Sam Ghandchiسام قندچي Scientific Worldview and Meaning of Life - Second Edition
Sam Ghandchi

جهان بینی علمی و معنای زندگی- ویرایش دوم

P.S. 7/21/20: This article is from the Featured Topics. No change has been made to the text of this article in this new edition and only footnote 7 has been added. SG

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During Middle Ages the dominant worldview in European thought, depicted a world which started with the story of creation and every human being had a place in that Grand Divine Design. In other words, meaning of life was to play the role which was intended for the individual in that grand design. For those who believed in the Grand Divine Design and its Purpose, the Medieval philosophical-religious vision was a strong rock to stand on, and gave meaning to life, and of course for those who did not like to be a pawn in a grand divine scheme, such understanding of the world, was suffocating. In Medieval societies of other Abrahamic religions such as Islam, the situation was not much different. With the inception of scientific revolution in Europe, the Grand Devine Design fell apart, from the Earth which with Copernican Revolution fell from the center of the universe to the status of a planet encircling the Sun, to the results of Darwinian scientific findings which proved the humans to be the continuation of generations of primates (1).

In other words, the Grand Divine Design in which the humans occupied a certain place, fell apart and at the same time, the scientific view, did not have the same meaningful feeling of a Divine Design, and the majority who saw their life to be meaningful in the scheme of a Divine Design and Purpose, were left with an inner vacuum. Of course, in societies where the Abrahanic religions were not dominant, such as India and China, and to some extent among the mystics and Sufis of Europe and Middle East, the individual's meaning of life, was understood as some kind of a personal journey, for example, in the Buddhist meditation. In that world view, the place of an individual is not defined like the Catholic Church, and for example in Zen (2), each individual discovers the meaning life for herself/himself, and as the Buddhists say, anybody can become the Buddha. Thus, in those non-Abrahamic religions such as Buddhism, scientific thought did not have that unsettling effect on the place of individual in the world of existence, compared to the effect of weakness of belief in Medieval Grand Design, ending in an inner vacuum.

Science answers the "how" questions, e.g., how long it takes the Earth to revolve around itself or to encircle the Sun, and science does not care about "why" there should be an Earth, whether it encircles the Sun or not. Plato and Aristotle each in their own way answered to the two questions of "how" and "why" and did not answer to these questions in a Buddhist meditative approach, but looked for an answer in the external world outside the mind; Catholic Church till the 12th Century followed Plato and after that, followed Aristotle, and its Divine Design, was in response to the "why" of the world, with the story of Creation. In reality, the first question of "how" which science answers, was the same as Aristotelian material cause and efficient cause (3) and the second question of "why" was the same as the Plato and Aristotle's formal cause and Aristotle's Final cause, in the four Aristotelian causes, and in the era of rationalism, the Final Cause was finally dropped from the Modern philosophy by Spinoza (4).

Therefore, after the scientific revolution we enter a world where we are able to know the origin, components and future of the world a lot more accurately and we even know that Milky Way will be destroyed in a collision with Andromeda Galaxy, and at that time our Sun will still be alive. In other words, Aristotle's efficient cause, is the main focus of the scientists of the Modern Times and even biology, which was the origin of Aristotle's Final Cause, removes it from that discipline and nobody talks of Aristotelian entelechy anymore, and in the era of modern science everything is explained by efficient causes. Thus after the scientific revolution, despite more knowledge of origin, components and future of the universe, the strong foundation of Purpose which the believers of Abrahamic religions saw in their Divine Design and walked on that hard rock, was gone, and a kind of inner vacuum ensued in their philosophical outlook after the scientific revolution, which hit the people who previously relied on the Divine Design of Abrahamic sacred books.

In such situation, two nonreligious currents of Marxism and Nazism became the semi-religious systems  which in their own ways, depicted a grand design of the world.  The first one depicted a world with its historical materialism which started with a classless primitive communism and ended with a classless society of a higher order of world Communism and the individual in the Marxist view sought meaning for himself/herself that was to some extent comparable to the Grand Divine Design of the Medieval Times (5). Fascism with its superior race doctrine tried to create a new hope for those looking for a meaning of life in such racist imaginations to reach the superman of Nietzsche. The reality is that science has never had such claims, but since science had created the vacuum in the hearts of those who sought meaning of life in Divine Grand Designs, a place was opened for Marxism, Fascism and other similar ideologies.

Is the world materialistic as the Marxists say? The reality is that science has never made such a claim and incidentally the scientists at CERN have shown that anti-matter is a reality (6). Does science direct us to dialectical method that Marxists learned from Hegel, or dialectics is useful as a method just like trial and error and other analytic methods such as induction and deduction, and not necessarily the best, and today statistical methods and neural networks are even more effective and none of them is the final method for human thought and many of the issues of methodology of science that were discussed from Aristotle to Descartes (7) to Kant and Popper (8) are still issues of discourse. Therefore, the rejection of both semi-religions of Marxism and Fascism which tried to create a semi-Divine Design, but with Earthly elements, is obvious. Can a general view of the world and humanity make a specific place for an individual and this way to free the individual from the inner vacuum and reinstate a purposeful life?

Surely for someone who is not looking for a Santa Claus, these realities we know are more meaningful than what was told to people in Medieval Times as the Grand Design by the Church. Thus it is obvious that as we go forward, our view of the whole world is richer and certainly the place of the individual in this complex, is not announced by science, and each individual, group, nation and the whole humanity can determine it by themselves. Of course, if we look more accurately the philosophical views reported by Aristotle about those preceding him and his contemporary philosophers, are almost the same as the main philosophical tendencies that human society has carried with it till today and a simple comparison of the views described by Aristotle, of atomists of his time (9), with the view of Bertrand Russell of Logical Atomism (10), shows this reality, and the reason is because humans have not changed much since 2000 years ago. Therefore until the time that we have developed sentient beings with major difference with humans (11), or until we find such sentient beings, i.e. the so-called ET, we cannot expect very different philosophical views of the universe. But if this is inner vacuum, the Medieval vision was much more vacuous, even though for humanity, in its infancy, Santa Claus seems more real, and science of reality, seems like a vacuum.

The following link is to a music piece called "Western Spaces" which I personally liked to listen to, for meditation, that may not be necessarily useful for the reader, and even for this author 40 times of listening was needed to begin to become meaningful:

Need to note that the above is not the whole album of "Western Spaces." Thirty years ago I wrote an article about this kind of music that may be useful for the reader (12). Certainly today there are better pieces of this music and newer and more interesting writings about it; unfortunately I have not followed this realm all these years.

Hoping for a democratic and secular futurist republic in Iran,

Sam Ghandchi
27, 2017

1. Philosophy of Science in 20th Century-Third Edition

فلسفه علم در قرن بیستم-ویرایش سوم

2. Jack Li: Zen Meditation جک لی-ذن
Wakefulness and Enlightenment

بیدار اندیشی و روشن بینی

3. Futurism and Aristotle's Pluralism

آینده نگری و پلورالیسم ارسطو

4. Spinoza's Refutation of Teleology

اسپینوزا در رد علت غائی

5. کن فیکون مارکسیستی

6. Beyond Matter: Realm of Religion or Science

فراسوی ماده: عرصه مذهب یا علم

7. Descartes and Laity

دکارت و لائیکات -مردم عادی غیر روحانی یا غیرمتخصص

8. تأملی فلسفی: خردگرائی و آینده نگری-ویرایش دوم

9. Futurism and Aristotle's Pluralism

آینده نگری و پلورالیسم ارسطو

10. Pluralism and Russell's Logical Atomism

پلورالیسم و اتمیسم منطقی راسل
11. New Variant to Meet Human Needs-An Electronic Book

واریانت جدید برای تأمین نیازهای بشر- کتاب الکترونیک

12. What is New Age Music

موسیقی عصر جدید چیست؟

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یادداشتی درباره آغاز زمان هاوکینگ
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خدا و ما -ویرایش دوم
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صوفیگری و تقدیر گرائی- یک یادداشت کوتاه
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مسأله آرمانگرائی نیست، نبود جامعه باز است

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Is Socialism More Just?Second Edition

آیا سوسیالیسم عادلانه تر است؟ویرایش دوم

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پسامدرنیسم شکل دهنده اسلامگرائی

Modern Futurism

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پلورالیسم در اندیشه غرب - کثرت گرائی
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اندیشه مارکسیستی و مونیسم -یکتا گرائی

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گفتگویی با ری کرزوایل در مورد خودآگاهی

Featured Topics

متون برگزیده سام قندچی

For a Secular Democratic & Futurist Republican Party in Iran


You might not be aware of your electrolyte levels on a regular basis, but you could be experiencing symptoms that indicate they’re out of balance. If electrolyte levels are significantly low or high in the body, health issues are likely to develop or get worse.

Electrolytes are essential minerals necessary for the body’s metabolism — the many chemical reactions needed to create energy and sustain life. They’re called electrolytes because when these minerals are dissolved in a liquid they form positive or negative electrically charged ions.

The electrolytes are calcium, chloride, magnesium, phosphate, potassium and sodium. They’re considered essential minerals because we can’t live without them but our bodies don’t make them on their own. Essential minerals have to be ingested through eating, drinking or supplements.

Electrolytes play an important role in every major metabolic function, including blood pressure and body fluid regulation, muscle function, and transmitting signals through our nervous system.

We’ve rounded up six signs that you might have an electrolyte imbalance and what to do about it. If you have some of these symptoms, we share some great whole food sources to help you heal.

6. Severe Dehydration

The first sign you might have an electrolyte imbalance is when experiencing symptoms of severe dehydration. This is likely because your blood sodium levels have become too high, a condition called hypernatremia. Severe hydration can include symptoms of heavy thirst, confusion, feeling agitated, and could become serious enough to lead to seizures and result in a coma.

Drinking more water throughout the day can help prevent dehydration from occurring, if your body is absorbing sodium, potassium and other electrolytes properly.

5. Signs of Overhydration

It’s rare to drink so much water that you’re overhydrated, but it’s certainly possible. Hyponatremia (overhydration) is caused by excessively low sodium in the blood. Conditions that can lead to overhydration from low sodium include diabetes, hypothyroidism and severe diarrhea. People who take antidepressants or diuretics are also susceptible to overhydration, depending on the medication’s influence on sodium levels in the body.

If you’re overhydrated, you could experience symptoms like fatigue, weakness, vomiting, and confusion. Fermented foods, like sauerkraut, pickles and kimchi, are great whole food sources of sodium for raising your levels back up to a healthy range.

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The last few decades have seen the emergence of a dark evil force with Grakus’ powers strengthening with each passing day. However some humans are born with the special ability to fight such dark forces. Arjuna, the son of a fisherman, is one such example, although he himself is unaware of his abilities… as he is not really the son of the fisherman, but in reality the heir of the royal couple Raja Adipura and Permaisuri Rupasari.

On his 18th birthday, Arjuna accidentally unleashes his magical powers while trying to break up a fight. It is at this point that Grakus realises that Adipura’s descendant is alive and immediately sends his top lieutenants, Lang Kajai & Nading to exterminate Arjuna. Meanwhile this event also enlightens, Pendita Dzulkarnain, a shaman, of Arjuna’s existence and he also sends his warriors, Satria Aduka and Suria in search of Arjuna, so as to train him to fight the dark forces and save mankind.

Will Pendita’s warriors find Arjuna before Grakus’lieutenants… thereby allowing Arjuna to maximisehis true capabilities and fight the evil forces? Enter the world of Arjuna and join KRU Studios in thisexciting series where all will be revealed.


Lists Recaps Reviews Interviews Explainers

Outlander: Where did Roger and Brianna end up?

Brianna and Roger embrace in a scene from Outlander
Brianna and Roger seem to have headed back to their own time. Pic credit: Starz/ YouTube

Last night’s episode of Outlander finally saw Roger (Richard Rankin) and Brianna (Sophie Skelton) take the plunge and do some time-traveling. But where did they end up?

Roger and Brianna have already discussed wanting to travel back to their original time but were patient to make sure that young Jemmy would be able to accompany them.

And in this episode, we find Jemmy playing with the deceased, time-traveling Otter Tooth’s opal when it cracks and burns his hand.

Bree and Roger now realize that the young one has inherited the time-traveling genes; in fact, he’s got a double dose from both his parents.

It also means, Brianna stresses, that he’s Roger’s son and not Stephen Bonnet’s.

So what time did Brianna and Roger want to travel to?

This meant, as far as Roger and Brianna were concerned, there was no longer any point in hanging around. They were going to travel through the stones, hopefully back to their time period. The pair were both born in the 1940s, so they were aiming for the 20th Century.

Roger and Brianna then spent a large part of the episode saying their goodbyes to all at Fraser’s Ridge and telling everyone they’ were headed to Boston so that Roger can take up a teaching position.

Given his 1968 position as an Oxford don, this might not be too far from the truth. They could probably do worse to make a life for themselves in Brianna’s hometown in the 1960s.

Young Ian then helped Brianna, Roger and Jemmy travel to the standing stones and agreed to return their horses and look after their land once they’d time-traveled.

And where did Brianna and Roger end up?

The three then held their gems tightly and traveled through the stones. We next saw them waking up on the ground, the rope which held them together had broken, but thankfully they were still together.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t revealed where or when they ended up.

As the show is based on a series of novels written by Diana Gabaldon, it’s worth taking note of what happened to the characters in the books.

In the third book, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, Brianna and Roger transport back to the 20th Century at the very end of the novel.

And at the beginning of the next installment, An Echo In The Bone, they are portrayed as being in Scotland.

Therefore if the show remains true to the novel series, then Brianna and Roger are now residing in their own time of 1960s Scotland.

Outlander airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on Starz.

Jerry Brown

Would love your thoughts, please comment.x


Identifying and Holding Your Boundaries With Less Struggle

Episode 7 Boundaries
What are boundaries, why are they important? How do we establish them, and what do we do when our boundaries are pushed?

Boundaries shape our destiny. They determine what we accept into our lives and what we don’t. They are our yes’s and no’s.  Whether that’s in our families, in our homes, in our relationships, or in the organizations we lead.  Whether we have weak or strong boundaries it can determine the trajectory of our life.

What I’ve noticed is that despite their significance, our society is not good at establishing nor holding onto their boundaries when someone comes up to the line and attempts or does cross them.  Most recently I’ve seen this most demonstrated in our workplaces.

Last week I worked with three senior executives from three different organizations who asked me a very similar question. The gist of each question was that a colleague or colleagues had asked each executive to take on something that each disagreed with.

  • One leader disagreed because the team had addressed the same problem with the same solution to no avail before.  He saw it as an exercise in futility and lack of imagination.
  • Another felt that the direction ran against what the team had previously decided were their key initiatives in the next 3-6 months.
  • The third had been asked to follow a party line he didn’t feel comfortable touting.

All items crossed what these individuals valued, believed or thought correct.  All disagreed with the requests internally.  But here’s the thing.  They all said “yes” anyway.

The question is why do we say “yes” when we mean “no?”

Why we allow others desires or values dominate our own?  The obvious reasons are we want people to like us.  We don’t want to disappoint, make people angry, or enter or further a conflict that already exists.

So, what do we do? We abdicate. We abort. We let people step over our boundaries. This cost is great. I watch intelligent and talented leaders become bitter, resentful, drained and frustrated because they are out of self integrity.  Self integrity is when what we say, feel, think and do don’t aren’t congruent.  Then we get irritated and blame others.

Too many smart individuals are letting others make choices regarding their life due to their willingness and ability to say “no.”  In short, they give their power away.  Often it is because we don’t have the courage or know how to say “no” with grace in a conversation.

Identifying your “Hell Yes” and your “Hell no.”

The key to holding boundaries is to know what it is you stand for. Not just knowing what you are against, but what you are for as well.

I hear people say all the time, I’m against adding more to my client load, I am against doing the redundant, I’m against non-productive meetings. But what I hear missing is what am I for.  You can’t hit a target you can’t see.

Think of this: if you could truly be excellent at only one thing, what would that be?  By knowing this, your future decisions are easier.  Know what’s most important right now.

Greg McKeown in his book Essentialism asks you to ask yourself, “Is this a hell yes or hell no?”

If we don’t know what we are for or what we want, it’s easy to say yes when we mean no. If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else is going to do it for you, and you might not like the way they do it.

So how do you move from being stressed out and struggling as a result of weak boundaries, to moving confidently and with ease by creating healthy ones?

First step, slow down.  I recall Oprah Winfrey saying long ago, doubt means don’t.  If you feel doubt, then don’t say yes. Instead, request more time to reflect and get clear.  One of my favorite Chinese proverbs is “Muddy water, let stand, gets clear.”

One practical way to slow down is to ask for more time on the decision.  You can say,  “I want to make sure if I commit that I can do it.  I need to get back to you before I can commit.”    Then ask this series of questions.

Second step, “Is this a true choice for me?” Meaning, am I making this decision because I think I should, or because I’m afraid someone won’t agree or like me? If it’s the latter, then ask yourself what is a truer choice? In other words, what’s the most honest and authentic choice – for me? Consider what brings you joy, what energizes you and fills your tank.

Step three, change your mindset.  Most of think of boundaries equating with elimination or loss.  Instead think boundaries equal freedom…the freedom to do what is important to us, the freedom to be who we are, the freedom to be committed to a higher level of relationship.

Research shows those who have strong boundaries are more loving than those who do not. They have more space in their life to show up and help others.

Take back your power. Detaching from what others think about us is not always easy, but indeed the reward is priceless.

Challenge yourself to define what you stand for and what you can say “no” to this week.  Enjoy the freedom at work and home that your “no” creates.

Listen on Apple Podcasts

About Rita Hyland

Through her coaching programs, private coaching and masterminds, Rita shows leaders how to win consistently and create the impact and legacy they desire.

Rita believes if leaders were more clear about how transformation really works and more intentional about creating what they want, their impact, success and influence in the world would be unstoppable.

Her mission is to end talented, hard-working and self-aware leaders spending another day stuck in self-doubt or confusion and not contributing their brilliant work and talent the world so desperately needs.


Toadstool Rattle

Toadstool Rattle

These are the sweetest wooden rattles. The perfect size for little hands and teething. With a small jingle bell added to the inside it makes a pleasant, soothing sound. They are sanded smooth and sealed with a beeswax and coconut rub.

The top is 2" and the bottom is 1 5/8 making it about 3.5", a  great size for babies and toddlers.

***Always take care and watch for wear and tear with babies under 4. Small bell can pose as a choking hazard if the parts should come apart.***

    Richmond, Virginia


Quick Answer: Have You Started Yet Meaning?

Have you started meaning?

1 : to begin doing or working on something You (had) better get started if you want to finish on time..

What does have not started yet mean?

Unstarted/Unbegun all mean that you have not started to work on tasks you have in mind. However, once they are in your folder, that means you’ve already started to work on them by putting them in that category and they must be either finished or discarded in the future.

Has started to work or working?

“Work” is the whole time you are paid for in your job, while “working” is the time where you are actually doing something to deserve your pay. “Start to work” would have the exact same meaning as “start working”.

Is Unstarted a correct word?

Adjective. Not started. We need to focus on the unstarted tasks.

What does Rep stand for?

REPAcronymDefinitionREPRegistered Education ProviderREPRepublicanREPRetail Electric ProviderREPRepetition65 more rows

Are you started or have you started?

The correct answer is “did you start”.

Have already started meaning?

The performance had already started when we arrived. 2 used to say that something has been done before and does not need doing again You already told me that. ‘

Did you start meaning?

“When did you start” refers to something that started in the past. … If it is a real question: When did you start? (a question in the simple past).

Did start or started?

The verb ‘start’. You can say ‘start to do’ and ‘start doing’, for example “Last year I started learning Chinese” or, “Last year I started to learn Chinese.” Both are correct and both have the same meaning. Some native speakers may prefer one form over the other, but this will be for regional or personal reasons.

What are synonyms for started?

Some common synonyms of start are begin, commence, inaugurate, initiate, and usher in. While all these words mean “to take the first step in a course, process, or operation,” start, opposed to stop, applies especially to first actions, steps, or stages.

What is meaning of not yet?

Not-yet definitions Used to describe that something is expected to happen but has not for the moment. adverb.

Has yet to be done meaning?

1. used for saying that something has not happened or been done up to the present time, especially when you think it should have happened or been done. The Scottish Office has yet to make a formal announcement.


Having a residential tennis court is very convenient. The sad thing is that most people with tennis courts only think about maintenance when it is too late. If you have a tennis court, you need to understand some common issues that affect them. It is also good to know the measures to take to ensure your court is in the best state. That way, you can prevent severe damage that will cost you a lot of cash. This article gives information on signs that you need tennis court resurfacing.

Cracks on the Court

The most obvious sign of a need to resurface is when the tennis court starts getting cracks. Most of these cracks are caused by you placing heavy items on the court. The weight of these items could lead to the cracking of the court surface. Once you notice the appearance of these cracks, call a resurfacing pro. Waiting for too long before calling them could make the situation worse. The cracks will get more profound, and they will require a lot of work to be fixed.

Accumulation of Standing Water

If there is no adequate drainage, water can start building up on the tennis court after raining. When water begins collecting on the court, it will leave behind a lot of debris. When you neglect to remove the water, it will cause abrasion on the surface. That way, you will not have fun when playing the game. The ideal thing is to call in qualified experts to clean the courts.

Presence of Bubbles on the Court

Bubbles on the court usually look like soft humps or bubbles. They are of varying sizes. You will mainly find these bubbles in the parts of the court that are typically isolated. When you step on them, they produce a hollow sound. The sound shows the presence of space between the surface of the court and the ground under it. You can prevent these bubbles from appearing by ensuring you have proper drainage. Once they have formed, you will need the expert services of resurfacing technicians to help you get rid of them.

In conclusion, tennis court resurfacing will bring you many advantages. You can bring life back to your court and increase its lifespan. Also, it prevents the tennis court from fading due to heat damage. However, you should not attempt to do the resurfacing by yourself. The process is complicated and needs someone with the right skills and knowledge for the job. Therefore, find a professional who does tennis court resurface work to help you with the project.


Tibetans mainly live in the Tibet Autonomous Region in West china and adjacent mountain ranges. Tibetans are perhaps China’s most popular and mysterious ethnic minority.

They live among the world’s highest mountains on a vast beautiful plateau. The Tibetan ancestors once had a powerful empire about 1400 years ago, and after that, Tibetans vied for control of Central Asia with Han Chinese and Mongols.

Currently, there are about 7,000,000 Tibetans, and they are one of the biggest of China’s 55 ethnic groups. Tibetans do not live in Tibet only, they are scattered across the globe.

Good health is majorly based on a good diet and it is the key to unlocking a healthy lifestyle. Until your whole body is free from all kinds of diseases and infections, you cannot declare being in a good health. Good health, besides also make us look better and fit at all times.

One thing good health does is make you look forward to the next day with so much vigor and optimism as you are free of all diseases or infections. It gives you a more cheerful outlook on life.

Secondly, maintaining the proper type of weight gives you more energy to carry out daily activities effectively. When the weight of the body is too much, the lungs, heart, and bones are affected as they feel so much stress. It also helps you to feel less tired whenever you have to carry a simple load.

The benefits of a strong immune system cannot be overemphasized, and what good health does is to strengthen the immune system. Overweight is always being caused by not just eating too much food, but also by eating too much of the wrong foods.

Feeling good and taking care of your health boosts your self-esteem and is essential for all-around wellness.

Tibetans are perhaps China’s most popular and mysterious ethnic minority. They live among the world’s highest mountains on a vast beautiful plateau.

Good nutrition is not all about dieting, it is about balance and ensuring that your body is getting all the necessary nutrients it needs to function properly. Good nutrition entails eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fats, proteins, and starches.

One of the main reasons people practice good nutrition is either to maintain a healthy weight or to lose weight. It prevents obesity and other weight-related problems that come with the lack of a good diet.

“You are what you eat” when you eat a dish filled with good nutrients, you feel better and become more energized. It is necessary to avoid sugary food or meals with added sugar to prevent sugar high and crashes.

Good nutrition increases blood flow to the brain, which helps to prevent brain diseases such as dementia and cognitive decline. As good as it is to listen to our body and give in to cravings here and there, it is also necessary to watch what we take in from day-to-day.

Furthermore, having quality eating habits reduces the risk of developing certain diseases as your immune system is strengthened and can fight infections. Also, it plays a role in the health of the skin.

For example, foods that contain vitamins C and E, lycopene, and other antioxidants help protect the skin against damage.

The Risk Of Inhalants

Inhalants are one of the many categories that certain drugs can be placed under. In turn, inhalants are defined as “volatile substances (that produce chemical vapors) that are rarely taken any other route other than inhalation.” Now when one first thinks of this, his/her mind might automatically redirect itself to cocaine, or other similar inhaled substances, but the keyword with inhalants is that they have to do with “chemical vapors” and the “inhalation” of such. Therefore, these usually consist of household cleaners such as; aerosols, gases, nitrites, and so on. First and foremost are aerosols which include products such as “spray paints and hair sprays.” Second is gases which include “medical anesthetics.” The third is nitrites which include “Isoamyl nitrite.”

As a result, these products are extremely dangerous to the body – especially after they are used for an extended amount of time – because they aren’t meant for the human body. This can be seen through some of the short term effects of the brain which include but are not limited to; “slurred or distorted speech, lack of coordination (control of body movement, euphoria, dizziness, and others.”

But some of the long term effects are far greater including but not limited to; “liver and kidney damage, hearing loss, brain damage, and loss of coordination and limb spasms.” Since the chemicals from the inhalants go directly to the brain it causes a significant amount of damage because once the brain shuts down, so do a number of other functions throughout the body. Consequently, the brain isn’t the only thing that inhalants will begin to affect, but the heart as well. For inhaling these harmful products can cause the person’s heart to stop instantaneously.

In conclusion, it is best for the person to get help before it’s too late. In doing so, those who struggle with inhalant abuse have the ability to free themselves of potential death from “sniffing” and/or “huffing” the substance. They might not be so lucky the next time they try to get ahold of the substance though because just like with any other type of drug, inhalants pose the risks of an overdose just the same. It only takes one instance for this to take place before the addict finds himself/herself dead. In turn, even if it may be a difficult road to recovery, it will be worth it in the end because the individual will find himself/herself living a healthy, drug-free life.

Lung Diseases In Tibetan Children

Due to high altitudes, lung diseases are a much more frequent risk in that of the Tibetan population, than they would be in other places. Consequently, those who are not native to Tibet may lack such knowledge of just how much this can affect the people by worsening their health, especially the children. In fact, according to tibetjustice.org we learn what lung diseases in particular cause the most problems for the younger demographic. The report goes to say, “Based on our interviews with children and discussions with physicians from Tibet, the most common serious health problems for Tibetan children appear to be acute upper respiratory infections (such as pneumonia), diarrhea diseases, hepatitis, hydatid disease and tuberculosis.”

And while some may be familiar with upper respiratory infections, hepatitis, and/or even tuberculosis (because they have experienced an upper respiratory infection and received antibiotics for such, or have received vaccinations for hepatitis and/or tuberculosis), the Tibetan people might not receive such luxury as their level of healthcare depends heavily on where they reside. For, they may either receive some treatment, or none at all depending on where they are located, and/or reside.

As a result, if these diseases are left untreated they can either worsen, and even result in death. For, hepatitis varies depending on the stage in which it is in. “Acute hepatitis B, if left untreated, can develop into chronic (long-term) hepatitis B, which is more difficult to manage and can lead to liver failure, liver cancer and even death.” While, Tuberculosis can “cause life-threatening complications like permanent lung damage.”

Think of it like this; here in the states some may find themselves out of district, and/or out of radius whether it be for a particular internet package, delivery, and/or even a particular school district. This analogy can be used when one begins trying to understand the Tibetan treatment. For, it depends heavily on where the individual is located since “There are four distinct levels of health care facilities available in Tibet: the prefectural or municipal level, the county level, the township level, and the village level.”

In conclusion, Tibetan children will continue to be at risk for worsening health if their needs aren’t met. Unfortunately, changes must be made within the healthcare system in order for this to be done, but even so, one of the biggest benefits is for one to remain literate on such issues. For, it is only through such that breaches can be solved in that of Tibetan healthcare, so that gaps can be closed, and doors can be opened, for children to receive the treatment they need. Through rehab treatment centers Canada, people can receive professional support.

The Modern Trend of Medical Tourism

Canada Welcomes Medical Tourists from Tibet

healthcare Canada for Tibet

Tibetans in Need of Medical Care

Traveling from Tibet to Canada for Medical Services


Pursuing a career in accounting can set you up for a lifetime of stable earnings. Accounting is a large field that’s always in demand, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a job.

However, the accounting field is widespread and diverse, with dozens of potential ways to develop your career and hundreds of potential positions to hold. How can you be sure which accounting career path is right for you?

Potential Career Paths

Let’s start by reviewing some of the potential career paths you might take as an accountant:

Public accountancy

One of the most common paths is to become a certified public accountant (CPA), allowing you to work for a public accounting firm. Here, you’ll provide tax, accounting, tax planning, and consulting for a wide range of different clients. It’s an all-in-one position that almost anyone can achieve and has plenty of room for upward development.·

Tax accountancy

You could also consider becoming a tax accountant specifically. Here, you’ll be focused on tax-specific accounting work, such as quarterly and annual tax returns. Depending on your career path, you could work primarily with companies or individuals as clients.

Financial accountancy

If you’re a financial accountant, you’ll spend most of your time preparing reports that analyze a company’s performance. For example, you might work with profit and loss statements, cash flow statements, and balance sheets.

Management accountancy

If you like the idea of working with management accounting and financial management with internal stakeholders, you could become a certified management accountant (CMA). To do this, you’ll need to pass the CMA exam, but the long-term career earnings will make it worth it.

Forensic accountancy

Forensic accountants don’t deal with DNA analysis; instead, they use financial auditing to provide analyses and expert opinions on legal cases. For example, you may work with a prosecution team to investigate white-collar crimes like fraud or embezzlement.

Financial planning

You may also want to become a financial planner, working with companies to provide them advice on financial matters like budgeting, investing, and planning for taxes.

Internal auditing

You could also become an internal auditor. These auditors work within a company to ensure it’s operating in a fiscally responsible and efficient manner. They may also ensure compliance with various laws and regulations.

Different Approaches to Career Development

Additionally, you’ll need to consider different approaches to career development, such as:

Working for a company

Many accounting professionals begin their journey working for a company; this might be as a team member within an accounting firm, or as a dedicated professional in a company within another industry. Either way, you may be able to work your way up the corporate ladder, eventually achieving the rank of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or something similar.

Working independently

You could also work as an independent consultant. This affords you more flexibility and control over your work, but also comes with greater instability. You’ll also be responsible for your own growth, securing more clients and more responsibilities.

Starting a firm of your own

If you like the idea of employing a team of accountants under you, or if you want to serve more in a leadership capacity, you could also start a firm of your own. This is usually done as a late-stage career move, once you have more experience.

Factors to Consider

How are you supposed to decide which of these paths is best? Consider the following aspects:

Personal interests

Don’t discount the power of personal interest. If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Gravitate toward a field or subfield that genuinely sounds enticing. Your interests may change in the future, but at least you’ll start on the right path.

Long-term earning potential

Even entry-level positions in the accounting field make a decent income. However, you may want to choose a career path that affords you the highest possible trajectory of long-term growth.

Market demand

You’ll also need to think about market demand – and how that demand might change over time. Is this a position that every company needs?

Education requirements

How much education do you need to achieve this position? Most accounting roles require a bachelor’s degree in accounting at minimum.

Certification requirements

Some positions in accounting only require a minimum amount of education. But others require you to pass a formal exam and earn a specific certification. Most of the time, this is a straightforward process, but it’s still time consuming.

You may also want to choose a career path that affords you the most flexibility, giving you a wide range of options for the future.

There’s no shortage of possibilities for the development of your accounting career. Whatever your preferences are, and whatever your limitations are in terms of education and certification, you’re likely to find a path that works for you.


Questions & Answers

At CANNP we pride ourselves on being available to answer questions with no smoke or mirrors.

What makes the CANNP different?
The CANNP is presently the only member-driven, professional Association specifically for Canadian Nutritional Counsellors, with a focus on building successful careers in the field and providing exciting, innovative initiatives. We are paving the way and engaging like no other nutrition related association has before!

What are the next steps for the CANNP?

We are always pursuing innovative ways to enhance value for our Members and have some very exciting plans for the coming year. We will maintain our established efforts to help our Members build successful businesses and we will continue to enhance many of our existing programs. We will work to position our profession in a favourable, forthright and formidable direction. Watch upcoming eblasts and newsletters for the latest details.

Joining and Renewing

When can I join?

Now! whether a recent grad, seasoned professional or nutritional student. If you are new to the CANNP complete the application form and upload, or email the proof of completion of your nutrition program. More information is available in the Qualifications area. Then remit payment. New members who have past professional affiliations or several years of experience can contact us directly for special application consideration.

Renewing Members can find the Upgrading Form and the Application under the Renew link. Remember to remit payment to complete your application.

Whenever you join you receive 12 months of membership — so no need to postpone.

Students can now test drive CANNP for free. Though there is no access to the Members Only area — that is saved for professional Membership — students can participate in the Ready, Set, Chat forum and receive most of the giveaways, all the news and newsletters. It is a good way to really learn what is going on and all that is offered. Students are not offered professional tools.

Why the designation NNCP since we are an unregulated profession, with no governing body?

NNCP was originally chosen after much careful thought because it could be used in most provinces. With provincial changes, members must stay current and adhere to local laws that impact designations. NNCP’s encourage and educate regarding the impact of nutrition.

Can I use the title Registered Nutritional Therapist?

The title is available to those members who continue to remain in good standing with CANNP as NNCP’s, and who have at minimum 3 years of experience in the field. There are qualification requirements meant to determine depth of knowledge and focus of the applicant. It is considered valid in some provinces.

How do I join?

Just complete the Application first and send it along with a copy/scan/photo of proof of graduation whenever it becomes available. Secure insurance, though you can apply while insurance is being reviewed. And please remember to remit payment since your application will not be processed without it. Contact us if you have any questions or concerns. During the first year of Membership you need not accrue upgrading or mentoring hours.

How do I renew?

Complete the Application first and a list of the upgrading you have accrued. Remit payment either by e-trans, paypal or credit card. Please remember that our database is now tied with several insurers and some of our benefit suppliers. Each month they can access active NNCP numbers so it is important to stay current. You will receive several reminders during the month of your renewal.

What counts as upgrading?

You are welcome to count any source that has contributed to your health/nutrition knowledge or enhanced your business. Examples include books, podcasts, webinars, podcast seminars, research time as well as more formal courses.

What if I have not completed all my upgrading?

Contact us. We are happy to discuss how we can help you out.

Do I need to secure insurance before applying?

No, you will want to register with the CANNP prior to obtaining insurance, particularly from LMI Canada so that you will be eligible for the discounted rate.

What sorts of research avenues are available to me?

At no additional cost, professional members have access to a Research Library that highlights websites, journals, stats and apps found to be helpful to nutritionists and complementary practitioners. Much of the focus we provide centers on business development such as our newsletter articles, Power Hours and Tag the Expert podcasts. As well we have secured favourable rates for several research avenues.

What is CANNP planning to do about getting insurance companies to cover our services?

Presently we have several of the larger insurance companies covering our services, if the client/employer chose specifically to have nutritional counseling included in the policy. These include Manulife, iA Financial Group, Claimsecure, Greenshield Canada and Blue Cross Alberta, with more surely to follow. We only publicize those from who we have specific confirmation of coverage for NNCPs. Few other insurance companies cover the services of holistic nutritionists in Canada unless under their umbrella health policy though we do hear from companies all the time checking on valid membership. Please know that this is true regardless of your professional designation. That said, we are actively working to better educate both the public and insurance companies about the benefits of what we do with the intent to get more support.

At the same time, we urge professionals to not count on insurance but instead to be build a business that is valuable to clients. Individuals will pay for such services making insurance coverage simply a bonus.

The E & O insurance seems to be more than some of the others that I have found in the industry. Is there a reason for this?

We researched the industry to secure a policy that we felt was comprehensive and of good value. Our understanding is that the policy provides us with “malpractice”, which is rarely needed in our industry, but also with general liability that is much more commonly required. It covers damages that may occur in the place of operation. Some homeowner policies also offer this coverage but apparently not too many, specifically when there is an operational commercial enterprise. In these instances, the practitioner may be required to purchase additional commercial coverage. Every situation is unique, and therefore evaluated individually, but if the practitioner rents space the building owner may or may not extend to include the business operation of the renter. Important insurance information to consider.

What is your position on pursuing recognition?

Since public desire pushes all mainstream recognition, our focus is on ensuring the public knows what a NNCP can accomplish. Establishing our own brand as natural nutritionists is paramount to protecting our right to practice and much of our work is to support that effort. The idea is that Western medicine, insurance companies and government legislation will follow suit based on the success of our established practices. The key is to make our practitioners successful in their own right.

CANNP, under the umbrella of CAN, is working directly with the Ministries of Health and the various dietician groups to better differentiate ourselves and establish the natural nutrition brand.

What is your position on pursuing regulation?

We are regularly in touch with government officials throughout the year. At this time, there is nothing on the books about the pursuit of regulation. We do not think it is likely and besides there is much to consider. Practitioners need to understand that regulation is meant for the protection of the public, not the practitioner. Some feel that it offers an air of credibility, however we suggest that you check in with a naturopath or chiropractor to get an idea of how regulation has affected their practice.

Why does CANNP not have a certification process?

We are an unregulated profession, with no governing body, so the words “certified”, “registered” and “board certified” mean only that one is recognized by the institution that bestows the title. In the holistic nutrition field, we are mandated to not appear to be or represent ourselves as a regulated professional. In other words, we cannot do anything that might appear as though we are attempting to represent ourselves as, for example, a medical professional or naturopath.


Herb Garden

The Robison Herb Garden showcases a vast collection of herbs ranging from those used for culinary or medicinal uses to those found in literature.  This garden contains a diverse set of smells and colors.  Click the following collections to view a full set of plant lists: Herbs of the Ancients, Bee Herbs, Culinary Herbs, Dye Herbs, Edible Flowers, Economic Herbs, Fragrant Herbs, Herbs in Literature, Lavender, Medicinal Herbs, Herbs of the Native Americans, Ornamental Herbs, Sacred Herbs, Salads and Potherbs, Savory Seed Herbs, Tea Herbs, and Tussie Mussies and Nosegays.


I’ve seen it before and I’ve been guilty of it myself… Thinking it’s splurge time when we go out to eat.

I’ve heard it all… “I should enjoy it since I’m spending extra money!” “I don’t want to be judged for being the salad eater.” “I just don’t know what to order!”

Here’s a list of ways to do just that:

  2. Don’t be afraid of asking for accommodations. Most restaurants always have meat and vegetable entrees as options on the menu, but it’s ok to ask for that customization if not.
  3. I always ask client to eat something before they go out so they don't go in starving. (you'll be surprised at how much better you make with your choice on what you eat.)

The next time I go out, I’m having steak, soup, steamed or grilled veggies – how about you? ☺

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Ponce Preserve Park

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Ponce Preserve Park

Ponce Preserve Park

Ponce Preserve Park

Ponce Preserve Park-Over the River and to the Ocean

  There are a lot of parks packed into this small town at the edge of the peninsula, but none are  as     unique as Ponce Preserve. The stunning 40 acre park is sandwiched between the Atlantic  Ocean   and the Halifax River.

Two and a half miles of trails await both hikers and those seeking solace  amid a natural  setting. On the west side of Peninsula Drive, follow the wide elevated boardwalk  to the river.  On route you will see a dense scrub habitat, native mangroves that protect the  shore from  erosion, and a  variety of birds and other animals that frequent the preserve. The  unspoiled  views arebreathtaking and provide an insight as to what Native Americans saw when  they initially ventured into the area.

day_PoncePreserve_PreserveDock-3002Three, covered gazebos provide some shelter and a place to sit and take in the view. For those looking for a different perspective, there is a launch for canoes and kayaks. Anglers will discover a distinctive place to fish and reflect amid breathtaking surroundings.

When you’ve seen the west side, head east. There are picnic areas, play areas for the kids and two additional hiking trails that end at the beach. These trails are shorter than those to the west, but the path is more rugged. As you head toward the ocean, you will see the heart of the park, the Green Mound State Archaeological Site, a Native American midden. If you are wondering what a midden is, it is a place where Indians tossed shells leftover from the food they ate. Think vintage garbage dump.

Green Mound is one of the largest Pre-Columbian shell mounds in the Country, built by Native                Americans around 800 AD. It is the highest elevation in Ponce Inlet, rising about 40 feet in the air.    Located directly in front of the Green Mound is a 350 year old oak tree. There is an observation tower on  route where you can get a bird’s eye view of the scrub habitat.

Once you cross A1A, you are at the ocean where you can take in the quiet beauty of the lapping surf  before heading back.

If you go, wear plenty of sunscreen as there is little shade on either side. Remember, you are in a natural  wetland habitat, which means you will encounter mosquitos and other insects that could prove  bothersome. It would be a good idea to bring along some mosquito repellent to better enjoy your visit.

Ponce Preserve Park provides a nice balance for advanced hikers and for those just taking a stroll. Several trails are completely wheelchair accessible making the hike a viable option for everyone.
~Deborah Boyd

Ponce Preserve Park
4401 Peninsula Drive
Ponce Inlet, FL 32127

Admission and parking are free, but parking spaces are limited. Open seven days from dusk to dawn.

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Should You Or Shouldn't You: A Dividend Analysis on Iberdrola, S.A. (BME:IBE)

Simply Wall St
March 23, 2021

A high yield and a long history of paying dividends is an appealing combination for Iberdrola. We'd guess that plenty of investors have purchased it for the income. The company also bought back stock during the year, equivalent to approximately 3.5% of the company's market capitalisation at the time. When buying stocks for their dividends, you should always run through the checks below, to see if the dividend looks sustainable.

Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Iberdrola!

BME:IBE Historic Dividend March 23rd 2021

Payout ratios

Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. So we need to form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. Iberdrola paid out 76% of its profit as dividends, over the trailing twelve month period. It's paying out most of its earnings, which limits the amount that can be reinvested in the business. This may indicate limited need for further capital within the business, or highlight a commitment to paying a dividend.

We also measure dividends paid against a company's levered free cash flow, to see if enough cash was generated to cover the dividend. Iberdrola paid out 24% of its free cash flow as dividends last year, which is conservative and suggests the dividend is sustainable. It's positive to see that Iberdrola's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.

We update our data on Iberdrola every 24 hours, so you can always get our latest analysis of its financial health, here.

Dividend Volatility

One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well - nasty. For the purpose of this article, we only scrutinise the last decade of Iberdrola's dividend payments. This dividend has been unstable, which we define as having been cut one or more times over this time. During the past 10-year period, the first annual payment was €0.3 in 2011, compared to €0.4 last year. Dividends per share have grown at approximately 2.3% per year over this time. The growth in dividends has not been linear, but the CAGR is a decent approximation of the rate of change over this time frame.

Dividend Growth Potential

With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share (EPS) are growing. Why take the risk of a dividend getting cut, unless there's a good chance of bigger dividends in future? Iberdrola has grown its earnings per share at 8.4% per annum over the past five years. EPS have been growing at a reasonable rate, although with most of the profits being paid out to shareholders, we question if the company will be able to keep growing its dividends in the future.

When we look at a dividend stock, we need to form a judgement on whether the dividend will grow, if the company is able to maintain it in a wide range of economic circumstances, and if the dividend payout is sustainable. Iberdrola's payout ratios are within a normal range for the average corporation, and we like that its cashflow was stronger than reported profits. We were also glad to see it growing earnings, but it was concerning to see the dividend has been cut at least once in the past. Overall we think Iberdrola is an interesting dividend stock, although it could be better.

Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. Taking the debate a bit further, we've identified 2 warning signs for Iberdrola that investors need to be conscious of moving forward.

*Interactive Brokers Rated Lowest Cost Broker by Annual Online Review 2020

Discounted cash flow calculation for every stock

Simply Wall St character - Warren

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Astronomers Discover ‘Celestial Highway’

December 11, 2020
Astronomers have discovered a “celestial highway” to travel through the Solar System much faster than was previously possible. The development raises the prospect of rapidly sending crafts across vast swathes of space.

The extraordinary superhighway network was discovered by an international team of researchers from Serbia and the United States. The routes can transport comets and asteroids nearly the distance from Jupiter to Neptune in under a decade and a staggering 100 astronomical units in less than a century.

To break that down, one single astronomical unit is roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun and is equal to about 150 million kilometers. The distance between Jupiter and Neptune is nearly 25 astronomical units.

The team observed the dynamical structure of the routes, which form a connected series of arches inside what’s known as space manifolds that extend from the asteroid belt to Uranus and beyond.

This newly discovered phenomenon acts over several decades, as opposed to the hundreds of thousands or millions of years that are typical of Solar System dynamics.

The experts say that the most conspicuous arch structures are linked to Jupiter and the strong gravitational forces it exerts.

“It should come at no surprise that Jupiter can induce large-scale transport on decadal time scales, as space missions have been specifically designed for Jupiter-assisted transport, with the flybys of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 being cardinal examples,” the astronomers write in their paper.

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Welcome...Come on it and take a look!

Quiet, relaxed atmosphere, taking you away from the storefront mentality into a peaceful rest meant for healing and rejuvenation.
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Our Mission is to reach those who are looking for a true path to healing and wellness; those who are on a quest to find what works for them.

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We offer a comprehensive and tailored approach to your health concerns. Massage/bodywork, to learning how essential oils can calm and sooth the nervous system and relax into healing. learn a holistic approach to your body's natural way of healing the gut/brain and how power foods can reset your cells for optimum health.


Zoekresultaat: 7 artikelen

De zoekresultaten worden gefilterd op:
Tijdschrift Tijdschrift over Cultuur & Criminaliteit x Jaar 2018 x

Een held valt niet – morele dilemma’s als een gevierde insider in de fout gaat

Tijdschrift Tijdschrift over Cultuur & Criminaliteit, Aflevering 2 2018
Trefwoorden hero, moral entrepreneur, Bill Cosby, Jimmy Savile, Gerrit Achterberg
Auteurs Dr. Frank van Gemert en Danaé Stad MSc

    Bill Cosby, Jimmy Savile and Gerrit Achterberg lived in different periods, in the US, UK, and the Netherlands. They were heroes because of what they accomplished during their professional careers but all three turned out to have committed serious crimes. Disclosure is painful, not only for the hero who comes to fall but also for the community that finds itself redefining moral standards when losing a celebrated insider. For this reason, the crimes of these three men have been concealed and kept secret for years. In comparing the three cases, this article tries to find out who decides on keeping the hero on his feet, how this is done, and if this changes over time.

Dr. Frank van Gemert

Danaé Stad MSc
Danaé Stad MSc studeerde criminologie aan de VU en is werkzaam bij het Regionaal Informatie en Expertise Centrum Amsterdam-Amstelland (RIEC-AA).

Een wolf onder de wolven. Ethiek en Ethische Commissies in criminologisch onderzoek naar ‘the powerful’

Tijdschrift Tijdschrift over Cultuur & Criminaliteit, Aflevering 3 2018
Trefwoorden Ethics committees, The powerful, Moral entrepreneurs, Ethics creep, Arms trader
Auteurs Dr. Rita Faria en Dr. Yarin Eski

    For quite some years now, crimes of ‘the powerful’ have been studied by criminologists. While researching crimes of ‘the powerful’, researchers aim to maintain and safeguard their integrity and ethics. However, there seems to be a friction between, on the one hand, ethics of the researchers themselves and on the other hand, ethics (policies) of universities. Obviously, not only do they have to justify their actions and decisions to themselves and ‘science’ as a whole, they must justify their research to ethics committees (EC’s) of universities. It could result in complex and difficult situations when researchers suspect that EC’s themselves may be instruments and products of the powerful groups they are studying. In that case, EC’s might undermine ethics and research integrity themselves. What do certain EC- ‘conditions’ look like for research ethics and to which extent do they have to be adjusted or reconsidered when criminologists are researching ‘the powerful’? The key question that will be answered in this contribution is as follows: how can criminologist (re)act ethically responsibly when confronted with (un)ethical committees? To answer this and other relevant questions, after reviewing literature, we reflect on a biographical study of a legal arms trader. We then elaborate on the ‘ethics creep’ (Haggerty, 2004) that seems to haunt social sciences nowadays.

Dr. Rita Faria
Rita Faria Docent criminologie, University of Porto rfaria@direito.up.pt

Dr. Yarin Eski
Yarin Eski Docent criminologie, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam y.eski@vu.nl

State-corporate crime en niet-democratische regimes: betrokkenheid van bedrijven in internationale misdrijven

Tijdschrift Tijdschrift over Cultuur & Criminaliteit, Aflevering 1 2018
Trefwoorden state-corporate crime, international crimes, state crime, business and human rights
Auteurs Annika van Baar MA MSc

    Most state-corporate crime research is focused on crime or harmful outcomes in or by democratic states. The goal of this article is to investigate the applicability of this concept to relations between economic actors and non-democratic state actors. The concept of state-corporate crime is applied to three contexts in which corporations have become involved in international crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Each representing a turning point in the academic and public perception of ‘business and human rights’, the contexts that are analysed are Nazi Germany (1993-1945), Apartheid South Africa (1948-1994) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; 1996-now). It is concluded that in non-democratic states with totalitarian of authoritarian regimes (such as Nazi Germany and Apartheid South Africa), the concept of state-corporate crime is applicable and explanatory. In such strong states, economic and state actors make use of mutual benefits while, on the whole, state-interests prevail. As a result, the harmful outcome of the dynamics between corporations and states can best be described as corporate facilitated state crime. In weak states (such as the DRC) economic actors are generally more powerful while their involvement in international crimes also runs via non-state actors. The blurred lines between economic actors and state actors (and their interests) makes it difficult to apply the concept, in its different forms, to state-corporate cooperation in weak states and ‘new’ wars.

Annika van Baar MA MSc
Annika van Baar, MA MSc, is post-doc onderzoeker Resilient Societies – Resilient Rule of Law, Faculteit Recht, Economie, Bestuur en Organisatie, Universiteit Utrecht. E-mail: a.vanbaar@uu.nl.

De anomie van machtsillusies

Onbegrensde ambities in de ‘risk and win’-zakenwereld

Tijdschrift Tijdschrift over Cultuur & Criminaliteit, Aflevering 1 2018
Auteurs dr. Bas van Stokkom

dr. Bas van Stokkom

Access_open Theoretische vernieuwing in de criminologie

Tijdschrift Tijdschrift over Cultuur & Criminaliteit, Aflevering 1 2018
Trefwoorden Theoretical innovation, Scientific revolutions, Power-knowledge complex, Sensitising theory, Integrative theory
Auteurs Prof. dr. René van Swaaningen en Dr. mr. Marc Schuilenburg

    This article starts off with an exposé of what ‘theoretical innovation’ means in the social sciences. The development of criminology is considered to be a result of (1) historical and cultural developments, (2) political-economic developments, (3) developments in other academic disciplines and (4) reactions to or specifications of other theoretical perspectives in criminology itself. Paradigm shifts in criminology are characterised by an individualistic and positivist aetiological turn in its early days; a sociological turn towards a ‘criminology of the lawmaker’ from the late 1950s on; and a return to positivism in the neoliberal and neoconservative turn of the 1990s. The new century ushers in a new epistemological break in criminology, in which globalisation, global warming, migration, human rights and the implications of cyberspace ‘force’ criminologists to overcome their anthropocentric and colonial character biases.

Prof. dr. René van Swaaningen
Prof. dr. René van Swaaningen is hoogleraar criminologie en voorzitter van de sectie criminologie van de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. E-mail: vanswaaningen@law.eur.nl.

Dr. mr. Marc Schuilenburg
Dr. mr. Marc Schuilenburg is universitair docent Strafrecht en Criminologie aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. E-mail: m.b.schuilenburg@vu.nl.

Emotions and Explanation in Cultural Criminology

Tijdschrift Tijdschrift over Cultuur & Criminaliteit, Aflevering 1 2018
Trefwoorden cultural criminology, emotions, affective states, explanation, theory
Auteurs dr. Nicolás Trajtenberg

    Cultural Criminology (CC) is one of the most recent and exciting developments in criminological theory. Its main argument is that mainstream criminological theories provide inadequate explanations of crime due to epistemological and theoretical flaws. CC’s alternative involves assuming a phenomenological and interpretative approach that focuses on the cultural and emotional components of crime. In this article I shall argue that although CC makes a valid demand for more realistic and complex explanations of crime, its own alternative needs to deal with two main challenges referred to its conceptualization of explanation and emotion. First, two problematic antagonisms should be avoided: understanding vs. causal explanation; and universal nomothetic explanations as opposed to ideographic descriptions. Considering recent developments in philosophy of social science, particularly the ‘social mechanisms approach’, CC should focus on explaining retrospectively through identification of specific causal mechanisms rejecting universal and predictive pretensions. Second, although cultural criminologists rightly question the emotionless character of criminological explanations, they lack an articulated alternative conceptualization of emotions to explain crime. A more refined concept needs to be elaborated in dialogue with recent advances in social sciences.

dr. Nicolás Trajtenberg
Dr. Nicolás Trajtenberg is senior lecturer and researcher at the Department of Sociology, Universidad de la República (UdelaR), Uruguay. He holds a PhD in criminology by the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, UK. His main areas of research are explanation and theory in criminology, and youth violence. E-mail: nico.trajtenberg@gmail.com.

Naar een non-antropocentrische criminologie

Tijdschrift Tijdschrift over Cultuur & Criminaliteit, Aflevering 1 2018
Trefwoorden green criminology, non-anthropocentric criminology, environmental crime, speciesism, animal rights
Auteurs Dr. Daan van Uhm

    Changing ecological conditions in a globalizing world pose new challenges for human societies. Global warming, large-scale pollution, deforestation and species extinction have increasingly become topics on the international agenda. Even though many of these harmful activities are criminogenic, criminology pays rather little attention to environmental crimes and harms.
    Therefore, this article discusses the anthropocentric perspective within criminology and argues that a non-anthropocentric criminology can lead to new theoretical insights.

Dr. Daan van Uhm
Dr. Daan van Uhm is als universitair docent verbonden aan de sectie criminologie van het Willem Pompe Instituut voor Strafrechtswetenschappen, Universiteit Utrecht.
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Kartik Aaryan shows up at his balcony and waves out to paparazzi

Web Desk

04th May, 2021. 09:27 pm
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Recently Kartik Aaryan spotted on his balcony by the media, he was enjoying the beautiful day at home, and he treated the media with his warm smile and waved them.

The second wave of Covid locked everyone in their homes, celebrities either going out of the country for vacation or they’re staying at home and enjoying their time relaxing, Actor Kartik Aaryan was also snapped while standing on his balcony and he was generous to wave back to shutterbugs with his infectious smile.

Kartik Aaryan

Kartik Aaryan

Kartik Aaryan

Kartik Aaryan

After getting fired from the movie ‘’Dostana 2’’ the actor will be seen in another film called ‘’Bhool bhullaiyya 2’’. The film also stars Kiara Advani and Tabu.

Kartik was seen in his casual sweatpants and shirt. He was wearing all grey coloured comfy attire, in an earlier post, he had urged fans to wear a mask and stay home.

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Fujitsu innovation tackles intractable IT problems

Computing history is littered with the corpses of solutions overtaken by technology.

Computing history is littered with the corpses of solutions overtaken by technology. However, the problems they were set up to address have not gone away, says Nic Holt, technical architect with Fujitsu.

Take database searches, for example. In the 1970s ICL developed the contents-addressable file store, or Cafs. In an age where mainframes ran with 128kb of memory, Cafs was a database appliance, essentially disc storage with built-in search facilities. This removed the onerous task of finding exact matches to wild-card queries from the mainframe. The result was about a 20 times improvement in throughput, Holt says.

However, the cost of memory dropped to the point where it was affordable to run the entire database in main memory. "Today we are running systems with 138Gb, big enough for many databases," Holt says.

Much of the functionality of Cafs migrated into software that ran on later generation mainframes. Given their extra memory capacity, it made little sense to have a separate device just for database queries. Instead, Holt says, the search is on for better algorithms to speed up the finding and matching of search items.

However, Cafs-like devices with solid-state rather than spinning memory may soon be more common. Teradata, for instance, is making a good living off the need to process massive amounts of data in close to real time. With the volume of data to be processed rising constantly, and as the sensor-based "internet of things" comes to life, processing it all will require big leaps in capacity.

"But there will always be a break-even point at which the old solution is superseded by a new one," Holt says.

According to Holt, scheduling (data for processing) is an intractable problem with current technology. "A lot of people are waiting for quantum computing to see if it is a way forward," he says. But they may have to wait. Holt says commercial quantum computers are unlikely to hit showrooms for a decade or two.

Holt maintains that a lot of IT is driven by a product life-cycle management schedule rather than genuine advances. But sometimes genuine solutions exist but can't get to market.

This is the case with privacy, Holt says. This is a "technology versus society" subject, he says. He believes the IT specialists have a good grasp of the problem and its solutions, but emotion fires the political and social discourse. This heat, rather than light, is holding up the implementation of applications that could make a real and positive difference to peoples' lives.

"Unfortunately we are creating a society that is increasingly technologically illiterate," Holt says. "Even though everyone uses Facebook and Twitter, most don't understand the implications. We urgently need a better informed debate on this so that we can develop sensible solutions that can hold the executive authorities to account."

This will become increasingly important as information processing disappears into the cloud, where the source, collection and application of that processing becomes opaque to outsiders and to data subjects, he says.

Read more on IT innovation, research and development


Opendata, web and dolomites

EffectorTargets SIGNED

Total Cost €

EC-Contrib. €

 EffectorTargets project word cloud

Explore the words cloud of the EffectorTargets project. It provides you a very rough idea of what is the project "EffectorTargets" about.

rewire    effectors    insights    nutrients    contact    parasite    though    reaction    graminis    host    date    supplies    mounts    source    separately    500    reinhardtii    infects    circumvent    suppress    pathogenic    functions    elucidate    immune    function    live    fungi    cells    barley    first    ways    effector    hordei    act    encode    biotechnology    blumeria    proven    chlamydomonas    plants    successfully    purposes    bacterial    majority    algae    medical    interesting    vast    close    model    uses    mildew    sp    plant    besides    turn    powdery    nature    unravelling    secreted    humans    cerevisiae    defence    immunity    reproduce    race    combat    eukaryotic    infection    successful    arms    vertebrates    fungal    yeast    time    conserved    opens    found    roles    predicted    plethora    unknown    insects    pathogenicity    cellular    infect    hosts    proteins    reactions    grow    fungus    express    saccharomyces    organisms

Project "EffectorTargets" data sheet

The following table provides information about the project.

Organization address
city: LONDON
postcode: SW7 2AZ

contact info
title: n.a.
name: n.a.
surname: n.a.
function: n.a.
email: n.a.
telephone: n.a.
fax: n.a.

 Coordinator Country United Kingdom [UK]
 Total cost 183˙454 €
 EC max contribution 183˙454 € (100%)
 Code Call H2020-MSCA-IF-2014
 Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-RI
 Starting year 2015
 Duration (year-month-day) from 2015-09-09   to  2017-09-08

Take a look of project's partnership.

# participants  country  role  EC contrib. [€]

 Project objective

In nature, fungi live in close contact with many different hosts: plants, other fungi, insects and even vertebrates including humans. They do so because the host often supplies key nutrients, which enables the fungus to grow and successfully reproduce. In many cases though, a fungus can act as a parasite and infects the host. As a result, the host mounts an immune reaction to combat the fungal infection. The fungus, in turn, has evolved ways to circumvent the immune reaction. This “arms race” between fungus and host has given rise to a plethora of secreted proteins that the fungus uses to suppress the host immune responses and circumvent host defence reactions. These secreted proteins from fungi that function in this arms race are commonly known as “effectors”. A very important plant pathogenic fungus that is predicted to encode close to 500 of such effector proteins is the barley powdery mildew fungus Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei. Unravelling the functions of these effector proteins will provide important insights into fungal pathogenicity and host immunity. To date, the roles of the vast majority of the effector proteins are unknown. One way to elucidate the functions of these numerous effector proteins is to express each separately in model eukaryotic organisms like yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or algae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and identify conserved cellular targets of these effector proteins. This approach has proven to be very successful in identifying targets of bacterial effector proteins. In the project described here, this yeast- and algae-based system will be applied for the first time for fungal effector proteins. Effectors are, besides being used by fungi to infect plants and other organisms, also a potential new source to rewire cells. When interesting conserved targets of these effectors are found, it opens up ways to use them in biotechnology and for medical purposes.

Are you the coordinator (or a participant) of this project? Plaese send me more information about the "EFFECTORTARGETS" project.

The information about "EFFECTORTARGETS" are provided by the European Opendata Portal: CORDIS opendata.

Self-EsteemProcesses (2020)

A self-esteem process framework of the transition to work

Read More

Cartesian Networks (2020)

Cartesian Networks in Early Modern Europe: A Quantitative and Interdisciplinary Approach

Read More

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With a commitment to sustainability and a passion for innovative housing solutions, our team has won awards and praise for our unique custom homes, including a series of small homes and mini-homes. As we widened our range of services we also expanded our geographical reach. Our residential stock plans are sold throughout the United States, and even overseas.

While addressing the specific context of each project, our residential plans are developed with simplicity, modularity, flexibility, and construction efficiency. These traits make our plans suitable and appropriate for a range of customers and sites.


Investing globally in companies extending healthy lifespans.

What is Longevity?

Where we invest

People over 50 are the fastest-growing demography in the world. That trend creates enormous challenges and pressures for the global economy, healthcare, and pension systems. It is also probably the greatest and most ethical investment opportunity. At the same time, there is exceptional progress in the science of understanding aging. The pace in prevention and rejuvenation technologies is accelerating at an unprecedented rate as well. All these trends and the related economy are called the "Longevity Economy." The global Longevity Economy reached $17 trillion in 2019 and shows stable growth to achieve $27 trillion in 2026.

What role do we play?

why we invest

We support the innovation wave that is happening using a focused approach and deep expertise in this very complex industry. Our academic board and subject matter experts include many scientists in related fields. We provide proactive company care and mentoring, world-class network, IP and commercialization support, and opportunities for synergic effects with our portfolio companies.

What is our focus?

how we invest
Longevity sector
Biotech, Agetech, Regenerative therapies, Personalized medicine, Aging diagnostics, Longevity-related AI, Supportive software platforms,...
Pre-seed to Series A
Close to market solutions with high impact potential that are based on validated science. Technology readiness level 5 - 9.
25-30 investments
In the timeframe of 2020 - 2022 with followup investments in 2023-2025. Usual ticket in the range of lower hundreds of thousands EUR/USD. Geographically agnostic.

What can we offer?

we are entrepreneurs
Strong network
We are connected and co-investing with the most prominent leaders in the longevity field.
Personal approach
We have tens of years of experience with building and mentoring high-tech startups, our mentors previously ran and exited multiple ones, including startup accelerator.
Smart money capital
We have deep understanding of the industry, experienced team and reputable advisory board.


What's SIMCO?

What is the meaning of SIMCO? S means Spring, I means Industry, M means Machinery, and CO means Company. This is the original intention of our simple thoughts. After many years and market sales, we have changed many times in order to make SIMCO customers better. Customers trust SIMCO, and SIMCO also echoes this trust positively.

TAIWAN SIMCO COMPANY was the SIMCO spring machine company in the 1980s. Before 2016, SIMCO was the most representative company in Taiwan's spring machine industry!

In the spring industry, SIMCO has spent about 40 years operating "spring"! From raw materials to products, from equipment to manufacturing. This also makes SIMCO a leader in the industry, providing customers with the most professional and complete solutions!

After 1990, with the rise of China spring machine, SIMCO naturally spared no effort to participate in this period of China’s growth, and has been deeply cultivated in China for more than two decades, not only has made outstanding contributions to China’s equipment manufacturing system, also the biggest gain is completeness. As a result, SIMCO has a deeper understanding and participation in the production equipment industry.

Since 2010, in the face of competition from emerging Chinese companies, SIMCO has gradually focused on the key technology of precision machining, which has also improved SIMCO’s physique many times. When many industries are gradually leaving Taiwan, SIMCO is still standing.

Since 2015, due to customers’ recognition of SIMCO’s service and trust, SIMCO has also begun to gradually transform under the guidance of customers. SIMCO is not only limited to the spring industry, but also opened up new businesses and new horizons. In terms of its richness, we provide more diverse products and services to our customers.

In 2020, SIMCO officially changed its name to TAIWAN SIMCO COMPANY. The removal of the Spring machine does not mean that SIMCO has left the spring industry, but redefines SIMCO, no longer limited to Spring business only, just  in order to  provide more diverse and richer product resources to our customers.

The name TAIWAN SIMCO COMPANY is SIMCO’s expectation for the future, in order to provide customers with better services. We are a company that has been deeply engaged in Taiwan and a company that has experienced in the Chinese market. It is always better than yesterday for a better SIMCO, everything is to respond to customers' expectations and trust in.

Maintaining a positive attitude towards the future, TAIWAN SIMCO COMPANY will always Say Yes to the future!!


Pterostichus anthracinus (Illiger, 1798)

ADEPHAGA Clairville, 1806

CARABIDAE Latreille, 1802

Pterostichus Bonelli, 1810

Pseudomaseus Chaudoir, 1838

This locally common hydrophilic species occurs from lowlands to about 1200m throughout Europe, north to the UK and southern Sweden, and south to Italy, Caucasus and Iran, it extends through Russia to the eastern Palaearctic region and is represented throughout by many subspecies; the nominate subspecies occurs throughout most of the range but is absent from Portugal and several Mediterranean countries including most of the Balkan Peninsula, ssp. biimpressus (Kuster, 1853)occurs in Italy, south east Europe and the Near East, ssp. depressiusculus (Chaudoir, 1844) occurs through the ear East and Asia, ad ssp. hespericus (Bucciarelli & Sopracordevole, 1958) is endemic to Italy. In the UK it is widespread though local across the south of England and South Wales, and more scarce and sporadic further north to southern Scotland and through northern and Western Ireland. Adults are present year-round and active over a long season from early sprig until the autumn, they occur in wetlands generally and especially well-vegetated clay or peaty soils beside standing water or on permanently damp floodplains etc, they are mainly nocturnal but are often active on hot summer days, on the continent they often occur in shaded and moist wooded areas and on wet gravelly substrates in mountain valleys. Mating occurs in the spring and begins soon after the adults have emerged from overwintering in the soil; females are known to build small brood nests in which they deposit their eggs and guard them until the larvae emerge although this instinct applies for only so long because if the eggs do not hatch she will eventually eat them. Larvae develop through the spring and into the summer and pupate in the soil during July and August, this stage lasts for about ten days and new-generation adults appear from August until the autumn. Both adults and larvae are surface predators, feeding on a range if small insects and other animals but they also scavenge carrion and very probably take at least some plant food. Adults are wind-dimorphic and those with fully-developed wings fly well and occasionally come to MV light. They are easy to spot by torchlight and by day will soon become active if the substrate is flooded or disturbed, they tend to occur in numbers and often among numbers of superficially similar carabids, pitfalling is very effective but in such habitats but tends to produce large numbers of carabids and should be done with caution.

Pterostichus anthracinus 1

Pterostichus anthracinus 1

Pterostichus anthracinus 2

Pterostichus anthracinus 2

10.0-13.0 mm. Entirely shiny black with dark brown appendages, the femora often darker than the rest of the legs. Head with two setiferous punctured beside the large convex eyes, vertex smooth and very finely punctured, clypeus and frons mostly smooth but for a ridge alongside each eye, mandibles robust and protruding, antennae filiform; the basal segment about as long as the third. Pronotum transverse, broadest about the middle and curved to distinct anterior angles and weakly sinuate margin before sharp posterior angles, explanate margin narrow throughout, basal fovea doubled and with a short external keel. Elytra long and flat, with sloping shoulders and a continuously rounded apical margin, in the female with a tiny tooth at the sutural apex, with well-impressed striae including a scutellary striole, epipleura crossed before the apex, interstices flat; the third with three or four (counting one near the basal margin) setiferous punctures joining the second or third striae. Abdominal sternites with fine and dense, sometimes confluent, punctures, in the male the apical sternite is longitudinally impressed. Terminal segment of all tarsi glabrous ventrally. Basal segments of male front tarsi dilated.


The debt ratio is a fundamental gauge that tracks the balance of a company's long-term debt vs. its shareholders' equity. Boston Beer Company, Inc. Debt-to-Equity Ratio = 0.000. A low equity ratio will produce good results for stockholders as long as … Your LTV would be 37.5 percent. So now that you've found a company with great prospects, consistent and growing earnings, high returns on equity, and low … The Equity Ratio measures the proportion of the total assets that are financed by stockholders, as opposed to creditors. In a perfect world, though, a low debt-to-equity ratio - say, 0.30 - is better, as it indicates the firm has not accumulated a lot of debt and doesn't have to face onerous … Debt-to-Equity Ratio = 0.000. A high equity ratio, however, does not automatically indicate that the earnings of the company are low. The company had an equity ratio greater than 50% is called a conservative company, whereas a company has this ratio of less than 50% is called a leveraged firm. Debt to equity ratio is the financial liquidity ratio that compares firms total debt vs total equity. Companies that finance an … However, low ratio … It is calculated by dividing total debt by total equity which indicates how leveraged the firm is. The debt to equity ratio is a financial, liquidity ratio that compares a company’s total debt to total equity. In fact, the opposite tends to be true. The Significance of Equity Ratio. Considering the aforementioned factors, it is wise to choose stocks with a low debt-to-equity ratio to ensure safe returns. A more financially stable company usually has lower debt to equity ratio. Therefore, companies with high debt-to-equity ratio risk faces reduced ownership value, increased default risk, trouble obtaining additional financing and violating debt covenants. In the given example of jewels ltd, since the equity ratio … Putting It All Together. Using the example of a $400,000 property, assume you owe $150,000. Hansen Natural Corporation Debt-to-Equity Ratio = 0.000. A higher debt to equity ratio … An high asset/equity ratio indicates the company may be suitable for the extension of credit, especially is the amount of debt carried by the company is somewhat low, or if the … Higher ratio … The debt to equity ratio shows the percentage of company financing that comes from creditors and investors.