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Norway: If at first you don't succeed..
I bring this story for several reasons:
1. It brings up an interesting point about the meaning of refugee. Is somebody embroiled in a blood feud in a country where anarchy rules a refugee? What would happen if both sides in a blood feud request asylum?
2. Why did Qaher put so much effort into entering Norway? He traveled through many European countries, but he did not ask for asylum there.
Mohammed Qaher (29) is seeking asylum in Norway for the second time, several months after he was escorted by Norwegian police home to Afghanistan.
Last summer Mohammed Qaher took part in the Afghani asylum seekers' hunger strike in Oslo and Trondheim in protest against the government's plans to send home all 1800 Afghanis in Norway. More than 80 of those who were refused asylum returned to Afghanistan since then. One of them was Qaher. Now he is back in Norway again, and seeking asylum one more time.
In an open 8-men room at Torshov asylum center in Oslo, Qaher tells his dramatic history. It is equally glaring and sad.
Mohammed Qaher says the basis for the current asylum request is more compelling then last time he came here in 2003. Back then five members of his family were killed in an act of vengeance. Now his entire close family - nine people - have been exterminated, in what has become a blood revenge in two distinct phases.
"I would also have been murdered, but managed to escape right before I came to Norway the first time. My life is worth nothing in Afghanistan" says Qaher.
The family's tragic ending started after the father, who was a judge in Afghanistan's highest court, sentenced a man to death right before the Soviet regime of president Najibullah was brought down in 1992.
"A few months afterwards my father was run over and killed right outside our house in Kabul. I was 12 years old and saw my father's body before it was carried away. Because I was so young, I know little of the history and what was father's job, but he was a member of the communist party FDPA."
First Qaher's brother disappeared and his brother's wife and two children. The family didn't know why Mohammed Qaher was kidnapped in the street at the beginning of 2003. 6-7 armed men related to Jalalabad's powerful man, Hazrat Ali, were those who took him with then, while he was selling juice.
"They took me to a farm outside Jalalabad, they I was put in a a room with lattice for windows. They told me that Hazrat Hali had ordered my father's death and my brother and family. Now it was my turn. They were only waiting for Ali to come from Kabul, where he had a central position."
Qaher describes that he was mishandled and understood that fleeing was his only option. the next night he managed to loosen a lattice and fled to Jalalabad. An uncle drove by truck to Peshawar in Pakistan and made contact with people smugglers who took him to Europe - and Norway. On May 25th, 2003 Qaher applied for asylum in Norway.
His family's dramatic history doesn't stop there. A year later the uncle was killed in his home and all the belongings were taken away. With that they suddenly got a new enemy.
"My mother and two sisters had to escape to Pakistan, but my cousin found them. Early in 2005 my mother died, right before New Year's 2005, I had final contact with my two sisters by telephone from Pakistan. They were scared for their lives and required protection. They said the cousin wanted to kill them."
When Qaher landed at the international airport in Kabul after returning from Norway, he chose to travel by taxi straight to the Pakistani town of Peshawar, where his sisters had lived in a house in the former refugee camp Nasir Bagh. He hoped to find his sisters there, but the quest was futile.
"It was dangerous to ask too much. My cousin has many contacts. Therefore I decided to travel back to Norway. I have nothing more to live for in Afghanistan and in Norway I ahve my only child, a son, born right before the hunger strike last summer."
Why was he refused? UDI says that there wasn't sufficient probability that Qaher risked persecution in returning to his homeland such as is required in the Aliens' Act and the refugee convention. They saw his problems as being caused by personal conflicts. UDI declined the asylum request in September 2003 also because his family were still living in Afghanistan.
In the summer of 2005 his application was denied again (by the UNE). By then his mother was dead, according to Qaher, after fleeing with his sisters to Pakistan. UNE said that Qaher didn't have good enough evidence of what had happened to his mother and to which degree he himself risked being killed on returning to Afghanistan. He wasn't therefore seen as a refugee in the legal sense.
The Afghani's spokesman during the hunger strike, Zahir Akthari, serves as translator for Qaher. He believes many will follow in Qaher's footsteps back to Norway. He knows of several who have such plans. Akthari calculates that 1000 of the 1800 Afghanis are still in Norway and thinks Mohammed Qaher's history shows that the Norwegian government don't take sufficient individual consideration in handling asylum requests.
"Only people who have connection to the Kabul area are sent out. But Qaher explains that he doesn't have family there, even if he lived there when he was young. And he says that it is dangerous for him both in Kabul and where he comes from - Jalalabad" says Akthari.
"When he was in the homeland he requested a new handling of the asylum request. First in the UDI and then in ENU." said Roar Hanssen, information chief for the foreigner's police.
Mohammed Qaher's flight from Pakistan back to Norway took three and half months. A people smuggling network took good money to smuggle Qaher by bus, car, train, foot and by ferry. The most critical phase was passing the border from Iran to Turkey by foot together with heroin smugglers, traveling by rubber boat from Turkey to Greece and the ferry trip to Italy.
"We had to climb over a fence to the port in Patra. There the people smugglers opened a truck where I was concealed together with four other refugees among cartons with jeans.
The ferry trip took 36 hours without food and with minimal air. Twenty minutes after they came into Italy they couldn't go on anymore. They hit and kicked the truck wall. The driver came and opened and they ran away. From there they traveled by train first to Nice, then to Paris, via the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark to Sweden. From Malmö by bus to Oslo.
In the border city Peshawar in Pakistan, Qaher contacted people smugglers who for $14,000 agreed to bring him to Norway. From there the trip went from Pakistan, to the Iraqi border city of Zahidan and further to Tehran. Police were paid to look away. They came to Turkey. From there by bus to Istanbul and from there by rubber boat to Greece. They got to Athens closed up in a semi-trailer.
On Jan. 3rd. he reported for the second time as asylum seeker at the foreigners' police in the center of Oslo.
Source: Aftenposten (Norwegian)
See also:Norway: Afghan hunger strike a success
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Using data analytics for WLCG data transfer optimization
Project name
Using data analytics for WLCG data transfer optimization
Project description
The overall success of LHC data processing depends heavily on the stable, reliable and fast data distribution performed by the WLCG File Transfer Service (FTS). FTS transfers around 15 PB of data each month representing millions of files per day. The efficient functioning of this service is crucial for successful exploitation of the LHC data. The large scale of the transfer activity and the shared nature of the LHC computing
infrastructure, which is used by several virtual organizations, create a challenge for the FTS service.
The project proposes the exploration of the FTS historical monitoring data with the aim of improving the service efficiency. Data analysis should consider all kinds of transfer routes, protocols, and experiments’ data transfer workflows with various FTS configurations. The goal of the project is to assist the FTS3 infrastructure to sustain higher traffic while optimizing the resource usage and reducing data transfer latencies. This includes creating a data analytics platform for the FTS performance analysis and predictions.
Required skills
Some experience with Python , SQL and basic knowledge of the TCP/IP protocol would be an advantage
Learning experience
The project offers an opportunity to contribute to the evolution of the WLCG data transfer service by taking part in the design
Project duration
9 months
Project area
Data Management
Contact for further details
CERN group
Reference to the project tracker
You are here | <urn:uuid:47690fa6-0394-476a-bd9d-fd25c51fce3b> | 2 | 1.8125 | 0.040006 | en | 0.853995 | http://it-student-projects.web.cern.ch/projects/using-data-analytics-wlcg-data-transfer-optimization |
Thursday, December 08, 2016
It is you, Bisharat, who hath us offended
Erez Biton submitting his report to Naftali Bennett, education minister. The Biton report looked at how to insert more Mizrahi content into schools.
Jews around the world have been marking the mass exodus of Jewish refugees from Arab countries over the last sixty years. True to form, Haaretz has not a positive word to say about it. The Arab-Israeli writer, Odeh Bisharat has just published a piece titled, If I Were a Mizrahi Zionist, I Would Be Offended. Sadly, it is a tissue of half-truths and wishful thinking. The gist of his argument is that you can't be a proud Israeli patriot and a refugee from an Arab country at the same time. I have inserted my comments in italics. (With thanks: Stan)
Instead of adding yet another day to widen the rift between them, I would have chosen a day to express the connection between Jews and Arabs.
After 2, 500 years (about a million days) during which they resided in Iraq, the Biton Committee couldn’t find a better way to raise the banner of Mizrahim than to focus on their tragedy.
Actually the Biton Committee did not invent the 30 November commemoration, it simply recommended that this Day, which became an official holiday by Knesset law in 2014, should be observed in schools.
As result, the ministerial panel decided that their entire illustrious history would be remembered with a day "to mark the departure and expulsion of Jews from the Arab countries and Iran," which would henceforth fall on November 30.
This is not correct. The Biton report contains a raft of recommendations for the promotion of centuries of flourishing Mizrahi culture and heritage.
First we must explain that versions of history change here according to the season. If it’s hot, a light shirt is enough. If it’s winter, you need a heavy coat, and during stormy weather at other times, you might dress differently every day.
Bisharat reduces the refugee issue to a matter of political opportunism by the Netanyahu government.
Thus, until the mid-1990s, we were taught in school about the bravery of the aliyah activists in the Arab countries, who through thick and thin and using strategies that wouldn’t have embarrassed James Bond, led to the departure – and even more importantly, to the immigration of – these Jews to the Promised Land. But when the clouds started rolling in, in the form of demands to resolve the resulting Palestinian refugee issue, the concept emerged of “Jewish refugees from the Arab states.”
In the early days of the state, Israel focused on the heroic exploits of the Zionist activists who risked their lives to rescue Jews from Arab countries. That focus actually helped integrate the refugees into Israel, and contributed to
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upgraded the concept and raised it to Olympic proportions. (...)
So now the Zionists have to explain whether the arrival here of Mizrahim was a "default" development that was the result of Arab oppression, or whether they arrived here as proud Jews returning to the Promised Land.
To focus on the 'pull' factors does not invalidate the 'push' factors. They are two sides of the same coin.
If I were a Mizrahi Zionist, I would be offended to be told that I’m living in my homeland as a refugee – and not as a proud patriot.
Jews came to Israel as refugees, but it is to the credit of the Israeli government that they are no longer refugees. To have come as a refugee and to become a proud patriot of one's new homeland are not mutually exclusive.
But the glaring truth, which cannot be glossed over either by the ruses of the right-wing leadership or Arab reactionary propaganda, is that the Jews in Arab lands played a very important role in those countries in all realms – culture, economics and politics.
True enough. But the fact that German Jewry also played an important role in German culture and society did not stop them from being persecuted and 'ethnically cleansed' by the Nazis.
The fact that these individuals were not immediately tempted when the Jewish state was founded to answer the Zionist call to emigrate there proves the degree to which they affiliated themselves with the Arab peoples.
Untrue. As soon as the state of Israel was declared, Jews in Arab countries attempted to immigrate there in their thousands. Over 90 percent of the Jews of Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Libya had moved to Israel by 1951.
A great body of evidence shows that they were neither Zionists nor anti-Zionists. Like every person seeking peace and tranquility, they simply wanted to continue living in their natural environment.
All the more reason why the governments and mobs of Arab states were at fault for scapegoating their loyal Jewish citizens. Most Mizrahi Jews were non-Zionists, but they were forced from their 'natural environment' by state-sanctioned oppression and violence.
The terrible tragedy occurred after the Jewish-Palestinian conflict erupted in Palestine, bringing all the so-called nationalist emotions among both peoples to the fore.
Untrue. Israel cannot be blamed for bursts of violence against Jews in Arab countries which predated its establishment: eg the 1912 Fez pogrom, the 1941 Farhud massacre, the Libyan riots of 1945.
And when the Zionists, on the one side, linked up with Arab reactionaries on the other, with the encouragement of the British Mandate – the tragedy of the Jews in Arab countries occurred.
Now there's an interesting piece of revisionism. What Arab 'reactionaries' did Zionists link up with? The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, whose declared aim was the extermination of the Jews not just in Palestine, but across the Arab world? And what 'encouragement' did the British furnish?
It’s hard to estimate the “contribution” of each side to this tragedy, but this “joint effort” wreaked havoc not just on the Jews, but on all the Arab nations, which lost their best and brightest.
In sum, the Zionists share the blame for the Mizrahi tragedy, even though their leaders accepted the Peel Commission Partition plan, the UN Partition Plan, and that Chaim Weizmann declared,'we will accept a Jewish state even if it were the size of a tablecloth'? Clearly Bisharat has a shaky grasp of history and does not recognise that the Arab position, a maximalist one rejecting a Jewish state in any borders, caused the Mizrahi tragedy.
The unfortunate thing is that while we are witnessing the rise of Arab intellectuals who are sharply critical of the leadership in Arab states for abandoning the Jews, in Israel the opposite is happening. That’s why I am critical of my brethren on the Biton Committee, headed by poet Erez Biton, who instead of using the Jews of the East to help forge a connection between Arabs and Jews, chose to fan the flames.
There are plenty of days here for hatred. That’s why instead of adding yet another day to widen the rift, I would have chosen a day to express the connection between Jews and Arabs, whether it was the birthday of a poet, or the date of an event by means of which Jews left their mark on Arab culture.
Some Arab intellectuals, in Iraq and Egypt for instance, are indeed beginning to come to terms with their countries' antisemitism - the Farhud, for instance. They are recognising that their Jews were exposed to violence and persecution. They are more honest than Bisharat, who wishes to bury his head in the sand. He would rather talk about poetry than persecution. Far from fanning the flames, the Biton commission and the campaign for Jewish refugees from Arab countries wishes to restore truth and balance to the historical record. You can't build peace on a lie.
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Eliyahu m'Tsiyon said...
the logic so often used by Arab polemicists is offensive and deceptive. Such as playing with the definition of the word "refugee." By his logic, the palestinian Arabs who found refuge in Arab lands, like Jordan, Syria, etc, are not really refugees because these lands were also part of their homeland or fatherland [watan]. This principle is stated in Article One of the PLO charter which says that the palestinian Arabs are part of the Arab nation and that "palestine" is part of the Great Arab Fatherland [watan].
It is also offensive how they always seem to avoid any guilt or responsibility on their own part, on the part of the Arabs or Muslims, for anything that went wrong. Bisharat, although his name seems to indicate that he is a Christian, follows this rhetorical and (im)moral principle.
Eliyahu m'Tsiyon said...
another complaint about Arab polemicists is their propensity to do hair-splitting. A refugee is not a refugee if he becomes a patriot of the land of refuge, etc.
Another thing that annoys me in Bisharat's screed is his sanctimonious pose of love of peace, and his hatred of hatred. If he hates hatred, then why does he not speak up against the hatred of Jews spewed out daily by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas through their respective mosques, TV, radio, newspapers, "universities," schools, etc.
" I am critical of my brethren on the Biton Committee, headed by poet Erez Biton, who instead of using the Jews of the East to help forge a connection between Arabs and Jews, chose to fan the flames. There are plenty of days here for hatred. That’s why instead of adding yet another day to widen the rift, I would have chosen a day to express the connection between Jews and Arabs"
What's more, "Bisharat has a shaky grasp of history" and "You can't build peace on a lie." He omits mention of the dhimmi status of Jews in Arab/Muslim lands for more than 1000 years, as well as the massacres that you mention, Morocco in 1912, Iraq in 1941, and Libya in 1945, to which we may add pogroms in Egypt in that same period. Of course, since this hypocritical drivel comes from an Arab "writer," then Haaretz is happy to publish it. | <urn:uuid:7b1c56b5-0e5f-40d3-a07c-b95e0b080b68> | 2 | 2.03125 | 0.058891 | en | 0.967592 | http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/2016/12/it-is-you-bisharat-who-hath-us-offended.html |
moon jellyfish swimming
Spring Cleaning at the Aquarium
After moving the hundreds of moon jellies to a back-up tank, 500 gallons of sea water are pumped out of the tank. When the water level is too low for the pump, aquarists Gary Stoops and Ian Wallace resort to the old fashioned method of bailing the water with a scoop and bucket.Once a year, the Great Barrier Reef Aquarium crew takes on a daunting task: draining, cleaning, and scrubbing the two 500-gallon jellyfish tanks.
“Once we have all the water out, we will scrub the tank walls to get rid of the old food, polyps, and debris that settle on the floor and walls of the tank,” Stoops explains.
The moon jellies eat brine shrimp, and some of the unhatched brine shrimp eggs fall to the tank floor. Polyps are the result of jellyfish reproduction, but these tiny jellies do not survive in the confines of the aquarium.
This spring cleaning event results in a major water change for the jellies, with about 80% of their tank water being removed and replaced (about 20% of the water is pumped into a sump, and will be added back to the tank). For many aquatic species, this would present too much of a shock, but Stoops says, “Moon jellies are pretty hardy.”
Stoops mixes up artificial sea water for the tank, which mimics the natural ocean in that it contains traces of nearly every element on earth. Once the water cycles through the filtration system, it will be ready again for the moon jellies.
Click on the photos below to enlarge. | <urn:uuid:12bf1a53-e0c5-49ea-a1a1-c1dc9cfc91c8> | 3 | 3.171875 | 0.039633 | en | 0.91425 | http://kidszoo.org/spring-cleaning-at-the-aquarium/ |
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Five Ways That Mahadeva Gives Support To The Devotees
lord_shiva_rm7711“…Shambhu, or Lord Shiva, is the ideal Vaishnava. He constantly meditates upon Lord Rama and chants Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Lord Shiva has a Vaishnava sampradaya, which is called the Vishnu Svami-sampradaya.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.23.1 Purport)
Download this episode (right click and save)
The incident of Govardhana Puja proves that one doesn’t have to rely on other divine figures for protection. At first glance, the Vedic tradition looks polytheistic. There are different divine figures, and the arrangement on the altar differs from home to home. Some people worship one divine personality, while others worship another or many other ones.
The variety in worship ties directly to variety in desire. Not everyone is looking for the same thing. Nevertheless, there is a singular source. If you get His protection, you don’t need to worship anyone else. When the people of Vrindavana skipped the worship of the godly figure named Indra, they were punished with a torrential downpour, a devastating flood. The source of the material and spiritual worlds, Shri Krishna, lifted Govardhana Hill and used it as an umbrella to save the people. The historical incident is also symbolic of the protection brought by full surrender to God.
lifting_govardhana_hill_pastime13This doesn’t mean that the other divine figures have no purpose. They can help even those who are committed to the path of love and devotion to God the person. One of those figures is Lord Shiva, who is also known as Mahadeva. If a person worships him in the manner of pure bhakti, then even Shiva becomes identical with Krishna. He helps the devotee merge into the eternal occupation of service to the Divine, who is with form and personality.
1. He is easily pleased
In his role as a godly figure, Mahadeva gives out benedictions. What does it take to get something from him? Not much, actually. Because of the ease with which he becomes pleased by his worshipers, one of his names is Ashutosha.
The asuras, who are by definition against God and religious principles, take advantage of this disposition. They ask for things that ultimately won’t benefit them. The devotees, on the other hand, can use the kindness of Ashutosha to quickly get success in the path of devotion. Mahadeva is also known as the destroyer, so he has enough power to destroy the entire creation. This means that anything within that power he can do for helping those who are on the path of bhakti.
2. He narrates the life and pastimes of Shri Rama
One of the reasons Mahadeva is Ashutosha is because he doesn’t want to break from his meditation. He concentrates on the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. God is one, but in the personal feature He does not limit Himself to a single form. For Mahadeva, the worshipable deity of choice is Shri Rama, who is the wife of Sita, the elder brother of Lakshmana, and the son of King Dasharatha.
WLW-TranscendingSin_EA44-db_Ramji13_Mahadeva does not keep Rama to himself. In addition to meditating, Lord Shiva narrates the life and pastimes of the sun of the solar race. The glories of God are endless, so Mahadeva can go on speaking about Rama forever and ever. One of his narrations is found in the Puranas, and it is the basis for the epic Hindi poem of Goswami Tulsidas known as the Ramacharitamanasa.
3. He weds Parvati and gives the ideal example of marriage
The journey through life is difficult, no doubt. In addition to the struggle to survive, for the human being there is the issue of direction. The saying, “He who hesitates is lost,” hits home to the person who doesn’t know what to do in life. Especially if they have realized that material enjoyment doesn’t do much for them, they may not know where to go from there.
To help maintain order and sanity, the Vedic tradition gives the system of four ashramas. If hypothetically you were to live for one hundred years, you spend twenty-five years in each ashrama, or spiritual institution. The second ashrama is grihastha, which is married life. What should a married person do? How should they behave towards the significant other? What is the purpose of staying connected with someone through such a sacred covenant?
Lord Shiva sets the best example. He is known for the vow of maintaining only one wife, eka-patni-vrata. He first marries Sati, whose very name means chastity. Due to an insult by her father, Sati commits suicide and takes birth again as Parvati, the daughter of the king of mountains. Mahadeva would rather remain unmarried, but at the insistence of the Supreme Lord he agrees to accept Parvati as his wife.
BlB3FBwBmkKGrHqIH-C4Es80VW0CGBLZIGEJ[1]Shiva and Parvati help the devotees by showing how a married couple should behave. Parvati is chaste and dedicated to her husband. Shiva is the guru who speaks on the glories of God to his wife. Many important sections of Vedic literature are actually conversations between Shiva and Parvati. The couple is very dear to the Supreme Lord, and the devotees who know them also hold them very dear.
4. He is a conqueror of lust
Mahadeva internally and externally conquers lust, which is known as kama in Sanskrit. Kama personified is a heavenly figure. Kamadeva is basically like Cupid; he arouses lusty desires in the conditioned souls. He tried to do that with Shiva one time, but Mahadeva burned him to ashes. Kamadeva then later took birth again as the son of Shri Krishna named Pradyumna.
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
kāma eṣa krodha eṣa
mahāśano mahā-pāpmā
viddhy enam iha vairiṇam
The conqueror of kama can help those with less self-control achieve the same. As Shri Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, kama is the all-devouring enemy of the material world. It is the greatest inhibitor of spiritual advancement. By itself it can lead to rebirth time and time again. Kama and bhakti are on opposite sides. Through Mahadeva’s association, a person can get help in conquering the very powerful lust.
5. He lives renounced, even though he could have everything
Lord Shiva is married. He is very dear to the Supreme Lord. Since he is a heavenly figure, he would be expected to have opulence. After all, one of the reasons for worshiping divine figures is to get residence in the heavenly realm as a result. Shri Krishna says that the enjoyment in that place is very advanced.
trai-vidyā māṁ soma-pāḥ pūta-pāpā
yajñair iṣṭvā svar-gatiṁ prārthayante
te puṇyam āsādya surendra-lokam
aśnanti divyān divi deva-bhogān
“Those who study the Vedas and drink the soma juice, seeking the heavenly planets, worship Me indirectly. They take birth on the planet of Indra, where they enjoy godly delights.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.20)
Though Mahadeva could have everything, he lives extremely renounced. He is so much without external opulence that Parvati’s female friends pitied her that she was marrying such a poor person. These humorous interactions are found in the details of the couple’s wedding. Yet Parvati is no fool. She knows that her husband is actually full of wealth, as he has devotion to God the person.
lord_shiva_rm7724Mahadeva has the power to give away practically anything. Why does he live with so little, then? There must be a reason. He must know something that others don’t. By studying Mahadeva, the wise person questions whether material opulence is really the ultimate aim of life. Maybe meditation is better. Maybe real strength is having an unbroken link to the Supreme Consciousness. Maybe Mahadeva has something more valuable to give to those who worship him.
In Closing:
In extreme renunciation to live,
Mahadeva something better to give.
Than just benedictions many,
Having lasting value not any.
Ashutosha since easily pleased,
Can give away bhakti also with ease.
Showing example of marriage ideal,
Telling pastimes of Shri Rama real. | <urn:uuid:387c30c2-9c80-42d4-95b2-157c50bdd9d8> | 2 | 2.03125 | 0.164368 | en | 0.963861 | http://krishnasmercy.blogspot.com/2016/05/five-ways-that-mahadeva-gives-support.html |
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Are Deficits Immortal?
Can the U.S. Government Live Within Its Means?
Lessons From Abroad
Fine Study of the history of fiscal restraints, why they succeed when they do, and how they all fail eventually.
The rigid balance norm was superseded
after World War II by norms that allowed
budget aggregates to accommodate
cyclical changes in economic conditions.
Contemporary fiscal rules have branched
in two directions. One path assumes that
good budget outcomes depend on
preventing politicians from behaving in a
fiscally irresponsible manner; the other
assumes that favorable budget outcomes
depend on giving politicians incentives to
adopt responsible policies. The first ties
their hands, the second holds them politically
accountable for their actions.
The Later fiscal rules work about as well as One would expect, noting the tsunami nature of Government spending knowing Politicians are actually after more money--not Votes--and has to have the Government spend in order to get the Contributors to spend. Deficits cannot be cured with fiscal rules, and alteration of the political rules is the only way to reduce Government spending.
Things which can be realistically done to curb Government Spending and Deficits:
1) A Unitary Accounting system: Make Everyone play from the same Playbook, brings the ideal comparison network.
2) Forbid Politicians to raise Money (political contributions) during the actual Period of the Campaign. They have to make their Commitments prior to the Campaign to get the needed Funds, know they will be bound by those prior Commitments, and cannot gain any material support for any further Commitments.
3) Make the Politicians come up with a definable Budget. Pass a Constitutional amendment stating that at least half of the State Legislatures must approve any Budget before it goes into effect; otherwise, the existing Budget and budgeted amounts will stay in place through the following Budget Period. This approved Budget does not necessarily have to be passed by Congress, but simply provided by any major Political Party for three basic comparisons.
4) Establish a set size Extraordinary Expense Fund--the only source of Funds for Spendthrifts outside the Budget. When it is empty, so are the Politicians.
5) Tell the Federal Government and all State Governments We are tired of their acting like they are a Bank or Corporation. Treasuries and State bonds are forbotten! They are to get their funding from Commercial Bank paper like Everyone else. lgl
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Power walking has several advantages. First of all, it is probably the safest form of sport available and can be practiced by anyone, anywhere, at any time, without the need for a complex equipment, only a training suit and some sports shoes. It can be incorporated into any program, even if you work a lot of hours a day or not, even if you have done sports or not, even if you are young or old, it is safe even for people with various diseases and pregnant women after a medical check , of course. It is a form of movement that, unlike running, has a very low impact on the joints, protects the knees and especially does not expose the heart to a great deal of stress.
For power walking to have an effect, the training regime must be serious. Do not confuse the stroll through the shops or even the leisure walks for a sport. Ala is not sports, it’s relaxation. Sessions of about 40 minutes a day of fast walking are recommended, sessions that are not interrupted by anything (frequent stops, obstacles, intersections, etc.). It’s a great workout for those who want to lose weight because it involves a lower heart rate, somewhere in the “fat burn” zone, roughly between 60-70 percent of the heart’s capacity. In this zone the body will burn predominantly adipose tissue and very little muscle (what we want when we want to lose weight). And if you ask why we do not want to burn muscle and ideas like “but I do not want to be muscular” pop in your head, I will briefly say two things: 1. Muscles are the ones that maintain a high metabolism, meaning high calorie burns, that is, burning the cheescake you ate faster. 2. It is difficult to gain muscles! Extremely, especially as we women do not have testosterone. But about this more details in another post.
The idea is to maintain a constant speed and to have a relevant indicator, it is very simple to look after the limit between walking and running. That is, to go fast enough to be at the point where you would normally start running. The longer you keep the pace constant, the better (that is, the more fat we burn). I suppose it makes no sense to explain how important it is to properly hydrate and to have a proper nutrition. After training, the body will release endorphins and you will feel much better. It would be good for the training to be completed with a 5-10 minutes of stretching, which plays a vital role in preventing injuries and a good muscle development.
Such a training helps you to get into shape, especially if you have been sedentary or have not practiced sports for a long time and burn more calories than jogging would, making it harder to walk at a faster speed, than running at a lower speed.
Think that this type of training is being practiced by bodybuilders, at the end of the weight training, somewhere around 20-30 minutes, to burn the last traces of fat on the muscles. If you try this kind of training, let me know! And of course, any questions you have, I’m here!
Go, go, go!
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To Prologue or Not to Prologue
There seems to be some disagreement about the use of prologues. What qualifies as a prologue? If a first chapter covers an event that happens a few months before the next scene, is it a prologue or a first chapter?
Prologues go in and out of fashion. Some publishers like them, others hate them. Some might call their prologues Chapter One, but they're still a prologue.
Currently, prologues are out of favor. But this is my opinion: A good prologue that is well written adds to the story. The main purpose of a prologue is to give us needed backstory, but to allow it to happen in real time instead of the dreaded info dump. Prologues work best in fantasy, where we need to know something about the main character or the villian, but the main action of the story doesn't start until the main character comes of age. Or sometimes a thriller, where the bad guy does something to set the story in motion, but the effects of his acts aren't felt until months or years later.
Here's an article on prologues that explains it pretty well.
None of this info really helps you decide whether to call your prologue a prologue or to call it chapter one. If you're really concerned about it, go look at some books in your genre from the publisher you're submitting to. Do any of those books have prologues? If so, you're fine using one. If not, call it chapter one.
1 comment:
Annette Lyon said...
I've ended up writing 2 prologues at the request of my editor. In both cases, I think it make the book stronger, but it wasn't in my original plan. The first time around it was essentially a flashback scene I had already written later into the book that I pulled out and moved into being a prologue. I never plan on writing them, though. I'd be interested to see what others think. | <urn:uuid:bcf573f8-ff23-4281-a62c-5cb3ac28561c> | 2 | 1.953125 | 0.501839 | en | 0.965605 | http://ldspublisher.blogspot.com/2008/01/to-prologue-or-not-to-prologue.html |
Working with the MEAN stack: Application setup
In this tutorial I will convert the app I wrote using AngularJS to make it use the MEAN stack. Don’t worry, there’s nothing mean about the MEAN stack.
The MEAN stack is a pure JavaScript stack containing:
• MongoDB: MongoDB is a NoSQL database allowing you to store JSON (actually BSON) documents and query them. This is a great database when going for pure JavaScript applications because it’s easy to put the same object structure that you’re working with, inside the database.
• Express: Express is a web framework that runs on Node.js. A “web” framework may sound a bit vague, but it is actually that. It allows you to serve static content, it allows you to route certain requests to execute certain logic (great for RESTful webservices) and so on.
• AngularJS: I probably don’t have to explain this one to you, but AngularJS is a client-side Model-View-Controller framework by Google.
• Node.js: I mentioned it already that we’re going to use Node.js (because we’re going to use Express), but Node.js is a JavaScript platform, quite popular nowadays. In this tutorial we will use it as our server-side platform.
Before starting with the application, you obviously need to install the MEAN stack. If you followed some of my other tutorials, you probably already used Node.js and npm to use Bower. If you didn’t install Node.js yet, you can get it from
By installing Node.js you install two things; first of all it will install Node.js (obviously), and second it will also install the Node.js package manager called npm.
Verify that the installation was successful by using the command:
node version
nodejs version
And to check if npm was installed, use:
npm version
The second step is to install MongoDB, which you can download from To check if the installation was successful, use:
mongod version
Setting up our application
The first step is that we’re going to setup our application. Start a new project and add the following folders:
• client: This folder will contain our client-side application using AngularJS. This content will be served by Express.
• config: This folder will contain configuration used to run our application. Things like a connection URL and the port we will run on can be setup here. It’s a good idea to centralize this information for when you want to dpeloy the app on a cloud based environment.
• server: This folder will contain our server-side logic to serve the client and to provide a RESTful webservice.
We’re also going to add some files. First of all we’re going to create our Node.js application by creating a file called app.js. Node.js also comes with a packaage manager called NPM.
To load our dependencies, we will have to define a file called package.json, which will define our application and the dependencies we have.
In our app the file will contain:
1. {
2. “name”: “mean-song-rate”,
3. “version”: “0.0.1”,
4. “dependencies”: {
5. “mongoose”: “~3.6.14”,
6. “express”: “~3.3.4”
7. }
8. }
I already explained what we’re going to do with Express. Mongoose on the other hand is a Node.js framework used to communicate with MongoDB. It provides a sweet API where you use models to add/update/retrieve and read your data.
For the client-side part of our application, I’m going to start of where we left in my previous tutorial. I’m not going into detail about AngularJS controllers, services or directives in this tutorial. If you’re interested in that, I suggest reading my introduction tutorial series to AngularJS.
What we do need is the code of the application, which you can find on Github ( Put all the code in the client folder, except bower.json and .bowerrc which you can put in the root folder.
Now open up .bowerrc and change the directory to:
1. {
2. “directory”: “client/libs”,
3. “json”: “bower.json”
4. }
This is obviously necessary because we moved our Bower configuration one level up (to the parent folder).
Now open bower.json and add the dependency angular-resource, for example:
1. {
3. “version”: “0.0.1”,
4. “dependencies”: {
5. “angular”: “1.2.15”,
6. “angular-resource”: “1.2.15”,
7. “bootstrap”: “3.1.1”,
8. “lodash”: “2.4.1”,
9. “underscore.string”: “2.3.3”,
10. “font-awesome”: “4.0.3”
11. }
12. }
Angular-resource is a part of the AngularJS framework and provides an easy way to integrate with your RESTful webservices.
Also note that I changed the name in the bower configuration.
The next part is the configuration. Open the config folder and add the following files:
• config.js: This file will contain our main configuration including port number and database URL.
• db.js: This file will contain the Mongoose configuration to connect to our MongoDB instance.
• express.js: This file will contain the configuration used for Express.js like on which port it has to un, which context will be used to serve our client application and which context will be used to provide our RESTful webservices.
• routes.js: Finally we will also use the routing pattern to setup which URL is bound to which logic in our controller.
The serverside logic will not be too complicated. We’re going to add two folders here called controllersand models.
In the controllers folder we will add our RESTful webservice controller, called rest.js. In the models folder we will add our model, a file called Song.js.
Writing your Node.js app
Now all files are ready, so let’s start by writing our application. I’m going to start with the boring stuff first, namely the configuration part.
Let’s open up config.js and add the following code:
1. var env = process.env.NODE_ENV || ‘development’;
2. var config = {
3. port: 3000,
4. db: ‘mongodb://localhost/songs’,
5. host: ‘localhost’
6. };
7. module.exports = config;
On the first line we’re retrieving a system variable called NODE_ENV. This is not really important in our app, but if you want to deploy this on a cloud environment like IBM BlueMix or if you want to host this on multiple environments, you might be interested in this. For every environment you choose another value forNODE_ENV, which will allow you to use something like:
1. if (env === “production”) {
2. config.db = ‘mongodb://my.production.server/songs’;
3. }
So, on the next lines we can see our configuration which contains:
• port: The port our application will run on
• db: The MongoDB connection string
• host: The hostname the application will run on
And finally we make sure that this module returns config, so when another module calls it, it gets the configuration object. You can do this by using module.exports.
The next configuration file is db.js. Similar to config.js we will configure Mongoose and return the configuration by using module.exports, for example:
1. var mongoose = require(‘mongoose’);
2. module.exports = function(config) {
3. mongoose.connect(config.db);
4. var db = mongoose.connection;
5. db.on(‘error’, function() {
6. throw new Error(‘Unable to connect to database at ‘ + config.db);
7. });
8. };
So, here we’re using the configuration object we made in our previous module and use it to connect to MongoDB using Mongoose.
The configuration itself is passed as an argument to this module, I will show you how that works later.
Then the next configuration file is express.js, similar to db.js it will configure our application based upon the configuration from config.js.
1. var express = require(‘express’);
2. module.exports = function(app, config) {
3. app.configure(function () {
4. app.use(express.compress());
5. app.set(‘port’, config.port);
6. app.use(express.logger(‘dev’));
7. app.use(express.bodyParser());
8. app.use(express.methodOverride());
10. app.use(‘/api’, app.router);
11. app.use(‘/’, express.static(__dirname + “/../client”));
12. });
13. };
So, what happens here is that this module accepts two parameters, app which is an application object initialized by Express and second we have config which is our configuration object which we’re going to need to know the port we’re going to run on.
So, let’s talk about each line more into detail. The first two lines of configuration are pretty easy, the first line makes sure that our files are compressed using the GZIP protocol and the second line says which port we’re going to use.
The third line (app.use(express.logger('dev')); makes sure that we’re going to log all requests of both our RESTful webservice as the static files that are served.
The next two lines are important for our RESTful webservice In our RESTful webservice we’re going to use the post body to add or update the objects. To do that we need to enable the express.bodyParser()) on our application.
The express.methodOverride() on the other hand allows us to use PUT and DELETE requests, which we will use to update and delete our objects in our RESTful webservice.
Then finally we configure our app to use /api to serve our RESTful webservice and / to provide the static files from the client folder.
The last configuration file is routes.js and this is probably the easiest one. In this configuration file we will define which REST endpoint is mapped to which method in our controller.
1. var rest = require(‘../server/controllers/rest’);
2. module.exports = function(app){
3. // find all songs route
4. app.get(‘/songs’, rest.findAll);
6. // find one song route
7. app.get(‘/songs/:id’, rest.findOne);
9. // Add song route
10.‘/songs’, rest.add);
12. // Update song route
13. app.put(‘/songs/:id’, rest.update);
15. // Delete song route
16. app.del(‘/songs/:id’, rest.remove);
17. };
As you can see here, we’re using several endpoints here:
• GET /songs: This will be used to retrieve all songs in our database
• GET /songs/:id: The :id is a placeholder for the real ID of a song. Which means that we’re going to use this to retrieve a single song from our database.
• POST /songs: This method will be used to add a new song to the list. The song itself will be provided as JSON in the post body of the request.
• PUT /songs/:id: This method will be used to update a song by its ID. The updated song itself will be provided in the request body, just like adding new songs.
• DELETE /songs/:id: This method will be used to delete a song by its ID.
At the first lien you can see how we import our REST controller in the configuration file by usingrequire('../server/controllers/rest').
The main application
Before actually writing our application we have to write the “glue” that keeps all modules together. Our main module (app.js) will import the configuration files to make sure our app is properly started.
The code itself is not that complex, as it’s sole purpose is to load other modules (like our configuration).
So, first of all we’re going to import all modules that we need by using the require() function:
1. var express = require(‘express’), mongoose = require(‘mongoose’), fs = require(‘fs’), http = require(‘http’),
2. config = require(‘./config/config’), root = __dirname, app = express(), server = null;
Most of these modules are known by now. Only fs and http are new modules. These are standard modules of Node.js, so that’s why you won’t find them in package.json.
The names of the modules already explain what they do:
• fs: Provides functions to access the file system
• http: Allows you to create a HTTP web server
Then the next step is that we’re going to configure Mongoose by using db.js:
1. require(‘./config/db’)(config);
As you can see here, we’re importing the module and immediately after it we’re executing the function and providing the config argument.
The next part is a bit more complex. To dynamically load all our models, we’re going to list all files in the models directory and add all modules that are inside that folder.
We can do that by writing:
1. var modelsPath = __dirname + ‘/server/models’;
2. fs.readdirSync(modelsPath).forEach(function (file) {
3. if (file.indexOf(‘.js’) >= 0) {
4. require(modelsPath + ‘/’ + file);
5. }
6. });
Now we only have the express and route configuration file left, which we’re going to load by writing:
1. require(‘./config/express’)(app, config);
2. require(‘./config/routes’)(app);
And finally we need to start the webserver itself, which we will do by adding:
1. var server = http.createServer(app);
2. server.listen(config.port,;
3. console.log(‘App started on port ‘ + config.port);
This is everything we have to do to make our application work. In the next part I’m going to explain how we’re going to create the MVC application using Express and how we’re going to tweak the AngularJS application to make it work with our new RESTful webservice.
IT Consultant with a passion for JavaScript. Experienced in the Spring Framework and various JavaScript frameworks.
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Tips on managing Stalls/Gains
I was just out looking for some other blogs to read to see what other people might have for recipes... While out, I found this site which had a particular post that I thought you'd be interested in.
Here's part of the post:
Tips on Managing Stalls/Gains
1. Watch what you’re eating; you should have a food journal and you might find patterns of foods that cause you not to lose, or to lose fantastically. A lot of people have had problems losing with tomatoes and oranges (but some people have no problem at all). Every body is different and you need to monitor your own body and see what works (and doesn’t work) for you.
2. Make sure you are drinking enough water (at least 2 liters a day).
3. Those that have held true to the diet and not cheated, have been rewarded with a large weight reduction when it finally drops. You will usually resume your previous average loss before the stall.
4. Each time you stall, take your measurements; you have probably lost inches (remember it is called Pounds and INCHES).
5. You could gain some weight and not have cheated, depending on your menses, ovulation, and hormones. Almost all of us have seen the scale go up due to water retention, etc.
6. If you eat more salt in the food you prepare, and your body isn't used to that sodium level, your blood volume will increase to handle the extra salt, which will translate into a gain because you're retaining water to boost that blood volume. In other words, watch your salt intake.
7. Remember what Simeons said about losing. You lose fat from the body cells but the cells do not disappear at the same time. The cell structure is still present for two to three days while the body breaks down the cellulose and fills the cell with water in order to release it (through urine). Once the fat cell is removed, the scale will drop.
8. Sensitivity/allergies to foods (like lemons) may cause weight stalls. Listen to your body. The guru is you!
9. Pay attention to weight gains, they usually signify a mishap in the protocol, like not drinking enough water, eating too many/too few calories, too much salt, or (inadvertently) eating foods not allowed on the protocol.
10. Be careful, spices have calories. As long as the serving size listed has less than 5 calories, the company can list 0 calories (even though it may actually have 4). Usually spices and seasonings use 1/4 of a teaspoon as their serving size, so BE CAREFUL...4 calories in 1/4 teaspoon = 16 calories in 1 teaspoon. Account for every calorie, no matter how miniscule it may seem. Here is an exact calorie count per TABLESPOON of various spices:
1TB Onion Powder =22.54 calories
1TB Garlic Powder =27.91 calories
1TB Chili Powder =23.55 calories
1TB Paprika =19.94 calories
1TB Poltry Season =11.36 calories
1TB Oregano =13.77 calories
1 comment:
1. I woke up this morning freaking out!! I gained more than 3lbs!!!! I was just about to say forget it to this crazy diet and just go on a food bender today.....this post helped me stay focused and remember that I need to be more aware of the calories. I still get a bit frustrated that as little as we eat that 100 calories either way makes that much difference. I won't give up on this and will see it through to the end. Thanks for all the great information you post on here, it really helps.
Related Posts with Thumbnails | <urn:uuid:65b6a832-3f8a-41d5-82ce-9fcc56480571> | 2 | 1.546875 | 0.074684 | en | 0.95079 | http://lessofmehcg.blogspot.com/2009/09/tips-on-managing-stallsgains.html |
We've shown you a few ways to make your own portable speaker systems, but DIYer Sladekious adds a bit of style, turning an old 1950s radio into a retro-looking stereo fit for any modern media player.
The project involves a few more intense tools, like a drill, to heavily mod and clean the (very) old radio—but nothing a seasoned DIY vet wouldn't have in their garage. The whole process isn't too difficult, even for those less experienced with electronics: you'll need a speaker (preferably the same size speaker as was originally in the radio), a cheap amplifier, a battery, and a few miscellaneous cables and switches. It's a neat idea, and while it's a bit more work than just buying a regular iPod dock, it's unlike anything you can buy in the store, and it's sure to be a good conversation starter. Hit the link for the full instructions.
Turn a 1950s Wireless Into a Portable iPod Speaker [Instructables] | <urn:uuid:ccb6575a-bba1-48ad-bb74-ba45bea154f1> | 2 | 1.703125 | 0.940098 | en | 0.96218 | http://lifehacker.com/5642051/turn-a-1950s-radio-into-a-portable-ipod-speaker |
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Book review: INVISIBLE MONSTERS by Chuck Palahniuk
Because beauty is power the way money is power the way a loaded gun is power.
Palahniuk is best known for Fight Club, a manly book about guys beating each other up and feeling more alive because of it. Invisible Monsters is his second novel, and unlike the macho air of Fight Club, here is another world of (also ruthless and brutal) the modeling industry, plastic surgery, sex change, and getting rid of your past.
The novel's narrator and protagonist is a fashion model who was shot in the jaw. She is saved by a transgender Brandy Alexander, body full of operations and drugs, as she embarks on a new life wandering around with her ex-boyfriend and taking revenge against her former model frenemy. Here we get a lot of angst about beauty and ugliness. The narrator realizes that her face, no matter how scary and horrible now, is also a kind of power.
My favorite moral lesson from this book, though, is getting rid of the past and focusing instead on the future and all its possibilities.
The main character looks like this:
"Your perception is all fucked up. All you can talk about is trash that's already happened. You can't base your life on the past or the present. You have to tell me about your future."
"When you understand, is that what you're telling is just a story. It isn't happening anymore. When you realize the story you're telling is just words, when you can just crumble it up and throw your past in the trashcan, then we'll figure out who you're going to be."
"It's because we're so trapped in our culture, in the being of being human on this planet with the brains we have, and the same two arms and two legs everybody has. We're so trapped that any way we could imagine to escape would be just another part of the trap. Anything we want, we're trained to want."
"Times like this, it helps to think of yourself as a sofa or a newspaper, something made by a lot of other people but not made to last forever. It helps to know you're not any more responsible for how you look than a car is. You're a product just as much. A product of a product of a product. The people who design cars, they're products. Your parents are products. Their parents were products. Your teachers, products. The minister in your church, another product. The best way is not to fight it, just go. Don't be trying all the time to fix things. What you run from only stays with you longer. When you fight something, you only make it stronger. Whatever you're thinking, a million other folks are thinking. Whatever you do, they're doing, and none of you is responsible. All of you is a cooperative effort."
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Solve Polynomial Equations?
TopPolynomial equations are those equations which contain variables, constants and non -negative Integer exponents. We have a general form to write polynomial equations.
So anxn + an-1xn-1 + ...........+ a2x2 + ax + a0 = 0,
In this given polynomial form x is a variable and an, an-1, ….. a2, a1, a0 are constants. Here ‘n’ should be positive integer and ‘an’ should not be zero. Let’s take an example of polynomial equations
x3 + 7x2 + 3x – 2 =0,
Here we can easily see that highest degree of ‘x’ is 3 and all the exponents’ term is non negative integer value. Polynomial equations are categorized according to the degree of Polynomials. So if we are talking about first degree than equation
ax + b =0,
Where ‘a’, ‘b’ are co-efficient and ‘x‘is variable. In Second degree the highest degree of variable x is 2 that’s why we also called them Quadratic Equation. Let’s take an example of quadratic equation
2x2 + 5x + 3 = 0
this is a polynomial equation to solve polynomial equations it is very necessary to find common factors and the isolation of variable x. so here we can see that in quadratic form equation 5x is the single term which is in 1 degree now we have to separate that term like that, addition will become 5x and multiplication will become 6x2. In short we have to find factors. We get two prime factors while separating 5x which is 2 and 3 so we can rewrite that equation like
2x2 + 2x + 3x + 3 = 0
Now we take 2 and 3 common in terms 2x2 + 2 and 3x +3,
2x (x + 2) + 3 (x + 1) = 0
After that we separate common term (x + 2) and join both factors together,
(x + 2) (2x + 3) = 0,
So (x + 2) = 0 and (2x + 3) = 0,
Do now the values of ‘x’ are,
x = -2 and x = -3 / 2. | <urn:uuid:af50bf02-b63d-40fa-a3d0-f55748c4f095> | 3 | 3.1875 | 0.998886 | en | 0.919663 | http://math.tutorcircle.com/algebra-1/solve-polynomial-equations.html |
Black Hat vs White Hat Seo
Posted by Anna Smith | 3:03 AM | 0 comments »
Black Hat vs White Hat Seo
There is a cogent bisect in the SEO industry over the blush of a SEOs Hat. The agitation about the ethical or bent attributes of SEO can abide till world's end. But, there are assertive SEO techniques labeled beneath Atramentous Hat SEO which accession the ire of seek engines. And assertive White Hat SEO techniques may aswell could cause some trouble.
content and ambience - Now you see it, now you don't
In Atramentous Hat SEO the content, links etc are not arresting to animal visitors, they are all aimed at seek engines alone. If animal visitors do adventitious aloft a Atramentous Hat SEO page their user acquaintance is broke as usually the agreeable on such web pages consists of apparatus generated, keyword blimp nonsense.
White Hat SEOs generally, optimize for their users befitting seek engine rankings in mind. Though some SEOs accomplish the aberration of creating ugly, cacographic pages which abate the motive of creating a web page as they do not catechumen well.
Attitude appear seek engines - War and accord
Black Hat SEOs are at connected war with seek engines. They are consistently searching to one up them, by cheating on guidelines and agee or manipulating algorithms. Though not afterward seek engine guidelines is no abomination per say, but absolutely bypassing them or manipulating them for after-effects can abuse your acquaintance with the ambition audience.
White Hat SEOs are at accord with seek engines, neither are they searching to chase every abandoned guideline nor are the searching to dispense them in any way. White Hat SEOs either absolutely avoid seek engines or amusement them with respect. White Hat SEOs usually absorb techniques in their webpages which are aimed at their animal visitors.
Relevancy - Making faculty
Relevance is a abstract issue. A website accordant to a accurate abandoned for a keyword may not be so for addition abandoned or a accomplished accumulation of individuals. But seek engines plan to baby to a group. Seek engines adjudge the appliance of a page on the base of their algorithm
White Hat SEOs plan to advance appliance by alteration the website and agreeable anatomy and links. These are arresting to humans and the links can be followed by animal visitors.
Black Hat SEOs instead, actualize website anatomy and agreeable which is not for animal visitors to see. They seek to advance appliance and baronial by spamming, cloaking and added aback aperture techniques.
Permanent ban from seek engine indices - Fall into line
The accident of getting abandoned from seek engine indices is present whether the website had been optimized or not. Assertive White Hat SEO techniques may access these risks, but some others can acutely abate the accident of getting removed from seek engine indices. Atramentous Hat SEO techniques are absolutely associated with top accident of getting kicked off a seek engine’s index. Also, a lot of atramentous Hat techniques if detected aftereffect in the website getting assuredly banned from seek engine indices, but this is not the case with White Hat SEO.
Peer analysis and accreditation
As the website and SEO industry grows and progresses, the plan done by SEOs on web pages are advised not abandoned by audience and visitors but by aeon and industry experts as well. White Hat SEOs optimize their pages befitting their ambition visitors in focus and SEOs in mind. So their plan appear the purpose of baronial able-bodied on seek engine indices is there for all to see. Hence, clients, visitors, experts and aeon can analysis and animadversion on the superior of their work.
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Both atramentous Hat and White Hat SEO accommodate both abbreviate appellation and continued appellation results. White Hat SEO techniques ability yield best to apparatus and aftermath results. But their furnishings are about best abiding than Atramentous Hat SEO as they are associated with bottom risk. Both atramentous Hat techniques and white Hat techniques can accomplish both abbreviate appellation and continued appellation after-effects for clients, whether after-effects are abstinent in agreement of rankings, traffic, about-face or profit. | <urn:uuid:f2812d29-b66f-41da-a090-48623e0334b2> | 2 | 1.523438 | 0.04282 | en | 0.926797 | http://matrixsol.blogspot.com/2012/04/black-hat-vs-white-hat-seo.html |
Code ASCII relates to a standard that is used by computers to translate human readable characters into something computers can understand. Code ASCII is usually provided in the form of an ASCII table.
Even though the evolution of code ASCII is responsible for a number of extended versions, the original code ASCII is a table with 128 characters and their universally accepted translations into computer language.
What is code ASCII? You probably know that computers speak in the language of 1s (ones) and 0s (zeros). You can create a sequence of 1s and 0s to express any numerical value as its binary translation. Just a note on the side, converting numbers into binary is a simple mathematical operation (take a look here decimal to binary converter).
However, there is no such evident way to translate non-numeric characters (letters) into binary (into sequences of ones and zeros). Let's say you have the letter Z. How do you translate that into ones and zeros that the computer can understand?
The answer is code ASCII. Code ASCII is a universal standard that sets in stone how letters should be translated into ones and zeros.
Code ASCII is most often represented by an ASCII table. Code ASCII or ASCII table is a table that lists all the letters in our roman alphabet plus some additional characters. Each character in a code ASCII table is always represented by the same order number. Regardless if you work with a computer in India, Japan, or USA, for example the ASCII code for the capital letter "B" is always represented by the order number 66 which is easily representable using 0s and 1s in binary as 1000010. You can see this in our code ASCII table here:
ASCII table.
Code ASCII structure
The standard code ASCII table defines 128 character codes (from 0 to 127). The first 32 codes in the basic code ASCII table are called control codes. They are non-printable, and you most likely do not have the opportunity to encounter them in your daily life. These code ASCII characters such as start of heading, horizontal tab, backspace, shift out, and others were used to control printers back in the old days. The first character following the set of control characters - a space - is considered an invisible graphics. The remaining 94 code ASCII character codes are representable characters. The last character is a DELete control code.
code ASCII
This code ASCII chart is organized in a way that row numbers represent the first digit and the column numbers represent the second digit in a hexadecimal notation. For example, the "B" character is located at the 4th row and the 2nd column. So, the letter B would be represented in hexadecimal as 0x42 (that is decimal 66). See our hex to decimal converter.
Extended code ASCII
Code ASCII and other characters? You might be asking now, how do computers understand other characters that are not included in the basic code ASCII table. For example, what about the letter Code ASCII letter a which can be found in many German words?
Most systems nowadays use 8bit bytes which can represent 256 different values. It means that in addition to the 128 standard ASCII codes there are other 128 codes which are known as extended code ASCII. Extended code ASCII is platform and locale dependent. There are a number of extended code ASCII sets, such as OEM extended code ASCII, ANSI extended code ASCII, code ASCII-1963, code ASCII-1967 (used on ZX Spectrum computer), ISO 8859-1 (also called ISO Latin-1), and many others. There is more than one extended code ASCII character set reflecting the needs of a particular language, platform, and localization.
The table above shows the most used extended code ASCII character set which is known as the OEM extended code ASCII set. The OEM extended code ASCII set is used by the hardware of the most PC compatible machines. This OEM extended code ASCII table was also used by the DOS. As you can see, the OEM extended code ASCII set includes some foreign signs.
To conclude, the concept of code ASCII is pretty self explanatory from the code ASCII acronym. ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Code ASCII is a standard for information interchange.
Articles related to code ASCII
If you want to know more about code ASCII, see the following articles.
ASCII table
ASCII to hex converter
Decimal to binary converter
Hex to decimal converter
Decimal to hexadecimal converter
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112 The Giant Clockwork of Chronos
The New Testament teaches us that currently this world is under the rule of Satan, the "god of this world (or age)," along with his "rulers of the darkness of this world."
What is it that rulers do? They determine by what laws and standards their realm will be governed.
Two of those standards by which the "powers that be" have determined to rule this present world are time and money. Both will apparently come to an end, in contrast to the values that God wants to convey to those who are governed by His standards, and consider their Home His eternal Kingdom, where His rules and standards are what count.
The big disadvantage - as far as we're concerned - about God's standards and values is that we can't see them nor touch them. They require faith in order to be perceived, which is one of the rules He established for the members of His club, those who want to play the game according to His rules, and on His side. Some people are simply incapable of that, or at least not willing to adhere to that rule of faith. They totally and exclusively rely on the visible and tangible stuff around them.
Now it so happens that God has placed enough information in the visible things He made all around us, so that we can still perceive the fingerprints and evidence of His existence in His creation, but those who deny the existence of the invisible also refuse to acknowledge that evidence. In order to successfully convince themselves and others of their dogma of denial, they come up with concoctions of their own imagination such as the widely taught theory of Evolution, which, coincidentally, is being fed, nourished and upheld by nothing else but those same two major values that distinguish the rule and government of this present world: time and money.
According to the theory of Evolution, the one factor that makes it possible for the innumerable miracles to have happened that brought forth every species from nothing via mutation is an unfathomable amount of time: "billions of years." And the one factor that makes millions, if not billions of people acknowledge that teaching as fact, is an unfathomable amount of money that flows into the science apparatus in order to create more "evidence" from virtually nothing: a jawbone here, and thighbone there, and lots of elaborate words and articles in National Geographic or Der Spiegel, along with the televised versions of the same for an increasingly illiterate public; and a whole new reality has been created, a mental conditioning with its own set of laws of "the survival of the fittest" that has been governing most of our globe for the past century and a half, consequently showering it with unprecedented amounts of suffering and violence.
The giant clockwork of Chronos is keeping the enslaved massed in check and dancing according to its tune: "Welcome to the Machine!"
For those who don't feel as comfortable or at home with that construct as evidently a large part of Civilization does, there is, thankfully, an alternative. You see, time and money haven't always been the yardstick that measures everything. There was - and still is, in the presently unseen world which envelops our physical realm - a time in which people would not have to rush through their lives chasing after paper money. In fact, some people on this planet still manage to live by that time in spite of the rat race going on around them.
God's time, the stuff of which Eternity is made, is a different scope than the clock-ticking pace and rhythm that the slaves of Mammon dance to.
And there's that other shred of news about this whole issue:
According to the Book of Revelation, the time we're currently living under is going to come to an end.
Oh, and so will money, by the way, most unfortunately for some.
Like all fairy-tales, illusions, or faulty operating systems, the gospel of time and money must also come to an end.
Only the Real Thing is going to last.
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Sunday, March 29, 2009
How To Tell If Tanzanite Has Been Heated
According to my new book, Gemstone Identification Made Easy, there is a fairly simple way to tell if your Tanzanite is natural in color, or has been heat treated. Most Tanzanite comes out of the ground, brown or green color, and then is heat treated to get the various bluish purple colored gemstones. However some Tanzanite comes out of the ground those colors, naturally. Of course these gemstones would have a much greater value, than the heated variety. Plus you may be being charged too much for a stone being sold as natural, when in fact it has been heat treated. The use of a dichroscope, can help you in determining if your stone has been treated or not. Tanzanite is a trichoic gemstone, meaning it shows three different distinct colors. When looking through a dichroscope, you will see three distint different colors. Natural, unheated Tanzanite will show blue, purple, and green. Sometimes the purple color will be reddish, and sometimes yellow instead of green. However the important thing is that you will three distinctive different colors in unheated Tanzanite. The green, yellow coloring is very often not seen in heated Tanzanite. If you view through your dichroscope your Tanzanite, and you see blue, purple, and green chances are good that you have gotten an unheated, natural Tanzanite. Congrats to you, if you have such a rare, and fabulously valuable Tanzanite in your collection.
Heart's Desire Jewelry said...
This is very interesting and useful info. I had never heard of this method before. Thanks for sharing :)
Melissa said...
You are welcome, thank you for stopping by.
Anonymous said...
Never heard of a "dichroscope." But I understand that real unheated tanzanite will look blue on one face and purple on the perpendicular face. Some is also TRIchroic where, if you turn it perpendicular to the other two faces (the "z axis") is will look reddish. Heating supposedly destroys this trichroism (and dichroism). 99% of tanzanite is said to be heat-treated and most sold as unheated is actually heated.
Robert Tyrrell said...
Finding a natural blue tanzanite is very very rare. TRUE "D" block tanzanites from surface are extremely rare and it is proposed that an ancient forest fire is what heated those surface stones making them blue.(They are concidered mined out). It is acceptable practice to heat a tanz and any deep blue gem can be assumed. There are still"D" blocks from below surface mined today. So don't be fooled. When buying any gemstone. Unheated Taz are as described above and generally in nature a dull ugly brown stone. Be educated and for a few $100 you can buy some relatively good /cheap equipment to help you out. know the mineralogy it can be found all over the web. Beware of GIA/ EGI certs as they'll cert anything for anyone willing to pay the fee. So that security blanket is gone by the greed side.
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Multiple realities
(covers information from several alternate timelines)
Rita Tannenbaum was a Starfleet officer who served aboard Deep Space 9 and the USS Defiant in the 2370s.
In 2371, Tannenbaum was carrying a bag and walking behind Major Kira Nerys on the Promenade when Kira bumped into William T. Riker. (DS9: "Defiant")
In 2373, the Defiant entered the atmosphere of a planet (later named "Gaia"), and discovered a settlement of their descendants from an alternate timeline. In the alternate timeline, the crew of the Defiant were sent back in time two hundred years, and stuck on the planet. In that alternate timeline, Rita Tannenbaum and Miles O'Brien (who'd finally come to terms with the fact that he'd never see his wife Keiko again) decided to marry, and have children. Among their descendants at the colony was a Miranda O'Brien and a young girl named Molly. However, when the Defiant failed to go back in time and fulfill its "destiny", the colony presumably ceased to exist. (DS9: "Children of Time")
Off duty, she visited Quark's when a grown-up Molly O'Brien wounded the Markalian Madrat seriously by stabbing him a broken bottle into his chest. (DS9: "Time's Orphan")
In 2379, Tannenbaum attended the wedding of Commander William T. Riker and Deanna Troi in Alaska on Earth. She was talking to other guests and standing behind Guinan during Data's performance of "Blue Skies". (Star Trek Nemesis)
Rita Tannenbaum was portrayed by regular background actress Ivy Borg, who appeared throughout the seven year run of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Assistant director Paul Lawrence told Borg that she was the person who was Rita Tannenbaum in "Children of Time".
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Saturday, June 12, 2010
Many years ago when workers were in many cases exploited by their employers the unions fought on their behalf to make working conditions better. In many cases the unions were greedy but on the whole they at first did a lot of good to make the life of the working man/woman (or even children way back then) quite tolerable.
One of the things they fought for was a shorter, more reasonable working week. I can remember daubed in large white letters on the side of Mount Eliza (in white paint I guess) the words 44 HOUR WORKING WEEK. This was probably when I was a teenager back in the 1940s and eventually this came about and later still we had a normal working week of only 40 hours.
The banks and insurance companies were the first to stop being open on a Saturday so their employees worked a five day week. The banks etc did it gradually by rostering staff to perhaps work one Saturday in three until Saturday work ceased altogether and their doors were closed for the weekend. The shops of course remained open on Saturdays until midday and there was no late night shopping. Many stores opened from 9am and closed at 5.30pm and yet people seemed to manage to always get to the shops OK. There were often little family run corner stores that would perhaps open over the weekend and of course we usually had our bread and milk delivered so no need to worry about getting them at the shops. (before the days of refrigerators we also had our ice for our ice chests delivered and I wonder how many can remember that?)
I recall at one period during my working life when we only worked a 35 hour week. That was in an office in the 1960/70s when we worked from 9am to 5pm with an hour for lunch. Work it out...5 days at 7 hours per day - 35 hours per week. I then joined a state government department and our working week was two and half hours longer and I think the pay was a little less but it was a terrific job so I didn't complain at those differences.
This week I read a small piece in the Sunday Times that said that one in four Australian workers are now are now toiling FIFTY or more hours per seems that "working nine to five with an hour for lunch is SO last century".
It appears that one in four working Australians now eat their lunch at their desk with about one in six skipping lunch altogether. A survey of 600 workers by McCrindle Research found that 28% of employees ate lunch at their work desks. This to me doesn't sound particularly physically or mentally healthy but then what do I know? I am not sure what a survey of blue collar workers would show as I feel that they are required to take breaks during their working day, for safety sake if nothing else.
I know very little about so-called workplace agreements or work contracts but I can't see that anything that has occurred during the past say 10-12 years has done much to help the workers except perhaps give them more and more pay and longer working days. Is it greed on the part of the employer and the employee that is causing these longer working weeks? What happened to the days when we were quite content to have a nice 'little' home to live in with comfy furniture and a nice garden? Why is that people are building bigger and still bigger homes? Do people really need home theatres, spas etc. etc? They certainly don't have the room outside their homes to do much exercise or for the kids to play. The houses are bigger and the blocks getting smaller and smaller.
My OH and I are perhaps fortunate in that we have never wanted to keep up with the Joneses or been particularly ambitious so maybe that is why we were (and are still) content with what we have. Sure, we would be better off with a little more than we now have but that is not to be 'cos those lotto numebers just dont come up and we are both too old to have some rich, forgotten great aunt who just might die and leave us a small fortune.
Joking aside though.....I feel so sad that people are having less and less leisure time to spend with their families and I do think that children often suffer not having what we once called normal family lives when we all sat around the dining table for the evening meal and talked about the events of the day or perhaps listened to the evening news on the radio.
I really hoped that the 21st century would turn out well but I am beginning to think that in many ways, regardless of a depression and two great wars (not to mention several minor wars) the 20th century may have been better after all. When was it that people became so dissatisfied with their lot in life and wanted more and more and more? I really can't help thinking that greed is what drives too many people in this modern age.
1. I know I don't work longer for greed, or that my work is greedy. There is however more work to do as the government is constantly down sizing its staff. No one makes you work more than 37.5 hours, but if the work needs to be done then if you are like me you do it, for no extra money. So while a few may have greed as an motivator, I can say that a lot of us just do what is needed.
2. This was not aimed at anyone personally but rather a generalisation after reading the article in the paper. I don't think it right that any employer should feel they own an employee completely, both body and soul, as that seems to be going back to the dark ages when that actually did happen.
I feel that there are people who may be ostracised by fellow workers because they try and lead a normal family life and don't always work extended hours beyond the norm.
I believe if one wants to receive payment at the end of the week/fortnight/month they they should fulfil their duties to the very best of their ability and have a good work ethic but I am convinced it can be carried too far.
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Senin, 22 Juli 2013
Why Children Need A Character Education?
Character building is essential approach for building nation. In essence, the development of a child is to develop a true understanding of how this world works, learn "rules of the game" every aspect in this world. Children will grow into personal character when can grow in the range of characteristic
There are 3 Ways to Educate Children Character:
1. Change the environment, doing character education by laying out rules and consequences at school and at home.
2. Provide knowledge, provide knowledge on how to do the behavior that hoped to appear in their days and applied.
3. Controlling emotions, human emotions are in control of 88% of human life. If able to touch the emotions and provide accurate information so that information will be settled in his life.
The story of a corrupt racket
I found this interesting story at
Perhaps all of us can learn from these story.
A young boy accidentally destroy his father's racket. Because of fear, she hid the racket under the bed in his room.
Every time his father entered the room, her fear. He accidentally sat down on the bed, worried father raised beds later found that he rusakkan racket. That's why he is always trying to move the racket that he rusakkan to another as often as possible, in hopes father will not be able to find it.
So far everything is always able to be treated successfully. Faults remain hermetically sealed in front of his father. However, as long as it did not calm him. Every moment of guilt arise and judge. Wherever he went, his heart was always drawn to the racket that the father he never rusakkan.
The more often he moved his racket rusakkan, he is getting restless, because it means the little place that allows it to hide the broken racket. In ketertekanannya, he finally took the damaged racquet, bring it in his right hand, then went to his father with fear.
Having been in front of his father, he said as he showed the destruction racket, "father, forgive me for damaging racquets father, I am ready to be punished."
Heard of her son, the father leaned over and said, "son, father already knew all of that from last week, just waiting for your father to have the courage to admit it. Now the father was about to say to you that the father forgive you. "
The last sentence of the father actually make the child feel relieved and free. Admit mistakes is the beginning of a great deed, and to account for the error is a step towards happiness.
Jumat, 19 Juli 2013
Meerkat and Grebe : Two Signs of Love for a Child
In a vast steppes, a set of Meerkat (Ind.: Mongoose) is preparing to return to the nest. By evening, a fox crept toward the nest. Knowing this, the parent Meerkat immediately put the body in the nest entrance. He was ready to fight to protect her children. The next morning, the battle scars overnight with wolves force the meerkat’s parent last breath.
In another hemisphere, a pair of birds building nests near Grebe lake inhabited by crocodiles. Once when the crocodile was very hungry, Grebe chicks are still too weak to be crocodile’s food. Parent birds know it and immediately pretended hurt to distract the crocodile. Seeing other larger dining, the crocodile follow where the mother bird away. As she shuffled like a mortally wounded, the parent birds Grebe risking his life so that the crocodile away from her children.
Two stories above is not a fictional story.
Grebe bird and meerkats are just 2 of the many creatures of God given instinct of compassion. There are many other creatures that God showed his affection with a variety of ways. Especially humans, which was given the mandate as the inheritors of the earth, the absolute has the affectionate nature. Without it, the position as the leader in the face of the earth will only bring misfortune.
When young, Grebe chicks feed her mother found hairs or feathers of his own. It is intended that these feathers form a filter in the stomach chicks, which would prevent the entry of fish spines into the digestive tract.
When we were kids, our parents are very careful with what we eat. When we are sick, we are the ones that most parents worry about the condition of our bodies. They think very best education that will be given to us. With all the sacrifices they made, how should we reply?
There's no way we give back what they have given. But as a child, our obedience, our devotion, respect, attention, and affection we do, are the things that will make them happy to have us as their sons and daughters. (Aan)
Languages and Civilizations
Long before Cesare Bollugia ambitious to unite Spain, Naples, and Rome, the Abbasid Caliphate had been in control of Western civilization in Europe. Yes, Andalusia in the 7th century AD has been the center of civilization with Cordoba as one of the prominent cities. At this time, in Spain, Christians are immersed into what is known as the Mozarabic Culture (Dr. Hamid Fahmi Zarkasyi). Islam is the dominant culture that may have contributed greatly to the birth of a new view of life in the West.
Prior to the 7th century, Western civilization has indeed been inherited from the Greeks and Romans. However, sophisticated Muslim worldview and more rich knowledge of what is contained in the Latin world, has given stimulus to the rise of the ideology, intellectuality, and imagination of medieval European society.
Then, in the 10th century AD, wheel rolling back civilization. Rotating steady and strengthen the Christian army ambition to return to the glory which he inherited from Roman civilization, while continuing to enrich the heritage of world civilization with Islam: aspiration and enthusiasm for life.
Transfer the live of view
Civilization is formed when the constituent elements that include factors accumulate material and immaterial in such a way in a short time. And indeed, the forerunner of the wheels of civilization from the time of the Abbasid Caliphate to Christian Europe has been going on since the Islamic civilization reached its glory. Of course, just as the Ibn Khaldun: "When a people have reached the point of civilization, then nobody could awaited addition to its destruction" (Mujahideen Muhayyan).
When Islamic civilization that reached its peak, western aspirations of Muslims to enrich their worldview.
Lives of the people with intellectual and sophisticated view of life in the shade of the Islamic civilization, which is felt and seen by the European through and visit their diplomatic relations, has given rise to the embryo changes. And these embryos develop when the people of Europe realize that they can absorb the aspirations and spirit of Muslim life by transferring and assimilating the books of philosophy and Islamic science. In addition to stories and poems were transmitted orally, many Muslim scientific works translated by the West. This enthusiasm is so great-monastery to monastery Europe, especially Santa Marie de Rippol, on the 12th and 13th century AD manuscript has storage space for a large number of Muslims to their scientific work translated. Thus, they can explore science contained in the libraries of Islam. In fact, for the smooth running of the translation process, the kings of Europe established a school for translators in Toledo, just after Christian forces recaptured the city in 1085 AD
So no wonder, if the works of medieval European scientists could not be separated from the works of translation from Arabic.Historians note that the development of Western Europe in the mid 13th century is a combination of elements, called Greco-Arabic-Latin. In other words, the mastery of the language that characterizes the works of philosophy and science of the time, has opened the gates of the intellect and the western way of life, and make the people of Europe, once again, as the ruler of Western civilization, which is more rich in scientific works andconcepts of the Islamic worldview.
Once again, "just" because of the language ...
Language, forming the arms of civilization
History of a civilization begins when the language has evolved its constituent communities. Archaeologists itself establish that history began when society has known writings. It refers to the written evidence is found. Interim period before the written evidence is categorized as prehistoric. And writing, is evidence that language comprehension is a growing community.
Language, according to Muhayyan Mujahideen, a form born of the workings of the brain, which is thought. The brainchild of a variety of shapes.
Some are born as art, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and so on. The birth of the results of this thinking help humanity understand the moral values, religion, the universe, including his true identity. Because art is the language of our feelings and thoughts. Philosophy is the language of the deepest values of life and living. Mathematics is the language of symbols for objects and events around us. Similarly astronomy, is a language that helps us understand the universe, as well as our identity.
So the development indicates the rise of the language of a people.
This evolving mindset, enables man to actualize themselves in such a way as to develop the immaterial factors such as rules, moral values and beliefs (religion). Immaterial factors, supported by material factors such as geological factors, geographical, and economic, accumulate to form a civilization.Because it's no wonder, when the only developed nation that bahasanyalah, which is able to form a human existence, called civilization.
Generating Islamic civilization
Mastery over the language does have an important role for the formation of a civilization. Therefore, it is not possible to revive the language of a civilization that had drowned.
Ibn Khaldun defines civilization as the pinnacle of cultural achievement ladder.
And a spokesman for culture, language becomes a very powerful tool for spreading the culture of the speakers of the language. When languages have made the culture of a nation into a global culture, the culture of the nation will color the joints civilization.
But the Islamic civilization, not just a collection of culture.Civilization is built upon the apostles ”millah” worldview that contains the potential to blow up its constituent humans.
Muslims need to unite immediately languages, and raised the height of the glory of civilization with language. To that end, efforts to unify the language of the policy must be followed up with efforts to speak.
During the cold war, the Soviet Union and the United States in a world polarized into the motor block west and a block east.
But in reality, the Soviet Union was not able to put the Russian language equal to English in the international arena. So that American popular culture over popular culture coloring origin of civilization than the Soviet Union. History also indicates the failure of the Japanese and German military during World War II as a result of the absence of the policy language. So the Japanese or German culture does not contribute significantly in the coloring of civilization.
Now, it was time for Muslims to dye civilization again.
Because the Muslim worldview that rests on the Quran, should be the entity of human civilization. In order for civilization, become truly civilized. (Aan)
This is one of my article that published in "buletin Integral" a few years ago. After re-read it, I found interesting to publish it in my blog. How is your opinion about it content?
Sabtu, 13 Juli 2013
Club for everygirl who likes writing
After talking left and right, never thought, it turns out quite a few friends "excited" by the idea of establishing a school-based Talent. Just how? As a result, this idea should be the way somehow. Because this is not just an idea, but a dream. So, as a first step we will make the club first. Talent-based school is a school for developing talent and interest, so the classes are in the form of clubs.There are writing club, diva club, animation club, etc. Well, because the cost of the device and to establish schools quite complicated and large, then we set up the club first. It's like building a dream home, which is preceded by arranging bricks one by one. Clubs that want to set up the first time was writing club. This is due to the establishment of school-based talent is fronted by people equally like writing. In addition, the establishment of capital was also not so great. Well, after writing club, then other clubs will surely also soon stand. This is a writing club targets schoolgirls. Club members will be divided into teams to complete the project. We are also looking for a publisher to accept the results of the project will be. What if the publisher does not accept? then we publish the results of the project will be independent. So, for the schoolgirls aged 15 years and over who are interested in realizing the dream in the field of writing, better join this club. It's free. Want it???
Talent-based School
What it was like going to school with our way? We learn what we really like and need. For example, I love to write. Then the school will host a book-making project, or a novel, or other. Each time the teaching and learning process, which we are doing is trying to complete the project. The Report is the result of our posts have been published.
Or as I like the culinary arts. Someday want to be a culinary professional artist. Then the school will bring experts in the field to teach. Each meeting we make a work of culinary art different.For example, today the theme is chocolate, fruit mix next meeting, the next meeting different again. At the end of the school year, the exam form of culinary art exhibition, then we get certificate of diploma culinary professional artist. So, we can use the certificate to apply for work in the gallery or school or corporate pastry / cake culinary artist in need of services. Exciting right !
If I love photography, so I would join a photography class. Each meeting we learn to take pictures with different themes. During the meeting, we automatically learn how to set up the lighting, take a right angle, and all about cameras, ranging from its history to the development of the camera. In the end, the science of photography we can get it deeply. Then at the end of the school year, the evaluation of learning is in the form of an international photo exhibition. Sure is cool!
What about I like sports, football for example. Of course I’ll follow football class. In football class, the students are trained in the discipline to be a professional player. In addition there are certain times interspersed lessons on personality. Sports athletes nowadays it's that close to the entertainment world. So it's important to be a decent athlete sale. Well, the school organizes regular events match as well, but to follow the games of football clubs outside school. The football graders must compete for a chance to play in international clubs. Well, of course the school have to facilitated it.
And other talents, such as singing. The Report is the album of their work. Who love animation, the report is animated movie they’ve made. School will facilitate to distribute the work of his students to the broadcasting world. And so on ...
If school is in this way, both students and teachers certainly do not stress, because they learn and teach appropriate field of their interest and obtained knowledge that is certainly needed when they grow up and work in the field, right?
Wanna go to school in a school like this? Or would like to teach in a school like this? Let’s make!
Senin, 01 Juli 2013
Klub buat yang suka nulis
Setelah bicara kiri-kanan, nggak nyangka, ternyata beberapa teman cukup "excited" dengan ide pendirian Talent based school. Cuma caranya gimana? Alhasil, ide ini harus bisa jalan bagaimanapun caranya. Karena ini bukan sekedar ide, tapi impian.
Jadi, sebagai langkah awal kita akan bikin klub dulu. Talent based school adalah sekolah berbasis bakat, jadi kelas-kelasnya berupa klub-klub. Ada writing club, diva club, animasi club, de el el. Nah, karena perangkat dan biaya untuk mendirikan sekolah cukup rumit dan besar, maka kita dirikan klub dulu. Ini seperti membangun sebuah rumah impian, yang diawali dengan menata batu bata satu demi satu. Klub yang mau didirikan pertama kali adalah writing club. Ini karena pendirian talent based school ini digawangi oleh orang-orang yang sama-sama suka nulis. Selain itu, modal pendiriannya juga tidak begitu besar. Nah, setelah writing club, maka club-club lainnya juga pasti akan segera berdiri.
Target writing club ini adalah siswi-siswi SMU (muslimah) mulai dari kelas 1. Anggota club akan dibagi menjadi beberapa tim untuk menyelesaikan proyek bukunya. Kita juga sedang mencari penerbit untuk menerima hasil proyek nantinya. Bagaimana jika penerbit tidak menerima? maka hasil proyek akan kita terbitkan secara indie.
So, buat para remaja muslimah usia 15 tahun ke atas yang berminat mewujudkan impian di bidang tulis-menulis, lebih baik ikut klub ini. Kan gratis. Mau??? | <urn:uuid:92ca1e06-222c-4e78-8423-2c629032495f> | 3 | 2.625 | 0.10872 | en | 0.908359 | http://miswagarden.blogspot.com/ |
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Loaded words and contested terms
You can imagine that as an English professor I believe that words matter, that language matters. And that what you call things matters quite a bit. Take, for example, my preference for using "Asian American" to refer to people of Asian ancestry/descent rather than "Oriental." It's actually not just my preference; a whole movement in the late 1960s was formed, in part, around wanting to affirm the place of Asians in America and to dismiss the notion of people as objects (because remember: only rugs are Oriental).
Two of my most recent posts have touched on the issue of loaded words and contested terms. The April 11 post about the use of the term "Concentration Camp" to talk about where Japanese Americans were detained during WWII has sparked some interest from another blog, "Is That Legal?," where Eric Muller (remember Professor Muller? I gave a plug for his excellent book American Inquisition: The Hunt for Japanese American Disloyalty during World War II) provides more nuanced examination for thinking through the use of the term "concentration camp"--particularly its charged nature and yet why it IS an accurate term to describe the situation of Japanese Americans during WWII--click here for the link to "Is That Legal?"
[If you are reading this Eric, thanks for plugging my post/blog on your blog--I'm honored!]
And in the April 12 post asking when Asian immigrants become Asian Americans, a commenter and fellow blogger, John B. of "Domestic Issue," began an interesting exchange with another commenter about the use of the phrase "miscegenation."
Now, I don't know if any of you were reading my blog this summer, but that exact phrase came up in my August 2 post relating a racist comment made to me by a woman about purity and Asian Canadians. I said in the post: "That word has such a controversial connotation--rooted in a history of race baiting." This is the history of the word:
Originally coined in 1863, the word first appeared on a hoax pamphlet entitled “Miscegenation: The Theory of the Blending of the Races, Applied to the American White Man and Negro.” Conceived by two New York journalists, David Goodman Croly and George Wakeman, the pamphlet was an attempt to depict the Republican party explicitly as proponents of inter-racial marriage and implicitly with the propagation of mixed-race children. By doing so, the hope was that voters would reject President Lincoln in his re-election campaign, for the man who supported the emancipation proclamation was also obviously in favor of promoting not only equality of the races but inter-mixing as well. Thus from its inception, miscegenation was a word linked with political propaganda and fear mongering for the purposes of supporting segregation and defying racial equality
[taken from a talk I gave five years ago at Southern U.]
So here's the question for you, dear readers: Can loaded words and contested terms be rehabilitated? Can they escape, in the case of "concentration camp" the tragic and overwrought associations with one of the worst genocides of the 20th century? Can we use a term, like "miscegenation" to simply mean "inter-racial" without invoking its etymological roots in race baiting and its historic use as a word associated with negativity, rancor, and hatred (because whenever "miscegenation" was invoked in the mid to late 20th century it was usually done in the context of "anti-miscegenation" laws, ie: laws prohibiting inter-racial marriage, or white racist Southerners invoking the fear of "miscegenation" as a rationale for school segregation.
I suppose a few more questions to consider are:
*Why is this loaded word or contested term being used in current, contemporary usage?
*What is the purpose of this rehabilitation?
*Who is trying to use this term and for what purpose?
*Is there another term that is as accurate/precise in its meaning as the contested term? Why is it important to use the contested term rather than the less loaded word?
I'd love to hear from anyone out there with an opinion...anyone???
CVT said...
I'm still waiting to read John B.'s explanation before I go too far into this, but here's my quick off-the-cuff take:
I think there are definitely terms that can be used, instead. I think the easiest is "interracial" with a relevant descriptor attached to it (i.e. "interracial marriage," "interracial sex," or whatever). If that sounds a bit awkward, "cross-cultural" could suffice. I don't know. "Miscegenation" just feels along the lines of "Oriental" to me. Certainly not along the lines of major ethnic slurs, but not feeling good, either. More of the - "do people REALLY still say that?" - than the other kind of reaction.
And - if people are going to try to reclaim the term, then I would say that it's got to be the people the term is referring to do so. Nobody would even think about "re-claiming" the N-word FOR black people, so it would have to be a group of mixed folks that took on "miscegenation" for me to sit well with it.
That said, I don't know John B.'s explanation yet, so there might be more to it than I am aware . . .
Charlotte said...
The "n-word" also came to mind for me when I read this post. Still controversial, but it has most certainly been rehabilitated, at least by some of the population against whom it was used.
I brought this topic up in the classroom when I taught with Emily Bernard's "Teaching the N-Word," and the generational/racial differences with the answers was amazing.
Usage does change with time and context, but it's always important to acknowledge the word's history, and how you are attempting to redefine it, and why.
On another note: I was looking at makeup online, and some line, I forget which, offered mineral powder in "golden oriental." I couldn't believe it.
Were they really able to sell this product with that marketing? Were consumers ok with that? That is a problem for me.
John B. said...
Jennifer (and cvt), I'll have a post up tonight (probably late) and post the link to it here.
Thanks again for these questions: they get to the very essence of some claims I want to make about how racial admixture is depicted and discussed in art and literature throughout the Americas, and dialogue about them will certainly be helpful for my work.
John B. said...
Later than I had intended, but here is my post.
Genepool said...
The nice thing about America is that whatever term we decide is appropriate today will likely be exchanged for something else down the road.
"Miscegenation" basically means the same thing as "Interracial" with only time and peoples perception of its descriptive intent to really differentiate the two words.
"Crippled" and "Handicapped" are similar examples. I am almost positive that in my lifetime that we will see other seemingly innocuous words replaced as individuals and groups decide they are inappropriate, for whatever reason.
I'm not saying I approve or disapprove of the word "miscegenation" because before reading your post I had honestly never even heard the term used. I'm just saying for all that these usages matter to people now they will likely, over time, be reevaluated and replaced. Which is, in my opinion, pretty damn funny.
baby221 said...
I really don't think you can save miscegenation, but if it were to happen at all it would have to come out of a movement of mixed-race folk as cvt suggested. The lgbt movement has reclaimed queer and dyke, some women are in the process of reclaiming bitch and slut. I guess it could happen, but I'm not sure it's a word I'd ever use because it just rubs me the wrong way. I'm a much bigger fan of interracial and/or interethnic.
Jennifer said...
I appreciate everyone who left comments on this topic, because I think this continues to be a vexed subject and I appreciate the thoughtfulness to which everyone approached this subject.
I've just posted a lengthy comment on John B.'s blog, so if you're curious, I'd go to "Domestic Issue" for a continuation of the "miscegenation" usage there.
What I will say in this space is that I agree with both CVT and Baby221--I don't believe, personally as well as professionally, that "miscegenation" is a word that can escape its etymological roots and consistent negative/pejorative usage. And if one were to undertake such a project, it would have to be a mass movement coming from inter-racial couples or from mixed-race people.
But I suppose, more to the point, I remain unconvinced for trying to rehabilitate it for common usage in the 21st century. I do think that John B., in his own academic project, SHOULD use this word and SHOULD investigate "miscegenation" and its use as a concept and tool of the state and cultural apparatus--I think any historic project that is looking at inter-racial relationships in the 17th-19th centuries would be remiss in not referring to "miscegenation" since that's the terminology that was in use during that time period.
But in the late 20th C and 21st century, I don't see a place for "miscegenation" as a word to simply refer to "inter-racial" couples.
And I would disagree with Genepool that inter-racial and miscegenation are inter-changable--they really aren't. I don't see "inter-racial" as simply a more "pc" or 21st century version of miscegenation. I'm not sure when "inter-racial" came into the American lexicon, but I think it makes a HUGE differece that the word "miscegenation" had such distinctly "American" roots in racism and politics--and that it was a phrase almost always associated with things that were negative--anti-miscegenation, agitating against miscegenation--miscegenation as a way to quickly malign someone and to suggest that miscegenated people were a blight on the American society. It is a word that is so filled with a history of racism and race hatred--a word we should remember was employed skillfully by segregationists--that to my mind, it's negative history can't be forgotten, and actually shouldn't be forgotten.
[she steps off soapbox now]
The last thing I'll leave you with is directed to Charlotte:
"REALLY??? Golden Oriental???"
UGH. If you find the name of the makeup company, Charlotte, I'd love to know.
John B. said...
Just a quick thank-you, first of all, for your very thorough and thoughtful response over at my place. You've given me much to think about that, in a couple of days, I'll have some time to address properly.
The earliest use of "interracial" according to the OED is from 1888--as an adjective for the substantive "conflict." The earliest use given for that word used within a sexual context--"interracial couple"--is 1972(!). More research required, of course, but I wonder if "interracial" was adopted as a response to Loving vs. Virginia's finding that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional.
Shoot. This is far more compelling than the papers I have to grade, but duties call. Still: thanks again for this discussion. | <urn:uuid:d2850d90-5116-4061-bef7-fc2613d4419b> | 2 | 2.0625 | 0.059853 | en | 0.974645 | http://mixedraceamerica.blogspot.com/2008/04/loaded-words-and-contested-terms.html |
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A Euro theory
f it were not for the euro, Germany’s trade balance would have caused a revaluation of the Mark, which would automatically have reduced the exchange rates of the other "European currencies", thus favouring them on international markets. The single currency was not created to stimulate exports and improve productivity.
In fact, for the first time, the then President of the European Economic Community, Roy Jenkins, proposed a common currency which, however, was also based on a common budget, equal to 10% of the sum of all Member States’ GDPs.
Initially the Euro was based on the "optimum currency area" theory developed by the Canadian economist, Robert Mundell, in 1961. It also rested on the fact that an economy open to international trade always tends to a low exchange rate.
Furthermore, as assumed by Mundell’s group of economists, in a highly diversified national economy the exogenous shock is always very limited.
This would lead a country open to trade and with a diversified economy to accept, in principle, a currency common to other countries.
Provided, however, that there is flexibility on the capital and labour markets and that its economy is very diversified and open to international trade.
However, to what extent can an economy be "diversified"? Does excess of diversification not lead - as natural - to a different and sometimes negative gain margin between products?
In Mundell’s model, the national currencies were described by the economic theory as simple barriers to international trade, as well as limits to productivity and finally obstacles blocking commercial transactions.
At that time, Jacques Delors and Romano Prodi theorized that - rebus sic stantibus - with the mere introduction of the Euro, the European economy would grow 1-1.5% per year.
Later Perrson and Nitsch proved that the econometric model used for those predictions was wrong, while other academics and experts studied the influence of the European monetary union on international trade.
Once again the analyses carried out on macroeconomic data demonstrated that the assessment of the benefits resulting from the single currency had been greatly exaggerated.
Obviously, for political purposes, economics is not so much a "sad science", but rather rhetoric used to convey political and social messages and choices.
According to these more realistic models, the monetary union was responsible only for a 4.7-6.3% increase in foreign trade, while the most pessimistic forecasts of the first analyses on the Euro-induced growth pointed to a 20% or even a 200-300% increase in international trade.
We have always known that economics is ideology in disguise.
In other words, the Euro does not change international trade transactions, but rather tends to change competitive pricing.
Furthermore, there is no factual evidence of a stable structural difference between foreign trade and exchange rate.
Moreover, according to the International Monetary Fund, a 10% decline of the exchange rate leads to a 1.5% average increase of GDP.
Yet another demonstration of how a healthy and sound devaluation is good for international trade.
The persistently "high" single currency has also hampered recovery in the Eurozone countries, while other European countries, such as Sweden, could quickly rebuild their economy.
This implies that the Euro could do nothing to avoid the crisis, except in Germany, where the per capita GDP has been growing incessantly since 1999.
As to investment in fixed assets, only France, Belgium and Finland have been successful.
Portugal and Greece have fallen to the levels of fixed capital investment of the 1980s, while per capita fixed capital investment (housing, infrastructure, roads, railways, airports, machinery, etc.) has levelled off since 1999.
With the Euro introduction, investment in infrastructure was put to an end.
Furthermore, as repeatedly noted, the crisis of the single currency and of the Eurozone began with Greece’s tragic situation.
Greece is worth almost 3% of the Eurozone GDP and the banking crisis following tension in Greece, at first, and later in Spain, Germany and Italy, cannot be solved with the EU banking union, but only with the action of individual governments.
The signal to international markets is clear: if the Euro is hit with a speculative action, the Eurozone individual countries shall try to solve it, with their limited resources.
With its crisis Greece has later demonstrated that monetary and credit tensions in each country of the single monetary area are never supported by the rest of the Eurozone - as would happen in any real monetary union - but the country in trouble is blamed for being "spendthrift". The result is that the other Eurozone countries buy the assets of the nation in crisis below cost.
In fact, the single currency works only in really federal States, such as India or the United States, where the internal market and financial networks are wide and can manage the income gap between the various regions of the country.
If we were to support the economies of Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal, the cost of recovery for these four countries would be 260 billion euro per year for ten years.
Hence the issue does not lie in Germany being wicked, but in the fact that the Euro has been conceived and designed badly and leads to crisis the countries which do not adjust their domestic economy to a structurally and unreasonably overvalued currency.
And in these cases, monetary expansion combined with economic "austerity" does not solve the problems.
Public spending and discretionary spending, as well as wages and salaries and, in some respects, even profits are now regulated by the Solidarity Pacts of 2011, in addition to the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance signed in 2012.
They are inter-European agreements prohibiting the redistribution of funds within the EU. They were signed upon German pressure and it is worth recalling that Germany cannot objectively take upon itself the cost for restructuring Southern countries’ debt.
Indeed, we could devalue the Euro.
Nevertheless the relations between the Eurozone members would not change and Germany would gain even more from a devalued Euro.
Therefore the only way then to change the exchange rate between the various countries of the single currency is not to devalue the Euro, which is based on fixed exchange rates established ne varietur in 1999, but just leave the Euro area.
Furthermore, considering the differences of economic integration in the Eurozone, if the single currency were devalued, the least integrated country, namely France, would gain much more than the others.
It is worth making clear that it would be a gain at the expense of the Euro Mediterranean countries.
It would be tantamount to go back with the Euro to the old gold standard of the 1930s, with the Euro: either it is fully dissolved or you decide to leave.
In this sense, the single currency is a severe loss of economic flexibility in the relationship between inflation, productivity and public debt.
Relations between macroeconomic values which can be manipulated for the better only in a national context, given that the EU still records very significant micro and macroeconomic differences.
It should be noted that the impasse resulting from the gold standard led to the Great Depression after the 1929 crisis.
At the beginning of the Great Depression, Germany and Great Britain tried an internal devaluation, but in these cases, if there is a fixed monetary standard, devaluation only means domestic deflation.
Considering price rigidity, unchanged financial costs and the money supply restriction, any policy of this kind finally makes both politics and society unmanageable.
What about leaving the single currency?
Meanwhile, it is worth recalling that, in international financial law, what matters is not the lender’s nationality, but rather the law applicable to the contract.
If, for example, the debt were regulated by French law, regardless of the parties’ nationality, the payment should be made in the French national currency.
Moreover, statistics throughout the single currency EU tells us that the private debt would not be affected by the transition to the new Franc, Lira, Peseta, etc.
According to the studies of the Bank for International Settlements, which has already analysed these issues, the cost to be borne by EU countries for leaving the single currency would be approximately 5 billion euros - a figure that can be easily managed by everybody.
Hence, after the end of the Euro, the EU countries could appreciate or devalue their currencies, by offering competitive prices and thus recreating precisely those competitive advantages which had been basically removed by the single currency.
In this way the German Mark would surely appreciate as against the Lira and the Peseta, thus favouring the Southern countries’ currencies and making the huge German trade surplus disappear, as if by magic.
Probably this is the best prospect and the best way forward.
Giancarlo Elia Valori
Advisory Board Co-chair Honoris Causa
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Friday, 24 January 2014
Neuroscience and the Nature of Brain Injury
As I reported in yesterday's post, over Christmas we heard the news that Michael Schumacher had been involved in a skiing accident, and had suffered a serious brain injury. To date, Schumacher is still in a medically induced coma - prompting some media speculation that Schumacher might be in a 'vegetative state'.
During my year on placement, I had the chance to learn a lot about disorders of consciousness, and I worked with a few patients. As neuroscience and motorsport are two of my interests, I feel I should provide more information about why Schumacher is not in a vegetative state, and why this situation is different from the common media 'knowledge' being bandied around recently. At this point I should state that I will not be speculating about Schumacher's condition - the only people who are in any position to comment are those directly involved in Schumacher's care. Any news that you hear from anywhere other than Schumacher's medical team, his manager or his family is just speculation. Unfortunately, the media does like to jump over things like this, and so I feel compelled to give a brief overview of the science behind Schumacher's condition.
First off, let's be clear, Schumacher has suffered a serious head injury. Brain injuries of any sort are bad news, and we simply don't know enough about the brain and how it recovers to say how long and how much Schumacher will recover. As I stated before, this information is only going to come from Schumacher's medical team, and may not come for some time.
Despite Schumacher wearing a helmet, the impact caused a bleed in and around his brain. To understand why this is serious, it is important to realise how the brain sits inside the skull. The brain is an incredibly soft organ, surrounded by membranes and fluid. It also sits on the brainstem and spinal cord, meaning that despite the 'packaging' around it, the brain is subject to movements. On heavy impacts, the brain can bounce forwards and backwards, hitting the inside of the skull (these are called 'cou' and 'contra-cou' movements for those of you with a technical mind). The inside of the skull is remarkably rough, causing tears and, ultimately, bleeds.
You may recall that initially, Schumacher was reported to be conscious and lucid at the scene of the accident. It was a surprise, then, when it was later reported that he was in a critical condition. The reason this was the case was due to the increase of pressure inside the skull. As the bleeding inside the brain increases, the pressure on the brain also increases. The fluid can't move fast enough, and eventually presses down on the brain, and it is this that can cause the loss of consciousness and symptoms of brain injury. Don't forget that the brain is remarkably soft, and is very sensitive to pressure and damage of this kind.
So, Schumacher underwent surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain, an operation known as a craniectomy. Once the pressure came down, some sort of stability could be approached. However, Schumacher had to be placed in a medically induced coma, and he has remained in this state for some weeks now.
This medically induced coma is perhaps the source of the speculation that I read today, that Schumacher is in a vegetative state. So, to dispel this idea, let me explain in simple terms what consciousness means (well, I shall do my best at any rate).
Alright, I'll admit at the start that neuroscientists still aren't entirely sure why we have consciousness or what it is precisely. However, there is an easy way of classifying consciousness which can be used in clinical contexts, and it is this definition to which I will stick. In these terms, consciousness is made up of two concepts: wakefulness and awareness. Wakefulness is pretty much what it says it is: the extent to which someone is alert and able to respond to stimuli. Awareness is more linked to content: the subjective experience of things around us, being aware of who we are and what is around us. While wakefulness is necessary for awareness, the levels of each may vary. Thus, we can be wakeful without awareness, unawake and unaware, or wakeful and aware. It is in these terms that different disorders of consciousness may be defined.
In normal, healthy individuals we are both wakeful and aware (well, when we're not asleep anyway). The same applies to individuals who have locked-in syndrome (a condition in which individuals are unable to respond to stimuli due to paralysis, but nonetheless awake and aware of their surroundings).
By contrast, individuals in a coma are unawake and unaware. This goes beyond normal sleep, in which individuals can be woken. No stimuli can wake someone in a coma, they may only show reflex movements and their brain activity is generally depressed (although this may vary). Comas can last any amount of time, and may have different outcomes. What we must remember though is that Schumacher is in a medically-induced coma. While the same features are present - unawake, unaware etc. - this is more linked to anaesthesia, rather than a result of problems within the brain. Individuals in a medically-induced coma are placed in this state deliberately, to slow brain functioning and allow the brain some time to recover. The healthy, waking brain requires a huge amount of energy, and by slowing its function in a medically-induced coma it is hoped that recovery may be more successful. These medically-induced comas are controlled, unlike a normal coma. Physicians are able to lighten the sedation and test the brain's functioning when they deem it necessary. However, the amount of time this takes does still vary, from a few weeks to upwards of six months. Currently, Schumacher has been in this condition for almost a month, so it's definitely not the time to start losing hope.
Now, when coming round from a 'true' coma, it is impossible to say how complete this recovery will be. Some patients are lucky enough to gradually return to a normal level of consciousness, recovering their wakefulness and awareness. Others may linger somewhere in between. These conditions are disorders of consciousness and include vegetative states (now also termed 'wakefulness without awareness' or 'unresponsive wakefulness syndrome') and minimally conscious states.
When people think of vegetative states, they think of individuals in a coma for an extended period of time. These states are not the same as comas, and patients who are in this state are not 'vegetables' (hence the shift away from this term in the scientific literature). For those in vegetative state (herewith called VS), sleep-wake cycles may be present. Thus, they possess wakefulness. However, awareness is limited. Patients may respond to some stimuli, beyond simple reflexes, but they are not completely aware of their surroundings or sense of self. After one month of being in this state, patients are said to be in a persistent VS - something which Schumacher has not yet approached. After three months, if there has still been no change in this state following a traumatic brain injury (Schumacher's injury type), patients are then deemed to be in a permanent VS (although this term is too being debated, as patients have been found to recover months or even years after this).
For those patients who regain more of their awareness, a minimally conscious state may follow. Wakefulness is intact, as with healthy individuals, however awareness is still patchy. In some cases, patients may be able to respond to questions or simple commands, however this response is inconsistent and thus individuals may not have complete awareness. Like VS, this state may continue for years, and there is no predicting how much someone may subsequently recover.
So, the upshot of all this is that Schumacher is not possibly in a VS at this point. He is still in a medically-induced coma. While it can be argued that the longer someone is in a coma, the worse the prognosis, it's also good to remember that this is still a medically-induced coma, and this is different from a disorder of consciousness per se.
What we do have to remember over the course of Schumacher's recovery is that brain injuries are difficult things. Individuals with brain damage are, unfortunately, subject to a number of conditions and changes, and this often depends on the sites and the extent of the damage. As I stated before, I am in no position to make predictions. In all likelihood, neither are the medical team in this case. Brain injuries are a waiting game, and it takes an enormous amount of time to make progress. Aside from all the cognitive conditions which may arise from a brain injury, it's not unusual for individuals to experience changes in personality and demeanour. A recent article citing Dr Richard Greenwood at UCL stated that Schumacher may not be Schumacher if and when he recovers. Life will be profoundly different for Michael, even if he makes an apparent 'full' recovery. The brain is a remarkable thing, and I don't believe it's ever impossible for individuals to recover. However, changes are normal, and this is something that Schumacher and those close to him will have to adapt to. All the F1 community and media have to do now is let the medics work in peace. Uninformed speculation about permanent vegetative states and chances of recovery are useless and unhelpful, and I hope by writing this I can dispel some of the latest nonsense. Now all we can do is wait. | <urn:uuid:0a79f036-ae02-4cc0-a5fd-0e88e0a1423f> | 3 | 2.734375 | 0.186301 | en | 0.966447 | http://motorsportgeek.blogspot.com/2014/01/neuroscience-and-nature-of-brain-injury.html |
May 5, 2014
How Do I Learn?
Have you ever asked your students to answer this question? You might want to give it a try, I think you would be pleasantly surprised by the answer. I know I sure was. A couple of weeks ago, I asked my grade twos this question (It comes from the Inspiring Education document from the Alberta Government) and I wanted them to video tape each other and post it to their blogs (Yes.. you read that correctly, I have my students video tape themselves all the time). If you are interested in going to take a look here are the videos on How Do I Learn
After reviewing the video, I picked those I felt the students needed to hear because of what was said. Here is what the students said:
We then talked about, what evidence shows your learning? I was blown out of the water by what these little people came up with. Yes... all my reinforcing of vocabulary has paid off.
You might want to try asking your students, how they learn and have a conversation about it one class. It think it would make for an interesting discussion.
1. This is excellent, April! What a fab group of citizens you are nurturing, and leaders you are educating.
2. Thank you Shelley. It has been a learning process for myself as well. Kids are incredible and what they can come up with blows my mind all the time.
Thank you very much for your comments. | <urn:uuid:60ca7433-74ac-4639-a57b-e8d173c6fd6d> | 3 | 2.75 | 0.035536 | en | 0.982667 | http://msbrownsgrade2class.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-do-i-learn.html |
Sesame Street
Plot The Count's Australian friend
Air date May 4, 1994
Season Season 25 (1993-1994)
Sponsors I, O, 2
Picture Segment Description
SCENE 1 An exhausted letter carrier delivers six bags of mail from Australia to The Count at Hooper's Store. He explains to Mr. Handford that they all come from one of his oldest and dearest friends, Matilda. Each piece of mail tells him she'll be visiting today and to meet her at the bus stop at 10 o'clock.
Cartoon A map of Australia morphs into the shape of animals that are found there.
Artist: Fred Garbers
(EKA: Episode 3021)
Film "We have a nice school"... with ducks.
(First: Episode 3144)
Cartoon A cat catches a TELEPHONE and eats it.
Artists: The Hubleys
(EKA: Episode 0172)
Muppets Monty sings "Watermelons and Cheese," the improper way to answer the phone.
(EKA: Episode 3214)
Animation Kids narrate how a Navajo blanket is weaved.
(EKA: Episode 3006)
Cartoon Gerald's dog Sparky likes to pretend he's an alligator.
(EKA: Episode 1563)
SCENE 2 Big Bird wonders why the Count is waiting at the bus stop and he's filled in. The Count counts the passing buses, until one stops and an elderly woman steps off. She's not Matilda, but has a message from her - she'll call the Hooper's Store phone at 11.
Animation Counting to 10 (Chinese imagery)
(EKA: Episode 3217)
(First: Episode 3193)
Cartoon "In My Book" (sung by Jerry Nelson)
(EKA: Episode 3018)
Cast Maria as Charlie Chaplin -Long, Longer, Longest
(EKA: Episode 1460)
Cartoon At the Pride Day Ceremony, Donald is waiting to describe his proudest accomplishment, and is initially unsure of himself next to other impressive students. He finally proudly acclaims his achievement, tying his shoes all by himself.
Artist: John Korty
(EKA: Episode 2254)
SCENE 3 The Count waits at the phone, when a construction worker needs to use it. She agrees to wait, until he starts counting the rings instead of answering. Mr. Handford angrily hands him the phone and Matilda responds, telling him she will be there soon. The Count uses Mr. Handford's watch to count the seconds.
Cartoon Counting to 10
Artist: Keith Haring
(EKA: Episode 3104)
Film People go under, over, through and around a hoop. (Luis voice-over)
(First: Episode 3140)
Animation I / i candles
(EKA: Episode 3107)
Muppets Grover sings "I Stand Up Straight and Tall" while using some fast cutting camera trickery.
(EKA: Episode 0926)
Cartoon Speech Balloon: I for Island.
(EKA: Episode 0340)
Muppets Telly Monster demonstrates "Fast" and "Slow" to Cookie Monster by using a plate of cookies. To demonstrate slow, Telly eats one of the cookies in slow bites. After finishing eating, he asks Cookie Monster to eat a cookie slowly. Cookie Monster gives it a try, but ends up gobbling all the cookies on the plate. Telly considers it to be fast rather than slow, but Cookie Monster says it was slow in his opinion.
(EKA: Episode 2226)
SCENE 4 Matilda finally arrives at Hooper's and the two friends share a "Hello," before saying goodbye immediately after. The Count explains to a confused Big Bird and Mr. Handford that he and Matilda were the best of friends, but as kids she and her family moved to Melbourne. Since then, they've gotten back together 103 times, counting each "hello" as a precious moment. They know that the sooner they say "goodbye," the sooner they can say "hello" again. They begin counting the different ways to say goodbye.
Cartoon A girl narrates a poem about the sad time when her goldfish died.
Artist: Bruce Cayard
(EKA: Episode 2228)
(EKA: Episode 0729)
Cartoon What if I looked like George Washington...
(EKA: Episode 2257)
Song Joe Raposo sings "I Believe in Little Things."
(EKA: Episode 2485)
Animation Fans reveal the letter O.
(EKA: Episode 3021)
Muppets / Celebrity "That's the Letter O"
(EKA: Episode 3066)
Cartoon O for open, off, owl, ocean
(EKA: Episode 3091)
Muppets Oscar reads Irvine the story of "Snow Grouch."
(First: Episode 2630)
Cartoon A man tells a confused boy that he saw a bird on a tree, with both of their thoughts appearing on the screen.
(EKA: Episode 0814)
Film A man and a little girl perform small aerobic workouts.
(EKA: Episode 1845)
Song Holy cow, it's number 2!
(First: Episode 3193)
Muppets Game Show: The How Many Game??
Guy Smiley tells The Two-Headed Monster to find two things in 30 seconds. They bring one bowling ball, four sheep and three cows, all of which don't count. Suddenly, they realize they have two heads, which means they win! Little Bo Peep appears looking for her sheep, a train appears out of nowhere, and the scene ends in chaos.
(EKA: Episode 2503)
Film The McDouble twins display pairs of things.
(EKA: Episode 3217)
Cartoon The secret drawing is a mailman.
(EKA: Episode 0265)
SCENE 5 The Count finishes writing a letter for the letter carrier to bring to Matilda. She's relieved it's only a single letter, but faints when the Count shows her six more bags. The Count begins listing things he can count while he waits for the mail to reach Matilda, and Matilda announces the sponsors (in voice-over).
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Episode 3252 Episode 3254
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Saturday, April 28, 2007
Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj
His father was from the tribe of Banī Sa‘īd but moved later on to the tribe of Banī Shikār. His father was a follower of the Qādirī order. He was highly respected by the heads of this order in the zāwiya of Wark. The followers would come and visit him in his home and he would host them and show them great generosity. He was made a representative (muqaddam) of the order and they married him. He had many children and one of them was Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj.
When Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj was seven years of age, his father entered him into a Quranic School to memorise the book of God. He memorised the Quran very quickly, but soon after, his father died and he was left an orphan along with his other siblings. One day, he felt the urge to travel to perform his duty of the pilgrimage across land, so he headed off to Algeria. However, he soon ran out of provisions and he was forced to move from mosque to mosque, offering his services in teaching the children or leading the people in prayer. One day, a disciple of the ‘Alawī Order, who had come from Mostāghanem, came to visit the mosque he was frequenting. The man spent the night with Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj relating to him the qualities of Shaykh al-‘Alawī and his methods of teaching. His words struck a chord within Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj so much that he asked the man to take him to visit the sheikh as soon as possible.
When they arrived at the door of the zāwiya in Mostāghanem, the disciple sung out at the top of his voice the words, ‘There is no deity worthy of worship besides God.’ The sheikh heard his voice and came out to greet him. The man introduced Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj to Shaykh al-‘Alawī and he kissed the sheikh’s hand. It was now time for the prayer, so the sheikh invited him to call the people to prayer. Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj had a very powerful but sweet voice. After the prayer, the sheikh gave him the litanies of the order. He then immediately entered him into khalwa, and he quickly achieved results. The sheikh ordered him to stay at his side so as to be of service to him. He would teach the children the Quran and at other times watch over the cattle.
Later on, he was sent with a representative (muqaddam) of the order to the region of Zawāwā to gather donations and gifts for the mother zāwiyah to be built in Mostaghānem. Their presence was immediately felt and people came from all around to donate and listen to their teachings. Many people entered the order through their efforts. However, the local authorities became suspicious of their activities, so they were imprisoned and held for three months. After his release, Shaykh al-‘Alawī used his services again in the zāwiya. Then after some time he told him to head back to his homeland and gave him permission to spread the tea chings of the order there.
He initially arrived in Farkhāna where his sister lived, who was married to a man from the region named al-Hajj Hammū. He was appointed an imam in a mosque there. He soon moved to another mosque named Moulay Idrīs and there he called people to join the order. People would come in great numbers both men and women. It was at this time that one of his students, Sīdī ‘Allāl Zaryūh, married Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj to his niece, so he moved to the village of ‘Atītan where Sīdī ‘Allāl’s family lived. He would hold the dhikr gatherings in his house there, but later they moved them to his father’s house in Bāni Shikār.
More and more people were entering the order and the head of the Qādirī order grew jealous of his success and feared that their followers would leave them and enter into this new order. They had ties with the Spanish government at the time, so they were able to chase him out using physical force if necessary. He was forced to flee the region, so he headed to Mostaghānem to consult his sheikh what he should do. Sheikh al-‘Alawī told him to return, bear patience and be steadfast. He went back to the region teaching children Quran in local mosques. He continued to spread the teachings of the order, so his enemies came back to attack him. They complained to the Spanish authorities and spread lies about him, so that he was eventually arrested and imprisoned in the Taztūtin where he was held in the caves there deep under the land. There he found solace in his Lord. He would spend the night and day engrossed in invocation of God as witnessed by soldiers who were guarding him there. Later they moved him to Zāyu and finally to Melīlia. He remained imprisoned in Melīlia for the next seven years, but he was steadfast and faithful to his sheikh, in complete adoration for him. Throughout his time in prison he would not move unless he had consulted his sheikh.
This was how he obtained the contentment of his sheikh and thus his Lord. He gained the wisdom of his teacher due to his patience throughout his tribulation as expressed in the proverb, ‘It is through tribulation that a man is made noble or is humiliated.’ He strived on the path to God, giving up his soul for the sake of his Lord. There was no other disciple of Shaykh al-‘Alawī who had been tried like he had. He spent years far away from his family and children, who were but infants when he left them. He sacrificed all this out of love of God and in order to give victory to his teacher’s order. By doing so, he gave root to the ‘Alawī order in the Reef region despite the number of initial enemies there. The Spanish authorities throughout his time in prison promised him they would free him if only he would join another order, but he refused and told them to return him to his cell. Once they had seen his sincerity and how adamant he was to remain loyal to his teacher, the Spanish gave him certain dispensations whilst he was in prison. They allowed him to have visitors whenever they wished and the fuqarā were free to sit with him. They came from all over the region to learn from him or ask him to pray from them. He also granted some of the fuqarā the permission to recite the Divine Name with him within the walls of the prison.
On his arrival to Melīlia prison, he found his fellow inmates ignorant of God and heedless. They ridiculed him for occupying his time with meditation and worship. They told him he was wasting his time and to give up his worship and join them in playing cards and so forth. Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj saw his opportunity. He agreed to join them on condition that if they spend one day playing cards, the next day they sit with him and do as he does. On the first day, he humoured them by playing cards with them. The second day he called them to sit with him and recite after him the invocations he read. The days passed on until the inmates no longer wanted to play cards and everyday was a day of invoking God. He taught them the basics of their religion and gave them the litany of the order to recite. The prison now began to resonate with the sound of invocation of God and soon was embellished with the rites of Islam such as the call to prayer, the five prayers in congregation, gatherings of invoking God and the ‘hadra’.
This great man was the first to bring the ‘Alawī order to the Reef region and was fundamental in establishing it there. Whilst in prison, he would give out the litanies to followers, appoint representative for the order in the region and establish zāwiyahs there. The first zāwiyah he established was the zāwiya of Sheikh Sīdī Bil-Qāsim al-Sa‘īdi, who was an ancestor of the great Sīdī Muhammad bin Qaddūr al-Wukīlī. He established the zāwiyah while he was still in prison. At the time, he directed the representatives of the order secretly, fearing the Spanish authorities would catch wind of their activities. Many of his followers were imprisoned and tortured, too for their joining the order. However, they never submitted to the torture; in fact it only made them firmer and more faithful to their teacher Shaykh al-‘Alawī.
Throughout the time of tribulation and torture, Shaykh al-‘Alawī would constantly pray for Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj and his compatriots. Many people bore witness that Shaykh al-‘Alawī would single out the fuqarā of Reef for special praise. If any faqīr from the Reef came to visit Shaykh al-‘Alawī he would ask them about Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj inquire whether they had visited him or not. If they told him they had visited him or came bearing his greetings to the Sheikh he would bear them good tidings and warmly welcome them, telling them to hold nothing but love for this man and to be loyal to him, but if they told him they had not seen him or came with no news about him, he would turn his back on them and ignore them. On another occasion, he was sitting amongst members of the order and a group of scholars and at the end of his address he proclaimed, ‘This Sheikh, Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj, even if he were to claim his own order, then he has truly paid out its dowry in full.’ Another time during a talk he was giving before his followers, he said, ‘This sheikh, Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj from the Reef, is in prison because of this order of ours. When he is brought before the Spanish judge in court, he is asked to turn his back on the ‘Alawī order and take on another order and he can walk free. He replies to them, ‘Take me back to my cell.’ By God, if I were in his place, I would have thrown this rosary to the floor,’ and the Sheikh at that point threw his rosary to the floor. One time, Shaykh al-‘Alawī said, whilst hosting a group of fuqarā from the Reef, ‘Brethren, if any one of you is unable to visit me for any reason then he should visit Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj, for he is our hand in the Reef. These are but few of many testimonies of Shaykh al-‘Alawī regarding the station of Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj in the ‘Alawī order.
While Shaykh al-‘Alawī was in the east performing the pilgrimage, he met with some Moroccans who had positions of authority in the Reef region and were employed by the Spanish. He spoke to them regarding Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj’s predicament and he asked them to use their influence in order to get the Spanish to release him. When the Moroccans returned, they spoke to their superiors in Tetoun and managed to convince them to issue his immediate release. When Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj was released from prison, the fuqara came from all around the region to celebrate the event. The Spanish authorities called him to Nādūr and asked him to pardon them. They explained that they were given false information from his fellow Muslim brothers who were jealous of him. He forgave them and said he forgave those who plotted against him. They thanked him and told him that from now on that if anyone appeared carrying animosity for him and attempted to harm him, he could call them to court and he could take his full rights from them. He replied, ‘I have no enemy other than Satan himself.’
When he was released, the annual celebrations in Mostghānem had arrived. Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj headed off to Algeria with 500 fuqarā by his side. They went bearing many gifts for the zāwiya. When Shaykh al-‘Alawī saw them, he was taken back with such happiness and joy. He came out to greet them with the rest of the fuqarā of the zāwiya and hugged him. He was smothered by the fuqarā that day as they all pushed their way through to greet him. It was an unforgettable celebration that year was full of intense energy and love amongst the brethren. Once the celebrations had finished, Shaykh al-‘Alawī called Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj to visit him in his house, so that he could speak to him in confidence. When they were alone, Shaykh al-‘Alawī gathered all the financial gifts from the celebrations and passed them over to him. He told him to establish a zāwiya with the money in the Reef like that of the mother zāwiya in Mostaghānem. Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj did as his sheikh told him, building the zāwiya in Banī Shikār. He made it a centre for the fuqarā so that they could gather and call others to the path. When the structure was finished, they held a big celebration that lasted for three whole days. At the end of the celebrations, the fuqarā all prayed to God to grant Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj long life, this man, who by the grace of God, had established this fresh new order in the Reef and brought meaning back to the people’s lives there. Every Thursday night, around 200 fuqarā would gather to invoke God and rejoice in the blessings He had bestowed upon them. The regions of Banī Shikār and Farkhāna were changed dramatically by the fuqarā’s activities. At this time, it was rare to find a man or woman not invoking God. The people came from all around the region to receive teachings from Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj. The people there become known for their exceptional character and their abidance to Islamic character and attire. In their gatherings, no-one would raise their voices and would not speak about anything besides God. Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj had organised them and educated them. They were tireless in their worship. They would spend hours performing the Hadra. He would stand in the middle to inspire them. Once they finished, he would recite some verses of Quran that were appropriate for the ambience of the moment. Everyone would have their heads bowed in front of him humbled by the setting. Moulay Sulaiman would sit by his side in the gatherings. He would give the talk in the gatherings. His words had a great effect on the hearts of those present and he would repeat the same talk two or three times and clarify it for the fuqara.
Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj was very humble. He did not speak unless necessary. He would serve the fuqarā himself and prepare the beds for them at the time of the festival. When the fuqarā came to the zāwiya he would come out and greet them himself and then sit amongst them. He would never raise himself above them nor raise his voice over them. He would never get angry at those who mistreated him. He would teach them with compassion and a gentle nature. He would spend his own money on the fuqarā. When there was a festival, he would send out all the invitations to all the fuqarā himself. On numerous occasions he would go out and visit the fuqarā from around the region. Moulay Sulaiman would carry out this responsibility for him at most times, though. He would travel with the fuqarā to Tetoun, Tangiers, Qasr Kabir and Salé just to mention a few.
After Shaykh al-‘Alawī’s death, some of his followers who had bore jealousy and contempt for Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj plotted against him with the support of some notables in the region of Bāni Shikār. Their efforts failed, but Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj felt it was best to move from Bani ‘All and build a new zāwiya in Melilia. From then on he would hold his circles there. People came from far and wide and he entered many there into spiritual retreat and invocation of the Divine Name.
When his time had drawn near, he was of good health and had no illnesses or ailments. On that fateful day, he made his daily ablutions, walked out from his house but suddenly ran quickly back. He ordered the teacher of the children in the zāwiya to prepare his bed and he laid down facing the direction of prayer. There his soul left him. The news soon spread throughout the city. The fuqarā came straight away, and both men and women were struck with grief by the news. Moulay Sulaiman came with a group of fuqarā and sat by his head. He uncovered his face, kissed his forehead and bid him farewell for the last time. He died on Thursday the 13 of July 1946 and was buried on the Friday the day after.
Some of the Many Scholars who Bore Testimony that Sīdī Muhammādī Bil-Hājj was a Sheikh in the Alawi Order
Moulay Sulaiman
Sheikh Muhammad al-Madani (Major scholar in the ‘Alawi Order from Tunis)
Hajj Salih bin ‘Abd al‘Aziz al-Qadiri (First man to submit his full services and time to the Order in Mostaghanem)
Sheikh ‘Ali al-Budilmi (Major scholar in the ‘Alawi Order resident in Tilimsan)
Sheikh ‘Abu Madyan al-Bushishi from Barkan
Sheikh Muhammad bin Qaddor from Karkar (A descendent of Muhammad bin Qaddur)
Sheikh al-Mukhtar al-Ghumari from Chefchouni
Sheikh Ahmad al-Hassar from Tangiers
Sheikh Ahmed al-Malusi from Qasr Kabir
Sheikh Muhammad Bil-Hajj al-Sinhaji from Fez
Moulay al-Tahir al-Timasmani (The grandson of Sidi Muhammad bin Qaddur)
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Last Updated: Thursday, 7 December 2006, 16:20 GMT
Tornado was like 'Wizard of Oz'
Destruction caused by tornado
Thunder, lightning, skies turning black, being bombarded by bricks and feeling like they were in The Wizard of Oz... many people in north-west London were shocked to find themselves in the middle of a tornado on Thursday.
Kensal Rise residents spoke of being plunged into darkness, some saying it was so thick they thought they were trapped in smoke from a fire.
But seconds later the gloom lifted to reveal the damage.
"It literally was The Wizard of Oz," a shopkeeper, identified only as Amanda, said.
"It was just sucking things up into it. There were tiles. There were bits of wood. There were trees."
Actress Maya Sendall said she was "absolutely shrieking with shock" on the telephone as the tornado neared her home.
She said: "It sounded like a train going by and it shook the house. I saw the rubbish bin going by and my hedge flattened by about two or three feet.
There was a thunder clap and it felt like the house was falling in on us
Julia Haughton
"I did not hear too much of the crashing because the sound of the wind was astonishing."
Student Julia Haughton, 22, who heard the tornado, said: "There was a thunder clap and it felt like the house was falling in on us. It was really frightening.
"My boyfriend ran out just as it had gone through our back yard and pulled down our neighbour's tree. When I came out, all the windows were smashed."
'Jetliner' sound
Local resident Daniel Bidgood told BBC London 94.9FM: "I was in my living room and I heard a big crack of lightning and thunder, then as I went to the window I heard a sound which was like standing behind a jetliner.
"I could see a huge cloud rolling up the street, making this tremendous sound. I went to try to take a picture of it but a shower of debris smashed all the windows of my house."
Colin Brewer, who lives in nearby Trevelyan Gardens, saw "a swirl starting to form" and then "clumps of all sorts of things flying into the air".
He had seen trees collapse in the road and people being hit on the head by flying objects.
Kevin O'Leary, 56, said: "When the hailstones started coming down I told everyone to get in the lorry and as we were doing that I heard this great roar and almighty bang.
I work on climate change at Greenpeace and here was evidence of it on my own doorstep
Frank Hewetson
"Then we got bombarded with bricks and God knows what."
Frank Hewetson, a Greenpeace logistics coordinator, was buffeted by the tornado as he cycled near his home in Chevening Road.
He said: "The sky was dark, I heard a noise like a jet engine and then I saw this column of debris.
"There was debris flying around and I was lucky not to be hit.
"I work on climate change at Greenpeace and here was evidence of it on my own doorstep.
"Some people will say it's not climate change, but I don't think we've had too many twisters in Kensal Rise."
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Last Updated: Tuesday February 22 2011 14:55 GMT
Hero cat saves his owners from dangerous gas leak
Basil the cat with owner Sue
Basil the cat is a hero - he saved his owners from a dangerous gas leak!
The thirteen-year-old moggie sensed something wasn't right and ran into his owner Sue's room to wake her up.
"The first time he did it I rolled over and went back to sleep," said Sue, "but when he came back an hour later and started patting my face I knew something was up..."
Sue's cooker was still on, with gas escaping from it - Basil had prevented a very serious accident from happening.
The animal rescue charity Cats Protection, from where Basil was adopted, say cats have a very keen sense of smell and can tell if things aren't right.
Basil the cat
Basil's senses saved his owners from a dangerous gas explosion
They said: "People tend to think only dogs do this kind of thing but we often hear about cats who alert their owners to danger and this is just one example of the strong bond between cats and humans."
Sue's very proud of Basil. She said: "He's my hero and I tell him that every night." | <urn:uuid:6e59619c-5edb-45c4-a444-47cc2148d59e> | 2 | 1.726563 | 0.141215 | en | 0.987463 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_9400000/newsid_9404700/9404773.stm?ls |
The FAST Generics Act Can Speed Up Pharmaceutical Competition
Steven Lucio, PharmD, BCPS, Associate Vice President, Pharmacy Services
Given the challenge of achieving agreement on any issue in Washington, D.C., especially on topics involving health care, we should pause and celebrate situations where bipartisan behavior may be taking hold.
Such is the case with a piece of legislation recently introduced: H.R.2051, the Fair Access for Safe and Timely (FAST) Generics Act of 2017. This bill is aimed squarely at improving the process by which competing medications (generics or biosimilars) are developed to address two critical issues to pharmacy practice: tenuous and interrupted product availability and exorbitant price increases for sole source, legacy medications.
While this legislation would not remediate every issue associated with drug shortages and high costs, pharmacy practitioners should monitor its progress as well as the progress of other legislative efforts designed to address critical challenges that affect costs and patient care.
H.R.2051 removes unintended barriers to competition
As we have seen over the 30 years generic medications have been in the market, competition following loss of exclusivity for branded pharmaceuticals helps decrease drug costs. This paradigm has yielded an estimated $1.46 trillion in savings from generic drugs between 2006 and 2015.
The hope is similar value will begin to accrue for biologics now that we have entered the era of biosimilars. However, in order to develop and receive approval for competition, developers must either demonstrate bioequivalence (for generics) or high similarity (for biosimilars) as compared to their branded counterparts. Completion of this task necessitates availability of the branded product.
What happens if a generic or biosimilar developer cannot obtain access to the originator medication due to a limited or restricted distribution program for that product? Such is the issue the FAST Generics Act attempts to address.
The concept and impact of limited distribution medications became more prevalent following the 2007 enactment of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Amendments Act (FDAAA). In addition to reauthorizing the prescription drug user fee program, FDAAA granted the FDA authority to establish Risk Evaluation and Medication Strategies (REMS) as a requirement to manage safety considerations for certain licensed pharmaceuticals. One of the strategies the FDA can employ is the requirement for specific Elements to Assure Safe Use (ETASU), which can include limiting the authority to distribute and/or obtain medications to specially trained or specifically designated organizations. This process has enabled the FDA to approve medications that might otherwise not have been endorsed for licensing due to safety concerns.
However, REMS requirements have also presented a barrier to competition. First, competing manufacturers are generally not on the list of those authorized to obtain a REMS medication with ETASU limited distribution requirements. In addition, some suppliers have instituted a voluntary restricted distribution network, not based upon a requirement by the FDA, but as a deliberate strategy to impede generic drug development.
The purpose of the FAST Generics Act is to prevent originator manufacturers from restricting access to branded products needed for the development of generics or biosimilars. In addition, the legislation defines procedures and timeframes by which a generic or biosimilar manufacturer can obtain access to the originator’s pharmaceutical for the purposes of testing.
Vizient advocacy efforts
Both through its industry trade alliance, the Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA) and independently, Vizient has expressed its support for this legislation through letters to the sponsors for this bill, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) and Rep. David McKinley (R-WV). Those letters can be viewed here and here.
Vizient continues to support the increased introduction of both generics and biosimilars to address the challenges of drug shortages and price increases. No strategy alone will remedy all challenges that confront the supply of pharmaceuticals. However, consistent support for meaningful legislative changes provides the opportunity to address the forces that contribute to the challenges we currently face. For more information about Vizient advocacy efforts, click here.
About the author. Steven Lucio is responsible for providing education to member organizations and supporting their efforts on various clinical practice topics, including improving medication safety, mitigating the impact of drug shortages, benchmarking pharmacy costs for key drug classes, evaluating the expense of high-cost biologics and preparing for the future development of biosimilar medications. He is lead author of a recently published peer reviewed article on biosimilars. Lucio is an active speaker and panel moderator and has presented his insight on biosimilars more than a dozen times in the past year.
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Monday, October 12, 2009
"Shadow", Chapter 11, Part 3
How I reached my bed I have no notion. Those who drink much have told me that they sometimes forget all that befell them in the latter part of the night, and perhaps it was so with me. But I think it more likely that I (who never forget anything, who, if I may for once confess the truth, though I seem to boast, do not truly understand what others mean when they say forget, for it seems to me that all experience becomes a part of my being) only slept and was carried there.
Severian truly does have an interesting concept of "remembering everything." This is a good reminder that there are lots of ways to be unconscious: sleeping, which Severian in his pride seems to think is the only one that affects him, but also coma, blackout, seizure, delirium, drug-induced unconsciousness, sleepwalking. These last two are interesting to me, because even though the person you normally think of as "yourself" isn't aware, someone is controlling your body. Sometimes when people indulge in drugs, they "become a different person." That raises an interesting question - maybe it's the same person, just with certain inhibitions gone or certain emotions affected by altered brain chemistry. But maybe it really is a different person. As always, a little research shows that this idea is a lot more prevalent in pop culture than among professional psychologists. It's debated whether dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality disorder) even exists. However, they do seem to agree that dissociation exists, so that should go in our above list. I find it odd that dissociative fugues lasting days seem to be well-documented, but dissociative identity disorder is rare enough to be controversial. I think that the resistance to DID might be in part due to its complete contradiction of how we think about ourselves. Our entire society takes as an assumption one person = one body:
• Law, and therefore most other secular activities: an individual has rights, and is responsible for their actions. "There are two people in there, acting at different times, you say? Should we hold one accountable for the actions of the other, you say? Shut up."
• many religions: a person has a (singular) soul. "Your actions on earth will determine what happens to your soul after death. You are two people, you say? How many souls do you have, and what happens to them, you say? Shut up." This one is presumably not too big a problem because, unlike juries, most gods are omniscient, and can keep this all straight.
Another part of the resistance might be that psychologists want to downplay any aspect of their field that requires subjective ideas. I am ambivalent about this. So our current thinking is all based on the individual: their rights, their responsibilities. If they turn out to be dividual after all, it's a big mess. I personally think that we'll have to deal with it eventually, because eventually technology will enable:
• one person = one body
• one person = several bodies
• one person = no bodies (unless we start redefining "body")
• several people = one body
• "Other"
This question of "what is identity?" recurs throughout the Book of the New Sun.
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Monday, March 16, 2009
Chairman Meow Takes in London
Great Leader Chairman Meow has visited another international destination, this time appearing in the world class city of London, England. After enjoying a tasty meal of fish and chips, Great Leader carried on his tireless campaign of political revolution, appearing on this sign post in front of a stately British building.
Great Leader then visited the world famous British Museum, paying a special visit to the Rosetta Stone, the ancient relic written in Demotic, Greek, and mysterious Egyptian hieroglyphics that led to the cracking of the hieroglyphic code.
Remarkably, the first Egyptian hieroglyphic to ever be successfully read was the word for "Cat." It is formed by three phonetic symbols for the sounds "M", "I", and "W."
M-I-W, or "meow" is then followed by a pictograph of a cat, completing the part-phonetic, part-graphic language of the great Egyptians. Chairman Meow hopes that one day we will replace English with such cat-inspired graphics as the dominant mode of communication for the entire world.
The wise Egyptians also preserved many of their sacred cats. Historians now agree that the reverence shown towards the cat was directly responsible for the ascendancy and domination of the classical Egyptian civilization. New evidence suggests that the decline of the Egyptian Empire can be traced to a careless pharaoh who instead revered the dingo.
The British Museum also displayed this magnificent cat sculpture, found among the precious valuables of a pharaoh's burial tomb.
Perhaps Chairman Meow spent too much time in the British Museum while he traveled in London, but such is the spiritual and intellectual gravitas of Great Leader. His thirst for knowledge is unparalleled in this world or the next, and his quest for justice and righteous revolutionary principles can be traced back to the time of the great cat in Egypt.
After petting Queen Elizabeth in Buckingham Palace, Chairman Meow left London, inspired and craving more Boddington's and Old Speckled Hen Ale.
1 comment:
Mugglebane said...
The Maltese Matriarchy demands kewl doggie swag. Obey us. You will not deny us. Malteses represent! | <urn:uuid:0e0fa7fc-fc3c-4294-9aa0-1e9fa72cffa8> | 2 | 1.96875 | 0.076107 | en | 0.939688 | http://obeythekitty.blogspot.com/2009/03/chairman-meow-takes-in-london.html |
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, located in the south-central portion of the state. Billings is rapidly growing; as of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 89,847, while the Census Bureau's 2008 estimate listed the city's population at 103,994. It is the 60th fastest growing city out of the 259 cities in the U.S. with populations over 100,000, of which Billings is #259, the smallest. Billings is the county seat of Yellowstone County and is the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area. It is the principal city of the largest metropolitan area in Montana, and is the largest city between Denver and Calgary and between Sioux Falls and Spokane. Nicknamed the Magic City because of its rapid growth from its founding as a railroad town in 1882, Billings is named for Frederick H. Billings, president of the Northern Pacific Railroad. As the largest city in the area—the nearest city as large as Billings is over 350 miles (560 km) away—Billings serves as a shopping and accommodation center for area residents and highway travelers. The city's proximity to Yellowstone National Park, Pompey's Pillar, and the area where the Battle of the Little Bighorn was fought also draws visitors, especially during the summer months. Best Life Magazine recently ranked Billings the 3rd best place in the U.S. to raise a family.
Administrative Law Lawyers In Billings Montana
What is administrative law?
Answers to administrative law issues in Montana
| <urn:uuid:3a3ae52f-a073-4e01-b41d-0485d84ab19e> | 2 | 2.453125 | 0.215174 | en | 0.957518 | http://openjurist.org/law/administrative-law/montana/billings |
Pat Katz Pat Katz
Are You Fluent In The Language Of Haste? – Calm Your Words … Calm Your Life (Energy)
How fluent are you in the language of haste and hurry? Do you ever think about what it costs us to pepper our days with high-speed words and phrases?
The Words: Frenzy. Haste. Speed. Hurry. Hustle. Sprint. Charge. Run. Fly. Faster. Zip. Stat. Zoom. ASAP. Race. Rush. Press. Push.
The Questions: What’s taking so long? Why aren’t you ready? Can’t we get that sooner? How long do we have to wait? Who tied that piano to your leg? Why are you moving so slow?
The Phrases: Let’s get going. Get a move on. Hustle it up. Burn rubber. We’re late. No time to waste. Hurry up. I’m behind. Get the pedal to the metal. It’s taking forever. Step on it. Look at the time. Tempo, tempo, tempo!
Generally speaking, we tend to attract more of what we focus on. Constantly racing the clock? Chances are good you’ll continue to feel like you’re falling behind with no time to spare.
Try shifting your vocabulary to the words and phrases like those that follow to create a more relaxed environment around you.
The Words: Pause. Ease. Grace. Breathe. Relax. Calm. Laid back. Soon. Cool. Tranquil. Still. Serene. Smooth. Simple.
The Questions: Emergency or urgency? How critical is this? What’s the actual deadline? Is it really a rush? Have we got a fire or a spark? Why don’t we think about that? When you have a moment, could you spare a hand?
The Phrases: I’m almost through. We’ve got time enough. No problem. Slow it down. No worries. Calm down. All the time in the world. Take it easy. Time for a pause. Grab a seat. Take a load off. We’ll be fine. Almost there.
Calm your language. Calm your day. Change your language. Change your life.
| <urn:uuid:92884bca-4632-4bdf-a8b2-7f3f376ef508> | 2 | 1.75 | 0.125846 | en | 0.907064 | http://patkatz.com/articles/home-library-articles-are-you-fluent-in-the-language-of-haste-calm-your-words-calm-your-life-4/ |
What’s gluten? What are the different gluten and wheat allergic or intolerant conditions?
Gluten is the name for a group of prolamine or storage proteins. It occurs in wheat, rye, and barley, and in grains related to wheat. Toxins produced by the gluten can cause a reaction. When the body encounters gluten, it will attack it like it would attack a pathogen. When this happens, tissues exposed to the gluten can also become damaged, like the small intestines. When the small intestines react to the gluten, they swell up, affecting the functioning of microvilli, tiny brush-like extensions along the intestinal surface that grab nutrients as the float by.
Celiac disease, Shelly says, is an inherited autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack normal tissues when gluten is introduced into the body. Oftentimes, these tissues are the organs of the gastrointestinal tract, specifically the small intestines. The small intestines are responsible for the absorption of all of your nutrients, and when these become damaged, your ability to obtain nutrition from your food is compromised. Malnutrition, nutrient deficiencies, and poor health can result. Iron, folic acid, vitamins A, B, E, and K, and calcium are greatly impacted by insufficient absorption.
Celiac disease can affect other organs of the body as well, and these can include your skin. Symptoms vary greatly from individuals from the typical bloating, diarrhea, vomiting, dizziness, wasting or thinness, and lethargy to symptoms that are usually associated with other conditions, like muscle aches, poor skin health, mood disorders, inhibited growth, and nerve damage like tingling hands.
The average amount of time it takes to diagnose celiac disease is twelve years, because the tests are quite involved. Often times the condition can be confused with fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome. Testing for celiac disease includes a blood test checking for antibodies that react to gluten and a small intestine biopsy checking for damaged tissue.
Non-celiac gluten sensitivity is a gluten reaction that is not actually an autoimmune disease. The GI tract does not become damaged, although individuals report uncomfortable symptoms similar to celiac disease. They do not have a strictly allergic reaction, and so they will not show the gluten antibodies like someone with celiac disease would. Those with diarrhea-IBS and gluten ataxia (mental health challenges) may benefit from a gluten-free diet but are not gluten allergic.
A wheat allergy is specific to the wheat family and is not focused on gluten. Rye and barley can be included in a wheat-avoidance diet. In this allergy, the antibodies attach to mast cells, which produce histamines when exposed to wheat. Histamines cause swelling and flushing, and when this occurs in the throat and mouth, anaphylaxis can occur. This is extremely life threatening.
*Apricot shortbread cookie from Flying Apron* | <urn:uuid:b563577a-6b5b-4930-9d64-d8e5f2e50609> | 4 | 3.59375 | 0.455972 | en | 0.93719 | http://peasonmoss.com/2010/07/20/what-is-gluten-series-part-2/ |
Monday, February 10, 2014
QUEBEC CITY - Former Quebec premier and Parti Quebecois leader Jacques Parizeau is deeply concerned over his province's deteriorating economy.
Parizeau, 83, is especially worried about the state of small and medium-sized businesses in the province, saying that a "drastic remedy" is needed to ensure their future success.
"It's the first time in 30 years that I'm so concerned about Quebec's economic future," Parizeau wrote in an opinion piece that appeared in Monday's Le Journal de Montreal.
He points to a study done by HEC, the Montreal business school. The former economist called the study "tough, but fair." He wrote that "what hits the hardest is the slow and persistent deterioration of the province's economic outlook over the last 10 to 12 years."
Parizeau believes Quebec is suffering an economic decline and implies that Premier Pauline Marois should be taking the economy more seriously. He thinks that Quebec-based businesses aren't as productive as those in the rest of Canada and that is leading to a lower standard of living in Quebec.
Parizeau decries the amount of one-off investments being done in the province. According to him, Marois and the PQ are mishandling Quebec's budget, which is preventing the province's businesses from reaching their potential.
"It seems that this government has decided what's important and what's secondary," Parizeau wrote.
Parizeau was the 26th premier of Quebec, holding office from September 1994 to January 1996.
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Sunday, January 10, 2016
A clumsy language
When you see the waking and dreaming states as part, but not necessarily all, of the same reality, and yourself as a cloud drifting through that reality, changing density, shape, and color as you go, and reality doing the same, and lovingly embrace the possibility that you and reality do not exist at all, or that you and she do exist, not as you have learned and are in the habit of thinking, but as stars in a galaxy still pondering its desire to be born, and borne, you have come to what might be called the first day, which, in a clumsy language all its own, is best expressed in the words, “I love you,” and then, together, move on, you finally know the meaning of the rings, around the pebble, in the pond.
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Stampa Pagina
C) Gravity and the other “forces”. (Second part).
C) Gravity and the other “forces”. (Second Part).
Article from:
Tempo nuovo, Naples 1973, nn.5-6: The unigravitational field
by Renato Palmieri
In the modern physics the methods for the measure of mass are the most improper one could imagine on the theoretical plan. The apparent precision of the determinations derives only by the usage of a certain conventional meter which usually leaves almost unchanged the relations with a mass assumed as sample: but providing that the compared masses are in strictly analogue conditions respect to the various fundamental factors, as density, magnetism, electricity, distance by other masses, etc. Varying this factors, is necessary to keep it into account modifying the formulas with various empirical arrangements, with which approximative results are obtained even though – normally – sufficiently exact to the practical scope. For the modern uses, in facts, not only are indispensable the absolute values of the elements in play, generally basing the conservation of the values of the relation inside determined limits of approximation (15).
Of all the proceedings commonly used to measure the masses, the only one which has theoretical validity is right what modern physics has denied into theory, to solve the irremediable contradictions of the relativistic formalism, and which is bound to the ancient concept of the quantity of matter: the mass is at the origin nothing else than the numerical ensemble of the elementary particles (photons) constituting a body, so that its effective value results by the product of corpuscular density for the volume. The conventional formulas which measure the masses by their effects (forces, accelerations, speed, energy) all of them contain all the basic errors which limit the validity inside particular fields, preventing a correct and universal vision of the phenomena.
So the most simple and famous of the formulas of Dynamic ma (second Newton’s principle) is empirical and approximative, not only because it consider the mass subjected m as inert and not contributing to Fbut most of all because it doesn’t keep in account the fact that the field of the mass which is source of F (let’s call it mo ), applied to m , has a total value which varies with the spatial extension of m . To clarify the matter, of fundamental theoretical importance, we resort to an exemplificative scale. Let’s suppose that the field of mo has the value 32 as measure of the punctual intensity applied to the closer volumetric unitary part of m: for the progressively farther parts such intensity progressive decrease according to a scale determined by the distance, in relations to the peculiar characters of the field (in conventional terms: gravitational, electric, magnetic, strong nuclear, weak nuclear, etc.). Let’s express in numbers one of the possible scales, for a value of m (in uniform density) variable by 1 to 32. If this unitary parts extents much into space respect to the field of mo , so that the punctual of this decrease very fast through m , where there is the sequent scale of partial values, total and medium of the field applied for the successive increments of m(remaining unvaried the distance between mo and the surface of m ) (table and fig. 1):
Unitary parts…………. Partial field….………….Total field……………Medium field
…….of m………………………of mo……………………….of mo………………………of mo
………1………………………….32………………………….32………………………….32 / 1 = 32
………2………………………….28………………………….60…………………………60 / 2 = 30
………3………………………….21…………………………..81……….………………..81 / 3 = 27
………4………………………..…11………………………….92………………………..92 / 4 = 23
………5-8…………………………4………………………….96……………………….96 / 8 = 12
……..9-16…………………………3………………………….99………………………99 / 16 = 6,1875
…….17-32………………………..1………………………….100……………………100 / 32 = 3,125
The scale of the medium field of mo , which is obtained by dividing the total field for the number of parts of m to which it results applied, coincides with the one of the acceleration suffered by m for effect of mo The acceleration is proportional to the medium applied field: being F the total field, it derived from a = F/m .
While is concretely defined the meaning of the second principle of dynamic, although inside the limits of its unidirectionality, it becomes moreover evident the interpretation of convenience which is given by the official physics, which reads it in opposite way depending on who applies it to the cosmic gravitation (F proportional to the masses, a constant) or to the other “forces” considered non gravitational (F non proportional, a inversely proportional to the masses). It is easy to observe by the table that up to a certain limit, signed by the horizontal line, the total field of mo increase almost proportionally to the mass m; therefore the medium field and the suffered acceleration remain almost univariate (diminishing only a little bit). Which is what applies, as we have seen, in the sidereal gravitation of bodies of small mass respect to bodies of high mass (Galileo’s experiment, “Newton’s tube”, meteorites). Over such limit, instead, it is the total field the one remaining almost unchanged, increasing by little with the increasing of the mass: the medium field and the suffered acceleration result, as a consequence, almost inversely proportional to the mass. We have seen that it is found in the phenomena in which the interacting masses are not too much in disequilibrium between them, that is in those of a type commonly defined non gravitational.
The analysis of the table reveals facts of extreme interest, which establish a perfect unity between the apparently disparate macro- and microcosmic interactions, confirming the discourse done so far. The band which stays over the horizontal line can be defined of “almost proportionality of F with m“. In it m results much restricted spatially in the field of mo and its weight (total field of mo applied to m , apart from the inverse one) it’s almost proportional to the same m : 32, 60, 81 are between them almost as 1, 2, 3; the acceleration (32, 30, 27) remains almost unchanged with the increasing of m (Galileo’s falling bodies, “Newton’s tube”, meteorites). The prevailing events in this strip are of “collision” of m towards mo , because of the high accelerations impressed by mo , superior to the accelerations addressed to the external fields.
The band which extends below the horizontal line presents instead the “almost non proportionality of F with m” character. In it m is sufficiently extended in the field of mo , because the total value of this changes little(92, 96, 99, 100) at the increasing of m (4, 8, 16, 32); the acceleration (23; 12; 6,1875; 3,125) results therefore almost inversely proportional to m. The prevailing events are of “escape” of m by mo , because the increasingly lower accelerations impressed by mo in direction of its own field become inferior to the ones that m undergoes in opposite direction by the external fields. Therefore phenomenally such events appear “repulsive”: mo seems “repelling” m . So it is explained the repulsiveness manifested by the particles to which an equal sign is attributed (electrons between them, protons withing them, etc.), but behave in this manner for the only fact of having almost identical masses: the same phenomenon – it has already been said – manifests between the celestial bodies, because of the equilibrated attraction of analogue masses in all directions.
The horizontal line in the end, represents the limit value of m , non excessively inferior to mo , for which the total field of of mo appears “almost proportional” to m compared with minor masses, but “almost non proportional” to m in relation to higher masses. The prevailing events are now of “orbiting” of m respect to mo, for the reached equilibrium between the accelerations directed towards mo and those directed towards the external fields: so behave planets, satellites, asteroids respect to greater celestial bodies and electrons respect to protons in the microcosm, etc. I repeat in every case that here we speak about prevalence of events of a determined type, because particular conditions of speed and direction in the gravitational motions can produce different results respect to the general survey.
In that limit line is located also the explanation of the so called “barrier of potential”, which the scholastic physics has invented to justify the watershed between “attractiveness” and “repulsiveness” of the nuclear forces (16). Over certain reciprocal distances the interactions between particles with not dissimilar masses generally manifest with escape events: only in rare cases of particular directions and translatory speeds, which carry such particles at very short distance one to the other, they end up with undergoing reciprocally an intensity of field prevailing over the one of the external fields and therefore collide (here is the “potential well”!) or enter in mutual orbiting, instead of escaping each other. The passages of the “barrier of potential” in a verse or in the other, although rare, don’t have to surprise more than con-similar events, which can verify on macro cosmic scale, surprise us (escapes for values of m in the band of proportionality or collisions and orbits for the values of m in the band of non proportionality).
Therefore there’s no reason, to explain the reciprocal orbit of two protons in the helium nucleus (particle α, or helium), to resort to an attractive “nuclear force”, acting in the “potential well” and different by the one which, over the “potential barrier”, is called “electrostatic” and would induce the protons themselves to repel each other, bonding vice versa the electron to the proton: a scary mess, equivalent to thinking that in a system of binary stars acts a different force than the gravitational one which ties planets and satellites to a greater celestial body. The most difficult equilibrium of such binary systems, and often also multiple (as in the nucleus of the complex atoms), normally becomes stabilized by external orbits of bodies or corpuscles, singularly less attractive but prevailing in number, as neutrons, mesons, electrons, etc., or – in the macrocosm – satellite celestial bodies, planetary systems, asteroids, cosmic dust. Missing this “cloud” of surrounding fields, the equilibrium is decisively instable, as the one of two electrons in the so called “positronium”, absurdly considered as the couple of a negative electron and of a positive one!
Concluding the analysis of the table, observing that, if the 32 unitary parts of m are instead condensed in a much restricted space of the field of mo , such that the partial field of mo variates by little for each part of m (for ex., between the values 32 and 28), will be found a total field applied very high (medium field 30 for 32 parts of m = total field 960), almost proportional to the mass of m : the acceleration impressed is equal to 30, that is almost equal to the one of an isolated part of m . So it becomes always more precise the sense of all the current survey, that is summed in the passive influence of density, that is of density of the subjected mass, which contributes with its own spatial extension to the effective value of the acting field. The gravitational cohesive interaction between the various parts of m , with the reciprocally attractive accelerations which coagulate it around the common mass center, reduces the value of the overall acceleration directed towards mo to a medium value, corresponding to the medium applied field of mo .
If to the passive influence of the density we add the active, that is the effect of density of mo , being it also intensifier of the field value (17), and let’s consider that this dual effects manifests in the two senses, that is taking as acting field both mo respect to m being m respect to mo , we understand perfectly the fact that the Newtonian formula of gravitation, free of every reference to density, gives insignificant values for the interactions in the nuclear microcosm, where density is very high (18).
In reality, the gravitational interactivity of a certain mass measured in absolute (mass as quantity of matter: number of elementary particles constituting a body) varies enormously, in the effects of “force” felt by other masses, depending on the conditions of aggregation of the mass itself and also of the subjected ones: which has induced to erroneously believe that the electric, magnetic, nuclear “forces” are something completely different by the macro cosmic gravitation and that, next and over the mass and its prerogative of gravitational source, exist in nature electric or magnetic “charges”, “ exchange forces”, interactions of various type and name, antimatter, etc. Of such interactivity the fundamental factors are, in addition to the mass and to the distance – already present in Newton’s formula -, density of matter and its orientation wave (“magnetism”), which instead that formula ignores completely. But also the presence of mass and distance in the Newtonian law is distorted by erroneous reasonings or limited by the misunderstanding of very important phenomena. For what concerns mass, we are just dismantling the presumption of the proportionality of gravity to the masses and the current assumptions of the measures of mass; concerning the distance, I somewhere else dealt with the determining influence of the so called “red-shift” (motion towards red of the spectral lines) over the values of gravitational intensity (19). In fact the increasing of the wave lengths in relation to the distance is caused by a periodic concentration of the waves of the field: the period becomes just determined by the distance for a mechanism relative to the structure of the gravitational propagation, in which it is the explanation of the pulsation phenomena (“pulsar”) and of periodic variability of the stars and the reason of the enormous irradiation, otherwise unexplainable, of very far galaxies (“quasar”).
Regarding the two absent factors in Newton’s formula, it has been told of density, in its dual active and passive effect, and over it I will return afterwards. The other represented by the “magnetism”: also over this topic are necessary recalls to my precedent studies (20), of which I summarize here the more general conclusions, adding however some significant implications.
Magnetism essentially consists in the different ways and degrees of undulatory “polarization” of matter and in the consequent process of co-orientation of the fields. The disposal according to which matter tends to aggregate along the reciprocal lines of the multiple gravitational propagation defines the degrees of the natural magnetic scale (21). The progressive gravitational thickening, sieving the optimal positions in relation to the structure of the field, carries matter to gradually coordinate the axes of the single propagations, gradually organizing them around a principal axis of polarization, which is the one of a complex field (“dominion”) resulting by the composition of many particular fields. In turn different dominions tend to correlate the respective axes in various arrangements, the least possible by two optimal – one polar in the same sense and one equatorial anti parallel -, outside of them occur conditions of disequilibrium with cyclical exasperations (magnetic storms, solar protuberances, earthquakes and eruptions, hot interglacial ages, etc.). So the controversial polar disposition reason of the subatomic events of gravitational escape, for which the homologue poles of two magnets bounce one respect to the other (phenomenally they “repel” each other). Still, the equatorial parallel disposition, as the one of most of the planets respect to the central celestial body (due to the common belonging to only one original mass rotating in the same sense), provokes in the reciprocal motions of rotation a continuous slowdown, which in the end brings the orbiting bodies to constantly apply the same face and after to reverse the slower of the two respective rotations, passing by the equatorial anti parallelism (22). This in fact characterizes the condition of greater gravitational harmony, as in the biological organisms to mirror symmetry (bivalve mollusks, cerebral hemisphere, etc.) (23). The equatorial parallelism, instead, is responsible of the phenomena of counter current (parasite currents, or of Foucault), to which refer the “Lenz’s law” and the so called “self induction”: new confirm of the universal character of the unigravitational physics.
The predominance of an axis of propagation determines therefore an accentuated dipolarity of the masses (magnet; polarity of rotation and magnetic of the celestial bodies – respect to two principal axes: mega- and meso magnetic -; spin of the particles; equatoriality of the galactic and planetary systems; equatorial rings and bands – Saturn, Van Allen, galactic bands -; “polarizations” of light; zodiacal light; etc.). And because the lines of the gravitational propagation thicken along the axis (24), this is the place of the higher gravitational speeds both in the centripetal motion (collision motions), and in the centrifugal as outcome of a trajectory of missing collision (appearing “repulsion”): is what is found in the interaction between the poles of two magnets (25).
The process of magnetic orientation of the matter coincides with the progressive reduction of the atomic-molecular speeds. The polar zones, where the matter precipitates faster than in the equatorial bands (here the gravitational lines thinned and present also a minor punctual intensity), they also reach faster, respect to the equatorial zones, an ordered magnetic attitude, in which the atomic speeds are overall inferior. Therefore they, apart from the concomitant factors (as, in the case of Earth, the inclination of the axis of rotation on the plane of the orbit), are “colder” areas. It has been verified, for example, in the shells surrounding the solar poles, without any explanation by the official physics (26).
What has been said regarding the gravitational lines at the equator, explains the equatorial expansion of the bodies of the celestial systems. Decreasing the centripetal attraction by the poles towards the equator, increases in relation to the one of the external gravitational fields: as a consequence, the equilibrium between this and the central body establishes at radial distances progressively hinger; from here the expansion. It’s therefore the relation between the mutual gravitational intensity of the fields at determining the radius of the positions of equilibrium and the relative speeds of rotation, and are not these speeds to give birth out of nowhere an imaginary “centrifugal force” (27).
It is curious the fact that a gravitational field could be commonly distinct by a magnetic field because, among the other things, the first would be unipolar! (28) Indeed, a mass clearly not magnetic is such only because it presents a high multiplicity of axes, all insensitive, whose dispersion is in fact cause of the scarce interactivity of the mass. The magnetic orientation of matter therefore do make to the gravitation the second jump of intensity, after the one produced by density, by the weak proportional values of the macro cosmic masses to the very high of the so called electric “charges” and of the “nuclear energy”.
If we would restrict to the center of the Earth all the terrestrial mass in a very little sphere, dense as the nuclear matter, the terrestrial gravitational field would become enormously more intense equally at every other condition: at the same distance of the current radius of the Earth the apple would have fall on Newton’s head with a much higher weigh respect to the one which he was familiar with and his formula and his wrong calculations would pretend independent by the density of the masses (cfr. n. 17). In front of such hypothetical eventuality, Newton would have invented, for this phenomenon non accordant to his expectation, a new force of intensity duly multiplied respect to the known gravitation. He would then be forced to make a further enormous multiplication and the relative invention of “forces”, if the little sphere containing the entire mass of the Earth would coordinate in a optimal way the axes of all the particular propagations in a compact “dominion” at very high dipolarity, extraordinarily intensifying its own magnetic field, and so enhanced would interact with analogue little spheres.
At the origin of pseudo concepts as electric “charges”, “nuclear forces” and similar, over the two relative errors at density and magnetism, there is then the false reading of the “repulsive” phenomena, which seem such – and therefore strangers to the gravitational interaction, always attractive – only because seen by a mental deforming perspective: what appears “rejected” by something, is is reality, as we have seen, “attracted” by something else in different direction.
The validity of this observation extends to the scope of psychic phenomena, whose modality perfectly fall under the unigravitational analysis of the universe: that is, “hate” isn’t really “repulsion” for someone or somebody, but is prevalence, in the unconscious, of “love” for oneself (for his own organism, for his own physio-psychic sphere: self-defense, instinct of conservation) or for external objects different by the one from which we feel “rejected” (29). It is not therefore anything different by the peripheral “barrier” which prevents or hinder the inter penetration between two bodies, causing the “bounce” of the bumped body towards internal or external directions divergent by the one which goes towards the colliding. This means, on the philosophical level, that hate does not have a absolute value, always reducing to an excess of love: the latter is the only absolute function in the psychic area, as gravitational attraction in the physical area. Let’s add, as corollary, that self-preservation of the gravitational systems, which manifests as resistance to the violent inter penetration with other systems of analogue mass (remember the analysis done of the behavior of electrons, starts, etc.), is a necessary moment to allow the gravitational undulatory “composition” with other bodies and build with them wider and more complex harmonic structures. Which means that self-preservation is not the purpose of living beings, but is the way to love: it is so scientifically reversed the relation placed by Hobbes between man and humanity, the first as “wolf” for every other man, the second as society regulated by the “equilibrium of selfishness”: a relation which seemed validated by a distorted interpretation of the biological evolution. In its place Christ’s precept becomes recognized as a certain law of nature: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself “.
To a corpuscle which presents the character of scarce interactivity with the external particles is commonly attributed the qualification of “neutral”. This is due to a condition of magnetic disorder (expanded and “hot” corpuscles: for ex., the neutron, compared with compact, highly magnetic and “cold” proton), or to a different collocation of the “barrier of potential” of the particles constituting the corpuscle (as in the proton-electron system: there is normally equilibrium between attractive effects of a particle and “repulsive” effects of the other), or at a regular magnetic anti parallelism of equal composing particles (nucleus and saturated layers, with protons in anti parallel couples, as in the “inert” gas: there is equilibrium between attractive effects of a pole and “repulsive” effects of the other) (30). As for the value presumed unitary of the “charge” both positive and negative, it is preordinate by the caliber of our instruments, whose sensibility is at the limit of a certain gravitational intensity: this appear identical, because perceived at different distances from the field’s center of the proton of the electron which acts as a screen. In other terms, the instrumental perception arrives up to the “potential barrier” of the proton and to the one of the electron, which has the same intensity, because the first is much more distant by the proton than the second is of the electron (31).
Let’s now return to the problem of the measure of mass, which become executed in base of the gravitational effects of the masses themselves. Let’s now observe in this regard that the factors of density (active effect) and of the magnetism has in the gravitational interaction a much restricted radius of prevailing influence, over which remains almost exclusively sensible the nude factor of the amount of matter (still remaining measured in the effects instead that in absolute): right for this Newton’s formula can prescind without too much harm, in the measure of the macro cosmic gravitation, by those two factors, whose gravitational character is however clearly underlined by the similarity of the formulas of the electric and magnetic interaction with the Newtonian law.
Therefore depends by the method and by the instrument of measure employed, if the values of mass result by the calculation almost naked or altered by the coefficients of the very short distances (electric and magnetic “charges”, “nuclear forces”, etc.), which must be deducted to reach the pure and simple effect of the “quantity of matter”.
So, if I must measure the mass of a iron bar relatively to the sample mass of a second iron bar, I can use as a instrument of measure the same sample bar, trowing it with a known force against the other and measuring the acceleration impressed to this. In such case, however, the resulting will differ widely depending on the fact that the two bars are both magnetic (and that homologous or opposite poles are facing), or only one, or none. This because the method and the instrument of measure are sensible, in the interaction at a very short distance, at the gravitational magnetic effect.
For the same calculation I will also be able to use the Earth as instrument of measure, putting on a scales the two bar. The magnetic characters of the bars in front of the gravitational terrestrial field will then become almost irrelevant, enormous as a value of mass, but relatively weak for the value of dipolarity (magnetism): the scales will give me in any case the relation almost exact between the two masses. Naturally, using this method, I will take note of the practice proportionality of the force to the masses; using the other, of the almost non proportionality of the force applied to the masses.
Moving to the world of particles, we will meet completely analogue situations. Making the particles interact between them, we will mainly take over the gravitational effects perceptible at the shortest distances – density and magnetism – and we will pull out “charges”, mythological signs of “plus”, “minus” and “anti-”, nuclear forces of binding and exchange, and so on. Made the tare of all this ingredients, we will calculate the masses. It is the method of the two iron bar. Or we will use the electromagnetic fields, which are the equivalent – made the proportion with the particles – of the terrestrial gravitational field used in the method of the scales. And here is the “spectrograph of mass”, which will give values of mass closer to the naked ones of the quantity of matter, being sufficient for calculating them having at the beginning in the particles an equal condition of “charge”.
But in the reading of the results a coarse gap takes over respect to the measure of macro cosmic masses: presuming that the forces in play in the electric and magnetic fields are not of gravitational type, they become absolutely considered non proportional to the particles masses, so as the electromagnetic forces manifest if applied to macro cosmic masses. The analysis done over our table instead showed us that, in a gravitational field, passing by a certain order of magnitude and density of the subjected masses to an order of minor magnitudes and higher density, the gradual passage by the almost non proportionality to the almost proportionality of the field applied to the masses occurs. Errors will therefore inevitably intervene which, on the basis of the comparison of accelerations evaluated with the rigid criterion of proportionality reverse to the masses, will make assign to the particles not true values of mass.
Also without variations of density, results, for example, by the table which, if an sample object of mass 8 undergoes by the field an acceleration pair to 12, another body, to which the same gravitational field impress an acceleration = 24, would be evaluated of mass 4, while in actually it would have m < 4. Vice versa, if the referring object has mass 4 and acceleration 23, an accelerated body of 11,5 and evaluated therefore of mass 8 would have actually > 8. But the most paradoxical phenomenon is found in relation to variations of density of the subjected mass, most of all when such variations involve the passage by one to the other band of the table. From this is noticed that a total field = 100 causes on a mass = 32 an acceleration = 3,125. If now we condense all the mass in the space of the first two unitary parts (fig. 1), for which the medium applied field is 30, the total field of mo applied to m increases to 960, without mo minimally changing, and the acceleration impressed increases to 30. The formula F = m a forces us to instead suppose an invariant of F and in relation to it an acceleration always pair to 3,125. The calculated mass for an acceleration = 30 will therefore be 32 * 3,125 / 30 = 3,33, against an actual value about 10 times higher, being changed only density of the original mass = 32. The conclusion is astonishing: masses of the particles, evaluated in base of the accelerations impressed to them by the electromagnetic fields of intensity referred to macro cosmic effect, are inferior to the true, because such fields, almost non proportional respect to the macro cosmic masses, has instead an effect of almost proportionality over the very dense masses of the subatomic particles, which therefore become accelerated much more than the foreseen. The masses calculated generally retain an appearance of validity, being approximatively respected the values of relation, as it has been previously noticed; but over certain speeds, arriving particles at a deeper interaction in the reciprocal gravitational fields, the produced effects necessarily end up with overstepping by a plausible approximation: it is another of the reasons which force to the conjecture of a fiction “relativistic increase of mass” and lately to notice an increasing in the so called “cross section” of the ultrafast protons (32), without finding any logical explanation of the phenomena at issue. Here takes birth the enormous confusion which, as it is known, rage in the physics of particles, paralyzed by the lacking of a serious general theory of the macro- and microcosmic interactions. We have by now reached the “anti omega minus”: so an immediate block of the discoveries becomes necessary!
Let’s return at last to the sidereal gravitation and to Kepler’s and Newton’s laws. We rode all the way of the mistake which has made attribute universal value to formulas clumsily approximative. The orbital motion of the planets around the Sun, for the existing relation between the planetary masses and the Sun, (and so the one of satellites around planets) collocates almost along the horizontal line of our table, that is over values of field for which the total field of the Sun is still approximatively proportional to the masses of the single planets and therefore its variations seem depending only by the rays of the orbits. This way Kepler could believe exact his third law R/ T2 = constant, hypothesizing the universal value. At this point, Newton had nothing more to do than introducing it in the formulas of his second principle and of the circular motion, to fatally arrive at the so called law of universal gravitation:
F = G (m1 m2) / R2
This formula, – as it is obvious – of the same empirical value and approximative of its Kepler matrix, dressed surreptitiously of the same halo of universality, putting for three centuries out of the road the modern scientific thought. Without telling that Newton’s formula, by bringing into question (with a progress respect to the 2° principle F = m a) the second of two interacting masses, completely ignores the clearly determining action of all the surrounding masses, which go hiding in the role of that Cinderella by unknown parents, which is the “centrifugal force”! (cfr. n. 27) (33).
And yet of Kepler’s law was very easy to make the arithmetic counter proof, which would have right away demonstrated the absolute theoretical nullity, and also practical over a limited scope of relations. I reserve that litmus test as a conclusion to this work, having now to occupy of the so called “universal constant of gravitation” G (for constants and universal we mean, in the modern physics, some particular variables!), measured by Cavendish with the well known experiment. It was absolutely needed to calculate the planetary masses on the base of the Newtonian formula and could be obtained only empirically by a tiny model of the sidereal interaction. So Cavendish conceived his gravitational torsion balancewhich notes the force exercising in laboratory between two masses of known value.
But since the mass of the celestial bodies, starting with the one of the Earth, can be measured only in relation to the constant one, it follows that, if the experiment was theoretically wrong, today we would ignore the actual measures of the planetary masses. Well, this is precisely the fact: Cavendish’s experiment is affected by two fundamental mistakes, hard to detect on a small scale, but which carry us to measure, as it has been said, in place of a “universal constant” a modest variable: which is already been demonstrated by the fact that, among the fundamental constants, the gravitational one has been calculated with minor precision, not exceeding the approximation – scientifically ridiculous – of 1 / 500.
The first error consists into completely neglecting density of the interacting masses, which in the Newtonian formula is considered irrelevant. In Cavendish’s experience masses all have same density and disregarding the specific gravity of the constituent: according to the formula, the result should not be influenced by it. And instead, compatibly with the possible degree of precision of the instruments, one should find that the force exercised reciprocally is higher between masses of more dense material, because of the active and passive effect of density. The second error is into believing that such force, measured between masses of laboratory, is proportionally equal to the one which acts between the Sun and the planets. We have instead seen that planetary gravitation is characterized by a very strong imbalance between the masses in platy and that it is precisely this imbalance which gives to the force of the celestial body more character than almost proportionality to the mass of the minor celestial body. Not being realized in the laboratory such condition of enormous difference, the measured force has the character of almost non proportionality to the subjected mass and therefore constitute an absolutely improper model of the planetary gravitation.
After all, also in the cosmos, the proportionality of the force of gravity to the subjected masses is a fact approximatively valid only for the force of the greater celestial body respect to the minor one: Kepler’s third law and Newton’s consequent one demonstrate their inconsistency, if we try to verify in reverse, that is applying it to the force of the minor celestial body respect to the greater one. We will now numerically demonstrate what we already know by the theoretical analysis, that is that the field of the minor body quickly diminishes starting by the closer zones of the bigger body and therefore becomes in total almost non proportional to the mass of the bigger body, to which it gives an acceleration almost inversely proportional to the mass of the body itself.
We will therefore take in exam the reverse of the planets revolution around the Sun, that is precisely the revolution of the Sun respect to the Earth and the other planets. The difference from Ptolemy is in the term “respect to”, but we right away have to take the distances – and very clear – also from the actual vision, completely unfounded, of the phenomenon. After all, in the geometric reality of the spatial motions also the planets orbit, properly speaking, “respect to the Sun” and not “around the Sun”.
Let’s proceed with order. The logic and the Newtonian law itself tell us unequivocally that the effects of the gravitation between two or more bodies are reciprocal and differentiate only for the spatial and temporal dimensions of the provoked motions: in this also agrees the generic Einsteinian idea of the “curvature of space”. Now, if the gravitational solar field is such to cause the revolution of the Earth around the Sun, we must research the precise measure and modality of the mutual phenomenon which terrestrial gravitation produces over the mass of the Sun.
Let’s first see what modern cosmology think about it. At the voice “Moon” of the EST (Encyclopedia of Science and Technique, Mondadori, V edition) we read:
“The Earth and the Moon at present perform a revolution around their center of gravity or common center of mass (a point situated around 4670 km by the center of the Earth)in 277h 43m 1l,6s”.
At the voice “Celestial mechanics”:
“Both bodies [the Sun and the planet] describe, around the common center of gravity, two orbit having exactly the same shape and the dimensions of each orbit are inversely proportional to the mass of the body”.
“The only motion directly observable is the one of the planet around the Sun”.
From the above it is clear that the modern physics consider the two motions around the common center of gravity as synchronousone in opposition to the other, identical to those of two unequal balls which rotate over themselves at two extremities of a handlebar at variable length (for the ellipticity of the orbits) and in rotation around its own barycenter (fig. 2).
In first place we notice, as however it is noted by the EST, that the motion of the greater celestial body, for the narrowness of its orbit, over which is constantly in opposition at the minor body, isn’t astronomically verifiable: it is therefore, in the indicated terms, a hypothetic motion regarding the natural test. Indeed I argue that the timing of the two orbits is nonexistent – except in the limit case that the two masses are identical – and reciprocity of the motion must be otherwise.
My reasoning, indeed, follows the common one only up to a certain point. The non coincidence of the barycentric of the system with the center of mass of one of the two bodies and the variations of speed (for both local and general factors) determine the ellipticity of the orbits (fig. 2). As the Earth of T1 undertakes a motion tending to orbit around the Sun, this reciprocally moves by S1 on a route tend addressed to circumnavigate Earth. But being too weak the gravitational terrestrial force in relation to the solar mass, the Sun cannot embrace the terrestrial orbit in its own and limits itself to circumscribe the barycentric of the system. But here intervenes the substantial difference with the common reading of the phenomenon:
a). The barycenter of two orbiting bodies, respect to which it’s needed to consider the reciprocal revolution, is not the static one of a handlebars, that is such to rigidly constrain the elements of the system to a perfectly united motion: rather it is a dynamic barycenter, in the meaning which I will define hereinafter. Stillness of the barycenter intervenes only over a scale of phenomena in which the various parts of a system are concatenated in a overall warp of mutual fixity: for example, an iron object in any motion has a static barycenter determined by the reciprocal immobility of its macroscopic parts; but two atoms of the same object in continuous relative motion has between them only one dynamic barycenter.
b). While the static barycenter taken as reference by the Newtonian physics is constantly found on the jointing the two center of mass, the dynamic barycenter is constantly situated over the major axis of the orbit (apsidal line) by the part of the apoastro (aphelion, apogee, etc.): that is it refers at the moment in which two bodies, reached the maximum relative distance, return to undertake a prevailing reciprocal attraction and precipitate along the bends of the mutual gravitational fields. The distance of the barycenter from the two centers of field is in proportion inverse to the intensity of the two fields.
c). Respect to the dynamic barycenter so defined, the revolution of the Sun, far from being synchronous with the one of the Earth, is instead extremely slower and has as natural effect and at once evident proof of such slowness the rotation of the line of the apses: this is the famous “shift in perihelion”, for which explanation uselessly relativity has been bothered (fig 3).
In the measure which the Sun, weakly solicited by the terrestrial field, rotates around the barycenter of the system, makes also rotate in natural synchrony with such motion the line of the apses. The same happen, obviously, for all the planetary motions and signs the true period of the inverse revolution of the greater celestial body respect to the minor. Between two equivalent masses (as binary stars of equal mass and identical field, the two protons of helium atom, etc.) the reciprocal orbiting is synchronous and the true period of revolution is not signed by the completion of a round by each body (34), but by the entire rotation of the apsidal line (which is then the real reciprocal revolution of two bodies: rosette orbiting) (fig. 4).
Moreover we precise that the actual measure of the apsidal revolution is not to be traced to the only action so determined by the minor body over the greater, including in itself stresses also of other origin, whose entity is to be purified in our reasoning. Here therefore we refer to the additional part of the rotation of the apses, over the value of which classic mechanic manage, for better or worse, to account: For example, the shift in perihelion of Mercury is of 574″ of arc per century, of which only 42″ constitute the additional rotation (35).
So established the exact meaning of the Sun revolution in relation to the Earth, it only remains to finally apply in reverse the third Kepler’s law, as its check up and of all the speech done so far. The result is astonishing and is enclosed in a very easy calculation. Let’s move the reference point from the Sun to the Earth, considering respect to this the revolution of the Moon and the one now analyzed of the Sun itself.
Here is the table which derivate, in function of the values R and T of the lunar orbit taken as unit:
R………………. 1………………….149.500.000 / 384.000 = 389
R3……………….1….…………………….3893 = 58.863.869
T2……………….1…………………………x2 = 58.863.869
Whence x = 7672 lunar revolutions, that is about 590 years.
If then Kepler and Newton were right, that is if the terrestrial force of attraction was proportional to the masses of the Moon and the Sun, it would produce a solar revolution of 590 years. But the verification of this value is now easy: it will in fact be needed to compare it to the additional one of the apsidal terrestrial revolution, that is of a complete additional rotation of the perihelion of the Earth. Well this period has been calculated and it is of 34 millions years! (36) If we want to make the proper reserves on the calculations of the classic mechanic, because the actual apsidal rotation happens in the period of about 112.000 years (11,6″ of acre per year), this value is the minimum referable to the single solar revolution, if for absurd there wasn’t the other solicitations concurring: it, however, would result still much superior to the 590 years foreseen by the third Kepler’s law (which for its account already denies the ridiculous period of a year of the alleged synchronic revolution of the Sun, bound at handlebars with the Earth!).
There has been so the most evident mathematical confirmation of the assumption of this investigation: that is that gravity is only in the appearance proportional to the masses of the falling bodies in the direction of the force which a very big body exercises over a very small one, but it is not such not even approximately in the effect produced by the minor body over the greater, keeping along the median relations towards the “non proportionality ” – also only as a limit – of all the other forces. The period of the apsidal revolution is in fact enormously superior to the one which we would have in case of actual proportionality of the terrestrial attraction to the masses of the other celestial bodies.
Remains confirmed that the empirical result of Cavendish’s experiment and similar aimed at calculating the so called “universal gravitational constant” is not absolutely extensible as unity of measure to all the gravitational phenomena of the universe. Naturally the values attributed to the masses and to the density of the celestial bodies are all in absolute erroneous, because calculated exclusively in function of that false constant, without further verification.
But the graver consequence of Kepler’s an Newton’s mistake is represented by the apparently insurmountable barrier which it inserts between the gravitation and the other cosmic forces: a barrier which has so far frustrated the deep need of the human thought to realize in science the organic unity of all the laws in the universe.
(15) “(For Mach) measurable … is not mass in absolute, but the relation between masses, defined only in function of the reciprocal action exercised between the masses themselves” (A. Trebeschi: “Sapere” n 757, pag. 10).
16) W. R. Fuchs, cit. op., pag. 273.
(17) R. P., Introduction to the unigravitational physics, pages. 20-24; Physics of the unigravitational field, vol. 2°, pages. 48-50.
(18) “Tempo nuovo” n. 2/1973, pag. 49, note 11.
(19) R. P., The unigravitational physics, §§ 28-29; “Tempo nuovo ” n. 3/1972, pages. 53 and following.
(20) R. P., Physics of the unigravitational field, §§ 13-15, 38-48; Magnetism and earthquakes. The forecast of the earthquakes (“Tempo nuovo” nn. 1-2/1972); Magnetism and heat (“Tempo nuovo” nn .5-6/1972 e 2/1973).
(21) “Tempo nuovo” nn. 1-2/1972, pag. 43.
(22) As it is known, also the duration of the terrestrial day increases slowly because of the interaction Moon-Earth.
(23) “Tempo nuovo” nn. 1-2/1972, pages. 36-57.
(24) “Tempo nuovo” nn. 1-2/1972, pages. 34-35, figures 1-3.
(25) “Tempo nuovo” nn. 1-2/1972, pages. 35-36.
(26) “Scienza e Tecnica/73″, Mondadori, pag. 17.
(27) R. P., The unigravitational physics, pag. 64.
(28) O. M. Phillips, Geophysics, Mondadori, pag. 168.
(29) R. P., The unigravitational physics, pag. 84.
(30) The usual terms of para magnetism and diamagnetism refer exclusively to the effects of dipolarity. In the “natural magnetic scale” referred to the note 21, they indicate instead the different structural complexity (increasing from first to second) and extension of the dominions (respectively decreasing); so substances with low nuclear density are, for such scale, paramagnetic, and with high diamagnetic densities . Dipolarity depends most of all by the distribution of the protons in the most external nuclear layer and therefore the relative phenomena are highly recurring along the scale of densities. As a consequence, the value of the terms does not coincides in the current and in ours.
(31) R. P., Introduction to th unigravitational physics, pages. 19-20; Physics of the unigravitational field, § 60.
(32) “Sapere” n. 764, pages. 31 and following.
(33) At this point it is good to clear a concept extremely ambiguous in the common physics: the one of “absence of weight”, on which senseless opinions run (W. R. Fuchs, cit. op., pages. 232-234; Caianiello, De Luca e Ricciardi, cit. op., vol. 1°, pages. 116-117). It is in fact confused the absence of weight with the sensation of an absence of weight. The first verifies in the orbiting or in the point at zero speed between ascent and relapse of a body and it is due to the simultaneous action of a centripetal acceleration and of an equal centrifuge acceleration (R. P., the unigravitational physics, pag. 65). The second is felt, although weight is not null, inside a pressurized cabin at free fall and derivate s by the absence of an interaction of contact or of an impact with the walls of the cabin, whose speed is equal in absolute value and in the verse to the one of the internal bodies: in the contact and in the impact (R. P., Physics of the unigravitational field, §§ 61-69) the atomic peripheral speeds has opposite direction, determining events more or less accentuated of interpenetration or bounce and therefore the sensation of weight. This essentially comes from the disequilibrium – in verse and absolute value – between the accelerations suffered by the various parts of the body, which attracted all in direction of the center of a celestial body, are at the same time rejected by atomic-molecular interactions of escape respect to the surface of contact.
(34) “Tempo nuovo” nn. 5-6/1972, pages. 64-65.
(35) See ” Relativity ” In the Enciclopedia Italiana and in the EST. In the last one is written: “Because of the slight perturbations caused by a planet over the other, all the planetary orbits rotate very slightly, so that the position of their aphelions changes into time. In the case of Mercury, general relativity predicts an additional rotation and aphelions of about 43″ of arc per century, quantity which, in spite of its smallness, has been verified with satisfying accuracy”. But the calculation does not fit at all for the planet Mars (8,03″ against a prevision of l,35″ ). Cfr. R. P., Physics of the unigravitational field, § 26-(5).
(36) The additional motion of the perihelion is 3,8″ of arc for century: see J. A. ColemanLa relatività è facile (Relativity is easy), ed. Feltrinelli, pag. 109.
Let’s close this section with a recall to the other preceding relative to the unigravitational physics, quoted in the Bibliography of the author.
They represent – as it were – the “archeology” of the new physics, but are however still, yet in the necessary adjustments made after the magmatic originally thought, an essential complement of the current opera.
It is not moreover possible to put remedy to the real difficulty of their modern retrieval and re-reading, at centuries of distance by the first publications made.
In the economy of the present work could not find place, for example, the description of the unigravitational structure of the atom – from hydrogen to the more complex elements of the periodic system – , which is read in Physics of the unigravitational field (§§ 56-57), edited in 1969.
Actually, the punctual study of the elementary particle object of section 6, in the entire context of the laws of universal structuring which move from it, exempt by the necessity of exhaust all the formative inter medium passages, which can not fail to re present, in a in a way more or less obvious and divisible, in the inside of particles and corpuscles the general morphology of every macroscopic structure.
Between the premise to the first article of this section 4 (October 1997) and this closure (January 2005) more than seven years has passed. Such writing referred to the earthquakes happened in Italy, recent at that time, and introduced an article published in 1972 over magnetism and the earthquakes forecast. Today it should repeat identical, but with much more dramatic tones, after the tsunami of December 26th, 2004 which has devastated the coasts of a continent. Over two hundred thousand persons have died and all the wildlife was saved. A collateral effect of the foolishness of contemporary science (which would do well to study the effect of Barkhausen, natural for animals, instead of toying with the black holes fairytale, and similar).
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This page has been suggested to be merged with another article, Personal Messages.
If you think this subject deserves its own page, please explain why at Category talk:Candidates for merging or try to expand the page and remove the {{merge}} tag.
Remember to move what links here to the merged page before deleting this one. The page history will remain at this page.
Example Message
An example of a message that is sent when a trade request is sent to a player.
A personal message (often colloquialized as PM; can also be regarded as private messaging) is a form of communication between two respective parties through a means of sending a message through the ROBLOX website servers. Alongside private messages sent from other people, personal messaging is used automatically by the ROBLOX user to denote a friend request has been accepted, or to notify the user about their current trading status.
The personal messaging tool is the most common way two parties can privately talk, but they are not necessarily the most effective. This is mostly exemplified through different timezones and that receiving a personal message isn't an automatic process, meaning users have to refresh their inbox in order to find out whether or not they have received a new message. Further add-ons, such as the ROBLOX+ Google Chrome extension, have simplified the matter by rearranging the way in which personal messaging are being used. This, as a result, has helped many users account for their messages a lot quicker, and much more effectively.
A message is relayed back to the client to notify that a player has accepted their request.
The personal messaging tool is a set of communication used for text-based communication between two respective parties. Each message is stored in the inbox, and each sent text is stored in the sent box. This allows the possibility to save a conversation for later references.
Each message can be included when replying to someone, and this option is usually marked by default. This enables easy access to previous messages in that given conversation. Conversely, unchecking the box will not enable the previously seen messages to appear in the reply.
The first personal message sent to players when they create an account.
Because the personal messaging system is a vast system of relayed messages being sent back and forth, it has become one of the most prominent features of the ROBLOX website, and because it is easily seen and accessed by all members, the personal messaging system is considered one of the more efficient communication uses. Apart from being able to read and access each message, users are also informed of ROBLOX News, which can be accessed on the third tab of the messaging system, which consists of important news that ROBLOX delivers to users. These can range from surveys to information about the newest events.
In addition to the positive sides that personal messaging brings, the use of personal messages also creates a risk of non-compliance to the ROBLOX terms of services. Because of the ease of accessibility personal messaging has become, it is easy for users to scam others through various techniques.
One such technique is through a keyboard logging site, in which a user sends the victim the link to a site "claiming free ROBUX". As such, this has received an amount of backlash on victims, claiming that their account had been compromised, and consequently, banned.
Security and archival
Passwords and credentials have been notably exposed through victims sending their private information, such as passwords. As such, ROBLOX has filtered such messages with hashtags (#), in an attempt to minimize any damage that could potentially have an account stolen. Messages have also been reported to not go through the system if it has been filtered out, and the number of stolen accounts have immensely dropped.[citation needed]
Archival and deletion of messages have also been implemented in an attempt to discard and secure accounts.
See also
Further reading
Ad blocker interference detected!
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Saturday, July 11, 2015
Because you're a reader of Linux Journal, you probably already know that Linux has a rich virtualization ecosystem. KVM is the de facto standard, and VirtualBox is widely used for desktop virtualization. Veterans should remember Xen (it's still in a good shape, by the way), and there is also VMware (which isn't free but runs on Linux as well). Plus, there are many lesser-known hypervisors like the educational lguest or hobbyist Xvisor. In such a crowded landscape, is there a place for a newcomer?
There likely is not much sense in creating yet another Linux-based "versatile" hypervisor (other than doing it just for fun, you know). But, there are some specific use cases that general-purpose solutions just don't address quite well. One such area is real-time virtualization, which is frequently used in industrial automation, medicine, telecommunications and high-performance computing. In these applications, dedicating a whole CPU or its core to the software that runs bare metal (with no underlying OS) is a way to meet strict deadline requirements. Although it is possible to pin a KVM instance to the processor core and pass through PCI devices to guests, tests show the worst-case latency may be above some realistic requirements (see Resources).
As usual with free software, the situation is getting better with time, but there is one other thing—security. Sensitive software systems go through rigorous certifications (like Common Criteria) or even formal verification procedures. If you want them to run virtualized (say, for consolidation purposes), the hypervisor must isolate them from non-certifiable workloads. This implies that the hypervisor itself must be small enough; otherwise, it may end up being larger (and more "suspicious") than the software it segregates, thus devastating the whole idea of isolation.
So, it looks like there is some room for a lightweight (for the real-time camp), small and simple (for security folks) open-source Linux-friendly hypervisor for real-time and certifiable workloads. That's where Jailhouse comes into play.
New Guy on the Block
Jailhouse was born at Siemens and has been developed as a free software project (GPLv2) since November 2013. Last August, Jailhouse 0.1 was released to the general public. Jailhouse is rather young and more of a research project than a ready-to-use tool at this point, but now is a good time to become acquainted it and be prepared to meet it in production.
From the technical point of view, Jailhouse is a static partitioning hypervisor that runs bare metal but cooperates closely with Linux. This means Jailhouse doesn't emulate resources you don't have. It just splits your hardware into isolated compartments called "cells" that are wholly dedicated to guest software programs called "inmates". One of these cells runs the Linux OS and is known as the "root cell". Other cells borrow CPUs and devices from the root cell as they are created (Figure 1).
Figure 1. A visualization of Linux running-bare metal (a) and under the Jailhouse hypervisor (b) alongside a real-time application. (Image from Yulia Sinitsyna; Tux image from Larry Ewing.)
Besides Linux, Jailhouse supports bare-metal applications, but it can't run general-purpose OSes (like Windows or FreeBSD) unmodified. As mentioned, there are plenty of other options if you need that. One day Jailhouse also may support running KVM in the root cell, thus delivering the best of both worlds.
As mentioned previously, Jailhouse cooperates closely with Linux and relies on it for hardware bootstrapping, hypervisor launch and doing management tasks (like creating new cells). Bootstrapping is really essential here, as it is a rather complex task for modern computers, and implementing it within Jailhouse would make it much more complex. That being said, Jailhouse doesn't meld with the kernel as KVM (which is a kernel module) does. It is loaded as a firmware image (the same way Wi-Fi adapters load their firmware blobs) and resides in a dedicated memory region that you should reserve at Linux boot time. Jailhouse's kernel module (jailhouse.ko, also called "driver") loads the firmware and creates /dev/jailhouse device, which the Jailhouse userspace tool uses, but it doesn't contain any hypervisor logic.
Jailhouse is an example of Asynchronous Multiprocessing (AMP) architecture. Compared to traditional Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) systems, CPU cores in Jailhouse are not treated equally. Cores 0 and 1 may run Linux and have access to a SATA hard drive, while core 2 runs a bare-metal application that has access only to a serial port. As most computers Jailhouse can run on have shared L2/L3 caches, this means there is a possibility for cache thrashing. To understand why this happens, consider that Jailhouse maps the same guest physical memory address (GPA) to a different host (or real) physical address for different inmates. If two inmates occasionally have the same GPA (naturally containing diverse data) in the same L2/L3 cache line due to cache associativity, they will interfere with each other's work and degrade the performance. This effect is yet to be measured, and Jailhouse currently has no dedicated means to mitigate it. However, there is a hope that for many applications, this performance loss won't be crucial.
Now that you have enough background to understand what Jailhouse is (and what it isn't), I hope you are interested in learning more. Let's see how to install and run it on your system.
Getting Up to Date
Sometimes you may need the very latest KVM and QEMU to give Jailhouse a try. KVM is part of the kernel, and updating the critical system component just to try some new software probably seems like overkill. Luckily, there is another way.
kvm-kmod is a tool to take KVM modules from one kernel and compile them for another, and it usually is used to build the latest KVM for your current kernel. The build process is detailed in the README, but in a nutshell, you clone the repository, initialize a submodule (it's the source for KVM), and run the configure script followed by make. When the modules are ready, just insmod them instead of what your distribution provides (don't forget to unload those first). If you want the change to be permanent, run make modules_install. kvm-kmod can take the KVM sources from wherever you point to, but the defaults are usually sufficient.
Compiling QEMU is easier but more time consuming. It follows the usual configure && make procedure, and it doesn't need to be installed system-wide (which is package manager-friendly). Just put /path/to/qemu/x86_64-softmmu/qemu-system-x86_64 instead of plain qemu-system-x86_64 in the text's examples.
Building Jailhouse
Despite having a 0.1 release now, Jailhouse still is a young project that is being developed at a quick pace. You are unlikely to find it in your distribution's repositories for the same reasons, so the preferred way to get Jailhouse is to build it from Git.
To run Jailhouse, you'll need a recent multicore VT-x-enabled Intel x86 64-bit CPU and a motherboard with VT-d support. By the time you read this article, 64-bit AMD CPUs and even ARM (v7 or better) could be supported as well. The code is already here (see Resources), but it's not integrated into the mainline yet. At least 1GB of RAM is recommended, and even more is needed for the nested setup I discuss below. On the software side, you'll need the usual developer tools (make, GCC, Git) and headers for your Linux kernel.
Running Jailhouse on real hardware isn't straightforward at this time, so if you just want to play with it, there is a better alternative. Given that you meet CPU requirements, the hypervisor should run well under KVM/QEMU. This is known as a nested setup. Jailhouse relies on some bleeding-edge features, so you'll need at least Linux 3.17 and QEMU 2.1 for everything to work smoothly. Unless you are on a rolling release distribution, this could be a problem, so you may want to compile these tools yourself. See the Getting Up to Date sidebar for more information, and I suggest you have a look at it even if you are lucky enough to have the required versions pre-packaged. Jailhouse evolves and may need yet unreleased features and fixes by the time you read this.
Make sure you have nested mode enabled in KVM. Both kvm-intel and kvm-amd kernel modules accept the nested=1 parameter, which is responsible just for that. You can set it manually, on the modprobe command line (don't forget to unload the previous module's instance first). Alternatively, add options kvm-intel nested=1 (or the similar kvm-amd line) to a new file under /etc/modprobe.d.
You also should reserve memory for Jailhouse and the inmates. To do this, simply add memmap=66M$0x3b000000 to the kernel command line. For one-time usage, do this from the GRUB menu (press e, edit the command line and then press F10). To make the change persistent, edit the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX variable in /etc/default/grub on the QEMU guest side and regenerate the configuration with grub-mkconfig.
Now, make a JeOS edition of your favorite distribution. You can produce one with SUSE Studio, ubuntu-vm-builder and similar, or just install a minimal system the ordinary way yourself. It is recommended to have the same kernel on the host and inside QEMU. Now, run the virtual machine as (Intel CPU assumed):
qemu-system-x86_64 -machine q35 -m 1G -enable-kvm -smp 4
↪-cpu kvm64,-kvm_pv_eoi,-kvm_steal_time,-kvm_asyncpf,
↪-kvmclock,+vmx,+x2apic -drive
↪-virtfs local,path=/path/to/jailhouse,
↪-device ide-hd,drive=disk -serial stdio
↪-serial file:com2.txt
Note, I enabled 9p (-virtfs) to access the host filesystem from the QEMU guest side; /path/to/jailhouse is where you are going to compile Jailhouse now. cd to this directory and run:
git clone jailhouse
cd jailhouse
Now, switch to the guest and mount the 9p filesystem (for example, with mount -t 9p host /mnt). Then, cd to /mnt/jailhouse and execute:
sudo make firmware_install
sudo insmod jailhouse.ko
This copies the Jailhouse binary image you've built to /lib/firmware and inserts the Jailhouse driver module. Now you can enable Jailhouse with:
sudo tools/jailhouse enable configs/qemu-vm.cell
As the command returns, type dmesg | tail. If you see "The Jailhouse is opening." message, you've successfully launched the hypervisor, and your Linux guest now runs under Jailhouse (which itself runs under KVM/QEMU). If you get an error, it is an indication that your CPU is missing some required feature. If the guest hangs, this is most likely because your host kernel or QEMU are not up to date enough for Jailhouse, or something is wrong with qemu-vm cell config. Jailhouse sends all its messages to the serial port, and QEMU simply prints them to the terminal where it was started (Figure 2). Look at the messages to see what resource (I/O port, memory and so on) caused the problem, and read on for the details of Jailhouse configuration.
Figure 2. A typical configuration issue: Jailhouse traps "prohibited" operation from the root cell.
Configs and Inmates
Creating Jailhouse configuration files isn't straightforward. As the code base must be kept small, most of the logic that takes place automatically in other hypervisors must be done manually here (albeit with some help from the tools that come with Jailhouse). Compared to libvirt or VirtualBox XML, Jailhouse configuration files are very detailed and rather low-level. The configuration currently is expressed in the form of plain C files (found under configs/ in the sources) compiled into raw binaries; however, another format (like DeviceTree) could be used in future versions.
Most of the time, you wouldn't need to create a cell config from scratch, unless you authored a whole new inmate or want the hypervisor to run on your specific hardware (see the Jailhouse for Real sidebar).
Cell configuration files contain information like hypervisor base address (it should be within the area you reserved with memmap= earlier), a mask of CPUs assigned to the cell (for root cells, it's 0xff or all CPUs in the system), the list of memory regions and the permissions this cell has to them, I/O ports bitmap (0 marks a port as cell-accessible) and the list of PCI devices.
Each Jailhouse cell has its own config file, so you'll have one config for the root cell describing the platform Jailhouse executes on (like qemu-vm.c, as you saw above) and several others for each running cell. It's possible for inmates to share one config file (and thus one cell), but then only one of these inmates will be active at a given time.
In order to launch an inmate, you need to create its cell first:
sudo tools/jailhouse cell create configs/apic-demo.cell
apic-demo.cell is the cell configuration file that comes with Jailhouse (I also assume you still use the QEMU setup described earlier). This cell doesn't use any PCI devices, but in more complex cases, it is recommended to unload Linux drivers before moving devices to the cell with this command.
Now, the inmate image can be loaded into memory:
sudo tools/jailhouse cell load apic-demo
↪inmates/demos/x86/apic-demo.bin -a 0xf0000
Jailhouse treats all inmates as opaque binaries, and although it provides a small framework to develop them faster, the only thing it needs to know about the inmate image is its base address. Jailhouse expects an inmate entry point at 0xffff0 (which is different from the x86 reset vector). apic-demo.bin is a standard demo inmate that comes with Jailhouse, and the inmate's framework linker script ensures that if the binary is mapped at 0xf0000, the entry point will be at the right address. apic-demo is just a name; it can be almost anything you want.
Finally, start the cell with:
sudo tools/jailhouse cell start apic-demo Now, switch back to the terminal from which you run QEMU. You'll see that lines like this are being sent to the serial port:
Calibrated APIC frequency: 1000008 kHz Timer fired, jitter: 38400 ns, min: 38400 ns, max: 38400 ns ... apic-demo is purely a demonstrational inmate. It programs the APIC timer (found on each contemporary CPU's core) to fire at 10Hz and measures the actual time between the events happening. Jitter is the difference between the expected and actual time (the latency), and the smaller it is, the less visible (in terms of performance) the hypervisor is. Although this test isn't quite comprehensive, it is important, as Jailhouse targets real-time inmates and needs to be as lightweight as possible.
Jailhouse also provides some means for getting cell statistics. At the most basic level, there is the sysfs interface under /sys/devices/jailhouse. Several tools exist that pretty-print this data. For instance, you can list cells currently on the system with:
sudo tools/jailhouse cell list The result is shown in Figure 3. "IMB-A180" is the root cell's name. Other cells also are listed, along with their current states and CPUs assigned. The "Failed CPUs" column contains CPU cores that triggered some fatal error (like accessing an unavailable port or unassigned memory region) and were stopped.
Figure 3. Jailhouse cell listing—the same information is available through the sysfs interface.
For more detailed statistics, run:
sudo tools/jailhouse cell stat apic-demo You'll see something akin to Figure 4. The data is updated periodically (as with the top utility) and contains various low-level counters like the number of hypercalls issued or I/O port accesses emulated. The lifetime total and per-second values are given for each entry. It's mainly for developers, but higher numbers mean the inmate causes hypervisor involvement more often, thus degrading the performance. Ideally, these should be close to zero, as jitter in apic-demo. To exit the tool, press Q.
Figure 4. Jailhouse cell statistics give an insight into how cells communicate with the hypervisor.
Tearing It Down
Jailhouse comes with several demo inmates, not only apic-demo. Let's try something different. Stop the inmate with:
sudo tools/jailhouse cell destroy apic-demo JAILHOUSE_CELL_DESTROY: Operation not permitted What's the reason for this? Remember the apic-demo cell had the "running/locked" state in the cell list. Jailhouse introduces a locked state to prevent changes to the configuration. A cell that locks the hypervisor is essentially more important than the root one (think of it as doing some critical job at a power plant while Linux is mostly for management purposes on that system). Luckily, apic-demo is a toy inmate, and it unlocks Jailhouse after the first shutdown attempt, so the second one should succeed. Execute the above command one more time, and apic-demo should disappear from the cell listing.
Now, create tiny-demo cell (which is originally for tiny-demo.bin, also from the Jailhouse demo inmates set), and load 32-bit-demo.bin into it the usual way:
sudo tools/jailhouse cell create configs/tiny-demo.cell sudo tools/jailhouse cell load tiny-demo ↪inmates/demos/x86/32-bit-demo.bin -a 0xf0000 sudo tools/jailhouse cell start tiny-demo Look at com2.txt in the host (the same directory you started QEMU from). Not only does this show that cells can be re-used by the inmates provided that they have compatible resource requirements, it also proves that Jailhouse can run 32-bit inmates (the hypervisor itself and the root cell always run in 64-bit mode).
When you are done with Jailhouse, you can disable it with:
sudo tools/jailhouse disable For this to succeed, there must be no cells in "running/locked" state.
This is the end of our short trip to the Jailhouse. I hope you enjoyed your stay. For now, Jailhouse is not a ready-to-consume product, so you may not see an immediate use of it. However, it's actively developed and somewhat unique to the Linux ecosystem, and if you have a need for real-time application virtualization, it makes sense to keep a close eye on its progress.
Jailhouse for Real
QEMU is great for giving Jailhouse a try, but it's also possible to test it on real hardware. However, you never should do this on your PC. With a low-level tool like Jailhouse, you easily can hang your root cell where Linux runs, which may result in filesystem and data corruption.
Jailhouse comes with a helper tool to generate cell configs, but usually you still need to tweak the resultant file. The tool depends on Python; if you don't have it on your testing board, Jailhouse lets you collect required data and generate the configuration on your main Linux PC (it's safe):
sudo tools/jailhouse config collect data.tar # Copy data.tar to your PC or notebook and untar tools/jailhouse config create -r path/to/untarred/data ↪configs/myboard.c The configuration tool reads many files under /proc and /sys (either collected or directly), analyzes them and generates memory regions, a PCI devices list and other things required for Jailhouse to run.
Post-processing the generated config is mostly a trial-and-error process. You enable Jailhouse and try to do something. If the system locks up, you analyze the serial output and decide if you need to grant access. If you are trying to run Jailhouse on a memory-constrained system (less than 1GB of RAM), be careful with the hypervisor memory area, as the configuration tool currently can get it wrong. Don't forget to reserve memory for Jailhouse via the kernel command line the same way you did in QEMU. On some AMD-based systems, you may need to adjust the Memory Mapped I/O (MMIO) regions, because Jailhouse doesn't support AMD IOMMU technology yet, although the configuration tool implies it does.
To capture Jailhouse serial output, you'll likely need a serial-to-USB adapter and null modem cable. Many modern motherboards come with no COM ports, but they have headers you can connect a socket to (the cabling is shown in Figure a). Once you connect your board to the main Linux PC, run minicom or similar to see the output (remember to set the port's baud rate to 115200 in the program's settings).
Figure a. A must-have toolkit to run Jailhouse bare metal: serial-to-USB converter, null modem cable (attached) and mountable COM port. (Image from Yulia Sinitsyna.)
Static System Partitioning and KVM (KVM Forum 2013 Slides):
Jailhouse AMD64 Port:
Jailhouse ARM Port:
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Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Containers 101
About six months ago, I started to notice that there is a lot of hubbub going around in the tech-o-sphere about containers as a new way to approach virtual computing. I like exploring new technology, so I've spent the last few months getting the ins and outs of them. Here's what I can tell you: Containers are an important technology that is not going away anytime soon. There are a lot of players in the space, and new ones enter all the time. If you are a developer in the modern world, understanding and using containers are necessary skills to have in your professional life.
So, in the spirit of moving a good idea along, I am going to share with you the basics of container technology by answering the following questions:
• What are containers?
• What's so special about containers?
• How do I use them?
My desire in answering these question is to give you the basic knowledge and understanding that you need to start using containers when making and deploying code.
Let's get started.
What Are Containers?
Container technology is a way to create a virtual environment by using an isolated process on a host computer. The isolated process, the container, has its own set of file system resources and subordinate processes. And, the container does not intrude on the host system, nor does the host system intrude on the container.
A container runs on the kernel of the host computer (see Figure 1). A component called, a container manager, makes it so that the container can run on the host. (You'll learn more about container managers later in this article.)
Figure 1: A container provides the ability to run an isolated process that has its own resources in a shared environment
What's So Special About Containers?
To understand what makes containers so special, we need to review the concept of the virtual machine. A virtual machine is a piece of software that emulates a computer. The benefit of a virtual machine is that you get a lot more efficiency out of your hardware usage. You can have a lot of virtual machines running on a single piece of hardware (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: When you use virtual machines, resource allocation is fixed for each machine.
However, there is a drawback to virtual machine technology. Take a look at Figure 2. You'll notice that in the illustration there are three virtual machines running on a computer that has 48 GB of RAM, a 12 core CPU, and 3 terabytes of disk storage. Each virtual machine is allocated 16 GB of RAM, 4 cores, and a terabyte of storage. So far, so good. But, here is the drawback. Regardless of whether any one machine is using all of it resources or a fraction of its resources, the hardware allocation is static. In other words, if one of the virtual machines never uses more than 1 GB of RAM, and stores only 100 MB of the file system, that machine still has dibs on 4 GB of RAM and a full terabyte of storage, despite the fact that the virtual machine is using only 25% of its RAM and 1% of it storage. This is not so good.
A container, on the other hand, does not tie up resources. When you make a container, you do not assign it RAM, processors, or storage. Rather, the container uses the RAM, CPU, and storage on the host in a shared manner. You can load as many containers on a physical machine as the machine can handle. A container will take only what it needs at the the time of need. Again, there is no fixed allocation of resources.
And, there's more. Typically, hardware that runs containers uses a light-weight version of Linux as the operating system. This light-weight host OS provides kernel level service. CoreOS is one of the popular host operating systems. There are others, such as Ubuntu Snappy and Red Hat Atomic.
When you create a container, you can add in an operating system of your choosing; say, you want to use Ubuntu. The Ubuntu operating system that's in the container will leverage the host kernel, but have packages that are part of Ubuntu. For example, whereas the kernel knows nothing about package management, Ubuntu will provide apt-get. And, you can configure the container to use a special Web server, script interpreter, and so forth.... The result is that you get the environment configuration that a virtual machine provides without tying up the resources on the host system with static allocation. Also, the container will have an IP address that is visible within the host. Thus, the host has direct access to the container via its IP address (see Figure 3).
Figure 3: A container shares host resources and leverage the host's operating system for kernel level services.
What About Windows?
A constraint of containers is that you cannot mix and match operating systems. In the world of virtual machines, it is quite usual to have a Windows host support a virtual machine running Linux, or an OSX system running a Windows VM. Not so with containers because, by definition, a container uses the host kernel. Thus, you need to match up operating systems. Linux containers run on Linux hosts. You can run Windows containers on Windows Server as of Windows Server 2016. Also, there is a Windows version of the container manager, Docker.
If you do find yourself in a place where you need to run Linux containers on Windows, you can always start up a Linux virtual machine under Windows and use the Linux VM as your host system.
How Do I Use Them?
There are three concepts that you need to understand in order to work with containers. The first is the notion of the container manager. The second is understanding container layer architecture. The third is container registries.
Enter the Container Manager
A container manager is a tool that you use to create a container, deploy it, and get a container running on a host. The most popular container managers in play as of this writing are Docker and Rocket.
A container manager works this way: Say you've written a small Hello World Web application in PHP. You'll create a container configuration file in which you'll describe the PHP files you application requires. Also in the configuration file, you'll define the layers that your application requires. In this case, let's say your application needs the PHP 5.6 interpreter and you want to run under the Apache web server. You'll issue a command via the container manager to run your application. Behind the scenes, the container manager will (1) read the configuration file to determine the layers it needs to get from a registry, (2) create your container image, (3) including your apps source file, and (4) fire it up on the host machine (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: Configuration files, images, and registries are all part of the container ecosystem.
Simple, huh? Yet, you are probably asking, "hey, what's a layer, what's an image, what's registry, what's going on?" These are good questions that deserve to be answered. So, let's answer them.
Understanding Layers and Images
A container is made up of layers. A layer is a container image. (Yes, the notion of a container made up of other container might be a bit confusing at first.) You can start with an operating system base layer. Then, you declare other other layers, say a Web server and a script runtime. Once you have your container defined, you'll create an image based on your defined container. An image is a template of your container that you can reuse on one or many hosts.
Figure 5 illustrates a scenario in which the host computer is running CoreOs and using Docker as the container manager. There are three containers running on the host. One container uses Debian as the base OS layer, Apache as the web server, PHP 5.5 as the script run time, and a custom PHP application for which the container has been created. Another container is for an additional customer PHP app that uses nginx as the Web server, and PHP 5.6 as the script interpreter, all running on a RHEL base image. Finally, a third container has a JSP app running over Tomcat and Apache, on an Ubuntu base image.
Figure 5: A container image can define a special host as the base image, and then add layers for your web server, script run time, and your script files.
As you can see, each container is distinct. Yet, they live side by side as isolated processes leveraging the CoreOS kernel. No hardware allocation is in place. All environment resources are shared.
Understanding Registries
Container images are stored in a registry. The concept of a registry is similar to that of a Maven repository, for those of you familiar with the Java framework. The analogous technology in the .NET world is a NuGet server.
There are a number of public repositories where you can store container images. Docker has Docker Hub. There are others. Also, there is a growing number of private registry providers emerging.
Using a registry is almost automagical. When you tell your container manager to run a container, it will check the configuration file to determine the layers the container requires and then check for the required layer images out on a registry, either the default registry or ones you define. The container manager will assemble the layers that your container needs from the registry and then load your container onto the host.
Using a registry allows you to have a high degree reusability with your container images. Also, using container images means that you can scale your application, as you'll see in the next section.
Scaling Containers
Containers work really well in dynamic environments that need to scale up or down on demand. Unlike a virtual machine, which can take a long time to load into the host environment, a container loads quickly. Quick loading, coupled with the ubiquitous nature of a container registry, means that you can create highly available, load balanced environments fast.
Please take a look at Figure 6. The diagram illustrates an application cluster environment based on containers. These days, it's quite common to have a load balancer negotiating load among many containers made from the same image. In fact, the load balancer itself can be a container. In other words, you can use a nxginx container as the load balancer that coordinates traffic among a cluster of identical application nodes.
Figure 6: You can use a load balancer container to management clusters of application containers.
Now What?
The ecosystem for containers is growing quickly. For example, there is Google's open source project, Kubernetes that provides a platform for deploying and scaling applications containers at the enterprise level, across clusters of hosts. etcd, another open source project, allows you to share key-value information between containers. Sharing key-value information is important when you need to have containers use a common data store or cache. There's fleet, which makes sure that if you are running a lot of homogenous containers over a variety of machines and one of a machine goes down, your container will be moved to another machine. This is a very power technology in large scale, computing environments where it is very important that your containers run all the time. The list of projects and products is getting very large, very fast.
As I said at the beginning of this article, containers are not going away anytime soon. In fact, Microsoft, Google, IBM, Redhat, Amazon, and a lot of other major technology companies have teamed up to form the Open Container Initiative, which is formed under the Linux Foundation. Imagine that: Microsoft working with Linux heads. So, if the folks in Redmond are jumping on the container bandwagon full blast, it's only a matter of time before containers will be part of your world. So, if you haven't started working with containers, now is the time to start.
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Please, don't tell your mom about this blog.
Every third Sunday in January, the annual Camel Wrestling Championship is held in Selcuk, Turkey. The event is the culmination of months of matches that surround the sport of camel wrestling -- a tradition that traces its origins to ancient Turkic tribes over 2,400 years ago. Essentially, the sport puts together two bull (male) camels with a female camel. In response to the female camel being in heat, the two males battle it out by leaning on each other in order to push the other one down. If a male camel retreats, falls or screams, it loses.
It is estimated that there are 1,200 camel wrestlers (or Tulu) in Turkey, bred specially for competition. Contest organizers match the camels based not only on weight, but skills as well. There are camels that fight from the right and ones that fight from the left. There are ones that use foot tricks and ones that trap an opponent's head and sit on it. Some simply try to push the other out and make it retreat.
There is much preparation that leads up to the actual battle. The day before an event, a ceremony is held where the camels are decorated and marched through town, accompanied by music. It's a celebration that can come off as rather uninteresting to the average person. But for the many locals who do enjoy this spectator sport, excitement comes in the form of pure comedy when innocent bystanders run to avoid an angered camel running their way. According to Turkic tour guide, Burak Sansal, it's the best part of camel wrestling.
Because of rising costs to train and feed the camels, the sport is in heavy decline. Large bets and wagers are made mostly by owners and wealthy onlookers. According to Sansal, "how you tell just which camel won can be difficult to determine." And while sometimes both camels run away, so do the people who come to watch. What was once a widespread Turkic tradition, is now somewhat of a dying sport.
Source : | <urn:uuid:391b1d82-96ef-4287-9e6f-67f302797bf5> | 3 | 2.625 | 0.327005 | en | 0.966674 | http://saysawesome.blogspot.com/2012/01/awesome-game-camel-wrestling-festival.html |
Political corruption in Japan: A study of the theory, causes and effects with particular reference to the Yakuza factor in banking scandals and prolonged recession
Date of Award
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
International Studies
First Committee Member
Bruce M. Bagley, Committee Chair
The reasons behind a nation's economic slump are multifarious and complex and these slumps are often cyclical in nature-having to do with natural boom and bust periods, overproduction, shrinkage of export markets, loss of consumer confidence, etc. However, when a nation's economy does not recover on a cyclical up-curve, such as the one experienced in the mid- to late-nineties by most of the industrialized world, then one has to start to look for more specific and particular reasons---internal government policies, mismanagement of the economy, or errors in decision-making.One of the most insidious and difficult to detect reasons for an economic slump is corruption. For corruption to affect an economy on a massive enough scale to cause recession that corruption has to be widespread and at very high levels of policy making, part of the very fabric of the governing process. Those factors make it much more difficult to identify and to root out for, in many cases, those actually doing the investigating may themselves be tainted with the same brush---or may be frightened into keeping everything under wraps, fearing for their own lives or those of their families.The danger is even more keenly felt within an economy such as Japan's where the private and public sectors are so interwoven as to be practically indistinguishable or inseparable in some cases, and where the direction taken by the economy is very carefully planned (a result of the continuation of pre-Second World War policies when the Japanese government saw the positive results of the Soviet experiments in planned economies). It is also an economy that still runs on family or group dynamics rather than the rule of law or free market forces and one in which most disputes are settled on a personal level because of the lack of trust in the judiciary. This makes it very difficult to set up regulatory institutions to monitor the affairs of the various sectors of the economy.
Political Science, General; Sociology, Social Structure and Development; Business Administration, Banking
Link to Full Text | <urn:uuid:0bd382a4-2983-489e-9294-c1d8d931b59e> | 2 | 1.875 | 0.029192 | en | 0.92533 | http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/dissertations/2050/ |
Configuring DNS server to create a DNS zone
Admins can easily perform DNS configuration on Win2k Server for the purpose of creating a DNS zone.
System administrators can easily perform DNS configuration on Windows 2000 Server for the purpose of creating a...
DNS zone by using the appropriate snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console. The snap-in can be found in the Administrative Tools program folder.
First, let's be sure we understand the difference between a zone and a domain. A zone is merely a small part of a domain. For example, a domain may contain all of the data for, and But the zone contains only information for and references to the authoritative name servers for the subdomains.
In short, we can say that the domain name server stores information about part of the domain name space called a zone. The name server is authoritative for a particular zone. A single name server can be authoritative for many zones.
Going back to configuring the server, it's also possible to manually configure the text files that DNS creates (for Unix fans). But using the DNS console makes it much easier to see your DNS namespace configuration as well as to make modifications.
To create a new DNS zone:
1. Open the DNS management console from Administrative Tools in Control Panel.
2. From the Action menu, select New Zone. This opens up the New Zone Wizard that will guide you through the process.
3. Click Next.
4. The Zone Type dialog box allows you to select one of three types of zone to create:
• Active Directory–Integrated. This option stores all DNS information in the Active Directory. If your entire domain infrastructure is run on a Windows 2000 platform, this is a good selection.
• Standard Primary. This option stores the information in a text file, like most non-Windows 2000 DNS servers. It is useful if you need to transfer information between different types of DNS servers.
• Standard Secondary. This option creates a copy of an existing zone. These are generally used to provide redundancy or load balancing of DNS on a network. Note: Choosing the proper zone is critical. If you have any doubts about what to select, choose Standard Primary.
5. Now, click Next to open the Forward or Reverse Lookup Zone dialog box.
6. Choose Forward Lookup Zone. A forward lookup zone resolves names to IP addresses. A reverse lookup zone allows users to resolve an IP address to a system name. However, reverse zones are rarely used.
7. In the Zone Name dialog box, enter the name of the new zone, for example, Zone names can indicate a domain, such as, or a subdomain, such as
8. Click Next to open the Zone file dialog box. This allows you to select the name of the zone file, or to load an existing zone file. Zone files are stored in %winroot%\system32\dns.
9. If this is a new server, select Create New File. If you have a zone file already, select Use This Existing File.
10. Click Next to open the Completing the New Zone Wizard dialog box, which will give you a summary of the information you have input.
11. Check the information you have input, as you can still go back and change it.
12. Click Finish to complete the zone creation.
More information on this topic:
This was last published in January 2007
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Dragon Eggs are not as common as they used to be but they are still around. Jenna found Spit Fyre's egg in the tunnels beneath Aunt Zelda's cottage and gave it to Septimus, neither knowing its true identity then.
Dragon Eggs are impossible smooth and oval shaped. They resemble large stones. They are also said by Septimus to give off a slight luminescent sheen in the light. They can only be hatched in a specific order of unique steps.
Steps to Hatch a Dragon Egg
1. Sustain heat surrounding the dragon egg at a minimum of eighty degrees for at least twenty-four hours
2. Keep the dragon egg supplied with constant warmth for at least a year and a day (It is recommended that you sleep with the egg under your pillow), providing the sensation of movement for at least eight hours a day.
3. After the year and a day, the dragon must receive a sharp tap on its shell to wake it up. (Dropping it onto a stone surface from head height should do the trick.)
4. Finally, provide the dragon egg with a touch of Darknesse, possible methods include: Leaving the egg outside a Darke Witch Coven's house overnight, or wrapping the egg in a Darke spell at midnight
5. Your dragon is now ready to hatch!
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Building a Book: Part 4, The End
So here we are, at the very end. The last 25% of your novel. Congrats to everyone who's made it this far, whether it was for NaNoWriMo, or has been years in the making. So, in the first three parts of this little series so far, we've gone over the introduction, and we've split the middle into the first half and the second half. This part is going over the very end.
The nice thing about reaching this point, is that compared to the rest, this should be easy. At this point there are three main sections to fill out.
First is the last burst of rising action. By now, your characters know what they're facing, have prepared for it, and baring a few attempts to slow them down by the malign force, they're on their way to confront the villain. In Fantasy, this is usually where the last big battle with the monster army starts. The heroes have to fight their way through all the small fry to get to the mastermind. Or maybe they have to storm the castle-base. You get the idea. There's no reason to jump right to the climax right at the 75% mark.
We've been over rising action and escalation in the previous two posts, so I think you know the routine by now. Top what happened last, but make sure you're not overshadowing the climax itself. Easy-peasy.
Is everybody here? Let's get this over with, then.
Now we get to the final battle. The inexorable question. Who wins, and who loses. Now, in some genre's it's almost a foregone conclusion, but I write horror, so it does apply. The hero doesn't have to win every time, you know. There is one major problem that occasionally happens though with the grand climaxes in a good novel.
Yeah. It can sometimes be over that quick.
All that work leading up to the grand finale, the final confrontation, the apocalyptic battle. And suddenly, it's over in one page, maybe two. Sometimes it happens. I mean, in Fantasy it happens that along the journey, the heroes discover the villain's weakness and embark on a quest to obtain the one item which will defeat them. Then, at the end, all they have to do is use it. The villains powers are nullified, he becomes mortal, and off with his head. Of course, things don't necessarily have to be, or generally are that easy, but it does happen. When it does, don't panic. After all, this is your book, and it all comes down to what you want to happen. Maybe the item they quested for doesn't actually work, and the heroes have to try to win the hard way. Maybe the quest to get the item was a ruse all along and the point was to make the heroes stronger on their own to overcome the villain. Maybe the heroes or the villain makes an escape, setting up a sequel. You're a writer, you're creative. YOU figure it out.
Now, I'm not actually against plotting, per say, but I greatly prefer letting the characters lead the way. When this happens, you may not reach the climax exactly how you envisioned it to begin with. If you had previously envisioned your finale working out a certain way, it can cause havoc when your characters arrive in better or worse shape than you had planned. In my current work "Hannah", I envisioned the beginning of the climactic scene, where the beast returns to the family's house in the middle of the night. I honestly have no clue what happens next. Already the story has surprised me with the additions of characters I hadn't planned on and twists that weren't in my list of scenes to write in. It also allows me to enjoy writing it more, as I get to find out what happens as I write, instead of having hoops set up and knowing who does what, when, and how effective it is.
In my opinion, the climax should come somewhere between the 80 to 90% of the book. After all, people generally wouldn't appreciate it if you chopped off the monster's head and then had "The End" as the next two words. After all that time getting to know the characters, we want to know how things work out. How do they deal with those lost along the way? Do their relationships remain strong? Does Uncle Benny move to Alaska? That kind of stuff. People want to know if there is the final, happy ending.
There are two types of endings, really. The immediate, and the Epilogue. The immediate ending is the conversation between the characters about what happens now, as they walk through the castle back out the front door and travel home again. This is the ending which follows the climax without a break and is mostly telling the reader what the character's plans for the future are now that this villain has been vanquished. It commonly includes taking home their treasure, and settling down.
The other ending is the epilogue. Usually, with one of these, there is also a short immediate ending, to let you know that, yes, the main story is over and there's no more big monsters in the way. The meat of the epilogue happens a fair bit of time afterward. Anywhere from weeks, to months, or even years later. It shows the lives the characters are living now, along with commonly having them looking back on what has happened since as well as plans for the future, and it is generally a more satisfying ending.
Now, at this point, I have to face reality and realize that there's no way I'm finishing "Hannah" on time for the end of the month. If I can get up the gumption to get back to work on it, I could probably get up to 40,000 by November 30th, but I'm not really all that concerned. Over half a book in one month is still a heck of an accomplishment and I should easily get the first draft done by the end of the year. So, expect this series to continue once I get to that point.
Anyway, my fellow writers, and anyone who likes this month's posts. Add in your email in the top right to get a notice and a link for when I do a new post. So keep writing, and Happy Thanksgiving to all!
~ Shaun
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Personal Rant #3: Support
In Stephen King's book On Writing, he talks about the early days, when he was still a struggling English teacher and his most lucrative work was a short story sold to Playboy Magazine. He talks about his wife, who also worked full-time and the glamorous trailer, dying car, and pile of bills they shared. He says at one point "If she had said to me, Steve, it's time to put the writing aside and take a position that can support your family, I would've put away the typewriter right then and there. But that statement never came." Of course, one thing that can be proof of is that if you love someone, then nothing else really matters as long as the bare necessities are covered. The other thing that is proof of, is how important it is to have people that approve of and support you in what you want to do.
I'm not talking about financially, although at the worst times, it can come down to the choice between keeping a roof overhead and food on table or chasing a dream. After all, unless you're a pokemon, you can't eat dreams. I'm talking about support emotionally and mentally.
Specifically, I'm talking about writing, but this applies to anything you want to do. A lot of things can be done solely on your own back, but a lot of things aren't that clear-cut. Writing is a very solitary business. Sitting at the computer, typing away for hours every day, sacrificing time that could be spent with friends, family, relaxing, or even at another job. For weeks, then months, it can drag on. And despite that it's not particularly physically demanding, it can be a very draining experience. People aren't meant to be solitary creatures and when doing something like that, they need the support of those around them. They need to be assured that the sacrifices will be worth it and that the parts of the life being sacrificed stand behind you to help you do what you want to do.
When you don't have support, it makes things that much harder.
When you turn down hanging out with friends to write. When you sit at home instead of going out to ensure you can afford the cover, editing, and marketing that your work will need to be professional. When you take your work with you to family gatherings to do. When you do all those things and people tell you that you need to put it all away and get a "real job", it is an incredible weight on it's own.
Now, I'm not talking about constructive criticism. Sometimes, people will want to do things they just aren't good at, and nor will they ever be. At some point, someone who is aware of the sacrifices made and that has objectively looked at the end result should probably sit down and talk to them about it, but honestly, and because it's true. Not because they just don't believe in them.
But when people who haven't looked at your work, who either aren't aware of or care about the sacrifices already made are saying things like "Get a real job" and "It's nice, but how long until you start making money?", it's more of a burden than having people say nothing at all. They might mean well enough, but all they're doing is making an already difficult task even harder with their own ignorance.
Three guesses which end of that spectrum I'm at, and the first two don't count.
My family isn't exactly the best at being supportive. Often they do it at the wrong times for the wrong reasons, and then don't when it is actually appropriate. Those comments I listed above: "Get a real job" and "You need to make some money" are both things I've been told multiple times, by people who have no idea how much effort, money, or time has gone into this. Nor have any of them actually read any of my work, despite a few of them buying the books. I can't even ASK them to support me, by something as simple as sharing posts to let their friends know my latest book is out or offer my book cards at their meetings or what-have-you. I tried that twice. Once, I was told sure they would and I gave them a small stack of cards. That stack was sitting untouched exactly where I had put it a month later. The second time, I got the full eye-roll.
So for those of you that are so oblivious, I suggest the next time you're going to whine about someone following their dream, do it in a mirror first. See how you look when you say it, and if you can, try to imagine what that might feel like to be on that other end.
For those of you who have to deal with family and friends that aren't supportive, remember, you're not writing for them. You're writing for yourself. You're writing for the people that actually READ your works. And, you're writing because for one reason or another, you just have to. Power on through it regardless, and all on your own if that's what it comes down to. The only person you should care about letting down in this situation, is yourself.
I'm willing to bet more people fail to achieve their dreams because the people that should have been supporting them turned their backs on them instead, more than any other reason.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Building a Book: Part 3
Congratulations, if you're working on a book for NaNoWriMo or just as you read along with my series here, you should be at the halfway point, or just past by now. To remind you of where we are and how a book generally goes, I'm going to start with this image again.
Now, as we discussed last time, the middle of the book is usually the hardest part to write. The first 25 - 50% being the worst of the section. Now that we're getting into the meat of the story, things get a little bit easier. From 50 to 75% is where things start to get fun and hell starts breaking loose.
Now, to start, part of this is a continuation of what you did in the first half, with rising action, and worldly and character reactions. However, a lot of what came before should be done with unless you're aiming for some unexpected twist.
Characters that we first met in the introduction should be fully fleshed out by this point, with backgrounds explained, as well as character flaws, hopes, dreams, and partially why they find themselves in such a predicament as the story suggests. Minor characters that we met later on, can have a bit of time devoted to them to help explain their impact and so that we care when something happens to them, but that should be kept to a minimum for the most part. After all, characters we're meeting this late are likely to be victim fodder or there to give us an insight into how the main characters are starting to appear to the outside world. Things akin to "Oh my, Anne said something living under the Rhododendron bushes ate her dog. I think she's going crazy."
The main focus at this point is the rising action and the escalation. It's generally about this point that the main characters start putting two and two together as things get more and more out of hand and the story almost changes to a race to reach the climax. Now, while, depending on the story, this can be fairly smooth sailing at this point compared to the first half of the book, it can also get confusing and often, things fall short of what we expected. When it happens that scenes don't seem to stretch as far as we want, it can be easy to get lost and not know what else to add. Also, escalation can become an issue when you have between several to over a dozen separate scenes to add suspense and move things along.
Pictured: One form of escalation. (Ok, break's over.)
Now, for a suggestion of how to tackle these issues. I'm going to talk about how I tackled the issues for my work for the month. Before I even started to write, I made out a list of a dozen scenes and ideas I could incorporate into the work. I then organized that list into the order I thought worked the best in terms of escalation (and there were a few that were pretty close in terms of the suspense and fear they provoke), and then had a few friends look it over and put them in the order they thought the list should go in. Now, granted, most of them were looking at the list with no idea what the characters were like and had little to go on other than the very basic ideas on the list, but most of them came out the same I had envisioned, so I'm pretty sure I got the order right.
You'll commonly find though, that things change as you write, and that tends to be a good thing. It's one thing to have a plot and pre-set events, but forcing characters along from one to the next just to jump through the hoop usually leads to characters making unbelievable choices given what we know about them and how much they're aware of the situation. (Really, is there anyone out there who hasn't watched a horror movie and screamed "Don't go in there!!" at some point?) I've found in the writing that while the order of some things are intact, some have been switched up as the story progresses more organically. It's also something to keep in mind that the story usually lends itself to suspense when done right, and it's not just an issue of "How suspenseful is this scene?" but an issue of "How suspenseful is this scene in the current context of the story?". When things take off on their own, it can occasionally happen that by the time you reach a certain scene, the suspense has already been ratcheted up so high that the scene doesn't add anything more to it. When that happens, you need to look at it objectively and ask if you can change things realistically so that it works, or whether the story is better off without it. For NaNoWriMo though, we're focused on quantity over quality, and cuts like that are made for revisions anyway, so for now, add it all in, figure out what works and what doesn't later.
Then there's the climax. The ultimate high point you've been reaching for this whole time. You have to make sure every scene escalates, and reaches for it, but that nothing eclipses it before you get there, or gives away a final plot twist. While some would include the climax at the tail end of this section, I think if your story maxes out at 75% or less, you're probably moving too quickly. Despite the graph above, the falling action and resolution shouldn't take up another 25% of your book. If things need that much explaining after the final confrontation/reveal, it's another hint that you might need to go back and take another look. That's more a topic for next time though.
In the meantime, keep writing, let Hell slowly break loose in your world, and enjoy the ride, because if you aren't enjoying it while you write it, chances are readers aren't going to enjoy it as they read it either.
~ Shaun
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Building a Book: Part 2
So you've got your characters, you've got your ideas, and you've done introductions all around.
Hi. My name is Jared, and I'm the antagonist. Although none of you know that yet.
This is where things start to get tricky. That funny little space between the beginning and the end commonly known as, The Middle.
Now, for the purposes of this discussion, (and to make this little series last the whole month.), we're going to focus on the front half of the middle. Let's say, from 25% to 50%. A normal story, works like you see below. You have the exposition, or the introduction, where you introduce the characters, setting, and occasionally the beginning of the conflict. In a novel, you have a lot more space to work with, so you'll generally go about, allowing the readers to get a feel for the characters, while still trying to drop a hint here or there to keep things interested and to provide a little bit of foreshadowing. In current novels, this introduction section should never be more than 25% of the book. Older novels might stretch that to 35 or even 50%, but that's asking a lot from today's audience who are used to 15 second commercials, 24 hour delivery, and 2 gigabyte download speeds.
After the introduction, is the rising action part of the story. In a novel, this section can easily stretch upwards of 25,000 words by itself. This can also be the hardest part of a novel to write. After all, you've introduced the characters, the setting, maybe the start of the conflict, but it's nowhere near time for the bad stuff to happen and you've got a long ways to go to get to that point. So what do you fill the time with so that you can hold your reader's attention and lead them along without getting bored?
Well, as the graph says, this is the start of the rising action. It's not like you can't do things here and there to keep things moving. In a horror movie, this is the point where you get the little things, like lights flicking on and off, maybe a door opens and closes when nobody's watching. A little further up the hill, the characters start to notice things themselves, but either nobody believes them, or they don't connect what happens to any impending sense of peril.
This is also the part where you fill in the world around your characters, and you delve into any needed back-story. Things which are important to understanding the characters, but which weren't necessarily Introduction material. After all, on a first date, you wouldn't try to impress someone with stories of your weird uncle who keeps over 100 named cockroaches as pets in his bedroom, or that your ex got a two-year prison sentence for assault just under two years ago.
So you've got relevant back-story, a few creaks and groans in the night, that isn't enough by itself to fill the space, so what else? Well, actually, that should do it. Remember, you're not just showing how the characters are reacting to what happens to them, you also need to establish the world around them and how the world reacts to the characters reactions. This goes a long way to making the story more believable, allowing it to better draw emotions out of the reader. For example, zombies are slowly making their way into a small town. The main character finds and kills one outside a local store. Obviously there are going to be witnesses, as well as no small amount of blood on the character's hands. The question is, if the rest of the town isn't aware of the zombies, how would they react to this otherwise bloody murder that just happened in front of them? Assume there was a good reason and go back to their business like nothing happened, or are they likely to call the cops? If they don't call the cops, either because they knew it was a zombie or some other reason, it better be explained and believable, and not something like; "Oh, the guy was a prick anyway, he had it coming."
The last bit I want to go over is escalation. Remember, this is rising action. Things need to be progressive. If you have a massive first scene followed by a long period of quiet, it better be explained and for a good reason. Having things escalate helps to create a sense that things are getting worse, as opposed to getting better. There's a reason you see movies like Paranormal Activity start with rattling pots and pans, move up to doors slamming, and then we see the characters getting flung through the air. If it went in the opposite order, it would be calming down to nothing, and there would be no final climax to worry about.
Sorry about the mix-up, I'll be back later, say, around 3 AM.
With all that, you shouldn't have any real trouble keeping things interesting for the second quarter of your book. And, if done right, you'll have characters that are fully fleshed out, believable, and that the readers care about by the mid-point of your story. At that point, as the author, you should be ready for all hell to break loose.
~ Shaun
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Building a Book
It's November, which means National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. To jump right to more information on what that means, click here.
The jist of it is this. You have the month of November, or 30 days, to write a minimum 50,000 word novel. It means writing every day and has become a fairly widely known challenge that amateur writer and professional novelists alike step up to. I signed up last year, but was distracted by too many other things to really take part, so I'm giving it a go this year and through my blog here, I'm inviting you all to follow along. Hopefully this won't get too boring and will eventually go through the entire process of writing and publishing a novel, as I go through the writing, revising, editing, cover art, formatting, and finally, uploading and publishing to Kindle, Createspace, and/or Smashwords.
So, where else to start but the beginning?
When you sit down to start a book, it's a good idea to have a few things lined up already.
1. An idea. This seems obvious, but it is probably the most important thing. If you don't even have an idea, you probably don't have any business sitting down and starting a story. A basic idea doesn't really count either. You need something that will create conflict, and that will actually last and be entertaining for the length of story you want it to be. While it is possible to stretch a short story into a novel or compress a novel into a short story, the works will usually suffer for it, by focusing on things that don't matter, or by not giving people enough time to care about the characters, and thus, the story. Now, that doesn't mean your idea can't be simple. Lots of simple ideas have plenty of depth to them. For instance, the dead rising and attacking the living. It's a simple idea, but once you get into the real connotations of it, and what it means, you find there is so much more going on. The idea of the dead rising up and attacking the living is a simple idea, but in the writing of a story about that, you get into such themes as how people react to that in general, how they react to seeing dead family members, how they protect themselves and how they stop/survive/or die in the ensuing chaos.
2. Characters. Obviously, if you have an idea, you need people that that idea happens to. The more fleshed out those characters are, the better. Even in short stories, caring about the characters means caring about what happens to them, which equals caring about the story, and that is how a lot of the best stories are made. So whether you have one character throughout the entire piece, a family, or even the population of an entire town, you need to show that these are real people, worthy of compassion. They need to have strengths and weaknesses, flaws, pasts, and hopes for the future. One point I want to make, when you have multiple characters introduced, you need to make sure they are all included in the story. If you have a family that all lives together, you can't get away with focusing on one member of the family and have everyone else walking around like everything is normal. Even if they aren't affected directly by whatever is influencing the main character, they will react to the changes in the main character, despite the way the world is sometimes shown these days; most people will not just accept the statement that nothing is wrong from someone they care about when there is obviously a change in their behavior, demeanor, or look. So even when a story is focused around one character, keep in mind there are people around him, reacting to what he does and however he expresses what's happening to him.
The Beginning
The first chapter is one of the most important. First impressions matter, and in telling a story, it's no different. You need to establish the quality of your writing as something worthy of the readers time, in addition to introducing the major characters, what they look like, a sense of who they are and setting up the story to come. Then there is the Hook.
The Hook is what gets people to read past the first few pages or the first chapter. It is the very beginning of the story, told in a way that makes people want to read more. It is the hint that things are about to go very, very wrong for the people you've just introduced. (Or, at the very least, that things are about to change for them, if you're not writing horror or some kind of action/thriller story.) This is important, people are used to instant gratification these days and books which take more than 25% of their length to really get in gear are going to lose a lot of readers before anything good starts.
So, how is my progress coming along?
My idea is basically Cujo meets The Exorcist (Horror, surprising, I know). Before November 1st, I sat down and hashed out a general outline, with a dozen plot points to hit through the story, in addition to the order I wanted them in. My main characters have been named and described, as well as some of their good points and their flaws. My hook is in place, and while it hasn't been set, I am comfortable the bait on it so far will tempt more people to bite than to not. This is still only the 5th, though, so there is still a long way to go. Hopefully you'll all keep up with me.
~ Shaun | <urn:uuid:028233c6-7b56-4156-a031-609090e44721> | 2 | 1.578125 | 0.541655 | en | 0.978814 | http://shaunhorton.blogspot.com/2013_11_01_archive.html |
It’s All About Customers!
Your success depends on finding enough customers before you run out of investment money.
Every decision a growing company makes should be measured as to if it will help you get enough customers in the limited time you have to succeed.
How much you spend on equipment, what training you invest in, and how you spend your time must be justified by how these concerns will produce customers.
First time owners instead get hung up on being the best cleaner. What good will it do if you are the best when no one knows you exist? Yes, it sure helps to know what you are doing. But again, if your phone isn’t ringing, it will all be wasted effort. Finding the balance is critical.
Not that hard
It’s actually not that complicated to succeed. Almost anyone can do it. The reason so few companies actually make it though, is that most have never been trained to start a business. New owners often think they can learn as they go. They think, “How hard can it be?” What they don’t understand is that the simple steps to success are buried amongst thousands of wasted things to do. Without someone to point out which tasks should and shouldn’t be done, it will be a random guessing game. The price for failing to succeed is just too high to leave it up to chance.
Opening a four digit bicycle lock is easy for a child who knows the combination; but that same lock will stop potential bike thieves in their tracks because it is too difficult to open if the combination is unknown.
A guide is needed
carpet-cleaning-successAn experienced guide holds the simple solution for building a business. Getting the profitable customers depends on knowing what to do and, what not to do. Having someone show you the most direct path is what makes starting and growing a business easy and fast.
Critical decisions dealing with operations and strategy, to administration and marketing, must be made. The better those decisions are, the greater speed and chance of success. Every poor choice made consumes limited resources and time.
How do you know how much should be spent on equipment? What is needed for a website, is SEO needed, does social media produce jobs? How much should be charged, charge by the room or square foot, which advertising sources should be used?
A good guide knows how to make the most of your time, energy, and money. There should never be a doubt as to what are the most important projects you should be working on.
Benefits of using a guide
There are only a limited number of building blocks that go into creating a profitable cleaning company. If you know what these are, it takes very little time until you can be making an income and profit from it. This is similar to the child being able to easily open a bicycle lock since he knows the correct combination. It makes no sense to try to randomly attempt to start from scratch and try to figure it all out on your own.
The do-it-yourself approach takes longer because you need to research all of the options and then decide which one is best for your situation. On your own, you will have to do this for each and every decision you make. With an experienced guide, you can jump directly to the best answer.
Single Truck Success Master
Single Truck Success MasterSteve Marsh is the undisputed industry master at taking companies from startup to net- ting $100,000 annually and beyond (Take home income for the owner).
• Unmatched technical expertise: For over 15 years while was running his company, Steve was the most certified and experience hands-on carpet cleaner in the country. As a Senior Carpet Inspector, instructor (20 years), Master Cleaner, and recognized as the leading on-location upholstery cleaning expert and trainer in the country, there is no one more experience to guide you through the technical learning process of cleaning.
• Industry's Yelp and Angie's List expert: Steve has written many articles on this subject for multiple magazines. He has personally helped dozens of companies shape their company profiles and determined how to get the most for both free and paid services from these consumer review sites.
Two Step ProcessTwo Step Process
Business success requires two steps. The first is to create a continuous flow of profitable customers. Then the second step is to transform those customers into far more profitable repeat and referral clients. Most people think this can be done in one step and struggle attempting to do it that way.
The first step is what is all about. Everything you need to know to build your business to the point of a full schedule of profitable customers is included along with a guidance to help make the best decisions and keep you growing at the pace you choose.
The second step is the Be Competition Free program which is a complete and turnkey system which transforms your customer base into a profitable repeat and referral clientele.
You get to decide how fast you want to grow your business. It is possible to have help and encouragement on a daily basis.
Program Details and Pricing
Check out the two programs below to find out more. | <urn:uuid:8b964413-050d-49e6-b9fa-f4fc9a160b1c> | 2 | 1.640625 | 0.07932 | en | 0.966148 | http://singletrucksuccess.com/ |
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Well Being Feeling Better
Well Being Program 1
Well Being Program 1: Feeling Better
Interactive Transcript
Click on a word to move video to that point
Well being is something we all desire. But staying healthy and feeling good can be quite a challenge, especially with the stresses that pervade every aspect of our lives today.
Everyone is aware that
regular exercise and eating healthily are two essential steps to well being.
In this
series, you'll learn about a third step, relaxation. Not just sitting around but some specific activities that trigger your body's relaxation response. You'll learn about the importance of deep relaxation for reducing the harmful effects of stress, along with a series of easy to do relaxation skills.
through our weekly questionnaire, you'll gain an awareness of how stress may be affecting you.
So get a paper and pencil ready and join us as we
take the next step to well being.
[music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]
Few of us are aware of how
stress erodes our sense of well being. In this program, you'll find out what causes stress. This week's questionnaire will help you recognize how stress is affecting you and we'll show you what you can do about it.
Eli Bay,
Director of the Relaxation Response Institute in Toronto is a pioneer in the teaching of relaxation skills for stress management.
Eli: Stress is
not all bad. In fact, we need a certain amount of stress to get out of bed in the morning. Without stress, we wouldn't be alive. Stress is the fuel that gets things done. It motivates us to live and to work in the world efficiently.
Too much stress,
however, excessive stress becomes a problem. And it really affects every aspect of our life including our health right through to our relationships.
term stress was first coined by the late Dr. Hans Selye from the University of Montreal. And Selye analyzed 1000s of research studies that sort of looked at how the body reacts to injury, to excessive stimulation, to unusual work demands. And he discovered that our bodies react to all of these different demands in much the same way. Like most animals, humans have a built-in stress alarm system called a fight or flight reaction. And its purpose is to help us to react quickly to life threatening events. It's automatic. It mobilizes our body to protect itself by fighting or running away from the threat.
either case, your blood pressure rises, your heart beat speeds up, your muscles contract. It's a whole arousal state. And when this arousal state is turned on, that medically is what stress is.
Deepak: So what does this stress response
have to do with our daily lives? How often do we face life threatening situations where we have to take flight or fight for our lives.
Dr. Posen: Well it's an interesting thing because
I've actually heard the phrase that the stress response is dumb. You get the same reaction no matter what the trigger or stimulus.
So it's like a computer switch,
it's either on or its off. And the body in a sense only has one way of responding. It can be a severe reaction or a mild one. But the reaction is the same every time.
The interesting
thing is, when we know that anything that is life threatening, this physical danger, will result in a stress reaction. But the same thing happens when you feel your self esteem to be threatened. So if somebody yells at you or criticizes you or if you have an argument, and you start to feel not good about yourself or insecure with that person, that threat to your self esteem or identity will actually for some people be as threatening as if it were life threatening in a physical way.
And then the other thing is,
when people have an on-going stress reaction, whether it's -- and most things aren't life threatening -- your body is in a state of arousal, ready to fight or run away from danger. In most cases, fighting and running away are not appropriate responses.
So what happens
is the stress response, the state of arousal continues. And if it goes on for minutes or hours, it can result in actually physical or psychological symptoms. It's almost like if a muscle is tense long enough, it will become sore and stiff. And that's what happens throughout the body in a stress reaction, but not only to the muscles, but in terms of internal organs and digestive upsets and so on.
Deepak: Many of us are
so bombarded by stressful situations that by the end of the day, our bodies are reacting as if we had just been through a life threatening situation. Even though our brains know that our lives are not literally in danger, our bodies apparently don't.
But why
does this stress continue to build up? If the body is smart enough to turn the fight or flight response on, isn't it smart enough to turn it off at the end of a stressful day?
Eli: We would
almost be better off if the stressful events were life threatening. If the source of stress is identifiable, then it's obvious when the danger has passed and the body can naturally relax.
Our problem in this technological age is that stress
comes from many sources. The source of our stress is so undefined, so ambiguous, so prolonged, that our bodies never know when its over. So our stress mechanisms don't turn off.
As a result, most of us are in a state of
chronic stress and we are not even aware of it.
Sheila: About 6 months ago if you had told me
that I was stressed, I wouldn't even had known it. I would've said, "No that's just me. That's the way that I respond to things."
But now I can
actually feel the difference. I know when my body is relaxed. I know when my mind is relaxed and I know when it's not.
Dr. Posen: Raising people's awareness
and consciousness of how stress shows up for them has several important benefits. First of all, they become aware of their stress where often they weren't. In other cases, it helps them monitor their stress. Because once you know how it is showing up for you, you can know when it is getting better or worse if you know what to watch for.
But another thing that is very interesting
that blocks people from dealing with stress is the problem of denial. A lot of people find it very difficult to admit when they are experiencing stress, and they just won't admit it, they will deny it. And it's the sub-conscious process. And to get through that barrier, having people actually look at check-lists, sometimes brings to their awareness things that are impossible for them to ignore. If they said yes to 14 questions, then it's pretty hard to say, "But I don't have stress."
Eli: Actually the very best way to determine how
well you are dealing with stress is to listen to your own body. But that's a fairly sophisticated awareness that takes some time to develop.
There are other ways.
There are in fact research scientists over the past several decades that have been exploring and trying to figure out ways to help us develop understanding about the stress in our own lives. And over these 8 programs, we are going to be looking at a number of different stress tests or questionnaires or evaluations, and you'll have an opportunity to test yourself and see how well you are dealing with stress.
test will spotlight a different aspect of stress.
Deepak: Ahh, so we'll be able to evaluate ourselves?
Eli: Yes,
that's the objective -- to be able to get an understanding, a self-evaluation of various aspects of stresses in your life.
In today's test,
it's a test that's going to look at just life change and not looking at the macro changes, the changes in the culture of the technology. But just life changes, day to day things that we all experience in various times in our life.
Drs. Holmes and Rahe, a couple of medical researchers at
the University of Washington Medical School developed this test roughly 25 years ago. And they've tested it on 10,000's of people. And they found it to be an extremely accurate predictor of illness. That the more change that one has in a short period of time, the higher the statistical probability that one will develop an illness as a result of those changes.
Deepak: So by taking
this test, we're going to find out whether or not we'll get sick?
Eli: Well, no. We are going to look at statistical
probabilities. The more change, the higher the probability.
Trend is
not destiny. It's not a question of you becoming ill as a result of this test. Although it's an indicator and certainly one should be aware that if you score highly on this test, there is really a high probability of becoming ill.
We'll talk about that once we've done the scoring.
Deepak: OK, so let's take the test. Can you tell us how it works?
Eli: Yes, you are going to be presented with a list of
life events that have been weighted according to the amount of adjustment or change that is required to deal with that event.
For example,
if your spouse died within the last 12 months, you would get 100 change units. The researchers have discovered that universally, cross culturally, that the death of a spouse is the most stressful event.
In fact, researchers have discovered that from up to
two years after a spouse dies, the surviving spouse's immune system is about half the strength of what it should be.
So if your spouse
died, write down 100 on the piece of paper. If your spouse didn't die, then you don't write anything down.
If you had a close family
member that died within the last 12 months, you get 63 change points. If you had two close family members that had died, you'd get 63 * 2.
Deepak: It
sounds like we are going to be adding these numbers up.
Eli: Yes, so as each event occurs
for you, write down the number so that you can total it up at the end. And don't worry if you don't have a pencil and paper handy. Just pay attention to the event so that you get a sense of the life changes that have occurred in your life in the last year, to give you some sense of the kind of stresses that you are experiencing. Some of which may come as a real surprise to you.
this test is contained in the home study package, so you can refer to that in more detail.
The first
question, death of a spouse. If your spouse died within the last 12 months, give yourself 100 change points. Write it down.
If you had a close family member that passed away
within the past 12 months, give yourself 63 change points.
If you had a friend that died within the last year,
37 change points.
Now, let's look at change in marital
status. If you were divorced within the last year, 73 change points -- it's a major, stressful event.
If you were separated within the
last year, 65 change points.
If you were
married within the last year, you get 50 change points.
Now marriage seems an anomaly here.
You can certainly recognize the other events as being stressful. Marriage is perceived as a positive, at least in the beginning. And yet marriage here is rated as an extremely stressful event because of change.
Again, if you understand
nothing else but the equation change equals stress, you'll go a long way towards understanding both the nature and the problem of stress in our time.
So even a positive event like getting married
can be an extremely stressful event.
If you had a marital reconciliation in the last year,
give yourself 45 change units.
If you had
sexual difficulties, 39 change units.
The next category is the change in
family relationships. If you were pregnant within the last year, you get 40 change units.
you gained a new family member in the last year, 39 change units.
Deepak: Eli, I've got a problem
with this one. Because my daughter is 12.5 months old and I'm not sure whether to count this one or not.
Eli: Well Deepak, that's a very good
question and the answer I'm going to give you applies to all of the questions. We aren't talking hard and defined lines, it's roughly. You are looking at the amount of adaptations that have occurred in roughly the last year. So you can apply that to all of these.
Deepak: So
she is in!
Eli: She's in.
So the next
one, son or daughter leaves home -- 29 change units.
If you've had trouble with your
in-laws in the last year, 29 change points.
If you've had a change in the number of arguments with your spouse, that could be
fewer arguments as well as more, 35 chance points.
is another area, encounter with the legal system. If you had a jail term within the last year, you get 63 change units.
If you had a minor
violation of the law such as as speeding ticket, you get 11 change points. If you had 5 speeding tickets, let me remind you, it's 11 times 5.
If you had a personal injury or illness
in the last year, 53 change units. If you had a change in the health of a family member in the last year, 44 change units.
there is another area here, change in work situation. If you were fired from your job in the last 12 months, give yourself 47 change units. If you had a business readjustment, say you had to lay staff off, 39 change units.
If you changed to a different
line of work, 36 change units.
If you had a change
in your responsibilities at work, 29 change units -- for example if you were promoted.
If you have trouble with your boss, 23 change units.
If you had to change the number of work
hours or conditions, even if you work less, 20 change units.
If you retired within the
last year, 45 change units.
The next
area is major financial changes. If you are carrying a large mortgage, we're looking at 38 change units.
If you had a mortgage
greater than 1 years income, then give yourself 31 change points.
If you had a
foreclosure of a mortgage, 30 change points.
If your spouse
began or stopped work in the last year, give yourself 26 change points.
If you are
carrying a small mortgage or a loan, 17 change points.
area -- change in routines. If you had a change in living conditions in the last year, 25 change points.
If you changed your personal
habits, say you stopped smoking, give yourself 24 change points.
If you had a change in
residence, if you moved, 20 change points.
If you
changed your school, also 20 change points.
If you had an outstanding personal achievement,
28 change points.
That's another surprise for people. Most people
don't associate something positive like this with stress. But again, we are looking at change and stress being related to one another.
Even in the next area,
change in activities, it's even more dramatic. Change in recreational patterns, 19 change points.
So if you took up tennis in the
last year, we are looking at 19 points.
If you had a change in church activities -- if
you are going to church less than you did a year earlier, we're looking at 19 change points.
If you've had a change
in social activities, you've taken on new friends, 18 change points.
If you've changed
your sleeping patterns, you are commuting now and you have to get up an hour earlier and go to bed an hour later, we're looking at 16 change points.
If you had a change in the number of family
get-togethers in the last year, 15 points.
If you
had a change in your eating habits, so for example if you decided to give up or cut down on your red meat, 15 change points.
Things that you
wouldn't normally consider as being stressful are on this test. They aren't major, but they do impact in total on us.
And this last segment, deals with holidays. If you had a
vacation within the last year, give yourself 13 change units. You may be surprised to say vacation as a cause of stress -- that's how I deal with my stress. And yet if any of you have ever left a nice, cold climate and flown south to a warmer climate and changed your diet, changed your routine, and gotten sick while on holiday or sick soon after returning where that change however positive and well deserved kind of just tips the balance of health and illness.
And even here
the last question is Christmas. If you experienced Christmas within the last year, you get 12 change points. And everybody experiences Christmas.
Deepak: In one way or another I suppose.
Can I add up my scores
Eli: Let's leave that for later. I'd rather look at the implications
Researchers have found that the higher
the score, the more serious the illness. And in fact, after working with 10,000s of people over many decades, the research is quite precise. And they found that if you score over 300 change points in a 12 month period, there is an 89% chance that some illness will develop within the next 2 years.
If you score under 300 but more
than 150, sort of the mid-range, there is roughly a 50 - 50 chance that you'll get some illness within the next couple of years.
And if you score under 150, there is
roughly a 37% chance that some illness will emerge.
Deepak: Now that's fascinating.
If I understand the test correctly, the combination of a few things such as a death of someone close to you, the purchase of a new house and the mortgage that goes with it, and a promotion, it could add up to a serious possibility of getting sick in the next couple of years.
Eli: Yes, and these things can creep up on one very quickly.
Research has shown that the higher the score, the more serious illness likely results. And it could be anything from a cold to a flu, right through to heart disease to strokes to arthritis to even cancer.
Deepak: Eli, while you were
talking, I added up my score and came up with 179. Now that puts me in the middle range right here and that means that I have a better of even chance of getting sick in the next two years?
Eli: That's right.
Deepak: How serious is this? Should
I plan for it now?
Eli: No. Trend is not destiny.
What you should be aware of though is your body is undergoing a great deal of strain and stress as a result of these changes. And that there are things that you can do to prevent that stress from building to the point of illness.
Deepak: So what can we do?
Eli: We can learn to turn on the body's natural
anti-stress mechanism, the relaxation response.
The relaxation response
was first identified by Dr. Herbert Benson at Harvard Medical School back in the early 1970s. Benson, one of the world's foremost cardiologists, discovered in the course of his research that built into every single body was a natural anti-stress mechanism that is equal to but opposite of that of the body stress response.
In fact,
the model that Benson identified, I think I can best illustrate very simply -- if you imagine that my torso is the body's autonomic nervous system, we all have an autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system handles the so called automatic functions. You don't have to think about digesting your food or about breathing or having a heart beat. Those are conducted automatically by the autonomic nervous system.
The autonomic nervous system has two branches,
it has the sympathetic branch and a para-sympathetic branch. They are equal but opposite.
we experience stress, it is the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system that is turned on -- it's an arousal state. It's the same reaction if a cat were standing with its back arched, hair on end, ready to fight or to run.
That same reaction in us is what is literally called the body
stress mechanism. It's the arousal of the sympathetic nervous system.
What we are going to be
learning to turn on is the opposite, the para-sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system. It's a measurable and scientifically defined shift in the body -- and when it comes on, it literally shuts down the body stress mechanism. Again, it's measurable, your blood pressure drops, your heart rate slows down, your muscle tension is reduced, your metabolism slows down. Even your brain waves slow down.
And when
you turn on the body's relaxation response, it literally shuts down the body's stress response, right at the level of stress hormones.
Deepak: Now how do I do that?
Eli: There are many ways that you can learn to turn on the relaxation
response and that's what the intention of this whole series is about, to present you a number of practical effective techniques that will enable you to pretty much at will shut down the body stress response so the body can rest and recuperate properly.
I want to show you a very simple technique, a
breathing exercise that will enable you to control the levels of stress in your own system right at the level of stress hormones.
Deepak: Now breathing is something I do every day, how can it
cure all of my ills?
Eli: Well I'm not sure I can say that it will cure all of your
ailments but it will certainly give you a handle on the stresses that you experience in your day to day life.
is a rhythm that is with us from the moment we are born until the moment that we die. And very few people ever pay attention to their breathing. But it's important to realize that breathing and emotions are intimately connected.
When we
are tense, frightened, angry, our breathing is short and shallow and located in our chest. When we are relaxed, our breathing is easy and deep and located in our abdomen. And just the very act of breathing as if you are relaxed, enables you to become relaxed. It reflects the flow of hormones through your entire endocrine system. And by breathing slowly, deeply into the abdomen, the way a child breathes, you start to become relaxed regardless of the situation.
Deepak: Yeah, that's just like my daughter's breathing --
you can see her tummy rise and fall.
Eli: All children do it like that, we used to breathe
like that. In fact, that's really our birth right.
When we are children, we start to breathe into the
abdomen and as we accumulate stress and tension through our life, the breathing shifts up into the chest.
most adults tend to be chest breathers unless they've had woodwind training or theater training of voice training. Most adults tend to breathe in their chest which is related to stress.
And one of the most
easiest and practical ways to control the stress in your life is to be able to breathe as if you are relaxed.
Would you like me to show you
an exercise?
Deepak: Please.
Eli: Get
comfortable. And for those of you at home, you get much more out of this program by actually doing the program with us rather than just watching. So follow along with us.
one hand on your best and the other hand on your upper abdomen. Just focus your attention into your breathing and just be aware and see which hand is moving -- is your upper hand moving or your bottom hand moving? Are you breathing into your chest or into your upper abdomen?
So you are breathing into your chest? Most adults
tend to breathe into their chest. And the very simple act of just breathing in through your nose and guiding the air down into your abdomen, letting your abdomen rise and fall with each breath is really all that you need to do. So just in through the nose, letting your belly rise.. letting your belly fall.
You don't want your upper hand to move, you just want
to consciously direct the air into the bottom part of you lungs, so that as you bring in the abdomen rises, and as you breathe out the abdomen falls.
Deepak: It's
pretty simple.
I've seen this simple exercise transform people's lives.
If you just
remember that when you breathe as if you are relaxed, you start to become relaxed. This breathing exercise affects the flow of hormones through your whole body and literally has an effect on turning on the body's relaxation response which affects every aspect of your body. It affects you physically, mentally, emotionally. It affects every system of your body, digestive system, cardio-vascular system, respiratory system.
And you can do
the same. You can do this travelling on the bus or the subway. You can do this in the car even when you are driving as long as you do it with your eyes open.
You can do it anywhere. It's
unobtrusive, you could stand in front of 100s of people and do it. And I only invite you to try it and do it for 10 or 15 minutes and just observe and see what kinds of changes happen.
Most people are
really truly amazed at how practical and effective this is. If I had time to come and teach people only one exercise out of the 100s that I know, this is the one that I would teach. It is profound in its effects. Don't be put off because it's so simple. Who said it had to be difficult?
just to be able to breathe in this way all the time is a goal. If people practice this for 15 minutes a day over a period of 4 - 6 weeks, there is literally a re-training of the breathing apparatus so that at the end of a month or month and a half, most people are naturally reconnected with their diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing.
And your whole
baseline of stress changes. When you are breathing as if you are relaxed all the time, you stay at a lower level of stress.
Deepak: Well I'm certainly going to do this. But tell me,
how does this exercise fit in the series? You are going to show us a number of exercises?
Eli: Yes, we are going to look
at a number of different practical techniques that people can carry away with them.
Deepak: Are they all going to be as
simple as this?
Eli: Maybe not quite as simple, but some will be.
We're going to be looking at a range of different approaches. There
are physical techniques, there are mental techniques, there are breathing techniques.
Generally people tend to find that one method
works better for them than the other. Although of all the methods that I'm familiar with, the diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing exercise that we just did is really perhaps the universal most popular exercise because it really works.
Deepak: Well you've convinced me
to make the experiment Eli. I'll read breathe through my tummy for a while and report back to you on how I feel.
Eli: You don't have to report back to me. It's
yours. Use it and enjoy it.
Program Length: 26:50 min
About the Program:
Program 1 Feeling Better, looks at the mechanism of stress and introduces deep relaxation as a method of dealing with the changes and challenges in life that stimulate the body's stress reaction. | <urn:uuid:a98e47b5-b88c-4130-a604-9ad604adb7b5> | 2 | 2.390625 | 0.149402 | en | 0.965677 | http://somatv.com/somatranscript |
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Capturing Romance
The Birthday (1915)
Marc Chagall
As an artist I have been ruminating on how to go about capturing a moment of romance. In Chagall's The Birthday (pictured above) we see an ever-present aspect of it depicted in art:
Fantasy, as it is depicted in Chagall's painting, is that distinctive faculty we have for imagining things - the product of which one recognizes in a painting, musical composition, or some other sensory-stimulating work of the imagination that involves our dwelling either consciously or subconsciously on the moment.
In Chagall's painting, two lovers are caught in the moment of a surprise kiss. She, moving flowers, perhaps that he delivered, into a vase; he, whipping around to steal a kiss. She is surprised, but her eyes are wide open, brining in the moment in a very personal way. Both are swept off their feet as furniture and objets de art fall upward, in the general direction of the sentiment displayed:
a heart that has been touched soars...
Throughout history, fantasy has taken on different meanings, with themes as different as the ages that cultivated them. In ancient civilizations, fantasy was that superfantastical realm of dragons and spirits in the east ...
c. 3800 BCE (China) Pig-dragon Pendant Hongshan Culture; Neolithic
...and demons in the west.
The Falling Angel (1923-47)
Marc Chagall
(This piece combines Biblical and Torah lore with the modern world and with Chagall's personal symbolism in a juxtaposition of images that attempt to summarize the many experiences the artist had over the course of his work on the painting)
During the Middle Ages, the prevailing fashion for fantasy was for grotesque distortions of human and animal forms. These figures filled the margins of illustrated manuscripts, while their carved equivalents adorned the façades of churches and public buildings.
Sermonizing artists provoked their public with terrifying visions of purgatory. The most imaginative artist in this field was Hieronymus Bosch.
The Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1450-1516)
Hieronymus Bosch
The Prado
Fantastical images can be expressed utilizing the twisting, flowing, dream-like movements found in Chagall's whimsical paintings or in the hollowed-out eggshell bodies, demons with tree-like limbs, and man-eating birds with long, spiky beaks (Bosch) - or with entirely different imagery.
Guiseppe Arcimboldo
The Louvre
Fortunately, fantasy has not always been linked with terror. Renaissance artist Guiseppe Arcimboldo brought us novelty pictures in which the human head was composed out of an assemblage of fruit, flowers, or vegetables.
Our love of fantasy expresses our fascination with fables and fairies, folklore and myths. Our creation of these artworks or musical scores represents our desire to immerse ourselves in the production of these moments.
To first experience an aspect of it in our own mind and then, afterwards, to produce that image, allows us to whisk others away with visually stunning fantasies we draw upon from our own personal flights of fancy. At the same time, these images are idealistic and romantic.
Love combines the physical combining of separate forces in their moment of ecstasy. Chagall's The Birthday is based on the artist's exploration of dreams and the human psyche that in turn produces an artifact from this experience.
Expressing love in art comes from the desire to creatively produce that which is free from the restraints of reason. In pursuing this aim, painters adopt a variety of personal styles. Some produce images that resemble hallucinations or dreams in which figures or objects are depicted in a startlingly realistic manner, juxtaposed in a way that defies rational analysis; others produce semi-abstract works by deliberating suppressing themselves in their automatic drawings.
Joan Miró is a leading example of this approach.
Ballet Romantic (1974)
Joan Miró
However one imagines a romantic artwork, the artwork itself must surprise the painter as well as the viewer; if not, it will fail to resemble the workings of the subconscious mind at play.
I have not yet created this piece, but the expression of this highly sought after human sentiment is indeed weaving its way through my subconscious as I diligently work through creating the next 15 or so paintings for this upcoming exhibition.
Creating this many pieces of art (in such a short period of time) requires one to draw heavily upon the subconscious in search for these sentiments ... where they are found is between the artist and his or her canvas ... where they end up depends upon to whom these productions speak most.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Raising Funny Kids 44: Ma Mignonne
Ma mignonne
A une Damoyselle malade
Ma mignonne,
Je vous donne
Le bon jour;
Le séjour
C'est prison.
Puis ouvrez
Votre porte
Et qu'on sorte
Car Clément
le vous mande.
Va, friande
Da ta bouche,
Que se couche
En danger
Pour manger
Si tu dures
Trop malade,
Couleur fade
Tu prendras,
Et perdras
Dieu te doint
Santé bonne,
Ma mignonne.
Marot's seemingly simple poem is charming as it is disarming. What is made simple is invariably that which only a master of a given craft can present for our amusement.
Marot's poem in English (this literal translation by D. Hofstadter, whose magnum opus Le Ton beau de Marot is indispensable if one seeks to delve deeper into this poem), lacks the beautiful rhyming couplets (AA, BB, CC), the carefully scrutinized and chosen wording, and the musical nature which the French original offers.
For those who do not speak or who cannot faithfully read in French, the eloquence of this poem cannot be fully appreciated - though it can be internalized. If one speaks French, this poem is delight to the senses.
Originally penned in October 1527 for a future queen, Jeanne d'Albret de Navarre, it is one of my favorite poems, intimately speaking to my experience of being a mother.
Queen Jeanne d'Albret de Navarre
François Clouet
To a Sick Damsel
My sweet,
I bid you
A good day;
The stay
Is prison.
Then open
Your door,
And go out
For Clément
Tells you to.
Go, indulger
Of thy mouth,
Lying abed
In danger,
Off to eat
Fruit preserves;
If thou stay'st
Too sick,
Pale shade
Thou wilt acquire,
And wilt lose
Thy plump form.
God grant thee
Good health,
My sweet.
Marot's poem is refreshingly whimsical, notably respectful, and appropriately personal for court artist to bequeath a young child of noble birth.
Transporting ourselves to a village in France, dans le sein du beau Quercy, near the old Pont Valentré whose stony towers and stately arches stand astride itself, cradling a little town once called "Divona" by a tribe once called "Cadourques", we recognize the precarious aftereffects when a child of noble birth fell ill.
We can also transport ourselves to a space where softness of manner and eloquence of tongue is the transitional divide between our humanity and the nobility of spirit. For those who are moved by the arts of the prophets, who seek beauty as a companion, who soar on wings that carry the mind to the threshold of its imagination, who delight in charm and gaiety and who speak a similar language, this is one of those poems that serve us, a nice accompaniment to life - and parenthood.
This poem is a delight to recite aloud. When one wishes to express a sincere fondness for youthful innocence, few poems reach the pinnacle of Marot's verses. When read faithfully, the inflection carries with it a sweet-sounding, mellifluous tone, but to be read masterfully, it must be read from one's personal connection with or subjective memories of childhood in conjunction with one's intimate relation to childhood as a caring, nurturing adult.
In raising funny kids, one must first raise happy children. Happiness is found on an individual level and nearly always includes an element of beauty for inspiration. The beauty found in Marot's poem is one such nicety that can be shared in the intimacy known by a very simple word: home.
Ma Mignonne, the title I prefer, is a beloved poem that can be passed down for generations, just as it has been for over half a millennium.
Friday, August 15, 2014
The Secret to Reading This Blog
Life is all about communication. When we keep a secret, we not only have to monitor what we write, but also what we might say with our photos, quotes, in-between-the-lines, and colloquial expressions. We become vigilant of our own being - separate from it rather than part of it. An Avatar of our true identity and, thus, an art form - a snapshot taken from a given angle depending upon the lens. The director and orchestrator of the shot. The private funding behind the public entity. We are then separate from the spontaneous, streaming umph that marks true aliveness.
The posts herein are burdened with having to keep secrets. The exile, etched into the keyboard keys. The private equity investor on holiday, with few details - unlike most execs. The injunction mirrors the internalized feelings of entertainers and performers who rarely divulge their secrets - if ever.
And let's not forget the artistic poet, taking creative liberties - as is the case herein.
The little girl with the big imagination, labeled eccentric before she could spell the word. A confidant and, thus, an individual relaxed in the art of secret holding - in fact, quite relaxed. The encryptor, enjoying the creation of unspoken rules and patterns. The artist, mapping out said rules and patterns onto canvas - the key for which is nicely hidden in a neurological vault.
We are careful not to speak of secrets, even the mere mention of a secret sends imaginations flaring, minds wandering, and hopes twirling through a web of irrational desires, landing wherever they are trained to land - forever peeking out over the horizon.
If we jump from the ledge, Which direction, exactly, is up?
Secrets are kept from Readers. I know someone who blogs about one subject, but who never discusses the reasons for it or explores their feelings on the matter. It is simply the case with many bloggers. Hidden clues and messages, nuances and innuendos peppering post after post, in patterns few can map out.
When life can be seen plainly but is not talked about openly, people pick up the unstated rule:
Keep Secrets
This makes it impossible for Readers to ask relevant questions on anything other than the shared subject matter, the words and phrases - which rarely match the design. Though written language comes after spoken language, which is programmed early in life, the use of communication to solve problems is a lost art. Most every communication, like these blog posts, is encrypted with sensitivities, with taboos, with secret or hidden agendas, and with fervor - passionate, privately endorsed privilege, to which few - if any - are granted access.
But why do we communicate like this when the goal of communication is clear understanding? What does secret communication lead to?
look around
It leads to a whole slew of forbidden subjects. In families where "certain subjects" are never discussed, everyone accepts that some information simply must be hidden. This increases undue shyness, awkwardness, and acting out behavior.
This type of communication is rampant in society. We expect it. We do it. We are accustomed to it. When we encounter something different, we repel - we wonder, "What's wrong with this person?" We wonder, "Why are there so many "Ws" in this paragraph?"
In the early Latin alphabet, there was no letter "u" or "w," but there was a "V." As writing forms progressed through the middle ages, the introduction of lower case forms gave rise to the form "u," originally a variant of the letter "V." The intermingling of forms continued up until at least the early 17th century, as evidenced by the following text in 1620:
In this text, the word "uso" does not make use of the alternative form but retains the original Latin form "vso."
Sometime during the middle ages, the sound [w], found in Old English and other early Germanic langauges, began being represented by the digraph "W" (two "Vs" side by side) and eventually gave rise to the single character "W."
As promised, or at least hinted, in the title of this blog post, I shall offer a secret to reading this blog, perhaps the introduction on secret holding was also fruitful in decoding posts - or in the realization that there is more than meets the reading brain than one had previously interpreted. Either way, here it goes:
As with the "W-tangent" above, this blog will often "go off on a tangent" of providing educational or otherwise informative information as a gift to Readers. This information, tangible in nature, is an added benefit of returning to this blog on a regular basis. Given that the author - namely, me - enjoys and takes numerous creative liberties with this blog, rendering it - at times - incomprehensible or, at the very least, confusing, said author - i.e., "me" - feels it the least she could do given her tendency to do this, which according to said author - okay, you know who I'm talking about - is not about to change anytime soon.
Typically, secrets promote ignorance. "I never saw it coming," is something sometimes heard once a secret is revealed. "I had an idea, but I never thought..." such a thing would happen, right? Exactly.
As with the recent circumstances surrounding the passing of Robin Williams, the world community must be looking at one another, wondering ... "What are you hiding?" the following thought - I hope - is "...and how can I help?"
It is important to look for signs of secrecy with people. There is always a break in the flow of communication. Behavior or expressions are choppy. Lies are not natural, they are counter to natural human communication, which is as expressive as it is revealing. When individuals feel that they must keep secrets or guard information, their personality changes - and often times, they show a different aspect of themselves to different audiences - rarely do these two world mix.
Secrets do not allow a subject to reach home, to touch the light of consciousness where new information can be received for later processing. Secrets block the flow of energie, perpetuating repetitive and compulsive behavior patterns.
I wrote this post in an attempt to open up the dialogue of keeping secrets, something that the world community is now examining. The loss of a beloved, talented entertainer with whom many people around the world resonated has hit home. It is not the loss of just an actor. It is the loss of all the people we care about. It is the persistent question, "Could I have done something to help?" that gets people. We have all experienced loss in our lives and often times it leaves us at a loss in how to deal with it - and how to help others cope. We struggle with what to say - and how to say it. Do we get clever? Do we go for an emotional response? Do we divulge our own struggles as a way to communicate? How do we repair the perception of connectivity in a world when separation is staring us right in the face?
Being told - from childhood forward - that we are supposed to "act" a certain way in public, "speak" a certain way in public, "write" our essays a certain way, "do" math problems a certain way, "paint" in a certain medium or style, affects who we are - causing some to join the Hipster movement.
Unless you want this to happen to you - or to your children - beware of what you say, think, teach, tweet, and pass along to others. Most people cannot decipher your encryption codes - nor do they have time to even think about deciphering your encryption codes.
It is plain, ordinary language that appeals most to individuals. With the uttering of every sentence, there must be an equal recognition, review, and agreement to continue onward. Without this very precise give-and-take exchange, there is no connection - and separation follows.
Blogging and writing, in general, are solitary activities. You have to speak to someone. Rarely do writers craft words like an artist crafts shapes on a canvas - though, admittedly, some - including myself - do. The point is that it can be difficult to communicate to a general audience in a public forum as you never know who is reading, which secrets they bring to the table, what sensitivities they posses, and how life has shaped their worldview. Given the online community is global, language, culture, politics, and social status often confuse communications into misunderstandings.
Children learn by imitation. An atmosphere of clear communication promotes clear communication. When the home atmosphere is pleasant, peaceful, clear, and open to new information and experiences, so, too, are the individuals in that home. As our home community extends into the living rooms, the computers, and the phones of the world community, what we send out, like what we express in our own homes, affects the lives of others.
Be kind to one another. Know that comedy, in its truest form - humor - is not about laughing at others ... it is about laughing with others ... sharing the fun of life, celebrating the happy moments, the moments that make us laugh, and the moments that connect us. Connection does not have to occur at the exclusion of other groups. The experience is what connects us. The subject matter. Everyone should be welcome. It is not about age, gender, social status, or cultural heritage, it is about whether or not we find value in a particular subject, wish to know more about it, and enjoy sharing that information with others.
The future of world communication is the abolition of secrets in favor of open communication. Most people share in this understanding, so it is only a matter of recognition and practice that will allow it to flourish. When it does, I hope that no one ever feels so alone again that they choose to end their life. No matter what happens, no matter how old or wrinkly we get, or how many times our boat fails to show up, there is always something worthy of investigation just over the horizon - and by horizon I mean tomorrow, next month, or five minutes from now (as we never know who might be calling or texting or what zany idea might cross through our mind).
Rules are meant to be questioned. If there are unspoken rules in your life that tell you secret holding is important, examine them - ask yourself why you're holding the secret, what the pros and cons are of holding that secret, and what you would do if someone "found out."
If the answer to that question is "So what!" you're on the right track. Besides, most people are more concerned with their own lives than they are with your secrets. A secret only trends for a short period of time. Living with lies can affect someone's entire life - and the lives of those around them.
So, if you're wondering how to read this blog... just know, that everything herein was written with good intentions, a hint of good humor, an interest in sharing, and a playful demeanor ... there are no hidden secrets other than the ones I'm not telling you about.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Robin Williams
Robin William was a wonderful, kind and generous man.
Patch Adams
1951 - 2014
American actor, stand-up comedian,
film producer, screen writer...
Loved by millions
"He never acted as if he was powerful or famous.
Instead, he was always tender and welcoming."
Patch Adams
Reader Response
(While on vacation) I received news that Robin Williams had died, and that he had taken his own life. Within a couple of days, I received a number of heartfelt letters from friends and readers telling me that they missed me on Facebook and that they wondered what thoughts or insights I might have to share on the subject and if I would be writing an article on Robin Williams anytime soon. They also asked if I was doing okay.
While the subject of hiding pain behind comedy has come up countless times in my investigations into humor, I was touched by the concern my Readers expressed towards me. Perhaps Robin Williams' death will remind people to check on one another, to make sure that the people for whom they care are "doing okay" - sometimes just asking someone how their doing can keep them feeling connected.
Robin Williams
Rather than look to drugs or alcohol for my own intense need for input (and output), I look to creative outlets that soothe the frustrations life can sometimes bring.
Even if I don't like what I write or create, the desire to try again, to do better, fuels my inspiration to continue. To make more. To get better. To have one more laugh or epiphany that fills me with joy and wonder. To have one more "moment" that quiets all the others and allows me to feel present, to be myself when the world might otherwise want me to serve as an amalgam for their own thoughts.
While drugs and alcohol can aid in reaching these experiences, they do not ultimately leave one feeling inspired. On the contrary, drugs and alcohol leave one feeling empty.
Making light of life's challenges can give most of us a long enough break to sit back and find new meaning, but that does not mean that comedy can cure heartache. Only we can cure heartache - comedy just reminds us that we can choose to laugh when we might otherwise want to cry.
"Carpe per diam - seize the check."
Robin Williams
Robin Williams - the comedian
Robin Williams, an incredibly prolific individual whose ability to consciously engage in the work of personal growth and of inner transformation through comedy, left this world as he lived in it - on his own accord.
Robin Williams in Flubber
What made Robin Williams so intense?
Overexcitability Questionnaire
1. Do you ever feel really high, ecstatic, and incredibly happy? Describe your feelings.
2. What has been your experience of the most intense pleasure?
3. What are your special kinds of daydreams and fantasies?
4. What kinds of things get your mind going?
5. When do you feel the most energy, and what do you do with it?
6. How do you act when you get excited?
7. What kind of physical activity (or inactivity) gives you the most satisfaction?
8. Is taste something very special to you? Describe it in a way that it is special.
9. Do you ever catch yourself seeing, hearing, or imagining things that aren't really there? Give examples.
10. When do you feel the greatest urge to do something?
11. If you come across a difficult idea or concept, how does it become clear to you? Describe what goes on in your head in this case.
12. Describe what you do when you are just fooling around.
Living With Intensity, Daniels & Piechowski, Ph.D.s
Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society
"You're only given a little spark of madness.
You mustn't lose it."
Robin Williams
The overexcitability questions above come from the book Living With Intensity, the adapted list was created from the 21-item OEQ by Ackerman & Miller, 1997.
The book describes and explores the multi-faceted sensitivities and intensities of gifted children and adults. It offers insights in understanding and nurturing the complex combination of intellectual advancement and overexcitabilities... with insights into how to avoid tragic misperceptions and misdiagnoses.
Living on the edge. That is how precarious it often feels when we come to the top of the mountain, or what seems like the top, and are startled to find ourselves looking over the edge. The view is panoramic, breath-taking. But what about the trip down? Ordinarily, a sequence of moments shifts the boundaries of our private universe gradually from the concerns of young adulthood to something larger, startling, mysterious.
Sheehy (1995) "the mortality crisis, (Living with Intensity, p. 176)
Robin Williams
Triumph to Tragedy
The tragedy associated with the circumstances of Robin Williams' death has heightened our understanding of the dangers associated with living with intensity or what some call creative genius (turned against itself).
What is Creative Genius
It is the applied integration of expanded sensitivities, otherwise known as artful living. Creative Genius is the outward sign of some area of intensity.
Robin Williams unleashed his creative genius into his comedy. His true genius was in making others laugh. While Robin Williams was in possession of many talents, it was making people laugh for which he will mostly be remembered.
Maya Angelou
"Death is nature's way of saying, "Your table's ready.""
Robin Williams
How could someone so talented do such a thing?
This is the primary question my Readers have been asking me. While my blog often strays from the topic of humor, it is humor that underlines all my articles - even the serious ones. It is me saying, "Hey, isn't it funny how serious we can be?"
Comedy covers serious topics as well as surprising insights. We are accustomed to having Robin Williams surprise us with his zany sense of humor, but the seriousness by which he left the world will leave many people asking "Why?" for years to come.
For people who live with intensity - often described as creative genius - there is an enormous range of human capacity, an intricate web of understanding that occurs due to the intensity that is the hallmark of the individual's predisposition.
Irrespective of where that intensity is directed, there is an extra umph behind everything they do.
"What's right is what's left when everything is wrong."
Robin Williams
Living with Intensity
An individual living with intensity approaches everything they do with their heart fully in it. This does not mean that they will give away their secrets. On the contrary. In the case of Robin Williams, he directed his intensity into his comedy, into entertaining others, and as it so happened, into his personal vision of the world.
Some people call this the "dark side" because when you try to penetrate this veil, when you try to reach the person, they are somewhere else. This "somewhere else" is not always a happy place.
This personal or dark side, as it is known, offers the heart a repose. Rather than comedy being his only escape, inactivity and retreat were the spaces into which Robin sometimes fled. When he was tired, done, or otherwise needed a break, this space served as his solace.
It is inside this space that the analytical mind can turn against itself. That non-emotional, disengaged, quietly critiquing serious side we all know "too well" reigns in this sphere.
The negative responses one encounters in life but normally "blocks out" are intensified. Tragically, for some, these voices can take over.
While it is natural to question the world and our role in it (turning us all into philosophers), it is not natural to end our lives as a result of this questioning.
The natural order of life is to keep going.
"...when you have a great audience, you can just keeping going and finding new things."
Robin Williams
Common Philosophical Questions
that people ask
1. What is my purpose in life?
2. Why are we here?
3. Is there a God?
4. What if there is no God?
5. Is this all there is?
6. Is there something more after this life?
7. Do we have free will?
8. Why did the Chicken cross the Road?
"The only weapon we have is comedy."
Robin Williams
Living with intensity is like being on a constant Road Trip. You are forever crossing one road or another. Only when you exhaust yourself to the point of near non-existence, do you step back, retreat, and focus on your own needs.
The difficulty with living in the public eye or of being an individual to whom others look for support, guidance, or entertainment, is that you are human - you're actually human. And like everyone who returns from a Road Trip, you need and absolutely must have time to relax and recharge.
We all need time to process the thoughts, hopes, and doubts that cross our mind. When we are constantly 'on the go' or when we have constant demands hanging over us, the desire to retreat increases and we naturally look for escapes.
If you are intellectually driven, you look to your work, your research, your insights and epiphanies for solace. You thrive on the insights your analytical brain offers and upon the respect you receive for your efforts. These experiences increase your self-respect and become emotional sustenance to continue onwards. We all need something to fill the coffers back up when they run low.
If you are creatively driven, you look toward your craft for solace. Your craft is your lifeline. It keeps you connected. You have an avenue through which to communicate, to tell the world, "I exist."
Only it is not the world we're trying to convince - it's ourselves.
Despite popular belief,
we all need proof that we exist
"a weird combination of isolation and connection and disconnection; discomfort and awkwardness."
Robin Williams (on connection)
Robin Williams and Socrates
Robin Williams juggled multiple intensities: intellectual intensity, emotional intensity, and creative intensity. His comedy was a metaphor for the evolution of his intensity. To reclaim his balance, he withdrew himself from the depth his intensity carved into his life.
If one is not careful, an intense person can carve a gorge so deeply that they begin to believe that they cannot escape. This is the pitfall of intensity and/or creative genius.
Socrates, an intensely focused Greek, mesmerized by the notion of finding truth and wisdom, carved out his own grave - and what did the Athenian citizens do to him? They buried him in it.
Like Ancient Athenian citizens, the world of Hollywood can can be overly harsh in their judgment. Men are judged by their charisma, women on their beauty. If either fail to deliver, the Twitter feeds go wild. Talk about pressure. No wonder so many intensely creative individuals find solace in drugs or alcohol. Where does one retreat when all eyes are on them?
Into a world of their own making.
Socrates went around asking people big questions - questions others did not want to ask themselves nor have someone else ask of them because they did not know - or did not want to know - the answer.
As it turns out, having an answer - even if it is wrong - is better for most people than asking deep questions and being open to the answers that surface.
Heartfelt questions can lead to our questioning whether or not life is worth it. If the answer is no, trouble follows.
There is a reason why people continue ask the question:
Half-Empty or Half-Full?
For individuals who live with intensity, life usually feels like it is one way or the other. There is very little middle-ground.
"Reality... what a concept."
Robin Williams
Why do we love comedy?
We love comedy because it fills life's in-between moments with laughter. It's simple. When we step back from the intensity of our daily lives, from the demands of family, the pressures of work, the relentless internal dialogue critiquing every thought and moment, we need a release. We need to laugh. We need to know that we're not in this thing alone. That others feel the way we do. That there is meaning. That there is a purpose - or no purpose, in which case, we need to find meaning in that.
Comedy takes confusion, doubt, and tragedy and twists it up like a balloon animal. The sound it makes can often times send shrills down our spines, but in the end, we look at the finished product and smile. We see the bigger picture. We see the magic. We see the art.
Exploring Humor
Exploring humor has allowed me to discover the humorous side of life. From Scooby Doo to Pacman to Research Papers, all the things we do and think about in life, when viewed through a humorous microscope, become absurd, which is funny.
The seriousness we attach to tragedy and the importance we place on every thought and emotion we experience can leave one laughing.
As human beings, we want the range of emotions to match the range of experiences we have in life - and comedy provides that.
Comedy (Sometimes) Heals
When the intensity in our own lives lightens up, so do we. This is when humor and the people who make us laugh are such a welcomed presence in our lives.
This is something most comedians understand on a deeply personal level, but understanding the power of humor and feeling it are not the same thing.
"My battles with addiction definitely shaped how I am now. They really made me deeply appreciate human contact. And the value of friend and family, how precious that is."
Robin Williams
The intensity that leads some to wild, zany expressions is what also leads them to scary places, to places where demons have their way with the mind, a place into which no one can pass.
Comedians, like everyone else, sometimes find themselves asking the question,
"Why am I doing this?"
This is a natural question to ask. The answer to the question is as different as each individual asking it.
Descartes walks into a bar. The bartender says, "Are you having a beer?" Descartes says, "I think not," and ceases to exist.
René Descartes (1596 - 1650) wrote in his Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conduction the Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences,
"Mrs. Doubtfire: 'He was quite fond of the drink. It was the drink that killed him.'
Miranda: 'How awful. Was he an alcoholic?'
Mrs. Doubtfire: 'No, he was hit by a Guinness truck.'
The BIG Questions
Descartes understood the inherent perils of examining one's thoughts. He admitted that
The single design to strip one's self of all past beliefs is one that ought not to be taken by every one.
Robin Williams (and Matt Damon) in Good Will Hunting
Robin Williams
The Genius of Robin Williams
Robin Williams must have recognized his own genius. All he needed to do was sit back and observe the power he had over the happiness of others.
In a world of intensity, love and compassion are the two of the greatest forces upon which the soul can find respite. For an intense person, love and compassion are true lifelines.
Without a deep connection to these forces, the soul ceases to exist. Love is replaced with despair. Compassion is replaced with rejection. The result is either a temporary retreat to heal oneself (often times sought after in drugs, in alcohol, or in other intimate pleasures) or, in extreme cases, suicide.
The withdrawal feels as intense as the mania.
Depression is the hallway to a nervous breakdown. Whether or not someone can be saved, or whether or not someone can save another suffering is a question many have asked.
There is no magic cure or simple answer. There is no amount money or fame that can heal a heavy heart. In fact, money and fame can complicate life.
"People think they know you. They expect you to be literally like you are on TV or in the movies, bouncing off the walls. A woman in an airport once said to me, "Be zany!" People always want zany, goofy sh-t from me. It takes a lot of energy to do that. If you do that all the time, you'll burn out."
Robin Williams
"I went to rehab in wine country, just to keep my options open"
Robin Williams
All entertainers and public figures are subject to scrutiny. For highly intense individuals, this scrutiny (including, in particular, self-scrutiny) can have disastrous effects on self-esteem, and upon an individual's sense of self-worth.
The pain associated with rejection can lead a person back to that personal space, back to that dark place where one naturally questions the value of it all.
"When I'm awake, I don't want to go to sleep. I don't want the hassle of turning the light off, putting my head down and then all the thoughts. I don't want all those thoughts."
Robin Williams
"Robin Williams was so funny that it is difficult to imagine him sad," one of my Readers wrote in a letter to me.
Like many comedians, Robin Williams had the ability to give others what he himself did not always feel inside.
But for most of the world, it appeared as if Robin was truly "into" what he was doing. When people roared, his intensity flew off the charts ... and he took us with him!
"...they are always talking about 'well, is it meaningful?' Well, sure it's meaningful if you come out and you had a great laugh."
Robin Williams
Robin Williams took comedy to a new level - he took it everywhere. He took it to our hopes, to our dreams, and to our fears. He humored us with our own shortcomings and with his own. He showed the world how to laugh when one might otherwise want to cry. He lightened the mood in the room when it got too heavy. He was someone to whom others could turn when they needed to feel good. With all eyes upon him, he served the world a platter of joy. He made us laugh and we loved him for it.
Everyone's situation in life is different. We all have different experiences, different needs, and different opinions on everything, including which direction the toilet paper roll should flow. Our view of the world is largely dependent upon where we are standing in relation to it.
In the end, the world is what we decide it to be. We can see the world as funny. We can see the world as tragic ... or, like most, we can see it somewhere in between. We can choose to see it for how (we think) it is - or is not. We can see a purple world - even if we're colorblind. We can see a kind world. We can see a harsh world. We can see a world with purpose - or none at all.
"Comedy is acting out optimism."
Robin Williams
Robin Williams has reminded the world that our lives are not just about us. While we are not responsible for the happiness of others, our words and actions do affect them.
Feeling blue???
If you are languishing, feeling empty, or otherwise questioning whether life is worth living... talk to someone.
This doesn't mean that others will have the answers you seek, but talking to others gives you a moment to pause and to think through the emotions that flood everyone's system from time to time.
We don't have to be held hostage by our emotions. We may not be able to stop every negative thought that flows through our brains, but we can devise strategies to cope with them. We can also create healthy outlets upon which we might rest until the storm passes.
As I have written many times over, laughter is best when shared.
True comedy is not laughing at the shortcomings of others - that just makes people feel self-conscious. True comedy is making others feel good about themselves.
Robin Williams made millions of people laugh and feel good on the inside. He showed us how to be silly, reminded us that it is okay to loosen up, and that laughter truly is the best medicine. His life, like his humor, moved millions to laughter and to tears. His genius will not be forgotten.
"No matter what people tell you,
words and ideas can change the world."
Robin Williams | <urn:uuid:2c2ddc2c-ed57-417d-8a50-ac780add27ac> | 2 | 1.796875 | 0.059319 | en | 0.953181 | http://sophlylaughing.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ |
Thursday, July 21, 2011
A New Sudan
1. Independence Day in the New Sudan
The night before Independence Day, our new District Superintendent Fred Dearing received passes for us to sit in the bleachers to watch the official birth of the Republic of South Sudan. I was amazed at the diversity of the crowd gathered in Yei's Freedom Square to celebrate their first Independence day. It included not only the many Christian denominations that are here, but also local Muslims; not just South Sudanese from almost every state, but even Darfuris who sincerely celebrated the independence of their Southern brothers and sisters even while their home area in the western part of the North continues to suffer massacres of entire villages. It was great to witness that in the midst of their own celebration, South Sudanese pledged continued efforts for peace and freedom in Darfur. All the more amazing to realize that Independence is not just decades but centuries overdue for South Sudanese, who have been controlled, exploited and oppressed by others since ancient times without cease. In a sea of hundreds of banners, one summed it up in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King: “Free At Last.” People had walked to Yei from surrounding villages; some climbed trees to join the thousands enjoying marching and speeches in Yei's Freedom Square. Every local civic group and school had a banner and marched in a long parade; Salaam United Methodist School was there marching in their school uniforms. Sudanese women groups marched with banners proclaiming their commitment to playing a key role in the development of the new South Sudan. As we looked around us in the bleachers, we saw Sudanese young educated professionals listening intently to all the speeches, responding at times to commit themselves to the task of building a new nation. The highlight of the day was the simple act of lowering the flag of Sudan, and raising the new flag of the Republic of South Sudan. People cheered and ululated wildly, and that energy continued into the afternoon as dozens of tribal groups gathered in circles around Freedom Square into the evening to dance traditional tribal dances: Kakwa, Nuer, Dinka, Mandari, and many more. I hope and pray the peaceful, joyful spirit of those co-existing celebrations on Independence Day can be continued permanently into the complex process of becoming one nation of many tribes working together.
2.Oil and Food in the New Sudan
Petrol (gasoline) prices in Yei have risen to about $6.80 per gallon, but farther north in Unity State they are over $10 per gallon, down from $12 per gallon during the height of the fuel shortage a few weeks ago. Even though 75% of the known oil is located in South Sudan, all the pipelines and processing are in the north, and the north stopped allowing shipments of oil after the vote to separate. Oil from other countries has slowed down, reportedly because Libyan oil production has been disrupted. South Sudan is working on arrangements to build a pipeline through Kenya to a seaport, but that is expected to take 8 years. Meanwhile, higher fuel prices mean higher food costs (over half the local food is still imported and trucked in.) Already food prices were rising independently of this crisis; according to the South Sudan Minister of Agriculture Anne Itto, maize (corn) prices in Kenya rose 130% in the first half of 2011. Adding to that the fuel crisis in South Sudan, Itto says maize prices have quadrupled here (Sudan Tribune 16 July 2011). The conservation farming methods we're teaching here are increasing yields by 6.5 times in Zimbabwe just using existing hand tools with no commercial fertilizers (Conservation Farming in Zimbabwe: Evaluation Report, January 2011, Canadian Food Grains Bank.) If we can show that these methods do even half as well in South Sudan, it could help increase food production here quickly and inexpensively.
3. Training Leaders for the New Sudan
Elizabeth Heft, an Individual Volunteer in Mission from Ginghamsburg UMC in Ohio, is here for 6 weeks as an Individual Volunteer in Mission conducting training for youth leaders of the 17 United Methodist churches in South Sudan. It was exciting to see 35 Sudanese young adults, about 1/3 women, gathered for the 2-day retreat here in Yei. Elizabeth and Peter Lomorro, the Youth Coordinator for Sudan District, did a fantastic job of providing much appreciated training while the young adults provided joyful worship with drums, shakers, song and dance...and fervent commitments to the task of leading and teaching youth in the remote village churches. Looking over this group of energized young women and men gathered in Yei UMC as we celebrated communion on the final day of the retreat, I was moved with the knowledge that faith development among the youth of the village churches would take a major step forward, and astounded to realize that several of these young adults would be, in a few years, pastors of these and of new churches. What an incredible gift! | <urn:uuid:ceef48a4-ee57-449f-b246-88416ca5c169> | 2 | 1.960938 | 0.019625 | en | 0.966852 | http://steveanddianthahodges.blogspot.com/2011/07/ |
Monday, February 20, 2017
She wears feathers - but she can teach us!
Our "lady of the Bible" for this week is a little unusual . . . we've looked at animals before, in our series, but this week's lady is for the birds. (Grin)
Remember the story of Noah? (That's where we find our friend the dove.) Did you know that many, many of the cultures across our globe remember his story? Well, in slightly different form, perhaps, but there are some striking similarities . . .
In Aztec legend, a man named Tapi was very pious, and received a message from the creator to build a boat that he could live in. He was also told that he should take his wife with him, along with a pair of every animal that was alive. Of course, all of his neighbors thought he was nuts. But he obeyed, and then the rain started, and the flood came. Even though they climbed the mountains to escape the waters, men and animals perished because the mountains were flooded, too. When the rain finally ended, Tapi let a dove loose from the boat, and when she didn't return, Tapi decided it was safe to go out.
If you travel to China there is an ancient temple where you can see a painting on one wall, showing a man called Fuhi in his large boat on the raging floods. There are dolphins swimming around his boat, and a dove with an olive branch is flying toward Fuhi.
Online research will net you about thirty-five countries that have "flood stories." East Africa, Australia, Bolivia, Egypt, Iceland and India . . . these are just some of them. Thirty-two of these include humans being saved by being on a boat, and twenty-four of them include animals being spared. Last but not least, six of those include references to a dove!
Something must have happened on a world-wide scale, don't you think? (Grin) Of course, we know what happened! It was a flood that destroyed almost all of mankind (just Noah and his family were spared) because of their wickedness.
Let's look at the verses that we will focus on, shall we?
Scholars tell us that this was not the 40th day of the flood itself; the ark would have been afloat for months as the waters subsided and then began to recede.
Noah released the raven, and the Bible tells us that the bird never came back into the ark itself . . .it could have rested on the top of the ark, or perhaps it found a mountain top uncovered by the receding waters. But it never returned to the safety of the ark.
Our friend the dove was sent out three separate times -- the first time, she finds no place to rest her feet, so she returns to the ark and Noah. The second time, she returns with an olive branch in her beak, indicating that something is growing -- progress! Then, the third time, she flies away and does not return.
Why should we study this dove, and try to find lessons here for us?
That's why! All of the scriptures, not just the parts we find enjoyable, or likable, but all scripture is God-breathed and useful. So this week, let's study the dove!
1 comment:
Katie Isabella said...
Looking forward to it. Very much. | <urn:uuid:054faf57-8dc0-4f7e-8525-88b09b8ef764> | 2 | 2.453125 | 0.038733 | en | 0.983439 | http://studyforwomen.blogspot.com/2017/02/she-wears-feathers-but-she-can-teach-us.html |
Wednesday, September 19
I shared an Ultra Light Beer tonight with a veteran of the Korean war. His friend was there, a veteran from the second world war.
"We should fight house to house, blow the buildings up as we go, then offer compensation. This is how we could win the war in Iraq."
I disagreed, pointing out that Iraq is not a country, but rather an agglomeration of different tribes, stuck within a border once artificially constructed by the Brits. And then we went on to talk about Israel, an other mostly British flavored product, but I will spare you that part of the conversation for an other time...
So, birds fly over borders and checkpoints without passport or/and visas.
Maybe humans can learn something from them birds.
Ingrid said...
Zee, I was taking with someone last week who opened my eyes to a concept I had heard about before, just forgot it. "Mirroring". I was sharing with her how I felt I did not 'click' with so many people, and that in turn, she called, not being 'mirrored'. When a child does something, a good parent will mirror that child for example ("Oh wow, you were so great!" giving the child confidence and praise). Well, we're not exactly children you and me, we're amongst people of such a different culture and shared history, that we do not experience being mirrored to much. Even though you and I are Europeans with different histories of our countries, we do share other commonalities, solely based on the continent's history. Certain unexpressed understandings of behaviour, tolerance of behaviour and opinions and outside of that, we are simply not able to be understood in that context. It finally hit me. We can be understood on other levels of course, but I think (don't mean to be presumptious lukas) that you and I feel a discontent politically and socially because of our backgrounds. That is something I feel I need to put aside and just enjoy if I do meet a kindred spirit but for now, they are few and far between. That is why I've been drawn to blogs, geez, the few and far between are far alright!
Anyhow..don't keep hitting your head on the wall of disconnect.. it's not our wall to begin with..
(what? no kisses?? naaah, you're good!)
Ingrid said...
Talking..I meant 'Talking with someone last week..' geez
lindsaylobe said...
I doubt it ~ but then again know that I think of it ~ birds were thought to have evolved from the dinosaurs; you know they never really became extinct but adapted by growing wings to the climatic upheavals of a rapidly changing planet.
We don’t need wings; we have our own inventions of mass destruction.
The whole idea of "owning" that land is the root of the trouble, evidenced as you say by arbitrary borders drawn on a piece of paper. If we could become co inhabitations, co covenanters, trustees for nature of planet earth some of the hostility over it may diminish.
I don’t see much evolved progress on that score do you? as we keep trying to blast our way through. Maybe we could say the land owns us not we own the land; a contrary view will ultimately imperil our own existence. So maybe we could learn from the dinosaurs, who became birds.
Best wishes
Veronica said...
I just like you, Zee. It's that simple. | <urn:uuid:06a0a434-d7d4-4507-9efb-3e9fc647a51f> | 2 | 1.648438 | 0.127549 | en | 0.972791 | http://sunburstgem.blogspot.com/2007/09/birds.html |
relsat is a program for solving instances of the propositional satisfiability problem (SAT). For a given input instance, it can be used to determine satisfiability, output any number of solutions (should they exist), or determine the exact number of solutions
References in zbMATH (referenced in 1 article )
Showing result 1 of 1.
Sorted by year (citations)
1. Miyata, Hiroyuki; Padrol, Arnau: Enumerating neighborly polytopes and oriented matroids (2015) | <urn:uuid:49e49017-c443-4232-9f47-60a7c4eee094> | 2 | 1.75 | 0.974176 | en | 0.810067 | http://swmath.org/software/14806 |
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Architecture is Awesome #11: Sense of Place
Pont Neuf (1872, Pierre-Auguste Renoir)
This is another in my series of posts inspired by 1000 Awesome Things, the Webby Award winning blog written by Neil Pasricha. The series is my meditation on the awesome reasons why I was and continue to be attracted to the art of architecture.
One of the “aha! moments” of my academic life was coming to realize architecture has the power to add to the physical, cultural, and social identity of places. I learned how important it is for architects to thoroughly understand how an authentic place is not anywhere but rather somewhere people have purposely invested meaning in over time. I came to understand why caring for a sense of place should be an imperative in my work.
The best places possess a strong identity and character. They help us know where we are in the world and why they are unique. They are far from placeless (that feeling “there is no there, there") because they impart a physical, emotional, and sometimes spiritual connectedness to a specific geographic area. Architects who keenly understand this will do everything they can to ensure what makes a well-loved place so is enhanced, rather than diminished, by what they add to it.
Architects are adept at analyzing and responding to the problems of a site, which include its physical attributes, context, and opportunities. Additionally though, the most thoughtful among us do consider much more in an effort to distinguish a site’s most important characteristics. These architects reveal and strengthen the spirit of the place, rather than allowing it to remain weak and undifferentiated.
The locations we all consider memorable, unique, and enjoyable are often redolent of placeness. Their protective genius loci is strong, yet contingent upon how people have used and built upon it over time. Think of the banks of the Seine in Paris, the views from which have inspired countless artists, among them Renoir and Van Gogh. Or the Piazza Navona in Rome, once an ancient stadium, later transformed as a public space and market, its history vividly layered for all to see. Closer to home, it’s hard to imagine Timberline Lodge anywhere but nestled high up the snowy south flank of Mt. Hood.
Piazza Navona, Rome
Sometimes, a singular piece of architecture not only contributes to the sense of place but is necessary to bring it to light. The Sydney Opera House is inseparable from its harbor setting but now even more so from Sydney’s consciousness. Jorn Utzon’s optimistic masterpiece transcended its infamous travails to become an unforgettable landmark and symbol for an entire nation.
We do have to be careful: Attempting to create a sense of place from whole cloth is folly; instead, we must discern and tease out the already present, most beneficial emergent properties of each site we work with. No two projects should ever be exactly alike because the countless factors influencing every one of our projects are as complex and varied as life itself. Therefore, our goal should be to build upon the distinguishing structure of each place, taking care to preserve its unique essence—its soul—when we design.
The irony of our hyper-connected digital existence today is that many of us are starved of deep engagement with others and the real world we inhabit. The automobile-centric development patterns that predate the electronic age and persist today exacerbate our isolation and the ubiquity of placelessness. Preserving and augmenting a sense of place is an antidote: the particularity of real places, the memories they help make or elicit, and the way they bring us together provide us with the kinds of genuine experiences we naturally crave as human beings.
Bringing a critical approach to designing every project means designing with place and what it means always in mind. I think it’s totally AWESOME we architects are entrusted to contribute positively to a sense of place with every project we undertake, and in the process help people truly connect with the world they live in.
Next Architecture is Awesome: #12: Ordered Complexity
No comments: | <urn:uuid:82554915-ec98-402b-8f87-295b146cc3af> | 2 | 1.742188 | 0.031191 | en | 0.940568 | http://sworegonarchitect.blogspot.com/2016/03/architecture-is-awesome-11-sense-of.html |
Listen. Think. Speak. Write.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Everyone's a critic. Be more responsive to it.
Everyone faces criticism; it’s one of life’s inevitabilities. School, work, relationships, and of course, fellow drivers all like to let us know we’re doing something wrong. Not all criticism is the same. Sometimes, it feels more personal, but other times, you simply care less about the message being given. When teaching complaint behavior in Interpersonal Communication, we note that complaints regarding one’s performance and personal characteristics are harder to accept. For example, if I say, “You didn’t do the dishes,” that’s less problematic than “You suck at doing the dishes” or “You’re a messy person.”
I find that once I’ve proven myself in an area, I’m less apt to be ruffled by negative comments. I’ve been teaching a long time. That does not mean I’m a perfect teacher, but by and large I know my strengths and weaknesses. I don’t worry that negative feedback there will throw me off balance or call into question my choice of profession.
I’m much newer to fiction writing. As a result, I am more sensitive. Being involved in writing groups, it’s clear that many writers struggle with accepting constructive criticism. Writers aren’t alone. It’s the same thing that causes fights in marriages, creates conflict in jobs, etc. There is a ton of information out there on how to offer appropriate criticism.
There’s plenty of information on how to deal with being on the receiving end of that same criticism. Much of it is easier said than done. “Keep an open mind.” Okay, fine, but ….
Here are some tools I use which I lifted pretty directly from cognitive dissonance and complaint behavior theory. It’s not exhaustive, by any means.
1. Ask genuine questions rather than arguing.
Sometimes, we balk at criticism because we don’t understand it. Much communication conflict is steeped in miscommunication. Don’t be afraid to seek more information. Have a conversation where you explore what was going on in the critic’s mind. Avoid beginning with questions like “Why did you say that?” and instead ask the person to describe or provide examples. This will help prevent you from rationalizing.
Instead of trying to win a debate, take the “I’m confused” approach. I’ve noticed in writing groups, that over time, members of the critique circle grow weary of giving feedback to someone who argues back, so ultimately, they stop being constructive. If you want a bunch of people to read (or listen to you sing or watch you present a speech) you work and tell you it’s wonderful, I suppose arguing is a good way to get there in the long run, but it will also mean there may be gaping holes in your novel (or your brownies may taste bad or art may lack depth).
2. Talk to yourself.
Early in the morning when no one’s up, you might find me talking to my computer screen. Instead of arguing with the critic, argue with yourself. By formulated the response I would have to a critic, I can often find the flaws in my own argument.
Play devil’s advocate. You might have an emotional reaction to the feedback. Don’t shoot the messenger; have it out with yourself. It may lead you somewhere you don’t expect. It may confirm what you already believe or you might find truth in the critique.
You may find your disagree completely with reviewer, and that’s okay. We always have a choice to ignore the criticism as long as we’re prepared to accept any potential consequences.
3. Look for patterns
Criticism is subjective. You could ask ten people for an opinion and get ten different answers. That means it’s also acceptable to choose not to follow some advice you’re given—provided you’ve listened well and critically evaluated the message. What it isn’t wise to do is to ignore patterns of criticism. People may not use the same words, so this can require some work. List them out on paper. Underline them. Highlight them in different colors. Then go through and look for what they have in common.
4. Be Patient.
I put this last. And I had a hard time waiting to talk about it. J There are two ways patience can be a virtue with criticism. The first, is that like any conflict, our initial reaction is tainted by emotion. If you wait a day, go back and read or listen to criticism, you may see it with a more open mind.
The other need for patience comes when we agree with the criticism. When it comes to writing and revision (and I would venture other areas), our desire to hurry up and finish so we can hurry up and publish means someone offers and critic and we run back to our manuscript to fix it immediately. Try waiting a while after receiving the criticism to deal with bigger picture issues. Not forever. Not so long you forget the gist of it. But time to think, to let it work into your subconscious.
Rushing revision can result in too shallow a revision.
What criticism is most difficult for you to accept? What tools do you use to deal with criticism?
1. To be honest, I've spent some time thinking about this lately. I've been in my current position with my employer since January, and felt exceptionally confident in my abilities until very recently. Now, it seems that I'm being picked apart left and right, and of course, this sends me into a tailspin of emoness that is hard to shake off.
I don't know what happened to make my mindstate move from accepting correction/criticism well to this.
It's all very difficult to decipher. :(
2. Have there been general changes in your climate/morale at work? I know that when everyone is on edge (money is tight, etc), I feel less appreciated and I have a harder time taking minor criticism well. I hoe it gets better.
3. I'm glad you caveated the "talk it out" one - often the best thing you can do when receiving a critique is simply to thank the critiquer (profusely if you can). That way, they're more likely to be honest with you in the future. Too much push back can shut people down (because they're nice and don't want to hurt your feelings, so if they get that sense, they'll clam up).
This is a great list to keep in mind when the hard crits come in. I like to think that I can take them pretty well now, but every once in a while, it's still tough!
Great post!
4. For me, a lot of it is sifting. I spend a good amount of time thinking over critique if I get it. There's that old saying, "If three people say you're drunk, lie down."
Part of it, too, has just come with experience. The more I've written, the more I know what works on my own, and the more confident I can be saying, "I'm glad you find that question intriguing. Its answer exists, but a fully developed part about that detail doesn't belong in this section."
Learning when to say yes and when to say know has been an important skill.
5. Thanks, Susan. I feel the same way.
Jessi, isn't that the million dollar life lesson? Excellent points. | <urn:uuid:d6ebec9f-fda9-4741-8b5f-f280bd64982b> | 2 | 2.078125 | 0.027892 | en | 0.947952 | http://tclasen.blogspot.com/2011/07/everyones-critic-be-more-responsive-to.html |
Windows Shell Shortcut Vulnerability Is Being Actively Exploited
Windows Shell Shortcut Vulnerability Is Being Actively Exploited
Earlier this week the exploit code for a highly critical Windows vulnerability affecting all versions of Windows from XP to 7 was made public. The bad news is that malware developers are already actively exploiting this bug. Symantec has identified that the W32.Stuxnet worm, which spreads using this vulnerability, has already affected thousands of systems.
The Shell Shortcut Parsing vulnerability is a particularly worrisome bug because there aren’t a lot of things a user can do to protect himself. Even if autorun and autoplay is disabled, users can still get infected. All that the user is required to do is to open the compromised device, network share or WebDav. The only preventive measure is to disable icon rendering. However, doing so will basically cripple the Windows environment. To make matters worse, Steve Gibson from GRC research is claiming that a security researcher has already figured out a way to exploit this vulnerability through favicons.
Microsoft is obviously working hard to patch this severe vulnerability. However, an official patch may take weeks to come. Until then, ensure that your system has up-to-date malware protection, and avoid using Internet Explorer (other browsers can also be exploited, but possibly to a lesser degree).
Published by
Pallab De
| <urn:uuid:bb1bffd8-c844-44f6-921a-8a9013afbee8> | 2 | 1.804688 | 0.018866 | en | 0.949343 | http://techie-buzz.com/online-security/windows-shell-shortcut-vulnerability-is-being-exploited-actively.html |
How the States Can End Real ID
by Thomas Andrew Olson,
As of this writing, only a handful of states have formally resisted implementation of the draconian REAL-ID act, where the Feds create a de facto national ID card by hijacking the driver licensing agencies of all 50 states. Despite the chilling “papers, please!” overtones to this, some states are falling into line like so many obedient sheep, while the majority have resorted to sending the Department of Homeland Security a letter of intent to comply, which extends them another year or so of lead time before the mandate finally kicks in. Of course that path only legitimizes the law, as opposed to standing up to the Feds and declaring the law the unconstitutional usurpation that it is.
DHS head Michael “Skeletor” Chertoff has made it clear that starting next year the residents of Montana, Maine, et al. will find it impossible to board an aircraft or enter a Federal building unless their state legislatures and governors cave in to his demands.
There is a third way, however. It’s simple, doable, and one that is guaranteed to stop REAL-ID in its tracks. Every state can do it. Its only drawback is that state governments will have to give up certain entrenched powers that they have arrogated to themselves for decades. | <urn:uuid:bfa1d431-7916-47d8-9ff2-7593934653a2> | 2 | 1.539063 | 0.065235 | en | 0.947104 | http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2008/04/26/ |
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.NET Framework MSIL: What Is Obfuscation?
Q: What is Obfuscation?
A: Obfuscation allows you to protect your code from reverse engineering by making your code so confusing that it cannot be easily decompiled into human readable code. A well-written .NET obfuscator tool does this for you automatically by modifying assemblies after compilation. Altering the code in such a way that the code will still run and execute in the same way but any attempt to decompile the assemblies will only produce meaningless code that will confuse human interpreters.
Basic .NET obfuscators just rename all the identifiers within the code to randomly generated names, i.e. all class and method names will be renamed to meaningless words. They may use hashing techniques or arithmetically offset the characters to unreadable or unprintable characters. These techniques make the code hard to understand and navigate but with time and a bit more effort than non-obfuscated assemblies they can be reverse-engineered.
Advanced .NET obfuscators provide even more protection. They use advanced techniques to not only rename the symbol identifiers but change the underlying MSIL code within the assemblies making the code almost impossible to decompile by decompilation software. While it will always be possible to manually analyse the MSIL code and reverse-engineer an assembly, if the code is too difficult to decompile with the use of automated decompilation software, it is safe to say that it will be nearly impossible for a human to decompile and reverse engineer the assemblies and most certainly not worth the effort it would take to do so.
Basic obfuscation (i.e. symbol renaming) can be further enhanced by overload induction. Overload induction takes symbol renaming a step further by reusing symbol names where ever possible. If two methods or functions have different parameters they can be renamed with the same identifier name even if both methods may have completely different functionality. This adds further confusion since the majority of methods and functions within the assemblies end up with the same symbol names.
A side effect of the symbol renaming used by .NET obfuscators is that any stack traces produced in error messages are no longer in human readable format. Advanced .NET obfuscators provide the ability to parse these obfuscated stack traces and return a human readable version. In general this functionality is only available to the person/company who obfuscated the code in the first place and is either controlled by password encrypted symbol names or symbol name lookup files.
Obfuscation Example:
The following C# example demonstrates symbol renaming in conjunction with overload induction:
Source Code Before Obfuscation:
private void IncreaseSalaries(EmployeeInfoCollection employees) {
while (employees.HasMore()) {
employee = employees.GetNext(true);
Reverse-Engineered Source Code After Obfuscation:
private void a(a b) {
while (b.a()) {
a = b.a(true);
The above example not only makes the code incredibly difficult to understand, but it also compacts the code by using shorter symbol names resulting in smaller assemblies.
Have you liked this article, Obfusasm.NET Obfuscator can be used to obfuscate your own assemblies, and CodeReflect.NET Decompiler can be used to check that they are obfuscated.
Article Source:
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Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Highgate Cemetery by Miranda Miller
At the very end of 2016, when the year itself seemed exhausted by its own historical weight, I visited Highgate cemetery with Britta, a friend who grew up in East Berlin. On a frosty sunny morning it was a beautiful hillside park as well as place to contemplate. Those great Victorian cemeteries were inspired by Pere La Chaise in Paris.The first part to open, in 1839, was the West Cemetery, which is on your right as you walk down Swain’s Lane from Highgate. You have to make an appointment to go there but it’s well worth visiting with its Egyptian Avenue, Lebanon Circle, Terrace Catacombs and remarkable plants and wild life. Volunteers cut back the vegetation so that it is romantic but still passable and they also study the foxes, hedgehogs butterflies and other rare insects.
Further down Swain's Lane on the right you come to the East cemetery, which costs £4 to enter and still attracts people from all over the world. Since 1975 both cemeteries have been run by a charity, the Friends of Highgate Cemetery. John Betjeman described it as a ‘Victorian Valhalla’ .These grand Victorian necropoli were built with high walls and locked gates to keep out the Resurrection Men but they were always intended to be parks as well. Once it was beautifully manicured but now it is its wildness that makes it charming and romantic. Douglas Adams, George Eliot, several of Charles Dickens’ children and his wife Catherine, Paul Foot, Eric Hobsbawn, Anna Mahler, Sidney Nolan, Peter Porter, Ralph Richardson Alan Sillitoe, Herbert Spencer Leslie Stephen and Max Wall are all buried here. Many of the less famous graves are very touching; there is an area dedicated to London firemen and some of the epitaphs on the graves of forgotten people read like short stories. For instance: “Emma Wallace Gray Died in October 1854 in the 19th year of her age...From the effects of fire, her dress having accidentally ignited ten days previously. In bloom of youth, when others fondly cling to life, I prayed, mid agonies of death.”
Karl Marx (1818-1883) upstages all his subterranean neighbours. The morning we were there a constant flow of international visitors surrounded his monument. He had been expelled from both Cologne and Paris because of his political activities before settling in London in 1849. "From this time on he was one of the leaders of the socialist party in Europe, and in 1865 he became its acknowledged chief" ( to quote from his obituary). He was laid to rest in the same grave as his wife Jenny, who had died less than a year and a half before him. Eleven people attended his funeral, including his friend Engels. Other members of his family were later buried in the same grave, including his daughter Eleanor, known as Tussy. She was a courageous supporter of the early Trades Unions who poisoned herself in 1898 after discovering that her partner, Edward Aveling, had secretly married a young actress.
As the years passed so many people came to visit Marx’s grave that it was moved to a more accessible spot, on the main path. The present grandiose marble monument was unveiled 73 years after his death, in 1956, in a ceremony attended by about 200 people, “ to honour the memory of a man whose spirit - if that is the right word - now dominates approximately half the world.” (as reported in The Guardian the following day). One of his most famous quotations is carved on it: ”The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways - the point however is to change it.” Laurence Bradshaw, the sculptor, said he aimed to express the "dynamic force of his intellect" and wanted the sculptured likeness to be at eye-level rather than "towering over the people."
Everybody who lived through the mid -20th century has their own Marx. At 15 I was a Young Communist for a few months and attended earnest discussion groups about his writings in West Kensington. A few years later I was taught history by academics who saw the world in terms of a Marxist interpretation. For some he was a demon, for others an omniscient prophet. Britta, my companion the day I visited the cemetery, is nostalgic for the GDR she lived in until she was in her late thirties. After the wall came down in 1989 there was a long public debate in Germany about what to do with the monuments and place names of Communism. There’s a striking scene in the 2003 film 'Good Bye, Lenin!' where the huge Lenin statue is lifted up by helicopter and flies off over the city, pointing as it goes. Finally, Marx was accepted as a philosopher and the grand boulevard round the corner from her flat is still called Karl - Marx - Allee. She tells me sadly that her grandchildren are taught at school that he was worse than Hitler.
At the moment, with socialism in crisis, you don’t hear much about Marx in England. Above the gigantic hairy bronze head hovers a large (if invisible) question mark. What does Marx mean to us now? He would not necessarily have recognised his own ideas in the uses that were made of them after he died. In 1882 he wrote in a letter of the form of 'Marxism' which arose in France: “If anything is certain, it is that I myself am not a Marxist.”
Last year there was a three-part Open University /BBC co-production for BBC Four called Genius of the Modern World. Bettany Hughes explored the life and works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud. “We might not realise it, but we all live with a 19th-century male philosopher in our lives. Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud are towering thinkers, men with the wit and the will to question the status quo.” Nobel laurate Paul Krugman wrote recently that when thinking about automation and the future of labor, he worries that "it has echoes of old-fashioned Marxism – which shouldn't be a reason to ignore facts, but too often is."
At his best Marx was such a powerful writer that it seems likely that people will always be influenced by him. He wrote that “ Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks.” Another quotation that has great resonance for me at this time of crisis in our democracy is: “The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.”
Susan Price said...
He saw very clearly, his own time and ours, didn't he?
Leslie Wilson said...
Yes, very perceptive and cynical of Marx. Great blog, Miranda!
Penny Dolan said...
Thanks, Miranda - and for reminding me that I must go there next time I'm in London.
Miranda Miller said...
Thanks for all your comments. I should have mentioned that there are interesting events in the beautiful Victorian chapel. I just went to a talk about Max wall and in May there's a Karl Marx Memorial Lecture there. | <urn:uuid:6b071ae1-b855-40e4-8824-e4e4902c91f5> | 2 | 1.945313 | 0.04075 | en | 0.983988 | http://the-history-girls.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/highgate-cemetery-by-miranda-miller.html |
html> Betancourt Nutrition Workout Watermelon Servings |
Betancourt Nutrition Workout Watermelon Servings
How Many Meals a Day Should a Hardgainer Eat?
If you are reading this article then the chances are that you already know what a hardgainer is. However for those of you that do not then basically it is someone who finds it really difficult to put on weight: fat or muscle! Often this is put down to the fact that that person has a really fast metabolism.
Metabolism or metabolic rate is the speed at which your body burns up calories through the natural reactions in the body. If your metabolic rate is very slow then it is easy to gain fat tissue as you are not using up as many calories at rest as someone who has a higher metabolic rate.
For muscle building purposes we need o create a surplus of calories but for hardgainers this is a difficult thing to do with such a high metabolic rate as it is rapidly being burnt off. So, what can hardgainers do to counter this? Here area a few guidelines:
1) Keep the cardio workouts to a minimum. Cardio work actually speeds up the bodies metabolism, as well as using up calories whilst doing the exercises, you will also be increasing the rate at which you are burning up calories at rest after your workout. This you do not want if you are trying to create an excess of calories.
2) Eat for two! You need to get lots of calories on board. To do so try doubling up all the portions that you would normally eat. Buying extra large bowls, plates and cups will help you not to forget this.
3) How many meals a day should a hardgainer eat? Eat 5-7 meals per day. Your body can only absorb a certain amount of nutrients at anyone sitting so spreading out the meals is also a good thing and ensures that your body is never waiting for its next meal. Eating 2-3 meals per day is claimed to slow down the bodies metabolism which is true but this doesn’t mean it is something that hardgainers should do. Why? Because your body goes into starvation mode releasing certain chemicals that are counter productive to muscle building especially for hardgainers.
4) Take supplements. Take advantage of some of the excellent meal replacement powders and protein shakes that are available. These contain very high dosages of exactly the right things that you need. Great times to take them are just after training and just before bed as these are times when your body is going to need the nutrients most.
5)Quit doing exercises such as concentration curls and any other isolation exercises and just do the classic, large multi-joint exercises. Your program should include: Squats, dead lifts, pull ups and bench presses. These are the most efficient way to put muscle in all the right places with the least amount of effort.
6) Quit doing so many sets. You can stimulate growth in short 40 minute intense workouts of just 3 sets per body part and maybe as little as 10 sets per workout. More is less for hardgainers! Stimulate growth then get out of the gym and save your calories for growing.
7) Water, drink it and lots of it. It is required by the body for so many different muscle building chemical reactions that you really can not skimp on this one, not at all. Drink lots and often.
There we go, give those tips a bash. Do not turn around after a couple of weeks and say they don’t work, be persistent and stick with it for a couple of months and see what the results are. Go for it, if not now when?
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html> Hour Energy Shots Grape 12 |
Hour Energy Shots Grape 12
Boost Your Metabolic Rate in 7 Days
Metabolism is a very important tool when it comes to fat-burning and a really crucial part of any weight loss program. The truth is, if you can’t boost your body’s metabolic rate, then trying to burn fat might just be a complete waste of time.
Metabolism is simply the process through which the body burns calories and make energy available for the body. At a young age, weight gain is inhibited because of the muscle mass that store up energy, but as you advance in age, you gradually lose those muscles and body fats begin to accumulate. As this continues, your metabolic rate slows down and weight loss at this stage becomes a mirage.
However, with a well detailed 7-day regime on how to increase your metabolic rate, you can get back on track.
Day 1: Know your metabolic rate
Your metabolism is like the internal engine of a car and there are things that can be done to make it work more efficiently and serve you better. You must find out your body’s metabolic rate; this should be your first port of call to start shedding that fat in your body. You must be arm with data such as the number of calories your body needs for weight gain to kick in, then you’ll know how to leverage on that information to actually boost your metabolic rate to burn that body fat quickly and effectively too.
Day 2: Reduce calorie intake to 100 per day
Calories are important part of our existence, for the fact that they give energy to our cells to carry out their functions. One can’t get by without calories because they serve as the body’s fuel to perform its work. Without calories, our body won’t have the capacity to move.
Be that as it may, an excess of calories is undesirable, and because of that, it’s used up and converted to body fat. Body fats are important to give protection to the body, yet an excess of fat can cause intense ailments. Consequently, we should just consume a certain measure of calories and store enough body fats for us to remain healthy. If you’ve got an excess of body fats, then the time is now, to chop down the additional calories. The question: “How to lose calories?” becomes the primary concern to keep up a physically fit body.
The proper thing to do here is to reduce your calorie intake to 100 on a daily basis, and as such your body readjusts to make this possible.
Day 3: Include protein in your diet
Eat more protein. Presently, this doesn’t mean you need to go beyond limits, yet it will be useful to have protein at each of your meals. Your body burns calories to process the food you eat and when you eat protein, your body has some major snags breaking this nutrient down. This is an advantage for you on the grounds that this additional energy expected to process protein will boost your metabolism. It is a known fact that when your body digests protein, it does it by burning twice as much as calories than it would when digesting carbohydrates. You can include a meal that contains fish in your diet twice per week; halibut fish or salmon may be a good choice to go with, as they’re composed of omega-3 fatty acids that enhance the enzymes that aids your fat- burning
Day 4: Eat Every 3 Hours
Eat more frequently, say every 3 hours. Eating every 3 hours implies that you get your calories in large chunks rather than little bundles as the day progressed. To increase your metabolic rate, you have to eat small meals frequently during the day. At the point when you miss a meal, your metabolic rate slows down as your body reacts to an apparent absence of nourishment. In the event that there is a famine, the individuals who process calories gradually will be in an ideal situation.
Ensure that you eat within an hour after waking up, that way your body won’t descend into a hunger mode. You can schedule an eating routine for yourself; just ensure you eat 3 hours after each meal. Snacks should also come into play to supplement the food you eat. Research has it that snacks can actually provide quite considerable amount of calories—snacks based on 250 calories, eaten three time per day require the intake of less food at regular meals and triggers subsequent increased in metabolic rate.
Day 5: Drink iced cold drinks daily
One way to increase your metabolic rate is to drink iced cold drinks when you get up in the morning. This will drive the body to utilize calories to raise the temperature of the water to body temperature. You can now burn additional calories by drinking coffee, green tea (they contain caffeine that boost your metabolic rate) or water. And when you put ice in the mix, you increase the metabolic rate the more. If truth be told, don’t simply restrict yourself to the morning; drink them throughout the
Day 6: Take essential minerals like zinc
When you’re full, your body reacts due to the fact that of leptin (a hormone) initiate an alert that your body can no longer take in more food so you don’t keep ingesting. The presence of zinc in the body helps to achieve this by reducing hunger while increasing your leptin levels. You can get zinc from your multivitamin or better still, buy in packets of 15mg.
Day 7: Engage in short burst workout sessions
With short but highly effective workout sessions, you are totally committed around invigorating the targeted muscles, and as such a demand is placed for more calories and are burnt as quickly as possible. Short burst workouts can trigger an enormous loss of calories within a short period of time.
If you must boost your metabolic rate in a short while, then look no further; this 7 day regime plan is what you truly need to achieve your goal.
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Old age related health problems
Old age is the last phase of a human’s life cycle. Old age is certainly bittersweet. As people gain wealth and respect in society and the burden of work and responsibilities reduce, most transition to a life of relaxation and enjoyment. However, seniority brings with it its own set of challenges in the form of geriatric health issues AKA old age problems. As the body begins to weaken, the natural immunity goes down as well, making otherwise healthy individuals prone to falling sick very easily. Old people have slower regenerative prowess and are easily vulnerable to disease, syndromes, and sickness as compared to younger adults. According to Wikipedia, ” The organic process of ageing is called senescence, the medical study of the aging process is called gerontology, and the study of diseases that afflict the elderly is called geriatrics. The elderly also face other social issues around retirement, loneliness, and ageism.”
There are also a host of issues that arise out of old age, which are the ones that we typically witness in our parents and senior individuals. These old age problems can be physiological, psychological, social, emotional and financial. The deterioration of both physical abilities as mental faculties are synonymous with old age. The manner in which one ages and well as the pace of the aging process is dependent on his/her lifestyle, the hereditary constitution of the individual as well as external, environmental factors.
Here are some of old age problems which are related to health.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea causes people to temporarily pause breathing during sleep. These pauses can range from a few seconds to a few minutes, causing imperceptible oxygen deprivation in the body and brain. This is shown to be a very common incident in senior individuals and requires immediate attention. While most of the time sleep apnea causes the person to wake up as a result of obstructed breathing and resume proper respiration thereafter, cases have been reported where sleep apnea caused death by asphyxiation because the subject failed to wake up.
Arthritis is an affliction of the joints that causes the loss of the cartilage and bone in movable joints of the skeleton. Old age is one of the major causes of this form of arthritis, also sometimes called osteoarthritis. The condition manifests in joint pain, immobilization of joints or sometimes severely reducing the range of motion of the joint. Arthritis is most effectively dealt with in its early stages so do not be dismissive if they complain about joint pain. A simple joint pain might be indicative of a more serious situation.
Dementia is often used as an umbrella term for a broad range of diseases affecting the brain. Dementia is a long term phenomenon and causes gradual loss of memory and cognitive ability. It can also give rise to emotional instability, mood swings, language issues, and lethargy. Dementia is most often characterized by Alzheimer’s disease. While dementia has no cure, early diagnosis can lead to an increase in quality of life with the help of symptomatic treatment. Use of assistive technology can also help a lot in allowing your loved ones to live the final years of their lives in peace and dignity.
High Cholesterol
Cholesterol plays a crucial part in the healthy operation of our body. Elevated levels of cholesterol pose a significant health risk, primarily of heart disease. High cholesterol can be caused by bad diet, obesity or other diseases such as diabetes but requires immediate redressal before the situation worsens.
Farsightedness, also called hypermetropia, is caused by the eye being unable to focus on objects at near distances. This is caused primarily by the ciliary muscles in the eye being unable to change the lens enough to view nearby objects clearly. One of the most obvious signs of the onset of age, hypermetropia is easily corrected with the use of glasses or lenses. However, until that is done, people from hypermetropia can suffer from blurred vision, headaches, dizziness, and discombobulation. Early diagnosis of hypermetropia as distinct from general tiredness of the eye is essential.
High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is the sustained elevation of blood pressure in arteries, the blood vessels that carry freshly oxygenated blood from the heart to the various parts of the body. High blood pressure significantly increases the chances of coronary heart disease, stroke, loss of vision, and kidney failure. High blood pressure is one of the most significant ailments found in senior citizens and requires consistent and regular medication to keep it in check to maintain health and normal living standards.
Apart from the aforementioned old age problems, the issues of economic insecurity and isolation plague senior citizens. They need all the love and care in the world at this phase of life and it is up to us children to repay their love.
Next articleMuse of the Month- Rujuta Diwekar
Mousumi Gharami is an experienced writer, who applies her creative thoughts and makes the best approaches to cover all the essential points of a specific topic. She is capable enough to manage writing assignments of all sorts and has succeeded in earning loads of success and acheivements within a short span of time, and all credit goes to her hardwork, honesty and dedication.
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Monday, 19 January 2015
Anti-Racism Causes Racism!
It can be argued that zealous and fanatical anti-racism is doing more than almost anything else to contribute to racism in the United Kingdom and United States. To put that in very basic terms, one of the biggest contributors to racism today may very well be anti-racism policies and statements.
Almost every single day someone or other is put before an anti-racist inquisition or a new - even stricter - law is decreed to fight racism.
Anti-racism has now become another revolution that's eating its own children.
What we have with much of today's anti-racism is the same kind of absurdity and extremity which often happened during various historical inquisitions. More specifically, anti-racism is just like the many other political movements that, in time, became corrupted.
Many anti-racists also feel the need to to justify their existence and legitimacy by becoming more and more pure (i.e. extreme). And, as a consequence, they will also need to find new targets – more evil racists - to reprimand or even punish.
What partly contributes to all this is that a minority of Leftist activists (though often highly-influential people in the law, councils, academia, etc.) are attempting to create a “revolutionary situation” by deliberately making anti-racism policies and actions more extreme. Thus, in the process, these Leftists - along with their words and actions - are alienating people who aren't otherwise racist. Such Leftists think that the violence, turmoil or even civil conflict that their words and policies create may be utilised to benefit their own primary cause: revolutionary socialism or the “progressive future”. Thus they see what they're doing as tapping into anti-racism's revolutionary/radical potential. (These very same Leftists also - to use their own words - “tap into the revolutionary potential of Muslims”.)
The fight against racism, then, is but a means to a revolutionary or radical end.
Let's just take two examples – from a multitude - to begin with.
Think of Rotherham (UK) Council's anti-racism policies and how they resulted in fifteen years or more of unchecked Muslim sexual-grooming; which, all in all, claimed over 1,400 young victims.
In terms of the United States, think of Ben Affleck's mindless belief that the criticism of Islam equals racism.
I know that that many people are more or less being goaded into racism as a direct reaction to the extreme bullshit, zealotry and prejudice (yes, prejudice) that's coming – every day - from countless professional anti-racists (whether in politics, the law, academia or wherever).
Of course the partisans of anti-racism will simply say that such people were racist all along. After all, only the pious Leftists of this world are truly untainted by the sin of racism.
It's often as if many – or at least some - anti-racists are trying to prove their own non-racist purity by citing even more perverse and ridiculous examples of what they take to be racism. Is this because they are themselves racists? Is it because many – or at least some - anti-racists have racist thoughts?
Like their National Socialist (Nazi) counterparts, when such pious anti-racists see a person they immediately note his or her skin colour (i.e., if the skin isn't white). And that changes everything for them. They will automatically see that person as being “oppressed” or as an endless victim of racism (somehow and somewhen). Or, alternatively, as exotica to be patronised - or condescended to - in an orgy of positive Orientalism.
Therefore in order to assuage the guilt they feel about their own negative and positive racism, these puritanical Leftists project their racist thoughts into the minds and words of other people. (This is called “psychological projection” in the psychological literature.)
But really....?
The obvious riposte to what I'm arguing, then, will either be that I'm rationalising/justifying racism or that I'm a racist myself. But that response would itself display the very problem that's being highlighted: mindless and zealous anti-racism.
It can also be said that it's perfectly acceptable to say that people should – and do - react to zealous and absurd anti-racism. However, to also argue that anti-racism can actually have racism as a consequence is surely a different thing entirely.
Let's put it this way.
If anti-racist activists continuously muddy the water between genuine racism and fictional/possible racism, then surely others will do so too. That means that if things which aren't in fact racist are constantly being classed “racist”, then other people may give up on trying to make such distinctions too.
Take this example.
If the very act of giving a comedic representation of any ethnic minority individual is deemed racist (which it nearly always is), then people might have started to think that many genuine cases of racism (as put forwards by professional anti-racists and others) are bogus too. Or at least many might have developed a disposition to think that way precisely because Leftists are ceaselessly muddying the waters in order to advance political/personal objectives which have very little to do with the fight against racism.
In any case, I'm not saying that anti-racism causes all racism. I'm not even saying that extreme examples of anti-racism cause all racism. I'm simply saying that certain strands of anti-racism (e.g., ones based on Marxist and other arcane political theories) may well be responsible for much racism.
After all, after thirty or more years of outright political correctness and Leftist indoctrination (in schools, universities, council chambers, public libraries, buses, the BBC), many people are claiming that racism is still a big problem or even that it's getting worse. So have such people ever thought – for even one moment - that racism may be getting worse precisely because of thirty years of political correctness and sanctimonious anti-racism?
The constant barrage from councils, (Leftist) lawyers, rights 'n' race groups, police bodies, councillors, council workers, politicians, etc. against whites people and against English/American identity causes racism. And indeed even if there is no such thing as “English/American identity”, it's still not the place of a Marxist/Leftist academic (at Neasden University or the LSE) to decide on that and then try to get politicians and the legal system to legislate accordingly.
So where does all this leave the British and American people?
It leaves millions of people in a state in which any criticism of Islam, Muslims, immigration, Pakistani council corruption, black criminality and violence, etc. can't even made made - let alone acted upon. A state in which the people have effectively been silenced on some of the most important issues of the day.
More specifically, these professional and political anti-racists know that the silencing of the British/American people about Islam and immigration, for example, will eventually help destabilise society (as referred to earlier). And in such a destabilised society it will be easier to create (so they think) a revolutionary situation out of which - like a phoenix rising from the ashes - a new Leftist/progressive state and society can be created. From such chaos and inter-communal conflict, the Left's “fairer and better society” will somehow be formed.
Large parts of the Left also think, for example, that the large-scale criminalising of free speech – the Gulag without walls - will somehow stop or end racism. No it won't: it will make it worse!
This fear and trembling about real, possible and often fictional racism has meant that very many people – from all walks of life - have been let down by the authorities. In all these cases, the supreme and (self)righteous fight against racism has taken first place in the pecking order of politics.
The permanent revolution that is the fight against racism has often become fanatical, extreme and puritanical. Anti-racism, it seems, takes no prisoners and permits no compromise. And neither does it follow the principles of fairness and justice. What I mean by that is that it's often the case that many other rights, values and standards are sacrificed in order to cleanse society of not only real racism; but often fictional or possible racism too.
Actions cause a counter-reactions. And relentless anti-racist zealotry – day after day – is bound to cause at least some equally zealous counter-reactions.
Basically, then, many anti-racism policies and statements do cause racism.
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Thursday, September 10, 2015
The Ironic Cherry Reads...
...The Invisible Bridge
"If the people believe there's an imaginary river out there, you don't tell them there's no river out there. You build an imaginary bridge over the imaginary river."
This is the quote that prefaces the book "The Invisible Bridge" by Rick Perlstein. It is attributed as "Advice to Richard Nixon from Nikita Khrushchev."
The book is a doorstop, some 800+ pages. If you have time to read only one book, this is the one you should read. As the subtitle says, it chronicles the time -- bridges the time -- of "the fall of Nixon and the rise of Reagan."
If you have been sitting here in 2015 scratching your head and wondering how we got here from the amazing sixties, this is the book that will clear it up for you. Yes, we had Roe v. Wade, and civil rights legislation, ended the war in Vietnam and began to end pollution and save the planet. We had desegregation, a war on poverty and more kids went on to college than ever before.
But we liberals never saw the backlash coming.
The abortion wars began as soon as they ended, fires fueled by rage at the Supreme Court justices that made a woman's right to abortion the law of the land.
It was in the 70's that the textbook wars began, with a mild mannered Christian woman named Alice Moore speaking up at a Texas school board meeting, and refusing to back down until school boards in Texas and across the country removed books that offended with their words of sex and science, integration and art. Evolution was banned from textbooks and classrooms, as well as "The Grapes of Wrath."
Lest we yanks feel smug, it was in Boston where fierce rioting went on over school busing. "Two groups of people who are poor and doomed and who have been thrown in the ring with each other," was how columnist Jimmy Breslin described the battles between whites and blacks.
And in today's headlines we have a dozen odd republican candidates for president keeping those same wounds open. They may be using Mexicans instead of African Americans, but their followers I assure you see them as pretty much the same problem. You can't publicly pledge to send blacks back where they came from these days, but ending Obamacare and the Voting Rights Act is nearly as satisfying.
While Hillary is wasting her time apologizing for emails, we must know that this has nothing to do with what is going on with the upcoming election.
Remember that big brouhaha over Obama's 2008 comments on guns and religion? We need to go back and listen to those comments again:
Yes, they continue to cling to their guns and religion, and they are fueled by opportunistic politicians. And what we see is craziness and rage. We see nobodies like Kim Davis regaled as a hero for refusing to obey the law and used by fools like Mike Huckabee to promote his own small-minded religious agenda. And those people who live in their own ignorance and isolation thrive on the narrative that the freedom of others to live differently will deny them their religious freedom.
And there you have that invisible bridge. There won't be better jobs and the kids will either bail out or follow in the footsteps of fear and denial. And the politicians will continue to pretend that they care about "religious freedom" while they deregulate and cut taxes for the rich. And they will cut services to those same isolated small towns, health care and education, roads and schools, police and firefighters, blaming the government. These pols have created and perpetuated this vicious cycle, wherein ignorance leads being frightened and vulnerable to lies and manipulation, which leads to more isolation and ignorance.
What is different now than it was in the 70's is that we have a Supreme Court that has been molded by the right-wing to reflect that bizarre religious paranoia. Since Reagan the Supremes have formalized the union between corporate power and religion. Small businesses haven't noticed that they have not been included in all the freedom of speech that is being bought, and politicians are giving them nothing but lip service. But the pols have taken up the fight for the religious fanatics. Because while they are wasting time and dollars with votes and court battles to end Obamacare, voting rights and Planned Parenthood, they are seeming to serve those small town old-timey values while their real constituents, the billionaire capitalists, are allowed to continue to freely run the country.
1. All so true. I have been watching it for years, watching the way the right-wing pols keep low-information voters scared and angry, then herd them down to the polls on Election Day. But what happens then? We got a glimpse of it after the 2004 election. After all the rage over same-sex marriage and abortion, GWB used his first news conference after the election to call for tax cuts and privatizing Social Security. Not a word about abortion of same-sex marriage! One of the religious right leaders (I think it was Dobbs) said, "That was when I knew we had been used."
2. It was also a backlash against Ralph Nader, and the rise of lobbying and special interest groups after the Justice Powell memo in the 1970's. Lobbying didn't exist on a national scale in the 1960's and much of the 70's. The Heritage Foundation was a little office called the Liberty Lobby on Capitol Hill, in 1980. I know, because I went there for an interview for an editorial job, and was totally creeped out by the pamphlets in the lobby, much less the two people I met. Richard Viguerie was the libertarian fundraising genius who masterminded right-wing fundraising using direct mail campaigns. The job I did get that year was as a marketing assistant to a financial news letter publisher that was marketed through direct mail, so I learned all about how that business worked. The publisher was a prominent libertarian named Robert Kephart. Although the newsletters were mainstream, we used mailing lists from big publications like Kiplinger, but also a lot of fringe organizations that were very right-wing and Bircheresque. The editor of the tax publication was Mark Skousen, who I later learned was ex-CIA, and is still very active in right-wing circles. He had a Mormon relative, Cleon Skousen, who was a founding member of the John Birchers. I also saw fundraising letters from Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson at the time, which were not much different from much of the wackier Christian right stuff you see today. We were mainly a bunch of young liberal women in this office, and we laughed at that those letters, at Robertson calling feminists feminazis and lesbians witches. But that fundraising machine has been going on for 50 years now, and has a huge influence on our politics, now that they have Glenn Beck, who took over the Bircher ideas whole, Fox News, and Pat Robertson, who has a media empire now, one among many. This was the whole Christian Right fundraising machine, but then you have the whole business-oriented organizations and lobbying groups added to that, the Chamber of Commerce and the libertarian Koch brothers, whose father was also a founding member of the Birchers, forming ALEC, and Americans for Prosperity, and the left has nothing to match it. That's the main source of most of the political money in this country. We have non-profit associations for unions, teachers, things like that, but it has never matched and never will the power, money, and organization the right has had at its disposal for almost half a century. I would be curious as to whether or not this book mentions some of these people. They are behind the radar, pretty much, and stay that way. You can Google them, it's very interesting. I've only connected a lot of these dots in hindsight. | <urn:uuid:388e6bf4-6885-4d1f-bf78-f227b7b3b3d9> | 2 | 1.953125 | 0.216947 | en | 0.977956 | http://theironiccherry.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-ironic-cherry-reads.html |
Friday, December 14, 2007
A woman's body, a government health regulator’s choice
I suspect far more people would be libertarians if they actually thought through the possibility of the statist measures they support being put to use by their opponents. Coyote Blog points out an interesting incongruity. The National Organization for Women is adamantly pro-choice, and vehemently opposes any attempt to have the government restrict a woman’s right to have an abortion. This is usually phrased in libertarian terms- it’s wrong for the government to deny a woman control over her own life and body.
But NOW also supports universal government-provided health care. In other words, NOW (and I would imagine most pro-choicers who aren’t libertarians), wants to create a system where the government will have massively increased incentives and justifications for controlling private decisions affecting health- what people do with their own bodies, in other words.
Now, in purely philosophical terms, there’s no contradiction, slogans like “A woman’s body, a woman’s choice” notwithstanding. Feminists, being predominantly liberal/leftist, generally don’t derive the right to abortion from some broader right to control your life and body in general, a few libertarian feminists excepted. On the contrary, abortion is a rare exception to the general rule that the individual doesn’t have any right to control those things.
It does, however, strike me as a potential strategic risk for feminists, and for anyone else who doesn't want the government controlling women's reproductive choices. If we had a Canadian-style system, where the government not only provides health care but outlaws private alternatives, it would be a quite simple matter to make abortion de facto restricted or illegal. Don’t outlaw abortion- simply make all health procedures a government monopoly, and then refuse to fund abortion in some or all cases. This would, I suspect, be quite popular, at least for more controversial areas like late-term abortions or abortions for minors. Such a result would be appalling to members of NOW, but it would hardly be the first time liberals found themselves unhappy when someone else managed to seize control of the oppressive state machinery the liberals built.
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Top Disdain Quotes
Browse top 146 famous quotes and sayings about Disdain by most favorite authors.
Favorite Disdain Quotes
1. "...all his longings came out as a kind of disdain for what he longed for."
Author: Alan Hollinghurst
2. "Action and blood now get the game. Disdain treads on the peaceful name."
Author: Amos Bronson Alcott
3. "So I pulled a gun on him and demanded his wallet."The soda in my mouth becomes the soda in my nose. "You had a gun?" I cough and sputter into my napkin.Mom's eyes go round and she pressed her finger to her lips, mouthing, "Shhh!""Where did you get a gun?" I hiss."Oliver lent it to me. He was always looking out for me. Told me to shoot first and run. He said the asking-questions-later part was for the police." She grins at my expression. "Does that earn me cool points?"I swirl a fry in the mound of ketchup on my plate. "You want cool points for pulling a gun on my father?" I say it with all the appropriate disdain and condescension it deserves, but deep down, we both know she gets mega cool points for it."Psh." She waves her hand. "I didn't even know whether or not it would fire. And anyway, he didn't hand me his wallet. He propositioned me instead.""Okay. Ew.""Not like that, you brat."
Author: Anna Banks
4. "It was at such moments that for an instant he ceased to be a reasoning machine and betrayed his human love for admiration and applause. The same singularly proud and reserved nature which turned away with disdain from popular notoriety was capable of being moved to its depth by spontaneous wonder and praise from a friend."
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
5. "The true elitists in the literary world are the ones who have become annoyed by literary ambition in any form, who have converted the very meaning of ambition so totally that it now registers as an act of disdain, a hostility to the poor common reader, who should never be asked to do anything that might lead to a pulled muscle. (What a relief to be told there's no need to bother with a book that might seem thorny, or abstract, or unusual.) The elitists are the ones who become angry when it is suggested to them that a book with low sales might actually deserve a prize (...) and readers were assured that the low sales figures for some of the titles could only mean that the books had failed our culture's single meaningful literary test.-"
Author: Ben Marcus
6. "Awards are meaningless to me, and I have nothing but disdain for anyone who actively campaigns to get one."
Author: Bill Murray
7. "Exactly. We don't belong here. They're not staring out of disdain, Jordan; they're staring out of jealousy. We don't have to be a part of the horrible modelling industry. You don't have to watch what you eat and I don't have to worry about how many zits are on my face. We can be whoever the fuck we want, a type of liberty that a majority of people crave."
Author: Cameron How To Be A Girl
Author: Chuck Jones
9. "Cousin Mary hoped her journey through periods of dark and light was like that of a Swiss train toiling up the mountainside, in and out of tunnels but always a little farther up the hill at each emergence. But she could only hope that this was so, she did not feel it. It seemed to her that she did not advance at all and that what she was learning now was only to hold on. The Red Queen in Alice Through the Looking Glass, she remembered, had had to run fast merely to stay where she was, but doubtless she had run in hope, disdaining despair; and hope, Cousin Mary discovered, when deliberately opposed to despair, was one of the tough virtues."
Author: Elizabeth Goudge
10. "She was a virgin and a warrior, disdainful of the male, which was what eventually convinced people that she really must be off her head."
Author: Émile Zola
11. "It seems I have a hard time being attracted to someone unless I respect what they do on some level. Otherwise, I would feel disdain for them. Which is not always pleasant in a relationship. Sometimes it's fun though."
Author: Eric Stoltz
12. "It is a matter for considerable regret that Fermat, who cultivated the theory of numbers with so much success, did not leave us with the proofs of the theorems he discovered. In truth, Messrs Euler and Lagrange, who have not disdained this kind of research, have proved most of these theorems, and have even substituted extensive theories for the isolated propositions of Fermat. But there are several proofs which have resisted their efforts."
Author: Fermat
13. "A womanly occupation means, practically, an occupation that a man disdains. (The Odd Women)"
Author: George Gissing
Author: George Orwell
15. "Men are men." Whitebeard replied. "Dragons are dragons." Ser Jorah snorted his disdain. "How profund"
Author: George R.R. Martin
16. "In his youth, Jon Connington had shared the disdain most knights had for bowmen, but he had grown wiser in exile."
Author: George R.R. Martin
17. "And as for the Ellison Fellow's feelings towards Katherine Potter--to be honest, they involve a good deal of confusion. He reacts before Katherine Potter, in fact, as he has reacted before all new, strange (attractive) women who happen, since a certain event, to have crossed his path. He does not know how to deal with them. He is filled with dismay, a giddy sense of arbitrariness, an apprehension that the universe holds nothing sacred; all of which is only to be stilled by the imperative of loyal resistance.He is not immune to the prickle of passing lust. But he deals defensively with it. He reacts either with disdainful dismissal (Not your type, definitely not your type) or with a rampant if covert seizure of lecherousness (Christ, what tits! What legs! What an arse!), which serves the same forestalling function by reducing its object to meat and its subject (he is past fifty, after all) to a pother of shame."
Author: Graham Swift
18. "Never have things of the spirit counted for so little. Never has hatred for everything great been so manifest – disdain for beauty, execration of literature. I have always tried to live in an ivory tower, but a tide of shit is beating at its walls, threatening to undermine it."
Author: Gustave Flaubert
Author: Heinrich Heine
20. "Death is as unexpected in his caprice as a courtesan in her disdain; but death is truer – Death has never forsaken any man"
Author: Honoré De Balzac
21. "The motives behind scientism are culturally significant. They have been mixed, as usual: genuine curiosity in search of truth; the rage for certainty and for unity; and the snobbish desire to earn the label scientist when that became a high social and intellectual rank. But these efforts, even though vain, have not been without harm, to the inventors and to the world at large. The "findings" have inspired policies affecting daily life that were enforced with the same absolute assurance as earlier ones based on religion. At the same time, the workers in the realm of intuition, the gifted finessers - artists, moralists, philosophers, historians, political theorists, and theologians - were either diverted from their proper task, while others were looking on them with disdain as dabblers in the suburbs of Truth."
Author: Jacques Barzun
22. "Our political system is now run by the Big People for their own interests. If they ever deign to notice the Little People, it is with disdain and contempt."
Author: John Derbyshire
23. "Benjamin Rush had helped inform Jefferson's views on church and state in 1800. "I agree with you likewise in your wishes to keep religion and government independent of each other," Rush had told Jefferson.58 "Were it possible for St. Paul to rise from his grave at the present juncture, he would say to the clergy who are now so active in settling the political affairs of the world: ‘Cease from your political labors your kingdom is not of this world. Read my epistles. In no part of them will you perceive me aiming to depose a pagan emperor, or to place a Christian upon a throne. Christianity disdains to receive support from human governments.'"
Author: Jon Meacham
24. "Ewww... intelligent design people! They're just buck-toothed, Bible-pushing nincompoops with community-college degrees who're trying to sell a gussied-up creationism to a cretinous public! No need to address their concerns or respond to their arguments. They are Not Science. They are poopy-heads. There. I just saved you the trouble of reading 90 percent of the responses to the ID position... This is how losers act just before they lose: arrogant, self-satisfied, too important to be bothered with substantive refutation, and disdainful of their own faults... The only remaining question is whether Darwinism will exit gracefully, or whether it will go down biting, screaming, censoring, and denouncing to the bitter end.— Tech Central Station contributor Douglas Kern, 2005"
Author: Jonathan Wells
25. "W-what do you want?" I asked, thankful that my voice only trembled a little bit.That Cat Didn't blink. "Human," he said, and if a cat could sound patronizing, this one nailed it, "think about the absurdity of the question. I am resting in my tree, minding my own business and wondering if I should hunt today, when you come flying in like a bean sidhe and scare off every bird for miles around. Then, you have the audacity to ask what I want." He sniffed and gave me a very catlike stare of disdain. "I am aware that mortals are rude and barbaric, but still."
Author: Julie Kagawa
Author: Kate Mullane Robertson
27. "I looked at Reth hopefully. "You?""Must we really waste more time? Not all of us here are immortal, and I'd think you and Jack would more carefully guard what little you have. We should go immediately to my queen.""Can you get us in or not?"He looked at the ceiling, his features dripping with disdain for the entire operation. "I suppose if you were to stand immediately outside her door I could use my sense of where you are to navigate into her room and open the door from the inside.""That's my pretty faerie boy!""If you ever address me like that again, I will make that abomination on your head permanent."I put my fingers up to the brunette wig, horrified. "You wouldn't.""I suggest you do not attempt to find out."
Author: Kiersten White
28. "Anne, look here. Can't we be good friends?"For a moment Anne hesitated. She had an odd, newly awakened consciousness under all her outraged dignity that the half-shy, half-eager expression in Gilbert's hazel eyes was something that was very good to see. Her heart gave a quick, queer little beat. But the bitterness of her old grievance promptly stiffened up her wavering determination. That scene of two years before flashed back into her recollection as vividly as if it had taken place yesterday. Gilbert had called her "carrots" and had brought about her disdain before the whole school. Her resentment, which to other and older people might be as laughable as its cause, was in no whit allayed and softened by time seemingly. She hated Gilbert Blythe! She would never forgive him!"
Author: L.M. Montgomery
Author: Leonard Mlodinow
30. "And when she's alone again, as truly alone in the world as she's always felt herself to be, she looks at herself in a bamboo-framed mirror. Beautiful face, aglow with the taste of carnal pleasure, disdainful and avid … and above all an indefinable look in which can be sensed unspecified danger, sensuality triumphant and a sort of intoxicating vulgarity. She likes what she sees … around her drifts a great brunette fragrance, scent of happy brunette, in which the idea of others dissolves."
Author: Louis Aragon
Author: Ludwig Von Mises
32. "For once I didn't look away immediately. I forced myself to meet her contemptuous gaze. I allowed myself be swept away by it, to drown in it - the way I'd done so many times before. The way I would willingly do again. Because at least she was here to hate me. At least I had that. I watched my daughter conjure up the filthiest look in her vast arsenal before she turned away with complete disdain. I didn't mind that so much. It meant I could watch her, drink her in without her protest. Look at our daughter, Callum. Isn't she beautiful, so very beautiful? She laughs like me, but when she smiles... Oh Callum, when she smiles, it's picnics in Celebration Park and sunsets on our beach and our very first kiss all over again. When Callie Rose smiles at me, she lights up my life.When Callie Rose smiles at me."
Author: Malorie Blackman
33. "A collection of bad love songs, tattered from overuse, has to touch us like a cemetery or a village. So what if the houses have no style, if the graves are vanishing under tasteless ornaments and inscriptions? Before an imagination sympathetic and respectful enough to conceal momentarily its aesthetic disdain, that dust may release a flock of souls, their beaks holding the still verdant dreams that gave them an inkling of the next world and let them rejoice or weep in this world."
Author: Marcel Proust
34. "I only have disdain for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He raised taxes and has increased regulations. What else is new? He's a bully who wants to micro-manage people's lives by mandate, not persuasion."
Author: Mark Skousen
Author: Matthew Gregory Lewis
Author: Meredith Duran
37. "Morning, Peter," she callsfrom the back, in her exaggerated German accent. Mawning, Pedder.She's been in the States more than fifteen years now, but heraccent has gotten heavier. Uta is a member of what seems to be agrowing body of defiantly unassimilated expatriates. She on onehand disdains her country of origin (Darling, the word "lugubrious"comes to mind) but on the other seems to grow more German (morenot-American) with every passing year....Because Uta is German, utterly German, which of course is probably why she leftthere, and insists that she'll never go back."
Author: Michael Cunningham
38. "I'm not this unusual," she said. "It's just my hair."She looked at Bobby and she looked at me, with an expression at once disdainful and imploring. She was forty, pregnant, and in love with two men at once. I think what she could not abide was the zaniness of her life. Like many of us, she had grown up expecting romance to bestow dignity and direction."Be brave," I told her. Bobby and I stood before her, confused and homeless and lacking a plan, beset by an aching but chaotic love that refused to focus in the conventional way. Traffic roared behind us. A truck honked its hydraulic horn, a monstrous, oceanic sound. Clare shook her head, not in denial but in exasperation. Because she could think of nothing else to do, she began walking again, more slowly, toward the row of trees."
Author: Michael Cunningham
39. "Chapter 4,‘Organised abuse and the pleasures of disbelief', uses Zizek's (1991) insights into cite political role of enjoyment to analyse the hyperbole and scorn that has characterised the sceptical account of organised and ritualistic abuse. The central argument of this chapter is that organised abuse has come to public attention primarily as a subject of ridicule within the highly partisan writings of journalists, academics and activists aligned with advocacy groups for people accused of sexual abuse. Whilst highlighting the pervasive misrepresentations that characterise these accounts, the chapter also implicates media consumers in the production of ignorance and disdain in relation to organised abuse and women's and children's accounts of sexual abuse more generally."
Author: Michael Salter
40. "Well, we never expected this!" they all say. "No one liked her. They all said she was pretentious, awkward, difficult to approach, prickly, too fond of her tales, haughty, prone to versifying, disdainful, cantankerous, and scornful. But when you meet her, she is strangely meek, a completely different person altogether!"How embarrassing! Do they really look upon me as a dull thing, I wonder? But I am what I am."
Author: Murasaki Shikibu
41. "I tried to establish order over the chaos of my imagination, but this essence, the same that presented itself to me still hazily when I was a child, has always struck me as the very heart of truth. It is our duty to set ourselves an end beyond our individual concerns, beyond our convenient, agreeable habits, higher than our own selves, and disdaining laughter, hunger, even death, to toil night and day to attain that end. No, not to attain it. The self-respecting soul, as soon as he reaches his goal, places it still further away. Not to attain it, but never to halt in the ascent. Only thus does life acquire nobility and oneness."
Author: Nikos Kazantzakis
42. "Mi bella Princesa, your funny little dwarf will never dance again. It is a pity, for he is so ugly that he might have made the King smile.''But why will he not dance again?' asked the Infanta, laughing.'Because his heart is broken,' answered the Chamberlain.And the Infanta frowned, and her dainty rose-leaf lips curled in pretty disdain. 'For the future let those who come to play with me have no hearts,' she cried, and she ran out into the garden."
Author: Oscar Wilde
43. "It is not easy to hurl snowballs while holding on to a plastic bag of groceries, so my first few efforts were subpar, missing their mark. The nine maybe ten nine-maybe-ten-year-olds ridiculed me - if I turned to aim at one, four others outflanked me and shot from the sides and the back. I was, in the parlance of an ancient day, cruising for a bruising, and while a more disdainful teenager would have walked away, and a more aggressive teenager wouls have dropped the bag and kicked some major preteen ass, I kept fighting snowball with snowball, laughing as if Boomer and I were playing a school yard game, flinging my orbs with abandon."
Author: Rachel Cohn
44. "You don't have any friends, your sister dumped you, you're a freak eater..and you've got some weird thing about Simon Snow.""I object to every single thing you just said."Reagan chewed. And frowned. She was wearing dark red lipstick."I have lots of friends," Cath said."I never see them.""I just got here. Most of my friends went to other schools. Or they're online.""Internet friends don't count.""Why not?"Reagan shrugged disdainfully."And I don't have a weird thing with Simon Snow," Cath said. "I'm just really active in the fandom.""What the fuck is ‘the fandom'?"
Author: Rainbow Rowell
45. "She'd so believed he could—that decades marked by disdain for emotion could have been nothing more than a faint memory in his checkered past. That she could love him enough to prove to him that the world was worth his caring, his trust. That she could turn him into the man of whom she had dreamed for so long.That was perhaps the hardest truth of all—that Ralston, the man she'd pined over for a decade, had never been real. He'd never been the strong and silent Odysseus; he'd never been aloof Darcy; never Antony, powerful and passionate. He had only ever been Ralston, arrogant and flawed and altogether flesh and blood."
Author: Sarah MacLean
46. "I'm going to wake Peeta," I say."No, wait," says Finnick. "Let's do it together. Put our faces right in front of his."Well, there's so little opportunity for fun left in my life, I agree. We position ourselves on either side of Peeta, lean over until our faces are inches frim his nose, and give him a shake. "Peeta. Peeta, wake up," I say in a soft, singsong voice.His eyelids flutter open and then he jumps like we've stabbed him. "Aa!"Finnick and I fall back in the sand, laughing our heads off. Every time we try to stop, we look at Peeta's attempt to maintain a disdainful expression and it sets us off again."
Author: Suzanne Collins
47. "A little disdain is not amiss; a little scorn is alluring."
Author: William Congreve
48. "Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me,Knowing thy heart torment me with disdain,Have put on black and loving mourners be,Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain.And truly not the morning sun of heaven Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east,Nor that full star that ushers in the even,Doth half that glory to the sober west,As those two mourning eyes become thy face:O! let it then as well beseem thy heartTo mourn for me since mourning doth thee grace,And suit thy pity like in every part. Then will I swear beauty herself is black, And all they foul that thy complexion lack"
Author: William Shakespeare
49. "What, my dear Lady Disdain! are you yet living?Beatrice: Is it possible disdain should die while she hathsuch meet food to feed it as Signior Benedick?"
Author: William Shakespeare
50. "Among [Applewhite's] other teachings was the classic cult specialty of developing disdain for anyone outside of the Heaven's Gate commune. Applewhite flattered his would-be alien flock that they were an elite elect far superior to the non-initiated humans whom he considered to be deluded zombies.[...]Applewhite effectively fed his paranoid persecution complex to his followers to ensure blind loyalty to the group and himself while fostering alienation from the mundane world. This paradoxical superior/fearful attitude towards "Them" (i.e., anyone who is not one of "Us") is one of the simplest means of hooking even the most skeptical curiosity seeker into the solipsistic netherworld of a [mentally unbalanced] leader's insecure and threatened worldview."
Author: Zeena Schreck
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I am whoever I am when I am it."
Author: Andrea Gibson
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Until 1990, civil wars and citizen unrest rocked the tiny country of Nicaragua, which sits north of Costa Rica and south of El Salvador and Honduras. Since then, the country has begun rebuilding and is growing in popularity with tourists to Central America. Because decades of war prevented significant advances in technology and construction in Nicaragua, you will find the country much as it was before the violence — peaceful and unspoiled by tourism.
Popular Destinations
Most travelers to Nicaragua head straight to colonial Granada, with its brightly colored buildings and well-developed tourist infrastructure. South of Granada, the beach town of San Juan del Sur offers a long strip of waterfront and budget surfing lessons. To the east, the island of Ometepe sits in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, with its two towering volcanoes dominating the horizon. The New York Times calls Ometepe an unexpected gem and of the lake, "It’s a near-mythical tropical lake, one of the largest in the world, ringed by volcanoes and forest." For a more off-the-beaten-path experience, head north to Leon, where a few travelers wander the street markets and try sandboarding on a nearby volcano. In the far north, the green hills of Esteli hold coffee plantations. In the ocean off of Nicaragua's east coast, the Corn Islands offer a retreat for tourists looking to relax on white sand beaches.
When traveling outside of Granada, Ometepe and San Juan del Sur, you will find few locals who speak any English. For this type of trip, you should possess at least the basics of Spanish. At the very least, know how to ask for directions, talk about taxi and bus fares, request a room or bed, and understand basic conversation about times. The more Spanish you know, the better you will negotiate reasonable taxi prices — Nicaraguan taxi drivers are known for unreasonable price increases for travelers who cannot speak enough Spanish to defend themselves. Lonely Planet notes that Managua taxis are unmetered and the cab drivers are notorious for ripping off tourists.
Nicaragua is a small country but offers a network of shuttles, taxis, long-distance buses and "chicken" buses, which are usually old American school buses that have been converted into public transportation. Fares are cheap, usually under $15 (as of 2010) for even the longest trip. The small vans that run from Managua to Leon, for example, usually charge $2 for the two-hour trip. Some cities have a designated bus station, and you can usually pick up a bus or a shuttle by flagging it down; a bus attendant is usually yelling the destination as the bus rolls through town. Always ask at your hotel or hostel for reasonable taxi fares, and insist on the price with the driver; never get into a cab until you have both agreed on a price.
Nicaragua is a remarkably safe country, with few violent crimes against foreigners; according to Lonely Planet, Nicaragua is "one of the safest countries in the Americas." People are generally quite friendly, but as in any developing nation, poverty drives petty crime. Keep a close eye on your belongings, particularly when traveling by bus. If someone takes your bag to put it under or on top of a bus, watch until it has been securely stowed; sit on the same side of the bus and keep an eye out each time the bus stops to be sure your luggage doesn't "accidentally" go home with someone else. Keep any valuable items in your day pack, and never set it on the floor or in overhead racks. If you feel uneasy, keep your credit cards, cash and passport in a money belt under your clothes.
Female Travelers
Machismo is prevalent throughout Central America, but is a particular problem in Nicaragua. The Adventure Guide Nicaragua cautions that, "catcalls and overly friendly would-be suitors are not uncommon. Ignoring advances is the best solution." This street harassment is often worse for solo females and blonde women. Occasionally, Nicaraguan men will try to touch foreign women in the street, which is unacceptable even by local cultural standards. If a man touches you in the street, reprimand him sharply (in Spanish, if possible) or yell loudly to embarrass and surprise him — chances are, he will be so shocked that he will run away. As a precaution, avoid walking alone in unpopulated places after dark and do not take a solo tour with a male guide.
About the Author
Photo Credits
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The Genetic Fallacy
Ever hear an atheist say, "You're only a Christian because you grew up with Christian parents" (a favorite by Richard Dawkins)? Or "You're only a Christian because you're lonely"? We've all heard arguments that come in this variety. Little do these atheists know they are committing the genetic fallacy. Just because it may be the case that Christian parents raised their child a Christian doesn't necessarily mean that Christianity is therefore false. If my English teacher acted like a jack ass that doesn't mean the rules of English grammar he taught me are therefore wrong. If a student had a pedophile mathematics professor teach him that one plus one equals two does that mean the equation is wrong? Of course not.
Via John Piipoo:
Dinesh D'Souza, in his new book Life After Death: The Evidence, talks about the genetic fallacy as used, he feels, by certain atheists. For example, it is a sociological fact that the statement Religious diversity exists is true. If you were born in India, as D.Souza was, you would most likely be a Hindu rather than a Christian or a Jew (as D'Souza was). While that sociological statement is true, its truth has (watch closely...) no logical relevance as regards the statements such as The Hindu worldview is true, or Christian theism is true. D' Souza writes:
"The atheist is simply wrong to assume that religious diversity undermines the truth of religious claims... [T]he fact that you learned your Christianity because you grew up in the Bible Belt [does not] imply anything about whether those beliefs are true or false. The atheist is guilty here of what in logic is called the "genetic fallacy." The term does not refer to genes; it refers to origins. Think of it this way. If you are raised in New York, you are more likely to believe in Einstein's theory of relativity than if you are raised in New Guinea. Someone from Oxford, England, is more likely to be an atheist than someone from Oxford, Mississippi. The geographical roots of your beliefs have no bearing on the validity of your beliefs." (38-39) | <urn:uuid:2d28e9db-5462-4be7-a437-cd7bdd00a15c> | 2 | 2.109375 | 0.86115 | en | 0.958616 | http://videorow.blogspot.com/2011/09/ |
Accommodation Type Town/Village Other Search Terms
The village Ochiltree lies on the main Ayr - Cumnock Road.
Ochiltree is one of the oldest villages in East Ayrshire with relics being found that indicate Stone and Bronze age settlers however the name - meaning a high place - is believed to have British origins.
The main street of Ochiltree is flanked by traditional single storey cottages that climb a gentle slope . One of these former cottages was the House of the Green Shutters made famous by the novel of that name written by George Douglas Brown, a former son of the village.
As with other Ayrshire villages many of the working men of Ochiltree were previously employed in the pits - the Barony being the last. Traditionally some were employed in agriculture in the surrounding area which has provided a number of seasonal opportunities. is committed to giving only the most up to date and relevant information about our region.
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Robot Volleyball Players: We're doomed.
A group at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have adapted some quadrocopters (a helicopter with four blades) to juggle a ball back and forth. Multiple robots can keep a ball up in the air by passing it back and forth between each other. Getting a volleyball game out of these robots can't be that far off. Kudos to the team, Mark Müller, Sergei Lupashin and Raffaello D'Andrea.
To quote The Simpsons: I for one welcome our new robot overlords. | <urn:uuid:ce601c2d-54fa-4247-8ae6-144b86d3e7f2> | 2 | 2.109375 | 0.062484 | en | 0.925533 | http://volleyballsource.net/news/2011/3/29/robot-volleyball-players-were-doomed.html |
"Skill Up" by Driving Into the New Year!
Choosing a Driving School Many motorists usually neglect just about the most important safe driving habits, ways to avoid dropping off to sleep while driving. It is estimated that about 20% coming from all traffic accidents are caused by drivers dropping off to sleep. Many doctors claim that sleepiness while driving is equally as bad as driving while intoxicated or driving while impaired. Surrounded by high traffic arteries, learning the defensive driving skill is essential. And unlike other major metropolis for example New York City where underground metro systems is the major strategy for transportation, in Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley residents depend on their particular automobile to maneuver. Sitting in traffic for more than a couple of hours per day is not a rarity for individuals that are in the San Fernando Valley but work in the Greater Los Angeles area. And as any city with major transit traffic issues the San Fernando Valley is not any stranger to accident. That is why driving lessons inside a defensive manner is valuable skill that needs to be learned by any driver inside the San Fernando Valley. Brake feedback. The main difference between your brakes of many street cars and race cars will be the feel in the brake pedal. Street cars routinely have a great deal of travel (ie, the distance the pedal moves when applying the brakes) while race cars possess a firm feel with a tiny amount of travel. Why is this and what is the driving lesson here? The human body is more sensitive to pressure than movement thus firm brakes with minimal travel tend to be controllable. A drivers ed tip - when selecting a car, look at learner driver insurance quote learner driver insurance for a day view website the brake pedal to be sure its reasonable firm and require a lot of travel when applying the brakes. Attending a driving lesson or course is not only about learning to manage a car, steer about the wheels or step around the clutch. When you take for the task of learning the abilities of driving, you must understand that you can also learn to be a responsible driver who cares not just for yourself but also for others who are about the road with you. Defensive driving is one sort of driving that provides you with information you need on proper and safe driving. Proven Results: Very few schools can demonstrate how well theyve trained their students. Are there reliable statistics available that report the results of their driving instruction? Do they have a money back guarantee? Are they focused on making their students excellent drivers or simply just looking to get them a license? | <urn:uuid:3dd95af0-26cf-4733-bdc2-10ab6175395a> | 2 | 1.953125 | 0.243806 | en | 0.961661 | http://wallinside.com/post-55118181-skill-up-by-driving-into-the-new-year.html |
Hurricane Erika was the fifth named storm, the third hurricane, and the first major hurricane of the inactive 1997 Atlantic hurricane season. Erika didn't form until well over a month after the previous storm did. Erika made it the first time since 1961 that there were no tropical cyclone formations during the month of August. Erika was also the longest-lasting tropical cyclone in the 1997 Atlantic hurricane season, and also the strongest. Erika was also the only major hurricane of the season. Erika came fairly close to the Lesser Antilles, but far away enough that it did not cause damage. Erika later turned north in response to an approaching trough. On September 8, Erika reached its peak strength of 125 mph winds and a pressure of 946 mb. As it passed over cooler waters, Erika began to weaken after keeping its peak strength for 24 hours. As it turned to the east, it weakened to a tropical storm. Erika became extratropical after passing near the Azores.
Even though Erika did come close enough to do significant damage to the Lesser Antilles, it did come close enough to produced light rainfall and light winds throughout the northern Lesser Antilles. Erika's passage carried a cloud of volcanic ash to Antigua, due to the eruption of the Soufrière Hills Volcano on Montserrat. This is a rare occurence. Also, strong waves generated by Erika caused beach erosion as well as coastal flooding in the northern part of Puerto Rico. Erika also caused the death of two surfers in Puerto Rico. Moderate wind gusts in Puerto Rico from Erika left thousands of residents without power. Erika caused $10,000,000 (1997 USD) in damage in the Carribean territory of the United States. Finally, Erika produced gusty winds in the Azores, as well as light rainfall. Also, Erika was the only tropical cyclone during the two month period of August and September, a very rare occurence. The last time this happened was in the 1929 Atlantic hurricane season.
Erika at peak intensity on September 8
Formation September 3, 1997
Dissipation September 19, 1997
Highest winds 125 mph
Lowest pressure 946 mbar
Deaths 2 direct
Damages $10,000,000 (1997 USD)
Areas affected Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Azores
Meteorological History
On August 31, a large tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa. Shortly after the wave left the coast, it had a large low-level circulation, although as the wave moved westward across the Atlantic Ocean, the circulation of the wave failed to contract significantly. Nevertheless, the wave slowly organized, and on September 3, the wave had enough convection within the circulation center to be classified as Tropical Depression Six, while located about 1150 miles east of the southernmost Lesser Antilles. Under the influence of a well-established subtropical ridge, the depression moved west-northwest at 20 mph. Late on September 3, the depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Erika. Erika continued to the west-northwest, and on September 4, an eye-like feature appeared to have developed in the center of the deepest convection. However, this feature was not an eye, as visible satellite imagery revealed a center of circulation that was partially exposed from the convection. This was due to strong upper-level wind shear over the system. Despite the unfavorable conditions, Erika became a hurricane late on September 4, located 530 miles east-southeast of Guadeloupe. Deep convection re-established itself over Erika's circulation center, and Erika continued moving west-northwest, slowly strengthening as it did so.
As Erika approached the Lesser Antilles, its foward speed lessened, and it passed within 85 miles of the islands a Category 1 hurricane. An approaching trough weakened the subtropical ridge, and this caused Erika to turn to the north, and later the northeast. On September 7, Erika quickly gained strength, and on September 8, Erika reached its peak strength of 125 mph winds and a pressure of 946 mb, while located 350 miles north of the Lesser Antilles. Erika maintained peak intensity for 24 hours before cooler waters began to weaken it. Erika passed about 350 miles east of Bermuda on September 10. Erika then turned east-northeast, in response to westerly steering currents. Erika weakened to a tropical storm on September 12, due to increased upper-level wind shear over the system. Erika turned to the east-southeast, and continued weakening as it did so, although it maintained deep convection near the center of circulation despite unfavorable upper-level conditions. On September 14, Erika turned to the northeast again, and it re-intensified to a strong tropical storm with 70 mph winds while located 510 miles west-southwest of the Azores. Erika passed near the western portion of the Azores on September 15, and quickly weakened, with deep convection diminishing near the center of circulation.
On September 16, just north of the Azores, Erika became an extratropical cyclone, and after executing a clockwise loop, it dissipated on September 19 about 230 miles southwest of Ireland.
Erika near the Lesser Antilles.
Early in its life, computer models had difficulty in forecasting where Erika would go; some brought Erika toward the Lesser Antilles, while some other models forecasted a more northerly motion, away from the Lesser Antilles. Because of the uncertainty, the government of Saint Martin issued a Tropical Storm Warning late on September 4. The next day, the governments of Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Anguilla, Saint Barthelemy, and Guadeloupe issued Tropical Storm Warnings for their islands. When Erika's motion caused it to take a path that would bring it closer to the Lesser Antilles, all of the aforementioned islands upgraded their Tropical Storm Warnings to Hurricane Warnings, excluding the island of Guadeloupe. A Hurricane Watch was also issued for the British Isles and the United States Virgin Isles, and a Hurricane Watch was also issued for Puerto Rico. In public advisories, the National Hurricane Center stated that tropical storm-force conditions were likely in the Azores, with early forecasts posing a threat to Bermuda.
Also, the governments in the projected path of Erika urged residents to quickly prepare for Erika through radio addresses. Also, many citizens throughout the Lesser Antilles began preparing for the 1997 Atlantic hurricane season months before Erika developed. This preparedness including things such as installing hurricane shutters, and purchasing food supplies. Because numerous hurricanes affected the Lesser Antilles in both 1995 and 1996, the citizens of the Lesser Antilles executed a hurricane preparedness plan greater than usual for a mere Category 1 hurricane. In Puerto Rico, fisherman secured their boats in anticipation of Erika. Also on Puerto Rico, citizens formed long lines at gas stations, and they also purchased emergency supplies. Officials in Anguilla initiated a plan that would turn off the power supply to the island in the event that winds exceeded 50 mph.
Also, the government of Guadeloupe issued a Level 2 Storm Alert for the island, which recommended that all citizens remain in their homes. Also on Guadeloupe, officials closed the Pointe-à-Pitre International Airport. Also, as a precaution, authorities on Saint Martin initiated a curfew for all but those in service jobs. Finally, a cruise ship changed its course to avoid the island of Saint Thomas, because of the threat of Hurricane Erika.
Lesser Antilles
Erika produced strong waves throughout the Lesser Antilles, with 10-12 foot waves occuring on the island of Saint Martin. On Saint Martin, those strong waves flooded roadways and damaged one building that was under construction near the coast. Erika's outer rainbands passed through the island, with rainfall totals of 1.91 inches reported on Saint Martin. Anguilla reported winds of 35 mph as well as some rainfall. Antigua reported over 2 inches of rain from Erika, as well as wind gusts as high as 32 mph. Erika's passage resulted in low-level southwesterly winds. Also, just weeks after the eruption of the Soufrière Hills Volcano on Montserrat, Erika produced a cloud of falling ash over Antigua. Officials considered closing schools on the southern portion of the island because of the falling ash, though because the wind changed direction, so did the ash, with the ash turning away from the island. This was the first recorded occurence of ash fall in Antigua from Montserrat.
Also, winds from Erika peaked at 37 mph, with gusts to 47 mph at Cyril E. King Airport on the island of Saint Thomas. Also, Erika's outer rainbands produced light to moderate rainfall across the Virgin Islands, with rainfall peaking at 3.28 inches at the University of the Virgin Islands on the island of Saint Thomas. 1.32 inches of rain fell in Saint John, as well. The rainfall caused localized street flooding, while the added bonus of wind and rain caused power outages. Offshore, high waves capsized one dinghy, and they also broke a 50-foot boat from its moorings. On the island of Saint Croix, Erika produced sustained winds of 25 mph, with gusts up to 29 mph at Henry E. Rohlsen International Airport. Rainfall on the island of Saint Croix was light, however, peaking only at 0.83 inches at Christiansted. Wind gusts downed a few power lines on the island. Overall, damage was minor.
Puerto Rico
Erika's outer rainbands passed over Puerto Rico, with those rainbands producing winds of 23 mph, and gusts as high as 42 mph at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport. The strong wind gusts snapped tree branches onto power lines, leaving up to 12,000 people without power in San Juan, Guayanbo, and Bayamon. Rainfall in Puerto Rico was light, however, with Caguas reported a total peak rainfall amount of 0.77 inches. Also, Erika produced swells of 10-12 feet on Puerto Rico's northeastern coast, causing beach erosion and coastal flooding, with one road being closed when sections of it were flooded or washed out. Strong waves forced the evacuation of eight families on the northern portion of the island. Strong waves also killed two surfers along the northeastern portion of the island. Total damage in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands totaled to $10,000,000 (1997 USD) in a preliminary estimate.
Atlantic Ocean
A total of 31 ships came into contact with Erika from September 4, when it was a tropical storm, to September 18 when it was an extratropical cyclone. Two ships reported hurricane-force winds, with a peak wind report being 99 mph. Also, the lowest pressure recored by a ship was 1000.4 mb while located 105 miles from Erika's center when it was an extratropical cyclone. The lowest pressure recorded when Erika was a tropical cyclone was 1000.5 mb when a ship was located 190 miles from the center of the cyclone.
While passing near the Azores, Erika produced sustained winds of 30 mph at Lajes Field. The wind gusts, however, were much stronger, with an 87 mph wind gust being reported in Flores. In addition, Lajes reported a wind gust as high as 105 mph from a 200 foot tower. In Flores, Erika produced as much as 2.35 inches of rain, and Erika also produced rough seas throughout the archipelago. Finally, damage, if any, in the Azores, is unknown.
Lack of Retirement
Because damage was minimal, the name Erika was not retired in the Spring of 1998 by the World Meteorological Organization. It was used again in 2003, and is on the list of names to be used for the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season.
See Also
1997 Atlantic hurricane season
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Sunday, 11 July 2010
Written and illustrated by Richard Locker
The Prospect Of Whitby is thought to be the oldest surviving public house in London, it can be found to the east of the city centre on the banks of the river Thames at Wapping. Situated within the borough of Tower Hamlets and surrounded by the infamous London Docklands, the pub has what could be considered a long and colourful history.
First built around 1520 during the reign of Henry VIII, the pub’s official name was ’The Pelican’, but as the river commerce increased a more transient population appeared tarnishing the riverside tavern with a dubious reputation. Finding itself host to a nefarious clientele made up of sailors, smugglers, prostitutes, cut throats and footpads the pub would eventually be re-christened the ‘Devils Tavern’ in their honour.
The Prospect of Whitby circa 1890
Perhaps the most villainous of the pub’s patrons was the 17th century nobleman ‘Hanging’ Judge Jeffreys. Known as the scourge of the Monmouth Rebellion, he was responsible for the putting to death of over 320 rebel supporters and sentencing a further 800 for transportation to the West Indies.
It was said that the Judge’s visits to the Devil’s Tavern would usually coincide with the hanging of local criminals at Execution Dock. He also enjoyed watching terrified felons being tied to posts on the river bank and left there whilst several tides washed over them. The scene is made all the more macabre by the fact that he was probably the very judge involved in sentencing these people to death.
Hanging Judge Jeffreys
Not all the pub’s customers were monsters, the famous writer and diarist Samuel Pepys was known to have frequented the establishment, although this was probably for no other reason than to carry out his numerous extra marital affairs in what he might have considered relative secrecy. He would often recount these infidelities in his diaries, as well as making several remarks about disturbances caused by the sailors in the Wapping area.
In 1777, after the Devil’s Tavern had been rebuilt because of damage sustained during a devastating fire, the landlord decided to rename the inn ’The Prospect Of Whitby’ after a square rigged collier called ‘The Prospect’. Built and registered in Whitby, the ship would often be found moored up outside the tavern after delivering it’s intended shipment of coal from the North-Eastern coal fields of County Durham and Newcastle.
In fact the ship became so much of a landmark, that the local people began referring to the pub as ’the one by the Prospect Of Whitby’. So like the Devil’s Tavern before it the name remained, right up until the present day where it is still possible to venture down to the banks of the Thames and buy yourself a pint in what is still considered to be the oldest pub in London.
A victim of The Judge
father said...
Thank you for posting the colourful history of this famous pub. But as a long-time researcher of Judge Jeffreys' life and times I have to say that him 'enjoying' the unpleasant sight of the dead criminals is nothing but a legend. He used to visit Wapping but he never attended any execution personally. Even a cruel man needs some private life, so i have the strongest doubt that he liked the sight of corpses while sipping his beer in old Devils Tavern.
By the way, he knew Pepys rather well and they were on good terms, so maybe they even drank there together someday.
father said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jason said...
I found this beautiful old pub when i was in London visiting family. A true peach of a watering hole with so much history & character ive never witnessed in a public house before. I will absolutely be back, on every visit to London in fact. | <urn:uuid:f5a87c42-7957-4324-b3ce-2420688b4777> | 2 | 2.421875 | 0.038378 | en | 0.974922 | http://whitbypopwatch.blogspot.com/2010/07/prospect-of-whitby.html |
You are here
Nobel Prize Awarded Women in STEM
The list of female Nobel laureates is very short, only 17 women have won a Nobel Prize in STEM fields (Chimistry: 4, physics: 2, Medecine or Pysiology: 12).
The first woman to win a Nobel Prize was Marie Curie (1867-1934), who have won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 with her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel.
Marie Curie is also the first person and only woman to have won Nobel Prize twice.
Here, we provide the list of the 17 women who have won the Nobel Prize.
1- The Nobel Prize in Chemistry (n=4)
2- The Nobel Prize in Physics (n=2)
3- The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (n=12)
Related articles
• “Ces femmes oubliées ou sous-estimées des prix Nobel” by Mathilde Damgé, Le Monde 9 Oct. 2015.
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Winter Guard – The Biggest Sport You Never Heard Of
Winter Guard – The Biggest Sport You Never Heard Of
Winter Guard Performers
It’s a utilitarian high school gym. There are books and backpacks piled along the walls. The volleyball nets are removed and the basketball hoops are up. On a giant tarp in the middle of the floor, a different activity is underway.
Young men and women in a variety of shorts and tees, or leggings and tanks, are practicing dance moves while music plays on the loudspeaker. Some are twirling and flipping wooden rifles, while others are waving large colored flags. A few are tossing swords in the air (yes, freaking SWORDS!).
Each individual’s part contributes to the whole. They move around the space together, always aware of what the others are doing, concentrating on their own movements and listening carefully to their coach. Over and over you hear them chant “1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8!” In five minutes, maybe less, it’s all over. And then they start again, because they can always make it better.
Welcome to winter guard!
So What the Heck Is It?
Winter guard is a dynamic indoor competitive sport, based on traditional color guard, but it has gone way beyond those military roots to become something unique and artistic. Whether it’s a part of a high school or university’s athletic and artistic curriculum, or organized by an independent group, it takes dedication, team work, and passion to create a winning routine. This is why it is called the “Sport of the Arts”.
It’s like a dance version of Glee: winter guard teams compete in regional, national, and international competitions organized by Winter Guard International (WGI), the sport’s governing body. There are also many regional groups (such as Texas Color Guard Circuit) that hosts their own competitions. While it began in the United States, and is still most popular there, there are now also teams competing in Canada, Great Britain, Korea, Belgium, Holland, Japan, and Africa.
Color Guard Roots
WGI Logo
WGI has been around since 1977, and a lot has changed since those early days. It has left behind its marching band beginnings to become a display of music and dance, wearing matching or coordinating costumes rather than military uniforms, while still using the traditional color guard elements of flags, rifles and sabres, all against the background of creatively designed backdrops and floor tarps.
Don’t Tell Them It’s Not Hard Work
Participation in this sport is rewarding, but it’s also hard work. The winter guard team must work in complete unison to present a flawless performance. That takes months of planning, practice, and polishing by dedicated individuals, who have to master a variety of challenging skills before they are ready for a competition.
Winter Guard Music and Dance
Winterguard is more than just flag throwing, there is dance and acrobatics as well.
One of the big differences between the indoor and outdoor versions of this sport is the music. Whereas a color guard ensemble often works with a marching band in the generous space available on the football field, in the more restricted confines indoors (usually a gym), recorded music is usually used. The music could be instrumental or even spoken word, but tend to be lyrical and evocative. This lends itself to the development of an interpretive dance that tells a story or creates a mood.
Dance is the element that ties the performance together. Just as a cheerleading squad must practice basic moves and then complicated routines, or a theater company has to rehearse a song and dance number over and over, a winter guard team works on elementary dance skills and then the performance of a specific routine until it is perfect. Much of the appeal of a winter guard performance is in the team members moving in a synchronized manner, and that means hours of practice in that school gym to get the moves just right.
The Equipment Used
Color guard is famous for its flags, and that element has come inside to winter guard. While early WGI rules required the use of the American Flag, today the teams use brightly colored silks in a variety of designs and sizes to better reflect the tone of the team’s presentation. They could be solid color or patterned, but the selection of the design is only the beginning.
Rifle, Sabre, Pole Rack
Rifle, Sabre, Pole Rack
The team then spends long hours practicing their flag techniques, so that in performance the audience will see a routine executed with flawless precision. Whether the flags are flipped or swirled all in unison, or in a succession of waves across the space, it is up to each and every team member to play his or her part so that the team acts as one. When it works, it’s like magic!
The military roots of winter guard are represented by the sabres and rifles that are a part of each routine. However, they are far removed from the real thing, becoming props for the performance rather than functioning weapons. Both are often wrapped in electrical tape and padded to make them safer and easier to handle in performance.
The “rifles” are now wooden models with straps, much lighter than actual weapons, and thus well-suited for complicated spinning routines. Once again, the team members have to develop both their individual rifle-handling skills and the coordination of their movements so that they create the desired picture for their audience. One dropped rifle- or one out of sync with the rest- will affect the whole group. Nobody wants to be that person!
Sabres can be made of metal or plastic, but metal ones are more common. The tips and blades are blunted to increase safety, but otherwise they look like real swords. The balance of a sabre is extremely important, as it will be tossed and twirled with great precision. They are not necessarily used by everyone on the team; they require a higher degree of skill and are usually reserved for the most experienced members. The dazzling display of silver-colored sabres cutting through the air adds excitement to a winter guard performance, and again takes many hours of practice to achieve perfection in execution.
Putting In The Hard Work
So, a winter guard team has been organized, its members selected, hours, days, months of practice have been completed, and it is time for competition. What does that entail?
Winterguard flag throwing practice makes perfect
The team travels to the site of the competition in their region. There they will be competing against other teams in their division, depending on whether they are school-affiliated or independent, and on their level of experience and skill. The order of performances is usually determined by a random draw.
The team has only a few minutes to set up for its performance. That means rolling out their tarp to cover the floor, bringing out set pieces, and putting up backdrops. Doing this quickly and effectively takes practice as well. Immediately following the performance, the team must then quickly clear the floor for the next competitors while the stopwatch ticks.
In between, the performance itself is around five minutes in length. This is the culmination of all those months of effort, and every team member is equally responsible for making it the best it can be. The performance is judged on talent, precision, creativity, and horizontal orchestration by a panel of judges. First, second, and third place will be selected in each division. The winners will be able to go on to the World Championship, where over 350 teams compete.
At the End of the Day
However, success is not just determined by a ribbon. Every winter guard team member gets an important grounding in various athletic and artistic skills. And yes, they have some fun, too in the process. As well, they learn how to work with others in a team, a skill that will help them in school and work for the rest of their lives. This is the true value of membership on a winter guard team.
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A List of Jobs in a Fire Station
by Julie Davoren
Fire service is a vast field that provides many opportunities for career experiences, leadership and community service activities. Job are often rigorous and provide ample scope for learning and development. Fire service professionals are trained effectively to handle myriad situations as they often have to work at short notice and may have to stay at event locations for several days. Careers include fieldwork and office jobs. Jobs are offered by municipal, state and federal government and authorized agencies.
Firefighters extinguish and control fires while aiming to save life, property and the environment. A typical firefighting operation might include providing medical assistance, breaking through debris, using fire hoses and foam to extinguish flames, retrieving people, property and pets from burning buildings. They also write emergency reports to record the event and often respond to medical emergencies not involving fire accidents. Firefighters' schedules are work-dependent and vary largely. Candidates need to have a diploma in fire science or a related discipline, and they must be over 18 to apply for this work. Emergency medical technician certification is necessary so that they can provide medical assistance on call. Good stamina and excellent emotional stability are assets for the job. Firefighters earned a median salary of $45,250 per year in 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Fire Investigators
Fire investigators visit and inspect the fire safety precautions ensuring that building owners abide by federal and state laws. Typically, they search for fire hazards, compliance with fire codes and test fire-related equipment such as alarms and sprinklers. They also inspect air compressors and gasoline tanks that store inflammable material. After an accident occurs, fire investigators collect and analyze evidence and inspect the cause for the fire. They report the event using photographs, diagrams and documentary evidences, and collaborate with chemists, engineers and lawyers when required. Usually a high school diploma is required to become an investigator, but some states prefer a two- or four-year degree in fire science, engineering or chemistry. Investigators must possess good communication, detailing and critical thinking ability apart from a high level of integrity. Fire investigators earned a median salary of $52,230 per year in 2010, according to the BLS.
Fire Dispatchers
Also called 911 operators, fire dispatchers answer emergency calls, determine the emergency situation and gather information such as emergency type and location. They make decisions on transferring the recorded information to suitable teams that then work on resolving the emergency. Dispatchers also coordinate with response teams and give medical instructions, weather reports, maps and location information over the phone. They monitor and track the status of assigned fire units and relay the information to concerned departments. They maintain a detailed record of all calls. Dispatchers work eight- to 12-hour shifts. Multitasking, leadership, listening, problem solving and emotional stability are key skills for dispatchers. The BLS reported that dispatchers earned a median salary of $35,370 per year in 2010.
Other Jobs
Other jobs in a fire station include fire alarm foreman, electrician and alarm installer. Fire stations may also offer jobs for purposes other than fire protection services, such as public relations, designers, faculty and paramedics. Fire chiefs are also part of a fire department, but they typically perform administrative functions.
Photo Credits
• Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
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Thursday, January 27, 2011
Going to the Neighbors' House
We have some dear older neighbors down the road, who don't get out much during the winter months due to illness, and snow. Last week we brought them a pan of fresh homemade cinnamon rolls, hot from our oven. In return, they grabbed the candy bowl from their coffee table that was halfway full of M&M's, and gave it to my husband, despite his protests. They're from that generation of folks that always wants to give something in return for kindness. It's tough to bless them, because no matter whether it's shoveling their driveway, raking pine needles, or mowing their yard, they find something from their house for us to take home. It can be pretty awkward.
They gave us a call this week to thank us for the dessert and ask for the recipe. They LOVE my children, so I decided to send them on an errand down the road to return the candy bowl, and give them a copy of the cinnamon roll recipe. Before the kids left, I combed their hair, made sure that their clothes matched, and gave them no less than 20 directions and orders. My instructions included, but were not limited to the following things:
"Look both ways before you cross the road."
"Hold hands with your sister."
"Don't crinkle the recipe."
"Hold the glass bowl with TWO hands!"
"Say, "Thank you" for the M & M's."
"Speak loud enough for them to hear you because they don't hear well."
"Look them in the eyes."
"Say, 'Hello Mr. and Mrs. ________'."
"Say 'please' and 'thank you' if they offer you a drink."
"Don't run down their driveway."
"Stay out of their yard."
"Be polite."
That's when it suddenly hit me like a rock. I've turned into my mother!!! I remember when I was a kid, my mom would have us deliver Christmas gifts to all of the neighbors. In addition to safety rules, she had my brother and I ring the doorbell and when the neighbors answered the door, we were to say the following thing in unison: "Merry Christmas from the __________'s." You can imagine how excited my little brother was to do this. Not. I carried the baked goods, and he carried the small potted pine tree saplings, and we trudged down the driveway to start our deliveries.
[They answer the door] "Why hello little ones!"
We choke out the rehearsed greeting completely out of unison, "Merry Christmas from the ________'s."
Then we hand over the goods, turn and sprint through their yard until we reach home.
I don't know why I've always remembered this, but now that I have kids of my own, it terrifies me to think that they may be the same way that I was.
So I watched them walk down the road from the front window of my living room. I was checking to see if they followed my instructions. So far, so good.
After they were out of sight, I waited. And waited. And waited. They were gone over ten minutes. I started to worry, but then I saw them sprinting down the road towards home.
When they walked in the front door, I started peppering them with questions:
"Were you kind?"
"Did you say thank you?"
"Did you speak loud enough for them to hear?"
Then I asked them to tell me the EXACT conversation they had with them.
Because, after Wednesday night's embarrassing moment with my youngest, I'm acutely aware of the fact that my children's mouths are loaded cannons, ready to spew out random facts and information that may cause me grief, and, or further explanation. Don't you just love kids?
In the end, everything went very well and I considered it to be just one more successful mission under their learning belts. I'm a firm believer that older folks and younger ones really need each other. My kids love doing things for our older neighbors, and my neighbors just adore having a good chat with my kids. I think it's a win-win situation for all.
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Pollution and autism spectrum disorder
Monday 7 April 2014 5:30PM (view full episode)
Research from Harvard University suggests that autism spectrum disorder, which affects perhaps about 1 in 100 Australian children and, some say, is increasing in prevalence, may be partly caused by air pollutants. This can have enormous implications for housing near roads and industry.
Norman Swan: Hello from me, Norman Swan, and welcome to the Health Report. Today: Unlocking the secrets of the brain, new discoveries of tiny molecular machines in our nervous system which might hold the answers for problems like autism and schizophrenia; and speaking of autism … a link to air pollution. Research is suggesting that children’s brain development is put at risk with increased chances of autism spectrum disorder if their mothers were exposed to excessive air pollution during pregnancy.
The autism spectrum goes from a child with severe behavioural, language and intellectual disabilities, through to quite well functioning people but who nonetheless have trouble relating to others, reading their emotions, and expressing themselves. This isn’t some fringe finding; it comes from Harvard School of Public Health where Marc Weisskopf is Associate Professor of Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology.
Marc Weisskopf: Air pollution has been studied in relation to many things. In particular cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms; obviously brain development and exposure to the mother is a different issue. There has been a literature that’s evolved and has grown around effects of air pollution on birth outcomes such as birth weight, prematurity, things of that sort; but the idea that it might affect autism is relatively new and quite frankly I got into it because of a report out of California, suggesting in a study, in the sort of Bay area of California, that mothers who were in census tracts that had higher estimated pollutant levels, had a higher risk of giving birth to a child with autism.
Norman Swan: Who were living in areas where there are lots of freeways, lots of trucks passing by, diesel fumes and things like that?
Marc Weisskopf: Yes, this was based on an EPA model, or EPA models of different pollutants.
Norman Swan: Environmental Protection Agency.
Marc Weisskopf: Environmental Protection Agency models that takes into account many factors—traffic, other point sources from industry, weather patterns, things of that sort. But they did find something that I was initially sceptical of because I thought there’s too much error in the way they were assessing how a mother was exposed.
Norman Swan: Well precisely, I mean, if you’re living in one of those areas with lots of trucks going by and maybe under a flight path to an airport, then you probably don’t have as much money to live in a fancier neighbourhood which is away from the freeway and the airline routes.
Marc Weisskopf: That’s right. So there are huge opportunities for what, in epidemiology we call confounding, which is basically another variable that is explaining what you’re seeing. They try to address that by adjusting for different factors that are related to socioeconomics or aspects of that sort, and they did it to the best of their ability, and they did it reasonably well, as far as these studies go; that might explain it. But the other issue is just that with an estimate based on these models from the EPA that are not great, they can give you general ideas of who happens to be a little higher, a little lower, but they’re not terribly accurate and so my initial reaction was, when you have that kind of error in how you’re saying who’s exposed and who’s not, you tend not to see things; so the fact that they saw something was sort of surprising.
Norman Swan: What have you done?
Marc Weisskopf: We wanted to build on that and we, at Harvard, have these very large cohorts that are across the United States, the Nurses’ Health Study in particular, the Nurses Health Study II.
Norman Swan: And when you’re saying cohort, what you’re saying is that you’ve gathered a large group of people …
Marc Weisskopf: Yes.
Norman Swan: … in this case they were nurses and all female …
Marc Weisskopf: That’s right.
Norman Swan: … and you’ve been following them now for 20 or 30 years to see what their health …
Marc Weisskopf: Exactly.
Norman Swan: … turns out to be. You know lots about them.
Marc Weisskopf: We know lots about them. This was started in 1989. It was over 100,000 nurses at the time. It’s focussed on the health of the nurse. So we had to, later on … in the course of … they get followed every 2 years. They answer extensive questionnaires and we track where they are and what they’re doing and in 2005 we asked them if they had any children with autism and we went through a process to validate the ones who said they did …
Norman Swan: This is full blown autism, rather than autism spectrum disorder where they might just have a bit of communication difficulty?
Marc Weisskopf: I said ‘autism’, I should have said autism spectrum disorder because we specifically asked whether they had a child with either autism, Asperger’s or pervasive developmental disorder. So we were capturing a broader spectrum and it’s the maternal report. Now they’re all nurses, so would some of them potentially just have behaviours that are a little bit more extreme than normal but don’t meet true definition of autism? It’s possible; and the way we check that is we took a random sample of these mothers and we administered what’s considered a gold standard autism interview—the Autism Diagnostic Interview—and got very excellent agreement. Over 95 per cent met full autism … autism spectrum disorder, criteria.
Norman Swan: So if one of these mothers who had been a nurse told you that her child with autism spectrum disorder, they did indeed have a child with autism spectrum disorder.
Marc Weisskopf: Yes.
Norman Swan: So how did you assess the exposure to air pollution?
Marc Weisskopf: Really we started by using the exact same models that they used in the California study. We had berths over a much wider period. The Environmental Protection Agency puts out a few of these—there are four of them in different years. They average over the year, they’re at the level of the census tract, and we simply compared the mothers who had reported a child with autism compared her where she was at the time of the pregnancy, what the census tract levels of different pollutants were for her compared to the women who said they had no children with autism.
To my mind, somewhat surprisingly actually, we found results that were strikingly similar to what they saw in California. So I, at that point, went from being mildly sceptical to thinking there was something worth pursuing here.
Norman Swan: Now there are other ways of checking whether something’s cause and effect or just some sort of association and it’s something else that you’re observing rather than just the air pollution. So when it’s dosed, if this is cause and effect, the more air pollution they experienced, the higher the risk of a child with autism spectrum disorder. Did you find a dose effect?
Marc Weisskopf: We did. Though that said, one has to be a little careful because doses—there can be threshold effects, they don’t have to always be linear relations with the outcome. We, in general, found as you got higher with those estimates, you had a higher risk of autism spectrum disorders. It wasn’t perfect …
Norman Swan: And were you able to measure, for example, the exposure in pregnancy to the exposure in the first years of life?
Marc Weisskopf: That’s what I’ve been working on now, in fact. That original study used these exposure models that estimated over an entire year; and only in four different years. So for some of our children, we were assigning an estimated exposure from say 1999 to a child who’s mother was pregnant in 1998. So what we really wanted to do was say, well let’s now … it looks like something’s there. Let’s go after this with a much finer resolution tool; something where we have finer spatial and temporal resolution. We don’t have that for all of the pollutants that the EPA has in their models but one that we do have very good data on is particulate matter, which is basically just stuff in the air. We can size fractionate it, that is, we can look at small stuff that’s less than two and a half microns in diameter, we can look at the bigger stuff that’s up to ten microns in diameter; and we have very extensive models that the Nurses’ Health Study researchers, many of them have used, for example, to link air pollution to cardiovascular disease, to respiratory problems, to mortality in general.
It’s based on, again, EPA monitors that are around the entire country, meteorological factors; it’s a model then that takes those monitor data and incorporates meteorological conditions and incorporates land use patterns like traffic or other point sources; and it gets down to a resolution of a month—you could go even finer—but we have it as a month at a time.
So now we can look specifically at the pregnancy or even trimesters of pregnancy. We also have it on the spatial level that now we know it at her address.
Norman Swan: That’s extraordinary. What did you find?
Marc Weisskopf: We initially looked at the nine months. So we averaged over the nine months of the pregnancy, we considered the nine months prior to that, and the nine months after that … so when the child was born. And what we found was a significant association between higher particulate matter that was less than 2.5 microns, so not with the larger stuff, but less than 2.5, for that pregnancy period. Again in a dose response fashion; and we then went further and said, okay, if it’s the pregnancy period, when in the pregnancy period? And we broke it out again by trimester of pregnancy and found results that looked much more dramatic for the third trimester of pregnancy.
Norman Swan: For the third trimester? With brain development, wouldn’t you expect the second trimester?
Marc Weisskopf: It depends on which part of the brain you’re talking about. But certainly the third trimester you have a lot of neural development, you have a lot of synapse formation, you have a lot of growth going on.
Norman Swan: So in summary then, what you’ve found is that, when you really boil this down, these women are getting exposed in the third trimester, the last 3 months of pregnancy, thereabouts …
Marc Weisskopf: Right.
Norman Swan: … and they’re getting exposed to really tiny particles, which are those also that seem to be associated with heart disease and other problems …
Marc Weisskopf: That’s right.
Norman Swan: … tend to come from traffic, don’t they, these small particles?
Marc Weisskopf: That’s an issue. These small particles have many sources and those sources can in fact vary even across different areas in the United States. So between Australia and the United States, they could be vastly different; and even we know on the west coast, for example, they have a very different pattern than on the east coast because of a lot of the winds come over the water.
So we don’t yet know which aspect of—and this is one of the things we’re trying to pursue now is—what element of the particulate matter, if there is a particular one within that, that matters? Or is it just anything that happens to be two and a half?
Norman Swan: What could be—because the next step …cause and effect—so you’ve shown the time element, you’ve shown the exposure, you’ve shown that the story is related—so it’s getting …
pretty close to cause and effect, but the killer one is, what could possibly be the biological reasons? There are plenty associations between pollutants and disease …
Marc Weisskopf: Right.
Norman Swan: … but they fall down when it comes to the biology because you can’t work out …
Marc Weisskopf: How that can …
Norman Swan: … a sensible biological explanation for why this would occur because you’ve got the lungs to filter these particles, you’ve got the placenta. You know the mother is designed to protect the foetus from lots of rubbish, why would these pollutants make a difference?
Marc Weisskopf: That is of course the 64,000 dollar question. We don’t know but we would like to know. What we do know is that exposure to these particles can cause things like immune dysfunction in the mother, inflammatory processes to be set off in the mother and these things can potentially pass through to the foetus and potentially affect the foetus as well.
Norman Swan: So it might be indirect rather than direct?
Marc Weisskopf: We think it’s probably indirect. There’s a lot of interest right now on these very fine particles and the possibility in brain effects in general because in part of the possibility that they may actually go directly to the brain through the olfactory valve, skipping the lungs and circulatory system.
Norman Swan: So you smell them in? They go into your nose and at the top of your nose there’s actually brain tissue at the top of your nose, and so it just might hit your brain tissue and …
Marc Weisskopf: Go right in, yes.
Norman Swan: That’s the mother and not the baby.
Marc Weisskopf: Exactly. So that’s the mother. So I … given that our findings are quite specific to this in utero period, I don’t suspect that’s happening; I suspect that it is an exposure to mother that is a more typical effect that engages some type of biological activity in the circulatory system that then gets passed to the placenta, to the foetus, to affect the development. Or perhaps affect simply oxygenation status, whatever it might be in terms of the placental health.
Norman Swan: Can you give a sense of the increased risk associated with living with exposure, you know, there’s a background risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder, it is rare, and what’s the increased risk?
Marc Weisskopf: Right. So it is quite rare although of course there’s the whole idea that it’s getting more and more common. Right now in the US it’s, I think, one child in 88 is said to have an autism spectrum disorder. It’s less than that for boys; it’s much more common in boys. What we find, in our data, for what it’s worth is, when you go from the bottom 25 per cent to the top 25 per cent of exposure to this type of particulate matter, you increase the risk for having a child with autism by about 60 per cent, 50-60 per cent, something like that.
Norman Swan: So it’s not huge. It’s 1.6 times the size.
Marc Weisskopf: So it’s not huge, it’s small. That’s right.
Norman Swan: So people don’t need to panic too much about if they’re living in an area with reasonable pollution. You’d expect other effects here. You’d expect perhaps increased risk of premature delivery in pollution because it could affect placenta and things like that. Is there other stuff with the foetus that’s going on here that complicates the story?
Marc Weisskopf: Yes. You would expect other effects and in fact, as I alluded to earlier that there’s in fact a little earlier literature on that in fact with some very elegant studies suggesting indeed that this particular matter exposure or traffic related exposures can decrease birth weight or prematurity as well. That is out there prior to this autism literature. We have to be concerned about that because those things may be also related to autism so one question is, is what we’re seeing the result of changes in birth weight more risk of prematurity and therefore more autism?
One of the beauties of the Nurses’ Health Study is we have lots of data on these women and we have information on that and we’ve adjusted for it and it doesn’t affect our results; we still seem to see this independent of any effect on prematurity or birth weight.
Norman Swan: Now even though the Nurses’ Health Study is 120,000 women followed for many years, it’s still a small sample in population terms.
Marc Weisskopf: What you say is absolutely right. I should point out quite clearly that even though the Nurses’ Health Study is 100,000 people, they don’t all have children and they don’t all have children with autism and they don’t all have children with autism during the period where we have estimates for their exposures to particulate matter.
Norman Swan: So the sample …
Marc Weisskopf: So in the end, the sample was around 300 kids with autism and a couple thousand or three thousand kids without so it’s bigger than things that are out there but yes we would love to do a whole population study. I am exploring this now in Israel, in fact, looking at the entire population and trying to get similar data there.
Norman Swan: So if a woman lives near a freeway or in an industrial zone, what does she do with this information?
Marc Weisskopf: I guess part of this is where it comes in to the point you raised that the risk is raised but it’s still reasonably small so keep that in mind and don’t panic. I would say that if you want to be particularly careful or if you … if you have the means, it would be great to move somewhere else during that period; and I understand not everybody can do that. I mean, what I will say is that as these results get stronger and stronger—and there are other groups looking at this too—it does open up precisely that avenue for either public health interventions on a larger political entity scale like regulation to bring this stuff down, or individual behaviour change where yes you do move during critical periods or get away somehow. Now, obviously not everybody can do that but if we can understand better exactly what components are perhaps we can devise ways that, you know, you can protect yourself more in the home. I don’t think we’re there yet but that’s part of the idea behind this is we would like to have enough information so we can make policy changes, make behaviour change suggestions that would reduce the risk of having a child with autism.
Norman Swan: Marc Weisskopf is Associate Professor of Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
Associate Professor Marc Weisskopf
Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology
Harvard University School of Public Health
Dr Norman Swan
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Stop doing -and calling it- Link Building: It’s Reference Building now!
As we are all seeing Google is quickly changing the way of evaluating links, taking social related signals and authority factors more and more into consideration -with special focus in its own social network– and less to those links that could be the result of manipulative tactics, such as link building schemes, by penalizing link networks.
Some days ago Rand shared an interesting post written by Ed Fryand, “Building Awesome Relationships For Links, Likes, and Love” and commented in Twitter that link building is “relationship building”:
As you can see my response to his tweet was that for me link building is “reference building” and here is why:
What are References?
According to the Wikipedia:
Reference is a relation between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to refer to the second object. The second object – the one to which the first object refers – is called the referent of the first object.
In summary, a “reference” happens when an object connects or refers another. In SEO a reference can encompass links, mentions or votes, those signals that a user creates to “refer” a site (or a related brand) and that can increase a site’s authority in the eyes of search engines.
In a time when links were the only type of signal that search engines took into consideration to identify trust and authority it made sense to talk about “link building”.
Nonetheless this time has ended already and we work now in an ecosystem where users can refer a site or a brand with mentions (in Twitter or Google Plus, for example) or votes (with a +1 in Google or Like in Facebook) not just links, and these are also taken into consideration more and more by search engines.
On the other hand, it’s actually far easier to explain to “non-SEO” people how Off-Page SEO works when you talk about “reference building” instead of “link building”, since a “reference” is a well known concept that is more easily related to votes or endorsements than “links”.
But why not directly “Relationship Building”?
A relationship is “the state of being connected or related” and it is a concept used to call an ongoing, recurrent association.
In this sense creating “relationships” should be seen as a scalable strategy to get long-term, consistent “references” (which is actually something really important since scalability and consistency over time has been one of the most challenging aspects of link building… and reference building now).
Reference Building: Links, Mentions, Votes
At the same time,
• Not all references are the result of a relationship: Like a first-time, spontaneous +1 at a page you had no idea it existed before, but its result in Google has answered a specific information need so you refer it, but you might never do it again,
• A relationship starts with an initial reference: You need to have an initial *positive* interaction with the site or brand that will make you refer it in the first place… and then *possibly* start a recurrent connection with it.
Start Building References and Creating Relationships
The importance of updating the concept of “link building” to “reference building” is that it transmits the necessity we have to develop interdisciplinary activities -with content marketing, social media, etc.- that were not necessarily taken into consideration before for the typical link building process and for which is sometimes difficult to find support or resources.
Are you already creating interesting content (news, Q+A, glossaries, reviews), useful resources (applications, infographics), attractive promotions (contests, giveaways, events), using social networks to distribute them and interacting with your audience, amplifying your online presence, establishing relationships in order to build recurrent references that will lead to more visits and conversions?
I hope the answer is yes, otherwise you are already behind and you should start with “reference building” now!
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Theresa Marie Model Ship Project
Theresa Marie Model Ship Project
Week 58: Anchors and Masts (Sept 30 - Oct 6, 2013)
Anchors. The kit comes with plastic stocks and arms for two large and two smaller anchors. In the supplied directions from SC&H it actually says this about the smaller set: "We don't normally put ours on for sailing as they're just another hook to get caught."
With that in mind I decided to just make one set of anchors by shortening the larger anchor stocks, shortening the smaller anchors arms, and then gluing them together in parallel instead of perpendicular. This way they can fit flat against the bow with the stocks sitting on top of the catheads and not get in the way of my bowchasers, swivel guns or gun ports. Maybe not prototypical, but I think it looks better than awkwardly draping them over the bulwarks.
Next I scored up the plastic stocks to look more like wood grain and painted them brown.
I went for a shorter and less-in-the-way style of anchor.
Masts. I took out all the supplied masts and spars and started figuring out what goes where. It looks like my shipyard and stand are just the right size to fit the topmasts on without hitting the ceiling. The stand will have to go on the floor for the topgallants.
I've also reached the point in my build where I decided to take out the unused kit parts from the shipping box and push the shipyard back against the wall. Made the Namesake happy.
The masts are designed to bend back on a hinge for easier transport, so I cut the six wooden pegs that are used to lock them in place along with two metal pegs and did some sanding until everything fit together. I plan to install the masts that way, but hopefully she'll fit in our Escape with the main masts in place.
Lots of things need attaching to the masts and spares like jibboom saddles, jibsheet blocks and numerous brass pins that I'll need to figure out before proceeding. But just seeing the main masts and bowsprit in place sure makes a difference in her look.
Boomer was suspiciously interested in my masts and spars.
Figuring out what is what. More maritime terms to learn.
What a difference the masts make.
I can almost see her sailing into a sunset.
I'll build her to fold, but hope I won't have to.
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Bhakti Yoga Meditation
Home: Inspirational Quotes in Sanskrit: Human Birth and Life's Purpose
Inspirational Quotes in Sanskrit:
A Human Birth and Life's Purpose
Below is a selection of Sanskrit quotes from Hinduism on the greatness of a human birth and our ultimate life's purpose.
sanskrit manuscript
sanskit quote aim1
Arise, awake and seek the holy association of true Saints and acquire knowledge of God. (Vedas)
sanskit quote aim2
As a man determines, so he becomes. (Vedas)
sanskit quote aim3
You have received the most valuable human body, which is like a strong boat to take you across the ocean of maya. It is propelled by the favorable wind of God's grace and steered by the Spiritual Master. If with all this facility a soul does not cross this ocean, he is spoiling the golden opportunity he has received. (Bhagwatam, 11/20/17)
sanskit quote aim4
The supreme knowledge of God can only be attained in a human form of life. (Garud Purana)
sanskit quote aim5
This human body is the gateway leading to liberation. Having attained it, you must strive to take care of your spiritual progress. (Ramayana-Goswami Tulsidas)
sanskit quote aim6
You have been blessed with a human birth, which is difficult to attain. Don't waste the precious moments of your life in pursuit of sensual pleasures. (Shankaracharya)
sanskit quote aim6
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Normal Glucose Levels
A blood sugar level chart can help you keep your normal glucose levels. This chart is so important in avoiding diabetes as well as in getting rid of some amount of glucose in your body. Monitoring the normal sugar levels of your body is what you must do to help you avoid being diabetic.
What is the cause of diabetes? Diabetes is a health condition that interferes when a person’s blood sugar levels increase than the normal range. The main source of this sickness is glucose which is mostly found in carbohydrate foods. You must avoid eating this kind of food or if possible take a small amount of foods that are rich in glucose, which is a type of sugar. Consuming a small intake of carbohydrate foods is the initial step of preventing diabetes.
To help you further avoid suffering from diabetes, you need to know how this health condition works and affects the human body. There are actually many side effects of being diabetic. It can give serious malfunctions and effects on some parts of your body. The result of these effects can lead you to become blind, suffer from heart disease or stroke or lead you to kidney failure. Hence, you must value the importance of keeping your normal glucose levels. Maintaining the blood sugar levels of your body is very essential to avoid getting this kind of sickness.
You can easily maintain your blood sugar level using a diabetes blood sugar levels chart. Everytime you wake up, your normal blood sugar level should be not less than 80 or greater than 120. This is actually a normal range which you must keep. It is also the range of sugar level you need to have before you eat your meals. After eating meal, the level of your glucose should be 170 or better less than that. For bed time, you must have at least 100 up to 140. Following these ranges is the way to maintain a normal blood sugar level.
Learning how to keep your normal glucose levels is extremely important. It is by far the first step for you to eliminate the chance of being diabetic. It is recommended that you should observe what you eat, try to avoid taking carbohydrate foods and keep a diabetes sugar level chart. Knowing how to take care of your body is generally the best way to avoid suffering from diabetes. | <urn:uuid:60dfcbee-5b1f-4c23-8953-24556fd6070c> | 3 | 3.328125 | 0.077251 | en | 0.949134 | http://www.bloodsugarlevelscharts.com/normal-glucose-levels/ |
Archive for category Uncategorized
What is Intensive farming
Over the years, farming methods have diversified and increased production capacity. There are various types of agricultural production systems, including extensive production and intensive agriculture. intensive cultivation techniques involves extensive contributions of capital, labor and pesticides and fertilizers to increase crop on a smaller area. Intensive farming means not only horticulture but also livestock. There are many advantages and disadvantages of intensive farming. Advantages include high performance helps to reduce agricultural related products and poultry prices. In addition, the production of crops than a smaller area. But the number of disadvantages of intensive agriculture is more than the benefits. Intensive agriculture leads to the use of pesticides and fertilizers that can lead to contamination and poisoning. It also causes erosion and contamination of surrounding areas by chemical fertilizer soil. The animals are grown in small spaces and ranchers engage in dangerous practices of reproduction, and much more. But we can not focus on the pros and cons of this article lifestyle fashion but the types of intensive agriculture. Now for the next few paragraphs we’ll discover the different types of intensive farming techniques.
Intensive farming techniques
» Read more: What is Intensive farming
Importance of Agriculture
Why is it important for agriculture?
Human civilization realizes the importance of agriculture as it started with him. When our ancestors believed in regulation and growing our own food, including grains and crops, organic farming and humanity was born was changed forever. Agriculture has caused not only the cities and the development of cities, but also knowledge and technology. Regardless of the degree of sophistication or gadget addicted we become, there is no denying agriculture importance in our daily lives. Recently, farming has been neglected because of the mistaken belief that the new modern technology produces grains and crops we eat. At the summit in the world last year, the need for agriculture was the main point of debate and discussion that has been proposed by scientists in the green world.
Agricultural importance in the US
America is considered one of the most productive countries in terms of agriculture. Business analysts say that US food industry will exceed $ 500 billion this year. With technology creates more problems can be solved, putting the US government, its resources and plans to ensure that it becomes more productive. The US is the largest producer and exporter of agricultural products, with a share of 21% of world trade in agricultural products. In 1996, exports of agricultural products from the United States worth $ 60 billion and only increased over the years. As you know, exports are crucial for GDP in a country where agriculture contributes more than 7%. I think these startling figures are enough to show the importance of agriculture in America.
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Friday, February 12, 2010
A New Level in Motivation
Ever thought about self rewarding behavior? I've heard about it sometimes when a behavior in parrots becomes comforting. Like that Moluccan Cockatoo that used to scream just for attention, but now he does it all the time with or without a reward. Or that feather picking African Grey that simply picks as a way to occupy his time, but now the behavior has become a self-soothing perpetuating behavior. Like the way I bite my nails...
These issuse might be considered a bit more simplistic in the way of behavior, compared to what Mr. Pink talks about (it is a simplistic task for an instant reward). But this gets me to wonder about how his topic could influence what behavior techniques we use in the world of animals. Crows and Keas as examples; these birds have shown extra ordinary abilities to quickly solve unclear tasks (Like Pink talks about humans in the video) for a food reward. Odly, he points out that this kind of bribery works poorly on us humans, compared to an alternative view he expresses.
Then again I remember some faint memory of the birds just standing around just looking at the food based reward puzzle, for several minutes, before attempting it. This is the same thing that humans do in trying to figure out multiple step problems, yet bribery works poorly. Could any of Mr. Pink's research be applied to animals? Can the Keas and Crows actualy perform better at thier tasks like the test subjects he talks about, and if so how do we go about setting up a task for animals like that? I hope I find out in my lifetime.
I've often dreamed about reaching a point with my animals where they can learn "just for the fun of it" but is this possible for creatures other than humans? Or will animals always do better at tasks if given a bribe for simple tasks, like us humans? The jury is still out on that one.
Don't forget to comment and share the insight you've gained from this video or any research you may have come across on the topic. This "New Science" stuff is always interesting!
Copyright 2013 Caitlin Bird
The Sequential Psittacine Blog
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Pollution in my city
This afternoon my wife and I took a short walk to pick up some groceries. Immediately upon returning we both passed out in different parts of the condo, napping for about an hour to recover from the exhausting effort the walk required. How much of this was due to the ridiculous unseasonable heat, and how much was due to the poor air quality, it is hard to say. But neither of us are exactly feeble, and we walk much further than that most days, so something strange was going on.
Earlier today we watched a woman on CBC defend the Liberal Party’s inability to make good on a promise to shut down coal power plants by 2007. This target has now been pushed back to 2009, and even that deadline is starting to look ambitious. The problem, of course, is that you can’t simply shut down sources of power even as demand is increasing unless you have replacement source. According to the CBC, coal fired plants are the second largest cause of air pollution, behind cars.
Today’s blanket of smog covers an area that is much larger than you might expect, extending north of Sudbury into the central and northern parts of the province. The fact that this is happening in May — over one full month before normal “smog season” begins — is alarming.
Canada is not alone with this problem, though. Construction began yesterday in Germany on a non-polluting coal plant, which will use a number of technologies to filter and clean the smoke that results from the burning coal, and turn it into a liquid instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. Unfortunately, downsides are numerous: the efficiency of the plant will suffer, the cost of the resulting energy will be higher, and there are inevitable NIMBY political issues regarding where to dispose of the waste biproduct.
But, at least in Germany something significant is being done, and they have moved beyond talking and mere patchwork solutions. Meanwhile, we in Canada continue to talk, negotiate, and deliberate ad nauseum, even as an estimated 5,800 people die each year in Ontario alone from poor air.
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House votes to block Obama-era online privacy rule - CBS News 8 - San Diego, CA News Station - KFMB Channel 8
House votes to block Obama-era online privacy rule
Posted: Updated:
The Federal Communications Commission rule was designed to give consumers greater control over how internet service providers share information. But critics said the rule would have added costs, stifled innovation and picked winners and losers among Internet companies.
The House voted 215-205 to reject the rule, and sent the legislation to President Donald Trump for his signature. The vote is part of an extensive effort that Republicans have undertaken to void an array of regulations issued during the final months of Democratic President Barack Obama's tenure. But the vote was closer this time than previous rescind efforts, with 15 Republicans siding with Democrats in the effort to keep the rule in place.
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the Republican-led effort was about putting profits over the privacy concerns of Americans.
"Overwhelmingly, the American people do not agree with Republicans that this information should be sold, and it certainly should not be sold without your permission," Pelosi said. "Our broadband providers know deeply personal information about us and our families."
Internet companies like Google don't have to ask users' permission before tracking what sites they visit. Republicans and industry groups have blasted that discrepancy, saying it was unfair and confusing for consumers.
But proponents of the privacy measure argued that the company that sells you your internet connection can see even more about consumers, such as every website they visit and whom they exchange emails with.
Undoing the FCC regulation leaves people's online information in a murky area. Experts say federal law still requires broadband providers to protect customer information — but it doesn't spell out how or what companies must do. That's what the FCC rule aimed to do.
The Trump-appointed chairman of the FCC, Ajit Pai, is a critic of the broadband privacy rules and has said he wants to roll them back. He and other Republicans want a different federal agency, the Federal Trade Commission, to police privacy for both broadband companies like AT&T and internet companies like Google. GOP lawmakers said they cared about consumer privacy every bit as much as Democrats did.
"What America needs is one standard across the internet ecosystem and the Federal Trade Commission is the best place for that standard," said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.
Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California said the FTC has acted as America's online privacy regulator since the dawn of the internet. He called the rule an effort to strip the agency of that role.
"The internet has become the amazing tool that it is because it is largely left untouched by regulation — and that shouldn't stop now," McCarthy said.
Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder of Kansas parted ways with his Republican colleagues on the issue. He said the privacy protections were "commonsense measures" that would have ensured internet users continue to have control over their personal information.
"We don't want the government having access to our information without our consent, and the same goes for private business," Yoder said.
Broadband providers don't currently fall under FTC jurisdiction, and advocates say the FTC has historically been a weaker agency than the FCC.
The American Civil Liberties Union urged Trump to veto the resolution, appealing to his populist side.
"President Trump now has the opportunity to veto this resolution and show he is not just a president for CEOs but for all Americans," said the ACLU's Neema Singh Guliani.
Republicans repeatedly discounted the privacy benefits generated by the rule. Over the last two months, they've voted to repeal more than a dozen Obama-era regulations in the name of curbing government overreach. The criticism of their efforts was particularly harsh Tuesday.
"Lawmakers who voted in favor of this bill just sold out the American people to special interests," said Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo.
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Activate - September 11
Passage: Psalm 46:1-2
I began to pray every day that I could make it through graduate school with no debt. The numbers were not in my favor. I had less than a thousand dollars when I began school, and it would cost over sixty thousand dollars to get my degree. God provided in many incredible ways. I had a tight budget, no car, and no phone at times. Beyond practical measures though, God provided. At one point, there was a man in Oakland, California, who didn’t go to my church, but sensed through prayer that he was supposed to give a gift of several thousand dollars to a seminary student. My pastor called me up and told me that some unknown man in town just stopped by the church with a huge gift for a seminary student! I was the only seminary student in the church. It was just enough to pay my bills that month. Have you seen God provide for you in ways that are tremendously encouraging? And yes, God made a way so that my daily prayer was answered and I graduated with no debt. Another example of the sustaining grace of God!
As we study the timing of God in how He sustains us, there are two concepts for “time” in the Greek language. One sense of time, chronos, is linear; for example, there are seven days in a week. Another aspect of time is kairos, meaning a significant God-ordained moment. God brings kairos at critical junctions in our lives. The grace of God will arrive in your life with His sense of timing. God knows what we need and when we need it. Psalm 46 both acknowledges the trial that is experienced, and at the same time, gives tremendous hope. The very real presence of God and His ability to comfort and provide give the psalmist the courage to sing and praise God through difficulties. God is the source of blessing and strength, and God shows up in our darkest hours with incredible love and deliverance. It is in God’s grace that we find kairos.
Let’s take a look at how God has provided help at the right time for people:
1) Moses: Exodus 14:19-25. When the Israelites were trapped between the Red Sea and the army of Egypt. God demonstrated His protection and His power. He used Moses to lead the people through the parted sea into safety.
2) Esther: Esther 4:12-17. When the Jewish people were threatened with death, God raised up a woman named Esther and gave her a position of influence. She interceded on behalf of the Israelites and was successful in pleading with the king for their protection.
3) Paul: Acts 16:6-10 and 18:9-11. On Paul’s journey, he didn’t know what God wanted him to do. But God used a vision of a man in Macedonia to direct his steps. And when Paul was overwhelmed, Jesus appeared to Paul with comforting reassurance.
1) Has God ever rescued you from a bleak situation?
2) How can you trust God’s timing more?
3) Have you ever had an incredible answer to one of your prayers?
Deeper Study:
Zechariah 4:6-9. We need God’s Spirit because our own strength is not sufficient.
Psalm 86. God hears our cries and responds when we call on Him.
Galatians 4:4-7. God knew just the right time to send His Son Jesus.
1 Chronicles 17:16-20. Humbly thank God for how He has helped you.
Gracious God, I need You. I’m facing situations that I can’t fix or handle on my own. I thank You that You are always there. I am so grateful for Your outstanding help. Please have mercy on me and provide at this time. I will be careful to give You the glory. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
For more from Pastor Jesse Bradley and Activate Media Ministries, visit
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Chocolate Milk Gets the Boot from Schools with Surprising Results
Think back: Can you imagine school lunch with no chocolate milk? Many can, and some schools have made the thought a reality in an effort to make school lunches healthier for students.
chocolate milk
However, the efforts may have been misguided. Researchers from the Cornell Food and Brand Lab surveyed 11 elementary schools in Oregon where chocolate milk had been removed as an option, and found while the students did consume less sugar and calories, they also consumed less protein and calcium.
The students also took 10 percent less milk than when chocolate milk was available, and 29 percent more milk was wasted. Some researchers also feel removing chocolate milk from lunch caused some students to stop eating school provided lunches.
Chocolate milk gets a bad rap for being full of sugar, but it does provide some nutritional benefit. The combination of carbohydrates and protein in chocolate milk make it a good post-workout or after-practice snack and drinking flavored milk is better than drinking no milk at all.
Students not drinking milk is the problem the schools where chocolate milk is banned are now facing. Instead of choosing regular or skim milk, students are picking different beverages entirely and missing out on the nutrition a serving of milk at lunch can provide.
Students aren’t going to get the protein and calcium they need from the soda or juice they may choose if flavored milk is not available.
“Given that the role of the federal school meal program is to provide nutritious meals to students who may otherwise have no access to healthy foods, I wouldn’t recommend banning flavored milk unless you have a comprehensive plan in place to compensate for the lost nutrients when kids stop drinking milk altogether,” former Assistance Director of Nutrition Services for the school district surveyed Nicole Zammit said in a statement.
Instead of banning chocolate and other flavored milk, the Cornell Food and Brand Lab recommends placing non-flavored milk closer to the front of the cooler where students are more likely to take it. They also suggest schools make sure at least one-third to one-half of the milk provided is not flavored.
The chocolate milk debate comes down to picking our nutrition battles. If the worst thing students have with their lunch is a carton of chocolate milk, that’s pretty good. Sure, added sugar is a concern, but at least they’re also getting the nutrients they need.
Also Read:
We Knew Chocolate Was Good for You, Now We Know Why
School Lunches Don’t Have to be Junk
Nature’s Best Nutrition Secret is Raw Cacao
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Enterprise Architecture
Disciplined Agile Enterprise Architecture
The Agile Enterprise Architecture process blade overviews how a disciplined agile EA team will work. An agile enterprise architecture is flexible, easily extended, and easily evolved collection of structures and processes upon which your organization is built. The act of agile enterprise architecture is the collaborative and evolutionary exploration and potential modelling of an organization’s architectural ecosystem in a context-sensitive manner. The implications are that enterprise architects must be willing to work in a collaborative and flexible manner AND IT delivery teams must be willing to work closely with enterprise architects.
This article is organized into the following topics:
Why Enterprise Architecture?
Enterprise architecture, when performed in a disciplined agile manner, is an important enabler of agile software delivery. This is true for several reasons:
1. Common architecture enables agile teams to focus on value creation. A common enterprise architecture enables reuse across delivery teams. When agile teams have high-quality assets – such as micro-services, legacy data sources, and frameworks – available to reuse they are able to focus on creating new value for their stakeholders and not on reinventing new versions of existing infrastructure.
2. Common technical guidance enables greater consistency. When team follow effective, common conventions it results in greater quality. This makes it easier to learn about assets that are new to them, in particular existing source code, and to evolve those assets as needed. Greater consistency also makes it easier for people to move between teams because it will be easier for them to come up to speed on what the new team is doing and to share their skills with those team members.
3. Agile architectures enable disaggregation. When your solutions are built from loosely coupled, highly cohesive components it is easier to spread development work across smaller teams. This reduces overall risk and organizational complexity, which in turn reduces time-to-delivery.
4. Common infrastructure enables continuous delivery. When there is a common technical infrastructure to IT delivery teams to deploy into it is easier to deploy. The easier it is to deploy, the more often it makes sense to deploy.
5. Enterprise architecture scales agile. A disciplined agile approach to enterprise architecture enables organizations to scale agile strategies “horizontally” across their entire IT department.
The EA Process
Some methods will choose to prescribe a single approach, such as capturing architectural requirements in the form of epics or pre-building “architectural runways,” but the Disciplined Agile (DA) framework promotes an adaptive, context-sensitive strategy. DA does this via its goal-driven approach that indicates the process decision points you need to consider, a range of techniques or strategies for you to address each decision point, and the advantages and disadvantages of each technique. In this section we present the goal diagram for the Enterprise Architecture process blade and overview its process process decision points.
The following diagram overviews the potential activities associated with Disciplined Agile Enterprise Architecture.
Disciplined Agile Enterprise ArchitectureThe process decision points that you need to consider for enterprise architecture are:
1. Support stakeholders. Enterprise architects will work with business and IT stakeholders on a regular basis to understand their needs and to help them develop a vision for the organization.
2. Support delivery teams. Enterprise architects will work with IT delivery teams, and ideally be active members of IT delivery teams, on a regular basis. They may guide the teams in the business and technical roadmaps, help them to identify potentially reusable assets, to identify technical debt, and transfer their skills and knowledge to team members.
3. Negotiate technical dependencies. Like it or not, there are dependencies between the solutions that we create. For example, if your system invokes a web service, or calls an API, provided by another system then you have a dependency on that system. Enterprise architects will often find that they need to negotiate these dependencies with other teams, either at a high-level in their role of Enterprise Architect or sometimes at a detailed level in their role of Architecture Owner on a delivery team.
4. Explore architectural views. Organizations are complex and as a result they must be understood from a variety of view points. It’s not just a matter of writing “architectural epics” on a collection of index cards.
5. Tailor architectural framework. The enterprise architecture team may choose to adopt, and likely tailor, an existing enterprise architecture framework. These frameworks typically suggest a multi-view collection of artifacts to create and techniques for doing so.
6. Evolve enterprise architecture. Enterprise architects will collaborate with one another, and with their stakeholders, in a variety of ways. They may choose to hold architecture envisioning/modeling sessions or regular meetings where they share learnings with one another. They will often work together, or with IT delivery teams, to investigate new technologies or identify candidate architecture strategies.
7. Evolve roadmap(s). An important output of your enterprise architecture effort will be one or more roadmaps describing your technology strategies and/or your architectural strategies. In agile organizations this roadmapping occurs in a rolling wave approach where the roadmap(s) are updated regularly.
8. Capture enterprise architecture. There are two broad categories for how enterprise architects can capture their work: as documents or as working/executable examples. High-level models work well for documentation, although sometimes you may find the need for detailed documentation as well. Executable artifacts, such as executable reference architectures or architectural runways, are usually preferred over documentation by delivery teams.
9. Govern architecture. Architectural activities within your organization should be governed in a lightweight, collaborative manner. This is an important activity for enterprise architects as well as for your IT governance team.
Workflow With Other IT Teams
The following diagram overviews the major workflows that your disciplined agile enterprise architecture activities are associated with. Note that feedback is implied in the diagram. For example, where you see the Technology Roadmap and Guidance flow from Enterprise Architecture to Reuse Engineering there is an implied feedback loop from the reuse engineers to the enterprise architects. Also note that the workflows do not necessarily imply that artifacts exist. For example, some of the guidance provided by enterprise architects may discussions with their stakeholders.
Disciplined Agile Enterprise Architecture Workflow
The following table summarizes the workflows depicted in the diagram.
Process Blade Process Blade Overview Workflow with EA
IT Delivery Addresses how to develop solutions in a disciplined agile manner. This includes the four lifecycles – basis/agile, advanced/lean, continuous delivery, and exploratory – supported but the DAD framework plus the program management blade (effectively a large team following one or more of the lifecycles). Enterprise architecture will provide guidance to the IT delivery teams in the form of coaching and mentoring the teams in architectural issues, providing the technology roadmap, and providing development guidelines (such as coding conventions, security conventions, database guidelines, and so on).
Continuous Improvement Addresses how to support process and organizational structure improvement across teams in a lightweight, collaborative manner; how to support improvement experiments within teams; and how to govern process improvement with your IT department. The continuous improvement activities will provide potential improvement suggestions for improving enterprise architecture efforts. Similarly, the EA team may have insights to share with the rest of the organization.
Data Management Addresses how to improve data quality, evolve data assets such as master data and test data, and govern data activities within your organization. Enterprise architecture will provide guidance to the data management activities. Operational intelligence pertaining to production data sources and data activities will be made available to the EA team to support their long-term planning efforts.
Operations Addresses how to run systems, evolve the IT infrastructure, manage change within the operational ecosystem, mitigate disasters, and govern IT operations. Enterprise architecture will provide a technology roadmap and guidance to the operations efforts so that their efforts to evolve the IT infrastructure reflect the overall organizational strategy. Operational intelligence will be used by the EA team to provide insights into the effective of various architectural strategies.
Portfolio Management Addresses how to identify potential business value that could be supported by IT endeavors, explore those potential endeavors to understand them in greater detail, prioritize those potential endeavours, initiate the endeavours, manage vendors, and govern the IT portfolio. Enterprise architecture provides the technology roadmap to portfolio management. The roadmap is used as input into identifying potential business value that could be supported by IT and into prioritization decisions.
Program Management Addresses strategies for managing large product/project teams, allocating requirements between sub teams, managing dependencies between sub teams, coordinating the sub teams, and governing a program. Enterprise architecture will provide guidance to large IT delivery teams (programs) in the form of coaching and mentoring the teams in architectural issues, providing the technology roadmap, and providing development guidelines (such as coding conventions, security conventions, database guidelines, and so on).
Release Management Addresses strategies for planning the IT release schedule, coordinating releases of solutions, managing the release infrastructure, supporting delivery teams, and governing the release management efforts. Enterprise architecture will provide the technology roadmap and guidance to the release management efforts so that their planning efforts reflect the direction of the overall organization. Operational intelligence will be used by the EA team to provide insights into the impact of current architectural strategies on the overall release effort.
Reuse Engineering Addresses how to identify and obtain reusable assets, publish the assets so that they are available to be reused, support delivery teams in reusing the assets, evolving those assets over time, and governing the reuse efforts. Enterprise architecture will provide the technology roadmap and guidance to the reuse management efforts so that they can better identify potentially reusable assets. Reuse intelligence will be used by the EA team to provide insights into where to focus technical debt pay down efforts.
Support Addresses how to adopt an IT support strategy, to escalate incidents, to effectively address the incidents, and govern the IT support effort. Enterprise architecture will provide the technology roadmap and guidance to the support team so that they can better understand the overall IT ecosystem and the direction it is going in. Operational intelligence will be used by the EA team to provide insights into the supportability of the various solutions in production.
Workflow Within the Team
The workflow within a disciplined agile enterprise architecture team is depicted in the following diagram.
Agile Enterprise Architecture Process
There are four major activities:
1. Envision initial architecture. The enterprise architects will spend several days developing initial, high-level models of the enterprise architecture. This will be a face-to-face, initial architecture envisioning session where the scope is the entire organization, not just a single IT solution. Ideally this is done in an agile modelling room so as to streamline the communication and collaborative modelling efforts. Such a room is large with lots of whiteboard space, enabling the team to work on several models in parallel (each of which has its own section of wall space). The primary purpose of this session is for the EA team to develop a common understanding, at least a high level, of the current state of the enterprise architecture and a vision for how the team would like to see it evolve. Secondary outcomes include creating some initial artifacts which the enterprise architects will evolve over time, (potentially) meeting one another for the first time, and building bonds between the team members. Potential challenges to this activity include getting an agile modeling room (you may have to convert an existing room, or accept lower productivity if you can’t get access to such a room) and the logistics of getting the right people together at the same time.
2. Collaborate with business stakeholders. On a regular basis enterprise architects work with business stakeholders to understand their needs, work with them to envision the future, and help educate them on the possibilities and constraints of technology. This collaboration may be in the form of working sessions, presentations, or one-on-one conversations. These sessions occur as needed and at times it can be difficult to gain access to stakeholders as they are often very busy people.
3. Collaborate with IT stakeholders. Disciplined agile EAs will spend the majority of their time, 80 to 90% of it typically, working as members of IT delivery teams. By doing this they bring their knowledge, vision, and skills to the team in a pragmatic, hands-on manner. On Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) teams they will often take on the role of architecture owner (AO). Enterprise architects will also work with other IT stakeholders, including operations engineers, support staff, the data management team and so on so as to understand their needs.
4. Evolve architecture assets. The enterprise architecture team, or at least the portion of the team who is currently available, will meet on a regular basis to evolve the enterprise architecture assets based on their learnings. A common pattern we’ve seen it for the team to meet every Friday afternoon for two hours where they discuss what they’ve learned that week from working on delivery teams and working with their various stakeholders. As the result of the meeting several of the enterprise architects may take on action items to update existing EA artifacts. These artifacts may include EA models, reference architectures, development guidelines, white papers, and so on. When a new major topic arises, such as the potential adoption of a new platform or a merger with another organization, the EA may choose to schedule agile modelling sessions to explore the topic.
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"DJ" had this to say:
Hi Unknown, it's true! Especially first pressed extra virgin olive oils. They have a very low smoke point. This is actually a whole mess of a complicated subject, simply because most olive oil on the shelves ... isn't even really olive oil! So, the smoke point is higher than what you might read in a book. That said ... it's not the healthiest oil, either! I do a lot of cooking with bacon fat, frankly. In this case, I also do a blend of fats. The precise thought process, as written, was to use butter for flavor and bacon fat to increase the smoke point of the butter, making it harder to burn (butter burns at a low temperature). I also suggest adding the ingredients to the fat "quickly" before the oil has a chance to burn and denature. Once the ingredients are coated with the fat, the ingredients help keep the fat cooler than you might think. The reason I list olive oil is because I assume everyone has a bottle of it and it's a simple solution, without the need to get into the whole topic of "what's really IN that bottle, anyway?!?" | <urn:uuid:009ea8e2-dfcc-4d88-bb19-fc5ff943b13a> | 2 | 1.554688 | 0.044327 | en | 0.975541 | http://www.djfoodie.com/aspx/blob2/blobs/controls/comment/blobcommentdisplay.aspx/commentId/1870863/blobid/18263721/msgid/1766508 |
Playing the Psychologist: The Importance of Cultural Competence
posted by Dr. James G. Hood
Friday, May 28, 2010
Society has struggled throughout history to explain and manage individuals with abnormal mental states, and as a result of society’s quest for understanding, three major explanations have developed: the supernatural, biological, and psychological. More recently, psychologists have argued that the combination of biological and psychological factors are the most likely causal factors of psychopathology (Barlow & Durand, 2005). Realizing that psychological disorders are caused by psychological and biological factors is important for the implementation of effective treatment; however, clinicians and researchers must also be aware of and sensitive to a particular individual’s culture in order to properly diagnose a psychological disorder. Additionally, cultural knowledge is necessary to off set the negative stigma that society may be attributing to a particular psychological disorder or psychological abnormalities in general.
Taking a step back and looking through a cultural perspective at the actions of a particular individual acting in his/her respective culture is extremely important. A culture deems what behaviors are normal (acceptable) in its own culture. What is normal in one culture, therefore, could be deemed completely unacceptable or could even be classified as a psychological disorder in another culture. A careful mental health practitioner would therefore be sure to understand the cultural nuances of a patient’s culture in order to avoid an inappropriate diagnose and respective treatment for a patient which could result in a patient being hurt rather than helped. For instance, a patient may develop symptoms of a particular mental disorder even though the initial diagnosis was incorrect because the patient could experience the self fulfilling prophecy.
After determining that a patient actually has a psychological disorder based on the guidelines for behavior in the patient’s particular culture, then a responsible mental health practitioner must be aware of society’s feelings toward that particular disorder and act accordingly. In the past, psychological disorders were viewed in a variety of negative ways that greatly marginalized or even physically inflicted harm on individuals with psychological disorders. For the most part, the negative perception of individuals with psychological disorders continues to this day.
The negative perception of psychological disorders is harsher towards individuals on the “extreme” end of the psychological spectrum. Pop culture points out and/or creates examples of schizophrenic or individuals with some sort of personality disorder that exhibit wild behaviors. These behaviors are often exaggerated for dramatic effect and cast in a clearly negative light.
Individuals in a different subset of psychological disorders, however, are often viewed as people with small problems that can easily be remedied. The show, Monk, depicts a detective with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. However, the detective’s disorder is not viewed as a detriment, but rather as an interesting quirk that provides comic relief and ingenious insight into his profession. Furthermore, with the rising popularity of pharmeceutical drugs, more and more people are taking medications for depression or certain anxiety disorders. More people being treated in a more public setting means that the norm for these treatments and their corresponding ailments is becoming more widely accepted. The new emphasis on the biological factors contributing to these disorders also helps alleviate the previous stigma because now the problem is more like a headache being treated with pills instead of an inexplicable problem of a particular individual’s human nature.
Knowing society’s particular viewpoint towards a specific mental malady is essential for beneficial treatment. By realizing society’s perspective a mental health practitioner will realize the obstacles that a patient may be facing. The realization will allow the mental health practitioner to outline an effective coping strategy for the patient.
Cultural competence is something that a clinician and/or reseracher must posess in order to best help an individual suffering from a psychological disorder. Realizing the dual nature of the psychological disorder involving both psychological and biological factor is important, but the cultural perspective must be explored to find its definition of normal behaviors and to determine the positive and/or negative attributions given to each respective psychological disorder.
Barlow, D. & Durand, M. (2005). Abnormal Psychology. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.
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Tongue tie
One of the most important muscles for speech and swallowing is tongue. A tongue-tie can lead to eating or speech problems, which may be serious in some individuals.
Ankyloglossia also called Tongue Tie or anchored tongue is a common condition. Newborn tong tie is congenital oral anomaly in which an unusually short, thick lingual frenulum, a membrane joins the underside of the tongue to the floor of the mouth, thereby decreasing the movement of the tongue tip.
Tied tongue can be defined as a structural abnormality of the cord or the lingual frenum. When the frenum is normal, it is elastic and the movements of the tongue are not affected.
When it is short, thick, tight or broad it has an adverse effect on oromuscular function, feeding and speech. Severe effects are seen when extends from the margin of the tongue across the floor of the mouth till the base of the teeth. Tied tongue in baby also affects the structure and appearance of the face and teeth, as well as oral function.
Tongue tie usually runs in families. The symptoms may not be similar in all individuals. Some have mild effects or no apparent symptoms while others show a severe impact on structure and function. Tongue tie is seen associated with other congenital conditions such as cleft lip or palate or severe hearing loss or cerebral palsy. There are more tongue-tied boys than girls.
Salivary gland disoders
Salivary gland disorders are conditions that lead to swelling or pain in the salivary gland, the saliva producing tissues around the mouth. There are three pairs of gland of the neck: parotid glands, sublingual glands and submandibular glands. Parotid salivary gland is the largest salivary gland. Salivary glands empty saliva into the mouth through ducts that open at various locations in the mouth.
There are many salivary gland diseases:
Sialolithiasis (stones in salivary gland). Tiny, calcium-rich stones sometimes form inside the salivary glands. Some stones may be related to dehydration, decreased food intake or medications that decrease saliva production, including certain antihistamines, blood pressure drugs and psychiatric medications. The stones in the salivary gland can cause blocked salivary gland.
Sialadenitis (salivary gland infection). Sialadenitis is a painful infection that usually is caused by bacteria. It is more common among elderly adults with salivary gland stones. Sialadenitis also can occur in infants. A salivary gland blockage or poor oral hygiene may be the causes of bacterial infections. They can be seen in people who are dehydrated and in the hospital.
Viral infections: Mumps infections usually affect the parotid gland resulting in swollen salivary gland called parotiditis.
Sjogren's syndrome: Sjogren's syndrome is a chronic autoimmune disorder attacking the salivary glands, the lacrimal glands and occasionally the skin's sweat and oil glands.
Sialadenosis (nonspecific salivary gland enlargement): Enlarged salivary glands are seen without infection, inflammation or tumor. This nonspecific enlargement most often affects the parotid gland, and the etiology remains unknown.
Salivary gland carcinoma: Salivary gland tumors are a morphologically and clinically diverse group of neoplasms. Salivary gland neoplasms are classified as primary or secondary, benign or malignant, and by tissue of origin. The causes of cancer in salivary gland can be chewing tobacco, followed by smoking, radiation therapy treatment to head or neck or occupational hazard.
Symptoms: Abnormal tastes, fever, headache, muscle aches, poor appetite, malaise, swelling of the salivary glands, discomfort in opening the mouth, dry mouth, swelling and pain in mouth, ears, face or neck.
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Facial surgery
Appearance plays an important role in every others life. This can be affected by accidents, birth defects or premature aging. Many of these conditions can be improved by facial surgery. Injury to the nerve due to physical trauma can result in a visible deformity and difficulty with eye protection, speech and eating/drinking. The facial nerve surgery should be planned only after considering a number of factors including the cause of the nerve injury, the state of the neurons and nerve itself, and the functional impairment to the patient. The reasons for facial plastic surgery are varied. Many choose to modify a facial feature that has bothered them for years. Facial Reconstruction surgery is used to repair or reconstruct facial features that include scar revision, fracture repair, laceration repair, vascular birth marks, cleft lip and palate, craniofacial deformities, orthognathic surgery, free flaps, and other cancer reconstruction. Facial reconstructive surgery can help you increase self-confidence because, for most people, when they look better, then generally feel better. A facial plastic surgeon specializes in executing cosmetic and reconstructive surgery on the face, head, and neck region.
1.Facial Paralysis
The paralysis of any structures supplied by the facial nerve can result in facial nerve palsy. Facial paralysis occurs due to the total loss of all voluntary movement in one or both sides of face and the person is no longer able to move the muscles on one side of the face. The causes of facial paralysis are Physical trauma, especially fractures of the temporal bone. The swelling of the facial nerve, a stroke, even brain tumor, Lyme disease or sarcoidosis are considered as the causes of facial paralysis. The one sided paralysis gives an asymmetrical looks to the face. The eyelid and the corresponding corner of the mouth drop and there might be ear pain on the same side. In newborns, facial paralysis may be caused by trauma during birth. Congenital facial paralysis is an uncommon condition but may cause multiple problems such as difficulty with nursing and incomplete eye closure. It can even lead to difficulties in speech, expressions of emotion, and mastication.
Facial paralysis treatment: The immediate treatment is very crucial in facial nerve injury. Eye blink can be affected by facial nerve paralysis. The disruption of blinking the eye which provides vital moisture to the cornea can cause corneal injury and eventually lead to loss of vision. Constant eye lubrication and taping the eyelid is essential to protect the eye. The brow lift procedure can be used to prevent the descent of the eyebrow that can result in impaired vision. The facial Slings can be made use to restore/lift the midportion of the face to a more normal position. A repair of the nerve can be performed when the nerve is severed due to accidental trauma or surgical removal of tumor. If the nerve ends are easily re-attached, a. If the nerve ends cannot be reattached, a nerve graft is used.
2.Facial nerve palsy – Facial Nerve decompression
Facial nerve decompression refers to exposure of the facial nerve along the length of its bony canal in the temporal bone. The nerve dysfunction can be related to compression of an inflamed nerve within the bony canal resulting in choking of the nerve in the confined space. Facial nerve decompression is the preferred procedure if the continuity of the nerve is not disrupted in facial palsy. Depending on the location of the problem there are different types of facial nerve decompression. Facial nerve decompression often involves a type of craniotomy called a middle fossa craniotomy and may also require a complete Mastoidectomy. These techniques help in removing the compression of the facial nerve. A facial nerve graft may be required to restore long-term function. The facial nerve is usually approached through a middle fossa craniotomy, and through the mastoid bone directly behind the ear and overlying bone is removed. The removal of the overlying bone helps the nerve to expand, thus relieving the compression that causes ischemia and neurapraxia.
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Tag Archive: Best
Best tips when choosing the right bulbs
One of the most challenging things for most people especially those with little experience in the field of electronics is choosing the right bulb. The bulbs vary depending on some factors. Some of these factors include the amount of energy, color, the amount of light emitted, and the heat produced. The Viribright’s light bulb comparison will assist you in getting the right bulbs. Let us explore some of the best tips to consider when choosing the right bulbs.
Best tips
Bulb wattage
The bulb wattage is of great importance when purchasing a bulb. When buying any the lighting fixture, it is important to note the maximum wattage that it will be able to get. A bulb that has a high wattage will produce excess light and heat as compared to those that have lower wattage. The wattage that is indicated on the bulb is an indication of the power that the bulb will consume; it does indicate the amount of light that the bulb will generate.
Right fitting
Secondly, choose a light bulb with the correct fitting. Many people have had to return the light bulb because they were of the wrong fitting. Some of the ways of ensuring that you purchase the light bulb of the correct fitting is carrying an old bulb or measuring the bulb holder before going to the electronic shop. You could also note the fitting reference number and take it to the electronic shop just to ensure that you purchase the correct light bulb.
Color and brightness
Different bulbs come in various color and brightness. They are used for various purposes in the home and industry hence the variation. When buying a lighting bulb, the two should, therefore, be considered. For instance, when purchasing a security light, it should be very bright as it will be used to illuminate the darkness.
Similarly, you can choose light bulbs of different colors if they are meant for disco. Depending on the occasion or personal preference, you can choose the LED light bulb of your choice.
Efficiency ratings
The efficiency rating of the bulb is also of great importance. The efficiency of the bulb simply tells us the amount of energy that will be converted to light and the other that will be lost to things like heat. It is advisable to buy bulbs that have an efficiency of more than 80 percent. This means that more than 80% of its energy will be utilized and the remaining 20% lost.
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JTE - Jigdo Template Export
JTE Introduction | Download | How to use JTE | How JTE works | How fast is JTE? | How to use mkimage | How to use iso-image.pl | How to use jigit | External integration | What's left to do?
Jigdo is a useful tool to help in the distribution of large files like CD and DVD images. See Richard Atterer's site for more details. Debian CDs and DVD ISO images are published on the web in jigdo format to allow end users to download them more efficiently.
Jigdo is generic and powerful - it can be used for any large files that are made up of smaller files. However, to be this generic is costly. Creating jigdo files from ISO images is quite inefficient - to work out which files are included in the ISO image, jigdo has to calculate and compare checksums of every possible file and every extent in the image. Essentially it has to brute-force the image. On my home system, it can take several hours to do this for a 4.5GB DVD image.
There are a few ways to improve this that I can see:
1. Modify jigdo so it knows about the internals of ISO images and can efficiently scan them (bad, not very generic for jigdo)
2. Write a helper tool to dump extra information for jigdo to use alongside the ISO image (helper tool written, but modifying jigdo to use this looks HARD)
3. Patch genisoimage to write .jigdo and .template files alongside the ISO image
I've now done the third of these, and called it JTE (or Jigdo Template Export). The code works fine, and runs in a very small fraction of the time taken to run genisoimage and jigdo separately. The output .jigdo and .template files work correctly, i.e. jigdo-file and the wrapper script jigdo-mirror accept them and will generate an ISO image that exactly matches the original.
Current versions of JTE now also come with some extra tools:
mkimage, a simple and very fast tool to reconstruct image files from .jigdo and .template files. It doesn't have any logic to cope with downloading missing files, but will list the missing files that are needed. It is also much faster for people (like me!) who already have full local mirrors.
iso-image.pl is a CGI script to wrap around mkimage if you'd like to be able to offer images for HTTP download without using up multiple gigabytes of disk space. And for added network efficiency the perl CGI also supports HTTP v1.1 byte ranges so clients can resume aborted downloads.
jigit is a first attempt at a user-friendly wrapper for mkimage on a user's machine.
The addition of these extra tools means that I'm now distributing JTE as a source tarball and Debian packages rather than just a genisoimage patch.
NEW:The packages and source are now named jigit to match the wrapper script.
Jigit has now been uploaded and accepted into the Debian archive, so you should get binary packages from there (current is 1.20-1). Source and backported versions are in the download area alongside the current ChangeLog. If you want to verify the integrity of the source then check the md5sum against the .asc there. Older versions were signed with my GPG key fingerprint 88C7C1F7, and newer ones with my new 4096R key 3442684E.
jigit is also maintained in git; see http://git.einval.com/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?p=jigit.git. Current development is on the "stable" branch, for historical reasons.
How to use JTE
To use the jigdo creation code, specify the location of the output .jigdo and .template files alongside the ISO image. You can also specify the minimum size beneath which files will just be dropped into the binary template file data rather than listed as separate files to be found on the mirror, and exclude patterns to ignore certain files in the same way. And paths in the original filesystem can be mapped onto more global namespaces using the [Servers] section in the .jigdo file. For example:
genisoimage -J -r -o /home/steve/test1.iso \
-jigdo-jigdo /home/steve/test1.jigdo \
-jigdo-template /home/steve/test1.template \
-jigdo-min-file-size 16384 \
-jigdo-ignore "README*" \
-jigdo-force-md5 "/pool/" \
-jigdo-map Debian=/mirror/debian \
-md5-list /home/steve/md5.list \
If the -jigdo-* options are not used, the normal genisoimage execution path is not affected at all. The above invocation will create 3 output files (.iso, .jigdo and .template). Multiple -jigdo-ignore and -jigdo-map options are accepted, for multiple ignore and map patterns.
Use the -md5-list option to specify the location of a list of files and their md5sums in normal md5sum format. genisoimage will then compare the checksum of each file it is asked to write against the checksum of that file in the list. It will abort on any mismatches. The MD5 list file must list all the files that are expected to be found and listed in the output .jigdo file. The -jigdo-force-md5 option specifies a path where all files are expected to have an MD5 entry (e.g. /pool/). Then if any files do not have a match, they must have been corrupted and genisoimage will abort.
More options have now been added in version 1.2 onwards so that you can specify the location of boot files within the ISO image. Previously the four architectures alpha, hppa, mips and mipsel needed separate tools to make an ISO image bootable. This also made life very hard when trying to produce jigdo files. Now that code is in genisoimage, life is much easier!
-alpha-boot <FILE> Specify the location of the boot image (relative to the root of the ISO image)
-hppa-cmdline <CMDLINE> Specify the hppa boot command line. Separate elements with commas or spaces.
-hppa-kernel-32 <FILE> Specify the location of the 32-bit boot image (relative to the root of the ISO image)
-hppa-kernel-64 <FILE> Specify the location of the 64-bit boot image (relative to the root of the ISO image)
-hppa-bootloader <FILE> Specify the location of the bootloader code (iplboot, relative to the root of the ISO image)
-hppa-ramdisk <FILE> Specify the location of the ramdisk (relative to the root of the ISO image)
Mipsel is awkward because we have to parse the ELF header of the boot loader and write some locations from it into the boot sector. Ick!
How JTE works
I've hooked all the places in genisoimage where it will normally write image data. All the normal data write calls (directory entries etc.) I simply copy through and build into the template file. Any file data entries are instead passed through with information about the original file. If that file is large enough (see -jigdo-min-file-size above), I grab the filename and the MD5 of the file's data. If that MD5, size and length match an entry in the md5-list, I can just write a file match record into the template file (and then the jigdo file) instead of the file data itself.
How fast is JTE?
On my laptop (600MHz P3, slow laptop disk) I can make a template file in parallel with the ISO image from a typical 500MB data set in about 2 minutes. By simply not creating the ISO (-o /dev/null), this time halves again. The data set I'm using here is a copy of the woody i386 r2 update CD, as it's a handy image I had lying around.
On my faster home server machine (1.7GHz Athlon, 512MB RAM, fast SCSI disks), I can produce a 7GB DVD iso image with the jigdo and template files in about 8 minutes. A debian-cd run from start to finish to create DVD images takes about 25 minutes per architecture.
Genisoimage is normally I/O-bound on this system, but when running the jigdo creation code it's now CPU bound - it's now running 2 MD5 checksums on each data block that it sees. To boost performance when creating images on a large SMP machine, running several copies of debian-cd in parallel should parallelise nicely - ideally run the CD and DVD versions of each architecture together to get maximum benefit from the dentry and page cache.
How to use mkimage
mkimage is a faster, local-only version of "jigdo-file make-image", again written in portable C. It takes a few options:
-f <MD5 file>Specify a file containing MD5sums for files we should attempt to use when rebuilding the image
-j <jigdo file>Specify the input jigdo file
-t <template file>Specify the input template file
-m <item=path>Map <item> to <path> to find the files in the mirror
-M <Missing file>Don't attempt to build the image; just verify that all the components needed are available. If some are missing, list them in the specified file.
-v Make the output logging more verbose.
-l <log file>Specify a logfile. If not specified, will log to stderr just like genisoimage
-qDon't bother checking md5sums of the input files, or of the output image.
WARNING: this may lead to corrupt images, but is much faster.
-s <start offset>Specify where to start in the image (in bytes). If not specified, will start at the beginning (offset 0). Added for iso-image.pl use
-e <end offset>Specify where to end in the image (in bytes). If not specified, will run all the way to the end of the image. Added for iso-image.pl use
-zDon't attempt to reassemble the image; simply parse the image descriptor in the template file and print the image size. Added for iso-image.pl use
Specifying a start or end offset implies -q - it's difficult to check MD5 sums if the full image is not generated!
How to use iso-image.pl
iso-image.pl is a small perl wrapper script written to drive mkimage and turn it into a CGI. It will parse the incoming request (including byte-ranges) and call mkimage to actually generate the image pieces wanted.
Configuration is simple: place iso-image.pl in a cgi-bin directory and set various paths in the script:
How to use jigit
jigit will automatically download the files needed to create a Debian/Ubuntu CD, using as many files available locally as possible before downloading any that are missing.
Configure jigit by editing /etc/jigit.conf or $HOME/.jigit.conf. The two settings that matter are:
HOST The base URL of the jigit update site.
TMPDIR Where jigit should store its temporary files. These may take up a LOT of space!
Then run jigit <CD name> to grab the CD you need. If you have any local files that may reduce the amount you need to download (e.g. from an earlier CD or a local mirror), tell jigit where to find them. It will automatically look in your apt cache too.
It should look something like this:
sledge:~$ jigit wibble
Downloading config: http://tack/jigit/wibble.conf
Downloading jigdo: http://tack/jigit/wibble.jigdo
Downloading template: http://tack/jigit/wibble.template
If you have a mirror, or any previous CD or CD image(s) available,
where are they mounted?
Say "none" if you have none; separate multiple entries with spaces
> [none]
Checking MD5 sums of files in /var/cache/apt/archives:
Checking MD5 sums of files in /mirror/jigit-test/jigit/files:
Unable to recreate image from template file /mirror/jigit-test/jigit/jigdo/wibble.template
/mirror/jigit-test/jigit/jigdo/missing-list contains the list of missing files
Need to download 739 files to complete the image
0 files missing; all needed files available
Image should be 467847168 bytes
Image MD5 should be 90bc9f792371c5c0dae185450d8e9f23
Creating ISO image /mirror/jigit-test/jigit/jigdo/wibble.iso
100.00% template data
Output image MD5 is 90bc9f792371c5c0dae185450d8e9f23
Output image length is 467847168
Image created successfully in /mirror/jigit-test/jigit/jigdo/wibble.iso
External integration
The current released version of debian-cd in etch supports JTE out of the box. Wodim ships with integrated JTE code too.
What's left to do?
1. Testing! :-) This is where you lot come in! Please play with this some more and let me know if you have any problems, especially with data corruption.
2. More documentation.
3. Support for non-local mirrors in mkimage. | <urn:uuid:11e52e6c-0498-4457-84dc-7f3449c43d63> | 2 | 1.6875 | 0.042039 | en | 0.793128 | http://www.einval.com/~steve/software/JTE/ |
Germany's fate is on the agenda
By Jorgo Chatzimarkakis*
Across Europe, stunned citizens are witnessing the drama that is taking place ahead of the final negotiations for the next tranche of aid for Greece. Germany, which brought the International Monetary Fund on board for the Greek bailout, now refuses to accept its advice, and will not heed the advice of its national economists either.
Germany is becoming increasingly isolated within Europe. The future of the eurozone, the survival of European integration and even Germany's prosperity, are all hostages in the runup to the country's 2013 general election – even though there is already a clear winner.
What is really needed now is a bold design that tackles the eurozone’s real problems. The pattern of the last two years, of small policy steps and muddling through from one summit to another, is making matters worse.
Instead of muddling through, we need a mechanism within the eurozone which ensures that one partner is not burdened with a huge amount of debt, while another is in a position to spend lavishly because of its strong economy. In return, we must have solid parameters for sustainable and balanced budgets. Adequate proposals are already on the table.
Above all, we need to have an honest debate within Germany about what is happening to the profits it is making from the euro crisis. From the first tranche alone, Germany has earned more than 400 million euros. By way of historically low interest rates on German government bonds, Germany has, according to Kiel Institute for the World Economy economist Jens Boysen-Hogrefe, saved 68 billion in the last three-and-a-half years.
The real victim of continuous debates is Greece and its Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who has pulled the coals out of the fire for the Europeans. For months, the Europeans have been telling the Greeks to cut budgets and implement reforms in order to get the next tranche. And the Greeks who have made a colossal effort to do just that are now left in the rain waiting.
The Greek state is virtually bankrupt and political pressure on the domestic front is close to boiling over. Long-gone diseases like malaria are returning because people lack the money to go to the doctor. Some are literally starving. Many European politicians here in Brussels are becoming increasingly ashamed that a community which is supposed to stand in solidarity would allow such a thing.
Several Greeks see Germany as the root of their misery. They cannot understand why country that has benefited so much from the euro is refusing to take the necessary steps. This is especially so considering the fact that during the 1953 conference in London, Germany was granted a huge haircut by European and international borrowers. This was in addition to the Marshall Plan, an economic stimulus plan that provided the money with which the German economic miracle was possible in the first place.
Rather than learn the lessons of history, we have forgotten German reflection that was once based on the two principles of German foreign policy after 1945: Never again, never be alone. The ahistorical policy of the current government is what is leading to angry reactions all over Europe.
In Greece, a new debate on war reparations is ongoing. What if the Greek government asks not for reparations, but for a repayment of the imposed loan from 1942? At that time, Berlin forced Athens to make an interest-free forced loan of 476 million marks, which today corresponds to 10 billion euros; with compound interest, the sum would be six times that.
How long can Germany stand the pressure? As the net beneficiary of the euro crisis, it will not be easy to stay its hard line. Germany now has a very narrow window of opportunity to break out of its growing isolation in Europe but also in the bodies of the IMF. The next Eurogroup meeting, for Germany, as for Greece, has a historical dimension. I hope for Germany and Europe that the lessons of history sink in.
* Jorgo Chatzimarkakis is a member of Germany's Free Democratic party and a member of the European Parliament. He holds German-Greek citizenship. | <urn:uuid:dcb6d2cf-7398-47fa-9359-9d32a72c6e58> | 2 | 1.8125 | 0.066711 | en | 0.965516 | http://www.ekathimerini.com/146404/article/ekathimerini/comment/germanys-fate-is-on-the-agenda |
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Orphan designation
On 17 July 2012, orphan designation (EU/3/12/1027) was granted by the European Commission to Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation, the Netherlands, for human apotransferrin for the treatment of congenital hypotransferrinaemia.
The sponsorship was transferred to Sanquin Plasma Products B.V., The Netherlands, in April 2016.
What is congenital hypotransferrinaemia?
Congenital hypotransferrinaemia is a genetic disease characterised by abnormally low levels of the protein transferrin in blood. Transferrin attaches to iron in the blood and delivers it to where it is needed, such as the bone marrow, where it is used for the production of haemoglobin (the protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body). Severely reduced levels of transferrin cause anaemia (low red blood cell counts), which may lead to heart problems. It also leads to free iron accumulating in tissues and organs, where it can cause damage and increase the likelihood of infections.
Congenital hypotransferrinaemia is a life-threatening condition due to severe anaemia and accumulation of iron in tissues which can cause heart problems and infections.
What is the estimated number of patients affected by the condition?
At the time of designation, congenital hypotransferrinaemia affected approximately 0.00012 in 10,000 people in the European Union (EU)*. This is equivalent to a total of around 6 people, and is below the ceiling for orphan designation, which is 5 people in 10,000. This is based on the information provided by the sponsor and the knowledge of the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP).
What treatments are available?
At the time of orphan designation, no satisfactory treatments were authorised in the EU for this condition. Treatments included blood transfusions to manage anaemia and iron chelation therapy to reduce the accumulation of free iron in tissues and organs.
How is this medicine expected to work?
This medicine is made of the transferrin protein extracted from human plasma (the liquid component of the blood) and depleted of the iron attached to it. This medicine is expected to work by replacing the missing protein, which can attach to the iron in the blood. This is expected to improve the symptoms of the disease.
What is the stage of development of this medicine?
The effects of human apotransferrin have been evaluated in experimental models.
At the time of submission of the application for orphan designation, clinical trials with human apotransferrin in patients with congenital hypotransferrinaemia were ongoing.
At the time of submission, human apotransferrin was not authorised anywhere in the EU for congenital hypotransferrinaemia or designated as an orphan medicinal product elsewhere for this condition.
• the seriousness of the condition;
Key facts
Product details for <p>Human apotransferrin</p>
Active substanceHuman apotransferrin
Medicine Name
Disease/conditionTreatment of congenital hypotransferrinaemia
Date of decision17/07/2012
Orphan decision numberEU/3/12/1027
Review of designation
Sponsor’s contact details:
Sanquin Plasma Products B.V.
Plesmanlaan 125
1066 CX Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel. +31 20 512 30 00
Patients' organisations:
| <urn:uuid:2dc6f7bf-1704-4acf-ab42-eca09983a0ed> | 3 | 2.859375 | 0.020302 | en | 0.92031 | http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/medicines/human/orphans/2012/08/human_orphan_001103.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058001d12b |
Democratic Republic of Congo
(formerly Zaire)
During the 16th century, the Songye migrated from the Shaba area, which is now the southern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and settled on the left bank of the Lualaba River, on a savannah and forest covered plateau. Divided into numerous sub-groups, the Songye are governed by a central chief, the Yakitenge, whose role demands that he obey special restrictive laws such as not showing grief, not drinking in public and not shaking hands with men. In addition, local rulers, the Sultani Ya Muti, distribute plots of land to their villagers and an influential secret society, Bwandi Bwa Kifwebe, counterbalance their power. The Songye tribe is a patriarchal society in which agriculture is central to the economy.
The Songye create impressive sculptures and masks used within their secret societies. They are characterized by powerful features, with the figures covered in paraphernalia. regional variations can be observed owing to the large area occupied by the tribe.
~ links to SONGYE items on ETHNIX.COM ~
SONGYE Kifwebe Face Masks
SONGYE Helmet Masks
SONGYE Ancestral Figures/Statues
SONGYE Fetish Figures/Statues
SONGYE Small Scale Figures/Statues
SONGYE Thumb Pianos | <urn:uuid:9ba59c25-cb20-4d41-acdb-a733af0ea392> | 3 | 3.078125 | 0.040087 | en | 0.89989 | http://www.ethnix.com/AlphaSearch/SONGYE.html |
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