Datasets:

mekaneeky

/

fineweb-sample-18

like 0

Dogs are susceptible to diseases carried by ticks. Such ailments are hard to diagnose for the average pet owner, making it a priority to get the canine to a veterinarian once it begins to display symptoms of these tick-borne diseases. It is often difficult at best to find where a tick may have bitten a dog and passed on a disease and in many cases the disease will not manifest its symptoms for some time after the initial bite. Lyme disease, besides being a human affliction, is also a dog disease. Deer ticks infected with a bacterium known as borrelia burgdorferi are responsible for the transmission of Lyme disease, and the symptoms can take months to show up. Arthritis that results in a period of lameness, swollen joints, fatigue, fevers and swelling of the lymph nodes are all common signs of this illness in a dog. Lyme disease is a nationwide problem for dogs across the United States, with the northeastern states, California, mid-Atlantic states and the upper central states having the most cases. In the worst cases of Lyme disease, kidney failure is a potential outcome. A condition known as canine ehrlichosis is another disease in dogs that is the result of a bacterial infection brought about by a tick bite. The brown dog tick is the culprit with this disease and the symptoms may take months to develop. Weight loss for no good reason is a key early signal to a pet owner. Other symptoms include a runny nose, fever, depressed attitude and bleeding from the eyes. The gums may be easily bruised with canine ehrlichosis and the disease is nefarious in that it will apparently go away only to reappear at a later date, sometimes years later. The southwestern states and the Gulf states are where this disease is most frequently diagnosed. The deer tick can also spread canine anaplasmosis, as can the brown dog tick. Each tick will transmit a different form of the illness and arthritic joints, a very high fever, lack of appetite, diarrhea, vomiting, seizures, and a painful neck are the most commonly seen symptoms of this condition. Like Lyme disease it is more common in New England, the northernmost central states, those in the mid-Atlantic region, and in California Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Three species of ticks can give a dog Rocky Mountain spotted fever. The American dog tick, the lone star tick and the wood tick all can cause a bacterium called Rickettsia rickettsii to penetrate the dog's defenses and precipitate the disease. The symptoms include a fever, lesions that break out on the skin, obvious stiffness when the dog tries to walk, and neurological problems. Rocky Mountain spotted fever can be fatal and it occurs all over the U.S., with California, the South, and the states that contain the Rockies reporting the most cases. Canine babesiosis is different from the other tick-borne disease because a protozoa is what is introduced into the dog's blood by the tick, not a bacterium. A type of tick called the Ixodid tick carries this particular disease. The organisms will destroy the red blood cells in a dog and cause anemia. Other signs are a fever and lack of energy. This disease can bring on rapid death from unusually low blood pressure and shock, with infections able to gain easy access to the animal as well. The southern states along with Oklahoma, Arizona and Arkansas, are where this disease most often strikes dogs.

Definitions for huffer This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word huffer A drug addict who gets a high by inhaling or sniffing intoxicating fumes, as in glue or aerosols. a bully; a blusterer In aviation, a huffer is an external engine that creates large volumes of pressurized air used to start large gas turbine jet engines on some types of aircraft. The huffer works by blowing compressed air via flexible hose to the aircraft's bleed air system. From there, the air flows via a pilot controlled valve to the engine's starter motor. The starter motor converts the energy of the moving air to rotational torque. The starter motor is linked via shaft to the N2 or core of the engine and spins the compressor and first stage turbine. Once there is enough air flowing through the compressor and the combustion chamber to light the engine, fuel in the form of vaporized kerosene starts flowing and an igniter similar to a spark plug ignites the fuel. Then fuel flow is increased to spin the engine up to its normal idle speed, at which point the engine is self-sustaining and no longer needs the support of the starter. In some earlier jet engines, the air from the huffer acted directly on the compressor or turbine blades to cause them to spin without the need for the air starter motor. Some aircraft turbine engines do not use compressed air to start, but instead are started using an electric starter motor. This is attached to the main turbine shaft and does the same job as the air starter motor. The application of the huffer is primarily seen when an aircraft's Auxiliary Power Unit is not working, or to military aircraft, many of which use a huffer to save on weight. Find a translation for the huffer definition in other languages: Select another language:

Littleton Mitchell was a pioneer in the fight for equal treatment of all. Having seen a black man elected president, he has lived a dream. (page 2 of 2) It was in this role that Mitchell found a way to right the injustices he had seen throughout his life. One of his first goals was to seek out the man who started it all. “When we came back from down in the South, I told Jane, ‘I’m going to get with the NAACP in Wilmington,’ and my first thing that I wanted to do when I became president of the state branch was migrant labor. We’re going to look at migrant labor, and I want to find out about John Isaacs,” Mitchell recalls. He discovered that Isaacs owned several farms in Delaware. He regularly used migrant laborers from Southern states to work his fields, and he forced them to live in squalid conditions. “We did a very good study on him and we got those places closed,” Mitchell says. Such work continued throughout his tenure, whether it was mounting support to fight against the national Ku Klux Klan, holding a meeting in Dover or investigating segregation at hospitals in Lewes and Smyrna. And now, having retired from his post at the NAACP in 1991, he has lived to see what he never thought was possible: an African-American president of the United States. “I didn’t think this country had matured to the point where the majority of the people wouldn’t look at his complexion or his race,” he says. “I could not conceive of the people of this country coming out and voting for a very intelligent and very secure black man.” But vote they did, and Barack Obama’s election to the highest office in the land is the direct result of the work Littleton Mitchell and so many others did during the hard days at the height of the civil rights movement, says Federal Judge Gregory Sleet, a close friend of Mitchell’s through his father, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Moneta Sleet Jr., who covered the civil rights movement for Ebony magazine. “I think there’s probably a direct link with Lit to my existence here on this court and even to my previous position as U.S. attorney,” Sleet says. “He was laying the groundwork, along with many others like him, people who were laboring in the trenches to build what we see today in grand relief in the person of President Barack Obama, which is something I didn’t think I’d live to see.” John Watson, morning host on WILM-AM, also notes the link between Mitchell and Obama. “He was able to do what we hear about Barack Obama so much—bridging the gap between the two races,” Watson says. “When I first started hearing about Barack Obama, I said, ‘Well, he reminds me of Littleton Mitchell.’” So Mitchell, the matador who dedicated himself to fighting the beast that is racism, has lowered his cape and sword against a weakened foe. Today, it’s less about fighting, more about speaking to young people about why he fought and about why the pockets of racism, the tiny incidents that deny a job or wound the soul, should be brought into the open. “For young people to have the ability to reach out and touch him and speak with him and have him tell those stories, it gives them context,” Sleet says. “How much better is that than reading it in a textbook, if you can even find it in a textbook?”

In the U.S. we are all keenly aware of our history of black slavery. Also, on average, there is a general understanding of slavery in ancient history, Rome, Greece, etc. However, less is known about the extensive history of Blacks enslaving Blacks, Blacks enslaving Whites, and Muslims enslaving both Blacks and Whites. Between 1500 and 1800 A.D. there were so many white slaves in North Africa you trade one for an onion ("swap a Christian for an onion") because the price was so low. Some European painters romanticized Harem life with a blasé or laissez faire attitude towards slavery with very little suggestion of the sorrows those young women repressed within themselves for fear of a beating, or worse. Yet, there are instances where you can almost detect a gloominess behind the forced smiles in some of the more detailed portraits. Glimpses of this obfuscated helplessness and despair may be due to the artist's talent or more likely one's own imagination. You make the call. A gilded cage is still a cage. Just as a rose, by any other name, is still a rose.

2.4.9 At what point does an attack become practical? There is no easy answer to this question as the answer depends on many distinct factors. Not only must the work and computational resources required by the cryptanalyst be reasonable, but the amount and type of data required for the attack to be successful must also be taken into account. Furthermore, the value of the concealed information must be taken into account - it is reasonable to spend a million dollars of effort to uncover something worth more than a million dollars, however, any sane attacker would not, for example, invest one million dollars to uncover a secret worth one thousand dollars. Also, it should be noted that cryptography and security are not equivalent. If a block cipher takes seven months of computational effort to crack, but the key can be recovered by bribery or extortion, a truly dedicated adversary will probably attempt the latter.

Discuss "The Retreat" a typical metaphysical religious poem. 1 Answer | Add Yours The most common aspect of metaphysical poetry is the use of conceits, which can be described as surprising figures of speech in which one thing is compared to another thing that is rather unlike it. In this poem, we can see the central conceit that is used throughout is the comparison of life to a journey or a race. This is used to describe the speaker's longing for a "retreat" to where he came from originally. This poem is about the belief of some that the soul had a heavenly existence prior to its earthly existence in the world. Thus the speaker talks about being "Appointed for my second race" and walking "a mile or two" from his first home. Note the longing in the speaker's voice when he expresses his desire to return and venture back to his first home: Oh how I long to travel back, And tread again that ancient track! That I might once more reach that plain, Where first I left my glorious train... Here he expresses his desire and fervent hope that he might venture back to where he originally came from, likening his life to a journey and hoping that the end destination will be from whence he emerged. Thus the central metaphysical quality of this poem is its use of a conceit to liken life to a long journey. Join to answer this question Join a community of thousands of dedicated teachers and students.Join eNotes

|Royallieu was one of the biggest transit camps of Nazi-Germany in occupied France. More than 45.000 people passed through it. The camp served between June 1941 and August 1944.| Within Royallieu stood "Camp C", or the "Jewish camp". This part of Royallieu was an extermination camp on itself. The Jewish prisoners were starved to death.

|During any average person’s lifetime, they will be confronted with a variety of different dental problems. Some people may take excellent care of their teeth and their gums, and abide by a very stringent oral health care regiment. But sometimes bad things happen to good people, and still there can be oral health issues that may confront them from time to time. Unlike other more severe issues, such as loose teeth, gum diseases, oral cancer, dying roots or infected tooth pulp, fortunately gum sores are a very treatable as well as highly preventable oral condition. They also happen to be fairly common in many people, too. Find out what you can do to treat and to prevent gum sores, and just what your options consist of.|| Gum sores can be caused by a variety of different underlying factors, most often attributed to inadequate oral health care. Gum sores can actually be the byproduct of a more serious condition in your mouth, such as gum diseases, infected teeth or even oral cancers. They can also be caused by improperly fitting dentures, cavities that are in your teeth that you may be unaware of, or even other dental problems that you may not know about. Gum sores are all caused by one primary culprit: bacteria. The mouth is a portal for bacteria because the mouth is a dark and wet place that provides the sugars that bacteria love to feed on. When bacteria feed, they produce an acidic waste that can infect the gums, cause gum sores and that attacks the integrity of the teeth, also contributing to gum diseases and tooth decay, loose teeth and even the loss of teeth. There are some signs and symptoms of gum sores. Most often they comprise of one or more lesions on the gums or on the lining of the gums. They can often be confused for canker sores, gum boils and fever blisters or herpes blisters (cold sores), and even gum infections. Their symptoms are relatively minor, and may be accompanied by pain or persistent throbbing, and a feeling of discomfort in the mouth or in the areas of the mouth where they are present. There are some risks that associated with gum sores. They include, but are not limited to the following: The best way to prevent gum sores is by taking excellent care of your mouth. This includes adhering to a very strict daily oral health care regiment, as well as ensuring that you are seeing your dentist for regularly scheduled cleanings and checkups to ensure proper oral health. There are some natural treatments and remedies for gum sores that you can implement in your own home. Keep in mind that prevention is the key here. By adhering to a stringent daily schedule of properly caring for your mouth, you can best avoid gum sores and enjoy a healthy smile that lasts you a lifetime. You can treat and prevent gum infections by adhering to a stringent oral health care regiment. The better that you take care of your mouth, tongue, teeth and gums daily, the less likely that your gums will become infected or be prone to gum disease, not to mention the more protected and healthy that your teeth will be as well. Our staff has fully reviewed and evaluated the following products, which have demonstrated superiority in design, effectiveness, ingredients, quality and excellence. After a thorough review of these products, we are pleased to offer them our stamp of approval and as a result, we highly recommend them to you as an effective and natural method of both treating and preventing gum infection. These products only use premium ingredients, and are offered to you at competitive and affordable rates so that you can enjoy proper daily oral health care. The Ultimate Gum Solution™: Designed based upon findings by reputed Dr. Weston Price’s D.D.S and reports that were authored by 60 dental experts and that contained more than 1700 pages of why bacteria and focal infection were the primary cause of tooth decay and gum disease. The Ultimate Gum Solution™ contains Proprietary blended and processed Morinda Citrifolia, CoQ10, Aloe Vera, GinSeng Extract, Tinctures of violet, Sodium Carbonate, Sealogica, Pau D'arco extract, Natural Cranberry, Phosphorus, Potassium, and over 96 natural health nutritional ingredients. Among these include vitamins A, Beta Carotene, B-complex, C, D, E, F, K, P, Calcium, Magnesium, amino acids, enzymes, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. Thousands of user testimonies concur this is the best product they have ever tried for treating bleeding gums.OramMD: Contains a combination of essential oils and herbal extracts that combat infections in the mouth and prevent tooth decay and treats bleeding gums. Their proprietary formula is based upon years of clinical research and testing. People from the around the world swear by this product as it is easy to use and affordable. A couple drops added to a few ounces of water and used as a light mouthwash twice daily has been shown to work wonders with treating bleeding gums and in improving oral health. The product has been featured in major newspapers, magazines and on television shows, as well as being fully endorsed by leading dentists and also currently carries a coveted 5 Star Amazon Rating.

There are a number of behavioral screening tests that can be used to help uncover the presence of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but they involve observing a person’s behavior and abilities in communication and socialization. There is no blood test or similar screening that will confirm an ASD diagnosis. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists a number of tests that could be used for an initial screening to spot problems, and also provides more comprehensive tests designed to confirm an ASD diagnosis. Tests are designed to check how far a child’s development has progressed. They can measure a child’s behavior or abilities to learn and interact. Often the test includes or is comprised of questions for the parents. Tests which the CDC makes available for autism screening include: - Ages and Stages Questionnaires or ASQ. - Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales or CSBS. - Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status or PEDS. - Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers or M-CHAT. - Screening Tool for Autism in Toddlers and Young Children or STAT. - Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire or ASSQ. - Australian Scale for Asperger's Syndrome. - Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test or CAST.

If you did not already know, cystitis is a type of inflammation of your bladder. Although a lot of things can cause this infection, it is normally caused by a bacterial infection. If you do have this kind of problem, then it is normally called a UTI, or a urinary tract infection. This is one of the most common problems that cats get. Thus, you can see that this is a problem that can affect both animals and humans.If you do not take care of this kind of problem, then a cystitis infection can spread though your body. Most of the time, it makes its way to your kidneys, and then it can be bad. After all, if you lose your kidneys, then you have nothing to filter your blood at all. Now that brings up the next question, how common is cystitis? Well, as you already know this is a problem that can affect both people and animals. Thus, it is a pretty common term in the medical field. However, it is not something that a lot of people talk much about. After all, some people find that it’s embarrassing. Besides that, it happens to both men and women about the same. It also happens to people of every race as well. Thus, this is something that no one is completely safe from. The symptoms are not so much things that you can see, but things that you can feel. Thus, the best person to be able to know if they are having symptoms is yourself. Some of the things that you might feel would be a strong urge to urinate. Not only that, but you are more than likely going to feel a kind of burning sensation when you urinate as well. People who also pass a lot of frequent small amounts of urine could have this problem as well. Other people have noted that their urine smells bad, and it is very cloudy. This is a trait that is very common in cats. Other people may have low grade fevers that go with it as well. For your doctor to be able to diagnosis cystitis, he will have to do a number of tests on you. He will more than likely do a urine analysis to check your urine, then he will do a cystoscopy. This is where they put a small camera into your bladder. Then they can look around and see what other problems that you might be having. Another common test is known as an imaging test. However, this is not always necessary to do, so be sure to ask your doctor if it’s something that you have to do. There are a number of ways to treat cystitis. Finding the right kind of interstitial cystitis treatment for you is going to depend on what kind of cystitis you have. Some doctors will tell you , if your cystitis are not bad, that it can be handled with just a cystitis diet. He will give you a list of things that you can eat, and you will see that your symptoms are likely to heal up in a few days. If that does not work, then he will have to give you something to kill the bacterial in your bladder. Although this sounds hard, it’s normally just done with a type of medication. Either way, this is nothing that you should worry about, and your doctor should be able to take good care of you. Home remedies for cystitis are not hard to come by. Most of the cystitis home remedies that we are going to talk about have to deal with natural food. These are the things that your doctor will tell you to eat if you choose to go a natural route. First of all, you may want to drink watermelon juice. If you do not like that kind of juice, then you should try fresh onion juice. As you can already see, these are not the best tasting treats around. However, they do work. Other people like to eat garlic and cabbage. Of course, a lot of people already know that, because garlic is good for you. Also, be sure to drink a lot of water everyday. Other fruits like organs and pineapples are good as well. Overall, cystitis is not something that you can not beat. However, it can not go untreated for a long time. If it does go untreated, then it can affect your kidneys. If this happens, then you are going to have some bigger problems on your hands. Either way, your doctor will be able to give you some great cystitis remedies that should help you. If not, then just simply follow the home remedies that we talked about. These are sure to help you and keep you feeling great.

SPORTS MEDICINE: Cross-Training for Horses By Ray J. Geor, BVSC, PHD, DIPL. ACVIM To add variety to conditioning programs, human athletes often undertake exercise sessions that are not specific to their athletic disciplines. For example, long-distance runners might cycle on a stationary bike once or twice a week, swim, or "run" in a swimming pool. This practice, termed "cross-training," has two main goals. First, it provides conditioning of the cardiovascular system (heart and circulation); and second, it reduces the stress and strain on areas of the body that are subject to considerable pounding during heavy single-discipline training. Does this practice of cross-training have a place in the horse world? Given the unacceptably high rate of musculoskeletal injuries in athletic horses, there is certainly a need for training methods that provide the desired conditioning effect without over-stressing joints, bones, tendons, and ligaments. The end result of this cross-training perhaps could be a reduced risk for injury. In that regard, swimming or exercise on an "underwater" treadmill could be a useful addition to a horse's conditioning program. Another consideration with the use of swimming pools and other forms of exercise equipment, such as treadmills and mechanical walkers, is the potential to save labor, time, and money. Horses can be exercised without a rider, no special tack is required, and with some exercise methods one can condition several horses in a relatively short period of time. Conditioning on a treadmill or a mechanical walker also takes some of the guesswork out of the training program. For example, the duration and intensity of each workout can be precisely controlled and the underfoot conditions held constant. We will discuss several pieces of exercise equipment (mechanical walkers, treadmills, underwater treadmills, and swimming pools) that can be used for conditioning horses. A mechanical walker (sometimes called a "European hot walker") has become an extremely popular tool for light conditioning work. Many large farms and sales prep operations rely heavily on a mechanical exerciser for conditioning sale yearlings. These automatic systems differ from traditional hot walkers in that there is no requirement for the horse to be connected to a lead line (tethered) and pulled by a moving arm. Rather, the exerciser is divided into separate areas (typically six, but there can be as many as 10) by mesh gates that are suspended from horizontal steel beams that form the spokes in the wheel. The gates are 30-35 feet apart, and inner and outer fences define the circular track (approximately eight feet in width). In typical designs, the inner fence has a 60-foot diameter circle, while the outer fence forms a circle with a 68-foot diameter. Compared to traditional "hot walkers," which were primarily designed for cooling out racehorses after training and racing, the design of the mechanical walker allows more freedom of movement and a greater variety of exercise options. Although walking and trotting are the norm, these machines can operate at speeds up to 20 mph that allow for cantering work. Most have a wall-mounted control box that includes an emergency stop button. By and large, horses adapt easily to exercise in mechanical walkers and mishaps are rare. Nonetheless, these machines should always be operated under supervision. Mechanical walkers are also reversible, operating in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. Working the horse in both directions allows for an "even" conditioning of the skeleton and avoids undue stress on the "inside" limbs (particularly the forelimbs). In general, horses should be exercised for no more than 15 or so minutes in a single direction. In this regard, the surface should also be forgiving. Materials such as a mixture of wood fibers and shredded rubber provide the best footing, in my Although the initial investment is substantial (as much as $20,000), the time and labor savings for large training and breeding operations can more than justify the expense. The ability to exercise up to 10 horses simultaneously is a huge time saver, with a much lower labor input. Many will use mechanical walkers for both warm-up and cool-down activities, as well as longer-duration light conditioning. These machines can also be used for rehabilitation of injured athletes, although the smooth surface of a treadmill belt (or swimming) is preferable in many cases. Still, for minor injuries, walking in a mechanical exerciser is beneficial and certainly a time saver when there are several horses which would have otherwise required hand walking as part of the rehab process. As with anything new, the horse needs a gradual introduction to exercise in a mechanical walker. Start with a few sessions of walking (10-15 minutes each). Once the horse is comfortable at the walk, try a few laps of low and medium speed trotting. Also accustom the horse to movement in both directions. When these tasks are mastered, you are ready to incorporate the mechanical exerciser into your horse's overall conditioning program. The use of treadmills for conditioning horses has increased greatly in recent years. Several different models are available, the main differentiating features being size, speed capabilities, and price. Lower-end models are available for $15,000-$20,000, while some of the higher-end models cost more than $60,000 when installed. The latter are typically capable of speeds greater than 45 mph and are termed high-speed treadmills. These models are necessary if fast work is to be carried out on a treadmill. On the other hand, if the treadmill is to be used only for walking and trotting exercise, the lower-cost models will do the job just fine. Most treadmills have a hydraulic lift that allows for adjustments to the incline (typically up to 10° of slope). The combination of adjustable speed and incline provides ample variety in a horse's Use of a treadmill for at least part of a conditioning program offers several advantages. One, the treadmill belt provides a smooth, consistent surface. Many models also have shock absorbers under the treadmill plate, providing a "cushioned" surface. Particularly during the winter months when outdoor surfaces are muddy, frozen, or both, this consistent surface can help prevent injuries from uneven footing. During the depths of winter in northern climes when deep snow or frigid conditions prevent outdoor exercise, access to a treadmill can make a real difference in terms of a training program's consistency. Another advantage is the ability to control the intensity and duration of a conditioning session. Conditioning can be further refined if the horse wears a heart rate (HR) meter during treadmill exercise. When the HR is in the 140-160 beats per minute (bpm) range, energy is mostly provided by aerobic metabolism; above 170 bpm, there is considerable anaerobic metabolism. Therefore, the workout can be tailored to emphasize aerobic or anaerobic conditioning. Because the horse is stationary relative to an observer while moving on the treadmill, a trainer can quickly evaluate gait and detect lameness problems, or evaluate improvement in horses recovering from leg injuries. The smooth, cushioned ride of a treadmill is particularly useful for rehab work. Horses quickly adapt to running on a treadmill, often within three to four sessions, depending on the temperament of the individual horse. Two to three handlers are used during the acclimation process, although fully trained horses can be safely exercised with only one or two people. The nature of a treadmill workout will largely depend on a horse's athletic discipline and the stage of his training program. For a horse recovering from a tendon injury, initial workouts might be as little as five to 10 minutes of walking, building up to a combination of walking and trotting. In general, treadmill workouts should attempt to mimic over ground conditioning, with a combination of slow work (aerobic training) that strengthens the skeleton and improves stamina, and faster work (anaerobic training) that conditions the body for high-speed exercise. Some trainers will require the horse to carry a weight saddle while on the treadmill to simulate normal exercise conditions. The treadmill is also ideal for a little "cross-training." For example, incline walking and running is useful for building muscle strength (particularly the back and hindquarters) and stamina. Many endurance horse trainers use the treadmill with this goal in However, no matter what type of training program is used, always remember that a horse can become quite hot while working on a treadmill. It is advisable to provide some type of cooling mechanism, such as a fan, while he is working. Although some horses (including racehorses) have been successful when trained exclusively on a treadmill, my recommendation is to use treadmill workouts as just one part of the conditioning program—rehabilitation conditioning programs being the possible exception. Regardless of athletic discipline, the horse requires some sports-specific conditioning. Running on the treadmill is not the same as running over ground. Proper strengthening of bones, tendons, and ligaments requires some conditioning on the surfaces faced during competition exercise. Also, the mental attitude of some horses can deteriorate when treadmill conditioning is over-emphasized. As a suggestion, limit treadmill conditioning to a maximum of 50% of the total training volume, vary the nature of the treadmill workouts to keep the horse interested, and keep each session relatively short (no more than 15-20 minutes). Of course, bad weather and footing conditions might dictate the need for greater emphasis on treadmill conditioning. As well, some horses with a history of low-grade, persistent lameness problems can remain sound when trained predominantly on a treadmill. A more recent addition to the array of exercise equipment available for horses is the underwater treadmill, commonly called "aquatreds" or "aquacizers." These machines, as the name implies, are a combination of treadmill and swimming pool. A fiberglass tank, similar in width to a regular treadmill, is partially filled with water such that the horse is "submerged" to the point of the elbow (or thereabouts) when standing on the treadmill. The floor of the underwater treadmill has a treadmill belt and the sides are fitted with jet ports that generate water flow during operation. The underwater treadmill is best used for rehab work rather than as a tool for primary conditioning, so you are more likely to see these machines in large training centers or horse operations specializing in rehabilitation. That said, many human runners who first used water running as a means of injury rehabilitation have continued to include pool sessions in their training program, claiming reduced injury recurrence compared to a conditioning program of all road/ track work. Perhaps the same is true of horses. As with swimming, the primary goal is to "unload" the skeleton. Buoyancy of the water, in effect, reduces the horse's body weight so there is less strain on the supporting structures of the legs—bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments. Studies in Japan (see Tokuriki et al. 1999) have shown that trotting in a underwater treadmill requires less muscular movement than walking on the same treadmill without water. The authors speculated that buoyancy from the water was greatest during trotting, when the horse repeats up and down movements. Therefore, it is possible that walking is the best gait for exercise in an underwater treadmill, providing some conditioning of the cardiovascular and muscular systems while unloading the limbs. To my knowledge, no studies have evaluated the effectiveness of underwater treadmills for rehabilitation of leg injuries—for example, tendon bows. Nonetheless, anecdotal evidence indicates that horses which would otherwise be unable to exercise are able to work in an underwater treadmill without deterioration of the primary problem. This will allow for a faster return to full fitness once normal conditioning is resumed. Swimming was perhaps the earliest version of cross-training for horses. It first became popular in the 1970s and is still widely used today. In contrast to the underwater treadmill, the horse is almost completely submerged (the head stays above water) in a swimming pool that is 10 or more feet deep. Therefore, the horse really has to "swim" (paddling with all four limbs) to propel himself forward in the pool. Research studies and clinical experience indicate that short bouts of swimming (e.g., up to three or four laps of a pool 15 meters in diameter) provides good cardiovascular conditioning. And, because of the complete unloading of the skeleton, swimming is an ideal choice for a horse rehabilitating from an injury. As with the underwater treadmill, horses with a history of lameness problems or older horses with worn joints and tendons can benefit from regular pool sessions. Of all the alternative exercise modes discussed here, swimming pools represent the largest financial investment. Together with the expense of pool installation, there is the cost of the large building required to house it. As well, there are considerable maintenance costs, and the requirement of very experienced handlers for operation of the facility. So, practically speaking, swimming pools are not a viable option for small training establishments. Still, you might live close enough to an equine swim facility to be able to take advantage of this exercise option. For those lucky enough to live near the coast or another large body of water, it might be possible to use a beach, lake, or even a river to swim your horses. In some places, ocean swimming is a traditional form of horse conditioning. This is best done in shallow water with fairly even and firm footing—the workout will be very similar to that undertaken on an aquatred. A number of precautions should be taken before undertaking this type of exercise. In particular, you need to evaluate the depth of water in the targeted area and ensure that it is free from debris and provides reasonably firm footing, and also beware of any dangerous wildlife such as water moccasins or snapping turtles. A gently sloping, sandy beach is the best choice. There are pros and cons to each of the alternative exercises. Regardless of exercise mode, however, it is important to understand that none can completely replace a traditional training program. At least some of a horse's conditioning must be specific to its athletic Briggs, K. Equinomics: Exercise equipment. The Horse, March 1999,111-116. Porter, M. Indoor exercise in winter. The Horse, December 1998,85-90. Tokuriki, M.; Ohtsuki, R.; Kai, M.; et al. EMG activity of the muscles of the neck and forelimbs during different forms of locomotion. Equine Veterinary Journal. Supplement 30, 231-234,1999. About The Author Ray Geor, BVSc, PhD (equine exercise physiology). Dipt. AC VIM, is currently employed by R and J Veterinary Consultants, Guelph, Ontario, specializing in equine internal medicine, nutrition and ©2001, The Horse All rights reserved. -return to article list-

Invaluable cannot guarantee the accuracy of translations through Google Translate and disclaims any responsibility for inaccurate translations. Lot 11: HINE, LEWIS W. (1874-1940) "Spinner, Cotton Mill, Macon, Georgia."Platinum House October 4, 2012 New York, NY, USALive Auction HINE, LEWIS W. (1874-1940) "Spinner, Cotton Mill, Macon, Georgia." Silver print, 4 7/8x6 7/8 inches (12.4x17.5 cm.), with a National Child Labor Committee hand stamp and numeric notations, in pencil, in an unknown hand, on verso. 1909 Hine's career as a reformer began while he was employed at the Ethical Culture School, where he taught nature study and geography, and worked part-time as the school's staff photographer. During the period 1904-1914 his photographs addressed social issues relating to immigrant populations in New York City, child laborers in the northeast and south, and tenement family workers in Manhattan. Trained as an educator, Hine wrote eloquently about photography as a new, powerful force for societal change while referencing the medium's emerging artistic authority. He used a 5x7-inch Graflex view camera, but relied on darkroom technicians to make contact prints from his negatives. His innovative use of photographs and text, and insistence on controlling their visual presentation in social welfare journals, popular magazines, and illustrated books, position him as one of America's premier photographers and first photojournalists. The combination of Hine's talent with the camera and his social conscience resulted in freelance assignments for the National Child Labor Committee, whose mission was to promote legislation prohibiting child labor. His earliest photographs were of "newsies" (children who sold newspapers) at night. The images were complemented with terse transcriptions of exchanges the boys had with one another. These idiomatic, slang-ridden dialogues underscored the harsh realities of the boys's lives. Perhaps his most powerful photographs are of southern children laboring in mills. Given the hostility of owners and managers, Hine resorted to subertfuge to take his pictures. The intimate composition of this study depicts a child with a somewhat pained but dignified expression--proof that children were better served studying in schools than spending 14 hour days spinning cotton. Hine's prescient recognition of photography as a communications tool found an appropriate outlet in the newsletters and handouts distributed by the NCLC to alert the public and legislators to the widespread existence of child laborers. In 1914 Hine coined the term "photo-story" to describe his innovative combinations of pictures and text, and in the 1920s-1930s worked on a series of projects that were published in political and popular magazines.

Creating Capabilities: Fostering Cognitive Development This panel was recorded April 23, 2010 as part of the conference "Creating Capabilities," held at the University of Chicago Law School and organized by James Heckman, Martha Nussbaum and Robert Pollak. The most often-discussed aspect of child development, still poorly understood, is cognitive development, i.e. literacy and numeracy, the skills measured by IQ and achievement tests. These abilities were once thought to be innate, but now it is evident that they are responsive to a wide range of environmental factors. What factors are the most important among family, society, and peer cultures? What interventions have the best chance of success? How are cognitive skills related to emotion, personality, and health? How can we foster cognition? - Title: Creating Capabilities: Fostering Cognitive Development - Length: 131:27 minutes (120.35 MB) - Format: MP3 Stereo 44kHz 128Kbps (CBR)

Not Estimate Numbers of Butterflies? A Story and a Lesson About Science Science Education Standards develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know about the world. and Their Environments depend on their natural and constructed environments. Humans change environments in ways that can be either beneficial or detrimental for themselves and other organisms. (K-4) in environments can be natural or influenced by humans. Some changes are good, some are bad, and some are neither. (K-4) formulate and test their explanations of nature using observation, experiments, and theoretical and mathematical models. Scientists do and have changed their ideas about nature when they encounter new experimental evidence that does not match their existing explanations. to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information. 2006 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our

Diarrhea is the most common problem in the children of every age. Diarrhea treatment is an easy home task and mother can take a sigh of relief. These conditions may go with diarrhea yet the causes and treatments can be different other than diarrhea as per your doctor’s consultation. Remember To often Stool is the main symptom of diarrhea - Rectal urgency - Instant bowel movements after a meal - Seeds of lemon are used for diarrhea treatment. Take at least six seeds of lemon, grid them properly and give them to the kids of age more than 4 years with water. - Diarrhea in infants can be treated by using medicated syrup with consultation of doctors. - Chronic diarrhea can be treated by proper and regular use of fiber. - Acute watery diarrhea can be treated with the help of Dalbergia sissoo (Sheesham Tree) leaves. Grind Dalbergia sissoo leaves boil it to make soup a like then mix half cup of orange juice in once glass of this soup. Diarrhea symptoms will be cured. Health Tips In Urdu: Diarrhea Treatment In Urdu:

was one of the greatest entrepreneurs in history. He saw an opportunity, and he took it. When he introduced the well-named safety razor in 1903, he presented to the average man a way to reduce the learning curve for becoming a self-shaver. He also gave to his fellow men a way to cut back on the time (high) and expense (high) of a shave by a barber. a fundamental marketing principle: The profit is in repeat sales. The main cost is generating the initial sale. After the seller gains the buyer’s trust, repeat sales are far less expensive. This is the principle of the back end, and it is basic to most businesses. He sold his razors cheap — below cost, we are told — in order to sell blades at a profit. He used price competition to create demand for a totally new product. This enabled him to gain market share rapidly. He was selling to the middle class initially. He was not selling to the rich. Soon, he was selling to the poor. By 1916, the beard was out of favor. The last major-party candidate for President who wore a beard was Charles Evans Hughes. Wilson defeated him in A huge breakthrough for the company was the policy of the Army in World War I to issue a Gillette razor to every soldier. That was 3.5 million razors. To say that Gillette changed the world is not saying too much. His price-competitive marketing strategy made shaving so inexpensive that the average Joe could afford it. All over the world, beards disappeared. So, by the way, did underarm hair for women. But that was not Gillette’s doing. That was the Wilkinson razor company’s doing. That advertising campaign began in 1915, following a Harper’s Bazaar article that featured a photograph of a woman in a sleeveless dress. It is less likely that this fashion trend would have been attempted by a straight-razor company, for the straight razor’s association with masculinity was obvious, and remains so. WORST OF ALL CONDITIONS I have been cursed with three biological features that are at cross purposes: a fast-growing thick beard, sensitive skin, and a chin with small folds. So, when I wore a beard, briefly, in 1980, my beard pulled against my skin when I put my head on a pillow, and pulled at my skin annoyingly. I never got used to this. When I shave exclusively with an electric razor, it doesn’t cut short enough to prevent the appearance of a Nixon-like beard before the end of the day. Also, the whirring blades tend to irritate my skin after a few days. When I shave with a standard safety razor, the folds of my chinny-chin chin protect whiskers from the blade. If I go after them, I risk nicking myself. seeing an interview with Tom Paxton, the folk singer. He hypothesized that whiskers learn how to evade whatever system you use against Because I prefer to spend my time in front of a computer screen rather than a mirror, my goals for shaving are simple: (1) get finished fast; (2) avoid leaving whiskers behind; (3) avoid cuts; (4) avoid skin irritation; (5) get my beard short enough so one shave a day does the job. is the money cost per shave relevant. The time cost per shave is far more important to me. I am long on money and short on time. Or, as an economist would waste your time saying, the marginal cost of my time is higher than the marginal cost of my money, other things If I wanted elaborate ritual, I would join the Greek Orthodox Church. I knew from age four or five what my solution would not be: a straight razor. I watched my grandfather sharpen his razor on a long piece of leather called a strop, and then shave his face. My father told me that his father could shave on a moving train. My father, who celebrates his 89th birthday today, used a straight razor briefly, but switched to a safety razor, as he says, “to keep from looking like hamberger.” He used a Gillette safety razor. When I was about 13, I had to start shaving daily. At first, I got a Remington electric razor, but it irritated my skin and did not shave close enough. So, I started using Gillette blue blades. They were awful. They were good for maybe three shaves. They easily cut me. In 1957, Gillette introduced a multi-setting razor that let you adjust for the thickness of your beard. I needed the maximum setting. In 1960 came Gillette’s super blue blade. It had a silicon coating. It cut better than the blue blade, but it wore out fast, and it nicked me more often if I failed to replace it. The next year, Wilkinson introduced the first coated stainless steel blade. I started using it. It lasted longer than a super blue blade. Its market share grew rapidly at the expense of Gillette. in 1963 with its own stainless blade. That blade soon replaced the older blue blades in popularity. I switched back to Gillette. In 1971 came Gillette’s two-edge blade. It was a major improvement. It lasted longer, nicked less often, and was easy to replace. Nothing since then has made more than marginal improvements. the line, I bought a Norelco twin blade electric. It had circular spinning blades. It was not so irritating as my old Remington. It cut fairly well. But I had to use it twice a day to keep really What I did not know at the time was that the Norelco was the North American outlet of Holland’s Philips Company. I also did not know until decades later that the company’s two founders were the grandsons of Lion Philips, who was Karl Marx’s uncle. He despised his nephew. Had I known this, I would have bought a Norelco earlier. By my college years, I used a stainless blade to do the heavy cutting, and a Norelco to do the secondary shaving. The Norelco was fine for touch-up. It did not irritate my skin, and I did not risk nicking myself in an attempt to get the last few recalcitrant whiskers. The key to a clean shave, we are told, is a hot towel. I disagree. The key to a clean shave is oil-free skin. I am a shower man. I like long, hot showers. I have extremely oily hair. In the shower, I use shampoo to wash my hair twice. Each time, I also wash my face. This removes most of the oil from my skin and whiskers. When I get out of the shower, I wrap a towel around my waist — habit — and go to the sink. I apply the cheapest shaving gel I can find, which is Barbasol. Barbasol shaving products are great because the company spends almost nothing on advertising. It uses price competition to gain market share. That’s my kind of company. I use a Gillette three-edge blade. I change it every two weeks, I guess. I once got one that lasted a month. This is cheap. When I’m finished, if I plan to go out that day, I use my three-head Norelco to buzz over my chin and around my mouth. I don’t want to re-lather and shave again. The second razor shave is high risk. I want to avoid procedure takes about two minutes. As for shaving lotion, I use rubbing alcohol, which also serves as an effective, non-irritating have been doing this for 35 years. I am not about to re-learn shaving. Shaving for me is not a ritual. It’s a necessity. The aesthetics of shaving are lost on me. Call me a philistine, except the Philistines did not shave.

From the first Morris worm to the newest Microsoft SQL slammer. Network worms spread wider and faster than ever before. Worms get much more damage than any other attacks. For Linux, the most recent worm is apache ssl slapper worm which happen on September 2002 and attacked more than 13,000 hosts in 24 hours. Worm is a program that makes copies of itself; for example, from one disk drive to another, or by copying itself using email or another transport mechanism. The worm may do damage and compromise the security of the computer. From the definition of worm, we know that worm is always trying to propagate itself from the infected machine. Let's see what is the different behaviors between a normal application and a being attacked application. In normal case, an application will accept connection from a remote client, and then serve the request and then send back the request. But when the application is being attacked, other than the normal operation, the application will also try to connect outside to propagate itself. So the difference is when under attack, the application will try to connect outside. if we can restrict an application network connection, we can prevent a worm spreading. and make it stop within application. A properly configured firewall can stop worms at the first tier. For example, sql slammer worm attacks on port 1344, if the firewall filtered out this port, the worm can not spread into the internal the network. But when the port has to be open for publish access, such as HTTP, SMTP, this kind of attack can not be easily blocked for the nature of firewall. For example, firewall can not block apache ssl worm attacking an apache httpd server in a DMZ. Network based IDS is the second tier to prevent worm spreading. Most IDS product provide anomaly based and signature based technology to prevent known and unknown attacks. Being applied inline, NIDS can be a very effective way to prevent worm spreading. For example, NIDS can be easily drop CodeRed, Apache SSL slapper. But for NIDS, it is difficult to prevent unknown attacks which is also logistically valid in case of RFC. This final tier is on the host. anti-virus can check the worms which having disk-access, but can not prevent worms like sql slammer which do not have disk access. Host Based IDS can prevent this kind of attacks base on process profile. For example, a SQL process would not connect outside to port 1344, so any network connection activity from the process to outside port 1344 will be denied. You can not prevent worm effectively without any of these 3 tiers. LIDS reside on the 3nd tier and prevent worm spreading by restrict the process network access.

|Credit: Wavebreakmedia Ltd | Dreamstime| Tens of millions of people in the United States have taken fluoxetine, sold under the brand name Prozac, since the Food and Drug Administration approved it 24 years ago. But while the antidepressant has helped many, questions have arisen about why people taking the drug see varying results. Now a new study in mice reinforces recent findings that fluoxetine by itself doesn't give a strong benefit unless accompanied by cognitive "talk" therapy. "We showed that a combination of antidepressant-drug treatment with a mouse model of psychological exposure therapy produced a beneficial effect that was not achieved by either treatment alone," said study author Eero Castrén, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Helsinki. Two treatments needed In the study, researchers conditioned mice to be afraid of a noise by giving them a small shock when they heard it. But the mice had been divided — about half had been given fluoxetine for three weeks before this conditioning. After the fear conditioning, some of the mice were given what the researchers call "extinction therapy" — the researchers reduced the mice's fear of the noise itself by making the noise but not giving the accompanying shock. In the final stages of the experiment, the researchers shocked the mice five times without the noise. The next day, they sounded the noise to see how the mice would react, and examined the brains of the mice. Mice that had been treated with fluoxetine and given the extinction therapy had different brain responses to the noise and were less likely to freeze when they heard it in the final stage of the experiment than mice given only one of the two treatments. About 15 percent of the mice that had undergone extinction therapy and received fluoxetine froze in response to the noise, whereas just under 40 percent of those who hadn't received the drug froze. Meanwhile, just over 40 percent of the mice that received the drug but no extinction therapy froze, while mice that neither received the drug nor gotten the therapy froze at a rate of about 60 percent. While the study was conducted in mice, it confirms and helps explain findings that, in people, either talk therapy or fluoxetine alone is less effective than the two together. A 2004 review by researchers in Italy and Switzerland of 16 clinical trials found that "psychological treatment combined with antidepressant therapy is associated with a higher improvement rate than drug treatment alone." And a 2007 study from Duke University of adolescents with major depression reached a similar conclusion. A brain that is receptive to change "I really thought this was exciting in that it provides real…insight into what the mechanism of the need for both psychotherapy and pharmacological treatment of depression are," said Elissa Chesler, a neuroscientist at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. "And it makes perfect sense when you think about it, that the nervous system needs to be receptive to change," Chesler said. "Making the nervous system changeable, but not providing any insight or exposures or therapeutic experience that will inform that change… then success is unlikely." Despite the wide use of antidepressants, researchers have not clearly understood why they work. Fluoxetine and other antidepressants do not seem to have an immediate impact, but rather change mood over time. The new study furthers the evidence for the idea that antidepressants work by affecting the growth and rewiring of neurons in the brain, which would explain why the drugs appear to work better over an extended period. "We provide evidence that antidepressant treatment reactivates a plastic state in the amygdala, which is typically [found] during the sensitive period of early postnatal life. When given during this plastic state, extinction training may guide connectivity in [the] amygdala network to bring about a long-term fear removal," Castrén said. Such plasticity may have wider implications as well. In 2008, Castrén was among the authors of a study of rats published in the journal Science suggesting that amblyopia, or "lazy eye," a condition easily treatable in children but not in adults, could be affected by using fluoxetine, because the drug restored the brain to a state similar to that of early development. But the new study suggests that if the antidepressants are rewiring the brain, the brain also needs guidance in the process. "You could be giving some new wiring, but if you're still following the old plan…then all that new wiring is for naught, you're just playing into hardening of the existing perception," Chesler said. "There really is a role for involvement of clinicians in the actual therapy in addition to pharmacological treatment." The findings also highlight that while many people are being prescribed antidepressants, a growing number may not find a benefit. In August, a study published in the journal Health Affairs found a growing number of prescriptions for antidepressants being written by nonpsychiatrists without a corresponding diagnosis, reaching almost 73 percent of prescriptions. "I think it is important to emphasize that our studies suggest that combined treatment with antidepressants and rehabilitation should be considered in every case when antidepressant drugs are being used," Castrén said. The study is published in the Dec. 23 issue of the journal Science.

The Home Page provides an easy starting point for calculators. Sample Size and Power for Comparing Two Means You need an estimate of how large of a difference you want to see between means in estimating your needed sample size. This calculator has an easy 3-step process that takes the guess work out of generating sample size and power calculations for your next comparative test. Sample Size for a Margin of Error (Proportion) If you’re conducting a usability test, then it will be good to know ahead of time how wide or narrow your confidence intervals will be around your completion rates. Enter the desired margin of error (e.g. 10%) and quickly get the sample size needed plus a quick reference graph showing you the effects of more users on the width of the margin of error. Sample Size for a Margin of Error (Continuous Data) If you’re conducting a usability test, then it will be good to know ahead of time how wide or narrow your confidence intervals will be around your task times or satisfaction scores. Enter the desired margin of error (e.g. 10%) and the estimate of the mean and standard deviation to generate the needed sample size. If you don’t have an estimate for these, the calculator provides default values based on data from hundreds of usability tests. Compare 2+ Means (ANOVA) The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) detects whether there is a difference in at least one mean. Enter up to five categories (e.g. competing products) to test differences in task times, clicks or satisfaction scores. Compare 2+ Completion Rates or Multiple Categorical Variables (Chi-Square Test) The Chi-Square test calculator will allow you to compare 2 to 10 completion rates (binary responses), or 10 multiple category data (e.g. from sub-categories such as experience level). Compare the Same Users on Different Applications You can get more information with a smaller sample size by having the same users attempt tasks on different applications. A special statistical test (the Paired t-test) is used to analyze the data and is included in this package. Enter the raw task time for both applications for task times or satisfaction data to quickly look for significant differences. You get graphs, confidence intervals and statistical results. The calculator comes with a "How to Report" section which makes communicating the results to stakeholders easier. Compare Two Task Times or Satisfaction Scores Enter the raw task time or satisfaction data for (e.g. from competing products or different versions) to quickly look for significant differences. The calculator both graphs and provides numerical results as well as how large of a difference was observed (effect size). The calculator comes with a “How to Report” section which makes communicating the results to stakeholders easier. Compare Completion Rates Determine whether two completion rates (e.g. from competing products or different versions) are statistically different. Just enter the total users tested and number successful for each application and get the statistical results. Test a Completion Rate against a Criterion & Confidence Interval Enter the number of users who completed the task and the total attempted, and the calculator provides the confidence interval and a graph of the results. Simply enter a test criterion (e.g. 70%) to see if the observed completion rate is statistically higher than the test criterion. Test a Task Time against a Criterion & Confidence Interval Just paste the raw task times and the calculator will transform the times to adjust for non-normality. You’ll instantly see a graph and confidence interval for the data. You can also enter a criterion (e.g. 100 seconds) to see if the observed mean time is statistically higher than the test criterion. Sample Size and Power for Comparing Two Proportions I’ve read through dozens of really boring statistics papers. I've also read Cohen’s Power Analysis to generate an accurate and easy way to know the sample size and power needed when you compare two completion rates. The calculator walks you through a 3-step process to generate an effect size estimate, power calculations and the number of users needed to detect differences in completion rates.

In June 1908, a ball of fire exploded in a remote area of Russia, shaking the ground and instantly flattening 770 square miles of forest. Known as the Tunguska event because of its close proximity to a river of the same name, the blast reached 15 megatons of energy, about a thousand times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. Recent research suggests a meteor is to blame, as evidenced by a nearby lake that some scientists believe was created by the meteor’s impact. However, other scientists believe the lake was there before the event. What is certain is that the event was the most powerful natural explosion in recent history.

MoboCop · 01-01-2000 · Category: The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) is the program that enables a PC to boot after power-up. The BIOS is a built-in set of routines that serve as an interface between the computer's operating system and hardware devices. It is stored on an ROM chip generally located near the computer's real-time clock or lithium battery. By processing requests from applications as well as drivers, the BIOS permits the user to maintain control of hardware Identifying your motherboard by BIOS number It can often be difficult to determine the manufacturer of your motherboard due to poor or incomplete documentation. If you are contemplating a BIOS upgrade, it is imperative that you know the manufacturer of your motherboard in order to obtain the correct upgrade. Fortunately, if your system uses Award or AMI BIOS, there is a unique number that identifies the manufacturer. After turning on the computer, the BIOS version number should be displayed at the bottom of the screen during memory count. You can also use our Mobo ID Tools to look up BIOS strings, or you can use the links below to look up your board: ROM BIOS upgrade vendors Other BIOS resources The links below lead to excellent references for anyone who needs a complete overview of BIOS features and functions, as well as useful insight into system BIOS setup, upgrades, and optimization.

The academic standard for texts on motivation in educational settings. Clear and engaging, Motivation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications, Fourth Edition presents the major motivation theories, principles, and research findings in sufficient detail to help students understand the complexity of motivational processes, and provide it provides extensive examples of the application of motivational concepts and principles in educational settings. From reviews of Motivation in Education: “I find it essential that students have access to such strong representations of the basic theories and work in the field of motivation. . . . This book goes a long way toward reinforcing the voices of experts who make data-driven decisions about how to foster motivation. . . . There are no available books [on motivation] as excellently crafted as this one.” —Theresa A. Thorkildsen, University of Illinois at Chicago “This book is certainly the most comprehensive treatment of motivation. There are several others I have perused but they often take a certain approach to motivation whereas this book covers ALL approaches. The authors present a very complete and unbiased treatment of the literature.” —Daniel H. Robinson, University of Texas Table of Contents Chapter 1: Motivation: Introduction and Historical Foundations Chapter 2: Expectancy-Value Theory Chapter 3: Attribution Theory Chapter 4: Social Cognitive Theory Chapter 5: Goals and Goal Orientations Chapter 6: Interest and Affect Chapter 7: Intrinsic Motivation Chapter 8: Teacher and Classroom Influences Chapter 9: School Influences Chapter 10: Peer, Family, and Community Influences Purchase Info ? With CourseSmart eTextbooks and eResources, you save up to 60% off the price of new print textbooks, and can switch between studying online or offline to suit your needs. Once you have purchased your eTextbooks and added them to your CourseSmart bookshelf, you can access them anytime, anywhere. $47.99 | ISBN-13: 978-0-13-301767-0

Salman Ali - Pakistan’s is often described as weak polity because of its poor democratic credentials. Civil society in Pakistan is divided along modern-secular and traditional-religious lines. The conflict between the two segments of civil society manifests itself in many ways because of conflicting ideologies and world-views. This conflict is deeply rooted in socio-political history of Pakistan and continues to grow multifold. State has increased its power at the expense of civil society and the non-representative power centers control the reins of society and politics. Civil society in Pakistan in its present form draws a vibrant, multidimensional and dynamic but fragmented picture where the divisions are too deep to establish and promote democratic structures and secular attributes. In the political context, "civil society" refers to all organised forms apart from the government. In a publication of UNDP in 2009 it’s mentioned that 62 percent civil society organizations have been registered in Pakistan. We can say 56,000 registered organizations and 45,000 active organizations which are working in present time. But 38 percent civil society organizations are unregistered which include those who have applied for registration or not interested in registration. In 1980’s NGOs become a major phenomenon in the field of development. In Pakistan it emerged in the early 1980s marked by a strong belief and desire in its potential to strengthen democracy and democratic institutions and focusing on issues such as accountability, credibility of the state institutions, and equal distribution and allocation of resources. In practice though, the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market are often blurred. But sadly Pakistan’s civil society presents a distorted picture and this dilemma has been created by disregard for constitutionalism. Conditions required to create and sustain a Western kind of civil society are either missing or very different in Pakistan’s case, therefore the Western expectations of creation of democracy, pluralism and openness remain unfulfilled. In his view, civil society can only claim but in reality they can’t do anything because role of resistance of the civil society organizations gradually weakening and minimizing, especially in the context of structure, environment, values and impact. We can see in past few years the role of civil society was very much clear and different stakeholders played a very effective role to mobilize the people and create a strong resistance. But presently the scene has changed with no time because most of the people's organisations and their struggle is linked with groups like students, media, trade unions, etc. these all people previously were working voluntarily which always created a mass movement. The situation is completely different now as student unions are banned and media and political parties are not playing a pro-active role and their policies revolve around donor-driven agenda. I don’t believe that Ngo only do money plundering and don’t work for the betterment of society but some of the clever participants turn this opportunity to their own favors by manipulating different NGOs to get funds in the name of social work. They know that projects are foreign funded and there is no commitment and sincerity behind it. Most NGOs have more or less become family business making big profit as if you are a good pretender you can generate huge funds. I believe NGOs role is to prepare people for change. They empower the people to overcome psychological problem and opposition of oppress through these funds. Its role cannot be denied. An Ngo is nowadays not expected to deliver directly some benefits to people, but to motivate people, mobilize resources, initiate leadership, and participate in development programmes for self reliance. The positive thing is the expansion of these organisations and their struggle at the local level both the infrastructure and rights issues. The dilemma of the civil society organisations is that their networking, especially at the grass root level is very weak and getting even weaker. The civil society phenomenon is urban-based and does not link effectively with the rural areas “Critics have observed this all about NGOs in Pakistan and so there are as many statements as there are faces. According to one of these critics most of these NGOs are headed by influential, politician, bureaucrats and rich people/elite. These are the people who plunder in the name of "NGOs" and deprive the deserving people of their rights. There are NGO people who were riding on bicycles in the past, now own more than one vehicle. It’s seen by all of us that those had pennies in their pocket until yesterday now having accounts in millions of dollar, what to say accounts in rupees. The ill-mannered people now have their meals in five star hotels." What these NGOs and civil society are doing? Nothing! But plundering money. I believe the role of civil societies in the country it is very clear that the civil societies are not an alternative to the state and government. Civil societies should not emphasize on developing their own structure because it's not possible at all. The role of civil society organisations should be to support and help marginalized groups through monitoring state and government functioning, develop alternative policies, and mobilisation through social and political education and collaboration. The writer can be reached at [email protected]

The Great Recession notwithstanding, can you still bootstrap yourway to success in America? After all, America is built on the idea of equal opportunity, regardless of economic status at birth. If you work hard enough, even if you were born in poverty, you too can be rich. But is that reality? Analysis of intergenerational income and wealth by the Pew Center on the States revealed that even though most Americans have higher family income than their parents did, it's still tough to climb that economic ladder for some: Pursuing the American Dream: Economic Mobility Across Generations, the latest research from The Pew Charitable Trusts, shows opportunity is not the same for everyone. While 84 percent of Americans have higher family incomes than their parents did at the same age, those born at the top and bottom of the income ladder are likely to stay there as adults. "The ideal of the American Dream is complex and we see again that one’s ability to achieve it is impacted by race, education, and family background,” said Erin Currier, manager of Pew’s Economic Mobility Project. Pursuing the American Dream uses the most current data to measure mobility by family income and family wealth, furthering the project’s understanding of how closely tied a person’s place on the economic ladder is to that of his or her parents. The research shows that: - African Americans are still less likely to exceed their parents’ income and wealth than are whites and they are more likely to be stuck at the bottom of the economic ladder across a generation. - A four-year college degree promotes upward mobility from the bottom and prevents downward mobility from the middle and the top. - Most sons are meeting or exceeding the earnings of their fathers at the same age. However, the sons’ earnings represent a smaller proportion of family income than did men’s earnings in the fathers’ generation.

Anorthosites are uncommon intrusive igneous rocks almost exclusively composed of Ca-rich plagioclase feldspar. There’s usually a blackish pyroxene component as well. Anorthosites having labradorite plagioclase feldspar will display a wonderfully colorful iridescent play of colors (labradorescence). This makes them desirable decorative stones. Blue Eyes Granite - a coarsely-crystalline anorthosite from Labrador. All of the lightish to darkish gray material in this rock is labradorite - every crystal will flash bright blue when tilted at the correct angle in the light. This expensive decorative stone comes from the Ten Mile Bay Quarry, near the town of Nain along the Labrador coast, eastern Canada. The quarry exploits the Nain Anorthosite (Nain Plutonic Suite), a mid-Mesoproterozoic intrusion (1.29 to 1.35 billion years) emplaced along the Abloviak Shear Zone. Labrador Antique Granite - a brownish, coarsely-crystalline labradoritic anorthosite from Scandinavia. Each brown crystal will flash bright electric blue if the rock is tilted at the correct angle. Despite the name, this rock does not come from Canada. It comes from the Rogaland Anorthosite Complex of southwestern Norway. The Rogaland Anorthosite Complex is a late Mesoproterozoic intrusion that dates to about 929-932 million years. It is quarried near the town of Egersund in southern coastal Rogaland County, far-southwestern Norway. Mountain Green Granite - a greenish garnetiferous metanorthosite from upstate New York’s Adirondack Mountains, USA. This is from the Marcy Anorthosite, which was emplaced 1.155 billion years ago, during the Mesoproterozoic. The sample shown above comes from the Cold Springs Granite Quarry, off Rt. 9N between the small towns of Au Sable Forks and Jay, northeast of Lake Placid. Anorthosite is an uncommon rock on Earth, but is relatively common in the Adirondacks. Adirondacks anorthosite has been metamorphosed (hence “metanorthosite”), and in many places the rocks have blackish streaks representing foliation. The rock is dominated by slighly labradorescent calcic plagioclase feldspar (greenish gray) with pyroxene (black) and garnet (very dark red). In 2004, at Ground Zero in downtown Manhattan, a 20-ton block of garnetiferous metanorthosite from this quarry was laid as the first cornerstone of the Freedom Tower. The Cold Spring Granite Quarry produces garnetiferous metanorthosite in seven color grades (1 being light-colored and 7 being dark-colored). The sample shown above is color grade 6. Quarry access, samples, and some info. provided by Rick Barber, manager of the Cold Springs Granite Quarry at Jay, New York. Volga Blue Granite (above & below) - a dark, very coarsely-crystalline anorthosite with zoned plagioclase feldspar from Ukraine. This is from the Volodarsk-Volhynsky Intrusion in the southern Korosten Complex, a large igneous suite intruded through the Ukrainian Shield. The Volodarsk-Volynsky Intrusion dates to the late Paleoproterozoic (1.758-1.760 Ga). This material is quarried between the cities of Korosten and Zhitomir, central Zhitomir Province, northwestern Ukraine.

Fred Pearce describes the role of "honey-suckers" in recycling human waste as fertiliser in contemporary India (16 February, p 48). Less than a hundred years ago, this was a not-uncommon practice in the urban UK. Houses built in central Gateshead in the 1890s, and still standing, typically have two hatches in the wall separating them from the back lane. The upper was for deliveries of coal, the lower for taking out human faeces, to which ash from the coal fire had been added. Those doing the removal were called "honey-pot men"; the euphemism has clearly travelled and lasted. In the mining town of Ashington, Northumberland, a narrow-gauge railway ran down the back lanes between rows of houses, to take the closet contents for use as fertiliser on the mine company's farm. Pearce does not mention pharmaceuticals and the risks they pose when using human effluent as fertiliser. There are, ... To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.

Disorders within the Neuropsychiatric Category The total burden of disability can be measured in units called disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). DALYs represent the total number of years lost to illness, disability, or premature death within a given population. They are calculated by adding the number of years of life lost to the number of years lived with disability for a certain disease or disorder. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates below show the total percentage of DALYs contributed by the neuropsychiatric disorders category (in green) within the United States and Canada, as well as the top individual disorders that contribute to this category (in purple). Depression makes up more than one third of the DALYs in this category, and on its own represents 10 percent of all DALYs in the U.S. and Canada.

The Saints In Art - M ( Originally Published 1908 ) The mediaeval legend names the three wise men Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasarthe first being about sixty years of age, the second about forty, and the third, sometimes a Moor or negro, about twenty. They were of kingly, or at least of princely, rank, and, starting from various points, they met on the way, and travelled together to Bethlehem. Tradition also says that, many years after, they were baptised by St. Thomas, during his missionary travels in the East, and that their bodies, after long wanderings, rested at length in Cologne Cathedral. Picture by Gentile da Fabriano, in Accademia, and by Dürer, in Uffizi, Florence. MARCELLA (Or MARTILLA), ST. The handmaiden of SS. Martha and Mary, who accompanied them on their voyage to Marseilles (see ST. MARY MAGDALENE). She is said to have written the Life of St. Martha, and preached the Gospel in Sclavonia. She is often represented in pictures of the house at Bethany, sometimes cooking in the background. Not to be con-fused with St. Marcella, the Roman widow, friend of St. Jerome, of whom there is a picture by Borgognone, in the Certosa of Pavia. MARGARET, ST. 20th July) A legend, which is of Eastern origin, says that she was the daughter of a priest of Antioch. She was sent out into the country to be nursed, and the woman who took charge of her was a Christian. Margaret was brought up in the true Faith, and determined to consecrate her life to CHRIST. One day the Governor of Antioch, passing by, saw her as she was minding sheep, and, attracted by her beauty, commanded her to be brought to his palace. Margaret then declared herself a Christian, and, forsaken in consequence by her parents, she was left in the power of the Governor. He endeavoured by the most cruel tortures to subdue her, and make her his wife ; but, even when in agony so terrible that the tyrant himself hid his face, she remained firm. She was then thrown into a dungeon, where Satan, in the form of a dragon, came upon her. She held up the cross, and he fled ; or, a more popular version of the story, he swallowed her, but at once burst, and she came forth alive. Further tortures only caused many, at the sight of her youth and beauty, to accept the Faith, so the Governor ordered her to be beheaded. As she died, she prayed that all women who, in remembrance of her sufferings, invoked her in childbirth, should find help. She is represented as young and fair, treading on a dragon, She has the cross, palm, or crown of martyrdom ; sometimes (in allusion to her name) she has pearls round her hair. Picture by Giulio Romano (from Raphael's design), in the Louvre. MARK, ST. (Biblical). (Ital. SAN MARCO.) (See EVANGELISTS.) (25th April) Tradition says that St. Mark became the companion and amanuensis of St. Peter, by whose direction he went to preach the Gospel in Egypt, where he founded the Church of Alexandria. Here he performed many miracles, and on one occasion healed Anianus, a cobbler, who had wounded his hand with an awl. This man afterwards became a zealous Christian, and succeeded St. Mark as Bishop of Alexandria. St. Mark was finally seized and dragged through the streets till he died, a tempest of rain and hail meanwhile overwhelming his murderers. His remains were brought to Venice about 815, and the Cathedral of St. Mark was built over them. There are various legends of St. Mark appearing at later times in Venice ; in a famous one, he, with St. George and St. Nicholas, drives off a galley full of demons from the city in a fisherman's boat, with the sign of the cross. St. Mark sent the fisherman to the Doge to be paid for his labour, and gave him his ring as a token that it was St. Mark who sent him, and as the ring could not be found in its usual place among the relics, the Doge was constrained to believe the story. He is also said to have appeared at the torture and execution of a Christian slave, and to have broken the instruments in pieces. He is represented as an evangelist,with a lion, often winged ; as Bishop of Alexandria; or with his pen and book ; and often with St. Peter. A notable picture of him by Fra Bartolomeo is in the Pitti, Florence ; illustrations of the legends by Tintoretto and Paris Bordone are in the Accademia, Venice. MARTHA, ST. (Biblical). (Patroness of Cooks and Housewives.) (29th July) According to tradition, she was the means of converting her sister (see ST. MARY MAGDALEN) from her evil life, and is sometimes represented as leading her to CHRIST. She and Mary are symbolical respectively of active and contemplative life, or of female discretion and housewifery, as contrasted with frailty. A Provençal legend tells that while Martha was preaching near Aix, a dragon, who lived in the Rhone, devastated the country, but was overcome by her sprinkling holy water on him, bound with her girdle, and killed. She is represented, often in homely dress, with some household or cooking utensil, or bunch of keys ; sometimes with a pot of holy water in her hand, and a dragon, bound, at her feet. MARTIN, ST. (of Tours). (11th November) Was born in the Roman province of Pannonia, in the reign of Constantine. His parents were pagans, but at an early age he wished to become a Christian. He was a tribune in the army, and was sent into Gaul on a campaign. He was distinguished throughout his career for his gentleness, humility, and charity, as well as for his valour. His legion was quartered at Amiens during the very cold winter of 332, and here one day he met a poor shivering beggar, at the gate of the city, and cutting his cloak in two with his sword, gave the beggar half. That night he had a vision of CHRIST clad with the half of his cloak, and he was soon after baptised. When he reached the age of forty, he wished to leave the army and devote himself to religion, but the Emperor taunted him with fear, and St. Martin, to refute him, offered to be placed in front of the army, naked, with nothing but a cross in his hand. This was to have been done, but the enemy capitulated that very day. After leaving the army he led a retired religious life, and was made Bishop of Tours in 371. Many miracles are recorded of him : he raised a widow's son to life, and restored a slave of the Pro-consul from possession by a devil. He waged war against the idolaters of his time, and converted a large part of Gaul to Christianity. He is represented as a soldier, often on horseback, generally dividing his cloak with the beggar. Sometimes he is in episcopal robes, and a beggar is his attribute. Frescoes of his life by Simone Martini are in the lower church of San Francesco, Assisi. MARTINIAN,ST. (Centurion at the Mamertine Prison). (See ST. PETER.) (2nd July) MARY OF EGYPT, ST. (Fr. LA GIPESIENNE ; LA JUSSIENNE). (2nd April) A penitent woman of Alexandria, who was turned from her evil life by supernatural power preventing her crossing the threshold of a church in Jerusalem. She retired to the desert, taking with her only three small loaves, and lived there for nearly fifty years, in the direst poverty and rags. She was discovered at length by Zosimus, a priest, who gave her the Sacrament. When he came again she was dead, and he, old and infirm, was trying to bury her body when a lion came out of a wood, and dug her grave with his paws. She is represented as old and wasted, with grey or black hair (thus distinguished from St. Mary Magdalen), sometimes holding three small loaves. Picture by Filippino Lippi, in the Accademia, Florence. MARY MAGDALENE, ST. (Biblical). (Patroness of Marseilles, and of Penitent Women.) (22nd July) Western art, following tradition, makes no distinction between Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, and " the woman which was a sinner," though they appear to have been historically three distinct persons. According to the legend, St. Mary and her brother and sister, accompanied by SS. Maximin and Marcella (q.v.), after the Ascension, set out in a boat, without sails, oars, or rudder, and came to Marseilles. Here they converted the heathen and taught, St. Lazarus becoming the first Bishop of Marseilles. Many miracles are related of St. Mary. A certain prince of Provence and his wife promised to believe the Gospel if they were granted a son. They set out to Jerusalem to prove the truth of what they were told, and on the way a son was born, but the mother died. The sailors insisted on putting the baby, and the body of its mother, ashore on a rocky, uninhabited island. The prince prayed to St. Mary for the safety of his child, and when he returned, two years later, he found it alive and well, and the woman came to life again at the approach of her husband. Tradition says that St. Mary went into solitude in the wilderness, and remained there thirty years, fasting, reading, and often visited by angels, who bore her at last to heaven. She is represented as very beautiful, usually with long fair hair. Her indispensable attribute is a box of ointment. Sometimes she is in the desert, praying or reading, and with emblems of penance. Her figure is always symbolic of Christian penitence. Fresco, " Noli me Tangere," by Fra Angelico, in San Marco, Florence, and picture by Titian, in the Pitti. Series of frescoes by Ferrari, in San Cristoforo, Vercelli. MARY THE VIRGIN, ST. (Biblical). (2nd Feb-ruin)), 25th March, 15th August, 2nd July, 8th September) According to the Apocryphal Gospel of the Life of Mary, Joachim of Nazareth espoused Anna, a maiden of Bethlehem. They both " did right in the sight of the LORD," dividing their substance into three partsone for the Temple and its ministers, another for pilgrims and the poor, and a third for themselves and their household. After living twenty years without children, they vowed to the LORD that if He would give them a child, they would dedicate it to Him. Joachim used to go up to Jerusalem for the great feasts, and at the Feast of the Dedication, being repelled by the High Priest as childless, and unworthy to bring an offering, he went apart into the wilderness, and abode with the shepherds. There an angel appeared to him, and promised him a daughter, who was to be called Mary, and consecrated to the LORD, for she should be the mother of the Saviour of all nations. As a sign, the angel told him that on his return he would meet his wife at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem, coming to welcome him. The same angel appeared to Anna, with the same message, and she and her husband met, rejoicing, at the gate. When the child was born they called her Mary, and at three years old (though generally represented as much older) they brought her to the Temple, to dedicate her to the LORD ; and she ascended the fifteen steps leading up to the altar with-out assistance. This is a very favourite subject for pictures, called the "Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple." Mary lived in the Temple, learning and working, and grew in grace, wisdom, and stature. When she was fourteen the High Priest commanded that she, and the other virgins of the Temple, should return home, and marry, according to the custom of their nation. As she refused, the elders were summoned to consider the matter. While they prayed, a voice from the sanctuary commanded that every unwedded male of the House of David should place his rod on the altar, when the rod of him who should be the spouse of Mary would bud, and the Holy Spirit as a dove would descend on it. There was among them a certain Joseph, an old man, and a widower, who, thinking him-self too old, kept back his rod. When no miracle took place the High Priest called for Joseph, who presented his rod, and it came to pass as the voice had said. It was then clear to all men that he was the chosen spouse, and they were accordingly married. An old tradition says that the other suitors' broke their wands in anger. An ancient legend relates that the Tiburtine Sibyl appeared to the Emperor Augustus, and announced the birth of CHRIST, a short time before the event. The Emperor inquired of the sibyl whether he should allow himself to be worshipped with divine honours, and she, taking him apart, showed him an altar, above which was the Virgin, with the Infant CHRIST, enthroned in glory ; and a voice said : "This is the altar of the Son of the Living GOD." Then Augustus caused an altar to be built on the Capitoline Hill, where in after times the Church of the Ara Coeli was erected. There is a legend that, in their flight from Bethlehem, the Holy Family passed some husbandmen sowing corn in a field, and the Virgin told them that if anyone asked when the Son of Man passed by, they should say : " When we were sowing the corn." During the night the corn grew up and ripened, and the next day, when Herod's soldiers came, the men were harvesting it. They replied as they had been told, and the pursuit was stayed. In the subject called a "Riposo," the Holy Family are seen resting under a tree, during their flight into Egypt, or while sojourning there. The story of the life of the Virgin in the Gospels has been elaborated and amplified by tradition to an almost inconceivable extent. Pictures of the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation in the Temple, and the Flight into Egypt are all so universal and well known that they need no comment. The Virgin is represented in pictures of the Finding of CHRIST in the Temple, and of the Death of Joseph, which is supposed to have taken place before the beginning of CHRIST'S ministry. She also appears at the Marriage at Cana, and is occasionally introduced into other scenes, when not specially mentioned in the Gospels, and in a traditional farewell with her Son before His death, counted as one of the " Seven Sorrows of Mary." . In pictures of the Procession to Calvary, the Crucifixion, the Descent from the Cross, and the Entombment, she is almost invariably present. A frequent subject is the " Deposition," representing the dead body of CHRIST laid upon the ground, or resting on the lap of his mother. This is called a " Pieta," but more properly so when only the figures of CHRIST and the Virgin (sometimes attended by angels) are seen. There is a very early tradition that, after His Resurrection, CHRIST appeared first of all to His mother, bearing a banner with the cross upon it, and surrounded by a company of angels,-patriarchs, and prophets ; and she is generally seen in pictures of the Ascension, and of the Descent of the Holy Ghost. Many representations of the Madonna, especially those of later date, refer to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. There are few representations of her later years, except those connected with her Death and Assumption, the scenes of which consist of seven distinct events : (I) The announcement to her of her death by the Archangel Michael, bearing a palm ; (2) Her leave-taking of the apostles ; (3) Her death ; (4) She is borne to the sepulchre ; (5) Her entombment ; (6) Her assumption to heaven ; (7) Her coronation and enthronement by the side of her Son. In pictures of her death the figure of CHRIST is often introduced, among a group of saints receiving the departing soul. (For the legend of the Girdle, see ST. THOMAS.) MATTHEW, ST. (Biblical). (See EVANGELISTS.) (21st September) According to tradition he preached in Egypt and Ethiopia, where he performed many miracles, restoring the son of a king to life, and healing his daughter of leprosy. One tradition describes his martyrdom under Diocletian, but according to another he died in peace. He is represented writing, with an angel dictating to him, or holding an inkhorn ; or a bag, to signify his profession of tax gatherer, or sitting at the receipt of custom. MATTIAS, ST. (Biblical). (Ital. SAN MATTIA.) (24th February) According to tradition he preached the Gospel in Judĉa, and suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Jews, either by the lance or by the axe. In Italian pictures the former is his attribute, in German ones the latter. MAURICE, ST. (Ital. MAURIZIO). (Patron Saint of Foot-soldiers, and of Savoy.) (22nd September) He was commander of the Theban Legion of the Roman army. It numbered 6666, all Christians, and when, in the year 286, it was summoned by the Emperor Maximin to join his army, then invading Gaul, Maurice and some companies were called upon to join in idolatrous rites, and to help in extirpating the Christians. This they refused to do, and the Emperor twice ordered the legion to be decimated by lot, but the remainder continued steadfast ; so a general massacre was ordered, and they perished to a man. Legend also relates that St. Gereon, with another section, met with a similar fate at Cologne. He is generally represented in armour, with a sword and banner. Legend represented by Luini in frescoes at San Maurizio, Milan. MAURUS, ST. (See ST. BENEDICT.) (15th January) Tradition says he was one of the seventy-two disciples sent forth to preach, and that he went with SS. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, to Marseilles. (See ST. MARY MAGDALENE.) According to a legend he gave the Sacrament to St. Mary just before her death. He often appears in pictures of St. Lazarus and his sisters, sometimes as a bishop. MICHAEL, ST. (the Archangel). (Ital. SAN MICHELE or SAMMICHELE.) (29th September) The chief of the Celestial Host, and victor over the powers of evil. Hence he represents the triumph of the spiritual over the material. He is the Lord and Arbiter of souls, and the Guardian Angel of the Hebrews. He appears in Old Testament scenes as the messenger angel. He also announced her death to the Virgin Mary. (See ST. MARY VIRGIN.) He is represented winged, with spear and shield, overcoming the dragon ; also with a banner and cross, sometimes with a sceptre ; or weighing the souls of men in a balance. A notable picture of him by Perugino is in the National Gallery. According to the Florentine legend, an Armenian prince, who served in the Roman army under Decius. He was denounced as a Christian, brought before the Emperor, and thrown to the beasts in the Amphitheatre. When this and all the usual tortures failed, he was beheaded, in 254. MONICA, ST. (See ST. AUGUSTINE.) (4th May)

A study of alternative weed management treatments is underway. These trials will closely examine the many ways that unwanted weeds and invasive plants can potentially be managed by methods other than traditional pesticides. Our IPM approach in parks has always evaluated and employed many such alternative methods, but this study will allow us to conduct scientific trials and collect information about their effectiveness, feasibility, and long term impacts. The trials are also investigating best management practices when certain herbicides are being used. The trial areas are taking place in areas of Gabriel Park, Willamette Park, Ladd's Addition Rose Blocks, and Powell Butte Nature Park. Parks Nature Services staff is coordinating and conducting the trials, working closely with other PP&R work units. This program will provide reliable information about the use of alternative methods and materials that can be exported to park staff, other public agencies, and the general public. The outcome of these efforts should be well-supported answers to various park management IPM questions. These answers can then be used to develop the very best practices for both our developed parks as well as our natural areas. With its leadership role in this area, PP&R is in an excellent position to test the boundaries of use of alternative methods, while continuing to responsibly maintain grounds using professionally acceptable methods. Check back for updates on the trials and their results. For more information about the many integrated weed management methods being investigated, check out the links below:

Developing successful sustainability programs requires the use of benchmarking, a mechanism that drives continual improvements by measuring performance and evaluating progress towards goals. Some universities compare current environmental performance against a baseline performance level and a desired performance level to determine whether or not sustainability practices are generating the intended result. However, this only takes history and self-selected goals into account. Benchmarking brings an important external variable into the assessment. With the benchmarking process, a university looks outside its own boundaries to compare its performance within an external context, such as peer institutions or an external standard. By expanding the assessment beyond government regulation and internal performance metrics, a university can better evaluate its response to environmental issues, and identify and implement improvements in accordance with current environmental best practice. Benchmarking programs considered Purdue has identified five sustainability benchmarking programs commonly used in higher education that the campus is either currently using or may use in the future. The five benchmarking programs under consideration are: - College Sustainability Report Card - Greenline Analysis - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) - Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) - The Climate Registry. Each of these is described in Appendix A. Using benchmarking programs can provide the university with a more meaningful understanding of its environmental performance and enable informed assessment and refinement of sustainability initiatives. Additionally, the use of widely accepted benchmarking tools will provide Purdue with a set of metrics consistent with those used at other participating universities. This will help Purdue assess whether or not it is competitive with other higher education institutions within the campus sustainability arena. For more information, see Appendix A. Purdue reviewed metrics from benchmarking tools as well as sustainability programs at other universities to select a preliminary set of metrics that it will track and report to the campus community each year. In addition to giving a comprehensive performance overview for each sustainability program area, using these metrics will simplify and facilitate the process of formally reporting data to the different benchmarking programs. Purdue’s selected metrics and their source are listed in the metrics sections found within each sustainability program area. Metrics that are broadly used at other university campuses are listed under Metrics Common to Higher Education. Purdue will continue to review and assess benchmarking programs (including those described in Appendix A) on an ongoing basis and determine appropriate levels of participation accordingly.

THE possession of the Belgian coast by the Germans gave them advanced bases for destroyers and submarines 300 miles nearer their objectives than the Frisian river- mouths. From Zeebrugge to Dover is only sixty-two miles, and to Dunkirk less than forty. About two submarines a day issued forth to infest the Channel. Sixteen destroyers were generally in readiness. Except in high summer the hours of darkness were always long enough to give them a wide choice of enterprises, against which it was impossible to keep concentrated anything approaching an equality of force. The enemy might raid the drifters protecting the barrage, bombard Dunkirk or Dover, attack the great mass of shipping always anchored in the Downs, where the blockade examination took place, or go north against the mouth of the Thames and the coast towns of Essex and Suffolk. He could safely fire without warning on any ship encountered with the certainty that it must be hostile. Such raids were in fact much less frequent than the Commander of the Dover Patrol apprehended as possible, though they were well organized and dashingly executed. Once only were they caught and punished, when in April 1917 Commander Evans in the destroyer-leader Broke sank two enemy boats, one by ram and the other by torpedo. Yet this imminent cloud of danger proved very exhausting to the Dover Patrol, and if the enemy had ever broken clean into the Straits he might have sunk thousands of soldiers in passing transports. It is therefore clear that large strategical issues were involved in an attack against the Belgian coast. Until the end of 1917, however, the Admiralty always refused to sanction an expedition, partly because of the great risk, partly because it was considered only practicable in conjunction with an advance against Bruges by

There are different types of system configuration on Computer, such as Hardware and Software like RAM, Hard disk, Processor, Graphics card etc. Whenever you add any additional hardware to your system it’s necessary to install drivers for that hardware. Today we are going to see how to check your system configuration. How to check your system configuration using Command Prompt STEP 1:- Click on start button and go to Run, then type “ msinfo32.exe ” STEP 2:- On new window your system configuration will be displayed STEP 3:- Click on + button and choose Hardware Resources, Components, Software environment STEP 1:- Click on start button and go to Run, then type “ dxdiag “ STEP 2:- Now it will open different tabs and Click on the preferable tab to view the desired configuration. STEP 3:- You can view System, Display, Sound etc How to check your system configuration using CPU-Z CPU-Z is a freeware utility that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system. unzip the files in a directory and run the .exe. After installing CPU-Z it will automatically detect your system configuration and it will show your PC configuration.

Formation and Orientation The development of the brain is broken down into stages. The basic evolution begins in the third week of the embryonic process where the neural plate is formed. By week four, the neural plate has developed into the neural tube. The anterior part of the tube, the telencephalon, grows rapidly as it prepares to later give way to the brain. As time goes on, cells begin to classify themselves as either neurons or glial cells, thus determining their functions. Glial cells are considered important but not the most important cells in the brain. They perform tasks such as structural support, metabolic support, insulation and guidance of development. Glial cells also help maintain homeostasis, create myelin all while protecting and supporting the neurons it interacts with. Neurons are normally considered to be the most important cell type in the brain, mainly because of their ability to send messages to certain cells over a range of distances. Because of their structure, the axon of the neuron can span a number of areas from the brain to the body. This also allows specific neurons to constantly be active will others are only semi-active. Cell-to-cell communication is performed through synapses, junctions between axons in these neurons. After neurons are established, they are then able to mediate motor skills, sensory and other behaviors. These developmental steps take about the first 20 years of a person’s life to complete. The brain has many portions that are in charge of certain functions. The hypothalamus helps to maintain hormone releases, the circadian rhythm cycle, and dietary functions (i.e. eating and drinking). The thalamus also regulates dietary functions such as eating, drinking, copulation and defecation. The pallium (cerebral cortex) is a large layer of grey matter that increases the amount of information that can be processed. The medial pallium (hippocampus) is largely one involved in memory. The basal ganglia is the part of the forebrain that generates motor behaviors. The systems of reward and punishment are also linked to the basal ganglia. The main basis for functionality in the brain is the transmission of electrical signals and messages. Neurotransmitters are chemical signals sent through synapses and are connected to the receptor molecule of the targeted cell. Glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are the two most common transmitters found in almost every part of the brain. Other neurotransmittersare present such as Serotonin, Norepinephrine, Acetylcholine and Dopamine. Electric fields are produced by brain tissues as the electrochemical process goes on. This happens when neurons become synchronized. Different parts of the brains are active at separate times and the electrical activity patterns shoe the amount of activity during different times of day (i.e. during sleep, morning hours, etc.) Because of the blood-brain barrier, the metabolism in the brain is very different than other parts of the body. The brain gets most of its energy from glucose and its oxygen-dependent metabolism. This is where the glial cells come in to control the chemical composition of the fluid that surrounds neurons. The brain processes information based on the activity of a large number of neurons that provide signals. The brain also uses this technique when interprets sensory messages into actual perceptions. Motor neurons in the spine, midbrain, hindbrain, forebrain, and the frontal lobe work to activate muscles, eye work, timing, motivation, coordination, and planning. The brain is also responsible for arousal, alertness and the circadian rhythm. Image Caption: Drawing of the human brain, from the National Institute for Aging, National Institutes of Heath, United States Depsrtment of Health and Human Services. This drawing shows several of the most important brain structures. Credit: NIH / Wikipedia

Haze Along the Himalaya Front Range April 10, 2013 A river of haze follows the course of the Ganges River in northern India, flowing eastward along the base of the towering, snow-capped Himalaya Mountains (upper right) before turning south over Bangladesh and then spreading out in gray streamers over the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean (lower right). Although the pollution comes from human activities, agricultural fires; home heating sources that rely on wood, kerosene, or dung; and industrial and vehicle emissions it lingers because of topography and atmospheric circulation patterns. In the winter phase of the Indian Ocean Monsoon, winds typically blow seaward, which carries the large, thick “brown cloud” of pollution far out over the ocean. Recently, NASA scientists announced that the visible particles of soot that give the polluted air its name aren't the only component of the brown cloud that the atmosphere transports over long distances. The plume also contains ozone, which is beneficial to humans when it is located way above the Earth in the stratosphere, but harmful when it is located closer to the Earth in the troposphere. Ozone spreads even farther away from the original source than the soot particles. Convection over the ocean sucks the ozone high into the air where it enters wider-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. These patterns spread the ozone westward across the Indian Ocean, Africa, and onward to the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, the ozone from the Asian brown cloud gets mixed together with ozone from agricultural fires in Africa, as well as with ozone from the stratosphere which occasionally gets mixed down to lower altitudes. The long-range transport of ozone from these sources explains why such high levels of tropospheric ozone are observed in the air over the South Atlantic Ocean, far from the source of the emissions. Credit: NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the MODIS Rapid Response team. Topics: Environment, Earth, Atmospheric sciences, Atmosphere of Earth, Asian brown cloud, Tropospheric ozone, Ozone depletion, Smog, Environmental chemistry, Ozone, Atmosphere, Oxygen

Seasonal dispersal of pests: one surge or two? ABSTRACT Many agricultural pest species occur in seasonal metapopulations with a period of asexual reproduction. We use evolutionary theory to predict timing of dispersal for such species, and identify four sequential phases: no dispersal, dispersal from initially occupied patches, dispersal from later colonized patches, and no dispersal. The third type of phase occurs only when reproductive rates are relatively high; we speculate that this could explain why among aphids there can be either one or two waves of dispersal during a season, depending on the species. Our model also explains other features of aphid biology, including a summer crash in colony size, and a decline in the number of colonies towards the end of each reproductive season. The presence of an additional surge of dispersal becomes more likely as season length increases, and does not require further evolution. This could have profound implications for pest management during future climatic warming. - [show abstract] [hide abstract] ABSTRACT: Increasing temperatures are likely to impact ectothermic pests of fruits and nuts. This paper aims to assess changes to pest pressure in California's US$0.7 billion walnut industry due to recent historic and projected future temperature changes. For two past (1950 and 2000) and 18 future climate scenarios (2041-2060 and 2080-2099; each for three General Circulation Models and three greenhouse gas emissions scenarios), 100 years of hourly temperature were generated for 205 locations. Degree-day models were used to project mean generation numbers for codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.), navel orangeworm (Amyelois transitella Walker), two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch), and European red mite (Panonychus ulmi Koch). In the Central Valley, the number of codling moth generations predicted for degree days accumulated between April 1 and October 1 rose from 2-4 in 1950 to 3-5 among all future scenarios. Generation numbers increased from 10-18 to 14-24 for two-spotted spider mite, from 9-14 to 14-20 for European red mite, and from 2-4 to up to 5 for navel orangeworm. Overall pest pressure can thus be expected to increase substantially. Our study did not include the possibility of higher winter survival rates, leading to higher initial pest counts in spring, or of extended pest development times in the summer, factors that are likely to exacerbate future pest pressure. On the other hand, initiation of diapause may prevent an extension of the season length for arthropods, and higher incidence of heat death in summer may constrain pest population sizes. More information on the impact of climate change on complex agroecological food webs and on the response of pests to high temperatures is needed for improving the reliability of projections. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Global Change Biology 01/2010; 17(1):228-238. · 6.91 Impact Factor - [show abstract] [hide abstract] ABSTRACT: Song and Xiang (2006) developed an impulsive differential equations model for a two-prey one-predator model with stage structure for the predator. They demonstrate the conditions on the impulsive period for which a globally asymptotically stable pest-eradication periodic solution exists, as well as conditions on the impulsive period for which the prey species is permanently maintained under an economically acceptable threshold. We extend their model by including stage structure for both predator and prey as well as by adding stochastic elements in the birth rate of the prey. As in Song and Xiang (2006), we find the conditions under which a globally asymptotically stable pest eradication periodic solution exists. In addition, we numerically show the relationship between the stochastically varying birth rate of the prey and the necessary efficacy of the pesticide for which the probability of eradication of the prey species is above 90%. This is significant because the model recognizes varying environmental and climatic conditions which affect the resources needed for pest eradication.Frontiers in Neuroscience 01/2013; 7:141.

[show abstract][hide abstract] ABSTRACT: Arabidopsis thaliana is a small flowering plant that is widely used as a model organism in plant biology. We describe here the Ethylene-Response Pathway (Ethylene- Pathway) whose is belong to the signal transduction pathways. The knowledge of the signaling pathways are still incomplete and discrete modelling has been shown to help a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms. In this paper we provide a brief introduction to the Ethylene- Pathway and describe two approaches - UML-Statecharts and Life Sequence Charts (LSC) - in discrete modelling of the signaling pathway. Data Engineering Workshops, 2005. 21st International Conference on; 05/2005

Scholastic Education helps teachers reach kids with a broad range of technology- and print-based programs At its core, Scholastic has always been a company dedicated to helping children read. Beginning in the early 1960s, when Scholastic began to produce supplementary books and teaching texts, to the current explosion of technology and digital learning, the Company has stood out as a true partner to teachers and administrators. Today, Scholastic is harnessing the power of adaptive technology with programs that are grounded in research to help students achieve significant growth in reading and math, and through Scholastic Achievement Partners, serves as a solutions partner with school districts across the country. “Technology plays a central role in reaching today’s kids in today’s classrooms,” said Margery Mayer, President, Scholastic Education. “Many of our programs have strong technology components to engage students, target their lessons, and monitor their progress.” Programs like READ 180® and System 44™ are proven-effective reading intervention programs that have cemented Scholastic as a valued resource and helped transform school districts. Additional innovative products like Expert 21™, Expert Space, Read About, Timeliner® XE, FASTT Math™, Do the Math®, Scholastic Zip Zoom™ English, Wiggleworks®, BookFlix™, and Fraction Nation™ all target the hardest-to-reach children and support the development of core skills for a wide range of age groups and skill levels. Scholastic also offers tools for assessment and data management, such as Scholastic Reading Inventory and Scholastic Reading Counts!, which help educators measure reading levels and provide customized instruction. And, teachers receive valuable support with the professional development resources of Scholastic U. Scholastic Classroom and Library Group “Every child has the right to read—and must read—in order to make sense of their world and to thrive in it,” said Greg Worrell, President of the Scholastic Classroom and Library Group (SC&LG). “Books and reading should be a part of every child’s life, in their classrooms and homes, with their teachers and families—from the day they are born and for the rest of their lives.” In the classroom, after school, in libraries and at home, SC&LG reinforces learning everywhere. Our mission is to provide young people with access to text that is relevant and engaging, while supporting content area learning and information literacy that insures the highest levels of student achievement. Along with books and instructional materials to meet students’ needs, SC&LG provides workshops and extensive teaching resources to address the professional development needs of all teachers. For classrooms, that means helping to identify critical resource gaps, and providing options that build classroom libraries to drive meaningful independent reading practice or for guided and leveled reading to differentiate instruction. We believe after-school hours are just as important, so Scholastic After-School Learning provides creative, fun, easy to implement lesson plans and activities that keep students engaged. Because learning and literacy in the home are cornerstones of Scholastic’s mission, SC&LG partners with schools to extend literacy mentoring programs like Scholastic R.E.A.L. In addition, we work with community based organizations like Reading is Fundamental and Reach Out & Read to provide children and their families with best-selling, high-interest books they can cherish and enjoy at home. Listening to Educators Ever since the Company’s founder, M.R. Robinson, consulted with a group of principals in Pittsburgh on the creation of his first magazine in 1920, Scholastic has partnered with teachers, administrators, and other educators to learn about their instructional needs and goals. That is still the case today. Through the National Advisory Council, comprised of educators and researchers, Scholastic participates in conversations about the important topics and trends in education; what the Company learns helps inform product development and guides efforts to support instruction, engage students, and deliver effective educational resources.

Don't Throw Out Your Old Christmas Tree! Your City May Have A Program To Recycle Them. After the holidays are over, what should you do with your Christmas tree? After the holidays are over, what should you do with your Christmas tree? If you chose to display a live Christmas tree, you can plant it in your yard or donate it to a local park for planting. If your tree is fresh cut, your city most likely has a service for you to recycle cut Christmas trees. Check with your local waste management and recycling division. Most municipalities offer tree recycling services, where trees are turned into mulch instead of taking up space in a landfill. You'll probably be able to place your tree curbside for recycling pickup during the week after Christmas. Check with your city for exact dates. You can also recycle your Christmas tree at home. Use a mulcher to chop the tree into tiny pieces for use as mulch around the yard and garden. Wild strawberries often grow in the natural mulch left underneath forest pine trees, so pine mulch is often just what they're looking for in your garden. Pine boughs are also excellent for over-wintering your garden, if you haven't already. You can also cut the tree into smaller lengths for addition to your compost bin. You may also choose to use large parts of the trunk as firewood. Whatever you choose to do, don't just throw your tree away. Recycling your Christmas tree gives this natural item another useful purpose besides decoration.

Is Obama bad for blacks? NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The August jobs report was dismal for plenty of reasons, but perhaps most striking was the picture it painted of racial inequality in the job market. Black unemployment surged to 16.7% in August, its highest level since 1984, while the unemployment rate for whites fell slightly to 8%, the Labor Department report. "This month's numbers continue to bear out that longstanding pattern that minorities have a much more challenging time getting jobs," said Bill Rodgers, chief economist with the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. Black unemployment has been roughly double that of whites since the government started tracking the figures in 1972. Economists blame a variety of factors. The black workforce is younger than the white workforce, lower numbers of blacks get a college degree and many live in areas of the country that were harder hit by the recession -- all things that could lead to a higher unemployment rate. But even excluding those factors, blacks still are hit with higher joblessness. "Even when you compare black and white workers, same age range, same education, you still see pretty significant gaps in unemployment rates," said Algernon Austin, director of the Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy program at the Economic Policy Institute. "So I do think the fact of racial discrimination in the labor market continues to play a role." About 155,000 blacks got jobs in August, but the group's unemployment rate still went up because those jobs weren't enough to make up for all the people who started looking for work during the month. However, the gain for whites of 211,000 jobs was enough to bring their unemployment rate down. Overall, black men have it the worst, with joblessness at a staggeringly high 19.1%, compared to 14.5% for black women. Black unemployment has now remained above 10% for four straight years, and the given current economic sluggishness, some experts say it's safe to predict the rate will remain above 10% for four more years. "Our job creation is just not happening -- certainly not at the rate necessarily to bring rapid reductions to the unemployment rate," Austin said. Latinos saw their unemployment rate remain unchanged at 11.3% in August. Unemployment remains at 9.1% for the country as a whole. Increase in welfare recipients: The federal government's fiscal stimulus includes $5 billion for states where more families receive welfare or spending increases on employment subsidies or short-term emergency assistance. That provision sparked concerns from the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups that President Barack Obama was undoing the provisions of the 1996 law intended to encourage states to get people off welfare and onto payrolls. Twenty-three of the 30 largest states, which account for more than 88% of the nation's total population, see welfare caseloads above year-ago levels, according to a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal and the National Conference of State Legislatures. As more people run out of unemployment compensation, many are turning to welfare as a stopgap. The biggest increases are in states with some of the worst jobless rates. Oregon's count was up 27% in May from a year earlier; South Carolina's climbed 23% and California's 10% between March 2009 and March 2008. A few big states that had seen declining welfare caseloads just a few months ago now are seeing increases: New York is up 1.2%, Illinois 3% and Wisconsin 3.9%. Welfare rolls in a few big states, Michigan and New Jersey among them, still are declining. Unemployment is up and due to Obama's Stimulus more people qualify for welfare. The number of peope on welfare is higher than it has been since the 90's. To me that means that all of us but blacks especially are worse off under Obama. See Votes by State News & Politics

Download now Free registration required A Mobile ad-hoc network is a collection of mobile nodes forming an ad-hoc network without the assistance of any centralized structures. These networks shows a new way of network establishment and these are well suited for an environment where either the infrastructure is lost or where deploy an infrastructure is not very cost effective. The authors have presented the overview of ad hoc network routing protocols. In this paper, they worked to solve the problem of intermediate route building in ad hoc on demand distance vector routing protocol (AODV) and proposed scheme that enhances the performance of AODV protocol. The scheme proposed by them is Advance-Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AAODV) routing protocol. - Format: PDF - Size: 426.97 KB

WHILE RESEARCHING A HISTORY of Galveston in the late eighties, I came across an abstract sculpture in a small park on Seawall Boulevard. Its steel spirals were a representation of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion of the world. The sculpture was perforated with small round holes that had to have been made by bullets. Someone had deliberately tried to destroy it. I knew the story of how Johnson had won the championship in 1908: He had battered the reigning titleholder—a cocky, loudmouthed, money-hungry Canadian named Tommy Burns—so savagely that the final moments of the newsreel footage of the fight were cut to protect the public from the spectacle of a white man getting knocked silly by a black man. White America never forgave Johnson for that victory. Standing by the statue, looking at those bullet holes, I realized that that hatred had endured. I was reminded of that mindless vandalism last fall at the Texas Book Festival, in Austin, when I viewed a short film clip of Ken Burns’s documentary on Johnson that will be shown this month on PBS. The title, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, includes an ironic phrase coined by black writer W. E. B. DuBois, explaining white America’s attitude toward the black champion. What people failed to appreciate about Johnson, then and now, is that he was the fire-breathing embodiment of the American spirit. He refused to settle for being a second-class citizen. He was a “pure-blood American,” he insisted, whose forebears had arrived in this country long before there was a United States. Jack and his four siblings were the first generation of American blacks born after Emancipation. He grew up fighting in a street gang on east Broadway and quit school in his early teens to work as a stable hand and as a stevedore, picking up extra change fighting other black dockworkers in makeshift matches. His first ring experience was in fighting exhibitions known as battles royal—in this version, a white man’s joke in which eight or more black fighters were thrown into a ring together, sometimes blindfolded, sometimes with their wrists or ankles tied together, sometimes naked. They were urged to maim one another until the last man was standing. Johnson left home for keeps when he was about 21, hopping freight trains and moving from city to city—Springfield, Denver, Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, Boston, fighting in small arenas for smaller purses, mostly against other blacks. He turned professional in 1895, the same year that the New York Sun warned readers that black athletes—boxers in particular—were a threat to white supremacy. No black man had ever been permitted to fight for the heavyweight title, whose holder has been described as the “Emperor of Masculinity.” For two decades, as a contender and a champion, Johnson never once climbed into the ring against a white opponent except in front of an overwhelmingly hostile crowd. Newspapers referred to him as “De Big Coon” and “Texas Watermelon Pickaninny”; a reporter for the Baltimore American wrote that Johnson appeared as “happy and carefree as a plantation darky in watermelon time.” Contenders suggested that he was too black to have the heart of a fighter, which served as their excuse for refusing to fight him. Johnson endured the slander with maddening calm, always grinning, always cool and in control. A boxer’s first task, it has been said, is to “turn his opponent into an assistant in his own ass-whipping,” and few did it as well as Jack Johnson. He may have been the best defensive fighter of all time, waiting for opponents to get close and then cutting them to pieces. Johnson’s easygoing manner lulled opponents into mistakes, and his sharp tongue destroyed their composure. “Poor little Tommy. Who ever told you you were a fighter?” he snickered as Burns chased him around the ring in Australia, challenging Johnson to “fight like a white man.” Though the memory of that fight has dimmed with the ages, the phrase that identified every subsequent challenger who took on and lost to the new champion is still with us—the Great White Hope, which was also the title of a Broadway play and a 1970 film based on Johnson’s life, both starring James Earl Jones. Historian Geoffrey C. Ward, who researched and wrote the script for Burns’s four-hour documentary and later wrote a book with the same title, told me that Johnson’s career was characterized by three qualities: personal courage, masterful boxing, and a refusal to let anyone else do his thinking for him. “Jack Johnson was a very complex man,” Ward explained. “He read, he loved opera, he played the bass fiddle. Above all, he believed that a black man need not limit his horizons.” As his reputation (and bank account) grew, Johnson became a notorious bon vivant, partial to pricey call girls, fine wine, and games of chance. Always the fashion plate, he wore expensive suits; high, modish collars; diamond stickpins; and patent leather boots with spats and carried suede gloves and an ivory-handled cane. People were furious when he moved into a white neighborhood and struck temporarily aphonic when he announced that henceforth he would date only white women. He bedded them with wild abandon and even married three of them. His other passion was fancy racing cars, which he bought like candy. There were fewer than half a million cars in the United States in 1909, Ward told me, and Johnson owned five of them. Stopped for speeding in some Southern town, he supposedly tossed a roll of $100 bills to the sheriff, explaining that he would be driving even faster when he returned. The consummate showman, he loved making his ring entrance garbed in gaudy bathrobes and trunks; one outfit was described by a reporter as “screaming, caterwauling, belligerent pink.” Americans had always accorded their heavyweight champion the right to drink, gamble, chase whores, and spend staggering amounts of money—“Gentleman” Jim Corbett and John L. Sullivan were hardly choirboys—but Johnson was

Feb 15, 2013 Even the lonely monuments left behind have a story to tell. Chavín de Huantar, in the Peruvian Andes, is one of many civilisations to have preceded the mighty Inca empire. The occupants of the ruins have no name; lacking a script, their cultural identity is forever buried in the sands of time. Hard by the entrance to the site, the visitor is greeted by the so-called Raymondi Stela, named after the Italian geographer and natural historian Antonio Raimondi (1826-1890), who discovered it in a peasant’s hut in Callejón de Conchucos in 1874. Those unable or unwilling to journey this far can inspect a faithful replica in Lima’s Museo Nacional de Arqueologia. Devoid of any helpful caption, such as ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian artists would frequently provide, the image carved into the granite surface startles the observer. What on earth is here depicted? The anthropomorphic being at the base will undoubtedly have represented a conspicuous deity or ancestor in the pantheon of the Chavín people – if not the principal object of worship at the adjacent temple. The two staffs held by this being, one in each hand, identify it as the dios de los varas or ‘god of the rods’ familiar from various other cultures throughout Peru. And the serpentine locks of ‘hair’ attached to the head are a common feature of the same entity. Unparalleled, by contrast, is the god’s towering headdress, composed of three stacked heads, nine superimposed ‘tentacles’ on each side, and a minor structure on top crowned by a pair of intertwined serpents. It’s a baffling scene, defeating scholars’ best attempts to propose a suitable prototype in the familiar world of nature. Nor do comparisons with Medusa’s ophidian hair, Hermes’ caduceus or the two snakes held in the outstretched hands of Herakles or a Cretan goddess shed much further light; all are legitimate, but are as mysterious themselves as the image at hand. A solution comes from an entirely unexpected source – the study of laboratory plasmas. Research less than a few decades old has uncovered what may well be the only plausible prototype for the Chavín deity in all of nature: a plasma z-pinch subject to sausage, vortical and other, nonlinear instabilities. A plasma beam pinched tightly will eventually break up into a stack of toroids, typically 9 in number. An increase in electrical current with a slow rise time pushes the evolution of the column into a chaotic regime, which sees the toroids joined by a central bar before flattening, extending outward like the branches of a tree, and curling up at the ends. The American plasma physicist Anthony Peratt proposed that such a high-energy density formation materialised in visible light in the earth’s upper atmosphere prior to the dawn of civilisation. The cause of this ‘enhanced aurora’ was a dramatically increased influx of charged particles into the earth’s magnetosphere – most likely from the sun. A speculative hypothesis it is, but one rooted in a base of solid experimental work and sound reasoning, sprouting tendrils into many a scholarly discipline. Did the deity of Chavín de Huantar owe its perplexing countenance to a giant atmospheric plasma tube, carved in granite? In the absence of any explicit indigenous commentary, such as a written note or a surviving oral tradition among local Quechua descendants, this will remain thought-provoking, but unverifiable guesswork – the stele cannot stand on its own. Yet if the reality of such a prehistoric near-earth plasma column is established on account of other, more definitive sources, the iconography of the pre-Incan ‘rods god’ does furnish circumstantial evidence. At least in this sense, even mute artefacts transform into a welcome repository of information. The layered heads and arms come to life on a theory of layered evidence. Rens Van Der Sluijs Books by Rens Van Der Sluijs: Traditional Cosmology: The Global Mythology of Cosmic Creation and Destruction

Moon Light World Map The map below shows where the Moon is visible from the Earth, depending on weather conditions and moon phases. The white dot symbolizes the position of the Moon, and the yellow sun symbolizes the position of the sun. View Day and Night Map - The bright part of the map shows where the moon is over the horizon on Friday, December 28, 2012 at 16:22:00 UTC. - The Sun's position is marked with this symbol: . At this location, the Sun will be at its zenith (directly overhead) in relation to an observer. - The Moon's position is marked with this symbol: . At this location, the Moon will be at its zenith in relation to an observer. Note that the symbol is not showing the current phase of the Moon. Fraction of moon illuminated: 100% Position of the Moon On Friday, December 28, 2012 at 16:22:00 UTC the Moon is at its zenith at these coordinates: |Latitude: ||19° 26' ||North| |Longitude: ||117° 23' ||East| The ground speed of the movement is currently 423.43 meters/second, 1524.4 km/hour, 947.2 miles/hour or 823.1 knots.The table below shows the Moon position compared to the time and date above: |Time||Longitude difference||Latitude difference||Total| |1 minute||0° 14' 30.8"||15.79 mi||west||0° 00' 04.1"||0.08 mi||south||15.79 mi| |1 hour||14° 30' 55.3"||946.97 mi||west||0° 04' 10.7"||4.79 mi||south||947.19 mi| |24 hours||11° 32' 49.5"||753.41 mi||east||2° 04' 51.2"||143.13 mi||south||771.43 mi| Locations with the moon near zenith The following table shows 10 locations with moon near zenith position in the sky. |Shantou||Sat 12:22 AM||441 km||274 miles||238 nm|| N| |Kowloon||Sat 12:22 AM||457 km||284 miles||247 nm|| NW| |Hong Kong||Sat 12:22 AM||461 km||286 miles||249 nm|| NW| |Baguio City||Sat 12:22 AM||477 km||297 miles||258 nm|| SE| |Shenzhen||Sat 12:22 AM||485 km||301 miles||262 nm|| NW| |Macau||Sat 12:22 AM||503 km||313 miles||272 nm|| NW| |Kaohsiung||Sat 12:22 AM||512 km||318 miles||276 nm|| NE| |Tarlac City||Sat 12:22 AM||554 km||344 miles||299 nm|| SE| |Xiamen||Sat 12:22 AM||561 km||348 miles||303 nm|| N| |Mabalacat||Sat 12:22 AM||578 km||359 miles||312 nm|| SE| Related time zone tools

UNDP Ethiopia provides camel ambulances for desert health care UNDP in Ethiopia is providing 145 “camel ambulances” to help rural pastoralists in remote desert areas reach nearby health posts for emergency care. The initiative is part of a Mobile Health Service set up by the regional authority in Afar, in the northeast of the country. Some 87 percent of the 1.4 million inhabitants in this region are rural dwellers, and accessibility by car is greatly hindered by the poor road and climatic conditions. As transportation is a major challenge, the camels are now not only being used as traditional beasts of burden, but also to transport seriously ill patients to health facilities. This is a job that requires special training by experienced community camel trainers, to instill discipline and follow new and different instructions than they are used to. UNDP in 2007 provided US$ 200,000 to the Afar Bureau of Health to set up this first-of-its kind health service, to reach pastoral communities in desert areas, in line with the five-year Regional Strategic Development Plan (2007-2011) which espouses the Millennium Development Goals. The funds were used to train 56 unemployed young women and men to provide basic curative and preventive health services, including guidance in personal hygiene and maternal and child care. The Afar health bureau also paid the salaries of the trained health extension workers, and for their medical kits. The health extension workers are the initial health care providers for about 140,000 pastoralists in 28 kebeles, or towns. Afar Health Bureau Chief Ato Awol Wogris Mohammed says the initiative is working well. “The health service being delivered by the extension workers has been more beneficial to pastoralists, as it is mobile, and there is a plan to expand the service to other parts of the region.” he said. Of the approximate 800 health workers needed to cover the entire region, almost half have been trained and deployed to about 200 health posts. An additional 200 are in training.

Six weeks into its life as an independent country, South Sudan faced a devastating crisis this weekend. Clashes broke out on Thursday and lased through the day. At least 600 people are dead, possibly another 1,000 people are injured and 26,000 cattle stolen. Cattle is one of the largest sources and indicators of wealth in the nation, and two tribes have escalated tensions over a series of large-scale cattle raids, the United Nations reports. After 26,000 cattle were stolen, members of the Murle tribe attacked the villages of the Lou Nuer, CNN reports. Between January and June, nearly 2,400 people died, most as a result of cattle rustling incidents. “This cycle of violence must stop,” Hilde Johnson, the U.N.’s Special Representative for South Sudan said. “That so many people have been killed and injured again in such wanton destruction is unacceptable.” South Sudan ended a two-decade civil war with Sudan in 2005, officially became Africa’s 54th nation last month. The Associated Press reports: “The new country continues to struggle with internal violence, including cattle raids, a form of cultural and economic violence between tribes that is devastating communities.”

Why it’s better to be in state government than federal government — in one chart It’s conventional wisdom these days in politics that serving in state government (as a governor, ideally) is a better launching pad to national political office than serving in the federal government. Now we have some empirical evidence that it’s true. New data from the Pew Research Center — we heart them here at the Fix — shows that over the last ten years, the favorable rating of the federal government has plummeted while remaining remarkably steady for state and local governments. Here’s the data in a single chart: Just one in three people view the federal government favorably as compared to 52 percent who regard state government in a favorable light. Local government is even more popular with a 61 percent favorable rating. What explains that disparity? Some of it is partisanship as just 20 percent of Republicans now view the federal government favorably while 53 percent did so when George W. Bush was president. Fifty one percent of Democrats now have a favorable view of the federal government. But most of the gap is explained by the fact that people simply believe state government works better. Forty two percent said state government “addresses people’s needs” while just 30 percent said the same of the federal government. Thirty six percent said that state governments “can usually work together to get things done” while just one in five said the same of the federal government. The most depressing for members of the federal government? Just three in ten people said the federal government is “mostly honest”. Ouchy. Forty nine percent said the same of state government. The Pew poll affirms that if you are an ambitious elected official looking to move up in the political world, you should look to your state capitol not the nation’s capitol for a promotion.

This article is Part 2 of User Personalization with PHP: Beginning the Application. In this article, we will be looking at user authentication. User authentication simply means verifying that a particular user has the right to access a part of our application. Because our application deals with user preferences, access control is even more pertinent especially since multiple users are going to try to access this application at any given time. To ensure that each user is treated as individual with their preferences loaded when they access the application, we are going to require some login information from the user. This information includes a username and password, which will be unique to each user. To track user activity we will make use of PHP's session management functionality. The authentication section of the application consists of about six scripts: login.php- This script is responsible for verifying a users login credentials. It presents the user with an HTML form that requires, among other things, a username and password, which must be entered in the form for validation. The script also starts or opens a session for the user upon successful login. logout.php- Simply logs a user out of the application and terminates any sessions that were created for the user. register.php- Adds new users to our site. activate.php- This script activates a new user's account. numgen.php- Generates a verification code for the login form. forgot_pass.php- Resets a forgotten password. Access control in most cases, exists to make your application or resource more secure and to keep unwanted guests (such as hackers) out. As part of overall access control, we are going to add code to our login script, which will require the user to enter a code in addition to their username and password. This code will be contained in a script called numgen.php, which will be included on the login page. We've already mentioned previously that this is a pretty effective way of stopping automated logon by means of robots. The rest of the article will look at how to implement this functionality in this application The Verification Code To use the first method, you will need to check if the GD library is enabled in your version of PHP. I'm using PHP 5 and it is automatically enabled. To test if the library is enabled, run the following code: The script basically checks if a function called imagecreate() is loaded. This function is part of the GD library and should be loaded and accessible if the library is loaded. Depending on your version of PHP, and whether the GD library is enabled, you should get a result similar to the one If you don't get a similar result then simply open up your PHP configuration file and go to the section that list all your extensions; it should look something like this: and uncomment the following line: Depending on what version of PHP you have, the extensions list might look different; either way, look for the GD library. Also, make sure that the DLL file is actually in your extensions folder. Once you've enable the GD library and all is well, the first thing we need to do is to create the verification image. Below is the code that does this:

This module implements pseudo-random number generators for various distributions: on the real line, there are functions to compute normal or Gaussian, lognormal, negative exponential, gamma, and beta distributions. For generating distribution of angles, the circular uniform and von Mises distributions are available. The random module supports the Random Number Generator interface, described in section . This interface of the module, as well as the distribution-specific functions described below, all use the pseudo-random generator provided by the whrandom module. The following functions are defined to support specific distributions, and all return real values. Function parameters are named after the corresponding variables in the distribution's equation, as used in common mathematical practice; most of these equations can be found in any statistics text. These are expected to become part of the Random Number Generator interface in a future release. - betavariate (alpha, beta) Beta distribution. Conditions on the parameters are alpha > -1 and beta > -1. Returned values range between 0 and 1. - cunifvariate (mean, arc) Circular uniform distribution. mean is the mean angle, and arc is the range of the distribution, centered around the mean angle. Both values must be expressed in radians, and can range between 0 and pi. Returned values will range between mean - arc/2 and mean + arc/2. - expovariate (lambd) Exponential distribution. lambd is 1.0 divided by the desired mean. (The parameter would be called ``lambda'', but that is a reserved word in Python.) Returned values will range from 0 to - gamma (alpha, beta) Gamma distribution. (Not the gamma function!) Conditions on the parameters are alpha > -1 and beta > 0. - gauss (mu, sigma) Gaussian distribution. mu is the mean, and sigma is the standard deviation. This is slightly faster than the normalvariate() function defined below. - lognormvariate (mu, sigma) Log normal distribution. If you take the natural logarithm of this distribution, you'll get a normal distribution with mean mu and standard deviation sigma. mu can have any value, and sigma must be greater than zero. - normalvariate (mu, sigma) Normal distribution. mu is the mean, and sigma is the - vonmisesvariate (mu, kappa) mu is the mean angle, expressed in radians between 0 and 2*pi, and kappa is the concentration parameter, which must be greater than or equal to zero. If kappa is equal to zero, this distribution reduces to a uniform random angle over the range 0 to - paretovariate (alpha) Pareto distribution. alpha is the shape parameter. - weibullvariate (alpha, beta) Weibull distribution. alpha is the scale parameter and beta is the shape parameter. - Module whrandom: - The standard Python random number generator. See About this document... for information on suggesting changes.

@anon139548: Yes it is. Learn something new every day More Info... by email A robotics engineer is an electrical and mechanical engineering expert who designs robotic equipment. Professionals work in research and development divisions of technology firms, manufacturing plants, and factories to come up with novel concepts and make improvements to existing machines. A robotics engineer is usually involved in every phase of a project, from designing original schematics to testing prototypes. The job requires excellent reasoning and math skills, attention to detail, and creativity to develop reliable, functional equipment. Robots play essential roles in many different industries and settings. Modern assembly line equipment, agricultural tools, airplane control systems, bomb-detection vehicles, and thousands of other examples rely on robotic technology to function properly. A robotics engineer ensures that such machines are safe, dependable, and precise in their specific tasks. When coming up with a new design, a robotics engineer conducts extensive research on existing technology and creates several rounds of rough blueprints and schematics. Most engineers rely on computer-aided drafting software to produce accurate drawings that can be easily adjusted as needed. Once an engineer is confident in a design, he or she can put it through computer simulations that model real-world physical laws and environmental conditions. Engineers and their assistants build prototypes of theoretical designs that pass simulation tests. Professionals use a variety of tools and techniques to develop prototypes. Soldering, welding, and metal cutting expertise is typically necessary for a robotic engineer. Knowledge of electrical wiring and computer software engineering is also vital to ensure that prototypes function exactly as expected. The robotics industry is a broad, constantly changing field that requires engineers to stay up-to-date on the latest innovations and technology. Most robotics engineers frequently review professional journals, attend seminars, and communicate with peers to learn about cutting edge research. The capabilities of artificial intelligence, microprocessors, and bioengineering are expanding every day, and engineers have to keep up with an evolving technical field. A person who wants to become a robotics engineer usually needs to obtain at least a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or physics. Many hopeful professionals choose to pursue master's or doctoral degrees to improve their understanding of the field and their chances of finding jobs after graduation. New engineers often begin their careers as assistants or junior engineers at a robotics firm, gaining firsthand experience under the supervision of established professionals. With four or five years of experience, an individual can take a licensing exam to earn professional engineer credentials and start working independently. One of our editors will review your suggestion and make changes if warranted. Note that depending on the number of suggestions we receive, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Thank you for helping to improve wiseGEEK!

[Python-ideas] Python 3000 TIOBE -3% masklinn at masklinn.net Sat Feb 11 09:26:14 CET 2012 On 2012-02-11, at 03:24 , Matt Joiner wrote: > Threading is a tool (the most popular, and most flexible tool) for > concurrency and parallelism. Compared to forking, multiprocessing, shared > memory, mmap, and dozens of other auxiliary OS concepts it's also the Such a statement unqualified can only be declared wrong. Threading is the most common due to Windows issues (historically, Unix parallelism used multiple processes and the switch happened with the advent of multiplatform tools, which focused on threading due to Windows's poor performances and high overhead with processes), and it is also the easiest tool *to start using*, because you just say "start a thread". Which is equivalent to saying grenades are the easiest tool to handle conversations because you just pull the pin. Threads are by far the hardest concurrency tool to use because they throw out the window all determinism in the whole program, and that determinism then needs to be reclaimed through (very) careful analysis and the use of locks or other such sub-tools. And the flexibility claim is complete nonsense. Oh, and so are your comparisons, "shared memory" and "mmap" are not comparable to threading since they *are used* by and in threading. And forking and multiprocessing are the same thing, only the initialization Finally, multiprocessing has a far better upgrade path (as e.g. Erlang demonstrates): if your non-deterministic points are well delineated and your interfaces to other concurrent execution points are well defined, scaling from multiple cores to multiple machines becomes possible. > Not all problems are clearly chunkable or fit some alternative > parallelism pattern. Threading is arguably the cheapest method for > parallelism, as we've heard throughout this thread. > Just because it can be dangerous is no reason to discourage it. Of course it is, just as manual memory management is "discouraged". > Many alternatives are equally as dangerous, more difficult and less portable. The main alternative to threading is multiprocessing (via fork or via starting new processes does not matter), it is significantly less dangerous, it is only more difficult in that you can't take extremely dangerous shortcuts and it is just as portable (if not more). > Python is a very popular language.someone mentioned earlier that popularity > shouldn't be an argument for features but here it's fair ground. If Python > 3 had unrestrained threading, this transition plunge would not be Threading is a red herring, nobody fundamentally cares about threading, what users want is a way to exploit their cores. If `multiprocessing` was rock-solid and easier to use `threading` could just be killed and nobody would care. And we'd probably find ourselves in far better a world. More information about the Python-ideas

NOTE: this topic list will be modified for Spring 2012 midterm. Check back here.... This is an overview of the topics that will be covered on the midterm. See also a list of study questions. What is App Inventor? - Review this worksheet and notes and see solutions Overall Architecture of an App (ch 14, 16, 18) Programming Behaviors (tutorial chapters 1,2,3, manual 16,17, 18) vs. Programmer (internal) view of an app consist of properties - Static view is roughly the “look” of the app (component designer) - Internal View (Dynamic) - An app's behavior is a set of event-handlers Event and Response, consists of a sequence of function calls - perform phone functionality and - response can have conditional blocks - programmer-defined functions (procedures) - variables and properties, initial values, how they change - labels and textboxes - How do you remembering things? - How do you increment data (x = x +1) - Conditional blocks - Clock.TimerInterval and Clock.TimerEnabled - moving horizontally, vertically, diagonally - moving from top-left corner to bottom-right corner. - moving back and forth - moving a particular speed - smooth animation at a particular frames-per-second

Studies have shown that probiotics can influence healthy gene expression of immune cells in the gut.(1) Properly formulated probiotics provide biologically active materials that can positively influence many aspects of human health.(2) Probiotics literally means "for life." Traditional diets (like the Mediterranean Diet) with foods that contain probiotics have been shown to promote health and longevity.(3) Probiotics are thought to facilitate healthy GI and perform many other important functions. For example, researchers have discovered that probiotics help decrease nuclear factor kappa B (NFkB), a pro-inflammatory cytokine, and positively modulate cellular signaling pathways.(4) BB536®, Bifidobacterium longum, increases the number of healthy bacteria in the colon.(5) An in vivo study demonstrated a significant increase in longevity in mice supplemented with bifidobacteria.(5) BB536®, was also found to reduce production of inflammatory cytokines that often accompany seasonal symptom development.(6) Each capsule of Bifido GI Balance provides two billion colony-forming units of viable healthy bacteria. 70%-80% of immunoglobulin-producing cells reside in the gut which is populated by nearly 100 trillion microorganisms, many of which are beneficial bacteria.(8) These bacteria are considered a living part of the human organism.(9) With age, we can experience a decline in vital beneficial bacteria and the strength of the immune system. Restoring the gut’s friendly bacteria can stimulate and regulate healthy immune function.(1,9) - Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2012 Nov 8. [Epub ahead of print] - Int J Food Microbiol. 2012 Jan 16;152(3):189-205. - Rev Med Suisse. 2009 Mar 25;5(196):662-4,66. - Gut Microbes. 2010 May-Jun; 1(3): 148–163. - Lait 73 (1993) 249-256 - PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e23652. - J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 2006;16(2):86-93. - Immunobiology. 1992 Feb;184(2-3):157-79. - Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2012 Apr;23(2):192-201. *These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. |Serving Size: 1 vegetarian capsule |Servings Per Container: 60 |Amount Per Serving |Bifidobacterium longum BB536® (supplying 2,000,000,000 CFU at time of manufacture) |* Daily value not established BB536® is a registered trademark of Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd. Product & Usage Information: - Suggested Use: Take one capsule once or twice daily, with or without food, or as recommended by a healthcare practitioner. - Storage: KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. Store tightly in a cool, dry place. For optimal potency, refrigerate after opening. - Other Ingredients: microcrystalline cellulose, vegetable cellulose (capsule), tapioca starch, ascorbyl palmitate, silica. DO NOT EXCEED RECOMMENDED DOSE. When using nutritional supplements, please consult with your physician if you are undergoing treatment for a medical condition or if you are pregnant or lactating.

The location of the Cities of the Plain (heb. kikkar, loaf, talent, circuit) of Genesis (Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim) has long been of dispute. There are three main options to go with: 1. They were spread out along the western Dead Sea coast (Ron Wyatt). Biblical Basis: 1 Samuel 13:18, Genesis 10:1, Genesis 19:24, 25, Genesis 14:3, 7-11, Deuteronomy 29:23, Ezekiel 16:46 Archeological Evidence: Some wind and water eroded formations and sulfur balls. Criticisms (for a rebuttal of Ron Wyatt’s claims regarding the Red Sea crossing, see AJaL, Section 5, for the Covenant Ark, go here, for Noah’s Ark, here): Structures such as Wyatt claimed are the Cities are certainly natural formations. Boiling sulfur cannot melt rock (which melts at least 500 degrees higher than the boiling point of sulfur) or stainless steel (over 900 degrees higher than the boiling point of sulfur). It can, however, easily melt tin, making for some good presentations by Wyatt and the Wyattists. The fact the so-called “rock” (in reality, aragonite) had, in the words of Mary Nell Wyatt, “the consistency of talcum powder” further shows the fact that all these formations never got to temperatures hot enough to weld rock, and CERTAINLY not to temperatures which would allow thermal ionization (4000-5000 degrees Fahrenheit). The features which look like thermal ionization are merely mixed-up lake sediments. The sulfur balls are the results of microbial activity. The formations below Masada (roughly at 31°19’32″N, 35°22’23″E) were built up by deposits of aragonite and dust (not ash!) which were formed and made dry by the evaporation of the salty waters of Lake Lisan in the distant past (as long as 14,000 years ago) and shaped over thousands of years by flowing water from the West and the wind blowing from Lebanon to the Gulf of Aqaba (ever wonder why Jericho was so eroded?). These deposits are important for radiometric dating of the ups and downs of the Dead Sea. The so-called “streets” there are nothing more than wadis (natural stream beds flowing with rainwater). The “sphinxes” are wadi-formed structures. The Arabs’ “Mount Sodom” is nothing but a halite and gypsum formation moved to its present location by the pressure of water and sediment in the so-called “Lake Gomorrah” over 80,000 years ago. No evidence of actual human habitation, much less civilization, (stone walls, pottery, rubbish pits), has ever been found at the claimed sites by the Wyattists. Genesis 13:10-12 clearly points to the northern Dead Sea region as the location of the Cities of the Plain. 2. They were around the southeastern part of the Dead Sea (Bryant Wood, many fundamentalists). Biblical Basis: Genesis 10:1, 14:3-11, 19:25, Deuteronomy 29:23, Ezekiel 16:46. Archeological Evidence: The Early Bronze cities of Bab edh Dhra (31°15’15″N, 35°32’2″E) and Numeria (31° 7’53″N, 35°31’36″E) were destroyed by tectonic upheaval in the late 3rd millennium BC. Other Arguments: Extrabiblical Byzantine texts are cited to support the location of Zoar at Safi. Criticisms: All criticisms are summarized by Steven Collins of New Mexico here. 3. The cities were to the north of the Dead Sea (Steven Collins). Biblical Basis: Genesis 13:10-12 unambiguously supports this and ONLY this option. The phrase “kikkar of the Jordan” can only refer to a circular district around the Jordan, which, as the phrase “cross[ing] the Jordan” and “mouth of the Jordan” confirms, refers to the Jordan River alone. The phrase “kikkar of the Jordan” is also used in 1 Kings 7:46 to refer to another half-circular district located in the area of Succoth (Tell Deir ‘Alla, 32°11’47″N, 35°37’14″E). Zoar, the kikkar’s border city, also seems to be at the place of the meeting of the Dead Sea, northern Aravah, and mountains of Reuben, since nothing south of the Arnon was part of the Promised Land (Genesis 13:10, 19:22-30, Deuteronomy 2:9, 34:3). Indeed, Jeremiah 48:34 and the Mesha stele (if really referring to the House of David) combine to give a picture of Horonaim and its ascent being in the southern Moabite Aravah and Zoar being exactly where the Dead Sea, northern Aravah, and mountains of Reuben meet. Criticisms: Ezekiel 16:46 is the only decisive evidence against the northern option, and even it is strongly metaphoric (“older” and “younger” are also used metaphorically in the same verse). Indeed, the terms “right” and “left” need not necessarily refer to cardinal directions, especially in such a metaphor-using verse. Genesis 10:19 is referring to the eastern Canaanite border, which was not necessarily at the Jordan. Indeed, the verse could easily be referring to a beginning of the border in the southernmost geographically non-obvious area (the area of the cities of the plain) and an end of the border at Laasha (lšẖ), which was very likely Tel Dan (also called Leshem/lšm in Josh 19:47 and Laish/lyš in Judges 18:29). Also, the tells Collins has identified were occupied in the time of the writing of the Sodom destruction story, making them unlikely candidates at best.

One in three people in America are at risk for type 2 diabetes. That's more than 79 million people, according to the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes is the gateway to many additional health complications including, heart disease, nerve disease, kidney disease, stroke, blindness and more. Because diabetes is a silent and progressive disease, 50 percent of those at high risk do not realize it. Type 2 diabetes is preventable if you make a change before it's too late, but there's no turning back once you receive a diagnosis. The YMCA is doing everything possible to raise awareness for the startling reality of our country's diabetes epidemic. Locally, the Y has planned a week of free screenings, September 19 through 22, open to everyone in the community to learn their risk.

On the afternoon of August 1, 1936, some 100,000 spectators filled the new Olympic Stadium in Berlin to watch the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games. The next day, Deutsche Reichspost (the German federal postal system) began broadcasting television coverage of events to 18 receivers set up in halls around the city including at the Olympic Village. By the time the games ended, some 70 hours of track & field competitions had been televised. At about the same time and on a more regular basis, the Reichspost was offering "video phone" services to customers at some post offices in Berlin and other major cities like Leipzig. The outbreak of the war in 1939 terminated both of these projects. Anyone able to give us more information and details about the televising of the 1936 Olympics?

Oswego, NY -- Officials say an Asian carp has been found for the first time beyond the electric barriers constructed to keep the dreaded invasive species out of the Great Lakes. State and federal officials said Wednesday that commercial fishermen found the 3-foot-long, 20-pound carp in Lake Calumet on Chicago’s South Side, about six miles downstream of Lake Michigan. The single carp is the first to be found in a Chicago waterway above the Army Corps of Engineers’ electric barrier system. Officials say they’ll use electrofishing and netting to remove any carp from the lake. Scientists and fishermen fear that they if the carp become established in the Great Lakes, they could starve out popular sport fish such as salmon and walleye. They can grow to 100 pounds and 4 feet.

Research from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study suggests that stress or uncertainty about external circumstances can impact family relationships. One recent study by Dohoon Lee, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Sara McLanahan, Daniel Notterman, and Irwin Garfinkel finds that mothers used more harsh parenting practices, such as corporal punishment, following the Great Recession. Moreover, macroeconomic conditions like consumer sentiment (that is, how people feel generally about the economy), rather than actual conditions (for example, local unemployment rate), are associated with harsh parenting. Findings from another study suggest that macroeconomic stress has caused couples to delay or forego separation or divorce, especially among those hardest hit by the recession. Based on research presented in the Future of Children suggesting positive outcomes of marriage for children, such a finding could have good implications for low-conflict families but serious consequences for families experiencing violence or abuse. Future of Children authors Philip A. Cowan, Carolyn Pape Cowan, and Virginia Knox explain that some low-income family intervention programs have begun to address how parents and partners can cope with the stress and uncertainty caused by external circumstances such as a dragging economy. The authors highlight one such program that has had encouraging early results. Participants in the Supporting Healthy Marriage project, a yearlong marriage and relationship education program for couples with children, report less abuse, more positive communication, and greater marital happiness than control-group counterparts. With the proportion of children born to unmarried mothers at more than 40 percent, similar programs for unmarried couples with children are being evaluated. One such project called Building Strong Families found little evidence of relationship quality improvement among participants, but Cowan and colleagues indicate that more analyses are needed to understand these findings. Research on the challenges that unmarried families face can be found in the Future of Children issue on Fragile Families. Also see our issue The Next Generation of Antipoverty Policies.

From Press Reports “Extension” means “reaching out,” and — along with teaching and research — land-grant institutions “extend” their resources, solving public needs with college or university resources through non-formal, These programs are largely through county and regional Extension offices, which bring land-grant expertise to the most local of levels. Congress created the Extension system nearly a century ago to address exclusively rural, agricultural issues. At that time, more than 50 percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas, and 30 percent of the workforce was engaged in farming. Extension’s engagement with rural America helped make possible the American agricultural revolution, which dramatically increased farm • In 1945, it took up to 14 labor-hours to produce 100 bushels of corn on 2 acres of land. • By 1987, it took just under 3 labor-hours to produce that same 100 bushels of corn on just over 1 acre. • In 2002, that same 100 bushels of corn were produced on less than 1 That increase in productivity has allowed fewer farmers to produce Fewer than 2 percent of Americans farm for a living today, and only 17 percent of Americans now live in rural areas. Yet, the Extension Service still plays an important role in American life—rural, urban, and suburban. With its unprecedented reach—with an office in or near most of the nation’s approximately 3,000 counties — Extension agents help farmers grow crops, homeowners plan and maintain their homes, and children learn skills to become tomorrow’s leaders. The roots of U.S. agricultural Extension go back to the early years of our country. There were agricultural societies and clubs after the American Revolution, and in 1810 came the first Farm Journal. It survived for only two years, but in 1819 John Stuart Skinner of Baltimore began publishing the American Farmer. Farmers were encouraged to report on their achievements and their methods of solving problems. Some worthwhile ideas, along with some utterly useless ones, appeared on the pages of the publication. Over the last century, Extension has adapted to changing times and landscapes, and it continues to address a wide range of human, plant, and animal needs in both urban and rural areas. Today, Extension works in six major areas: • 4-H Youth Development — cultivates important life skills in youth that build character and assist them in making appropriate life and At-risk youth participate in school retention and enrichment programs. Youth learn science, math, social skills and much more, through hands-on projects and activities. • Agriculture — research and educational programs help individuals learn new ways to produce income through alternative enterprises, improved marketing strategies, and management skills and help farmers and ranchers improve productivity through resource management, controlling crop pests, soil testing, livestock production practices • Leadership Development —trains Extension professionals and volunteers to deliver programs in gardening, health and safety, family and consumer issues, and 4-H youth development and serve in leadership roles in the community. • Natural Resources —teaches landowners and homeowners how to use natural resources wisely and protect the environment with educational programs in water quality, timber management, composting, lawn waste management and recycling. • Family and Consumer Sciences —helps families become resilient and healthy by teaching nutrition, food preparation skills, positive child care, family communication, financial management and health • Community and Economic Development —helps local governments investigate and create viable options for economic and community development, such as improved job creation and retention, small and medium-sized business development, effective and coordinated emergency response, solid waste disposal, tourism development, workforce education and land use planning. Regardless of the program, Extension expertise meets public needs at the local level. Although the number of local Extension offices has declined over the years, and some county offices have consolidated into regional Extension centers, approximately 2,900 Extension offices remain nationwide. Increasingly, Extension serves a growing, increasingly diverse constituency with fewer and fewer resources.

The Cinnamon sold in the USA is actually Cassia. Cassia has relatively high levels of coumarin which could be toxic. Ceylon Cinnamon on the other hand has 1250 times less coumarin than Cassia. So the next time you buy Cinnamon make sure it is Ceylon Cinnamon and not Cassia a substitute for real Cinnamon. Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) states that Coumarin is a flavouring which is found in higher oncentrations in the types of cinnamon grouped together under the name “cassia cinnamon”. Relatively small amounts of coumarin can damage the liver of particularly sensitive individuals. What is coumarin and where does it occur? Coumarin is a natural flavouring and perfume that is found in many plants. It occurs in higher concentrations in the types of cinnamon grouped together under the name “cassia cinnamon”, for instance woodruff, tonka beans and melilot. How much coumarin does cinnamon contain? A rough distinction can be made between two types of cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon only contains low levels of coumarin which are safe from the Institute’s risk assessment perspective. By contrast, cassia cinnamon contains high levels of coumarin and large amounts of this cinnamon should not, therefore, be eaten. How can consumers distinguish between Ceylon cinnamon and cassia cinnamon? It is almost impossible for consumers to distinguish between Ceylon cinnamon and cassia cinnamon in cinnamon powder. The situation is different in the case of cinnamon sticks. Whereas in the case of cassia cinnamon a relatively thick layer of the bark has been rolled into a stick, the cross-section of a Ceylon cinnamon stick looks more like a cigarette - several thin layers of bark have been rolled up into a cinnamon stick resulting in a comparatively compact cross-section. The origin of the cinnamon is not normally declared on the packaging; sometimes false information has been supplied in the past. Have maximum levels been set for coumarin in cinnamon and who is responsible for monitoring compliance? No maximum level has been established for coumarin as yet. Consumer safety is, however, ensured by the general food law provisions which prohibit the marketing of "unsafe foods”. Furthermore, BfR believes it would be prudent to establish maximum coumarin levels for cinnamon. BfR will prepare the scientific basis for this. If coumarin-containing plant parts like cinnamon are used for flavouring, then the amount of coumarin is limited to 2 milligrams per kilogram food according to the Flavourings Ordinance. Food manufacturers and importers are responsible for ensuring compliance with maximum levels. They may not place harmful foods on the market. Here are some of the health benefits of cinnamon as found by a large number of research studies from around the world: - As little as just 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon per day can lower LDL cholesterol. - In a study published by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Maryland, Cinnamon reduced the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells. - Has an anti-clotting effect on the blood (natural blood-thinner). - Cinnamon is a natural food preservative: Added to food, it inhibits bacterial growth and food spoilage. - Excellent source of manganese, fiber, iron, calcium and other minerals.

February 2014 marks the 88th anniversary of the observance of Black History Month, honoring the past achievements and present status of black Americans. This celebration is sponsored annually by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), founded by Carter G. Woodson in 1915. Our 2014 National African American History theme is “Civil Rights in America” with particular emphasis on the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. One of the major features of this historic act was Title IV — Desegregation of Public Education, encouraging desegregation of public schools and authorizing the US Attorney General to file suits to force desegregation. Today, 50 years later, equity in education is still a vital civil rights concern along with equality of opportunity, with President Obama suggesting that success should depend on “work ethic and scope of out dreams,” believing that if you work hard, you can get ahead. That same notion was expressed by Paul many years ago when he said in Romans 14:13, “let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or cause to fall in our brother’s way.” As we pursue equity in education, the process of leveling the playing field needs to start with high quality early education intervention programs, making our children and young people our number one priority. Investing in our children for all demographic groups will benefit us all. This is an important lesson our community should learn before it’s too late. While we are introducing our children to enriching preschooling activities, we must also find ways to engage parents in activities that create strong home learning environment. These positive relationships between the home and school will go a long way in fostering and sustaining student learning and achievement. According to the National PTA, “when a child knows parents and teachers are regularly working together, the child will see that education is a high priority requiring commitment and effort.” So, parents and student advocates, let’s encourage our children to dream big and to have the fortitude to reach them, removing obstacles to drive, determination and a willingness to work hard. As Americans, we must resolve to put into practice our belief that each individual should have the same opportunity to realize his or her potential. Getting quality education is the pathway to opportunity, and it can be a path to a better future for all who are willing to work hard. As I’ve said before, Sampson County schools have some great students, dedicated teachers, competent leadership staff and concerned parents, with strong community support. However, as a former high school teacher and a concerned citizen, I am bothered by the fact that along the way, from starting school to around late elementary school, far too many students become “infected” with what I call “learned hopelessness”. For the most part, these students had been eager to learn and achieve, but gradually they became resigned to doing just enough to get by, losing the desire to be academically successful. These individuals become some of our schools’ most vulnerable students, becoming suspended and expelled, and drop out at higher rates. I do applaud the school systems’ administrations for setting goals and seeking solutions to better address the needs of our most vulnerable students, helping each individual realize his or her potential. As a community, we must continue to invest in out country’s future prosperity by fulfilling out commitment to equality of opportunity for all. Our schools, businesses and government leaders must engage more young adults continually in school and work, knowing that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.

There are many phrases that people say so frequently that few of us actually think about the words and what they mean put together in those phrases. Some such phrases are idioms, expressions whose meanings are not predictable from the usual meanings of their constituent elements -- such as "I'll pick you up at 3:30" (or the British version, "I'll knock you up at 3:30") -- the phrase is not used to indicate that the speaker is actually going to bodily pick up the listener, at 3:30 or any other time. However, other phrases have just come into being incorrectly and their use has been perpetuated by most of us without parsing the phrase to understand it or correct it. This essay is about those types of phrases, specifically those related directly to birding. The most commonly-used and widespread phrase that is used indiscriminately is "pair of binoculars." Raise your hand if you've ever really contemplated that one; I will bet that there are very few hands in the air. Let's parse the phrase, shall we. "Pair" means two of a kind in general English usage, though does have a different meaning that birders/ornithologists use (indicating a mated pair of birds, one of each sex). However, we'll stick with the general usage of two of a kind, as in aces, shoes, and dice. (How we got the phrase "pair of pants" is best left for a different venue.) "of" is a preposition that indicates in this case the items that make up the "pair." "binocular" is the tricky bit here, as the word is usually used in an adjectival sense, nearly always modifying "vision." However, since it's part of the prepositional phrase "of binoculars" that is modifying the noun "pair," we're obviously not using "binocular" in the sense of vision. Let's take a closer look at that word. It is composed of two parts, a prefix "bi" that indicates two -- bipolar = two poles; bi-weekly = twice a week -- and "ocular," which in this sense is referring to the lenses at the end of the equipment in consideration that one generally puts up to ones eyes (the ocular lenses; the lenses at the other end are the objective lenses). Thus, "binocular = two oculars." Using algebra -- you remember, "if a=b and b=c, then a=c" -- we'll replace "binoculars" in the phrase of interest with "two oculars," which results in "pair of two oculars" or, if we do the multiplication, we have four oculars. (I bet that you didn't expect an essay on words to delve so deeply into mathematics, did you?) But, to have four oculars, we would have to have two of those far-seeing optical devices made by companies such as Leica, Swarovski, and Zeiss. That is because there are only two ocular lenses on those tools. So, we come to the gist of the essay, "How did we get saddled with a patently incorrect phrase such as 'pair of binoculars?'" A few years back, I got to thinking about that phrase for the first time and decided that I would not use it anymore and would henceforth use the correct phrase... well, it's barely a phrase because I didn't need the preposition any longer, because "pair" is no longer needed, so I don't have to indicate what items make up that pair. That leaves just the single word "binocular." As in, "Let me get my binocular and we'll head out." Or, "Did you get a new binocular at the sale at the Obs this month?" When I moved back to Cape May a couple years back, I found that Michael O'Brien had also cogitated on that phrase and had come to the same conclusion. As far as I know, he and I are the only ones using "binocular" in this sense. Whether we're initiating a sea change or simply tilting at windmills has yet to be determined.

CNA training is needed to work in many health care positions. The training that you receive CNA prepares you for a position in health care, or CNA allow you to continue your education as a nurse or another health care professional. Here are some of the basic things that you will learn with your CNA training, and how the training can assist you in becoming a health care professional. What You Learn When you are interested in CNA training for a new job, perhaps the most important thing to consider is the hands-on training that you receive. Typically, CNA training takes place in a practical setting, such as a hospital, clinic, or other medical setting. You will work with someone who is experienced in the field to learn how to properly care for patients, including the activities that must be completed on schedule and how to complete these daily tasks the right way. You may also have textbooks that you use, as well. Most CNA training ends with a certification. To obtain your certification, you need to pass a written test as well as a practical exam where you show your trainers how to perform specific tasks with patients. Many health care facilities offer free CNA training to people in exchange for employment with the facility. You will be paid after the training, even if your certification was free. Other people complete their training at a local college or university. There are also many medical schools that offer training, as well. After you have completed CNA training, you are ready to begin your career. As a certified nurse’s assistant, you will work to provide patients with their basic needs. For example, you may help bedridden patients with bathing, give patients their medications, or provide support for mobility. The jobs that you perform on a daily basis will vary depending on the medical facility that you work in and the amount of experience that you have. Some certified nurse’s assistants continue their education while working as a CNA to become registered nurses. One of the benefits of CNA training is that there are many job opportunities in the field. You can find a wide range of job opportunities at any medical facility in the nation, including in hospices, nursing homes, and hospitals so it is simple to find the perfect job for your personal needs.

Jul 30, 2010 Jul 29, 2010 When Whitman says, as he often did, that his poetry and his life or his poems and his body are the same, it should probably be understood in light of his comparison of himself with birds. The idea of the relationship between the bird and the bird's song is the same one Whitman is trying to convey about the relationship between him and his poetry. When he said, as he did to the St. Louis Post Dispatch in 1876, "more than all I determined from the beginning to put a whole living man in the expression of a poem" and, as he did in "A Backward Glance O'er Travel'd Roads," a statement summing up and explaining all of Leaves of Grass, that the poem that was his life's work was "an attempt, from first to last, to put a Person, a human being (myself, in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century, in America,) freely, fully and truly on record," what those somewhat strange statement's mean might best be understood by consideration of how a bird's life and song are inseparable. Birds don't sing to express some sentiment, there is no gap, for them, between sign and signified. Their songs are, essentially, the same as being alive. In the same way a motor's hum is the same as it being on, a bird sings because it's a bird, because it's alive. In this way it's quite literal to say to the bird, "If thou wast not granted to sing thou would'st surely die." This is a prime example of what Whitman's talking about when he talks about "vivification," "the glows and glories and final illustriousness which belong to every real thing, and to real things only," which, for Whitman, is what language is supposed to be, and what poets are supposed to make happen, how they save the language. It's not incidental that he compares himself so constantly to birds; it is, in fact, an integral part of his understanding of poetry. Whitman isn't just offering the bird's song as an analogy for poetry. As presented in "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," birds are actually the originators of the poetry Whitman wants to practice, and they are the ones who taught it to him. In a way, he understands himself to be of the bird's school of poetry. It is from them that "A thousand warbling echoes have started to life with me, never to die" and from that experience that Whitman's "own songs awakened." The poem acts as a coming-of-age story, an autobiographical account of how little Walt became a poet, how the poet went into the wilderness and found his poet's voice. He starts on Paumanok, "Throwing myself on the sand, confronting the waves" (19) and reminiscences about being a child there, remembering the beginning, his beginning, moved by tears to remember that moment of origin, when the poet became the poet: When the lilac-scent was in the air and the Fifth-month grass was growing Up this seashore in some briers, Two feather'd guests from Alabama, two together, And their next, and four light-green eggs spotted with brown, And ever day the he-bird to and fro near at hand, And every day the she-bird crouch'd on her nest, silent, with bright eyes, And every day I, a curious boy, never too close, never disturbing them, Cautiously peering, absorbing, translating. There is, here, a standard coming-of-age story about a childhood experience where one is exposed to the facts of sex and death, yet Whitman is also fixed on the form of these revelations, the bird's singing. "I," he writes, "with bare feet, a child, the wafting my hair, / Listen'd long and long" and "treasur'd every note." While he's certainly interested and moved by the subjects of which he perceives the bird to be singing, it is the singing itself that acts as the revelation. It is the song that awakens the boy, transforms him from boy to poet. It is the song to which he, like a child coming forward for conversion at the end of an impassioned tent revival, commits himself for forever. It is not the subject of the singing that changes the boy into the poet, but the singing itself. Whitman even suggests that the song wasn't really about what it was about, but was intended, actually, for him and for the purposes of his revelation of poetry. He uses what could be taken as religious conversion language to describe how he heard the song, "For I, that was a child, my tongue's use sleeping, now I have heard you, / Now in a moment I know what I am for, I awake." It is the song, specifically, which awakened him, and the song, specifically, to which he commits himself, saying, "never more shall I cease perpetuating you." This is why, when Whitman identifies with birds and compares himself to birds, it's not just a nature-loving analogy, but is, in fact, for Whitman, a very serious move. Jul 28, 2010 An odd thing: even foundations, literal foundations, aren't foundational in the sense that foundationalists want foundations to be. Philosophers often tend to forget that metaphors are metaphors, analogies, analogies, but in this case it's particularly odd because the metaphor itself is just wrong. The idea is that ideas, understandings of the world, knowledge, etc. must be based on something, it must have a foundation, there be something solid underneath. Pretty much everything, though, starts from an assumption, or tautological definition, a founding axiom that, itself, doesn't have a foundation. An example is the idea that everything, in principle, can be proven to be true or false. But how, if you accept that, would you prove that idea to be true or false? It only works as an assumption, or a trivial, definitional claim. The foundationalists' question, though, kind of gives itself over to infinite regress, even though, ostensibly, that's what they're trying to avoid. The stock story is the one (Hindu?) of the question of "what holds up the world?" And the answer is "elephants." "But what holds up the elephants?" And the answer is "turtles." "And what holds up the turtles?" "More turtles." That this is nonsense is the nightmare of foundationalists, but what answer could they get? What answer did they did think they would get? What would be taken or could be taken as foundational? That is, what answer could possibly be given that wouldn't elicit the question again? And think about actual foundations. What holds up a house? A foundation. And what holds up a foundation? Kind of nothing. There's dirt, but it isn't solid, which is why you need a foundation, which is big enough and solid enough to do the job, but the job is just supporting an edifice. It's not absolute or anything, and there's no foundation for the foundation, because that's not needed. Jul 25, 2010 Swearing in his second language, it's fucking you to kidding me, a Croatian mad can't get what he wants and his baby, illegal now due to bureaucracy, cries and cries. The airline agents form three lines -- a sieve to slow the flow of traffic. One woman, uniformed in friendly blue, alternatively in German and English, gets mad at people. On the train they read serious books. In the airport, paperback thrillers. Each time, the officers on rounds choose the same man to wake up off the benches. They ask, why would you go to Abu Dabi? Politics or movies, they don't care what the answer is, the Austrians ask as Austrians always as ask: what do you think of Arnold Schwarzenegger? It is amazing story, they say, he started as this little farm boy and now he is the Governator in your country. We knew he was trouble as soon as we saw the Oilers ball cap. Now he discourses on pot in America, parties in Europe, and himself, always himself. She runs -- runs -- abandoning her bags and jumping on him. Later, they make out on the escalator. For Dutch, call after 9:30. Thank Jesus, the manic American says, getting on board on a stand-by ticket, ignoring the five people behind him who will wait in another airport, another day: God answers prayers. I want you to remember that -- he really does. It's the power of prayer. God answers prayers. Jul 24, 2010 1. What if we think about America not as a nation of places, but of transportation? Places are cross roads, eddies, depots, rest stops within the thing, which is the system of movement. (Philip Fisher says, why is it we always say it feels like home?) 2. I think my favorite moment of Mad Men is this moment early on, where Don and Roger are drinking the office, and Roger says something snarky and old-manish about kids these days, and Don says, just flat, "well look who they have to look up to." The show is this infinite regress of male confusion. The only man on the whole show who's not bluffing is the grandpa withAlzheimer's. 3. For me, the trick of experimentalist novels is when the do not just present an experience or describe a situation, but create a situation where the reader must engage with the basic problem. They are, in this way, thought problems. And they can only really be read if one asks oneself the question "how do I read?" 4. Two ideas that seem to get positive responses, though I haven't worked them out beyond a thesis: One: The American aesthetic of simplicity emerges out of the Second Great Awakening's need for something to moderate between doctrine and experience, and Andrew Jackson presidential campaign, which empowered/created a populist class and a frontier experience, both of which reinforced or feed into each other; Two, the post-WWII boom of the suburbs shaped and formed American evangelicalism (as we know it today), and the other way around. I'm leaning towards the second one, essentially because I'm more interested in the 20th century. 5. Isn't one of the functions of reader response theory commonly to protect the author and/or work from criticism, and make whatever's objectionable the reader's fault? "The ba-sic theory, is, that when given an unstruc-tyred stimulus, some shape-less blob of exper-ience, the subject, will seek to impose, struc-ture on it. How, he goes a-bout struc-turingthis blob, will reflect his needs, his hopes -- will provide us with clues, to his dreams,fan-tasies, the deepest re-gions of his mind." Jul 22, 2010 mingled with the lachrymose cries of the Salvation Army meeting on the corner saying, "Satan is the cause of it all" Now I'm transcontinental 3,000 miles from my home I'm on the California Zephyr watching America roll by -- Jack Kerouac/Jay Farrar Jul 21, 2010 Diagramming Lewis Carroll History of canned laughter The battle over left-over Kafka Keroauc and Ginsberg's letters Conversations with Harvey Pekar Prais Review unaccepting poetry now Dennis Lehane on the noir novel 'Galveston' Interview with Gordon "Captain Fiction" Lish Searching for journalism in an age of branding Bret Easton Ellis disses David Foster Wallace Neil Gaiman 101 John Updike at work What is a long poem? The Pope's astronomer Colons make a come-back Math as performance art No poets at the Tea Party DeLillo at Yankee stadium Roger Ebert on architecture Sontag interviewed in 2000 Tarkovsky's films now online What politics does to history Karl Rove on his worst mistake Journalism and dubious numbers The indignation of Philip Roth Faulkner as writer in residence Preserved Polish prison tattoos Attack on Iran back on the table Video games come of critical age Beautiful work of Penn and Teller 50 years after the Sot Weed Factor Poem as moment of beauty and grace Enter the secret world of wikileaks Ta-Nehisi Coates on writing and rap What's wrong with online journalism What America should learn from Flint New Vietnam War documents reveal lie Bureaucracy meets art, delighting Christo A Conservative's critique of the prison system Minimalism, maximalism and architechture trends An introductory appreciation of the Mountain Goats Wendell Berry imagines a place he has always known The origin of using typographical marks for curses Born again Berkowitz and his evangelical assistants Exhibit A for govt-run health care: Dick Cheney's heart John Darnielle: the terms of your moral universe are lame Making newspapers worth saving isn't the same as saving them David Lynch on consciousness, creativity and Transcendental Meditation Jul 19, 2010 "The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work."Read it all @ Top Secret America: A Washington Post Investigation. A professor said to me the other day he didn't think critics and academics understood the web and web 2.0 yet. "We keep writing about it," he said, "but I'm not convinced we actually know what we're talking about -- it's too amorphous." Sometimes I think there's a generational gap on these things, so old models and outdated concerns keep getting applied to the subject, but then, too, when most people and even young people and even people who are younger than me and more digitally native than me talk about these technologies I tend to think they're asking the wrong questions. Even if I don't know quite what the right question is. As an example, consider the similarities between the Old Spice campaign and State Department campaign. In a way this is just a new type of advertising, with its focus excessively on brand identification -- possibly to the extent that other things are ignored -- but it's also, isn't it?, a new kind of text. And it's difficult, I think, to cut through the hoopla to say exactly what's happening here, and it's difficult, too, to get through the whiz-bang and whistles to say exactly what's important about it, and how one should read it to understand it to say what it says about us as a culture. As with Neda, most of us seem to see what we want to see, and the content is content free, but filled with our projections, and talking about it means bringing in all of these assumptions about what "it" is, assumptions that, at this point, are not really a part of the conversation. Jul 17, 2010 It is easy when reading Walt Whitman, the Good Gray Poet, the crazy old man with a beard, to begin and end with the barbaric yawp. A significant part of what attracts students and scholars to Whitman’s work in the first place is this exuberance, the feeling of freedom, the reassurance of joy, the vibrancy of his verse that seems to burst forth, even unbidden, in a great, liberating gush. This is the aspect of Whitman that really moves people, and really sells. It can be marketed to a mass audience, as was seen in 2009 when the scratchy recording of the poet reading “America,” played over scenes of indomitable, bare-shouldered youth and a climax of fireworks, was used to sell Levi’s blue jeans. It was also this life-loving, worry-free Whitman who appeared as an apparition in Allen Ginsberg’s “A Supermarket in California.” In the advertisement, Whitman serves as a voice of reassurance in anxious times, and in the poem, Whitman works as a contrast to Ginsberg’s own nervousness and dread. It’s Whitman’s joie de vivre that makes him into this figure we want to follow. He’s the funny old grandfather who, acting as liberated as a child, sets us free. He eats artichokes without paying, in Ginsberg’s poem, and doesn’t know or care that the doors are going to close in an hour. Hungry and having nothing in the neon store, Ginsberg dreams of Whitman's enumerations -- "What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes!" -- and pleadingly asks, “Which way does your beard point tonight?” It’s an anxious question which the scratchy voice on the Levi’s ad might rightly be understood to be answering with its assurance that America is “centre of equal daughters, equal sons, / All, all alike endear’d,” and “Perennial with the Earth.” Whitman functions as an invitation to overcome anxiety and to come and yawp barbaric. Jul 16, 2010 Jul 14, 2010 When Christopher Nolan is good -- and Inception looks like it could be very good -- he does, in a way, what Jonathan Letham does. That is, he takes genres that are, usually, cheap, and he takes them seriously (just because he actually does find them interesting) and gives them seriousness (just because he is serious), and ends up producing something that is really amazing. Both Memento and Motherless Brooklyn, for example, start with a straightforward genre, add a formal element (the reversed narrative for Nolan, a narrator with Tourette's for Letham), and then tells a story. The formal element is a limitation that at first sounds like a stunt, sounds like it's going to be interesting but ultimately a cheap trick, and the genre just is what it is, but then they use those structures and the limitations of those structures to tell a really compelling, insightful and interesting story. I get the impression, too, that both of them kind of do want to be pop, genre writers. A part of Letham wants to be Philip K. Dick. A part of Nolan wants to be Steven Speilberg. They love their genres, and aren't worried about being perceived as serious. They are serious, but not self-serious. They're not like Jonathan Franzen and M. Night Shyamalan (respectively), who seem to need to be thought of a certain way more than they need to produce art that they like. One gets the sense, and maybe this is wrong, that Nolan and Letham produce this kind of work because this is who they are, this is what they love. They seem comfortable with their work -- both the avant-garde, experimental aspects of it and the mass culture, entertainment industry aspects too -- and like they don't feel the need to justify themselves. Jul 13, 2010 The balloon truck mafia Karl Rove's book club Reinventing the library Collecting panhandler signs Scientist undressing gravity Aesthetics of American poverty (Not) finding Hopper's Nighthawks Apocalyptic summer reading list Christopher Nolan latest project In defense of Chicago's libraries Twain tells us how he really feels Derrida, a quasi-autistic character Biography of the Golden Gate Bridge Don't give up on M. Night Shyamalan The un-unified history of Glenn Beck McCain's losing and maybe last battle Denis Johnson's papers go to UT Austin How US intelligence became big business Big Boi's masterful Sir Lucious Left Foot Are our brains big enough for modern art? Police departments need drug war for funding In a car in Iraq, as things shift and change Are we about to find the Higgs boson particle? 20 years of covering police torture in Chicago The unglamorous violence of The Killer Inside Me Some suggestions for improving the global mug/world cup The problem with understanding Daniel Johnston as a naive Leaning how to not sound smart for the confirmation hearing James Wood reads David Mitchell and our post-postmodernism(?) Against despair: don't misread history, it harms progressivism Jul 12, 2010 Harvey Pekar is dead at 70. I realize there are several really critical ways to read his sadsack, lonely, pessimistic art, and I don't want to give the impression I read more than a little of his work, but I thought it was moving and honest. It had a sort of terrible but also shallow and slightly sour and metallic-tasing sadness that I knew. It's easy to take that kind of sadness though and try to heroize it. Make it romantic or something. Like you're better or more moral for your sadness. I didn't feel like Pekar did that, though. He didn't go for sappy. He made you feel like shit and like crying. May he rest in peace. It's not like first and second semester students deploy every possible logical fallacy. They actually tend to stick with just a few: Straw man, slippery slope, and post hoc ergo propter hoc. And they're not even mistakes qua mistakes -- as errors or accidents -- but as expressions, I think, deep expressions, of our assumptions and common presuppositions about the way the world works. Niklas Luhmann talks about the space of rationality, the span in speaking and in society where something is taken as or counted as rational, and says "logical" is defined, for example, but the outer limits of paradox and tautology, that is, the space between these two places, the limits where logic twists in on itself (warps, crumples, inwardly crushes or implodes, like under the forces of gravity, but with a spectrum similar to color) and it is still logic even then, but mangled, and a good border for the range of what we call logic. I think that's interesting in the context of common student essay errors, in that sometimes, actually, the reason this bit or that bit of logic is wrong is built exactly on the reason or the assumption or the belief that also leads to a right bit of logic being right. Put it another way: If you dig down past the error, look past why, precisely, the claim in the third paragraph or that particular conclusion was wrong, and try to come up with why these fallacies are common and constant and sometimes seemingly intractable, you come to something common in all of us. I think you come to the same assumptions that give us any space of rationality at all. Like straw man. Underneath, below the flawed abstraction of fake opposition, isn't the assumption that being right is connected (somehow) with being good? And isn't this an assumption we all make, and should make, and need to too -- the assumption that makes working to be right and trying to really think through and discern what's right seem important? And slippery slope: Isn't the basic kernel of an idea that little bad things lead to big bad things, and small, theoretical errors lead to public and very actual disasters, and isn't that essentially right, and also essential for a functioning society? Isn't this an assumption I want people (like say, those who build oil drilling rigs in the ocean, or those who decide what can be sold and how on Wall Street) to make? Those two fallacies are actually pretty easy to correct. Or, maybe what it is, is, it's not too hard to show the students how the correct assumption about reason can be separated pretty cleanly from the particular error of a lack of charity, or apocalyptic extrapolation. They seem to get that, once it's explained once or twice, and correct themselves and their arguments. The third one is harder though. More insistent. And I wonder if that's because it's not so easily distinguished from the supposition I have to and need to make for the sake of reason and argument and rationality. It's true that too the Latin tends to intimidate. It can communicate threatening complexity and "you can't understand this." Probably I should call it something else, like the "lucky shirt fallacy", like begging the question seems easier to understand or feel like you understand than petitio principii, instead of just sticking with the long Latin name and translating it and trying to hammer hard the question to ask themselves, "how does this cause -- cause cause cause cause cause -- that?" But isn't it, underneath and at root, an unanalyzed belief about narrative? Isn't it the basic idea that meaning unfolds in time? That previous and prior events cause and create and explain later ones? Note that no one makes the mistake of causally connecting co-occurant events. Or, they do, but only by asserting that the one happened first and then the other. In a really common example of the error, for example, you say "there's a woman with an umbrella, a dog, and then a dump truck, but did the woman cause the dog and the dump truck," which assumes a sequential relationship even in the effort to undermine the assumption of a sequential, causal relationship. The first time I heard post hoc ergo propter hoc explained (by a preacher on tape) it was with the example or peanut consumption in D.C. as the water level of the Potomac, which seem to have an inverse relationship, as every time sales of salted peanuts rises, the water in the Potomac drops, and when the sales slack off, the water rises again. Of course the connection is only incidental, and it's not that peanut-thirsty Washingtonians are drinking up the river, but that the river goes down in summer, when it's hot and doesn't rain, which is baseball weather, which is when the most peanuts are eaten in the nation's capitol. The error, here, can be conceived of almost entirely as a question of the misarrangement of events. The intuition that chronology equals causation, or, really, reason and order, which we take as causation, seems unshakable. Even when there's a good argument to be made, for example, about how a later event caused, or, more loosely, created or constructed an earlier event -- and since I identify with poststructuralism and as I've been reading some of the historography of Hayden White and the cultural studies of Stuart Hall, I think there is, in fact, a strong (though maybe limited) case to be made that the past is never the past as such, but is a construction and perception and an artifact of the present -- that seems so counter-intuitive as to require a kind of suspension of belief. It seems so wrong and obviously wrong that it serves as a caricature of silly postmodernists who reject capital-T Truth. There's a moment in Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time where he suggests that time is connected with the expanding universe and that as that expansion might eventually slow down and pause and then reverse itself and start to collapse and contract, time might run in reverse. I'm pretty sure he suggests that time won't actually run in reverse but that that's a good metaphor for Big Bang cosmology expectations (or anyway that's how I understood in my freshman astrophysics class), and in the film there's a scene where everyday scenes are shown in reverse, so a smashed cup leaps back onto the table and reassembles itself. What's so freaky and sci fi about this of course is the idea of time in reverse, of meaning going backwards and causation going that way too. And even the kind of language I've used here like "underneath" and "at root" participates in that same assumption of chronology and narrative, that idea (a reflex) that earlier events explain later ones. I wonder if this doesn't mean, though, and if the intractability and commonality of the fallacy doesn't mean that narrative is logically "prior" to logic. Or that logic is always involved in a context of narrative. That logic itself isn't a kind of strange or strained version of narrative. The idea of meaning unfolding in time certainly asserts (itself) equally in the valid and invalid logical moves. So that "underneath" it all are narratives, and the form of narrative as explanation, as the form something has to take to count or be considered as an explanation. We treat this central space and this place where we operate as if it were the site of rationality and even, à la Jürgen Habermas, a consensus of reason and what will be considered as reasonable, but it seems that we can easily lose logic, we can shake it, as if it were an armature spy on our tail, but narrative and that form or framework sticks with us. If logic is the space between tautology and paradox, isn't it true that both of those borders are still understood even if they are the outer edge of logic because they're still well within the space of narrative and those assumptions of the form that that's meaning? It's normally true, too, that what is called non-narrative or anti-narrative is still very much narrative (as my uncle said, even a sentence is the unfolding of meaning in time, and consider as an example the three narratives in the sentences in the line in Oz: "Medicine is not narrative. Blue trashed sky. Firemen on ladders into the smoking night.") This structure is pervasive and certainly pervades even our grammar, which is how I would explain, for example, hypotaxis. This is, of course, an old point for me -- that we are embedded in stories. Which is not to say they're natural or formless or unconstructed, or that they can't be criticized or analyzed, but just that is there is no outside of narrative, there's no translation from this to something else, there is no encoding and decoding as there's no non-narrative code that we could know. Even within logic and when logic breaks down, the structures of story are still there. Logic is also embedded within the assumptions of narrative. Hayden White notes in Tropics of Discourse that "Our discourse always tends to slip away from our data towards the structures of consciousness with which we are trying to grasp them," which gets much more complicated when we realize that the "data" isn't free and floating separately from the structure either, and he note that tropes, for example, are fundamental even in valid syllogisms: "The move from the major premise (All men are mortal) to the choice of the datum of to serve as the minor (Socrates is a man) is itself a tropological move, a "swerve" from the universal to the particular which logic cannot preside over, since it is logic itself that is being served by this move. Every applied syllogism contains an entheymemic element, this element consisting of nothing but the decision to move from the plane of universal propositions (themselves extended synecdoches) to that of singular existential statements (these being extended metonymies)" (italics original).The idea is, then, that we are radically trapped within narratives, within that range of forms and those assumptions of meanings. Which isn't, I don't think, as bad as it might sound. We still, for example, can reject as wrong the errors of post hoc ergo propter hoc, but maybe it would work better if I was making the case not by an appeal to the rarified and limited space of logic, and instead tried to explain it in terms of the aesthetics of story. Read more about life in Tübingen @ Because of course. Jul 9, 2010 Jul 8, 2010 The way it worked was, the water came up out of a pipe connected to a pump and into a sluice, an open-faced metal sluice going down to the wheel, which turned, as I remember, under the force of falling water, grinding the sorghum cane we feed into the guts of the gears. The cane came out crushed and slightly sticky. The syrup was strained, filtered, and poured into jars. The water, after it pushed the wheel that crushed the cane, was done, and dribbled off through the dirt, the hard-packed and rocky dirt, splitting into a hundred little wormy water ways, each downhill a different direction until the soil softened and the water cut a trench, coming together again in a stream. I was a kid and curious and someone tried to explain to me why the water ran the way it did, but I didn't really understand. He said the water wanted to run downhill, but, one, I couldn't see how the water could want and, two, that wasn't exactly what happened. Even if you assumed for explanatory purposes that the water had agency (which wasn't a word I knew) it still wasn't that simple, and what the water wanted didn't account for things. It didn't just run downhill, for example, it ran uphill in some places or seemed to, and all different ways. It split up in some, and dug down in others in the dirt. The water had this ongoing interaction with dirt, and everything about the water was shaped and structured by that relationship. It wasn't like the dirt did anything (it did even less than the water), but you had to have the context, and couldn't just say the water wants to run down hill. Alright, he said, as if I'd caught him, what the water does is it goes the easiest way. Through the dirt. It follows the path of least resistance. There's a bridge I used to cross all the time -- twice a day at least. It's a long, concrete bridge, build in the '50s, spanning a tiny little trickle of water and a big broad wash of sand. The bridge bridged the arroyo, mainly, with the creek kind of incidental, except that it moved a few feet west every year. Every year it ran in the bed, a trickle, but also ate away at the brittle compressed sand on the one side (always that side) and shifted that way, persistently. I guess at one point they considered at least somewhat seriously the idea of laying down concrete to keep the creek from moving, turn it into a tiny canal, but the problem was you couldn't account for upstream, and as that shifted it wouldn't always align with the concrete bulwark and the bulwark might actually end up pushing the water out of the arroyo up to the road or under it. So instead they built this extra long bridge. Which, if you think about it, was built over a series of creeks expected in the future, each one adjusted west a little farther like tree rings, an expected fan of not-quite parallel lines in time. What always seemed strange to me, though, crossing the bridge, was the relationship between the creek and creek bed. Because the creek was contained by the bed, but also the bed was made by the creek. It wasn't like the one made the other, but they both made each other in some way. And which one directed which, if you were going to put it in those terms, for the direction was also errosion at the same time, an effacement and an interrelation, each one structured by the other, and just saying agency is too simple, and each one turns and transforms the other though at dirrent rates of change over time. I think this is like what I'm thinking of when I'm thinking of the importance of discourse in understanding ideas. Jul 7, 2010 Wendell Berry reads DeLillo and the oil spill Not-reading is fundamental Miles Davis '58 soundtrack Redesigning As I Lay Dying Facebook makes the war real Time to revise Godwin's law 80 years of book cover design Weird portraits of celebrities The power of Palin's endorsement Stanley Hauerwas on America's god The crisis of capitalism, animated The smack talking of Floyd Mayweather Visualizing memory, photographing war Why video games matter (it's the story) Eagleton: Evil is everywhere and nowhere Zizek: Philosophy does not solve problems Towards a society of autonomous producers Teaching military history in a time of war David Brooks and the failure of reasonable New directions in David Foster Wallace studies Russian math genius turns down $1 million prize FBI spent years spying on alleged Russian spies The Declaration of Independence, by H.L. Mencken Police surveillance and obstruction of Free speech Neo-Nazis frustrated by Germany's multi-ethnic soccer team Harper Lee almost talks a reporter 50 years after To Kill a Mockingbird A non-review of Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself The death of David Foster Wallace and the start of a discipline The aggressiveness of the John Roberts Supreme court Reconciliation is just another form of torture The night shift on national security The radical hopelessness of Treme Lindsey Graham's the maverick now Altizer and Zizek at the AAR Calling for a black NRA Sumo's underworld ties The elusive omniscient Jul 6, 2010 "But so some E.T.A.s -- not just Hal Incandenza by any means -- are involved with recreational substances, is the point. Like who isn't, at some life-stage, in the U.S.A. and Interdependent regions, in these troubled times, for the most part. Though a decent percentage of E.T.A. students aren't at all. I.e. involved. Some persons can give themselves away to an ambitious pursuit and have that be all the giving-themselves-away-to-something they need to do. Though sometimes this changes as the players get older and the pursuit more stress-fraught. American experience seems to suggest that people are virtually unlimited in their need to give themselves away, on various levels. Some just prefer to do it in secret." -- David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest Jul 5, 2010 Privately, Senator Ted Kennedy would work with Republicans. He'd be cooperative, conciliatory, compromising, even tempered, and always eminently reasonable. Then, in public, according to Senator Lindsey Graham, Kennedy would lambaste the exact same Republicans he was working with. He might rip into them with a scalding speech, characterizing them as despicable and detestable, hard-hearted, cold-hearted and sub-humanly stupid and evil, i.e. Republicans. Which would work to ensure they'd get re-elected back home in their conservative, Kennedy-hating states, despite extensively working with Kennedy. And also that he'd get credit with his own constituency for reaching that far across the aisle. Now, there are two discourses going on here, and such a speech, apparently duplicitious, is designed to be read in different ways for different audiences, but the way Graham makes it sound, one is theater1 and meant to manipulate, and the other is "real." There's a tendency to do that, to take dual discourses and treat one of them as the Freudian2 slip of the other. Consider a fundamentalist such as Jerry Falwell: When he makes conciliatory statements to non-fundamentalists, to those not on the Christian right, and says, for instance, that homosexuals should not be denied their civil rights, and then in another context, in a discourse for fundamentalists and those "inside,"3 says that gays etc. are responsible for incurring God's wrath against America and are responsible for terrorist attacks, the former statement is taken as crafted and crafty, while the second is conceived of as a simple and true expression of Falwell's position. To do that, though, is to take the one without context, as not a discourse at all. The "inside" discourse is still a discourse, though, and has to be understood, to be understood, as having a context, as crafted and also meant to move (and manipulate). It is no more "true" than the less offensive things Falwell has said. It's actually just as constructed, and only really taken as "true" because of the way it appears to conflict with how he would want to appear in public, that is, the way an "inside" discourse looks "outside"4. The statements directed to the "outside" are of course theater, but part of that theater is to convince those inside that there is an inside, that they have access to the unvarnished version, when really that conversation is just as fraught if not more with manipulation and half-hidden motivations, and is no less designed than any other discourse. It is also theater. Context is still necessary5. Politically active fundamentalists have, in fact, spent more time and energy attempting to politicize and politically mobilize fundamentalists, who have historically shied away from politics, than they have attempting to directly influence American culture, and sometimes a fundamentalist's rhetorical excesses and apparent extremism should rightly be understood as an attempt to scare/shock/move certain Christians, and shouldn't be taken as the simply true version. Graham, likewise, seems to have taken Kennedy's performance as only meant for other people, missing exactly the part where it was a performance for him. Which is exactly what we do all the time, analyzing the discourses directed at others in such a way as to ignore or not notice the ones we're involved in -- construing it so that somehow everyone else is wrapped in elaborate layers of context and modes of manipulation while we have access to the "real," missing or not knowing or choosing not to know that discourses are like double agents, who could also be triple or double-double agents, and there is, of course, no simply "real" version. It's discourses all the way down. 1. The New York Times is specific to what type of theater this is: Kabuki. As if other types of theater are somehow not enough of a metaphor ... but, actually, the whole analysis of different types of discourse, and how there's no "real" version, but there are versions meant to convince the recipients of other versions that there's is real version, could probably be done again with just the Time's use of this word. 2. One of the downsides of the success and broad acceptance of psychology is the way in which it allows us, as a culture, to take certain things as "real." Consider, for example, how racism is today commonly understood to mean something like the condition of one's heart, an internal reality, having nothing to do social definitions, cultural contexts, acts, etc. Which means, in practice, that no one's a racists. This is, of course, one of the ways Freudianisms have been used to protect us from responsibility, instead of moving us to accept it (cf Zizek's In Defense of Lost Causes, 225). 3. Perhaps Falwell's single most famous statement, made on Sept. 13, 2001: "The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'" 4. Think about why overheard comments appear to be true. The overheard comment is, of course, a common political tactic, but it can be both used and counter-used. 5. Of course, the giving of context should also be understood as part of a discourse and having context, as, for example, Rush Limbaugh posts a daily list of links to articles he talks about, and Glenn Beck has an appendix to his "faction" book. The context communicates something quite apart from the actual content of the context. Jul 4, 2010 What we recognize of Independence I wouldn't recognize George the Third if I saw him on the street. I have no idea what he looks like. I could look him up, of course, but I have no internalized sense of his face, or how he looked, or how he carried himself and would stand. If George the Third stood next to me, I wouldn't know. I could give him directions or say hello without even with the slightest sense of trickling recognition, that sense of knowing without knowing why one knows, of trying to place a face in a context and connect it with something. None of it. Washington I would know. Even without the wig and in modern clothes, I think. I would recognize him, his face and how he stands, how he holds himself. Lincoln, for sure. Young or old. However much he did or did not match the pictures that we have on the penny and the five -- Lincoln feels as familiar to me a brother, and I think I could see him walking from across a field or far away and at his pace I'd quicken mine. Franklin's easy, of course. Jefferson would be harder, but still. But George the Third, no, I'd never know "the present King" if I saw him. It'd odd to me, reading the Declaration of Independence again today, hearing it again today, how much of it is historically contingent. How much of it applies to no one but those who signed, to no time or situation but theirs, except by the wildest possible reading. Their are those few lines, of course, at the beginning, that move despite their situatedness, their contingent context and the way they're crafted from the stuff of philosophy and politics, stuff that doesn't always age as well as it's supposed to, but so much of it is a list of things no one before nor since has recognized. It, like history, happened once. The present King and the colonial relationship, the facts presented to a candid world, the King who refused his Assent to Laws and forbade his Governors to pass some Laws of pressing importance, who endeavoured to prevent the population of these/those States: it's all so far away now. And of course that's not how we read it. That's not how we have read it, read it or will read, and of course there was no "we" when it was originally written, not even the fictitious "we" I imagine now. We are far too far from the original intent to read it that way, even if such a thing was there once or could be reconstructed, could be named and posited somehow singularly to the 56 signers scattered across the 1,300, 1,400 miles from South Georgia to North New Hampshire. Our readings are all misreadings. But that's what makes them relevant. That's how it is applied to us. What's brilliant about the Declaration of Independence is exactly the way it has been and can be appropriated, misread by slaves, misread by women, misread by the poor and the masses, misread by the Vietnamese and French farmers, by poets and presidents, immigrants and itinerants and preachers of diverse creeds. What's so powerful about the words is how they have been gloriously and liberatingly misread and misunderstood, de- and re-contextualized and recognized on streets where they didn't belong, in places and contexts where they weren't conceived, without their wigs and in clothes that they didn't wear.The power isn't in the reading, and isn't in the words, but in the rereading, the misreading, and the reading again: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Jul 3, 2010 I overheard some Americans, the other day, complaining Obama "just doesn't understand the world." They were citing some diplomatic gift-giving gaffe, and then applying it to foreign policy and especially issues of war (so, can't figure out a good gift for the Queen of England = doesn't know we should bomb the shit out of Iran/invade Russia to defend Georgia's oil pipelines/etc.). What's so mad about the argument -- and mad in the sense of angry but also uncomfortable laughter that goes on too long -- is that it was only a little while ago that the same people were saying Obama was too comfortable abroad, and the fact that a sea of people came to hear him in Germany and that people in the Arabic-speaking world were interested in what he had to say was a reason he wasn't good for America. Maybe this is just more evidence of our everyday ability to hold incompatibile opinions, but I still find it confounding because, what would they really want Obama to do? The answer, I think, is Don Cheadle's character in Iron Man 2. Wheras Robert Downey Jr. is the brash, don't-listen-to-anyone-because-you-know-what's-right, war-privatizing hero, Cheadle inadvertantly gets in his way with his caution and respect for the rule of law. Cheadle's character isn't bad, but doesn't understand. Then Cheadle's Iron Man suit is hijacked by the bad guys, so he does what they want without being able to stop himself, until Downey saves him and says, oh, okay, you can be my (black) sidekick. At one point Donwey almost exactly echoes the Americans I overheard, saying that, as an individual, he (Cheadle/Obama) is a good person but just doesn't really understand the way the world works. Cheadle's character, of course, is refered to by a diminutive nickname that's homonymous with "roady," because he's good at helping out and carrying the bags, though he shouldn't misunderstand and think he's the main act. I expect this from Robert Downey Jr. -- he's great, but not known for his thoughtfulness -- but kind of wonder what happened with Cheadle that he was somehow okay with this (not quite sub) subtext. Cheadle on wikipedia, talking about Iron Man 2, talking about racism in Hollywood, Inside the Actors Studio; what is the politics of Iron Man 2?; Obama in Berlin and criticism of Obama in Berlin and abroad. Jul 1, 2010 Introduction, context and background: 1. When Whitman died in the spring of 1892, the New York Herald reported, “A large majority condemn his writings as ‘beastly,’ as a ‘gathering of muck,’ and a ‘crazy outbreak of conceit and vulgarity,’” opposing his poetry on moral grounds, but also because it lacked form. 2. Early supporters of Whitman’s work actually supported him for the same reasons his detractors found fault: the absence form. a. Hamlin Garland, who went to see Whitman as a very old man, wrote: “Formless as the book [Leaves of Grass] appeared, its deeply patriotic spirit, its wide sympathy with working men and women and especially its faith in the destiny of ‘these States’ exalted me.” (A move here from form to ideas). b. Leonard Abbot, writing in defense of the so-called “New Poetry” in 1912, wrote: “The great value of Walt Whitman lies in his Influence as an emancipator … He was first of all a liberator in the art-form he adopted.” c. Oscar Wilde, in 1889, wrote that “in his very rejection of art Walt Whitman is an artist.” 3. Whitman himself endorsed and encouraged this idea of his poetry as natural, organic, and almost a kind of “anti-poetry.” a. He told the St. Louis Dispatch (in 1876), “The whole tendency of poetry has been toward refinement. I have felt that was not worthy of America. Something more vigorous, al fresco, was needed and then more than all I determined from the beginning to put a whole living man in the expression of a poem, without wincing.” 4. Whitman was wrong – or at least he had an understanding of what he was doing that was limited by his time and his Transcendentalism, and his account of what he did is not satisfactory.

Date: September 1987 Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment. Description: This background paper describes and assesses the role of technology in underwater archaeology and historic maritime preservation. As several underwater projects have recently demonstrated, advanced technology, often developed for other uses, plays an increasingly important role in the discovery and recovery of historic shipwrecks and their contents. Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department

February, 2010, was the first month since 2007 with sunspots every day according to Spaceweather.com for February 27. A quick check of February 28 confirms the streak. So far there have been only 2 spot-free days in 2010. By comparison there were 260 spot-free days in 2009, and there have been 772 spot-free days since 2004. What this means is that one of the quietest periods of solar activity in recent history may be coming to an end. The relevance of this is that sunspot activity has been proposed by many, such as Geerts and Linacre, as a possible driver of Earth’s climate patterns, including global warming and cooling cycles. As with most climate theory, the science has not been settled on the link between sunspots and Earth’s climate. Most, but not all according to some. Global Warming theory is considered so sacred and settled that until recently any scientist who questioned the tenets of its conclusion that human activity is the primary driver of climate change were subject to all but ridicule and censure. Recent events, including the Climategate scandal and a series of years where global temperature has stayed about the same, have tempered this attitude. But now the sunspots come back and we, as junior scientists are presented with the opportunity to test the hypothesis. If sunspot activity increases, and other factors such as prevalence of greenhouse gases, volcanic activity, and known cycles such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation continue in their recent patterns and temperature increases, then we may conclude that sunspots do indeed affect Earth’s climate. If not, then we can eliminate sunspots as a significant contributor to climate change… [continues at AmericanThinker.com]

Highest averages method |This article does not cite any references or sources. (December 2009)| |Part of the Politics series| An alternative to this method is the largest remainder method, which uses a minimum quota which can be calculated in a number of ways. The highest averages method requires the number of votes for each party to be divided successively by a series of divisors. This produces a table of quotients, or averages, with a row for each divisor and a column for each party. The 'th seat is allocated to the party whose column contains the 'th largest entry in this table, up to the total number of seats available. See examples below. The most widely used is the d'Hondt formula, using the divisors 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. This system tends to give larger parties a slightly larger portion of seats than their portion of the electorate, and thus guarantees that a party with a majority of voters will get at least half of the seats. The Sainte-Laguë method divides the number of votes for each party by the odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7 etc.). This system does not inherently favour larger parties over smaller (or vice versa), and may thus be considered "more proportional" than d'Hondt. - Alternatively, dividing the votes numbers by 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 etc. yields the same result. The Sainte-Laguë method is sometimes modified by increasing the first divisor to e.g. 1.4, to discourage very small parties gaining their first seat "too cheaply". Another highest average method is called Imperiali (not to be confused with the Imperiali quota which is a Largest remainder method). The divisors are 2,3,4 etc. It is designed to disfavor the smallest parties, akin to a "cutoff", and is used only in Belgian municipal elections. In the Huntington-Hill method, the divisors are given by , which makes sense only if every party is guaranteed at least one seat: this is used for allotting seats in the US House of Representatives to the states. (This is not an election, of course.) The Danish method is used in Danish elections to allocate each party's compensatory seats (or levelling seats) at the electoral province level to individual multi-member consistuencies. It divides the number of votes received by a party in a multi-member consistuency by the growing divsors (1, 4, 7, 10 etc.). Alternatively, dividing the votes numbers by 0.33, 1.33, 2.33, 3.33 etc. yields the same result. This system purposely attempts to allocate seats equally rather than proportionately. In addition to the procedure above, highest averages methods can be conceived of in a different way. For an election, a quota is calculated, usually the total number of votes cast divided by the number of seats to be allocated (the Hare quota). Parties are then allocated seats by determining how many quotas they have won, by dividing their vote totals by the quota. Where a party wins a fraction of a quota, this can be rounded down or rounded to the nearest whole number. Rounding down is equivalent to using the d'Hondt method, while rounding to the nearest whole number is equivalent to the Sainte-Laguë method. However, because of the rounding, this will not necessarily result in the desired number of seats being filled. In that case, the quota may be adjusted up or down until the number of seats after rounding is equal to the desired number. The tables used in the d'Hondt or Sainte-Laguë methods can then be viewed as calculating the highest quota possible to round off to a given number of seats. For example, the quotient which wins the first seat in a d'Hondt calculation is the highest quota possible to have one party's vote, when rounded down, be greater than 1 quota and thus allocate 1 seat. The quotient for the second round is the highest divisor possible to have a total of 2 seats allocated, and so on. Comparison between the d'Hondt and Sainte-Laguë methods D'Hondt and Sainte-Laguë allow different strategies by parties looking to maximize their seat allocation. D'Hondt favors the merging of parties, while Sainte-Laguë favours neither merging nor splitting parties which expect to gain more than 1 or 2 seats. (It does favor splitting of very small parties – expecting to gain only 1-2 seats – into still smaller ones). Modified Saint-Laguë prevents this splitting advantage for small parties, while remaining impartial towards party size for all larger parties. |d'Hondt method||Sainte-Laguë method (unmodified)| With the modification, the methods are initially more similar: |d'Hondt method||Sainte-Laguë method (modified)|

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary |a Greek phrasebook entry| - τι κάνετε; (ti kánete?) (plural, formal) - † The singular form is familiar and informal, used with family, friends, children and younger people. - ‡ The plural is formal and polite, it is used with strangers and to give respect.

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary |Unicode name||DOUBLE PRIME| - (transliterated Cyrillic): ” - Seconds (as a fraction of a degree of arc) - Seconds (as a unit of time) - second derivative - f″ - The double derivative of f - (in transliterated Cyrillic text) Transliteration of the hard sign (ъ) or apostrophe (’), Indicating non-palatalization of the preceding consonant before a soft vowel.

Degree of Threat: C : Not very threatened throughout its range, communities often provide natural resources that when exploited alter the composition and structure over the short-term, or communities are self-protecting because they are unsuitable for other uses Comments: The greatest threat is the continual loss and fragmentation of breeding and wintering habitat. Specific effects caused by habitat alterations are not clearly understood. Possible effects include increased nest predation by edge species (e.g., raccoons, domestic cats, etc.) and increased cowbird parasitism. Little is known of the relationship between the tanager and its habitat features, especially where habitat manipulations are occurring. Identifying specific threats affecting this species is difficult due to this lack of information. A common host to the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) and the most parasitized of the tanager family. Adult tanagers seem to recognize female cowbirds as enemies and usually attack on sight (Terres 1980, Prescott 1965). Friedmann (1963) stated that this tanager is not among the primary cowbird hosts. Known predators include screech owl (Otus asio), barred owl (Strix varia), long-eared owl (Asio otus), short-eared owl (Asio flammeus), blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), and Merlin (Falco columbarius) (Senesac 1993, Prescott 1965). In addition, suspected predators include gray (Sciurus carolinensis), red (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), and fox (SCIURUS NIGRA) squirrels and chipmunks (Tamias spp.) (Senesac 1993). No one has provided updates yet.

A logical fallacy where something is claimed true because everyone says so , or because the upper class in the field says so. Also known as Appeal to Emotion , since emotional appeals are usually used. Example: "Don't vote for a third party candidate, everybody knows they can't win." To prove it false, show that everyone may be wrong. The Earth is Flat analogy is useful, as is "If everyone jumped off a bridge...".

The Metropolitan Water District's inaugural Global Water & Technology Forum, taking place on May 20 , will be attended by more than 800 scientists, researchers, students, inventors and investors from throughout the world. The Forum is aimed at addressing the challenges caused by water shortages and climate change. Featuring hands-on demonstrations of futuristic green technologies on the market, the forum, will be held at the Diamond Valley Lake Visitor Center in Hemet in southwest Riverside County. It will begin sharp at 9 a.m. and the entry is free. "Today all of us-from those in the water industry, our elected leaders and regulators to representatives in the labor, business and environmental communities-are at a crossroads. We are dealing with a new and permanent reality of limited water resources," Metropolitan board Chairman Timothy F. Brick, said. "Together, we will develop a deeper understanding and get a better handle on the challenges we all face in managing our water resources and responding to the effects of climate change, while we identify and implement successful solutions," Brick said. The forum, hosted by Metropolitan's Business Outreach Program, will help attendees hear and learn from experts in the field of archaeology, climate change, economics, resource planning and planetary science. Six moderated panel discussions on topics and perspectives ranging from a historical "Last Days of Water: Lessons from Prehistory" workshop to a future outlook with "Nanotechnology-The Wave of Future Jobs" will be presented by the event. Also, to present a workshop on "The Search for Water in the Solar System" Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will join with NASA. Attendees, along with the workshops, will be able to view several technology demonstrations and alternative fuel vehicles as part of a resource alley and exhibition tent housing dozens of green product vendors and innovators. To explore collaboration and share information, a special "matchmaking" session will pair investors and inventors for one-on-one meetings. "The reason behind this forum is to respond to a new reality of permanent shortage in resource management," Brick said. "By bringing the public together with thinkers and innovators, the investment community, academia, science and government, we hope to foster an interactive exchange of ideas to advance more ideas and solutions." Metropolitan's Business Outreach Program, launched in 2001, offers incentives to local and small businesses participating in the district's competitive contracting. In related news, the teams of students at Scripps Ranch High School, San Diego High School-SciTech, become first San Diego County participants in Metropolitan Water District solar-powered boat program the nation's largest. Deepika Mala is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page . Edited by Marisa Torrieri

Air flow and Proper ventilation are two important parts for a good Grow Room Hydroponic gardening is one of the most successful; ways to grow plants for a few key reasons. First, not having to grow in soil creates a sterile environment in which pests and diseases that are soil borne are minimized. Secondly, you can grow more plants in less space, and last but not least, optimal growing conditions such as controlled lighting and temperature make for a superior crop. In order to be successful at growing hydroponically, however, you need to the correct supplies to create the proper hydroponic room environment. Let’s start off with choosing the proper grow room container. When selecting a hydroponic grow room you should make sure that the grow room is non reactive, and easy to clean. You must also ensure that the grow room is the appropriate size for what you want to grow in it. Regardless of what you are growing in your garden, it will not thrive unless you have the proper lighting, you can choose natural lighting or artificial. If you don’t have a location that gets the proper amount of light in the course of a day, then you should most likely go with artificial lighting. In order to ensure that the right amount of light falls on the plant, you can use a light meter, which is often sold at stores where photography supplies are sold. When growing you have to find a way to keep the optimal temperature at all times, the most inexpensive way to do this is to vent out the heat and replace it with cooler air. This system ensures also that there is proper air flow in the grow room. Proper air flow consists of your plant having the proper amount of carbon dioxide to breathe, while removing the oxygen that it produces. Since hot air rises and cool air settles, you should place a vent with a blower attached to it up high on the inside of the grow room, and another vent with a blower attached to it down low on the outside of the grow room. The exhaust blower needs to also have a thermostat connected to it so that it will only expel the warm air when the temperature exceeds the level you have set the thermostat for. some people turn the blower on and off with a timer, but this is definitely not the most efficient way to handle the situation. You should always remember to keep your plants at a temperature between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Also,make sure that you let the temperature fall approximately 10 degrees, because like humans they need rest also. This 10 degree fall in temperature lets them know that they can stop producing energy. Hydroponic plants are not grown in soil, so nutrient salts are given to them in a water solution to feed them. These salts occasionally build up and should be cleaned out approximately every two weeks or so to ensure that this buildup does not affect the health of the plants.

why girl scouts? Girl Scouts is the largest leadership development organization for girls in the world and has more than 100 years of meeting the needs and interests of girls. An all-girl environment, Girl Scouts gives girls a sense of freedom to try new things, explore their interests and make lasting friendships. Girl Scouts helps girls develop the skills they need to meet the challenges of a constantly changing world. Now, more than ever, girls can benefit from the values and mission of Girl Scouts. With a variety of programs and activities for girls of all ages, girls have many ways to participate. Girl Scouts still has the traditional activities like camping and cooking, but offers today’s busy girl so much more! She can be part of a traditional troop or maybe she will sign up for a series exploring photography, learning about space exploration or becoming a chef. Girls can travel across their state or around the world. With so many possibilities, the only problem she’ll have is deciding what to do!

Mia over at PragmaticMom.com has posted a great analysis of basic monetary economics over at her blog. I encourage you all to read it. Here’s an excerpt: This is the key question of why the United States (and therefore Rosie) can’t just print endless amounts of money. This questions shifts from a question of Government in terms of who OWNS the money to one of economics. The question now for PickyKidPix is WHAT HAPPENS IF THE U.S. PRINTS ENDLESS AMOUNTS OF MONEY (thereby now allowing my friend Rosie and anyone else who works to make the money to take a pile of bills for herself). The simple explanation is that prices rise when the government prints more money. For someone studying economics, here’s the reason along with graphs. It’s great to see this type of analysis being done in the blogosphere. If there is any area in which Americans’ understanding is deficient, it is basic economics, and Mia’s post is a very sound way to begin to understand this issue. But there is one thing I would add to this analysis in order to make sure that readers know the full effects of monetary inflation. That is, the first receivers of new money do not experience the same devaluation as everyone else. They experience real benefits at the expense of the last receivers. Here’s an example: Imagine there is $1 billion in circulation. The government decides, for whatever reason, that this number should increase by $1 million. So they print some money and send it into circulation. But this money has to start somewhere…not everyone’s bank account can simply increase by the proportionate amount (in fact, that would ruin the whole point of printing money as a form of economic stimulus). So what usually happens is new money is sent first to big investment banks on Wall Street, as they are the most capable of sending this money into circulation (they have billions of dollars and millions of customers). When these banks receive the new money, stores and retailers around the country have not had the opportunity to increase their prices. The money has not been circulated yet, and though they might read in the newspaper that the money supply is going to increase, they cannot raise prices until their customers’ bank accounts experience the effects of the inflation. The result: These banks are able to purchase, borrow and lend based on pre-inflation prices. This means they are given an unfair advantage and can increase profits only because of the new money–not because of any new ideas or hard work on their parts. So while inflation might seem harmless (in the end, everyone’s prices simply increase), it actually benefits the big banks at the expense of the little guys. Among those most harmed by inflation are those on fixed incomes like the elderly and very-poor. For them, price hikes are not accompanied by wage-increases. They simply must learn to live with less. I know what you’re thinking…this is starting sounding like an Occupy Wall Street rant against big banks. But believe me, I am anything but an OWSer. The simple fact is: Big banks do benefit from inflation at the expense of average Joe because new money has to start circulating somewhere, and it almost always starts in the hands of big banks.

Why are all the faces on our banknotes white? asks British historian MOVE over Charles Darwin and Elizabeth Fry. A leading historian wants to see a black face on a banknote to demonstrate the changing social and ethnic composition of Britain. Mary Seacole, the nurse who served in the Crimea, Olaudah Equino, an 18th century anti-slavery writer, or Dadabhai Naoroji, the first South Asian MP who sat for Finsbury in the 1890s, have all been suggested as candidates. Linda Colley, the author of several books on British identity, said in an interview for Fabian Review, the magazine of the Fabian Society, that "practical measures'' were needed to create a new definition of Britishness to include blacks and Asians. ''There are omissions which are painfully obvious and which could easily be put right,'' she said. ''Why, for instance, are all the people on the British banknotes always white?'' While most of the historical figures depicted on the notes are household names, such as Charles Darwin and Sir Edward Elgar, the Fabians - who are organising a major conference on the future of Britishness - are questioning why Sir John Houblon should stay on the pounds 50 note when few have heard of him. The first governor of the Bank of England, he replaced Sir Christopher Wren in 1994 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the bank. Sunder Katwala of the Fabian Society said it was time for a national debate about the identities of new faces. ''Few people know how these things are decided, or how somebody like Sir John Houblon was chosen to be the face of the pounds 50 note,'' he said. "Our national symbols should reflect the nation that we are today. "Deciding how we should do that could be a really positive way to capture and increase the growing public interest in our history. "Just as Florence Nightingale was on the pounds 10 note from 1975 to 1994, Mary Seacole could be a symbol not just of our history but of the diversity which is today at the heart of our most cherished national institution, the NHS.'' comments powered by Disqus

Fixed orifice superheat will vary with mass flow rate and interior heat load. For example, let's say you have a hot day at 102 degrees, and an interior that the system is able to maintain comfortably at 74 degrees. Since the outdoor ambient is high, the condenser will be running a higher head pressure. This places more pressure on the liquid column feeding the fixed orifice, resulting in a greater pressure differential across the orifice and into the evaporator. Originally posted by pipe threader Under for your interest, the topic, Troubleshooting The Refrigerent System With Superheat & Subcooling. It ststes under critical temperture differences. The low side superheat should be between 20 and 30 de- grees. A/C manuals i have looked at show adjusting super heat on fixed orfice systems down to 5 degrees. What am i missing here?

This study investigates how students understand and apply the area under the curve concept and the integral-area relation in solving introductory physics problems. We interviewed 20 students in the first semester and 15 students from the same cohort in the second semester of a calculus-based physics course sequence on several problems involving the area under the curve concept. We found that only a few students could recognize that the concept of area under the curve was applicable in physics problems. Even when students could invoke the area under the curve concept, they did not necessarily understand the relationship between the process of accumulation and the area under a curve, so they failed to apply it to novel situations. We also found that when presented with several graphs, students had difficulty in selecting the graph such that the area under the graph corresponded to a given integral, although all of them could state that “the integral equaled the area under the curve.” The findings in this study are consistent with those in previous mathematics education research and research in physics education on students’ use of the area under the curve. - Received 30 January 2011 - Published 28 June 2011 Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. © 2011 American Physical Society

Or such is the finding of a group of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Michael Dunn, Simon J. Greenhill, Stephen C. Levinson, and Russell D. Gray, whose paper “Evolved structure of language shows lineage-specific trends in word-order universals” was published online by Nature a few days ago. (The abstract is here, where there is also a link to a downloadable pdf of the full paper.) Russell Gray has written a nice, clear explanation of the study and its results, and I will quote the conclusion: These family-specific linkages suggest that language structure is not set by innate features of the cognitive language parser (as suggested by the generativists), or by some over-riding concern to “harmonize” word-order (as suggested by the statistical universalists). Instead language structure evolves by exploring alternative ways to construct coherent language systems. Languages are instead the product of cultural evolution, canalized by the systems that have evolved during diversification, so that future states lie in an evolutionary landscape with channels and basins of attraction that are specific to linguistic lineages. One of the main implications here is that to really understand how languages have evolved, we need to understand the range of diversity in human languages. With one language on average going extinct every two weeks, the ability to understand this is rapidly being lost. There is an ongoing discussion on Mark Liberman’s post at the Log; I hope the conclusions of the study hold up, because 1) it shows the importance of studying as many languages as possible, and 2) it’s a poke in the eye for Chomsky and his stupid theory of universals, which implies that there’s no need studying any language but your own because they’re all basically the same anyway.

Mood and emotion are extremely complex aspects of behavior that are known to involve the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine. Both neurotransmitters are broken down by an enzyme called monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), and drugs that interfere with this system, such as the anti-depressant fluoxetine (Prozac), have long been used to treat mood disorders. Jun Aruga and colleagues from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Wako have now shown that a ligase enzyme called Rines regulates MAO-A activity and could prove to be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of such disorders. The metabolism of MAO-A, like that of many other proteins in the cell, is regulated by what is known as the ubiquitin–proteasome pathway, which tags old, misfolded or otherwise unwanted molecules and dispatches them to a cellular trash can. Aruga and his colleagues hypothesized that this pathway would be critical for regulating MAO-A levels in the brain. To investigate the role of this pathway, the researchers used genetic engineering to create mice lacking the gene encoding the Rines E3 ubiquitin ligase—an enzyme that determines which proteins will be tagged for destruction. Deletion of the Rines gene had a dramatic effect on the emotional behavior of the mice. For example, mice lacking the gene were far more reluctant to explore a new environment and spent less time in open spaces compared to healthy mice, indicating that the mutant mice were more anxious and had an abnormal stress response. The researchers then examined the brains of these mice and found that the altered emotional behaviors were associated with significantly reduced levels of serotonin and norepinephrine in the locus ceruleus, prefrontal cortex and amygdala—regions of the brain that regulate emotion and stress responses. This was accompanied by enhanced activity of MAO-A in the locus ceruleus, the main source of norepinephrine in the brain. The researchers also found that some of the abnormal emotional behaviors were abolished by MAO inhibitors. "The next step is to clarify the change in emotional response abnormalities using the animals' personal history," says Aruga. "Studies in humans indicate that the prevalence of aggressive and antisocial behavior in adults with the low-level MAO-A variant is affected by their history of stress during childhood, so personal history and gene–environment interaction studies with the mutant mice would contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the pathophysiology of aggression and antisocial behavior." More information: Kabayama, M., Sakoori, K., Yamada, K., Ornthanalai, V. G., Ota, M., Morimura, N., Katayama, K., Murphy, N. P. & Aruga, J. Rines E3 ubiquitin ligase regulates MAO-A levels and emotional responses, The Journal of Neuroscience 33, 12940–12953 (2013). dx.doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5717-12.2013

No renewable energy is growing faster than wind power, and yet those gigantic white turbines—one built every four hours—are churning out less than 1 percent of the nation's electricity. To get to 20 percent—President Bush's aim—production would have to ramp up to one every 15 minutes for 25 years, says Vic Abate, vice president for renewables at General Electric. GE—a technology powerhouse not only for wind but also for natural gas, nuclear, and advanced coal—doesn't see the assembly line speeding up that quickly but anticipates steady, continued growth as nations seek energy diversification. "The percentage share is in a sense irrelevant," Abate says. However, there is a push for bigger-scale wind power. Last month, Carpinteria, Calif.-based manufacturer Clipper announced its Britannia Project, a research program in England to develop the world's largest offshore wind turbine. The 7.5-megawatt behemoth would have a 492-foot-diameter rotor, 50 percent wider and providing more than double the juice of Clipper's current largest model. Offshore, it would take advantage of higher, steadier wind and proximity to population centers. Pricey power. Although offshore wind power is big in Europe, it's not moving so quickly in the United States. Local opposition is often cited, but just as important is that offshore developments cost twice as much as onshore wind. Sure, the East and West coasts have enough wind to power the whole country, but the same could be said of the Great Plains and Texas. "On shore, there's plenty of resource," says Abate, who thinks the next wave of technology will be to try to squeeze more efficiency out of large wind farms and deal with wind's greatest problem—its intermittency. When GE first entered the business five years ago, utilities would usually figure that the wind power they brought on line would deliver 30 percent of its potential capacity, because of the on-off nature of the power. But Abate says that with better turbines, the capacity factor has been upped to 40 percent. Developers are focused in the center of the country, especially in Texas. The cost of wind power is just 8 cents per kilowatt-hour unsubsidized in a country where the average price of electricity is 10.5 cents. The economics certainly have worked well for GE, which bought the business for $250 million from the collapsed Enron in 2002 and built it into a $4 billion-a-year business.

Anglo-French oil company Perenco has recently been given permission by Peru’s government to build a 200-kilometre pipeline in the remote Peruvian Amazon. The company’s operations there have caused international outrage: it is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world and home to at least one ‘uncontacted’ indigenous group (in Spanish, the no contactados), who could be decimated if contact between them and company workers is made. Perenco’s response? To say that there is no evidence that the no contactados even exist. Perenco defends this claim by appealing to a report by an environmental consultancy, Daimi. This report, based on research by various teams of Daimi employees sent into the region, concludes: ‘There is no information that demonstrates or suggests the existence of isolated indigenous people.’ But that isn’t what Daimi’s researchers told me when I was in Peru earlier this year. Here are 10 facts that explode the claims made in its report and any based on it: 1 All three lead authors named in the report disagree with its conclusions and say that evidence for the no contactados was found. 2 One of the lead authors, anthropologist Teudolio Grandez, heard about a sighting of three no contactados by a man called Alejandro who was living in one of the villages nearest to Perenco’s operations. ‘We found evidence of their existence. There were signs. We never said there weren’t any,’ Grandez told me. 3 Another lead author, anthropologist Jose Moscoso Conde, found physical evidence of the no contactados and heard about a different sighting. ‘We didn’t see them ourselves, but we found signs. We heard about one sighting and saw broken arrows and cut branches,’ Moscoso told me. He described the sighting in some detail: one local man saw ’two people, naked, about 200-300 metres away, a long way away. They realized a mestizo was watching them and fled.’ 4 The final lead author, anthropologist Rosa Aguilera Rios, didn’t travel into the region with the others but did read a ‘draft report’ based on their findings. What did it say? ‘That some signs of the no contactados’ existence were found,’ Aguilera told me. 5 One Daimi researcher, also listed in the report, informed me it was ‘dressed up and presented as if no evidence was found, in order not to cause any problems for the government.’ He said the following signs of the no contactados were found: ‘twisted leaves, tracks leading to the river, animal bones and feathers from birds hunted by them, small shacks recently built by them, footprints, fruits from wild trees recently eaten by them...’ What happened to all this evidence? ’It was all given to Daimi. The videos, photos, recordings... They have it all.’ 6 Another Daimi researcher, anthropologist Virginia Montoya, found evidence for the no contactados but it was omitted from the report too. ‘There is no doubt in my mind that there are uncontacted groups there,’ Montoya was quoted in Britain’s Guardian newspaper, adding she had documented the evidence, including paths used by them. ‘But it was all edited out. I was really upset when I saw the final report.’ 7 Despite her involvement in Daimi’s research, Montoya’s name was omitted from the report. Who else’s name was omitted and what might they know? 8 Perenco paid Daimi for the report. By building the pipeline, Perenco hopes to move an estimated 300 million barrels of oil, worth an estimated $35 billion at today’s prices, and knows that any admission of the no contactados’ existence could jeopardize those plans. Is it any wonder that an environmental consultancy like Daimi, which looks to a company like Perenco for its business, is telling it what it wants to hear? How else do you explain Daimi’s report claiming no evidence was found? 9 Even the head of INDEPA, the Peruvian government’s indigenous affairs department, publicly distanced himself from Daimi’s report, despite the fact that INDEPA has been under huge pressure to support Perenco’s operations. In response to Daimi’s claim that INDEPA played a key role in its research, Mayta Capac Alatrista Herrera, recently replaced as head, strongly rejected such claims and told a Peruvian magazine, Allpathay, that INDEPA ‘has not corroborated, confirmed nor validated the conclusions of Daimi’s report.’ 10 Others listed in Daimi’s report said their research was inconclusive. ‘We only visited half of the places we were supposed to,’ linguist Rossana Arbaiza Gonzales informed me. ‘Given that, we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of isolated indigenous peoples in the areas we didn’t go to.’

By Justin Parkinson BBC News Online education staff For the past two years, children aged 11 to 16 in England have had to learn about that most elusive of subjects: citizenship. Dr Singh says pupils are more enthused when using computers Amid waning interest in politics among the young and growing fears of anti-social behaviour, it was decided schools had to teach pupils to get involved with their communities. But can a classroom-based subject make bored teenagers interested in the world around them? Dr Baldev Singh thinks technology is key to reaching this young audience. Using his expertise in computers, he has set up an e-citizenship course at John Cabot City Technology College in Bristol. 'Better than worksheets' Pupils are encouraged to find out online about their neighbourhoods, contact politicians and make presentations about their summarised findings. Dr Singh says this has helped stimulate debate and created a greater understanding of how their city works. He told BBC News Online: "We asked how we could deliver a citizenship course without relying too heavily on written worksheets. "These put children off and, if that happens, teachers lose their enthusiasm too." So 11 to 14 year olds, more computer-literate than most adults, are asked to research subjects using the internet. For one task, they look at crime statistics, using the breakdown of figures to judge the up-to-date situation in their own neighbourhoods within Bristol. For another, they look at websites run by local MPs. Dr Singh said: "One boy e-mailed an MP's office. His researcher got back during the lesson itself and, within two weeks, we had organised a visit. "The MP gave a talk about what his job involved, which was very interesting. "It was more engaging than just looking at books in the library." Phrases such as "e-government" were bandied about during the early, idealistic days of the internet, or the "information highway". Politicians anticipated a population more in touch with news, more able to make a judgement on issues and, possibly in the future, equipped to influence them via online voting. There have been only limited signs of this so far. But Dr Singh thinks harnessing technology and the vast amount of available information - screened to avoid obscene and other unsuitable material - will improve "citizenship". He said: "Citizenship only started in 2002, so many schools are still asking how best to teach it. So far this seems to be working." The e-citizenship project, run by Dr Singh, has been extended to four other schools in Bristol, Devon, Birmingham and Gloucestershire.

|Frontpage | UK | In Depth | BSE and CJD| UK CJD deaths 1995 - 2000 VCJD is a degenerative brain disease in humans which is thought to be caused by an abnormal prion protein in the brain. Its most likely origin is exposure to the BSE prion via eating infected BSE cattle. So far there have been about 80 definite and probable cases of vCJD. Opinions are divided over the likely size of a human epidemic. Some scientists believe the disease could have reached its peak already. While others point to the disease's long incubation period and suggest thousands may be affected in the future. |Back to Introduction| |Back to Top| | © MMV | News Sources | Privacy

DARPA recently completed the first phase of the program, which developed four key modular systems, all of which are transportable using standard 20-foot or 40-foot commercial shipping containers. The elements include: * Core support modules—container-sized units that provide electrical power, berthing, water and other life-support requirements for an augmented crew aboard the container ship. * Motion-stabilized cranes—modular on-board cranes to allow transfer of cargo containers at sea from the ship deck over the side and onto a sea-delivery vehicle. * Sea-delivery vehicles—Captive Air Amphibious Transporters (CAAT) have air-filled pontoons on a tank tread-like design, enabling them to carry containers over water and directly onto shore. * Parafoil unmanned air-delivery system—a low-cost, propeller-driven air vehicle that uses a parachute for lift and carries urgent supplies from the container ship to stricken areas on shore. If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks

American Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) Click the speaker to hear the Eagle! FLIGHT AND HUNTING: This large raptor (bird of prey) can be found throughout North America, including Alaska. With its distinctive white head and tail, it can be seen soaring high on wind currents, searching for prey. The eagle can soar for long periods of time without flapping its wings. With its brownish-black body, bright yellow eyes and feet, and a wing span of 6 to 7 1/2 feet, it is our largest raptor. Eagles can weigh up to 15 1/2 pounds. They eat many different things. Although they prefer fish, water birds, and small mammals, they have been known to eat everything from dead animals to garbage. Their strong talons (claws) make them excellent hunters, but they would rather scavenge or steal their food. Eagles will fly at ospreys (fish hawks) to make them drop their captured fish. The eagle then catches the stolen fish and flies away to eat it. In 1782 Ben Franklin pointed out that eagles are thieves, and said the turkey should be our national bird instead. To see an Eagle catch dinner, click on the fish! NESTING AND BABIES: Eagle parents stay together their whole lives. Both parents work hard to care for their babies. They usually build their nests in a large pine tree and will use the same nest year after year. (One eagles nest in Florida was 9 1/2 wide feet and 20 feet tall!) Eagles sometimes decorate their nests with strange things like green leaves, light bulbs, clothes pins, golf balls, and Clorox bottles. The green leaves may be a sign to other birds that the nest is being used. The mother lays 1 to 3 dull white eggs that are a little bigger than an "extra-large" chicken egg. She often waits a few days before laying the second and third eggs. Both the mother and father take turns sitting on the eggs for 35 days. It can take a baby eagle 2 or 3 days to peck all the way out of its shell. If there is more than one eaglet in the nest, the babies may have to fight each other to get enough food. Often the smallest eaglet will die. If all of the babies survive the first few weeks, they will become playmates. They play games of tug-of-war, you chase me-I chase you, and broad jump from one side of the nest to the other. Their toys are feathers, sticks, left over pieces of lunch, and even their smaller brother or sister. The parents are very protective of their new babies. They will attack scientists trying to get a look into the nest and even helicopters flying overhead. Baby eagles grow very fast; they start learning to fly when they are only 2 months old! This can be a very dangerous time for an eaglet, and many will end up on the ground. The parents will usually feed a grounded eaglet, but if the youngster is not able to fly soon, it may get eaten by a predator. If everything goes right, the eaglets are ready to leave the nest and hunt alone when they are 4-6 months old. These young eagles are all brownish black. Their white head and tail feathers dont show up until they are 3 to 5 years old (adults). HISTORY AND FUTURE: DDT was a chemical used to kill bugs. It ran off the land into the water and got into the fish. When eagles ate these fish, the DDT made their egg shells very thin. So when the parent sat on the eggs, the babies got crushed. It has been against the law to use DDT since the 1970s, and eagles have made a strong comeback. They are no longer an endangered species. But they are still THREATENED, and are protected by the government. The eagles biggest problem right now is loss of habitat (places to hunt and build nests). Their habitat is disappearing because people cut down trees and cover up ponds to build houses. By cleaning up polluted rivers, protecting nesting areas, and making it illegal to hunt eagles or have their feathers, people have really helped the eagle to survive. Stalmaster, Mark V. The Bald Eagle. New York: University Books, 1987. Terres, John K. The Audubon Soc. Encyclopedia of N. Am. Birds. New York: Alfred Knopf, Inc., 1987. To Animal Transporter Page Return to Preserve Page

Individual differences | Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology | Biological: Behavioural genetics · Evolutionary psychology · Neuroanatomy · Neurochemistry · Neuroendocrinology · Neuroscience · Psychoneuroimmunology · Physiological Psychology · Psychopharmacology (Index, Outline) Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are a class of antidepressant used in the treatment of clinical depression and other affective disorders. They are also sometimes used to treat anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and chronic neuropathic pain. They act upon two neurotransmitters in the brain that are known to play an important part in mood, namely, serotonin and norepinephrine. This can be contrasted with the more widely-used selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which act only on serotonin. Mode of action Depression is thought to be caused by a lack of information flow between neurons in certain parts of the brain. Neurons pass information to each other by means of chemicals known as neurotransmitters, which shoot across the tiny synapses between the cells. After firing, most of the neurotransmitter is reabsorbed by the presynaptic cell in a process called reuptake. Antidepressants work by increasing the number of neurotransmitters active in the synapse, thereby enhancing neuronal activity and increasing the responsiveness of mood. Modern antidepressants usually achieve this effect by blocking the transporter proteins that reabsorb certain neurotransmitters, hence the name "reuptake inhibitors". SNRIs were developed more recently than SSRIs, and there are relatively few of them. Their efficacy as well as their tolerability appears to be somewhat better than the SSRIs, owing to their compound effect. As with the SSRIs, abrupt discontinuation of SNRI-medication usually leads to a discontinuation syndrome which could include states of anxiety and further symptoms. It is therefore recommended to slowly taper down the dose under the supervision of a psychopharmacologist when discontinuing SNRIs. Due to the effects on increasing Norepinephrine synaptic acitivity, these drugs are contraindicated in patients with hypertension, heart disease, or risk of stroke. SNRIs currently available - venlafaxine (tradenames Effexor XR®, Effexor®) is the first and most commonly used SNRI. Although it also works on dopamine somewhat at high dosages, the majority of its effect is on serotonin and norepinephrine. - desvenlafaxine (tradename Pristiq®) is the active metabolite of venlafaxine and is believed to work in the same manner. It will be introduced by Wyeth in late 2007-early 2008. - nefazodone (tradename Serzone®) is an antidepressant with efficacy similar to SSRIs, but without the sexual side effects. In fact, Serzone at times may act similarly to Wellbutrin in its neutral or at times positive effect on function. It has been discontinued in several countries due to rare cases of liver failure. The tradename "Serzone®" has been discontinued, however generic nefazodone is currently available (May 06). However, the liver failure is rare, and a simple blood test every 6 months to assess liver enzyme levels is sufficient. Nefazodone has an active metabolite which at higher doses (> 250mg/day) can increase anxiety. One of the benefits nefazodone has over Effexor® and Cymbalta® is its enhanced sedation when taken at bedtime. - milnacipran (tradename Dalcipran®/ Portugal; Ixel®/ France) has shown to be significantly effective in the treatment of depression and Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Although it has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States, it has been commercially available in Europe and Asia for several years. - desipramine (tradenames Norpramine®, Pertofraneis®) is technically a tricyclic antidepressant, and is usually categorized as such. It works, however, on both serotonin and norepinephrine, so it can also be considered an SNRI. - duloxetine (tradename Cymbalta®) by Eli Lilly and Company, also inhibits serotonin reuptake and has been approved for the treatment of depression and neuropathic pain in August of 2004. Please note that some of the above medications may not be considered "true" SNRIs; refer to specific peer-reviewed scientific journals for more in-depth coverage on classifications and pharmaco-kinetics.

Tk_ComputeTextLayout, Tk_FreeTextLayout, Tk_DrawTextLayout, Tk_UnderlineTextLayout, Tk_PointToChar, Tk_CharBbox, Tk_DistanceToTextLayout, Tk_IntersectTextLayout, Tk_TextLayoutToPostscript - routines to measure and display single-font, multi-line, justified text. Tk_TextLayout Tk_ComputeTextLayout(tkfont, string, numChars, wrapLength, justify, flags, widthPtr, heightPtr) void Tk_DrawTextLayout(display, drawable, gc, layout, x, y, firstChar, lastChar) void Tk_UnderlineTextLayout(display, drawable, gc, layout, x, y, underline) int Tk_PointToChar(layout, x, y) int Tk_CharBbox(layout, index, xPtr, yPtr, widthPtr, heightPtr) int Tk_DistanceToTextLayout(layout, x, y) int Tk_IntersectTextLayout(layout, x, y, width, height) void Tk_TextLayoutToPostscript(interp, layout) Font to use when constructing and displaying a text layout. The tkfont must remain valid for the lifetime of the text layout. Must have been returned by a previous call to Tk_GetFont. Potentially multi-line string whose dimensions are to be computed and stored in the text layout. The string must remain valid for the lifetime of the text layout. The number of characters to consider from string. If numChars is less than 0, then assumes string is null terminated and uses strlen(string). Longest permissible line length, in pixels. Lines in string will automatically be broken at word boundaries and wrapped when they reach this length. If wrapLength is too small for even a single character to fit on a line, it will be expanded to allow one character to fit on each line. If wrapLength is <= 0, there is no automatic wrapping; lines will get as long as they need to be and only wrap if a newline/return character is encountered. How to justify the lines in a multi-line text layout. Possible values are TK_JUSTIFY_LEFT, TK_JUSTIFY_CENTER, or TK_JUSTIFY_RIGHT. If the text layout only occupies a single line, then justify is irrelevant. Various flag bits OR-ed together. TK_IGNORE_TABS means that tab characters should not be expanded to the next tab stop. TK_IGNORE_NEWLINES means that newline/return characters should not cause a line break. If either tabs or newlines/returns are ignored, then they will be treated as regular characters, being measured and displayed in a platform-dependent manner as described in Tk_MeasureChars, and will not have any special behaviors. If non-NULL, filled with either the width, in pixels, of the widest line in the text layout, or the width, in pixels, of the bounding box for the character specified by index. If non-NULL, filled with either the total height, in pixels, of all the lines in the text layout, or the height, in pixels, of the bounding box for the character specified by index. A token that represents the cached layout information about the single-font, multi-line, justified piece of text. This token is returned by Tk_ComputeTextLayout. Display on which to draw. Window or pixmap in which to draw. Graphics context to use for drawing text layout. The font selected in this GC must correspond to the tkfont used when constructing the text layout. Point, in pixels, at which to place the upper-left hand corner of the text layout when it is being drawn, or the coordinates of a point (with respect to the upper-left hand corner of the text layout) to check against the text layout. The index of the first character to draw from the given text layout. The number 0 means to draw from the beginning. The index of the last character up to which to draw. The character specified by lastChar itself will not be drawn. A number less than 0 means to draw all characters in the text layout. Index of the single character to underline in the text layout, or a number less than 0 for no underline. The index of the character whose bounding box is desired. The bounding box is computed with respect to the upper-left hand corner of the text layout. Filled with the upper-left hand corner, in pixels, of the bounding box for the character specified by index. Either or both xPtr and yPtr may be NULL, in which case the corresponding value is not calculated. Specifies the width and height, in pixels, of the rectangular area to compare for intersection against the text layout. Postscript code that will print the text layout is appended to interp->result. These routines are for measuring and displaying single-font, multi-line, justified text. To measure and display simple single-font, single-line strings, refer to the documentation for Tk_MeasureChars. There is no programming interface in the core of Tk that supports multi-font, multi-line text; support for that behavior must be built on top of simpler layers. The routines described here are built on top of the programming interface described in the Tk_MeasureChars documentation. Tab characters and newline/return characters may be treated specially by these procedures, but all other characters are passed through to the lower level. Tk_ComputeTextLayout computes the layout information needed to display a single-font, multi-line, justified string of text and returns a Tk_TextLayout token that holds this information. This token is used in subsequent calls to procedures such as Tk_DrawTextLayout, Tk_DistanceToTextLayout, and Tk_FreeTextLayout. The string and tkfont used when computing the layout must remain valid for the lifetime of this token. Tk_FreeTextLayout is called to release the storage associated with layout when it is no longer needed. A layout should not be used in any other text layout procedures once it has been released. Tk_DrawTextLayout uses the information in layout to display a single-font, multi-line, justified string of text at the specified location. Tk_UnderlineTextLayout uses the information in layout to display an underline below an individual character. This procedure does not draw the text, just the underline. To produce natively underlined text, an underlined font should be constructed and used. All characters, including tabs, newline/return characters, and spaces at the ends of lines, can be underlined using this method. However, the underline will never be drawn outside of the computed width of layout; the underline will stop at the edge for any character that would extend partially outside of layout, and the underline will not be visible at all for any character that would be located completely outside of the layout. Tk_PointToChar uses the information in layout to determine the character closest to the given point. The point is specified with respect to the upper-left hand corner of the layout, which is considered to be located at (0, 0). Any point whose y-value is less that 0 will be considered closest to the first character in the text layout; any point whose y-value is greater than the height of the text layout will be considered closest to the last character in the text layout. Any point whose x-value is less than 0 will be considered closest to the first character on that line; any point whose x-value is greater than the width of the text layout will be considered closest to the last character on that line. The return value is the index of the character that was closest to the point. Given a layout with no characters, the value 0 will always be returned, referring to a hypothetical zero-width placeholder character. Tk_CharBBox uses the information in layout to return the bounding box for the character specified by index. The width of the bounding box is the advance width of the character, and does not include any left or right bearing. Any character that extends partially outside of layout is considered to be truncated at the edge. Any character that would be located completely outside of layout is considered to be zero-width and pegged against the edge. The height of the bounding box is the line height for this font, extending from the top of the ascent to the bottom of the descent; information about the actual height of individual letters is not available. For measurement purposes, a layout that contains no characters is considered to contain a single zero-width placeholder character at index 0. If index was not a valid character index, the return value is 0 and *xPtr, *yPtr, *widthPtr, and *heightPtr are unmodified. Otherwise, if index did specify a valid, the return value is non-zero, and *xPtr, *yPtr, *widthPtr, and *heightPtr are filled with the bounding box information for the character. If any of xPtr, yPtr, widthPtr, or heightPtr are NULL, the corresponding value is not calculated or stored. Tk_DistanceToTextLayout computes the shortest distance in pixels from the given point (x, y) to the characters in layout. Newline/return characters and non-displaying space characters that occur at the end of individual lines in the text layout are ignored for hit detection purposes, but tab characters are not. The return value is 0 if the point actually hits the layout. If the point didn't hit the layout then the return value is the distance in pixels from the point to the layout. Tk_IntersectTextLayout determines whether a layout lies entirely inside, entirely outside, or overlaps a given rectangle. Newline/return characters and non-displaying space characters that occur at the end of individual lines in the layout are ignored for intersection calculations. The return value is -1 if the layout is entirely outside of the rectangle, 0 if it overlaps, and 1 if it is entirely inside of the rectangle. Tk_TextLayoutToPostscript outputs code consisting of a Postscript array of strings that represent the individual lines in layout. It is the responsibility of the caller to take the Postscript array of strings and add some Postscript function operate on the array to render each of the lines. The code that represents the Postscript array of strings is appended to interp->result. When measuring a text layout, space characters that occur at the end of a line are ignored. The space characters still exist and the insertion point can be positioned amongst them, but their additional width is ignored when justifying lines or returning the total width of a text layout. All end-of-line space characters are considered to be attached to the right edge of the line; this behavior is logical for left-justified text and reasonable for center-justified text, but not very useful when editing right-justified text. Spaces are considered variable width characters; the first space that extends past the edge of the text layout is clipped to the edge, and any subsequent spaces on the line are considered zero width and pegged against the edge. Space characters that occur in the middle of a line of text are not suppressed and occupy their normal space width. Tab characters are not ignored for measurement calculations. If wrapping is turned on and there are enough tabs on a line, the next tab will wrap to the beginning of the next line. There are some possible strange interactions between tabs and justification; tab positions are calculated and the line length computed in a left-justified world, and then the whole resulting line is shifted so it is centered or right-justified, causing the tab columns not to align any more. When wrapping is turned on, lines may wrap at word breaks (space or tab characters) or newline/returns. A dash or hyphen character in the middle of a word is not considered a word break. Tk_ComputeTextLayout always attempts to place at least one word on each line. If it cannot because the wrapLength is too small, the word will be broken and as much as fits placed on the line and the rest on subsequent line(s). If wrapLength is so small that not even one character can fit on a given line, the wrapLength is ignored for that line and one character will be placed on the line anyhow. When wrapping is turned off, only newline/return characters may cause a line break. When a text layout has been created using an underlined tkfont, then any space characters that occur at the end of individual lines, newlines/returns, and tabs will not be displayed underlined when Tk_DrawTextLayout is called, because those characters are never actually drawn - they are merely placeholders maintained in the layout.

- 4/15/2005. — “Chronemics”, una.edu - nonverbal communication Act of imparting or interchanging thoughts, opinions, or information without the use of spoken words Chronemics is the study of the use of time in nonverbal communication. — “Nonverbal communication: Definition from ”, - Chronemics - Nonverbal communication, Albert Mehrabian, Edward T. Hall, Polychronicity, Time - VisWiki Chronemics is the study of the use of time in nonverbal communication. — “Chronemics - VisWiki”, - Chronemics is the study of the use of time in nonverbal communication. Chronemics is one of those nonverbal channels of communication, and their treatment of time illustrates their perspective of time. — “Chronemics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”, - Chronemics is the study of the use of time in nonverbal communication. The way we perceive time, structure our time and react to time is a powerful communication tool, and helps set the stage for the communication process. Across cultures, time. — “Chronemics - Psychology Wiki”, - To learn more about nonverbal communication, just click on the following links: Chronemics--time. Kinesics--body language. Proxemics--personal space. To hear Irene J. Peters, University of Louisville's Career. — “Nonverbal Communication”, cobweb2.louisville.edu - considerably, and the chronemics of email are an. important non-verbal cue which can assessment of responsiveness chronemics, an opportunity. became available with the recent. — “Email Chronemics: Unobtrusive Profiling of Response Times”, csdl2 - Non Verbal Intercultural Communication. The adage “actions speak louder than words” underscores, in essence, the importance of non-verbal Chronemics is the study of the use of time in non-verbal communication, including people's understanding of present, past and future. — “Non Verbal Intercultural Communication | ”, - Oxford University Press USA publishes scholarly works in all academic disciplines, bibles, music, children's books, business books, dictionaries, reference books, journals, text books and more. Browse our more than 30,000 titles on Chronemics. — “Oxford University Press: Nonverbal Communication: Nina-Jo Moore”, - D. Chronemics: the study of temporal communication, including the way people organize and react to time. III. Some varieties of time. A. Cultural time: the way social groups and societies organize time. 1. Technical time: the precise forms of time associated with scientific inquiry. — “Temporal Communication (Chronemics)”, saintmarys.edu - Welcome to . The network communication site of the Association of Chronemic Tags: Chronemics, Time, Silence, Silences, Communication, Non-Verbal, Culture, inter-cultural. — “Chronemic Studies”, - We all know that verbal communication is significant in our lives. But, what type of role does nonverbal communication play in it? This complete guide will build you a strong foundation of knowledge. Chronemics. Proxemics is the manner in which a person utilizes and perceives the physical. — “Nonverbal Communication - The Complete Guide”, relationship- - Sample Letters Credit Bureaus ( Chronemics) Chronemics is the study of the use of time in nonverbal communication. Sample Order Form For T Shirt Chronemics is the study of the use of time in nonverbal communication. — “Example Of Chronemics - ebook-online-”, ebook-online- - Cross-cultural knowledge and skills have become increasingly important as more and more people from different countries study, work and live together Chronemics—use of time. Despite the peculiar nomenclature that Hall employs, students have little trouble identifying norms that to a large extent. — “Geopolitics. Cross-culture awareness and competence, Steven”, - Chronemics is how we perceive time and how it can define the importance of someone or something. Chronemics varies greatly from culture to culture and they are based upon monochronic and polychronic. — “Chronemics”, - Taking into account chronemics: CMC instructors should take into account chronemics since it is a very important nonverbal cue in Chronemics may have important implications for CMC communications between different. — “CMC - Interface/Graphic Representations”, portfolio.educ.kent.edu - . The Organization for Professionals in Time Communication and Cognition Contact the Association with your relevant data to be included in our database of papers and studies, and to join the association. — “Association of Chronemic Studies”, - Chronemics helps set the communication process by reviling our true emotions regarding our situations. For example, a fraction of a second delay between a question and the SOI's response may determine if someone is truthful about a specific topic. — “Chronemics | Timing”, - is the source for academic and historical resources regarding the study of time, silence, and silences. is where Time Studies and Communications Studies professionals meet to share and discuss information relating to chronemics. — “Chrometics”, - Course notes on temporal communication or chronemics are maintained by Vince Berdayes at Saint Mary's College. Chronemics Lecture. This PowerPoint Presentation authored by Brent L. Gaston is on non-verbal communication and the concept of time in culture, including discussion on time orientations,. — “The LinkLibrary > CHRONEMICS”, - 1 Speak *now* or forever hold your peace: power law chronemics of turn-taking and response in asynchronous CMC Yoram M Kalman Gilad Ravid Daphne R Raban Sheizaf Rafaeli Abstract Turn-taking is a key characteristic of conversation, and is well. — “(Page 1 of 23) - Speak *Now* or Forever Hold Your Peace”, related videos for chronemics - Proxemics & Chronemics COMM1113 lecture presenting two elements of nonverbal communication: proxemics and chronemics. The video prepares students for reading about the manifestations, uses, interactions, and cultural elements of these nonverbal communicative tools. - Communication - Wiki Article Communication (from Latin "communis", meaning to share) is the activity of conveying information through the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, o... Communication - Wiki Article - Original @ http All Information Derived... - chronemics waitin @ khurana place - The Talented Mr. Ripley The Talented Mr. Ripley by Anthony Minghella. With Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law. - SC104 The Anniversary - A Silent Love Story - How Do Telephones Transfer Sound? In case you have annotations turned off, I'd like to point out there was a typo in the script of this episode, the word "haptics" was misspelled/mispronounced as "laptics". Please be aware of this. ✷ Facebook: Learn More On... ✷ Body Language ✷ Ethology libx.bsu.edu ✷ Piezoelectricity For Further Research, Read About These... ✷ Biocommunication ✷ David K. Berlo ✷ Text and Conversation Theory Credits: Music courtesy of Kevin MacLeod Moonlight Hall - Kevin MacLeod () Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Introductory Graphic courtesy of Copyright 2012 by FlixPress LLC and/or its suppliers. All rights reserved. - Chronemics.mov A short, abstract film created for a Studies in Film class, personifying "Time" as a human being. Unfortunately, the protagonist's "Time" runs out. Experiments with various, nontraditional camera angles as well as split screen imagery. Created using Adobe Premiere software. - Penny Dreadful: "Mr. Moth-Ears" "Mr. Moth-Ears" From my new album, "Chronemics and Horology" I own the rights to the music and the lyrics. "Like" me on facebook: Thanks so much for listening! - Penny Dreadful: "Benthos" "Benthos" From my new album, "Chronemics and Horology" I own the rights to the music and lyrics. "Like" me on facebook: Thanks so much for listening! - Sense of Time - Monchronicity VS. Polychronicity Video compares monochronic cultures to polychronic cultures using primarily images. - Polychronics (part1) MusicVid by me footage courtesy of , music by Neon Blue Apocalypse - Chronemics Hallelujah - Penny Dreadful: "Premonition" "Premonition" From my new album, "Chronemics and Horology" Beat produced by Genycis () I own the rights to the lyrics. "Like" me on facebook Thanks so much for listening! - Chronemics:Polychronic vs Monochronic Time Orentation To demonstrate different cultural time orientations we follow the daily lives of two very differnent characters. The first character is Ralph Von Schmutenheimer, the very structured monochronic who can't take a bathroom break without first scheduling it. Next we see Manuel Lopez the polychronic time oriented foreign exchange student who values relationships and couldn't care less about the value of time itself. This is a group project for Communication 150 at Clemson U. - CAS470 Video Project: Chronemics Final project for our CAS 470 class - Penny Dreadful: "In the Company of Killers" "In the Company of Killers" From my new album, "Chronemics and Horology" I own the rights to the music and lyrics. "Like" me on facebook: Thanks so much for listening! - chronemics for class At Ashland University project work...... - My concept of time Time and how I see it- done for my intercultural communication class in Sweden - Text Messaging Documentary text messaging documentary or "mockumentary," if you will. film made with cheap equipment and limited time. east richland high school advanced speech project. - Cultural Variations of Verbal and Non-verbal Communication Jacqueline Jordan Irvine explains how verbal and non-verbal communication styles differ among cultures. - Chronemic BONUS Videos: PSA Public Service Announcement: Wear you protective gear while riding your motorcycle. - Man and Safety: Communications 1984 United States Air Force Training Film Animated more at "DISCUSSES THE NEED FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF COMMUNICATION AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN PREVENTING ACCIDENTS. POINTS OUT HOW ABILITY TO IMPART INFORMATION AND SHARE KNOWLEDGE CAN CONTRIBUTE TO A REDUCTION IN ACCIDENTS. DISCUSSES THE VARIOUS MEANS OF COMMUNICATION THAT RANGE FROM ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION TO MAN-MACHINE INTERCOMMUNICATION. REENACTS SEVERAL ACCIDENTS TO SHOW CONSEQUENCES OF TOO MUCH OR TOO LITTLE INFORMATION, GARBLED AND UNCLEAR MESSAGES, AND EMOTIONAL DIFFICULTIES." Public domain film from the National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). The Air Force Safety Center's mission is to prevent mishaps and preserve combat readiness through the development, implementation, execution and evaluation of Air Force aviation, ground, weapons, nuclear surety, space and system programs. It conducts research to promote safety and awareness and mishap prevention, and it oversees mishap investigations, evaluates corrective actions and ensures implementation. It also develops and directs safety and operational risk management education. The Safety Center was formed and activated as a field operating agency on August 1, 1991, and redesignated Air ... - Chronemics Presentation - It's All About Culture - What is Corporate Culture? Explores the different layers and definitions of corporate culture, with commentary from Robert Murray, CEO of Firemint, and Paul Higgins, Managing Director of Oakley. - Cross Cultural Facilitation: Five Day Intensive June 20-24, 2012 Wednesday-Saturday: 9am-5pm, Sunday: 9am-2pm Facilitated by Lee Mun Wah Facilitating a group with many cross-cultural perspectives and experiences requires a keen understanding and knowledge of how cultural differences can impact group dynamics, relationships and their sense of safety. In this unique training, Lee Mun Wah will guide each participant through a series of exercises and mindful techniques that will enhance their understanding of the impact of culture on relationships, conflictual cultural situations, as well as how to develop a deeper and more authentic sense of community and openness within diverse groups. Participants will explore their perception and attitudes about diversity issues through the use of films, books, vignettes and personal stories. They will learn to: Listen and respond from a Buddhist & Eastern Approach Notice the impact and intent of all our communications and actions Discover the importance of curiosity as a mediation tool Make use of non-verbal communications Use Mindful Techniques to de-escalate a conflict wthin minutes Ask 26 culturally-sensitive questions that create safety & trust To Register Visit: twitter about chronemics Blogs & Forum blogs and forums about chronemics “yu gi oh duel disk launcher Aw32 hydraulic oil Ab biller spearguns viramune beju2000 couroc of monterey au31 motherboard benchmade 530 pardue conair jumbo rollers mobic caltius Boze earphones battlelords of the 23rd century aprilaire 8870” — article camas washougal post recordaloette restorative enzyme, “Insight, debate and solutions for restoring productivity and work/life balance in this age of Infoglut Yoram has been studying the Chronemics – the behavior in time – of online communications for years; the public release of the” — Online Silence and Trust at Challenge Information Overload, information- “classics today " Blog Archive " My Favorite Female Vocalists in Indie Rock, Wholesale snazzy and adapted to dictionary is proudly powered by WordPress MU running on Hawaiimode. Create a new blog and join in the fun! Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS)” — anthropology dictionary " Blog Archive " social studies motif, “http:///forum/index.php?topic=61438.new#new. http:///smf/index.p 39.new.html#new " Next Oldest Track this topic · Email this topic · Print this topic · Subscribe to this forum” — article tricor packagingdesert burn hoodia reviews, forum.file2 “Home | About me | My Photos | Recognition | Blog | Contact Chronemics - Time. Oligomix - Smell. Paralinguistics - Voice. Artefacts - Dress. Haptics” — Types of Communication | C.R. Jayaprakash blogs on Media, “Another not so well known form of communication is known as chronemics. use of the pause or chronemics is a powerful technique and conversely” — " Non Verbal Communication, Face and Body Reading by Dadhichi, “Communicaid Blog | Cross Cultural Training and International Communication Skills " chronemics Cultural Concept of Time: Chronemics. Cultural Profile: Edward T. Hall” — Communicaid Blog | Cross Cultural Training and International, “Body language is a hugh subject but here is a brief outline and why it's important when making friends. Forum. How to make true friends – Part 4 – Body language. by Steven Aitchison on March 31, 2008 · 11 comments. Line Break. Author: Steven Aitchison (460 Articles) I am the owner of this blog” — how to make tue freinds - part 4 - Body language | Change,

Many words are used in Qur'an and Ahadith (traditions) for the Day of Judgement and the things related with it. Some of them are explained here: Al-'Akhirah: The next (world), the (life) hereafter. Its opppsites are al-'ula (the first world) and ad-dunya (the nearer world), both of which refer to this world in which we presently live. Allah says: “All praise is due to Him in the first (life) and the hereafter, and His is the Judgement, and to Him you shall be brought back.” (Qur'an 28:70). Qiyamah: Resurrection. 'Yaumul-Qiyamah: The Day of Resurrection. “So Allah shall Judge between you on the Day of Resurrection” (Qur'an 4:141). Yaumud-Din: The Day of Judgement. “The Master of the Day of Judgement.” (Qur'an 1:4). Yaumul-Hisab: The Day of Reckoning. “And Musa said: Surely I take refuge with my Lord and your Lord from every proud one who does not believe in the day of reckoning.”(Qur'an 40:27). As-Sa'ah: The Hour; the Time of Resurrection and Reckoning. “And because the hour is coming, there is no doubt about it; and because Allah shall raise up those who are in the graves.”( Qur'an 22:7). Yaumul-Fasi: The Day of Separation (between good and evil): the Day of decision. “Surely the day of decision is (a day) appointed.” (Qur'an 78:17). Al-Haqqah: The thing (or day) that verifies (the truth of what men doubted about); the sure thing: “The sure thing! What is the sure thing? And what would make you realize what the sure thing is!” (Qur'an 69:1-3). Yaumul-Ba'th: The Day of Renaissance (coming to life again). “So this is the Day of Resurrection, but you did not know”( Qur'an 30:56). Al- Hashr: The Emigration; The gathering. “The Day on which the earth shall cleave asunder under them, they will make haste; this is a gathering together easy to us.” (Qur'an 50:44). An- Nushur: The Rising (the dead to life). “Even so is the quickening (raising the dead)”( Qur'an 35:9). All these names and words point to one or more aspects of the Islamic belief that life in this world is not an end in itself; that there is a life-hereafter; that all human beings will be resurrected one day, and brought together to account for their beliefs and deeds; that it will be a day which will separate good from evil and all will be rewarded or punished according to their belief and deeds. The beliefs in the Unity of Allah and in the Day of Judgement are the Foundations of True faith. All prophets, right from Hadhrat Adam (A) to the Last Prophet Hadhrat Muhammad Mustafa (S), inculcated these beliefs in their peoples. The proof of life hereafter can be found in the books of Anthropology and archaeology. Scientists have discovered that almost all pre-historic societies and communities firmly believed that man, after his death in this world, lives in another world. And today even the most primitive tribes staunchly believe in the life-hereafter. In the ancient tombs throughout the world archaeologists do find household effects and even grains stocked and stacked 'for use by the dead man in his next life.' The original American Indians reached America between 26,000 and 13,000 years ago, “wearing skin and moccasins, with domesticated dogs, a belief in the after-life (and) respect for the dead.”1 This belief spanning the whole world, and reaching back to the very dawn of humanity, proves that Hadhrat Adam (A) had indeed taught this truth to all his children, and his teaching was preserved by all his descendants throughout the ages, though the passage of time and ignorance might have twisted the details in many cases. All the religions of the world, in spite of their differences, are agreed that a man does not always get, in this world, the rewards and/or punishments of his good and/or evil deeds. The Creator has laid down some rules and laws for physical aspects of the world. And those laws never change. Whenever you mix two parts of hydrogen with one part of oxygen, you are sure to get water as a result. If you plant wheat, you will get wheat, at harvest time, and not paddy. And the same Creator has decreed some rules and laws for the spiritual aspect of this world. If you were unjust to others, finally you would bring harm to yourself. If you showed mercy to others, in the end you would benefit from it yourself. But, strangely enough, these spiritual laws, unlike the physical ones, do not always hold their ground. More often than not, we see tyrants spending their lives in comfort and luxury, while their victims live in agony and die in ignominy If the promulgator of both sets of laws is the one and same God, why this difference? While talking of physical laws, we are always sure that two and two make four. But in the sphere of the spiritual laws, we are never sure of the result. Why? This puzzle has only one solution. Reason says that the spiritual and moral laws must be fool-proof, like the physical laws. A good action must bring good result; and an evil must result in evil. And if that anticipated result does not become a reality in this life, then it must come out, as expected, in the next life. Thus, the belief, that man must get full reward and/or punishment of his good and/or evil actions after his death, is based upon reason. Any sensible person could find out this Truth by himself, even if nobody were to guide him towards this conclusion. But the same sensible person cannot find out by himself when, where and in which form that reward or punishment would be meted out. This rewarding or punishing is the prerogative of the Creator, and entirely depends upon His discretion. Therefore, the details of this Justice can not be understood without the guidance of the prophets. We Must accept these Truths, as described by the Holy Prophet of Islam (S), and mould our actions accordingly, if we want to get eternal bliss and save ourselves from everlasting disgrace. In the following chapters much will be said about soul and spirit. Therefore, it is necessary to explain before hand what we mean by these words. There are two words in Arabic: 'Nafs' (soul) and 'Ruh' (spirit). Some scholars think that both are synonymous; others say that they represent two different things. But then they can not decide what those two things are. Every one defines them in his own way. For our purposes, the two words have been treated as synonymous, because in writings as well as in conversations both are frequently interchanged. Anyhow, let us find out, 'what is soul?' Various people have tried to answer this question in various ways. According to the ancient Greek philosophers, the spirit is the steam produced in the heart, which flows in the body with the blood. In their view, the soul or spirit was a material thing. They called it 'Ruh-e-Hayawan' (the spirit of life); it was neither eternal nor everlasting. It just vanished when death came. The same, more or less, is the view of the atheists. They believe that life is just a development of matter; soul or spirit has no independent identity and death means the final end of life. In 'God: An Islamic Perspective”, it has been explained that if this view were correct then “the universe would have been without life” because ''matter has no life” and “it could not give to universe what it did not possess itself” According to Hinduism, the soul is eternal. It has not been created by God. They say that matter and spirit both are self-existent and eternal like God. God's only function, according to them, is to transfer a soul from one body to another. Here the readers should be reminded that, according to the proofs given in 'God: An Islamic Perspective', nothing except God is eternal and self-existent: and to believe in more than one eternal is 'Shirk' (polytheism) which has been proved to be baseless and just a fantasy of idle minds. We started this chapter with the question, “What is Soul?” But are still talking about 'what the Soul is not?' This process of elimination should gradually lead us to the true answer to our original question. Mystics of Islam, who are called 'Sufiya', had a belief which was borrowed from Hinduism and Christianity, and was gradually developed in succeeding centuries. They said that soul was a part of God. And not only soul, but every thing was a part of God. When a part separates from “the absolute existence” (i.e., God) it gets different names and labels. And as soon as it relinquishes its separate identity, it again joins God. They use the example of river and waves. The waves are part and parcel of a river, when they apparently assume a separate identity, they are called 'waves'; but even then they are no less a part of river. When same waves come down and lose their separate identity, they become, and are called, a part of river. But iri reality, they were river at all times and in every stage, though we failed to realize and appreciate this fact because of 'optic allusion' ('Maya' in Sanskirt). This belief of theirs called “Wahdatul- Wujut” (oneness of existence), and its motto is “Home Uust” (Everything is He). They assert that Pharaoh and other people who claimed to be gods were telling the truth; their only crime was that they leaked the secret, and that is why they were condemned. They claimed openly that every stone, every idol, every animal and, in short, every thing was a part of God. Once a Sufi was sitting in a mosque when a dog entered and passed urine inside the 'mehrab' (the niche). The Sufi exclaimed: “Lo! You come into your own house and make it unclean!” With such generous distribution of godhead' it was to be expected that many of them would claim to be gods. And they did. During the heyday of Sufism, this belief served as a screen to hide every type of immorality Quite young initiates were used for homosexuality. The explanation was that it was not the beauty of the flesh they were after, rather they were seeing in it the divine beauty! There is no need to remind the readers that this idea of 'universality-of godhead' was diametrically opposed to the belief of the Unity of God; which is the Foundation of Islam. According to the Muslim scholars, such belief was the worst type of polytheism It is in fact 'pan-theism' The idol-worshippers pay homage to a limited number of deities; these Sufis paid homage to every thing in this world, including their own self. To counteract such belief, the Muslim scholars coined another phrase: “Hame Azusf (Everything is From Him) It showed, in a nut-shell, the Islamic belief that every thing in this world is created by Allah (and it is not a part of Allah). Many scholars, during the heyday of Sufism, felt compelled to use the phrases and language of the Sufis, to make their talks and writings intelligible to the masses. And, as the majority of those scholars remained aloof from the hocus-pocus of the worldly; affairs, spending their lives in pursuit of religious knowledge and seeking the pleasure of Allah, some people thought that those scholars also were followers of Sufism. But nothing could be further from truth. A person does not become a Sufi just by. renouncing the luxuries of the world, unless he believes in the theory of “Hame Uust”. And no Shi'a scholar was ever accused of such belief. (it is surprising how with so much prevalence of pleasure and lust going on in the “Khanqahs”, (monasteries of Sufis), the masses still believed that “renouncement of world” was the Speciality”' of the Sufis). Leaving aside the theories invented by human minds, let us turn to the Qur'an for guidance. There is an 'ayah (verse) in the Qur'an: “They ask thee concerning the spirit (or soul). Say, the spirit is from the 'Amr” of my Lord; but you (people) have not been given knowledge but a little”. (Qur'an 17:85). At First, glance, this answer seems vague. But it does not mean that Allah avoided, the explanation, it just means that those who asked the question were unable to understand the answer. When a 3-year old asks his mother whence his newly-born brother has come, she says that she had brought it from the hospital, or that a stork had brought him into the house. Such evasions are used because the child's mind is not mature enough to receive the facts. But in any case, there is a difference between the Creator and the created: Parents may give a wrong answer, Allah cannot. Therefore, we should ponder upon this “vague” answer. Perhaps we may find some explanation behind this very vagueness. The spirit (soul: Ruh) is from the Amr' of thy Lord.” Now, in various Ayats (verses), of the Qur'an, the word Amr has been used for three meanings : • Order; Commandment;- Authority. • Work; Task. • To create without any matter' Have mentioned in previous chapters the theories of atheists, polytheists and other groups about the soul. Reading them a person is bound to be puzzled about various aspects of soul He may wonder whether the soul is self-existent or a created thing. The answer is: It is the Amr i.e., the work of Allah. In other words'; it is a created thing, not self-existent. He may be puzzled whether it is a material thing, of is different from matter. Again 'the answer is: it is the Amr' of my Lord, Without any matter He may be confused by some people's claim that it was equal to God. This Ayat will guide him to the: fact that it is the creation of my Lord' and as such can not be equal to the creator nor independent of Him. ' In this way this Ayat teaches us that the soul or spirit was created by the order of Allah without any matter. It does not go beyond that, it does not explain the nature of the soul. But we should not be perturbed by this veil of secrecy. After all. we do not know the nature of many things with which we come into contact everyday. We know how electric power has changed the face of the earth and our way of life. But nobody has yet discovered what electricity is. We know how it is produced, but we do not know the thing which is produced. Likewise, magnetism had not been identified yet. But this ignorance of the nature of the electricity or magnet has not prevented us from taking full advantage of these wonders of creation. Once we know the functions of electricity, the ignorance of its nature can not prevent us from making its full use. Likewise, functions of soul or spirit are known. We should try to improve our spiritual qualities by believing in Allah and obeying His commands. Let us appreciate that Allah has told us in this Ayat (verse) as much as was necessary for keeping us on the right path. Otherwise, we would have been confused by various claims about soul (which have been mentioned in previous chapters). Now we know that soul is not a development of matter; it is a creature of Allah and not His equal; it is not self-existent. In this way, our faith in the Unity of Creator has been safeguarded. Now we should advance spiritually by taking full advantage of the functions of the soul. Shaykh As-Saduq in his book of creed writes:- “It is our belief about the 'Nafs' (soul) that it is the 'Ruh' (spirit) which is the cause of life; and that the spirits (or souls) are the first creations. As the Holy Prophet has said: “The first thing which Allah created out of nothing were the blessed and pure souls; then Allah made them declare His oneness (Tawheed); and after that He brought into being other creatures.”.2 This is in conformity with our belief that the Light of Muhammad (S) and Aale -Muhammad (A) were the First creation. The same idea has been conveyed here using the word 'Nafs'. So the 'Nafs' or 'Ruh' is the first thing created, that is the 'Nafs' of the The other souls also were created long before the creation of Adam (A). Shaykh as-Saduq further writes: “And the Prophet has said, “The souls are like a collection of armed forces, whichever souls knew each other (in that world) are attracted towards each other (in this world) and whichever remained apart and aloof (there) are repulsed from each other (in this life). “And Imam Ja'far as Sadiq (A) said: 'Verily, Allah established brotherhood between the Souls in the (world of) shadows, 2000 years before creating the bodies. For this reason, when the Qa'im of Ahlul-Bait (i.e., Imam Mahdi (A)) will appear, he will bestow inheritance of a man to his brother of that world of spirits, and not to the brother by birth'.” He further writes:- “And it is our belief about the souls that they are not from the genus of body (i.e., not made of matter); and that they are 'another creation', as Allah has said: ” Then we made it into another creation”( Qur'an, 23:12-14). Shaykh as-Saduq has referred to the following verses: “We formerly created man of a finer sort of clay; afterwards we placed him as semen in a sure receptacle, i.e., womb of mother; then we made the semen as coagulated blood; and we formed the coagulated blood into a piece of flesh; then we formed the piece of flesh into bones; and we clothed those bones with flesh; then we made it into another creation. Therefore, blessed be Allah, the Most Excellent Creator.”3 Allah says in the Qur'an:- “And when thy Lord drew forth their posterity from the loins of the sons of Adam, and took them to witness against themselves (saying), 'Am I not your Lord?' They answered, 'Yes, we do bear witness,' (This was done) lest you should say, at the Day of Resurrection, Verily we were negligent as to this (matter), or lest you should say, Verily, our fathers were indeed joining other gods with our Lord, and we were but their seed after them: wilt thou destroy us for the doings of vain men? Thus make We our , signs clear: that haply they may return to God.”( Qur'an, 7:172-174 ). This covenant was taken, according to the traditions of Islam, before the creation of Adam (A). The Sunni traditionalist, Daylami, narrates in his book, Firdaus-ul-Akhbar, Chapter 14, that the Messenger of Allah (S) said: “If the people were to realize when it was that 'Ali was named The Leader of the Faithful, they would not deny his superiority. He was named 'Leader of the Faithful' when Adam was between soul and body (i.e., his creation was not completed). Allah has said: 'And when thy Lord drew forth their posterity from the loins of the sons of Adam, and took them to witness against themselves (saying), 'Am I not your Lord?” Then the angels said, 'Yes'; and Allah said, 'I am your Lord, and Muhammad is your Prophet, and 'Ali is your Leader'.”4 The two narratives mentioned in this and the previous chapters, throw light on some mysteries of human behaviour. 'Love at the first sight' is not just a poetic figure of speech. Neither is hate at first sight. All of us have experienced these inexplicable feelings at one time or the other. Some times we meet a person for the first time and instantly feel a sort of attraction towards him. And in other cases, an instant dislike occurs within our hearts. Many people try to explain this phenomenon by saying that our bodies emit electrical currents, accordingly, if someone else's electrical waves are in harmony with ours, we are attracted to him; and if on the other hand, the waves are not in harmony, we instantly dislike that person. Be it as it may. But the tradition of Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (A) gives us the basic reason of this mystery; that theory of electrical currents may explain the secondary cause, but the primary cause is that attraction or repulsion of the spiritual world. Another phenomenon is the readiness of the human soul to follow the path of truth, if left to itself. This may easily be understood if we look at even the primitive tribes and find out their beliefs about the Creator and the life -hereafter. We will surely find them believing in a Supreme Being, and as explained in the previous pages, in the life after death. This instinctive belief comes from the First Covenant, which has been mentioned in this chapter. The human soul performs various functions in the body, like growth, senses, digestion etc. According to a Muslim scholar, there are four 'souls' in a true believer. Actually, he means that there are four facets in the soul of a true believer: • The Soul of Vegetation and Growth: It has five workers (or functions): It obtains the food, keeps it securely, digests it, removes the waste and turns the digested food into parts of the body. Also it has two properties: Growth and Decay. • The Soul of Animation and Senses: This also has five workers (i.e., functions): Sight, hearing, smelling, taste and touch. And it has two properties: Love and Hate. • The Soul of Reason and Purity: This aspect of human soul has five powers: Thinking, memory, knowledge, forbearance, and dignity. Also it has two properties: Purity and Wisdom. • The Soul of Divinity: This also has five powers: To be immortal in mortality; to get bliss in adversity; to find honour in apparent disgrace; to be poor in riches; and to have patience in hardships. And it has two properties: To accept the will of Allah and to submit to His decrees. And this soul is the one which, in this context, is called 'An-Nafs al-Mutma'innah' (The Tranquil Soul).5 These different aspects of human soul have been given here in brief, to show that just as a diamond, when uncut, is valuable, but not as much as it would be after being cut; likewise, a human soul in the beginning, is honourable, but not as much as it would be after being put to test. And as we all know, there are various 'cuts' of a diamond: the one having the utmost number of facets, is considered the most valuable; and the value decreases if there are less facets. Likewise, if a soul has got all the above-mentioned facets, it is the most honoured one in the eyes of Allah. But if it loses its facets described in the last paragraph, i:e., the facet called 'the Soul of Divinity', then it is considered worthless. Looking from another angle, the soul has three other facets: 1. An-Nafs-al-Ammarah (The soul which urges man to do evil). If the individual fights against this urge successfully with his faith in God and his determination to do only good, the strength of the will is increased and the individual remains safe against the strongest temptations of satanic forces. It was this aspect of the soul that the prophet Yusuf (A. S.) referred to when he said:- “And I boast not of the purity of my soul; verily the soul is wont to bid (one to) evil, except those on whom my Lord has mercy; for Gracious is my Lord, the Merciful.”( Qur'an, 12:53). 1. An-Nafs-al-Lawwamah (The Reproaching Soul): We call it “conscience”. It is the power of the soul which reproaches the man whenever he goes astray from right path. Allah has honoured this facet of soul by swearing by it in the 75th Sura: ”Nay! I swear by the self-reproaching soul”( Qur'an, 75:2). Repeated sins blunt the edge of this reproach, and gradually a time comes when the evil-doer does not feel the pang of conscience. If one has already reached that stage, nothing can save him from eternal disgrace. 1. An-Nafs-al-Mutma'innah (The Tranquil Soul): Its powers and properties have been mentioned in the last chapter. It is the soul which has conquered all desires and has completely surrendered itself to the Will of Allah. This is the highest stage of the perfection of the soul. Allah has referred to this aspect of the soul in the following verses:- “O thou Tranquil soul, return to thy Lord, well pleased, well pleasing (to Him)' enter thou amongst My servants, and enter thou My paradise.”(Qur'an, 89:27-30). Shaykh as-Saduq has described the various facets of the soul in a very clear way. The example of the 'cuts' of diamond should be kept in mind when reading the following description taken from his book. “It is our belief that there are five spirits in the prophets, and Imams: The Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Faith, The Spirit of Strength, The Spirit of Desire, and The Spirit of Animation (or Life); “And the believers have four spirits: The Spirit of Faith, The Spirit of Strength, The Spirit of Desire, and The Spirit of Life; “And the unbelievers and animals have three spirits. The Spirit of Strength, the Spirit of Desire, and The Spirit of Life”6 Thus, the more the facets to be found in a soul, the more prestige it acquires in the eyes of Allah. In the previous chapters, we have tried to describe some known functions and aspects of soul. The readers would have realized by now that even without telling us the 'nature' of soul, Allah and His chosen ones have told us enough about its functions. In this back-ground, we should look at the saying of our first Imam, 'Ali bin Abi Talib (A) “Whoever knew his soul, knew his Lord.”7 If we ponder over this short sentence, we will realize that: As mentioned above, it is not possible to know the soul. Likewise, we should realize that it is not possible to know God. When we do not have ability to know the creation, how can we expect to know the Creator? Though we do not know the nature of soul, we are forced to admit that there is something which is the source of life and of all our powers and abilities. Scientists admit that they do not know what life is; but they know that there is life. Likewise, our intelligence and instinct both compel us to admit that there is a Creator, though we do not know Him. We know that the soul is the ruler of our body. Likewise, we know that God is the ruler of this Universe. If one of our limbs refuses to obey the commands of soul, it is not a reflection on the strength of the soul. It is considered the defect of the limb itself. In the same way, if one refuses to obey the commands of God, it should be deemed as one's own defect. This disobedience will not weaken the authority of God. Instead, the disobedient person will be rated as spiritually sick. We know that soul is connected with our body; but we do not know where it is. We know that life is everywhere in our body. But if a limb of a man is severed, we do not say that so much portion of his soul has been cut off. Thus, we say that life is everywhere in the body, and at the same time do not say that 'It is here', or 'It is therfe'; in fact, we may as easily say that it is nowhere. Likewise, we know that God is everywhere; but we can not say, 'He is here', or 'He is there'. We can not point towards Him. We can not connect him with any place. Whenever we want to do any work, our limbs at once do it without any need on the part of our soul or spirit to tell that limb to do this or that. Likewise, whenever God wishes anything to happen it just happens without any need on the part of God to say, 'Be this' or 'Be that'. There is a verse in the Qur'an: “His command, whenever He wills a thing, is only that He says unto it 'Be' and it is.” (Qur'an, 36:82) According to the explanations of our Imams, it is a way of expressing the idea that as soon as God wills something, it happens. We know that God has decreed that once created, the soul does not die. Likewise, we know that God is eternal and ever-living. We can not see the soul. We can not see God. Thus, even without knowing the nature of the soul, we are able to reach Allah through its functions. Now we come back to our original topic of Reward and Punishment of our actions. First, let us examine the theory of “transmigration of souls” and see whether it satisfies the demands of Justice, as it is supposed to. Those people who believe that the soul is eternal and not created by God say that the souls are transmigrated from one body to another for ever. According to them, the body is changed according to the deeds of the previous life. For instance, if a man is virtuous, he will be rewarded in the next life by being born in a family of Brahmins or Kings. If he was a thief, he would reappear in the next life as a monkey or a mouse. If he was a murderer, he might become a tiger in the next life, and so on. What is the reason behind this belief? These people accept the need for reward and punishment of our deeds. Let us see whether all the requirements of reward or punishment arc satisfied by this theory. The punishments are justified for any of the three following reasons: • To satisfy the victim of the crime; • To help the wrong-doer to mend his way and thus become a useful member of the society; • To make the wrong-doer an example for others to deter them from committing such crimes. For example, if someone murdered an innocent person, and in consequence thereof was killed by the order of the judicial authorities, two of the above benefits would be obtained: The relatives of the victim would be satisfied that the blood of their innocent relative had been avenged; and other potential murderers would realize that it does not pay to kill. Of course, the third benefit (reform of the criminal) is absent here; but it does not matter. Even if only one of the benefits could be obtained, the punishment would be justified. Now let us see what is the benefit of giving punishment by transferring a soul from one body to another. Nobody knows why he has been given a human body. Therefore, he is deprived of the satisfaction of receiving the reward for his past good deeds; he does not even know what they were. And we may assume safely that, likewise, no monkey or snake knows why he has been re-bom as a monkey or a snake. Therefore, the benefit of reform is out of question here. The second benefit (to satisfy the victims of the crime) also is out of the question; because uptil now nobody has been informed that the thief who had broken his safe 10 years ago is now a mouse in his garden. By the same reasoning, the reform of the society is not achieved by this system. As no potential debauchee knows that the bitch in his house was a debauchee in its previous incarnation, he can feel no deterrent against his immoralities. On the other hand, it may be claimed that the transmigration of soul is a reward of the crimes and encouragement of sins. A man breaks into a shop, and in the next re-birth he is turned into a mouse. What happens to him now? He, in this new life, breaks, or can break, into hundreds of houses and shops; and can steal hundreds of items. A man steals a fruit from a garden, and he becomes a monkey in the next life. It means that now he has been given liberty to steal fruits all his life from hundreds of trees. Obviously this theory has no logic behind it, to say the least. Further, let us look at this theory from the practical point of view. Everyone agrees that moral standards nowadays have become very low; that all values of humanity have lost their meaning. Now, according to the theory of transmigration of souls, the population of human beings should be decreasing day by day. Why? Because very few people can truthfully claim that they have done nothing to warrant degradation in the next life. Therefore, the majority of the people dying should be reborn not as human beings but as brutes. But we see that human population is increasing at an alarming rate. Does it mean that the more a man becomes immoral the more are his chances of being reborn as a human being? Also, this theory pre-supposes the existence of the caste-system. What would the believers in this theory say in a society where there is no caste, like in Islam? Obviously, this theory was invented to justify the system which was existing at that time. Sometimes, one sees in newspapers some un-verified reports designed to support this belief. For example, recently there was a report of a young lady (in her teens) who, it was said, could speak in various foreign languages, including Arabic, at the age of 3 years. But how could you check this report when she had already passed that age? Why such reports are not published at a time when they could be verified? The effects of the good and/or bad deed of a man do not necessarily end with his death. A man establishes a seat of learning. He dies, but the school remains; and hundreds of thousands of people benefit from it after the death of the founder. A man, or a group of men, invent hydrogen bomb. And with the invention thousands of innocent people may be killed long-after the death of the inventors. Common sense says that the former should be rewarded for making it possible for so many people to get knowledge. And the reward of teaching ten persons can not be the same as that of teaching ten million. Likewise, the people who created the means of killing thousands of people in one instant must share the responsibility of that massacre, though the victims might have been killed long after the death of the inventors. And the sin of killing ten million persons cannot be the same as that of killing one person. So, it is evident that the good or bad acts of a person do not end with his death. The account must remain open so long as there are people to follow and imitate him. Therefore, it is simply not possible to judge a man immediately after his death. Reason guides us that judgements cannot be passed until the accounts of the deeds of each and every individual are closed finally. Only then the true picture of his deeds may emerge clearly. And this is what Islam believes. According to this belief, a day will come when everybody will die; and then all of them will be resurrected by Allah; their beliefs and deeds will be judged by Allah; and all of them will be rewarded (or punished) accordingly. This belief of Qiyamat has one advantage which is lacking in the theory of transmigration of souls. Even if we forget all the defects of the theory of transmigration, then at its best it has the ability of showing only one aspect of the attributes of Allah, and that is Justice. It cannot show the Mercy of Allah. On the other hand, in Qiyamat there will be as much chance of showing Mercy as that of Justice. There, also, will be opportunities of forgiveness and reconciliation, because all the parties concerned will be present at one place. Also, there will be chances of intercession by the Prophets, Imams, and other virtuous servants of Allah. All these advantages are conspicuous by their absence in rival theories.

A shopper can save an average of 89 percent by purchasing natural and organic foods in the bulk foods aisle of a grocery store, according to a new study. The study by Portland State University’s Food Industry Leadership Center (FILC), the first of its kind in the United States, examines three main areas related to buying in bulk: cost comparisons (to packaged counterparts), environmental impact and consumer attitudes toward buying in bulk. The study was conducted on behalf of the Bulk is Green Council (BIG), based in Portland, Ore. Researchers made cost comparisons between organic bulk foods and organic packaged foods in a number of key categories, including coffee and tea, nut butters, flour and grains, dried fruit, spices, beans, pasta and confectionaries. The percentage of savings when buying in bulk differed from category to category, but averaging the savings across all categories resulted in an average of 89 percent lower costs compared to packaged counterparts. Chief among the environmental advantages of buying in bulk is reducing the amount of product packaging going into landfills. According to the study, if coffee-drinking Americans purchased all of their coffee in bulk for one year, nearly 240 million pounds of foil packaging would be saved from entering a landfill. If Americans purchased all their almonds in bulk for one year, 72 million pounds of waste would be saved from a landfill, according to the study. The study also found that food manufacturers choosing to market bulk foods versus packaged foods can save an average of 54 percent on material and delivery costs since more pallets of bulk food can be packed onto delivery trucks. Researchers found that consumers who do buy in bulk are aware of the benefits of doing so. The study’s findings show the main reason consumers shop the bulk foods aisle is for the ability to buy the exact quantity needed. As a result, consumers said bulk items were less likely than packaged items to be thrown away, which results in less food waste. Consumers also cited cost savings and the environmental aspect of using less packaging as the other top reasons for buying bulk. “We’ve long touted shopping in the bulk foods aisle as the most economical and environmentally friendly way to shop, and now we have the data to back up those claims,” said Todd Kluger, a founding member of BIG and vice president of marketing at Lundberg Family Farms, the top U.S. organic rice producer. “Even better, with more and more U.S. grocery stores now offering a larger selection of bulk foods, these benefits are widely accessible.” “Many claims have been made regarding the benefits of buying in bulk, but there have been few quantifiable statistics to support those claims,” said Tom Gillpatrick, executive director of FILC. “We’re excited to be the first research team in the United States to substantiate that buying in bulk does offer tangible environmental and economical benefits.” To check out the findings from the study, click here. Via ~ sustainablefoodnews.com

Results 1–10 of 15 for "Children's Book"X related to "Positive Psychological Assessment: A..." Refine Your Search Refine Your Search TopicChildren (9)Education (5)Teens (4)Disability (3)ADHD (2) 6 more... [+] Autism (2)Learning & memory (2)Parenting (1)Stress (1)Therapy (1)Trauma (1)Hide detailsDocument TypeChildren's BookXYear2014 (1)2013 (5)2012 (1)2011 (2)2010 (5)Author/ContributorIsche, Bryan (2)Maitland, Theresa E. Laurie (2)Moss, Wendy L. (2)Quinn, Patricia O. (2)Amenta, Charles A. III (1) 22 more... [+] Ben-Ami, Uzi (1)Bogade, Maria (1)Bone, Jeffrey (1)Bone, Lisa (1)Cain, Barbara S. (1)DeLuca-Acconi, Robin (1)Dixon, Tennessee (1)Docampo, Valeria (1)Freeland, Claire A. B. (1)Grossberg, Blythe (1)Hehenberger, Shelly (1)Hood, Korey K. (1)Kim, Cecil (1)Kim, Joo-Kyung (1)Lobby, Ted (1)Pearce, Carl (1)Pollak, Monika (1)Rubenstein, Lauren (1)Stern, Judith M. (1)Straus, Susan Farber (1)Thompson, David (1)Toner, Jacqueline B. (1)Hide details Results 1–10 of 15 Previous 1 2 Next Relevance Title A-Z Title Z-A Newest First Oldest First Sort by: 1.Russell's World: A Story for Kids About AutismRussell is a child with autism, and this book explores the ways he is different from other children and his family is different from other families.Children's Book (March 2011)2.What to Do When It's Not Fair: A Kid's Guide to Handling Envy and JealousyThis book introduces kids to cognitive-behavioral therapy-based strategies that can help them understand and deal with envy, jealousy, and self-esteem.Children's Book (September 2013)3.Being Me: A Kid's Guide to Boosting Confidence and Self-EsteemThis handy guide gives kids the tools they need to explore their strengths, feel successful, and be confident in school, with friends, and importantly, with themselves.Children's Book (November 2010)4.Applying to College for Students With ADD or LD: A Guide to Keep You (and Your Parents) Sane, Satisfied, and Organized Through the Admission ProcessThis book gives students easy-to-use guidelines and insider tips to make their college application process organized, effective, and less stressful.Children's Book (September 2010)5.A Happy HatThis is a story of resilience, optimism, and hope. The life story of a hat and its various owners illustrates how dealing with disappointments and stressful situations is crucial to one's well-being.Children's Book (September 2013)6.Ready for Take-Off: Preparing Your Teen With ADHD or LD for CollegeThis book lays out a plan to keep students with ADHD or LD in college by first teaching parents to prepare their teen for take-off and their first solo flight away from the home.Children's Book (November 2010)7.Many Ways to Learn, Second Edition: A Kid's Guide to LDThis new edition of the classic book Many Ways to Learn gives kids with learning disabilities reassurance and knowledge to live confidently with their disability.Children's Book (November 2010)8.Type 1 Teens: A Guide to Managing Your Life With DiabetesThis book gives teens a slew of strategies and tips to manage their day-to-day lives with type 1 diabetes.Children's Book (June 2010)9.On Your Own: A College Readiness Guide for Teens With ADHD/LDThis book for teens with ADHD and or learning disorders provides easy-to-use advice and strategies that will allow them to map out a plan and cultivate the skills needed to succeed in college.Children's Book (May 2011)10.Not Every PrincessThis book takes readers on a poetic journey gently questioning the rigid construction of gender roles and inspiring readers to access their imaginations and challenge societal expectations.Children's Book (May 2014) Previous 1 2 Next Relevance Title A-Z Title Z-A Newest First Oldest First Sort by: ADVERTISEMENT Results 1–10 of 15 for "Children's Book"X related to "Positive Psychological Assessment: A..."

logging in or signing up marxism amp art Raulo Download Post to : URL : Related Presentations : Let's Connect Share Add to Flag Embed Email Send to Blogs and Networks Add to Channel Copy embed code: Embed: Flash iPad Dynamic Copy Does not support media & animations Automatically changes to Flash or non-Flash embed WordPress Embed Customize Embed URL: Copy Thumbnail: Copy The presentation is successfully added In Your Favorites. Views: 633 Category: Education License: All Rights Reserved Like it (2) Dislike it (0) Added: January 16, 2008 This Presentation is Public Favorites: 0 Presentation Description No description available. Comments Posting comment... Premium member Presentation Transcript Art and Marxism: Art and Marxism Under the Guidance of Prof Milind Malshe HS 463- Arts and Aesthetics Presentation By: Akash Gupta (03004021) October 2006Contents : Contents Introduction Base and Superstructure Materialism Marx Thoughts Romanticism to Materialism Marx on “Art for Art’s Sake” Marx and Literature Marx and Realism Summary References Introduction: Introduction Idealism By Plato the philosophical theory that ideas are the only reality the view that the existence of objects depends wholly or in part on the minds of those perceiving them or that reality is composed of minds and their states Realism a scientific idea As a term in philosophy, realism refers to a thesis that general properties, technically known as universals, have a mode of existence or a form of reality that is in a certain sense independent of the things that possess them Romanticism a style and movement in art, music and literature in the late 18th and early 19th century, in which strong feelings, imagination and a return to nature were more important than reason, order and intellectual ideas Introduction: Introduction “Karl Marx & Frederick Engels” - Founder of Marxism Both had an excellent knowledge of world of art and truly loved literature, classical music, painting and also the epics of various nations and other types of folklore e.g. songs, tales, fables and proverbs Both wrote poetry in their youth time Both were well acquainted by classical literature They used artistic imagery to express their thoughts more forcefully and vividly in their journalistic and polemical worksIntroduction: Introduction Superb knowledge of world art helped Marx and Engels to elaborate genuinely scientific aesthetic principles. They were thus not only able to answer the complex aesthetic questions of the previous age, but also to elaborate a fundamentally new system of aesthetic science. Karl Marx 1818-1883 Frederick Engels 1820-1895Base and Superstructure: Base and Superstructure Karl Marx proposed a base/superstructure model of society The base refers to the means of production of society The superstructure is formed on top of the base, and comprises that society's ideology, as well as its legal system, political system, and religions etc.Functional Hierarchy : Relation of Production Art, Law, politics, & state; Consciousness etc. Given Material Condition: 1. the satisfaction of needes by technical areas 2. creates new needs (& thereby, history): in particular 3. the family 4. Social Releation of Production Functional Hierarchy Base (Property) Superstructure "the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness." - MarxMaterialism: Materialism Base of Marxism “materialism is that form of physicalism which holds that the only thing that can truly be said to exist is matter; that fundamentally, all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions.”Materialism: Materialism Materialism: Materialism Historical Materialism: methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history which was first articulated by Karl Marx Dialectical Materialism Discovering the truth of ideas by discussion and logical argument and by considering ideas which that are opposed each other (contradiction) Given by “Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel”Historical Materialism: Historical Materialism stages or modes of production Primitive communism or tribal ownership Slave society, ownership through subjugation Feudalism, ownership conferred by military conquest and allegiance Capitalism, ownership through investment and market-based success Communism Historical Materialism: Historical Materialism Marx and Engels stripped away the romantic idealisation of the Middle Ages and, at the same time, demonstrated the inconsistency of the abstract view held by the Enlighteners that this was merely an age of social and cultural regression They pointed out that the transition from slave-owning to feudal society was historically inevitable and showed that the establishment of the feudal mode of production was a step forward in the development of human society, compared to the reign of slavery which had preceded it. This enabled Marx and Engels to form a new approach to medieval culture and art and point out those features in them which reflected the progressive course of historical developmentMarx Thoughts: Marx Thoughts Marx did not believe that spiritual contradictions led to historical changes; rather, Marx believed that economic contradictions led to historic change and conflict "art is an aspect of religion (and vice versa) rather than a separate spiritual mode, and the collective expression of a society rather than of an individual voice” – Hegel “Society’s economic structure (and the dominant socioeconomic class of that structure) determined the creation of art and literature. This belief evolved into what Marx called economic determinism.” "getting and keeping [of] economic power is the motive behind all social and political activities, including education, philosophy, religion, government, the arts, science, technology, the media, etc." Romanticism to Materialism : Romanticism to Materialism Problem : Relationship between art and reality “It is absolutely impossible to understand art and literature proceeding only from their internal laws of development.” Problem was solved on the basis of materialist dialectics Essence, origin, development, and social role of Art could only be understood through analysis of social system as whole within which economic factor plays the decisive roleRomanticism to Materialism: Romanticism to Materialism Thus art is one of the forms of social consciousness and it therefore follows that the reasons for its change should be sought in the social existence of men Creating works of art appeared as a result of the long development of human society and were the product of man’s labor also “in accordance with the laws of beauty” They emphasise that man’s aesthetics sense is not inborn, but a socially acquired quality They use dialectical view of the nature of human thought to analysis of artistic creativityMarx on “Art for Art’s Sake”: Marx on “Art for Art’s Sake” Definition – “For something’s own sake” :: because of the interest or value something has, not because of the advantages it may bring Marx and Engel both were highly critical of attempts to place the theory of “art for art’s sake” Works of realist writer should reflect a progressive world outlook, be permitted with progressive ideas and deal only with truly topical problems Marx and Literature: Marx and Literature The Birth of the Novel – Because of the revolution a new social class came up & they used the novel to support and maintain their dominance On Novel - "a product of the men thrown into struggle by the specific contradictions of the given social formation. In their literature and art, men do not produce some mysteriously congruent copy of the social structure; rather they express the content of the fundamental struggle with nature and with their own nature which that society, at its particular stage of development, carries forward or inhibits, or does both at the same time" - Marx Epic represents what Marx called the 'natural conflict' and tragedies reflect characters true literature to Marx would not realistically reflect Marx and Literature: Marx and Literature People viewed themselves in one of the following four categories a romantic-reactionary yearning for some lost idyllic, organic past order disillusion, pessimism and despair or impatience, indiscriminate rage and violence a philosophical resignation to what is taken to be the human condition a confused combination of or oscillation between any of these; alternatively, they may seek, against these moods, a revolutionary theory and practice to overturn the existing social order novel is merely a reflection of bourgeois ideals, and so supports capitalism A Marxist story would run along these lines: Keep in mind that I am not the main character! Marx and Realism: What this image represent Marx and Realism Problem of Realism – The most accurate depiction of reality in an artistic work Marx and Realism: Marx and Realism Realism as a trend in literature and a method of artistic creation “Realism to my mind”, “Implies, besides truth of detail, the truthful reproduction of typical characters under typical circumstances” – Engel Marx’s & Engel’s demands on the artist include truthfulness of depiction Summary: Summary Art is always and everywhere the secret confession, and at the same time the immortal movement of its time Function of art is to serve society Economics is all and art should be its servant Marxist theory in fact crippled the arts in communist countries Sidebar: damage to art by imposition of aesthetic or political dogma References: References Marxist aesthetics: foundations within everyday life for an emancipated consciousness, Author - Johnson & Pauline, Publisher : Routledge and Kegan Paul, London 1984 Art and society : essays in marxist aesthetics (translated by Maro Riofrancos), Author - Vasquez & Adolfo Sanchez, Publisher - Monthly Review Press, New York 1973 Marx and Engels On Literature and Art Preface. (http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/subject/art/preface.htm) Marxist Literary Criticism, Department of English, Virginia Tech University, http://athena.english.vt.edu/~hbrizee/marx_page.htmReferences: References Historical materialism, Dialectical materialism - Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Materialism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_Materialism Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://plato.stanford.edu/ Thank You: Thank You You do not have the permission to view this presentation. In order to view it, please contact the author of the presentation.

Dolphins' Superior Ability to Heal May Help Humans, Georgetown University Medical Center Study 7/25/2011 8:05:25 AM The ability of dolphins to resist infection and heal quickly from shark bites could offer new insight into the treatment of human wounds, a researcher suggests. "Much about the dolphin's healing process remains unreported and poorly documented," Dr. Michael Zasloff, adjunct professor at Georgetown University Medical Center and former dean of research, said in a university news release. "How does the dolphin not bleed to death after a shark bite? How is it that dolphins appear not to suffer significant pain? What prevents infection of a significant injury?" asked Zasloff in a letter published July 21 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. Similar injuries in people would be deadly, Zasloff said.

Rhodococcus equi, a normal soil organism, can be damaging for a foal--if not now, then later. Affected foals develop fever, nasal discharge, and cough, and they become lethargic. While some succumb to subsequent pneumonia and pulmonary abscesses, survivors can experience significant performance-limiting problems later in life. Ben Buchanan, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, Dipl. ACVECC, of Brazos Valley Equine Hospital in Navasota, Texas, described an antimicrobial strategy designed to reduce the incidence of R. equi infection at the 2011 American Association of Equine Practitioners convention, held Nov. 18-22, in San Antonio. Buchanan explained that foals contract this disease early in life, but clinical signs emerge weeks later. One technique that has been fairly successful in limiting the development of clinical signs is the administration of azithromycin within two weeks of birth. Resistance to this macrolide antibiotic is beginning to show in 5% of R. equi cases so it is important for the veterinary community to identify other control techniques. Buchanan reported that risk factors for infection include transient populations of mares (coming and going) on a farm as well as a high stocking density of pastures-these conditions lead to increased R. equi organisms in the soil. However, Buchanan pointed out that Rhodococcus pneumonia is associated with exposure to a high concentration of airborne organisms rather than those in the soil. The stress of pregnancy causes periparturient mares (around the time of giving birth) to shed virulent R. equi into the environment ("In most studies up to 100% of mares will shed R. equi," Buchanan noted). In one study, higher airborne concentrations of these bacteria were identified in stalls than in paddocks. A second study demonstrated higher concentrations of airborne bacteria where horses spend most of their time. Adult horses are susceptible to colitis (inflammation of the large bowel) when given macrolide antibiotics, so this is not a treatment option for broodmares to reduce fecal shedding. Gallium nitrate, a unique liquid metal, inhibits R. equi bacteria. Buchanan discussed a trial study in which he and colleagues examined the effects of once-daily low-dose oral treatment of 10 mares with gallium nitrate from Day 320 of gestation through Day 7 post-foaling. Another group of 11 nontreated mares served as controls. Forty-nine percent of fecal cultures from Day 320 of gestation, the week before foaling, and the week after foaling tested positive for R. equi. Over time, the treated mares shed less R. equi in their feces. Air samples taken within six hours post-foaling were tested, and there was no statistical difference between treatment and control groups-20% of treatment samples and 45% of control samples were positive for R. equi. While there is not a direct association between mare fecal shedding and development of foal disease, Buchanan concluded, "Treatment of mares with oral gallium nitrate significantly reduced fecal concentrations of virulent R. equi but had no detectable impact on airborne concentrations." Buchanan noted that further research is needed, however, before gallium nitrate treatment becomes common place. He suggests that there are likely other factors involved in airborne R. equi concentration in stalls, possibly related to previous stall occupants. "Reducing the environmental burden of R. equi is an important tool to decrease incidence of disease," urges Buchanan. "In this study half of the horses were not treated. Next up will be to treat all the horses on the farm and compare to untreated farms. I feel like treating all or the majority of the horses will be important to reducing the environmental burden." Disclaimer: Seek the advice of a qualified veterinarian before proceeding with any diagnosis, treatment, or therapy.

Britannica Web Sites Articles from Britannica encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. - Rajasthan - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) India’s largest state is Rajasthan, which is located in the northwestern part of the country. It has an area of 132,139 square miles (342,239 square kilometers). Rajasthan borders Pakistan on the west and northwest and the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana on the north and northeast, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on the east and southeast, and Gujarat on the southwest. About three quarters of the people live in rural areas. Jaipur, the state capital, is by far Rajasthan’s largest city. Other major urban areas include Jodhpur, Kota, Bikaner, Ajmer, and Udaipur.

Our Great Savior and King - Jesus Christ - Monday, September 26, 2005 "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here." Matthew 12:42 The Pharisees were criticizing, castigating, and judging Jesus. And Jesus responded by saying, "Look, a greater than Solomon is here." Now, what caused Jesus to say that? Dr. Robert G. Lee said those Pharisees must have wondered at Jesus' bold statement. After all, Jesus was a carpenter's son. Solomon was born in a palace; Jesus was born in a stable. Solomon was born in Jerusalem, and Jesus was born in little Bethlehem. Solomon had many servants to wait upon him hand and foot. Jesus had none. Solomon wore his kingly robes, but Jesus wore His peasant's garb. Solomon drank from vessels of gold. Jesus had to get a drink from a Samaritan harlot. Solomon was rich beyond compare while Jesus was a pauper. Solomon had great armies, but Jesus only had a few stragglers following Him. Solomon lived in mansions; Jesus was homeless and sometimes didn't have a place to lay His head. Solomon had thousands of horses and chariots and rode in splendor. Jesus walked. How could Jesus be greater than Solomon? I want to tell you some ways that Jesus is greater than Solomon. Greater in the Wisdom He Proclaims Now, you talk about a wise man - Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs. He knew 3,000 proverbs and had memorized 1,500 songs. What a mind he had! Solomon knew all about the created universe. But Jesus had greater wisdom. You see, Jesus made all of the things that Solomon knew about. We read in the Bible where Solomon studied ichthyology. He knew all about fish, but Jesus knew more. Jesus put enough fish in two empty nets to sink two boats. Solomon knew all about the cycles of the wind, but Jesus knew how to rebuke the wind and cause the Sea of Galilee to be still at His command. Solomon knew all about navigation. He sent ships out all over the earth to bring back riches. But Jesus could walk on water. Greater in the Works He Performs Not only did Solomon have great wisdom, but he also did mighty things. Solomon built a palace for himself. It took thirteen years to complete, and it defied description. But Jesus is building a greater house. He said in John 14:2, "In My Father's house are many mansions … I go to prepare a place for you." Solomon invited people in for great feasts. But Jesus could take five loaves of bread and two fishes and feed 5,000. He could turn plain water into sparkling wine. Solomon built a temple beyond compare. It was the most glorious, magnificent building that has ever been built. But Jesus has built a greater temple. You and I are His temple. First Corinthians 6:19 says, "…know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you …?" Greater in the Workers He Pleases Solomon built many things and employed many workers. And he was a great man to work for. Can you imagine serving in his court in all the lavish wealth? Solomon's workers were happy, but Jesus gives me joy unspeakable and full of glory. Greater in the Wealth He Possesses King Solomon was incredibly wealthy. King Tut, Bill Gates, and Donald Trump will have to stand aside when it comes to wealth. Tons of gold, along with ivory and spices, were poured into Solomon's coffers. But Jesus' wealth is greater. The cattle on a thousand hills belong to Jesus, and all of the diamonds and the rubies in those hills. Every star in the sky belongs to Him. Greater in the Worship He Provides Finally, Jesus is greater in worship. Solomon was there to lead the people in worship. That's why he built the temple, and God gave him a throne. But there's another throne, and Jesus sits upon it. Friend, Solomon no longer sits upon his throne, but Jesus sits on His! And He will never, ever be dispossessed. Like other great kings, Solomon has come and gone. All that he had is gone. But Jesus is here. He will supply you with His wisdom. He will give you water so you will never thirst again. He's preparing a place for you in heaven. And Jesus will give you joy day by day. And that's why we worship the One, the Lord Jesus, Who is greater than Solomon. He's the everlasting King and our great Savior. By Adrian Rogers. Used by permission of Love Worth Finding Ministries. Website. www.lwf.org. Dr. Adrian Rogers, preacher/teacher of Love Worth Finding Ministries, and one of America's most respected Bible teachers. Under his 32 years of pastoral leadership, Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN, grew from 9,000 members in 1972 to more than 29,000. Most important to Dr. Rogers have been the tens and thousands of believers who have had their faith strengthened and thousands of others who have for the first time entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Dr. Rogers passed away on November 15, 2005. Recently on Is Jesus Christ God? Have something to say about this article? Leave your comment via Facebook below! Listen to Your Favorite Pastors Add Crosswalk.com content to your siteBrowse available content

a house to accommodate humans, livestock and storage on the patch of land that supports its subsistence Description of the Process The 'one roof farm house' is considered to be the oldest form of vernacular farm architecture. The building houses all functions to support the life of its inhabitants and the livestock. These houses grew in size and complexity with the societies and technologies. The land surrounding the farmhouse remained the most important source to feed the animals and to grow the crops for human consumption. The local market could be used to sell the own production in exchange for things that could not be grown or produced with own resources. These farms can be regarded as highly efficient, integrated systems that make the best possible use of their resources and can be seen as semi-autarcic. There is nearly no 'waste' produced, because cycles are locally closed. Especially on the slopes of the central European low mountain ranges the spatial structure evolved in a resource efficient way.The program inside the building is arranged to maximize the use of warmth and to minimize heat loss. There are still examples of that type of farm to be found in France and Germany. The 'Schwarzwald' farm house can serve as a role model. Agriculture involving domestication of plants and animals was developed at least 10,000 years ago. Animal-rearing has its origins in the transition of cultures to settled farming communities. Goats and sheep were domesticated around 8000 BCE in Asia. Swine or pigs were domesticated by 7000 BCE in the Middle East and China. The earliest evidence of horse domestication dates to around 4000 BCE. Although the enclosure of livestock in pastures and barns is a relatively new development in the history of agriculture especially in the colder climatic zones it was necessary to provide shelter to human and their animals. Therefore farmhouses were build to accommodate everything under one roof. Through the history spaces for living, keeping the livestock or storage were separated and the complexity of the farmhouses increased. Nevertheless, everything took place under one (big) roof.

Sucking on your baby's dummy before giving it to them may prevent asthma and eczema in childhood - Transferring bacteria found in spit from parents to babies boosts immunity - 18-month-old babies, whose dummies had been sucked by parents, were 63% less likely to develop eczema and 88% less likely to get asthma Parents ‘cleaning’ baby dummies by sucking on them could help protect their children from asthma and eczema. Researchers believe the transfer of microbes could increase the bacterial diversity of babies’ digestive systems and boost immunity. 'We know these bacteria are important for development,' said Dr Wilfried Karmaus from the University of Memphis, who has studied asthma and eczema, but who was not involved in the new research. Toddlers are less likely to suffer with immune-related conditions such as asthma and eczema if their parents suck their dummies when they are babies Being delivered through a vaginal birth, for example, exposes babies to more of their mother’s bacteria and has been linked to fewer allergies in childhood. However, no one has ever looked at transfer of bacteria through dummies before, Dr Karmaus said. For the new study, researchers recruited pregnant women at one Swedish hospital and followed them and their children for three years. The 184 infants in the study were particularly allergy-prone because 80 per cent had at least one parent with allergies. When the babies were six-months-old, 65 parents reported 'cleaning' their dummies by sucking on them. The children were tested for allergies at 18-months-old and 46 of them had eczema and ten had asthma symptoms. The transfer of bacteria in the mouth from parents to babies may help strengthen a child's digestive system which could in turn boost immunity Those whose dummies had been sucked on by their parents were 63 per cent less likely to have eczema and 88 per cent less likely to have asthma, compared to the children of parents who did not use the cleaning technique. By 36-months-old, however, the difference had disappeared for asthma. Parental dummy sucking was still tied to a 49 per cent lower chance of a child having eczema, the researchers from Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital in Gothenburg found. There was no clear link between parents’ dummy cleaning method and babies’ sensitisation to common allergens, such as cats, dogs, eggs or peanuts, at either age. In a smaller analysis of 33 infants, the same researchers found that babies whose parents did suck on their dummies had different types of bacteria living in their mouths to those whose parents did not. 'This is a simple measure which is really, really nice,' Dr Karmaus said. 'But we need a trial to be really sure that this is protective.' A gold-standard trial would involve randomly assigning some parents to regularly clean dummies by sucking on them and others to never use that method. In the current study, Dr Karmaus said, it is possible parents who decided on their own to suck on their child’s dummy were different from parents who did not in other important, allergy-related ways. 'It could be that these parents have more time with their children, a less stressful relationship with their children, hug their children more or whatever,' he told Reuters Health. For now, he said, parents should know that using their mouth to clean an infant’s dummy may be worth trying - and at the very least, should not be harmful. That technique may also be a necessity from time to time, Dr Karmaus accepted.'Sometimes you take two or three pacifiers with you but if all are dirty and your child is crying, there’s nothing you can do but clean it yourself.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

A consistent question we get and one of the most difficult concepts for consumers to understand and visualize when they read a Diamond Grading report is what does “Graining” mean? GIA (Gemological Institute of America), the foremost diamond research lab in the world has just published an article on “Graining” in their flagship Gems & Gemology Journal. Russell Shor, Senior Industry Analyst at GIA summarizes the results of this Study. Because of its importance to Consumers, we are reprinting his comments here: “One of the most confusing and controversial aspects of diamond grading over the years has been the effect of internal whitish or reflective graining on clarity grades. It is confusing because graining is different from (and less quantifiable than) solid inclusions. It is controversial because of the impact such graining can have upon the clarity grades of large, high-color, high-clarity diamonds, where the difference in a single grade – especially Flawless or Internally Flawless to VVS1 – can mean a difference of tens of thousands of dollars in the price of a stone. In the Winter 2006 issue of Gems & Gemology, leading GIA Laboratory researchers – John M. King, technical director; Thomas M. Moses, senior vice president; and Wuyi Wang, manager of research projects – offered the most comprehensive look to date at internal whitish and reflective graining and how it affects clarity in the GIA Lab diamond grading process. Briefly, there are three main categories of such graining: * Banded “whitish” graining that appears as straight or wave-like lines in an otherwise very high clarity diamond. Sometimes these lines are crossed and appear woven in a “tatami-mat” pattern. * Hazy whitish graining that comes from collections of submicroscopic particles; these give an overall haziness to the diamond. * Reflective graining, which results when reflective lines appear as the stone is tilted in a certain direction. This and banded graining are caused by distortions in the diamond’s crystal structure that occurred during its formation and transport to the earth’s surface. For the past 50 years, the GIA Laboratory’s approach to graining and its impact on clarity grading has evolved as researchers and laboratory staff examined more and more stones. Through the 1960s, when demand for grading reports was low, lab staff did not report the presence of graining on GIA diamond grading reports. It was not until about 1970 that the first mention appeared as a comment on a report. The stone in question was a 13+ carat D color that was “Near transparent due to unusual internal texture.” Because lab staff saw so few diamonds with these characteristics, reporting remained very general through most of the 1970s – diamonds that showed graining but had no inclusions were graded Fl or IF, with a note about reduced transparency. Toward the end of the decade, as lab staff and researchers saw more diamonds with whitish graining, GIA began considering it a clarity characteristic. For a time in the 1980s, they actually assessed the extent to which it was present, on a scale from nil to significant. Today, when such graining is severe enough to affect the clarity grade, a report comment notes that “The clarity grade is based on internal graining that is not shown [on the report diagram.]” And significant graining, even when it doesn’t affect the clarity grade, is recorded in a report comment. All other graining observed is noted on internal GIA records for identification purposes. So, how does GIA decide when graining affects a diamond’s clarity grade? These procedures and standards were devised and refined as the result of examining many thousands of diamonds. Graining Courtesy of GIA. First, unlike most clarity characteristics, visibility at 10× magnification is not the sole determining factor. Briefly, if a diamond does show whitish or reflective graining, then other factors, such as whether the graining can be seen from the crown or pavilion and its ease of visibility, come into play. Obviously, lighting plays a key role in the examination, even to the point that GIA graders work in a room with subdued fluorescent ceiling lights that bring out natural dark/light contrasts within the diamond while keeping surface glare to a minimum and eliminating other extraneous light. Graders locate the graining with a darkfield gemological microscope and then examine the diamond with a 10× loupe and the microscope’s overhead light. Anatomy of A Round Brilliant Diamond. Diamond Graders Rotate the stone to determine the effects of Graining on clarity and their subsequent clarity grading. The tricky part here is what’s called “viewing geometry.” Both whitish and reflective graining can be very subtle and elusive – like a hologram: Tilted one way the graining is quite visible; go to another angle and it disappears. To create a repeatable standard, graders hold the diamond a set distance from the lights and then angle it through a slight range of motion. If the graining is obvious in a single position but disappears with only a little movement, it probably will not affect the grade. Also, graining visible at an extreme angle is much less likely to affect a clarity grade than one visible straight through the crown or table. As with any clarity characteristic, the effect such graining has on the overall grade rests with five standard factors: Size, nature, number, relief, and location. If graining is visible within a small area inside a single facet, it is less likely to affect the clarity grade; a diamond could still receive a grade of Fl or IF. However, if it is readily seen through the pavilion, an otherwise Fl or IF stone could receive a VVS1 grade. The nature of the graining – how it affects transparency or how distinctly reflective it is – will also affect the grade. Whitish graining that is not well-defined and does not alter transparency probably would not cause an otherwise Fl or IF diamond to be downgraded. Nor would isolated bright internal grain lines. In rare cases where a whitish haze is visible through the crown, an otherwise Fl or IF diamond could ultimately receive a VVS, VS, or even – if the graining is extreme – an SI clarity grade. The location of grain lines is also key. A diamond can have numerous reflective lines and still receive a VVS1 grade if they are only visible through the pavilion. However, the greater the number of lines visible through the crown, the more likely it is that the clarity grade will be lowered. Relief refers to how readily the grain lines or haze stand out from the surrounding diamond. Here, the impact is based not just upon the graining’s visibility at 10× but also on the form and texture it takes. For example, a small “sheen” area that does not appear as bands may not affect the grade. However, if it takes the form of contrasting dark bands, the clarity grade may decline. And, again, if such characteristics are visible through the crown, the grade may be lowered further. As with other GIA grading processes, years of research with a vast pool of stones has allowed the Laboratory staff to develop a consistent, repeatable standard for a characteristic that previously was not well-understood. Only after examining many hundreds of thousands of diamonds was the Lab able to assess the impact of whitish or reflective graining on the clarity grade of a colorless to near-colorless diamond.”

Before we get to our original list of some of the most dangerous animals in the world, let’s look at a few new additions. These are creatures we didn’t include in our first list, but they all have been known to be rather deadly to humans. The box jellyfish is one of the most venomous animals you could come into contact with. Fortunately “box jellyfish” actually encompass several species — around 30 of them according to the National Science Foundation (NSF) — and most won’t kill you if they sting you. Unfortunately for Australians, one of the most dangerous varieties frequents their waters (as is another variety more recently identified in Japan). These, the Chironex fleckeri, can kill a human in just a few minutes after being stung. According to the NSF, this jellyfish in particular kills at least one Australian each year, although they suspect other deaths being attributed to heart failure from Irukandji syndrome might also be a result of jellyfish. The Foundation also reports that box jellyfish as a whole kill 20 – 40 people each year just in the Philippines. If you’re anything like me, seeing a bee buzzing around you makes you a bit uncomfortable. You might even flinch or try to run from it (okay, maybe that’s just me being a baby about it). But really, who would want to be stung? Certainly not those who are allergic to their venom (around one or two people out of every 1000 of us). Allergic reactions to bee stings can result in anything from simple hives to death. The Boston Children’s Hospital estimates that approximately 100 people die from bee stings each year, and that’s in the United States alone. Even if you’re not allergic, another issue is receiving a large number of stings from a swarm all at once. While your body might be able to process the venom of one, thousands could still be deadly. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average adult could withstand around 1100 stings. But they also note that 500 stings can be enough to kill an average child. Those most at risk (other than those with allergies) would be individuals with heart problems, as the venom can affect them more quickly. Poison Dart Frog Even if you’re the type of person who thinks frogs are cute and potentially pet-worthy creatures, there are some frogs you just shouldn’t touch. It could kill you. Literally. The tiny colorful poison dart frog might be pretty. But carries a poison on its skin, with some varieties carrying enough venom to kill ten grown men. According to National Geographic, the frogs might develop this venom after interacting with plants and insects, as those raised in captivity away from these parts of their natural habitat never create venom in the first place. Not all poison dart frogs are created equal though. There are more than 100 different species of them. Dangerous Animals Next Door? Don’t make the mistake of thinking dangerous animals are always of the exotic variety. You don’t have to go on safari or deep sea diving to come across creatures that can cause some serious damage. You might even see and interact with dangerous animals on a regular basis. Remember, being dangerous isn’t always about being vicious. An animal can hurt you due to its sheer size, out of fear, or due to your own actions. Dog bites, being thrown from horses, and even being in car crashes with deer kill people every year. So exercise caution before interacting with animals that are unfamiliar to you. Now let’s look at our original list of some of the most dangerous animals in the world. Any animal can be dangerous at some point so it’s hard to determine the only one factor that would help us to define which animals are the most dangerous. I can consider even my own cat dangerous but in no way it can be compared to some beast like a bear. Today we’ll be speaking about mammals and in the next posts we’ll also research the most dangerous animals of other types as well as insects and will make a summary of the most dangerous animals in the world. Animals can get angry when protecting their kids or territory or they can be hungry, or they they can be simply aggressive by nature. The bigger the animal is, the more dangerous it is and this combination with aggression is the factor what we’ll consider one of the main in the post today. Of course, we’re also taking into account the fatality statistics that sometimes as we’ll see does not depend on the the size of the animal at all. The Wild Boar Lives in: all around the world Responsible for: no definite stats Wild boars live in groups containing around 20 animals. They eat almost anything they come across, including grass, nuts, berries, carrion, roots, tubers, refuse, insects, small reptiles and even young deer and lambs. The animals are pretty big and can weight around 150-200 kg. If surprised or cornered, a boar can and will defend itself and its young with intense vigor. The male lowers its head, charges and then slashes upward with his tusks. The female, whose tusks are not visible, charges with her head up, mouth wide, and bites. Such attacks are not often fatal to humans, but may result in severe trauma, dismemberment, or blood loss. The roars get very aggressive only when wounded and then they are most likely to kill. Lives in: North America, Canada, North Pole, Russia. Responsible for: an estimated 5-10 fatalities a year. We all have seen bears on the pics but meeting them in real and on their territory can lead to the death, the polar, black and grizzly varieties are deadliest. Bears are big animals that can swim, run fast ( up to 50 km/h), climb the trees and they eat everything from berries to meat. Though usually they are afraid of people, they can become very aggressive if being hunted, protecting their kids and just coming to your camp to get food. If you faced the bear this doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll attack you. Sometimes it can just demonstrate that it’s attacking but if you see the bear running to you and there’s no place to hide or there’s no the tree to climb, don’t turn away to run and don’t show you’re scared. Look at his eyes as long as you can, the bear may turn away at the last moment. You can shout and if you have a gun you can shoot into the air. Don’t shoot the bear if you are not sure this will kill him. The wounded bear is much more dangerous and the animal becomes fearless. Lives in: Africa and India Responsible for: an estimated 12-14 fatalities a year. Rhinos are big, heavy, non predictable and not very peaceful animals. They can easily trample or gore any creature around that they consider dangerous or annoying. Being very strong and heavy (up to 3.5 tones) they can cause serious destructions. Back in 1928 a mature rhino collided 2 wagons from the rails and disappeared to the bushes without any injuries. Rhinos are pretty quick and can speed up to 30 km/h If you see the rhino, try not no annoy him. In most cases it will sidestep and let you go without paying any additional attention to you. The rhinos are pretty blind and male rhinos can take your car for a female, so if you see the rhino running to your car drive away as fast as you can. Lives in: Lakes, rivers, wallows – in fact any water – in Africa. Responsible for: an estimated 100-150 fatalities a year. At the first glance hippos look clumsy, awkward and lazy but that’s not the case. These animals are considered among most dangerous in the world. They weight about 3-4 tones and their bodies are about 3.5 meters long. If you wounded them or occasionally turned out to be on their territory next to them and there’s a hippo baby, most likely you’ll be killed. They can trample the invader or cause fatal wounds with their massive tusks. They can turn over a small vessel or bite through the lining with their teeth. Hippos can run pretty quickly, about 35 km/h on the land so there’s no chances you can run away. The Cape Buffalo Lives in: Africa Responsible for: an estimated 200 fatalities a year. Also known as the African buffalo they are some of the most dangerous animals in Africa. They do not charge at humans for fun but they see the man as the predator and start fighting. According to stats, more hunters were killed by the buffalos than by lions so it’s a good point not to come close to the animals and let them feel safe for your own sake. Lives in: Africa and India. Responsible for: an estimated 300-500 fatalities a year. Elephants are known as wise and friendly animals, but the true is that they kill an alarming amount of people every year. They are unpredictable creatures, and have been known to kill zookeepers who have been with them for as long as 15 years. Considering their huge size – the average elephant weighs over 6 tons – they trample and gore using their fearsome tusks and are capable of causing untold amounts of devastation. If you think that you’ll be attacked by the animal, don’t startle at the beast. Make a loud noise or shout and see if there’s a big tree to climb around. Lives in: Africa, North America and India Responsible for: an estimated 800 fatalities a year. Big cats such as lions and tigers will not usually attack the humans. But if they are very hungry and you are the only meat around, they can hunt you for food. Do not provoke the lion to attack and don’t show your fear. To avoid a heinous attack by a big cat, stare them in the eye and don’t look away. Don’t turn and run, you can’t overrun them in any case. If you have a coat, open it to appear larger as they are unlikely to attack a larger animal. Old lions and tigers are extremely dangerous as they can’t hunt antelopes and other “quick food” while people are perfect and defenseless victims. The only way to stop the old animal from hunting people is to kill it. The history knows the case when 2 old lions killed 28 people that were building the railroad from Mombasa and Nairobi. Rat is the most dangerous mammal for humans, the potential killer of thousands of people. Rats are carrying more than 20 pathogens of various infections, including bubonic plague (Black Death), transmitted to humans by the bite, leptospirosis, relapsing fever, epidemic typhus etc. Note: This post was originally published on June 15, 2009. It was updated, additional content was added, and it was re-published on its currently-listed publication date.