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Here’s a great video from Tom Meyers on the early days of Ida Rolf.
This is not good news for many of us!
“Regular exercise doesn’t erase the higher risk of serious illness or premature death that comes from sitting too much each day, a new review reveals.
Combing through 47 prior studies, Canadian researchers found that prolonged daily sitting was linked to significantly higher odds of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and dying.
And even if study participants exercised regularly, the accumulated evidence still showed worse health outcomes for those who sat for long periods, the researchers said. However, those who did little or no exercise faced even higher health risks.”
And here’s a great little App to help you accomplish your goal of not sitting for prolonged periods:
This is a great video about why and how humans run. It’s our evolutionary destiny!
I’m so glad that someone has finally agreed with what I’ve been saying for many years and they’ve produced a video explaining how foam rollers and Graston Technique is not affecting the fascia in the way they claim. Those modalities may still be effective for what they do but they don’t change fascia the way Structural Integration does.
Great article on the benefits of walking outside barefoot and connecting with the earth. Of course that’s hard to do in Minnesota during the winter but that makes it all the more important during the seasons when we can be barefoot outside.
Click here to read the article: Earthing for your health
This is beautiful! Visualizing how a dancer moves energy! Sweet!
I’m often asked to describe Harbin Hot Springs. It’s a challenge because so much happens there that’s so hard to describe. Here’s a video that gives you a picture of the physical area at least.
Although this article is written with the athlete in mind. It does a great job of explaining why fascia matters to anyone with a body. I highly recommend reading it!
“From the superficial (“body stocking”) fascia, it dives deep and forms the pods (called fascicles) that actually create your musculature like a honeycomb from the inside out. Imagine what it looks like when you bite into a wedge of orange and then look at those individually wrapped pods of juice. We’re like that too! Fascia also connects muscle to bone (tendons are considered a part of the fascial system), and bone to bone (ligaments are also considered a part of the fascial system), slings your organ structures, cushions your vertebrae (yep, your discs are considered a part of this system, too), and wraps your bones…..
Many of you have experienced the domino effect without having had a name for it. First, your neck gets injured in a minor whiplash in that teeny tiny no big deal car accident that you had when you were sixteen years old. But you’re sixteen years old, so no biggie. You ignore it and it gets better. But once you enter college, suddenly you have this nagging shoulder painwith all the extra typing and sitting you’re doing. As the years go by you start to think of yourself as the “tight-shouldered” person, and sometimes you have a pinching pain when you lift your arm. More years go by and you are now not only a “tight-shouldered person,” but you also suffer from occasional low back spasms and have developed plantar fasciitis, which you assume must be because you’re a runner and everyone says running is bad for you. I could go on, and this is just one quick sketch of one type of domino effect out of the infinite possibilities, but you get the idea.”
This is a fabulous video that I think you’ll enjoy watching and there’s a wonderful image of Chakras, Sushumna & Kundalini starting at 7:42.
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The New Bullying Epidemic: When Siblings Bully
It is a Saturday morning in 2008. Jodi Richardson wakes up in her Santa Cruz County, CA, home to blessed quiet. Her two boys, “Jimmy,” 9, and “Glen,” 6, sleep in. She quickly makes her coffee and enjoys the serenity, knowing this is the calm before the storm. Soon the boys will be up and the chaos will begin. Jimmy will abruptly snatch the remote from Glen’s hand, calling him hurtful names like “fatso” or “man boobs.” Then he’ll go after something of Glen’s, like the giant blow-up hammer he popped or the Pokémon cards he gave away.
The brothers’ screaming will pierce the house, and Glen will come to Richardson crying and, occasionally, bruised. Richardson will banish Jimmy to his room. Sometimes he’ll refuse to go. She’ll end up yelling, too, and may have to physically force Jimmy into his bedroom. Once he’s inside, Richardson often stands in the hallway holding the door shut as Jimmy shouts and tries to pry it open. Soon, the boys’ dad will be woken, and he will be angry, too.
It’s easy to call Richardson’s experience a particularly rough case of sibling rivalry, but the truth is much harsher. What she is grappling with is sibling abuse — the physical or emotional mistreatment of one sibling by another. The Richardson boys aren’t simply bickering over the iPad, or even throwing the occasional slug (both of which are pretty normal). Instead, there’s a pattern of behavior in which one child is the victim and one is the perpetrator. And their family is hardly unique.
A Hidden Epidemic
New research published in Pediatrics found that more than one-third of children under age 18 reported being victimized — and most were suffering serious consequences because of it. This was true even with kids who reported only one incident.
“We measured for depression, anxiety, and anger,” says Corinna Jenkins Tucker, Ph.D., lead author of the study and an associate professor at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. On all three measures, these kids scored considerably higher. “Sibling aggression is not benign.”
Tucker’s study was among the first to look at sibling bullying across a wide age and geographical range, but “there is an abundance of evidence that suggests that sibling [bullying] has long-lasting traumatic effects,” says John Caffaro, Ph.D., author of Sibling Abuse Trauma and distinguished professor at the California School of Professional Psychology.
It’s not just the victims who suffer low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and trouble with relationships as adults. When they grow up, the bullies have a high risk for substance abuse and violence toward partners. “These kids tend to have poorer relationships in general,” says Caffaro. In the short term, they’re also likely to carry their actions into the classroom. Case in point: Jimmy, who’s now 14, has been suspended from school 30 times.
Despite all these effects, few realize how serious it really is. From Miley and Jackson of Hannah Montana to Diary of a Wimpy Kid’s Greg and Rodrick, sibling aggression is laughed off. Although statistics suggest that sibling bullying is more common than parent-child or spousal abuse, we often dismiss it as simply “rivalry” or “boys will be boys.”
And unlike peer bullying, there are no public campaigns warning parents about it. Yet it is just as common, if not more so: 46 percent of 6- to 9-year-olds are victimized by a sibling, according to one study. Among peers, 25 percent are targeted, according to American Justice Department stats. The difference is huge.
Why It’s Ignored
The problem with sibling bullying is that it’s insidious and, as Richardson discovered, all too easy to deny even at its worst. At one sleepover Glen hosted, Jimmy started picking on the guests and making fun of one child in particular. He absolutely ruined the party. After that, some parents wouldn’t let their children hang out with Glen because they didn’t want them around Jimmy.
“It’s an impossible situation,” says Richardson. “As a parent you want to protect both the bully and the victim.” And like any mom would, Richardson found herself comforting Glen while hurting for Jimmy at the same time.
What also makes true bullying hard to spot is the fact that victims can be touchingly loyal. “I see frenemy siblings all the time,” says Kate Roberts, Ph.D., a sibling bullying specialist in Boston. Sometimes the victim fears retaliation if she tells. Many other times, though, despite everything, she loves and wants to please the bully. The relationship may seem normal at times, but the camaraderie doesn’t last. Eventually, everyone in the family is affected.
“Having a bully in the home stresses the entire family unit,” notes Fran Walfish, Psy.D., author of The Self-Aware Parent and a therapist in Beverly Hills, CA. It can even strain marriages.
“The child can put a wedge between husband and wife, especially if they view the situation differently,” says Walfish. That was the case for Richardson. “My husband felt Jimmy would outgrow it, so dealing with the problems was on me,” she says. It was hard not to be resentful.
Bullies (Usually) Aren’t Born
It’s true that some children may be predisposed to aggression, like those who have certain developmental disorders, says Caffaro. But the more common reason — hard as it may be to hear — is that sibling bullies often learned their behavior from watching the adults around them, says Vernon R. Wiehe, Ph.D., author of What Parents Need to Know About Sibling Abuse. “If one parent often belittles the other, for example, they may model that.”
Other common triggers include family stressors, such as a move, a divorce, or the death of a relative or even a pet. Early exposure to violence can have the same effect as well. Another big one is the birth of a baby, especially if the older child feels dethroned, says Wiehe. “The child under stress may channel anxiety, depression, and anger into bullying,” agrees Caffaro.
That’s what happened with Jimmy. The first hostile incident Richardson remembers occurred when Glen was a newborn. “Jimmy was 3 at the time. He put a tiny plastic figure in his mouth and spit it right into Glen’s soft spot [the fontanelle],” she says. “I was furious.” Shortly thereafter he started teasing kids at the playground, calling them “babies,” she recalls.
As he got older, though, Jimmy’s stress seemed to stem from social angst. He’s always had trouble making friends. He doesn’t get invited to parties. He doesn’t receive texts. Glen, however, is just the opposite.
Three years ago, Richardson realized she was all yelled out. “I was being a bully parent, which may have made things worse,” she says. Looking for new solutions, she hit upon Empoweringparents.com, which offers ideas for changing the way you interact with your kids.
For instance, Richardson learned that assigning Jimmy chores until he treated Glen kindly helped him regain control. (Locking him in his room only made him more resistant.) And when she didn’t allow herself to get sucked into the drama, the boys followed suit.
Richardson made another change, too: she switched the school’s emergency contact to her husband’s cell. “When the school started to call him, he was stunned at how big a problem it was,” Richardson explains. After being in denial for years, he finally got it. “We all entered family counseling together.”
But the Richardsons’ new attitude was soon tested: Jimmy made a hole in a new trampoline. Instead of blowing up, she walked away and doled out the consequences later. Soon, Glen learned to walk away, too. “Leaving takes away his ammo,” says Richardson. “He really doesn’t like being alone, so slowly his behavior began to change.”
Compared to five years ago, things are a lot quieter in the Richardson house. “Now I tell the boys to give each other space, and we’ll talk about it when they cool down.” The boys’ relationship is less explosive. Glen, now 11, is more confident standing up for himself.
With both parents calm and authoritative, Jimmy isn’t getting suspended anymore. He even does odd jobs for a local store, which has improved his self esteem. With his earnings, he took Richardson out to dinner last Mother’s Day. “We still have our ups and downs, because big changes are an ongoing process,” says Richardson. “But now when I wake up early, I can truly enjoy the quiet, because I know the odds are good a storm isn’t brewing that day.”
Stop Bullying Before It Starts
Here’s how to keep typical sibling skirmishes from turning into something more:
1. Separate them. “Don’t make yourself the umpire,” says Derek Randel, author of Parent Smart from the Heart and a parenting coach in Chicago. Instead, send each to spend a little time alone.
2. Let them cool down. Then call a family meeting in which each child gets a turn to speak. If things get heated, remain calm and strong. Separate them again, if needed.
3. Let each one speak without interruption. Then ask how they can resolve the issue themselves next time. The actual solution isn’t the point, says Fran Walfish, a Beverly Hills, CA, therapist. “After being heard, the kids usually calm down.”
4. State consequences. Randel teaches the “energy drain” approach. “Say, ‘When you guys fight, it drains energy from the family,” he explains. “To put it back, both of you will have to do a chore.” Then assign fridge-cleaning to one child, vacuuming to the other.
5. Review the rules. No hitting. No name-calling. No destroying property. “Tell them that having feelings like anger is okay but that’s not how to express them,” says Walfish.
6. Keep an eye out. Leave doors open and check in on them frequently. Tell each he must get you the second a problem starts.
When to Get Help
As soon as you sense that normal bickering may be evolving into bullying, especially if there is a large size or age gap, reach out to your pediatrician. She can help you figure out your best options. Watch for these warning signs:
An escalating pattern of physical or verbal aggression.
Rigid roles in which one is the perpetrator; the other, the victim.
Changes in one child’s behavior, such as trouble sleeping, different eating habits, or avoiding a sibling.
Recommended Products for Your Child Ages 4-13
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A clinical trial is one of the final stages of a long and careful cancer research process. Studies are conducted with cancer patients to find out whether promising approaches to cancer diagnosis and treatment are safe and effective.
Most clinical research that involves the testing of a new drug progresses in an orderly series of steps, called phases. This allows researchers to ask and answer questions in ways that result in reliable information about the drug, while protecting patients. Most clinical trials are classified into one of three phases (see below). In addition, after a treatment has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is being marketed, the drug's manufacturer may study it further in a phase IV trial. The purpose of a phase IV trial is to evaluate the side effects, risks and benefits of a drug over a longer period of time and in a larger number of people than in phase III clinical trials.
PHASES OF CLINICAL TRIALS
Phase I trials: These first studies in people evaluate how a new drug should be given (by mouth, injected into the blood or injected into the muscle), how often, and in what dose, which is both safe and effective. A phase I trial usually enrolls only a small number of patients, sometimes as few as a dozen.
Phase II trials: A phase II trial continues to test the safety of the drug and begins to evaluate how well the new drug works. Phase II studies usually focus on a particular type of cancer.
Phase III trials: These studies test a new drug, a new combination of drugs, or a new surgical procedure in comparison to the current standard. A participant will usually be assigned to the standard group or the new group at random (called randomization). Phase III trials often enroll large numbers of people and may be conducted at many doctors' offices, clinics and cancer centers nationwide.
Source: National Cancer Institute
The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) provides a Clinical Trials Information Service to increase awareness about investigational treatments for all types of lymphoma, including mantle cell lymphoma, that are currently being evaluated at cancer treatment centers nationwide. LRF does not provide medical advice or endorse specific treatments; however, upon request, the LRF Helpline staff will conduct a search for potential mantle cell lymphoma treatment trials based upon medical information provided by a patient.
Patients are strongly encouraged to discuss with their physician(s) the trial information provided by LRF. A patient’s healthcare team will be familiar with their medical history and can best evaluate all of the study criteria to determine if the clinical trial is appropriate for their patient.
People with mantle cell lymphoma interested in contacting the LRF Helpline to learn more about a clinical trial should be prepared to provide the following information, which is requested in order to perform a clinical trials search:
- Diagnosis (lymphoma subtype)
- Types of previous treatment (if any), the dates and the response
- Other medical diagnosis (i.e., another cancer, HIV, pregnancy)
- Geographic area willing to travel for treatment
Numerous mantle cell lymphoma clinical trials are currently being conducted at hospitals, cancer centers, and doctors' offices, often sponsored by the government, pharmaceutical companies, universities, and physician groups. The FDA, as well as the Institutional Review Board of the participating hospital or institution must approve each clinical trial phase. A patient’s decision to participate in a cancer clinical trial is an individual decision that should be made with their doctor after careful consideration of all of the potential risks and benefits. Note that patients may choose to discontinue participation in a clinical trial at any time.
For additional information on lymphoma clinical trials, please review the following LRF resources:
If you have questions, or would like assistance, call the Lymphoma Research Foundation Helpline at (800) 500-9976 or e-mail the Helpline staff directly.
Please note: LRF makes reasonable efforts to search publicly posted trials, but cannot guarantee that the clinical trial information provided are entirely comprehensive or that a patient will meet all eligibility criteria. Not all study sponsors post their clinical trial information on public databases, so there is no entirely comprehensive listing. Clinical trials information is updated frequently. LRF cannot be held responsible for any consequences or damages arising from the use of this information. This service is governed by the terms and conditions of the website.
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Arsenic in drinking water
Arsenic in drinking-water is a hazard to human health. It has attracted much attention since recognition in the 1990s of its wide occurrence in well-water in Bangladesh. It occurs less extensively in many other countries also.
The main source of arsenic in drinking-water is arsenic-rich rocks through which the water has filtered. It may also occur because of mining or industrial activity in some areas.
Inorganic arsenic can occur in the environment in several forms but in natural waters, and thus in drinking-water, it is mostly found as trivalent arsenite (As(III)) or pentavalent arsenate (As (V)).
Decentralised, no energy needed arsenic removal using SONO Filtration
Based on initial experiences with various types of household filters, the following criteria for any household arsenic filter should be established. The filter
- must require no external addition of any chemicals for normal operation.
- must not produce any sludge requiring disposal as part of its normal operation.
- must be manufactured from materials that are generally available within the country (in this case Bangladesh).
- must not require the regular replacement of filter media for normal operation.
- must provide consistent arsenic removal to less than 10 ppb regardless of the level of influent arsenic contamination.
Simple and effective Arsenic Filter based on Composite Iron Matrix (CIM)
Arsenic and most other heavy metals remain strongly bound to the active media (hydrous ferric oxide) with a mechanism very similar to that of mineralization process in soil. The active media works for at least five years without replacement and by that time 1 million liter of water can be filtered. It is believed the filter will last much longer, but test results guarantees the filter to work for five years.
The filter media can be disposed on top soil because the media turns into soil after this period or their properties are very close to normal soil. Leaching tests show no environmental contamination from the waste.
Specific test results Original feed water vs. Sono filtered water
Summary of 3 yrs filter data with more then 100,000 L filtered
- As(III) was always bdl, <2 ug/L
- As(V) was below 10 ppb, 95% cases
- As(total) was below 20 ppb 100% cases
- pH was increased by 1 pH unit
- Al, Ba, Ca, Fe, Mn, Sr, Zn were decreased
- Sb, Cd, Be, Cr, Cu, Co, Pb, Mo, Ni, Se, Ag
- Tl, and V were mostly below BDL.
- Eh increased with dissolved Fe(II)
- Dissolved oxygen increased by 1 mg/L
Key advantages of using SONO Filters
- 20-30 Liters per hour
- As(Total) < 10 ppb (CL 95%)
- As(III) < 2 ppb (CL 99.9%)
- No pretreatment of water is necessary ?acompletely non chemical filtration system.
- No backwashing or regeneration is necessary.
- Removes iron, manganese, heavy metals, nitrate, nitrite and many anions quantitatively.
- Life: 5 Years Minimum
- Maintenance: Very low
- Cost: ? 50 - ? 55 (or lower)
- Waste: Completely nontoxic ?passed TCLP, TALP
- Bangladesh Government approved and ETVAM program verified
Field Experience with SONO Filters by SIM Bangladesh
SIM Bangladesh (SIM) is an international NGO registered by the Government of Bangladesh. SIM has been conducting arsenic related activities in Bangladesh since June of 1999.
In July of 2002 they began the process of investigating alternatives to provide safe drinking water at the household level. They initially evaluated and tested several different arsenic filter alternatives. Some of the alternatives required chemical addition and produced a chemical sludge that required disposal.
A paper is being written and published to detail SIM's field-based experience with the SONO Filter.
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|Edwin Marcus. New Year Callers, 1952
Early in 1952, the newly reinstalled British Prime Minister once again crossed the Atlantic to confer with the U.S. President. Churchill's visit was seen by one cartoonist as merely one of a host of different problems facing Harry Truman, including economic troubles, difficulties within NATO, the dangers of the atomic age, the perennial entanglements in the Middle East, and racial integration in the United States. The Korean War, which had begun in 1950, was not in the front rank.
Cartoon Drawings Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (280)
Used Online Courtesy of the Marcus Family.
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Play Ball . . . carefully
Avoiding sports injuries is part of child's play
Soon after working through those first awkward steps into toddlerhood, most children become quick, agile machines whose bodies are willing and able to bend and stretch and reach for the stars. They get fast on their feet, and their muscles and joints become strong and flexible through child’s play.
Early injuries are common, mostly of the scraped knee, stubbed toe variety. Then, as children get involved in organized sports, teamwork, and competition, a whole new set of mental and physical demands — as well as injuries — develops.
Because children vary considerably in their stature as well as physical and emotional maturation, it is difficult to determine a generalized starting point for introducing children to organized sports. While 5 or 6 is a generally accepted age to begin, the best indicators often are individual interest and proclivity, says the Kids Sports Network, a nonprofit association that promotes youth sports through education. At the earliest stages, participation should focus on fun, on sports based more on physical activity than strategy, and on fostering development of the major muscles that will support participation and avoid injury.
“Sports injuries happen in children when they progress too quickly in intensity or duration, or they don’t have the strength and stability that lead to good body mechanics,” says Kelly Sheehan, a physical therapist in Community Hospital’s Rehabilitation Services department. “Also, kids seem to be specializing in sports at younger and younger ages. The more they stick with just one sport, the greater their chance of injury because they are developing only certain muscles and not counterbalancing that development through alternate activities.”
When kids enjoy a certain sport, says Sheehan, they or their parents sometimes push too hard. And in an area where sports are rarely curtailed by weather, kids often play longer seasons throughout the year without the break important for rest and recovery.
“A lot of injury prevention is common sense,” says Sheehan, listing some of the basics:
- Provide training and instruction before starting.
- Warm up before play by gradually increasing the intensity of movements related to the sport, as well as general movements and flexibility exercises.
- Stretch after warming up.
- Use proper equipment.
- Wear appropriate protective gear.
- Get enough hydration, nutrition, and rest.
- Make sure the playing field or surface is safe.
- Have adequate adult supervision.
“In organized sports,” Sheehan says, “we get a lot of weekend warrior parents pinch-hitting. The coach should be knowledgeable and trained in injury prevention.” If a sign of injury or overuse develops, such as pain or loss of function, it’s important to pay attention and respond appropriately, Sheehan says. Most issues probably won’t develop into anything serious, but some require intervention by a doctor, physical therapist, or sports medicine specialist.
Overuse injuries should be diagnosed and treated so they don’t develop into chronic problems, Sheehan says. In some cases, relief may come only from giving up the sport; but in others, rest, physical therapy, and a different way of playing may resolve the issue.
Participating in sports, says Kids Sports Network, is a healthy way for children to channel their youthful energy in a positive direction, both physically and socially.
Their first experiences can encourage them to begin a lifelong interest in physical fitness and good health.
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BOOKS: BIBLICAL STUDIES (1500BC-AD70) / EARLY CHRISTIAN PRETERISM (AD50-1000) / FREE ONLINE BOOKS (AD1000-2008)
(Not Full/Hyper Preterism ; Within Bounds of Historical Christianity)
MODERN PRETERISM (MP) - A)Umbrella term covering all those who believe that the majority of Bible prophecy was totally fulfilled in the early centuries of the Christian era. Determined by looking at where authors find a "transition" from the past to the future using the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24/25 and the Apocalypse of John. Differs from Full Preterism in that it does not make the Parousia, the General Judgment, nor the General Resurrection events solely of the past. B) According to known literature, this class emerged during the Reformation or Counter Reformation and can be seen in a fully developed form at the beginning of the 17th century in the writings of the Jesuit Alcasar -- although many believe that the "Preterist Assumption" seen throughout church history reveals the ancient and medieval equivalents of the Modern Preterist view. (perhaps systematized the most consistenty in 310 by Eusebius in "Theophany"). C) Teaches that the bulk of "end times" prophecy has sole application to ancient Israel, but that some regards the "last day" -- sometimes that "end" being personal, not global, in nature. Transitions somewhere in Matthew 25, or near the end of the Apocalypse of John.
"It has been usual to say that the Spanish Jesuit Alcasar, in his Vestigatio Arcani Sensus in Apocalypsi (1614), was the founder of the Pręterist School.. But to me it seems that the founder of the Pręterist School is none other than St. John himself." (The Praeterist Interpretation, in The Early Days of Christianity - F.W. Farrar, Chaplain to Queen Victoria, 1871-1876)
A Chronological Treatise on Daniel's Seventy Weeks
Wherein is evidently shewn the Accomplishment of the Predicted Events, As Especially Of the Cutting Off of the Messiah after the Predicted VII Weeks and LXII Weeks, according to the Express Letter of the Prophecy, and in most exact Agreement with Ptolemy's Canon ; So Also Of the Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, in the LXXth, or separate One Week, in the Litteral, Obvious, and Primary Sense (Packed within an overall "orthodox" eschatology)
Elder Bob Algood
Dr. Greg Bahnsen
Kelly Nelson Birks
Mike F. Blume
2005: The Weak Cross of Full Preterism "Scripture that teaches the meek shall inherit the earth will never be fulfilled, since there will be both sinners and saints forever on the earth. Sinners will never be removed. Also, we are told God's will must be done in earth as it is in heaven. There is no sin in heaven. This cannot be fulfilled in earth if full preterism is correct. Full preterism must conclude that sin will always exist. "
2001: What Do Preterists Believe About "The Prince" in the 70 Weeks of Daniel? "This is undoubtedly referring to 70 AD. When the Christians saw Jerusalem encompassed with armies, they indeed did flee the city and went to Pella. Rome devastated the city for 3.5 years. And Jesus said that event would end the times of the gentiles. Jerusalem would be no more the home of the temple and the ritual sacrifice of Law. Thank God that there was a remnant of Israel who represented the whole, thus fulfilling prophecy that all Israel shall be saved!"
2001: Jerusalem Missed the Blessing "The words of Matthew 25 concern the siege of Jerusalem as do the words of Matthew 24 -- both chapters deal with the same discussion on the Mount of Olives. What about the separation of the cursed goats from the blessed sheep? How does this picture fit into the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD? This study explains the connection."
2010: An Apology to the Public Regarding Preterism "The online Preterist community is an embarrassment on many levels. And by "preterism", I am referring to full preterism.. i am preaching against myself as well. I have been guilty of some of these things. Hence, one of the reasons i wanted to take a break and reassess things."
2010: Semper Reformanda Full Preterism "I believe leaving the community and being inactive elsewhere (not entirely, but to a large degree) helped position me now into the role of an 'outsider' in regards to full preterism. Technically, I wasn't an outsider. Practically, I was. Instead of having my head buried in the sand and getting immersed with all the in-house scuffles, I was now able to step back and look at the bigger picture...and I didn't like what I saw. I blogged about this, an apology which has now been featured at the infamous PreteristArchive, a site run by another former full preterist, Todd Dennis." "The rub is ~ given full preterist presuppositions, i want to know how you GOT from point A to point B. Systematically, logically, exegetically. Full preterism has NOT, i repeat, NOT done this! If any full preterist contests that they have, then all they have to do is simply provide the link here to either the work online or to a book they have published. It doesn't exist." // "And since no full preterist has done it ~ then why in the world would any full preterist get upset with me for stepping back and saying, "dang. I don't know about this full pret stuff anymore"? Why in the world would anyone get upset with me for wanting to exercise more CAUTION and to stop being dogmatic about a viewpoint that basically hasn't answered much of squat?"
Samuel G. Dawson
2011: Is Jesus Going to Reign on Earth? "There are lots of things that people believe the Bible teaches that just aren’t there. I have developed a Bible test that makes this point. Here’s one of them: Did Noah’s ark land on Mt. Ararat? The answer is no. The ark came to rest on the mountains (plural) of Ararat (Gen. 8:4). "
2011: Defending Dispensationalism at All Costs "Dave Hunt continues to ask questions about a preterist interpretation of Scripture. They’re true by definition because they support dispensationalism. Mr. Hunt knows that he no longer has to defend his position because there is a willing audience that will believe any listing of them"
2010: Gary DeMar on Horton - An Incomplete Systematic Theology "Horton is a full professor at a top-flight seminary. He’s just published a comprehensive 1000-page systematic theology. His section on eschatology runs nearly 90 pages and is mostly definitional. There is a section on Matthew 24 where he argues that a first-century, pre-A.D. 70 fulfillment"
2009: Is Gary DeMar Secretly a Friend to Hyperpreterists? "The tendency of full preterists is to fit everything into an A.D. 70 matrix. They do this with 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18, 1 Corinthians 15, and Revelation 20. A similar approach is followed with a number of Old Testament prophecies (e.g., Ezek 38–39 and Zech 12). I am willing to listen to their arguments since preterism in its present form is only now coming to its own as we shake off the dust of dispensationalism that has so distorted our interpretation of prophecy."
2009: Charisma Magazine Debunking 'Last Days Fever' “Peter Wagner, president of Global Harvest Ministries, is an adherent of partial preterism, believing most end-times prophecies were fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.” Wagner is the author of Dominion! How Kingdom Action Can Change the World published by Chosen Book in 2008. There are better representatives for the partial preterist position than Wagner, but at least it’s a start."
2007: Norman Geisler, "You," & "Zechariah the Son of Berechiah" "Geisler’s argument on the second person plural does not stand up to exegetical scrutiny. By not dealing with the above arguments, he shows that he is not a trustworthy critic of the preterist interpretation of prophecy."
2004: Tommy Ice and Dispensationalism under the Microscope -- Again "The difference is, preterism is right and dispensationalism is wrong, and because it’s wrong, it’s dangerous to Jews and the rest of us and those people who are reading the Left Behind series as if the prophetic content is actually taught in the Bible. As I’ve demonstrated in End Times Fiction, it’s not."
2003: Thomas Ice and the Time Texts "By never raising the issue of how the second person plural ("you") is used throughout Matthew 10, he is counting on his loyal readers not to notice. And who would think to go to Mark's account of the Transfiguration to see that the "disciples" is a larger group than Peter, James, and John? Of course, we all know the answer to this question: Preterists would."
2003: The People of God, the Land of Israel, and the Impartiality of the Gospel - Among Signatories: R. C. Sproul, Ph.D., President, Ligonier Ministries, Orlando, FL | Gary DeMar, M.Div., American Vision, Powder Springs, GA "At the heart of the political commitments in question are two fatally flawed propositions. First, some are teaching that God's alleged favor toward Israel today is based upon ethnic descent rather than upon the grace of Christ alone, as proclaimed in the Gospel. Second, others are teaching that the Bible's promises concerning the land are fulfilled in a special political region or "Holy Land," perpetually set apart by God for one ethnic group alone. "
2003: Bible Minimalism and "The History of Preterism" (Parts One and Two) "Ice and LaHaye get off on the wrong foot in their analysis of preterism. The historical argument is a death blow, or to use Mark Hitchcock's metaphor from his chapter on the dating of Revelation, "A Stake in the Heart" to their brand of futurism. The earliest historical sources, the Didache, the testimony of James, the brother of Jesus, and 1 Clement demonstrate that preterism's history is a first-century history." "The publication of The End Times Controversy is a great opportunity for preterists to get out their message since the authors quote extensively from preterist works. More astute Christians will follow the trail of end notes and books listed in the bibliography and read them. The brighter bulbs in the box will find preterist arguments convincing and reject the dispensationalism of their youth. Many will be surprised that over the centuries so many sound and trusted Bible expositors have been preterists."
2002: Will the Real Anti-Prophets Please Stand Up? " If modern-day preterists are "anti-prophets," then we are in good historical company. A survey of the most widely read and respected commentaries over the past four-and-a-half centuries will show that preterism, not the strained futurism of dispensational premillennialism, was the predominate prophetic system held by Bible believing Christians. "
2002: Dispensationalism : Being "Left Behind" "I opened this article with a "Best-Seller List" where three of the five non-fiction books on the list are preterist. How can these two authors ignore the subject of Preterism when the publisher claims that the authors "will clarify, magnify, and maybe even rectify your thoughts on a critical theme of God's written word: prophecy"? Zondervan, Kregel, and Baker have published high-profile books that deal with preterism. Three are in a debate-style format. LaHaye and Jenkin's failure to deal with Preterism makes this book a work of fiction. It would be like writing a history of the cola wars while leaving out either Coke or Pepsi."
2001: Zechariah 14 and the Coming of Christ "describes events leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. God will act as Judge of Jerusalem and its inhabitants. As the king, He will send "his armies" and destroy "those murderers, and set their city on fire" (Matt. 22:7)."
1999: Defending the Indefensible "The Second Coming does not compare favorably with The Gospel According to Jesus. Detailed analysis and comparative study are exchanged for superficial and misleading rhetoric. MacArthur scrupulously avoids the heart of the debate over the time texts."
1997: The Passing Away Heaven and Earth "The parables of Matthew 2425 are clear on the duration of the delays -- the two masters who go on a journey return to the same people they left. There is no need to allegorize these parables to force them to depict a distant coming of Christ."
1993: No Fear of the Text "Tim LaHaye has written another book on prophecy. No Fear of the Storm was written because LaHaye recognizes that dispensational premillennialism is in trouble. "
Jack Van Deventer
1996: A Case For Preterism "The advantage of Preterism is that it 'saves the phenomena' of the New Testament time-frame references; it interprets biblical prophecy according to the images used in Scripture itself."
Israel and the Church
1998: Who is the Antichrist?
1899: Christ Wails Over Jerusalem "This incident is an allegory. The soul of each one amongst us is such a Jerusalem. The soul has its history of shame or of faithfulness, and its prophecy of triumph or of doom, just as Jerusalem had. Jerusalem had warnings.. Jerusalem found that it was so, and so shall all men who persist in defying the mercy of God which calleth us to repentance."
1883: Epistle to the Hebrews "Quando ? The date at which the Epistle was written cannot be fixed with precision. All that we can say is that it was certainly written before the Fall of Jerusalem, A.D. 70. This conclusion is not mainly founded on the use of the present tense in speaking of the Temple services (ix. 6, 7; x. 1, &c), because this might conceivably be due to the same figure of speech which accounts for the use of the present tense in speaking of the Jewish ministrations in Josephus, Clemens Romanus, Justin Martyr, and even in the Talmud. It is founded on the whole scope of the argument. No one who was capable of writing the Epistle to the Hebrews at all (there being no question of pseudonymity in this instance) could possibly have foregone all mention of the tremendous corroboration—nay, the absolutely demonstrative force—which had been added to his arguments by the work of God in History. The destruction of Jerusalem came as a divine comment on all the truths which are here set forth. While it in no way derogates from the permanent value of the Epistle as a possession for all time, it would have rendered superfluous its immediate aim and object. The seductions of Judaism, the temptation to apostatise to the Mosaic system, were done away with by that awful Advent which for ever closed the era of the Old Dispensation. We therefore infer that the Epistle was written when Timothy was (apparently) liberated from prison, soon after the martyrdom of St Paul, about the close of A.D. 67 or the beginning of A.D. 68."
1882: THE PRĘTERIST INTERPRETATION "It has been usual to say that the Spanish Jesuit Alcasar.. was the founder of the Pręterist School.. But to me it seems that the founder of the Pręterist School is none other than St. John himself."
1882: The Apocalypse and its Date "The Apocalypse was written before (John) had witnessed the Coming of Christ and the close of the Old Dispensation, in the mighty catastrophe which, by the voice of God in history, abrogated all but the moral precepts which had been uttered by the voice of God on Sinai"
1882: The Fall of Jerusalem "It was to this event, the most awful in history that we must apply those prophecies of Christ's coming in which every one of the Apostles and Evangelists describe it as near at hand. To those prophecies our Lord Himself fixed these three most definite limitations -- the one, that before that generation passed away all these things would be fulfilled; another that some standing there should not taste death till they saw the Son of Man coming in His kingdom; the third, that the Apostles should not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come. It is strange that these distinct limitations should not be regarded as a decisive proof that the Fall of Jerusalem was, in the fullest sense, the Second Advent of the Son of Man, which was primarily contemplated by the earliest voices of prophecy."
1874: Life of Christ Index "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate!" And has not that denunciation been fearfully fulfilled? Who does not catch an echo of it in the language of Tacitus"Expassac repente delubri fores, et audita major humana vox excedere Deos." Speaking of the murder of the younger Hanan, and other eminent nobles and hierarchs, Josephus says, "I cannot but think that it was because God had doomed this city to destruction as a polluted city, and was resolved to purge His sanctuary by fire, that He cut off these their great defenders and well-wishers"
David P. Field
2001: Jesus - The Better Everything - An Introductory Commentary of the Epistle to the Hebrews "The Old Testament scriptures were lodged in Paul’s memory, and he quotes from them again to explain the “need for endurance” (36). “FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, THE ONE COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY.” Quoting from the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), as he does throughout this epistle, Paul allows the words of Habakkuk 2:3 to speak to the situation of the Jerusalem Christians. The delayed consummation of Christ’s victory to be revealed in the second advent created an “enigma of the interim” for the early Christians, but Paul uses Habakkuk’s words as his words to indicate that “the Coming One,” Jesus, will come “in a very little while,” very soon, i.e. imminently. This may refer to the “second coming of the parousia, as in Revelation 2:25, “Hold fast until I come.” More likely, Paul is referring to the imminent coming of Christ in judgment, when (perhaps within a year after the receipt of this letter) the Romans came against the residents of Palestine from 66-70 AD, destroying everything and decimating the population. This is the same “coming of the Son of Man” (Matt. 24:27,30,37,42) that Jesus referred to in His Mount of Olives discourse (Matt. 24:3-45). Paul is warning the Hebrew Christians again that judgment is coming, and everything in the old covenant will “disappear” (8:13)."
2010: Full Preterism and the Problem of Infinity "I have been shamelessly accused of almost everything one can think of for breaking ranks on this issue. I follow no ranks. I am not one to insist that “no one can leave the compound!” I go where my studies and my conscience before God leads me, period. I don’t “tow the line” for anyone, any party, or any movement."
2010: Towards a Fuller Preterism "This.. is the real deal of
what FP teaches: the earth will never, ever, never, ever never never
know peace.......WAR IS THE NORM on earth for INFINITY. Folks....this is
now unmasked..... "
HyP Review: "What the true proverb says has happened … "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.") Response to Green on Towards a Fuller Preterism (11/3/10) - "Green here asserts that “in accordance with BIBLE PROPHECY” we are still “growing”. So, let’s think logically here. If BIBLE PROPHECY is still BEING fulfilled (still growing as the PROPHETS said) beyond A.D. 70, then…..well, you can do the math. But, in case you missed that, Green says it again: the Bible “describes” the age to come. Now, this was the whole point of my paper, was it not. But, if this is true, then the Bible speaks “beyond” A.D. 70. And, if it so speaks (prophesies), then what exactly is the problem, Dave? You have made my point: Bible Prophecy was not “all” fulfilled in A.D. 70! Q.E.D. If it “describes” (read, prophesies), then, clearly, all prophecy is not yet fulfilled. This underscores my point: ongoing FULFILLMENT. Ask a Covenant Creationist if prophecy is, in any way, shape, or form, “being fulfilled” today. It is THIS TYPE of FP that I am attacking. It’s not a straw man." Green: "Sam believes that the Second Coming and Resurrection of the Dead will be consummated in our future. Does he not? If so, then it follows that he is not a full preterist. "
HyP Review: Mike Sullivan, David Green, Ed Hassertt: Sam Frost's Departure from Full Preterism into the Partial Preterist / Preterist Idealist World of Talbot (9/10/2010 - Link Removed) "In Sam’s end of the world article he claimed that Full Preterist’s understand the long ages of Isaiah 65 as teaching “spiritual abundance.” I followed this up with asking Sam if this meant that he changed his interpretation of the passage (to the FP one), or if he was being misleading in that he was still holding onto a PP Postmillennial (PPP) hermeneutic (it is spiritual [“spiritual abundance”] AND literal – the long ages will be seen as the passage is “fully manifested/fulfilled” over time). Again, Sam dodged the question. How scholarly, respectful, and loving." Sam Frost Response: "no Preterist has been able to say to me that 'nothing changes' when we physically die. In other words, it is correct to say 'I am glorified' today in the Body of Christ, as He is Glorified. However, is this glorification FULLY MANIFEST or APPARENT today? Now, ask yourself: will it be in heaven when I physically die? Will anything change? Will I still be the same, old bumbling Sam Frost that I am here on earth? Will I still be subject to occasional sin? Error? If not, why not? Do I get 'something else' in Heaven? It is not so much that we 'get' something else, but that that which WE HAVE (II Cor. 5.1-2) will be ENTIRELY in FULL OPERATION - FULL ON POWER. If this, then, is so, then one must concede the argument of 'fullfillment already - manifestation not yet' (my argument in a nutshell)"
2003: The Book of Revelation and Eschatology "I believe that Revelation was written in about A.D. 65. I further believe that it speaks to the original Christian audience regarding difficulties they were facing and in explanation of the coming final removal of Jerusalem by God’s wrath. "
2003: Christ's Resurrection and Ours "Unfortunately, a new gnosticism is infecting the church: hyper-preterism. One major feature of hyper-preterism is its denial of a future physical resurrection of the believer at the end of history. As we shall see, this contradicts a major result of the resurrection of Christ."
2001: Recent Developments in the Eschatological Debate "A cult-like enthusiasm fuels this unorthodox movement, which teaches that the total complex of end time events transpired in the first-century: the Second Advent, the resurrection, the rapture of the saints, and the great judgment. It is to preterism what hyper-Calvinism is to historic Calvinism: a theological pushing beyond Biblical constraints. This view is not supported by any creed or any council of the church in history."
2000: Back to the Future - The Preterist Perspective "One of the best known and most accessible of the ancient preterists is Eusebius (A.D. 260-340), the "father of church history." In his classic Ecclesiastical History he details Jerusalem's woes in A.D. 70. After a lengthy citation from Josephus's Wars of the Jews, Eusebius writes that "it is fitting to add to his accounts the true prediction of our Saviour in which he foretold these very events" (3:7:1-2.)"
1999: Apocalypse Then "To insist that the events described therein are yet to happen sometime in the future is to do violence to the plain meaning of the phrases "shortly take place," and "the time is near."
1998: The Beast of Revelation Identified "Nero and Nero alone fits the bill as the specific or personal expression of the Beast."
Brief Theological Analysis of Hyper-Preterism 1989:
The Spiritual Nature of the Kingdom
"it was just that sort of kingdom (natural) that the first-century Jews wanted and that Christ refused: "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone" (John 6:15)." 1997 Review:
"Revelation: Four Views" - Book Review
"David Chiltons Days of Vengeance (despite some flights of fancy, use of astrology, and high liturgy) is an extremely insightful commentary."
Grotius 1641-45 Latin:
Annotations on the New Testament First
Scholar of Reputation to Openly Embrace Systematic Preterist Eschatology “This was the first commentary of any length to be published in the
English language,” E. Earl Ellis "Having gone through all the other parts of the New Testament, I came to this last of the Apocalypse, as to a rock that many had miscarried and split upon, with a full resolution not to venture on the expounding of one word in it, but onely to perform one office to it, common to the rest, the review of the Translation: But it pleased God otherwise to dispose of it ; for before I had read (with the design of translating only) to the end of the first verse of the book, these words,
which must come to pass presently, had such an impression on my mind, offering themselves as a key to the whole prophecie, (in like manner as,
this generation shall not passe till all these things be fulfilled, Matt. 24.34. have demonstrated infallibly to what coming of Christ the whole Chapter did belong) that I could not resist the force of them, but attempted presently a general survey of the whole Book, to see whether those words might not probably be extended to all the prophecies of it, and have a literal truth in them,
viz., that the things foretold and represented in the ensuing vision ; were
presently, speedily, to come to passe,
one after another, after the writing of them."
First Protestant to Adopt Preterism
Henry Hammond (1605-1660)
First Generation Modern Preterist
The Spiritual Nature of the Kingdom
"it was just that sort of kingdom (natural) that the first-century Jews wanted and that Christ refused: "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone" (John 6:15)."
"Revelation: Four Views" - Book Review
"David Chiltons Days of Vengeance (despite some flights of fancy, use of astrology, and high liturgy) is an extremely insightful commentary."
1641-45 Latin: Annotations on the New Testament First Scholar of Reputation to Openly Embrace Systematic Preterist Eschatology
“This was the first commentary of any length to be published in the English language,” E. Earl Ellis
"Having gone through all the other parts of the New Testament, I came to this last of the Apocalypse, as to a rock that many had miscarried and split upon, with a full resolution not to venture on the expounding of one word in it, but onely to perform one office to it, common to the rest, the review of the Translation: But it pleased God otherwise to dispose of it ; for before I had read (with the design of translating only) to the end of the first verse of the book, these words, which must come to pass presently, had such an impression on my mind, offering themselves as a key to the whole prophecie, (in like manner as, this generation shall not passe till all these things be fulfilled, Matt. 24.34. have demonstrated infallibly to what coming of Christ the whole Chapter did belong) that I could not resist the force of them, but attempted presently a general survey of the whole Book, to see whether those words might not probably be extended to all the prophecies of it, and have a literal truth in them, viz., that the things foretold and represented in the ensuing vision ; were presently, speedily, to come to passe, one after another, after the writing of them."
James B. Jordan
1991: The Future of Israel Re-examined (Three Parts) "The true sons of Abraham, and of the Biblical Jews, are those who accept the New Covenant. The true owners of the promised land are those who moved into the New Covenant with Jesus, and who set aside Passover and synagogue for something better."
1988: The Abomination of Desolation (Three Parts) "I am taking for granted the fundamental preterist position as set forth by Jay Adams in The Time Is at Hand and by David Chilton in Paradise Restored and Days of Vengeance."
1971: Appearance of the Sign
"The Fall of Pagan Rome Was Likewise Contemplated by Bible Prophecy"
1842: Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, on the Theophania, or Divine Manifestation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. A Syriac Version. Edited from an ancient manuscript recently discovered by S. Lee. Syriac. London: Society for the Publication of Oriental Texts (1842). 8o. Printed in the Peshito Character.
Sermons on the Study of the Holy Scriptures : their nature,
interpretation, and some of their most important doctrines :
preached before the University of Cambridge, in the years 1827-8 :
to which are annexed two dissertations, the first on the
reasonableness of the orthodox views of Christianity, as opposed to
the rationalism of Germany : the second on the interpretation of
prophecy generally, with an original exposition of the book of
Revelation, shewing that the whole of that remarkable prophecy has
long ago been fulfilled. Hamilton Circulating Coll. BS415.L43 1830
- "This did not
occur to me when I wrote my Exposition on this book. I then followed Dr. Hammond, erroneously placing these powers beyond the limit assigned to them by Daniel and St. John."
(Dissertation on Eusebius) 1896 Review:
Scholar of a Past Generation
Memoir By His Daughter
1896 Review: Scholar of a Past Generation - Memoir By His Daughter
Partially Responsible for Westminster Confession
1684: Commentary on Matthew 24
1684: Commentary on Mark 13
1684: John Lightfoot on the Fall of Jerusalem "Section 79: Christ foretelleth the destruction of Jerusalem, the signs and miseries preceeding and accompanying it"
Concerning the Fall of Jerusalem
1811: An Examination of the Prophecy Contained in the 24th Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel (PDF) The design in these sheets is to prove, that the Prophecy of our Saviour refers entirely and exclusively to the destruction of Jerusalem, and not to the end of the World : which, if proved, refutes the grand objection of Infidelity, founded on these words at the conclusion of this Prophecy, "Verily, verily, this generation shall not pass away before all these things be fulfilled."
2004: Babylon is Not Jerusalem
2001: Premillennial Preterism
2001: Revelation Chapter 12
Ovid Need, Jr.
Unregistered, Independent Baptist
1996: A Review of "The Parousia" and "Beast of Revelation" "It appears to me that most prophetic teachers fail to realize that prophecy is from the time the passages are written, not from the time they are read."
1991: The Dead Bones - The promise given to David of place of their own, and move no more, is Christ, the Son of David.
1991: Israel Restored - The covenant-promise was that Abraham's seed should be the heir of the world. The promise was not made to Abraham's physical seed, but to his spiritual seed. Through faith in Christ, the Gospel Church is joint-heir with Christ. (Rom. 4:13, 14, 8:17.)
1991: Tongues: A Biblical View "Tongues (the supernatural ability to speak in a foreign language), as mentioned in Acts and Corinthians, are no longer needed. Their need was fulfilled in 70 A.D. when the judgment which they spoke of came upon Israel; therefore, this supernatural gift is gone. Prophecies and knowledge in the sense which Philip's daughter spoke are gone also, gradually replaced with the more sure word of prophecy and knowledge, the word of God (Acts 21:9). The Apostle John finished the word of God." (1994)
John Noē, Ph.D.
2014: Unraveling the End A Biblical Synthesis of Four Competing and Conflicting End-time Views A theological paper presented at the 59th Annual Midwest Regional Evangelical Theological Society Meeting
2006: An Exegetical Basis for a Preterist-Idealist Understanding of the Book of Revelation “The revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev 1:1) has a fuller significance and deeper character beyond its AD 70 eschatological fulfillment. Consequently, the preterist notion that it only applies to AD 70 when Christ supposedly came in “finality” is a weakness to be amended. And in a preterist-idealist synthesis, the strength of idealism remains that it “secures its relevance for all periods of the church’s history.” But its major weakness—i.e. “its refusal to see a firm historical anchorage”— is removed. That missing anchorage is supplied by Revelation’s A.D-70 fulfillment."
2004: Restoring the Kingdom-of-God Worldview to the Church and the World "To be presented at the 49th annual meeting of the Midwest Region of the Evangelical Theological Society on the campus of Lincoln Christian College and Seminary, Lincoln, Illinois, March 19-20, 2004. The conference theme is: “Taking Every Thought Captive to Christ: Theology and the Formation of a Christian Worldview.”
2003: Armageddon: Past or Future? "Armageddon is coming April 8th! According to proponents, that’s the publicized date when it will be “unleashing everywhere” and “no one will escape!” The only question now being asked by a multi-media promotional campaign is, “Are you prepared for Armageddon?"
2002: What About Paul's Man of Sin? "In dramatic paralleled fashion, Scripture gives this "man of sin" John of Gischala, the son of Levi- the name of" the one doomed to destruction" or "the son of perdition," the same name given to another infamous betrayer, Judas Iscariot (compare Jn. 17:12 with 2Th. 2:3 KJV). Both appeared in the same "last days" time frame of the Old Covenant age. Judas betrayed Jesus. John of Gischala betrayed the Jews, fulfilling Paul's "man of sin" prophecy to a tee. "
Arthur M. Ogden
1997: Dating the Book of Revelation "The final destruction of Jerusalem came in 70 A.D. God's purposes and plans were all in place by this time. Nothing remained to be done."
2004: Dealing with (Parousia) Delay: A critique of Christian coping "The Roman destruction of the Jewish temple in the Jewish war of 66-70 CE alone satisfies the temporal requirements for the imminency of the parousia and the historical requirements for the transformation of relations wrought by God ushering in a new reality of the church as the kingdom of God. "
2000: Preterism and the Question of Heresy "Orthodox faith and orthodox doctrines are those that honor God rightly," whereas "heresy" refers to the false doctrine of those who "have abandoned the faith" and move others to do the same. If heresy has to do with a denial of the principle that God has provided redemption in Christ, as McGrath says, it is hard to understand how preterism can be viewed as a heresy, for it affirms "the orthodox faith and orthodox doctrines" in all points as expressed in the great creeds and confessions while endeavoring to "honor God rightly" by insisting that the consummation of God's redemptive purpose in Christ's parousia has not been frustrated or postponed, but rather accomplished according to the clear chronology set forth in the NT. Preterists believe this evidence is so compelling that they are willing to suffer the accusations and condemnations of others in their effort to affirm the words of the apostle Paul: "let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: 'So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge'" (Rom 3:4).
1999: Jesus the Preterist: A Review of Sproul's Last Days "Material continuity with the person prior to death has certainly been the predominant view of the resurrection body throughout Christian history. Both the body and the soul of the one who rises are therein viewed as necessary to insure that the risen one is numerically the same individual. Personal identity is thus secured when God recollects the scattered matter, miraculously reconstitutes it in a human body, and reunites it with the soul. The problems attending the view of personal identity as a recollection of scattered matter are, of course, significant. The most obvious is the perennial concern raised as to how human material which has long since biodegraded into the dust and become part of the grass which is eaten by the cows which has been consumed by subsequent generations of human beings can be recollected."
1997: The Meeting in the Air (I Thess 4:17) "The meeting in the air is not a literal rapture of believers, but a symbolic depiction of the final battle of Christ and the powers of darkness which oppose him and his people. Paul responds by declaring that Christ will come with those departed believers, demonstrating that they have been and will remain his; they and the angelic hosts come to behold the final battle which Christ wages with the powers of darkness inhabiting the air."
2011: Days of Vengeance - 33-page outline The destruction of Jerusalem was an act of God's vengeance and judgment, not Rome's; these would be the days when people were punished for their sins. The destruction of the holy city was not an accidental or arbitrary act, but the just recompense of reward for those who rejected God's Son.
2008: Narrative-realism, Preterism, and the relevance of scripture / Discussion "Can anyone help me out with a bit of theological jargon and terminology that I’m trying to get my head around? I’ve been reading a fair bit of the articles on Open Source Theology and I keep coming up against, what many of their authors call the ‘narrative-historical argument’ or the ‘narrative-realist’ approach. Andrew Perriman, one of the authors, even describes himself as doing ‘biblical theology after Christendom in a narrative-realist mode’. In reading the various articles however this narrative-realism seems to sound a whole lot like classic preterism. My question for all the budding theologians out there is what is the difference between the two (preterism and the narrative-realist approach)? Or are they pretty much the same thing – in which case this narrative-realist approach is not really all that new. Help me please…"
1764: The Rise and Fall of the Holy City and Temple of Jerusalem An argument in defence of Christianity. Being the substance of a discourse preached at the Temple Church. "This great event is foretold by almost all the prophets. The destruction of Jerusalem is expressed by The GREAT DAY OF THE LORD"
Critical Rebuttal by Eyre: APPENDIX TO Observations on the Prophecies relating to the Restoration of the Jews, BEING AN ANSWER TO THE OBJECTIONS of a late AUTHOR (1771 PDF) "WHILST I was writing the preceding observations, there came to my hands at pamphlet, intituled, The Rise and Fall of the Holy City and Temple of Jerusalem, &c. by Gregory Sharpe, LL.D. in which the restoration of the Jews, which I have here been endeavouring to prove, is absolutely denied. "
Larry T. Smith
2013: Signs of the End "The signs in 24:4–35 refer to the coming of Jesus in AD 70 to judge Jerusalem and those who rejected Him as the Messiah. This coming was not our Lord’s second advent as judge over the whole earth, which this view argues is yet to come. Full preterism (which denies that Christ’s second advent lies ahead) is to be rejected for its failure to recognize an essential truth of Scripture (Acts 1:6–11). Full preterists erroneously believe the events of AD 70 and the second advent are identical, allowing for no subsequent return of the King."
Review: Luther's Baggage: Israel in the Eschata, Part 3 of 3 "Sproul says that in his eschatological pilgrimage, he has fluctuated, at times being drawn to the amillennial position and at other times, the historic premillennial view. However, despite having given little credence to postmillennialism in the past, he says: “Yet to my surprise, I have found myself more and more attracted to an orthodox post-mill position with its moderate preterist perspective”.
Review: Theologian Offers Clarity to Rapture, Last Days Beliefs "Denouncing the (full preterist) position, Sproul contended, "In order to take the position that both the resurrection and the rapture took place in the first century, one has to spiritualize the texts." "It's very difficult to spiritualize the bodily resurrection of the saints without at the same time actually denying the bodily resurrection of the saints," he argued.
1842: Hints on the Interpretation of Prophecy "The destruction of Jerusalem put an end of course to the Jewish persecuting power in Judea. Consequently the period in which Christianity becomes triumphant over persecution there, is contemporaneous with the destruction of Jerusalem. Nothing can be more clear, than that the period of the two witnesses is the same as that of "treading the holy city under foot by the Gentiles," Rev. 11:2,3. Two witnesses, and but two, are specified, as we may very naturally suppose, because "by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word is established. The sum of Rev. xi. is, then, that the Romans would invade and tread down Palestine for 3 1/2 years, and that Christians, during that period, would be bitterly persecuted and slain ; but still, that, after the same period, the persecution would cease there, and the religion of Jesus become triumphant. The words of the Saviour in Matt. xxiv. compared with the tenor of Rev. xi., seem to lead us plainly and safely to these conclusions."
1907: Biblical Dogmatics - The Doctrine of the Resurrection (Pages 212 – 251) Adam Clarke thus comments: "I do not think that he refers to the resurrection of the body, but to the resurrection of the soul in this life; to the regaining of the image which Adam lost."
1898: Apocalypse of the Gospels Making the connection between the Olivet Discourse and the Book of Revelation (1898)
1898: The Consummation of the pre-Messianic Age "Some writers find such a crisis or end in the crucifixion of Jesus, and the moment when he said, "It is finished." (tetelestai). Others say it was at the resurrection; some few designate the ascension; but many have taught that the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the coming of Christ in his kingdom, the end of the old and the beginning o the new age. To all of these theories there are two insuperable objections:"
1898: Biblical Apocalyptics - Focuses on the Prophetic portions of Scripture
1887: "The End of the Age"
1883: Biblical Hermeneutics Textbook in many colleges - "A treatise on the Interpretation of the Old and New Testament"
Continuous Development of the Kingdom of Christ "It is not said that we must all appear at one and the same moment before the judgment seat of Christ. This second appearing of Christ, apart from sin, to them that wait for him unto salvation, as well as the judgment here spoken of, is something to come to each man after death. Thus in a very true and holy sense were they caught away to a meeting of the Lord in the air. Such a departing to be with Christ is not to be deemed incompatible with the Lord's coming to receive them unto himself. And this glorious process is continually going on, and has been since the time when Stephen saw the heavens opened, and beheld the glory of God, That day is the day or time of his departure (ver. 6). For why should we commit this scripture to the notion that even now, after nearly two thousand years, Paul is still waiting and longing for the crown of righteousness!"
2000: Notes on Eschatology
Israel P. Warren
Book of Revelation: an exposition based on the principles of
Professor Stuart's Commentary, and designed to familiarize
those principles to the minds of non-professional readers
a book we had never before seen, and of whose contents we were
ignorant, were placed in our hands, we should turn at once to
the title- page to ascertain its subject. If we found
that subject distinctly stated there, we should deem it
conclusive as to the import of the book. We should not regard
ourselves at liberty to assume that it was designed to refer to
something else without clear and positive evidence to that
effect. If, for instance, the title-page declared it to be a
history of the American Revolution, we should not think it
reasonable to expect in it the history of the late Rebellion, or
the life of Napoleon III. The language of the title-page we
should inevitably regard as the key to the. book.
Now the title-page of the Book of Revelation
gives us such a key. We marvel that it should ever have been
misapprehended: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto
him, to shew unto his servants
THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS."
Annotations to the New Testament
With Seven Discourses; and an Appendix Entituled Examen Variantium Lectionum Johannis Millii,
S.T.P. in Novum Testamentum The Treatifes added to this Addition are
these: A Differtation
concerning the Baptism of Infants, on Matth. xxviii. 19.
p. 15. An Answer to
Mr. Whifton's Difcourfe, on Matth. xxiv. p. 25.
of his Difcourfe concerning Abiathar the High Priest, on
Mark ii. 36. A Difcourfe
concerning the Imputation of Chrift's perfect
Righteoufnefs to us for Righteoufness or Juftification,
p. 68 A Defence of a
Paffage in the Preface to the Epiflle to the Galatians. A Difcourfe
enquiring whether the Apoftles, in their Writings, spake
as conceiving that the Day of Judgment might be in their
Days, p. 113. A Parallel
betwixt the Apoftacy of the Jewifh and the Papal
Antichrift, p. 119.
G.L. White 1905:
Parousia of Christ
Heaven Misplaced: Christ's Kingdom on Earth
"The position argued here holds that the book of Revelation, with
the exception of the last three chapters, was fulfilled two thousand
70 Weeks - Future or Fulfilled? - "With Adam Clarke we say: "The whole of this prophecy from the times and corresponding events has been fulfilled to the very letter." (Clarke's Commentary, note on Daniel 9)."
Matthew 24 - Future or Fulfilled? - "By 70 A. D., the gospel had gone forth to the world for a witness. No longer was God's message to man be confined to one nation or race!" Email PreteristArchive.com's Sole Developer and Curator, Todd Dennis
(todd @ preteristarchive.com)
Opened in 1996
1885: The Book of Revelation: an exposition based on the principles of Professor Stuart's Commentary, and designed to familiarize those principles to the minds of non-professional readers "If a book we had never before seen, and of whose contents we were ignorant, were placed in our hands, we should turn at once to the title- page to ascertain its subject. If we found that subject distinctly stated there, we should deem it conclusive as to the import of the book. We should not regard ourselves at liberty to assume that it was designed to refer to something else without clear and positive evidence to that effect. If, for instance, the title-page declared it to be a history of the American Revolution, we should not think it reasonable to expect in it the history of the late Rebellion, or the life of Napoleon III. The language of the title-page we should inevitably regard as the key to the. book. Now the title-page of the Book of Revelation gives us such a key. We marvel that it should ever have been misapprehended: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY COME TO PASS."
1710: Additional Annotations to the New Testament With Seven Discourses; and an Appendix Entituled Examen Variantium Lectionum Johannis Millii, S.T.P. in Novum Testamentum
The Treatifes added to this Addition are these:
A Differtation concerning the Baptism of Infants, on Matth. xxviii. 19. p. 15.
An Answer to Mr. Whifton's Difcourfe, on Matth. xxiv. p. 25.
An Examination of his Difcourfe concerning Abiathar the High Priest, on Mark ii. 36.
A Difcourfe concerning the Imputation of Chrift's perfect Righteoufnefs to us for Righteoufness or Juftification, p. 68
A Defence of a Paffage in the Preface to the Epiflle to the Galatians.
A Difcourfe enquiring whether the Apoftles, in their Writings, spake as conceiving that the Day of Judgment might be in their Days, p. 113.
A Parallel betwixt the Apoftacy of the Jewifh and the Papal Antichrift, p. 119.
1905: The Parousia of Christ
2008: Heaven Misplaced: Christ's Kingdom on Earth "The position argued here holds that the book of Revelation, with the exception of the last three chapters, was fulfilled two thousand years ago."
1971: 70 Weeks - Future or Fulfilled? - "With Adam Clarke we say: "The whole of this prophecy from the times and corresponding events has been fulfilled to the very letter." (Clarke's Commentary, note on Daniel 9)."
1971: Matthew 24 - Future or Fulfilled? - "By 70 A. D., the gospel had gone forth to the world for a witness. No longer was God's message to man be confined to one nation or race!"
Email PreteristArchive.com's Sole Developer and Curator, Todd Dennis
(todd @ preteristarchive.com)
Opened in 1996
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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. La Cuerda del Pozo or La Muedra Reservoir, Soria (Spain).
A reservoir, artificial lake, storage pond or impoundment from a dam is used to store water. Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete. The term reservoir may also be used to describe naturally occurring underground reservoirs such as those beneath an oil or water well.
Located between mountains, streams, pines, oaks, legends and many more… offers a beautiful landscape.
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From Dental Health Magazine:
Statistics from a study conducted by the New Zealand Ministry of Health suggest that there are no advantages derived from fluoridation. These statistics actually match similar arguments set forth by the American Dental Association.
The latter organization conducted a large study on some 39,000 American children and found that they did not derive any advantages from the use of fluoride.
The process of fluoridation is the practice of adding fluoride minerals to a water source so that people can get exposed to the mineral through drinking water. Some bodies of water already have fluoride in them and do not need fluoride added.
The fluoride is allegedly added so that it can help in the prevention of cavity development. The practice of adding fluoride to water is suppose to allow many people, regardless of income, to receive healthy doses of fluoride. Yet, recent studies are revealing that the fluoridation practices do little in terms of cavity prevention, if anything at all…
[continues at Dental Health Magazine]
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1 Answer | Add Yours
Microwaves are easily one of the most common appliances found in homes; however, the safety of these appliances has often come into question. It is important to first note that the United States has not officially acknowledged any potential harm that may result from either standing near a microwave while in use or from eating food cooked in a microwave--Russia and Europe have much higher safety standards regarding microwave output and usage than the USA does. Depending on who you believe, microwave ovens can be dangerous for a few reasons--first, eating food prepared in one can supposedly lead to an increase risk in cancer. Also, there are those who claim that pregnant women should not stand anywhere near microwaves because the radiation that leaks out can harm the baby. Lastly, it is claimed that consistent exposure to microwaves (the radiation, that is) can lead to cancer or the breakdown of tissue and structures in the body. As always, there are two sides to every issue--it is up to the individual to decide which side to take.
We’ve answered 327,859 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question
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- A highly experienced chymist, often specifically one who has successfully prepared grand arcana like the philosophers' stone.
- A distillation head comprising a dome to collect the vapors rising
from a boiling substance (generally held in an attached curcubit) and a
gutter and beak to channel the condensed vapors into a receiver. Used
in preference to a retort for distilling volatile materials.
- A solvent described by Van Helmont that is supposedly able to
divide all substances into their component ingredients and then reduce
these further into their primordial water.
- Ambergris (or "ambergreece")
- A fragrant secretion of the sperm whale, used in perfumes.
- Aqua fortis
- Literally, "strong water," an acid generally prepared in Newton's
day by distilling saltpeter with oil of vitriol or with vitriol itself.
The aqua fortis of commerce was composed primarily of nitric acid.
- Aqua regia
- Literally, "royal water," an acid capable of dissolving gold,
usually prepared in the early modern period by dissolving sal ammoniac
in aqua fortis, and today by mixing a three-to-one ratio of
hydrochloric acid and nitric acid.
- Aqua vitae
- Literally, "water of life"; generally distilled alcohol.
- Arcanum, arcana
- A secret; literally, "something locked in a chest [arca]."
- The transmutation of base metals into silver.
- In early modern usage, the term arsenic refers to what we call white arsenic or arsenic trioxide.
- A chemical furnace.
- Aurum horizontale
- A Helmontian term, defined in the front matter of the Opuscula medica inaudtia as a substance that "is gold in weight, but not yet sufficiently yellow"; cf.
- Balsamus fuliginis
- Literally, "balsam of soot," an arsenic-based salve for wounds.
- Balsamus Samech
- A Paracelsian medicament prepared by digesting spirit of wine with
salt of tartar; the salt (largely potassium carbonate) absorbs water
from the spirit of wine (dilute ethanol) and dissolves itself into a
thick, slimy liquid.
- A quasi-legendary stone with universal curative properties found in
the bodies of certain animals. The name is occasionally transferred
analogically to other medicinal substances, such as Bezoardicum minerale (mineral bezoar, a precipitate of antimony pentoxide produced by the action of aqua fortis on
butter of antimony).
- A Helmontian term, defined in the front matter of the Opuscula as "a power of motion, whether alterative motion or local motion." In Van Helmont's
cosmos, Blas is a force that causes motion and change.
- Butter of antimony
- In modern terms, antimony trichloride. Usually prepared in
in the seventeenth century by distilling a dry mixture of corrosive sublimate
(mercuric chloride) and antimony (antimony trisulphide); the "butter"
distills over as a white or yellowish fluid that congeals into a solid
of a buttery consistency.
- The residue produced by strongly roasting blue vitriol (copper sulfate); it is composed mostly of copper oxide.
- A chemical operation involving roasting a substance in an open dish
over a hot fire. The product of calcination is referred to as a calx or
- Caput mortuum
- Literally, "dead head"; the nonvolatile residue left over in the bottom of a retort or alembic after distillation.
- The transmutation of baser metals into gold.
- A bright red stone, the naturally occurring ore of mercury, chemically mercuric sulfide.
- In modern terms, refluxing; that is, heating a substance (generally
in a sealed vessel) to make it evaporate, recondense, and reevaporate
- A chemical operation wherein a distillate is poured back over the
residue and distilled off again. This process may be often repeated.
- The residue produced by strongly roasting blue vitriol (copper
sulfate); it is composed mostly of copper oxide. The residue from the
roasting of iron vitriol (ferrous sulfate) is also called colcothar
and is composed of iron oxides.
- A kind of tree resin, sometimes used for sealing vessels airtight.
- A black material of uncertain composition that alchemists sometimes produced by boiling a lixivium of salt of tartar with oil of terebinth.
- A compound body.
- Crabs' eyes
- Calcareous concretions found in the bodies of crayfish, composed
mostly of calcium carbonate and used medicinally. The liquor of crabs'
eyes is produced by dissolving these concretions in vinegar.
- In chymical terms, the crasis of a thing is the totality of its virtues and powers.
- A gourd-shaped flask (oval body with a neck of greater or lesser
length). When fitted to an alembic, the two form a distillation
- Deckname, Decknamen
- Literally, a cover name. A term used to hide the identity of a
substance or thing; e.g., "hermaphroditical body" for regulis martis.
- A chemical operation wherein a material or mixture (generally
containing saltpeter) is thrown into a hot crucible, where it inflames
- A term used by Van Helmont (Ortus medicinae, 1648, 595) for the powerful medicinal substance prepared and used by an Irish chymist
- According to Van Helmont, the material of which bladder and kidney stones are produced.
- Literally, "to sweeten"; see Edulcorate.
- A Deckname used in the
Philalethes treatises for a distillation; that is, sophic mercury of
seven eagles has been distilled seven times.
- A chemical operation in which salty or sour materials are removed
from a product to leave a "sweetened" (generally meaning tasteless in
this context) substance. Edulcoration may be carried out by simple
washing with water, by repeated distillations of water or spirit of
wine, or by other means.
- A digesting flask with an oval (egg-shaped) body and a long neck.
- Most usually, a synonym for the philosophers' stone. In some cases,
however (for example, the "elixir of volatile salt"), elixir can mean
merely a potent medical arcanum.
- Empyreuma (or empyreumatics)
- Burned-smelling materials produced during a distillation.
- Ens primum
- Literally, "first being"; the most potent and purified essence of a thing.
- Ens veneris
- Literally, "being of Venus [i.e., copper]." A Helmontian
pharmaceutical made by George Starkey and Robert Boyle in the early 1650s. Starkey
produced it, at least initially, by subliming a mixture of calcined
copper vitriol (colcothar) and sal ammoniac.
- Essential oil
- The volatile oil isolated by distilling plant materials, generally by steam distillation.
- Essential salt
- A salt, named by analogy with essential oil, prepared from plant material; it was supposed to contain the crasis of the herb.
- Literally, "exhaustion"; a Helmontian term referring to the loss of
corrosivity that acids suffer as they act on other substances.
- Residues, either from distillation (e.g., caput mortuum), solution, sublimation, or other purification processes.
- A sublimate; the term arises from the radiate crystals resembling
flowers that are often produced during the sublimation of certain
substances. The term "flowers of sulfur" is still used occasionally
today to refer to sulfur purified by sublimation.
- A Helmontian term, defined at the start of his Opuscula medica inaudita as "a noncoagulable spirit, such as is belched out from fermenting wine, or likewise that
red substance produced when aqua fortis is acting."
- Gas sulphuris
- The Gas produced by burning sulfur; in modern terms, sulfur dioxide.
- Gas sylvestris
- The Gas produced by burning charcoal; in modern terms, carbon dioxide.
- Glaure, or glaure Augurelli
- A substance mentioned by Giovanni Aurelio Augurello in his 1515 poem Chrysopoeia. Van Helmont mentions it and notes that "this nymph lacks a
proper name up to this day" ("Glaure Augurelli, quae Nympha alio nomine proprio caret hactenus"; Ortus medicinae, 1648, "In verbis, herbis et lapidibus est magna
Indeed, its identity is uncertain, although it has been variously
identified as a component of gold, as bismuth, and as other substances.
- A liquid.
- Jove or Jupiter
- A Paracelsian remedy containing antimony, praised by Van Helmont (Ortus medicinae, 1648 "Arcana Paracelsi," 790).
- Calx of lead, or yellow lead oxide, prepared by roasting lead.
- To purify a material by leaching, that is, dissolving the soluble component in hot water and separating it, often by filtering.
- The liquid product of leaching.
- Usually silver, but in George Starkey's terminology, it can also be a Deckname for antimony.
- The making of silver.
- Luna fixa
- A metal having the weight and chemical properties of gold but lacking its color.
- Either the claylike compound smeared over joints and vessels to seal and protect them or the act of such sealing.
- Usually iron, but to Newton, George Starkey and others in the tradition of
Alexander von Suchten it can also mean the male, sulfurous "seed" found
in iron, and by extension found in the martial regulus of antimony.
- Any artificially produced substance with the consistency of honey.
- A solvent, often of corrosive character.
- Mercurius vitae
- Antimony oxychloride; a poisonous and violently emetic white powder made by precipitating butter of antimony with water.
- Mercury, sophic
- The philosophers' mercury; the material of which the philosophers'
stone was supposed to be made; also sometimes the "prime matter" of
which the world was thought to be composed.
- Mercury, vulgar
- The Hg of our periodic table.
- Mercury of the metals
- A hypothetical ingredient of all metals, which supposedly combined with sulfur and sometimes salt to yield the complete metal.
- Red lead oxide, often made by roasting litharge (lead monoxide) in the presence of air.
- See Luna.
- Either saltpeter (potassium nitrate) or "the volatile niter," a
hypothetical component of the atmosphere that formed the respirable
part of air and supplied a principle of life to the world.
- Oil of terebinth
- A wood oil extracted by distillation, either oil of turpentine
extracted from pine and other northern evergreens or the oil of the
tropical terebinth tree.
- Oil of vitriol
- See Spirit of vitriol.
- Per deliquium
- Literally, "by dissolution," referring to hygroscopic materials
(e.g., salt of tartar) that are allowed to dissolve in the humidity of
the open air.
- A Helmontian (and perhaps Paracelsian) term for the layers of the air.
- A term for any watery substance produced or isolated by laboratory
operations, especially distillation. The term also refers to one of the
four humors in the human body.
- A burning substance, usually associated with sulfur.
- Powder of Vigo
- A substance associated with the chymist Johannes de Vigo and described in Van Helmont's De lithiasi.
- A synonym for chymistry in the Helmontian tradition.
- To "correct" a substance, usually by purifying or concentrating it by distillation.
- The metallic component refined from an ore. Most often applied by
Newton and other chymists to metallic antimony or alloys thereof.
- Regulus martis
- Literally, "regulus of Mars," often called "martial regulus," the regulus of antimony produced by refining stibnite with iron.
- Regulus stellatus
- Martial regulus that has been allowed to crystallize slowly under a thick slag, forming a starlike pattern on its surface.
- A vessel for distillation.
- The process of high-temperature heating within a domed furnace, which was thought to drive the flames back downward.
- Roche alum
- The alumen roccae of the medieval alchemists, so called because of its originally Moroccan provenance.
- Sal alkali
- An alkaline carbonate (rarely hydroxide); in Newton's day the term was used for both the potassium and sodium salts.
- Sal ammoniac
- A volatile salt composed mostly of ammonium chloride.
- Sal gemmae
- Rock salt.
- Salt of tartar
- A salt produced by calcination of tartar (potassium bitartrate); it is predominantly potassium carbonate.
- See Niter.
- Usually lead, but in Philalethan chymistry it can also refer to stibnite.
- Usually gold, but in Philalethan chymistry it can also refer to
sulfureous component of metals, especially the sulfur of iron that is
transferred to martial regulus of antimony during the latter's
reduction from stibnite.
- The making of gold.
- A branch of chymistry concerned with the separation of compound
bodies into their constituents and their recombination, generally with
an eye toward their medicinal use.
- Spirit of vitriol
- Sulfuric acid, usually made by distilling iron or copper sulfate.
- Spirit of wine
- Ethanol prepared by the distillation of wine; the spirit of wine of
commerce in Newton's day was about 50 to 70 percent ethanol.
- Stibnite, the native sulfide ore of antimony.
- Stinking spirit
- Usually ammonium carbonate in George Starkey's notebooks.
- In modern chemistry, the conversion of a solid to vapor without
passing through the liquid phase. In Newton's day, the term was used
more generally to refer both to this and to some distillations.
- A drug or chemical that has been substituted for another, based on similarity of action or properties.
- Either the element sulfur of our periodic table or the hypothetical
substance that, along with mercury and salt, made up the three
- Sulfur auratum
- Antimony pentasulfide, a bright yellow compound.
- See Sol.
- The salt, largely potassium bitartrate, that forms as crystalline
deposits in containers of wine, often purified to form "cream of
- Terra figulina
- Literally, "potter's clay."
- The black stone upon which metals were rubbed to give a streak of
characteristic color indicating the type and quality of the metal.
- A round-bottomed flask traditionally used by physicians for collecting urine samples.
- Usually copper, but in Philalethan chymistry it can also refer to silver as a Deckname.
- Cinnabar, mercuric sulfide of a brilliant red color.
- Vitriolated tartar
- Potassium sulfate, produced by reacting salt of tartar or oil of tartar with spirit of vitriol.
- Vitriol of Mars
- Iron sulfate.
- Vitriol of Venus
- Copper sulfate.
- A bitter European herb, Artemisia absinthium.
(2004). Alchemical laboratory notebooks and correspondence (W. R. Newman and L. M. Principe, Eds.). Chicago: The University of
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Steel Industry Research Paper
The economic effects of the steel labor unions on the steel industry in the U.S. after World War II
The analysis of current situation in the world steel industry and particularly in the US steel production shows us that there have been witnessed a significant downfall in this industry since World War II; a lot of companies are at the threat of closure, the workers’ wages are being reduced, the competitive ability of the firms is reducing as well. At the same time the power of labor unions in powerful industries and the mechanism protecting the level of life of workers in this industry are rather strong compared to other industries. Though currently the role of labor unions is somewhat decreasing, they are playing a leading role in the formation of production costs; and it is natural that a lot of researchers state that it was primarily the formation of labor unions and the consequence of their actions that the companies started losing in efficiency and competitive force.
The aim of this research paper is to analyze the factors that influence the development of steel industry in USA after World War II. Main thesis of the research paper is that labor unions were only partly responsible for the downfall of steel industry and that current situation depends mostly on the factors that are not related with the actions of labor unions. The statistical evidence illustrating the output in steel industry in different groups of countries is given to support the thesis and the main driving forces of international and local steel production are analyzed. The role of labor unions and other factors is compared and the conclusion is made that current situation in steel production is defined mostly by the global relation between capacity and demand for steel, and other corresponding factors.
1. History of steel industry in the USA after World War II After World War II, the United States was the incontestable leader in steel industry, producing totally nearly two thirds of the global raw steel output. In spite of its huge size, the U.S. production had quite a lot of small and obsolescent complex factories. These factories were hard to extend and reconstruct. This would have be a good time to close these old, awry located factories and redirect available funds into more productive sphere. Nevertheless, hidden social demand and the military needs of the War in Korea made influence on the production to extend rapidly. In such a situation, the president of the US, Truman asked the assistance of exporters from Western Europe in order to lessen the closeness of the market. The building or rebuilding of steel production in the countries, which were main competitors and rivals of American companies in the world market such as Europe, Japan, the USSR, led to the decrease of the market share of the US from 40 percent in 1955, to 20 percent in 1970, and resulted in 12 percent last year. While the production increased about 50 million ingot tons capacity in 1950s, the major part of this increasing was the result of the expansion of existing factories (5, p.68). Substantial amounts were spent on factories that were constructed many years ago and naturally decreased in size and were poorly equipped. As a rule, they were frequently not well located as markets were mainly concentrated in Southern and Western parts of the US. The only plant built at that period of time in the country, was the US Steel Fairless works in eastern Pennsylvania. Its capacity was about 4 million tons. The similar trend was observed during the next decade when one more plant was built on the southern shore of Lake Michigan and it was Bethlehem’s Burn’s Harbor works. By the way, the company was not unique. There were also a few other quite large companies that worked in the region. Actually, during 1960s-70s, the U.S. complex steel-makers producers continued their policy of spending investment funds for technological modernization and environmental protection over a significant number of different factories (5, 124). It would in any case have taken extraordinary tolerance on management, if there were no depression conditions, it could be hardly possible to shut down old factories basically situated in remote and isolated regions and were vitally important for local communities, which, in fact, existed only due to these factories. Such closures became easier when they could be accused in foreign commerce practices permanently engendering protests from the part of union officials, local political forces, and other politically and socially active part of the communities.
2. History of labor union movement in steel industry
After the war the country was overwhelmed by a number of strikes which involved practically the whole nation. Employers stood on the ground that unions had too much power. Fortunately for them, Congress supported their position. As a result, it passed laws according to which “closed shop” agreement, which required from employers to hire only union members, became illegal. Congress also permitted states to enact “right-to-work” laws, according to which workers could freely choose whether to join the union or not after they had been hired. So, after the World War II steel managers have been involved in an exhausting struggle with labor unions, mainly the United Steel workers, over demands for higher salaries. Also fringe benefit added for more union control over the work place. Naturally, being in such a problematic situation, American government entered the confrontation since it had put influence on the companies. Such reaction seemed to be quite natural because it was more preferable for the government to do this in order to prevent strikes organized by unions which could deteriorate if not destroy economy of the whole country. Together, unions and the government could produce much more significant influence on the companies. Specialists in steel production were mainly interested for how long time complex mills could continue to exist paying highest wages and, at the same time, being limited by fringe benefits in the manufacturing sector, on the one hand, and on the other hand, comply with the union’s system of work rules. Today, the term “legacy cost” is generally reserved for the huge liabilities that unionized steel mills which presuppose an ample financing of retiree pensions as well as healthcare plans. It is noteworthy that it was time when executives working in the complex sector could not yet foresee the significant reduction of their workforce while healthcare costs remained quite manageable. A wave of plant closures in the 1980s reinforced by a policy of early retirement led to the expansion of the retired population. It has to be taken into consideration that now in different steel companies the number of retires may be three or six times larger than the active workforce of the companies. Many companies could not afford such conditions and they cannot keep financing of their programs in pace with time. A metals analyst put the U.S. production’s unfunded portion of the liabilities at $15 billion.(1,p.137) This financial weight has eroded the companies’ position on the market and the level of their competitiveness that consequently significantly reduced their attractiveness as target companies for mergers. Should government share these expenses? Steel producers that are not burdened with this type of legacy cost, mini-mills in particular, have raised objections to such governmental help, because the subsidy would give a competitive advantage to their competitors. Generally speaking, the problem that should be solved could be formulated as the problem of other taxpayers who could expect only social security pensions and Medicare and at the same they had to finance privileged pensions and healthcare plans for retired steelworkers. Also there was one more serious problem, he problem of precedent, since people working in other industries could demand the same guarantees and funding from the part of the government as those who worked in steel industry had.
3. The development of steel industry in USA in the following periods: protectionist policy
In the 1960s the situation was deteriorated by the appearance of new players on the market, they were imports and domestic mini-mills which could become serious competitors for the complex mills. The strike of the Union of Steel Workers in 1959, which lasted 116 days and produced a highly negative the US steel trade balance. However, the deficit had not been very significant during several years though it could not last forever. In 1965 and 1968, when new contracts with the USW were in the process of negotiating, it increased dramatically. (4,p. 117) In such conditions the major part of American export came from Western Europe and Japan. The increase of imports can also be explained by several factors, among which the overvalued dollar and the progress made by offshore producers with the cost and quality of their products. In the conditions of low profit management and labor joined together to put the blame on increasing imports. By 1969, the system of government-negot quotas on imports from European Common Market and Japan was introduced as a result of political lobbying. Not surprisingly, in a few years a strong, global expansion of steel demand made the quotas excessive. But when the market entered a downturn in the middle of the ten years, imports again increased and the lobby demanded renewed protection. At the same time steel production lawyers were working hard to transform U.S. commerce law into a very serious tool which could be used in order to cope with imports. In 1978, practically all imported still was subjected to the so-called Trigger Price Mechanism that was a system of minimum prices similar to Japanese output costs [3, p. 84], which presumably was the lowest in the world. By the early 1980’s, the price-control system was brought down by widening gaps between American and Japanese costs, which were caused by weak demand and strong dollar. The complex steel sector then made use of the more strict commerce law to treat commerce cases in general, with some assistance from the U.S. Commerce Department. In order to avoid a direct attack against its allies at a time of the intensification of the Cold War, the U.S. government negotiated a system of import quotas covering many countries and products. The quotas isolated the U.S. market from low international prices until world export prices began to rising fast in the late 1980s. Soon after the quota system was eliminated in the beginning of 1990s, the U.S. steel production filed numerous commerce cases against all main exporters of sheet and late products. At this respect the industry victory against basically imported plate and galvanized sheet products was absolutely essential, particularly in 1993, when steel-consuming capacity was taking a critical ascending turn.(1,p.189) During the next several years, an extending U.S. economy consumed more steel that was imported form other countries than ever before to cover the increasing gap between the domestic steel industry’s limited capability and the needs of America’s steel-using industries. Small steel mills have been existing for more than a hundred years. Building on the continuous billet caster along with electric arc furnace improvements, a new kind of mill appeared in the early 1960s. These companies, soon named “mini-mills”, could transform scrap into rods, bars, or sections much faster compared to integrated producers. In such conditions the mini-mills permanently progressed mainly due to low scrap prices, reasonable electric power rates and complex sector’s high unit costs and territorial concentration. Moreover, now they supply about forty percent of all the steel made in the US. Table I Market shares of US steel producers and imports: 1981, 1991, 1997, 2000, and 2001 (in percent of total consumption) Year 1981 1991 1997 2000 2001 Mini mills and Specialty Steel Producers 13.2 31.1 33.9 35.7 39.2 Integrated Mills and Slab-Rerollers 68.6 54.8 48.3 42.9 41.4 Imports by Steel Users and Service Centers 18.2 14.1 17.8 21.4 19.4 (11,p.78) Sources: AISI, Metal Bulletin After mini-mills had conquered most of the product markets, one of the most successful, Nucor, started to use the technology developed in Germany, namely it was the thin-slab caster. Soon, in 1989 the company began to produce wide hot-rolled coils. The progress was unstoppable and a few years later cold rolling and galvanizing were introduced. Nowadays Nucor has extended its sheet coil capacity to over eight million tons. Four other ‘market players’, all of them with more or less significant participation, added a combined sheet capacity of seven million tons. Furthermore, some of the seven EAF-based plate mills, among which four were controlled by foreign companies, can also roll sheet gauges. Despite the fact that by the end of 2001 Nucor was the largest American steel company and individual factories can turn out well over two million tons of coils or sections per year, the term mini-mill continues to be applied to EAF-based carbon steel companies and their factories. Last year, about 35 such companies, operating 50 factories, accounted for 43 percent of raw steel output and 40 percent of domestic shipments. Their share of American steel market (apparent steel consuming capacity) was 35 percent, versus 24 percent in 1990, 11 percent in 1980, and 6 percent in 1970. (11, p.110) These data do not include the share of stainless and tool steel producers. In 1967 the American Iron and Steel Institute launched its first main campaign for general protection from steel imported from other countries. According to AISI the US steel production needed a “breathing space” from import influences, during which it could revitalize its facilities. On October 20, 2003 AISI president John Roche, testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, listed “the availability of substantial unused steel producing capacity elsewhere in the world and the policies of certain foreign nations with respect to this capacity, first among the basic forces driving the growth of imports.” He also estimated that in the case of the continuation of the rise of steel import “the most dangerous consequences would be to national security”. (2, p. 221) These are the arguments, which were also used after the World War II to justify the protectionist policy concerning domestic steel producers; and until nowadays this argument serves as a shelter for many shortages of domestic steel-makers. It is obvious that the main cause of the shortage is the low capacity itself. It results in high prices and longer delivery periods. On the contrary, excess capacity does not cause a surfeit, it is the chief company officers that determine the utilization degrees of steel mills. Steel company managers are under influence from the cost side to keep factories operating at high degrees. However, despite the effect on costs, during a recession in demand operating rates need to be reduced or the result will be obligatory a surfeit, even in the case of low or no excess capacity. Lacking elasticity of the demand of steel, the price cut caused by excessive output can and probably will result in greater losses than a reduction in output and the related increase in unit costs. This problem of adjusting output to decreasing demand could be resolved by firms commanding a large share of the market, as it is in European Union or Japan. A particular feature of the American steel market is the fact that prices will decrease even when imports have no significant influence in the conditions of intensive competition among domestic sellers. It can be reinforced by the absence of seller discipline, which also can be a threat to steady to steady prices even when excess output is quite small. Thus, discipline, or the lack of it, along with capacity play an extremely important role in determining excess output .
4. Factors influencing the development of steel companies
4.1. Closure threats
I suggest to divide the main iron producing nations into groups according to the threat of closure faced by iron0ore mines in the respective country. There is evidence that in nations where mines faced no threat of closure, the production of the iron ore had little or no productivity gain over ten years, and in nations where, on the contrary, mines faced a large threat of closure, the production had extremely high productivity gains that range from 50 to 100 percent. These productivity increase is no the result of introduction of new technologies or of closing of low productivity mines but it was the result of the work of continuing mines that used existing technologies and increase their productivity only for their own sake in order to stay in operation. The top eight iron-ore producing nations in 1980, in order of output in 1980 (in millions of metric tons), were Brazil (114.7), Australia (90.8), the United States (70.7), Canada (49.1), India (41.9), France (28.9), Sweden (27.2) and South Africa (26.3). (4, p.175). It is important to analyze the formal definition of threat of closure faced by mines and use it to forecast the threat faced by these national industries. Under this definition, two factors determine this threat for a mine: the location of the mine and the cost of producing iron-ore at the mine. The first factor, location, was critical because the global steel market downfall was mainly a downfall in steel production in the Atlantic Basin and because the critical cost of transportation of iron-ore is very high compared to its initial value at the mine. The steel crisis put Atlantic iron-ore producers at a disadvantage relative to Pacific producers. The importance of the cost of producing ore at the mine, requires no explanation. The conclusion about the relation between the threat of closure and productivity gains can be made basing on the following facts: · Mines were subjected to very different threats of closure; · Real output, and hence productivity, is easily measured in this production; · The global steel downfall, which triggered different threats of closure was an “exogenous” event as iron-ore producers treated it. The global steel collapse was initially Atlantic Basin. Since the marginal costs of transporting iron-ore are very high to its price at port of export, it means that threats of mine closure were higher in the Atlantic Basin. The 20 percent reduction in steel output between 1979-1982, as it is shown in Figure 1, was nearly entirely concentrated in the Atlantic Basin.(12, p.72)
In Figure 1, the top panel, we plot noncommunist steel output in the Atlantic and Pacific Basins over 1950-1996. Steel output in the region of the Atlantic Basin fell nearly 100 Mmt between 79 and 82, essentially the entire world reduction in output. Moreover, Atlantic output had barely climbed back to its 1979 level by the middle 1990’s. In contrast, Pacific output fell little between 79 and 82 and by the middle 1990’s output, compared to 1979, was almost one-third time greater. The reasons for the much stronger Pacific steel market included the strong US dollar reinforced by the rapid growth of developing Asian economies. However, from the point of view of iron-ore producers, these territorial developments in steel market were exogenous. They could not change such events for they were too weak. In four years between 1979-1982, the sum of US and Canadian steel output fell by over 40 percent, while in West Germany, France and the UK it fell by 20 percent. At the same time output in such Asian countries as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, fell very little. The mines located in the Atlantic Basin, with the important exception of Brazil, had the highest production costs in the whole world. Though Brazil, along with Australia and India had much lower costs than other top producing nations, with Brazil the lowest cost producer in the world. There are three main types of iron-ore: lump, concentrates and pellets. It is a well-known fact that production of a ton of pellets requires more labor than production of a ton of other two iron-ores. Consequently, a possible source of productivity gain in the 1980s as compared to the 1970’s was that a country produced less pellets in the 1980’s.
Over the period 1970-90, there was a shift toward pellets in Canada, the US and Sweden. For instance, in Sweden, pellets accounted for 27.7 and 24.6 percent of output in 1975080; in 1985-90, they increased to 43.1 and 50.1 percent. So, everything else equal, productivity in these nations in the 1980’s should have been lower than in the 1970’s.(11, p.122) Until World War II, the output of iron-ore typically involved the mining soft, particularly high graded iron-ore, i.e. lump iron-ore that required little further processing before it could be used in blast furnaces. The demands of World War II for steel led to a significant reduction in these high-grade deposits, especially in the US. At the same time, Australia, being not a big producer of pellets, possessed vast deposits of lump ore. Actually, Australia withdrew from the output of pellets over the period of 1970-90, its output falling from 11.6 to 4.2 percent of output. Except the development of pellets, there were no other significant changes in the technology for producing iron-ores in the last fort years. Naturally, there have been a gradual development and improvement of technology that resulted in much better iron-ore products and higher productivity. Among the examples of such a kind of increase may be found in size of equipment and the gradual integration of computers in the process of production over the last thirty years. However, no radical changes in technology occurred. Basically, the technology in this mature production changes very slowly.
4.2 Long Term Effects: Higher Unit Costs and Lost Market Opportunities
Modernizing existing factories was an inexpensive and fast way to add more capacity. Over the longer period of time, it pushed both investment and operating costs above the new factories having the modern equipment and embodying more effective ideas. An investment strategy focusing on long-term efficiencies was practically absent, costs were wasted on the continual improving oldest facilities; when many of such factories had no other choice but shut down during subsequent downturns. By 1980, American industry had 14 complex factories in the 1-2 mt size range, compared to only one in Japan; at the same time the USA operated four factories with a capacity of more than 6 million tons, compared to 12 in Japan. All the large factories in Japan had modern straight-line layouts and deep-water access for both raw materials and finished products. It is quite noteworthy that the majority of foreign producers, including Europe and Japan had new American designed equipment which was capable of turning out steel of more consistent specifications than many of their American competitors [2, p. 105]. The conservative investment policy of the complex US producers had another negative result, an excessive concentration of steel-making capacity in the country’s northeastern quadrant. Newly appearing markets in the Southwest West and South were to a significant extent disregarded, except during downturns when demand in the mills’ home market had weakened. These disregarded markets offered good possibilities for offshore competitors and for domestic mini-mills that had appeared in all regions of the country since the early 1960s. Both groups suggested their clients more reliable and frequently lower-cost supplies than the complex mills in the eastern and mid-western states. In general, the complex sector’s conservative investment policy (which does not actually deserve to be called a strategy) had the result of not stimulating the development of the old factories and concentrating too much capacity into one region of the country. This policy left a lasting negative impact on the industry and domestic competitiveness.
In my opinion, the creation of labor unions and the demands of the workers concerning generous pensions, medical care and other social privileges, only made a rather modest contribution to the witnessed downfall of steel industry in the USA. There were several factors, discussed above, that served as the major driving forces of the steel industry crisis, for example, the protectionist policy concerning domestic steel producers and the conservative policy in regard to the integrated factories. Let us consider steel imports: in 1978 America imported 21.1 million tons of steel, in 1981 it was 19.9 million tons. Though the amount of import was actually reduced, 75,580 steelworkers lost their jobs in the same period – an estimated 16.5 percent of the total workforce.(1, p.99) And while protection of a given industry may temporarily protect jobs in that sector, it shifts unemployment to another sector, depressing the economy and affecting the “protected” industry. The U.S. steel industry has been protected for 20 years. The result was not more jobs, but more profits for the steel companies. Another factor is the practice of applying other countries’ policies without matching them properly to the domestic environment. The US economy was in a respectively good position after the end of the war and is industrial production soared after 1946. A new policy, known as New Deal helped trade unions’ power along with Congress grew to the point that the former had to limit them under the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 and the Landrum Act of 1959.(2, p.87).In such conditions and relations existing between labor and capital, an adversarial, not cooperative, spirit has pervaded U.S. labor relations. And, during recent years, as inexpensive, high-quality manufactured products labeled “made in Japan” captured markets previously the domain of American firms, the government looked overseas for answers to our problems of lagging productivity instead of within. Today, as U.S. firms once again experiment with industrial democracy in the form of quality of work life programs and similar efforts, the past warrants a second look. Although most of the earlier attempts at labor management co-operation did not endure, they were not necessarily undertaken in vain. One historian has described presidential labor management committees as “productive failures,” perhaps an appropriate definition for the vast majority of participatory management committees in the past. They produced favorable consequences when they were necessary and only failed when social, economic, or political conditions changed. In today’s economy, there are certain market conditions that can allow unions to thrive The American steel industry through much of the 1970s found collective bargaining agreements tolerable for a few reasons. First, there were very few and very large steel companies. Due to high costs of entry, it would have been unthinkable for a new company to enter the market and cut prices. Since all steel mills were unionized, labor was not an important cost differentiator among the mills and they competed in other ways. The worst thing that could happen was for a steel mill to have to sustain a strike. In that market environment it was much cheaper to buy labor peace with the unions. Through the two decades following World War II, the system worked well. Steel-makers simply passed on the higher labor costs through in higher steel prices to buyers who had no real alternatives. Everything worked until (at first) Japanese steel and then other foreign steel became cost-competitive even after the cost of shipping the product here. There are other market conditions that are favorable to unions. They thrive in public sector employment where government entities have been willing to pass on high labor costs to taxpayers. It’s no surprise that unions are fighting policy innovations such as outsourcing and school choice. As in manufacturing, union wages are most at risk where they result in labor costs that are significantly higher than prevail in competitive markets.
Another important factor obtained during the analysis, is that the industries that were at the threat of closure, had the super-profits, and the corporations, in fact, were stimulating imports to increase their profits, and ignored the fact that such policy is destabilizing the country’s economy, creates unemployment and leads to a general depression in the industry. I think it is important to stress that such situation in steel industry is witnessed not only in the USA, but also in the whole world due to the changes in the structure of mineral resources and their amount, and also due to the relation between global demand and supply of steel. Given the market’s cyclical nature, steel producers cannot be excepted to anticipate future global demand growth with any degree of accuracy. The government officials can hardly be better qualified to determine the capacity levels that will be adequate for hardly predictable future consumption levels. The world’s steel producers would be quite contented if world capacity fell short of peak requirements that would probably serve as a guarantee of record profits for several years. Steel users and consumers would be angered if projections made by bureaucrats resulted in significant capacity shortfalls. The latter is particularly important because capacity is a determining factor for shortage which may have many negative consequences such as high prices and extended delivery periods. There can be several ways out of the existing situation on steel market. One of possible methods that could induce greater price discipline among American steel producers could be increase of the level of concentration of the industry, its consolidation that is one of the conditions stipulated by the Bush administration in order to provide the Section 201 protection. Also it would be quite effective if mini-mill managers modify their historic method of expansion. In such a situation it would be quite difficult for Western European steel markets to manage to balance their potentially conflicting needs. At the same time national and supra-national competition laws should find the balance between interests of customers, national producers as well as between quality-price range. However, American industry would be a bit retarded in its development due to its past experience and traditions, particularly if the fact, that most mini-mills have begun to share the steel lobby’s views at international scale, is taken into consideration. Probably the only thing that can break such a mentality is the large steel using manufacturers which would engage themselves more intensively in politics in opposition to trade barriers.
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The use of a dental microscope is a scientifically researched and recognised method of optimising root canal treatment. Its use results in improved diagnostic and therapeutic accuracy and considerably expands treatment options. Many therapeutic problems can be successfully managed or avoided entirely. Well-established endodontic treatment methods can be checked more effectively and improved by the use of magnification. New therapeutic methods, such as ultrasonic-abrasive micropreparation to manage and correct iatrogenically created ledges, can improve the prognosis of orthograde endodontic retreatment.
Keywords: dental microscope, ledges, retreatment, ultrasonic-abrasive micropreparation
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I'm engaged in a discussion with somebody about the nature of belief. I've been arguing that belief is an attitude toward a proposition, and that in order to believe something, you necessarily have to have some concept of the proposition in mind(whether consciously or not). He disagrees(!), however, and believes that its possible to believe something without having any concept of the proposition at all. The example he gave me was of a trusted friend who can write in a foreign language(let's say arabic) and that upon asking him to write a true statement in arabic, you end up believing the proposition written in arabic to be true. This is a terrible analogy of course, you're really believing B about A, rather than A itself. I'm having a hard time of convincing him of this however, as he's stubborn and intellectually naive. any suggestions?
Let us say that the Arabic sentence in question is S, and that the proposition expressed by that sentence is p. Your friend is equivocating between
They are different: you can have the former belief without having the latter, and you can have the latter belief without having the former.
One way to see that you can have the former without the latter: suppose that p is the proposition expressed in English by the sentence "the Earth is round". The beliefs that the proposition expressed by S is true, and that the Earth is flat, are not contradictory. The beliefs that the Earth is round and that the Earth is flat are.
You can have the latter without the former, for example, if you have never encountered S.
What about the following objection:
To begin with, the second premise in this argument is false: One can believe all of the Peano axioms, and these axioms jointly imply all of the truths of arithmetic. This doesn't make one arithmetically omniscient.
Apart from false, the second premise is also irrelevant: that the proposition expressed by S is true does not imply p in the logical sense. S could have expressed a different proposition.
That's not necessarily the case, as your friend has pointed out. One can have a belief in the general trustworthiness of a person, and thus be inclined to believe any future propositions made by that person, without any regard to the propositions in question.
However, this is still operating at the level of folk epistemology. If you want to move this discussion to a more properly philosophical domain, you're going to have to make reference to a particular epistemological school of thought.
Belief in the fact X is a probability assessment that roughly corresponds to your willingness to bet money on X being true.
This is the Bayesian definition of belief. It furthermore says that if you observe X false, you should adjust your probability downwards (not discard the belief as Popperian epistemology would have you think), since you might have read the measurement apparatus wrong, or you might have another chance to observe the phenomenon in the future. Correspondingly if you observe X being true, you increase your probability assessment.
Now note from this definition that a belief can be useful: It lets you anticipate things. If you believe that a certain racehorse is quicker than another, you can bet on that racehorse, and if your are right, you win money. This should motivate you to create true beliefs.
The thing about humans is that we are not perfect Bayesians, and so we have some weird behaviours. For example we can believe that a belief is beneficial in itself and not because of predictions. Also many people tend to conflate reasons why it is beneficial to believe something and reasons why the belief is true.
The root of the paradox in your analogy is essentially the same as in Gödel's first incompleteness theorem — not that your paradox is equivalent to it, but in that both are seeming paradoxes involving encodings of propositions.
The crux is that if you were to write down a proposition P in English — and call that written expression e — then you don't believe e; you believe the proposition encoded in e. And if you were to express P in speech, that would be a different encoding e'. You may decode such encodings reflexively, but it is indeed a process performed by reflex, and this is what we mean by the meaning of a piece of written or spoken language; the attributing of propositions to these expressions. In the case of writing and speaking, there is a recognized way of translating between the two encodings: for instance, transcription and reading aloud. But these are translations rather than decodings, and the encodings are not the propositions.
Similarly, if your friend expresses the proposition P by something written in Arabic a, you don't believe a; you believe the proposition expressed by a — although only by accident, or rather because you trust that a is an encoding of a proposition (it doesn't matter which) that you believe in anyway, because you lack the ability to decode a, either directly or by computation to obtain a hopefully-equivalent expression e in English.
In this case the problem is precisely that we are ignoring the representation of the proposition, which is pertinent. Analogously, we have in Gödel's Incompleteness theorem a proposition P, which is of the form
where it turns out that p is the Gödel encoding of P itself. Within the formal system S expressing P, the proposition is true only if S is consistent. From an external formal system T, we can prove P — which is why it's called an Incompleteness Theorem — because the external formal system can explicitly incorporate the fact that the logical structure of S can be encoded in number theory, so that propositions about integers are on the same logical level as propositions about P ∈ S. But the integer p is not itself a logical proposition, which is true or false; it is an encoding of a proposition. And in the meta-theory T, P ∈ S isn't a proposition either; it is an object within a mathematical structure, just as p is, and in T we have a specification of an isomorphism between S and a sturcture of the natural numbers.
In this case, however much you may think to yourself in your native or adoptive languages, English and Arabic are not the languages of evaluating truth or falsehood, but rather more-or-less formalized systems for encoding truth or falsehood, in which it may be easier to arrive at logical conclusions; and you encode and decode propositions from those languages to some mental model in which you evaluate propositions as either true or false. The encodings and decodings to and from various languages are more or less like recursive predicates E and A on the expressions e, e' in English and a, a' in Arabic repectively, where if you are skilled there is a truth-preserving and reversible map t such that E(t(a)) ≡ A(a). But unless you have been taught how to evaluate A, you will be unable to evaluate any expression a of a proposition in Arabic as true; you will only be able to evaluate
On the strength of this, you can believe that a is an expression in Arabic of a proposition that you believe in; though you cannot confirm this directly, as you do not know which proposition a expresses.
I work in a quite technical field, that my wife knows nothing about. When I am trying to explain something that happened at work that day that involves something technical, there's two ways I can approach it:
1) I can try to explain to her the basics around what happened, which I will do when it is fairly simple or close to something I can easily analogise.
2) I can give her some absolutes to work from that explain the situation I am in without imparting an understanding of the underlying tech.
When I do 1) she understands the issues, and hence believes the conclusions that I lead her to. When I do 2) she agrees to just "take it on faith" because she trusts my knowledge of the area. "Taking it on faith" is very different from "believing" it (as we are using the terms here), even if religion has merged the two to mean the same for its own purposes.
I guess I do the same when reading about quantum physics break-throughs and similar. There's a lot I need to accept without understanding to understand the stories. When I later learn enough to fill the gaps, I gain belief.
I can speak Chinese by imitatation. I can speak the Chinese with full conviction that it is the right thing to say, for whatever reason. I couldn't know if I believe any of what the meaning of the Chinese was, unless I understood it
So I don't believe the Chinese , I believe it's the right Chinese to say. Likewise, in the analogy, he doesn't believe the statements meaning, he believes the trusted friend wrote down a true statement, and he's not aware of the meaning of the statement.
He requires the concept of a trusted friend, and that the trusted friend wrote down a true statement, so effectively the analogy is just more evidence that you must have a concept of the belief in order to believe it.
A better argument might be when you look at multiple personality disorder, does the person believe their name is x or y? In the case , the same person believe 2 contradicting things, depending on the time of the day(for example), and for no rational reasons, and you can wonder if at any split second point in time, did the person believe their name changed, before they conceptualized it.
Beliefs are the statements that need no proof. In other words, basic statements. Of course, we need some beliefs, because there are some statements we must take for granted (for example, the statements that are proving something, and the concept of truth and false themselves).
Do we need some concept of what we believe in? Yes, of course. But there is the word 'some' in your statement. Taking it literary, 'some' is anything of concept, no matter how small. To say if you believe in something or not, you must be able to say something about that object. The mind is bound to its own categories, and as Kant have stated, it's impossible to think about something that is out of this categories (absolute nothingness, for example). So, if you can think about something, you HAVE some concept of it (this is, it fits to some categories of your mind).
Let's say, do you believe that dkjafdioe fdjoiwefof? You can't, because you have no idea what is dkjafdioe and what means fdjoiwefof. But you can believe that there are fdafdas on the bubu. You can, because you have some concept what are fdafdas (some objects) and the bubu (some place).
I think the problem lies with the term "some concept". It is not well defined.
As an example, you could believe in a second proof for Fermat's Last Theorem (a famous math problem).
Now some concept of that depends on a lot on what you mean by concept and by some. Does it mean you know a lot about math and have a sketchy idea about how that proof should look like? Is that what you mean by concept? Or is it more? Or less?
It seems clear that the definition of concept and some depends on the example too, so that makes it harder to define.
And what is "some"? you understand 40%? or 90%? And then again how do you define understanding something x% objectively?
Also if your understanding of the subject changes, does your believe change?
What is "some concept" of god? What is "some concept" of reality?
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Teapot Dome was an oil reserve scandal that began during the administration of President Harding. Elk Hills and Buena Vista Hills in California, and Teapot Dome in Wyoming, were tracts of public land that were reserved by previous presidents for emergency use by the U.S. Navy only when the regular oil supplies diminished.
The Teapot Dome oil field received its name because of a rock resembling a teapot that was located above the oil-bearing land. Many politicians and private oil interests had opposed the restrictions placed on the oil fields claiming that the reserves were unnecessary and that the American oil companies could provide for the U.S. Navy.
The Teapot Dome scandal became a parlor issue in the presidential election of 1924, but as the investigation had only just started earlier that year, neither party could claim full credit for exposing the wrongdoing. Eventually, when the Depression hit, the scandal was part of a snowball effect that damaged many of the big business Republicans of the 1920s. Increasingly, legal safeguards have been put in place to prevent corruption of this type, although the influence of big business and of lobbyists on government remains a matter of public concern, leading some to question whether politicians really represent their constituents, or those who, however legally, fund their campaigns. The problem is that some people will yield to temptation to profit from their political office, especially given the comparatively modest salaries that even U.S. Senators earn, which is less than what many lobbyists earn.
One of the public officials most avidly opposed to the reserves was New Mexico Republican Senator Albert B. Fall. A political alliance ensured his appointment to the Senate in 1912, and his political allies—who later made up the infamous Ohio Gang—convinced President Harding to appoint Fall as United States Secretary of the Interior in March of 1921.
The reserves were still under the jurisdiction of Edwin C. Denby, the Secretary of the Navy 1n 1922. Fall convinced Denby to give jurisdiction over the reserves to the Department of the Interior. Fall then leased the rights of the oil to Harry F. Sinclair of the original Sinclair Oil, then known as Mammoth Oil, without competitive bidding. Contrary to popular belief, this manner of leasing was legal under the General Leasing Act of 1920. Concurrently, Fall also leased the Naval oil reserves at Elk Hills, California, to Edward L. Doheny of Pan American Petroleum in exchange for personal loans at no interest. In return for leasing these oil fields to the respective oil magnates, Fall received gifts from the oilmen totaling about $404,000. It was this money changing hands that was illegal—not the lease itself. Fall attempted to keep his actions secret, but the sudden improvement in his standard of living prompted speculation.
On April 14, 1922, the Wall Street Journal reported a secret arrangement in which Fall had leased the petroleum reserves to a private oil company without competitive bidding. Of course, Fall denied the claims, and the leases to the oil companies seemed legal enough on the surface. However, the following day, Wyoming Democratic Senator John B. Kendrick introduced a resolution that would set in motion one of the most significant investigations in the Senate's history. Wisconsin Republican Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. arranged for the Senate Committee on Public Lands to investigate the matter. At first, he believed Fall was innocent. However, his suspicions deepened after La Follette's office was ransacked.
Despite the Wall Street Journal's report, the public did not take much notice of the suspicion, the Senate Committee Investigation, or the scandal itself. Without any proof and with more ambiguous headlines, the story faded from the public eye. However, the Senate kept investigating.
La Follette's committee allowed the investigation panel's most junior minority member, Montana Democrat Thomas J. Walsh, to lead what most expected to be a tedious and probably futile inquiry seeking answers too many questions.
For two years, Walsh pushed forward while Fall stepped backward, covering his tracks. The Committee continually found no evidence of wrongdoing, the leases seemed legal enough, and records simply kept disappearing mysteriously. Fall had made the leases of the oil fields appear to be legitimate, but his acceptance of the money was his undoing.
Any money from the bribes went to Fall's cattle ranch along with investments in his business. Finally, as the investigation was winding down and preparing to declare Fall innocent, Walsh uncovered one piece of evidence Fall had forgotten to cover up: Doheny's loan to Fall in November of 1921, in the amount of $100,000.
The investigation led to a series of civil and criminal suits related to the scandal throughout the 1920s. Finally in 1927 the Supreme Court ruled that the oil leases had been corruptly obtained and invalidated the Elk Hills lease in February of that year and the Teapot lease in October of the same year. The Navy regained control of the Teapot Dome and Elk Hills reserves as a result of the Court's decision. Another significant outcome was the Supreme Court case McGrain v. Daugherty which, for the first time, explicitly established Congress' right to compel testimony.
Albert Fall was found guilty of bribery in 1929, fined $100,000 and sentenced to one year in prison, making him the first Presidential cabinet member to go to prison for his actions in office. Harry Sinclair, who refused to cooperate with the government investigators, was charged with contempt, fined $100,000, and received a short sentence for tampering with the jury. Edward Doheny was acquitted in 1930 of attempting to bribe Fall.
The concentrated attention on the scandal made it the first symbol of government corruption in twentieth-century America. The scandal did reveal the problem of natural resource scarcity and the need to provide reserves against the future depletion of resources in a time of emergency. President Calvin Coolidge, in the spirit of his campaign slogan "Keep Cool with Coolidge," handled the problem very systematically and quietly, and his administration avoided damage to its reputation by blaming congressional Republicans for the scandal. Overall the Teapot Dome scandal came to represent the corruption of American politics over the preceding decades. This sort of thing had happened before; President Theodore Roosevelt had crusaded against this type of behavior twenty years earlier. Teapot Dome was just the first time this kind of corruption had been exposed nationally.
Warren G. Harding was not, directly, personally or otherwise, aware of the scandal. At the time of his death in 1923 he was just beginning to learn of problems deriving from the actions of his appointee when he undertook his Voyage of Understanding tour of the United States in the summer of 1923. Largely as a result of the Teapot Dome scandal, Harding’s administration has been remembered in history as one of the most corrupt to occupy the White House. Harding may not have acted inappropriately with regard to Teapot Dome, but he appointed people who did. This has resulted in Harding's name being forever linked to the infamous (and misnamed) Ohio Gang. It was revealed in 1923 that the FBI (then named the Bureau of Investigation) monitored the offices of members of Congress who had exposed the Teapot Dome scandal, including breaking in and wiretapping. When the agency's actions were revealed, there was a shakeup at the Bureau of Investigation, resulting in the appointment of J. Edgar Hoover, who would lead for 48 years as Director.
Following the exposure of Teapot Dome, Harding’s popularity plunged from the record highs it had been at throughout his term. The late President and First Lady Florence Kling Harding’s bodies were interred in the newly completed Harding Memorial in Marion, Ohio in 1927, but a formal dedication ceremony wouldn’t be held until 1930 when enough of the scandal had faded from the American consciousness.
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Earlier this month, Ken Ham, the founder of the Creation Museum, in Petersburg, Kentucky, held a debate with Bill Nye at the museum. Within the creationist crowd, Ham represents the young-Earth wing, which believes that the planet is around six thousand years old. He also has other extreme interpretations of biblical claims: for example, he believes that the Tyrannosaurus rex and other dinosaurs were actually vegetarians that lived in the Garden of Eden before the fall of Adam and Eve.
Ham often stresses a line of argument made within the broader creationist community, which resonates, at least somewhat, with the public at large. “There’s experimental or observational science, as we call it. That’s using the scientific method, observation, measurement, experiment, testing,” he said during the debate. “When we’re talking about origins, we’re talking about the past. We’re talking about our origins. You weren’t there, you can’t observe that…. When you’re talking about the past, we like to call that origins or historical science.” In other words, Ham was saying that there is a fundamental difference between what creationists call the “historical sciences”—areas of study, like astronomy, geology, and evolutionary biology, that give us information about the early Earth and the evolution of life—and other sciences, like physics and chemistry, which appear to be based on experiments done in the laboratory today.
On the surface, this does not seem completely unreasonable. There is, after all, a difference between an observation and an experiment. In the laboratory, one can have much better control when attempting to establish cause-and-effect relationships. However, to suggest that somehow this qualitative difference between observation and experiment translates into any sort of deep qualitative difference between the different sciences mentioned above is to demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of science itself.
In the first place, science doesn’t involve merely telling stories about history. If it did, scientific explanations might not have any claim to a higher level of veracity than religious stories. The stories that science does tell have empirical consequences, and make physical predictions that can be tested.
In this sense, all science is historical science. We make observations about past events, based on everything from data gathered in the laboratory yesterday to remnants of phenomena, like meteor impacts or stellar explosions, which may have happened billions of years ago. We then use them to make predictions about the future, about experiments or observations that have not yet taken place. To quibble about how long ago the original data was generated is to miss the point. Predictions about the future, rather than a focus on the past, is what gives science its ultimate explanatory and technological power.
Let’s consider some examples. In the field of evolutionary biology, scientists can postulate an evolutionary relationship between species, which suggests the development of some biological characteristic—legs, say, as animals moved from the sea to the land, or eyes, as organisms developed photoreceptors that helped to guide their search for food. One can then search for fossil evidence of such developments, looking for transitional fossils that demonstrate gradual evolution. It is a prediction that such transitional species existed. Given the sparseness of the fossil record, there is no guarantee of unearthing evidence of such species, but, in the cases of legs and eyes, the predictions have been validated by discoveries made over the past decades.
Or, take my favorite example: the prediction of a genetic relationship between the great apes and humans via a common ancestor, as taught in many (I wish it were all) introductory biology courses. Humans have twenty-three pairs of chromosomes, where all the great apes have twenty-four pairs. If they have a common ancestor, this difference must be explained. One possibility is that two of the chromosomes in the great apes fused together at some point in the human lineage. But this makes two testable predictions. Each chromosome has a characteristic end, called a telomere, and a distinctive central part, called a centromere. If fusion had occurred, then one of the human chromosomes should, in its central region, include the remnants of the two fused telomeres, lined up end to end. It also should have, at between roughly a quarter and three-quarters of the way along the chromosome, a structure identical to that of the centromeres of the great-ape chromosomes. This prediction, tested in the laboratory today, and not in the distant past, has been beautifully verified.
Now, think about geology, another bugaboo of the young-Earth creationists. The phenomenon of plate tectonics and continental drift has transformed the field of geology in the past fifty years. When I was young, it was a new theory. But continental drift is measurable today. Moreover, given the measurements and the current shape of continents, one can speculate that, in the distant past, at periods determined by measurements made using modern physics and chemistry, which allow us to model the dynamics of the crust and the mantle of Earth, the currently existing continents were fused together, apparently several times, in a supercontinent. This theory makes predictions, most notably that—like the chromosomes—one will find identical geological structures at the edges of the current continents that were once fused. Guess what has been observed?
Finally, let’s consider the particles, called neutrinos, coming from the Sun—one of the great astrophysical observations of the past century. It established directly a fact that is at the basis of stellar astronomy, that the Sun’s power arises from nuclear-fusion reactions at its center. The neutrinos interact so weakly that they make it out of the Sun unimpeded after they are produced. If our ideas about the Sun’s power source are correct, each second of each day, six hundred billion neutrinos are going through each square centimetre of your body, originating from the Sun.
The Nobel Prize-winning observation of solar neutrinos—made by Ray Davis and his colleagues over a twenty-year period, starting in the nineteen-sixties—was performed using a mammoth tank of cleaning fluid located deep in a mine in South Dakota. A deep mine was required to shield the detector from all the other cosmic rays that bombard Earth’s surface. Cleaning fluid was a cheap source of chlorine, and calculations suggested that, of the billions and billions of neutrinos going through the detector each day, one, on average, would interact with an atom of chlorine and change it into an atom of argon. So the task was to detect a few atoms of argon in a hundred thousand gallons of cleaning fluid. The experimenters succeeded, and their results have been validated by many other experiments since then. This has established that our detailed model of the Sun—which determines other aspects of its structure measured in independent ways, such as by techniques like seismological observations of the solar surface—is, essentially, correct.
But there’s the rub. The model uses the very same physics that we test with the neutrino data, which probes the nature of the very dense core of the Sun where the neutrinos are produced. It also implies, however, that it takes almost a million years for light to get from the center of the Sun, where the energy is generated in the nuclear reactions, to the outside, as it is continually scattered to and fro by the dense material in between, and before it escapes for us to see.
Thus, when we feel the warmth of the light from the Sun on a warm day in the summer, we are doing historical science. And, if the Sun were only six thousand years old, it wouldn’t be shining as it is while I sit here and write this in Phoenix. Nor would it be shining in Petersburg Kentucky, on the Creation Museum and Ken Ham.
Lawrence M. Krauss is the director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University. His most recent book is “A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing.”
Above: Ken Ham poses with one an animatronic dinosaur during a tour of the Creation Museum; May 24, 2007. Photograph by Ed Reinke/AP
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On September 9, a game called Phone Story appeared in Apple’s App store only to disappear four days later. Apple had approved the game (otherwise, it would not have appeared for sale in the App store, right?) and said that it had banned Phone Story due to “objectionable” content including its depiction of child abuse.
What Apple has not acknowledged is why Phone Story included such content: Phone Story’s intent is to show the “collateral damage” — the human toll, the lives lost — behind the manufacturing of Apple’s best-selling Phone, says ColorLines. Violations of workers’ rights and human rights around the globe occur in the creation of every iPhone. As Phone Story says on its website:
Phone Story is a game for smartphone devices that attempts to provoke a critical reflection on its own technological platform. Under the shiny surface of our electronic gadgets, behind its polished interface, hides the product of a troubling supply chain that stretches across the globe. Phone Story represents this process with four educational games that make the player symbolically complicit in coltan extraction in Congo, outsourced labor in China, e-waste in Pakistan and gadget consumerism in the West.
Keep Phone Story on your device as a reminder of your impact.
The four games on Phone Story are called Coltan, Suicides, Obsolescence and E-Waste. They are designed for users to learn about what goes into the making of their Apple device and how the environment and the humans who make Apple products are affected.
- Coltan is a mineral found in most electronic devices. Congo contains most of the world’s supply of coltan and the increasing demand for it has “produced a wave of violence and massacres in Congo” with military groups enslaving “prisoners of war, often children, to mine the precious material.”
- Twenty-one workers at the Foxconn plant where iPhones and iPads are manufactured have died by jumping from factory dormitories or work buildings and many more have attempted suicide. Foxconn, located in Shenzhen in southern China, is the country’s largest private company.
- You might say your life depends on your iPhone 4 but you know that, once the iPhone 5 appears, you’ll be all too ready to discard 4 for 5. This is the phenomenon of “perceived obsolescence,” whereby “companies produce newer models that make your old phone seem like it came from the stone age. “
- Thanks to our insatiable “need” for “the latest,” we’re producing 25 million pounds of e-waste a year. Not only is this waste highly toxic but “50-80% of electronic waste collected in the USA is exported to developing nations where it is ‘recycled’ in dangerous ways that emit pollutants dangerous to human health and the environment.”
It’s not exactly surprising that Apple found such information “objectionable.” But with Apple products so coveted that some compare Apple devotees to religious fanatics, the company is certainly in a position to take at least a little criticism. But Apple, it seems, prefers to allow none at all in its App store.
Phone Story was developed by Molleindustria and all revenues from its sale go “directly to workers’ organizations and other non-profits that are working to stop the horrors represented in the game.” Indeed, the first organization that is to receive donations is SACOM, Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, which has been “strenuously working on the Foxconn case.”
Phone Story is still available for purchase on the Android.
Related Care2 Coverage
Photo by BeauGiles
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The Greek alphabet is the foundation of our written and spoken language. And it is the foundation of our mathematical system. And God embedded His Word through the Greek alphabet system. For in them we can understand who God is. For in the beginning, God was alpha, for He was the Maker. And Christ is pi, for He is the narrow Gate. And iota is the Holy Spirit for He penetrates the hearts of all men. And omega is the consolidation of the three, for omega is the end and the completion of all things.
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An epidural hematoma occurs when blood fills the area between the skull and the protective covering of the brain.
If the brain bounces against the inside of the skull during a collision, it can experience tearing of the internal lining, tissues, and blood vessels. This will result in bleeding. A mass of blood called a hematoma may form between the skull and brain. This epidural hematoma creates pressure on the brain.
There is no room in the skull for the brain to expand, so the brain may shift as it swells. The brain structures push together and create pressure, which can affect vision, speech, and consciousness. The brain may also lose blood supply and die.
If you suspect you have an epidural hematoma, you should get immediate medical care. Left untreated, an epidural hematoma can cause brain damage and eventually death.
An epidural hematoma typically results from trauma or injury to the head. Your brain may be subjected to an intense, damaging blow in a fall, a vehicular accident, or a collision during contact sports, for example.
You are at a higher risk for developing an epidural hematoma if you:
- are elderly
- have trouble walking without falling
- have experienced trauma to your head
- use alcohol, which can increase your risk of falls
- take an blood thinning medication
- do not wear a protective helmet during contact activities
Symptoms of an epidural hematoma depend on the severity of the brain injury. A common symptom is a brief period of unconsciousness. This is followed by a period of alert consciousness before returning to unconsciousness or even coma.
The following symptoms typically occur within minutes to hours after a head injury and may indicate an epidural hematoma:
- varying levels of alertness
- severe headache
- enlarged pupil in one eye
- weakness on one part of the body, typically on the side opposite the enlarged pupil
- bruises around the eyes
- bruises behind the ears
- clear fluid draining from the nose or ears
- shortness of breath or other changes in breathing patterns
A physician will conduct a neurological test if he or she suspects an epidural hematoma. Further tests may be necessary to determine the size and position of a hematoma. Common tests are:
- computed tomography (CT) scan to see fine details of the brain
- magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine soft tissue
- electroencephalogram (EEG) to assess the brain’s electrical activity
- laboratory blood tests
Treatment for an epidural hematoma depends on the severity of the brain injury, the presence of other injuries, and symptoms.
Your doctor may prescribe medications to reduce inflammation and intracranial pressure during the initial phase of treatment.
After removal of the hematoma, your doctor may prescribe anti-seizure medications to protect against seizures. These medications may be necessary for months or even years.
Other medications, called “hyperosmotic agents,” may be prescribed to reduce brain swelling. These drugs include mannitol, glycerol, and hypertonic saline.
Surgery is generally recommended to remove epidural hematomas. Symptoms that indicate a need for surgery generally include:
- deterioration of brain function
- severe headache
- hematoma thicker than one centimeter at its thickest point
Surgery usually involves a craniotomy to open up part of the skull. This allows the surgeon to remove the clot and reduce pressure on the brain.
Aspiration, also called surgical drainage, can remove an epidural hematoma without surgery. This involves cutting a small hole in the skull to remove the clot with suction. Aspiration is effective for a very small epidural hematoma that is not causing pressure or damage to the surrounding tissue.
Do not attempt to treat this condition at home. If you have experienced head trauma and have any symptoms of an epidural hematoma, seek immediate medical care.
After surgery, recovery can take time. Most improvement will occur within the first six months after the injury. Additional improvement may take up to two years.
Recommendations for home recovery will likely include:
- Rest when you are tired.
- Get a good night’s sleep.
- Gradually return to normal activities.
- Avoid contact and recreational sports.
- Don’t drink alcohol.
- Record important information until full memory skills return.
Without prompt medical treatment, an epidural hematoma carries a high risk of death
Whether or not it is treated, an epidural hematoma also puts you at a high risk for brain damage. Brain damage can cause many types of disabilities, which can be permanent. You may require a rehabilitation program to deal with disabilities, such as:
- paralysis or loss of sensation
- difficulty walking
After the injury and after surgery, you may experience seizures for up to two years.
An epidural hematoma can happen to anyone. Minimize your risk of head injury by taking safety precautions at home, at work, and during recreational activities. Basic recommended precautions are:
- Wear a properly fitting helmet during contact sports or activities that could result in head injury.
- Always use your seat belt in a motor vehicle.
- Protect children from falls and blows to the head by properly childproofing your home.
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Articles by Ian McCulloch
GORDON, 27TH FOOT (Enniskillen Regiment)
There was a soldier, a Scottish
For those green hills are not
Poplar Song sung to the traditional Scottish March, Green Hills of Tyrol.
The microfiche room in the National Archives of Canada is a dark, cavernous place, researchers hunkered down in their booths peering at old manuscripts that are backlit with bright yellow light. Some are viewing muster rolls or ancient genealogies, while others are attempting to read letters. Of the latter, their old copperscript handwriting loops and lopes across pages of various sizes, some of it languidly, some of it in ever-decreasing size as their authors ran out of space on what was an expensive commodity in the 18th century. General Louis Joseph de Montcalm’s handwriting would put any doctor’s to shame, a sure recipe for chronic eye strain.
I move out into the well-lit reading room which has large windows overlooking the Ottawa River, the purple Gatineau hills of Quebec striding their way northwards on the horizon. The portfolio I’m opening reveals a collection of letters by an author whose penmanship is quite pleasing and much easier to decipher than the Victor of Ticonderoga’s chicken scratchings. The last letter in the collection however is the most eye-catching. It’s by Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Gordon, a Scotsman who fought at Ticonderoga on the opposing side under British commander, James Abercromby.
Scrawled in the margin are childish doodles: a soldier, a house, a tree. How did they get there, I wonder? Who is the artist? Certainly not the Colonel. The sketches are in pencil and look to be contemporary to the period. And so I start to peruse Gordon’s family correspondence and papers for the period 1740-1762, written by the Scottish soldier while serving in Scotland and Ireland and on campaign in North America and the West Indies during the Seven Years War.
After a day of reading through 107 page collection of documents, which include his attestation papers for Gooch’s Regiment (43rd Foot) specially raised for the 1740 Cartagena expedition, his will and testament made at Fort Edward prior to the Battle of Ticonderoga in 1758, and the Regimental Board of Inquiry conducted after his death in 1762 to settle his debts and effects, I discover who the only culprit can be: “Sweetie Sam” Auchmuty, his six year-old grandson. The chosen medium of the youngster is, in fact, the last letter ever written by Archibald Gordon before he died of yellow fever off Havana in 1762.
When Captain Archibald Gordon set sail from Cork, Ireland for America in 1757, he was saying goodbye to all the people in the world he held most dear: his wife “Nell”, his daughter “Bell” and his newly-born grandson, “little Sweetie Sam”. He would be gone for five years and would never see them again.
Most letters are addressed to his “Dearest Child” and daughter, Isabella (Bell) Auchmuty and his wife, “Nell” Gordon. Besides containing discussions of family news and financial matters, they also provide an excellent insight on the details of the inner working of an 18th century regiment in North America. Of additional interest is that Archibald Gordon’s son-in-law, whom he refers to in one letter as “the young squire” who married his daughter “without a groat”, but more commonly as “Poor Tom”, also served in the 27th Foot as its senior Lieutenant. And last but not least, his nephew, John Willcocks, accompanies him to North America as a “gentleman volunteer.” This practice was quite common in regiments and was a method whereby young gentlemen with no particular income could aspire to a promotion on the battlefield rather than purchasing a commission. Gordon, against his better judgement, indulged his sister in her desire to have her son become an officer in the Enniskillen Regiment and probably sponsored his candidacy in his own company as a common soldier.
Archibald Gordon first appears in the records of the British Army in 1740 as a captain in a newly-raised American regiment which is designated the 43rd Foot and destined for service in the West Indies. The first document in the collection is a hand-written attestation signed by the “Honbl George Thomas Esqr Lieut Governour and Commander in Chief of the Province of Pennsilvania.” It informs all and sundry that “Archibald Gordon Esqr, Captain in a Regiment of Foot to be raised in America and to be commanded by the Honble Collo William Gooch did this day compleat his Company consisting of One Hundred Men, including Four Sergeants, Four Corporals and Two Drummers.”
It was here that Archibald Gordon and his future commanding officer, William Haviland, also a Captain in Gooch’s regiment, would serve together. It is almost certain he met Colonel William Blakeney, Colonel of the 27th Foot who was sent out to the colonies in 1740 with the rank of Brigadier-General to assist in the raising, organizing and preparing of Gooch’s regiment for the expedition against Cartagena.
Blakeney’s instructions stated that all staff and field officers of the regiment were to be appointed by the Crown, company officers by the respective colonial governors, with the British regulars providing one lieutenant and a sergeant as a means of providing good trainers and instant discipline. It is most likely that a young Lieutenant Gordon, perhaps of the 27th Foot, as was Lieutenant Haviland, obtained his captaincy through the recruitment of 100 men, but we cannot be sure. Gordon is not shown on a 1737-38 roll of 27th Foot officers and may have very well owed his commission to the patronage of Governor Thomas.
The regiment was an unusual one, according to American historian Douglas Leach. “Much larger than the normal British regiment, it was subdivided for administrative purposes into four battalions,” he notes. “The thirty-six companies came from eleven different colonies. Each company clung to its own provincial identity, with the common soldiers exclusively loyal to their provincial officers, most of whom were from the large middle class, ambitious men on the make.”
There is strong circumstantial evidence to support a claim that Archibald Gordon was married in America. One of his sisters was a Mrs Philamena (nee Gordon) Taylor residing in Philadelphia (two of her letters are in the collection) and Gordon’s company was undoubtedly raised in “Pennsilvania”. Add to these the fact that 17 years later, his only daughter is married and has a young child. Therefore, Gordon had to be married before he joined Gooch’s Regiment and his wife may therefore have been American.
The 27th Foot, an Ulster regiment with a history going back to the Siege of Londonderry, 1689, was sent to Cartagena as a reinforcement battalion in February 1742 and the Regimental History notes that their stay was “hardly more than a roll of deaths from disease.” In just eight months, ten officers and 323 men of the Enniskillen Regiment were interred or committed to the deep. Gordon and Haviland both survived and transferred to the 27th Foot in 1742 when Gooch’s disbanded and the 27th Foot returned home to Ireland to recuperate.
From 1742 to 1748, the 27th Foot was quartered in various parts of England and Scotland. During the Jacobite Rebellion or “Forty-Five”, the Enniskillens were at the Battle of Falkirk, 1745, a humiliating defeat for the British and one in which the Regiment nearly lost its Colours to the Highlanders. As the 27th Foot stood to arms in the reserve, their battalion was swept away in a massive retreat by the regiments to the front. At Culloden, the following year, Captain Gordon and his company stood with rest of their regiment in the third or reserve line and saw little action. The regimental grenadiers under Lieutenant Eyre Massey, another Cartagena survivor, distinguished themselves however, and the Duke of Cumberland promoted Massey to Captain-Lieutenant of the 27th Foot. Massey would eventually be the well-liked second in command of the Regiment when it sailed for America in 1757.
Between 1748 and 1757, the 27th Foot remained quartered in various stations in Ireland, sometimes as a regiment, but more frequently in detachments. In 1752, one of the earliest of Gordon’s preserved letters is written from Banff in Scotland to his teenage daughter who is prepared to “come out” in Dublin society. With a wisdom reminiscent of Mr Bennett in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Gordon observed that “upon hearing of you going to Publick Places where all young People are subject to a Thousand Impertinences, out of my sincerely anxious Paternal affection I could not have excused myself had I not committed to writing my knowledge of the World and sentiments thereupon.”
His knowledge of the world included the facts of 18th century life that “many of your sex especially at your age are naturally vain and generally greedily wallow in all the fulsome flatteries that every coxcomb of our sex are pleased to offer.” He went on to warn her that “all these fine speeches only lend to corrupt Innocence, avoid them like the Plague and keep a constant watch upon your conduct.” He concluded that “I am not against a Persons entertaining a reasonable opinion of themselves as too great a diffidence often produces ill consequences whereas a tolerable good opinion of ourselves generally preserves us from doing a hundred mean things.”
In 1753, the 27th Foot were quartered at Kinsale in southern Ireland on the coast and paraded to receive new Colours from the King, each flag bearing their specially authorized device of a three-turretted castle. By 1756, Captain Archibald Gordon was the second most senior Captain in the Regiment and had been bypassed in promotion by Captain Eyre Massey who was promoted to Major 10 December 1755 and by Lieutenant-Colonel William Haviland who had become his commanding officer as of 16 December 1752.
In 1757, the Regiment was warned off for duty in the Americas, and thus started the many letters Gordon wrote to his daughter who had just married Lieutenant Thomas Auchmuty serving in the same regiment. It was not an auspicious marriage and one which was probably arranged to save the reputation of a young woman with child. Captain Gordon was now the senior company commander and regimental paymaster, and had to go with it to quarters in and around Cork. They had orders to recruit as they marched south and bring their strength up to an authorized establishment of 700 all- ranks.
Gordon’s letters are invariably filled with worries of leaving his wife, daughter and young grandson behind without adequate funds and some of his stress comes from having to deal with Auchmuty’s family to see what measures they intend to take to ensure their son’s wife is well looked after. In one letter dated 13 March 1757, he was very worried about his grandson and wrote, “I hope in God your dearest little boy will be over the Small pox.” Later in the month he wrote to her with news of her husband and cousin, Jack Willcocks, the gentleman volunteer, mentioning that both “are good boys, and Jack well liked that I dare say he will do.” He added some paternal advice to his daughter Bell in one dated 17 April 1757: “In all your letters to Tom preach up sobriety and Economy and put him in mind of your wants.”
On the 22 April, Gordon was all business and informed his daughter that he had asked her husband, Lieutenant Auchmuty, to ask his father to provide a yearly allowance of ten pounds for her while they were away. He added: “I propose [Tom] gives you a shilling a day out of his pay, however that will not commence ‘till three months after the date of our Embarkation….” Gordon concluded in his letter that if the in-laws were to show some inclination to support her that she was to “receive it with gentility but remember we cannot make a velvet purse out of a sow’s lug!”
Two days later, however, Gordon was in a rage, no doubt having learned the Auchmuty family was intransigent and unwilling to help their son’s small family. He wrote
I don’t doubt Tom Ahmuty [sic] being a good sort of young man, but the Whole Family of them look and enquire into out conduct, and of yours in particular….They are very bad People indeed. They will neither hear or say anything that can displease them. Perhaps my Behaviour when in Dublin might not be altogether insolent with their surly and vulgar way of thinking but I have not repented as of yet. If they imagined that either you, dear Mama or I are to truckle to them and beg alms of them, For God sake, they are really decieved [sic]. In short, I think their behaviour in general betrays very lose [sic] minds, however never heed, I hope God will help us all and render you independent of them, perhaps when we are gone, they will be more civil.
Archibald Gordon, his son-in-law Tom Auchmuty, and his nephew Jack Willcocks were gone with the tide to America as of 6 May 1757. Gordon wrote his last letter in Ireland from “on board The Amity Assistance” in Cork harbour. “We all embarked yesterday. Capts Jephson, Skene & myself with our Companies on board this ship,” he wrote. “We are present much crowded and in great clutter, however in a day or two I hope we shall be pretty well settled. It’s said we are to sail on Sunday or Monday at farthest, and we have a very good ship.”
His next letter home was written in Halifax, Nova Scotia where Lord Loudoun was gathering his forces for a strike against Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island. The 27th Foot were told on disembarkation that they were to be left behind as a garrison for Halifax. Gordon, obviously homesick, told his daughter that as her new in-laws “have not shown the least spark of Gentility” he was going to take every measure “to get your dear Mama, yourself & poor Sam who I hope is alive and well over to America next year.”
Two months later he wrote from Fort Edward situated on the Hudson River, north of Albany, New York. The 27th Foot had been shipped southwards after Loudoun’s failed attempt against Louisbourg and now found itself allocated to Major General James Abercromby’s forces gathering for a southern thrust up the line of the Lake Champlain- Richilieu River corridor to Montreal. Gordon was still entertaining the idea of bringing his family to America and wrote: “I will get you over as soon as possible to Philadelphia where you were strongly expected, or New York. I hope and believe dearie Sam is very well and very engaging. Tom goes on well as usual with a little advice. I am confident you would like the Country and the People. Nothing stirring here yet for Jack, but I hope ere long to get him something.”
Four days after Christmas he wrote morosely to his wife from Fort Edward stating “this place has fallen to our Lot for Winter Quarters where Colonel Haviland commands. Pringle, R[obert] Blakeney, Eagle, Tom, Jack, an Engineer and myself mess together very comfortably.”
Captain-Lieutenant Henry Pringle in one his own letters home describes their situation in a little more detail:
This post and the posts between this and Albany, fell to our lot, the garrison for this place was to be four Captains, 12 Subalterns and 500 men. We drew for quarters and out of a hat, I drew this, and tho’ the farthest from Albany, yet from the number together I think, the best quarters, & we live well…. I live quite sociable with six more (Gordon one) in a family way, & are very cheerfull, as you may think, when the first article we laid in for the Winter was Three popes of Madeira Wine, a Hogshead of Irish Claret, & Water Plates.
Captain-Lieutenant Pringle is also more helpful on exactly what the duties at Fort Edward entailed and in providing some background colour:
Our duty here is very easy, we mount a Captain’s Picquet – and a Subaltern’s Guard – I never saw finer weather in my life; within the last two days, the Frost, this irresistable Monarch of these Countries has at length appeared, & at once sealed up the River & almost every liquid. With the greatest care we scarcely protect our wine, but ale. Meat would keep until May without salt – Except books & writing of this Letter, my chief amusement is chopping & sawing Oak & Hickory that would bring gold in Ireland –
Writing to his wife after Christmas, Captain Gordon, is more concerned with his wife’s and daughter’s situation back in Ireland and gives free rein to his opinions of “Poor Tom’s” family.
In a separate letter dated the same day from Fort Edward he tells his daughter Bell that her husband and he have had a falling-out. “Poor Tom and I have been, of late, two…,” he reported, “the Occasion of our quarrel…owing to his making a little too free with some Rum and lime juice I had, and entertaining not the best company in his own tent, where consequently the Landlord was generally the first drunk in the Company by which pretty doings he fell extremely ill of a bloody flux and had like to have died, however with care he recover’d and was sent to Albany to reestablish his health.”
The only excitement around Fort Edward, other than cutting wood according to Pringle, or drinking in the case of Thomas Auchmuty, appears to have been the ranging service and their winter scouts under their leader, Major Robert Rogers. Pringle reports that he and Gordon entertained the famous ranger officer in their mess one day during the depths of winter, “a very resolute clever fellow” who “has several times, as he terms it, banged the French and Indians heartily.” Pringle went on to try and describe the Rangers for his brother back in Ireland: “They are created Indians & the only proper Troops to oppose to them – They are good Men, but badly disciplined – They dress & live like Indians, & are well acquainted with the Woods – There are many of them Irish…- They shoot amazingly well…, and mostly with riffled barrels.”
The “badly disciplined” Rangers mutinied on their island across from Fort Edward according to Lieutenant-Colonel William Haviland in December 1757 though in actual fact, they had chopped down a flogging post and set a few fires as a form of protest against flogging. Haviland wrote to General Abercromby seeking direction on what measures he should take. “I believe [Rogers] and most of his Officers would …be glad that I had not heard of it and suppose they would have patched it up for fear of their Men,” wrote Haviland breathing fire and brimstone. “Capt Rogers told me likewise that he apprehends most of his men will desert [if there is a court-martial] I answered it would be better they were all gone than have such a Riotous sort of people, but if he could Catch me one that Attempted it, I would endeavour to have him hanged as an Example.”
Haviland then went on to offer the services of his senior captain, Archibald Gordon, who “has often Acted as Judge Advocate” and if Appointed “will leave the trouble of sending one.” Rather than alienate the Rangers, Abercromby wisely let the incident die a quiet death as “the created Indians” were needed on the upcoming campaign for intelligence gathering purposes. Thus, Gordon was probably personally relieved that he was not to play the role of hanging judge.
At one of the convivial meals with Rogers, Gordon arranged for his nephew, John Willcocks, to join Roger’s special instructional company comprising junior officers and gentlemen volunteers. The scheme was one of lately-departed Lord Loudoun’s projects to insure that bushfighting techniques were passed on to his regular officers and Willcock’s name appears in Rogers’ Journals… as one of five candidates sent from the 27th Foot to Roger’s company. The British regulars were to be ““trained to the ranging, or wood service…in particular the ranging discipline, …methods of marching, retreating, ambushing, fighting, etc., that they might be better qualified for any future services against the enemy.”
In January 1758, Fort Edward was beset with snow, Pringle recording that “we have had prodigious Snows which has employed all the Garrison in clearing the Works & when the first is removed a second two feet comes in the night – Our intercourse with the French is stop’d by it, as we have not had a deserter since, nor have we sent another Scout there yet.”
On the 10 March 1758, Gordon wrote to his daughter, the same day his friend Henry Pringle marched out of the fort with Captain Rogers, a volunteer on the largest winter scout yet. Gordon was giving her another report on her errant husband’s ways as well as the fortunes of her cousin, Jack:
Some days later, Rogers’ Rangers straggled in having been soundly defeated by a French force roughly the same size and composed mostly of Indians. Only 54 survivors out of the original 180 that marched out returned and his friend Pringle, with another 27th Foot officer, Lieutenant Boyle Roche, were missing, presumed dead.
The 1st April 1758 saw Gordon and the three 27th Foot companies at Fort Edward relieved by the 42nd Highlanders, and they spent two months in Albany training and getting their sick seen to at the General Hospital. The Enniskillen Regiment received good news of Captain Pringle and Lieutenant Roche who went missing after the 13 March Battle on Snowshoes when a letter arrived in April written from Pringle in captivity at Fort Carillon. Thus Gordon wrote to his daughter in June and told her to tell one of Pringle’s relatives that “her worthy cousin H. Pringle will become a proper Frenchman.” His relief at his friend’s survival was shared by all 27th Foot officers. “I am happy at the thought of him having escaped as I sincerely regard him,” he wrote. “I now feel a great loss of him as he was my constant Chum, poor Roche is very safe too.” He added with some jocularity that Pringle “will be so much improved [by his captivity] that he will make more bows and French speeches to the Ladies than any Polite Maitre just arrived from Paris. I supply them both with money.”
This is the last letter that Gordon wrote before the Battle of Ticonderoga, 8 July 1758, though his last will and testament is in the collection, written at Fort Edward a few months prior to the campaign starting. It leaves all his worldly goods to his wife, a sum of money to his daughter, and his clothes to his batman. Captain Gordon’s company with the rest of the regiment marched to the south end of Lake George in June and camped alongside the ruins of Fort William Henry, razed the year before by Montcalm’s forces.
The 27th Foot, 650 men strong, were brigaded with the First and Fourth Battalions of the 60th Foot (Royal Americans) for the upcoming campaign and Haviland was named Brigadier. Major Eyre Massey was to command the battalion in battle, Captain Gordon acting as the second-in-command and to take over if Massey should fall. The grenadiers of the 27th were among the first British regulars of Major-General James Abercomby’s 16,000 man army to land on the morning of 6 July 1758.
The regiment under Massey headed one of the four columns that were formed to march on Fort Ticonderoga skirting the La Chute River to the west and thus avoiding the main French postions defending the approaches. Mid-afternoon they collided head-on with a 350 man advanced guard of Frenchmen trying to make their way back around the large British army. A sharp firefight ensued in which Lord Howe, Major General Abercromby’s able-bodied and dynamic second-in-command, was killed. Captain Gordon appears in the orders the following day as the officer who is in charge of rounding up all the French prisoners held by the various regiments and putting them on a small island under armed escort to await transportation back to Albany. The orderly books entry for 7 July 1758 include a paragraph instructing all regiments that “all the prisoners lately taken to be deliver’d to Captain Gordon of the 27th Regt. & to be sent by him to the island, & put under the direction of Capt. DuBois of the York Regt.”
Once his POW duties were completed on the evening of the 7 July, Gordon marched his company up to the entrenched camp north of the saw mills on the La Chute River, and prepared for the battle on the morrow. The 650 man regiment was now only 500 strong (less its grenadier company and its picquet company which had been brigaded into two composite assault forces.) His regiment was on the extreme British right during the attack on the French breastworks lining the heights of Carillon. Despite repeated attempts over six hours, the British regular infantry could not get at the French defenders because of an enormous number of trees that had been cut down in front of the French trenches to form a massive obstacle.
Almost every British commanding officer was killed or wounded, as was every field officer in the Army. Archibald Gordon was no exception. He went down with a musket ball through the shoulder and was carried off the field by his men. He took the first opportunity after his fortunate escape, some six weeks later, to write his wife from the hospital in Albany, a letter more concerned with promotion and preferment rather than his current health:
I was on the late attack at Ticonderoga and rec’d an ugly wound in the Shoulder which confin’d me ever since. I thank God I am recovering fast and hope soon to write long letters to you & dear Bell. The General has made you the Major’s Lady by having made me Major to the Regiment. Bell is the Captain’s Lady as Tom is Capt Lieut & Poor Jack Willcocks is my Ensn. H. Pringle is full Capt. Major Massey is Lieut Colo to the 46th which made the Vacancies. We soon expect Pringle to be released from his Captivity as an Excha[nge] of prisoners has been propos’d, keep up your Spirits, don’t Spoil little Sam. I pray God bless you all. I am My Dearest Souls
Your very sincerely affect. Husbd.
His friend Pringle learned all the details of the battle of Ticonderoga from his French captors second-hand and, in a letter to his mother, revealed that “during the Summer we always heard of the English Army, how Louisbourg was Besieged, how Mr Abercromby was most unfortunately defeated at Ticonderoga.” He added that news of the defeat for all officers in captivity “was a most mortifying Stroke to us who were witness of the French gasconade upon this occasion.”
By the time General Jeffery Amherst’s army sailed north to capture Fort Ticonderoga in the summer of 1759, Archibald Gordon was fully recovered and, for all intents and purposes, the battalion commander, as Lieutenant-Colonel Haviland commanded the vanguard of the army. A detailed letter sent by the newly-promoted Major Gordon from Crown Point Camp, adjacent to the ruined French Fort Frederic, neatly summarizes his own personal experiences as well as the British victories of 1759:
Crown Point Camp
My Dear Child
It has pleased God to bless his Majesties arms in America with so many different Conquests and little Blood shed this year that we are all in the highest spirits and hopes of reducing our most cruel and perfidious Enemies to such terms as must make every body easy at least in this part of the World.
Ticonderoga and the very strong lines are in our possession with the loss of 16 men killed and fifty one wounded by the Enemies Cannon & Shells. Tom and I narrowly escaped by getting behind a friendly stump of tree, when an eighteen pound Shot Struck the Stump and Almost buried us with Sand and dirt.
The place I now write from is deem’d an important pass on Lake Champlain, where the enemy had a small Stone Fort [which] was deserted by them on deserting Ticonderoga. Here I imagine we shall stay a week or two till we can be prepared for a long voyage of 100 miles down the Lake to St John’s or Montreal.
Niagara on Lake Ontario surrendered to our Army in that Quarter the 26th or 27th July commanded by Sir William Johnson. The enemy had marched a body of Men to raze the Siege when a Strong Party of ours gave them Battle and cut them all to pieces on which the Garrison surrendered, Prisoners of War counting in all near Eight hundred, including those taken in action. We are now in sanguine hopes of good news from Gen’l Wolfe. If he succeeds, I think matters here will be pretty quiet.
Now my dear, I write you all this news that you may communicate it with our friends but remember to tell them that we all love and admire our General. We are all very well, no Alterations in our Regiment except among the new Comers that neither dear Mama or you are acquainted with, vizt. Capt Skene is made Major of brigade, Mr Daly a Captain in the Royal Highlanders, Ens[ign] Elliot a Lieut. in the same Regiment. All others are well, tell the Denis’s we are going to give honest Pringle his Liberty, so much for news – Tom fags on, Jack Willcocks does very well. I live in hopes of rendering you and ourselves independent, especially you of your new allies….
Just over a week later, Gordon was responding to a letter he received from his daughter outlining the steps she had taken with her in-laws to secure money to purchase a captaincy for her husband in the regiment. Gordon replies:
Crown Point Camp
My Dear Child
…I hope you are perfectly recovered again and come to your beef Stomach as you know I never liked fine Ladies.
The Steps you took relative to Jephson’s Compy I perfectly approve of, but I declare for my part I expect nothing but insolence and obstinacy from that Quarter nor would I advise you. I am endeavouring to render you independent as far as possible and to put you on a respectable footing. Can any Parent justifie his not embracing so fine an Opportunity of providing for his son, when so great a bargain offered, vizt. A full Company in an Old Regiment for £300 when in fact the current price here is £600 difference.
The Old _________ has wrote to his son charging him with underhand measures, the contrary of which you must know and at the same time telling him If he did advance the money he expected Security from his son as his finannces were greatly contracted, and wants to know why his Father in Law [Major Gordon] does not advance the money as he is now Major and Paymaster (he is mistaken with regard to the latter employment). Now I say badershin [sic]. If his Father in Law can scrape a little money together, I promise him it is intended for a much better care vizt his own Good Child and not to throw away upon him or his worthless family. Just now the general sent me a letter he rec’d from My Lord Barrington Secretary of War where in he says the price of Jephson’s Compy is to be fifteen hundred Guineas and first offers it to the Regiment.
The purchase system of promotion has been frequently misunderstood and perceived as an unfair system which only favoured rich members of British gentry. In fact, was controlled with a finely-tuned series of checks and balances. From 1720 onwards, the sale of commissions was a closely regulated business. An officer wishing to sell his commission (an actual investment on his part, as officers received no pensions) did so at a regulated tariff price, and was obliged to offer it to the man with the most regimental seniority in the rank below him. If that officer was unable to buy, the commission was offered to the next most senior, and so on. The purchaser got the rank, but not the seniority of his predecessor, thus becoming the most junior captain, lieutenant or ensign in the regiment. When a senior officer or captain was killed in action, a chain reaction began which might reach down to the youngest “gentleman volunteer, serving in the ranks like Jack Willcocks until a vacancy occurred or, into civilian life where a young gentleman was waiting in line for an opportunity. Of course, preference was given to nobility or candidates who already had family members serving in the same regiment.
By November, General Amherst’s army was still at Crown Point, the momentum of his campaign stalled by his over-cautiousness, bad weather and fear of French shipping on Lake Champlain. On the 12th of the month Gordon reported to his daughter that he had “got poor Tom into some order again and he is to be in my mess.” He added: “I think he may leave America clear of debt, if he does not, it shall not be my fault. I have him in pretty good order, ‘tho sometimes he rebels.” A letter written to “Bell” on 23 December 1759 confirmed that General Amherst’s 1759 campaign was over. Gordon observed that the fort they are now building at Crown Point “is to be our destiny for the Winter. It is monstrously cold.” He also gave her directions as to his whereabouts on a map he enclosed: “If you look at the Map you will see the spot we are in,” he wrote, “as it is there called Fort Frederick on Lake Champlain. We are all in hopes of getting soon to Ireland. You will be first advertised of it.” He added the news that “Pringle and Roche are now with us and are very well as are all the Regiment.”
The next letter of interest in the collection is one written neither by Gordon nor by his daughter, but by his sister, Mrs Philamena (nee Gordon) Taylor to Bell Auchmuty relaying the news of the fall of Canada. It reads in whole:
Dear Bell Phila Sept 20th 1760
I rec’d yours by Capt Blair which gave me great pleasure to hear your good Mama & you were Weel and have taken the very first opportunity to answer your letter, and to let you know that we have had the Satesfaction of hering from My Brother since the Reduction of the Ile aux Noix, he was very tired, and he is always anxious about his Famely he desired I would let you know as soon as Possible that they had escaped Safe & Sound. I most Sincerely pity Every body who have Friends in the Army as I am sure they must suffer a great deal of Uneaseness at this time of War, but we must Comfort our Selves with the pleasing Prospect of Peace which I hope is not far of.
I hope you will have your Father & Husband Safe restored to you. We are very desirous of having My Brother’s Compy this Winter but Wither we shall be so happy is quite uncertain and before the next I hope he will be at home, as I am sure nothing would give him Equal Satesfaction. I beg you will let me here from you often which will be a great pleasure to, Dear Neice [sic] your
Since I wrot the foregoing we hav the agreable news on the Surrender of Montreal to the British troops without any opposition. I congratulate your Family as I think you may be quite Easey about your Friends on this Side of the Water, as all Canada is now in Possession of the English and a most Noble Conquest it is. I am dayly Expectation of hering from your Papa from thence, once more Dear Cousin, Adue.
By 16 May 1761, the strain of command and responsibilities finally began to weigh heavily on Major Gordon as he wrote from Crown Point to his wife Nell: “I am heartily tired of America and indeed, no wonder, as I have always been kept in the desarts [sic]”. He went on to reveal that he and his nominal commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Haviland, had not been on the best of terms over the winter months.
Pringle is in New York at present, Mr Moore the bearer of this goes to conduct Mrs Haviland to her dearly beloved….She is to be settled here, how she will like that I shall not presume to say. True, she will be the first lady at Crown Point and possibly the only one. The Gentleman and I have little or no correspondence together but I have at least got rid of him and we have got our old Acquaintance Colo Massey again with whom, I dare say, we shall be extreamly comfortable….
Five months later Gordon is at Fort Edward with the regiment en route to Staten Island, New York and writes to his wife that he “is most heartily tired of the Woods” adding that he has “been kept among them two years and a half without intermission.” He adds that “Now we have a prospect of getting away. If war, on some other service. If Peace, I hope, home.”
By the final conquest of Canada, a large proportion of British troops in North America were set free for service in other parts of the world and the British government decided to employ them in the West Indies against the French “Sugar Islands” of Martinique, Cuba and St. Lucia. In September 1761, eleven regiments, including the 27th Foot, and a few companies of American Rangers, were concentrated at Staten Island, New York under the command of General Robert Monckton. Not only was the war for Gordon to contunue, but he was to return to a unpleasant part of the world he already had experienced some 21 years earlier in his youth.
The regiment sailed in convoy at the end of October 1761 for Barbados and took part in the successful capture of Martinique. Major Archibald Gordon replaced Lieutenant-Colonel Massey in command of the elite grenadier battalion cobbled together from the British regiments present when the latter officer was seriously wounded in action. For his efforts, Archibald Gordon was made a Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel and given battalion command of his regiment.
His last letter, written off the coast of "Martinico"
on 6 April 1762, is upbeat and is full of optimism: “I give you Joy of Tom’s
being a full Captain in our Regiment and Father being a Lieu
I would write in french as I am become a Frenchman but you would not understand me – I talk like anything…How does Sally? Is she married yet? Pringle is our Paymaster in the room of Wrightson (who is now Major). My compliments to all that love Dear Mama, Bell & Sam. I pray God Bless you all. I am
My Dear Child
Twenty-six days later, after a bite from a single aedes aegypti mosquito, the hardy Scottish soldier was dead from yellow fever. A regimental court of inquiry was convened consisting of three officers, Gordon’s friend, Captain Henry Pringle, his son-in-law, Captain Tom Auchmuty, and Lieutenant Robert Blakeney, to settle his debts and dispose of his “possessions and effects”. His will, written before the 1758 Ticonderoga campaign at Fort Edward was discovered among his belongings. In it, he left everything to his wife Nell, a small amount of money to Bell and ten pounds and his clothes to his batman. His son-in-law, Tom would succumb to the yellow fever a few weeks later, leaving his daughter a widow and one would assume, penniless.
The regiment would spend another five years in North America, returning to Canada after the West Indies campaign to take up quarters in Canada, making a total of ten years the 27th Foot was away from their wives, children and families in Ireland. Whether Jack Willcocks got ahead in the British Army after his uncle’s death is unknown. However, the letters of a loving husband, father and grandfather were cherished and carefully preserved in his memory by his widowed daughter, Bell Auchmuty. The last letter’s margins are filled with child-like drawings of houses and soldiers in pencil, no doubt the artistic attempts of ‘little sweetie Sam” who would never meet his doting grandfather “who wandered far away and soldiered far away…from the green hills of home.”
A shorter, annotated version of this unpublished book chapter entitled “Men of the 27th Foot: Two Portraits”, first appeared in The Bulletin of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum, vol. XVI, no.2, (1999), 119-151.
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Bridged Race 2000 and 2001 Population Estimates for Calculating Vital Rates: [United States] (ICPSR 3671)
Principal Investigator(s): United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics
These data are bridged resident population estimates for 2000 and 2001 based on the Census 2000 counts. The estimates result from bridging the 31 race categories used in Census 2000, as specified in the 1997 Office of Management and Budget standards for the collection of data on race and ethnicity, to the four race categories specified under the 1977 standards. The bridged estimates were produced under a collaborative arrangement with the United States Bureau of the Census. Three data files are provided. The first file (Part 1) contains bridged April 1, 2000, population counts for the four race groups (White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander) by county, single year of age, sex, and Hispanic origin. The other two data files (Parts 2 and 3) contain bridged postcensal estimates of the July 1, 2000, and July 1, 2001, resident populations of the United States for the four race groups by single year of age, sex, and Hispanic origin. Parts 4-8 are Excel files presenting various crosstabulations.
United States Department of Health and Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics. Bridged Race 2000 and 2001 Population Estimates for Calculating Vital Rates: [United States]. ICPSR03671-v2. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2011-08-18. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03671.v2
Persistent URL: http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR03671.v2
Scope of Study
Geographic Coverage: United States
Date of Collection:
Universe: All persons in housing units in the United States in 2000.
Data Types: aggregate data
Data Collection Notes:
The codebook is provided by ICPSR as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.
Census 2000 Modified Race Data Summary File
Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Created variable labels and/or value labels.
Original ICPSR Release: 2003-03-21
- 2011-08-18 SAS, SPSS, and Stata setups have been added to this data collection.
- 2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 9 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.
- Citations exports are provided above.
Export Study-level metadata (does not include variable-level metadata)
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Toxic levels of mercury in Chinese infants eating fish congee
||Mark Geier, MD, PhD
(Contributed by David Geier and Mark Geier, MD, PhD) A new case-series study, "Toxic Levels of Mercury in Chinese Infants Eating Fish Congee" from the peer-reviewed Medical Journal of Australia by authors from the Australian Health Service, evaluates the adverse effects of postnatal mercury consumption on neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Overall, it was estimated that the children examined received an estimated median mercury dose of 0.40 micrograms mercury / kilogram bodyweight / week (0.06 micrograms mercury / kilogram bodyweight / day).
This is a remarkably low dose of mercury considering that children receiving Thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines on average received 10 to 20 micrograms mercury / kilogram bodyweight / day and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methylmercury safety limit is 0.1 micrograms mercury / kilogram bodyweight / day), and yet these children had very serious adverse outcomes. For example, Child 2, was described as, "a boy aged 2 years and 10 months presented with delayed speech and some autistic features. Since weaning, he had elated fish up to eight times a week. He had no history of herbal medicine use, and his thyroid function, blood lead level, and a DNA screen for Fragile X syndrome were normal." Further testing revealed the child had elevated blood and urine mercury levels. He was, "...subsequently diagnosed with classical autism."
"It further illustrates how large a mercury dose children received from Thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines versus other potential exposures to mercury that have been associated with significant neurodevelopmental disorders."
This case-series of children, coupled with a number of previously published case-reports, helps to illustrate that there are physicians to diagnosing at least some children with mercury poisoning as having autism spectrum disorders. It further illustrates how large a mercury dose children received from Thimerosal-containing childhood vaccines versus other potential exposures to mercury that have been associated with significant neurodevelopmental disorders. Finally, it also helps to provide additional plausibility to the fact that postnatal brain insults may cause or significantly contribute to autism spectrum disorders (i.e. versus, only prenatal insults being associated with the development of autism spectrum disorders).
Click here to learn more.
Dr. Mark Geier and David Geier will be presenting at the New Jersey Conference April 30- May 3, and also at the Los Angeles Conference, July 9-12.
A case study of a five-year-old child with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified using sound-based interventions
Occupational Therapy International
Occup. Ther. Int. 16(1): 25–43 (2009)
Published online in Wiley InterScience
(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/oti.263
ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of The Listening Program (TLP) in treating a child with pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Using a single-subject case study design, one child with PDD-NOS was administered a 20-week TLP intervention focused on improving sensory processing and language function. Data collection included pre- and postevaluations using video footage, and Sensory Profile and Listening Checklist questionnaires.
"Exploring new intervention techniques in OT is imperative for the success of
treating the varied presentations of ASDs."
Results of the study indicated improved behaviour and sensory tolerance in the post-intervention video footage, including active participation in singing and movements to song. Sensory Profile and Listening Checklist questionnaires indicated significant improvements in sensory processing, receptive/expressive listening and language, motor skills, and behavioural/social adjustment at the post-intervention assessment. Although small in scope, this study highlights the need for continued research by occupational therapists into sound-based interventions. Particularly, occupational therapists need to perform larger-scale studies utilizing TLP to verify the efficacy of this alternative treatment method.
Conclusions: By using the TLP method in conjunction with OT using sensory processing strategies, and sensory processing as the outcome, this study serves to open up the field of sound-based interventions to practicing occupational therapists and facilitate further efficacy research. Although the case study has clear limitations regarding size, scope and generalizability, it offers itself as a stepping stone for continued research into sound-based interventions, sensory processing and OT.
Click here to learn more.
The Vaccine Court Case You Weren't Supposed to Hear About
By Louise Kuo Habakus, February 25, 2009
One year ago, Vaccine Court ruled that vaccines caused Hannah Poling’s autism. One case. One little girl. A lot of inconvenient press and questions.
Two weeks ago, Vaccine Court ruled that vaccines did not cause autism in three highly followed “test cases” involving the MMR vaccine. Three children. Sweeping conclusions drawn by the Vaccine Establishment that the debate is now over.
Today, we learn of a little boy who, in 2007, was awarded a lump sum and ongoing care valued in excess of $1 million because Vaccine Court ruled that the MMR vaccine had caused acute brain damage that led to his autism. Read about it here: Vaccine Court: Autism Debate Continues and view today’s USA Today ad.
What’s going on here? Why are we only learning about this now?
In two decades, Vaccine Court has paid 2,260 families nearly $2 billion. How many of these cases involve children with vaccine injury and autism? Shouldn’t we want to know?
Our government, our nation’s pediatricians, our hugely profitable pharmaceutical industry, our press repeatedly assure the public that vaccines are safe. More vaccines continue to be added to the childhood schedule.
"Today, we learn of a little boy who, in 2007, was awarded a lump sum and ongoing care valued in excess of $1 million because Vaccine Court ruled that the MMR vaccine had caused acute brain damage that led to his autism. "
Mandated flu shots. Talk of the need for a seventh pertussis shot. Over ten thousand Gardasil injuries and deaths reported. Autism, peanut anaphylaxis, seizures, diabetes, asthma, ADHD, palsies, other autoimmune and neurodevelopmental disorders through the roof.
Parents say it’s the vaccines. Hundreds of thousands of families describe children who were perfectly normal and then slipped away, before their eyes, right after their vaccines.
Who do you believe? What can you do about it?
Whether you’re a parent or guardian, grandparent, newlywed, doctor, nurse teacher, school administrator, day care provider, scientist, pastor, soldier, hospital employee, activist, public health official, lawyer, celebrity, judge, children’s health advocate, politician, business person, author, student or concerned citizen, this matters. You have a personal or professional, economic and financial, moral, ethical, socially responsible obligation to learn more. Vaccines are mandated. Most people never give this a moment’s thought. Will you?
Click here to learn more.
Click here to contact Louise.
Louise Kuo Habakus will be presenting at the New Jersey Conference April 30- May 3, and also at the Los Angeles Conference, July 9-12.
Stanford/Packard researchers recruit children for study of the biology of autism
Scientists have put forward many theories about why children with autism struggle to communicate with other people, but they have yet to find definitive answers.
Now, a research team at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital is recruiting autistic and typically developing children and their parents for a study of whether one particular biological mechanism plays a role in causing the disorder.
"The researchers will test whether impaired social behaviors in autism are linked to levels of the hormone oxytocin."
The researchers will test whether impaired social behaviors in autism are linked to levels of the hormone oxytocin. In healthy individuals, oxytocin primes maternal behavior, enhances social interactions, increases the ability to read facial expressions and recognize individuals, and boosts trust and empathy. Preliminary research has hinted that autism may be associated with oxytocin deficits, but those studies involved limited samples.
"We're hoping to find a biomarker for autism," said lead researcher Karen Parker, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford.
Click here to learn more.
Replace Sugar for Optimum Health
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 by: Sheryl Walters, citizen journalist
(NaturalNews) The average American eats between 90 to 180 pounds of sugar each year. That is a quarter to a half pounds each day for children and adults! Besides the typical culprits of desserts, doughnuts, and soda, sugar is also found in unexpected items like condiments and bread. Our consumption of sugar is deteriorating our health and increasing the numbers of diabetes, obesity, and many other chronic illnesses.
"...sugar can also contribute to a decrease in immune function, increased cholesterol, overgrowth of yeast, gastrointestinal problems, premature aging, cardiovascular disease, and more. "
The typical effects of sugar are taught to us as children. Sugar can cause tooth decay by being used as a food source for the bacteria found on our teeth which causes plaque. In fact, the bacteria can actually turn the sugar into a glue which makes it harder to be washed away by saliva. Sugar also causes hyperactivity, crankiness, and difficulty concentrating in children as any parent can attest to! In addition to these well-known effects, sugar can also contribute to a decrease in immune function, increased cholesterol, overgrowth of yeast, gastrointestinal problems, premature aging, cardiovascular disease, and more. There are many detrimental health effects of sugar but fortunately there are some healthier alternatives.
Click here to learn more.
Shop Online and Support USAAA
What if USAAA earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our USAAA? Well, now it can!
GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!
GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to USAAA! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you’ll be supporting USAAA.
Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter US Autism and Asperger Association as the charity you want to support. And, be sure to spread the word!
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Archaeological museum Sarnath is the oldest site museum of Archaeological Survey of
In order to keep the antiquities found from the site, a decision was
taken in 1904 by the Government to construct a site museum adjacent to the excavated site
at Sarnath. It was due to initiative of Sir John Marshall., the then Director General of
Archaeology in India, that this museum was created. The plans were prepared by Mr.James
Ramson, the then consulting Architect to the Government of India. The building was
completed in 1910 to house, display and study the antiquities in their right perspective.
The building forms half of a monastery (Sangharam ) in plan.
There are five galleries and two verandahs on the museum to display the antiquities
ranging from 3rd century B.C.to 12the century A.D. found at Sarnath
The galleries have been christened on the basis of their contents, the north most
gallery is Tathagata while next one is Triatna. Mainhall is known as Shakyasimha gallery
and adjacent to it on south is named as Trimurti. The southern most is Ashutosh gallery,
the verandahs on northern end southern side are Shilparatna respectively. Entrance to the
museum is obtained through the main hall, The Shakyasimha gallery displays the most
prized collections of the museum. In the centre of this gallery is the Lion Capital of the
Mauryan pillar. It is 2.31 mts. In height. The lustrous polish is a special feature of the
Mauryan art which has not yet been noticed in the later monuments. The capital consists of
an inverted lotus, circular abacus and the crowning quadripartite semi-lions on top. The
most portion was crowned with a dharmachakra with thirty-two spokes since broken. The
abacus is adorned with the figures of a lion, an elephant, a bull and horse each separated
by a smaller wheel or dharmachakra consisting twenty-four spokes. The four crowning lion
seated back and four animals in relief. Are wonderfully vigorous and true to nature and
are treated with simplicity and reserve which is the keynote of all great masterpieces of
plastic art and highest achievement in sculptural art of India.Today on its won virtue
this lion capital has become "National Emblem" of India.
The exact significance of depiction of four animals on the abacus is uncertain. Some
ascribe them with great events in the life of the Buddha while other believe, they
represent the four noble animals of the Buddhists. The most plausible explanation perhaps
lies in the theory that they denote the four directions as laid down in Buddhust
literature in connection with the Annotate lake in which Buddha used to bathe. The same
animals have been depicted on pillar at Anuradhapur (Srilanka).
The inscribed colossal standing image of a Bodhisativa in red sand stone is
representative of Mathura school of Art. It was dedicated by monk Bala in the 3rd
regional year of the Kushana ruler Kanishka. The octagonal shaft now set up behind the
statue once carried a beautifully carved monolithic parasol exhibited at the northern side
of the hall. It is a full bloomed lotus bearing auspicious signs.
Sarnath became a prominent centre of Buddhism in the Gupta period. It has been
eloquently told by the profusion of exquisitely carved sculptural art which got a new
dimension in the hands of the Gupta artists and it became a main centre of Gupta art. The
Sarnath School of Art is known for its elegance, simplicity of forms and sublimity. The
images of Buddha, displayed in Shakyasimha gallery, represent this school of Art.
Standing figure of profusely ornamented Tara is one of the best specimen of Late Gupta
sculptural art of Sarnath. Tara is derived
from the root tar ( to cross). She helps to cross the Ocean of
Existence. Tara holds a position of considerable eminence in the Buddhist pantheon.
She is Savior Goddess, a Deliveries and shakti of Avalokiteshvara.
To the north of main hall is Triratna gallery which exhibits images of Buddhist deities
and some associated objects
A standing image of Siddhaikavira, a form of Manjushri, god of wisdom and knowledge is
one of the earliest images of this deity.
Standing Tara, holding in hand a pomegranate which has burst upon to reveal a row of
seeds is a fine example of the sculptural art of fifth century. The weight of the body is
thrown gently on the right leg. The jewelry is rich, yet delicate and consists of a multi
stranded girdle, festooned armlets, and a series of three necklaces. Large circular
earrings adorn the ears. Although the face is damaged, the gentle meditative expression
remains. The elaborate coiffure consists of several rows of ringlets and curls arranged
over the forehead and to the side of head, all topped by large bun.
Leograph, a mythical animal, seated Bodhisattva Padmapani with a stem of full bloomed
lotus, stele depicting miracle of Shracasti where
Buddha multiplied himself in many forms in order to defeat heretical teachers, pot ballied
Jambhala, god of wealth and prosperity alongwith his female consort Vasudhara, Ramgrama
stupa being protected by nagas and inscription of Kumardevi, queen of Govindchandra of
Knnauj which refers to construction of the Dharmachakra Jinavihar by the queen, at Sarnath
are some of the important antiquities displayed in the western side of the gallery.
Stele depicting ashtamahasthana (eight great places) or, four main and four secondary
events in the life of Buddha is a remarkable piece of art which include nativity or birth
of Buddha at Lumbuni (Nepal), enlightenment at Bodhgaya, preaching of first sermon at
Sarnath and great demise at Kushinagar. Apart from these, Buddha descending from
Trayastrimsha heaven at Sankisa after preaching his mother, miracal performed at
Shravasti, honey offering by a monkey at vaishali and subjugation of mad elephant Nalagiri
before Buddha at Rajgir are four events depicted in the same stele.
Railings and pillars representing Shunga art of the first century B.C. decorated with
various sacred symbols like Bodhi-tree, Dharmachakra, Triratna, Stupa and human, animal
and fabulous figures are interesting.
Image of Shadakshri Lokeshvara with Shadakshri Mahavidya on left side and Manidhara on
right side is displayed in the showcase. All the three deities are seated cross-legged and
shown with folded hands. Apart from the above objects, heads of the images of Buddha and
Tara are also displayed in the gallery.
Tathagata gallery displays images of Buddha, Vajrasattva, Bodhisattva Padmapani with
stem of full bloomed lotus in hand, Neelkantha Lokeshvara with a cup of poison in hands
and Maitreya standing and holding a nectar case in left hand and rosary in right hand with
a stupa in the headdress.
The most notable sculpture of the Sarnath School of Art in the museum is undoubtediy the
image of preaching Buddha. The fingers of hands are hold near the chest in a special
position known as Dharma-chakra-Pravartana ( Turning the wheel of Law) Mudra. This image
is a remarkable example of the form of
compassionate one in its spirituality and inner-bliss. The calm, relaxed and introspective
face with the gentlest smile playing on the sensuous lips, drooping eyes, aquiline nose,
gently curved eyebrows joined with each other, ear with distended lobes, rows of curls
covering the head end sacred cranial protuberance (Ushnisha) that project from it. The
halo is carved with a pair of celestial fighters and conventionalized floral scroll-work.
The Dharmachakra occupies the central position of the pedestal on both side of which have
been placed the figure of deer, denoting the place as Mrigdava (deerpark). The figures of
five disciples to ehom Buddha preached first sermon are depicted alongwith a lady and
child on the lower part of the image. The lady with a child provably donor of the
sculpture. Image of seated and standing Buddha in different postures displayed in the
gallery are also very remarkable.
On the southern side of main hall os Trimurti gallery. Pot ballied seated Yaksha figure
exhibited here reminds us Pitalkhora (Maharastra) Yaksha of early lst Century B.C.
Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh) is also an impressive sculpture. Brahmanical deities
such as Surya, Saraswati, Mahishmardini also find place in the showcase. Some secular
objects like figures of birds, animals, male and female heads ranging from 3rd
century B.C. to 12th century A.D. are displayed in a different showcases
exhibits iron implements while stucco heads, terracotta's, baked decorative tiles. Pots
and pottery attract from other showcase Benevolent and malevolent figures of Kirtimukha
(face of victory) are utilized as doorkeepers for the Ashutosh (Shiva) gallery.
Ashutosh gallery exhibits Brahmanical deities like Shiva (in different forms), Vishnu,
Ganesh, Kartikeya, Agni, Parvati, Navagrahas (Nine Planets) with Ganesh Laksmi and
Saraswati. A panel depicting Navagrahas with Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh is also remarkable.
Shiva as Bhairava (aggressive form of Shiva) is one of the finest Brahmanical images
found at Sarnath.
A colossal Andhakasuravadha (killing of demon Andhaka) image of Shiva in his terrific
form is an unfinished sculpture. It is a specimen of early medieval sculptutal art of
Sarnath. Bearded ten armed standing Shiva is shown killing demon Andhaka with a trident.
Two verandahas, Vastumandana and Shilparatna exhibits mostly architectural members. A
large lintel depecting story of Shantivadina Jataka is a beautiful piece of Art.
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For those of you who are experiencing a difficult time with toilet training, and would like to pursue the Montessori approach, here is an article that you might find helpful. The title of the article is, “Toileting the Montessori Way,” and it is written by Susan Tracy, M.Ed. a parent educator, Montessori teacher, teacher educator, and mother of four. She is the founding director of Learning Together Parent Education Center.
Toileting is accomplished most easily with preparation that begins far in advance of the time when the child is ready. I believe that most Montessorians who work with very young children would agree with your child’s teacher in recommending that parents put their infants in cloth diapers from birth on. In addition to the obvious environmental reasons, natural cotton fiber is kindest to the baby’s tender skin. Also, in preparation for later toileting, children can easily sense that they are wet and discover the cause and effect of their urination and the resulting feeling of wetness.
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As the rate of childhood obesity has continued to steadily grow throughout the U.S., researchers, doctors, and parents have searched high and low for a solution to stop kids’ waistlines from expanding. Eating healthy foods and participating in physical activity could offset the effects of obesity, but now, researchers believe a simple test could help parents and kids prevent the disease before it starts. A study in the journal Diabetes found a blood test could identify whether children as young as 5 are at risk of obesity 10 years later by analyzing DNA changes that predict body fat percentage.
"It can be difficult to predict when children are very young, which children will put on weight or become obese. It is important to know which children are at risk because help, such as suggestions about their diet, can be offered early and before they start to gain weight,” said lead study author Dr. Graham Burdge of the University of Southampton, in the press release. A blood test could provide insight that being overweight or obese in childhood is not just due to lifestyle, but also to factors that involve basic processes that control a person’s genes. Moreover, it may help doctors and parents alike come up with preventive strategies to offset the effects of childhood obesity later in life.
The team of researchers at the universities of Southampton, Exeter, and Plymouth, collected blood samples from 40 out of 300 children, aged 5 to 14, from the EarlyBird Project, which followed the children in Plymouth. Professor Terence Wilkin at the University of Exeter, who also led the new study and the EarlyBird project, assessed the children in Plymouth each year for factors that are related to type 2 diabetes, such as the amount of physical activity and the amount of body fat. Wilkin, Burdge, and other colleagues extracted DNA from the blood samples collected and stored from the EarlyBird project to test for epigenetic switches.
The levels of methylation — an epigenetic, or re-programming mechanism, that allows genes to be affected by exposure to environmental factors — were assessed in the PGC1, a gene that regulates fat storage in the body, according to Science Daily. Epigenetic effects can take place as early as in the womb and are usually attributed to both a mother’s diet and her stress that can lead to changes in the fetus. Some epigenetic changes can even be passed down from the mother or the father and could persist across multiple generations lasting a lifetime.
The findings revealed a 10 percent rise in DNA methylation levels at age 5 was associated with up to 12 percent more body fat at age 14. The results were independent of the child’s gender, their amount of physical activity, and their timing of puberty, wrote the researchers. Although this study could help researchers develop and test new ways to prevent children from becoming obese, this needs to be tested in larger groups of children. “This has shown that these mechanisms can affect their health during childhood and as adults,” said Wilkin in the press release.
The latest statistics from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention show 18 percent of children aged 6 to 11 in the U.S. are obese, compared to 21 percent of those between the ages of 12 to 19 in 2012. Now, more than one-third of children and adolescents are either overweight or obese. Excess weight can lead to a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease, prediabetes, and joint problems, among many other health issues.
Source: Burdge GC, Clarke-Harris R, Godfrey KM, et al. Peroxisomal proliferator activated receptor- -co-activator-1 promoter methylation in blood at 5-7 years predicts adiposity from 9 to 14 years (EarlyBird 50). Diabetes. 2014.
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One of the long standing hypotheses of ancient history is that agriculture (and with it settled civilization) made its way to India from the Fertile Cresent to the Indus River Valley around 7,000 BCE. These people, sometimes called the Harappans, engaged in trade with Sumeria, used the same package of crops (wheat and barley) and domesticated animals as those found in the Near East, and used a language that is lost to us, despite inscriptions that may have been a written language which have not been decoded. This part of the hypothesis remains unshaken.
My bet is that the Harappans may have spoken a language descended from the now extinct languages of Elam (in the mountains East of Sumeria in what is now Iran) or Sumeria (in what is now Shi'ite Iraq). But, we may never know.
Another hypothesis is that Dravidian language speakers had a pre-Iron Age agricultural civilization in India prior to the arrival of Indo-Aryan invaders from the North around 1,500 BCE who were effective horse riding warriors, probably originating in an Indo-European language homeland between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea who brought their religion and language (an early version of Hindu Sanskrit culture) to India. This hypothesis also remains unshaken.
A third hypothesis is that the Indus Valley Civilization provided a parent language and culture for the Dravidian culture that is now found in Southern and Eastern India. This hypothesis is increasingly coming under fire.
It now appears that pre-Iron Age farmers of the Indus Valley Civilization, who were one of the first groups to come into contact with the Indo-Aryan invaders from the North, were linguistically, culturally and agriculturally separate from their contemporaries, the Dravidians.
But, there is little evidence to suggest that the stone age agricultural civilization of the Austroasiatic speakers who migrated into India from Southeast Asia provided a source for Dravidian culture either. They didn't domestic crops that the Dravidians use, their languages are very distinct from Dravidian languages, and the isolated pockets of Austroasiatic speakers today suggest that the bronze age Dravidian farmers conquered once much more widely distributed Austroasiatic stone age farmers.
So where did they come from?
In a story every bit as amazing of the colonization of Madagascar from Indonesia thousands of miles to the East, there is increasing evidence that the Dravidian culture of South India had its source in the Sahel farmers of West Africa, thousands of miles to the West at about the same latitude.
Historical records suggest that the South Dravidian language group had separated from a Proto-Dravidian language no later than 700 BCE, and linguistic evidence suggests that they probably became distinctive around 1,100 BCE, and some scholars using linguistic methods put the deepest divisions in the language group at roughly 3,000 BCE. Russian linguist M.S. Andronov puts the split between Tamil (a written Southern Dravidian language) and Telugu (a written Northern Dravidian language) at 1,500 BCE to 1,000 BCE.
Southworth, identifies late Proto-Dravidian with the Southern Neolithic culture in the lower Godavari River basin of South Central India, which first appeared ca. 2,500 BCE, based upon its agricultural vocabulary, while noting that this "would not preclude the possibility that speakers of an earlier stage of Dravidian entered the subcontinent from western or central Asia, as has often been suggested." . . .
French anthropologist Bernard Sergent, in La Genèse de l'Inde (1997), argued in 1997 that Dravidian language and culture has its roots in West Africa arriving in coastal West India around 2,500 BCE as a culture distinct from and contemporaneous with the Indus Valley Civilization. In this view, Dravidian is an offshoot of the Niger-Congo languages (sometimes called the Niger-Kordofanian) and of the Mande languages sometimes linked with them. In addition to linguistic similarities he points to other cultural connections such as similarities in musical instruments, matrilineal lineages, a shared game, acceptance of cousin marriage, and the use of rounded huts. Upadhyaya and Upadhyaya agree regarding the linguistic connections which they observed as early as 1976, as does C. Winters, on the basis of linguistic, and crop genetics evidence.
From Wikipedia (citations in the original omitted, written by me).
West African Sahel crops like sorghum and pearl millet which grow relatively warm climates with wet summers, thrive in Southern India, which has a similar climate, and arrive in India during the Southern Neolithic period. In contrast, crops domesticated in the Fertile Cresent, which appear in South Asia much earlier (from 7,000 BCE) in the Indus Valley region, which is further North. The shared game is mancala, a game that my children learned at school.
Harvard linguist Michael Witzel also makes the case that early Rigvedic Sanskrit, associated with the Indo-Aryan entry from the North into South Asia from ca. 1,500 BCE to 1,200 BCE in region that would have overlapped mostly with the Indus Valley Civilization, doesn't show Dravidian linguistic influences, and there is evidence than an isolated pocket of Dravidian speakers in Pakistan has a recent origin rather than reflecting an ancient wide distribution.
North India wouldn't have been an attractive place for farmers adapted to West African style agriculture who hadn't had time for their crops to adjust to a new environment to settle, but may have been more attractive for Indus Valley civilization stone age farmers using a Fertile Cresent agricultural package, and/or stone age Austro-Asiatic farmers ultimately tracing their roots to South China. Also, these two stone age farming populations may have had cultural exchanges that could have influenced the languages spoken at the boundary of the Indus River Valley civilization at the eastern headwaters of the Indus River, where the early Indo-Aryan invaders would have burst onto the scene.
The Southern Neolithic sites also have some copper artifacts, but not artifacts of other metals, consistent with the state of West African metallurgy around 2,500 BC. Sahel farmers may have felt pressure from both the South, as Bantu expansion posed a potential threat, and the North from the expanding Sahara Desert, at the time.
Some of these dots related to crop evidence weren't connected until up and coming archaeobotanist Dorian Q. Fuller made them.
Other Potential West African influences
Another group of linguistic suggestions is also interesting. One of the very distinct and near defining features of the Niger-Congo languages spoken in West Africa is that they have "noun classes". In many more familiar languages to English speakers, like French nouns have to agree in gender and number. In Niger-Congo languages, and a small number of other languages, there are distinctions beyond gender and number that are part of their grammar, like distinctions between living and non-living things.
This distinction is also made in the languages of the Caucuses, which have been fiercely resistant to outside influences, and in the Na-Dene languages which include an almost extinct language family found just to the West of the Bering Strait, many of the indigenous languages of Southern Alaska, and the Navajo language of the Southeast. It is also made in a moribund language of the Aboriginal Australians.
The Caucuses are a not implausible source for ancient Northern Siberian languages and a connection to the languages of the Caucuses had been suggested for the Northern Siberian languages now considered part of the Na-Dene languages before that connection was established. The Caucuses are also near the formative area for the Uralic languages (most famously Finnish) which show some similarity to Dravidian.
The same language of the Aboriginal Australians which has noun classes (like many Australian Aboriginal languages) also has a "mother-in-law language," i.e. a different speech register for use in the presence of mothers-in-law and certain other taboo relatives. There are two other vary notable language families where this is found. One is in some North American indignenous languages. Another is in Bantu, the dominant Niger-Congo language with roots in West Africa (Bantu also has Khoisan substrate language influences, for example incorporating click sounds in some areas).
Aboriginal Australians are believed to have arrived rather directly from Africa via Ethiopia and then a "Southern route" along the Indian ocean coast to Australia in a time period probably between 60,000 years ago and 50,000 years ago, providing a basis for a connection to early West African languages.
A West African linguistic connection to the Caucuses would support the apparent similarities between Dravidian and the Uralic languages (most prominently Finnish), even if the exact connection (from Africa to the Caucuses to the Urals, or from Africa to Southern India to the Caucuses to the Urals, for example) is not known.
Afro-centric educators have been pushing the case for West African cultural influences on the rest of the world for decades, mostly focusing on the often not very solid case of Egypt whose influences are much more strongly Ethiopian and Near Eastern in origin. Ironically, the influences appear to be in places they where far less expected: the place from which we draw the term that is the root for "Caucasian" (the anti-septic English language word for "white"), Finland, Southern India, Australia, Northern Siberia, Alaska, Western Canada, and the Navajo. This connected group of languages may even have been the immediate predecessor to the earliest Sino-Tibetan languages that ultimately gave rise to Chinese.
The linguistic connections other than Dravidian aren't as powerful since the total package of connections doesn't seem as great. But, opening up to the possibility of a West African-Dravidian connection makes the other potential links seem much more plausible than they might otherwise have seemed.
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Charleston, W.Va. – Secretary of State Natalie Tennant released historic voter turnout numbers today dating back to the primary election in 1950, a midterm election during President Harry Truman’s second term.
During that election, there were just over one million registered voters in the state and only about 29 percent of them cast a ballot.
Interestingly during the 1952 general election, when Dwight Eisenhower was elected president and a Washington outsider named Robert C. Byrd was elected to the House of Representatives, voter turnout rebounded to about 75 percent.
From the Fifties to the Eighties, it was not uncommon to have voter turnout well over 70 percent. West Virginia also saw voter turnout over 70 percent in the general elections in 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1980, 1984, and 1992.
Since 1992, the highest voter turnout was about 67 percent in the 1996 general election.
Since 2000, the highest voter turnout was about 66 percent in the 2004 general election.
West Virginia has also seen low voter turnout.
The turnout was about 28 percent in the 1954 primary, 31 percent in the 1958 primary, 31 percent in the 1962 primary, 29 percent in the 1966 primary, 28 percent in the 1974 primary, 31 percent in the 1978 primary, 26 percent in the 1986 primary, 14 percent in the 2005 special election, 26 percent in the 2006 primary, 24 percent in the 2010 primary, and about 12 percent in the 2010 special primary.
Several other elections saw voter turnout under 35 percent.
West Virginia’s population and voting age population has remained steady throughout the years. In 1976, the total population of the state was around 1,880,000. In that year, there were about 1,314,000 people who were of voting age. For the 2010 special primary, the state’s population was about 1,819,000 with about 1,433,000 people of voting age. There are about 150,000 more registered voters in West Virginia now than there were in 1976.
To see the complete database of voter turnout dating back to 1950, click here.
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Standard 2.1 Print Technologies
Print technologies are ways to produce or deliver materials, such as books and static visual materials, primarily through mechanical or photographic printing processes.
Edtech 506 - Story Elements Character Analysis Worksheet
The Story Elements Character Analysis worksheet was created as part of a unit on Story Elements of a Fictional Narrative and a lesson on identifying character traits. I chose this artifact to represent AECT Standard 2.1 because it is a handout that can be printed as part of the lesson.
It was created using the message design principles of color and typography, using Contrast, Alignment, Repetition, and Proximity (CARP) (Lohr, 2008). In creating this worksheet, I gained a deeper understanding in the use of color theory outlined by Lohr (2008). I used green to enhance acuity and recognition of the smiley face as representing a character, and the split-complementary colors of reddish-purple and reddish-orange for contrast between clues and traits. In reflecting CARP, each of the boxes and text is aligned, and the rectangle shape reinforces repetition. Because this was designed for younger learners, I wanted to keep it very simple.
Story Elements Character Analysis Worksheet
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Interpreted Paleontological Sites on Public Lands
Interpreted paleontological sites on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management can be found in several states. No fossil collecting is allowed in these special areas so that all visitors may enjoy seeing the fossils.
Paleontology Loan Kits
The Bureau of Land Management offers paleontology kits to teachers in Colorado and Wyoming on a loan basis. For further information, teachers should contact the nearest BLM office (listed under U.S. Government in the telephone directory).
Limb bones from unidentified dinosaur from New Mexico
Keith Rigby, Jr., BLM
Alexander, J.P. (1992, September). Alas, poor Notharctus: An ancient lemuroid skull tells of life--and sudden death--in Wyoming's forests. Natural History.
Carpenter, K. (1996). The Dinosaurs of Marsh and Cope: The Jurassic Dinosaurs of Garden Park, CO. Canon City, CO: Garden Park Paleontology Society.
Dougal, D., et al. (1992). MacMillan Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. New York: MacMillan.
Eldridge, N. (1987). Life Pulse: Episodes from the Story of the Fossil Record. New York: Facts on File.
Eldridge, N. (1991). Fossils: The Evolution and Extinction of Species. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Halstead, L.B. (1982). Search for the Past. New York: Doubleday.
Leite, M.B., and Breithaupt, B.H. (1995). Teaching Paleontology in the National Parks and Monuments and Public Lands (A Curriculum Guide for Teachers of the Second and Third Grade Levels). Kemmerer, WY: National Park Service, Fossil Butte National Monument.
Lindsay, W. (1991). The Great Dinosaur Atlas. London: Dorling Kindersley.
Lucas, S. (1994). Dinosaurs. Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown Publishers.
Midgley, R., and the editors of the Diagram Group. (1983). A Field Guide to Dinosaurs. New York: Avon.
Munsart, C.A. (1993). Investigating Science with Dinosaurs. Englewood, CO: Teacher Ideas Press.
Norman, D. (1991). Dinosaur! New York: Prentice Hall.
Paul, G.S. (1988). Predatory Dinosaurs of the World. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Preston, D. (1986). Dinosaurs in the Attic: An Excursion into the American Museum of Natural History. New York: St. Martin's.
Raup, D.M. (1986). The Nemesis Affair: A Story of the Death of Dinosaurs and the Ways of Science. New York: W.W. Norton.
Schuchert, C., and LeVene, C.M. (1940). O.C. Marsh: Pioneer in Paleontology. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Simpson, G.G. (1983). Fossils and the History of Life. New York: Scientific American Books.
Stokes, W.L. (1985). The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry: Window to the Past. Government Printing Office.
Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., and Osmolska, H. (Eds.). (1990). The Dinosauria. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
The authors would like to thank the following people and organizations for their assistance: Lewis Jacobs, professor of geological sciences and director of the Shuler Museum of Paleontology, Southern Methodist University, and president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology; Ron Litwin, U.S. Geological Survey; Judy Scotchmoor, Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley; Jere H. Lipps, Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley; Keith Rigby, Jr., University of Notre Dame ; Judy Prosser-Armstrong, Research Center and Special Library, Museum of Western Colorado; Clifford Nelson, U.S. Geological Survey; A.R. Palmer, Institute for Cambrian Studies; Brent Breithaupt, Geological Museum--University of Wyoming; Donna Engard and Pat Monaco, Garden Park Paleontology Society; Richard Stucky, Denver Museum of Natural History; and Jan Thompson, Smithsonian Institution.
From the Bureau of Land Management:
Robert King, Celia Boddington, Laurie Bryant, Rick Deery, Roger Haskins, and John Bebout.
Back to the Set in Stone Homepage
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Mercury-In-Rubber Strain Gauge
"Originally described by Fisher and colleagues (1965), the first circumferential measure, the mercury-in-rubber strain gauge, was adapted from a similar transducer used by Shapiro and Cohen (1965). The device consists of a hollow rubber tube filled with mercury and sealed at the ends with platinum electrodes. The operation of the mercury-in-rubber strain gauge depends upon penile circumference changes that cause the rubber tube to stretch or shorten, thus altering the cross-sectional area of the column of mercury within the tube. The resistance of the mercury inside the tube varies directly with its cross-sectional area, which in turn is reflective of changes in the circumference of the penis. Variations of the mercury-in-rubber gauge have been described by Bancroft et al. (1966), Jovanovic (1967), and Karacan (1969)."From Janssen, E., Prause, N., & Geer, J. (2007). The sexual response. In J. T. Cacioppo, L. G. Tassinary, & G. G. Berntson (Eds.), Handbook of Psychophysiology, 3rd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Electromechanical Strain Gauge
"Another type of penile strain gauge is the electromechanical strain gauge developed by Barlow and co-workers (1970). This device is made of two arcs of surgical spring material joined with two mechanical strain gauges. These gauges are flexed when the penis changes in circumference, producing changes in their resistance. The resistance changes are in turn coupled through a bridge circuit to a polygraph or computer. The electromechanical gauge does not fully enclose the penis. For this reason, it is more sensitive to movement artifacts and less suitable for studies on nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) than the mercury-in-rubber gauge. However, mechanical strain gauges are quite sensitive and more rugged than their rubber counterparts."From Janssen, E., Prause, N., & Geer, J. (2007). The sexual response. In J. T. Cacioppo, L. G. Tassinary, & G. G. Berntson (Eds.), Handbook of Psychophysiology, 3rd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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Significance and Use
This practice is applicable to sampling liquid wastes and other stratified liquids. The COLIWASA is used to obtain a vertical column of liquid representing an accurate cross-section of the sampled material. To obtain a representative sample of stratified liquids, the COLIWASA should be open at both ends so that material flows through it as it is slowly lowered to the desired sampling depth. The COLIWASA must not be lowered with the stopper in place. Opening the stopper after the tube is submerged will cause material to flow in from the bottom layer only, resulting in gross over-representation of that layer.
This practice is to be used by personnel acquiring samples.
This practice should be used in conjunction with Guide D4687 which covers sampling plans, safety, QA, preservation, decontamination, labeling and chain-of-custody procedures; Practice D5088 which covers decontamination of field equipment used at waste sites; Practice D5283 which covers project specifications and practices for environmental field operations, and Practice D5743 which covers drum sampling..
1.1 This practice describes the procedure for sampling liquids with the composite liquid waste sampler, or “COLIWASA.” The COLIWASA is an appropriate device for obtaining a representative sample from stratified or unstratified liquids. Its most common use is for sampling containerized liquids, such as tanks, barrels, and drums. It may also be used for pools and other open bodies of stagnant liquid.
Note 1—A limitation of the COLIWASA is that the stopper mechanism may not allow collection of approximately the bottom inch of material, depending on construction of the stopper.
1.2 The COLIWASA should not be used to sample flowing or moving liquids.
1.3 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.
1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.
2. Referenced Documents (purchase separately) The documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard.
D4687 Guide for General Planning of Waste Sampling
D5088 Practice for Decontamination of Field Equipment Used at Waste Sites
D5283 Practice for Generation of Environmental Data Related to Waste Management Activities: Quality Assurance and Quality Control Planning and Implementation
D5743 Practice for Sampling Single or Multilayered Liquids, With or Without Solids, in Drums or Similar Containers
D6232 Guide for Selection of Sampling Equipment for Waste and Contaminated Media Data Collection Activities
ICS Number Code 13.030.20 (Liquid wastes. Sludge)
UNSPSC Code 76121502(Liquid waste collection or processing or disposal)
|Link to Active (This link will always route to the current Active version of the standard.)|
ASTM D5495-03(2011), Standard Practice for Sampling With a Composite Liquid Waste Sampler (COLIWASA), ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2011, www.astm.orgBack to Top
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The American Southwest is prone to drought, and the summer of 2011 proved no exception, when a severe drought extended from Arizona to Florida. But a sediment core from New Mexico suggests that today’s droughts—even the 1930s Dust Bowl—are fleeting events compared to conditions of the ancient past. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, some droughts could persist for centuries. Researchers find one ancient period of warm, dry conditions especially intriguing because it was, in many ways, similar to conditions on Earth during the last 10,000 years.
Clues about this ancient period are preserved in a dry lakebed in New Mexico named Valle Grande. On May 25, 2011, the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this natural-color image of the lakebed. It is an unevenly shaped expanse of beige grassland situated inside the larger Valles Caldera.
Researchers extracted a 260-foot (80-meter) sediment core from this lakebed in 2004, and published their analysis in 2011. Ancient lake muds in the core document the region’s climate between 360,000 and 550,000 years ago. During that time, glaciers advanced over North America in recurring ice ages, and conditions warmed in interglacial periods. The core includes sediments from two warm interglacials.
One interglacial covered in the sediment core that particularly interested the research team is known as Marine Isotope Stage 11 (MIS 11), which occurred around 400,000 years ago. Our planet’s orbit around the Sun has varied over geologic time, but the 50,000-year period comprising MIS 11 experienced an orbital configuration similar to that of the last 10,000 years and, consequently, the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth was similar.
During MIS 11, the researchers found, the climate of the American Southwest underwent a series of changes. As ice-age conditions gave way to warming, plant life thrived in a seasonally wet climate. But the warming continued, withering grasses and shrubs, and drying out lakes. Mud cracks in the sediment core illustrate the aridity. The drought documented by the sediment core lasted thousands of years—a megadrought.
The sediment core suggests that the megadrought occurring in MIS 11 not only began abruptly, but also ended abruptly, replaced by cooler, wetter conditions. As geologists explain, we live in an interglacial today; Earth’s most recent ice age ended only about 10,000 years ago. The similarity of the Earth’s orbital configuration between MIS 11 and now suggests that, as happened hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Southwest might eventually experience cool, wet conditions again. Such a transition could be derailed, however, by warming caused by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases.
- Fawcett, P.J., Werne, J.P., Anderson, R.S., Heikoop, J.M., Brown, E.T., Berke, M.A., Smith, S.J., Goff, F., Donohoo-Hurley, L., Cisneros-Dozal, L.M., Schouten, S., Sinninghe Damste, J.S., Huang, Y., Toney, J., Fessenden, J., WoldeGabriel, G., Atudorei, V., Geissman, J.W., Allen, C.D. (2011). Extended megadroughts in the southwestern United States during Pleistocene interglacials. Nature, 470, 518–521.
- Rickman, J.E. (2011, February 28). Dry lake reveals evidence of southwestern “megadroughts.” Los Alamos National Laboratory. Accessed July 18, 2011.
- U.S. Drought Monitor. (2011, July 14). Conditions for July 12, 2011. (PDF file) University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Accessed July 16, 2011.
- University of California Museum of Paleontology. The Pleistocene. Accessed July 18, 2011.
- Williams, J. (2011). Climate change: Old droughts in New Mexico. Nature, 470, 473–474.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 Team. Caption by Michon Scott.
- EO-1 - ALI
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India is considered by many to be the largest democracy in the world. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and his Satyagraha (a unique non-violent campaign), India declared independence from British rule on 15 August 1947. Free India's first prime minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who founded the Indian National Congress, described the moment as a "tryst with destiny." Since independence, India has developed as a multiparty democracy. The Indian National Congress that led India to independence in 1947 was the largest party, governing in coalition with minor centrist parties. It was later known as the Congress Party and ruled the nation until the 1990s—to some extent through the use of corruption and intimidation. Over the years, a number of parties were formed, and the major opposition to the Congress Party comes from the BJP, which among its followers has some strong Hindu nationalists, who believe that India should not be a multi-ethnic state.
India has a federal system with 25 states and various territories. The constitution separates the powers of the government into 3 branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The relationship between the legislative and executive branches follows the parliamentary model of Great Britain. The initiative and responsibility for executive leadership rests with the office of the prime minister, not with the president. Neither of these offices is gained by direct popular vote, however. The president is the head of state for a 5-year term and is elected by an electoral college composed of members of parliament and state legislatures. The president's role is so limited by the constitution that he or she has rare opportunities to determine national policy. The president can, however, upon the advice of the prime minister, declare a state of emergency and suspend both national and state governments, an executive tool that has been used far more frequently than the framers of India's constitution envisioned. In general, the president serves as more of a symbolic head of state. The prime minister has the primary responsibility to lead the country and is officially invited by the president to form a government and lead it. In order to remain in power, the prime minister must enjoy the support of a majority of the 545-member Lok Sabha (People's House). The president normally looks first to the leadership of the majority party to nominate its candidate for prime minister. Legislative power is vested in the bicameral (2-chamber) parliament, which consists of a 245-member of Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha. The majority of the members of the Rajya Sabha are chosen by the state legislatures; the president selects the remainder. The members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected and serve for 5 years. According to the constitution, a new election must be held at least every 5 years. If none is called before that time, parliament is automatically dissolved. India has an independent judiciary, which is headed by a Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. The president appoints its chief justice and justices. The Supreme Court acts as the court of final appeal.
The Union (federal) government of India is responsible for developing and implementing various domestic and foreign policies and sets its economic policies in consultation with representatives of the states and various other representative bodies of businesses, farmers, and labor.
The government generates most of its revenues from taxes. For the fiscal year ending 31 March 2000, the total revenue generated through taxes for the central government came to about Rs3.28 trillion (US$73 billion). The main sources of Union tax revenues are customs duties , excise taxes , corporate taxes, and income taxes . Non-tax revenues largely comprise interest receipts, including interest paid by the railways and telecommunications, dividends and profits. The main sources of revenue for state governments are also taxes and duties, in addition to grants received from the central government. Property taxes are the mainstay of local finance. In recent years, tax rates imposed by the government have been cut. The current peak income tax rate of 30 percent and corporate tax rate of 35 percent, for example, are low compared to most industrial countries. Furthermore, the peak customs duty rate has been cut to 35 percent with a promise to move towards the East Asian average rate of 20 percent.
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Aid worker diary: Japan’s tsunami
On 11 March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake followed by a series of massive tsunamis killed more than 15,000 people in Japan’s Tohoku region, and left some 2,600 people missing. Two years later, approximately 315,000 people remain displaced across the country. As the country commemorates the second anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, OCHA’s Masaki Watabe returned to the coastal town of Ishinomaki to see how the recovery process is going.
Ishinomaki was among the towns hardest hit by the tsunami. Since the disaster, the town has lost 7 per cent of its original population of more than 160,000. Some 3,500 people died and 451 people are still missing. Today, nearly 30,000 people live in pre-fabricated houses and private apartments rented by the Government, while they wait for permanent housing.
Ishinomaki is a fishing town well known for its oysters, scallops and seaweed. At Fukiura beach, an hour’s drive from the town centre, I met Michio Takahashi, an oyster farmer, who felt the jolt of the earthquake and knew the tsunami would follow.
Mr. Takahashi survived the deadly waves by quickly sailing his boat out of the port and remaining at sea for one freezing night. It took 10 days to find all his family members, including his grandchildren. They were all safe. He told me he was extremely grateful to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, who provided help in the early weeks and cleared the mountains of debris.
But Mr. Takahashi lost everything he needs for oyster farming. As oysters take two years to grow, he diversified into wakame seaweed—an essential item for miso soup—to secure an immediate income.
“I feel uneasy about my future. With loans I bought new equipment, but I had to begin with something,” says Mr. Takahashi.
Agriculture was devastated by the tsunami. Satoshi Abe, a 34-year-old farmer who grows cucumbers and tomatoes in Higashi Matsushima, told me he lost five out of seven members of his family, including his wife, his mother and three children.
“My heart was completely empty. Every day, I asked myself what I was going to do. I needed to set an objective in my life,” said Mr. Abe.
He created an agriculture company to restart growing vegetables with three other young farmers. With the support of a local cooperative, Mr. Abe and his colleagues worked around the clock rebuilding a couple of greenhouses on one-hectare plots of land. With the help of 15 part-time workers, his farm has grown its first season of tomatoes.
“Sharing managerial burdens with my colleagues and working in a family-like atmosphere, I feel much better now,” he says, smiling. “In fact, I now have a dream to expand this farm.”
At the end of my visit, I went up to the hill top of Hiyoriyama and looked down over the “ground zero” of Ishinomaki again. I was amazed to see how the piles of debris have been reduced or removed. A famous sign saying “Ganbarou Ishinomaki!” stands in the middle of the flattened, empty landscape. “Ganbarou” is a common Japanese word meaning “Let’s get through this.”
For many of the people in Ishinomaki, the crisis is far from over, and their day-to-day struggles continue. The situation cannot be portrayed as a simple, linear recovery path following the relief phase. The disaster exposed some pre-existing structural problems in this region: rapidly ageing communities; the migration of young people to cities; a shortage of skilled workers and people to work in agriculture and fisheries; and economic stagnation. There are plans to build 4,000 public houses within five years in Ishinomaki, as many families have to be resettled from temporary housing or from their current homes in low-lying areas at risk of another tsunami. People will have to make difficult choices.
The disaster opened up a space for people to discuss the town’s future and how it should connect with the outside world. In particular, people have come to appreciate the importance of “kizuna”, or human bonds, to the recovery effort.
During the disaster, OCHA dispatched an expert team to Japan to help the Government to report on humanitarian needs and receive international assistance. OCHA’s Japan office works closely with Japanese partners to share lessons learned of the tsunami and to jointly help other nations better respond to humanitarian crises.
More>> OCHA Japan
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Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have implanted false memories into mice, bringing science a step closer to understanding how and why humans form false memories.
Memories are stored in assemblies of neurons, called engram-bearing cells. When we recall past events, our brain reconstructs them with these data-filled cells, but just the act of accessing a memory distorts it.
In a previous study last year, MIT researchers detected a single memory in the brain, genetically tagged the brain cells housing that memory with a light-sensitive protein, and used pulses of light to "turn on" the memory at any given moment.
Scientists at the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics have built on that work by altering the memory to change its contents -- creating a false memory.
Researchers isolated the memory of a safe environment, Box A, and tagged it for light-sensitivty. Next, they placed the mouse in the completely different environment of Box B, and engaged their memory of Box A while exposing their feet to electric shocks.
Later, when the mouse returned to the safe environment of Box A, they cowered in fear. Researchers then put the mouse in a completely different Box C, activated the memory of Box A, and elicited the same fear response.
"Human studies utilizing behavioral and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) techniques have not been able to delineate the hippocampal subregions and circuits responsible for generating false memories," said study author Susumu Tonegawa, Picower Professor of Biology and Neuroscience and director of the RIKEN-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics.
"Our experiments provide the first animal model in which false and genuine memories can be investigated at the memory engram level."
Almost three-quarters of the first 250 people to be exonerated by DNA evidence in the US were victims of faulty eyewitness testimony.
Tonegawa, who won the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1987, said that only humans have false memories naturally.
"Humans are the most amazing, imaginative animals," he said. "Just like our mice, an aversive or appetitive event could be associated with a past experience one may happen to have in mind at that moment, hence a false memory is formed," Tonegawa said.
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Evolution's 'Best' Examples
by Brian Thomas, M.S. *
If Charles Darwin could see today's best examples of evolution, would he be elated or depressed?
The well-known British naturalist popularized the idea of "natural selection," speculating that life could originate from non-life through natural means rather than through a living Creator. But finding examples of natural selection in action has proved to be difficult, even for modern researchers. In the journal Science, Dolph Schluter of the University of British Columbia summarized the current status of natural selection studies--which he admitted have been few.
One problem with conducting a rigorous study of natural selection is that there are so many factors involved. Pinning down what environmental factor supposedly influenced which trait is very difficult, likely impossible. Difficulties like this have probably dissuaded a more serious study of natural selection, though there has been no lack of speculation for the past 150 years as to its possible and varied manifestations.
Examples of natural selection cited by Schluter include studies of threespine stickleback fish, varieties of which can live in fresh water or the ocean. He also listed walking stick insect varieties that prefer different host plants, marine snails that live in differing regions of the intertidal zone, and mosquito fish, which tend to adopt more streamlined shapes when living in the presence of predators. In each example, small changes occurred in some individuals, and these then tended to breed with one another.
Schluter concluded that "the discovery that reproductive isolation can be brought about by ecological adaptation in ordinary phenotypic [visible] traits bridges Darwin's science of speciation and our own."1
However, maintaining that any such bridge exists between Darwinistic imaginings and scientific realities ignores at least two considerations.
First, these studies concluded that the alterations made to organisms were a result of the environment acting upon the organisms, making the assumption that the environment was the active agent and the organisms were passive. The research failed to rule out the opposite possibility--that the environment was passive and the organisms actively underwent changes.
A better description of what took place would be internal genetic selection, if the alterations observed were the result of well-planned internal capacities to "select" the best features. But this points to an original high-quality design, something that doubtless would not mesh well with a naturalistic philosophy that holds that life progressed from simple to ever-more-complex forms.
Second, what do these subtle changes to certain traits have to do with the overarching evolutionary myth of particles-to-people? Schluter listed the examples as instances of "speciation" because researchers observed that a new offshoot from an original population no longer prefers to interbreed with its ancestral population. But this kind of "speciation" has nothing to do with generating fundamentally different body plans, as would be required for the development of new kinds of organisms.
Instead, it has everything to do with confusing the issue by invoking different definitions of “species” to suit various explanatory needs. Oddly, Schluter referred to “a revision of the notion of speciation itself” as a conceptual advance.1 But if speciation is no longer to be described in terms of body form and plan, then it loses its relevance to the whole question of particles-to-people evolution.
What the science observes is two individuals (or populations) that no longer interbreed. In stark contrast, the story of evolution asserts that apes share a common ancestor with earthworms. How are these supposed to relate?
Subtle variations in stickleback fish bodies may only be demonstrations of well-designed internal capacities to generate variation. In any case, these mostly reversible trait permutations do not result in any change in basic body plan. The stickleback fishes are all still sticklebacks, the walking stick insects are still walking stick insects, etc. If Darwinian evolution is true, fundamental changes should be observable both in modern creatures and in fossils. They are not.
But if creation is true, then science should observe exactly what it does: designed capacities for variations to occur on well-constructed basic body plans. And this means that Darwin would undoubtedly be utterly disappointed in evolution's current "best" examples.
- Schluter, D. 2009. Evidence for Ecological Speciation and Its Alternative. Science. 323(5915): 737-741.
Image credit: Adrien Pinot
* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.
Article posted on December 3, 2010.
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1. Primitive chlorophyll-containing mainly aquatic eukaryotic organisms lacking true stems and roots and leaves.
5. Strike with disgust or revulsion.
10. Not reflecting light.
13. Solid swollen underground bulb-shaped stem or stem base and serving as a reproductive structure.
14. A low triangular area where a river divides before entering a larger body of water.
15. Gone by.
16. (Old Testament) The second patriarch.
17. A notable achievement.
18. The quantity contained in a keg.
19. An appreciable consequence (especially a lessening).
22. English theoretical physicist who applied relativity theory to quantum mechanics and predicted the existence of antimatter and the positron (1902-1984).
26. Title for a civil or military leader (especially in Turkey).
28. A loose sleeveless outer garment made from aba cloth.
29. Have a disagreement over something.
32. An informal term for a father.
34. A unit of conductance equal to the reciprocal of an ohm.
35. That is to say.
36. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.
37. Fiddler crabs.
41. A white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light.
42. A native of ancient Troy.
43. Youngest daughter of the prophet Mohammed and wife of the fourth calif Ali.
46. Angular distance above the horizon (especially of a celestial object).
47. A radioactive element of the actinide series.
48. A soft yellow malleable ductile (trivalent and univalent) metallic element.
49. An early French settler in the Maritimes.
56. A unit of electrical power in an AC circuit equal to the power dissipated when 1 volt produces a current of 1 ampere.
57. (informal) Very bad.
60. Consisting of or made of wood of the oak tree.
61. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.
62. In this place or thing or document.
63. The compass point that is one point east of due south.
64. A young woman making her debut into society.
65. The act of escaping physically.
66. How long something has existed.
1. Harsh or corrosive in tone.
2. Fail to keep or to maintain.
3. The father of your father or mother.
4. Italian violin maker in Cremona.
5. A public promotion of some product or service.
6. A tricycle (usually propelled by pedalling).
7. Humble request for help.
8. Goddess of criminal rashness and its punishment.
9. A boy or man.
10. A mountain in the Himalayas in Nepal (27,790 feet high).
11. American novelist (1909-1955).
12. A one-piece cloak worn by men in ancient Rome.
20. A compartment in front of a motor vehicle where driver sits.
21. The villain in William Shakespeare's tragedy who tricked Othello into murdering his wife.
23. An intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores.
24. An alloy of copper and zinc (and sometimes arsenic) used to imitate gold in cheap jewelry and for gilding.
25. A Buddhist who has attained nirvana.
27. An amino acid that is found in the central nervous system.
30. A tax on employees and employers that is used to fund the Social Security system.
31. Not only so, but.
33. Wild sheep of northern Africa.
38. Crust or layer of hard subsoil encrusted with calcium-carbonate occurring in arid or semiarid regions.
39. The brightest star in Scorpius.
40. A master's degree in fine arts.
44. A plant hormone promoting elongation of stems and roots.
45. Mucus-secreting membrane lining all body cavities or passages that communicate with the exterior.
46. A unit of force equal to the force exerted by gravity.
50. (of a young animal) Abandoned by its mother and raised by hand.
51. An Arabic speaking person who lives in Arabia or North Africa.
52. A lawman concerned with narcotics violations.
53. A unit of force equal to the force that imparts an acceleration of 1 cm/sec/sec to a mass of 1 gram.
54. Open-heart surgery in which the rib cage is opened and a section of a blood vessel is grafted from the aorta to the coronary artery to bypass the blocked section of the coronary artery and improve the blood supply to the heart.
55. Widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions for its fragrant flowers and colorful fruits.
58. Seed of a pea plant.
59. A disease of poultry.
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This item is only available as the following downloads:
MALAWI: FOCUS ON A BEAN CULTURE
E. Bortei-Doku, Ph.D.
P. W. Barnes-McConnell, Ph.D.
Michigan State University
0. T. Edje, Ph.D.
Bunda College of Agriculture
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1035
B '~i LinZ
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ION 1: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW .. . .
ION 2: ECOLOGICAL AND FARMING SYSTEMS . .
A. Ecological Zones . . .
A.1 The Southern Region . ..
A.2 The Central Region . .
A.3 The Northern Region . .
B. Demographic and Ethnic Features . .
B.1 Population . . .
B.2 Ethnic Groups . .. .
C. Social Organization and Agro-Ecological Adaptation
Among the Tumbuka, Chewa, and Nyanja of Malawi .
C.1 The Northern Region: The Tumbuka-Hengas .
C.2 The Central Region: The Chewas ...
C.3 The Southern Region: The Nyanjas .
D. Gender-Specific Farming Activities . .
D.1 Women in the North: The Tumbuka-Hengas ...
D.2 Women in the Central Region: Chewa Women .
D.3 Women in the Southern Region: Nyanja Women .
E. Agricultural Practices and Production .
TION 3: REPORT ON BEAN PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION RESEARCH
A. Utilization . . .
B. Leaf Pludking as Production Constraint .
C. Maize and Beans in Association . .
D. Use of Leucaena Prunings as Fertilizer .
E. Growing Beans on Residual Moisture . .
F. Plant Population and Planting Patterns .
IN .LAWI .
G. Researching the Social Science of Bean Production/Utilization 48
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . ..... . 52
MALAWI: FOCUS ON A BEAN CULTURE
SECTION 1: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
The area now known as Malawi is a landlocked country in the south central
part of Africa. It occupies an area of about 45,747 square miles (118,484 sq.
km.), including inland water. Physically the country is long and narrow, about
504 miles (840 km.) from north to south and is situated between latitudes 9 1/2
and 17 south of the Equator. The country is generally about 60 miles wide,
being about 100 miles at its widest point.
Early human remains suggest that people lived in the region from the Stone
Age. They were apparently people who were small of stature, providing for
themselves by hunting, gathering and fishing. Their peaceful existence for
hundreds of years was ended when groups of Bantu peoples, most of whom were
pastoralists and agriculturalists, began migrating in from the north. Their
iron-making skills contributed to much of the dominance of these latter groups.
Later migrations of subgroups developed their own languages and cultures in
designated areas. Internal trading among the groups was a prevalent means of
providing needed commodities (Pachai, 1973).
Subsequent migrations of other African groups, as well as Arabs and
Europeans, contributed to the externalization of trade (initially the most
valuable goods being ivory). Over time, there was increasing conflict over
land, goods and eventually slaves. Certain powerful African groups began
providing slaves to the Arabs to work their large clove plantations on the
islands of Zanzibar, Pemba, etc. and then to the French in the Indian Ocean,
who needed slaves for their sugar and spice plantations on Mauritius and
Reunion. The African slave traders were paid in salt, beans, calico, etc. In
addition to the "earnings," it was also a way chiefs could get rid of enemies
and other unwanted people. With the opening of the New World, when America
proved not to have an available labor force, the Europeans found the importa-
tion of African slave labor for their mines and sugar and cotton plantations
there a natural extension of their previous miserable business. Trading for
beads, calico and salt, and later guns and gunpowder, the Arabs and Portuguese
usually sailed the Indian Ocean along the east coast of Africa, buying ivory,
gold, tortoiseshell and slaves. Men, women and children to be sold into
slavery were taken across Lake Malawi and marched to the coast to be picked up.
It was the missionaries, beginning with David Livingstone, who were the most
instrumental in the external abolition of slave-trading. In setting up the
British protectorate, the slave-trading African groups had to be persuaded by
reason, economics or political defeat to acquiesce. The Portuguese, who also
had a strong interest in the area, had to be forcibly persuaded as well.*
Slowly, slave-trading was abolished and the announced protectorate by the
British took on increasing meaning. Economic interests in the areas spurred
the British to work for peace and to develop what became the basis for the
present economic infrastructure.
By 1880 a number of European coffee planters were already settled in the
Shire Highlands in Southern Malawi. But Malawi was formally declared a British
colony in 1891. At first the British referred to the country as Nyasaland.
In the 1920s, however, pressure from the white settlers to unify colonial
economies in the region led to the formation of the Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland. The name of the country was once again changed after independence
from Britain in 1964.
*Their contribution to slave-running to the New World is well known with a
large population of Portuguese descendants yet today in Providence, RI, a
major slave port during those years.
Colonization gave the British control over Malawi and authority to modify
indigenous institutions. By a gradual process of imposition, the foreign power
introduced a new system of government and economic relations among the people.
For example, British land tenure policies allowed settlers to obtain large
areas of fertile farm land for minimal prices. Similarly a taxation program
was introduced that forced the indigenous people to work for long periods on
settler farms. In addition, colonization or the promotion of colonial trade
led to the communication and marketing of Western technological infrastructure
in the southern region of the country. Thus, a concentration of cash crop
farming in this area was encouraged, while many of the Northern peoples
remained subsistence farmers. Seasonal migration became very popular during
the dry season months, as able-bodied men, women and children travelled south
to look for employment. Migration was less frequent, however, among women and
children. Between 1948 and 1962, 544,000 men, compared to 95,000 women, left
to work in South Africa (Boeder, 1973:37).
An early attempt to overcome colonialism by a Malawian, John Chilembwe,
ended with his assassination in 1915 while he was leading an uprising aga
the colonial government. After several isolated riots caused mainly by rural
disenchanted farmers against the colonialist had failed, Dr. Hastings Banda, a
US and British-trained Malawi physician, was invited home in 1958 to assume
leadership of another independence movement known as the Nyasaland African
Congress. He was imprisoned for his subversionist activities in 1960 but was
released in 1961 to represent the new Malawi Congress Party in a referendum.
Dr. Banda's party won the election by a wide margin, and on July 16, 1964,
Nyasaland attained independence from Britain and was renamed Malawi. Dr. Banda
has contained opposition to his government and, despite advancing age, is
still the vigorous, active life president of the country.
The impact of colonialism on the indigenous social, economic and political
arrangements of the people cannot be overstated. Furthermore, it had direct
implications for the role of women in the farm family network. Displacement
from original farm lands, for example, was one of the major problems in places
like the Shire Highlands where settler farming activities were expansive. The
indigenous farmers gradually became tenants rather than owners of the land.
However, factors other than colonialism have also shaped the current farm
family characteristics in the country. They are ecological, demographic and
ethnic in origin.
SECTION 2: ECOLOGICAL AND FARMING SYSTEMS
A. Ecological Zones
Malawi can be divided into about thirteen fairly distinct ecological zones.
However, the country is broadly described in two major terms as cool and wet
on the uplands (Scarps, Plains, Plateaus and hills) and hot and dry in the low-
lying rift valley areas. For convenience, the ecological zones of the country
are described within the boundaries of the three administrative regions of the
country, namely, the Southern, Central and the Northern Regions. Malawi is
said to have some of the most fertile soils in the region, especially recent
alluvial, lacustrine and aeolian soils in the plains, lakeshore areas and
valleys like the Shire River Valley (Hutcheson, 1983-1984:533).
The major lake, Lake Malawi, is the third largest natural lake in Africa,
covering two-thirds of the largest rift valley in the world, namely the African
Rift Valley. The lake occupies an area of about 11,430 sq. miles, which
stretches over all of the eastern half of the Northern Region and a significant
proportion of the eastern part of the Central Region. Lake Malawi is about
330 miles from north to south and about 18 to 45 miles wide in some places
(Young and Young, 1978:11). Every year the lake level drops during the dry
season and rises again during the rainy season (Agnew and Stubbes, 1972).
Several rivers flowing from the hills in the North and Central Regions of the
country drain into the lake. The largest river in the country, namely the
Shire River, takes its source from the lake. The Shire has three main
sections: the Upper Shire, the Central Shire and the Lower Shire. The river
flows for about 250 miles south into the Zambezi, through the southern portion
of the African Rift Valley.
The number of rainy days in a region has important implications for
agricultural activity. The Southern Region has the lowest number of rainy days
in the country, with a range of about 77 to 89 rainy days in the year, except
on the southern Shire Highlands where there can be as many as 130 rainy days
in the year. The Central Region has an impressive range of rainy days, from
about 83 to 103, in the very wet areas. The North is both very dry and very
moist in some parts, with a range of about 77 to 130 rainy days in the year.
Settlement patterns in the country closely reflect the geography and climate
of the different districts.
A.1. The Southern Region
The Southern Region is normally divided into four ecological or natural
regions. These are the Upper Shire and Bwanje Valleys, the Lower Shire Valley
and the Matandwe Foothills. The region is often divided into eight ecological
zones. These are the Upper and Lower Shire Valleys, the Kirk Range, the Lake
Chilwa and Namwera Plains and Hills, Mulanje, the Shire Highlands and the
Blantyre-Limbe district (Young and Young, op. cit.:70).
The altitude in the Southern Region varies sharply from the low-lying
valley areas, where it is about 630 feet, to over 4,900 feet on the highlands
and plains. Zomba Mountain reaches 6,800 feet while Mulanje Massif rises to
over 9,000 feet. It is generally quite hot in the South except in the very
high mountain areas. Annual mean temperatures range from a low of about 540F
in the winter months to a high of about 990F in the summer. Rainfall here is
relatively lower than it is in the other regions of the country. Total annual
rainfall in some places is as low as 32 inches, compared to 40 inches in the
highlands and plains. Long and severe dry seasons are common in this region,
especially in the Lower Shire Valley. The wettest part of the Southern Region
is around Blantyre in the Shire Highlands, the Zomba-Chikala pediment and the
northern part of the Kirk Range.
The soils of the Southern Region include fertile alluvial soils in parts
of the Lower Shire Valley and the Chilwa Plains. Other common soil types here
are ferruginous soils on the Kawinga Plain, the eastern Bwanje valley and the
Blantyre and Zomba areas. Ferrallitic soils can also be found on the Chilwa
and Salima Plains and the Chileka area, as well as the Mangoche forest reserves
and the Kirk range. There are also extensive marsh areas around Lake Chilwa
and along parts of the Shire River (Elephant Marsh and Ndindi Marsh). The
natural vegetation in several parts of the Southern Region has disappeared due
to extensive farming, but savanna grassland and scrub are commonly found in the
valleys and other low-lying areas, while termite-resistant woodlands are wide-
spread on the highlands and plains. Many of the tree species have the capacity
to fix nitrogen. Some of the common tree types in the south include Acacia
albida, Cordyla Africana and Brachystegia woodland.
A.2. The Central Region
Many of the geographical features of the Southern Region can also be found
in the Central Region of Malawi. There are about six dominant ecological types
in this region. They are: the Kasungu Plain, the Lilongwe Plain, the Dowa
Hills, the Nkhota Kota and Salima Lakeshore Plains and the Dedza Hills. Alti-
tudes rise to over 7,000 feet in some places, and mean annual temperatures
range from a low of about 45F to about 870F in October. Rainfall in the
Central Region is also low with a range of 33 to 38 inches annually. Fertile
ferruginous/red soils are common here, especially on the Lilongwe Plain; and
sandy ferrallitic/yellowish-red soils are to be found on the Kasungu and Salima
Plains. Much of the original vegetation in this region has also been destroyed
because of extensive tobacco cultivation and other farm practices, but woodland
and thicket still survive in some places, as well as sandy grassland and marsh
The wettest and the warmest part of the Central Region is around the Nkhota
Kota Lakeshore area, where annual rainfall ranges from about 48 to 63 inches
and mean maximum temperature may be as high as 900F (Malawi Statistical
Generally there are fewer hills here than in the other regions. The
Central Region is not only important for agricultural reasons, but also because
it accomodates the capital city of Malawi, Lilongwe. The Lilongwe District has
about one-third of the total population of the region.
A.3. The Northern Region
Northern Malawi has even sharper ecological contrasts than in the Central
and Southern Regions. The natural regions here also coincide with the
administrative districts. They are: the Chitipa Plains, the Misuku Hills,
the Karonga Lakeshore Plain, the Nyika and Viphya Plateaus, the Rhumphi-Mzimba
Plains and the Nkata Bay Lowlands. The Northern Region is generally cooler
than the other areas of the country, although some of the valley areas can be
very hot in the summer. The mean annual range of temperature is about 450F to
800F. The Nkata Bay Lowland is the wettest part of the region and is con-
sidered to be a good agricultural district. Mean annual rainfall here varies
from 42 to 63 inches, slightly higher than in other parts of the country.
Overall, altitudes are higher in the Northern Region than in the other regions,
the highest areas, like the Nyika Plateau, rise to over 8,000 feet. However
there are low altitude areas such as the Karonga Lakeshore Plain. There is a
delta on the plain extending into Lake Malawi, built by sediment from the North
Rukuru River. Parts of the delta are often flooded and have dambo clays with
Ferrallitic soils are widespread in most parts of the Northern Region,
especially on the plateaus. In addition ferruginous soils are common around
Misuku and Mzuzu. Except on the higher elevations where plant growth is slow
and poor, woodland is found in many areas. Grassland vegetation, however,
grows in the less fertile areas.
B. Demographic and Ethnic Features
Malawi is one of the relatively densely populated countries in south-
central Africa, with a population of 6,282,000 and an average density estimated
to be 66.6 per mile in 1982 (Hutcheson, op. cit.:533). The highest population
density here is in the South, at 97 people per square mile, compared to as
little as 26 persons per square mile in certain parts of the North (Young and
Young, op. cit.:51).
A combination of the historical and physical factors have led to a very
uneven population distribution in Malawi. Half of the population lives in the
more economically developed South, while only 12 percent of the total popula-
tion lives in the Northern Region. The largest settlement in the country is
the Blantyre-Limbe complex, with a population of 219,011, followed by the
capital city of Lilongwe with 98,718 people in 1977. Mzuzu, the capital of the
North, had only a population of 16,108 in 1977. The crude birth rate for the
country is 48.3 per 1,000, and the crude death rate is 25.0 per 1,000. Like
many African countries the population of Malawi is young, as 40 percent of the
population was under the age of 15 in 1977 (ibid.). The birth rate at that
time was 2.9 percent annually (ibid.). The youth of the population is
demonstrated by a visit to Malawi where one sees few women who are neither
pregnant, with a small child or both, those of child-bearing age visibly more
numerous tha the older women.
As is to be expected in each region the most heavily populated areas are
the more fertile plains and valley floors. The hills and scarps are the least
populated parts of the country, although the spreading mosaic of terraced crops
attest to the rapidly growing size of the population in the hills. Population
is commonly regarded as one of Malawi's important resources because of the
large numbers of migrant workers that leave to work in other neighboring
African countries, especially the South African mines. In recent years the
Malawian government has taken steps to reduce the number of migrant workers to
other countries (Hutcheson, op. cit.:533).
B.2. Ethnic Groups
There are about nine dominant ethnic groups in Malawi. In the South the
Nyanja, a Maravi people, are considered to be among the major groups. The Yao,
who came increasingly influenced by the Arabs and Islam, are also an important
ethnic group in the South. They are said to have fled into the country after
breaking away from the Zulus in South Africa. The Yaos arrived after 1850 and
settled between Mangochi and Zomba (Young and Young, op. cit.:52-53). The
Lomwes also migrated into the South, coming from Mozambique after 1900. They
occupy the Mulanje, Thyolo and Chiradzulu districts of the South (ibid.).
In the Central Region the dominant ethnic group is the Chewa, followed by
the Ngoni. The latter group came to Malawi around 1845 from South Africa and
settled near Dowa and Dedza. In the Northern Region the Timbuku are the major
ethnic group, but there are also several smaller groups there. They include
the Nkhonde on the Karonga Lakeshore Plain, the Tonga on the Nkhota Bay
Lakeshore, the Hewe in the Nyika Plateau and the Sukwa in the Misuku Hills
The closely related Nyanja and Chewa people together form about half of the
population of the country (ibid.). Malawi also has a White settler population
that dominates plantation agriculture in the Central Region. In 1977 there
were about 6,000 Europeans in Malawi. There were also 5,682 Asians mostly
engaged in store-keeping and other trading activities. There is yet no indi-
cation of any changes in the foreign population in the country. All of the
major Malawi languages in the country are said to belong to the Bantu language
group. Chichewa and English are the official languages, although English is
spoken by less than 20 percent of the population. Chichewa is, however, spoken
by more than 50 percent of the people (Paxton, 1982-83:362). Other important
languages here are Chilomwe (15 percent of the people), Chiyao (15 percent of
the people) and Chitumbuka (10 percent of the people) (ibid.).
C. Social Organization and Agro-Ecological Adaptation Among the Tumbuka, Chewa
and Nyanja of Malawi
Malawi's farming population has made various adjustments to accommodate the
geographical peculiarities of each region in the country. However some of the
patterns of adaptation are the direct response to changes that have taken place
in Malawian society, associated with land tenure and labor distribution in the
country. Many of these changes can be linked to colonial policy of the British
in Malawi, but some can be attributed to agricultural and labor policies of the
C.I. The Northern Region: The Tumbuka-Henga
In the Chitipa District of the North, maize, millet, groundnuts, beans* and
peas are grown extensively. This is an area of low fertility and low rainfall.
On the wetter Misuku Hills, coffee is grown on terraces. The Rumphi-Mzimba
District area is also an important food cultivation area in this region, even
though it is considered a drought area. The crops grown here are similar to
those in the Chitipa District. In addition fire-cured tobacco, oriental
tobacco and cattle-raising are given much attention in the area. In the very
wet Nkhata Bay area cassava, maize, tea and rice are the main crops cultivated.
The Northern Region is the home of seven major Tumbuka sub-ethnic groups,
namely the Henga whom Gregson has discussed in some detail (1978), the Kamanga
(Cullen, 1932), the Hewe, the Phoka, the Yombe, the Senga and the Tumbuka
proper (Gregson, 1978:37-45). The Hengas are a significant example of the
*Beans, not considered a crop indigenous to Africa, are reported to have been
introduced into Africa by the Portuguese, who used this commodity as a unit
various ways in which political, economic and geographical factors have shaped
the organization and practice of the rural farm family economy in Northern
The Hengas are a significant Tumbuka group that inhabits the Rumphi, Mzimba
and Karonga Districts, especially in the Henga Valley. They began resettling
the valley in the 1890s following British subjugation of the slave-raiding
African people, who had dispersed the Hengas through invasions ibidd.: 43).
The Ngonis, a feared fighting and plundering group in those days who
captured young men to swell their armies, are said to have significantly
modified Tumbuka culture. For example, the Tumbuka adopted Ngoni fighting
skills and weaponry, blacksmithing and cattle-raising practices. They even
modified their language (chitumbuka), religious beliefs and rituals on the
basis of Ngoni practices. In the process Tumbukas acquired elements of patri-
lineality in their political organization (Nelson, 1975:80). These matrilineal
people were originally part of a loosely structured trading state, Nkamanga,
ruled by Swahili-speaking peoples under the Chikuramayembe Dynasty (ibid.:41).
This state was insecure politically and was unable to defend itself against
raiding Ngonis in the 1850s. Hengas that were captured were taken into the
Mzimba Plateau, while those that escaped hid in hill areas or fled as far west
as Zambia (ibid.:42). The Henga Valley thus suffered a severe depopulation
during this period.
The main agricultural focus of the Hengas at this time was on the cultiva-
tion of maize, millet and pumpkins, as well as a variety of beans and peas.
Groundnuts were additionally grown in some places. Millet and groundnuts were
usually planted in the first year on a garden plot of about two acres and
alternated with the other crops in succeeding years (ibid.:45). Planting
methods in Henga agriculture have changed from seed broadcasting in the early
part of this century, to planting in holes. This was gradually abandoned in
favor of planting in mounds (tumbira), made up of heaps of earth about two feet
in diameter and one foot apart. Livingstone suggests that this system was used
in ancient Phoka agriculture (Livingstone, 1921:369; Gregson, op. cit.:46).
Later some farmers in this area adopted a contour ridge method of field
preparation, largely as a response to pressure from the colonial government in
the 1940s. Later in the 1950s farmers were also forced to dig bunds (ditches
about one foot deep and three feet wide) to protect farms from soil erosion
Gregson suggests that the acceptance of agricultural-innovation among the
Henga was directly related to the inflow and outflow of labor, especially able-
bodied men, at various phases in the twentieth century (ibid.:36). This
affected both technological practices, as well as the selection of some crops
based on their labor requirements.
As labor migration among men increased, beer-compensated cooperative labor
groups became dominated by women. They abandoned crops with high labor inputs
like finger millet in favor of less demanding crops like bananas, cassava and
mangoes that require minimal land clearing and have a high caloric return for
caloric effort (ibid.:44). Seed broadcasting was one of the popular labor-
saving techniques adopted by the women. Changes in economic behavior held
implications for social and other traditional customs. For example, the
reduction in millet cultivation capacity changed the traditional composition
of local beer (chindongawa), which traditionally is made up of maize flour,
pafya (a wild root) and millet flour. The women substituted sweet potato flour
instead of millet flour. Similarly, rituals that were formerly performed in
celebration of the early millet crop in February or March, signifying the end
of famine, were no longer appropriate with the changes in crops produced in the
Gregson's thesis about the relationship between labor and ecological
adaptation is best supported by the return to some of the abandoned agri-
cultural practices. When male labor returned to the Henga Valley in the late
1950s, he noted a "dramatic increase in rural manpower from decreased rate of
labor migration" (ibid.:48). At this point the men once again adopted the
slash-and-burn land clearing method and the cultivation of finger millet. This
crop once again replaced sweet potato as one of the key ingredients in the
preparation of local beer (ibid.).
The provision of the right tasting local beer to work groups (kilimiro) is
important when one realizes the vital nature of work assistance from one's kin
and friendly neighbors. Because of the nature of the rains, the speed of
planting has direct impact on crop output.
The important thing to note in the case of the Henga is the difficulty that
arises when an attempt is made to separate economic from non-economic deter-
minants of agricultural practices. Part of the reason why there was opposition
to the bunding system introduced by the colonial government was because it
disrupted the general pattern of dry season activity. During this period
farmers and their families engage in crafts for sale and domestic use,
marriages are contracted, people undertake long trips and others seek wage
employment to supplement their incomes (ibid.:47).
C.2. The Central Region: The Chewas
The Central Region of Malawi on the whole is the most prosperous
agricultural area in the country because of its extensive flat plains and
adequate rainfall. The major cash crop in the country, tobacco, is grown
extensively in the Kasungu and Lilongwe Plains on large estates owned by white
settler farmers. In Dowa and Lilongwe, several food crops, including maize,
groundnuts and vegetables, are also cultivated extensively as well as cattle
rearing. The dambos provide pasture for the cattle. In the Nkhota Kota area
sorghum, cassava, rice and cotton additionally are planted. There is an
agricultural development project here providing extension to cotton farmers.
In the cool Dedza Hills, Irish potatoes and beans are additional crops.
Rotation of maize and other crops is commonly practiced in this region on
relatively small farms. The higher density of population in the Central Region
is likely the major factor in the type of cropping method practiced here and
the size of small-scale farms (Young and Young, op. cit.).
The Chewas, who are the most populous ethnic group in Malawi today, are
also a matrilineal people like the Hengas further north. In the past the Chewa
kingdom was a highly centralized political structure with an extensive bureau-
cratic organization made up of two to four levels of offices. The structure
was led by a king at the top, followed by chiefs who were his subjects and
headmen who were subordinate to the king directly or through their chiefs
(Butler, 1976:70; Langworthy, 1972:106).
However by the end of the nineteenth century the Chewa kingdom had disinte-
grated under the attacks of Ngoni invaders from about 1840 (Butler, op. cit.).
As in most matrilineages, the basic unit of social organization among the
Chewas is the matriclan or the mbumba, which refers to all the grandaunts,
aunts, sisters and nieces who are dependent on a man as their "responsible
relative" (ibid.). A matriclan is led by a headman who is the eldest sister's
son. This is a powerful political and economic position that, in the past,
entitled a man to cattle, land, slaves and judiciary duties (ibid.:72). Now
the position of the headman among the Chewas potentially offers close contacts
with government officials. In a study of the Chewas, Butler found five
matriclans that were led by female headmen (ibid.).
In the Central Region also, labor migration patterns appear to be closely
related to some of the major changes that have taken place in the agricultural
practices of the Chewas. It has already been mentioned that shifting cultiva-
tion has disappeared in most places partly because of the high incidence of
migration among males in this region. Butler observed that "the men are
frequently absent, the women often work alone, or are aided by their children"
(ibid.:74). Chewa women are entitled to farm land rights, which are passed on
to them from their mother's lineage and which they can pass on to their
daughters. It is not surprising, therefore, that these women are said to
identify very closely with their farms (ibid.). Crafts industries and other
primary processing activity, such as the preparation of a hard liquor known as
kachasu (this is an illegal beverage in Malawi), are carried out by the women
to supplement their incomes. Men also take part in the cottage industries,
producing mats, iron tools and household utensils.
C.3. The Southern Region: The Nyanjas
As in the North, the sharply contrasting geographical features of Southern
Malawi have given rise to a wide variety of agricultural activities. In the
hot climate of the Upper Shire and Bwanje Valley, maize and sorghum are the
main food crops cultivated. However, cotton and sunflower are grown as cash
crops. In addition, this is a major fishing area, especially along the south-
eastern shore of Lake Malawi. The fish is dried or smoked and some is frozen.
In the Lower Shire Valley it is too dry for maize, but sorghum grows well here.
In addition, the area can account for about three-quarters of all the cotton
grown in Malawi, in the Chikwawa area. Sugar cane also grows well at Nchalo,
with the help of irrigation. The Lower Shire Development Project is the
largest agricultural project in the Southern Region, and it is focused on
providing extension services for small-scale cotton growers in the region. The
Kirk Range is cool enough for the cultivation of Irish potatoes, and small
quantities of wheat are also cultivated. Fishing is important along the shores
of Lake Chilwa (Phipps, 1973:37-48) but cotton is also widely cultivated in
this area. Interestingly, the big-time fishermen of Lake Chilwa are also some
of the most successful small-scale food producers in the area. Like others in
the farming community they count their wealth in cattle. Phipps describes the
aspiration of every fisherman as the desire to own a large head of cattle.
Livestock is regarded as a form of bank or security (Phipps, 1973:37-48). The
occasional drying up of Lake Chilwa makes these other economic interests very
important for the fishermen. Tea and tobacco are grown in Namwere Plains and
Hills and Mulanje, respectively.
The Nyanjas, as the dominant ethnic group of the South, are concentrated
in the Upper Shire Valley and in the Chilwa Basin. Here also the dominant
group is matrilineal, and it is organized into small kinship-based political
units that are autonomous. However, they are loosely bound together by a
shared culture. Nyanja agricultural activity is generally organized around
the basic household unit (Vaughan, 1982:353).
Fertile alluvial soils along the Upper Shire Valley have led to a high
density of population in the valley. In addition there are good dambos here
for cattle grazing. The area still has some problems that have caused
difficulties for farmers. The Upper Shire Valley lies in a rainfall shadow,
consequently it has low rainfall. In addition this is an area of periodic
flooding and drought conditions. Agricultural practices by small-scale famers
are therefore primarily intended to minimize the impact of these constraints
(ibid.). Finger millet and sorghum are widely grown because of their drought
resistant qualities and low moisture requirements (ibid.). Livingstone (1865)
noted a wide variety of crops that were grown here in the mid-nineteenth
century, namely millet, groundnuts, yams, rice, pumpkins, sweet potatoes and
In the past the Nyanjas cultivated maize all year round (ibid.). In the
regular planting season the crop was grown in holes in river-sand mounds heaped
on water-logged dambos. In the dry season the Nyanjas planted a second crop
of maize "in a sandy depression through which a perennial stream flowed, and
sowing the maize in the bottom of these holes." (Vaughan, op. cit.:354). In
addition to food production, cotton was also grown for the indigenous textile
industry. Fishing was also important to the Nyanjas (ibid.).
There are many similarities between the Highlands Nyanja and those of the
Upper Shire Valley. However, their different environments have led to
different adaptive responses. Among the Highlanders, for example, bush-
fallowing rather than crop rotation is common. Rainfall on the highlands is
higher and more reliable, and the vegetation is woodland rather than grass.
The two groups of Nyanjas have a well-organized system of commercial and gift
exchange between them, which must be seen as part of the adaptive mechanism of
the two groups. The extent of gift exchange is said to be declining in
significance in favor of commercial exchanges. The items most frequently
exchanged among clan members include crafts products and foodstuffs. In the
past these incoming resources were so important to the family budget that they
were actually calculated into the domestic economy (Vaughan, op. cit.:355).
The primary Nyanja household seem to have extensive control over family
resources, without any regular tribute payments to chiefs. Vaughan suggests
that the extensive decentralization in the control of production and industrial
output may be due to the fact that resources such as patches of fertile land
and iron ore deposits are wide-spread in the two areas. In contrast, the
Chilwa fishing industry in the same area is largely controlled by chiefs.
The impact of colonialism on the food-production systems of small-scale
farmers in Malawi is perhaps best illustrated by the massive land alienation
that White settler farmers have caused indigenous farmers in the Southern
Region. There were disruptions of labor supply and food production, due to the
new demands that were made for income through the use of male labor. Labor
migration became necessary as men sought ways of making money to pay the taxes
(hut tax). In addition, manufactured European goods in shops acted as an
incentive for wage-labor. The situation was less dramatic in the Shire Valley.
Despite land appropriation by the settlers, there was still more land to be
cultivated by the Nyanjas. Labor investment for food production remained
Food security continues to be fundamental to Nyanja economic activity. It
is not surprising, therefore, that cotton has failed to attract these farmers.
Groundnut production as a cash crop, on the other hand, was favorably received
by the people. It has been suggested that this may be related to the edible
quality of groundnut. According to Vaughan the cultivation of cotton inter-
feres with the food crop cycle. Cotton is planted in November or December,
coinciding with the planting period of the major food crops, namely maize,
millet and sorghum.
D. Gender Related Farming Issues
Although much literature on women's position and roles in Malawian society
is not readily available, limited documentation exists that helps to give some
indication of the general trends. Two interesting factors emerge from the
available literature. First, many of the major ethnic groups in the country
are organized along the lines of matrilineage, suggesting certain privileges
for women which are supposedly not available to women in patrilineal groups.
Second, the literature suggests that Malawian rural women have historically
been very flexible in the roles they perform. On numerous occasions they have
assumed what are normally considered to be male roles in order to survive.
This observation is important because it directs attention to the dynamic
rather than the static roles of women in this society.
Interestingly, women seem to have greater opportunities to diversify their
roles and achieve mobility in the area of economic activity than they do in the
political sphere. Thus while the economic roles of men and women are likely
to overlap, even publicly, political roles always seem to be very clearly
defined and separated, especially in public. In several communities women are
barred from membership in male organizations, such as secret societies, that
invariably enhance one's social status and creates access to power-positions
in the community. Gender roles in selected ethnic groups in the North, South
and Central Regions of Malawi are reviewed here to illustrate the role of women
in the farm family economic institution. Particular attention is paid to the
position of women through work, marriage and kinship.
The division of labor in indigenous Malawian society is typical of what is
reported from other Black African, non-moslem societies. Travers describes
gender roles in the country as follows: "Women draw water, gather firewood and
do everything connected with food preparation. Both men and women weed
and harvest the fields, men alone clear land, erect and build granaries, and
build kraals. The cultivation of cash crops is men's work as well." (Boeder,
D.1. Women in the North: The Tumbuka-Hengas
In the Northern Region, Tumbuka women's lives are greatly tied to their
participation in food production, harvesting, storage, preparation and market-
ing. In visits to the field in Malawi, CRSP researchers reported that the
women were actively involved in digging the fields with small hoes, planting
maize and beans, harvesting and threshing produce, as well as in the prepara-
tion of the crop for consumption (CRSP, March 1982). Plowing is an exclusive
male activity when there are male members of the family available. In their
absence women do their own plowing, unless they can afford to employ somebody
to help. The men also participate in weeding and harvesting of crops (ibid.).
Evidently women in this environment have a great many responsibilities they
are expected to fulfill. In a study of Tumbuka men and women, over an average
thirty-minute period, the ratio of female activities performed to male
activities was 6:1 (Barnes-McConnell and Goduka, u.n.:10). An analysis of the
observed behavior in that study determined that among 10-19 year olds males
were engaged in social and personal activities 65 percent of the time, compared
to 45 percent for the females. The males were engaged in domestic activity 13
percent of the time, compared to 31 percent of the time for females. Despite
the large difference in the male/female participation in domestic work,
females' involvement in agricultural activity was comparable to that of males
(9 percent and 11 percent, respectively). In conclusion, the authors noted
that in this Tumbuka community men generally focus on single tasks that are
often individually time-consuming and frequently lead to financial rewards.
On the other hand, women frequently engage in multiple activities concurrently
that are, for the most part, each individually of short duration and may not
involve any direct financial rewards (ibid.).
Gregson (op. cit.) brings out the versatility of Tumbuka women in his
references to the ability of Henga women to make adjustments to the incidence
of male labor migration to the South. For example, these women assumed control
of work groups when there was a shortage of male labor in the community. In
addition, they modified the system of land preparation, adopting the more
efficient system of crop-rotation. Also they substituted crops which were
described as more calorie efficient.
Very little literature is available to the writer on women's political
positions and influence in the Northern Region of Malawi. However, there are
interesting findings based on some preliminary results of an AID-funded
Resources and Extension Survey, in which 15 percent of the heads of households
were found to be women (Chitipa and Karonga). Spring reported that almost all
the male and female heads of households owned hoes at the time of her study.
However only 12.percent of female heads owned plows, compared to 21 percent of
male heads. Other resources like ox carts were scarce in the community, but
they were usually owned by men when present. Also, on extension to the
farmers, she found that men received more advice on the same topics and more
advice on more topics than did female heads (Spring, 1981:5). Other reports
on agricultural education reiterate that, historically, agricultural instruc-
tion has been aimed at men and not women, despite the fact that missions and
government consistently reported that food production was in female hands
D.2. Women in the Central Region: Chewa Women
In the Central Region the daily life of a Chewa woman "revolves around
annual agricultural cycles and the mutual obligations and responsibilities to
domestic members." (Butler, 1976:102). The women here have similar duties and
expectations as can be found in most parts of Malawi rural society. Butler
groups these into: agricultural activities, domestic activities and other
activities which include participation in social functions, cottage industry
activity and working with labor work groups (ibid.:105). The Chewa women have
been selected for special attention in this section because the Chewas are the
largest ethnic group in the Central Region. It is important to note, however,
that there are other important groups here with a different system of kinship
patrilineall) and, therefore, some differences exist between the two systems
of division of labor.
Chewa women usually work in small groups, traditionally made up of women
only, though this might embrace different generations. In groups the women
hoe, plant, weed, harvest, husk maize, sort groundnuts and beans, fetch water
and carry firewood, go to the maize mill, cook and make beer. However, small
jobs are done alone (ibid.). The socialization of girls into these roles and
the skills they require start at an early age, as they are encouraged to
participate in these duties with their sisters, mothers, aunts and grandmothers
(ibid.). In the performance of agricultural tasks, there is a close relation-
ship between the men and the women, with men performing the heavy duty jobs
like tree felling. Even in the construction of garden fences, women carry the
building materials while men do the actual building (ibid.). Ironically
tobacco farming is regarded as men's work but, among the Chewas, women work in
the tobacco nurseries transplanting, weeding and harvesting. In addition they
usually prepare fire for smoking tobacco but are, however, banned from the
curing and sorting process. Other jobs that are considered men's jobs include
roofing, carpentry, metal work, basket-weaving and mat weaving. Women can also
make extra income from growing groundnuts for the market and making beer or
liquor for sale (ibid.).
Within the work group women owe obligations to each other. The extent of
service a woman receives from other women in the group is usually determined
by her age and position in the kin group. For example, a daughter (in-law) is
expected to help her mother (in-law) with her work, which would include
cooking, pounding, and garden maintenance. Among women, the garden plots are
usually handed down from mother to daughter, especially if the daughter lives
among her matrilineage. In situations where a daughter-in-law inherits a
garden from her mother-in-law, she can still transfer it to her daughter.
Generally Chewa women appear to enjoy some of the privileges of being econom-
ically independent of their husband, as well as having control over marital
residency and husband's access to farm land. Chewa kinship is organized on the
basis of the matrilineage and requires uxorilocal residence of the new couple.
In some instances after a few years of marriage and service to his in-laws
(some in-laws request labor on farms), a husband may request to be allowed to
take his family to his own village (virilocal residence). Chewa husbands are
traditionally viewed as strangers to the village.
Chewa marriages do not involve the payment of bridewealth as is customary
among the Ngonis and the Tumbuka. For Chewa women separation and divorce are
comparatively easier to obtain. The consanguineal family is primarily respon-
sible for the welfare of children, and a husband's wealth is expected to be
inherited by his sister's son. In many polygamous marriage situations wives
live in their own villages. Chewa female members of the royal families are
also eligible for headmanship of the village.
Chewa husbands have attempted to counteract the independence and power of
their wives by a variety of means. One of the most prestigious is the Nyau
Secret Society, to which only males could belong until recently. Now selected
women like female headmen are allowed to be members of the society (Phiri,
1983:257-274). The society has a code of secrecy and also uses a secret
language. The Nyau Societies give men an opportunity to hold office in the
village and to claim special powers in relation to the ancestors. They perform
ritual dances at marriages, funerals and puberty initiation rites.
Generally Chewa women are regarded as relatively powerful. In a study of
the basis of influence among these women, Butler noted that women with a wide
domestic influence sphere (DIS) are regarded as powerful. She identified the
source of DIS as a function of a woman's access to two types of resources,
namely (1) resources that reward, such as: economic autonomy, personal compe-
tency, reproductive competency, socialibility; and (2) resources that legiti-
mize, such as: the seniority of age, married status, mothering and sisterly
roles, gift-giving, supernatural powers, affiliation with the Malawian Congress
Party (MCP) (Butler, 1976:179-260). Further, matrilineage is said by some to
prepare women better for the absence of their menfolk (ibid.).
D.3. Women in the Southern Region: Nyanja Women
Conditions for Nyanja women in Southern Malawi may be more difficult
compared to the environment of their counterparts in other parts of the
country. Both the Upper Shire Valley and the Shire Highlands, which are the
traditional homes of the Nyanjas, are susceptible to droughts. In addition,
extensive appropriation of land by European farmers has taken fertile lands
away from the small-scale farming population (Vaughan, 1982:351-364). In the
past, the estate owners were allowed to extract labor-rent from the people in
a form of quasi-feudal arrangement known as thangata. Farmers who still
resided on alienated land would devote one to three months working the fields
of his landlord. On some estates both men and- women were required to provide
thangata for long periods of time, under very harsh conditions. Naturally this
had grave consequences during the peak agricultural season. In addition, a
number of the men left home for wage-labor in the towns and cities. These
conditions were especially true for the Nyanjas of the Shire Highlands (ibid.).
Consequently, in the Shire Highlands "a disproportionate amount of labor
. fell on female shoulders." In addition, small-holders were very dis-
satisfied with thangata and staged several riots to eliminate this practice.
Thangata was abolished in the early 1960s. Currently the form of tenancy that
is in use is known as the "visiting-tenant" system, where small-scale farmers
cultivate both cash crops and food crops. The cash crop is sold to the estate
owner, at a buyer's price (Kydd and Christiansen, 1982:358). This system has
also had repercussions on peasant agriculture. By the 1970s a growing number
of male labor was working full-time on estates, despite evidence of decreasing
real wages. It is safe to speculate that perhaps Nyanjas were forced into such
decisions because of serious declines in family food production (ibid.).
By all indication Nyanja women have had to struggle along with their
husbands engaged in off-farm employment or on their own to maintain adequate
levels of food to last through the dry season. The full impact of labor
migration and unfavorable land tenure conditions since the colonial period may
have had a more drastic effect on the position of women here than in other
parts of the country.
Further south of Nyanja country there are organized work groups that help
to provide labor during the early, labor-intensive period of planting. One of
the most popular of these work groups is the nomi society, very common among
the Mang'anjas. The nomi society provides labor for remuneration. The common
type of nomi organization is mixed; however, there are all-female as well as
all-male nomi societies in these places (Schoffeleers, 1973:11-26). In the
past, membership in a nomi society was regarded as a socialization process for
adulthood for both boys and girls.
In summary, it is clear that, in both patrilineal and matrilineal kinship
groups in Malawi, women play a vital role in food production. Increasingly
they are establishing their own cash crop plots in contravention of the
ex-colonial concept that cash crop farming is a man's domain. In terms of work
and other activity, gender differences are sharpest in the home where women's
duties are extensive and are usually distinct from men's roles. On the farms,
however, men and women share tasks except when the men migrate in search of
wage-labor. Socially also there are distinct men's duties and women's duties.
However, as previously indicated, in rigid matrilineal kinship groups there are
some opportunities for women to attain heights, such as the headman of a
village, which are traditionally reserved for men.
In all the cases we have observed, including those that have not been
discussed in detail, such as women in the Ngoni, Yao, Lomwe and Mang'anja
societies, women's responsibilities have increased dramatically, both inside
and outside the home, on the family farms. Women in Malawi are seeking greater
economic well-being as their men withdraw their labor from the farms into wage
sectors of the urban centers, and in other African countries. Efforts have
been made to determine the level at which male migration is harmful to the
social, economic and political well-being of a society. Barber has suggested
that a rural economy will survive if at least 50 percent of the men stay behind
(Boeder, 1973:40). The missionaries were more concerned about the lack of
emotional support from absentee husbands, as well as the morality of the family
as a whole (ibid.). External observers maintain a very negative attitude
toward male labor migration, but Boeder found that the folklore of rural women
indicate a more practical approach to the issue. On the one hand, the women
encourage male migration.because of the potential financial rewards, but they
resent it when the men stay away indefinitely. They generally put a lot of
pressure on men to make adequate provisions for their families before embarking
on long trips (ibid.). The institution of work groups such as the beer-
compensated groups of the Tumbuka, the women's work groups of the Chewas, and
the remunerated nomi societies commonly found in the South (Schoffeleers, op.
cit.) must be seen as a key factor in the adjustments of rural family farms to
the shortage of male labor within individual families.
Some people have advanced a theory that male migration is especially high
in the Southern Region because of the lack of security that comes with uxori-
local land ownership by men. In the heavily populated areas in the Mlanje and
Cholo areas, a man can only obtain land by marrying in the district where he
desires to have land (Panchai, 1973:3). The problem of lack of security or
individual land title under customary law is not unique to matrilineal society.
Customary law or land tenure traditionally does not permit the user to
establish ownership over the land. Many indigenous societies have made
adjustments to accommodate or overcome the negative effects of customary land
tenure, but there is still room for improvement. More serious problems in land
tenure, as it relates to the small-scale farmer, are directly related to
colonial and post-colonial land policies, the impact of the transfer of fertile
lands from these farmers to predominantly European estate farms cannot be
Finally, although women themselves do not seem to exercise political power
outside of the household or clan, they have become very important channels
through whom political, economic and other kinds of negotiations can be
initiated. This is made possible by the contract of marriages between two
strategic parties. In the same way women represent an avenue for the expansion
of family wealth, through bridalwealth, and labor service of husbands on their
The heavy involvement of women in food production throughout Malawi, in
both matrilineal and patrilineal systems, suggests the importance of attending
to the issues which will support their ability to contribute to this facet of
the nation's resources. Women's understanding of agricultural constraints and
access to the resources addressing those constraints is critical.
E. Agricultural Practices and Production
The most important sector of the Malawian economy is agriculture. At least
90 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture which contributes at
least 40 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in an average year (1981).
Similarly agricultural production contributes 90 percent of all export earnings
(Chimphamba, 1984). Small-holders dominate the agricultural sector (78 per-
cent), although plantation agriculture accounts for more than half of the
overall agricultural export earnings (Carroll, 1983-1984:537). Many of the
cash crops grown in the country--such as tea, tobacco, groundnuts, cotton,
sunflower seeds and tung trees--are now cultivated on plantations, although
the smallholders make a considerable contribution to the total production of
some of the commodities.
Most subsistence farmers sell their surplus at local markets or to the
government to purchase other goods and services and to pay their taxes. The
major crops grown by small-scale farmers are maize, cassava, millet, sorghum,
groundnuts, beans, rice, sweet potato, fruits and vegetables, coffee, and some
cotton. In addition, several farmers maintain small herds of livestock for
food or/and energy, as well as for economic reasons ibidd).
Maize is the most important staple food in Malawi and, fortunately, the
country is described as one of the few on the African continent that is self-
sufficient in maize production. Per capital consumption is estimated at 530
pounds per annum. Surplus maize is often sold to neighboring countries (Young
and Young, 1973) from stocks which are maintained by the government in huge
modern silos which can be seen for miles outside the capital city. Buyers from
these countries can also be found purchasing quantities in local markets.
Generally maize is grown once in the year, planted just before the rains in
November and harvested in April. The crop is sometimes grown naturally with
little fertilizer, although recent efforts by the extension service have
increased the use of nitrogen and phosphorous when this fertilizer is avail-
able. The problem for Malawian maize farmers is that the low-yielding tradi-
tional varieties of maize do not respond as well to fertilizer applications as
do the hybrid seeds. But the traditional maize varieties are more resistant
to blight and rot and, in addition, they are more suited to the traditional
methods of storage and style of food preparation (nzima or maize porridge) than
are the hybrid varieties of maize (Leibenow, 1982:4). Usually the inner part
of the grain is pounded into a white flour (ufa) and the outer part is used to
make a bran (medea) for animal feed. Increasingly people are taking their
maize to a maize mill that grinds the whole kernel into a greyish flour
(mgaiwa). Much of the surplus maize from the rural areas is sold in the big
cities of the South like Blantyre-Limbe, Zomba and Lilongwe (Young and Young,
Next to maize, millet or sorghum is popularly grown in most of the hot and
low rainfall areas of Malawi because of its drought-resistant qualities.
Finger millet is grown widely in the hot dry valleys of the North while Bulrush
millet is cultivated in the hot climate of the Lower Shire Valley (Young and
Young, op. cit.:28). Rice development schemes are spreading all over Malawi
in the very wet areas, especially on the dambo clays of Karonga Lakeshore
Plain, Nkhota Kota and Salima, as well as Lake Chilwa. Dryland rice is also
seen in many areas.
Root crops like cassava, sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes are additional
popular crops. Irish potatoes are grown especially at the higher altitudes of
the Kirk Range and the Dedza District. Groundnuts are widely grown both as a
food crop and a cash crop. Other legumes like beans and peas are the main
source of protein for many farm families in the country. They are often grown
in mixed cropping with maize. Vegetables and fruits such as bananas, pawpaws,
mangoes, oranges, lemons and pineapples grow wild or on farms throughout the
Malawi has a diversified export crop economy, exporting significant
quantities of tobacco, tea (Pachai, 1973:1-14), coffee, cotton and sugar.
Tobacco is cultivated on a large scale in the Lilongwe Plain, Kasungu and south
of Zomba. The crop is sold to both foreign and local buyers at auction sales
in Blantyre-Limbe. Tea and coffee are grown on terraces on hill slopes,
frequently by smallholders who are regulated by the Coffee or Tea Smallholder
Authorities. Tea grows mostly in the Mulanje and Thyolo Districts. Coffee,
on the other hand, is grown in the North around Rumphi and in the Misuku Hills.
These areas are suitable because of the high rainfall and cool temperatures.
Cotton and sunflower, which are both heat and drought tolerant, are grown
in the rift valley floor along the Lower Shire River and on the lakeshore
plain. Sugar cane, coffee and tung are cultivated in varying quantities for
export and local consumption. Sugar cane was originally produced just for
domestic use, but it has recently become an important cash crop. Now it is
cultivated on a large scale on irrigated estates in the Chikwawa Districts.
The tung tree grows in many parts of the North, on the lower slopes of the
Viphya Plateau and around Zomba. Oil is extracted from tung nuts to make paint
(ibid.). Sunflower is also cultivated in the Upper Shire Valley and processed
into edible oil. Plantation rubber is also cultivated in Malawi.
Livestock raising is common, especially in the Central Region and a little
bit in the North. Goats, sheep, pigs and chickens are kept on many farms to
provide meat and also to supplement incomes. Dambos or clay soils in the
valleys and steep slopes which are unsuitable for cultivation are commonly used
for pasture. In addition, waste products from crops such as sweet potato,
maize and beans are fed to the livestock. Cattle serve other purposes apart
from dietary ones. They are used to plow and to draw carts in the rural areas.
In addition cattle manure is an important fertilizer.
SECTION 3: REPORT ON BEAN PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION RESEARCH IN MALAWI*
The common beans, Phaseolus vulgaris L. (Savi), also known by various names
as dry beans, kidney beans, ration beans, sugar beans, french beans, garden
beans, or simple nyemba or nchunga in Malawi, are one of the most important
grain legumes in the country. As food, beans provide a high percentage of
protein (20-25 percent) compared with maize, cassava and rice. Green pods and
green shelled seeds are also good sources of vitamins A and C. Beans are also
good sources of energy providing comparable calories as maize flour (ufa),
milled rice or cassava flour (Platt, 1962). Beans provide about two and five
times more energy than bread and potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), respectively.
In most areas of eastern Africa, beans are the primary food legume.
Despite their importance, relatively little research has been conducted on
improving their productivity under field conditions. Research programs in the
East African countries are now turning greater attention to this need, however.
Yields in Malawi average only 533 kg/ha but the potential is thought to be much
greater. There are many constraints to both production and utilization, which
need further research.
The beans commonly eaten in Malawi are dry beans. The dominant ones are
red, white, brown, green and various patterns and are large seeded (40-50g/100
seeds). Kidney shaped seeds, which after cooking look like chunks of meat, are
preferred. There are several ways of preparing bean dishes in Malawi. The
*Major portions of this section excerpted from: 0. T. Edje, Workshop to
Develop Workplan for Bean Production in Eastern Africa: Country Presentation
for Malawi, Paper presented at a Workshop on Workplan for Bean Production in
Eastern Africa, Cali, Colombia, 16-22 November 1983.
most common one in boarding schools, colleges, farming estates and in most
institutions where a large number of people are fed communally is to soak the
seeds in water for a few hours and discard the water afterwards. The purpose
of soaking is to accelerate cooking and also to reduce flatulence (generation
of gas in the digestive system). Salt, cooking oil, tomato and other ingre-
dients may be added according to taste and cooked as a mixture. The cooked
beans (ndiwo) are served with rice or nsima. The seedcoat is sometimes removed
after soaking, and the beans are cooked until soft. The beans may be mashed
with a special ladle to form chipere. Beans may also be boiled with maize,
after the pericarp has been removed, to produce a popular food called ngata.
Beans are sometimes cooked with banana or plantain to produce a dish known as
In areas where bean production is low, or at a time of the year when bean
supply is low, beans, cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) and pigeon peas (Cajanus
cajan) can be cooked together either for the bean flavor and/or to stretch the
bean supply. Other bean dishes are: baked brown beans, bean fritters, fried
bean balls or mock meat loaf. Bean flour can be mixed with maize flour and
pulverized groundnuts to produce Likuna phala which is used for weaning
children and for children up to about five years old. The green immature pods,
zitheba, are sometimes eaten as relish. Beans may also be cooked in the pod
and eaten as such, mkata.
Young and tender leaves are sometimes boiled and cooked with groundnut
flour to produce khwanya. Surplus leaves are dried and stored for future use
as mfutso. Bittenbender, et al., report that in Malawi bean leaves are
frequently harvested during the pod-filling stage. Fresh leaves are sundried
on mats and stored in sacks. They also indicate that young leaves are
preferred but report that older leaves are sometimes eaten, usually cooked
with sodium carbonate or potash to soften them. The Chewa and other ethnic
groups eat the leaves with peanut paste or stew. These researchers reported
that leaves are available in markets either fresh or dried. CRSP researchers
found similar conditions with dried leaves stored wrapped in leaves of a
special tree to resemble a large baseball without a cover. The researchers
also observed leaves available in local markets sold in baskets by women as
bulk spinach. One of the village women in the CRSP research reported a
preference for the leaves of specific bean varieties, indicating a distinct
difference in taste among the leaves of three different preferred bean types.
B. Leaf Plucking as Production Constraint
As previously indicated, both immature bean pods and tender leaves are
plucked, cooked and eaten, or are parboiled, dried and stored for later eating,
as a vegetable. Edje, Mughogho and Ayonoadu (1972) reported that plucking bean
leaves for use as vegetable reduced seed yield significantly. For example,
plucking three leaves once or twice reduces seed yield of bush beans by 21 and
40.8 percent respectively. Climbing beans were less affected by plucking.
Edje (1981), investigating the effects of nitrogen use and leaf removal,
reported that while adding nitrogen increased seed yield significantly, addi-
tional nitrogen did not produce enough leaves to offset the effect of leaf
plucking (Table 1).
Table 1. Effects of Nitrogen and Leaf Plucking on Seed and Leaf Yield
Fresh Leaf Leaf Area
N leaves Seed Yield Yield Defoliated
(kg/ha) No. of Pluckings S(kg/ha) (kg/ha) (dm2)
0 None 799 -- --
One 621 1,875 67
Two 555 3,034 130
Three 273 4,891 156
Mean 562 3,267 118
40 None 1,096 -- --
One 1,034 2,933 98
Two 1,164 5,298 163
Three 701 5,922 195
Mean 999 4,718 152
80 None 1,125 -- --
One 1,287 648 101
Two 1,015 960 172
Three 737 1,230 187
Mean 1,041 946 153
S.E.+ N levels 48 245 7
Leaf plucking 89 165 3
N X Leaf plucking 154 213 6
C. Maize and Beans in Association
Mixed cropping, the practice of growing two or more crops on the same piece
of land, is a popular and traditional cropping system of long standing. It is
a strategy used by smallholders for increasing crop yields, crop diversity, and
the stability of crop production (Gomez and Gomez, 1983). According to a
Malawi national sample survey of agriculture (Anonymous, 1970), 94 percent of
the hectarage was grown to crops as mixtures. In the same survey, only one
percent of the pulses, beans, pigeon peas, cowpeas, etc. were grown as pure
stand while ninety-nine percent were grown in association with other crops,
Intercropping is popular in the tropics (Francis, Flor and Prager, 1978;
Igbozurike, 1977; and Francis, Flor and Temple, 1976) because of several
advantages. These include: increased crop yield (Wiley and Osiru, 1972;
Evans, 1960; Baker, 1978; and Edje, 1982a), more efficient use of labor
(Norman, 1968), more efficient use of water (Baldy, 1963), reduction in pest
incidence (Pearson, 1958; Francis, Flor and Prager, 1978) and improvement in
soil fertility (Agboola and Fayema, 1972). Despite the above advantages,
little research had been done on mixed cropping until the 1970's when
researchers started "going outside the research stations and talking to the
farmers who have been experimenting with intercropping for centuries."
At Malawi's Bunda College of Agriculture, mixed cropping trials have been
conducted on the following crop combinations:
a. maize and beans
b. maize, beans and pumpkins
c. sorghum and beans
d. cassava and beans
e. groundnuts and beans
f. tobacco and beans
g. Acacia albida and beans
h. Leucaena and beans
i. Eucalyptus and beans, and
j. Gmelina and beans
The strategy in these crop combinations has been designed to ensure that
the yield of the main crop, usually maize, is not significantly reduced.
Consequently, yield increases as high as 62 percent have been reported (Edje,
Mughogho and Rao, 1976).
Using the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that a 55-kg
active man requires 2.5 megacalories and 65 g of energy and protein per day,
the Bunda team has calculated that more farmers can be fed on produce from
mixed cropping than sole cropping. This is important since most farm work is
done by hand, operations that need high energy food for hard work.
Ngwira (1981), working on the intercropping of maize, beans and pumpkins
(Cucurbita maxima), showed that maize yield was not significantly affected when
grown in association with either beans or pumpkins (Table 2). The bean and
pumpkin yields were therefore a bonus crop to the farmer since all three crops
were grown on the same piece of land utilizing the same fertilizer meant for
the maize. She also showed that about two months after planting the pumpkins
had completely covered the ground, reducing the frequency of weeding in those
plots. This is important to the smallholder, especially the female producer,
who relies on hand labor for almost all field operations.
Table 2. Yield (kg/ha) of Maize, Beans and Pumpkins in Monoculture and in
Association at Bunda College, 1981.
Crop Combination Maize Beans Pumpkins
Maize alone (MH12) 6,981 --
Bean alone (Climbing; var. 1039) 1,073
Pumpkin (local variety) -- -- 23,478
Maize and beans 7,182 222
Maize and pumpkins 7,037 -- 10,057
Beans and pumpkins -- 784 13,793
Maize, beans and pumpkins 6,138 157 13,602
In recent years, there has been an increased need to integrate crop
production and livestock production in Malawi (Spurling, Spurling and Bowmaker,
1972). Taking an advantage of mixed cropping as a popular cropping system, the
team at Bunda College began investigating the effect of topping maize, either
removing tassel alone or tassel with some leaves on the yield of maize and
beans. The objective was to use the topped part of the maize as green feed or
as dry fodder for fattening steers. It was also hoped that by topping, more
light would become available to the associated bean crop. The data in Table 3
show the effects of these treatments on crop yield (Edje unpublished; Kubwalo,
Table 3. Seed Yield (kg/ha) of Topped Maize in Monoculture and in Association
Maize Yield Bean Yield
Treatments Mono Assoc. Mono Assoc.
No topping of maize 7,423 6,383 2,221 774
Top tassel only 8,067 6,605 -- 741
Top tassel and 2 top leaves 7,850 6,364 -- 652
Top tassel and 4 top leaves 6,928 5,574 -- 864
Kubwalo (1981) reported that assuming that one livestock unit equals 454 kg
and if one livestock unit fees on 11.4 kg per day and if it takes five months
to fatten a steer for slaughter, top tassel only, tassel plus two leaves and
tassel plus four leaves should provide enough feed for one, two and three
livestock units/hectare, respectively (Table 4).
Table 4. Dry Matter and No. of Livestock Units to be Fed on Topped Maize
Treatments DM (kg/ha) Day/L.U. L.U./ha
Top tassel only 2,390 209 1
Top tassel and 2 leaves 3,280 287 2
Top tassel and 4 leaves 5,240 451 3
Another important crop in Malawi is fuelwood. A recent survey (Anonymous,
1981) showed that 94 percent of the energy consumption in Malawi is from
fuelwood where wood is used for heating and cooking in urban as well as in
rural areas. In addition to the above, the checklist of wood use included:
curing tobacco, smoking fish, baking bricks, furniture use, house construction,
canoe building, etc. Because of the importance of trees in the economy of the
country and the role of trees in maintaining the fragile ecosystem, there has
been renewed interest in the re-marriage of agriculture and forestry and also
livestock in an old land use system now referred to as agroforestry.
One of the research areas of agroforestry is the integration of crops and
trees. Preliminary reports (Edje, 1982b, 1982c) showed that beans can be grown
successfully under trees during the first year of the trees' establishment with
reasonable crop yields (Table 5) in what may be termed as the taungya system.
Table 5. Effects of Planting Trees in Monoculture and in Association with
Cropping Systems Bean Yield (kg/ha)
In association with:
S. E. + 76
D. Use of Leucaena Prunings as Fertilizer
Recent increases in fertilizer costs and the previously mentioned general
shortage of fuelwood in the tropics has renewed interest in the use of green
manures. Before the introduction of modern agriculture, farmers in the tropics
were of necessity organic farmers. That is, they used neither commercial
fertilizer nor pesticides.
Trials conducted at Bunda College during the 1982-83 crop season (Edje,
1983a:Figure 1) showed that additional fresh leucaena prunings increased bean
seed yield significantly. Seed yields for 0, 10 and 20 tons/ha of leucaena
were 915, 1160 and 1706 kg/ha respectively. Both 15 and 20 tons/ha of leucaena
yielded higher than 250 kg/ha of a compound fertilizer (20-8.7-0; N-P-K).
E. Growing Beans on Residual Moisture
There are 16 irrigated settlement schemes in Malawi, occupying an estimated
area of 4,147 hectares, and an expansion is planned. Settlement schemes that
have adequate irrigation facilities have two crops of rice yearly. Those that
do not have an adequate water supply produce only one crop of rice, leaving the
land idle for the remainder of the year. In 1980 several adaptive research
trials were initiated aimed at producing package practices for bean production
on residual moisture following a rice crop.
The results of variety trials showed that a mean seed yield of 1,691 kg/ha
could be obtained. The results of other trials showed that beans planted about
mid-June had the highest seed yield of 2,.100 kg/ha. Planting beans at that
time would provide ample time for the crop to mature and to prepare land for a
subsequent crop of rice.
CRSP researchers have recently observed the preparation and planting of
natural residual moisture plots called dimba gardens resting in areas such as
high land depressions or narrow valley passes at the foot of two mountains.
The plot sections were dug down to make 1 1/2-2 foot high beds to fit the
terrain and the water level. Residents with dimba gardens reported three crops
a year and that they seldom run out of beans.
F. Plant Population and Planting Patterns
Plant populations on farmers' fields are usually a rather low 30,000-80,000
plants/ha, presumably because of shortage of seeds or because of the planting
pattern. Planting is usually hill planting except in parts of the Northern
Region where farmers plant three to four rows in ridges about one meter apart.
Earlier work on plant population (Edje, Ayonoadu and Mughogho, 1974; Edje,
Mughogho and Ayonoadu, 1975) showed that beans were highly plastic and were
able to compensate for yield even at low plant densities.
Recent work (Table 6) showed that, at the same plant population, planting
pattern had effect on seed yield.
Earlier work (Edje, Mughogho and Ayonoadu, 1975) showed that beans
responded to liberal dressings of nitrogen. However, prices of fertilizer in
Malawi, as elsewhere, have risen 293 percent in a decade. At this price
increase, the purchase of fertilizer has become less attractive.
However, trials on seed inoculation with Rhizobium bacteria have not
produced appreciable seed yield increases compared with nitrogen fertilizer
(Edje, 1983a:Figure 1).
The commonest storage pest of dry beans in Malawi is Acanthoscelides
obtectus. It is not uncommon to see an entire bean crop destroyed by the pest
within two to three months after harvest. This insect problem has been one
cause of lack of seed for planting.
During one of the survey germplasm collection trips in Northern Malawi in
1982, the team saw farmers storing beans with pod ash. The farmers said that
the use of the pod ash alone was more effective than when the ash was obtained
from the entire plant (less the seeds, of course). The data in Tables 7 and 8
show the results of beans after eleven months in storage. The seeds were
stored in metal tins with three kg of seeds per tin. Not only did the pod ash
protect the seeds in storage, seeds stored in pod ash had more shiny appearance
than those stored in other "insecticides." A more recent trip found two women
farming together with a hired hand. The dried beans had been left in the field
several months before harvesting and were demonstrating a promising infesta-
tion. The surveyors found another woman who demonstrated bean storage with
fresh tobacco leaves, a practice which could have both negative and positive
Table 6. Seed Yield of Six Bean Varieties at Three Planting Patterns
One Row per
One Row per Two Rows per Ridge
Ridge Ridge Hill Planting
VARIETIES (5 cm apart) (10 cm apart) (20 cm apart) MEAN
253/1 1,340 1,464 1,233 1,346
1196 1,822 1,952 1,762 1,845
P692 1,879 2,250 1,840 1,990
P402 2,032 1,896 2,072 2,000
336 2,007 1,607 1,557 1,724
1039 896 968 1,090 1,015
M E A N 1,678 1,690 1,592
Table 7. Effects of Various Insecticides on Bean Storage
No. Insects/kg Seed Weevilled Seeds (%)
Insecticides Alive Dead Not Weevilled Weevilled
Control 25 661 50 50.0
Groundnut oil 51 496 74.7 25.3
Sunflower oil 1,376 743 56.7 43.3
Tobacco dust 3 394 88.0 12.0
Actellic 1 1,266 87.0 12.2
Bean pod ash 3 161 92.0 8.0
253/1 (Tan) 27 465 58.8 41.2
336 (Red) 50 826 72.8 27.2
499/5 (Black) 16 581 83.0 17.0
P692 (White) 53 609 66.5 33.5
Table 8. Germination (%) of Four Bean Varieties Stored with Six Insecticides
INSECTICIDES 253/1 336 489/5 P692 MEAN
Control 36.4 69.2 61.2 36.0 50.7
Groundnut oil 82.8 58.8 68.0 64.0 68.4
Sunflower oil 24.0 37.3 46.8 30.8 34.7
Tobacco dust 89.2 66.8 77.2 89.2 80.6
Actellic 97.2 76.0 78.8 86.8 84.7
Bean pod ash 98.8 86.8 77.2 92.0 88.7
M E A N 71.4 65.8 68.2 66.5
The preferred bean types in Malawi were medium to large in size, kidney-
shaped with seed coat colors ranged from brown, green, red, white and an
occasional blue. A range of patterns are also popular.
Most of the farmers owned their own seed, some having obtained the seeds
from their grandparents. The crop was generally planted in mixed stand with
maize where the later crop provided stake for the bean crop. Two crops of
beans were possible in some areas. The second crop was either relay with beans
or grown as a pure crop following a maize crop.
Double cropping where beans followed maize was common in the Misuku area.
In this area, beans were grown in association with a short-seasoned maize
variety. The maize was harvested after physiological maturity but before it
was completely dry for storage. The maize was dried on a "shelf" over fire
from cooking. Some maize leaves were stripped from the plant, buried and new
ridges made; and a second crop of beans were planted. The second crop was
generally a bush or semi-climber. Some of the Agricultural Extension workers
said that farmers were reluctant to accept long duration hybrid maize because
it interfered with the second crop of beans. In some areas, as was indicated
earlier, a third crop of beans can be grown either on residual moisture or near
Farmers did not apply fertilizer to beans. However, where beans and maize
were grown in association, the maize crop was often fertilized and the beans
could take advantage of this association. As previously stated, farmers grow
several types of beans. The reasons given were for yield stability and for
stretching the availability of leaves and seeds for food and cash. For
economic reasons, the small red, Katolika, were often planted. They were high
yielding and could be sold even though they had some negative characteristics.
The red kidney (Saaba), sugar beans (Serenje), the dark reds (Chazama), the
green (nyauzembe), cream with olive stripes (mwangulungulu), etc. were gener-
ally preferred either because of taste and/or ease of cooking. Mwangulungulu
was said to be good for children while some of the dark reds (mazungu) were
said to cause stomach problems for children. The small whites and, to some
extent, the large whites were easy to cook but soured easily and stored poorly.
Surplus seeds were sold at village markets and to a produce-buying organi-
zation, Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC). ADMARC,
in the past, paid premium price for monocolored seeds, thereby discouraging
farmers from selling blends. Since farmers grew beans as mixtures of types,
seeds were therefore sorted before they were sold. Private entrepreneurs were
also observed in local rural markets buying the many small quantities of beans
brought by women in baskets of various sizes and even wrapped in scarves.
These agents would go from market to market filling large 90-100k bags with the
assorted beans to take to the cities to resell. These middlemen (only one such
woman was observed in about fifteen minutes), who were clearly making a good
profit, are an important link to the bean subsector of the country.
A great deal more of the information that is required will have to be
collected in the field. Much of the emphasis in the documents available gives
elaborate descriptions of maize and millet cultivation. Beans and cowpeas are
hardly mentioned. Compiling the right kinds of questions for the agro/socio-
cultural survey is thus of vital importance to the project. Also, the integral
role of women in food production in the North where the project is now situated
implies that women and their culture are important factors in project research
with beans. A very comprehensive document is evolving from the work of this
G. Researching the Social Science of Bean Production/Utilization
The social science contribution to this project is based on procedures
developed and modified by the joint social/agricultural sciences team. The US
and Host Country colleagues have participated in its evolution. Progress is
reported as follows:
Aside from the field training of the now fourteen enumerators, Bunda
College is identifying a female Malawi student for graduate training in the US
who will contribute to the program at Bunda College and eventually be able to
take over the role of field supervisor, replacing the current experienced
ex-patriate recently arrived in the country.
Team of Bunda College female students trained and field tested in
methodology by US social science team in collaboration with Host Country
team. See "Technical Report No. l." Methodology adjusted as
Six-week pilot study by trained team carried out in the northern region
of Malawi. See "Technical Report No. 2." Methodology adjusted as
Four young village women (two teams of two), having completed an appro-
priate level of public education and fluent in English and the local
languages, were identified by the Host Country project personnel. These
new village teams were trained as enumerators by the previously trained
and now experienced Bunda College team. The village teams established
residence in the assigned areas where beans are grown and carried out
the research over a four-six month period, sampling forty families.
Families were identified by the extension agents as known growers of
beans. The purpose of this phase was to prepare the new teams for
Phase 4 and to identify the pool of families from which a smaller number
could be chosen for the year-long study.
From the forty families, five were chosen per village research team to
be studied over a year's time. Criteria for their selection were their
willingness to participate and their proximity to a team's residence
(maximum of two-hour walk one way). Two additional teams to cover other
parts of the region were identified and are being trained and outfitted
as the others (clothes, shoes, research materials). A field supervisor
(MSU rural sociology post-doc) has been assigned and has moved to the
area. A standard visitation schedule for a set of five families was
developed for the teams and is attached. As a result of these proce-
dures, a total of twenty families, five in each of four ecologically
different bean growing areas in northern Malawi, are being intensively
observed for a year.
With Phase 4 now finally under way, the data from Phase 3 are being
analyzed. Preliminary findings from that work are presented as "Technical
Report No. 3."
Agboola, A. A. and Fayemi, A. A. 1972.
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Edje, 0. T. 1982c. "Agroforestry: An Integrated Land-use System for
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"Development in Malawi in the 1980s: Progress and Prospects." Zomba,
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Edje, 0. T.
1981. "Effects of Nitrogen and Leaf Removal on Phaseolus Bean
LUSO: Journal of Science and Technology 2:39-51.
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Indeterminate Beans to Varying Plant Populations." Turrialba 24:100-103.
Edje, 0. T., L. K. Mughogho and U. W. U. Ayonoadu.
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1975. "Bean Yield and
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Removal on the Yield of Phaseolus Beans." Malawi Journal of Science
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Production in Malawi." Proceedings of
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a Regional Workshop held in
Evans, A. C. 1960. "Studies of Intercropping Maize and Sorghum with
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Francis, C. A., C. A. Flor and M. Prager. 1978. "Effects of Bean Association
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Francis, C. A., C. A. Flor and S. R. Temple. 1976. "Adapting Varieties for
Intercropped Systems in the Tropics." In Papendick, P. I., P. A. Sanchez
and G. B. Triplett (eds.) Multiple Cropping. ASA Special Publication No.
27. pp. 235-253.
Ghai, D. and S. Radwan. 1983. Agrarian Policies and Rural Poverty. Geneva,
Switzerland: International Labour Office.
Gomez, A. A.
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Gregson, R. E. "Agricultural Change in the Henga Valley."
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in a Matrilineal Society:
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Rural Women in Zomba, Malawi." Journal of
Vol. 10, No. 1. pp. 86-99.
Igbozurike, U. M. 1977. Agriculture at the Cross Road: A Comment on
Agricultural Ecoology. Ife, Nigeria: University of Ife Press.
Kubwalo, F. X. F. 1981. "Effects of Topping Maize and Intercrop Planting
with Beans on Yield and Yield Components." Degree Year 5 Project, Bunda
College of Agriculture, Lilongwe, Malawi.
Leibenow, Gus J. 1982. Malawi's Search for Food Self-Sufficiency Part II:
Productivity and Pariticipation. American University Field Staff Reports
Lienau, C. 1980. Labour Migration and Agricultural Development in Malawi/
Africa: A Preliminary Report. MUnster, German Federal Republic:
Makumba, E. B. 1979. "An Analysis of Agricultural Produce Prices in Selected
Local Markets in Malawi." Working Papers, Agro-Economic Survey, No. 3,
vi. Agro-Economic Survey, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources,
Malawi, Agro-Economic Survey. 1980. "Lilongwe North East: A Farm Management
Survey of Smallholder Farmers in Lilongwe North East, Lilongwe District,
Malawi; Zomba West: A Farm Management Survey of Smallholder Farmers in
Zomba West, Malawi; West Mzimba: A Farm Management Survey of Smallholder
Farmers in West Mzimba, Malawi; Ntcheu West: A Farm Management Survey of
Smallholder Farmers in Ntcheu West, Malawi." Agro-Economic Survey Report,
Agro-Economic Survey, Planning Unit, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural
Resources, No. 39, 40, 42, and 44.
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Mandala, E. 1982. "Peasant Cotton Agriculture, Gender and Inter-generational
Relationships: The Lower Tchiri (Shire) Valley of Malawi, 1906-1940."
The African Studies Review, Vol. XXV, Nos. 2/3. pp. 27-41.
Nelson, Harold D. 1975. Area Handbook for Malawi. Washington, DC: American
University Foreign Areas Studies Division. Available from the
Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing Office.
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Association." Degree Year 5 Project. Bunda College of Agriculture,
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Ogbu, J. U. 1978. "Economic Transition Among Poka of Northern Malawi--
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London: Commonwealth Institute of Entomology.
Phipps, P. E. "The 'Big' Fishermen of Lake Chilwa: A Preliminary Survey of
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Washington, Apr 1 (ANI): A number of children are exposed to technology at an early age, but few are taught how to harness the power of technology to drive their own learning and their future.
A group of students from North Dakota State University, Fargo, and their advisor, Dr. Kevin Brooks, chair of the English department, are working to change that.
They're partnering with local elementary schools, beginning with Madison Elementary School in Fargo, N.D.
Dr. Brooks and a team of NDSU students have worked with Tech Team students at Madison School for 14 weeks, using a free, open-source software platform called Sugar, which contains software applications that allow kids to explore math, language arts, science, social science and computer programming.
For an hour after school each week, NDSU students and elementary school students used the program for activities that included: studying geometry with a software program called Turtle Art; building a Rube Goldberg machine with a program called Physics; and learning about computer programming using a program called Etoys.
The program culminated with Sugar Day in March, where a dozen students at Madison Elementary School in Fargo became teachers themselves, showing other students what they've learned from the program called "Sugar," as part of the school's Tech Team.
With Sugar Day, these young techies passed along their knowledge to 25 fourth graders, to inspire another group of students for future careers.
At Madison School, the budding techies taught other students to use the computer software's physics tools, pass a fulcrum challenge by balancing objects on a beam, build a conveyor belt or pulley, and put all the pieces together into a Goldberg Machine.
Students also received "Sugar on a stick," which is a computer flash drive loaded with 20 activities, including music software, a typing tutor and puzzle games.
"They are learning how to learn. We essentially present them with a challenge or problem, and they have to solve it. We might be laying the foundation for a career in a technical field such as computer programming, management information systems or technical support," said Brooks.
"But we also want to make sure they have fun learning and solving problems," Brooks added. (ANI)
Read More: North Goa | Panipat Sugar Mills | Sugar Mill | Batala Sugar Mills Bo | Shahganj Sugar Mill | Barabanki Sugar Mill | Burhwal Sugar Mill | Hardoi Sugar Mills | Basti Sugar Factory Edso | Sugar Factory Bamania | Sugar Factory Bardoli | Valsad Sugar Factory | Sugar Factory Bo | Daulat Sugar Factory | Hiriyur Sugar Factory | Chikodi Sugar Factory So | Sanekshwar Sugar Factory | Vellore Sugar Mills | Kethandapatti Sugar Mills | Pugalur Sugar Factory | Plassey Sugar Mill | English
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Урок- презентация по теме "Спорт! Это здорово!" медиаприложение
Размещено: Надежда Владимировна Чернова - сб, 03/10/2009 - 19:41
T: Good afternoon, dear boys and girls. I’m glad to see you. Slide 1
Today we continue speaking about sport.
Look at the screen. V. Read the theme of our lesson. Are you agree with the statement.
(All over the world people of different ages are fond of sports and games. Sport helps people to become strong and to develop physically. It helps us to stay in good shape, health. We can choose sports and games for any season and for any taste).
II. Cluster. Slide 2.
• Will you name the sports?
Slide 3 .
• There are different kinds of sport in our town. They are…
• What is your favourite sport?
Look at the table and try to fill it in your hand out. Later we’ll check up Work in pairs.
VI. Hometask. Our lesson is very small today.
Write to a sports magazine to give your opinion
• Extreme sports
• Sport in Russia (development)
• My favourite sport
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Birth and family background of Dr. Salim Ali
Salim Moijuddin Abdul Ali who is known by the whole world as an eminent bird –lover, was born on 12th November 1896in Bombay presently known as Mumbai. Moijuddin was his fatherand mother's name was Zeenat-un-Nisa. He had 5 brothers and 4 sisters. When he was only three years old, lost his mother. His father had already died two years earlier. He was brought up by his maternal uncle Amiruddin Tayyabji who had no child. In 1918, he was married to Tehmina Begum.
Dr. Salim Ali
Education and work of Dr. Salim Ali
His education started from janana Bible medical Mission Girl's High School. Then he was admitted in St. Xavier's School. He was not interested in his curricular studies and in 1913, he somehow matriculated from Bombay University. He took admission in college but as he was weak in algebra and Logarithms, he left his studies and went to Burma to help his brother in business. He could not adjust himself there also. He liked wandering in free natural atmosphere. In Burma he spent most of his time in roaming and watching birds. He returned Bombay and graduated in Zoology in 1917 and was appointed as a guide in a museum in Bombay Natural History Society. In the mean time he got a golden opportunity for training in Germany where he was to learn the modern technique to fill husk into the dead bodies of birds. After coming back from Germany, he became unemployed.
Research and contributions of Dr. Salim Ali
The great ornithologist Salim Ali used to get up early in the morning and used to roam about till evening. His eyes searched something in the sky and on the top of the trees. He was a man of strong determination. Many times on his usual strolls he saw half woven nests of weaver birds in the bushes and on the trees. He thought why these birds make so many nests when they can fulfill their purpose with one nest only. Salim Ali's house was situated among the trees and had a serene environment around. In the monsoon, he saw that the weaver birds had made several nests around his house. He keenly observed the activities of theses birds for 3-4 months. He studied that the male weaver bird takes the responsibility of making the nests. He prepares the nests with the help of dry twigs of paddy, grass etc and gives it the shape of a bottle. The female weaver bird comes and choose a suitable nest and helps the male to finish the nest-making completely. Then the female lays her eggs in the selected nest. As the female lays eggs, the male makes busy himself in making another nest and another female weaver bird comes and lays eggs. In this way, the process goes on. A male weaver bird in the same breeding season established two or more families. The female weaver bird carries the responsibility of hatching the eggs and bringing up the young ones. Salim Ali gained popularity as an ornithologist when his research was published in 1930. A famous ornithologist declared that Salim Ali's observation were not correct. But finally, Salim Ali was confirmed correct in his observation. His research of Fin Baya is also a very important contribution. It was assumed that Fin Baya had been extinct since last 100 years but Salim Ali found Fin Baya in the mountain ranges of Kumayu.In 1941, Salim Ali wrote a book named Book of Indian Birds . The book contained not only fine descriptions but also beautiful pictures of the various species of birds. A lay- man could easily read and identify the birds through the book. In 1948, Salim Ali started an ambitious project with S. Dilan Replay. Both wrote a book of ten volumes named Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. The book contains complete information about the birds found in Indian subcontinent.
Achievement and awards received by Dr. Salim Ali
Salim Ali was rewarded several times for his remarkable job done in the field of ornithology. The famous awards were:
Apart from these, he received many more prizes. The universities of Aligarh, Delhi, Andhra ornamented him with the Degree of Doctorate.
Death of Dr. Salim Ali
Salim Ali travelled throughout the country for bird watching. Not a corner of India was left where his heavy boots had not left its prints. The great ornithologist died on 20th June 1987 at the age of 91 years.
Dr. Salim Ali is also known as the “birdman of India”. One of the greatest scientists who has carried out systematic survey on birds in India and abroad. His contribution and research work on birds has great influence in the development of ornithology.
The Bird sanctuary in Goa was named after him.
I appreciate the author for presenting such a good article on the great personality.
This is the real passion towards the work or maybe to the ambition. Real devotion towards the country.
It is very much for all the latest versions of the most popular programs and following the link below to view their profile
When Dr. Salim Ali was a child he shot at the doves. Then his uncle asked him to not to hit them. He took him to the city of Mumbai and showed him the sanctuary of birds. At that time Dr. Salim Ali became aware about the beautiful world of birds and then he decided to serve his life for birds.
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The blood circulation in the foetus (the unborn baby). Before birth, the blood from the heart that is destined (in the pulmonary artery) for the lungs is shunted away from the lungs and returned to the greatest of arteries (the aorta). The shunt is through a short vessel called the ductus arteriosus. When this shunt is open, it is said to be a patent (pronounced pá tent) ductus arteriosus (PDA). The PDA usually closes at or shortly after birth and blood is permitted to course freely to the lungs.
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[Update] Did someone say shenanigans? It appears the solar panel created from human hair is among many things in this world too good to be true. According to a debunking website, human hair could never be used in such a fashion to generate the kind of voltages as being shown and the author of the debunking site suspects a silicon based solar panel or a battery is hidden within the human hair solar panel. Thanks to our readers who picked up on the hoax and let us know about it. We never want to pass along bad info from other news sources, but occasionally it happens.
Also for the people of Nepal, my apologies. Geography has never been my strong suit and the article has been corrected to show Nepal is not part of India.
Well here is someone using their cranium to literally solve a problem. Milan Karki, a teenager from Nepal, may have stumbled onto a way to make cheaper solar power by using a material that grows naturally on almost everyone in the world – human hair.
Karki found that melanin, the stuff in human hair that gives it color, is light sensitive and can also act as a conductor to electricity. As he sees it, melanin could replace more expensive silicon components in commercially made solar panels making them easier to afford for villages that have no access to power.
Karki’s solar panel (pictured above) cost £23 (approximately $39) to manufacture and can generate almost 9 volts of electricity which is capable of charging a mobile phone or a pack of batteries that could provide light. It also seems that Milan got his not-so-hair-brained idea for his hair based solar panel from a book written by Stephen Hawking that talked about creating static energy from human hair.
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| 0.974699 | 357 | 2.953125 | 3 |
In the winter of 2008, amateur archaeologist Jimmy Taylor drove to the Oregon Coast in search of a ghost forest he'd heard had been revealed after high seas scoured tons of sand from the beach.
He didn't find the old grove of tree stumps, but he did come upon a different sort of treasure – a lead sphere he believes is a cannonball from the USS Shark. If he's right, Taylor, 63 of Gresham, both wins and loses.
He'll have to give up the artifact, but he'll have the honor of knowing he saved a significant piece of Oregon history – possibly the only one of its kind.
Taylor's visit came on a day in February. Father and daughter duo Michael and Miranda Petrone had recently stumbled upon a pair cannons near Arch Cape that would later be determined to have come from the USS Shark, a Navy schooner built in 1821 that went down crossing the bar of the Columbia River in 1846. Cannons discovered in the same area shortly after the sinking led to the naming of the present-day town of Cannon Beach.
"It had a brass oval ring protruding from it," recalled Taylor. "He had attached that to a short length of rope and was dragging it. It had a length of brass chain and it appeared to be red brass. The ball was perfectly round and heavy."
Taylor struck up a conversation with the man and learned he'd seen the ball protruding from the sand and took it for a rock. Since it was differently colored than the other rocks around it, the man dug it out and found it was lead.
"He thought it was a weight used to hold fishing nets to the bottom," Taylor said. "He wanted it for the lead content. I thought it might make an interesting conversation piece. It had a large, archaic-shaped "7" imprinted into the ball, followed by a sideways diamond."
So Taylor offered the man $20, the amount he figured the lead was worth, and the deal was struck. Taylor took the ball home and displayed it on a candleholder. But he knew from the start, this was not just some chunk of lead.
Meanwhile the cannons found by the Petrones were in Texas undergoing a thorough restoration process. The cannons are technically carronades, said state archeologist Dennis Griffin. Cannons are generally land use, while the smaller carronades were used on ships.
"Carronades literally means small cannons," Griffin said.
Over the years, Taylor consulted with various experts. He even took the ball – which weighs in at 15 pounds – to the "Antique Roadshow."
Taylor believes there would have originally been a second cannonball attached to the first.
"A carronade is designed to fire chain balls, two balls attached to each other by chains," Taylor said. "One ball is typically large and one is smaller. The carronade is designed to fire the chain ball at another ship's mast rigging. The chain ball begins to spin after it is fired. It strikes the other vessel's masts and rigging and does immense damage to it. It either slows the ship down or if it strikes the mast, possibly stops it all together. They often came with swivels. This does have a swivel. Swivels keep it from tying itself up."
Five years after he found it, Taylor decided it might be nice to offer the ball to the Columbia River Maritime Museum for display. That's when he learned it was actually illegal for him to have the ball. The beaches are state property and artifacts found there generally belong to the state, said Oregon Parks & Recreation spokesman Chris Havel.
"If you find something you think could be historic and important, you do need to contact us," Havel said. "It's usually best to leave it where you found it. To an archaeologist, 'where' you find something is often just as important as what the object actually 'is.'
"If you're on the beach, though, it's OK to move it so it doesn't get washed out to sea or buried in the sand. In that case, do what you can to note exactly where you found it – a photo taken with a GPS-enabled phone is terrific –then contact the nearest state park manager."
But in this case, if this is from the USS Shark, it doesn't belong to the state, but the U.S. Navy. The Navy, however, has allowed the state to keep such artifacts under a loan agreement.
Taylor is in the process of getting the ball to Griffin. Until he can do that, he's sent pictures, which Griffin has forwarded to the Navy. Griffin is intrigued by the find, but won't weigh in if he thinks it's the real deal.
"My job is to be a skeptic," Griffin said. "I've not seen it and I haven't gotten word back from the Navy. I could not say it looks like the real thing. I have not seen it."
Whether the ball proves to be from the USS Shark probably won't be determined for some time. But the wait to see the carronades won't be much longer. They're restored and ready for pick up in Texas.
"When it comes back to us we'll probably have an open house at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland – a one day 'Welcome back to Oregon and here they are.'"
And after that, the carronades will be on exhibit at the Columbia River Maritime Museum, with or without – depending on the verdict – the lead ball Jimmy Taylor purchased on a wintry beach for a conversation piece.
-- Lori Tobias
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http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2013/08/cannon_ball_discovered_near_ar.html
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| 0.982457 | 1,163 | 2.828125 | 3 |
User Interface Design in C# Windows Form Application From Scratch
In this C Sharp tutorial you will learn user interface design in C# application. This step-by-step tutorial will help you deeply understand the basic building concept of user interface design in C# application. You will learn to use different types of GUI controls in C# Windows form-based application.
Requirements For User Interface Design in C#
You must be familiar with the basic syntax of C# language. Here are the steps. I have also uploaded the screenshots for your better understanding.
Step 1: Choose New Project in Visual Studio
Open Visual Studio 2010. Click on New Project. Choose the project category “C# Windows Form Application”. At the bottom you can rename your application. As you can see I have renamed it to “techlab_userinterface”. Then click Ok.
Step2: Changing The Form Name
After clicking Ok, you will see a blank form. First of all if you want to change your Form Name, go to the properties window and Find “Text“. Change it to what ever you want. I changed it to “TechLabs“. On Left Side you will see the Toolbars windows. Today we will learn to use some of these basic controls. If you are not viewing these toolbars then you can enable them from View->Toolbox.
Step 3: Dragging Controls On The Form
Now we will start dragging Controls from the toolbox window. I have dragged two text boxes, two labels and one button. Rename all of these by simply selecting control on form and changing Text in the properties window as shown in this screenshot.
Step 4: Adding Password Property To Text Box
Now we are designing a Login Form. We all know that when ever we type our password to some Login window then it appears as dots. We will also add this option to our lower text box. Here we go. Simply select the lower text box. Then go to the properties window and Find “Password Char”. Fill it with the desired character. I filled it with “*”. Now when you will enter password, stars will appear.
Step 5: Writing C# Code Behind Button
Now let’s start the core of the process. Double click the Login button. Here we will write some piece of code. For example I want to authenticate a user on entering:
Then I will write the following code.
In the above code, in first line I am comparing it with the username and password. If it is correct a pop up will appear that you have entered the correct details. Otherwise you will see an error message and both text boxes will be clear.
Resulting User Interface Design in C#
So this was a C Sharp tutorial for beginners on login user interface design in C#. In the upcoming tutorials we will learn to use other controls which will help you to design more interactive user interface in c#.
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<urn:uuid:afac14a7-f2b3-4689-8ad9-a786e563b7f4>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.thetechlabs.com/interfaces/user-interface-design/
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en
| 0.864855 | 614 | 2.953125 | 3 |
A surprising number of elections and political transitions is scheduled to occur over the coming months. An incomplete list includes Russia, China, France, the United States, Egypt, Mexico, and South Korea.
At first glance, these countries have little in common. Some are well-established democracies; some are authoritarian systems; and others are somewhere in between. Yet, for all of their differences, these governments – and the individuals who will lead them – face many of the same challenges. Three stand out.
The first is that no country is entirely its own master. In today's world, no country enjoys total autonomy or independence. To one degree or another, all depend on access to foreign markets to sell their manufactured goods, agricultural products, resources, or services – or to supply them. None can eliminate economic competition with others over access to third-country markets. Many countries require capital inflows to finance investment or official debt. Global supply and demand largely set oil and gas prices. Economic interdependence and the vulnerability associated with it is an inescapable fact of contemporary life.
But economic dependence on others is not the only international reality with which governments must contend. It is equally difficult – if not impossible – for countries to isolate themselves from terrorism, weapons, pandemic disease, or climate change.
After all, borders are not impermeable. On the contrary, globalization – the immense flow across borders of people, ideas, greenhouse gases, goods, services, currencies, commodities, television and radio signals, drugs, weapons, emails, viruses (computer and biological), and a good deal else – is a defining reality of our time. Few of the challenges that it raises can be met unilaterally; more often than not, cooperation, compromise, and a degree of multilateralism are essential.
A second universal challenge is technology. George Orwell's vision of 1984 could hardly have been more wrong, because the hallmark of modern technology is not Big Brother, but decentralization. More computing power can now be held on a desktop or in a person's hand than could be gathered in a room only a generation ago.
As a result, people everywhere now have more access to more sources of information than ever before. making it increasingly difficult for governments to control, much less monopolize, the flow of knowledge. Citizens also have a growing ability through mobile phones and social networking to communicate directly and discreetly with one another.
One consequence of this trend is that authoritarian governments can no longer wield control over their citizens as easily as they once did. Technology is, no doubt, one explanation for the uprisings that we are seeing in much of the Arab world. But modern technology also has implications for well-established democracies. It is far more difficult to generate social consensus and to govern in a world in which citizens can choose what they read, watch, and listen to, and with whom they talk.
A third widespread challenge that awaits emerging leaders is the inescapable reality that citizens' demands increasingly overwhelm the capacity to satisfy them. This was always true in the so-called developing (and often relatively poor) world. But now it is also the case in the relatively well-off mature democracies, as well as among those countries that have been growing fastest.
Economic growth is slower in many cases than the historic norm. This is readily apparent for much of Europe, Japan, and the US. But growth is also slowing in China and India, which together account for more than one-third of the world's population. Unemployment rates are high, especially in the US and Western Europe, and especially among the young and those nearing the end of their careers (but who are still expected to live for decades). More worrying still, much of this will translate into long-term unemployment.
The net result of these economic and demographic shifts is that a growing share of national income is now being directed to provide health, pensions, and other forms of basic support, while a declining percentage of citizens in nearly every society is now working to support a growing number of fellow citizens. This rising dependency ratio is made worse by widening economic inequality; as more wealth is concentrated in fewer hands, the promise of ever-improving standards of living for most people may not be fulfilled.
Together, these three trends – a loss of economic and physical autonomy, the diffusion of information technology, and slower growth against a backdrop of larger and older populations – will create enormous political challenges in virtually every country. Demands are mounting at the same time as the ability of governments to satisfy them is diminishing. The leaders who will take power after this year's transitions will confront this fundamental reality.
Leaders will also have to confront the byproducts of increased nationalism, populism, and, in some cases, extremism. Hostility to immigration and economic protectionism, already visible, can be projected to increase.
These developments within countries will make more difficult the challenge of generating global consensus on how to meet threats beyond borders: as governing successfully at home becomes more difficult, so will governing abroad. For citizens and leaders alike, tough times lie ahead.
This article appears in full on CFR.org by permission of its original publisher. It was originally available here.
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http://www.cfr.org/elections/victors-go-foils/p28071
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en
| 0.959821 | 1,051 | 2.765625 | 3 |
As the planet warms due to climate change, instances of West Nile virus will increase across the continent and spread into areas previously considered unsuitable for the virus’s propagation, according to a UCLA study published Thursday in the journal Global Change Biology.
“With climate change, we’re seeing what was once thought of as tropical diseases moving into much more temperate areas,” said Ryan Harrigan, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Tropical Research at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
Researchers took nine years of West Nile virus infection data across the country from 2003 – 2011 . They examined how it correlated with temperature and precipitation levels. They then developed a suite of models to predict what the spread of the virus will likely look like in the future.
The researchers said their models were able to predict accurately for 2012 areas where human infections had significantly higher probability of occurring. Looking forward to 2050 and 2080, researchers found that the disease will be able to propagate in areas that today seem too cold.
“What we see is a massive northward expansion of the disease and possible range of the virus well into the northern latitudes in Canada,” Harrigan said.
He said that the spread could have a debilitating impact on native species.
“This is concerning because there is native wildlife there that has not been previously exposed to the disease and that would suffer likely dramatic population declines, given the introduction of a brand new disease,“ Harrigan said.
California had nearly 500 cases of human infections by West Nile virus in 2012, the second-highest number behind Texas. Harrigan said the models show that number could increase in the future.
“Seventy two percent of the state is expected to, by area, increase in probability of West Nile presence by the year 2080,” he said.
The study shows where West Nile virus could have increased probability of occurrence. Harrigan said that actual numbers of human cases is hard to predict, as regional measures such as mosquito control can have a large impact on disease prevalence.
Those control methods may become more important as more areas become viable breeding grounds for the disease.
“We don’t have West Nile virus in Alaska yet,” Harrigan said. “But under our model and predictions of climate change, you would expect that in the very near future, if not already, the conditions are favorable for West Nile transmission in Alaska.”
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http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/02/27/42497/study-instances-of-west-nile-virus-likely-to-incre/
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en
| 0.966321 | 513 | 3.765625 | 4 |
EyeRounds Online Atlas of Ophthalmology
Contributor: William Charles Caccamise, Sr, MD, Retired Clinical Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
*Dr. Caccamise has very generously shared his images of patients taken while operating during the "eye season" in rural India as well as those from his private practice during the 1960's and 1970's. Many of his images are significant for their historical perspective and for techniques and conditions seen in settings in undeveloped areas.
The patient was a young rural patient who came to the Clinic with a complaint of having had a bee sting his eye. Slit-lamp examination revealed a bee-stinger whose tip was in contact with Descemet's membrane. Because of fear of perforating the cornea, the stinger was approached cautiously. However, its barbs prevented removal on the first attempt.The pupil was dilated with atropine. Antibiotic-steroid drops and ointment were provided. The following day, the stinger was successfuly removed. However, the toxins from the stinger combined with the trauma of the surgery led to the leucomatous scarring seen in the photograph. Cases have been reported where a bee-sting has caused uveitis, cataract, and optic neuritis.
Ophthalmic Atlas Images by EyeRounds.org, The University of Iowa are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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http://webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu/eyeforum/atlas/pages/Beesting-keratopathyl-.html
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en
| 0.97662 | 321 | 2.515625 | 3 |
"The Gods of Ancient Persia"
The religious texts of the Zoroastrians are rich with information on the ancient Persians and their gods. These texts include the Avesta and later sources such as the Bundahishn and Denkard. Within the Avesta, the gods, heroes and fabulous creatures mostly appear in the section known as the Yasht. Here, myths of 'pre-Zoroastrian' origin which reflect a pagan ideology are described in hymns dedicated to various gods.
Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord, is the ultimate God of absolute goodness, wisdom and knowledge. He is the creator of the sun, the stars, light and dark, humans and animals and all spiritual and physical activities. He is opposed to all evil and suffering. Zoroaster's teaching says that Ahura Mazda personifies goodness and that all human beings must choose between good and evil.
Angra Mainyu (Ahriman), is the Evil
Spirit, who is constantly attempting to destroy the world of truth and
to harm men and beasts. Thus life in this world is a reflection of the
cosmic struggle between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu.
According to Zoroastrian texts, Angra Mainyu will be defeated at the end of the world.
Mithra is the best-known divinity, partly
due to the spread and popularity of Mithraism in the Roman empire. The
Avestan word mithra means 'pact, contract, covenant'. In Yasht 10, the
Mihr Yasht, Mithra appears watching over men and their deeds, agreements
and contracts. He is the guide towards the right order (asha) and is
also responsible for giving protection against attack. As the god who
controlled the cosmic order - that is, night and day and the change
of seasons - he was associated with fire and the sun, and thus eventually
became known as the sun god in both Iran and India.
Ardvi Sura Anahita is the goddess of
all the waters and the source of the cosmic ocean. She drives a chariot
pulled by four horses: wind, rain, cloud and sleet. She is regarded
as the source of life, purifying the seed of all males and the wombs
of all females, and cleansing the milk in the breasts of all mothers.
Because of her connection with life, warriors in battle prayed to her
for survival and victory.
Anahita is worshipped by heroes and anti-heroes alike in the Avesta, who pray to her and offer sacrifices. The important status of this goddess is best seen in the struggle between good and evil and the confrontation between the kings of Iran and the rulers of Turya (Turan), the area to the north-east of Iran.
Atar (Fire) in Zoroastrianism is regarded
as the son of Ahura Mazda, the Wise Lord. Humans were expected to offer
meat as a sacrifice to Atar, at the same time holding a bundle of sacred
twigs (barsom) in the hand. Every house was expected to have a hearth
for making sacrifices, in front of which prayers could be said:
Atar is closely associated with the god
Mithra: for example, together they succeed in rescuing the Divine Glory
from the demon Azhi Dahaka. Atar is described as riding behind Mithra's
Verethragna is the warrior god, the aggressive,
victorious force against evil. In the Bahram Yasht, a hymn dedicated
to him, he takes ten different forms: a strong wind, a bull with yellow
ears and golden horns, a white horse with golden trappings, a burden-bearing
camel, a male boar, a youth at the ideal age of fifteen, a swift bird
(perhaps a raven), a wild ram, a fighting deer, and a man holding a
sword with a golden blade.
Vayu, the god of wind, is also depicted as a warrior god who chases the Evil Spirit with his sharp spear and golden weapons to protect the good creations of Ahura Mazda. He rules between the realms of Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu, between light and darkness.
Tishtrya, the god of rains, is personified as the star Sinus or Canis Major. His opponents are the witch Duzhyairya (Bad Harvest) and, worse still, Apaosha (Drought). He is vividly described as the god who rises from the source of all waters, the Vourukasha Sea, and who divides the waters among the countries.
The god of rains succeeds in making water pour down upon the fields, upon the whole world, and vapour rising from the sea moves forward in the form of clouds, pushed by the wind. The fourth month of the Iranian calendar is called Tir after the god Tishtrya, and the festival of Tiragan was celebrated as a rain festival.
Haoma (Vedic Soma) is the god who gives health and strength, and who provides rich harvests and sons. His name is that of a plant with healing potency, believed to be of the genus Ephedra. The juice of the plant gave supernatural powers and had an intoxicating effect. The god was thought to give strength to overcome any enemy. Indeed, when Kavi Haosravah (later Kay Khusrow) defeated the Turanian king Franrasyan (Afrasiyab), he had the physical assistance of Haoma.
Copyright shall at all times remain vested in the Author. No part of the work shall be used, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the Author's express written consent.
Copyright © 2005 K. Kianush, Art Arena
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http://www.art-arena.com/godspersia.htm
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en
| 0.943024 | 1,232 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Sir John Gilbert (British, 1817–1897)
The Plays of William Shakespeare, ca. 1849
Oil on canvas, 41 1/2 x 50 1/4 in.
Signed and dated lower right: John Gilbert 1849
The vibrant characters, sophisticated narratives, and complex emotions of Shakespeare’s plays sustained an entire pictorial genre in Victorian England. Gilbert was one of the most versatile and prolific visual interpreters of Shakespearean subjects, working in pencil, watercolor, and oil. In addition to his prodigious output as an illustrator for The Illustrated London News and Punch, Gilbert drew 829 woodblocks engraved for the lavish three-volume Plays of Shakespeare, published in 1858. He showed over 40 Shakespearean watercolors at the Old Water-Colour Society and in 1871 became president of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours.
Gilbert’s elaborate masterwork The Plays of William Shakespeare was exhibited to much acclaim in 1850 at London’s British Institution. The crowded tableau is arranged as if on a stage, a format adopted from Raphael’s School of Athens (Vatican), with the main characters from the tragedies in the foreground, historical figures in the middle, and magical and supernatural beings in the upper region. Gilbert returned to this theme in 1871 with a vertical version called The Apotheosis of Shakespeare’s Characters (Yale Center for British Art, New Haven).
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http://www.daheshmuseum.org/portfolio/john-gilbertthe-plays-of-william-shakespeare/gallery/paintings/
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en
| 0.904337 | 299 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Four Works Better than Three
SLU Research: An Enhanced Flu Vaccine Does the Trick
ST. LOUIS - An intranasal vaccine that includes four weakened strains of influenza could do a better job in protecting children from the flu than current vaccines, Saint Louis University research shows.
|Robert Belshe, M.D., is director of Saint Louis University's Center for Vaccine Development.|
Before each influenza season, scientists predict which strains of flu will be circulating and make a trivalent vaccine that includes three strains of influenza -- two of influenza A and one of influenza B.
The ability to add another strain of influenza B without compromising the vaccine's ability to protect against the other three strains will allow scientists make a better vaccine, said Robert Belshe, M.D., professor of infectious diseases at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and the corresponding author of the research article.
"The bottom line is adding another strain to make a quadrivalent vaccine improves our ability to protect against flu and doesn't reduce the body's immune response to the other strains," said Belshe, who also directs Saint Louis University's Center for Vaccine Development.
"It should bring us better protection because there's less guess work than in the standard trivalent vaccine."
Children are more susceptible than adults to influenza from one of the B strains, which change less often than A strain viruses. Some winters, influenza B viruses - Victoria or Yamagata - cause most of the flu in children and significant infection in adults, Belshe said.
Preventing flu in children is key to protecting the entire population. "We think the most important way for flu to spread is through school-aged children," Belshe said.
In the 1980s, influenza B split into the two circulating lineages of virus, which have evolved into viruses that are quite different. Some years both B viruses or the B strain that doesn't match the vaccine circulate, which means the vaccine doesn't protect people from getting the flu.
"There are these two very different strains of influenza B that don't cross protect. Vaccinating against one strain of influenza B does little to protect against the other," Belshe said.
"It has not been possible to predict which strain has circulated. In the last 10 years, we predicted right five times. So you can flip a coin and do as well."
Previously, manufacturers had not had the capacity to produce a vaccine that protects against four strains of flu, but that is no longer the case, Belshe said.
The researchers tested versions of the FluMist vaccine, which is sprayed in the nose and contains live flu viruses that have been attenuated or weakened so they don't cause infection.
The intranasal vaccine is made by MedImmune.
The nasal spray vaccine was tested in about 2,300 children between 2 and 19 years of age. The children were randomized to receive one of three vaccines: a vaccine containing four strains of influenza -- two of influenza A and two of influenza B, or one of two vaccines that contained both influenza A strains and one of each of the influenza B strains. Researchers looked at the safety and antibody response to both influenza A and B viruses in children of different age groups who were vaccinated.
Those children who receive vaccine containing four strains of flu had as robust of an immune response as those who received the vaccine that contained three strains. In addition, Belshe noted no clinically significant difference the safety of the vaccines, which were well tolerated.
"We saw stuffy noses, which we know is associated with FluMist, and an occasional low grade fever, which is similar to other childhood vaccines," Belshe said.
On Feb. 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved MedImmune's quadrivalent flu vaccine for use in people between the ages of 2 and 49. The vaccine could be ready for use during the 2013-2014 influenza season, pending a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a group that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about vaccination issues.
An injected flu vaccine designed to protect against four strains of flu -- instead of the current three -- also is in the works, Belshe said.
Findings were published electronically ahead of print in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. Belshe has been a member of a speaker's bureau and received research grants and consulting fees from MedImmune, which sponsored the study.
Established in 1836, Saint Louis University School of Medicine has the distinction of awarding the first medical degree west of the Mississippi River. The school educates physicians and biomedical scientists, conducts medical research, and provides health care on a local, national and international level. Research at the school seeks new cures and treatments in five key areas: cancer, infectious disease, liver disease, aging and brain disease and heart/lung disease.
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en
| 0.965714 | 1,002 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Where is the line between “poor” and “not poor”? The international standard says that anyone making under $1.25 per day should be considered poor. Above that, not poor.
Now that line is looking too low to be relevant in Asia, a testament to the scale of the economic growth on the continent in recent decades.
A report (pdf) released this month by the Asian Development Bank makes the case for a higher, Asia-focused poverty line (The World Bank sets the international standard). Indeed, all Asian countries save one—Afghanistan—already have national poverty lines above the international figure. Many are considerably higher.
The report offers a few criticisms of the $1.25 figure. For one, making it relevant to all countries requires adjusting local currencies at purchasing power parity, or PPP, which measures a currency’s ability to buy goods. While more instructive than a simple exchange rate, PPPs aren’t much good at assessing the lives of the poor.
PPPs are “generated to compare overall price levels, not prices specifically applicable to the poor,” the report says. Price changes in middle-class products like televisions or cars don’t affect the poor, who spend nearly all of their income on basic goods like food. The Financial Times’ Alphaville blog agrees that PPP is a “pretty poor parallel.”
Another criticism of the international number is it’s an average of national poverty lines of the world’s 15 poorest countries. But only two of these are in Asia, making it “too low to be relevant for policymakers,” says the report.
The World Bank is considering increasing its poverty line (paywall). For the meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank report is using its own methodology to settle on a regional poverty line of $1.51. The additional $0.26 makes a difference: By that standard, the number of people termed “poor” in the region goes up by more than 340 million, and the poverty rate for Asia increases from about 20% to over 30%. At $1.51, for instance, India’s poverty rate rises by 15 percentage points.
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://qz.com/257067/asia-has-gotten-too-rich-for-the-global-poverty-line/
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en
| 0.933705 | 462 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Right-left regional cerebral differences are a feature of the human brain linked to functional abilities, aging, and neurodevelopmental and mental disorders. The role of genetic factors in structural asymmetry has been incompletely studied. We analyzed data from 515 individuals (130 monozygotic twin pairs, 97 dizygotic pairs, and 61 unpaired twins) from the Vietnam Era Twin Study of Aging to answer three questions about genetic determinants of brain structural asymmetry: First, does the magnitude of heritability differ for homologous regions in each hemisphere? Despite adequate power to detect regional differences, heritability estimates were not significantly larger in one hemisphere versus the other, except left > right inferior lateral ventricle heritability. Second, do different genetic factors influence left and right hemisphere size in homologous regions? Interhemispheric genetic correlations were high and significant; in only two subcortical regions (pallidum and accumbens) did the estimate statistically differ from 1.0. Thus, there was little evidence for different genetic influences on left and right hemisphere regions. Third, to what extent do genetic factors influence variability in left-right size differences? There was no evidence that variation in asymmetry (i.e., the size difference) of left and right homologous regions was genetically determined, except in pallidum and accumbens. Our findings suggest that genetic factors do not play a significant role in determining individual variation in the degree of regional cortical size asymmetries measured with MRI, although they may do so for volume of some subcortical structures. Despite varying interpretations of existing data, we view the present results as consistent with previous findings.
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<urn:uuid:3b277517-abba-4130-b4c4-e02b96d14114>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/publications/journal_articles/4000
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en
| 0.918332 | 339 | 2.625 | 3 |
Use Your Hacking Skills to Help the World with Random Hacks of Kindness
You don't have to set you mind too far back to think of the homemade hacks created to help others: In March we covered an open-source Kimono lantern created to assist Japanese quake and tsunami victims. Sadly, there will be some genuinely useful open-source hacks that go unnoticed by the masses. So, for those with the passion to tinker and big hearts, there's Random Hacks of Kindness.
Random Hacks of Kindness (RHOK) was set up in 2009 by technology giants such as Google, NASA, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and the World Bank, and is still seemly trying to gain a little bit of traction. The simple aim was to get volunteers creating clever hacks designed to help those in the greatest need. What's most significant is the support structure: If, say, a developer was having issues programming a certain device, there may be other programmers on-hand to help solve the issue.
Projects developed by RHOK volunteers worth a mention include "I'm OK," a text messaging service first used in the Haiti and Chile earthquakes last year to let families know loved ones were safe, and the Google-developed PeopleFinder, a virtual message board used in Haiti, Chile and Japan.
RHOK boasts an impressive 120 active projects , 2000 registrants (160 actual volunteers), and a slate of various conferences and events--such as hack-a-thons--used to raise awareness of the group's efforts. And if you can't attend a particular event, you can always host your own.
If there's one way to really put your own hacking skills to good use, this is it. Check out the video below for an example of Random Hacks of Kindness project PeopleFinder under presentation (audio quality isn't great, so you may need toturn your speakers up):
Like this? You might also enjoy...
- Robot Plays Chess, Attempts to Assert Dominance Over Humans
- College Students Show Off Indie Games at NYU
- Nook Color Does Hulu Too With This Hack
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http://www.pcworld.com/article/228491/use_your_hacking_skills_to_help_the_world_with_random_hacks_of_kindness.html
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en
| 0.947135 | 433 | 2.65625 | 3 |
August 17, 1786
Davy Crockett Born
On this day in 1786, frontier icon and Alamo defender Davy Crockett was born in Tennessee. He began his military career as a scout in the Tennessee militia in 1813 and was elected to the Tennessee legislature in 1821. After a turbulent political career, during which he split with President Andrew Jackson, a fellow Tennessean, and acquired a national reputation as a sharpshooter, hunter, and yarn-spinner, Crockett grew disenchanted with the political process and decided to explore Texas. He set out in November 1835 and reached San Antonio de Béxar in February 1836, shortly before the arrival of Antonio López de Santa Anna. Crockett chose to join Col. William B. Travis, who had deliberately disregarded Jackson sympathizer Sam Houston's orders to withdraw from the Alamo, and died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. No matter how many fabrications gathered around him, the historical David Crockett proved a formidable hero in his own right and succeeded Daniel Boone as the rough-hewn representative of frontier independence and virtue.
David (Davy) Crockett, frontiersman, congressman, and defender of the Alamo, son of John and Rebecca (Hawkins) Crockett, was born in Greene County, East Tennessee, on August 17, 1786. In 1798, two years after the Crocketts opened a tavern on the road from Knoxville to Abingdon, Virginia, John Crockett hired his son out to Jacob Siler to help drive a herd of cattle to Rockbridge County, Virginia. Siler tried to detain David by force after the job was completed, but the boy escaped at night by walking seven miles in two hours through knee-deep snow. He eventually made his way home in late 1798 or early 1799. Soon afterward he started school, but preferred playing hooky and ran away to escape his father's punishment. This "strategic withdrawal," as Crockett called it, lasted 2½ years while he worked as a wagoner and day-laborer and at odd jobs to support himself. When he returned home in 1802 he had grown so much that his family did not recognize him at first. When they did, he found that all was forgiven. Crockett reciprocated their generosity by working for about a year to discharge his father's debts, which totaled seventy-six dollars, and subsequently returned to school for six months.
Crockett died in battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. The manner of his death was uncertain, however, until the publication in 1975 of the diary of Lt. José Enrique de la Peña. Susanna Dickinson, wife of Almeron Dickinson, an officer at the Alamo, said Crockett died on the outside, one of the earliest to fall. Joe, Travis's slave and the only male Texan to survive the battle, reported seeing Crockett lying dead with slain Mexicans around him and stated that only one man, named Warner, surrendered to the Mexicans (Warner was taken to Santa Anna and promptly shot). When Peña's eyewitness account was placed together with other corroborating documents, Crockett's central part in the defense became clear. Travis had previously written that during the first bombardment Crockett was everywhere in the Alamo "animating the men to do their duty." Other reports told of the deadly fire of his rifle that killed five Mexican gunners in succession, as they each attempted to fire a cannon bearing on the fort, and that he may have just missed Santa Anna, who thought himself out of range of all the defenders' rifles. Crockett and five or six others were captured when the Mexican troops took the Alamo at about six o'clock that morning, even though Santa Anna had ordered that no prisoners be taken. The general, infuriated when some of his officers brought the Americans before him to try to intercede for their lives, ordered them executed immediately. They were bayoneted and then shot. Crockett's reputation and that of the other survivors was not, as some have suggested, sullied by their capture. Their dignity and bravery was, in fact, further underscored by Peña's recounting that "these unfortunates died without complaining and without humiliating themselves before their torturers."
Coincidentally, a work mostly of fiction masquerading as fact had put the truth of Crockett's death before the American public in the summer of 1836. Despite its many falsifications and plagiarisms, Richard Penn Smith's Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas...Written by Himself had a reasonably accurate account of Crockett's capture and execution. Many thought the legendary Davy deserved better, and they provided it, from thrilling tales of his clubbing Mexicans with his empty rifle and holding his section of the wall of the Alamo until cut down by bullets and bayonets, to his survival as a slave in a Mexican salt mine.
In the final analysis, however, no matter how fascinating or outrageous the fabrications were that gathered around him, the historical David Crockett proved a formidable hero in his own right and succeeded Daniel Boone as the rough-hewn representative of frontier independence and virtue. In this regard, the motto he adopted and made famous epitomized his spirit: "Be always sure you're right-then go a-head!"
Portrait of Davy Crockett
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://gilmermirror.com/view/full_story/25627849/article-August-17--1786--Davy-Crockett-Born
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en
| 0.983412 | 1,140 | 3.65625 | 4 |
Truman Capote’s brutal, moody, intense “In Cold Blood” is a seminal work in the nonfiction novel genre. It details the murders of the Clutter family at the hands of two petty criminals, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, and the two men’s subsequent execution. It appears on college and high-school reading lists all across the U.S, but it might just be off the table at Glendale High School.
Recently, English teacher Holly Ciotti wanted to add the book to her advanced placement 11th grade language class. Ciotti says Capote’s work is perfect for the class because it covers a range of controversial topics and introduces students to the vagaries of the American judicial system.
She assumed adding the book to her curriculum would be a no-brainer, but she received push-back from members of the school board and the PTA. Board member Mary Boger said she certainly understands that the book has literary importance but there are other works that can illustrate the same issues without the shocking violence of “In Cold Blood.”
Ciotti has backup plans, but feels no novel matches up to Capote’s. She said that while the description may be graphic, the violence is far from gratuitous because Capote includes those scenes after readers become fully invested in the characters.
“Even though you know that these are indeed cold-blooded killers, what you also know is that they’re human beings, and you want to understand them. This is a psychological profile as much as it is anything else,” she said.
The addition if the book is currently in a holding pattern while the school board decides whether or not to allow Ciotti to teach it. The question now is: Is the book inappropriate?
Do the literary merits of the work outweigh the graphic violence? And, Ciotti maintains that the book is only going to be used by her advanced placement students. Are they better equipped to deal with depictions of a brutal quadruple murder?
Holly Ciotti, English Teacher, Glendale High School
Mary Boger, Board Member, Glendale Unified School District
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<urn:uuid:a65ed48c-356c-4ed1-b773-6add4b29b8b5>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2011/09/28/20848/in-cold-blood/
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en
| 0.96379 | 450 | 2.515625 | 3 |
A Raisin in the Sun Theme of Pride
Pride is portrayed in an extremely positive light in A Raisin in the Sun. Since the play is depicting people who have little else to their name, pride is a means for them to hold on to their dignity and affirm their worth as human beings. When a neighborhood representative shows up and offers to buy out their house, the family doesn’t hesitate to kick him out. The novel frames this decision as pride versus money, and although money does win out for a little bit, the Younger family maintains its pride in the end.
Questions About Pride
- What role does pride play in the Younger family? In which ways are the Youngers proud? Who wins the "Proudest Family Member" award? Is this a good thing?
- In A Raisin in the Sun, is pride something that is passed down from generation to generation? Or is pride an individual quality? Or both?
- Why is pride so important to the Younger family?
Chew on This
Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Walter yearns to find self-worth through a business endeavor but ultimately finds his self-worth in feeling proud of his family.
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http://www.shmoop.com/a-raisin-in-the-sun/pride-theme.html
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en
| 0.979802 | 252 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Grade Level: 6th -8th; Type: Life Science, Social Science, Engineering
In this project students will choose an item to redesign to be ergonomic.
Ergonomics is the science of designing custom work environments to increase productivity and decrease injury. Most commonly ergonomics has been applied to the office setting where an individual is working on a computer for prolonged periods of time. Items such as adjustable chairs, wrist supports, and pivoting screens were designed to fit the users body type. For this project you will design an ergonomic tool that caters to the user while maintaining its utility.
- Why does the object need to be improved?
- Does your ergonomic tool increase efficiency?
- Does your ergonomic tool decrease the risk of injury?
- Has the ergonomic tool maintained its original function?
- What were the main factors to consider when designing your ergonomic tool?
Terms to Know
- Human factors
- Paper & pencil
- Brainstorm: Think of tools you use on a regular basis and how they can be improved to aid the user.
- Choose a tool to ergonomically design. When designing, consider the following questions:
- What is the tool?
- What is its function?
- What makes it a candidate for ergonomic design? Is it lacking any features that would aid the user?
- What do we physically do when using this item?
- What body parts are involved?
- Can the item produce less strain on the user?
- Can the item be more efficient?
- Does the item still retain its functionality?
School Desk - This functions as a writing surface for multiple students. Most desks are one height so students of different heights cannot comfortably work. Shorter students will have to sit on their knees to raise them up while taller students will have to hunch over. Desks that are adjustable are usually adjusted once and remain at that height since adjusting the height takes quite a bit of effort. Usually the legs can be adjusted individually.
We use this item with our arms and hands to write and perform tasks on the desk surface.Desks can be designed to adjust more easily, within seconds so that when students enter the class they can rapidly adjust the height of the desk to suit their height. The desk surface can be angled. This will put less strain on the individual since it is custom fit to their height, arm positioning, and comfort. By designing the desk to be more rapidly adjusted and easier will increase efficiency by decreasing the time it takes to adjust traditional desks or the time spent adjust the way the student sits to accommodate the desk's height. The desk will still maintain its function of a writing/work surface.
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<urn:uuid:45257a54-3909-4c92-8f65-f3ebe45e66e6>
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/design-ergonomic-environments/
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en
| 0.933633 | 554 | 4.0625 | 4 |
St. Andrew of Crete explains (via the Liturgy of the Hours today):
We are celebrating the feast of the cross which drove away darkness and brought in the light. As we keep this feast, we are lifted up with the crucified Christ, leaving behind us earth and sin so that we may gain the things above. So great and outstanding a possession is the cross that he who wins it has won a treasure. Rightly could I call this treasure the fairest of all fair things and the costliest, in fact as well as in name, for on it and through it and for its sake the riches of salvation that had been lost were restored to us.
Had there been no cross, Christ could not have been crucified. Had there been no cross, life itself could not have been nailed to the tree. And if life had not been nailed to it, there would be no streams of immortality pouring from Christ’s side, blood and water for the world’s cleansing. The legal bond of our sin would not be cancelled, we should not have attained our freedom, we should not have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life and the gates of paradise would not stand open. Had there been no cross, death would not have been trodden underfoot, nor hell despoiled.
Therefore, the cross is something wonderfully great and honorable. It is great because through the cross the many noble acts of Christ found their consummation—very many indeed, for both his miracles and his sufferings were fully rewarded with victory. The cross is honorable because it is both the sign of God’s suffering and the trophy of his victory. It stands for his suffering because on it he freely suffered unto death. But it is also his trophy because it was the means by which the devil was wounded and death conquered; the barred gates of hell were smashed, and the cross became the one common salvation of the whole world.
The cross is called Christ’s glory; it is saluted as his triumph. We recognize it as the cup he longed to drink and the climax of the sufferings he endured for our sake. As to the cross being Christ’s glory, listen to his words: Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in him God is glorified, and God will glorify him at once. And again: Father, glorify me with the glory I had with you before the world came to be. And once more: Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven: I have glorified it and I will glorify it again. Here he speaks of the glory that would accrue to him through the cross. And if you would understand that the cross is Christ’s triumph, hear what he himself also said: When I am lifted up, then I will draw all men to myself. Now you can see that the cross is Christ’s glory and triumph.
In the Cross, we are redeemed, life makes some sense, we have true and certain hope.
On the Cross, we come to know God. From another homily:
the truth about the cross is inescapable. God suffered this way. God died this way. And curiously enough he accepted this particular kind of death and made it a gift for us. That is the great mystery of the cross and the great mystery of our Christian faith.
The meaning of the cross is not just its brutality. It is, so to speak, multivalent- it means many things, but principally it is about the kind of God that we believe in. God in Christ accepts for himself the full implications of human existence, immerses himself in its totality and as such accepts that he will experience in his human nature suffering and death. He does this so that his promise of fidelity to us will be irrefutable.
Christ goes into the deepest reality of human existence, and because he is God, he remains present to that reality then, now and forever. In all of the events and circumstances Christ is present and working.
Suffering cannot frustrate his ultimate purposes. Death does not have the final word. God’s power manifested in Christ overcomes the cruelty and violence of the world.
The cross reveals God to us and displays the manner in which he relates to us, to history, to the powers of the world, indeed to all creation itself.
May the Holy Cross be our light on our journey in faith to the wedding feast!
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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en
| 0.982239 | 920 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Sharia is a term that is associated with Islam. All over the Islamic world, Sharia is defined to be the subject or division of issuing Islamic laws. The establishment of Islamic Sharia in all Islamic countries has been always the work of man.
Religious leaders/Imams/Ulamaa/Scholars have always taken the responsibility to compile data to come up with the Sharia Laws. They have assigned themselves to be the guardians of religion and keepers of God's laws. They trained and brain-washed their audience. Although Quran has been always claimed to be their prominent source, the belief that it cannot stand alone as a fully detailed and complete source of divine laws has brought the man-made, Hadith and Sunna books at their disposal as a second source besides the divine word of God for Sharia.
Then, over the years, the human thirst for control and power have played a significant part in formulating and editing Sharia. Religious officials have been tempted to inject their very own interpretations and opinions to those laws to serve their own agendas! Thus, the consensus of those religious officials in one region has become an added, third source for all sorts of false issuings in the name of Islam. Sharia laws have become variable sets of laws within the same country depending on who is in charge, and would also sound different from one Islamic country to another! Many laws that affect economy, politics, justice system, marriage, divorce, inheritance, and religious rituals such as charity have been invented and imposed leading to all the chaos and the inhumane practices all over the world by the hands of Muslims or against them.
The image of God's authorized religion (3:19,85) has been tarnished and His message has been attacked because of the propaganda of the so-called Islamic sharia that mostly goes against human nature and contradicts the true Islamic laws issued by God in Quran. Moreover, different patterns of contradicting sharia laws of different Islamic regions have been publicized and taught in theology and world religions' classes all over the world only to muddy Islam and add more confusion about the divinity of Quran.
Ironically, Quran mentions all three words - Sharia, Hadith , and Sunna - but in a very different context from the one established by the scholars. Additionally, Quran warns us against following any personal opinions instead of God's teachings and sacred laws (28:50, 47:14) . God is fully aware of how subsequent generations after the revelation of Quran will come up with their own sharia and with their own sources for its laws. Therefore, He insisted on teaching us in Quran the true sharia. He indicated to us that religious scholars have done injustice to their souls and to His truth. They have declared that Quran alone is not enough while God testifies it is complete (6:115), perfect (11:1, 2:2) , fully detailed (6:114), has the explanations of everything (16:89), has the details of everything (12:111), and has all that we need for our salvation (6:51).
The root for the word sharia is "sha ra aa" and it means : to issue laws and practices. The root along with some of its derivatives are mentioned in Quran three times (42:13, 42:21, and 5:48). In addition to that, the word "sharia", itself, is mentioned once in 45:18. In all four verses, God is stating in black and white He is the ONLY entity to issue laws and practices through His scriptures, and that Quran is the ONLY documented divine sharia Muslims/Submitters must follow:
Only One Religion
Monotheists vs Idol Worshipers [42:13] He decreed (sharaa lakum) for you the same religion decreed for Noah, and what we inspired to you, and what we decreed for Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: "You shall uphold this one religion, and do not divide it." The idol worshipers will greatly resent what you invite them to do. GOD redeems to Himself whomever He wills; He guides to Himself only those who totally submit.
The Idols: Innovating New Religious Laws [42:21] They follow idols who decree for them (sharaau lahum) religious laws never authorized by GOD. If it were not for the predetermined decision, they would have been judged immediately. Indeed, the transgressors have incurred a painful retribution.*
Quran: The Ultimate Reference [5:48] Then we revealed to you this scripture, truthfully, confirming previous scriptures, and superseding them. You shall rule among them in accordance with GOD's revelations, and do not follow their wishes if they differ from the truth that came to you. For each of you, we have decreed laws (sheraah) and different rites. Had GOD willed, He could have made you one congregation. But He thus puts you to the test through the revelations He has given each of you. You shall compete in righteousness. To GOD is your final destiny - all of you - then He will inform you of everything you had disputed.
[45:17] We have given them herein clear commandments. Ironically, they did not dispute this until the knowledge had come to them. This is due to jealousy on their part. Surely, your Lord will judge them on the Day of Resurrection regarding everything they have disputed.
[45:18] We then appointed you to establish the correct laws (sharia); you shall follow this, and do not follow the wishes of those who do not know.
Similarly, the words Hadith and Sunna are used in Quran to warn us against their upcoming, false attribution to Prophet Muhammad or our religion. The word Hadith (narration) occurs to either refer to Quran itself (39:23, 45:6, 68:44, 77:50) or to point out that there should be no other hadith (narration) besides Quran to be followed (7:185, 12:111, 31:6, 52:34) . As for the word Sunna (system or way of life), it is interesting to note that it is mentioned 14 times in Quran. Eleven out of the fourteen are referring to God's unchangeable Sunna (15:13, 17:77-twice, 33:38, 33:62 -twice, 35:43 -twice, 40:85, 48:23 -twice). The other three are referring to the sunna or the system of other entities and how we must pay attention to the bad consequences we face when we follow these other Sunnas (8:38, 18:55, and 35:43). This only invalidates any common use or implications of Hadith, or Sunna, specially as a source for sharia laws that rule and control.
Quran: Fully Detailed [6:114] Shall I seek other than GOD as a source of law, when He has revealed to you this book fully detailed?* Those who received the scripture recognize that it has been revealed from your Lord, truthfully. You shall not harbor any doubt.
[18:27] You shall recite what is revealed to you of your Lord's scripture. Nothing shall abrogate His words, and you shall not find any other source beside it.
[25:27] The day will come when the transgressor will bite his hands (in anguish) and say, "Alas, I wish I had followed the path with the messenger.
[25:28] "Alas, woe to me, I wish I did not take that person as a friend.
[25:29] "He has led me away from the message after it came to me. Indeed, the devil lets down his human victims."
[25:30] The messenger said, "My Lord, my people have deserted this Quran."
Peaceful Friday, salaam, and God bless.
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CC-MAIN-2016-26
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http://submission.org/d/friday_sharia_decreed_systems_and_laws.html
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en
| 0.960842 | 1,633 | 2.921875 | 3 |
To make a good national school system, a country needs to help its most disadvantaged students. So says Andreas Schleicher, the man in charge of the most authoritative international test. “It’s the capacity of those systems to invest in those students from disadvantaged backgrounds” says Schleicher, the education director for the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), which administers the triennial Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) among its roughly three dozen member countries. “What those education systems do is attract the best teachers and best principals to [the] most challenging classrooms and schools.” Moreover, he notes, “reducing inequality is not just a social imperative but an economic imperative.”
While U.S. students have scored in the bottom half of nations on the PISA and have made no significant gains over 10 years, Germany—Schleicher’s home country—has managed to increase test scores while decreasing inequality in its school system. In fact, Germany was one of just three countries surveyed by the OECD that reduced inequality while raising math scores between 2003 and 2012, the other two being Mexico and Turkey.
And Germany has, notably, made these strides without closing or threatening to cut funding from its poorest-performing schools—a tactic used by the United States during the same time period. Germany now ranks 20th for math proficiency; the U.S., meanwhile, is 49th, just behind Turkey. (Some critics question the validity of PISA scores as a tool for gauging proficiency, but they offer the only reliable and consistent means of comparing achievement across countries.)
Germany’s reform efforts included the creation of national standards and standards-based tests for students in grades three and eight, which sounds much like the U.S. approach. But unlike the U.S., Germany doesn’t penalize schools for poor performance, nor does it publicize school-level test scores. Experts say its focus instead on providing school-based support, and monitoring and targeting the most disadvantaged students has allowed it to improve performance. It offers striking contrast to the U.S. “accountability” movement, whose focus on high-stakes testing recently prompted a somewhat ironic directive out of the White House that schools reduce the amount of testing taking place in schools. (And according to the recent results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress—another standardized test that itself has come under scrutiny—the emphasis on testing may not be boosting student learning.)
In Germany, the students who struggle most in school, and are less likely to graduate, are immigrants or children of immigrants. Their families speak another language and, in cities like Berlin, live in segregated neighborhoods. This is largely what makes the country’s turnaround so remarkable. Yet the country absorbed a record number of immigrants last year, serves more asylum seekers than any other European nation, and is on track to receive up to 1 million refugees alone this year. And it’s unclear if the extraordinary gains it made over the last decade can continue.
* * *
In 2000, Germans learned that they were not as smart as they may have assumed. This was the year that nations received their first PISA scores, which were devised by the OECD to measure how much 15-year-olds know in reading, math, and science. German schoolchildren scored below the average for tested nations—and below the United States—in all three tested subjects. The national press and eminent researchers in Germany, where students rarely took standardized tests, refer to this as “the PISA shock.”
German schools were struggling in part because they were incredibly inequitable, offering little chance of social mobility, according to the OECD, which also measures the association between social class and test scores. In fact, Germany had the distinction in 2000 of being the OECD country with the most unequal education performance: The difference between the top 25 percent and bottom 25 percent, in socioeconomic status, was more than 100 points in reading—nearly five times that of Japan, the most equal country academically. Even worse, Germany’s dual-track school system—where students around the age of 12 are identified by teachers as ready for either college-prep high school (Gymnasium) or vocational school (which includes Hauptschule, the lowest level, and Realschule, the mid-level academic-apprenticeship mix)—appeared to perpetuate inequality. Thirty percent of students with two German-born parents made it to Gymnasium, the only way to get to university. But among students with parents who were not German by birth, the figure was half that.
“It was a major embarrassment for public policy in Germany to see such large disparities,” says Schleicher. “It was always equal in inputs—everyone got paid the same, same funding—everybody assumed it would be fine on the outcomes. PISA revealed there was huge inequality in outcomes.”
Change was swift (for a large bureaucracy) and systematic. Within five years of receiving the dismal scores, Germany instituted its academic standards, required national tests, and emphasized newer, more hands-on, problem-based teaching methods. By 2012, German students had pulled above the OECD average, raised their actual mean scores compared to 2000, and trounced the U.S., which continued to see scores slip—even as states instituted more mandated tests under No Child Left Behind and, later, newer assessments aligned with the Common Core State Standards.
Almost more important, in terms of both national self-perception and insights for other ethnically diverse countries, the improvement was largely attributed to dramatic increases in the math performance for students with the lowest socioeconomic status. (The OECD measures socioeconomic status not by household income, as the U.S. does, but by a series of questions students answer, such as whether each parent holds a job and what kind.)
Germany was in part able to dramatically narrow its achievement gap because it had such a huge gap to close. In 2003, the United States and Germany had near-identical shares of immigrant students—around 15 percent. (In Germany and most of the EU, immigrants are tracked as “people with a migrant background” and can include first- and second-generation immigrants with and without citizenship, as well as foreigners living for long periods in the country.) And in both countries, immigrants performed more poorly on the math test than did native-born students. Yet in Germany the disparity in average scores was a colossal 81 points, while in the U.S. it was 28. By 2012, both countries had reduced the test-score gap between immigrant and native-speaking students—Germany by 27 points and the U.S. by 15. And both countries had, according to the test, become better at teaching math to immigrant students.
Yet Germany’s PISA gains reflected a steady climb in scores over a decade. Researchers are still trying to come up with precise explanations for Germany’s striking improvement—but they have some informed guesses. Both federal and state education ministries got behind programs that help disadvantaged students, according to Schleicher, including increasing the proportion of schools that are full day and adding government-funded early-childhood education programs. OECD data shows that the number of preschool and kindergarten seats has been growing since 2006—particularly in former East Germany, which has a strong prekindergarten tradition.
Germany’s 16 states are traditionally responsible for schooling, similar in some ways to the U.S. education system. Yet in Germany, following the release of the first PISA scores, the states and federal government quickly agreed on a plan to establish a new set of common standards. So in 2004, a nonprofit tasked with developing the math, reading, writing, and foreign-language standards and accompanying tests—the Institute for Quality Development in Education (IQB)—opened, and by 2006 children were taking its assessments. Housed at Berlin’s Humboldt University, the organization works closely with the state education agencies. “This was a widespread or large-scale intervention program where the ministries in all German states collaborated with researchers and teacher educators, and there was a shared understanding of good science and math teaching,” says Eckhard Klieme, who oversees the German Institute for International Educational Research.
But the new tests aren’t meant to serve as tools that monitor and penalize schools, says the IQB director Petra Stanat. Instead, they’re meant to provide feedback to individual teachers and schools and drive instruction. Before the new tests, for example, middle-school teachers might have assumed that all their students had already become competent at reading in elementary school when that wasn’t always the case. “The focus on the weaker students increased,” says Stanat, in response to the new standards. The shift in priorities has had promising results, according to Kleime: “What we found was that the important gains that show up in the mean scores [were] due to an increase in the lower end of the distribution—the low SES students, mostly migrant students, they improved… Something really important happened with the migrant population.” (To monitor student progress at the national level, Germany has developed a separate set of tests that are administered every few years.)
The proportion of working-class and low-income students going to Gymnasium—college-prep high school—slowly increased. And in Germany today, nearly 29 percent of students receive the high-school degree that qualifies them for university, a steady increase over time. Proportionally, more immigrants of the younger generation are taking and passing exams (Abitur) that allow them to go university, though it is still much less than those who don’t have immigrant backgrounds.
According to the OECD’s Schleicher, Germany may be witnessing the positive effects of de-tracking—that is, getting rid of a school system in which students are segregated based on whether they’re preparing for basic work, trade professions, or university. Germany had long separated children as young as 10 into vocational or university tracks; and while other countries’ school systems do have programs that separate students by ability, few do so for such young children. But those traditions are starting to evolve. Many of Germany’s 16 states, including Berlin and Saxony, recently decided to phase out the lowest-level secondary school (Hauptschule), in part because parents criticized the program as leading students directly to low-wage jobs. In those states, students now attend comprehensive schools that allow them to move between vocational and university-bound tracks. “The tracking system is a big part of the problem in Germany,” says Schleicher, adding that international comparisons based on PISA data “absolutely” show that tracking holds back the most disadvantaged students. In “most of the countries with highly equitable results”—Korea and Norway, for example—you don’t see tracking.”
Yet other researchers say that Germany’s original vo-tech system works—and that any overall test gains might have little to do with de-tracking. A recent statistical analysis by Hartmut Esser, a professor emeritus at Mannheim University, shows that the stricter inter-school tracking in Bavaria actually helped disadvantaged students. It’s possible that de-tracking is a red herring: Stanat herself published an analysis attributing a large percentage of the gains to “changes in educational participation, with more students attending Gymnasium and fewer grade retentions” as well as “changes in background characteristics, such as the language used at home.” She emphasizes, however, that her research didn’t entail experimental or longitudinal studies and that some of the test-score improvement may still be due to de-tracking. Plus, thanks to parents’ complaints, Hauptschule is disappearing regardless.
Ultimately, the “metric” that best measures whether a student received a quality education may be getting his or her job attainment and standard of living, according to Americans who’ve sought inspiration from Germany’s vo-tech, among them President Obama and the University of Massachusetts Provost Katherine Newman. By this measure, Germany is doing relatively well. Unemployment overall is at historic lows, 4.5 percent, while youth unemployment is just under 7 percent, the lowest in the European Union and lower than in the U.S., where 13.4 percent of people under 25 can’t find jobs. “It’s not that I think tracking is so wonderful,” says Newman, who is writing a book about the potential of apprenticeship education in the U.S and Germany. “But there is still something important we have to learn about preparing a capable high-tech workforce and adapting it to our workforce.”
Yet now, after 15 years of German-style education reform, Germany is now just as unequal as countries like the U.S., meeting the OECD average for inequity in education. For immigrants, the joblessness rate is higher, nearly double that for those native-German-speaking workers, and unrelenting. With the trove of data gathered through the PISA, says the IQB’s Stanat, “the myth that [Germany is] not an immigrant country fell apart.”
Segregation is still a huge problem in Germany—particularly in the cities, where immigrants coalesce in affordable neighborhoods and neighborhood-based primary schools replicate patterns of housing segregation. Parents and school leaders in Berlin point to the invisible “wall” that has risen for schoolchildren between the gentrifying former east, where educated, relatively affluent, mostly white European professionals live, and the working-class and immigrant-saturated western precincts of Wedding, Kreuzberg, and Neukoln. In a way, “the Berlin Wall still exists,” says the educator Herbert Weber, who until this year directed an after-school program in Berlin’s Wedding neighborhood. Thirty percent of Berlin schoolchildren speak German as a second language—and in some neighborhoods and schools the figure rises to more than 70 percent.
Still, Germany is methodically collecting the data to prove that its future as a nation depends on how well it integrates outsiders—newcomers, second-language speakers, ethnic minorities—into its education system. Stanat and her staff at IQB began parsing data from the 2015 national assessment this summer. And with refugees streaming into Germany by the hundreds of thousands, there will be many newcomers this school year.
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For Whom the Bell Tolls Topic Tracking: Foreigners
Foreigners 1: Pablo is upset that a foreigner, Robert Jordan, is putting them in danger by following his orders to blow the bridge. Robert Jordan does not feel like a foreigner because he has lived in Spain for ten years, and tells Pablo that he wishes he had been born in Spain, and that his orders are his orders.
Foreigners 2: Anselmo makes several ethnic slurs against gypsies. He says that in the war they become bad as in old times, and implies that they are savages because they think that killing someone outside of the tribe is not murder.
Foreigners 3: Even the gypsy, often the target of ethnic slurs, makes fun of other races and cultures. He sings a song at the campfire disparaging the Cataláns, a people in the northeast of Spain, and the Negroes.
Foreigners 4: Pablo's immense pride, both for Spain and himself, combined with his disdain for foreigners, led him to believe that the priest should have died with more dignity; he should not have feared the angry mob because he was of the Spanish nationality, and Spaniards should have more dignity.
Foreigners 5: When Robert Jordan hears about Joaquin's loss, he thinks about his role as a foreigner in the war. He does not often feel like a foreigner, for he has lived in Spain for ten years and speaks the language very well. He does feel like a foreigner, though, in that he was not involved with the start of the movement, and does not have the stories or experiences of losing family members, like Joaquín and Maria. He only hears of such loss secondhand.
Foreigners 6: Robert Jordan suggests that they go to Gredos instead of the Republic after they blow the bridge. This suggestion invokes the wrath of Pilar. She gets extremely defensive that a foreigner would think he knows the country better than she. She knows that as a foreigner, he has no obligation to the country and can leave whenever he wants, and that they, the poor Spaniards, will be left in the hills with the consequences.
"Then just shut up about what we are going to do afterwards, will you, Inglés? You go back to the Republic and you take your piece with you and leave us others alone here to decide what part of these hills we'll die in." Chapter 11, pg. 150
Foreigners 7: Robert Jordan is conflicted by his status as a foreigner and a man under orders. He wonders whether or not he is somehow betraying the people he works with by putting them in danger. He must carry out his orders, but they live in this territory and must face the consequences.
Foreigners 8: Pilar pries into Robert Jordan and Maria's sex life, telling Maria that the earth only moves three times for a woman during her lifetime; because it moved that afternoon with Robert Jordan, it will move only twice more. Robert Jordan does not believe in any of Pilar's gypsy sayings and mocks her. He is angry that Pilar has taken his lovemaking and applied her own gypsy superstitions to it.
Foreigners 9: Anselmo thinks of his own religious beliefs and his vulnerability, and wonders how Robert Jordan can be so detached and unafraid of death. He wonders if it is because he is without religion, or that he is a foreigner.
Foreigners 10: At the campfire one night, Pablo is very drunk. He is ignorant about nationalities, and insists that Robert Jordan knows about Scottish customs even though Robert Jordan reminds him again and again that he is American. He insists that Robert Jordan wears a kilt skirt like the Scottish and insists on knowing what they wear underneath their skirts.
Foreigners 11: There is much talk of gypsies throughout the book. When the gypsy says that gypsy women are ugly as they age, Pilar reminds him that they age quickly because their husbands are always getting them pregnant.
Foreigners 12: Robert Jordan is very angry that the gypsy left his post to hunt rabbits. He does not express his rage, but thinks to himself how gypsies are worthless, physically and mentally unfit for the war.
Foreigners 13: Robert Jordan often romanticizes the Spanish. He thinks of how the Spanish kill as an act of faith, and not without passion or for no reason.
Foreigners 14: Pilar makes a racist comment against the gypsy, saying that he exaggerated the report of the cavalry (gypsies are prone to exaggeration). Pilar has gypsy blood.
Foreigners 15: Robert Jordan thinks with wonder about Spaniards, and how the same nationality of people who took him in and treated him well at their camp could also be the nationality of people who gang-raped the woman he loves. He looks from a foreigner's view at Spanish history, through the lines of warriors and conquistadors who performed many violent acts and were, and still are, glorified: "There is no finer and no worse people in the world. No kinder people and no crueler." Chapter 31, pg. 355
Foreigners 16: Robert Jordan is so angry about having to leave Maria, that his rage exaggerates itself and extends to the entirety of the Spanish people, who he pities for having leaders that always screw them. Eventually, he realizes the craziness of such an all-encompassing anger. "His rage began to thin as he exaggerated more and more and spread his scorn and contempt so widely and unjustly that he could no longer believe in it himself." Chapter 35, pg. 370
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Dueling is a large part of American history. Perhaps the most famous one, the Aaron Burr-Alexander Hamilton duel of 1804, resulted in the death of the former Secretary of the Treasury and a murder charge for the sitting Vice President. But the practice would live on for more than half a century after.
Perhaps the last significant American duel occurred in 1859, and it set off a domino effect leading to the 1889 arrest of Supreme Court justice — for murder.
In 1859, David S. Terry was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California and sought re-election. His former friend, United States Senator David C. Broderick — according to Terry, at least — caused him to lose. While both were Democrats, Broderick was an abolitionist while Terry was pro-slavery. Broderick was a vocal critic of the pro-slavery contingent and backed Stephen J. Field (pictured) for the office held by Terry. When Terry lost his re-election bid, he placed the blame on such denunciations from Broderick. On September 8th of that year, Terry challenged Broderick to a duel. Broderick accepted — and lost. Terry was charged with murder but acquitted. (This was the second time he had killed someone — in 1856, Terry stabbed a man but was not tried.) He left the state only to return after the Civil War.
In the 1880s, Terry met a woman named Sarah Althea Hill. Hill claimed she was legally married to a millionaire named William Sharon and wanted a divorce. Sharon asserted that the two were never married. The only thing the two could agree on that was Hill was free to marry someone else — in this case, David S. Terry. The Terrys sued Sharon, claiming that she was entitled some some percentage of his wealth, and the case ended up being heard by the Federal Circuit Court in California. At the time, Supreme Court Justices presided over circuit court judges in their regions, so the 1888 case of Terry v. Sharon was heard by Stephen J. Field — the same man who “took” Terry’s job thirty years earlier. (Field was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln.) Field ruled against the Terrys, and in doing so, apparently denounced Mrs. Terry. She, in turn, accused Field of taking bribes. Field instructed the marshal to remove her from the courtroom. The marshal, in turn grabbed Mrs. Terry by the arm. Mr. Terry then punched the marshall for touching his wife and then pulled out a Bowie knife, and a cadre of deputies finally subdued him. Field cited both Terrys for contempt, sentencing her to a month in prison and him to six. The Terrys vowed revenge.
A year later, they tried to exact it. At a train station, Mr. Terry came up to Justice Field and attempted to murder him, but both Field and his bodyguard, U.S. Marshal David Neagle, drew their weapons. Neagle shot and killed Terry.
Both Neagle and Field were brought up on murder charges for Terry’s death by the state of California, but the charges against Field were dropped almost immediately thereafter. Neagle’s case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1890 (In re Neagle), with the United States arguing that Neagle had acted in accordance with his duties as a U.S. Marshal and was therefore immune from prosecution in this matter. The Supreme Court found in favor of Neagle by a 6-2 vote — Field, the ninth Justice on the Court, recused himself from the proceedings.
From the Archives: Fruits and Vegetables (and Prank Callers, Too!): When the Supreme Court addressed a critical question: Are tomatoes fruits, or are they vegetables?
Related: “Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America” by Thomas Fleming. Four stars on 37 reviews.
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Artificial intelligence is the big, oft-misconstrued catchphrase of the day, making headlines recently with the launch of the new OpenAI organization, backed by Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and other tech luminaries. AI is neither a synonym for killer robots nor a technology of the future, but one that is already finding new signals in the vast noise of collected data, ranging from weather reports to social media chatter to temperature sensor readings. Today IBM has opened up new access to its AI system, called Watson, with a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow other companies and organizations to feed their data into IBM's big brain for analysis.
Real AI isn't about building a know-it-all computer, but rather one that's a good learner, able to sort overwhelming amounts of data, and diligently catalog recurring patterns. For example, while working with sensor readings and other flight data from airliners, AI might spot the conditions that caused a plane to burn up too much fuel, a project that IBM is already undertaking with plane manufacturer Airbus.
Data-spewing machines such as planes are components of (another catchphrase) the Internet of things (IoT). It's essentially the online linking of a turbine, water pump, plane, or any other device beyond the usual suspects: computers and smartphones. In this area, IBM is up against Predix, GE's own new cloud brain for analyzing data from machinery.
IBM is going beyond industrial devices with Watson, though, opening it up to other "things" such as videos, people's voices, or text from Twitter. Like an isolated sound reading from a turbine, the meaning of a phrase such as "pedal is soft" (an example IBM gave me) isn't immediately clear to a computer. It's "unstructured data" that requires sorting out to understand. But after reading enough tweets and other text, AI can figure out that that particular phrase means the brakes aren't working well.
The opening of Watson's interface exposes to the world what IBM has already been doing within a few pilot programs. The company has been combining unstructured data with straight-up traditional measurements in a project with the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB), to track and forecast air pollution conditions for the city. "Using not just very structured stuff but videos that people are taking, call-center transcripts . . . and blogs, all this unstructured data . . . we've been able to identify very accurately exactly where the pollutants are coming from [and] how they are moving," says Harriet Green, IBM's general manager for Watson IoT and Education. IBM claims that its efforts have led to a 20% reduction of one pollutant, ultra-fine particulate matter, although Beijing has a long way to go, given recent reports of its most dangerous air pollution ever.
Green will be running outreach from IBM's new 1000-person Watson IoT Global Headquarters in Munich. The new HQ will develop projects directly with clients, such as one with telecom company Vodaphone and local governments in the Andalucía region of southern Spain. Vodaphone plans to invest, over two years, €243 million ($267 million) on new infrastructure that includes IoT sensors and data analytics.
What exactly IBM and Vodaphone can achieve remains a bit murky. Green describes the undertaking with some vague phrasing like, "Using data about [people's] moods, their state of being around the services they provide, how they're texting and blogging—all with permissions naturally—to really develop systems, networks, responses . . . that are in concert with what ordinary people really want."
Asked for a specific example, she brings up the topic of potholes. People post text, photos, and videos about "enormous numbers of potholes" in southern Spain, she says. Analyzing all those posts could help cities find out where the holes are, and which ones most frustrate drivers. It's not glamorous, but it's something that people really do care about.
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Pachino is a town and comune in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (Italy). The name derives from the Roman word bacchus which is the Greek and Roman god of wine, and the word ino, which means wine in the Latin language; originally the town was named Bachino which eventually was changed to Pachino when, in Sicily, Italian became the official spoken and written language.
Chiesa Madre SS. Crocifisso: built in 1790 by Marchese Vincenzo Starrabba for the Christian Community, it has a simple structure comprising a single aisle with a chapel on the right of the apse, there are the remains of Gaetano and Vincent Starrabba. Renovated in 2010.
Torre Scibini: built in 1439 of Count Antonio de Xurtino to deal with the raids of Saracen pirates.
Tonnara di Marzamemi: dates from the time of the domination of the Arabs in Sicily in 1630, was sold by the owner to the Prince of Villadorata.
Palazzo e Chiesa della Tonnara: built in 1752.
Palazzo Tasca: construction 19th century, which houses an impressive backyard paved with flagstones by limestone.
Grotta Corruggi (Paleolithic).
Ditches to collect rainwater (Paleolithic).
Cave Fico (Mesolithic).
Grotta Calafarina (Neolithic).
Necropolis (oven graves), and oven dolmens (Neolithic).
Basements of huts (Neolithic).
Greek Temple (the base for columns) (3rd century).
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The Town of Newfane is in the north-central part of the county, north of the City of Lockport.
The Town of Newfane was established in 1824 by James VanHorn and others it is made up of parts of the Towns of Hartland, Somerset, and Wilson. The first town meeting was held at the Van Horn Mansion in 1824. At one time, the community was known as "Charlotte" and "Charlottesville," but then was renamed Newfane ("New Fane" = "New Church").
Its school district includes an Early Childhood Center, Elementary school,Middle School, and one High School. The school's mascot is a panther. In Olcott, there is a monument with a handful of names of soldiers who fought for the Union cause in the American Civil War. In total, 252 Union soldiers came from Newfane. Olcott is also home to an original Herschell Carousel. The Carousel was built in 1928 and recently celebrated its 80th anniversary.
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Disability History Exhibit
Panels are available as both PDF images and Accessible HTML
Images - Panel Content
DISABILITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN, AND WILL LIKELY ALWAYS BE, A PART OF THE HUMAN
SOCIETAL VALUES: Physical perfection, beauty, intelligence.
for persons with disabilities were brutal during this period. Some people
were able to survive through acts of charity or as objects of curiosity,
but most were not as fortunate. Intolerance, sickness, and disregard for
persons with disabilities often meant death or a very low quality of
Moral Viewpoint: Early Greeks and Romans valued physical perfection. Appearances
mattered. Racial and physical differences were seen as marks of inferiority.
INVOLVEMENT BY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES: Objects of scorn or charity, survival
RESPONSES TO DISABILITY: Abandonment, exposure, mutilation.
Medical Viewpoint: Exposure: To expose meant to leave one out in the weather
to die. Exposing young children with severe disabilities was a common practice
in ancient Greece.
Moral Viewpoint: The Ancient Era idealized physical and mental perfection.
Disability, although common at this time, was viewed as a mark of inferiority.
Medical Viewpoint: Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) believed that health involved
a balance of the four "humors," or basic body substances: "blood,
phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile." This belief led later physicians
to relate mental illness and mental retardation to an imbalance of "black
"There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance." – Socrates
Moral Viewpoint: The philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) believed, as did
most others in Ancient Greece, that man was the most highly evolved being,
and that woman was one giant evolutionary step below, representing "the
first step along the road to deformity." Aristotle also recommended that
there should be a law "to prevent the rearing of deformed children." In
his Politics, Aristotle wrote "As to the exposure and rearing of children,
let there be a law that no deformed child shall live."
Social Viewpoint: Principle of the Least: "For he who is least among
you all — he is the greatest." (Luke 9:46) Jesus Christ (6 B.C.
- 30 A.D.) showed compassion for persons with disabilities. In the New Testament
Jesus is frequently credited with showing kindness and effecting miraculous
cures of those who were lame, blind, and otherwise disabled. St. Paul directed
Christians to "comfort the feeble-minded." Jesus also welcomed those
who were poor and disenfranchised and treated them as equals.
Connection to Different Time in History connected to Social Viewpoint: "disenfranchised" could
include people with mental retardation, epilepsy, mental illness, leprosy,
physical disability, or deformity.
Moral Viewpoint: With the rise of Christianity, there was a gradual influence
on how persons with disabilities were treated. By the fourth century A.D.,
the rise of Christianity led to more humane practices toward persons with disabilities.
Infanticide (the practice of killing children) was discontinued, and helping "the
afflicted" became a sign of strength.
STEREOTYPE: Holy Innocents: belief that individuals are special children of
God, with a special purpose; seen as incapable of committing evil, and sometimes
viewed as living saints.
RELIGION HAS PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN PROVIDING BASIC SERVICES AND SHAPING
ATTITUDES TOWARD PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.
SOCIETAL VALUES: Fear and obsession with God; belief that people with disabilities
get what they deserve.
RESPONSES TO DISABILITY: Exile; refuge in leper colonies or church shelters.
STEREOTYPE: Persons with disabilities as subhuman organisms: as "animal-like" or "vegetative," not
deserving of all human rights; often referred to as "so-called human beings.
Medical Viewpoint: Having leprosy meant living a life outside of society.
When traveling through a town, people with leprosy were required to ring a
bell, alerting others to their presence.
Connection to Different Time in History: When leprosy disappeared after the
Crusades (1100-1300), the remaining colonies — the leprosaria— were
converted to other uses, resembling our present-day institutions. These establishments
were soon filled with all types of persons considered deviant: orphans, vagabonds,
madmen, incurables, prostitutes, widows, and criminals. These "cities
of the damned" numbered in the thousands, and had the power of "authority,
direction, administration, commerce, police, jurisdiction, correction and punishments," and
had at their disposal "stakes, irons, prisons and dungeons." By 1657,
France had one such facility, the Bicetre, that housed 1,615; it’s sister
institution, the Salpetriere, housed 1,416 women and children. The United States
has operated only slightly less gruesome institutions as recently as the 1970s.
Connection to Different Time in History to Moral Viewpoint: In the United
States, large, dehumanizing institutions for people with developmental disabilities
reached their peak in the 1970s. This picture would not be an uncommon sight
on the back wards of any large institution at this time in recent history,
and this treatment would not have been acceptable without viewing those with
severe disabilities as subhuman.
Medical Viewpoint: Living conditions for persons with disabilities were brutal
during this period. Intolerance, sickness, and disregard for persons with disabilities
meant death or at most a very low quality of life. Diseases such as cholera,
typhus, and the plague bacillus, along with malnutrition, accounted for a large
percentage of postnatal disabilities.
Connection to Different Time in History:
Malnutrition, a principal cause of disabilities, is still responsible for
one in five disabilities worldwide.
Moral Viewpoint: John Calvin (1509-1564) preached the notion of predestination,
stating that God has already chosen who will and who will not be saved. Calvin's
doctrine implied that people with disabilities were not among the chosen.
Moral Viewpoint THE MORAL MODEL: Disability is either a sin on the part of
persons with disabilities or their families, or an act of God for some divine
purpose. In the first case, people are often punished and excluded from society.
In the second case, they are viewed as divine and considered holy. Perceived
as sinners or saints, persons with disabilities were usually kept separate
from mainstream society; their disability was thought to serve some divine
purpose, and was believed to be permanent and unchanging.
Roman Catholic Church provided refuge to those in need, establishing orphanages,
hospitals, and homes for the blind and the aged. Conditions at such institutions
were custodial at best, and most children did not survive. Persons with developmental
disabilities (together with those with mental illness) who could not stay
with their families were often placed in monasteries, charitable facilities,
prisons, almshouses, pest houses, workhouses, or leper colonies. While there
are a few good examples of residential care in the middle ages, most persons
with developmental disabilities received basic care and shelter or no services
Moral Viewpoint: Mendicants – people who survived by begging – were
common during this time, as pictured below in the painting The Beggars, by
Pieter Bruegel (1568).
Moral Viewpoint: One event that had a profound effect on how people perceived
disability was the Protestant Reformation, which began in 1517 as an attempt
to reform the Roman Catholic Church and ended with the establishment of independent
Protestant churches. During this period, we see persons with developmental
disabilities treated as subhuman organisms. Martin Luther (1483-1546) denounced
children and adults with mental retardation as "filled with Satan." Luther
advised that children with severe mental retardation should be drowned because
they are ". . . a mass of flesh with no soul. For it is the Devil’s
power that he corrupts people who have reason and souls when he possesses them.
The Devil sits in such changelings where their souls should have been."
Moral Viewpoint: As the authority of the Roman Catholic Church diminished,
many of the charitable services it provided ceased to exist. The "poor
and misfortunate," without the refuge of the church, became increasingly
homeless in the growing cities. In the city of Paris during the early 1500s,
approximately 1/3 of the population resorted to begging as a means of survival.
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ARE TREATED AS SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND PUBLIC BURDENS.
INVOLVEMENT BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Survival as outcasts and beggars.
Moral Viewpoint - Between 1563 and 1601, Queen Elizabeth of England passed
a series of laws requiring the state to take care of the "poor and disadvantaged." Basic
care was provided for the unemployable poor, almshouses were established for
the aged poor, and workhouses were built for vagrants who refused to work.
Many with disabilities were placed in almshouses or workhouses, where the conditions
Connection to Different Time in History - A modern parallel can be drawn to
our institutions of the 1950s and 1960s, where a larger number of persons
were admitted to meet a growing demand for services, resulting in dehumanizing
and a poor quality of life.
Moral Viewpoint: At times, persons with disabilities were "shipped off" to
other lands, so they would no longer pose a burden on their communities. These
boats would sail from port to port, charging admission to view their strange
human cargo. Eventually, the ships would abandon their "passengers" at
another port, forcing them to fend for themselves. Some argued that the fresh
sea air had a curative affect.
Connection to Different Time in History: Similar arguments have been used
for locating institutions away from the community, where the air was apparently
fresher and had a soothing effect upon the inmates.
Moral Viewpoint - During this time, small steel imprisonments called "idiot
cages" also became common in town centers to "keep people with disabilities
out of trouble." Mostly, they served as entertainment for townspeople.
Moral Viewpoint - FOOL (fool): a) A person with little or no judgment; b)
A man formerly kept in the household of a nobleman or king to entertain by
joking and clowning; a victim of a joke or trick.
Connection to Different Time in History: St. Mary of Bethlehem, a large asylum
in London better known as "Bedlam," had windows opening onto the
sidewalk, allowing passersby to witness the people living within.
Connection to Different Time in History: From a social viewpoint, disability
was closely linked to poverty — a condition that existed in ancient times
and continues today, where the rate of unemployment for persons with disabilities
is now over 65%.
They that go down to the sea in ships, That do business in great waters; These
see the works of the Lord, And wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and
raiseth the stormy wind, Which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up
to the heaven, they go down again to The depths: Their soul is melted because
of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at
their wit’s end. Psalm 107
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is
man." – Alexander Pope
DISABILITY BECOMES A MEDICAL ISSUE REQUIRING
THE SERVICES OF TRAINED PROFESSIONALS.
Medical Viewpoint - The Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural movement
that began in Italy in the 1300s and spread throughout Northern Europe.
It signified a revival of classical learning, art, and architecture — and
the concept of the dignity of man. While religion remained a powerful influence,
people became less consumed with spiritual matters and more interested
in the arts and sciences, leading to advancements in health care and to a better
In 1402, St. Mary of Bethlehem, an asylum popularly known as "Bedlam," opened
to receive mental patients in England. The institution itself was founded in
1247 as a priory. The famous painting of Bedlam is by William Hogarth, 1735.
THE MEDICAL MODEL: The medical model emerged around the 18th century, defining
disability as any one of a series of biological deficiencies located in the
body. No longer seen as the result of divine intervention, disability became
a medical issue, requiring the services of trained professionals. Persons with
disabilities assumed the on-going role of patients, needing to be cured.
Connection to Different Time in History - This model of disability is not
limited to one era of history. Many services and facilities for persons with
disabilities are still based on this model, which views the person as broken
and needing to be fixed. Only recently has a newer, cultural model of disability
effectively challenged the power of the medical model.
Medical Viewpoint - "Removing the fool’s stone."
to Different Time in History - Frontal lobotomies became more common in the
20th century as a means of permanently modifying behaviors.
Medical Viewpoint - By defining people by their disabilities rather than as
full human beings, the medical model fosters dependence on professional care.
Because of this forced dependence, and societal attitudes that view persons
with disabilities as "pitiful," "child-like," or worse,
over 65 percent of individuals with disabilities are unemployed. For many persons
with disabilities — especially before the Independent Living Movement — the
message was clear: overcome, rather than accept, your disability.
STEREOTYPE: Persons with disabilities as sick: viewed as those who need to
be cured of a dread disease; referred to as patients; in need of professional
care in a hospital setting.
A GRADUAL UNDERSTANDING OF SCIENCE LEADS TO NEW AND OFTEN PAINFUL TREATMENTS
FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.
SOCIETAL VALUES: Education, belief in science, and a romantic view of humanity.
TO DISABILITY: Study and attempt to cure the "patients," lock
away those found incurable, and build large facilities to house them.
BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: People become objects of study, are used in experiments,
and assume the role of "patients."
Medical Viewpoint - Early treatments to "cure" disability were often
brutal. Versions of the tranquilizer chair can still be found in some institutions.
Medical Viewpoint - Moral Management: Philip Pinel (1745-1826), the leading
French psychiatrist of his day, was the first to say that the "mentally
deranged" were diseased rather than sinful or immoral. He practiced gentle
treatment and patience rather than using physical abuse and chains on hospital
patients. In 1793, Pinel famously removed the chains and restraints from the
inmates at the Bicetre asylum, and later from those at Salpetriere.
In 1798, Thomas Malthus published "Essay on the Principle of Population," arguing
that population multiplies geometrically, food arithmetically, and therefore
that population will outstrip food supply. In addition to cutting the birth
rate by sexual restraint and birth control, Malthus advocated identifying all
people "defective" in any way, who looked or behaved or functioned
differently than the rest of us, and eliminating them.
With the industrial revolution of the 18th century, more and more people flooded
into cities, working for extremely low wages and living in squalid conditions.
Children represented a large portion of the work force, performing grueling
work for twelve to sixteen hours per day. Pauper children were often contracted
to factory owners for cheap labor. To get rid of "imbecile" children,
parish authorities often bargained with factory owners to take one "imbecile" with
every twenty children. In most cases, these children disappeared mysteriously.
Medical Viewpoint - In 1799, Jean-Marc Gaspard Itard (1774-1838), a student
of Pinel and an advocate of Rousseau's "noble savage" beliefs, heard
reports of a boy abandoned in the woods of Aveyron, France, who had apparently
been raised by wolves. "Victor, the Wild Boy of Aveyron," as he was
called, was chosen by Itard as an experimental subject to prove the validity
of John Locke’s "blank slate" concept: that a person could
become, or be made into, whatever one wants. Victor was probably in his early
teens, a child with severe mental retardation who likely had been abandoned
by his parents. Victor made some progress in adapting to his new environment,
but Itard grew discouraged, not seeing the dramatic changes he hoped for. Still,
with his limited success, Itard did prove that children with mental retardation
could improve to some extent.
SOCIAL REFORM AND NEW IDEAS IN EDUCATION OFFER OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH
"There are two ways of spreading light – to be the candle or the
mirror that reflects it." – Edith Wharton
STEREOTYPE: Persons with disabilities as objects of pity: seen as suffering
from some condition beyond their control, and therefore not considered accountable
for their behavior; viewed with a "there but for the grace of God go I" attitude;
paternalism and low growth expectations are typical consequences of this viewpoint.
Moral Viewpoint - Persons who lived in extreme poverty, including many with
physical or mental disabilities, were often put into poorhouses or almshouses.
Such establishments, supported by public funds, began in the Middle Ages as
a means of removing economic outcasts from society.
Some poorhouses were still in use until World War II.
Connection to Different Time in History - Wealthier parents tended to keep
their children with developmental disabilities at home. In the more rural areas,
persons with developmental disabilities were often a normal part of the community.
Social Viewpoint - Edward Seguin
(1812-1880), a young and influential doctor, was considered the first great
teacher in the field of developmental disabilities. He believed that mental
a weakness of
the nervous system, and could be cured through a process of motor and sensory
training. By developing the muscles and senses, Seguin believed his pupils – regardless
of their level of mental retardation – would obtain more control over
their central nervous systems, thus allowing them to have more control over
their wills. Many of Seguin's concepts are still used today, including positive
reinforcement and modeling.
Moral Viewpoint - Social Reformer Dorothea Dix advocated for better services
for persons with mental illness and other disabilities. As she traveled across
the country visiting jails, almshouses, poorhouses, and asylums, Dix spoke
to many state legislatures, pleading with them to improve the conditions for "the
wards of the nation." Through her passionate appeals, and with only the
best intentions for persons with disabilities, Dix helped prepare the way for
Social Viewpoint - In 1842, Johann Jakob Guggenbuhl, a young doctor, was "stirred
by the sight of a dwarfed, crippled cretin of stupid appearance mumbling the
Lord's Prayer at a wayside cross." Guggenbuhl believed that his students
could be cured through proper health programming and training, and opened a
training school in Switzerland, called the Abdenberg, 4,000 feet above sea
level on a mountain summit. (It was believed lower altitudes somehow contributed
to cretinism.) For a while, the school was a tremendous success. But as Guggenbuhl
traveled frequently abroad for long periods, and as the school became increasingly
crowded, visitors discovered neglect and abuse, and the school was closed.
While Guggenbuhl’s school proved a failure, his early success with education
influenced and inspired educators and reformers in the United States.
Connection to Different Time in History - The term cretin applied to people
with intellectual disabilities and stunted growth. It is based on the word
Christian, with the purpose of emphasizing that despite physical or mental
disabilities, they were nevertheless human beings. The word was adopted as
a clinical term for someone suffering from dwarfism and mental retardation
as a result of a congenital thyroid deficiency. It has since become synonymous
Medical Viewpoint - Many believed phrenology – the practice of studying
the shape of the skull to determine human characteristics and functions – offered
the only hope of understanding developmental disabilities. Phrenologists went
on to say that moral, personality, and intellectual characteristics are also
determined by the shape of the skull, which determines the shape of the brain.
Once a highly respected "science," phrenology was discredited as
scientists found no relationship between the size and shape of the cranium
and the degree of intelligence.
Social Viewpoint - In the United States, Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe (1801-1876),
then the director of the Perkins School for the Blind, established the Massachusetts
School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth in 1848, an experimental boarding
school in South Boston for youth with mental retardation. Howe's wife, Julia
Ward Howe, was also a reformer, and is famous for writing The Battle Hymn of
"Nowhere is wisdom more necessary than in the guidance of charitable
impulses. Meaning well is only half our duty; Thinking right is the other,
and equally important, half." –Samuel Gridley Howe, 1868, at the
dedication in Batavia, New York of an institution to serve people with disabilities.
Moral Viewpoint - Training schools were considered an educational success,
offering hope to many families of children with developmental disabilities.
Across the country, parents wrote to state officials and school superintendents,
seeking admission for their sons and daughters. Some parents sought an education
for their child; others simply needed relief.
Social Viewpoint - At the age of 19 months, Helen Keller lost her sight and
hearing through an illness. With the help of teacher Anne Sullivan, she learned
to speak, read, and write and graduated from Radcliffe College in 1904. She
lectured across the globe and raised money for education of many people with
disabilities. Helen was also a member of the Socialist Party who tried to discuss
disability in the broader terms of poverty and social inequity.
THE COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION AND THE QUALITY OF SERVICES DECLINE WITH THE INCREASING
DEMAND FOR INSTITUTIONAL PLACEMENT.
SOCIETAL VALUES: Belief in training and education; state responsibility for
persons with disabilities.
RESPONSES TO DISABILITY: Establish training schools; build larger institutions;
shift from education to custodial care.
INVOLVEMENT BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Students; objects of charity; inmates
"Am I my brother’s keeper?" – Genesis IV, 9
During the economic troubles of 1857 and as a result of the Civil War, there
were few jobs for students from the training schools. Competition for jobs
was already high, with immigrants willing to work for low wages. Pupils who
returned to their communities looking for work usually ended up in poorhouses
or jails. At this time, there was a growing demand for services and less money
available for training schools. Rapidly, training schools became institutions.
Moral Viewpoint - Superintendents believed that persons with different disabilities
should be placed in different quarters. Therefore, an institution might have
a separate building for persons with epilepsy called an "epileptic colony," another
such building for "low-grades," and perhaps a "girls cottage" for
women with various disabilities. The colony plan allowed institutions to admit
a larger number of inmates, and relieve society of having to care for such
persons in poor houses. Productive workers at the farm colony were often "paroled" to
work as cheap labor on private farms. As enrollment of persons with more severe
disabilities increased, the farm colonies grew to resemble the larger institutions.
Moral Viewpoint - Training schools quickly became asylums, providing little
more than custodial care for an increasing number of individuals with developmental
disabilities. As enrollment increased, the commitment to education was largely
abandoned. Pupils became "inmates." The goal of educating pupils
for life in the community was changed to training inmates to work inside the
institution. Higher-functioning inmates were taught functional skills and used
as laborers to reduce costs.
Moral Viewpoint - The superintendents of these institutions worked toward
self-sufficiency, with institutions producing their own food and supplies when
they could, thereby lessening their dependence on the state for support. Many
institutions had their own power plants, laundries, and farms.
Connection to Different Time in History - As institutions grew in size, superintendents
competed with one another to maintain the largest, most self-sufficient facilities.
This led to institutions with over 6,000 people by the 1960s, at places like
Willowbrook State School in New York.
Census results of persons with mental retardation: 1850-1890
FROM CARE TO CONTROL
THE QUALITY OF SERVICES FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES FURTHER DECLINES WITH
A GROWING SUSPICION OF ALL PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENT.
SOCIETAL VALUES: Protect "normal" Americans; fear of people who
look and act differently.
Moral Viewpoint - A popular textbook for educators by Stanley P. Davies advocates
strict control and confinement of persons with disabilities to protect society.
Connection to Different Time in History - In 1959, Stanley P. Davies published
The Mentally Retarded in Society, a radical and far more positive revision
of his earlier work.
Social Viewpoint - Rehabilitation services on a broad scale were introduced
as a federal program following World War I. The need for re-training men disabled
in the war led to the beginning of the vocational rehabilitation system. Services
were also established for the many soldiers who lost hearing, eyesight, and
Connection to Different Time in History - 2,000 paraplegic soldiers survived
the Second World War, compared with only 400 from World War I.
"Give me your tired, your poor, your sick, Your huddled masses yearning
to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore . . ." - Emma
Moral Viewpoint - "Moral imbecility," also referred to as juvenile
insanity, moral insanity, physical epilepsy, and moral paranoia, was a vague
concept used to define a wide range of characteristics, from minor behavior
problems to serious aggressiveness. Persons who fit this category were also
called "defective delinquents" and "morons." Instead of
focusing on the individual's level of ability, these labels shifted the focus
to the potential social evils they could cause.
Medical Viewpoint - Social Darwinism, promoted by Herbert Spencer, held that
the theories governing the evolution of biological species by natural selection
also govern the affairs of society and social evolution. Just as Charles Darwin
had said those who survive are those best fitted to their environment ("survival
of the fittest"), social Darwinism held that only the "fittest" social
systems should survive. This belief helped to justify forced sterilizations,
marriage restrictions, and the warehousing of individuals with developmental
disabilities in institutions.
Social Viewpoint - One positive event of this era was the beginning of special
education. As teachers in public schools became aware of the increasing numbers
of students with learning disabilities, they called for special classes and
teachers to educate them. Rhode Island opened the first public special education
class in the U.S. in 1896. By 1923, almost 34,000 students were in special
Social Viewpoint - Dr. Alfred Binet and Dr. Theodore Simon developed "a
measuring scale of intelligence" for determining the degree of intelligence
of persons with developmental disabilities. Initially used to identify students
who required special help, this test was adopted by American superintendents
to easily label people with developmental disabilities.
Connection to Different Time in History - In 1913 the United States Public
Health Service administered a version of the newly invented Binet IQ test to
immigrants arriving at Ellis Island. Professional researchers recorded that "79%
of the Italians, 80% of the Hungarians, 83% of the Jews, and 87% of the Russians
are feebleminded." Rather than challenging the validity of the test, the
results served to reinforce negative images of immigrants. (In 1917, Dr. Goddard
and his associates used a version of the Binet test on 1.75 million army recruits
and concluded that 40% of the white male population was feeble-minded.) His
test was adopted by American superintendents to easily label persons with developmental
Moral Viewpoint -"Of late we have recognized a higher type of defective,
the moron, and have discovered that he is a burden; that he is responsible
to a large degree for many if not all of our social problems." – Dr.
Henry Goddard, 1915
Medical Viewpoint - In 1882 Congress passed the "Undesirables Act," which
prevented convicts, paupers, the insane, and idiots from entering the United
States. (Not until 1965 did Congress reverse its prohibitive legislation against
the immigration of so-called feeble- minded persons or families with feeble-minded
PERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES ARE MADE SCAPEGOATS FOR MANY OF SOCIETY’S
RESPONSES TO DISABILITY: Incarceration; sterilization; blame people with disabilities
for social problems.
INVOLVEMENT BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Victims of forced sterilizations
Medical Viewpoint - Using the case history of a resident in his institution
named Deborah "Kallikak" (Kallikak being a fictitious name taken
from the Greek words for "good" and "bad"), Dr. Henry Goddard
learned that her great grandfather, Martin, was a Revolutionary War soldier
of normal intelligence who had relations with a "feeble-minded" bar
maid, producing a child. Later, Martin returned home to Philadelphia where
he married a woman of the upper class. From this history, Goddard traced the
lineage of Martin "Kallikak’s" upper class family, finding
only successful, upstanding individuals of normal or better intelligence. Of
Martin's lineage through his offspring with the bar maid, Goddard found criminals,
prostitutes, and vagabonds: people of below normal intelligence.
Medical Viewpoint - Goddard's conclusion, which he published in his widely
read book entitled The Kallikak Family, was that mental retardation is the
root cause of many of our social problems, and that it is hereditary. Although
his research methods were questionable, the book told many people what they
wanted to believe: that people with disabilities could ruin the genetic strain.
Connection to Different Time in History - Similar research was published by
other professionals, including Hill Folk by Davenport and Danielson; The Dack
Family, by Finlayson; and Mongolian Virginians, the Win Tribe, by Estabrook
and McDougle. The Almosts: A study of the feeble-mindedness was a popular text
for emerging special educators. (The "Almosts" referred to the people
with mental retardation as being almost human.) These studies supported similar
conclusions to Goddard's research, and further stigmatized people with disabilities
and their families. Not until many years later was Goddard's research rejected
Connection to Different Time in History - The eugenic research of superintendents
in the US had a direct influence on attitudes toward people with disabilities
in Nazi Germany.
As American professionals were calling for sterilization, Nazi Germany was
blaming people with disabilities for wasting valuable resources.
Medical Viewpoint - A popular belief at this time was that mental retardation
and mental illness were completely genetic, and were the cause of most, if
not all, social ills: poverty, drunkenness, prostitution, crime, and violence.
The response was to segregate or sterilize all of these people so that they
could not reproduce their "evil habits" and "destroy the gene
As demand increased, institutions continued to grow larger and become more
Connection to Different Time in History - This overcrowding continued well
into the 1970s
Medical Viewpoint - One case of sterilization came before the Supreme Court
concerning a woman labeled "feeble-minded." Those who brought her
to court produced a family tree, showing that the girl was already in the third
generation of people with limited intelligence. Chief Justice Oliver Wendell
Holmes proclaimed "three generations of imbeciles are enough," and
he ordered sterilization. Later studies proved that the woman was in fact not "feeble-minded," and
that her family tree was concocted.
Medical Viewpoint - In reaction to misguided fears about persons with developmental
disabilities, and as a means of social control, the eugenics movement led to
tens of thousands of forced sterilizations.
Medical Viewpoint - Billed as "A Eugenic Photoplay," this 1917 movie
was taken from the headlines and even featured the real Dr. Haiselden, who
refused to operate to save the lives of disabled infants. This controversy
highlighted the public’s fear of disability and the power of doctors
to choose who should live or die.
STEREOTYPE During the "genetic scare" of the 1920s, people with
developmental disabilities were often the objects of fear, believed to be driven
by rage and intent upon harming others. The fear of persons with physical deformities
has long been popular in the media, with figures such as Quasimoto, Captain
Hook, Dr. Strangelove, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman. In addition to typecasting
persons with disabilities as villains, this stereotype contributes to our fear
of persons with disabilities living in the community.
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES – OVER 200,000 – ARE THE FIRST VICTIMS
OF THE HOLOCAUST.
"Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come
through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false." — Bertrand
SOCIETAL VALUES: Slight regard for people with developmental disabilities;
concern with economic depression and war.
RESPONSES TO DISABILITY: (In the US) Abandonment in institutions; few services
available in the community.
Medical Viewpoint - Beginning in the 1930s, Nazi Germany targeted people with
disabilities and the elderly as a drain on public resources.
Medical Viewpoint - During the 1930s, people with disabilities in Germany
are referred to as “useless eaters.”
Medical Viewpoint - In Nazi Germany, 908 patients were transferred from Schoenbrunn,
an institution for retarded and chronically ill patients, to the euthanasia "installation" at
Eglfing-Haar to be gassed. A monument to the victims now stands in the courtyard
at Schoenbrunn. At the outbreak of World War II, Hitler ordered widespread "mercy
killing" of the sick and disabled. The Nazi euthanasia program, codenamed
Aktion T4, was instituted to eliminate "life unworthy of life."
Nazis sterilized 400,000 Germans and exterminated over 200,000 persons with
Medical Viewpoint - At Hadamar Hospital in Germany, more than 10,000 people
with disabilities were killed between January and August of 1941.
Medical Viewpoint - The first killings were by starvation, then by lethal
injection. Gas chambers soon became the preferred method of execution. After
being gassed, the bodies were cremated.
Medical Viewpoint - Doctors, not soldiers, were put in charge of killing the
elderly and people with disabilities.
In Nazi Germany a Catholic bishop, Clemens von Galen, delivered a sermon in
Munster Cathedral attacking the Nazi euthanasia program calling it "plain
murder." In 1941, Hitler suspended Aktion T4, which had accounted for
nearly a hundred thousand deaths by this time. The euthanasia program quietly
continued using drugs and starvation instead of gassings.
Moral Viewpoint - As a final act of abandonment, tens of thousands of people
who died in our state institutions were buried anonymously, in graves marked
only by numbers. People of the time believed having names on the grave markers
would be an embarrassment to the families of the deceased.
Connection to Different Time in History - In 1994, a group of self-advocates
and allies began a project called Remembering with Dignity to place names on
the numbered graves at Minnesota’s institutions, and to get an apology
from the state for years of abuse, neglect, and abandonment.
SERVICES SLOWLY BECOME AVAILABLE TO PERSONS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES; MANY
WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES ARE LARGELY FORGOTTEN AND ABANDONED IN INSTITUTIONS.
"Euthanasia through neglect." – Albert Deutsch
INVOLVEMENT BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Beginning of organized advocacy by
people with physical disabilities; little or no involvement by people with
Medical Viewpoint - Inmates of institutions had no rights, no dignity, and
As the institutions grew in size they became increasingly medicalized.
Connection to Different Time in History - A group in New York City called
the League for the Physically Handicapped formed in 1935 and protested militantly
against job discrimination in the New Deal program, asserting that WPA (Works
Progress Administration) policies which labeled them as "unemployable" because
of their disabilities were highly prejudicial. They eventually generated a
few thousand jobs nationwide.
Medical Viewpoint - As the U.S. entered World War II, many attendants at public
institutions were drafted, leaving a shortage of workers. Enrollment continued
to increase. The result was a much smaller work force with greater numbers
of inmates under one roof.
Medical Viewpoint - Some institutions put two residents to a bed and in hallways.
Connection to Different Time in History - To make up for the shortage in workers,
many institutions used conscientious objectors: persons who refused to take
part in warfare because their conscience prohibited participation in acts of
killing. Many of these men kept records of the abuse they witnessed in the
institutions and later reported their findings.
Medical Viewpoint - In 1948, Albert Deutsch wrote Shame of the States, a photographic
expose of the Letchworth Village institution in New York. After decades of
invisibility, persons living in institutions were again the objects of attention.
Medical Viewpoint - In the early 1930s, John Daggy, age four (seated in the
center, hands together), along with his older sister, was sent to a large institution
in Faribault, Minnesota. During his first day he witnessed his sister receiving
a lobotomy. Like many other residents of institutions at this time, John was
admitted because of economic difficulties in his family. He escaped at age
18, going on to marry and raise a family in St. Paul.
Connection to Different Time in History - In the mid-1990s John Daggy became
involved in self-advocacy, working with the Remembering with Dignity project
to honor those who lived and died in state institutions.
Social Viewpoint - The Depression Era put a financial strain on all Americans,
particularly those with special needs. Millions of Americans just wanted the
opportunity to work.
Connection to Different Time in History - Though used primarily for labeling
persons with physical disabilities, the term "handicapped" has been
applied to all persons with disabilities, and became an increasingly popular
term in the middle-20th century. The term does not originate with persons with
disabilities begging for money with their caps in hand. It originally referred
to a match between two horses, in which an umpire decided the extra weight
to be carried by the superior horse; later, it applied to extra weight itself,
and so to any disability or disadvantage in a contest. With time, "handicapped" assumed
negative associations, in particular that of the helpless victim.
Medical Viewpoint - Out of 35,000 photographs of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
at the Hyde Park Library, only two show him seated in his wheelchair; he went
to great lengths to hide and "overcome" his disability. Reportedly,
when the actor Orson Welles was dining at the White House, President Roosevelt
said to him, "You and I are the two finest actors in America."
Connection to Different Time in History - The idea of overcoming one’s
disability is still used as a popular appeal in fundraising campaigns.
PARENTS ASSERT THEIR LEADERSHIP AND BEGIN TO ORGANIZE ON BEHALF OF CHILDREN
SOCIETAL VALUES: Greater acceptance of differences; willingness and ability
to address social problems.
Moral Viewpoint - Parents of children with disabilities began organizing in
the 1930s. By 1950, following the interruptions of economic depression and
war, 88 local groups with a total membership of 19,300 persons had been established
in 19 states. In September of 1950, the National Association for Retarded Children
was formed during a conference in Minneapolis, MN.
Connection to Different Time in History - At the insistence of persons with
disabilities, the organization later changed its name to the National Association
for Retarded Citizens. It is now known as The Arc.
Moral Viewpoint - Elizabeth Boggs was an early leader in the Parents Movement
and one of the people responsible for creating the term "developmental
Connection to Different Time in History - The term "developmental disability" was
adopted in the early 1970s to address disability and funding issues in more
comprehensive terms. It originally referred to "persons with a range of
disabilities, including mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and other
neurologically handicapping conditions." The term, intended to qualify
persons for funding, was expanded in 1978 to cover a wider area of disabilities
and life activities
STEREOTYPE: Persons with developmental disabilities as eternal children: viewed
as children who never grow up, capable of doing no wrong and wanting only to
be loved. This message was reinforced in the early Parents Movement’s
focus on "helping the retarded child." The concept of Mental Age – equating
one’s IQ with years of age – further reinforced this stereotype.
Moral Viewpoint - Dale Evans Rogers' book Angel Unaware and Pearl S. Buck's
The Child Who Never Grew, both widely read, perpetuated the view of all persons
with developmental disabilities – young and old – as eternal children.
The message of these books was two-fold: all families, rich or poor, can have
children with disabilities, and persons with mental retardation are really
just "children." Buck placed her child in an institution. Dale Evans
Rogers' child died very young; she suggested that children with mental retardation
are special angels, serving a divine purpose that is lost in institutions.
At her brother's request, Eunice Kennedy Shriver authored an article that
appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, talking about their sister Rose (who
has mental retardation) and how their family adjusted. The article was read
by millions, and further convinced parents that having a child or sibling with
mental retardation was nothing to feel shame or guilt over.
Moral Viewpoint - At first, parents came together a few at a time, usually
in someone's home.
Moral Viewpoint - In one state, a parent looked for support by placing an
advertisement in the local newspaper. The newspaper initially declined to print
the ad, feeling it was too controversial. After it was finally printed, the
parent received over one thousand replies.
Moral Viewpoint - Beyond parents offering support to one another, these groups
fought for institutional reform, community services, and better education for
Medical Viewpoint - The themes of "eternal child" and "objects
of pity" have been taken to their extremes by the annual Jerry Lewis Muscular
Dystrophy Telethon, with its relentless appeals to pity and heart wrenching
images of helpless poster children needing to be "cured" rather than
accepted by society.
Connection to Different Time in History - Disability activists have written
and spoken out against the use of pity images in fundraising campaigns. Some
activists have held their own antitelethons, promoting disability pride and
culture over low expectations and paternalism. In the early 1990s, a Chicago-based
group called Jerry’s Orphans was started by former MDA poster children.
ADVOCACY BY PARENTS LEADS TO INCREASED FUNDING, BETTER COMMUNITY SERVICES,
AND LARGER INSTITUTIONS.
"I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the last
judgment. It takes place every day." – Albert Camus
RESPONSES TO DISABILITY: Advocacy for improved institutions and better community
services; increased funding for research; parents and professionals begin listening
to people with disabilities.
Social Viewpoint - The concept of "normalization" originated in
Denmark in the late 1950s. It meant quite simply allowing persons who lived
in institutions to enjoy a normal rhythm of the day. As Benjt Nirje put it, "Making
available to the mentally retarded patterns and conditions of everyday life
which are as close as possible to the norms and patterns of the mainstream
of society." Combined with the continuing stories of abuse and neglect
in institutions, the normalization principle helped to convince people that
individuals with disabilities belong in the community.
Medical Viewpoint - In 1962, President Kennedy formed the President's Panel
on Mental Retardation. At this time, the medical profession was considered
the final authority on mental retardation and other disabilities. Consequently,
the Panel consisted primarily of medical professionals, with an emphasis on
prevention and treatment.
Medical Viewpoint - Because of the success of parent advocacy, many states
poured money into building new and larger state institutions to meet the increasing
demand for services. Between 1964 and 1968, $67,500,000 was allocated for new
construction. New buildings were designed to take advantage of discoveries
in medicine and operational efficiency.
Medical Viewpoint - Institutions, professionals had determined, offered the
most appropriate and efficient way to serve people. But the number of persons
living in a single institution was still high – as many as 6,000 at Rome
State School in New York. Staff-to-resident ratios were as high as fifty-to-one.
New facilities served to accommodate more individuals with developmental disabilities,
but the "medical model" of treatment did not change.
Social Viewpoint - By the late 1960s, it was becoming increasingly clear that
public institutions were failing to meet even the most basic human needs of
the people they were intended to serve.
Gradually, the character of the Parent Movement changed as persons with disabilities,
the primary "consumers" of disability services, assumed a more active
role in fighting for their rights.
Medical Viewpoint - Niels Erk Bank-Mikkelsen, the director of the Danish national
services for mental retardation, visited a state institution in California
in the 1960s. His report was read across the country. "I couldn't believe
my eyes. It was worse than any institution I have seen in visits to a dozen
foreign countries. . . . In our country, we would not be allowed to treat cattle
Medical Viewpoint - In 1965, Senator Robert Kennedy toured the Willowbrook
State School in New York. Accompanied by a T.V. crew, he compared the conditions
of the institution to that of a snake pit. The next year, Dr. Burton Blatt
and photographer Fred Kaplan used a hidden camera to capture life inside of
Willowbrook. Their photographic essay, Christmas in Purgatory, was published
in Life magazine, drawing the largest amount of reader response in the magazine's
history. Dr. Blatt declared that "there is a hell on earth, and in America
there is a special inferno" - the institution.
Connection to Different Time in History - Beginning in the late 1960s, and
gaining momentum in the ’70s and ’80s, many parents were fighting,
along with their children, for the closure of institutions and for better services
in their communities.
Social Viewpoint - Originally intended as desegregation for students with
disabilities, "mainstreaming" often meant dumping students with disabilities
into public schools, putting them in regular classes with no supports, or isolating
them in special, separate classes for most of the day. As a response to the
empty promise of mainstreaming, parents and activists began to call for "integrated" and "inclusive" schools,
with students with disabilities participating in the same classroom as nondisabled
INFLUENCED BY THE CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS STRUGGLES OF THE 1950S AND 1960S,
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES BEGIN TO FIGHT FOR THEIR RIGHTS.
We’re chained to the world and we all gotta pull." - Tom Waits
Social Viewpoint - The Civil Rights Movement focused national attention on
the rights of disadvantaged groups.
Connection to Different Time in History - As civil rights activists were asserting
their status as equal citizens, self advocates were beginning to fight for recognition
as people first, with their disability considered second.
Social Viewpoint - Just as the Civil Rights Movement mobilized thousands of
activists across the country, the Disability Rights Movement has appealed to
people from all communities: women and men, children and adults, young and
old, straight and gay, rich and poor.
Connection to Different Time in History - 80% of people will experience disability
at some time in their lives.
Social Viewpoint - The Civil Rights movement was underway, with Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. calling for "children [who] will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content
of their character."
Connection to Different Time in History - Inspired by the many human and civil
rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s, activists in the Disability Rights
movement have taken control of disability issues, demanding freedom, equality,
and justice for all citizens.
Social Viewpoint - Also at this time was the beginning of the Women's Movement,
which alerted our country to the fact that one-half of our citizens are discriminated
against on the basis of gender alone.
Social Viewpoint - Activist Judy Heumann, who became a member of the Clinton
administration, speaks out with passion at a hearing during the battle over
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Social Viewpoint - As it was in the Middle Ages, disability is still largely
a poverty issue. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is over
As Rosa Parks fought for the rights of African Americans to sit at the front
of the bus, disability rights activists are fighting just to get on the bus.
Social Viewpoint - Ed Roberts, a post-polio quadriplegic, entered the University
of California at Berkeley in 1964 and effectively began the Disability Rights
Movement. With the support of his organizer mom, Zona, Ed fought the university
and the State Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. He got the press on
his side, championing his cause. When Ed won this battle, a local newspaper
carried the headline, "Hopeless Cripple Goes to School."
Social Viewpoint - "I am convinced that we are making the most profound
social change that our society has ever known." - Ed Roberts, 1990
Connection to Different Time in History - Whenever you use a curb cut, think
of Ed Roberts and the work of activists in the Disability Rights Movement
DISABILITY IS NO LONGER LIMITED TO MORAL OR MEDICAL DEFINITIONS; IT IS NOW
VIEWED BY MANY AS A SOCIAL CONSTRUCT.
RESPONSES TO DISABILITY: Greater understanding of disability from a social
perspective; listen to people with disabilities; make accommodations in the
INVOLVEMENT BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Advocates and activists; leaders
and organizers; participants.
"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never had and it never will." – Frederick
Social Viewpoint - One of the most important pieces of legislation during
the 1970s was the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 504 of this act made
it illegal for any federal agency, public university, defense or other federal
contractor, or any other institution that received federal funding to discriminate
against anyone solely on the basis of disability. The language of Section 504
was the same as that of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Social Viewpoint - During the March 1988 revolt at Gallaudet University, students
demanded that their new college president be Deaf.
Dr. I. King Jordan was eventually named the new president.
"Together we must remove the physical barriers we have created and the
social barriers we have accepted." - President George Bush, on signing
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Modeled after the 1964 Civil Rights Act,
the ADA created broad civil rights protection for people with disabilities.
It is the first comprehensive federal law to address the discrimination against
an estimated 54 million Americans with disabilities in the areas of employment,
public service and accommodations, and telecommunications.
Connection to Different Time in History - Accommodations, like the TTY machine,
are making communities accessible for all citizens.
"The Americans with Disabilities Act is the world's first declaration
of equality for people with disabilities by any nation. It will proclaim to
America and to the world that people with disabilities are fully human; that
paternalistic, discriminatory, segregationist attitudes are no longer acceptable;
and that hence forth people with disabilities must be accorded the same personal
respect and the same social and economic opportunities as other people." — Justin
ADAPT (formerly American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, now American
Disabled for Attendant Programs Today) represents the militant side of the
Disability Rights movement. They protest and educate about the inhumane conditions
people with disabilities – and the elderly – receive in nursing
homes. ADAPT members have shown that it is less expensive and much healthier
for people to live in the community rather than in nursing homes or other institutions.
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES FACE NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS AS AMERICA’S
"Americans with Disabilities don't want your pity or your lethal mercy.
We want freedom. We want LIFE." — Not Dead Yet
Social Viewpoint - A 1991 survey (Public attitudes toward People with Disabilities,
Louis Harris), found that "pity, embarrassment, fear, anger, and resentment
are the marks of a people whose conscience is bothering them and who desperately
need to learn how to treat those with disabilities with equality."
Social Viewpoint - Valerie Schaaf, one of the early leaders in self-advocacy.
Inspired by the advocacy and civil and human rights groups of the 1960s, and
formed partly in reaction to professional and parental attitudes, self-advocacy
groups formed their own organizations at the local, state, and national levels.
Social Viewpoint Rev. Wade Blank, one of the founders of ADAPT.
Connection to Different Time in History - In the Self-Advocacy Movement, the
role of the support person is an important accommodation. Some people need
assistance with personal care and transportation; in Self-Advocacy, this relationship
may be that of advisor, facilitator, or friend. The key to this role is to
support, not control.
Social Viewpoint - Self-advocacy means advocating for one's self, standing
up for one's rights. For thousands around the world it is also a term of personal
identity, focusing on one's political power and right to self-determination.
It is also a growing civil rights movement, representing women and men of all
races, colors, and religions who have been systematically neglected, abused,
incarcerated, and misunderstood for most of history.
Connection to Different Time in History - Back in the 1940s, Jacobus ten Broek
changed the name of the Federation for the Blind to the Federation of the Blind.
movement was telling parents it was now time for people to speak for themselves.
Social Viewpoint - Most professionals and parents believed that persons with
developmental disabilities should be protected at all costs. Dr. Benjt Nirje
disagreed: "To be allowed to be human means to be allowed to fail." By
listening to people with developmental disabilities, Dr. Nirje and others discovered
that individuals themselves, not professionals and parents, know best what
they want in life.
Social Viewpoint - In response to continuing images of pity, particularly
in telethons, selfadvocates helped to redefine the disability problem by asserting
it as a matter of rights, not charity.
Self-advocacy groups have recognized the need for support – through
advice, encouragement, assistance with daily living and transportation – and
have described the role of the support person as that of advisor, facilitator,
and friend. The relationship is one of mutual trust, understanding, and respect.
The key to being an effective support person is to support, not control.
Medical Viewpoint - Psychiatric survivors, activists, and allies protest incarceration
and forced treatment, including electroshock and psychotropic drugs.
Connection to Different Time in History to Medical Viewpoint - Jack Kevorkian,
the former Michigan pathologist who illegally practiced "physician-assisted
suicide." "Dr. Death," as he was tagged by many activists in
the disability community, finally went too far and killed Thomas Youk on video,
administering a lethal drug for the prime time audiences of "60 minutes." In
March 1999, Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder and delivery of
an uncontrolled substance. He is now in jail, serving 10-25 years.
Social Viewpoint Professor Peter Singer, appointed head of the Bio-Ethics
Department of Princeton University, has theorized that "killing a disabled
baby is not the moral equivalent of killing a person."
Connection to Different Time in History - Many activists with disabilities
see Dr. Singer’s argument as a slippery slope back to the Eugenics Movement.
PERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES ADVOCATE FOR THEMSELVES AND OTHERS
WITH DISABILITIES, PROCLAIMING "WE ARE PEOPLE FIRST!"
RESPONSES TO DISABILITY: Increased employment and educational opportunities;
greater inclusion of people with disabilities in the community.
SOCIETAL VALUES: Self-determination and freedom of choice; celebration of
Social Viewpoint - One way that self-advocates have redefined the "disability
problem" is through reclaiming the language used to describe them. If
disability is important in describing someone, it should be secondary to the
person. Rather than "disabled people," self-advocates prefer "people
with disabilities." Better yet, don't mention the disability at all unless
it's relevant to the situation.
Social Viewpoint - Some self-advocates have objected to the Special Olympics
and its method of treating people with disabilities as "eternal children" and "objects
of pity." For many, the word "special" has come to mean different
and less than.
"We are people first." Many self-advocacy groups call themselves
People First in honor of this principle.
Social Viewpoint - Self-advocates in Minneapolis organized and picketed for
the right to hold a union election at their workshop. Workers not only demonstrated
their ability to speak for themselves, but also recognized the importance of
economic justice. Many sheltered workers at this time were paid less than $1.00
per hour, with no vacation or sick leave. (The workshop would not even let
the workers vote on whether to have union representation, but through legislation,
self-advocates did win $35,000 in back pay.)
Social Viewpoint - "Self-advocates effect change through helping others." — Perry
Social Viewpoint - An important goal in self-advocacy is closing institutions. "Institutions
remove all of the things worth living for — joy, happiness, love, tenderness,
feelings, emotions — and make you give up on life itself. As self-advocates
we must close down every institution and liberate our unfortunate brothers
and sisters who are now wasting away."
Connection to Different Time in History - There are still tens of thousands
of people with disabilities in institutions, and thousands more in nursing
Social Viewpoint - Self-advocates in Connecticut held a press conference from
within the Southberry Training School, an institution they wanted to close.
Three TV networks covered the event, and the show "60 minutes" later
did an investigative report on Southberry.
Social Viewpoint - "We have the right to participate in the community,
attend our public schools, and grow up with other children. We must have the
opportunity to do the same things as everyone else and to share the joys of
Social Viewpoint - Many self-advocacy groups serve a social function, bringing
people with developmental disabilities together in an environment where they
can speak openly with people they trust. Other groups have developed the sophistication
and resources to take on large issues, like fighting for "real" health
care for people with disabilities.
We must be listened to as we express ourselves, and we must be allowed to
make our own mistakes. We must help those who have higher support needs and
cannot speak for themselves, so their decisions can be understood and respected.
"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking
at the root." – Henry David Thoreau
THOUSANDS OF SELF-ADVOCATES ACROSS THE WORLD SPEAK FOR
THEMSELVES AND FIGHT FOR SOCIAL CHANGE.
WE ARE PEOPLE FIRST!
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." – Eleanor
"Let us fail, so we can learn from our mistakes. We’re only human – everyone
makes mistakes." -- James Meadours
Social Viewpoint - Individual and group leadership is being developed as self-advocates
speak up, make their own choices, and work together for social change.
Social Viewpoint - Like other civil rights movements, the self-advocacy movement — through
many independent groups — has identified issues and developed strategies
for creating change.
Social Viewpoint - All people have the right to be valued as equals in their
community. We must not be discriminated against because of our disability.
Other people must learn that we are people and treat us in the same way as
Social Viewpoint - Self-advocates have shown us that an education, an opportunity
for real employment, and privacy in our home are rights, not privileges; they
do not come from the kindness of strangers during telethons, but from the fact
that we are human beings.
Social Viewpoint - Irving Martin, the "Godftather of Self-Advocacy in
Minnesota," pushed parents, professionals, and other self-advocates to
take responsibility for increasing the quality of life for all people with
disabilities. "Life is a 50/50 thing. People need to be out there in the
community, to the best of their abilities."
Green Box - On June 22, 1999, the Supreme Court ruled in Olmstead v. L.C.
that under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), unjustifiable institutionalization
of a person with a disability who, with proper support can live in the community,
is discrimination. The case was brought by two Georgia women whose disabilities
include mental retardation and mental illness. At the time the suit was filed,
both plaintiffs lived in State-run institutions. The Court stated directly
that "Unjustified isolation . . . is properly regarded as discrimination
based on disability."
Social Viewpoint - "Who is in charge of your life?" Roland Johnson
raised this issue of self-determination by focusing on control and decision-
Social Viewpoint - Self-Advocates have been the vanguard in the fight to close
institutions and move people with disabilities into the community. Self Advocates
Becoming Empowered (SABE), a national self-advocacy organization, has launched
a "Close the Doors" campaign, fighting for the release of our brothers
and sisters from institutions throughout the US.
ACTIVISTS REMEMBER THE PAST AND WORK TO ENSURE THAT CRIMES AND MISTAKES ARE
"The struggle against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting." – Milan
"We are just beginning to uncover a hidden history." – Paul
INVOLVEMENT BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Leaders, employees, students, activists,
educators, historians, artists, cultural workers.
Social Viewpoint - In Germany, recognition that the Holocaust claimed the
lives of thousands of people with disabilities.
Social Viewpoint - In Minnesota, people who lived and died in institutions,
buried with only a number, are honored and remembered with proper headstones.
People forgotten in institutions are remembered, with dignity and respect.
Social Viewpoint - The lives of people with disabilities are acknowledged
Social Viewpoint - Herbert Spencer argued the concept of "survival of
the fittest" through his Social Darwinism. Disability activists have put
a new spin on evolution.
Social Viewpoint - Not Dead Yet comprises activists, advocates, and allies
who protested the actions of Jack Kevorkian and who continue to fight against
legalizing physician-assisted suicide. NDY is also a strong voice against the
appointment of Peter Singer to the Bio-Ethics Department at Princeton University,
the group is also working to promote adequate health care, especially around
issues of pain relief and long-term care.
NAMING AND CLAIMING WHO WE ARE, WHERE WE COME FROM, AND WHERE WE WANT TO GO.
Social Viewpoint - Covering the news, creating the news.
Social Viewpoint -
Within the broader disability rights movement, there has been a shift from
rights to an emphasis on disability culture. Dr. Paul Longmore,
a professor of disability studies, has noted that the disability rights approach
is still in some sense rooted in the assumption that disability is less desirable.
By contrast, disability culture asserts that disability is not to be hidden,
healed, or even overcome. Disability is a culture, full of shared history
and experiences that should be honored and practiced.
Social Viewpoint - Barbie's
new friend in a wheelchair, named after activist Becky Ogle. Many activists
hated the "Share A Smile" moniker and
she's now known simply as Becky.
Social Viewpoint - Defining and re-imagining
Social Viewpoint - Remembering
WORKING TOWARD A COMMON VISION
DISABILITY IS AN ART.
Social Viewpoint - Celebrating disability arts & culture at Disability
Pride ’94, an anti-telethon in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Social Viewpoint - The
groundbreaking Wry Crips Disabled Women’s Theatre
Group from Berkeley, California.
Social Viewpoint - The late comedian Ben Stuart: "I’m
one of Jerry’s
Kids. Well, one of Jerry Garcia’s kids."
Social Viewpoint - Actor/Playwright Neil
marcus: "Disability is an art."
DISABILITY IS A UNIQUE WAY OF LIFE.
Social Viewpoint - Celebrating who we are and where we come from, while organizing
for lasting change.
Social Viewpoint - Lee Williams: "Disability – it’s about
Social Viewpoint - Expanding our understanding
Social Viewpoint - Internationally recognized journalist, writer, and broadcaster
Social Viewpoint - Rev. Dave and the Church of 80% Sincerity.
Social Viewpoint - The reigning Queen Mother of Gnarly, Cheryl Marie Wade,
has written powerfully and poetically on disability culture. Her essay, Disability
Culture Rap, was made into an experimental documentary of the same name.
I’m trickster coyote in a gnarly-bone suit
I’m a fate worse than death in shit-kickin’boots
I’m the nightmare booga you flirt with in dreams
‘Cause I emphatically demonstrate: It ain’t what it seems
I’m a whisper, I’m a heartbeat, I’m "that accident," and
One thing I am not is a reason to die.
I’m homeless in the driveway of your manicured street
I’m Evening Magazine’s SuperCrip of the Week
I’m the girl in the doorway with no illusions to spare
I’m a kid dosed on chemo, so who said life is fair
I’m a whisper, I’m a heartbeat, I’m "let’s call
it suicide," and a sigh
One thing I am not is a reason to die
I’m the poster child with doom-dipped eyes
I’m the ancient remnant set adrift on ice
I’m that Valley girl, you know, dying of thin
I’m all that is left of the Cheshire Cat’s grin
I’m the Wheelchair Athlete, I’m every dead Baby Doe
I’m the Earth’s last volcano, and I am ready to blow
I’m a whisper, I’m a heartbeat, I’m a genocide survivor,
ONE thing I am not is a reason to die.
I am not a reason to die.
Cheryl Marie Wade
CONNECTION TO A DIFFERENT TIME IN HISTORY - SEEKING FULL PARTICIPATION
Connection to a different time in history - Realizing the promise of integration, productivity, independence, and quality of life choices.
We watch the City fall down
But we pick it up
The Cost of Freedom
We pick it up
We pick it up
We watch the City fall down
We pick it up
Because of Freedom
We walk hand in hand
God Save Ameriica
We pick it up
We watch the City fall down
We pick it up
See the Capital Standing strong
Because of Freedom
We pick it up
We are Ameriican
We pick it up
Because of Freedom
We pick it up
Long live Freedom
We pick it up
Long live Freedom
We pick it up
– Chester Finn
Social Viewpoint - September 11, 2001 began as a beautiful day. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks nearly 3,000 people were killed, thousands more injured. Remarkably, all New Yorkers who received supports though the developmental disabilities service system survived. Self-advocate and New Yorker Tony Philips spoke for many when he said, “We are here to pick the city back up.”
Social Viewpoint - Approximately 874,000 full-time equivalent direct support professionals (DSPs) across the United States provide guidance and support to people who need help becoming self-sufficient. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that by 2020, the number of fulltime DSPs must grow to 1.2 million to support the 1.4million individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities with needed residential, vocational, and other supports.
Social Viewpoint - Our voices and our votes count.
Social Viewpoint - People with disabilities assert their rights to freedom of religious and spiritual expression.
Social Viewpoint - In September 2003, over 200 ADAPT members and supporters marched and rolled from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to Washington, DC, building support for MiCASSA, the Medicaid Community-based Attendant Services and Support Act.
Social Viewpoint - Terri Shiavo collapsed in 1990 from cardiac arrest, resulting in severe brain damage. Within three years, doctors said she was in a “persistent vegetative state” with little chance of recovery. Terri's husband fought to have her feeding tube removed, honoring her wishes not to be “kept on a machine” with no hope of recovery. Terri's family and many supporters from the disability community challenged this petition and fought for years to keep Terri alive. After fourteen court appeals and many motions, petitions, and court hearings, her feeding tube was removed in March 2005. She died thirteen days later.
Social Viewpoint - This online newsletter, written and published by self-advocates, reaches thousands of people through the Internet. Self-advocacy has entered the digital age.
Social Viewpoint - Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf coast in late August 2005, causing thousands of deaths and destruction across costal regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Federal relief efforts are slow and poorly organized. The Center for Independent Living in Biloxi, MS is totally destroyed.
Social Viewpoint - In June 2002, the Supreme Court reversed an earlier ruling and held that the death penalty constituted "cruel and unusual punishment" to persons with intellectual disabilities. Still, people with intellectual disabilities are at a higher risk of wrongful convictions and death sentences, often because they want to please the authorities by confessing falsely or, because of stigma, they do not want to disclose their disability.
In the case of Johnny Lee Wilson, Johnny was trying to please the police officers by telling them what he thought they wanted to hear. That is, he confessed. I think that it is important to remember that in trying to please the police officers you should not say something that is not true, or incriminate yourself. Incriminate means saying something that would make you guilty of a crime. —
Missouri People First
Connection to a different time in history - “The powerful play goes on – and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”
— author unknown
CONNECTION TO A DIFFERENT TIME IN HISTORY: COMMUNITY INTEGRATION FOR EVERYONE
Social Viewpoint - In 2010. the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver program was amended to ensure that individuals receiving services and supports through the federal Medicaid HCBS programs have full access to the benefits of community living, and are able to receive services in the most integrated setting.
Social Viewpoint - As the Olmstead Ruling becomes understood, its call for integration is changing society. The old structures of segregation are under attack. Sheltered workshops, facility-based day programs, state-run institutions, and group homes are all being challenged and phased out, in favor of programs and support for integrated living and working.
Social Viewpoint - The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. It was the first major human rights treaty of the 21st century. By 2014, 143 countries had ratified, including all the countries of North America except the United States. While President Barack Obama signed the CPRD in 2009, the US Senate had failed to ratify it as of 2014.
Spread the Word to End the Word
Social Viewpoint - In 2008, the movie “Tropic Thunder†sparked nation-wide protests to stop using disability labels as put-downs, especially the R-word.
Social Viewpoint - In 2011, Alabama became the first state in the South and the twelveth state overall to close all their state operated institutions. That left 29,909 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who were still living in state-run institutions nationwide (compared with 108,165 persons in 1965 and 223,590 persons in 1965).
Connection to a different time in history - Olmstead Decision Ripples Through Society, Expanding Integration
Social Viewpoint - In 2011, only 19.3% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities participated in integrated employment services. By 2014,11 states passed ‘Employment First’ legis lation, where employment in the general workforce in the first and preferred outcome, regardless of the level of disability.
Social Viewpoint - West Virginia is the first state to pass a bill requiring students in the K-12 public school system to study Disability History.
Connection to a different time in history - “If you believe people have no history worth mentioning, its easy to believe they have no humanity worth defending.â€
-William Loren Katz
Social Viewpoint - Jenny Hatch, a woman with Down syndrome in Virginia, won a lawsuit against her parents. A judge declared that she can live the life she wants, rejecting a guardianship request from her parents that would have allowed them to keep her in a group home against her will.
Social Viewpoint - A class action lawsuit charged Oregon with violating the ADA and the Rehab Act. The reason: the state did not provide supported employment services to more than 2,300 people with disabilities who work in segregated sheltered workshops.
Social Viewpoint - The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) accepts the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
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State Education Commissioner Richard Mills made a correct and courageous judgment when he notified school districts in April, 2001 that the use of Indian team names and mascots should be phased out in public schools.
He stopped short of making it a mandate, but his message was clear: Schools are a public institution and should embrace tolerance and reject stereotypes when choosing mascots. Our school board recently voted to replace the mascot following years of research, ongoing debates, and stakeholder committee recommendations.
The Indian chief mascot is a form of racial discrimination and shows blatant disrespect for Native Americans.
Those who created the mascot may not have intended to offend Native Americans, but the image does represent a religious figure adorned with sacred items in their culture.
I cannot imagine that anyone would sanction the use of an image of a religious leader or icon from any other sect still in existence in this world painted on the wall of a gymnasium, printed on clothing, enhancing floor mats, gracing seat cushions, or covering a yearbook.
Why, then, did it take so long to rid the school of this offensive, demeaning image; and why is it still painted on the wall in Southern Cayuga's gymnasium?
I am sure that the intentions of the supporters of our old mascot are good and that they wish to honor a longstanding tradition in this school district; but if the image is considered offensive by some, even if you don't think it is, why keep it? There is no reason to ignore those who are hurt by the mascot in any aspect. They are forced to accept that their cultural identity and ancestry are on the level of animals that represent other teams.
The offensive nature of the Indian chief mascot is not in any circumstance "a matter of opinion."
Why has this district continued to listen to the loudest voices instead of those most deeply affected by the team name? Why do they teach us in class that stereotypic images of ethnic groups are inherently evil and dangerous, and then persist in representing themselves in this manner?
I am very proud that my school set an example for me, my fellow students, and our entire community by having the strength and courage to show us that respect is more important than clinging to an anachronistic symbol.
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Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo – update
27 September 2012 - As of 24 September 2012, 51 cases (19 laboratory confirmed, 32 probable) with Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF) have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Of these, 20 have been fatal (7 confirmed, 13 probable).
The cases reported are from Isiro and Viadana health zones in Haut-Uélé district in Province Orientale. To date, 28 suspected cases have been reported and are being investigated.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) continues to work with partners, under the National Task Force which includes: WHO; Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF); the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC); US Agency for International Development (USAID); US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to identify all possible chains of transmission of the illness and ensure that appropriate measures are taken to interrupt transmission and stop the outbreak.
Response operations continue in the areas of: coordination; Infection Prevention and Control (IPC); surveillance and epidemiology; case management; public information and social mobilization; psycho social support; anthropological analysis; and logistics. Current activities include: training for health managers and heads of clinic services to strengthen surveillance; outreach to schools through principals, teachers and students; psychosocial support to affected families, particularly in Isiro and surrounding areas, where the latest cases are being detected, and to health care workers; training of social workers who are providing support in the Ebola treatment rooms; and interpersonal communication skills training for front-line staff. Local community-based radio have also broadcast programmes to provide information and address the concerns of the local populations.
WHO and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) have deployed experts to support operational response. Technical support has been further strengthened with an infection prevention and control expert to assist in preventing disease transmission in health care and community settings.
With respect to this event. WHO does not recommend any travel or trade restrictions to be applied to the DRC.
General information on controlling infection of EHF in health-care settings
Human-to-human transmission of the Ebola virus is primarily associated with direct contact with blood and body fluids. Transmission to healthcare workers has been reported when appropriate infection control measures have not been observed.
Health-care workers caring for patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola virus need to apply infection control measures to avoid any exposure to the patient’s blood and body fluids and/or direct unprotected contact with the possibly contaminated environment. It is important that Standard Precautions, particularly hand hygiene, the use of gloves and other personal protective equipment, safe injections practices and other measures are applied to all patients in all health care settings.
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- UCAR Home
- About Us
- For Staff
December 9, 2008
BOULDER—Contrary to earlier projections, few developing countries will be able to afford more efficient technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the next few decades, new research concludes. The study, by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Colorado, warns that continuing economic and technological disparities will make it more difficult than anticipated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and it underscores the challenges that poorer nations face in trying to adapt to global warming.
The study will be published this month in the journal Climate Research. It was funded by the National Science Foundation, NCAR's sponsor.
"There is simply no evidence that developing countries will somehow become wealthier and be in a position to install more environmentally friendly technologies," says Patricia Romero Lankao, an NCAR sociologist who is the lead author of the study. "We always knew that reducing greenhouse gas emissions was going to be a challenge, but now it looks like we underestimated the magnitude of this problem."
The new research also confirms that even those advanced nations that are turning to more environmentally friendly technologies are worsening the outlook for global warming. Their economic growth is outstripping the increase in efficiency, and the demand for more cars, larger houses, and other goods and services is leading to ever-increasing emissions of carbon dioxide. Many of the products these nations consume come from developing countries that are producing more but not gaining the wealth needed to increase efficiency.
As a result, most industrialized and developing countries are increasing their emissions of carbon dioxide. Overall, global emissions grew at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the 1990s and 3.3 percent from 2000 to 2006.
The study has implications for international climate change negotiations, such as this week's U.N. Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland. The United States and other technologically advanced nations are under pressure to reduce their per capita carbon dioxide emissions, while developing countries are being urged to adopt cleaner technology. The research suggests that both goals will be difficult to achieve.
In addition, if developing countries fail to become significantly more prosperous, they may be unable to protect their residents from some of the more dangerous impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise and more-frequent droughts.
"Their populations and economic activities will not have the availability of resources, entitlements, social networks, and governance structures deemed particularly important ... for them to adapt to the impacts of climate change," the paper states.
The cost of inefficiency
Even though the developing nations analyzed by the research team generally have smaller economies, they are responsible for about 47 percent of the world's emissions of carbon dioxide, one of the major greenhouse gases.
The reason has to do in part with the inefficient energy and transportation systems in nations with less wealth. Small and outdated industrial facilities that use higher-polluting fossil fuels, for example, tend to emit more carbon dioxide per production unit than a larger facility with newer, cleaner technologies. In addition, developing countries contribute a large amount to carbon dioxide emissions when their forests are logged or burned.
To determine whether developing countries are likely to become significantly more efficient, Romero Lankao and her co-authors divided 72 of the world's more populous countries into three primary groups: technologically advanced nations such as the United States (haves), emerging nations such as Thailand (have-somes), and poorer nations like Tanzania (have-nots). Using World Bank data, they based their classifications on three criteria that can influence carbon dioxide emissions: gross domestic product per capita, urban population, and population in the 15 to 65 age range. They then analyzed the economic trajectories of the selected nations from 1960 to 2006, using several statistical techniques.
The team found that the economic disparity between industrialized countries and most developing ones, as measured by gross domestic product per capita, has increased since 1960 rather than converging. Furthermore, the study projects that, if present trends continue, that disparity will continue to grow for at least the next two decades.
A few have-some nations, such as China, appear poised to move up in the world economy and potentially adopt more efficient technology. But many other have-some and have-not countries that emit a significant percentage of greenhouse gas emissions, such as India and Iran, are failing to amass the resources needed to become substantially more efficient.
The study also highlights the disparities in per capita emissions of carbon dioxide. Of the 72 countries analyzed, the team found that the advanced countries have a tiny share of the world's population, yet emit 52.2 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions. In contrast, one-third of the global population lives in the have-not countries, but accounts for just 2.8 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions.
A challenge to IPCC projections: the lack of convergence
These findings cast doubt on some projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. When the IPCC released its comprehensive assessment in 2007, it based several scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions on the concepts of modernization and convergence, which state that many developing countries would close the economic gap and adopt more efficient technologies.
Romero Lankao and her co-authors, however, found evidence for an alternative view, known as the world economy theory, which holds that nations will remain hierarchical, with poorer nations continuing to be in a peripheral economic position even as they produce more products and resources for wealthy countries. Those nations may adopt more efficient and environmentally friendly means of production over time, but at a significantly slower rate than projected by the IPCC.
The world economy theory suggests significant impacts on future greenhouse gas emissions. For example, if the wealthiest regions were to have seven times the average income of the poorest regions in 2100, as projected in some IPCC scenarios, the world would pump 14.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the air that year. But if the income disparity reached 16 times, then carbon dioxide emissions would be about 9 percent higher, at 15.5 gigatons — a difference that, over time, would lead to substantially higher global temperatures.
About the article
Title: "Development and greenhouse gas emissions deviate from the 'modernization' theory and 'convergence' hypothesis"
Authors: Patricia Romero Lankao, Douglas Nychka, and John Tribbia
Publication: Climate Research
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research under sponsorship by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Dog Body Language
Dog behavior is complex and the signals that dogs send are often subtle. The following is not intended to be a dissertation on dog behavior. It is intended to alert parents to situations that could compromise child safety around dogs. Parents seeing potential danger signs in their dog's behavior are encouraged to err on the side of caution and implement dog bite prevention measures (increase supervision and use physical barriers when supervision is not possible) until it can be determined whether the dog is actually a danger to the children and if so, until the problem is resolved through consultation with the appropriate professional.
Many dog bites could be prevented if parents and children were aware of the subtle communication signs that dogs send when they are anxious. An anxious dog is much more likely to bite than is a happy dog. There is a big difference between a dog that is tolerating interactions with children and a dog that is actually enjoying these interactions.
One of the most common things we hear from adult bite victims and the parents of child victims is "I wish I'd known...". We don't want you ever to have to say that. We want you to know and we are going to tell you.
Many dogs are exceptionally tolerant of mishandling by both kids and adults. They show signs of anxiety, yet never get to the point of biting. Other dogs tolerate things they don't enjoy for a period of time, or from certain people and not others, but at some point they have just had enough and they growl or snap. Most people are shocked when this happens. "He has never bitten anyone before" or "there was no warning", they say. Dog behavior experts will tell you that there is always a warning, it is is just that most people do not know how to interpret dog body language.
Growling at the kids
Never punish your dog for growling. This may seem counter-intuitive and may even go against the advice of your dog trainer or dog trainers you have seen on TV. If your dog growls at your child he is sending a clear warning that he is very uncomfortable with the actions or proximity of the child. Be grateful that your dog chose to warn with a growl rather than going straight to a bite. If you punish the growling, you may inhibit the warning growl the next time and the dog may bite without growling first. Punishment or scolding will not make the dog feel better about the child, in fact he may even feel more anxious and be even more likely to bite in the future, especially if you are not there to control the situation. If your child cannot follow directions and/or has got into the habit of being rough with the dog, then the dog and child should be separated until the child has learned to treat the dog with kindness and respect.
- Increase supervision.
- Take your dog to the vet to make sure he is not sick or in pain.
- Seek the advice of a dog behavior specialist who will use positive reinforcement to help teach the dog to change his attitude and to enjoy the company of the child.
Do not assume that the dog will not bite because he hasn't yet. As dogs get older they can become less tolerant. As children get older the dog can become less tolerant of rough treatment. How tragic if your last memory of a faithful long time family member is of a bite to your child.
Reinforcing the Growl
Teach your kids to back off and report it to you if the dog growls. The same goes for adults. "Doesn't this just encourage the dog to growl if he finds out he can control us with this behavior?" is a very common (and a very good) question. Yes, if you back off the dog will know that growling works to get him out of an uncomfortable situation. He will be likely to growl again in the same situation and less likely to feel the need to bite, since growling works well enough. Wouldn't you rather have a dog that will warn with a growl and not go straight to a bite? Of course we don't want the dog to turn into a growling machine and so action is required immediately to remedy the situation. The kids need to learn to avoid the behavior that causes growling until the dog is trained (and possibly afterward as well). The adults need to teach the dog to enjoy whatever situations cause him to growl. This requires behavior modification training so that the dog no longer feels anxious or threatened and so does not feel the need to growl. We recommend that you hire a dog behavior consultant to help you with this, since growling is such a serious warning and must be dealt with immediately and properly.
Remember, if you want your kids to tell you if the dog growls, thank them for this information. Avoid scolding or making them feel that they did something wrong (even if they did do something you have told them not do). Kids who get in trouble for making the dog growl and then telling you about it are not going to come to you with this information the next time. Some behavior modification may also be required for the child.
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Meryt-Amon was the wife of Smenkhkare' and the daughter of Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti. Nefertiti left the palace that she shared with Akhenaten and lived in a mansion of her own. When this occurred, Meryt-Amon became the queen even though she was married to Smenkhkare'. When Akhenaten died, Smenkhkare' became king after being Akhenaten's attendant for two years. Meryt-Amon and Smenkhkare' went back to Thebes to try to placate the military factions, led by General Horemhab, and the priests of Amon. After just one year, Smenkhkare' was dead or deposed of and Meryt-Amon had disappeared.
Back to Who's Who of Ancient Egypt
Last Updated: June 19th, 2011
Who are we?
Tour Egypt aims to offer the ultimate Egyptian adventure and intimate knowledge about the country. We offer this unique experience in two ways, the first one is by organizing a tour and coming to Egypt for a visit, whether alone or in a group, and living it firsthand. The second way to experience Egypt is from the comfort of your own home: online.
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Principality of southeastern Europe, under the suzerainty of Turkey. According to Josephus ("Ant." xxii.) and Belloguet ("Les Cimérieux," p. 24) the Jews knew of Mœsia (old name for the Balkan peninsula) at a very early age. But the first Jewish community of Bulgaria was founded at Nicopolis under Trajan, after the victories gained over the Dacians. The Bulgarian czar Krum brought some Jews among the 30,000 prisoners carried away from Thessaly in 811. A large number of Byzantine Jews established themselves in Bulgaria in 967, at Nicopolis, Widdin, Silistria, and Sofia (compare Solomon Abraham Cohen,Responsa, Leghorn, 1592). The rabbinical authors called them Romanim Jews. They preserved their Greek customs, one of these being to choose a chief rabbi from without their own city, and another to close their shops on the day of a burial; this latter custom having been observed until the year 1720 ("Mayim Rabbim," Amsterdam, 1637).The Jewish Czarina.
In 1189 the two brothers Assen and Peter founded the Bulgarian kingdom, this being the second foundation. They entered into relations with Venice, Ragusa, and Geneva. As the majority of the merchants in these cities were Jews, offices were established by them (according to Ubicini, "Provinces Danubiennes")in the ports of Bulgaria on the Danube, especially at Widdin. Under the czar Assen II. (1218-41), the successor of Assen I., the number of Jews increased. The pope in a letter to Bela IV., king of Hungary (1238), complains that the above-mentioned czar received heretics into his dominions (Gh. Sincat, "Cronica Romanilou," p. 262, Jassy, 1853). The Tatars invaded Bulgaria about 1290, under their chief, Khan Tchoca, who was killed by a Jew at the siege of Tirnova. Muralt (ii. 402) places this event in 1293, other historians, as Hammer-Purgstall ("Goldene Horde"), in 1299. An anonymous work, printed by R. Jonah of Constantinople in 1743, mentions the communities at Philippopolis (1344), at Zagora (1344), and at Nicopolis and Silistria (1377), as existing at the time when Bulgaria fell into the hands of the Turks. When Czar Ivan Alexander came to the throne, in 1330, he was a widower, and father of two children, Michel-Assen and Dobritch. The following year he married his second wife, the daughter of a woyewode, by whom he had one son, Ivan Strachenir. After a time he repudiated this wife, and married in 1335 a beautiful Jewess of Tirnova, Sara by name, who was converted to Christianity (Jirecek, "Gesch. der Bulgaren," p. 312, Prague, 1876).
The new czarina received the name of Theodora or "Newly Enlightened Czarina and Sole Support of all the Bulgarians and Greeks." Gifted with a remarkable intelligence, according to the historians, she aided the czar in all affairs of state. But when Ivan Alexander grew old, Theodora, wishing to secure the future of her children, Ivan Chichman and Tamar (or Mara or Marie), divided the kingdom in 1355, Ivan Chichman receiving one part, with Tirnova as the capital, Dobritch receiving the Dobroudja, and Strachenir the province of Bdin or Widdin. Thus Theodora, moved by maternal sentiment, made the mistake of enfeebling the land by dividing it. Ivan Chichman, the son of the Jewess, succeeded his father in 1346, and in 1367 he hospitably received the Jews who had been driven from Hungary and had settled at Nicopolis, Plevna, and Widdin. Mention is made of R. Shalom of Neustadt, who settled at Widdin. The community of Sofia, formerly called Stredetz, and founded by Byzantine Jews at the end of the tenth century, erected a synagogue, which is still known under the name "Kahal de los Gregos." Ashkenazic Jews established themselves at Sofia in 1360. The Bulgarian Jews were then divided into the following four rituals: (1) Bulgarian Jews properly so called; (2) Italian Jews from Venice; (3) Roman or Byzantine Jews; and (4) Ashkenazim, of German origin.
It appears that after the death of Ivan Chichman a reaction was felt against the Jews of Tirnova, which led to their emigration to Nicopolis. The Spanish Jews who arrived in that city in 1492 found there a Jewish community, having at its head Ḥayyim b. Albalgui or Albalgri (the Bulgarian). Among the immigrants were Ephraim Caro and his son Joseph, from Toledo; the latter married the daughter of this rabbi, and later became famous by his work, the Shulḥan 'Aruk. Widdin is also an ancient settlement, judging from a manuscript of the beginning of the fifteenth century, entitled "Perush we-Tosafot," by R. Dossa b. Moses of Widdin. Bazarjik, or Tatar Bazarjik, received its first Jewish settlement about 1500, with the arrival of some Spanish refugees, Aobi being its first rabbi.The Russo-Turkish War.
Under Turkish rule the Jews of Bulgaria were little known; all Jewish life seems to have centered in the communities of Constantinople, Salonica, Smyrna, and Adrianople. All that is known is that from time to time they were severely oppressed by rapacious Turkish officials as well as by the Greeks. During the next three centuries and a half (1500-1876) the only distinguished Jewish name is that of Joseph Caro. It was not until the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 that the Jews of Bulgaria came into notice. Goaded by the insolence of the peasantry who were in rebellion against the sultan, they did not know whether to favor the movement for the emancipation of Bulgaria or to remain faithful to the Turks. Their hesitation cost them much suffering. As soon as the Russian forces appeared before a town, the Bulgarians would denounce the Jews as hostile, and would set about to punish them. They were expelled in a body from Kezanlik, Zagora, Widdin, Shipka, and elsewhere, plundered of all their property, and forced to take to the road under miserable conditions. Their sufferings aroused a cry of horror throughout Europe, reaching even to America (see "Bulletins" of the Alliance Israélite Universelle); thousands took refuge in Constantinople, where their needs were looked after through the munificence of Baron Maurice de Hirsch.
Upon the close of the war the Jews of Bulgaria enjoyed comparative repose for the space of fourteen years (1878-92). In 1877, when the Turks set fire to the city of Sofia, it was the Jews and Jewesses, according to Bianconi ("Carte Commerciale de la Bulgarie," p. 12, published by Chaix, Paris), who fought the flames, and, armed with whatever weapon came to hand, beat off the soldiers employed in setting fire to the buildings. Thus the Bulgarian capital owed its preservation to its Jewish inhabitants, and, in recognition of their bravery, Prince Alexander decreed in 1879 that the fire-brigade should be chosen exclusively from Jewish citizens; and on all occasions of reviews, processions, etc., the Jewish firemen have the place of honor next to the picked troops of the Bulgarian army. When, in 1885, Bulgaria was waging war against Servia,the Bulgarian Jews distinguished themselves so highly in the battles of Pirot and Slivnitza that Prince Alexander publicly thanked them, calling them "true descendants of the ancient Maccabees."Present Condition.
The Bulgarian constitution accords all civil rights to Jews, in obedience to the Treaty of Berlin (1878). They are electors, are eligible to office, and are to be represented in every municipality by one or two members. They may become members of the Sobranje (Chamber of Deputies). They are subject to military service and have the right of military promotion. Each Jewish community is governed by its "synagogal committee," which levies a tax upon each individual. From this revenue, together with the voluntary offerings of the faithful, the committee, whose members serve three years and are officially recognized by the prince, provide for all the communal expenses as well as for the maintenance of Jewish schools. The liberality of the new constitution was at once received with enthusiasm by the Jews. Three graduates of the military school of Sofia attained the rank of major. They are Mochonoff Garté of Philippopolis, Moréno Graziani of Shumla, and Behdjet, or Behdjetoff, of Rustchuk; the last has recently resigned his commission.
Since 1890, however, anti-Semitism has made its appearance in Bulgaria, so that both elementary and high schools have become almost closed to Jews by reason of the hostility of the Christian students. M. Gabbé, a certain large landed proprietor, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, whereupon his Christian colleagues made their utmost endeavors to invalidate the election because of his Jewish race. An accusation of murder for ritual purposes was made against the Jews of Wratza in 1891, but the jurist Stoïloff (later minister), proved their innocence ("Bulletins" of the Alliance Israélite Universelle). Anti-Semitism has developed to such an extent in Bulgaria that the Jews are now emigrating in large numbers to Turkey in Asia.Literature.
The Jews of Bulgaria have not contributed to the national literature; they have written nothing in the Bulgarian language up to the present time (1902). They have four journals: one, which might be called peripatetic, "El Amigo del Pueblo," is published alternately at Sofia and at Rustchuk; the others are: "El Eko Judaico," "La Verdad," and "Ha-Shofar." A Judæo-Spanish journal, "El Dia," was published at Philippopolis in 1897, and a Judæo-Spanish review, "La Alborada," at Rustchuk in the same year. A Jewish journal in the Bulgarian language appeared for the first time at Philippopolis for some months in 1899, under the name "Tcheweschky-Prava" (The Rights of Man). The Alliance Israélite Universelle has fifteen schools in Bulgaria, nine for boys, with 2,235 pupils, and six for girls, with 1,760. From the year 1886 the Jews of Sofia evinced the desire to be worthily represented in the person of their chief rabbi, and, no longer content with a simple Talmudist, more or less learned in rabbinical matters, they called Dr. Dankowitz that year to be their spiritual head, a widely read scholar, linguist, and possessor of administrative capacity. He warmly defended the interests of his constituents with word and pen, particularly in the Wratza affair; but, owing to the machinations of some of his flock, he resigned in 1889. In 1891 Dr. Moritz Grünwald was called from Jung-Bunzlau in Bohemia, and remained until 1895, when he died while on a visit to London. Grünwald instituted pastoral tours, visiting the Jewish communities in turn over the entire country. Since 1890 the Jews of Bulgaria, on account of communal dissensions, political troubles, and possibly the Zionistic agitation, have been without any chief rabbi or official defender, until quite recently, when Dr. Ehrenpreis was appointed to the position.Industries.
Until 1880 the Jews of Bulgaria, like those of other portions of Turkey, occupied themselves exclusively with trading; but since the foundation of trade-schools by the Alliance Israélite, there have been among them carpenters, blacksmiths, coppersmiths, type-setters, leather-workers, and furriers. The most prominent Jewish families of Bulgaria are those of Présénté at Bourgas, Davitchon Levi at Sofia, and Canété at Rustchuk.Population.
In a total population of three and a half million inhabitants there are 30,000 Jews, and these are divided into thirty-five communities, nearly all of which observe the Sephardic ritual. Some cities, among them Sofia, Rustchuk, Philippopolis, Varna, Widdin, and Bourgas, have, in addition to the Sephardic community, also a small group of Ashkenazic Jews. Following is an exact list of the places in Bulgaria inhabited by Jews, and the Jewish population of each: Aïthos, 45 Jews; Bercootza, 250; Bourgas, 550; Bazarjik (Tatar), 1,700; Carlova, 200, Carnabat, 400; Dobritz, 200; Dubnitza, 1,100; Ferdinand, 160; Haskovo, 465; Kustendil, 1,000; Kezanlik, 200; Lom-Palanka, 325; Nova-Zagora, 180; Novi-Bazar, 20; Nicopolis, 150; Philippopolis, 3,075; Pleven or Plevna, 405; Pravady, 250; Rasgrad, 200; Rustchuk, 3,000; Shumla, 1,000; Sistov (Svitchov), 135; Silistria, 280; Slivno, 225; Samakoff, 1,350; Stanimaka, 140; Sofia, 8,000; Stara-Zagora, 520; Tchirpan, 200; Tozztrakan, 50; Varna, 1,050; Widdin, 1,950; Wratza, 75; Yambol, 1,010. Total, 29,860.
- Jireçek, Das Fürstenthum Bulgarien, Leipsic, Vienna, 1880;
- Bianconi, Géographie Commerciale de la Thrace, Paris;
- Bulletins of the Alliance Israélite Universelle;
- Schwarzfeld, in Anuarul Pentrul Israelitzi, 1888;
- M. Franco, Histoire des Israélite.
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L. Herber [Murray Bookchin]
The Problem of Chemicals In Food;
Within the past few decades, tremendous quantities of chemicals have been introduced into the cultivation and processing of food products in the United States. The annual production of bread alone is estimated to involve the addition of about 10,000,000 pounds of chemical emulsifiers by thousands of bakers throughout the country. During the six-year period since the end of the war, at least 700 to 800 chemicals have been discovered for use in American food products. These substances cover nearly every aspect of production: from fertilizers and pesticides to substitutes for organic nutrients, preservatives, flavouring and colouring matter, and a legion of processing agents. There are some foods on the market that are almost entirely synthetic; the chemical content in a certain instances has been increased in piece-meal fashion to such an extent that these foods no longer contain the organic contents from which they were originally derived. This is the ad absurdum of chemicals in food; a natural product is converted by the continual addition of chemical materials into a synthetic or near-synthetic product. Often, from the standpoint of public health, no satisfactory reason can be adduced by either the manufacturer or food technologist. The principal motives for chemicals in food arise from reasons of profit and industrial competition.
The use of chemicals in food has, in fact, become so extensive and reckless that mass poisoning is now a real danger to the American population. Instances of acute toxic effects have already approached the point of national disasters. In one case, a marketed drug, Elixir of Sulphanilamide, killed over a hundred people before it was tracked down by governmental agencies. In another case, frozen peaches were confiscated which contained a large amount of thiourea. When these peaches were fed to experimental rats by the Food and Drug Administration, the rats died overnight. Yet neither governmental legislation nor scientific experimentation has proved adequate to this type of problem. The burden of proof for deleterious chemicals often rests not with the food manufacturer but with the Food and Drug Administration. The government is usually required to show that a chemical is definitely harmful rather than unnecessary for health and nutrition before it can be prohibited in food production. Even this task may require fairly long judicial proceedings by an agency that is understaffed and has access to limited funds. Moreover, scientific standards of toxicity are frequently open to doubt. Agene, for example, was used for decades in bleaching flour. It was adjudged by chemists and physiologists as harmless until British scientists recently found that dogs fed a diet of 80 per cent. white bread acquired running fits. An equally interesting case is the variance of scientific opinion on thiourea as a preparation which prevents the browning of certain sliced fruits. As late as 1943 this chemical was described as harmless to man. Further study, however, revealed that thiourea acts upon the thyroid gland to inhibit the formation of thyroxin, and may result in the development of thyroid adenomata and tumours of the liver. Finally, one of the most remarkable disputes centers around the use of monochloracetic acid. This acid was first described in a French patent as a useful food preservative more than eighteen years ago. After extensive pharmacologic tests, the use of monochloracetic acid was regarded as harmless even in continued daily ingestion by infants. Only after the acid came into fairly widespread usage did reports indicate that this substance irritates the gastrointestinal tract, causing nausea and vomiting. Yet Dr. Franklin C. Bing, an eminent authority on nutrition and food chemistry, testified that one of the food scientists who originally characterized monochloracetic acid as harmless to human beings, still holds that monochloracetic acid is perfectly harmless and ought to be used. Dr. Bing recounts the story of a food manufacturer who wanted to submit a product for consideration by our council [American Medical Association]. He had a little monochloracetic acid in his product as a preservative, and my duty as secretary of the council was to ask him what evidence he had as to its harmlessness, and he brought that in, and I told him I did not think that the council would accept it, and the council did not. And I remember vividly getting a couple of telephone calls from outstanding pharmacologists of this country saying that they thought we were wrong in not giving approval to that particular product.
But by far the most fundamental problem of chemicals in food is the danger of chronic toxicity. Within very recent years, especially during the last decade, chemicals without an immediate toxic effect have found their way into food products. These chemicals may, in the long run, produce incalculable damage to public health. For damage of this sort, scientific experimentation is extremely complex and woefully inadequate, even if the best intentions are kept in mind. Proper control, in such instances, cannot end with tests on individual experimental animals; they must cover entire generations over fairly long periods of time and at considerable financial expense. More must be learned of animal physiology than is to-day even faintly suspected by the most eminent biologists in the United States. I have spoken to students many times about the newer knowledge of nutrition, declared Dr. Bing in his testimony to the House Select Committee to Investigate the Use of Chemicals in Food Products (U.S. Congress), and I use the term somewhat glibly, but in the final analysis, I think I would have to admit that we know very little compared to what remains to be found out.
Some of the things that we do know are that the body has mechanisms by which it can handle substances commonly or naturally found in food materials, and it may have some difficulty in handling substances which are not naturally found in foods, even though they differ only slightly in chemical configuration. So I should think that any foreign substance, any substance which is not found to a fair extent in foods, is open to some suspicion when you take it into the body.
In the meantime, the use of chemicals in food tested, for the most part, only for acute toxicity, and this often with extreme superficiality has increased by leaps and bounds. Dr. Bing observes: You can pick up almost any issue of the technical magazines which come to the attention of the chemists in the food industries, and find some little advertisement in them about new emulsifying agents, or something that is a plasticizer, or food improver, as they sometimes call them. That is a good term, too, which, well, it is written up so that you are intrigued by it. And it seems that just as human beings like to take a pill to relieve their illnesses or their lack of sense of well-being, so it seems to be typical of a man in the food industry when something comes along, some problem in technology, he likes to have chemical aids to solve it. That seems to be inherent in human nature, perhaps. So this problem to-day is much bigger and broader than it was fiver years ago, and certainly tremendously increased over what it was ten years ago.
Chemical Fertilizers in Agriculture
The danger of chronic toxicity, to-day, arises at a fairly remote point from the industrial processor and consumer. It beings in agriculture and cattle-breeding, with a vast array of fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, fruit colouring matter, hormones and growth stimuli. These chemicals (some of which are little understood by industrial chemists, still less by physiologists) are allowed to enter into great natural cycles whose ramifications touch upon the processes of life itself. Since natural processes are intricately tied together, an isolated view of the effect that any single chemical has upon life and nature is scarcely a basis for knowing how several of these chemicals will react together. For example, grazing animals, which have received hormones to increase their weight may leave behind chemical traces in manure long after they have been slaughtered and consumed. How the soil, as well as the public, is affected is little known. If, as often happens, the same area of land is treated with chemical fertilizers and sprayed with insecticides, these substances may very well combine to produce a totally unpredictable effect. The dangers inherent in this problem cannot be overestimated. Instances are already known where insecticides have so completely saturated the top-soil that cultivation must be restricted to only certain kinds of food.
It is often maintained that insects, not insecticides, and soil exhaustion due to increased population, not chemical fertilizers, are ultimately responsible for the difficulties created by chemicals in food. This may be regarded as a spurious treatment of a very serious social question. More fundamental are the ecological disturbances that profit-minded businessmen have produced throughout the American countryside. For decades, lumber companies and railroads were permitted a free-hand in destroying valuable forest lands and wild life. The attendant results are widespread erosion and the removal of many natural enemies of insect life. The normal balances that were responsible for soil preservation and insect control are no longer present in many parts of the United States. At the same time that irreplaceable top-soil is washed into the rivers of the country, it is accompanied by industrial wastes that probably abet the multiplication of insects and diseases detrimental to crops.
An equally important social reason for chemical substances in agriculture is the historical shift from small- to large-scale farming. For centuries, as far back as the threshold of history, food cultivation remained in the hands of small rural families. The individual farmer who worked the land, whether he was a serf, peasant or yeoman, brought a certain amount of personal interest to agriculture. The care of crops usually fell within the horizon of an individual, who felt himself more implicated in the quality of agricultural food than large-scale absentee land-owners. Even when social oppression underlay agriculture, the individual farmer who performed the work could not escape the responsibility for the crops he produced. Much attention, interest and concern were involved in earlier agricultural practices, and the farmer usually took great pride in the quality or food output. Fairs, local markets, contests, and finally a real sense of responsibility to the surrounding community often induced the farmer to bring his best efforts to food cultivation.
Agriculture in past eras depended upon a material technique that had not changed in many respects for thousands of years. Labour was arduous and famine remained a continual threat. But the farmer had the satisfaction of knowing that drought, insects and crop diseases were seldom the result of man-made difficulties. Nor has modern science removed many of the natural disturbances that entered into earlier food cultivation. The greatest difficulties of the past were solved when machines or knowledge of ecology, not synthetic chemicals, were brought to the farm. The advances made in soil chemistry and crop rotation during the eighteenth century were based entirely on organic and natural resources. Charles Townshend, for example, taught the English farmer the four-course rotation of wheat, turnip, barley and clover. Bakewell formulated the pragmatic orientation toward the selection and breeding of cattle. There is no better description of the agricultural advances of the eighteenth than the world husbandry. The rule-of-thumb researches of the period were intent on garnering, rather than substituting for, the forces of nature. The conquest of nature meant a rational use of natural resources, not a disruption of the biological processes around man.
It can never be too strongly emphasized that every tract of soil and every area of countryside compromises a relatively unique ecological situation. Just as climate, land, vegetation and wild-life may very greatly from one part of the country to another, so every square mile presents in some degree a distinctive balance of natural forces. Food cultivation by man, which must be regarded as a form of botanical domestication imposed on what was originally virgin and wild land, always threatens to upset this balance. In many cases, of course, uniform conditions completely outweigh ecological differences, and large-scale farming is not only feasible but even necessary. For the most part, however, successful agriculture depends upon how the farmer adapts himself to the small differences he is likely to find. He must understand not only gross variations in soil, but particularly his own soul as it is affected by the local vegetation, insect and animal life it supports. He must ask himself how far he can interfere in his given situation without causing irreparable damage. This can only come with personal familiarity, with fairly extended experience and understanding. The farmer must bring not only insight to the specific characteristics of his land, but also sympathy, interest, and a socially-responsible attitude.
With the shift to large-scale farming, the emphasis of agriculture changed from the quality to the quantity of food cultivation. This meant that the land was to be exploited like any other resource under capitalism in a drastic and one-sided manner. The success of large-scale, quantitative farming depended upon a uniformity of resources, and average in the agricultural situation. Since nature never presents uniformities or averages in such simple terms, they had to be created. To a large degree this task devolved upon chemicals. Thus fertilizers were used to compensate for differences in soil; chemical hormones were employed to standardize the size of crops; and growth stimuli were discovered to replace the results of variations in climate. The most elementary lessons of mans relationships to the soil and nature have since been abandoned for synthesis for artificiality not only in agriculture but also in nature. In short, husbandry has been replaced by chemistry.
But just as capitalist farming has created an average agriculture, so it has created an average farm worker. Wherever the farmer has been dispossessed by huge corporate growers, he has also been replaced by rural labourers who view the intimate problems of crop management with complete indifference. On large estates to-day, farmers often include aviators who spray insecticides, tractor drivers and sales agents; not to mention harvesters who never sow and sowers who never harvest. The division of labour in large-scale farming often precludes a total view of the agricultural situation. Even the agricultural technician, who can provide an over-all view, must change his orientation to meet the needs of average farming. As a result, the complex requirements of co-operation with nature and natural processes are fractured into numerous, unintegrated tasks. Management is often supplied at least in motivation from remote heights above, by business interests which include little appreciation for the problems of the soil. Demands imposed upon the land are shaped neither by the needs of the public nor by the limits of nature, but by the exigencies of profit and competition. All the gaps in the picture from the variations of the land to the indifference of farm labourers are filled by chemicals.
Fertilization by organic and inorganic (chemical) fertilizers plays a decisive part in altering various soils for average farming. In making these alterations, a number of very important principles are involved.
Under natural conditions, the fertilization of land by organic materials is a process in the course of which complex substances are broken down into simpler plant nutrients. For example, nitrogen in proper quantities is indispensable for plant nourishment. Ordinarily, this element is provided through the well-known nitrogen cycle. When proteins decay, they are eventually reduced to carbon dioxide, water, ammonia, and free nitrogen. Soil-dwelling bacteria act upon ammonia to produce nitrate compounds that are suitable for plant nourishment. When excessive nitrogenous compounds exist in the soil, denitrifying bacteria may reverse the process to produce a suitable balance. Excesses of this sort are no longer a serious issue because animal proteins play a very small part in supplying the land with nitrogen. Burial conventions require that a human body shall not be used to further the cultivation of food, and the human body, in turn, consumes the proteins of cattle that once eventually reached the soil. But other means exist. Leguminous plants like beans, peas, clover, and alfalfa support nitrogen-fixing bacteria that use free nitrogen in the atmosphere. Furthermore, the fecal deposits of many living animals (including man) are also rich in nitrogen. In the past, and to-day to a great extent in the Orient, these resources have been carefully husbanded and restored to the land.
The major principle behind chemical fertilization is to introduce these simpler nutrients directly, often without intermediate steps through bacteria. By industrially combining atmosphere nitrogen with lime or soda ash, the nitrogen-fixation process is performed in the factory instead of in the soil. Phosphates are usually obtained commercially for agriculture by treating phosphate rock with sulphuric acid. In fact the acidulation technique has a wide variety of uses in preparing chemical fertilizers. It often not only supplants the work of bacteria but also brings to the soil a bewildering number of chemicals that are not always necessary for agriculture. The added chemicals often play no role whatever in soil fertility. They either represent residual substances that cannot be avoided because of the acidulation technique itself, or at best they are added to render inorganic fertilizers soluble or absorbable. Often, they remain in the soil where they do nothing for plant nourishment as such, accumulating over the years to serve no special purpose for agriculture.
Do these new accretions harm the soil? Do they play any role in human health? Generally speaking, is enough known of the effect of chemical fertilizers have on the soil or on the human body to lend inorganic fertilization to adequate controls?
Behind each of these questions are even more obscure problems.
During the hearings of the Select House Committee, for example, Mr. J. I. Rodale of the Soil and Health Foundation suggested the complexities that are introduced by inorganic fertilizers as part of his objections to such fertilizers. In some cases they (chemical fertilizers) are caustic. They actually have a burning quality that will kill bacteria. In other cases they are too soluble. It is as if an individual were forced to eat when he were not hungry. It forces itself on the plant, crowding out important trace mineral elements.
The most important reason why some chemical fertilizers are harmful, continued Rodale, is because they contain more than one element. The one element that they need to feed the plant in order to make it soluble is tied in with some other element which gives it that solubility and which is there practically only for that purpose.
An example is a very common fertilizer called superphosphate. What they are after is to feed the plant phosphate. But is it mixed with sulphuric acid to give it that solubility. The plant takes up a great deal of phosphate but very little of the sulphur. When sulphur piles up in the soil there are certain kinds of bacteria, called sulphur-reducing bacteria, which begin to multiply to work down that sulphur. As they work they have to feed. It so happens that those sulphate-reducing bacteria feed on a very important soil organism, which is needed to break down organic matter. Therefore when you have a lot of sulphur piling up in the soil there are bacteria multiplying which are killing off certain organisms which the farmer needs to break down organic matter. This problem, which was first introduced because of the acidulation technique, reaches even further back. When you grow a crop of anything, concludes Rodale, that root that remains in the soil must break down for the next crop. The roots are very valuable. The roots of the preceding crops give nourishment to the next. If the soil does not contain enough of this breakdown bacteria it will not be able to furnish the food in time for the next crop.
Rodales testimony may be regarded as a very unorthodox view in the United States. It was opposed at the hearings by a battery of experts who vehemently argued for chemical fertilizers, judiciously mixed with organic substances. Although the experts freely acknowledged that organics keep the soil friable, easy to work and permeable to water, they pointed up transport difficulties and, in fact, the entire arrangement of modern society as objections to supplying the land with enough organic materials for agriculture. It is neither economically feasible nor physically possible to rely upon organic manures exclusively in our present-day agriculture, observed Dr. Richard Bradfield of Cornell University, who particularly tried to place inorganic fertilizers in perspective from the specialists standpoint. Organic gardeners make a great deal of what they call the law of returns, by which they mean the return to the soil of all the elements which the crop removes from it. Such a system is feasible in a primitive, sparsely populated area in which practically the entire population is engaged in farming, and in which there is a high proportion of the population which can collect and transport city wastes to the farms which feed the cities. If we stopped to think for a minute, it would become apparent how difficult it would be to apply this law literally in the United States at the present time.
In support of inorganic fertilizers, Bradfield insisted that such fertilizers supply elements in the same form that they are released by organic substances. In fact he found organic fertilizers of very limited value because the organic matter which is generally available for use on soils does not contain these elements in the proportions in which they are needed to give the best growth of crops on most soils. Now we may reserve the social problems raised by the exclusive use of organics for later discussion. But Bradfields unfavourable comparison of organic with inorganic fertilizers may be regarded as resting on entirely spurious premises.
Dr. A. F. Camp, Vice Director in charge of the University of Florida Citrus Experimental Station makes the observation that the difference between trees fertilized with organic fertilizers and those fertilized with chemical fertilizers lay primarily not in the field of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and calcium but in the lack of the so-called minor or secondary elements such as magnesium, manganese, copper, zinc, and boron which were present as impurities in the organic materials but not present in appreciable amounts in the chemical materials. Thus, in the case of bonemeal which was credited with containing only nitrogen, phosphorous, and calcium, it was found that one of the most important elements it supplied was magnesium which is universally deficient in Florida citrus soils and for which citrus trees have a very high requirement. Superphosphate contained only traces of magnesium and when substituted for bonemeal resulted in trees that were acutely deficient in magnesium. All of these so-called minor elements which are actually as necessary to the development of citrus as the so-called major elements were found as sizable impurities in the natural organic materials because, just as in citrus, they were necessary to the growth or development of the organisms from which these organic materials were derived.
Indeed, it hardly tells us much to criticize the efficacy or proportions of organic fertilizers that are generally available. What is available has a very restricted meaning in the lexicon of experts to-day. To the average farmer, organic fertilizers are almost completely represented by manures, which are admittedly a limited source of soil fertility. Even if we include the best composts in use to-day (and this being exceptionally generous) the term organic fertilizer, as it is currently employed, would ignore a wide range of potentially valuable substances which could be brought to the soil. Curiously enough, the experts carry the greatest responsibility for this situation. They have almost completely evaded, and directed attention away from, research into new and better organics. Indeed, the current emphasis on inorganic fertilizers in agricultural laboratories and projects has reduced organic substances to an indispensable but entirely ancillary position in food cultivation.
Bradfield went on to deny that valid evidence exists to show that crops grown with chemical fertilizer are more attractive and nutritious to insects and plant pathogens. This too will be discussed elsewhere. His denial, however, that evidence exists as to whether crops grown with chemical fertilizers are less nutritious to men than those grown with organic fertilizers is extremely questionable. Slowly and in the face of extreme hostility from the experts, a number of soil scientists and practical farmers are producing evidence that inorganic fertilizers may seriously reduce the quality of crops. The discussion is still being cast in a strictly adaptive framework, as part of a general reconciliation to the use of chemicals. It is widely accepted that the contemporary social scene renders the use of inorganics necessary and few are willing to abandon chemical fertilizers as such. But, as Dr. K. C. Beeson pointed out, Fertilization with large quantities of nitrogen can also result in some lowering of certain nutritive constituents in the plant. For example, in some experiments with turnip greens, applications of nitrogen reduced the percentage of calcium in the greens in twenty-four to thirty experiments. Fertilization with the ammonium salts of nitrogen has resulted in a reduction of vitamin C in plants, but fertilization with the nitrates under the same conditions did not affect vitamin C. The reasons for the difference are unknown.
Perhaps the most strongly emphasized point made by all the experts in favour of inorganic fertilizers is the conclusion that chemicals increase crop yield. The most important reason for the use of fertilizers, said Bradfield, is that they increase the yield of practically all crops on all but our most fertile soils. This point is so generally appreciated that detailed elaboration is unnecessary. Very well, then let us elaborate!
By leaning on poorly-evaluated experimental facts, the expert generally knows that the addition of certain chemicals to the soil can increase the size of crops. Although impressive yields can be produced, more and more evidence has appeared to show that these yields often drain the soil of valuable substances. Dr. William A. Albrecht of the University of Missouri astutely observed at the Hearings that a fertilizer balancing the supply of nutrients in the soil is merely a help to take all the other things out faster. So if you fertilize a soil with nitrogen, which is deficient, and grow a bigger crop, you merely have taken all the other things out faster and by virtue of that observation people will say, Oh, yes, fertilizers ruin your soil. Well, they have just helped you wear it out faster. That is all.
But is that all? We have built up the lime, the phosphorous, the potash, continues Albrecht, later in his testimony. Now we come along and shove under the nitrogen and that is very demonstrative for the first year or second year until we pull the other things down. We had the same thing with limestone. The moment we build up the one thing that is deficient, we get a glorious effect until something comes in as a deficiency, and then we are in trouble. . . . Lime is a necessity but like alone is not enough. Many years ago the farmer, who did not know any chemistry, gave us a very interesting jingle which is very true: Lime and lime without manure make father richer but son poorer.
A very find old truth, very fine, because when you lime, the calcium next to the hydrogen serves to push the other things out. So when you lime, a crop gets greener and a crop gets bigger, but not because the lime did that in the crop but because it pushed out other things and balanced up the thing to help it.
Before chemicals can replace organic substances without leading to disaster, more must be known of the factors which enter into soil composition, of the soil itself and finally of plant and animal nutrition; in short, of a stupendous natural process concerning which agronomists know surprisingly little. The soil, as Dr. Beeson has put it, is a highly complex dynamic system of minerals, inorganic chemical compounds, organic compounds, living organisms, air and water. Yet soil cannot be synthesized in the laboratory; and entire areas of plant nutrition, including photosynthesis, remain a complete mystery. In fact, as Beeson tells us, There is no known laboratory method or group of methods by which all the nutritive constituents in food can be measured and evaluated in terms of the nutrition of man or animals. Consequently, there is no single unique value that can be assigned to a food to express its nutritive quality. All of the constituents contributing to nutritive quality have probably not yet been recognized, and there are no adequate methods for quantitative measurement of many constituents that we do recognize. Therefore, no measurement of the over-all nutritive quality of a food has ever been made.
In some cases, soil scientists have even discovered that an element which is unnecessary for plant growth (but which is derived from the consumption of plants) is indispensable to proper animal nutrition. Soil deficiencies of cobalt, for example, have resulted in nutritional disturbances in cattle and sheep. Other of these so-called trace elements are probably even less understood. The point is that whereas the experts tend to break up, simplify and crudely manipulate the agricultural situation, supporters of organic farming usually predicate themselves on the complexity and far-reaching character of food cultivation. There is more than a difference in technique. It is a basic antagonism in outlooks toward natural phenomena. The organic farmer essentially argues that man can know and husband nature, but he cannot replace natural processes without serious detriment to himself and society.
Insects, Insecticides and the Human Bug
If the rejection of chemical fertilizers rests on the complexity and obscurity of the agricultural situation, there are very direct reasons for regarding other chemicals in agriculture as detrimental to human health. Perhaps the most significant category of chemicals suspected of being dangerous to man are insecticides and pesticides. The problem that these substances presents is very simple: All are poisonous to one or several forms of lower life. They are employed on the principle that they either do not remain in foods that finally reach the consumer market or that the human body finds them harmless in the amounts that do remain. Both principles are now open to grave doubts by physiologists and biochemists.
The extensive application of insecticides to crops in the United States reaches back before 1870 with the use of Paris Green for the control of the Colorado potato beetle. Afterwards, a number of extremely toxic chemicals came into use. Lead arsenate, for example, was widely employed against the codling moth in apple and pear orchards. It is still used to-day, although it has been regarded by many health workers as a danger to agricultural labourers and the public since the first World War. The use of insecticides has now grown to incredible dimensions. With the passage of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1947, about 16,000 brands of insecticide preparations have been registered with the government. These brands range from poisons absolutely deadly to man to very questionable hormone herbicides like 2, 4-D dichloro phenoxy acetic acid. One of the disturbing things about the recent advance in insecticides, in the discovery of new insecticides, said Dr. Dunbar to the Select Committee, has been that a great many very potent and valuable insecticides have been developed on which very little is known, either about their chronic or acute toxicity or about their fate after they are applied to food.
In many cases we do not know whether the insecticide after application is absorbed into the body of the food, whether it is destroyed on weathering, were even insecticides put out for which no chemical method of identification or analysis is known.
Many insecticides and pesticides are known in some way to affect higher animal organisms, including man. Hydrogen cyanide, a fumigant commonly used on grains and cereal foods, is described by a Food and Drug official as moderately to extremely poisonous; however, under normal conditions of use the fumigant volatilizes so that no significant [ ! L.H.] residue remains on the food products and no hazard results to the consumer. An exception [ ! L.H.] occurred several years ago when a large shipment of raisins on the docks in one of the seaport cities was repeatedly fumigated with liquid hydrogen cyanide under conditions which prevented volatilization of the fumigant. These raisins were distributed and resulted in numerous illnesses to consumers. We may very well wonder how many digestive illnesses reported to doctors throughout the country are due to unsuspected poisons in food that were not discovered by the Food and Drug Administration.
It is maintained by may experts, that when insecticides are produced from simple compounds they can be washed away and kept from directly affecting the public. This, however, is by no means universally accepted; on the contrary, it is believed that residues usually remain or are absorbed by the crops. According to Dr. Francis E. Ray, Director of the Cancer Research Laboratory (University of Florida), arsenic in the form of copper arsenate or lead arsenate is commonly used as an agricultural insecticide and fungicide. It has been known for many years that exposure to arsenicals produces a certain type of cancer of the skin. More recent evidence is that inhalation of arsenic dust and sprays may cause cancer of the lung. It is possible that other types of internal cancer may be caused by the long-continued ingestion of so-called non-toxic doses of arsenicals. It is suspected that the arsenicals used in growing tobacco contribute to the high incidence of lung cancer among heavy smokers. Arsenical sprays on tobacco and food should be prohibited.
Another simple chemical (indeed, an element) that has come into widespread use against insects is selenium. Experimental study by the Food and Drug Administration indicates that selenium and its compounds are highly toxic and are capable of producing insidious poisoning. When as little as three parts of selenium (in the form of selenized corn) was added to each million parts of the diet of rats, it produced liver disease (cirrhosis) in the majority of the animals within a year. Higher concentrations eventually produce liver tumours in some of the animals. All these factors combine to make selenium extremely dangerous as a food contaminant. Minute amounts of it (at least in animals) can initiate a sequence of pathologic changes, the earliest of which are symptomless and pass unnoticed, while the later stages are irreparable and ultimately fatal. These facts combined with our conviction that the use of selenium-containing sprays could be avoided, have been the basis of our reluctance to set any tolerance whatever for selenium residues on fruit.
In 1942, the Food and Drug Administration initiated a series of experiments and studies to ascertain the extent to which ordinary packing house washing removed selenium from oranges, and the degree to which this substance accumulated in the soil after repeated usage. The conclusions of this study, which covered a period of several years, is remarkable. Washing as ordinarily practiced removed little or none of the selenium, dryly observes a memorandum of the agency to the Select Committee. Soil in groves with a history of repeated spraying showed a selenium level ten or more times that of unsprayed groves, and the flesh of oranges grown on the soil showed the same selenium level as above, even though no spray had been applied to this crop. As of the hearings, however, the Food and Drug Administration has not been able to remove this substance from the market. Even State agencies, with whom the Administration discussed the insecticide on 17th January, 1950, were of the opinion that a selenium product was necessary under certain conditions to control mites.
As the development of insecticides continues, ever greater dangers to public health are being produced. Perhaps one of the gravest hazards arises from recent insecticides developed around hydrocarbons the organic insecticides like the chlorinated hydrocarbons (chlorinated camphene, etc.), the organic phosphates (parathion, etc.), and so on. Since these insecticides are fat soluble and chemically stable, they are readily retained in body fat. The human body can acquire parathion, DDT and similar hydrocarbons from any number of vegetables, fruits, milk, and even the flesh of sprayed fowl and cattle. No limit has been agreed upon by the experts on how much of these substances can accumulate in the fat of the organism. Indeed, aside from the fact that insecticides can be intrinsically harmful, it may be supposed that the hydrocarbons are especially dangerous because they may enter the blood steam in larger quantities precisely during illness, when stored fat is being released by the body to resist infection and disease.
According to an article by W. A. Brittin, head of the food laboratory of the Beech-Nut Packing Co.: These organic insecticides reached the market for general use before adequate information was available on the acute or chronic toxicity of the chemicals involved
with the exception of one or two insecticides, methods of analysis were lacking which were specific for these various organic spray residues. When chlordane was introduced for use in agriculture, for example, one manufacturer described the insecticide as being half as toxic as DDT. Afterwards, the belief was expressed in sales literature that chlordane is among the safest of all available organic insecticides. According to Dr. Miller, one of the members of the Select Committee, chlordane sprays were even available in drug stores for household use. If we are to accept the opinion of Dr. Lehman of the Food and Drug Administration, however, the truth appears to be that chlordane is one of the most toxic insecticides we have to deal with
First of all, it penetrates the skin very readily. Therefore, anyone handling it could be poisoned. Or of it is used as a household spray, the potential hazard to living in these houses is quite great because of the ability of chlordane to penetrate the skin and because of the volatility of the insecticide and the possibility of poisoning by inhalation. More to the point is that it is very toxic to the liver and kidneys of an individual. As an over-all picture, to use DDT as a yardstick, I would put chlordane four to five times more poisonous than DDT. Yet at the time that the Food and Drug Administration conferred with a manufacturer of this substance, (23rd September, 1947) it was reported that 700,000 pounds of chlordane had been sold, and another company had sold approximately 300,000 pounds. When Lehman was asked if chlordane was employed extensively as an insecticide he replied that based on poundage it must have been quite widely used. Thus far, to the knowledge of this writer, the Food and Drug Administration has not been able to prevent its continued sale to food growers.
Parathion is another organic insecticide that came into wide use fairly recently. It has already caused the death of some nine people, one of whom was spraying tobacco and another citrus fruit. Although Dr. Lehman believes that this insecticide is quite safe for use and that no evidence exists to show it is harmful to consumers eating foods sprayed with parathion, he was obliged to make the following judgement: Parathion is a liquid. It penetrates the skin. It is very poisonous. Very small amounts will produce fatal poisoning. This order of opinion that a substance is very poisonous but no evidence exists to show that it will harm consumers when used on crops is often the most favourable response that can be elicited from governmental agencies like the Food and Drug Administration. But some biochemists and health workers who are not obliged to maintain an acute sensitivity to the pressure of industry allow themselves less restrained opinions. Dr. Franklin C. Bing, in conjunction with a committee on food and nutrition, has made the more sweeping observation that, Contrary to previous beliefs, it now seem likely that a substance which is poisonous to one form of life is very apt to be found to some degree toxic for other animals, including man.
This observation appears to have received its most striking confirmation with the use of DDT, an insecticide which for years was heralded as completely harmless to man and extremely effective against insects. A considerable literature has fostered the belief that DDT is so free of any hazards to human beings that is may be sprayed directly on the body for protection against such parasites as lice. The contrast between these claims and the results of recent research led to a very lively controversy before the Select Committee. Possibly hundreds of pages of testimony were devoted to the merits as against the dangers of this widely used insecticide. It is interesting to note that few experts were prepared to maintain that DDT is completely harmless; the dispute actually centred for the most part, on whether DDT, once regarded as without any hazard whatever, is to-day responsible for an epidemic of nervous and physical disorders!
This controversy reached its most acute point in the testimony of Dr. Morton S. Biskind, who has devoted himself to extensive research into the pathological symptoms of DDT poisoning. According to Dr. Biskind: The introduction for uncontrolled general use by the public of the insecticide DDT, or chlorophenothane, and the series of even more deadly substances that followed has no previous counterpart in history. Beyond question, no other substance known to man was ever before developed so rapidly and spread indiscriminately over so large a portion of the earth in so short a time. This is the more surprising as, at the time DDT was released for public use, a large amount of data was already available in the medical literature showing that this agent was extremely toxic for many different species of animals, that it was cumulatively stored in the body fat and that it appeared in the milk. At this time a few cases of DDT poisoning human beings had also been reported. These observations were almost completely ignored or misinterpreted
DDT is as lethal in repeated small doses as in larger single doses. In low-grade chronic poisoning in animals, growth is impaired, and the implication of this observation for the growth of children should be given serious consideration. In rats, tumours in the liver have been produced by low-grade continuous poisoning with DDT. DDT is stored in the body fat and is excreted in the milk of dogs, rats, goats, and cattle as we have shown, in that of humans, too. Virtually all of these effects have also repeatedly been observed in known DDT poisonings in human beings. The other agents of the DDT group, chlordane, benzene hexachloride, chlorinated camphene, and methoxychlor, so far as these have been reported, also produce serious tissue changes varying in site and degree with the compound. Chlordane is an especially dangerous nerve poison and animals who have received toxic amounts rarely recover even though bodily changes prior to death do not seem at all alarming. Fortunately in my own limited experience with chlordane poisoning in man, I can report that with stringent avoidance of further exposure and intensive nutritional therapy to help repair the tissue damage, recovery does occur, though this may not be complete. Benzene hexachloride changes the chromosomes of plants and probably, too, those of animals. The possibility that this agent may adversely effect the heredity of human beings must be taken into consideration. Already in one report from Europe, seedlings treated with benzene hexachloride were so altered in their heredity that it was suggested that nondegenerated stocks be used for seed subsequently
We are dealing with double-edged swords, for the very substances now promoted to increase the size of our crops in the long run turn out to be detrimental to agriculture itself. All these substances and the fantastically toxic parathion, too, inhibit the growth of certain plants, and compounds of the DDT group also persistently poison the soil, so far as present evidence goes, for five or six years and possibly indefinitely.
In the course of his testimony, Dr. Biskind carefully elaborated the symptomology of DDT poisoning. A comparison of these symptoms with alleged virus epidemics in many American communities has suggested to him that many of these epidemics may actually result from mass DDT poisoning. Biskinds experience with individual patients suggests that this belief is by no means as reckless as it first appears. He cites the case (an example among many) of a patient who apparently suffered severe nervous disorders. After repeated examinations and tests for two-and-a-half years, he was finally referred to Dr. Biskind for treatment. When I saw this patient, observes Dr. Biskind, he had an enlarged tender liver, sings of nutritional impairment, reduced ability to feel vibration in his legs and a reduction in his pulse pressure. Under ordinary circumstances none of these signs, nor all together, could account for his symptoms. When he was advised to give up his job as seek less toxic employment, to remove all traces of DDT and chlordane from his environment, was given nutritional therapy to alleviate the liver damage and put on a diet low in insecticide residues, he showed prompt improvement within a week. Four months later he was almost free of symptoms. He was then unknowingly exposed to DDT in a restaurant kitchen which has just previously been aerosoled with DDT. Within half-an-hour the entire syndrome returned and required more than a week to subside. It may be noted that Dr. Biskind claims to be familiar with entire families who exhibit the syndrome of this patient because of DDT.
Experimental evidence favourable to DDT ordinarily rests on situations where a group of people are voluntarily exposed to a few repeatedly large doses of the insecticide. Since no acute pathological findings are reported by these experiments, it is assumed that DDT is harmless to human beings except in cases of individual sensitivity. Thus the tendency is to regard all admitted cases of DDT poisoning as exceptional, where an individual rather than a public reaction is at stake. This approach is slowly being reversed by a number of researchers. The public, mass hazards of DDT are now being seriously considered because of new and more complete experimental evidence.
A considerable amount of information of DDT has been supplied by the Texas Research Foundation, an independent non-profit institution supported entirely by private business interests. According to Mr. John M. Dendy, head of the analytical division of the foundation:
1. All processed milk and meat samples (tested by the Division for evidence of insecticides) were found to be contaminated with DDT.
2. The degree of contamination ranged from 3.10 parts per million of DDT in lean meat to 68.55 parts per million in fat meat. In milk the contamination ranged from less than 0.5 parts of DDT per million in 13.83 parts per million.
3. Both corn and sunflowers sprayed with insecticides were found to absorb the chlorinated hydrocarbons in unchanged form.
4. The rate of absorption was found to be cumulative, the degree of contamination increasing with each spraying. The extent of absorption in corn ranged from zero parts per million where there was no spraying to 8.11 parts per million after two sprayings with insecticide. Contamination of the sunflowers ranged from zero for no spraying to 3.72 parts of insecticide per million after one spraying and 7.40 parts per million after two sprayings.
Mr. Dendy concludes as follows:
one of these insecticides [a reference to several organic insecticides tested by the Division, including DDT], when sprayed on a crop such as corn is absorbed by the corn. The dairy cow or beef cow which feeds on the corn in turn absorbs a portion of the chemical in its fat, and the insecticide is passed on to the human being who consumes milk or beef from the animal. In experiments in the laboratories of A. J. Lehman, M. I. Smith, and H. J. Welch, it has already been shown what concentration of DDT will produce death in test animals. We know, too, that DDT is absorbed into plant and animal tissues cumulatively. Therefore, we can only conclude that the continued indiscriminate use of DDT and other chlorine hydrocarbons holds an ever-increasing hazard to the public health. Later in his testimony, Mr. Dendy points out that, Milk containing small concentrations of DDT has been found by most of the investigators in the field. Even though the intake is small, the fatty accumulation in the tissues as the result is magnified as high as thirty-four times the original intake. In other words, with a diet of ten parts per million you could expect, in some instances, 340 parts per million in the fat. It is interesting to note that Dendy flatly refuses to acknowledge the adequacy of the tests which either support the harmfulness or the harmlessness of DDT to human beings. As I see it, in this particular field, he observes, we exposed almost everything to the indoctrination of DDT. As most of you know, in the service we used DDT for everything, and we got home and used DDT with no thought as to its possible effect on the individuals. Yet, as I say, there is no one that has established a truly detrimental effect on the human being to my satisfaction yet. There has been no elaborate human test made yet. Someone has to authorize, delegate and carry on such experiment, to ascertain whether or not all this wealth of information is going in the wrong direction. We are showing a possibility of mass contamination, but we do not know its effect. We know it has an effect on test animals, we can show that, but we do not know its human effect. Perhaps we have misunderstood Mr. Dendy, but this is the same acme of the positivist method: animals are known to respond adversely, but since no test has been made on man, Dendy is not satisfied that DDT is detrimental to human beings! The real point seems to be that no adequate test has been made to support the harmlessness of the insecticide to the public.
In the meantime, DDT is ubiquitous. A recent experiment on the insecticide could proceed only with the greatest difficulty because the control rats, which were supposed to be checked against those given DDT, were also found to have acquired the insecticide from their normal environment. Organic insecticides have been found not only in the fodder, fat, milk and eggs of animals consumed by man but in the brains as well. The dangers of DDT to public health have been echoed in the reports of Dr. Lehman, who acknowledges under questioning by the Select Committee that the potential hazard of DDT has been underestimated
But few remarks sum up the meaning of DDT to the public health more vividly than the following quotation from a British food journal (cited by Dr. Biskind):
Atomic bombs and DDT will be regarded by many as the two most notable scientific developments of the war. They have now been brought together in a more direct and scientific sense by recent British research carried out by the Pest Infestation Laboratory. Radioactive isotopes produced as the Harwell Atomic Pile have been used to study the biological movement of DDT residues
After reporting that an insecticide almost identical to DDT has been found in the gizzard, the liver and the kidney, the tissues of the heart and brain, and the sciatic nerve fibre of test hens, the quotation concludes: These new results give strong confirmation for the view that DDT is a hazardous contaminant of animal and human foodstuffs. Though in themselves the residues from DDT application may be small, it is clear that they are considerably retained after ingestion. Toxic effects of a harmful if not lethal nature could arise from the cumulative absorption of DDT residues.
Actually, the coupling of atomic bombs with organic insecticides as the most noted scientific developments of the war is not a helpful amalgam. Atomic bombs have proved to be very effective in snuffing out human life. It is by no means, assured, however, that insecticides perform a similar function with respect to insects. If we are to accept a number of very remarkable facts brought out before the Select Committee, it would appear that not only do insecticides often fail to provide a long range solution against insects, but they may even result in the widespread appearance of new pests. It is ironic but apparently true that the use of many insecticides leads to the development of resistant varieties of insects, while producing new pests by destroying their natural enemies. The New York Times last April (1950), claims Dr. Biskind, carried items indicating that because the wheat crop was threatened by green bugs and red spiders, more than 200,000 acres has been sprayed with parathion by airplane. What was omitted from the news dispatch was that the crop was threatened only because prior use of DDT had killed off the normal predators of these two resistant insects, permitting them to flourish uncontrolled. Apparently the remedy for too much poison is still more. A similar situation has been reported by leading entomologists like Dr. Charles E. Palm of Cornell University. As far as the same number of insects, declares Dr. Palm, we probably has most of them before, but we have cases in our own experience where we have some minor pests that have become of major importance I say possibly through the use of insecticides, I think of the red-banded leaf roller on fruit. It was always a minor problem, and as long as we used lead arsenate for control of the codling moth, it was no particular problem to the commercial fruit grower. But there is the possibility that DDT has reduced the parasites of the red-banded leaf roller as a problem that we have to contend with because we still have to control the codling moth with DDT. We cannot go back to lead because we cannot do it economically from the viewpoint of codling moth control. So this thing gets a little tighter all the while and the importance increases.
This type of problem has become so acute in recent years that there is a tendency for experts to juggle the effectiveness of an insecticide against the natural predators of other pests which may also be destroyed. Dr. V. B. Wigglesworth, of the Agricultural Research Council in Cambridge, England, was obliged to suggest that an insecticide which kills 50 per cent. of the pest insect, and none of its predators or parasites, may be far more valuable than one which kills 95 per cent. of the pests, but at the same time eliminates its natural enemies. Perhaps this is where the future of chemical insecticides lies, not as a substitute for, but as a complement, to the more subtle and more remunerative methods of biology. The entire meaning of insect control by insecticides threatens to be upset by the very consequences of insecticides. In an article, appropriately called The Philosophy of Orchard Control, A. D. Pickett of the Dominion Entomological Laboratory in Nova Scotia writes that when a chemical is used for some specific purpose, such as the control of a fungus disease, it may increase the survival potential of one or more pests which were unimportant before the spray was applied. An example of this is the increase in population of oyster shell scale and European red mite following applications of elemental sulphur.
The British have tried to show some moderation in the use of insecticides; the Americans, however, work on the principle that the bug must be bludgeoned
or else! The difference in national attitudes reflects itself in the fact that while British experts are thinking of reducing insecticides and, in some measure, getting nature to work with them, the American experts continually increase the dose of an insecticide as the pest grows more and more resistant, until complete resistance has been achieved. At the same time, the increased dosage adds to the contamination of food and tends to complete the destruction of natural enemies, including not only other insects which are helpful to man but also wild life and birds.
Insects, to-day, destroy more than $4,000,000,000 worth of crops a year. The problem of controlling them, as Dr. Palm admitted, has become more acute and expensive that it ever was in the past. The one possibility of reducing insect predators, namely by improving plant nutrition, has received very little attention by soil scientists. Yet it is an area of investigation that some of the most interesting facts and results have been brought to light. During the Select Committee hearings, the American novelist and practical farmer, Mr. Louis Bromfield, frankly stated his belief that the increasing attack by insects and diseases upon our agriculture and horticulture has arisen largely through poor and greedy agricultural methods, through the steady deterioration of soils and the steady loss of organic material with which nitrogen is closely affiliated, and the increasing unavailability of the natural elements though the loss and destruction of soil structures and content. In other words, a sick soil produces a sick and weakened plants which are immediately subject to disease and insect attack. In properly managed soils the necessity for using poisonous preparations injurious to animals and people is greatly diminished and in many cases disappears altogether. The general deterioration of most soils in the United States since the first plough entered them is closely related to the increasing attack of disease and insects and the consequent short-cut use of poisonous dusts and sprays later consumed by humans. Falling back on his extensive experience in farming, Bromfield went on to say: I myself farmed and gardened in France, on land that has been in use for 1,200 years, for seventeen years without every using a dust or spray. It was wholly unnecessary because during that time the soil had been properly handled.
According to Mr. Bromfield, the University of Missouri has found that sufficient amounts of the element nitrogen will control the attack of chinch bugs on corn. They found that corn not suffering from nitrogen starvation was simply not attacked by the pests. Similar experiences have been obtained in related to the attack of the green bug on wheat in Kansas. The green bug, observed Mr. Bromfield, does not start on one side of the of the field and work his way across. They always go to work on the yellowish spot in the field and they work out in a circle. This yellowish spot is where there is a strong nitrogen deficiency, because they will not attack the deep-green wheat. Bromfields remarks are a matter of record in the scientific journals and have even received confirmation from workers in the field who still regard the use of insecticides as indispensable to agriculture.
A Note of Prime Hormones
Chemicals substances are not only introduced into the soil and sprayed on crops, but they are also injected on an ever-increasing scale into cattle and fowl. An extraordinary example was cited by Dr. Clive McCay. As you are aware, Dr. McCay told the committee, some producers of chickens are introducing under the skin into the neck of the chicken diethylstilbestrol. Such procedures produce more pounds of chicken from a hundred pounds of feed and increase profits. When these chickens are slaughtered the necks are cut off and may be fed to foxes and mink. Some of these farms have reported substantial failure in breeding. Now the question arises whether enough of this compound finds its way into the flesh to affect the person who consumes the chicken.
The same type of problem arises when meat-producing animals are fed compounds to injure the thyroid so that the basal metabolism of the pig or steer will be lowered and more meat will result from each pound of feed. Does enough of the compound fed the animal remain in the meat so that the consumer will be injured?
Despite a furious attempt by manufacturers of cattle hormones to prove the contrary, some of the most eminent endocrinologists in the United States no longer regard stilbestrol as a problem to be decided upon either favourably or unfavourably. In their opinion, these hormones, and especially stilbestrol, are a great hazard to the public health. According to Dr. Robert K. Enders, chairman of the Department of Zoology in Swarthmore College, it is against the public interest to permit its [stilbestrols] use and sale under present conditions. The supporters of the use of diethylstilbestrol, observes Enders, who experimented with the hormone for three years, always cite that the drug is used in medicine with inference that it is, therefore, harmless. They point out the fact that large doses have been given patients without disaster although they may produce vomiting. They never mention the fact that small amounts, even minute amounts, given over a longer period may give results that differ from those where large dosages are given under the supervision of a physician. Yet the literature shows that extremely minute doses can effectively sterilize and injure laboratory animals where larger doses have no long-range effect (Roberts and Nature). These small doses do not produce vomiting. Nor do the supporters quote a leading endocrinologist who says:
In women there is evidence that oestrogens are concerned in the etiology of mammary cancer. Not only does the clinical evidence point to such a conclusion, but now, with the lapse of time, cases are being reported in which cancer of the breast has followed prolonged treatment with oestrogens.
Supporters of the use of diethylstilbestrol always say that in properly treated fowl there is no residue or if there is it is discarded with the head or that there is no effect of the drug detectable on humans. Apparently the definition of what constitutes a properly treated fowl and fowl as they reach the market are far from the same thing. Having examined the heads of poultry that has been killed for market, I can assure the committee that a considerable number of chickens contained unabsorbed portions of pellets of the drug
What can and does happen is well illustrated by an examination of caponettes, as sold on the open market. An expert examined fifty heads from one well-regulated packing house. He found pellets in twenty-six of the heads. Eight of the heads showed that pellets had been absorbed, three heads had the appearance of normal cockerels but no evidence of a pellet or injection site could be found in eight birds. This means that in 16 per cent. of the chickens sold the site of implantation was in such a place that it was sold with the meat. Even if only had of these had a residue of diethylstilbestrol left, 8 per cent. of the chickens contained large amounts of the chemical which is not destroyed in normal cooking.
The reluctance of the trade to use animal charcoal to mix with the pellet to mark the site of the injection may be due to the fact that the site of injection may be included in the sale of the fowl.
Commenting on damage that stilbestrol can inflict, Dr. Enders warned that one two-hundredth of the dose, that is of a maximum dose, given regularly over a period of time will kill the (experimental) animal. Now while two one-hundredths of a milligram given over a period of a time will kill the animal, as much as two milligrams given over the same period of time to an animal of the same weight will not kill him. To me that can only mean one thing, that small doses are much more toxic than large doses. Enders observes that mink fed with stilbestrol were the poorest mink I have ever seen that were still breathing. That is, they lost their hair, they were fat and puffy, you could put your finger in the skin and dimple it and the skin would not come back, there were scales around the external orifices because something was wrong with the urine, and, as I say, the few survivors were the most miserable animals I have ever seen for animals that were still breathing. The testimony of Enders indicates that large enough doses of stilbestrol will stop ovulation in women, profoundly alter the blood picture in chickens and cause changes in the reproductive tracts of experimental animals fed on poultry waste shudders at this prospect. Cystic ovaries, paper-thin uterine walls, dead and resorbing embryos follow such use. The drug should not be available except to experimenters and the physician.
Dr. Carl G. Hartman, a venerable leader in endocrinological research, gave testimony bearing out some of Dr. Enders opinions before the Select Committee. Whenever you tamper with one gland you tamper with all the others, he warned. When the ovaries or the tests are removed, the physiological effect is profound in the organism. If you give too much thyroid, you injure the ovary or the testes. We have to think of the body as a whole, and when you have an excess of one hormone over another you get effects which reverberate with the entire organism. Hartmans testimony was centred around synthetic chemicals that have estrogenic effects, of which stilbestrol is the queen of them all. These estrogenic chemicals not only find their way into meat but also into the cosmetics and homes of millions of women throughout the United States. When Hartman was asked if the estrogenic chemicals destroy the fibrin and fibrinogin in the blood, he replied: I would not be able to say as to that, but I do know in the dog, for example, estrogen causes profound changes in the bone marrow where the red blood cells are made. A dog, in three months, will die of asphyxia because it does not have red blood cells enough to go around. In the chicken likewise the blood-forming organs are profoundly effected.
Although it is reported that the Canadian government plans to prohibit the use of stilbestrol in poultry, the use of this chemical has increased enormously in the United States over the past two years. The acceptance of the hormonized, or chemically treated birds, by the public has reached national proportions, reports Dr. Arthur D. Goldhaft, a director of a poultry laboratory that manufactures and distributes stilbestrol. The major markets in American report a substantial increase of sale of this type of poultry meat with an increasing demand for this product. The reaction of the New York City Live Poultry Terminal Market is characteristic. This market records a phenomenal gain in chemically treated birds in 1950; in fact, the hormonized birds have practically sounded the death knell of the legions of cross broilers that have been such a standby in the market for the past ten years. In the first ten months of 1950 they have gone from a low of 0.46 per cent. of total receipts less, turkeys, ducks, and geese in January to 25.77 per cent. in October.
We may, perhaps, compare these remarks with the reaction of Dr. Miler, a member of the Select Committee, to the report of Dr. Enders:
Dr. Miller. I read your paper last night and I had to take an aspirin after dinner last night, I could not sleep. It disturbed me for a while. It was disturbing to think what it may do to the human race.
Dr. Enders. That is what I say, the vegetarians may inherit the earth.
Dr. Enders expressed agreement with those endocrinologists who say that the use of the drug to fatten poultry is an economic fraud. Chicken feed is not saved; it is merely turned into fat instead of protein. Fat is abundant in the American diet so more is undesirable. Protein is what one wants from poultry. By their own admission it is the improvement in appearance and increase in fat that makes it more profitable to the poultryman to use the drug. This fat is of very doubtful value and is in no way the dietary equal to the protein that the consumer thinks he is paying for. The truth is that even more is involved. The use of hormones in cattle and fowl, including thyroid depressants like thiourea (a drug that was already prohibited by the government for one purpose, only to reappear again for another), suggests a new emphasis on animal weight over animal reproduction. Dr. Albrecht, noting the tendency to ignore the mineral quality of cattle feeds for the carbohydrate and fat content, remarks that the business of fattening cattle and pigs, more than reproducing and growing them, has been the much heralded agricultural success with livestock. In Missouri, the pig crop that goes to market is only 60 per cent. of that delivered by the sow in the litters of pigs at their birth. Dairy calves at weaning time are only 60 per cent. of the total conceptions. Diseases of the udder, of the reproductive organs, and others of the dairy cow so baffling to veterinary science as to call for legislation threatening to kill the very animals, are rampant.
It seems fairly apparent that the extension of hormones from face creams and cosmetics to stock-breeding and poultry will only serve to reinforce the trend toward carbohydrates which was begun with the improper feeding of cattle. The use of hormones in this connection is still relatively new. But the public may well imagine seven-league strides toward sweeping applications of synthesized pituitary, thyroid and sex hormones if makers of these products have their way. Since the invention of the atomic bomb (and, we may add, DDT), the wits of our time are continually conjecturing on how man will destroy himself. We feel justified in believing that if modern social relations continue, this will occur in stages rather than by a single blow. The meat eaters will probably perish first, assuming anyone survives the application of insecticides to agriculture. After the vegetarians take over, most of them will probably die from improvements in new and better insecticides. Those who survive will undoubtedly kill themselves with the atomic bomb and, finally, to complete irony by irony
the insects will inherit the earth.
Thus far we have examined the function and possibilities of chemicals in agriculture and stock-breeding. Now, we shall attempt to accompany our product sprayed by poisons and injected with hormones to the next great stage: the processing of food products for the market. Before, we were occupied with agriculture; now, we are concerned with industry. But since agriculture simply reflects industry to-day, since both are thus oriented toward quantity instead of quality, the reader will not be surprised to learn that the prevalence of commercial over nutritive ends originates in the processing of foods. In this connection, Dr. McCay assures us, we are guided by a great tradition. Since very early times, in the interests of making more profits, men have attempted to introduce chemicals into foods in order to make a cheaper product appear like a better one.
The Fate of Bread
In accord with great traditions, let us take the fate of bread. Ecclesiastical literature describes bread as the staff of life. So profoundly has the importance of bread been etched on human civilization that our great divines often contrast the body with the spirit by saying: Man does not live by bread alone. At the very least, this implies that man also cannot live without bread. The implication was true until fairly recently. It is now an open question whether the product which currently passes for bread in the United States is any longer the same food that inspired many earlier sermons, aspirations, dreams indeed, vast historical movements.
Bread traditionally was made from flour, yeast and salt, profoundly avers Dr. William B. Bradley of the American Institute of Baking, and that is what it is made from in most countries other than this one. These are memorable words. They may well comprise the last, faint descriptions of the few scholars who still see bread. Indeed, bread seems to be traveling on the road toward extinction, for in this country, at least, it is being made with the addition of many synthetic substances and chemicals.
Do these chemicals mark any improvement? Do they serve any beneficial function? Perhaps we may answer these questions by contrasting trends in the improvement of bread with the substances out of which many breads are now made in the United States.
We know what enters into traditional bread. Now a better, more nutritive bread is one to which has been added milk, eggs and or/butter. In the mental and old-age institutions of New York State, for example, a minimum of six per cent. fluid milk and two per cent. wheat germ is required for an acceptable bread. This bread, according to Dr. McCay, costs only a half-cent more than the worst. Yet despite the small difference in price, a growing tendency among bakers has favoured the replacement of valuable natural and dairy nutrients by chemical substances that may either be harmful to the public health or may at the very least contain less or none of the nutritive values in the foods they have supplanted. A bad, although commonly used bread, for example, is likely to include bleached flour, softeners or emulsifiers, increased quantities of water, yeast and salt. Dairy products will have been successfully removed.
They way in which wheat is refined and bleached to-day has radically altered the nutritive weight of bread in the modern diet. Research shows that a greater proportion of mineral richness in wheat is to be found in the outer layers of the berry. Yet it is usually this part that is removed for the baking of bread and cake, while the less valuable endosperm is retained. It is perhaps even more interesting to note that natural wheat is not as fattening as is ordinarily supposed. A pound of red winter wheat has about 1,471 calories. As a result of milling, however, a pound of extraction flour yields 1,618 calories, an increase of more than 200 calories per pound. For every eight pounds of white bread consumed, the caloric equivalent of a pound of natural wheat is unnecessarily added to the diet. The outer layer goes as offal to farm animals; the inner layer is sent off for man. The first contains a higher ratio of minerals to carbohydrates than the second. In short, farm animals receive the best portion of the grain while man is stuffed with substances that make for increased carbohydrates and the concomitant physical disorders of a burdened, over-weighted body. The bread industry in the United States has tended to become a modern Circe: turning men into swine in appearance if not in habits.
But the problem does not end at this point. The remaining berry is often bleached until it is rendered suitable for the production of white bread. To-day this may mean that the berry is subjected to oxides of nitrogen, chlorine, potassium bromate, bitrosyle chloride, benzoyl peroxide or any permitted combination of these chemicals. Are these chemicals harmful? Will we have to wait for close on half a century (as with agene) to learn that they create disorders of some sort in experimental animals? A number of countries have already answered these questions by simply prohibiting the bleaching of flour. Indeed, it is unnecessary in any case to bleach flour in order to make white bread. When flour is stored and permitted to age, it will turn white naturally. The use of chemical maturing agents arises principally because storage facilities are too expensive, insects have increased as a problem for stored foods generally and contemporary methods of distribution favour quick processing as against traditional techniques. Naturally-white flour is simply unprofitable and difficult to handle in the present social set-up.
Another development in bread is the introduction of emulsifying or softening agents. The typical method for determining whether bread is fresh or not is by feeling it, by playing the piano (as the industry puts it) on the bread rack in retail stores. Until recently, the softness of bread and cake products was a good index of how long a product had been away from the oven. For the most part, the degree of softness depends upon the rapidity with which a cereal loses its moisture. Surface-active materials like natural fats, lecithin in egg yolk, and some plant substances which are in themselves valuable to the body will retain air and moisture in grain foods and thus keep these products soft without necessarily keeping them fresh. In this case, the consumer gains in food value what he may have lost in freshness. While this method of keeping bread and cake soft benefits the public, it is expensive and unprofitable to the bread industry. Naturally, a way out of the horrible dilemma had to be found. Naturally.
During the thirties, enterprising researches discovered that chemical surface-active agents like the mono- and diglycerides and polyoxyethylene monostearates could achieve the desired end. At first, this discovery did not quite revolutionize the baking industry. At the time that emulsifiers were first put forward, observes Mr. George T. Carlin of Swift and Company, the bread-softness vogue had not become as pronounced as to-day and we never thought in terms of softness in 1937. In fact, we tried to patent their (emulsifiers) use as staling retarders but found our usage patent application had been anticipated by at least ten years. During the war, however, the emulsifier industry prepared an extensive sales campaign for the baking industry until the idea finally began to bear fruit.
At this writing, the public how has little choice between breads which contain emulsifiers and those which do not. According to G.F. Gauger of the Purity Baking Company, an estimated 75 per cent. of the bakers in the United States use emulsifiers in bread. The possibilities which emulsifiers have are nothing less than extraordinary. Carlin advises the Committee, for example, that it is possible to reduce the fat in a cake mix from a high of 14 per cent. to zero. The Swift Laboratories have made suitable mixes with 0 per cent. shortening content with the synthetic emulsifier. Not only could the fat content be manipulated at will but the reduction would make a cake that would be perhaps more appealing. Mr. Carlin adds that the egg content of a cake mix parallels the fat content. Fat makes a cake tender, eggs make it tough. In other words, the eggs, the coagulation of the eggs will offset the tendering influence of fat, so when you reduce fat, you may also simultaneously reduce the eggs.
Mr. Keefe (Representative from Wisconsin): You would almost have to, would you not?
Mr. Carlin: Unless you wished a tough, rubbery cake, you would.
If we are to accept the opinion of a number of food specialists, however, the principal danger of certain emulsifiers comes from the physical damage they have produced in experimental animals. Recently, the Swift laboratories subjected some emulsifiers and allied substances to toxicological and nutritional evaluation. The experiments centred on the effect which Myrj 45 and Sta-Soft (polyoxyethylene monostearate) have on rats, hamsters and rabbits. The results obtained were summarized by Dr. Edward Eagle as follows:
. . .Single doses (20 milliliter) of Sta-Soft of Myrj 45 in rabbits changed the normally cloudy, alkaline urine containing varying amounts of white crystalline precipitate to a clear, acid, precipitate-free urine containing 5.9 to 6.5 milligrams polyoxyethylene glycol per milliliter....
The rats fed Sta-Soft showed occult blood in the feces
the Sta-Soft rats showed no unusual gross pathology; microscopically, however, they manifested unusual gastric, lymphoid, renal, and testicular involvement.
The level used in these experiments were five, ten, fifteen and twenty-five times the amount recommended for use in break and cake. According to Dr. Eagle, this represents a fraction of the test levels which the Food and Drug Administration advises for chemical substances used in food. Furthermore, observes Dr. Eagle, the Food and Drug Administration states in writing, in scientific journals, that in order to prove the non-toxicity of any substance, it has to be fed to animals at a level of 5 per cent. with no harmful effects. These materials cannot be fed to animals at 5 per cent. with no harmful effects
There are some people who feed a small dose to a rat, for example, and say that since man, a 70-kilo man weighs 350 times as much as a 200-gram rat, then man can take 350 times as much as a rat can take. That is very poor reasoning.
The best example I think you can give for that is aspirin. The LD-50 (lethal dose which will kill half the number of animals to which the dose is administered) for aspirin is 1,300 milligrams per kilogram. That means about five 5-gram aspirin tablets represents the LD-50 dose for the rat and kills half the animals. If a man weighs 350 times the weight of that rat, then 350 times 5 aspirin tablets is 1,750 aspirin tablets, and no one would ever say that a man can take 1,750 aspirin tablets and survive
. If you can cause harm to any animal with anything, that material is not good for man, and that is the reasoning behind a good many of the discussions with Food and Drug people. Man is the most sensitive of animals at least, they regard him so so that any material which is toxic to a rat or a hamster or a rabbit is unsafe for man.
Independent experiments by Dr. B. S. Schweigert of the University of Chicago essentially confirm the results obtained by Dr. Eagle. Schweigert submits the following summary:
The effects of feeding 5 or 15 per cent. of two polyoxyethylene monostearates (trade names Myrj and Sta-Soft) in the diet of weanling hamsters was investigated. Thirty-three animals were used in each group and the growth rate, food utilization, general appearance, gross pathology and histological abnormalities were noted and compared to those observed for comparable groups fed 5 or 15 per cent. prime stead lard. The basal diet was designed to be adequate in all known nutrients. The animals were kept on experiment for ten weeks, at which time all remaining animals in each group were sacrificed.
A significant reduction in the rate of gain was observed for the groups fed either 5 or 15 per cent. Myrj or Sta-Soft as compared to the groups fed lard. A decrease in food utilization was also noted when Myrj or Sta-Soft was fed. Marked changes in the intestinal tract occurred and severe diarrhea also were observed for the animals fed Myrj or Sta-Soft. Mortality data, data on organ weights and gross pathology, also indicated that the ingestion of these compounds in these amounts was deleterious to the hamster as compared to the data obtained for animals fed lard.
Animals fed 5 or 15 per cent. Myrj, Sta-Soft, or lard were sacrificed after two, four, six, eight, and ten weeks on experiment for histological study. Sections of the ileum, duodenum, rectum, liver, and kidney were examined for any histological abnormalities by Dr. Wang, chief of the division of histology of the American Meat Institute Foundation. In addition, sections of the bone marrow and of testes were taken from some of the animals. Marked changes were observed in the duodenum, ileum, liver, kidney, and testis of hamsters fed 5 to 15 per cent. Myrj or Sta-Soft after two to ten weeks on experiment. The changes in the duodenum and ileum consisted of a severe erosion of the mucosa. Necrosis of the liver, decreased spermatogenetic activity of the testis, and tubular degeneration of the kidney were also observed.
A Food Miscellany
The fate of bread is only part of an entire industrial and profit-mad pattern. Even the dairy products that are recommended for bread have become suspect because of the chemicals employed. Butter, for example, was relatively pure food until recently. To-day it is common to dye this food a sickly-yellow colour. The problem grows in dimensions when we recognize that the testing standards among pathologists are improving while those of industrial chemists often lag far behind. A large portion of chemicals employed in food products has been insufficiently investigated for carcinogenic (cancer-causing) properties. They have been tested primarily for acute toxicity. Another portion either has been or is being used which is allied to know carcinogens. Still others are poisonous under some conditions and less toxic under other circumstances.
Butter yellow, notes a memorandum from the Food and Drug Administration, is a colouring matter that was used for a long time before it was discovered to be carcinogenic, at least in animals. It belongs to an entire class of chemicals known as the AZO compounds which have been found to produce cancer in mice. Oil orange E, another dye in general use, according to Dr. Francis E. Ray, Director of the Cancer Research Laboratory with the University of Florida, caused tumours in seven out of seventeen mice, fourteen months after the start of the experiment fourteen months is about half the life of a healthy mouse. An eighth mouse showed extensive liver damage. According to a list prepared by the Food and Drug Administration, over 800 chemicals have been used or are proposed for use in or on foods, or in such a manner as to constitute potential food contaminants. Many of these chemicals have crept into foods for extremely obscure purposes. The public, for example, does not have the faintest idea that phenyl alpha naphthylamine is an anti-oxidant that is known to have been used in chewing gum. Yet this chemical is regarded by the Food and Drug Administration as toxic and not suitable for food use generally. Some substances, like potassium iodide, are used as nutritive supplements in iodized salt. However, potassium iodide per se is a poisonous substance. Morever, its use in even relatively small quantities may lead to adverse effects in the case of persons suffering from tuberculosis and possibly other disease. Sometimes, a chemical like saccharic acid, which is considered to be harmless in pure form, is rendered toxic in commercial form because of impurities. Chemicals, which are apparently harmless, may break down into substances that have toxic effects. Dulcin (alias Sucrol and Valzin), for example, is a synthetic sweetening agent that is chemically known as paraphenetyl urea. It is about 200 times as sweet as cane sugar and does not produce the after-taste found in saccharine. According to Dr. A. J. Lehman, Director of the Division of Pharmacology of the Food and Drug Administration:
Although it has been available for over fifty years no investigation of its possible adverse affects when consumed daily in small amounts over a long period of time was made until a few years ago when the Food and Drug Administration studied the problem. Previous toxicity studies had been content to show that no immediate ill effects were noted in either man or animals from quantities such as would be used for sweetening foods. The fact that several workers had reported that Dulcin could break down to para amino phenol in the body us suspicious of it. Para amino phenol is also formed from acetanilid and is responsible for that drugs poisonous effect on the blood. Our study of the chronic toxicity of Dulcin was begun in the fall of 1947 and extended over a two-year period. It consisted of incorporating Dulcin or one of three other synthetic sweetening agents into the diet of rats and observing the effects on growth and survival throughout their lifetime. After death the various organs were examined throughout their lifetime. After death the various organs were examined microscopically to see what pathological changes had taken place. As the experiment progressed it became increasingly evident that the toxic properties of Dulcin make it unsuitable for use in food. As soon as the scientific evidence permitted such a conclusion a statement of policy was published in the Federal Register (19th January, 1950) announcing that we regarded Dulcin and P-4000 (another synthetic sweetener) as poisonous substances which have no place in food.
Dulcin, it may be noted, was used in food products for sufferers of diabetes mellitus. Anyone who is familiar with the characteristics of this disease may well know the extraordinary danger that toxins especially blood toxins present to diabetics. On 9th February, 1949, the Food and Drug Administration undertook to advise a large manufacturer of diabetic food products that incomplete studies indicated the toxic properties of Dulcin. After an exchange of letters and oral views that continued into September of the same year a representative of the Food and Drug Administration observed that we were somewhat surprised to learn that your company had continued to use Dulcin although fully aware of the fact that studies that were under way were indicative of the probably toxicity of Dulcin. The Company finally discontinued the use of this substance. The Food and Drug Administration, it may further be noted, also learned that Dulcin not only inhibits growth and affects the blood adversely, but that it also produces
While few companies, to-day, are prepated to make the protracted tests that finally revealed the toxic effects of Dulcin, the use of toxic, near toxic, probably toxic, and toxic but harmless chemicals (all of these categories are frequently established in food chemistry) can be multiplied almost indefinitely. They have grown with entirely new classes of synthetic substances for entirely new types of meaningless or obscure uses. Alkyl aryl sulfanates are wetting agents, the toxicity and side effects of which require careful study according to the Food and Drug Administration. But what, if you please, is a wetting agent? Is the public familiar with its function or its need? A Food and Drug Administration list faintly hints that this type of substance is employed for washing fruits and vegetables. Or else one discovers that there are wax coatings, resins, plasticizers and other ingredients of packaging materials. Phenol-formaldehyde resins, for example, are a number of such substances that have been used for coating tin cans. Some of these resins are explicitly regarded by the Food and Drug Administration as deleterious; others are believed to be relatively safe. The hazards to the consumer depend upon whether the material would be transferred to the foods with which it might come in contact either by direct solution or leaching, volatilization, abrasion, or other methods. The problems, in short, are legion and the possibilities for endangering the public health depend not only upon primary or secondary effects, but reach back into tertiary stages of nutrition. They grow with a one-sided over-complication of society, with a distortion of mans relationship to natural forces and his bodily needs.
Chemicals, Disease and Society
Within recent years, the rise of little known and even unknown infectious diseases, the increase of degenerative illnesses and, finally, the high incidence of cancer suggests come connection between the growing use of chemicals in food and human diseases. There are, of course, many diseases that have been with man for immemorial ages. Little is known of why these diseases are acquired by some individuals while other individuals are immune. Investigation is slowly (and all too slowly) moving toward the study of immunity, of resistance factors which depend partly upon heredity but also upon the level of nutrition. Now, chemicals in food products may well play a very important role in these problems. Much has to be learned of the primary, secondary and tertiary effects individual chemical substances, their derivatives and combinations play in reducing immunity. Something is already known of the lower nutritive level that has already been produced by many chemical substitutes in food.
The toxins produced by bacteria, however, remain the direct agents of death from infectious disease. In this connection, an entirely new field of research is being opened. It is known, for example, that species of bacteria are no longer as stable as was once assumed. Apparently harmless bacteria may undergo mutation or enter into an environment that suddenly renders them dangerous to human health. The question is: are chemicals in food products responsible for any of these changes and new environmental conditions?
In testimony before the Select Committee, Dr. Bing raised some considerations along this line. The incidence of many diseases is changing, he said. There is an increase in the morbidity and mortality from a number of diseases. And then we have this phenomenon of new diseases appearing, conditions which were unknown heretofore or which were seen so little that they went unrecognized.
The increase in incidence and, well, man is heir not only to old diseases, but he acquires some new ones from time to time. Whenever that occurs we naturally suspect a change in the environment.
Now, foods are part of the environment of the human being, and some alterations in foods are suspect or some alterations in drugs that may be given are always suspect.
Dr. Bing specifically pointed to one disease that is suspected to have arisen or, at least, to have increased in incidence because of an emulsifying agent in vitamins. There is this condition of retrolental fibroplasias of babies born prematurely. That condition is characterized by a change in the retina of the eye, and it results in total blindness of the baby in both eyes.
That condition was either now known or was observed so occasionally that it was not recognized, by and large, up until about 1941, and then the incidence of it increased so that from 30 to 40 per cent. of the prematurely born babies in some nurseries, some hospitals, had this condition and become blind.
Now, the medical investigators looking into that have cast suspicion on the use of synthetic emulsifying agents present in a vitamin preparation which was administered to the new-born babies. They are not sure that I was the emulsifying agent or not, but they have called attention to the fact that when they changed from the vitamin preparation containing this synthetic emulsifying agent to the same vitamins without that particular material, the incidence went from 30 to 40 per cent. blindness down to less than 1 per cent.
It is widely agreed that the tempo and insecurity of American social life is a vital factor in the increase of degenerative diseases like heart and circulatory illnesses. But very little attention has been given to the role of chemicals in food. This problem is especially complex because much has to be learned about the way the body absorbs and uses calcium and magnesium salts in addition to many other substances that make for over-all health. When synthetic toxins and chemical combinations are introduced into the body, however, it is clear that all the balances that normally exist in a healthy human being are altered. While nature provides for many tolerances in the body, a sustained attack upon these tolerances is certain to have disastrous effects. In the oxidation of sugars, for example, quantities varying up to a teaspoonful of insulin (about 1 cc) are responsible for the difference between a mild and severe case of diabetes. Consider then, what it means when chemicals are introduced that violate these and even more slender tolerances day after day and year after year. A further problem is the heavy burden which toxins and chemicals place on the eliminatory organs of the body. Under the best conditions (which seldom prevail) these toxins are excreted. Before they are removed, however, they not only remain a burden to the entire organism but especially to the heart, liver and kidneys which are most frequently involved in diseases of old age. In short, it is still to be determined how a chemical in food behaves in the body, how it is handled in the alimentary tract; whether it is digested and absorbed; and, if absorbed, where it goes. Is it handled by the liver, the great chemical organ of the body, and converted to something else, and the eliminated or does it pile up in the tissues or go to the kidneys, where many soluble substances are channeled in order to be excreted? Does it have any effect on any of the organs of the body? Dr. Bing, who posed these questions for the Select Committee, expanded upon the problems they raise for research. We now know that there are some poisons which will kill an animal without causing any demonstrable pathology or change in the structure of the cells. Cyanides can combine with the blood pigment and prevent taking in oxygen from the air. And then there are certain organic synthetic compounds which react with substances in the body called enzymes, and can cause sudden death in experimental animals without giving any clue to any pathologist who may make sections of all the tissues of the body and look for changes in the cell structure. They very multitude of questions that can be raised around chemicals in food provides the essential setting for an answer. In so delicate an arrangement as the human body, it can be asserted that many synthetic chemicals probably play a sweeping role in diseases that are due to changes in human physiology in the degenerative illnesses.
Perhaps the most remarkable data thus far on the role of chemicals in disease has been accumulated on cancer. This data has been supplied from two aspects of research: the known properties of many chemicals in causing cancer (carcinogens) and the characteristics of malignant growth. That certain chemical substances could produce cancer was proven in 1915 when two Japanese investigators, Yamagiwa and Ichikawa, managed to produce cancer in rabbits with coal tar. Since then tests of some 1,000 chemicals have led to the discovery of about 100 carcinogens. Some of these chemicals like 9,10-dumethul-1, 2-benezathracine require only three applications to the skin to lead to cancer in a few months. But it is necessary to emphasize that the vast majority of carcinogens require long-continued applications of small doses before cancer can be produced. Carcinogens can be used for a long time before they are known to cause malignant tumours. As a result of investigations by Goldblatt, for example, the interval between the first exposure of workmen to cancer-producing compounds and the appearance of symptoms of the disease was eleven to sixteen years in 54 per cent. of the cases. It was twenty to forty-eight years in 19 per cent. The shortest period exposure sufficient to cause cancer was 3.5 years and the longest thirty-three years. A carcinogen may thus be used as a chemical in food without lending itself to any assured means of discovery perhaps not only for many years but even at all.
Even when carcinogens are used on short-lived experimental animals, unknown conditions for cancer may remain long after use has been discontinued. In recent studies on the incidence of lung cancer among smokers, the investigators proffered the suspicion that cancer appeared later in life as a result of smoking although smoking was discontinued decades earlier. A new term (carcinogens) has been established for chemicals that will not produce cancer when administered alone, but will enhance the cancer-producing power of other chemicals. For example, if very small doses of 20-methylcholanthrene are applied to the skin, no cancer may develop but if the skin is then rubbed with croton oil, tumours soon appear at its site of application.
These small doses of the carcinogens will not produce cancer, but when the small doses of carcinogen is followed by the croton oil, then a tumour appears.
The croton oil can be applied several months after the cancer-producing chemical has been administered. Simultaneous application is not necessary.
The effects of carcinogens and cocarcinogens, therefore, prove to have an extremely complex background. Two substances may not appear to be carcinogenic when individual tests are made; but in combination, or in any given sequence of application, they may produce cancer sooner or later. Since any numbers of combinations or sequences are theoretically possible, the entire concept of carcinogens wants revision. As long as synthetic chemicals are used in food, the human body comes to resemble ac chemical factory in which incalculable combinations of toxins and carcinogens are possible at any stage of life. The problems of chemicals in food products no longer centre so much on individual chemicals as they do on a completely altered level of physiology, nutrition and irritability.
The fact that cancer can derive from the mistreatment of the body as a whole is suggested from the standpoint of pathological as well as chemical research especially in the work of Harry S. N. Greene at the Yale University Medical School. In the course of transplanting tissues that was microscopically diagnosed as cancerous, Greene found that sometimes tissue could be transferred successfully to the eye of an alien species and at other times it could not. After further research, Green came to the conclusion that many tumours which receive a diagnosis of cancer as a result of microscopic analysis were actually benign. Only the malignant tumours could be transferred. These facts led to several lines of speculation. Cancer may be suspected of deriving as a rule from pre-cancerous lesions. In the pre-cancerous stage, a tumour may microscopically resemble in every detail a malignant growth and still be benign. Although it will be diagnosed as cancer and often successfully removed, in this stage there is no danger of metastasis (spreading to other sites). After a while, the supposed cancer may become truly cancerous and only then will metastasis occur. What causes the change in behaviour? Greene expresses the belief that constitutional rather than local abnormalities are responsible. Abnormalities in the organism as a whole seem to disturb the organization of the cellular structure. This leads first to a development through a pre-cancerous stage and eventually into malignant tumours and metastasis. Greenes view, of course, does not necessarily challenge the local view of cancer; as, for example, when tissue is rendered cancerous by continual irritation. Rather, Greene also seems to open a more general source of disturbance. His view implicitly challenges the entire environment of man.
Among the most direct factors of mans environment to-day that make for constitutional abnormalities are the tempo and insecurity of existence and the wholesale alteration of diet by the use of chemicals in food products. The former has given rise to nervous disorders on a vast scale. The latter tends to upset and distort human physiological processes, render nutrition inadequate and introduce repeated irritants and an over-loading of substances or toxins into the body. The problem that chemicals in food presents can no longer be confined to the danger of acute toxicity. Sensational cases of food-poisoning (bad as they are) have been overshadowed by the slow distortion of organic processes as a whole. Broad issues in ecology, chemistry and physiology are being raised not simply local instances of acute toxicity which supplied most of the attacks and legislation against the food industry in the past. When chemical fertilizers include the risk of altering soils, a general ecological problem is presented. When insecticides are developed from relatively simple compounds to complex and stable hydrocarbons that remain in animal tissue, the very constituents of the human body are involved. Finally, when innumerable types of chemical substances are introduced into the absorptive, physiological and metabolic processes of the body, the whole cycle of nutrition, growth, organic development and the normal tempo of physical degeneration in the course of life is changed adversely.
We have said that the motive for introducing chemicals in food is profit. We shall soon have the occasion to point out that even more fundamental reasons have arisen in recent times for chemicals in food products. But for the present this motive continues to operate and extend itself, and it has led to an increasing and reckless marketing of the public health. Just as the profit-system introduces more and more irrational uses of mans productive forces, so the problems raised by chemicals in food are met with totally irrational solutions. Perhaps the most absurd illustration is the story of enriched bread. To-day, the housewife is likely to encounter explosive advertising notices on bread that is enriched with vitamins and other substances. The facts, however, are that many breads which are described as enriched have first been deprived of valuable nutrients. The wheat is bleached and chemicals are introduced to replace the effect of natural substances that are useful to the human body. This approach to nutrition if such it can be called is in itself so perfectly irrational and wasteful that it would defy any rational mind if it was any worse than many irrationalities to-day.
Many individuals who do not pretend to an expert knowledge of food or agriculture see in chemicals an assertion of mans power over nature, a substitute for vital natural products and human labour. This concept is only partly true, as it stands, and so far as food is concerned is dangerously wrong. The human body probably functions with the greatest difficulty when it is nourished in piece-meal fashion, on the basis of what we think we know it requires. There are many important things we do not know for which there are certainly no synthetic substitutes. Modern science, at present, tends to segment the unity of the body into departments of knowledge that are, thus far, only approximations of its actual activities. These departments physiology, morphology and so on do not completely open to us the complex, organic facts and relations that actually exist in the organism. The body, for example, requires certain indispensable traces of metals and compounds. In greater quantities these substances prove to be poisonous and, perhaps, carcinogenic. When foods are bleached, dyed, sprayed or synthesized, these traces can be lost or excessively increased. Sometimes, the chemist and physiologist has only a faint idea if at all of what is required. Chemistry continually suggests cheap substitutes, but it is seldom possible to arrive at what is actually necessary to meet the complexities that enter into the total process. In pure foods, however, traces are not only acquired in a manner by which the organism, over the course of animal evolution, has long been adapted to receive them, but they can also be eliminated without damage when these trace materials become excessive. The chemist, on the other hand, may synthesize compounds which the body is compelled to receive because these compounds obey the general laws of chemistry more closely than the chemical processes of life. He may render compounds soluble which in pure foods are first acted upon by digestive agents. Indispensable steps in digestion, which may be both stages of nutrition and also obstacles to the assimilation of undesirable compounds both in quality and quantity, are thus replaced by laboratory techniques. Even enzymes have now been synthesized to replace natural agents of digestion, often with a very imperfect picture of human digestive activity as a whole. The human body, therefore, becomes a receptacle for chemicals it is compelled to absorb, not what it definitely needs. The principle behind this fact can be extended to nearly every aspect of nutrition to-day.
The modern concept of power over nature is a similar distortion. For centuries, great thinkers had seen in mans control of natural agencies the key to mans access to leisure, intellectual and spiritual development, and freedom. They did not see in this control an end in itself, but an end to suit man. Moreover, control did not signify violation. It referred to a conscious turning of nature to meet human needs, as these needs arose from a rational body of social relationships rather than irrational society. Control of nature was founded upon the belief that nature had its own complex laws and that man could produce a society founded upon reason.
At present, the conquest of nature is predicated partly upon a control of forces to conquer the human organism. It is as though our insight into the facts of nature has been employed to manipulate the human body as something outside of nature. Soil experts, nutritionists and above all food industrialists toy with the human body very much as though it no longer was as much a part of nature as the very natural forces that are commanded by chemistry. But the principal issue is that the conquest of nature currently rests upon problems arising from social blindness and idiocy. By the misuse of chemistry, man is solving social problems; problems that are related to social insight and intelligence rather than the physical and organic science. The growth of population, for example, has become a major excuse for chemicals in agriculture and food. Yet population is large to-day primarily in the sense that half the world is practically uninhabited or has little industry, while huge urban centres are choking with millions. Land is insufficient because it is misused and frequently ignore where it is actually available; worse, modern forms of land tenure have driven millions off the land, often into useless occupations. Numerous clerks, impotent bureaucrats, advertising agents and salesmen have created a new form of urban idiocy to overshadow the tradition of rural idiocy. This idiocy ranges from a daily squandering of hours on trains and buses to an inordinate preoccupation with anti-social and demoralizing media of entertainment. Modern society resists the possibility of restoring human contacts that have been broken by tawdry entertainment, siphoned into the home by television and radio. Only recently has an increasing number of people begun to think of decentralizing the great urban menageries and this because of a fear of modern warfare and bombing. Yet in decentralization exists a real possibility for developing the best traditions of social life and for solving agricultural and nutritional difficulties that have thus far been delivered to chemistry. Most of the food problems of the world would be solved to-day by well-balanced and rounded communities, intelligently urbanized, well-equipped with industry and with easy access to the land.
There is a logic to every situation in modern society. With the rise of huge cities, with a meaningless increase in detail labour, with the total supplanting of quality by quantity production pure foods have not only been rendered unprofitable but also impossible if only because of transport conditions. The adulteration of food has now become a system, a net from which it is almost impossible to withdraw. Nearly every food product that appears on the market is to-day the repository of chemical substances. Years ago, this trend was ineffectively challenged by various fad movements. Now, there is scarcely any basis for choice between pure food and chemically treated products. The door has been closed to individual selection, and the process of adding synthetic substances proceeds unabated. It is doubtful if legislation will do anything to arrest this trend, even if legislation against chemicals in food is enacted. The problem has become a social problem an issue concerning the misuse of industry as a whole. It is on this basis alone that it can be solved.
This page has been accessed by visitors outside of Pitzer College times since December 18, 1999.
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Climate Change and Pacific Islands: Indicators and Impacts is a report developed by the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA) aimed at assessing the state of climate knowledge, impacts, and adaptive capacity of Hawai‘i and the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). The PIRCA is a collaborative effort engaging federal, state, and local government agencies, non-government organizations, businesses, and community groups to inform and prioritize their activities in the face of a changing climate.
The immediate focus has been on bringing together almost 100 scientific experts and practitioners to generate an integrated report to provide a regional contribution to the National Climate Assessment (NCA), which is conducted under the auspices of the United States Global Change Research Act of 1990. The PIRCA report examines the impacts and adaptive capacity of Pacific Island communities regarding climate change effects on freshwater availability and quality; regional and community economies; urbanization, transportation, and infrastructure vulnerabilities; ecosystem services; ocean resource sustainability and coastal zone management; cultural resources; and adaptation policy.
The initial PIRCA activities were conducted August 2011 through February 2012 and included multiple dialogs and three workshops to facilitate sharing, analyzing, and reporting on scientific consensus, knowledge gaps, sectoral needs, and adaptive capacity for addressing the changing climate. The material presented in the report is based largely on published research. The report was reviewed and approved by the PIRCA Steering Committee and workshop participants were invited to comment on the draft report.
To request hard copies of the PIRCA reports, please contact Pacific RISA Program Manager Laura Brewington.
ERRATA AND CORRECTIONS
Climate Change and Pacific Islands: Indicators and Impacts
*Note: all of the following issues are only present in the hard copy reports, and have been corrected in the digital versions as of Dec. 18, 2012.
1. Pgs. 47-48: The correct citation for the data in figures 2-10 and 2-11 is:
C.P. Guard and M.A. Lander, 2012: The climate of the Northwest Pacific and Micronesia during 2011, Oceania chapter in the Special Supplement: State of the Climate in 2011, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 93, S215-S218.
2. Pg. 59: The sentence should read, “Between January and April 1998, Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands received only 8% of the normal rainfall for the period (Presley, 2005),” not “85%”.
Case Studies Document:
1. Pg. 1: The sentence should read, “Between January and April 1998, Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands received only 8% of the normal rainfall for the period (Presley, 2005),” not “85%”.
Minor Typos and Corrections in Main Report:
- Pgs. xiii, xvi, xv: The NOAA acronym should be expanded as the “National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration”, not “Oceanographic”.
- Pg 35: Chapter 2 contributor Yi-leng Chen’s correct affiliation is “Department of Meteorology, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa”.
- Pg. 89: Chapter 4 contributor Christin Giardina should be spelled Christian Giardina (USFS)
- Pgs. 89, 147: Chapter 4 contributor Rich McKenzie should be spelled Rich MacKenzie (USFS)
Download the 2012 PIRCA Fact Sheet
For more information about the 2012 PIRCA, see our PIRCA project page.
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A JDBC control makes it easy to access a relational database via SQL commands. When you create a new JDBC control, you specify which database it connects to and write methods to access data using SQL commands. This topic describes the mechanics of creating a JDBC control.
Before you can perform operations on a database, you must have a connection to the database. The JDBC control handles all of the details of managing the database connection, but you must supply the name of a data source that has been configured with the information necessary to access a database.
To learn how to create, configure and register a data source, see the documentation provided for WebLogic Server.
You can add a JDBC control in any of the following types of files:
To create a new JDBC control:
The JNDI Entries dialog appears. Navigate to the data source you want to select and click Select.
To learn how to add a method to a JDBC control, see Adding a Method to a JDBC control.
System Controls Overview
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Merchant of Venice Act 4, Scene 1
The scene begins in a Venice court of justice. The Duke, Antonio, Bassanio, Gratiano, Salerio, The Magnificoes, and others enter. The Duke begins the proceedings, and offers Antonio his sympathies - Shylock is out for blood. Antonio thanks the Duke for doing what he could to help. Shylock enters. The Duke suggests that Shylock might at this last moment, offer some kind of forgiveness to Antonio, considering his recent failures in business: "And then 'tis thought thou'lt show thy mercy and remorse more strange than is thy strange apparent cruelty." Act 4 Scene 1, lines 20-2
Shylock wholly refuses to consider clemency. He threatens the Duke, reminding him that if he were to interfere, it could jeopardize the rule of law in Venice. He then goes on a tirade, refusing to justify his actions against Antonio: "Some men there are love not a gaping pig, some that are mad if they behold a cat, and others when the bagpipe sings i' the nose cannot contain their urine." Act 4, Scene 1, lines 47-50
Shylock explains that the only important thing is that Antonio owes him, and that he doesn't like Antonio. The why is unimportant. Bassanio argues with Shylock, demanding a reason for his cruelty, then Antonio jumps in, declaring Bassanio's efforts futile, and accepting his fate:
"Bassanio: Every offense is not a hate at first.
Shylock: What, wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice?
Antonio: I pray you, think you question with the Jew.
You may as well go stand on the beach
and bid the main flood bate his usual height,
you may as well use question with the wolf
why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb,
you may as well forbid the mountain pines
to wag their high tops and to make no noise
when they are fretten with the gusts of heaven,
you may as well do anything most hard
as seek to soften that - than which what's harder? -
his Jewish heart. Therefore, I do beseech you
make no more offers, use no further means,
but with all brief and plain conveniency
let me have judgement and the Jew his will." Act 4, Scene 1, lines 68-83
Bassanio offers Shylock six thousand ducats. Shylock says that the amount is meaningless. If he were offered thirty-six thousand ducats he wouldn't take it. Shylock reminds the court that they have no right to question his actions - they all have slaves, and they're allowed to do whatever they want with their property. Since the pound of Antonio's flesh is Shylock's property, and he can do whatever he wants with it. He demands a ruling from the duke. The duke responds that there won't be any ruling until he's heard from Doctor Bellario, who he's asked to help him decide the case. Bassanio offers to give his life in stead of Antonio's. Antonio refuses to let him, believing that his life has little value compared to Bassanio's.
Nerissa enters, disguised as a clerk, and presents a letter to the Duke from Doctor Bellario. Bassanio notices Shylock fondling a knife in earnest, and wonders why. Shylock is overly excited - he can't wait for his opportunity to cut the heart from out of Antonio. Gratiano implores some sympathy from Shylock, and then insults him when begging won't work. Shylock waves off the insults. The Duke hands the letter to the clerk, who reads it aloud. The letter says that Doctor Bellario is very ill, and that he's sent a roman doctor named Balthasar to handle the case. Portia enters, dressed as Balthasar.
Portia makes a speech acknowledging that Shylock's bond is valid, and that he has a right to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio. She then suggests that he offer mercy, and accept the money he's been offered. Shylock refuses the money and demands what is legally his. They prepare to perform the surgery on Antonio. Portia asks his Shylock has taken the necessary precautions. Shylock hasn't bothered:
"Shylock: Ay, 'his breast': So says the bond - doth it not, noble judge?-
'Nearest his heart.' Those are the very words.
Portia: It is so. Are there balance here to weigh the flesh?
Shylock: I have them ready.
Portia: Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge,
to stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.
Shylock: Is it so nominated in the bond?
Portia: It is not so expressed; but what of that?
'twere good you do so much for charity.
Shylock: I cannot find it; 'tis not in the bond." Act 4, Scene 1, lines 253-262
Antonio assures everyone that he's prepared himself, and is ready to pay his debt. He asks Bassanio to speak well of him, and to know that he always had a friend who loved him. Bassanio replies that Antonio is the most important thing in the world to him, and that he'd sacrifice everything, even his wife, if it would save him. This doesn't please Portia in the least. Gratiano then chimes in: "I have a wife who, I protest, I love. I would she were in heaven so she could entreat some power to change this currish Jew. Nerissa: 'Tis well that you offer it behind her back. The wish would make else an unquiet house.'" Act 4, Scene 1, lines 290-4
Shylock is fed up with wasting time. He demands that the sentence be carried out immediately. Portia agrees. Shylock prepares to cut into Antonio's flesh. Portia pauses to educate Shylock on the finer points of the law - which says that if he were to spill even a drop of Christian blood, all of his lands and goods would be seized by the government of Venice, in fact, if he takes anything from Antonio but an exact pound of flesh, as it said in the contract - any more or any less, it wouldn't be the collection of a contract, I would be an attack on Antonio - for which the punishment is death, as well as forfeiting his property. Shylock knows that he's been beaten, and asks for his money back. Bassanio offers it, but Portia stops him. Shylock has already refused money in open court - he'll have the pound of flesh or nothing at all. Shylock gives up, and tries to leave. Portia then reminds him of yet another law: "If it be proven against an alien that by direct or indirect attempts he seek the life of any citizen, the party 'gainst the which he doth contrive shall seize one half his goods. The other half comes to the privy coffer of the state. And the offender's life lies in the mercy of the Duke only, 'gainst all other voice." Act 4, Scene 1, lines 349-356
Portia tells Shylock he'll have to beg the Duke for his life. The Duke volunteers the pardon without being asked - proving himself a very different man than Shylock. Shylock feels that he might as well be dead - without money, what kind of life could he have? Antonio suggests that the court give Shylock half of his money back on two conditions, first, that the money be willed to his Daughter and Son-in-law upon his death, and that he convert to Christianity. The Duke agrees, and tells Shylock that if he doesn't take the deal, his pardon will be rescinded. Shylock agrees to the deal and leaves. The Duke thanks Portia for her service, then exits with his entire train.
Antonio and Bassanio profusely thank Portia, and offer to pay her, still unaware of her true identity. She tells them that no payment is necessary, she is satisfied with her victory, and stresses that her motives were selfish: "My mind was never yet more mercenary" Act 4, Scene 1, line 418. All she asks in payment are two mementos. Antonio's gloves, and Bassanio's ring. Bassano balks at the prospect, explaining that he promised his wife he'd never take the ring off - he offers her anything else, but she refuses. Portia tells him that him that his wife will surely understand, then leaves, feigning insult. Antonio convinces Bassanio to give Portia the ring, and Bassanio sends Gratiano chasing after her to deliver it.
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Grown primarily for food, the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) produces a large underground tuber that is the seventh most important world food crop, while ornamental sweet potato cultivars have colorful foliage to enhance the flower garden. Hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11, sweet potatoes grow as annuals in colder areas. Pollination isn't necessary to grow sweet potatoes in the vegetable garden or the enjoy the decorative varieties. Pollination in the home garden is only necessary if you relish the challenge of creating a new hybrid.
Flowers and Flowering
When you grow sweet potatoes in the garden, you buy slips, which are rooted cuttings of named varieties. Sweet potatoes don't grow true to variety from seeds. The only time sweet potatoes are grown from seed is in breeding programs to produce new varieties of sweet potatoes. In the U.S., sweet potatoes rarely bloom, so most of the hybridizing is done in tropical climates, where sweet potatoes bloom freely, or in greenhouses. In greenhouses, hybridizers can stimulate flowering by changing the day length or by grafting sweet potatoes onto roots of other Ipomoea species that are free flowering. If you want to try your hand at hybridizing, look for possible flowering in the summer. Sweet potato is in the morning glory family, and its flowers look like small morning glory flowers that are usually pale pink to violet.
Flower Structure and Pollinators
If you look face on into a sweet potato flower, you see a rounded structure in the center. This is the female flower part called the stigma. The five male flower parts, called stamens, surround the stigma. They produce the pollen. In order to set seed, the stigma has to receive pollen grains, but it can't be from the same flower because sweet potato flowers are self-sterile and can't pollinate themselves. The pollen has to come from a completely different plant and even a completely different variety. In nature, a bumblebee carries the pollen from one flower to another. In U.S. gardens, if you want to try pollinating, which isn't necessary for the health or productivity of the plants, you need to be the pollinator.
If you are lucky enough to have flowering sweet potatoes, you need two different varieties to flower at the same time for the possibility of seed set. The University of Hawai'i at Manoa advises pollinating sweet potato flowers between sunrise and noon. Pick a flower from the plant you wish to be the male, or pollen, parent. Fold back the fused flower petals that make up the flower's corolla and use the folded-back flower as a handle. This exposes the stamens, which should contain fluffy yellow pollen at their tips. Carry the male parent flower over to a flower of the female parent, spread the petals of the female flower open and rub the stamens over the central stigma tip, which is sticky so that pollen grains adhere to it. When you can see pollen grains on the stigma tip, discard the male flower.
In the breeding program at the University of Hawai'i, only 48 percent of the hand-pollinated flowers developed seed capsules. Factors that affect pollination success include temperature, humidity levels and the condition of the plant. Plants growing rapidly and vigorously have reduced seed set. Some cultivars won't be compatible with each other. Watch the pollinated flower. If it falls off the plant after a few days, pollination wasn't successful. If a rounded capsule begins to form, pollination was successful and seeds are forming. Each capsule has an average of two seeds. If you intend to save the seeds, harvest the capsule when it is mature but before it splits open. Store seeds in paper envelopes. Sow them in the spring -- you might get a choice new sweet potato variety.
- Crop Genebank Knowledge Base: Regeneration Guidelines for Sweet Potatoes
- Texas A&M AgriLife Extension: Sweet Potato, Another American
- Arizona State University: Ipomoea Batatas
- Purdue University NewCrop: Ipomoea Batatas (L.) Lam.
- University of Hawai'i at Manoa: College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources: Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas) Breeding
- United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service: Pollination of Sweetpotatoes in Polycross Seed Nurseries
- Iowa State University Agronomy: Sweet Potato
- Seiya Kawamoto/Lifesize/Getty Images
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RLST 145 - Lecture 23 - Visions of the End: Daniel and Apocalyptic Literature
Lecture 23 - Visions of the End: Daniel and Apocalyptic Literature
The Book of Ruth, in which a foreign woman enters the community of Israel and becomes great-grandmother to none other than King David, expresses a view of gentiles entirely opposed to that of Ezra and Nehemiah. Other prophets of the Restoration period are discussed, including Third Isaiah who also envisions other nations joining Israel in the worship of Yahweh. This period also sees the rise of apocalyptic literature in works like Zechariah, Joel and Daniel. Written during a period of persecution in the 2nd c. BCE the book of Daniel contains many features and themes of apocalyptic literature, including an eschatology according to which God dramatically intervenes in human history, destroying the wicked (understood as other nations) and saving the righteous (understood as Israel).
(1) Isaiah 56-66
(2) Introduction to Joel (JSB pp. 1166-7), Joel 1-4
(3) Introduction to Daniel (JSB pp. 1640-42), Daniel 1-12
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Through the centuries the Capitole was abandoned, becoming nude and deserted, reduced to a few pieces of marble and to the ruins of the Tabularium. At the beginning of the Middle Age the whole hill was just reduced to the possession of the cloister belonging to the Church of Santa Maria d’Aracoeli.
The triumph of Christian Rome, after dark and stormy periods, revenged its ancient right on the Mount Capitolino with the erection, in the VI cent., of the Church of Santa Maria d’Aracoeli, upon the ruins of the Temple dedicated to Juno.
In the huge church the municipal officers discussed the important matters of the time and the walls resounded with the harsh disputes and the heavy contrasts between the pope and the nobility, that met the greatest interest in the city.
Still the glory of the hill was so alive in the minds of the Romans that, revolting against the Pope’s domination, they elevated here, on the Tabularium, the new Comitium, the headquarter of the Municipal Council.
The German emperors climbed the hill to submit their right to govern to the agreement of the Roman people and the poets received here the laurel for their compositions (Petrarca received it in 1341).
In 1348 Cola di Rienzo inaugurated the marble stair that brought to the Ara Coeli, Altar of Heaven, , thus opening a new access also on this side. From here the great demagogue made his hot speeches.
Apart from the above mentioned buildings the site was completely deserted and forgotten. The total abandon was so evident that when decision was taken of according a triumphal reception to the emperor Charles V the hill was not taken into account for the ceremony because visibly too poor. Right after this event Pope Paul III had the idea of a global restoration of the hill, in a unique project – entrusted to Michelangelo – that gave birth to the current Campidoglio square.
The task assigned to the master was everything but easy, in particular if we take into account the fantastic and majestic inclinations of the artist, that hit at every step with the restricted limits imposed by the preexisting buildings. As a matter of fact the design of the square had to be done in respect of the Palace of Senators, already built, and, on the other side, the palace of Conservatori , built in 1450, that closed one side of the square. Works, begun in 1546, right after the death of Michelangelo, were later continued by Giacomo della Porta, Tommaso di Cavalieri and Girolamo Rainaldi and completed in the XVII century.
While climbing, stopping on the last step of the stair, you can admire the harmony of the most architectonic square in the world, surrounded on three of its four sides by palaces: the palace of Senators, the palace of Conservators and the New Palace.
It is remarkable the original artifice of the master that was able to create in the square a growing profundity. The façades of the side palaces incline towards the Palace of Senators. With this artifice the artist obtained the widening of the square, which is actually enclosed in a small surface. Moreover the square is not closed but open as a theatre scene, increasing so the panoramic effect. The two major stairs of the Palace of Senators contribute to this effect.
Against Michelangelo’s will the equestrian statue in gilded bronze of emperor Mark Aurel, moved from its original location, in front of the Lateran Palace, and the statues of Dioscures were placed in square.
In front of the staircase of the Palace there is a fountain and on the niche above it, the Master wished to have placed an enormous statue of Jupiter. Although it was decided to decorate this part with the statue of Minerva, sitting in the center, with on her sides the allegoric statues of the Tiber and Nile rivers, dating back to the I century A.D., the golden age of the Roman empire.
The Palace of Senators is dominated by the Capitoline Tower , whose original design, by Michelangelo, was modified and completed by Martino Longhi il Vecchio (1582).
The Palace of Senators is nowadays site of the Municipality of Rome and of its major. The two lateral palaces, the Palace of Conservators, on the right side, and the New Palace, on the left side, perfectly symmetrical, beyond their artistic importance, house the magnificent collection of the Capitoline Museums.
of the monument
on the map of Rome
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History may be bound to repeat itself as Earth’s climate continues to warm, with changing temperatures causing food shortages that lead to wars and population declines, according to a new study that builds on earlier work.
The previous study, by David Zhang of the University of Hong Kong, found that swings in temperature were correlated with times of war in Eastern China between 1000 and 1911. Zhang's newer work, detailed in the Nov. 19 online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, broadens its outlook to climate and war records worldwide and also found a correlation between the two.
"This current study covers a much larger spatial area and the conclusions from the current research could be considered general principles," Zhang said.
The research does not represent direct cause-and-effect, but rather suggests a link between climate and conflict.
Looking to the past
Because water supplies, growing seasons and land fertility can be affected by changes in climate, they might prompt food shortages that could in turn lead to conflicts, such as local uprisings, government destabilization and invasions from neighboring regions, the researchers speculate. These conflicts and the food shortages that cause them could both contribute to population declines, they add.
To see whether changes in climate affected the number of wars fought in the past, the researchers examined the time period between 1400 and 1900, when global average temperatures reached extreme lows around 1450, 1640 and 1820, with slightly warmer periods in between.
Using records reflected in tree rings and ice cores, the researchers compared temperature changes to a database of 4,500 wars worldwide that co-author Peter Brecke of Georgia Tech compiled with funding from the U.S. Institute of Peace.
The results of the comparison showed a cyclic pattern of turbulent periods when temperatures were low, followed by more tranquil times when temperatures were higher.
This correlation doesn't necessarily mean that all-out war is imminent, William Easterling of Pennsylvania State University, who was not affiliated with the work, had said in regards to Zhang's earlier work. However, the changing distribution of resources could certainly increase international tensions, he added.
The new study also showed population declines following each war peak. Specifically, during the frigid 17th century, Europe and Asia experienced more wars of great magnitude and population declines than in more temperate times.
Projecting into the future
To connect temperature changes of less than 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) to food shortages, the authors used price increases as a measure of decreases in agricultural production and found that when grain prices reached a certain level, wars erupted.
Though these historical periods of climate change featured cooler temperatures, current rising global temperatures could still cause ecological stress that damages agricultural production.
"Even though temperatures are increasing now, the same resulting conflicts may occur since we still greatly depend on the land as our food source," Brecke said.
"The warmer temperatures are probably good for a while, but beyond some level, plants will be stressed," Brecke explained. "With more droughts and a rapidly growing population, it is going to get harder and harder to provide food for everyone, and thus we should not be surprised to see more instances of starvation and probably more cases of hungry people clashing over scarce food and water."
- Top 10 Ways to Destroy Earth
- Top 10 Surprising Results of Global Warming
- Timeline: The Frightening Future of Earth
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believes its previous and upcoming commercial cargo missions to the International Space Station give Inc. (SpaceX) the best chance of transporting a human crew to the space station first, but the brash startup is not a sure bet to win the commercial crew race.
While company founder Elon Musk says he will fly a crew to the station before the end of 2015—earlier than any of his competitors—his maincustomer is a little more cautious.
“There are some systems that are acceptable in cargo that may not be acceptable in crew,” says William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations. “There's obviously a lot of stuff that needs to be added in terms of life support; there's some cooling that needs to be there, humidity control, atmosphere monitors. There are a lot of other little subtle things that have to be there. So they've got the good basic capsule design, but I think there's still a little bit of work for them to do in those other areas.”
Still, in his formal source-selection document, Gerstenmaier found that the SpaceX proposal for the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) program “provides the earliest crewed demonstration flight under a credible schedule at the lowest development cost.” On that basis, NASA awarded the Hawthorne, Calif., company $440 million in federal seed money to continue work on the crew version of the Dragon capsule that reached the ISS in May, and is scheduled for at least one more return trip before the end of this year (AW&ST May 28, p. 35).
“I think there are advantages of having flown cargo, but then there's a statement in the document where I caution that we need to know how they're going to transition from cargo to crew,” says Gerstenmaier.
That will not be too big a problem, Musk says with typical bravado. A lot of the work has been done, he says, and the rest can be completed within the time constraints laid out in the company proposal.
“We actually already have much of the [environmental control and life support] system working, even for cargo missions, because we are required to take biological cargo to and from the space station,” Musk says of the $1.6 billion commercial resupply services NASA contract his company entered after demonstrating Dragon's ability to dock with the ISS. “And some of the experiments actually have very tight temperature requirements, so we have very good thermal control of the Dragon interior. It's accurate to within about 1C.”
Still to come are lithium hydroxide (LiOH) canisters to scrub carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, along with humidity control and high-pressure air to maintain pressure in case of a leak.
The primary external difference between the cargo version of the Dragon and the crew version will be a pusher-type launch-abort system mounted in four pod-like bulges around the circumference of the capsule. They will be powered by four redundant pairs of SpaceX-designed SuperDraco hypergolic engines that have been test-fired to full thrust and duration, says Musk.
A mockup of the crewed Dragon has the abort-system pods mounted at 90-deg. intervals around the capsule (see photo, p. 47), but Musk says that is being redesigned with an asymmetric configuration to address heating concerns.
Crew seats are “pretty close to the flight design,” he says, with individually molded liners able to accommodate astronauts as tall as 6 ft. 6 in. While docking will be autonomous using the NASA system in development at, pilots in the seven-member crews will be able to take control in emergencies or for special-purpose maneuvers such as inspection flyarounds, says Musk.
Although some of the companies building the next generation of crew vehicles are experiencing difficulty obtaining components from a dwindling aerospace supply base in the small lots they require (see p. 44), Musk says his company's philosophy of building as much as possible in-house mitigates the problem. Workers are currently reconfiguring the factory floor for efficiency and to keep activities requiring cleanliness away from heavy machining and other dirty areas.
“As far as engines and primary structure go, raw metal comes in and engines and rockets come out,” Musk says. “We do have suppliers of smaller components, but all major subsystems are made at SpaceX. It's harder and more painful in the beginning, but it pays off long term.”
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Sometimes, when I take a step back and look at the ways that we can manipulate life, I’m astounded. We can breed mice that lack any gene we want. We can also insert new genes, and have them only express in certain types of cells or only at certain times. This is routine. We can make design viruses to insert genes into human cells to cure, cure debilitating diseases.
We have bacteria that play sudoku, and we have mice born with two fathers. We can make corn express toxins from Bacillus that only kill pests, and tobacco and cats that glow green (through two different mechanisms even).
Our understanding and our technology is moving fast. For many years, I’ve envisioned the day when buildings will be genetically engineered and grown from seeds. Most people (even other biologists) thought I was crazy, but now I feel validated:
Picture a production process that has plenty in common with agar jelly (used to culture organic materials in laboratories) and little in common with what we would normally think of as production-line automotive manufacturing. You are starting to get close to what the people at Mercedes-Benz have spawned with the BIOME – one of the most outlandish and ambitious concepts in this year’s Los Angeles Design Challenge.
In short, the BIOME would be grown in a lab rather than built on a production line.
To be fair, this is from a design competition, and a lot of the concepts here are significantly beyond our current level of technology, but I think the spirit of the idea is sound.
I actually don’t think it will be that long (within my life time) before we’re at least growing more components for manufacturing using living systems, if not entire structures. If that seems crazy to you, read the first two paragraphs again.
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Students each started with an 8" square of white paper, and a 10" square of graph paper with a 1" graph. The kids traced a circle twice, once anywhere on their graph paper, and once on the white paper. On the white paper circle, they made two downward arches (rainbows or frowny-faces), and 2 upward ones (smile lines), then rotated their paper one turn and did it again. Then it was on to painting! I had a choice of 2 colors of fluorescent paint on each table; each child chose one to paint every other square. For kids that got confused, I reminded them the opposite blocks would be black and would therefore cover any mistakes. I helped "dot" the squares for those students who had trouble figuring out the checkerboard, particularly in the circle. (Note they did not paint the inside of the circle on the graph paper.) Then the students painted the opposite squares black,and when dry the painted circle was cut out and glued on the graph paper. Finally some black and white oil pastels were used for a shadow. Here's the whole bulletin board:
A couple of thoughts about this lesson after-the-fact:
- The bulletin board looks really cool, and the kids are really proud, but they lack soul. I have to justify to myself that the kids learned a lot, in particular paintbrush control and the need to follow directions carefully. But this type of project, where everyone's work is essentially the same, is not really my cup of tea - I like the unique vision of children and how they interpret instructions and ideas, and a lesson like this does not leave any room for interpretation.
- One other thought - if I did this lesson again, I would have them trade colors for the circle. One student (the painting at the top of the blog) got the wrong green after being absent one day, and I think that the circle stands out that much more because the color is slightly different. I think using the complement would be even more dramatic.
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- An example of ecumenical used as an adjective is the phrase an "ecumenical truth" which means something that everyone believes in.
- An example of ecumenical used as an adjective is the phrase "ecumenical bond" which means the bond among all Christian churches.
- An example of ecumenical used as an adjective is the phrase "ecumenical peace" which means peace among all religions.
- of or concerning the Christian Church or Christendom as a whole
- furthering or intended to further the unity or unification of Christian churches
- of or having to do with ecumenism
Origin of ecumenicalLate Latin oecumenicus ; from Classical Greek oikoumenikos, of or from the whole world ; from oikoumen? (g?), the inhabited (world) ; from oikein, to dwell, inhabit ; from oikos: see eco-
- Of worldwide scope or applicability; universal.
- a. Of or relating to the worldwide Christian church.b. Concerned with establishing or promoting unity among churches or religions.
Origin of ecumenicalFrom Late Latin oec&umacron;menicus, from Greek oikoumenikos, from (h&emacron;) oikoumen&emacron; (g&emacron;), (the) inhabited (world), feminine present passive participle of oikein, to inhabit, from oikos, house; see weik-1 in Indo-European roots.
From ecumenic + -al.
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Marks in Grammar and Printing
Printers' marks on the first page of a sheet are called Signatures. (See Letters At Foot Of Page.)
Serifs are the strokes which finish off Roman letters, top and bottom. A, B, C, are “block” letters, or “sans serifs.” over the second of two vowels, as aërial, is called “diæresis,” and in French, trema.
' An acute accent. In Greek it indicates a rise in the voice. It was not used till Greek became familiar to the Romans.
` A grave accent. In Greek it indicates a fall of the voice. It was not used till Greek became familiar to the Romans.
over a vowel, as ö, ii, is called in German zwerpunct.
over a vowel, as a, is called in Danish umlauf.
A circumflex over the letter n (as Oñoro, in Spanish, is called a tilde (2 syl.). A circumflex in French indicates that a letter has been abstracted, as être for “estre.”
t between two hyphens in French, as parle-t-il? is called “ t ephelcystic. ” (See N.)
The Tironian sign (q.v.). (See And.)—Hyphen, as horse-guards.
—joining a pronoun to its verb in French, as irai-je, donnait-on, is called le trait d'union. , under the letter c in French, is called a cedilla, and indicates that the letter = s. (See Printers Marks.) A pilcrow, to call attention to a statement.
A blind P, marks a new paragraph indirectly connected with preceding matter. () Called parentheses, and
Called brackets, separate some explanatory or collateral matter from the real sequence. is a comma; ; is a semicolon; : is a colon; . is a point or full stop.—or ... in the middle or at the end of a sentence is a break, and shows that something is suppressed.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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Not all wars and conflicts make the pages of newspapers, nor are all peace agreements the result of the high diplomacy of the United Nations, and that certainly includes those now being reconciled in the jungles of Papua New Guinea - writes Pat Cain.
After decades of ethnic and tribal violence in the southern highlands of New Guinea, thirty-two tribes have begun to sign a series of historic interim peace treaties, ahead of a big treaty-signing day on 16 September, the day the country achieved independence from Australia in 1975.
By the beginning of June 2008, twelve of the thirty-two tribes had signed peace agreements.
The peace pacts come after eight years of work by an Australian woman, Joy Balazo, who instigated peace-making initiatives by young people within the various communities. For years, tribal conflict has wracked the region, and the result has been death, revenge killings and extensive property damage.
Balazo told Ecumenical News International that something as straightforward as accidentally walking on a garden bed could set off a series of conflicts between the tribes.
"The cycle of violence was such that no one has lived in peace for years. It has taken the young people of the area, along with church support in peace training, to begin to break this chain of violence," she said.
One local tribesman used the phrase, "Once an enemy, enemies forever", to describe the situation. The constant warfare prevented aid and humanitarian assistance entering the region. Westerners were warned off, and the area became out of bounds even for government officials.
As a result, the already poor area suffered one of the lowest standards of living in the world.
Still, in 2003, Balazo, from the Uniting Church in Australia, quietly entered the region and began training local teams of young peacemakers. Gradually, they made inroads in their own communities.
At Christmas 2007, tribal leaders came together and agreed to a peace process that saw them lay down their arms and promise to sign a series of peace pacts between each other.
Those peace agreements are being signed now in preparation for the special day in September, when the tribes will sign a permanent treaty.
[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.]
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He doesn't look like much, perched between two guards, hands folded in his lap, posture tilted slightly to the right. He looks almost unsuspecting beneath his horn-rimmed glasses, face wearied perhaps only by the passage of time. You would never be able to guess from looking at him that locked deep in the inscrutable recesses of his mind are the seeds that led to the slaughter of 6 million Jews.
This man, who I half-expected to be sporting a very different set of horns, his face marred by the atrocities he endorsed, is Adolf Eichmann -- or rather, the video footage that remains of him. Though placed on trial and found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity by an Israeli court half a century ago, we are able to bear witness today via the far-reaching gaze of the Internet.
To mark the 50th anniversary of both his trial and death sentence -- the first and only time an Israeli court ever carried out the death penalty -- Yad Vashem has partnered with Google to launch a YouTube channel featuring more than 400 hours of film taken of the actual trial. This project not only allows a global audience to peer into the eyes of the oft-named "Architect of the Holocaust," but lets a younger generation come face-to-face with an almost inconceivable past.
From a class back in college, I learned the horrific bullet points of Eichmann's résumé. Learned of his eager role in executing "The Final Solution to the Jewish Question." Of his plan to trade captive European Jews like human cattle to the Western Allies in exchange for trucks and other goods. Of his systematic transportation of millions of Jews to the gas chambers. But while it is one thing to learn about the past from a blackboard, it's quite another to hear it speak, to watch it stand before a court and defend itself in the body of Eichmann himself.
He was just "following orders" he claimed, parroting the same defense some Nazi war criminals used during the Nuremberg trials. As if that argument could ever justify his decision to march over 400,000 Hungarians to their deaths. As if that argument could ever inspire its future listeners with anything but a potent blend of shock and disgust. It's no wonder they made him sit in a glass box during the trial's proceedings.
That Eichmann is capable of spurring heated reactions from a global audience is not a new phenomenon. Since the days of his seizure in Argentina by the Mossad and throughout the ensuing four-month trial that began on April 11, 1961, many have had something to say about him.
In fact, during the trial's duration, letters from all over the world flooded the General Post Office in Jerusalem, keeping Gideon Hausner -- Israel's attorney general at the time -- and his staff busy.
I recently became acquainted with the letters via my friend Jack Goldfarb, a writer who lost relatives in the Holocaust, and who was in Israel to witness both the trial and deluge of mail it prompted.
In one of those letters, a schoolgirl from Holland wanted to know how it was possible for Eichmann, a father of young children himself, to have treated Jewish children as cruelly as he did.
Upon learning that Eichmann was to be hanged, a German convict serving a life sentence wrote asking that Eichmann be sentenced to the same; life imprisonment, he said, was a far crueler punishment. An American, meanwhile, offered his congratulations to Israel for apprehending Eichmann, along with five dollars to buy the rope by which to hang him.
But not all letters were anti-Eichmann. "The Jews killed Christ," one letter declared. "This was the greatest miscarriage of justice. Therefore they have forfeited their right to sit in judgment of others."
While not rife with hateful vilifications, other letters opposed the trial on religious grounds. Letters from Western Europe and America pleaded for the sins of Eichmann to be met with forgiveness.
In response, Hausner's staff reminded all that Israel was not attempting to rival God's justice; rather, Eichmann's crimes were a secular matter. And no nation surrenders its right to judge those who transgress against its citizens.
In a moving letter sent to Hausner and his team, an Israeli woman who had survived the camps expressed nothing but gratitude for the trial and its proceedings. Through it, she was finally able to unburden her heart of its silent grief -- a grief we of the YouTube generation can never fully comprehend.
Instead, we watch and we wonder, not how such a monster as Eichmann could have existed, but how could such a man.
Katie Beers is currently enrolled in the M.A. English literature program at New York University.
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Why eating 'light' crisps could make you gain MORE weight than opting for full-fat varieties
Tucking in: Opting for 'light' crisps can encourage you to eat more than if you stick with the full-fat variety, a study has found
Dieters who try to cut their calorie consumption by picking low-fat versions of their favourite snacks should be wary, scientists say.
They found that opting for 'light' crisps could encourage you to gain more weight by increasing hunger pangs.
Researchers at Purdue University in Indiana studied the effect of synthetic fat substitutes by comparing high-calorie Pringles crisps with low-calorie Pringles Light crisps.
They said their surprising results challenged the conventional wisdom that foods made with fat substitutes aided weight loss.
Lead author Dr Susan E. Swithers, said: 'Our research showed that fat substitutes can interfere with the body's ability to regulate food intake, which can lead to inefficient use of calories and weight gain.'
The team put two groups of rats on separate high and low-fat diets. They then fed half of each group normal Pringles and offered the other half a mix of normal and low-fat crisps.
The Pringles Light chips, which are available in the U.S but not the UK, are made with olestra - a synthetic fat
substitute that has zero calories and passes through the body
The team found that those on the high-fat diet gained more weight and developed more fatty tissue if they ate the low-fat crisps.
They also didn't lose the extra weight even after the potato chips were removed from their diet.
'Based on this data, a diet that is low in fat and calories might be a better strategy for weight loss than using fat substitutes,' Dr Swithers said.
Food with a sweet or fatty taste usually indicates a large number of calories, and the taste triggers various responses by the body, including salivation and the release of feel-good hormones.
Researchers studied the effect of synthetic fat substitutes by comparing high-calorie Pringles crisps with low-calorie Pringles Light crisps
Fat substitutes can interfere with that relationship when the body expects to receive a large burst of calories but is fooled by a fat substitute.
However, there is good news for those who watch what they eat. The rats who were fed a low-fat diet didn't experience any significant weight gain despite eating both normal and light crisps.
Dr Swithers said previous studies found saccharin and other artificial sweeteners found in diet drinks can also promote weight gain and increase body fat.
Dieters should therefore not turn to artificial means to lower calories.
'Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet,' Dr Swithers said.
'Eating food which is naturally low in fat and calories may be a better route than relying on fat substitutes or artificial sweeteners.'
The study was published by the American Psychological Association in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience.
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| 0.952359 | 668 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Written by an experienced university teacher, who is also a scholar and rabbi, this extensive textbook presents an unrivalled guide to the history, belief and practice of Judaism. Beginning with the ancient Near-Eastern background, it covers early Israelite history, the emergence of classical rabbinic literature and the rise of medieval Judaism in Islamic and Christian lands. It also explores the early modern period and the development of Jewry throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Extracts from primary sources are used to enliven the narrative and provide concrete examples of Jewish civilization. Judaism:introduces texts and commentaries, including the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic texts, mystical literature, Jewish philosophy and Jewish theologyprovides the skills necessary to understand these step-by-stepexplains how to interpret the major events in nearly 4,000 years of Jewish historysupports study with discussion questions on the central historical and religious issues, includes key reading for each chapter and an extensive bibliography illustrates the development of Judaism, its concepts and observances, with nearly 200 maps and photographs.A companion website links each chapter to other online resources, and gives guidance on activities and support for teachers.
Back to top
Rent Judaism 1st edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Cohn-Sherbok. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Routledge.
Need help ASAP? We have you covered with 24/7 instant online tutoring. Connect with one of our tutors now.
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| 0.916891 | 305 | 3.625 | 4 |
A wide variety of fractal images, including the Mandelbrot set, Lorenz attractor and others mentioned in this article, may be found in Sprott’s online fractal gallery, http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/fractals.htm
The Universe is built on a plan the profound symmetry of which is somehow present in the inner structure of our intellect.
-- Paul Valery
If you like fractals, it is because you are made of them. If you can’t stand fractals, it’s because you can’t stand yourself. It happens.
-- Homer Smith, Computer Engineer, Art Matrix
The rise of cybernetics, the science of information, following World War II, brought a new metaphor to psychology – the notion of mind as mechanism. This metaphor inspired the cognitivist revolumartion, in which psychological activity was likened to information processing in machines. In the decades to follow, a wellspring of new knowledge and empirical methods followed and even continues today.
While invaluable for its early insights, I believe the notion of mind as mechanism has run its course. In this paper, I introduce a different guiding metaphor in order to conceptualize the psyche, one with particular significance to clinicians immersed in the complexity of human affairs. This new metaphor represents the pendulum swung full circle, from machine back to nature, where psychology started when it first diverged from philosophy during Renaissance times. Ironically a return to organic models occurs just as the computer plus related technology ascends takes an ever more central role in most our lives.
More than ever, the computer affords us rich tools for simulating nature’s complexity. Among the most powerful of these is fractal geometry. Because fractals provide a lexicon for nature’s outer complexity, it makes sense that this new geometry is equally as effective for describing the complex terrain characteristic of inner processes.
This paper introduces the significance of fractal geometry to the psyche. In the first section, I describe this new branch of mathematics plus how to render a fractal by computer. I then articulate the significance of fractals to the development of psychological identity. Next, I claim that self-similarity, the hallmark of fractals, is a useful lens for viewing personality organization and especially repetitive patterns of behavior. I also argue that related concepts of dimensionality and scaling help lend breadth to intraspychic analysis. I use the notion of fractal boundaries to illuminate paradoxes of subjectivity and interpersonal relationships. Finally, I assert that fractal boundaries are not just a source of endless confusion and deep psychopathology, but also a fount of novelty, creativity and endless mystery in us all.
Fractal geometry is a branch of mathematics discovered during the 1970s, by a jack-of-all-trades mathematician working for IBM, named Benoit Mandelbrot. The word “fractal” was invented after Mandelbrot thumbed through his son’s Latin textbook and came across the adjective fractus, derived from the verb, frangere, to break. Fractals connote fraction, fracture and fragment. They tap into a central quality of nature – the fractured pieces which yet make her whole.
Technical fractals are rendered, often quite artistically, on the palette of the computer. They consist of very simple formulas, such as the classic Mandelbrot set, X ← X2 + c, iterated on the complex number plane. To render a mathematical fractal, the same equation is computed over and over for every point on the complex plane, as endless cycles of reentry. Each time, the final result of the equation is fed back in again as the new starting point. In theory, this continues indefinitely, as the calculation of fractal dimensionality presumes the presence of infinite feedback loops. In practice, iteration continues until either there is a stable endpoint or an artificial cut-off that gives clear indication of where the equation is headed.
When gazing at a mathematical fractal, the territory outside the fractal is out of control. It gallops unpredictably towards infinity at one speed or another, indicated by gradations of color. By contrast, the territory inside the fractal is ordered. It is relatively stable and settles down to one or more fixed points. The edge between these two realms is what constitutes the actual fractal. Here, in the delicate interface between unbounded and bounded areas, the fractal neither flies out of control nor comes to rest. Instead it self-organizes into an infinitely deep border zone that moves dynamically along with the perspective of the observer.
When the computer is used like a microscope to zoom closer and closer in on this edge, ultimately there is no resolution to be found. Instead there is paradox of the nonlinear kind. That is, the tinier the area under investigation, the more appears to be seen. This may sound like Merlin’s bag of magical tricks, but doesn’t it also sound just like the psyche, where the more we gaze inward, the more there is to see? In both fractal inspection and the act of self-reflection, observed and observer merge seamlessly, as the very act of looking helps to articulate the details to be found.
Fractals are highly complex, dynamic shapes. In fact, the Mandelbrot set is the most complex mathematical object known to humankind. Mathematical fractals contain an ordinary, Euclidean dimension plus a fractional or fractal dimension that indicates its complexity. For example, the fractal dimension of a squiggly one-dimensional line, such as a child’s scribble, might range from 1.256 to 1.894, depending upon how little or much of a two-dimensional plane of paper it occupies. The fractal dimension of a scrunched up sheet of paper tossed away might range from 2.364 to 2.943, depending upon how loosely or tightly we wad it up into a space-filling ball.
In general, fractals carve out system dynamics in one of two ways. Either, they are lower dimensional objects that strive towards higher dimensions by recursively adding structure. An example of this is the Koch snowflake, where each side of a triangle is replaced by tinier triangles.
Or, fractals are higher dimensional objects that retreat into lower dimensions by recursively removing structure. An example of this is Cantor dust, where the middle third of a line is successively removed, over and over, until only a sprinkling of points remain.
In psychology, the distinction between progressing towards higher versus regressing towards lower dimensionality may help us model whether a person’s psyche is better characterized by structure building evolution of consciousness or structure eroding involution. Note that high or low levels of complexity are equally as likely at any dimension. When it comes to consciousness, this could help clinicians make important distinctions between issues of complexity versus those of dimensionality.
For example, a person with borderline personality disorder often displays high levels of complexity at low levels of involuted consciousness. A description of borderline complexity, which results in self and other getting sucked into irresolvable boundary confusion, follows in a later section. By contrast, a spiritually enlightened person characteristically displays low levels of complexity at high levels of consciousness. Many religious leaders utter simple, yet profound statements, like “God is love.” While a Marxist might argue that such simplicity appeals to the lowest common intellectual denominator, a mystic might counter that such simplicity reflects deep truth that flows from the invisible interconnectedness of all things. In support of the mystic, fractal geometry actually provides evidence for such hidden, invisible connection, especially beneath the surface of chaos in nature, despite all its surface uncertainty and unpredictability.
Self-Similarity, Weather Storms and Brainstorms
To recognize the significance of fractals is to understand its hallmark – self-similarity. Self-similarity is a newly discovered symmetry in nature by which parts of fractal objects relate to their wholes. That is, the overall pattern of a fractal is repeated at multiple size or time scales, from small to large scale. Sometimes this repetition is exact, as with a linear fractal. Most often, especially in natural fractals, self-similarity is approximate or statistical. This nonlinear property allows fractals as they appear in nature to embody irregularity, discontinuity, evolution and change.
Some natural fractals are detectable only via mathematical abstraction, one reason why computers are sometimes necessary for their detection. Computer modeling reveals hidden, fractal order beneath apparently random, surface behavior typical of many chaotic systems.
An example of this is the Lorenz attractor, which models the unpredictable flow of weather patterns. A slice of this strange attractor, known as a Poincaré section, reveals fractal form not unlike Cantor dust.
One profound insight to be derived from contemporary nonlinear science stems from the fact that human nature is embedded within nature at large, whose essence is chaotic and fundamentally unpredictable. Fundamental unpredictability means that the local, or minute-to-minute details of specific instances can never be precisely anticipated. Yet, beneath the surface of even the most turbulent chaos, usually lurks invisible, exquisite order in the form of fractal attractors. While self-similar patterns can be reliably detected at the global level, their local details remain uncertain and fundamentally unpredictable.
I believe the presence of nonlinearity accounts for the abysmal performance of predictive experiments historically in psychology. Because statistics capture global attractors of highly nonlinear, complex phenomena, this means that even in theory, we can never hope to predict specific behavior in specific individuals. Yet with this new perspective, there is a wealth of new information to be found in old experiments, when statistics are re-examined as evidence for global attractor patterns.
Brownian motion of particles, the ups and downs of the stock market, the spread of epidemics as well as the destructive paths of forest fires are all examples of chaos in nature, with invisible, fractal order lurking underneath. When time series data is plotted for each, a strange attractor is revealed, such as the well-known Lorenz attractor. Lower dimensional cross-sections of these attractors usually display order in the form of fractal structure, including self-similarity at multiple scales of observation.
In highly nonlinear systems, which are characterized by output extremely disproportionate to their input, fractal structure becomes significant in that it serves as the mechanism for sensitive dependence on initial conditions. Sensitive dependence, the hallmark of chaos, means that tiny changes in any starting condition can send a chaotic system careening off into new, entirely unpredictable directions. Underlying fractal structure aids rapid escalation of change by facilitating propagation of pattern from tiny to large scales.
Within the human psyche, chaos is ubiquitous in the brain, where it forms a background for more ordered, perceptual states (Freeman, 1991). Because of high sensitivity and easy mobility, a background of chaos enables us to mobilize attention and change perceptual states rapidly in response to unpredictable environmental shifts. Chaos also appears to form the background of our ordinary mood shifts. Perhaps this sheds light on the use of weather-related metaphors to express human nature, e.g., “feel in a fog,” or “have a brainstorm.” The ups and downs of normal emotion usually display more chaos than the excessive periodicity of certain psychopathological states, like manic-depressive disorder (see Hannah, 1990).
Motor development involves the presence of technical chaos in the unpredictable, jerky movements of the infant, which become constrained and channeled over time (e.g., Thelen & Smith, 1994). Finally, impulsive behavior in adults may represent the immature condition of original chaos improperly constrained (Marks-Tarlow, 1993). With the psyche as with other parts of nature, where chaos is present, fractal structure tends to lurk invisibly beneath in fractal form.
Along with their unseen presence under chaos, many fractals manifest concretely and quite visibly. Fractal geometry offers a cornucopia of shapes more befitting of nature’s uniqueness and complexity than Euclidean geometry ever did. This is so even though mathematicians and artists have been madly cutting and pasting simple Euclidean shapes to approximate natural complexity for centuries.
Why is [Euclidean] geometry often described as ‘cold’ and ‘dry’? One reason lies in its inability to describe the shape of a cloud, a mountain, a coastline, or a tree. Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth, nor does lightning travel in a straight line (Mandelbrot, 1977, p. 1).
As is common with any new field, beginning stages are dominated by defining and classifying phenomena under study. This has been the case for fractal geometry as well. While the precise definition of a fractal is still the subject of hot debate, since Mandelbrot first discovered this branch of geometry, thousands of articles in a multitude of scientific disciplines have detailed the presence of fractals, sometimes in the strangest of places. Physical fractals occupy all niches in nature. They appear at the microscopic level, e.g., diffusion dynamics of chemical leaching, as well as at the cosmic scale, e.g., self-similar clustering of galaxies. They also pervade the macroscopic world in which we live, where self-similar branching patterns are just as likely to appear outside as inside our bodies.
To date, many scientists have dismissed fractals as mere pretty pictures. Perhaps this is because most scientific papers primarily involve fractal identification and classification. I foresee a new era in which fractals can be understood more deeply. I believe this is inevitable, because I perceive fractal form to relate intimately to its function – as record keepers of history as well as boundary keepers between various strata of existence.
Fractals are a means by which time, or system dynamics, gets etched into form via self-similar, recursive loops that exist on multiple size scales. Fractals exist in the paradoxical space between dimensions, levels and forces of existence. They arise at the interface between processes, at boundary zones where they serve both to connect and separate multiple levels.
Before turning in greater depth to the psychological level, here I’ll sketch fractal boundaries and recursive, self-similar dynamics that exist at multiple levels within the human body. My list is not meant to be exhaustive, only indicative. At each level, we can see how fractals are involved with the communication, transportation or transformation of energy, matter and information in and out of the mind/body or between its various subsystems. This is the hallmark of open, complex, self-organizing systems existing in far-from-equilibrium conditions (Prigogine & Stengers, 1984).
At the biological level, our skin is pocked with fractal pores that negotiate the transportation of oxygen inside and of water and toxins outside. Wrinkles, physical evidence of our unique histories becoming etched into our faces, are fractal as well. So too are the pattern of animal markings, such as spots and stripes on leopards and zebras, lending each animal a unique fractal signature.
Many of our internal organs display fractal structure. These include the lungs, which bring air into the body; branching patterns of our arteries and veins, which circulate blood and nutrients throughout the body; the intestines, which transport waste outside; and the brain, our executive center for communication, transportation, navigation and broadly modulating relations between internal and external worlds.
In the field of perception, many of our sensory systems, such as sight and hearing, follow psychophysical power laws. Power laws involve nonlinear, exponential relationships between variables, in this case between how energy is transduced from the material level of signals outside the body to the spiritual level of conscious perception. For example, the formula that relates the internal quality of subjective loudness ( L ) to the external quantity of physical sound intensity
( I ) is L ~ I 0.3. The fractional exponent means that in order to double the loudness of a string quintet, we must increase the number of players tenfold – to fifty, with all musicians maintaining equal power output.
Power laws are self-similar, because the same relationship holds between their variables no matter how they are scaled or rescaled. Newton’s universal law of gravitational attraction, F~ r -2, is another example of a power law. The same relationship holds between mass and gravitational attraction in Newton’s formula, whether manifest at the tiny scale of the wavelength of light or the cosmic scale of light-years.
Due to their nonlinear, exponential increases, power law dynamics in psychophysics ensure that at the lower end of the signal spectrum, tiny amounts of a signal can be detected, as little as a single photon for the eye or single decibel for the ear. Meanwhile at higher ends, because distinctions are made with far less precision, we become capable of perceiving the widest possible range of signals. There is a paradoxical element to power laws – that the same relationship holds between variables at every scale means that they possess no characteristic scale. This hallmark of fractal dynamics is critical not just to psychophysics, where we enjoy the widest range possible of perception, but also to the psyche in general.
We take for granted that our minds generate patterns across broad categories of space, time and person – large and small, short and long, personal and universal – wandering freely within various scales, without being restricted to any characteristic one. Yet this fact is actually quite remarkable. I believe the issue of scale will prove highly fruitful for harvesting regarding how fractal dynamics affect psychotherapy. For example, as a clinician, if I persist in paying attention to tiny, microlevel, process details that seem trivial or irrelevant to my patients, because they are busy with macrolevel, survival level concerns, this can be conceptualized as a misattunement of scale. The degree to which scale matching is critical to feeling understood is an empirical issue in need of further investigation.
Power laws appear not just in psychophysics and Newton’s law, but also all over nature (see Schroeder, 1991). At times their appearance takes on a magical feel, because they connect seemingly unrelated things. For example, over a hundred years ago, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto recognized that a simple power law models the number of people whose personal incomes exceed particular values. More recently George Zipf recognized that a power law connects word rank and word frequency for many natural languages. Suppose we take any ordinary book and count all the words it contains. If we list the words first by rank order of word popularity and next by the actual number of many times each word appears, we find a power law relationship connecting the two. Power laws seem magical when they relate the apparently unconnected, e.g., qualities like rank order, to quantities like frequency.
Continuing with this survey of fractal dynamics related to human boundaries, along with Zipf’s law, self-similar dynamics are evident in language even more broadly, whose symbolic arena is one of the cornerstones of our humanness. Fractal dynamics afford language its remarkable flexibility – the ability for a limited number of words and grammatical rules to enjoy unlimited combinations. At a purely formal level, language clearly consists of self-similar structures: words are embedded within words, phrases within phrases, thoughts within thoughts, etc. That our number system is fractal is so obvious as to seem almost trite. Yet, interestingly, only at the point when it became so, did the concept of infinity arise. That is, only when numbers served as place-holders, could they be recycled infinitely. This made way for continued novelty in the form of calculus and other mathematical advances.
While dozens of books cover the role of fractal geometry in human physiology (e.g., Iannaccone & Khokha, 1995; West, 1990), fractal geometry and the fluid, relational, nonlinear, dynamic framework it demands, is just now beginning to enter the field of psychology. One reason fractals may have been slow in coming is because of the measurement problem. It takes a tremendous number of data points to a plot strange attractor or measure fractal dimensionality. Because fractals in the psyche exist at symbolic, invisible realms, psychologists as of yet can only describe them qualitatively. Yet fractal expert Manfred Schroeder (1991) suggests definitively that fractals exist symbolically, which at least opens the door for psychologists.
Cyberneticist Ron Eglash (1999; Eglash & Broadwell, 1989) examines fractal processes cross-culturally, observing both physical and symbolic fractals as they appear in art and architecture. Eglash and Broadwell make the interesting suggestion that the two levels of concrete versus symbolic fractals correspond to analog versus digital information processing. They illustrate this by examaming the Dogon culture of Mali, where the human body is the primary organizer of meaning.
Reoccurring on multiple size scales among the Dogon, self-similarity manifests partly concretely on smaller size scales and partly symbolically on larger ones. At a small scale, the human form is carved into doorposts, pots and other parts of houses. At a larger scale, the Dogon house is arranged in the form of a human, with various spaces and rooms serving as head, arms and torso. At a larger scale still, the village is laid out in the form of a person, with the smithy symbolizing the head, etc. Finally at the cosmic level, heaven is conceptualized yet again in the shape of a human being. But here the realm is entirely symbolic. In this example, as is typical of fractals broadly, each level is recursively embedded within the next. Meanwhile self-similar structure progresses from concrete to abstract levels, as if from analog to digital processing.
In previous papers (Marks-Tarlow, 1995; 1999), I examine fractal processes related to the purely abstract level of identity formation in the psyche. Perhaps partly because it is so highly symbolic, the self is a vague concept that has never been precisely defined. Some treat the self from a phenomenological perspective, completely as an interior experience. Others emphasize social and interactional components of the self. Still others broaden the lens to include cultural determinants along with their physiological underpinnings. From the widest perspective of all, the self has been viewed in universal, transpersonal terms. Here, pan-cultural themes are woven into tapestries of local, personal and cultural variation.
Historically these perspectives have vied for legitimacy. They compete for the prize of univalent, objective truth. They fight to the death, as if only one correct definition of the self exists. The difficulty in precisely defining the self may stem primarily from the lack of a fractal vantage point where identity is conceptualized multivalently, in terms of self-similar processes repeating on multiple size and event scales.
From the intrapsychic to the universal, I believe each level of analysis to be equally as valid and useful. Each folds into the next, displaying recursively embedded dynamics that recur on multiple levels of observation. Using fractal lenses, I conceptualize the self as an open, multileveled system coupled to other dynamical systems of broadening scope, from biological, physiological levels through intrapsychic, social, cultural, and even transpersonal ones.
A personal identity exists in the interior phenomenological space of our heads; a family identity supplies the uniqueness of each person’s relational dynamics; a regional identity dons the local garb of particular geographical areas; a national identity forms the butt of international jokes and stereotypes. A global identity may even struggle to emerge and bring geographical differences into harmony. In general, such multivalent existence is highly suggestive of fractal dynamics.
Fractals also come into play within the internal attractor structure of personality, which organizes self-similar patterns of behavior at various scales of observations. A timid middle-aged housewife tries to enter the professional world once her children have grown and her nest is empty. One day, early in therapy, she forgets to turn on the red light in the waiting room. By so doing, she keeps her presence invisible. Coincidentally, similar themes of disconnection and invisibility have also appeared in a dream from the night before. In it, the woman frantically tries but fails to get the attention of her boss in order to alert him to a critical flaw she has found in his business machinery. The flaw is miniscule, but so serious it could shut down the whole enterprise.
Together, patient and therapist interpret the dream. Deeply rooted fears are uncovered of tiny flaws under the surface, which endanger the very continuation of this woman’s enterprise, both personal and professional. With her children gone and caretaker role all but eliminated, her primary identity is threatened. This woman feels invisible and disconnected at multiple, recursively embedded levels. She wonders if she will be seen as vital to anyone, including her boss, therapist, and most importantly herself.
When the dream is examined self-referentially, as all dreams can be, this patient’s concerns about visibility and vitality recursively implicate her relationship to her own inner world. In self-fulfilling, self-similar fashion, as this housewife struggles to transform and broaden her role in society, she unconsciously enacts the very conflict she fears most. Ironically, by “forgetting” to turn on the light, she isolates herself at the very moment that consciously she is most eager to discuss and share her predicament.
Because of the capacity for the tiniest fragment of a dream to reflect the whole of the psyche, it is easy to see how beneath the surface, every dream carries fractal structure. Every dream carries full potential for an infinitely deep and wide nexus of interpreted meaning.
The fractal display of personality at multiple scales in everyday life is something most of us pick up intuitively. It comes as no surprise that someone who interrupts us frequently during conversation might simultaneously brag about road rage. This person, who seems to take pleasure in running over us verbally, also enjoys trying to run a fellow traveler off the road. Meanwhile we hear rumor of this man backstabbing a colleague or undercutting his business competition unfairly.
From the micro level of speech patterns, through a medium-scale event of a chance encounter on the highway, to the large-scale level of ongoing business relations, people generally demonstrate self-similar behavior across multiple scales of observation. When this gets rigidly stereotyped, we might think in terms of Freud’s notion of repetition compulsion. But a certain degree of self-similar repetition of behavior is natural, perhaps representing the characteristic “signature” of personality by which others recognize us and we recognize ourselves. When it comes to behavior emitting from the depths of personality, the same fractal dynamics crosscut every scale. This is because when it comes to the psyche, there is no characteristic scale of operation.
Selves in the Paradoxical Space Between
The perspective of the self I offer is of an open, dynamical system that is fractally constellated. My view dovetails with Francisco Varela’s framework of autonomy in biological systems(e.g., Varela, 1979). Varela’s model involves endless feedback loops, which allow biological systems to re-enter themselves continuously. This results in paradoxical dynamics when biological systems are characterized in opposite terms, as being functionally closed yet structurally open. Selves follow the same pattern. They too are “closed” in that, when we are healthy, we retain a cohesive, coherent, ongoing sense of identity. Yet, selves are clearly open via interaction with the others, which constitutes the social mechanics of their negotiation.
My colleagues and I (Marks-Tarlow, Robertson & Combs, under review) have modeled the emergence of identity through endless cycles of reentry. Here, consciousness arcs away from the self, in order to enter into the perspective of another, and then circles back round again. (I see you seeing me; as a result, I see myself ever more clearly.) This model conforms nicely to social mirror theory (e.g., Baldwin, 1902; Cooley, 1968; Mead, 1934; Whitehead, 2001), which posits the development of self and the perception of others to arise hand in hand.
We can readily perceive such feedback cycles through observing young children. A two-year runs carefree, yet inevitably falls down. Not terribly hurt and mostly startled, she immediately looks towards mommy for a reaction. If her mother becomes scared or concerned and protectively rushes over to her child, this toddler will probably become upset, start to cry and take refuge in the very comfort being offered. Alternatively, if mommy smiles and nods approvingly, treating the fall as a necessary part of living and learning, chances are good this toddler will comply with mother’s call for independence by getting up, brushing herself off and taking the event literally into stride.
Of course, such feedback loops work in both directions. If the toddler really is hurt and mother merely nods and smiles, this parent is failing to take any cues from her own child. Mother is in danger of missing the emotional mark. If similar events, however minor, occur frequently over time, the toddler may become confused by mother’s misattunement. The child might begin to mistrust either her own internal signals or mommy herself, who increasingly appears as disconnected and invalidating.
Contrary to popular lore, which maintains that it takes huge, traumatic events to shape basic personality, it is increasingly evident to most clinicians that the tiny falls, tweaks and mishaps are equally, if not more, significant in the formation of basic personality. Like endless waves on a shoreline, ever-similar yet ever-changing at a minute-to-minute level, day in and day out, mommy or other caretakers plus their children are embedded in paradoxical, feedback cycles of subtle nuance. Tiny events, like the toddler’s stumble, form endless feedback loops in both directions, from self other, other to self. Over time, these cycles shape both people by building a repertoire of memory and experience. Out of this foundation, at the next level of complexity, self-image emerges to form self-referential loops in consciousness.
By requiring the ongoing presence of others to become present to our selves, this model of development emphasizes the paradoxical dimensions by which self and other, observer and observed are inseparable. Selves retain a paradoxical quality because the truth of a fixed identity, i.e., its functional closedness, rests precisely on its underlying falsity, i.e., its structural openness.
The idea of selves arising in the paradoxical space between people was articulated elegantly by British object relations psychoanalyst, D. W. Winnicott (e.g.,1971). Winnicott’s most important contribution was the notion of the transitional object. This consists of baby's first possession, such as a blanket or teddy bear, which occupies the fertile space between mother and baby. The transitional object is the first symbolic object that serves both to connect and separate baby and mother. This object is partly discovered and partly created, neither wholly of the one nor of the other, yet it partakes of both. Out of the nebulous space of the transitional object, Winnicott envisions the creative emergence not only of symbol and play, but also most broadly of culture at large.
Winnicott came to his idea of transitional objects after returning again and again to a Tagore poem, "On the seashore of endless worlds, children play." Like a barnacle, this fragment lodged in his psyche upon first encounter. Over the years, wave after wave of meaning washed over him. At first the poem represented endless intercourse between man and woman, with the child emerging from their union. Then the sea represented the mother's body and the land her ego, with the baby spewed upon the land like Jonah from the whale.
Finally out of a long, chaotic state of not-knowing, the notion of "transitional object" crystallized in Winnicott's mind. Both psychoanalyst Stuart Pizer (1998), a pioneer who conceptualizes psychotherapy in nonlinear dynamical terms, and myself believe it no coincidence that Winnicott’s creativity emerged through contemplation of a fractal image. Because fractals inhabit the nebulous territory of the “space between,” their borders provide endlessly fertile, endlessly deep frontiers.
I suggest that the self arises in the paradoxical space between people and events as an ongoing, co-creative, interactive and iterative process. Just as with any fractal, internal structure gets added or removed through the ongoing negotiation of boundaries. This complex border area, where inner and outer, self and other are melded, can be conceptualized in terms of fractal separatrices.
The ordinary conception of a boundary is literally a bounded, or fixed area whose resolution is easily detectable, e.g., the door of our houses or edge of our desks. By contrast, fractal separatrices can never be resolved. Instead they form endless, infinitely complex zones of articulation and negotiation. Here, between any two points, e.g., of self and other, inside and outside, exist infinitely many other points.
The image of fractal separatrices can be viewed in terms of intrapsychic dynamics, such as the dilemma of a person with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder in an ice-cream store. Each color, or basin of attraction, represents a different flavor, and the complex fractal boundary between the four choices illustrates the obsessive nightmare of attempting to use intellect or logic to figure out the “right” choice, when rightness isn’t the issue at all.
In order to understand the complex, nether zone of a fractal separatrix interpersonally, it is useful to examine the psychopathology of the borderline personality. People with this character disorder display chaotically organized psyches, which includes intense, shifting affect and highly unstable relationships. These individuals tend to oscillate between subjective poles of engulfment and abandonment, often harboring central issues of rage and shame. They repeatedly express confusion between self and other. At times, interpersonal confusion reaches a crescendo, to the point denying psychological existence altogether. That is, the borderline is wont to claim that she has no self, to assert in essence, “I don’t exist.” This is the ontological equivalent of the Liar’s paradox, “This statement is false.” In both cases, if it’s true, then it’s false; and if it’s false, then it’s true.
Because of such intense confusion, extreme defensiveness and rigidly closed boundaries, interaction with a borderline personality frequently results in what anthropologist and scientist Gregory Bateson identified as the double-bind. The double-bind, which Bateson postulated as the cause for schizophrenia (e.g., 1972/1956), consists of seemingly impossible, paradoxical demands made on relationships, that involve contradiction at multiple levels of communication. When it comes to borderline personality disorder, paradoxical demands often center upon the issue of blame. For example, “You’re to blame for my hurt. If you don’t think so, you’re wrong, because I know you better than you know yourself. But even if you’re right, you’re still to blame, because you’re always trying to be right at my expense.” In this closed feedback loop that serves to keep contradiction in place, which is what Ben Goertzel (1994) calls “chaotic logic,” we see that engagement with a borderline easily becomes a paradoxical morass, including the potential for endless recursion.
Attempts to ignore multiple realities and ambiguity by always being right while making others wrong results in failure to recognize the fractal quality of boundaries, along with their irresolvable openness. People with borderline personality disorder have often been so hurt or abused by letting others in emotionally, they now feel entirely threatened. Yet the more they fight the open, contradictory nature of psychological boundaries, ironically the more everyone gets sucked into the endless vortex in the space between.
Based on this example alone, we may be tempted to conclude that fractal separatrices characterize only severely pathological states, such as borderline or paranoid personality disorders or psychotic states. Whereas in paranoid states, confusion between inside and outside leads to delusions of trailing FBI Agents or invisible alien attack, in psychosis, such confusion takes on even more profound proportions to invade perception itself, in the form of visual or auditory hallucinations.
Here and previously (Marks-Tarlow, 1999) I propose that fractal separatrices are not just evidence of pychopathology, but characterize all psychological boundaries. Fractal separtrices between inside and outside mean we all carry the potential for confusion between self and world, projections, delusions, hallucinations or self and other, e.g., introjections, projective identification, delusions and borderline double-binds. Yet, except under extreme conditions of stress, most of us resist these vulnerabilities. We can usually let this seam alone, because in ordinary daily functioning, it proves irrelevant. By contrast, psychopathology is characterized either by excessive rigidity or too much chaos that causes us to deny, fight, reject, ignore or repress this potentially scary, disheartening condition.
The major difference between psychological health and psychopathology is not so much the possession of clearer or cleaner boundaries. Rather it is more that in health we possess the wherewithal and flexibility to recognize, tolerate, and if we’re lucky even welcome, the vagueness, uncertainty and ambiguity inevitable with fractal separatrices. We don’t need to lose ourselves in infinitely complex, irresolvable boundaries as long as we understand them.
Along with a source of psychopathology, open boundaries are a fount of aliveness, creativity, and even higher consciousness. They preserve the mystery and wonder of life. We grow through our ability to tolerate ambiguity, to hold opposites without succumbing to the tension of reducing one side to the other, and to understand ambivalence. All these emotional skills relate to embracing rather than rejecting underlying fractal dynamics, along with their paradoxical elements.
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This classic work of scholarship and empathy tells the story of the self-creation of the African-American people. It assesses the full impact of the Middle Passage -- "the most traumatizing mass human migration in modern history" -- and of North American slavery both on the enslaved and on those who enslaved them. It explores the ways in which a nominally free society perverted its own freedoms and denied the fact that an inhuman institution lies at the heart of the American experience. The authority and eloquence of this work make it essential reading for all who want to understand the American past and present.
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Rent Black Odyssey 1st edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Nathan I. Huggins. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Vintage.
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For most people on the run, making healthy food choices and maintaining a healthy weight is a challenge. This is no different for Salem resident Jackie O’Donnell, 62, who has struggled throughout her life to keep unwanted pounds off.
In 1995, she enrolled in NSMC’s LEARN program, a comprehensive non-surgical weight management program, and lost 70 pounds. But with a busy lifestyle and hectic schedule, she found herself going astray and gaining some of the weight back. Fifteen months ago, she came back to the LEARN program with the determination to make concrete changes to her lifestyle to achieve lifetime results.
“What I like about this program is that I can still enjoy food. It’s all about balance,” said O’Donnell. “I know if I’m going out to dinner and want dessert, I plan for it and eat a little healthier during the day. I get the dessert. I enjoy every bite, but I don’t overdo it. The next day, I am back at the gym. I don’t beat myself up about food anymore. I am finally in control.”
Created at Yale University, the LEARN program is a lifestyle plan designed to help participants achieve permanent results by focusing on five key areas that are essential to successful weight loss: Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitudes, Relationships and Nutrition (LEARN).
“To be healthy, see changes and achieve lifelong success, participants must be ready to make permanent lifestyle changes,” said Patricia Moore, R.D., a registered dietitian and program director for LEARN, who focuses on the right way to choose food, read nutrition labels, control portion sizes and incorporate exercise into a daily routine.
“Before the program I didn’t think about anything I ate and never read food labels,” said O’Donnell, who recalls being shocked when she learned the right portion of breakfast cereal was not even half of what she was eating. An essential part of the program is a food journal, where participants keep a daily log of what they’re eating and how much, so they can determine what helps them lose or maintain their weight and what doesn’t. “The program does not ban any type of foods,” said Moore. “It’s through healthy choices and portion control that they achieve results.”
Armed with this knowledge, O’Donnell now reads every label and measures out all food. “What amazes me is that I don’t miss the extra food I was eating. I am consuming just want my body needs,” she said. This time through the program, O’Donnell is building on the basics that she learned during her first program by focusing more on diet and exercise. She is also relying on the support the group atmosphere provides. “We are all on the journey to becoming healthier people together and we are all there to help one another,” said O’Donnell. During these group sessions, participants have a confidential weigh-in and they share struggles and success stories as well as exercises and healthy recipes they have tried. “It’s typical for many program graduates to return for a second or a third session,” said Moore. “They’re very supportive of each other and when they complete the program they miss that support.”
O’Donnell has committed to working out with a trainer three days a week for an hour each time. “I feel so energized after I work out. The support I get from the other group members in LEARN and the support from a trainer really keeps me going,” said O’Donnell. “Sometimes it is a challenge to get to the gym, but I am in this for the long run and the more active I stay, the better I feel.”
Though exercise is a component of the program, joining a health club is not a requirement. For those seeking a less intimidating and medically supervised environment, participants can enroll in the gym at the NSMC Wellness and Integrative Medicine Center in Salem, which has a variety of gym equipment and numerous exercise classes such as yoga and strength training classes.
Since January 2009, O’Donnell has shed 62 pounds and is continuing her journey to a healthier life. “This program has taught me so much. Living a healthy lifestyle is hard work, but I now know how to make informed decisions about food and how important exercise is. I know I can do this. I am not just lighter, I am healthier,” said O’Donnell.
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Don’t be an oxymoron. Know your literary terms.
Over 200 literary terms, Shmooped to perfection.
When the British Empire was at its height in the early part of the 20th century, it covered over 22% of the world's land area. Think about that for a minute. King George V ruled over almost a quarter of the globe. Now that's power.
And when you have that much power, there's bound to be some backlash. In literature, that backlash comes to us in the form of postcolonial literature, which depicts the life of colonized—or formerly colonized—people. You know, those regular folks who were living in Africa or India under European rule, or in its aftermath. So it's no surprise, then, that postcolonial works often address issues of identity, the loss of tradition, foreignness, power, and contrasting regions.
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- Secession of states of the
Deep South—by December 20th South Carolina had voted to Secede
repealing its ratification of the Constitution and dissolving its union with
- They used the threats to
slavery as well as the election of a “sectional” candidate who was “hostile”
to slavery; had said “government cannot endure permanently half slave, half
free,” and had stated that slavery was on its way to extinction.
- By February 1861 they were
joined by the Deep South states and they together wrote a Constitution for
the Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis president and
Alexander Stephens VP. They were joined by the upper south later.
Buchanan's reaction to
- He was the “lame-duck”
president and thought secession was just a bluff. He thought people and not
states were in rebellion so he couldn’t do anything about it.
- The secessionists seized
federal property throughout the South and Buchanan was faced with the task of
holding on to some isolated positions such as—Fort Pickens, Florida and some
remote islands off the coast of Florida; and, Fort Sumter.
- Fort Sumter had just been
finished and Major Robert Anderson moved his troops there from nearby Fort
Moultrie. South Carolina authorities were not amused.
- Buchanan had finally done
something and stood firm telling SC the Unionists would not withdraw. He
sent a ship, Star of the West, with reinforcements and provisions and the SC
militia fired on the ship turning it away.
- Buchanan ignored this act
of war hoping instead for fruits of compromise to take hold.
Last efforts at compromise
- Congress tried to compromise
until right up till inauguration day. Senator John J. Crittenden (KY) called
for a compromise to expend slavery to the Pacific using the old 39-30 line.
Neither house of Congress went for it.
- The best attempt at
compromise was an amendment guaranteeing slavery where it existed.
- Republicans including
Lincoln supported this but not in the territories. On inauguration day it
passed the Senate 24-12 after passing the House earlier.
- It would have become the 13th
amendment and the first time “slavery” was mentioned in the Constitution but
the states never ratified it. As it turns out the 13th amendment
was ratified after the Civil War and it abolished slavery.
The End of the Interim Period
- Lincoln’s hints—during his
round-about train trip to DC he told the NJ legislature “The man does not live
who is more devoted to peace than I am… But it may be necessary to put the
foot down.” Rumors of assassination plot forced him to take a night train
through Baltimore and slip into DC unnoticed.
- The inauguration—he again
vowed not to interfere with slavery where it existed but he disavowed that any
state could secede and he vowed to keep federal areas and collect taxes and
deliver mail, unless violence prevented it. He made to mention that no force
would be used against anyone anywhere.
- “I am loathe to close. We
are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may
have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords
of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every
living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the
chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the
better angels of our nature.”
Presidential appointments—in addition to entering office during the most
stressful time ever, Lincoln found himself surrounded with political
office-seekers from the whole of the Republican Party.
- Many of the members of
his new cabinet thought they were better qualified than he was to lead the
country and they had even competed for the nomination at Chicago.
- He named William Seward
Secretary of State and Salmon Chase Secretary of the Treasury.
The conflict begins—the day after inauguration word arrived form
Charleston that supplies were running out and Lincoln decided to re-supply after
notifying the governor of SC.
- Jefferson Davis at
Montgomery decided not to let him. Confederate general Pierre Beauregard
demanded the fort to surrender and Major Anderson refused and at 4:30 a.m.
on April 12 the shelling commenced for the next 30 hours.
- On April 14th
Anderson surrendered. The following day Lincoln called on the states to
supply 75,000 state militia members to put down the rebellion. On April 19th
he declared a blockade of the southern ports.
Secession of the upper South—northern states had no qualms about
furnishing troops but the states of Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North
Carolina especially had real problems with the thought of fighting against their
sister (slave) states.
- Once Virginia seceded the
capitol of the Confederacy moved from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond,
- In the mountainous
regions of Tennessee and Virginia unionism ran high and in Tennessee the
mountain counties sent more troops to the Union than to the Confederacy.
- In western Virginia the
area would break with the eastern part of the state and form the state of
West Virginia in 1863 with a constitution that allowed for the gradual
emancipation of slaves.
- The suspension of habeas
corpus was used to hold Maryland in the Union as the defection of this
state would have isolated DC within the Confederacy!
- Maryland was always a
difficult place for the Federals as the first four casualties of the war
occurred when troops walking from one train station to another were set
upon with rocks and rifles and four of the Sixth Massachusetts regiment
- Habeas corpus means
that judges can require arresting officers to justify their arrests but
once suspended they threw pro-Confederate leaders in jail thereby
ensuring a solid pro-Union majority in the state.
- Divided Kentucky—home to
both Lincoln and Davis, they had a Unionist majority but tried to maintain
“neutrality” while Lincoln assured them that a war against secession was
not a war against slavery.
- Their “neutrality” was
made easier when US Grant moved into the state with federal troops.
- The battle for
Missouri—although the Unionists outnumbered the Confederates, the
sympathizers were able to muster a Confederate militia in the heart of St.
- The Unionists chased
them from town finally defeating them at Pea Ridge (Arkansas) in March
1862. Border warfare continued unabated however between Missouri and
Lee’s decision to join the Confederacy—his father was a Revolutionary war
hero and he himself had been in the US Army for 30 years. His estate faced
Washington DC and General Winfield Scott offered him the command of the entire
- He refused saying that he
could not go against his birthplace and resigned his commission and
retired to his estate before being called to the Confederate cause.
Examples of family splits—Franklin Buchanan commanded the Virginia and
sank the USS Congress with his brother on board, John Crittenden of KY had a son
in each army.
- J. E. B. Stuart fought
against his father-in-law in the Peninsula Campaign.
- Mrs. Lincoln had four
brothers and three brothers-in-law in the Confederacy.
- Pro-Union sentiment in the
South ran high in some places—every Confederate State except SC organized
Federal units to fight for the Union.
- Some Confederates who were
captured chose to fight out west against the Indians rather than stay in
- In Texas six counties were
declared in rebellion and the Confederate state government had to send in
the troops to defeat them.
- Especially hard hit were
the German immigrants and 34 of them were executed when they tried to
escape to Mexico.
- The Arkansas Peace
Society saw several members executed for opposing secession and war.
Balance sheet for the war—the
danger is in thinking that a northern victory was a foregone conclusion as it
was anything but. The human factor played a decisive role.
- The North’s advantages—they
had a larger population (22 million to 9 million, but even 3.5 million of them
were slaves). This was a four to one advantage for the north; the Confederacy
then had to employ a far greater percentage of their population to equal the
playing field and 1/3 of them died.
- Industry—the only iron
industry in the South was the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond and the Northern
industries turned out 97% of the firearms and 96% of the railroad equipment.
They also had the distinct advantage in banking and finance.
- Farm production—went to the
North also as the South would see their agricultural output upset during the
war while northern farms increased their output. The North produced a surplus
of wheat while those crops in Europe failed leading King Wheat to replace King
- Transportation—this advantage
grew larger as the war dragged on and the north had about 20,000 miles of
railroads to the South’s 10,000 but the Southern railroads were mainly short
and built of differing gauges so that cars couldn’t use separate tracks.
- The North had three lines
connecting them to the western farmers and the South only had one from
Memphis to Chattanooga.
- The South’s advantage—first
they only had to fight a defensive war on their own territory. They also had
the strongest military leaders with two military schools in the South, The
Citadel and VMI. This in addition to the Southerners that went to West Point.
- Sea power was an important
advantage for the North—secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles was one of the
best and oversaw the growth of the navy from about 50 to 650 ships.
- The navy was able to
effectively cut off the South from the rest of the world through its
blockade. The smaller boats were particularly effective in the Southern
rivers as when they gained advantage of the Mississippi and other
The War’s Early Course
- Most people thought it would
be a quick war with a Napoleon like major battle that causes the army to
become demoralized and lose the will to fight.
- Winfield Scott’s strategy for
the North—he devised the “Anaconda Plan” where the Federals would blockade the
South then divide over and over the South by attacking south by way of the
rivers. No one bought into this plan of Scott’s at first because the war was
going to be over so quickly.
First Battle of Bull Run—after
Fort Sumter Beauregard was chomping at the bit to fight and Davis then sent him
north to the railroad junction of Manassas about 25 miles west of DC. Lincoln
countered by sending General Irvin McDowell to meet the outnumbered
- From there they would quickly
move on the Richmond and the war would be over. As such, hundreds of civilians
marched out to picnic and watch the battle and came away having seen horror.
- The two generals had been
classmates at West Point and just when the Rebels seemed to be defeated
General Bernard Bee of SC rallied his troops when he yelled, “Look, there is
Jackson with his Virginians, standing like a stone wall.” The resultant
nickname will last in perpetuity.
- When McDowell’s charge failed
his troops turned and ran back towards DC where they mixed with the terrified
civilians. Federal politicians tried to sway the soldiers into fighting by
threatening to shoot them, but to no avail.
- “We called them cowards,
denounced then in the most offensive terms, pulled out our heavy revolvers
and threatened to shoot them, but in vain; a cruel, crazy, mad, hopeless
panic possessed them.”
- Jackson wanted to give
chase but his troops were as frazzled as those of the North. The battle was
indecisive but the failure of the Confederacy to give chase may have been
the greatest mistake of the war.
Emerging Strategies—after Bull
Run all knew the war would last for awhile and now Scott’s Anaconda Plan was put
- The North would protect DC
while trying to attack Richmond.
- The southern coast was
- The Mississippi, Tennessee
and Cumberland Rivers would be invaded as well dividing the Confederacy.
- The Confederate plan was
much easier; they would try to defend themselves until they could convince
France and England to recognize them and aid in their cause.
- Also, they would count on
public sentiment in the North to turn against the war—all they had to do in
this regard was hope for a high casualty rate.
- When they were recruiting
their army, diplomats were also in Paris and London while Confederate
sympathizers were urging and end to the war in the North.
Naval Operations—after Bull Run
throughout the rest of 1861 the navy took center stage in the east.
- In Norfolk, the Confederates
outfitted a former Union frigate in iron (The Merrimac) and renamed it the CSS
- It played havoc with Union
ships at the entrance to the Chesapeake until the Monitor showed up a day
later and they fought to a draw. (The Merrimac was scuttled when they gave
up Norfolk shortly after).
- After gaining naval
supremacy, the Union then captured forts up and down the southern coast. By
the spring of 1862 David Farragut had captured New Orleans and Baton Rouge
giving the Federals control of the lower Mississippi.
Forming Armies—Lincoln’s early
calls for volunteers—he called for 1,000,000 troops after Bull Run and the
states sent them as state regiments, many led by politicians—many inept.
recruitment—they served for a year as volunteers and by 1862 Davis had to use
- By 1864 those from 18-45
could be drafted. One could avoid the draft in the South by providing a
substitute (not of draft age) or by paying $500.
- Also, those who served in
“critical” areas could stay at home. Since teachers were critical, an
explosion in education occurred in the South during the war.
- Any white who owned a
plantation with more than 20 slaves could stay home leading to the cry “a rich
man’s war and a poor man’s fight.”
- Many state officials abused
the system by working in “vital” jobs.
In the South the draft was a bit
of an irony as it gave a strong central government those very rights that the
Southerners had always bitched about back in the Union days.
Union conscription—started in
1863 and included those aged 20-45. One could also buy a substitute or pay $300.
The draft ion the North and the
South led people to volunteer, either for bounties or to be spared the disgrace
of being drafted.
- New York draft riots—the
announcement of the draft in July of 1863 led to riots among the immigrants,
especially the Irish.
- They took out most of their
rage on the blacks but also attacked republicans, factories, offices, homes,
and by the time it was over one week later, 120 people were dead.
- “A child of 3 years of age
was thrown from a 4th story window and instantly killed. A woman
one after her confinement was set upon and beaten with her tender babe in
hers arms… children were torn from their mother’s embrace and their brains
blown out in the very face of the afflicted mother. Men were burnt by slow
- Union soldiers returning
from Gettysburg finally restored order.
The West in the Civil
War—settlers continued to stream into the west during the Civil War and precious
metals continued to move east. As a result new communications lines and
stagecoach lines carried both. New territories organized during the war were
Dakota, Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Arizona and Montana. Nevada would reach
statehood by 1864.
- The Kansas-Missouri
border—most soldiers in the west headed east to fight but one problem area was
this border as precious metals had to be protected and Lincoln had to win
support for his presidency.
- Confederate leader William
C. Quantrill reeked havoc in Lawrence, Kansas when his followers were
ordered to “kill every male and burn every house.”
- They killed 182 men and
boys on august 21, 1863.
- They were opposed by the
Jayhawks who originated under John Brown and were the counterpart to the
- The Jayhawk is a
mythical bird whose origin is rooted in the historic struggles of Kansas
- The name combines two
birds-the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome thing known to rob nests, and
the sparrow hawk, a stealthy hunter.
Actions in the West—in the east
nothing much happened after Manassas allowing actions in the west to take center
stage, beginning with Albert Sidney Johnston’s attempts to take Kentucky.
- Grant’s move against Forts
Donelson—Johnston was driven from Kentucky when Grant defeated him here and
opened the way to Nashville by water (Tennessee River).
- This is where he gets the
nickname “Unconditional Surrender” for his terms to Johnston who then
abandoned KY and TN for Corinth, MS, a railroad junction.
Battle of Shiloh—after gaining
KY and TN Grant continued down the Tennessee towards Corinth.
- Before he could reach
Johnston and the Confederates, they attacked him at Shiloh.
- The only thing that saved
Grant and his troops was the fatal wounding of Johnston and his second in
command called off the attack.
- Grant was reinforced the next
day and defeated the Confederates who went back to Corinth with the Union
troops too beat up to give chase.
- Grant said the next day
that the ground was “so covered with dead one could walk across the field
without touching the ground.”
- The 25,000 casualties
suffered here exceeded the total dead and wounded of the Revolution, War
of 1812 and the Mexican War combined!!!
- For his part, Grant was
replaced after this battle by his superior (jealous) Henry Halleck who
spread rumors that grant was drunk at Shiloh. The Union campaign then ground
to a halt.
- Halleck, like McClellan
had a case of the “slows” and the Confederates abandoned Corinth headed
for the rail center of Chattanooga, which also tied together eastern
Tennessee and Lincoln wanted to control these rails and the Unionists
campaign—after Manassas Lincoln replaced McDowell with McClellan and he would
build a well-trained well-organized army whose troops loved him. But, he was too
concerned with losing a battle to go out and win one.
- He used Allan Pinkerton to
estimate the strength of his enemy and he always overestimated so McClellan
always needed more troop before he attacked. Lincoln wanted the army to move
straight south to Richmond but McClellan had other ideas.
- He wanted to sail down the
Potomac and then turn up the Peninsula of Virginia traveling to Richmond
between the York and James rivers. By the end of May the Union troops had
advanced so close to Richmond that Davis sent his own family out of the city,
and then McClellan lost.
- Robert Lee now was an adviser
to Davis told him to send stonewall Jackson west into the Shenandoah Valley to
draw out McDowell who was protecting Washington.
- McClellan fought at Seven
Pines to a draw then Robert Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia.
The two then fought the Seven Days Battle but Lee couldn’t dislodge the Union
forces. Lincoln then demoted McClellan.
Second Battle of Bull
Run—McClellan was ordered to abandon the peninsula and come back to Washington
where a new attempt would be made on Richmond straight south.
Lee’s invasion at Antietam—Grant
took his time going north and Lee and Jackson both attacked the Union forces
again at Manassas. The Union was soundly defeated this time too and pulled back
to Washington once again. McClellan was put back in charge.
Antietam—(Sharpsburg) Lee now
headed for the north for a lot of reasons—not the least of which was to get
recognition of the South from Europe.
- He would attack Pennsylvania
if he could reach it, but his plans were found wrapped around a cigar in
western Maryland, and McClellan gave chase, but delayed as usual allowing Lee
to reassemble the army he split up hours earlier.
- McClellan attacked but Lee’s
forces were reinforced by A. P. Hill’s troops not so fresh off victory at
- The battle ended in a draw
after the single bloodiest day in American history—well over 20,000
casualties including nine generals’ dead.
- McClellan called it a
victory but Lincoln had other thoughts, “If you don’t want to use the army,
I should like to borrow it for a while.” He then removed McClellan for good
sending him to recruiting duty in NJ.
- Lincoln’s appointment of
Ambrose Burnside and the Battle of Fredericksburg—he picked the worst general
he could have, and Burnside twice before turned down the job as he felt unfit
for so large a job.
- Burnside would attack
Richmond in the middle of winter 1862-1863 by way of Fredericksburg. On
December 13, they attacked across a large field getting killed by the
hundreds trying to attack the Confederate position atop Marye’s Heights.
- By the end of the suicidal
day the Union forces had lost 12,000 and Burnside was said to weep at the
order to withdraw.
- At the end of 1862 the
east was deadlocked, the west was stalled and the northern democrats were
calling for a peace settlement.
- The president’ owns
competency was called into question with his poor choices for commanders
but the bigger picture saw the north’s superior resources beginning to pay
- After Antietam Lincoln
signed the Emancipation Proclamation—to take effect on January 1st.
The move for emancipation—as the
war dragged on slaves began to show up in Union camps and Lincoln at first had
to be careful what to do with them as they could chase the Border States south.
- In April 1862 he outlawed
slavery in the District with compensation, but by later that year he decided
that the war had to be turned into a war of abolition.
- It would thus lend a moral
cause to the war in the north and it would end any hopes the south had of
England or France recognizing a slave nation. But, he needed a victory
before issuing the proclamation. The best he could do was Antietam since at
least Lee had withdrawn.
- What he did was free any
slave that resided in a state that was in rebellion. Robert Smalls took over
a southern gunboat and sailed to freedom later becoming a Congressman.
Blacks in the military—mostly
they were used as guides, informants or laborers. The thought of using them as
military forces scared the white population too much but the proclamation said
that blacks could enroll in the military—albeit in all-black units.
- One such unit was the 54th
Massachusetts led by Colonel Robert Shaw and he led an assault on Fort Wagner,
SC losing almost half of the unit including Shaw.
- The Confederates threw his
body in an unmarked grave along with the bodies of his comrades. The use of
black troops was a large blow to the rebel soldiers.
- By 1865 Tennessee and
Missouri would abolish slavery and in December 1865 the 13th
amendment became part of the Constitution and would become law when ratified
by ¾ of the reunited states.
Women and the war
- In the South women took on
all the traditional roles of men as most of the men were off fighting the war.
But they also faced the wrath of the slaves.
- In the North Dorothea Dix and
Clara Barton volunteered their services as nurses and led the 20,000 who
served as such.
- Barton followed the war and
at Antietam she was so close to the fighting that while she worked on a
patient a bullet tore through her sleeve and killed her patient!
- People like Barton had to
challenge male doctors and male bureaucrats thus winning greater confidence
in their abilities in the process.
Government during the War
- The impact of secession on
Congress was monumental—the Southern politicians that dominated were all gone
and now the Republicans were in control.
- They passed a tariff a
transcontinental railroad and a homestead act by the end of 1862.
- The National Banking Act
created a federal bank that issued the only notes offered and these bank
notes that were100% backed.
- National banks were now
required to back their banknotes with interest bearing federal government
bonds. So in the event of a national bank failure, the note holder would
be repaid by the bond on deposit.
- Also with this act, came
the creation of the Comptroller of the Currency, a department of the U.S.
Treasury. This gave the Comptroller of the Currency the primary
supervisory control of the national banks.
- This act gave birth to
the national banking system with federally chartered banks. This gave the
states the power to limit branching within their borders.
- This prevented banks from
expanding the amount of bank notes in circulation which caused the money
supply to decrease.
- The Morrill Land Grant Act
was created to give land to states for use as state colleges for agriculture
and mechanics—URI was one.
Financing the War
Methods used in the
North—increased tariff and excise taxes on every profession. In addition, an
income tax was levied for the first time and the Internal Revenue Act creates an
agency to collect these taxes.
- Taxes came in slowly so
Congress also reverted to the issuance of greenbacks (color). This money was
backed by bonds that the new banks were required to invest in.
- Many business leaders honed
their skills during this time too as J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller and
Andrew Carnegie began their fortunes. The Civil War was quite unpleasant for
many Americans but it was great for Wall Street.
- Many of the era's foremost
robber barons— J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Jay
Gould— dodged the draft by paying $300 to hire a substitute.
- This modest investment left
them free to spend the war years getting rich instead of getting shot. Many
on Wall Street, including Morgan, made a fortune speculating in gold, the
price of which rose against the dollar with each defeat of the Union Army.
- Appalled, President Lincoln
announced that he hoped every gold speculator ‘had his devilish head shot
- Meanwhile, Morgan was
financing a deal to buy 5,000 rifles from a Union Army arsenal in New York
for $3.50 apiece, and then sell them to the Union Army in Virginia for $22
- The rifles were
defective—causing soldiers to shoot their thumbs off.
Confederate finances—a disaster
- Import and export duties were
used but both were low and a direct tax on property was used but the
collection was left to the states that filled their quotas by floating loans.
- Taxes on other items after
1863 did nothing but outrage farmers who then found many ways to avoid them.
They also sold bonds but as a last resort they printed paper money to the tune
of 1 billion dollars worth.
- By 1864 a turkey cost $100
and a pound of bacon cost $10. Those in the country could provide for
themselves but in the cities things were very bad indeed.
- Importance of diplomacy to
the Confederacy—they tried first and foremost to get outside help and were
stymied as they thought that King Cotton would aid them in military aid and
- Even though they were
blockaded they imposed an embargo on their own cotton in the hopes that
European countries would come to their aid but instead, they found supplies
of cotton elsewhere, like Egypt and India.
- The only time England
seriously came close to intervention was with the Trent affair—when the Union
stopped this British ship that was carrying James Mason and John Slidell—tow
- Lincoln and Seward caved
and let Mason and Slidell go.
- The one avenue that the
Confederates did succeed in getting supplies was with raiding ships,
especially the Alabama and the Florida. They were not considered warships
because they leave shipyards unarmed and picked up guns later.
- These British-built
commerce-raiders destroyed about 250 US merchant ships throughout the
- The Laird “rams”
(1863)—two CSA warships being constructed in the Laird Shipyard in GB. The
ships were designed to destroy Union blockading vessels, and probably would
have! US threatened war with Britain if the ships are delivered—the crisis
is averted when the Royal Navy purchases the ships.
- Lincoln faced the pressure of
the Radicals—they were the abolitionists and were led by Thaddeus Stevens,
Charles Sumner and Ben Wade—they wanted to confiscate plantations, free
slaves, but the majority of the party backed Lincoln’s plan for war.
- Actions of the Democrats—they
lost Stephen Douglas in June 1861. Most war democrats supported Lincoln
especially senator Andrew Johnson (TN) and Secretary of War Stanton.
- A “peace wing” caused
problems for Lincoln, however, even flirting with disloyalty to the Union.
They were called “copperheads” and were mostly in Ohio, Illinois and Indiana
and many were formerly southerners.
- They were led by men like
Clement Vallandigham who was arrested under the suspension of habeas corpus
and thrown in jail for the duration of the war. He was later banished to the
Confederacy by Lincoln.
- The Democrats meeting at
Chicago for their national convention picked George McClellan to head their
ticket. They wanted peace but McClellan backed off this stance and the party
really was in disarray.
- The Republicans went with
Lincoln who then picked Andrew Johnson of TN dropping Hannibal Hamlin.
- They changed their party
name to the National Union Party for the one election. Lincoln fully
expected to lose but the tide turned when Farragut captured Mobile, Sherman
captured Atlanta, and Lincoln granted furlough to soldiers to go home to
- Results—212 to 21 with
McClellan taking only NJ, Delaware and KY.
Confederate politics… a disaster
- Status of politics in the
Confederate system—Davis and Stephens were elected to a six-year term and
didn’t like one another.
- Davis while in Richmond had
to contend with the Richmond bread riot in April of 1863 when women rioted
over the price of flour—he persuaded them personally to disperse.
- He had dissenters as did
Lincoln, the German counties of Texas, the hills of Arkansas and the Piedmont
of North Carolina as well as much of the Appalachian spine presented problems
- But his biggest problems were
of states’ rights in the Confederacy—the states that seceded did so partly
over control of the central government so then they guarded themselves against
letting Davis do the same from Richmond.
- His worst detractor in this
regard probably was his VP who left Richmond to sulk in Georgia. For his
part, Davis was said to be stubborn, insecure and indecisive, but once he
made a decision, he stuck with it.
- Where Lincoln was pragmatic
(practical—go with whatever works), Davis was dogmatic (opinionated without
Wearing down the Confederacy
- Appointment of Joseph E.
Hooker to lead the North—Lincoln turned to Hooker as a replacement for
Burnside but he too would fail in his first big test.
- Battle of Chancellorsville (a
Confederate victory) (May 1-5, 1863)—Hooker had 130,000 under his command and
Lee had half that many.
- Gen. Joseph Hooker,
Burnside's successor, had planned to flank Lee, who was still entrenched
near Fredericksburg, and get between him and Richmond. However, Lee came out
to meet Hooker in Virginia's Wilderness, detaching Jackson for a flanking
- He divided his army with
Jackson going west towards the “Wilderness” and here he was shot in the dark
by his own troops. He lost his left arm and then caught pneumonia and died a
few days later.
- Said Lee, “Jackson lost his
left arm, but I have lost my right arm, and I do not know how to replace
him.” It would be Lee’s last significant victory.
- Grant’s successful assault on
Vicksburg—after Shiloh Grant went west to get control of the Mississippi by
laying siege to Vicksburg and starving them out.
- Lee’s unsuccessful invasion
at Gettysburg—Lee needed to take the heat off Vicksburg and sought to do so by
winning a major battle on northern soil.
- Hooker followed Lee north
but resigned halfway to Pennsylvania after a fight with Halleck. General
George Meade now took charge.
- While on their way to
Harrisburg (rail center) some of Lee’s troops turned southward to the town
of Gettysburg to look for shoes. There they were met by the Union forces and
a fight ensued.
- The battle lasted for three
days and was won by the Union defended Cemetery Ridge.
- Lee had planned for two
of his generals to rush across a field on a suicide mission and only one
general went for it; George Pickett, General Longstreet didn’t buy into
the plan so Pickett’s division went it alone.
- Of the 15,000 who started
the trek across the field, only 5,000 made it. Only a few survivors made
it back to behind the Confederate lines where Lee told Pickett to regroup
his position—“General Lee, I have no division.”
- Years later, Pickett said
“That old man had my division slaughtered.”
- The Confederates
retreated having failed to take the pressure off Vicksburg—indeed,
Vicksburg surrendered on July 4th while Lee’s men marched home
in the driving rain. Meade failed to give chase.
- Union victory at Chattanooga
(September 1863)—another rail center in eastern Tennessee and gateway to
Georgia, they met at a place called Chickamauga a few miles south of town.
- Rosecrans won here then
chased Bragg into Georgia where Bragg then won at Chickamauga. The South
could have won more decisively except that General Thomas (Union) earned his
nickname—“The Rock of Chickamauga.”
- The Union withdrew to
Chattanooga however, and Bragg cut the rail lines from the west cutting off
supplies. Grant was on his way with Sherman from the West and reopened the
supplies lines and replaced Rosecrans as commander.
- The Union troops then
attacked Lookout Mountain in the “Battle above the Clouds” and the
Confederate forces fled. Bragg was replaced after this battle and the
federals now held all Tennessee. From the Union standpoint—Lincoln now
realized he had a general after all—Grant.
Defeat of the Confederacy—during
the winter of 1863-1864 the South was sensing defeat everywhere. The Union
forces sensed it as well as well and decided to step up attacks.
- Lincoln had a new general and
would send him south to Richmond after Lee and Sherman would come north from
- The difference in the east
was that this time Grant would practice total war against Lee by constantly
attacking them killing their will to fight. Grant would also wage total war
destroying everything along the way that could aid the Confederacy.
The Wilderness Campaign—May 1864
Grant caught up with Lee next to Chancellorsville and this marked the first time
the two generals squared off. Grant suffered heavier casualties but Lee was
running out of replacements.
- Although Grant’s officers
were in awe of Lee and expected to go north after the battle to lick their
wounds—Grant instead gave chase to Spotsylvania with Lee’s troops getting
there barely ahead of Grant’s!
- Some of the deadliest
fighting of the war occurred here at the Bloody Angle.
- June 1864 saw the same forces
meet up at Cold Harbor closing in on Richmond. Grant’s troops suffered 7,000
casualties in 20 minutes. Many printed their names on the uniforms and one
wrote in his diary—“June 3, 1864, Cold Harbor, Virginia. I was killed.”
- After this series of battles
Grant became known as the “Butcher,” and the loss of life led Lincoln to think
that he would be defeated in the upcoming election. From here Grant went south
to Petersburg, 25 miles south of Richmond and a rail center where he dug in to
siege the city.
- The siege lasted nine
months with occasion battles such as the “Crater” when the Union forces
tried to tunnel under the Rebels and blow them up.
- Lee’s troops were in bad
shape after nine months suffering from a loss of supplies and cold, and
desertions ran high. Lee then made a decision to leave Petersburg to join
with Johnston’s troops in North Carolina.
Sherman’s march through the
South—Sherman took Atlanta and burned the warehouses and rails on his way to the
ocean. Helping matters were the fact that Davis replaced Bragg with Johnston
then crazy man John B. Hood.
- Hood tried to keep Sherman
from destroying Georgia with his scorched earth policy by luring him into
Tennessee but Sherman wouldn’t give chase.
- Hood found too many Federals
waiting for him in Tennessee anyway and the confederate forces were finally
defeated at the Battle of Nashville (December 1864).
- Meanwhile, Sherman burned and
destroyed everything in his path—he knew that the important thing was not
strength of one’s army but one’s will to wage war, and he broke the will of
- By the time he got to the
Atlantic he left a 250 mile path of destruction in his wake then turned north
and did even worse to that “hell-hole of secession,” South Carolina.
Appomattox—winter of 1864 was
especially harsh on Lee and his troops were also abreast of the news coming from
- With many of his troops
deserting, he made plans to abandon Petersburg to link up with Johnston’s army
in North Carolina. Davis also fled Richmond at this time only to be caught in
Georgia in May.
- Lee tried to find the rails
south but found his escape route blocked by General Phil Sheridan and then
dressed in his best dress blues and met with a filthy Grant and he
- Grant let Lee’s officers keep
their firearms and the soldiers kept their horses and went home. A week later
Johnston surrendered to Sherman. During the month of May confederate forces
throughout the country surrendered as well.
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Like many of you I am also troubled by the pervasiveness of stories about black Confederates and the irresponsibility and ignorance of those who perpetuate these myths. This morning I received an email from someone familiar with the North Carolina Department of Archives and History who took the initiative to pull Weary Clyburn’s pension application. Documents include a form from the Probate Judge and Clerk to the Pension Board which states that Clyburn “served in the Confederate Army.” Other documents refer to him as a “slave” and “body guard” to Captain Frank Clyburn. Another document, written by the Pension Board, tells of him saving his master’s life and performing personal service for Robert E. Lee. The author of the email noted that many of the pension files have blacks listed as “body servants” and speculates that body guard “is a little more exciting way to say the same thing.” Given the paucity of information available about Clyburn and that the information was compiled by whites it is easy to conclude pretty much anything about his Civil War/slave experience. And this is exactly where serious historians part company with the heritage folks. The goal of scholarship is not to reinforce prior assumptions nor is it the servant of wishful thinking; it is to consider all of the relevant evidence and go where that evidence takes you. Often times, the amount of evidence available is insufficient to conclude much of anything.
This takes us to the question of what, if anything, can be done to more forcefully challenge these myths. Historian and fellow blogger, Larry Cebula, has an excellent suggestion:
To effectively push back against the myth of black Confederates someone needs to dig into stories like these and do some basic fact-checking. When did the story of Weary leaving the plantation to fight with the Confederates first arise? Is there any contemporary Civil War era evidence? What other information can we dig up about Weary from census records, newspapers, oral histories, plantation records? What was the Reconstruction era history of the community? What were the circumstances at which this photograph was taken? I strongly suspect that this sort of research would debunk most or all of the “black Confederates” being touted by the SCV.
This would be a great graduate seminar for someone teaching at a research university in the south–“Black Confederates: Myths and Memories.” Assign each grad student one of these men and set them loose. And make sure that the results of their research are disseminated. A web publication would actually have the greatest impact, so that whenever someone googles “Weary Clyburn” they get some solid research instead of press releases from the SCV.
I can’t think of a better idea. Larry’s suggestion that such a project would debunk most of these stories is probably true, but his further point about the power of google is well taken. I touched on google’s page-ranking a few months ago in reference to a post about why scholars should consider blogging. Since that post this site has risen even further in the rankings when searching for certain subjects such as black Confederates. As much as I respect the work of historians such as Bruce Levine on this subject the real fight must take place on the Web.
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The discipline of geography traditionally encompasses the study of spatial patterns in both the natural and cultural environment. The dynamic and interdisciplinary character of the field is becoming increasingly relevant for a range of societal and environmental problems, including those related to urban and suburban economic development, poverty and crime, human health, water resources and water quality, land and soil resources, biodiversity, habitat loss and climate change. The department’s name, Geography and Environmental Systems, highlights the importance of interactions between natural environmental systems and social, political and economic systems. A rigorous background including courses in the natural sciences, mathematics and social sciences is also essential to the development of analytical skills and is, therefore, a required element of our degree programs.
The undergraduate curriculum and the research agenda of the department’s faculty provide multiple opportunities for students to acquire both breadth and depth in their training and to engage in the study of problems whose importance is becoming more and more evident. For students interested in environmental problems, natural resources and environmental conservation, a study of the impact of human activities on environmental systems includes elements of both physical and human geography. Physical geography investigates such matters as the development of landforms; patterns of climate, soils and vegetation; and interactions among these features of the physical environment. Human geography examines topics including the distribution of economic development, transportation, crime and urbanization; political, cultural and social geography; and spatial distributions of disease and health care.
Techniques and tools of spatial analysis that are widely used by geographers include cartography, remote sensing and geographic information systems, all of which involve extensive application of computer technology. The department’s program is designed to prepare students for any of three principal post-graduation activities: graduate school, a career in business or government, or a career in education.
The department offers both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees; majors are expected to complete the prescribed number of credits of course work within the department, as well as work in complementary disciplines. In addition, students in their junior and senior years are encouraged to gain practical experience through internships.
The department is home to a new degree program, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, and is the administrative home for a campus-wide interdisciplinary degree, a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies. The department also offers minor programs in geography and in environmental geography and certificate programs in cartography and in geographic information science applications that are available to both majors and non-majors.
For official curriculum for this major, please visit the online undergraduate catalog. This site is your one-stop location for academic policies, major requirements, academic support services, and the first year experience.
Search for jobs at UMBC. Click here»
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LCD monitors contain millions of pixels, each one composed of three subpixels: red, blue, and green. When all three are on, a pixel looks white. Other combinations create other colors. A pixel can become stuck showing one hue. But you can fix this.
Determine whether the pixel is just stuck or completely dead. If it shows only black, it's probably inoperable. If it shows a solid color, though, it may be stuck, and you may be able to shock it back into operation.
Make sure that your LCD is clean -- spray a few blasts of compressed air, and follow up by wiping with a scratch-free cloth and screen cleaner. Verify that your PC is outputting the image in your LCD's native resolution so you can identify pixels more easily. Open StartoControl Panelo Display, click the Settings tab, and adjust the resolution. (Consult your display's documentation, if necessary.)
In UDPixel, increase the Run cycle option to 4 seconds, and click the Run cycle button. The display will cycle through red, green, blue, black, white, and yellow. A stuck pixel should be visible against every hue but the one it's stuck in; unchanging dots are problem areas. Click to stop the color cycle.
For multiple pixels, increase the Flash window number by 1 for each stuck pixel.
Otherwise, click Start; a small, 5-by-5-pixel box will appear. Reposition the box around the stuck pixel, and wait 15 to 20 minutes. Click Reset to turn it off, and repeat the color cycle to see if the pixel has cleared.
If the problem persists, check your LCD warranty to see if you can replace the screen.
If you can't make such a replacement, try applying direct pressure. Wrap the tip of a PDA stylus or similar object in a scratch-free cloth, and use UDPixel to find the trouble spot.
Align the covered tip of the stylus directly over the uncooperative pixel. Turn off the screen, and gently (carefully) apply pressure for 5 to 10 seconds. Turn the screen back on, and check the pixel.
If it's still stuck, repeat steps 9 and 10, and even step 7. If you get no results, try wrapping the rounded, plastic end of a marker pen in a scratch-free cloth, and gently tap the afflicted area a few times.
If you're lucky, one of these tricks will revive the pixel.
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Global Health Threats of the 21st Century
Finance & Development,
The world is a healthier place today but major issues continue to confront humanity
The world’s health greatly improved in the past century. Major killers such as smallpox and polio have been eliminated or contained. A large part of the world’s population has access to clean water and better sanitation. Medicine can cure or improve many conditions that crippled or killed people only decades ago.
Nonetheless, human health continues to confront serious threats, as demonstrated by the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus.
Among policymakers who worry about it at all, optimists think a severe pandemic is a once-in-a-century event.
But before the onset of the 2014 Ebola epidemic, most people, including policymakers, seldom thought about pandemics (worldwide epidemics)—which explains why the risk of contagion is undermanaged and the Ebola crisis is here at all.
The global community continues to confront serious threats from infectious diseases, as demonstrated by the ongoing Ebola crisis. Ebola is still largely confined to three small west African countries, where the human, social, and economic damage is already high. If the crisis is not contained, damaging health and economic impacts would be replicated in other developing countries and even on a global scale in the case of a pandemic.
Contagion surprises and then worsens because the authorities and the public are unaware of the risk and implications of exponential spread. Even without a global spread, disease outbreaks can be very costly. They occur with unnerving frequency. Recent years saw Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and H5N1 and H7N9 avian flu—and now we face the Ebola crisis. With current policies, one of these, or another pathogen, will cause a pandemic.
According to economist Lawrence Summers, awareness of pandemic risks is much too low, and “every child should learn about the 1918 flu pandemic,” when 100 million died, out of a world population of less than 2 billion people. Although a recent World Bank report identified pandemics as one of the three major global risks—together with climate change and financial crises—most official discussions, reports, and communications take no notice of pandemic risk.
As a result, governments do little to reduce the risk, even though the measures are known and the costs are low—involving mostly strengthening veterinary and public health systems to detect and control outbreaks. After all, contagion does not start in a vacuum. A staggering 2.3 billion animal-borne infections afflict people in developing countries every year. Uncontrolled livestock diseases and exposure to pathogens from wildlife can periodically spawn widespread contagion because weak veterinary and human public health systems fail to stop outbreaks and allow them to spread.
Policies thus shape the onset of contagion. Chronic neglect of veterinary and human public health is both a disastrous policy choice and the prevailing practice in most countries and donor programs.
The economic imperative is compelling. Fear—which can spread faster than disease—changes consumer, business, and government behavior. Though it was quickly contained in 2003, SARS cost $54 billion, a toll driven by shocks to business and consumer confidence. The Ebola outbreak has severely disrupted trade, production, and health care in the most affected countries. In a pandemic, similar effects would cascade globally, with outcomes that the U.S. Department of Defense has characterized as the equivalent of a “global war.”
A 4.8 percent drop in global GDP is a realistic outcome in a severe flu pandemic, equivalent to $3.6 trillion (based on global GDP in 2013). Even if the optimists are right that the probability of a pandemic is just 1 percent a year, the risk to the global economy is $36 billion annually over a century. The world is spending about $500 million now to prevent pandemics, so it’s a safe bet that $36 billion a year would more than eliminate the risk. Spending up to that amount is warranted.
Fortunately, defenses against pathogens cost a fraction of this amount. A World Bank study (2012) found that spending $3.4 billion annually would bring veterinary and human public health systems in all developing economies to performance standards set by the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health. The standards cover capacity for early detection, correct diagnosis, and prompt and effective control of contagion. (None of the countries that experienced the 2014 Ebola outbreak met these standards.) Robust public health systems would control pathogens that can cause pandemics as well as other, locally threatening, diseases.
The fragility of our defenses is illustrated by the responses to H5N1 and H1N1 influenza. Financing surged from 2006 to 2009, driven by awareness of risks, but then plummeted when policymakers stopped paying attention (see chart). Fluctuation in funding is not related to the level of the risk; risk rises when public health capacity degrades as funding dries up once the outbreak is over.
An effective infrastructure of defense requires steady support. Without robust public health systems in all countries, the dire prospect is that the still-expanding Ebola epidemic will not be the last, or the worst, crisis caused by late detection and ineffective control of a disease outbreak. ■
United Nations and World Bank, 2010, “Animal and Pandemic Influenza, a Framework for Sustaining Momentum” (New York and Washington).
World Bank, 2012, “People, Pathogens and Our Planet: The Economics of One Health” (Washington).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2014), indoor and outdoor air pollution is responsible for 7 million premature deaths a year—one-eighth of global mortality. Outdoor air pollution, by itself, accounts for 2.7 million deaths and indoor air pollution 3.3 million, while 1 million deaths are caused by a combination of outdoor and indoor pollution. Pollution kills because people inhale particulates small enough to penetrate their lungs and bloodstream, increasing the prevalence, for example, of cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.
Nearly 90 percent of the outdoor pollution deaths occur in densely populated, low- and middle-income countries, particularly in the western Pacific and southeast Asia. The costs of health damage caused by outdoor air pollution vary considerably, depending on the country and type of fossil fuel being burned.
For example, according to IMF estimates (Parry and others, 2014), in 2010, health costs from coal use in China, which has high population exposure to air pollution and limited emission control, were $11.70 per gigajoule (GJ) of energy—more than twice the world price of energy from coal. By contrast, in Australia, where population density is lower and fewer people are exposed to coal emissions, damages were 80 cents per GJ. Coal generally causes the most air pollution per unit of energy, followed by diesel, while natural gas and gasoline cause the least pollution.
Greater use of control technologies (such as those that filter sulfur dioxide in coal-fired plants) is likely to reduce future emission rates from energy production, lowering health risks. Offsetting this benefit, however, is increasing demand for energy in the developing world and urban population growth, which increase exposure to pollution.
Nearly all indoor air pollution deaths (from cooking and heating fuels) are in lower- and middle-income countries. These deaths might be reduced by promoting cleaner fuels (charcoal rather than coal, say), improved technology (such as better-ventilated stoves), and providing more households with electricity.
Fossil fuel combustion is also the main cause of rising atmospheric concentrations of heat-trapping gases, such as carbon dioxide. While the most important reason for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions is the extreme planetary risks—such as runaway warming, dramatic sea level rises from melting ice sheets, and reversal of the Gulf Stream (Nordhaus, 2013), climate change could affect human health at the local level in many ways.
According to the World Bank (2014), for example, weather-related events such as floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures have been rising, especially in Asia and the Caribbean, and are key sources of death (for example, through famines) as well as economic losses.
Health risks also include heat stress, spread of infectious diseases, declining food and water security, and aggravated air pollution. Of particular concern are health threats from a higher prevalence of diarrhea (affecting those with poor sanitation), malaria (from mosquito migration in tropical regions), and malnutrition (from reduced living standards). Future risks might be mitigated, however, through improvements in income, sanitation, and health care; technology developments (such as malaria eradication); and adaptations (such as increased use of bed nets).
Policies to reduce fossil fuel use can have large domestic health benefits and need not await global coordination. Improving environmental-health outcomes should be part of a broader strategy involving carbon pricing, clean technology investments and transfers to developing economies, and reduced subsidies for nongreen energy sources. Properly reflecting environmental costs in energy prices is especially critical and would, at a global level, reduce outdoor air pollution deaths from fossil fuels by an estimated 63 percent and energy-related carbon emissions by 23 percent. At the same time, actions to make energy prices reflect environmental costs would raise new revenue equal to 2.6 percent of GDP (Parry and others, 2014). ■
Nordhaus, William, 2013, The Climate Casino: Risk, Uncertainty, and Economics for a Warming World (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press).
Parry, Ian, Dirk Heine, Eliza Lis, and Shanjun Li, 2014, Getting Energy Prices Right: From Principle to Practice (Washington: International Monetary Fund).
World Bank, 2014, World Development Report 2014: Risk and Opportunity (Washington).
World Health Organization (WHO), 2014, Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health (Geneva).
Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Disorders
Mental disorders and other noncommunicable diseases—mainly cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and chronic respiratory illness—claim many lives prematurely, cause massive ill health, and compromise human and economic development. In 2011, about 15 million people died prematurely (before age 70) from such diseases, 85 percent of them in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, 80 percent of the years people live with disability are the result of noncommunicable diseases, especially mental and behavioral disorders. Yet the associated health problems can be prevented or mitigated.
The mounting burden imposed by noncommunicable diseases and mental health problems has many causes, including aging populations, rapid and unplanned urbanization, and lifestyle choices such as consumption of unhealthful food (partly because of irresponsible marketing and low risk awareness). Many people suffer from such diseases because of tobacco use and consumption of foods high in salt, fat, and sugar. And in urban areas changes in diet and physical activity, exposure to air pollution, and the widespread availability and consumption of alcohol are contributing factors. Overwhelmed by such forces, few governments, let alone individuals, are keeping pace with the need for protective measures, such as smoke-free laws; regulations to discourage consumption of bad fats, salt, and sugar; policies to reduce harmful alcohol use; and better urban planning to promote physical activity. Simply put, the odds are often stacked against good lifestyle choices.
Noncommunicable diseases and mental disorders lead to increases in individual and household poverty and hinder social and economic development. About 100 million people in the world fall into poverty every year as a result of paying for health services they need. In low-resource countries, treatment can quickly drain household resources.
Businesses are hurt as well, through diminished labor supply and productivity. An analysis by the World Economic Forum (2008) estimated that Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and Russia—the biggest emerging market economies—lost more than 20 million productive life years to cardiovascular disease alone in 2000, a figure expected to rise by more than 50 percent by 2030. If prevention efforts remain unchanged, the cumulative global economic losses over the next two decades from noncommunicable diseases and mental disorders could amount to $47 trillion. This exponential rise would hit emerging market economies increasingly hard as they grow (Bloom and others, 2011). A separate study estimated that the global cost of dementia—which is also expected to rise exponentially—was $604 billion in 2010 (ADI, 2010).
Prevention and care for people with these diseases come with a price tag, but a relatively small one compared with the projected costs of inaction. For example, the average yearly cost of implementing the most cost-effective interventions for the prevention and control of cardiovascular disease in all developing economies is estimated at $8 billion a year. However, the expected return on such an investment—a 10 percent reduction in the mortality rate from coronary artery disease and stroke—would reduce economic losses in low- and middle-income countries by about $25 billion a year (WEF, 2011).
Current investments are particularly meager for mental health; many low- and middle-income countries allocate less than 2 percent of their health budget to the treatment and prevention of mental disorders. As a result, an enormous number of people are not treated for mental disorders—severe or common.
Cost-effective, affordable, and feasible interventions include development of strategies to reduce tobacco and alcohol consumption, promotion of good lifestyle choices, measures to reduce dietary salt intake, treatment of common mental disorders in primary care, and management of people at risk for heart attack and stroke. Together, these efforts could reduce premature death rates from noncommunicable diseases by at least 25 percent at an annual cost of just a few dollars a person. Such efforts call for political commitment, strong multisectoral partnerships, and reorientation of health care systems toward chronic (as opposed to acute) disease prevention and control. ■
Dan Chisholm is Health Systems Adviser and Nick Banatvala is Senior Adviser in the Noncommunicable Disease and Mental Health Cluster of the World Health Organization. The authors’ views do not necessarily represent the decisions, policy, or views of the World Health Organization.
Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), 2010, World Alzheimer Report 2010: The Global Economic Impact of Dementia (London).
Bloom, David E., and others, 2011, “The Global Economic Burden of Noncommunicable Diseases” (Geneva: World Economic Forum).
World Economic Forum (WEF), 2008, Working towards Wellness: The Business Rationale (Geneva).
World Economic Forum (WEF), 2011, “From Burden to ‘Best Buys’: Reducing the Economic Impact of Non-Communicable Diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (Geneva).
Antibiotics have transformed the practice of medicine. However, a massive scale-up in their use has resulted in an increase in drug-resistant strains of disease-causing bacteria and a global decline in antibiotic effectiveness. Rising incomes in low- and middle-income countries have generated huge demand for antibiotics, but high infection levels and uncontrolled antibiotic use in these countries are leading to treatment failures for people unable to afford expensive second-line drugs when antibiotics don’t work. In high- and upper-middle-income countries, antibiotic use remains high, particularly in hospitals, and resistance is driving up treatment costs.
Lack of access to antibiotics still kills more people than resistant bacteria, but antibiotics are not a substitute for good public health policy, vaccinations, clean water, and proper sanitation. The infectious disease mortality rates in low- and lower-middle-income countries today vastly exceed those in high-income countries before antibiotics were introduced in 1941.
Globally, most antibiotics are used in agriculture—added in low doses to animal feed for growth promotion and disease prevention. As in hospitals, antibiotics have become a lower-cost substitute for good hygiene and infection control, which prevent disease in the first place. Antibiotic use for growth promotion is banned in the European Union, where evidence shows that most animal operations can manage without them. But proposed bans face opposition in the United States and other countries.
Resistance—a natural phenomenon—is accelerating because no single patient, physician, hospital, insurer, or pharmaceutical company has an incentive to reduce antibiotic use. Drug costs are reimbursed by health insurers and third-party payers, but infection control is typically uncompensated. Like climate change, resistance is driven by local factors but has global consequences, as shown by two examples: antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea emerged in Vietnam in 1967, then spread to the Philippines and finally the United States, where penicillin resistance to the disease reached 100 percent in less than a decade. New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase genetic elements, which make bacteria antibiotic resistant and were first reported in 2008 from patients in India and Pakistan, are now reported worldwide (see map).
The global burden of resistance is poorly quantified but is likely to be concentrated in three categories: the costs of resistant infections, the costs of antibiotics, and the inability to perform procedures that rely on antibiotics to prevent infection. Patients infected with resistant strains of bacteria typically require longer hospitalizations and face higher treatment costs.
Even more serious is the effect on the health care system. Many surgical procedures, such as transplants and bypass operations, require antibiotics to keep the patient free of infection. Before antibiotics, even simple appendectomies resulted in many deaths, not because of the procedure but because bloodstream infections could not be controlled. Cancer treatments, transplants, and even root canals are jeopardized by resistance.
Maintaining antibiotic effectiveness in the long term requires a balance between conservation of existing antibiotic effectiveness and innovation in drug development.
Conservation is accomplished by reducing the need for antibiotics (through vaccination and infection control) and their unnecessary use (through diagnostics, incentives for clinicians to prescribe fewer antibiotics, restrictions on access to powerful antibiotics, and public education). Norms that govern physician-patient interactions and patients’ expectations drive unnecessary use. Because physicians face no penalty for writing prescriptions for antibiotics and receive no compensation for spending time to explain why they are not necessary, prescription rates remain high.
New antibiotics have been developed, but the cost of bringing any new drug to market is very high. The rate at which new antibiotic compounds are being discovered is slowing. Fourteen of the 17 classes of antibiotics in use today were discovered before 1970. Most innovation involves reengineering existing compounds rather than finding new mechanisms.
Public investment in antibiotics is justified because the lack of effective drugs can create public health emergencies. Secondary bacterial infections are big killers during influenza pandemics, for example. The United States and Europe are encouraging the development of new drugs. But unless incentives for drug development are tied to conservation, these initiatives may simply put off till tomorrow a problem that will take a high toll on society. ■
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| 0.935499 | 3,881 | 3.40625 | 3 |
A long, flowing garment that covers the whole body from head to feet, the burka, also known as burqa or abaya, is an important part of the dress of Muslim women in many different countries. Some burkes leave the faces uncovered, but most have a cloth or metal grid that hides the face from view while allowing the wearer to see. The exact origin of the burka is unknown, but similar forms of veiling have been worn by women in countries such as India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan since the beginning of the Muslim religion in 622 C.E. The Koran, the holy book of Islam, directs believers to cover themselves and be humble before God. Different societies and religious leaders have interpreted this command of the Koran in many different ways, often requiring both men and women to cover their heads as a sign of religious respect. Some Muslim societies have required women to cover themselves more modestly than men, covering not only their heads but also most of their bodies and even their faces. The burka is one example of very modest clothing worn by Muslim women.The burka has mainly been worn in very conservative Muslim cultures, which often restrict the movement and power of women. Young girls are not required to cover themselves with a burka, but at puberty or marriage they begin to wear it. While women do not wear the burka while they are home with their families, they are required to wear it when they are in public or in the presence of men who are not family members. In many places the burka was first worn as a sign of wealth and leisure, because a woman could not easily work while wearing the long garment. Though the burka often appears confining and limiting to Western eyes, many devout Muslim women choose to wear the long veil. Some say that the coverage of the burka gives them a privacy that actually makes them feel freer to move about in society. However, others say that even though the burka protects women from the staring eyes of strange men, it does not prevent the wearer from being touched or pinched by passing men. Also, many Muslim women who live in very conservative societies are forced to wear the burka whether they want to or not, and many have been punished harshly for refusing to cover themselves as their authorities demand.
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en
| 0.981678 | 464 | 3.421875 | 3 |
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