Subject Criminal Profiling - Essay Example

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Author : princess70

Autoerotic asphyxia is a paraphilia which is a sub-category of sexual masochism, autoerotic or sexual asphyxia. This potentially lethal sexual practice refers to sexual arousal that is produced while reducing the oxygen supply to the brain.
This project is made to assimilate whether or not the crime scene found was a suicide case or simply an accident attributed to autoerotic asphyxia…

Extract of sample
Subject Criminal Profiling

In the space provided, list those factors which substantiate an accidental death and were found at or in:
As a peace officer and a person whose career is on human protection and rights, it is common practice for the victim to have the weapons near arms reach so that in cases of turmoil and conflicts, the weapon will be always ready to be used. Also, it has been embedded in the victims' subconscious that the weapons should always be with him attached to his body or near him. In this case, it was near his place of demise.
During the time of his deliberation of the act, the victim may not want to see his badge, credentials and uniform around the place of where the act will be done. This is based on the fact that the victim worked very hard to earn those items during a better time in his life. There is an underlying assumption that the victim may not want to see the things he deeply cared for so as not to influence his decision to do what he must. He hid them in a box on the floor below because he did not want them to be in the same room when he killed himself.
We have conducted a complete investigation regarding this unattended death and have come to the conclusion that this death was caused by accident attributed to autoerotic asphyxia. ...
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Steady-State Cardio (running, biking, walking for 30 – 60 min) or High Intensity Intervals (30 sec full out and 90 sec rest)…Which is best for fat loss and muscle gain? Data seems to state that both offer benefits, but in surprising ways. Steady-State Cardio won’t provide a big fat loss or muscle gain, but strengthens the heart, reduces stress (lowering cortisol levels) and improves recovery times when done consistently. Read on to learn the benefits of HIIT Training and Read our previous article “Exercise Makes You Smarter” to learn about the other benefits.

Benefits of High Intensity Interval Training

How Do I Do a HIIT/ Burst/ Interval Training Workout?

  1. Warm up for 2 – 3 minutes with some light dynamic stretching to prepare the body for the high intensity motion. cycling-class
  2. Exercise as hard and fast as you can (80% of your maximum heart rate) for 5 seconds to 8 minutes (we like the 30 second intervals). You want to get your heart rate up to your calculated maximum heart rate. A sign that you’re giving it enough effort is when you’re gasping for breath, couldn’t talk with a partner and feel like you couldn’t possibly go on another few seconds. You decide the exercise (common ones are running sprints, burpees, bike sprints, jumping jacks, squats, or even fast walking).
  3. Recover and Rest between intervals. Rest for as long as you need to get your breathing and heart rate back down to normal. This can be anywhere from 10 seconds to 4 minutes and will not alter the effectiveness of the intervals. You can either just slow down your movements or stop completely.
  4. Repeat the high-intensity exercise and recovery five to seven more times, for a total of six or eight repetitions, depending on your level of fitness. interval-timer At first go for a shorter time and less intervals because your muscles, lungs and heart need to adapt to the new routine. As your lungs get stronger, you can increase the duration – or you can just increase your intensity.
  5. Cool down, move slowly and stretch for about three minutes or longer until your heart rate and breathing return to normal.

Cauliflower Momentexercising for hours at the gym doesn’t make us lose more fat and get healthier – it’s actually the shorter, more intense sessions that gives us these results.


Find your cullinary voice

4/04 - The ICE Tank: Food Business Presentation Workshop

April 04, 2016 - April 18, 2016 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Institute of Culinary Education

Mondays, April 4-18, 6-8pm
$300 • 2 sessions

ICE's new workshop is an interactive two-session class for food entrepreneurs, whether you're already in business or planning to start one. This workshop will provide professional feedback on your food concept (either for a restaurant or a food product). Participants will be given eight minutes to present their concept, covering the following specific areas:

1. Food Concept Description: What is the nature of the business?
2. Menu: What is your menu of products?
3. Unique Selling Points: What stands out about your concept that will lead to success?
4. Target Demographic/Location: Who and where is your primary customer base?
5. Design, Brand, Logo: What is the look and feel of your concept/product?
6. Marketing Strategy: How do you plan to successfully sell in a competitive marketplace?
7. Challenges to Success: What do you identify as the challenges to your success?
8. Estimated Startup/Growth Costs: How much money do you need at this point to begin and/or to go forward?
9. Leadership and Management: What qualities do you have to lead your concept to success?

The first session will go over guidelines on how to organize your presentation, as well as strategies to be more effective in your pitch. We will go over your presentation outline and give you two weeks to prepare. Then we'll discuss the current nature of the food business and trends that impact success. Note: Please bring a flash drive to store your own presentation.

Click here to register.


random screengrabs

would you mind making a color and anatomy edit of this? (sorry if it’s been done before, i just picked a random screengrab that had particularly atrocious colors)

The anatomy isn’t the worst in this frame, just both their arms were a bit odd. However this is in a scene with a lot of movement so it’s not so bad imo.

But the colours….oh lord. Lapis’ skin was especially turquoise that episode, it’s actually a different colour to her normal cyan day palette so I toned it down and made it more blue. Did the same thing with Peridot and just toned down her skin a little bit.

Hope you like it!


The text of the invitation to a bachelorette party

You want to invite girlfriends on a hen party informat writing card? Then to start, make a guest list, decide with the style of the party. Then pick up the invitation card format, text and think of inviting guests to a bachelorette party. You can buy ready-made invitations, or use the printing services to create original invitations for a bachelorette party. If you are planning a theme party, then take care of the cards would have to advance.

Highlights of writing the text

Before thinking about the text, you mustmake the invitation, to decide on his appearance. When a suitable design, material chosen, consider how you will sign the cards - hand, using ready-made forms or print the entire text. If you want a manual signature, but do not have beautiful handwriting, ask a girlfriend or a calligraphy expert. When printing, decide the font, its size. As for the text, there should be mentioned:

  • Destination.
  • The exact date of the bachelorette party - hour start number.
  • Address collection facilities (restaurants, cafe, club) with the title.
  • bride's name.
  • Organizational issues (dress code, special requests).

This is the necessary information that should not be missed. Once you have thought through every detail - ready to order, you can safely send to the printing center.

Create an unusual invitation to a computer, see the example in this video:

text Styles

When choosing a style that will be used whenwriting text, the bride should be based on your own preferences - personal wishes, nature, themes of the upcoming party. Postcard can be a full-fledged interesting story or consist of a pair of words, reporting the location of the time.

The classic text

The classic text like girls who haveI do not have time to organize even this moment before the wedding. Enough small: "Dear (Name), I invite you to celebrate my bachelorette party! (Place and date) Kisses, your (bride's name). "

Example text invitation for a bachelorette party

Well, if the bride will be able to compose herselfverses adorning them a postcard, which will go to invite guests. However, to call girlfriends to celebrate the last day of freedom as possible and not possessing poetic talent - make poetry a professional author or search the vast network.

In prose

Option writing text-prose providesmany opportunities - experiment. Use quotes, sayings, proverbs, come up with an unusual invitation that will make girlfriends wonder what awaits them, for example: "My favorite (name), our exit space station starts (date and time) from the station (name, address of the place). Waiting. With love, Captain (bride's name). " Such an invitation is suitable for a bachelorette party in a limousine.

Funny text adorning postcard, surely delight the recipient of. Funny example in the photo:

Funny text invitations to the party, bachelorette party

This style is perfect for a bachelorette party, which will beheld at the chic restaurant or in the case where the bride invites unfamiliar people, which is a rarity. The main rule - courtesy and simplicity. And do not forget to add: "Sincerely."

Sincere invitation text obtained ifhero of the occasion to write each guest individually by hand. It takes longer, but it's nice to be best friends to get something personal that is addressed to each of them separately. There may be mentioned memories relating only two - the first quarrel, going to an astrologer, an unsuccessful painting indoor walls together.

Spiritual invitation for a bachelorette party

Fairy invitation should look like magic -feathers, ribbons, stars. Write a can: "The Princess (Name)! I inform you that I was saved from the evil witch that has kept me captive for so many years ... Now I am free, but very soon I will take away the prince in his castle. I propose to meet in the tower (place and time), together with other princesses goodbye to me and my freedom - forever. I Love, Princess (bride's name). "

Thematic invitation to bachelorette party: pajama party

Subject text must be suitable to the scriptfuture parties. If you choose a marine style, invite your friends to visit your pirate ship, and instead of a plain text description of the place - invest a pirate map. Eastern style suggests an invitation to tea, Hawaiian - Happy Island. With postcard send girlfriends gifts, accessories, related topics - Chinese fan, leu.

In drawing up the plan for pre-wedding affairs, notRemember to include to the compilation and custom invitations for a bachelorette party. You can call the girls on the phone, but the written version will not only elegant solution, but also memorable.

How would you have signed the invitation for a holiday to their friends? Leave a comment to share your experience!


Articles Legal News Thailand Lawyer Links Home

Competition Law Part 7

The Philippines laws, even though there are several relating to unfair competition, mainly focus on trade, and do not cover investment. There is no regulation of mergers and acquisitions. Most laws do not clearly stipulate the amount of a fine or compensation in cases where competitors are injured. There are no criteria to justify the behaviour of firms, which might be regarded as unfair competition, and there is no measure to assess how the public interest would be affected. Also there is no clear procedure provided in the Philippines law for dealing with firms involved in unfair competition. Therefore, the existing laws are inadequate to cope with the problems that may occur when the ASEAN Investment Area is implemented.

In Singapore there is The Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Selling Prohibition Act. This Act makes it an offence for any person to promote or participate in a multi-level marketing scheme, which essentially embraces schemes, or arrangements, which recruit participants in pyramid selling on the chain-letter principle. However, apart from this, there is no Anti-competition law in Singapore. Its open economy and liberalised investment regime have been considered sufficient to guarantee free competition in Singapore.

In Thailand, there is The Prescription of Prices of Goods and Anti-Monopoly Act of 1979, and The Investment Promotion Act 1977 that includes a guarantee against state competition, against competition by state monopolies selling or dealing in similar products, against price control by the state, against export restriction, and against importation by the state or its agencies and enterprises. However, the practice of imposition of import bans on competing products to protect the activities of the promoted enterprise counteracts the guarantee of fair competition in this case. This is an example of the ineffective implementation of unsystematic competition rules.

All ASEAN countries also have Anti-Dumping laws and a Consumer Protection Law. But none of them has a systematic competition law that could regulate the rivalries of firms and control the potential restrictive business practices of producers in global networks. It is important that ASEAN countries should introduce a comprehensive regime of investment liberalisation, deregulation, privatisation and competition law enforcement rather than only relaxing laws on the spot and lifting barriers item by item, which is not effective and is likely to confuse foreign investors. Foreign investors usually feel burdened by tons of laws and regulations that sometimes counteract each other. Regulatory differences in the investment field are obstacles to foreign investors (Trisciuzzi, 1983)(14). Consequently, comprehensive regionalisation of competition laws could effectively enhance the favourable legal environment for attracting foreign investors (Geist, 1995; Baker & Holmes, 1991: 30)(15).

1.2.1 Merger Regulations for Replacing Regulations on Restriction of Foreign Equity in ASEAN Investment Laws

In this section I propose to focus on merger control in ASEAN. Even though a comprehensive regional system of merger control does not yet exist, it is in the interests of ASEAN to establish merger control in the region. Since ASEAN will have to implement national treatment in the near future and eliminate investment laws, which are incompatible with the objectives of the ASEAN Investment Area, merger regulations are needed to replace those laws used to function as a screening instrument. This is to ensure that there would be no emergence of cartels, trusts, oligopolies, concentrations or dominant market positions to harm the ASEAN economy, when the screening process and regulations of ASEAN investment laws are eliminated.

Part 8

(14)  Trisciuzzi (1983) says: "Perhaps the most important potential benefit would be the harmonisation of currently diverse systems of national laws and regulations. For example, harmonisation could reduce the high costs borne by multinational corporations in dealing with widely divergent regulatory regimes in different countries".

(15)  Geist (1995) pointed out that it is not surprising to find that investors encounter and become discouraged with the potentially confusing and time-consuming regulations established by individual states. Also Professor Mark Baker noted in a 1991 review of Latin American FDI codes that "the greatest disincentive to direct foreign investment was dealing with local authorities. Foreign investors


Nezlek, J. B., Vansteelandt, K., Van Mechelen, I., & Kuppens, P. (2008). Appraisal-emotion relationships in daily life. Emotion, 8, 145-150

Using a daily process design, the present study examined relationships between momentary appraisals and emotional experience based on Smith and Lazarus' theory of emotions (1993). Nine times a day for two weeks, participants (N = 33, 23 women) recorded their momentary experience of two positive emotions (joy, love) and four negative emotions (anger, guilt, fear, sadness) and the core relational theme appraisal contents Smith & Lazarus (1993) hypothesized as corresponding to these emotions. A series of multilevel modeling analyses found that the hypothesized relationships between appraisal contents and these emotions were stronger than relationships between contents and other emotions, although appraisals were related to other emotions in many cases. Moreover, there were some individual differences in the strength of these relationships. These results suggest that there are no one-to-one relationships between appraisal contents and specific emotional experiences, and that specific emotions are associated with different appraisal contents, and that specific appraisals are associated with different emotions.


Research / Blogs

Stairway to Heaven

In this blog post I claim that an important amount of the dialogue around the texts of Ramon Llull in the Monastery of El Escorial happened in manuscript form and it was restricted to a small circle of intellectuals. The first step in this dialogue was a treatise in defense of the Art written by the professor Dimes de Miquel that used Llull's visual model of the ladder of knowledge in order to relate him to the peripatetic and academic ways. Eventually, Dimes states that Llull is closer to Plato than to Aristotle, but also that Llull grants legitimacy to debated and unorthodox sources of knowledge from the pythagorean Syrian ancient philosopher Iamblichus to Marsilius Ficinus.

Scala Intellectus (ca. 1336) Scala Intellectus (1480) Scala Intellectus (1512)

Heraclitus, Fragments LX

Not unlike many other medieval authors, Llull borrows from Aristotle. In this case, he includes in the Art the idea of three different souls: elementative, sensitive, and imaginative, corresponding to basic living beings, to animals, and to humans respectively. Of course, he incorporates this classification to own system without quoting him, as the point of his system was to constitute itself as self-referential. The conceptual basis of Llull’s ontological model is the image of a ladder of beings that allows the human soul to ascend from the world to God and to descend from God to the world. Nevertheless, my interest here is not to fully explain Ramon Llull’s ontological model, but to explain the importance that this ontological model had on Dimes de Miquel’s manuscript treatise in defense of Ramon Llull entitled Apologia doctrinae lullianae (San Lorenzo del Escorial, BRM, MS. d.II.5). Partially because Dimes de Miquel, advisor to the king Philip II in Lullist matters and professor at the University of València, argued that the terms of this ontology where crucial in order to defend Llull against those who opposed his teachings. Partially because his treatise is designed to provoke discussion about this ontological model among intellectuals close to the king and to the Escorial who were interested in Llull or in authors perceived as kindred to him. If Ramon Llull opted for building an intellectually isolated body of work, Miquel wrote his Apologia in order to establish exterior points of reference that would, subsequently, produce engagement in the discussion of this body of work.

Llull’s ladder of being represents the third great visual model he produced for readers in order to understand his philosophical system. The first is constituted by the figures of the Art, the ones that generated his whole evangelizing project that he wanted to be the best book the world had ever seen. The figures of the Art are complex devices to discuss about the inherent truth of Christianity with wise learned men from other faiths. Actually, the philosophical system is only a product of this evangelizing. The second one is the tree of disciplines, which is not an exclusively Lullist figure, but that he reworks so it will be a part of his own system. The tree of disciplines is a learning tool to expose his system in a pedagogical fashion for young students. The ladder of being starts a conversation different from the other visual models, it is not a way to convince Aristotelian scholars or to train young students that need to be eased into Ramon Llull. It is a way of introducing the Art to laymen (homines saeculares) who lack the training and the intellectual lexicon to operate it. As Michaela Pereira points, Llull’s ladder seems to be intended for a reader that is what he himself had been before his years of study and his revelation at Mount Randa. Even though the Liber de ascensu et descensu intellectus is about the division of the world into eight different fundamental different forms of being (Lapis, Flamma, Planta, Brutum, Homo, Caelum, Angelus, Deus), its nature is not exclusively ontological, but also encyclopedic. The treatise is about epistemological movements from the world to God and back defending that the divine nature is knowable. This epistemology is based on the three qualities composing the intellect (memory, imagination, and will) and then goes through natural philosophy, anthropology, and theology.

Obviously, one the reasons of the popularity of the Art of Ramon Llull during the early modern period was its compendious nature. The fact that a set of technical devices inside books is above any discourse of knowledge. Partially, that placed Ramon Llull at odds with the tradition of academic discourse preceding him. Hence, in his Apollogia doctrinae lullianae, Dimes de Miquel tries to place his works on a familiar reading axis, finding his place in the same philosophical tradition that he knew and avoided to quote. Dimes notes that the European academic tradition that has been transmitted to him is based in at least two main oppositions: Plato and Aristotle, on the one hand; Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus, on the other. These oppositions mirror the two directions that Ramon Llull’s ladder of beings allows. The academic way proceeds top-down (from the God to the things of the world), whereas the peripatetic way proceeds bottom-up (from the things of the world to God). The Art can combine both since the intellectual operations constituting it allow both directions, or, in other words, because it considers creation and creator as a whole:

Notandum est hoc artificium potius sequi viam academicorum quam peripateticorum, et si neutram omnino sequatur, nec impugnet, imo ac Platonem ab Aristotele, nec divum Thomam ab Scoto, servata ratione instituti, in plerisque dissentire in eo exercitatus elicere potest; ad platonicam enim doctrinam aristotelica via est, termino autem via quomodo potest esse contraria? Imo ut quid altius dicam, utriusque vie hoc artificium est perfectio, nam peripatetice ascendimus, academice descendimus, lullistice vero ab aequalibus aequalia colligimus.

[It is to be noticed that this Art follows the way of the Academics rather than that of the Peripatetics, even though it does not follow any of them entirely, nor does it attack any of them. Nor is it possible for he who is trained in this art to claim that Plato differs from Aristotle in many things, nor that the divine Thomas does from Scotus, in another institutional context. For it is certain that the Aristotelian doctrine is a path to attain the Platonic one, and how would it be possible for a path to contradict its end? On the contrary, so that I may speak a deeper truth, this Art embodies the culmination of both ways [sc. the Aristotelian and the Platonic] –for with the Peripatetic way we mount higher, whereas with the Academic one we go downwards. However, the Lullistic way helps us consider the equal from the equal.]

Dimes de Miquel sees this old set of dichotomies (Plato vs Aristotle; Aquinas vs Scotus) as a historical feature of Western scholarly debate, but as one that the Art of Ramon Llull is able to circumvent through training. If one can deduce or induce knowledge and that difference grounds different philosophical schools, Ramon Llull’s is the one that allows to practice both ways at the same time without detriment in the production of knowledge. Hence, even if Dimes is avoiding to state so, the Art would short circuit the path to intellectual legitimacy in academia by empowering a discourse external to it.

Dismissing the importance of the debates about the limits of what there is to know in the Escorial exclusively on the basis of its lack of coincidence with that lineage would constitute a mistake and an act of presentism. The potential new scientia that is being the object of discussions at the Escorial, the one that allows the king of Spain and any of his subjects go from the understanding of things to the understanding of the world through memory, comprehension, and will is the extension of an epistemological system that was being discussed and studied from the ending of the thirteenth-century, but never had such an important institutional outlet. This epistemological system integrates a form of teaching not separated that does not separate theology from the liberal arts and that makes everything an outcome of the learning of one language only, the Art of Ramon Llull. This discussion, as I will explain on the next chapter, is contemporary to the advocating for the cult and subsequent canonization of Ramon Llull, while at the same time implies a model for scientific knowledge that is being developed beyond Castile. Not only the Escorial wanted to promote and be a critical laboratory for the Art, it also wanted to become a center for its single isolated exercises of reading (from João de Barros to Diego de Valadés). Universalizing Christian faith and producing an all-encompassing model for conversion are not separated from the military and cultural aspects of the Iberian expansion, they constitute one only manifestation of the power of Austrian monarchy. The fact that Philip II tailors the Art of Ramon Llull to its own necessities is a consequence of this movement.

Such disruptive potential in the discursive context of academia was never stated as a main argument for the dismissal of the works of Ramon Llull. This argument was implied from the beginning of the circulation of the Art, when he was laughed after having presented it in Paris to an audience of theologians educated mostly in Aquinas. Scholastics during centuries tended to express doubts about the Art, particularly about one possibility of reaching the infinity of the being of God from the finitude inherent to human understanding. Specifically, Aquinas’s doctrine had established that even though it is possible to prove its existence, the nature of God is impossible to know by none other than the blessed. Not everybody can possibly access the knowledge of God. Hence, the disruptiveness of Lullism is not reduced to academic auditoria, but it is of a theological nature. When the Art creates an intellectual path for the ascension from the things towards God, it is circumventing a discourse of authority that controls intellectual and religious experience. This is not to say that Ramon Llull’s intent wanted to contradict ecclesiastical authorities. However, the contradiction comes from the idea that the dogmas of the Church are an indispensable part of preaching and building the discourse of the Church on faith. For Ramon Llull, dogmas are demonstrable propositions that can turn into simple combinations of the Alphabet of the Art and through it can beat the faith of other religions as less able to build a logic discourse around their propositions.

Paradoxically, Dimes de Miquel was trying to rehabilitate academically the Art in order to grant intellectual legitimacy to it, but ultimately trying to make it a model outside the realm of academic debate. To an extent, this is the same of what Ramon Llull was doing during his lifetime. In spite of the fact that academics dismissed the Art and fought it adamantly, they were not meant to be the only audience for the Art. If he tried to present the Art to them, it was only a consequence of the philosophical complexity of the method that required not only the endorsement of institutions but also to convince already trained scholars of the advantages of a new system of training. As it had happened in medieval universities and later at San Ildefonso, not all the people at the Escorial were on board with the maximalist vision that Dimes de Miquel, Pedro de Guevara, and Juan de Herrera associated to the Art. However, the real fábrica as a political concept is actively trying to produce a functional model that fits the epistemological model of the ladder of knowledge. While the ladder of knowledge is a visual metaphor for said epistemological model, the Escorial is trying to gather every knowable thing inside itself and project an image of Philip II. Dimes’s Apologia is trying to place everybody working at the Escorial on the Sacred Scripture, on theology, on maps, on mathematics, on geography, on economy, or on the mysteries of ancient Egypt among other disciplines of knowledge, under one roof.

By writing his apologia of the Art of Ramon Llull, the professor Dimes de Miquel argues the legitimacy of its connections to well respected systems of philosophical inquiry, but also defends its connection to ancient Egypt, Hermeticism, and other early modern non-academic ways of intellectual inquiry. Among all these forms and disciplines of knowledge Dimes establishes that the Art is the most efficient as it helps the student to master any discipline. In this sense, his defense of the Art is paradoxical: while the Art is mostly a way of knowing and producing discourse, he defends it as a knowledge in itself. Dimes refers himself to this difference as to the difference between pure knowledge (scientia, what there is to know) and disciplines of knowledge (modus sciendi, ways of knowing). In order to visualize this difference, the ladder of knowledge was conceived. Actually, the ladder is the ultimate visual metaphor of how the Art works: everything that there is to know is susceptible to be classified in one of the step, while the way of knowing admits both climbing up and down the ladder. The ladder of knowledge mirrors perfectly the way the intellect works as a result of the mastering of the Art. Obviously, this effect constitutes to a great extent the power of the ladder as an image of the Art of Ramon Llull, this is, the way in which allowed to understand the way such complex intellectual method processes subjects of knowledge.

Dimes de Miquel’s manuscript treatise is not only important in itself, but because of the six marginal notes that it contains. They prove two things. Firstly, that the intellectual network that surrounded the king Philip II was more complex and intricate that the one surrounding Cardinal Francisco Ximenez de Cisneros. The number of copyists and readers working on the manuscripts, on the one hand, and the number of books gathered, on the other, are also larger in comparison with San Ildefonso. In order to have a control over the materials in the library, manuscripts need to be revised. This is particularly true when manuscripts deal with subjects as important as the defense of the Art of Ramon Llull. Either Ambrosio de Morales (1513-91) or Antonio Agustín y Albanell (1516-86) reviewed the manuscript and were able to make precisions on some of the data about the content and history of Lullism. Manuscripts, as I will explore further in the next pages, are not only the way the Art of Ramon Llull circulates, or the way through which arguments around it are made, but also the way different authors around the orbit of the Escorial communicate some of their ideas about it. When the manuscript of Dimes de Miquel’s Apologia doctrinae lullianae was made, it was not meant as a way of reaching a wider audience than the one that read it at the Escorial. Contrarily to the Art itself, which Ramon Llull tried to expand and promote as possible, these ideas constitute a part of a private dialogue and the practice of its discussion serves the purpose of delineating a circle. Once that I have discussed the terms of defense of Llull’s ontological and epistemological model, I will argue that they were using it in order to design a universal form able to encompass everything the world contains.

Last Updated 1 year ago

  • Llull, Ramon. Raymundi Lully Doctoris illuminati de nova logica, de correlatiuis nec non et de ascensu et descensu intellectus. Ed. Alfonso de Proaza. València: Jordi Costilla, 1512. Print.
  • —. Ars generalis ultima. Logica brevis et nova. Venice: Filippo Petri, 1480. Print.
  • —. Breviculum ex artibus Raimundi Lulli electum. Ed. Thomas le Myésier. ca. 1322. Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek, St. Peter perg. 92. Manuscript.
  • Miquel, Dimes de. Apologia doctrinae lullianae. San Lorenzo del Escorial: Biblioteca del Real Monasterio. MS. d.II.5. 138-155v. Manuscript.

Noel Blanco Mourelle, « Stairway to Heaven », Blogs, Columbia University | LAIC, Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures (online), published on May 10, 2016. Full URL for this article

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A Nervous Breakdown

In the weeks after a dream I had (described in "An Encounter?") which seems to parallel what many people have described as an "alien abduction" experience, I kept trying to recall the events of a specific night, a night on which I'd had a date with a young woman my sister Amy had introduced me to in that spring prior to her moving to Wynn and then to Jonesboro. I kept being unable to recall details about that night, yet felt it a crisis that I do so.

I kept trying to pin "it" down. I'd focus on one article or another, would "try it on" and see if that was the thing that was causing this. But nothing really quite fit, and I could never quite get relief. I'd try to make myself believe it was some word or phrase in the articles. I'd try to pin it down; but each time I did the feeling would disappear like a chimera.

I've described the stress I experienced in trying to recall that incident, trying to recall and understand this unintelligible something. It became too much for me--on top of trying to land and keep a job, and figure out some way to continue with school. I simply reached a point where I wasn't sleeping at all.

I couldn't understand why, and came to be bewildered as much by my lack of self-understanding as anything else. What was I trying to recall? What was I trying to understand ? What was that unintelligible something that I couldn't quite recall? I tried, obsessed, didn't sleep, and finally broke down. I went to a psychologist, who got an M. D. to prescribe me a medication. But I

was too far along. I still didn't sleep; my obsessing was too strong.

As I also noted earlier (in "An 'Encounter?'") I could no longer bear to be in my room, that I'd normally gone to as a source of security. I could no longer bear to be in that house that I'd always run to as a source of refuge. My favorite place had become a hell, though all my patterns were built around it. I could no longer bear to be in it and, whenever I was, began to obsess again, to try to remember and understand that "something," that unintelligible, un-remember-able something.

I had to get out, asked to be admitted to the State Hospital and Dad obliged. I underwent three months of therapy, went to school, and after that Little Rock became home.

As much as I'd loved our house in Batesville--as much as I used to run to it, to see it as a virtual haven for my writing--I came to not even consciously miss it, even when my parents sold it in 1975. When my mother had told me they were selling it, in January 1975, I was still heavily-medicated. But I'd wanted to feel more genuine remorse, more desire to hang onto it. It didn't feel normal not to miss it: it was home. I had always hoped my parents would keep that house forever, but no more. I felt relieved at the thought that I'd never again have to set foot in it. And I was quite bewildered with myself for feeling that way.

Even more bizarre--and something I've never admitted to my parents for fear of hurting their feelings--I kept feeling a need to get even further away from the house in Batesville, and, shamefully, a few months after finishing business and accounting school at Draughon's College of Business in Little Rock, (where I received a certificate in Sales or what today would be called Marketing, which, in truth, I'd been interested in doing some months before my "dream" and breakdown), in 1976 I moved to Houston, Texas.

The "reason" I resolved to give to myself, was that I needed even more of a "change of scene" than Little Rock--one which would allow me to recover even more quickly, effectively and painlessly--hopefully--from my breakdown. I chose to block out those thoughts and feelings I was having, which were motivating me to get as far away from that house as possible. However, I remained saddened by my inability to recover from my anxiety about the house. I longed to believe that I could someday return to it peacefully, to the extent that it became a major goal that I worked on in therapy groups. (In which, it should be noted, the idea of any "encounter" never even came up or ever even entered anyone's mind.) That goal was also Tim's goal, to an extent, as we both watched our parents' home be abandoned in 1975. He, like me, was saddened that he could never "go home again."

I also resolved to believe that my "interest in politics" had been a factor in my breakdown. So at the time, in 1976, I'd let myself get only mildly interested in the Presidential election, therefore not voting in '76.

My hospitalization experience in 1973 at Arkansas State Hospital, where I'd signed myself during October of that year, had been, as such hospitalizations usually were in those day, a traumatic experience in itself. But the hospital system in the state of Arkansas in those days was one of the better ones in the nation. Certainly there were individual staff personnel who were abusive, at least on the verbal level, with the patients, and there had been a series of scandals only a few years before my hospitalization, which probably explains the relatively benign nature of the staff during my stay there. And certainly there were other incidents in the maintenance of the State Hospital system around the state--especially those aspects relating to the care of the "criminally insane"--that were of poor quality. But, on balance, thanks in part, perhaps to some remarkably mental health-oriented administrations in Arkansas, the State Hospital system had been

beneficial to me.

Because I hadn't been one of the persons admitted for drug abuse, I can't evaluate that aspect of the Rehabilitation programs. But some persons I knew back then who were in those programs seem to have gone on to lead more productive lives, as they say. So

perhaps that gives some indication that the system worked pretty well.

My doctors were impressed with my progress. I'd described nature of my symptoms to them. They included obsession with the opinions of "someone" I couldn't quite put my finger on; inability to remember details about something that I wasn't even sure I wanted to remember; and obsession with certain terms that seemed to indicate something traumatic but that were confusing to verbalize. Because of my descriptions, my doctors had initially diagnosed me as having a paranoid schizophrenic "episode."

Later, they would say that the consistent nature of my "progress" indicated that I wouldn't have a relapse, as, indeed, I have not. This, in turn, suggested that I hadn't had the typical biochemically induced "schizophrenic episode." In fact, in Houston, the social worker I consulted periodically referred me to a psychiatrist for "possible re-diagnosis" based on my consistent ability to avoid further hospitalization and to function without medication. On two visits to two different psychiatrists for such a re-diagnosis, a distinct impression was formed that I might be better diagnosed as having a form of "depressive or mood swing disorder," since I was no longer having any "delusions" or "paranoid" thoughts. They also indicated that my symptoms were mild to non-existent at that point.

The nature of that "dream" and the events immediately preceding and following it,

may be the key to an understanding of my "acute" episode. In "Insectivorous?" I try to write about a possible explanation for such dreams that doesn't involve the mandatory "alien abduction," but rather another event similarly previously not offered as a "conventional" explanation, although perhaps not quite as "spooky." Like Whitley Strieber in his book Communion, I have felt a need to draw on alternative possible explanations for the "experience." After all, faced with no other choice than to believe the "alien hypothesis" gives one a "boxed in" feeling that, for me--and, based on what Strieber has written, him, too--is distinctly unpleasant. I feel no desire to have someone "believe" I was abducted by aliens. I'd just as soon have some other explanation that worked.

At this point, it might be useful to summarize the medical explanations offered for some of the phenomena we've looked at, including Sue's sleep disorders and my own "encounter" experience. A common explanation offered for the encounter experience is that of sleep paralysis. This disorder is included in a group of sleep disorders. Rita Brooks, writing in a manual titled Sleep Disorders for California College for Health Sciences (CCHS), lists several types of parasomnias, the medical term for various types of "undesirable physical phenomena that occur predominantly during sleep." (43). I have taken the liberty of quoting Ms. Brooks, deleting certain highly-technical and medical specialty terms. The sleep disorder parasomnias Ms. Brooks describes include:

Arousal disorders--confusional arousals, and well known phenomena such as sleep walking and sleep terrors.

Sleep wake transition disorders that include sleep talking, as well as 'rhythmic movement disorders' such as headbanging and bodyrocking.

Parasomnias associated with REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep include dream anxiety attacks (nightmares), sleep paralysis. . . and REM sleep behavior disorder.

Other disorders ('other parasomnias') can include sleep bruxism (tooth grinding), sleep enuresis (bedwetting), and primary snoring."(Brooks 43-4).

In an interesting summation of these disorders, the manual continues, (in part; I delete or define highly-technical or medically-specialized sections and terms):

Arousal disorders are believed to result from an impaired arousal mechanism in the brain. Most are accompanied by a period of confusion upon awakening, and occur primarily when the person is waking from slow wave sleep during the first third of the night. The three major types are: (1) confusional arousals; (2) sleep walking; (3) sleep terrors . . .

Confusional arousals consist of episodes of confusion which occur following an arousal from deep sleep in the early part of the night. They occur most commonly among young children, and typically disappear during later childhood. Confusional arousals are rare in adults (Brooks 43-4).

During a confusional arousal, says Brooks, although a child's eyes may be open, there is poor or inappropriate response to questions or commands, but no evidence of fear, as with sleep terrors or sleep walking behavior. And, she says, there is no evidence of acting out a dream (as in REM behavior disorder). There is usually no memory of the event, either, paralleling Sue's "Marooned" dream. Some aspects fit, though some don't.

Sleep walking. . .episodes can range from simply sitting up in bed to walking or even running behavior. Sleepwalking is most common in children between the ages of 4 and 8, and usually disappears by adolescence. Fever, sleep deprivation, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, or external stimuli, such as noise, may cause, or increase, frequency of sleepwalking episodes.

Waking the sleepwalker is difficult. Confusion is common on arousal, and may result in violent behavior. Falling down stairs, walking into the street, or running through a glass door in an attempt to escape can result in serious injury to the sleepwalker. The most important response to sleepwalking is to make the environment safe for the sleepwalker. Generally guiding the sleepwalker back to the bed is often all that is necessary to terminate the sleepwalking episode. The patient does not recall the event.

Sleep terrors . . .disorder is characterized by the sudden arousal from slow wave sleep with a piercing scream or cry and the appearance of intense fear. The patient usually sits up in bed, screams loudly, and is unresponsive to arousal attempts. If arousal is attempted, confusion and disorientation are common, and combative behavior may also occur. Tachycardia [rapid heart action] and tachypnea [abnormally rapid breathing], along with sweating and, sometimes, enuresis, may accompany sleep terrors (Brooks 43-4).

Brooks says here that there is rarely any memory of the event. (43-4). Did we see this, therefore, in Amy's "Little Bill" dream? Yet Amy does recall it. Brooks continues:

Sleep terrors occur most commonly in children between the ages of 4 and 12, and usually resolve spontaneously. Sleep terrors also occur in adults, most commonly between the ages of 20 and 30.

Sleep terrors should be differentiated from temporal lobe epilepsy, confusional arousal, and nightmares. Diagnosis is based on episodes of intense fear occurring during first third of the night, with no memory of the event. Severe sleep terrors may occur almost nightly, and may be associated with physical injury to the patient or others.

Sleep wake transition disorders. . . occur during the transition from wakefulness to sleep or from sleep to wakefulness. These disorders commonly occur in otherwise normal individuals, and are not considered pathological unless they occur with significant frequency or severity. Sleep waking transition disorders include sleep talking and rhythmic movement disorders such as headbanging, bodyrocking, and headrolling, which are all common in children.

Sleep talking. . .is defined as talking or making sounds during sleep without significant awareness of the event. It may occur spontaneously or may be triggered by initiating a conversation with the sleeper. Generally, episodes are sporadic and short. Sleep talking may occur during all stages of sleep. However, it occurs most commonly during REM sleep (Brooks 43-4).

Sleep talking, says Brooks, often occurs in conjunction with other sleep disorders, such as REM behavior disorder, sleep walking, or sleep terrors. In patients with obstructive sleep apnea, (an intermittent cessation of effective repiratory gas exchange during sleep), sleep talking may occur during arousals (43-4). We seem to have seen this with Sue.

Rhythmic movement disorder is characterized by repetitive stereotyped movements, usually of the head and neck, which occur immediately prior to sleep and as the person moves in light sleep. Rhythmic movement disorder occurs most commonly in infants and children under age four, usually begins before age one, and resolves spontaneously.

Headbanging is the most common form of this disorder. The child may bang his head into the mattress or pillow, rock on his hands and knees and bang his head into the headboard or wall, or rock sitting up and bang his head against the headboard and wall. Bodyrocking consists of similar movements, without headbanging. Headrolling occurs with the child lying on his back, and consists of rhythmic side to side movements of the head. When they occur in adults, these disorders are usually associated with autism or mental retardation.Polysomnography during a rhythmic movement episode usually shows movement activity occurring during wake or light sleep, says Brooks (43-4). It's interesting that my "head being moved" sensation occurred as I came out of a deep sleep, though. However, she notes that "movements may occur in any stage of sleep." (Brooks 43-4). There would be no evidence of seizure activity in the EEG, says Brooks, for this to be a mere sleep disorder ( 43-4). She continues her list of "parasomnias":

Parasomnias associated with REM sleep:

Nightmares are frightening dreams which usually awaken the sleeper. Nightmares occur most often during the second half of the night, when REM sleep periods are longer. The dream content is usually long and involved, and increasingly frightening. The sleeper commonly awakens from REM sleep and recalls the dream content. Nightmares occur most commonly in children between the ages of 3 and 6. They may occur for only a few weeks or months, or they may persist into adulthood, usually becoming less frequent and less intense with age. Nightmares are not usually associated with sleep walking. Significant stress or traumatic events may increase the severity or frequency of nightmares. Upon awakening from a nightmare, the person may note other aspects of REM physiology. These include feeling cold, due to REM hypothermia . . . (Brooks 43-4).

When polysomnography is hooked up to a patient during a nightmare, says Brooks, it shows "increased REM density, increased heart rate variability, and an increased respiratory rate." (43-4). The nightmare also usually terminates with an abrupt awakening out of REM sleep, says Brooks (43-4), the way Amy woke up from her "Little Bill" dream, which fits the age range; but which is also the way Sue woke up from her "potato sack man" dream, which doesn't.

Sleep paralysis disorder is characterized by inability to move upon awakening or at sleep onset. Eye and respiratory movements are intact, but skeletal muscles are paralyzed briefly. Dreamlike imagery may accompany sleep paralysis, and episodes may be frightening. Episodes can last from one to several minutes, and they may disappear spontaneously, or with stimulation (such as a touch). An isolated episode of sleep paralysis, usually occurring upon awakening, is not uncommon and is considered normal. Sleep paralysis is common in narcoleptics, and usually occurs at sleep onset.

Polysomnography. . . may be useful to determine if episodes occur in association with REM sleep, and to differentiate isolated sleep paralysis episodes from narcolepsy. . .

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder. . .is characterized by an absence of REM sleep. . . resulting in movement activity associated with dreaming. For example, a sleeping patient exhibiting fighting or kicking behavior when awakened, may state he was dreaming of fighting or running. Movements which occur in association with dreaming may include punching, kicking, or jumping up and running from bed. Episodes are frequent, and may result in injury to the sleeper or to others. REM behavior disorder is more common among the elderly, and may occur as a result of neurologic disorders. . .

Polysomnography often shows persistent, increased muscle tone during REM sleep as well as periods of limb and body movements associated with dream content. . .

A diagnosis is based on the presence of limb or body movements in association with dreaming, resulting in harmful or potentially harmful sleep behaviors or sleep disruption. REM sleep behavior disorder is considered severe when episodes occur more than once per week. . . associated with physical injury to the patient or bed partner. . . (Brooks 44-50).

In another section, Brooks cites a group of "proposed sleep disorders." These are disorders which "have not been unequivocally determined to be distinct disorders." They include terrifying hypnagogic hallucinations:

. . .[T]errifying dreams that occur at the onset of sleep. They are indistinguishable from dreams that occur during sleep. They cause awakening with anxiety and the patient reports the occurrence of bad dreams. There is immediate alertness on awakening, and no evidence of confusion and disorientation. Sleep onset nightmares may occur as a result of withdrawal from Rem suppressant medications. They occur as an atypical form of hypnagogic hallucinations in 4-8% of patients with narcolepsy. (Typical narcoleptic hypnagogic hallucinations do not cause awakening with anxiety.)

Polysomnography shows abrupt awakening from. . .REM [sleep]. Mild tachycardia and tachypnea may occur. . .[N]o evidence of seizure activity. Terrifying hypnagogic hallucinations should be differentiated from night terrors and sleep related complex-partial seizures with vivid hallucinations (Brooks 66).

The above information is included to help the reader be better informed on some of the several sleep disorders. If the reader has "related" to some of the experiences described, they should know they may have a possible sleep disorder. They should also know that some sleep disorders (including many not named above) are associated with serious medical conditions. I suggest further reading and a possible consultation with your physician for more in-depth information. The reader should also know, as Brooks notes, that "Hypnagogic hallucinations are vivid, dream-like episodes which occur at sleep onset. (Sleep paralysis is the inability to move during a transition between wake and sleep.) Episodes of sleep paralysis. . . usually short . . . may occur in conjunction with hypnagogic hallucinations. . ." (Brooks 8).

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OR Click on "Back" (above) to return to the Table of Contents for Tim, George Bush and Me on the George Bush-Undercurrents Website.


Syrian government forces make major advances in Aleppo

syria.jpgSyrian government forces have recently made major advances in Aleppo, fully encircling various anti-government groups including ISIS, al-Nusra Front and the Free Syrian Army in eastern Aleppo.

Full control of Aleppo, the largest city in Syria, is of extreme strategic importance for the outcome of the war as it is located very close to the border of Turkey to the north, on the main supply route of weapons and fighters from Turkey into Syria. For years, the eastern part of Aleppo has been held by Sunni extremist terror groups like ISIS, the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front and NATO backed FSA.

On July 27, Syrian government forces captured Kastello road, cutting off the last supply route to eastern Aleppo. The following day, the government forces captured the Bani Za’id neighborhood and al-Liramoum industrial zone in northern Aleppo’s countryside on the supply route to Turkey. In Bani Za’id, the Syrian Army seized a large warehouse filled with U.S. and Turkish made weapons and ammunition including anti-tank missiles, launchers and hand grenades.

Other warehouses stocked with homemade howitzers, also referred to as “Hell cannons” and large numbers of gas canisters were also discovered. Both areas were used by the opposition groups to launch mortar and missile attacks into the residential areas of the city held by the government. In al-Zahraa neighborhood, an al-Nusra Front command center was destroyed.

Upon the news of the liberation of Bani Za’id, thousands of Aleppo residents took to the streets in celebration, waving Syrian flags and chanting support for the Syrian government.

The Syrian government issued a decree granting amnesty to all non-foreign fighters who surrender. Following the decree, some of the groups affiliated with the Free Syrian Army are reported to have surrendered their neighborhoods to the Syrian government.

While a majority of Aleppo residents—more than a million—are in the government held parts of Aleppo, a large number of Syrians—up-to over hundred thousand according to some estimates—are trapped in eastern Aleppo under the control of terror groups.

In coordination with the Russian military, the Syrian government established four humanitarian corridors to help the evacuation of civilians trapped in eastern Aleppo as well as to provide food and medical aid.

The governor of Aleppo province Mohammad Marwan Olabi stated that opposition militants were blocking families from leaving eastern Aleppo. There were reports of civilians attempting to leave Bustan al-Qasr district being fired at by the anti-government fighters.

On July 31, in an attempt to break the entrapment in eastern Aleppo, a number of terror groups including the Islamic State, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly known as al-NusraFront), Ahrar al-Sham and smaller al-Qaeda affiliated groups operating under the FSA (Free Syrian Army) umbrella launched a major joint offensive against government held areas in southern Aleppo. The Syrian government forces were able to push back the attack.

Western media silent on the massacres of civilians by U.S. and French airstrikes in northern Syria

At this critical juncture when the NATO-backed terror groups are about to be defeated in Aleppo, it is no surprise that the Western imperialist governments and their corporate media are deploying the usual “regime versus the people” rhetoric in an effort to justify more imperialist intervention to “protect” civilians.

Following the advances by the Syrian government in Aleppo, the U.S. embassy in Russia tweeted:
“Russia and the regime are using provision of food and aid as incentives to abandoning the city to regime control.”

The foreign ministry of France issued a statement that said:
“In this context, the idea of ‘humanitarian corridors’ consisting of asking Aleppo’s residents to leave the city does not offer a credible response to the situation.” Nothing but sheer hypocrisy and arrogance from the two imperialist governments that are directly responsible for the massacre of hundreds of civilians in the month of July alone, in northern Syria in Manjib, a northern province of Aleppo, as they bombed away, brazenly violating the sovereignty of Syria.

Here is an account of U.S. led terror by the so-called coalition against the Islamic State:

In a letter to the U.N., following the earlier massacres, the Syrian government said:
“[Syria] condemns, in the strongest terms, the two bloody massacres perpetrated by the French and U.S. warplanes and those affiliated to the so-called international coalition, which send their missiles and bombs to the civilians instead of directing them to the terrorist gangs.”

Al-Nusra claims to break ties with al-Qaeda in an effort to pose as “moderate”

Following the recent negotiations between U.S. and Russia for a potential joint effort against terror groups in northern Syria, al-Nusra Front announced that it was breaking its ties with al-Qaeda and changing its name to Jabhat Fatehal-Sham (Front for the Conquest of Syria). This is simply an attempt by the re-brand al-Nusra, one of its terror proxies on the ground fighting to overthrow the Syrian government as “moderate” opposition in the hopes of shielding it from the Russian airstrikes.Unlike the U.S. coalition against IS, Russia conducts airstrikes against all terror groups in Syria, in coordination and at the request of the Syrian government, conforming to international law.

While al-Nusra can change its name to whatever form that may be deemed more palatable for the Western public’s consumption, the simple fact that it is still a Sunni extremist terror group in the service of U.S. imperialism remains the same.

While the western corporate media and imperialist governments spin the story in an effort to turn reality upside down, it is a fact that a very large majority of the  population across all sectors of Syrian society are firmly behind their government. It is also a fact that were it not for the U.S.-led imperialist support of terror groups—“moderate” or not, Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Fateh al-Sham—the battle for the liberation of Aleppo and the whole war in Syria would have come to an end much earlier with much less loss of life and destruction. In whatever “humanitarian” pretext it is framed in, U.S.imperialism’s interventions never result in anything but utter devastation any place it lays its hands, whether it is in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria or elsewhere.

As progressives and revolutionaries in the U.S., it is imperative that we continue to reject the demonization of the Syrian government and defend the right to self-determination of the people of Syria, especially given the possibility of a proven war-criminal and war-monger such as Hillary Clinton becoming the next “commander-in-chief” of U.S. imperialism.

U.S./NATO/France hands off Syria!

Reposted from Liberation News

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Friday, 14 October 2016

Project aims to identify elderly left isolated if they experience mental health problems

Written by The Editorial Team

Scotland's older generations can be left isolated if they experience mental health problems, according to a new project.

Age in Mind is working to identify and reduce the discrimination faced by people over 50 who have experienced mental health problems.

So far the research has found the older generations experiencing mental health problems are faced with isolation, in some cases their families have abandoned them or live too far away to make regular visits.

For some who have experienced severe and enduring mental health conditions in their younger life, they were even denied the opportunity to start families of their own, meaning they have less support in later life, relying on extended families.

They also report increased discrimination within the health system, with limited mental health services available for people when they are over 65.

The project is being led by the Scottish Mental Health Cooperative, and has been funded by See Me.

Over 160 people with lived experience of mental health problems, and over 50 organisations which support people with their mental health needs have taken part in focus groups, interviews and questionnaires to establish what discrimination people have faced, and where work needs to be done.

Dianna Manson, from Edinburgh, said people who spent their younger years in asylums were often not allowed to start their own families, impacting on the support they have in later life.

The 68 year old, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, said: “People who have experienced mental health problems absolutely find themselves far more isolated as they get older. The reason for this is usually your family have disappeared out of your life.

“People of my generation who were in asylums were denied the opportunity to start our own families.

“If we had children they were taken away as children would not be kept with a parent with a mental health problem.

“So we are very much on our own and if we need to rely on people it is extended family. Friends we have made through our lives have often been other service users and we can’t keep in touch.”

David Sinclair 72 from Glasgow, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1965 although never given medication, said: “I certainly have faced stigma and isolation.

“Being out of contact with people is a large issue, you feel outside the world, you can be stigmatised by family members and neighbours think you are part of a different generation so don’t bother.

“I don’t mention my mental health at all outside, you get stigmatised as soon as you open your mouth, you see the barriers coming down.

“I have faced stigma within my family, you feel like you are a secondary concern, younger generations don’t look after older generations enough, especially if you have a mental health problem.”

David Delaney, chair of the Scottish Mental Health Cooperative said:  “Our members are all providing community-based mental health services to people across all ages, but we see how those with long term conditions are now growing older and the impact that mental health stigma and discrimination over many decades, has had on their lives.

“As they reflect back on what mental health care has been in the past, we need to learn from their experiences for future generations so that we do not replicate similar situations but rather show ourselves to be a caring and understanding society and relegate stigma and discrimination to the past.”

Angela Dias, the change network office running the project, said: “From the research we have found the main discrimination older generations face is from family members.

“It is a complicated issue and mental health problems are difficult for everyone involved. People are worried that if they say or do the wrong thing they can make a problem worse.

“But family members can help to reduce stigma and loneliness for people just by being there, listening to what someone has to say and not judging.

“Outside of families we want to use this research to influence service areas where discrimination is taking place, including policy and practice nationally and locally.”

Calum Irving, See Me’s director, said: “This project is developing a picture of what stigma and discrimination can be like for older generations in Scotland.

“As a society we need to value older people in this country. If they are isolated then there needs to be better infrastructure in place to provide support so people aren’t alone.

“People experiencing mental health problems need help and support quickly, no matter what their age their mental health needs to be taken seriously.”

Pictured - Angela Dias from Age in Mind and David Sinclair.


Robert F. Hershner, Jr. (Retired)

The Chapter 7 trustee asked the court to impose sanctions under Bankruptcy Rule 9011. The court determined that respondent has continued to relitigate virtually verbatim contentions of the trustee's fraud long after the court has ruled that the contentions have no merit. The court held that the respondent should be sanctioned under Rule 9011.

The defendant contended that a dispute concerning certain agreements was subject to binding arbitration. The court held that the agreements were contracts of insurance under Georgia law, § 9-9-2(c)(3) and were not subject to binding arbitration.

The chapter 7 debtor's sole shareholder used his personal funds to pay the debtor's obligation to deposit certain escrow funds with an escrow agent. The shareholder contended that he was equitably subrogated to the debtor's right to receive a return of the escrow funds because the shareholder had personally guaranteed the debtor's obligations. The Court held that the shareholder had not personally guaranteed the debtor's obligation to deposit the escrow funds and that the shareholder had waived any right to subrogation. The Court held that the debtor's bankruptcy estate was entitled to the funds held by the escrow agent.

The plaintiffs contended that the defendant-debtor, through fraud and false financial statements, induced them to invest in a business. The debtor was a shareholder, the president of, and managed the day to day operations of the business. The business failed. The plaintiffs contended that they suffered damages due to the defendant's fraud and that their claims were nondischargeable in bankruptcy under § 523(a)(2). The court held that the debtor had knowingly made false representations and published false financial statements. The court held that the damages suffered by the plaintiffs were nondischargeable in bankruptcy.

The debtor failed to make the payments on her residence. The lender foreclosed on its deed to secure debt and was the highest bidder. The debtor filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case nine days later. The debtor sought to set aside the foreclosure and deal with her mortgage obligation through her confirmed Chapter 13 plan. The court held that the debtor's rights, title and equity of redemption were terminated when the lender made the highest bid at foreclosure. The court held that the debtor had no interest in her former residence when she filed for bankruptcy relief. The court granted the lender relief from the automatic stay to proceed with its remedies under state law.

Judge James D. Walker Jr. (Retired)

Court imposed sanctions on bankruptcy petition preparer for violations of § 110, including failure to identify himself on the petition and other documents he prepared, accepting fees without properly informing the debtor he is not an attorney, and unauthorized practice of law.

Court refused to grant stay relief when the creditor essentially ignores evidence that its records fail to reflect numerous payments made by the debtor and received by the creditor.


Books  General Natural History  Archaeology

  • Presents the first synthesis of biological variation in an archaeological context for Point Hope, Alaska
  • Brings together archaeology and biological anthropology to generate a holistic understanding of an archaeological site
  • Combines different data sources (such as artifacts, dental microwear and faunal remains) to arrive at a deeper understanding about lifeways of past populations

Series: Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology Volume: 68

By: Charles E Hilton(Editor), Benjamin M Auerbach(Editor), Libby W Cowgill(Editor)

320 pages, illustrations

Cambridge University Press

Hardback | Jul 2014 | #210524 | ISBN-13: 9781107022508
Availability: Usually dispatched within 6 days Details
NHBS Price: £76.99 $99/€87 approx

About this book

On the edge of the Arctic Ocean, above the Arctic Circle, the prehistoric settlements at Point Hope, Alaska, represent a truly remarkable accomplishment in human biological and cultural adaptations. Presenting a set of anthropological analyses on the human skeletal remains and cultural material from the Ipiutak and Tigara archaeological sites, The Foragers of Point Hope sheds new light on the excavations from 1939–41, which provided one of the largest sets of combined biological and cultural materials of northern latitude peoples in the world. A range of material items indicated successful human foraging strategies in this harsh Arctic environment. They also yielded enigmatic artifacts indicative of complex human cultural life filled with dense ritual and artistic expression. These remnants of past human activity contribute to a crucial understanding of past foraging lifeways and offer important insights into the human condition at the extreme edges of the globe.

List of contributors

1. Introduction: humans on the edge of the Alaskan Arctic Charles E. Hilton, Benjamin M. Auerbach and Libby W. Cowgill

Part I. Regional Archaeological and Biological Context:
2. The archaeology of north Alaska: Point Hope in context Anne M. Jensen
3. The Ipiutak cult of Shamans and its warrior protectors: an archaeological context Owen K. Mason
4. Ancestor-descendant affinities between the Ipiutak and Tigara at Point Hope, AK in the context of North American Arctic cranial variation Blaine Maley

Part II. Biological Variation among the Foragers of Point Hope:
5. Contrasting of the Ipiutak and Tigara: evidence from incisor microwear texture analysis Kristin L. Krueger
6. The diets of the Ipiutak and Tigara (Point Hope, Alaska): evidence from occlusal molar microwear texture analysis Sireen El Zaatari
7. Postcranial pathological lesions in precontact Ipiutak and Tigara skeletal remains of Point Hope, Alaska Charles E. Hilton, Marsha D. Ogilvie, Megan Latchaw Czarniecki and Sarah Gossett
8. Bone strength and subsistence activities at Point Hope Laura L. Shackelford
9. Postcranial growth and development of immature skeletons from Point Hope, Alaska Libby W. Cowgill

Part III. Contexts, Conclusions and Commentaries:
10. Morphologies from the edge: perspectives on biological variation among the Late Holocene inhabitants of the northwestern North American Arctic Benjamin M. Auerbach
11. The Ipiutak spirit-scape: an archaeological phenomenon William W. Fitzhugh
12. Point Hope in certain contexts: a comment Don E. Dumond

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Charles Hilton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. As a biological anthropologist with a background in human skeletal biology, functional morphology, human evolutionary ecology, and epidemiology, his research focuses on how small-scale human groups, particularly foragers, develop and evolve both short- and long-term biological and cultural responses within environmental settings offering limited resources.

Benjamin M. Auerbach is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. A functional anatomist, skeletal biologist and evolutionary biologist, he has spent fifteen years collecting osteometric and anthropometric data to document morphological variation among modern humans within the context of evolutionary forces.

Libby Cowgill is an Assistant Professor in the Anthropology Department at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Her research interests include human growth, development, and functional morphology as well as Late Pleistocene human evolution. Her current research program explores the relationship between childhood behaviour and selection pressure and the formation of adult skeletal morphology.

- Charles E. Hilton
- Benjamin M. Auerbach
- Libby W. Cowgill
- Anne M. Jensen
- Owen K. Mason
- Blaine Maley
- Kristin L. Krueger
- Sireen El Zaatari
- Marsha D. Ogilvie
- Megan Latchaw Czarniecki
- Sarah Gossett
- Laura L. Shackelford
- William W. Fitzhugh
- Don E. Dumond

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