchaser or other user of a service, normally based on an economic relationship (either direct or indirect) between the individual and the service in question. Typically, though not exclusively, such interests arise in relation to networks and services rather than content.

  Meanwhile, the term "citizen" relates to the individual as a member of society, and enjoying the rights and responsibilities such membership confers. In the electronic communications sector, these tend to arise mainly in the content area, where more cultural aspects, such as harm and offence, access to a wide variety of high quality programming, and the handling of political issues assume importance. Frequently, where we are talking about the interests of citizens in relation to broadcast content we have referred to "viewers and listeners". The two terms are not used exclusively, and frequently we refer to both consumers and citizens to emphasise that both the economic and cultural relationships are included.

June 2002

previous page contents next page

© Parliamentary copyright 2002
Prepared 5 August 2002


Street Style ft. Lauren Shumovich

What happens when you put sporty mesh and sheer together on one runway? Together, they merge their vertical lines and come together to give you one of the hottest spring trends, and that is the caged effect. Alexander McQueen, Dior, Gucci and Calvin Klein are all about it and its versatility of interpretation. As sporty as this caged openwork can be, designers are upscaling to sporty chic. Mesh is on a creative spree from the giant caged openwork to the tiny teardrop-shaped holes and zig-zag patterns. So let’s tune down the runway look for more of an everyday look and what do you get…Continue Reading.


I am part way through Max Gallo’s Mussolini’s Italy (1974)- an account of the rise and fall of Fascism in Italy. I had no knowledge of this period except for the sketchiest sense of Il Duce and an image of his jutting jaw, his rescue by German commandos after Italy’s capitulation and then his ignoble demise. I am astonished at the political factions and factors that allowed Fascism to take root. Mussolini was educated to be a teacher, practiced journalism and moved around in the political spectrum from socialist to anarchist to fascist, always an opportunist. There were several moments when he avoided disaster and continued forward in his progress to power. He was a clever manipulator of competing political and social interests and had a rare skill for reading public opinion and manipulating people and politicians. He was astonishly immoral and made use of violence and intimidation as a matter of course. His rise to power by 1923 inspired Hitler to make his attempt at a coup in Munich in 1923. The Nazis were arrested at that point and HItler sent to prison where he wrote Mein Kampf.

Inger Stevens

Caught the 1969 thriller movie, House of Cards, starring George Peppard and Inger Stevens. A movie i had seen many years before on TV. She looked stunningly, achingly beautiful in it. I have fond memories of her from her successful TV show, The Farmer’s Daughter. I found a collective biography of actresses who died young and read about Stevens. She was beautiful, talented, worked to help others and died senselessly at the age of 37.

leopard coat spots – work style change

I am going to offer you some free advice. Remember it is free and that its actual value may not be any greater than its cost. The cost to you is a couple of minutes of reading time.

Can you answer yes to these questions:

Most days I feel I am just keeping pace with things?

Most days I feel like I am just treading water not swimming to the island I am trying to reach?

I seem to spend all my time on stuff that is not very important?

If you answered yes then you might want to look at changing the pattern of spots in your “leopard coat”. Here are a couple of suggestions for change that might help you feel more effective.

Change 1: Instead of taking all your phone calls as they come in and dropping whatever work you are currently doing, have the staff take a message. Try to force calls into a block of time of your choosing. If you do your best “heavy thinking process” work in the morning, dedicate all your morning to that work and make call backs in the afternoon.

Change 2: Read your email first thing in the morning and then forget about it for the rest of the day. Hard to do but constantly checking email is a time waster.

Change 3: Is it necessary for you to handle ALL the details that you are currently handling. Can you not delegate more items to staff.

Change 4: Tell staff to accumulate materials for your consideration and signing and come to see you once a day or twice a week not on a per piece basis.

Change 5: As an experiment track your time for a week and generally track phone calls, unplanned visitors, solitary work, administration, strategic work, long range projects, or MLRB (minimum level to run the business). It is possible you will find the results surprising. You may find that you are spending next to zero time on strategic work.

Change 6: Urgency grid is a four zone grid of choice in which you quickly decide what value in importance and what value in urgency a piece of work possesses.

1 Urgent and Important

3 Urgent but not important

2 Not urgent but Important

4 Not urgent and not important

There is a real human nature tendency to do items that fall into #4 because usually they are easier to do and give us the false reassurance that we are accomplishing at least something with are time. When in truth if we never get to them, there is no meaningful impact.

Change 7: Time estimation – most people tend to underestimate how long it takes to do work. A good rule of thumb is to make a guess of the time you will need to get something done, then double it and add fifty per cent.

If you are doing this for the first time increase your estimate by another 50 per cent.

Most initial estimates automatically assume all will go perfectly. Most work does not go perfectly smoothly.

If your piece of work or project involves more than one person, add time.

If those people work in different physical locations (buildings) or different time schedules in the same building, add time.

If this work involves getting the approval of other people in one or many steps, add time.

One sure way to predict the amount of time is to stop and guess how many times you will have to talk to someone involved in the work, then based on past experience recall how easy it has been to reach that person by phone, by email or letter or in person.

Lastly be sure to think about how important the work is to you and to consider if it is a top priority or last priority with the people you will need to participate and cooperate with to accomplish it.

Al Pacino in 88 minutes

I didnt enjoy this as much as i hoped going in. Thriller about a forensic psychiatrist who receives a cell call informing him he has 88 minutes left to live. It was a little muddled to me but did show up in a slightly deficient way the true meaning in cinema story telling between shock and suspense. The audience has to be told things before they happen for suspense to build. Too many things in this plot move ahead with no effort to keep the audience informed. A lot of the time we have no idea where we are going or why. One major problem with the character of Dr. Graham (Pacino) he is painted with too many flaws and is basically unsympathetic, although every female character is enamoured with him.


Flight MH370 includes 12 Malaysian Freescale staff, and KL-based IBM executive

The Q&A session included the following responses:

- Validity of last night's new analysis:  "As you would also appreciate the prime minister came out himself to share that he has been given fairly credible leads that would point to where the plane ended its flight," said Jauhari. "As he mentioned that position is very far away, very remote from the nearest landmass. After 17 days we could only bring ourselves to one conclusion."

- Handling of families: "Our focus is really to ensure that we provide care with the families as we move forward. It's not very easy, it has been 18 days and yesterdays announcement was really painful, a very painful fact for us," he said.

Operational update: the Doppler effect ised in the new calculation

[0530pm MYT, 25 March 2017]  Minister Hishamuddin led the SAR update, which included the Civil Aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the Malaysia Airlines chief executive Jauhari and Inspector-General of Police [IGP] Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.

Hishamuddin delivered a  statement, which included the following:

- The investigation has now turned into a complex phase with the release of technical and logistical information. New challenges including managing resources in the search effort,

Last night, the prime minister announced the new calculation from Immarsat and AAIB. Immarsat developed a second innovative technique, which made use of the Doppler Effect, and the flight's velocity was calculated and concluded the final position in the southern part of the South Indian Ocean west of Perth.

This is not the final position. There is evidence of a partial handshake, which is subject to ongoing examination. At 0011 to 01.15 UTC,  the aircraft no longer was able to communicate. "More work needs to be done ... this is a developing situation," he said.

This type of analysis has never been done before in accident analysis, he added.

Operational updates: the search in the northern corridor has been called off. All search efforts are now focused in the southern part of the South Indian Ocean covering a reduced area of 469,407 sq nautical miles.

Two Korean aircraft left to go to Perth. Due to bad weather, no flights from Perth took place today.

The Doppler Effect

News release on Malaysian Ministry of Transport's Facebook page follows: -

On 13 March we received information from UK satellite company Inmarsat indicating that routine automatic communications between one of its satellites and the aircraft could be used to determine several possible flight paths.

Inmarsat UK has continued to refine this analysis and yesterday the AAIB presented its most recent findings, which indicate that the aircraft flew along the southern corridor.

As you have heard, an aircraft is able to communicate with ground stations via satellite.

If the ground station has not heard from an aircraft for an hour it will transmit a 'log on / log off' message, sometimes referred to as a ‘ping’, using the aircraft’s unique identifier. If the aircraft receives its unique identifier it returns a short message indicating that it is still logged on. This process has been described as a “handshake” and takes place automatically.

From the ground station log it was established that after ACARS stopped sending messages, 6 complete handshakes took place.

The position of the satellite is known, and the time that it takes the signal to be sent and received, via the satellite, to the ground station can be used to establish the range of the aircraft from the satellite. This information was used to generate arcs of possible positions from which the Northern and Southern corridors were established.

Refined analysis from Inmarsat
In recent days Inmarsat developed a second innovative technique which considers the velocity of the aircraft relative to the satellite. Depending on this relative movement, the frequency received and transmitted will differ from its normal value, in much the same way that the sound of a passing car changes as it approaches and passes by. This is called the Doppler effect. The Inmarsat technique analyses the difference between the frequency that the ground station expects to receive and that actually measured. This difference is the result of the Doppler effect and is known as the Burst Frequency Offset.

While on the ground at Kuala Lumpur airport, and during the early stage of the flight, MH370 transmitted several messages. At this stage the location of the aircraft and the satellite were known, so it was possible to calculate system characteristics for the aircraft, satellite, and ground station.

During the flight the ground station logged the transmitted and received pulse frequencies at each handshake. Knowing the system characteristics and position of the satellite it was possible, considering aircraft performance, to determine where on each arc the calculated burst frequency offset fit best.

The analysis showed poor correlation with the Northern corridor, but good correlation with the Southern corridor, and depending on the ground speed of the aircraft it was then possible to estimate positions at 0011 UTC, at which the last complete handshake took place. I must emphasise that this is not the final position of the aircraft.

There is evidence of a partial handshake between the aircraft and ground station at 0019 UTC. At this time this transmission is not understood and is subject to further ongoing work.

No response was received from the aircraft at 0115 UTC, when the ground earth station sent the next log on / log off message. This indicates that the aircraft was no longer logged on to the network.

Therefore, some time between 0011 UTC and 0115 UTC the aircraft was no longer able to communicate with the ground station. This is consistent with the maximum endurance of the aircraft.

In Annex I (attached) there are three diagrams, showing:

Doppler correction contributions:
Doppler Correction contributions modified
MH370 measured data against predicted tracks:


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The refractive index of a medium changes with the wavelength of incident light. Typically, the shorter the wavelength the larger the refractive index.

Fused quartz has a refractive index of 1.47 for indigo light of 400 nm in wavelength, and a refractive index of 1.46 for green light of 550 nm in wavelength.

If rays of indigo and green light enter fused quartz from air, making an angle of 45º, the angle that separates two rays as they travel through the fused quartz is closest to ...

Test on monday. Help please

  • Physics -

    Both rays bend by nearly the same amount, so the answer will be one of the smaller numbers.

    The angle of refraction (measured from the normal to the surface) is given by

    sin Ar = sin Ai/N, where Ai is the angle if incidence (45 degrees in this case)

    For the indigo ray,
    sin Ar = 0.4810 Ar = 28.75 degrees
    For the green ray
    sin Ar = 0.4843 Ar = 28.97 degrees

    Take the difference

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Before entering into a construction contract, companies must be sure to secure written contracts with all parties. This is particularly important when several related entities, all part of the same parent company, are each involved in the construction project. If companies fail to do so, they can be left without recourse against a subcontractor whose error delays the project.

The economic loss rule prevents tort actions for economic losses without physical damage, such as lost profits. Actions for purely economic losses may be maintained only by parties to the contract or contractual beneficiaries. In Federal Insurance Co., et. al. v. Fredricks, Inc., 2015 Ohio 694, an Ohio appellate court relied on this rule to hold that future tenants of an under-construction warehouse could not recover from a negligent subcontractor.

J.P. Holding Co. is the parent company of Carter Express, Inc., Carter Logistics, LLC and Pasco Enterprises. Pasco contracted to purchase land from the City of Vandalia, Ohio to build a Cross Dock facility where Carter Express and Carter Logistics would be tenants. Pasco hired a general contractor without a written agreement. The general contractor entered into a written contract with a subcontractor to erect a pre-engineered steel framework. The contract identified Pasco as the property owner; and, though aware Carter Express would be a tenant, the subcontractor believed the contract intended to benefit Pasco, as the property owner.

The subcontractor failed to use adequate bracing to secure the steel framework, causing it to collapse during a storm. Pasco, J.P. Holding, Carter Express and Carter Logistics all sued the subcontractor for damages caused by the delay in the project’s completion due to the collapse. The trial court determined only Pasco could recover for economic damages as an intended beneficiary of the contract. The trial court also determined that J.P. Holding, Carter Express and Carter Logistics could not recover against the subcontractor because they lacked an ownership interest in the property.

By definition, economic losses are intangible, and thus recovery is permitted only in contract. As a result, non-parties to the subcontract generally may not bring suit. J. P. Holding, Carter Express and Carter Logistics sought to sue based on a narrow exception to this general rule, which allows a non-party suit if there is a sufficient nexus between the parties. Prior Ohio cases held that the degree of control exercised by the non-party can create such a sufficient nexus, but this court limited that rule to cases involving design professionals, and would not extend it to subcontractors. In this case, that prevented J.P. Holding, Carter Express and Carter Logistics from recovering against the subcontractor.

Those entities also sought to recover as third-party beneficiaries to the subcontract. They argued that the subcontract was intended to benefit them, permitting them to sue as third-party beneficiaries to the contract. Under Ohio law, absent ambiguous language, the terms of the contract determine who is an intended beneficiary. Here, the court found no ambiguity. Pasco was identified as the property owner and none of the other entities were mentioned in the subcontract. The subcontract referenced documents naming the other entities, but that alone did not make the other entities intended beneficiaries. The court also focused on the subcontract’s indemnification language, which extended only to Pasco as the owner.

Finally, J.P. Holding, Carter Express and Carter Logistics claimed that their indirect economic loss was caused by tangible property damage when the framework collapsed. Collectively, they argued that J.P. Holdings, as parent company, should be permitted to recover on behalf of the future tenants. Such a theory can permit recovery, but only when the party seeking recovery was the property owner. Here, Pasco was the property owner. Though all the entities are related, only Pasco had an ownership interest in the property. The purchase agreement with the City of Vandalia was signed by Carter Express, but specified that Pasco was buying the property, and that Pasco ensured the city revenue from employee’s income taxes. The court would not disregard the separate identities of each corporate identity to permit entities other than Pasco to recover.

This case offers several important reminders for anyone engaging in large commercial projects in Ohio. First, the economic loss rule continues to bar suits in tort for purely economic damages in Ohio, such as lost profits. Second, written contracts are crucially important to preserve rights and allocate risk of loss. In this case, Pasco failed to insist on a written contract with the general contractor because of a longstanding relationship. As a result, the economic loss doctrine prevented recovery from the subcontractor. Finally, written contracts must be explicitly clear. The outcome of this case would have been different if, for example, the indemnification language named Pasco and all related entities as beneficiaries rather than simply indemnifying the owner of the property.


What is the difference between descriptive and analytical writing? Which is better?

In order to break into the top bands in any GCSE literature essay, a student must write analytically, not descriptively. Rather than merely detailing what has happened in a story, one should strive to explain the significance of moments in the story, comment on the effects of individual linguistic choices, and draw conclusions. A simple way to ensure one writes analytically not descriptively is to opt to start sentences with the word 'When' and never 'Then'.

Example" Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

Bad descriptive writing:

Then Tom arrives at the scene of the accident and, seeing the large crowd, exclaims 'That's good. Wilson'll have a little business at last.'

Good analytical writing:

When Tom arrives at the scene of the accident his callous, joking exclamation 'That's Good. Wilson'll have a little business at last' demonstrates Fitzgerald's sophisicated use of Nick Carroway as narrator as the line adds a level of dramatic irony. Owing to Fitzgerald's complex narrative stucture, the reader, unlike Tom, is fully aware that Tom's mistress, Myrtle, has just been hideously killed by Gatsby's car. It is ironic that Tom is making fun of the accident because he will be utterly devastated as soon as he realises who it is that died.

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She is Tracie's younger sister and also a member of the "Jewel Knights", the elite force of the "Royal Paladins." Also a possessor of a red "Magic Jewel." She is rated as the best in the squad when it comes to archery, and is able to accurately shoot down her prey several hundred meters away with one shot without any support from magic. Usually she'll support her elder sister, who is fighting in the front lines from the rear but she does not mind moving to the front depending on the situation. Her arrow shoots through the skies in the speed of sound, colouring its trail in red and will surely score a bulls eye on her target. The nickname of "Stinging" is not just for show.

The Jewel Knights


Frequently Asked Questions

Can a C-DIFF specimen be collected in a sterile container?

C-DIFF specimens should be collected in only sterile containers with no additives.

Can I use any other swab for a strep test aside from the Dacron swab?

No, Gamma only accepts the Dacron swab for strep testing.

How long is a C-DIFF specimen viable for testing?

C-DIFF specimens are viable for 24 hours at room temperature or five days refrigerated. Do not freeze the specimen.

Can a micro albumin test be collected in the same container as a C&S?

No, a micro albumin must be collected in a sterile specimen container that contains no additives.

What identifiers need to be on a specimen to keep it from being rejected?

Any specimen submitted to the laboratory for testing must include two identifiers. The identifiers must include the patients FULL first and last name and either the social security number or date of birth. This applies to all specimens whether it is blood, urine, stool, or culture swabs. If the patient has demographic labels, it is acceptable to use a demographic label on the specimen.

What do I need to know about timed draws?

Timed draws should be ordered with as much notice as possible. Gamma requests a facility schedule a timed draw with customer service with 24 hours advanced notice as company policy. If less than 4 hours notice is given, Gamma will try to accommodate the facility, but in some cases medication may have to be held until the phlebotomist can arrive or the timed draw rescheduled for a later date or time. Timed draws such as a VANC peak and trough cannot be made a recurring order.

How can the hemoglobin and hematocrit be so different from early morning draws to a draw in the afternoon?

: Blood Pooling - morning blood draws from bedridden patients can lead to artifacts in testing results. A patient that has had little activity overnight can succumb to a phenomenon often referred to as blood pooling or hemoconcentration. That is blood drawn from the arm is not at equilibrium with the rest of the body and can lower blood counts—most alarming is a low hematocrit or hemoglobin level. This can lead a medical director to conclude that the patient requires a blood transfusion, and if it is a LTC patient, they may be transported to a local hospital, only to be retested and the hematocrit or hemoglobin level is not nearly as low as previously indicated.

The process of getting the patient to the hospital has re-equilibrated the blood components and they are more normal and often less alarming, not requiring any intervention. Of course such a transport is not only a concern to the patient and their family members, but represents a considerable expense to the facility or other payer. Furthermore, the laboratory that performed the early morning blood draw is questioned about the quality of the testing result — unfairly so, based on the postural state of the patient.

Such low hematocrit or hemoglobin results, resulting from hemoconcentration, complicate the setting of a threshold for clinical intervention and perhaps a blood transfusion. New evidence from studying 19 different studies, representing over 6,000 patients, concluded that hemoglobin thresholds greater than 7-8 gm/dl triggered unnecessary transfusions without adverse associations of mortality, cardiac morbidity, functional recovery or length of hospital stay.

The bottom line is that a facility with a patient who has a low hemoglobin result might be advised to retest the patient following some activities that help equilibrate the blood components, prior to transporting the patient to an ER and potentially transfusing a patient unnecessarily. The study suggests that panic values for clinical intervention might be best set at levels of less than 8 gms/dl hemoglobin without adverse patient affects.

What can cause erroneous elevated potassium levels?

Answer: 70% of erroneously elevated potassium levels are caused by pre-analytical (variables before measurement occurs) variables. The red blood cell has a high intracellular concentration of potassium, and anything that causes the leakage of potassium into the extracellular (serum) environment will result in erroneous elevated potassium levels. Below are some pre-analytical variables that can cause falsely elevated potassium levels:

Specimen Collection Issues

• Excessive fist clenching during the sample collection releases potassium from skeletal muscle. Instruct patients not to clench their fist.

• Prolonged tourniquet application causes rupture of red blood cells, which release the potassium. The tourniquet should be on no longer than 1 minute, and released once the vein is entered.

• Improper order of draw can cause carryover of potassium from anticoagulant tubes.

• Collection using small gauge needles, such as butterfly needles, can cause the red blood cell to rupture, therefore releasing potassium into the serum.

• Improper tube mixing can interfere with the clotting process. Plastic clot activator tubes require gentle inversion to ensure activation of the clotting process. Do not shake the tube, as this will rupture the cells and cause potassium to leak into the serum.

• Mislabeled Specimens can cause results to be reported on the wrong patient. Always verify the patient identity before drawing the sample and properly label the tubes before leaving the patient.

Processing/Handling/Transporting Issues

• Delays in processing and transporting can cause the release of potassium from red blood cells. Separate serum from the red blood cells within 2 hours of collection

• Improper centrifugation can cause lysis of the red blood cells and the leakage of potassium. Do not run a centrifuge continuously for long periods of time, which allow it to build heat.

• Poor barrier formation in gel barrier tubes can cause the potassium to leak out of the red blood cells into the serum. Always follow the tube manufacturer’s instruction.

• Recentrifugation of the original gel barrier tube can cause mixing of serum above and below the gel. If a tube must be recentrifuged, make sure that it is within the 2 hour time limit.

• Freezing whole blood causes the rupture of the red blood cells, releasing potassium into the serum. Make sure that specimens are stored correctly.

Physiologic Factors

• Thrombocytosis can cause potassium elevation due to the platelet release of potassium during the clotting process.

• Anticoagulant therapy and liver disease induces delay in the clotting process. Allow 1 hour for good clot formation.

• Dehydration can result in elevated serum electrolytes.

• Hyperventilation by an anxious patient can cause an increase release of potassium into the serum.

• Serum and plasma potassium values are different. Serum potassium values are higher than plasma due to the release of platelet potassium during clotting. Reports of differences range from 0.1-0.4 meq/L. Be aware of the differences.

• Hyperkalelmia occurs in about a third of the patients being treated with spironolactone and trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole.

• Penicillin VK and Penicillin G can deliver a substantial potassium load to patients; this can be significant when it is administered to diabetic patients or others who may have chronic kidney disease.

• Nonsterodial anti-inflammatory drugs and heparin can provoke hyperkalemia in susceptible patients.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the different ways a facility can receive laboratory results?

It is possible for a facility to receive results by fax, online through iConnect, or EMR.

What does the asterisk * mean on my lab results?

The asterisk is for billing purposes only.

What is required on requisitions?

Nursing staff may use patient demographic labels on the requisition. If patient demographic labels are available the following information is still required on the requisition: date to be collected, signature of the nurse filling out the requisition, test(s) ordered and diagnosis.

If demographic labels are not available for the patient, the nursing staff must fill out the requisition with all the required fields. Required fields include the following: date to be collected, signature of nurse filling out the requisition, full last and first name of the patient, date of birth, gender, social security number, room number, physician, complete billing information, test(s) ordered and diagnosis.

How do I get patient demographic labels?

If the patient already has labels and needs more, attach a demographic label to the requisition and check the box next to patient labels in the supply area of the requisition.

If the patient is a new resident, fill out the requisition in it's entirety, mark the box next to patient labels in the supply area, and attach a facesheet to the back of the requisition.

When can I expect lab results?

Gamma will result all routine in-house testing within 24 hours of being drawn. Tests considered "send outs" will be resulted within 3-5 days of being drawn. Cultures will be resulted out within 48-72 hours of being received at the testing site.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What businesses must comply with HIPAA laws?

A: Any healthcare entity that electronically processes, stores, transmits, or receives medical records, claims or remittances. The keyword here is electronic.

Q: What is Protected Health Information (PHI)?

A: Information collected from an individual by a covered entity that relates to the past, present or future health or condition of an individual and that either identifies the individual or there is basis to believe that the information can be used to identify the individual...and thus must be protected.

Q: What is HITECH and when does it go into effect?

A: Stands for the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The HITECH Act provides over $30 billion for healthcare infrastructure and the adoption of electronic health records (EHR). According to the Act, physicians are eligible to receive up to $44,000 per physician from Medicare for meaningful use of a certified EHR system starting in 2014.

Q: What is a Covered Entity (CE)?

A: Any business entity that must by law comply with HIPAA regulations, which include healthcare providers, insurance companies, and clearinghouses. In this context, health care providers include doctors, medical, dental, vision clinics, hospitals, and related health caregivers.

Q: Does the HIPAA Security Rule require data encryption over a network?

A: The HIPAA Security Rule require encrypt ions only when individually-identifiable health information is sent over a public network, such as the Internet. Encryption is not required for other network connections, such as Intranets.

Q: What are the penalties for HIPAA non-compliance?

A: Fines can be up to $250,000 for violations or imprisonment up to 10 years for knowing abuse or misuse of individual health information.

Q: HIPAA-ready vs. HIPPA-compliant – what is the difference?

HIPAA-ready refers to software and other products used by the healthcare industry that complies with HIPAA guidelines. HIPAA-compliant refers to the actual physicians, clinics, and insurance companies that are in compliance with HIPAA regulations.

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