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The French Revolutionary Wars: 1787-1802

The French Revolutionary Wars: 1787-1802, by T. C. W. Blanning, is a super Work of historiography. Far more ambitious than its modest title suggests, it is the history of the French Revolution as well as a military and diplomatic history of Europe from 1787 to 1802. Blanning enriches our understanding of the Revolution by placing it in its European context, by showing how it affected and was affected by France’s neighbors. He is especially well placed to take on this task.

Not only has he written extensively on the French Revolution; he has written a book on Mainz under the Old Regime and the revolutionary republic, nother on the French occupation of the Rhineland, and two biographies of the Habsburg Emperor Joseph II. [1] He is one of the few historians who can move comfortably from France to Germany to the vast Habsburg empire stretching from Belgium to the Balkans, and he has filled in the remaining gaps with extraordinarily vast reading.

Among the thousand or so footnotes in The French Revolutionary Wars are references to works in German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian, as well as French and English. Yet this book is more than a tour de force of erudition. It is a richly textured, engaging narrative punctuated by cogent, Blanning begins by arguing that French defeat in the Seven Years’ War (1756-63) stimulated reforms in the army which are normally associated with the Revolution: the breaking up of armies into smaller, more flexible divisions; the use of columns in addition to lines; an increasing reliance on light troops; and the use of artillery.

More controversial, however, were the reforms introduced in 1787 and 1788, which slashed the number of officers in an army that was, in Blanning’s words, “absurdly over-officered” (p. 9). These reforms, coinciding with the revolt of the parliaments, added fuel to the fire of the aristocratic revolution by alienating many of its leaders, who were not only parlementaires but army officers. They guaranteed that the army would not serve the king when he needed it to suppress the insurrection in Paris in July 1789, and indeed pushed the officers to make common cause with the Third Estate.

Thus Blanning provocatively but convincingly claims, “In part at least, the French Revolution was a military coup” (p. 28). In addition to the hated military reforms, Blanning rgues that an unpopular alliance with Austria contributed to the discrediting of the monarchy and that, more directly, the crown lost its legitimacy when it failed, ostensibly due to bankruptcy, to respond to the Prussian invasion of the United Provinces and the suppression of the pro-French Dutch Patriots in 1787.

The narrative continues with an account of the first two years of the Revolution, when Russia, Prussia and Austria were preoccupied with Poland–which they would soon partition out of existence–and therefore relatively uninterested in developments in France, despite some occasional counter-revolutionary sabre- attling. Yet this period of “deceptive isolation from the European states-system” (p. 42) ended in the spring of 1792, when an unlikely coalition of Girondins and monarchists (including the king himself) provoked war against the equally unlikely coalition of Prussia and Austria, countries that had been at war for more than fifty years.

Blanning tells the dreadful story of war and revolution from September 1792, when thousands of suspected traitors were butchered in Parisian prisons, to August 1793, when the revolutionary Convention declared “total war” against external and internal enemies alike. He describes the terrible process by which the war escalated both beyond and within French borders: republican victories in the autumn of 1792 brought Britain and the Dutch Republic into the war.

To fight against this growing coalition, the revolutionary government was forced to adopt conscription, and conscription, more than any other single issue, provoked and fuelled the revolt of the Vendee and the civil war which according to Blanning killed some 400,000 people. The author goes on to describe the spectacular series of revolutionary victories from August 1793 to the spring of 1795, by which time France had nearly eached its “natural frontiers” through the conquest of Belgium, the Dutch Republic, and most of the left bank of the Rhine.

He explains these victories largely in terms of French numerical superiority, but also emphasizes the government’s power to requisition vast quantities of arms and to execute commanders judged insufficiently aggressive on the battlefield. In addition to indigenous factors, Blanning cites the allies’ infighting and lack of commitment to the war with France as crucial to French victory. Next Blanning describes the war under the Directory government, when the post-Terror regime made an official olicy of “nourishing war by war” and making the armies live off the land they invaded.

This policy entailed the “pillaging of Europe”, as the French looted everything from grain and clothing to gold, art treasures, and rare books and manuscripts. It gave the lie to any liberationist rhetoric and guaranteed repeated resistance and uprisings from Belgium to Calabria. Following a rich description of the naval conflict between Britain and France, Blanning ends the story of the revolutionary wars with an account of the War of the Second Coalition (1799-1802), in which France faced a massive alliance that in the author’s view as bound to fall apart under the weight of mistrust and conflicting interests.

Central to the French Revolutionary Wars is the notion of the primacy of foreign policy. Blanning sees foreign policy in general and war in particular as decisive both in causing the Revolution and determining its trajectory. He is careful to avoid reductionism, i. e. the dismissal of the complexity of causal factors in favor of a single preferred cause, and gives credit to a variety of factors–from economics and social strains to revolutionary political culture–but his main emphasis is on foreign affairs.

He observes that the monarchy’s failure o respond to the Prussian invasion of the Dutch Republic in 1787 was crucial to its de-legitimization and downfall and that “virtually all of the great journeys–10 August 1792, the September Massacres [1792], 31 May and 2 June 1793 and 18-19 Brumaire [Year VIII]– were essentially responses to failure in war” (p. 269). Yet though Blanning cites Francois Furet’s claim that “the war conducted the Revolution far more than the Revolution conducted the war” (p. 267), he gives ample evidence of the Revolution conducting the war as well.

Indeed, he suggests that the war be largely provoked by domestic politics. He notes that fter the Champs de Mars massacre in July 1792 the “lid” had been “crammed back on the popular cauldron”, but only ” for the time being. ” He continues: To create a brew so explosive that no amount of legislative weight could contain its pressure, an issue even more combustible than the royal flight was needed. The aftermath of [the king’s abortive flight to] Varennes [in June 1791] made it clear that it could not be domestic in origin.

If the attempted flight of the king could not finally delegitimate the monarchy, then only the gravest charge that can be made against a sovereign would suffice–high treason. For that, war was Moreover, Blanning gives evidence of the revolution conducting the war during the Directory. He notes that after the coup d’etat of 30 Prairial (18 June 1799) the neo-Jacobin Directory was under pressure to show its zeal against France’s enemies and consequently ordered a premature military offensive, led by General Barthelemy-Catherine Joubert, in northern Italy.

He explains the humiliating French loss at the battle of Novi (15 August 1799) in terms of “Joubert’s ill-timed initiative, determined more by domestic politics than military considerations… ” Indeed, the evidence Blanning presents suggests a dialectical relationship between foreign and domestic policy, one in which real threats from abroad have an impact on domestic politics, and in which imaginary foreign threats and conflicts are fabricated for use by domestic politicians, with real international consequences.

In this scenario foreign policy is certainly important, indeed crucial to an understanding of the whole picture–and for this reason Blanning’s study is invaluable–but whether it has “primacy” is questionable. Blanning’s claims about the primacy of foreign policy, moreover, are at least otentially at odds with his revisionist sympathies. Blanning cites Francois Furet and Simon Schama approvingly, and his verdict on the Revolution is correspondingly harsh.

The government of the Terror was “a regime that can only be described as criminal” (p. 137). Even in the summer of 1793, before Terror had become “the order of the day”, the revolutionaries had committed unspeakable atrocities in the “pacification” of the Vendee, and in August, in the midst of “wild excitement” and “nihilism” the National Convention issued a declaration of “total war” reminiscent, in the author’s mind, of a similar eclaration by the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in the winter of 1943 (p. 01).

Yet by emphasizing the extent to which foreign affairs in general and war in particular determined the course of events in France, Blanning inadvertently suggests mitigating circumstances for the revolutionary crimes. This paradox is most dramatically illustrated his account of the September prison massacres of 1792. Here Blanning describes the fear that gripped Parisians at the news of the fall of Verdun and the allied invasion of France.

He notes that this fear was compounded by the Brunswick manifesto of 25 July, which had hreatened collective punishment of Paris should the Tuileries palace be attacked or the king or royal family harmed (the Tuileries were attacked on 10 August and the king subsequently imprisoned with his family). To be sure, Blanning’s goal could not be further from excusing the heinous acts which took place over those five infamous days in September.

Yet when he writes, “Never has there been a revolution so paranoid,” and then lists the reasons why it had cause to be fearful (p. 2), he simultaneously denounces the revolutionaries and offers an Moreover, Blanning’s emphasis on the treasonous flight of General Charles-Francois du Perier Dumouriez to the Austrians in April 1793 as an explanation of the proscription of the Girondins and the “lurch by the Revolution to the left” (p. 99), suggests that the events of the war were decisive in the drift toward the Terror. Paradoxically, then, the logic of the “primacy of foreign policy” theory puts Blanning uncomfortably close to the long list of apologists for the Terror from Albert Mathiez to Albert Soboul.

Of course, tout comprendre n’est pas tout pardonner, and besides, history is more than simply assigning blame and conferring praise retrospectively. But Blanning’s convictions about the “criminal” nature of the Terror lead to an understandable desire to discount any potentially exculpating factors such as the war. In other words, as a revisionist Blanning is not surprisingly unwilling to adopt the position that the Terror was “an aberration, an emergency response to the threat of foreign invasion and counter-revolution” (pp. 137-38).

Yet his convictions about the primacy of foreign policy prevent him from endorsing Simon Schama’s claim that the Terror was “merely 1789 with a higher body count” (p. 138). Blanning concludes: However flaccid it may sound, the most satisfactory conclusion seems to be that the Terror was latent in revolutionary ideology but needed the strains of war to be activated” (p. 139). This position is hazardously close to being tautological. It may be correct, but its veracity cannot be demonstrated empirically. A similar tension is evident in Blanning’s discussion of the importance of the alleged elan of the French revolutionary soldiers.

In some places Blanning criticizes the notion that as “citizen-soldiers” French troops were equipped with a patriotic spirit or elan and a special sense of mission which enabled them to fight ore courageously and more successfully than their counterparts in the allied forces. He notes that the myth of elan corresponds to revolutionary rhetoric and should not be taken at face value. He points out that the revolutionary soldiers sometimes lost, and that to suggest that they lost because they had less elan on some days than others would be begging the question.

In explaining French victories, then, other more mundane factors, such as the number of soldiers in the field and the size, number and quality of their weapons, must take precedence over abstract assumptions about elan (pp. 19-21). Yet elsewhere Blanning resorts to the very principal he has called into question. When explaining Napoleon’s victory at Lodi (May 1796) he writes, “It was now that the special vigor and elan of the revolutionary officers noted earlier came into play” (pp. 145-46).

He cites the Prussian General and famous military strategist, Carl Von Clausewitz, who emphasized Napoleon’s “enthusiasm”, defined as “an elevation of spirit and feeling above calculation”, and claimed that the victory at Lodi “inspired tremendous enthusiasm in all the friends of France and its general” p. 147). Clausewitz appears frequently throughout the book in support of Blanning’s claims about the social and psychological elements of war which other strategists have reduced to rational calculation.

Yet Clausewitz, for all his insight, was a product of his age, and Blanning might have historicized his assumptions about enthusiasm, spirit, and feeling–all rough equivalents of elan–by connecting them to contemporary currents in romanticism. In the process he might have strengthened his claims about the importance of numbers of troops, the size and uality of the weaponry and the state apparatus that stood behind the war effort. Paradoxically, quandaries such as those discussed above result from one of the great virtues of Blanning’s book: namely, its aversion to reductionism.

Blanning includes an impressive quantity of possible causes for the events and phenomena he endeavors to explain. He is careful to establish a hierarchy of causes, and occasionally resorts to the distinction, famously posited by the seventeenth and eighteenth-century German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, between necessary and sufficient causes. Yet the sheer number of causes gives the mpression that the events and phenomena in question are overdetermined. Of course, this is not Blanning’s problem alone.

Historians primarily concerned with causation are inevitably forced to steer between the Scylla of reductionism and the Charybdis of overdetermination. In The French Revolutionary Wars Blanning steers skillfully. More important, this book reminds historians that the French Revolution was not merely about France, but about Europe, and offers the type of pan-European treatment of the Revolution that academic specialization along national lines have made into a scarce commodity.

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How old do you have to be to ride a jet ski in Washington?

Can a 14 year old drive a jet ski?

No one under 14 years of age may operate a PWC. Persons 14 years old up to 16 years of age may operate if they are accompanied by an adult 18 or older or have a certificate of competency from a NASBLA approved boating education course and some form of ID. … No person less than 12 YOA may operate any PWC.

Can a 13 year old drive a jet ski alone?

You need to be 12 years or older in order to operate any PWC. However, you would still need someone 21 or older on board who has a boating license. He/she should have the reach of controls, given that you are 12 or 13. If you are 14 or older, you are free to operate alone.

Do you need a license for jet ski?

Yes, you need a boating license to drive a jet ski, as there is no separate “jet ski license“ in the US. Instead, if you are required to be licensed on a jet ski, you have to take a boating safety course which is approved by NASBLA (National Association of State Boating Law Administrators).

IT IS INTERESTING:  What type of sailing involves the solution of courses distances and points along a curved path?

How far can jet skis go?

Is driving a jet ski easy?

What is the legal age to ride a jet ski?

No one under 14 years of age is allowed to operate a PWC without an accompanying licensed trainer or operator who is over 18 years of age (Proof of age must be carried during operation of a PWC). The motor horsepower should not exceed CC 1800 and HP 360.

Can a 14 year old drive a Seadoo?

Youths, aged 12 to under 16 years of age may only operate a boat with a motor up to 40 horsepower unsupervised. In order to operate a Personal Watercraft (PWC) commonly called a Jet Ski or Sea Doo, operators must be at least 16 years of age, and be certified with their PCOC.

Can a 7 year old go on a jet ski?

It is best if they sit between two adults or behind the driver. Children younger than 12 years old may not drive a jet ski, and children between 12 and 15 may operate a jet ski if supervised by someone older than 18. … Jet skis are great fun for kids and adults.

IT IS INTERESTING:  What are the benefits of scuba diving?

Can a 12 year old operate a boat?

Age and Operator Restrictions

Persons 12 to 15 years of age may operate a vessel powered by a motor of 15 hp or more, including PWCs, if they are supervised on board by a person at least 18 years of age and in possession of his/her California Boater Card.

Can a 15 year old drive a jet ski by themselves?

As a general rule of thumb, the most lenient states allow kids to drive jet skis alone at age 12, while the strictest states don’t allow minors to drive personal watercraft at all.

Can a 14 year old operate a PWC?

California. In California, boaters who have reached 16 years of age can legally operate any powerboat including PWC. All boaters between 12 to 15 years old may operate boats with a motor of more than 15 horsepower, while supervised by an adult of at least 18 years of age.

Can a 13 year old drive a boat in Louisiana?

You must be age 16 or older to operate a personal watercraft. It is illegal for a person who owns or has charge of a personal watercraft to knowingly permit a person under age 16 to operate a personal watercraft.


5 Tell-tale Signs of Angel Visitations

/ Angel Numbers

Angels are wonderful and mysterious beings that play an important part in all our lives. They assume many roles as while they carry out their most important function, bring us closer to God. Their existence is covered in mystery because it is part of their nature.

They intentionally work most subtly so that our decision-making will not be compromised. Guardian angels can only, at best, recommend and give hints and hope that we humans will make spiritually correct choices.

They do their best to cover their tracks as well, so that much of our attention will be focused on God and with matters that are within our control. Yet, this does not mean that they are not with us every day.

Angels work double-time when we are in dire need of support.

During these times, they recognize that we need all the help we need and, sometimes, they leave hints to tell us that we are not alone.

In this list, we’ll get a glimpse of some signs that our guardian angels are with us.

Reading on and understanding these situations better can help you be more sensitive about the presence of your guardian angels.

Hopefully, you will be able to use this to enhance your perception to live a life of peace and spread positivity to the people around you better.

Seeing Angels In Your Dreams

It is scientifically proven that our brains work at a different cycle when we are asleep. A person who reaches rapid eye movement (REM) during their sleep experiences life-like dreams that connect all their physical senses.

RELATED: Guardian Angels: a Book about Angels for Children

During these moments, your perception also increases and leads to the opening of your spiritual eye.

Angels may appear during these half-asleep, half-awake states. They usually take a human-like form that emits an immaculate brightness. It is up to you to accept this apparition and react accordingly.

Do not be afraid and try to intently pay attention to what your guardian angel wants you to know.

Noticing Light Orbs

Have you ever noticed mini light orbs that appear on occasion? These are sometimes captured on camera during unexpected moments. They may also be seen by your naked eye at some instances when lighting and your perception meet at the exact level.

Angels are said to be beings of energy and they can manifest themselves in the form of light orbs. Their presence refracts the sources of light that surround us thereby producing these unique angel orbs.

Sweet Aroma

Our sense of smell can also be a powerful receptor for angelic presence. We may notice a refreshing scent that unexpectedly fills the room, our picnic area, or even our office space.

Common sense tells you that the scent from desserts and perfume do not fall within this conversation.

The next time you smell a heavenly scent, try to intently find its source. If no logical object is emitting the aroma within the vicinity, then you have been blessed by your guardian angel’s presence.

Your Pets Are Seeing Things You Don’t

It is said that babies share a higher level of perception along with our pets. We used to have this keen sense but lost it as we developed stronger reasoning abilities. There are times when our dogs bark for no apparent reason and seem to be welcoming an unseen presence.

This is also true with our babies. Sometimes they seem to be entertained by an invisible friend. You would even see a semblance of interaction during these super cute episodes.

Your guardian angel must be extending their protective shield with the newest member of your family.

You Are Losing  a Bad Habit

In the course of our lives, we often learn bad habits or vices that are a perceived safe refuge when we feel stressed or pressured. Once these habits are learned they can be extremely difficult to get rid of.

It would take an extraordinary amount of effort and devotion. Some (in the case of alcohol or drug dependence) even consider it as a miracle.

People that go through successful rehabilitation programs have attested to sensing different energy that fills up the void left by their vices. They find it hard to explain, but their description usually fits the experiences of people being touched by their guardian angels.

Let us remember that angels respect and uphold the sanctity of our relationship with God. This is the reason why they play the role of supporting casts rather than steal the limelight from the Supreme Being.

However, it may provide us with a positive insight if we learn to acknowledge the presence of our guardian angels and understand what they are trying to tell us.

Manifestation / Spiritual Awakening / other tags...


laptop interne kommunikation

Effective internal communication is vital to the productivity of your company. With the abundance of tools and services available in today’s high-tech workplace, communicating effectively can become somewhat complicated. Below, I’ve compiled a list of tips to improve your communication and keep your company’s operations running smoothly.

1. Use the right channels of communication

In this day and age of advanced technology, there are a number of tools and services available for you to implement into your company. These include email, phone calls, intranet, collaborative tools, newsletters, bulletin boards, and others. Each channel has its own pros and cons, and all of these options can get overwhelming. It is important to choose your method of communication based on your message content and your audience. For example, if your team needs to communicate frequently, I suggest using a collaborative tool like Yammer, Facebook, or Slack. These services allow for instant messages between employees which are usually accompanied by notifications, so people are alerted when someone wants to get in touch with them immediately. On the other hand, email is great for sending large files or lengthy messages, but is ineffective for frequent communication.

2. Communicate clearly

Stay away from sarcasm and innuendos! Although it’s great to be funny, the substance of your message can get lost or misinterpreted in your attempts to make someone laugh. Use words that clearly portray your message. Written communication is less distinct compared to how we speak to each other face to face, so it’s important to make sure your message is understandable.

3. Designate different threads for different topics

When using an internal communication tool or service, It’s very helpful to designate different threads for different topics. For example, you might want to have a thread for general announcements (i.e. when people will be present in the office) and a thread for development specific issues. When only one thread is used for all topics, things can get cluttered and valuable information can get lost.

4. Get rid of unused methods of communication

If you notice that your company has a method of communication that is ineffective or unused by many people, get rid of it. Stick to the channels that you use most often. That way your team saves time because it has fewer places to check for any important information.

5. Utilise team meetings

Team meetings can be very effective when utilised correctly because they’re a form of face to face communication, which allows for the interpretation of tone and body language. Meetings keep everyone involved on the same page and gives team members a chance to provide their input. At teambay, we have team meetings every Friday, and they allow us to check in on our short and long term goals and help us work better together. It is important, however, to make sure you have someone taking minutes or jotting down notes during the meeting. Sometimes, a lot of content can be covered and you don’t want to rely on your memory of what you thought you heard. Being able to read a quick summary is always helpful.

6. Be Proactive

Although you might hold your colleagues in high regard, it’s never safe to assume that they can remember everything. They have their own agendas and are focused on their own issues, just like you are. So be proactive in your communication and don’t be afraid to send out frequent reminders or updates. Although it might feel repetitive, you don’t want to risk any important information being forgotten.

It’s clear that effective communication improves productivity and facilitates operations within the company. With good communication comes a heightened level of cooperation between employees that makes people work together more efficiently. One simple way to improve your internal communication is by using teambay, an online survey platform that establishes a continuous dialogue about workplace issues between managers and their employees.

Author: Alex Weitzel


Why choose a specialist healthcare communications agency?

Over the years we’ve carved a specialism as a leading healthcare communications agency, and this was reinforced by our PRWeek top 150 healthcare agencies listing (we’re in the top 40!) In our latest blog, we answer the question often asked of us. Do I need a specialist healthcare communications agency?

Is being vegan the secret to good health?

Tonic Co-founder Georgina blogs about her vegan experience Anyone who knows me knows I love my food. I love to eat out and cook, so with a New Year’s resolution in mind, I liked the idea of challenging myself to be a bit more adventurous in January. Trialling vegan recipes and seeing how readily accessible vegan


Both Books cover areas of mindfulness and neuroplasticity of the brain, positive psychology, empowerment, self -directed learning, emotional intelligence, resilience and a load more. It's linked to the national curriculum promoting self-awareness, social awareness, self-responsibility and social responsibility through sharing and applying many simple but effective learning tools that come from both modern and ancient wisdoms.

The tools and wisdoms are presented in the form of powerful questions and simple, yet creative rhymes and illustrations that are easy to remember. These can become like a daily affirmation or stimulus for change through refection and discussion (and/or written response if purchasing the creative colouring journal). It challenges each one (adults and children alike) of us to be our best role models for the change we wish to see in others.

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Are you a wise kid?            How do you be one?

Join Sam in the Wise Kids Series to discover a few tips

that can change your own hero’s journey too.

What treasures will you find inside to remember the wise kid you are?

Book One Questions

What ripple effect are you creating?

How will you train your Brain?

What will your masterpiece be?

What is your style?

Who do you ask for help?

Have you made a plan for success?

How can I calm my mind?

How do I overcome my fears?

Book Two Questions

What adventures of fun will I have under the sun?

What do I believe, for me to achieve?

How do I express my dance at every chance?

How can I have a great year and not be a slave to fear?

What emotional slide will I decide to ride?

Can I read my body’s clues to dance away any blues?

What helpful action can I do to change my sadness to satisfaction?

How will I shine my best as I journey on my quest?


Bronchitis is a condition when the tubular network which carries the air to our lungs called bronchial tubules are affected. These tubules are the penultimate parts of the lungs' spongy structure just before the air exchange parts of the lungs called alveoli. One of the main problems associated with the affection of tubular networks is that the excessively secreted mucus plugs the air entry to the alveoli. One of the main symptoms of bronchitis is cough and the production of mucus. Bronchitis can present as acute bronchitis or sometimes as chronic bronchitis. When the symptoms last for more than a few weeks it is called chronic bronchitis and it always lasts for the long time.

The main symptoms associated with bronchitis are chest congestion, shortness of breath, wheezing and cough associated with production of mucus. Sometimes bronchitis may also present acutely as acute bronchitis with fever and body aches, fever chills, run and stuffy nose and sore throat.

Acute bronchitis or chronic bronchitis is most common in smokers. It is also most common in exposure to pollution. One of the main contributing factors also is that if one has a family history of lung disorders.

A case of bronchitis has to be properly evaluated by physical examination by a doctor and also proper evaluation of microbiological tests on the mucus which comes out in both acute as well as chronic bronchitis. Tests also need to be done to know about the competency of the airways structure of the lung by doing lung function tests. The oxygen levels which indicate lung competency in bronchitis can be examined by testing the oxygen levels by the pulse oximeter and a chest x-ray can give some indication of the affection of the physical architecture of lungs. Sometimes blood tests may be indicated like ABG analysis which checks the level of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood.

Bronchitis leads to dehydration so one has to keep himself hydrated well by drinking a lot of water and getting proper rest during the acute phase. Usage of a humidifier or steam is also indicated. Exposure to cold air and air conditioning may be avoided, if that’s avoidance is not possible in bronchitis one has to go for high-end humidifier which maintains the water content in the air.

In bronchitis if there is indication of infection, treatment by antibiotics is required. To maintain the competencies of the airways, one has to treat with medicines called as bronchodilators and anti-inflammatory drugs.Sometimes in bronchitis, oxygen therapy shall be the mainstay as the competencies of the bronchial system of compromised and higher concentration oxygen may be required to maintain oxygen levels in the blood.

One of the best ways to avoid bronchitis is to avoid smoking, air pollution. Get proper physical exercises. One can get seasonal flu shots which has shown so have some degree of protection against bronchitis.


This is how Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank spent their wedding night 2 years ago

This is how Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank spent their wedding night

And it's not how you'd expect.

We’ve been spoiled with royal engagements this year.

Yes, from royal wedding number one of Harry and Meghan and their later announcement that they were expecting their first child to the nuptials of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank a few months ago.

With regards to the latter, mother-of-the-bride Sarah Ferguson has been revealing more details from her daughter’s big day in a recent interview.

According to Fergie, Eugenie and Jack opted to do something a little different on their wedding night and it’s not at all what you’d expect.

Yes, most couples would be dying to have a little one-on-one time after their big day, but it seems Eugenie and Jack wanted the opposite, instead opting to spend the night with family.

“The Sunday after the wedding, I said to Eugenie and Jack, ‘Do you want to stay somewhere special?’,” Fergie told Daily Mail.

“No, they wanted to stay at Royal Lodge.

“So the night before their honeymoon, the whole family were eating pizza together in the kitchen.”

It might not be what we expected, but it sounds incredibly sweet, nonetheless.

In the same interview, Sarah admitted that there was one person in particular she wished could have been there for her daughter's wedding - Princess Diana.

"I thought of absent friends and family; of Diana — but she's with me all the time," she said.

"What I miss most is her tinkling laughter.

"Diana was my best friend and the funniest person I knew.

"She had such timing and wit. It was a total joy to be with her because we just laughed and enjoyed life so much, and I know she would have loved the wedding."


Networking for change

Harness the power of your social networks to drive the change you want to achieve

People resist change. In the perpetually shifting world of business, that’s a problem. McKinsey estimates that 70% of change programmes fail to achieve their goals, in a large part due to employee resistance.

All organisational change ultimately means that people have to start behaving differently. Because our behaviour is profoundly affected by our relationships, the success of change efforts, therefore, depends on the social bonds of the instigators of change: the change agents. In other words, more friends, more success.

Group think, group do

It’s not that simple, of course, but all around us, every day, we’re surrounded by examples of people adhering to group behaviour. It’s so woven into every aspect of our lives that we don’t even notice it.

Picture a Mexican wave for a moment. Every single Mexican wave, no matter the size, moves at the same speed. Sit in a café for a while and notice the groups coming in and sitting down. Watch groups of three or four edge towards the café’s tables, glancing expectantly at each other’s faces to arrive at a silent consensus on the best place to sit. It’s the same scene in cafes all over the world. Individuals disappear as they are subsumed into a group.

We’re so affected by those around us that a happy or unhappy person three degrees of separation away makes us feel the same way. So if your friend’s friend’s friend has just got a promotion, you get a sprinkling of their joy. Happy people tend to cluster together: each additional happy friend increases a person’s probability of being happy by about 9%.

The bad news, though, is that negative emotions are also contagious. Sadness, depression, fatigue, decreased energy and stress are all catching, but instead of steering clear of negativity, it binds us together: a common dislike of someone or something is a powerful social connector.

Networking for change

As a change agent, your success depends on harnessing that power. Birds of a feather flock together: people form relationships with similar people. This creates a conundrum for anyone making large-scale change, because it’s actually the disconnections in your social network are the key to the door between now and the future you envisage for your organisation.

When you hear the word ‘network’, you might sigh inwardly at the prospect of introducing yourself to people for the sole purpose of making contacts to further a goal. But this is an outdated view of a social network, and networking in this way doesn’t usually produce results.

Change-maker networks work differently. We can explore how through three main dimensions: how many relationships you have, how the people you know are all connected and how much the people in your network support your change.

How many relationships do you have?

In a network, the people with the most ties are at the centre. They’re high status opinion leaders, and set informal standards of behaviour. Their level of formal authority, however, is irrelevant. If a CEO wants to make changes to the way his organisation’s factories operate, one popular and influential factory worker can easily scupper the whole plan. Being at the centre of a network is critical to success, whatever your rank at work.

How are the people you know connected?

If you want to make big changes, you need to bridge disconnected groups. That means making friendship connections with people in different groups, who aren’t connected to each other. When you’re in a network like this – known as a ‘bridging network’ – you get access to novel information instead of hearing the same things over and over again, as you would in a ‘cohesive’ network. Here – where people are all connected to one another – people generally trust and support each other. But it’s an echo chamber, and better suited to use as a base to make small-scale change, not organisational transformation.

Transformation is divergent. It disrupts existing norms and practices, and to execute it you need to shift long-held values and practices that are taken for granted. From a bridging network, you can control the change message, tailoring it to different stakeholder groups. Because the individuals within it are unconnected, you avoid the gossip and group think of a cohesive network, and people can’t form a coalition against you. People in cohesive networks often report that instead of the support they expected when trying to instigate change, stakeholders joined forces against their efforts.

How do the people in your network support your change?

In most organisations, when it comes to organisational change, everyone falls on a spectrum of support, from resisters at one end through bystanders in the middle to helpers at the other end. The scale of your change is important here, as each category of person works differently depending on whether a change is divergent or incremental. With divergent, organisational change, resisters aren’t susceptible to social pressure and you probably won’t change their mind. They might, however, change yours, so keep them at arm’s length.

Bystanders sit on the fence. They have no strong opinion on your changes, but they are susceptible to social pressure so being personally close to them can tip the scales in your favour. Unlike resistors, it’s worth investing your time in bystanders. As for helpers, being close to them won’t make them more engaged. They already are engaged, so your time and effort is best spent on the bystanders. Take them out to lunch, ask them what they think and strengthen your relationship by connecting over common interests.

The importance of authenticity

A recent study showed that when we establish contacts for purely instrumental reasons we feel bad about ourselves. In this particular study, people said they felt ‘dirty’, or ‘gross.’ But if establishing and strengthening relationships furthers our goals, we should get better at it. This takes a change in focus and mindset.

From a learning perspective, making a genuine connection is key. That means approaching the relationship with a sense of curiosity and excitement, rather than feeling dread at the prospect of having to schmooze to achieve an aim. Remember that simply having a conversation can forge a powerful connection. Connect on genuine interests so there’s a real reason and opportunity to help each other. If the beginning part is authentic, the ensuing relationship will be too.

Instead of thinking about what you can take away from the potential relationship, consider what you can give. If you don’t think you have much, ask them for ways you can be helpful. There’s lots of evidence that what goes around does indeed come around.

Informal networks are a vital, yet often ignored, element of successful organisational change. Some leaders succeed in making spectacular transformations to their organisations, while others flounder. On the face of it they go about enacting change the same way but, underneath, something is different.

While formal authority is important – many studies have shown us how hard it is for people at the bottom of a hierarchy to drive change – it is far from sufficient. Formal authority can trick us into thinking we have power, when in reality it’s our informal influence that works the hardest.

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Comments (1)

Anna Aguilar 2 years, 10 months and 8 days ago

Great Article! another way to enhance your networking is to use 100AM networking app


What are log files?

Log files record and track computing events. Log files are extremely valuable in computing as they provide a way for system admins to track the operation of the system in order to spot problems and make corrections.

Why is logging important?

With proper log file tracking, businesses can either avoid or quickly rectify errors within their operating systems. Smart log tracking reduces downtime and minimizes the risk of lost data. Log data is typically sent to a secure host that acts as a common collection point before further processing by system admins.

Read our white paper: Using Mainframe Log Data for Operational Efficiency & Enhanced Security

Server log files are raw data points that can be useful in a variety of ways. For example, on a web browser, log files can contain valuable information about user sessions, individual users, rendering times, and keyword data.

In another way, log files are a trusted source of audit information by security professionals as they contain a full history of system activity such as access attempts, command line data, changes to sensitive information and more.

Incorporating log files into IT analytics

Precisely Ironstream integrates your critical security and operational log files from the mainframe and IBM i to next-gen analytics platforms.


Assistance kits provide a lifeline to refugees and migrants in Trinidad and Tobago amid COVID-19 restrictions

A woman and two children collect collect a hygiene kit
28 June 2021

Lucibel Mendoza waited patiently until it was her turn to receive one of the boxes being offered in Moruga, a small, rural town 93 kilometers away from Trinidad’s capital Port of Spain. Here, refugees and migrants like her had been struggling to get by alongside local communities after restrictions were put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19. This box was a lifeline for many of them.

“I give you all a million thanks for your support for us. It's a blessing," she said as she walked out, carrying her box in her arms. "We all appreciate this," she added.

Lucibel left her native Venezuela with her young son and 80-year-old mother to reach Trinidad and Tobago in early 2020. She settled in Moruga, a village along Trinidad's southern coastline, determined to support the family, her son who stayed behind. Arriving in Trinidad and Tobago just as the COVID-19 pandemic began made that goal nearly impossible to attain.

"It has been challenging because I haven't been able to get a steady job. The little that I earn, I send it to him,” Lucibel said. Like her, many refugees and migrants from Venezuela come to Trinidad and Tobago fleeing rising insecurity and lack of access to basic items like medicine and food. Many are struggling alongside Trinbagonian nationals to find or keep steady employment during the pandemic.

Your support for us is a blessing

Trinidad and Tobago is estimated to host 30,800 Venezuelan refugees and migrants according to the R4V platform. They are part of the over 5 million Venezuelans who have left their homes in one of the largest displacement situations worldwide. Many have sought safety and a new beginning in nearby countries.

As Lucibel settled in Moruga, the community saw scarcity rise as movement restrictions were put in place and COVID-19 infections began to increase. "As it stands, their life is in limbo; they are between a rock and a hard place. They want to survive and be able to work," said the founder of the Poverty Reduction Centre, a local organization that reached out to R4V partners to request additional support for Moruga residents, as rising unemployment among locals and migrants had put greater demands on the center to provide relief.

Over 1,000 hygiene kits were delivered to both Venezuelans and host community members in extreme vulnerability. Boxes of essential sanitary items like toothpaste, deodorant, and laundry detergent, among other items, together with information on public services, helped them stay safe during the pandemic.

The hygiene kit distribution project was a collaborative effort that began in May 2020 between R4V partners, NGOs, community and faith-based organizations, and schools that identified people in their communities who needed support. The Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard helped during the distribution by enforcing COVID-19 protocols and managing the numbers of people in the venue.

Like Lucibel, many people in need who were able to receive short-term assistance through such distribution drives expressed their gratitude for the initiative, for helping to ease the strain they are experiencing during the pandemic.


A young Rapetosaurus krausei discovered by paleontologists would have grown into a gigantic titanosaurus, if the creature had not died at a young age, prior to becoming fossilized. Researchers believe the animal was likely a few weeks old when it perished, millions of years ago.

Titanosaurs were the largest vertebrates ever to walk on dry land, growing to lengths of about 50 feet.

The dinosaur appears to have roughly the same body proportions as a fully grown titanosaur. This quality may have aided the growth of young members of the species, decreasing the time needed before their bodies become fully developed. The animal probably weighed about 7.5 pounds when the it hatched. By the time it died just a few weeks later, the animal already weighed nearly 90 pounds, and stretched 14 inches tall at the hip.

"Based on the compactness of its bones, the authors say that this dinosaur's limbs likely remained similar in shape throughout its life. This is in contrast to other dinosaur groups, such as theropods and ornithischians, whose limb proportions are different at birth than adulthood," The American Association for the Advancement of Science said.

Possessing a body structure much like adults suggests that these dinosaurs may have fended for themselves from a young age, compared to other species with more nurturing parents. Instead of waiting for its mother to bring food, the young dinosaurs were likely actively foraging for plants and other vegetation soon after hatching.

Researchers who examined the fossil believe the young dinosaur likely died of starvation during a drought. The remains were unearthed in Madagascar in 1998 and 2003. However, the findings were not identified correctly, and only recently have the fossils been carefully studied.

Few young specimens of sauropods have been examined, leading to a lack of information concerning the rate at which these animals matured.

Although rapetosaurs were likely independent at a young age, this does not mean that other closely related species of dinosaurs also possessed similar qualities. A growing body of research suggests that many ornithischians and theropods were good parents to their offspring.

The examination and research of the newly recognized baby titanosaur was detailed in the journal Science.


Mapped: Protectionism is on the rise as US and EU implement thousands of restrictive trade measures

Mapped: How old world economies are retreating to protectionism

As the UK aims to leave the European Union and make its way as a trading nation across the world, international trade secretary Liam Fox may want to spend some time worrying about the protectionist policies being implemented by dozens of countries.

It would seem the main offenders for creating harmful trade policies are the US and EU, according to an analysis by law firm Gowling WLG.

The research has revealed that the world’s top 60 economies have adopted more than 7,000 protectionist trade measures on a net basis since the financial crisis. These could have been made in order to shore up key industries, protect jobs and maintain a strategic international advantage in the wake of the financial crash.

With the UK aiming to strike a quick deal with the EU as it leaves the bloc, the report offers some food for thought.

Almost half of all EU trade policies - some 49pc - made since 2009 were harmful to international trade with countries outside the single market, Gowling found.

Trading with the EU is tough

With the EU closing its borders to those outside its membership since 2009, it makes it harder for countries outside the exclusive club to trade within it - which could be bad news for those seeking a post-Brexit deal between the EU and the UK.

The analysis shows that Britain stands on the edge of one of the world’s biggest protectionist blocs. Between 2009 and 2016, some 5,657 EU directives and measures can be seen as actively restrictive for trade.

Many countries in the EU are highly dependant on trade, with Germany seeing its trade equate to 87pc of its GDP.

But much of this is within the single market, with high EU-imposed tariffs for those outside the bloc, meaning that Germany received an estimated $20bn in tariffs over the 2009-16 period that the research covered.

Because of this, the researchers gave the UK a relatively high risk of being affected by protectionism implemented by other countries, having a 57pc dependency on trade as a percentage of GDP.

America First

Many have called for Prime Minister Theresa May to look to the other side of the Atlantic and strike a trade deal with the United States.

But the US has the biggest protectionist stance across the world - and with Donald Trump at the helm, more protectionist measures are expected.

Since 2009, the US has passed 1,297 economic or trade measures deemed to be ‘harmful’ to global trade, compared to just 206 regarded as liberalising, according to the research.

This can be seen in the recent move by US authorities to consider imposing duties of 300pc on Bombardier’s C Series jets, which American rival Boeing insists receive improper government subsidies. The wings of the C Series planes are made in Belfast.

This leads to a net number of 1,085 US protectionist measures - compared to India, the next highest, with 438.

Protectionism is on the rise everywhere

It's not just the US and the EU.

In a world where tariffs are now worth more than $400bn (£300bn), the report found that while globalised economics is still the norm in advanced markets, it is losing ground across the board.

While 15 of the 20 countries to have passed the highest number of trade-restricting policies since the financial crisis are advanced economies, many others have also imposed harmful measures.

India, Russia and Argentina have all imposed hundreds of harmful trade policies across the research period.

The Gowling WLG report concludes that borders are closing around the world, finding that more than 7,000 harmful trade measures have been made since 2009.

Which countries are moving away from protectionism?

While the general trend across the world's advanced economies is towards putting up borders, there are a few exceptions.

Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia have been loosening their borders since 2009, seemingly not content to follow the world's example for protectionist policies.

But even these countries may see trade tariffs as a potential revenue stream in the future, the report warns, responding to the rest of the world slapping higher tariffs on their exports.

The report's authors said: "Protectionism is complex and can be viewed positively or negatively depending on the country and market a business operates in."

For example further analysis has the UK as the world’s eighth biggest victim of protectionist trading measures since 2009, but it is not blameless for the rise of protectionism, as it is ranked sixth in the world for the net number of protectionist policies implemented against other countries.

"At the same time, while the EU reduces cross-border barriers to digital trade, it has already taken measures that were seen by some as discriminating against non-European service providers, such as fining Google $2.7bn for undermining competition. The US company regarded this as an example of anti-American protectionism and an ‘overreach’ of anti-trust laws."


How To Maintain A Permanent Growth Mindset

People can typically fall into two categories when it comes to the way your mind naturally works. From the day we stop going to school, we either sport a fixed mindset or foster a growth mindset. Because up until a certain age, we are more or less forced into cultivating a growth mindset. But once we’re full-fledged adults without anyone standing over our shoulder pushing us, the responsibility of growth is on us.

People often confuse a growth mindset with being flexible or open-minded or with having a positive outlook — qualities they believe they’ve simply always had. But that’s not true. A “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, skill level, emotional intelligence and creative ability are static givens, which we can’t change in any meaningful way. A “growth mindset,” on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities. What we think about ourselves and our abilities decides how we act and lead our life.

But how do you cultivate a permanent growth mindset?

Target one small negative belief first

Sit and think. What’s the one mental habit you’ve picked up that hurts your growth most?

Mine is judgment. I judge people for how they drive and lose my mind when I see someone litter. I get sucked into political debates on Twitter and come away feeling dirty.

I know that this tendency to judge is not serving me. It robs me of my mental energy, and I’ve targeted this part of my mindset to work on; to replace judgment with compassion.

Visualization creates our future

Think of scientists. They visualize the results they want out of an experiment and then figure out a way to get there. In fact, scientists at the Institute of Neurology in London have shown that those who visualize a better future are more likely to create one.

Seek out new challenges

Even though you may struggle or fail, the amount of growth you’ll experience through your willingness to engage in the process and try things that ask you to stretch in new ways will be powerful and could have a profound influence. Not only on other areas of your life, but on your approach to what it means to encounter challenge and difficulty in general.

Set learning goals instead of performance goals

Commit to learning every day as opposed to seeking goals that prove your worth. For example, instead of setting a goal to lose 30 pounds, commit to eating healthy every day. Instead of the goal of being a professional runner, commit to running every day.

Focusing on the process as opposed to the outcome helps us look for small, continuous improvements that add up over a period of time. By shifting to learning, we can consciously choose a path in which hard work, effort, deliberate practice and persistence will be the key to success.

Growth and success doesn’t come in a day. It’s a result of years of hard work in which learning never ends.

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Author: Samantha Welker


Kyan Makes Music

Content management system upgrade and partial redesign for a London based composer

Kyan Laslett is a commercial composer working primarily in the TV and film industries. His website provides a portfolio of his work across various platforms.

Kyan came to me because his website had three issues. The design was overly fussy, it did not work across all devices, and although it had a content management system, that system was too complicated for for a non-developer to use (which pretty much invalidates the whole point of having a CMS in the first place).

Simplifying the visual appearance of the site made the remaining tasks easier. Cleaner, more minimal layouts, naturally lend themselves to responsive adaptation.

Each page eventually consisted of a mosaic of tiles representing work done by Kyan over the years. On PCs and laptops the accompanying text would appear when the user rolled over each image. However, on tablets and phones (where there is no rollover state), so the text appeared permanently underneath the images.

The CMS was tricky because the client needed to use a number of different external hosts for his Portfolio samples, Youtube, Vimeo and SoundCloud, whereas other posts only required still images and text. A solution was found by using a combination of customised fields, extra categories and contextual logic to allow content from each of the different sources to be placed online quickly and seamlessly.


how to pronounce originality

how to improve pronunciation of originality

press buttons with phonetic symbols to learn about each sound.

press Play to play an example pronunciation of originality.

video examples of originality pronunciation

An example use of originality in a speech by a native speaker of american english:

“… reiterate the originality someone's here …”

meanings of originality

  1. The capacity to think independently or be inventive.
  2. The quality of being original or novel.
  3. Something original.


No Time for Caution: The crash of TAP Air Portugal flight 425

Aftermath of the crash of TAP 425. Image source: Alan Cordwell

On the 19th of November 1977, a fully loaded Boeing 727 struggled to land in darkness and rain at the rugged Portuguese island of Madeira. After being driven back twice, the pilots made one final attempt to land on the perilously short runway. But the 727 touched down well past the threshold, and despite using maximum braking power, the crew was unable to stop it in time. The plane flew off the end of the runway, plunged down a 28-meter embankment, and smashed into a bridge, shattering the fuselage and scattering burning wreckage onto the beach below. Of the 164 people on board, only 33 survived the fiery accident, making it Portugal’s deadliest plane crash ever at the time. But while the proximate causes were a misjudged approach speed, psychological pressures to land, and poor braking conditions, the real problem lay in the airport itself. Its runway was so short, the surrounding terrain so precipitous, that little margin for error existed. An accident was inevitable — it was simply a matter of time.

Madeira’s extremely rugged terrain makes it a popular tourist destination, and also a difficult place to build an airport. Image source: Thorsten Kuttig

The archipelago of Madeira is a group of several small islands and one large island in the Atlantic Ocean, situated some 1,000 kilometers southwest of Lisbon and 875 kilometers west of Casablanca. The main island of Madeira is made up of the eroded remnants of an extinct shield volcano rising from the ocean floor, resulting in a landscape of impossibly steep cliffs and ravines running straight down to the sea from its mountainous central spine, which reaches an altitude of 1,862 meters at Pico Ruivo. Although the island may have been known to Mariners as early as 72 BC, and appeared on maps in the 1330s, it was officially discovered and claimed for the Portuguese crown in 1419. Settlement began around 1425 with the establishment of the town of Funchal, which became the island’s main urban center. Today, the island is home to more than 289,000 people, of which over 110,000 live in Funchal. In addition to the permanent inhabitants, some 1.4 million tourists visit the island each year to see its stunning scenery and experience the local cuisine.

Madeira International Airport in the 1960s or 1970s. Image source: Juan Carlos Díaz Lorenzo

When the prominence of Madeira as a tourist destination began to rise in the early 1960s, it quickly became clear that the island needed an airport. But building one would be no easy task: after all, the only remotely level part of the island was already taken up by the city of Funchal. To overcome this problem, engineers and architects devised a runway that occupied a hilly peninsula between two bays, standing atop earthen fill placed between the hilltops. In 1964, the airport opened to traffic with a single 1,600-meter runway, perched atop a 58-meter-high mound within spitting distance of the beach. In addition to the precipitous drops on all sides, the runway itself was on an incline, its east end sitting 16 meters higher than the west end. Although it was theoretically just long enough for the new generation of jet airliners, such as the Sud Caravelle and Boeing 727, it had become clear by 1972 that the runway would need to be extended if it was to accommodate the ever increasing flow of tourists. However, despite the recognized need, by 1977 the runway extension plan still hadn’t broken ground.

TAP Air Portugal Boeing 727 CS-TBS, sister ship of the accident airplane, CS-TBR. Image source: Piergiuliano Chesi

On November 19th of that year, a Boeing 727 operated by Transportes Aéreos Portugueses, also known as TAP Air Portugal, prepared for a scheduled flight from Brussels to Funchal with a stopover in Lisbon. Designated as flight 425, the route would be flown by Captain João Lontrão, First Officer Miguel Guimarães Leal, and a flight engineer whose name has not been released.

To land at Madeira International Airport, pilots had to undergo special training that would prepare them for the difficult approach pattern and the extremely unpredictable winds that tend to form where the mountainous island meets the sea. The three pilots had all received this special qualification, and by all assessments were fully prepared for the difficult conditions they would likely encounter. That day, the pilots knew to expect widespread cumulonimbus cloud formations and possible thunderstorms in the vicinity of Madeira.

Map of the route of flight 425 with its designated alternate airport. Map source: Google

The flight from Brussels to Lisbon was entirely routine, and after landing, 156 passengers and 8 crew boarded the plane for the next leg, filling it nearly to capacity. Flight 425 took off for the approximately one-and-a-half-hour flight to Funchal at 7:55 p.m., cruising normally across the Atlantic Ocean until 9:10, when the pilots radioed the control tower on the island of Porto Santo and requested permission to begin their descent. That was when things started to get more complicated. The latest weather report, issued at 8:50, described widespread cumulonimbus formations with a cloud base at 1,500 feet and intermittent rain showers. During their approach briefing, the pilots noted that if the weather prevented them from landing in Madeira, their alternate airport would be Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, 340 kilometers to the south.

Madeira International Airport didn’t have an instrument landing system; only a visual approach could be used to reach the runway. This required the pilots to be able to maintain visual contact with the runway at all times. At night with scattered rain showers and significant cloud cover, this would be challenging.

At 9:18, as flight 425 lined up for an approach to runway 06 from the southwest, the controller in Funchal reported, “425, Funchal, for your information we have showers over the airport, now visibility is 3km.” Just minutes earlier the visibility had been 4–5km; conditions seemed to be worsening, and the pressure to land began to grow.

At 9:22, the controller reported that visibility had slightly improved, but the pilots of flight 425 still couldn’t see the airport. They requested that the runway lights be turned up to their maximum intensity, to which the controller replied that he had already done so. But in fact, not all of the lighting could be turned on simultaneously. With the way the circuitry had been installed, it was impossible to illuminate both the touchdown zone lighting and the Visual Approach Slope Indicator System (VASIS) at the same time. The VASIS is a set of four bright lights which change colour depending on the angle from which they are viewed. From the perspective of a pilot on approach, if all four lights are white, they’re too high; if all four lights are red, they’re too low; and if two are white and two are red, they’re on the optimal approach path. To help the pilots of flight 425 execute the visual approach, the controller had turned on the VASIS lighting, which meant that the lighting on the runway indicating the touchdown zone would be off.

Diagram of a Visual Approach Slope Indicator System in use. Image source: Adeel Nawab

After descending to an altitude of 980 feet, Lontrão and Leal still could not catch sight of the runway, despite the lights. Having reached the minimum descent altitude without visual contact, they had no choice but to go around and try again. The pilots reported to the controller that they were climbing back to 3,500 feet and would loop around to try landing on runway 24 — the same runway from the opposite direction — in the hope that conditions there would be better. This runway, while angled downhill, would also allow them to land into the wind.

At 9:33, with the airport in sight, flight 425 lined up to approach runway 24. But the shifting clouds foiled the approach a second time. At 9:34, the control tower asked, “Can you still see the runway?”

Flight 425 replied, “Negative, TAP425 is making a missed approach and is returning to the MAD [beacon].” At an altitude of just 600 feet, the pilots had lost sight of the runway, forcing another go-around. As they returned to the beginning of the approach pattern, flight 425 told the controller, “Okay, I was on final watching 24, and suddenly after passing MAD I completely lost visual. Now I’ll try one more approach, and if I can’t get in this time, we’ll go to Las Palmas.” The stakes had now been made plain: the third attempt would be the last before making a costly diversion to the Canary Islands.

The controller offered another option. “The front has been passing quickly,” he said. “Now it’s holding on longer. I think if you wait, maybe you can land.”

But the pilots of flight 425 could not afford to sit in a holding pattern and wait for conditions to improve. The pilot on the radio replied, “I can’t, I only have fuel for one more approach.” Basic flying rules dictate that pilots must not keep holding or making approach attempts for so long that they become committed to landing, without enough fuel to reach their designated alternate airport. In 1970, the crew of ALM Antillean Airlines flight 980 made that mistake, attempting to land too many times at Sint Maarten before diverting to the Virgin Islands. The plane ran out of fuel before reaching St. Croix, forcing the pilots to ditch in the open ocean. 23 people lost their lives. Similarly, the crew of flight 425 knew that if they waited too long to divert, they could be forced into a situation in which landing at Madeira was impossible but they lacked sufficient fuel to go anywhere else. Therefore, it would be unwise to enter a holding pattern and wait for conditions to improve — after all, what if they didn’t?

ALM 980 underscored the importance of diverting in a timely manner. Image source: The Weather Channel

At 9:44, flight 425 lined up to land for the third and final time. The pilots had the lights of runway 24 firmly in sight; success hovered tantalizingly before their eyes. The controller reported that a major downpour had begun near the control tower, but the pilots could still see some of the runway lights protruding from the edge of the rain shaft, so they pressed onward. For a brief moment, they seemed to lose it, but then at the last moment the lights hove back into view.

“425, for your information, I now have calm wind on runway 24,” the controller said. “Will you try it?”

“Okay,” said flight 425, “I’m on final and I’ll land.”

“Okay, it’s calm, cleared to land,” the controller replied. This was the last anyone heard from the 727.

Simulation of flight 425’s long, slippery landing. Video source: Rádio e Televisão de Portugal

Flight 425 came in hot, passing over the threshold 44kph (24 knots) faster than the normal landing speed for Madeira’s runway 24. The pilots flared the airplane, raising the nose for landing, but at that speed — combined with the gentle downward slope of the airport — the 727 started “floating” down the runway, skimming along a couple of meters above the surface, unable to touch down. The plane overshot the normal touchdown zone by a significant margin before finally making contact with the ground nearly half way down the 1600-meter runway, still traveling 35kph (19 knots) faster than the optimal landing speed. Even under normal conditions, this would have been cutting it close. But these were not normal conditions. The downpour that drenched the airport only moments earlier had left a layer of water on the runway which was slow to drain off. The runway had been carved with crosswise grooves to allow water to run off to the sides, but over time these had worn down enough to allow some quantity of water to instead run straight along the runway toward the downhill end. As a result, when the 727 finally touched down, it did so on a surface contaminated with a continuous layer of water. Passengers on board flight 425 would later describe so much standing water that they seemed to be landing on the ocean instead of the runway.

When a wheel passes through standing water at high speed, a wedge of water builds up in front of the tire and lifts it off the surface, creeping underneath it and preventing it from making contact with the runway. The plane then begins hydroplaning, sliding out of control on top of a thin layer of water. Flight 425 hydroplaned immediately upon touchdown, so when the pilots slammed on the brakes to bring the plane to a stop, they proved completely ineffective. Desperate to slow down, the crew then applied maximum reverse thrust, but they were already out of control. An errant rudder input sent the plane skidding to the right, then back to the left again. Flight 425 slid wildly across the runway, rapidly eating up the remaining up distance with no hope of stopping in time. Seconds later, it ran out of room. The 727 flew off the precipitous west end of the runway at 145 kilometers per hour, and for a moment, 164 lives hung in the balance.

Simulation, continued.

Moving too slowly to fly but too fast to stop, flight 425 plunged down the 28-meter embankment at the foot of the runway, clearing the airport perimeter road before smashing tail-first into a disused stone bridge spanning a dry ravine. The brutal impact shattered the fuselage into four pieces and broke off both wings, leaving the tail section high and dry atop the bridge while the rest of the plane cartwheeled onto the rocky beach below. The right wing sheared off on impact and fell on the inland side of the bridge, while the cockpit plowed nose-first into the tideline, where it was crushed underneath the disintegrating passenger cabin. A fireball erupted over the crashing surf as the fuel tanks exploded, setting the wreckage ablaze. Against all odds, some people managed to survive the fiery crash: a few passengers from the last row found themselves still strapped into their seats on top of the bridge, protected from the inferno raging below them. Quite a few others had been thrown from the plane as it broke apart, including some who landed in the ocean, where they too avoided the worst of the flames.

My original drawing of the moment of impact.

Among the survivors was 17-year-old Emanuel Torres, who found himself immersed in seawater with only minor injuries. In a spur-of-the-moment act of heroism, he picked up a 2-year-old boy struggling in the surf and carried him to safety. His was not the only brave act that night. Witnesses who rushed to the scene fought fire and smoke to cut wounded passengers free from their seat belts, dragging them away in the nick of time. Airport firefighters also saw the explosion off the end of runway 24 and sped toward it, only to discover that the plane had fallen down off the elevated airport and onto the beach, forcing them to drive back the way they came and down onto surface streets to access the site. By the time they got there, local police and firefighters had already arrived and had set about saving the survivors.

Families of the passengers soon gathered at the airport, distraught and desperate for news of their loved ones. In an effort to comfort them, emergency workers told them that there were “many survivors,” despite knowing that this was a lie. In all, first responders and the survivors themselves did manage to save the lives of 31 passengers and 2 flight attendants, most of them suffering from serious injuries. But this paled in comparison to the 131 who died (including all three pilots, whose bodies were never found). At the time, it was the deadliest aircraft accident in Portuguese history — a scandal that rocked the country. The question had to be raised: was Madeira International Airport inherently dangerous?

TAP 425 was the deadliest crash on Portuguese soil until 1989, when 144 people died in the crash of an Independent Air Boeing 707 in the Azores. Video source: the Associated Press

The investigation by Portugal’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation uncovered an unfortunate convergence of factors that doomed flight 425. The excess speed on landing caused a very late touchdown, where optimal braking conditions would have been needed to stop in time. But the poor drainage capabilities of the landing surface, as well as a possibly dangerous accumulation of rubber on the runway, prevented the plane from decelerating normally. Flight 425 hydroplaned all the way down the runway, bleeding off relatively little speed in the process. The rudder input on touchdown that sent the plane into a sideways skid also removed any possibility of making a late go-around. Furthermore, investigators found a potential design flaw in the 727’s anti-skid system. The system wouldn’t activate if a skid began immediately on touchdown because it could not detect a skid if the wheels never started turning in the first place. Several additional factors may have contributed to the abnormally long glide before touchdown. First, the absence of touchdown zone lighting — turned off so that the VASIS could be turned on — might have misled the pilots about where the zone was located. Second, the pilots were slightly late in deploying the spoilers and speed brakes, which help reduce lift and force the plane into the runway. And third, they retracted the flaps before touching down, reducing drag and making it harder to bleed off excess speed. After putting this long list of factors together, it became clear how flight 425 could have sped off the edge of the runway at 145kph.

Wreckage of the 727, seen under the bridge. Image source: Márcio Sousa

However, the official investigation did not examine any of these factors very deeply. For example, the DGCA made no attempt to explain why the pilots might have landed 35kph faster than normal. Were they not watching their speed, or did they do it on purpose? The most likely explanation is that, under pressure to land, they focused too much of their energy on trying to maintain visual on the runway and failed to monitor their airspeed during the last minute of the descent. The official report also had little to say about the failure of the grooves on the runway surface, which indicated inadequate maintenance by Madeira International Airport. While recognizing that the resulting poor drainage could have contributed to the crash, the investigation did not attempt to ascertain why the grooves had been allowed to degrade, a fact that led some to believe that the DGCA was deliberately avoiding the subject. In its final report, the agency made only three recommendations: that the airport consider modifying its landing aids (so VASIS and touchdown zone lighting could be used simultaneously); that strict adherence to minimum conditions for approach to Funchal be emphasized; and that weather observation in the area be improved. None of these really addressed the underlying issues that caused the accident.

The tail somehow remained perched atop the bridge. Image source: País ao Minuto

In short, the investigation failed to look at the bigger picture. While certain mistakes and unfortunate circumstances directly led to the disaster, the outcome was in fact the inevitable result of an airport that lacked an adequate margin for error. The runway at Madeira International Airport was unusually short and sloped downhill, had large drop-offs on both ends with no overrun areas, and was frequently battered by unpredictable winds and heavy rain. While it was possible to land safely on this runway most of the time, these reduced margins meant that a combination of factors that wouldn’t result in a crash at any other airport could end in disaster if they occurred at Madeira. That a plane would eventually encounter a set of conditions that sent it off the end of the runway was all but certain. And without any safeguards, any runway excursion would inevitably end in disaster.

View of the crash scene from the beach. Image source: Expresso

Madeira’s notorious reputation struck again only one month after the accident. On the 18th of December that same year, SATA flight 730, a Sud Caravelle operating a charter flight full of Swiss holiday-makers, crashed into the sea while on approach to runway 06, killing 36 of the 57 people on board. Investigators found that the accident occurred due to an incorrect altimeter setting that led the pilots to believe they were 300 feet higher than they actually were. Even after losing sight of the runway lights, they pressed onward, apparently determined to land regardless.

A SATA Sud Aviation Caravelle similar to the one involved in the flight 730 crash at Madeira. Image source: Richard Vandervord

Like TAP flight 425 before it, SATA flight 730 underscored the tendency among pilots to take risks while landing at isolated island runways like Madeira, where a diversion could be extremely costly. Had the pilots of flight 425 decided to divert to Las Palmas, the airline would have had to pay tens of thousands of dollars to put up the passengers in hotels and fly them onward to Funchal the following day. The pilots’ judgment would have been questioned and they might have faced criticism within the company. They had also had a very long day: the crew of flight 425 had been on duty for over 13 hours at the time of the accident, and they likely were looking forward to a nice hotel bed. They succumbed to “get-there-itis,” the deadly affliction that has made countless pilots take unacceptable risks while trying to cut short a long working day. Unfortunately, at an airport like Madeira, taking such risks could have disastrous consequences.

For Portuguese authorities, it was clear that more tragedies would follow unless the airport’s margins of error could be improved. Immediately after the accident, TAP Air Portugal replaced the Boeing 727–200 with the smaller 727–100 on flights to Madeira. In search of a more long-term solution, the airport established a timeline for the extension of runway 24. A costly effort expanded the runway platform outward over the area where TAP flight 425 crashed, adding 200 meters to its total length. (The expansion involved the demolition of the stone bridge that had been damaged in the crash to make way for the new perimeter road.) Even after this extension opened for use in 1986, the runway remained dangerously short. More improvements would be needed, but the airport had run up against a confounding terrain problem that seemingly prevented any further expansion. Both ends of the runway ran right up to the ocean, and building the earthen platform far out over the water would be impossible.

The extended 1800-meter runway as it appeared in 1990. Image source: Peter Forster

Over the next 14 years, the airport undertook an ambitious plan to extend the runway by more than 900 meters using a concrete “bridge” suspended over the bay on stilts. Engineers drilled support piles 18 meters into the ground to anchor them firmly in bedrock, creating a strong foundation for a forest of several hundred concrete columns that would hold up the elevated runway surface. When the landmark project was finally finished in 2000, it brought Madeira’s runway up to the standard length for a major international airport, allowing it to handle aircraft as heavy as a Boeing 747. Today, travelers to Madeira can have the unique experience of driving underneath the runway on the island’s main highway while large airliners land directly overhead. In recognition of this unique and impressive architectural feat, the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering gave the project its annual “Outstanding Structure Award” for 2004, marking the first and only time that an airport runway has received such recognition.

The new elevated runway “bridge” shortly after its completion in 2000. Image source: Mikael Hultkvist

Today, it is far less likely that a similar accident could occur at Madeira International Airport (which was recently renamed in honour of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo). But the airport still ranks among the most dangerous in Europe due to its unpredictable wind shear conditions, which also make it a popular destination for plane watchers who capture harrowing footage of airliners trying to land amid extreme gusts and turbulence. And some special requirements remain in place, namely that only the captain can take off and land, that captains must receive special simulator training before flying to Funchal, and that maximum braking power must always be used on landing. Nevertheless, there hasn’t been another fatal accident in Madeira since the two in 1977, and with the vast improvements that have been made in the 42 years since, that record will hopefully continue far into the future. It’s heartbreaking that changes to this airport only came after 131 people lost their lives — but everyone who flies to Madeira today should remember this sacrifice when their plane rolls safely to a stop on the runway.

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Mercurial Essays

Free Essays & Assignment Examples

Jazz Music- The Roots Of Our Everyday Life (667 words)

Most early jazz was played in small marching bands or by solo pianists. Besides ragtime and marches, the repertoire included hymns, spirituals, and blues. The bands played this music at picnics, weddings, parades, and funerals. Characteristically, the bands played hymns on the way to funerals and lively marches on the way back. Although blues and ragtime had arisen independently of jazz, and continued to exist alongside it, these genres influenced the style and forms of jazz and provided important vehicles for jazz improvisation.

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Around the turn of the 20th century, the earliest fully documented jazz style emerged, centered in New Orleans, Louisiana. This city is often called the ?cradle of jazz? (?History 101? 3). In this style, the trumpet carried the melody, the clarinet played showy countermelodies, and the trombone played rhythmic slides and sounded the root notes of chords or simple harmony. Below this basic trio, the tuba or string bass provided a bass line and drums the rhythmic accompaniment. New Orleans jazz was just the beginning of an entire sweep across the county.

The first true virtuoso soloist of jazz was Louis Armstrong. He was a dazzling improviser, technically, emotionally, and intellectually. He changed the format of jazz by bringing the soloist to the forefront, and in his recording groups, the ?Hot Five? and the ?Hot Seven? (Porter 2), demonstrated that jazz improvisation could go far beyond simply ornamenting the melody. He became the first well known male jazz singer, and also set standards for all later jazz singers, by creating scat singing: singing meaningless syllables instead of words, not unlike instrumental improvisation.

During the 1920s, large groups of jazz musicians began to play together, forming the big bands that became so popular in the 1930s and early 1940s, (the swing era). The development of the big band can be majorly credited to the achievement of Duke Ellington and his revolutionary song, ?It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing? (?Jazz Music? 54). This soon became the new word for music played with a happy, relaxed beat.
A new style also started in the early 1940’s when a group of musicians started experimenting with more complicated chord patterns and melodic ideas. This group included trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, and pianists Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. This new approach became known as bebop, or bop. Most bop musicians had exceptional techniques that enabled them to play long, dazzling phrases with many notes.

In the 1940’s and 1950’s, jazz began to lose its reputation as a ?lowdown? music, and gained acceptance among intellectuals and college students. Jazz concerts became popular. Duke Ellington and other big band leaders gave many concerts, and a group of improvising musicians made a series of nationwide tours called ?Jazz at the Philharmonic? (?Jazz Music? 56).

Jazz music was revolutionary and is still changing and improving, even today. The music world today would not be the same without the influence of these amazing and breathtaking musicians.

?History 101.? Jazz Central: The true home of jazz. Jul. 1998. 1-4.

?Jazz.? Webster’s New World Dictionary. Cleveland, OH: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1989. 232.

?Jazz Music.? The World Book Encyclopedia. 1974 ed.

Porter, Lewis. ?Jazz.? The 1998 Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. Aug. 1997. 1-12.

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Why You Should Quit Smoking

Ask yourself WHY?

In truth no one should need the “whys” of stopping smoking being reminded to them, but in case you waver and feel like prevaricating you can always save this article and take the occasional horrified look at http://whyquit.com/whyquit/BryanLeeCurtis.html .

Be warned, it’s uncomfortable viewing!


What Games Are Popular With Kids?

Games are the physical representation of ideas and concepts, conveyed through the medium of play. A game is usually a structured form of action, normally undertaken for fun or entertainment, and occasionally used as an educational instrument. Games are different from work, which generally is carried out for remuneration, or for creative expression, and from architecture, which is a more abstract form of artistic or aesthetic elements. The purpose of a game is to provide entertainment, or to pass the time, or both. However, games are also used in education, training, sports and war, for the purpose of improving mental alertness, reaction time and ability.

Training can be effective only when games are suspended between the two teams at the early stage. Such games are called practice games. In a single game, a specific number of players may be engaged on each side, and each player may play only one attack or defense phase for a limited period of time. The purpose of a single game of practice is to develop a single skill, or develop or improve upon a specific ability, or both.

Single games should be planned according to the team that wants to practice. This means that each team member should know his or her role and obligation on the team, such as holding the goal, or playing a certain role in a balanced attack. Each player should be made aware of the aim of the team so that the necessary actions are taken during the course of the game. It is important that there should be some balance between offensive and defensive strategies, or vice versa.

Single-player games are much simpler than multi-player games, as there is no need for communication among players on what they should do or why they should do it. There may also be more control over the course of the game as there are only a limited number of players during the game, thus, there is an advantage if one is able to execute his or her strategy well. Single games allow for greater individual focus. However, there is also a limitation on the number of mistakes a single player may make during a single game. If a team member fails to execute his or her plan for the entire duration of the game, that player forfeits his or her game.

Multi-player games require communication from each team member. However, because there are more players on each team, there are more opportunities for everyone to communicate with each other. The advantage of multi-player games is that a player who is good at defense can help out his or her team mates by allowing them to use their abilities to perfection. Players can also work together to defend or attack the opponents’ base using different weapons such as guns, bows, and swords. However, working with friends is also possible and this will provide children with more fun and excitement. As much fun as a battle with the computer can be, playing a friendly match against a classmate or friend can provide children with just as much enjoyment.

The most popular games for kids usually revolve around action or adventure. Adventure games involve characters going on quests, solving puzzles, or fighting enemies. Sports games involve sports and physical activities such as running, jumping, and throwing various types of objects. Strategy games include mastering several games and competing against the computer in order to become the best. In general, the more entertaining a game is, the more popular it is and the more diverse the selection of games is the wider a variety of games will be.


Vehicle Dealership Agreement Sample

Details of the nature of the businesses of both parties are mentioned here. The type of vehicles manufactured by the company can also be described here. As a general rule, people confuse dealer agreements with distribution agreements. A trader and a trader play an important role in the supply of goods to the market. They have similarities, which is why their definitions are generally mixed. The main difference between the two contracts is that of the people who participate in them. The parties to a dealer agreement are the dealer and distributor, while the parties to a distribution agreement are the distributor and the production company. Distributors buy products from manufacturers and sell them to distributors. Traders buy goods from merchants and market them to customers. Distributors focus on direct trade in products to consumers, while distributors focus on obtaining supplies from manufacturers. Compared to traders, traders consume less capital.

Recognizing what is for sale is a must, especially for an example of car contracts. The model of the vehicle, the identification number and the same type are shown. The same applies to the completion of the product when it comes to a sale of new or used cars. In addition, prices need to be clarified. The simple indication of the total price is not detailed enough, as it is important to know what causes certain amounts. Price indications may cover documentation, registration fees, dealer fees and others. Do not complete the signature line if conditions and reflections are lacking. In fact, sanctions such as those that are contrary to the treaty are part of those considerations. The means to deal with the consequences of these sanctions must be included on the preparation form.

If someone does not meet their obligations under the agreement, they know what the consequences will be. They`re checking the conditions. Finally, you make fair and realistic reflections for those who must be honored. All companies start with a plan or scheme, so the first thing to do is create a SMART business plan. Then you have to register your business in your state. In your state, you may need to obtain an Internal Revenue Service identification number. Then you must obtain a license from the motor vehicle department. After receiving all the requirements, you must first be aware of all national and federal laws relating to car dealerships.

Finally, you can buy used vehicles for your lot. Have you signed a privacy policy or verified the full details of certain online terms and agreements? Believe it or not, the Guardian has found a study that found a study that found that the majority of people barely read terms of use or online contracts. If you put that statement in relation to car contracts, everyone has to take the time to read and understand what is in those documents. Therefore, in the end, you could sign something with which you hardly agree. The question is whether you know the common parts of these car contracts. Take a look at the standard parts you`d notice in car contracts: in addition to car purchase contracts, there are also other applications for car contracts. For example, a property or sale loan contract, in which a car buyer receives financial assistance from the seller or owner in the form of a loan. Although, the monthly payment with interest is intended to cover the loan.

Another example is the auto repair contract, which focuses on the relationship between a vehicle owner and a car mechanic when a regular car service takes place. And these examples mentioned above are just a few examples of car contracts. In addition to price information, it is also essential to clarify financing conditions. Down payment fees, exchange value, credit interest rate, payment plan and maturity are most likely covered here. There should be a mutual agreement for both customers and merchants.


Is it possible for AI to ever be fare? Are we prepared for the 4th industrial revolution? How can AI be used as a force for justice? Those and other questions around one of the most revolutionary technologies in history, Artificial Intelligence, are discussed in this podcast that gives voice to under-represented and controversial points of view around the subject.

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Urocystis glabella Vánky & R.G. Shivas

Sori in the leaves and leaf sheaths, as linear grey blisters up to 3 cm long, or as irregular swellings 2 mm wide, at first covered by the epidermis which ruptures exposing the black semi-agglutinated to powdery mass of spore balls.

Spore balls globose, ovoid, ellipsoidal to slightly irregular, 25–60 × 20–40 µm, medium to dark reddish brown, composed of (0–) 1–6 (–8) spores and a usually completely enveloping layer of sterile cells.

Spores subglobose, ovoid, ellipsoidal, usually irregular, rounded-subpolyhedral, often with 1 or several flattened sides, 13.0–16.0 (–18.5) × 9.5–14.5 µm, medium to dark reddish brown; wall uniformly c. 0.5 µm thick, smooth.

Sterile cells globose, ellipsoidal, often irregular, 8–25 µm long, yellowish brown, usually not collapsed; wall uneven, 1.5–5.0 µm thick, smooth, thinner on the free surface.

Spore germination not known.

Host family: Hypoxidaceae
Host species: Hypoxis glabella R.Br.
Hypoxis pusilla Hook.

States & Territories: SA, VIC

Three other species, U. hypoxis Thaxter, U. thaxteri Vánky  and U. aurea Vánky, also occur on Hypoxis, but none is known from Australia. Urocystis thaxteri and U. hypoxis have spore balls composed of significantly more spores than those of U. glabella. The South African species, U. thaxteri has balls of (3–) 5–25 (or more?) spores, and the North American U. hypoxis has balls of (1–) 3–10 (–15) spores. The spores, sterile cells and spore balls of U. glabella are larger than those of the U. aurea (from India), which has spore balls 20–40 × 20–32 µm and spores 9.5–16.0 × 8–12 µm.