International alarm as Venezuela accused of 'coup'

Esteban ROJAS
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Venezuelan opposition deputy Amelia Belisario (2nd-R) scuffles with National Guard during a protest in front of the Supreme Court in Caracas

International powers voiced alarm at the Venezuelan Supreme Court's move to seize power from the opposition-led legislature, in what several officials and analysts branded a "coup."

The court's move tightened socialist President Nicolas Maduro's grip on power after more than a year locked in a political struggle with the center-right opposition.

Critics said it was an authoritarian turn for the South American oil giant, where an economic crisis has caused food shortages, riots and an epidemic of violent crime.

The crisis has raised concerns about stability in Venezuela, which has undergone three attempted military coups since 1992.

The US State Department called the court's move "a serious setback for democracy."

Regional powers Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Chile and others also warned it was a threat to democracy in Venezuela.

Brazil's foreign ministry said it was "a clear break with constitutional order."

But the hardest line came from the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, who in a statement echoed Maduro's opponents' claims of an internal "coup d'etat."

Maduro had yet to comment publicly about the outcry late Thursday.

Protesting lawmakers scuffled with riot police outside the court. Opposition groups called for wider street protests on Saturday.

- Lawmakers passed over -

The judges' move strips Maduro's opponents in the National Assembly legislature of what little grip they had over a key pillar of government.

The high court (TSJ) has consistently backed the leftist president in his power struggle with the legislature.

It had on Tuesday also stripped parliamentary immunity from lawmakers in the assembly.

He said he "denounces the self-inflicted coup d'etat perpetrated by the Venezuelan regime against the National Assembly, the last branch of government to be legitimized by the will of the people of Venezuela," the OAS statement said.

- Army urged to act -

The court based its latest decision on an earlier ruling that the opposition majority was in contempt of court.

"As long as the National Assembly's contempt of court and invalidity persist, parliamentary powers shall be exercised directly by (the Supreme Court's) constitutional chamber or by the body it designates to safeguard the rule of law," it said late Wednesday night.

The speaker of the National Assembly, Julio Borges, urged the army, which has thus far supported Maduro, to take a stand.

"The Venezuelan armed forces cannot remain silent as the constitution is breached," he said, appealing to soldiers who are also suffering through what he called the "chaos" of the economic crisis.

With the public support of the military and control of most state institutions, Maduro has been resisting opposition calls for early elections.

A European Union spokesman in a statement urged Venezuela "to establish a clear electoral calendar and to respect the National Assembly and all its members, as foreseen in the Constitution."

- Contempt of court -

The court said the National Assembly leadership was in contempt for swearing in three lawmakers who were banned over alleged electoral fraud.

The opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) condemns the fraud charges as a trumped-up bid to curb its power after it won a landslide in legislative elections in December 2015 with a promise to oust Maduro.

The court has overturned every law passed by the opposition-led legislature.

"To legally overtake the functions of a branch of government is a coup," said Latin America specialist Christopher Sabatini of Columbia University in New York.

- Oil deals at stake -

The court's expansion of its own powers came as part of a ruling on an oil law. It enables the government to launch joint ventures with private oil companies without legislative approval.

Venezuela has the world's biggest oil reserves but the collapse in prices has sapped its revenues, prompting shortages of food, medicine and basic goods like toilet paper.


Timmy's Mum

With hair rollers firmly fixed in place, Timmy’s Mum likes to look her best, even when she’s running around keeping an eye on her energetic offspring. Something of a ‘mother figure’ to the rest of the Flock, Timmy’s Mum keeps a watchful eye over the Mossy Bottom gang, but she can’t always steer them away from trouble! When the Flock take off to find the Farmer in the Big City, she follows close behind, using her motherly instincts to keep everybody safe in this big and scary new world.


Crabb, Larry. Real Church. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2002.

As the subtitle reads, this book explores if the real church actually exists, and what constitutes a real church. Crabb, in his uncanny wit and direct frankness, explores the state and situation of the church, mainly in the context of North America. He then moves to 3 common misconceptions of what a church exists for, namely for a better life, to save ourselves and others, and to change the world. He then unpacks his own definition of a real church, focusing on 4 areas, namely spiritual theology, formation, community and mission.

The church I want to be part of, a real church, will teach spiritual theology that stirs a hunger for spiritual formation that surfaces the need for spiritual community that then marshals its resources for spiritual mission.

Not being familiar with Crabb’s earlier and popular books e.g. Inside Out, I initially found his style and comments rather suspicious and a little too tongue-in-cheek, though I understand he was being extreme and in-your-face for emphasis, and also speaking his mind, but slowly then drawing the audience to think outside the box, for themselves, and also get drawn into his reasoning and unpacking which comes subsequently. The content and material he puts forth is not new, but still refreshing, especially his take of what many Christians view as church, or what church should be for. I find him leaning towards emergent church theology, though he mentions clearly at least twice his misgivings and concerns about the movement. He also uses terms and phrases that don’t necessary sit well with evangelical theology, e.g. dancing with the Trinity, addiction to God, hearing heaven’s music, etc. Also, I find that the book is a little imbalanced, because he spends so much time reflecting on the state of the church, and misconceptions of the purposes of a church, it seems he rushes through the 4 areas, and before it can reach a climax, ends rather abruptly, concluding that theology is the thing that draws the other 3 together, without really explaining too much why and how. Instead, he leaves us thirsty for more, which creates a great plug-in for his other book 66 Love Letters, which he then promotes. On purpose, or just in line with his conclusion? I leave it to you to decide.


Ask Colin

In history, last time Dow Jones average spent 16 years (1965 - 1982) going side way after 23 years of bull market (1942 - 1965). Now, the Dow has just finished a 19 year long bull market (1982 - 2001). If we knew it will spend more than 10 years going side way or going down, would you suggest we should stay away from the market, or have very low exposure to it? Because compounding is essential for accumulating wealth in long term, I just thought 10 year will be a long time in ones life.

I am glad you asked this question, because I have strong view about it.

Firstly, the 1965 -82 period was a sideways market. However, there was also a 40% decline in the middle of it. There was also a fairly wild electronics boom in it as well in the 1970s. So, there were risks and opportunities. You really need to take a shorter term view as a trader.

Secondly, if you take the "real" (adjusted for inflation) picture, it was not a sideways market, but a big bear market. Wealth was slaughtered in this period.

Thirdly, just looking at indexes is very dangerous. Individual stocks move a lot more than the index - in both directions.

So, I think that a trader needs to keep trading the market. Traders should keep moving in and out on bull and bear trends. Traders should also keep moving out of weak stocks into strong stocks.

Investing is, of course a different matter.

My strategy as a trader is to stay out of bear markets and trade the bull markets. However, there is scope to have some exposure at any time to strongly trending stocks.

It is especially important to be exposed to stocks if you have a long term investment horizon. Stocks have the best long term return of any asset class.


Grandma’s Batch in San Francisco

This strain has a unique aromatic profile that contains notes of butter, baked goods, citrus bite, and flower petals. A hybrid strain made by crossing parent strains Girl Scout Cookies and Candyland, Grandma’s Batch is often used to give bursts of energy and stave off fatigue. It can also be used as a ward against depressive spells or to deal with persistent aches and pains. Its effects are often cerebral in nature, including increased optimism and positivity, a sense of blissful transcendence, all-over tingles in the body, and bursts of creativity that can be useful for artistic pursuits.


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Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2.

Pulst SM1.

1998 Oct 23 [updated 2015 Nov 12].

Author information

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is characterized by progressive cerebellar ataxia, including nystagmus, slow saccadic eye movements and, in some individuals, ophthalmoparesis or parkinsonism. Pyramidal findings are present; deep tendon reflexes are brisk early on and absent later in the course. Age of onset is typically in the fourth decade with a ten- to 15-year disease duration.

The diagnosis of SCA2 rests on the use of molecular genetic testing to detect an abnormal CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion in ATXN2. Affected individuals have alleles with 33 or more CAG trinucleotide repeats. Such testing detects nearly 100% of affected individuals.

Treatment of manifestations: Management is supportive. Affected individuals should maintain activity. Canes and walkers help prevent falls; grab bars, raised toilet seats, and ramps to accommodate motorized chairs may be necessary. Speech therapy and communication devices such as writing pads and computer-based devices may benefit those with dysarthria. Weighted eating utensils and dressing hooks help maintain a sense of independence. When dysphagia becomes troublesome, video swallowing studies can identify the consistency of food least likely to trigger aspiration. Prevention of secondary complications: Vitamin supplements are recommended; weight control helps minimize difficulties with ambulation and mobility. Surveillance: Annual examination by a physician experienced in movement disorders and ataxia. Agents/circumstances to avoid: Alcohol and medications known to affect cerebellar function.

SCA2 is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. Offspring of an affected individual have a 50% chance of inheriting the causative CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion. The repeat may expand significantly, especially when transmitted by the father. Prenatal testing for pregnancies at increased risk is possible if the diagnosis has been established by molecular genetic testing in an affected family member.

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The Collector's Voice: Critical Readings in the Practice of Collecting: v. 3: Modern Voices (BOK)

etc., Rosemary Flanders

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The study of collection is a growth point in cultural studies, conceived a a study of practice, of the ways in which people make sense of the world by bringing elements together. This volume focuses on 19th and earlier 20th-century collectors, roughly spanning 1835 to 1960. The essence of the imperial theme is described as a belief in the real, a confidence in the positivist, essential nature of things. The belief in the sovereignty of reason and its potential to command nature fuelled both the scientific expertise of the time and the "can-do" technology upon with both global communication and industrial development depended. Interwined with this was the steady shift from the production of material as a way of life to that of consumption. This shift created the lavishly over-furnished homes of middle-class Britain and the elaborate lifestyle based upon many sets of thing.s

Språk Engelsk Engelsk Innbinding Innbundet
Utgitt 2002 Forfatter etc., Rosemary Flanders
ISBN 9781859284193
Antall sider 200 Dimensjoner 21,1cm x 15,9cm x 2,2cm
Vekt 448 gram Leverandør Bertram Trading Ltd
Emner og form Social & cultural history, Cultural studies, Museology & heritage studies, Antiques & collectables


Kolr Vestarson

Rookie - 0 Points (Santa Barbara)

Biography of Kolr Vestarson

Kolr Vestarson is a California-born, Alberta-raised poet and composer. He lives primitively and proudly in the Rockies as an old-school pioneer and as a spiritual and artistic recluse, following a path of non-resistance to and non-cooperation with human evil and stupidity.

Kolr Vestarson's Works:

Death Becomes This Whisper - Volume One
My Life in the Forest

PoemHunter.com Updates

The winter rains had not yet abated
when your dark eyes
first spoke their earnest whispers
in your father's garden.

Your lips,
barely apart in their trembling,
proclaimed the longing that lay hidden
in your quiet shadows of draped skin.

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Chapter One

By: Jordyn Seaney and Savannah Shoemake

In chapter one of “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, the author writes from his own personal perspective at Dresden in 1967. Vonnegut chose to make the first chapter form his perspective to establish credibility with his audience. Through this credibility he can bond and relate to his readers. Vonnegut talks about his experience in the war and how it has shaped him into the person he is today. Since he entered the war as a “child”, his child life got stripped away from him and he is trying to live it out as an adult.

The author’s syntactical structure shows his child-like qualities, by being short, simple, and choppy. Vonnegut’s tone in chapter one is somber, bitter, blunt, and child-like. Through hypotaxis, parataxis, asyndeton, polysyndeton, cumulative, and periodic syntactical structures he portrays this tone. An example of parataxis in chapter one is, "He had no trouble believing it. He was up. He was reading" (4). Vonnegut uses examples of both hypotaxis and polysndeton in the same quite, "as a trafficker in climaxes and thrills and characterization and wonderful dialogue and suspense and confrontationsIn"(5). Another example is of asyndeton which Vonnegut uses on page eleven, "I wrote the Air Force back then, asking for details about the raid on Dresden, who ordered it, how many planes did it, why they did it..."(11). An example of cumulative is, "It is so short and jumbled and jangled, Sam, because there is nothing to say about a massacre" (19). All of these forms of writing have specific characteristics, but they all add to Vonneguts child like style of writing. In chapter one Vonnegut portrays his argument that children should not experience the trauma of a war because it strips them of their child hood and innocence. He never got to live out his child life, so he is trying to live it now. This is revealed to the audience through the author’s child-like behavior such as, staying up at night to call his ex girlfriends, writing in crayons, and multiple choppy and child-like syntactical structures.

Vonnegut makes it clear to the audience in the first chapter that his writing style is going to be an unordinary read. On page 20 Vonnegut states, “The time would not pass. Somebody was playing with the clocks, and not only with the electric clocks, but the wind up kind, too.” Through this proclaim he author foreshadows to his readers about the time travel in this novel. He shows that he is going to jump around from year to year, setting to setting, non-chronologically. Vonnegut’s writing style is reflected from his child hood war experiences. Through this evident desire for a normal child hood portrays his idea that children should be kept out of the war.

Vonnegut introduces many reoccurring motifs to his readers. Time and the phrase, “So it goes” are two of the motifs that he incorporates throughout the novel, as well as the first chapter. Time represents how Vonnegut doesn’t really have a grasp on time and goes from one decade to another in the matter of sentences. He uses clocks throughout the chapter to represent time. Vonnegut states, “They had a horse-drawn wagon full of clocks” (14). The soldiers that took the clocks wanted others not to be able to know what time it was and keep them shut out of reality of the world. In the book time is nonexistent. Every most just is. "So it goes" represents no worried. The tralfadorians teach Billy to not worry or or even remember the bad moments in time because in another moment that bad thing is good. They use death as an example. They say not to morn for the dead because in another moment they are alive and well. For this reason, when someone dies Vonnegut states right after, "So it goes", to explain that the person is dead in this moment but not every moment in time.


One Healthy Breakfast A Day Keeps Weight Gain Away
Eating a good breakfast and letting go of your snacking habits may provide the key to leading a healthier life and preventing weight gain, a new study shows.

Unhealthy weight gain is a problem that many Americans have to tackle and which state-led programs promoting wholesome dietary habits seek to prevent. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 36.5 percent of adults, and around 17 percent of children in the United States live with obesity.

Excess weight also puts people at an increased risk of developing serious conditions or diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer.

Research into nutrition, healthy eating habits, and how our diet impacts our day-to-day lives is conducted on a regular basis, with new discoveries being reported all the time. For instance, an analysis recently covered by Medical News Today suggests that some bio markers could predict the effectiveness of weight loss diets.

Anew study on the link between the impact of meals and their frequency to weight gain has now been conducted by Doctor, from the Lome Linda University School of Public Health (LLUSPH), in California. She collaborated with colleagues from her own institution, as well as from the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine and the Institute of Endocrinology, both based in Prague,Czech Republic.

Their results were published in The Journal of Nutrition, and they were co-written by Professor , from LLUSPH. Doctor will present the findings at the International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine, in Washington, D.C.

Participants with peculiar eating habits

Researchers worked with participants from the Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2), an endeavor monitoring the health lives of 96,000 Seventh-day Adventists from the U.S. and Canada.

The AHS-2 considers that the Adventist population is situated at a lower risk of developing conditions and diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, cancer,or diabetes. This, researchers suggest, may be thanks to their specific eating habits.

Led by Doctor, the study included 50,660 adult individuals from this population,all aged 30 or older. The focus was on the possible link between when and how often people eat, and their body mass index (B MI). The participants had various body types and sizes, the researchers specify, and their eating habits and health outcomes were monitored for an average period of 7 years.

At the outset, the participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire, detailing their medical history, eating practices, physical activity, and other relevant information. As the study went on, they filled in follow-up forms declaring any major health events. The final follow-up questionnaire reported how often participants had normally taken their meals, and at what times of the day.

Breakfast is good, dinner less so

The study had several main findings. In the first place, it showed that people who regularly ate only one or two meals per day had a decrease in B MI. Conversely,those who ate more than three meals a day increased their B MI, and the more meals they ate, including snacks, the greater the weight gain.

There searchers also found that people who had breakfast regularly tended to lose more weight than people who chose to skip breakfast. More importantly, the participants whose largest meal of the day was breakfast experienced a large BMI decrease, in contrast with those who made lunch or dinner their largest meal.

Additionally,the researchers found that skipping dinner altogether and having a long, 18 or 19-hour, overnight fast contributed to weight loss. Other good eating practices, the researchers observe, include leaving 5 or 6 hours between breakfast and lunch, and abstaining from snacks throughout the day.

These findings confirm what previous studies conducted on smaller population samples also inferred. The importance of breakfast to our diet and its impact on our general health have long been appreciated, yet this is the first recent analysis to be conducted on such a large, unrestricted population sample.

Age affects BMI

There searchers also highlighted that there is a strong link between BMI and advancing age. According to them, participants younger than 60 tended to gain more weight, whereas those over 60 tended to experience a loss in BMI.

In this context, they note that people under 60 with more mindful dietary habits,who eat breakfast as their main meal, tend to avoid the weight gain that is to be expected in their age category.

"Before, those eating calories earlier in the day had less weight gain," says Professor . "Over decades, the total effect [of regularly eating a large breakfast] would be very important," he adds.

At the same time, the study observes that people over 60, who naturally lose more weight, will be similarly affected by this regime, which could lead to negative health outcomes in some cases.

A clearer understanding of the impact that meal frequency and the importance that meals have on BMI levels could, therefore, help us make better, more informed decisions about our individual health and dietary needs.

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Morals Without G-d?

Rabbi Mendel Bluming serves the community as the Rabbis of the Chabad Shul of Potomac and is often challenged with this question.

Here’s a thought created on Jewish philosophy:

Good is only good for G-d chose it to be. G-d is not chained by anything, and could have chosen otherwise. He could have written “Thou shalt steal,” and “Do not help the poor and needy.” Helping our elders across the street would be the wrong thing to do, but mugging them would be desired.

Now you may say, anyone with a healthy conscience knows that to steal is morally repugnant and helping the needy is a righteous and upright deed. But our conscience is created by G-d also. If morality would be inverted, we would be wired in that direction. Luckily for all those old ladies trying to cross the street in the world, G-d chose the other way around.

Does this mean good isn’t truly good? Is morality nothing more than a whimsical imagination? Not at all. Only humans are impulsive and arbitrary. G-d is absolute. Good is absolutely as reality not because it feels good to me but because the Absolute One made it so. Morality is defined by the infinite model of G-d, not the finite nature of human feelings.

The real quandary is this: without G-d, how can anything be good or evil? Who becomes the decision maker? That’s a really good question

Rabbi Mendel Bluming and Rabbi Moss

Menachem Bluming asks Do You Trust Your First Impressions of Others?

There is a known theory that we can gather all we need to know about a person in the first few seconds of greeting them. It is a great theory. There is only one problem with it. It is just a theory 🙂

A person is bigger than meets the eye. We are complicated. We have thoughts and feelings, memories and desires, quirks and foibles. We all have a story and we all have a soul. You can’t notice all this at first glance.

How many times have you been impressed by someone’s at first, only to be disappointed later? And vice versa, how many people have you been pleasantly surprised by after getting to know them better? Even looks are deceiving. A person who you don’t find attractive at first can grow on you as their full picture unravels.

I am sure you would support me in saying that no one can know what you are all about by meeting you once. So give the same treatment to others. Don’t always trust your instincts. They can certainly lead you astray.

Menachem Mendel Bluming and Rabbi Moss

Menachem Bluming on why a Kohen Does not Marry a Convert

A convert can marry a king. A convert can marry a prophet. A convert can even marry a rabbi, the highest echelon of Jewish society (if you ask me :). So it makes no sense to say that a convert can’t marry a cohen because they are second class citizens. There must be some other reason.

Here’s a thought for your consideration:
When the Torah forbids a marriage, it is never because one party is not good enough for the other. It is because both parties are not matched to each other. They are simply not soulmates. In the case of the cohen and the convert, their soul dynamics clash, their spiritual energies contradict, and so they can’t marry.

The holiness of a cohen is hereditary. If your father is a cohen, then you are a cohen. Priesthood is a birthright that is not achieved through a person’s effort nor deserved through a person’s righteousness. It is an honor that is bestowed at birth.

The holiness of a convert is the exact opposite. It is completely earned. The convert was not born Jewish. They chose it. They achieve Jewishness of their own initiative and with their own hard work. They are self-made souls.

So these two souls, the cohen and the convert, are moving in opposite ways. The cohen receives their power from above. The convert creates their own soul energy from below. The cohen has the ability to bring down blessings to others, just as their soul was given to them as a blessing. The convert has the power of innovation, of initiative, of creating holiness from the ground up. They are going different directions. For this reason their souls are not a match.

Both the cohen and the convert have awesome holiness. It is a great privilege to be gifted with the soul of a cohen. And yet, the self-made soul of a convert has a depth of experience that inherited holiness cannot compete with. Neither are second class souls.

The cohen is crowned with a legacy from past generations. A convert creates their own legacy for future generations. The Jewish people is richer for both of them.

Rabbi Mendel Bluming and Rabbi Moss

Proud Humility

Menachem Bluming muses why you have no time

Do you struggle with time? Do you feel like you don’t have enough time and years fly by? Jewish holidays never seem to come on time 🙂
Time torments everyone.

Torah empowers us to transform time. How? Repentance makes amendments to our past, Shabbat transforms time into a holy time, Yom Tov too etc

Make time an ally!

Menachem Mendel Bluming

Menachem Bluming supports you in finding a kabbalist who can cure anxiety!

I know a kabbalist who could help. His name is Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. He lived just under two thousand years ago, but his light still shines today.

In his esoteric masterpiece, called the Zohar, he has an understanding and if you internalize it, it may bring you the energy you need. He writes:

During the Friday night prayers, as Shabbos enters, the energy of the world goes higher into the supernal realm, and all negativity and harshness is cut away. All winds of anger and opposition flee and disappear. No foreign power reigns, the world is covered in a divine light, which shines on the holy people on earth, who are crowned with fresh souls.

Rabbi Shimon is describing the spiritual shift that happens as we welcome in the Shabbos. We are not just desisting from our daily jobs, we are lifting ourselves to a higher plane, a place where there is only kindness and light and holiness, where our soul is free from the torments of the mundane lives, and when we are given a fresh burst of soul energy.

The Friday night prayers are the start of this journey. The songs and prayers transport us to this inner space of deep happiness. We actually quote the above passage in the prayers. If you close your eyes and let yourself be uplifted by the moment, you may actually feel yourself being elevated to this peaceful place.

There are no magical answers. Continue your therapy, and also do the spiritual therapy of Shabbos. Both will require work. But you can get there. You are one of those holy people who can be crowned with a fresh soul, every Shabbos.

Menachem Mendel Bluming, Rabbi Moss based on Zohar II 135b, Kegavna from Siddur Friday night service

Menachem Bluming Considers is Divorce a Mistake?

We all have free choice. We can marry Mr Wrong, or divorce Mr Right. We have to take accountability for choosing a partner, even if things didn’t work out.
However, when a marriage ends in divorce, it’s not to say that it was not supposed to be in the first place. Together with the belief in free choice, we also believe that whatever happened in the past was supposed to happen. And so you wed the person you were destined to marry. It was meant to be. And in retrospect it was destined to end.

This is the paradox of faith: What I am about to do is my freedom. Once I have done it, it was meant to happen. I am responsible for my actions. I made the bed, and I am required to sleep in it. But now that I did, I couldn’t have slept anywhere else.

As painful as the experience may have been, your divorce was integral to your soul’s mission. We can only guess why.
It is possible that the ill-fated marriage was a rectification for something in a past life. It could be you have a soulmate from your former incarnation that you didn’t marry the first time around, as well as a soulmate from your current incarnation, and so you have to wed both.

Perhaps you were required to bring a child into the world who otherwise would not have been created.

Or perhaps it was a necessary step in your journey of learning, bringing you closer to your true self, and your real soulmate.

Who knows?
We don’t take it lightly when divorce happens. It is a tragic last resort when all other attempts to mend a toxic marriage have failed. And sometimes it isn’t in your hands. But if it has happened, you have to trust that this is your soul’s direction. May G-d give you the strength and wisdom to navigate the next step on that path…

Menachem Mendel Bluming and Rabbi Moss

Menachem Bluming Muses on What Makes Jews Unique

Jews do odd things sometimes. One example is the known practice of “credit combing.”
Many Jews have a habit of combing through the names at the end of a movie, searching for Jewish names. At each discovery they shine with pride:

Look! Assistant Gaffer…….Marvin Goldstein! Catering Consultant……..Beth Cohen!

This strange practice comes from a very deep place in the Jewish essence. Jews share a spiritual union with each other. If I meet a Jew- it doesn’t matter where, there is an immediate connection, a kinship, a sense of oneness. We are like one vast family, and even closer than that.

If Jews are in the news, we each take it personally. When Israel is being attacked, we feel the pain wherever we are. When a Jew wins a bronze medal in baseball, we all share the victory. And when we pick out a Jewish name in the credits, we get excited.

Maybe other nations do this as well. But I don’t think so. This strong sense of connection makes the Jewish nation unique among other religions.

This is the reason why data cannot apply to the Jewish people. No Jew is only an individual. We are a collective soul, a slice of something bigger than ourselves. We may be a tiny blip on the radar, but we don’t work by the usual rules of demography. Our strength is not measured by our numbers, but by our oneness.

The destiny of the Jewish nation is to be a strong voice of goodness and decency among the family of nations. When we unite with our community and commit ourselves to the shared mission of our people, then we are a formidable existence. Not because we are one billion, but because we are one.

Menachem Mendel Bluming, Rabbi Moss and

Menachem Bluming Sounds off on “Why Smile ?”

So Smile 🙂

Menachem Mendel Bluming, Rabbi Moss and


Edward I. (12391307)

Edward I., surnamed Longshanks, king of England, born at Westminster, son of Henry III., married Eleanor (q.v.) of Castile; came first into prominence in the Barons' War; defeated the nobles at Evesham, and liberated his father; joined the last Crusade in 1270, and distinguished himself at Acre; returned to England in 1274 to assume the crown, having been two years previously proclaimed king; during his reign the ascendency of the Church and the nobles received a check, the growing aspiration of the people for a larger share in the affairs of the nation was met by an extended franchise, while the right of Parliament to regulate taxation was recognised; under his reign Wales was finally subdued and annexed to England, and a temporary conquest of Scotland was achieved (12391307).

Edward, Thomas * Edward II.
Edithe, St.
Edmund, St.
Edmund, St.
Edmund Ironside
Edward, Thomas
Edward I.
Edward II.
Edward III.
Edward IV.
Edward V.
Edward VI.
Edward VII.
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Elder
Edwardes, Sir Herbert Benjamin
Edwards, Bryan

Links here from Chalmers

Bray, Sir Reginald


Better Digestion Means Faster Weight Loss

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Have you ever wondered what will happen to the food you eat when it enters your body? Food undergoes a process of digestion. This is a process of mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller components which can be easily absorbed in the digestive system. Good digestion should always be placed into importance, particularly if you want to lose weight. Being an integral part of weight loss, it is very important to know the basics of how to improve one’s digestion. Otherwise, it will result to decrease or inefficient metabolism that will cause the storage of calories and later on will result to gaining of weight. Also, if your digestion is poor then it will lead to different conditions such as fatigue, headache, lack of energy and depression. Be concerned enough to take good care of your body and that includes your digestive system to aid in improving your digestion that may help in improving and losing those extra pounds.

To ensure better digestion, here are some tips to live by:

Control what you eat. Do not eat large amounts of food, eat less rather. It is a good thing to have small frequent meals with about 3-5 times a day compared to having bigger meals that will make your stomach feel heavy. Limit your foods to the size of your fist. Tell yourself when to stop, drink a lot of water for you to feel full and prevent yourself from craving.

Exercise regularly. It is best to do exercise every morning for 30 minutes. Cardiovascular exercise helps in strengthening your digestive systems’ muscles. Other than cardiovascular exercises, yoga can be beneficial to help improve circulation to your digestive system.

Raw and fresh foods are a must eat. Heating foods above 115 degrees Fahrenheit may destroy the digestive enzymes. To achieve better metabolism and improve your digestion, keep these enzymes intact in your food. That is why it’s good to eat it raw foods or fresh ones, particularly fruits and veggies which makes them easier to digest. It would also help if you take probiotics regularly. It helps increase the good bacteria and are very important for digestion.

Avoid various combinations of food. For an instance eating starches with proteins, sweet foods with acidic foods with starches at the same time, these foods when taken at once will cause negative effects to your body. The combination often pose digestive disorders as well, hence, even nutritious foods aren’t absorbed properly. Instead, they contribute to building of fat deposits. So discipline yourself to go for simple meals.

Eat slowly. While fast foods and eating in a rush are convenient habits for busy people, such habits are also bad for weight loss. On the other hand, eating slowly makes you eat fewer amounts of foods, because your appetite can only be high at a limited span of time. Eating less will be easier for your digestive system. Chew foods properly, by chewing carefully you body gets the benefit to undergo good food digestion.

Live by a healthy diet. This is the most important step you should remember. Eat a lot of healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables because these are filled with nutrients and it is high in fiber which increases metabolism. Fruits and vegetables keeps you hydrated and are good source of antioxidants. Avoid those unhealthy processed foods that may destroy your digestive tract in the long run. Additionally, avoid eating a lot of meat or eating meat all the time because it takes time to digest.

Discipline yourself to have good digestion. Choose what you eat always. Live a healthy lifestyle.

Vitamins, Supplements and Importance of Water In A Healthy Diet

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If you are a person who is interested in developing an appropriate diet for health living, there are three items that you should include in your overall eating regimen:

— vitamins
— nutritional supplements
— water

The foundation of a diet for healthy living needs to be appropriate food choices. You need to eat an appropriate balance of fresh fruits, vegetables and low-fat meat products. You need to avoid food items that contain trans-fats as well as refined, processed sugars.

As a general rule of thumb, an adult who is not significantly overweight should consume eight 8-ounce glasses of water each and every day. (Soft drinks, coffee, milk and other beverages are not to be utilized as part of the total water intake amount. However, some herbal, decaffeinated teas can be used towards your overall water intake count on a given day.)

A person who is overweight will need to consume more water. Some experts suggest that (in addition to utilizing vitamins and nutritional supplements) a heavier person should take in not only the base eight glasses of water daily but should also drink an additional 8-ounce glass for every ten pounds he or she weights over and above his or her “ideal weight.” Of course, if a person is morbidly obese, there is a line of water consumption that cannot be crossed. You can only consume so much water — however, you do need to bear in mind that the more you weigh, the more water that you will need to drink each and every day.


10 Instant Ways To Banish Muscle Tension Naturally

10 Ways To Banish Muscle Tension Naturally

Whether you overdid it at the gym, sat at your desk too long, drove a long distance in the car, have sustained an injury, or are ill, muscle tension can be frustrating and painful. Muscle tension is frequently the result of stress and anxiety which makes millions of people around the globe susceptible.

Not sure if you have muscle tension? Check out these common symptoms.

  • You feel like your muscles are tight or pulling – sometimes they cause sharp or constant pain.
  • You have a lot of pain that keeps you from participating in physical activity or even keeps you bedridden.
  • You feel like your muscles are twitching, cramping up, or you have frequent spasms.
  • You have an overall feeling of tightness that may cause headaches or reduce your flexibility.

Muscle Tension Caused By Stress

Muscle tension caused by stress or anxiety may come and go depending on what is going on in your life. You may find that the symptoms are especially bad at the end of the day and get progressively worse throughout the day. For this reason, many people who experience muscle tension due to stress have trouble falling or staying asleep.

Muscle tension caused by stress can present itself in any number of muscles, remain stationary or migrate from one group of muscles to another group. The most common areas for muscle tension due to stress are:

  • face
  • neck
  • back of the  head
  • shoulders (back and top)
  • chest
  • arms
  • legs
  • hands
  • feet
  • stomach
  • groin
  • digestive system

Symptoms may worsen with elevated stress, nervousness or even the thought of an anxious situation. Or, they may come and persist for virtually no reason at all. This is what makes tension pain due to stress or anxiety so frustrating.

Muscle Tension Caused By Overuse

Muscle tension and its accompanying pain may also be the result of overuse or minor injury. Overuse can be from a repetitive job such as typing or working on an assembly line of some sorts. Without proper stretching, muscles become tight and are easily injured. Poor posture can also lead to chronic muscle tension. This if often the case with people who work at a desk job or do a lot of driving.

There is even such as thing as Occupational Overuse Syndrome, previously known as Repetitive Strain Injury, which causes tightness and pain, in muscles joints, tendons, nerves and soft tissues. Tension and pain develop when muscles have been moved in the same way over a period of time. Problems can also arise when postures have been constricted or there has been too much straining.

10 Natural Remedies For Muscle Tension:

While you may not be able to decipher exactly why you have muscle tension, there are many natural remedies that can help reduce the pain and inflammation while restoring mobility to the affected muscles.

1. Relax, Stretch and Breathe Deeply

While this sounds too simple to be true – it is actually the very first thing you should try if you are suffering from muscle tension. This is actually the best thing to do before muscle tension turns to outright pain. If you know that you are susceptible to muscle tension and pain, it is critical that you learn how to relax and incorporate stress-busters in your life. Even if you don’t think you suffer from muscle tension, learning how to relax, stretch and breathe are all healthy preventative measures you can take.

To relax, try some simple yoga moves daily. This will keep your mind focuses, stretch your muscles and help to release tense muscles. Many people find that a few moves at night, before bed and a few in the morning, upon waking, help to reduce tension and keep muscle lose. This is is especially true if you suffer from shoulder, neck or head tension or pain.

Even though we may take it for granted, breathing is essential to health – that is correct breathing. If your breathing is shallow (small and short breaths) you can actually exacerbate anxiety and stress which in turn, makes muscle tension worse.

To get the most out of the oxygen, practice deep and full breaths that start in your diaphragm. To practice, sit up straight and place a hand gently on your abdomen. Take a deep breath in through the nose and watch as your belly rises. Blow the air out of your mouth very slowly and repeat this four or five times and different points throughout the day. Deep breathing will disarm stress and provide a rush of freshly oxygenated blood to your muscles.

Another instant relaxation move is to drop your shoulders. If you are stressed, you will most likely carry your shoulders high and hunched. This can result in shoulder, neck and head tension and is one of the most frequent causes of tension headaches. Remind yourself often, throughout the day to drop your shoulders. You will feel an immediate sense of relief and your tight muscles should relax.

2. Drink Tart Cherry Juice

If you are an avid athlete and suffer from muscle tension and pain, cherry juice can help. It has been shown to reduce muscle stress and inflammation. Studies have shown that runners who drink a glass of tart cherry juice can reduce post-run muscle stiffness and pain. This response is due to the powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the juice. Always purchase organic tart cherry juice with no additives.

3. Movement

Although you may not feel like moving when your muscles are tense, being active – especially outdoors in the fresh air is a great way to loosen up. Exercise releases endorphins that help combat pain and being outside is often a good distraction from feeling tense and tight.

One of the best things you can do to avoid muscle tension is to adopt a regular exercise routine. The human body loves routine and routine helps us stay sharp both physically and mentally.

Walking outside is one of the best exercises to help prevent and release muscle tension. Just be sure to start slowly if you have not been exercising for some time and do a few stretches before and after.

4. Acupuncture

Acupuncture is an ancient alternative therapy that has been used throughout countless cultures for thousands of years.  This method involves the insertion of tiny, very thin needles through the skin in various strategic locations. Acupuncture is at the heart of traditional Chinese medicine and is often used to treat pain. If you decide to try acupuncture for your tension pain, be sure to seek out a certified provider and do some research before going so that you know what to expect.

5. Vitamin D

It has been found that people who suffer from excessive muscle tension, spasms and pain may be deficient in vitamin D.  Regular time in the sunlight is the best source of vitamin D but most people don’t get enough of this all year so a high quality supplement is best. You can also get vitamin D from fish, fortified milk and eggs.

6. Massage

Massage therapy is not a new remedy for tension.  Massage  of some form or another has been part of nearly every culture on Earth since the beginning of recorded time.

Repetitive movement and strenuous physical activity along with injuries and anxiety cause tension and can cause scar tissue in the soft tissue. As mentioned, poor posture can lead to formation of scar tissue as well.

Both sports and remedial massage techniques manipulate soft tissue including muscles, tendons, ligaments and skin. This manipulation helps ease up tight muscles, reduce pain and increase range of movement.

According to the American Massage Therapy Association ( AMTA) massage helps to release contracted muscles and to lengthen tight ones. The Mayo Clinic also states that massage may be useful in the treatment of sore and stiff muscles.

Be sure to see a qualified massage therapist for your muscle tension.

7. Take a Hot Bath

Like massage, hot therapeutic baths are nothing new. There is evidence that people in Ancient Egypt around 2000 B.C. used hot baths for therapeutic purposes. Natural hot springs are popular today as well for healing. Interestingly enough, animals are even known to sit in hot springs.

Hot water helps muscle fibers to loosen and relax. This reduces muscle tension and pain. To increase the effectiveness of the hot bath, try adding Epsom Salt which relaxes the nervous system and draws toxins out of muscles.

In addition, you can also add essential oils to the water that help with relaxation and muscle tension release. Oils such as lavender or chamomile will also help you relax and soothe sore and tight muscles.

Be sure to check with a physician before using a hot bath therapy, especially if you suffer from high blood pressure or take prescription medication.

8. Valerian

Known as a the natural herb with a powerful relaxing effect, valerian is able to calm tense muscle, relieve spasms and reduce pain. This native herb of Asia and Europe is used to reduce anxiety, stress, hysteria and cramps. The best way to take valerian is as a relaxing tea – simply steep one teaspoon of dried valerian root with 8 oz of water for ten minutes and strain. You can also take valerian in capsule form

9. Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne pepper is known for its hot and spicy taste and has been a popular alternative therapy in herbal medicine for centuries. When used as a topical application, cayenne pepper can help reduce muscle and joint pain – especially if you have suffered a minor injury. The active ingredient in cayenne pepper, capsaicin is found in a number of muscle creams and balms. Capsaicin goes to work directly on the sensory nerves, reducing pain and tightness

10. Moist Heat Therapy

Heat therapy can be highly effective at managing chronic muscle tension and pain. Heat helps your muscles to relax and encourages blood flow to the area which can reduce pain. In addition, increasing blood flow to sore muscles also helps in eliminating lactic acid waste buildup which contributes to pain.

For best results, apply a heating pad with moist insert to the painful area and leave it on for about twenty minutes at a time. You can also apply a heat wrap to the area where you feel the tension. Some come especially contoured for certain body parts such as neck, shoulders, back etc..

Bonus: Make This Homemade Balm To Relieve Sore Muscles

What else can you do?

In addition to the above remedies, it is important to maintain a healthy diet, drink plenty of water and exercise regularly. The healthier you are overall, the less likely you are to experience muscle tension and pain. Get plenty of sleep, develop healthy living routines and find a way to deal with stress in your life so that it does not accumulate.

Learn to spot the warning signs of muscle tension and pain and take action before it gets worse. Learning to understand your body and its subtle cues are extremely important in preventing and managing muscle tension.


Gambling is one of the world’s most popular and oldest forms of entertainment. Recent researchers have uncovered indication that humans have gambled for thousands of years. Gambling was a popular form of entertainment in the ancient Roman, Egyptian and Chinese civilizations.

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Indeed, many of today’s most popular games are themselves hundreds of year old. Casino, for instance, dates back to the Seventeenth Century, but is played by hundreds and thousands of people online each day. Its millions of fans ensures gambling’s continued survival. It’s not just a hobby; it’s part of our cultural heritage.

This guide principally deals with today’s two most popular online games of chance. Poker is not included in the list since it’s recognized as a game of skill, and not a game of chance.

Lotteries and Lotto are the most common form of gambling by chance across the word. In many governmental states it even organises national or state lotteries. Lotteries and Lotto are purely by chance as one has to write down a particular amount of numbers, and depending on the withdrawn, the player might win from a few Euros to actually hitting the Jackpot.

Slots is one of the easiest forms of gambling by chance, where the player has to create a winning line of same symbols. No guide is required and it is one of the most popular casino games in the world. Slot Machines can be found in bars, pubs, arcades, hotels, restaurants and many other entertainment establishments across the globe. The payouts are usually in cash money depending on the winning combinations based on type and number of symbols matched.


Inside the rings of Saturn

Worth a look on the internet, as footage of Saturn’s rings are revealed when Nasa’s  Cassini spacecraft plunges inside the planet’s rings.

Planes made of graphene?

Remember graphene, the single layer of carbon atoms forming a regular hexagonal pattern, which is very light but extremely strong? Richard Branson believes that aircraft could be made entirely of graphene in 10 years time.

Single atoms used to store information

Scientists have manage to use a single atom to store two bits of data, whereas today’s  technologies need at least 10,000 atoms to store one bit of information. Atoms of holmium (a metal in the lanthanide series) were used, and by flipping the atom’s magnetic orientation so that it aligned with or against the Earth’s magnetic field, it was able to switch a bit from 0 to 1.

Sentinel-2B launched

Sentinel-2B, Europe’s new satellite, has just been launched to join an identical spacecraft, Sentinel-2A, which is already in orbit. Between them they will photograph all land surfaces and coastal waters in visible and infrared light to provide a complete map of the Earth every 5 days.

The images will be used  for, amongst other things, urban planning, air-quality monitoring, tracking deforestation and glacier retreat.

Trump and Global Warming

One hundred researchers, including many of the most prominent climate scientists in Britain, have written to Theresa May to warn her of the potential threats posed by Donald Trump, who has made it clear he does not accept that human activities contribute to global warming.

The letter warns that Trump’s administration may severely weaken climate change research. If the world class climate science now performed in the US is wound down under Trump, the UK must be ready to respond decisively, the letter states. One response would be to rapidly expand British climate science by offering jobs to disaffected US researchers.

More climate change effects

Birth of the ‘Boom Star’!

1795 years ago two rather dim stars, in the constellation Cygnus, collided creating a Red Nova (dubbed the ‘Boom Star). Light from this new star is travelling towards us and we will be able to view the birth of this star with the naked eye. Unfortunately we will have to wait until the summer of 2022 to see this phenomena!

Genetically modified mosquitoes to combat Zika?

Extraordinarily hot Arctic

Let’s hope the new president elect is taking serious notice.


Created by Materia for OpenMind Recommended by Materia for OpenMind
Start The Technological Successes of 2017
18 December 2017

The Technological Successes of 2017

Computing | Digitalisation | Gadgets | Innovation | Technology
Estimated reading time Time 3 to read

Artificial intelligence now dispenses with human knowledge and learns by itself in order to become invincible. Human beings, however, continue to use technology to overcome barriers, such as the use of 3D bioprinting to create precision medicine, or to realize the most ambitious dreams such as reaching other planets through the most powerful rockets ever created. Here we review the great technological advances of the year 2017.

Artificial Intelligence DeepMind

Last year, a computer program developed by Google DeepMind made history by defeating Lee Sedol, one of the planet’s best players of Go, a kind of oriental chess that is considered as complex as the human mind—the chips can be arranged on the board in more combinations than the number of atoms in the universe. And in 2017, the technology went further and a new version, called AlphaGo, now has an algorithm capable of training itself and becoming unbeatable.

While the original program had been trained with the analysis of millions of movements from games between humans, the new version uses a neural network of learning by reinforcement. In other words, the machine plays against itself and teaches itself to reach a capacity well above its earlier versions.

Alpha GO discovered tactics and movements used by human players for thousands of years. Credit: DeepMind

The AlphaGo developers explain that the machine intuitively discovered tactics and movements used by human players for thousands of years, but also discovered other unknown and more efficient strategies on its own. “It is possible to train [a machine] at a superhuman level, without human examples or guidance,” they say.

Facial recognition

In China, one can already make payments using one’s face. This year, the startup Face++ has created facial recognition software that identifies and monitors the facial movements of each user and it is already being used in different applications such as making bank transfers or verifying that a driver of transport services has a driver’s license. Chinese police are using it to identify criminals in videos recorded by security cameras.

Face++ has created facial recognition software that identifies and monitors the facial movements of each use. Source: Pinterest

Developed in 1960, this technology has been popularized in 2017 by companies such as Face++ and FaceTech as well as by the smartphone makers. Apple has used it to create facial unlocking, the most important change in its new model—the iPhoneX.

Apple’s so-called Face ID uses machine learning to create a kind of three-dimensional map of the face of the user and is able to detect changes in their face over time, such as the use of glasses or a new haircut.

The consecration of the smartphone

In addition to the already expected releases from Apple, which also introduced the iPhone 8, the mobile phone market has seen the release this year of the Galaxy S8, with which Samsung rose from the ashes after the crash of the Galaxy S7—the model that suddenly caught fire—in 2016. The new terminal has a screen that occupies practically the entire front and its main novelty is Bixby, a virtual assistant that promises to perform tasks more complex than its competition, Siri.

Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, the first smartphones designed and developed by Google. Credit: Google

The big surprise of 2017, however, was the launch of Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, the first smartphones designed and developed by Google, both with artificial intelligence. Unlike the others, these phones have a single camera equipped with sensors and AI to improve contrast, stabilization and object recognition, which is able to tell the user the breed of a dog or the date of a city landmark in front of them. As affirmed by the developers of these devices, 2017 has shown that the mobile phone is still the future.

Rocket to the red planet

SpaceX, the company that has set out to realize the dream of space tourism, has made history this year with the relaunch of its Falcon 9 rocket. The flight on March 31 marked the first time that a single rocket has been reused for multiple missions, an important step towards lowering the costs of space travel and thus making them more profitable.

Falcon Heavy launch simulation. Credit: SpaceX

The company has announced the launch by early 2018 of the Falcon Heavy, which aims to be the most powerful rocket in service. The piece stands 70 metres high, with 28 motors and with a capacity to carry about 63 tons of weight, equivalent to three Falcon 9s and is intended to transport thousands of tons of satellites, a solar spacecraft and, finally, two lunar tourists. The success in these first missions will demonstrate if this is the rocket with the power, reliability and price necessary to take humans to Mars.

The future printed in 3D

Before performing surgery, specialists from the Virgen del Rocío Hospital in Seville print 3D replicas of each patient’s heart, which is unique and one-of-a-kind, in order to study it. Doctors use the Witbox 2, a printer created by the company BQ, which is just one example of how this technology will revolutionize medicine in the coming years.

Witbox 2 print 3D replicas of each patient’s heart. Credit: BQ

The paediatric team of the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona uses a similar technology to print 3D replicas of tumours that they use to rehearse the most risky operations for children.

Last May, a group of researchers used gelatine as ink to print artificial ovaries that, once implanted in sterilized mouse females, permitted the normal functioning of the reproductive process. So-called bioprinting has definitely entered the race towards precision medicine.

Joana Oliveira

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Sigmund Freud - Psychiatrist, Scholar - Biography
Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud Biography

Psychiatrist, Scholar (1856–1939)

Who Was Sigmund Freud?

Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 to September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist who developed psychoanalysis, a method through which an analyst unpacks unconscious conflicts based on the free associations, dreams and fantasies of the patient. His theories on child sexuality, libido and the ego, among other topics, were some of the most influential academic concepts of the 20th century.

Sigmund Freud Photo

Freud’s Theories

  • Id, ego and superego: These are the three essential parts of the human personality. The id is the primitive, impulsive and irrational unconscious that operates solely on the outcome of pleasure or pain and is responsible for instincts to sex and aggression. The ego is the “I” people perceive that evaluates the outside physical and social world and makes plans accordingly. And the superego is the moral voice and conscience that guides the ego; violating it results in feelings of guilt and anxiety. Freud believed the superego was mostly formed within the first five years of life based on the moral standards of a person’s parents; it continued to be influenced into adolescence by other role models.
  • Psychic energy: Freud postulated that the id was the basic source of psychic energy, or the force that drives all mental processes. In particular he believed that libido, or sexual urges, was a psychic energy that drives all of human actions; the libido was countered by thanatos, the death instinct that drives destructive behavior.
  • Oedipus complex: Between the ages of three and five, Freud suggested that as a normal part of the development process all kids are sexually attracted to the parent of the opposite sex and in competition with the parent of the same sex. The theory is named after the Greek legend of Oedipus, who killed his father so he could marry his mother.
  • Dream analysis: In his book The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud believed that people dreamed for a reason: to cope with problems the mind is struggling with subconsciously and can’t deal with consciously. Dreams were fueled by a person’s wishes. Freud believed that by analyzing our dreams and memories, we can understand them, which can subconsciously influence our current behavior and feelings.

Freud’s theories were no doubt influenced by other scientific discoveries of his day. Charles Darwin's understanding of humankind as a progressive element of the animal kingdom certainly informed Freud's investigation of human behavior. Additionally, the formulation of a new principle by scientist Hermann von Helmholtz, stating that energy in any given physical system is always constant, informed Freud's scientific inquiries into the human mind. Freud's work has been both rapturously praised and hotly critiqued, but no one has influenced the science of psychology as intensely as Sigmund Freud.

The great reverence that was later given to Freud's theories was not in evidence for some years. Most of his contemporaries felt that his emphasis on sexuality was either scandalous or overplayed. In 1909, he was invited to give a series of lectures in the United States; it was only after the ensuing publication of his book Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (1916) that his fame grew exponentially.

Freud has published a number of important works on psychoanalysis. Some of the most influential include:

'Studies in Hysteria' (1895)

Freud and Breuer published their theories and findings in this book, which discussed their theories that by confronting trauma from a patient’s past, a psychoanalyst can help a patient rid him or herself of neuroses.

'The Interpretation of Dreams' (1900)

In 1900, after a serious period of self-analysis, Freud published what has become his most important and defining work, which posits that dream analysis can give insight into the workings of the unconscious mind. The book was and remains controversial, producing such topics as the Oedipus complex. Many psychologists say this work gave birth to modern scientific thinking about the mind and the fields of psychology, psychiatry and psychoanalysis.

'The Psychopathology of Everyday Life' (1901)

This book gave birth to the so-called “Freudian slip” — the psychological meaning behind the misuse of words in everyday writing and speech and the forgetting of names and words. These slips, he explained through a series of examples, revealed our inner desires, anxieties and fantasies.

'Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality' (1905)

While no one person will die without sex, the whole of humanity would without it — so sex drives human instincts, Freud believed. In this work, he explores sexual development and the relationship between sex and social behavior without applying his controversial Oedipal complex.

When and Where Was Freud Born?

Sigmund Freud was born in the Austrian town of Freiberg, now known as the Czech Republic, on May 6, 1856.

Early Life and Education

When he was four years old, Freud’s family moved to Vienna, the town where he would live and work for most of the remainder of his life. He received his medical degree in 1881. As a medical student and young researcher, Freud’s research focused on neurobiology, exploring the biology of brains and nervous tissue of humans and animals.

Early Career

After much work together, Breuer ended the relationship, feeling that Freud placed too much emphasis on the sexual origins of a patient's neuroses and was completely unwilling to consider other viewpoints. Meanwhile, Freud continued to refine his own argument.

Wife and Kids

In 1882, Freud became engaged to marry Martha Bernays. The couple had six children—the youngest of whom, Anna Freud, went on to become a distinguished psychoanalyst herself.

Freud fled Austria to escape the Nazis in 1938 and died in England on September 23, 1939 at age 83 by suicide. He had requested a lethal dose of morphine from his doctor, following a long and painful battle with oral cancer.

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Canada’s NAFTA strategy is in big trouble. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seen here meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in February 2017. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

Rebooting Canada’s failed NAFTA strategy

Instead of treating the Trump administration as a campaign adversary, Canada needs to start working with the United States to renegotiate a NAFTA that serves both countries, not regimes like China.

China sets its sights on breaking the Boeing-Airbus duopoly

Did Qantas bet the house on the wrong planes?

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Archive for: February, 2007

Know Your Biomes IV: Tropical Savanna

Feb 27 2007 Published by under Basic Concepts, Ecology

A cheetah crouches, shoulders hunched, barely visible through golden stems. The antelope on the edge of the herd has stopped chewing, and scans the horizon with a nervous eye. As it takes a step forward to rejoin the safety of the group, the cheetah makes her move, bounding with impossibly huge leaps towards her prey. The entire herd is on the move with her first step, but the stray is dangerously lagging behind. It flies only for a few seconds before the cheetah leaps one final time, clinging to the young antelope's rump with all her strength, pulling the animal to the ground for the coup de grace.

This should be a familiar scene for anyone with a passing interest in wildlife films; the great African savannas are often filmed to illustrate with detail the great theater of competition and predation in the wild. Visibility plays a large factor in this choice; the savannas have very few trees, and are home to some of the largest groups of the largest mammals in the world, not only in Africa, but also in South America, India and Australia. The same drama could not be effectively captured in a rain forest; animals are much less visible generally.

But that does not mean that the creatures of the savannas are immediately apparent. Most are well camouflaged, especially the predators, matching the golds, browns and sage greens of the flora, or appearing as a distant rock, as in the case of rhinos. Huge herds of ungulates pound the hard earth of the savanna, following the summer rains as they sweep across the enormous stretches of land that savannas occupy. As in all biomes, the climate sets the standard of living.

Like the tropical dry forests, the savanna is doused with rain in the summer seasons (often in just a few weeks depending on the year), and suffers from extreme drought for the rest of the year. What keeps dense plant growth at bay? Well, the answer to that question is threefold:

  • Fire: After the five month long dry season, lightning storms swirl violently over the plains, igniting the parched vegetation. These fires can be prolific, clearing huge tracks of grasses and saplings. The grasses grow back quickly, but millennia of fires like these have selected a small number of fire resistant trees and shrubs that are constantly kept in check by the annual fires.
  • Soil: The soils of the tropical grasslands are relatively impermeable, causing the heavy rains to skim along the surface instead of soaking deeply into the ground.
  • Herbivory: Animals also keep the density of non-poacean plants at a relatively low level. The herbivores of the African savanna, for example, have evolved to fill specific niches* (the specific factors that influence a species existence, in this case feeding) in which they consume plant material at different levels of the ecosystem. Giraffes and elephants browse the upper and middle levels of leafy trees, respectively, while wildebeests and zebras graze on different levels of grasses. The large herds of ungulates roaming the plains are also restrictive to growth.

The number and diversity of trees differ from savanna to savanna around the globe, however. In the Miombo Woodlands, trees of the genus Brachystegia can reach heights of 80 feet (25 meters) or more, assisted by a nutrient fixing fungus in its roots (mycorhizae). There are a few dozen species of this tree in a relatively small area.

Insects, as usual, play a large part in recycling nutrients from dead and dying tissue. Termites are perhaps the most visible of these detritivores (detritus eating) in just about every savanna across the world, living in mounds in excess of two meters high, each home to millions of foraging termites. In the Cerrado Savanna of South America, the giant anteater plays Godzilla, wandering through entire cities of termite mounds and dismantling them with its powerful claws to expose tunnels full of workers and lapping them up with its sticky tongue (links to video of anteater feeding).

Modern humans are believed to have originated in the African savanna before trekking out to inhabit every other biome in one way or another. The savanna is used for supporting non-native livestock in most cases, but there is a movement for domesticating antelope and other ungulates due to the naturally higher feed to meat ratio observed in these animals.

Next we'll move out of the tropics and into the desert.

*We will return to niche theory in a later post; Cheetah image courtesy of schani

This post is part of a series of Basic Concepts: Ecology (Intro, Biomes I, II, III). For the entire list of Basic Concepts in Science, visit Evolving Thoughts.

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Know Your Biomes III: Tropical Dry Forest

Feb 20 2007 Published by under Basic Concepts, Ecology

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>AAAS Symposium: The Dynamics of Social Extinction

Feb 19 2007 Published by under [Politics], Conference Blogging, Conservation, Links

>Following Collins' presentation on amphibians as model organisms for observing biological extinction, Dr. Charles Redman from the Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU addressed a more sticky area of extinction, one that hits closer to home: social extinction.

"The biological extinction of a society is rare," said Redman, describing social extinction as more of a cultural rollover - certain social orders become antiquated and irrelevant and tend to be replaced.

"At some point, the old ways just die out. In some cases," he said, "the language still exists, but the society may not."

Redman questioned the importance of the collapse of societies in reference to the central theme of the AAAS meeting, sustainable science. The loss of a species is unequivocally deemed morally important, but is the loss of society? What causes societies to fail? Is there such a thing as a truly sustainable society?

Redman answered himself simply. "The only thing that is certain is that change is ubiquitous."

He detailed briefly and necessarily the Easter Island paradigm of cultural collapse and the succession of regimes in Mesopotamia as examples, following with a concise definition of societal "resilience," the ability of a society, biologically and culturally, to remain in a desirable state or to be able to change in a desirable way. Redman never exactly defined "desirability," but I think we can assume that state generally involves nonviolent shifts in society.

Redman sees two major threats to a society: environmental changes and the capacity for response in problem solving, either through greater mobility, technology or sweeping social transformations. He pointed out that the simplest and often the most effective response, greater mobility, is no longer feasible. People are generally stuffed into particular nations where travel between is at best, a bureaucratic paper race and at worst, absolutely forbidden. This problem is especially puzzling in this time of globalization, where goods are brought to people across the world. Redman would like to see more people brought to the goods, evening things out a bit more.

I think one of Redman's more poignant statements was "sustainability is not always good" when you're speaking from a societal perspective. The longest lived, strongest governments in human history were not democracies, but totalitarian monarchies and theocracies. Redman questioned the power of democracy to create a lasting, sustainable, resilient society. No answer was implied in the statement; he just wondered if there was potential.

He questioned the value of information to a society, wondering if the availability of information was as much a detriment as a boon, offering too many options, leading to indecision and confusion faced with so many choices. Unlike biological diversity, which is essential in prolonged stabilization in evolved living systems, cultural diversity may lead to gridlock on senate floors, each group holding firm to subcultural principles.

So I'd like to throw a couple of questions that Redman asked out to the blogosphere. Please, spread them around if you would, on your blog, through e-mail, asking friends:

  • When a society is on the verge of extinction, are we morally obligated to save it?
  • Do you agree with Redman about diversity and information in today's society?
  • Is a sustainable, "resilient" society possible? Does in involve greater globalization, as Redman suggests?

I would love to hear your thoughts. It might even be neat to compile a series of responses.

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>AAAS Symposium: Observing Biological Extinction

Feb 17 2007 Published by under Conference Blogging, Conservation, Ecology, Links, Microbiology

>The first symposium I attended was yesterday at 8:30 am entitled "The Dynamics of Extinction," which was organized to be an interdisciplinary approach to examining extinctions in natural, societal and lingual systems, and also the ethics involved in preserving - and perhaps necessarily - intervening in these systems.

Ecologist Jim Collins of the NSF and Arizona State University kicked off the discussion with an analysis of global amphibian decline as an indicator of extinction, and also a type of living experiment. It is usually the job of paleontologists to analyze fossil and climate records, correlating extinctions with major environmental change.

"At this moment, however," said Collins. "Extinction is right in front of us. We actually get to peer through the window this time."

And amphibians are the perfect example, a model class, said Collins. It's easy to see why. Thirty-three percent of amphibians are endangered, with 7.4 percent of those considered critically so, compared with 23/3.8 percent of all mammals and 12/1.8 percent of all birds. It is striking that we're talking about an entire class of animals that are being pushed to the brink, not just a particular family or genus.

Collins listed the different threats that may lead to extinction in these animals, including the "historic" threats,

  • Commercial
  • Introduced species
  • Habitat reduction

as well as some newer, less studied threats, labeled "enigmatic":

  • Climate change
  • Toxins
  • Infectious agents

The enigmatic threats became more prominent as biologists noticed declining amphibians populations even within protected lands. Since the enigmatic threats are not subject to arbitrary human boundaries, they persist even when an area is isolated from the first three historical threats.

But commercial harvesting is still a major threat for amphibians, especially frogs. The frog leg industry is especially destructive, concentrating their harvests on only 11 species of frogs, 95 percent of the time harvested from natural habitats, not farms.

Toxins are hard to label as a concrete cause of because of the stratified and highly variable distribution of contaminants in biological systems, especially those bound to aquatic environments. Collins suggested that the deformities caused by parasites in frogs may be due indirectly to an increase in fertilizers, though that idea has not been confirmed.

Collins instead concentrated on his own work with Central American frog populations and the potential for a type of fungus, Chytrid to extinguish about 100 species of frogs in the area. Chytrid attacks the kerotin-rich skin of the frog, and since these animals respirate through their skin, advanced cases cause cardiac arrest and death. Chytrid has also been known to disrupt normal behaviors in frogs.

The idea of a pathogen driving its host to extinction seems contradictory; where's the benefit for the pathogen?

There are a few species of Chytrid resistant frogs in these communities that act as a reservoir species for the fungus. In other words, these frogs show no symptoms of infection, but still maintain the ability to spread the disease (a kind of Typhoid Mary). It's easy to see how this might cause a large extinction of frogs from the constant exchange of Chytrid between susceptible and resistant species.

And the whole bit might be caused by climate change, at least on the local level. As the microclimate shifts, certain pathogens seem to spread more effectively (as in the case of avian malaria in Hawaiian birds).

Collins and company were also able to predict the spread of the fungus to the next location south, more or less confirming the climatic/pathogenic threat of extinction. He has shipped over 100 different species of the most endangered frogs to a zoo in New York (not sure if it was Brooklyn or not) to try to protect and preserve them.

The question is, does this count? If the animal only exists in a zoo, are we truly preserving diversity? More questions were raised in the ethical implications of extinction: When should we intervene? How do we know when the cause of endangerment is natural or artificial? How to define was is natural or artificial?

Collins urged the philosophers of science to step up and engage questions like these, weighing the importance of value systems in ecology, intrinsic value vs. utilitarian value. He feels that we need a more clear philosophy of what should be preserved and how, all the while keeping in mind what exactly our role is in this process.

Back later with more tidbits from this symposium.

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Know Your Biomes II: Tropical Rain Forest

Feb 11 2007 Published by under Basic Concepts, Ecology

As we begin to take a general sweep through the Earth's biomes, the ever-changing hubs of natural history, the idea of biodiversity should be preeminent. In recent years, biodiversity has become an increasingly important term for ecologists, describing not only the entirety of organisms themselves, but also their behaviors, interactions and genetics. Think about each of these levels as we progress, coupled with the different lenses of ecology we discussed earlier. Hopefully, by the end, we will have a more satisfactory perspective on biodiversity and will be able to better define the term.

As with many systems of classification in science, there are different classifications of biomes; you may run across lists shorter or in excess of the one described in this series of posts. I will detail the most expansive terrestrial biomes here, though later we may delve into some of the more obscure classifications.

The tropical rain forest (tropical wet forest, tropical moist broadleaf forest) is probably the most well-known biome to the non-biologist, immediately recognizable for its garish displays of color, shape and texture. Evolution has produced a nearly unlimited array of plants, animals, fungi and microbes, all interwoven in an intricate organic tapestry.

The source of the density and richness of the tropical rain forest is two fold: temperatures are relatively constant throughout the year and these areas are drenched by rain almost daily. Rainfall can exceed 400 cm in a single year in these forests (temperate forests rarely exceed 100 cm of rain), draining the soil of nutrients and leaving it acidic.

Not all rain forests have soils that are poor in nutrients; those along rivers are consistently rejuvenated by flooding, while those rooted in the soil of young volcanoes have yet to be leached by steady rains.

Nutrients are rapidly recycled in a rain forest system. With as many as 300 tree species inhabiting a single hectare and as many as 1,000 species of insects on a single tree, not to mention the high density of other organisms, it is easy to see how the nutrient budget in the forest would be tight, and how organisms rely on one another to perpetuate. Bacteria, mites and other soil creatures quickly break down organic matter from dead organisms which is absorbed by other animals or by the shallow, twisted roots systems of trees and plants. Mutualistic fungi called mycorrhizae often assist these root systems in acquiring elusive elements like nitrogen and phosphorous. Termites break down tough cellulose with the help of microbes in their guts. Leaf cutting ants slice up plant material and cultivate a nutritious fungi for the colony that aids in decomposition. And, since the density of plant life within the forest almost negates the effects of wind, plants are almost completely reliant on insects for fertilization and frugivorous (fruit-eating) animals for the dispersal of seeds.

If you want to find most of the life in a rain forest, it might be best to look up. The canopy is home not only to countless species of birds, monkeys, amphibians and snakes, but also to thick draping vines called lianas. Epiphytes, plants that live on other plants, make homes out of the crooks and crannies of trees that can reach 80 meters in height.

Rain forests make up only about 2% of the Earth's terrestrial surface, but contain about half of the planet's land-loving species. On a macroscopic level, these forests are the taxonomist's last great frontier of discovery, especially in entomology; low estimates predict tens of millions of unclassified insects.

The thick web of life, the behavior guiding (sometimes forcing) interaction and the underlying genetics of it all that constitutes the tropical rain forest system is the quintessential representation of biodiversity. While other biomes on the planet may not by as dense, the biological relationships of each provide a fresh view of the diversity of life on Earth.

Some authors skip the tropical dry forest when listing biomes, but due to its peculiar (and extreme) double life of wet and dry seasons, we'll give it a nod, next time.

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Know Your Biomes I

Feb 07 2007 Published by under Basic Concepts, Ecology

Over the past few billion years, life has persisted through countless geologic, atmospheric and extraterrestrial disturbances through its ability to change with the environment. Ecosystems exist in their present state because they have evolved to be as such. It took trillions of events - biotic and abiotic - for these complex systems to weave their thick web of dependence.

One way for ecologists to define and correlate these varied environments is by categorizing these areas by the types of plants that inhabit them. These categories are called biomes. Categorizing each biome by plant life is not an end in itself; instead, indigenous plant life acts as an indicator of the animal life, soil composition and the climate of an area.

Most of us already know the biomes - desert, rain forest, savannah, tundra, etc. - but how exactly are they defined?

Life within a terrestrial biome is founded by its soil. Soil is created by the weathering of rock (inorganic content) and by the decay of tissue from animal, plant and microbial life (organic content). A mature soil - one that has been undisturbed by geologic or human activity - is characterized by distinct layers called soil horizons that will vary from biome to biome. Deserts have a very different soil stratification than rain forests due to the varying organic and inorganic composition of the biome. The horizons will be immediately apparent and distinct with a deep core sample.

In Western Maryland, there are large swaths of land reclaimed from strip mining operations and repopulated with native or analogous plant life. If you take a core sample in these reclaimed areas, there is no stratification. You will see the same trend in park land that was once used for agriculture. The soil will not become mature again for some centuries, perhaps even millennia.

Soil horizons are typically defined as such:

  • The O horizon, as shown above, is the "organic" layer, a mixed bag of leaf litter and other organic bits found on the biome floor. This layer will vary with particular biomes, obviously, with deserts or tundra having very little litter at all.
  • In the topsoil layer, or A horizon, is usually associated with humus, mostly decayed organics that have been compacted and mixed with fine inorganic particulates such as clay, silt and sand.
  • The B and C horizons are mostly composed of inorganic rock in different sizes; C will have larger "chunks" than B.
  • Below C is the bedrock.

So, plants form the foundation of each biome, and soil provides a suitable anchor and a source of nutrients for the plants (not to mention for the trillions of microbes and fungi feeding and assisting plant growth).

Climate is also an essential factor in understanding the distinctions made between environments. The Earth's "average" climate is determined by an enormous number of factors, but generally speaking, we can zero in on a few.

Heat from the sun is what drives the circulation of air on Earth, and with the circulation of air, the factors of precipitation. Much of the basis of climatic variation seen between biomes is created by uneven heat from the sun due to the Earth's tilt on its axis and its ovoid orbit around the sun. In short, these variations combined with the ever changing geology have created our extant biomes, which lie within more or less predictable latitudes.

Take a look at the map below:

The middle dotted line is the equator, while the outer two both lie at 30 degrees. Notice that the dark green areas (tropical rain forest) are pretty much bound to the equator, while the yellow areas (deserts, generally) skirt along the 30 degrees north and south. This is caused by the constant heating and cooling of air at the equator leading to almost daily rainfall.

With the moisture expelled in the form of rain, this now dry air mass rises, moving north and/or south. It sinks into the areas at 30 degrees N & S, reabsorbing moisture, and in the process, robbing the area of rain. The mass continues its journey, eventually dumping moisture into the temperate zones. This is a generalized model, but it proves the point.

So, biomes are categorized by the plants that live within certain areas, but those plants exist in their present state only because of the atmospheric and geologic pressures placed upon ancestral organisms. With recent evidence confirming that human beings are indeed causing the global climate to rise prematurely, ecologists will rely on plants to continue their role in indicating climatic influences.

In the next few posts, we'll briefly review the different types of biomes on Earth, making distinctions in precipitation levels, geography and indigenous life.

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What Is Ecology?

Feb 06 2007 Published by under Basic Concepts, Ecology

Ecology is a study of interactions or relationships between organisms and the environment; the connectedness between living systems and non-living systems on the Earth. Ecology is, in a sense, a historical field, founded upon the Earth's far reaching and ever evolving natural history.

The term ecology comes from the Greek root words oikos logos, literally “the study of household,” first combined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866. Haeckel was referring to the interactions within the house of nature, and we have used the word ecology (translated from the German Oekologie or Ökologie) to describe complex systems of life both extant and extinct.

The shear range of fields that the term "ecology" encompasses is staggering. Why? Think about how many levels of biological interaction can be described by focusing on one animal, a red panda (Ailurus fulgens).

At the individual level, the red panda itself, an ecologist could look at a particular panda's ability to thermoregulate, or absorb and expel heat within its environment. Within a population of red pandas, the next step up, an ecologist could analyze the gene flow within the population and how this particular group of red pandas is distinct in adaptations from a neighboring one.

Communities of organisms are composed of two or more populations. At this level, an ecologist could take a closer look at the cohabitation of red pandas and giant pandas in a certain area, studying how the animals share food and space.

The distinction between a community and an ecosystem is slight, but essential to understand. While a community describes interaction between organisms in an area, an ecosystem describes the entirety of the area, including chemical and physical factors. Research at this level would concentrate on things like nutrient cycling (i.e. the phosphorus or carbon cycle) or the distribution of energy within the slope forests of the Himalayas.

As we expand, things become more generalized. We are not longer talking specifically about the red panda, but about the living/nonliving system of which the red panda is a part. Landscape ecology looks at a certain heterogeneous conglomerate of ecosystems, their composition ("patches" of forests, plains, etc.) and the interaction between these ecosystems. (I will zero in on this level and be a bit more descriptive in a later post.)

A geographic ecologist (who studies regions of interaction) might take a look at the geologic history of an island or lake and try to explain the distribution of organisms in that area due to the large scale geologic activity or other environmental variables. R.H. MacArthur (an associate of E.O. Wilson) thought that geographic ecology could be described as the "search for patterns of plant and animal life that can be put on a map."

Finally, ecologists can look at biological interaction through the widest scope by analyzing the biosphere, or the entirety of life's systems on the globe. Ecology at this level usually involves major atmospheric phenomena like the long term effects of climate change or El Niño on the Earth's living systems.

At each of these levels of organization, there are near infinite examples of questions to ask about interaction. Those are just a few examples. Additionally, we have not even considered narrowing the focus to the levels of physiological, cellular and molecular interaction.

In the next posts in the Basic Concepts: Ecology series will discuss terrestrial biomes, but in order to appreciate the distinction and formation of these regions across the Earth, we'll delve into some basics about climate distribution and soil composition.

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Philosophy of Science for Software Engineers

A few weeks ago, I gave two guest lectures on philosophy of science for software engineers at the university of Stuttgart. I gave these lectures to MSc students (but also PhD students) in context of a course research methods of software engineering by Stefan Wagner and Daniel Graziotin.

Why is this topic important for software engineers? For the same reason it is important to any researcher of any discipline.

Too often, we follow certain routines and apply certain research methods the way we have been told without reflecting on their place in a bigger picture and whether the methods are appropriate to answer the questions we have. We struggle with questions on novelty and relevance without reflecting on the actual meaning of relevance and the implications these characteristics have. We discuss issues like how to achieve relevance without reflecting on the symbiotic relationship between theoretical relevance, practical relevance, and rigour (in fact, we often tend to believe there is a trade-off rather than seeing the symbiotic relation). We talk about theories without reflecting on what theories really are. We publish papers without discussing the relation of our results to existing evidence while this, in fact, is how we can only achieve scientific progress in our field. We tend to think there is such thing as “absolute truth” and that this sort of “truth” can only be obtained by applying certain research methods or working with a specific set of data (like quantitative data).

In fact, the work in our discipline is too often confronted with misconceptions on research methods, and I believe setting these methods in context of a bigger picture is important. I myself came to understand this quite late which is the reason I appreciated seeing this topic placed in a MSc course.

Long story short, the slides can be found here:

Please feel free to share and reuse them. Sharing is caring and reuse is the purest form of complimenting. 🙂


My vegetarian rant!

Plant-based protein is all the rage these days and maybe because I have a little bias (ok a BIG bias) I can’t help but say a little hurray. It is about time the world woke up and looked seriously at these food options.  Why has it taken so long??

I can’t even begin to tell you how I have often been made to feel like a burden when invited over to friends or even family for a meal. I always offer to bring a vegetarian dish so I don’t end up eating side dishes or salad for my meal.  I am lucky however, to be surrounded with quite a few friends who go out of their way to accommodate my preference to not eat meat.  Especially the one who made steak on the barbecue for everyone but me. I saw the Mark Bittman book  “How to Make Everything Vegetarian” on the kitchen counter when we arrived and was treated to homemade veggie burgers.  That’s going way beyond the call of duty as I would have been happy with a simple bean salad.

My husband, to this day, tells me it is difficult for people to know what to feed me. How can that be? Really! In this day and age with so many food options and access to so many different cultures, I have a hard time believing this.  Is it really so foreign to people to prepare a meal without meat or chicken?  Maybe because it is second nature to me I have a hard time understanding.

Thankfully our kids are growing up in a different era. Our communities are changing.  We are exposed to so many different cultures. It is not uncommon for us to have Middle Eastern, Indian or Mexican food over the course of the week. From your basic hummous and pita to curry chickpeas to refried beans. These things never made it to the kitchen table when I was going up.

Our vegetarian kids today are going to have such a different experience, hopefully a more positive one. And with so much in the news about diversity these days, they are more likely to be accepted for the choices they make.

For tips and tricks on how to make sure your daughter doesn’t feel like the outcast at the table, sign up for my newsletter.