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Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum, one of three large museums located on Exhibition Road, Kensington, London (the others are the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum), is home to life and earth science collections comprising some 70 million specimens or items. There are five main collections: Botany, Entomology, Mineralogy, Palaeontology and Zoology. There is also a wildlife garden containing many native fauna and flora.

The museum is renowned for its Central Hall and its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons, particularly the large Diplodocus cast which dominates the entrance.

The foundation of the collection was a bequest by Irish doctor Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753). Sloane's collection, which included dried plants, and animal and human skeletons, was initially housed in Montague House in Bloomsbury in 1756, which was the home of the British Museum. In the late 1850s, Professor Richard Owen, Superintendent of the natural history departments of the British Museum, became convinced that the natural history departments needed a bigger, separate building.

Legally, it remained a department of the British Museum, and its formal name was the British Museum (Natural History), often abbreviated in the scientific literature as B.M.(N.H.). In 1963, the Natural History Museum finally became an independent museum with its own Board of Trustees, and in 1986 absorbed the adjacent Geological Museum of the British Geological Survey. However it was not until the Museums and Galleries Act of 1992 that the Museum's formal title was finally changed from B.M.(N.H.) to The Natural History Museum.

The Darwin centre is also home to Archie the squid, an 8 metre long giant squid taken alive in a fishing net near the Falkland Islands. Archie is currently on display in a prominent position in the large specimen room, in a reinforced glass tank containing a mixture of formaldehyde and saline solution. Since tours of the Darwin centre started featuring Archie, they have been fully booked up to a month in advance.

The museum will also hold the remains and bones of the River Thames Whale that captured the hearts of the nation and the world when it lost its way on 20 January 2006 and ended up in the Thames. Despite large rescue attempts, the Bottlenose Whale died shortly before it was due to be released back into open waters, when it suffered a convulsion and suddenly died on board the barge taking it toward the sea. These bones were donated following a campaign by The Sun newspaper.

Source: Wikipedia


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Geology of the Pacific Northwest

Mineral Characteristics

Minerals—the building blocks of rocks—are formed from elemental compounds made up of atoms, the building blocks of the universe. The following characteristics are true of minerals. They are:

Mineral Examples

Table salt, ice, snowflakes, and shells are mineral because they fit all of the criteria. Table salt is made up of alternating sodium and chloride atoms (NaCl, also known as halite). Snowflakes have 6 crystal points. Shells are made of calcite—a combination of calcium, carbon, and oxygen in the form of CaCO3 .

Non-Mineral Example

Glass is a chilled, thick, viscous liquid that runs too slowly to be seen by the human eye. Glass is not solid and cannot be classified as mineral.

Mineral Families

  1. Native Elements (gold, silver, copper, platinum, diamond)
  2. Silicates (75% of the Earth's crust: felsic, high in silica, and mafic, low in silica.) [The "-ates" ending means the mineral group includes oxygen.]
  3. Carbonates (carbon and oxygen). Their carbon content causes them to bubble when hydrochloric acid is applied.
  4. Sulfates (sulfur, oxygen)
  5. Oxides (oxygen; i.e., iron oxide: magnetite)
  6. Sulfides (sulfur)

Mineral Formation

Every mineral is found in a certain environment (pressure, depth). A rock's shape is determined by the structure of its atoms. Its color is determined by its mineral makeup.

Rock Forms

Three main forms of rock found in the Northwest are: igneous rocks (formed from cooled, crystallized molten rock), sedimentary rocks (formed from compacted, lithified fragments), and metamorphic rocks (changed mineralogically by increased temperature and pressure).

Rock Cycle

The life of a rock begins and ends as magma. Cooled by contact with the atmosphere or water, magma solidifies into igneous rocks like granite, obsidian, or pumice. Weathered igneous rocks erode and become sediment which is transported by glaciers, rivers, and winds and deposited in other places. Compacted sedimentary deposit is lithified into sedimentary rock such as coal, limestone, or sandstone. Sedimentary rock that is subjected to high pressures and temperatures becomes metamorphic rock like marble or slate. If rock temperatures and pressures increase, metamorphic rocks melt and return to magma.

Rock Properties

To identify a rock or mineral, gather information about its physical properties:

The Rock Cycle (University of British Columbia; 4 January 2000)
Introduction to Minerals (Gore, Pamela J.W.; July 17, 1999)
• Pellant, Chris, 1992, Rocks and Minerals (Dorling Kindersley, London, pp.256)

Send comments to Rob Viens (e-mail: or call him at his Bellevue Community College office at (425) 564-3158. Office hours are by appointment.

© 2001-2002, Rob Viens, Bellevue Community College. All rights reserved.
Page updated on 5 September 2002  •
Web development by Jacqueline Engle (URL:, summer 2001


Words by James Arvanitakis

If we stare at a satellite photo of our planet it seems like a smooth place. While mountain ranges, rivers, cities and other human made structures may be visible, each of these features seem to flawlessly blend into each other. As we know, however, the closer you are to the earth’s surface, the more details we see, this illusion quickly disappears.

Despite the tensions that exist, many describe the world as something smooth. In The World is Flat for example, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman praises the processes of globalisation, seeing the power of globalisation as removing boundaries and allowing a smoothing of the world that affects countries, companies, communities, and individuals¹. Driven by technology, cultural exchanges and international trade, the world is flattened and many of us get to move freely around.

Paradoxically, those who raise concerns about globalisation also describe the world as becoming a smooth space. Influential cultural theorists Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri² examine parallel changes in the world’s financial system: whereas commercial trade used to be linked to the physical element of gold, it is now based on virtual transactions where numbers are simply transferred from one bank account to another. The value of the transaction sits nowhere and everywhere, as it moves smoothly across national boundaries that once attempted to control such movements.

With its artful ring, we find the word smooth being used to describe a desired state: the smooth transition from a mining economy to post-mining economy; the smooth functioning of the transport system; or the smooth transfer of power from one government to another.

The concept of smooth can also be allied to our understanding of how communities function: smooth and harmonious is the goal after all. But how do communities really function? Can we recognise the smooth interactions in the absence of friction? Or should communities recognise, embrace and accommodate processes that are smooth and those filled with friction—not just to survive but to flourish? These questions have baffled theorists for centuries.

Communities are normally understood to form and grow and function around people who have something in common. We are drawn to those with whom we share forms of recognition, and are naturally drawn to, and build community with, ‘people like us’. This idea has a long tradition in western thought, crystallising in the post-enlightenment age with the work of 18th century philosopher George W.F. Hegel. Contemporary theorists echo Hegel when accepting that the formation and functioning of a community eventuates from a shared identity and social formations. This is a smooth process, founded on mutual beliefs, understandings and practices³. People who are different do not live together—conflict is inevitable.

Yet do we only form communities with those that we recognise as ‘people like us’?

In reality, this is a very dark view of humanity, because ‘being like us’ can be taken to any extreme. Communities may decide that ‘being like us’ relies on speaking the same language or following the same religion, sharing the same culture or strictly identifying only one form of sexuality—heterosexual. A community may even understand recognition of commonality to mean particular skin colours or having the same shaped eyes. Forming communities around such commonalities is about the power to exclude—to disallow belonging to those we do not like or with whom we disagree. Further, what defines ‘like us’ is necessarily in a state of constant flux. ‘Us’ might be defined in dynamic and flexible ways, or, as most devastatingly demonstrated by writer George Orwell, be slippery and unreliable. Either way, it can change from hour to hour or day to day, and is required to change across larger timeframes.

If the recognition-based community can be seen to harbour the rather sinister implications of exclusion and oppression, what is the alternative view?

One contemporary way of understanding the way we form communities is presented by philosophers Rosalyn Diprose and Jeremy Brent, who focus on the ideas of ‘alterity’ (or difference) and ‘desire’⁴. Here, we understand formation of communities as based not simply on those we recognise, but also around a human desire: we are drawn to those who embody intrinsic differences from ourselves. That is, people come together to form communities not by some natural process, but through a sense of desire.

In essence, this approach tells us something we can all recognise in ourselves: we do some things because we want to. We form communities with others because we want to. It is our shared sense of humanity that drives this, not any particular or dominant element of our lives such as religion, skin colour or interests. In this community, alterity—or difference—is appreciated and celebrated.

What is important here is that this is not seen as a smooth process. It celebrates and accommodates friction⁵. Human frictions have always existed where communities of people from multiple and diverse backgrounds come together—whether that diversity is genetic or cultural, lingual or religious. And suburbs such as Bankstown are no different when it comes to the harmonious potential of like-formed communities all over the world. Frictions emerge when elements come together: sometimes with hard impact, other times with a gentle touch.

As with the recognition model of community, frictions can have a disturbing side, whether internally or spilling beyond the geographical location of community members and their home base. Among the most famous of these in Sydney were the racial frictions that manifested in what is now known as the 'Cronulla Riots'. In 2005, tensions and small-scale conflicts that had built up over a longer period erupted into attacks and counter-attacks that lasted for several weeks. Much like ‘Cronulla riots’ became shorthand, in the media and at the water cooler, for racial tensions, the protagonists attracted their own labels: ‘Lebs’ from Bankstown and ‘Surfies’ from ‘The Shire’ (Sutherland Local Government Area). The violence was caused by difference, so the dominant narrative went, fitting neatly into the ‘clash of civilisations’ thesis and ‘with us or against us’ rhetoric that was deployed to justify the ‘war on terror’⁶, and still very much a live issue in the news at the time. Yet, at least as far back as the 1960s, there were frictions and violence between the 'Bankis' (from Bankstown) and surfies from Cronulla. Tensions emerged because of different expectations of ‘beach etiquette’ between outsiders and insiders: these frictions were not purely about race-fuelled aggression, but about claims of space and identity and, crucially, location⁷. Few major Sydney beaches have a train station, and Cronulla is the most directly accessible from Bankstown by train.

The ‘friction of identity’ was used to simplify the issues and obfuscate the vibrant, complex heterogeneous nature of communities across Bankstown and its wider ‘host community’ of Greater Western Sydney. That such simplification also served specific political interests around foreign policy objectives is as likely to be a cause as a coincidence. Western Sydney was again characterised as a homogenous mass during the 2013 federal election. On the campaign trail, politicians routinely ignored the diversity and many community celebrations of difference and talked about ‘the west’ as a single region, while invoking fear of gang violence in the tried and tested ‘law and order’ scrabble to win votes.

Yet Bankstown is one of many central hubs across the west where vitality and growth are spurred by frictions of identity, frictions that inspire rich cultural exchanges across and between hubs and their surrounding suburbs. This can emerge in grand projects devised with a state-backed sponsorship and policy agenda, but, importantly, are embodied in what Wise and Velayutham describe as ‘everyday multiculturalisms’.⁸ These seemingly small but cumulative encounters might be swapping biscuits over the back fence, to warm introductions at the local shopping centre, from informal space-sharing at public parks to organised celebrations (or commiserations) among the families of local sporting team members. Larger projects might set the same goals as everyday multiculturalisms are quietly achieving. This is not to say the formal or state-sponsored structures of multicultural policy are redundant, as interactions such as ‘One Parramatta’⁹ or the ‘Anti-Racism Research Project’ based at the University of Western Sydney demonstrate.¹⁰

The many facets of formal and informal efforts must operate together, forging and strengthening networks of exchange wherever human interactions occur, and likewise fading where disused or redundant. In this model, frictional energy is disseminated across the scales of social organisation, from neighbour to community and beyond the urban region of ‘Bankstown’, ‘the Shire’ or ‘Western Sydney’.

Friction is traditionally conceptualised as lost kinetic energy: our speed or efficiency is lowered through the heat that is generated by moving parts, or the tensions arising from human movement across and between communities. Such tensions should be acknowledged, and responded to in the many diverse ways we know are available from our understanding of mutuality, exchange and everyday multiculturalism.

Friction give rises to fire, and fire can warm us and feed us—or destroy everything in sight. How the heat is harnessed is something we must continue to strive to steer towards the common good.

¹Friedman, T. (2005) The World as Flat, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
²Hardt M. and Negri, A. (2001) Empire, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
³Taylor, C. (1994) ‘The politics of recognition’. In A. Gutmann (ed.) Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 25-74.
⁴Arvanitakis, J. (2008) ‘Staging Maralinga and Looking for Community (Or Why We Must Desire Community Before We Can Find It)’, Research in Drama Education, 13(3): 295-306.
⁵Lowenhaupt Tsing, A. (2005) An Ethnography of Global Connection, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp.4.
⁶Poynting, S. (2006) ‘What Caused the Cronulla riot?’ Race & Class, 48(1):85-92.
⁷Moore, K (2006) ‘The Beach, Young Australians and the Challenge to Egalitarianism in the 1960s’. In C. Hopkinsonand C. Hall (eds.) Proceedings Social Change in the 21st Century 2006, Australia, Queensland, Brisbane, pp. 1-7.
⁸Wise, A. and Velayutham, S. (2009) Everyday Multiculturalism, London: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Sythesis dichloroacetate

Condensation what type of reaction is involved in the synthesis of starch condensation dichloroacetate (dca) administration would lead to a increased.

Keywords: sodium dichloroacetate, b-cll, p21, proteomics, cytotoxicity of mitochondrial structure and the reduction in atp synthesis. Agius, l , d i watts, mc sugden effects of dichloroacetate on fatty acid synthesis in interscapular brown adipose tissue of the rat/« vivo mdln v i t r o.

Dichloroacetate suggests that the activity of pyruvate dehydrogenase can be rate deter- mining for fatty acid synthesis in isolated liver cells the minor effects of. Dichloroacetate (dca) is a specific inhibitor of the pdh-regulator is a measure of the respiratory chain activity not linked to the synthesis of.

Sythesis dichloroacetate

After meal, therefore pyruvate conc is high atp demand is high no alternative fuel (fatty acids, ketone bodies) lipid synthesis is required from carbohydrate it is .

Dichloroacetate (dca) is an investigational drug for the treatment of and for the ultimate synthesis of atp from adp and inorganic phosphate.

Vns in the sanger reagent with carbanion of t-butyl dichloroacetate liczne przykłady reakcji vns figure 10 sythesis of hetorometallic barium complexes . Recent findings in the fields of oncogenic regulation of metabolism, mitochondrial function and macromolecular synthesis have brought tumor. Dichloroacetic acid (dca), sometimes called bichloroacetic acid (bca), is the chemical the dichloroacetate ion is produced when the acid is mixed with water as an acid with a pka of 135, pure dichloroacetic acid is classed as a strong. One example is dichloroacetate (dca) that stimulates mitochondria in the regulation of cell metabolism and participates in the synthesis of.

sythesis dichloroacetate Then fatty acids come in there and the fatty acid synthesis is a big factor and   90s and it was on charlie rose, it was on larry king about dca, dichloroacetate.
Sythesis dichloroacetate
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Kennedy Mason's performance really brought our musical to life! She may be young, but her talent, drive, and professionalism will take her to great heights!' - Joshua Pearson, Writer/Producer for Sugarcrash Kids, LLC

Kennedy was a joy to work with, on stage and off.  Her cheerful disposition is matched only by her talent and wit.  I know the patrons of Osceola Arts thoroughly enjoyed her performance! - Garrett Sanders, Artistic Director, Osceola Arts

"She's an adult in a kid's body," -Mark Kohl, Kohl Pictures

"As a director, she makes it really, really easy." -Mark Kohl

"Kennedy Mason is more profesional and present than most of her adult counterparts." -Aradhana Tiwari, director

"It's always exciting for a performing arts teacher who is a complete package walk into their studio.  Someone with the drive, the personality,  and the natural talent, stage presence and magnetism to back it all up.  Kennedy is one of those students."  -Tim Evanicki, Maitland Academy of the Performing Arts

"Each time I work with Kennedy, I am left in awe of the intellect, creativity, and thought process that she brings to the table.  It's a pleasure to be a part of her journey." -Kia Riddick-Taylor, Owner/Director of StarCatcher Productions, LLC

"She's just fearless."  -Rhonda Cato, Artistic Director, Magic Curtain Productions

"...Kennedy has...that ability to just be that character and not be self-conscious about what she's doing." -Rhonda Cato, Artistic Director, Magic Curtain Productions

About Kennedy...

Kennedy Mason

What the professionals have to say...

official website

Kennedy began her love for theater and acting at the age of four!  Yes, four!  She was spotted by a local theater director at a pre-school Thanksgiving performance and as they say, "the rest is history!"  She began her career as a lullaby league munchkin in a theater production of Wizard of Oz and quickly moved into larger roles, such as Cindy Lou Who in The Grinch that Stole Christmas and Molly in Annie, just to name a few.

Kennedy's parents recognized her talent and passion, and began their hunt for a local Orlando agent, which was not a difficult task.  Kennedy quickly began booking local commercials, industrials, magazine covers, etc.

Kennedy has often been described as "an old soul."  As an actor she expresses a maturity and wisdom of someone far older.  Kennedy is known in the industry for her professional attitude on set and her incredible awareness. She has also been described as "a natural" and one who takes direction exceptionally well.

Kennedy has worked at a variety of venues, including the Orlando Repertory Theater and at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Center in Orlando, Florida.  She has performed at conferences and has often times been invited to sing the National Anthem at sporting events.  Kennedy was also very successful in the Los Angeles market, where after only four short weeks, she was cast in the hit TV show, Criminal Minds.

When Kennedy's not on stage or performing behind the camera, Kennedy loves to spend time with her family, friends, read, swim, and most of all, sing!


Why is yoga and meditation beneficial to the human body?

A recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience reveals that yoga and meditation appear to have a positive effect on the central nervous system as well as the immune system

Why is yoga and meditation beneficial to the human body?

Increasingly, yoga practice and meditation have been the focus of research aiming to test their benefits. Recently, Medical News Today have reported on a wealth of studies pointing to many different advantages of yoga and meditation, including countering cognitive decline, acting on genetic factors that predispose individuals to stress, improving lower back pain, and easing depression.

A new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience now shows that yoga and meditation appear to have a positive effect on the central nervous system as well as the immune system, and that it may improve the individuals’ overall sense of well-being.

The study, led by Dr B Rael Cahn, from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles – was part of a larger body of research addressing different approaches to promoting resilience.

Yoga and meditation may improve resilience

Dr Cahn and team worked with some of the participants at a 3-month yoga and meditation retreat. At this retreat, the participants engaged in daily meditation and yoga practice, and they followed a vegetarian diet.

Of the 200 participants (both male and female), 98 volunteered to participate in tests measuring particular biomarkers. However, due to a lack of funding, only 38 volunteers (19 male and 19 female) underwent these assessments.

Additionally, due to circumstances that rendered some of the data unusable, biological samples collected from 26 of these volunteers were analysed.

Many participants had previous experience of practicing yoga and meditation on a frequent basis, including Shoonya and Samyama meditation, Hatha yoga, and pranayama.

The participants were assessed both before and after participating in the yoga retreat. They had to undergo:

  • psychometric tests that collected data about their psychological well-being, mindfulness, and psychological involvement
  • measurements of the brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is a protein that promotes the survival and growth of various nerve cells and is involved in immune response, metabolic regulation, and resilience to stress
  • assessment of the “cortisol awakening response” (CAR), which measured the secretion of cortisol, a hormone involved in the interaction between the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal gland (also known as the “HPA axis”)
  • measurements of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels, which are involved in the functioning of the immune system

After analysing the data, the team found that engagement in the yoga and meditation practices at the retreat was associated with decreased anxiety and depression levels – as reported by the participants – as well as with an increase in their level of mindfulness.

From a biological point of view, the scientists noted an increase in BDNF plasma levels, as well as a strengthened CAR, suggesting improved resilience to stress factors.

The data also showed an increase of an anti-inflammatory cytokine (interleukin-10) and a corresponding decrease in a pro-inflammatory cytokine (interleukin-12), which led to a reduction of inflammatory processes.

Potential benefits to the nervous system

The researchers believe that the various biological improvements gathered from the collected data indicate an enhanced overall sense of physical and psychological well-being.

They highlight that their results may point to an enhanced functioning of certain elements of the central nervous system, a healthier immune system, and a strengthened sense of focus and awareness.

“The observed increased BDNF signalling [is] possibly related to enhanced neurogenesis and/or neuroplasticity, increased CAR likely related to enhanced alertness and readiness for mind-body engagement, and increased anti- and pro-inflammatory cytokines possibly indicating enhanced immunological readiness.”

Moreover, the researchers suggest that there is a thrilling possibility that some of the effects observed in the aftermath of the retreat suggest that meditation and yoga could stimulate the hippocampus to function better.

Nevertheless, the scientists caution that not all of these positive effects may be due to yoga and meditation. Some, they suggest, may be owed to the individuals’ dietary practices, social interaction, or the impact of the yoga and meditation teachers.

Still, Dr Cahn and his team are excited by the results of their research and believe that they are grounds for further studies on the potential physical and psychological benefits of yoga and meditation.

Source: Medical News Today


Joel (2018)

In 1989, Long Island native Joel Rifkin killed his first victim in what was the beginning of a 4-year murder spree. By the time 1994 rolled around, this prolific serial killer had 17 dead prostitutes under his notch and would have kept going if it hadn’t been for a minor traffic incident that pulled him over one dark and evil evening.

The film, JOEL, captures the cold and desensitized persona of a man trapped within in own monstrous conviction. Rifkin grew up in the upper-middle class suburbs of East Meadow, NY with a learning disability and lack of social skills. Often teased and bullied, Joel Rifkin became the quintessential loner, finding solace with his mother and watching television. During a viewing of Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy, Rifkin had an epiphany that drew him closer to the darkest point of depravity. And he suddenly found himself obsessed with both sex and strangulation.

JOEL is a well-made film told in first person, which dives head on into the complexities of a killer’s intents.  While an immediate detachment from his shocking confession from the start of the movie leaves you chilled, it’s hard to imagine an ounce of warmth exists within this malicious man.

While most of the serial killer followers know all about Joel Rifkin’s horrific murder spree between 1989 and 1993, many are simply unaware of his upbringing. Joel’s birth parents were 20-something year old college students, the father being an army vet. According to the film JOEL, he was never fully accepted by his father, thus adding to his darkened retreat into a deeply horrifying world. However, the movie neglected to mention that Rifkin was adopted as a baby by an upper class Jewish couple who were very attentive to his rearing.

As previously mentioned, Joel Rifkin had learning disabilities, was frequently bullied at school and eventually became a recluse. His relationship with his mother as per JOEL seemed to be the most stable area in his life. Which leads to the question – what made Joel Rifkin embark on a killing spree targeting women? In particular…prostitutes?

JOEL is an interesting case study from the killer’s POV. The aloofness, detached and sedated mentality which occupies his mind allowed him to justify his morbid actions and essentially…how it managed to catch up with him.  He faults himself for his carelessness which lead to his capture and the discovery of the dead body in the back of his truck (victim #17).  Through this random traffic incident, Rifkin’s bloody carnage had abruptly ended.

The only negativity about JOEL is the lack of interaction between Rifkin and everyone that surrounds him…family, colleagues, or even street strangers. Viewers only get to see his contact with each victim (some of which are mere numbers and not named) and are left with very little homage paid to his casualties. Basically, there is no connection amongst the portrayed characters. The audience is left to judge whether or not Joel really did have a decent relationship with his mother, as there is literally nothing else to go on. That was a bit disappointing, however this is still highly recommended

Having been brought up on Long Island, NY during the 80’s and 90’s where the majority of families come from semi – exceptionally wealthy means, the Joel Rifkin killings received massive attention. To live amongst a serial killer in such an affluence suburb was unheard of! In addition, there are actually no real full length films revolving around Rifkin until JOEL came along. Had John R. Hand added a little more interactivity between the culprit and his surroundings, this would have become a 9 out of 10 film. I had hoped to see more of those who had influenced Joel Rifkin and subsequently, turned him from a social outcast to a cold blooded murderer if it hadn’t already been part of his DNA.


Crony Capitalists Decide TPP Terms

Paul Samuelson, serving as advisor to Presidents Kennedy and LBJ, was the first American to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He said the ultimate goal of economic science is to improve the living conditions of people in their everyday life. That goal should be an easy one to put into practice in a modern economy, but it is immediately beset with problems in the twenty-first century.

I’m sure, given a more nation-centric era, Samuelson envisioned the context of his goal to be national in scope. But currently, how would you separate the national versus the global, considering the extent of global commerce? Then how do you balance a nation’s sovereignty with the exigencies of global commerce. Nations consider their own citizens but the United Nations, a global organization, has only investigative and advisory powers.

But do nations really consider all of their citizens?

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was an unexpectedly bitter pill swallowed by American labor, and subsequently many America’s industries were rather swiftly supplanted by the machinations of cheaper foreign imports. It spurred “massive U.S. trade deficits and job loss, downward pressure on wages, unprecedented levels of inequality and new floods of agricultural imports.”

We have to say that American prices for many consumer products experienced precipitous dips due to cheaper foreign imports to perhaps ameliorate some of the negative effects, but NAFTA left too many Americans out of the negotiations as well, though we were better represented then.

Now it’s the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Partly due to the globalization that NAFTA brought to the Western world, many current governments, especially in the US and England, increasingly determine that improved living conditions apply for only the upper class, not for the vast majority of citizens. In Samuelson’s day, Western societies were much more egalitarian.

The outcome wrought by the growing oligarchies in the world – supported by giant corporations and financial interests that seem untouchable – results in secret agreements negotiated by crony capitalists with no public discussion of vital trade policy.

Obama has many good points, but one of them does not involve shedding the plutocratic perspective that is burnished into Washington’s outer shell. Perhaps he even believes his own rhetoric about TPP benefitting all.  We might call it an extreme prejudice for “trickle-down” economics that barely trickles. Conservative economists champion it as “supply-side” economics, though definitively proven not to work. In effect, it amounts to mega-corporations putting their own profits ahead of workers and consumers.

Remember that Washington is encircled by the agents of moneyed interests whose 24/7 buzz drowns out the rest of us. With Citizens United, money flows out of the woodwork for compromised politicians of any stripe, even GOP nut jobs running for president. Supposed bastions of independence, Supreme Court justices cozy up with billionaires like the Koch brothers, imbibing their toxic plans for the rest of us. Best known for his association with the Koch brothers is Justice Clarence Thomas.

Once, the most effective policy was used in Washington for decision-making. Now it’s politics and crony capitalism.

The old adage, “Those who forget the past are bound to repeat it,” perhaps still applies. A blessing or perhaps a curse of non-ignorance, I’m old enough to remember President Kennedy’s appointment of independent economic advisors like Paul Samuelson, schooled academics, not Wall Streeters, who advised based on goals, indubitably applying to all Americans, who then had cause to believe in opportunity for their offspring’s futures.

Our democracy was more firmly in the hands of the majority then. Unity around the Cold War was high, unions were strong, and corporations were still constrained in size and strength, not monoliths which oppress consumers and workers.

All that has changed.

By 2014, we foolishly gave Republicans a majority in both houses of Congress, a move assuring pro-corporate giveaways like TPP. Of course, even Democrats drank the plutocratic Kool Aid, but the GOP majority was strong enough to vote in the Fastrack TPP.

We are not saying that free trade is not a good idea. If done with the interests of all in mind, it can be quite beneficial. But consider what most Republicans and a few Democrats did. They took away the power of our representatives (themselves) to bargain over the rules governing a trade agreement with Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States, Vietnam, and potentially South Korea (as of 2014). Just these twelve partners govern 40 percent of U.S. imports and exports.

In a Bill Moyers article, economist, Dean Baker stated, “This (still secret) pact [TPP] has little to do with free trade. It can more accurately be described as a pact designed to increase the wealth and power of crony capitalists.” In a more egalitarian era, Samuelson’s goal is to improve the living conditions of people in their everyday life.  For Samuelson,  ”People” didn’t mean “crony capitalists” alone.

As you may have gathered, billionaires like the Koch brothers put their political money on reduced taxes for the rich and regulatory structures that favor their profit status. That is why domestically their money is always on gutting the EPA.

What better idea is there for the rich than to coordinate world-wide their efforts to control the regulatory effort? For example, it is not enough for drug companies to gouge the American consumer (The Bush Congress forbade Medicare to bargain for lower drug prices); they must also work full force to negotiate global drug controls that increase the strength of patent and related protections, this so that drugs don’t go generic or if they do, take longer to do so. Another goal is to increase foreign drug prices so that they don’t undercut the unnaturally high prices in the US.

Additionally China is not mentioned in TPP but would figure mightily in providing parts to countries like Viet Nam which could get up to 65 percent of its finished product parts in China. With only 35% from Viet Nam, they can assemble it in Hanoi and call it a domestic Vietnamese product.

Speaking of China, it is famous for the practice of controlling its currency’s value rather than allowing a free flow. Our annual trade deficit with China is almost $300 billion. That means they can control the value of the Yuan relative to the American dollar. Due to this practice, the US is running an overall annual trade deficit of more than $500 billion because the dollar is priced too high relative to currencies of trading partners, including China. The TPP does nothing about currency values.

The Americans for Limited Government (ALG) revealed that the secret TPP agreement would surrender American sovereignty to international tribunals. These Pacific nations will enter a free trade agreement only if they are exempt from our onerous environmental and financial regulations. For example, inspection of food products will most likely be done by importing countries with their standards, not those of the US. Imported food could be in jeopardy.

TPP provides legal rights to corporations and investors that it does not extend to unions, public interest groups and individuals. For example, it allows companies to use secretive international tribunals to sue sovereign governments for damages when those governments cut into corporate profits by passing public-interest policies or extend policies that take or restrict the corporation’s property. TPP is not expected to extend these rights to labor, environmental and human rights laws and Congress has in the past quashed such citizen rights.

It is quite evident to all of us that the standards that govern us are dominated by crony capitalists. To give such corporate interests authority over our lives through secret trade agreements is like giving foxes authority over the barnyard. In essence, as a member of this metaphoric barnyard, when you ask, “What’s for dinner,” you really don’t need the answer.


What is staging?

  • Staging helps the doctor plan the appropriate treatment.
  • Cancer stage can be used in estimating a person’s prognosis.
  • Knowing the stage of cancer is important in identifying clinical trials that may be a suitable treatment option for a patient.

Staging is based on knowledge of the way cancer progresses. Cancer cells grow and divide without control or order, and they do not die when they should. As a result, they often form a mass of tissue called a tumor. As a tumor grows, it can invade nearby tissues and organs. Cancer cells can also break away from a tumor and enter the bloodstream or the lymphatic system. By moving through the bloodstream or lymphatic system, cancer cells can spread from the primary site to lymph nodes or to other organs, where they may form new tumors. The spread of cancer is called metastasis.

All cancers are staged when they are first diagnosed. This stage classification, which is typically assigned before treatment, is called the clinical stage. A cancer may be further staged after surgery or biopsy, when the extent of the cancer is better known. This stage designation (called the pathologic stage) combines the results of the clinical staging with the surgical results.

A cancer is always referred to by the stage it was given at diagnosis, even if it gets worse or spreads. New information about how a cancer changes over time simply gets added on to the original stage designation. The cancer stage designation doesn’t change (even though the cancer itself might) because survival statistics and information on treatment by stage for specific cancer types are based on the original cancer stage at diagnosis.

What are the common elements of staging systems?

  • Site of the primary tumor and the cell type (e.g., adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma)
  • Tumor size and/or extent (reach)
  • Regional lymph node involvement (the spread of cancer to nearby lymph nodes)
  • Number of tumors (the primary tumor and the presence of metastatic tumors, or metastases)
  • Tumor grade* (how closely the cancer cells and tissue resemble normal cells and tissue)

*More information can be found in the NCI fact sheet Tumor Grade.

What is the TNM system?

Primary Tumor (T)
TX: Primary tumor cannot be evaluated
T0: No evidence of primary tumor

Regional Lymph Nodes (N)
NX: Regional lymph nodes cannot be evaluated
N0: No regional lymph node involvement

Distant Metastasis (M)
MX: Distant metastasis cannot be evaluated
M0: No distant metastasis
M1: Distant metastasis is present

Stage Definition
Stage 0 Carcinoma in situ
Stage IV The cancer has spread to distant tissues or organs

Are all cancers staged with TNM classifications?

Many cancer registries, such as those supported by NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, use “summary staging.” This system is used for all types of cancer. It groups cancer cases into five main categories:

  • Regional: Cancer has spread beyond the primary site to nearby lymph nodes or tissues and organs
  • Distant: Cancer has spread from the primary site to distant tissues or organs or to distant lymph nodes
  • Unknown: There is not enough information to determine the stage

What types of tests are used to determine stage?

  • Pathology reports may include information about the size of the tumor, the growth of the tumor into other tissues and organs, the type of cancer cells, and the grade of the tumor. A biopsy may be performed to provide information for the pathology report although we don’t support their usage. Cytology reports describe findings from the examination of cells in body fluids.

What is restaging?

Doctors may reassess a person’s cancer after their treatment has been completed to determine how the cancer responded to treatment. Such a reassessment, or restaging, may also be done when a cancer has recurred and may require more treatment. This reassessment involves the same tests that were done when the cancer was first diagnosed. After these tests, the doctor may assign a new stage to the cancer. The new stage will be preceded by an “r” to indicate that it reflects the restaging. The original stage at diagnosis does not change.


The smart way to find lost gadgets

BY JScreen Shot 2016-09-19 at 3.40.58 PM.jpgIMMY MAWERERE

Have you ever returned home,

Mind your computer

Coffee spills on a computer. This is very harmful to your computer (Internet photo)

The personal computer (PC) is now assisting us in many tasks at work, school or home.

With the PC on your desk, you can reach all the corners of the world, do business, arrange events, make friends and so many other eventful and important things However, if not used wisely and with care, value for the purchase may be lost.

First of all, one needs to know that despite being a machine and not a living thing, a computer ought to be taken care of. So, precautions like covering it when not in use to prevent dust build-up are essential.

If it is a laptop, get a bag or cover for it. This also helps prevent breakage of the screen and the internal system in case of a fall.

Liquids should be kept away from the computer because they may cause damage to the internal system when they spill on it.

Know the battery of your computer and study its consumption trend. This will assist you to know when to charge and help you plan for the tasks to be done.

Commanding a computer to perform several tasks at once makes it slower and sometimes causes it to freeze. Therefore, do not confuse your computer; give it commands in an orderly manner.

A computer is a machine but it needs rest too. When used for a long time, it heats up. So give it a break often and do not use it endlessly.

Finally, at the end of a long day’s work, you just want to shut down and run off! Avoid this because all the programmes will still be open in the task bar. So, take time and save your documents, close all programmes that have been in use and shut down properly. This helps the computer refresh, and be ready for the next day’s work.

How convenient is that power bank?

Planning a long trip? Going somewhere remote with limited or no power supply? Well, the power bank comes in handy.

Power banks are a fairly recent invention borne of the necessity to always be able to access the smart phones.

Because they have very many applications, smart phones tend to drain battery quickly and thus the need to be charged once or more times a day. A power bank does save the day.

Power banks are portable power ‘stores’. They come in different shapes, sizes, quality and capacities. Just like phones, they too are charged to contain power that is later used to charge the phone.

The flipside is that they are definitely not safe. Think of them more as boosters and stimulants than chargers because overtime the battery of the phone weakens because of the insufficient power supply. Most of them are also slow and may not be able to raise a 100 per cent battery charge.

Ronald Awany, a staff member says that depending on power banks is deadly because they drain the battery and make it phone batteries vulnerable. He says that using a power bank should be the last option to turn to.

With the universal chargers, the battery is removed from the phone and connected to the charger, which is then plugged into the wall. This diminishes the durability of the battery. Further, disassembling the phone parts to get the battery out can also lead to damage to other features.

So, however convenient the power banks may be, direct charging of the phone is the best and most effective way to keep one’s phone battery safe and sound for longer.

UCU to embrace e-Learning

E-Learning is basically utilising electronic technologies to access educational curricula outside of a traditional classroom. In most cases, it refers to a course, programme or degree delivered completely online.

Uganda Christian University (UCU) is slowly but steadily adopting the e-Learning system through which students will access course material from their lecturers and submit assignments provided they have access to an Internet-enabled computer.

Ms Dorothy Mukasa, the university’s e-Learning manager told The Standard that course material such as notes, power point presentations, and course outlines will be made available online to ease access for the students and cut on the stationery costs both the lecturers and students incur in the process of attaining and disseminating hard copies.

Mukasa, however, noted that the university will not go entirely virtual, a system in which students and their facilitators have no face-to-face lectures, but will adopt a ‘blended’ approach that allows for both virtual and traditional classroom lectures to thrive.

“E-learning has been at UCU for a long time and has been used by both staff and students at will. But now we have structured it in a way that all faculties will have to integrate their curricula online and that process has already started,” she said.

UCU’s 2016-2018 Strategic Plan includes the introduction of e-Learning and growth of distance learning programmes and the establishment of the e-Learning infrastructure extending them to regional campuses by September 2016.

The plan also seeks to train staff and develop an e-Learning curriculum, a programme that Mukasa said has already been rolled out starting with sensitisation of faculties about e-Learning and later on the training of staff on how to use and benefits from it will commence.

“We shall identify at least three subjects in every faculty especially postgraduate programmes and run them on the system as a trial as we monitor the progress before rolling out the rest,” she said.

Some courses such as Law (BA & MA), Master’s in Nursing Science, Master’s in Public Health and Leadership (Save The Mothers) and Mass Communication (BA) are already partially using the e-Learning system.

The students who are already registered for wireless Internet with the University ICT Services department can access the e-Learning services using the same login credentials if they log onto

“If one can maintain the necessary self-discipline, the benefits of e-Learning are almost too numerous to count. You can cover the material when you have time, go over it as often as you need, all without traveling to the classroom.

“There are no transportation fees as you can take the class from any location with internet access,” Mukasa explained.

The e-Learning facility will be hosted in the recently constructed Stephen and Peggy Noll Building.

Allan Galpin gets Shs 50m machine

Zac Tamale, the senior laboratory technician at Allan Galpin Health Centre, operates the new machine (on his right) through a computer.

Allan Galpin Health Centre has set itself new target following the acquisition of a first of its kind, GYAN laboratory chemistry analyser at a cost of about Shs 50m.

The fully-automated, Belgian-made equipment with standard control that can test over 20 laboratory samples at ago, will, in the words of Zac Tamale, a laboratory technician at Allan Galpin, boost the diagnosis of patients and cut on the number of staff and student referrals the clinic makes to external, more sophiscated hospitals.

“With this machine, we can monitor variations in hypertension, blood
pressure, cholesterol and fat, bone profiles, blood calcium and iron in the
body,” Tamale explained.

In addition to the above list, the machine has the capacity to also look into
liver, kidney and heart related complications. This development comes at an opportune moment when Uganda Christian University (UCU) has unleashed plans of running a medical school in conjunction with Mengo Hospital.

The Allan Galpin Director of Health Services, Dr Geoffrey Mulindwa, said
the new acquisition, coupled with the expertise and know-how that the
centre currently boasts, will help the community around the university
considering that it is the first of its kind in Mukono.
“The clinic now has the capacity to carry out diagnosis on body organs like the liver, kidney and to assist clinicians improve on diagnosis and treatment planning,” he said.

Mulindwa added that “this will, to some extent, reduce on referrals for investigations, improve on timely decision-making to have better outcomes and cut the cost considering that UCU plans to delve into medical education and integrating faith service and learning.”

Its operation temperature is 37 degrees Celsius and has a high precision
diluter with an automatic probe wash cycle in between tests to avoid cross-contamination.

Mulindwa is confident the white piece of gadgetry, which is the size of an HP LazerJet 5200 dtn printer, that is only operational when connected to a computer, would help his staff do many blood chemistry tests for the liver kidney, heart, bone and lipid profiles.


Self-Employment is On the Rise and Changing How Americans Work

If they do it right, freelancers get to choose their hours, environment and clients. If they do it wrong, they can end up dealing with a cash-strapped hustle.

To be successful, freelancers need to understand their capacity, differentiate themselves and focus their services to complement their supreme strengths, said Jaleh Bisharat, senior vice president of marketing at Elance-oDesk, a California-based company that connects businesses to freelancers while providing related services.

?One of the big shifts we are seeing in the future of work is that businesses of one will start to be the normal,? Bisharat said. ?They will be freelancers, and they will also hire freelancers to help them with the part of their businesses that they don?t understand.?

The advantages and disadvantages of freelancing are freedom and control. There is no paid vacation or sick time, and there are no opportunities to slack off.

?If you are failing, there is no one to blame but you,? said Jill Jankoski of Raleigh, who has been providing virtual administrative services since 2008.

?Not being tied to a desk has its challenges, namely staying organized,? said Margaret McNab, 31, of Durham, who offers marketing and public relations strategy along with business partner Christin Prince through their firm Prince McNab.

McNab uses applications such as Shoeboxed and Ronin to keep her receipts and finances organized.

To decide how much to charge, freelancers can look online and explore the rates of people with similar backgrounds looking to serve similar roles.

?You are going to want to raise it as you can,? she said, but that first endorsement is ?worth its weight in gold.?

Obtaining and amplifying endorsements are an essential part of a freelancer?s business, Bisharat said, especially if they connect with customers online.

Once they have a client, she said, communication is key.

Saleem Reshamwala, a freelance filmmaker who runs his firm KidEthnic out of startup incubator American Underground @Main Street in Durham, said one of the biggest mistakes he made in the beginning was not writing out a contract defining the work and payment.

His process improved greatly after he made friends with a successful filmmaker who shared templates for contracts and invoices.

Over time, Reshamwala, 35, of Durham learned to approach projects in two phases.

The first phase is exploration, in which he and the client define the project and its ultimate goal.

The second phase is execution. Breaking it up, he said, helps the client to see work is being completed long before the filming starts.

Freelancers also have to be clear about what they can deliver and when, Bisharat said. If there is an issue, communicate the challenge and a potential solution early.

If the client starts to change or add to the job, a freelancer should use diplomatic language to address the situation, Bisharat said.

Freelancers should also have basic business plans outlining how much they need to make, how they are going to differentiate themselves from others and how they are going to promote themselves.

Source: MCT Information Services


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Working environment and installation adjustment of the paper roll slitting machine
- Aug 14, 2018 -

The paper roll slitting machine adopts microcomputer control to automatically cut and cut, and has reasonable structure; complete functions, stable performance and flexible operation adjustment; at the same time, it adopts imported photoelectric and multi-point speed control, which is widely used for slitting various film materials of rolls. Substrates such as glue, aluminum foil, insulating paper, photosensitive materials and various webs are the main supporting equipment for flexible packaging products.

It should be known that a good use environment can make the paper slitting machine last longer, and it is suitable to work in the following environments, including indoor ventilation; ambient temperature - 10 ° C + 40 ° C; try to avoid high temperature and humidity, humidity is less than 90% RH, no rain drops; avoid direct sunlight; no flammable, corrosive gases and liquids; installation base fixed without vibration; no electromagnetic interference, away from interference sources.

After the paper roll slitter is unpacked, the machine integrity should be checked to check whether there is any damage during transportation. After the damage is checked, the calibration level can be installed on a flat and solid basis. After installing the calibration level, thoroughly check whether the parts are intact, whether the bolts are tightly tightened, and whether the moving parts are flexible.

Then add the corresponding lubricating oil to each lubrication part of the paper roll slitting machine. Check the refueling and confirm that it is correct before turning on the machine. Before starting the machine, carefully read the instructions attached. Start slowly and start slowly. When everything is normal, slowly increase the cutting speed until it is normal.


‘Losing Hearts and Minds’

Tens of thousands of Iranian students studied in the U.S. in the 1970s. New book tells how they helped unsettle the diplomatic relationship between Washington and Tehran in lead-up to Iranian Revolution.

April 6, 2018
Cover of 'Losing Hearts and Minds' by Matthew Shannon

International education is often seen as an important plank of public diplomacy. By hosting international students, the thinking goes, the U.S. can cultivate goodwill. By educating future leaders, the U.S. can help bring about stronger relations with the countries from which the students come. But is that line of thinking too simplistic? A recent book argues that the large influx of Iranian students to American universities that started in the 1950s and reached a peak of more than 50,000 students in the late 1970s paradoxically subverted the Washington-Tehran alliance at the same time it strengthened it.

Losing Hearts and Minds: American-Iranian Relations and International Education During the Cold War, by Matthew K. Shannon (Cornell University Press, 2017), argues that the large influx of Iranian students into the U.S. had "unintended consequences that ran counter to the strategic objectives of U.S. and Iranian leaders."

"That it did was not the result of any fault in the binational educational project or the free flow of individuals between the United States and Iran, but rather the incongruity of national leaders promoting inherently liberal ideas -- the freedom of movement and global education -- while supporting the illiberal [Shah Mohammad Reza] Pahlavi government," writes Shannon, an assistant professor of history at Emory and Henry College, in Virginia.

On the one hand, Shannon writes, “U.S. policy makers, diplomats, aid officials, philanthropists, and educationalists created a vast array of government-sponsored and nongovernmental educational programs to lay a cultural foundation for the Washington-Tehran alliance and to supply the shah with trained manpower to administer his modernization program, known as the White Revolution.”

On the other hand, international education “also provided a means of resistance. Iranian students abroad produced one of the most impressive oppositional movements of the Cold War era, and their movement expanded in size and diversified in composition over the years as the shah refused to include political liberalization as part of his modernization program. Because the Pahlavi state did not tolerate opposition within its borders, dissent became part of the educational networks that connected the United States and Iran.”

Shannon argues that anti-shah students were able to forge “an alternative alliance with progressive Americans critical of the shah’s authoritarianism. Iranian students and their American allies adopted worldviews that transcended traditional calculations of national interest, served as an alternative power center to national governments, and engaged in an evolving human rights discourse to delegitimize the shah's claim to be a benevolent and modernizing monarch. Their evolving rights-based critique of the Pahlavi state reached the halls of power in Washington and Tehran, reshaped the international community, and contributed to the Iranian Revolution of 1979 that replaced the shah’s Iran with Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini’s Islamic Republic.”

Shannon answered questions about his book and his research -- and the implications for international education more generally -- via email.

Q: What drew you to want to study U.S.-Iranian relations “through the lens of international education,” as you put it?

A: International education has been the most important “connector” in the U.S.-Iran relationship since the 19th century. Yet as I read the literature on U.S.-Iran relations after the Second World War, it became clear that most scholars focus on military, diplomatic and political affairs. I wanted to write about the “cultural cold war” in Iran, which prioritized educational exchanges to the point that, by the 1979 revolution, Iran was sending the largest number of international students in the United States.

The lens of international education integrates various subfields of history that are not always in conversation with the other, which in turn produces a richer picture of the past. In a sense, it is a trifocal lens. Because policy makers conceived of education as a dimension of U.S. strategy, the book speaks directly to older diplomatic narratives on U.S.-Iran relations. Yet, in Iran, education has long been part of a national effort to “modernize” the country and enlarge the umbrella of “rights” for its citizens.

Those efforts were negotiated between Iran and the world, and they sometimes served cross-purposes. In the postwar years, the United States displaced Great Britain and the Soviet Union as the most powerful external actor in Iran. But while some Americans and Iranians saw education as a means of modernizing Iran along an authoritarian model, others saw circuits of exchange as a piece of the international system that would ultimately usher in a freer domestic polity. International education explains, then, the many layers of the binational relationship and the promise and the peril of the postwar American moment in Iran.

Q: What can the U.S.-Iranian example teach us more broadly about both the usefulness and potential limitations of international education as a tool of public diplomacy?

A: I would preface my answer by saying that international education is almost always worth supporting because it can promote American interests and global dialogue in a way that very few endeavors can.

But for international education to be an effective tool of public diplomacy, educational initiatives have to align with the military, political and economic dimensions of the larger strategy. In other words, the various “tracks” of a strategic framework need to be aligned. In the case of Cold War-era Iran, it was counterproductive for the United States to lend tremendous amounts of military support to the shah, a leader who ruled for nearly four decades in a dictatorial manner. The answer was not to curtail the educational programs, but to have focused on political reforms and balanced economic development plans that could have benefited the entire society. Then the educational and cultural exchanges would have taken place in a friendlier context.

I wholeheartedly agree with scholars who argue that the United States should have pursued an “asymmetric” strategy during the Cold War that elevated cultural programs over military alliances. I would say the same about “soft power” in today’s world of wars. Now, as then, some states are freer than others, and some are U.S. allies while others are adversaries. The specifics of the Iranian case during the Cold War are not the same in all cases, but the general lessons are applicable across the board.

Q: Throughout the book you describe the ways in which Iranian students in the U.S. mobilized into a potent political force. In 1962, Iranian student leaders met with Attorney General Robert Kennedy to raise their concerns about the lack of political liberties in Iran; in 1977, 1,700 anti-shah students protested what would be the final state visit from the shah outside the White House. Are you aware of other groups of international students who have achieved similar success in mobilizing politically, or is the Iranian student example in the 1950s-’70s unique in this regard?

A: This is a great question on a topic that I originally planned to include in the book. I did not, but there are other interesting cases.

In the Middle East, many of the “Young Turks” were educated in Europe, and they brought a revolution to the Ottoman Empire just prior to the First World War. Many anticolonial leaders of the mid-20th century were products of imperial education networks. [Jawaharlal] Nehru went to Cambridge and then led postindependence India, [Frantz] Fanon was educated in France and then went to Algeria, and [Kwame] Nkrumah studied in Philadelphia and became Ghana’s first president. A younger generation of Brazilian students organized in the United States during the era of military rule, Ethiopian students mobilized abroad prior to the revolution that overthrew Haile Selassie, and Palestinian students became an important part of the diaspora from the 1970s forward. More broadly, education and the many forces of globalization contributed to change throughout East Asia in the late 20th century.

It is difficult to say how “unique” the Iranian case is. That would require a comparative analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. While there are various factors that make the Iranian case stand out, the scale is perhaps the most significant -- the intensity of the U.S. initiative in postwar Iran, the size and activism of the Iranian student population in the United States, and the eventual impact of the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

Q: You dedicate a portion of the book to discussing the proliferation of institutional contracts between American universities and Iran during the 1970s, including the controversial 1975 agreement between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Iranian government in which MIT agreed to admit a total of 54 Iranian students into its master of nuclear engineering program in return for an endowment of $20 million (ultimately, you write, 35 students finished the MIT program, and after the fall of the shah, many of the graduates became important figures in the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic of Iran). Beyond MIT, you quote a report from the American Council on Education that criticized the proliferation of American university contracts with Iran, using terms like “academic hustling,” and note that critical press articles at the time had headlines like “Do Oil and Education Mix?” and “Schools for Sale.” Fast-forward 40-some years and we still see these kinds of debates. In considering partnerships with authoritarian governments, are there any lessons American universities should take from the American-Iranian example in the 1970s?

A: The history of educational ties between the United States and Iran certainly has relevance today when considering the ethical questions surrounding the globalization of the American university.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, certain schools had important ties with Iran and, when handled correctly, these ties brought reciprocal benefits. There is a forthcoming book on the Utah universities in Iran, there is a website dedicated to “Lafayette [College] in Persia” and there is scholarship on the University of Pennsylvania’s historic involvement in the country. Some of those schools maintain a favorable reputation in Iran today.

During the 1970s, however, the oil money that drove the shah’s spending bred corruption. This was the case for the educational contracts that ACE criticized, including the MIT nuclear contract. In the short term, it probably benefited MIT more than Iran. It was symptomatic of the chaotic planning effort in Iran and the continued inability or unwillingness of Americans in position of power and responsibility to consider the moral implications of their actions. In the long run, and when considering the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran’s personnel, perhaps the contract did eventually benefit Iran.

The question remains about how institutions of higher education can thrive economically and promote responsible internationalization. On the one hand, educational exchange can help generate change around the world and enhance American influence and prestige. On the other hand, schools, like nations, should not compromise principles such as academic freedom to acquire financial gain or a global reach. American schools today should work to internationalize, but they should avoid getting involved with authoritarian states in a way that would damage, rather than bolster, long-term interests and the prospects for future dialogue.

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Project info

This is a project that asks a question of how the obvious is altered. The illusion of what we see can easily be distorted or transformed according to the real inner self. What lies beneath the surface of our outer shell and behind what we consider clear?
The disillusion caused by a transparency can be an inclination and consequently a means to overestimation or underestimation of any kind of data. Transparency challenges the Unexpected. It breaks the protocols of the standard norms, luring Obviousness into new assumptions and claims.
Even though transparency reinforces a system of receptiveness, it may stumble on cultural limitations, that breed secrecy, or issues of trust. Depending on its strength, our self –ego can be the main barrier towards openness and / or adjustability. In a kind of uncanny way, we allow it to designate and draw paths into voluntary exposures, regardless of consciousness. The final “image” does not meet penances. But, within our self ego’s reference, lies a degree of influence depending on the “background” we are called to stand in front of, potential situations or circumstances, and the adaptability of our individual personality.


The News & Observer

Republicans in the state legislature have steadily cut taxes since they took over seven years ago, winning the praise of lean-government advocates across the country. They credit their tax policies with improving the business climate, restoring a budget surplus and improving the economy.

And they’re not finished. But worried that they could lose their veto-proof majority in the legislature, they have proposed a constitutional amendment to put a lower ceiling on income taxes. The amendment is on the Nov. 6 ballot.

That is going too far, according to groups that are already feeling shortchanged, such as public school teachers. City and county leaders, clergy and others are campaigning forcefully against the amendment in a series of rallies. They say limiting income taxes could shift the tax burden to the counties and force a hike in fees as well as property and sales taxes, predominantly benefiting the wealthy.

Meanwhile, the North Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity, which has long pushed for a tax cap, is gearing up to promote the amendment. On Wednesday, it will launch what is says is a six-figure online and direct mail ad campaign.

If approved by a majority of voters, the amendment would lower the current 10 percent cap on personal and corporate income taxes to 7 percent.


Start Reading

Lost History

Length: 559 pages7 hours

Steven B. Krivit's Explorations in Nuclear Research three-book series (Hacking the Atom, Fusion Fiasco, Lost History) describes the emergence of a new field of science, one that bridges chemistry and physics. The books give readers an understanding of low-energy nuclear reaction (LENR) research and its history and provide a rare behind-the-scenes look at the players and personalities involved.

Lost History, written for scientists and science historians, covers the period from 1912 to 1927, and explores the story of forgotten chemical transmutation research, a precursor to modern low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR) research. The book tells the story of century-old research that has been absent from the scientific dialogue for a hundred years — research that is surprisingly similar to events in the modern era.

In the formative years of atomic science in the early 20th century, at the same time that Niels Bohr introduced his model of the atom, and when nuclear science belonged to chemists and physicists alike, some scientists reported inexplicable experimental evidence of elemental transmutations. Papers were published in the top scientific journals of the day, including Physical Review, Science and Nature. Prominent scientists around the world participated in the research. The research was reported in popular newspapers and magazines, such as the New York Times and Scientific American. The book relies heavily on published journal papers.

The experiments, using relatively simple, low-energy benchtop apparatus, did not use radioactive sources, so the results defied prevailing theory. This, coupled with the fact that the experiments were not easily repeated, caused most scientists by 1930 to dismiss the entire body of research as a mistake.

This history of research was omitted from historical references — until now. With the benefit of hindsight, and in light of modern low-energy nuclear research (LENR) and theory, this lost history, after a 60-year hiatus, is told here for the first time. Lost History is the first book that provides critical analyses of the original published scientific papers of the transmutation experiments performed between 1912 and 1927. This book reveals the fascinating story of these experiments and provides significant insights about our understanding of the history of physics, chemistry and nuclear science.

Lost History chronicles the following events that have been either forgotten or misreported:
• From 1912 to 1914, several independent researchers detected the production of noble gases: helium-4, neon, argon, and an as-yet-unidentified element of mass-3, which we now identify as tritium. Two of these researchers were Nobel laureates.
• In 1922, two chemists at the University of Chicago created helium using the exploding electrical conductor method.
• In 1924, a German scientist accidentally found gold and possibly platinum in the residue of mercury vapor lamps that he had been using for photography.
• In 1925, a prominent Japanese scientist reported the production of gold and another metal that was later identified as platinum.
• In 1926, two German chemists pumped hydrogen gas into a chamber with finely divided palladium powder and reported the transmutation of hydrogen into helium. One of them later tried to dismiss the results, but he was never able to completely explain the data as a mistake.
• Contrary to nearly all accounts that credit Ernest Rutherford with the first nuclear transmutation — of nitrogen to oxygen — the credit belongs to a researcher who was working under Rutherford.

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Deep Frying Second Edition Chemistry Nutrition And Practical Applications -

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12-year-old aces CSEC biology - Dad's accident motivated son to succeed

August 21, 2018
Devon Hickey

Twelve-year-old Devon Hickey is one step closer to becoming a neurosurgeon. In addition to scoring a 95 per cent average in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), he copped a Grade One in biology in the recent CSEC exams.

His mother, Sherefa Hickey told THE STAR that she is quite amazed by her son's latest achievement, stating that he has a photographic memory.

A science teacher at McKenzie Evening Institute, Hickey said her son sometimes sticks around in the classroom for a few minutes, and would often give the correct answers whenever she asked a question about the subject.

"He would be playing outside and run in for a few minutes and shock the class when I ask a question and just run out back. One day we were looking at the heart and the kids could not explain the concept of how blood travels and he explained it for the class. We were all shocked, and I kept wondering how he knew all that stuff," she said.

When Devon asked his mother to let him take biology, she was a bit hesitant as she believed he was too young and not prepared enough.

"He went and he complained to family members that I didn't want him to do it. He told me it was easy and I told him it's not and he just probably learnt about some of these stuff from YouTube. It's not like he even paid much attention in class because he was always running up and down," she said between laughter.

As young Devon prepared for his GSAT exams, he did the same for biology.

"He doesn't like English and communication tasks that much so he would spend a lot of time reading his biology book. There were times that I had to take away the book from him so he could focus on his other subjects as well. He enjoyed the subject and I didn't have much impact in his life as it relates to teaching him the subject," she said.

She stated that her son was inspired after his father, Devon Hickey Sr, was left paralysed from the chest down after a motor vehicle accident in Westmoreland last December.

The youngster, who earlier this year graduated from Unity Primary School in Westmoreland, said he wanted to make a change after realising how difficult it was to get some medical resources in Jamaica.

The elder Hickey had to be flown overseas for medical assistance. Although the policeman underwent six life-saving operation, he is still paralysed.

During his preparation for both exams, Devon's mother was overseas with his father as he received medical treatment.

"He has a very close relationship with his father and he wanted to become a doctor even more from the accident occurred. He is at the point where he is telling me that he doesn't want to go to school and that I should tutor him until he gets enough academically to go to medical school. A lot of kids would get withdrawn after the accident, but I believe this is what drives him," she said.

She added that because his father has spinal cord injuries, he is adamant on becoming a neurosurgeon.

"I am really proud of him. I was pushing him more to pay more attention to English Language because he didn't like the subject. He practically learnt biology on his own," she said.

Hickey is now looking forward towards starting his secondary level education at the Manning's School in Westmoreland.

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Katharina Swoboda

Ostend Company

various media, work in progress

sound: Sara Pinheiro, violin: Pierre-Henri Dutron, graphic: Carlo Clopath, additional camera: Kamen Stoyanov

A project about the Ostend Company, which was founded by Austrian Emperor Charles VI in 1722. At the time, Ostend was part of the Austrian South Netherlands. After the War of the Spanish Succession, the Southern Netherlands became Austrian territory. The Ostend Company was modeled after the successful models of the Dutch and English East India Companies, which were very profitable at that time. In Banquibazar, which is now Ichapore, the Austrians established one commercial post, or "colony.” Due to political pressure from England and the Netherlands, the company was short-lived.

Still, connection between Ostend and Austria can be found. For example, in Volker Weidermann”s book Ostende 1936: Sommer der Freundschaft one can learn about Stephan Zweig and Joseph Roth spending their summers there. The main historical sources I encountered are in French: Michel Huisman’s "La Belgique Commerciale sous L'empereur Charles VI, La Compagnie d'Ostende" (1902), and Norbert Laude’s "La Compagnie d`Ostende et son Activité Colonale au Bengale 1725-1730" (1944).

Both Huisman and Laude did extensive research in the archives in Ostend directly, which were destroyed during WWII. Although my work is piece of fiction it draws historical facts, such as the Ostend-Vienna Express luxury train.

Since the Ostend Company is an Austrian company and music is very, very important for Austrian self-image, music painted on a wall in Ostend are also connected to the company. These musical forms are the basis of what is known as "Ostender Variationen." The singing birds in the company logo refer to the company’s attachment to music.

Exhibitions (parts of the projected were presented):

Excursies. Solo Presentation. Steiermark Haus, Brussels 2017

Don´t call it off-space. Curated by Alexandra Grausan. das weisse haus, Vienna 2017


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Theoretical analysis on the applicability of traditional SPH method

As a fully Lagrangian, particle-based numerical method, the traditional smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) generally suffers from the accuracy problem. To investigate the physical origins of this numerical error, the elastic effect between SPH particles is specifically identified by analogy with physical entities, and a unique non-dimensional number is proposed to evaluate the...


bodies of ideas, dreams and hopes.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Ink road across Africa

Ink road across Africa

By Edgardo Civallero
Translated by Sara Plaza

If I ask you to think about "African libraries", most of you will probably create a picture in your mind of modern units from different nations of the great continent. However, if I ask you to think about "African libraries a long time ago", when a great part of those territories were still a mystery for Europeans that will only "discover" them a long time afterwards... what would you think of?

[If this was an auditory, this would be the moment when everybody is silent and thoroughly checks their hands, the back of the neck of the person before them, broken floor tiles...].

On many occasions we have been sold an image of this part of the world as "tribal Africa", "the black continent", "tam-tam and oral tradition land", "artistic works as a means of transmitting wisdom"... Hollywood classics, travel books written by the XIX century explorers and the huge popular imagery they slowly created will probably make us think of an Africa consisting of exotic dances and even more exotic songs, and of peoples without writing, without books and, of course, without libraries.

Maybe some of you will be surprised when I tell you that one of the greatest knowledge centers of that continent –one as important as other contemporary units– was placed on the fringe of the Sahara desert, at one of those crossroads where the main trading roads met.

It was –and is still– called Timbuktu. In this post I will try to tell you a small part of its history and the history of its books.

Timbuktu (or Tombuctu according to the French spelling) is situated in the present State of Mali, Western Africa. It was founded ten centuries ago by Tuareg o Targui people, those famous "desert blue men", nomads of Berber origins that moved on their camels from place to place across this huge country without owner that was the Sahara Desert (did you know that "Sahara" means precisely "desert" in Arabic?). These peoples –that, curiously, had already developed a millenarian system of writing– established the original settlement, but initially it was populated by merchants from the neighboring city-state of Djenne, putting up a lot of markets and commercial headquarters. Timbuktu became a prosperous city very soon, for it was the place where trans-Saharan caravans met and cross each other. These caravans exchanged goods between the Islamic North (salt) and the southern area of Niger (gold, slaves, fruit, ivory), and Timbuktu was a rest area for camels and their owners. In the XI century there were many traders of Fulani, Mandé and Tuareg ethnic groups settled there. All of them were Muslims. The city belonged to several different empires: Ghana, Mali from 1324, Songhay from 1468... And it was under Songhay rule when Timbuktu became "the crown jewel" and reached its entire splendor.

[It is unbelievable how many and how different city-states, empires and confederations emerged and disappeared in Africa before European history touched those peoples. Many times we are ready to believe that there was no history or anything worth to mention up to arrival of explorer such as Livingstone, Stanley, Burton... However, as I stated at the beginning, they are only part of our popular imagery].

In 1591, the city was captured by a band of Moroccan adventurers taking orders from a Spanish renegade named "Pasha Joder". "Pasha" was an honorific titled and the other word (a common Spanish swearword, it seems) was the expression this so foul-mouthed guy used most.

This marked the beginning of the end of Timbuktu grandeur. In 1893 it fell in the hands of French colonial power –despite Tuareg strong resistance– and in 1960 achieved its independence together with the entire French Sudan (present Mali). In the 1990s, the city was attacked by Tuareg people pursuing the creation of their own State. The so–called "Tuareg Rebellion" did not last long and ended in the burning of their weapons in 1996.

Nowadays, Timbuktu is an impoverished city. However, it was a mystery to Europeans for centuries, especially because being a Muslim center, anyone not professing Islam was forbidden from entering the city. At that time many legends were told about its wealth –many of them based on real facts– and a lot of men and western organizations set out to "discover" Timbuktu and its fabulous treasures. In 1788, a group of Englishmen formed the "African Association" in order to find the city and place it on the map. In 1824, the Geography Society of Paris offered a 10.000 francs prize to the first non-Muslim that got into the city and came back with relevant information. The Scot Gordon Laing arrived in 1826 but was assassinated. The French René Caillié, disguised himself as a Muslim, was there in 1828 and came back to tell everybody about it and win the prize – and the honor of having being the first European in entering the legendary city. Only three other Europeans were able to imitate his heroic deed before 1890.

It is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites from 1988, and its mosques made of adobe and mud gives Timbuktu –and many other places in the region– the aureole of mystery that still hangs over the city. It is said that the silhouettes of these buildings were a source of inspiration for the Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí. Regretfully, the city is turning into desert and has been declared in danger from 1990. Timbuktu is so enigmatic that a survey carried out in 2006 among Britain youth revealed that the 34% did not believe that the city was real and the 66% regarded it as "a mythical place"

Throughout the XV century a number of Islamic institutions were created in Timbuktu. The Sankore mosque is one of the most famous, also known as "Sankore University" for the madrassa or Islamic school housed inside. It was built in 1581 and became the center of the Islamic academic community of that region though other surviving mosques –such as Djinguereber and Sidi Yahya– are even older. An Islamic madrassa does not look like a medieval university (comparing educational institutions in the same period). The madrassa consisted of a group of independent schools, each of them managed by a teacher or imam. Students joined a certain professor and classes took place in open places in the yards of the mosque or at private residences. Classes were mainly focused on the study of the Koran, but subjects such as Logic, Astronomy, History, Music, Botanic, Religion, Commerce and Mathematics were also important taught. Academicians wrote their own books as part of a socio-economic model based on scholarship. Benefits got from books sale were second in order of importance behind gold and salt trade. There were more than 100.000 books in the city, most of them written in Arabic or Pulaar (the language spoken by Fulani people), and their contents included the subjects studied at the madrassa. Between the XVI and XVIII centuries, the amount of books and the standard of knowledge reached such a high level that it was wisely expressed in the following saying: "Salt comes from the north; gold comes from the south, but God's word and wisdom treasures come from Timbuktu".

It is believed that there were more than 120 libraries in the city as part of the African "ink road", which connected northern Africa with the east of the continent –under Arab traders' control also– following the caravans' roads. In recent times, libraries were reduced to 60-80 private institutions devoted to the conservation of priceless manuscripts. At present, Mamma Haidara, Kati, Al-Wangari and Mohammed Tahar libraries are good examples. The library that belongs to Kati's family encompasses 3.000 documents from Andalusia, the oldest dated between the XIV and XV centuries. Nowadays, there are more than one million original documents kept in Mali and it is believed that 20 million more might be found in other parts of Africa, especially in the neighboring region of Sokoto, Nigeria. Many of them are kept as a family treasure and nobody will reveal their existence...

There are several joint international projects aimed at recovering this heritage in every way possible. In August, 2002, the Ink Road International Symposium was celebrated in Bamako (the capital of Mali). In 2006, joint efforts between Mali and South Africa governments made it possible to initiate a research on this matter. The UNESCO has set in motion the Timbuktu Manuscript Project and there is a foundation committed to preserving historical documents in the city itself.

Although there are no book artisans left, memories of their trade still remain that remind us of a flourishing business a long time ago.

The history we are usually told –not only about books– seems to be focused on Europe and very few times pays due attention to other geographical and cultural spaces. The Western Africa's rough draft made in these lines might also be written about pre-Hispanic Central America, about its beautiful codices and its paper industry of amatl fig tree. How much have we been taught about it? How much have we learnt about it? How much do we know about it?

Far from pretending to "give voice to those without it" –Sara will talk about this issue next week–, maybe we can try to "refresh memories": memories of worlds that also had skillful bookbinders, fantastic illustrators and expert researchers, such as the ones from Timbuktu.


Birthday Kids - Cakes

Image courtesy of Wikipedia  and owned by Ed_g2s

No birthday is complete without the presence of the birthday cake.  It has been an important part of any birthday celebration since time immemorial.  Together with singing a birthday song and a short prayer of thanksgiving, the birthday cake is one of the minimum requirements in celebrating a birthday.

Western culture practiced this custom of birthday celebrations with birthday cakes since the 19th century.  The candles on top of the birthday cake came from 18th century Germany.  But it was the ancient Romans that really associated birthdays with birthday cakes.

Birthday cakes evolved into culinary and confectionery delights through the years, as the technology for cake-making and decorating evolved.  From the elaborate birthday cakes for the wealthy, to the simple single-layered cake for ordinary folks, the birthday cake still captures the essence of a birthday -- a CELEBRATION of LIFE at its fullest and in all of its sweetness!

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Hello all,
I've started a Blyth save. Managed to climb all divisions up to premiership, using a flat 4-4-2

all seasons (six so far), been using same tactic and things went well..1st offence always and one of the best ,if not the best, defence
However, this season in Premier and against top teams, things went really bad..Managed to have the best offence again, but one of the worst defences (19/20 actually)

I like putting pressure on opponent , and make him commit mistakes or stupid passes so that with fast transition I can score on counter.
Otherwise my offensive plays are either ball to wingers , cross in the box and one of the strikers scores or pass to target man , and then through pass to advanced forward. Despite having the defensive line high, i always had fast defenders so not to get many through balls and cc against...
But this years, I think I get scored in every possible way . Thank god my offence is top , otherwise i would have been relagated.

What improvements do you suggest to improve defence , but not lose offensive effectiveness? Furthermore my full backs tend to get very low avgs (6.60-6.80). Any suggestion?


Online shopping makes people weak and feeble, says Study

London [UK], Oct. 1 : The digital age is surely making shopping easier and accessible for many people. While the online stores are giving us convenience in many matters, they are ruining our muscles, according to a group of physiotherapists.

This puts them at increasing risk of falls and other health problems. Professor Karen Middleton, chief executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said, "Online shopping may be very convenient but it does mean that we are losing some of the methods that used to exist for strengthening our muscles.

We're carrying fewer bags home from the supermarket because it arrives at our door." She added, "We're also waiting at home for other goods to be delivered when in the past we would have gone out to buy them.

This isn't an argument against progress. It's just to show that maintaining strength and being active doesn't have to mean going to the gym, and we should look for ways to build it into our everyday lives." National Health Service guidelines recommend two strengthening exercise sessions a week, be it weight-lifting or simply carrying home your weekly grocery.

o start, it can be digging in the garden or simple body-weight exercises like standing up out of a chair 10 times." Talking about the same, Dr Justin Varney, Head of Adult Health at Public Health England, noted, "Your bones start to weaken from your late 20s and muscle mass shrinks from 40, plus musculoskeletal conditions are the biggest cause of sickness absence from work." "So it's not only older people who need to act.

Source: ANI


Public and Private Debt: The Historical Record (1870–2010)

German Economic Review, Vol. 15, Issue 1, pp. 191–207.

In this study, I draw on recent comparative studies of the macroeconomic history of advanced economies since 1870. I show that while both public and private debts have increased markedly, private, not public debts have climbed to historically unprecedented levels. Outside war times, financial crises have typically originated in the private sector, yet the costs have increasingly been socialized. The historical record shows that modern democracies have been relatively successful in managing their financial affairs, evidenced by a systematically positive response of primary balances to high debt ratios.

Read the full paper